12.22.2007

I want one


Asus Eee PC. Sure, it's not for the poweruser tendencies I possess, but the form factor and durability are absolutely perfect for casual web surfing and the lack of harddrive is another plus. This little (7" screen) monster runs on flash memory and comes with a flavor of linux installed. When I get it, I'll keep linux on there and embrace all of the open source apps (open office, firefox and skype as a few examples) it comes with that I am familiar with anyway. You have the ability to install XP on it, but then performance takes a major hit and because this thing will be a true ultra portable, I can use my PC or Mac for other tasks.

I am hyped about getting this thing, but 8G is the top performer right now. I'm waiting for the first few months of 2008 before I get it. I am positive there will be storage, speed and other boosts and hopefully the price does not climb too high.

I'll post a detailed review once I get my hands on it.

12.12.2007

The Arabic term for "cover"


I'm pretty sure we have all heard of this story about the Pakistani father who allegedly choked his daughter in Canada due her wearing Western dress to school and not opting for the Hijab that is customary for many Muslim women. At work today, I stopped in the breakroom and the TV was on and this story was being discussed by some talking heads. This is where my reality takes a turn for the ignorant. I was eating a great snack when a person from another department was in there consuming their lunch and heard the news story and said out loud, "That girl is in the US now and should dress like we dress and hijab is a silly name." I looked over at the person and said, "Wow, you are pretty tolerant of other cultures. That silly thing is an Arabic term for cover and it's a scarf that I am sure you have seen worn by Muslim women." This person then said, "So, you think what the father did was OK?" I said, "How do you draw THAT conclusion by me commenting on YOUR comment and saying nothing about the father in this story?" The person says, "Well, if he wants her to dress in that scarf, they should move back to where they came from!" I said, "Are you serious? It's amazing how this "LAND OF THE FREE" we live in only applies to Americans who speak one language and really believe the world is only about the US."

I know the father was 100% wrong for killing his daughter, but the real issue is that this father did not properly deal with a rebellious daughter and lost his mind and now his daughter is dead and he will sit in jail until he dies. My point was that the family in this story has customs that tunnel-visioned Americans think are "stupid" and just because many American kids can step all over their parents and many of the US laws give children WAY TOO MANY rights that the government has no business stepping into, immigrants are to not be judged by what one idiot did because their customs were not being followed.

I suggested this person get some Diversity Training and told them to remember that the US is not the only country in this world and holding on to cultural traditions is a major part of many people's identity when they move to another country for whatever reason. I shook my head and went back to work......

12.02.2007

The Med Ball and This Morning....

Let me preface this post by saying that Dub may be the only one who can appreciate it, but I will throw it out to the blogosphere anyway.

Saturday mornings typically involve me going to a friend's house to work out in his basement and yesterday was no different. It's a finished basement with alot of room and since I do work out at home, but I cannot max out at for fear of pinning myself to my bench and having a screaming wife find me in that state. This friend and I are really close in strength levels and that is an important detail since we can spot each other with no issues and are right around plus/minus 5-10lbs for a max on various exercises.

Anyway, we like to mix up the workouts on occasion so we decided to use the 12lb medicine ball that I purchased a few weeks ago. At this point, it's important to mention that we worked shoulders first. We decided on the following 3 different med ball exercises: on knees facing each other about 8 ft from each other, standing about 8ft from each other w/two hand under-arm motion in throwing and seated tossing back/forth kind of rapidly. We did three sets of 30reps. It felt good AFTER, but was tough as we were going through each set since we worked shoulders pretty good. I felt like I had a really intense workout.

Fast-forward to this morning....I wake up and can barely lift my arms above my head. In conjunction with the deltoids work we did, man, the lactic acid was all over my muscle fibers and super-uncomfortable. It's mid-day now and it has somewhat dissipated, but my delts, bis, tris and forearms still feel pretty pumped.

Morale of the story: change up your workouts and do not fear the med ball! Who would have thought that 12lbs would have been the catalyst to a feeling of soreness and a reality of being pumped the next day?

11.22.2007

11.15.2007

Apparently, I am the FLASH

Who are you?

11.05.2007

Formal Education is Fashionable

This post is brought to you by any college dropout you may know in your life...Allow me to drill down further...I made many friends in my undergrad years and a few more in my grad years and it's always an interesting exercise when I reflect on those who I kept in touch with who never finished the program that they started with me. I have an interesting perspective on formal education. I am all for it, but unless you are in school for the simple "love of learning", you have a goal in mind and typically that goal includes being able to put food on your table and a roof over your head. Degrees do not impress me in any way. I have a BS, MS and a post-grad certificate and will be working on a 2nd MS in January. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy learning and building my professional network, but in no way do I think college dropouts are "dumb" if they find other ways to provide for themselves and their families. A friend I work with and I were discussing a crack on his windshield. I said, "I went to school with a guy who owns a windshield repair business. Should I call him and ask if he can take care of you?" My friend says, "Ok." I called the guy, some logistics were worked out and my friend ended up going there and getting this taken care of. My friend shows me the business card of the guy who took care of his windshield and says, "Look at how many of these shops he owns." The owner is a college dropout, but he lives in a better area than I do, drives a nicer car and his business is growing. Small business ownership is where it's at kids. Degrees are nice to hang on the wall, but the risk/reward of jumping out of the "expected path" to enlightenment can also work. It's been said that people hate working 80-100hrs a week for someone else, but are willing to do that for themselves trying to establish/grow a business.

Here are some famous college dropouts to cogitate on:
Bill Gates
Steve Jobs
Michael Dell
Tom Hanks

My point is that the US pushes formal education as if that is the ONLY option to self-sufficiency and although EDUCATION is definitely the key, formal education in respect to a University setting is not and should not be the only way to be a productive member of society and a "well-rounded" citizen.

I keep leaning over and staring into the entrepreneurial pool and one day I will jump in....

10.31.2007

Does this look like 18K to you?

Haha!

