Tennessee: Year One

Well, it's been 1 year and one month since I arrived in my new home of Tennessee. A definite eyeopener I must say. When I first met Cathy, I was pleasantly pleased that she was a different person than I thought the typical Tennessean would be. She is intelligent, open minded and willing to accept different things about people and places. WOW!!! Not what you'd expect from a Right Wing, Bible Belt State. The first City I moved to was a little spit of a place called Algood. The Police Station closes at 10 pm, and WalMart is the biggest thing in town. It's a Town run by the Good Ole Boy club and with that same attitude. There are a lot of the Stereotypes represented there that we Californians expect to find in the South. The Rednecks with their Confederate Flags on their Pick ups (which by the way, are what all the jerk off drivers drive on the freeways around here......if someone is tailgating you....it's a pick up.), the enormously fat people waddling out of Billy Bob's Cholestrol Buffet. Then there are some good people too. They live in Cookeville, the town right next door. Algood would do well to let Cookeville annex it. Of course Cookeville has it's Redneck Hicks as well. It does have some culture though as it is the home of Tennessee Tech University. College Towns always have culture of some kind. The only problem with it, is the planning of the expansion of the City. It is sprawled, and things that should be in one part of town are next to things they shouldn't be next to. There is retail next to residential...literally right next door. There are parts of the town that are run down and ignored, then there are parts that are all spiffed up and new. It reminds me of my home town of San Bruno, CA. There are sections of San Bruno they concentrate on, then there are sections they ignore. Those sections have crime issues, abandoned businesses, etc. Cookeville has alot of that too. My In-Laws live there, as does my Oldest Step-Daughter Amanda and my Step-Son Kevin. They are great people....there are several folks in that town that need help. The one thing I noticed there was the word Buffet seems to be popular. There are no Salad Bar places like Fresh Choice or Sweet Tomatoes....those places would die a horrible death (much like the enormously huge people that usually eat at the buffets will one day). Aisian cuisine: forget about it!!!! It's some pretend Chinese crap that doesn't even remotely taste good. The thing that gets me is these places are run by Chinese people. Now you would think they would want to represent their cultural cuisine alot better than they do. Nope. I was so glad I got a job near Nashville. It gave me an excuse to move to a Suburban area much like the ones I've lived in in years past. Having been to Nashville on several occassions I became very fond of it. It was partly San Fran, and partly Oakland. This City boy was happy. We settled in a Suburb called Mount Juliet. A great City much like San Carlos or Belmont. We also got in at the perfect time as they are (still, but almost finished) building a brand new residential development of mid to high priced homes. Next to that they are building (and it's mostly finished now) a retail establishment called Providence Marketplace. Now in Mount Juliet you have a more Metropolitan diversity of people. There are your Rednecks....hey it's the South. It's hard to not run into your fair share here. For the most part though, it's nice, Family oriented people. I have met some really good people out here playing Airsoft. Decent folks who run the gambit of personality types and political, social orientation. I've also discovered something that there wasn't much of in California: Centrists. Politicians who's attitude is that both parties are full of crap, and both parties have their points to contribute to the Government in a Happy Medium. Yay!!!! Of course there are still your Good Old Boy Conservatives out here. The one thing I'm still getting used to, and honestly I don't think I ever will, is the overly Religious attitudes that run rampant through this State. Way too many people are somewhat hypocritical. They go to Church because it's what they've done all their lives. Some go because they don't want their neighbors to think poorly of them. I won't fall for this crap because of my attitudes towards organized Religions. Basically, out here you go to a Baptist church, where you are supposed to tithe 10% of your yearly income to the church. Excuse me???? I slipped a buck at the most in the basket at the Catholic Church I grew up going to, and that was if I felt like it. Why should I pay someone to preach at me and tell me how to think and how I should be spiritual? I have never understood that. I've also realized that the people I commute with every morning would not last 5 minutes on a Bay Area Freeway. They'd be shot instantly. God these people cannot drive. I do like the fact that we don't have a State income tax. Very nice......instead of two hits to my take home pay, there is only one. Oh yeah, and I could actually afford to buy a house out here. It's awesome!!!! My 1400 SF house that has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with huge front yard only cost me 130 K. Back home if the Bay Area it would be 900 K easy. I do miss my buds. I miss gaming and going to gaming conventions. Do I miss the Bay Area? Yes. Very much. But my Wife and kids are here and I love them very much. I don't regret my decision to move here, I really don't. Life is nice. The City I live in is a great town and it's great having to only drive 5 minutes away to buy anything I need. Clothes, home stuff, groceries, electronics, restaurants.....it's all there. It's also places I like to shop. Target for one....I love Target. I sure wish we'd get a Trader Joes, but I know the farthest East they have gone is Arizona. It's been a great year. I am very happy that I get to be with my Wife in the same State and same house, etc. Would I move back? Maybe.....it would have to be for a lot of money and a really good reason. That's my report for Year One as a transplanted California in Tennessee. Can't wait for years two and up.

