Brain Pharts

Dancin' with Myself

2006-04-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

So, I wrote this post once, re-read it and decided it was entirely too whiny and that I would never forgive myself if I ever let it see the light of day. Thus- I'm going to keep this short and too the point.

Ever have a day where you're just kinda feeling sorry for yourself? I'm having one of those. If you don't know what I'm talking about, letme break it down for you. It's basically where you completely ignore the multitude of goods things in your life and focus on the one missing piece.

That's where I'm at this instant. Maybe I'm just tired. Maybe I had one drink to many. I don't know, it doesn't matter. Just kinda feelin' low. I'm gonna leave it at that before I get started and revisit the whiny piece of trash I laid down the first time...later.

REE-DICK-ULOUS

2006-02-02T05:39:00.000-08:00

I don't normally blog at work, but I read the following article on the news today and it's unbelievable-

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11097877/

A few more choice quotes:

"Mohammed Bechari, president of the National Federation of the Muslims of France, said his group would start legal proceedings against France Soir because of “these pictures that have disturbed us, and that are still hurting the feelings of 1.2 billion Muslims.”"

Ahhh- well we wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings now, would we?

“If the Danish cartoon had been about a Jewish rabbi, it would never have been publis

Just another example of how everyone caters to the Jews. Really, has any other group had is so EASY throughout history??

In Beirut, the leader of Lebanon’s Shiite Hizbollah said the dispute would never had occurred if a 17-year-old death edict against British writer Salman Rushdie been carried out.
“Had a Muslim carried out Imam Khomeini’s fatwa against the apostate Salman Rushdie, then those low-lifers would not have dared discredit the Prophet, not in Denmark, Norway or France,” Hizbollah head Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday night.

Death Edict!?! Against a cartoonist...WOW!

Life Update

2006-01-31T19:19:00.000-08:00

So it's about midway through my 3rd week in Toledo and while I always try to stay positive about work, I'm about ready to go home. I guess it's a good thing that this is my last week here. I'm also glad this job is just about wrapped up, because this is the part I hate...going back through all the work we've done to this point and making sure everything is totally done (and it never is).

Little bit of a gambling update- Last week I had *Finally* decided that I was going to bet on the Steeler's, but now I'm beginning to second guess myself. After all Shaun Alexander IS the best running back in the NFL, Seattle was the #1 seed in the NFC and rolled to the superbowl. Hasslebeck is good quarterback with a good line and real solid receivers playing against a Pittsburgh team that has a fairly week secondary. On the opposite side of the ball, the Seahawks have a strong defense, especially against the pass, and Bettis can't play a complete game and Parker hasn't shown himself to be a consistent threat. Here's the three points the game hinges on and I just haven't been able to make a final decision:

1. Can Pittsburgh stop Shaun Alexander? Maybe, they can certainly load up the box...but does that leave them vulnerable in the secondary?

2. Can Seattle's Offensive Line protect Hasslebeck? If not, this game is over.

3. Can Seattle stop the Pittsburgh run? I know everyone is touting the Steeler's game plan as pass early, take the lead, and run off the clock...but that plan assumes an awful lot. If Seattle can stop Pittsburgh's run they can force a very young quarterback in to a situation where he has to throw the ball almost every down. He has been excellent this year, but completely fell apart in last year's playoffs.

I don't know...let me know what you think...I'm still leaning towards Pittsburgh, I think their Defence is still too good...

Lastly, Pittsburgh has been playing with a giant chip on their shoulder, they are the first team to play in the superbowl after starting the playoffs as the #6 seed. Can they keep this focus when they are playing in the superbowl as the clear favorite?

Next point: I've been half paying attention to the State of the Union Address...and it's simply reaffirms the fact that I hate politicians. The speech was fine, your standard "blah blah" and the speech that took less than an hour is still being dissected by "experts". I think the part that really irritates me is that the people spouting off on TV are not so much discussing whether they think the president's ideas are good are bad but are simply trying to cast a partisan light on the entire thing...the democratic pundits are spouting off about various ideas, CNN seems particularly fond of saying that Bush's ideas are out of touch...then they give a republican pundit 5 minutes to say "nu-uh"...I'm sure FOX is doing the same thing but reverse the political parties. Politics are such crap...I still want to get in on it though...maybe I can do better...seems like it would be hard to do worse.

