Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Canada

Yeah, I hate Canada. I've always hated the way the Canadians talk, the crappy weather, the bullshit politics, how they allow US military draftees asylum; also, because they're nothing more than America, Junior.

For months, people at work have known that I hate Canada, including 99% of things that COME from Canada. That list includes: Rush, Alanis Morrisette, Royal Mounted Police, French-speaking people, liberal pansies, so-called "Cheap Pharmaceuticals," socialized health-care. Did I mention French-speakers? Things I actually DO like about Canadia: Molson, bears, hockey, Keifer Sutherland.

Guess what...I'm probably going to Montreal. Yeah, Montreal, as in "Right in the fucking middle of Canada, full of fucking french-speaking Canadians, what with their flapping heads, eehhs, aboots, and liberalism."

My company is working on a new proposal up in Montreal, to build a big test environment, and I've pulled the lucky number to set up the machines down here, and probably accompany them up to Montreal and set them up. Then, since the proposal committee doesn't have the money right now to purchase new machines, the old ones are going to get tech refreshed in six months. So, I set up these new machines now, go to Canadia, then, in six months, go back up there, dispo these old machines, and build several new machines. Sounds like fun, right?

Hopefully I'll be up there for a few days, so Meg can go up with me, and we can get all shitty on Molson. Unfortunately, 10 hours in, she'd start missing the dog!

Anyway, it looks like Travis Gruber (Senior Airman Travis Gruber, that is) got screwed by that douche at the Contra Costa Times, but hopefully he'll get back what's his, namely, his job and his good name. That asshat Peele did a great 1-2 screwjob on Travis, and I could imagine that Travis would just take the easy way out and take down his site for good, but I'm glad to see that he's fighting back, and he's put his site www.howtokillpeople.com. I don't read Travis that much, but what happened to him was bullshit, and he deserves his anonymity, if he desires it. It was a complete infringement upon his right to privacy (I guess that applies when you're talking about abortion, but not when you're talking about a left-wing hack attacking a member of the military).

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Two concerts this week.

Yeah, so Meg and I went to see Velvet Revolver and Alice in Chains on Monday night, at the Tweeter Center in Camden. The Tweeter Center is an outdoor venue, with a large covered seating area, as well as a large "grass" area. Because of a particularly rainy few days, coupled with several large concerts over the part week, the term grass was more adept at describing the stuff in people's pipes, rather than the stuff clinging to the bottom of people's shoes.

We arrived at the T-Center around 4:30 PM, in a driving rain, temperature around 65 degrees. I'd borrowed a 10'x10' tent from my father, so that we'd be at least somewhat dry whilst cooking and drinking. Between 7 of us, we went through 6 pounds of hamburger, a case and a half of beer, a big-ass bottle of Jagermeister, and two big bottles of Gin & Juice. Man, were we shitfaced. Plus, we had a few inside the concert. We had a crackhead try to sell us 'shrooms and hash, to which my buddy Joe replied, "No, I'm edge," while drinking a Killian's. Crackhead replies "Ah man, that's cool, too," in kind.

Alice in Chains rocked the fucking house. I mean, just tore that shit down. I was worried that they'd lose something in the translation, what with Layne Staley being dead and all. William DuVall, AIC's new lead singer, did an AWESOME job. He sounds exactly like Layne, and Jerry Cantrell is every bit the guitar player he was 10 years ago. They haven't lost a step at all, and I can't wait until their new album comes out.

Velvet Revolver rocked, too. Not as much as AIC, but hell, they played "Interstate Love Song" and "Patience," as well as a few other GNR and STP hits, so I was happy. Of course, the performance of VR was underscored by the fact that my buddy Deepak, one of the crazy Indians, got even more shitfaced than the rest of us, decided he needed to go to the bathroom, and during the movement of him towards the bathroom (with my wife and I holding him up), he fell, and we all went sliding down the hill, in the mud. Fun. Secondly, my wife, of course, intoxicated as well, decided to climb over a railing, to try to sit in a covered seat. So once the "ticketing manager" saw this, even though VR was almost done playing, the place was DEFINITELY not packed, and CERTAINLY not sold out, gave her, and the rest of us shit. He actually told us that he wanted to see all of our tickets, you know, to ensure that we had legally entered the stadium for the concert. Now, this is in a stadium, designed to hold, maybe 10K people, and there were all of about 1,000 in attendance, because of the weather. I seriously thought Meg was going to slug him, then I thought I was, then I thought her father (yeah, her dad came with us....he's a damn cool guy) was going to slug him.

