Palin is Naked, & Google is FOR social equality

The Emperor has no Clothes
So we can freely admit – without being called “filthy liberals” – that she’s just not there, right? I mean, there’s no question anymore that she’s completely see-through anymore, this is correct? We can all tell that she was picked because she was a female & Joe Biden is not; she was a cheap shot across the bow of the female demographic. Sort of a “hey, see? We’re totally with you! Vote republican, we have a girl right here! Clearly we’re for women’s rights & sh!t! Please ignore our Roe v. Wade stance, move along…”

If you think it’s not so, just, uh, check out this most recent interview with Katie Couric. OMG. And I quote:

“Well it certainly does, because our next door neighbors are foreign countries, in the state I am the Executive of…”

And this gem..

“When Putin rears his head, and, uh, comes into the airspace of the US, Where do they go? It’s Alaska […] it is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that – an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation – Russia…”

Questions: Doesn’t she realize that no, probably Russia’s going to attack either the Pacific or most likely the Atlantic Coast? Has she seen a map recently? One with population overlays, perhaps? And I have to ask, What is it that we send out from Alaska to keep on eye on Putin? I’ve never heard of us sending “those” out to Russia from Alaska. Huh.

It’s like listening to pure stupid. If you could bottle up pure stupid and pump it through speakers, that’s what it would sound like: Like Palin on the Mic. Dear lord help us all.



I was Ambivalent, but now really like Google
Blog from Google. What does it say of consequence? That they’re officially for a stance of “No on Proposition 8” in California. Proposition 8, for those who don’t know, would make it constitutionally illegal for homosexuals to get married and share in equal rights & representation in our society. How often does this happen? How often does a company take a stance on a social issue that has no direct effect on their bottom line like this?

I really applaud this. And they framed it right, too; it’s not about sexuality, it’s about protecting freedom of the individual and the idea of equal rights for us all (including you & me):

“While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality,[...]”

Bravo, Google. Whatever you’re sellin’, I’m buyin’. Sign me the f*ck up for some social justice, baby!

Bush & McCain: We're Different, Really!

Bush to America: Just hand over your wallet, and no one gets hurt
Bush warns of long recession without rescue plan. Let me Translate: “We’ve already taken your children and sent them off to war, made a mockery of ‘morals’ & ‘Family Values,’ and taken all of your liberties & rights and flushed them down the toilet; So, what’s the big deal? Just give us all your money too, alright?”

More & More, I’m not liking this whole “bailout” thing at all. I think that we should just let them fail. F*ck them. They tried to f*ck us, and got rich off of it. They wanted deregulated markets, they got them. Now that it’s not so cozy, they want handouts? They want the people they f*cked to give MORE to them? F*ck that.

That’s a lot of f*cks, isn’t it? You’re damn right it is, and they’re each well-deserved, too. It’s like this: Each time a Republican thinks of a way to f*ck Americans further, I grow another “f*ck.” Sorta like each time a child laughs an angel gets its wings or something. Except it’s Republicans & profanity.



McCain to America: WTF am I going to say?!?!
McCain is saying that the debates should be postponed. So that, uh, he can vote on the bailout legislation (see above). Know what? It’s time for a translation: “I, uh, haven’t really been able to come up with anything smart to say in like, uh, a year or so. I need an extension; there’s no way I can finish my homework on time! Uh, my dog ate my paper! Grandma died!”

Don’t want to talk about that sound economy there, Senator? Yeah I don’t blame you. If I knew that I was about to be grilled about the economy stinking after a week ago I said all was fundamentally sound, I’d probably try to bury my head in the sand, too.

Oh wait, I feel it coming: “f*ck.” (see above)

Transformers? Suck-Formers

Yeah, a day or two after we slightly enjoyed Ratatouille, we decided to put in Transformers for a go. Holy F*CK what a pitiful excuse for a movie. Hey I have an idea: Someone, anyone, run over Michael Bay. Run him over good. Back up and do it again. Send photographic evidence of his death at your hands, show that you have freed our collective eyes & psyche from his atrocious “movies,” if that’s what they’re called.

Look, I’ll gladly give credit where credit’s due. For instance, this mock-script from The Editing Room is far better than the movie itself, if only because it mocks the hell out of the retardedness of Bay’s attempt at making “movies.” The visuals are awesome. The special effects wizardry was spot-on as far as I could tell. It was an impressive visual, while the special effects were on the screen.

Unfortunately for the audience, 80% of the movie is spent dealing with boring people reading bad lines in bad form. From a script that got rejected from Toilet Paper tryouts, OK? Seriously, I’m not going to spend 4,000 words bashing this f*ck-fest of a movie when a lot of it has been taken care of in the aforementioned link to the abridged script. But I will say this, though: Yeah that site is supposed to be comedy, but here’s the thing; it’s not exaggerating. I thought maybe it was. I thought perhaps it couldn’t be that bad. A movie can’t have plot holes that massive. I was wrong. The movie is actually far worse than even the mocking script can convey. Really. Yeah, that bad.

F-minus. And about that whole killing Michael Bay thing? Only kidding. Unless you succeed, of course. Then remember the photographic proof burden, OK?

I finally broke down & watched this piece of turd at the urging of a friend. At least I thought that’s what he was. I’m not so sure anymore. I mean, how mean. That was messed up, you know? He owes me. He owes me big-time. Next time I make a recommendation, he better be all over it like Michael Bay on Suck; like Clay Aiken on Gay (I totally called it, btw); like Rosie O-Donnell on ugly, you gettin’ me? No excuses – I suffered through Suck-Formers, he has to suffer through whatever I eventually come up with.

