Dear Pinnacle Systems,

FUCK YOU!

I've been using one of your TV tuners for well over a year and a half. I've tolerated your crappy hardware and buggy software because it got the job done.

Well, tonight it didn't.

Ya see, I set it up to record House for me tonight while I was out playing softball.

When I got home, I hopped onto my computer to check it and I see an error message that PMCloader.exe encountered a problem and needs to close.

I checked my videos folder, nothing there.

DAMN YOU!!!

Because of some "problem" with your crappy software I missed the first episode of House since the strike!

THANK YOU VERY FUCKING MUCH!!!

Your tuner will be replaced ASAP.

Thanks for nothing,

Justin

Technorati Tags: Pinnacle Ststems,TV Tuner,software bugs

Florida wants to castrate your truck

The Florida legislature wants to get their hands on your junk:

They're proudly displayed by any self-respecting bull, but dangling big metal ones on the back end of a truck could be banned in Florida.

Metal replicas of bull testicles have become trendy bumper ornaments in some parts of the Sunshine State, but state Sen. Carey Baker is campaigning to ban the orbs.

If they're tackling truck testes then they must have everything else taken care of, right?

Baker acknowledged that Florida lawmakers have more pressing issues, including huge revenue shortfalls, but said the state needs to draw a line on what's obscene before more objectionable adornments appear.

I guess not...

In all honesty, I've got no problem with these. Sure it's stupid, but a lot of people put a lot of stupid stuff on their cars. You know, all those people with spinners and lights under their car and all that other stupid stuff.

Technorati Tags: florida,truck testicles

How much of a maniac am I behind the wheel?

Welcome to Stupid Quiz Sunday, in which I'll take an online quiz that may or may not be stupid and post the results.

Your Driving Is is: 47% Male, 53% Female

According to studies, you drive both like a guy and a girl. This means you're a pretty average driver, with typical quirks. Occasionally you're frustrated and or a little reckless, but that's the exception - not the norm.

Do You Drive Like a Guy or a Girl?

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

Technorati Tags: online quiz,driving style

I got ya!

Welcome to Friday Saturday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

This week I've got my first photo from a Drillers game. This one was shot last Saturday night as they beat Conroe 56-30.

I don't have any rosters so I don't know who's who or anything, but I can tell you that the Drillers are wearing black and I think that's from a sack.

Technorati Tags: Beaumont Drillers,football

A great one for the hockey fans

Someone pointed me to this and I thought I'd share it.

Technorati Tags: hockey,baseball,shortstop

Finally!

After repeated delays, we finally got to kick off the softball season yesterday evening.

They stuck me in right field, which I wasn't upset about since nothing got hit towards me all game. The way the sun was right in my eyes it's not like I would have seen it coming anyway.

I got two plate appearances. I could see while I was on deck that the pitcher for the other team was shaking off some rust so I was patient at the plate. I watched strike one go by and then managed to resist as the next four all either hit the plate or fell short, sending me to second (in co-ed, men get to go to second on a walk to discourage walking them to get to women, as the lineups alternate between the sexes) and bringing in a run.

The second appearance I worked the count full and hit a hard grounder to the first basemen, who flipped the ball to the pitcher and got me by a step.

So I went 0-1 with a BB and an RBI. I'm not upset.

Next week we've got a doubleheader, which'll be nice.

Now if I can just remember to look up what the ASA strike zone is.

Technorati Tags: slow-pitch softball,softball

Trapped in a vacuum

(NOTE: This is the first post of a new weekly feature I'm calling "Stupid Quiz Sunday," in which I'll take an internet quiz and post the results here for everybody to see)

Created by OnePlusYou

Have you taken this quiz? Have a quiz you want me to take? Leave a link in the comments.

Technorati Tags: online quiz,vacuum of space

Seeing the one that got away

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

I know I missed last week. Hopefully this'll make up for it.

Charlotte Checkers' goalie Mike Ayers looks back at a puck that got past him and into the net during a game against the Texas Wildcatters on January 5, 2008. The Wildcatters went on to win the game 4-1.

Technorati Tags: hockey,ECHL,Texas Wildcatters,Charlotte Checkers,Mike Ayers

This blog NOT recommended for kids

(Spotted on JimThompson.org)

I ran the blog through the Cuss-O-Meter:

Created by OnePlusYou

Technorati Tags: Cuss-O-Meter

Fun Trivia

Q: How do you become two years older than everybody thought you were?

A: Admit you lied about it:

Saying he wanted to unburden himself, Miguel Tejada approached general manager Ed Wade and asked to correct misinformation he gave the Oakland A’s when he signed in 1993. The Astros’ new shortstop is actually 33, two years older than he’s listed in the club’s media guide and other baseball records.

Tejada was actually 19 when he signed as a kid out of poverty-stricken Bani, Dominican Republic. At the time, he says, a local coach encouraged him to say he was 17.

"I'm a poor kid that wanted to sign," he said. "I’m feeling free now,” he said. “It’s something that I had in my mind.”

Someone's bound to make a big stink out of this, but I don't really see it as a huge thing. I mean, how many times in the history of the game has stuff like this happened?

After all, the Astros don't see it as a big deal.

“Fact of the matter is that he plays like he's 25, so I don't think it really matters a whole lot,” said [Astros GM Ed] Wade, who indicated the age discrepancy first came out during the course of a media interview. “We're still trying to figure out Jose Cruz Sr's age.”

If they're not upset then i see no reason to be.

Technorati Tags: Astros,Miguel Tejada

Supreme Court: the needle ride to hell is not cruel and unusual punishment

Go to hell, go directly to hell, do not pass go, do not collect $200:

In a case closely watched in Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the use of lethal injection for executing convicted killers in Kentucky.

The 7-2 decision clears the way for 36 states, including Texas, to resume lethal injections. Those executions had been delayed for more than six months since the high court first agreed to hear the case. The case splintered the Supreme Court into five factions and no single opinion garnered a majority.

As y'all might remember, I have zero sympathy for people on death row suffering while poison is pumping through their veins.

So, when's Huntsville going to start catching up?

Idaho Dems have an alternative to Clinton and Obama in their upcoming primary

If you're an Idaho Democrat and you don't feel like being conned by Clinton or Obama in November, you can vote for a con:

A federal prison inmate got himself listed on the ballot for Idaho's May 27 primary as a Democratic presidential candidate, the state's top election official said.

Keith Russell Judd is serving time at the Beaumont Federal Correctional Institution in Texas for making threats at the University of New Mexico in 1999. He's scheduled for release in 2013.

Judd, 49, qualified for the ballot by submitting a notarized form and paying the required $1,000 fee, state Secretary of State Ben Ysursa said. As a result, Democratic voters will be able to choose between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Judd.

Sounds to me like Ohio needs to tighten up their standards a little.

Local high school's targeted mentoring a prime example of the hypocrisy of race relations today

The ACLU is making an inquiry over an assembly at a local high school:

West Brook High School administrators on Wednesday defended a black-male-only mentoring session that has prompted a recent inquiry by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The March 29 program, dubbed the "Big 3 Conference," was an invitation-only event for the school's more than 800 African-American males in the ninth, 10th and 11th grades.

