Beneath The Outer Shell

Ghastly Interruptions and Incomprehensible Laziness

2010-07-01T17:07:00.009-04:00

i have had ENOUGH! 2 things mark the subject of my rant. 1) latest and greatest ads and pop ups on the Internet, and 2) the abundance of misspellings, poor grammar, and plain ignorant mistakes one will find on the Internet today.

first i'll talk about the ads we see today. they are so intrusive i feel sexually violated after being interrupted by the way they work. do ya like the new version of a pop up that is hidden from plain view when you first arrive at a website? i think it's called an "expandable ad". you get to the site and your reading and then the page starts to move and your almost lifted off your seat. a big expandable pile of dung stretches and covers what you are reading. at that point i'm a little perturbed and start frantically looking for the oh so small "x" to push to "close" the ad. by the time you find it and close it, you have to start all over. it's as if you have a dial up connection and just arrived at the screen. beautiful. also, there are the "fade in" ads that appear a good 60 seconds into your visit to that page. see, they wait for you to read the main article and then a sheer pop up fades in and blocks a main portion of your article. if you scroll down and try to ignore it...it comes with you like a lost little devil puppy. oh, so cute.

the other type of add that has REALLY bothered me for a while now is the "audio only" ad. i go to a lot of sites where you can watch full streaming movies and tv shows at the click of a button and every time this becomes a serious issue where i have to keep searching for that web page that is actually usable. basically it goes like this. click enter, arrive at site, look for the button to start the movie, and WHAM...there it is. an obnoxious voice with lasers and and explosions in the background doing a commercial for deodorant. every time this happens and after searching like a madman on the entire page for the source, i wait for the commercial to stop. 30-60 seconds later when the dramatic ridiculousness stops, another voice instantly starts talking. THIS is the one that gets to me...it's a complete full length SHOW (mainly about health, or some related unimportant issue). and i have to say, i have looked extensively and found that there is NO way to stop these audio ads. even Google doesn't help. if you refresh the page, it all happens again. can't hit mute on your computer because you're about to watch a movie/show. doesn't matter if you hit a button, move you mouse, or nothing at all...it will always happen regardless. this amazes me because this form of advertising completely makes that web page unusable for it's intended use. it serves no purpose other than to spam that initial commercial to that brand new first time (and last time) visitor. fantastic.

the other issue that has been rampant in my recent online excursions and adventures, is the amount of errors i see EVERYWHERE. this past week i have been searching for a new laptop and have been to SO many sites where there are reviews and articles written about laptops. it's roughly about 1 in 2 so called "consumer reviews" have some kind of grammar error, misspelling, or sometimes...a complete word or 2 missing. sure, we're not perfect. look at me! i can't even cApitaLize things aPPropriately...BUT these people are writing between 2 and 10 sentences. i don't know, but i would also think that computer geeks would actually be good at typing fast AND accurately. i wish i had kept a diary of all the screw ups i have seen in the past 7 days. oh, and YouTube? WOW. go to YouTube and read through just a few of the comments on any particular video. i PROMISE you there will be one you'll see within 30 seconds of reading. try it! i've just been thinking about how poor we have been treating the English language since the Internet, since Ebonics, since texting, and since Twitter. it's embarrassing. are the languages of other countries in the world under attack as much as English is? shoot, everyone complains that we all need to speak English in this country, but when you think about it English has been slowly ripped to shreds over the past 20 years. you watch...in the year 2025, the English language will resemble something like this:

The Karate Kid and The Human Q-Tip

2010-06-27T16:59:00.011-04:00

for whatever reason or series of reasons brought me to where i am today, i thank Thee. for whatever reason brought me to watch the latest remake of The Karate Kid, i question Thee.

the movie is really good. it works, for the most part, and it's touching and meaningful. it's not quite as good as Macchio/Morita combo, but it comes ohh so close...and in a surprising way. the remake has 2 main characters, just like the original. the difference is that the 2 main characters are 1) The Karate Kid (or we should be saying The Kung Fu Kid) and 2) China.

i was so shocked when i saw how China was utilized to it's full potential. it was awesome! it was as if we got to take a field trip there! the busy streets, the luscious green foggy landscapes, the houses, the language, you name it. in The Karate Kid, we got a glimpse of it.

the second surprise for me regarding the film is the boring, unenthusiastic, non-personality ridden Mr. Miyagi character who goes by the name "Mr. Han" and is played by Jacki Chan. on paper i guess it does look good to have Jackie Chan play this role and i do know that Jackie Chan is not known for his acting ability. this was just plain wrong. the writers tried to have the characters similar, but Pat Morita nailed that role with the perfect amount of personality, discipline, and timed wit. Jackie Chan nailed down the training and fight sequences. unfortunately, if you know the story, most of the fight scenes are between Jaden Smith and the big bad bullies which means we only get incomprehensible fight sequences and continuous moments of "wait...what happened?" during the action. maybe the makers of The Karate kid were thinking if Jackie Chan was in the movie somewhere...all of the fight scenes would come together and look spectacular. good try.

but if you have a child around 7 or 8, i think this movie is perfect. Jaden Smith does pretty well as a young role model. i liked Ralph Macchio better, but the original was a very important movie for me, as it was for many kids.

however, i don't have any kids and i watched the 2010 version of The Karate Kid and i liked it. go figure.

during the movie i remembered back when i was in Hawaii. one day, i was on the bus going to work and facing me was an older Asian man and either his son or his grandson who was maybe 7 years old sitting on his lap. they were both quiet and minding their own business when the man stuck his bare finger in the child's ear and started scraping around and cleaning...sacrificing himself as a human q-tip. i was enthralled. i kept thinking to myself, "that's pretty gross", BUT that thought was overruled with one sweeping final thought on the entire situation. "THAT'S love".

What's Wrong With Terry Gilliam?

2010-06-12T06:34:00.009-04:00

ok, i've finally decided to go there. here. a post about a man i have tried for so long to appreciate on the same level as directors i consider my favorites. Aronofsky, Nolan, Tarantino, and even number one, Kubrick. i am now watching The Fisher King...for the first time. i'm not sure how i missed it, but after less than an hour, i'm thankful i made it this far in life without it. this movie marks the final crack in my brain and in my heart i will allow Mr. Gilliam to cause.

here's the problem...

i just don't get it. i don't understand why it's great to release films that don't feel like they were finished completely. it's not style. i believe it's a form of insanity even i have yet to achieve. Dr. Phil, Dr. Drew, and Oprah? you there?

my brother cracked for the final time on our last Gilliam event we did together. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. we lasted about 45 minutes. i don't know. people liked the film. all i saw, and my brother, were monty python sets filled with elaborate costumes mixed with random long moments of obscure dialogue. this was Heath Ledger's last film, and his death messed things up a bit. i say he was a bit lucky to not have been forced to watch this one...in his absence they decided to employ Johnney Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law to replace him. why three? well, Gilliam wanted to show three different aspec....ya know what? never mind. it's a complete mess, for me at least.

after that we thought about a GOOD movie which ironically is about an unraveling of a Terry Gilliam movie. the movie is a documentary called Lost in La Mancha. basically, it's a funny look at how this man could not make the movie he wanted to...at that time. everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong...and everything that no one could have imagined going wrong, went wrong too. it's also funny that they were filming so much of this...as if they KNEW a Terry Gilliam film was on thin ice and ready to implode at any moment. the documentary is quite revealing and explains a lot when you look at one of his films, and wonder...what??? the good news (for fans) is that Gilliam is trying again. look for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote sometime in the "future".

but my brother and i think that the man must be cursed. his films just don't really work right. i know this is all opinion, but good lord...i have only been able to finish one of his films. i did it only once too. 12 Monkeys. this is the only film i thought followed some sort of rational pattern of insanity with decent editing and continuity.

if you haven't seen one of his films...i'm not even going to recommend it.

which ones did he do you may ask?

Jabberwocky (1977)
Time Bandits (1981)
Brazil (1985)
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
The Fisher King (1991)
12 Monkeys (1995) (inspired by Chris Marker's La Jetée).
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Tideland (2005)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

if i know most people (aside from 12 Monkeys, and possibly Brazil) the one that sticks out the most is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

let me tell you something about Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. it's not as good as people say it is or remember it as. i still can't finish the film. i give up around the time the room is filling up with water. i know the film looks good, and it's a little funny...but here is why most people say they LOVE Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:

1)it's got Johnney Depp in it.(women who like him have many many of his movies on their "favorite list")

2)the film is about Hunter S. Thompson. once certain kids get to college, or once they hang out with college kids, they have to eventually talk about how cool this guy is because of his life and the drugs...and, (because of this movie)...how cool THIS movie is.

3)the film has massive amounts psychedelic drug use along with cool hallucinations the viewer gets to experience too. not sure what it is about drugs, the counter culture, and whatever attracts even the straight laced kids to drug films, but it ALWAYS works...at least in my lifetime (1977+)

and there ya have it. people will talk about Fear and Loathing as if it's a masterpiece. i don't think it is. it's not terrible. but it's, just not good.

the movie Brazil? couldn't finish it, both times.

Tideland? nope...lasted under 30 minutes.

Time Bandits? well, i was a kid and always got sick of it being on HBO...because i couldn't finish it.

The Brothers Grimm? woah. not even close to a full hour.

and there ya have it. there are a few i haven't seen. guess what. DON'T NEED TO!

i'm not here to blast Terry Gilliam, and i know i haven't given a lot of critical analysis or explanation for my frustration. this was a venting post, once again. just be honest with yourself, or just trust me.

ohh, and as i finish this, i have made it about an hour into The Fisher King...and there is a guy with a mustache in a red dress dancing and singing on a table in a fancy restaurant. if i wanted loony tunes, i would change the channel. i think i will. better make this official:

The Fisher King? about an hour.

OK, You Have Officially Run Out of Time!

2010-06-05T03:18:00.007-04:00

this post has been edited thanks to a comment from CD, who pointed out some corrections regarding specific time frames. just remember, i personally don't blame any single person for the oil disaster.

this has gotten just plain silly. finger pointing, name calling, ignorance ridden George Bush remarks in the year 2010. i'm tired of it, NOT because Obama is the biggest threat to US capitalism and our basic civilization, but simply because it's past the time frame of when it actually makes sense.

for example, Nancy Pelosi had the nerve to blame George Bush for the oil disaster. do i need to remind you that his term ended at end of 2008? do i need to remind you that Obama has had 18 months years to examine, focus, predict, and stop the oil disaster from ever happening? think about this. if this did happen while Bush was president, every single living organism on the planet would be blaming him. but now, in 2010, everyone wants to blame BP, or...thanks to Nancy Pelosi, George Bush. Obama gets off crystal clean free! he doesn't take any responsibility, plays golf for 5 hours, goes on vacation, and diddles around wondering what BP is gonna do. now on Twitter, all i see are people talking about boycotting BP and everything related. yeah! that's the spirit! you guys show em who's boss! that will fix em AND the problem! i'm part of something profound! i'm so lucky because God really loves me...and dammit...I really love me too.

Geeesuzz

if that's not enough...just today good ole, "i'm really in touch with reality and the everyday person", Paul McCartney says, "And in fact, after the last eight years, it's great to have a president who knows what a library is".

damn. i can't believe it. that man is SO right! geesh, i never thought about George Bush being stupid! in fact, i think McCartney is the first one to ever point that out to the world! give the man a Nobel Peace Prize for being so damn brilliant!

forget about the fact that "the last eight years" would actually span from 2002-2010...making Obama president for the last 18 months.

see what i mean? people are still recycling jokes from their closet a full 18 months after the expiration date. if you wanna make fun of Bush, go ahead...but your ignorance shows through when you express your hatred in such a silly, redundant, and unoriginal fashion. what do you expect though. Paul McCartney has been worthless and looking for fame ever since "They" broke up. i feel sorry for the rotten ham, and i feel sorry for those that still can't get over the fact that Bush isn't president and Barack Hussein Obama is.

i think i would have a hard time dealing with that too.

btw...you heard about Al Gore and his wife splitting up didn't you? yep...you got it...it was because of Global Warming...and THAT was because of George Bush.

I Don't Get Along With The Same Sex

2010-06-04T17:44:00.005-04:00

first, a disclaimer. anyone who has known me well (ex girlfriends, close friends, family), or anyone who has lived with me in close quarters (fellow peace corps volunteers) know that I am not perfect. in fact, most people would say that there is "something wrong" with me. thank you. remember that while reading so i don't get death threats as usual.

with that being said, I'm perplexed with a certain type of person. i'm mainly talking about women who proudly say as a personality trait, "most of my friends are guys because I don't get along with women". or "women are just jealous of me, therefor i get along with men a lot more".

in my opinion, there is something deeply rooted with people who have an inability to bond with members of the same sex, or a seemingly inability to care. as a man, back in my 20's i use to only wanna hang around women because, well, i'm a man. but that was a choice and not a vendetta against men. since 30, i've finally been able to think a little more evenly between my mind and...well...you know.

sure i'm not a doctor, i'm not an expert, but i have spent a lot of time studying mental illnesses, seeing psychiatrists, observing people closely, and attempting to understand people around me and on tv (where most characters are misdiagnosed btw). and ya know, most of the time, i'm dead on accurate. in tv land and in reality i can spot a pathological liar, a compulsive liar, a sociopath, a psychopath, and correct and incorrect diagnosis's of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and others. it's fascinating actually and not that hard if ya have your trusty wikipedia, an interest in psychology, and a drive to remember this stuff.

but the same sex only friends rule is an odd one. my personal professional opinion regarding these women is the abundance of some deeply rooted daddy issues. i have known six women like this well (dated five of them) who have polarized themselves into the small box i described. i've heard it countless other times from aquaintances. but the women i have gotten to know all seem to have somewhat disturbing issues with their dad, or a lack there of a dad (physically or emotionally).

the only real call to action i have is for you to seek out some answers from someone and find out why you really can't seem to get along with members of the same sex. i think the quality of your life can greatly be improved with friendship from those that know life from your perspective. cuz let me tell you...men sure as hell don't know what it's like to be a woman, so you're really selling yourself short.

Keating Five Facts Turns Into Full Blown War

2008-10-06T23:36:00.009-04:00

(this blog was written in response to some discussions on smashingpumpkins.com , where there are young "fans" being brainwashed daily by the left winged agenda of the site and the memebers).

you wanna talk about the Keating Five? ok, here is what they don't tell you...the other four members were DEMONcRATS! plus, McCain was cleared of any wrong doing. so what's the problem?

you really wanna go there with such a weak point? fine, Obama sat in twice a month, according to his interview with Bill O'Reilly with church service with the Rev Jeramiah Wright...which is over 500 times in 20 years, unless you do liberal math...and we are expected to believe him when he says he didn't know anything about how racist and anti-American Wright was? LMAO! are you kidding me??

ok...this is it...i'm gonna go here...yep...i'm going here NOW. Obama is a MUSLIM...why? because he was born a MUSLIM, attended a MUSLIM school, had a father who was MUSLIM, has a MUSLIM name...and if you ask any Muslim...they will tell ALL you, "once a Muslim, always a Muslim". he only changed his affiliation to be involved with politics in America. why do you think Kenya, a Muslim country, wants him to win so badly? it's just common sense and sheer naivety to ignore these facts.

and with the "current economic crisis", it was the Demoncrats who refused to see that Freddie and Fannie were going to cause trouble TWO FULL TEARS AGO! don't make me pull out the CSPAN video from youtube. it's a fact.

and then, when the bailout shit sandwich was passed and ingested by us...the DEMONcRATS were all happy and celebrating as if they were the ones who passed it, yet when it didn't pass the first time...they blamed the Republicans for it not passing, even though they have the overwhelming majority in the the lowest approval rated congress in American history. double standard or just plain stupidity and ignorance? i think both.

i can't wait until The Messiah wins in November, so we will see how a tax and spend liberal will run the economy into the ground. small business will have to lay off workers because of the extra taxes, and small business will eventually fail due to these taxes.

i can see the bumper stickers already..."don't blame me...i voted McCain"

you just wanna be a part of a movement to elect the first black man as president...regardless of the fact that he doesn't know his left from his right. plus, he is from Chicago...and since Billy is from Chicago...you are dumb enough to follow him to the grave. it's so sad to see people not use their mind and to waste it on following others rather than doing your own research and just listening to left winged nuts on this site spout their total BS on a daily basis. it's simply...un...believable.

and you people here...you ignorant children who want to vote for The Messiah...don't tell me it has anything to do with who Billy and Linda Strawberry is voting for, because i don't believe you. you guys blindly follow your "God" as you have called him on this site many times you would vote for a turtle if Billy or Linda said they were. that's called being a sheep...i call it being an IDIOT. hell, we see you blindly defending ANYTHING and EVERYTHING on his page, anything he says, and everything that he represents...even down to who he is voting for.

so, go ahead and put a Muslim in charge of America and see when the next Terrorist attack will happen and see who blames who. the Islamic Extremists WANT Obama to be the president because he is weak. go ahead...give them what they want.

personally...i can't wait! the new war on your candidate will start on November 4th and it will be GREAT.

get a clue. use your own mind to make your choices.

btw...Linda Strawberry is a NOBODY...she wouldn't even be "known" to you at ALL if it weren't for Billy (that's a FACT)...and now she has all of you brainwashed into thinking she has some real talent. it's amazing. you guys worship her or anyone Billy associates with. if Billy worshiped Mr. Hanky from South Park...you would too. get a clue!

go ahead...vote along the lines of intelligent Hollywood idiots like 'Moron' Freeman, Matt Damon, Ben A-Fleck, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins. what a bunch of whinny drug addicted and out of touch with reality has beens. ohh, is that wrong of me to say? bite me.

get a clue...these people are liberal because they can afford to be liberal. if you're like me or any average citizen, you can't afford to be liberal with anymore of your money. are you tired of paying nearly 40% of your income to taxes? well, you better start to enjoy that number rising when The Messiah wins. this "tax cut" from The Messiah...is only a "tax credit"...which is clearly different than a "tax cut" (but they don't tell you that) unless you are rich (like Corgan and Strawberry, and she's only rich because of Corgan), you shouldn't be voting for people who wanna raise taxes on everything you have and will make...unless you are rich, you shouldn't be voting for people who want to increase the size of the govt (national health care, more govt programs, and now bailing out anyone who can't pay their bills). maybe you should be...if you have money you just wanna throw away.

here are some FACTS about some other countries that have worse taxes than us...and we are headed here if we vote liberal and give the GOVT more control over our lives. the source is OECD, 2005 Data from this site:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Taxes/P148855.asp

here is how taxes in other countries break down:

if you are single...with no kids:

Germany: 51.8% of your income is taken from you

France: 50.1% of your income is taken from you

Hungary: 50.5% of your income is taken from you

Sweden: 47.9% of your income is taken from you

and check this one out...

Belgium: 55.4% of your income is taken from you

these stats only go down if you are married with kids

do you want to continue to increase our taxes to the point of coming close to the taxes these countries impose? i sure as hell don't! but the liberals DO! it's always been a fact in the history of the DEMONcRATS. liberal = liberal with YOUR money!

see...our taxes go up with liberals and they go down with conservatives. the idea with conservatives is, the more money YOU have, the more YOU will spend. well, the same idea goes with the govt and liberals...and this is why they want you to be dependent on them! don't you get it? the more the govt controls our lives, the less control we have in our own lives and the more powerful the govt gets.

it's common sense people! wake up! this is not "pop culture presidency" to be "fun"...this is SERIOUS!

see...

smaller govt = happier people because WE make the choices. bigger govt = socialism, and eventually...communism, which is when the GOVT takes away your rights to makes all of our choices for us. do the research!

WAKE UP!

you think i'm kidding? let's talk again in 20-30 years, ok?

YOU are an IDIOT...yes YOU...a true IDIOT!

2008-10-05T19:18:00.014-04:00

this blog is dedicated to individuals who think of themselves as too smart to be biased...who think of themselves as being objective...who think of themselves as being part of a "movement" because you are following The Messiah to be president because you think it's his time and you're life will not have any purposeful meaning until you become part of a "movement" that will elect the first black American as president. his lack of experience in anything meaningful doesn't matter, but the VP's experience on the other side does. this blog is dedicated to you...the IDIOT.

you use sources like:

"political ticker"...which is CNN based blogs. CNN is notorious for being biased for left winged nuts. look it up online and see the stats and the discussions from the sources you use. if you honestly think that CNN is not liberal...YOU are an IDIOT. go and look now...see my point? no, you didn't go look because your mind is already made up and you, are in fact...an IDIOT. how many times have you personally gone from one station to the next to see how coverage about a breaking political story on one news channel is different than the coverage on the other networks? it's like night and day when you add Fox News to the mix. but, then after Fox, try and switch to CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBS...you'll get the same left winged bias. yet, you think there IS no media bias, except that of a conservative bias. see, you haven't attempted to see the differences in media bias because you continue to use left winged agenda websites as your main sources. you, in essence, are nothing BUT an IDIOT!

and you use:

"talking points memo" (TPM)...once again a left winged agenda website by a notorious left winged nut known as Josh Marshall. good God, look at their front page any day of the week and tell me whether that is a fair and balanced view of politics. and you have the nerve to use that as a "source" for your "information". see, you are an IDIOT!

you tell me you do your own research on the internet and don't watch news...but you admitted to watching The View and thought that Rosie was worthwhile. Rosie is an IDIOT...and so are YOU!

