I do most of my travel out of MIA because its 10 minutes from my house. They also have the best satellite parking lot (Fast Park just off of LeJeune) in the country, period. I could write a whole post on Fast Park, its that damn good. My biggest complaint about MIA is that waiting for baggage takes an INSANE amount of time but my last 2 flights in have had abnormally quick baggage service so Im hoping thats a new trend.
Praises and complaints aside, as our petro prices continue to rise or remain overpriced, our travel options begin to dwindle one by one. I read an article today about the reduction of flights at nationwide airports. THe article contained this link that listed all of the reductions for each airport by percentage.
I was amazed by how many airports around the country are reducing flights. Its pretty much all of them. One stood out though... Guess who the only one in the top 50 is that has grown in the past year? Yup, its MIA. Up 4% since one year ago while all others are down except for New Orleans who is even. In the top 100, there are only 9 who are up or even and Miami is the only one that I would consider a mainstream airport. The others are all off the beaten path like Portland (ME), Burlington (VT), and Guam.
The past few times Ive been to Vegas, Ive been surprised by how dead it is at the airport. In the past Id waited up to 45 minutes in a cab line in 100 degree weather. The past 2 trips I was in a cab in less than 10 minutes. So, its no surprise that they have had reductions in flights there. I have to go out there in November and January and both tickets were $400 roundtrip which is a definite rise over the last year.
Its funny how we see the price of a barrel of oil shoot up and take our gas prices up with it but then when it comes back down our gas prices stay the same. Something aint right here...
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
I think Ive found the solution to our country's financial crisis!
After watching The Worst President of All Time give his little speech tonite, we were all treated to the amazing magic of David Blaine. This guy is incredible! From card tricks to catching bullets in his mouth, Blaine leaves people questioning reality with minds that have been completely blown away. One of my favorite things about David Blaine is that he brings people together. It doesnt matter what color, sex, religion, or political affiliation a person has - all are treated as equals by Blaine. He performs tricks for the mere amusement of getting someone to smile. It is his gift that he chooses to share with others and that is very admirable.
After seeing him go to New Orleans during the aftermath of Katrina and turn a handful of 5 $1 bills into 5 $100 bills, I got an idea... DAVID BLAINE CAN SAVE OUR ECONOMY!! All he has to do is make our deficit disappear! I mean, if the guy can live inside a block of ice, hang upside down while swinging thru the air for 3 days, and catch a bullet in his mouth then he must be able to make our financial crisis disappear! Im pushing for Congress to pass the David Blaine Financial Rescue Plan. God Bless you and God Bless America.
PS - Im not quite sure what Blaine's final stunt was all about...? After hanging upside down for 3 days, they placed him upright on a pedestal high above the crowd. He then dropped off and some harness wires caught him and nothing really happened. Then he smiled, waved, and the wires took him high up to the sky. A bunch of flashing lights went off and he was gone. Sure, him disappearing was pretty amazing but I didnt see what that had to do with the "Dive of Death". Anyone else have a clue?
After seeing him go to New Orleans during the aftermath of Katrina and turn a handful of 5 $1 bills into 5 $100 bills, I got an idea... DAVID BLAINE CAN SAVE OUR ECONOMY!! All he has to do is make our deficit disappear! I mean, if the guy can live inside a block of ice, hang upside down while swinging thru the air for 3 days, and catch a bullet in his mouth then he must be able to make our financial crisis disappear! Im pushing for Congress to pass the David Blaine Financial Rescue Plan. God Bless you and God Bless America.
PS - Im not quite sure what Blaine's final stunt was all about...? After hanging upside down for 3 days, they placed him upright on a pedestal high above the crowd. He then dropped off and some harness wires caught him and nothing really happened. Then he smiled, waved, and the wires took him high up to the sky. A bunch of flashing lights went off and he was gone. Sure, him disappearing was pretty amazing but I didnt see what that had to do with the "Dive of Death". Anyone else have a clue?
Monday, September 22, 2008
An offer I couldnt refuse...
Just got back into town from a great trip to Phoenix where I had the honor of becoming a Godfather. The weekend was a great escape. I spent time with my aunt & uncle, got to see my grandma, and even got to see my cousin, HB, who I rarely get to see. She is the Godmother and that pretty much puts a stamp on it that this kid will never go thru anything his godparents havent gone thru previously. The best part outside of meeting my Godson and becoming a Godfather had to be playing with my little niece. This kid is too damn cute and she knows it. I couldnt get enough of her calling me "uncle" in her little high-pitched voice. Its crazy but Im really starting to like hanging out with little kids, even if theyre whining or fussing about something. Maybe its because it taps into the little kid in me haha. I also got in a round of golf and, with the exception of the last hole, didnt duff any off the tee like I did in the SFDB Classic a month back. Ended up with an 87 and if these greens werent so slow (and if I could putt) Id have broken 80 easy. On Saturday night we went out to dinner and then my 2 cousins and I hit the casino. Yes, I love gambling. After winning a few hundy in Buffalo earlier in the week, I figured Id give another strange Indian casino a try. I got up about $150 early playing blackjack then got buried by a new dealer making 21s like it was his job and found myself down $100. Luckily, I was able to battle back and finish even on the night, playing at a table filled with dumbasses who had no idea what they were doing, people hitting 14s against a dealer showing 4, 5, or 6. It was brutal but a nice comeback. Next up - Bahamas in October and Vegas in November! YAY GAMBLING!