Heroes: Can this show get any better?

(Click on the Blog entry title to go to the official NBC website.)

Save the Cheerleader. Save the World.

This is the key plot device so far in the TV Series "Heroes" for stopping an nuclear explosion in New York. I have already written about the basics of this show, and yes I'm writing about it again. Like I've previously mentioned, I wrote an open letter to Hollywood asking them to get their creative heads out of their collective butts. Apparently someone is listening. The writing and pacing in this show are top shelf. It just goes to show that you don't need a cape and tights or even a mask to be a Super Hero. As one of the cast, the character Hiro, says to his friend "You don't need Super Powers to be a Hero." The story telling is like that of a good suspense novel. You think you have the characters figured out, but no.....you don't. Total surprise with some, confirmation of your suspicions with others. SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!

A surprise like......Saresh's neighbor. I figured she was up to something.....she was way too nice to Mohinder and way to friendly with his Father (who was supposedly a recluse...). She, as we find out last night, works for indestructable cheerleader's Dad........who is another suprise. They have been portraying him as some kind of Villan, but as the show goes on, he doesn't seem so nefarious. He knows his adopted daughter is the Indestructable Cheerleader, but if he was so evil, he'd have killed her long ago. (At least tried too....she is indestructable after all.) More and more he seems like he is some kind of Government Agent who is in search of the Heroes. I suspect some kind of cloning program to make super soldiers or something like that.

SPOILER OVER:

The show harkens back to the days of Serials at the local theaters of yesteryear. I can remember my Mom and Dad telling me about Flash Gordon, etc and how you had to go to the theater like once a month or so because you'd miss a chapter. Heroes is like that. Each episode is a chapter. Sometimes they wrap up nicely, but there is always something unanswered, or left open that doesn't get resolved until later. It's a nice touch, and real good story telling. Lord knows we've had to sit through our share of stupid "Reality" shows. Honestly, these things have run their course. I know they are cheaper to produce than an ongoing series, but c'mon people. The viewing public has spoken; they want a good story. If you want me to park my butt for an hour or two and not constantly channel surf, then make it worth my while to stay on your channel and watch your efforts. Good job NBC....too bad it's the only show I watch on your network.

My Little Rachel Ray

Yep, that would be my darling Step-Daughter Olivia cooking away. She has started learning to cook, and she loves every minute of it. She thinks Rachel Ray is sooo cool so she wants to learn to cook just like her.....I'm glad she wants to. We had fun making Chili that night, tomorrow her and Cathy will be making cookies from scratch. Should be fun.

Blog Fun!!

Since I'm loving this new show called "Heroes", here's a little game for you (post answers as comments):

What would be your Super Power and why?

Mine is the ability to find a bathroom wherever I am. I have a knack for detecting plumbing I guess. I walk into a restaurant or theater and I can tell you which direction the bathrooms are without seeing the signs. It's not a power I wanted per se, but it comes in handy.

The Sissification of Today's Youth

Okay.....I think Parents and schools have gone far enough now. First comes the laws that say kids have to wear a bike helmet when riding their bikes....HAVE to...it's the law. Hello???? We didn't, and we did some crazy crap on our bikes....and we are all in one piece. I hear of organized sports leagues where "Everyone's a winner"......what the Hell is that??? How can you prepare kids for the Real World if they are told that mediocrity is OK???? That you don't need to try at all, that you will be rewarded for just showing up?? That's great...no wonder today's youth are a bunch of lazy, punk ass, porkers. When I was a kid and you played baseball, if you sucked (like I did) you didn't get to play that much. Yeah it hurt, but it taught one a good lesson: Try harder and get better if it means that much to you; or get out of it and try something else. Simple. Not everyone can be a great athlete. Not everyone gets to be an Astronaut when they grow up. I'm not saying don't encourage your children to try, just berate them when they fail. Be there to pick them up and dust them off and say "You tried your best. I still love you no matter what you do with your life." What we need to teach our children is that the World outside of their Family is a cold, ruthless place. Not everyone wins....and sometimes just showing up isn't enough. The real world teaches you that second place is the first loser. Now I read of a school in Massachussets where they are banning the game of Tag and any other chase/pursuit games at recess. Why? Because they don't want the kids to get hurt and hold the school liable. WTF?????? Has this world become that insane that parents would actually sue a school because little Johnny fell down and scwaped his wittle knee?????? Jesus Christ people???? What's next?? Wrap your kids in bubble wrap and foam???? Then I hear about schools banning costumes on Halloween and calling the Holiday a "Fall Festival". OK I'm lost now. Why? I know there are some Religious kooks out there who think Halloween should be banned as a Holiday because it's "Evil".....yeah....tell that to all the little Super Heroes and Princesses that come to my door to get Candy.....ooooo that's so EVIL!!!!! Hey Freaks...if you don't want to celebrate the Holiday, then shut your damn porch lights off and don't answer the door. Take your own responsibility....stop trying to force your morals and beliefs on me. Halloween happens to be my favorite Holiday. I love turning my front yard into a graveyard and putting spiderwebs all over the place and glow in the dark skeletons.......it's FUN!!!! Good clean scary fun. Oh wait...I forgot......the Religious Kooks don't know what FUN is....apparently enjoying life isn't in their Bibles.......FREAKS!!!!! Go away!! Makes me wish for a Jewish President, or a President of some Religion other than Christian. It would take the wind out of the Kooks' sails for awhile and maybe we'd go back to that old standard that's in our Constitution: The Separation of Church and State. Remember that?