YOU are an IDIOT simply because you cannot look at things objectively like you say you do all the time. look at the websites you use as your sources. you're an IDIOT!

do i go around claiming to be "objective" like you do all the time? no...ya know why? because i'm NOT an IDIOT and i KNOW there is no such thing as looking at anything "objectively" in this world. it's simply...impossible. if you don't understand this, it proves my point once again...YOU are an IDIOT!

yes...you know who you are...you THE IDIOT. and the sad thing is that you have a family and supposedly care about them, yet you think you look at issues objectively?

un...believable.

you are an IDIOT. and the funny thing is...you all look the same. you look angry, pissed off, older than you really are, and you're faces looks like that of deranged alcoholics. ALL of you look this way. face wrinkled from your husband beating you followed by 3 liters of Smirnoff every day = YOU and what you believe in...add that to being a blind liberal who claps their hands at every chance they get because of some recent media bias that was shat out, and you get what??? an IDIOT!

ya know what? as an IDIOT, you are right on one thing...there IS a conservative bias with MOST of talk radio...but you wanna know WHY?? the ONLY reason for that is because the nuts on your liberal half-assed attmept at so-called radio, called "Air America" (al franken, janeane garofalo, alan colmes, etc) were boring, self hating, America hating IDIOTS that no one wanted to listen to because it was like listening to a homeless bum on the street rant on and on about how their life sucks because of the evil doers in America (known as rich, white, racist, Republican men). THAT is why your little "Air America" radio station is FAILING...ya see...NO ONE likes listening to people on the radio who have no self esteem and no clue about what it's like to live outside of America or in a 3rd world (as i personally have). and ya add that with a minuscule intelligence level and a severe derangement syndrome due to Hollywood, fame, drugs, and alcohol...and you get a steaming pile 20 feet tall and 30 feet wide...or in their case...just former LISTENERS who constantly wish they were dead.

ohh, is that wrong of me to say that? is this just "uncalled for"? am i "hurting you're precious little feelings?" ohh, you don't like the attacks coming your way...as in YOUR way personally? well, welcome to the world of politics...IDIOT. i guess you forgot about all of the negative attacks that came from the one...the only...The Messiah for the past year, IDIOT!. you forgot about the negative attacks coming from you and your friends over the past 8 years, IDIOT! at least i don't recite talking points from left winged agenda websites (or right winged sites) and refer others to them while attempting to make stupid points that are not true.

yes...i admit...i, am indeed...NOT an IDIOT. but i'm sure you'll have some choice words to describe me below because you are nothing BUT an IDIOT. i'm sure you wanna point out how little i know, how stupid i am, and possibly how hypocritical i am for obsessively calling you an IDIOT. come on...i know you really are trying to hold back you're initial thoughts and trying to think of something cleaver to say so that you can attempt at coming off as being "above" all of this "negative talk". go ahead...try me. i can handle it, from an IDIOT!

you're research skills are terrible and just because you have a family, use appropriate grammar, and can spell things correctly, does not make you politically intelligent. yes, a large part of me believes that today's politics are NOT a matter of opinion and ARE a matter of personal intelligence. you're points are weak because they are either simply not true, or completely subjective to your ignorance on history and the subject you claim to to be speaking about. YOU are an idiot! look in your mirror and face it!

"change"...LMAO...you want some "change"? well..let's see...i have about .27 cents in my pocket!..and that's worth more than you will EVER be worth, since you are, indeed, a true IDIOT.

get a clue. open your mind. and stop blindly following The Messiah and his followers and start realizing that you do NOT look at things objectively at all!

CHOKE the movie...Crying Hard and Laughing Harder!

2008-10-02T20:22:00.005-04:00

i had been waiting for this one for a long time. after Fight Club, i began to do something i had never really enjoyed in life. read. Fight Club changed my life in the sense that i was able to find something that i truly loved reading about. insane people with insane ideas living in a very real world we called life. sure, Fight Club was a little "out there" with the ideas...but there are people who feel like their life is meaningless, that their life is mundane, that their life needs something more. i can relate to the basic core beliefs of every Chuck Palahniuk character.

and after 5 years of becoming obsessed with Chuck Palahniuk books...my favorite novel of his has come to a movie theatre near me.

i had lots of anxiety. i have been disappointed so many times in my life with various movies. most recently, with Indiana Jones 4. with Choke, i was worried i was setting myself up for the same type of disaster.

and i can happily say, that after 2 viewings...i had nothing to worry about.

First off, you need to know that Choke is an independent movie, with a first time director (Clark Gregg) along with a very tight budget. in comparison, Fight Club, directed by David Fincher, was a BIG movie if you recall.

Choke is about a sex addict, a con man, and a lonely soul trying to find out about who he is and why he is...these are all the same person, and no, that's not a clue about the ending (like the ending to Fight Club). it's completely obscene, vulgar, and offensive, yet sweet, beautiful, deep, and meaningful at so many levels.

i have to be brief when describing this movie. from start to finish, it is filled with such emotion that you will cry, you will laugh, you will feel uncomfortable, and you will simply...feel. i left the theatre with tears in my eyes and a big fat smile on my face...both times. the actors chosen, the acting itself, the pace of the movie, the script, everything...it all worked so well. Choke succeeds at every level a movie truly "needs" to succeed in. does this mean that Choke is a "perfect" movie? no, of course not...but it comes pretty damn close in my book. seriously, the only "bad" thing i have found about the movie is that i wish it took it's time a little more, that more of my favorite quotes from the book were there, and that it was just a little longer. it's about 90 minutes. Fight Club was over 2 1/2 hours (like most David Fincher movies). side note: i always thought that Fincher should be doing EVERY Chuck Palahniuk book that makes it's way to the screen, but Clark Gregg nailed this difficult task.

but ya know...i think the truth is...a movie that leaves you wanting more just may be THE key ingredient to a "perfect" movie. so with that...i would have to say, that given the circumstances, the nearly impossible subject matter of the novel to dance around without getting an X-rating, and the budget...Choke is as about "perfect" as it could have been.

Anonyminity...Everyday is Halloween!

2008-09-24T15:15:00.006-04:00

this blog was inspired by a dear friend of mine who goes by the false initials of BS. all jokes aside resulting from the initials of "BS"...BS has some really good insight into today's world.

BS sent me this article from msnbc and it was quite perfect with the timing of our most recent online conversation.

we've all been there, we've all seen it, and i would even argue that we have all even partaken in the act of anonyminity and the abuse of power that comes along with it. let's start with our cars. wouldn't our mothers be surprised if only they heard everything that came out of out mouths during a lifetime of living in an age where driving is necessary to function nearly everyday? even the nicest people we've ever known have been the victim, the cause of, or the result of road rage. we feel SO safe in out little cars and we are so isolated from the others on the road that it creates a false sense of safety that bends the mind into thinking we are better than we really are. we all feel that it's only the other drivers that suck. how many times have we heard, "the driver's in [insert state or city here] are the worst in the world!". whatever. i don't buy it. there are people and so-called studies that try and prove that people in certain areas are better or worse drivers than people in other states or cities. once again...i don't buy it. fine...if ya wanna play THAT game...have ya ever driven in Kenya, Africa? HOLY GOD HELP ME NOW! that's all i have to say about that!

but next, there are the people who love to be angry. hey, i've been there. sometimes when life throws you a miserable steaming pile...you just have to 1) catch it, 2) bitch about it, and 3) MOVE ON. some people seem to get stuck at #2. hey...as i said, i've been there before.

right now though, i'm talking about people who sign into online chat boards, forums, or ANYTHING where you can "post your thoughts" without anyone knowing who you are, where you are, how old you are, how educated you are, how uneducated you are, etc.

some of these people are the ugliest people you will ever come across, YET they may even be good hearted, God fearing, loving people in their "real" life....but yet...there they sit...isolated from society, and feeling safe to post whatever they want. they feel the need to only post as "anonymous" because they are too cowardly to take any responsibility for their actions. they get off on this. they enjoy it. they LOVE it. as i quote a friend of mine...they are "spineless, nameless turds." they wouldn't have the courage to stick up for themselves in person, even if given a machine gun of communicative powers, yet they have the gaul to post ugly remarks and spread hatred across the internet like a constantly growing vile virus. and we wonder why there is so much hostility and fighting in our technological world. the internet has only made it worse. this is a fact and this is serious.

once again...here i go, talking about my favorite subject i actually call myself an expert at thinking about. TECHNOLOGY and the advancement of it is NOT a good thing in the long run! sure, it comes off as a good thing at first, and then only after time...we start to see that not only can we live with the newest technology, but we are FORCED to accept, use, and live with the newest technology. some prime examples are: electricity, computers, cars, phones, internet, etc... it's all in my favorite read...it's free online and i talk about it endlessly and i think every single human should read it. The Unabomber's Manifesto and here is the link. it's the most mind opening group of words put together in sentences i've ever had the pleasure of reading.

in my opinion...anonyminity is for the weak. gee, anyone who knows me...knows my full name because of what i choose my screen names to be or my URL's to be. BIG DEAL! and if you don't know me and happen to find me online by accident...guess what...my username is actually my name. BIG DEAL!

listen, i'm not trying to say that everyone who goes by a different name is a terrible person. i'm NOT saying that AT ALL...some of my favorite people in this life will continue to go on with not being themselves, and i love them just the same...BUT why "hide" from the world behind a facade, an avatar, a screen name? anonyminity is NOT helping the world at all. what's wrong with being yourself AND just being safe AND making good decisions so you don't feel the need to "hide"?

my overall point is...that, with the internet...everyday is like Halloweeen for most users.

Oversaturation = Dullness, Boredom, and the Death of Hobbies

2008-09-22T23:34:00.007-04:00

i recently posted a blog about the many choices we have today as a result of our overly technological world. that past blog i wrote is in part related to this blog as well.

i was watching Heroes on TV tonight (GREAT show btw) and there was a commercial for the new AT&T influence on Apple's I-POD and it mentioned that there are over 1000 "apps" available on facebook now.

this is a BIG problem with why we may feel dull, bored, and just plain numb in our lives. a LARGE portion of our fun has been stripped from us right beneath our lives.

it all goes back to when baseball cards were popular. the reason baseball cards were really popular at one point (around the early 90's it hit it's peak) was that people used to actually trade their cards with each other because they all had many of the same card sets by the same manufactures. i did some research and found out that at the peak of the baseball card popularity...there were approximately 10,000 baseball card stores in the United States. and today, they are hard to find and failing when you do find one...and the number of shops in 2006 has been estimated to be around 1700, and i think that number is probably much lower today in 2008. MUCH lower.

so what happened? in 2004 there were approximately 90 different baseball card sets to choose and collect from. that's right...90! and then, in 2006, there were only about 40 different baseball card sets due to the unpopularity of most of them. personally...i think if there are over 3 sets per year, you're pushing the industry too far. i used to be in the collection as a child. i still have all of my cards which include rookie cards from Larry Bird, Joe Montana, Jose Canseco (don't laugh), Ken Griffey Jr (yes, the Upper Deck version), and many others that were SURE to be worth BIG money one day. and i paid good face value money at the time for those too!

and then the oversaturation happened. when there are too many card sets to choose from, no one can relate to each other's collections or trade with each other because all of your friends had a different set than you. it took the fun out of it. baseball cards today are nearly worthless for the most part (unless you own the OLD ones from WAY back in the day).

oversaturation is the direct result of the internet and more importantly...technology. i remember having to use a land line phone to call around and look for cards around town and then get directions on the phone and get moving...then i would have my mom drive me to different card shops, card shows, and try and find certain cards i wanted or people who wanted to trade. and if we got lost along the way to the shops, we had to try and find a payphone to call and get better directions. wow. looking back...THAT was the fun part of collecting! the pursuit of completing the collection. see, once you completed your collection of something...you put it away and hardly looked at it. the fun was over at that point and you moved onto the next hobbie or collection to start. with the internet as it is today with ebay and craigslist...you can complete ANY collection of whatever you want to collect in a single day. all at once...or maybe within a week if you weren't lucky. you can find ANYTHING you want if in fact it does exist...and you can find it easier than we would have ever imagined it prior to the internet. if you want every single art plate with unicorns or Jesus on it, or if you want every single koosh ball known to man...you can get ALL of them ALL at once and complete your collection instantly. what's the fun when you can just go to one place, and buy them all at once?

oversaturation has resulted in an overall dullness to hobbies, collecting, and life in general. we can get anything we want at any time without any problem. once again...the pursuit was the fun part. because of technology, we have to find other things to keep our interests going...and it's not easy and we try and find things to do with ourselves. the fun has been pulled and sucked out of us like hungry vampires.

and now, we have facebook with "over 1000 apps" to choose from! wtf? OVER 1000 apps? are you kidding me? what are the chances of you being able to relate to someone with options of over 1000 apps? i felt like 10 apps was too much for facebook...and now...1000? it's simply unbelievable. i am not adding ANY more apps because it's a waste of time when i know the chances of my friends having the same ones i want are not that great. so what have we done? we have once again, taken the fun out of something because technology has has taken over our lives and we cannot control it. technology has a mind of it's own and is so far ahead of us...and we have NO idea where this will go or where it will lead us down the road. the sad thing is...we will not be able to control it...ever...at this pace unless we revert back to a Fight Club mentality of "to hell with technology".

mark this down in your journal...with technology, we mark the end of hobbies and collecting anything as we used to know it. we are now forced to find fun in other things as we have been spoiled with oversaturation of everything.

Uninvolvement vs Involvement

2008-09-21T15:31:00.007-04:00

a friend of mine once said, the following:

"Well I am indeed doing something about it. I'm choosing not to live my life with any involvement whatsoever. If a ex-drug addicted pornstar came to me for help I'd help them. But that's my rebellion against it. Uninvolvment."

i'm REALLY glad my friend said that because it allowed me to reflect on one of the main issues i find troubling in life.

"Uninvolvement" is one of main the problems with America. None of us feel like we have any power to do anything. we don't feel like we can make a difference in this world. it's not our fault...it's the just the way society is today. we all feel like we're "just another brick in the wall".

but we must remember...we do have an actual voice, or if you really don't have a "voice", maybe you have a hand to type with, or if you don't have a hand to type with, maybe you have one of those machines where you can communicate with your mouth and tongue. my point is, unless you are dead or in a coma, you have a VOICE! and YOUR voice must be heard by as many people as possible!

Uninvolvement will not solve anything, but Involvement will. if you REALLY want "change" as everyone is stouting during this election, then you must use your voice. voting is just ONE way to do this, but it's not even close to the potential we all have in our lives.

remember...it was Involvement that resulted in the end to slavery, it was Involvement that resulted in the passage of the civil rights movement, it was Involvement that resulted in the end to WWII, it was Involvement that made it possible for Iraq to now have a democracy with elections...it was and is Involvement that has made every change possible in America and the potential for change possible for every human on earth. isolationism is as about as useful as committing suicide, or worse...isolationism is the same as never even existing. refusing to be involved...is refusing to commit...and a refusing to commit is a sad, painful, and self centered way to go through life.

it's ok to have different opinions from everyone else. don't let others try and tell you differently. just because your friends or role models think a certain way, doesn't mean you can't disagree with them and still have them in your life. sure, people may get offended when you use your voice because we do live in an overly sensitive world of politically correctness, but really...who cares? remember THEY have a voice too! let them use it if they want to! don't let fear run your life! trust your intuition and go with it at every turn.

it's ok to live your life as if it were a movie (like a philosophy teacher once told me), and i highly suggest it! shhhh...listen...do ya hear that?...that's the sound of NOW happening right NOW! take advantage of it!! this is the only chance we get at THIS life (depending on who you talk to) so we MUST make a difference NOW because our life is a gift and life is short even if you live to be 110 years old. we are not getting any younger...and days, weeks, months, and years are flying by at lightning speed.

THIS is the time to do something and THIS is the time to make a difference.

Be Involved! Be Courageous! Use your Voice!

Happiness, Phones, and Miracles...Should Never Be Taken For Granted

2008-09-17T15:28:00.008-04:00

happiness arrives in my life at times when i least expect it. happiness is never too early, and it's always too late if ya ask me...but it is there. lately, i've been going through some major changes in my perspective on friends, thought patterns, habits, love, and life in general. you, my dearest reader, are witnessing a transformation i haven't had the privilege of experiencing in years, possibly a decade, or maybe even ever.

i guess i'll start with yesterday...i woke up and i was happy. for people who don't know about the devastating effects of depression, waking up happy and not just waking up and getting out of bed is a BIG deal. i woke up ready to throw my weight around in love at anything that came at me. talk about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...i WAS the light at the end of the tunnel. all day, i was kicking ass in life and taking names. no need for details of what i'm talking about but all i can say is...it's about time. i thank my dearest family members, my most loving friends, my faith in God AND his faith in me, and some NEW loving friends i never knew i even had the chance to know. i honestly love you all. i am finally feeling like i am back in a sense of knowing what i want to do with myself and my life. i'm talking about some major ground breaking stuff here for me.

then i was worried to go to bed last night because i didn't wanna wake up unhappy today. hey, i understand we ALL have our bad days...but depression, in case you don't know, isn't just a series of "bad days"..it's a lifestyle that invades your life like a damn parasite. what you think you can control, you can't...what you think you're grateful for...you're not...what you hate, you love to hate...and what you love, evades you like the plague.

but i did finally go to bed last night...around 5am, technically today. then, i was woken up by the usual landscapers i hear outside my window of my apartment complex...lawnmowers, weed eaters, and people screaming at each other in spanish. i woke up at at 8:40am...only after a few hours of sleep...i immediately felt like i was going to throw up. maybe i was pregnant i thought...or maybe i was just going to be depressed again today.

i grudgingly got out of bed...grabbed my cell phone and glass of water i had on my bedside table and started to walk to my living room to lie on my couch since i can't hear the outside madness as easily from there...i had my cell phone and the glass of water in the same hand...i was half asleep and hear a soft, "glump".

yep...i lifted the glass up and saw my cell phone sitting there at the bottom creating bubbles like a drowning victim from The Sopranos. i panicked, grabbed the phone, said every vulgar curse word i could possibly think of (George Carlin didn't know shit, especially about the use of vulgarity), and i started to shake the phone like my hand was on fire.

continuing to amaze myself with the words and phrases that were coming out my mouth...i took out the battery, went over to the air filter, and placed the 2 parts on it to start the drying process...and then i quickly turned to the computer and went to google and typed in, "what to do with wet cell phone"...i got a zillion options and i began to read them. all of them were roughly 10 steps..and all of them were the same.

check this out...on ALL of the sites i looked at, the first thing they all had in common was step number 1...

1) get it out of the water as soon as possible.

geesh, i'm sure glad they feel the need to put that there as an important step to take...seriously...because there was a part of me that initially thought about just letting my cell phone sit in the glass of water indefinitely...i mean, i don't have any fish, and it kinda looked like a really bad modern day art exhibit i could imagine people praising for it's "reflection on the madness of today's overtly technological world."

anyway, turns out i was doing the right things anyway. the funny thing is that this past Monday, i had just gotten a land line for the first time in...well...nearly a decade or so. so i was thinking it was a sign that i had subconsciously murdered my cell phone...plus, i do have all of the email address to everyone i love or a way to at least contact people from the phone list, so even if it did die in my arms like a family member dying in bad movie...i knew the world wouldn't end.

but the amazing thing is...i calmed down, and went back to sleep as my cell phone continued to dry. hours later, i woke up HAPPY. nothing else mattered...as i was just plain happy regardless...but i walked over to the phone resting on the air filter, plugged it up, turned it on...and low and behold, it worked.

:)

happiness is something that i am learning to control and create myself because that is the ONLY way it happens in reality...but this IS life and life does have the tendency to wear ya down to the bone.

happiness is also something we should never take for granted...nor the ability to rescue a cell phone dropped in a glass of water.

take it from me...miracles DO happen...you just gotta have a little faith.

Let's Play A Game! Who Am I?

2008-09-13T13:01:00.003-04:00

I am under 45 years old,

I love the outdoors,

I hunt,

I am a Republican reformer,

I have taken on the Republican Party establishment,

I have many children,

I have a spot on the national ticket as vice-president after less than two years in the governor's office.

Do you know who I am?

I am Teddy Roosevelt in 1900

And, I became President of the United States at the age of 42, when McKinley was assassinated.

Sharpening the Pencils of Attacks...Against the VP!

2008-09-12T01:47:00.009-04:00

i'm tired of hearing from people who think that conservatives are the only ones responsible for the "personal attacks"...especially lately. get real!

ever since Sarah Palin has entered the picture, the democrats have been extremely anxious and in sheer panic mode...and they should be worried. Sarah Palin is a force to be reckon with!

here are a few of things i just found in about 5 minutes of looking...it's nothing new, but i was recently told from someone on the other side that the right is always attacking the left. so i need to prove the opposite is true if you actually pay attention...that the mainstream media on TV, so-called journalists, Newspapers, and so-called political websites are anything but fair on their coverage. as of today, people are scared that Obama may lose the election and they are lashing out at the VP...Sarah Palin. that's all they can do, because they have NOTHING on McCain! and the funny thing is...the more they talk about Sarah Palin in a negative way...the better off she gets in the polls with McCain. it's a beautiful thing to watch people destroy their own party once again after electing the wrong candidate (once again) and jeopardize their entire integrity with sheer stupidity.

**Politico, and Yahoo News reported with the following headline on September 9th: "Obama, Dems sharpen personal attacks on Palin." once again, proof that a purposeful intent on going after Sarah Palin has been discussed by the liberals due to sheer desperation. here is the article.

**the AP reported on September 11th that former Rhode Island Senator, Lincoln Chafee called Sarah Palin a "cocky wacko". here is the article.

**Politico and Fox News reported on September 10th, that South Carolina Democratic Chairmwoman Carol Fowler said that the Sarah Palin's "primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion." i still find it funny when experience is attacked to the VP when the Democratic Presidental nominee has far less experience and more importantly NO Executive experience whatsoever. Carol Fowler made an apology later on that day, but it was all clearly designed to be a hit and run and then apologize statement. classic politics. here is the article.

**the International Herald Tribune, which is known as the Global Edition of the New York Times (whatever that means), reported on Septemeber 12th with a headline that states: "Obama plans sharper tone as party frets." once again, their whole point is that the only way they think they can gain any ground at this point, is to sharpen their attacks and strategy against Sarah Palin. here is the article.

**Democratic VP nominee Joe Biden (remember him?) recently said that Sarah Palin would be a "backwards step for women". this is just a stupid comment to make and he has no grounds for it. Joe Biden has been known to have a big mouth, and this is a perfect recent example. here is the video.

**reminds me...i watched Barack Obama on David Letterman on September 10th, and he was asked about his "lipstick on a pig is still a pig" comment. yes, we all know the phrase has been used in the past by MANY politicians...but when Obama said it at that speech, he paused and allowed the audience to laugh and applaud. look again. Sarah Palin was clearly the center of attention and has been since she was introduced and everyone knew he was REALLY talking about her...plus, he KNEW what he was saying was wrong AND he knew it was at the wrong time. he messed up there BIG time, and he knows it. regardless, Obama felt the need to verify even further with David Letterman by saying, "Keep in mind, technically, had I meant it this way, [Palin] would be the lipstick. The failed policies of John McCain would be the pig, just following the logic of this illogical situation." hey Obama!...i'm not sure that the clarification actually helps you at ALL. the best advice i can give you is to get some sleep and SHUT your mouth! here is the article.

**and then there are the Hollywood jerks who are so out of touch with reality, that they feel the need to open their big mouths too. Breitbart.tv reported on September 10th that Matt Damon thinks Sarah Palin is like a "bad Disney movie" (wtf does that mean anyway?). plus, he goes on to say that he wants to know if she banned books and he wants to know if Sarah Palin thought that the dinosaurs were here 4000 years ago (don't ask...i honestly don't understand elitists who are so far outside the realm of reality). btw...Sarah Palin has NEVER banned ANY books whatsoever. that was another made up pile of BS by the liberals. how can you ban the Harry Potter books a full two years before they were even released? anyway, back to Jason Bourne and his comments...the political mastermind he is. here is the video.

