Monday, October 31, 2005

Why is this so true?

I received this in my email today. Why is this so true about the hurricanes the last two months?


2 States, 22 Observations:
Things I have noticed while watching media coverage of the recent hurricanes.

1. Texas: Productive industrious state run by Republicans.

Louisiana: Government dependent welfare state run by Democrats.
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2. Texas: Residents take responsibility to protect and evacuate themselves.

Louisiana: Residents wait for government to protect and evacuate them.
--------------------------
3. Texas: Local and state officials take responsibility for protecting their
citizens and property.

Louisiana: Local and state officials blame federal government for not protecting
their citizens and property.
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4. Texas: Command and control remains in place to preserve order.

Louisiana: Command and control collapses allowing lawlessness.
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5. Texas: Law enforcement officers remain on duty to protect city.

Louisiana: Law enforcement officers desert their posts to protect themselves.
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6. Texas: Local police watch for looting.

Louisiana: Local police participate in looting.
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7. Texas: Law and order remains in control, 8 looters tried it, 8 looters
arrested.

Louisiana: Anarchy and lawlessness breaks out, looters take over city, no
arrests, criminals with guns have to be shot by federal troops.
--------------------------
8. Texas: Considerable damage caused by hurricane.

Louisiana: Considerable damage caused by looters.
--------------------------
9. Texas: Flood barriers hold preventing cities from flooding.

Louisiana: Flood barriers fail due to lack of maintenance allowing city to
flood.
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10. Texas: Orderly evacuation away from threatened areas, few remain.

Louisiana: 25,000 fail to evacuate, are relocated to another flooded area.
--------------------------
11. Texas: Citizens evacuate with personal 3 day supply of food and water.

Louisiana: Citizens fail to evacuate with 3 day supply of food and water, do
without it for the next 4 days.
--------------------------
12. Texas: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State officials
provide accessible distribution points.

Louisiana: FEMA brings in tons of food and water for evacuees. State officials
prevent citizens from reaching distribution points and vice versa.
--------------------------
13. Louisiana: Media focuses on poor blacks in need of assistance, blames Bush.

Texas: Media can't find poor blacks in need of assistance, looking for something
else to blame on Bush.
--------------------------
14. Texas: Coastal cities suffer some infrastructure damage, Mayors tell
residents to stay away until ready for repopulation, no interference from
federal officials.

Louisiana: New Orleans is destroyed, Mayor asks residents to return home as
another hurricane approaches, has to be overruled by federal officials.
--------------------------
15. Louisiana: Over 400 killed by storm, flooding and crime.

Texas: 24 killed in bus accident on highway during evacuation, no storm related
deaths.
--------------------------
16. Texas: Jailed prisoners are relocated to other detention facilities outside
the storm area.

Louisiana: Jailed prisoners are set free to prey on city shops, residents, and
homes.
--------------------------
17. Texas: Local and state officials work with FEMA and Red Cross in recovery
operations.

Louisiana: Local and state officials obstruct FEMA and Red Cross from aiding in
recovery operations.
--------------------------
18. Texas: Local and state officials demonstrate leadership in managing disaster
areas.

Louisiana: Local and state officials fail to demonstrate leadership, require
federal government to manage disaster areas.
--------------------------
19. Texas: Fuel deliveries can't keep up with demand, some run out of gas on
highway, need help from fuel tankers before storm arrives.

Louisiana: Motorists wait till storm hits and electrical power fails. Cars run
out of gas at gas stations that can't pump gas. Gas in underground tanks mixes
with flood waters.
--------------------------
20. Texas: Mayors move citizens out of danger.

Louisiana: Mayor moves himself and family to Dallas.
--------------------------
21. Texas: Mayors continue public service announcements and updates on
television with Governor's backing and support.

Louisiana: Mayor cusses, governor cries, senator threatens president with
violence on television, none of them have a clue what went wrong or who's
responsible.
--------------------------
22. Louisiana: Democratic Senator says FEMA was slow in responding to 911 calls
from Louisiana citizens.

