This speaks for itself I think

26

Today's List - 1/29

1. It looks like Giuliani may drop out if he doesn't win in Florida tonight. I don't think he will win, so that's one more jerk candidate out of the running. However, its kind of scary because Itchy-trigger-finger McCain is looking pretty strong. I'm glad I'm not Republican - how do you chose between crazy McCain and fake Romney.

2. Both Clinton and Obama really want an endorsement from Bill Richardson. He said that if he is going to endorse a candidate it will likely be by the end of the week and that "it's going to be a gut feeling. It's not going to be about statistics, about past ties." In the same article he tells a story about one of the debates where he stopped listening when a question was directed at another candidate, sort of taking a mental break, when the moderator directed the same question to him "So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?" As he desperately looked for a clue before asking the mod to repeat the question Barack Obama went "Katrina, Katrina" saving Richardson's ass a bit. After what Billary has done in the campaign over the last few weeks do you think she would have helped or fed him to the wolves. I'm going with choice B. So I'm thinking that his "gut" might just tell him that Obama is the way to go.

3. I also think that, although Richardson barely got a word in during his last few debates he was trying to maintain some level of civility - another reason why I think he might choose Obama if anybody.

4. I also think he should choose wisely since I am hoping that he is on the top of the shortlist for VP possibilities. Imagine a VP with some actual positive international experience.

5. Bush did a good job highlighting his presidency last night: an economy crashing under the weight of lenders screwing over poor borrowers and nearly a trillion spent on a war started for false reasons, a Damoclean education program with lofty goals and no funding to back it, and the reputation of an imperialist internationally.

6. My pick for the Super Bowl? OK, its easy to pick the Patriots, but I will also say that the Giants will cover the 13-point spread and that betters should go with the "under" in the over/under, which I think is sitting at around 53 or so. I'm thinking 27-17 in an ungodly boring game.

7. It looks like the Galaxy will pick up another somewhat well-known European player. Celestine Babayaro played for 7 years or so for Chelsea and was last at Newcastle before being waved due to injury issues. If he becomes consistently healthy he will be part of a very solid backline with Abel Xavier, Ty Harden(maybe?), and an undetermined 3rd defender.

8. The proposed tax refund should get most people around $600 and couples around $1200. If you're getting that money, what would you do with it? I more or less spent it on a new Mac Mini that I haven't technically bought yet.

Today's List - 1/25

1. FYI: Its raining. A lot. That means you need to take it a little easy on the freeway. I saw one accident happen and 3 that had already happened on the freeway on the way to work today. I'm looking at you Mercedes and BMW drivers.

2. Since Derrick asked I will answer: Yeah, I think it sucks that there were a million people waiting to snap a photo of a bodybag with dead Heath Ledger. And I think the coverage of him, Britney Spears, Anna Nicole, et al goes way overboard. I don't blame the paparazzi though. They are doing a job, albeit a sleazy job, but they are only meeting the public's demand for that kind of shit.

3. Wow. Obama absolutely thrashed Hillary in South Carolina. I'm waiting to see if this changes some of the polls in other states. She needed to get her ass handed to her after the dirty campaign that she has been running. Bill needs to get his nuts put in the grinder as well. That whole week before the primaries shows exactly why I don't like her - she doesn't care about what is right, she only cares about what will get her success. Both of those douchebag Clintons should be ashamed of what they are doing. Slate's John Dickerson has a good article about it.

4. I went to Wal-Mart yesterday. No, I did not buy anything. I was only the driver on the trip and I felt like I should let my sister-in-law go where she wanted since it was her daughter in the hospital that brought me back to the 909 yesterday. In any case, that place is quite possibly the closest I will ever get to hell on Earth. Its dirty, crowded, unorganized, and I can't look at the employees without feeling the deepest sympathy for them. I see the t-shirt for $6 and know that it only needs to be $7 in order for the company to pay their employees fair wages and get them some kind of insurance.

5. I feel so much better about the universe today. I have in the past written about my students' poor taste in movies. This weekend many of them went to see "Meet the Spartans" and the majority said that they walked out during the movie and snuck into Rambo. I don't condone theater hopping, but I'm impressed with their decision.

6. On a hypocritical note - has anyone done the theater-hopping thing before. I don't mean buying tickets to one show and going to a different one. I mean you buy for one movie, watch that movie, then sneak into another theater for another movie. I think I might check that out one of these days, maybe check out 3 movies in one day. The problem is that I'm not sure if there will ever be 3 movies in theaters that I want to see at the same time.

