My latest world news obsession....

Drum roll, please...........SOMALI PIRATES!
Man, these stories have me glued to my computer screen on a weekly basis. Just when you think these guys cannot get any more bold, they top the latest stunt. I am certainly not making light of the plight in Somalia because it is indeed very serious and there are lots of people hurting/dying at this moment and have been for a very long time. A 17year lack of government structure will certainly contribute to that, but the lack of action by so many nations for such a period of time is astounding to me. In fact, I find it crazy that anyone traveling through the Gulf of Aden does not roll with 3-4 mercenaries. I understand there are laws that prevent weapons going through port, but come on, 2008 has been a freaking jackpot for these lawless clowns in Somalia! Companies have recently started to take their ships ALL THE WAY AROUND the west coast of Africa just to avoid idiots with a few shoulder rocket launchers and a few machine guns rolling up on them in 4-5 skiffs and letting the ships get taken over because they don't believe anyone can be so bold like these guys have CONTINUED TO BECOME. Lots of money is being lost because no one is fighting back and ending these playground-antics on the sea. What other proof do you need that you cannot just roll over? They (European or Asian due to proximity) need to get a few naval ships over there and follow these clowns home and drop a few missiles on their shacks on shore and this mess will be over and then recover the "confiscated" tankers and other sea vessels these idiots STOLE and this ish will be old news...Are you kidding me....any of these nations could send a small team of special ops. over there to clean this mess up....what gives?!

No worries, the Chinese plan to flex....and I await the next move in this drama.

Latest Tech Adoption....

So.....I enjoy technology in my daily life and thirst for more and more knowledge regarding so many aspects of tech, but I am certainly NOT an early adopter in gadgets, software, hardware et. al. I thing my cheapskate frugal nature wins that battle most of the time. This is not to say I am not AWARE of new gadgets, software, hardware and many things tech, but I just hate to use my money for something that adds no significant value to what my current workflow or completion of tasks is currently.I also aim to not allow myself to get too caught up in the marketing-hype machine of many forms of technology.

For the last month, I have tested a new aspect of technology that has been around for almost 10 years, but really snowballed in '05-06' and that technolgy is RSS. I use NetNewsWire on my macbook and currently am running about 20feeds and am loving it! There are so many great things about RSS Feeds, but I have found the rapid nature of viewing stories as well as allowing me to be very selective....I can see the title and in a split second move on or click in for the entire story. If I happen to be traveling and away from a net connection, I can essentially click into these stories before I leave and they will sit in NetNewsWire and I can view them.

I resisted this for a long time because I thought it was pointless. Now, I cannot see interacting with the net any other way. I would say it has moved to about 60-70% of the way I use the net if I am not quickly looking up info/directions/checking email. It sames me tons of time although I can find myself trying to digest so much information that I need to walk away many times because so many stories can populate if I let hours and hours go by without checking and as we all know....life has a way of pulling you in different directions at times.

Get on the RSS train....It's movin' baby!

My new favorite fruit....

Feijoa, aka Pineapple Guava or Guavasteen are the names of this delicacy and allow me to warn you and your taste buds. The taste is such that a kiwi, guava, pineapple and some cosmic aromatics joined forces to take over the rest of the fruit world. These things are supper-addicting and I recommend you find one ASAP, cut it length-wise , scoop out the insides, consume and allow this goodness to change your life.

My next step is to find an Asian market that probably does a better job of carrying more of a higher quality and lower cost than one of the mainstream supermarkets I found the ones I purchased at......I'm hooked.

A vistit to my PCP today...

Well, we are in the season of sickness in the MI thanks to changing seasons, closed quarters and questionable immune systems.

I have had a 3.5 week bout with the coughs, sneezes, phlegms and overall discomfort from the neck up. I took some Comtrex (which is my usual method of healing myself from such ailments) and thought I was on the road to recovery 1.5 weeks ago. Well, I still could not get rid of the occasional cough + phlegm action. L told me I had bronchitis, but although it has been years since my bronchials were afflicted like that, I brushed off her diagnosis. Two days ago, I woke up and felt as though I swallowed a sea urchin. I told myself, "Must see doctor immediately." Well, after several gargles with salt water, lemon juice, honey and cayenne, I let one more day go by thinking my immunity would win. It didn't and I broke down and made that call this morning to see if my doctor could see me sans appointment. He did and a gift of 30 Amoxicillin taken for 10 days later, I am on the swift road to recovery.

Diagnosis: Bronchitis.

Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo

...is the newest album from Calle 13. It came out two days ago. I have listened to it from beginning to end at least 3X and I must say the evolution is noticeable and something I was unsure of since I thought the first album was very different, but still very good. René Pérez (Residente) is one of THE best lyricists out there. Flat out, the guy is a friggin wordsmith and the cadence he uses is amazing! Seriously, the dude is line with Em in the sense of how he can change on a dime and actually have content that tells a story and transforms your perception when you hear and then visualize what he says. One of my favorites, indeed. Eduardo Cabra (Visitante) is an amazing producer of beats. The guy weaves so many styles on this album and marries so many genres of music that it is surprising how smooth it is and it just works. You would be an idiot to say Calle 13 is reggaeton and I know that is what the mainstream US would try to do since it is so much fun to label everything and everyone, but this music is on the fringe of reggaton. Everything from bossa nova, salsa, jazzy beats, tango and really basic sounds can be heard on this album.

These guys are rude/shrewd/lewd, but in a very clever way. I would probably not listen to these guys within ear shot of my abuela or mother, but production-wise and lyrically, this has to be THE best album out right now and I expect it to clean up grammys like the previous release did.

Get it!
In line with our busted political system, peep the vid from
MTV ...it really cracks me up!

Things...too many things...

We recently had our carpets steam cleaned. I'm glad it happened, but the process of getting prepared for this to happen and the aftermath yielded an unfortunate reality I am embarrassed to be a part of -- WE HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF!! The sad thing, is that 80-90% of this stuff was not even purchased by us. There is stuff we were given when we got married, stuff people gave to M and having a child for a little bit over two years has taught me that they are pretty simple and do not require THAT MUCH stuff for daily living. Adults complicate the lives of kids, but kids are pretty basic and excess clothes and toys sitting in a closet is not a resourceful use of space and could easily be utilized by less fortunate families, homeless shelters, churches or other locations. It was amazing to see all the items I transferred from three closets to the basement in preparation for the carpet guy to come in here and work his non-toxic magic. Well, this exercise opened my eyes and the process calls for a minimum of items to remain in closets, lots of purging and a deliberate act of living a more simple life.

Eye Spy......

Have you ever played the WORD ASSOCIATION GAME? You know, think of a word and the FIRST thing that comes to mind just leaps from your tongue. I tend to play this game alot although I have evolved to images. Since I love photography so much, images evoke words and words and words although this post lends itself to one image being associated with another...in my mind, at least.

Exhibit A:
Princess Beatrice of York

I don't possess any obsession with British Royalty, but happened to be reading a story and saw her image and my synapses started dancing and made me think of..........

Exhibit B:
Large Marge from Pee Wee's Big Adventure


What can I tell you? The labyrinth that is my mind goes to unusual places sometimes....I feel better now that this is out in the open. :p

Bonus Exhibit:

The GREAT Pumpkins.....

I have a friend across the border who is pretty eccentric in terms of pretty much anything he does. I appreciate that because it is not something I could apply to as many things in my life as this guy does. I love it if we don't speak for a few days because he usually has some off-the-wall dramatic story that occurred and it is usually pretty unbelievable, but he always has proof that these events have occurred. Anyway, as a fellow gardener, we talk about items we grow and as you can see in the pics, the guy grows giant pumpkins. These two monsters (one is almost 700lbs and the other is +500) were at his grandmothers house and he has two other patches he tends to. It's crazy the rituals he goes through to feed these beasts. I had no choice but to take pics near these buggers when we were in Windsor last night for a bbq he had. He also brews beer and wine, but that is another post for another time.
The official weigh-in is at the beginning of next month at the county fair. I'd love to video the act of moving these things to the fair grounds....Sheesh..

Calling all B - Movie Actors

....and Pron Stars....


Your accessory de jure is available for a cool $168.

This is hilarious to me.

Why do I think of old school director chairs when I see this mess?

'staches' only work for cops, retired cats named Ed, adult dodge ball players and barbers with white aprons and straightedge razors.

Everyone else need not try, rock a goat or thin beard....

I'm just saying...

And, they expect to make money?

I respect entrepreneurs. I have mentioned the fact on this blog several times that I would love to jump out on my own, BUT sometimes the deadly "R word" (risk) starts to play tricks on my thinking and I just jump back into the rat race of a corporation. One day though........one day.

