The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Yes.
To all those who care out there in the great expanse known as the internet, I am still alive. I've just been either too busy with two jobs, two kids and no sleep to post anything or I've been bummed out with the way the economy has gone.
Some quick updates...
I am no longer unemployed. I am working for a printing company and a well known arts and crafts store doing custom framing.
I am overjoyed at the victory of Barack Obama as the United States new President, and I am very pissed off that someone stole my Obama/Biden sticker from off my back window.
I am ecstatic over the price of gasoline being at a record $1.69 per gallon.
I am painting murals again and loving it.
Hmmm...what else?
Pretty much I am just waiting until this economic crisis blows over. But the company with me in that boat is so full its about to capsize!
Nice to hear from those of you who care enough to post something.
Congrats to Damian for hitting the 10 year mark at Tashman.
Yeeaaa!!
Or something like that.
But for now. Its off to bed for some much needed sleep.

Laid Off!!

One can say being laid off from your job is like breaking up with a significant other. You devote your time and energy into this relationship and hope that the benefits out number the downfalls. You wake up in the morning and spend your time with this "person" in the hopes of getting laid. Or in the case of a job the laid would be paid every one to two weeks. (Though in a personal relationship, that may be grounds for "quitting" your job.)
But when your job lays you off rather suddenly, one can only feel a sense of "Wow! I should have seen that coming." Or "Did I do or forget to do something?" Or "I can't believe their just throwing me away like this!"
But that's what happened. Just like in the movie Office Space, it was the fire them on a Friday ploy.

So now, my wife and I are among the unemployeed popping up all over the country. What a time to be unemployed too. No one's hiring and its a constant stress about money and bills and the kids needing to be fed and diapers and formula. Oh, man! what a time!
I'll keep you all posted.

Obama the Next President of the United States...

The Democratic National Convention is in full swing.
Last night we heard Hillary Clinton giving her full support to Barack Obama and denouncing John McCain. Yes, we all know its about money and fundraising. But maybe this time, the optimist in me hopes, its there real thing.
I have watched the slow decline of the dollar since Bush has come into office. I have seen the civil rights and liberties, of the American people, thrown away in the name of National Security. I have seen families go from being happy and successful to desperate and poor. The price of gasoline has sky rocketed to over $4 a gallon. The value of houses has plummeted and people are losing their homes. Businesses are collapsing. We are borrowing money from the Chinese to pay for the war in Iraq. The military is being asked to fight but on the same hand their benefits are being denied and even taken away.
Then we get someone like John McCain. Talk about four more years of the same thing. He openly announces that he will ask the youth of America to join the military and fight. He jokes about attacking Iran.
How much more can we take?
I'll be honest. I voted for Hillary. But at the time I knew next to nothing about Barack Obama. But over the past few months he has shown a face that is different from the political clones that have been running for a long time. There are days where it is too expensive for me to go to work. As of late, it costs me $10 a day to drive to and from my job. That's $50 a week just for work alone. Factor in grocery shopping and other errands it can sore to $70 - 90 dollars a week on gas. The price of groceries, basic staples has soared as well. Milk, $3.50 to $4.25 a gallon. Bread $2.50 a loaf. Its insane, and I'm sick of eating Mac and Cheese because we have no money. I am long overdue for a raise and with two babies at home, there are times where is seems as if the whole world is against you. Diapers can get very expensive when you have barely enough money for food and formula.
Change.
Its what Obama and the Democrats are promising. I really hope that it is true and not just a campaign.

Daily Distraction #1

How come the all powerful Darth Vader couldn't tell that Palpatine was lying to him about his killing Padme?

China's Glittering Image Slowly Unraveling

Taken From the Canadian Calgary Herald:

Beijing twists reality in quest for perfection

Focus on ideal image makes China look bad

Cam Cole, Canwest News Service

Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The skies may be clearing up over Beijing, but the face China tried to paint on the 2008 Olympic Games is breaking out in blemishes.

