Remember when I used to post here? Me too. Soon again, I hope.

Rush At Redrocks Pt II

Last night was incredible. I haven't been to a concert in ages. About the only place I'll go anymore is Red Rocks. It's the only place that seems to be worth the hassle. Last night was the first time I've been to Red Rocks when it hasn't rained.

I got excited right off the bat. Where I parked required me to pass the parking area for the tour buses. There were four big identical RVs, one with a motorcycle trailer, ramp down and Neil Peart's brand of choice, a BMW sitting next to it. I took a picture with my cell phone.

The show opened with an amusing little film but all I really cared about was the music. I kind of make a big deal out of waiting 30 years to see Rush. It's partially a joke, obviously I could have seen them sometime in between the age of 15 and now. But even though it's a joke it felt like a huge deal to me. Here is a band that I've known and loved for the better part of 40 years and I'm finally going to get to see them playing all the songs I love live.

The set list (courtesy of Westword - also a review with good photos)

RUSH - SETLIST
Red Rocks Amphitheatre - 08.16.10

1. The Spirit Of Radio
2. Time Stand Still
3. Presto
4. Stick It Out
5. Workin' Them Angels
6. Leave That Thing Alone
7. Faithless
8. I Was Brought Up to Believe
9. Freewill
10. Marathon
11. Subdivisions

SET TWO

12. Tom Sawyer
13. Red Barchetta
14. YYZ
15. Limelight
16. The Camera Eye
17. Witch Hunt
18. Vital Signs
19. Caravan
20. Drum Solo
21. Closer To The Heart
22. 2112 Part I: Overture
23. 2112 Part II: The Temples Of Syrinx
24. Far Cry

ENCORE

25. LaVilla Strangiato
26. Working Man

For reasons that are hard to explain, it was as close to a spiritual moment as I've ever had at a concert. I looked out at the crowd and saw people singing along with the newer songs from more recent albums. I was amongst my people.

Am I Wishy Washy?

I think the Republicans are starting to make a come back into the halls of power. It's a little hard to say. Maybe I'm just paying more attention recently. The reason I say this is because they are starting to get on my nerves a lot more lately. We really do have a short attention span don't? Last month it was immigration, this month it's that Goddamn mosque. Don't get me wrong, the Democrats are still my number one enemy as far as political parties go but as conservative as I am, I find that whoever is the loudest complainer at the moment is the one that bugs me the most. It's kind of like Atheists vs Christians to me. The loud ones are the most annoying. The same with gay marriage. I was thinking about this the other day and unless I'm missing something I'm now for polygamy too. I have to be consistent, and if I believe that interracial marriage and same sex marriage aren't harmful to society (which I really don't) then marriage between three or more consenting adults is okay to right? Maybe my logic is flawed.

I think my take on the "GZ Mosque" (again for the short attention spanned among us) is best summed up in this article in the National Review Online - A Very Long Post On Cordoba House and an op ed by Cato Institute's Gene Healy in the Washington Examiner - 'Mosque' debate is a red herring. That last one really speaks to me. There for awhile I was really excited when people started talking about the deficit and things that mattered. The common folk were (and still are) riled up but that got turned into and argument about Tea Parties being racist, what the...how did that happen? Is it a grand conspiracy to minimize important issues or is it news channels just trying to grab more ratings be sensationalizing everything.

Oh my beautiful country, our beautiful country. Can't we just stay focused.

Lisa and I were going into Walmart last night and we were holding hands as we usually do. I was walking along oblivious as I usually do and Lisa mentioned that a pretty young girl smiled at us. I asked her why and she said it was because we're old and chubby. I prefer to think that it's because we're old, chubby and cute.

Now I Know Obama Is In Real Trouble

How do I know? When my 100% apolitical wife (who voted for Obama) is waiting for 2012 in hopes that someone else will win and the economy will get better. This is seriously the most politics the missus and I have ever discussed. The only reason she hates Sarah Palin is that she lets Alaskans hunt wolves. It's not that she agrees with any of her other views, it's just that she doesn't care. Of course she hates Ken Salazar because he removed gray wolves from the endangered species list but hasn't made the connection that Salazar works for Obama. I'm not bagging on my wife. I love her more for it and I'm sure you all wish I were more like her.

