Memorial Day Shuffle

1. Lil Devil - The Cult (from the album Electric)
2. Oil - Season to Risk (from the album Season to Risk)
3. Where I Belong - Duvall (from the album Volume and Density)
4. Get Out of My Head - Miracle Max (from the Fall Sampler)
5. There's a Face - Eve 6 (from the album Eve 6)
6. Pop Star Queen - Same Day Service (from If You're Lucky)
7. Instrumental - Haste the Day (from When Everything Falls)
8. Caught in a Jar - Dropkick Murphys (from Do or Die)
9. Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads - Red City Radio (from the EP To The Sons and Daughters of Woody Guthrie)
10. Babylon - Haste the Day (from Dreamer)
11. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - The Beatles (from Help!)

Monday Night Shuffle

1. Follow the Wolves - Demon Hunter (from the album Storm the Gates of Hell)
2. Cedars of Lebanon - U2 (from the album No Line on the Horizon)
3. She's a Knockout - Social Distortion (from the album Social Distortion)
4. Lead Us Home - Demon Hunter (from the album Storm the Gates of Hell)
5. I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man - Prince (from the album Sign O the Times)
6. Broken Arm - Season To Risk (from the album Men Are Monkeys)
7. Blind - Lifehouse (from the album Lifehouse)
8. One Armed Man - Project 86 (from the album Drawing Black Lines)
9. Driving Nowhere - Helmet (from the album Aftertaste)
10. Strokes - Same Day Service (from the Same Day Service E.P.)
11. Illuminate - Project 86 (from Rival Factions)

Top 3 Films: John C. Reilly

Today is John's birthday. Happy Birthday John!

Days of Thunder (1990)

I'm not sure why I like this film. I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise. I'm not a fan of NASCAR. I'm not a fan of Nicole Kidman. I just like the film.
Anyway, John played Buck Bretherton, one of the members of the lead character's pit crew.

Hoffa (1992)

O'Reilly plays Pete Connelly in this biopic of the rise and fall of the Teamster boss. This is one of my favorite biopics.

For Love of the Game (1999)

This is probably my favorite (if not at least in the top 3) baseball movie of all time.
In this one, John plays Gus Sinski, the catcher for the Detroit Tigers opposite Kevin Costner's pitcher character of Billy Chapel.

MLB Roundup (May 24)

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East
Tampa Bay
NY Yankees
Toronto
Boston still 7.5 games behind
Baltimore

Central
Minnesota
Detroit
Chicago White Sox
Kansas City
Cleveland

West
Texas
Oakland
LA Angels
Seattle

NATIONAL LEAGUE

East
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Florida
Washington
NY Mets

Central
St Louis
Cincinnati
Chicago Cubs
Pittsburgh
Milwaukee
Houston

West
San Diego
LA Dodgers
San Francisco
Colorado
Arizona

STATS LEADERS

Batting Avg.
Ethier (Dodgers) - .392
Morneau (Twins) - .383
Suzuki (Mariners) - .352

Hits
Suzuki (Mariners) - 64
Butler (Royals) - 60
Morneau (Twins) - 59

Runs

Youkilis (Red Sox) - 39 Ahhh yeah!
Kemp (Dodgers) - 38
Crawford (Rays) - 35

Home Runs
Konerko (White Sox) - 14
Bautista (Blue Jays) - 14
Wigginton (Orioles) - 13

RBIs
Cabrera (Tigers) - 40
McGehee (Brewers) - 39
Bautista (Blue Jays) - 38

Wins
Jimenez (Rockies) - 8
Clippard (Nationals) - 7
Price (Rays) - 7

Saves
Capps (Nationals) - 16
Cordero (Reds) - 14
Soriano (Rays) - 13

Strike Outs
Lincecum (Giants) - 75
Haren (Diamondbacks) - 70
Weaver (Angels) - 68

ERA
Jimenez (Rockies) - 0.99
Garcia (Cardinals) - 1.28
Hernandez (Nationals) - 1.62

ESPN Power Rankings

Tampa Bay Rays
New York Yankees Boooo!!!
Philadelphia Phillies
Minnesota Twins
St Louis Cardinals
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
Texas Rangers
Toronto Blue Jays
Cincinnati Reds

The Red Sox are sitting at #12

Wasted Money

I periodically receive emails from the Tom Coburn campaign. Coburn is basically the only politician in Congress that I feel I honestly trust even a little bit. The emails I get are usually pretty informative.

Today, I got another email from him where he talks a bit about the United Nations and speaks of our country's contributions to that said organization.

Now if you read this blog fairly regularly, you know that I'm not a big fan of the United Nations so today's email was of particular interest to me.

Here are some tidbits from the email that I thought I'd share with you:

We (the taxpayers) provide nearly 25% of the entire U.N. budget (approximately $6 billion every year).

40% of all UN contracts in 2007 were found to include fraudulent spending.

An amendment proposed in the Senate to eliminate $3 billion in annual funding (to use instead for funding disabled veterans) was rejected.

Otter's Quote of the Day

"There is no greater cause for Americans today, than to salvage the future of our nation and children from a broken government and political process."

Sunday Night Shuffle

1. Screams - The Staggers (from the album The Sights, The Sounds, The Fear and the Pain)
2. The Terrible Secret - Emery (from the album The Question)
3. Travelin Band - Creedence Clearwater Revival (from the album Cosmo's Factory)
4. The Altar and the Door - Casting Crowns (from the album The Altar and the Door)
5. Sunshine Highway - Dropkick Murphys (from The Warriors Code)
6. Into the Sun - Lifehouse (from Lifehouse)
7. A Walk - Bad Religion (from The Grey Race)
8. Synchronicity 2 - The Police (from Synchronicity)
9. No FB - Descendents (from Hallraker)
10. Never Alone - Dropkick Murphys (from The Singles Collection)
11. Theres No I in Team - Taking Back Sunday (from Tell All Your Friends)

English-speaking English Teachers? Proposterous!

Here is an article I found on my Fox New iPhone application:

Arizona Seeks To Reassign Heavily Accented Teachers

Here are a few quotes from the article:

"Teachers who are not fluent in English, have a heavy accent or do not speak grammatically correct will be temporarily reassigned."

I hope they mean temporarily until they learn to speak proper English. Is this really a problem? Do we actually have teachers that can't speak properly?

"As you expect science teachers to know science, math teachers to know math, you expect a teacher who is teaching the kids English to know English..."

I'm flabbergasted that this is even an issue!! I don't think this is such a high expectation we should set in our educators, do you?

"In Creighton's school district, we do have several teachers who do not pass the fluency test."

Holy cow! Seriously?!? Why are they teachers in the first place?!?

I don't know about you guys but I seriously can't believe that the school system in Arizona even hired teachers that can't speak English. I wonder if this is a problem in our state.

Wow. All I can say is...wow.

Saturday Night Shuffle

1. Baker Street - Foo Fighters (from the album The Colour and the Shape)
2. Rock n Roll Music - The Beatles (from the album Beatles '65)
3. Leave It Behind - The Offspring (from the album Ixnay on the Hombre)
4. Down Here With the Rest of Us - Social Distortion (from the album White Light White Heat White Trash)
5. Denial - Dropkick Murphys (from the album The Singles Collection)
6. Matt - Dag Nasty (from the album Field Day)
7. Along the Way - Bad Religion (from Back to the Known)
8. God Willing - Dropkick Murphys (from Live on Lansdowne)
9. Long Way Down - Haste the Day (from When Everything Falls)
10. The Beginning - Lifehouse (from Stanley Climbfall)
11. Under Your Influence - Dag Nasty (from Can I Say)

This Kind of Ignorance is Dangerous

Another post from that great website, Not Always Right.

When Common Sense Goes Naval Gazing

(I serve on a Canadian Naval vessel, and while on an exercise our ship comes alongside in New York and offers tours to any civilians who wish to see the ship. I am on duty when a group of Americans come on board for a tour. At the end of the tour, one gentleman comes up to me.)

Tourist: “Excuse me, when does the ship leave?”

Me: “We’re in port for another two days before we head back to sea, sir.”

Tourist: “But we’re here today. Can’t we take the tour now?”

Me: “I beg your pardon, sir? Didn’t you just take the tour?”

