So today the Mexican President attended the funeral of one of his former top heads in his war against drug cartels. A few hours before the funeral, a senior detective was gunned down by seven bullets to his head & neck, and two other top police officers have also been murdered over the span of a few days.

Safe to say that the drug cartels are in charge? Wonder what has to be done. I guess it’s rough ousting the former ruling party, eh? Very sad.



The Many pains of Jujutsu
Today I had initially planned to get home from work, and then work out my legs. In reality, I got home from work, and worked out my eyelids. Because I was tired, and my legs were more-so.

My knees. My knees felt like they were suspended in pudding or something. They were slow, felt swollen, and just sort of ached a little. No real pounding pain, but it just didn’t feel like my good ol’ knees in general.

My leg muscles. My butt was sore, as were my calfs. I sort of figured my calfs would be sore from all the toe-curling action during the kicks and takedowns, but I didn't figure on the butt. So I in effect got my leg workout on already, albeit a day early.

Oh, and my foot. My left foot I think I sprained the top of it. The top of it? Yeah, the top. I was doing some rolls yesterday as practice, and I rolled onto and then over the top of my left foot, and I heard some popping. I made it through the rest of the class, but when I got home I could tell that it was probably going to be a little sore today. And I was right.

Oh well. Such is life. I feel pretty good overall, especially after my nap. Tomorrow I begin class at 11am. Hopefully I sleep well tonight. Will need it.



Tired?
Yeah. Remember we watched “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” last night. Well I mentioned it was long? Couple that with the fact that we didn’t actually start it until closer to 10pm. I don’t recommend that, should you find yourself in a similar situation.



The Girl’s changing climate wrt Pit Bulls
For the longest time The Girl has maintained that pit bulls are not inherently dangerous, that they are trained to be a certain way.

I have not believed this myself during this time. The truth of the matter is that pit bulls are involved in more bites & attacks than any other dog type. For me, it’s safe to say that the same as labradors are instinctively drawn to water & swimming, as are pit bulls to aggressiveness. I mean, that may not always have been the case, they weren’t always supposed to be killer dogs, and in fact they do have some stigma that is not deserved (German Shepherds actually bite harder, and both pale in comparison to the Rottweiler). But the fact is that today’s pit bulls are not by rule friendly family dogs as they once were, sad as it may be.

I attributed this defensive posture of The Girl to the fact that her dog is figured to be part pit bull of some fashion, most likely American Staffordshire Terrier, which is is commonly grouped with pit bulls (duh). Yes, she’s cute, no she’s not much a threat, but that doesn’t change the rule. It might just help define it, know what I mean?

Anyway, those feelings & defenses have eroded over the past few months. First she had her mom inform her that her cat had been killed when someone brought over their “friendly” pit bull and it chased down the feline and essentially ate it. The cat was some 20 years old or thereabout. Then just tonight, she found out a coworker friend of hers had her dog killed by someone’s “friendly” pit bull at a party both dogs attended.

Not only that, but we had also read recently in the paper about some dogs that had been attacked & killed by someone’s “friendly” family pit bull at the beach. Twice. In February.

I think it’s safe to say that The Girl is ready to admit that perhaps there’s something to the idea that pit bulls are in fact inherently dangerous pets. In the same way that Labradors are inherently perfect family dogs. It’s in the breed, I’m sorry.

Peace.

Tags: Gym, Entertainment, Politics

I had a dull throbbing in my head all day yesterday. We cancelled our workout for the day, because the throbbing headache was afflicting us both. Well we were turning into bumps on a log – or a couch, as it were – and I wanted to get us out of that little slump we found ourselves in. So…



Dogs HO!
… we got ourselves up and ready and took the dogs out to the dunes. It’s fun there, because I can go off-roading a little, and the dogs can play in the sand and the water. It’s on the peninsula of the bay, which is rather narrow, so you’re not more than ¼-mile from the bayside to the beachside, so there’s plenty of options for fun times.

