Intellectual Poison

Over the course of the last couple of months, we've become pretty regular visitors to the local dog park. Its a great place to let Nande stretch her legs for real. And a chance to get some social time with other dogs.

Or sometimes not as the case usually is because she's the queen of fixation. And her fixation is for me to flip sticks into the air for her to run and leap after to catch in her mouth, most of the time in mid-leap. She's really quite good at it and we've had trips where she's only dropped her stick three or four times.

But sometimes, when we first get to the park and she's turned all way up to 11, pinned to the end of the dial, she gets some ya-yas out with the traditional sniffing, yipping and playing around with the other dogs that happen to be there.

And somedays there are some good sized pooches running about. There are three regular Great Danes as well as a whole bunch of next size down hounds that Nande fits in with. Big dogs who play kind of rough.

On our last trip to the dog park there was a big Newfie/Sheepdog looking mix charging around that I'd not seen before. She was a big dog. I'd guess 130 pounds plus at least. And she was asserting pretty aggressive dominance over every dog that came within her sphere. Nande was one and the Newfie growled a bit and sort of bum rushed Nande from the side. Well, one thing led to another and there were teeth being bared in kind of short order. I got Nande away from the pack of dogs, admonished her and figured that would be the end of it. But the Newfie came out of the group of other dogs and made a charge towards Nande and me again. By this point, I was looking for this dog's concerned owner coming to get this overly aggressive and pretty damned uncool hound.

But he was nowhere to be seen and I really didn't feel like letting things escalate. I could tell the Newfie was thinking more attempted dominance over Nande but I stepped in front of her and shouted for her to fuck off. Loud enough for her owner, who was waaaaay off in the corner of the fenced in area talking on his cell phone. He made his way slowly down, never getting off his call, never apologizing for his dog, just saying "She's just saying hello", to which I responded "Dogs don't say hello with their teeth bared." And he spent a while sitting with the Newfie on a leash while he talked.

Eventually he set off on a walk around the perimeter path, still talking on his phone. I found out from a couple of the ladies that were there that his dog had been bullying other dogs before I got there. Not cool at all and the next time I see him or the dog, I'll let him know that he's gotta be alot more hands-on or his dog's gonna get him sued. Or worse.

I ended that trip to the dog park with a couple of laps around the perimeter path on my bike with Nande running with me. I'm teaching her how to stay up with me and not make me wreck so I can start taking her with me when I go riding. I mean, when I go riding again.

Now if I can figure out some way to gracefully ask people to keep their dogs from trying to put the humpty dance moves on Nande all the time. Even the little fellas can't resist my pretty girl. Its almost funny.

Tags: dog park, dogs, aggression

Bud Selig is having a hard time stopping the fall of "records". No matter how petty and lame he is, they will still fall. Barry Bonds has been swinging a pretty hot bat recently and he is getting closer and closer to passing Babe Ruth for second place on the all time list.

Now, I understand that Barry Bonds is under investigation for perjury regarding his testimony to a grand jury. I understand that some journos wrote a book. But I also understand that this public fuck you'ing by Selig, i.e. publicly declaring that Barry Bonds is a cheater before the investigation has even conclude anything, is as much personal grudge as it is an attempt to scapegoat Bonds for "crimes" he was not only complicit in allowing to happen, he profitted from juiced players.

But Barry Bonds seems destined to pass Babe Ruth and here's Selig: MLB not planning any celebration for Bonds passing Ruth and dismissed any thoughts with this gem of a fuck you "Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record," Selig said. "We don't celebrate anybody the second or third time in."

Ever notice how Bud Selig and C. Montgomery Burns look alike? I hadn't either until now.

My thinking is that Barry will pass Ruth, in the next couple of weeks, and then might just call it a career. Its obvious he's not having much fun right now with his knees all beaten to hell and an elbow packed full of bone chips.

