El Night Owl

iPod/iPhone apps!

2009-07-27T15:51:00.001-04:00

Here are just a few of some apps I love to use on my ipod touch!

A healthy, wealthy, and wise man

2009-07-20T21:13:00.002-04:00

So there is a problem now with my blog. That is that I no longer am full filling my "el night owl" title anymore. See for the past few weeks my girlfriend has got me on this bizarre sleep schedule. See she has somehow convinced me to go to bed early.... and wake up early. Now there isn't much else to say, just it's been awhile since my last blog and I just felt like shooting the breeze with you all. Just hope this early to bed - early to rise thing ends soon, otherwise I'll have to become 'El Morning Bird', and that doesn't have a nice ring to it.

Speck* case review - part duex

2009-07-13T15:02:00.002-04:00

Hey guys, here is another video review for you all regarding the Speck* case I got a few weeks ago.

Here is the old post (Speck* case review) for you all to see incase you missed it, but this is the one you should listen to! Oh and don't forget to leave a comment!

iPod Touch: VIDEO review

2009-07-06T20:28:00.001-04:00

Tada! Ladies and gentlemen I present to you: me! Trying my hands at doing some video reviews for you all. Let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoy the review of the iPod Touch 2g.

iPod touch 2g specs

100th Post!!!!!!!

2009-07-05T23:31:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, December 10th, 2008 at 10:10PM the blogosphere was rocked by the launch of the blog, El Night Owl. The first post was a sign of things to come, and that have been. I still keep up with politics, LGBT rights, and whatever I feel like talking about that day. And in almost 7 months I have shared with you 99 rants on my feelings about the world we live in. I hope to stay around for another 100 more and keeps whoever out there looks at this lil old blog a little happier, angrier, or just plain stumped. It is a wonderful journey we have been on together, and as I right this I am 100% I could land a job at Hallmark in two seconds. Take care all and hopefully we will continue to have a good old fashioned, hoot-hollering, ho down, hootenanny, rip-snorting, extrrrrrrravaganza of a time for us all!

New Layout

2009-07-05T23:18:00.002-04:00

Hope you all like the new layout. I figure for being like this for so long it might be time for a change. Trying to go from the dark depressing black to the new blueish of what you see now. Any how, comment of you hate it or love it let me know. Enjoy!

Our first OFF notice(s)!!!!

2009-07-05T19:26:00.005-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally have our first off notice announcement! Yesterday we heard the wonderful, wonderful news that Governor Sarah Palin will soon be FORMER Governor Sarah Palin. For some odd reason Palin announced that she would not run for re-election in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign for Alaska. Okay cool, but guess what? Not only is she not running, she's quitting! At the end of this month she will leave office and hand over power to the Lt. Governor!

For reasons we don't know yet (but will speculate the hell out of) she is quitting mid-term. She gave some total BS reason that she didn't want to be a "lame duck governor" and it wasn't fair to the great state of Alaska. This is really unheard of in politics for a person to just up and resign for no reason at all. No scandals, controversies, or secrets....yet. Hell Governor Sanford cheated many times on his wife yet he's still staying, so why is Palin leaving?

Some of the theories:

1. She is done with politics, she hates it, she hates the "liberal media" and wants some peace.
2. She can make more money in 2 weeks with speaking arrangements than she can if she stays
the next 1.5 years as governor.
3. Some scandal is on the way, coming fast and she's trying to hide it.
4. She's pregnant again
5. She is eyeing the Alaskan senate seat opening in 2010
6. Her moose overlords forced her hand and they made her leave.... okay that one I made up

Anyway the point is she is gone, so to thank Sarah Palin for doing the world a favor, I will do this one act of kindness toward her. But Palin be warned, if you should run for some other office or keep up your insane politics, your back up. As for now...

Sarah Palin, you are officially OFF notice!!!

Now since Sarah Palin is off, there is no need for this anymore, so...

Domestic terrorist, you are officially OFF notice!!!

Review: iPod Touch 2G Speck Case

2009-06-15T19:26:00.004-04:00

My wonderful girlfriend recently got a brand new Apple Macbook Pro and because of the special student promotion, she got a iPod Touch 2G for free. Since she already has an iPod Touch she was very kind and let me have it :) I will have a review for this gadget coming soon, but now I have a review for you for the Speck* case I have with it.

The case I have is a hard-shelled black clear case. Now I'm not big for protection cases since they are usually big, bulky, and cumbersome but this case is quite nice. I have other gadgets that have recommended cases but I feel like they are already robust enough to withstand an accidental drop or two. But unlike those, without the case the iPod feels vulnerable and could easily fall out of your hand. This case makes it feel just right. Putting it on is an easy task, just slide the two parts on and your set. Already it has protected my iPod as I see some scratches on the back panel after only a few days of having it.

The only downside I have to say about this case is it offers no protection the very vulnerable touch screen. I had to go out and buy a separate protection sheet which is doing a solid job at making my iPod fully protected. But beside that one downside this case is great. It allows for easy availability to the power and volume buttons and the bottom is cut away so you can use the headphone jack and usb cable slot easier. Also with the new iPod 2G has a built in speaker and the case does not interfere with the output at all.

My favorite two things about the case are that the sides have rubber grips that feel comfortable in the hand and ensure you won't drop it by accident. Also I just found out that if you remove the bottom half of the case, it turns into a holder for your iPod so you can stand it up! I am very impressed with this case and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to give this otherwise obscenely expensive gadget safe.

New Hampshire

2009-06-04T01:39:00.004-04:00

It seems ever since Prop 8 passed in California back on Nov 4th, the gay rights movement is racking up victory after victory. In six months four states have legalized same sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, Maine, and now New Hampshire have set the path for the rest of the country to follow. It was almost a common feeling after Prop 8 that the fight for gay rights now being thrust into the spotlight would create a blaze of more states legalizing it and it is true. While we may have lost California (we're getting you back in 2010!!!!) we gained four more states.

Now you know all those 'Motivational Posters' and parodies of them you see everywhere on the net? Well I decided to play around and make one myself lol. Hope you like it :)

It's not you, its me.

2009-06-04T00:07:00.002-04:00

Oh Internet Explorer, we've have had a wonderful run. You have come pre-installed in every computer I have owned and I was used to you, I liked you. But times have changed IE, I've grown to be a smarter more tech-savvy person and it's time for me to move on. I'm leaving you, I think we should see other web browsers

Yes as lame as it may sound to all the cool hipsters out there I still use Internet Explorer. But today that all changes. I have officially made the switch to Firefox and I am liking it a lot all ready. First off this blog post is easier to write now. As I type Firefox has a spell check going that automatically alerts me when something is misspelled. IE never did that, I had to use the Blogger spell check and be surprised that I can't spell words learned in 6th grade. So that's one cool thing. Another thing with this blog is when I put a picture in (hope you like that one) I have to resize it. Now before I clicked and the picture outline was all that showed, and I had to just play around with it wondering what the picture would be when I unclicked. This took awhile. Now when I click to resize an almost ghost image appears so I can see exactly what the new resized image will be!

I am becoming a fast fan of the Bookmark toolbar with some of my favorite sites just a click away rather than a click, drag, click away. I wasn't too pleased about Firefox's pulldown Bookmark tab but this makes it so much easier. Also this browser is VERY customizable. I can put commands like Back, Forward, Home Page, Refresh, etc just about anywhere on the top. So far I have no complaints and if I do, get ready to hear me yell about it :)

COLDPLAY LIVE 2009

2009-06-02T08:01:00.000-04:00

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Omg I told you I'd have a big post about the concert I was going to and here it is! Man oh man what a night. My girlfriend and I got there at around 5:30 (mistake....) Doors opened at 6:00 and they let us into the theater at 6:30. Then the wait began. See we knew there would be opening acts but this was a little much. At 7:30 the 1st band came on and played about 7 songs... then the next band came on and played about 7 songs..... It was a bit of a overkill in my mind and seeing as we had been there since 5:30 boredom was setting in. Finally at 9:00 the lights went out, crowd erupted and they came out.

(This was my view, 200 section. Not too bad)

OMG it was awesome. It was 90 minutes of fantastical kickassness. They played Life in Technicolor, Violet Hill, Clocks, In My Place, and Yellow. I was nervous about yellow since this wasn't a big theater and I didn't know if they would have the famed yellow balloons but they came raining down when yellow started! Something like 100 balloons the size of a person floated down and covered the entire arena floor. I managed to only tap one as they kept getting knocked away from me last minute :( But that was still good.

Here's a video I took of Violet Hill! Sry for the watermark, I'll try and get a better copy up soon)

Forget some of the songs but then later on they came out into the crown to a little stage they had set up and played a remix of a few songs and then The Hardest Part. They went back to the stage and played some more newer stuff like Viva la Vida. Then they went back into the crown AGAIN but this time more toward the lawn section. It is so great they would go out and try to give everyone a front row seat no matter what you pay :) They had this cool thing they tried which was a variation on the classic "wave" Instead of a wave where people throw their hands up they had us take our cell phones out and make a wave of light. This was in hopes as Chris Martin said that someone over in Philly (we could see the skyline) would look over and see it and say "what the fuck is that?" Then they went back and played Lovers in Japan. Now when they reach a point in the song butterflies are supposed to float down over the crowd. I knew it was coming but it was still amazing. The high point came and butterflies starting shooting out of everywhere from the stage and in the middle of the crowd. We were too far back to be covered but the sight was still amazing! Then they sang Death and All His Friends and that was it, they left the stage.

No. One. Moved.

We all just stood there, erupted in the Viva la Vida "whoooaaaaaa" chant until they came out for an encore lol. Then Chris announced that everyone would be giving away a FREE CD to everyone as they left! It is a live album of songs they sang throughout the Viva la Vida tour called "Left Right Left Right Left" Now don't feel left out because you too can get a free download of the CD off their website right here. Then they sang The Scientist and Life in Technicolor ii and that was it.

What a night it was, amazing just amazing. I hope they come back to the area soon because it was such a fun and energetic concert. It was great I cant say enough about it. Oh and by the way, if you are ever going to the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden.... good luck with parking they have one exit and if your at the back of the line your waiting for a good hour to go home :(

Reagan the hero...?

2009-06-01T19:33:00.002-04:00

Good old Ronnie was the original reverse-sexist! Turns out he made a promise during the 1980 campaign that he would appoint a woman to the supreme court. And saying that he would get the most qualified woman for the job. No no, not the most qualified, just pick a woman. Hmm why old white male conservatives didn't jump on that I don't know. Another thing I find odd is that he says about her is that she admits she is a "thoughtful woman" What the heck? We don't need thought on the Supreme Court we need strict judicial interpretation! GOP where are you??

ps- note how Reagan is a fan of the teleprompter, wonder if the GOP got mad at him for that?

NOM is back....

2009-05-20T19:40:00.002-04:00

The National Organization for Marriage is at it again folks. Sure the storm was coming but that wasn't enough. Now we have to think about..... sniffle.... the children!!! If gay marriage is allowed our children will be confused. They won't know whats going on in the world anymore. They will forget what marriage is, forget what god taught them, and forget how to eat and wipe their asses. Here is the totally non-scripted remarks of children that are in no way actors...

Are you fucking kidding me? We are really going back to this adam and eve, not adam and steve crap? Way to go NOM, exploiting children like that for your own agenda. GOD FORBID our children ever get confused in life. First we ban gay marriage next.... algebra!!! WHY ON EARTH is it such a crime to teach children tolerance and acceptance of other people????? Oh and that "Adam and Eve is so old" line, yeah sure that is something that would happen. Uh huh.

He is back!!!