And it won’t be good. It’s going to be hard to outdo Suck-Formers, but I’m going to try.

Ratatouille

From Pixar, so it should be good, right? Right? Well yeah, you know they tend to put together good films, but it seems to me the last two (Cars & This showing, Ratatouille) have been overly-cute. Which if you know the ‘bob, you know he doesn’t like. I hate cute as a selling point: it’s either good on its own merits, or it’s not, and cute is not the criteria on which that’s judged.

The visuals are nice enough. The story’s kinda corny, though. I figured it might be. A rat controlling a human to cook? The premise seemed kind of forced to me, but since it garnered a 90%+ rating from Rotten Tomatoes, we decided to take a chance. And hey, even a bad Pixar film is better than most other films, right?

Right. Look it’s a good movie. It’s really good if you’re between the ages of 3 and 12. After that, though? It just feels like they’re selling you on a cute idea a little too much. At least for my tastes, anyway. I mean, to quote the Wendy’s Lady, Where’s the Beef? There’s really nothing else; none of the other plot points really collide into anything substantial. Most Pixar films have an underlying message to them that’s pertinent somehow. But I just don’t feel it in this one. That humans & Rats can live together in peace & Harmony? They are dirty rodents, you know, so I don’t think the message is quite ringing true.

Look if you’re 10 years old, first off, what the hell are you doing reading this site? Second, yeah, you’ll probably think it’s pretty cool.

I’m still excited for Wall•E, though.

OH! Trivia time. The critic in the movie I’m almost sure was based off of this old Warner Brothers Actor, whom I can’t be bothered to locate & link you to. Just trust me on this, OK? I can’t remember the guy’s name, or the movies he was in, and I tried looking through Warner Bros on imdb.com, and you know what? They put out like 100 movies a year back in the 1930’s, no lie. There’s no way I was going to find a picture of the guy, so get over it. Become a film buff and watch all those things from way back then, and you can tell me what his name was, huh?

Yeah sorry that wasn’t much of a trivia, was it? Suckers.

This Bailout is a False Idol

Utter bullsh!t if you ask me. Why are the rich people so against welfare handouts, yet so willing to ask for them? So let me get this straight: we can’t afford to insure the uninsured, the people with the least in this country, but when the greedy, richest 1% act recklessly and get their companies near financial ruin, we should give them $700 BILLION, with no restrictions?

Does this sound right to you? What strikes me as really off in this whole matter, is they weren’t willing to help out the “regular folk” who are in financial crisis (mortgages), but they’re willing to step up and give executives who earn 10’s of millions of dollars a year and ran their companies to ruin all the help they DON’T need? I’m sorry, but if you’re making millions and you still do a sh!tty job, then rot in hell for all I care. If you’re not going to bail me out, why the hell should I – who has considerably less funds – bail you out, who’s already rich?

You want to stem the financial crisis? Give it to those who are going to suffer, not to those who are going to be driving their $60,000 Mercedes-Benz home to their $3 million mansion regardless.

All these people that keep thinking the Republicans are doing us good. Sorry folks, but think of this: During the 1980’s our financial situation was dire; high inflation, bad economic times, the Savings & Loan debacle… Then around 1992, that all changed. The US went on to have probably the most prosperous times of the modern age, rivaled only by the decade following WWII. Then around the year 2000, housing prices started climbing, reaching values in certain locations (So Cal especially) that were 400-500% higher in the span of about 5 years. During this time, wages did not move up at all. Gas prices rose 400%, and unemployment jumped to the highest in years.

Now step back. 1980’s? The Republicans were in office, trying out “Trickle-down Economics.” Reagan & Bush Sr, remember? Loosened oversight on their part & deregulation led to the collapse of the S&L’s, which required a government bailout (YOUR tax dollars, saving the rich: Corporate welfare). And while this was going on, the rich were getting tax breaks! So they were supporting themselves less, and you were supporting them more!

Around 1992? Clinton comes to office and undoes most of these Republican mantras. The rich start paying equitable taxes and have less loopholes to work. Better welfare programs are put into place to help out those who need it most. And we enter our modern “golden age,” where our unemployment was terrifically low, wages were competitive, and the US’s world standing was respectable.

Around 2000, Bush Jr takes office, and repeals the taxes on the richest of the crowd. They deregulate the markets and throw away oversight. The housing market balloons up like a bubble, and unemployment rises as wages stagnate. US productivity starts to decline, and now we find ourselves being asked to give $700 BILLION to the rich. These are the a**holes that wanted deregulation. These are the a**holes that made millions & BILLIONS of dollars off of their reckless behavior. And now that they’ve run their companies into financial dire straits, they want a free handout from the government. The Democrats are arguing that if they get a bailout, they need to forfeit their excessive salaries, seeing as how they’ve only proved they don’t deserve them.

The bush regime, however, is balking at this. They think these ultra-rich should just be given the money with no strings. Does this sound fair to you? It does to your republican overlords, folks. See? It doesn’t matter what they say; they’re going to continue to preach “Family Values” because it sounds good, they’re going to lie to you and say that they’re on your side. But ignore their lies; look at their actions, instead. Look at what they’re really, truly doing to you, the average American.

Actions speak louder than words, right? Which is why I’m voting against the Republicans. Join me: Let’s put America back on the right track: BY the people, FOR the people! WE are the people; we’re 80% or more of the population, the rich are a mere, paltry fraction of that! Let’s stop letting them get all the perks, at our expense!

