Hold my beer and watch this....

Often joked as being the most common last words heard in the South. Well, it seems that the Gaza strip was not quite dangerous enough for this family, who blew themselves up while playing with a live grenade. I have never claimed to be the smartest of people, but high explosives do not make good toys.

Pimp tax

Pimping may get a lot harder. This article shows a plan put forward to tax prostitution. I can just see a pimp trying to fill out his w-2 "Hmmm...If I itemize, my ho's can be dependents."

High and dry

Murphy, being the right bastard he is, has struck again. Yesterday my ATM card died on me. No rhyme, no reason, it just died. Nothing like that initial feeling of being stuck in a foreign country with no way to access money. Working on getting one sent to me, hopefully it will be quick. Such is life.

On a completely non-related topic....
The bacon sandwich has to be one of the greatest inventions the British ever came up with.

The Rutherford Institute

For those who have never heard of it, The Rutherford Institute is dedicated to defending U.S. civil rights. Unlike other groups that claim the same (and are better televised), Rutherford dose not support a political bias.
I found that this article about the Second Amendment is one of the best written I have read. The article uses facts and the founding father's own quotes to prove their point. It then shows how both political sides of the issue are getting it wrong.

If you are liberal, conservative, or somewhere in the middle you should check them out. No political bias, and actually trying to defend ALL American's civil rights.

Monks and the world cup

In Thailand, Buddhist monks have been over sleeping due to staying up all night to watch the World Cup. These same monks were given warnings by the police for being too rowdy. Ooohh those wacky soccer hooligans.

Why the Atlanta Journal Constitution will no longer be read by yours truly

This , for lack of a better word, editorial cartoon was published by the AJC on June 21. I find that the Main Stream Media's bias on this particular topic to be quite crass. Mr Lukovich has the right to express himself in any manner he sees fit. I will not quote any of the tired rhetoric from either party on this subject. It is every American's first Amendment right to freedom of expression, Mr Lukovich has expressed his view, and now I will express mine by never again being a patron of any media that he is published in.

Life, love and other melodramatic subjects that make really bad country songs.

What is love? Some say it is that schoolboyish (being male, I have never really felt like a schoolgirl) reaction to a member of the opposite sex (or same sex, if that is what floats your boat) where the sun shines, birds sing, and cherubs fly. Others say it is that red hot passion that consumes your body, mind, and soul. Still others say that it is the purely physical act of reproduction. There seems to be as many different definitions as there are people. How can something so powerful, so many times, turn to hate?

As with love, such is life. Is it merely the physical act of living? Is there supposed to be a higher purpose? Is it an adventure? Is it pain, pleasure, happiness, or sadness? Or is it simply being?

Seems that both these are key to being human. We all walk our paths, never knowing where they lead.

Knockoff that should not be...

Korea is known for it's knock offs. Fake Rolex's, Gucci bags, anything that can be copied and sold.

Just saw a commercial for a knock off Japanese movie "Ringu" (Yep the one that the awful U.S. "The Ring" remade). In the Korean version they went a slightly different (and much more silly) route, instead of a cursed video it is a cursed cell phone. OOOhhhh Scary (really hard to portray sarcasm while typing). Somehow I know the folks behind "Dungeons and Dragons", "Street fighter: the movie", and the "Fast and Furious" series are responsible for this.

The have and have nots...(rant time again, yay)

As of late, it becomes clearer and clearer that there are haves and have nots in the U.S.. There are the common everyday folks, like yours truly, and the rich and powerful, nothing at all like yours truly. This distinction is hammered home when you look at how legal treatment differs between the two classes.

Rep. Mckinney from Georgia (the fact that this woman is from my home state sickens me) struck a capitol police officer. She hit the officer after he tried to stop her when she bypassed a security checkpoint with out showing identification, or wearing the pin that identifies her as a representative. She came out swinging the race card, and after the grand jury investigation nothing happened to her. Had I done the same offence, I would right now be trying to fend off the romantic advances of my cell mate.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car (granted the Kennedy driving skills are of legend) while D.U.I. and was driven home by capitol police. He was given drug rehab and 1 year probation, he left drug rehab after 1 month. I would have been carted off to jail, lost my license, been fined, lost my insurance, and basically had my life put through the wringer.

These are just two examples of what is happening throughout our system. Bribery, perjury, mysterious deaths, all the things from movie plots happen each day. Rarely does justice happen. It is not confined to one party, or one level of the system. Somehow I think our founding fathers would be disgusted to see what we have become.

Starting to really like the World Cup

Being American, soccer (or football to the rest of the world) has never really been that much of a draw for me. Seeing the enthusiasm of the local fans and the sacrifices that this whole culture makes for it (closing down a major intersection of the city), makes me respect it. Now I admit that this respect comes from selfish reasons (namely, good looking women in very skimpy clothing, and getting to go into work tomorrow 2 hours late) and I still really don't find the game that exciting, but the fans and their dedication is something to see.