LAter!

2006-01-25T18:37:00.000-08:00

Alright, first a gambling update-

I hit both games last weekend to the tune of about $50 and that's sweet. Here's the conundrum surrounding the superbowl-

The Steeler's are favore by 4 pt, and I think they are going to win, but I'm far from sure that they are going to win, I think the SeaHawks are a real solid team. So here's the question- do I make a large dollar bet on the Steeler's and hope to recoup my losses or should I take the risk on the Seahawks and try to go for the Big Money. The other question is that with the Totals at 47 points, am I safe to take the under in a Pittsburgh parley? After all, if there are more than 47 total points scored, what are the odds that the Steeler's are going to win? Let me know what you think!

Baseball-

The Indians are/were poised to trade Coca Crisp and Josh Bard for 3 top prospects from the Red Sox organization the next move would then be to trade either Riske or Rhodes to the Phillies in exchange for Jason Michaels. My gut is that I'm not a real big fan of getting rid of Coca, he's a solid prospect who had a hell of a year. However, he's really only had one good year and if any of the yankees prospects pans out wouldn't the trade be worth it with Cleveland's outfield farm depth?

2006-01-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

For everybody who was just watching the Pittsburgh game...wow, and congrats to any Steelers fans (and if you see Big Ben, tell him thanks for the $40 I won on the game). So- Da Bears have just kicked off to the Panthers and here's what we have riding on the game:

Bears -2.5/Un 30.5 20/51

Right now I'm even on the weekend...so I'll either be 50 up or 20 down...shit...Carolina just scored seven...

Well- I'll let you know...

Leading up to the game

2006-01-04T17:10:00.000-08:00

Ohio State is not even playing in tonight's Rose Bowl and yet I am REALLY excited for it to start...and I REALLY want USC to win although I can't entirely explain why...but I have a few thoughts (which of course I am going to put in list format)...

1. USC -7/OV 69 20/50

2. Texas beat OSU and while some people say that is why they want Texas to win, to vindicate the loss, I want Texas to get creamated.

3. If Texas wins I don't think I can ever talk to Jacob again, and nobody wants that

4. There are really three kinds of people in this situation...people who jump on the bandwagon, people who nay-say, and people who make and informed decision. I consider myself to be the latter, but I still think USC is exactly as good as all of the hype. If Texas wins, then I'm probably wrong and become a band-wangoneer...and I DEFINATELY don't want that!

5. California being good at football is my one glimmer of hope that California is not lost to reality...although one might question my view of reality.

6. You gotta love Leinart, I mean who turns down millions of dollars to stay in college one more year? I tell you who- a guy who wants one more year of being a god in his home state where he can nail any chick he wants...who will then go on to make millions...

7. Reggie Bush...wow...I mean, really...wow...

8. During the pregame show Matthew Mconnihey (I know I didn't spell that right) was pulling for Texas...you know who was pulling for USC? Will Ferrell, that's who...fuck Matthew M. (nice workaround, don't ya think)...GO WILL FERRELL!

9. USC has hotter cheerleaders, which really isn't a big deal...but I decided to make this a "Top 10" list and I was running thin

10. Fuck Texas, all of it, not just the football team...

It's Official

2005-12-31T10:27:00.000-08:00

Alright- so I am now, officially, the worst sports-gambler ever born.

I lost it all on the Ducks and put down another $100, so let's see how long it takes me to lose that.

Believe it or not, I actually won money yesterday with Virginia's big upset over Minnesota and LSU beating the holy crap out of Miami. I also played the parley for the UCLA/Under bet which I lost (barely) and I took South Carolina on the spread (lost)...but I won on the whole, so it was ok.

Today's games are shaping up as follows:

NC -3.5 (right now NCST is up 14-0, 14:00 left in the 4th)
Tulsa +240 (0-0 3:00 left in the 1st, Fresno is driving)
TCU -3 (2pm)

Here are a couple of bets I am considering for this afternoon-

Charger -3/OV 43 (Playing the Broncos who have already locked home field)
Giants -7.5/OV 41 (We can all agree that the Raiders suck, right?)