Tags: Bud Selig, Barry Bonds, baseball, asshattery, steroid, investigation witch-hunt

There is a big metaphorical fork poised above the second bathroom upstairs. It is so close to being done that there's almost steam rising from it.

We've refurbished the tub, re-lined, sealed and repainted the entire tub surround and then painted the rest of the room again. Replaced the shower doors with ones that work and look nice. Pulled the tired old mini-globe light bar and put in a three sconce wrought iron looking one. And today I'm finishing the installation of the new counter top and sink with new hardware as well. It will look and feel completely different. And in a good way.

Then we start on the other bathroom.

In the meantime, I'm also going to get a rototiller to shred the back yard, mix in some crabgrass hating fertilizer and reseed it with some thick and lush fast growing grass. Levelling out the yard some in the process but leaving enough space to get at the fence that was on its last legs three months ago and is only being held up now by a couple of unlucky trees.

Then there's also the parking space project out front. I was offered help by my neighbor to do it. Which will be fine as it's going to be tiring and tough. Basically, we'll bust up a slab of bad, bad, ugly concrete that the previous owners either did themselves or paid someone half of what it cost to do. Then we'll probably build the wall out about three feet and up two to fill in with dirt and then finally concrete over. Anyway, that's another project.

Back to the sink which did not, unfortunately, pass the leak test. So I get to undo everything, rewrap it and resecure everything again. Oh boy.

Tags: house projects, plumbing, bathroom

If I had one of these rotary mulchers from the good folks at SlashBuster (which is a great, great name for a company). Yes, its highly destructive and could be used for incredible mayhem. Such as, oh, I don't know, shredding cars (12.5 MB .mpg) or chomping trees 9.5 MB (in an environmentally correct way, of course).

Oh yeah.

Tags: SlashBuster, rotary mulcher, shred, shred cars, destruction

Here's a few that have been marinating in the hopper for a little while. And then a couple more that came to me as I was writing this post.

Nukelele - an atomic powered mini-guitar.

Pukelele - a sick ukelele.

And heck, some more because it just popped in my head.

The Dukelele - what John Wayne played when he was riding the range.
The Lukelele - what Luke Skywalker played with before he got his light saber.
The Spookelele - a ghostly mini-guitar.

Tags: nukelele, pukelele, Dukelele, Spookelele, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

The Corporate Angel Network puts cancer patients and half empty corporate jets together for travel to treatment centers for free. Win meets win. The name's lame but I'll cut them some slack because of what they're doing for people.

And, some awesome Easter eggs to celebrate the day a little.

Tags: Corporate Angel Network, cancer, flight, free, corporate, coolness

The two days of not rain followed by more rain are continuing to wreak havoc on my allergies and the meds I'm taking to try and contain them.

Its more than a little bit aggravating.

But, on a lighter note, we painted and decorated Easter eggs last night with Graydon. Lots of fun even though he tossed one to the floor and body slammed another. I'll get my pics loaded up and post a couple.

And, last thought, I finally figured out when the Canon SD700 IS is going to be released to the public for sale and its not until May 20th! Damn. Which means I will not be welcoming the new baby with a new slick camera to capture all of the action. And that kind of sucks.

Tags: allergies, rain, aggravation

Regardless of what their admittedly entertaining commercials would have you believe, Miller Genuine Draft (MGD) is NOT fit for consumption by adults. It is beer flavored sugar water and best left to the frat houses and underage parties of the world. Or maybe its sugar water with alcohol and beer flavoring added. Either way, its poison and should be left on the shelf.

Unless you like awful hangovers from the sugar.

Tags: Miller genuine Draft (MGD) is NOT beer for adults or anyone else.

After seemingly months of solid rain, the sun has been out over the last couple of days and we've undergone a pretty amazing shift from damp cold to muggy and hot. We slept with the bedroom window open last night and I even had the fan in it for a while to bring in some cool air.