The sessions were divided by grade-level and addressed issues such as education, test scores, crime, family and gangs.

[...]

"I think it's really problematic on its face," [ACLU Foundation of Texas legal director Lisa Graybill] said by phone Wednesday. "Targeting a specific ethnicity for a program I find extremely worrisome."

[...]

"On what basis is the conclusion being drawn that black people need some kind of special intervention and to what end is that intervention tailored?" Graybill said.

I'm a West Brook alum (Class of 2003) and I can recall a couple of instances where students were pulled for targeted assemblies, which are listed after the jump:

• My freshman year there was one where all the girls in the entire school were pulled for some sort of women's health awareness thing, something I'm glad I wasn't forced to attend.
• There was one where all the Asian students were pulled out of class for some sort of assembly. I don't remember any details on that one.

Dividing people up by color, creed, or whatever else is wrong, no matter the reason. Martin Luther King preached it and I believe it.

That belief is the reason I have such a problem with this. It's similar to how people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson claim to preach equality whilst trying to differentiate themselves, to make themselves special in one way or another. That's not equality, it's hypocrisy. I sincerely believe that people like that do more to damage race relations in this country than they do to improve them.

What they did is wrong, it's that simple. There's no excuse for it.

Now I'm not going to go screaming for people to be fired or anything but I do believe that the people involved come out and man up to their mistake. Just come out and apologize so we can all get on with our lives.

But what do you do about the issue of hypocrisy in race relations? I believe that if people would just look back at the message that MLK left us and stick to those principles then the hypocrisy would go away.

The straw that broke the camel's back

I finally had it with the hockey team.

A couple weeks back I bought a playoff ticket package.

On Monday I went to the office to pick them up and was told that parking wasn't included with the packages this year.

I was like "WHAT?"

Ya see, the free parking with the packages is what makes the packages such a bargain to me. That's $5 a game I'm saving. $85 if all the potential games were played

So I left, muttering to myself and extremely pissed.

On the way home it hit me that this was definitely the straw that broke the camels back, so I decided to turn around and drove back up there and demanded my money back.

I had a talk with Quincy (one of the guys working in the office) where he kept trying to change my mind, telling me that "but this year we have kids prices." I responded "So? Do I look like I have kids?"

Needless to say, they didn't change my mind.

So they tell me that since they'd already deposited my check they'd have to cut me one, but the person who could do that wasn't in and wouldn't be for the rest of the day.

So I called Quincy this morning to see about what time he's supposed to be in and get told "about 10" and that they'd call me back when he got in. I gave them my cell number to get me that way.

About 11:30, still without a phone call, I decided to go treat myself to a birthday lunch at Frankie's, a locally-owned Italian place. Had lasagna, it was great. Then again, I don't think I've ever eaten anything there that I didn't like.

Now let's get back on topic...

While I was in the restaurant I called Quincy I'd been talking to about this and got his voicemail. I asked for an estimate of when he'd be in because "I've got things to do this afternoon." I didn't, but he didn't need to know that.

About 1:30 I called again and talked to him. He said something to the tune of "Oh, he's been in for half an hour, let me go talk to him about it."

WELL THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KNOW WHEN HE GOT IN, QUINCY!!!

Then there's the whole matter of how you manage to keep a job if you're supposed to be in at 10 and don't get in until about 1? Guess it doesn't really matter if you won't be there much longer anyway...

Anyways, he told me that I could bring in the tickets and they'd mail me a check in about a week.

So I took them in.

Pissed me off that I had to go through all that to get my money back, but who ever really is willing to be more than accommodating when people want money back?

The tie remains

The Pulitzers were announced today.

I still have just as many Pulitzers as the Houston Chronicle.

I'm surprised, I thought I would have gotten one for my gripping piece on topics such as:

• Raggedy Andy shooting up
• The UIL's proposed steroids testing procedures
• My Humberto Coverage
• The NFL hating people who use the interwebs
• MLB hating cancer kids

How the hell do NONE of those win?

Updated: What do you call it ...

... when your team wins 95-8?

The Beaumont Drillers, our indoor football team, defeated the Wichita Falls Diablos by that margin tonight.

The way I see it, calling that game an ass-kicking just doesn't do it justice.

So what do you call it?

Leave your suggestions in the comments.

UPDATE: Here are some highlights from one of the local TV stations.

Digging out more dog pictures from the archives

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

This week we've got an old one of Petey and Bruiser out in the backyard:

What the hell is Bear doing?

Beats me, boys!

It took me a long time to get to the point where I could think about Bear and have a smile on my face again. Taffy's helped with that a lot as she took over a lot of the same roles in the pack that Bear had.

Hulu is a great time-waster

This is *NOT* a Pay Per Post or ReviewMe.com ad. I'm doing it of my own free will in part because I don't believe in blogging about something when wads of cold, hard cash are involved.

I've been messing around with Hulu for a while, watching a couple things here and there.

For those that don't know, Hulu is a service that provides ad-supported, on-demand video of movies and TV shows.

Last night I got looking at the movies section and saw Red Dragon on the list. I've been wanting to see that, so I decided to watch it.

Since it's an R-rated movie, I had to register first. Registration was painless, a one page form asking pretty standard questions. It's a kinda stupid hoop to have to jump through considering they don't verify your age, but I didn't mind. The only question I didn't care for was the household income question, but you have the option to not say.

Once I hit submit I went and started up the movie. It launches in a very nice-looking flash player similar to how YouTube works, but with MUCH better quality video. Not TV quality, but still quite good for an internet stream. The site offers the ability to view any of their videos in a resizable pop-up window, which is quite handy for watching and getting other things done at the same time.

Of course, with the free movie you have to endure something. What you endure is an occasional commercial. You only get one ad per break, and the ad is never for longer than thirty seconds. The ads are spaced out about the same way as if you were watching the movie on basic cable.

All in all, I'm quite happy with Hulu and I'll be visiting again.

And, oh yes, I enjoyed Red Dragon a lot.

Just so everybody knows ...

... Houston from Tater Tots for the Masses said on Twitter that he feels "moderately retarded" and told me to "feel free to tell the world."

So I am.

You can thank me later, Houston. :)

OK, if you must see it, here's the story:

Tots4Masses @fatelvis04 Thanks. I feel moderately retarded. Feel free to tell the world. :) 43 minutes ago from web in reply to fatelvis04

fatelvis04 @Tots4Masses Click the Utterz link about 1 hour ago from web in reply to Tots4Masses

Tots4Masses @isfullofcrap IM me a link to the snapshot please. about 1 hour ago from web in reply to isfullofcrap

isfullofcrap As you can plainly see from that snapshot, my crash diet has worked. about 1 hour ago from web

isfullofcrap [utterz] http://tinyurl.com/2rpfm4 Snapshot from work.: Instead of having something useful like network alerts or new prod about 1 hour ago from web

That clear it up for ya?

