United State of Dumberica

This country has been ruined by television. I think it started with Crossfire, probably before that though. TV has made it all right for opinionated people to be more divisive and the fickle people into sheep following the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, Olberman, Matthews, et al. These sheep all follow the loudest, rudest and most pompous shepherd. These are smart gentlemen who happen to mask it by stirring up anger and fear and they end up being caricatures of the people they “represent” and also themselves. Fox, CNN, MSNBC and now even Comedy Central make their mint on these people and hammerhead politicians acting like complete idiots.

I used to enjoy Stewart and Colbert. I do still like both actually, but seeing the same people they show everyday doing the same exact thing for what seems like years now is just getting ridiculous. Has America reached a point where we cannot listen to one another civilly? If someone does not agree with you, it is his or her right as an American. You have a right to argue. Each of us has the right to ignore those we don’t agree with. It may be in one’s interest to actually consider what and why something is being said.

The worst part is that it seems as though politicians are steering themselves down a dark and seriously dangerous road. They are taking that same road in opposite yet equally risky directions. The attitude from both sides is that I am right and you are wrong. I don’t like what you are saying therefore you are a Nazi. Or your ideas are that of a socialist. It is no longer possible to disagree and just be an American with a differing opinion.

Each time a politician, talk show host or “news program” piles on it’s opponent it is snuffing out Democracy. As flawed as it is, this is the type of government we choose to live by. Being a jerk may be a god given right, but out-jerking one another kicks the legs out of democracy by not giving those we disagree a proper platform for his or her opinion.

Politics is not a game. Americans and others lives depend on the government. Whether or not you want a big government or a small one. What is decided affects everyone in this country. The government is HUGE no matter which side you come down on. Disparaging opponents and yelling and screaming and being vindictive does not help any civilian to understand even the tiniest fraction of what is decided on Capitol Hill. Lying and misleading are unsafe and irresponsible. We need everything to be as cut and dry as possible.

In the over 200 years we have been a country politicians have found every loophole there is. It would be great (and easy) if we could hit he reset button. Even if that were an option would you trust out leaders to look back in history, and acknowledge mistakes and successes? Make the easy and obvious decisions. Or would pride takeover and they all just take the same old hammerhead approach?

The reality is they have that option everyday. Not the reset button option, but the opportunity to look back into our history and beyond. Generally what happens in the past will likely come up again in the future. Being a complete A-hole occasionally works, but in the long run it tends lose the attention of peaceful, normal people: especially if their ideas do not correspond all ready. Working together, cutting out the nonsense, sticking to facts, learning from one another would all seem to be better ways for a democracy to work. Too bad, because that is as likely to happen as The Jackson Family agreeing on Michael’s last wishes.

Something different is always nice, I hope

Life is good my friends….

When you get knocked remember who has helped you up. When you help yourself up, don’t forget what knocked you down. Try and avoid the things that put you on the floor. Keep close the ones that maintain your steady footing.

Remember the bumpy roads, hard knocks and difficult life lessons. They are a part what got you here. Foolish as you can be, if you don’t keep your chin up new and old friends alike can not look you in the eyes.

Getting hung up can keep you low down. From day to day we come across a series of mistakes. The challenge is what we do to mend them and how we learn from them. There will always be a constant struggle to keep moving forward and to know when to look back. The sun shines brighter when you have persevered in the storm.

Know there will be times when you can’t sleep because all you can feel is the warmth of the person you love most in the world and it sends waves of ecstasy through your every nerve. The best part is you won’t mind waking up tired, you know how lucky you are.

There are sure to be days when you are embarrassed or you have a heavy heart. You are sure to fail or miss an opportunity. And you just have to realize: Some mornings you will wake up and forget all the jagged memories of days gone by. You will look in the mirror and you’ll smile. You will take an inventory of all the blessings in your life you never really think about. There will be an electric feeling in your hands and toes and it will tell you that this day, today, is going to be one fine day. Life is good my friends.