Tourist: “We saw the ship, but when do we go to [town the ship is named after]?”

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry sir, but the tours are of the ship only.”

Tourist: “But when do you sail to [town name]?”

Me: “Well, we actually can’t, sir, because that town isn’t on the ocean.”

Tourist: “Well, that’s stupid! How are we supposed to sail there? Never mind, where is the ship going next then, and when do we have to be here?”

Me: “Well, if you’d like to watch us leave, we will be shoving off around 10 o’clock on Sunday, sir.”

Tourist: “And where are we going then?”

Me: “Well, I can’t disclose where the ship is sailing next due to operational security, sir.”

Tourist: “Then how are we supposed to get back?”

(Thankfully at this point the man’s wife jumps in.)

Tourist’s Wife: “This isn’t a cruise you moron! We just came to see the ship!”

Tourist: *to me* “Well why didn’t you say that? Are you Canadians all stupid or something? No wonder we beat the s*** out of you in the war! If you didn’t surrender to everyone that waved a gun at you, you probably wouldn’t be so stupid!”

(The tourist storms off the ship.)

Tourist’s Wife: “I…um…yeah. May I have one of those free hats, please?”

New Found Glory: DoTM

This one is by another band that I never really listened or paid much attention to until I heard some of their stuff via Mandy.

It's All About the Girls
Released in December 1997 by Fiddler Records.
Produced by James Wisner and New Found Glory.
Band lineup:
Jordan Pundik - vocals; Chad Gilbert - guitar; Steve Klein - guitar; Ian Grushka - bass; Joe Moreno - drums.
Tracks: 5

From the Screen to Your Stereo
Released in March 2000 by Drive-Thru
Produced by Jeremy Staska and New Found Glory.
Lineup changes:
Joe Moreno was replaced on drums by Cyrus Bolooki.
Tracks: 7
Composed entirely of covers from movie soundtracks.
"That Thing You Do" (from movie of same name, originally by The Wonders)
"Neverending Story Theme Song" (from movie of same name, originally by Limahl)
"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (from Armageddon, originally by Aerosmith)
"The Goonies R Good Enough" (originally by Cyndi Lauper)
"The Glory of Love" (from The Karate Kid 2, originally by Peter Cetera)
"Everything I Do" (from Robin Hood, originally by Bryan Adams
"My Heart Will Go On" (from Titanic, originally by Celine Dion)

Nothing Gold Can Stay
Released in October 1999 by Eulogy.
Produced by New Found Glory.
Tracks: 12
Singles:
"Hit or Miss"

New Found Glory
Released in September 2000 by Drive-Thru.
Produced by Neal Avron.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 12
Singles:
"Hit or Miss" and "Dressed to Kill"
Charts:
Reached #107 on Billboard 200.

Sticks and Stones
Released in June 2002 by MCA.
Produced by Neal Avron.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 12
Singles:
"My Friends Over You" and "Head On Collision"
Charts:
Reached #2 on Billboard 200.

Catalyst
Released in May 2004 by Geffen Records.
Produced by Neal Avron.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 14
Singles:
"All Downhill From Here" "Truth of My Youth" "Failures Not Flattering" and "I Don't Wanna Know"
Charts:
Reached #3 on the Billboard 200.

Coming Home
Released in September 2006 by Geffen.
Produced by Thom Panunzion and New Found Glory.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 13
Singles:
"It's Not Your Fault"
Charts:
Reached #19 on the Billboard 200.

From the Screen to Your Stereo Part 2
Released in September 2007 by Drive-Thru.
Produced by New Found Glory.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 11
"Kiss Me" (from the movie She's All That, originally by Sixpence None the Richer)
"It Ain't Me Babe" (from the movie Walk the Line, originally by Bob Dylan)
"The Promise" (from the movie Napoleon Dynamite, originally by When in Rome)
"King of Wishful Thinking" (from the movie Pretty Woman, originally by Go West"
"Stay" (from the movie Reality Bites, originally by Lisa Loeb)
"Lovefool" (from the movie Romeo + Juliet, originally by The Cardigans)
"Iris" (from the movie City of Angels, originally by Goo Goo Dolls)
"Dont You Forget About Me" (from The Breakfast Club, originally by Simple Minds)
"J'y Suis Jamais Alle" (from Amelle, originally by Yann Tiersen)
"Crazy For You" (from Vision Quest, originally by Madonna)
"Head Over Heels" (from Donnie Darko, originally by Tears for Fears)

Hits
Compilation album released in March 2008 by Geffen.
Various producers.
Tracks: 12

Tip of the Iceberg
Released in April 2008 by Bridge Nine Records.
Produced by Paul Miner.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 6

Taking It Ova!
Released in April 2008 by Bridge 9.
Produced by Paul Miner.
This album was released under the band name International Superheroes of Hardcore and the band members are the same only the guitar player (Gilber) and the vocalist (Pundik) switched places.
Tracks: 12

Not Without a Fight
Released in March 2009 by Epitaph.
Produced by Mark Hoppus.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 12
Singles:
"Listen to Your Friends" and "Don't Let Her Pull You Down"
Charts:
Reached #12 on Billboard 200.

Not Without a Heart Once Nourished...
Split album with Shai Hulud released in March 2009 by Bridge 9.
Produced by Mark Hoppus, Matt Fox and Greg Thomas.
Tracks: 2
New Found Glory track = "Truck Stop Blues"

Swiss Army Bromance
Split album with Dashboard Confessional released in February 2010 by Epitaph.
Tracks: 4
New Found Glory tracks:
"The Swiss Army Romance"
"Saints and Sailors"

Top 3 Films: Drew Barrymore

The Wedding Singer (1998)

Admittedly, the best part of this movie is at the end when Billy Idol shows up on the plane but overall this was a really good movie and would probably end up on a best of list for Adam Sander as well...maybe.
Barrymore plays Julia Sullivan, the lead character opposite Sandler's Robbie Hart.
No Oscars or Golden Globes for this one. Obviously the voters do not appreciate good film. LoL!

Ever After (1998)

Barrymore received a Saturn Award for Best Actress (whatever the hell that is) for her portrayal of Danielle de Barbarac in this film.
The movie itself was a pretty cool rendition of the Cinderella story. The only downside to this movie was the actor they had playing the prince (Dougray Scott). Never been a big fan of this guy. Drew, however, played her part amazingly.

Fever Pitch (2005)

Okay, so for #3 best Barrymore movie, it was between this one and 2004's 50 First Dates (another movie where she played opposite Adam Sandler). I went with this one mostly because...well...you can't go wrong with the Boston Red Sox.
In this one, which was called The Perfect Catch outside of the United States (which in my opinion would have made a much better title), she plays the lead character, Lindsey Meeks, opposite Jimmy Fallon's Ben Wrightmen.
This movie was based off of a Nick Horby novel, whose novel's High Fidelity (also a really great flipping movie) and About a Boy have also been made into movies.
In fact, this particular novel has been adapted to film twice. This one, released in 2005 and another released in 1997 which was much closer to the story in the book. In the book, the main character is a big fan of a soccer (or as most of the world calls it, futbol) team and not a baseball team.

