OutCastPop

Yey!?!

2009-09-12T00:04:00.000-05:00

The year I decide not to try and read 50 books is the month I finally do it. Funny.

I recently have been trying to find some deals on some nice reading copies of vintage sci-fi. I've made a few good finds.

Rendezvous with Rama
Stand on Zanzibar
Lord of Light
Starburst

And several others. Yey.

Mick

15 Books....

2009-07-05T22:23:00.002-05:00

Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Copy the instructions into your own note and post it on your facebooks, myspaces, and blogs.

1. Lord of the Rings
2. Ender's Game
3. The Road
4. Harry Potter
5. A Confederacy of Dunces
6. Mr. Popper's Penguins
7. The Giver
8. Captain Blood
9. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
10. The Walking Dead
11. Stranger in a Strange Land
12. The Deed of Paksenarrion
13. Old Man's War
14. Women
15. Tarzan of the Apes

It's Not Just Dogs

2009-07-01T21:13:00.001-05:00

Another funny kid story. Joss has been doing a really good job helping get herself up in the mornings and then down at night. She really is a fantastic helper. That's not to say that there haven't been some minor setbacks. Take tonight for example.

Joss really wanted this small bag of generic brand fruit snacks. Not being above bribing a three year old I told her she could have them only if she got herself ready for "night night". She changed her panties, read her books, counted, and sang her ABCs all with no fits and with minimum parental help. She even got her own drink of water from the bathroom. When we got through singing our songs and she was all tucked in and ready for sleeps I gave her the cup she prepared. A second before she got the cup to her lips I noticed a odd shadow through the brim of the cup. It was toilet paper. I asked her where she got the water and she said the potty!

It must have had a small amount of paper floating in the bowl. That small scrap must have been scooped up when she dunked in her little cup. If not for that I would never have questioned where she got her night night drink of water. I guess we need more work on the night time routine.

Going to war against skittles...

2009-06-30T09:55:00.000-05:00

... And winning!

Joss' First PC

2009-06-24T19:54:00.000-05:00

Okay. So maybe it isn't a real computer, but I'm still incredibly happy with this. Joss got a Leap Frog computer for her third birthday. She played it for over two hours tonight. I don't think she has ever done anything for over two hours straight before.

I'm very proud of her. She is learning basic keyboard and mouse skills, but more importantly she is having a great time using her brain instead of mindlessly watching TV. She is now one step closer to being the rare and wonderful nerd princess. Watch out!

Funny Kid Story

2009-05-19T22:28:00.002-05:00

Tonight Kris made pudding cup things for dessert. Joss loves pudding. She started in on her cup with the zeal of a little girl who hates meat, beans, and potatoes but who loves pudding. She soon found a slice of banana in her pudding. This was concerning. She told Kris that there was something in her pudding. Kris did her best to explain to Joss that it was just a slice of banana, and that Joss likes banana, and that it was SUPPOSED to be in her pudding.

Joss couldn't get passed the fact that there was something in her pudding and the two girls finally agreed that Joss would just not eat the slice of banana. Joss was soon once again devouring her portion of pudding but then soon came to a layer of crumbled grahmn cracker at the bottom of the cup. She again logged a complaint with Kris stating that there was poopy in her pudding. Kris once again tried to explain that it wasn't poopy but grahmn cracker, and that Joss liked grahmn cracker, and that the grahmn cracker was SUPPOSED to be in her pudding.

Joss simply said that these things didn't belong in her pudding and took her cup to the sink.

Summeritis

2009-05-19T14:20:00.001-05:00

I have a really awful case of summeritis. I want to hang out in a garden somewhere. I don't want to be in this four story cube farm. I want to play fetch with my dog. I don't want to send yet another nasty email. I would like to feel a cool breeze on my face. Not watch the breeze blow through the trees from the window.

I watched some group of people start their golf outing today. Golf cart after golf cart speeding away full of shorts wearing, beer enjoying, smile beaming ass clowns. I only wish I was one of those ass clowns.

Vacation is a myth. I have to go send a nasty email now.

Used Books

2009-05-10T16:05:00.000-05:00

So, I recently blogged about what a great find I made at the bookstore with the hardback edition of Ringworld. However, what I failed to recognize at the time is that I actually made two great finds that day. The same day I also purchased another book. Its an older paperback copy of Heinlein's Time Enough For Love.

There are three things that made this book a great find. The first is that it was ultra cheap. They charge half cover price for their paperbacks. So my copy having been printed in January of 1974 made the price more than reasonable. the next two things I didn't notice until today when I started to read the book.

In the inside front cover is an inscription to a previous owner. These are not unheard of, but this one is written in french. A quick google search led to believe that the presenter, who signed her brief note Mary, gave the recipient this book in addition to all the love in the world. A more than generous gift if you ask me.

Although I don't know for sure who the previous owner was I do have a clue as to the persons name. Between pages 342 and 343 was a small rectangle of thin pink paper. The paper is a demerit. A fine for having ones uniform out of place. That infraction had cost one Toni Tribulato $0.50 on January 24th issued by A.M. Horneroom. Poor Toni!

Call me sentimental but I feel much more attached to this thick paperback after finding these clues about the novels previous owners. I hope the story will live up to the character of the physical book!

To Boldly Go...

2009-05-09T01:23:00.002-05:00

Ok, I saw Star Trek tonight. Overall rating: Fantastic!

I don't think there are any spoilers following this but just in case - SPOILER ALERT!!!

Pros:

The effects were indeed special
Kirk got with a green skinned chick
Pacing was exceptional
Also acting, direction, and writing were all good

Cons:

Lens glares - my eyes hurt
A hokey "I'm a doctor, not a..." line
Leonard Nimoy narrated the last 30 seconds for no apparent reason

I also agree with some of my friends. This is NOT a prequel.

Drado is my hero!

2009-05-08T08:29:00.001-05:00

http://hijinksensue.com/2009/05/08/there-once-was-a-man-from-kirkjuvagr/

Best Kid Ever!

2009-05-07T12:18:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I didn’t feel well. I stayed home from work. Kris had a thing she was going to late morning so she took Joss to daycare so I could have a bit of rest. Kris then made plans to have dinner with her folks. I opted to stay home. This meant that Joss was going to go straight to Grandma and Grandpa’s house after daycare.

When Kris picked her up she apparently asked where I was. Kris told her that I was staying home because I didn’t feel good. She asked if Joss would like to call me. She did.

When Joss called she asked if I was feeling better. I told her that I’d feel better the next time she saw me (the next morning). She told me “No, I’ll see you tonight and give you body slams to make you feel better!” What a sweet kid.

I stayed up and cashed in my body slams before Joss went to bed. I felt a lot better afterwards.

Click me...

2009-05-05T09:30:00.000-05:00

...And prepare to be amazed!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC73PHdQX04

This guy is my hero.

Shhh! Sleepy.

2009-05-05T07:08:00.000-05:00

This morning I found these two passed out on the couch. The sun was just starting to come in through the window to shine upon them.

What a lucky guy I am!

Harry Morgan - Rebel with a Binky

2009-05-04T12:57:00.002-05:00

Fantastic find!

2009-05-03T23:07:00.000-05:00

I found this great old hardback copy of Niven's Ringworld at the used bookstore this weekend. I can't wait to read it! It blows my mind that a book that is older than I am can be in such great shape, and for such a great price.

Test Post 2

2009-05-01T16:15:00.000-05:00

Now with 100% less auto signature!

You Must Want!

2009-05-01T14:23:00.001-05:00

http://foodnetworkhumor.com/2009/04/a-whole-chicken-in-a-can-yummo/

2009-05-01T12:42:00.001-05:00

I can also update via text message...

Test Email Post

2009-05-01T12:40:00.001-05:00

Greetings! It's been awhile I know.

I just figured out that I can direct post to this blog via email, so hopefully I can update more frequently from now forward!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Happy or Horrified?

2009-01-21T23:15:00.004-06:00

I'm not sure which one. I just found out via the internet that they made Rosencrantz and Guilenstern are Undead. This movie stars non other than Ralph Macchio AKA The Karate Kid. I'm scared, but also curious.

Update - There is a preview of the movie here. It looks kind of funny.

They Came

2009-01-20T18:35:00.004-06:00

I got my glasses today. Just about a half hour ago. They are going to take some getting used to but I can see so much better with them on. I had no idea how much better my vision could get.
Feel free to ignore the ginormous zit on my forehead.

Dirty Hairy - 40 years later!

2009-01-11T02:06:00.005-06:00

Gran Torino. Very good movie. I was happy I saw it. I'm not going to ruin anything but I want to mention a couple of things. One is that it was hilariously funny. The whole theater was rolling with some of the lines. Two is that it comes down really fast and really hard. It's one of those things where you see it coming from a mile away, but can't do anything about it. You have to just sit there and be witness to it.

Go see it. It's worth the eight bucks.

Also, the guy I sat next to had horrible gas. You know who you are. Thanks for the movie stinky.

Glasses

2009-01-10T12:18:00.003-06:00

I went to the eye doctor this morning. I'm near sighted. I have to get glasses. I'm old.

The doctor said that I shouldn't really be driving without glasses, and especially not at night.

Muppet Metal

2009-01-04T02:25:00.001-06:00

Poorly edited but still funny.

John Scalzi

2009-01-04T01:51:00.003-06:00

My friend 1031 turned me on to this author when he loaned me the book Old Man's War completely out of the blue. I was instantly hooked. He wrote - the author not my friend - a very solid and contemporary space opera. Not only that but he followed it up with another story (that didn't suck) in the same universe but with a different cast, then tied both of those together with a third (again not entirely sucky) novel incorporating characters from the previous two stories. He then published not just one, but two follow up books (which I haven't read - yet). All this in four years.

To write five books in four years and then have at least some of them actually be good. I can't seem to wrap my head around it. Anyway, I found this to be very impressive and I thought you all should know about this author and I urge you to find and read his stuff. Especially if it's the Old Man's War books...good stuff.

What year is it now?

2008-12-31T22:13:00.001-06:00

So it's new years eve. I find myself missing Dick Clark. Ryan Seacrest is a very poor substitute, and I don't think I can express how much I can't stand Carson Daly.

We were on our way home from a friends house this evening - yup, new years ends at 9:30 PM when you have little kids, and I realized that there have been only a few significant events that affected our tiny little family this year. There have been some recent scares and tragedies, sure, but overall we suffered less than the average and a great deal less than a few. I guess my point is that no news is good news right? I just wanted the big micro-processor in the sky to know that I realize my good fortune and will try not to take it for granted going into 2009.

2009 will be a good year. April my son will be born. You can't ask for a better start than that.

I love Movies

2008-12-29T18:21:00.002-06:00

And I saw this list thing floating around on Facebook. Let us start the count.

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. I have seen 85 of these movies, plus another 99 to boot!

Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
(x ) Boondock Saints
( x) Fight Club
( x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x ) Blazing Saddles
(x ) Airplane
Total: 10

(x ) The Princess Bride
(X ) Anchorman
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
( )Saw II
(x) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(X) Anger Management
(X ) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
() The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 18

( x) Scream
( x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
( X) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x ) American Pie
(X ) American Pie 2
(X ) American Wedding
(x ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far:26

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( x) Resident Evil 1
( x) Resident Evil 2
(x ) The Wedding Singer
(X) Little Black Book
( x) The Village
( )Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 35

(x) Finding Nemo
() Finding Neverland
( x) Signs
(X) The Grinch
( X) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(X ) Butterfly Effect
(x ) 13 Going on 30
(x ) I, Robot
( x) Robots
Total so far: 43

(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(X ) Universal Soldier
() Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(X) Along Came Polly
(X ) Deep Impact
(X ) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
() Meet the Fockers
(X ) Eight Crazy Nights
(x ) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG
Total so far: 53

(X) A Cinderella Story
() The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(X ) Final Destination
( X) Final Destination 2
( X) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(X ) The Ring
() The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far:60

( X) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x ) Practical Magic
() Chicago
(X ) Ghost Ship
( X) From Hell
(X ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
(X ) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far:68

( X) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
x) Bride of Chucky
( x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(X ) Just Married
( X) Gothika
( X) Nightmare on Elm Street
( x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
(X ) Coach Carter
( x) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far:70

(X) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
(X ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( x) Bedazzled
( x) Predator I
(X ) Predator II
(X ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
(x ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
(x ) Curious George
Total so far: 92

(X) Independence Day
( X) Cujo
(X ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
(X ) Christine
(x) ET
(X) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(x ) War of the Worlds
(x ) Rush Hour
( X) Rush Hour 2
Total so far:102

( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
X) She's All That
(X) Calendar Girls
(X) Sideways
(x ) Mars Attacks
( X) Event Horizon
( x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x ) Big Trouble in Little China
(x ) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
( x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 115

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
() X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( X) Sky High
(X ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(X ) Freaky Friday
(X ) Reign of Fire
( X) The Skulls
( x) Cruel Intentions
(X ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
Total so far: 131

( X) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
(X ) Old School
(x ) The Notebook
(x ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(X ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(X) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 138

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X ) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X ) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X ) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 144

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( X) Elf
(x ) Highlander
( x) Mothman Prophecies
(X) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far:148

( ) The Jacket
( X) Kung Fu Hustle
(X ) Shaolin Soccer
( X) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(X ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 155

( X) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X) Hulk
( x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( x) 28 days later
( x) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 163

( X) Kill Bill vol 1
(X ) Kill Bill vol 2
(X ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(X ) Kingdom of Heaven
(x ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( X) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 169

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x)Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
(x ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 176

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
( X)Animatrix
( X) Evil Dead
( X) Evil Dead 2
(X ) Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total so far: 184

Now Add them up and...

"I've seen 184 out of 239 films" DAMN! The sad part is that some of these I've seen were REALLY bad movies....

HE will come again...

2008-12-26T19:27:00.004-06:00

... but in the mean time we will celebrate the new year. This year has been very good to me and I will be sorry to see it go.

Happy Holidays. I hope that 2009 will be as good to you as 2008 has been good to me!

Currently Reading: The Southern Vampire Mysteries - Thanks Erin and Ryan!

I'm on it!

2008-12-15T21:23:00.001-06:00

I was asked to update my blog so people could quit looking at that ugly dude. So here is my update.

Uh-Oh!

2008-12-08T13:14:00.003-06:00

I just found undeniable proof the world is coming to an end. Indiana just outlawed smiling for state identification cards and drivers licenses.

Ben Franklin said it best and I find reasons to belive it more and more everday!

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

Whoa...

2008-12-03T16:27:00.005-06:00

It's blowing my mind (a little bit) that this year is almost over. There is so much wrong with this time of year. Soon horrible year-in-review things will be playing on VH1. It's a good thing we don't have cable. Not to mention shoveling snow. Scrapping Windows. Trying to be nice. Eating to much food. Mall Santa. Lines everywhere. Cold teeth. Annoying music playing decorations. Freaking X-mas shopping. NO MORE FOOTBALL!

And afterwards - credit card debt.

...
..
.

All that being said, I will get to see friends and family I don't normally get to hang with! People do seem to get less shity. That rocks a bit right? People will give me stuff. BSG comes on again. I'll get to laugh when my kid's stranger danger reflex kicks in while on the lap of some velvet wrapped schmuck making minimum wage! Gravysplode! HOT APPLE CIDER!

I guess you gotta take the bad with the good eh?

Books I've Read in '08

2008-12-02T12:57:00.003-06:00

I'm taking down the sidebar item that bears the same name as this post, but I didn't want to destroy the record. So I'm making this a quick post. I plan to keep track of my reading yearly going forward - I'm also adding comics.

Side Note: I'm glad I gave up on the 50 book challenge. It turns out that I can't do it. I stop enjoying what I read when I'm forcing myself.

Woman
Water for Elephants
Captian Blood
Watership Down
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town
Werewolves in Their Youth
The Road
Tarzan of the Apes
The Time Traveler's Wife
Infected
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Yiddish Policeman's Union
Great Expectations
The Big Sleep
Little Brother
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse
The Host
A Long Way Down
Wicked
Breaking Dawn
Mission of Gravity
Sheepfarmer's Daughter
Divided Allegiance
Oath of Gold
Crooked Little Vein
Dubliners
Farewell, My Lovely
All the Pretty Horses
A Twist in the Tale

I actually re-read Little Brother before December 1st.

Grateful Little Bastard

2008-11-27T20:46:00.001-06:00

It's Thanksgiving. There is so much that I'm grateful for, and I'm sure there is so much more that I should be grateful for that I take for granted. I was wondering over the course of the day what my life would be like if I didn't have so much going for me. I imagined many different lives and none of them were nearly as good as what I have now. I am extremely grateful for all the people in my life that make it so fantastic. Here is just a small list of things and people that make me happy. There are in no particular order.

My wife and kids (even though I said that these were in no particular order I would still be in trouble if I didn't put them first ya know?)
My family and friends. I'm a opinionated nerd but you people seem to still love me anyway. You're all rock stars in my book.
Computers and the Internet. It is my largest passion and allows me to support my family.
Sam Puppy
Books and comics. Couldn't live without them.
My Job. It's a love/hate relationship but the fact is that this makes it all possible.
The Creative Commons License
My Country. It isn't without its problems but it's so much better than some of the alternatives.
Football
Our planet. Beats living in space.
Caffeinated beverages
The return of BSG
Good health. 'Cause it sucks to be dead
Zombies
Toilet paper - think about it!

Brain Freeze

2008-11-23T20:05:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure what is going on. I'm having all kinds of problems writing anything. I haven't been blogging, and I'm struggling to write this year's Christmas letter. I'll I've really wanted to do lately is read comics. I don't know what's going on.

Veteran's Day Post

2008-11-11T12:59:00.003-06:00

I feel guilty for not having more of a presence on this blog lately. At first I was distracted by the complete series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then there was some family tragedy. After that I just haven’t felt like sharing much. However, today I’m back in action. The bad news is that nothing much has been happening.

I know that the whole election thing is played out, but here are a couple of pictures of the line that the wife and I stood in. Also, Obama release this website (change.gov) in an effort to keep people engaged with his presidency. He also stated that he would wait to push any non-emergency legislation for at least 5 days to allow for public opinion. Thoughts? I think that is pretty cool.

We are trying to potty train the poop monster. So far we have generated a lot of dirty clothes and experience few successful trips to the bathroom, but we have just started. I’m sure it will get better once Joss figures out what she is supposed to do. I’m sure it’s really confusing. We were always so happy to clean her up, and then boom. Now we expect her to do something completely different. I’ve also noticed that potty training is something that everyone has advice on. That’s cool, I’m not complaining. It’s just something I’ve noticed.

I’ve been watching a lot of TV lately. Buffy, True Blood, The Shield, Dexter, Heroes, Sarah Conner Chronicles, Chuck, and Fringe. The funny thing is that I watch so little of it on the actually television. I only have one thing to say about that – Arrr!

Today is Veteran’s Day. I know few Veterans, but I know several soldiers. Good luck to you all.

Great News Article

2008-11-06T09:21:00.005-06:00

I know I said that I wouldn't just regurgitate news stories when I started posting to this blog again, however I feel like this article from the N.Y. Times really does a great job of summing up how many people are feeling about this election. I think the majority of the people understand how ground breaking this election was, regardless of their politics.

Although the election was over more than a day ago and John McCain has long since conceded the race to President-Elect Obama the race still rages in Nebraska's District 2. At this point they have counted all the ballots and absentee ballots. The numbers are still so close that they are turning to the 7000 plus provisional ballots to determine the outcome. The majority of these provisional ballots are from folks who were not registered to vote when they showed at the commissioners office for early voting. They were able to fill out a registration card and a provisional ballot that would only get counted under certain circumstances - a tie breaker being one of them.

I'm not positive I'm right, but for some reason I feel somewhat confident that the majority of these folks probably voted for Obama and not McCain. If I'm right then Nebraska will split its 5 electoral votes for the first time in history. Just another little tid-bit to add to the books.

Everything will change!

2008-11-04T23:40:00.002-06:00

Barrack Obama is going to be the next president of the United States of America. History has been made. I'm not sure if it will turn out good or bad, but I think it's pretty cool that a young black man is going to be the next President. I wonder what he must be feeling right now. He KNOWS for certain that he will become one of the most powerful men in the world. That has to be quite a high!

I'm not sure what the final outcome was, but the last time I checked Obama was also ahead in Nebraska District 2. So it's kind of cool to think that Nebraska gave 1 out of 5 votes to Barrack Obama, making it the first time ever that Nebraska actually split their Electoral votes. And, I stood in line for 2 hours to help make it that way! So with a democratic president and congress I think we will be seeing a lot of changes next year. I just hope they are for the better. I can't imagine that they can do any worse then President Bushtard. I think I'm going to knock on wood after I post this.

It's been a long couple of days. I'm going to bed. It's a funny, scary, exciting time to be alive.

'Sup?

2008-11-04T20:57:00.002-06:00

Although I haven't felt like blogging a lot lately I thought that tonight was to important to leave undocumented. It's election day. So far Obama is ahead. We'll see if it lasts through the night.

Reasons I haven't been blogging lately:

Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Lazy
Family Tragedy
Fantasy Football

Leaders of our Country

2008-10-16T12:35:00.003-05:00

Warren Ellis posted this great picture of the US presidential candidates. He feels like it provides a good summary to yesterday's debate.

The Last '08 Debate

2008-10-15T22:13:00.001-05:00

So the subject is supposed to be domestic policy. which the economy and social issues. It should be Obama's debate to lose.

Obama learned from Palin. He is addressing American's by looking directly into the camera. Almost every answer he gave was directly into the camera.
McCain is doing a great job shining a light on Obama's redistribution of the wealth policy. The only problem is that most people aren't making enough money to put much stock into McCain's concerns. I think most of American's are going to vote with their wallet and the largest amount of people save cash with Obama dictating the tax policy.
Obama is a stud on the social issues, but he is avoiding the question about what cuts he will make. Old CBS dude is right. Something is going to get cut. It was a shame he couldn't come out and say that. McCain blew it by doing the same thing when it was his turn to answer the question. He could have really gotten a win if he would have put something "on the block".
Why would it be better if your running mate became president, over your opponent's running mate. Great question ancient white haired CBS dude! It was Obama's turn to miss his chance. Although I think Obama was playing it safe. He knew that McCain was going to come out swinging and he also knew that the majority of American's aren't digging it. He was then reluctant to go on the offensive should the same thing be thought of his campaign. I think he should have gone for it. He hasn't won yet. He should have pointed out her interview, and her abuse of power and questioned her ability to lead the United States through our current crisis.
Obama is superior on energy. McCain can't figure out how to stop talking about offshore drilling. Obama is starting to really shine for me here. Get us off of foreign oil by making it easy to convert to new energies. Tax the oil, grant cuts and incentives to the alternatives and companies that use them - easy win.
Nothing new with health care. Same old talking points. Obama was a little to meek in this area. He was right. He should have stood there and said so. He just let McCain go on and on about how great it would be to have a $5000 tax credit.
Abortion is what it is. People feel the way they do. On issues like this I always think it's best to leave the power with the people. Obama basically said just that. McCain hemmed and hawed like a little child.
Every time it's Obama's turn to answer a question they show him split screen with McCain. I can't really blame the television producer. McCain was being hilarious. He would smirk and shiver, shrug and raise his eyebrows like everything Obama said was ridiculous. This is why people don't like him. He can't even figure out how to maintain a civil facial expression when he knows he is on national television. Is he going to do some wide-eyed chair shiver when he is sitting across the table from some foreign asshole trying to get him to stop blowing up his neighbors?