I stumbled upon this "deal" at Overstock. and literally laughed out loud at the notion of anyone paying 18THOU for a time piece as compared to 24K and then getting it shipped for $1.00. How comforting is it knowing that your 18Grand is going through the USPS, FedEx or Brown like every other piece of crap being sent for $1.00?

18,000 for a stupid watch?! Freaking amazing....

10.28.2007

An almost 5hour Blow Job...

We're talking home improvement here you gutter-minded sea donkeys! :p Cellulose Insulation in my attic is what was blown, to be exact. What I had planned to take 2-2.5 hrs was double that and man did it suck....or actually, it really blew.

They changed out the machines at the Home Depot near me and this "new&improved" version was not that great.

This took place on Friday night. My bro-in-law helped me out since you do need two people to do this. I was in the attic with the 80ft of tubing to spray the insulation and my bro-in-law was in the garage feeding the machine (aka hopper) each of the 60 bags of this stuff. Correct, I said 60 bags! Each bag covered 40square feet. What can I say, I was going for a high R Value and I was able to achieve that based on my measurements and a guide they gave us at Home Depot. If you have one roll of traditional insulation (the pink ish that makes you itch and you actually roll it out), then you have approximately R19. I wanted to achieve R50. I actually ended up with about R40 because the machine we rented from HD was slow and as you added the additional 40ft of tubing to be at 80ft to reach the corners of the house, the power was further compromised and that is what actually made the job take longer than it needed to; I actually said F it and was left with 10bags that we just brought back since I still made a drastic improvement in my insulation anyway. THAT is the part that pissed me off. My attic is unfinished, so I was basically Spider-Man up there walking on joists and repositioning a powerful light so I could see what was going on. Had to wear a mask, safety glasses, hat and long sleeves. The inside of the mask was jet black and filled with all kinds of nastiness. If it were summer, I would have had a heat stroke, indeed, but the fall temps helped immensely.

Anyway, thank God that crap is over and I hope to save some cash on my utilities with this action over time.

10.17.2007

Reason 2,478 why I like APPLE

Today, Steve Jobs mentioned that the iPhone will be open to developers. Is that big news, you ask? H-U-G-E NEWS indeed! It was the right thing to do. It was somewhat of a change in direction by Apple based on a recent update that basically "bricked" people's phones who unlocked them for other carriers since AT&T is the primary carrier at the moment for service. In the microwave society we exist in, not allowing people to use your technology for purposes outside of your simple intentions is very bad. It may please shareholders, but you alienate your consumer. Alienation is bad. This will do nothing but move more iPhones for Apple and REALLY cause Motorola, Nokia and Sony to step up their game in terms of hardware and cause rewriting of lots-o-business plans out there.

I saw another report that has Apple #3 in terms of market share behind Dell and HP for Q3; that is a sidenote because this post is more about one hardware component that Apple has put out.

I expect hundreds of apps to be built within the next few weeks.

I'm waiting for 1-2more price drops before I actually get one, but I can see an eventual purchase of the iPod Touch although I would have to get more apps on it because I don't necessarily care about absolutely getting an iPhone and it being an all-in-one super device for me. I am just not a big fan of all-in-one devices as a whole. We'll see what happens, but Apple continues to innovate and get more people to pay attention.

10.12.2007

Carbon Footprints

The other day, I was looking at some propaganda literature from one of my utility companies and it had a small postcard mentioning a new program customers could join that would "offset carbon emissions" and help the environment; reduce your carbon footprint, in other words.

Well, I am all for helping the environment and Carbon Offsetting is the rage right now. Just ask big Al who just picked up a Nobel peace prize for some of his work and attention to environmental issues. Not only are utility companies trying to push consumers over the edge by appealing to their emotions, but airlines are now on board and asking for X amount of dollars to offset your flight and save the earth.

Again, I am all for tangible and concrete actions on reducing waste and truly minimizing emissions and guys like Al do a good service to the planet when they shift people's thinking.....to a point. Don't try and scare me into action or try and pull my heart strings to get me to open my purse strings.

I have an issue when no hard science exists to truly quantify carbon emissions and the idea of my giving $50 to an airline to allegedly plant some trees to offset my plane trip is an absolute scam and consumers are blind sheep that think throwing some cash for a cause will cure the problem. What would be more likely to help the cause would be a severe reduction in SUV purchases, more local purchase of goods and services and heavy R&D into alternative energy and no dependence on oil, but since our government cannot tax the sun or the wind, you can forget those two options for taking us off the grid........People need to start thinking!

10.04.2007

Maybe she thought he was Asian...yeah, that's it..

Oh brother.....this episode is indicative of the vast cultural awareness that is possessed by most Americans. The other day, a lady at work brings a guy over to my cube and asks me if "Mr Bla-bla-bla" (insert ethnic last name) is around and I said, "well, he is in the building, but just not around here." And she proceeds to tell me that the guy she is walking with has just arrived from India and "Mr Bla-bla-bla" could probably relate to him. Of course, I was completely aware that "Mr Bla-bla-bla" is actually from Pakistan and NOT India and was pretty sure that these two guys would be unable to communicate in their native tongue. There are hundreds of thousands of people within the country of India that cannot even communicate with each other due to dialect differences. After this foolish woman walked away, I leaned back and looked at another coworker and asked, "How is Mr Bla-bla-bla going to relate to this guy from India when the guy she is walking with speaks better English than her and does she even know that Pakistan is not located within India?"

My point is that the ignorance of Americans and geography/culture/language is pretty sickening. Ethnocentrism is everywhere in this country.

Trilingual = Three Languages
Bilingual = Two Languages
Monolingual = American

What a joke!

9.27.2007

Ad of the Day


I'm not a Harley guy by any stretch although I appreciate seeing those machines up close, but this ad is pretty hilarious to me. I literally laughed out loud when I saw this.

9.19.2007

The Mighty Race Card....

