Tina Fey is the funniest woman alive!!!

Ladies and gentlemen........here we have Tina Fey's masterful impression of our cute little inexperienced pentecostal Alaskan Governor...very very funny and a dead on impression!!

Paul "Cool Hand Luke" Newman dies

Paul Newman was a classic and a legend.  He starred in one of the greatest movies of all time "Cool Hand Luke" which is Matt's all time favorite movie.  He was also in many other films like "The Verdict" and of course most recently in "Cars" which Kevin and Zach loved.  

Newman was a class act and used his fame and fortune to contribute to the overall well being of society.  Wikipedia says that his company "Newmans own" (which makes a darn good oil and vinegar salad dressing which I enjoy)  has brought in 220 million dollars to charity!

His life was a great example to everyone as to how to carry yourself, and handle yourself.....he avoided the traps of fame, living in Connecticut and not the hills above Malibu.....him and his wife had been married for 50 years..he was a great man.

UCLA game!!!

Today I am on my way to Pasadena to the UCLA vs. Fresno State game which will be shown nationally on ABC at 12:30 PST....I am going there with Mark who unfortunately is a Fresno State fan......Go Bruins!!!!!

Dodgers 2008 NL West Champions!!!!!!!!!!

A big congrats to the Los Angeles Dodgers on their winning the NL West title this afternoon, after the D'Backs loss.  This has been a fantastic season, with Manny Mania, and finally overtaking the D'Backs last month.  Matt and I have gone to over 25% of all home games this year, and I believe my number is 24 games attended which is a record for me.  Bring on the Cubs or Phillies, and I will be cheering the Dodgers on next Saturday because I will be at game 3 Saturday and Sunday for game 4....Go Blue!!!

A Heartwarming scene

I have a special place in my heart for service dogs, K9 cops, bomb sniffing, rescue dogs, canine companions for independence, and guide dogs for the blind....Well there is a blind gentleman thats comes into 24 fitness all the time, and usually his lab sits at the foot of the treadmill calmly waiting for his owner, however today I walk in and the dog is jogging on the treadmill with his owner....so with a smile on my face I took out the Iphone and snapped this picture

McCain "Suspends Campaign"

Because of the mess in the financial sector, John McCain has stated that he wants to postpone the debate with Obama, fly to Washington to "help" get a solution hammered out.  On the surface it looks like he is putting his country above presidential politics....But lets look deeper shall we???  According the Washington post John McCain has missed 64% of his votes in congress since January.  And Obama has missed 46%.   

This to me has always been one of the central hypocrisies in any presidential campaign where the candidate is in congress.  Because what they are doing is not serving the people whom elected them.  This would be like me telling my employer..."You know what I am going to try to get this other job over here, and I am going to be gone 64 or 46 percent of the time, and if I by any chance don't get this new job, well then I'll come back to my old one.  And oh by the way, keep paying me my salary to for these two years"  

I mean come on!!  And now all of a sudden after missing almost 2/3 of his votes and neglecting his duty as a US Senator for the people of Arizona, all of a sudden McCain wants to fly up and help?!   Style over substance.  

Here is a new rule that I think all Presidential candidates should have to live by.....

If you are going to run for president, you must forfeit your current position as senator or governor.  I think both Obama and McCain should have to do this now, and for all future presidential elections.

Why the Emmys are a Sham

For those of us that know, that is people who have seen the HBO show "the Wire" which finished it's 5th and final season earlier this year, the emmy are a joke.  This show has been universally hailed by critics as "The best show on TV"  "Reaches the level of great literature"  

I have seen every episode of this series and I was stunned by how good it is.  For those that don't know it is set in Baltimore, and follows different aspects of the city...each season focused on one particular part of city life...the drug trade, the port, the city bureauacracy, the schools, the news media.     

There are a few theories as to why "The Wire" has never been nominated....they are as follows....Too many black faces (hard to understand because their dialogue is authentic)....The show demands you pay attention to everything......or Emmy politics.

Anyways show creator David Simon demands absolute realism in every aspect of the potrayl of the cops, the court system, the mayors office, political races, school system, how the drug trade works.    If you have ever wondered why things are the way they are, there is no better explanation than when you watch "The Wire"  

I will not be watching the Emmys

Al and Bobby

Well now "Righteous Kill" is out in theaters starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro...and as I suspected..it is a piece of garbage with a 22% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  Like I said in my first post about this earlier this year I think that both of them have become jokes and parodies of themselves.  They ruled the cinema in the 1970's and are two of the best of all time, but it is time to accept this fact.  Your not young anymore, stop doing projects to cash the paycheck, we know your heart isn't in it anymore.  It is time to become character actors, seek out great roles, seek out great movies!  Redeem yourselves!!!  We don't want to see any more cop/serial killer flicks with you two anymore, it is very disheartening.  Once again the last great movie for Al Pacino was Donnie Brasco (1996), the last good one was "The Insider" in 1999.  Robert DeNiro's last great movie was "A Bronx Tale" 1993 Last good one was "The Score" 2001       Will these two ever be in a good/great movie again?  We will see.

