Friday, August 31, 2007

Too Young To Fight?

O'Reilly just had a guest on who was argueing that 18 year olds are too young to make the decision to enlist in the military. She cited the facts that they cannot smoke or buy alcohol until they turned 21.

OK. That makes sense. I can go along with that.

But I never heard Bill or her bring up the right to vote. The same logic should apply, and we should repeal the 26th Amendment, and return the voting age to 21. (In fact IIRC, one of the main arguements to support the passage of the 26 th Amendment was the fact that 18 year olds were in the military....Old enough to fight..old enough to vote.)

Not mature enough to fight, not mature enough to vote.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

My New hero: Sean Salisbury

Well, not exactly new, I was a fan of his when he coached my college team USC while I attended school there.

But this morning on ESPN's Mike and Mike show, he just said that AC/DC's Back in Black was one of the greatest albums ever. You've got to love that.

Now Back in Black is a great album, the second best AC/DC album ever. The best however is Highway to Hell. There is not a bad song on that album. In my opinion, they are few albums that hold up from first song to last. For instance, Appetite for Destruction is one of my favorite albums, but there are some weak songs on it.

But Highway to Hell is awesome cover to cover. Just off the top of my head, so is Boston's first album, Boston. Not a bad song on it.

What are some other perfect albums?

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Thursday, August 23, 2007

The Universe Has Never Been the Same...........

One year ago today the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto from the status of planet to the diminutive "dwarf planet". I have felt diminished ever since........

Every One Made With Love......

I just got through slaving over the stove and the sink again...... Don't ever make the mistake of letting your friends and co-workers know you can make something reasonably well. Now I'm stuck making deviled eggs all the time. (I'm just kidding..I don't mind..I like making people happy) This was a pretty good batch tonight. Thanks Alton for teaching me how to get perfectly peeled hard boiled eggs last night.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Time to Buy a Lottery Ticket.......


The small blind has Big Slick...King of spades, Ace of clubs.

The big blind has a pair of Kings, hearts and clubs.
A third player has a Jack of diamonds and a Queen of diamonds.

The flop comes King of diamonds, Ace of diamonds and Ace of hearts.
The small blind now has a full boat, and the nuts, Aces over Kings.

The big blind now has the second best possible hand, a full house Kings over Aces.
Player 3 has a great draw, to a flush or a straight.

The turn. Ace of spades.
Small blind still has the nuts, only now it's four Aces.
Big blind still has the second best possible hand, only now his full boat is Aces over Kings.
Player 3 still has his straight draw and his flush draw, and a decent chance at a split pot at worst if he doesn't make his hand. (however I don't know how he stayed in)
The River. OMFG. A Ten of diamonds.
Player 3 hits a Royal Flush. A Freaking Royal Flush.
The small blind shows his four Aces. The big blind shows his full house Aces over Kings in disgust. He's hit a cooler...by all rights he should have won. There are only two possible hands in all of poker that could have beat him, and four Aces is one of them.

Then player 3 shows his Royal Flush, the other hand that beats the Big blind..but also beats the small blind. The ultimate cooler.

If player 3 did not rush out that night and buy a lottery ticket he was crazy!

I Knew It Was Too Good To Be True!


For months now I thought I'd found that most rarest of objects... a hot looking Liberal chick who was sane. I'm talking about Kirsten Powers. Up to now, she has seemed to be pretty level-headed. Liberal, but level-headed.

However today on the O'Reilly Factor she announced that she thinks that there is a Human Right to freedom of movement. Thus any Mexican who wants to come here should be able to. Bill was just as stunned as I am. I wish somebody would point out to people like Kirsten that not even Mexico believes this. They have some of the strictest immigration and citizenship laws in the world. Read the Mexican Constitution, you'll be stunned. There is not a single country in the world that supports open borders. Canada comes close, but not even they are completely nuts.

A Sign of the Times Pt. 2.......

So I'm cruising home from work listening to KCAL (local Rock station) and all of a sudden a commecial comes on from laser vaginal rejuvination surgery. The commercial was done by one of the DJs who had just given birth to twins and was worried she was permanently stretched out. Fracking great...just what I want to hear about in the middle of drive time traffic! What's next? Will I soon be listening to commercials for rectal rejuvination surgery for those light in the loafers?

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Happy Birthdays!

Today is certainly a star crossed day for birthdays! First politically....Fred Thompson (1942). Bill Clinton (1946), Tipper Gore (1948) and Tammy Bruce (1962) were all born on this day.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same day, (the same exact day, July 4, 1826 ironically for two of our Founding Fathers) but if Thompson is elected president I wonder if that will be the first time two presidents were born on the same day?

Few people remember Tipper's attack on music with the PMRC, but she shares her birthday with John Deacon (1951) of Queen; Ginger Baker (1939) of Cream and Blind Faith; Ian Gillan (1945) of Deep Purple and (briefly) Black Sabbath; rapper Nate Dogg (1969) of Death Row Records (who has song on 60 singles with rappers like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Warren G.); rapper Fat Joe (1970); and rapper Lil Romeo (1989).

There are also at least a half dozen other international singers born on this date, including Lee Ann Womack.

Famous tennis player and doctor Renee Richards was born on this day in 1934 as Richard Raskind before becoming a woman in 1975.

Star Trek fans will surely know that both Gene Roddenberry (1921) and Jonathan Frakes (1952) share this birthday.