Here we go again. There are two prominent sports figures in the midst of controversial circumstances this week. The first is OJ who posted bail today after being charged with 10 felony counts for trying to steal back some of his memorabilia that was allegedly stolen from him and these memorabilia "dealers" were in some bootleg Vegas casino room. The second individual involved in a somewhat controversial circumstance would be Donovan Mcnabb who made some comments in an interview on HBO in which he makes the claim that Black QBs are criticized more than White QBs in Pro Football.

I'll address OJ first. #1, the guy is a complete idiot for being involved in a situation that so many of the shady characters involved could set him up. Not that I know it was a setup, but someone with the legal track record that he has just needs to stay out of any situation that even appears like he could be charged in anyway with a crime. For the record, I do believe that "If the gloves don't fit, you've got to acquit" and like you or I, he got his day in court and high priced legal Dream Team or not, he played within the rules that the US judicial system has created...Detroit is a very polarized city when issues of race arise thanks to Coleman Young and so many others who have corrupted the local government here. Racism is alive and well around here. Naturally, people have an opinion on OJ. I have heard black men/women say that OJ is an embarrassment to them and I have also heard people defend the guy for this latest incident and actually having the nerve to say that "the system" is just trying to take him down. Are you kidding me? You or I do that and this is a done deal and we are sitting in jail for a loooong time, but celeb status in the US is a funny situation that certainly changes the rules. My point on bringing up OJ is that his whole situation has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with his race. It has to do with him being an arrogant former celeb who is hiding out in FL since the law there tells him that he does not have to relinquish all income/assets to the Goldman family for whom won a Civil suit against him after his federal trial. And we wonder why FL cannot vote correctly in elections. :p

Anyway, I have heard that since "there are no black people in Vegas" that OJ would not get a fair trial. Again, complete BS and a completely myopic view on legal issues. The guy is everything that is wrong with celebrity and THAT is the reason for him dodging the bullet the first time around. Who can save him now? Johnny Cochran is not on this earth anymore and who would want to represent this fool? Sheesh, it's NOT a race issue in any way. People need to wake up!

On to McNabb. QB in the NFL is THE most scrutinized position in sports. No question on that. Well, the Eagles are in the midst of an implosion. McNabb is not the same since coming back from a severe leg injury and is also not getting any younger. His Receivers are trash and Westbrook is THE MVP of that team thus far this year, but McNabb pulled the race card during an HBO interview like a moron. 4 short years ago when Dan's favorite conservative, Rush Limbaugh had a brief stint doing some broadcasting for the NFL, he tried to stir the pot and say that McNabb was not a great QB and that the media overrated him only because he was black. Well, McNabb showed nothing but class in his response to the statements made by Rush and said that he wanted to be judged as a QB and not a black QB.......Again, 4 SHORT years ago this was said and now, McNabb does not have the cojones to say he just wants out of Philly and quickly pulled the race card to be his scapegoat. Garbage!

Race is one of the most important things in my life, but playing that card shows a lack of character and people actually discredit their race when they pull that crap.

9.15.2007

Cool Product-O-The Day

If I were a truck guy and a really consistent tailgating-kind of guy, this thing would be mine!

P.S.,
Peep the larger size of the pic. It's so wack! LOL! Apparently if you have a grill on your trailer hitch, you get a chick on your hip, by default. :p

9.10.2007

I am Alpha Male....Hear me snore!

I was discussing a particular issue at work with a female-type and the concept of 'alpha male' came up. She asked me if I or men I know consider that an actual quality? I said, "Well, every man has an alter ego and within the animal kingdom, instinct supersedes all." I was joking of course. A human male has free will unlike animals... and I do certainly believe that the testosterone fueled nature of a male contributes to the constant competitive nature and that makes many of us lean toward "alpha-maleness" in daily living....If you are a man and do not endorse physical competition (sports, working out, cross-training of any kind, etc.), nothing I have just said means anything to you and I expect you to just sit and think about magnesium sulfate that would be epsom salts baths for your delicate feet and have your beard best lady friend from high schoolfinish waxing your arm hairs.....

A quick wiki search yields the most hilarious of definitions: An alpha male or alpha female is the individual in the community to whom the others follow and defer. Humans and their nearest species-relatives, the chimpanzees, show deference to the alpha of the community by ritualized gestures such as bowing, allowing the alpha to walk first in a procession, or standing aside when the alpha challenges. Canines also show deference to the alpha male in their pack, by allowing him to be the first to eat and the first to mate....

Pure comedy!

9.04.2007

Summer is slipping away....


I was reminded of this cruel reality this morning when I pulled two of my tomato plants out of the ground since they had finished providing the bounty of fruit that has been a resounding success this year. I have 5 tomato plants still in the ground, but their life cycle is soon to end as well. A few green pepper, eggplant, basil and parsley abound, but seem to be wearing out their welcome. Summer was great this year in terms of my garden. I don't look forward to winter and store-bought produce. Fall can be nice. I need to take advantage of the color change and go up north or west for some shooting (pics, that is). We'll see what happens. 2007 is almost in the record books. Time has wings...

8.28.2007

Somedays are better than others...

....like the days when your twin does not feel like rearing it's ugly body on the side of your face...

8.17.2007

Kanye To The....

Here is the wackest image on a Friday of your boy, Kanye West.

I've been a fan since back in 2004 when College Dropout debuted. Love him or hate him, the guy makes a statement;lyrically he is pretty unique and a top 5 MC easily. He's #8 on the 2007 Forbes list for hip-hop artists and a fashion icon.

I don't care about the guy's political beliefs and probably would not rock 50% of what he wears, but he has talent and space in my iTunes library indeed.

Peep the vid of his soon to be released album with another fav of mine, Daft Punk.

8.13.2007

M in a Cube

You can also enjoy the awesomeness that is Rubik's Cuber at your leisure.

8.08.2007

756 HRs!!

..and BaROID Bonds is the owner of one of the most revered records in all of professional sports. Hank Aaron was robbed! Barry has had more juice pumped into him than Churches Chicken....................allegedly.