2009-05-18T01:50:00.004-04:00

Well my faithful viewers... umm okay probably more like viewer, or two. I am done with school, the term papers are handed in, finals are finished, and I am all yours! Well for another two weeks as I am taking some courses in the summer so yeah. Hopefully I will get back in and stay in the habit of blogging about things that piss me off. Expect some updates to the On Notice Board in the upcoming weeks. Also big blog post coming next week with loads of pics/vids from my soon to be awesome experience at the Coldplay concert! (omg can't wait)

Anyhoo whats pissing me off now? Well it would be something I listened to on the radio today. As I was driving Eminem's new song "We Made You" came on. I don't mind it, catchy beat, makes fun of some celebs, all good. What struck me as odd is a word they decided to censor. Now I'm okay with them bleeping or replacing some words to not upset any children with things they shouldn't hear but this pissed me off. I have here the same song in two different versions. On the top in green you have the uncensored version and on the bottom in red is the censored version. The point of interest happens at about 0:55 seconds in. Please listen to both of these now at that point.

Did you hear that???????

They censored the word 'lesbian'??? I am sorry but when on earth did a sexual orientation become a curse word our children shouldn't hear? Heaven forbid we spoil their virgin ears with words like lesbian. In the censored version the only other things censored are "And I'll invite Sarah Palin out to dinner then Nail her,'Baby say hello to my little friend" - the Nail is distorted but you can still kinda hear it. Also the word breast is left out later on in the song... again a terrible word.
Yet calling a woman a man, talking about playing with a woman's rear, "looking for more women to torture", "Ritalin binge", a fart noise, "Damn girl I'm beginning to sprout an Alphalpha" and "Wowzers, I just made a mess of my trousers" are all okay. Now those are taken out of reference but still its odd that all of it is okay, but a sexual orientation isn't. WTF?

Omg I hate school

2009-04-19T21:00:00.003-04:00

Okay..... can't talk for too long just touching base with umm maybe the one or two people that read this. The school term is winding down with basically 2 weeks to go until finals. So between my 2 term papers, huge presentation, and all my finals I'm gonna be swamped. So needless to say don't expect to hear from me until May unless something big happens. Take care all!

TV by idiots

2009-04-08T17:37:00.002-04:00

What a week it has been for gay rights!!! TWO states legalized same-sex marriages in the time span of 5 days in effect doubling the states that have same sex marriage!!! But of course with a step toward equality for all we have to be reminded that people out there are parinoid and afraid of change. I saw this ad online today and couldn't help but nearly cry I was LAUGHING so hard. It is ubsurd the stories and assumptions these people are making in the ad about gay marriage and how horrible it is. The sad thing is I know people will by into this. Please visit this site CourageCampaign to see the full story and donate to make an ad in response to this garbage

Lets do some play by play poking fun of...

0:13 - Maybe for you to think about it, yeah?

0:15 - OHHH your rights? What rights exactly are we taking away? Welcome to the world of homosexuals who get their rights taken away.

0:20 - Wait what does gay marriage have to do with a medical problem? Are you saying you won't treat gay people at all then?

0:25 - The government can't punish a church for the way it practices... duh it's called seperation of church and state

0:32 - If you feel its wrong then, I don't know... TALK with your kid! Let them get both sides of this imporant issue instead of sheltering them.

0:41 - Nope.... you're just being stupid.

0:42 - No choice in what?????

0:48 - A "Rainbow Coalition" against same sex marriage..... irony?

OMG.... Iowa!!!!

2009-04-05T05:13:00.002-04:00

All of a sudden, as I was listening to Countdown with Keith Olbermann on my tv while surfing the web I heard it. That Iowa will now allow gay marriages!!!!! I was shocked and stopped what I was doing. I cheered when I learned that the Iowa Supreme Court found that a definition of marriage in their state constitution in 1998 was unconstitutional and unanimously overturned it. Best part is after the mess in California still going on now (come on California State Supreme Court, its SOOO unconstitutional) they worded it so that the only way to overturn it is an amendment to the state constitution... something that can't happen for TWO YEARS!!!! Who says the mid-west isn't on the cutting edge -- progressives are moving in!!!!

Oh found this today. How true!!!!

Coldplay new song preview

2009-03-25T23:57:00.003-04:00

I was listening to interviews from my favorite band Coldplay and came across an interview on 60 Minutes. At the end of the interview Chris shows us a new song he just made up and the band may release (sometime around Christmas I think).
It's only 30seconds long so far and just a snip but OMG I am in love with it already and have to share it with you...

Oh and by the way.... guess who is going to see Coldplay LIVE at the end of May? This guy right here!!!! OMG I can't wait to see them and it's all because my wonderful girlfriend is just the best and found out about it and got tickets for us to go (love you honey!) So be sure to check around then for a barrage of pics and videos from the concert!!!!

Letters from America

2009-03-20T16:30:00.003-04:00

Dear Iraq,

After 6 years our relationship is still going strong. We've had some ups and downs but we are still together and some of me couldn't be happier. We look back on the good times we've had together. Remember how we made up reasons to get together, thought up cute nicknames for us like Operation Iraqi Freedom, and cleaning up our apartment of old stuff like a former dictator in his underwear and those old statues.

There were some bad times of course like over 4,000 US soldiers dead, 30,000+ wounded, and who know the correct number of Iraqi and insurgent forces killed or wounded. But hey all that's behind us now and we can continue for along time. I promise to invade your heart for as long as I am able to.

Love,

USA

..............

My dearest Afghanistan,

Do not fear about Iraq, I will be with you shortly. Come August 2010...ish I will be all yours. Nothing will keep us apart and will will grow old together...

Trust me.

The USA is GUILTY of torture

2009-03-18T01:52:00.003-04:00

It is now breaking news that the Red Cross is confirming that the US actions against detainees in Guantanamo Bay has been deemed as torture. Now for those of you who are just thinking, oh the Red Cross what did they do ask for a donation of blood? What on earth does the Red Cross have that could hold any leverage over the world and make us listen? Well according to that little document known as the Geneva Convention, the body that will deem if or if not a suspected government, country, or group is guilty of the war crime of torture is.... The Red Cross.

According to the report, detainees were "beaten, bound and bleeding, forced into coffin-like boxes, shackled naked to their beds in darkened cells, deprived of food for weeks, forced underwater to the point of near-drowning, ordered to stand for days." They conducted interviews with 14 "high value" detainees who were separated and had none or limited communication with one another yet according to the Red Cross their stories and details were near perfect matches. Also "The leaked report has prompted renewed calls for Cheney and Bush to be charged with war crimes".

Now the Red Cross is not commenting and denying this is true so hopefully they are just waiting to announce it themselves instead of this leak and it is not a hoax. We need Bush and Cheney convicted of a war crime, if we don't I will lose all faith in the judicial system we have in treating no man above the law. Maybe they should use some past examples for ideas on punishments. When the Nazis' tortured and we convicted of it, they were executed.... hmmm lets see how much Bush favors the death penalty.

article here

Yea I'm back

2009-03-18T01:46:00.003-04:00

You know for the longest time I've been kinda quiet about who I am personally. I figured the Internet is so open any anonymity I could keep would be cool. Well I have been gone for something like a month and a reason needs to be told. So without further ado I give you one bit of information to my personal life and who I am - a college student!

1. I had mid-terms.... fun fun fun
2. Slight problem with my bi-polar disorder, all is okay for now
3. I just got super lazy, sue me.

But back now I guess.

Obama to US Mayors

2009-02-21T23:06:00.002-05:00

There you go folks, you heard it from Barack himself. I have no choice but to follow his lead and his example. US Mayors, you heard it from Barack, and now your hearing it from El Night Owl

US MAYORS... YOU ARE OFFICALY ON NOTICE!!!

Thats it everyone! The On-Notice board is filled up!!! From now on to get on someone not only has to really screw up, but someone has to impress me enough to get off notice.

Obama's Elf

2009-02-17T21:26:00.001-05:00

Lol, funny video I'm gonna share.

If he doesn't, can I be Obama's elf then?

Defense of Marriage Act of 1996

2009-02-16T17:16:00.003-05:00

For the longest time I liked President Bill Clinton. He was a pretty good President and helped our economy and lead the nation in peace for 8 years... and there was the whole "service" in the Oval Office that helped stimulate the tabloid economy. Well anyway I had no problem with him... until I learned of a piece of legislation he passed as President.

As someone who fights for LGBT rights I have heard the saying "marriage is between a man and a woman" about a thousand times. So who started that?.... Bill Clinton. Yes after doing a little research it turns out people were afraid of gay marriage becoming accepted it and tried to define marriage once and for all. You can read it all, or at least the wikipedia of it

Oh and Bill Clinton, for passing this act and becoming the cause of so much of LGBT struggles today...

YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE!!!

I can get straight A's in Taiwan

2009-02-15T00:13:00.004-05:00

The article I will share with you will tell more than I can so just read this: A new subject for Taiwan colleges

WOW, lets just say that like 90% of the world's male population would get the easiest A in the world in the class. Hope there aren't any perverts there in the back row.... Oh and if I were the professor after showing a clip having someone come up to the board would be so hysterical.

"Joe come up here"
"....ummm.... I cant"

Review: The Godfather

2009-02-14T18:21:00.004-05:00

I finally for the first time in my life happened to find a playing of the Godfather that hadn't already started 3 hours before I turned it on. So here we go, after so many years and hearing so many references and quotes in pop culture I get to see it... and it sucks. I mean wow this movie is just boring. I am not liking it too much. It's not awful but man it's just nothing great. I'm sure at the time it was amazing but since its been like redone 1000 times the value and point of it make it seem dull. Ohh Italian mob family - original... well again maybe at the time but i just think of movies like Casino, Goodfellas, Scarface (not Italian but same thing) and The Sopranos.

Peter Griffin I am right on board with you.

Review: Semi-Pro

2009-02-14T15:50:00.002-05:00

I just randomly saw that the movie Semi-Pro was on last night and I caught it right at the beginning. Now I had heard that it boomed in the box office so I wasn't expecting much but I have to say I really enjoyed this movie! I was expecting a bad Will Ferrel movie but it was really good! The plot was good, the acting was funny, and there was always a good laugh around every corner. It's only less than 90 minutes but thats good, it doesn't outstay its welcome and it gives you all you need for entertainment. So go see it if you like Will Ferrel, and be prepared for a little more cursing too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T02:35:00.003-05:00

Dear readers,
Thank you for ever looking at my page, reading an article, commenting on what I wrote, subscribing, reading regularly, and even recommending me to other people. I hope that all of you have a wonderful day today and a wonderful week, month, year, and life. :)

Sincerly,

El Night Owl

Fidelity

2009-02-13T17:19:00.004-05:00

Please watch this video and click on the link to show your support to your belief in 18,000 marriages and the idea that gay and lesbians deserve every right all Americans have and shouldn't be treated like second class citizens.

Courage Campaign

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Morons in 2012

2009-02-13T17:02:00.005-05:00

I was driving home today and I came up behind someone who I had to follow for about 10 miles in traffic. Well this person had two bumper stickers on their car, one was a pro-life one with something about a heartbeat and the other one was the picture you see to your left. Yes they tore up their McCain /Palin sticker and are just displaying the Palin part of it now. Yes it seems that a whopping three months on the sidelines of a campaign while being torn left and right for her views and behavior is enough for some morons in this country.

Well folk's I have to say apart of me wishes she wins in 2012. It be funny to see America's core views and outlook on the world do a complete 180. To switch how we run our government from one extreme to the exact other would be just chaos and I'd be laughing watching it all. I'd be laughing because if she wins in 2012 you can bet your ass I am packing my car and in Canada by November 5th. No way I'm going down with that sinking ship!

Back from nowhere

2009-02-13T17:00:00.002-05:00

Okay yeah..... its been awhile since my last post. I have a good reason for it though... I was just super lazy for a week. Back now so lets get back to some posting!

Brooks was here...