Massive Weight Loss

I’ve always been a bit on the skinny side, but before we had left So Cal for Nor Cal, I had gotten myself up to about 180, 185lbs or so. I haven’t looked much at a scale in the last 3 years because it’s not a specific weight I’m going for, it’s a specific ability level & the associated physique. And before that, I was deeply concerned with my weight, and you know what? I, skinny random bob, managed to get a little tubby. I concentrated so hard on the scale’s dial that I got carried away trying to pack on pounds. I lost my six-pack abs, and that wasn’t going to do, dammit – they’re my centerpiece!

Anyway, yesterday I had the need to weigh myself, and I honestly haven’t look at a scale since well before we moved here. Just don’t need to really, and I know that I’ve lost some weight because my waist size has gone to about 30” as opposed to 32-33” in that time. And I just didn’t want to be secretly disappointed; after all, my over all goal is “more more more,” not “less less less.” But the puppies had needed to be weighed. We wanted to know who weighed more specifically, Chase or Hunter. The Girl figured it to be Chase, I felt that while Hunter was shorter, he was more filled out. Turns out we were both wrong: they weigh exactly the same, down to the half-pound.

I don’t know how much they weigh. Finding that out right now means finding out how much I weigh, and I’m still a little hesitant to face reality on that. But from what I saw yesterday and doing some quick math, I’m sure that I’ve lost weight. I estimate between 10-20 pounds. Yikes!

I’m still about the same strength, though. Some of my weights have gone up in the gym. I feel more physically fit. But I know I’ve shrunk. And I mean, wow. The only thing that’s changed since we got up here has been our diet. We eat more holistically; organic fruits & veggies, organic, free-range cattle & other meats. I’d say a good 90% of our diet is local & organic. And with just that change, my body has shed some 10-20 pounds of… well, unnecessary weight.

I shudder to think what it all was. Bleh!

Miles Health Update

To paraphrase Steve Jobs (who quoted Mark Twain), “The Rumors of [Miles’] Death are greatly exaggerated.”

Hey I don’t blame you though. This was the worst yet I’d seem my Miles incapacitated. I was quite worried for his further longevity after this last episode, I really was. And though I say that after each incident – he is old now, after all – this time was more serious than the last few. However, it seems I had nothing to fear. We’re on day three of injured shoulder, and he’s not trying to get into the fray with the new guys again. Still walking with a little bit of a limp, but overall, he’s looking marvelous.

I say shoulder instead of ankle, da. I had assumed from his stance that it was his ankle/foot that was giving him heartache. I’m a bad daddy, apparently, as now I think that it wasn’t his ankle, but probably his shoulder. And what’s worse, I think I got the side wrong, too. Not sure yet. Was pretty positive that it was at the least on his right side. Oops! Might be his left side. Sorry, buddy!

Anyway. We had planned on taking a two-day camping/hiking/off-roading trip to Crescent City today & tomorrow before my ol’ buddy got injured. Not sure if it’s going to happen now, but I’m debating it. We had thrown it clear off the table after he went lame those few days ago. Now it’s back on the table. He’s getting really good really fast is what I’m saying, and although he’s not 100% now, he could be perhaps good enough to enjoy the outing, especially by tomorrow.

Long Live Miles! Long Live Miles! Hoorah!

Checking out Gibbons @ the Local Zoo

From the Zoo
I write to you from my local zoo. No really. No metaphors here, folks, I’m literally at the zoo as this is written and going up on the web.

The Girl has an assignment for her anthropology course that requires she visits the zoo. She must track – minute by minute – the goings-on of a particular monkey or primate of her choice. This is a two-hour task that is supposed to be spread over a handful of days, which she is cheating and just doing today, and dragging me along. Thanks to my MacBook, though, we’re allllrriiiight…



Accessible Hotspots rock
The zoo happens to have a free wi-fi connection that I’m making use of. I find “free” wi-fi here and there and I must say I really appreciate it. I think it’s a really cool concept, even if you did have to pay to play.

It’s nice to be able to get online about wherever you are, and although “free” is a nice concept, someone has to pay for it, and I honestly don’t mind having to pay. What I mean is, it cost me $2 admission to get in. I think that’s a fair deal, no? You do business with some place, they give you free access while you’re there? Sort of a fringe benefit. The way I see it, that makes perfect sense, and is a completely fair way to do things: the customers are in essence paying for it still, so they share it! Wonderful setup!

It’s so good, in fact, that when I was in college (yeah I did that), as part of a group project in the last class before getting my BA in Business, we wrote up a business plan for a new coffee shop that did just that: Gave free wi-fi to customers. I thought that since people like their wi-fi and they like their coffee, instead of running it like Starbucks does and charging you for BOTH, why not combine the payment? Do business with us – buy our coffee – and we'll throw in the internet. And to keep the lines clear for the people frequenting the establishment, we set up a system whereby each customer was given a username & password to gain entry from the access point, that would be good for 1 hour. This way, the customer gets “free” access for being a patron, and it keeps the freeloaders out. When your hour’s up, you buy something else to get a new username & password; nothing big, a cookie, a drink, just something that creates a receipt.

Dammit, it really was a great idea. And I would have run with it, except that I really don’t do the whole coffee thing. At all. Damn though, I should have done it with like Ms. Field’s or something. I dig cookies. Free wi-fi with a cookie. I could dig that.



Primate update
The gibbons are really cool. They like to play and they look like slightly out-of-proportion, miniature humans. And I want one. They hoop & holler and generally look to have a lot of fun. And they’re cute. THey seem to be asking me to pick them up and hold them. And I want to.

