Month: March 2010

Say No to Socialism

I found this on Facebook, and can’t find a source to attribute it to.  Still, it’s is good.

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power utility regulated by the US Department of Energy (DOE).  I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility.  After that, I turned on the TV to one of the federal communications commission (FCC) regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) .  I watched this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation (DOT), possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and of a quantity regulated and certified by the State Bureau of Weights and Measures, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve.  On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service (USPS) and drop the kids off at the public school .

After work I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to a house which has not burned down in my absence because of state and local building codes and fire marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.

I then log on to the internet, which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.

A Theme for Year #2?

Our first wedding anniversary celebration weekend has been set for a few weeks.  We were going to go enjoy some warm Spring Break weather down in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Visions of warm beaches, the Gulf of Mexico, a reasonably comfortable hotel, and a fun weekend away from our rut were dancing through my head as I was making reservation after reservation for the fateful trip.

Friday arrived.  We watched the clock with anticipation for our 5 o’clock departure to DFW airport.  We hopped in the car and were halfway to the airport when A2 remembered we needed to look up the terminal and gate for our flight.  Out came the iPhone and the txt message from American Airlines:

Gate 3

“Gate 3,” I wondered?  There are 6 terminals and about 40 gates per terminal, and we have “Gate 3″…

To make a long story short, I booked our flights backwards, CRP > DFW.  ARGH!

Continue reading A Theme for Year #2?

Obama’s Health Care Summit

When you’re sick, you have a lot of free time to sit and do nothing.  Instead of doing nothing, I spend some time watching all SIX hours of the Bipartisan Photo Op for Elected Officials to Hear Themselves Talk Health Care Summit that President Obama held a few weeks ago.

If you are bored, it’s located at www.whitehouse.gov.

It was really interesting to watch, although my wife’s eyes are still rolled back into her head four days later.

A few things I took away:
Continue reading Obama’s Health Care Summit

Top 8 Guys

Wow! Tough night on Idol! The playing field got surprisingly level before we move into the Top 12. Tough, tough, tough!

Here are my picks:

Lee

Lee is all right.  Fireflies wasn’t a natural pick for him, but he made the sale.  I think he’ll make it through.

Alex (aka Mullet Man)

I love this guy.  He is by far my favorite guy on AI right now.  He is so honest and natural.  He owns the mullet and gets up there and really sings.

Tim

In three short weeks, Tim has made one of the biggest turn arounds in Idol history.  His first week on this show sounded like something that would have kept him out of American Idol in the first round audition. Then he comes back and gives a decent performance this week on a really tough song.  I still think as a total package he doesn’t have the pipes to go the distance, but maybe he does deserve to be here one more week.

Andrew

This dude came into idol as the most hyped guy, and with the most to lose.  He is making a slight recovery with tonight’s performance.  I’m not sure if it’ll be enough to put him into the Top 12.  He is definitely a unique artist, I’m just not sure he has built enough credibility to get him through one more week.

Casey

I really like this song.  It’s not a song I know, but he was very connected to it and it was interesting.  One thing I will give him, he knows how to sell it.  He’s been selling it since he got on the show, and I think we’ve all been buying a little too much of it, too.

Aaron

Wow… weird vibrato at the beginning in his lower register… kind of awkward.  The whole song was a bit awkward for me, actually.  I thought it was the wrong song choice for him.  Sitting was weird.  He didn’t seem connected to the song at all, and was totally out of the groove of the song during most of it.  He just kind of gyrated around the stage uncomfortably.  Poor guy.  I thought it was his worst performance yet.

Todrick

This was Todrick’s last chance.  He has two strikes against him… and he figured it out.  Somehow.  I don’t know how.  I was kind of hoping he tanked so he would give us at least one easy, no-brainer to vote off tomorrow.  Now who am I going to put in the bottom?!?!  Arg!

Big Mike

Call me a killjoy, but I’m not jumping on the Big Mike Bandwagon so quickly. I thought the first part was rough.  He kind of made it work in the middle and toward the end, but the way he was moving around made me a little nauseous and actually made it lose a lot of the impact it could have had. It just seemed desperate rather than engaging. I could tell he was into the song, but he didn’t really take me along with him, nor do I know why the song is so important to him.  All in all, the original was much better, and I don’t think he did it any favors.  

Now, I’m obviously totally against the judges here, but I really don’t get what the judges saw that I didn’t see… it must have been something in that performance. Let’s take another look?

[flashvideo filename=”/video/ai9/top8boys-bigmike.flv” /]

OK.  Quick poll.  What did you think?  Best performance of the season?  Really?

Compared to this guy?

I dunno…

Conclusion:

So… this was a tough one.  Based on tonight only I have to say: Aaron and Andrew get the boot.  Based on everything, I hope it’s Todrick and Tim.  I would even throw Andrew in there.  I wouldn’t be heartbroken if he were out.  At any rate, they are the ones I’m not really interested in seeing in the Top 12.

A Few Thoughts on Sushi

My cousin’s post about eating her first sushi made me reflect on the few things I’ve learned about sushi in my life:

1. Eat something else before you eat sushi.

Sushi is not meant to fill you up and make you feel satiated.  That is what chicken fried steak is for.  Sushi is made to give you a light, delicate meal of many flavors and textures.  Don’t go trying to throw it down and fill up the tank.  Just sample a lot of different things, and then go hit Wendy’s afterwards if you’re still hungry.

2. If you smell fish, turn tail and run!

Fresh fish doesn’t smell fishy.  If there are nasty smells inside the restaurant, or if your particular fish stinks, ask for the check and run.

3. Be adventurous: it’s really quite good.

Try all sorts of things you might not otherwise try.  This is coming from the world’s most stuck-in-a-rut eater, but I enjoy trying various kinds of Sushi.  None of them are a huge commitment (only one or two bites) and you can easily get the bad taste out with some Diet Coke.

4. Bring your wallet.

Good sushi is pretty expensive.  Prepare yourself accordingly.