9/11 was not a conspiracy theory

So says Al-Qaeda:

9/11 Conspiracy Theories 'Ridiculous,' Al Qaeda Says

Random thoughts about the NCAA South Regional experience

Thought I'd do a post to sum up my experience:

• Firstly, a humongous FUCK YOU to METRO for jacking up the price of parking at the Fannin Park and Ride unannounced on Sunday. I pull up expecting to pay the normal $2.50 and this dude comes up to me and wants $10 to park. If I was a Houston taxpayer I'd want Frank Wilson's head on a stick for that.
• Granted the $10 from METRO was a hell of a lot better than the $20 that Reliant wanted.
• As far as the train itself, I actually liked it. I'll do it again, just steer clear of parking there when there are major events going on.
• I thought that this would be the best of all the regionals with a lot of close games and I end up with three double-digit wins. That was a little disappointing.
• Concessions at Reliant are too fucking expensive. $5.50 for a Dr. Pepper is outrageous.
• I loved the seats. Only real gripe was that there was only about four inches between rows on the risers they set up down low, so you were fighting the heads of tall dudes to see the action. The elevated court did help a lot.
• The environment was really something, especially for the Sunday game. Friday the crowd was kind of trickling in during the early game (Texas and Stanford) and about half the building left at the half of the Michigan St.-Memphis game (as Memphis was leading 50-20), but they were all there and LOUD for the Sunday game between Memphis and Texas. Shame the outcome wasn't better.
• My cell phone sucks for texting. Next one's got to have a full keyboard.
• Memphis is a hell of a lot better of a team than I'd expected them to be. I'd discounted them because they were in Conference USA, but seeing them in person gave me a whole hell of a lot of respect for them. They were just dominating.
• Wearing a Longhorns hat in public wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be but I still won't root for them when they're playing the Aggies.
• The Memphis and Michigan State fans that I met were all really nice. I'd say the same about Stanford fans, but I don't recall talking to any of them.
• I should have gone back to Beaumont the back way. Traffic on I-10 was pretty thick since the Memphis fans that drove were going back the same way. I ended up getting off of I-10 at Winnie and taking a two-lane highway that goes about the same route the rest of the way into town.

Well, that's all my tired mind can think of right now.

Summing up last night

(posted by email)

 

Good morning, my loyal minions.

 

What a night last night. Two games, two ass-kickings in what I figured would be closer games.

 

Sunday's game will be a good game though. Memphis and Texas should be a hell of a matchup.

 

There were a lot more Memphis fans there than I'd expected to see, but UT fans outnumbered them at least 10-1.

 

It'll be a fun afternoon. Tons of it.

 

Now I'm off to go get a shower before the Astros game.

 

(P.S. Don't forget to watch Twitter and Utterz for updates)

A blast from the past

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've my brother has taken with the world.

This week I dug into the archives and found a good one of Bear:

I got the ball! I got the ball!

This one was taken Feb. 15, 2006 by my brother. If I remember right, he wanted me to throw the ball to Bear and he wanted to get pictures. He was about a year and a half old then if my math is correct.

A few housekeeping things for the rest of the week

If you haven't yet heard, I'm leaving tomorrow and will be out of town all weekend at the NCAA South Regional in Houston.

Updating this place will be sporadic at best. There should be a few scheduled posts that go up, but nothing more.

Where the real action will be is on my Twitter and Utterz pages.

I'll text occasional updates to Twitter and I'll try to send a few cell phone pictures and call in to Utterz when I get a chance to.

I'd post the images straight to Blogger from my phone, but last time I did that the response text that Blogger sent me killed my phone.

Blasphemy can be funny!

Let me introduce y'all to my Twitter friend TweetJeebus.

Just look at this exchange I had last night (in chronological order):

TweetJeebus Arrived at the resort in Herzliya, but they have totally hosed our reservations. No room at the inn. It all seems so familiar. 21 minutes ago from web

fatelvis04 @TweetJeebus Maybe you'll get some "wise men" to give you free stuff! 17 minutes ago from twhirl in reply to TweetJeebus

TweetJeebus @fatelvis04 Mom is still upset over the gold, frankincense and myrrh. "All that way and forgot the diapers! And they call themselves wise?" 4 minutes ago from web in reply to fatelvis04

I'm probably laughing myself straight to hell for this...

So the field is set ...

... for the NCAA Division I Basketball South Regional in Houston.

It'll be Memphis, Texas, Stanford, and Michigan State.

If you haven't heard, I've got tickets to the regional just six rows off of the court.

So, here are my predictions:

Friday:

6:27 PM CDT tip: (3) Stanford vs. (2) Texas - Texas.

Approx. 8:57 CDT tip: (5) Michigan St. vs. (1) Memphis - Memphis

Sunday:

Time TBD: (2) Texas vs. (1) Memphis - Texas

You might wonder why I pick Texas. For the record I am NOT a Longhorns fan so it's not a homer pick. With the regional being in Houston, it might as well be a home game for the 'Horns. That's a huge advantage in the NCAA's.

Video worth watching

Port Arthur native Kevin Everett, the Buffalo Bills player that broke his neck during week one of the NFL season and is now walking again, did an interview with a local TV station.

Watch it.

Sleepy time

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Hey, leave us alone!

I wish I'd shown this angle when I did this post instead of the one I chose, but hindsight is 50/50.

My take on the whole mess between the hockey team and Jefferson County

Simply put, you can't blame this mess solely one side.

Jefferson County is to blame because they county don't seem to be terribly willing to accept the fact that they're going to lose money on Ford Park no matter what they do. That's just the nature of maintaining a venue like that. Places like that are like parks. You don't have them to make money, you have them to improve quality of life for the area's residents and the economic impact that a facility like that generates.

But it is my belief that the team shares a lot of blame too. If they were really enthusiastic about being back after this year, they would have picked up the option written into the lease (PDF) in section 3.b (page 4 of the PDF) by September 30th. They didn't.

The team argues that the lease terms allow for them to have another season under the same terms, pointing to the "Force Majeure" clause in the contract (Section 17, pages 20 and 21 of the PDF) which they believe applies because of the 2005-06 season's cancellation due to Hurricane Rita.

What the team fails to mention when pointing to that clause of the contract is the settlement reached between them and the county after Rita. The agreement that basically gave the team two years rent-free. It's been everybody's understanding that the two rent-free seasons compensated them for the lost season and that another season would not be owed.

In fact, the team has never said anything about being owed a fifth season before last week when they sent out that email I posted.

I requested a copy of the settlement (as well as a few other documents) from the team so I could see whether they were truly owed another season or not.

I received no reply to that email.

In that same email I requested a copy of the notice to vacate and any correspondence indicating that negotiations had been terminated or that they would not be allowed to play in Ford Arena. I requested these both because not only were they not contained in the documents released by the team, but the county denies ever doing any of those. Of course, I didn't receive those either.

The claim that all negotiations were terminated has already come out to be false, as a new offer was submitted to the county today by the team.

The fact that the team is unwilling to generate these documents leads me to think that none of these claims are true.

I don't appreciate being lied to by anybody, much less by people who I'm giving money to.

