Is the country lost?

As long as Jessica Simpson is running around in a bikini I sure as hell hope not. But, there are a few recent and not so recent things that make me think we are in the end stages of this experiment that is the United State of America. I'm going to touch on the older things without getting too much into them because they were way before I was born and I'm just not as pissed off about them at the moment because they aren't all over the news.

So let's get some of those out of the way. First things first. What the hell happened to the control resting with the states? When people used to refer to the United States of America they would say that the United States of America are instead of the singular form it has taken. Life, Liberty, and property is what we used to be able to work hard for. Now we can strive all we want as long as we don't get too far ahead of someone else. You also can't offend anyone......You know what. I'm going to stop right here. This deserves more attention that what I'm giving it right now. I'm watching Austin Powers, checking sports scores, and being distracted by the picture of Jessica Simpson above. So I'm going to try to work on this so I don't just start spouting off about stuff that makes me angry. Look for a continuation in the future.

Smoque BBQ

This post is going to be worthless for you if you don't live in the Chicagoland area. I'm a huge fan of the diners, drive-ins, and dives and they featured this BBQ joint in Chicago called Smoque. So this past weekend I decided to make the journey and for the most part I was not disappointed. Thankfully they have add on portions of the meats so that is what I tried. Brisket, Pulled Pork, Spare Ribs, and Smoked Sausage. By far the best part was the Brisket followed by the Pulled Pork. Don't get me wrong. The Ribs were no slouch but I must say the sausage was all wrong. It's probably because I'm used to Texas Smoked Sausage and that's what they advertise it as. The only other issue I had was with the sauce but I couldn't even place why I didn't like it that much. Sauce is very much a personal preference and just because I didn't like it doesn't mean you won't. And shit, I wouldn't turn it down most days. It just wasn't one of my favorite sauces. This is definitely worth the journey. Go give it a try.

June 6th 2008 a day which will live in infamy

Just a random observation. On June 6th this year I didn't see one mention of the anniversary of D-Day. No mention on the news, the radio, I didn't read a paper but I bet there wasn't a mention in the paper except maybe on page 95 of section Z. I don't know if it is because people have forgotten or if people are just so angry about war that they refuse to mention anything about it unless it serves some sort of political objective.

I can't believe it was 17 years ago

I cannot believe that it was 17 years ago that both of these albums came out. Grunge is probably closer to 20 years old now if not older. Holy Shit! I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that my first cd was C+C Music Factory, thankfully Nirvana released Nevermind less than a year later and saved me. At least my first tape purchase was much cooler than the music factory. Beastie Boys license to ill was great and damn, that was 22 years ago. I'm officially old.

Indiana Jones vs. the X-files

Today I saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Unlike a lot of the people who went with me I really enjoyed this film. When going to an Indiana Jones film do you really want to watch it looking for realism? I sure as hell don't. I can't think of much that is realistic in most of the movies. Heck the last movie there was a dude sitting in a cave for hundreds of years waiting for someone to come find him.

I really don't know how detailed to make my reviews since I don't want to ruin the movies for everyone so I'll try not to get too into it. I'm unsure how this franchise is going to work going forward since Shia LaBeouf is clearly being groomed to take over the franchise with Harrison Ford taking on the role of Sean Connery. I really thought Shia looked like a douche bag when he first appears on the screen but thankfully he got better as the movie progressed.

The best scene in the movie is Indy's ride in the refrigerator. I was also glad to see a cameo of the Ark of the Covenant as well as Dr. Jones' infamous fear of snakes. The movie did get a little weird with the introduction of an X-files esque theme but I was able to not worry too much about it. Some others didn't have that much control. So my advice is check the movie out for yourself and let me know what you thought. Remember. Physics does not apply and don't look for things to be true to life.

Harold and Kumar are Fucking Insane.

