Aristotle is credited with being a deep thinker…respected and sought after for his wisdom. He got it so why is it so difficult for so many to understand that you need a strong military to keep you safe.
Thanks to all our troops, past and present, who risk (and give) life and limb to give our country security and fight to once again establish peace (or as close to it as possible) in the world.
Mi esposa and I hit the local Beef O’Brady’s today for lunch. The young gal who was waiting on us told us that they had some specials akin to Happy Hour between some odd hours which happened to include the time we were there. One of those specials was some Cosmo. My wife asked what’s in that particular Cosmo and the waitress grinned and said she didn’t know…um…vodka. Ok, she didn’t look old enough to drink and, even if she is, everyone doesn’t know what’s in every drink. That’s the bartender’s job. Might be good to know, though, if you’re going to mention it as part of “the spiel.” She also mentioned the new Bud Light Platinum, which I’d never heard of. I asked about it and she said it has a higher alcohol content and is supposed to taste better than regular Bud Light. I decided to go with a Fat Tire, but this got me wondering why in the world we really need yet another mostly tasteless beer (an assumption) that just has a higher alcohol content. So the people who drink only to get drunk can do it in fewer bottles? It’s not like they’re going to stop after four instead of six because it’s slightly more alcoholic. I could see the need for yet another Bud Light product if it had a dramatic increase in flavor, but according to what I’ve now read on this product, it’s not a huge flavor improvement, and it has nearly thirty calories more than regular Bud Light. I’m sure we’ll see an ad or two for this next week during the Super Bowl and I’m sure there will already be folks getting hammered by it then as well since it is supposed to be released on 30 Jan. Apparently, some places, like our local Beef’s already have it.
Here’s a video of a couple guys giving it a blind taste test…
(almost) Every time I go to the gym to workout I find an interesting assortment of folks…(continued from yesterday)
There are the guys in there that have a coordinated outfit…if they are Nike fans, they’ve got the Nike shirt and matching Nike shorts or Nike sweat pants and socks and Nike shoes with colors that are complimentary (substitute any brand name). These guys are wearing their jewelry…rings, necklaces…and you never see them actually do any exercise. They may go the extra yard to complete the illusion of being there to workout by hanging a towel around their neck. These guys aren’t difficult to spot, either, because aside from their snappy (?) wardrobe, they are fairly loud as they talk to everyone in the gym. Why do they talk to everyone? Because they know them all from all the time they spend in the gym not working out and chatting everyone up. The other thing that adds to their illusion is that most of these guts are thin…which makes it believable that they do workout.
There are the hardcore weight lifters. In baggy sweat pants or shorts that are too small and too tight, with muscle shirts or sweatshirts with the arms ripped off, these guys won’t be caught dead on a weight “machine”…it’s free weights only because while dropping the stack of weights on the weight machines may be frown upon, it wracks up cool points to lift heavy weights and drop them like the dead lift guys at the Olympics. Well, it scores points with the other guys who are into that. The rest of us cringe and wonder how many times of that happening before the weights go through the floor. These guys look like this:
Of course, there’s also the ultra competitives. These guys show up in any combination of clothing, from fashion victim to “did they pick that out in the dark?” On the weight machines, they risk hurting themselves because, as long as anyone is in the gym and might see how little weight they are using, they tack on ten to fifteen to twenty pounds more than they can really handle and strain as they move the stacks, not quite completing each set. Then they get on the treadmill (or elliptical machine or stair stepper) and start jogging. Then someone else jumps on the machine next to them and Mr. Competitive has to sneak a peak at how fast the competition is going and increase his speed to make sure he’s running faster. Of course, it doesn’t matter if he can’t sustain the pace. He struggles on, trying to keep the game face, but getting more and more out of breath until they have to admit defeat and hit the ‘cooldown’ button and hope they don’t do a faceplant on the treadmill. And if the person who hops up on the treadmill is a chick, he’s toast. He’d die before letting her run at a faster pace than he does.
Here’s a great bit of lyrics from my favorite band, Bon Jovi:
Take a look around you, nothing’s what it seems
We’re living in the broken home of hopes and dreams
Let me be the first to shake a helping hand
Anybody brave enough to take a stand
I knocked on every door down every dead end street
Looking for forgiveness and what’s left to believe?
(almost) Every time I go to the gym to workout I find an interesting assortment of folks.
There are the ladies in the tight shirts or cropped shirts or shirts that accentuate the fact that they are wearing pushup bras or bras that certainly weren’t worn for the purposes of holding their jiggling parts in control during exercise. Along with these tops, spandex pants or shorts usually accompany these tops. First, ladies, we all know that just because they make spandex that you can fit into doesn’t mean you should squeeze into them, right? Second, spandex is not always the best material for all types of workouts. Generally, the ladies wearing these outfits are completely made up and flit around on a piece or two of cardio equipment trying not to break a sweat because they aren’t really there to exercise.
The ladies who are there to workout may still have on a cute, figure flattering outfit if they are in shape, but they are found pounding away on the treadmill, pedaling their buns off, or pumping away on the elliptical machines…or getting their sweat on in one of the classes, like Zumba. They are nearly oblivous to the people around them and find it annoying when dumb asses try to get their attention or otherwise interrupt their workouts.
Then there are the really hardcore ladies who not only get their sweat on, but also like to feel that muscle burn that comes from hitting the weights or weight machines…hard. they have no qualms about making noise and showing a straining face as they pump out those last few reps of a set. They don’t have time for knuckleheads either: Leave them alone or feel embarassed because they can push more than you.