With that being said, I'll buy playoff tickets. Part of me thinks I shouldn't even do that, but I've been rooting for these guys all year and it'd be tough to not see them through to the playoffs. But I will not buy the $357 package that would lock up my current seat for the entirety of the playoffs.

Nope, I'll be buying the cheapest full-playoffs package, which runs $187.

After that, I won't give the team another cent IF they do happen to come back. I just refuse to give money to people that lie to me.

Of course, if the team decided after reading this to generate the requested documents, I might change my mind.

But I doubt it.

I would blog, but ...

... I just don't feel up to it.

Yea, it seems like I've come down with something.

Regular blogging will resume in the next couple of days.

So I wasn't the only one who smelled a rat with the team's actions

Apparently the team's beat writer for the local paper did too.

Give it a read. It's well-written and... uh... very blunt.

After reviewing the evidence before me...

...and seeing the county's response to what the team has said I don't know what to think.

(Links to documents released by the team can be found at the bottom of this page)

With that in mind, I've sent an email to the team requesting information which I believe will clear up a lot of the questions I have.

Sheesh it's tough to want to see all the information and make up your own damn mind. Why can't I just be a sheep and believe what I'm told by people? It has to be a lot easier on the brain.

I missed the announcement, but still

(Hat-tip: Deadspin)

ESPN is bringing back BattleBots!

For the uninitiated, BattleBots is a competition of remote-controlled robots fighting each other in a tournament.

Kick Ass!

Stretching out

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Since baseball season's almost here, I've got one from my group of baseball picutres:

Astros Catcher Brad Ausmus stretches out in the outfield before Opening Day on April 3, 2006.

Kern's own son is (possibly) worse than the terrorists?

(Hat-tips: Mana Drama and Wonkette)

Jenny posted yesterday morning about Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern's comments that homosexuality is "the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam" on Mama Drama.

It was the first I'd heard of the story from the state that sucks so much that it keeps Texas from falling into the Gulf.

You can catch a video that has a lot of the audio from the speech here.

Never mind the ignorance of this lady's comments. I'm not even going to waste my time with talking about those.

In the same post about the death threats on Wonkette (which I need to add to the blogroll), there's a link to a piece from Queerty that one of Kern's sons might be gay.

Man, that'd be a bitch if that came out to be true.

But isn't that how these things go? Someone who says something like that seems to always have something like this laying in their history just waiting to be found.

I mean, this isn't exactly another Spitzer, but sheesh.

UPDATE: I asked this on Twitter but got no response, so I'll ask here. If gays are worse than terrorists, are bisexuals half as bad as terrorists?

Jefferson County's shit hits the fan?

Got this email from the Wildcatters:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:  QUINCY BIRD
PHONE:  (409) 951-5504
qbird@wildcattershockey.com

WILDCATTERS INSTRUCTED TO VACATE FORD ARENA

BEAUMONT, TX-- The Texas Wildcatters were told Wednesday afternoon by Jefferson County to vacate their offices and players' facilities in Ford Arena within 30 days from the completion of the 2008 ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs. The County has indicated it would refuse to honor the terms of the Wildcatters license agreement permitting play for five full hockey seasons.

More of the email after the jump:

It is unfortunately now clear, that despite the Wildcatters' good faith efforts since October 29, 2007 to have an honest dialogue with county officials concerning hockey in Southeast Texas, that all negotiations have been terminated by the County as of March 12, 2008.

During the course of negotiations to retain hockey in Southeast Texas, the Wildcatters at all times believed the County would live up to the license agreement signed by the County and currently in effect and that clearly provides for five full hockey seasons.

While the Wildcatters originally initiated discussions with the County this past fall, the Wildcatters, on February 4, 2008, made a comprehensive proposal to the County which also included the addition of a second major professional sports team (MISL) which would have added another 15 dates to the arena's calendar.  In addition to the current Wildcatters total of 36 dates, this would have brought the total number of sports dates to 52 plus playoffs, accounting for nearly 80% of the current building usage.

In that proposal the Wildcatters also offered to make a very significant investment of $1M-$5M in the building.  That offer was ignored.

The County's only response to this comprehensive proposal was to propose a rent of $10,000 per game – triple what is clearly identified in the license agreement – followed by a later offer of $4,000 per game.  These delays and the ensuing breach of the license agreement caused the Wildcatters to miss several extended ECHL deadlines and cost the Wildcatters the opportunity to retain an ECHL team for the 2008-09 season.

The County encouraged the Wildcatters to pursue other playing options and the organization immediately began negotiations with the Central Hockey League.  The Wildcatters arranged for the purchase of a CHL franchise to bring to Jefferson County.  The CHL has seven Texas-based teams and offers the opportunities for tremendous geographic rivalries due to the relative proximities of many of the teams in relation to Southeast Texas.

On February 28, 2008, the County withdrew its offer for the $4,000 per game rent, and it has become clear that the County was not negotiating in good faith to keep professional hockey in Southeast Texas.  

In response to several misleading and inaccurate reports concerning details of the Texas Wildcatters' lease status at Ford Park, the team is releasing all information, letters and documents in its possession pertaining to discussions with County officials in order to clarify the record.

As part of this, it is the Wildcatters' understanding that the County has indicated, in connection with discussions with various third parties, that the County is awaiting a response from the Wildcatters to the County's offer for hockey at Ford Arena in 2008-09.  There is in fact no offer from the County for the team to respond to.  The County officials have informed the Wildcatters their lease is null and void after completion of the 2008 Playoffs.

The Wildcatters have been told they may not play at Ford Park next season, costing the arena its primary tenant as well as a proposed new sports tenant and potential significant capital contribution.

The Wildcatters will continue to pursue all options to keep professional hockey in Southeast Texas for the 2008-09 season. 
Materials pertaining to the County discussions with the Wildcatters are currently available for the media at the Wildcatters' offices and will be posted for the public on the team website, www.wildcattershockey.com by 10 p.m. Thursday, March 13, 2008.

The Texas Wildcatters are the proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild of the NHL and the AHL’s Houston Aeros.

It's done gotten ugly, yo. And it's about to get much worse.

Needless to say, nobody on Commissioner's Court will be getting my vote when re-election time comes around in (I think) two years.

Carr goes to New York

Despite what I expected, David Carr has been picked up by the Giants:

Eli Manning and the New York Giants have a new backup quarterback.

David Carr signed Wednesday in a move that gives the Super Bowl champions an experienced backup who like Manning was a No. 1 pick overall.

Terms were not immediately available.

"I have a lot of calluses,'' Carr said. "I'm like an old carpenter I've been through it. If you let that stuff affect you, you're not going to be able to do your job. One of the reasons I'm excited about coming here is they protect the quarterback well and they have playmakers on the outside.''

Don't worry David, I'm sure you'll suck there too.

"Client 9" was a stinker in bedA guest column by Kristen

(Another fine mediocre pretty damn lame JRT parody)

Hi, I'm Kristen, and I serviced the now famous "client 9."

"	The true crime here is not that he hired me, but that the experience was so horrendous!	"

Yes, that's right. I'm a call girl. And I'm not ashamed. Why should I be? The money's great and I enjoy the sex and the traveling.

