Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Throwin' Away The Hamiltons.

*I was going to post this earlier, but Blogger was acting up like a crack head on the 1st and 15th*


With family visiting from California we (the local family) needed something to do with them, and what better way to bond than with gambling. So we, (mom, 3 siblings, 2 aunts, 2 grandparents, 3 cousins, and 1 girlfriend), took a trip to Mohegan Sun.

I've never done well with gambling, and by never done well I mean the one time I blew through $40CAN in about 10 minutes while at a casino in Montreal. However, when you consider the exchange rate I may have actually come out ahead that time. Last night was no different. I signed up for the Mohegan Sun Players Club, and received a free $10 pre-paid AMEX card to spend anywhere at the casino, just not the gas station. (But gas was $3.99 a gallon, so I wouldn't bother anyway.) From there on it was down hill. I quickly went up $4.25, but even quicker I went down one Hamilton. Meanwhile my girlfriend was down $3.75 when she won $80 on a Monopoly Slot, and called it quits while $76 ahead. One of my cousins won about $100 on the tables, this was after being down $50, so she came out $50 ahead. I just got worse though. Before I knew it I was down $22. I figured it was time to quit, but then I started to win again, I was only down $19. That's when I called it quits. I used my free $10 on food, and I consider myself as only coming home down $9. Not bad for a fun night of gambling. Maybe next time won't loose.

On the bright side, my girlfriend will be treating me to Sushi for dinner tonight. Looks like I'm a winner after all, or at least that's what my mom always says.


I almost forgot to mention Kansas was playing a free concert at the casino while we were there. Before seeing them for all of 2 minutes, I almost forgot how much I hate Kansas. If I ever have to hear "Dust in the Wind" again I could kill a mid-westerner.

Don't Hassel the Hoff.

Check out this video. The best part is when he starts to dance infront of the shooting stars, and then the American flag.


I Love Kit!!

A Bat?

Two nights ago I was driving home, at around 11:45. I wouldn't say I live in a rural area, but it can be wooded. I see animals all the time, I saw a coyote earlier that day. I see deer on a regular basis, and dead raccoons and opossums are a regular sight on the side of the road. What I don't see often are Bats. Well I saw one the other night, and I was the last thing it saw. First the details. I was coming around a corner on a very secluded/ dark road, and what did I see in front of me? It was either a) a gigantic moth b) a retarded bird or c) a bat. I tried to slow down, thinking it would fly away as I got near, but it didn't. If you haven't seen a bat fly you need to realize how bad they appear to be at it when feeding. They fly very much like a moth, they are all over the place, and they look like they have no control over their direction. But, it only looks that way because they are flying around chasing bugs. When they are headed to or from their roost, they can fly just fine. Back to the story, I slowed down, but the thing didn't move, and before I could do anything about it C (the bat) whaped right into my bumper. Because of the area, I didn't want to go back to look for the bat, I just drove home (about 1/2 mile away), and checked for bat guts on my car. Thankfully there was none. I always thought it was strange when you'd see bird get hit by cars, but this takes the car. I don't think I've ever seen a dead bat on the road, or heard of one getting hit by a car.

Relief Lebanon *edited*

If you'd like to make a relief donation to those in Lebenon currently being terrorized by Israel you can do so here: www.relieflebanon.org.

New Blogs.

I've added two new blogs of interest. I'm pretty sure they're both run by the same guy. That guy also happens to be one of the contributing editors for Jalopnik, one of my other links of interest.

First you need to check out Hoopty Rides. This guy is awesome. He is to junk and flea markets as Logan Whitehurst is to music. I doubt you know who Logan Whitehurst is, so I'll describe this guy instead. He collects stuff, but not really. He just buys things that he thinks are cool, and then finds a purpose.

Check out the iPod Case he built from an old German police flashlight. If he mass produced, and sold these, I would buy one. It looks like it's straight out of 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with that porthole viewer.

Another iPod related creation is his MegaGiant iPod. I'm going to try and describe this, but you really should read about it on your own for a better idea of what it is. He took an old radio/ turn table cabinet, replaced the radio, installed an LCD monitor, a Mac Mini, a replacement turntable, a microphone, and a whole lot of other crap. He can control the iPod with the buttons that were supposed to be used for the pre-set stations on the radio. The thing is amazing. Once again, another item I would buy if sold to the public.

Jalopy Junktown seems to be more of the same. I has an odd collection of stuff; ranging from a piece on an old Dusenburg to 60's fashion. It's not nearly as entertaining as Hooptyrides, but it is a bit more intelligent. It has sociological commentary that is lacking from the other blog.

Check 'em both out, or at least check one of 'em out.

Sick of Summer.