Main Street of Happyville turns out to be a collection of expensively built facades, with nothing behind them. Or worse, something awful behind them: a series of very large lies -- and the worst of it is that the Chinese hosts don't even appear to realize how bad they may end up looking to the rest of the world.

The opening ceremony we all gushed over was not what it seemed. Those blazing footprints of fireworks that "walked" in the sky from Tiananmen Square to the Bird's Nest stadium? Pre-recorded and digitally inserted into the telecast.

Fireworks were also digitally enhanced.

Herald Archive, Agence France-Presse, Getty Images

The "sold-out" Olympic events, every ticket gone? An illusion, exposed only when reporters began to notice the squads of identically dressed and thunderstick-equipped cheer squads filling whole sections of seats. Even if some of those were seats designated for Olympic family members -- dignitaries and IOC members who leave seats unused at the lesser sessions is a chronic problem at all Games -- using fake fans to fill them is, at best, a comical notion and at worst an attempt to create a false picture of attendance.

Any minute now, we'll find out we're really in Japan. But the piece de resistance, the most cynical of all of the pieces of fakery at the Beijing Olympics: Agence France-Presse revealed Tuesday that the darling little girl in a red dress who charmed the audience by singing Ode to the Motherland -- a hymn of the revolution -- during the ceremony wasn't singing at all.

Lin Miaoke was lip-synching to the voice of seven-year-old Yang Peiyi, who was rejected by a senior member of the Communist Party's politburo at a rehearsal because she had a chubby face and crooked teeth.

"He told us there was a problem, that we needed to fix it, so we did," said the ceremony's musical director, well-known contemporary composer Chen Qigang, in an interview with a state broadcaster that aired Tuesday.

AFP reported that the interview with Chen appeared briefly on the news website Sina.com before it was apparently wiped from the Internet in China.

"Little Yang Peiyi's failure to be selected was mainly because of her appearance," were among the Chen comments that were made to disappear.

"The reason was for the national interest. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings and expression. Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in terms of voice, Yang Peiyi is perfect, each member of our team agreed."

The French news agency interviewed the director of the China Internet project at the University of California-Berkeley, former dissident Xiao Qiang, who said the substitution of the pretty girl for the unsuitable one "illustrates an important aspect of these Olympic Games. It is all about projecting the right image of China with no respect for honesty or for the audience.

"I do not think the Chinese state realizes how unethical this is, they don't understand what kind of values they are reflecting."

Defenders of these "minor misdirections" say they are hardly unique to China, and the media is just picking on the hosts.

Didn't the late Pavarotti lip-sync his signature Nessun dorma aria from Turandot at the opening ceremony in Turin? Yes. But at least it was his own voice.

Nobody said, "Listen, Luciano, you've kind of let yourself go, and there's not enough time for you to go on the South Beach diet. Julio Iglesias over here is still a good-looking man. We're going to have him lip-sync your song."

All kinds of artists lip-sync their performances. OK, we understand that.

And we got over the Internet censorship. We've accepted that there are certain things on the Net that the Chinese populace is not allowed to see.

We accept that a 21-point censorship plan allegedly distributed to all state media probably exists, even if the spokesperson for Games organizing committee (BOCOG) claims to know nothing about it -- as he also knows nothing about plain-clothes officials reportedly shadowing some reporters, taking pictures of them, and notebooks being confiscated, or why two armoured personnel carriers suddenly appeared, parked outside the media centre, front and back, on Tuesday.

Fine. We're not supposed to know these things.

And maybe, in the larger sense, it's good that however bad the news is about the fakery surrounding the Games to date, at least the news is getting out.

There was some question as to whether that would happen, before the Games began, and so far it has not been an issue.

So, China's defenders say, this is really no big deal.

And that's probably true, as long as you're not Yang Peiyi, who at seven years old has already discovered a hard truth about physical appearance -- and had it drilled into her brain unequivocally, by her government no less, that she may be able to sing, but she's too ugly to represent her nation in public.