It took some convincing. Mostly me convincing The Girl, but we made it up and out, around 2:15 or so. Spent the better part of two hours there.



Nice weather we’re having
Been nice the last few days. Not hot, not cold, just in between. Yesterday it was overcast most of the day, but it wasn’t cold, even at the peninsula. Of course after we got home and took a nap, it cleared right up and was nice & sunny too. Go figure.

Of course it’s supposed to rain today & tomorrow. I am neither pleased nor displeased by this, just mentioning it. Two days of it. Then back to the same ol’ overcast & sunny days for a while.



A week from Today: Ass-kicking training
I start my jujutsu classes next Tuesday. :-) (that’s me smiling). I am happy about this. I am excited and a lil’ nervous, too. I haven’t really done anything like this before, save for a two-week trial when I was like 4 years old or something. I don’t think that counts. No one fears me when I tell them I took karate for two weeks when I was four and achieved white-belt status.

So I need to stop in and pay. And I guess pick out a suit. Oh sh!t there’s another downside to this, too.

You see, I “go commando.” It’s very liberating, as it were. Been doing it for years, so don’t act shocked, and uh, don’t get that weird look on your face that I can tell you have right now. It’s not like they’re going to jump out and grab you just because they’re not in tightie-whities or anything, OK? They’re still safely under wraps, so get over it.

However with all the tussling and stuff I’m going to be doing? I might have to go to the other extreme. That’s right, spandex. Ew. The boys are squirming just thinking about. It’s gross. Ew.



Watched “An Inconvenient Truth” last night
Not going to bother reviewing the thing. It’s a documentary, and if you have been anywhere but under a rock the past 2 years, you know what it’s about. Al Gore? Global Warming? ‘Nuff said.

Anyway, he makes a compelling case. Not that he’s really making it so much as he’s explaining it in ‘real terms’ for people. It’s one thing to hear scientists use big words, it’s quite another to see graphs about the damage we’ve done and be hit with the realities of what our future will hold for us at the current rates. None of this came as a shock to me, I have known for quite some time. But I could see others who aren’t as ‘in the know’ about this stuff as me being quite surprised by some of the factoids presented.

One of the things I was happy to see was the mention of it really more than anything being a function of our exploding population. It’s not mentioned enough I feel, and I think that a lot of the issues we face could be dealt with if we just started to control the population better. I mean, in an extreme sort of example… if there were 1,000 people on earth, would it really matter if we drove 1mpg cars around? The earth’s systems would be more than able to accommodate that sort of usage. But 7 billion people? Things get a little tighter then. I mean, it’s still the same earth with the same capacity for resources, but now you’ve got a lot more mouths to worry about, and a lot more butts putting waste out into the same limited space. It’s a big issue is what I’m saying.

So if you have not seen it, I would recommend watching it. It’s long and feels longer than it really is due to the nature of the material, but it’s not really boring. Just educational.

Peace.

Tags: Technology, Animals

So yeah watched Across the Universe last night. It was… well, it was… like an art school project gone horribly wrong. Yes, remind me next time to avoid like the plague any and all arthouse flicks. Wow what a horrible movie. Dammit I cannot stand musicals!

I’m not sure what they were thinking. I mean, it takes a lot of effort to ruin a story like they did. The actual plot wasn’t that bad, but then they incorporate all these damn singing sequences that really detract from the point of everything else, because it’s so damn corny. Sorry, I’m not a West Side Story kinda guy; groups of people break out spontaneously into song and dance and I break into a wild frenzy in which someone – perhaps multiple retarded singers/dancers – must die, that’s just the way it is.

And they damn near ruined the entire Beatles Catalogue as well. Few if any of the voices and performances were worth listening to. I would have preferred just listening to a CD of it all and being done with it.

Do not watch this movie. Do not believe the hype that it’s “visually stunning” or “a storytelling masterpiece;” it’s absolute crap I can attest. A real, honest-to-goodness F-minus.



