Ultimate Down Under

Last night was my first night of Ultimate Spring League here in Australia. I'm glad that I've been able to find ultimate here. Also, for the first time, I have a friend that went to play as well. I don't think since uni have I know people outside the sport go play with me. So yay for that.

One problem that I can already see is that it's played at fields around suburbs so it's going to be quite difficult to get there without a car. No train lines for me. I may have to learn how to use the bus lines. Bus line and Ferry line. Finally frontier.

I've played around with the idea of a car. They have the ones you can rent for a few hours at a time. There's one that's parked right in front of my apts. I'm still not sure about driving on the wrong side so I'll have to see about that.

Anyway, back to the Aussie ultimate. A lot of it was the same. We started late. The calling card of ultimate. There were a lot of differences though. Overall, I think the level of game play was not as high as it was in Atlanta. It could be that this was the first night or that this was not the big summer league which would bring in more of the good people. I guess this might be good. I looked pretty good out there and I haven't played in a few months.

One very big notable difference was that after the game, each team did cheers for each other. The league in Colorado I was in did that, but I haven't seen it anywhere else. The sportsmenship was very high with both teams huddling up and saying good stuff and cheers for each other. Took me a bit by suprise, but it was totally cool.

I'm going to have to figure out this transportation issue, but other than that, I think this is going to be fun playing ultimate here.

Finally Caved

It's 4am and I can't sleep so I decided to create a facebook page. Yes, I know. I've been fighting it for a while. Well, when you can't sleep you do some stuff you might regret later.

So if you're on there. Let send me an invite.

Why Waste Time When Someone's Already Done It Better?

I've been trying to figure out a way to verbalize this and to find examples of this. I've seen it, I've heard it. Just haven't had the time to find it. Well, thanks to Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, I think they's said it all.

Watch this when you have a bit of time.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=184082

See how fast the tune changes for the Republicans when they run into these issues that they so quickly cast judgement on before.

Can someone tell me what a VP even does?.. that was then. I accept your nomination for VP of the US.. That's now!

Pregger Teens? Blame the Parents, they're pinheads.. that was then. Respect their choice.. That's now!

Whinny female politicans? They should get out of politics if they can't handle the criticism. It's a step backwards for women when they can take a little heat.. That was then. There is a deep rooted sexism going on in the media and this country... That's now!

This government is broken and we need someone to fix it!.. That's now! Umm.. Republicans have had the white house and congress for most of the last 8 years.

How can you not see this well coordinated spin machine? I heard a person they interviewed after Palin's speech, she said 'I really liked her speech. She used small easy to understand words.' What the fuck is wrong with you?! How is that a reason to vote for someone? Why in the world do you want someone like you to be president? You're obviously not that great. Why would you want someone not that great in the White House?

What the hell is this obession with wanting someone 'just like you' or that 'can relate to you' to be the president? This goes to both parties. There are NO political people at this stage of government that's ANYTHING like you or can really relate to you. Unless you have millions of dollars in the bank, several mansions, or a private jet you can put on ebay (can't believe Palin said that in her speech and people cheered). What the fuck are you thinking? Oh, yea, that reminds me of the time I put my private jet on ebay to sell... oh wait. No, that was a used porn dvd. Nevermind.

They're not like you. We need someone that's better than us to run the government. Better is not a bad word, neither is Elite. I believe elite means something like the best. Don't you want the best to be running the government?

Listen. Don't think I just LOVE the Democrate's choice Biden either cause I don't. I've got some serious issues with him. I bet you didn't know this. Biden is on my shit list. That's right. He's one of the people that created and passed the RAVE act. Oh. Biden, you didn't think I'd remember did ya. You think I'd forget with all our brains damaged and no fluid in our spines. Nooooo... I remember. War on drugs my ass.

Still though. It's better than the alternative.

People. Please pay attention. Do your own research. Look at both sides and the real issues. Not just the talking points. Make a good decision Please.

Just Cause I'm Not Living in the Country Anymore.. Doesn't Mean I Can't Bitch

On American Politics.

Funny enough, I get more news here than when I was living in the US.

So, the McCain and the Republicans nominated Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska to be the running mate with John McCain.