I have to admit. I don't like John McCain. I've tried hard to maintain some open-mindedness during this campaign season, but man. I hate how he blinks non stop all the time, and I hate how he says the same things like "maverick" and "my friends". It feels like he is a robot or alien that is mimicking human behavior but getting it slightly wrong. Overall this debate wasn't a game changer - which means it was a win for Obama. That was the last free press op. that McCain had. He'll have to pay for it all going forward. That means he is even further from the White House.

Pie = Apple Crumb Goodness

2008-10-10T20:08:00.007-05:00

In the beginning I did not like pie. My family thought I was crazy. Then, when I got a little older, I like cherry pie much more than apple. Now I've come to the realization that you just can't beat a good apple pie. So, ever since the family and I visited an orchard a few weeks back apples have been on my mind. More specifically apple cider and apple pie.

Recently I decided to make an apple pie. I asked people for recipes, and researched the project online, but I still felt a little out of my depth. So, I asked my bestest red-headed buddy if she would come over to help, and she agreed. I found out I was bad at peeling apples, and that I didn't know the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon. However, with not knowing what I was getting myself into and not having the proper tools (like a pie plate, a working mixer, a rolling pin, or even the right kind of flour) the final product turned out to be a very fine looking - and tasting apple crumb pie.

It turned out fantastically yummy. I ended up sharing it with the co-workers. I figured it's one thing to be a fat man who baked a pie. It's a whole different story to be the fat man who ate a whole pie.

When Presidents Attack!

2008-10-07T22:08:00.001-05:00

The debates have gotten boring. Not even a change in format could make either candidate move off of their speaking points and address the people plainly. Again, the questions sucked, but here are a few interesting things I noticed during this debate.

McCain does in fact look down on Obama. He doesn't make eye contact. He sneers and makes snide comments.
Obama for once came out swinging at McCain, but didn't seem as aggravated or bitter as McCain. I think people are going to see that and start warming up to Obama's ability to stay collected. He acts presidential.
Obama just seems more comfortable talking about the economy.
Neither one can stay on target, and neither seem to be able to just answer the questions without spinning them into a prepared talking point.
Tom Brokaw seemed like the perfect moderator. He didn't get his feathers ruffled when both candidates went over their time limit. He even allowed the candidates to respond to each other during hot topics.
McCain seemed almost juvenile when he demanded equal time to respond to comments.
McCain wants to buy out bad paper? Didn't he just suspend his campaign to broker a buy out? Now he wants to spend more? Fuck that noise.
Both Obama and McCain seemed better prepared to talk about the energy situation. Obama I think did a better job tying energy to foreign policy and national security. It's about time. McCain was on the right page, but can't get passed the drilling. Obama wins the point in my opinion.
I like that Obama talks about education and health care. McCain's $5000 tax credit doesn't comfort me. Call me a socialist or whatever but insurance companies are ripe with corruption and need to be regulated. Asking people to go and negotiate with the insurance companies on their own is asking for a huge raping of the public. Obama seems to be legitimately interested in investing for the future (or at least his rhetoric states he is) and I'm on board.

At this point I don't think McCain can do anything to change my mind. I'm going to see if I can get in on the early voting during lunch tomorrow. Nothing McCain said during this interview changed my opinion. I think Obama can start putting some nails in coffin on the McCain campaign. He needs to draw attention to McCain's age, his odd choice in running mate, his inability to talk about the failing economy without spending more money.

18 Hours of Sleep

2008-10-05T18:37:00.001-05:00

I didn't feel very good yesterday. I think either my wife gave me the crap that she had, or I picked up some other horrid thing from the office. Either way I was feeling crappy Friday night, and then down right horrible Saturday morning. I had a easier go compared to what Kris had to endure, but it still wasn't fun. The biggest symptom I seemed to have was drowsiness. I slept and slept. I woke up once right before Joss's nap time for about an hour but slept most of the day. I then woke back up around 4:30 PM but then feel asleep again at 10:00is. I woke up this morning feeling normal. Weird.

VP Debate

2008-10-02T23:25:00.001-05:00

Well, Palin showed up for this thing. She did NOT embarrass herself or her party. She did dodge some of the questions she didn't want or couldn't answer, but did it in a very polished and concise way. The pundits seem to think that this debate will have a very short political half-life. Neither side made any major gaffs and neither side really got the upper-hand over the other. If anything the republicans might see a small bump in the polls as some people will believe that this proves that Palin is a qualified candidate. Tom Brokaw probably said it best when he quipped "I bet the democrats are happy there are only one of these things".

Tina Fey is probably pissed. Gov. Palin didn't give her much to go on. The one thing she can use is Palin's efforts to say "maverick" over a hundred times. I wouldn't complain if I could live the rest of my life without ever hearing that word again.

Biden seemed to do a good job squashing the maverick position late in the debate, and also seemed to successfully tie Bush policies to Sen. McCain. Palin for her part continued to push the Barack Obama is anti-troops stance. She offered up that same line about Obama voting against spending on the troops when it's not entirely true. He did vote against a war bill, but only because it didn't have a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq. What Palin didn't mention is that McCain also voted against a war bill because it did include timelines. So neither candidate really voted against the troops. They just have a fundamental difference in opinion about when we should withdrawal from Iraq.

So the question I guess I have about this whole thing. Was this performance just that - a practiced and rehearsed show of canned answers, or does Palin really know what she is talking about? She seemed to have some answers, but who can tell if they were really hers or if they were just coached into her. I still wonder if she could really keep up in a changing environment. For example, if McCain gets elected and something happens to him, will she really be able to cope with the presidency of the United States? She can't really just avoid answering the questions she doesn't like once she is in office. In other words, this debate didn't prove the allegation that she is unworthy of the office of Vice President, but it still didn't prove that she IS worthy. Also, since when do the republicans covet more power in the Vice Presidency? WTF - I thought all that would go away with Cheney.

Just to take the opportunity to inject a little of my own politics into this - which I can cause this is my blog and you can't stop me. Both campaigns suck at energy policy. They keep spewing bullshit about getting dependant from foreign oil, but then insist on drilling for oil domestically. Isn't the price of oil set by a international regulator (OPEC) which the US isn't even part of? I could be wrong, but I think it is. The path to energy dependence is with alternative energy sources. If I was in this debate I would of said that I would have vetoed any bill that called for domestic drilling that didn't also call for an equal amount of capital invested in alternative energy. Why is this so hard? Forgive me if I steal a little bit from Kevin Smith but fuck oil. Fuck them in their stupid asses. To them we are just a joke. We are fucking clown shoes and they are laughing at us all the way to the bank. Don't forget the obvious environmental benefits to cleaner alternative fuels and energy sources.

Also - I liked the moderator. I would watch more PBS News if the old crusty guy was on less and this lady was on more. She did a better job moderating the VP debate than he did with the nominees last week.

I would love to see a platform starting with the following.

1. Health care - yes I care about people, but really I just want more healthy people to be available to pay taxes. If England can do it - so can we. Call me a socialist or whatever. At least we'll both be alive to argue about it when we get old.

2. Education - The more smart people we have the better off we are. Someday some smart doctor might have to save my life, or some smart scientist will create a better mouse trap. Invest in the future. Whatever it takes. If you meet a minimum test score you go to college. If you don't you go to trade school. This is a must happen. Tuition will need to be based on a what you can afford scale. For those who can't afford it then Uncle Sam will send you on the tax payers dime. But, you are a government employee for a time once you graduate to help offset the cost.

3. Foreign policy - if you try to blow us up. We will invade your country. Kill whomever we feel like we need to kill. Take whatever assets we feel we deserve (like oil or other natural resources and or large piles of money laying around) from you to pay for us invading your county and then we leave. We will not police your country for you, and we will not rebuild your infrastructure. This is the result of picking on someone bigger and stronger then you. We all know that is how it works in the sandbox, why do we expect it to be any different with this? Other than that we will trade with you or whatever as long as we get a break on customs and you meet a minimum standard of human rights.

4. Energy/Environment - this is the same thing for me. If you deal in fossil fuels we will make it so absolutely expensive for you to import your wares into the US that you couldn't possibly continue to do so. If you deal in alternative energies we will make it so absolutely prosperous for you to import your wares into the US that you couldn't possibly choose not to do so. I bet that in 10 years all the energy companies will be the same. Until they see that they can make money in alternative fuels they will continue to lobby - successfully- to keep with the oil in this country. We are the fools who are letting them.

5. Government Reform - Here is my idea. The military has different pay grades depending on your rank. We need to take all the politicians and government workers and apply them to this same scale. That means that a politician will never be able to make more than the highest military officer. Which is still probably to high. The goal is to weed out the politicians that are using their office to get rich. Instead you replace those people who are only motivated by power or by the desire to help people. We need a little of both.

6. Legalize Everything - but then tax the hell out of it. Booze, prostitution, weed. Enjoy it, but we get a piece.

Taxes are harder. I don't make a lot of money - so it's hard for me to see it from any other perspective. I'd have to think about that more. Either way - we need a lot of revenue during times like these. How do you get it if not though taxes?

Balls

2008-10-02T12:12:00.007-05:00

I'm eagerly looking forward to the Vice Presidential Candidate debate tonight. Although I've lost some of my blind passion for Obama recently, I still would prefer him in the executive office than McCain - and by a large margin. One of my (but not my only) biggest concerns is that if he dies or becomes incapacitated then Palin becomes President. That scares me. Maybe she'll rock this debate and I'll change my mind. From what I've seen of the Katie Couric interview it doesn't look good for a Palin win.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more to say after the debate tonight. I'll leave you of this wonderful parody of the Obama posters that I found today on the interweb.

Fooly Cooly

2008-09-30T22:51:00.002-05:00

I just finished watching a fantastic anime series called FLCL. I was blown away by this beautiful little six episode series. The version I watched wasn't dubbed and most of the really funny parts are banter between two characters, often talking over each other, so it's a workout trying to take in the subtitles fast enough to get all the jokes. That being said the script is really top notch. I'm guessing that the plot is a little bit "out there" for some peoples tastes, but it suited the show I think. The series as a whole refused to take itself to seriously and still achieved amazing results - and some amazingly dramatic moments. In the last episode they even called out their fan base on it. Anyway - if you have a chance please find and watch FLCL.

Weekend Update

2008-09-29T01:16:00.002-05:00

I'm actually happy the weekend is over. Doesn't that seem odd. The wife is feeling much better after her visit to the ER. She is still very tired and very weak, but isn't spending time in the restroom any longer.

Due to the visit to the ER and the sleeping that occurred afterwards we weren't able to get Joss her glasses over the weekend. That means that we are going to have to try convince her to wear them during the weekday. I for one think it will be fun.

I read online that a bail plan was agreed upon. I haven't read about it yet, so we'll have to see where it goes and what it's all about. Hopefully there are some checks and balances on this cash. How awesome would it be if this Paulson guy (or whatever his name is) just pissed a trillion dollars away. At that point I would worry about civic unrest of a violent nature. Although it would be nice to have the authorities fear the people for awhile instead of the other way around.

***********************************************************************

Update: The bailout bill failed to pass. I gather from the news articles that the economy just died. Does this mean that a bailout bill is not going to happen at all or will they be proposing a new bill soon?

***********************************************************************

Speaking of scary I hear Palin really blew her interview with Katie Couric. I've been reading online - admittedly from very liberal media sources that the main stream media are now raking her over the coals. Some have even gone as far as laying odds that she will be stepping down soon so that she can "concentrate on being with her family". Tina Fey was quick to satirize the interview on Saturday Night Live.

On some lighter notes I want to do a scary movie night soon. Any suggestions on what movies should be played? I also want to bake an apple pie (the kind with the crumbles on top).

Easy in the ER

2008-09-27T10:24:00.001-05:00

Last night after the debate Kris got horribly ill. From about 10:30 PM she was simply stuck in the bathroom. The worst things imaginable spewing from her body. After hours of not being able to keep down even a sip of water we broke down and headed to the ER.