2009-02-07T14:28:00.004-05:00

Today I bring some very sad news that actor James Whitmore died of lung cancer at the age of 87. Now I only know him from one role but he played many different characters over his life and was an Emmy and Tony award winner. Now while I don't know those roles there is one role he played that touched my heart. My favorite movie is The Shawshank Redemption (please go see it if you haven't) ~SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD~ and in it he played an convict by the name of Brooks Hatlen who to make a long story short had been in jail for the greater part of his life. His portrayal of the character was amazing and he gave possibly the greatest monologue in that movie or in any movie I have seen. If you haven't seen the movie yet I would suggest you don't watch this clip as it gives away a lot but if you have seen it, watch it again to see what a great actor the world lost today.

Rest in peace James, we will miss you.

A worse statistic

2009-02-06T17:15:00.003-05:00

Enough about the whole 'On Notice Board' thing for a moment. I promise it will get less and less frequent once it fills up. I have to take this opportunity to address another horrible example of how the US Army does not seem to care about the mental health of any of its soldiers. A record setting month was set last month with 24 US soldiers committed suicide in January. That figure is six times higher than January 2008.

This is what happens when you force soldiers to go back to war three or four times for extended periods of time. Asking them and in most cases forcing them to do so raises the obvious risks of feeling hopeless and depressed. Yet while the Army has drill sergeants to stay safe, medical physicians to stay healthy, and a cook to keep them full, they lack the psychological support they need in a war zone. Not to mention there must be a stigma of getting any kind of help or showing any sign of weakness. I think that these men and women are the bravest in the world and they deserve only the very best we can give them.

Oh and that worse statistic I mentioned... like I said in January 24 soldiers committed suicide and in the same month 16 solders died in combat.

More soldiers committed suicide than died in battle in January 2009.

A land down under

2009-02-06T16:56:00.003-05:00

Today a plane in Australia crashed in to the water an miraculously no one was injured and the pilot brought it down safely. Much like the crash of the plane into the Hudson river a few weeks ago the pilot had no other options but to make a water landing. The pilot is being hailed a hero and compared to American hero Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger. Folks... this is dangerous. Our very own resource of domestic heroes is being outsourced and copied around to the world. Next thing you know China will launch an emergency water landing task force. This "Sully" impersonator has opened the flood gates. And I for one will not stand for it. So.....

AUSTRALIAN PILOTS, YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE!!!

Review: enV2 skin

2009-02-05T17:00:00.001-05:00

Awhile ago I got a cover for my env2 which as I predicted - broke. So I was looking at skins for my phone instead. A great site DecalGirl.com has tons of them for any electronic device you can imagine! I picked out the red plaid so I could match my friend's pink plaid phone lol. Anyway without me knowing, Miss Trenchcoat went ahead and got one for me. I am loving it, it looks fantastic. If there is any complaint so far it is that the edges of the stickers are obvious and kinda weird to feel. SUPER easy to put on too, and I suck at putting stickers on. Really if you have a set of tweezers near by you are golden. Loving it a lot! ps - Miss Trenchcoat's review is here.

That being said, I really can't be mad at Miss Trenchcoat anymore for the whole stealing my blog idea. So, Miss Trenchcoat aka Black Alligator....

YOU ARE OFFICIALLY... OFF NOTICE!!!

And speaking of the On Notice Board we got talking last night and she raised a very good point... didn't I technically steal it from Steven Colbert first so who am I to judge? So there is only one thing I can do about this new revelation...

HYPOCRITES, YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE!!!

Palin vs. Bloggers

2009-02-05T16:32:00.005-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, subscribers, readers, and my fellow bloggers, we are at war. Sarah Palin has gone off the deep end with her quest to say that the reason for all of her problems was because of the media. She cannot accept the fact that to be a public government figure who could be one heartbeat away from the Presidency faced some scrutiny. She couldn't accept that being the 2nd woman ever on a major party's ticket faced different challenges. And she couldn't accept that like her, Obama was viewed differently being the first African American on a major party's ticket (see: Bradley effect, racism in America, appeal to white voters, etc). Unlike Obama though she could not rise above the challenges and become something more. She kept having to wine and moan instead of forging ahead and focusing on the politics at hand. Today she said something that brings the Bloggosphere at war with her. When she was talking about how bloggers spread false rumors about her she said that we are:

"anonymous, pathetic bloggers"

Last time I checked Governor, bloggers are not the media. They are your average hockey mom's and Joe six packs that have a computer and can work "the internets". So really your basically saying that the voters of the country are pathetic. Wow way to go Sarah. I didn't want to have any of the obvious names that a liberal blog would have on this but you leave me no choice...

SARAH PALIN, YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE!!!

In addition to Sarah Palin I will add one more the big board right now. Palin made a big deal about some of Obama's "connections" he knew years back. So in order to get some revenge I am putting someone up for Sarah so you can pal around with em....

DOMESTIC TERRORISTS, YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE!!!

Miss Trenchcoat

2009-02-04T22:43:00.004-05:00

I'm sorry to do this but you gave me no choice. You see folks I try to "advertise" for a good good friend of mine Miss Trenchcoat and her blog: Black Alligator. However I cannot tolerate what she has just done: Plagiarism! That's right if you see here she took my on notice idea!!! I'm so sorry but I can't allow that to just get by without any punishment. My best dear dear friend I am sorry but...

MISS TRENCHCOAT, YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE!!!

Regualtions please....

2009-02-04T21:37:00.003-05:00

With our crippling economy one has to ask why did this all happen. Banks ran wild, Wall Street cut loose, and CEO's decided to not only have Christmas bonuses, but also Easter bonuses and Groundhog Day bonuses. Republicans are just pushing this idea that tax cuts to businesses and home owners will do the trick because as I said before all that money in CEO pockets and bank accounts will do great. Republicans can't solve this problem because they started it. Saying that any regulation over the cornerstones of the US economy is horrible and will destroy the free market. Guess what, deregulation destroyed the free market! Now we don't need a 'Big Brother' scenario but we just need to realize that we can't just continue with the idea that businesses know what is best for the average... (ugh I don't want to use this comparison but it fits....) Joe the plumber. We need more regulations to insure that this won't happen again. So that being said...

DEREGULATION, YOUR OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE!

McAfee

2009-02-03T21:08:00.004-05:00

Recently my parent's computer had a massive virus infection that overtook their anti-virus software McAfee. So we called them up to get this thing removed. Turns out because this is a "new and rare" virus the idiots who programmed the security left an opening for the infection basically. So to remove it we have to pay McAfee and additional $70-90 dollars. We have to pay... because their program didn't work. We have to pay because they didn't protect my parents. I'm sorry but guess what, you say you will secure my computer and you failed. Why the hell should I pay you for making a mistake? This isn't the bailout where I reward you for doing bad business. So McAfee for your crappy protection and shitty policies...

YOUR OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE!!!

The On Notice Board

2009-02-03T19:47:00.009-05:00

Okay I am a fan of the Colbert Report so I am gonna steal one of his ideas. I have installed a 'On Notice Board' on the right side of the page here for you all the see the top 8 things that in my mind should be on notice! This list will constantly change but I will update this post every time I do so you can see what used to be on notice. Any suggestions on what you want me to put up would be cool.

McAfee ~~~ 2/3/09 - present
Deregulation ~~~ 2/4/09 - present
Black Alligator ~~~ 2/4/09 - 2/5/09 (taken off for being super nice)
Hypocrites ~~~ 2/5/09 - present
Sarah Palin ~~~ 2/5/09 - present
Domestic Terrorists ~~~ 2/5/09 - present
Australian Pilots ~~~ 2/6/09 - present

Random rants

2009-02-03T18:09:00.010-05:00

Here are a few random things that have bugged me over the past few days and wanted to share. Doing it this way since I'm too lazy right now to write three separate posts so just take it. Oh and enjoy the random pic lol.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following up a story I told a few weeks ago, Ty / Beanie Babies has decided to 'retire' their totally not the first family - Sasha and Malia dolls. I am glad this happened because it shows that the public was outraged enough to force them to pull their product. It is horrible for them to use private citizens as props to sell a product. And I am outraged I didn't buy one because you know that those things are going to be worth a lot...
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Well it's been about a week since we had that rogue storm in winter that shocked everyone because it never snows in January. Turns out still about 250,000 people are without power in Kentucky and thousands are probably trapped in their homes and many are dead. Again I have to say how the hell can we have this failing infrastructure in our county and not fix it. Today the Senate voted on a version of the recovery bill and when the democrats added 25 billion in infrastructure the republicans voted it down. How dare they keep pushing the idea that businesses need the tax cuts (because the CEO's need more bonuses) and families need some too (that will just wind up in a bank). We need to fix this country and how it works and we need to do it fast.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Finally I have to continue with the economic front and how horrible the state of living is for everyone. A dear friend of my family is in tough times like many of us. A typical American family of a husband, wife, and two kids. Now back 50 years ago a family could survive on one income but not anymore. Since the mother can't work and they are struggling to stay afloat the father has just taken on his THIRD job. Three jobs, and they aren't living extravagant lives. They live in suburbia and are just trying to keep that life of normalcy going but the economy is so crappy right now god knows what will happen to them. Its pathetic what this country is going through right now.

Superbowl XLIII

2009-02-01T22:34:00.007-05:00

I CALLED IT!!!

That's right people, from the very very beginning of the playoffs I said that the Steelers were going to win the Superbowl and when it turned out they were playing the Cardinals I still picked them and got it right! Now like my last time, I wasn't totally right:

"My bet is a low scoring game, Steelers never do too much offensive wise and their defense will shut the Cardinals down. Oh and if they can't cover Fitzgerald then all bets are off."

Ok, well 27-23 isn't really a low scoring game, my bad. Steelers did a lot offensive wise, but Big Ben had 2 TD's so it wasn't like a blowout... buying that? Okay and their defense did shut the Cardinals down... for 3 quarters at least. But I did have the last part dead on because if it wasn't for the Steelers last drive Fitzgerald would be responsible for their win.

I must say it was an awesome game. First three quarters were meh but the last quarter was the sheez-neez of excitement. Almost wish that the Cardinals won or at least went into OT. But oh well maybe next year right? Congrats to the Steelers and winning the second Superbowl in three years and winning your 6th Superbowl title. Hear that Cowboy fans? So you can shut up about how many rings you freaking have because it's not the best anymore.

Lets take away the italics: Pittsburgh Steelers.... Superbowl Champs!

Fixed News shocks again

2009-02-01T18:01:00.002-05:00

Due to my internet service provider, I am unfortunate enough to have to suffer to get most of my news from Fox News. No shocker to me that they decided to show a news story about a girl in India who married a dog. It turns out they believed that the "marriage" would help ward off an evil curse or any bad spirits that threatened the family. It seems like it is not an official marriage the girl can marry without having to go through a divorce, although since she's only about ten or so the dog will most likely pass away when she is of age to marry.

What I find horrible is that Fox decided to share the story and include the words "gross" and "pretty weird". Now here we have it, Fox News sharing this to all the right-wingers who already have some strong marriage values. So here we go, now when we have to talk about gay marriage I'm sure they will totally be convinced now that people marrying animals will happen as soon as gays can marry. Way to go Fox News, this is great of you to do. But honestly what else did I expect from you.

Here it from Fixed News yourself.

Viva la Coldplay - Part ii

2009-01-30T16:34:00.001-05:00

Here is part 2 of my favorite Coldplay songs.
Enjoy!

My Top 10 Coldplay Songs - Part 2

Viva la Coldplay

2009-01-29T19:25:00.004-05:00

I am a huge Coldplay fan and I thought I would make a video of my favorite songs by them. So here is my top 10 songs by them. Part one is just #10-6, so check back tomorrow for my top 5!

My Top 10 Coldplay Songs - Part 1 from John Duke on Vimeo.