The (errrr)King of Pop

Michael Jackson is dead. His music which is his greatest contributions to the Earth will live for as long as music is played I'd imagine. "The Wiz" his second greatest contribution will last for five more years and then will disappear forever, which is sad. Sure to his family, his children and their strange names are important but that is for them, maybe they will be allowed to go back to their real mother now, hopefully things work out for them.

  I truly enjoy MJ's music (up until Dangerous, probably.) Although the Free Willy song gets me psyched up for when I am letting whales and other large animals escape.  But just because someone makes kick ass dance music and cuts the meanest of rugs DOES NOT mean you just look the other way post-mortem. The guy became a living creep show. He may or may not have destroyed some poor kid's child hood. At the very least look what happened to Cory Feldman. 

 If he were Michael Jackson the construction worker, people would not being saying forget about the mega screwed up things he did. Sleeping in the bed with strange  (and sick) young boys is not okay. Giving them "Jesus juice" is not okay. 

  Enjoy his music, and his videos and if at all possible his movies. Wishing the best to his family, friends and his children is fine.  Try telling those poor kid's he messed with to forget about what Michael the freak did. What if it were your children? Did OJ run like an antelope in the open field with a football? Hell yes. When he dies are people going to say forget his knife work, that man  was a heck of a running back? No, they will say he is a murdering s.o.b. Which may or may not be worse than molesting children, depends on which Bible you read. 

Holy Shit I have a blog, that obviously means...

means...Raul Ibanez and Ken Rosenthal are douche bags.   http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4248759. Guess what assholes? It's not ten or fifteen years ago. This is how the game is played, so to speak. You (Ibanez) are putting up "Bondsian" numbers in a PED possible era. You had your chance to speak up 5, 10 or 15 years ago and you did nothing. And now unfortunately for you and the casual baseball fan; you can't go from being an above average player to spectacular without THE question being asked. Is he on something? Well whatever the answer is Manny, Sammy, Raffy, McGwire, Rog, Bonds et al have tainted "the game you love" . Raul Ibanez is guilty by association. Sorry, you hit twenty home runs in two and half months at the wrong time bro. I bet his recent success ( at age 37) is legitimate, I hope it is.  But the questions will be out there, it is not personal Raul. It is just the path we were led down by Major League Baseball. MLB/PA is going to have to continue to endure this "horrid blogging query" for a long time. Bloggers have never had the opportunity to tell MLB players to lay off the juice. However, teammates who have never used "the juice", also never did anything to prevent fellow teammates and union members from enhancing artificially. The time for action was in 1994-2003 not now. Reap what you so MLB.

   And now for Ken "fucking douche bag" Rosenthal or however you spell it. You write for a real newspaper or website or whatever. It is not a blogger's fault when an official representative of the  news links to a goofy ass blog and uses the nonsense written in that blog as a news item. Why don't you go and interrupt the World Series clincher again with "Ken Rosenthal reports: A-Rod is douche too and will opt out of his retarded contract."  You pompous reporters are so arrogant and petulant. Because an idiot like me or the guy who asked a perfectly reasonable question about a 37 year old having a superior year than we are used to seeing from him; you get all snotty and act like the king of morality. Your just pissed off because some dope gets attention from ESPN and Fox sports and all the other mediums sports is on now. You are so angry because you worked so hard and held yourself such a high standard and "Johnny in his mom's basement" is on ESPN with you as an equal. Except you Ken are a douche bag and he is just a baseball fan/dork.  You cock sucking, Red Sox hating, phony, douche. I so want to punch your head. Stop  acting you and the rest of BBWofA are the only just members of baseball society. You are a bunch self serving assholes who did nothing to stop baseball's downward spiral. In fact you helped it get to where it is, all while promoting yourselves. And now just like Ibanez and Ortiz and others have to deal with constant questions about their success. Baseball writers have to look over their shoulders, bloggers are hot on your trail and are asking questions  you all should have ten years ago. A bloggers few are more popular than some of you "writers" al ready. Most are certainly not nearly as finely trained and baseball savvy. But blogs can be just as powerful because they can come from a place of honesty without any dumb self promotion. Most bloggers will never talk to a player. They call it as they see it, right or wrong that is what most people are looking for. An honest assessment, and maybe someone who isn't taking a glorified kid's game so god damn seriously. And I refuse to use spell or grammar check on this entry because fuck ken rosenthal!