We got there about 3:30 AM and they started pumping her full of IV fluids and anti puke chemicals. Even after all the medications Kris still spent a significant amount of the time in the restroom (lower half). It got so bad that the nurses had to start letting other folks use the staff only washroom.

Kris asked her mom to come and watch Joss while we were gone. When we finally got home around 6:15 AM I fell asleep on the couch almost immediately. I'm not sure how long Kris's mom stayed. There is now Jello in the fridge so she must have stayed awhile longer. We had some errands to run this morning so I dropped off the kid with Kris's parents and completed the most pressing of them and came back home. They'll look after her for awhile longer so Kris and I can try and get some sleep. Speaking of which...

The Presidential Debate

2008-09-26T21:46:00.001-05:00

I'm pissed. At the beginning of this debate the stupid PBS dude said that this was going to be focused on the AMERICAN financial crisis. They spent the majority of this debate talking about everywhere else but the U.S.?!?!

We need to focus on home right now. We are in trouble. To hell with other countries right now. I feel like we keep pissing our money away while butting into everyone else's business without realizing that there isn't anymore money left in the bank.

Let's start talking about how to bolster the economy, improve the health of Americans, create energy independence (real independence - as in not being dictated the price of oil by OPEC), educate the masses - so they can pay some more taxes, and stop murdering the earth. Why aren't they talking about that stuff?

Barrack started to go down this path at the end. To little to late if you ask me. I'm angry at them both right now. I'm not sure how I feel anymore. I was pretty firmly entrenched as a Obama supporter, but if he can't step up and lead us in a new direction when we are in a HUGE crisis...? Yet, McCain didn't say shit about it either!

Lets fix the U.S. and then worry about fixing our standing as a world leader and super power. Foreign policy is NOT what I wanted to hear about while my government is trying to spent ONE TRILLION dollars to bailout Wall Street because they couldn't regulate our market. Dickwads, all of them!

Cross Eyed Poop Monster

2008-09-26T19:26:00.001-05:00

It turns out that Joss has Amblyopia caused by Accommodative Esotropia with in turn is a kind of Strabismus. All that means is that one of Joss' eyes is stronger then the other. So when she focuses on a object one eye sees the object clearly and the other eye struggles to point and focus the correct way (her left eye seems to try to focus on the tip of her nose). The doctor says that if for some reason her eye would continue to weaken she could eventually loose total vision in that eye. He said that children brains aren't trained to combine the vision from both eyes to create one image. Therefore since the vision in Joss' eyes don't match, her brain is simply discarding the signals from her weaker eye. The brain them simply stops caring about that eye. Therefor the problem just get worse and worse. An adult that develops this problem would notice right away. Our brains are so used to combining the signals from both eyes to create once image that it cannot cope if one eye gets weaker. Our vision would get blurry.

It's a good thing that the issue is relatively easy to correct. She will need glasses (probably until she is 9 years old). They actually blur the vision in her good eye which should cause the weaker eye to get stronger. If for some reason her eye isn't getting better after six weeks then we might even try and eye patch. As a last resort they can actually use surgery to rearrange the muscles in her weak eye (and possibly her stronger eye too) to make both eyes focused on the same point.

Jayne

2008-09-25T18:59:00.001-05:00

I decided to name the new computer Jayne. This is the first post I wrote with the new laptop. It is nice.

Update: Sorry about the brevity of this original post. There was much configuring that needed to take place before I could relax and enjoy this new rig.

It runs Windows Vista. I'm still getting used to it but it seems alright to me. It does take a while to boot, but it is Microsoft. The performance otherwise seems very good.

I'll provide more updates as we go. I'm loving the built in webcam!

Poor Me!

2008-09-23T21:33:00.002-05:00

The lady and I went over our projected budget for when the new baby comes. It was painful. Without a change of income it would appear that we will be losing money each month. Keep in mind that we started reviewing our finances in the first place to see if we can find a way for the wife to stay at home with the kids. It just went from bad to worse from there...

This sucks - I need to be like the cylons. They at least have a plan.

I'm getting to be a huge fan.

2008-09-18T22:20:00.004-05:00

He hates punctuation as much as I do! Cormac McCarthy is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I read The Road earlier this year, and although it was dark as hell, I loved it. Tonight I finished All the Pretty Horses. Although these two books are a different as you could imagine it was immediately obvious that they both came from the same person's mind.

I had some preconceived notions about All the Pretty Horses. I think it might have been the commercials for the movie that came out a long while back, but I thought it was going to be all about some steamy romance about a ranch hand that lays some pipe in the ranchers daughter. When it comes down to it, the romance between our cowboy John Grady and his oft naked lady friend is just a plot device that McCarthy uses to progress John's story.

The tone of this book runs along the same lines as The Road. McCarthy seems to hold to a belief that all the magic and beauty in the world comes with a horrible and painful price. His books always seem to be about people who realize this after paying that price in horribly painful ways. This book is really no different. McCarthy actually gets a little preachy about this near the end of the book.

When I finished The Road I wondered why I willingly put myself through it, for the story does leave you in a dark frame of mind. Right now I'm wondering the same thing about All the Pretty Horses. Nothing ends well in these books. However, the characters in these books are so wonderfully exotic. You can't help but to keep turning the pages. They are the people you would love to meet in real life, but never do.

I'm eager to read the other two books he wrote to go along with All the Pretty Horses. Even though I know they will not leave me with a light heart or easy mind.

Oh Great...

2008-09-15T08:31:00.002-05:00

Here is a quote from the NYT regarding the recent Wall street financial crisis.

"Will the U.S. financial system collapse today, or maybe over the next few
days? I don’t think so — but I’m nowhere near certain."

Doesn't that sound optimistic?

I need your help!

2008-09-13T00:00:00.003-05:00

However, before I tell you what I need let me introduce you to the new family PC.

Dell Studio 15
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.00GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB Cache
3GB Dual Channel DDR2
256MB ATI Radeon
250GB SATA HD @ 5400 RPM
6 cell/56 Whr Lithium Ion Battery
Midnight Blue laptop of "blow your fucking mind!"

Here is where I need your help. I originally thought I would name her Jayne - cause she brought everything but the grenades. Yet I think the more appropriate name might be Wash - cause she is fast and agile like a leaf on the wind. If you don't understand where I got the names than you should feel ashamed of yourself and will need to watch Firefly and Serenity soon.

I could always name her Jayne Washburn. She will arive October one.

Taxes...

2008-09-11T09:29:00.004-05:00

There are some whom I am close to that have strong opinions about each presidential candidate and what they might do to taxes if elected. I stumbled on a CNN article this morning that, if true, should make them rethink their stance (unless they make a lot more money then I think).

However, I don't understand capital gains taxes and that might the impact that these folks are talking about since they are all small business owners. However from a straight income tax perspective...

A Quote from the article:

Obama's plan would keep the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts in place for everyone except those making more than roughly $250,000, and he would increase the capital gains tax.

Obama would also introduce new tax breaks for lower and middle-income groups. Such breaks include expanding the earned income tax credit, giving those making less than $150,000 a $500 tax credit per person on the first $8,100 in income, giving those making under $75,000 a 50% federal match on the first $1,000 of savings, and exempting seniors making less than $50,000 from having to pay income tax.

The link.

I Remember...

2008-09-11T08:57:00.000-05:00

Currently...

2008-09-10T12:49:00.005-05:00

...Reading - Farewell, My Lovely. This is the second Phillip Marlowe novel I read this year by author Raymond Chandler. I'm just a few chapters in but I already feel like I'll like this story. I do have to admit, that the book itself is a large source of the pleasure I'm getting from this read. It is one of those cloth covered hardbacks with thick heavy paper. It is the perfect size and weight. I dream of having a library full of books exactly like this. To bad it's borrowed. Once I'm done with this story I'll have to give it back. I just made myself a little sad.

...Watching - Fringe. This is the new J.J. Abrams series on Fox. I was very happy with the season premier last night. There was very little of the actual weird spooky stuff that it promised in the episode, but the foundation is there for it to get crazy. Which I guess is a good thing. At least that is why I'm watching. It's not BSG but it can keep me distracted until next year.

...Missing - My Computer. One of the many Dave's step up and is loaning me a notebook, but I miss the real deal. I think we need to step up and just get a new PC, but that costs a lot of cash.

...Browsing with - Chrome. For some reason that media kind of turned on Google's new browser. It's funny. The articles I've read all say the same thing "It's not as fast as we were expecting", yet they all admit that it's still faster than the current popular versions of IE and Mozilla. I'm using Chrome exclusively at home. So far I think it's the real deal. I still stand by my early claim of it rockin' your balls off.

...Chewing - Stride gum. I find that the flavor really doesn't last any longer than other gum. I really liked their commercials and thought I'd try it. I'm disappointed.

...Scratching - my facial whiskers. I think I'm going to grow another beard. I'll just shave it off in a few weeks, but whatever.

...Listening - Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay. Is it just me or is this about a man who has just absolutely giving up on everything?

...Playing - Mario Galaxy. Kris brought it home the other day. I just know that I'm going to have to find some 11 year old girl's website to help me through the hard parts.

James Joyce - Great? Maybe. Boring? Absolutely!

2008-09-08T22:14:00.003-05:00

I finished Dubliners today. You can always tell when I'm not going to like a book. It takes me twice as long to read, and reason is that I end up only reading when I'm holding court on the porcelain throne. Anyway - we are not here to talk about poop.

Dubliners was a collection of short stories written by James Joyce that was touted to give the reader insight into the 'real' Dublin that the author himself knew. This real Dublin must have been a horrible, horrible, rotten place. Almost every story has characters filling the pages that are not likable in any way. They all have these horrible character flaws that have taken over their lives. Most of them were alcoholics and abusive. Don't get me wrong. I understand that these were real issues that plagued Dublin at the time, and also that it was taboo to write of such things - I understand that Joyce had a hell of a time publishing these works at the time due to the negative light it shed on the people of Dublin - but common. I liken it to today's shock jocks. They spin everything so that it all seems so negative, and simply for the sake of shocking the audience.

The only redeeming thing about the collection in my eyes, as unworthy as they might be, was in the last story The Dead. There was a real connection that you could make with the character of Gabriel. And though it takes way to many pages to get to it, you can really feel the passion and lust he experienced in the cab ride back to the hotel from the Christmas feast. Afterward you can feel his anger and embarrassment when he realizes that his wife was thinking of another man (er well boy) the entire trip back.

On the back cover of the copy I have it reads "This magnificent collection of fifteen stories reveals Joyce at his most accessible and perhaps most profound." I must admit I found these stories neither accessible or profound. I did however find them altogether boring. I'm hoping Ulysses is better, but now I'm a little hesitant to read it. If I find is as boring as Dubliners it might take years for me to finish it in the bathroom alone.

McCain's Speech

2008-09-04T22:20:00.003-05:00

Well, Sen. John McCain gave his speech accepting the republican nomination for president of the United States of America. The difference between his speech and Obama's was like day and night, young and (super-crazy) old, black and white. McCain should not have tried to handle a speech that big. He got lost in many places and had to wait for the teleprompter to slow down or speed up. The whole Monster TV technology was tired and broke down mid speech. I'm sure he now recognizes why the Obama campaign went with the Greek columns. Columns don't break down mid speech. From a delivery stand point McCain failed to emphasis the parts of his speech that were clearly meant to have passion behind them. This just wasn't his thing. Here were my take aways.