Texas: Republican Senator says "when you call 911, the phone doesn't ring in
Washington, it rings here at the local responders".
--------------------------
What if state and local elected officials were forced to depend on themselves
and their own resources instead of calling for help from the federal government?
Texas cities would be back up and running in a few days.
Louisiana cities would still be under water next month.
Republicans call for action, Democrats call for help.
What party will you be voting for in the next election?

Pretty much hits the nail on the head doesn't it?

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Bad Luck Streak Continues...

Can you believe this? I came home to look at the bank account and my wife's ATM card was used 4 times in Estonia?? What the hell is that?

We're getting the money back, but dude, c'mon, Estonia?? How the heck does this happen? Something to do with the Russians in Sacramento I guess. I don't know.

It could be 2002 all over again. I had my last concussion, we were robbed, a tree fell on my truck, and I was shot at on the way home one day, exploding my passenger window.

Got me thinking of that Social D song, Bad Luck. "Always scratching at the 8-ball".

Let's see what happens next?

Saturday, October 29, 2005

When liberals go bad...

Anyone paying attention to what's going on in California right now? We have vote coming up on November 8th on 4 ballot measures that have a chance to make real change for once in California.

Propostions 74, 75, 76, 77 have been proposed by Schwarzenegger to balance our budget, stop unions from spending money with out their member's consent, state redistricting to even out the vote and make politicians accoutable, a balanced budget that actually will help schools and revamped teacher tenure program that will increase the time need for tenure and will help a principal get rid of bad teachers.

See a full description here.


So why the "When liberals go bad" post. Thanks to "The Political Teen" blog and Michelle Malkin for picking this one up. This is a video of a protester at a "No on 74,75,76,77 rally". Now we all see the protesters at Bush speeches, Republican Conventions and so on and so forth. The people get their chance to speak and when they are disruptive, they are peacefully removed. Well the tables have turned on this one. Here is a Arnold supporter at this "No" rally and watch the security guard in the orange... Watch how these Stalinists stifle the poor woman. How sick is that? See video here.

Conservative thought is supposed to be bad, right? Then what the hell is this?? Where is the protection of the First Amendment here? It does not exist!!

Friday, October 28, 2005

How awesome is this?

Read this...

Only in America!!

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Observations Part 28: Head Trauma

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Dazed and Confused for so Very Long...

My wife and I have been married for over 5 years. Today she took me to the emergency room for the 7th time since we were married (she went once on her own and I took her because of that horrific bike accident). And today it was the third time for a concussion... Sweet!!

Is that love or what? I used the hockey picture to symbolize that. You know... being helped off the ice once in a while is a good thing. We all need to help each other...

What was I saying?

Anyhow.. My wife and I have been married for over 5 years and she took me to the emergency room again for a concussion. Wait... I just said that...

No seriously, I am totally fine. I used the hockey picture to symbolize...

(I'll stop now...but it's kinda funny)

Concussions suck. I know this because I have had a pretty good one before. I was at work this morning and I had to stand up and get out of the way of something real fast and I conked my noggin. Normally, I wouldn't have questioned it as I have hit my head a few times before. This one had that feeling once again, I can't explain, you may not understand... This is not how I am. (Comfortably Numb...lol). I saw stars as a ran about 20 feet into a wall. Very perplexing. I have about a 4 inch bump about 1 inch high just pounding my head. I have that spacey feeling. Not as bad as the big one I had 3 years ago but I know what I am in for the next few weeks now: Headaches. And let me tell you I am a pro at these things. Headaches suck. I have been pretty good with them for the last 4 or 5 months. I started this blog actually over headaches on my very first post. Man, that was like 140 plus posts ago. We'll see how it goes...





Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Just write something....

As you can tell from my previous posts I am suffering from writer's block. I don't know what the hell to write about these days. I mean, seriously, my last post, I cut and pasted my freaking iPod Top 25 list as noted on my Mac Mini. What the hell was that?

