I voted for John McCain. I'm not trying to make a statement with that, just stating a fact. I have always been a moderate, politically speaking, and felt that McCain had a more moderate past. This is not news to people who were informed about the candidates. I would never put anyone down about who they voted for as long as they did so for their own reasons, not what they saw on The Late Show with David Letterman.
So I voted for John McCain. My fear about Obama is the amount of control the federal government has. Don't worry, I am not going to play the socialism card. However, government control over certain programs and areas of our country that heretofore have been free-enterprise is troubling to me. For instance, government controlled country-wide health care is a bad idea. The United States has the best health care in the world. People from other countries come here for care. Granted, they are rich. Listen...is our system perfect? Of course not. The question is, "Can it be better?" Maybe, maybe not. The bottom line is, when you have the best of something you dont overhaul it...you tweak it. Our health care is driven by our capitalist society. We have the best meds, the best doctors, and the best equipment. This is expressly because of the competitive nature of the medical economy. Many countries with state-sponsored health care have abysmal doctors, equipment and lack of drugs...and just for kicks you are going to have to wait a month before you can get this sub par attention. I can go on about this subject for a while....and this is just one area that scares me. To sum up my fears about Obama I would say this: There is nothing about Obama's political past that lives up to the "Cult of Personality" the media and we the people have built up around him, but I would be a fool to not admit he has unlimited potential. History tells us that unlimited potential combined with immense popularity can be very good...or a disaster.
Now that I got that out of the way, let me calm the Obama backers that I have angered: I want to believe. I saw something in the eyes of the people in Grant Park in Chicago the night of the election that I have not seen in a long time...Deep pride in their country and hope. It has been a while.
I voted for John McCain...and I am hoping that Barack Obama is the man that those people in Grant Park think he is. I really, really want to believe.

So, many people have noticed that I haven't posted to my blog in a while. I am here to say that there was a reason for that. I was detained for a crime I did not commit in a maximum security stockade. I then broke out with an elite military team to the L.A. underground. We then worked as soldiers-of-fortune, helping out folks in need.


When G-Dubs realized how super-cool I was he gave me a full pardon and invited me to his daughter's wedding. That G-dubs sure can pound the lattes, if you know what I mean.


G-Dubs recognized my skills, so he sent me out in the field to work with the best the United States special forces has to offer:

Thats right. I taught Jack Bauer everything he knows. You know the thing where you shoot a hostage in the kneecap to make him talk...all me.

But now, I'm back home doing the domestic thing and ready to tackle the full-time rigors of writing a kick-ass blog and crudely pasting my face over other peoples' faces.

The 5 Best Films to NOT Win a Best Picture Oscar

As I have stated before, I am a huge movie nerd or buff or enthusiast. Whichever word you want to use I am that. I can talk about movies all day or assign them to rankings that only have meaning to me. Think "High Fidelity" except with movies instead of music. Therefore from time to time (as the two people who read my blog know) I will throw out a movie list. It is with that in mind that I give you the top 5 movies to not win an Oscar for best movie (in my humble opinion. Feel free to leave me a comment if you think I omitted a movie worthy of consideration):

5. Star Wars

Okay, I know its kind of cliche but even if you are not a fan you have to admit that it was groundbreaking at the very least. It was nominated in 1977. The best picture winner that year was Annie Hall by Woody Allen, the most overrated director of my lifetime....ugh.

4. E.T. the Extraterrestrial

So it was sappy and a little on the emotional pandering side, but hey, when I was a kid I loved it....SO BACK OFF!....ahem....Nominated in 1982 it lost to the movie, "Gandhi", who oddly enough looked like E.T.

3. The Wizard of Oz

One of the most ingrained into pop culture movies of all time, it still stands tall as one of the most known and relevant movies ever. It seems strange that it did not win best picture until you realize that among the other nominees in 1939 were Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Wuthering Heights, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Stagecoach, and a little movie called Gone With the Wind....That was quite a year for film.

2. Fargo

A Coen Brothers masterpiece. They eventually won for No Country For Old Men. They deserved to win in 1996 over The English Patient (yeah, seriously). Hell, even Jerry Maguire was better than the English Patient.

1. The Shawshank Redemption

More beautiful, poignant, and moving than any movie about prison has a right to be. Quite simply one of the best movies of our time. It was beaten in 1994 by Forrest Gump, which was a very good, cute movie, but for substance alone comes up short of Shawshank and what would have been #6 on this list, Pulp Fiction.

Call Me Al

Carbon credits. Have you heard of these? In very basic terms, a carbon credit is something you can buy when you feel like you are not living "green" enough. One of the biggest and wealthiest of these credit selling companies is Generation Investment Management. This company caters to the super rich and will take your money and invest it in companies that stand to gain when the inevitable clean up of our "Global Warming" mess begins. Quite simply it is in this company and its investors' best interests to convince you that Global Warming is a very real and a very big problem. They also keep a percentage of the profits for themselves of course. Generation Investment Management was born as a company in 2004.