Drag The River: DoTM

Hobos Demos
Released in November 2006 by Suburban Home.
Band lineup:
Chad Price and Jon Snodgrass.
Tracks: 12

Closed
Released in March 2002 by Upland Records.
Band lineup:
Chad Price; Jon Snodgrass; Paul Rucker; J.J. Nobody.
Tracks: 14

Live At the Starlight
Live album released in February 2005 by Suburban Home.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 18

Chickens Demos
Released in May 2004 by Upland Records.
Tracks: 11

Live At the Green Door
Live album released in October 2004 by Menace to Sobriety Records.
Tracks: 11

Hey Buddies
Released in December 2004 by Suburban Home.
Tracks: 7

A Way With Woman
Released in 2006 by ShockHound.
Tracks: 3

A Shame
Released 2006 by Suburban Home.
Tracks: 1

It's Crazy
Released in June 2006 by Suburban Home.
Tracks: 13

Gabba Gabba Hey Buddies
Released in February 2007 by De Rok.
Tracks: 11

Found All the Parts
Split LP released in August 2007 by Suburban Home.
Split with The Dents.
Tracks: 8 (4 were DTR)

You Can't Live This Way
Released in January 2008 by Suburban Home.
Tracks: 31

Under the Influence
Released in January 2009 by Suburban Home.
Tracks: 2

Can't Leave These Strays
Released in June 2009 by Suburban Home.
Tracks: 4

Garage Rock
Released in June 2009 by Suburban Home.
Tracks: 4

Bad At Breaking Up
Released in June 2009 by Suburban Home.
Tracks: 20

Primer
Released in February 2010 by Suburban Home.
Tracks: 20

Thursday Shuffle: Social Distortion

Here's a Social D only Shuffle:

1. The Creeps (from the album Mommy's Little Monster)
2. Down on the World Again (from the album White Light White Heat White Trash)
3. Sick Boys (from the album Social Distortion)
4. Dear Love (from White Light White Heat White Trash)
5. Prison Bound (from Prison Bound)
6. Drug Train (from Social Distortion)
7. Cold Feelings (from Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell)
8. So Far Away (from Social Distortion)
9. Angels Wings (from Sex Love and Rock n Roll)

Fix the Border? Really?

This is an article I got off of my iPhone NPR application today.

Fix Border Policy, Mexican Leader Tells U.S. Congress

Without reading the article itself, my first reaction was to slap myself upside my head and state "Really, damn we should have thought of that years ago! Doh!"

Well no #$%^&! Felipe. We need YOU to tell US that? Seriously.

So then I read the article.

Some of what the Mexican President had to say to Congress was just as moronic though in my opinion.

Like he is worried about the flow of guns from our country into Mexico and blaming the violence in his country on our lack of an assault weapons ban.

Hey dumbass, what about the flow of DRUGS from YOUR country into ours? You don't think that causes violence in OUR country? Seriously dude, go whine somewhere else. You'll get no sympathy from me.

And he has the balls to ask Congress to help his country by banning assault weapons. But what comes next in the article is really what got me:

"Only the Democrats...stood up to applaud that line."

Okay, I understand that he is the 'Mexican' president and might not have heard of this little thing we have in our country called the U.S. Constitution and possibly he has never read this little thing called the 2nd Amendment.
You see, we in the United States have these things called rights.

And then another part of the article quotes the Mexican president as saying

"...I strongly disagree with the recently adopted law in Arizona."

Well I for one am glad that he has no voting power in Arizona or in our country.......for now.

Personally, I'll be damned if I'm going to let some other country's president come into my country and try to dictate policy to my elected officials.

My Chemical Romance: DoTM

I have not done one of these in a while, have I?

I have never really been a big fan of this band to be honest but earlier today, Mandy was playing some of their stuff in the car that I was able to get into so that is why I decided to do a discography for them.

Dreams of Stabbing and/or Being Stabbed
Released independently in December 2001.
Tracks: 10

I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
Released in July 2002 by Eyeball Records.
Produced by Geoff Rickly and Alex Saavedra.
Band lineup:
Gerard Way - vocals; Mikey Way - bass; Ray Toro - guitar; Matt Pelissier - drums; Frank Iero - guitar
Tracks: 11
Singles:
"Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us" "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" and "Headfirst for Halos"

Like Phantoms, Forever
Released in August 2002 by Eyeball.
Produced by Geoff Rickly.
Lineup changes:
Frank Iero did not play guitar on this album.
Tracks: 3

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Released in June 2004 by Reprise/Eyeball.
Produced by Howard Benson.
Lineup changes:
Frank Iero DID play guitar on this album.
Tracks: 13
Singles:
"Thank You for the Venom" "I'm Not Okay" "Helena" and "The Ghost of You"
Notes:
This album reached #28 on the Billboard 200.

Warped Tour Bootleg Series
Released in 2005 by Reprise Records.
Lineup changes:
Matt Pelissier was replaced by Bob Bryar.
Tracks: 6

Life on the Murder Scene
Live album released in March 2006 by Reprise.
Produced by Howard Benson.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 11 (on the CD. there is a live DVD set that comes with the album as well).

The Black Parade
Released in October 2006 by Reprise.
Produced by Rob Cavallo and My Chemical Romance.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 14
Singles:
"Welcome to the Black Parade" "Famous Last Words" "I Don't Love You" and "Teenagers"
Notes:
This album reached #2 on the Billboard 200.

AOL Sessions
Live album released in December 2007 by Reprise.
Tracks: 6

Live and Rare
Live album released in December 2007 by Warner Music Japan.
Tracks: 7

The Black Parade is Dead
Live album released in June 2008 by Reprise.
Tracks: 16

The Black Parade: The B-Sides
Released in Feburary 2009 by Reprise.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 5

Clarification on the Sexual Deviant Post

This is in some ways a response to Dave's Supreme Court Fail, Again post but mostly it is, as the title suggest, a clarification to make sure that my point was not lost or my stance on the issue of sexual predators was not misinterpreted.

I would never want anybody to take from my previous post More 'Time' For Sexual Deviants that I'm defending child molesters. I am most certainly not. I am all for chemical castration personally but that's not my job to decide.

But I firmly believe that the Supreme Court has really screwed up on this one.

The problem began with Congress making a law that is unconstitutional in the first place. The problem was persisted when the Supreme Court decided that the law was okay as far as the Constitution goes. I am assuming that is what they were doing.

Personally, I'm not sure if half of the judges on the Court really know a flipping thing about the Constitution because lately they are constantly going against their charter. In essence, they have been, for many years, making law from the bench and that is not their job. Their job is to interpret the laws that Congress makes and determine if they are constitutional or not.

The biggest problem, however, is, who is the Supreme Court accountable to? Nobody.

Congress is accountable to the people that elects them. So if they screw up, the people vote them out (or that is how it's supposed to work. The problem there is ignorant un-informed citizens that keep voting the incumbents back in no matter how much of a piece of trash they are).

The President is accountable to Congress. So if he screws up really bad, he is impeached and forced to stand trial before Congress to determine if he can keep his job or not.

The judges on the Supreme Court, however, are accountable to no one. Once they are confirmed by the Senate, they are in their position until they die. There is not stipulation for the people to decide whether or not a judge loses his or her seat.

So what was that by the people, of the people and for the people thing all about? I forgot.

Top 3 Comics Continued: Top Indy Comics

This is a list of my Top 3 favorite comic books that are published by independent companies.

Knights of the Dinner Table

This comic was created by Jolly Blackburn and started off in Shadis magazine in 1990 as a comic strip. It moved to Dragon magazine in 1996. That same year, it became its own monthly magazine.

This comic is incredibly funny. It is a book about some gamer geeks and the adventures they get involved in...mostly around the dinner table while playing their role-playing games. Not a whole lot of action in this book of course but it's the comedy of the magazine that I love (and perhaps because the characters in the book remind me a bit of some people that I know).

This book is published by Kenzer and Company.

Clerks

Loved the movie of course and the comic book was almost as funny.

It was published by Oni Press.

My favorite issue was the Holiday Special that was published in December 1998 where Dante goes to visit Caitlin Bree (yeah, the girl that boffed the dead guy in the movie) in the loony bin.

Lone Ranger

Published originally as a 6 issue mini-series by Dynamite Entertainment, it became a regular series because it was such a great comic book. It was awarded Best Western Comic Book in 2009 by True West magazine.

Mid-Week Shuffle: Green Day

This one is a Green Day-only shuffle.

1. Blood, Sex and Booze (from the album Warning)
2. American Idiot (from the album American Idiot)
3. Worry Rock (from the album Nimrod)
4. The Grouch (from Nimrod)
5. Geek Stink Breath (from Insomniac)
6. When I Come Around (from Dookie)
7. One For the Razorbacks (from Kerplunk!)
8. Fashion Victim (from Warning)
9. Burnout (from Dookie)
10. Brain Stew (from Insomniac)
11. Macy's Day Parade (from Warning)

More "Time" for Sexual Deviants

Another article that I read on my NPR iPod application.

Court: No Need to Free 'Sexually Dangerous' Inmates.

Personally, I feel like any one convicted of sexual crimes should pay the penalty and in most cases deserve to be in jail for a really really long time, especially those convicted of child molestation.