I think I am burning up of lot of good energy being patient these days. My job is going well. The weather has been good. My letter to the landscaping company still farting around my house actually worked. It's amazing what contractors do when you push back. Nothing tells the story more than when someone over promises and under delivers. I mean those fools digging the holes and laying the bricks said they'd be done when we got back from Hawaii. Hmmm, that was the 11th... it's the 25th. They are behind and with the pending rain, hmmm... they may not make it to Halloween... Anyone wanna bet? Speaking of Halloween:

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I rebuilt my stairs this passed weekend. It did it all by my little self. I used redwood so I didn't freak out the historical preservation society. (I used screws instead of nails!) My house is what's called a high water house, down here in Sacramento. It was built high because of flooding so the bottom level, which I use now for a garage and tv/family room/office/storage/wine cellar/whatever, was not filled in as it is today. The house is 95 years old (possibly older) as I mentioned a few weeks back. My stairs were rotting through, it was time to replace the treads. I thought it was time to fix them before the kids came by on Halloween for their annual begging at my doorstep for candy. FYI if you need razor blades and Halloween Candy, do NOT purchase these at the same time, at the same store. Not a good idea... Anyhow the stairs were a safety hazard and the kids walking up could have tripped. Knowing the liberals in this neighborhood, I could be sued for this on the grounds that it is the kid's right of free speech to come to the doorstep and beg for candy, in costume, and have fun. I'd be sued for the loss of fun if the kid tripped. Freaking pagan holidays. I was thinking about laying on the porch with a fake knife in my back with fake blood everywhere and have the front door wide open with living room all trashed. That'd be funny....

What else?

Oh... hey, we're going to Disneyland soon. We booked the tickets last night to fly. You can now fly to John Wayne Airport in Orange County from Sacramento. We're gonna have fun. Space Mountain has been redone so it should be cool.


Sunday, October 23, 2005

Top 25 Songs on my iPod

Tiny Dancer (Newport Ri 7/6/02 Newport Music Festival) 5:23 Ben Folds Ben Folds Live Rock 100 21 10/18/05 9:26 PM

Jesus Of Suburbia / City Of The Damned / I Don't Care / Dearly Beloved / Tales Of Another Broken Home 9:08 Green Day American Idiot Alternative & Punk 20 10/7/05 4:26 PM

Sing 3:49 Travis Travis: Singles Alternative 19 10/5/05 1:50 PM

Holiday 3:52 Green Day American Idiot Alternative & Punk 17 10/18/05 7:32 PM

Are We The Waiting 2:42 Green Day American Idiot Alternative & Punk 17 10/17/05 9:35 PM

Seven Days 4:38 Cracker Hello, Cleveland (Forever - Bonus Disc) Rock 16 10/6/05 5:16 AM

The Good Life 3:49 Cracker Hello, Cleveland (Forever - Bonus Disc) Rock 15 10/6/05 5:20 AM

American Idiot 2:54 Green Day American Idiot Alternative & Punk 15 10/2/05 4:42 PM

The Scientist 5:09 Coldplay A Rush Of Blood To The Head Alternative & Punk 14 10/20/05 9:36 PM

Red Dirt Girl 4:17 Emmylou Harris Red Dirt Girl Country 14 10/21/05 9:35 PM

Ghost Riders in the Sky 6:15 Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson Country 14 10/10/05 4:20 PM

In My Place 3:48 Coldplay A Rush Of Blood To The Head Alternative & Punk 13 10/20/05 9:26 PM

Green Eyes 3:43 Coldplay A Rush Of Blood To The Head Alternative & Punk 13 10/10/05 5:41 PM

Boulevard Of Broken Dreams 4:20 Green Day American Idiot Alternative & Punk 13 10/7/05 4:34 PM

