Michael Jackson: An Expensive Farewell

The cost of the Michael Jackson memorial is estimated to cost the Tax Payers of the city of Los Angeles $4 million dollars, that is $4,000,000! Not as large as the debt Obama has accrued since taking office, but still a pricey tab to be thrust up the city of Los Angeles and the state of California (which is now bankrupt).

There is no question that Michael Jackson was a larger that life celebrity, but there is a question as to why his death deserves the attention and publicity it does. Anyone, who has been half way observant will notice a few things:

1. His death and memorial is overshadowing the more important issues of Public Health Care and the Cap and Trade bills being foolishly pushed through legislation (Obama couldn't have hoped for better timing).
2. Michael Jackson is being hailed as a great figure of black civil rights (remember when Tupac was being compared to Martin Luther King). Never mind he has two children from white surrogates and bleached his body white, whiter than mine. Black celebrities never miss an opportunity to play the race card.
3. No attention is being given to his bizarre and questionable lifestyle. Sure, it comes out that he was abusing prescription drugs, but guess what, "It's not his fault". He was obviously being taken advantage of by shady doctors. Faulty reasoning.
4. He is being idolized as a god among men. A disgrace.

Michael Jackson's death clearly shows the mind set of our nation. We are more concerned with this man, who destroyed his reputation and body as the years went on, than we are with the issues that face us morally, financially, and politically as a country.

So who should pay for this? Well, I'm sure between all the celebrities that "poured" their hearts out at the memorial service they should be able to muster up at least $4 million. Or how about the Jackson family themselves. $4 million is chump change. Also, keep in mind they opted to have such a big memorial, they had "cheaper" alternatives. But now, the Mayor of Los Angeles is asking for donations, maybe Obama will bail them out:

http://mayor.lacity.org/PressRoom/PressReleases/LACITYP_005598

Sure Michael's death may have been sad to many of his fans, but the disgraceful spectacle put on by many, and now the price tag, tells a much sadder story.

Lesson: The dead know nothing, and it is a good thing they don't.

Plain and Dry

So...this weekend was busy. After moving 3 tons of gravel, we set off to a nearby Wal-Mart to purchase some all important camping gear. Like any good camper we prepared a list and clearly marked the thing we needed to buy. On our drive to the store, I candidly made the comment that we should be in and out quickly as long as we stick to the list (I already know what you're thinking..."Yeah right, you wish").

Well 10 minutes after crossing the threshhold of Wal-Mart we had accumulated a pretty high price tag and had nothing on the list checked off...it was going to be one of those days. Things were not going as planned or expected.

One thing on the list was "6 gallon water containers". We were going to pick up a couple more for my parents. Well there they were, 3 of them right there on the shelf...oh but wait what's this they are all missing their screw on caps. Who steals the caps from 6 gallon water containers at Wal-Mart? Who? Seriously, give me a break? We compromised for some other ones, which might actually work better for our purposes. Not as expected.

We slowly started to cross things off our list. By this time we had acquired a second shopping cart. "Its for the baby", I secretly told myself. But we had yet to scratch the surface of the food list. Part of our shopping took a detour through the toy isle. My son had money burning a hole in his pocket and needed to spend it fast. Apparently he also realized that we had money burning holes in our pockets too and suggested we buy lots of toys. A quick look at our carts would surely bring anyone else to the same conclusion. We in the end we made him stick to only buring holes in his own pockets.

The food shopping actually went very smoothly and we stuck to the list. Not as expected.

It was time to checkout. It was now payback for all those people who abuse the fact that Wal-Mart doesn't enforce the "Speedy Checkout - 20 items or less rule". After some joking around we decided to not be jerks and moved our caravan to a "normal" register. Lets just say the final tab was Not as expected.

We were all a bit hungry so we went to a nearby Wendys. Oh yeah...loading the car was interesting. We go through the drive though and get the standard kid's meal along with two regular meals. After receiving our food, someone remembered that we forgot to ask for "plain and dry" on the kids meal cheeseburger. For the next 5 - 10 minutes we were subjected to all the reasons why a burger can not possibly be consumed unless it is plain and dry. I was not convinced. For my son, it was not as expected.

We headed home and wrapped up the day.

Lesson: Life is not made to order.

Beer Battered Baseball

So yesterday evening I partook of one of America's pastimes, baseball. I went with my wife and my two boys, one big - one small. The match up - Sioux City Explorers vs. El Paso Diablos. Being at the game brought back memories of when I used to run, hit, and throw on the field growing up.

Baseball - nothing like it. The anticipation of each pitch grows stronger as the innings go by and the victor is yet to be decided. "Why won't he swing?", "Why did he swing?", "C'mon blue, I can see that from up here (35 rows up, to the back of the batter while I stuff my face full of popcorn and soda!)". Did I mention I have great vision?

Being with the family is always enjoyable, but it seems they don't share my same passion for baseball. Don't get me wrong, they don't mind watching the game, but they just didn't seem that into it. Let me explain: The youngest one falls asleep Top of the 5th, the oldest is facing the crowd about 80% of the time wondering why the batter won't "give" him a foul ball (2 or 3 came within 15 feets of where we were sitting), and my wife (very beautiful BTW) actually took out a book!