Nine days in and Obama disapoints

2009-01-29T17:08:00.000-05:00

Well folks I hate to say it but President Obama is starting to disappoint me when it matters most. Sure his first week in office was great knocking out some of the old Bush policies and blasting out executive orders left in right. But here when the first real big challenge of politics and the nation comes forward, Barack fails. Okay not failed, maybe a D-, D+ at best. The economic stimulus bill that Obama pushed for has passed the House of Representatives and will more than likely pass the Senate. What is wrong with that, we wanted this bill right? Well what we are getting is a poor excuse for something that will "help" us. The bill as proposed will divide up some 800-900 billion dollars the following ways: About 50% will go to the states, education, health care, etc. 33% will go to tax breaks and then about 20% will go to infrastructure.

Why is it like this? It is because Obama tried to play nice for the Republicans. Mr. Bi-Partisan at work trying to make everyone happy by taking parts of the bill out and adding more and more tax breaks in order to be popular and get Republicans on board. Guess what, after all of that conceding.... NOT ONE REPUBLICAN VOTED FOR THE PACKAGE ANYWAY. So instead of passing a democratic agenda bill to get things done, we end up with this pile of crap. The 33% to tax cuts turns into about maybe $1,000 for 95% of working families.... woo freaking do. Guess what working families will do with that money..... stick it in the bank!! Hey great way to boost the economy back up eh? Meanwhile infrastructure is getting less than 20% of the money. That's about 200 billion dollars total when the estimated cost to bring our nation back on its feet is somewhere in the range of two trillion dollars... just to get it to a passing grade.

The other day more than a million people lost power in the US because get this.... it snowed in January!! Oh my gosh, who could have ever predicted that would have happened. Instead of fixing our road, sewers, mass transit, bridges, electric grid, and other foundations of this country that are over a hundread years old we are giving money to people to stick in the bank or at most pay off some bills. No one is going shopping and going nuts, hell Bush did that in his term and look how much good it did for us. Mr. President knock this off. George Bush had a Republican majority for six years and ran with it. Its time to give them a taste of their own medicine and run with your plan. THEN when they see you don't need them they will come to you and try to be all friends to get some of their stuff done... THAT is when you be bi-partisan. You have a little under two years of guaranteed majority Mr. President, I suggest you use it.

-- I didn't mean to use my big voice, I still love you
John Duke

The new Post Office moto...

2009-01-28T18:38:00.002-05:00

Come rain, or sleet, or snow, or hail, we'll deliver your mail... except in economic depressions. Yes it is now being discussed that soon Sunday isn't the only day you won't be getting mail. Yes because of how crappy the economy has gotten, costs have gone WAY up. And with the dominance of online e-mail's and websites, letters and magazines are becoming obsolete. The US Post Office is predicting in this fiscal year they might lose up to 6 billion dollars forcing them to go to ask lawmakers to lift the 6-day requirement of operation. Saturday won't necessarily be on the chopping block since they will probably axe a day that has light mail like Tuesday.

So this should be great huh. Just look at it, our whole society and ways of living are starting to change one by one to become more crappier. Like it wasn't already annoying enough to wait for a package you ordered online to show up, avoiding the weekends. Now we have to dodge a day in the middle of the week. Oh and Post Office, before you cut a day out think about all those people that will lose one day's pay and how that is going to effect the economy.

Hey look, Palin.... again... (go away please)

2009-01-27T20:00:00.004-05:00

Crap, Sarah Palin is back... again and she has a company to back here up. She created SarahPac - a political action committee that will support politicians that share the Governor's views. Basically this is a big step in pushing her 2012 bid for Presidency. Sarah, listen to me.... no. No no no no no. Don't even think about because honestly you are a huge idiot to do so. You had somethink like a 30-40% approval rating at the end of last November and it kept going down. You were running for Vice President and no one knew you for too long and you didn't have any ideas of your own. Well you did go rogue a few times but look where that got you.

The Republican Party cannot continue if it follows the leadership of the Limbaugh, Coulter and Hannity way of thinking. The Republican Party as we know it today is too extreme for what the people of the country want. They don't want some gung-ho, war mongering, tax cuts for the rich dumb ass. They want something else. We hear a lot about politicians playing the middle, and becoming more centrist in the general campaign. Most people now a days are either there, or on the liberal side. Only a few maybe 20% of the country gets all its news from Fox Noise. Palin, if you run you will fail. And if you win, the country will fail.

* story here

Obamicon

2009-01-26T01:47:00.011-05:00

Hopefully a lot of you have seen this poster already and the iconic image it has become. It was designed by Shepard Fairey and has been a huge success appearing on anything you can imagine. So you might be wondering how he did it. Well I don't care but I can tell you how to make one yourself! That's right someone had a great idea and made this image technology easily available to everyone. All you have to do is upload a pic, play around with the color settings, then add your own title at the bottom. It is SOOOO much fun to play around with and show to friends. If that wasn't enough you can then take what you make and have stickers, posters, and even t-shirts made with your own images! Check out Obama.Me right here and have fun!!

Oh and I'll show you a few I made for fun :)

(^........ sry for the cursing)

Superbowl XLIII preview and prediction.

2009-01-25T16:43:00.003-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen we have arrived at the pinnacle of the 2008 NFL season: Superbowl XLIII (that's 43 for those of you who cant read Roman numerals...) And I got to say.... really? Why am I shocked? Well lets get something out of the way, AFC side: "My pick for the AFC Champions: Pittsburgh Steelers." whats that from? Oh yeah MY BLOG. That's right people, I called it! In fact I had out of the five AFC games: three of them dead on right and a total of four that I called the right winner but the match up was different then I picked (stupid ravens screwing that up). That's right long ago I said that the Steelers were just too much for the AFC to handle and they would plow through anyone that wanted to stop them *cough McGahee cough*.

However don't bow at my greatness yet because... "is one of the easier ones for me at least because to me the Falcons should win this one no problem...My pick: Falcons". Yes the NFC side of the ball came up rather odd in my predictions. So much so that I only got one game right. But honestly who the hell picked the Cardinals to win it? I don't even think Kurt Warner was expecting it.

So here we are for the big game. Two monster teams: Steelers that have a Defense just waiting to knock the head off the person with the ball *cough McGahee again cough* Then you have the Cardinals who after a shaky middle of the season are coming on strong when it counts and their offense is flying high... see what I did there? Cardinals... flying... haha ohhh me. So what happens in this game? It be easy to pick the Steelers.... so I will. No its not that the Cardinals don't have a shot because they do and they have for the past three weeks proven everyone wrong by making it to the Superbowl. I just picked the Steelers before and I'll do it again because again, that defense is just too much *cough for the love of god hit that McGahee link his head almost got knocked off! Come on and watch it already cough*.

Once again my pick: Pittsburgh Steelers.... Superbowl Champs?

ps - My bet is a low scoring game, Steelers never do too much offensive wise and their defense will shut the Cardinals down. Oh and if they can't cover Fitzgerald then all bets are off.

Thanks Miss Trenchcoat.

2009-01-24T16:38:00.002-05:00

lol ohh you can thank Miss Trenchcoat for this beauty.

Visit her blog here

Give me a break.

2009-01-24T15:29:00.004-05:00

Beanie Babies makers have released two new dolls "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia" this week. Now it just so happens they released on Inauguration week. It just so happens they have an uncanny resemblance to the President's daughters with even the Sasha doll being a bit taller than the Malia doll. It just so happens that they have the same exact names as the First Daughters. BUT I will point out that the company that released these dolls has publicly stated

The names were chosen because they are "beautiful" and their January release has nothing to do with the recent inauguration. "There's nothing on the dolls that refers to the Obama girls," says Ty spokeswoman Tania Lundeen. "It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls. They are not."

Well that solves that doesn't it? We were just obviously making a wild accusation that they stole the images of two private citizens to market and make money. Our bad! And Michelle Obama is overreacting when she has her press secretary release this statement "We feel it is inappropriate to use young, private citizens for marketing purposes"

This Beanie Babies/Ty company or whatever they go by should be ashamed of how they are stealing this girl's identity to make a few bucks which no doubt they will since the recent fascination with the new First Family. I would ask that people boycott this new doll to send a message that we won't be apart of that corporate greed, but I'm sure they'll fly off the shelves anyway. Sad

quote and story - here

Review: enV2 cover

2009-01-23T16:21:00.003-05:00

First of all, thank you Miss Trenchcoat for getting this cover for me. I needed a case for my new phone I got the other week. Now I didn't want some huge rubber or silicone cover that would collect dust and make the phone bulky so I got this. It is rubberized plastic that basically feels like the back of the phone already. It looks good and seems to do a great job protecting it aswell. I can throw my phone down without worrying too much about whats gonna happen to it. However... some problems are bugging me. One is it feels like you can't open the phone to the full exent because of the additional cover size and if you do get it open the whole way it tends to snap back to the angled opening if you don't do it just right. Also the cover is loose. The back is okay but the front just relys on a "snap" at either end and not on the sides which makes it wobbeley. Now I say "snap" since the snap is just a small piece of plastic that loses a bit each and everytime you take it on or off so soon enough it won't work anymore. There are a ton of better covers you can buy instead of one like this but if you want this one isn't too bad.

woot woot - 2 outta 5
- John Duke

100% all natural... thanks

2009-01-22T17:14:00.001-05:00

Time to take a break from politics and focus on something else. For along time now I have seen a recurring theme in fast food restaurants and food packaging. A sudden explosion of advertising that this product now contains 100@ all natural whatever or no chemicals added. This is great, thank god we car getting rid of some of the garbage we have in our food and move into a more healthy way of living.

But stop me if I am wrong here but there is a problem. Okay McDonald's, the Double Quarter Pounder with cheese now is all natural beef.... what was it before? Are companies in a rush to ride the "organic wave" basically admitting to us that "yeah we put crap in your food before". Was it like 50% natural beef with 50% cardboard? Was it 100% synthetic beef? What was it? I just went down to my fridge and the first two things I pulled out said "no preservatives" and "100% all natural". But I give credit to Pillsbury for admitting that the butter was a fake flavor in the rolls. So if it is true that you are what you eat, what are we becoming??

na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!!!!

2009-01-22T16:12:00.002-05:00

President Obama today made good word on his campaign promise by issueing an executive order that states that the prison/detanie facility at Guantanmo Bay must be closed within a year. Obama said that another executive order will follow soon to set a target date once all the plans for removing the hostages is set in place.

"The message that we are sending the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism and we are going to do so vigilantly and we are going to do so effectively and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals," - President Obama

President Obama also issued the closings of all overseas CIA prisons, review military war crimes trials, and ban the harshest interrogation methods. Thank god. No longer will Gitmo be a sign that of US torture and all that is wrong in us and cannot be used as a recruiting spheel by terrorist. So far so good Mr. President

*news article here*

- On this, the 3rd day of the first year of our Obama Nation
El Night Owl

Hits the ground running.

2009-01-21T15:32:00.003-05:00

We are off to an awesome start of the Presidency of Barack Obama. Today he enacted a plan that freezes in the pay for the about 100 White House staff that make over $100,000 a year in place. Obama said "Families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington." Amazing. I was thinking about it last night, how Bush gave himself a raise and other politicians doing that too. Isn't to point of the job to serve the people, not yourself? I understand a salary but giving yourself a raise seems absurd. Nice to know President Obama can read my mind.

He also included restrictions on lobbyist by banning aids from influence the administration when they leave his staff, they cannot work on things they have previously lobbied for or agencies they have lobbied for, and he banned any gift giving of any size from a lobbyist to anyone in his administration. OMG yeah! President Obama is cleaning it up, just keep it up okay Mr. President!