And you run, and you run, to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking..

Sad news today as founding member Richard Wright of Pink Floyd has died.  I saw him play in 1994 at the Oakland Coliseum and it was one of the best concerts ever.  Pink Floyd is one of a kind, totally original, and their album "Dark Side of the Moon" is one that no self respecting fan of music should be without.  

My Website from 1996

OK guys, courtesy of archive.org and completely free of charge I was able to find my original website as it looked in the early part of 1996...This is absolutely classic.  I built this entire thing myself and I am still proud of it (:  So here it is and enjoy a classic walk down memory lane  (My favorite part is the Tasha and Garrett are getting married page!)

My Website from 1996

P.S.  Yes some of the pictures are missing I know, don't worry there is nothing wrong with your computer.

9/11

Apple's "Lets Rock" Event

About two or three times a year Steve Jobs announces new products, or changes to existing products. Apple is brillant at creating hype and speculation at these events, and they are always looked forward to by me. For a techno-geek this is Christmas morning. So this time out Steve announced a refresh to the ipods, most noteably the nano which now has a "shake" feature. Meaning while you are listening to your songs you can just shake your ipod and that automatically shuffles your songs. Cool eh? They also revamped Itunes and incorporated a Genius playlist feature much like the 3rd party "Filter" app. Or even "Pandora" on the Iphone. What genius does is make a playlist on the fly depending on what mood you are in. You can select a certain song and it will automatically build out a playlist of similar offerings. (Is it any wonder terrestrial radio is dying?) It is like having your own Jack FM station, only it plays what YOU WANT with no commercials. There also is a fantastic visualizer which can be put on full screen mode that responds to your music. I tried it yesterday with "Dark Side of the Moon" and it is awesome!!!   Check out www.apple.com for more info.  And now I will sign out how people sign out on the apple forums, they list what apple stuff they have..here we go...

20 in 2 GHZ IMac

2.4 GHz Mac Book Pro

1 GB Ipod Shuffle

16 GB Iphone

160 GB IPod Classic

Efrim and Ariel

OK since Brett hasn't seen the Chronic what! Culs of Narnia....Here is one of favorite in the Andy Samberg collection...this one features Tom Hanks doing quite a different role than he played in "Saving Private Ryan"

Yes we have all seen this one a million times

But it's still funny

Special announcement

For reasons beyond my control I have to lock down this blog and restrict access to trusted members of my family and friends...furthermore, I need to ensure that my thoughts abouts various subjects...are kept off of the grid and out of sight to people I may not want having access to my blog...Mike Faulkner don't worry dude, I'm not referring to you (:  In the next couple of days I'm gonna dole out access to the blog, so just sit tight.....  If you already have a blog (through google's blogger), or have access to a family members blog, then you won't get the invite, you already have access

Vote for Tim Calhoun!!

Ladies and gentleman, I am voting for Tim Calhoun. The  more I thought about it John McCain is just too old to be the president...Barack Obama's name is too weird...but I am most impressed with Tim Calhoun..click below to watch.

Dodgers!!!!!!

OK this could be a commanding theme of my blog this september and all the way to Halloween if I am lucky.    lets go back in time shall we?  From my Blog August 28th

"they are only 3.5 games out.......we are still in it.....They could roll of 8 straight wins..."

Well guess what folks...they have now rolled off 8 straight wins!!!!!!  I should rename myself  Yahew because I am Omniscient!  The Dodgers swept the Snakes and now have put distance between themselves and the D'Backs, they have a 1.5 game lead, and it is now the Snakes that are 1.5 games out!!!! hahahahahahahahahaahahahahaha

The magic number is 19

The Dodgers finally break through..1st place!!!

That's right ladies and gentleman, Dodgers are in first place now, thanks to a blistering win today over the hapless Arizona Snakes...and Vin Scully decided to return for 2009!!

I Hate Garage Sales

Tasha and I have had about 5 garage sales in our 11 years of wedded bliss, but let me tell you something folks, I don't like em!  They are disturbances and eyesores, and many homeowners associations have banned em for darn good reasons!!  

What is the appeal of rummaging through someone elses garbage and filth?  I don't get it, Oh look here is a stained couch, oh wow here are some baby clothes with spit up on them, whoopdedoo!! (:    It's always the same thing.  And I don't like em boy!!!

This has been your grumpy old cuss, post of the day (:

Jon Stewart's brillance

Here is a classic example of conservative spin doctors getting caught in blatant hypocrisy.  This is amazing!!   

Watch Karl Rove denigrate Tim Kaine as having no experience since he was only the mayor of Richmond, VA and the governor for only 3 years.

Watch Bill O'Reilly talk about how Juno Palin's pregnancy was a private matter, but Jamie Lynn Spears is a pinhead and the Spears parents are to blame.

Dick Morris gets caught in a contradiction, so does one of McCains campaign managers... please watch all five minutes folks!!!