Now that I have found a cheap movie theater to go to on the way home from work I'm going to try to see a movie a week to try to catch up on ones that I've missed so far this year. 3.75 for a movie is a damn good deal compared to 10 bucks at the fancy theater. Shit that's less than a gallon of gas in Chicago these days.

Today I'm going to look at Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. This was a pretty damn funny movie. If you liked Harold and Kumar go to White Castle you will like this movie.

The movie starts out an hour or so after we leave Harold and Kumar in the first movie. These two apparently can't go anywhere without fucking something up. The flick certainly has the dick and fart jokes through out the movie. Hot Naked Chicks.....check. Forget the topless parties the bottomless party is where it is at as long as the dudes stay in the pool. Harold as the scary goth kid in college is frightening. But the best part of the movie is George Bush's appearance. Uh...Yeah, this is worth the price of admission by itself. It is unfortunate what happens to Neal Patrick Harris but I don't want to spoil that.

I'm having a hard time deciding which of the Harold and Kumar movies I liked more. I think I'll have to see Guantanamo Bay a few more times to really figure it out since I've seen the first one so many times.

Another Crazy Idea

I know that I sometimes have crazy ideas but something just popped into my head. One of the basic ideas of physics, and I'm not physicist, is that every action has a reaction. Now that people are pushing for alternative energy there are wind farms popping up. I know it would have to be on an insanely large scale but is it possible that the resistance that is put on the wind to move these giant turbines could change weather patterns by slowing down the wind? I'm looking for someone smarter than I to provide an answer for me but it seems possible in my mind.

I'm also curious to see what kind of alternative energy we can move to that isn't going to have a negative reaction on us. Ethanol is a load of crap. Reduces gas mileage and the price of food is going up because of it. Corn is used as feed for lots of the animals that we eat on a daily basis as well as just the price of corn going up. I don't know if any other ones have been so fully implemented as to really see the effects. I could see solar happening once they make a cheaper solar panel.

I was thinking about touching on global warming today.....er I mean global climate change. Does that mean we are causing colder temperatures now and they don't want to lose out on being able to blame that on us too? But I'm not going to get into that today. I want to do a couple of quick movie reviews.

These are two of my favorite things........

Hopefully you sang the title there because it's just more fun for everyone when you do. Anyway, Here is an example when things you like just don't get along. Chicks and guns.

Ignoring Virginia Tech

Ignoring Virginia Tech is the title of the article that the above link goes to. It goes on about how there haven't been firearm rules put in place a year after the tragedy. They don't talk about it not being guns that kills people but the nutt jobs that get their hands on them and blah blah blah.

The real ignoring of Virginia Tech was today on news channels. I even worked from home today because I was expecting some good coverage of my great school and the wonderful people that find this gem in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Everyone that knows me knows of my love of Virginia Tech so I won't go into that here. The problem I have is that the news coverage today spent only a few minutes on Virginia Tech and it was the same old footage we have seen for a year. The large cop running with the AR-15, the student being carried out by for emergency workers, the candle light vigil, and a shot of the drill field. Then they go the their real coverage for the day. The pope was in DC. Unfortunately I think the only reason the media was all over that is that they were expecting the shit to hit the fan especially having the Pope and the President in the same place at the same time. Then they go to the radical Mormon compound in Texas and have some of the mothers on for what seems like forever. They really chose people that should not be interviewed. I had to change the channel after about 3 minutes of listening to them very s l o w l y explain their side of their story. Then, Oh My, Martha Stewart's dog died. Shucks. That deserves air time.

There you go. The real ignoring of Virginia Tech. Thanks News Media. Maybe next time you can get Paris Hilton flashing her crotch and interview some idiots whose house just flooded for the 20th time because they keep rebuilding in a flood plain. Maybe that last part is insensitive but I'm not sorry because maybe someone that needs to see it will read it and move to the mountains.

You have to be fucking kidding me....

Click the link above if you want to be disgusted with the crap they feed us as news. How in the hell does Martha Stewart's dog dying make the front page of news on cnn.com?