By the way, this has nothing to do with anything but I take great satisfaction in the fact that my spell checker does not recognize Obama's name.

I'm Going Out On A Limb

I'm going to start mocking the hurricane season now and get it over with early. I could end up looking like a fool. Possibly not.

NOAA Warns of Possibility of Worst Hurricane Season Ever

Frank Frazetta

It's late and I'm tired. I wish I had time to write a more fitting entry. I just learned that Frank Frazetta passed away today. He was one of my heroes as a geeky loner in middle school and high school. I spent a lot of time recreating is muscle bound barbarians and fur clad damsels. He had an amazing life. He suffered a stroke in his seventies and taught himself how to paint with his left hand when his right became all but useless due to the stroke.

I didn't know him but I think he probably would have judged his life good. Thanks for helping this nerd (and millions more) out.

This Day In History

Well, last Sunday actually.

In one of the many commencement speeches he's given (where does he find time to ruin the country) Barack Hussein Obama declares he cannot operate an iPod. Of course all of his critics jump him for it and I'm no different. Who does this imbecile think he's fooling? Aren't you fence straddlers tired of being preached to. I know it's another small thing to gripe about but to me it's just one more indication of his lack of sincerity. It is enormously condescending. Don't trust technology. Get your information from trusted sources. "I may only be a caveman, just recently thawed from a block of ice, your mechanical iron bird is a mystery to me but you can trust me." Right on Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.

The Best Part Of My Job

The thing I like about working in an airport has got to be watching a little toddler run down the exit isle toward his or her grandparents, arms outstretched with grandma's big smile or a family holding signs and balloons for their GI Dad or Mom coming home and the excitement when they see him or her come around the corner. There's usually some crying involved (not me, yet anyway).

May Cause Emotional Distress

I've started taking some kind of medicine for the migraines I've been having since about January. The neurologist gave me a run down of the side effects. They were:

1. weight loss (right on)
2. tingling in the finger tips and toes (eh. no biggy)
3. slight mental confusion (again, no biggy as I live with that daily)
4. and carbonated beverages will taste bad.

Screech. Hold on a minute. Mountain Dew and Boddingtons now taste flat and crappy. I'll be on the medicine for about another month or so. No wonder there's weight loss.

Nuts.

One More And That's It

When I was a young boy my father used to denounce rock'n'roll by claiming he could sing better than Robert Plant or Mick Jagger or whoever we were listening to at the moment. Here at last is someone my father actually can sing better than. Congrats Dad.

Those Ugly Racists

Subtitle: Keith Oberman, suck it!

Allen West's Message For Nancy Pelosi

Funny.

Rush At Redrocks

I'm excited, tickets go on sale for Rush at Redrocks Amphitheater tomorrow. I haven't been in a concert going mood for years but I think I'm going to try to get tickets for this one. Reo Speedwagon is also playing this summer there. I've seen them three times already though and they just aren't the same without Gary Richrath.

Overdoing A Good Thing

I know I just did this a few weeks ago but the iTunes is really picking up it's game on the shuffle function. So far I've had:

John The Revelator - Son House. I went through a blues phase a few years ago after a motorcycle trip to Clarksdale Mississippi. This is a crazy a capella song and not the type of thing I usually listen to but I love it.
Have A Drink On Me - AC/DC. The other end of the spectrum. A classic in it's own right.
What Are We Waiting For - The Yayhoos. A group with Dan Baird, whom I didn't appreciate until long after the Georgia Satellites were no more. I love that they give a shout out to Jackie Gleason.
Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry. This may come off as gay but if I could have anyone's voice it would be Steve Perry's.
Just Can't Wait - J. Geils Band. The first 8 track I ever bought was "Love Stinks".
Slide Devil Man Slide - Popa Chubby. I can't remember where I first heard this song. I probably had an immature attraction to Popa's name. This is some crazy slide guitar with the whole "crossroads" theme of the devil and a young boy.
Train In Vain - The Clash. This is from the more recent "Live: From Here To Eternity" album. These guys would have been something to see live.
Killing Floor - Howling Wolf. There for awhile I was playing from my blues playlist. I got this at the same time as Son House. I knew Howling Wolf from the ZZ Top song. I figured if he's good enough for ZZ he's good enough for me.
Hurtin' Kind (I Got My Eyes On You) - Robert Plant. I saw Robert on tour for this album with my brother. One of the great memories of my life.
Life By The Drop - Stevie Ray Vaughn. This one got me started tonight. This is from his last album. I think of all the great music we missed out on and it makes me sad. I usually don't give a rat's ass about dead celebrities but I really miss Stevie.
Headknocker - Foreigner. You can't beat the lyrics, "He drives a 57 coupe and walks with a stoop".
Land Of Confusion - Disturbed. From what I understand I probably wouldn't like the rest of their stuff. I'm sure when they came out with this song it was about Bush and the war and such. Seems quaint now.
Con Alma - Dizzy Gillespie. I should mention that I was going through a jazz period around the same time as my blues phase. I don't know enough about the intricacies of syncopation and such but even I can tell this guy had it going on.
Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan. Bought because I heard it had a wicked Jimmy Page solo. I almost can't sit through the first part to get there though. Maybe some LSD would help?
Moody Blue - Elvis Presley. "Tell me, am I getting through?" IT'S THE KING BABY!!!

Thanks for indulging my list. I don't really have anyone to talk to about music anymore and I think it's why I'm so cranky about the current state of America. Well, that and the current state is kinda messed up these days.

My Day

Nothing much happened. I came out of a bathroom stall and nearly ran full on into Hagrid. This guy had to have been 6'5" if he was an inch. His hair was disheveled and when I said "excuse me" his reply was a grunt. The only difference was he was in shorts and a t-shirt. Kind of Hagrid on holiday.

Confessions of a Libertarian Federal Employee

Or how I learned to stop worrying and live with being a hypocrite. (Hint: It involves prodigious amounts of alcohol.)

I guess it's time for the big anti-government federal employee to explain how it all came to be. I have a high school degree and a highly specialized career. Unfortunately there are only so many ways I can go with my ability to disarm bombs. My career as a private contractor (still living off the tax payer's dime) was great except for the fact that I was married and on the road 300 days a year. When I wasn't on the road I wasn't getting paid. Now I get to be with my wife and have a steady paycheck.

There is literally not a day that goes by that I don't think of myself as a hypocrite. I don't tell the wife though because she would feel bad that I'm doing this for her and do something stupid like try to make me go back on the road. And I'm not worried about her reading it here, she's not that interested in my blog.

Don't get me wrong. I think what I do and what a lot of Federal employees do are worthwhile enough. It's just the level of waste and incompetence in so much of what goes on makes my skin crawl. It's a terrible mindset of just making due that I hope I never become accustom to (no rhyme intended). If I hadn't come in as a Libertarian I would have become one after seeing what goes on here.

So for now I'm one of the growing number of people who find themselves not producing and living off of the 53% of America that pays taxes. I hope you'll all forgive me and that the Tea Party puts me out of a job.

A little update. I just reread this after a few days and it didn't age well. I should clarify that I'm not nearly as self loathing as this post makes me appear. And I'm not self-medicating with liquor. That's just a joke.

A Little Change Of Pace

I was just doing some of those Living Social "Pick Five"things and listening to iTunes and thought I would do a list of the songs I've listened to tonight. It's been a rare, care free night this evening. Something that doesn't happen too much lately and one that comes at the price of shirking my laundry responsibilities. So in no particular order here are some songs on my iTunes:

On An Island - David Gilmore. Not quite Pink Floyd but close enough.
Easy Street - David Lee Roth. Remember "Crazy From The Heat". Remember when your favorite band breaking up was your biggest worry?
Love Removal Machine - The Cult. I remember when my brother discovered The Cult and I received mix tapes of them and the Replacements during Desert Storm.
Mercury Blues - David Lindley. Purchased on the recommendation of Joe Satriani from his iTunes play list. Do they still have celebrity play lists? Anyway, this version is better then Alan Jackson's (nothing against Alan, this just has a better guitar solo).
92 Subaru - Fountains of Wayne. These guys should be bigger than they are I think. I was driving in Wayne, New Jersey once and passed a store that sold bird baths and fountains for lawns. It's name was Fountains of Wayne. I don't know anything about the band but I'm guessing they are from New Jersey.
Stay With Me - Faces. Man, I really miss good old fashioned rock and roll. There's no way I could have predicted that I would be pining for Rod Stewart's scratchy voice 30 years later.
Oh La La - Faces. I never really heard this song until a few years ago in that ad for something, printers I think. I really like it.
Dance Dance - Fallout Boy. Something newer. I feel like a sad little emo girl when I listen to this. Oh well, my tastes have always been suspect anyway.
Say What You Will - Fastway. Old school bitch!!!
Immigrant Song - I'll never forget how cool I thought it was that a song title had the word song in it. Man I was a stupid little kid.
Kiss Me Deadly - Lita Ford. I went through puberty again because of the video.
Motorcycle Mama - Neil Young. I got it because it has motorcycle in the title. I have to confess I never got Neil's appeal. the song is okay.
All The Way From Memphis - Mott The Hoople. Reminds me of our trips to Memphis and how lucky I got to grow up during the greatest period of rock music ever, the 70's.
Hair Of The Dog - Nazareth. What can I say, the first song I ever heard on the radio that included the phrase "son of a bitch". I thought that was bad ass.
Baby Please Don't Go - Muddy Waters. If you know me you were probably expecting Ted Nugent or AC/DC.
Van Halen - Nerf Herder. a punk band catches the feeling of your favorite band breaking up. See Easy Street above. They're a litte hard on Sammy though.

Ah, I love music.

How's That Offspring Song Go?

"Dance F****r dance
Now he never had a chance"



Watch possibly the dumbest Press Secretary in US history explain the Executive Order banning abortion.

George, You Old Devil

Weighing My Options

I'm doing a little research on New Zealand right now. I saw a thing on the Azores on the Travel Channel a few weeks ago, there's some promise there. They looked like some pretty little islands.

The End Is Nigh

As we get closer to universal health care it becomes ever more clear that whether you are for it or against it, red or blue, liberal or conservative or any other convenient label you want to apply you should all be as pissed as you've ever been at the Government. If you're a liberal you had better wake up to the fact that your elected representatives no longer represent you. If you don't have a problem with Congress rewriting the rules as it goes then you can't see beyond the end of your nose. Victory at any cost isn't victory for long.

This isn't about health care anymore. We all want to see health care fixed. This is the dismantling of the political system that has protected all US citizens as well as any form of government can. Are the critics stirring up fear for personal gains? Possibly (probably) but if there was every a reason to get stirred up and fearful and angry it is just the threat of a political party in power doing whatever they want against the protocols, traditions and even laws of the country. Hopefully the system is strong enough to correct this problem.

Another Bump To The Count

Sorry, just another video. This one is a pretty good one. I like OK Go more and more all the time. Note that it's better to click on it and watch on youtube for the widescreen.

Just Bumping Up My Entry Count For The Month

Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks

It's Not Nice...

We were spending some time with the nephew and his other Aunt yesterday when he asked if we thought 2012 would be the end of the world. He had the same concern in his voice that I felt as a child worrying about the “Population Bomb”. If you’re old enough to remember this pre-global warming hoax, you’ll remember that the author’s of the book were predicting that due to an unchecked expansion of the population there wouldn’t be enough food to sustain us all by the 80's. I think that’s why “Mad Max” was such a scary movie to me as a child. It was my more subdued, better done “2012”.