More blinking. This guy must have chronic dry eye or something. I've never seen anyone blink so much before.
Wow! Right when he started speaking the camera finds protesters. One tried to raise a banner that read along the lines of "McCain votes against Vets" and one is wearing a t-shirt that reads something like "Vets against McCain". It might be the same guy. It's hard to tell since the camera is obviously giving McCain the lion's share of the camera time.
I love the shot of McCain obviously reading the teleprompter. Where did they find this production crew?
More chaos on the convention center floor. Seems like there is another protester. This time there is minor crowd violence as they push the outsider. Some people in the crowd (protester or audience member?) get dragged away by security.
McCain mentions Palin for the first time. The applause is louder than when McCain himself walked upto the podium.
McCain in regards to Sarah Palin - "She works with her hands and nose.... and knows..." Oops. Guess he should have rehearsed his speech a little more.
The man is just not a public speaker. He is having problems delivering on the high notes in his speech. His cadence is off and the crowd keeps interrupting him mid-sentence with applause, and the applause is lackluster at best.
McCain starts on the war in Iraq. Afghanistan is never mentioned. He is claiming that the surge, though unpopular at the time, saved the US from defeat in Iraq.
The production/camera crew has to be mocking McCain at this point. They are showing all these people whom all look devastatingly bored. I'm getting bored watching it.
McCain makes a great point about judges remaining impartial and not legislating from their benches. That would be nice.
Drill, drill, drill.
McCain - "I will keep taxes low, and cut them where I can." Yet he supports the war in Iraq that is costing trillions of American dollars.
McCain speaking about Obama - "his health care plan puts a bureaucrat between you and your doctor." At least we would ALL have doctors. I can't believe that there are so many people who are willing to just let other people - other Americans - get sick and die. Just to keep from paying a little more in taxes. The punchline is that a huge number of these people support the war in Iraq. They don't want to spend any money to help people, but please - wage war in that country over there!
There is a great close up of a man yawning!
McCain - "We face many dangerous threats in this world, but I'm not afraid of them. I'm prepared for them... I have the record and scars to prove it. Obama does not." In other words. You should be scared of the rest of the world. I'm a POW so...vote for me.
I wonder how many times McCain said the phrase "my friends" in this speech?
More heavy applause when Palin comes on to the stage after McCain's speech. It will be hard for the celebrity argument to work against Obama now.

McCain is apparently happy to let Palin poke the Obama bear for him. He was never fully on the offensive and the jabs he did make were small and petty. He also praised Obama at the beginning of his speech as a great candidate and a patriotic American. I guess they are trying to get people to vote for the nice old guy with the naughty PTA pit bull.

Tonight's GOP Convention

2008-09-03T22:19:00.004-05:00

Alright. I'm by no means a political pundit, or at least not a very educated one. However, I did watch the republican convention tonight and wanted to share some of the things I took away from it. In disclosure I'm a rather firm supporter of the democrat candidate.

They are scared shitless. There are "Islamic Terrorists" in the world. They want to harm you. McCain is the only person in the world that can keep you safe so vote for him.
They don't want to spend any money whatsoever for any reason. They would like to skull fuck anyone who might think about raising our taxes. I'm talking both eye sockets!
They really, really, really want to drill for oil.
The press is a bunch of left-wing punks who don't understand anything and don't play nice and if they don't stop then I'm going to go and tell my mommy and my dad is bigger than your dad and you should stop picking on me cause you're a big doo doo head.

The first speech I'd like to make comments on is Mayor Rudy Giuliani's. I'd like to post comments and partial quotes made by him in normal text. Then I would like to give my thoughts in italics.

There were huge numbers of old white people clapping and laughing at the thought of offshore oil drilling. I can actually sympathize with this to an extent. I also feel the pain at the gas pump. However, instead of focusing on finding the same old oil based energy with drilling; why not focus on alternative energy sources?
There are "Islamic Terrorists" that we need protection against. Are other terrorists OK then? Are Islamic terrorists somehow worse than others? I'd rather not have terrorists at all. I don't care what religion they are. Why does he?
Giuliani did get a good dig against Obama when he brought up his comments about rural Americans “They cling to guns or religion...". That was a foolish thing for Obama to say - probably true though.

Alright. Next let's talk about the big speech. Governor Sarah Palin accepted her parties nomination for VP with some brutal attacks against Obama.

Tons of applause when she approaches the podium. It takes several moments for her speech to begin. Most of this camera time is spent between her pregnant daughter and her newborn baby with autism. I'm afraid that no angry comments are going to drive the press away from either of these two. She preaches abstinence without sex education and her own kid gets knocked up. Not sure how you can keep that argument going. When is educating your children about anything bad?
As she begins her speech it is very clear that she is a gifted public speaker. I'm very impressed with her comfort on that stage. I'd be pooping myself.
She said that as a mother of a soldier fighting a war she feels like we need a leader like John McCain as the next president. This comment is lost on me. I'd be scared out of my mind if my kid was off to Iraq - especially if I never fully understood why we were waging war there in the first place. I wouldn't support the guy who wants to stay there until we achieve victory - even if it takes 100 years. Fuck that noise. Get out of Iraq. Kill Bin Laden. Then come home.
She had a very funny joke about hockey moms. "What is the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? The lipstick." Nice. Shows personality and alludes to her ability to connect with the common folks.
Repeated snipes and snide comments about Obama's experience as a community organizer. This one bothered me a little. McCain said he wants to help people. Yet he (through his association with Giuliani and Palin) rags on Obama for helping people. WTF?
Palin acknowledges that offshore drilling will not solve all of our energy needs (especially not our immediate ones), but claims that the republicans already know this, and claims that fact isn't a reason to do nothing at all. I'm sure Obama agrees with you. He doesn't want to do nothing. He wants to invest in alternative energy sources. Why would you invest in such a dirty source of energy anyway? Oh yeah - you think that pollution isn't real. Ice caps are melting cause they need a vacation from being ice.
It's just sad when you resort to jabbing at the opposition's convention stage.
Palin - "Al qaeda would like to cause catastrophic harm to America, and Obama wants to make sure someone reads them their rights". This is a bad thing? Those pesky human rights, always getting in the way of someones fun.
The McCain camp is still riding the "POW" ticket hard. "There is only one man in this election who has ever REALLY fought for you." Listen. McCain is a hero. He went through hell as a POW. He is a great American. But that doesn't make him a good candidate for president.

McCain himself came on stage after Palin finished her speech. He said just a few words. He referred to Palin by reaching out and then turning the wrong direction on stage. The dude is scary old, and I wish he would blink less. The constant blinking really freaks me out.

Google Chrome

2008-09-02T20:48:00.005-05:00

I has been a long time since I wrote about them, but it's no secret that I love Google. They seem to do good things. They seem to legitimately take pains not to be evil. For that I try to support their product offerings, which is easy to do since most everything they create is free. Well their latest product is Chrome. Chrome is Google's version of a web browser. It is supposed to be rocking - as in rocking our collective balls off. I just installed it. My first thoughts are as follows.

Positives: Like all of googles products it appears sleek and uncluttered. I like the tabs on top. It does a good job forecasting what I am typing, allowing me to just hit enter if it comes up with the correct site. Although I like the idea of the most common sites I visit appearing on the opening page I wonder how effective it will be for machines with multiple users? Plus they got Scott Mcloud to create the comic about it (linked above).

Negatives: I love the concept of Sandboxing - however when I tried to go to Google Reader (one of Google's own websites) it crashed the entire browser, plus all 4 tabs I had open. Sandboxing was supposed to make that not happen right? Admittedly it might take some extra time to download plug ins and such, but currently I'm not seeing a performance increase. In some cases I think it might be running a little slower. I'll update this in a week or two to see what the difference is then.

This blog entry was writting on blogger using Google Chrome as the browser.

I wish my head had a pause button!

2008-08-29T00:58:00.002-05:00

Another sleepless night. At least I feel better. I just wish I could fall asleep.

The weather man said that we can expect a hot weekend. Maybe hot days will lead to more restful nights.

Cold weather will be here soon. I always sleep better in the winter.

Sen. Clinton Supporters

2008-08-26T21:15:00.005-05:00

Listen. I know you think it sucks. I know you think you got robbed or some other madness. But now it's time to buck up and shut your pie holes. It's the 11th hour. Time to walk the company line. That's what we would be doing if Obama lost.

Late Night

2008-08-25T23:55:00.002-05:00

I'm having one of those sleepless nights. I'm tired. I would like to sleep, but no sleep comes. I tried laying in bed thinking deep thoughts, but I'm not a very deep person. I logged into my blog and it felt - busy. So I tried to boil it down. It feels better now.

I don't enjoy the book I'm reading. It would be a good night to read until I can't keep my eyes open. But I don't want to tonight.

I played some word game on Facebook for awhile. I'm not very good at it. It seems like it wanted me to spell out the word 'rape' a lot. I'm sure that was just a odd thing.

I realized something when I was trying to think my deep thoughts. People don't touch each other anymore. I remember growing up I used to touch the people I cared about all the time. It was something important. Friends touched each other. They sat shoulder to shoulder. They gave each other hugs. They shook each other's hands to greet each other. They threw friendly jabs into each others arms and ribs. Now people never touch each other. It's like people suddenly got weird about it when they turned 25 or something. Maybe it's a closeness issue. Maybe people are more likely to have a greater amount of really good friends when they are younger, and a smaller more select group of really good friends when they get older. I still have friends that get a hug when they greet me or say goodbye. I wish I had more really good friends.

Noodle is a funny word.

Sen. Kennedy spoke at the DNC today. It was good to see him up and around again. However, Michelle Obama seem really false in her speech. First reactions from the talking heads seemed positive, so I hope it just rang false with me and not the rest of the nation. I felt bad for their oldest daughter. They cut to Joe Biden's reaction to her speech every 30 seconds. It was like the network was amazed that he would listen to her words. I hate network TV.

If you think about it - honey is actually really gross, but I'm not going to stop eating honey.

Today is alright for a Monday.

2008-08-25T11:05:00.003-05:00

For some reason I feel pretty good today. I woke up that way. I'm not sure what is going on. Normally I feel crappy on Monday's. Not today I guess. I also have the song from Jurassic Park stuck in my head. I'm not sure what that is about.

More Embossing

2008-08-23T20:01:00.003-05:00

I realized today that I really like things that are embossed. When I get books I emboss them on the title page and on page 101. My wife wonders why I emboss them on two pages. I tell her that I emboss the title page since that is one of the first pages you see in a book. I then said I emboss page 101 because you can rip a title page out, but you can't rip out page 101 without losing part of the story. The truth is that I just love embossing things. So two pages is better than one.

I just finished reading a book that 1031 lent me. It was a very odd book written by a very odd man. He is also very talented. The book was called Crooked Little Vein. Although it has a lot of drug references in the story - the title is not one of them. It was a very odd book. Trix should have chosen Mike exclusively. I'm such a vanilla conservative when it comes to the bedroom.

Doah!

2008-08-19T12:19:00.001-05:00

Well, it turns out that the house we wanted sold. Oh well. We are still going to move forward with the plan. We could still use help with some of the projects around the ol' homestead.

HELP!?!?!?

2008-08-14T09:22:00.002-05:00

With the upcoming kid and all Kris and I have been thinking about moving into a home that doesn't need as much work. However - we would first need to be able to sell the house we are currently in. There is a much in the way of cleaning and heavy lifting that needs to be done. Basically we are going to throw half of our stuff into a dumpster (which arrives tomorrow).

Stuff we need help with.

Dry wall
Cleaning
Painting
Lifting of heavy furniture items into a dumpster
Yard work

Please let me or Kris know if you are willing to donate a few hours of labor to the project. I think a move would really benefit our family. Wait until you see the house we would like to get - its perfect!

Now with 33.33% more family!

2008-08-11T12:31:00.002-05:00

That is right. The wife and I recently found out that we are now expecting our second goblin. It is still very early, but we are excited. The poop monster should grace us with its presence sometime in April. Make sure to lock all of your doors and windows. I'll keep you posted as to the status of the little bundle of stinky joy as we go.

Oh, and go Olympics.

I want to join the ELE

2008-08-06T23:15:00.002-05:00

So I found another website that is offering hi-def episodes of Dr. Horrible for free. Click here for the love of all things good in this world!

What - your to busy to click the link in support of all things good in this world? Bastards!

Click the link - NOW.

Do it.