Always On My Mind 4:05 Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson VH1 Storytellers: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson Country 13 10/5/05 1:34 PM

running to stand still 4:30 U2 Live 13 10/5/05 9:27 AM

Lonesome Johnny Blues 2:58 Cracker Hello, Cleveland (Forever - Bonus Disc) Rock 12 10/3/05 6:17 PM

I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now 4:45 Emmylou Harris Red Dirt Girl Country 12 10/21/05 9:27 PM

My Baby Needs a Shepherd 4:37 Emmylou Harris Red Dirt Girl Country 12 10/21/05 9:40 PM

St. Jimmy 2:55 Green Day American Idiot Alternative & Punk 12 10/7/05 4:40 PM

Letterbomb 4:06 Green Day American Idiot Alternative & Punk 12 10/7/05 4:53 PM

Spill the Wine 4:07 The Animals & Eric Burdon & War The Animals - Retrospective Rock 100 11 10/6/05 5:12 AM

House of the Rising Sun 4:31 The Animals The Animals - Retrospective Rock 11 10/2/05 8:40 PM

Not The Same 4:17 Ben Folds Rockin' The Suburbs Rock 100 11 10/3/05 6:45 PM

Politik 5:18 Coldplay A Rush Of Blood To The Head Alternative & Punk 11 10/20/05 9:22 PM

Friday, October 21, 2005

Red Dirt Girl: Album Review #3

Or 4 or 5, God I don't know. I think I reviewed the latest Social Distortion album, U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, Green Day's American Idiot and System of a Down. That's a whole lot of Rock N Roll. So I'll side step a bit to Country:

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This album came out in 2000. My wife stumbled upon in it back when we got our first house by reading about it in the New Yorker. It got some very outstanding reviews when it came out. If there was ever a piece of music that you can say will stand the test of time, this is one of them. I don't know which part of the album is the best but Emmylou Harris put down some great lyrics and some smooth poetry to some of the most haunting sounds in modern music.

It's one of those albums that you can put in the cd player and not skip a song even if you were sure you hated country music. I noticed it is a mainstay on my iPod next to my Social D and Cracker music that I have spewed throughout my little sound box. If there is a track that stands out to me it would be the title track, Red Dirt Girl. The acoustic guitar with the thumping bass line and that resonating distorted guitar in the background start it off and then Emmylou's fantastic voice comes in. It sounds to me like it's a song about a best friend and some dreams, who's life has gone to tragedy. A dark song with a tremendous story about a girl in Alabama. Dreams, drugs, failure and death it's all there to fall apart together. Emmylou's voice on the choruses soar out of your speakers. If you have this album, keep your ear on that distorted guitar backing her... I think it bleeds the pain of the song.

"Bang the Drum Slowly" is another solid song. Borrowing a lyric from an old classic, "Streets of Laredo" she seems to sorta re-tell that story a little different.

The other highlight is the song "My Antonia" in which she is joined by Dave Matthews. The contrast between Dave's hippy blues voice and Emmylou's soaring crisp tones is awesome. They tell a sweet story of lost love. Not the story from the famous book but an original song who's beauty lies in the fact that the two characters in the story come to life through Emmylou's and Dave's voice... The power of Emmylou's voice is incredible in this story... I think that's Springsteen's harmonica on this track too as it gives him a credit on this album.

"Boy from Tupelo" is obviously about Elvis... What away to end an album with a nod to the King.

Looking for a good fall weather album, go grab this one. Almost guaranteed to be your favorite to but hey it's good stuff...



Thursday, October 20, 2005

Tree Hugging, Hippy Crap!!!

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It's as good as the one's at the concerts...

I went for a walk this evening to get some dinner. We do this a lot. Been warm here for late October so it was still like 75 degrees at 6pm. Anyhow, there is like this little grocery store around the corner that has a lot of good food. We cruised over with the dog and I went in. I bought a slab of fresh lasagna, some cereal, some bread and the little bucket of frozen crack above. Oh man, this is good stuff. Vanilla Ice Cream with some brownie dough and this raspberry swirl that'll keep ya trippin for hours after... Damn it's good.

