Dedication

I think the single most difficult challenge to maintaining a blog is finding a new topic that has some semblance of interesting subject matter. During the past few days PE B Obama has unveiled his cabinet selections for his administration and they seem ok. I think Richardson is a good pick (though I thought he deserved a better slot) Hilary as Sec State makes sense from a power play move (unify the party and all that). She should do well there; but its a bit interesting as she is significantly stronger at foreign policy than Obama; in fact in this position she could (should she feel vindictive) really make Barack look bad. I really think she could drive foreign policy without really conferring with POTUS, or potentially throw him into some situations he might not know all that much about. Now I don't think that would be a good idea, but it does put a bit of a hammer over his head.

One thing that does bug me however are these comparisons of Obama to FDR and JFK and Lincoln. No, no, and no. Let him govern for at least a few months ok? I know everything today is covered in hyperbole because we have stations of 24hr news and they need something to talk about. And lets face it the more controversial the better; it sells or gets covered and its publicity. Also Lincoln was a visionary in that he filled his cabinet with the best people; not the best people in a party; but the best people. They didn't get along all that well, but they were smart and they had best interests at heart. Its sad now that we can't do that; too many favors are owed to to many people to put the country first. However, despite this, I'm optimistic for this administration, we need to pull together on core understandings for the better of the nation; not just parties, the time is right to do that, as we are looking for a leader and optimism. I think Obama has that now, he needs to follow through. Its going to be challenging because the expectations are so high, but if he recognises this he can do very well. I hope he will.

Pirates!

So if you watch or read the news at all these days you'll see that pirates are all the rage these days. They recently grabbed a boat full of tanks and heavy weapons and the other day grabbed a supertanker full of oil worth around 100mil. Now governments refuse to talk with the pirates, but insurance companies and the shipping companies find it much better to deal and often pay the ransom on the ships and everybody is happy. The pirates essentially have their own town/port on the coast that is owned and run by the pirates; not unlike the islands featured in pirates of the Carribean. This is good news for those concerned with climate change because according to the gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), Global warming is inversely related to the number of pirates! So with estimates that there may be close 6-10 thousand pirates running around again, that means in the past 8 years we should have dropped over a full degree C in global temperature. See my updated chart here:

What this means: Well clearly if you've been paying attention it has gotten incredibly cold already this year, this indicates the onset of global cooling due to the afore mentioned revival of pirates, which importantly means (hopefully) very good skiing this year!

Al Gore there is no need to worry anymore!

For more information on this topic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Going.....Blu?

So it seems that 'going green' is all the rage now. I have noticed that NBC has spray painted the poor peacock all green (why? I don't know some kind of environmental kick?), so I guess by making the green people happy it has offended PETA because everyone knows that spray painting your pets is evil and meat is murder. Personally I'm all for eating meat, not only is it important to a fully balanced diet it tastes DELICIOUS. Case and a point a few weeks ago Timea and I went to Ruth Chris' and ordered a steak which i could cut with a fork. (It also tasted amazing)

Anyway I was sitting on my couch the other day playing with my Blu-Ray again. See when I first bought a dvd player I did the same thing; you need something to watch. So I am adding to my growing library which currently consists of the matrix box set, I am Legend, Space Cowboys, Pans Labyrinth and Band of Brothers (Iron Man Special addition is $19 this week at Target is next) I was watching band of brothers, and yes the led on the Blu ray does glow blue when on. So it looks really really great; and I really like the series because its powerful and its based on real history to the extent that the actions and persons were real even though some of the stuff seems impossible for a human to do. I guess a lot of it pride and courage and other stuff that might just happen in the moment. They call those men part of the greatest generation; I would have to agree, I just don't see my generation being able to shoulder the demands of global war. However, while watching this my eyes were distracted by my Wii which was randomly glowing blue. I don't know why it does that. It is not 'on', (by that token clearly not 'off' either as its using electricity to glow) and its annoying because then I have to go over to it and unplug it. But I have to question whether the wii feels inferior and therefore glows blue (of all colors) requesting use. Weird.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

So I played hockey on Friday night which was a lot of fun. It was a class down from the last game so as I suddenly was a major contributor to our team; it was significantly more enjoyable.