Cam Cole is in Beijing as part of the Canwest News Service Olympic Team

© The Calgary Herald 2008

Its all coming out! I love when false ideals are exposed by their own publicity! It smells like...fireworks and burning LCD's!

This Just Found On The Internet...

In what appears to officials as a case of “unprovoked rage” is now seen by others as a “zombie attack”. After the July 30th multiple stabbing attack of seatmate Tim McLean by Vince Weigaung Li, he severed his head and began to “consume his flesh” as heard by leaked Canadian Police tapes that made their way onto You Tube.

No memorial service has been announced at this time for McLean who has been described as “quiet, polite and kind”.

Vince Weiguang Li, 40, is led into the Manitoba Provincial Court in Portage La Prairie on Friday
Source: Msnbc.com

The Dark Knight / The Crow similarities

The Crow - Synopsis:
Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) comes home to fine his beloved soul mate Shelly being brutally raped on the floor of their apartment by a gang of mob rats who where sent to scare them out of their apartment. The mob rats turn on Eric and he is tortured and thrown from the window to his death. The police officer on the case takes a personal interest and develops a close relationship with the young girl who was a close friend of the tragic pair. A year later, when a strange man clad in black and harlequin painted face starts to kill off the mob rats one by one, the two friends work together and uncover the incredible truth that will lead them on a haunting and beautiful journey.
Tragic Victim: Brandon Lee
"On March 31, 1993, while making The Crow, the crew filmed a scene in which Lee's character walked into his apartment and discovered his girlfriend being raped by thugs. Actor Michael Massee, who played one of the film's villains, was supposed to fire a gun at Lee as he walked into his apartment with groceries.
Because the movie's second unit team was running behind schedule, it was decided that dummy cartridges (cartridges that outwardly appear to be functional, but contain no gunpowder) would be made from real cartridges. A cartridge with only a primer and a bullet was fired in the pistol prior to the scene. It caused a squib load, in which the primer provided enough force to push the bullet out of the cartridge and into the barrel of the revolver, where it became stuck.
The malfunction went unnoticed by the crew, and the same gun was used again later to shoot the death scene, having been re-loaded with blanks. Nevertheless, the squib load was still lodged in the barrel, and was propelled by the blank cartridge's explosion out of the barrel and into Lee's body. Although the bullet was traveling much more slowly than a normally fired bullet would be, the bullet's large size and the extremely short firing distance made it powerful enough to fatally wound Lee.
When the blank was fired, the bullet shot out and hit Lee in the abdomen and lodged in his spine. He fell down instantly and the director shouted "Cut!", but Lee did not respond. The cast and crew filming rushed to him and noticed he was wounded. He was immediately rushed to the hospital, Lee’s heart had stopped once on the set and once in the ambulance on the way. Following a six hour operation to remove the bullet and despite being given 60 pints of blood, Lee was pronounced dead at 1:30pm on March 31, 1993.
His funeral was held several days later; he was buried next to his father in Lake View Cemetery, Seattle. The following day, a memorial service was held in Los Angeles.
The shooting was ruled an accident, although many fans suspected foul play. The theory of the Lee "family curse" was also carried over from Bruce Lee's death to Brandon's, as he had died almost 20 years after his father and before the release of the film which catapulted him to stardom." -- Wikipedia