**Pam Anderson also has some negative things to say about Sarah Palin by telling her to "suck it!", but this one really isn't even worth our time, but here is the article.

i'm tired...the list goes on and on...and on.

but BRING IT ON! the more liberals attack Sarah Palin, rather than John McCain...the more stupid the liberals look and the lower the ratings go. and when you talk about McCain possibly not making it until the end of a term due to his age...the stupider you look!

fine with me...KEEP IT COMING! dig that hole deeper and deeper and deeper, jack ass!

Whoops! Big Mistake Obama...The Return of Hillary? Quite Possible!

2008-09-11T14:31:00.007-04:00

how many times have i and so many others thought that if Barack Obama had picked Hillary Clinton as his VP running mate, that election day would be a landslide? Sarah Palin wouldn't have been selected, and the liberals wouldn't be so focused on her alone. that's all we here today from the liberals...personal attacks against Sarah Palin...because the liberals know that they cannot even compete when it comes to John McCain, who is actually running against Barack Obama.

now, as a lot of us have already heard, the current running mate of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, recently even agreed that Hillary may have been a better pick than himself.

wow. that's the smartest most honest thing i've heard from the liberals all year.

i just had a thought (hey, take a picture!) but honestly, you heard this aspect from me first...don't put it past the liberals to ask Joe Biden to step down from his position as Obama's VP running mate in a "thanks but not thanks" kind of way in order to "save the country"...which would of course leave room for only one thing to happen. the return of Hillary Clinton to the ticket, which would look bad for only a few weeks...before the country would forgive Obama for being arrogant and not selecting her in the first place.

all i'm saying is, that i wouldn't be surprised...especially after this "lunch" between Bill Clinton and Barack Obama today. this election has been filled with nothing but surprises.

side note...remember what Bill Clinton originally said about Barack Obama when his wife was losing in the preliminary? it wasn't very pretty. here is a list i found of poorly compiled segments of the drama between the Clintons and the Obama campaign just months ago when they clearly hated each other:

NewsFlash: "Community Organizer" Is Now A Racist Term

2008-09-10T10:11:00.007-04:00

this is truly unbelievable. as a white man living in America where i grew up constantly being reminded that i owe our fellow black man because of slavery, i feel sick. John Sidney McCain and Sarah Lousie Palin have gone out of their way to make sure that their campaign never even comes close to using the race card. the truth is, aside from the constant double standard of the "N" word debate, as white men and women, we have to dance around words to the utmost precision to avoid being called a racist. especially during this election season, we are constantly on guard due to the fear of being called a racist. that British jerk-face Russell Brand on the MTV Awards the other day said that if you don't support a black man for president, then you are racist. hey Russell...brush your greasy hair, and for God's sake...brush your filthy teeth...(and use Colgate Total because it's the best)...and i'll send ya back home where you belong if you hate America so much. these so-called comedians i used to enjoy, like Jon Stewart and David Letterman, are more afraid to make any real joke about Barack Hussein Obama...because they know they may be labeled as a racist. hey...i understand...when you're weak...you're weak.

but remember...it was Barack Hussein Obama who first said the following in regards to how the other side will try to win:

We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run. They’re going to try to make you afraid. They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?

thanks Barack Hussein Obama! you succeeded in "playing the race card" in a campaign where you have already clearly been identified as a sexist due to your attacks on Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Louise Palin. and ya know what...i will continue to use your middle name, Barack Hussein Obama...why? because that's what presidents do in case you haven't noticed. in fact i may even change my middle name to Hussein too!

and now this in regards to playing the race card...i'm literally sick to my stomach today because of what i just saw on CBS and found here in this article. the governor of New York, a blind black democrat by the name of David Paterson said the following:

I think the Republican Party is too smart to call Barack Obama 'black' in a sense that it would be a negative. But you can take something about his life, which I noticed they did at the Republican Convention – a 'community organizer.' They kept saying it, they kept laughing. I think where there are overtones is when there are uses of language that are designed to inhibit other people's progress with a subtle reference to their race.

what? what? what? now we cannot even call someone whose main accomplishment was that he was a community organizer a community organizer without a black man accusing us of playing the race card? what? what? what?

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

there are already numerous opinions and anticipations that there will be mass race riots if Barack Hussein Obama is not elected, as is the case with this co-called columnist whose name is Fatimah Ali in this article here. typical...if your candidate doesn't win, then you will cry foul and act a fool. whoops, was THAT racist? bite me!

sounds like a bunch of sour grapes if ya ask me. remember in 2000 when the left refused to admit defeat for a month while you and i paid for those people to count ballots by hand while the economy was sinking? Bush won every time we counted, and we wasted money because of sour grapes. and remember in 2004, when the "Bush cheated in Ohio" campaign started again? sour grapes again. hey i understand...when you're a baby...you're a baby.

bottom line...the Barack Hussein Obama campaign is desperate and losing as of today. who knows who will win in November (even though if Hillary was on a ticket, the election would be over already) but regardless...the country is far from ever being united on any sense...and the Barack Hussein Obama supporters are sure to keep it that way.

Parents...Meet Your Newest Threat

2008-09-09T07:36:00.010-04:00

take it from me. i am the result of my actions. we all are, whether we want to accept it 100% or not. i have made mistakes in my life and i am forced to deal with them everyday. there is a new threat that has been around, is easily available, and is totally legal in many states at the moment...including Georgia.

it's called Salvia Divinorium, and here is an article about it that came out yesterday about the "potential medical benefits". when i hear people talk about medical benefits in the same sentence as extreme psychotropic drugs without the advice of professionals...i do nothing but worry about a generation of kids thinking it's okay to self medicate. the fact is...no, i don't think drugs should be legal. people who are raised in an environment where they are more prone to use drugs as a coping mechanism don't get any advice from "professionals"...and when it comes to your mental health, you need nothing but advice before making bad decisions that could affect the rest of your life. mental health is something people take for granted, until they lose it. take it from me...i have experienced it, i have seen it time and time again with friends, and i worry about the kids i don't have yet as a result.

Salvia Divinorium is a scary drug with intoxicating effects that cannot be fully understood. the immediate effects after ingesting it have been linked to peyote, DMT, PCP, and the strength of the LSD available in the 1960's. if you think this is a cool thing, you should seek help...once again, take it from me. yes i've tried Salvia Divinorium, and i've tried it more than a few times. at first, i thought it was "cool" because it was so strong and intoxicating and it was and is as i write this completely legal to buy and own, at least here in Georgia. i went to all my friends and told them to try it, wrote about it, and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread! why wouldn't it be okay for me? here's why: you should be very concerned with any drug that suggests you have a sober sitter sitting next to you when you take it. now, why would they put that on the packaging itself? think about that "warning" for a minute. where else would you see that kind of warning? the fact is, you need someone to watch over you just in case you want to do something stupid, like jump out of a window or shoot yourself in the face like a guy reportedly did here hidden in this article suggesting the "potential medical benefits" that stemmed this blog. Salvia Divinorium is NOT to be messed around with. youtube is filled with videos of users getting high on it...for me, watching people laugh, fall down, and talk about insanity after taking it doesn't make me laugh...it makes me very concerned.

people who swear by marijuana say they will be "high till i die". i've been there. i understand that kind of talk. i've even said that...when i was HIGH! and i struggle everyday with it too as a result. but that philosophy makes me cringe with serious concern too. i wonder what their real potential in life could have been, if it weren't for a drug known to demotivate individuals to the point of being a lifelong loser with one thing always on their mind. sure we can talk about "moderation" until our ears fall off. i don't wanna hear about people who are able to function just fine from it. people who say that statement, are HIGH...or are at least the enablers in denial of the people who are HIGH! in my opinion, marijuana is NOT okay and should never be legal. and alcohol? yes, this is dangerous and personally i think prohibition should return. speaking of, drunk driving is something that can easily be prevented...by the police sitting back and arresting people who drive away from a public bar. how easy would that be to make their monthly quota of arrests? and how many deaths could we save each year from this overly simple task? it astounds me everyday that we allow people to drive away after having drinks in public. simply amazing.

i watched the new film starring rising star Seth Rogan called Pineapple Express yesterday at my favorite website. this movie was VERY funny, BUT if you think the long term affects of a movie that shows people driving around while smoking pot throughout the entire film is a good thing for society? wow. yeah yeah, Cheech and Chong, Half Baked, whatever. doesn't mean it's okay and it isn't helping our world at all. regardless...it's illegal and we wonder why so many of our kids are getting arrested for driving under the influence. it impairs you anyway you look at it...and if you don't agree with me, you must be HIGH!

that reminds me...i don't see too many movies being released focusing on people who drink and drive (maybe aside from one of favorites, Sideways), have fun while doing it, and never see the negative consequences. why is that? when there is a scene with people drinking and driving in films...it's nothing but serious foreshadowing that some devastating event will soon happen. with marijuana based films...it's different most of the time and the people get through it and laugh. yes, i do think alcohol is worse than marijuana...but that's beside the point. they both are dangerous to everyone, especially everyone outside of the user, unless done in moderation and in a home away from the public or away from "heavy machinery"...period. plus, marijuana is illegal and yet we celebrate it in so many films today as an activity of the characters without noting the potential long term side effects. whatever...i don't America to turn into a socialist or a communistic society, but i do feel strongly about a few things.

and now there is Salvia Divinorium, a highly dangerous drug with serious concerns i know quite well. this needs to be illegal in all 50 states, and i believe eventually it will, but until then we need to be aware of the long term side effects, which really haven't even been fully studied or understood.

trust me on this one. ingest at your own risk.

Too Many Choices...Room For Only One Answer

2008-09-08T22:12:00.011-04:00

our life has come to this. you're at the grocery store. you need to buy toothpaste. you see approximately 137 different brands, types, and colors. some even have 3 different colors swirled around like candy! all "approved" by dentists and all are "recommended" on various levels by "scientists" and so-called "experts".

so...which one do you buy? who do you trust?

personally, when it comes to toothpaste, i actually listen to my dentist, because i have had a few (2) say that Colgate Total is the best one around. i'm not sure how much their payback is for telling me that, but i seem to have bought into it.

in other words...i'm a sucker when it comes to buying toothpaste.

but in our world, especially here in America, we have choices, choices, and even more choices than we know what to do with.

another aspect in regards to the number of choices we have is with the invention of "TiVo" and the number of television channels we currently have to choose from. is it just me, or does anyone else think that watching television channel number 254 out of over 300 channels is a strange concept to accept? i remember when 70 channels seemed a little overwhelming.

friends of mine who have TiVo seem to swear by this amazing invention. the funny thing is, that everyone of my friends that has TiVo also seem to consistently have hours and hours of unwatched programs backed up that they constantly "need to catch up on." i find that statement to be a little on the funny side. just WHO is controlling WHO here?

yes, we have so many choices, and so many interests as a result of today's unbelievable technological world. children born in today's (1990 and after) world have no idea how different things used to be. the rate that technology is advancing is something we really don't quite fully understand yet. and at this rate, i'm not sure we ever will catch up with it. i know, i sound like Ward Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver when i talk about the "good old days", but it's true...it's even come down to the fact that we can completely eliminate sitting through commercials and advertisements for crap we really don't "need".

what's my point? life is clearly harder today because of the number of choices we can select from at any given moment. i just recently learned about a website called linkedin.com where you can post your resume online along with a profile...it's the next step up from the so-called adult version of myspace known as facebook. apparently i didn't get the memo about linkedin.com and i feel bad for not knowing about it. you can post your resume and sit back and not get any calls regarding it because there are too many posted already. or, on the other side, you can try and search through the million profiles of people who have mastered the art of inflating their resumes to sheer perfection.

how in the hell are we supposed to keep up with everything? i mean that as a serious question? there is currently a commercial that REALLY makes me wanna punch through the TV every time it comes on. it's from Citibank, and the narrator says the following during the 1st 20 seconds of the 30 second add:

every night you sleep
but your dreams are wide awake
because ambitions never sleep
aspirations never sleep
goals never sleep
hopes never sleep
opportunities never sleep
the world never sleeps...

now you might be wondering...why does that commercial get me all up in a tizzy? i feel like it just reminds me that i am behind the times, that i need to go faster, that need to catch up, that i need to get my crap together, that i need to keep up with the ridiculous speed that the technological world is moving at...because if i don't, i'll be left behind. plus...maybe it's the music in the add that makes me go crazy too...it's an indie sounding repetitive guitar weep of someone plucking the same notes over and over again along with the tingle of a xylophone that makes you wanna cry. it just strikes me the wrong way every time it comes on, so i immediately change the channel or hit mute. the commercial is on all the time now, so my channel, mute, and volume buttons on my remote control are quite worn. yes, maybe i just need to get out more. or maybe i just need TiVo.

but my point is that there are so many choices in the world and so many different options and so many different things we can master and so many things we can learn about. it's pretty much infinite, wouldn't you say? i find this to be overwhelming.

making decisions has always been a weakness of mine. i have my passions, but details i really could care less about. like, "where do you wanna eat tonight?", or "what do you wanna do tonight?" or "do i want the toilet paper with the cross stitch zig-zag pattern, or the the double roll that is as thick as a cloth?" details are just not in my agenda, especially at this time in my life. I JUST DON'T FREAKING CARE ABOUT DETAILS THAT DON'T MATTER! since i'm cheap, that makes my choices quite easy for the most part...aside from toothpaste.

i just find it a little depressing to know that with so many choices, it makes it harder to accept the decisions you have already made and will have to make every day. this goes with every possible aspect of life we can think of...consumer goods, career paths, the dating scene, raising kids, etc...with so many choices, it's far too easy to wonder..."did i make the best choice?" or the inevitable worry of "will i make the best choice?"

so what's the answer you ask? i don't know. there are too many choices to pick an answer. but i do think you just gotta have faith in yourself and a greater force to know and trust that you are making the "best" choices...as we know, there really aren't any "correct" answers in life because every one's life is always subjective and is simply a matter of perspective and opinion...but i think we can try and have a little faith that we will make the best choices from the infinite number of avenues available in life.

Women...Step Into My Time Warp!

2008-09-03T20:39:00.008-04:00

WOW!

did you feel that?

that was a really weird sensation!

everything around us has changed!

look around!

look at the date on that newspaper!

it's November...in 1955? HOLY CRAP!

look at the movie that's playing at the theatre...it's The Seven Year Itch, starring Marilyn Monroe!

and those cars! WOW! simply unreal!

and do ya hear that? is that Mr. Sandman playing on the radio? amazing!

here we are...it's 1955...let's talk about women and their place in this world.

a woman cannot be a doctor...for she has dishes to wash! a woman cannot be a lawyer...for she has to cook for her husband! a woman cannot be an astronaut...for she has kids to raise! let's be realistic here, ok? GEEESH! we all know quite well that women are NOT as equal as men.

you DO know that women are not as strong or as intelligent as men, don't you? hell, it's been scientifically proven by that Freud guy! a woman has only one place in this world...and that's the kitchen, in her home, with her kids, and pleasing her husband as needed. PERIOD! that's the way things are, always have been, and always will be.

damn, i mean women are lucky to even have the right to vote! i STILL don't understand why we caved on that one!

and that reminds me...a woman woke up the other day, (because it was time for her to get up and cook for her kids and husband) walked in the bathroom, looked in the mirror deep into her own eyes, and thought to herself..."i want to have a family and be President of the United States of America."

Ahahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahaha!

now THAT'S a good joke! i mean...what a punchline! i'll have to remember that one!

i can't stop laughing...our BEST presidents, which have only been men of course, have had to balance a family and be the leader of the Free World at the same time.

and the nerve...to even think that a woman can have a family AND be President of the United States of America?

Ahahahahahahahaha! that's the funniest thing i've ever heard in my entire life!

hell...i must be dreaming!

My Middle Name is Hussein Too!

2008-06-29T09:10:00.009-04:00

this is a bad day for me. little sleep, and i awake to the story of a kid being decapitated at Six Flags over Georgia yesterday.

then on Fox News, there is a story about how Barack Obama supporters have started to take "Hussein" as they're middle name too. allow me to recall your memory for you...these are the same idiots who got all hot and bother when the media came out with using his full name, BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA. you were, once again, called RACIST if you used his middle name in a sentence. but now, after getting used to the name themselves, they flip flop on NOT using it...into directly promoting it! All within just a few months! kinda like how Hillary and Obama are best friends now and Obama calls them, "Bill and Hillary"...even though 6 months ago they hated each other with a passion unseen in the democratic party.

this goes to show you, ignorance and sheer stupidity are determined to follow the liberal left in America. this is just dumb in so many more ways, i won't even begin.

However, Barack Obama said the following on 06/20/08 in Jacksonville, Florida:

"It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of
the economy or their outstanding foreign policy," Obama told a fundraiser in
Jacksonville, Florida. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run.
They're going to try to make you afraid.

"They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and
he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?"

way to go Barack! only you could do something so stupid.

read that again, carefully. John McCain has even been going OUT of his way to NOT talk about race in ANY way whatsoever....

and Obama brings to the table ALL he BELIEVES he has as ammo...the color of his skin. so sad.

ohh, was that a little blunt? the man had a RACIST preacher for 20 years! VERY RACIST i might add.

ohh, and that paper his wife wrote back in college about how unfair it is to be black in America IS important to me (or whatever words you wanna use to describe that rant of a POS paper, which i DID read and found to be immature, extremely offensive, with incorrect generalizations of America). in fact, it goes hand in hand with the liberal philosophy is you really study it.

i work with a few people who don't see these "other Obama friends and family member" issues as being important in a presidential race. this to me, is simply amazing.

leave it to a liberal to refuse to speak about the true character of a person whenever possible! liberals do NOT count the true character of a person when choosing a candidate. remember, these same people didn't think it mattered that Bill Clinton was having affairs with NUMEROUS women. yes, basically what i'm trying to say here regarding Obama is YOU ARE YOUR FRIENDS

it matters to me that The Father of Our Country is in deed...a true patriot, who continues to show his or her love for the the best country in the world. and a person's character, to me, is of the utmost importance as well.

but i know liberals. believe, me i do. i'm 30 years old and have been around MOSTLY liberals my entire life. roughly 1/3 of which have never and will never vote which is a small statement about the group as a whole. but allow me to move on after that cheap shot.

for YEARS i sat quietly about my conservative views until I started this blog a while ago while friends of mine bitched about "Republicans" endlessly. hell, i'm STILL forced to pull out my, "every politician is crooked" speech on a regular basis because i feel like if i can get everyone to agree with me on that...well, that's one step closer for them growing up and seeing the truth.

are all politicians crooked? absolutely, but the fiscal conservative view of the American economy makes so much sense compared to tax and spend. here it is...in an nutshell. tell me different if you don't think this is the norm. (wait...if you're liberal you may think you are reading Greek) the more money you have in your pocket the more money you will inevitably SPEND, even if you try to save every penny. However, the less i have...after increased taxes, the less i'll have to go to the movies, concerts, restaurants, and generally i'll just buy cheaper things i need to have...but once the money is put back in our pocket...most people adjust by spending it all just like before. spending money, is of course, good for America. please don't bring up the current China debacle and our scrambled international trade. i'm not in the mood right now.

and yes, i honestly do believe that as one matures politically in a "regular" way, i believe a lot more times than not, liberals become more conservative as they GROW UP. hell, i remember when i entered college...for a brief moment..i thought it would be cool to be like all of my new friends...liberal, anti-american, tree hugging, babies.

then i grew up.

uhhh, let's wait on the Six Flags idea

2008-06-29T06:05:00.004-04:00

holy crap!

a 17 year old was decapitated at Six Flags over Georgia after he entered restricted zones to try and retrieve a hat he lost while riding the Batman ride. apparently, the ride itself hit it's full speed of 50mph as it hit the victim.

holy crap!

remember that girl who had her feet amputated by the Superman ride a few years back in Kentucky?

holy crap!

ohh, they also released more news. in May 2002, yet another death occurred at Six Flags over Georgia when a groundskeeper entered the restricted zones at the Batman ride and was hit by the ride.

holy crap!

i realize these 2 deaths have complete idiots to blame. restricted = bad.

but what about the girl who lost her legs? wasn't her fault at all!
ohh yeah...they were able to attach one of her feet back. i'm sure she's thrilled.

i don't think i'm too excited to go to Six Flags anytime soon.

this is too much. decapitated? uhh, i'm not sure i ever wanna go back to Six Flags. talk about some bad energy. no thanks.

Manic Mixed State 101

2008-06-26T15:46:00.007-04:00

i'm manic right now. yes..this very moment while i write this. what you don't see is that every few words you read have been backspaced through and corrected...more than once, all because i am typing at what feels like a zillion words a minute, but in reality it's more like maybe 30 per minute. oh, i did forget to mention i use only 2 fingers while typing. yes..those 2.

it's been a while since my last post. i've been slowly becoming more manic day by day, week by week, and month by month. part of me knew the medicine had stopped working months ago (I have NEVER intentionally skipped a dose), but another part of me wanted to prove to myself i had become better. now, for at LEAST a month...i've been manic.

how manic? what's it like?

the carpet is moving around in front of my eyes...just like an acid trip...like a flashback or something.

ohh, and that glass window door? i honestly feel like I can run right through it. same goes for that wall too, and that car, and that person. you can see where this can be bad, yes.

before i go any further...allow me to explain. i went to the ER today and waited 3 hours for a presciption (amazing how you come in to the ER, show CLEAR signs of mania, and they sit me in a room and give me NO updates for 3 hours). plus, the one guy who did say he was going to grab a remote control for me (hey, it was a small flat screen TV...very pimp for a room with a curtain door). well, he never came back and even avoided making eye contact with me whenever he would pass my room...every 5 minutes...for 2 hours. dick.

and ya know, without being treated or at least given an update as to why i am still lying in a apron in my underwear with a TV turned off with every john, dick, and hary staring at me from the outside of my open room as they wait patiently for their loved one to get a bullet removed from their skull. this was north fulton medical hospital, i might add. so...for so many hours, i started thinking maybe i should have gone to the NON-Emergency Room, as I bet they get serviced faster.

i even asked one of the 13 year old looking nurses after the first 2 hours, "do i have to break every single item in this room to be taken seriously? i'm manic! calm me the f*ck down!" my only problem was I was trying to be quite civil about it at first...with NO luck! i'm sure this 13 year old nurse will remember me for a while after that unload. hey...i said i was MANIC when i walked in and signed papers!

anyway, i did get a prescription for some anxiety medicine until i see a doctor tomorrow. can't go to work. may have to miss a lot of work, but at least i'll have a legal binding note from my doctor. saweeeet! im gonna take advantage of this break. it's long overdue. six flags anyone??

so, yeah. that's how i've been these days...er i mean months. friends haven't heard from me. i'm a little hard to understand because i may tend to talk 300+ words a minute, with no direct relation from one sentence or overly obscure idea to the very next. to those that still call me friends...thank you, i love you more than you'll know.

i'll keep ya posted! in the meantime, i'll be examining the carpet in front of me...simply because it's breathing my way.

ZZZZzzz....what? did someone just say my name? i swear! I just heard my name! ZZZZzzzz....