Adam Arkin (1956) who had a re-occuring role (one of my favorites) as Dr. Stanley Keyworth on The West Wing was also born on August 19.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Democratic Circular Firing Squad

Well now we know that there are moonbats even more unhinged than the raving moonbats at the DailyKos. One of them has just accused Markos of being a tool of the CIA! Well this isn't completely unexpected, just another in a long line of attacks by the left on the left.

Coincidence?

Sometime film director and noted child abuser Roman Polanski was born on this date in 1933. Nabokov's Lolita (a book about an older man in a sexual relationship with a young girl) was first published in the U.S. on this date in 1958.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Elvis Has Left the Building!



Well, he left it thirty years ago today. Have a peanut butter and banana sandwich for me big guy.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Don't drive angry. Do not drive angry

I'm sitting here watching Groundhog Day, for at least the twentieth time. Man this is such a classic! Murray's had some great roles, but he's perfect for this one...I can't even imagine anyone else playing it. If you haven't seen this one, do yourself a favor and rent it tomorrow...you won't be disappointed.

You know this is an older movie. Just after he saves a man from choking in a restaurant, he walks past a woman with a cigarette at the next table, and lights it for her.......

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Van Halen..Pt. IV?

Well it looks like Eddie and David have buried the hatchet (and for a wonder not in each other's back) and have actually decided to get the band back together again.

The second incarnation of the band, with Sammy Hagar as the lead singer was actually pretty good, but a much different sound than the original band. Even though we called it Van Hagar, most of us are quite comfortable with the material being counted as part of the Van Halen legacy.

The third incaranation however, with Gary Cherone as lead singer, is better off forgotten.

This fourth line up features Eddie and Alex Van Halen reunited with David Lee Roth. Bassist Michael Anthony who has been along for the ride in the three previous versions is sitting this one out however. Eddie's son Wolfgang is playing bass this time.

Here's hoping they can re-capture the magic.

It's Alive!!

Today is the 82nd anniversary of the passing of the Social Security Act, the largest ponzi scheme in the history of the world. The question now...will it live to be 100?

I'm not betting on it, and if you are younger than fifty, hopefully you aren't either.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Saving Grace Pt. 2


I've seen 2 1/2 episodes now, and I really like this show. If you haven't seen it yet, I really recommend it. Mondays at 10:00 P.M. on TNT. It's got an offbeat message about religious belief, being both critical of, and endorsing it, at the same time. As I said earlier, the casting of the angel named Earl is a work of genius. The actor's name is Leon Rippy, and he is probably best known for his role in The Patriot, even though he's been around since 1983.



The bonus is that it stars Holly Hunter. She is a voice actor in one of my favorite movies of all time, The Incredibles. I really liked her in Always also.

For the Sinister Among Us.....

Today is International Lefthanders Day. Pay a little extra consideration for those so afflicted today.

Sorry Dad, sucks to be you.

(just kidding...but it really is International Lefthanders Day...)

Sunday, August 12, 2007

A Brave New World......

Today is the 26th anniversary of the IBM PC. It is four years younger than the Apple PC, but quickly came to dominate the personal computer market.

Can you imagine a world without it now?

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Sistine Chapel

On August 9, 1483, the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City was dedicated and celebrated its first mass. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

One of my favorite movies from the 1960's is about the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo at the command of Pope Julius II. It's called The Agony and the Ecstasy and it stars Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and a surprisingly good Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. The movie is beautifully made, and a fine example of when movie making was as much an art form as an industry.

Betty Boop

Sixty-seven years ago today, Betty Boop premired in her first cartoon, Dizzy Dishes. Here it is for you in all of its glory:




Jerry Garcia

This is the 12th anniversary of Jerry Garcia's death. He was the lead singer of The Grateful Dead, one of rock's most unique bands. Funnily enough, my favorite Dead songs are the ones that serious deadheads hate, "Touch of Grey" and "Hell in a Bucket" off of In The Dark (their most commercially succesful album) Here's Touch of Grey:




Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Cape Wind

I'm not a big fan of The Daily Show, but occasionally they get it exactly right.


Tuesday, August 07, 2007

A Sad Day For Baseball....

It couldn't happen to a worse fellow. He's a jerk to his teammates, a jerk to the fans, a jerk to the reporters, and juiced to his eyeballs.

Hank, you're still in first in my eyes....

Monday, August 06, 2007

Enola Gay

The Enola Gay was the B-29 piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima sixty-two years ago today. He named the plane after his mother. In 1980 British group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released a song called Enola Gay with thinly veiled references to the attack.

Hiroshima

A B-29 called the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb called "Little Boy" on Hiroshima on this day in 1945. This is the first use of an atomic bomb in war. A second is dropped on Nagasaki three days later. These are the only two uses of an atomic weapon in war to date. They cause comparatively few casualties. (Many more peole died in the fire bombing of cities such as Dresden and Tokyo) In modern terms they are very small bombs, but they manage to convince the Japanese to surrender and end World War II.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Speedy Gonzalez

I just saw a music video on a Spanish language channel (KMEX) called Speedy Gonzalez by a group called the Kumbia All Stars. Here it is:




I mentioned earlier that I had seen a commercial on Spanish language television using him.



Does this mean we white , English speakers can resume watching the Speedy Gonzalez cartoons now? Can Lays bring back the Frito Bandito?

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

"Video Killed the Radio Star...."

Twenty six years ago today in 1981, MTV went on the air. The first video shown was "Video Killed the Radio Star" (Yes, believe it or not, there was a time when MTV showed music videos.) This ushered in a new age for music, where music videos became more than an after thought.