Anyway, I came home from work the other day and the very image you see of the window washing "advertisement" was wedged in between my storm door. I pulled this trash out and shook my head at the feeble attempt to persuade me and who knows how many other suckers to call these chumps back to have them wash windows. I'm VERY particular about being persuaded to follow up with a business when all I have is print media. I can overlook a poorly designed informational website sometimes, but a postcard, brochure or random flyer needs to at least be cut properly to grab my attention. Who knows, maybe two high school or junior high kids are trying to make some money. Either way, details, details, details. SIMPLE details! Geez. I had to disguise the phone numbers to protect the guilty.

A little girl singin' Lil Wayne....

So, the other day, I was outside at home watering my garden and doing some things in the garage and happened to be walking out of the garage and on my way to the backyard and I hear one of the neighborhood kids singing Lollipop by Lil Wayne...Well, more specifically she dropped this portion of the lyrics as she was running down the street to play with some other kids:
Shawty say I lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-look like a lollipop
She say I lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-look like a lollipop
Lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-look like a lollipop
Wanna lick the rapper
So I letta lick the rapper
I stopped on a dime and just looked out into the street wondering if I had heard what I heard....Indeed, it was a 6-7yo girl saying this and I just shook my head and wondered what she'll be or where she'll dance to pay for law school, of course when she is of age......Oh, the decline of society....sheesh. Making kids is easy. Being a responsible parent takes work.

By the way, I laugh EVERY TIME I see this new album cover from Lil Wayne....LOL!

Times are Tough?

The sensationalized news stories of the last few months would have us believe that the US economy is on a downward spiral. You would be even more inundated with these stories in Michigan. Well, I am here to say that I don't see it.....We went to Costco this morning since I had two coupons that were soon to expire for $3 of an 18" pizza and $3 off some cookies made in their bakery. These two items are things I have never purchased at Costco anyway, but due to the additional savings, I thought I would take the leap and just bring it over to my mom's house for our weekend visit we always make. Anyway, we got there at 11am. The place opens at 10am on Saturday. The parking lot was JAMMED!! Consider this, Costco only accepts cash and Amex or debit card. Well, I put in my order for this 18" monster of a vegetable pizza that looked like a freaking ceiling fan. L, M and I walked to the back of the store and retrieved the cookies and we were out of bacon, so we got some of that. We came back and every register was lined up with humanity as when we arrived before I put in the order for the pizza. Man, I was just thinking how amazing it was to think that if the economy is so bad, you would think people would be a little less likely to purchase so many items from Costco. Don't get me wrong, my only reason for going to Costco is that I can get some items there cheaper in terms of unit price and they have a great selection of goods, but there were people there with their carts full of items that can be purchased cheaper at other stores or farmers markets, etc.

The next time another person tells me how bad the local economy is, I'll just wink and nod.

A Race I Plan to Run....

My goal is to compete in a 10K race on Thanksgiving morning. Some people at work were discussing this and asked me if I wanted to get in on it. Of course, none of us are competitive runners, but like to stay in shape and a 10K is not an impossible distance for the average weekend warrior although I am truly far from a distance runner. I could bike 10K in my sleep, but running it will be a decent challenge that I am beginning preparations for now. My issue is that I am pretty comfortable on my treadmill, but will incorporate more outside running now that summer is in full effect. My coworkers want everyone to keep pace until the last 1/2 mile and then OUR RACE will begin. I'm ok with that idea and obviously I would like to win since I will gladly brag and remind them who their daddy is. :p

We'll see what happens, but I am always down for some friendly competition.

Planned Obsolescence

I was pretty disgusted with this recent episode in my life. That episode involves a refrigerator....our refrigerator. A fridge has the task of stalling the spoilage of perishable food items. A bonus of consumer fridges is the attached freezer. This episode involved a slowly dying fridge portion and a fully functioning freezer portion.

The only real casualty was a 1/3 gallon of milk. L noticed items in the fridge not staying cool about 3 days before we got it fixed. Getting it fixed is what kind of annoyed me. I'm a cheapskate and was in no mood to call a "handy-man" or a suspect company to come in and try to persuade me to give them more money than I needed to. We went into research mode. Found the exploded diagram on the company site and tried all the troubleshooting listed. We vacuumed the condenser coils to rid them of dust. I had a bad feeling the motherboard. Yes, you read that right....My fridge has a friggin mother board on the back. This is nothing new. Most new fridges posses these items. Oh...the dumbing down of society...Anyway, We checked the part cost and it was about $220. I almost screamed. Age of the fridge? Just over 5years old. What a joke. Well....I got lucky with calling a local company since the part + shipping would probably have been the cost of someone coming out anyway. We had all of our food and other items out of the fridge and freezer into coolers to stall the spoilage. Oh...I forgot to mention that this happened on a Sunday. DOUBLE the labor PRICE!! Well, L found an add in the yellowbook that boasted of NO EXTRA CHARGE FOR WEEKENDS. Alright!! A possible winner. Well, I called them, the guy actually showed up earlier than first mentioned. He knew exactly what to look for and a manual defrosting of the freezer, motherboard replacement, $260 and several hours of cooling back down, the fridge was cooling and freezing like a freaking champ.