A Little Bummed

2008-07-25T10:48:00.003-05:00

A short while ago I blogged about this video I saw via a link on Ain't it Cool News!. The video was of a young, but brilliant college professor from Carnegie Melon. The school runs a series of lectures that had the unfortunate nick-name of "Last Lecture". The premise is that the teachure had this captive audiance, and that you should present what you believe to be your "ultimate" lecture. In otherwords, if you were dying and had the chance to give one last lecture, thats what you should present. Well for Randy Pausch, that is truley what it was. Randy was dying of pancreatic cancer.

The lecture he gave was inspired, entertaining, funny, life changing, and unexpectantly up-beat - which of course only made it that much more heart breaking. I don't want to take away anything from the lecture, which has been featured now in new stores, websites, and even Oprah, but it turns out that Randy gave his "Last Lecture" for his own reasons.

Anyway, I found out that Randy Pausch died today. If your up to it you can see one of his many, many, "Last Lectures" by simply googleing his name.

Bad Horse - The Thoroughbred of Sin!

2008-07-18T23:47:00.003-05:00

Seriously now. All three acts of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog are now available for viewing at the website. Click fast though - there is less than twenty four hours left before it disappears from the website. It will be replaced with a order form. Thats right, after today (Saturday 7/19) you have to buy the DVD to get your Dr. Horrible fix.

And, just for the record. This is a seriously good show. I'm not just saying that because I'm a die-hard Whedon fan. This is some truly exceptional work. NPH does such a great freaking job in this, for that matter so does Nathan Fillion. This stuff is just so damn good.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

2008-07-17T11:14:00.009-05:00

People. This one is important. Each and everyone of you must go to the Dr. Horrible website and see Joss Whedon's newest creation - gratis! (That means for free - I learned that by watching Deadwood!)

This is a HILARIOUSLY funny musical written by the guy I named my daughter after....

The catch is that it is only available free of charge until 7/20. At that point it vanishes into the internet ether - only to come out with a visa or mastercard. I'm sure that I'll get the DVD with all the extra's but there is nothing like watching this over the internet - since this is the first musical ever produced specifically for the release over the net.

It has the beautiful Felicia Day for da boyz! Nathan Fillion for da ladiez! And, Neil Patrick Harris for the, um, rest of you people.

Let me know if you need help finding a link to the website - I'll be sure to send you one right away!

Techno Addict

2008-06-30T19:07:00.003-05:00

What's up people? It's been awhile since I posted anything on here. Don't worry though, I didn't stop loving you. Lightning recently attacked my garage, air conditioner, and computer. As you can imagine things have been a little bit more stressful these last couple of days. Not to worry - we will overcome. Although I'm sure you can imagine how hard it has been on the wifey. She had to be in the house with a sweaty cranky fat fan boy with no internet and no air conditioning. I'm surprised that we all lived through it. I would have laid cash money on one us of killing the other.

You forget how reliant you get on this whole computer thing. I keep finding myself walking into the study just to find that there is no computer there. Recently the wife has taken to bringing in her work computer for us to use. We were also able to find a old cable modem that still works so we once again have broadband. Anyway - the wife already posted pictures of all the damage to the house. So if you want to see some of it you should wander over there and check it out. Otherwise, life is good for us. The kid turned 2 recently, and I just had my birthday party this past weekend. Thank you all who attended, with a special thanks to Felix who had to play the "traitor" two times in a row. He was a good sport about it and did a great job.

In other news - my boss gave me some great feedback today. It is always a really great feeling when someone tells you that the work you have been doing has been good. He also gave me my yearly raise and I must say that I was pleased with the results. Money has been tight around the old water cooler lately. So he must have really went to bat for me to get me what I got. So work has been good lately. Although I'm a little sad that my current boss is transitioning into a new position. I'm sure the new guy will be fine, but I know my old boss rocked. Oh well - I guess these things happen.

My grandmother has been in town for a few weeks now, however she is scheduled to leave in around a week. I haven't been able to spend nearly enough time with her, and more importantly, she hasn't had the quality time with the kid that I was hoping for. However, I will do my best to make up for it by doubling the amount of photos I send her this year. The wife has been finding some great deals on prints via the interweb so we should be able to provide her with a fairly steady flow.

I guess that is the high level view of my life right now. If you're bored please drop me a line or leave a comment. Emails and blog comments are the absolute easiest way of making people feel great. I love the feeling of logging into the old gmail and seeing a email waiting there for me from one of you awesome people. Hang tight people.

Edward Cullen for President '08

2008-05-27T15:20:00.001-05:00

Good News Everyone. Almost 10 days ago I declared that the 50 book challenge was a stupid idea. I noticed a difference almost immediately. I’ve started reading again – reading a lot! I re-read the last 4 Harry potter books plus started a new series since then.

The series is by a woman named Stephanie Meyer. Her characters are flawed, exceptional and extremely well developed. My only complaint is that they all have such high morals. I typically enjoy characters that have a skewed or broken moral compass. Her books are marketed towards young adults so that could explain why the characters are all such goody, goody, two shoes.

The premise isn’t exactly original. A beautiful but loner girl moves to a small town in Washington. There she finds a very unusual boy and falls in love with him. The only catch is that he is a vampire. Those of you who watched Buffy probably feel like the whole “good” vampire genre would be best if left alone for awhile. Until I read these books I felt the same way. However, it turns out that Meyer can create something new from this familiar land. I’m not trying say that these books are as good as Whedon’s television series, but you can’t really compare the two. Whedon created a wonderful well balanced series that focused on multiple topics. Whedon used his series to say something or critique an event or topic. His characters were his paper and their actions were his words. Meyers’ creation focused almost purely on the characters and their relationships with each other. The events and obstacles are merely a means to learn more about these wonderful people (people in the loosest sense of the word). The only theme in her books would be that love conquers all.

Twilight is the first book in the Meyer series and it is already in production to become a movie. I’m skeptical about the movie. I’m not sure how well these books can be translated to the big screen. The thing that separates these books from low rate romance novels is the slow, creeping, subtle characterization through the series. You honestly connect with and empathize with the characters. With each chapter you learn more and more about them. Movies have a bad habit of either glossing that over, or force feeding it to you in painful glaring ways. I hope they do a good job. The special effects should be wonderful. There is enough action to have it be impressive to behold (typically feats of superhuman strength or speed) but shouldn’t take up the whole movie.

I’m excited about this series. There are currently three books on the market: Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. There is also another book in the series that is due out on August 2nd. Again, I think it could be a little bit more “adult” with great effects, but otherwise a very good series with some fantastic characters.

Naw, Not Gonna Do It No More!

2008-05-18T20:15:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking lately that the 50 book challenge might not have been that neat of a plan. It feels a bit more like work and less like recreation now. With stress at work and at home I think I need to be able simply read what I want. I realized the truth of the matter when I decided that I wanted to read the last 4 books of Harry Potter. I was able to finish HPATGOF in a couple of days. As you know it had been taking me much longer than normal to get through some of the other books I was forcing myself to read. I'm still committed to expanding my literary pallet, but I need to do it on a more reasonable time table.

Religious Humor

2008-04-18T16:28:00.003-05:00

Shame On Me

2008-04-18T12:32:00.002-05:00

I feel like I've been neglectful of my blog recently. I've fininshed two books and haven't posted my review of either. Things have happend in my life that never got detailed here. My kid has done some wonderfully cute things that I didn't share by posting a picture. Sorry blog people. I'll try to do better. Please look for reviews of Heinlien's Stranger in a Strange Land and Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union soon.

I would also like to thank Dave and Brain for hosting BSG nights. Since the wife and I cancelled cable that is the only show that I was truely concerned about missing. You guys rock.

~Mick

Friday Humor - Back by Un-Popular Demand!

2008-04-04T16:24:00.002-05:00

The 50 Book Challenge: 10/50

2008-04-01T22:56:00.002-05:00

Infected

Author: Scott Singler
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Crown (Randomhouse)
ISBN-10: 0307406105
ISBN-13: 978-0307406101
Stars: 2/5

So, I’m a firm believer that anything will always seem better if it is free. I guess this book proved me wrong. I read recently on either Boing Boing or io9 that Scott Singer’s new book Infected was being offered as a free PDF on the Randomhouse website (found it). The link was going to only be live for a few days as a promotion to help generate interest in the hardcover that is available now on amazon.com. So I read the whole book during my lunch breaks at work.

I was pretty disappointed. It was a Body Snatchers rip off disguised as hard science fiction. The premise is that aliens sent cellulose machines through earth via microscopic ‘seeds’. The seeds lucky enough to land on organic material would read the genetic make up of it’s host and determine if the host was living and intelligent enough to incubate the machines into hatchlings. Hatchlings would incubate and steer the hosts into taking them to a certain location somewhere in Michigan. There they would burst from the hosts body and create a gateway for which the alien species could come through and take over the world. So the book follows a crazy ex-footballer as he power struggles with his parasitic alien enemy, and the CIA agents that are trying to contain the attack before it gets out to the public. I know what your thinking right now, and yes, it IS that bad.

Singer actually did a very good job with these characters. Scary Perry the ex-linebacker seems like he could be a real guy. Dew the CIA agent was a wonderfully campy stereotypical hard old guy cop. The doctor and her madcap bunch made for great comic relief and the source of most of the very believable science in the book. However, once the story peeked, the author just didn’t have the chops to take it anywhere. The ending seemed like it was writing by an 11-year-old boy with a fetish for flesh wounds and explosions. Or at best it seemed like the ending for a straight to television movie produced for the sci-fi channel or maybe for Michael Bay. Yes, it was that weak.

The 50 Book Challenge: 9/50

2008-04-01T22:26:00.001-05:00

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE

Author: Audrey Niffenegger
Paperback: 536 pages
Publisher: Harvest Books/Harcourt Inc.
ISBN: 0-15-602943-X
Stars: 3/5

I’m not sure if I’m being generous or stingy with the stars on this book. Here is the thing; this book should be categorized as ‘Chick Lit’. Note the capital ‘C’ on ‘Chick’. I’ve only read good reviews about this book online and everyone I talked to about this book raved endlessly about how good it was. I guess I failed to realize that all of those people were women.

The book is firmly placed in soft science fiction. The plot is about a man who due to a genetic disorder found himself traveling through time whenever he found himself in stressful situations. His travels would normally revolve around Clare his future (not to mention past and present) wife. The story revolves around the couple and Clare’s odd relationship with the many ages of Henry that keep popping in around her.

Besides the whole time traveling aspect the book is pretty much a trashy romance novel. For some reason the young couple (or old couple, or combination old and young couple) seem to constantly need to ravage each other sexually. I didn’t really appreciate that. I like my books either wholly free of sexual content or so detailed that they could be described as erotica. The steamy parts of this book were still all together mild for my liking. All that being said this book did raise one question, albeit one that I would rather not be asking. If a person goes back in time and has sex with himself, is that homosexual or masturbation?

Overall this book is well-paced, well-written, imaginative, and directed entirely towards romance fans. I could appreciate what this book was, but it simply was not for me. Again, perfect book to be inducted into the Chick Lit hall of fame.

Kickin' the Habit

2008-03-31T16:10:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to talk my wife into canceling cable for some time now. Monday she told me that the company would switch us off on Wednesday. When she first told me I was excited. I was glad I finally talked her into it, but even more so because I’d get to see my family interact a little bit more with each other. I was sick of going home and then realizing that all of us were gathering around the television like it was some pagan idol every night.

However, on my way home from work on Monday afternoon I started thinking about all the television shows I'm going miss. How horrible is that? I'm concerned about missing Battlestar Galactica and Monday Night Football. I know that this is just withdrawal talking. My addiction to the television is testing me. So far I have remained strong!

One benefit that I'm already seeing is that I’m reading a lot more. I'm hoping that this will also motivate myself to get back on schedule to complete my 50 books this year. Expect reviews to go up soon on The Time Traveler’s Wife and Infected. When I completed those two books I was officially one fifth of the way through my challenge. I have only forty more books to go.

Now Reading: I’m now a good ways into Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land.