However, even though I feel this way, I do not agree with the Court's decision in this case. I actually stand with Justice Thomas who states that Congress does not have the right to pass laws that go against the powers listed in the U.S. Constitution.

From what I have always been taught, the Supreme Court's purpose is to interpret laws that Congress passes and validate or question their constitutional validity.

In my own humble opinion, I do not think that the law that Congress passed that states that inmates considered "sexually dangerous" can be held indefinitely after their prison terms have expired is constitutional.

If Congress wants to pass a law stating that the penalty for sexual crimes, fine. But if a person is convicted of a crime and the court, for what ever reason, only gives said person 10 years, Congress should not be allowed to say that this person has to stay in prison after that 10 years is up. The only reason an inmate should have to stay in prison after the term they are given by a court of law is if they have committed another crime while in prison.

What do you think?

Arizona Refuses to Back Down

I have FOX News as an application on my iPod and came across this article while skimming its newest articles:

Arizona Official Threatens to Cut Off Los Angeles Power as Payback for Boycott.

The article was written by Fox News journalist Judson Berger.

According to the article, 25% of the power in Los Angeles comes from power plants based in Arizona.

So because Los Angeles does not approve of Arizona state's recently passed immigration law, it has decided to boycott Arizona.

Arizona, not backing down, responds by basically saying, you boycott our state, you lose our electricity.

Personally, all I can say in response to this is that I thoroughly approve. Way to go Arizona. Don't back down!

Top 3 Films: Julia Stiles

Earlier tonight, during a post wee ones bedtime trip to Target, I bought a copy of the DVD 10 Things I Hate About You for Mandy.

(Ok, so I'm actually watching it right now as I'm writing this post.)

Anyway, while watching it I thought of another person to do my Top 3 Films on so here we are.

So, in chronological order of course...

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

This was on my previous list featuring Heath Ledger. I've seen the film before but keep forgetting that it takes place in Seattle. The opening sequence (or at least the first few seconds) are really cool because it shows a really cool picture of the Space Needle and then pans out to show an even cooler picture of Elliot Bay. In the film, Stiles plays the main female character Kat Stratford.

Save the Last Dance (2001)

I'm really not sure why I like this movie. I just do. Stiles plays Sara Johnson who is a girl whose mom dies and she ends up having to live with her father on, shall we say, the wrong side of town.

The Bourne Identity (2002)

So she had a really small part in this film but so what, she's in it! She plays Nicky Parsons, who as far as I gathered is basically a computer geek trying to help the "bad guys" track down Matt Damon's character. She reprises her character in both The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum.

Da' Wedding!

Here are some pics from the aforementioned wedding ceremony.

It begins!

Mandy starts with her vows (we both just same up with them on the spot).

My turn!

I was talking to the crowd at this point.

The kiss!

Celebration!

Punk Rock Wedding!

Who in the world gets married a punk rock show?

Who do you ask? Well, I do. And if you really knew me and my new wife, you might not think it that strange at all.

Dave posted a bit about it on his blog's review of the show itself (7 Degrees Live).

How did all of this happen? It was not planned at all, well, maybe it was a little. Let me rewind a bit to about a week ago and explain a bit. Actually, I will rewind a bit more to give you readers some background information.

So I moved back to Oklahoma back in February from Seattle as most of you may already know. In any case, I met this really awesome girl (Mandy) shortly after moving back. We hit it off immediately. And I do mean immediately. From the very beginning, we just simple clicked. We knew there was something there and knew almost immediately that we wanted to be together. So we started dating and then about a month later, I proposed to her (by the way, she said yes after I had to remind her that she had not answered me yet).

So the wedding plans began. Originally, the wedding date was going to be October 10, 2010. 10-10-10. Pretty cool huh. Would have been pretty cool but certain aspects of the planning which I will not get into here just started getting really frustrating and we started thinking of eloping. Like going to Vegas or something like that and just doing it.

So that brings us to last week.

I was talking to Stephen Egerton (guitar player for the Descendents/ALL) whom I met about 10 or so years ago and have been talking via online for the past few years. Anyway, I was talking to him about the show coming up on the 14th. During the conversation, I made an off-hand comment about getting married at his show. I asked something about whether or not he knew any ordained ministers that might be at his show and how cool it would be if Mandy and I could get married at his show. We kind of laughed about it and he said he would see what he could do.

So............the night of the show. Mandy stayed at home with the kids that night so I show go to the show with Dave (who, by the way, was to be my best man at the wedding) and walk over to Stephen and say hi. We talk for a bit. Catch up. Talking to his wife a bit. They were both at their merchandise table. So we talked a bit. I bought some things. That sort of stuff.

Then Dave and I meander over to the stage area to start watching the bands.

A wee bit later, Stephen comes over to me and states that he forgot to tell me before but he got a minister there and that we could totally do the wedding there! I tell him that Mandy is not here with us and he tells me to get her there.

First of all, I am a bit surprised in the first place that he even remembered that conversation with as much as he had going on that week. On top of that, he actually had a minister there!

So I leave the venue to make a phone call to Mandy and explain what is going on. At first, to me, it sounded like she did not think I was serious. Also, she had a few drinks and did not want to drive. And she was in her pajamas and did not want to change clothes. So I tell her I will figure something out. After getting off the phone with her, I call her sister (who, by the way, was to be her matron of honor) and explain the situation to her.

Needless to say about 40 minutes later, they show up at the venue. The venue, by the way, is The Conservatory on North Western in Oklahoma City.

We get together with the minister and talk to him about it. Totally cool guy. A punk rock pastor. Really cool! Anyway, we finish talking to him and get back over to Stephen and tell him things are a go. He explains his entire set with us so that we can do the ceremony in a really cool part of the show. After a bit of discussion, we decide to do it between the songs "Sunny Disposition" and "She's Got Everything" both sung by Scott Reynolds (formerly of ALL and the Pavers). Really amazing singer and all around great guy.

So the time comes and Stephen gets me and Mandy and the minister (whose name is Brett by the way) up on the stage in front of the entire crowd and we do it. We get married. At a punk rock show. On stage. How cool is that!!!! After the kiss and after Brett announces us, Scott (at Mandy's suggestion) jumps off the stage and grabs a couple of shots of Jameson from the bar for us. Great ending to an amazing, short and sweet ceremony.

So aside from an amazing show which Dave did a really amazing review of, one of the weirdest and coolest wedding ceremonies that you are ever going to see took place!

What a great memory!

Quest for Vinyl: The Quest Continues

I have been searching around the internet lately to try and find more Descendents albums on vinyl. Mostly, I have been looking for a copy of Everything Sucks because apparently it is out of print so I figured it would be the hardest one to fine. Have not had a whole lot of luck yet, found a copy here or there but have not found anything that doesn't make me wince at the price.

In any case, I was at Guestroom Records the other day with Mandy. Mostly because I have also been trying to find a vinyl copy of Social Distortion's Mommys Little Monster for her as well.

Guestroom turned out to be a pretty good trip for us that day (of course it also turned out to be a financially draining trip for us as well!).

For her, I found a vinyl of copy of not only Mommys Little Monster but also a vinyl copy of their self-titled album which she also did not find. But on top of that, I also found another Social Distortion record that had a bunch of demos of other unreleased stuff that neither of us had heard of.

Also found a copy of AC/DC's Back in Black on vinyl which I had also been looking for.

But in the case of Descendents, I found 2 albums that I did not have.

The first was their 1986 album Enjoy!

This album was originally released on New Alliance (as was most of their early stuff).

My favorite songs on this album are "Sour Grapes" "Get the Time" and "Cheer."

The other album that I picked up was an unofficial released titled Milo Gets Bootlegged. The 1st side contained a bunch of demos from their early days and the 2nd side contained a bunch of B-sides. I haven't listened to it yet and probably won't since it is still sealed.

Oh yeah, by the way, also while I was there I had them order me a vinyl copy of the 1987 album ALL. Should be getting that in a week or so. Awesome!

In any case, as I said, it was a pretty good haul.