I think my favorite part of the weekend on a personal level was that I hardly consumed any alcohol at all. I had 1 bourbon and a glass of wine the 1st night, a beer the 2nd night, and a beer the last night I was there. Thats unbelievable! It made me feel good though. I had gone WAAAAY overboard at a wedding at the beginning of the month and it scared the crap out of me. I just wasnt paying attention to how much I was drinking because I was having such a good time and I got bombed. I pretty much finished an entire bottle of bourbon by myself. I still barely remember anything after the reception and a lot went on afterwards. Many people confirmed that I wasnt an asshole or a total liability, just having fun and being a clown. That was a semi-relief. Not being able to remember it all really bothered me and was kinda embarrassing and I never get embarrassed. Since then, Ive really been watching my alcohol intake. I know I can still pound em down if I feel like it but Im more conscious as to what Im doing now and Im making an effort to keep it within reason. Being around family and little kids definitely helped. Im happy to say that I came back and had 2 beers while eating dinner with friends and watching Heroes tonite and totally lost interest in having another.
Its good to be back home refreshed and ready to finish off what has been a hellacious travel month. I will bid farewell to some of my best friends tomorrow as they are moving away and taking their little 1yr old with them. That is gonna suck because another outlet for the kid in me will be gone.
I think my favorite part of the weekend on a personal level was that I hardly consumed any alcohol at all. I had 1 bourbon and a glass of wine the 1st night, a beer the 2nd night, and a beer the last night I was there. Thats unbelievable! It made me feel good though. I had gone WAAAAY overboard at a wedding at the beginning of the month and it scared the crap out of me. I just wasnt paying attention to how much I was drinking because I was having such a good time and I got bombed. I pretty much finished an entire bottle of bourbon by myself. I still barely remember anything after the reception and a lot went on afterwards. Many people confirmed that I wasnt an asshole or a total liability, just having fun and being a clown. That was a semi-relief. Not being able to remember it all really bothered me and was kinda embarrassing and I never get embarrassed. Since then, Ive really been watching my alcohol intake. I know I can still pound em down if I feel like it but Im more conscious as to what Im doing now and Im making an effort to keep it within reason. Being around family and little kids definitely helped. Im happy to say that I came back and had 2 beers while eating dinner with friends and watching Heroes tonite and totally lost interest in having another.
Its good to be back home refreshed and ready to finish off what has been a hellacious travel month. I will bid farewell to some of my best friends tomorrow as they are moving away and taking their little 1yr old with them. That is gonna suck because another outlet for the kid in me will be gone.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Decision '08 is over for me
Right now, I feel as if our country and its citizens have been sucked into a modern day Civil War. Instead of a difference of opinion on slavery, we're battling each other about who is best qualified to run (and hopefully save) our country. Its really sad when you think about it. This is why I hate American politics. While it is the greatest freedom that a US citizen could ever have, at the same time, it pits neighbor versus neighbor, boss versus employee, man versus woman, adult versus child, and the list goes on.
Well, Ive been trying to be as open-minded as possible while searching for a reason to vote for either McCain or Obama for a few months now. Ive traveled all over the country and listened to opinions from people in states that largely support each candidate. Ive listened to the opinions of the rich, the poor, business owners, and average joes. Ive watched the RNC and DNC pep rallys, Ive read news reports, and Ive tried to buy into each party's plan.
The simple fact of the matter is that as much as Ive tried to buy into the Republican plan and John McCain, I simply cant. My decision has been made and Im voting for Obama.
I just dont like hardly anything McCain or his party stands for after the past 8 years of driving this country straight into the ground. The scare tactics have gotten quite old too. Im not afraid of what might happen to the economy if Obama gets elected because, quite frankly, it really doesnt get much worse than it is right now. I dont like the parading of Sarah Palin as some sort of great candidate for VP, period. She lacks experience, has admitted she doesnt know what a VP does, and uses the same speech over and over again. She's a robot, a pawn, and an attempt at wooing the votes of certain segments of the population. The sad part is that there are plenty of people in this country who are feeble-minded enough to fall for this crap. Same thing with Johnny Mac. While I commend him for fighting for my freedom and thank him for enduring what he went through, I really dont see that as a reason to vote him into office. I admired that he shied away from the typical Republican bashing of an opponents non-political-related shortcomings during his RNC speech. But again, that is no reason to vote him into office. Im not afraid that Obama "lacks experience" because so does McCain. He's never been President either. I feel like the Republicans have finally showed their true colors and are trying to find ways to influence voters that have absolutely no relevance to the task at hand which is restoring this country to its former glory.
The man for the job is Obama. The guy cares about people and the overall state of this country on multiple levels. He has ran the gauntlet of the political process like a running back determined to reach the endzone, stiff-arming would-be tacklers who hurl themselves at his legs trying to cut him down with personal attacks. With each hit he presses on, determined to reach the endzone and understanding that without the help of everyone else on his team that he will end up a yard short of the goal line or possibly more. We as a country need a guy like this and Im saying this as someone who at first didnt find him appealing at all as a candidate. After doing more research, I can say that Im on board with Team Obama and I look forward to him ending this Civil War.
Im going to end this again with a quote I used previously from the late Shannon Hoon:
"AS THE FUTURE BEHOLDS, OUR LIVES WILL UNFOLD. WE WILL ALL GROW TOGETHER AS ONE UNIT... A TEAM. AS TIME PASSES I WILL FEEL I HAVE BROTHERS TO LOOK OVER ME. AS I WILL WATCH OVER THEM. FOR WITHOUT EACH OTHER THE FUTURE WILL HOLD NOTHING. BUT WITH A TEAM LIKE US THE FUTURE IS OURS."
Well, Ive been trying to be as open-minded as possible while searching for a reason to vote for either McCain or Obama for a few months now. Ive traveled all over the country and listened to opinions from people in states that largely support each candidate. Ive listened to the opinions of the rich, the poor, business owners, and average joes. Ive watched the RNC and DNC pep rallys, Ive read news reports, and Ive tried to buy into each party's plan.
The simple fact of the matter is that as much as Ive tried to buy into the Republican plan and John McCain, I simply cant. My decision has been made and Im voting for Obama.