The 50 Book Challenge: 8/50

2008-03-24T13:55:00.006-05:00

Tarzan of the Apes

Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
Paperback: Hardback (library edition)
Publisher: Buccaneer Books New York
Stars: 4/5

Every kid knows this story right? At least that is what I thought before I started reading this book. As it turns out, this is no Disney story.

It begins on a boat. The powerful John Clayton, Lord Greystroke is commissioned by England to investigate the influence other European nations are having on the native inhabitants of the West African coastal areas. Knowing he might be away from his home for an extended period of time our Lord Clayton decides to bring his new wife Lady Alice with him. Unknowingly, Lady Alice was also with child.

The two take passage on a small sailing vessel crewed with people little better than pirates. The lord and lady are witness to appalling ways the ships officers act towards the crew of the boat. John Clayton being a man of honor spoke out against the officers and the captain. Soon a full out mutiny is igniting on the ship, and the crew dispatched the officers of the tiny boat after a short but violent morning of fighting. The crew would have been anxious to kill the lord and lady as well, if not for the kind words he has spoken in support of their treatment.

As it was, the crew set John and Alice Clayton on a small uninhabited beach, with all that belonged to them. This included plenty of food and water, plus John’s firearms for which he could hunt and protect himself and his lady. The young couple built a small house on the beach and waited to be rescued. However, rescue never came. After a short while, while John was working on his home, he is attacked by huge hairy beast. This ape is about to kill John, when Alice shoots him dead. Alice breaks down. She gives birth that night, but will never recover from the shock of the ape attack. A year to the day that Lady Alice gave birth to her little baby boy she died.

That afternoon the king of the apes kills John Clayton. The ape king's wife, Kala, adopts the young baby Greystroke. From there on Tarzan is raised up as an ape. At first Tarzan is treated by the tribe as a runt. He is always under weight, slow, and weak when compared to other apes his age. Normally he would have been cast off to die in the jungle, except Kala would never leave his side. With her protection he grew strong and quick. When he was ten years old he was already stronger than the average man of thirty, and capable of impressive physical actions (although still physically limited when compaired to the other apes). This is the age where the tribe first noticed his superior cunning.

Eventually Tarzan’s cunning leads him to be the new King of the apes. And under our young Lord Greystroke the tribe reached a prosperity never before heard of. Until of course the humans came to his beach. Here is where the story really starts being different from the Disney telling. The rest of the story is full of hyper violence, romance, adventure and more hyper violence.

Of course, being written in 1914, everyone who isn’t white in this book is either a native (to be slain later in the book) or a half retarded slave woman. What floors me the most, and you should stop reading if you want to remain spoiler free, is that Tarzan and Jane don’t even end up together. Weird ending. I was also waiting for Tarzan to call up his jungle friends by using his "Ahahahahwhahahaehahahahahahaw" thing, but that never happened.

Now Reading: The Time Traveler's Wife

More Friday Humor

2008-03-14T16:40:00.002-05:00

A bunch of you made fun of me and called me names because I played with Star Wars action figures. So I stopped.

What is wrong with people?

2008-03-14T15:03:00.002-05:00

There were three stories of child abuse on CNN.com today. I have to tell you, I’m just outright disturbed about the whole thing.

I guess it’s fair to begin by stating that I’m hyper-sensitive to the whole issue. Movies like Gone Baby Gone and books like The Road haunt me for weeks and months after I experience them. I’m not sure if I blogged about it or not, but I had to stop reading Steven King’s Salem’s Lot for a week after reading the part where the young mother hits her own young baby. I cheered for her death when it came and I felt that she got off easy. I’ve always felt a significant twinge of disgust when hearing about these acts. That twinge became a punch in the gut after my little girl was born. I’m not sure why this issue affects me so acutely.

Anyway, the first story I read about was about a father who got drunk and made his kids stab the family cat to death. He apparently thought it would be a good idea for his kids to be confronted by death in such a manner. He made his own daughter hold a knife while wrapping his hand around hers. He then thrust the blade into the animal. What a great dad, right? This was the least offensive story that I came across today.

The second thing I saw was a video of a sixty year old woman violently shaking a five month old girl. You know how small a five month old child is? I’m not sure why I did this to myself, but I watched the video twice. For some reason my eyes were drawn towards the small girl’s little feet as she was snagged out of her exercise-saucer and shaken up in the air. How does a family ever come to terms with that? They paid this woman money for the sole purpose of keeping there children safe. Oh man, thinking about this actually draws a physical response.

Later in the day, my wife told me that she read an article about a grown man raping a little baby. She said that the doctors think that she screamed so hard that she almost stopped breathing. I don’t know what to say about that. This tiny child almost cried to death. I looked for this article on CNN.com but couldn’t find it. Instead, I found more and more stories about grown people doing horrible things to kids.

I’ve come to the realization that there is no cruelty that we could subject these monsters to that isn’t reasonable. They have simply ceased being people in my eyes. The part that bothers me the most about child abuse is that whatever reckoning these people get for their crimes, they will understand why it is being inflicted upon them. Children will never understand why adults hurt them. I guess I don’t understand it either.

Marches Movie Magnificence

2008-03-13T16:18:00.001-05:00

There seemed to be a lot of websites pimping teaser trailers for upcoming releases today. I wonder if that means that normal news sources were slow? Anyway, based on what I saw today here are just some of the movies that will blow our minds this spring/summer.

Ironman – Dude. Downey Jr. is going to rock this flick I think. I mean who is better for the role? Downey seems to have been born to play stark. Remember his mug shot?

Indiana Jones - The guy is going to be running from Nazi’s while using a walker, but what can I say? The movie looks fantastic. I’m a little apprehensive about his kid though…

Speed Racer – I was on the fence about this movie until I saw the trailer. I think it’s going to be awesome. I can’t believe that the people who made the Matrix also made this wonderfully colorful movie.

The Lost Boys – Yes, they are making another Lost Boys. I truly think this will blow our minds, but only in a bad way. Why can’t they just leave this one cult classic alone?

The Incredible Hulk – Don’t get me wrong. At no point do I actually expect this movie to be great. That being said – as long as you compare it to the last Hulk movie, this one will rock our world.

Wanted – It appears that this will be nothing like the comic. Additionally, Angelina Jolie looks way to skinny in the trailer. But, I think this movie has some potential. Plus I’m absolutely loyal to Morgan Freeman.

Batman – This is the one movie I HAVE to see this year. Thinking about this movie is sending goose bumps down my arms and neck.

Hangin' with Big D and the Boyz

2008-03-12T11:44:00.009-05:00

Just in case you needed more proof that I was a huge nerd.

My family and I hung out with Darth, Boba, and the boyz over the weekend.

We tried to ditch the Jedi, but he kept following us everywhere with his stupid blue lightsaber and horrible fake accent.

Ashamed of My Polictical Party

2008-03-07T14:15:00.005-06:00

I’m lucky in that my boss seems to share the majority of my views in terms of politics. This means we can spend a lot of time talking about the race for the next democratic presidential nominee. During lunch we were discussing our understanding of the two candidates and I came to the realization that I actually knew very little about the stance of either Clinton or Obama when it came to some of the key issues. I promised myself that I would visit their websites looking for some information so I can really draw a comparison between the two democratic candidates. So when we got back to work I immediately forgot about any work I had to do and started Googling for their websites.

I found both websites almost immediately and I started looking for information about gay rights. I’m under the belief that two people should be able to do whatever the hell they want as long as it doesn’t harm other people. It took me forever, but I finally found a small section about Obama's viewpoint on this topic on http://www.barackobama.com/. From what I can see he is in full support of equal rights and benefits. However, it seems like the website when out of its way to avoid using the term marriage. Whatever, I’m not gay and equal rights and benefits seem good enough for me. Call it whatever the hell you want. The interesting point is that I can’t find a thing about it on Hillary’s website. The one thing I keep running into on her website is the opportunity to give her campaign money.

When looking for information on gun control on Obama's site the only thing I could find was a tiny little paragraph that said that he “recognizes the great conservation legacy of America’s hunters and anglers and has great respect for the passion that hunters and anglers have for their sport.” It went on to say that conservationism is good. There was nothing really about gun control. Nor was there anything about this subject on hillaryclinton.com.

I could go on, but there would be no point. I was expecting to find detailed information about where the candidates each stand on all the issues. Instead it appears that each candidate put up a limited amount of information and only on the topics they want to talk about. How are we supposed to know who we should support when we have limited information about each candidate? Am I missing something here? Can anyone help me?

This leads me back to my idea that the debates need to be better moderated, and the subjects of each debate need to be defined in advance with more time allotted to each topic. This would allow the American people to really identify which candidate they prefer. Right now, each candidate is just rehashing the same vague crap they have already argued during each debate. Additionally I think that if a candidate wants to run a website, then they have to post information about each issue in a format provided by the DNC. I’m disappointed in myself and the rest of the Democratic Party for letting this get so watered down.

Don’t get me started on the super delegates again. What a mess! I wonder if people in Europe just look at us and laugh?

Bad News

2008-03-04T13:33:00.006-06:00

Gary Gygax the creator of Dungeons & Dragons died today. Here is the article from CNN. I was just talking with my friends about the games we used to play and the upcoming 4th edition.

I'm pretty bummed. Ironically, people have been telling me that today is national DM day. I'm not sure who comes up with 'days' but whatever...

Mick's Movie Madness!

2008-03-04T13:05:00.006-06:00

It feels like I spent the entire weekend watching movies. I enjoyed then all – well for the most part at least.

No Country for Old Men – I saw this movie early in the afternoon on Saturday. For those of you who live in Omaha than you know that Saturday was the first really nice day for months. It was a gorgeous bright day and I left the house in my shirt sleeves driving my wife's sporty little car. In other words, I was in great spirits.

The movie was fantastic. It prayed on some of my fears exceptionally well. I loved the character Anton Chigurh – especially his hair. I'm not a paranoid person, but I've always feared the random act of violence against me or a loved one (the mall shooting in Omaha don't help me get over it). Therefore the scene where Anton, played by Javier Bardem, made a meek and overweight gas station attendant choose heads or tails freaked me the hell out.

The other fear that I have which this movie does such a good job of praying on is growing old. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate old people or anything. What I do fear is becoming less able, less connected, or pathetic. The old timer sheriff Ed Tom Bell spends the whole movie feeling sorry for himself because he has gotten so old. He doesn't understand how things have gotten so bad on his watch.

Warning - Spoilers Ahead! There are no happy endings with this movie. Old people remain old. Violence happens. Good people die. Also, there is a room with a lot of kittens.

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Stardust – My first experience with Stardust was astonishing. My copy describes itself as “an adult faerie tail”. Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors of books, comics, and movies. Of course the movie wasn’t going to hold up to the book.

That being said Clair Danes was absolutely gorgeous and brilliant as the star Yvaine. It helps that I’ve had a crush on her since the television show “My So-Called Life” was on MTV. Seriously, she is awesome. There were other people in the movie, and they probably did a fine job acting.

Anyway, I wish they would make Neverwhere with that kind of production value!

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Evan Almighty – Kris and I saw this film Saturday Night after we got home from our friends house. Eh, I guess it was funny in some spots. Steve Carell was only okay in this flick. Overall I thought it was ‘cute’. I’m not really all about cute movies. Let’s move on.

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Who Killed the Electric Car? – This was a fantastic documentary. A long time ago, 1990 to be exact, California passed a mandate that required any automotive manufacturer that sold cars in the state to develop and market an alternative electric car to go along with its gas powered brethren. As a result GM developed the EV-1, a 100% electric powered car. Only leased in California and Arizona the EV-1 was a fast, reliable, and clean alternative to the other cars on the market. Many other car companies followed suit. Each one building their version of a zero emission car, but all powered via electric batteries.

The documentary doesn’t really focus on how the car companies made these fantastic, clean, great vehicles. Instead it focuses on how the car companies did everything in their power to destroy the program. They fought tooth and nail against the mandate, they advertised in odd and confusing ways, they never met demand for the vehicles or lied about the number of customers waiting to lease one.