MLB Roundup (May 16)

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East
Tampa Bay
NY Yankees
Toronto
Boston 7 1/2 games out of first. Damnit!
Baltimore

Central
Minnesota
Detroit
Cleveland
Chicago White Sox
Kansas City

West
Texas
Oakland
LA Angels
Seattle

NATIONAL LEAGUE

East
Philadelphia
Florida
Washington
Atlanta
NY Mets

Central
Cincinnati
St. Louis
Pittsburgh
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee
Houston

West
San Diego
San Francisco
LA Dodgers
Colorado
Arizona

STATS LEADERS

Batting Avg.
Ethier (Dodgers) - .392
Morneau (Twins) - .362
Cabrera (Tigers) - .354

Hits
Suzuki (Mariners) - 54 Way to go Ichiro!
Jackson (Tigers) - 52
Byrd (Cubs) - 51

Runs

Kemp (Dodgers) - 32
Longoria (Rays) - 32
Utley (Phillies) - 31

Home Runs
Konerko (White Sox) - 13
Wigginton (Orioles) - 12
Johnson (Diamondbacks) - 11

RBIs
Ethier (Dodgers) - 38
Cabrera (Tigers) - 36
McGehee (Twins) - 33

Wins
Jimenez (Rockies) - 7
Clippard (Nationals) - 7
Halladay (Phillies) - 6

Saves
Capps (Nationals) - 14
Cordero (Reds) - 12
Gregg (Blue Jays) - 11

Strike Outs
Lincecum (Giants) - 69
Haren (Diamondbacks) - 62
Weaver (Angels) - 59

ERA
Jimenez (Rockies) - 1.12
Hughes (Yankees) - 1.38
Garcia (Cardinals) - 1.42

ESPN Power Rankings

Tampa Bay Rays
New York Yankees Boooo!!!
Minnesota Twins
St Louis Cardinals
Philadelphia Phillies
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Texas Rangers
Toronto Blue Jays
Detroit Tigers

The Red Sox jumped from #17 to #13 since the last time I posted a Roundup.

Thanks for playing.

Top 3 Films: Sandra Bullock

Sandra's been in the news quite a bit lately thanks to her two-timing piece of crap soon-to-be ex-husband.

Here is the chronological list:

Demolition Man (1993)
This movie did not do well financially or critically but I saw screw em! I loved this movie!
In this futuristic Sylvester Stallone vehicle, Sandra plays Lieutenant Lenina Huxley, the peace officer that is fascinated with the past and finally comes face to face with the past that she loves so much when Sgt John Spartan (Stallone) is thawed out and brought back into service with the police to catch a killer he put away decades ago (played by Wesley Snipes).

The Net (1995)

In order of preference, this is probably my favorite Sandra Bullock movie. She played the main character in this movie, Angela Bennett, who is basically not much more than a corporate computer hacker that ends up getting hacked herself and spends most of the movie trying to get her life and her identity back.

Miss Congeniality (2000)

This movie did well enough to garner a sequel. In it, Bullock plays FBI agent Gracie Hart who is basically your average tom boy federal agent who has to go undercover by posing as a beauty pageant contestant.
I was not a big fan of the sequel.

Sunday Shuffle: Descendents

Here is a shuffle of nothing but All and Descendents songs:

1. Sour Grapes (from the album Enjoy!)
2. Honey Peeps (from the album Mass Nerder)
3. Cheer (from the album Enjoy!)
4. Hope (from the album Milo Goes to College)
5. Original Me (from Breaking Things)
6. Merican (from Cool To Be You)
7. She Loves Me (from Everything Sucks)
8. Refrain (from Mass Nerder)
9. Just Perfect (from Allroy for Prez)
10. Until I Say So (from Mass Nerder)
11. Thank You (from Everything Sucks)
12. Clean Sheets (from All)
13. I'm the One (from Everything Sucks)
14. Breakin Up (from Pummel)

If You Can't Trust Yer Bartender........

How OKC bars are cheating you out of money

The thing I find interesting about this whole situation is that somebody actually took the time to go to a bunch of bars and measure how much booze they were giving their consumers.

One thing is for certain, I'm going to track down a list of the bars that are considered honest and stick to them. I don't wanna be shafted when I'm trying to get liquored up. Jeez!

Boys Will Be Boys???

Son's death result of bullying.

I read this article earlier today and aside from the fact that this type of thing going on is a huge indicator of the state of the world today and how things are going down the toilet, morally speaking, there was a particular quote in that just blew me away.

So the kid is getting bullied and the parents try to get it taken care of by going to the school principal and their response is...

"...boys will be boys.."

WTH?!?

Is this seriously the attitudes of our country's educators these days?

I don't know what the parents of this poor child are going to do in regards to any kind of legal action but honestly, personally, I would start with suing the principal, then the school board.

I dunno, maybe I'm wrong about this. What do you guys think?

Top 3 Comic Book Characters Part Two

I just realized that when I posted the Top 3 Comic Characters post, I had forgotten to list my overall favorites (combining both DC and Marvel comics list that is).

So here they are (in order of preference even):

Heroes

1. Batman
2. Captain Marvel
3. Captain America
4. Punisher
5. Iron Man
6. Nightwing

Villains

1. The Joker
2. Dr. Doom
3. Magneto
4. Lex Luthor
5. Two-Face
6. Apocalypse

By the way, Dave did his list over here.

Thanks for playing.

Top 3 Films: Heath Ledger

It is a real shame that this young man died so early. He did some really great things in his career and could have become so much more.

Here is the list in chronological order:

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

In this updated Hollywood-ized version of a Shakespeare plays Pat Verona, the lead male character opposite Julia Stiles' Kat Stratford. This was the first film I ever saw Ledger in.

A Knights Tale (2001)

This was the first film where I really noticed Ledger as an actor. This was a really amazing film in which Ledger plays a peasant boy that pretends to be a knight in order to win money in several jousting contests. I especially like how the movie combines fictional characters with actual historical characters like Edward, the Black Prince and Geoffrey Chaucer. If you have never seen this film, I highly suggest picking it up.

The Dark Knight (2008)

By far his greatest film ever. In my opinion, he had some really big shoes to fill in this role as The Joker. In the public's eye because everyone seems to think that Jack Nicholson was the quintessential Joker (not my opinion by the way). In my eye's because we are talking about one of the absolute greatest comic book villains ever. The fact is that he filled the role perfectly. I think he did an amazing job as The Joker. From what I had read, before they began filming this movie, he was given a copy of the graphic novel The Killing Joke as inspiration. He played it to a T. Sad that we'll never get to see him play this role again and in my opinion if they decide to use The Joker in a future Batman movie, they will be making a huge mistake.

Quest for Vinyl

Sadly, as long as I have been a fan of the Descendents (which, by the way, has been since the mid-80s), I have never owned any of their stuff on vinyl.

Last night, I remedied that situation. While Dave and I were killing time before the Stephen Egerton show at The Conservatory last time (which was a fun-filled event in and of itself but that is a topic for a later post) we went into Size Records (which is a pretty cool record shop, I highly suggest you check it out) and I skimmed through all of their vinyl.

At first, I had quite the stack of vinyl in my hands, probably about $200 worth. Then, on my own, I skimmed it down to about $100 worth. Fortunately, Dave was there to talk me down so I only ended up getting 3 records. The first one was a limited edition of Agent Orange's Living in Darkness.

The 2 crown jewels of my purchase, however, as you can probably already guess, are 2 Descendents albums on vinyl.

The first one was Milo Goes To College. This album, which was originally released in 1982 on New Alliance Records. The copy that I have is the re-released SST version (SST purchased New Alliance in 1987).

The lineup on this album are Milo Aukerman on vocals, Tony Lombardo on bass, Frank Navetta on guitar and Bill Stevenson on drums.

My favorite tracks on the album are "Suburban Home" "Marriage" and "Hope."

The second one that I purchased was I Don't Want to Grow Up. Originally released in 1985 (also on New Alliance), this was the first album released since Milo Goes to College.

The only change in lineup from the Milo album is the guitar player, who on this album was Ray Cooper.

My favorite tracks on this album are "I Don't Want to Grow Up" "Pervert" "Silly Girl" and "Good Good Things."

So my new quest is to find vinyl copies of the other Descendents LPs (Enjoy, All, Everything Sucks, and Cool To Be You).