Seriously? This is your pick? And you can say with a straight face that this was chosen because she's the best person for the job and not purely for political reason?

Can you say you didn't pick her because she's a woman? The pro-Hillary and scared conservative suburban mom population that you're targeting?

Can you say you didn't pick her because she's insanely conservative? The Christian right that you're so desperately trying to get out and vote? The horribly misguided Anti-Choice population that you want to excite?

Can you say you didn't pick her because she's so pro-big oil and pro-NRA? The population that gives you all your money?

I don't think you say deny any of that.

McCain accused Obama of putting politics before the country first, but I think this choice in a VP truly shows which party could give a rats ass about the country as long as they win.

How about some facts about Palin.

_Palin sought pork-barrel projects for her city and state, contrary to her reformist image. In her earlier career as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin hired a lobbyist to help the tiny town secure at least 14 earmarks, worth $27 million between 2000-2003. McCain has touted Palin as a force in his long battle against earmarks. Really?

_Her husband once belonged to a fringe political group in Alaska with some members supporting secession from the United States. I believe there was a war that determined this is not legal.

_A private attorney has been authorized to spend $95,000 to defend her against accusations of abuse of power. The state legislature is investigating whether she had Alaska's public safety commissioner fired after he refused to dismiss a state trooper who had divorced Palin's sister. Yea, that's who we want in the oval office. Someone who will get someone fired for breaking up with her sister.

_She has acknowledged smoking marijuana in the past. Well. I don't give a rat's ass about this.

_Under her leadership this year, Alaska asked for almost $300 per person in requests for pet projects from Stevens, one of McCain's top adversaries. That's more than any other state received, per person, from Congress. Yea, you're really 'outside the system'.

_Bristol Palin's boyfriend, Levi Johnston, plans to join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the GOP convention. Talk about the text book example of a shotgun wedding. Way to go on your Abstinence only education! See how well that works!!!!!!

_This is probably the most angering one. Palin opposed the U.S. government's listing of a variety of animals as endangered, including the polar bear and the beluga whale, both of which inhabit areas also rich in oil and natural gas. There is just no excuse for this. You want to hunt, go hunt a human. Leave these animals alone just cause you want to get rich off the oil that's in that space.

How well versed do you think Palin is on foreign affairs? Sticking up for Palin, a commentator on Fox News says that she governs Alaska which is really close to Russia. She must know how to deal with them. WTF? How are you still a channel?

"If you can take on Ted Stevens and that crowd in Alaska, you can handle the Russians," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, told ABC News this week. Do you even know where Russia is? Have you read anything in the news lately about Russia? They're going to overtake China as the scariest country in the world. They're no joke. They're the real thing.

You want to vote for someone like that? Someone that may have a good chance of becoming the most powerful person in the world? If you do, all these jokes I hear about Americans are probably all your fault.

The Apt, the Apt, the Apt is on fire...

Here's a funny story.

I was doing laundry Saturday morning.

The laundry room is right next door to mine. I was going in and out all morning. I went out one more time to see if I left anything in one of the machines and as soon I went in the laundry room, I hear a click.

Shit.

I've been in and out all morning and the door's never closed on me. What the hell? I just locked myself out. To add to the problem, I just put something on the stove, so I've got something cooking. If I don't get back in there soon, I'm going to burn the place down.

I've lived here for a week, and I'm going to burn the place down. Great.

I wasn't sure what to do. I knocked on one of my neighbor's door. This old dude in a robe came to answer the door. I told him the situation. This is what he said as a solution in all seriousness. Is your balcony door unlocked? Good. Go up to the apt above and jump from the balcony into my apt. You can hang from the bottom of the balcony and then swing yourself onto yours. Just don't let go.

I'm like what? Are you insane? I'm 8 floors up! I'm not Jackie Chan.

He said fine, looking a bit disappointed.

I remember my realtor works on sat sometimes so I gave her a call. Luckily, she was there. She said to come by the office and grab the key. I was a bit relieved as I'm only about a mile away from her office.

Then I remembered. Since I'm doing laundry, I'm barefoot and in my pajamas and a white t shirt. For those of you that knows me, my usual outfit.

I didn't really have a choice, and time was of the essence with food on the stove. I just started sprinting up to the office. The office is on this section of the road that has tons of cafes. It's brunch time, and everyone's out eating on the patio. Brunch is very big here.