What happened to the days of having appliances for 20yrs and them still working fine?

planned obsolescence is alive and well.

I was a fan of women's tennis...

Now, I just want to work out......

Fragrance-Free Deodorant

I'm kind of pissed right now. Reason? I am on my 4th or 5th brand of fragrance-free deodorant during the last year or two and the stuff friggin stinks! Sheesh. In combination with trying to minimize the chemical exposure where I can, I just thought I was doing something that my own chemistry may react favorable to and actually not kick off some BO....sheesh. I may be a bit more conscious of this than the rest of the world, but it's annoying. I see fragrance-free and that is what I expect.

Back to the chems I go unless I just go into hippie mode and flaunt the odor........maybe not.

Grey Days are no fun

Man, I am tired of these grey days in the MI. Sheesh. I don't suffer from SAD, but am really annoyed at how the sun refuses to show itself. Last Saturday was great. Sun was on blaze and it was in the high 70's. Life was grand, but the past few days have been depression in the sky and I am supposed to plant in 2weeks? The ground needs consistent heat to allow for the seedlings to do their thing and extract nutrients from the soil and produce fruit. Something better happen quick......

Jumped on the CSA Wagon Yesterday

I have been researching CSAs for the last two years and took the plunge and bought a share for the 2008 season. 20 weeks to be exact. I split it 3ways to lower the cost and am pretty exited about it; less than $12/wk is hardly going to break the bank for some quality produce. I spoke with one of the farmers for about 20min and it was a pretty interesting conversation. With gas prices through the roof and an overall unsavory and far from local food supply, I am happy to support a local economy and feel good about the implications of spending a little bit more, but getting a much better product.

Here's the farm I went with.

Almost stepped on the bugger...

It was a close call for this warty amphibian. I was walking to the backyard to put some trash in the can and as I just happen to glance down, I see this thing jump...."Woah!" says I and I pivot out of its way and jet back inside and grab my cam and run back and the thing is on its way into the street. I crouch and shoot. My neighbors probably thought I was out of my mind. I let it hop away and into the night it disappeared.

The bag lady was right all along....

In an effort to reduce my contribution to adding plastic trash to the earth, I have been utilizing 2-3 medium-sized cloth bags on my weekly shopping trips for groceries for the last month. I have already slashed the amount of plastic bags in the house by a significant amount. The bags are useful for small trash cans we have in the basement and under the kitchen sink, but I have not needed to add to the large amount that I have accumulated for the last few years and kept hidden since I never wanted to throw them away. I should have converted to reusable bags much earlier, but since I was just lazy in that respect, I failed to do so, but now that I am doing that, I don't know why more people don't do the same. Some stores already charge for using them and since Euros are much more concerned about the environment than the average american, you find higher usage of reusable bags for shopping. Whole Foods will eliminate plastic bags in about two weeks. Think of the implications to the earth if Walmart or Best Lie (thanks D; I still laugh using that description) had a policy like this in place.

Once again, americans need to wake up and think about tomorrow....

Blog Layout

Yay/Nay


Any thoughts?

UniverSOUL HealthCare

Sheesh..I'm not the biggest fan of a full-scale Universal Health Care situation, but I certainly like to hear ideas about it. I am not an economist, nor do I play one on TV, but the cost of this long, drawn-out and stupid war may have caused us to kiss that concept good-bye.