...TD Fresno State- fuck!

And of course, a couple of random thoughts-

- Rented Madden '06, it is amazing...end of story

- Living with your mother sucks, living with your mother and your sister who is home from school for Christmas is damn near unbearable

- Christmas is great, New Year's is pretty swell too...so I hear

-House is starting to shape up...and by starting refer to how Life As We Know It starting shaping up with the amoeba

- Saw a trivia question the other day saying that there were 10 Div 1A football teams in Texas, my buddy and I named 7: Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Houston, UTEP, TCU, UNT- can anybody name the other 3 (Don't Cheat, you don't win anything).

Please feel free to comment on the bets I am considering...but hurry becuase the game starts in 3 hours.

Pre-Christmas Cheer

2005-12-24T14:20:00.000-08:00

Alright- whomever though of putting football games on TV pretty much everyday from 12/20 through the New Year was absolutely brilliant.

Second, I would like to thank the Jacksonville Jaguars for covering the 3 point spread against Houston, that was the only game so far today that has won me any money, but that's ok we're only down $7 thus far.

I'm getting ready to go to my family's Christmas Eve party, which is always a pretty good time but here's the issue- I'm really hungry. On one hand I want to eat, just enough to get me to Christmas Dinner without debilitating hunger pangs. On the other hand, if I can make it- that's just a little more delicious Gioffre food I can put in to my belly...I just don't know what to do.

The Browns sucks, how did the Bengals lose to Buffalo, C'mon Eli- how are you going to make my fantasy come true if you can't even beat the Redskins, fucking Chargers...

Todays Remaining Bets:

Seattle -10 (7/6)*
Broncos -10/OV43 (10/27)
Nevada- -3/UN65 (10/27)

*This wasn't intended to be a pussy bet but I only had $7 left in my account and my winnings from the Jacksonville game hadn't yet been put in to my account.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Church or Religion

2005-12-22T06:18:00.000-08:00

One of the most significant social issues that we, as Americans, wrestle with in our society is the concept of seperation between church and state. While it seems as if this issue manifests itself in petty ways (Ten Commandments on public buildings, "Under God" in the Pledge and "In God we Trust" on money) the issue is, actually, very significant.

I was thinking about this as I read Dvorak's blog, he was commenting on a circuit court decision to allow a Kentuckt township to retain the Ten Commandments on the walls of their courthouse, check out the blog here: http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=3623.

The question I was pondering was, when we speak of the seperation between church and state are we really talking about the seperation of RELIGION and state? To me, at least, the concepts are different. The seperation of the church from the state is intending to keep religious institutions (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, etc.) from having a direct influence on the workings of government, and this makes good sense. The Catholic Church has been the cause of persecution and war for hundreds of years and while Jewish and Muslim faiths do not have (to my knowledge) a single institution, there are none the less a myriad of smaller ones.

However, one can be a religious person without direct affiliation with one of these groups...

It seems to me that this particular concept, the seperation of church and state, may have taken a bit out of context. I think a similar arguement could be made with regard to this issue that is made when we talk about gun control. Groups like the NRA claim that the right to bear arms is in the Constitution, however, anti-gun groups will argue that the intent of that right was for citizens to be able to protect themselves from an oppressive government (for the record I fall somewhere in-between on this issue).

While I fully agree that we need to keep religious institutions out of our government, the Catholic Church should not get a Senate seat, I don't think we improve our society by forcing religion out of our lives, it's there and it's always been there. Christmas IS a good example of this. While the Winter Solstice had been celebrated long before Christianity we do celebrate it with Christian symbols. Other commonly celebrated holidays (Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween) all have religious origins.

Anyway, just a thought- I have to go back to work.

Update

2005-12-21T19:54:00.000-08:00

Alright, Chapter 1, Part 1 of the Kaelfire has gone through its first edit and should be reasonably free of typos and simple grammatical errors, so go check it out www.kaelfire.com.