- On this 2nd day of the first year of our Obama Nation
El Night Owl

* article here

Fox News starts the attacks

2009-01-20T23:12:00.000-05:00

Today President took the oath of office... sorta. Chief Justice Roberts did not use any notes and stumbled through the "faithfully execute the office" part which caused Obama to pause, Roberts stumbled tried to correct himself, Obama just went with it and that was it. According to the Constitution the line is supposed to read "I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States" but Obama said "I will execute the office of President of the United States faithfully" Really not a big deal because honestly it is saying the exact same thing, just different word order. Well folks it has begun because here is Fixed News reporting its finest on this historic day.

OMG we don't have a President! Wait maybe bush is still President? OH WAIT, that's right by law and in the Constitution (more proof Fox ignores the Constitution... 20th Amendment)that even if the President-elect has not yet taken the oath they become President at 12:00pm automatically. The oath is just symbolic now more than anything and I think also at 12:02 Obama couldn't declare war or anything but come on. Fox Noise you are horrible and despicable.

President Barack Obama

2009-01-20T16:22:00.003-05:00

National Day of service

2009-01-19T21:10:00.002-05:00

Okay okay, I know I am getting carried away with posting videos but this.... might be the last one for awhile. Obama being sworn in is like a 99% chance to pop up here lol. Anyway today Obama called for everyone to pitch in for the National Day of Service and I took part. I couldn't do anything with any organization since I acted too late so I had to go rogue and do something myself. So I went up to the elementary school up the road to clean up some of the graffiti on the playground. With an eraser (thanks google for that info on how to clean) here is what I did...

709 days later

2009-01-19T16:52:00.001-05:00

A little trip down memory lane for you guys today

ps - hope the math was right on the 709 lol

God Bless America

2009-01-19T12:00:00.004-05:00

T-Minus 24 hours until the worst President is out of office. Here is a brief look back at all of George W. Bush's great accomplishments.

Bye Bye Bush!

Thank f%#king God this is over.

ATTENTION: Eagles fans

2009-01-18T18:29:00.005-05:00

If you are an Philadelphia Eagles fan please take a moment to watch this clip.

Better luck next year. (not really)

You Can Survive!

2009-01-17T22:14:00.009-05:00

I had gotten a Parade magizine for some reason and I came across an article I am going to share with you. It lists several interesting facts about life/death situations and how to keep you alive Now the full article is two pages so I'll shorten it a bit.

Plane Crash - It all depends on where you sit. All you have to do is follow the Rule of Five. If you are within 5 rows of any exit you have a greater shot at living, and each row closer and your chances go up.

Hotel Fires - If your hotel is on fire where do you want to be? On the ground outside... duh. How you get there is a different story. Lets say you are trapped in your room, what then? Well most fire departments have a maxium 80 foot ladder. So if you stay on or below the 7th floor you should be good.

Hospitals - If you can, don't go on a weekend. Hospitals are understaffed usually with less experianced workers. (personal note: doctors offices are closed too so people have no where else to go = overcrowded = less care?)

... Discharge - If you are leaving a hospital don't go on a Friday. It is the most common discharge day since doctors want you out for the weekend which leads to premature departures and since doctors offices are closed on the weekends (cough) your on your own if something goes wrong.

Heart Attacks - If your gonna have one, do it in Vegas. With camera's covering every inch of the casinos first response is amazing and security are trained in using defibrillators. Survival rate is 53% compared to Settle with some of the best first response teams in the country's 16% survial.

Car Crash - Remember as a kid how you hated having to sit in the middle bump seat in the back? Guess what you were in the safest part of the car! 16% safer than any other part to be exact.

Look both ways - The three deadliest days for pedestrians are: Jan 1st, Oct 31st, and Dec 23rd.

.... okay I get Jan 1st with everyone drunk, and Oct 31st with like 50% of kids and parents on the sidewalk at night, but can anyone help me with Dec 23rd? Anyway, stay alive and keep reading my blog or Parade.com to find this article and more like it.

My first taste of the depression

2009-01-17T18:48:00.000-05:00

I went to Circuit City today to get a refund on my phone since the day after I bought it the price decided to drop $30 dollars (thank you friend) so I went to get some money back for my wallet. To say the store was packed was an understatement and I just thought it was because of it being Saturday but then an employee said it was because they were done and liquidating all stores. I heard this the other day and it hit me that Circuit City was going to be gone for good and the vultures had swooped in to pick off the sales. It was so weird to be in that surrounding with all the people who would soon be out of a job. Nationwide the total is around 34,000 soon to be unemployed. For some reason this is the first time the recession/depression hit home to me. It was like a wow moment of just seeing people take what they can get before the store is gone and the employees covering up their fear. Although if the government wants to get people spending again liquidating all the stores might bring in some business because I guarantee Circuit City will make more money now before it closes than it did around Christmas.

Here I am in line trying to buy something, I left like 5 minutes later since the line was not moving at all...and I wasn't even last in line.

Dammit Rams

2009-01-17T17:45:00.003-05:00

Giants fans have another thing to be mad at now: The St. Louis Rams have just hired former NY Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to be their new head coach. The man that reshaped the defense and was a huge part of the Superbowl win last year is now gone. I just hope the Giants can recover well and pick up someone else that will knock the teeth out of every opposing QB next season. Oh and Steve, I hope your team goes 1-15 next year. Thanks for leaving us.

Phone Update!!

2009-01-17T03:00:00.001-05:00

I made the choice and I got two ringtones! I went with:

Where is my mind - Pixies (song at ending of Fight Club)

Talk - Coldplay

whew glad that's over.

Too hot, too cold, just right...

2009-01-16T22:21:00.006-05:00

I am having a huge problem with my brand new enV2 phone I got the other day. No nothing bad like the battery exploded or that picture message was sent to the wrong person so I will soon be unemployed... no, nothing like that. The problem is I cannot pick a stupid ringtone. I said in my review the other day how Verizon is basically making you buy a new ringtone since the free ones suck... except for the pimping song. Anyhoo I have a huge dilemma on my hands. Out of every single song in the world, which one do I want to take 20 seconds of to show who I am as a person? Not a clue. Where is My Mind, Take on Me, Yellow, or one of a thousand tv themes have been at the top of my list. But not a clue. This has lead me to remember a lecture I saw because of my blog bride - Black Alligator showed it to me. It is really big (that's what she said) but I think it is worth it to watch if you feel so inclined. As the famous and astoundingly expert actor Keanu Reeves said in the Matrix - "the problem is choice"

Bush's farewell speech condensed...

2009-01-15T20:15:00.005-05:00

Iraq was right,

I swear it was!

Leave me alone, you deal with it.

full review minute by minute from my good friend: here

Tech review!

2009-01-15T19:02:00.006-05:00

This is the first week in which I will be reviewing two pieces of tech gear as opposed to my other games or movies. Today I picked up my new phone, the enV2 in exchange for my old Razor. First off I am a huge texter and I cant tell you how awesome it is to finally have a full QWERTY keyboard on a phone! Oh man texting is a breeze now which is really cool. Well not totally a breeze since my fingers are big and the buttons are small. Not too many mistakes though, so should be good. So far not too many complaints. Phone feels odd talking on it since its a lot smaller than my last phone but people can hear me just fine. Also I am pissed at the music on the phone. Its obvious Verizon puts the crappiest ringtones on there so you HAVE to buy your own. I am rocking a 70's adult movie sounding song right now so that's cool, but anyone have good ideas for a new song? Oh also there is not one good sound for a text message and you cant use any sound other than a ringtone. It sucks. There is a way around it though, just record some sound you like, send it to yourself, and then you can save the sound in a ringtone. Way to be user friendly there Verizon. Other than that it seems to be all good, I'll let you know if it catches fire or something.

In part two of my review today I bring you my new... and only digital camera. Yeah I know I am lacking in that department of tech but hey I got something right? I was in a CVS today (since it seems as if I for some reasons have viewers all over the world, omg, a CVS is a drug store... not real drugs geez) anyhoo, I was in line and I saw this little do-hickey for 10 bucks. It is a Vivitar Mini Digital Camera. So on a whim I decided to pick it up and give it a whirl. I might be returning it since it totally sucks. SHOCKER I know but I was hopeful. Anyway its kinda a toss up for a recommend. If your in a jam like me and you want a neat little do dad for your key chain then sure spend the ten bucks. Otherwise just use your cell.

best pic I could take....

.... yeah

Isn't it ironic?

2009-01-14T20:58:00.003-05:00

In a funny bit of news today, Governor Blagojevich from Illinois swore in the new Illinois state senate today. Why is it funny? Because Blago swore in the very same people that will judge him during the upcoming impeachment hearings. Ohh it is so good. Yes Blagojevich came in to preside since the senate didn't have a leader yet... which they quickly filled. He kept it very formal and to the book though, no outburst, not even offering to pay them off with some of Burris' money. Oh well. Best part was the chamber was silent the entire time he was there...

(hope you get the picture joke)

Almost done!!!!

2009-01-14T18:50:00.008-05:00

HAHA OMG, less than 6 days to go until this "Presidency" is over!!!!

I can't believe how far we have come as a country. To electing Al Gore, to being inspired by Bush after 9/11, to hating him, to wondering how the hell he got re-elected, still hating him, hate him some more, and now. My how the times sure have changed. I am so hopeful that Bush and the rest of his goonies are tried for war crimes in the very very very near future. Say for example, January 21st. I just can't wait for Obama to hopefully turn this county around.

When Obama won at 11:00(est) on November 4th, I couldn't believe it. Weird to say since at like 10:55 he was 50 electoral votes away and California hadn't closed yet so it was obvious. I teared up, celebrated, and changed my Obama buttons. My "Yes We Can" button got a piece of tape over the 'Can' so now it reads: "Yes We Did". Also my Obama 2008 button became an Obama 2012 button. But I got to thinking... in 2012 when Obama gets re-elected, what then? Who should we hope for in 2016? And I got it. Introducing the first 2016 political bumper sticker....

Hey I can dream right?

ps - anyone know exactly what time Obama is sworn in?

Never fear, the plumber is here!

2009-01-12T16:18:00.004-05:00

"...be honest with you I don't think journalist should be anywhere allowed war. I mean you guys report where are troops are at, you report whats happening day to day, you make a big deal outta it, I think its asinine. I like back in WWI and WWII when you go to the theater and you see your troops on the screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for them. Now everyones got an opinion ... I think media should be abolished from reporting... and if your gonna say well look at this atrocity, well you don't know full the story behind it half the time"

Guess who??? Yep good ol Joe the Plumber is live reporting from Israel and talking about the horrors of war with in depth interviews and reporting. Not on his part since he is the one getting interviewed. Yes as Joe reports, like 5 other news people are covering him then ask HIM questions after he's done. That quote was just brilliant, I mean come on, do I have to go into it too much? First off Joe, you are basically calling for your new profession to be abolished so way to plan ahead there. You like it back in WWI and WWII.... how old are you Joe? Yes the media reports where the troops are but they need clearance from the military on if its okay otherwise they be in trouble. And yes they might not know the story half the time.... which is why you REPORT to find it out!!! Oh and also how many times has reporting brought light to horrible situations like genocides in the world that need our attention? Joe, your an idiot. No wonder you liked McCain....

full video: here

RIP Giants

2009-01-11T16:14:00.003-05:00

... and good riddance. God that was awful to watch, that game was poorly managed, played, and coached. Manning couldn't complete anything because there was a breeze outside and the coaches didn't trust him on 3rd and 4th downs to make a pass. Way to have confidence in your superstar QB eh? I have been a Manning hater from the beginning, even the Superbowl didn't impress me too much. Yeah he had a great run grats, but could he keep it going? No. Much like the Cowboys, December/January kicked the Giants ass. In fact since Plaxico left they only won one game.... in overtime.... barely. If they don't draft a wide receiver first round I'll be pissed because without a superstar WR they are screwed. Oh ps - Toomer is like five minutes away from retiring, you need another one anyway! Oh and bye bye Steve Spagnolo, there is no way he's gonna stick around after this year. Oh coaches, can I bitch about Coughlin for a minute? He wins the coin toss but doesn't defer to manage the wind element of the game.... bad call. He made that stupid challenge that was obviously a yard short when he was standing right there... stupid call. Watch your back Tom, one more bad season and you'll wind up on the side of the NJ Turnpike wondering what happened.

