Foo Fighters - Rope

This is there first single off their new album. I'm a bit bias on this subject, but I can't wait for the album's release (April 12). The whole album was done in low res. stuff Like this video, shot in -gasp- VHS... yep, can you imagine? The video and song are good, maybe not their best but still pretty good. More to come, no doubt.

Well Then... Maybe TMI, But Nice To Know...

I Was Going to Post About My Trip

But traveling from Bluffton to Atlanta and back is really a bit too much... I'll post on that later. I hope everyone is having a good Spring Break...

Blogs Are A Lot Like Assholes...

There is a problem with blogging about national problems, mianly that you can talk about it until you are blue in the face (that is from either side) it won't change a thing. It doesn't matter if you are a union supporter or follow a free market mentality... you getting online and voicing your opinion won't change squat.

Sometimes if you call your representative, be it in state or national, then it might make a difference. But jumping on a newspaper website and decrying Obamacare or what you think is wrong about the Wisconsin Governor... gets nothing at all accomplished, besides making you feel better. But more likely than not you will be too busy defending your stance from the opposition, who will never change his/her mind, no matter how hard you try to enjoy yourself. Both are idiots (that being the opposition and you), and both think they put the other in his/her place. Aint it grand?

So I might suggest that you, the proverbial you, think for just a minute, and put your strength and energy into something that you can change. Do what you like, which I am going to go out on a limb here... It probably isn't arguing with someone over the internet. Find the things you might agree on. If you know something isn't getting the attention it should, focus on that. I think debate is good and necessary, but on matters of national importance, not really. talk to your elected officials, and let them do what we elected them to do. If they won't listen or hold the opposition's viewpoint, work on getting someone who will take your point of view.

It is so easy to jump online and be the critic to each and every comment. It is so much harder to actually be the person taking in all points of view, and making a decision based on that. Harder still to take it to a national level. But anyone running for a particular office should know this. You "could" find yourself being a critic, and if you are ask if you really know the particular problem, the options available, and the best way to fix it. Then get ready for the onslaught of people ready to tear you limb from limb. That is why I don't so much comment on national happenings.

I used to be a critic of the school district. And I do from time to time, have some snarky things to say about a particular subject. I don't do that too much anymore. But like I said if you do, then know what is wrong and know how to fix it, and then suggest this to your elected official... otherwise you like to look foolish or you might want to keep your mouth shut.

The Mother of Vacations

Way back when... something like 1981 or `82... My mother went on a road trip, all the way from New Orleans to San Diego. Quite a trip in those days, I pause to think about it even today. So why were we going to San Diego? To pick up my step-father, who had joined the Navy and then decided that he didn't want to be in the Navy anymore. He lasted maybe 2-3 weeks. But anyway, we got one hell of a road trip out of the deal.

We packed our Datsun B210 hatchback, which was an upgrade from the `70's Volkswagen Beetle we used to run around town in... literally, jammed it full of things: ice chest, blankets, suitcases... we looked like the Clampetts or at least felt like them. It was a completely different time than what we find today. I had to hide in the car every time we stopped for the night, because my mother was afraid of being charged more for one adult and child, versus just for an adult. I might have been forced to wait in the car needlessly, but seriously, I was sweating my ass off, I don't want that to be for nothing.

We took I-10 pretty much the whole way. It was a long slough, especially Texas. I mean it just keeps going and going and going and going again. It makes you appreciate just how big Texas is if nothing else. Getting into New Mexico and Arizona (my mother has a brother that lives in Phoenix) breaks up the monotony, and the scenery changes a bit from scrub-land to a more cactus like desert. Neither of which you would want to be broke down in, but still. We saw my uncle who was really cool, but that was the only time I have ever seen him... his wife is crazy, even he admits it (she is a Jesus freak...) . So from Phoenix, San Diego is just a hop, skip, and jump away... Although really, who would have thunk it that a boy from the westbank of New Orleans would have ever had this opportunity, I certainly didn't.

We pick up my step-dad and then continue on to see some sights. We went to the San Diego Zoo, up the coast to Universal Hollywood and took a tour, we also went to Disneyland (and at that time I was not impressed... Many rides were out of commission I don't think the early 80's were a good time for Disney) and then up to San Francisco with finishing California off by camping in Yosemite... and nearly being eaten by a bear... Why? Because we were stupid, I think I can look back at my life and you know the things that common sense tells you to do, and somehow you do otherwise and you live anyway? Yeah that is me.

The rest of the trip is sort of a blur. We did stop at Hoover Dam, which was and is pretty cool. I think we did more driving in less time, with 2 adults now able to swap off driving duty. And plus I never liked my step-dad much. He was an abusive alcoholic, and you really never knew what kind of mood he was going to be in. Maybe everything was fine, maybe the next seconds he was getting a blow torch and threatening to burn everything in your room if you didn't clean it up (in his defense, my room was chronically messy) but I did enjoy my road trip with my mom, and it was to be the only one I would take, before my younger sisters and brother came along.

Still an incredible journey. One I think back on every time I plan to go on a trip and to think if I would have stayed home with my dad, and went to school, well I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun or life experiences. So my recommendation to any who come upon the option to take a trip or not... go ahead and take the trip. It could be the worst thing you ever did, it might be the best, but either way it will make memories. Me and my mom joke about it to this day.

Vacation!!!

So I know I didn't exactly advertise this. Not so much because it was last minute, but because we had literally too much other shit going on... I failed to mention it. Today (Saturday) we make a mini-vacation by getting into our minivan and driving up to Atlanta. While there we will get the CityPass, and enjoy everything on it... Zoo, Aquarium, Coke, CNN, Fernbank Museum of Natural History. It will be 4 days of us being tourists. I will of course have some pictures and whatnot to share.

We feel like we really need the time to just let our hair down. Taxes and job interviews and just stressed out in general... it will be nice to get away. But it is only temporary. We did wonder... should we go the beach route or someplace like Atlanta route. I figured we will have plenty of time to go to the beach once it warms up, Atlanta, nobody wants to be in Atlanta when it is 95+ degrees outside. At least that was my lopsided reasoning. For now, if you are reading this on Saturday, I am already gone, probably on I-16...

Classic Film Friday: Romancing the Stone

Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) is an author, she writes about love and romance. But she gets a phone call from her sister, Elaine (Mary Ellen Trainor) begging her to come to Columbia as she has been kidnapped. She has sent Joan a map, and if she brings it to Columbia, she can use it as ransom. What happens next is a bit of miscommunication and "fish out of water" circumstances. Until Joan meets Colonel Zolo (Manuel Ojeda) who Joan at first trusts but quickly discovers he is not a nice guy at all.

As Zolo is about to kill Joan on the side of a Colombian road, Jack Colton (Michael Douglas) comes along and unwittingly gets into a fire fight with Zolo. Joan hires Jack to get her to where her sister is, but the two fall in love and we are treated to a swashbuckling adventure. With Danny DeVito playing the comic relief as he is a part of the team that kidnapped her sister. His name is Ralph.

Well it all seems like it will be ok, Joan gets her sister back Jack got paid... that is until everyone comes back together for a massive gun fight... including a tug of war with an alligator. It is a movie from the 80's through and through. Joan has a new story to write about, and Jack now has the boat he has been saving up for (he won the tug of war with the alligator... eventually) and they "sail" off together.