Hooray for Hollywood

Now awhile back I blogged a rant about Hollywood not having an original thought to save their lives. This still holds somewhat true, but what they are doing now is coming up with a newer twist on an old theme. Big Kudos for that. The banner above is from one of the best new shows on TV. As my favorite TV Critic Tim Goodman says, "this is the year of the serialized drama". How true. Here's the premise of Heroes. One day you wake up and you have super powers. You are just regular old you, but yet you have an extradordinary gift. What would you do with this gift? How would you handle having this gift? Is it even a gift, or is it a curse? So far we have in this show:
1. The indestructable Cheerleader. This little blonde High school cheerleader cannot die. Period. She hates it, and just wants to be normal.
2. Mirror Girl. A single Mom who has a messed up life but is trying the best she can. Her husband is in jail (we find out later he isn't....oh yeah, and he works for the bad guys....) and she is doing whatever she can to get by. Her gift? She has an alter ego that is an Amazon kick ass machine (think Xena.....).
3. Future seeing guy. He can paint the future, but only when high on heroin. Poor guy.
4. Flying guy. Yep he can fly. He is also running for Congress.
5. Flying guys brother, Mimic Guy. He can mimic the abilities of any super he comes into contact with.
6. (My favorite) Time traveler/time stopper guy. Hiro a Japanese wage slave finds out he can travel through time and stop it. He handles it the best because he is living a Comic Book Geeks dream........and appears in the last scene of the latest episode as his future self....a bad ass psuedo-Samurai complete with sword.
7. Telepathy Cop. Yep, a cop that can read minds.
8. Mental JuJu bad guy. Mirror Girls husband DL. He seems to be able to read minds really well...hints that he may have the ability to stop other Heroes powers.
9. Indestructable Cheerleader's Adopted Father: The obvious bad guy......psycho bastard that seems to work for the Government.

Hooked yet? Watch an episode and you will be. It's a really well done show, and because it's serialized, you have to come back each week for more.....

Another show that is just as good is Jericho. A small town in Kansas witnesses a mushroom cloud off in the distance (the direction of Denver, Colorado). You find out most major Cities have been destroyed in the same manner. It's about a small town's ability to handle this situation. Good cast and some interesting developments.

Thank you Hollywood for listening. Now if you could just stop casting Jessica Simpson in movies they might not bomb.....just saying.....

Two in one day....

Just a funny little item to relate. One of my favorite comic strips is Wiley's "Non Sequitor". Besides some very biting commentary on current events, there exists in the Non Sequitor world an ongoing story about Joe Pyle. Joe is a single Father raising two Daughters, Danae the oldest and Kate the youngest. Danae is wise for her age, often making remarks that are very adult and show an unique outlook on the world. In one strip Danae is complaining to her Pet Horse Lucy that her Dad is making her read the paper everyday. Joe asks "What did you learn from reading the paper?" Danae responds with "Adults lie alot and say a bunch of stuff that has no meaning whatsoever..." Joe puts his head in his hands, shaking it back and forth. His Daughter asks "Did I say something wrong?" Dad says "Unfortunately no." Why the build up? Danae often times reminds me of my StepDaughter Liv. Here in Middle Tennessee there are two candidates running for the Senate seat that Bill Frist is giving up; Harold Ford Jr. and Bob Corker. There are constant typical political ads...."he's a schmuck, no he's a schmuck", etc, etc. Liv states to me and Cat on night that she just doesn't get it. "It's the same people in the commercials, and in one they are on that person's side, and in the other they are saying bad things about them. I'm confused!!" Just thought I'd share the unique outlook of Politics from the 12 year old mind. Unfortunately she's right........no matter which way you slice it in politics, it's always the same old Crap.