Also- looks like (knocking on wood) that Toledo is going to beat UTEP, which is sweet because it breaks my two game losing streak (Baltimore trounced GB and Southern Miss didn't cover).

Was it God or not?

2005-12-21T05:38:00.000-08:00

I only have a moment to post this, but it got me to thinking and I wanted to get it down here-

On the radio this morning they were discussing the Pennsylvania case that was considering the concept of intelligent design and it being taught in schools. The judged decided that the concept was religious in nature and could not be taught in the state's public schools- for the record, probably the right decision.

Then they sarted interviewing people with various religious affiliations the first man they interviewed was a Catholic priest who said there wouldn't be any sex in heaven (He has to be wrong, right?)

The second person was a Protestant minister who said that heaven was a physical place beyond out concept of space where everyone had a mansion waiting for them.

I'm cool with both of these people's idea, even if they aren't my own. Here is the one that bothered me.

Barbara Walters was speaking to an avowed atheist and asked whether or not it made her sad that there was no God or heaven. The woman replied that yes, it made her sad that there was no God and there was no life after death.

At this point I started thinking to myself, the priest, pastor, atheist, and myself all have one thing in common- we're guessing. Sure, everybody can point to evidence to prove their idea- but basically, all guesses.

So the question I pose to the atheist is why associate yourself with such a depressing guess? We won't know if we're right or wrong until we die, why not at least enjoy the comfort and hope that a belief in something greater brings?

The weekend

2005-12-19T20:41:00.000-08:00

Alright the good news is that I did, finally, get to do some writing tonight on Kaelfire, the bad news is I got about 1 page done. The good news is that I think the story (or at least the first chapter) is starting to take shape. I got a LOT more writing done in the last hour or so than I did in the first hour or so. Part of that is probably because the Packer's are getting their asses handed to them, but it is also because I am spending less time trying to figure out what happened next and more time writing it down and revising the sentences...yahoo me!

As always check out the book- www.kaelfire.com

Other notes-

1. My bosses this week and Ashland, Ohio suck

2. College football start back up tomorrow for two more weeks, and that's some good shit

3. Cliff's party was pretty sweet- even if I didn't get any punani, 'course the pickins were pretty slim since KT's friends bailed.

4. Holoiday Inns aren't bad, but they certainly ain't no Hilton

5. How bad does a town have to be when you long for Toledo?

6. Good thing about Ashland- I'm better looking than almost all of the men in town

7. Bad news about Ashland- I'm better looking than most of the women in town :(

8. HBOs specials have gotten...well...special...

9. "Special Interest Groups" are the all-time biggest crock of shit

Later

Moving some stuff around

2005-12-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

Alright for a variety of reasons I have decided to move Kaelfire to its own blog. You can find it at Http://Kaelfire.blogspot.com. Thanks!

Prologue

2005-12-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

I don't want to say that I've decided to write a book- because I'm far from sure that is what I'm going to do. What I have decided to do, however, is to start writing again. To that end, I have started a book and finished a rough draft of the prologue which I have posted below. I would love to hear your comments on the draft, positive and negative. I will ask one favor- please refrain from comments such as "Dude, you suck" or conversly, "That was sweet!". Be specific, tell me what you liked or what you didn't like, be constructive. Thanks.

Prologue

10th Cycle, 6th Year of Chaos, 20th Day of Spring[1]

Emperor Solaris Entedore IV, King of Valura, Steward of Numi Goderi and the 28th Emperor to bear that name gazed at the cloud of dust just visible over the horizon, “Ayiir, how long until they arrive?”
The young warrior turned toward the Emperor, “No more than 3 days milord.” The Emperor shook his head sadly, “There is no way that the Guerriri will make it here in time and the Kandarans will need every warrior, send a runner to Dunjaer, tell them to hold the Guerriri and prepare for siege.”
“My Lord?” gasped the warrior, “Surely you don’t mean to give up?”