This is why Republicans suck
Mccain has been busy in the campaign trail simplifying the issues in such a way as to prey on the fears of the constituents to get elected. This is not right. It is not right to say that if we withdraw “Al Queda will have won,” because you’re implying that we are fighting Al Queda, and that they are the reason we got involved.

Little-known fact (read the above-linked article), but there was no Al Queda presence in Iraq until after we invaded in 2003. So in all reality, if “Al Queda wins” it’s because we went there in the first place; the republicans don’t want to admit this of course, because it was their idea and they're wholly responsible for the threats they have created there.

So they continue to frame it in such a way as to imply that we’re the heroes doing god’s work. Oh yeah, it’s the modern-day Crusades folks, don’t be fooled by the smoke and mirrors.


Safe to say that I hate republicans like I hate musicals…

Peace.


Across the universe review - Worst Movie Ever?

Tags: Politics, hate

I worked my arse of last night at work (of all places to do such a thing), and started feeling rather run-down as the night progressed. I hoped it was just that the long day had taken its toll on me, as I had gotten up early to take the dogs out, then gotten home and began a vigorous shoulder workout, then cleaned myself up to go to work and dog myself there, too.

Secretly though, I feared I was getting what The Girl was giving to me. B*tch.

She had started to feel ill a few days ago, and I tried to keep my distance. But I’m a man, and nature calls us on occasion, sick or not. Damn my lover ways, next thing I know I’m sick too. What a way to ruin a weekend off. Damn that woman; she’s such a giver.



Across the… the… LIVING ROOM!
Since The Girl is not feeling all that well, she decided to get her shift covered tonight. Since I’m off too and not feeling all that great myself, we’re going to sit back, relax, eat ice cream and watch a movie. On the agenda? Across the Universe. The reviews have been all over the map, with some calling it a masterpiece, and it looks a little odd. What the heck though, right? Netflix is workin’ OK, so I figure that we’ll put it on the queue, and see what happens. Maybe it'll be the next Shawshank.

I’ll be sure to report back to all the people that don’t read my blog anyway so you won’t know how the movie is.



More Proof The Mighty Dollar owns our Gov’t
Here’s a nice link to a blog post on the cosumerist that summarizes the state of personal taxes and corporate taxes now, years past, and into the future.

Hey these are figures BY the government; I’m not making this sh!t up.

Peace.

Tags: Politics, Entertainment

So a few nights ago we went to the symphony. They did Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (remember I had said that it was Mozart; I was wrong – that’s next month). It was very pretty.

I have lots of classical music in my collection. But nothing can really compare to the depth, the power of the live orchestra. It’s magical. The music is alive, you feel it and it’s a wonderful experience, it really is. Tonight was the first that I have ever been to see an orchestra live. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I – I think we may make this “Our Thing,” as it were. It’s just too bad that they’re off the charts after next month. I think the “season” opens up again in October. Nice. Hopefully in time for my birthday. Buy me a present, btw.



Dairy farming: Organic vs “Conventional”
I was reading some “Did You Know” facts about a local dairy co-op while on lunch @ work the other day. They were saying that 19 of their members were “conventional” dairy farmers and 24 were Organic. And it got me thinking. It’s a simple question, and it’s a simple answer.

What is “Conventional?” And what is “Organic?” Conventional is by definition what is done ‘normally.’ Organic is taken to mean that the product is raised/groomed/created without the use of synthetic chemicals. Up until sometime around the middle of the last century, there were not many synthetic chemicals to bother mentioning. And it seemed to me, isn’t ‘Organic’ actually ‘Conventional?’

I mean, that’s the way it’s typically done, in nature for sure, and also around most of the globe and throughout history. Conventional is Organic. At least it should be. I am not sure why it’s perverted now, though.