So everyone's enjoying their leisurely meal when up comes a half dressed guy sprinting pass them. I bet there was some good conversations that got started from that. You guys can probably all imagine what that scene looked like.

Good news is that I got the key and ran back and the place hasn't burned down yet. The smoke detector hasn't even gone off yet (I know the smoke detector is very sensitive cause I've set it off a couple of times already).

I'm going to go make a copy of my key and hide it somewhere. I'll tape it behind something along with a gun, passports, and some cash and be all James Bond like.

That was just what happened before noon.

Next time, what I was doing till 4am later that night. Just as a teaser, there were 4 bars, some crazy lady, and a random warehouse party involved.

Till next time!

My First Domestic Flight in Australia

It's very difficult to do updates when you don't have Internet at home. Doing it at work and while you're sober is just not the same.

Well, here we go:

- I went to Melbourne this last weekend for work. I don't know, I think I may should've chosen that city instead. It's all nice and nature-y there. The vibe seems a bit better too.

- I had the best cab driver EVER. He was chatting away. Telling me where he was driving. All the local places, and some of the places we were driving by. Seriously the nicest drive ever.

- Went to a very cool bar without a name. There are many alleyway bars in Melbourne (unlike Sydney that only has super large bars). It was pretty sweet with the way it was set up and a live DJ. Then went to another bar named 'cookie'. It's pretty sweet. Even sweeter was our waitress. OMG. Seriously. We should clone her.

- Had probably one of the most fun flights ever on my way back to Sydney. Even though I was in the last row in the corner seat, it was still so much fun. What made it fun was the flight crew that sat next to me. They were hilarious. This was the crew that's working the flight back so they weren't working during my flight. Oh, it was just so much fun I can't even tell ya. They got me a bunch of food and beer to take home too.

- Beer and wine are free on flights here. Score.

- You can bring liquids on the planes. You don't have to take off your shoes either. Once again, score.

- All flights comes with food of some type, and not just the bag of pretzels. I got a cupcake, and these cheese and crackers. On my flight back, thanks to the crew I was sitting with, I got a steak sandwich and like a 6 pack of beer for the way home.

- I'm taking United on my way back to the states next week. Everyone here has grimaced when I told them that. I don't think it could be THAT bad. Besides, I have 16 drink tickets. I'll just make sure I sit on the lsle next to the bathroom.

- I saw all these things about Bali. I think I have to go while I'm here. Sadly, it's not one of those go by yourself kinda things. So... guess I better get a move on things.

Cheers mates,

More Observations from Sydney

- One good thing about so many Asians around here is that there are a ton of arcades here. One bad thing is that there are so many Asians here. I can't play any games without getting my ass whooped.

- There were some crazy DDR action on Friday night. Who's doing a movie on this? It's sure to be better than most of the other movies made from video games'. Furdell, this one is for you. I saw a dude playing Crazy Taxi. I left to get something to eat, do some errands, maybe took a short nap. When I came back, he was still picking up passengers. Same game.

- I had yum cha (dim sum) today. I was there by myself and people gave me the strangest look being that this is supposed to be a big group of people kinda thing. Despite that, the food was super good.

- I just had the best cream puffs that were freshly made in front of me.

- I had a Russian cabbie today. He explained to me how the Georgians are the real terrorists in this conflict and that all this western propaganda is all evil. I thought this was really interesting to hear the other side's view on this. Made me glad I made my trip. The variety of people here is just amazing.

- They can say Shit on TV. Yet the world didn't end. How amazing.

- I think it's funny to say Rubbish instead of Trash.

- On the Bizaro front, there's a Delilah-ish show here that's hosted by a dude. Same type of stories and music though.

- So far, when I try to talk with an Aussie accent, no one has been able to understand me.

- While walking along the beach this Sat, I saw some whales. Yay whales. They were very cool and were just hanging out next to the surfers. I think they were judging the sufers or trying to decide if they should eat one of them.

- While on said beach, they had some loud dance music playing. Nothing beats beats on the beach. Nothing.

- I finally figured out how to text back to the states. That's right bitches. The texting is back!

