Grabbaggar a Kindle Blog?

Yes folks I have filled out the necessary information and Amazon is in the process of their final approval process, with that I could be a "published" blog on the amazing kindle device....while we all hold our collective breaths I want to say a few more words about the e-reader revolution and what could happen with the Ipad being the strongest competition yet. I don't know much about many things, but Kindles and Apple Gadgets are the greatest thing ever and they are now going to fight it out for e-reader dominance and yes I am pretty much an expert in this topic. So here we go....

No matter how great the Ipad is, it lacks one critical component that if present would have destroyed the Kindle without any doubt.....what Ipad lacks is "e-ink" Apples display is amazing, crisp, in color, the interface is mindblowing, the touch screen interaction is second to none, you can read in potrait or landscape, you can read it at night, the screen is 2.5 times larger, you can change the font style ( I predict amazon will have this in a few weeks) And of course it displays all the standard docs, word, .pdf, etc in brilliant color, while the Kindle is only in black and white........BUT.....its display is backlit LED which is not as good of a pure reading experience as devices like Kindle with the e-ink technology.....Kindle text is redrawn with each page turn and looks like a piece of paper, the Ipad doesn't have this. So an interesting thing is going to happen folks....Kindle's license lets you have 5 device on one account, so I think I will mostly be utilizing the amazon store and then when I am out, read on my iphone through the Kindle App, when I am home, do my reading still with the Kindle, but if I want to I can switch to the Ipad with the forthcoming amazon app......Apple is still happy if you buy with the amazon app through their device they take their standard 30% like they do with all apps.....So I told Brett that the Kindle is probably dead, but folks I am not so sure, I think for pure reading the Kindle defeats the IPad, but it is very close.

If you don't have a Kindle I encourage you to go to www.amazon.com and watch some of the videos that talk about why most Kindle users (including me) now opine that it is actually better then a book, and allows you to read faster, read more, and read and discover books you wouldn't normally read. Books are cheaper, better, and have no negative impact on the enviornment...

BTW technically once I am accepted into the Kindle Blogosphere one must pay .99 cents per month to subscribe to my blog......or any other blog on there. So please tell a thousand of your friends and I'll make like 700 bucks! Ya right

Dodgers Select a Seat

Recently Zach and I went out to Dodger Stadium for the Select a Seat Event...We were able to find great seats at one of the best possible seat locations in our pricing

****News Flash..Sometimes the video is there, sometimes it's not..and no I don't know why

level...enjoy the video!!

The Ipad

Today Steve Jobs (blessed be his name) announced and demo'd the Ipad...I encourage everyone who is curious to please go to www.apple.com and check out the keynote address....Jobs is a master presenter and I look forward to this bi-annual keynotes with the anticipation of Christmas morning. In his keynote address Jobs announced that they had just recently sold their 250 millionth IPod....as well as posted a 4th quarter revenue of around 15 billion dollars. I can't think of another company where one man is almost singly responsible for this and it is just astounding. Apple does everything so much better than other companies...when people ask me what I think about the Droid, or the new Blackberry I have to check myself from preaching a diatribe to them..suffice to say, no one builds better computers, music players, and smartphones then Apple, it's a joke to even suggest any competitors in the same breath as the Iphone, Mac, or Ipod. And Steve Jobs is the leader in all of it...I was talking to Brett today and he brought up a good point that Jobs is equal parts, techno genius, visionary, brilliant business savvy, and has great charisma....Try saying that about Bill Gates!

So Jobs (may he live forever) gave us the next big thing which I will obtain without question, and use as constantly as my iphone....there are so many features that it has that I can't wait to play with....the MLB app alone is worth the price!! I have to quote Ryan my neighbor and his point that he brought up...he said, "I have my laptop with me to surf on the web on the couch all the time, this will be so much better"

Grabbaggar reviews "Avatar"

Those loyal readers out there know that I rarely go to movie theaters anymore...prefering to wait until the Blu Ray release...but I couldn't miss this one. James Cameron delivers a MASTERPIECE of visual effects. Actually he reinvents the form....the 3D effects are like nothing we have ever seen before and quite honestly make me wish that I could live another 100 years and have perfect eyesight forever because this is only the beginning of a revolution in the way we watch movies. And it is a leap forward in CGI..the effects have taken the biggest leap forward since the Matrix gave us "bullet time" Some of the scenes are indescribable, so I encourage everyone out there to see it!!