7. Read this on a website that I can't find again: "Wolf [from American Gladiators] is the new Chuck Norris". Blasphemy.

I want to do that, but I can't because...I know

So there is a certain actor that is allegedly crazy, we'll call him Com Truise. He did an interview about a certain religion that I will call Tienscology. Its really funny. So funny that the Tienscologists had it pulled from YouTube, but not this site. Check it out before they pull this one.

"We have to go around the world with a tambourine and a tin cup."

Today's List - 1/17/08

1. The quote in the title is by Ross Perot. Remember him? Ran for President in '92 as the Reform Party candidate? Big Ears? Well, he said this in reference to the current economy and the practice by large banks of borrowing money from foreign countries. Also talks a lot of shit about McCain. Kind of a funny article.

2. (got this from Lauri). Did you know that there is a person suing the government for 3 quadrillion dollars. Here it is in all its glory: 3,000,000,000,000,000. That's a lot of zeros. There are actually almost 500,000 claims filed against the government for its failure to build good levees to protect New Orleans. One lawyer who represents a bunch of Katrina victims says that a lot of the suits are being filed just to make a point. I think there is a difference between making a point and making an ass out of yourself.

3. I want to give tons of recognition to Jamie Carragher. Most of you don't know who he is, but this week he played his 500th game for Liverpool. What makes this story better is that Liverpool is his hometown team that he supported as a kid and he has never played, nor likely will ever play, for any other team. That's pretty rare in sports these days.

4. Should I explain the Flying Space Monkey vs. Orangutan battle? Maybe, but I think a lot of the blame rests squarely on Lauri's shoulders.

5. Another funny quote from the Ross Perot article. Well, not so much a quote as it is a bumper-sticker that he got in the mail. "Monica Lewinsky's ex-boyfriend's wife for Pres."

6. If you haven't checked out The Onion recently you should think about it.

7. Who is going to check out Cloverfield? I'm getting tempted and may break down and see it this weekend.

8. Speaking of this weekend: U.S. vs. Sweden at the Home Depot Center Saturday evening. I may have two extra tickets and a few extra beers in the cooler. Let me know.

Dates to take note of

January 28th: Bush's last State of the Union Address. Drinks that night? Concensus says yes. (Read that phrase again. LAST State of the Union address.)

February 5th: Super Tuesday. Tons of primaries and caucuses. Candidates should be decided that night. The League of Space Monkey Voters is hosting a results watching gathering. We extend an invitation to our orangutan brothers in an effort to unite under the hopes for a good Democratic candidate. The show starts when you show up - but maybe not until after 5:00. The CA results should start rolling in at 8:00.

Resolutions

Every year I make the same lame-ass resolutions and break them by Martin Luther King Day, which is next week. I always say that I'm going to read more and watch less TV, then they put awesome shows on the air like American Gladiators, Ghost Hunters, Deadliest Catch, The Office, etc. I always say that I will work out more and lose some weight, but then In N' Out stays open and beer continues to be legal. I swear that I will do a better job keeping things clean and organized and then I break the other two amendments again.

Well this year I'm not only renewing all of those resolutions, but I am taking on a new one that I think everyone reading this should take on as well. I am going to be more green. It will be easy since Amanda has bought into the idea as well (thanks to Oprah, who always tells Amanda what to do). My challenge to all who read this is to be more green as well. Here are some of the ways that I am changing my lifestyle to be more environmentally friendly:

No more plastic or paper grocery bags. We already take re-usable bags to Trader Joe's. In fact, Amanda and I both have a set of three in our cars so either of us can do the shopping. How easy is it? The bags cost 99-cents at Trader Joe's and when you use them they enter you into a drawing for a $25 gift card. I know other places carry them as well. Americans go through an unreal amount of grocery bags and the plastic ones just sit in landfills forever or end up in the ocean. The paper ones just kill more trees.

High Efficiency bulbs. Pete and Lauri inspired me to take this one more seriously. I bought a package of these more than a year ago at Costco, but they weren't bright enough. Well, there are CFL bulbs out these days that have the same output as 100-watt incandescents. Yes, they cost more, but they are getting cheaper and they last forever and they supposedly have an effect on your electricity bill. By the end of January I will replace all of my old bulbs with CFL bulbs. Except the chandelier, which has small bulbs. I will replace those when I find small CFLs.

Use less paper products. We use way too many paper towels and paper napkins. We have more-or-less ditched the use of paper plates, but napkins are a great convenience. Our goal is to use more cloth napkins when eating, use sponges that can be re-used to wipe down counters, and cloth towels whenever possible.