Just Try And Garnish My Wages!

2008-02-09T01:50:00.000-05:00

i sit back and wonder a lot of various things these days. with my new job and new found income, i wonder why Americans would wanna vote for a candidate that is guaranteed to raise their taxes. i wonder why Americans would wanna vote for a candidate who promises to put the United States government in charge of their individual health care. i mean, face it...this IS the same United States government that was put in charge of our individual retirement plans, known as Social Security. does anyone still understand that the Social Security system spends more than it currently has? i wonder why Americans don't understand that spending more money than that which is available results in a bankrupt and broken system. i wonder why Americans can forget that this same United States government takes out over 30% of each and every legal paycheck...and yet some of the candidates want to increase that...a lot. the point? so that the American people can be that much more reliable on the United States government. once the people are fully reliable on their government...the people are weaker and easier to control.

i wonder why Americans have such a sense of entitlement living here. i wonder why Americans are increasingly becoming less and less responsible for their own lives, decisions, and futures. and above all...i wonder why they want the United States government to take over?

mind control happens when you give government more and more power over our personal lives. if ya think i'm being a little too extreme here...i'm not. Obama and Hillary are "liberal" enough to make the United States into a Socialist+Totalitarian territory.

i've had these conversations with people. i never hear much in return to these questions:

"our health care sucks...i went to the emergency room and had to wait for hours before getting help."

i guess when you put the word "free" in front of goodies, people tend to think that 'magic' somehow appears into the situation. i don't claim to be smarter than anyone, but i do claim to be able to think logically...occasionally.

the fact is, that with nationalized health care...the long lines you think you know now...will lack in comparison to the lines you will see once every drug addict, morbidly obese cigarette smoker, or just generally unhealthy person wants to go utilize their "free" health care.

got a headache? go to the emergency room! why not? it's free! bumped your elbow? go get an x-ray...it's free!

oh, you wanna schedule an MRI for that special condition you have? ok...we can fit you in at 2:30pm on Thursday, July 16th...2009. you think i'm kidding?

personal health care is a choice...not a right. don't believe me? i have known plenty of people in my 30 years of life who don't think they need healthcare and don't want it...and don't buy it as a result. and as ignorant as that concept is to me...it's still their human right to make the choice NOT to pursue it.

i wonder why Americans think i'm wrong on this issue.

i wonder why i should possibly have my "wages garnished" if i refuse to pay into the introduced nationalized health care system. Hillary said enforcement may include taking YOUR money out of YOUR paycheck (for those that refuse to pay into HER plan). yes, she said this here when she was on national TV on MSNBC.

as i mentioned at the start of this spew, i have many many thoughts these days.

the list continues and the list gets more diverse with every sequential thought.

such as:

do i think George W. Bush is a fantastic example of what i believe in? no. do i think he is even an example of a true conservative? not at all. if you've been following, he's been quite liberal with money. granted, he did have to face the aftermath of the biggest attack in American history.

speaking of, i wonder why Americans so easily forget that we haven't had ANY attacks inside our country since 9/11. i wonder why Americans don't find this to be important anymore. i wonder why Americans are so ignorant to fully understand that this wonderful country we live in...is in fact a wonderful country!

hell, i wonder why some Americans STILL think that "9/11 was an inside job".

i wonder why Americans would want to grant amnesty to people that jump ahead of the line and come over here illegally. we did this in the 80's...based on the strict agreement that it would stop...altogether. it didn't work. i wonder why Americans don't understand this.

many days, i even wonder what's wrong with me for wanting to secure our borders and punish criminals who come here illegally.

i wonder why Americans still like to use the line, "tax cuts for the rich". furthermore, i wonder why Americans don't understand that millionaires and the "rich" pay so much more money in taxes than the average person would ever know what to do with. why is that so hard to understand? it's 3rd grade simple math.

i wonder why Americans want to keep increasing the minimum wage, as if to try and make it so that we live in a classless society where everyone makes the same amount of money. in this argument, i wonder why Americans think that janitors need to make the same amount of money as managers, teachers, accountants, or innovative creative thinkers.

and lately...

i wonder why more American's haven't read Ann Rand's, Atlas Shrugged and understood that government intervention in our individual lives is a bad idea!

2 More Fantastic Movies

2007-12-30T01:17:00.000-05:00

holy crap! i just watched 2 more movies online here that made me really really happy. i don't know where to start, but i guess i'll start with the BIG surprise feel good movie.

Wristcutters: A Love Story is an outstanding movie. i was a little skeptical when i first read about it, but i was still interested. on paper, the movie doesn't seem like it would work...at all. the best surprise is, that it does!

Wristcutters is set in an afterlife reserved for people who commit suicide. this afterlife is a lot like reality, except no one can smile, there are no stars in the sky, and a few other surprises i won't mention. the film stars Patrick Fugit, (the kid from Almost Famous), Tom Waits, and my future wife...Shannyn Sossamon. these 3 characters find themselves in this bizarre and gloomy afterlife because they "off'ed" themselves for various reasons in the real world. they're each looking for something different in this afterlife, but they decide to take a road trip together.

surprisingly, the film was released by After Dark Films...i say "surprisingly" because this is a GREAT movie. After Dark Films has been the culprit behind less than desirable crappy horror films, like the masterpiece Captivity. for a review of Captivity i wrote, go here. so i can say that with Wristcutters, After Dark Films has renewed my interest.

back to the movie though. Wristcutters is a HILARIOUS dark comedy. it's very well written, well paced, and even though the story may be a tad bit predictable, the movie is full of surprises and keeps you interested. when the movie was over, i couldn't stop smiling and i just HAD to write this review ASAFP. if ya like the idea, and you're in the mood for strange but completely original and cute love story along the lines of...let's say, Being John Malkovich...see this movie! it's a keeper!

now onto the other movie i watched...No Country For Old Men.

No Country For Old Men proves that the Coen Brothers are STILL...the shit. if ya haven't heard about this one, i don't know what rock you've been hiding under. it's winning awards left and right, and will definitely take up some more at the 65th Golden Globe Awards on January 13th, 2008.

all i can say is...believe the hype! the fact that it's such an AWESOME movie doesn't surprise me because of the consistent 4 star reviews it's getting. after seeing it, it's one of my favorite Coen Brothers films and goes right up there with Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, and Barton Fink. for me personally, it's hard to name one of their previous films that's CLEARLY better than No Country For Old Men. this film is creepy, suspenseful, fascinating, unpredictable, extremely intelligent...and the ending will more than likely piss you off. and those, my friends, are the basics of EVERY good Coen Brothers film to date.

so there ya have it...a refreshingly fantastic original love story, and another prefect Coen Brothers film. BOTH are 4 star movies!

Dreaming The Future

2007-12-26T13:04:00.000-05:00

i dream every night. well, actually...we ALL dream every night. even people who claim they "don't dream" in essence, DO dream every night. they just may not remember them.

i don't remember the majority of my dreams. ever since i started my latest medication, my dreams have been a little "out there". if you're curious on what i mean about being "out there" just read one of my old blogs here

last night was no different...except that i woke up with a vivid memory of visiting a zoo the night before in my dreams. it was great! it wasn't like an average zoo where the animals are caged up and visitors are limited to where they can go...it was more like a game park-zoo, where you could walk around on rocks, up mountains, around aquariums, and basically anywhere you wanted to go to get a better view of the animals.

at one point in the dream, i was with some friends from Hawaii and some buddies from the Peace Corps and we were walking on top of some huge boulders that were sticking out of this very large aquarium. you could walk on the boulders so you could look down and see the fish in the crystal clear blue water. thousands and thousands of fish swam below us...BIG fish and even BIGGER fish. there was even a catfish the size of your average SUV swimming right below me! my friends and i were maneuvering ever so elegantly around the boulders and rocks. it was slightly scary because of the size of the fish we saw underneath, but we were having fun.

then, i saw something that REALLY scared me. there was a VERY large tiger swimming in the water! he occasionally climbed up on the boulders where we were! at one point i had to sneak around this big boulder so the tiger wouldn't see me. it was quite difficult to keep my footing, as to not fall in the water.

i thought he was gone and let out a sigh of relief and a laugh to my friends, "wow! that was close!"

then i looked back...the tiger had heard me talking and he immediately jumped back at my direction at lightning speed. my friends and i were on the same boulder, but i jumped over to a desk that was outside the aquarium. that's right...a desk. yes, like the one you work at, in a cubicle, with a computer.

i got away, but i looked back and my friends were stuck. unfortunately, they weren't so lucky. the last thing i remember was seeing them getting pounced on by this HUGE tiger.

i woke up and felt bad...for leaving my friends behind. i'm not sure what i could have done, but i wasn't able to do anything to help them.

back in reality...i get up, take a shower, eat lunch, and go turn on the TV.

i go to Fox News and i see the ongoing top story: a HUGE tiger escaped from a zoo in San Fransisco last night. one person was killed and two others were mauled. in my dream, i had 3 other people with me when the tiger came into the picture.

pretty weird, huh? for details on the actual story, go here

cue Twilight Zone music

Fighting The Bad Guys With Their Own Medicine

2007-12-22T02:44:00.000-05:00

ok, i'm bored. it's the holidays, i'm broke, and i have nothing to do to keep me entertained. i have decided to start an extra career in the art of "scambaiting".

if you remember, a few years ago (and for as long as email has been around) there were a series of 419 Nigerian scams hitting this country through email. the emails usually included 3 things, 1) a rather detailed sob story, 2) a large amount of cash (and when i mean large, i'm talking 10's of millions of dollars), and 3) asking for your help, in which you will be reimbursed in the 10's of millions of dollars.

"scambaiting" is just what the word describes it to be. you are, in essence, baiting the scam for as long as possible. the point? to waste the scammers time, energy and sometimes money so they cannot scam other people during the time you are screwing with them.

think about this. this is a LOT of fun, and there are numerous websites that will help you become a professional scambaiter...including what guestbooks to sign in order for you to get your initial scam letter!

i think the best one, by far, is 419eater. if they didn't start the whole scambaiting practice, they were sure close.

in 419eater you will find some of the funniest things and pictures you have ever come across. it's mind boggling and you just have to visit the sight and look around for a few minutes and understand what it's all about. the best thing to do is go to the site 419eater and click on "letters archive" link at the top and start reading some of the entries from the guy who calls himself "Shiver Metimbers". you will find the complete email exchanges between a real scammer and a real person screwing around with them to the nth degree!

this is a RIOT! i'm telling you, this is VERY cool and quite entertaining.

now if a part of you thinks this is WRONG, just remember these people will take every dime you have in a heartbeat and they will kill their brother for their bank account info, if it wasn't already empty. Scambaiting is NOT wrong, especially in this case. hell, if you ask me, MSNBC's "Predator: To Catch A Thief" is worse than this, and i agree with Chris Hanson. so, in a way, if you are NOT scambaiting, you are actually in essence helping and allowing other people to get scammed out of their life savings. hey, you gotta be pro-active to fight online terrorism.

one of the funniest things you can do with these scammers is to get them to send you pictures of themselves holding a sign of your choosing...for identification purposes. some of the things written on the signs are HILARIOUS! think, most of these people hardly know english, so the options to make them look stupid for your entertainment is virtually endless. one time, this scambaiter even had the scammer put a fish on top of his head with a loaf of break in his mouth while holding a bottle of wine. it's childish, yet ingenues!

i'm going to start this ASAFP! i just today got my 3 initial scam letters. 1)a recent orphan who has $27 million to share with me, 2)a 58 year old woman who recently lost her husband and has a plan for me to share $10 million with her, and 3)a guy by the name of Koffa (creepy) who has $12.5 million in unclaimed cash, and i can get 30% of that!

holy shiznit! i'm going to be rich! woot woot!

Steroids...Not Only In Baseball Buddy

2007-12-14T19:10:00.000-05:00

when i was a kid, for years my brother would joke to me about my favorite baseball player. a man with arms the size of my waist...a man by the name of Jose Canseco.

"he's on steroids! just look at him!" my brother said, so sure of his direct accusations. me, sitting there getting angry, trying to defend my top baseball role model, had nothing else do but exclaim back with a vengeance, "no he isn't...shut up!"

well, as it turned out he was right. just how did he know? think about it...this was back in the late 1980's. WAY before the internet, and WAY before ANY kind of hint of steroid use in the sport of baseball. my brother amazes me sometimes with the things he knows, or thinks he knows. most of the time, he's right. looking back, i guess it wasn't rocket science. the man clearly looked juiced.

today, we have a myriad of professional sport athletes breaking long lasting records on a regular basis. i'm talking about EVERY sport...from Cycling, to Soccer, to Basketball, to Tennis, to Hockey, to Badminton, to Football, to Wiffleball, to Ping Pong.

face it...there is a very wide use of steroids in EVERY sport on the planet. for some, this may be a hard pill to swallow, no pun intended. i have been trying to come to terms with the fact that there is a high likelihood my favorite players and favorites teams are involved somewhat in the current steroid scandal.

i mean, who wants to admit that their favorite player may feel the need to take drugs, that make their genitals smaller, just in order to compete. it's a sad sad realization..but if you think that your favorite player, sport, or team cannot be involved...think again.

today, Jose Canseco even said on a daytime talk show that Alex Rodriquez is "not who he says he is". i don't like A-Rod, but the man has been an avid spokesman against steroid use in baseball. Canseco has NOTHING to gain from lying, and yes...he has nothing to lose either...but why wouldn't A-Rod be taking steroids? people call him the best player in the world, even though baseball is mainly an American fascination.

remember Lance Armstrong failed at least one drug test. it's all the same with these guys...they all say one of 3 things in retaliation: 1) "i have never used steroids!", or 2) "the test was wrong!", and my personal favorite, 3) "i was set up!".

RIGHT!

i have lost ALL respect for EVERY professional athlete. now i'm a HUGE Boston Celtics fan, and this year...quite frankly, they are kicking ass in the NBA. this comes after an off season where an NBA referee was found guilty of gambling, cheating, and fixing the scores of NBA games he officiated. nice. ya know, my brother also always told me that the NBA referees were being paid off. bingo. man, you've really gotta hand it to my brother. he just KNOWS. uhh, Sylvia Browne who???

my point is...i don't know who to trust anymore. i'm still gonna watch the games and pay attention to every sport, out of habit. but nothing surprises me anymore regarding people who make millions of dollars. they are ALL scum. they ALL make too much money for very little "work". this also goes for actors and politicians too.

so, if you think that your favorite player or favorite team isn't involved or is NO WAY associated with unfair practices. think again. no one's perfect.

My Anti-Type Of Person

2007-12-03T02:51:00.000-05:00

people like to read a lot in America. well, i bet people in other countries like to read more based on the ignorance i experience everyday here...but still, there is a select type of person who is ALWAYS reading something. i, unfortunately, am not one of these people...but i do like to read certain select authors and the occasional highly recommended stranger. so, for the people in the world who read ANYTHING at all, i have to hand it to you. i envy a part of you and i am sometimes intimidated by you because of the fact that you read more than i do, and in my mind there is a possibility you are simply smarter than i am. for that, i sincerely applaud you.

however, there is a certain type of reader i cannot stand...and, yes as a matter of fact, i do enjoy judging these and other people i don't understand. hey, judging people is human nature. if you try and tell me you don't EVER judge someone, you're lying. anytime you put a label on anyone OR anything, you are in essence...judging. trust me.

ok, i'm currently watching The Da Vinci Code on Starz On-Demand. believe it or not, i haven't seen it yet. i know i know, what's wrong with me...catch this...i also just recently watched Munich for the 1st time last night! and, don't laugh, i still haven't seen Schindler's List. however, watching Ron Howard's take on Dan Brown's semi-intriguing ridiculous fantasy..i started to remember a specific trait about certain people i DON'T like in this world.

did ya catch people reading The Da Vinci Code? well, did you catch people reading The Da Vinci Code AFTER the movie came out or while the hype about the movie was HUGE?

bingo. that's a characteristic of my anti-type of person.

for some reason, when i see someone reading a book along with the hype of the movie, such as The Da Vinci Code, Memoirs Of A Geisha, The Scarlet Letter, American Beauty, or "insert Hollywood Blockbuster based on a book here"...i seem to get a little more than irritated. in fact, i get down right angry at the type of person who jumps on the bandwagon with the rest of the sheep in America; and most of the time, this person seems to be proud of it. i mean, people like to carry their book around with them everywhere, as if it's a statement of who they are as a person...or as a symbol of how smart they wanna appear to be to everyone around them. people may not ever even read the damn book outside their own home, however they'll be damned if they leave the house without it.

i remember a co-worker once reading Memoirs Of A Geisha, AFTER the hype of that POS movie came out...and i remembered my ex-girlfriend reading...you got it, The Da Vinci Code when everyone was all up in arms about it. and what do ya know...both of these people pissed me off too. coincidence? i think not!

it's also the SAME type of person who buys albums popularized by MTV and radio, and STILL finds their favorite track to be THE one song that is played over and over again until your ears bleed for mercy. being a Smashing Pumpkins fan in 2007, i do my best not to cringe directly at these people. for example, at the last Pumpkins concert i went to in Atlanta, a girl and her boyfriend sitting next to me showed up about 30 minutes late. they watched the concert for about an hour from the 5th row in the pit at the Fox Theatre...then the girl nudges me and asks in an annoyingly high pitched voice, "did they play Today yet?" i couldn't believe my ears. for one, i can easily go my entire life without EVER hearing another Smashing Pumpkins song mutilated by constant airplay. i looked at her for en extended moment, bit my lip and said politely, "Yeah, it was the first song they played". the smile shining from the metal braces on her teeth turned to a frown of sheer disappointment instantaneously. her and her boyfriend, who got into a fight immediately after that, left about 10 minutes later. hell, i was STOKED the Pumpkins got rid of that song at the start of the show! it's not that i hate these songs, it's just that they've been driven into my head more times than my parents birthdays. the same can be said about any overplayed radio song. i was a DJ for a few years and good god almighty help me! seriously, songs like My Sharona, The YMCA, or any song known to man by Matchbox 20, or The Goo Goo Dolls makes me wanna get an early start planning my own personal suicide bomb attack against soon to be president-elect Hillary Clinton. GOD HELP ME NOW!

i'm not quite sure what's wrong with me on these issues i have with certain people, i think maybe it's their lack of originality, i'm not totally sure, but i sure can pinpoint these people from a mile away.

so if the book you're confidently holding as you walk down the street has a big label on the cover that reads, "Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture", or "Now A Major Motion Picture"...please...save yourself from watching a grown man cry, either hide the book, or turn around and walk the other way.

legal note: i'm joking about my assassinate Hillary Clinton statement. please, try and arrest me...my life is boring anyway

Tonight Was Even BETTER! Smashing Pumpkins 11/16/07 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA...I Got My STARLA!

2007-11-17T00:13:00.000-05:00

Today
Stand Inside Your Love
That's The Way (My Love Is)
Drown
Bring The Light
Tarantula
Starla
United States
33 (acoustic)
1979 (acoustic)
To Sheila
Cherub Rock
Ava Adore
Zero
Shame
Bullet w/ Butterfly Wings
Heavy Metal Machine
w/ Iron Man
w/ On The Road Again
w/ I Love Rock and Roll

encore:
Pomp and Circumstances
Rocket

encore:
Doomsday Clock
Lucky 13

encore:
With Every Light

Well, as you can see from the set list, the show was longer and clearly better. Last nights show was hard to beat..but, somehow, they did it!

I made some friends before the show. I was apparently famous last night for wearing the 666 shirt...a girl, who waited for her boyfriend to go away, chatted up a conversation with me about the shirt I wore last night. We talked like old Smashing Pumpkins friends. It was awesome...then her boyfriend, who's head was shaved bald just like Billy Corgan came back and she didn't talk as much...so I quickly began a conversation with both of them, trying to reassure her Mr. Clean boyfriend that I meant no harm. They were really good people...period. I really liked both of them. Funny though, they were in their early 20's...like 21 and 22. Funny because when asked WHEN I bought the shirt, I told them the truth, "about 14 years ago". Ummm, that puts them at the age of 7 or so when I bought it! They were from North Carolina, and they had gotten screwed when they drove down here for the initial concerts and found out, after the 6 hour drive, that the shows were going to be re-scheduled. Luckily they were able to come back for the new dates. I keep using pronouns to describe 'them' because I never got their names. I'll remember them next time though for sure.

As far as the show:

Literally, all of my favorites (well, my favorites they are playing on this tour) were there. Highlights for me were Stand Inside Your Love, Starla, 33, To Sheila, Ava Adore, Zero, Shame, Rocket, Doomsday Clock, and Lucky 13. HOLY CRAP! I couldn't have picked a better set list to follow up the remarkable show they put on last night.

Both Atlanta shows were a little over 2 1/2 hours, whereas the majority of the shows this tour (following the residency dates) were around the 2 hour mark. Hell, the Athens, GA show was barely 2 hours...and at the time, I thought THAT show was the shiznit!

Other great moments were after To Sheila and after Shame, where Billy added a LOT of extra guitar soloing. BADASS once again!

Funny moment: After the second song (Stand Inside Your Love), Billy says, "Atlanta? You have the WORST traffic!" Crowd goes wild in agreement. Corgan, "It's fucking terrible! I should write a song about that!...The Nightmare of Atlanta!" Crowd goes nuts. The traffic before the show was pretty freakin ridiculous. Made me wonder where Billy was and what he was doing as to get caught up in hating the traffic. I'm sure the traffic in Chicago isn't any better.

They haven't done 3 encores in a while, but they did here. These 2 shows in Atlanta were easily the best ones, as far as the set lists suggest, on the entire tour.

I Can Die Now! Smashing Pumpkins: 11/15/07 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA

2007-11-16T00:48:00.000-05:00

The Rose March (acoustic)
That's The Way (My Love Is) (acoustic)
Disarm (acoustic)
For God And Country (acoustic)
United States
Bullet w/ Butterfly
Drown
Bring The Light
Tonight Tonight
Tarantula
Glass And The Ghost Children
Hummer
Pomp and Circumstances
Set The Ray To Jerry
Today
Superchrist
Heavy Metal Machine
-w/ Iron Man
-w/ I Love Rock and Roll

encore:
1979 (acoustic)
Perfect (acoustic w/ Jimmy on Tambourine)

encore:
Cherub Rock

I have no idea where to start. This was one of the top 3 concerts of my life...This one goes down with David Gilmour at the Rosemont Theatre in Chicago back in 2006, and Radiohead at Stone Mountain Georgia back in 2000.

I had a 3rd row Pit seat for the show..How? I payed double the $102 face value of the ticket. Stupid? Some people would say yes, but others near me also payed a hefty penny. Obsessively Retarded? Absolutely!

They let me in with my camera, so I took pictures until my batteries ran out (figures). The one on this blog entry is one of the many that I took.