I just dont like hardly anything McCain or his party stands for after the past 8 years of driving this country straight into the ground. The scare tactics have gotten quite old too. Im not afraid of what might happen to the economy if Obama gets elected because, quite frankly, it really doesnt get much worse than it is right now. I dont like the parading of Sarah Palin as some sort of great candidate for VP, period. She lacks experience, has admitted she doesnt know what a VP does, and uses the same speech over and over again. She's a robot, a pawn, and an attempt at wooing the votes of certain segments of the population. The sad part is that there are plenty of people in this country who are feeble-minded enough to fall for this crap. Same thing with Johnny Mac. While I commend him for fighting for my freedom and thank him for enduring what he went through, I really dont see that as a reason to vote him into office. I admired that he shied away from the typical Republican bashing of an opponents non-political-related shortcomings during his RNC speech. But again, that is no reason to vote him into office. Im not afraid that Obama "lacks experience" because so does McCain. He's never been President either. I feel like the Republicans have finally showed their true colors and are trying to find ways to influence voters that have absolutely no relevance to the task at hand which is restoring this country to its former glory.
The man for the job is Obama. The guy cares about people and the overall state of this country on multiple levels. He has ran the gauntlet of the political process like a running back determined to reach the endzone, stiff-arming would-be tacklers who hurl themselves at his legs trying to cut him down with personal attacks. With each hit he presses on, determined to reach the endzone and understanding that without the help of everyone else on his team that he will end up a yard short of the goal line or possibly more. We as a country need a guy like this and Im saying this as someone who at first didnt find him appealing at all as a candidate. After doing more research, I can say that Im on board with Team Obama and I look forward to him ending this Civil War.
Im going to end this again with a quote I used previously from the late Shannon Hoon:
"AS THE FUTURE BEHOLDS, OUR LIVES WILL UNFOLD. WE WILL ALL GROW TOGETHER AS ONE UNIT... A TEAM. AS TIME PASSES I WILL FEEL I HAVE BROTHERS TO LOOK OVER ME. AS I WILL WATCH OVER THEM. FOR WITHOUT EACH OTHER THE FUTURE WILL HOLD NOTHING. BUT WITH A TEAM LIKE US THE FUTURE IS OURS."
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Gettin political... First Blood, Part Deux
Ok, its RNC time and Palin is about to come on to give her speech. So far, we've seen nothing but talk about her being "attacked" and some Obama bashing by other Reps. I addressed this in my summary of the DNC and I think its a fuckin waste of time and an insult to the intelligence of the average American citizen. I DONT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE FAULTS OF A PARTICULAR CANDIDATE!!! Tell me about your plan to address the serious issues that are plaguing our country for cryin out loud! This petty back and forth about the personal issues associated with each candidate is really old and pathetic.
T. Boone Pickens in tha house! I like this guy's plan for energy independence. The only thing Im skeptical about is that he is all about "drill, drill, drill". He admits that is not the solution though. I love the idea of wind farming and focusing on American-owned energy sources. I also love the idea of using natural gas to replace foreign oil. Pickens is no dummy and I respect a guy who made his millions in the oil business promoting other fuel resources.
Whoa, the panelists (I have no idea who they are) are going nuts. Two guys are battling back and forth about the media and Obama vs the media and McCain. If you ask me, the media blows. Since this is Fox News, most of these guys are saying Palin is gonna give a killer speech. From the looks at the crowd, these people are here to party. Theyre dancing like idiots in the crowd and acting like theyre at a rock concert. Its pretty funny.
(BTW, little side note here. They opened the RNC with a prayer and all that religious/god related stuff. I absolutely condemn this as a part of politics. Its brainwashing if you ask me. It tells people that they arent really Christian if they dont believe what so-and-so candidate believes and its a bunch of bullshit. Church and state are and should remain separate!)
Whats that!?!?! Its Rudy Guiliani's entrance music! God I hate this douchebag. Good news is that he's 3 sentences into his speech and he hasnt uttered "9/11" yet. He has announced that if he couldnt win that he would support McCain and he still does. Thats great Rudy. A couple cheesy smiles and "America!" followed by "USA!" chants make this RNC seem worse than a Giants or Jets game. Wow, Im surprised at this next segment. RG says that both candidates have great job applications and are very patriotic. He does this without bashing Obama. I respect that. He talks about Obama saying that McCain is a hero for his sacrifice. Wow, I never knew McCain was a POW... Break out the violins, folks.
First Obama diss... He was a community organizer in Chicago "machine politics", followed by a bunch of "boooo!"'s and him harping on Obama not being able to make decisions. Valid point, I guess. I cant comment on this guy's speech anymore because I hate this guy so much that Im biased. But, I have to say this. So far, RG hasnt said anything about McCain except that he was a POW. The rest of the speech is all about Obama and his potential shortcomings. Makes no sense to me. I dont want to hear about why I shouldnt vote for someone. Tell me why I should vote for someone else.
Wow, now a "drill baby, drill" chant is going on. I cant believe they can pack so many simple minded individuals into one building and Guiliani is there to cheer them on like the giant douche that he is. DOUBLE WOW! Now RG is saying that Dems are afraid to say "Islamic Terrorist" and he has a problem with that. Who are they offending? The Islamic Terrorists! Wait a minute! There it is! The first 9/11 babble! Now he's on a role, tossing out names like Al Queda and Bin Laden. Go Rudy, go! Fast forward a little bit and now RG is insulting Obama by saying Palin is not "Cosmopolitan enough" because she was a mayor of a small town. Oh, and he's acted like a total ham to the camera about being a mayor too. THis is why I hate this guy. He is an actor and actors cant be trusted. He continues with his hype of Palin saying that she even attacked corruption in the Republican party...in Alaska! Then he uses his first "Maverick" talking point. Now RG points to the Dems asking about if she will have time to attend to her family and be VP. I dont recall this ever coming up, but RG uses this to point out that a MAN would never have this questioned. Nice ploy for the woman vote, RG. Man, I think I need to erase having heard this speech from my brain because it was horrible in my opinion. 95% of that has to do with me hating Rudy Giuliani. The other 5% is because he is an actor and plays to a crowd.