My cheers will be directed to A-ROD to shatter Bonds tainted record.

8.05.2007

Where was I today?

I heard earlier in the week that my Lions were having an open practice. There was no cost for the public to get in and watch for 90min as the hometown team went through BS plays and very light contact drills. Either way, it was cool and our new first round pick, Calvin Johnson is a beast who just signed a 6year/64million contract! Dude is huge. We expect big things from him this year. I am seriously itching for some football. Oso, you feel me? Man, Fantasy is bad enough, but the actual nfl season needs to start ASAP!

The pic of Roy Williams slapping five to this silly bride and groom was taken by me because I thought it was an interesting scene from the day. I'll get a few more images on flickr tomorrow.

8.01.2007

Perfect fit for my driveway...

Behold, the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

First shown at the Paris Auto Show in '06, it can be yours for a cool $200,000 in late 2008. I'll take one now please..... The retro-styled racer features a 4.7-liter, 450hp V8 engine, carbon fiber body with steel chassis, a 6-speed robotic gearbox, 20" wheels, and looks that could bring a grown man like me to his knees.

7.25.2007

To tat or not to tat....THAT is the ?

I was talking with L the other night about tats. No, not that I am considering one. Not my bag. Love the art, love the symbolism, even know of great designs I would be proud of. The main issue I have is that I will not be a youthful, tight-fleshed, streamlined specimen forever. An old man with tats is really not that cool. Unless dude owns a tat studio or "lives the lifestyle", it really, again, is not that cool.

I have friends who have tats and it's cool for them, but call me when they are in their 60's and that tribal art, asian script or cross have changed shapes and fade into their sagging flesh. It's not a pretty picture people. Again, I love the art, but the human body ages and does not maintain it's elasticity. Forever is too long in the world of tats and don't even bring up the idea of "getting them lasered off should you grow tired of the design or break up with the chick you inscribed on your triceps. I'll stick with other addictions and leave the ink to the pros....

7.12.2007

Heelys

Tell me that anyone reading this blog has not heard of OR seen these Heelys sneaks/rollers and subsequent knock-offs? I thought of this concept years ago as a kid and some schmuck has made millions by getting these things made in a sweatshop for the past few years. I'm jealous. :p

Anyway, anyone older than 11 wearing these things is a loser, but I think they are really cool and would have loved to have a pair back in the day. I think it's hilarious that I can be walking in the mall and one second a kid is walking and the next they are whipping by me. Of course, the downside is the spike in emergency room visits, but no risk = no reward, right? Oh, to be a child again and live free with wheeled heels. LOL!

7.08.2007

My Movie of The Year!



Saw it last night.

Amazing!

Tried to find flaws; found none.

Michael Bay owns Hollywood; He should.

The sequel will have MUCH to compete with.

I could watch it 10 more times.

7.05.2007

If a piece of luggage played me in a movie...

The Hero 20" upright better get the role. Man, I don't trip over luggage under normal conditions, but the Alexander McQueen design on this is high art for sure. Plus, freaking out innocent bystanders using nothing but your luggage gets 50cool pts in my eyes. As much as I love this product though, $750 for it makes it slightly out of reach and I think I can live with that.

7.01.2007

Old Timers?

Here we go again with another account of the things I hear and I just don't know how my luck is such that it happens so frequently to me. So, we were downtown recetly and I brought my camera and was shooting and took a quick break to switch out lenses and I overheard a conversation that this young girl was having with her friend. "bla-bla-bla and my grandmother has Old Timers....." My ears perked up and I thought to myself, "Self, you did not just hear what you thought you heard, right?" Indeed. As the conversation went on and examples of impaired memory and dementia came to light.....So, I had to restrain myself from calmly walking over to her and yelling: "OLD TIMERS means nothing!! It's ALZHEIMER'S you idiot!!" I just hate how some people say things without thinking. Here are a few more examples of american english phrases that drive me crazy, "Alls I'm saying...." and "Me, personally......"

6.28.2007

Disgraceful

Defined as: giving offense to moral sensibilities and injurious to reputation.

I have nothing else to say.

6.20.2007

Too much airplay X2!

Man, I am so tired of Akon (cross b/w Flava Flav and Shabba Ranks) and T-Pain (thinks he's the new Teddy Riley with that stupid computer voice on EVERY track). I suppose I can tolerate either one making a cameo on another artists track for one verse, but outside of that, I'm annoyed. Part of it is that Detroit DJs play the $hite out of them, but added to the full-fledged lack of creativity in r&b and hip-hop right now, these two jabronis are making sick money! When will people wake up and see the fraud before our eyes?!


That's all for now.

6.17.2007

Father's Day Paradox

It's kind of interesting in the era of equal rights and supposed absence of double standards in terms of men vs women roles and societal norms in certain societies that today, Father's Day is a hardly a blip on the map of marketing for this "holiday". Flip the script and Mother's Day gets all the pub....as it should, since the mother is who delivers the child into this world, but as the highly overused saying goes, "It takes two to tango" and without the "help" of a father or at least a trip to THE BANK" human life does not spontaneously occur. As a newly crowned father, I take no offense to Mother's Day getting much more of the deserved fanfare. It's 100% fine with me, but I know there are guys out there who like to play the "equal rights" card for something as silly as a day on the calendar that makes them feel good about themselves when their child gets them a wack tie or some other trinket. I did fine today, but I don't need a day to remind me of how a father needs to be. Everyday is Father's Day for those who take it seriously.

6.06.2007

Current Obsession

I'm in love. Why must I be a responsible parent? :( Why can I not live out my MotoGP dreams on this insane ride?! Sporting a special Italian flag-inspired green, white and red color scheme, the Ducati Superbike 1098 S Tricolore (for a low$25,000) produces 160-hp and 90.4lbs/ft of torque, making it the most powerful twin-cylinder motorcycle in the world. It's also the lightest open class Superbike available, weighing only 381 pounds. Parts like Brembo brakes, lightweight alloy Marchesini wheels, and a 102-dB Termignoni racing muffler kit with dedicated ECU help make the Tricolore the fastest stopping and quickest lapping Ducati in history.