Take shorter showers. This is easier said than done on cold winter mornings, but your water heater is one of the top 3 users of energy in your home. Plus, it looks like water shortages may be an issue in the years to come.

Unplug things that are not being used. Even when your appliances are turned off they are using power. We have started unplugging things like the toaster and coffee maker when we are not using them. An alternative would be to buy "smart strips" which are power strips that cut off all power to the appliances with the flip of a switch. I may not invest in these yet, but we are working on unplugging things.

I know that there are many more things that we can do to be more green, save energy, etc. I have already decided that my next car will be a hybrid. When we get a house we will look into solar panels. My feeling is that as "green living" becomes more popular companies will be more willing to produce more green products in large numbers, thus reducing their prices. In fact, you can already see this with the CFL bulbs.

What drove me to this resolution? Lots of things. I think that there are only a few foolish people left that are still doubting global warming - mostly because they have a lot to lose by doing so. I want to help with that problem. Also, I think that we have become so dependent on oil as an energy resource that we are held hostage by the price of a barrel and the countries that provide the oil we use. If we can transfer our dependence to more renewable sources (some of which are free like wind and the sun) then we won't need to keep feeding these sometimes sketchy oil barons. Global warming is not our only environmental problem despite its prevalence in the press. We are dumping tons of trash into the environment, especially the oceans. To see what got my attention on this issue check out the special that the L.A. Times ran last year about the oceans.

Again, I hope that many of you reading will also take up the challenge to be more green and get the people around you to do the same.

And don't vote Republican - that will help as well.

Sitting in a dark band room with Bagger Vance

That's literally what I am doing right now. The band teacher is out and they couldn't get a real sub for him so I am sitting here in the dark band room while the students watch "Legend of Bagger Vance". What does that movie have to do with band? I don't know but that's what the teacher left for them. So, to fill the time, I am going to rant a bit.

First, have you realized that we are going to elect a new president this year?!? Nice. For me, I am almost as excited about the process of electing that new president as I am about the fact that we won't have Bush anymore. I'm pretty sure that most of you know that I am a pretty serious Obama supporter and I'm also pretty excited that there are a lot of people around me that I am jumping on board. Having said that, I want to give my view about where I think this thing is going.

Republicans: I guess its obvious that its down to Giuliani, McCain, Huckabee, and Romney. Let's get serious though. I think Rudy is done. 6th and 4th in the two big state contests doesn't spell victory. Also, I'm not sure he's "America's Mayor" anymore. My real surprise is still how any true Republican can take this guy seriously when he has so many liberal views on issues like abortion. In the end, I don't think Americans still believe in the politics of fear and 9-11 is still Giuliani's calling card. I also don't see much of a shot for Huckabee, but that's more of a hunch than a real theory based on polls or anything. That leaves McCain and Romney. Yesterday, Romney decided to shed a few tears of his own when talking about his father. Maybe they were legit and maybe he wanted to use the Hillary crying tactic. Either way people will see it as fake and that doesn't go well. Somehow Republicans are also ignoring the fact that McCain is crazy and should not be elected president. However, I don't really have a real opinion about who I think will win. I do think that Democrats are rooting for McCain because any debate between McCain and any Democrat ends with the fact that McCain still supports the war in Iraq.

Democrats: Unless something crazy happens in the next week its really down to Clinton and Obama. She won't be able to use the tears again, so that card is out. I'm also wondering how she feels legitimate using the desire for change as the basis for her campaign. Obama went with that back when he wrote his book. Now everyone is running with it. Also, I am still trying to figure out where her 35 years experience is. Obama is often called the inexperienced candidate, but he doesn't have that much less experience than Clinton. Also, he is really the only candidate that seems like he is really speaking honestly. The others seem scripted. I think it will come down to Obama's ability to motivate people and those people will be the ones that give him the nomination after Super Tuesday (February 5th).

That's my very disorganized view of the elections as they stand. I am signing off because the bell is going to ring and I hate the band room.

A new level of nerd-dom

Today I became a Level 3 Answerer at Yahoo! Answers. Here is the answer that put me over the top. I am also proud that 25% of my answers have been picked as the best answer. Proud in a very nerdy way.

2008 Post #1

Check out the new Giuliani ad:



In other words - for for him or you will die.

Nice message.

Here's Obama's speech from Iowa last night (its pretty long - 13 minutes). He won the Democratic caucus, Giuliani got 6th in his.



That one is just a little more positive.