Ok, its Palin time! No one had heard of this woman a month ago but now having her on the ticket is like getting to draft Ladanian Tomlinson in a fantasy football league. I have to say that I see a Tina Fey/SNL skit in the future haha. Ok, she is finally gonna say something besides, "Thank you, thank you so much." The crowd finally shut up.
Palin accepts the challenge of being VP and acknowledges that McCain has fought thru much harder challenges and then shows that she knows his middle initial! She plays the "he never gave up, even when people said he was done for" card and I think she does it well. This woman is a pretty good speaker and I like the passion she exhibits in talking about the candidate she is supporting. Then she casually throws out that she is a mother of a boy who is headed off to Iraq, along with her nephew. Great play there. I have to admire her tact and her family members who are fighting for our freedom. Ok, here is the daughter reference followed by the daughters standing and waving, and then a reference to her husband and baby. She's hammering the "family" point here and talking about "special needs" kids. Its a great tactic but then she goes overboard I think... She says that if they are elected that people with special needs kids will have an advocate in the White House. That is just silly to me and reminds me of being in 6th grade when the kid running for class president would make promises for things like a jukebox in the cafeteria. Now some husband hype, making sure to note that he is associated with the oil rigs, then talking about the 5 kids without getting divorced. Congrats to that, blah. Some pandering to the women voters is up next followed by a cameo for her parents and some of her parents background. Another great tactic by Palin - hyping up the families of "middle America, who grow our food and fight in our wars." This chick is a great speaker and knows how to work a room. I like that. (and for all the people who get offended by me referring to women as "chicks", get over it. Women are chicks and men are dudes in my vocab. Lighten up.) Now some "hockey mom" banter with a joke thrown in. All of this is painting a great picture of her as an "everyday woman, everyday American, just like the rest of us".
Ahhhh... The first Obama bash. "A small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer except you have actual responsibilities." She follows it up by basically calling Obama two-faced and saying McCain is the same man everywhere. I see a tad bit of validity here but all she is doing is pointing out politickin'. Finally, we here the token line that the Fox News douchebags were fawning over in the pregame speech that responds to all the negative media attention - "Im not going to Washington to gain the media's approval, Im going for the American people!"
I like that she points out that she ousted the governor's private jet and chef and gave oil earnings back to the people of her state. Corruption in government is something that really hits home with me after living in Miami and watching this city be raped by government greed day after day. I also like the point about spending $40M on a CNG pipeline to lead the country towards energy independence. This is another big point for me. Oops, now she is harping on laying pipeline and drilling for oil while boosting wind, coal, and solar power. Im not a fan of drilling. We need to tell oil to go fuck itself and move on. Its like that shitty girlfriend that treats you like shit and leaches off you but you put up with it cuz she is a wild banshee in the sack.
Ouch, she just nailed Obama... She pointed to him authoring 2 memoirs but not a single law in the Senate. Then another bash about victory on the campaign front instead of in a war. I didnt get that really and the crowd didnt either. Now she's kinda gone off the deep end with speculation about Obama's plan that doesnt really make sense. Its typical politics though and I find it to be silly. She's harping on taxes now and its more speculation and pandering to people who havent researched the facts, making it sound like we're all screwed which isnt true. The tax question could be debated all day long and Im no true expert on it so I wont pretend I am. However, I have done a little research and dont think Obama's tax policies are the end of the world, at least not for the average American. Maybe for the rich though.
Im gonna end this here after hearing more POW references and "organizer" disses. Its pretty much over. I guess my running diary of the RNC is a little unfair because not only did I not really care when I did the DNC diary but I also only covered the opening acts. Had I done this for Biden's speech it mightve been more fair. I also couldve done some better coverage at the DNC, but again, I covered the C-team.
Overall, I hated Giuliani's speech and I have to tip my cap to Palin. She did a great job fighting for the candidate she supports. I didnt agree with everything she said and I didnt care for some of the personal attacks and/or defenses but I thought she put together a good speech and showed that she can play the politics game pretty well.
T. Boone Pickens in tha house! I like this guy's plan for energy independence. The only thing Im skeptical about is that he is all about "drill, drill, drill". He admits that is not the solution though. I love the idea of wind farming and focusing on American-owned energy sources. I also love the idea of using natural gas to replace foreign oil. Pickens is no dummy and I respect a guy who made his millions in the oil business promoting other fuel resources.
Whoa, the panelists (I have no idea who they are) are going nuts. Two guys are battling back and forth about the media and Obama vs the media and McCain. If you ask me, the media blows. Since this is Fox News, most of these guys are saying Palin is gonna give a killer speech. From the looks at the crowd, these people are here to party. Theyre dancing like idiots in the crowd and acting like theyre at a rock concert. Its pretty funny.
(BTW, little side note here. They opened the RNC with a prayer and all that religious/god related stuff. I absolutely condemn this as a part of politics. Its brainwashing if you ask me. It tells people that they arent really Christian if they dont believe what so-and-so candidate believes and its a bunch of bullshit. Church and state are and should remain separate!)
Whats that!?!?! Its Rudy Guiliani's entrance music! God I hate this douchebag. Good news is that he's 3 sentences into his speech and he hasnt uttered "9/11" yet. He has announced that if he couldnt win that he would support McCain and he still does. Thats great Rudy. A couple cheesy smiles and "America!" followed by "USA!" chants make this RNC seem worse than a Giants or Jets game. Wow, Im surprised at this next segment. RG says that both candidates have great job applications and are very patriotic. He does this without bashing Obama. I respect that. He talks about Obama saying that McCain is a hero for his sacrifice. Wow, I never knew McCain was a POW... Break out the violins, folks.