These Kids Today!!! Part Deux

So over on the airsoft boards I normally frequent we have had a rash of young guys joining lately and pretty much being stupid kids. No respect whatsoever and this Generations lack of grammar and spelling ability. When I was a kid if you didn't know how to spell something, the teacher you asked handed you a dictionary and said "look it up." Now these morons text, and chat and IM each other to death and use all manner of slang and abbreviations that when it's not called for, they use it anyway!!! Anyhow, that Rants already been done, new Rant coming. One of these "shining" examples of the Future of our Country posted that he saw the movie "Black Hawk Down" recently. He said, and I loosely quote: "Black Hawk Down is a great gun movie. If you don't want to go play some airsoft after seeing I don't know what will make you.". I was stunned!!! A "great gun movie"?!?!?!?!?!?! What they Hell do they teach these kids in school today? Has our recent "TV" war made them not realize what a real armed conflict is all about? This kid is about 14-15 years old. All he gets out of a movie like "Black Hawk Down" is how cool the guns are. We're talking a movie by Ridley Scott, and excellent director who captured the horror and emotions involved in a Military Operation gone wrong. A movie about Brotherhood under fire, sacrifice, misguided political decisions, etc that is obvious to even a simple minded person and all this kid gets is "OOOO cool guns.....". I have met a few real shining examples of the Future of this Country, but I should emphasize a FEW.........

These Kids today!!!

Yeah I know....never thought I'd say that....actually it should be these kids and their parents. As some of you may know, I particpate in a sport/hobby called Airsoft. We run around on private property, old army bases, etc out of public view, dressed up in military BDU's and shooting each other with plastic bb's from realistic looking guns. Now you have to be 18 to purchase one, and technically the same age to use one. Not the case. Welcome to the age of parents who "just buy little Johnny what he wants" without realizing the consequences of their actions. I live in the City of Mt. Juliet and the other night 20 teen boys (DUMBASSES) were gathered on someone elses propety without their permission in plain view of the public playing with airsoft pistols. The cops were called and got out of their cars, guns drawn because the call they were responding to was "Gang activity". It was all over the evening news and the morning news with the Chief of Police saying that the guns needed to be marked in some way to differentiate them from the real thing. Might as well play freaking paintball!!!! This pisses me off.....these dumbass parents bought these stupid kids these guns and didn't supervise them at all!!!! It is well known in the area that there is a field to play airsoft on, a 30 acre, in the middle of nowhere, out of public view, private piece of land that won't cause trouble. Makes me wish the cops would have shot a couple of the kids.......I call this Darwin in action.....

Reviews and Recommendations

A few movie reviews/recommendations for you as well as some great new shows on the Idiot Box you have to see! Movies. If you haven't seen the Pirates sequel, and you loved the first movie, you need to. Don't look for historical accuracy or any crap like that, just buckle yourself in and hang on for a rollercoaster ride of a movie. The Wife and I were discussing how versatile of an actor Johnny Depp really is. And to think this guy got his start on 21 JumpStreet. If you like Jason Stratham (The Transporter, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch) then you have to go see "Crank". It's over the top, non-stop action. Don't even bring your brain in, just leave it at home you won't be needing it. My Wife actually likes his movies and we went and saw it. Lots of fun. Rentals: If you want a couple of surprisingly new story twists in a movie rent "The Matador" with Greg Kinnear and Pierce Bronson. Strange (not quite Donnie Darko strange, but weird enough) and unpredictable (someone in Hollywood actually making a unpredictable movie!!!!!). Also rent "Lucky Number Slevin" with Josh Hartnet, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley and Lucy Liu. If that cast doesn't make you want to see it, the plot line and story progression will leave you glued to the screen until it is over.

