Ted Cruz is...the Canadian Candidate

Cruz says he doesn't work for GOP party bosses...

Of course he doesn't.  This foreign born Zealot has done more to damage America in his short time in office than most others have done in their entire careers.  Can you imagine if he had done what he's done and been a Democrat?  A foreign national in our Senate.  Fox would be outraged.  Asking for birth certificates and demanding he be deported.  It's also unclear as to the legality with which his father entered this country (Bribing officials to obtain a visa?).  Again, imagine if he was a Democrat and what Fox would be saying.  What GOP leaders would be saying.

Even if you leave all that aside.  Cruz is a zealot whose hatred for Obama is stronger than his concern for America's economy, even though he's actually a Canadian.

My random thoughts on Week 1

I posted these gems to my Fantasy Football message board, thought I'd share them to the 3 people who read this blog:

For the first part of his rookie season, I defended Suh. I said he wasn't dirty, but it's pretty clear by now that he's probably the dirtiest player in the game (Jeff Saturday called him out yesterday as Dirty and talked about the code of honor among players and they all understand this is their profession). He's always sorry or didn't mean it, but he is a total punk ass and I believe he is trying to hurt players. I have no respect for him and will shed no tears when some other teams takes him out.

Second. Keep reading about how bad NFL officials are. After last year and EVERYONE complaining about replacement official, the officiating didn't get any better after the regular refs and now this week SI says the worst part of Week 1 was the officiating. I think EVERYONE owes the replacement refs an apology.

Finally, Chip Kelly's offense can work in the NFL. Eagles need to get in better shape to take advantage and not let the foot off the gas so soon. McCoy is PERFECT for that offense. He could have 2,000 yards this year in that offense.

Go Duck

My Manziel Theory

I'm probably not the first person to think of this, but I haven't heard it myself.  I believe now that Manziel is doing everything he can to not play another down at A&M while coming off as the victim.  He and his family haven't been quiet about how they dislike A&M and after watching Matt Barkley go from a top 3 pick to the 4th round costing him millions.  Texas A&M is not going to win the SEC, they are not going to the National Championship game, there is NO upside for the defending Heisman winner from playing one more year.  His father is too smart to let him make all these dumb "decisions".  They are small infractions, like underage drinking (repeatedly) the occasional bar altercation.  "Hey's it's just kids being kids"  They he goes and makes money he and everyone in college football knows he can't do, but the Manziels make Johnny out to be the victim.  It's perfect.  Johnny doesn't quit, they let the NCAA do the dirty work, but nothing horrible that would make people hate him.  He doesn't risk a season getting hurt and not winning a title or a another Heisman.  And he's the victim of the big bad NCAA.   

Eagles are still terrible, revisionist attempts won't change that

Quit defending the Eagles, they're still terrible.

I posted this on Facebook yesterday, because many of my friends know my distaste/dislike/hatred? of the Eagles music and pretty much everything they stand for.  But some of my friends were shocked by this revelation.  I'm not saying I know everything about music, but I do listen to a lot of stuff.  I own a few thousands CDs, and I even pay for Spotify.  I've got friends that know way more about music than I do, I mean savant types who are probably top 1% in terms of knowledge.  Nonetheless I think I have some credibility, even if there is some stuff I have trouble admitting I like.

All that said, I didn't respond b/c I didn't want to get in a little war of those tools, but in thinking of my responses in my head I decided I needed to get them out.  Here are those random thoughts.

- I liked the Eagles too when I was 14 years old.  I didn't know much.  Growing up listening to AOR/Classic Rock in a city with few music options you heard a lot of the Eagles.  I owned a few albums (on vinyl), but then I grew up.  I also used to think Bud was pretty good (not when I was 14, but probably at the same progression on my drinking journey) and actually liked the "flavor" of Milwaukee's Best.  Then I tasted something good (Black Butte Porter, in Eugene, OR August 1994).  I grew up musically too and realized that the Eagles sucked.  It wasn't a one time epiphany like the beer thing, but probably a slow evolution.

-The Eagles are like the Sutter Home of American Rock Music.  You can drink a lot of it, for cheap and it's not going to tax your palette.  It's not good, but it's made for mass consumption.

-I was going to say the Eagles are like the Bud Light of music, but they're not.  Bud Light (while not very tasty) is good at doing what it's supposed to do.  The Eagles don't even do that.  Are they are country rock band?  Well after you hear anything Gram Parsons was involved with you realize that they aren't even good at that.  Are they are "Rock" band?  Well, then they're even worse b/c pretty much everyone is better than them in that space.