Legend has long held that the Entedore line had mixed with that of elves somewhere in centuries past, and the current representative seemed proof of the tale. At 56 years of age Solaris had been born in the first year of the current cycle and stood unbent. “No, we will not surrender, we will not give up, and we will not win. We will make war on the Senza Numi and we will take hold of as many of them as we can, and fling them in to Chaos before we settle in to eternity.”

No more than 5 tendays had passed since the Empire had existed in relative peace. Other than occasional raids from the island barbarians in the north, the horse savages in the east and border disputes with the Elysites in the south, citizens of the Empire were safe and secure. Then the Senza Numi had coming from seemingly nowhere. Telura, Saval, and Syrah, 3 of the North’s 5 great cities had been razed before anyone knew what was happening. Monteceen had fallen before the northern Guerriri could be brought together and what remained of the Emperor’s army brought against the invading host.

Wave after wave of the beasts crashed against the ordered ranks of the Guerriri. They fought with mace and club, spear and axe, fury and rage. The Guerriri fought with shield and sword, discipline and courage and for a few moments looked like they might take the field against the gruesome creatures. Looked like they might take the day until 10 foot giants waded in to the tight formation breaking men and formations with tree-like clubs. The monsters flooded in to the breaks and Solaris was forced to call the retreat.

The Emperor’s Cavelli, cavalry who fought with spears and sabers, guarded the retreat, and died to a man. It took 5 days for the Emperor’s Guerriri to reach the walls of Valura City, but the brave Cavelli had bought them precious time.

10th Cycle, 6th Year of Chaos, 27th Day of Spring

Solaris’ arm was weary, his men were weary, and the walls were slick with blood. The sun was at the peak of its ascent and under other circumstances it would have been a beautiful, if chilly, day. But these were not other circumstances and this noon marked the 4th day of relentless assaults upon Valura’s walls. The Senza Numi, the godless, had rested for only a few hours after reaching the city, using the time to build crude ladders and to cut down a massive oak as a battering ram. The ram had never reached the walls but the forest of ladders could only be delayed for day before the first of the beasts had topped the walls.

The instant that gruesome foot touched the stone on top of the wall the Guerriri knew that battle could not be won. They also knew that every day they held was one more day for the Kandars and Selians to prepare Dunjaer for the attack that would follow just over a tenday after Valura fell. It would also be one more day for their families and the survivors of the great cities to reach relative safety across the Fiume Argantato[2].

Valura would not, however, fall easily. Built into the side of a mountain there were 5 walls that would need to be breached before an invader would be able to assault the citadel near the top of the mountain. The city was ancient when the Empire was young and no human hands placed the stones one atop another, so skillfully done it looked as if the walls were carved out of the mountain itself. How Valura had come in to the keeping of man was a secret lost in time. Though man had not built the great city, it was the Valurian’s home and they made the Senza Numi pay dearly for every wall they overran. The defenders were now at the City’s second wall and though their numbers were only a fraction what they had been four days ago there was less wall to be assaulted.

Solaris looked around and saw that, for the moment, the walls were clear of enemies and there were no more scaling the ladders. There had been precious few of these moments, moments where the enemy would pull back and regroup before making another assault. The lulls never lasted more than a few hours before waves of invaders again began to crash, and break, against the stout walls. Early in the battle Solaris had done his best to rotate the men on duty at the top of the walls to give them a rest, whenever possible. This was not a concern for whatever dark creature was leading the Senza Numi, their numbers were such that no foul beast would have had to charge the walls twice in the days of battle. Solaris almost called for Ayiir before sadly shaking his head. Ayiir had been killed during the retread from the 4th wall. He had pitched forward during the flight, a fouled barbed shaft protruding from his back.

Since Ayiir had fallen a grizzled veteran had served in his stead, despite his best efforts Solaris could not remember the man’s name but he didn’t seem to mind. Seeing the Emperor looking around the rough warrior strode over, “Sir?”
“Quickly, while we have a moment, get some food in to the men and have the officers count how many of us remain.” Solaris knew the men would not live long enough to starve and that there could not possibly be enough men remaining to hold off the horde for more than a day or two, but it reassured both him and his men to perform such routines.