While I’m not a big fan of large vehicles…the over-sized SUVs and trucks, the jacked up trucks with giant mud tires, or the land yachts toward which many of our elder folks tend to gravitate. I don’t care about what their gas mileage is or isn’t. If you can afford the gas, knock yourself out…and I understand that folks who tow things or haul large, heavy loads frequently need bigger vehicles with more powerful motors. One reason for my dislike of these over-sized vehicles is that many of them don’t fit well in parking places or even on some narrower roads, but my biggest issues are that a lot of the folks driving these land yachts have a problem infringing on other lanes because they have so little room to drift and they take forever to park because they simply aren’t adept enough to line the vehicles up right the first time or they just don’t bother trying and take up two spaces.
I know this is a generalization and I know that most folks to whom this post applies will read this and think “That’s not me!” But guess what? A lot of you are.
If you own, or plan to own, a land yacht or giant truck/SUV/whatever, learn to drive it AND park it well.
Tonight was the annual State of the Union address. I didn’t watch it. I watched shows that I had DVR’d. I watch TV to be entertained or informed, and I don’t find the State of the Union address to be either. The only thing remotely entertaining is watch the folks in the audience clap and cheer, or stand and clap and cheer, or vigorously clap and cheer, or shake their head and remain seated, etc. I’ve watched some State of the Union addresses in the past and they are a fine display of speech writing, but it’s just more of the same crap that we hear from politicians when they are on the campaign trail: “I’m going to do this. I did this. I won’t do this. Look what we’ve accomplished, and what we haven’t accomplished. If the other party in Congress would stop being a hindrance, we could do so much…blah blah blah.”
What I really don’t like about the State of the Union address is the official Rebuttal by the opposition party. We’ve already heard the well-written drivel presented in magnificent fashion by the current President…taking up too much of our entertainment time. Now we listen to another politician spew forth a more hastily written speech to refute anything the President claimed was positive, and concur with anything the President said was wrong. Really? What’s the freaking point of this Rebuttal??? Not a darn thing and here’s why: Folks that are fans of the President are going to like what he said and you’re not going to turn them against him or his party. As for the folks who don’t like the President, you’re just preaching to the choir…they already don’t like him and the State of the Union address isn’t going to make them stop and think “Wow! He’s great. I should be a fan of his and his party.”
As I said up front, I didn’t watch it this year so this isn’t aimed specifically at the current President and his opposition party. This stupid Rebuttal thing started before he ever got in office. I know they were rebutting ‘Dubya’ and it may have started long before that. Maybe it’s been going on since we had the State of the Union address on TV. I don’t know. Don’t really care. It’s ridiculous. Instead of wasting time on this kind of crap, they should be figuring out how to solve some of our problems and get their Congressional Approval ratings out of the toilet. I wonder if they have to pay for their TV air time and, if so, how much…would it have been enough to provide cost of living adjustments to those government employees who saw inflation and healthcare costs go up again this year?
OK…I’m not doing any research, but I heard someone say that Billy Cundiff is/was a Pro Bowl kicker. That’s all well and good, but he missed what amounts to a chip shot of a field goal yesterday to send the Ravens/Patriots AFC Championship game to overtime yesterday. Instantly, his value as a kicker tanked. Whether he was Pro Bowl caliber or not, everyone will now question whether he can handle the pressure of big moment, clutch kicks when they really matter.
But here’s my problem with dumping all over him because he missed that kick. The Ravens should have put the ball in the end zone more than they did. Their defense should have prevented the Patriots from scoring as much as they did. If either of those happens, Cundiff doesn’t even have to jog out onto the field with the clock winding down to attempt the kick.
If I’m building a team, I don’t want to need a Pro Bowl level kicker. I want one who never misses an extra point, because I want an offense that scores touchdowns on every drive…not one that gets into the other teams half of the field and gets stopped so that my kicker has to do the scoring for us. I want a team that doesn’t need a place kicker because one of my back-up linemen or backup quarterback can be taught how to kick well enough to hit extra points. I want a defense that prevents the other team from scoring touchdowns. Even if we give up two field goals for every touchdown we score, as long as my backup lineman can hit the extra point, we’re still winning.
It would be great to root for a team whose ad for a kicker included the line: Pro Bowl Kickers Need Not Apply.
Hey, Hollywood, stop producing crappy remakes and poor rehashes. Just off the top of my head, Miami Vice blew chunks. Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx were not Crockett and Tubbs…Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas were. And now you’re screwing up 21 Jump Street. You’ve turned what was a cool, urban drama with a little humor into a stupid comedy starring Jonah Hill. I guess, maybe, I get it: stupid ass comedies like Superbad and The Hangover make money nowadays so why not make everything a stupid comedy. Never mind that the TV show turned out one of the biggest actors of our time in Johnny Depp.
Since you’ve [Hollywood] such a lack of quality, original writing, I’m going to help you out with some suggestions for ways to cover your collective asses in a way that benefits us all.
Bring back:
1. Saturday’s Kung-Fu Theater: “Do you understanding the words that are coming out of my mouth?” Not likely, but they were subtitled in English for our viewing pleasure and it created a cultural joke that has endured.
2. Sunday Night’s Wonderful World of Disney: As a kid, I used to look forward to this all week.
3. Wild Kingdom (or how most of us remember it: Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom): I know there’s a whole channel (maybe more) dedicated to animals now, but this was a cool show.
4. ABC’s Wide World of Sports: Again, we now have Fox Soccer Channel, multiple ESPN channels, Versus, and more, but this was a cool way to show a variety of sports.
No, I’m not talking about fidiots that we call clowns…I’m talking about real clowns: white face paint, red noses, big shoes, colorful clothes/jumpsuits. While their antics are funny, silly, and crowd-pleasing, one-on-one and up close, they are creepy, grotesque caricatures of people.
Ruggero Leoncavallo turned a clown into a jealous husband turned murderer in his most famous opera, Pagliacci.
Hollywood seems happy to feed the creepy, crazy clown image, too.