- I'm set up to go to a Trance event at a dome in October. It's going to be sweet. Party goes from 10pm - 6am. Let's see how I do. In case you're wondering if what the event is: Godskitchen 'Angels in White'

Maybe I'm more awesome than I thought.

To all you nay sayers out there.

Who move to a new country and in less than 2 weeks:

- Became a regular at a bar. You know what that means? People know my name there. I know the bartender's and the manager's business, and I get served drinks even after last call. That's right. suck it.

- Went out with a girl. Had a nice dinner and drinks. Less than 2 weeks. Suck it.

- Went out with random people that I randomly met.

I'll update you with more of my awesomeness later.

Decisions Decisions

Ok folks, I need some help in making a decision on where to live. Here're the two scenarios I'm working with.

Choice 1:

Standard 1 bedroom apt.
Wonderful view of the Harbour bridge and the city
Fully furnished

Choice 2:

Share the apt with 2 girls
1 bathroom
A tiny room in an apt. Like really small/Can barely fit a double bed and that's it
Area for an office
Unfurnished room, so will have to buy bed
It's $520 cheaper a month + only 1/3 utilities
Have good friends that live across the hall. 2 guys and a girl. It's almost like a 'Friends' scenario.
They all go out and hang out together

Being that I'm in the city all by myself, and that my coworkers are pretty much non-existent. I can instantly have 5 friends. Very tempting. The room is so tiny though. Although I would save quite a bit per month.

Here's the other thing. The girls will be making a few more interviews and will decide by Friday. If I want that 1 bedroom, I'll have to act fast. The rental market here is ridiculous. The renters have said it's a quick turnaround so if I apply tomorrow, I should be able to move in by friday if all goes well. This is before the girls make the decision.

What should I do?

One World.... One Pup

Does anyone else think the slogan of one world, one dream of the Olympic games is a bit ominous coming from China? Do you know what their one dream is? Yea, you should be concerned.

I'm currently watching my favorite Olympic sport. Woman's beach volleyball. Seriously, best spectator sport ever. In case you were wondering or have noticed that their bikinis has gotten smaller, it's not just a fashion statement. I heard this on the TV today. There was a rule change recently that said their bottoms could only be so big. I don't know who made that rule, but it's a fantastic rule.

Between every point, they play a short sample of a song. They just played 'Push it' by Salt n' Pepper. Sweetness.

Currently, Greece is playing Austria. Goodness, it's just all kinds of awesome.

During the formal timeout, 12 Chinese girls in bikinis ran out and help coordinate the wave. These even coordinators know how to throw a party.

Ring of fire? Wha? How's that an appropriate song to be playing?

Yay for butt patting!

Ha... they announcer gives instructions on how to cheer. That's funny.

Awww... it's over. Yay to the Austrians for a big upset over the Greeks.

----------------------
It's been interesting watching the Olympics from Australia. I've been able to see a lot of sports that doesn't normally get shown in the US because Americans aren't in them. For example, I watched Badminton today. That's not too bad.

They also showed the women's weight lifting in the 49kg class. Now there wasn't any Aussies in this. I think they wanted to show because the women didn't look like body builders at all. They looked like quite attractive women. Attactive women that can lift more than double their body weight. It was quite the sight.

Whoa. They're showing field hockey now. Cool.

I'm not sure how it is in the US, but it's non stop Olympics here.

I sure hope they show table tennis. I would sure love to watch some Olympic table tennis.

Aussies/Kiwi - 2 Team Pup - 0

Once again I have failed in keeping up with the locals. This is quite sad as I thought I did quite well tonight. Nonetheless, I had to retire early.

Just to give you a condense version of the happenings today.

- Got a number. This time from a girl. That's right, no more dude numbers. This is going to be sweet.

- Starting to be a semi-regular at a bar. Oh, it's so on.
- Got a bunch of numbers from a bunch of older ladies. Don't know what that's about, but it just happened.

- Saw a bunch of rave kids in full rave gear on the train. I asked where they were going. I had no idea where they said they were going, but I doubt I could keep up. Good god I'm old. Getting old sucks.

- There was a drug bust of Ecstasy worth half a BILLION dollars here in AU. I'm a bit sad about that.