The first 3 songs were acoustic, but the played "That's The Way (My Love Is)" acoustically for the first time on the tour. I love being at a show with "first" times. The funny thing was, as soon as Billy came out with an acoustic guitar, I just kinda walked up to the 1st row and stood there, along with the drunk men who also thought the same thing. Except, the drunk guys were asked to go back to their seats...yet I was able to stay there for the entire show, even though the security guards who talked to me before the show watched me walk up there and told me I couldn't move up. It was as if I had my lucky shirt made me invisible to the security guards.

So, I'm 5 feet from Jeff Schroeder and 10 feet from Billy...only because the stage is so big. I had to turn my head to catch all of the action! For me, this was the BIGGEST deal EVER! It was fantastic! No moshing and no worries regarding feet, hands, or bodies flying down on top of me. I couldn't of dreamed of a more perfect situation. I was in Pumpkin heaven like I have never been before!

Starting the show with 4 acoustic songs was great, just like the Nashville show. Billy and company felt bad about having to reschedule the shows, so they are clearly making it up to us by playing a more unique set list (and definitely longer sets as well).

Billy was screwing around a LOT with added solos and psychedelic guitar crap...it was quite a treat once again. Hell, for the intro to Tonight Tonight, he had some crazy ass solo! Once again, Glass And The Ghost Children was the best song of the night. This was my 3rd concert of the tour for them, and the 3rd different version of this Pink Floyd sounding hardcore JAMMING! Corgan and Schroeder were going off, and at one point I didn' even care if they played Starla or not (like I had been hopping for) because their improve jamming and face ripping guitar shredding was the best I had ever heard from them. My mouth was on the floor for the majority of the show. There was even a kickass keyboard solo by Lisa during GATGC, who for the most part of the tour is rather unnoticeable.

A funny moment came after they played Set The Ray To Jerry. Billy says, "That was Set The Ray To Jerry, for all of you that know Pisces Iscariot."...without hesistation, I come back and scream, "It's not on Pisces Iscariot!", for which i get a rather quick and uncomfortable glare from Billy. But hell, the song is NOT on that album! I wasn't trying to be an ass, but hell, the way I saw it during that split second, if ya have a chance to correct your favorite musician and a known perfectionist...do it! I thought he was pissed at me! As it turned out, he clearly wasn't (read on). After that, Billy looked at me various times throughout the show and smiled. I was one of the people who knew all the words to all the songs, including the unreleased ones...and I was moving around a LOT(NOT quite dancing, but more like head slamming to the grooves to keep my face from melting off). Actually, I may have looked like I having a controlled seizure.

Billy was in a GREAT mood the entire show...the best mood I've ever seen him. (This was my 10th Smashing Pumpkins show ever btw). He and the band were all laughing and goofing around the entire time. Everybody on stage was having a blast.

Another funny moment came when they start the usual Joan Jett cover during Heavy Metal Machine, called "I Love Rock N Roll (Put another dime in the jukebox baby!)" He trys to get everybody in the theatre to sing, but no one really was singing and he got a little frustrated. He starts talking to the crowd in the balcony and asks them, "What's the problem? Are you guys drunk? Are you guys stoned? Are you guys on a little PCP? Ohh wait, this is Georgia...it's Mushrooms isn't it! You guys in Georgia like walk around in fields and dig around in cow shit! You're on Mushroom aren't ya?!" This was HILARIOUS!

Also, during Heavy Metal Machine, they pulled out Iron Man by Black Sabbath! This was fantastic! Sabbath has always been an influence, according to Corgan, so it was very fitting to hear them rip into it.

Then, Billy notices a little kid in the balcony...this kid was in the newspaper here because he had the coolest Billy Corgan outfit, and when asked what he wanted to be for Halloween...he replied, "Smashing Pumpkins". Billy calls for every kid to come down and get up on stage. Believe it or not, there were maybe 10 kids under the age of 11 there with their parents. It was shocking for me at first, but then I realized...I'm 30 and so are may of his other old time fans, so it makes sense that the fans from way back have kids now. So, There are like 10 kids on stage and a few under the age of 4, and Corgan even picks one up and hold it for a while. It was quite neat situation. I haven't seen anything like this before from them. Billy was holding a kid and looking around and saying, "what do ya think?" as if he was getting approval to have kids. Very interesting. Ohh, and the poor little kid in the cool Billy Corgan costume was SOOO shy he never even looked out of his dads chest! One day that kid will kick himself! After like 10 minutes of fun with kids, Corgan says, "Okay!, get off the stage!"

Anyway, they finish the Joan Jett cover after the Iron Man tease, and Corgan starts a little more banter and says, "Ya know, 99% of the bands out there today kiss you ass! They will do ANYTHING to please you! And in doing so, they kiss your fucking ass!...Well, this band right here (points to himself) this band will NEVER kiss your fucking ass!" Crowd goes wild.

The encore was another acoustic set with 1979 and Perfect, once again with Jimmy on the tambourine. This was when Jimmy nodded at me and pointed (referring to my 666 shirt) TWICE (AWESOME!). Billy once again said how sorry they were for having to reschedule the shows. They seemed sincere, but ya know, it was a serious health issue, so who knows if they actually needed to feel "bad" for rescheduling. I was stoked though! I just knew that if I wore my lucky 666 shirt to an SP concert up close they would get a kick out of it since Billy wore the same shirt on rotation back during the Siamese Dream tour in 1993.

They came out for one more encore and played Cherub Rock...once again, ripping my face CLEAN off!

After the show, Billy starts to toss out the guitar picks...and man, I grabbed one as if I was diving for my last meal! I have ALWAYS wanted one of their guitar picks...and now I got one! PLUS, I have always wanted to "touch" Billy Corgan...and he ended up touching a total of 5 people after the show...including me! We touched fists (he only shook hands of a few girls)! His hand was very very cold and very bony. I was in heaven though. I felt like I could die and be happy!

On the way out, I picked up a Smashing Pumpkins flag...it's the United States Smashing Pumpkins black and white flag. $30, but well worth it for the cool original idea.

Well, all things must come to an end, and I have one more Smashing Pumpkins show tonight...and I'm really hoping they will play Starla.

but ya know...at this point, it really doesn't even matter to me anymore :)

Country Twang & Smashing Pumpkins: 11/11/07 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN

2007-11-12T14:41:00.000-05:00

I Don’t Mind (solo acoustic)
The Leaving Lament (solo acoustic)
The Rose March (solo acoustic)
United States
Bullet w/ Butterfly
Drown
Bring The Light
Tonight Tonight
Tarantula
Thant’s The Way (My Love Is)
Lucky 13
Hummer
Glass and the Ghost Children
1979 (solo acoustic)
Perfect (acoustic w/ Jimmy on Tambourine)
To Sheila (began acoustic and turned electric)
Today
SuperChrist
Heavy Metal Machine
I Love Rock And Roll -tease

Encore:
Pomp And Circumstances
Cherub Rock

Nashville...the city of Rock N Roll! or at least in my latest experience, the city of Country Twang at every bar. I got to the Pumpkins concert about an hour early so I had time to look around Nashville for a while. I actually went bar hopping, by myself. Near the Ryman Auditorium, there are numerous bars, a few restaurants, more bars, and even more bars. I'm tellin ya, the city was happening on a Sunday night! The funny thing is that I went to 3 places to have some drinks, and no one knew the Smashing Pumpkins were in town playing down the street. There was a band playing at every single bar in the area. Some were packed more than others with beer guzzling loud country twang fans. It was quite amazing actually! The people were more than nice however, and the country twang was...well...it was quite twangy. I almost got excited at one of the bars when a guy from the crowd screams, "Pink Floyd!" Hell, it seemed reasonable since the guitar player had a Dark Side oF The Moon shirt on...the singer responds with, "Pink Floyd! HAHAHA!!!" and...well, that was the end of that dream. Onward with more twang please!

Anyway, I had a good time informing the city of Nashville that the Smashing Pumpkins were in town.

As far as the REAL concert:

First off the opening band was ‘What Made Milwaukee Famous’, and NOT ‘Explosions in the Sky’ as otherwise noted. They were an average tight-sounding band from Austin, Texas. I didn’t find them anywhere near as talented or as interesting as ‘Explosions In The Sky’, who are also from Austin, and I saw open for the Pumpkins at the Athens show. ‘What Made Milwaukee Famous’ didn’t really remind me of anything and they seemed to have played forever. I guess you could call them an alternative, emo, fraternity band. There were 2 cool parts to their set, 1) when they teased Cherub Rock, and 2) when they left the stage.

Billy came on stage at roughly 9:15, and he looked the same BUT his outfit was a surgeon coat colored blue rather than all white. It was awesome because he was holding an acoustic guitar. They haven’t opened with an acoustic set in a while, I think since the residency dates. He played 3 songs I had only heard on Youtube. I Don’t Mind, The Leaving Lament, and The Rose March were 3 great songs. Billy was reading the lyrics (or sheet music) off a stand propped in front of him as he was sitting down on a barstool. The songs sounded great, and reminded me of classic Smashing Pumpkins acoustic music. Quite a treat to get a different beginning of a concert.

After the initial 3 songs by Billy, the rest of the band came out and they too were NOT wearing their usual outfits. Same colored outfit went for Ginger like Billy, a surgeon coat colored blue short dress. Jeff had an untucked white buttoned up shirt and jeans on, and Jimmy had his normal sleeveless button up shirt, kinda reminding me of someone from The Village People, but hey…it’s Jimmy, so he can get away with it.

The 4th song, and the first electric one was United States. The show seemed to be a lot like the Athens show I went to, except for a few changes in the set list (aside from the acoustic start). This show was a LOT better than the Athens show. United States was REALLY psychedelic at the mid point and very reminiscent of Pink Floyd…this is always the case, but it seemed like the distortion, feedback, and loud screeching of Billy’s guitar was a lot more powerful and present.

I got to hear Lucky 13, as I was hoping. Live, this song is awesome, PLUS they extended it to make it longer and even more ‘in your face’ badass. This song kicks ass anyway, but live…OMG!

Hummer was great as usual, and Glass and the Ghost Children was much better at this show too. Corgan and Schroeder were exchanging times for improve psychedelic soloing. They have changed this song up so much, it’s completely different from the album…and it takes a second or 2 to figure out what it is because it’s so different. This version is BETTER than the one on Machina.

The middle acoustic set was great too. Once again, it was 1979, and Perfect, but then they added another one I was hoping for: To Sheila. To Sheila was kinda acoustic turned electric, as Billy started onstage by himself, but then the band comes out and waits for their cue to blast back into the song. To Sheila was done perfectly and amazingly.

Superchrist and Heavy Metal Machine were great as usual, and the encore with Pomp and Circumstances and Cherub Rock was nice.

Norcross, GA Fire 11/7/07: I Have Officially Seen My First UFO, an "Unidentified Falling Object"

2007-11-08T21:24:00.000-05:00

Well, last night I arrived at the Classic Center in Athens at around 5:30pm. I was early to the Smashing Pumpkins concert and had an hour to kill. I parked my car on the top floor of the Classic Center parking deck. I had backed my car into a space so that I was facing west. I knew it was due west because the sun had just set. Now I saw something that turned out to be something that has me thinking one word: CONSPIRACY. When I got home, I had to write my story to the the media. There was a fire at a lumbar yard in Norcross, Georgia. My whole point here is, I believe I saw the cause of the fire. I mean, this fire in Norcross, was HUGE! On TV, it looked like the entire city of Norcross was in flames, and the fire burned throughout the entire night and burned the ENTIRE Lumber Yard down to the ground, starting a little after 6pm on 11/7/07. I wrote this story and sent it to Fox 5 News, 11 Alive News, and the Atlanta Journal and Constitution Newspaper. I wrote this because of what I read about the story. here is a version of the story. here is another version of the story. and yet, one more version detailing the aftermath.

here is what I wrote:

thought you may find this interesting, since the "cause of the fire" in Norcross is undetermined". i'm 30 years old, and i was sober when i saw this and i am sober writing this. i am not exaggerating any parts of this story at all.

I was in Athens for a concert at the Classic Center last night and as I was waiting in the parking lot, my car was facing the sunset. the sun had already gone down, but the sky still had the orange tint to it. i saw an odd-shaped object falling from the sky straight down
roughly 5 or 10 minutes before 6pm. it was falling VERY slowly, and at first i thought it was a comet. i tried to call my parents, but they weren't home, but i did leave a message about what i saw. i continued to watch this thing fall STRAIGHT down to the earth. i couldn't find anything about this on the radio, and if my phone wasn't a pay per minute phone, i would have called a LOT of people so they could go outside and see this happening.

it probably took maybe 10-15 minutes to fall out of my view, AND while it was falling there were about 5 or 6 different jets (i could see the chem trails) going back and forth perfectly horizontally, flying VERY close to this object that was falling. the jets were clearly flying back and forth around the falling object. one of these jets even came VERY close to the object and looked like it touched the top of the falling object. once again, it was falling very slowly, straight down and the jets were flying much faster than the speed of the object falling.

at around 7pm, i get a message from my dad telling me that there was a HUGE fire in Norcross, which would have been in the same exact location/direction i was looking at.

it was NOT a meteor, and i kept thinking it was either a missile or a satellite falling from space...but there were at least 5 or 6 jets that were flying very close to it, almost looking like they were trying to get a better look at it or possibly even intercept it somehow. i can guarantee you this falling object is what caused the fire. i have never seen anything like this before.

after the falling object was out of my sight, the jets and chem trails stopped...but a few minutes later a VERY small object with a tail that looked like a comet was moving diagonally towards the sky, from the lower left of my view to the upper right. it was not a plane for sure, as the diagonal angle was quite drastic. hell, i really thought it was a missile. this object continued up the sky and out of my viewpoint and into the darker portion of the sky.

ok, so that is my story. i decided to write it to the news organizations because the cause of the fire is "still under investigation" and has "yet to be determined". the news is speculating that a worker at the Lumber Yard that was totaled got "careless", whatever that means. the article states that the fire started on the roof of one of their buildings. NO SHIT! it started on the roof because that's where the damn thing landed!

the more i see that this story is being covered up or undisclosed, the more i believe that i saw an actual UFO...or at least a UFO that was crash landing. i still think that it was either a satellite OR a piece from the space station that got blown away.

but of course, i always have Radiohead's 'Subterranean Homesick Alien' to remind me i am not alone:

The breath of the morning
I keep forgetting
The smell of the warm summer air

I live in a town
Where you can't smell a thing
You watch your feet
For cracks in the pavement

Up above
Aliens hover
Making home movies
For the folks back home

Of all these weird creatures
Who lock up their spirits
Drill holes in themselves
And live for their secrets

They're all uptight
Uptight.. (x7)

I wish that they'd swoop down in a country lane
Late at night when I'm driving
Take me on board their beautiful ship
Show me the world as I'd love to see it

I'd tell all my friends
But they'd never believe
They'd think that I'd finally lost it completely

I'd show them the stars
And the meaning of life
They'd shut me away
But I'd be all right
All right..

I'm just uptight
Uptight.. (x7)

Smashing Pumpkins: 11/7/07 The Classic Center, Athens, GA

2007-11-08T04:06:00.000-05:00

United States (w/ national anthem in middle, like Hendrix did)
Bullet Butterfly
Drown
Bring The Light
Tonight Tonight
Tarantula
Pomp and Circumstance
Glass and the Ghost Children (w/ some REALLY trippy psychedelic guitar solos by Corgan and Schroeder)
Superchrist
Doomsday Clock
1979 (solo acoustic)
Perfect (acoustic w/ Jimmy on tambourine)
Set The Ray To Jerry (f'n awesome!)
Today
Let Me Give The World To You (Machina 2 song...really a surprise)
Rock On ("hey kids rock and roll..rock on")
Heavy Metal Machine (w/ some GREAT solos by Corgan and Schroeder)
-a minute tease of REM's "The One I Love"
-back into Heavy Metal Machine
-back into Rock On

encore:
Hummer

Explosions In The Sky opened up and walked on stage at exactly 7pm. The venue had maybe 50 people in there at the time. The ticket said the show started at 7:30, so people were amazed that the opening band started so early. In fact, the main guy was talking to the crow without even using the microphone, and he wasn’t talking very loud either…yet I’m sure everyone heard him. The are from Austin. Explosions In The Sky sounded absolutely fantastic. They, apparently, are an instrumental band. They did not stop playing at all, and each “song” blended into the next one. They sounded a lot like one of my favorite bands, called National Skyline. As far as a more mainstream reference, it was like Radiohead‘s OK Computer, with more heavy guitar progression…and no vocals. I was quite impressed and I had chills many times from the swaying, psychedelic, progressive guitar sounds. There are 4 people in the band, and for most of the show, there were 3 people on guitar…no bass. One guy did play a bass for a little bit, but mostly it was 3 guitars playing different melodies. The lights were also amazing, which was a surprise since most unheard of opening bands don’t have a light show. Explosions In The Sky was easily one of the best Smashing Pumpkins opening bands I’ve heard. They stopped playing at 7:40pm

The lights went out at 8:13pm and there was music playing from a band called “The Goblins”, known for their soundtracks to obscure horror films. The song that started playing was from one of my favorite horror films, called Suspiria, directed by Dario Argento. After a minute of this creepy sounding music, the Pumpkins walk out on stage. Dressed in their usual attire, Billy had his blue and black striped socks and a long sleeved blue and black striped shirt underneath his all white jumpsuit. Ginger was a lot smaller than I imagined, and much more cute than her pictures. Lisa didn’t come out for a few songs. Jeff and Jimmy looked normal. Jimmy looked happy and healthy.

They kicked it off with United States, as they have many times so far this tour. The speed was at usual Pumpkins live speed…maybe a full step or two faster than the album…this made the drumming even more phenomenal sounding! Jimmy was a blur behind the drum set as he played “the shuffle” perfectly. The sound quality was amongst the best I’ve ever heard from them. Perfectly mixed, with the vocals being the last thing you hear. This was my 8th Pumpkins show, and I had a 2nd row seat. The lights were more than fantastic. The series of triangular shaped spaceship looking light fixtures went off and nearly blinded me. It was the best light set up I’ve ever seen from the Pumpkins…easily.

In the middle of United States, Corgan went off on the guitar psychedelics…and he went into the National Anthem, just like Hendrix did back at Woodstock (and Corgan also did this at the Live 8 Concert this year). It was awesome!

United States ended and next was Bullet w/ Butterfly Wings. There was very little banter from Corgan throughout the show…and no one else said anything at all. No biggie. Bullet sounded normal, loud, good, fast, and like the live versions we have heard of this one before.

3rd was Drown. I was stoked to hear it, even though I was kinda expecting it in a way…according to the set lists. Drown was just like they played it back during the Siamese Dream tour. It wasn’t sloppy, and was definitely a highlight of the show. Next was Bring The Light, followed by Tarantula, and Pomp and Circumstance. All sounded very good and Pomp and Circumstance was a lot better live than on the album. It’s not one of my favorites from Zeitgeist, but live…it’s a damn good song.

Glass & the Ghost Children was next and I was very happy to get this one too. They changed it up a LOT. I love it when they totally rework their songs…making them sound completely different and new. Think of GAGC, except with a lot more focus on the Pink Floyd sounding guitar parts. Both Corgan and Schroeder kicked ass on this one, which was another highlight of the show for me. Right after that, was another underground favorite…Superchrist. I could tell a lot of the people around me hadn’t heard this song before, but me being a BIG fan, I had heard it many times and love it. It was a hard jamming, riff, masterpiece. The only problem? It was too short! Doomsday Clock followed Superchrist, and I got to tell ya…those songs back to back is a perfect combo. Holy crap! Doomsday Clock, if you can believe it, was MUCH better live. They tore it to shreds…once again, NOT making it sloppy.

Corgan pulls out his acoustic guitar for the next two songs, 1979 and Perfect, while the other members disappear back stage. During Perfect, Jimmy came out and hit the tambourine around. He looked a little under worked with such a small instrument in his hands, but he pulled it off well. 1979 acoustic was sung very nice and played very fast. It was surprisingly one of my favorites of the show.

I got one from my wish list with Set The Ray To Jerry, which was next. It was electric, and Corgan had a guitar around his neck, but he never played it. He let Jeff play it and Billy just kinda waved his hands around with the words at the crowd. This song was SO good sounding. Ahhh. I’m glad they are playing this song on this tour. Today was next, and it was nothing new…but it was a hard version, and sounded very impressive for such an old worn out song.

I was VERY stoked when they started Let Me Give The World To You. One of the highlights…easily. They didn’t play this one as fast as the other songs. It was played like it is on Machina II and it was a big treat. Quite possibly the best song of the night, but who’s to say?

The show ended with a very cool, hard, and impressive mixture of the newly mastered Heavy Metal Machine, Rock On, and a minute tease of REM’s The One I Love (as we know REM is from Athens, GA…which is why this was a cool insert). After some very long guitar solos from Corgan and Schroeder, they go back into Heavy Metal Machine and Rock On.

The encore, which was only one song…was Hummer. Since it was Hummer, that made up for the lack of extra encores. Hummer was so darn good, perfect, and non-sloppy. The crowd really liked it, and so did I. The lights went back on at 10:10. They only played for roughly 2 hours, but i was happy. It was impossible to walk out of there without a huge grin on my face. Of course, I am seeing them 3 more times within the next week :p

Online Dating...NEXT!

2007-11-06T20:47:00.000-05:00

Ahh, the world of online dating. Some people call it a miracle and others refer to it as love suicide. I’ve had my moments where I can relate to both. Hell, my first ever girlfriend lived in Massachusetts and we met online…back in 1994. Not sure if you remember, but in 1994 the internet was rather new and exciting. At the age of 16, my online dating consisted of AOL chat rooms (now popularized on MSNBC’s “To Catch a Predator”) followed by written letters, and eventually phone calls. In a way, the internet helped me come out of my shell..or at least assisted me in feeling more comfortable within my shell. Either way, it has been a large part of my life since Al Gore invented it. Don’t laugh…you know he invented the internet and we all know we are going to die of global warming very soon.

So I joined an online dating site once again when I got back from the Peace Corps. My girlfriend for a year bolted as soon as I got back home (something about me not paying attention…I’m not sure, I wasn’t really listening at the time). The site I joined is FREE! And by the looks of it, I could tell there are many different types of women the website chooses to “match” you up with. I was a little skeptical of a free site…because of the possibility of spammers, psycho men posing as women, and “insert greatest online fear here” scenarios.

Well, WOMAN NUMBER 1 emailed me first and we started to email back and forth. After a few emails, we decided to exchange phone numbers and meet up. Wow! This was easy I thought! I had only had my profile up for a week and I already had a date! Well, WOMAN NUMBER 1 and I met at a bar near her place (which was also her parents place, as she lived at home like me). It was her idea to get totally sloshed on our first date. And me, well, I’ve never turned down a chance to get drunk with a woman who was interested in me. Seriously, she seemed really sweet, smart and she was rather attractive. When I noticed we shared the same exact birthday, I knew this had to be good! I mean, how many times do you have the chance to date someone smart and attractive who was born on the same day as you?