- Go ahead listen to the lyrics of "Hotel California".  It's like the output of a 7th grade creative writing class.  Lyrically just weak.

- Musically?  Maybe some talent there.  Joe Walsh 30 years ago could play some guitar, but he isn't great.  actually, they aren't that solid here either.  (See the 3 note scales guitar solo in "Hotel California").  No Chops

- That's the music stuff, when the Eagles moved in to Musical Hell for me was their first "Hell Freezes Over" tour.  "Isn't it cute how we hated each other and swore we'd never play together again, but then when we needed some cash we came back and charged you all ridiculously high ticket prices to see our milquetoast peaceful, easy feeling music?"  Actually it wasn't, it was douchey.  Try some integrity you greedy tools.

- And they're at it again.  Is this one called "Hell Freezes Over 5"?  or whatever number tour it is after they said they'd never play together again.  Someone must need a new pool or Ferrari.

- Just yesterday is was talking trash about Steely Dan.  I just can't listen to them.  I had a 6 month window about 20 years ago when I could, but that passed.  I get it, I understand what they do and technically they're good at it.  It's just not for me, it's for 65 year old White Male College Professors.  But unlike the Eagles, I do have some respect for them.  I just can't listen to it.  Not so with the Eagles.  And don't think I can only listen to artists that I respect b/c I'll listen to a great song even if I don't respect the artist (to a point), those are called guilty pleasures.  Eagles don't fit that category either.

They don't bring anything to the party and I wish they'd go away, but more importantly as this article points out, I wish people would stop trying to rehabilitate their reputation.

Take it away Gram http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PytxPaU6k4

Old White guy review of Kayne and JayZ's new albums ...or "The Student becomes the Master"

I'm not sure if "Watch the Throne" was supposed to be a passing of the torch, but maybe it was.  We'll see.  The comparisons between Kayne's and Jay-Z's new albums are inevitable given their history, their position at the top of the Hip Hop Music scene and the release of albums so close (reminds me of when Blur and Oasis released albums at the same time in the 1990s to the same type of comparisons although those groups were "enemies" it seemed).

My thoughts boil down to this.  I really liked Kayne's album even though I didn't want to and I was completely underwhelmed by Jay-Z's.  A friend pointed out that Jay seems to be trying to be like Kayne versus being the guy that he's been forever.  Same friend pointed out that singing about all the expensive art you have doesn't have the same resonance as "99 Problems".  Obviously artists evolve, but sometimes the change isn't for the better.

Speaking of the differences between these two guys I was struck by Jay-Z's ode to a fashion designer (to some extent) "Tom Ford" contrasted with Kayne's "New Slaves".  I've read on-line that as a white person I can't understand what Kayne's talking about in this song and maybe I can't but it seems to me that's a rant against the consumerism that turns people in to New Slaves.  So, while Jay is reveling in that very thing.  Don't get me wrong, Kayne lives in the very world he seems to be deriding (Kardasians anyone?).

Musically, I found Jay-Z's album somewhat boring.  Kayne's is anything but.  The angry industrial beats make you take notice, make you listen. You're drawn to it even when those beats are some "repulsive" (at least it's not Dub Step).  I have a feeling that in 12 months an awful lot of Hip Hop is going to sound like this with beats by Marilyn Manson and Ministry.  By then Kayne will probably on to the next thing.

I only hope that Jay-Z's next album he isn't playing catch up to Yeezus.  

Microsoft gets a clue

This didn't take long.  Made me wonder if the fine people at MSFT have been taking pages from the Netflix school of pissing off your customers.  They must have also learned from them when you're wrong you make changes.  Should have never been an issue though

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/tech/gaming-gadgets/xbox-drm/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Wilco...SO BORING. It's gotta be said.

It's gotta be said, Wilco sucks. Seemingly every music critic and too many music fans love these guys like they're the second coming of the Beatles and it's just been accepted as conventional wisdom.  I never got it, but just figured I was missing something, but it's time to say something.  (apparently I'm not the first person to say this...the obligatory Google search returns 4.3 Million hits for "Wilco Sucks").  I think I even bought it for a minute or two until I realized that the ONLY time I found Wilco palatable was "Mermaid Avenue", but  without Billy Bragg and the words of Woody Guthrie, Wilco is mind-numbingly boring.  They aren't even a good  "Alt-country" band, if they are classified as such.  Uncle Tupelo was better...maybe that is why everyone wants Wilco to be so good, to rekindle what they lost when Uncle Tupelo broke up

Anyway, I feel better.  