Well, I usually enjoy the sex.

Just not with him.

The media reports say that the encounter lasted a few hours, but it was truthfully only about a minute.

It was TERRIBLE!

Worst client I've ever had.

The true crime here is not that he hired me, but that the experience was so horrendous!

I mean, I've serviced a lot of famous and/or powerful people in the past with my job and it hasn't bothered me a bit. If a list of the people I've serviced in the past were to ever come out then you'd probably see a fourth of our government resign in disgrace.

You know, all the guys up in DC here, away from their families and wives, they get lonely and/or horny.

I don't see anything wrong with it. After all, it's my body and I should be able to do what I want with it!

Kristen, a former employee of the Emperors Club VIP call-girl service, is currently seeking employment with another service. Don't bother trying to contact her, she'll contact you.

O NOES! TEH SPYDER ATTAKS!

Gotta love I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER:

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

If you didn't notice, the shuttle launched last night very early this morning.

Here's wishing them a safe trip and return home.

I could have lived without seeing this:

From the Onion News Network, one of the few things more sickening than eating eight hot dogs in a span of four minutes:

Anonymous Philanthropist Donates 200 Human Kidneys To Hospital

I'm no Kobayashi, but...

...I have won a hot dog eating contest.

When I walked into the hockey game, a couple of the guys from the front office tried to recruit me to enter the contest, which they planned on holding during the first intermission.

When I was told that the winner got an Anton Khudobin stick signed by the entire team I decided to give it a try. After all, I couldn't be more humiliated than that time I did sumo hockey, right?

I figured I'd probably eat about three and say I'm done.

So I go down there and see the competition. I'm the smallest of the three guys. Right about then I'm thinking "there's no way I'm winning this thing."

We come out and as we're just about to start we get a curveball thrown at us by bringing out the team's equipment manager to participate.

Then we got the rules... as many as you can eat in three minutes.

I started out kind of slow, but as I got going I picked up the pace, noticing that water did help a lot in getting the bread to go down. I finished the three minutes tied with another guy for first with four five and 3/4 dogs eaten.

So we go to a one-minute overtime. I'm thinking "Oh fuck, not more!"

When they start us up, I picked up one and the other guy got one in each hand and started. I figured I was screwed right then. But right about the time I finished the first one, I saw he was about halfway through his two so I knew I still had a chance. I picked up my pace a little on the second dog and finished it with a few seconds left just about the same time the other guy did.

I quickly grabbed a third hot dog and took a bite right before the horn went off, squeezing out the contest by that one bite and taking home the stick and bragging rights.

I must have looked pretty rough during the second period, as one of the ladies near me almost flagged down the team doc to take a look at me, but I was fine.

Well, besides feeling like I needed a nap.

(Corrected because now that I think about it I ate one more than I said I did the first round)

You mean the Democrats want to simplify something?

After the clusterfuck (just look at Jim Thompson's Twitter log from the night) that was the caucus part of the so-called "Texas Two-Step" on Tuesday, the Dems want to get rid of it:

Responding to pressure, the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party on Friday called for simplifying the state party's confusing primary-caucus system after long lines and chaos plagued many local caucuses on election night.

Chairman Boyd Richie joined other key party party leaders in calling for changes to the hybrid system, nicknamed the "Texas two-step."

[...]

Acknowledging some of the problems, Richie said in a news release: "I believe changes in party rules should be made (in order to) welcome newcomers to our Party and encourage them to stay involved by making their participation as meaningful and convenient as possible."

Nice to see that they want to simplify it.

My guess is that it'll turn into what it is for the Republicans, more or less just an election of delegates to the county or senate district conventions.

Type your summary here

I had been thinking about going to the Republican precinct convention out of sheer curiosity but family events didn't allow me to. I mean, who in their right mind would pass up a trip to Outback?

Who knows, maybe I'll make it in 2010.

Petey's idea of relaxing

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

I'm just trying to be cute!

Supposedly ...

... they've fixed the bug with scheduled posts where they didn't generate permalinks.

If this posts ends up having one, then they have! (UPDATE: Yes they have!)

Live-ish blog: Election night observations from Texas

First off, McCain's clinched thanks to us!

Here's some other observations:

• The voting/caucus site near my house (a school where three precincts are voting) had a full parking lot, cars parked all along the streets, and businesses around there had full parking lots too. People were still out looking for spots at 7:30.
• Oddity: Coryell County's Democratic results with 100% in. 2,434 for Clinton, 2,434 for Obama. 49% each.
• Reports are that the caucuses have been organized chaos. Caucuses that normally had two or three people had two or three hundred people showing up.
• Not election news, but the Wildcatters won tonight 3-1. Makes me happy!
• Yes Hillary's leading the counts now, but the urban counties are slow to count and they're leaning towards Obama.
• Amen, Reverend! Obama seems a lot like a very dynamic preacher when he's giving a speech.
• Brooks and Dunn's "Only in America" at the Obama rally in San Antonio. Didn't expect to hear that.
• I CAN HAS MAJIK BOARD? Seriously, I love that huge, interactive touch screen thing CNN has. That's just so fucking sweet. Like an iPod Touch on crack.

I'm gonna hang it up for the night here, but I might post some more stuff on my Twitter page later.

A different take on Obama

From Hillary's rally here today:

Saying that the toys were "not good for much but everybody wanted one," [former Texas state senator Carl] Parker called Senator Barack Obama the 'hula-hoop' of politics.

"If we make the mistake of picking that fella, the fad will be over by November," Parker said.

(Link)

I don't think he likes Obama all that much...

I couldn't find the exact quote, but I'm still putting this one up as a quote of the day.

The end is nigh!

To the election craziness, that is.

Tomorrow's election day, which means no more of this:

or this:

on my TV.

I was planning on going to the caucus tomorrow night (Texas has both primaries and caucuses) but it's my grandmother's birthday and my cousin is doing a dinner for us. Family's more important, so I'm going to the dinner.

I'll just be glad that all the commercials and phone calls will be gone.

Down goes Welch!

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Wildcatters Alternate Captain Dan Welch is pushed down by the Columbia Inferno's Reid Cashman during the third period of the 'Catters 3-2 loss during "Pink in the Rink" night,

And no, they didn't call it.

Pink in the Rink night raised a total of $81,000 for the Julie Rogers Gift of Life Foundation, a local group that gives free breast and prostate cancer screenings to those who can't afford them.

Here come the scissors again

David Carr gets cut:

The Carolina Panthers released disappointing quarterback David Carr on Wednesday and came to terms with receiver Muhsin Muhammad on a two-year contract.

Carr was let go a year after he signed a $6 million, two-year deal with the Panthers following a five-year stint as a starter in for the Texans. But Carr struggled so badly when he took over for the injured Jake Delhomme last season that he was eventually demoted to third-string.

Will his track record of sucking wherever he goes get him another job or will he finally ride off into the sunset that they call the arena league?

(Image found on TinyPic)

Vantage Point mediocre at best from where I'm sitting

Today I went to see Vantage Point, the story of an attempted presidential assassination from five different perspectives.