So, 15 minutes into our first date, she says the following, “I just want to let you know that if anything gets serious with us, I’m totally okay with that”. uhh ohh! RED FLAG! RED FLAG! I immediately remembered on her profile that she seemed rather concerned about “not finding Mr. Right”, and she was “waiting to be swept off her feet by that special someone”. “Well“, I thought, “so she’s a little desperate“. I think everyone has been desperate at some point in their life, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt and we continued to date.

Fast forward to a few more dates with WOMAN NUMBER 1, and I’m on the phone with this woman who is hysterical that I am not ready to commit to her completely and enter a serious relationship with her. I reminded her that I was honest from the start and I had just gotten out of a serious relationship and I wasn‘t ready for something like that again yet. I guess she started liking me at a speed greater than that of the speed of which I was liking her. Hey, it happens. She decides to end it and we don’t talk again…until months later when she sends me a text asking how I’m doing, and so on and so forth. I thought maybe she had come to her senses and understood what I was talking about, so we decide to meet up at the same bar again. She was broke, so I had to pay (even though I’m unemployed and she has a job). Before I left for the bar, I glanced on her myspace profile…and it’s like a shrine to her new boyfriend. Her “about me” section is nothing more than, “I’m the luckiest girl in the world because I have a great boyfriend and I never thought this would happen again and I’m so happy”. uhh oh! RED FLAG! RED FLAG! I found it interesting how she defines herself by the relationship she is in.

So we meet at the bar, and we start to chat like old times. During this reunion, I ask her about her boyfriend. She declines to answer and says that “it’s over”. I pressed the boyfriend issue a little more because someone who leaves up information on their profile, which they check everyday, claiming to be “in a relationship” and yet refusing to admit to it says one thing… yep…uhh oh! RED FLAG! RED FLAG! We ended the date after hanging out for an hour at the bar.

The next morning I get a text message from her exclaiming the following, “I worked things out with that guy so it looks like I have someone after all”.

NEXT!

WOMAN NUMBER 2 emailed me out of the blue, just like WOMAN NUMBER 1 did. WOMAN NUMBER 2 was in college, had her own place, seemed really smart, had great taste in music and movies, and was quite attractive. I actually thought that she was either spam, a transvestite, or really a psychotic man posing as a woman…seriously. She seemed too good to be true. We talked on the phone, after a few long “waiting for an email response” delays, and we decide to go out.

I picked up WOMAN NUMEBR 2 at her parents house…she was visiting them for the weekend. She opened the door and WOW! She was nothing less than hott! She smiles, hugs me, and kisses my cheek at first glance. Damn! That was quite a first impression gone right! I was stoked!

We have a great first date…but the subject of her “ex-boyfriend” came up. See, she still LIVES with her “ex-boyfriend”. uhh oh! RED FLAG! RED FLAG! but, ya know…I hate to discriminate and she had a good story about how they were stuck in a lease together and that he would be leaving after the lease is up. And we even hung out at her (their) place together…making sure I left before he got home because he gets a “little jealous sometimes”. ok, I felt weird about this entire setup, but she insisted that he is dating other women and bringing them home too (this fact is QUITE funny regarding WOMAN NUMBER 3...read on to find out!).

WOMAN NUMBER 2 and I had a great time together and we went out a number of times. All seemed ok, until she says, “looks like my ex-boyfriend will be staying here past the lease after all” uhh oh! RED FLAG! RED FLAG!

The best part, as I later come to realize, is that her and her “ex-boyfriend” are in an “open relationship”. Not only THAT, they are looking for people to have 3-somes with! Male or female…but preferably female. Yeeeeaaahhhhhh….uhh oh! RED FLAG! RED FLAG!

NEXT!

Ok…WOMAN NUMBER 3 and I actually just went out last week! It started, once again, when she emailed me out of the blue and we start talking it up. We exchange phone numbers and we decide to one day hang out. WOMAN NUMBER 3 had her own place, was in college, seemed very smart, was very sweet, and very attractive. I went to her place, where she ordered pizza! Hooray! A woman who knows how to please me! We had a great first date…until a funny thing happened.

See, we start talking about our past relationships. I go over some of the dating nightmares I have had in the past in regards to this free dating website. We both laugh and laugh and talked for hours and hours. Everything was going great, until I mentioned the name of WOMAN NUMBER 2...her face went blank, and she says, “wait…was WOMAN NUMBER 2 dating a guy named GUY NUMBER 1”?

“umm yeah” I said with great anticipation…

“Oh my God“, she says…”I dated GUY NUMBER 1 back in March!”.

AHHHH!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Holy Crap! We were stunned at this amazing coincidence! I mean, what are the chances of us meeting up and going out on a date. The dating website we are on has thousands of profiles…the chances are too ridiculous to calculate. But something in her face was NOT ok, even though she tried to hide it. The date went kinda weird from that point on. We both talked about how WOMAN NUMBER 2 and GUY NUMBER 1 tried to get both us to either be okay with the open relationship or actually involved in a sexual 3-some. I just thought it was really crazy and kept saying, “what a small world!”..but I could tell WOMAN NUMBER 3 was a little more thrown back by the coincidence. Both of us explained that we ended our relationships with the “3-some couple” because it just got too weird. But we watched a movie and ended the date late in the night.

Last night, WOMAN NUMBER 3 and I talk on the phone and she brings up the "3-some couple" yet once again. I’m wondering, why in the hell does she wanna still talk about these people? After some very uncomfortable statements like, “I can’t believe you dated WOMAN NUMBER 2” I ask her to tell me what the real problem was! To me, it seemed like jealousy BIG TIME. I mean, I had no issues with her dating GUY NUMBER 1, and besides…MY PAST IS THE PAST AND I DON’T HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF TO ANYONE, nor do I expect a detailed explanation of others previous actions or lives. WOMAN NUMBER 3 starts the whole, “no matter what, I want us to remain friends”

Wow! Most people don’t pull out the, “we can be friends” statement until there is at least a connection that is lost or a lack thereof a connection alltogether. We definitely had a connection, until she discovered this retarded coincidence…which really had nothing to do with our present situation. I started asking her to explain herself more. I can take it when someone is not interested in me, just explain it to me briefly. But this was different. She was clearly stuck at the fact that I dated WOMAN NUMBER 2. She finally says to me, “the truth is that I am really turned off by the fact that you found WOMAN NUMBER 2 attractive and that you actually dated her”. uhh oh! RED FLAG! RED FLAG!

“Well“, I thought, “thanks for being honest finally”

Seriously, I’m 30 years old, and I haven’t met someone so shallow and judgmental since high school.

NEXT!

Back To The Movies!

2007-10-27T18:12:00.000-04:00

It’s been a while since I went to the movies. There just hasen’t been any reason to go, as far as I could tell. With ticket prices being $9.50, I have to wait until 2 movies are out that I wanna see so I can movie hop and get my $9.50 worth.

Well, with Saw IV coming out yesterday I knew there was my chance. I had wanted to see Into The Wild for well over a month now, but there wasn’t another film out that interested me. The Darjeeling Limited also came out Friday, but unfortunately, the newest Wes Anderson flick was playing at the “other” theatre (the theatre that didn’t have Into The Wild). So with my addiction to horror films, Saw IV was an easy choice since that was also at the same theatre.

So the way I see it, I went to see Into The Wild and it just so happens that Saw IV was on the way.

First off, Saw IV: there is not a single surprise in the film and not even a really good scare. The series has been drained since…well, Saw II. Saw III was terrible (AND too long at over 2 hours). Of course, what do you expect from a horror franchise that comes out with a sequel every year. I missed seeing Saw III in the theatre because I was in Africa…and fortunately, I didn’t miss anything.

Saw IV was very hard to understand. I may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but the film had some crazy-ass plot that I really cannot even start to describe. Yes, the “Jigsaw Killer” is dead, along with his helper girl-Marilyn Manson wanna be from earlier Saw films. But of course, that doesn’t mean that they cannot still cause trouble. The film may have had some good gore scenes aside from the opening dissection of the “Jigsaw Killer”, but because the editing was similar to modern day MTV music videos, flashes of what look like blood and guts are flickered across the screen at lightning speed. You think you saw something gross, but you’re not quite sure. I feel bad for the special effects crew who worked so hard, only to have their elaborate scenes lasting a few milliseconds.

Saw IV is better than Saw III, but not quite as good as the mediocre Saw II, and nowhere near as fresh as the original Saw. Geeeesus, did I really just type that sentence with a straight face???

Next: Into The Wild: a good film, but this was exactly what I expected it to be: a feel good, sappy, coming of age film dealing with a spoiled rotten kid who graduates from Emory University, donates his graduate school money to charity ($24,000), and heads west and eventually north to Alaska…just for the experience. He doesn’t tell his parents, sister, or friends (actually, they never even mentioned any friends he had before the “journey”). He hates his parents because they fought when he was a child (ahhhhh, poor kid!). His father was abusive to his mother, and that made little Christopher McCandless upset to the point that he just wanted to leave home and never look back, despite the fact that they really love him and miss him…he wants completely out of dodge, especially after his parents offered to buy him a new car as a graduation present. He refuses any form of technology or anything dealing with money, and acts like a little snot nosed kid who has gotten everything he ever wanted. At one point he even burns his money, which is really stupid (for many reasons aside from the obvious) because he later needs money…and of course he gets it from odd jobs here and there along the way. No problem!

It’s a true story however, and Christopher meets a slew of cool people along the way…and these characters are the REAL reason why Into The Wild is a good film. Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, and Kristen Stewart are the 3 major characters I enjoyed the most. Vince Vaughn does a good job of, well, not acting like Vince Vaughn in Wedding Crashers to put it bluntly. That was quite refreshing!

Ya know, I could easy relate to the idea of “to hell with technology and onward to nature” at one point in my life. In a way, Into The Wild was the story of me just before I joined the Peace Corps. After nearly dieing of continual weight loss combined with an ever present deteriorating mental health, I threw in the towel and came home. Poor Christopher never throws in the towel, but he ends up, in a way, miserable…ironically, because he was all alone, which was exactly what he wanted from the beginning.

The best character in the film is not Vince Vaughn, but nature itself. There are countless beautiful scenes that take your breath away. The film just makes you wanna go out, explore, travel, and see the world. And, thank God, it reminds you that you should at least tell your family and loved ones where you are and/or what you are doing.

An Endorsement, Written As If It Were Spam

2007-08-27T00:02:00.000-04:00

this is a great site. you can watch recent and new movies that were recorded by some chum's camcorder. don't laugh too hard just yet. it's not that bad actually for those movies that don't rely on the visually stunning dimensions only a theatres can offer. example? i just watched Superbad...and it didn't cost me a dime.

if you're not sold by now, maybe you just need to check out that one movie you haven't gotten around to seeing yet, but you have always known that you would if it were at your fingertips.

i don't know anything about the website. seriously, i have no idea. however, it's legit as far as a few clicks and then the new movie of choice starts playing on your computer and on the screen you're also entertained by the dark outlines of latecomers scurrying to find their seats in the rows ahead . but ya know, it's still worth it.

"hey, down in front!"

Zeitgeist...The Other Side Of The Moon

2007-08-09T22:11:00.000-04:00

a funny thing happened the other day in the while i was driving to see "Sunshine" for the third time...yeah third!

i gave the other songs on the latest Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist a good working through in my ears and directly my mind. something actually clicked and i have a new feeling towards the bitter review i gave to half the album the day it was released...a month ago today.

the other songs i didn't like stood out and blew me away, after i let go some initial negative feelings and reactions. this happens all the time...just ask my friends. the songs in question...as sadly as that is now, are as follows:

That's The Way (My Love Is)
Starz
Neverlost
Come On Let's Go
For God And Country
Pomp And Circumstances

that's half the album. and i loved to skip those songs since day 2. i would occasionally force myself to listen to them, but it just never worked. i hated them and thought that they ruined the, otherwise fantastic, album.

the album is so different than anything they have done before. they reinvented their sound a bit...bare with me...just try and think back when YOU first heard that distortion used in Chreub Rock when Kennedy debuted the music video on MTV back in...(before the internet was really useful) 1993.

well, that sound is far gone and the good thing i've realized is that Billy Corgan loves to NOT sound like Smashing Pumpkins. if they wanted, they could have released many Siamese Dream's. Corgan did write 40 songs for the "Siamese Dream" recording session, which is just a 13 song album. that's a lot of songs for an album session if ya ask me. so my point is that ya gotta get used to the newly reformed sound of the Pumpkins with every album. it's not always easy for me. case in point.

here are some of the lyrics from the other side of "Zeitgeist":

That's The Way (My Love Is)

They'll say you'll lose your nerve soon

To claim identity

Disgrace our sacred promise

With no belief

Oh, how I believe in you

That's the way my love is for you

Starz

The stars that shine,

stars that bleed

Silver seeking destiny

So follow please

This hurts so much, this knowing carries me

we want so bad, we forget we are free

Spirit smile on

Deep black diamonds, so rise the lost toys

Island of white noise

and purple haze

We are starz

What hurts so much

is knowing we are free!

Neverlost

All hands on deck

Setting sail to get wrecked off course

You make what you want of me

I will keep you anyway

Let's fill these hours and kill desire

I'm in touch with you

Let's kill these hours and fill desire

Come On Let's Go

Assimilate, it's all been staged

I've made mistakes, they penetrate

They're gonna take, it's all the same

They cannot wait, their love spells hate

For God And Country and Pomp And Circumstances

i still don't like these songs JUST yet...so no lyric samples now

Sunshine: Psychedelics Recommended...But Not Essential

2007-08-07T19:31:00.000-04:00

ya know...there are sci-fi movies every year that come to the big screen. most of which are either sequels themselves or are in line for "going to have a sequel soon". occasionally, there is a film that almost definitely will NOT have a sequel. most of these are easily forgotten. ummm, remember "Red Planet"? well, unfortunately, i do. point made.

but now, "Sunshine" falls into the category of "will never have a sequel". for that reason alone, it's got to be a bit more intriguing than Matrix 4, Star Wars 9, and Harry Potter 12...right?

"Sunshine" is a GREAT science fiction film made by the director who did the perfectly crafted "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later".

from the opening scene, to the familiar space suits themselves, to the overall tone and psychedelic feel to the movie...i couldn't help but keep thinking of Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" and Ridley Scott's "Alien". "Sunshine" clearly doesn't hide the fact that those 2 movies are behind some of the ideas in this film..and that's actually a great thing.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" has been my all time favorite sci-fi film simply for the dramatic realism Kubrick always nails with his movies. "Sunshine" re-creates that trippy tone throughout the film. the only drawback may be a bit of "overload" with the storyline, but overall the movie is too cool to miss if ya ask me.

"Sunshine" is about, as i try not to delve too deep as to not give away anything, the sun and the fact that it dieing...the sun is in danger of completely burning out. there is an ice age on earth and there is yet but only one hope for all of mankind. a spaceship with a special BIG bomb attached to it. the bomb and ship are on their way to the sun to drop off the "payload". the expected result is that the bomb will sort of jump start the sun and allow it to continue burning as we see it today. the crew plans on returning home years later.

there are so many cool scenes and intense emotional sequences that i find it hard to narrow the list down to a few to tell you about. one of my favorite scenes is where the crew gets their first look at the planet Mercury as it scrolls across the sun. it's a beautiful scene with perfect music and is shown at just the right pace. it gave me chills BOTH times i saw the movie. in fact as i write this...i'm itching to see the damn movie again. [checking the movie times right now]

that reminds me...the sun itself in the movie is one of the highlights that continuously keeps the movie in the amazing category. it's hard to describe, but the special effects of the sun make it look as real as you could imagine the sun looking...especially when you are so close. the sun turns out to be big a beautiful character itself. this is even more clear after watching a number of crew members who have a deep, and sometimes disturbing fascination with the sun. some even fantasize about dieing in pure sunlight. this movie is kinda disturbing in a very awkward way.

there is a LOT of drama in "Sunshine" and the 3rd act of the movie is kinda filled with a lot of "WTF's". HOWEVER, i have seen this movie twice now and even with a hectic and ridiculous end sequence, it's STILL a really good movie. to put it simply, i HIGHLY recommend this film to anyone who thinks the idea is somewhat intriguing. or if you liked "2001", or "Alien" and you are in the mood for a movie that takes itself VERY seriously..."Sunshine" is definitely for you.

psychedelics recommended...but not essential

BIG bucks for a Pumpkin Halloween

2007-07-28T23:16:00.000-04:00

go ahead and laugh...i know you want to. i do at least. i've bitched quite a lot about my so-called favorite band...a Chicago based group quarrelled by troubles since the beginning. some call them The Smashing Pumpkins...others choose the original name, Smashing Pumpkins...and still other hard core freakazoids like to stick with the shortened: The Pumpkins.

so yeah, they sold out a long time ago. the band that is. it's hard to find a kickass band that never did sell out OR never will sell out. maybe Sunny Day Real Estate, but they are long gone. damn.

Corgan and company will be playing 2 shows in the ATL...one on October 30th, and the next on the following night...October 31st, 2007...also known as Halloween.

seeing the Smashing Pumpkins on Halloween night has been a bit of an out-of-reach fantasy of mine for a while. now, they are gonna play at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Halloween night, and i'll be damned if i'm gonna miss it.

so, did ya know there are MANY MANY websites (like over 10 at the least) that offer a marketplace for people who like to buy tickets for popular concerts and then sell them at a much higher price for an inflated greedy profit to over-obsessed fans like myself? if ya thought ebay was it, you're dead wrong...and you're paying too much.

the last time i spent this much for a concert ticket was when i saw David Gilmour play at the Rosemont Theatre in Chicago last March..it was awesome...i had a front row ticket...VERY front row for the anticipated second half Pink Floyd setlist. i saw David Gilmour and Richard Wright play "Echoes" prefectly and other top notch badass Floyd songs, and they were maybe 20 feet away from me as i was able to prop up my arms on the stage itself and stare off into an oblivion at the laser lights. it was worth the BIG price tag. i still get chills when i think back at those 2 David Gilmour shows i attended.

so, the Smashing Pumpkins ticket i was able to find is in the Fox Theatre's, "Pit" section...the impossible-to-get-a-ticket-to area people always dream about when they visit the Fox. if you have a ticket that says row A...it means you have a front row seat BEHIND the pit section. the "Pit" is literally just a handful of folded chairs clumped together directly in front of the stage.

the face value of my Fox Theatre "Pit" section ticket is $102. PLUS the service charges. yep...once again, that was FACE value (thanks again Corgan!). well, the fact is that the concerts did sell out in a few minutes, and i bought my ticket just the other day. funny, i bought my ticket from a guy in Detroit.

so, lets just say i payed MORE than the $102 cover price...double to be precise, BUT the catch is that i will be literally only a few feet from the stage, VERY close to the new HOT bass player (Ginger Reyes...see picture above), and definitely close enough to spit on Billy Corgan :)

side note: i realized years ago that it's MUCH easier to buy tickets to a concert if you are located in any state OTHER than where the actual concert will be held. i lived in Alabama one time (don't hold it against me) and was easily able to buy tickets to a Radiohead show in Atlanta, whereas all my friends in Georgia couldn't get through. i banked BIG time and sold one of my tickets for triple what i payed for it. hmmmm...karma sure is a bitch!

Geeky Potter And Death Of Puberty

2007-07-20T23:01:00.000-04:00

so working at a hip costume shop has it's upsides...and downsides.

thanks to the final Harry Potter waste of trees in hardback coming to bookshelves in less than a half hour (eastern time), i get a lot of people at work who walk in and want Harry Potter hats, Harry Potter glasses, Harry Potter magic wands, Harry Potter ties, and Harry Potter bowel movements.

i love my job and i love the customers. but these special edition Harry Potter geekazoids walk in and tell you they wanna dress up like: Sirius, Regulus, Rubeus, and Morpheus...ohh wait, that's "The Matrix"...pardon me, i forgot my puberty at the door.

these people are not regular people...see, they EXPECT you to know EVERY character in EVERY book.

and when, today for example, an obnoxious woman produces a picture of what appeared to be a scruffy homeless man i used to see walking around in Waikiki...i was at a lost for words when she noticed my blank look and said, "It's Sirius!". hmmmm, okay...well, i know it's serious! the homeless in America is a serious problem if ya ask me!

6 Hours: 3 Movies: 1 ticket

2007-07-16T20:19:00.001-04:00

i saw three more movies yesterday at the "good" theatre around here. you know what i mean about "good" don't ya? some theatres are just plain crappy with ripped screens, and some are high class with comfortable stadium seating and monster screens.

once again...i payed for only 1 movie. i find it a little annoying when people FIRST wanna point out and ask, "how can you stay in a theatre for 6 hours?" answer? simple...i payed $9 to get in at 5:30pm. that's how...plus i didn't have a date with me as usual. ohh, which brings me to the next question i love to make the inquisitor feel stupid about, "how can you just go to the movies by yourself?" answer? simple...people who feel the NEED to have someone next to them while watching a movie in public just piss me off. i don't hate you because i don't hate anyone, but...let's just say i have a little problem with you, especially since you asked that stupid inmature question...that's all.

"Live Free Or Die Hard": a lot more fun than i thought it was going to be. if you like the other ones at all, this one has more explosions, more action, and more insanely impossible scenes. the problem is that "Live Free Or Die Hard" is just one big CGI vomit fest...seriously, over 90% of the action scenes are pure CGI. now today's CGI is pretty good, but it's not quite perfect, and i think utilizing CGI too much can make a movie so ridiculous, that it just plain sucks. plus, they have turned John McClain into a super hero beyond that of any Pierce Brosnon James Bond movie..."Live Free Or Die Hard" is REALLY a ridiculous movie, as you might think from watching the trailer where a car is used to destroy a helicopter. the only thing more ridiculous than that scene is maybe the idea of an "invisible car", which was introduced in Pierce Brosnon's "Die Another Day".

Captivity": HOLY SH*T! THIS MOVIE SUCKS...BAD! as we know, i LOVE horror films and i give them the benfit of the doubt a hell-of-a-lot more than anyone should...but "Captivity" is just plain trash. no reasoning behind or understanding of the "plot". i feel bad even using the word "plot" here because i really couldn't find one: guy stalks girl, guy catches girl, guy tortures girl, girl meets hot guy in torture chamber who also appears to be trapped and tortured, girl (willingly) gets naked for guy, girl and guy have ridiculous sex, guy turns out to be stalker, guy tries to kill girl, girl gets last laugh and shoots guy in crotch with shotgun...end of movie.