But the bummer thing about the rain stopping is that every single plant in existence is throwing off massive amounts of pollen right now and its pretty well overwhelming my Claritin (acutally its not really Claritin as that shit is way overpriced and I got the same meds for less than half with the Long's brand on them). Which had, until today, been keeping me symptom free for the last two weeks. But not anymore.

So here I sit, sniffling and dripping and waiting for the Claritin to re-establish itself and knock out this newest allergic onslaught. It'll probably happen just in time for the rains to start up again this evening.

Tags: allergies, pollen, rain, Claritin

Its just a word, sure, but what it represents is taking responsibility for your actions, good and bad.

Its something the Bush Regime is completely incapable of, apparently.

Donald Rumsfeld has been outed by his generals for doing a spectacularly crappy job in running Bush's Pet War and those generals have now called for his replacement with someone, well, competent.

And Bush's response? "Heckuva job, Rummy!" Full support from the President for a man who has demonstrated terrible decision making, bad follow through, under equipping the troops while overpaying Halliburton and engaging in a war without any exit strategy.

In fact, I was emailed a copy of the Bush Iraq War Plan the other day. Want to see it?

1. Invade Iraq.
2. Get the oil.
3. Profit.

Pretty straight forward but they forgot about the Iraqi people, they forgot about how empire building creates deep, deep hatred from those being built upon. They forgot that an unjust invasion of a sovereign nation will tend to draw people together to stand against the imperialism. They forgot that Iraq would become a magnet for terrorists and for anti-American sentiment. They forgot that using lies and deceit to launch the war will end up hanging them. They forgot that a war isn't a momentary event, its a long, drawn out struggle to control a territory and going in without a plan to get out is basically admitting that there is no desire to get out. Iraq is an occupied territory now.

And yes, accountability can be applied to other aspects of American culture. The main issue facing the US aside from the continuing stream of lies, scandal, indictments and good ol' Texas stupidity from Washington is, of course, Barry Bonds and his alleged steroid use.

Now, based on unsubstantiated books written by assholes with an axe to grind, Bonds is supposedly facing perjury charges for his testimony back in 2003.

First off, I don't know about the rest of you but I'd really rather that our government focused on a helluva lot more important issues than whether one man used steroids or PEDs during his baseball career. Last time I checked, the US has a thoroughly fucked healthcare system, an economy that's being sucked dry by robber barons posing as CEOs, an environment that's had its soft underbelly exposed to the tender mercies of corporate raiders and an entire region of the country STILL devastated by Hurricane Katrina in addition to hundreds of smaller problems that are still a thousand times more important than whether Barry Bonds perjured himself three years ago.

What else happened three years ago? Oh yeah, President George W. Bush promised to get to the bottom of the leak that outed Valerie Plame as a CIA operative in retaliation for her husband not giving Bush the ammo he needed to launch his fucking war.

Where's the fucking Congressional Committee calling Bush to the carpet after it was admitted just last week that Bush authorized the declassification of the materials?

Its more important though that we catch that evil mastermind, Barry Bonds. Oh yes. He's responsible for thousands of deaths, billions of wasted dollars and a swamp of blood and guts called Iraq. Oh yes, let's persecute Barry Bonds and all will be well in this country again.

Bull-FUCKING-Shit!

Bush admitted authorizing the leaking of the information as presidential power #1286. Actually there's just one Bush Presidential Power, he believes he can do any damned thing he pleases. And he's got the bobble-headed scumbag yes-men to give him the thumbs up (yes, Alberto Gonzales, I'm farting in your general direction, you filthy De-Constitutional Fuck).

But no, let's keep focused on the important issues of Barry Bonds' use of PEDs years ago when they were tacitly condoned by Major League Baseball, the owners, the commissioner and the fans. Let's ignore the fact that our country is led by a corrupt moron without even a shred of contact with reality in decades.

Accountability is my watchword for the day.