So as people like to do we started discussing the end of the world, with all the adults assuring Garrin that 2012 was an unlikely date. My wife in particular had a good answer, that I unfortunately can’t remember now. Mine was that I thought our ape slaves would turn on their human masters. Garrin solemnly nodded his head and predicted that “Mother Earth” would be our undoing. He elaborated just enough to lead me to believe he thought there was an actual woman standing on a mountain top ready to smite us all because we replaced her butter with Chiffon margarine. I remember the phrasing because I found it odd. Mother Earth, not Mother Nature. I immediately thought of Earth Goddess or some other Wiccan like term. I wanted to ask him where he had been told about all of this but I’m already known through out both sides of my family as “that conservative nut job, Brian” so I let it go. I thought about it the rest of the night though. It got me angry in the shower as most ideas for my blog do. I could just imagine some aging hippy teacher telling the class that there is a force in the world that makes bad things happen to evil men because they strip mine. That there is an actual yin and yang balance to the world that demands a pound of flesh for every misstep we make. Are there consequences for strip mining? Sure, anyone that grew up in south eastern Ohio in the late sixties and early seventies can tell you those consequences are sulfurous orange streams and erosion issues. I don't think Mother Earth was the one behind it.

So what we have are eco-nut jobs teaching your children a religion. Every liberal eco-nut job I ever met thought that man was the cause of all earth’s problems without every acknowledging that we are also the solution to those problems (the man made ones anyway). If you’ve ever been to “The Wilds” in southeastern Ohio you would be amazed to know that that entire wildlife preserve and research center is sitting where once there was nothing but man made holes for miles and not a tree in site. Mother Earth really didn't have a hand in the reclamation efforts.

The interesting thing to me is that while a lot of the eco-nut jobs will believe in the divinity of nature they are atheists who complain the loudest about separation of church and state. God forbid (pun intended) that creationism should be taught to children. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think creationism should be taught to kids either but I also don’t believe that an angry and wrathful Mother Nature should be taught to kids. Why not just go old school and tell them one day the sun god Apollo will destroy man as revenge for a minor slight by Zeus? It explains global warming as well as anything.

The one true God of Thunder

Valentine Weekend '10

It's been a pretty good weekend. My work schedule is arranged so that I only have to take one day of vacation to get four days off thanks to President's day. Our nephew, Garrin came to spend a few days. I almost got him into model building. We did put a Legos Star Wars model together, that's close. I couldn't believe he didn't want to build a snap kit Corvette to take home at the Rod and Bike show we went to on Saturday. Kids.

The car show was a decent one. It was a little small but they had some nice bikes and cars on display.

Sunday night Lisa and I had a Valentine dinner at the Briarhurst Manor. We saw an episode of Ghosthunters filmed there. I guess it's one of their claims to fame. We didn't get to see any ghosts but the six course meal we had was pretty decent.

The following day we went to Denver and used a gift card for the AMC theater to see the Wolfman. It was just okay. I was surprised by the young age of some of the kids. It's got a well earned R rating for violence.

My favorite part of the weekend was setting up Lisa's Wii. I enjoyed it so much because we finally have a mutual interest in video games. The bowling is a hoot even though Lisa is kicking my butt at it.

It was a long weekend but a good one.

Mark Steyn's Words Of Wisdom

Mark made this brilliant observation about the US -

The Washington Post ran a remarkable headline this week: “Europe Could Use Its Own Tea Party.” Underneath, David Ignatius went through the obligatory metropolitan condescension toward America’s swampdwelling knuckledraggers before acknowledging that the Continent’s problem was that there was no similar populist movement demanding fiscal sanity from the governing class.

He’s right. I’ve been saying for months that the difference between America and Europe is that, when the global economy nosedived, everywhere from Iceland to Bulgaria mobs took to the streets and besieged Parliament demanding to know why government didn’t do more for them. This is the only country in the developed world where a mass movement took to the streets to say we can do just fine if you control-freak statists would just stay the hell out of our lives, and our pockets. You can shove your non-stimulating stimulus, your jobless jobs bill, and your multi-trillion-dollar porkathons. This isn’t karaoke. These guys are singing “I’ll do it my way” for real.

The article is at National Review Online here...

John Mayer

What the hell were you thinking?