It's got tons of action: car chases, explosions, gun fights and the like. And they're well-done scenes. There are also enough crazy plot twists to make the writers of 24 go "damn."

The story-telling from the different POV's was interesting, but it was kind of tough to follow what was going on and I thought made a weak and insanely unrealistic plot just a little more tolerable.

The action's good, but the plot is pathetically weak. I'd say that it's a mediocre movie at best. If you love action movies, I'd recommend renting it as opposed to going to theaters or buying the DVD. I won't.

I'd give it a 5.

Tossing the shirts

Welcome to Friday Sunday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Gusher, the Wildcatters' mascot, points to the crowd as he prepares to throw a t-shirt during the second intermission of Saturday night's Pink in the Rink game.

I've got more good ones, but that's all I've got time to get up now.

Holding off on Friday Photo

I'm going to wait a day and do Friday Photo tomorrow.

Why, you ask?

Because of Pink in the Rink.

That is all.

Early voting

Barack Obama encouraged us to do it yesterday during his humongous rally in Houston, and now I'm talking about it.

I don't know about the states my readers live in, but Texas allows early voting for (usually) about a two-week stretch before any election.

It's a really handy way to get it done and over with, especially if you'll be out of town or something on election day.

And of course, you never know when something could come up and cause you to not make it to your polling place.

After I got old enough to vote, I always went to the local polling place on election day and cast my ballot there.

But back in November I was downtown for something or other and decided that while I was there I'd spin down to the courthouse and vote. Last November wasn't a big election, just a load of uncontroversial amendments to the Texas Constitution and a very heated school bond issue.

Once I found where the early voting was taking place (after having to ask for directions twice) I found it. It was so easy and I was in and out so fast that I decided that was the way I was going to do it from now on.

So today I'm off to do my early voting in the Republican primary.

Just not at the courthouse, since Mr. Bill moved his rally there.

Thankfully they also have early voting at a library about three miles away.

Hitting large panes of glass: It's not just for the birds anymore

Ouch:

Hunter Pence will miss about a week of Spring Training workouts after enduring several cuts and lacerations on his hands and knees that resulted from falling through a glass door at his residence in Kissimmee, Fla.

Pence called it a "silly" accident, one that occurred around 9:30 p.m. ET on Monday when he hit a sliding glass door that he did not realize was closed.

Knowing how ballplayers are about pranks and the like (like being traded to Japan), I think it's safe to say that Pence will never live this one down.

All I can say is that Hunter better be thanking his lucky stars that it wasn't a lot worse.

Oh No! Mr. Bill comes to Beaumont in his quest to be the First Husband

Well there goes the neighborhood:

Former president Bill Clinton will be in Beaumont Wednesday to stump for his wife's Hillary presidential bid, the Clinton campaign confirmed Monday afternoon.

Clinton will meet privately with about 50 prominent Hispanic leaders in the area at Carlito's restaurant, said owner Carlos Hernandez, Sr. That meeting is scheduled shortly after noon.

After the meeting, the former president will speak at a rally outside of the restaurant.

I must make a note to avoid that part of town on Wednesday.

Or should I go and hope for one of those train wrecks that gets him talked about on the news for the next week?

Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Appeals court: Get out of my bedroom!

Some of y'all might remember my post on Texas' outdated sex toy laws. I'm sure it had comments, but that must have been back when I was using Haloscan for commenting.

While I was up in Fort Worth a federal appeals court overturned a portion of the laws:

A federal appeals court has overturned a Texas statute outlawing sex toy sales, leaving Alabama as the state with the strictest ban on such devices.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Texas law making it illegal to sell or promote obscene devices, punishable by up to two years in jail, violated the Constitution's 14th Amendment on the right to privacy.

[...]

In its decision Tuesday, the appeals court cited Lawrence and Garner v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 opinion that struck down bans on consensual sex between gay couples.

"Just as in Lawrence, the state here wants to use its laws to enforce a public moral code by restricting private intimate conduct," the appeals judges wrote. "The case is not about public sex. It is not about controlling commerce in sex. It is about controlling what people do in the privacy of their own homes because the state is morally opposed to a certain type of consensual private intimate conduct. This is an insufficient justification after Lawrence."

Legislating morality is one of the things I can't stand. I don't believe that it's the government's job to tell you how to live your life as long as your actions don't have a negative impact on other people.

Part of me wants to do a big, long post about why government has no business legislating morality, but I'm not sure if that's a firestorm I want to ignite.

And, yes, I did resist the urge to post a picture of a humongous dildo with this post. Aint you proud of me?

Petey the watchdog

Welcome to Friday Sunday Photo, a new feature where I share photos thatWh I've taken with the world.

What? I'm watching the door for people to bark at!

Updated: The one feature I've always wanted

Blogger is now testing the ability to do scheduled posts.

It's extremely simple to do: Just go to the Blogger in Draft dashboard (their area for testing new features), write your post like you normally would, and set the time for the post to the time you want it to publish.

Then you just hit publish and it will automatically put up the post at the time you specify.

Since it's still in draft, you can't just set the time forward in Windows Live Writer and have it work, but I found a workaround that gets the job done:

1. Write your post in Live Writer as you normally would.
2. Use the area to the right of the labels list on the bottom of the window to set your desired publish date and time.
3. Save the post as a draft to Blogger when you're done with it. To do that, click on the arrow next to "Save Draft" and select "Post Draft to Weblog." You'll get an "Are you sure?" message because the time that's set is in the future and Blogger does not support future publishing. Click "Yes".
4. Go to the Blogger in Draft dashboard. Click on the link to manage posts in the desired blog.
5. You'll see the post listed as a draft. Click on edit nest to the post.
6. Click on "Publish post".
7. Now your post will magically appear at the time you set.

This is a feature I can see myself using a lot since I have a tendency to sit down and spit a few posts out at once. This post was set to publish later and I've currently got one scheduled to publish in a few hours and one tomorrow morning.

Uodate:

There's a bug with scheduled posting that's not automatically generating permalink links. The suggested workaround from Blogger:

To view the full URL, go back to the Manage/Edit Post view. Select "view" on the newly published view. The full URL will display on the scheduled and published post.

The good news is you only have to do it for one scheduled post and they all will generate the links.

My week in cow town

First off, thanks to Jacob the Syrian Hamster from The Scratching Post for the guest-blogging. I'd be glad to return the favor someday if you need it.

The trip was an interesting one. It was to help my great aunt clean out her husband's house. Her husband had to be put in a nursing home because of Alzheimer's and she's working to get the house cleaned out and sell it, along with a large portion of his stuff.

Their marriage was weird. VERY weird. Don't ask.

Anyway, as I said on Twitter back on Tuesday, I never want to see a box of chocolates again. That's because her husband stockpiled them for some reason. We went through all that and threw out most of it because it had expired, some as long ago as July 2003. There must have been 10 to 15 trash bags just full of boxes of chocolate and chocolate-covered cherries. It was insane.

The next day we took it pretty easy. We took another one of my aunts out to lunch and visited with her all afternoon, which was nice.