Huh. I seem to feel a fairly strong paternal instinct for all kinds of animals. However, I despise kids. Yeah I don’t get it.

The Clog is Gone, Gone Forever

I’ve you’ve followed the adventures of the ‘bob religiously (which is maybe all one of you), then you may recall the time when our whole drain system backed up. Well for whatever reason – most likely laziness on my part – I haven’t really mentioned it here, but our drains started acting up again early this year. They’ve been slow off and on, better some days than others, and we’ve tried all kinds of concoctions to remedy the situation. We’ve tried Drano, some enyme sh!t we got at Ace (you know, that place) that was supposed to clear slow drains using enzyme action, liquid Plumr, and we even tried nothing at all a handful of times.

Didn’t work. Not a single one of them.

We hadn’t really bothered too much with it, because it only happens in the tub (lowest point), and again, it was only slow, so it started holding water about the time our showers ended, typically. All that, however, came to an end a few days ago. We got in to take a shower (we often take them together – we’re sexy like that), and almost immediately it was backed up. By the end of the shower we were taking a bath up to our knees. (I could insert a dirty joke about how it was up to The Girl’s elbows right here if I was so inclined. I could, but I won’t)

Then yesterday, I washed the dishes using a single sink-load of water. Later I went into the bathroom to do my unmentionables, and saw that that single sink-load had backed up into the tub. This was not going to suffice any longer.

So after my workout was finished (hey, I got priorities), I didn’t bother rolling up sleeves; I just took my shirt off and grabbed my drain auger. An hour later, after I worked it down the tub overflow pipe and out, I pulled it all back up and on the end of my auger was what I think might have been parts of a dead body. I think someone may have tried to stuff a body down my drain in bits & pieces to get rid of the evidence.

It may have worked; all I can really make out anymore is a huge lump of hair and what I can only describe as crud. No, quite literally, I mean crud. Anyway, we’re all clear now. The drain works better than it ever has since we moved in here. For all we know, it could have been down there in some fashion since before we moved in. I also have speculation that our neighbors may be slightly at fault, too, though I’m not 100% on that.

See the property we’re renting is the larger of two facilities on this one subdivided property. We don’t pay the water bill because since it’s technically the same property, it’s supplied by the city water dept. Through the same pipes. I speculate that we also share the same sewage pipes to the main, too.

So clearly, anything that happens to our detriment here, is the fault of the damn neighbors.

Glad to see you’re all with me on this!

The Tacoma's Inaugural Outing (attempt #2)

Miles hurts himself, pt. 1
Yesterday while I was at work, The Girl went to take the dogs out to the beach for a jog. This never happened because she had issues getting the dogs into the back of the newly-christened Tacoma. Well the day ended because at one point, Miles went to jump down (something he had attempted multiple time aready and succeeded at), and somehow missed his footing on the leap-down and just face-planted instead. Ouch. Apparently, he yelped pretty wildly for a minute, and you guessed right, that’s a picture of his face: Check out the skinned-job on that snout, eh?



Miles hurts himself, pt. 2
Today I decide that I’m going to succeed where The Girl has failed. I load them all up (success!), get to the bay (so that I could try out the new 4x4 toys in the sand), and upon letting down the gate to let the puppies out… Miles twists his ankle on the landing in the sand. In the sand. Of all places, you’d think that the sand would be the last that you’d twist your ankle. Apparently, not.

This is the third time for Miles since we moved up here last year. Twice, in fact, in this very same spot, and once more at the actual beach when he turned to chase a ball I had just thrown over his head as he approached me.

Yea, Miles, the old Venerable Miles, may actually be getting old. This sucks. And you know what? I’m hoping the Truck isn’t Cursed or something, either.


They Caught a duck. Or something. Definitely a Bird. I think.
This spot on the bay I take them to is nice because it’s a gradual decent into the water. There’s a long shallow so I can throw the ball out and have them wade through chest-deep water (and get a really good workout). Well they dropped the ball for me and I look up, and there’s this bird right along the shallow part. The dogs, of course see this and give chase (even the recently-disabled Miles, who – believe this – turned out to be The Dog who finally caught it). It was sort of my fault, perhaps. I saw the bird and pointed it out, so…

Hey! It’s a BIRD. I figured, you know, that it would fly. Fly away. Not dry to duck under the water and swim. Which is what it tried to do. And then it managed to swim… in the exact wrong direction, and beached itself at one point.

Calm down, all’s well that ends well, right? Well they’re labs, not pit bulls, so they have soft mouths. I coaxed them (read: beat them with a stick) to drop the bird, and then had them sit & stay while I scooted the bird to the deep portions and thus to his/her eventual freedom. After it stopped bitching at us, that is. Yeah, it stayed and bitched at us for a good minute before it turned and dove to swim away.

Stupid bird; I would probably have done the duck/bird/fish/whatever-the-hell-it-was gene pool a great service in letting the dogs play with it. I mean c’mon, seriously? You try to sneak up on 4 sharp-toothed rifle dogs? And then try to swim away? And beach yourself because you swam the exact wrong direction? the only direction that you could have swam that would have led to such a circumstance?

I’m about positive the bird was Republican.