On a lighter note, the season premiere of South Park was absolutely hilarious. My favorite part was the Spartacus parody at the end with the "I broke the dam" lines. I sometimes wish I had the vision they do, to look at the world that way and take a giant crap on the whole thing. At the point you think they are being hideous little liberals they start poking fun at liberals from a conservative perspective. Stan's dad, drawing the lines on the map was unbelievable! How do they get away with it.

Gonna go watch it again on TiVo with my bucket o'fun from Ben and Jerry's here...

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Staged TV Broadcasts...

Remember the flack about Bush's "staged" interview with the troops? Apparently the reporters that tell us this kind of crap, you know, with the "unbiased" opinions have a little problem with a "staged" broadcast they are trying to make. In fact, they STAGE all the broadcasts even live ones, watch your local news during a storm sometime . But notice how they make the flooding seem so bad in New Jersey..., until the dudes walk by in barely ankle deep water!!

See video from Big Boys here.

Liberal media, exposed again.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Home Improvement and a Lesson in Contract Reading

Oh brother, no matter how good a home improvement company is make sure they read the contract they give to you. My God, I have no room for incompetence. I am getting some customized, overdone landscaping project installed at my house. It's like Over-Haulin but for the yard and that hot chick who talks too much on that show isn't here. (She isn't on the show anymore because she got kicked off, some new hot chick is in her place for season 3) I literally had a company completely excavate my entire yard, soil, cement and miscellaneous junk I had piled up here and completely start over, irrigation, new cement, brick walls and lighting, all of it. 140 some odd plants, shrubs and trees..

My question though, why can't contractors read what they put in contracts? I swear to God, I had them widen my drive way and for days my contractor made me look like a fool because I was requesting that since he widened the drive way, he could at least fill it in with some freaking cement or else the widening he did defeated the purpose since the BMW isn't 4 wheel drive. I am paying top dollar here, why wouldn't expect it, since it was in the contract? He had referred to the contract as "legal jargon". No shit Sherlock!!! We went back and forth for a few minutes. And I got off the phone in a huff. He flat out did not want to lay the cement down in my drive way with out charging me for it. With out concrete my front drive way would be a cess pool by January with all the rain we get. My in-laws came over yesterday and I had quickly cleaned the house and thrown the contracts on the floor in the other room, next to the litter box. A cat peed on the contract. So I had to read this contract carefully through the pee and called the contractor back. I said, hey, look at page 2 of the front yard contract. He's reading along and I say, yeah where is that 32 sq ft pad of concrete on the map y' all drew? He's like I don't know let me look here. After a few patient seconds he says, "Gee I don't know". I said great, since ya charged me for it, and don't know where it goes, why don't ya put it in that 32 square foot strip in my drive way ya dug out?!? Oh he says, we can do that... Freaking savages...

Friday, October 14, 2005

Number 20,000 visited today...

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Steve reaches 20,000 visitors

I am not one to celebrate meaningless milestones but in less than one year, (351 days to be exact) I reached the 20,000 unique visitor mark. I started this blog as a way to relieve some stress and to test some nerves and even acquire a nice little hobby.

What a little hobby it has been. You can learn a lot from other bloggers and get into quite a few heated discussions, which is what we all need in life, more discussion about the things in this world. I know I get a bit political, I try to be funny but I think the best comments I get are from when I get a little personal about my life. It's hard not to say so much personal because some whack job can come out and steal your identity or something. (Here is me).

Since now I have gone on blathering like a fool, I'd like to thank the following blogs in no particular order, because they are my daily reads and read mine almost frequently. (Sorry, I am watching!)