I'm literally sick, and I blame the summer. I went hiking on Sunday, it was about 100 degrees (give of take 5), and have felt like crap ever since. The lymph nodes on the left side of my neck have swollen up. I have a sinus infection. Everything I eat makes me sick, yet I'm really hungry. I can't get enough food. Between Monday morning and Thursday morning I lost 6.5lbs. I've been sleeping really late because I'm weak from not having enough food in my system. My metabolism seems to be on overdrive; I eat, and within 45-60 minutes I'm hungry again. And, not for a snack, but another meal. The muscles in my jaw hurt, I try and avoid chewing on the left side of my mouth, and I don't open my mouth very wide. I have a tooth that feels like it's going to fall out when ever I step. There's other stuff too, I just can't remember it all. This is the most bizarre illness I've had in ages. Not to mention the fact my family hasn't had health insurance for the last 1-2 months, while my parents debate what plan we should get. I also don't have a general care physician. Since I've become to old for my pediatrician I've been to lazy to find an adult doctor.

All of the above is why I've more or less ignored my blog the last few days.

71 Years and Counting.

In case you were wondering, and I know you were, today is the 71st anniversary of the Parking Meter. I would like to say thank you to the great city of Oklahoma* for setting this burden upon the world. If you're anything like me, and I hope you're not, you've probably spent about $200, or so, on parking tickets in the last 24-30 months.

Thank You Oh Grandiose Meter Faerie.


Edit*: Just to clarify, OKC was the first city in the US to install parking meters.

We all hate ticketmaster.

I have never met a person with a single good thing to say about ticketmaster. I hate them. They are evil. They screw each and everyone of us every time we buy tickets. How is a $9+ "convenience charge" convenient?

I was trying to buy Flaming Lips tickets Saturday morning. I wanted to see them in Boston at the pavilion. I waited around until 10am, like the site said. Then at 10 o'clock what showed up? It was the American Express pre-sale. I had to wait about 10 minutes for that to pass before I was allowed to search for tickets. What did I come up with? About 40 rows back. No f-ing way am I going to spend $38.50 plus a $10 "convinence charge" for 40 rows back. The Flaming Lips are great, but not $50 for shitty seats. I seem to recall ticketbastard pulling this same shit when I went to buy Sigur Ros tickets a few months back. The least they could do is advertise the AmEx pre-sale.

The thing that really kills me is the lack of an alternative. Where else can someone buy tickets? Even if I went to a local Filene's or some shit like that I'd still have to play the "convinence charge." I really really wanted to see the Flaming Lips, but now I'm not going to, because of TicketBastard.

Sasquatch Update!

For those of you smart enough to check out the Messin' With Sasquatch Link you now need to check out Sasquatch's MySpace Account. Sasquatch also has a couple of friends, there is Owl, and Ghost Hiker (one of Sasquatch's victims).

Don't forget to check out each of their blogs and photo sets.

Finally!

Today my Google AdSense account finally reached the $100 level. I can't wait, in only a few short weeks I will have a $100 check in my hand. And for doing what? Nothing. I love you internet.

Feeding the Homeless.

Although I often claim the higher ground when it comes to issues involving the poor and downtrodden, I rarely ever do anything about it. I go on and on about the problems in Africa, and the lack help coming from NA and EU, but I don't do anything. The same goes for home grown problems. I didn't donate anything after Hurricane Katrina. I just it's just not in me to donate money to organizations I can't follow. I'd be willing to work in Africa, or would've helped out in New Orleans. I want to see where my money is going, and today I followed through on that. I bought a dirty old homeless guy lunch.

I had to walk past the guy a few times, going in and out of a store, and then back to my car. Each time he asked for change, and I said I didn't have any. (I really didn't have any.) Finally I was heading in for lunch and I told him I'd get him some change from that, and he asked if I'd buy him some food. I had some extra money and agreed. He wanted a well-done cheeseburger, not a problem. The guy was extremely grateful for the food. He said something to the effect of "Thank you so much, and God bless you." He then retreated into his alley hideaway.

My only fear is he will remember me. I remember him, he is always in the same area. I've seen him countless times, I've even given him a dollar or two before. I just don't want to have to avoid the guy in the future, in order to avoid buying him food on a regular basis.
















Not the actual homeless dude.

Messin' With Sasquatch!!!

I pray that you have seen these commercials on TV. After seeing the commercial entitled "Shaving Cream" I laughed and laughed and laughed. I have not laughed so hard, or so long after seeing a non-super bowl commercial in years (maybe ever).

You need to check out the website to see how much fun Messin' With Sasquatch can be.

While you're there you need to check out the commercials that were too hot for TV. And don't forget to play the game.

In case you missed it.

Syd Barrett, of Pink Floyd fame, has died. He was only 60. This guy is supposed to have been completely off his rocker. There were stories of him taking a shot glass of acid, and never coming off the high. How unfortunate, he really was an excellent musician.