A few hours passed and still the beasts had not made another attempt upon the walls. Solaris knew something was coming, something new, something terrible. He also knew he would not have to wait much longer to find out what it was. A double rank of the enemy marched towards the 2nd wall and stopped just out of bowshot. Solaris chuckled without humor; they had been out of arrows for two days now and had been doing their best to return the enemy’s arrows to their previous owners.

The enemy lines split down the center and a figure strode through the ranks that would have haunted the nightmares of every man on the walls. The figure appeared to be a man, a large man, but a man. The man was covered from head to toe in armor that seemed to be reflecting the image of a large fire, the image was so powerful Solaris was sure that if his hand was to pass near that armor it would surely be burned. The man stepped forward and removed his helmet, uncovering the most terrifying beautiful face any of the Guerriri had ever seen. Shoulder length brown hair framed a dark skinned face with eyes that could be seen to burn across the no man’s land between the warring armies. “You have fought bravely and well,” the voice was course and easily heard. It was as if the strange man was standing across a small room, rather than hundreds of feet away. “You have fought well, but you have denied me my home for too long and have killed too many of my warriors. You will die now, but I will promise you one thing, you’re bodies will not be desecrated by these warriors you see beside me. You will be purified in fire and your ashes returned to the earth.”

The dark man raised his hand above his head and what appeared to be fire wreathed around it. With a scream the man fell to his knees and brought his fist violently against the earth. A thunder, deeper than the most violent storm, echoed through the mountain. As the thunder began to fade away the top of the mountain exploded, showering the Guerriri and the Senza Numi alike with rocks and other debris. When Solaris was again able to see through the dust he wished he could have died along side Ayiir. Washing down the mountain and over the Citadel was a wave of liquid fire. The river of fire crashed in to the Citadel’s wall and sprayed over it, covering the distance between the walls and rushing towards the stunned Guerriri. Turning his back to the rushing doom, Solaris looked over the parapet, “Who are you?” he called to the masked figure.

“Kael” was the response.

“Not godless after all,” was the last thought of Solaris’ life.

--------------------------------------------------

A man stood on the wall of Dunjaer facing north. A cool gust of wind blew across the man’s bald pate and forced his loose black clothing against his body. He opened his eyes and turned towards the warrior in silvered armor standing next to him. “It is over my lord,” the man turned to face the people gathered in the courtyard below. Lifting his chin he announced, “ALL HAIL EMPEROR PIORUS, first of the line of Vincitor, prepare for war.”

[1] Mariva’s Calendar is the most commonly used Calendar on Regn Delmar. Cycles are groupings of 50 years that are further broken down in to 10 year increments, 4 of which are assigned to a Power and the 5th to Chaos. A year is made up of 4 seasons, each with 100 days.
[2] When the first refugees arrived from Telura, Saval, and Syrah, Emperor Solaris ordered the citizens of Valura to flee to Dunjaer. The refugees consisted primarily of women and children and arrived without incident, save an attack by a small band of Goblins who were beaten back by a few old warriors sent along with the refugees and the women.

2005-12-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

Fair Warning: The following paragrahs have are not intended to be the prodcut of a single coherent thought...

1. We have now, officially, completed 7 days of not smoking- so yahoo for me!

2. Operation Stop Being Fat and Lazy (OSBeFaL) Update: Worked out on Thursday and Sunday, which is a start. Only went out drinking 1 night this weekend, go me.

3. Gambling Update: Got booty-banged this weekend. Net football proceeds -$150, net poker proceeds- -$6.

4. Christmas Shopping Progress: 0 Gifts purchased

5. Even Victoria's Secret's perfume commercials are hot

6. Watching Will and Grace doesn't make you gay, but it does make you feel gay

7. My room- spotless

8. This past week was the worst baseball off-season week I have ever had- Bob Howry signed with the cubs, BJ Ryan signed with the Blue Jays, and Jim Thome signed with the White Sox. Indians moves thus far- not signing free agent BobHowry. Good job guys.

9. Sunday night TV programming is terrible

10. I have to go to the dry cleaner's tomorrow

...ok, I bottomed out with that one...later

Just some thoughts

2005-11-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

Alright, barring an act of God, I am finally going to win a football game! Tonight's game was West Virginia vs. UConn, with WV favored by 15 points and the over at 45. Right now there is less than 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter and the score is 45-13 (32 pts, 58 Total) in favor is WV.