"Can we just stick to the issues?"

Here are Grabbaggars positions on the issues of the day...

Gun Control: Against

Torture of detainess suspected of terrorism: For

Abortion: Pro Choice

Strong National Defense: For

Government Healthcare: For

Euthanasia: For

Death Penalty: For

Big Government: Depends on the issue

Religion: Atheist

Same Sex Marriage: For

Stem Cell Research: For

Creation or Evolution: Evolution

Raising the Minimum Wage: Against

Illegal Immigration: Against

Restricting the Internet: Against

Gays in the Military: For

That's all I can think of for now folks...feel free to copy and paste with your own in comments...or make up some that I missed.....

P.S. It would be awesome if one of my faithful lurkers can come out of the shadows and post their opinions on these issues

P.P.S. In many of these there are shades of gray, yes I know.

If Garrett Ran the World: Property Taxes

I believe that in LA County everyone pays 1.25 percent of the assessed value of their home which for me and Tasha is about $5625 per year which is due in equal installments in November and February. Now lets say we did some major improvements on our house...so nice remodel, spruced it up real nice...added some major square footage etc...What we have done is increased the property value of our home, and increased the value of everyones property in the neighborhood. You would think that by doing this we would be rewarded? But that is not the way it happens, if you improve your house, you actually are punished in the form of more property taxes. So good behavior is punished.

On the flip side of that coin...if we let the house fall into disrepair our values would be lowered and we would be rewarded for this behavior in the form of lower property taxes...

So what they are doing to sum up is Punishing good behavior, and rewarding bad....

Ladies and gentleman, if Garrett Ran the world I would have an independent county assessors office who would take a look at all properties and give tax breaks to those that have improved their homes, and maintained or approved the appearance with meticulous landscaping.

Yeah like that will ever happen....

The A Team!!!!

"If you have a problem if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire........THE A TEAM!!!!!!!"

When Matt and I were in our formidable years and it was my Dad's weekend, he would let us watch three classic shows...The Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, and The A-Team...Classic memories!

Conan O'Brien

"To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me, and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism – it's my least favorite quality, and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

– Conan O'Brien


I have to say folks I was really touched and moved by the way Conan went out last night. I thought that the above quote was one of the greatest things I have ever heard a "goofy entertainer" say. He said before in the same show that he could say anything he wanted about NBC, and then proceeded to tell how grateful he was for the chance to be working for them for all these years, first as a writer for SNL, and on to host the Tonight Show. He was clearly emotional and he went out like a Gentleman.

And yes he has convicted me! I don't want to be a biting Cynic...but yes I do have those qualities in me, and sometimes they manifest like a soothing balm when I get attention with clever sarcasm....but the key is to be KIND and not cynical, and work hard!

My Favorite SNL Commercial Parody ever

Whoring out your kids is the worst thing you can do

Sarah Palin makes me sick to my stomach... she exploits her baby for her own personal financial gain.

And now another installment of "If Garrett Ran the World"

"My doctor tells me I have 'joint problems'"

I now call on Veterinary offices, and pretty much all of them have posters saying something like, "If your Pet is even a little overweight...." And then it lists the ailments such as, joint issues, heart issues, high blood pressure, hypertension..and on and on it goes. Vet techs, receptionists, doctors have no problem openly discussing with an owner that their pet is overweight.....Now you see where I am going with this folks....

Its no different for People!! Morgan Spurlock brilliantly put it in his documentary "Supersize me" it is much easier for people to talk openly to smokers about the clear health hazard smoking presents, but it is no different of a hazard watching an obese person eat a cheeseburger. Obesity takes years off of your life and makes you miserable. There is no one on earth who is fat and obese that is happy being that way. I speak from personal experience, it affects nearly every aspect of your everyday life FOR THE WORSE.

Yes I know this is America, and people have the right to overeat and not exercise, and they have the right to smoke, and do things that are bad for them. But there are limits to these rights, smoking in public is pretty much banned because it affects other people. So do whatever you want as long as it doesn't effect me or pose a collective negative effect on where our valuable tax dollars go. It is time for some harsher measures when fat people effect our lives negatively....