First Obama diss... He was a community organizer in Chicago "machine politics", followed by a bunch of "boooo!"'s and him harping on Obama not being able to make decisions. Valid point, I guess. I cant comment on this guy's speech anymore because I hate this guy so much that Im biased. But, I have to say this. So far, RG hasnt said anything about McCain except that he was a POW. The rest of the speech is all about Obama and his potential shortcomings. Makes no sense to me. I dont want to hear about why I shouldnt vote for someone. Tell me why I should vote for someone else.
Wow, now a "drill baby, drill" chant is going on. I cant believe they can pack so many simple minded individuals into one building and Guiliani is there to cheer them on like the giant douche that he is. DOUBLE WOW! Now RG is saying that Dems are afraid to say "Islamic Terrorist" and he has a problem with that. Who are they offending? The Islamic Terrorists! Wait a minute! There it is! The first 9/11 babble! Now he's on a role, tossing out names like Al Queda and Bin Laden. Go Rudy, go! Fast forward a little bit and now RG is insulting Obama by saying Palin is not "Cosmopolitan enough" because she was a mayor of a small town. Oh, and he's acted like a total ham to the camera about being a mayor too. THis is why I hate this guy. He is an actor and actors cant be trusted. He continues with his hype of Palin saying that she even attacked corruption in the Republican party...in Alaska! Then he uses his first "Maverick" talking point. Now RG points to the Dems asking about if she will have time to attend to her family and be VP. I dont recall this ever coming up, but RG uses this to point out that a MAN would never have this questioned. Nice ploy for the woman vote, RG. Man, I think I need to erase having heard this speech from my brain because it was horrible in my opinion. 95% of that has to do with me hating Rudy Giuliani. The other 5% is because he is an actor and plays to a crowd.
Ok, its Palin time! No one had heard of this woman a month ago but now having her on the ticket is like getting to draft Ladanian Tomlinson in a fantasy football league. I have to say that I see a Tina Fey/SNL skit in the future haha. Ok, she is finally gonna say something besides, "Thank you, thank you so much." The crowd finally shut up.
Palin accepts the challenge of being VP and acknowledges that McCain has fought thru much harder challenges and then shows that she knows his middle initial! She plays the "he never gave up, even when people said he was done for" card and I think she does it well. This woman is a pretty good speaker and I like the passion she exhibits in talking about the candidate she is supporting. Then she casually throws out that she is a mother of a boy who is headed off to Iraq, along with her nephew. Great play there. I have to admire her tact and her family members who are fighting for our freedom. Ok, here is the daughter reference followed by the daughters standing and waving, and then a reference to her husband and baby. She's hammering the "family" point here and talking about "special needs" kids. Its a great tactic but then she goes overboard I think... She says that if they are elected that people with special needs kids will have an advocate in the White House. That is just silly to me and reminds me of being in 6th grade when the kid running for class president would make promises for things like a jukebox in the cafeteria. Now some husband hype, making sure to note that he is associated with the oil rigs, then talking about the 5 kids without getting divorced. Congrats to that, blah. Some pandering to the women voters is up next followed by a cameo for her parents and some of her parents background. Another great tactic by Palin - hyping up the families of "middle America, who grow our food and fight in our wars." This chick is a great speaker and knows how to work a room. I like that. (and for all the people who get offended by me referring to women as "chicks", get over it. Women are chicks and men are dudes in my vocab. Lighten up.) Now some "hockey mom" banter with a joke thrown in. All of this is painting a great picture of her as an "everyday woman, everyday American, just like the rest of us".
Ahhhh... The first Obama bash. "A small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer except you have actual responsibilities." She follows it up by basically calling Obama two-faced and saying McCain is the same man everywhere. I see a tad bit of validity here but all she is doing is pointing out politickin'. Finally, we here the token line that the Fox News douchebags were fawning over in the pregame speech that responds to all the negative media attention - "Im not going to Washington to gain the media's approval, Im going for the American people!"
I like that she points out that she ousted the governor's private jet and chef and gave oil earnings back to the people of her state. Corruption in government is something that really hits home with me after living in Miami and watching this city be raped by government greed day after day. I also like the point about spending $40M on a CNG pipeline to lead the country towards energy independence. This is another big point for me. Oops, now she is harping on laying pipeline and drilling for oil while boosting wind, coal, and solar power. Im not a fan of drilling. We need to tell oil to go fuck itself and move on. Its like that shitty girlfriend that treats you like shit and leaches off you but you put up with it cuz she is a wild banshee in the sack.
Ouch, she just nailed Obama... She pointed to him authoring 2 memoirs but not a single law in the Senate. Then another bash about victory on the campaign front instead of in a war. I didnt get that really and the crowd didnt either. Now she's kinda gone off the deep end with speculation about Obama's plan that doesnt really make sense. Its typical politics though and I find it to be silly. She's harping on taxes now and its more speculation and pandering to people who havent researched the facts, making it sound like we're all screwed which isnt true. The tax question could be debated all day long and Im no true expert on it so I wont pretend I am. However, I have done a little research and dont think Obama's tax policies are the end of the world, at least not for the average American. Maybe for the rich though.
Im gonna end this here after hearing more POW references and "organizer" disses. Its pretty much over. I guess my running diary of the RNC is a little unfair because not only did I not really care when I did the DNC diary but I also only covered the opening acts. Had I done this for Biden's speech it mightve been more fair. I also couldve done some better coverage at the DNC, but again, I covered the C-team.
Overall, I hated Giuliani's speech and I have to tip my cap to Palin. She did a great job fighting for the candidate she supports. I didnt agree with everything she said and I didnt care for some of the personal attacks and/or defenses but I thought she put together a good speech and showed that she can play the politics game pretty well.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Gettin political...
Sometimes, I dont even know who I am anymore. Im actually watching politics on TV!! Right now! Seriously!