The Dark Knight synopsis:
"Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) continues to eliminate crime in Gotham City with the help of Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). The Dark Knight wants to finally get rid of organized crime for good and be free of their corruption. Batman soon finds that a new psychopathic mastermind known as the Joker (Heath Ledger) has taken over organized crime. After the fall of Carmine Falcone, the remaining crime bosses try to pick up the pieces. However, the Joker is killing them off one by one. The Joker's plan is to terrify the citizens and throw the city into chaos, and then kill Batman. Batman takes the fight with the Joker personal, which makes him confront his own beliefs. The Joker is the most dangerous criminal that Batman has encountered, and he will need all his strength and vigilance to defeat him." -- IMDB
Tragic Victim: Heath Ledger
"At about 2:45 PM on January 22, 2008, Ledger was found unconscious in his fourth-floor loft apartment, at 421 Broome Street, in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Emergency crews arrived soon after but were unable to revive him. He was pronounced dead at 3:36 PM, and his body removed from the apartment, while crowds of onlookers began gathering outside throughout that night.
After two weeks of intense media speculation about possible causes of his death, on 6 February 2008, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York released its conclusions, based on an initial autopsy of January 23, 2008, and a subsequent complete toxicological analysis. The report concludes, in part, "Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine." It also states definitively: "We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications." The medications found in the toxicological analysis are commonly prescribed in the United States for insomnia, anxiety, depression, pain, and/or cold symptoms. The Medical Examiner's Office also announced that it would not be publicly disclosing the official estimated time of death. The official announcement of the cause of Ledger's death heightened concerns about general "abuse of prescription medications." Late in February 2008, a still-ongoing DEA investigation of medical professionals "cleared" two American medics, who practice in Los Angeles and Houston, of "any wrongdoing," determining that "the doctors in question had prescribed Ledger other medications – not the pills that killed him."" -- Wikipedia

Was the added popularity of The Dark Knight at the box office due to the untimely death of Heath Ledger? One can only speculate as the box office earnings of The Dark Knight had Ledger not over-dosed on prescription meds. Batman Begins took in over 448 million at the box office on its opening weekend. While The Dark Knight took in $75.6 million on its opening weekend. Was the added attention of Heath Ledger's death and possible psychological issues with the character an incentive for prospective movie goers?
After the media blitz, in 1994, regarding the accidental shotting of Brandon Lee on the set of The Crow many viewers viewed the movie merely because of the then speculation of where in the movie Lee was murdered. Report of the exact scene was later released months after the movie left theaters.
So what was the draw? What led millions of viewers to movies that contained scenes of an actors last moments of life?
Death. Plain and simple. People are fascinated by it. People will always be fascinated by it. What makes it ever more appealing is that it happened to someone in the prime of their life. Joe Everybody. And it haunts people.
In Twilight Zone - The Movie, produced by Steven Spielberg and individual segments directed by John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller, the film is perhaps best known for the helicopter accident which took the lives of actor Vic Morrow and two illegally-hired child actors during the filming of Landis' segment. The deaths led to high-profile legal action, although in the subsequent trial no one was held criminally culpable for the accident. It was the same media blitz and the same reports of a movie set "curse."
While the truth is, there is no "curse" to speak of. Accidents at work and deaths related to work are not that uncommon. According to a report put out by the American Journal for Public Health in 2000, "in the United States, approximately 65,000 workers die each year of work-related illnesses and injuries, a total of more than 180 work-related deaths each day. Work-related death remains a pressing public health issue in the United States and throughout the world."
So what do we take away from this?
Heath Ledger was not killed by the Joker, like a lot of quick press tabloids will point out. He was killed by stress and possible poor judgment on mixing prescription medication. We've all been there. Sick, with no-one to take care of us, medication and high stress level. It can be a potentially fatal cocktail.

Who Watches The Watchmen?

The Watchmen are coming. The visionary comic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is coming to the big screen March of next year. So far the previews look fantastic. We'll see how it turns out.
So far I am hopeful, it will be a great movie.

Back Pain!