In my mind I am glad they lost, that team did not deserve to be in the playoffs. 11-1 and then you choke down the stretch when it matters most. Your first 4 possessions all ended up in 2 field goals and 2 missed field goals? Make a touchdown geez, it's called finishing a damn drive. That was just terrible. Best of luck to Arizona although the idea of a Ravens/Eagles Superbowl with the two 6th seeded teams does seem appealing... with the Ravens winning of course don't get me wrong.

Oh and I don't want to hear the whole "but their your team why are you mad at them like this?? you should support them.." Shut up, they are my team and when they suck I can get mad at them. What am I supposed to do, pat them on the back and say its okay you tried your best? No not when its a loss like this, not when its to a rival. And also I am a New York fan, I can bitch about my team whenever I want :)

Coultergiest proves conservitives are evil

2009-01-11T14:45:00.003-05:00

Mann Coulter is a complete idiot. I can't say that enough, she is a stupid bitch who makes """"""""jokes"""""""" to insight hate to sell books. I think I have gone off on her before and if I haven't I just can't, it takes too much out of me to tell how horrible that woman is. She was on the early show saying how liberals, socialist, and anarchists are the cause of every assassination so since they are Obama's base he is at no risk of being killed. Anyway she went on saying how evil democrats are but she made a complete fool of herself. One thing she had said was talking how Bush is at greater risk of being killed and then said "and there are more hits on Google for Obama and assassination than on Bush an assassination".....well umm, gee didn't you just prove that more people are talking about Obama then Bush?

That's not the kicker though. Ann Coultergiest decided to say how violent and evil liberals can be by saying "they have protester after protester at the Democratic National Convention with molotov cocktails, with guns, you don't find conservative protesters like that at the Democratic National Convention". Well gee because I'm sure the DEMOCRATIC convention has tons of LIBERALS protesting..... I actually looked up what the hell she was talking about and it turns out she mixed it up and was wrong. There was a plot from a man to make a bomb or molotov cocktail and use it at the RNC and it was linked to an anarchist group, not liberals and I'm sorry but a group that is anti-government doesn't exactly fit in with a democratic agenda so sorry Ann. But the main this is how mixed up with her words she got. The question is does she just not believe half the stuff she says or is she just a complete moron?

Here is the video: here
Oh and the real plot story: here

Really? Are you serious?

2009-01-08T16:26:00.009-05:00

This news is really breaking now, but one month ago Adam Herrman from Towanda, Kansas was reported missing by his half-sister. Now you can tell by the age progressed pic alone something is off. Let me tell you why....

HE'S BEEN MISSING SINCE 1999!!!

Adam was adopted and apparently had trouble with running away. Reports are he may have been abused as a child, but unconfirmed. So anyway the last time he ran away the parents just didn't do anything about it. Yea, they are just saying they feel "really bad" but they just figured he went to live with relatives or at this point was just homeless. Do I have to say it? Do I? I guess I should..... WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING? OMG your child goes missing and your reaction for 10 years is "oh well, I'm sure he's doing fine on his own, he is 10 after all." Even Adam isn't dead by now and they didn't kill him I am praying those "parents" go to jail for such a long time for this horrible, horrible child neglect.

I doubt my blog is going to do anything but lets give it a shot. If you have any information at all about Adam Herrman (his birth name is Irvin Groeninger III) please call one of the numbers listed in the picture. For some reason Blogger won't let me write a telephone number in here.

Oh and the full story is here.

Commercials knowingly bias...

2009-01-08T14:54:00.000-05:00

I've come across something that is beginning to trouble me and wonder what is happening with our culture and media. I picked up on this a few years ago when all those 'Viva Viagra' commercials became an annoying hit. After seeing them a hundred times I noticed something. It seems like the producers went out of their way to make sure they showed the people's wedding rings two or three times really well. In once commercial where they are ballroom dancing then go up to make whoopee, they even freeze frame when the woman's hand with her ring is on the man's shoulder and throw up the Viagra logo. It's almost as if they are trying to say only married couples can have a sex life and no one else.

On the flip side of that came the new Plan B Birth Control commercial. Honest to God, they show five or six different women who are going to get the Plan B pill... NONE of them have a wedding ring on, they are all single and alone when they get out of bed. What is that trying to say? Single women are whores who need this pill because good women who are married would never fall subject to risky sex? Like a married couple has never gone "oh shit" at one point regarding safe sex?

I would love to see Fixed News do a piece on this. I would want to see how they can spin this has the "liberal media" dictating what we watch when in fact it is the other way around this time it seems. I'm not really all that pissed off about it, not like I'm going to picket Pfizer or something like that. It just seems like an interesting tidbit in the world today.

Can you spot the difference????...

2009-01-07T20:09:00.006-05:00

... Jimmy Carter is anti-shoulder touching while the rest are cool with it. Why what did you think? Yes President Bush had a luncheon today and had all living former Presidents there and President-Elect Obama. He had a great line in there too where he said to Barack it was nice to have him here with all of us ex-presidents. Yeah nice one there George, already given up on being the President? It must be like senoiritis we all get in high school, yeah you show up but once like April or May hits you aren't giving a crap anymore. Oh well 13 days to go until Obama Nation takes effect. Oh and do you think when the reporters left Clinton (by the way, nice tie..) joked around with them all? Hey B-Rock, right where your standing.... that's where Monica took the cigar and........

Oh other little tidbits of the day. Turns out in an effort to save money in the Secret Service, they reduced the time spent covering ex-Presidents and families so in 10 years George W. Bush is all on his lonesome self to be safe. Good luck with that one, maybe hire a few bouncers for the gate at the ranch.

And from the wtf? file, it turns out good ol' Joe the Plumber is going to Israel! Yes Samuel J. Wurzelbacher has been called up and drafted... to be a reporter. He is going to report the news on what is happening in Gaza. So I guess Joe is an Obama supporter now and trusts him considering he once said that a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel. Hmm....?

A round of applause for....

2009-01-06T21:02:00.003-05:00

Worst Lip Dub EVER-- Kelis "Milk Shake" from Miss Trenchcoat on Vimeo.

Haha, here's my good friend Miss Trenchcoat doing her thing for everyone. Visit her site and lol at her for me. Keep it up :)

Mental illnesses looked over again.

2009-01-06T18:54:00.003-05:00

I was looking over my blog and I went through the news headlines in the CNN gadget I have over there. When I got to the Politics sections I froze in shock. It was just released that the Pentagon is going to deny giving veterans who suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder the Purple Heart. They say they don't deserve it because "The Purple Heart recognizes those individuals wounded to a degree that requires treatment by a medical officer, in action with the enemy or as the result of enemy action where the intended effect of a specific enemy action is to kill or injure the service member" For some reason this doesn't make PTSD count because they haven't been shot or aren't missing a limb. I'm sorry but in my mind PTSD is just as bad as losing a leg, if not worse. You can get a new leg and take pills to forget some pain, you cant get a new memory or take pills to forget what you have been through.

This is just another great example of how America refuses to acknowledge the fact that mental disorders count as "real" medical problems. I am nearly in tears it is so heartbreaking to hear. To know that those brave men and women who have to spend the rest of their lives in terror and constant depression don't deserve the same recognition as Lieutenant Dan is beyond belief. It sickens me that the Pentagon would take such a horrible approach. Even when they tried to be nice and say in the future they might change, they still were mean by saying "advancements in medical science may support future re-evaluation". Because yeah, thousands of doctors and documented cases of PTSD aren't that advanced enough for you. Sad sad day.

You can read the whole article here: Troops won't get Purple Heart for stress disorder and
p.s. - that's where the quotes came from

111th Congress is off to a good start!

2009-01-06T17:25:00.003-05:00

Today the 111th Congress convened for the first time and the most noticeable course of action was denying Roland Burris his "appointment" to US Senate. The reason was clear: in order to accept a nomination the certificate it is on must be signed by the Governor AND the secretary of state. Illinois secretary of state is refusing to sign since it is unethical due to Blagojevich's whole criminal scandal. And I must say.... BRAVO!!!! I am so glad they denied Burris this seat it isn't even funny. Lets just ignore the fact that he was appointed by someone who was taking bribes to sell the seat for right now. Roland Burris has just come off as a whiny baby this whole time incapable of presenting himself. The announcement press conference he babbled and invited some random congressman to talk for him and didn't answer a question. Now he has the balls to go around saying (use a deep pompous voice here..) "Oh, look at me I am a US Senator. blah blah blah Senator!!" He's like a kid back in grade school who got the new "it" item and is acting like they are the shit because of it. Oh and did I mention he really seems unqualified? I hope this sends a message to Illinois to have a special election and for Burris to let go of "his precious".

The end of the world might really come in 2012!!!!!

2009-01-05T11:54:00.001-05:00

Former President George H.W. Bush said the other day what many Conservatives might be looking forward to, and what liberals would fear more than if Ann Coulter showed up on their doorstep: President Bush 3.0? Bush said in an interview to who else but Fox News "I'd like to see him(Jeb) run. I'd like to see him be President some day" Yes it looks like daddy is hoping to have another son take over the family business.

Jeb Bush is the younger brother of (soon to be former!) President George Dubya Bush and former Governor of Florida. The internet community is buzzing over who will try to dethrone the almighty force of Obama in 2012 and Jeb is coming out as one of the top candidates that is a legitimate option. He was a poplular Governor in a MAJOR swing/battleground state and fits all of the conservitive must haves in a canidate. Now with the miserable failure Dubya has caused over the past 8 years it would seem impossible that another Bush can win. However don't forget that George H.W. Bush left office and was very unpopular but that didn't matter in 2000 when Al Gor...... George W. Bush won. So could it happen again?

Lets also not forget since over these last 8 years the current President Bush has utterly destroyed America. Can Barack Obama make a big enough fix in 4 years to show the voters that he is doing a good job? Yes He Can!!! but really yeah there is a good shot he will. Lets just hope America sees that, loves him, and we don't have to worry about anything until 2016.

Oh and I thought of something scarier then another Bush President..... Bush/Palin 2012! ZOMG run!!!!!

LIVE! From Minnesota!!!!

2009-01-04T23:11:00.003-05:00

The 2008 election is almost over!!! You know like one month after the voting has ended done. Yes in an election that has far surpassed the lengthy recount of the ever so evil 2000 election. But now it is done and it looks like the winner of the election will be Al Franken. Yes tomorrow the state election board will declare him as the winner, defeating Republican incumbent Norm Coleman by a grand total of, (drum roll please).... 225 votes. Wow, talk about a close one but hey its all over. Done. Finished. The fat lady has sung. The kids are put to bed. The dog has been fed. The socks are in the hamper...... BUT WAIT. Yes even though the election board is all set to certify the election you can bet your two dollar paperclip that Norm 'Forehead' Coleman will sue and challenge the election. In the end though it seems pretty likely that Franken will win and increase the Democratic senate lead to a whooping 59 seats. Well at least for now, considering the whole Blago controversy in Illinois which I hope they have a special election for.

November 2020?

2009-01-03T19:55:00.002-05:00

Its early November in the year 2020 and your heading to the polls on election day. You have done your research and are pretty comfortable with one candidate. The other candidate has most of your views and would try to do somethings you agree with.... but if only they didn't have that YouTube video you would have voted for them.