Do you even know what "Humbling" means?

"Famous" people need to stop saying everything is a "humbling experience". It's become the go-to reaction to anything that happens to anyone in media's eye. Getting busted cheating..."It's been a humbling experience". Win an Academy Award "This is a humbling experience". Wha? It's getting nearly as bad as the overuse of "Surreal" to describe every little thing.

NHL Player "humbled" by award

TO Humbled by Prison Visit to see Chad Johnson

"If you're not doing anything wrong...you have nothing to worry about"

So, I've heard defenders of the NSA spying on all of America (ignoring their semantic argument that they aren't really reading your emails and texts, just collecting them...as if that is different, maybe more on that later) say that "if you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to hide or worry about".  Which is a classic line by despots, but also ignores some pretty basic tenets of PRIVACY and the 4th Amendment.

I found it interesting enough to comment on because some of the same people who have said this were the most outraged by the IRS looking at Political Groups (which by the way, they are supposed to do.  You can't claim to be a Non-profit, tax exempt organization and be a political organization.  So, if the IRS was looking at political organizations to ensure they were abiding by the law, why the outrage?  If they weren't doing anything wrong or improper they had NOTHING to worry about.  (Not to mention that NO  ONE has claimed that these organizations were shut down, only investigated to see if they were engaged in activities that were not allowed by Tax Exempt organizations...a HUGE  fact missing from the media's horrible coverage of that story)

Random thoughts on what little I know about Xbox One vs. PS4

So, I"m reading that Xbox will require us to be connected all the time, to not be able to share games or even borrow a friend's game and assorted other constraints like not being able to play old games (not sure if that's true).  I've read that if the HD breaks it can't be fixed, the box can't be messed with...and , having been stung by MS's crappy hardware with the original Xbox (3 of them stopped reading discs and had to be tossed) and the 360, another 2 bad optical readers.  I've experienced XBOX's HORRIBLE customer service when trying to deal with Xbox Live issues.  Including a friend whose account was suspended because they asked a question on the required blog (who supports a product in that manner) more than someone believed they should.  After the support people didn't answer the original question, they asked again and for that they had their account suspended.  I literally have never heard of a worse support model than Xbox Live.  (I'm probably going to suffer some sort of similar consequence for this post that no one will read, b/c that's the kind of customer service I've seen).

I've been a faithful customer of MS for...ever.  I've got tons of their products and we've got tons of games (and about 5 unusable Xboxs to show for it), but their arrogance and lack of support for Xbox and the new mandates.

It's funny I heard some talking head at MS talking about how their "always" connected mandate was like streaming Netflix versus getting discs at Blockbuster.  It seemed appropriate that they used that b/c it proves they don't get it.  My blu-ray player streams content from all kinds of places like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, but guess what?  I don't have to have it connected a SONY server to play a BluRay or a DVD.  I surely shouldn't have to be connected to play a game I paid $60+ for.

Sorry MS, I won't be buying another Xbox Product.  Sony's gonna get my business on the next console.

Wrapping yourself up in the Bible to justify your hatred...Not very Jesusy

Baptists leaving Boy Scouts...

For the past few years we've been hearing that religious people don't really have anything against gay people they just don't want to them to get married (we all knew that wasn't true).  Now, it appears they don't care for them after all as they can't bring themselves to tie knots with gay people.

Shameful..and I have NO DOUBT that Jesus would say the same thing of their selective readings of the Bible (we all know they don't feel the same hatred for people who eat Shellfish or wear two different types of cloth at the same time...) to defend their hatreds.



11 things you do that the Bible bans

Don't you feel safer

Choke Hold for a 14 year old

Nice to see some of Florida's finest choking out a child and defending it by saying he "clinched his fists" and made a look they didn't like.  Don't you feel safer?  This is real unbridled abuse of power...it should scare every American who loves Freedom and Liberty

The right-wing likes to talk about an intrusive government, but this is the real shit that people deal with every day.  Cops with issues acting violently based on whatever little thing sets them off.  This is real, not some ridiculous conspiracy theory of a government taking your guns, but notice the racist comments below the story.  I have very little doubt that the hateful comments are made by the same type of people who worry that "Obama is going to take their guns".  (see a connection?)

Shame on these cops and shame their management who defends this action.  Is a 14 year old clinching his fists holding a puppy REALLY a threat to anyone?  Maybe if you see every black kid as a threat and you take an opportunity to act out on whatever hang ups you're bringing to your job...