1. Healthcare==I am so sick of hearing a fat person talk about their joint problems or diabetes (gee I wonder why you have those ailments)... A primary reason why our healthcare system is so messed up is because of obese people seeking treatment, (yes there are other reasons but that is for another day.) I propose the following, anyone with a BMI over 30 must go to a completely separate healthcare facility and be forced to pay huge premiums for coverage. I do not want to go to any hospitals or out patient facilities and see huge fat people with their gout and diabetes...go to your separate facility!!

2. Airplanes=====If your ass doesn't fit in the seat, or if your fat rolls spill over to the person next to you, then you aint flying!!!

There are many others folks you get the idea....

This has been another installment of...."If Garrett Ran the World!"

Bobby Ryan Game Misconduct Hit on Moller

Yes folks I saw this live last night...after this happened two of our guys tackled Bobby Ryan and a great fight ensued...Bobby Ryan was charged with a minor and Major penalty for charging, including a Game Misconduct penalty...Hockey Rules!!

Crazy Religious Nut Outside Staples Center

Well after the Kings beat the Ducks 4-0 tonight (Oh Yeah!!) myself and my fellow Hockey fans were met with a happy lunatic screaming into a yellow plastic cone, I took out my Iphone and shot this video, enjoy (:

Mark McGwire Talks about the Past

So two things happened while I was at my Nat Sales meeting that I have covered on my blog before...McGwire (PEDS) and Pat Robertson's sickening comment about how the Haitian earthquake was Haiti's fault because they made a "pact with the devil"---Im sure that you all know my opinion of both these events, I'll skip the two bit Televangangelist for now and talk about Big Mac.

I was disgusted by the hypocrisy of former Hall of famers and other like Goose Gossage, and the moral sanctimony of sportswriters who govern entry into the hall of fame. I LOVE sports as all of you know, I amazed at the skill of hitters...as Orel Hershisher said, "The average person couldn't even STAND in the batters box, much less make any sort of contact against a major league pitcher." There are only a handful of people on the planet who are skilled enough to be major league hitters and since the days of Cap Anson, they have all tried to get a competitive edge...from stealing signs, to drinking alcohol, to corking bats, to taking amphetamines, to Beta Blockers, to Laser Eye Surgery, to Cortico-Steroids, (cortisone shots are steroids taken to help a player recover faster from an injury, sound familiar?) To drinking 15 cups of coffee, to doing sudafed, and on, and on, and on. There was no policy in the MLB against Steroids the entire time McGwire played Baseball....Steroids as I have said till I am blue in the face have a unfair negative connotation. They are simply a synthesized version of a hormone produced naturally in the body. They do not kill you...they did not kill Lyle Alzado....Tylenol is thousands of times more dangerous and is way more of a killer then steroids. Tasha took steroids for 25 years of her life. You wanna make the point that Mac should not be in the hall of fame because he took a drug w/o a prescription? Is that it? Cause it wasn't against the rules in baseball. I guess by that logic you should keep someone out of the Hall because they borrowed their friends Statin pills, or throw me in jail if I would have taken one of my Dad's ambiens he offered me. Why is Phil Niekro in the Hall of Fame? He blatantly cheated and was proud of it going against the rules of baseball to get an unfair advantage against the hitters. All the while baseball had a clear policy against such "unfair advantages" I don't get it and it makes me sick. Mark McGwire deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, and he will get cheers from me when I see him the Ravine this summer when the Cards come into town.

Here's another comparison.....one day Ty Cobb ran into the stands and almost beat a crippled man to death during a game because the man called him a "White N" Why is he in the Hall of Fame and Charlie Hustle isn't?

My Favorite President?

In January of 1993 I thought America was in Big Trouble, we had elected someone who was a communist and was going to tax us into oblivion. Here was a man of questionable moral standards who had dalliances with Gennifer Flowers and also used his State Troopers to get him girls. I thought the world was going to come to an end. How could anyone vote for him? Are they stupid? Don't they understand? But guess what folks, after a rocky start, and with the help of a profound period of prosperity Bill Clinton was a great President.