Thursday we took all that candy and other stuff to the dump then went to the Kimbell Art Museum to catch an exhibit of early Christian art. I have to admit that I'm not a museum person, but it was pretty interesting.

Friday we went through one of the bathrooms cleaning stuff out and took his car to get serviced. After that we decided to head home early because the weather forecast called for nasty weather for today, when we had planned to leave. Heavy rain, wind, hail, chance of twisters. You know, the really nasty shit that's absolutely no fun to drive in.

All in all, I must say it was nice to get out of town for the week and spend time in Fort Worth. I've only been to Fort Worth a few times, but I really like it. Is big a city as it is, it's never felt like a big city to me, something I can't say about Houston or Dallas. I just love it up there.

Guest Post - Stuffed Animal Strangles US Soldier

It's a quagmire! American soldiers are dropping like flies! In another major setback for the US attempt to bring democracy and prosperity to the previously oppressed people of Iraq, a US serviceman was recently attacked by a stuffed animal at an orphanage in Kirkuk. Here's the photgraphic evidence. "Garrrk!" Sgt. 1st Class Steven Bailey was quoted as saying. "I can't breathe!" Hideous, isn't it? US Torture and Atrocities has more.

Guest Post - Exercising my Freedom of Thought

Greetings from your guest blogger for the week, Jacob the Syrian Hamster! I normally blog over at The Scratching Post, but this week I'll be filling in for Justin while he's gone doing who knows what. I'm a happy little rodent from San Diego, California. I have no plan for this at all and will just be blogging whatever comes into my furry little head.

I take requests.

So this morning we were driving in to work and we got behind a car with lots of bumper stickers. I mean a lot of them. The one that struck me as the best said, "Exercise your right to think for yourself." That in itself was ironic as the entire car urged me to simply agree with the driver on a wide range of issues. What was doubly ironic was the fact that the driver didn't seem to have thought for themselves at all.

One bumper sticker claimed that "A village in Texas is missing its idiot" apparently referring to George W. Bush. It's hard to see that as evidence that the driver had been thinking for themselves. President Bush was a jet fighter pilot and has an MBA from Harvard. Either the driver has an impossibly high standard for idiocy or they bought that bumper sticker because it made fun of someone they hate, but don't actually know.

A second bumper sticker said, "How did our oil get under their sand?" A similar question unasked by the driver might have been, "How did my bread get in their wheat field?" or perhaps "How did my water get in the Colorado River?" While single-celled organisms consume only what they control, civilized humans do not.

Maybe a truly apropos bumper sticker would have read, "My car has severe rust. These bumper stickers were cheap and prevent further decay."

Now that would have been thinking for yourself.

Updated: Out for a week

I swear, you just get home and you seem to hit the road again.

Tomorrow morning I leave to spend about a week in Fort Worth to help my aunt clean out her ex-husband's house.

Web access will likely be little to none, but I've left a trusted reader in place to take care of the place. Hell, I might even have a guestblogger.

Either way, I'll try to post a few updates to Utterz while I'm up there.

See y'all on Saturday.

Update:

We will have guestblogging! K T Cat from The Scratching Post has agreed to do it.

Why I was gone...

I'd do the normal Friday Photo thing here, but I won't be posting the picture here.

Yesterday I went to Oklahoma with my mom to pick up something. On the way back, I took a picture. You can see the pic here.

She doesn't have a name yet, but she's a 7 week old bi-black (black and white) sheltie. My mom had wanted to get one for a long time and finally found one.

She's a real cutie and really sweet except for the time I pulled her out of the carrier just before we were going to stop to let her out to potty.

She ended up doing it on my leg.

Thank goodness I'd brought a change of clothes, huh?

An open letter to the far right of the Republican party

Dear far-right Republicans,

John McCain is the front-runner. He will very likely win the nomination.

Unless you really want Hillary or Obama to win the White House this November, I suggest you get over your hatred of McCain.

Signed,
Justin Yarbrough
South Park Republican

Not just congress...

But everything politics:

moar funny pictures

Updated: Fourth annual Super Bowl predictions

First, let's recap my record:

Last year: Three for three

Two years ago: Only got the winning team right.

Three years ago: Three for three.

But enough about the past.

The Game:

As much as I'd love to see the Giants win, I don't think they will. So I'm going to have to go with the Patriots to win.

The Spread:

New England is favored by 12 points. As many of you may remember, the Pats only beat the Giants by three during Week 17 in New York. I'm going with the Giants because I don't think that the game being at a neutral site will make a 9 point difference (if that makes any sense).

Over/Under:

The number's set at 55. The teams combined for 73 their last meeting so I can't see them having any trouble breaking 55. Over.

Update:

I'll be live-Twittering the game. Follow along here.

Update 2.0 (postgame):

WOW! JUST WOW!

I may have only gone one for three in my picks (only getting the spread) but I'll take it after watching that game!

A series of concentric circles

Gotta love The Onion:

Breaking News: Series Of Concentric Circles Emanating From Glowing Red Dot

Pop quiz

Q: How much change can you put in a wine glass?

A: About $37.00

Today I took my change collection to the grocery store and ran it all through the Coinstar machine there, asking for the money in an Amazon.com gift certificate (which is free). I was expecting there to be maybe $20 worth of change.

It came out to $36.99.

Then the machine phoned in to home and gave me a receipt with a code to type in on Amazon. Worked like a charm.

Hell, the machine even gave me a breakdown of the coins that I poured in on the receipt.

The continuing political drama that is my mind

As readers of mine know, I did a post on the presidential candidates.

Then I felt dirty about it.

Unfortunately, doing a post about politics is sort of like Pringles in that once you pop you just can't stop.

I keep desiring to do posts about politics because they're extremely easy this time of year as they will be until November.

But I hold back.

I hold back because I wanted it to be a fun place for my random and (all to rarely) funny musings.

Not about politics.

Hell, the only reason I did the fast food candidates post was because I thought it'd be a fun little funny post that made a point. And it accomplished that.

It's not easy to spit out posts like that. It was the kind of concept that doesn't hit me all too often.

It's just something I don't like blogging about.

Maybe I need more kittens to get this out of my system.

Nap time

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

The weather's just miserable today. It's rainy and 39 outside right now and it's been like that all day.

Even the dogs are being lazy today:

Now go bundle up!

I didn't know Hitler was a Cowboys fan

(Spotted on The Bayou)

Of course, that makes the Cowboys losing to the Giants just that much better.

I feel so dirty...

...after doing a political post on Sunday.

I haven't blogged too much lately because I've been in the shower trying to scrub off that nasty stench that blogging about politics has left.

Anybody know of something that'll get off that stench?

Seriously.

Maybe this video of kittens playing will help:

Ah, yes, that does feel much better.

Regular blogging will resume tomorrow.

Ranking the fast food candidates

The Whopper I had for dinner tonight.

After last night, I must agree with my buddy K T Cat what Fred's candidacy is now more or less dead in the water. Just not his year I guess.

Picking from what's left and actually in it is going to be like picking between fast food joints when what you really want is a nice, big steak.