I want the bastards held accountable for their crimes and incompetence. I want the fucking filthy CEO fucks who have golden parachutes lined with the pensions of their workers (who they have fucked over) and then they get more unnecessary benefits like permanent free healthcare for them and their families AFTER getting $200 million dollar pensions for driving a company into the ground.

And yes, I want accountability in baseball. But that means expanding the scope of this farce of an investigation to beyond Barry Bonds as I can absolutely fucking guarantee you that he was not the only using PEDs back in the day. There's just no goddamned way and yet his name is the only name mentioned in regards to the investigation.

But more than baseball, I want our government to be held accountable for its actions. They must be held accountable, they must be let known that the American people do not support religious fanaticism in the White House. That the American people do not support deception and lies. That the American people want their nation back and that those who have undermined its values to their own profit be held accountable and punished for their crimes.

And yes, I'd like to see Dick Cheney indicted for that shooting incident where he blasted his pal in the face with a shotgun while almost certainly under the influence of alcohol (at the very least). The brazen criminality of this regime is as anti-American as it can possibly get. And yet, they bang their drum and wave their flag and protest about being persecuted (while trying to work deals to allow the CIA to torture suspects). The loudest patriots, like the loudest homophobes, are not patriots. They are using rhetoric to manipulate public perception and opinion.

But its not working very well anymore. Even Republican supporters are sick and tired of the lies as Bush and the GOP Congress are at their lowest approval ratings ever. And they will continue to set new records for disapproval.

And oh yeah, just saw this about Rummy allowing abuse of prisoners at Gitmo. "Heckuva job, Rummy!" I wonder whether he "allowed" it or "ordered" it?

Tags: accountability, Bush, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Iraq, failure, indictment, perjury, Barry Bonds, economy, environment, Bush lied, lies, deceit, corruption, ego, dumbassity

A new word of the day to share, Brandito - brand thief or a crook named Brandi.

Tags: brandito, fictionarium, new words, inventing language, NWotD

Last week when we were at the ballgame in San Francisco I was having a good time snapping pics with my little Canon SD500. Until around the sixth inning when a rubber gasket around the lens started to come out. By the seventh inning stretch it was three quarters of the way out so I just pulled it all the way out.

I'd been looking for a good enough reason to use my extended warranty and this was a pretty legitimate issue.

So I took the camera back in to Staples to see about the replacement. The first lady looked at my receipt and said that I did not have an extended warranty. At which point I asked to see the Manager on Duty immediately.

The MoD took one look and reassured me that I did, in fact, have an extended warranty, it was just not noted as such on the receipt. Which is something that Staples really should address, being more forthright in the warranty that's been purchased and making it alot easier to recognize.

But I digress.

The good part is that I now have a big fat juicy cash card from Staples that includes the cost of the camera but not with the 12% off I'd gotten on the original purchase. Which means that it'll be very easy to buy the extended warranty again. And I'll be getting one of the sweet new Canon Powershot SD700 IS's when they get on to the market later on this month.

The new SD700 IS is a substantial improvement over the SD500 for several reasons. The best is that the IS in SD700 IS stands for Image Stabilization. This is a first in the Elph line and represents a great leap forward in the capabilities of these small cameras since they are especially prone to shaking.

Second big improvement is the addition of an 800 ISO which means the camera can snap pictures very quickly. The SD500 had a top ISO of 400.

The third big improvement is a 2.5" LCD view screen as opposed to the 2" screen on the SD500. And, while the 2.5" screen is big, the Canon SD630 sports a 3" screen! Its HUGE! But the SD630 doesn't have image stabilization and thus its out of the running.

The fourth big improvement is the capability to shoot video at 60 fps, twice standard recording speed. Which means better video, alot better video.

The fifth improvement isn't huge but its another step forward and it will help. Canon has bumped the optical zoom to 4x over the 3x on the SD500. Sure, its not a big change but one more level of magnification is one more level of magnification and I'll take it!