- I saw a bunch of punk ass kids on the train today. They thought they were hot shit. They were barely cold diarrhea. Seriously. The old crew of Tony, Ski, and Nikki would've killed these fools without blinking an eye, and they thought they would try to be tough with me? Shit. They don't know how I roll.

- Have I mentioned rave chicks in full rave gear is just totally hot? Well they are.

Why Am I?

What am I so drunk you ask? Yea. Note to self. Don't try to outdrink a Kiwi, a Brit, and an group of aussies.

I was sitting in my hotel room all by me self tonight. I was thinking. I need to get out there. Meet some people and shit.

Where do I feel most comfortable even without my crew. A local dive bar of course.

So I went out and hit a few local bars. The first few didn't really click with me. Then I went to the 'Fortune of War'. Supposively the oldest bar in Sydney. Right away I struck it up with the bartender talking about Rugby. She was quite a cutie which really helped out things.

Then I talked to this german guy. He was pretty cool and I got his number. Weird I know. I have no issues getting dude's numbers. I need a crew.

After he left, this Kiwi and his girl came in. He was all kind of crazy. So funny. We started buying each other drinks.

Then this group of Aussie girls came in. It was great fun as we started doing Jager bombs. You know how everything goes down hill after Jager. These gals had been drinking before they came here. Within 30min, had more to drink than me in the couple of hours I've been at the bar, and were perfectly fine with drinking more.

Of course, the Kiwi was helping everyone out with drinking more and more. It was a grand ol' time.

At the end, they said they were ready to start drinking and headed to a bar called 'Three wise monkeys'. I can only imagine what that's all about. I was pretty hammered so I wasn't able to join them.

What a bummer. These were my kind of people.

Oh well, guess I need to work on my tolerance.

More Observations from down under

- Cigarettes are the most amazing things in the world. What other product can you put a label that reads 'This product will KILL you' and people still buy it. How is this product legal?

- I just came back from an arcade in the middle of the city. With all the Asians here, you can imagine the competition. There were 8 Tekken 6 machines linked together. The level of play was pretty ridiculous. Of course, I had to give it a shot. That was probably the shortest game I've ever played.

- I watched these 2 girls play (and beat) house of the dead 4. They looked kinda like cartoon characters with the way they looked. If there's a zombie uprising down under, I'm hanging out with them.

- There are a lot of Japanese and Korean girls here that look like cartoon characters here.

- You can openly walk around and drink in most parts of the city.

- You haven't heard hot/sexy until you hear an aussie girl say 'panties'.

- I have watched so much Rugby in the last few days. Did you know there are different versions of Rugby? I didn't either. Apparently, it's like the NFL and AFL in the US. In one of the versions, teams can score over 100 pts. Odd.

- They may not have a Halloween here, but they have a pirate day celebration.

Live.. From Down Under... It's Pup!!!!

Now that I'm on the other side of the world, here's a few things that I've observed.

Food is insanely expensive here. Like double the price of the US. You know how you can get a roasted chicken from the grocery store for about $6 in your grocery store? Yea, it's A$14 dollars here. You know what the exchange rate is? 1:1

Actually, everything is expensive here.

I've been watching a lot of Rugby. Still not 100% sure what's going on, but I think I'm getting the hang of things soon and it looks fun.

There are Aussie versions of 2 of my favorite shows. So you think you can dance Australia and Project Runway Australia. Sweet.

A new video game here costs A$85. That's just insane.

I was awake at 4am today due to jet lag. I started walking around looking for apartments at 8am. I walked by several clubs that were just starting to close. I later talked to a friend here who said she had an early night at the club last night. She left at 5am.

Driving from the right side is weird. Not getting hit by a car is a bit of a challenge for me right now.

I need to learn the metric system and to tell the temperature in Celsius. It's screwing with me when I look at stuff.

8 thin slices of hard Salomi costs A$6. Other cold cuts are equally expensive.

Going out tonight. Should have more interesting things to report tomorrow.

I'm leaving... on a jet plane...

In about 12 hours, I'll be on a plane heading to the other side of the world. Don't know anyone there. Got no one to drunk text/dial. Quite a bit of a new start, but unlike all the other times where it's just a different state, this is somewhere far far away.