Bring It On (Gulp!) The most out-spoken, liberal blog on the planet right now. They hate me so much, they love me. I first drew an "attack" from them when I wrote about BuyBlue.org and how sorry their organization was. Then I discovered them over Terri Schiavo and the rest was history. Quite an interesting take on politics. For some reason they aren't always wrong. Just ask them, they'll tell you. Disagree, then DUCK!!! Hey it's one of my favorite reads... (Thanks for not booting me Bastard)

Stop The ACLU
The antithesis of Bring It On, Jay and Gribbit are great and are doing an awesome grassroots effort in getting the word out to stop the ACLU. Sure, the ACLU wants to help the little guy out, the little guy is just plotting to kill you, your neighbor, the President and stop you from being so free while sitting in his cell in Gitmo. Yeah, it's good to stop these communist bastards before they run the police stations.

The Kevin Show What's better than the youth of our country grasping the idea of conservative politics? This kid sounds a lot like Eric Cartman from South Park sometimes with his "die, hippy scum rhetoric" but it's glad to see someone young that is politically active. The best thing, he's from California!!! Awesome... (beat them Angels)

Pure Gonzo Engineering I think lawryde was pissed at me when he discovered my blog because of some political crap I had written. I think he gets me now. I sort of think by reading his blog he is me in bizarro world, without the cube face. He's got a baby coming, go donate!!

Michael The ArchAngel
This guy is a damn good writer and I just keep going back. I just get it.

Starfire Vince is funnier than hell. I just recently discovered his blog so I keep reading. I can't wait until he finishes the story about picking up a chick at KFC and going out on a Harley. About the funniest thing I read since his last post before that... and the one before that... and the...

Cao's Blog If you didn't hear it today on Rush you probably can about it here. Cao's got an amazing blog and posts way more than one person should in a given day. Never taking a day off, she can show you some incite that is far greater than the MSM

If I missed your blog... Sorry... I could go on for a long time. I wanna thank each and every visitor, even if for only 30 seconds.




Thursday, October 13, 2005

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Hurricane Katrina: It's not funny!!!


But.... If this is the mentality of the victims of the hurricane, floating on a piece of plywood with your prized possessions, no wonder there were problems. Honestly, can you blame FEMA for this?

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Osama dead?

Quick post as I am heading to the beach. The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel rocks! Click title for the article on Osama.

Is Osama dead? Has the earthquake killed him. This would be awesome but...

The liberals in this country would finally stop blaming natural disasters on Bush. Think about it. Katrina was his fault, so was the tsunami and the eventual spread of bird flu across the US. All his fault. Since Bush has ALL the power to cause these events, couldn't he have caused this to happen and finally kill Osama? Oh no, not this time. Bush didn't do this one. No credit this time... They will not blame this one on him if in fact, Osama was crushed by millions of pounds of rock as his cave collapsed. Goes to show the irratic inconsistencies of the left.

We shall see what has happened soon...

Friday, October 07, 2005

Observations Part 27: Diane Feinstein: I had my chance and I blew it


The Southern Most Point of the United States. Hawaii
I took this yesterday afternoon.

So I am in the airport the other day, right? And I am walking out of a book store with my copy of the Economist and a 911 Porsche magazine. I was studying the cover of the magazine and not paying attention to where I was going and BAM!!!! US. Senator Dianne Feinstein. There she was, right there. I made a double take and she smiled when I said excuse me. I made the second look to be sure it was her. Still my wife and I couldn't believe it. We followed her to her gate. It appeared she had an assistant and some other lady following her. So I tailed her. Dianne walked along smiling and nodding at the few people that noticed her. I couldn't figure out who the other lady was but she was hammering the Senator on gun control. I heard bits and pieces. I even heard the lady say something like, "Take away military gun collections" but I cannot be sure. The lady kept going on and the Senator never made an audible response. The Senator's gate was next to ours and I watched as she waited for other people to board.

I was amazed by the lady hammering her. It must have been an ACLU lobbyist or lawyer. She was well dressed and looked educated but was right in Feinstein's ear the whole time.

Feinstein to me is better than that wench from California, Boxer. If that was the ACLU barking at her though, I don't need to see that first hand since the ACLU is the most irrational political group. Again, though I don't know what I heard for sure.