Thursday Night Shuffle

1. If I Told You This Was Killing Me Would You Stop? - The Juliana Theory (from the album Emotion is Dead)
2. 12 X U - Dag Nasty (from the album Field Day)
3. I've Heard - Dag Nasty (from the album Field Day)
4. At Your Feet - Casting Crowns (from the album Until the Whole World Hears)
5. Bloody Pig Pile - Dropkick Murphys (from Live on St Patricks Day)
6. 21 Guitar Salute - Dropkick Murphys (from Singles Collection, Volume 2)
7. Subject to Change - Project 86 (from ...And the Rest Will Follow)
8. Slowdance on the Inside - Taking Back Sunday (from Where You Want To Be)
9. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2 (from The Joshua Tree)

Iron Man Review Part Two

Yeah I know, I have already reviewed this movie on this blog already but I have something else that I want to say about it.

Technically, I did say something about it in the first review but I want to vent some more about it.

I was watching the first Iron Man with my son this afternoon and I can't help thinking how much I think Terrance Howard did a better job as Rhodey and how much I am a little irritated that they replaced him with Don Cheadle.

Mind you, I don't hate Don Cheadle. I don't even dislike Don Cheadle. In fact, as I stated in the other review I think he did a really good job.

The problem is, I just honestly think Terrance Howard did a better job as Rhodey and would have done a better job as Rhodey/War Machine in the 2nd one.

Another thing that is really sad is apparently Howard had to find out that he was being replaced ONLINE!!! Talk about a slap in the face!

Apparently, it all had to do with money...of course. From what I have read in multiple sources, Howard was the first one hired to be in the first Iron Man and was the highest paid actor in the film. The film did sooooo well, that they (the makers of the films) decided they wanted to pay him less.

Also, I read somewhere that the director John Favreau was not happy with Howard's performance in the first one. What?!?!? Seriously?!? I thought he did an amazing job!

I think I should write a really nasty hate-mail type letter to John Favreau and tell him how badly he screwed up in replacing Terrance Howard.

Or maybe I'll just bitch about it on my blog.

Ok, I'm done venting on this................for now.

Top 3 Films: Gary Oldman

I've been working on this list ever since I finished the last one (Russell Crowe)

I have to say that this guy is one of the best actors out there today. It is unfortunate that he has never won an Oscar.

Anyway, here is the list:

JFK (1991)

In this one, Oldman plays the person arrested for the assassination of President Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald. Although he did not really have very many speaking parts, he did an amazing job in this movie. The movie itself was nominated for a few Academy Awards but Oldman did not receive any of them.

Leon (1994)

If I were doing this list in order of preference and not in chronological order, this one would top the list. I consider the role Oldman plays in this one as the corrupt DEA agent (Stansfield) as his greatest role ever. Even if you are not an Oldman fan, if you have not seen this movie, it is imperative that you watch this film.

Batman Begins (2005)

Gary does an amazing job as the future police commissioner James Gordon in what is still my all time favorite movie.

Honorable Mention

The Book of Eli - released in 2010, Oldman plays the main bad guy Carnegie. I had a hard time deciding between this one and JFK being on the Top 3 list.

Top 3 Comic Book Characters

I was talking to Dave the other day about doing a list like this.

Before I get into this, I found these lists on the HubPages website

Top 6 DC Comics Superheroes

1. Superman
2. Batman
3. Wonder Woman
4. Green Lantern
5. Aquaman
6. Flash

Top 6 DC Comics Villains

1. The Joker
2. Lex Luthor
3. Darkseid
4. Ra's ah Gul
5. Catwoman
6. Sinestro

Top 6 Marvel Comics Superheroes

1. Spider Man
2. The Incredible Hulk
3. Captain America
4. Wolverine
5. Silver Surfer
6. Thor

Top 6 Marvel Comics Villains

1. Galactus
2. Dr. Doom
3. Magneto
4. Apocalypse
5. Green Goblin
6. Venom

Now that I've shown what somebody else thinks (I'm not really sure where their ratings come from) here are my picks for the top 3 in each category:

Top 3 DC Comics Superheroes

1. Batman
2. Captain Marvel
3. Nightwing

Top 3 DC Comics Villains

1. The Joker
2. Lex Luthor
3. Two-Face

Top 3 Marvel Comics Superheroes

1. Captain America
2. Punisher
3. Iron Man

Top 3 Marvel Comics Villains

1. Dr. Doom
2. Magneto
3. Apocalypse

Mid-Week Shuffle

1. Only in Dreams - Weezer (from the album Weezer)
2. Crab - Weezer (from the album Weezer)
3. Welcome to Paradise - Green (from the album Kerplunk!)
4. Big City Nights - Scorpions (from the album Love at First Sting)
5. Punkrocksong.com - Otisburg (from the EP Born Yesterday)
6. Finnegan's Wake - Dropkick Murphys (from Live on St Patricks Day)
7. The Refuse - U2 (from War)
8. Kite - U2 (from All That You Can't Leave Behind)
9. Citizen CIA - Dropkick Murphys (from Live on Lansdowne)
10. Redundant - Green Day (from Nimrod)
11. Straight From the Jacket - No Use for A Name (from Leche Con Carne)

Why Does This Not Surprise Me?!?

Kagan and Obama Go Way Back

Found this article while I was randomly skimming through The Drudge Report.

After reading this article I really gotta repeat what the title says. Why does this not surprise me?

What? You actually thought that Obama nominated this lady to be a Supreme Court justice because of her qualifications?

The lady has never judged a case.

God forbid the President hire someone based on their merit instead of the fact that they are old college chums. Last time I checked weren't people supposed to get hired into high paying government jobs based on their qualifications instead of things like nepotism and political favors?

And the article makes it a point to state that she and Obama are "both rabid White Sox fans..." Pardon my French but...who gives a shit?!? Is this really pertinent information as to why this person is being nominated to be a judge in the highest court of our land? Her favorite baseball team? Really?!?
After the article itself are listed some comments posted to the website. Here is one of my favorites:

"We have a President with no military experience, executive office or Senate accomplishments. Why not have a Supreme Court judge that has no experience being a judge. Makes perfect sense to me. But wait, I can think for myself and would like somebody on the bench with more than class room experience."

The person that posted this posted it an Anonymous so even though I don't know who he is...Amen brother.

Monday Late Night Shuffle

1. Against the Silence - Stavesacre (from the EP Against the Silence)
2. One Tree Hill - U2 (from the album The Joshua Tree)
3. Nothingtown - The Offspring (from the album Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace)
4. Corduroy - Pearl Jam (from the album Vitalogy)
5. I Was Wrong - Social Distortion (from the album White Light, White Heat, White Trash)
6. Hope - Descendents (from the album Milo Goes to College)
7. Christie Road - Green Day (from the album Kerplunk!)
8. Ok Alright - Same Day Service (from the EP Same Day Service)
9. Burnout - Green Day (from the album Dookie)
10. The Good Life - Weezer (from the album Pinkerton)
11. Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters (from the album The Colour and the Shape)

Make Them Clean!

City saves tax dollars using criminals to clean graffiti

I saw this article over at KFOR.com, which I don't really visit that often. Not sure why. Just don't.

Anyway, I read the article and I thought it was brilliant.

This and other community service projects are a great alternative to spending the taxpayer's dollars to house non-violent criminals in our overcrowded jails and prisons.

I say we go further though with this. In addition to making our city's walls and bridges look better by getting rid of graffiti, I think we should put these people to work on other areas of state beautification such as liter clean up on the highways, interstates and parks in Oklahoma.

Or if you want to get a little bit more draconian with it and still keep these criminals out of prison, make them clean the floor at Ford Arena with a toothbrush and a Mr Clean erase in preparation for the Thunder's season next year.

In any case, I think this is a great idea and I think our city and state officials should go even further with this great idea. Save the taxpayer's some money. Make the state a little nicer to look at. And amuse some of our state's law-abiding citizens. LoL!

Seriously? Again?!?

Here is another article that I just crossed paths with on NPR:

Fannie Mae Seeks $8.4B From U.S. After $13B Loss.

Seriously? They are asking for more money? Really?

Considering the first bailout for these jokers was one of the biggest mistakes our government has made this decade...

They have got to be kidding!

According to the article, if Fannie Mae gets what they want, the taxpayer's would have given them a total of $83.6 billion.

Can you imagine the good that could be done with just HALF of that?!?