Even as often as I do this, there is always that fear. It's not like I'm doing this with someone. It's just me and Pup. He's probably just going to find a pub, but me, I've actually got to go out and set myself up with a crew. Find new people to be with.

We'll see how successful we are. We could be back after the year is over or there's always that chance..

Don't know if I'll come back again....

Learn your geography Mr. McCain.

So many people like McCain because somehow he seems he may be better at foreign affairs than Obama. Why? Cause he's old? Cause he was locked in a cage for years? No, those are not good reasons that he would be better at foreign affairs.

In March of this year, during a visit to Jordan, McCain said SEVERAL times that IRAN was training and financing Al Qaeda. Yea, to most of you that sounds reasonable. Unless you have been keeping up with the world and knew that Iran is a Shiite country. Al Qaeda is a Sunni insurgent group. They would NEVER get together being that they HATE each other.

Can you imagine if Obama had misspoke like that? But no, it was McCain, and people just let it go.

Last week, McCain repeatedly referred to Czechoslovakia. A country that hasn't existed since 1993. What's he going to say next? We need to stop the spread of the Persian empire?

This morning, in an interview with Good Morning America, asked by Diane Sawyer whether the "the situation in Afghanistan in precarious and urgent," McCain responded: "I think it's serious. . . . It's a serious situation, but there's a lot of things we need to do. We have a lot of work to do and I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border."

That's right. He's gonna focused on the Iraq/Pakistan border. Sir, you don't deserve to run a country if you don't know that Iraq and Pakistan doesn't share a border. BTW, I have some beach front property in Nevada I'd like to talk to you about.

McCain knows very little about the economy and of world affairs. This is a serious election, and we need a serious person to run things. We don't need someone who only cares about wars.

If you are even remotely thinking of voting for McCain, please do reconsider. After all, I think we've had enough of your great 'decision making ability' these last 8 years.

Decisions Decisions

Batman comes out this Friday. That is a must see of course. I love the Bat. I understand his anger. I understand his wanting to personally clean up the scum that's plaguing his city. I understand his need to be scarier then the things that go bump in the night.

That part is interesting, but I don't think that's what really fascinates me about Batman though. I'm fascinated by his enemies. Parts of me can really relate to them, or at least I think I have parts of them in me.

Scarecrow - Who doesn't like someone who wants to spread fear? He does it for fun and for research. I can respect that. I really like the idea of being able to spread fear and have people paralyzed within their own minds. All those thugs, low-lives, molesters, murders out there causing fear on people. Wouldn't it be great to have them trapped in their own minds with a nice dose of gas so they can experience what they do to others? How interesting would it be to become fear itself?

The Joker - Who doesn't love this villain? And no, the one in my head is not the happy or goofy Joker that's been portrayed in the 60s TV show or by Jack in the first Batman movie. The Joker I know is a sociopathic sadistic murder who does things with little reason or care. He is interested in causing chaos and that's about it. I can appreciate that. I understand even the Joker does things for reasons. People always have some agenda. What if one day there was a person that didn't have an agenda? A person that just wants to cause death and destruction for the fun of it.

Of course, Mamma Mia also comes out this Friday. As the guys will tell you, I've been wanting to see Mamma Mia for years now. Every time we're in Vegas they hear me bitching about not going to see Mamma Mia. I know it's not much of a decision for most people. The Batman crowd and the Mamma Mia crowd doesn't really mix, but then again, most people aren't Pup.

Decisions Decisions.

Epic.

I think that's the best word to describe the Wimbledon finals match I watched this Sunday between Federer and Nadal. It was an amazing match with every point being so impressively played.

I've always watched tennis. I was on our high school tennis team and have always liked watching the game. I can't remember the last time I didn't watch the Wimbledon finals. This one this past weekend was different though. It was just another finals like so many years before.

There was so much back story to the match. There is such great competition between Federer and Nadal. There was so much building up to it. I would say 3 years in the making. And unlike so many sporting events that gets so much hype, this time, it was worth every bit the hype.

There are such stark contrast between the 2 players. There are obvious things like age, right vs. left handed, one wears a vest, the other wears pirate shorts. One plays with an elitist surgical precision in style. The other plays with a raging beast roaring through each point. Never have I seen a match with this high caliber of skill and intensity. These were Titans playing the game this last sunday. The match was everything a fan could wish for. It went to 5 sets, with a final set score of 9 -7.