Now for TV: There are crime shows galore on TV now, but none better than the original CSI. It's always a good show. For a new twist on the crime genre, you need to catch "Criminal Minds" and "Numb3rs". Both have ensemble casts of great actors with each character being very distinct and memorable (with the exception of the one blonde on Criminal Minds...she's a background character almost who they are trying to give more screen time to lately but it's not helping). Now for what I call the Renaissance of TV: Jericho and Heroes. Mainstream TV has always screwed up Sci Fi.....either cancelled it prematurely, or it was way too intelligent for your average TV viewer to grasp. Good examples: Max Headroom and Firefly. Max Headroom was a way too critical view of the future of TV...to the point that I think it scared the execs at ABC so they cancelled it. (Bastards!!! I loved that show.) Then we have Firefly. Fox screwed around with the schedule, played episodes in the wrong order and generally did whatever they could to sabotage a great show. Now back to the review. As you may be aware of, Super Heroes are becoming a big deal now. We Comic Book Geeks are becoming mainstream and accepted now. Look at the box office receipts of the past 5 years....X-Men, SpiderMan, Superman.....plus a bunch more of our beloved spandex heroes on deck. NBC has developed a new TV show that explores the question: "What if you woke up one day and you had super human abilities?" They have explored that question very well in the new show "Heroes". So far we have an Artist that can see the future, and paints it. A highschool cheerleader whose healing factor makes Wolverine look like a chump....she gets hit by a football player, lands with her head twisted around backwards and then gets up and she is fine!!!! A wage slave in Japan who can bend space and time. Two brothers who can fly. An average beat cop with esp. A single Mom who has a "double" that acts independently of her (but she can only see the double in the reflection of a mirror). We also have the cheerleaders adopted Dad who seems to be "The Super Villan", but you aren't really sure if that's where they are going with it or not. Then we have on CBS a show called Jericho. The prodigal son returns to his podunk Kansas town after being gone for years, and he seems to be lieing about where he's been. To top it all, that same day in the direction of Denver there is a mushroom cloud. All communication has been cut off, and a kid in the town has an answering machine message from his Mom where you can hear an explosion in the background. You find out she is in Atlanta. That's two nuclear explosions. At the end of last episode, a man is putting red pins in a map on most of the large cities in each state.....you get the impression that they have been hit too.

Oh yeah, and we can't forget "The Unit". Definitely a guy show.

The Ballad of Steve and Cathy

Well, okay not a ballad, but a story. In my last rant I promised to tell the story of how someone who was born and raised in the Paradise called the SF Bay Area found himself transplanted to Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Let's go back to 1999. An Evil, vile being who we will refer to as PITA decided she wanted to not be married to me anymore. So we got a simple, quick and non-contested divorce. I was angry, depressed etc. I found internet chat rooms as a great release to get back in to the "Dating Game". Flirting was fun, etc. About February of 2000 I joined a Yahoo divorced folks support group called "Divorced, Single and Looking". Got to know alot of people in there, it was fun. One of those people was a shy, retiring Southern Belle by the name of Cat. I liked her the most. We started off as friends, first IM chatting then on the phone. In 2002 the gang decided to all meet somewhere in the Country that was centralized for most. Cat set up the meet in Nashville. I went out the week before to spend it with her. This was June of 02. We really hit it off. In September of that year she travelled to SF and we did the tourist thing. She loved it. Over the next couple of years we had talked bout it being permanent. She wanted to move out to California and then we were going to get married. Well to help out her case of trying to move to Cali, her lawyer advised we get married before hand. So on January 22, 2004 in a nice little Civil Ceremony at the Redwood City Courthouse we were married. We spent the first year of our marriage in two different states, until we got word in August of 2005 that our appeal was denied and I would have to move to Tennessee to be with my Wife and Step-Kids. The rest is history. We are going on 3 years of marriage and it is great. I have found the woman I will spend the rest of my life with and I am Happy as can be. The moral of this story? "Embrace change because it may be better than you think."

Weird Al

Weird Al has a new album out.....I will be getting a copy soon. It's called "Straight outta Lynwood". You can play the latest video by clicking on it on the bottom of the blog. Also click on the title to go to the Official Weird Al website.

Rant Time

I know, it's been awhile. I've been saving this one up. Fine tuning it if you will. Now as some of you may not know, I'm a transplant from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Nashville Area in Tennessee. Reasons for moving here in another entry.....we are focusing on a Rant right now. I lived in the Bay Area for 40 years; for two of those I commuted across the Bay Bridge. Talk about painful. Being from a Freeway culture, I can appreciate people who know how to drive their cars correctly. Now that I live in Nashville, not a Freeway culture by any sense of the word, I am going insane!!!! People in this town would not last 5 minutes on a SF freeway if their lives depended on it. First off, too many trucks. Remember several years ago when Reagan deregulated the trucking industry? The result of that is any Moron with a pulse is driving a Semi now. These "knights of the roadway" have become the Assholes of the roadway. They tailgate you, blow past you barely making the lane change in front of you. The pass each other....dangerous is a nice word. Then we have the idiots who cannot who can't merge onto the Interstate!!!! They get in the merge lane from the on ramp. Usually you would speed up so you can integrate into traffic....not out here!!! They get on the interstate, you try and back off a bit to let them in....they keep tooling along at 35!!!!! The speed limit is 70......these folks ain't getting there for awhile......then when you go to pass them because they are driving like Grandmas...they speed up!!!!! Then traffic gets a bit crowded....I weave around the lanes of traffic only to find a GAP THE SIZE OF CALIFORNIA between the lead car and the back of the pack ahead of us. People are content to sit there going 50 in a 70 MPH zone with a gap big enough to land the space shuttle in ahead of them!!!!!! Praise the Lord and pass the ammo!!!!