:(

Working the System

I'm not naive and am well-aware that the "system" gets worked everyday, all over the world in many different forms and fashions. The system I am referring to in this post is the welfare system in the US of A. Man, this situation just pissed me off when I witnessed it. It goes a little something like this....I was at the store today getting some groceries. I finished shopping and was looking for a checkout line. I found one and fell into the queue. The obligatory review of magazines, gossip mags and other fish wraps consumed me for several minutes. As the line began to evaporate, I was on deck to get checked out and be on my way. I noticed one of my neighbors getting some items. I was looking right at her to see if she would see me and we would exchange hellos. She did not notice me and I did not disrupt her to inform her I was there. Well, I was literally 2ft away from her and noticed when it was time to pay, this married mother of several whips out a Bridge Card. Post double-take turned to anger in my mind since I see this lady every day. Guess what she pulls up into her driveway with? A freaking Cadillac Escalade!!
The other vehicle is a Jeep Commander. 2 SUVs. She does not work either. The real amazing thing about this is they put their house up for sale last year for a few months, then took it off the market and then they brought another child into the world and then got the Caddy and all the while I am confused at all of this. I see her pay with that card that my tax dollars have helped generate and walked out of that store a very pissed off person since this idiot lives on my street, drives a vehicle over 3X the cost of what I drive and had the state cover her $70 of groceries. Man, if that is not working the system, I am not sure what is.

My issue is certainly not with individuals on welfare. I am in full support of having that system, BUT the government should be better equipped to reduce the amount of fraud going on everyday. I know that people sell those cards to get cash and run all kinds of schemes, but I was just amazed at witnessing this episode today. Some people have no shame at all.

Need......summer....now!

Sheesh. I am so tired of cold and snow and snow and cold. I should not be surprised. This is MI, but if there is ever a year I yearn for spring, this is it. Maybe it is because I know M is really wanting to get out there since she looks outside everyday and I can tell she wants to feel the sun on her face and touch the grass. Maybe it is because I am sick of the treadmill and would rather run/walk outside. Maybe it is because I envision caring for my garden and am tired of the inconsistent produce I get at various stores. Whatever it is, I need summer.....I need the sun to bake my skin and I need it now!

How I beat the flu........almost.

At this time last week, I felt it brewing in my bio. Not good. I was not equipped with a flu shot for 2008. I may have gotten 2-3 in my lifetime after high school....as far as I can recall. No reason for not getting one other than I am young and pretty healthy and don't want to steal any supply from the elders and kiddies.
Well, everyone and their mother is sick at my work. I thought I could be strong enough to not get infected since I have not had the flu in years. I frequently wash my hands and avoid as many people who I know are sick as possible. Somehow, doing both of those things did not help me. It hit me hard and I was out two days last week and I should have been out 3. My boss even told me to go home, but I had lots of things to get done and was not trying to be a hero or anything. I just did not want double the fires when I eventually would return. Anyway, I am about 90% at this moment and should the flu hit you, here is my advice:
1. Rest (as in sleep).
2. Consume fluids (as in water that is NOT too cold)
3. Use some Vicks VapoRub on your upper chest and mix in a small towel to promote some heat and concentration of the product.
--OPTIONAL-- 4. If you have sore muscles, nasal congestion and coughing, take a multi-symptom set of over the counter capsules to speed up recovery.

#4 is optional because the flu will run its course if you sleep more and consume liquids. I avoid meds at all cost since the side-effects are not natural.

Good luck to all and may the (IMMUNITY) FORCE be with you.

Language Misfits

I was the unfortunate witness to a conversation at the grocery store the other day. Whole Foods was the scene and two middle aged women were the actors in this play before me. I was there on my lunch hour grabbing a few items. I am not a WF diehard by any stretch, but it's near my work and I get very specific items not found at my other usual spots. I think they have SOME decent products, but primarily they are pretty overpriced, overrated and a marketing juggernaut. Yuppies, vegans and the same people who fill up gyms the first month of every year flood WF for "natural" foods and health products. Anyway, these two women were discussing details of a SuperBowl party they were going to throw. Appetizers were the main subject of the dialog I caught. I had to here them speak of terms like FO-KA-CHI-A (Focaccia) and BRU-SHEDDA (Bruschetta). I am annoyed by many things and improper pronunciation of other languages when spoken with arrogance and pseudo conviction is at the top of that list. I mostly love when many 'merAkin people try and correct me when I pronounce something in regards to food (like Ceviche, Carne Asado or Ricotta to name a few items not native to English) correctly or say, "You say it with an accent." Accent? How about the correct way, you moron! Ethnocentrism is alive and well.....

Killer Side Eye

O better watch it. Hill is giving him the Side-Eye from Hades. There is some pretty fierce radiant heat being projected from her sockets....

Techno-Envy

Man, I wish I was in Vegas right now for CES 2008. It's a geek's paradise! Having followed several different site previews of the show does nothing but make me envious of anyone there.

One day.........one day.