They should rename ‘Conventional’ to more accurately describe what it is: “Hormone- & Unnatural Antibiotic-infested farming.” Or they could just shorten it to “Unnatural Farming.” I’d be OK with that too.

Seriously though, think about that next time you hear the word ‘Conventional.’ It sounds very low-key, very tame, something that you could take for granted. But really think about what it’s being applied to. It seems to me that just like “No Child Left Behind” was a victory of title over substance, they are using language to quell any fears that what they’re really doing might arouse. No one wants to buy milk that comes from “Hormone- & Unnatural Antibiotic-infested farming,” or even “Unnatural Farming.” But hey, Milk from “Conventional” farming methods? That doesn’t sound so bad!

Yeah. I’m all-organic, baby. And proud. And healthy. Thanks, I’ll pass on the “Conventional.”

Peace.

Tags: Politics, earth conditions

Today I got in my workout. Yay for me, except that I had to laugh at myself once I was damn near through.

See, I had started doing my back exercises, and I felt really strong. So I upped the weight a little, then a little more… 20 pounds more than I would normally do. Like, 20 pounds more than I would have done the last time I did them. That’s quite an improvement! Trust me!

Well it seemed like quite an improvement. Until I was damn near done, and I realized that I had put on the 25lb plates instead of the 35lb plates I normally use. Whoops!

Anyway, I guess it goes to show that I know my limits rather well. (2x25+20=70; 2x35=70).



The Guffaw over LeBron & Vogue
I got a glimpse of the “provacative” Vogue Cover featuring LeBron James & Giselle Bundchen (she’s hot btw). But have you heard all the ruckus over the perceived “racial overtones” of the cover? You know, that it portrays black males in a “vicious manner,” with an angry face and “clutching” a helpless white woman…

I know it sounds absurd, but in reality I see where they’re coming from. It DOES look like a scene from King Kong (the good version, not the “Jack Black’s in it totally f*cking it up version.” I hate Jack Black, btw). What would have been so bad about him being dressed to the nines? He could have still held a ball or something. Why have him in such an “active” stance, with such a scowl on his face (yes I know he’s almost smiling, but still it’s not a “hi nice to see you” sort of appearance either)?

They may not have necessarily meant it in that way, but they should have nabbed that before it went to print. Voque’s been around awhile, their covers are usually pretty well-conceived; this might not have been intentional, but it probably wasn’t an accident, either.



Did you see this video yet?
If you know me personally, then I already emailed it to you. But if you don’t know me personally, then maybe you haven’t seen this video.

It’s a rather lengthy video by internet standards (upwards of 20 minutes), but also very important. It’s also very spot-on. I’ve been saying essentially the same thing for years, and I’ve seen how people tune out; it’s funny how quickly people will bury their heads in the sand and just claim ignorance, so they can continue being someone else’s pawn.

Anyway, I didn’t learn anything from the video. Which isn’t to say that I’m smarter than anyone, only saying that it’s not news, if you’ve listened to me you may recognize some of what the narrator says. But it’s put together well, and ties a lot of things together nicely.

Definitely worth checking out. What are you waiting for? Click already!

Peace.

Tags: earth conditions, hate, Gym

They keep on saying that we need to bail out the damn mortgage industry, some sort of “economic stimulus” plan, prop it all up with some $30 billion. I just don’t get it.

To me, it would seem that amounts to perpetuating the republican agenda. I mean, the dems didn’t create the housing boom, it serves the purpose of keeping most of the people (whom they’re supposed to be “for”) out of one of the biggest facets of the American Dream… yet they keep right on going for that. Election year politics? Man, f*ck.

Sorry, but propping up the housing market serves no one except the people looking to turn around and sell for profit sometime soon. The market’s overvalued, and if they prop it up and keep the prices artificially high, then they’re locking soooo many low-income families out of the possibility of ever owning the roof over their heads.

This is decidedly not a democratic ideal. I don’t know what the hell they’re thinking. I actually – GASP! – agree with McCain on this one.