Now in light of my forgetting gloves at the last game, I made doubly sure that I had all my equipment. So upon getting to the rink and opening my bag imagine my dismay missing a very vital piece of equipment. For a guy its a really really important piece. That would be my cup. So that left me with two options play sans one, or not play. Rummaging through the bag again in a desperate attempt I pulled out one of my flip flops. It is foamy and firm yet mildly flexing. In a moment of sheer necessity I tied the flip flop to my pants in he area where the cup should be, a few pieces of tape and voila! makeshift ball protection! Needless to say I told no one about this lest I be poke checked to test the integrity of my design; but it was pretty comfortable and I made it through the game. I was just hoping that it wouldn't fall out and I'd have to explain why there is a flip flop on the ice.

See Charles you aren't the only one with makeshift athletic equipment.

James Bust; neither shaken nor stirring

So as the title (I thought it was pretty clever actually) might suggest we saw the newest James Bond movie Quantum of Solace on Saturday. It was, in my opinion not only the worst of the series but far and away the most disappointing. Maybe it was that I thought the remake of Casino Royale was a highly enjoyable romp and I thought that Daniel Craig makes a much more gritty and interesting character as Bond that I was highly anticipating his return performance. Unfortunately despite the fact that Craig is highly accomplished and believable in his role, he was given no script or plotline to follow. Clearly following the all too popular trend of selling out, Bond has become episodal like 24. Basically nothing happens between the end of Casino Royale to the end of this, nothing is answered, nothing makes any sense (Potential Spoiler alert, nothing concrete however)


It was quite evident at the end of the movie that the writers working on this couldn't agree on the story or which way to go (maybe the first set were fired?) There were inclinations of a potentially interesting and engaging story of intrigue; instead the viewer got a whole lot of action scenes with nothing to stimulate at all any sense of resolution, no unravelling of any semblance of secret organisation, just frustration as questions mounted with no answers. Perhaps most insulting even is there is this 'organisation' that has a vague purpose, Bond questions the man who headed it (apparently during a car ride, which the viewer is not privy to) and on leaving the car he says "I've told you everything." No he hasn't; he has said nothing! I would highly recommend NOT seeing this movie unless you just want to see lots of violence and action; and have your brain hurt from lack of use and insult by the end.

Hockey Tonight!

So for second time in about 5 years I will be strapping on some skates and playing in an organized hockey game. The last time was several weeks ago; and while it was fun, it was an interesting time.

First I got dressed and was impressed that I had remembered everything so I got up and then it hit me: gloves. Crap. I had forgottten my gloves (as they are actually used when I play roller hockey) So I had to ask the rink attendant for a pair of gloves from the lost and found. They were like mighty duck gloves; purple, teal, and white; why someone would buy them is one thing, why they would leave them behind; not so hard a decision.

Second, my skates which had not been sharpened for also 5 years were.... well not sharp. As a result I spent a good time of the game sliding on all fours. So the plan is to have nice sharp edges and looking for a goal tonight. Last time I was surprised that I wasnt as badly winded as I expected to be, we'lls see if I repeat tonight. Stay tuned!

The Ski bug

So its about that time when I really start thinking about skiing. And it doesnt help (Whistler people pay attention) when you send me emails with pictures of the mountain covered in snow and say 40cm in the last 2 days with more on the way. I'm not going to Whistler this year, so don't torture me more than I already am doing to myself. I'm excited to see everyone in Minnesota, but next year I think I will need to go big again. Maybe Jackson Hole as the new tram will be a year old and have hopefully worked out the kinks. Jackson was a lot of fun. Big Sky also looks really good, Utah, Colorado...

Anyway so i plopped on the couch the other day and stuck in a ski video (in my new Blu-Ray player) and I must say the upconvert does do a pretty good job. However, my opinion of Blu-Ray and hi-def in general is mixed. I think it looks better; but its still TV, I can still see pixels, blurring.... I dont know. I feel this is all a big scam to make us think we are getting 'great picture.' When they re-record movies to Blu-Ray did you know what they are recorded at? Its actually 4 times the resolution of a Blu-Ray so a Blu-Ray is what 25GB/layer. So out there are plans for a 200GB/layer (assuming disk media) So why record it at that resolution if theres nothing in the pipeline? Makes me think that the Blu-Ray will be short lived- maybe 5 years? This of course also infers that a new standard of TV is also indevelopment to take advantage of this.