Religiulous and other things deity

So we watched Bill Maher's documentary on foolishness and glorified imaginary friends. It confirmed what I all ready knew; people are nuts about God. It was really interesting especially if you agree with pompous Bill, which I do.

Religion is absolutely fascinating. It has almost always existed in one form or another. Most have fallen by the way side, there are probably still hundreds or even thousands of different religions or variations of the same religion. The gist basically is that man or life in general isn't capable of existing without God's magical touch. Any of these gods can't seem to at any point get more than 33% of the Earth's population to believe in him. Most god's first rule is that he is A#1. He, according to the Bible (Old Testament) laid out his vengeance with reckless abandon to all who opposed him. His wrath knew no bounds. Now, he doesn't seem to ever show up unless it is in a grilled cheese or the fog on my car window. His followers don't seem as psyched about him the way the mussies do about Allah or Mohammad or whatever guy they are into.

Maybe it is because I don't speak arabic, but Muslims seem way more into their thing. It could be that knowing English and seeing the goofy, speaking in tongues, lunatics at churches like the one in Fletch Lives make a mockery of Christianity. There are only 15 million or so Jews left so it seems like their thing, while completely valid, is more like an Independent Minor League baseball league at this point. Eastern philosophies seem to make sense but their main guys don't seem "godlike" to me.

Any ways, they all seem at their core to have similar basic values. The commonalities are: A peaceful, pleasant message that is completely misunderstood or manipulated. Followers of each religion must at times have a complete disregard for common sense, especially in regards to other's views. Even though the world is changing more and more, faster and faster we must follow the same beliefs that the rich and influential put in the Bible thousands of years ago, when they were the only literate people capable of retelling stories of God, his message and your punishments. Of course they may have profited from this, but is was definitely God's word.

There are some antiquated rules they still follow. Catholic God doesn't want you to have sex unless you are procreating. If you have to break this rule, definitely do not use a condom. VD or an unwanted baby is your punishment. Some Muslims find it necessary to cut off a woman's clitoris, because allah (or one who speaks for him) says womanaren't worthy of pleasure. There is definitely no way god, allah, moses or buddha would want you to do some things different just because it is two or three thousand years after an edict was announced. God's word is final and certainly never outdated.

There are other differences obviously. The mascots, the junior mascots, what you yell when you kill someone in your god's name. Stuff like that.

It's all dumb. One of these religions may be "the one", but they are so messed up at this point they have lost all credibility. Stripped down to the basics I would be a religious person, but I don't want to be affiliated with whatever it is anyone else thinks, it's too tainted for my liking. I believe in the words of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (and my wedding vows) "BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER", at least as best you can.

United States of WHAAAAmerica

This country is going to shit. Do you know how I know? It is not the economy, unemployment rate or the war in Iraq, you know the obvious stuff. We are going through a tough time and those are and should be the issues. However, we have been pussified and special interest groups and over protective parents are consumed with being wronged and making sure every knows about about. There is so much time being spent on phony, self serving witch hunts and the suffocation of our most generic rights. If we lived in a land called Stepford and all they served was vanilla than this would be all right.

We don't though. We live in a land of opportunity, allegedly. Opportunity to be who an individual and say and feel what you want( to an extent). Everyone is different, that is just the way it is. People are obviously different races, religions, etc etc., but it goes further. Some people are extremely generous, others have sordid pasts or strange thoughts and habits. One could be easily offended, while another could have a "warped" sense of humor. In a country with 300 million people where all are different, these personalities have a place. That point needs to be realized, especially by the non-silent minority.

The saying goes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. That is certainly the case with special interest groups, religions and the previously mentioned phony witch hunters. Today alone I came across four cases that could be solved with a shrug of the shoulders, yet were hot news items. Here they are and what should happen instead of making a big deal of it.

1. Jesuit college (BC) students and faculty complain about crucifixes placed in all class rooms. To the point letters were written and the Boston Herald caught wind of it.