"1408": i really really liked this movie! the best Stephen King story turned film since "Pet Semetary", if ya asked me. interestingly enough, i have talked with a more than a few women who didn't like "1408" at all. i don't know...it's done really well, and it's a genuinely very creepy and suspenseful movie. the previews give away a lot, BUT not enough to make the movie un-enjoyable or unwatchable at all. the only downside is the ending, which if you think about it...most movies, especially horror movies, just don't know how to end anymore. i've been waiting FOREVER for another super surreal and perfect ending like the slow zooming in on the ancient hotel staff photograph (and inevitably the Devil himself, Jack Torrence) at the end of "The Shining". unfortunately, i will have to wait longer....but in the meantime, "1408" is good worthwhile celluloid.

It Begins Now

2007-07-15T09:30:00.000-04:00

ever heard someone say the following: "I don't dream". that statement is one of my favorite pet peeves and always gets me in a tizzy. EVERYONE dreams! the problem, of course, is that we just don't remember them. EVERYONE dreams around 100 minutes per night...assuming you get more than 100 minutes per night of sleep.

well, i just woke up from one of the most brilliant dreams i have ever had. brilliant because of the seriousness i felt in it and so-called logic involved, which in aftermath is not THAT remarkable.

so, i will try and give you the details...without even writing it out, i can tell you this synopsis will not be as long or exact as i want it to be (they just never are):

i was sitting in the back seat of an SUV...and my girlfriend (in the dream) was next to me. she was just a pretty brunette faceless entity. a friend of hers' is driving, and another friend of hers' is in the front passenger seat. we are just driving, with apparently no destination. i'm just kinda blanding in and out of giving attention to the current conversation taking place in the car between the 3 women. at one moment, when i'm not giving my complete undivided attention, i hear the girl sitting in front of me mention something that caught me completely off guard.
this is where the brilliance of the dream began.

she started to say that every tire on every car made in the world "opens up" with just the right finesse...and i mean literally opens up, with a hinge which opens the face of the tire like a swing door. inside that door, there is a small password protected safe. ya with me still?

according to her, INSIDE this password protected safe of EVERY tire on EVERY car is a good collection of the drug Ecstasy. just sitting there, in the safe, in the tire...a bunch of Ecstasy tablets. 4 tires = 4 separate collections of Ecstasy tablets. there is even a gyroscope-like device that is also installed to make sure the contents of the tires don't get bumped around too much.

well, i heard the girl in front of me start talking about this, and i immediately call "bullsh*t!" i mean it was pretty strange, yeah? so after not believing her claim and a few "prove it" comments from me, the driver stops the car, and the woman in front of me steps out and walks to the front right tire. i stay in the car for some reason and watch her from my backseat. sure enough, i see the tire swing open like a door, and i hear some electronic buttons being pushed...she quickly opens and closes the safe door, and then the tire 'door'. she gets back in with a handful of Ecstasy pills. my jaw hits the floor. i start thinking of all the cars i have owned, driven, rented, and borrowed, and think to myself, "geesh...i passed up on SO many free drugs!"

i started to ask over and over again..."what's the password?" i would never get a full answer, but was told every tire on every car has a different password. "is there a special secret password that works on every tire? not a skeleton key, but rather a skeleton password?" then my girlfriend next to me says that there is a universal password...and it fills every digit in the 11 digit password device.

the password?

"It Begins Now"

(i find the fact that i was able to count letters in a phrase so well in a dream pretty cool)

i just couldn't believe it. now, apparently, because i was such a sceptic, the woman passes the pills all out to everyone, EXCEPT me. and before ya know it, they are all gone, aside from a large pink wafer tablet in an overly large zip-lock bag. there were different types of Ecstasy in every tire...not just a universal one. i wasn't interested in a the pink wafer...in fact i was more interested in gathering a bunch of them to sell and make lots of money. i was having thoughts of going to parking lots and stocking up...eventually getting enough to where i won't have to work for the rest of my life!

i started to ask more and more questions...like, "what's the catch?" for which the following comment is made, "well, you can't take too many pills from the tires at a time because they will know" and you can't open the tires in pubic all the time because it's too risky..."they will see". i quickly ask, "who is they anyway?" i don't get an answer to that one, and the answers to all my other normal questions also fail to receive an answer. i began to get pissed...actually i began to have a manic episode where i just want some answers to the basic questions one would ask after watching a woman open a tire, enter a password, and come back with a handful of Ecstasy tablets! this leads nowhere, and i began to fight (verbally) with everyone in the car over the basic "WTF'S" of the situation.

we arrive home, which is my childhood home back in Marietta. my car is parked there, but the women had installed such fear into me with the fact that "they" will see me or know...i'm at a lost for what to do. i was told it would be okay to open the tires during night...maybe with a flashlight, but to still be careful. a few more verbal confrontations ensue and i get all rilled up even more.

then?

i woke up.

Not Surprising...But Worth A Look

2007-07-11T21:04:00.000-04:00

well, this is not surprising...but it's still worth mentioning in my book. i have never seen anything like THIS before...i mean i've seen band members wearing their own band

t-shirts...but i haven't quite seen this form of personal admiration before. Awesome! i sure am glad she has changed so much since prison.

Zeitgeist...The Perfect Half-Album

2007-07-10T21:59:00.000-04:00

today, i woke up early. i have been anticipating this day for quite a while...for over seven years actually.

today, Zeitgeist, the 7th Smashing Pumpkins album hit the shelves.

now i have had my issues with this release since i found out there were numerous different versions of the album to come out...one version for Target, one for Best Buy, one for iTunes, and countless others on Amazon. genius marketing one may think? a blindly direct rip-off of devoted fans if ya ask me. i have been reading blog entries and online boards for weeks now from hardcore Pumpkin freaks who plan on buying the album two or three times...JUST so they can get a few extra tracks.

the funny thing is, i use to be that kid. back in high school and throughout college, i was notorious for dressing like lead singer Billy Corgan and owning ANYTHING and EVERYTHING Smashing Pumpkins related. hell, i even made my own long sleeved "Zero" shirt, popular during the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness era. if you saw me in my little 1980's Red Toyota Celica zooming around my college town of Carrollton, Georgia...you more than likely heard the LOUD drum and bass thumping and screechy voice of Billy Corgan (and sometimes mine) blaring through the rusted metal. if you knew me back in the day, and you heard the words Smashing Pumpkins..you thought of me.

and then, fortunately, i grew up and expanded my taste in music to include favorites other than "that really cool b-side on that one extremely rare colored vinyl". damn...it was like Dorothy opening the door from black and white into full color reality.

today, i only bought ONE version...and that's all i intend on buying. in today's world of FREE crap you can find on the internet, i think their lucky enough i spent the $15 at Target.

so yeah, the Target version has the title track included, 'Zeitgeist'...it's one of the best songs on the album, and sounds like old school Smashing Pumpkins. it's Billy Corgan and an acoustic guitar. one of my favorite combinations.

Zeitgeist, as defined in Wikipedia:

Zeitgeist is originally a German expression that means "the spirit of the age", literally translated as "time (Zeit) spirit (Geist)". It describes the intellectual and cultural climate of an era. The German pronunciation of the word is [ˈtsa͡ɪtga͡ɪst].

and that's precisely what the album is about. it's not a concept album, (which i wish they REALLY would do one day) but it's a statement of today's loud culture and the media-influenced mis-directed concerns of American citizens. it's anti war, anti Bush, earth loving, and overall, life fearing...basically it represents many things i do not subscribe to, BUT it's a pretty damn good Smashing Pumpkins album. am i still a blindly biased Smashing Pumpkins fan? well, i use to tell people that if Billy Corgan released a CD of him snoring the night away...i would buy it, love it, and defend it to the grave. and funny enough...i haven't changed THAT much actually.

i was wondering if i should include some of the lyrics and clear interpretations here, but i have already discussed the theme of the album. plus, for me, the lyrics haven't been the most important aspect of this newly reunited Chicago-based band, which (thank god) still has the original drummer Jimmy Chamberlain.

Chamberlain and Corgan actually did most of the production together, which is a change from previous albums where Corgan would strictly work with producers like Butch Vig (Nirvana, Garbage), or Mike Ellis (a.k.a Flood, who worked with The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, and U2 to name a few). this go around, Corgan and Chamberlain either worked alone or with help from producer Terry Date (Deftones), and Thomas Baker (Queen, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Cars, Cheap Trick, etc).

if you think of the overall sound of...lets say The Deftones and The Rolling Stones, mixed in with classic Smashing Pumpkins...you'll have the feel of the new Smashing Pumpkins album. it's a pretty cool combination and the album kicks ass...for the most part.

the first 3 songs flow together perfectly...in my opinion, Corgan has mastered the art of "album flow". however, like other albums, AFTER the FLAWLESS Gish and Siamese Dream, the flow kind of gets rattled by the 6th or 7th song. i yawned once during the 4th song, 'That's The Way', and another during the 6th song, 'Starz'...both of which i think are fillers.

the big surprise and best overall track for me was the 7th song, called, 'United States'. it's a hardcore, hard rockin', psychedelic trip...clearly a 'thank you' to guitar fans like me who have complained that the original guitar driven Pumpkins have sold out. 'United States' is JUST under 10 minutes long, and is filled with ever-changing, catchy guitar rhythms and LOUD mind bending (yet soothing) classic Corgan induced Fender Stratocaster feedback...the song was worth the $15 for me...easily. damn...the song is BAD ASS!

unfortunately, four of the last six songs are somewhat forgettable...not to say that they are BAD songs, but once again, i have to use the word "filler".

Basically, Zeitgeist is a PERFECT half-album. and in today's world of music and lackluster contributions from talented musicians...i'll take a perfect half-album from the Pumpkins any day.

Hypocrisy Of Live Earth...Year 3

2007-07-07T17:55:00.000-04:00

hey, i like watching a big concert for free on the internet just as much as the next guy...hell, we even got to see the long awaited reunion of Pink Floyd a few years back! i don't mind calling a worldwide concert a worldwide concert...when that's all that it is.

but i don't like subscribing to the idea that it's actually helping the planet...or that it is even helping raise awareness.

this argument seems to come up every year, about the Live Earth concerts around the world...spearheaded by the tree hugging, afraid the world will die from global warming before nuclear fallout, Al Gore.

does the concert itself actually do what it can to save the planet?

here are a few points, i got directly from The Daily Mail, one of many websites to list the numbers of what is actually taking place:

{The most conservative assessment of the flights being taken by its superstars is that they are flying an extraordinary 222,623.63 miles between them to get to the various concerts - nearly nine times the circumference of the world. The true environmental cost, as they transport their technicians, dancers and support staff, is likely to be far higher.

The total carbon footprint of the event, taking into account the artists' and spectators' travel to the concert, and the energy consumption on the day, is likely to be at least 31,500 tonnes of carbon emissions, according to John Buckley of Carbonfootprint.com, who specialises in such calculations.

Throw in the television audience and it comes to a staggering 74,500 tonnes. In comparison, the average Briton produces ten tonnes in a year.

The concert will also generate some 1,025 tonnes of waste at the concert stadiums - much of which will go directly into landfill sites.

Moreover, the pop stars headlining the concerts are the absolute antithesis of the message they promote - with Madonna leading the pack of the worst individual rock star polluters in the world.

Supermodel Kate Moss, another profligate polluter through her use of private jets, is producing a T-shirt for the event. Yet, Gore is touting the concerts as 'carbon neutral'. So how can that be?
Let us start with some facts. Worldwide, an audience of around 1,268,500 is expected to attend the concerts - making it one of the largest global events in history.

Dr Andrea Collins, an expert in sustainability from Cardiff University, has researched the impact of such mass gatherings on the environment.

"An event of this size at Wembley - which holds 65,000 at a rock concert, will generate around 59 tonnes of waste," she says. "That is largely composed of the rubbish from food and drink consumption."

She found that a Wembley-sized football match generated an 'ecological footprint' of 3,000 global hectares - an area the size of 4,166 football pitches. This is the amount of bioproductive land required to absorb the C02 emissions produced by such an event.

The concert organisers are preaching carbon neutrality - but isn't that just a guilt-free excuse?
Dr Collins estimates that the global audience for Live Earth will generate some 1,025 tonnes of waste. An extraordinary one million people are expected at the free concert at Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach, featuring Lenny Kravitz, Macy Gray and Pharrell Williams.

Other venues including the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg - where Joss Stone is performing - will cater for audiences of tens of thousands.

Live Earth say that they will recycle much of the waste generated. Fine talk, but in fact some of the concert venues are struggling to keep up with their commitments.

A spokesman for Wembley says they only have the capacity to recycle around a third of waste produced - the rest will go into landfill sites.

Travel forms the vast majority of the 'carbon footprint' talked of by ecological campaigners - contributing up to 90 per cent of the environmental 'cost'.

Collins says: "It is patently absurd to claim that travel of this nature doesn't have an impact. Each person attending the event will have to make a return journey to the venue, be it by air, rail, bus or car. This burns fossil fuel - precisely what we are trying to reduce.

"There is also the environmental cost of these artists flying around the world - that is absolutely huge."

Indeed, an audit of the lifestyles of the A-list performers appearing at Live Earth, reveals that they are among the worst individual polluters in the world, as their world tours and private jets billow thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. One hour in a Gulfstream jet burns as much fuel as driving a family car for a year.

The Daily Mail has found that five of the top performing acts together have an annual output of almost 2,000 carbon tonnes. Madonna alone has an annual carbon footprint of 1,018 tonnes, according to John Buckley.

Remember, the average Briton produces just ten tonnes.

The veteran pop singer's Confessions tour last year produced 440 tonnes of carbon pollution in just four months, simply in flights between venues. This does not include the trucks required to transport equipment, the power needed to stage each show, or the transport for fans travelling to each concert.

Rock group Genesis re-formed last year and are in the middle of their European tour. The three-man band will fit their Live Earth performance into a tour of at least 47 locations across the world. Their carbon footprint last year totalled 195 tonnes.

James Blunt, another Wembley performer, completed his world tour of the U.S. last year, racking up a carbon footprint of 195 tonnes.

American band Red Hot Chili Peppers have, like Madonna, flown in to Wembley from the U.S.. They have produced 220 tonnes of carbon dioxide with their private jet alone over the last six months.}

as you can see, this is something to consider and to at least think about when you say to yourself, "this is a great idea for the planet and for awareness!"

...wait, on the other hand, i guess it isn't a bad idea to create awareness when ya think of the actual damage the worldwide event creates, all while preaching that we need to "save the planet."

hmmmm...maybe it's genius after all?

or maybe Al Gore should focus his thoughts on helping his extremely drug addicted son who clearly has been ignored as seen with his constant run-ins with the law, rather than placing himself in the spotlight to do...well, more harm to the planet.

Rise Of The Start Of The Fall Of Rednecks

2007-07-04T03:29:00.000-04:00

i know the title is a little weird...but you gotta watch this entire video...

summary: jealous rednecks pick on the wrong guy, and payback sure is a bitch

note: there is a LOT of bad language in the video, but if ya can hold out, it's worth it at the end :)

Holistic Healing...Day 1

2007-06-27T20:49:00.000-04:00

i went to a new doctor today. it was a magical experience. i'm not kidding.

i went to a doctor who specializes in holistic medicine, and she practices this because she has seen far to often the negative side effects of the toxins we put in our bodies, which are known as prescription pharmaceuticals. it's not that she won't prescribe those, as she will when appropriate, but she has other options rather than just, "well if that didn't work, then try this (heavily toxic) drug".

it's so funny...i mentioned this in an earlier blog, that i was going to pursue this approach, but if you remember way back to a specific myspace blog, i had a very different opinion. (damn, i cannot even find the blog now to reference because myspace doesn't have a search option and i cannot seem to just go back to a specific time and look at a large amount of blogs, but rather just a specific day. go figure.)

but my original opinion was basically that the holistic approach is kinda silly, and manufactured medicine was the best approach for ME...and i was a little harsh on the sweet close friends of mine (Rachel, and Cyn...God Bless you both) who thought that i should give it a try. i felt like i knew what was right for me and wasn't gonna sway from that...come hell or high water...(well, you know me, so that's not too surprising!)

so after 7 anti-depressant attempts in the 4 months it's been since i came home from Hell, i have realized that anti-depressants, while provide many people serious relief, suck for me and my body. i simply felt worse on every single one of them...it's amazing...i even thought that maybe i was on a hidden camera reality TV show where i was a test subject for the CIA because the medicine was SO bad for my mind and body, and just made me feel terrible. (no, i didn't honestly think that...but it was funny, yeah?) anyway,

so the doctor comes in today, and she had actually gone over my file BEFORE she entered the room, and was ready to get down to brass tax...whereas EVERY other doctor i've seen walks in while staring at my chart and asks, "what can i do for you today?". well, if you listened to the nurse who just went over all of that with me OR read my file, you would know, dr. dumbass!

today, the first question was, "do you have a history of depression in your life?". awesome. she got down to it, and there was clearly NO time limit...even though i was 30 minutes late getting seen, i was with her for about an hour and a half...and she did some, what i would call, strange things...she rubbed the bottom of my feet with a spoon, she sprayed some sage over my body and pushed away an invisible mess that must have been lying about an inch or 2 above my body...she had me resist her force as she pushed down my left arm, and i pushed up, while at the same time saying, "my name is sam", followed by, "my name is betty" and still resisting her force...she had me thumping beneath my collar bone with both hands, along with my lower rib cage, and above my sternum...she had me pulling up on each of my legs when i was sitting down while at the same time breathing in and out...she had me stick a finger in my bellybutton and one on my temple, lift up, and breath in and out...after all this i was supposed to feel more grounded, and quite honestly...i did! AND i didn't have any bruises from beating myself!

she was very confused on my "energy poles", and said they were completely opposite for what they should be...whatever that means. she had a very frustrated look on her face and said she had to do more research on my specific reactions...my mind, body, and soul must have been a holistic nightmare for her. it's about time someone who can actually help me feels the same way i do.

oh, i'm not done! she had me take a very detailed 5 page questionnaire, which included questions i had never been asked before about various medicines i have taken in my lifetime, and so on and so forth...PLUS i had a lot of lab work done too. it was a full on holistic doctors visit...i went home with a smile and a photo-copy of some energy exercises (the thumping and such). i'll be going back next week, after the test results are back. i honestly felt like she wanted nothing but to help me get better...and for most doctors, i, sadly enough, don't ever feel that way.

ya know, i thought this stuff was just hocus-pocus at one point...and i slammed it....hard!

boy, was i wrong and just plain ignorant! just another classic example of how i can be overly judgemental.

hey, i'm not 100%, nor was i supposed to be after today's visit, but i can CLEARLY tell i should have done this a LONG time ago.

Who I'm Going To Vote For...Or Not

2007-06-26T22:54:00.000-04:00

well, i can only answer my own question with stating who i am NOT going to vote for, unless one of these candidates promises to lower gas prices by 200% somehow, and that ain't gonna happen anytime this lifetime..but if it does, BAM! my decision is made!

i will not vote for the clear republicans...Fred Thompson is really smart, and i like him, BUT he's too old and his wife looks like a exotic dancer which would NEVER work in the White House...and maybe i just like him because he was in Law and Order...Rudy Giuliani is okay, but he's kinda creepy and has too many mixed messages across the board, and he hides behind 9/11 too much...Ron Paul is silly, but he has a great idea and wants to get rid of the IRS completely, but he's really just Ross Perot in a bad disguise, and that's not good...Mitt Romney just feels like a Mormon minister who is on TV asking for money while looking up at God and sweating profusely, and that's not gonna work with me either....and finally, John McCain?...two words..."WAKE UP!"

i will not vote for the clear democrats either...Barack Obama had my attention for a long time, and then i listened to what he actually says, and it ain't much because he has no experience and uses VERY big generalizations without any detail...Hillary? well, Hillary is related to Bill, and Hillary wants BIG government and socialized medicine, which looks good on paper, but has yet to work without going bankrupt ANYWHERE in the world...side note: people cross the border ALL the time from Canada to get medical help HERE in America (please don't listen to Michael Moore, Sicko is only HALF the story...yes, i've seen it, as someone illegally downloaded it and put the entire movie on myspace not too long ago)...and John Edwards...good God, he hates lesbians and gays, and he just wants to recreate the Peace Corps and call it "Marshall Corps" to deal with similar issues, which in it of itself would be doing the same thing as the Peace Corps. ummm, you're name is John EDWARDS...NOT John KENNEDY.

so there ya have it! ohh wait..i never mentioned who i will be voting for.

well, i don't know..if that green party guy, Ralph Nader, would simply brush his hair and stop looking like he was just run over by a semi, then i might be interested.

there is a guy who is an independent, who was a republican but changed over lately...Mike Bloomberg, but he says he isn't gonna run for president and those independent tickets are such an unfortunate waste these days...maybe not for long (fingers crossed).

ya know, i never thought i would say this, but i really like Joe Lieberman..his own party ousted him for his views of the war in Iraq, and after he quit the democratic party, he still won as an independent in Connecticut! WOW! he still has my vote as of now, but like Bloomberg, he hasn't even announced he's running *sigh*

so where does that leave me? without a clue, but so far i know who i'm NOT supporting, so maybe that's a start.

Rosie Uses Her Own Child...In Classic Hypocrisy

2007-06-26T22:04:00.001-04:00

well well...here is my favorite subject to blog about. sheer hypocrisy, in the term of our favorite individual, Rosie O'Donnell. anyone familiar with her views on guns and the war in Iraq know very well Rosie has spoken out against guns in general and everyone who owns them (yet she allows her bodyguard to carry a gun to protect her). hmmm, why is she allowed to have "protection" with guns, but others shouldn't be allowed that same privilege? i'm not sure..but we are talking about Rosie O'Donnell...so it comes easily to remember how not many things that come out of her mouth make since. she says war is not the answer, war is bad, and we should end this war ASAP, and bring home our troops.

and then she posts this picture of HER OWN CHILD today on her website. ohh, "it's just dress up", she claims..."art provokes", she exclaims to her critics on her blog. so, let me get this right...she is doing this because she sees it as art, and her point is that "art provokes". what is the reason? simple...it's for attention, at the cost of an innocent child. if Rosie was an advocate for the war and supported our troops, this picture wouldn't be interesting. she specifically chose to stir shit up because she has been out of the mainstream news over the past few days because she will NOT be the host of the Price is Right (thank you Lord in Heaven above).

people using their own kids as a political statement (or for the simple sake of provoking a reaction) is just plain sick. people love to hate Paris Hilton because she is addicted to attention. well, Rosie isn't ANY different. when she talks, it's all about her and her attempts to be funny...notice the word "attempts". to me, she's not. she's insane. she's not living in reality. and this picture is just plain wrong simply because of her political views.

my point here is similar to the same hypocrisy we see with the extreme left winged liberals who complain that we humans are solely responsible for something called Global Warming...yet they get into their gas guzzling SUV's everyday and drive around in circles, while still pushing for hybrids, less carbon monoxide, and more special interest groups to get involved in "saving our doomed planet" from the toxins in the air.

overall point...how about you live your life the same way your mouth leads you? and if ya can't...shut the hell up, and leave your kids OUT of it.