(This is not the exclusive purview of conservative spin doctors, the other side does it too)

John McCain

Welcome to the John McCain nomination speech breakdown...once again this is unfettered by watching punditry on Fox, CNN, or MSNBC, that I will watch once I am done writing this.

McCain started out slow, he is not a skilled teleprompter reader.  And he used the real people examples that I can't stand, such and such from wherever lost their real estate investments..etc....The code pink operative was kind of amusing.  But the Iraq vet was not, and I spent the first five minutes of the speech thinking, "Why did we get in this war?"   So then after a while he started to pick up steam, and he got in a couple OK points, my favorite of which went something like this, "Obama wants to try to shrink the global economy and bring your old job back which can't happen, while I want to help you get a new job"  Mac was also strong in denouncing government waste and pork barrel spending in the govt (Yes I know Sarah has some pork in her past)   

John McCain himself said that if he was blessed with a little more charisma and a deeper voice he would have already been president, and I happen to agree with him.  (I myself made a colossal mistake in voting for his opponent in the 2000 primary. )  Some of these speaking deficiencies were on display tonight as his teleprompter timing was a little off, and sometimes he would put the emphasis on the wrong words.   But I knew his recounting of his heroic accomplishments as a Naval aviator, and trancendently gutsy decision in Hanoi would come through.  (Note to Jimmy Carter and others who think he is using his story for political gain....of course he is!  Every politician does this...and even though poltical junkies like me know this story inside and out, the majority of Americans do not, or may have heard in passing, why wouldn't he tell it in the biggest speech of his political career)   Anyways, I teared up a little bit, hearing about it.  And I even flashed to John Kerry in 2004....back then I was very cynical regarding his service in Vietnam, because I disagreed with him politically, and I have learned since then to not give in to base "Us vs Them" mentality which is deep within our DNA and served our evolutionary ancestors well in keeping us safe.  (It is also something Sarah Palin tapped into masterfully last night)

Sorry getting off on a tangent, McCain ended his speech with two seperate calls, the first was to serve a cause greater than ones self.  I believe this is a universal altruism that played well, "If you don't like something, fight to change it, etc."  The finale was a scene right out of Network, I almost thought McCain was gonna shout, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!!"  In contrast to Barack's homerun, and Sarah Palin's completely out of the blue homerun, I give this one a solid double, an RBI walk off double.

P.S.  If Rudy and the campaign so worried about 'sexism' why did the campaign  give people buttons to wear that said, "the hottest governor, from the coolest state"?   Aint politics entertaining?  (:

P.P.S  I am still voting for John McCain, but if George W Bush was running for a third term I would vote for Obama.

Cause and Effect?

Yah, I know at this point I am blatantly ripping off Perez.....but this is pretty funny!

In a World.......

The greatest voiceover of all time Don LaFontaine has died check out some of his stuff here

The CERN Particle Accelerator

Well folks science has advanced so much that we have a multi billion dollar atom smasher that will be taken online and tested within a few months.  This is one of the most interesting scientific things mankind has created so far.  It is predicted to close a significant number of current gaps in our understanding, such as the nature of gravity, 4th dimensions...what dark matter is....it could possibly create life...tell us more about the big bang.  And to help us understand more lets listen to this entertaining rap by a Michigan State Grad Student..

Sarah Palin's Daughter is Pregnant

Very interesting eh?  I have a theory about this.  Now we know that statistics show that if kids are taught abstinence ONLY and not taught contraception education, the likelihood of an unwanted pregnancy is increased.  I would be willing to bet that Sarah never told her daughter about this stuff, other than to say, "darling Jesus has a perfect plan for you, and that is to enjoy sex in the context of marriage"     So Sarah's daughter being a normal teenager has sex and wasn't prepared with contraception...bingo  ladies and gentleman we have another unwanted pregnancy that could have been prevented, and thus harm is not minimized, it is increased!   

(disclaimer---I don't know the Palin family personally, but I know enough about evangelical culture to make this educated hypothesis, however I could be wrong on the specifics of her situation)

Garrett's Workout songs

Digital Underground-The Humpty Dance

Snoop Dog- Gin and Juice

Notorious BIG-Hypnotize

boyz II Men-motown philly

Warren G-Regulate

LL Cool J-Going Back to Cali

Sting-Send your love (remix)

Public Enemy-Bring the Noise

Dr Dre-Let me ride

Eminem-Lose youself, The Real Slim Shady, Business

Herbie Hancock-Rockit

SpaceHog-In the Meantime

Prince-Raspberry Beret, When Doves Cry

9 inch nails-the hand that feeds

Red Hot Chili Peppers-Dani California

Right Said Fred-I'm too sexy

Propellerheads-History Repeating

Tom Tom Club-Genius of Love

US3-Cantaloop(Flip Fantasia)

Madonna-Music, Ray of Light

3rd Bass-Pop Goes the Weasel

Will Smith-Getting Jiggy wit it, Miami, Men in Black

PearlJam-Evenflow

Nirvana-Smells Like Teen Spirit

Foo Fighters-Everlong

Coldplay-Clocks, Viva la vida, Speed of Sound

Big Country-In a big country