Yes it is only a matter of time before our politicians will have to explain all their stupid YouTube videos they made when they were in high school showing them acting like total fools. When they thought that everyone in the world wanted to seem them "chug that beer in like 20 seconds dude" or "do a thing like Jackass, but different". How much will that effect how politics is played out? Sure we have heard from say Barack Obama that when he was a teenager that he experimented with marijuana. Okay he was a kid, stupid thing that many of us do, fine its cool... but. What if a video of him actually smoking popped up on YouTube? Would seeing be a huge difference than just hearing? Will maybe it become a socially acceptable thing? Will a moderator as a group of politicians "who has made a stupid YouTube video?" and when they raise their hands get applause like with "who has smoked pot?"

This is the problem the YouTube generation is most likely going to have to face. When it seems like any idiot with a webcam thinks that if they do some dance or rap will make them famous. When any group of kids with a camera feel the urge to film crimes and mean things they do to people. When will it all come around to bite them in the ass? Will they be applying for a job somewhere and along with the drug and background check the employer does a YouTube check? All I'm saying is..... how much will YouTube screw over our society in the future? You know like more than it already has....

This proves my point exactly, please watch YouTube Contest Challenges Users To Make A 'Good' Video

Review: Animal Crosssing - City Folk

2009-01-02T20:03:00.003-05:00

Back about three or so years ago I had the original Animal Crossing for the Gamecube so I am pretty familiar with the ins and outs of the game. That's why when my parents bought my little brother I wasn't too moved by the new gaming experience to come. My brother started playing and then a weird thing happened.... my whole family plays now, even me. Let me take you into the daily doings of NightOwl. So far in the game I have upgraded my house once, fished, and made from scratch and Obama logo t-shirt which is totally badass. That's really about the extent of the game for me so far. Basically I just run around, I fish to try to make money, find new furniture to pimp our my crib, find fossils to donate to the museum, and I talk to all my neighbors who despite being animals are super into working out... like too much so. Then lets not forget the whole city aspect of the aptly named "city folk". To be honest there isn't much of a city, basically just a block filled with less then ten stores which only half play a semi-useful role in the game play. So whats the game all come down to? I have no freaking idea. This review makes the game seem bad but I really like it and can't stop playing it just like the rest of my family. There is a constant change to the game each and every day and it has yet to feel like a chore. I wouldn't highly recommend this game but it is defiantly worth a look for some nice family/easy going fun.

Woot woot woot! (3 outta 5)
* trying a new grading system there, any thoughts?

Car troubles.

2009-01-01T15:14:00.009-05:00

You would think that a car build in 2004 would be just fine, no major problems or anything. Well unfortunately my car hates me so much in the past year it has decided to have 3 bulbs go out in the span of 2 weeks, start leaking random fluids, have a tire pop, and suddenly not start. Not major problems but still huge pains in the ass. Today I went to start my car only to find the battery had died. Thus began a fun filled day I would rather soon forget. Of course this all happened the night insomnia stuck so I hadn't slept all night haha. Oh joy...

So sorry for not much of a post today. Review coming tomorrow and we can see if two of my NFL playoff predictions are right or wrong too!

**Update** - Hmm got my calender wrong, playoffs aren't next day haha. Oh also did you know when you replace your car battery your stereo loses all its pre-set radio stations? Weird

Happy New Year 2009!

2009-01-01T03:05:00.002-05:00

Everyone of your resolutions will be to read this blog more and spread it along the inter-web. Oh p.s. hope the new color scheme / layout thing looks cool or at least you like it. Any tips, suggestions, hints, or locations of buried treasure would be nice to share.

Jerry! Jerry! Je... oh wait.

2008-12-31T20:00:00.003-05:00

Yes if Jerry Springer wanted to have a in-the-gutter talk show about politics this scandal would be the first topic, followed by the O'Reilly/Coulter/Limbaugh threesome love fest. Now I haven't kept full up to date track on what has happened but here is my best guess on the story so far. When Barack Obama was elected President (whoo!) that left one vacant seat in the US Senate open from Illinois. Now in an event like this it is the job of the state's Governor to appoint a new person to fill that seat - in comes Blagojevich and he took over. Do I hear one million? one million? Two? I have two, do I have three? Going once, going twice..... busted. Yes turns out Blagojevich was going to appoint someone who "just would happen" to donate to Blago's campaign when he ran for re-election. And then someone told the press this and all hell broke lose. People were just a little pissed and wanted Blagojevich to quit, be arrested, and publicly stoned. Yet Blago is acting like a millionaire's son where he can't do anything wrong and even when he does do something wrong his morally deprived soul doesn't comprehend it and he goes back to combing his hair.

So while all the whole "we might arrest you and throw you in jail" thing is going on he goes ahead and names someone to the US Senate amidst all this controversy. AND then they guy he picked: former state Attorney General Roland Burris has the balls to accept the nomination from this guy. And the press conference announcing this was wild. Blago came up and told the press to shut up about me, this is Burris' day, Burris attempted to answer questions and failed so horribly at it he looked like a 6th grader who had been pulled from computer class and told to hack into North Korea's mainframe before the nukes went off in oh say, three minutes. Then Burris randomly called a US Congressman from Illinois up whose only thing he repeated was that this was a good choice because Burris is black and we need more black senators. Not being racist here but that sounds like bullshit to me. This isn't Walmart where you can hire/fire anyone at anytime to fill a set "see we are not racist" staff ratio. This is the US Senate, you know a place were people are VOTED in. If a black person doesn't run/get elected well sorry to say it but oh well not a whole lot you can do about it. In my mind the most qualified person should be in office regardless of race. Maybe he should take that argument of there not being any black people in power in politics to President Obama...

Sorry lost my train of thought there in that circus of a press conference but still the point is what Blagojevich is doing and what Burris is doing is wrong. ANYONE that is appointed to the US Senate from there is going to have a shade of doubt over them even if it is not Blago that sends them there. I think Senate Democrats should take the risk of not having 58 or 59 seat majority and allow a special election, it is the only fair and just way to go about this now.

NFL 2008 Playoffs 2.0

2008-12-31T00:05:00.008-05:00

Well after those bolds pick it is time for me to tackle the AFC and see who will maybe most likely not really win but eh lets see. I must say this is going to be a lot tougher for me to guess at since I am a fan of an NFC team, hence I mainly see NFC games so I haven't even seen half of these teams in action so lets focus and go!

1. Tennessee Titans
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Miami Dolphins
4. San Diego Chargers
5. Indianapolis Colts
6. Baltimore Ravens

The first game in the AFC playoffs will come between two teams that can get really hot and go far in the playoffs, the Chargers vs. Colts. Now convention would say an 8-8 team that snuck into the playoffs and sucked a greater part of the year would lose to the Colts, but I can't see it. The Colts have had a shady season full of bad play and many injuries. They will be visiting a Charger team that is coming off a blowout game to get in the the playoffs. If the Chargers keep that same attitude this game there's no contest. My pick: Chargers.

Next we have the Dolphins at the...... wait what? The Miami Dolphins are the #3 seed in the AFC and the Patriots are no where to be seen? Someone get the weather report in hell for me. Yes we have the comeback kid of the decade. The Dolphins who were 14 games away from winning the AFC East last year have won it this year. Its just so sad the road will end so soon for them. I got to go ahead and give it to the Ravens here. Ravens beat them in the regular season so forget Wildcat surprises plus the Ravens have just dominated recently. Sorry fin fans, at least you have some Division Champ shirts to show off now. My pick: Ravens.

Now we get into hazy territory since these games might actually not happen but hey lets see.

Next we may have the Titans vs. Ravens and I have to say I don't know who to pick. Titans are the obvious since they are number one seed and have the best record in the NFL yet they don't impress me too much. Nothing about them strikes me as "oh snap its the Titans we are screwed". Other hand we have the sixth seeded team that seems to be rocking with a rookie QB and coach. However since they have do have that rookie QB in his first playoff game it is likely to see plenty on ints coming from the Ravens. My pick: Titans.

And if this match up happens it has the opportunity to be a great game, Steelers vs. Chargers. There is a big big big X factor to this game and that would be Ben Roethlisberger. He suffered a concussion in last weeks game and with a bye there is a good chance he'll be near 100% come game day. But is that going to be good enough? Chargers can be super explosive but even if Big Ben isn't all there I think the Steelers defense will do the job. My pick: Steelers.

And here we are at the AFC championship game and..... hmm like the NFC I have the 1 and 2 seed going head to head here. Either my thinking cap is going to be really good or I am totally uncreative and can't think. Anyhoo this one is a pretty easy pick for me, because as I said before I still don't bye the Titans. I think a lack of postseason experience might show here and lead to a really close game of the defenses but in the end the Steel Curtain will be too much. My pick for the AFC Champions: Pittsburgh Steelers.
__________________________________________________________

SO, if this is the case we would be looking at a Superbowl XLIII with the Panthers vs. Steelers which might be decent. And if that is the case I'm totally picking the Steelers to win it all since they have in my mind the better defense and I'm a sucker for those.

My pick: Pittsburgh Steelers.... Superbowl Champs?

A night with Hixon.

2008-12-30T16:58:00.006-05:00

Now I should be posting here my AFC predictions for the playoffs, don't worry that is going to be tomorrow instead. The reason being something a lot bigger happened to me last night. Turns out for really no reason at all Domenik Hixon was near where I live last night so I took a drive to go out and meet him. He was signing autographs from 6-8 last night, I showed up thirty minutes early to see a huge line that stretched more than a block in a small town in the middle of no where. Bet Hixon wasn't expecting that, especially because at 7:30 I still hadn't made it in the door. Rumors started to swirl of will he/won't he stay but it wasn't a big deal for me since it wasn't eight yet and I was right outside the door haha. BUT.... as if in a huge nightmare I am right outside the door, a lady comes out and sticks her hand in front of my body and says "no more, were closing the door". Needless to say I went apeshit. THE NEXT person in line and boom I am cut off. The cops were called since there were about 200 Giants fans behind me who all the same reaction I did. For some reason the cops opened the doors up again since I guess Hixon decided to stay a little later so luckally I got in!

Him from like 5th in line away (cell phone, sry for the poor quality)

His autograph

So after standing out in the cold for 3 hours I was all done. It actually beet my previous "standing in line for a famous person" record of the 2 hour wait outside in the rain for Barack Obama... although I had to wait another 2 hours inside but I was sitting then so eh. He is a really nice guy, wasn't like a jerk or anything and I even spoke to him without getting nervous and sounding like an ass! I think the most amazing part of the night were the people in line. It is amazing how in any event when you are surrounded by people with that one common thing as you are brings you all together. Everyone I was around was great and everyone was so fun to be with. One lady ahead of me even took my pennant thing with her before they closed the door so at the very least I could at least get an autograph. Thank you again if you see this lol!

NFL 2008 Playoffs

2008-12-29T15:59:00.001-05:00

Well 21 weeks after the start of the football year we have arived to the 2008 NFL Playoffs. Being a huge football fan this truely is the best part of the season... espcially because my team is in. So it is time for me to put on my magic hat and take a bold prediction on what I think will happen in this playoff sceinero. There is a good chance this will be pretty horrible, let me give you an example: pre-season, my imaginary Superbowl XLIII was Jaguars vs. Cowboys so you can tell how good this will be. I'll break this up over two days since I have eleven games to pick, so lets start with my NFC.

1. New York Giants
2. Carolina Panthers
3. Minisota Vikinings
4. Arizona Carnials
5. Atlanta Falcons
6. Philidephia Eagles

First game will be the battle of the birds - Carnials vs. Falcons. This is one of the easier ones for me at least because to me the Falcons should win this one no problem. The Cardnials started off extremely strong, strong enough to send Kurt Warner as the starting QB for the ProBowl. But after the loss to the Giants it seems as if they lost all their steam. My pick: Falcons

Next we have the Vikings vs. Eagles and this one poses a huge problem for me because it all depends on which Eagles team shows up. Will we get the team over the past few weeks that is dominating their opponets with ease or the team that was on the team that was one week away from firing Andy Reed and trading McNabb? But if they can stop the run like they have they have a good shot. My pick: Eagles.