But not all was such circumstance. The oldest got sugar high after a Jumbo Cotton Candy and a Sprite to wash it down. I'm sure the popcorn he put into the mix made it that much better. Maybe that's why he couldn't sit still or sit down - you should have seen his eyes - wide open, alert but glossy. 3 words - He loves sugar. Ok, so what about the game.

Diablos got up early 1 run in the bottom of the 1st. Then noone scored for a very long time.

Top of the 5th - Enter the Beer Batter. IF he strikes out, YOU get beer for $1 for the next 10 minutes! Sweet! I don't drink, but it seems that some people have way too much faith in a batter down 0-2 in the count and actually started heading up the isle to line up for hops and barely. He grounded out to second...It got me thinking. So, what if he gets a hit? $10 for the next 1 minute? (I'll post more about how this could potentially yield riches, follow along on my Road to One Million section).

Bottom of the 5th - Half a dozen birds have their way eating senseless bugs blinded by the stadium lights. Good for them!

Top of the 6th - The Explorers score! 1 out, man on 3rd. He swings, fly ball to mid left field. The runner tags, the left fielder puts the ball on the expressway home, a beautiful throw, no bounce, the catcher in position at home just needs to close his glove, "You're Out" the umpire pumps with his fist (I'm sure he thought he would be on ESPN or at least the local news). Getting hosed at homeplate isn't fun, but seeing someone else getting hosed is great!

Bottom of the 9th - 1-1, runner on second 2 outs. Who's up to batter, none other than Mr. Eddy Rodriguez, our knight in shining armor...or not. The Explorers put in the nifty little pitcher. Not much on his heater, but man does he have a nice breaking ball. After the leadoff man got to second (a single and stolen base), he gets K's the other two swinging for the fence trying to hit a ball going down while their bats are going up. Ok, so back to Eddy. He saw his two teammates just faulter right before him. He is prepared and knows about the curve ball.

Pitch 1 - Breaking ball for a strike, no swing
Pitch 2 - Breaking ball for a ball, no attempt to fake a swing
Pitch 3 - Breaking ball for a ball, no attempt to fake a swing
Pitch 4 - Breaking ball for a strike, no swing
Pitch 5 - Breaking ball for a strike, NO SWING! WAAA? Don't tell me he didn't know it was going to be a breaking ball! How can you not swing? Protect the plate! Go down swinging! Fall down, do something!

The crowd was not pleased.

Top of the 10th - Enter Drunk Man dancing with long black haired wig! I don't know the song, but its one of the Macarena types: left, right, count, count, hands, hands...ridiculous. We'll he wasn't really moving too much, but the expression on his face said otherwise. I think he thought we was really moving with his head bobbing and his arms outstretched. Did I mention he was still holding his 96oz beer in one hand and snapping his fingers with the other! Oh if only I had a picture!

Top of 11 - Explorers score 3 runs on some bad relief pitching.

Enter Fireworks. We got home late, a good day.

Lesson: It won't kill you to swing. Really. I've tried. I'm alive.

Guantanamo Bay Water Park

Recent statements by Nancy Pelosi in an article published at the link below showing the startling intelligence or rather lack thereof of the people "in charge" of this nation:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30745095

Fun read? Sounds like Pelosi was told it was Guantanamo Bay Water Park, where we interrogate with fun!

Let's discuss:
"To the contrary ... we were told explicitly that waterboarding was not being used," she told reporters, referring to a formal CIA briefing she received in the September of 2002.

- Ok...what year is this? 2009! This is just a clear indicator that this woman is either completely naive or has had her head in the sand (for sake of a less than wholesome word) for the last 7 years! And well given her other decisions this shouldn't come as a surprise.

Pelosi was particularly harsh in describing the CIA.
"They mislead us all the time," she said.

- Maybe that's part of their job, maybe its a real bad excuse...

"We were not — I repeat, were not — told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used," she said at the time.

Lesson: Repeating the same thing over and over doesn't make it true.

Krispy Kreme

This morning I stopped at a nearby Shell station to fill up. I hadn't noticed it before, but they sell Krispy Kreme donuts. Yummy. Too bad I spent all my cash on gas. I couldn't just buy one either, I had to buy a dozen. I wonder how much money they are losing by only selling by the dozen. Most people going to this gas station (especially at this location) are likely passing through town and are not going to want to carry a dozen donuts around. If I can buy a single candy bar, why not a single donut?! C'mon Shell!
Lesson: Bulk is not always better.

Are you a Web Ninja?

Are you a Web Ninja? What is a Web Ninja? Being a Web Ninja is not about flamboyance, its about figuring out and implementing the things that drive a web site at its core. Seamless, unnoticeable by the naked eye, and above all dressed in black with a bandanna. Share your Web Ninja skills here!

Starting a Blog...Starting Over...

Ok...So here I am, writing this blog. As a first order of business I'd like to welcome you all, the few, who will probably won't find this is any quick manner. I hope to blog about several topics ranging from personal interests to web development to get rich quick (well maybe not so quick) schemes. Enjoy!