Last night's game: Memphis v. UAB, I took Memphis (-2) and got my ass kicked. Monday night's game I took Baltimore on the money line (+550) ans lost the goddamn game by 1 pt. Sunday night's game was New England v. Buffalo, I took Buffalo on the money line (+340) and they blew the game in the 4th quarter. The day games were no better, Cleveland lost to HOUSTON! Cincinatti failed to cover the over by 7 pts, and let me tell you Saturday wasn't much better.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's game, Louisville vs. Pittsburgh, should be a half-way decent game, initial spread is -20.5 Louisville. Although I'll want to do some research tomorrow before making my bet, I'm leaning towards Pitt, I think they might be too good of a team to lose by more than 20 pts. Given Louisville history of offense, I'm real curious to see what the over will come in at.

Baseball: There is some talk about Manny Ramirez and possibly Paul Konerko coming to Cleveland next year. To be perfectly honest, I don't think the Indians can afford either one, but it's a pleasant dream. Of the two, however, I think I would take Paul. Manny already left Cleveland once and I don't think he's really missed us, additionally Manny is a bit of a head-case primadonna and the Indians aren't built to deal with big Egos.

Good news- WV/UConn game is over, and the real winner is...me!

Ethnic Jokes are Funny

2005-10-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

On a lighter not than my previous post I heard a joke today I thought was pretty funny and I thought I'd share it with...well...prolly nobody, since that's who reads this...

Heaven: Heaven is where the police are English, the chefs are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers Italian and everything is organized by the Swiss.

Hell: Hell is where the police are German, the chefs are English, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, and everything is organized by the Italians.

Judicial System

2005-10-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

So with everything that has been in the news recently with John Roberts and now Harriet Miers, it only seemed appropriate that I dedicate this particluar posting to my opinions concerning our judicial system and some of the decisions they have made.

Before I delve in to specific issues that have been bugging me, I would like to first point out that I believe it is the role of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution, not to pass judgement on the "goodness" or "badness" of laws, except to the extent of their constitutionality (is that a word?). If you don't agree with that basic foundation, it's probably in your best interest to stop reading at this point.

It often seems to me, rather than attempting to apply the Constitution to the issue at hand, the justices on the Supreme Court make a moral decision and then determine how the can use the Consitution to support their decision.

1. Abortion - I know it's gonna piss a lot of people off, but I'm not entirely sure why this is such a pressing issue. Yes, it is an important moral question, however, I'm not real sure it's important enough to have been an issue in every major political arena since before 1973! That being said, let's move on...

I consider abortion, at best, to be a necessary evil. I can't justify the thought of forcing a teenage girl to be a mother, a rape victim to carry a product of the crime, or forcing a pregnant woman to risk her own life on the chance the child may survive. However, I also don't think that abortion should be an acceptable form of birth control.

What I don't understand is how the Right to Privacy is used to defend the constitutionality of abortion, I just don't get it. What about the father's rights (Excluding the 3 instances mentioned above), shouldn't he get SOME say in to the matter?

Incidentally, none of the aforementioned logic applies to "partial birth abortions" that shit is fucking sick and wrong, period.

2. Affirmative Action - This is an issue that I find particularly irksome, becuase I hate the practice but think that the Supreme Court made the right decision. I do make myself feel better at night though, because I think they did it for the wrong reason, which IS important in the case of a Supreme Court ruling.

The specific decision, in this case, is the University of Michigan essentially have "quotas" for minorities. It wasn't a case of a government saying that the University had to have quotos, rather they were being sued because someone was saying it was unconstitutional to have them. Personally I think it is a decision belonging to the individual organization, although as previously mentioned, I do not support the practice.

What irks me about this decision are the comments by Sandra Day O'Connor- her statement was to the effect that diversity in at a college promoted a better learning environment and that in 25-30 years the practice would no longer be necessary. What this sounds like to my ignorant self, is that that Supreme Court made a ruling based on something outside of Constitutionality, and that's wrong. The opinion should have said, "There is nothing in the Constitution that forbids this, play on player.