Want to switch out the tires before I sell the 4Runner
The tires on the Tacoma – Rugged Trails from blah – suck in the sand. I can feel a definite grip difference between the tires on the 4Runner and the tires on the Tacoma when playing in the sand. Yeah I know, they’re called “Rugged Trail” not “Sandy Dunes,” but still, I expect that my new rig, equipped with A-TRAC & an actual locking rear differential, would far and away outclass the 4Runner. And with these tires, it just wasn’t so. I actually felt like at one point I might get myself stuck. Truck was bucking. But thanks to the read locking diff, we made our way out. I will be outside later this evening, seeing if the sizes hopefully match up between the two vehicles. And then I’ll be swapping them out, already-incurred-mileage be damned.

McCain, Economy; Economy, McCain

The Fundamentals of our Economy are SOUND!
According to McCain, even though our financial sector is taking skydiving lessons sans parachute, “The fundamentals of our economy are still strong.” Hey there, John? You been watching the news over the last, oh I don’t know, 3 years?

Don’t worry, republican swine! You’re future leader isn’t that dumb. He recanted. Slightly:



The American Workers are the “Fundamentals” of our Economy!
Really, John? Well that’s a strange definition of “Fundamentals” you’ve put out there. What? You’re serious? That’s your definition of “fundamentals”? Oh boy... But hey, yeah, just because I feel so bad for you (for having been steamrolled into picking Palin and looking like a complete Ass), I’ll let that one go. OK John, the “Fundamentals” of the economy are… people.

But, then…? How do you explain to the “Fundamentals” of our economy – the workers, that is – how if they’re so sound, a) they’re without a job, b) their wages have stagnated while the price of a home has jumped 200-300%, and all the while the fat-cats have been blessed with 1) tax breaks, 2) loosened oversight that has allowed them to run the middle-class into the ground, and 3) bailouts that send them packing with millions in “severance” for running their companies & workers into the ground?

Answer those questions honestly, sir, and I think you’ve lost yourself an election. And let’s just be blunt: I really am hoping you lose. And either way, your answers are enough: either you’re so far out of touch with reality that we can’t possibly trust your judgement, or b) you’re so far out of touch with reality that we cant’ possibly trust your judgement. I hope someone on the red side of the equation sees through your lies and spreads the word. I like living, and all.



My Feelings on the recent developments
This, if it continues, could be the beginning of the “New” “Great Depression.” I know it’s a scary thing to think of, but that’s important and precisely why we (as a nation) need to wake the f*ck up and vote the ‘pubs the hell outta office. Seriously, folks. This is how it all began back then, too: A decade or so of decadence, where everyone kept putting money into the market foolishly, even though the actual figures weren’t there to support it – people invested, and then more people invested because more people invested – an artificial and inaccurate assumption of net values.

Then, people started to notice that they were building their futures on a foundation of pudding.

Hey I’m not alone on this; Obama agrees with me on the matter. In fact, I hurried home from work yesterday hoping that I’d get to be the first to make the correlation. Damn him, he beat me to it!

Sh!t people… you wanna vote for someone you think you’d enjoy a beer with? I really think that me, Obama, & Olbermann could have some pretty gnarly discussions over a couple of beers: two for them, and an iced tea for me (being the non-drinking lightweight I am, and all).

Obama: A candidate I could have a beer with! Let’s vote!

The Tacoma's Finally (!) Complete

After exactly a month (date-wise, anyway) after ordering it, we finally got our camper shell installed! This is good. This means that finally, I can retire the good ol’ 4Runner. Hey, it’s not that I don’t love the old guy, but: it’s the old guy. The new guy’s better; that’s why I have it.

Anyway, yesterday was the inaugural doggy-trip with it. Nothing too big, I had to go and get some dog food as well as a doggy gate for the kitchen door (to keep them out of the rest of the house when we’re away), and I figured what the hay, take them with me so that they can get acclimated to it on a nice, easy, short outing.

I was a little leery still, because the flooring in it is not as grippy as a regular “Rhino Lining” or similar, though it is coated from the factory. I was worried that they might find it too slippery. I also wanted to make sure that the windows would provide adequate ventilation. It’s also a good 6 inches higher to get into than the 4Runner. Thus far, all’s working out OK. I had to lift Miles & Zoey into it, because they’re a little weary of it and not as athletic (and as athletically confident) as the young guys, but I think they’ll get over it. On the ventilation front, I think we’ll be OK. So far, it seems like this is going to work out grand!

Not that there’s no downsides, though; there are. For one, it limits visibility a little. The window out the rear is now further away, so I have less of a movable view of my ass-end (you know how you can move your head around to see more in the rearview? Yeah well now I just see more of the inside of the shell). Not only that, but since the windows are all tinted, I have to look through 2 tinted windows out the back, which makes everything darker than I’d really like it.

It’s all manageable though, those downsides. It’s not so limiting of visibility, really, just a slight reduction from where it was previously. It’s about like any other SUV I guess. And now I don’t have to worry about doggy dampness or anything, nor them stepping on each other as I take turns pulling .95g’s or something and starting a bitch-fest on the road.

All in all, it’s pretty sweet. Now I just have to get the 4Runner cleaned & sold!

Premonition: This movie's going to stink

It starred Sandra Bullock, OK? Give me a break. I mean, she usually does decent movies, right? (Miss Congeniality, anyone? Oops, forgot about that one, and two) Well this movie didn’t get the ravest of reviews to begin with, but it’s new and we have room to spare on our Netflix queue, so what the hell, we figured.

We figured wrong. There’s so many plot holes and inconsistencies that really, it’s not worth watching. It’s either trying to say that you can’t change the future, or that you can. But it – much like Déjá Vu before it – sort of decides to do both. Which, uh, is impossible seeing as how those ideas are mutually exclusive concepts.