5 Years ago today.

Click on the title and you will be taken to the main page of the Airsoft field I play at. The owner of the field always replaces his main site with a 9/11 tribute. It's very nice. 5 Years ago today, several cowards attacked Civillian targets and shook us out of the delusion that we are safe here in our own Country. Today is not a day for finger pointing or political debate (see my previous blog about that); no, Today is a day for remembrance. A day for reflection on what our World has become and how we as individual beings on this rock we call Earth can work together to stop these insane Religious Zealots from destroying all life in the name of a Belief. Do you remember where you were that day? I do. Getting ready for a day's work when my roommate and good Friend Mike called me in the living room. On CNN was a picture of one of the World Trade Center towers smoking!!!! I said, "There's one pilot who screwed up big time." Then we saw the second plane hit the other tower and knew it was no accident.

Justice is Served

As you will recall, I've been ranting about the rape of our Civil Liberties since the horrible attacks of September 11, 2001. I'm about to make a comment of some good that has come of the attitude change in our Society since. Let's recall years before that, in the late 80's-90's (I forget when it was). We were watching TV when the news cut to a white Ford Bronco driving slowly on an LA Freeway being followed by a mass of Policemen; a slow speed pursuit if you will. Apparently ex-Football star Al Cowlins was driving another ex-Football star OJ Simpson out of town. OJ was apparently threatening suicide, thus the slow speed chase. Well the rest is History. The biggest media circus trial ever. Racist LA cops, slacker hangers-on named Kato......two dead people: Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and the infamous "Dream Team" of Lawyers defending OJ Simpson. The evidence against Simpson was overwhelming, but yet OJ was found...get this....not Guilty!?!?!?!?! The opinion of this verdict is still divided today: a small percentage think it was a just ruling while the rest of the World thinks he's guilty as sin!!! (The fact that an autographed picture of OJ only goes for 150.00 nowadays says it all.)

Fast forward to 2003. Two years after 9/11 happened. People are suspicious of everyone!! A man named Scott Peterson is in the news. His 8-month pregnant wife is missing!!! Her name was Laci. A media circus erupts.....people line up in the community of Modesto to help search for her. Scott, sheds a few tears on TV, but then is seen on the night of the vigil for Laci yakking on a cell phone happy as could be.....like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Fast forward a week or two later. He's sold his SUV, and has a For Sale sign on his front lawn. The Police haven't ruled him out as a suspect and it sure looks like he's getting rid of evidence and cutting and running. The SUV is found, and Scott becomes Prime Suspect #1. Then a miracle happens......Laci's body washes up on shore as does her unborn son. Where's Scott??? In San Diego with his hair bleached blonde, a goatee, and 1,500 cash in his pocket on his way to Mexico. Busted!!!!! He is brought to trial in 2004 to the Redwood City Courthouse (it is determined that he would not receive a fair trial in Modesto so it is moved to Redwood City). The case against him consisted of a few fibers, a plastic tarp, some needle nose pliers, and a drop of blood in the SUV carpet. Remember in the OJ trial there was a bloody glove, shoe prints, hand prints, gallons of blood, a knife......and he got off!!?!? Scott Peterson (pretty much on the testimony of his mistress Amber Frey) is now spending his days in San Quentin's Death Row awaiting his one way trip to Hell. Too bad we can't retry OJ....I bet he'd be on Death Row too. The same goes for a man named Perry March. They haven't found the body of his Wife Janet yet, but it has been determined in 3 different trials for three different crimes that his is a guilty bastard. He will now reside in the State of Tennessee's correctional institutions for the next 56 years. I guess something good has come out of 9/11 now hasn't it....