This will surely be one for the history books. I'm just glad I was able to witness it.

Bravo to both players.

What the fuck is wrong with you people?

Once again, here's another installment.

What is with the culture in this country of whenever something goes wrong, we always look for someone or something to blame? No one ever looks at themselves as the cause for problems. Let me tell you something. Most of the time, it's YOUR fault something has happened. I'm not saying others may not have caused something bad, but the majority of the time, yea, it's you.


Let's take this insanely high oil prices that's going on right now. When you ask anyone why this is happening, I bet some of the answers you get will be related to global world demand, not enough supplies, or commodity traders driving the price up.


Why is it that very few of you will say that it's becasue of our fault in the decisions that we've made in last few decades? The technology for electrical cars has been around for decades, though not a sophicated as it's needed today, it was there. I mean come on, Henry Ford's wife's car was all electric. Yes, they had something back then. Yes, the oil companies have kept those technology from coming out. Yes, the government has not pushed for this, but all that is because you didn't care. You made conservation and alternative fuels four letter words. You never noticed the problem or cared much because oil was cheap. It's your damn fault.

I suggest watching the documentary 'Who killed the electrical car'. It has very interesting information about the electrical car and why we're in the spot we are today.

Let's say that's not your fault. You weren't around back then. Ok, so how about this. If you bought an automobile in the last 5 years, and you spent more than $25K, if your car does not get more than 35 mpg, then yes, you're part of the problem. Let's not talk about the people that has to buy specific cars or trucks for work or businesses, that doesn't count. That is also probably just 5% of car sales.

Most of you do not need the car that you have. Do you really need to upgrade to a giant SUV because you have 1 child? Some of you buy SUV cause you think they're cool and large, or a sport car because you want to go fast (even though you're stuck in traffic most of the time like the rest of us. Great use of that engine buddy). Don't you people EVER compain about how much gas prices are. It is your fault. You and your stupid decision making skills.

You kept demand bigger cars instead of more fuel efficient cars. I mean seriously people, the Hummer? Really? Y'all thought that was a good idea? Who the hell are you invading driving that thing? When you're driving it around town getting 10 mpg, it makes you look like a douch with a small penis.

Here's another something you need to consider. Sure, we all drive faster than the speed limit, but so many of you drive much faster than you should. You think it's a damn NASCAR race out there. You race to the red light, you swerve around on the highway, you seem to have an uncontrollably heavy right foot. All this burns more gas than is necessary. All this is your fault.


Take a look at yourselves, are you guilty of these behaviors? Do you rather bitch and find someone to blame rather than change your own behavior? I think most of you rather bitch than change your own behavior. That's the problem. That's why we are where we are today.

Now, instead of wanting to make a change in your own life, you're looking elsewhere like offshore drilling and drilling in Alaska to get your fix of bad behavior. You dumb fucks. This is not going to help lower the gas prices anytime soon. It will take at least 10 years for any oil comes out of those places. Instead, you could change your behavior the next time you get in your car, and that will have an immediate impact on the demand for oil. That is what will drive the price down.

Before you bitch about the gas prices, look in the mirror. It's probably your fault. You're probably part of the problem. The sooner you realize this, the sooner we can find a real solution.

TOP 5IVE FOR JULY!!!

A short list this time. Enjoy!

1. WAR "All Day Music"--Honestly, I'm a noob when it comes to War, but "Music" is a good place to start. This disc has flavors of hip-hop, jazz, funk and dare I say, gospel. "There Must Be a Reason Why" is especially enchanting. Here the lead vocalist chants one-liners: "Jesus!" "Lost My Soul!" "Reason!" A choir responds to each of his cries, ("Jesus gave his life to give/Not for you;" "Lost my soul in '68/Where were you?;" "There must be a reason why/I don't know") while the music builds and eventually collapses around a broken black man screaming in agony. In a later song the shattered man finds himself "Slippin' into Darkness," searching for redemption. The title track is a mellow soundtrack for any scene featuring a group of brothers throwing down dominoes, talking trash and taking in the fragrance of the potent marijuana leaf in a city park. Classic.