Workout stories
I haven’t worked out much recently. I was hit by the flu bug, albeit not too hard. But then I just sort of never got much better for the better part of two weeks, and only recently got good enough to lift frequently. Like, 3 days ago.

One thing I noticed during my hiatus: lack of gas. Yeah, that gas. Almost as soon as I got back on the bandwagon though, the gas came back. And it hit me: I may not be as naturally gassy as I feared myself to be; it may be a byproduct of the whey protein supplement I take when I work out. Er, used to take. I have been off it for almost two weeks and haven’t had any issues, so I am going to try getting on it again, see if the gas reappears. If so? Then I’m screwed.

More specifically, my wallet’s screwed. Because it’s not like I’m going to not lift. Rather, I’m going to have to relegate myself to actually eating the protein I need, as opposed to drinking it on the cheap. And it’s not like I don’t enjoy the eating. It’s just a bit more expensive.

So if you’re a workout buff and you think gas is just a way of life for you? Maybe not. It may just be a “whey” of life. May be another point to the old adage, “you get what you pay for.” No way to cheap out on the weight gain either, apparently. At least for me.

Peace.

Tags: Politics, Gym

Last night I was told as I took shift that we could probably expect a visit from our Corporate Internal Theft/ Loss Prevention division. Well this makes the night a little harder than usual, because now we have to dot all our I’s and cross all our T’s, but then we also have to go and initial that we did that & get verification that we did indeed dot & cross and initial those I’s and T’s.

And it struck me: the business model is flawed. We don’t do on a daily basis what the Loss Prevention department would have us do. We can’t. If we followed all those directives, we’d not get anything done that is needed to get done to move product out and get the store shoppable. We just can’t, it takes too much time to be so tight-fisted on every front. Obviously the simple answer to all of that is “schedule more people,” and I agree, except that we’re also on hour budgets, so we can’t. If we schedule more people, we go over-budget on man-hours, and we get raked over the coals for that. And that’s when I realized that there’s this disconnect between the people designing the directives and the ones carrying them out. They’re not carried out is the trick, because it’s simply not possible to complete the overall mission and actually follow all the conflicting directions. No one ever tells the higher-ups how it really works, because they don’t want to be hung out to dry. Because honestly, if one store steps out when no others complain? Then it seems they’re mismanaged, because no one else complained, so they get reprimanded, which stands as a good testament to the other stores as to why they shouldn’t mention it.

So the Loss Prevention Department works to restrict sales and efficiency. And the Sales and Marketing department works to grow sales and efficiency. They collide. Fun ensues.



Pomp & Circumstance
I also thought, however, that it might be a necessity. As in, perhaps they do indeed know that their directives step all over one another. In a perfect world, maybe it would all be possible to do. However, I thought that perhaps the district personnel know that it’s an utter impossibility to toe the line and still meet sales objectives. Perhaps they know it’s all a show when they’re in town….

What I was thinking was that, even though we can’t follow the rules as strictly as they’re set, maybe it’s like aiming for the moon. Sure you’ll never get it, but by setting the goal at that level, you are more likely to stay in a “middle ground” that is acceptable. I mean, I thought to myself, why don’t they relax the rules and let us do our jobs? But then I thought, if they did relax the rules, probably a great many stores would not be as close to the standard as they now are; lowering the standards typically lowers performance, even if you’re simply lowering the standard to the current, sustainable level of performance. See “No Child Left Behind” for the point.

Maybe? Maybe that’s what it is? Maybe it is all show & go… They show up, we do the little dance so they know how important they are, and then they go…. And we get back to doing our jobs.

I think that may be it.

They’s a-crumblin’, folks, don’t know if you’ve read the news on the matter or not. But if you’re being swayed by folks saying that now is the time to buy, you better just shut those ears of yours down.