I figured that the DNC would be a good way to get a better understanding of where Obama stands since I hadnt really gave a crap before. I dont know who Im gonna vote for, but dammit, Im gonna vote. Why? Because its an American freedom and Im all about stuff like that. Here are my thoughts on the DNC based on who Ive seen so far. Please keep in mind that I still hate politics and thus dont know who was saying what so I will just describe them as best I can.
Leggy blonde lady - This is the first speaker I saw and what a welcome mat. She sucked. To me her whole speech, spoken in a very Hilary-like voice, went like this:
"John McCain doenst know how many houses he has!"
"John McCain isnt a 'sidekick', he's a groupie!" (referring to relationship w/ Bush)
"John McCain (insert belittling comment here)!"
It just really sucked. She really didnt say much about Obama at all. F-minus for this chick.
Next up was a dude that is or was the Mayor of Denver or something like that. This guy's speech was great I thought. He really pounded the point of focusing on America and whats going on here and coming together as a team. He talked about how they had shitty pollution and how everyone from the top down made a change and turned everything around in Denver with less pollution, more public transportation, etc. It showed that we can turn around our current situation too. This guy ruled.
The next lady was an old lady who thought it would be funny to start off by acknowledging that she was old. It wasnt. Her speech, however, was pretty good. She got shafted at a job and was getting less pay than men of equal status. She sued and won but then lost an appeal in the US Supreme Court. That sucks. This didnt really do anything for me on a political vote level though because outside of the sob story, I really dont remember what her whole point was. She also bashed McCain too and I hate that crap. I do remember that she touched upon the solidarity and focusing on America points though so I give her an average grade.
We next were treated to some time with Michelle Obama talking about her speech the other night. She seemed pretty cool and collected about the whole thing. Her and Barack just seem like regular people to me. Like the type of people who you would meet at a function and have a couple cocktails and a little conversation with.
Then a mayor or governor of Montana came out. This guy was funny when he started trying to get the crowd fired up and they responded. It was like when Hulk Hogan used to start twirling his wrist and putting it to his ear on each side of the ring to get the crowd fired up. I kept waiting for this Montana guy to leg drop someone. It did harp on the "lets work together" mantra, but there wasnt much else that was too memorable. Because of his antics, I give him an above average score.
Now Chelsea Clinton is up on the stage. I gotta be honest, for a chick that used to look like she was severly beaten with the ugly stick, she aint bad lookin now. I suspect science gets a thank you there. She intros her mom (and hero). Awww...
Hilary comes out and starts talking like a robot. Im so thankful that she isnt going to be President, just for this reason alone not because of anything to do with political views. She does give a pretty killer speech though. She even made fun of herself by referring to her "pant suits" and that was actually funny. It showed humility too and I liked that. Then she went off on a robotic tirade, endorsing Bar-ack O-ba-ma and getting really fired up about America. She was feeding off the crowd and they kept cutting to shots of a proud Chelsea, an applauding Michelle Obama, and even big Billy clapping and loving it. I really liked the part where she basically said to her supporters, "Were you just voting for me or are you voting for the country? If youre for the country, vote for Obama." It was a great speech and focused, again, on working together to build America back up again and stop relying on foreign sources.
I think (hope) this is the end because I really dont wanna watch anymore. I now owe it to myself to watch the Republicans do their thing so if anyone knows when that is, please let me know. Im too lazy and dont give a crap about politics enough to actually find it myself. The only reason I watched the DNC is because there was nothing else on after Family Guy ended.
All in all, I liked what I saw and heard from the DNC. It reminded me of the words the late Shannon Hoon, formerly of the band Blind Melon:
"AS THE FUTURE BEHOLDS, OUR LIVES WILL UNFOLD. WE WILL ALL GROW TOGETHER AS ONE UNIT... A TEAM. AS TIME PASSES I WILL FEEL I HAVE BROTHERS TO LOOK OVER ME. AS I WILL WATCH OVER THEM. FOR WITHOUT EACH OTHER THE FUTURE WILL HOLD NOTHING. BUT WITH A TEAM LIKE US THE FUTURE IS OURS."
I figured that the DNC would be a good way to get a better understanding of where Obama stands since I hadnt really gave a crap before. I dont know who Im gonna vote for, but dammit, Im gonna vote. Why? Because its an American freedom and Im all about stuff like that. Here are my thoughts on the DNC based on who Ive seen so far. Please keep in mind that I still hate politics and thus dont know who was saying what so I will just describe them as best I can.
Leggy blonde lady - This is the first speaker I saw and what a welcome mat. She sucked. To me her whole speech, spoken in a very Hilary-like voice, went like this:
"John McCain doenst know how many houses he has!"
"John McCain isnt a 'sidekick', he's a groupie!" (referring to relationship w/ Bush)
"John McCain (insert belittling comment here)!"
It just really sucked. She really didnt say much about Obama at all. F-minus for this chick.
Next up was a dude that is or was the Mayor of Denver or something like that. This guy's speech was great I thought. He really pounded the point of focusing on America and whats going on here and coming together as a team. He talked about how they had shitty pollution and how everyone from the top down made a change and turned everything around in Denver with less pollution, more public transportation, etc. It showed that we can turn around our current situation too. This guy ruled.
The next lady was an old lady who thought it would be funny to start off by acknowledging that she was old. It wasnt. Her speech, however, was pretty good. She got shafted at a job and was getting less pay than men of equal status. She sued and won but then lost an appeal in the US Supreme Court. That sucks. This didnt really do anything for me on a political vote level though because outside of the sob story, I really dont remember what her whole point was. She also bashed McCain too and I hate that crap. I do remember that she touched upon the solidarity and focusing on America points though so I give her an average grade.
We next were treated to some time with Michelle Obama talking about her speech the other night. She seemed pretty cool and collected about the whole thing. Her and Barack just seem like regular people to me. Like the type of people who you would meet at a function and have a couple cocktails and a little conversation with.