Now it's just a matter of figuring out which one of these candidates is more like Burger King (which is my preferred place) and least like McDonalds.

So let's take a look at the candidates and see what place they're most like:

• Mitt Romney: Is he even a real person? I mean seriously. He's the least genuine person I think I've ever seen. Just atrocious. Got to be McDonalds.
• Mike Huckabee: Fred established that Huckabee isn't a real Republican during the last debate. Basically he says he's good, but most of his stuff is crap. Sounds a lot like Jack in the Box to me.
• Rudy Giuliani: Good, but not the best. A bit messy since all you ever seem to hear about his credentials is 9/11. I'm sure the man did a lot more, but it doesn't seem like you ever hear about it. Sort of like Wendy's burgers, pretty good but too greasy.
• John McCain: Like all the others, he's not perfect. Yea, he doesn't believe in everything the Republicans stand for, but who does these days? Of the guys that are in it, he's the best fit for my beliefs and my own personal Burger King.

Maybe sometime I'll do the Democratic candidates, but I really don't feel up to pulling my hair out right now.

Taffy and the (formerly) squeaky toy

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Leave me alone, I'm playing with my hot dog.

First off, that's not really a hot dog. It's a Philly cheesesteak or something. And it's supposed to squeak.

I'd bought one of those the day before we got Bruiser so he'd have some toys and it (along with this rubber bone that came with it) are the longest-lasting toys we've ever bought the dogs.

Well, the day Taffy got here she got ahold of it, chewing it and breaking the little squeaker inside.

Later on, we'd bought another set of those and she broke the squeaker in that one the same day.

She's rough on those!

How you do a hockey fight in Texas

BAM!

That's just how we roll.

Word of the day

Today's word of the day is brought to you by The Bayou.

While I'll also admit that none of the candidates out there are perfect I think I've found my man.

Oh, you were expecting me to make a joke about his wife being the cure for another form of E.D. here, weren't you? Sorry, didn't want to go there.

The Bucket List

I really don't go see movies much, but today I went to see The Bucket List, the new flick with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, two of my favorite actors.

It's basically about two terminal cancer patients who leave the hospital to do things on their "Bucket List," their list of things they want to do before they die.

There's skydiving, racing classic cars, jet-setting, all that fun stuff. Then, towards the end, you see how that experience changes them and makes them better people for the time that they have left.

The movie wasn't terribly popular with critics. Nor should it have been. It's not the most realistic, most well-written movie ever. But it is cute. It'll make you laugh until you cry. It'll make you smile.

And it'll move you.

A definite must-see. I'd give it eight out of ten.

Also, see the movie poster made for I Can Has Cheezburger.

Playing the puck

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Wildcatters team captain Josh McNabb plays the puck along the boards while being defended by the Charlotte Checkers' Dusty Jamieson during the third period of their game Saturday, January 5th 2008. The 'Catters went on to win the game 4-1, extending their undefeated-in-regulation streak to 21 games, tying the league record.

We're going streaking!

For those of you that don't know (read: most of you), my Texas Wildcatters have gone 21 straight without a regulation loss, putting them in a tie for the league-best streak previously set by the now-defunct Richmond (VA) Renegades in 1995.

The local paper did a breakdown of how that streak compares to other notable local streaks. It's worth a read.

But we're the po-lice, we don't have to tell you who we beat the crap out of!

Beaumont city council makes us think there's something to hide:

In a 6-0 vote the City Council agreed that City Attorney Tyrone Cooper should pursue a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott regarding an Enterprise request for Beaumont Police Department use-of-force reports.

[...]

Last month, Abbott issued a letter ruling that said the Police Department must release portions of its use-of-force reports.

In response, the city on Dec. 31 filed a lawsuit in an Austin district court to not release the information the city says is confidential.

Basically the Beaumont PD says that use-of-force reports are part of personnel files so they're not open to Freedom of Information Act requests.

For those that don't live here, Beaumont PD has a bit of a reputation as being... um... rough on people. And it looks like they don't want us to know about it.

If they don't want us to know, then they must have something to hide, right? Who knows, maybe they don't, but this move certainly makes it look that way.

I just hope that the case gets tossed out and the records open up.

<sarcasm> And that I don't get the crap kicked out of me for writing this if I get pulled over. </sarcasm>

Thank you, Microsoft! (Boy, I never thought I'd utter those words and mean it)

And more specifically to the Windows Live Writer team!

As y'all may or may not know, ever since I moved over to the custom domain that I'm on I was having problems with images I'd uploaded to Blogger through WLW.

Well, yesterday I finally thought to pop on the WLW help forum and ask around.

Through some working and experimentation, the solution was found.

Thanks to Joe and the rest of the team for all their help in getting this worked out.

Just having a word

Welcome to Friday Photo, a new feature where I share photos that I've taken with the world.

Wildcatters Tim Cook and team captain John Mcnabb share a word with each other during the third period of the 'Catters game against the Pensicola Ice Pilots on December 9, 2007. The Wildcatters went on to win the game 5-2

I had slim pickings from that game's set of pictures and I thought this one was halfway decent at least.

Why the hell would you want to brag about this?

Hey, grandkids, I made oil go over $100 a barrel:

The man behind the record rise in oil prices to $100 a barrel was a lone trader, seeking bragging rights and a minute of fame, market watchers say.

A single trader bid up the price by buying a modest lot and then sold it immediately at a loss, they claim.

[...]

On Wednesday, one floor trader bought 1,000 barrels, the smallest amount permitted, and sold it immediately for $99.40 at a $600 loss, said Stephen Schork, a former floor trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the editor of an oil market newsletter.

"They absolutely overpaid," he told Radio Four's Today Programme.

"He paid $600 for the right to tell his grandchildren that he was the first in the world to buy $100 oil."

Thanks, asshole. Just thanks.

Thanks to this prick we all got to hear the reports that the sky was falling because oil hit $100 a barrel, a story that led the Houston Chronicle's web site through part of the day yesterday.

Nevermind that gas prices are already $2.99 a fucking gallon and that this prick's little stunt will probably help them to go up.

And then there's the appearance (to me at least) that the whole oil market runs on fear of stuff happening instead of stuff actually happening, but that's another matter for another day.

And, seriously, why the fuck would you want to brag about being the first person to buy oil at $100 a barrel anyway? Is that really something to brag about? Sounds to me like someone needs to throw that guy in the looney bin.

I support alternative fuels and energy conservation for one simple reason: so we can put an end to all the bullshit drama that goes on in the oil markets today.

Cluttered desktop

Today Dwight showed us what his desktop on his computer at work looked like.

Yea, the after image is way better, but it still looks way cluttered compared to mine.

Don't worry about that little blurred area, that's just the App Launcher sidebar applet, which I use to launch all my frequently-used programs.

When I was running XP, my desktop didn't look like this. It was madly cluttered with a lot of icons, but Vista's features made it easier for me to keep it un-cluttered.

So, if my desktop's not cluttered with stuff, where does all the clutter go?

In the documents folder, of course. I probably need to go through and organize it more.

Sometime after I do my sock drawer.