Oh no, this is a major correction we’re in the midst of, people. This ain’t no 1-2 month slide before it rises again, this is going to take the better part of years to get back to normal. In under 10 years, the housing market rose some 400%, while median wage rates remained almost flat. It was unsustainable, and if you put your money in now, you’re really just throwing it away.

Why do these people say that it’s going to bounce back? They’re trying to think positive thoughts, that’s what’s up. They’re losing their shirts in the market, they bought in hook-line-and-sinker, and of course, misery loves company. You don’t want to be that company.



Smart money move?
Rent for now. Find a decent place that you can afford and live out of for the next 3-4 years, maybe even 5-6 (yes, years). Yes, it will take that long. You don’t lose 75% of the current cost overnight; people want to believe their homes are still worth close to what they paid, so houses on the market will go gradually down the price slope, trust me on this.

Hey, I was right about Iraq, right? Right? Trust me on this.



Gross but I’ll tell you anyway
The dogs have worms. Eww. Yes, it’s eww. Sorry you had to experience it vicariously through me like that, but don’t worry, I’m going to try and get them taken care of today. And if not today, then definitely tomorrow.

But probably today. Because that’s just ewww.

Tags: Animals

Waiting for Spring to have, uh, sprung. Fall went quick, Summer went quicker, but Winter will not go away. What the Hell.

I keep going to the beach hoping I can run around without a shirt on and get a tan. But mostly it’s just chilly. Some days I have gotten away with it, but 90% of the time I take a jacket with me and cling to it like crazy to Britney.

Then I have to remind myself that yes, indeed it’s only February. I don’t know why I’d expect to be livin’ it up in the sun in the dead of Winter.

Silly random bob! This ain’t So Cal! Remember, that’s why we’re here now!



Something I am contemplating
Notes on God. I don’t know why, but I spend a lot of time thinking about God. You may find this strange if you know me, as you know I’m agnostic, but there’s more to it than that; I believe in God, just not the book version. I don’t subscribe to religion, I tend to think it’s a pox on our people, perverted more often than not to help a few subvert a many.

But I do believe in God. And when I’m alone, doing the dishes, looking out the windows, my mind wanders, and I think of God. What do I think God is? I have lots of ideas at different times. Or rather, I have the same idea, but come up with new ways to frame it with words. And I think I should start a running log, sort of a “conversations with myself – about God” kind of journal, just tracking my ideas as they hit me. I mean, my laptop’s never far from me anyway, so it’s not like it’d be hard to do. Might have to do that. Maybe just make blog entries about it :-)



How is it you believe in god?
Well I knew it would be a strange idea for some of you to accept I do indeed believe in God. I mean, I do spend an awful lot of energy denouncing religion after all. Why do I believe in God? I believe in evolution, I don’t believe some “being” created man as he is today, I think we evolved from monkeys, who in turn evolved from amoebas.

I think that God did not create life per se, he created to drive to live. And life sprung from that. Make sense? Well maybe I can make it a little clearer:

Evolution makes complete sense, we see it day-in, day-out. But where does it start? I mean, I can grasp an amoeba eventually mutating, turning into something else, etc etc. But at the very beginning, what made a bunch of inanimate stuff decide to form an amoeba? What doesn't make sense is evolution coming into being from inanimate surroundings. Why would a grain of dirt decide that it should form DNA or something of that sort? Why subject itself to death? I mean, how does an inanimate thing ‘decide’ to live?

That’s God. To me, that’s what God is: the motivation to live. Among other things.

Stay tuned.

Tags: Technology

As you may know by now, we’re engrained in the Organic Culture. We try to get organic whenever possible, with a 90% success rate. Yes it’s slightly more sometimes (slightly less others), but we eat 3 times a day and care about our health and the quality of the food we eat, so it’s worth it.

We also love Round Table Pizza. If you know me, you know this. No secret. Well, of course they use quality ingredients, that’s why it tastes better than Dominos or any other brand I’ve had. But do they use organic? Probably not. So we figured we’d remedy that situation the same way we remedied brownies, cookies, steak, and everything else: make it ourselves!