You never realize how much you take your back for granted until is goes out on you. For the past week I've been in such excruciating pain that walking, sitting and even doing simple tasks around the house and office are next to impossible.
Enter the chiropractor.
It was the first time that I had ever been to a chiropractor, so at first I was a bit apprehensive. But a spasm in my lower back quickly changed my mind and I scheduled the appointment.
Upon examination it was determined that my spine was in fact okay. The problem was coming from my sacroiliac. I was told to lie down, on my stomach, on what seemed to look like a massage therapy table. The doctor proceeded to place an electrode on the affected muscle. As I lay on the platform with the electrode zapping my lower back muscle, it was amazing to feel the muscles just seem to melt into relaxation mode. I was left to cook for about 15 - 20 minutes. I could really tell how long because I nearly fell asleep.
The doctor then returned and after removing the electrode, began preforming stretching exercises on my limbs. A leg pulled here, while the arms are pulled the other way. My head was quickly turned left, and then turned the other way again, to produce the loudest bone crack that I have ever heard. Then I was told to stand.
It is safe to say that I was a bit apprehensive about standing. After all, I had already gone through a week with this pain that I sort of knew what to expect. But upon returning to my feet it was a shock to find that the pain was gone and I could stand up straight! For the rest of the day it was as if I just had a mild throb in my back. And that was bearable.
Now, I won't kid you and say that I am totally healed. The pain has returned. But its as if my mental attitude toward it has changed. Its become tolerable. And I can take that until its gone.

Beware of Antivirus XP 2008!!

I was attacked last night. Not by thugs or monsters or wild animals. This was something far worse.
It calls itself Antivirus XP 2008. You get your first look at the sneaky trojan installer as your Spybot Search and Destroy goes on alert. But Antivirus XP 2008, it knew Spybot S&D was there a long time ago. It moves in stealthfully; avoiding your Ad and Mal-aware programs., And you keep clicking Spybot's disable attempt window, because you think maybe its attack is being contained, like adware you've had in the past, and it will be quarantined to be deleted later. But no. Not Antivirus XP 2008. You keep attacking it, and it just fights your Spybot. And that's when the attack comes - - not from the internet, not from the trojan, but from the other applications that were uploading in the background you didn't even know were there.

You see, because this counterfeit is a pack hunter, you see, it uses coordinated attack patterns, and it's out in force today. And it slashes at you with this - -

- - a six-inch retractable claw, like a razor, on the middle toe. They don't bother to bite the jugular, like
a lion, they just slash here, here - -

- - or maybe across the belly, spilling your intestines. Point is, you're alive when they start to eat you.
Whole thing took about four seconds.
So, you know, try to show a little...
Ok, so it didn't really happen quite like that, but the effect it left on my home system was pretty devastating. I'll be doing cleanup on it for a few hours at least. All I can say is beware of the codecs you install, its getting pretty tricky out there.
For those of you affected by this bug, you can find resources to rid yourselves of it at, CNET the only one out there that I really trust. If you find any trustworthy sites, please let me know.

Changes...

I took a long look at the site over the past few weeks of not having anything else to do but studying and caring for a 2 year old and a 1 month old. Some MAJOR cleanups are in store for the next few weeks. Dead links here, old styles there. I have stuff that has needed attention for over 10 years here! Remember that this site has been up since 1998. That's alot of HTML3 hiding here and there.
I've also resumed biking. The mountain bike has pretty much been an on again off again thing with me over the past 20 years or so. But I've been waking up everyday at 6 AM to get my daily 10 miles in. Its something new and out of the norm for me. We'll see how it goes.
Programming is also something new for me. Even though I took programming in college and then all my jobs afterward were anything but computer related, I feel I'm playing catch-up. I basically have to cram 4 years of college level computer programming into about 6 months. Major fun! Python, MySQL, PHP and Linux all at the same time. Programming can be a real challenge with a two year old trying to get at the keyboard.
The cost of gas has also really left us in a pinch as well. The highest I've seen it so far is $4.25 for regular. I'm looking into alternative means of transportation. Who knows, if gas gets upto $5.00 a gallon I just may have to start biking to work again. Or maybe get a motorcycle...hmmm...
But in the meantime the site will be getting an overhaul for the next few weeks. If you all have any ideas feel free to chime in. I could use them.
And by the way...please support my bid for President. Thank you.

Giving veterans school benefits for life

This is from the http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ website.

Giving veterans school benefits for life
Larsen, Cantwell promoting bill

By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY
HEARST NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- As a career counselor for the state of Washington, Vietnam veteran Thomas Noel frequently advises other former service members on how to get ahead in the work force.