How quickly they forget...or a zealot is a zealot

The murder of the British soldier was horrible and those sick bastards should suffer.  I read a bunch of interesting comments about how this somehow proved that Muslims were violent and horrible people, despite denunciations by 99.9% of Muslims.  The irony is that those same people making those claims didn't assert that Christianity/Catholics were inherently violent and evil when the IRA was targeting British soldiers and killing them in acts of terrorism just a few years ago.

A short memory?  Hypocrisy? Racism? You pick.

I thought the right wingers loved guns...oh I see the difference now

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/justice/florida-zimmerman-defense/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

So, the Right Wing who loves guns and shooting the Trayvon Martin, now is trying to paint him as a thug b/c he sent texts about guns?  Wait a minute, I thought they loved guns and everyone should own them.  OH I get it...they don't want black people to have guns.  That's really what it boils down to isn't it.

He might have smoked some pot, so this is some sort of proof that he should be dead?  Most Americans have smoked pot and many own guns, so they should be shot?  Deserve to be shot?  read the comments.

Of course Zimmerman had a bloody nose, he followed a guy and attacked him and that guy fought back.  Zimmerman's intent to engage was clear from the 911 calls, despite being asked not to engage.  If someone chased after you and attacked you, you're going to defend yourself.  How is the aggressor allowed to claim he stood his ground (which I understand he's not going to claim now), it was Trayvon that stood his ground after being engaged and attacked.

And as for why releasing texts about him talking about guns is supposed to paint him in a bad light when the Republicans and the NRA who really want to see Zimmerman get away with murder last week were doing everything they could to celebrate guns and make it really easy for people to get them...typical Right Wing Hypocrisy.  The only thing more pathetic is the racism inherent in their hypocrisy.

Senator Rob Portman is NOT a hero, he's a selfish jerk

The media seems to be loving Senator Portman for his change of heart like he's now some enlightened thinker.  HE'S NOT.  He's a selfish clown.  He had NO concern for the rights of gays until it impacted his family which seems to be the way that most Republicans come to support any sort of gay rights (Looking at you Dick Cheney)...only when their son or daughter comes out.  Portman's "Change of heart" is a good thing, but his reason's a selfish.  Not because it's the right thing to do, not because he empathizes with those who are different than him.  He now supports marriage rights only because it impacts him directly.  That's not courageous that is simple selfishness.

I'd much rather have politicians that ran this country not from their own narrow point of view and for what benefits them, but for what is right for America and the world and human beings.

Go Buy this Album

When I lived in Boston back in the early 90s one of my favorite bands was a band called Tribe.  Loved them.  Loved the sound.  I loved the two women in the band.

A few weeks ago, my wife told me about this song she heard. I listened once and it took me back to Boston.   Loved the song and I bought the CD, yes CD (which then was added to my Cloud Storage on Amazon along with another 1000 songs I bought in CD form from Amazon.com since 1999 via their AutoRip feature which is freaking AWESOME)

Here's the song I heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9blpg5NknU



http://www.twofiftyfour.net/

Why "The Mindy Project" annoys me

I think Mindy Kaling is very funny.  Talented. Smart.  So it's with disappointment that she has made her character on The Mindy Project so lame.  It hit me in the episode where she deals with her best friend's child and she's completely clueless about children and doesn't even really like them.  SHE"S AN OBSTETRICIAN for God's sake.  She delivers babies, but she doesn't like kids?  Lately she's become more and more silly and ridiculous with her relationships with men.  She acts like a 19 year old idiot but she's been to Medical School.  I'm not sure if she's trying to channel some kind of stupid Ally McBeal lameness, but it's annoying.  Why make such a smart and successful woman look so ridiculous? It is lazy writing and I would expect better from Miss Kaling and crew.  The women she represents deserve better.

And please don't give me this "Go write a better show yourself you overly critical loser".  She's the one who got the show based on her talent and I can bitch about my disappointment without having to write a better show. She's the one wasting her comedic gifts and her fans deserve better.

More to come later on Why I thought the first season of "Friday Night Lights" was filled with every TV plot device every created in 22 episodes.

The problem with the pro-gun folks...

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/29/david_mamet_should_stick_to_writing_plays/

The biggest problem with the pro-gun lobby is that the people speaking the loudest and getting the most press are 1-Crazy as hell 2- misinformed about the reality. 

Aren't there any well-informed, rational people who could make a cogent case for guns?  Granted the case for everyone needing an assault weapon is a tough case to make, but that doesn't have to be the only position they put forth.