Because of course all you do is fling some dough around, put tomato sauce and cheese and pepperoni on it and cook, right?

WRONG WRONG WRONG! Talk about eating crap. WOW. This pizza blew. We figured we were failures in more ways than one, first being horrible pizza cooks, and also using the wrong crust recipe…

Well it turns out we were right, but it was sorta not our fault. Pizza’s involved! Found this thread whilst looking up the recipe for RTP’s crust. We had no idea that pizza-making was such an involved process. 14 pages in, and these guys still can’t get it right. And they seem to know what they’re talking about. Hell if I do. And if you know me, you know something right away: I’m too damn lazy to go through all that for a pizza that’ll last <10 minutes on my plate.

Obviously, Round Table has a customer for life.



Cast Away
Watched this movie last night after we got home from Denny’s (more on that later). Was tired, wanted an easy movie to watch that I could fall asleep through and not miss much, yet still be entertained whilst I was awake. I think it was a good choice.

It’s a good movie. I know it can be kinda boring in some senses, corny at times even (I have made FIRE! - shut up...), but it does a good job of focusing you on a certain select few issues/emotions, and staying with them. Such as, what is lonely? That is lonely. He was lonely. And what would it feel like to be him? I mean for me and possibly many others, the thought of being trapped on a tropical island? No problem, huh? But here we are, peaking in at the reality of it, and maybe it’s not all that great. I mean yeah, he was totally alone, but I can imagine being there with the one other person I’d want: Marisa Miller. OK OK, The Girl… Would we be OK? It’d surely be a nice vacation for a few weeks. But after that? Would we grow tired of it? Would we crave modern society? I just don’t know.

Especially considering that we’re two people who are actively considering not having kids. Would we keep that mentality when presented with life alone on a deserted island? Would we have kids to have company? To take care of us? To build a society? To form unions and Social Security?

Just don’t know. I guess I’ll have to crash a plane to find out for sure. But it’s an interesting internal debate, and I think processing the reality of it could probably make a lot of so-called loners realize they’re not that into being alone after all.

It’s a good movie. And I didn’t even touch on how it points out all we take for granted, and how far removed we are from all that survives us. Another day perhaps.



Capitalism at its… Best?
Recently decided that I could use a larger iPod, say a nano or something of that nature. Nothing outrageous, just something with a screen (my Shuffle has none) and thus the ability to easily navigate more than one playlist, and play the music I’m in the mood for when I'm in the mood for it.

The brand new nanos are a little bigger than I care for, and they place an emphasis on the screen I don’t care for either (thanks, I have a 52” HDTV for watching movies, thank you very much). So the older, 2nd-gen. nanos seemed like a good fit.

Until, that is, I tried to price them out. They’re not made any more, so limited supply, coupled with their apparent appeal, and you have older equipment that is 300% more expensive than the current-gen. Amazing. Yeah, sorry, but I’m not paying $450 for an iPod. It better… well, it better do unspeakable things for me for that much coin, if you are pickin’ up what I’m throwin’ down, as the kids say these days.

I could get one of them iPod Touches for that much money! Sh!t! Maybe I will!

Probably not.

Peace.

Tags: Entertainment, earth conditions

Today on The Today Show (what a name, by the way) they showcased this new tech called “Bluetooth,” showing us some cool devices and letting us know how this new technology can work for us!

Except, that, uh, Bluetooth has been around since at least 1999. Yes, 9 years ago, The Today Show would have been on top of it. 9 years later though, I think they’re a little late to the party. I’ve used Bluetooth headsets on and off since like 5 years ago. My mouse is Bluetooth. I actually have a Blue Tooth. Seriously.

Makes me scared to think that people may actually be out there that are this behind the times. Scary. I mean, this is the future, and the future is now. If you’re not at least aware of what’s around you, you’re not only going to be left behind, you’ll be trampled over and then forgotten.