Whether they have just returned from tours in Iraq or have been out of the military for decades, Noel's main message to the veterans is always the same: Get an education.

"I see these people every day -- men and women who served our country," says Noel, a veterans employment representative for Washington state. "I tell them, 'You have to go to school.' "

But it's too late for many of these veterans.

Under the Montgomery GI Bill, the federal government picks up some of the tab for veterans to go to college and attend training programs -- but only for 10 years after they were discharged.

The law, first passed in 1944 as a way to help World War II veterans, is now named after former Mississippi Rep. Gillespie "Sonny" Montgomery, who helped lead an update of the statute in 1984.

Some lawmakers in Congress now want to get rid of that 10-year use-it-or-lose-it deadline.

Washington Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen and Sen. Maria Cantwell are sponsoring legislation that would allow veterans to use the GI Bill's education benefits anytime after leaving military service.

Dubbed the "GI Bill for Life," their measure has drawn support from a wide variety of veterans groups, including the American Legion and the Military Officers Association of America. It is co-sponsored in the House by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Ron Paul, R-Texas. In the Senate, co-sponsors include Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.

Larsen said the deadline for using educational benefits under the GI Bill is "arbitrary" and doesn't meet the needs of recent and longtime veterans. Returning veterans may put off their post-military education so they can begin new jobs or because they are recovering from injuries -- even while the GI Bill clock is running.

"These are veterans who are coming back to the U.S. to whom we owe a great debt," Larsen said in an interview. "And the debt we owe them shouldn't expire because of an artificial timeline."

Cantwell said veterans who want to keep up with a rapidly changing work force should be able to use their GI Bill education benefits long after being discharged.

Under the current law, veterans can get up to 36 months of payments for college, technical or vocational training and apprenticeship programs. The benefits top out at $1,075 per month.

Service members who wish to take advantage of the GI Bill agree to have $1,200 deducted from their pay during their first year in the military. That money cannot be refunded.

Noel said the time limits catch many veterans off guard.

Larsen and Cantwell's legislation could become part of a broader bill revamping benefits for veterans.

The Bush administration has opposed the measure as too expensive.

The Department of Veterans Affairs said it cannot estimate the proposal's price tag because there is no way to predict how many people would go to school or get training more than 10 years after leaving military service.

At the State of the Union Address in January, President Bush called for some changes to the GI Bill -- including allowing veterans to transfer their benefits to other immediate family members. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, immediately introduced legislation that would allow the benefit transfers.


NOW THESE ARE SOME OF THE COMMENTS...

Posted by DonnaWanna at 2/19/08 9:42 p.m.

Our serice members pay for this benefit out of their miserly pay checks. I see no reason to cut them off because they were unable, for whatever reason, to take advantage of this benefit within 10 years from separating from service.

I support our service members. I think we should give them the benefit they have paid for.

Posted by Jazz Fan at 2/19/08 11:14 p.m.

Good idea. It's senseless to limit the time in which a vet can continue his or her education.

Posted by Wonk at 2/20/08 11:57 a.m.

The average cost of a four-year degree at a public university is about $50,000--including books, tuition, fees, transportation, and housing. That same four-year degree increases an individual's yearly income from ~$30k to about $52k annually.

A hypothetical veteran is separated from service on his 22nd birthday. He takes 12 years to go back to school. He is 38 when he graduates from college and returns to the workforce. He works for 29.5 years, making $52,500 per year, never once getting a pay increase.

At retirement, he has paid about $166,000 more tax than he would have had he not gotten his degree. So, for every "gimme, gimme, gimme" tax dollar that paid for his education, he paid back three--more if you include salary increases.

That seems like a pretty good investment to me.

NOW THERE IS ALWAYS AN IDIOT...

Posted by Ze_Germans at 2/20/08 9:20 p.m.

I disagree, ten years is long enough. If they do extend it beyond that, the veteran should still be restricted to four years of benefits, just like it is now. No free handouts for life.