Winter Camping

My wife has always hiked 14ers here in Colorado. If you aren't familiar with that local term, a 14er is a mountain that is fourteen thousand feet high. They're the king of the hills kind of. There aren't that many in the US and most of them are here in Colorado.

Lisa used to like to hike them in the winter on snow shoes. Then she met me and I brought her down. Because I have felt guilty for being a drag on her adventures I agreed to go camping in the mountains above Woodland Park this weekend. I like the idea of being cocooned away in a warm cozy tent as the snow gently drifts down through the silent pines. That's the romantic notion anyway. The reality was more like me, freezing my ass off and not sleeping a wink. Sure the campfire was great, it kind of reminded me of my years stationed in Alaska. During the winter months all of my friends and I would have bonfires out behind the base in -30 degree weather. Back then I had the toughness of youth and the aid of a lot of alcohol backing me up. Now not so much.

The campfire did wonders to warm whichever section of my body was pointed at it for the minute, needless to say, I was literally freezing my ass off while my belly was toasty.

The tent was actually pretty toasty until my 45 year old bladder kicked in and I had to slip into the 20 degree night to try and hide from the wind behind a skinny little pine tree. All the fresh cold air must of been too fresh, I don't think I slept more than ten minutes at a stretch for the entire night. Lisa didn't do too much better. And the dog, as insulated as she is must have shared our pain, she whined all night and looked as frazzled as I felt in the morning. As soon as we got home she found a corner and slept the rest of the day.

All in all it was great fun and I'm looking forward to doing it at least once more before the end of winter. If I gained nothing else from it, I really appreciated my bed for the next three nights.

New Month

I've got nothing. I just haven't posted anything this month. I've thought up a lot of wonderful genius entries while restlessly tossing in bed at night or while showering early in the morning. The only problem is none of it sticks.

Right now I'm finding it funny that NBC was offering fried chicken and collared greens in their cafeteria for Black History Month. The only thing missing was watermelon. According to this little blurb it really wasn't a big deal. I'm sure there was no malicious intent there.

Also, I'm irritated that the Commander and Chief of our armed forces doesn't know how to pronounce "Corpsmen". I learned that when I was about 9 years old from my Grandfather who served in World War II. I learned it because of all his stories the ones he told most were the stories of these "crazy unarmed guys" that would pull the wounded soldiers off the battlefield. I think anyone that heroic should at least have their title pronounced correctly. Even as a nine year old boy I understood that. Is it a big deal? Probably not. Am I making a big deal over something just because I don't like Obama? Probably. But it's the little things that matter.

My Favorite? The Dowdy Kitchen Man

Sad State

Has there ever been a more contentious President? What he means when he says, "I didn't explain it clear enough," is really, "Why won't you rubes get it,".

There have been about 378 articles and op-ed pieces refuting almost every claim he made last night. Some of the weren't even conservatives. And I've never seen a President attack the other branches with such passion and lack of decorum. Judge Alito should have just yelled out, "You lie!"

It's possible he's just that ignorant. Wasn't he a Constitutional lawyer? Did he major in it so he knew how to subvert it? He doesn't seem to know the difference between it and the Declaration of Independence.

All I can think when I hear him talk is "Douche Bag". Sorry I know that's contentious.

Here are a fact check links to the State of the Union address. Most are conservative. The liberal opposition to the President is coming from people who don't think he's going far enough and I don't have time to look at that stuff.

"Haven't We Heard This Before" - Fred Barnes on Weekly Standard.com
"What Did The State Of The Union Say About Barack Obama?" - Toby Harden on The Telegraph.co.uk
"Obama's Sorry State Of The Union Speech" - Kevin McCullough on Foxnews.com
"White House Defends Obama's Court Ruling Criticism" - Reuters

Lucky Dog

Apple's New iPad

This is from the old television show Mad TV. It's kind of tasteless.

AC/DC's Ironman 2 Soundtrack

Don't get me wrong, you know how I feel about AC/DC, but come on. 15 songs and not one of them new? At least that God awful Stephen King movie with Emilio Esteves, Maximum Overdrive had a few original songs.