Now our old friend Al Gore. You know all about what he has been up to the last couple of years (unless you live under a rock of course...not that there's anything wrong with that). He has been continually trying to convince the world that we (humans) have caused Global Warming and we all must change the way we are living very soon or we (humans) will all surely die (hyperbole...and a little sarcasm for good measure).


But good ol' Al realizes that living green is expensive. After all Al's mansion in Tennessee uses more electricity in a month than most of us use in a year and that private jet he flies around on ain't running on solar energy either. So Al realizes that the average American (or the super rich ones) can alleviate their guilt by buying into carbon credits. Heck, even Al admits that he does not live super green so he freely admits his purchase of carbon credits every time he jets off into the wild blue yonder....


...and you are thinking, what a great guy. Al Gore cares about the environment. Al buys his credits from....you guessed it: Generation Investment Management. There's only one problem. The chairman of Generation Investment Management is someone we all know. See if you recognize him....



That's right. It's Al's company. He invests in his own company to alleviate his "green" guilt and he encourages you to do the same. So Al is going to make a truckload of money if he can convince the world that Global Warming is in fact real. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but that sounds like one hell of a motive. And lest some of you think that it was just one big happy accident that Al just fell into this money-making venture while leading the crusade (cult), remember that just this past year Al said that scientists were now unanimous (they're not) that human-induced Global Warming was real. 2008. Yet Generation Investment Management was started when? 2004.

Al Gore....You, sir, are an ASSHOLE!

Wednesday.....Mostly wordless.

The 5 most beautiful things I have ever seen with my own two eyes:


5. Times Square. If you have never been there, I can't really explain it. It's like the beating heart of pop culture.


4. The Grand Canyon. Only being there can you truly be awed by the glory of a huge hole in the ground. Seriously, its pretty breathtaking.


3. Allen Fieldhouse. I have seen a lot of games there, but I still get a little misty-eyed when I walk in. Its a cathedral of college basketball.


2. The Narrow Gauge Railroad from Durango to Silverton, CO. I would ride this train everyday for the rest of my life if they let me.

#1- A TIE!!
My Two gals:

I Miss George

I was 12. That was the first time I heard George Carlin. I bought a cassette tape at a garage sale for 50 cents. It was called "What the hell am I doing in New Jersey?" He was foul-mouthed. For a child my age their was something forbidden about listening to him. The tape was hilarious. I listened to it over and over. This was one of my favorite sequences from that album (warning to all three of my readers, this is NSFW):


This was Carlin at his best. Pointing out little things that most people know, but didn't realize could be so funny. I started buying every Carlin tape I could get a hold of, awakening to his earlier years. It was a different brand of comedy and you could definitely see the drug influence in it:


I began watching everything that he would appear on religiously. Over the years, he would appear on HBO numerous times on hour-long specials and a little show called Comic Relief, where he absolutely stole the show from the top comedians of the day:


As he aged, his comedy evolved. It became more topical. He often talked politics and the ways of the world. Something changed for me. Not only was it still funny, but it had truth to it. Carlin would make you laugh and when you were done, think "Thats damn right." This style became his modus operandi and will be, what I feel, what he is remembered for long after his passing:


And another one:


The morning I heard he had passed, I actually shed a tear. I have learned just as much from George Carlin as I have from many of my teachers through the years. He influenced the way I think and the way I live and I know I am not the only one. Which leads me to my thought: George Carlin is a philosopher of our time. Fifty years from now, if someone trying to learn about the way things were here were to listen or watch a clip, who would they learn the most from? Bill Clinton?...nah. G-Dubs?....please. I'll take my chances with someone learning from Carlin. Whether they learn anything or not, at least they will have a good laugh. Rest in peace George....and may Joe Pesci bless you.

Sort of Wordless Wednesday (night)

So, in keeping with the mostly wordless wednesday theme I figured video would do...specifically video clips. Since I planned to start yesterday with entertainment, I thought a hybrid would do. So today I give you my list of five best sports movies of all time...according to me.

5. When We Were Kings
A documentary on the "Rumble in the Jungle", the famous heavyweight clash between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Its a fascinating look at Ali's life and the atmosphere that turned Zaire into what Don King called "The African Woodstock."

4. Rocky
From the first few notes of "Gonna Fly Now", everyone knows exactly what movie and character we are about to see. One of the most ingrained into pop culture sports movies ever...and who can argue with the Academy award.

3. The Big Lebowski
Okay, so not technically a sports movie, but bowling does play a big part in the movie. Besides, every list of movies deserves to have a little Lebowski (urban achiever) in it.

2. The Natural
The BEST baseball movie ever...end of discussion.

1. Hoosiers
The ultimate underdog story. The new coach at first not accepted. The breaking of the players. The turnaround. The improbable run by a small school going up against giants. Gene Hackman. Jimmy Chitwood. The Picket Fence. 'Nuff said.