2. The Beatles "Let It Be"--So it goes like this: "Sgt Peppers" is great for its shock value screaming "We take drugs!!!" "Magical Mystery Tour" echoess that sentiment with a twist; "You should too!!!" The "White Album" is.... And a few albums later we get to "Let It Be," the one that says, "Fuck how it started, this is how it ends, you boys take it from here." My earliest memory of hearing the title track finds me watching Sesame Street, learning all about the "Letter 'B'." Stylistically, the album is everywhere. "Two of Us" fits right in with today's college radio. "The Long and Winding Road" is reminiscent of the soft rock heard on B98.5. I can picture any jam band extending "I've Got a Feeling" to the 20 minute mark. Such a great album, such a shame it had to end, boys. jai guru deva om.

3. Belle and Sebastian "Tigermilk"--No! I did not go out and buy this album after hearing "Expectations" in Juno. I have not seen Juno, and I have no idea what all this Juno crap is about. But apparently it has a kick-ass soundtrack! I am not sure how I fell in with Belle and Sebastian, but here is a bit of irony Alanis Morissette style. During my teenage years I would stay up at night watching 120 Minutes and Alternative Nation. I must have watched at least 2000 videos but I never saw a B&S video. Here is the glitch. I have a distinct impression of a Bettie Serveert video from those sessions, but two years ago I'm shopping at Wax 'n Facts when I pull out a record that reads "Belle and Sebastian--Tigermilk." I think about the Bettie Serveert video, try to connect the two and eventually I buy the record. Was I disappointed? No. The songs are situational. "She's Losing It" breaks the silence of a maladjusted young girl confronting homosexuality. In "We Rule the School" a milquetoast boy has visions of using graffiti to assert his aggression. "I Don't Love Anyone" gives voice to a teenager's frustration with relationships. It's all good. Then there is Juno...? I'll have to watch the movie, I guess.

4. Boards of Canada "In A Beautiful Place Out in the Country" (4 track ep)--The title is a reference to the Waco compound of the Branch Davidians. The track "Amo Bishop Roden" gives it away; if not by the title, then perhaps you recognize Amo Bishop Roden's voice in the loop. Boards of Canada are known for incorporating number theory within their music and from what I have discovered there is a group of BoC fans actively working to decode the music. But there are no complex equations involved with "In A Beautiful Place...." Moreover, I am guessing that back masking the ep has revealed nothing. What we are left with is straightforward ambient music inspired by BoC's research of the infamous cult. So there are no tricks on this one, right? Not quite. BoC uses samples of chattering children to entice the listener to "Come out and join a religious community in a beautiful place out in the country." They almost had me, too. Darn kids. But I aint doing it. I won't move to Waco. Nope. Nice try, guys.

5. Stereolab "Margerine Eclipse"--I had a difficult time beginning the review for this album. But after cueing it up in my disc player, the brainstorming began immediately. The reason for the mental block is this: Laetitia Sadier's vocals are in French, English or both within the same song. I've read the lyric sheets and have a firm understanding of the message, but when I listen to the music I don't always think back to the translations. Instead, I reach for my polyester bellbottoms! "Margerine Eclipse" was released in 2004 making it the youngest of the albums reviewed in this list. It's also the first album by the 'groop' released in the wake of Mary Hansen's (backing vocalist) premature death ("Feel and Triple" is attribute to Mary and the album is dedicated to her). Stereolab have not faltered creatively since Mary's passing, and I'm not bold enough to say they have improved. However ... "The Man With 100 Cells" maintains Laetitia's petitions for social reform; "Refusing what you are given/You want things to be the old way/Resisting the revolutions/Changes are coming anyway." "Margerine Melodie" provides a perspicuous examination of the monotony of capitalism. "Dear Marge" blames religious bureaucracies for social distress and chaos. These songs and others among the groop's canon represent the norm. But there are a few songs that leave me baffled, and it's not because I'm lost in translation. "...Sudden stars" may as well be a pop song expressing heartache over a lost love, and "Cosmic Country Noir" goes as far as third-eye magic. This seems like a new creative direction for the band. Perhaps I would have saw it coming if only I knew French. Maybe I lost something along the way. Must learn French!