I think we should write our Congressmen and women and tell them point blank do NOT allow this company to get any more of OUR money!

Top 3 Films: Russell Crowe

For the most part I am really not a big fan of Russell Crowe. In my opinion, he is a pretty darn good actor but as a person I consider him a complete d-bag.

However, he does appear in some good films. One of the pre-Iron Man trailers last night was for Crowe's newest flick, a Ridley Scott re-telling of the Robin Hood legend. It looks really good and I'm a Hood fan so I will probably end up going to see it.

Anyway, in chronological order, here are my 3 favorite Crow films:

Gladiator

In this 2000 blockbuster, Crowe plays the soldier-general turned gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius. For this movie, Crowe won an Academy Award for Best Actor. It also won the Oscar for Best Picture.

A Beautiful Mind

Released in 2001, Crowe plays Johnathan Nash. He received the nomination by the Academy for Best Actor but lost the award to Denzel Washington. The movie itself, however, did win the Academy Award for Best Picture and won a Golden Globe for Best Drama. In addition, Crowe won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor.

3:10 to Yuma

In this 2007 remake of a 1957 film, Crowe plays the role of the outlaw Ben Wade, who was originally played by Glenn Ford.

Some People Should Just Not Bother Driving Anywhere

Here is another post I found off the Not Always Right website.

Makes me glad that I don't work for a hotel.

For the Love of God, Get GPS, Part 2

This was taken from a hotel work in Nova Scotia.

Caller: “Hi. I’m trying to find you, but seem a bit lost.”

Me: “That’s no problem. Do you approximately where you are?”

Caller: “Nova Scotia.”

Me: “That’s good, but I will need a bit more information. Are you in Halifax or Dartmouth?”

Caller: “Canada.”

Me: “Do you know which city you are in?”

Caller: “Canada.”

Me: “Canada is the country. Which area of the city are you in. Do you know which road you are on?”

Caller: “No.”

Me: “Where have you driven from?”

Caller: “My aunt’s house.”

Me: “Do you know your aunt’s address?”

Caller: “She lives in Nova Scotia.”

Me: “Can you see any signs or landmarks?”

Caller: “I have some water on my right and some trees on my left.”

Me: “Any shops or gas stations?”

Caller: “No.”

Me: “You will need to keep going straight and call me back as soon as you see a sign or can stop at a gas station or shop and ask for help.”

Caller: “I thought you were guest services. Why won’t you help me?”

Me: “I am trying, but need a basic idea where you are.”

Caller: *shouting* “I’m. In. Canada!”

For those that are interested, here is a link to the original For the Love of God, Get GPS.

MLB Roundup (May 9)

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East
NY Yankees booooo!!!
Tampa Bay
Toronto
Boston 7 games behind
Baltimore

Central
Minnesota
Detroit
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland
Kansas City

West
Texas
Oakland
LA Angels
Seattle

NATIONAL LEAGUE

East
Philadelphia
Washington
NY Mets
Florida
Atlanta

Central
St Louis
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
Chicago Cubs
Houston

West
San Diego
San Francisco
Colorado
LA Dodgers
Arizona

STATS LEADERS

Batting Avg.
Ethier (Dodgers) - .383
Jackson (Tigers) - .371
Cabrera (Tigers) - .370

Hits
Jackson (Tigers) - 49
Theriot (Cubs) - 46
Braun (Brewers) - 46

Runs
Braun (Brewers) - 31
Utley (Phillies) - 29
Longoria (Devil Rays) - 28

Home Runs
Konerko (White Sox) - 13
Gonzalez (Blue Jays) - 10
Wigginton (Orioles) - 10

RBIs
Cabrera (Tigers) - 33
Ethier (Dodgers) - 32
Cantu (Marlins) - 29

Wins
Halladay (Phillies) - 6
Jimenez (Rockies) - 6
Clippard (Nationals) - 6

Saves
Capps (Nationals) - 13
Cordero (Reds) - 10
Gregg (Blue Jays) - 9

Strike Outs
Lincecum (Giants) - 64
Haren (Diamondbacks) - 50
Gallardo (Brewers) - 50

ERA
Jimenez (Rockies) - 0.93
Hernandez (Nationals) - 1.04
Garcia (Cardinals) - 1.18

ESPN Power Rankings

Tampa Bay Rays
New York Yankees Boooo!!!
St Louis Cardinals
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
Philadelphia Phillies
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
New York Mets
Texas Rangers

The Red Sox have dropped to #17 in the rankings while the Seattle Mariners are sitting at a comfortable #22.

See you next time for another roundup!

Jailbird for a Day

Every have one of those days? One of those days that just makes you wish you had a rewind button so you can have a do over? Well, I sure had one of those this past week.

It started on Wednesday evening. I left my house to go pick up Mandy from work. Mandy, by the way, is my new girlfriend, sorry if I have not blogged about her, have not gotten around to it I guess.

Anyway, I leave to go pick her up from work, in her car, by the way.

So I am less than a block from my house and I get pulled over by a local police officer.

It turns out that he has pulled me over because I failed to wear my seat belt. This is strange in and of itself because I am ALWAYS wearing my seat belt. It is very rare for me to forget to wear it but this night I did. So already I was kind of irritated that I got pulled over the ONE TIME I forget to wear it.

Anyway, he goes back to his car and does whatever it is that they do back there in their police cars while we are waiting to get wherever it was we were going in the first place. I text Mandy to let her know that I just got pulled over.

So he comes back and has me sign my citation. Then he promptly finishes off by telling me that he is going to impound my car (well, Mandys' car) and he is taking me to jail.

Why do you ask? Apparently, Oklahoma County has an open warrant out for me.

Now let me give you some background. Back in 2002, my drivers license was suspended. You see, I have a lead foot, which leads to multiple tickets, which leads eventually to having a suspended license. So, even though my license was suspended, I kept driving of course. Unfortunately, I got pulled over while driving with a suspended license.

So this warrant they have for me is due to a failure to appear for my ticket for driving with a suspended license. The strange thing is that since 2002, I have had my license re-instated. I have been issued not only an Oklahoma state license but a Washington state license. On top of that, since this 2002 ticket, I have been pulled over (yes, multiple times) and have never been caught on this supposed "open warrant." In fact, one of the time that I got pulled over was by an Oklahoma County Sheriff, the county that has this warrant out for me. So why are they catching me on it now? I have no idea.

In any case, the police officer takes me to the local city jail so that I can wait for a county sheriff to come and take me to the county jail.

So I get to the city jail and get put in a little jail cell to await transport to county. The cops tell me that they should be there sometime that night. Needless to say, I end up spending the night in that city jail.

When I am allowed to make my phone call I call Mandy to let her know what is going on and to tell her I won't be able to come pick her up at work.

At some point while I am waiting in the jail cell, she comes by the jail to pick up my personal belongings. Her car is impounded and she does not have her own set of keys to my car. Of course I release everything to her because I know that once I am in county, I will be lucky if I ever see my stuff again.

So the county sheriff finally showed up sometime around 4am and take me off to the county pokee.

I go through the whole booking and processing crap that they do to all the dangerous criminals like me and get put in a holding cell with other dangerous criminals like me. Only, most of these people are nothing like me.

There are a few guys in there for DUI, one for public drunkenness, another on a drug charge. However, at some point, 3 more guys show up all at once. 2 of them were put in there for aggravated assault and the other for armed robbery. Okay, why am I in the same holding cell as these people? Oh, by the way, one of the guys in for aggravated assault is in there because he beat the crap out of a police officer. Yeah, I stay away from that guy.

Anyway, they come in and let me finally make a phone call. I call Mandy and let her know that I have made it to county. Oh yeah, rewind here for a second. The police in the city jail have told her that she can get me out of jail but only when I make it to county. She is powerless to do anything to help me until I get transported and booked in there. So I make my phone call to her and let her know how to get me out.

Shortly after this, they pull us all out of the holding cell where they proceed to take us upstairs (where the real jails are) and take away all of our clothes (including underwear) and put us in those cute little orange jumpsuits. After which, they give us our bedrolls and take us up one more flight of stairs to put us in the jail cells that we will be in until we get out (or in some of these folks cases, until they see a judge and get to stay there for a little while longer). They are assigning us our jail cells and showing us who will be our cell mates. When my turn comes up.....