I need to quickly step away from the monitor....

6.04.2007

Hall of Fame IDIOT!!

Oh man, I am pretty pissed right now. I was surfing cyberspace and hit up espn and read this story. It involves one of my former favorite baseball players, Gary Sheffield. He truly was one of my favorites, but the anger in his heart has really changed my view. This piece of trash claims his theory for why there are not as many blacks in the MLB than there are Latinos is that blacks are "less likely to be controlled." Here is the best set of quotes from the story: "Where I'm from, you can't control us. You might get a guy to do it that way for a while because he wants to benefit, but in the end, he is going to go back to being who he is. And that's a person that you're going to talk to with respect, you're going to talk to like a man.

"These are the things my race demands. So, if you're equally good as this Latin player, guess who's going to get sent home? I know a lot of players that are home now can outplay a lot of these guys."


Are you frikkin kidding me?! Last time I checked, outplaying anyone in the pro level would land you on a squad, so for this idiot to claim that Latin players are just more susceptible to "being controlled" is just pure ignorance. I can promise you that if this were a white guy saying this about black players, it would be front page news for Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, but this will be just a blip on the espn homepage for a few hrs and disappear. I can assure you that I will be firing off emails to the Tigers and several other sources to get some attention to this ignorance until this idiot realizes what a completely stupid "theory" he has.

It's not that difficult, black kids don't play baseball because they like basketball and football. Simple as that. Baseball is probably just not "cool" to them. Like soccer, hockey, lacrosse, etc. Does that mean those sports have people in them that are easily controlled as well?

Gary Sheffield is a moron and I hope he gets hit with a pitch the next time he's at bat.

5.27.2007

Buffalo Soldier

Well, maybe not, but we had buffalo meat last night. I bought it two days ago at a somewhat local Amish store where I buy chicken, pork and the occasional dairy product. Reason for buying from the Amish? Funny you should ask. They do not use pesticides in their produce, hormones or antibiotics in their meats and the distance traveled to market is not too far. If thinking locally and acting globally is what people intend to endorse, the Amish have made a career of that by selling to people like me. Oh, and another small factor influences my decision to buy from them--TASTE. Are you kidding me?! The chicken ACTUALLY tastes like chicken and pork, like pork. We had pernil yesterday for lunch and all I can say is WOW! Seriously, it was frikkin amazing. Anyway, back to the buffalo. It was a 1lb of ground buffalo meat. L and I thought it would be a good idea to make burgers with it. She seasoned it up with the following: Adobo, Mrs Dash, Worcestershire sauce, vidalia onions, yellow bell pepper and red bell pepper. Cooked on medium (due to the meat being extremely lean)...basically "slow and low" on a grill pan on top of the stove. Then the moment of truth came. She was MUCH MORE nervous than I was. I had been reading about buffalo meat for some time and just never found a location that had OR a location where it even looked good. So, I took a bite first and it was great! L even liked it and that was nice to see since I tend to be more of risk-taker with atypical foods. We only ate one each because they are pretty filling and the burgers were not that big; big enough for a nice wheat bun. The 1lb of meat yielded about 7-8 patties. I will buy it again, but I do think it is very important to get that type of meat from a reputable seller because we are not talking about something that you can find every week and you don't want your experience (if you have never tasted it) to be a bad one due to a lower grade product. The taste was not game-y (like venison) at all and I highly recommend you get your hands on some buffalo. It does have a distinct taste that is kind of tough to describe, but it really is a nice mild taste. The Amish store only had ground buffalo, but I would like to try some ribs or a tenderloin one of these days, but I have probably hit my buffalo meat quota for the next month, but I will definitely eat it again.

5.23.2007

Another athlete who should just shut his mouth...

Here we go again...Unless you have been under a rock and those of you who do not follow pro US sports might as well stay under your rocks, you have no doubt heard the latest episode of controversy surrounding Atlanta Falcons QB, Michael Vick. Of course, it does not help him that another pro player who plays for the Washington Redskins, Clinton Portis who went to THE U and that is already a strike against him basically says that people need to "mind their own business" since the story came out about the ALLEGED dog fighting compound that was found at one of Vick's houses in VA. Mind their own business? Are you kidding me?! These friggin millionaires truly believe they rule the world and anyone questioning anything they do should just get out of their way. Amazing. I am as passionate a sports fan as the next guy, but I will not sit around and really believe that just because a guy can throw a ball 100yards or run a 4.2 40 that he is above the law and that the media is just picking on him. Please!

On the one hand I absolutely agree with Charles Barkley doing that Nike commercial several years ago and saying that "Parents should be role models" and that he was not one, but the fact of the matter is that there are hundreds of thousands of horrible parents out there that kids cannot even count on and they try to find other sources of inspiration. Pro Athletes will undoubtedly fall into that category and many of these stupid guys fail to appreciate that fact and are only out for themselves and try to live the SAME life they did BEFORE they were as famous as they currently are. Bunch of idiots! Again, I love sports, but I have NEVER and will NEVER put these guys on a pedestal that many people do. They bleed just like me. Put a mic in their grills and they pop off like a bunch of low class pieces of trash. I laugh at those stories that come out many years after many of these pros are not in the spotlight anymore and they are broke and/or in major trouble with the law. True emptiness inside.

The ATL needs a new field general!