I know what I would ask though:

1. Why is Boxer so evil?
2. If you voted for the war, than why not show absolute support so we can end it sooner instead of watching the political process muck up our government?
3. Why in your mind was Roberts such a bad pick? I bet it wasn't over abortion, I bet it was a political stand right? Some Democrats with power just HAD to vote no, right? But then when he makes a good landmark decision that you lobbied for, you'll praise him right?
4. Why is Boxer so evil?

Enough of that... back to vacation. More pictures to be available here. Stay tuned.Posted by Picasa

Sunday, October 02, 2005

This is too funny!!

Check out this new trailer for the Shining. Makes ya wanna go out and see it now!!

Regarding the Spyware: I killed the Son of a Bitch...

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Die Spyware Die!!


After stressing out and dealing with the stupid winfixer 2005 spyware for more than 2 weeks, I took it down this afternoon. I took it down with Hijack This, KillBox, and Process Explorer. The only anti-spyware company that could find the corrupted process was Ewido. I had a bit of help from them to double check that I was identifying the correct processes that were corrupted. Great customer service and much better than dealing with Microsoft or some IT geek.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Observations Part 26: Wake Me Up When September Ends...

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Green Day's Concert in Sacramento, last night!!

I am in serious pain this morning. My head feels like it's about to explode. The hearing may come back later. I don't know.... My ribs are bruised, my back hurts, my feet are killing me and my voice is dry and scratchy this morning. I've curled up with some Naproxen and a heating pad. It was worth it though... It was a very awesome concert.

Some friends of mine and my older brother went to the show last night at Arco Arena in Sacramento. Green Day always puts on a great show. I have seen this guys a few times and have been to dozens of concerts. This one ranks up with U2's Zoo TV Tour in 1992 and the last leg of the Elevation Tour U2 had and a Dave Matthews Show here at Arco some time back. The energy of the Green Day is unbelievable and their sound last night was explosive. Didn't care for the politcal bullshit they had to announce. I do admire their insistence on young people voting, but to "vote the idiots out" is a bit of wasted energy because one would have to know who the idiots are. The American Idiot, Billie Joe writes about is the guy that complains but didn't vote.

I felt old down there in the pit though my brother is like 5 years older down there with me. I was ready though. I pounded a few Guinnesses and some $9 Ale they were pedalling in the Arena. I wore my steel toed boots and I was ready to swing it if needed; there is always someone that likes to fight down there. Trick to rushing the pit or stage at a concert. Wait until it starts!!! So many people get down there early to get in front of the stage to "get close". As soon as a headliner like Green Day, hits the stage a wall of people will push you further in the center, spilling people on the sides out and making all the cry babies start whining. This isn't good for the early arrivers because they have been wasting energy getting their "spot" 2 hours before the show. As soon as the band hits, rush the sides!!! We did this last night and were in prime viewing along the rail, just left of center in the stage, counting pimples on Billie Joe's ass. 4 of us were locked down, front row in 3 minutes while the ruckus was being stirred behind us.

I'm hurting today though... I don't know what the hell happened or why my back and ribs are so sore. I mean, well, there is a bruise on my ribs that were smashed against the rail. I lifted a few people out that couldn't take it. I was soaking wet when it ended. My friend Josh looked as if he went swimming in his close.

Some of the high points, and there are too many to list were Green Day's solid performance of Jesus of Suburbia. Sounded like the record. Billie Joe also, as he does at every show, got some people up on the stage to play the cover of Operation Ivy's Knowledge. They gave the kid who was like 15 a guitar. I am sure it made his day. I got nailed in the face with a water gun from Billie Joe. The performance of "Wake Me Up When September Ends" was absolutely awesome. We all turned on our cell phones and the whole stadium was lit up by them. What a way to end September as well. Billie Joe's performance of Time of Your Life was really cool because he did it on an electric guitar.

Great fun... I'm feelin the pain though...