G'Day Mate...Rest in Peace

Yep, by now you've all heard the news. Steve Irwin has died. He was a nut, slightly annoying at times, but he made you actually interested in what he was all about; conservation. He truly believed Man and Animals could live in harmony on this big ball of rock we call Planet Earth. He may have done a foolish thing (the baby incident....still wasn't the smartest thing he could have done, but the man was an expert...still...) but all the other times he did foolish things, it was just his life in the balance. You'd expect the guy to be croc food, or get bitten by a snake.....no. He gets stabbed through the heart by a nine inch barb from a stingray. And he did nothing to rile it up like he used to do with other animals!!! Maybe it recognized him and was being a bit preemptive???? The World will miss you Crocidile Hunter; Rest in Peace.

See I'm right sometimes.

Check my post from the 22nd regarding New Agencies. In it I mentioned John Karr. This idiot comes out of nowhere 10 years later and says "I killed Jon Benet Ramsey." Everyone was so sure he was the man that news agencies were publicly apologizing to the Ramsey's for painting them in such a bad light. Two days after this guy confessed, the doubts started. He said he drugged her; the coroner found no such substances in her body. He said it was accidental; the condition of the body says it was deliberate and brutal. His ex-Wife said he was in Alabama with her and the family during that time, being that he never missed a Christmas with the Family. He is whined and dined on a plane ride home to "loosen him up so he will talk..." Oh yeah, he talked, about nothing. They run hand writing analysis, and all these experts say "Oh yeah it looks like his writing." Yet one of these experts has had his expert testimony over turned in about 4 or 5 cases. After running a DNA test on him from DNA found on the body they have concluded that Karr is a lying sack o' poop. (Here's where I am proved right..... :D) Just like I said. He only said that so he could get extradited back to the US because he didn't want to spend any time in a Thai jail. Does the News Media actually listen to the crap they spew every night????? Do they realize that they have just made collective asses of themselves, yet again!?!?!?!? I still think the parents had something to do with it and that Patsy Ramsey died of guilt and not cancer.

The Demise of the Hollywood Studio System?

Click on the title to link to my previous "Open Letter to Hollywood". It seems like my predictions are coming true. Paramount and Tom Cruise had a major falling out recently. The bottom line, Cruise made more money and put up no financial risk than Paramount Studios which put up all the financial risk. This is because Tom Cruise has become the poster boy for Scientologist Freakazoid and has run his mouth and couch-jumped his way behind the 8-ball. Have fun back there with Mel Gibson Tom...he needs the company. I read an article today about how the studios aren't backing alot of pictures because DVD sales have gone flat. Hmmmm let's see. For the past several years now 2 - 3 out of 10 movies to hit theaters are worth seeing. The rest are crap. Of course your DVD sales are going to be flat. If people aren't willing to pay 10 bucks to see a turd on a big screen, what makes you think they will pay 15-25 dollars to own said turd so they can not watch it at home?????? The last theater movie I saw was Pirates 2. It was worth the cash and a lot of fun. I wanted to see Clerks II, but it left theaters before I got a chance. Other than those two movies, there isn't anything playing at our local cineplex that I remotely am willing to pay money to see. Even Mutha F***n snakes on a Mutha f***n Plane (as great a B movie as I hear it is). This latest news just proves my point that the Hollywood creative still has run dry. Too many remakes of movies that were so-so at best or didn't really need to be remade. Too many TV shows made into movies that should have just been left as TV shows (Dukes of Hazard for one.....and they are talking about making Chips into a movie.....what is Erik Estrada going to come on and sell some cheap vacation property to us in BFE during the credits?????) Too many Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson (Hell too many Owen Wilson movies.....dude sucks as an actor and he's just not funny). I mean c'mon...you make a 70's serious cop show "Starsky and Hutch" into a comedy.......of course no one is buying the DVD. Disney is whining about flat sales too. Let's see, you wait freaking forever to release a beloved movie on DVD....so long in fact that when you release it amidst a huge marketing fanfare all the fans turn their backs on you and just don't care anymore.....(see Lady and the Tramp release for a limited time....) We don't care anymore Disney. Just release them all......don't make a huge deal out of it because we are unimpressed. Same for Lucas.....Star Wars fans waited forever for idiot George to relase the original movies on DVD.....we get the special edition versions and he changed a critical aspect of the ending of Revenge (Return) of the Jedi.......I knew someone that was chomping at the bit to buy it until I told him about the change.....he downright refuses now. Now they are saying private investment firms may approach these actor run production companies (Cruise/Wagner for example). A few have done it, but it's been hot and cold so far and that's keeping the others away. What these actor production companies don't realize is that the first big chunks of change come back to the backer in these deals.....

News Media: Bored or Just Unispired?