Then a mayor or governor of Montana came out. This guy was funny when he started trying to get the crowd fired up and they responded. It was like when Hulk Hogan used to start twirling his wrist and putting it to his ear on each side of the ring to get the crowd fired up. I kept waiting for this Montana guy to leg drop someone. It did harp on the "lets work together" mantra, but there wasnt much else that was too memorable. Because of his antics, I give him an above average score.
Now Chelsea Clinton is up on the stage. I gotta be honest, for a chick that used to look like she was severly beaten with the ugly stick, she aint bad lookin now. I suspect science gets a thank you there. She intros her mom (and hero). Awww...
Hilary comes out and starts talking like a robot. Im so thankful that she isnt going to be President, just for this reason alone not because of anything to do with political views. She does give a pretty killer speech though. She even made fun of herself by referring to her "pant suits" and that was actually funny. It showed humility too and I liked that. Then she went off on a robotic tirade, endorsing Bar-ack O-ba-ma and getting really fired up about America. She was feeding off the crowd and they kept cutting to shots of a proud Chelsea, an applauding Michelle Obama, and even big Billy clapping and loving it. I really liked the part where she basically said to her supporters, "Were you just voting for me or are you voting for the country? If youre for the country, vote for Obama." It was a great speech and focused, again, on working together to build America back up again and stop relying on foreign sources.
I think (hope) this is the end because I really dont wanna watch anymore. I now owe it to myself to watch the Republicans do their thing so if anyone knows when that is, please let me know. Im too lazy and dont give a crap about politics enough to actually find it myself. The only reason I watched the DNC is because there was nothing else on after Family Guy ended.
All in all, I liked what I saw and heard from the DNC. It reminded me of the words the late Shannon Hoon, formerly of the band Blind Melon:
"AS THE FUTURE BEHOLDS, OUR LIVES WILL UNFOLD. WE WILL ALL GROW TOGETHER AS ONE UNIT... A TEAM. AS TIME PASSES I WILL FEEL I HAVE BROTHERS TO LOOK OVER ME. AS I WILL WATCH OVER THEM. FOR WITHOUT EACH OTHER THE FUTURE WILL HOLD NOTHING. BUT WITH A TEAM LIKE US THE FUTURE IS OURS."
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Body Damage - a week in review
The Closing Ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics are winding down, a great ending to a somewhat crazy week.
Monday and Tuesday were "storm days", our first sight of a potential hurricane. As usual, the media acted like the end of the world was coming in order to get people to flood their local Publix, Wal-Mart, and Home Depots.
Wednesday, I met up with a buddy at Tatu sushi at the Hard Rock where we downed some of what I like to call "base food" before heading into the Stone Temple Pilots concert where I proceeded to put on a beer drinking clinic. The show kicked major ass. Scott Weiland sounded unbelievably good and didnt seem strung out on drugs at all. Maybe there is a direct relationship here? They played a lot of classics and managed to play at least one song from each album. Then they came out with an encore of Dead & Bloated with the entire crowd singing along. I was 10 beers deep at that point, double-fisted Heineken's throughout the entire show. Yeah. The show ended and we headed to a few bars where I proceeded to drink another 3 bourbons and pick up a few new friends to drunkenly makeout with. My buddy bailed and I ended up eating at some obscure diner with the ladies in Ihavenoclue, FL at 3am. Around 3:30am I started to head home and that was a really dumb idea. I got home ok and drove fine but I was really lucky. I put myself on "timeout" on Thursday.
Thursday I was hurtin but I hid it well. I had to drive to meet with a few customers and it was a long day. McDonald's at 2pm saved my life that day I think. It was still a very rough day. Meetings went well but I wouldnt have minded if I was at my house in my bed. Im getting too old for this shit. That night, I met up with a friend and his girlfriend at MGFD. We dined outside in the middle of a monsoon but we managed to stay dry and the food was great. They have a nice bourbon selection there so its a little hard to resist. I managed to limit myself to 2 though, until I got home and threw a few more back, finding myself kinda drunk again for no reason whatsoever. I start to think I have a drinking problem at this point.
Speaking of drinking problems... Friday I headed up to West Palm to hang out with my cousin and his fiance since it had been awhile. We went to a party at their neighbor's house that got way out of hand. We had picked up a bottle of Basil Hayden, my favorite, and then proceeded to drink the entire bottle. Then the Bacardi 151 made an appearance along with a bonfire. Uh oh... We had one of the girls blowing fire and dousing the fire pit with glasses of it as well. This was hilarious and naturally we had to go and get a huge bag full of fireworks to throw into this inferno. We lit up some cubans and enjoyed a nice smoke while tossing fireworks into the fire pit, about 150 at a time. There are few things in life that beat bourbon, cigars, and drunken pyrotechnics.
Saturday I woke up and didnt know where I was for a second. Kinda common because I travel a ton but weird nonetheless. Much to my surprise, I had zero hangover. I figured my body was probably used to being 50% bourbon at this point. Around 1130am, we headed out to go pick up some ammo to go trap shooting. After buying some ammo and grabbing a much needed bite, we headed to the range. I had never shot before. I will admit Im not a fan of guns and I did experience some anxiety once we got there and got ready to shoot. After getting a walkthru, we started shooting some clay pigeons. I nailed one on my first shot and was hooked. It was awesome. I got better and better as we went along too. The gun didnt have the recoil I thought it would and we shot both 12 and 20 gauge. The only part about the whole day that sucked was that it POURED rain all day. The rain pounded down, only letting up long enough to lure us out away from shelter where Mother Nature would have a chance to soak us to the bone. I ended up buying a shirt and hat because I was drenched and figured I should grab a souvenir anyways. When I got home, I headed into the Grove to Jaguarto grab a bite and enjoy a few bourbons. Met some cool people and had a good amount of "base food" and then met up with some neighbors at Sandbar for a few beers. Around midnight I realized I was kinda wasted and needed to get up really early for the SFDB Classic so I headed home.