I was thinking about how he secured the release of the two girls that No Korea captured, and the picture that was taken with Kim Jong Il. In that picture Clinton was sitting ramrod straight and stonefaced. Great statesmanship. (Communicating to Kim Jong that "America is not a friend to your nation" )He has the rare gift of complete mastery over the issues, and complete mastery of the glad handing part of politics. He is just as at ease talking to an Arkansas pig farmer as he is at ease being grilled on the most complicated nuances of policy. George Bush has great Charisma and is at ease with hanging out with people, but not as "at ease" as with discussing policy nuances. Obama I think has the policy nuance thing pretty well nailed, but although he has great charisma, comes off as a little bit nerdy and awkward in some glad handing situations.

The "likeability factor" is very important in American politics because it corresponds directly to the approval rating which gives the President more influence over the lawmakers.

The command of the issues is very important because it allows the President to be more effective in executing policy.

Anyways, 16 years ago if you would have told me that Bill Clinton would be my favorite President, I would have thought you were out of your mind.

With regards to Monica Lewinsky......

I have to assume that nearly all Presidents have had mistresses, Clinton was outed by Linda Tripp, and his case was blown up into a circus.....So if I fault him for extra marital affairs I have to fault 80% of our Presidents for the same thing.

P.S. I never voted for Bill Clinton, I voted for Bush and Dole

This Process will be on CSPAN

America has a long history of Politicians promising things in a campaign in order that the Electorate votes them in to office. With this montage that I found on Drudge this morning, the question I put to our President is "Why was/is the process not on CSPAN and open to the American public like you promised?"

Levels of Belief in God

I had a great talk with a good friend of mine this past weekend and it stirred up some familiar ground so.......

Allrighty folks lets take a poll...this is a non scientific and non forwarded poll...Here we go...which one of these categories would you classify yourself in?

I have a strong belief in God, I talk to him every day, I know that I am saved through his son Jesus Christ who died for me on the cross. This is the central meaning in my life, I believe that Jesus is the only way to get to heaven, whoever does not believe in him will after death enter into an eternal separation from God where there will be weeping and nashing of teeth.

I believe in God, this belief comforts me. I pray and I go to church. I am really scared to die and I am glad that I am going to go to heaven. It makes me feel good to believe in something greater than myself.

I believe in God and I am a Christian, I haven't been to church in years but, I am going this Sunday in fact because my coworker is reading this book called 'the Purpose Driven Life' and he wants me to come to his church he says it's really fun and the people there are really nice.

I guess I believe in a higher power, because how else are we here, and I went to Yosemite and thought, there is no way that Half Dome and El Capitan could have happened by random chance. I could could care less about going to church and reading the bible.

It is impossible to know if God exists because you can't prove it one way or the other.

I have a total lack of belief in any supernatural deity.

Which one of these possibilities do you fall in to dear readers? Or do you have another possibility that I haven't written here?

Oh yeah and for those that don't know...here is my answer......

I have a total lack of belief in any supernatural deity.

Marin County, Sonoma County and Santa Rosa

The four of us went to Santa Rosa for a few days over New Years and had a good time hanging out with friends and family and hiking along the Armstrong Woods Coastal Redwood Grove near Guerneville.

I have been to Santa Rosa at least a dozen times over the past 15 years but with this last trip I realized something.....Santa Rosa is a really great town. In fact pretty much the whole area from directly north of the Golden Gate bridge is nice. Maybe its living in our semi arid desert here in So Cal with its dry climate, but it was a nice change to be shrouded in a mist world. The area is very green and very misty...everything is cool about it except the fact that it kicks up Tasha's asthma and allergies into the red zone. Santa Rosa has a cool downtown area, and like Santa Clarita is the perfect size town (150K) and serves as a fully self contained community although it is 40 miles away from SF and Santa Clarita of course is 25 miles to Hollywood. It is like the Pacific Northwest but maybe not quite as rainy.....Most all the area around SR is cool....(Sebastapool, Bodega Bay, The Redwood Grove, tons of wineries) Don't worry though folks we are not leaving Santa Clarita anytime soon...we love living here.

P.S. It has been over a year since I last descended into the San Joaquin Valley and when we were coming down the Grapevine the view almost made me sick! (Yes we lived in Bakers Hell for 2 years)