Planes, Trains and Automobiles!

Stage 3. The airline... Working my way to Gold Status baby!

The journey continues...

Stage 2. The Metro. Not quite as ghetto as the bus, but still mass transit.

Off to Phoenix!

My trip begins on the Loser Cruiser, commonly known as the bus. Next stop, the wonderful Metro.

A little green in my blue weekend!

Well, we got the perfect tree. Just waiting for it to open up... Oh, and my computer is still dead. Happy Holidays.

Hell

What a way to spend my Thanksgiving holiday. I came home Wednesday to a dead hard drive and have spent all weekend trying to recover all my 10,000 mp3s and 10 years worth of pictures and other files. Yeah yeah... Should have backed it up. This sucks.

The Price is Right

A new car!!! That's right, Mer and I decided to trade in our two cars (Acura CL and Honda Accord) for this new beauty.
We opted for the Acura TSX, with Navigation (man, I so love that). With me taking the Metro (subway) to work every day, I was putting 20 miles a month on my old car. We couldn't justify spending over $500 a month in payments and insuarnce for it to just sit there. I suppose we could have kept Mer's Accord, but there was a mileage limitation - so we just went for the new car. It will save us about $300 a month. Now we just have to learn how to share...

Can the GOP be Saved?

You know, by listening to the media, one would be forced to come to the conclusion that the republican party is gasping for air. Notorious Bush-haters are licking their chops at the negative coverage the President has been getting. But what REALLY has been so negative?

The democrats' big argument right now is that the Iraq war is based on faulty intelligence, and that somehow they are all above the fray. Well, we know that's not true. All of these upset Senators, from Ted Kennedy to John Kerry, supported the War on Terror and had access to the exact same intel as the President. Some of these Senators, like Hillary Clinton, stated as fact as far back as 2002 that Saddam Hussein possessed WMD. So this argument that Bush somehow lied to the public is flawed and hypocritical.

Having said this, the knee jerk reaction for republicans is to come out and publicly attack the hypocrisy of the democrats. While they may be justified in doing so, that kind of posturing doesn't win respect. Instead, by going on the defensive, the GOP appears weak. By playing into the democrats' argument, the GOP looks like the whiney kid who is being beat up on the playground. Sure, you feel bad for him, but unless he punches back, you won't respect him.

The last time I checked, the GOP still controlled the Presidency and both houses of Congress. It's time they need to start acting like it. Yes, deficit reduction and budget trimming are important - and history will judge the conservatives fairly for trying to decrease federal spending when the government's income can't keep up. However, this doesn't resonate with a dumbed down populace. I say dumbed down, because the public seems to be buying into the democratic arguments even though they have not offered so much as a fix for what they see as problematic.

The GOP looks weak not because it is weak, but because the democrats look strong. As much as I hate to say it, the democrats have been acting cohesively, staying on message no matter how flawed their argument. And guess what - people are buying it.

The reason why Kerry lost the presidential election is because he appeared whiney and weak. He was constantly defending himself. Now look what the republicans are doing? Have we learned nothing from Kerry? Luckily, the democrats have no actual plan for making things better. If they did, the GOP would be in more trouble than they are. But if the republicans can start making their argument forcibly, and stick to it no matter what the democrats say (in other words, stop trying to defend it and instead work to sell it), they'll look strong and the public really won't care what ends up happening to DeLay or Scooter Libby.

If we republicans can follow that policy, we will win.

Why "Invasion" Should be Canceled

OK, I'm a science fiction fan. I'll admit it. I like Star Trek, Star Wars, Close Encounters... the works. And as all sci-fi fans will agree, invasion-type stories of hostile aliens coming to Earth for blood, glory or property (be it land or bodies) are a staple of the trade. But the new ABC series, "Invasion," needs to cut the crap and move to weekday afternoons between "One Life to Live" and "Days of Our Lives." Why? Because it's a gosh-dang soap opera.

Now, I don't just write about every show that ticks me off. Just the ones to which I find myself hooked with no hope of ever producing a coherent story. "Invasion" is one of those shows (I know, you guessed it). I am tired of watching week after week for a story to come together.

Oh sure, they drop tidbits and hints now and again. But you would have to watch 2 years worth of this sappy show just to get as much "coolness" as William Shatner was able to deliver in one hour. It's ridiculous. Television cancels a great sci-fi show (Enterprise) only to replace it with a pseudo-fi soap opera. And, "EBEs"???? Who are they kidding. Just call it an "E.T." for crying out loud.

This show has no worthwhile thread. Every intriguing character or subplot disappears with the end of that particular episode. I watch it every night hoping it will present something new. Maybe a fun concept that hasn't been tried in sci-fi before. That's what gets us nerds going. But I promise you. If ABC keeps this crap up, this show won't last another year. People want to see cool stuff, dang it. If the network can't provide it with "Invasion," they should cancel it and move on to another stupid idea. That network is full of them.

So, see you next week as I boycott the show by watching it and then complaining about it once again. Man, I'm hopeless.

Oh, and I hate William Fichtner (pictured).

Late night in Little Korea

My wife. The consummate shopper, picking out cheap groceries at the Asian supermarket. Did I say it was cheap?! Wow... I highly recommend Asian grocers.

80 Inches of Glory!

I will have it. Oh yes. I will have this TV.

Old friends for dinner...

Lazy Bums...

Road Trip!

On our way through beautiful West Virginia visiting my wife's cousin. Can't believe how great the property values are out here!

Entertainment at its BEST!

A picture of my office...

Time for a long needed update...

OK, so it's been a while since I was off trying to "Save Star Trek"... what can I say, I had nothing better to do! So, it shouldn't surprise anyone that I have since moved on (as I often do). I'm now working to literally, save the world.

OK, so I tell myself that's what I'm doing to feel important. But seriously, I'm at least helping to save the world. You can even see me in the picture somewhere...