5.16.2007

The Genius of a Car Dealership

I had to bring the Mazda in yesterday morning for a recall (a computer module update and a separate fan wiring issue). I had about an hour to kill. I brought my notebook to spend some time catching up on news and other events. To my dismay, there was no wireless connection to be utilized. I asked one of the sales guys on the showroom floor about this and he says, "You are the 4th person to ask me about this today." I said, "Well, it is 2007 and people expect these things." He says, "I know what you mean. We are the only building without it. You should try VW." This is a pretty big collection of dealers where I brought the car to. From Hummer to Vdub, to GMC and Mercedes. There is a grouping of various buildings. Mazda is next to VW, so I walked over there after shooting the ish with the Mazda salesguy talking about what is in the future for Mazda vehicles and things like that. Well, VW's connection was down! Man, I was kind of pissed. Oh well. It was a nice day and I just decided to walk around and peep the rides and absorb the sticker shock of various models. The funny thing to me was that you had all these vehicles 18K-60K in a dirt (with plenty-o-rocks) lot and sporadic potholes and things like that. I even caught some of the porters pushing these cars to the rpm limit as they made their way to the prep area building to clean up the rides so that people could take delivery of their new cars. That whole situation just further confirmed my distrust of people who have access to my car keys. I NEVER get valet. I always stay at the mechanic shop if my car needs work unless it happens to be a situation in which 3+ hrs will be involved. Fortunately, it's been a few years that that has happened. I just know many people have no regard for property that is not their own and that is pretty sad.

5.12.2007

Heartless Criminal

I was doing a rare thing last night and that was watching TV. I caught this story and I was truly upset in the sense of having a heart filled with emotion that went from a high level of anger to sadness for the man (Mr. Sims) involved in that truly unfortunate circumstance of getting carjacked by some 22year old coward who beat Mr. Sims (who is 91 years old) and stole his Malibu. How does a kid have so much disregard for an elder that he would take the time to beat that person just to get in their car and drive away with a complete lack of conscience or respect in anyway? Man, the video is absolute sadness and I was just playing the scene in my mind over and over again and thinking if that were my grandfather how enraged I would be. Seriously, I would need to be restrained in a courtroom because anything in my reach would immediately make its way to the body of the attacker. This stupid coward (Deonte Edward Bradley) has been charged and I hope the judge throws the book at him and this idiot gets destroyed in jail. I think paying for him to rot in a jail cell is not really any significant payback for what he did, but he'll get his in a very bad way. I don't know about how the prison culture deals with guys who beat the elderly and am not sure if it is on the same level of a pedophile or anything like that because I know guys who do that are moving targets in jail (as they should be!) and I really hope this coward gets to be some inmates punching bag because he deserves nothing good and is pure evil. I read news everyday, but this is one of those stories that pissed me off enough to post on it.

5.07.2007

Trip to IKEA

Today, we were both off from work and IKEA was the planned destination. My sister-inlaw has never been, so this was a new experience for her. We also took M for the day that we knew would be long. We arrived shortly after they opened for the day (just after 10am) and it was nice in that it was pretty relaxing and not the usual madhouse that I have come to expect. I knew there were a few items I was ready to purchase and of course, we even bought a few things we had no intentions of purchasing, but at the prices of so many items being quite low, it worked out fine and still below the agreed upon budget. None of us lost our minds and just blindly bought things as a few people we noticed there doing.

The one interesting thing about today's trip was to the IKEA Restaurant. I have never been there. Usually a trip meant getting items and leaving since that usually took several hours, but we decided to try out the food today. Man, I was really impressed. Maybe it was because it was early and everyone was eager to do a good job, but the workers were cool and pretty helpful. I got a fresh mozzarella and roasted pepper panini and a lox salad with a bowl of vegetable soup. L got the same panini. J got Swedish meatballs, potatoes and steamed vegetables. The desert was excellent as well. Pieces of torts and cakes at super low prices that were good quality. The Swedish coffee was bangin'. I would eat there again in a heartbeat. As a totally unanticipated bonus, we got this pear flavored sparking juice that reminded me of CocoRico and I have NO IDEA how that happened, but it did and it had no coco of any type within it. It was a product of Spain and it was just one of those things that just sets of memories as I hope some of you can relate to. Very weird how the environment triggers thoughts and feelings about certain experiences. Either way, the trip was a success and the Restaurant is very good.

4.30.2007

Technology Decisions, Decisions, Decisions....

Man, I am in a difficult position in that I want to improve my photoshop skills and feel by upgrading some of my technology (mainly my monitor, but I could use a serious upgrade in the processing dept. as well) to a dual monitor setup (one as a palette and one as the main canvas area) so my screen real estate is vastly improved thus aligning the chi, thus producing a more consisten final product....The only thing standing in my way is the reality of actually having to throw cash at this idea. :( I always envision driving down the street and a box of two 22" lcds with great specs falling out of a truck and me being there to prevent these pieces of technology from being destroyed by another driver and doing the right thing and putting those boxes in my trunk since they had no ID on them for me to return them and then maybe, JUST maybe having the fortunate luck of bringing them home to actually get plugged in to my upgraded video card with two DVI inputs.......ok, that's lame....I need to spend money! :(

4.25.2007

If I were one, I would be kind of pissed.......

Where is the media coverage? Where are the PRO-WHITE banners and all the squeeky wheels? Should they protest against all the stores who carry these products? It's about as silly as the whole Imus episode.

By the way, these Tortilla Strips are so freaking bangin', I defy you to find a better strip of Masa Harina corn flour anywhere on this planet. We just finished the bag and I had to post on these things more so for the name of the company, but seriously, once you go GMGringo Tortialla Strips, you never go back...I just tried them because they were on sale at Whole Foods, but the MFs are prime time chips. Believe it!! I would buy them again in a heartbeat...Taste and see.

4.23.2007

Some things make no sense to me....

...like when people who have no idea how to play a sport and they get all laced up in high quality gear just to make the idea of them attempting something they have no business attempting seem that much more foolish. Exhibit A: I was in a park over the weekend and noticed some people playing softball; they were practicing. I saw this guy who was truly a disaster out in the field THINKING (based on most of his comments) that he was "just off" that day and would get it together eventually. Eventually never came. Dude had on some pretty expensive Nike cleats, UnderArmor from head to toe and he sucked! Why do people do things like that?! Back in the day when I would play basketball just about every other day, it would be the same thing with sneaks. Sheesh, these guys would show up with brand new Jordans or WHOEVER's kick was hot and their play would be utterly atrocious.