WOW.


Peace.

Tags: Technology, Entertainment

Wow. Just, Wow.

What an important movie. But yet,

What a boring movie.

It’s very important in that it deals with big corporations being in bed with government, and the “illusions” of justice & whatnot that they promote in order to do the dastardly things they do. But some characters are so superfluous, only there to put big names in (why the hell is George Clooney important again?). And generally, there’s no connection to any one of them, even the non-superfluous ones. It does tie all the government & Big Businessaction together with possibly the largest conspiracy/collusion of politics, business, and intelligence that exists, within the worldwide oil industry. Very important movie, yet, somehow, so very boring.

Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah! I wrote it, about 4 sentences ago! Bottom line? You should probably see it. Even though you won't enjoy it. C+



The Girl is Sick
This morning, The Girl wakes up shortly before she has to get up to get ready for school, and says “I don’t feel good.” Well that sucks! Now get out of my bed!

Seriously. I haven’t been sick since we moved up here, save for a morning or two I woke up with a scratchy throat. I have no intention of falling ill, sorry. Get out of my bed! I order you! I Command you! I Emplore you! Do it! Do it now!

But of course she did not. We fell asleep, maybe some 10 seconds later, but it was a harrowing, tense 10-second standoff until then. Before we fell asleep huddled up together for warmth. Believe me, you could feel the tension.

Peace.

Tags: Entertainment, women

For the last few days during my “free time,” I have been working like a madman in the back yard. What have I done? Well our backyard is lined with a tall, solid fence. This fence makes it darn near impossible to cut the grass along the edges. No problem, as we had planted flowers along the fence line for such a reason.

Except that trying to cut the grass means either a) mowing the flowers, or b) trampling them. How much space is needed from outer edge of mower to cutting swath? About a hoe’s width. And at that wide, it didn’t make sense to try and do the flower bed and a pathway for the mower. So a command decision was made.

The area around the fence is now barren, clean-cut, and about a hoe’s width from the edge of the fence.

Of course that can’t be all I do. No, I also decided to redo our birdbath garden area we created. We had originally propped it up with some cinder blocks buried under dirt. But that eroded, and we decided to pull the blocks and just put the fountain level with the garden floor. Which actually gives us more room to plant purdy flowers & sh!t.

Then of course, there was the issue of the other side of the house. You didn’t know this before, but it’s barren of all plant life. It’s barked in, meaning the owners (we’re renters!) didn’t want to have to worry about maintenance on that side, which is understandable as it’s merely 8 feet wide. And by barren, I mean filled with weeds. So today I also went and a) boiled the hell out of most of them, and b) got ahold of weed killer, just to make sure…

I also put up a new latch on a hidden, swinging door that was latchless before and saw fit to constantly bang in the wind whilst I try to sleep. And if that wasn’t enough, I found I needed to also fence off the barren barkland, too. As before the back patio just sort of “ended” at the bark, with no real clear-cut line, leading the bark to constantly leak over onto the patio.



And yet I’m bored
While I just gave you the short version and that seemed long, the reality is that it took up maybe 4 hours of my time.

What can I say, I’m good with the hoes ;-)



What about later?
Well it’s only early afternoon as I type, and I’ve still got a workout to look forward to in a lil’. The Girl has some studying to do – did I mention she’s back in college? – and I’ll probably take the dogs out to the beach or something.

Then? Well we do have a movie in our possession right now that Netflix saw fit to send to us. Syriana. It’s supposedly pretty damn good, and not only that but it deals with matters that, well… matter to me, namely dirty politics, dirty corporations, and all-around swindling by the all-powerful at the expense of the average joe, a little something I like to call the Military-Industrial Complex. It's serious sh!t.

Ought to be good. I’ll report back later on that.

Peace.

Tags: Entertainment, Animals

Another thing is that Hilary strikes me as someone who is willing to look at a problem and try to figure