Lo and behold, they have chosen to mate me up with the cop beater. Oh yeah, I belong in a jail cell with this guy. Crap!

Fortunately for both me and the cop beater....(oh yeah, I can take him. Yeah right!!!!)...just as they are about to close the door behind me, another jailer comes up the stairs and yells out my name announcing that I am going home.

Thank God for Mandy!!!!!

She came and bonded me out just in the nick of time.

So I go back downstairs, process out and walk out the front door of the county jail.

Mandy comes and picks me up, we get her car out of impound and go home where I promptly take a shower to wash the county funk off my body.

And how was your week?

Sunday Night Shuffle

1. Shape of Things to Come - Audioslave (from the album Revelations)
2. Jolene - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (from the album Love Their Country)
3. Johnny, I Hardly I Knew Ya - Dropkick Murphys (from The Meanest of Times)
4. The Good Life - Weezer (from Pinkerton)
5. Every Night - Screeching Weasel (from Anthem for a New Tomorrow)
6. Now is the Time - Yngwie Malmsteen (from Odyssey)
7. Like I Care - Helmet (from Aftertaste)
8. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson (from Breakaway)
9. Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2 (from War)
10. Chorus of Angels - Haste the Day (from Pressure the Hinges)
11. Susanne - Weezer (from Weezer Deluxe Edition)

Arizona Going Too Far?

Check out this article over at Real Clear Politics titled What the Public Really Thinks About Immigration

In the article, the President states that he favors "common-sense comprehensive immigration reform." While I have to agree that passing a law making some illegal a crime is not only redundant but lacks common sense, I don't really see much common sense about anything Obama does.

In my opinion, however, Arizona passing this new immigration law is less about trying to make sense and more about making a statement. A statement that the government has failed to do one of the most important things it is required to do: protect our borders.

The federal government lacks not only the common sense to come up with any meaningful attempts at immigration reform, but also the balls to do anything about it in the first place.

Just my opinion.

Iron Man 2 Review

Yesterday, my girlfriend tells me that my mom took Joey to go see Iron Man 2. What?!? I’m jealous! I wanted to go see that and I’m stuck at work! So she says we will go see it after I get home from work. Sweet!

So we go and watch it and here is what I thought about it.

In general, very good movie. It had its flaws but overall, very good movie.

Great action. Lots of it.

I liked how they gave Samuel L Jackson a bigger part in this movie and I like that War Machine was in it (I always thought War Machine was cooler than Iron Man anyway). I was kind of sad to see that they had replaced Terrence Howard but Don Cheadle did a really good job filling his shoes (truth be known though, I would have rather seen Howard in the War Machine suit).

The teaser at the end of the movie after the credits was really cool (no spoilers here though).

However, here is what I did not like about it.

Although I liked the character and the actor playing it did a very good job, I was not impressed with the fact that the main bad guy was someone that the writers of the movie just made up. In other words, it is not a character from the original Marvel comics universe. It’s like they couldn't think of what bad guy to use in the film so they just decided to make one appear out of thin air. Oh well, I guess it can’t be EXACTLY like the comic books. Still not a movie killer.

The only other thing I did not like about it is that as far as the plot goes, there was entirely too much going on. Way too many sub-plots. It’s like they took 2 more movies worth of plot and smashed into this one film. But like the other flaw, still not a movie killer.

So, as I said, all in all, really good movie. I think Marvel Entertainment has been doing a good job lately with the superhero movies they are releasing and I look forward to the rest of them.

Speaking of which, the next film in the Marvel universe will be Thor, following by Captain America (both of which will be released in 2011) and then in 2012….The Avengers movie!

The Pogues: DoTM

Red Roses For Me
Released in 1984 by WEA International.
Produced by Stan Brennan.
Band lineup:
Shane MacGowan - vocals, guitar; Jem Finger - banjo; Spider Stacy - tin whistle; James Fernley - accordion; Cait O'Riordan - bass; Andrew Ranken - drums; Phil Chevron - guitar.
Tracks: 13 (re-released in 2004 with 6 bonus tracks).

Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
Released in August 1985 by MCA.
Produced by Phillip Chevron and Elvis Costello.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 13 (re-released in 2004 with 5 bonus tracks).
Singles:
"A Pair of Brown Eyes" "Sally MacLennane" "Dirty Old Town"

Poguetry in Motion
Released in 1986 by Stiff Records.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 4

If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Released in January 1988 by Island.
Produced by Steve Lillywhite.
Lineup changes:
Darryl Hunt replaced O'Riordan on bass. Terry Wood joined on cittern lute and strings.
Tracks: 15 (Re-released in 2005 with 4 bonus tracks).
Singles:
"Fairytale of New York" "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" "Fiesta"

Peace and Love
Released in July 1989 by Island.
Produced by Steve Lillywhite.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 14 (re-released in 2005 with 6 bonus tracks).
Singles:
"Misty Morning, Alberty Bridge"

Hell's Ditch
Released in November 1990 by Island.
Produced by Joe Strummer.
Lineup changes:
Terry Woods joined on mandolin and guitar.
Tracks: 13 (re-released in 2005 with 7 bonus tracks).
Singles:
"Summer in Siam" "Sunny Side of the Street"

The Best of the Pogues
Compilation album released in September 1991 by Pogue Music Ltd.
Tracks: 14

Waiting for Herb
Released in September 1993 by Chameleon.
Produced by Michael Brook.
Lineup changes:
Spider Stacy replaced Shane MacGowan on vocals.
David Coulter joined on percussion and ukulele.
Michael Brook joined on guitar and keyboards.
Tracks: 12 (re-released in 2004 with 3 bonus tracks).
Singles:
"Tuesday Morning" "Once Upon a Time"
Pogue Mahone
Released in February 1996 by WEA.
Produced by Steve Brown and Stephen Hague.
No lineup changes.
Tracks: 13 (re-released in 2004 with 2 bonus tracks).

Mid-Week Shuffle

1. Tenant Enemy #1 - Dropkick Murphys (from the album Do or Die)
2. Don't You Forget About Me - Rufio (from the album Punk Goes 80s)
3. Eremus - Haste the Day (from the album Pressure the Hinges)
4. Love Removal Machine - The Cult (from the album Electric)
5. Wig Out at Denko's - Dag Nasty (from the album Wig Out at Denko's)
6. Fairytale of New York - No Use for A Name (from the album More Betterness)
7. What Are You So Afraid Of? - The Staggers (from The Sights the Sounds the Fear and the Pain)
8. Linger - The Cranberries (from Stars - The Best of the Cranberries)
9. Extraordinary Girl - Green Day (from American Idiot)
10. My Blue Heaven - Taking Back Sunday (from Louder Now)
11. In A Little While - U2 (from All That You Can't Leave Behind)

Otter's Quote of the Day

"Oh Superman where are you now? When every thing's gone wrong some how. The men
of steel, the men of power. Are losing control by the hour."

- - Genesis "Land of Confusion"

Interesting how a song from the mid-1980s can still be a poignant as it
once back then.

Top 3 Films: Christian Slater

Here is a Top 3 movie list from someone you don't hear much from these days. Such a shame, he had some really good films.

Chronological order again.

Heathers (1989)

In this cult favorite, Slater plays the rebel Jason Dead (J.D.) opposite Winona Ryder's Veronica. It did not do so well at the box office but in 2006 was ranked #5 on Entertainment Weekly's 50 Best High School Movies list.

Pump Up the Volume (1990)

Slater plays the character Mark Hunter aka Happy Harry Hardon. A lot like Heathers, it was not a box office hit but is another modern cult classic in my opinion.

True Romance (1993)

This movie was actually written by Quentin Tarantino but was directed by Tony Scott. Not sure why Tarantino didn't direct this one.

Anyway, Slater plays Clarence Worley, a comic book store clerk that meets up with a prostitute on his birthday and ends up marrying her.

The cast of this movie was huuge! Beside Slater you had Patricia Arquette, Michael Rappaport, Dennis Hopper, James Gandolfini (pre-The Sopranos), Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Brad Pitt, Val Kilmer (although you would probably never recognize him), and Samuel L Jackson. Great movie. Great cast.