MY RESPONSE

I served in the Air Force for four years. I did my time and got an Honorable Discharge. I also paid into the GI Bill, as well as a few other options that have gone by the wayside. It was hard earned money that went into that bill, for what I thought at that time, I knew I would need in the future when I finally settled on a career path and needed to go back to school. I never thought that it would have an expiration date. Let alone be expiring two months before I planned to go back to school.

In all honest truth, I feel as if I was robbed. Yes, there are some of you out there who agree with what the last person said, but it is not a free hand out. I as well as countless military members and veterans have invested years of their lives in the hope of their future education only to have it expire before they can use it.
"10 years is enough time. You should have used it already."
Let's see. When I left the military, I had no idea that I'd be getting divorced. That I'd have to work 3 jobs just to scrape by. Or that I'd have to relocate, forget about school, get married again and raise two children, all while working full time. And now that gas is forcing every price across the board to sky rocket, its to the point that driving far to work isn't worth the job.

For those of you who are veterans please go to this HERE and
and contact your state representative and tell them this is an important issue that needs to be passed.

Reality TV

American Idol
Project Runway
Big Brother
Survivor
All the Judge shows
Cops
America's Next Top Model
Flavor of Love
The Real World

Do I have to go on?
That's all thats on TV now a days. Yeah, I know that the writer's strike had alot to do with it, but this beats all. There are a few of these shows that are any good. The rest are just plain garbage. I mean, come on! Flavor of Love?! Its trash. He's supposedly looking for the love of his life...every season. The Bachelor? The Bachlorette? Junk.
I have a great idea for a Reality TV series. Lock seven people in a rooms with TV's that show nothing but reality crap and see how long it takes before they kill each other.
I'll call it The Real World : Murder Box.

Its TV like this that makes me thankful for Playstation, XBox, books, an outdoors, etc. Who's up for a game of Halo 3?

DoomsdayVault/Chrono Trigger

Read this article first...

Now, doesn't that sound a little familiar? Like an part of an old Super Nintendo Game called Chrono Trigger?

After WW3, sometime in the future, a valiant group is sent to recover the seeds.

They face a number of puzzles and eventually have to defeat the Guardian of the facility to complete their quest.

Only to find that something has gone wrong a long time ago.
Only one seed of HOPE survives. Will that be enough?

Now drive off in your hovercar...

$3.25 and Up for Gas!

This morning I stopped at a local convenience store to get some gas. I got to reminiscing about the days when my $20.00 would fill up my car AND allow me to purchase other things like, coffee or food or whatever. Now $20.00 gives me a paltry 6.15 gallons of gas. Meaning, in my 30 mile a day to and from work I will use up approximately 2 gallons of that twenty dollar "fill up" a day, making have to refill around a day and a half later, if I don't want to take it down to empty.
I don't believe that I have filled up my gas tank to full ever since gas has gone to $3.00 and up. It has to do with seeing $50 on the gas pump that would most likely freak me out to the point I'd probably begin shouting at the machine, fruitlessly, and my last string of sanity would finally break, sending me into a downward spiral of rage that would most likely end up on the 5 o'clock news, showing my car on the highway being chased by the police and helicopters.
The news says that the price is only going to escalate as the summer wears on. Personally, I find it more than coincidental that the prices have gone up around the time tax refunds are going out. And I guarantee that they will be going up when this $600 rebate hits the mail around the end of May.

I FIND IT AMAZING...

that in this day and age of high technology, where anyone can reach anyone at anytime and anywhere, there are those few people in areas of business that do not answer emails, respond to phone calls, or check their voice mail. In this time sensitive day and age its is just inconceivable that people would do that. Call it irresponsibility or just plain ineptitude. Personally, I've about had it. Even though there is really nothing that can be done besides get the person into trouble and then if its not their fault you end up being the bad guy and depending on what the business is it throws that into jeopardy.
Gotta love the modern age!