Linky Link
Link Link II

World Cup Highlight.

We had to wait until the end of the final match of this years world cup to see the most entertaining play of all time. The Zinedane Zidane headbutt. This thing was classic, I was laughing my ass off the moment it happened. Never have I seen something so comical in the world of sports. I felt bad for the commentators, they had to play it off as something terrible and classless, when you and I both know they thought it was hysterical. I bet they were up in the booth laughing their asses off.

Check it out.


PS: It's a shame France lost, by the way. I really couldn't stand the Italian team, no other team spent as much time on the ground acting like pussies as they did.

Movie Theatre Freaks.

This weekend I went to see "Superman Returns" and "The Devil Wears Prada." I thought "The Devil..." was a better movie, but that's not what I came to write about: What I want to know is, why are movie theatre employees such freaks?

You know the people I'm talking about. The creepy foreign kid; the fat security guard with a mullet (and you just don't trust him with a side arm, why does one even need a gun in a theater?); the extra creepy old black janitor; the guy selling concessions that's in his late 30s, but still thinks he is really super cool and that all the ladies want him (also has mullet). That's just the employees, some of the patrons are even worse. When is this whole "goth kid" thing going to end? And, why do "Goth Kids" spend so much time in dirty malls, and dirty movie theatres? You know the kids I'm talking about, they never shop, they just hang out at the mall, but not the nice mall, the dirty one. (Were there too many commas in that sentence?)

The thing about the goth kids doesn't hold true for theatre employees, I can go to the nice art house theatre to escape the goth kids, I can't escape the creepy employees. I think they might actually be creepier at the smaller theatres, only creepy in a whole other, Toblerone obsessed, kind of way.

Happy 4th of July.

I'll be busy later today (it's currently 1:11am), and don't plan to post. So, Happy Independence Day.

Good Samaritan

Every now and then I feel the need to do something good for society at large. Today was one of those days where I felt a need to be a do-gooder.

I was driving along the highway, behind this old Dodge Caravan that looked like shit. The guy driving it was all over the place, swerving left, then right, accelerating, decelerating. Pretty much he was doing everything that would lead someone to believe the driver was drunk. I followed him down an off ramp that led to another highway, and passed him at the end. While passing him I looked over and the dude's eyes were shut. Typically good driving requires open eyes. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, and drove on. I looked in my rear view mirror and he almost took out this old woman in Volvo while changing lanes. I didn't see the guy use a turn signal once, and he made appox. 25-30 lane changes in about 5 minutes. He then came hurdling past me at about 100mph (in an effin' minivan!!!). Then he went off the left side of the highway into the dirt, and then came back on the road.

At that point I was freaking out, and wanted to run this guy off the road (for safeties sake). But, I figure I was better off calling the cops. I dialed 911, told them where we were, the make and model of his car, and what he was doing. I then got off the next exit (he kept going), figuring job well done.

Thirty to forty minutes later I was driving home (backtracking), and what do I see? Four squad cars surrounding the same minivan. The crazy thing is, in order for him to get where he was, he would have had to go to the next exit and back track about 10 miles. I find it really hard to believe this guy made it that far. He was driving with his eyes closed, and obviously drunk.

How many times have you seen an asshole on the highway, and prayed he'd get pulled over, but never actually have a way to find out. I know I feel that way nearly everyday. I guess today was my lucky day.

Tour de France doping scandal.

Is anyone else as pissed off about this whole thing as I am? Ulrich? Basso? Manceba? Beloki? Is there any high profile rider not implicated? Even Vinokourov is being punished by this scandal. The guy is clean, but his whole fucking team is pulling out. I don't like this guilty until proven innocent crapola. Let them ride, if anything comes up, pull 'em mid-race.

The one up side is that the entire race has just opened up. I have no idea who is going to win, I don't even know who is going to do well. There are some "favorites" according to the various sports news agencies, but none of these favorites have done anything spectacular at this level.

Who's left?
Floyd Landis is getting some press.
Alejandro Valverde was praised by Armstrong as being the man to beat in future tours, lets see how he does.
Cadel Evans has done well in recent years, he could be the first Australian to win.

I'm really not sure who else stands a chance.


One thing I'm really hoping for is a non-American win. An American has one 10 of the last 20 races. And this is a sport Americans don't even care for. It'd be like if we dominated the FIFA World Cup. Another interesting thing about the last 20 races is: Lance Armstrong has won 7 of them, Miguel Indurain has won 5, and Greg LeMond has won 3, between them that's 75% of the last 20 years of Le Tour de France. I think a nice spat of one time winners would be nice.

I have one last thing to say about Le Tour.

They call Soccer "The Beautiful Game." Games are for children and the weak. Sports are for men, which is why cycling is "The Beautiful Sport."