It would be like me getting expensive gear for something I am not that great at....Here are a few things. Golf. I don't play golf. I don't pretend like I play golf. I went to the range ONE time in my life and it was a disaster. Would an expensive driver help me smash it 300yds? Uh....no. My technique is horrible, therefore, a beginners to moderate hardware selection might be a better situation for someone like me. What else? Uh....Snowboarding. I bought mine from a place that sells used sporting goods. The board, bindings and boots were new, but the point is that if I dropped a few Gs on a Burton or some other techno-marvel of a snowboard, it would just be silly since #1--I am lucky to get out on a snow filled hill more than 5X in a season and #2--I don't think the X-Games are really in my future. So.......why spend the loot to just LOOK LIKE I am the real deal when I am certainly not. Part of my point is that in 2007, there is such a wide and appropriate range in middle-level gear that your casual weekend warrior would be ok to not go top-o-the-line....

Anyway, people just do interesting things and it makes me laugh....

4.16.2007

This Road Leads to Menudo...

Oh brother...Just what the world needs...ANOTHER "reality" show about song and occassional dance....Although this terrible concept will be sentenced to MTV Tr3s, I sense the butt of many jokes will be the result....A sad day for Ricans everywhere. :(

4.12.2007

Perfect face for radio....

CBS fired him because of the ad dollars in jeopardy. I bet Sirius picks him up....

4.08.2007

¡FelĂ­z Pascua!

Not that I am a proponent of animal abuse in anyway, but this pic just cracks me up. More so for the significance it has, plus it was road kill and you know it! Some cruel joker throw the eggs and basket in there for drama. A guy I worked with several years ago sends this pic to me during the week of Easter leading up to Sunday with the subject line, "Easter is Cancelled" and I just was not expecting to see that image. Coupled with the reality that I was pretty focused on a project I needed to get done for my boss, the pic almost made me fall out of my chair when I was peeping my inbox.

By the way, I hate COLD hard-boiled eggs. How do people eat that crap?! :( I do like hard-boiled eggs, but seconds after removing the shell and piping hot is the only way I can consume eggs in that form.

Ok, enjoy your day and watch the rabbits in road!

4.04.2007

GRINDHOUSE

For whatever reason, I seem to get caught up in the hype machine that is Quentin Tarantino. The guy is a total screwjob, but I cannot turn away....Not sure if it's because I see a bit of my own alter-ego in his antics. Not sure. In terms of Grindhouse, add in Robert Rodriguez (who I am a HUGE fan of) and I think I MIGHT actually drop some cash at the theater for the newest collabo by these guys. Who does not want to pay homage to B-movie thrillers of the 70s and 80? The combination of two feature-length segments (Planet Terror & Death Proof) into one flick has not been done recently, if at all. With Hollywood at a creative wasteland as of late, this might jumpstart some of the creativity that has been lacking.

If anything, the movie pics are high art and that has me caught up in it. Mix in some of Hollywood's femme fatales and good cinema might be produced. That remains to be seen, but this film will be out at the end of the week and your boy might peep it sooner rather than later....

4.01.2007

WI travelin'

I returned yesterday from a short trip for work from the Milwaukee, WI area. Where do I begin? How about the plane ride there. I was on the plane with a bunch of junior college softball-playing females. They were going home from a tournament in FL. Small talk was made and the subject of what do they do for fun in WI came up. I was told "Camping and Hunting" are the only two things to do in WI according to these 20somethings. Great. I thought the Packers and eating cheese would somehow find its way in, but it did not. Anyway, I must admit that we had no time to explore the intricacies of the city of Milwaukee and maybe I am giving a hollow judgment, but I still believe that WI is no place for me. Give me MI any day...potholes, silly local government issues, racial tensions, scandalous crimes and all. I never thought I would miss traffic on I94 or I75, but being in WI made me think about that and when I returned and got off the plane and into my car and hit the traffic, I was pretty glad to be here and not there. Could it be the bad experience I had at a piece of trash Holiday Inn? Maybe. Could it be the recommended restaurant on the busy main street we were on was not very good? Maybe. Several episodes throughout this short trip made me sour about WI. My advice to you is to keep driving if you go there or just go over to the Chi for some diversity and urban activity.

3.28.2007

My ISP

Lack of posts are due to a home connection that has been up/down the past two weeks. More on the details of me raising Hades to get compensation at a later date....I would rather not have a tv then be w/o a net connection. :(

3.19.2007

3 Present Obsessions....

1. Zante Currants--->Sheesh, these things are freakin' excellent. I never intentionally avoided currants in the past, but also never would typically seek them out in my dried fruit purchases. Well, a few weeks ago, I just thought, "Currants need me and I need them." I bought some and they are my newest staple. Great fiber, great taste and basically you could cut the average raisin in thirds and you have the size of currants, but with a more intense flavor. I throw them in plain yogurt, cereal, oatmeal and even pancakes. You should upgrade your dried fruit consumption to include these badboys.

2. Podcasts---> I have been aware of podcasts since they came out, but since I was not an extremely early adopter of the ipod, they were not a practical situation for me although you do NOT need an ipod to enjoy them, but the past 2yrs have been a good experience with podcasts and I. I really got into them when we got our treadmill and I have never looked back. I subscribe to over 30. The great thing is that these are FREE because I would never pay for any and they are excellent in terms of legit content. Some of the my subscribtions range from several National Geographic, NPR, various health/science/food shows and several others I enjoy. Get on this train before the FREE ride is over!

3. Sunday Newspaper---> I don't know. Maybe it's the feel of the paper or the ink or slightly raised type. With so much time spent getting news online or the occasional TV outlet, in the past and present, I would not really dedicate that much time and money to reading the local Sunday newspaper. Well, the past few months, I have purchased one on Sunday and it just feels like a retro trip, I suppose. Growing up, my family was never really a "newspaper family" and if I were anywhere that a paper was, I would typically hit the sports section and possibly the front page. Now, I still read sports, but it's not a knee jerk reaction since I definitely do the bulk of my sports reading online. I like front page stuff, but I focus on the nation/world section, features, home/food sections and down the line. Plus, the cost (99cents) for the paper is easily paid for by the numerous grocery coupons that are in it. It’s a win/win situation in my eyes.