The 24 Hour News channels used to be a good idea. You could get your daily news at whatever time of the day. That's what they used to be. Now they have become lame and useless. The latest "Breaking News" that required some lame graphic artist to come up with a quick and dirty logo with some cheesy tagline and just as cheesy music to go with it is this Karr guy. CNN and Fox News had "round the clock" coverage of this guy. Let's see, you've got cameras following a guy getting on an airplane, cameras on the airplane as he sits in a seat, watches a movie, and drinks and eats. Then you have some reporter trying to make the fact this guy drank beer and champagne and ate King Prawns (Whatever the Hell a King Prawn is....) sound exciting and oh so important. They are at this for at least 4 hours!!!!! Why??? It's obvious this guy is full of crap. He didn't kill JonBenet Ramsey; his "confession" is so full of holes it's like Swiss Cheese. They had the typical split screen arguing session going on "Hannity & Colmes" or whatever those lame asses are called where they had two attorneys arguing over whether or not he is guilty or just a serial confessor. The one woman used the arguement that there was a connection because they "lived in the same place a the same time...." Really??? I lived in California when Scott Peterson killed his wife Lacey. Does that mean I had something to do with it too???? That's the lamest excuse I have ever heard. Notice though that when the Supreme Court found the NSA Homeland Spying to be illegal, it didn't get around the clock coverage??? I honestly can't watch these News shows any more. They are biased and basically cowardly. They are afraid to say anything contrary to popular opinion. These morons won't put W in a bad light (he is already doing that himself) but yet they'd crucify Clinton for getting a BJ in the oval office. Hmmmm......I think I'd rather have the President have an affair than leave young men in a place where they are dying daily. I watch the local news now, and that's it. We've got more and more news people getting taken hostage because they want to get that "scoop"....the exclusive. Too bad so sad. You walk into the Lion's den wearing raw meat, you're going to get hurt. Hell the only other news I watch is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It and the Colbert Report are winning Emmy's and have higher ratings than CNN and Fox combined. Which of course cause Geraldo "I'm a useless waste of oxygen" Rivera to go on Bill "I lick W's Butt because I wish I was his gay lover" O'Reily and spew a bunch of hateful crap at two political satire shows!!!! Has Geraldo nothing better to do? Or is it that after Moron Rivera's little stunt of drawing a map in the ground during the Iraq War and basically all but giving the coordinates of the unit he was embedded with to the enemy he isn't on the best of terms with anybody? Yeah, they don't watch CNN??? Dork ass. The KGB admitted that American news broadcasts were the best source of information. He's one guy that I don't know why keeps getting jobs. I remember the whole Al Capone's vault thing. Big build up, and nothing there. What a Moron. I'd have opened it first and filmed it; then if there was something there, I'd broadcast the thing as "Live" and impressed the World. If there was nothing, I'd have written an article on how disappointed I was. Give me the giggly, jovial local folks any day.

My Step-Daughter

She's a wonderful child, but she has some bizarre views of the world. My stubborn child thinks she has to be popular at school. To the point where she is proably overlooking some real good long term friends to try to fit in with the "cool" kids. She isn't one, nor will she ever be; and I'm glad. She isn't selfish; she's kind, caring, helpful. She thinks of others first then herself. The "cool" kids only thing of themselves. She has figured that she has to be a cheerleader. We have finally convinced her that she needs dance classes at least to be able to have a chance when she tries out. She won't listen to us when we tell her that only a small portion of those that try out make it, and it's usually a popularity contest. She is stubborn like I said. We've figured the best way to deal with this is to let her try out and fail. We are trying to protect her and she doesn't see it. I never thought it would be so hard to let someone rise and fall on their own merits, but it's hard when it's your child. She tries so hard to be independent, and for the most part we let her.....under supervision of course. So Friday night we decide to go to the County Fair. Liv wanted one little girl from school to go with her, but she couldn't go so she ended up bringing along HellGirl. Now this child came over to our house before, but showed signs of being a....well a bitch then. This kid has freaks for parents. They don't want to drop her off at peoples houses, but when they do (after much prodding) they pull up and basically dump her out. This HellGirl basically treats Liv like she is a leper in school. I got the impression that HG was going with us because she wanted to go to the Fair but her asshole folks wouldn't take her. Needless to say, HG is a slut, a potential drug user (she was telling Liv about sucking on air cleaner cans...basically inhaling freon...oooo that's smart, and my wonderfully naive Daughter was giving her looks like "WTF??") basically a user and loser. She was kissing and hugging on a dozen boys at the Fair...some in High School.....(dude!!! When I was in High School I wanted High School girls not 12 year olds.....). Basically this child(?) is not allowed at our house or on any outing ever again. My wonderful Wife will be explaining this to Liv, something she has insisted on doing, and hopefully the child will see Cat's point.