Déjá Vu however, was entertaining and exciting at least. This thing, however, played more like a damn Made-for-TV pathetic-fest, but starting Sandra Bullock. And honestly, I feel taken. Screw the election, screw government corruption & cover-ups, this is what I plan to write my congressman about: a damn D- movie. Take that, Hollywood.

Chase & Hunter: Coming into Their Own

Yeah the pups are progressing nicely. They’re filling out well and learning really fast. In fact, they’re probably the fastest-learned dogs I’ve ever met, and definitely the most loyal Labrador PUPPIES I’ve ever encountered. I specify PUPPIES in large type because Labs are most definitely loyal family dogs, but they do have a tendency when they’re young to go and explore with little thought as to whether they can find their way back…

However these guys aren’t a concern in that regard. I can walk out anywhere with them and they’re all-eyes-on-me, just about all the time unless I tell them it’s OK; they do not want to be left behind, in the least. In fact on an outing last week, I ended up on the opposite side of a river from them, and started walking away from shore to find a lost tennis ball. This was too much for them, too scary: they both started yelping and crying so much that me & The Girl couldn’t help but laugh, and man, can they swim real fast when they have that sort of motivation! Don’t LEAVE ME, Daddy!

They’re each getting better, too. Chase was the less physically-adept of the two initially, but he’s filling out really well right now. Hunter’s still a might-bit better-looking, but Chase is rapidly catching up anymore. And he’s also become less timid as time has gone by, as well. And it still stands that Chase is faster in the water, while Hunter’s faster across the land. However, they both outclass poor Miles anymore. Yeah, poor Miles; he used to be the superstar, but anymore it’s rather apparent that the other two are younger, faster, stronger, and more agile. Already. Chase will now tackle waves that Miles is hesitant to face. And if you know Miles, or if you actually read the pertinent blogs, you know that that is quite a feat. Chase is fast and fearless, dammit.

Hunter’s a little less gung-ho still, but he’s getting better. Chase will launch himself out into the surf or the water or about anything to get himself out in front of everyone to get the ball. Hunter though, is content to let the crowd dissipate, or let them get it, whichever comes first; however if I throw a ball for the others to fight over, then toss one out into the surf another direction solely for him, he’s quite game to throwing himself out there, too. I guess he just doesn’t like the needless competition. And Hunter might be a tad bit quicker on the pickup of ideas: he’s got the concept of “get the ball” or “get (whatever),” whereby if I point and tell him to get it, he’ll go and bring it to me. Chase isn’t quite as fly in that regard, but indeed, if there’s something in the water… a little bit of goading later, and he’s off to get it for me.

Yeppers, two fine, intelligent new pups we have. Two fine, unaltered pups, too.



Still with their Manhoods
Yeah about that: since they were found and subsequently don’t have a chance of breeding, it’s not like I plan to keep them ball-equpped for eternity. However, especially considering their relatively thin appearance when I found them, I wanted them to have the best chance of fully filling-out, too. So I decided the balls would stay until they are fully matured. That way, they get as big and strong as they are going to get.

And hell, who knows: It’s not like they’re getting anyone pregnant around here. If they don’t act like loons and can manage to be good little boys… maybe they can keep their little boys.

They’re so damn cute! And you know what, I never thought I’d be the type of guy to say that about someone else’s testicles. My own, maybe, but not others’.

Times, they change I guess. Who knew?

Most Unnecessary Title Ever?

This is old news by now, but…

The title for this article from my Yahoo! Home page: “Big Bang Machine Doesn’t Destroy World”

… Really? Huh. Hadn’t noticed. :-|

Apple TV in near future, VoIP in Near Future, & Dry Loop

Apple Sells me, inadvertently, on Apple TV
Today Apple unveiled iTunes version 8, which supports HDTV downloads. Finally! Now I can watch Lost in HD, without having to wait for it on Blu-Ray. Which means, finally, I’ll be able to keep up with my favorite show, and be on the right season to boot.

I haven’t seen an episode of Lost since sometime last year. And that last season won’t even be available on disc until December – a short month or so before the new season begins.

I might have to opt for a faster internet connection, too!



Perhaps not so inadvertently?
This was probably their plan all along. Nice. Still though, not upset the least that I waited for it to culminate.



Vonage, VoIP, may be in my future
Since we’re talking about technology & internet, right? OK, so it seems like Vonage or some other VoIP service may be in our future.

Currently we’re spending about $40 a month on phone service. We don’t talk too much to anyone, though when we do it’s typically long distance (to family spread across the states). The way at&t has their tiers set up, it’s very possible (even potentially for us) to pay for the cheaper plan but end up paying more. Hold up: who the hell decided nights & weekends begins at 9pm? I live on the f*cking west coast, dammit. If I call Dad on the eastern seaboard, well that’s not quite talk time for him, now is it?

Well Vonage at least, has a plan that starts out at $15 a month. And the taxes ought to be less, so instead of ~$50 a month, we should spend about ~$20 a month. That’s $30 a month savings at least. Really considering it right now, except…



$10 more for a non-phone-line-equipped internet package?
At&t also sees fit to charge you an additional $10 for their “dry loop” DSL, which is basically DSL without a real phone line. Which means that realistically, the switch will end up saving us only $20 a month after adding on the additional DSL charge.

I have seen steps to take in order to get Dry Loop for the same price as regular (and shouldn’t they be offering it that way anyhow, regulators out there?), so I’m of course going to try that. But anyway, if I DO go VoIP, and I DO get a faster connection to support HDTV downloads… that’s a savings of roughly $10 a month, plus I have the hassle of everything going everywhere (phone bill to these guys, internet to these guys), though it’s all still very much intricately linked in nature.