Guess what, Jesus isn't coming off the cross to convert anyone. If he did, well that would speak for itself. If you go to BC and aren't of the catholic persuasion and are offended at the idea a catholic based college might involve Jesus somehow, you are an idiot. Most people who go to college or teach at a college should be old enough to resist the temptation of the cross. Really, you are 18+ plus years old and a cross on a wall is offensive. How? It isn't saying "hey drop that Mussy Allah and start wasting your Sundays mornings sitting on an uncomfortable bench". The crosses are just collecting dust on a wall, just like all the crap at your grandma's house. Your education will not be affected by a crucifix, unless you are a vampire.

2. A CVS in Dorchester is getting a hard time for locking condoms up and making any one who wishes to purchase said condoms ask a store employee to get them.

Special interest groups say it is racist and a health risk. Some "kids" are embarrassed about asking a store employee to get them.

This area of Dorchester being a high single parent neighborhood is shockingly also a high crime area. So merchandise needs to be locked up. This a no brainer, no complaining is necessary. If you are not mature enough to ask someone to hand you a pack of condoms, YOU are not mature enough to use said condoms. Unless you are in a ghetto water balloon fight.

3. Whoever Michael Phelps smoked weed with were arrested and the house was searched. "A small amount of marijuana was found " and the only questions asked were about Phelps. Nothing about where the pot came from was even brought up. Awesome waste of resources South Carolina. Why is weed still illegal? This situation is so ridiculous and blown out of proportion it is mind blowing. I am speechless.

4. Bud Selig says A-Rod "shamed the game". Guess what pal so have you. Selig's incompetency is right up there with A-Rod's post season performance. This guy is the anti-Midas of baseball. Everything he touches turns into a giant pile of Sunday morning BUD MUD. Seriously Bud you have had as big a role in embarrassing baseball as any player. Take a look in the mirror. This is the one time he should do nothing, instead he makes a massively hypocritical statement.

(BTW, Scott Van Pelt is going to suspended from ESPN radio for saying Selig is a "pimp ". Which should be fine if you like interesting radio. Since ESPN has a 2 billion dollar deal with MLB, that's a big no no. I would add more on this but I am tired)

That is four situations from today alone and I was barely paying attention. How much more nonsense is out there? All of these situations should and could be solved with a shoulder shrug and walk away quietly. Most people handle these types of situations this way. The ones that don't have the right to be whiny douches. If you are one these types that has to say something, just know most of us hate you. Not because you are different. It is that you are an obnoxious, self righteous ass, who worships at the altar of "look at me trying to be important". Real people with real problems don't give two shits about stuff that offends us. We go that's stupid I am going to find stuff I like. Get over it, try and get something relevant accomplished.

Why I hate baseball

A-rod sucks. He sucked before he got caught doing steroids, he isn't going to be any better now. If he somehow works his way into a successful season, it will not matter. He did steroids x-amount of years ago. He can't win.... ever. It is over for him, at no point will he ever, ever be able to have a legitimate successful career. From now on he is Alex Rodriguez the half a billionaire who did steroids.

   All that being said, I don't even care if he does steroids or not. I kind of feel bad for him. For a couple reasons: 

1. He is 1 of like 15% of the league. He is just the only one whose name when you hear it, you stop listening (or start listening, I am not sure). I am sure this is to due to his ridiculous contract and natural talent. Yes, A-rod might be with or without steroids the most naturally gifted ball player of this generation. Only, he doesn't deserve to be the only one called out when 103 other guys were doing the same exact thing.

2. Alex for all his talent clearly does not have the capacity mentally to handle all his gifts. I am sure all that cash softens the blow, but he can never reach his ultimate goals. A-rod is like Matt Damon in GOOD WILL HUNTING, before Robin Williams enlightens him. The only difference is that A-rod will never have a mentor like Sean Maguire. Scott Boras would be the MIT professor and you would have thought Joe Torre is Maguire. With that new book, it is clearly not the case. A-Rod's ego is like a gigantic balloons, it is so big, it can burst anytime. 