So its a vicious cycle of spending and consumer naivity; which is fine by me; I love my toys

Oil Change

I changed my oil the other day. I sometimes feel as thought I'm the only one who actually does it themselves. And per usual I smashed my fist on the bottom of the frame when the wrench slips after breaking the seal on the oil plug. Its a vicious cycle. Somehow I think that my blood contribution makes my car happy and running so it will continue. But seriously every 3k miles I run down to Walmart get 5qts of oil and then to Napa for a filter and I change the oil. We have creeper at home, if you change your oil or like working under the hood you should get one (if you dont already)

Speaking of which I am debating stopping by this random house and asking the owner if I can buy his mustang. Its a '70 and its been sitting under this tree forever. I think it would be a fun project. (It would need new.... everything)

Blogging isnt easy.... its a serious commitment

Ick....

So I am full of phlegm today; which is really gross. I'm sure everyone was really desperate to know that, but this is a really poor blog. It really is amazing when you think about it what a delicate balance the human body maintains, we rely on thousands of bacteria to make everything work correctly; but you throw in a virus or another bacteria the human bacteria karma is lost and anarchy reigns. Oddly enough most of the parts of our lives are the same way. Maybe we need to simplify every now and again to balance it all out.

Perhaps I will take that approach with my fantasy football team this week, strip it down to the simplest denominator and try not to over analyse matchups.
FIN

Congratulations Barack Obama

Well I went to bed last night content with the decision of the country, I didn't vote for him, (I didn't vote for McCain either) with regards to my personal agenda of voting for a third party I was more content with it than I think any vote I have ever cast. Why? well for the first time I wasn't with people who only vote for party or for the most popular but instead for a change vote that would have really shaken things up.

At the end of the next four years I guarantee we will still be talking about:
Healthcare reform
Reforming Social Security
Medicare being Bankrupt in 10 years
(I think Iraq will be done thank God)
Pakistan will be a mess

Social security never was a 'Right' it isn't in the Constitution nor was Medicare. Both were started because someone smart thought hmm we take in more in tax money than we put out. Hmmm maybe we should take this and create a fund for elderly people (boomers) to support them through retirement.

The US doesn't take in more than we give away anymore. That's why these are going bankrupt. Balance the budget and a lot more problems go away than getting rid of pet projects. Its what we must do.

Barack Obama has to realize that only about half the country voted for him, he has to bridge the differences and make people believe his ideas are best for the country. He is my president too, but I worry that he has created this aura around him that people truly believe he will make sweeping changes and the streets will flow with milk and honey. I am actually afraid for him that he will disappoint his own backers even by being a decent president. He has a lot of work ahead of him, but a congress and house to back his bills. I'm scared of the rubber stamp. But today I am hopeful and optimistic. God bless the United States of America

Woohoo the first Post!

I really like the Libertarian party. I can't vote for one which is crap (thanks CT judge) But it comes down to fiscal responsibility.
Q)How well does a company stock do if the company constantly looses money every quarter?
A)Its stock goes down until it prints more stock to regain capital. The stock price falls further

This is inflation, our government is doing the same thing. They continue to print money and as a consequence my money is worth less. I hate that.

The situation is such where
1) I don't have enough money to buy a house.
2)The money I save is depreciating in value so I still can't buy a house as I save
3)The value of the house I want to buy is deterioration because the dollar is worth crap but at a slower rate than that my money is deteriorating.
4)My tax money is being used to bail out crooks who failed the entire nation, AND THEN PAY THEM BONUSES!!!!! 50 million of the first 125 million doled out has been EARMARKED FOR YEAR END BONUSES TO PEOPLE WHO MAKE BETWEEN 80-600K A YEAR!!!! How is that possible? Permissable?

I hate that we are the world police. Get out. Now. If they really want to kill eachother why should we stand between them?
I like the idea of re-instituting the gold standard.
I like ending global aid (How do we dole out money we don't have?)
I like getting rid of the income tax for the lower and middle class. Why not? Cut spending! and voila excess money!
I like running a country like you'd run a well run company. Who better than Mike Bloomberg in 2012!