We’re considering it. I leave it at that.

Tommy Lee Jones suing makers of NCFOM

Count me in! Sh!t, after having to suffer through that weird jumble of unrelated scenes they tried to call a movie, I feel that I, too, deserve $10 million.

I mean yeah, he acted in it and all, but my pain is partly his fault. I bought some of the hype surrounding that suck-fest of a movie because a decent name like his was in it. Hook line & sinker, in fact. I figured it was a shoe-in for a “add to my collection” kind of movie. How surprised was I when it turned out to be the discombobulated mess that it was?

Pretty surprised, I say! No Country for Old Men? I’d prefer No Country for Sucky Movies, really. Or more precisely, No Country for Old Men trying to make Sucky Movies.

Freddie & Fannie, Sittin' in a Tree. And then they F*CKING FELL

Yeah I know, I’m always late to the party, aren’t I? Whatever man, I have a real job – this is just a hobby that I do for myself (what with such few visitors!)

Anyway, by now we’ve all heard the news, right? The government is going to be bailing out Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae. How awesome is that? Well if you’re high up the corporate ladder, it’s all pretty cool, I suppose. You get millions, a cushy severance package, while all the poorer people get… well, all of their investment money wiped out, and probably lose their job as those companies cut jobs to cut losses (instead of cutting the salaries & bonuses & said severance packages of loser leadership persons).

See? This is what “free market,” unregulated business gets you, people: hell. Yeah that’s right, because the gov’t has to step in and save it from sinking, otherwise… the whole system falls apart, right? So… we don’t regulate the businesses, make sure they’re playing by rules – and following them! – and then when the greedy bastards at the top decide to f*ck it all up, we still have to step in and bail them out. On OUR dime.

All of the pain, none of the profits. This is what your Republican overlords have you voting for, people. It’s free play time for the rich. Get paid to sink other people’s hard-earned money. And when you do a sh!tty job, you get paid some more, and probably another high-paying job somewhere else ruining middle-America’s lives.

So, yeah. Government deregulation at work. Still want to play that game for four more years?

What? What do you mean yes? Who cares if gays get married? Give me a break! It’s not harming YOU, is it? But this is. Morals? You call those morals? Oh get over it, already. If nothing else, you ought to support their rights in order to protect yours. Look: if a couple of gay people get married, you’re not going to be a) without a job and a retirement, or b) suddenly turn gay yourself or know someone who does. BUT, if you let these guys continue to tear apart our economy and send our troops to fight illegitimate wars, you might very well be out of a job, and your family members – who are military – might just end up dead or wounded. For all eternity.

What?! No it really is an illegitimate war. Really. No it had nothing to do with terrorism, man!

Dammit, you guys… what’ll it take?

Republicans Lie? Naaah!

Hey seriously, if you’re not yet convinced that the republicans are just liars & thieves that would say anything at any given moment just be able to strip you of your money & rights… Watch this.

It’s scary how dumb they assume we all are. What’s scarier though, is that their assumptions keep proving true. Take a look here. If you hover over the blue states, the “strong democrat” states are voting around 55% each of the last four elections. If you hover over the “strong republican” states, they’re voting closer to 70% to their party of favor. WOW.

This really is scary times, folks. We need to collectively wake up and realize what the f*ck is going on. We’re not invincible and ignorance is not going to make us better. We can crumble like any world power that came before us; we’re not invincible.

Apparently, just dumb.

My Poor, Poor Couch. I wish you the best.

Hey I love my new puppies. They’re fun, smart, entertaining… and troublesome, did I mention that? Maybe once? Twice, maybe? Well it got a whole lot better recently. So good in fact, that we’ve taken to just locking them all outside whilst we’re gone for any decent amount of time (and sometimes for short outings).

I was at work a few nights ago when I got the phone call. “Manager you have a call parked on 101.” I figured it was a customer or an employee calling for something, so when I answered and recognized the voice as that of The Girl’s, I was a little worried. And it didn’t get any better when I asked what was wrong and she said “I’m not sure I should tell you.”

Of course by now we’ve all seen that picture, so it’s no mystery as to what they did: they chewed a hole in the armrest of my couch, and proceeded to pull out all of the stuffing. Yes, that’s a real picture of the actual damage. Click it for a larger view, if you desire. Go ahead; laugh at my expense. F*ckers.

How do you beat a dog with stuffing? If someone can figure that out, please let me know. Because for the life of me, I couldn’t find a way to make it work. And dammit, believe me I tried.

Anyway. We’re trying to put it back together. We’re moving kind of slow at it right now though. I expect that by the end of September, that we’ll have a fully-functional couch. It’s early in the month, however. We have time. We’ll see what happens.

House Of Flying Daggers Recommended

So… I think I’m going to have to swear off of movies that are heralded as “visual masterpieces.” I fell for it with that trifle of a movie Across the Universe. And again, last night, we ended up falling for it again with House of Flying Daggers. Oh. My. God.

I just don’t get it. It’s… crap? I will say this, though: Those Easterners, they have some imagination. It’s not good imagination mind you, but still it’s quite some imagination. Watch this movie, you’ll understand what I mean. Oh. My. God. And you know what? It’s got the beginnings of a good story. But they don’t make anything of it, instead trying to focus on palettes of color in place of substance of character. They tried to be artistic & symbolic, and instead just failed miserably at making a worthwhile movie.