Now we get into hazy teritory since these games might actually not happen but hey lets see.

Now we have the Panthers vs. Falcons. The Falcons are on a roll after one hell of a horrible season filled with bad playing, bad coaching, and everything with Michael Vick. Panthers are the NFC surprise this year in my mind since they flew under the radar most of the time until boom they are fighting for the number one seed. This should be one hell of a match up but in the end, I think the 2007 Falcons will start to bleed through to the surface and show up sometime this game. My pick: Panthers

Next we have an NFC bEast matchup of the Giants vs. Eagles. This will be played in the probabally the cold hard grounds of Giants Stadium in January. However the Eagles beat the Giants in the cold hard grounds of Giants Stadium in December. So what will be the differance this time? Brandon Jacobs. Last time Earth was only there 50% after coming off an injury but now after really two weeks off and a new game plan this one should go differently. My pick: Giants

Here we are at the end of the NFC road, and according to me we are having an epic week 16 rematch between the number 1 and 2 seeds: Giants vs. Panthers. What I am about to say here breaks my heart but I don't think the Giants will win this one here. In my mind the Panthers should have won that game week 16 and you bet your ass they are going to want payback. Giants repeating might get to their heads too much and get in the way. My pick for the NFC Champs: Carolina Panthers

One nation REALLY under God.

2008-12-28T18:40:00.003-05:00

We are a little over three week to go before the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States: Barack Obama. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that he is going to be the President. After the past eight years of that guy who we for some reason called our President, George "shoe dodger" Bush is out! I think this is the perfect direct this country needs and I agree with everything Obama is doing.... well I did anyway. My first jaw dropping moment was during the Vice Presidential Debate when Senator Joe Biden said "Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage. We do not support that". (source) Upon further review of that he goes onto say that it should be left up to your faith on what they call it so in a way I agree, but it started the train toward doubt-ville.

Now on January 20th, at the inauguration Barack Obama had to choose who would lead the nation in prayer to unite the nation.... and he chose an evil homophobic pastor who once compared homosexual marriage to incest and pedophiles. A man who whenever he can says he has tons of gay friends but then implies that they are evil gang-banging whores. This is the man meant to bring peace and calmness to the nation on this historic day. HUH? Okay sure thing Obama, bring people from 'across the aisle' and 'different views' but this is a little horrible in my mind. Why not bring a man with views that aren't so extreme and radical? You need a big name guy for this, really? This is starting to worry me a lot with what the Obama administration is going for LGBT rights and that train is picking up steam.

But I guess the very main note of this whole post is this.... why do we have a prayer for this event? This goes to my whole thing on why gay marriage should be legal too, we have in this country a separation of church and state!!! Why on Earth at a huge political and national event would we lead the entire country in prayer? Not everyone believes the same things religiously. Just look at atheists, why aren't their views being including in this event? In fact their views are being insulted in this. I'm no expert on any religions but I'm gonna take a bet that more than just atheist could be upset by the prayer in this event.

Christmas in review (part deux)

2008-12-27T22:00:00.005-05:00

Hey looks like I forgot one gift to show you guys yesterday and it is by far the most epic gift of all time in the history of time. My grandmother decided that its about time I became a man and since and I quote "I am going off to college" (little to late btw...) I need this. I got to tell you it is great and a time saver. Like say I'm using my cell phone and I'm looking at my contacts list and I want to call someone on it. I just find the person's name I want to call in my contact list just to make sure I got the name right, then I go look it up in the new address book and tada! Yeah.............

Oh Pirates! update!!! Much more to the game than I thought because my pirate: Rick Astley just got married to some Governor's daughter. Oh and interesting thing about the daughters is that they come in three types: plain, attractive, and beautiful. The only difference is plains are flat as a board, attractives got some cleavage going, and beautifuls are about to fall out of their dress. Oh virtual boobs how you are for some reason so important in so many games.

Christmas in review.

2008-12-26T23:41:00.007-05:00

Whoo Christmas came and I got stuff! Well okay most of the gifts got the reaction "do you even know me and what I like? But I thought I'd share with you my top three gifts I got in a huge review. I plan on doing some kinda review of something media related once a week so get used to it lol.

(The Dark Knight) - I haven't watched the DVD of it yet but I have already seen it in theaters and all I have to say is this. Grab a pen or something like that from your desk.

Go ahead stop reading to see whats gonna happen go get one.

Make a Star Trek - Spock hand salute and palace the pen between your ring finger / middle finger. Then with your other hand squeeze those ring & middle fingers together.

If you did this correctly you should be in an extreme amount of pain, congratulations that's the punishment for not seeing this movie. (if you did see this movie, sorry but you have to admit its a good punishment for those who didn't see it) This was the only movie I went to the theater by myself. I was always weirded out to go alone, fearful I'd be like a divorced father trying to pass the time before the weekend and his kids pretend to like him.... I'm not even sure if thats a correct sterotype of divorced dads but whatever lets run with it. It was worth it to see it then though and if Heath Ledger doesn't win the Oscar for Best-Supporting Actor I am going apeshit on that judging board. If he doesn't get nominated I am willing to do 5-10, maybe 15 if its a nice prison without the rape and such.
** (see below for citation)

(Prospekt's March) - Coldplay released this EP (what does that mean? I have no clue) shortly after they released Viva La Vida since they couldn't release this songs in time for Viva. I am a huge Coldplay fan by the way, I think their music is beautiful, breathtaking, and such an emotional roller coaster of badassery. And I am crushed to hear they might be breaking up after 2009. However the only thing I could say that is good about it is maybe its time for them to go, end on the top before they keep changing direction so far off of what they started off as. I love the new stuff a lot but their first 3 albums far surpass what they are doing now. As for this CD your not getting much, 8 songs - 2 of which are just remixed off Viva la Vida. One song even features Jay-Z which is horrible in my mind since he doesn't fit in with their style at all. Only song on it that I love is one of those remixed songs, Life in Technicolor ii. It is really beautiful.

(Sid Meier's Pirates!) - I can't stop playing this damn game. I have no clue what it is about or how to win but its great. The storyline is lacking. Pretty much all you get is some guy broke your family up into random cabins among the 100's of Caribbean islands and you become a pirate to ultimately find them while at the same time becoming the richest and most feared pirate on the seas. Saying it is open ended is an understatement. I've just been mainly sailing around, attacking any ship that looks at me wrong and tried in every city I have been at to get in the pants of the Governor's daughter who is showing off her gravity-defying chest in every cut scene. Still no luck there. One interesting mechanic of the game is you age. Every year you get older and your skills such as sword dueling slow with your age. So there is an intense pressure to find all 4 relatives and kill the man who did this to your family before your so old your chasing your oxygen tank across the deck.

-- **See here? Still not plagiarizing.
John Duke

Merry Christmas..

2008-12-25T19:11:00.001-05:00

to all, and to all a good night.

-- Yes we can
John Duke

Fighting fire with fire.

2008-12-24T14:11:00.006-05:00

Last night I posted my opinion on the recent comments Pope Benedict the XVI made regarding homosexuality. Now I didn't go insane on it or overboard but I did in a way rip into the church a bit my first few drafts. In the end I decided to take down the post all together because something didn't feel quite right. Was it in a way calling out a religion for being mean? Eh maybe but still they stand for something I disagree with entirely. Was it the fact that I don't want to offend anyone? Kinda but it sure would get more visits to my page. I think the thing that did it was if I ripped into the church it would be sooo hypocritical. In a way most protests including and other than the issue of gay marriage are kind of perplexing.

I'll use same sex marriage as an example. I am all 100% for same sex marriage and am against anyone who isn't and thinks its horrible and wrong. My argument against them is how dare they try to judge and enforce their will on others. BUT at the same time aren't I doing the same thing? Telling them 'NO, your wrong I'm right so shut up and listen to me. Things are going to be the way I want them'. Now.. it is no where as harsh as that but when you really think about it, it's almost the same fight on both sides.

Maybe instead of enforcing our will on others (which honestly we are, we think we are right yet still we are telling people who don't agree they have to in some ways) we should look at it from a different angle. Perhaps take a Gandhi approach of some peaceful protests and such. A way that won't hurt or offend anyone and show everyone that it's okay to accept and open your heart. We are after all on the side of love. <3 -- Happy belated Hanukkah John Duke

Yeah....

2008-12-24T12:19:00.004-05:00

I totally just tried to unlock my front door using my car's automatic unlock button instead. Wow I know right lol.

Your kidding me...

2008-12-22T20:21:00.004-05:00

Well it turns out today I finally decided to see when my classes start next semester and it turns out I go back on January 19th. Okay nothing wrong with that... except that means I will possibly miss some if not all of the Inauguration of President Barack Obama...... I cannot believe it! I might luck out though because after a bit of searching I have gotten some reports that the actual swearing in is around 11:00am or 12:00pm ish. If that is the case I'll be good since I have a gap in classes then. If not then looks like someones going to be skipping the first day of classes. Ironic thing is on Tuesday's my classes I have are State & Local Government and Ethics. Hmmm.

New York Giants are #1

2008-12-21T23:47:00.004-05:00

Wow, no freaking way... the road to the Superbowl is going through Giants Stadium for the NFC (well if they don't lose that is) Sure was one heck of a game... the parts I watched anyway. I couldn't even have the TV on for most of the first three quarters since every time I looked the Panthers scored haha. Gonna be interesting to see how the rest of the division will shape out so I can start guessing on who they will play in the second week of the playoffs (My hope is for the Cardinals!.... hope I don't regret that) Oh well, here's to the Giants - the team that makes its goal to give me a heart attack and or panic attack every single game. Cheers!

-- The cake is a lie
John Duke

Portal

2008-12-21T17:39:00.004-05:00

An amazing game I have to share to you guys. I have to say I am very very picky about which video games I like to play. In fact in the past year or two I've only bought like 3 games. All of which were just meh. But after my birthday I had a gift card to blow and lookie lookie what I found.

Portal was introduced as part of the Orange Box set released by Valve along with Half Life 2: episode 2 and Team Fortress 2. Now I couldn't give a crap about those other games so I was thrilled to find the game sold by itself for just $10. That's right folks the funnest game ever is just ten bucks. Hold off on that dime bag and buy this instead.

What really sold the game for me was a review by the best game reviewer ever - Zero Punctuation. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation. I have to say it is the best puzzle/comedy game you will find and I am just itching for when they are going to release a new game which they better be soon. All I have to tie me over is an independent game a couple of people in France made using the engine Valve used to make the game. The unofficial prequel is called Portal: Prelude and omg it is impossible lol. I guess the only thing I hope you take away from this is BUY THE DAMN GAME!!!

-- The cake is a lie
John Duke

Whoo my first post, ahh the cherry is popped.

2008-12-20T22:10:00.002-05:00

Greetings!!!!... no one? Eh yeah my expectations for this blog are low. Maybe might get the occasional reader who is bored at three in the morning like yours truly and glance at this. But hey who knows, I could be starting the greatest thing ever to hit the Internet since virtual sliced bread! My hopes for this post is that after I make it big in the blog-o-sphere that this will be the "oh I wonder what else he wrote" post. I sure have come along way haven't I?

So what the hell are my blogs gonna be about? Well really nothing, just whatever the hell I feel like talking about for that day. I will say that for the most part it might revolve around politics -because I am a nerd and love that stuff and LGBT rights since I feel it is horrible we are still treating people like second-class citizens in today's world.

Hopefully it will be a good old fashioned, hoot-hollering, ho down, hootenanny, rip-snorting, extrrrrrrravaganza of a time for you all. Hope to make you all laugh, nod your head in agreement, or just wonder what I smoked before I wrote that.

-- The cake is a lie,
John Duke