3.15.2007

Free Coffee Day @Starbucks


Well, well....today was Starbucks Coffee Break Day and for the uninitiated or those too lazy to click the link, that means they gave a free (that is FREE) 12oz coffee to anyone who asked between 10am and 12pm. A coworker was out in the vicinity of a Starbucks and I asked her to stop and grab me a cup if the line was not too long or if it were no trouble. Well, she did and all I can tell you is I have NO IDEA how people can live on coffee all day. I don't drink coffee at work...EVER. #1 I just don't require it to wake me up. #2 Maxwell House is not even coffee to me. #3 Unless I brew it right then and there and begin to sip, the taste is sub par at best. So, anyway, she brings me this coffee. I'm thinking to myself, "Self, how is it that a 12 oz seems like such a small cup when I see other people on a daily basis bring in Starbucks, Panera, Coffee Beanery, 7-11, Dunkin Doughnuts, etc. in cups or mugs 3X as large as what I had. Man, are these people sick? And, I was just drinking a pretty benign Breakfast Blend of Starbucks. These other people rock several espresso shots and other hardcore creations. Amazing.

Honestly, if I was able to get Starbucks free everyday, I would take a sip or two and toss the rest. I only go there if I have a gift card or someone decides they want to make a run and feels like paying. I think the company is the definition of hypocrisy, but that's another post. I sipped about 3oz of that free coffee today and it found it's home in my trash can.....

3.11.2007

Disgusting Product-O-The Day

What do you get when you cross a hot dog with a pizza? A sausage-crust pizza.

[Click image for more detail]

Only in Japan, baby!

3.08.2007

Abercrombie and Disposable Income....

I try to keep an eye on fashion trends so I am not a walking time warp for the 90s. I certainly don't jump at every new trend for the sake of it being "trendy", but I would be lying if I said I don't peep catalogs and my inbox does not occasionally get occupied with fashion news, future trends and industry tid bits. Well, today I was checking out this email from A&F. Call me crazy, but why is the demographic for that clothing plunging to the teen set? Really. The models are mostly in their teens and the styles are pretty overly casual. I know, I know, AF does use that stupid tag line of "Casual Luxury". Lame! What teen has the disposable income to drop $69 on a button up shirt, or $59 on a pair of "distressed" shorts or a polo. That is crazy. I would certainly not consider myself an AF person since I like to mix up my wardrobe and can usually find at least one piece from any store I go to or site I visit although I have a shirt or two from AF I got on clearance and notice at least the two I have to be of slightly higher quality than your average brand...SLIGHTLY. Certainly not enough to drop $69 on it several weeks before it hit clearance.
Back to my point of this post. Since it does seem AF's target audience is younger than I and many college students, how do these teen kids afford this crap? Man, I could go broke trying to get all the latest clothes from this place. I know the vibe in the store is like we are supposed to be transferred to the 90210 zip code and flossin' like we were in Bev. Hills, but come on... I guess daddy's credit cards keep these kids looking good and you can catch me at the clearance rack if you need me... :p

3.05.2007

Local news can be tragic...

I am sure you have heard about the story of the guy who strangled his wife and dismembered her in MI. Truly horrific, sad, numbing and any other adjective to describe a reality that seems stranger than fiction. The children (4 and 6) are the beneficiaries of a future without both parents due to an unparalleled selfishness on the part of the twisted actions of their father who committed this terrible crime to his family. There are so many details in this story that make a person sick and with the constant stream of media attention given to tragedies across the world, this story upsets me greatly. Is it because it happened locally? Is it because I have a child and could not imagine her being without her parents? Is it because you never REALLY know what happens within the four walls of people's homes? Does this do anything to confirm my distrust of human beings? Let me think about that....Uh, yes.

Say a prayer for these two kids because they have a rough future ahead of them. :(

2.28.2007

I am what I eat....

Are you? Or, I should say, I smell like what I eat... :p What I am getting at is are there certain foods that you eat that offer certain physiological responses more so than other people? Example 1: You've heard the story of eating asparagus and if you urinate soon (from 1 to 24hrs) after, that it has a really awful scent. Well, I am here to say that I LOVE asparagus, but avoid a bathroom after me at all costs if I consume several spears. It's bad, but it's my biology; I blame my genes. :p Example 2: Garlic. Sheesh....I realy love garlic and eat it weekly, but eating some Lebanese food with garlic paste will immediately begin diffusing from my skin. It's crazy...especially so, since I can actually smell it. It matters not if the garlic is cooked, sliced, minced or pressed, my biology reacts with it and the olfactory sense is stimulated beyond "normal". Example 3: Onions....Ok, you get the point.

Am I an anomaly or as common as the next cat?

2.23.2007

In the spirit of Baby Posts....


I bring to you the Sculpted Baby Cake....Actually,The Making of....

This is both disturbing and fascinating to me at the same time.....WHY...just WHY?

I wish all of you a great Friday and I will proably have nightmares tonight thanks to this vid... :p

2.21.2007

The Miracle of Birth...

I'm sure you may have heard about this story.

Amillia Taylor was born as the world's youngest surviving premature baby. Amillia was born at a Miami hospital after less than 22 weeks of development. Since then she's been incubating and is expected to go home soon.

Those tiny translucent feet are amazing. Hold your own hand out in front of you, and imagine those feet poking through your fingers. She was 10 OUNCES when born (280 grams), and 9.5 inches (240 cm). That's just longer than the length of your hand.

I think the science behind keeping this baby alive and soon to go home is amazing.

Oh, and the picture below is a peek into the labyrinth that is my mind in that sometimes I do a picture association with certain images....