It’s called House of Flying Daggers because it’s supposedly about an underground Chinese anit-government cult by that name. However, very little about the movie has anything to do with them. I mean hell, the could have called it “Flying Space Monkeys eat Spaghetti,” and it would have applied to the actual film content about as much as the title they did go with. It’s like calling your house The Blue House but it’s painted red or something. I mean, why?

There’s too much to really tear it all apart here; it’s just ridiculous from beginning to end. However, the end has two hilarious things that I DO have to mention. First up, ‘The Conundrum:’

There’s this love triangle: A woman who has an old flame that can’t let go, and a new guy she’s in love with. They’re all warriors of course, so it’s a fight to the death between the males, and the old flame by this point as mortally wounded the love of his life for betraying him by sticking a dagger into her heart. Now, after laying dead for a while, she gets up to stop them from fighting. As her old flame is preparing to throw a dagger and kill the new flame, she tells him that if he throws his dagger to kill the new guy, she’ll throw her dagger to hill him, and thus herself as well. This is supposedly a conundrum. It’s such a conundrum that the new guy drops his weapon and marches towards the old flame, saying that since he’s closer, her dagger would not reach the other guy in time, and she’d die for nothing.

Except that… the most logical way out of that situation is to just tell the other guy “dude, don’t throw your knife; we’ll all die man. You don’t throw yours, I don’t die, you don’t die, and she doesn’t die. Win-win-win, dude.”

This simple logic however, fails to reach their feeble brains.

OK now on to the 2nd idiotic thing, ‘The Winter Battle:’

In this same fight scene at the end, they’re fighting in a field on a sunny-but-cloudy day. Suddenly the scene turns to obviously-fake snow storm! AAAAHHH!!!! It’s actually so fake as to be ridiculous, and so superfluous that the only thing that I can think that made them make the scene that had no snow (in an open field) was this: They filmed an ending in the field, but they figured out in editing that it sucked (apparently, more than the ending they eventually went with, which is a scary thought). Anyway, they had to film the scene a different way, but now it was winter, so they just figured they’d go back and edit in a snow storm into the old footage.

And you know what? If it wasn’t for those darn kids, they would have gotten away with it, too. You know, those darn kids, and maybe 20/20 vision, and, like, anyone with half a brain. If it wasn’t for that stuff though, they totally would have convinced people. Totally.

:-|

However, I recommend you see it. I almost turned it off, but in all reality, I’m glad I saw it. The movie almost works on a comedic level it’s so bad, and honestly, you have to see it all from beginning to end to really get the full effect. No lie, I’m recommending a movie that I know full-well sucks ass. And I’m not kidding. It’s so bad, you have to see it.

If you have seen Magnolia with Tom Cruise? That movie sucked too, right? But if you had turned it off before the end, you would have missed out on the raining frogs, remember? And remember how you laughed your ass off at that? The movie was so bad, and that scene so obnoxiously absurd, that it was almost worth it. Well, that same thing applies here. It’ s so obnoxiously absurd, that it’s almost worth it.

So give it a rent. You can blame me later ;-)

Drive-by-Wire, & The Republican Insult comes unravelled

Drive-By-Wire takes getting used to

The new Tacoma – like a lot of new vehicles – uses a drive-by-wire throttle mechanism, whereby the gas pedal is not connected to the engine via a cable, but by electronic sensors. In the 4Runner, I can ‘feel’ the throttle, and it’s noticeably different when I’m approaching an incline: the 4Runner, I can sort of feel where I am and apply just enough additional pressure to get the tranny to downshift before it bogs down.

Not so in the Tacoma. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not actually connected to the motor via my foot, or if it’s just a matter of getting used-to, but even though I try to step in just enough to downshift before I bog down, it hasn’t seem to happen that way.

I’m not trashing my new ride; just pointing out that it’s different. Might have to change the way I behave a little to get the most out of it.

Firs thing I’m going to do is try wearing pants. See if that makes a difference.



Speaking of Pants
Questions have arisen regarding the haste in which McCain chose Palin as VP. Is there really any question here? Obama didn’t choose Hilary, so he quickly chose a Republican Woman to try and gain that upper-hand.

It was not about choosing Palin; it was about choosing a female to try and get that voter base from Obama. Sort of a “hey look at me! Obama didn’t choose a woman, but I did! Vote for me because obviously I’m more sympathetic to your needs!”

Turns out that this woman is sort of a monster, eh? I mean, she was a part of a party that wanted her state to secede from the Union (though vaguely). She’s involved in an investigation into allegations she fired top advisors because they wouldn’t fire her ex-brother-in-law. And this anti-abortion, abstinence-is-the-way conformist also has a teenage daughter who’s pregnant, and – oh yeah! – plans on marrying the father. Shotgun wedding, anyone?

Gotta love the Republicans. Unless of course you can form complete sentences & think critically for yourself. But yeah, if you can’t do those two things, I’m sure you’d love the Republican platform. :-|

So are the dumbasses catching on yet? That they’re just pawns here? That they’re being played? Like fiddles? Yeah, you’re right: probably not. Four more years, huh? Dammit.



What a fun example!
Wow. Talk about an example blowing right up in your face, huh? Take a stance that abstinence is best and works, by golly! And then your own daughter winds up prego, so you force her into getting married so that it’s not illegitimate.

And, you know, rather than critically assess your own platform, maybe look at the stats & the reasoning, and conclude – like many researchers – that sex is going to happen and the best way is probably education & access to the proper contraceptives & good care, you decide to just keep on preaching the same wrong song.

Gotta love those Republicans, eh? Yeah, me too.