Indiana Jones...Ahh, To Be Five Again

2007-06-23T03:57:00.000-04:00

as a child, at the innocent age of 5, i remember seeing a movie that forever changed my life. Raiders of the Lost Ark. i was hooked after the initial sequence where Indiana Jones is running from a huge boulder while cradling a gold idol. my parents took my brother and i to that movie well over 5 times...and believe it or not, i remember it being sold out at the crappy theatre down the street every time...we had to wait in line for what seemed like an eternity...dealing with seconds which seemed like hours, and minutes which seemed like days...all just to watch a movie i had already seen enough to recite every Indiana Jones line in the film (no shit)...plus, as the anticipation for the film we were waiting on built stronger and stronger, we had to deal with the teenage jerks who would cut in line at the last minute and nab the last few seats for the next showing. man, this was when movies felt like real life to me...they felt like an extended amusement park ride, and i was immediately in love with escaping reality through films. being 5, i clearly remember not quite understanding how Han Solo and Indiana Jones could look so much alike, but be different people. i was SO confused! how can someone be two different people??? ahhh, yes...what i wouldn't do to be 5 again and still think that way :)

the picture above was taken by Stephen Spielberg last thursday at the beginning of production for the 4th Indiana Jones film (untitled at this point). it's hard to believe it's been 18 years since the 3rd Indiana Jones film...i mean it was the "Last Crusade", but Spielberg and Lucas should have known better. i guess better late than never.

just to put a few more things into perspective on the time frame...remember, it was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1989) which is behind the reasoning of the current PG-13 rating (this rating was created right after Temple of Doom because when Mola Ram tore the hearts out of his victims before slowly dropping the awake bodies into a firey lava pit, parents freaked because the movie was rated PG...hence the beginning of PG-13).

back to the photo, i was stoked when i saw it because Harrison Ford doesn't look like a man who is 64 years old...even though the new film will not try and hide the fact that Indiana Jones is an old man, it's refreshing to know that he still looks like good old Indiana Jones. i was a little worried, and now that Sean Connery has said "no thanks" to reprising his role as Indiana's father, i'm still a little worried. BUT, it is Spielberg and Lucas working together again...and those two just don't get things wrong when they work as a team as they have for the first 3 films.

i think i'll go find my official Indiana Jones hat, 10 foot long leather whip, and shoulder strapped knapsack and play around in the nearest wooded area here...wait, on the other hand, i better not...if i saw me dressed like that playing in the woods around here, i would call the police and grab a shotgun. damn. kids have it made.

what i wouldn't do to be 5 again :)

Leaving Six Flags Without Your Feet

2007-06-22T13:10:00.000-04:00

Good God! even the "Final Destination" movies never got this creepy! a 13 year old girl had both of her feet severed completely off by a broken cable while riding the Superman Tower of Power ride at Six Flags in Kentucky.

i can't even read the damn story without freaking out! and the crazy thing is that the girl actually traded seats with someone right before the ride started! apparently, the maimed girl was calm when the malfunctioned ride came to an abrupt stop...other people who could see that her feet were missing were not nearly as calm.

here's the popular 2-lined phrase all over the news:

"The ride lifts passengers 177 feet straight up, then drops 154 feet, reaching a speed of 54 miles per hour. The ride has been shut down indefinitely while park officials investigate what caused the accident."

hmmm...you lift people 177 feet in the air and then drop them half the length of a football field at the posted speed limit of many highways...and someone gets hurt...shocker!

My Favorite Band Screws Me Over...Again!

2007-06-22T12:11:00.000-04:00

well, there are a lot of people who love to make fun of Smashing Pumpkins and Billy Corgan...i have spent countless hours in my day arguing with people over which band is better: Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana. for me, it was never even close. the depth of Billy Corgan and his musical writing style have always impressed me far among that of Kurt Cobain...but when it comes down to it, i simply like both bands.

being a Smashing Pumpkins fan has not always been a smooth ride:

...there were the endless singles released, each with at least a few b-sides i HAD to have...many years later, every one of these b-sides were released on a b-side album, enforcing my own feelings of stupidity for buying them individually...there were the concerts at Variety Playhouse where tickets sold out in seconds, leaving me the opportunity to pay $70 a pop to see them live...there was the firing (and eventually re-hiring) of the heroin addicted drummer...there was a Billy Corgan solo album, which lacked in every possible way...and now, after a 10 year break, they are back, and they bring the fans more problems with them.

i couldn't get a ticket to ANY of the 9 Ashville, North Carolina shows, which begin tomorrow at a venue made for under 950 people...Billy Corgan allowed fans to buy tickets online ONLY, and the obscure website crashed within moments of the tickets going on sale...leaving me and other fans worried, confused, and just plain pissed off.

and now, the next chapter in the saga of being an overly devoted Smashing Pumpkins fan begins...according to PitchforkMedia, their new album, Zeitgeist, will be released in 4 different versions...Best Buy has a version, Target has a version, iTunes has a version, and then there is the 'regular version'...each one is different from each other with a different bonus track (the iTunes version even has an extra set of cover songs done by modern punk bands like Panic At The Disco, The Bravery, Test Your Reflex, +44, The Academy Is...)...and now that i look on Amazon, i notice a few different "special edition" versions there available for pre-order too.

hey, i guess you gotta hand to a guy who knows his marketing! Billy Corgan has his hand in EVERY pocket of each fan!

by releasing the album in 4 different versions, Billy Corgan knows that some fans will buy every single version of the album...i know this, because i used to be that kid. not anymore! he'll be lucky if i don't decide to download the damn thing from a torrent site!

their newest single, Tarantula, of course has a b-side...but it's the same extra track that will be on the Target version. my bad, i guess we do a get a break afterall.

So That's How She Comes Off In Real Life

2007-06-22T01:39:00.000-04:00

i found this quick 3 minute video from the author of one of my favorite books...here she talks briefly about her book and her life story. Jeannette Walls is her name and her book is called, The Glass Castle. it's just an amazing and quite inspiring memoir about life, the way you choose to look at things, and hope...even in times of severe desperation.

Jeannette Walls came from a poor and highly dysfunctional family and despite every possible problem, she went on to become a celebrity columnist for MSNBC. this is a hell-of-great story! highly emotional and hard to put down.

in the video, you'll find out a little more about her life and story:

Hmmm...Just How Tempted Are you???

2007-06-21T22:34:00.001-04:00

okay, i found this to be quite funny...but many people will NOT find it funny, so i will make it so you have to actually try in order to make yourself mad...i was reading the Drudge Report and i noticed a story about a hacker by the name of "Gabriel" who apparently hacked into a computer at London-based Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and found the entire book of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...and so he posted the spoilers online. here is JUST the story WITHOUT spoilers (trust me) and below is the actual text from the website insecure.org where the complete ending to the 7th and final Harry Potter book is supposedly listed. i went ahead and posted the actual spoilers below, but to see it, you'll have to actually highlight the text for yourself. if you're getting nervous, you better stop reading now. i'm not one for spoiling anything, and personally, i do not believe these spoilers are true, but just for the hell of it i went ahead and posted it here encrypted into the background so i can look back on July 21st when the book is released and see if "Gabriel" was right or if he was full of BS, which i presume...but the excitement and drama involved is pretty damn exciting and just plain funny. remember, the spoilers are below, but the story i linked to in this text is JUST the story i got from Drudge Report and doesn't have spoilers.

if you read this blog on a feed where the page is white and the text is dark, then stop reading now!

Dear my brothers,
Voldemort killed Hermione. Yes, that's true. And we knew that 2 days ago.
This is the end of the not yet published (someone could call that 0day) book
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows .
At the end of the story Hagrid was killed by Snape in the attempt of ambush Hermione and Ron. Ron and Hermione flees in privet drive but Voldermort, surprising them, engaged a magical duel with Ron and Hermione.
Voldemort attacked trough the imperius curse and Hermione, to protect the life of Ron fight hardly for more than 6 pages and then finally die. (boring, very boring... it's always the same story!)
Then, to make a long story short, Harry came up, killed all the bad guys and Hogwarts against became a good place to stay and have fun.
Ah, i missed one important information about Draco Malfoy, he started to create Horcrux (for fun and profit!). The end.

The Gloves Come Off

2007-06-21T17:52:00.000-04:00

this was going to be a response to a comment i received from a friend of mine regarding my disregard towards Rosie and her "weight problem". the "weight problem" doesn't come into the picture until you start spouting an extreme left winged negative US agenda. once i hear that, then the boxing gloves come off. let me say though, that this blog is directed at people who believe the conspiracy theories about the United Sates govt and our involvement in 9/11.

okay, so the flood gates have been opened. this is clearly a political debate, in my opinion because i'm only going off on Rosie because of her extreme left winged political agenda...the fact that she is clearly a racist doesn't help my opinion either.

my opinions of the war have always been the same, but we're new to each other so i'll explain. first, it has nothing to do with believing Elisabeth Hasselbeck because she is "young, slim, and attractive". if you honestly think that i'm that guy, then don't come back.

you're obviously a left winged liberal if you actually like Rosie O'Donnell and agree with the things she has said about our govt. i'm not and i disagree with everything she has said. it wasn't "Bush's advisers" who "manufactured" evidence to go to war with Iraq. Elisabeth Hasselbeck understands this fact. liberals refuse to believe that the intelligence we had with Bush was the SAME intelligence we had with Clintion for 8 years. advisers didn't manufacture anything. Clinton even had the chance to nab Bin Laden in the 90's, but he said, "no thanks"...but i assume you don't even believe that Bin Laden was responsible for 9/11 if you agree with Rosie O'Donnell...Rosie thinks it was the United States who is responsible for the 9/11 and the war because she can't get it into her fat head that fire and airplane fuel can cause a building to collapse. i mean, she is an expert on science! Sean Penn, Charlie Sheen, Danny Glover, and countless other "has been's" share your opinion. the liberal media is winning, and that's why 70% think we need to pack up, and leave the middle east right way and never look back...even though if we did that, we would be chased back home and another 9/11 would happen in due time. do i need to remind people that we have a 100% volunteer military and ALWAYS will? the liberal media will tell you otherwise! i assume you wanna compare the US with Nazi Germany too, like Rosie and so many other hollywood jerks...even though we are the ones fighting people who cut the heads off of the innocent while they are still alive and videotape it for the media. yeah, Bush is the bad guy...he is just like Hitler. hate to tell ya, but Joe Lieberman is right on target when he says we may need to attack Iran next...Iran is REALLY scary. North Korea isn't far behind either. have ya even heard that Hezbollah, a BIG terrorist organization, wants to and intends on completely eliminating Israel from the map??? THIS is only a part of what we are fighting against! wanna just sit back and let it happen??? umm, sorry...but not me!

people who live in a paranoid state about the US govt really scare me. the middle east scares me and it should scare you more than GW Bush and the United States. we are NOT the enemy, but people like you refuse to see the world as anything but the US sticking their nose where it doesn't belong and causing trouble everywhere. once again, if you agree with Rosie, that is what you are saying and believing. i suggest you move out of the country if you hate it so much, but that won't help...you cannot avoid "today"...hell, i'm still waiting on the countless celebrities that promised to move out of the United States if GW Bush was elected.

maybe you should actually watch the terrorist videos where they behead our soldiers. THAT is what we are fighting...if you wanna withdraw and give up hope in defeating these animals in the world, then go ahead. they (the terrorists) would be doing these things even if we were not in Iraq, and eventually they would come back here to do the same...would it make you feel better if we just closed shop and ignored the butchering of people from other countries? ohh, i forgot, Bill Clinton did this in the 90's when thousands of people were being butchered in Rwanda...he did NOTHING. i repeat...NOTHING, except maybe cheat on his wife some more. hey, if you like the idea of the US being isolated and refusing to help the less fortunate, then that's okay...but i cannot stand back and allow terrorists to run the world. i don't believe in isolationism in the world we live in today. if we were isolated, the left winged liberal media would bitch that "we aren't dong anything". we are damned if we do and damned if we don't.

my point, is when you say things that blame the United States for 9/11 and blame the United States for everything that goes wrong in the world (as Rosie does), you are directly giving the enemy EXACTLY what they want...more fuel for the fire baby! when they know that the very people they HATE are actually turning against their own govt, then they know they are getting the upper hand. this ain't Vietnam...this is serious shit and i wonder when people will wake up...i assume when we have a nuclear bomb in the air heading towards us, that's only 17 minutes away from hitting New York, then you will understand...and by then, we'll all be dead. and no, it won't be 'our fault' as the liberal media wants you to believe. 9/11 happened and would have happened under ANY president. we have stopped countless terrorist attempts since then, but Rosie doesn't wanna talk about how many attacks we have stopped since 9/11. if the next president is softer than GW Bush on national security, we ALL have something to worry about BIG TIME. until then, i honestly feel safe living here. remember, the best presidents in history have been EXTREMELY unpopular at the time of their presidency...it's a fact.

for the record, here are just a few popular democrats who have been quoted about WMDs in Iraq, since this debate is clearly tied to political viewpoints. don't take these quotes lightly either, as these same liberal assholes blamed Bush at every corner and still do today, even though they "lied" JUST as much as people wanna blame Bush for:

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."- President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998 http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/02/18/iraq.political.analysis/

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."- Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998 http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/iraq/iraq172.htm

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."Letter to President Clinton.- (D) Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, others, Oct. 9, 1998 http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/07/17/wh.critics/

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."- Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999 http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:u62ZeSGUfj0J:washingtontimes.com/national/inbeltway.htm+%22Hussein+has+...+chosen+to+spend+his+money+on+building+weapons+of+mass+destruction+and+palaces+for+his+cronies.%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/transcripts/gore_text092302.html

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002 http://kennedy.senate.gov/~kennedy/statements/02/10/2002A07621.html

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002 http://www.senate.gov/~rockefeller/news/2002/flrstmt0102002.html

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DL12Ak02.html

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..."- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003 http://web.archive.org/web/20040204225854/www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches

Sorry Rosie, The Price Is Right Isn't Edible

2007-06-21T03:25:00.000-04:00

well well..look who wants to become the host of the most popular TV game show in history?

good God help us all if she actually becomes the next host. i, like many other people, will never watch The Price is Right again if this rotting behemoth takes over .

gee Rosie, maybe you should have kept your big fat mouth shut on 'The View' when you started spouting anti-American conspiracy theories everyday as if you were on your very own radio talk show. maybe if you did that, you would have a better chance of doing something worthwhile with your life, rather than eating, bitching, eating, and being an embarrassing big fat ugly cow of a lesbian...did i mention eating? hey, i don't mind lesbians...i don't mind big fat cows either...i DO mind Rosie O'Fatass because she is out of touch with reality, just plain dumb, and spouted her BS theories on a national TV show. if you didn't see it, Elisabeth Hasselbeck ate Rosie for breakfast everytime they argued.

funny, as much as i despise Donald Trump, i agree COMPLETELY with his thoughts on Rosie as well. not to mention, did you see and hear Rosie O'Douchebag spit out a series of negative, "ching chang chong" remarks when describing how people from China act? I'll post the video down below. afterwards, after people got outraged (and rightfully so), Rosie turns to the 2 Asians sitting in the crowd and asks, "were you offended by that?"...and the 2 giddy Asian women just looked at each other and started giggling and waved their heads back and forth...and since those 2 Asians in the audience didn't have the courage to stand up for what's right, Rosie uses that as a confidence booster and moves on to her next steaming pile of BS to encompass.

my viewpoints about this ignorant disgusting slob started back when she gave away the ending to "Fight Club" on her boring daytime TV show in 1999...she didn't like the movie so she decided to ruin the best movie in years for a lot of people RIGHT AFTER "Fight Club" hit theatres.

ohh yeah, i forgot, 'freedom of speech' is what every loony tune says when they get called out for being just plain retarded...and that's right. this is America, and we do have the right to say the dumbest things whenever we want to...we have the right to be retarded...but it seems like every extreme-minded hollywood jerk has forgotten that the freedom you'll find in America today is the direct result from our country fighting for what's right, even if it's not "popular" at the time. and just because you live in America, doesn't mean you won't come off sounding like a complete bumbling idiot, while at the same time supporting our enemy during a time of war, on national TV...hey, you have the right to do that! BUT you better be ready for the reactions and long term consequences on your career (like not getting a good job again) or simply jail time for treason.

back to what i said earlier, if you thought that Rosie O'JelloAss wasn't a complete racist as well, then watch this AWESOME rendition by one of my favorite political commentators, Michelle Malkin, about Rosie's "ching chang chong" remarks she made on "The View".

I'm Not A Plastic Bag...I'm Just Plain Dumb

2007-06-19T19:37:00.000-04:00

what in the HELL is wrong here? this bag, made by someone known as 'Anya Hindmarch', is a replacement to the plastic bag used at grocery stores as part of some environmental awareness crap. Fox News reported today that the bags (priced at $15 in the UK) have been sold for up to $895 on ebay because the 25,000 that were made sold out immediately.

my only question, despite the obvious, is what do you do with this small bag when you need to buy more than 20 items at the grocery store? ohh, that's right...you won't be able to afford groceries since you just spent your entire food budget for the next 6 months for nothing, other than to look like a real asshole.

Prescription To Get Worse

2007-06-19T13:58:00.001-04:00

i saw my shrink today. this is the second one i've seen since i've been home from Africa (the first one was a REAL douche). i think i'm in love with her...not really, but kinda. she's the most honest and direct doctor i've spoken with (plus she doesn't have a wedding ring). anyway, after today's discussion over the fact that the latest (lexapro) of many anti-depressants have been nothing but harmful and making me feel MUCH worse, she said i had 2 options: 1) try another one, which would have been my 7th one in just 4 months, or, 2) try the holistic approach, like st. johns wort and valerian root with the advice from an M.D who specializes in holistic medicine. i chose the latter.

it's funny...when i got home from Africa, i knew i needed something strong because i haven't been this low, ever. i totally refused to even consider the natural/herbal approach many of my good friends had suggested. i don't know if these will work either, but i can't find anything on the internet suggesting any negative reactions or bad side effects. so, what the hell! i'll give it a shot!

back to my shrink though...she said if she were me, she would also choose the holistic approach at this point, which means i would no longer need her services. she had no reason to schedule a follow up and told me i knew where to find her if i needed her. WOW! i had only seen her twice so far and she honestly wanted nothing other than to actually help me. she also said that she intends to get involved and eventually change over to the holistic medicine world because she sees way too often the negative side effects of these highly toxic prescription psychiatric drugs. and it just so happened that she also had a photocopy of a business card in my file, and she honestly didn't remember how it got there. the photo copied business card? it was for an M.D in Atlanta who specializes in holistic medicine.

"funny how things all work out", i said...she agreed and sent me on my way. i wanted to kiss her, but i thought that might not be the best thing to do...plus my nose has already been broken once already.

so my point is, doctors have to make a living...and the doctors i've seen in my life always want you to come back for a "follow up" or a "check-up". hell...if they "fix" you completely, you have no reason to return, and they don't make any more money off you or your insurance company. i hate to say it, but the truth is that everything is a business in the US. the only reason people do anything is to to make money, because you need money to survive...now i believe in capitalism, and i do think it's the best form of government ever conceived (yet). however, greed can and will get a hold of anyone at anytime without notice as a result of living in a capitalistic society...but occasionally, you will find that one sparkling gem who literally just wants to help you get better.

side note: my psychiatrist told me she has seen that anti-depressants, like effexor in particular, have caused the user to test positive for hard core illicit drugs like LSD, PCP, and DMT because of the way effexor metabolizes in the body. holy Jesus! this was new to me! i had already heard that certain anti-psychotics can cause you to test positive for marijuana, but the overall toxic effects of these psychiatric drugs are simply amazing to me. all i can say from my extensive personal experience is...good luck!

Proper Introductions and To Hell With Myspace!

2007-06-17T19:44:00.000-04:00

okay, first i gotta thank one of my online "friends" (Andrea) who accidentally got my interested in making my own REAL blog. see, i had fallen victim to the world of myspace and i was only posting my thoughts there...but there is something about myspace that just doesn't feel right anymore. it's like the day you you aren't able to enjoy just going to the mall to do nothing except watch other people spend money...like the day you realize that your parents were actually bitching about something worth bitching about...like the day you cannot enjoy Sesame Street anymore without your not-so-funny inner commentary...i'm talking about real problems in real life. it's about time i had a wake up call. myspace has felt like a continuation of high school politics since i joined, but what can i say...i was addicted from the first time i signed on and my overall perspective of life was immediately blurred from the initial everlasting euphoria of instantly having "friends".

"hello...my name is sam and i'm an addict"

today is the 17th of june, 2007. you'll find me in a stage of life i'd rather not think about, let alone talk about. i'm 29, i'm single, i'm unemployed, i live at home with my parents, and i have no idea what to do next for the first time in a LONG time. so yeah, basically...i'm a loser.

not to sell myself too short...i graduated with a B.A in Communications in 1999. worked in radio for nearly 10 years, moved to Hawaii and spent almost 4 years there simply for the challenge of accomplishing a life-long goal i was continuously told was "out of touch with reality". i gave up paradise and i joined the Peace Corps and moved to a developing country in Africa no one has ever heard of (and never will) and learned the language, the culture, and re-established my gratitude for the endless luxuries i have as being an American citizen.

one could say that i have had an exciting life. i will not argue..but today, i find myself lost without words on which direction to take. i feel like i'm at the busiest intersection in New York City and my car has just died...not just stalled, not out of gas...literally died without notice...and there's endless traffic behind me breathing down my neck, blowing their horns, and shaking their fists out of disgust.

so...what the hell happened???

well, as i was in Lesotho, Africa, i became depressed after taking an anti-malarial medication i took when i went to Kenya on vacation. the medicine is called Mefloquine (also known as Lariam). apparently less than 1% of those who take Mefloquine experience symptoms that have been dubbed, "The Mefloquine Syndrome". The Mefloquine Syndrome encompasses severe neurological and psychological problems, like depression, anxiety, mood disorders, anger, etc. what was that? did someone say something about a lawsuit? nope...i signed a waver and thought i would take my chances with Mefloquine, but the Peace Corps did speak so highly of Mefloquine because of the so-called common side effect of "erotic dreaming". well, i didn't get any erotic dreaming...what i got felt like a bad acid trip and has turned into an unusual mental state where i'm still trying to figure out what's up and down, and what's black and white in this overly grey world.

so, in a nutshell, that's me and my story at this junction in life. all of my friends outside of myspace...as in real life friends..are married, or engaged, or parents, or all three...wait, ahh hell..you get the picture. people are jealous of me for my life experiences and i'm jealous of people for their ability to make sense out of life before they turned 30. i'll be 30 in two months and it's pretty damn scary to just...not have a clue.

ahhhh, this is NOT how i planned it...but so goes life.