I woke up Sunday ready to hit the links. I got to Melreese/International Links around 745am and headed over to the range. Id hit my driver terribly the previous weekend and was hoping to work out the kinks since the driver is usually the best club in my bag. Well, I didnt figure it out. The driver killed me all day. I did manage to battle back on each hole though and ended up shooting a 93 which wasnt so bad considering I didnt make it past the ladies tee on at least 6 shots. Meeting up with Rick (from SFDB), Steve (formerly of Owenized), and Nonee Moose (commenter at SFDB) was fun. Rick was the only one who really played well but the rest of us had our few bright moments and there were a lot of laughs. I got home, showered quickly, and headed on over to the Rusty Pelican for brunch and managed to avoid drinking any alcohol.
The week ends with the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics, the best Olympics ever. I look back on a week where I did some not-so-bright things, a ton of damage to my body with alcohol, gunpowder, and golf, but it was a fun ride. I also met a lot of new people and thats always good. Next week is Labor Day weekend which means an extra day off. I can only imagine what is in store there...
Monday and Tuesday were "storm days", our first sight of a potential hurricane. As usual, the media acted like the end of the world was coming in order to get people to flood their local Publix, Wal-Mart, and Home Depots.
Wednesday, I met up with a buddy at Tatu sushi at the Hard Rock where we downed some of what I like to call "base food" before heading into the Stone Temple Pilots concert where I proceeded to put on a beer drinking clinic. The show kicked major ass. Scott Weiland sounded unbelievably good and didnt seem strung out on drugs at all. Maybe there is a direct relationship here? They played a lot of classics and managed to play at least one song from each album. Then they came out with an encore of Dead & Bloated with the entire crowd singing along. I was 10 beers deep at that point, double-fisted Heineken's throughout the entire show. Yeah. The show ended and we headed to a few bars where I proceeded to drink another 3 bourbons and pick up a few new friends to drunkenly makeout with. My buddy bailed and I ended up eating at some obscure diner with the ladies in Ihavenoclue, FL at 3am. Around 3:30am I started to head home and that was a really dumb idea. I got home ok and drove fine but I was really lucky. I put myself on "timeout" on Thursday.
Thursday I was hurtin but I hid it well. I had to drive to meet with a few customers and it was a long day. McDonald's at 2pm saved my life that day I think. It was still a very rough day. Meetings went well but I wouldnt have minded if I was at my house in my bed. Im getting too old for this shit. That night, I met up with a friend and his girlfriend at MGFD. We dined outside in the middle of a monsoon but we managed to stay dry and the food was great. They have a nice bourbon selection there so its a little hard to resist. I managed to limit myself to 2 though, until I got home and threw a few more back, finding myself kinda drunk again for no reason whatsoever. I start to think I have a drinking problem at this point.
Speaking of drinking problems... Friday I headed up to West Palm to hang out with my cousin and his fiance since it had been awhile. We went to a party at their neighbor's house that got way out of hand. We had picked up a bottle of Basil Hayden, my favorite, and then proceeded to drink the entire bottle. Then the Bacardi 151 made an appearance along with a bonfire. Uh oh... We had one of the girls blowing fire and dousing the fire pit with glasses of it as well. This was hilarious and naturally we had to go and get a huge bag full of fireworks to throw into this inferno. We lit up some cubans and enjoyed a nice smoke while tossing fireworks into the fire pit, about 150 at a time. There are few things in life that beat bourbon, cigars, and drunken pyrotechnics.
Saturday I woke up and didnt know where I was for a second. Kinda common because I travel a ton but weird nonetheless. Much to my surprise, I had zero hangover. I figured my body was probably used to being 50% bourbon at this point. Around 1130am, we headed out to go pick up some ammo to go trap shooting. After buying some ammo and grabbing a much needed bite, we headed to the range. I had never shot before. I will admit Im not a fan of guns and I did experience some anxiety once we got there and got ready to shoot. After getting a walkthru, we started shooting some clay pigeons. I nailed one on my first shot and was hooked. It was awesome. I got better and better as we went along too. The gun didnt have the recoil I thought it would and we shot both 12 and 20 gauge. The only part about the whole day that sucked was that it POURED rain all day. The rain pounded down, only letting up long enough to lure us out away from shelter where Mother Nature would have a chance to soak us to the bone. I ended up buying a shirt and hat because I was drenched and figured I should grab a souvenir anyways. When I got home, I headed into the Grove to Jaguarto grab a bite and enjoy a few bourbons. Met some cool people and had a good amount of "base food" and then met up with some neighbors at Sandbar for a few beers. Around midnight I realized I was kinda wasted and needed to get up really early for the SFDB Classic so I headed home.
I woke up Sunday ready to hit the links. I got to Melreese/International Links around 745am and headed over to the range. Id hit my driver terribly the previous weekend and was hoping to work out the kinks since the driver is usually the best club in my bag. Well, I didnt figure it out. The driver killed me all day. I did manage to battle back on each hole though and ended up shooting a 93 which wasnt so bad considering I didnt make it past the ladies tee on at least 6 shots. Meeting up with Rick (from SFDB), Steve (formerly of Owenized), and Nonee Moose (commenter at SFDB) was fun. Rick was the only one who really played well but the rest of us had our few bright moments and there were a lot of laughs. I got home, showered quickly, and headed on over to the Rusty Pelican for brunch and managed to avoid drinking any alcohol.
The week ends with the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics, the best Olympics ever. I look back on a week where I did some not-so-bright things, a ton of damage to my body with alcohol, gunpowder, and golf, but it was a fun ride. I also met a lot of new people and thats always good. Next week is Labor Day weekend which means an extra day off. I can only imagine what is in store there...
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