Because that's how the Consitution works. Unless a law or practice contradicts something written in the Constitution, it's legit. I think this is where I start to get all twisted up, because I don't think every issue is covered by the Consititution, and that's o.k. Becuase if it something really important that should be a right, we can add it...and if it is something people like to do that isn't that important- get over it.

Smoking is a good example of this, I think. Many cities and states have passed laws that forbid smoking in bars and restaurants and the like. While I'm not certain, I don't think that's right...prolly not really Constitutional either. My logic is thus: I own a bar or restaurant, it should be my decision as to whether or not to let people smoke. IF, however, the cities or states should decide to make smoking itself illegal, I think that WOULD be constitutional because I'm pretty sure that smoking is not a Constitutionally guaranteed right.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

Oh Randomness, oh randomness

2005-10-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

1. Happy Hours- I don't argue that they're not happy, 'cuase they are! However, I have never run in to a happy hour that actually lasted an hour. It seems to me that if you have a "Happy Hour" that goes for 75% of your opens hours, then they aren't "Happy Hour Specials" they are the price, and you pay a "Late Hour" premium.

2. Marriages and Friendships- This, my friends, is a ridiculous situation. How can a man balance spending time with his wife, his friends and still do all of the wonderful things he has to do in a day, such as go to work? I've come to the conclusion (through observation, not experience) that he can't. Man hangs out with his friends- his wife bitches. Man hangs out with his wife- his friends all say he's "sold-out". It's completely unreasonable.

3. Money - I love money, there, I've said it. But money is only good for those things that it buys you, whether that's stuff, security, status, whatever. So next time someone tells you money is the root of all evil, or something similar, tell them that they are full of shit. It's not the money, it's the greed, and if it wasn't money it would be something else.

4. George Bush- People, get off it, George W. Bush is not causing all of the world's problems. I'm not defending him as the best president the world has ever seen...but come on! I heard someone the other day refer to the "Bush Gas Tax", right, because he is single-handidlyresponsible for putting the largest reserves in the world smack dab in the middle of a swirling cesspool of insanity. Incidentally- he is also not responsible for the creation of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita and despite rumors to the contrary, did not set-up the Tsunami in Asia.

5. Cleveland Sports - Fuck Cleveland sports teams, fuck them right in their heart-breaking asses, and fuck the fact that I'll let them do it to me again next season and next year.

Fucking side-burns

Feast or Famine

2005-09-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

The other day I was talking to my buddy Cliff about the recent string of hurricanes that have hit the gulf region. We didn't so much discuss the effects of the Hurrican, rather, we discussed the frequency of tragedies, both natural and man-made. The central point of the discussion was whether or not large-scale tragedies have been happening more frequently over the past few years- or whether that is simply a perception skewed by a recency effect.

Cliff supported the latter, that it was simply perception and that there had been innumerable tragedies throughout history, but they fade as time passes. He sited "older" news stories such as Waco, Jim Jones, the first WTC bombing, embassy bombings throughout the world, etc.

To a certain extent I think he is right, tragedies where dozens and hundreds die are eclipsed when a terrorist bomb kills thousands in New York, Tsunami's kill hundreds of thousands in Asia, Katrina killed thousands, etc. But I'm not ready to leave it there...

Another idea Cliff threw in to the conversation was the idea of "Balance". That everything in nature seeks a balance within their surroundings and when a balance isn't achieved nature steps in and takes care of things. Specifically, mankind has not made any real effort to limit populations, so nature stepped in.

So balance (Don't worry, I'm done meandering)...

I agree with Cliff- everything, eventually seeks balance. But what I find interesting is that nothing seems to do it in increments. Neither nature, nor people, seem to make small adjustments to maintain balance. Instead, we wait until things are completely askew and then make a drastic change hoping that we have estimated correctly and swung everything back in to balance.

I don't think this is a conscious decision- I think it's just how it is. You see it everywhere- sports, politics, hell, I even see it in dating. It's always feast or famine...