Last world cup pics

A few pics from one of the guys staying at a hotel. Shows the vast amount of people there. Click for larger view.

World Cup Pictures Pt. 2

Click on them to see larger size.

World Cup Pictures

Some of the pictures I promised. Click on them to make bigger.

World Cup

Last night was Korea's first match in the World Cup. For this game, here in Taegu, they closed down one of the main intersections in the city to traffic. They then broadcast the game on huge screens on the building around the intersection. It was really impressive, there had to be thousands of chanting fans all garbed in red and donning light up devil horns. I wandered though the mass throng of humanity, amazed at the sheer number and dedication of fans attending the event. I have not downloaded the pictures I took yet, will post some when I get home tonight.

X-men 3 (warning spoilers/rant)

Just finished watching the X-men 3. All I can say is "What the hell is this crap?". I grew up reading comics, and the X-men was always my favorite. In the first two installments of the film, they changed up some things to make it watchable by people who don't read the comics. They were well written and very nicely done, the third film was not. I try to find good thing even in bad movies, but when you see characters you grew up with done in this manner it is hard to find the silver lining.

This movie killed a some of the main X-men:
Cyclops - Dead (before 10 minutes have passed in the movie)
Jean Grey - Dead (again)
professor X - Dead or possibly transferred into a brain dead body in Scotland (WTF?)

Other important mutants were left powerless:
Magneto - powerless (again WTF?)
Rouge - powerless (sappy teen romance subplot)
mystique - powerless

Some characters power and story were changed to suit the hack director and writers:
Juggernaut - Originally the older brother of Professor X who found a magic ruby that granted him armor that made him invunerable, and gave superhuman strength. The movie version was a mutant by the same name who once had momentum could not be stopped.

Callisto - Originally the leader of the Morlocks (bunch of mutants that lived in the sewers hiding from humanity), had super acute senses. The movie version had super speed, and the ability to tell how powerful mutants are.

Phoenix - Originally a supernatural force that Jean Grey absorbed aboard a space shuttle. The movie version is Jean Grey's split personality in full control of her powers.

Now lets get to the plot. The movie revolves around a company finding a "cure" for mutants, and Magneto's attempt to destroy the "cure". Into this they mixed a hacked up version of the "Dark Phoenix Saga". The resultant is a half-assed, poorly written, attempt to make money. I read that the original script left with Bryan Singer, and that this movie was rewritten quickly. After seeing the film, I can believe that.

Waiting

Time ticks by,
Seconds become minutes,
Minutes become hours,
Tensions rise,
Pacing fore and aft,
Nerves fray,
Humor fades,
Time ticks by,
Waiting....

Sore loser

Was having a discussion with a liberal friend of mine this weekend, on the topic of firearms. The end result was me being called a "Nazi", I personally found this to be damn near fighting words. Why is it that when people can not win a argument by facts, they try to demonize their opponent? While I am neither conservative or liberal, my views usually slant towards the conservative. Lets list the facts:

Me:
For the right to bear arms.

For freedom of expression (yes even the things that I find offensive), and religion.

Against affirmative action (I believe that all people should be judged equally regardless of race, sex, religion, or any thing else.).

Very against censorship (if something you don't like is on the radio or TV, change the channel or turn it off).

Against the "Patriot act" (clearly violates the right against illegal search and seizure)

Nazis:
Against the right to bear arms (one of the first things Hitler did in power was to strip the people of their firearms)

Against freedom of expression (unless it agreed with their views).

Very against freedom of religion (does this even need explaining).

For affirmative action (they were all about separating races, and putting one above others).

For censorship (see above about freedom of expression)

For all sorts of illegal search and seizure.


Not much in way of likeness between me and the Nazi. I welcome all rational arguments, but leave the "You're a Nazi, because you disagree with me." crap at the door.

Odd mood

Been in kind of an odd mood all day. A good odd, but odd none the less. Whimsically coasting through the day, some strange fancies took me....

Samuel Jackson playing Shaggy from Scooby Doo "Say Zoinks one more time, Mother Fucker!"

I really need minions, and an arch-nemesis.

Why is "Noonlight" not a word? (Thanks to Terry Pratchett for that one)

What house would I have gone to in Hogwart's?

Why are "Slinkes" so much fun?

Why are mimes not banned by international law?

Am I really satisfied with my long distance service?

How much fun could I have if I could turn invisible at will? (Lots and lots)

Like I said, an odd mood today.

Simple pleasures

Well I've covered guilty little pleasures, so how about something not so guilty. Simple pleasures, those simple day to day things that make you smile, and cause the day to be better.

Some of my favorites are:

towels fresh from the dryer (underwear as well, but that goes back to the guilty section)

fresh baked blueberry muffins (mmmmm....Blueberry muffins)

walking bare foot on new carpeting

basking in sunlight (cats and lizards have the right idea)

waking up next to supermodels (a man can dream)

What are the simple things that make your day better?