Anyway, after that, we all piled, drunk as skunks, into the Taurus, and drove back to the house. We missed the end of VR's set, but we were all about done with the cold and rain, and the ticket fiasco just about pushed us over the edge. Wifey was up, in the shower, and out to door to work by 8 AM, while I lay in bed all day, exhausted, and ridiculously hung over. Oh well, watched some NASCAR, played some guitar, and hung out with the pup.

Yesterday, I got a call from my sister, who said she had two extra tickets to the Collective Soul/Live/Counting Crows concert, up a the Lakewood Blueclaws stadium, about an hour from my house. Called the wifey, but she said that she was too tired from the other night, so I called around, and my buddy Rick went with us to the show. All my comments from the previous post about this tour apply to this concert. Stuck around long enough to hear Counting Crows play "Mr. Jones," then headed out to hit a bar.

We met up with my friend Joe, his brother Lou, and my buddy Ryan, at a bar called the Marina Grille, up in Brick, about 15 minutes from Lakewood. $1 Miller Lites...oh yeah. Unfortunately, we were over an hour from home, and I didn't feel much like getting in an accident or getting a DUI, so I had two beers, hung out for awhile, bopped around to the (halfway-decent) cover band, and chilled with my sister, her boyfriend, Rick, and the aforementioned friends. Good times...

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Fred Thompson

I've officially come to a conclusion as to whom I will be supporting in the 2008 Presidential election. In 2000, I was too young, by only 2 months. I would have voted for George W. Bush, had I been old enough. In 2004, I actively campaigned and voted for George W. Bush again. Man...was that one a mistake? Instead of the badass we THOUGHT we were getting, we got a spineless jellyfish, who does nothing but kowtow to everyone, from Democrats to Republicans to Fidel-esque Chavez. So anyway, I'm rectifying that this time.

Fred Thompson. My candidate for 2008.

So, what do I like about him?

He's a guy with a very short political career in Washington, one of the number one things I was looking for. He was in the US Senate for only a few years, at which time, he gave up the job, simply because he couldn't stand the bullshit going on in Congress. Things happen too slowly, and the Senators and Representatives that he had to deal with on a daily basis were nothing more than panderers to whoever would contribute the most to them. They forgot about Federalism. They forgot about the Constitution. What's worse, is that they forgot about and blatantly ignored their constituents.

He's got good, conservative ideas about the most pressing problems facing us; illegal immigration, social-security, welfare, Federalism, the courts, terrorism, the war in Iraq. He's not a cut and run person, and he's not a pansy. He'll fight for what's right for the country, not for what's right for a politician. He's against gun-control, unless that means you use two hands. He's against gay marriage, but for gay people to have all the rights afforded to them by God, their maker. He's against abortion, but realizes that it is not in the federal mandate, the Constitution, therefore, he'd rather see the states determine whether or not they'll allow it. He feels the same way about gay marriage. Taxes? He's for lowering them. He understands that when you lower taxes, you also increase revenues, and allow people to spend money on what is important to them; their families.

So, to show my support for Mr. Thompson, I added a new page element to my sidebar, the "I'm With Fred" banner that you see. It's a link that will take you directly to Fred Thompson's donations page, and if you're feeling good, you can donate to Mr. Thompson's upcoming Presidential run. Otherwise, you can take a look at his site, determine if you like his ideas and politics, and become a little more educated on one of the most promising Presidential candidates since Ronald Reagan.

Please check it out, even if you're a liberal. You might learn a few things you didn't know.

Also, anyone who reads this, please head over to VA Joe's and vote for LL's charity, America's Wounded Heroes. They're in a competition right now to secure an award for funding, something they need to continue doing the great work they do.