It's Pronounced Genghis

Lisa and I went to the Denver Museum of Natural History with her sister and Mom last week. They are hosting an exhibition on Genghis Khan. I always find that kind of stuff interesting and this was no exception. I would like to now share some information I picked up during my visit. The big one I remember (and am not sure I believe) is the fact that a Mongol warrior actually fired his bows while all four feet of his galloping horse's hooves were off the ground for a more accurate shot.

Also, his name may be pronounced Chinggis but please don't call him that. Nothing is quite as annoying as hearing a museum full of people that just learned how to pronounce something carry on like he or she is the only one to have known this rare bit of information. It's perfectly correct to call him Genghis also.

Legend holds that Genghis's black horse survives in Mongolia today.

Today's Mongolia has all the amenities of any modern country. It's main population center, Ulaanbaatar even has cyber cafes (their idea of progress, not mine).

I picked up a lot of interesting information. Genghis developed a code of laws (the Yassa) that seemed to be pretty progressive. I say seem because only parts of the code remain and the details seem to vary depending on who you talk to. the exhibit gave examples that indicated Genghis Kahn promoted religious freedom, while the one on Wikipedia shows something different.

I also learned that the Denver Museum of Natural History is full of parents that do not believe in disciplining their monstrous offspring.

Mostly I learned the Khan was one together cat.

My Old Man Advice To A Teenage Girl On Relationships

"If all guys approached their relationships with the same passion that they have for video games, every woman would be happy."

The above quote is from my niece, posted on Facebook. It bugged me so much I posted a snide little comment on it until I came to my senses and took it down. When I make jokes about my immaturity they aren't to be self-deprecating, it really is a character flaw.

The comment really did bother me for several different reasons though, so I thought that since I have my own little public forum I would jot a few down.

What bothered me first is the stereotyping. It's like a man saying, "If my wife spent as much time giving me attention as she spends my money on clothes I'd be a happy man.". Terrible Men are from Venus, women are from Mars simplification. Next would be the self-centered message it sends. If it were a grown woman saying that I'd tell her to get over herself or play video games with her boyfriend, maybe take an interest in his interests too. Something that may make future relationships easier is realizing early that there are two people in the relationship and one of them is the man. Of course it's a teenage girl so she really doesn't need to grow up. Which brings me to the next point. If you're a teenage girl what are you worrying about "passion" in a relationship for in the first place. You're in high school. Teenage boys should be more concerned about video games, music and tuners than trying to make a relationship work. They'll get plenty of that shit later. Your passion should be focused on establishing your own life and identity independent of everyone else before your worried about nurturing a relationship. I know probably all of two or three people that married his or her high school sweetheart and are actually still together and happy. If I thought she would listen and not be tired of hearing her preachy Uncle dispense holier-than-thou advice, I would tell her to enjoy what she has and prepare for better things. And learn to like video games, Devil May Cry 5 looks like it kicks ass.

Oh, I'm working on that maturity problem too.

Best Week Ever

Well, since Obama took office anyway. It's been a good week for (I don't want to say Conservatives) it's been a good week for those of us that prefer to run our own lives and make up our own minds. There was the Supreme Court ruling Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, No. 08-205. Hopefully you're familiar with the details. For some reason I can't understand the common liberal sees this as judicial activism. I can understand the leadership of Liberalism being up in arms but shouldn't celebrities and the average joe consider free speech for everyone a good thing? On Twitter Rainn Wilson tweeted this message.

The S.C. essentially re-wrote the const. making corps have same rits as 'citizens'. Just admit u like jud. activism that supports yr beliefs

Rainn, whom I love by the way, didn't seem to think this out very well. Either that or he's ignoring the fact that had this law been applied equally to everyone, the world wouldn't have been treated to a couple of the great masterpiece documentaries from Michael Moore, not really such a bad thing. Every radio and television station, every movie production company is a corporation. Is it a stretch then to go from the government that Citizen's United can't run ads for their anti-Hilary DVD to saying MSNBC can't report negatively on the President (like that would happen anyway). Rainn and Erwin Chemerinski and several other people hold that belief that the Supreme Court was doing a little legislation from the bench. They argue that the Supreme Court over-ruled a 20 year law and somehow that is wrong. Should the laws permitting slavery have been allowed to stand because they had already been written? What a ridiculous argument.