The creators of the film also point fingers at the Bush administration, big oil, corrupt government agents, Hydrogen fuel cells, and even the consumers themselves for the eventual defeat of the entirely feasible electric car.

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Good Luck Chuck – This movie should have had the following title. Boobies. That would give a more accurate portrayal of this movie.

Basic premise is a kid gets molested by a young goth girl after a bad spin with a Moutain Dew bottle. When she wants to take the make out session a little to far, the boy freaks out and embarrasses her in front of all her friends. She curses him so that any girl he sleeps with finds her Mr. Right in the next guys she dates. Much sex ensues.

Jessica Alba and a bunch of penguins are also in this movie. Oh yeah, there is a girl with 3 boobs. However, it wasn’t nearly as cool as Arnold’s Total Recall chick with 3 boobies.

Friday Star Wars Humor

2008-02-29T13:17:00.005-06:00

Once in awhile I'll be sitting at my desk playing with my Star Wars toys and I'll accidently put them in a position that will make me laugh. The first one or two times this happend I posted them on this blog for you all to see. That or I emailed them to all my work friends that didn't think they were all that funny. Well today someone from work actually requested that I send another one. Not wanting to leave you guys out of the loop I'm inserting the picture here. This is what I came up with.

I Want Free Music

2008-02-28T17:23:00.002-06:00

I need some help. I’ve been working on the playlist that I listen to while at work. I’m getting to the point where I really like it, but I still think it needs a little work before it really top notch.

I’ve recently added the entire Juno soundtrack thanks to the efforts of 1031. He willingly when out of his way after class last night to hand deliver it to me. Additionally, I have a line on at least one whole Moldy Peaches album, if not more (thanks Mark and JR).

Here is the playlist as it stands today. I’m looking for mostly upbeat tunes that will carry me through a workday. I have weaknesses for good poppy punk or ska, and female songwriters. I love songs with harmonies. I’m also still stuck on all the bands I listened to in high school. I would like to add some Bob Dylan, but don’t have any CDs.

Basket Case – Green Day
Long View – Green Day
Welcome to Paradise – Green Day
When I Come Around – Green Day
Vampire – Antsy Pants
Tree Hugger – Antsy Pants/Kimya Dawson
A Well Respected Man – The Kinks
All I Want Is You – Barry Louis Polisar
All the Young Dudes – Mott the Hoople
Anyone Else But You – The Moldy Peaches
Dearest – Buddy Holly
Expectations – Belle and Sebastian
I’m Sticking with You – The Velvet Underground
Loose Lips – Kimya Dawson
My Sharona – The Ramones
Piazza, New York Catcher – Belle and Sebastian
Sea of Love – Cat Power
Sleep – Kimya Dawson
So Nice So Smart – Kimya Dawson
Superstar – Sonic Youth
Tire Swing – Kimya Dawson
Up the Spout – Mateo Messina
My Rollercoaster – Kimya Dawson
Sabatoge – Beastie Boys
Paul Revere – Beastie Boys
Brass Monkey – Beastie Boys
Rockin The Suburbs – Ben Folds
Give Me My Money Back – Ben Folds Five
Italian Leather Sofa – Cake
The Distance – Cake
1234, 1234 – Catch22
Keasbey Knights – Catch22
The Wild Rover – The Dropkick Murphys
Hide and Seek – Imogen Heap
Dream Girl – Jeffries Fan Club
Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
Trapped in a Box – No Doubt
Paulina – No Doubt
Sound System – Operation Ivy
Teen Idol – RX Bandits
Ruby Soho – Rancid
Ready to go – Republica
Under 21 – Save Ferris
Magic Carpet Ride – Steppenwolf
Caress Me Down – Sublime
What I Got – Sublime
We Used to Be Friends – The Dandy Warhols
Gin & Juice – The Gourds
Where’d you go? – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
She’s Got Issues – The Offspring
Maggie Mae – The Pietasters
Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones
Jump Right In – The Urge
It’s my Turn to Fly – The Urge
Geek Stank Breath – Green Day
Jaded – Green Day
Walking Contradiction – Green Day
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Domino – Van Morrison
Space Oddity – David Bowie
More Human Than Human – White Zombie
Shuffle Your Feet – (I don’t remember)

I didn’t realize how much Green Day I had on here. I guess that’s not a huge problem. I love me some Green Day.

Clinton vs. Obama, Round 20 - FIGHT!

2008-02-26T23:23:00.005-06:00

Well, the last Democratic debate between Obama and Clinton before the Ohio and Texas primaries took place tonight. I’m not a political analyst or anything, but it seems like Hillary failed to make a large enough impact to keep Obama from winning out. If that is the case and Obama comes away with the majority of the delegates (even if only by a narrow margin) the only question remaining is -- what happens next? I’m pretty sure that Obama won’t have enough delegates behind him to attain the nomination outright. Will Hillary concede and give the nomination to Obama, or will the “super delegates” get called upon to decide the democratic nomination?

I have to tell you, the whole concept of a super delegate kind of freaks me out. It seems to me like it’s a very republican way of doing things. It’s a small group of people who supposedly “know best” and will tell the American people who the democratic candidate should be. In other words, they are taking the power away from the people and giving it to a ruling class. I’m not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill here; I’m just saying what it feels like to me.

What I don’t understand is why we need them? If a candidate doesn’t accumulate the necessary delegates (what is it again 2085?), I feel they should schedule another debate then afterwards everyone goes back out and votes again. Rinse and repeat until one of the candidates earns the nomination. If properly moderated I think each debate would bring out the subtle differences in each candidate and allow the people to better evaluate and choose their preferred candidate. I suppose that it would be possible for the process to go on and on forever, and that if the process would stall in such a way it would be the same as conceding the race to the republicans in all practicality. That being said, I still feel like taking the power away from the people is gov’met bullshit on a grand scale.

What a Trainwreck!

2008-02-25T21:55:00.004-06:00

I saw a horrible television show tonight on Fox. It was called Moment of Truth. There was some stupid girl answering extremely personal yes or no questions. After the question was read and the contestant would give her answer a vaguely female sounding computer generated voice would answer with "TRUE" if she told the truth or "FALSE" if she lied. Apparently they subjected this poor, stupid, corrupt little creature to a lie detector before filming.

I only saw the last 20 or so minutes of this wretched person comit character suicide, however if was enough to end her marriage, her reputation, her family’s reputation, and to show the world how much of a pathetic, sad, wretched little creature she really is. I know that I should be the last person on earth that should judge other people, but my lord, what good did she think could possibly come of this?

Here is a run down of the questions as I remember them. Remember, there were other questions before I started watching. Who knows what other embarrassments she subjected herself to?

If you ex-boyfriend told you he would like to get back together, would you leave your husband to go back to him?
Girl’s Answer: YES
Computer Voice: True

Do you believe that you were in love with you ex-boyfriend when you and your husband were married?
lying sack of crap: YES
Computer Voice: True

Do you feel like you should be married to your ex-boyfriend instead of your current husband?
Stupid Girl: YES
Computer: TRUE

Have you ever had sexual relations with anyone besides your husband while you have been married?
Cheating Dumb Ho: YES
Computer: True

At this point her husband, who is obviously devastated, and the rest of her shame filled family are telling her just to go all the way and get the million dollars. I guess they figured that being rich losers is better than just being losers. I guess I can see where they are coming from. The poor idiotic girl has like $100k at this point and only needs to answer one more question truthfully, which she hasn’t had a problem with so far, to double her money. For $200,000 she had to answer this:

Do you still think you are a good person?
Answer: YES (my jaw drops)
Computer:..FALSE

The girl lied! SHE LIED! She lied about being a good person. After admitting to cheating on her husband, she looks the camera straight on and claims she is still a good person. The money, the whole reason she came on the show and ruined her family is now gone. She gets nothing but a broken family. It blew my mind. There is a large part of me that hopes the whole thing was false. I hope the whole thing was a marketing scheme in an effort to boost ratings. I would be happier knowing the whole thing was a fake show with paid actors.

The worst part about this whole thing is that I partook. I watched it. If only you can scrub your brain with soap and water. I feel shame. I saw the train coming, but I never moved from the tracks.

Juno Soundtrack

2008-02-25T16:01:00.005-06:00

Alright! It turns out that my boss also saw Juno over the weekend and like me, enjoyed the soundtrack very much. He didn't buy it. However, he did buy a album by the Moldy Peaches that I'm going make him let me "listen to".

I would still like it if someone would "let me listen to" the full Juno soundtrack, or any other Kimya Dawson/Moldy Peaches/Antsy Pants songs or albums. I provide the blank CDs for the "listening". Wink Wink!

NOTE: My boss also bought an album by Vampire Weekend based on a possitive review from one of my other friends. He gives it a thumbs up.

THUNDERCATS GO!

2008-02-24T20:28:00.003-06:00

Kris and I just got home from watching Juno. What a fantastic movie. It's also piss your pants funny. I really want the soundtrack and everything else written by Diablo Cody. Oh yeah, the acting was fantastic. I was 100% engrossed.

The 50 Book Challenge: 7/50

2008-02-21T22:02:00.004-06:00

The Road

Author: Cormac McCarthy
Paperback: 287 pages
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 978-0-307-38789-9
Stars: 4/5

Well my slump might be over. I blew through this book in two nights. I was going to read Great Expectations next, but it seems like Joss hid the book somewhere, so I read The Road instead.

This was not a feel good story. As a matter of fact I don’t remember ever feeling more deflated after I’ve completed a book. I don’t think I can really talk about the book without going into some details so please, if you haven’t read the book stop reading now because there are spoilers ahead!

The man and his son travel down a road in the middle of a burnt up world each one the only reason why the other keeps going. The man slowly becoming more ill as they travel south. Both of them constantly wondering if today was the day they would die. The father remembers the world before. He remembers his wife and the day she gave up and took her own life. The son grows up only knowing the road and the horrendous sights and events they’ve experienced while traveling it. Not exactly food for the soul if you know what I mean.

Reading the last 20 pages of this book was like nothing I’ve experienced before. The only way I can think of describing it is that it was like seeing a man get crushed by a falling piano from a block away. You know there is horrible tragedy up ahead, but you have to run up just in case the man might be ok. I always remain hopeful for the happily ever after.

Anyway, this is a great book. I gave it four out of five stars. The limiting factors were the overall depressing tone of the book, the hundreds of micro chapters the book was broken into, and the odd way McCarthy handled his dialog.

The 50 Book Challenge: 6/50

2008-02-16T22:56:00.002-06:00

Werewolves in Their Youth

Author: Michael Chabon
Paperback: 212 pages
Publisher: Picador
ISBN 10: 0-312-25438-5
ISBN 13: 978-0-312-25438-4
Stars: 2 out of 5

It took me five weeks to read this books slim 212 pages. The text was even doubles-spaced with absurdly large margins. This book was a compilation of Chabon’s early short stories. Of the nine stories in the book I feel that only the first story “Werewolves in Their Youth” and the last story “In the Black Mill” are worth the reading. Not a great performance from this normally reliable writer.

Now I have to decide if I want to read “Great Expectations” or McCarthy’s “The Road” next. Comments are always welcome.

Six word Memoirs

2008-02-13T16:22:00.003-06:00

I listened to story on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” this afternoon entitled Six Word Memoirs: Life Stories Distilled. It was about a new anthology being published that combines the lift stories of 800 individuals. Each is told in a six word sentence. Here are some of the examples they gave.

“After Harvard, had baby with crack-head”

“Defending America like a farmer would”

“I knew, don’t know, might know”

“Probably worried for nothing, I know”

“My beautify wife is my life”

“A Sundress can cure ones woes”

“Boyfriend in bed, still a lesbian”

“Bad good luck, good bad luck”

One of the people on the show commented "A sundress certainly cured some of my woes, and I wasn't even the one wearing the sundress". I cracked up when I heard that. Anyway, what would yours be? Mine would have to be “Built for comfort, not for speed!”