So anyway baseball sucks. It is boring as all hell. It is back round noise. It is really only good live, or in October. I don't know how people in cities that have perpetually losing teams deal with it. I still watch baseball for some reason and probably always will.

The people who cover baseball are such hypocrites. They cover steroids almost as much as they covered Big Mac and Sammy in the magical summer of '98. Cal Ripken's streak got a little heat, but really that summer of of chasing Maris was when baseball got huge again.  ESPN, FOX, Sports Illustrated and newspapers were so hot for homers they clearly over looked  how these guys turned into mutants. Now all they want is to tear a superstar down. Regular Joes who fail a test get  a tiny blurb. But a "face of  the game" gets round the clock coverage. It is B.S. The same goes for the owners turning a blind eye to steroid use, while making money hand over fist But that has been beaten into the ground. 

  

Are they going to cancel any games a known user was in? Not likely. They were official games. Therefore they are official stats. Therefore the numbers count. So if you write for a paper you get to use your moral authority deciding these guys legacies. If you don't find a wart during their career you get 5 more years to uncover something, anything to bring this guy down. The people that cover baseball seem to be looking for anything to besmirch any accomplishment. Damn you Greg Maddux! The people who write about baseball and vote for the Hall of Fame are like scorned high school dorks or failed film makers or musicians. They spend all their energy tearing down anyone who has accomplished what they always wanted. 

Steroids were  illegal, they likely shouldn't have been used. They most certainly and obviously were used. Old time ball players weren't the greatest group of fellows either.  They were drunks, bigots, violent wife beaters and adulterers . They used some form of speed and/ or anything they could to get ahead. Just think of all the stuff they did back then that would get those guys thrown in jail now and certainly suspended from MLB. And it was all perfectly acceptable then. So I don't want to wake up tomorrow and read about Johnny Superstar and what he did wrong. I just want to watch some hammer-head swing club at some stuffed leather. They are human beings and they are good at what they do. Their salaries just like bankers, government officials and movie stars set them up nice for the future, but also afford them many more opportunities to screw up. Which in turn allows Judgy McWriterton to go over everything they have ever done with a fine tooth comb and magnifying glass and point and scream at the hint of a flaw. 

Maybe, I don't hate baseball, maybe I should watch the game on mute, read a book and turn in my red Sox nation card.

coming soon...

I am going make some changes on this blog≥ Get it headed in the right direction. Starting with a super superbowl blog starring me. strike that/ starting somenight this week

These Go to Eleven

1. If someone absolutely sucks and screws up a suicide attempt; which is the failure the poor attempt or that we are stuck with said sucky person( like Willie Ames)?

2. Watching the BCS Championship game I realized Brett Faaarvra can now retire; Tim Tebow is absolutely ready to take over the reigns as the QB most blown out of proportion by announcers. GOD HELP US TIMMY!

 ( "tim tebow  chopped down a red wood with a butter knife, saved a crippled baby by lifting a dump truck off of it, saved the world by flying the opposite direction of the Earth's rotation, birthed jesus jr. and blessed Oklahoma with two interceptions all while tutoring his teammates on the sidelines for next semester. What a guy I can't say enough about him". Enough about him

2a. Also Fox sucks at broadcasting sports I can't remember one time their channel has done a good job.

3. It is time to bring in one of the young Texas Rangers' catchers and put the Jason Varitek era behind us. Also, get rid of that hillbilly Buchholz and stick his no hitter up his ass on the way out the door. Thanks for nothing you over rated hick, nice necklaces. Varitek it was fun while it lasted (but you were a little over rated too).

 

4. I don't need Hampton tickets;  I need either a time machine, A winning lottery ticket or some miracle. It's tough getting old.

5. Facebook is probably the worst thing that has happened to me. I love judging people by their "status" and "comments" and obviously creeping peoples pictures.

6. I think I watched Rocky (I,II,III,IV,V) atleast 3 times each over the series of four days weekends, sadly not once was the original Trilogy on, wtf?

7. Eddie Murphy is rumored to play The Riddler in the next Batman movie, (spoiler alert: the movie ends with Christian Bale jumping over a shark on the Bat cycle)

8. Who decided a 5 day work week was the way to go? I could go for four days 40+ hours, I would slap whoever decided on this. Slap, slap slappity!