The big fear seems to be that special interests will be able to spend huge amounts on election time ads. This seems too be a bad thing because the assumption is the American voter is too ignorant to figure things out by his or herself. I would point to the Tea Parties and Massachusetts election as proof to the contrary. As a matter of fact, I think it's been the rule and Obama becoming President was the exception. Here's a good quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"It is to me a new and consolatory proof that wherever the people are well-informed they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights."

Well, that's my take on it anyway. Here is John Samples and Ilya Shapiro's take on it from the Cato Institute's website. And here is the PDF opinion from the court itself. I don't know the ends and out of all of this and what it might mean but I can't help but feel it's a good thing. If there is one negative in this whole thing it's that the court was split 5-4. That's kind of scary.

The True (Albeit Small) Wonder Of The Internet

The great thing about the web (aside from how fast I can spread a rumor) is the fact that I can sit in Colorado Springs, Colorado while listening to WLVQ QFM 96, the home of Ohio's best rock. Not that I suffer from home-sickness but it's very comforting listening to the best AOR radio station of my youth. Of course back then it was the home of Ohio's best rock without the classic part. And they don't seem to play as much Van Halen as one might hope for.

Boston Tea Party

Who knew an election half way across the country could make me so happy?

Thank you Massachusetts and Scott Brown

That Boston Tea Party thing is from the news outlets, it's not mine by the way.

Let's Get Harry

The thing that strikes me whenever I read a news article about the comment Harry Reid made about Obama is what people are missing. Sure Harry apologized to Obama but Harry was complimenting him. Reid should really be apologizing to all the dark skinned, Negro dialect speaking rest of the country he considers not good enough to run for President.

I also think Rob Blageovich just apologized because he saw all the attention Reid was getting and wanted in on it. I almost think he said it and then turned right around and apologized.

Is This Wrong?

I sometimes sing songs to my dog and insert her name in the lyrics. For some reason I don't feel right singing "Giving Moon a bone" even though that is in fact what I'm doing. Just doesn't seem right.

Evan Zane Glass

My sister-in-law gave birth to the newest family member Evan Zane Glass. Born January 7th, 2010. Weight 8lbs. 11oz. We're all very happy.

Christmas Part II

Where was I? Oh yeah. We got into Zanesville while there was a light snow falling. We checked into the Baymont Inn. We stayed there for our honeymoon when it was the Amerihost or something like that. It was decent but the hall reeked of chlorine or bleach from the laundry room.

There was a lot to do. We visited Mom and Dad, went to a Zanesville HS basketball team and had dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant. The basketball game was a little stressful, we were sitting in the reserved section and catching some dirty looks. The next night was better as we got to watch the niece play for West Muskingum. Well, kind of play, the coach put her in twice for about five minutes a shot.

Christmas Eve was great, we kept the gifts cheap this year but splurged on a camera for Dad and rockers for Mom. Christmas day was equally fun. I unleashed a 1/24th scale Dodge Challenger on the nephew. I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the gifts but this baby was pretty solid metal so I'm sure he'll be enjoying it for years to come. Right after dinner and visiting at Bryce and LeeAnn's and all the gift's had been exchanged we decided to drive for awhile. We made it to Terra Haute, Indiana and stopped for the night. The only restaurant opened was a Chinese place in a strip mall. While eating we saw the news about the underwear bomber.

The next day we hit Missouri. Snow was in the forecast and we were headed right toward it. We lucked out and dipped below Kansas City to pick up the niece and nephew and missed the bulk of the white stuff. The rest of the trip was pretty boring and uneventful. We had a good time with the kids but were looking forward to getting out of the truck. We were practically living in it for two weeks and to be honest it was starting to reek.

So that was it. I'm sure I missed some highlights like visiting with Jim and Lisa spending most of her time in the pool. It was great to be home and see everyone I love. I wish I had been able to get around and see more people but that will have to wait until next visit I guess.