9. Utah's attorney general is looking into the "legality" of the BCS. Because nothing more important is going on now. Next up the fight for more wives.

10. American Jews seem much more docile than Israelis. Then again our Jews weren't dropped into a land taken from their worst enemies and weren't surrounded on all sides with volatile, unstable lunatics. It's like a WWF Lumberjack match, except real and with missiles and rockets and poor news coverage instead of Jim Duggan's 2x4. 

11. The coverage of John Travolta's kid is horrendous; leave their poor family alone and be happy for what you have. I am sure life is hard enough when your child dies you don't need ET   up your ass with a video camera regardless of Thetans or anything else. 

Why people think art majors are douche bags

href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/01/07/1231004105005.html">
(note: my god damn computer doesn't add links; so if you can't find this story, it is about an art exhibition where the guy who put together the show added paintings by a 22 month old and when he found out the "artists" age, left the pieces in the exhibit....yadda yadda yadda. That is the less than cliff notes version.)

I suggest you take a peak at the article above before you read what follows. If not you can play along anyway:  (note:  In this blog entry when I write "you"I am  referring to all you art class hipsters)

I like art, I enjoy the museum. It is fun to look at pictures and have an opinion and it is easy. That is, it's easy unless you are too cool for the room. Your clothes are dumb, you are not unique. You look and act like all the other douches in your class. I have seen your glasses before: they are on the person right next to you. But just cause you take or have taken an art class doesn't mean you know more about a painting then anyone else. For example what was that 2 year old kid thinking...let's get inside the head of an artiste:
momma ppppppppbb, paint, elmo wed, this black, yeyyow sponge bob. i likepaint--ing. I bet it was something like that. I don't think the child in that circumstance was feeling sad about missing Sesame Street, or not being fed or whatever makes a 22 month old sad ( I also realize the child was a European of some sort but it really could be any child, and  I am not sure what the kiddies grow up with over there.). Yet there goes the fellow who put together that art show  coming up with all this b.s. how a child could have had a thought process and could be asian influenced, with dark on dark or whatever crap he was spewing.
Guess what pal. It is a piece of paper with paint on it. That is actually what all paintings are (or similar to that). Every once in a while something awesome comes from nowhere. Art can be a perfect storm of randomness. It can be anything to anyone. Just cause your pants are tighter than mine does not mean your opinion is worth more than mine or anyone else's. This really applies to all forms of art not just painting.
I used to like Nirvana, now I think they sound like Rickety Cricket playing kettle drums. I hate Weezer, Fergie, other pop artists but for some reason I can't explain I enjoy a catchy tune once in a while. I honestly can't explain this. I read a movie review of Gran Torino today in which the reviewer said something like he didn't like the movie because Clint Eastwood's character was racist, and in a post Obama-elect America there is no room for racism or some nonsense to that extent. Obviously his opinion on racism has nothing to do with the acting, directing, or the message of the story but he decided he wanted to judge that piece of art in that way and he is more than welcome to perceive it in that manner. Even if he misses the point completely. I could say he is dope and doesn't get what Eastwood meant with that film, but then I would be a hypocrite. I will say he is an idiot for other reasons (like not understanding all movies aren't true stories).
Now, sometimes an art history class comes in handy. Sometimes a little of an artist's back round can give you a cool bit of perspective. Occasionally the psychology of the artist comes into play, certain colors represent some sort of feeling. But sometimes that is just what happened. Colors on colors "I mean a two year could draw that, wait a two year has painted that." The kid's painting in that article was as good as pieces I have seen in museums. It is the same or similar enough to merit some cash. Maybe some day that toddler will be a world famous artist or maybe a 22 month old caught lightning in a (baby)bottle (sorry couldn't resist.) Just don't act all douchie and act like your better than me, one of yours just pimped a two-year-old's piece to the masses on his masterful eye's opinion. Now, shut up and go put on some Cd of a band that no one has ever heard and then get mad once it is played on a Top 40 and they are no longer good "anymore".