Now all I have to do is wait for Canon to start selling them so I can go get one!
Tags: digital, camera, Canon, SD700 IS, SD500, image stabilization

I've been spending a fair amount of time defending my position on the current steroid witch hunt in baseball and I thought it was more sensible to collect all those disconnected thoughts into one post here.

I think its important to define what I mean by witch hunt here.
witch-hunt also witch hunt (wchhnt) n.
An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing views.

Now, after reading that, can any of you detractors say that what's being done to Barry Bonds is anything BUT a witch hunt? I am focused more on the first part of the definition, the ostensible attempt to uncover subversive activities. The investigation is a sham with a hidden agenda. The differing views part is less pertinent to me and I would replace it with "undermine those with previously condoned views and actions" as that's closer to where I am on this investigation.

Let's get a couple of things out of the way.

Did Barry Bonds use performance enhancing drugs (PED's)? It is all but a certainty that Bonds has used some PED's in his career.

What is a PED? A PED can run the range from something as basic as a greenie (speed) to designer steroids created specifically to defeat testing capabilities and everything in between including supplements like Andro that Mark McGwire admitted to using even though it wasn't against the rules.

Is Barry Bonds the only baseball player to ever use PED's? No, don't be stupid. With so much money and prestige at stake, players will look for an edge wherever they can find it. Note, I'm not saying every baseball player has cheated, only that there has been a long established "acceptability" of PED's.

Is Barry Bonds being unfairly singled out in this latest steroid probe? Hell yes. Who else have you heard mentioned along with this investigation? No one. Not one other player has been mentioned.

Is it fair to go back through history with the public opinion of today and judge players from a different time by todays standards? No. If it were then Babe Ruth's records should be expunged as well as just about every other player.

Barry Bonds was and is an amazingly gifted baseball player. There have been many amazing and gifted players in the league over the decades. Can any of you say with absolute certainty that any given athlete hasn't cheated in some way to get where they are or were? And I'm not saying that its okay to cheat because everyone else was doing it. Not at all. But I am saying that making an example of one in the face of the overwhelming evidence of much, much wider usage is unfair in the extreme.

There is the rebuttal that McGwire and Sosa and Canseco and Palmiero aren't playing anymore and have all forfeited their chances at the Hall of Fame (Canseco never had a chance though). But that doesn't account for all of the other players who are still playing that could and should be included in the investigation. It doesn't account for the massive use of greenies and other PEDs that MLB hasn't tested for and isn't testing for them now, though greenies are now banned and I do believe testing has been instituted this season.

The Skinny: Did Bonds use PEDs? In all probablity, yes. Does his use of PEDs in an era when PEDs were tacitly condoned by Major League Baseball, the owners, the managers and the players mean that Bonds' records should be expunged? No. Not at all. Should Bonds be being singled out for his part in all of this? No. Should Bud Selig and the other owners (he is, or was, a part owner of the Milwaukee Brewers) be held as accountable for looking the other while pocketing massive profits from the use of PEDs? If players are going to be banned and barred then hell yes!

There's a Latin term for this and it is ex post facto which means "from something done afterward" or "after the fact". "Generally speaking, ex post facto laws are seen as a violation of the rule of law as it applies in a free and democratic society." Which means that, given changes in public perception, some past actions that were previously allowed, condoned or just not addressed are not against the rules/law. If ex post facto rulings were to become standard rules of law then anything you've done in your past could be used to imprison you which, I'd hope, you would think is entirely unfair.

Tags: steroids, baseball, San Francisco, Giants, Barry Bonds, Balco, ex post facto, vilification, witch hunt, sham investigation

Pedro Martinez, the jerri-curled star pitcher for the New York Mets, is a fiery little guy with a fastball that could be defined as a deadly weapon. And he holds grudges for, well, forever.

In his career, he's faced Jose Guillen of the Washington Nationals (the worst name in professional sport) a total of 40 times. Pedro Martinez has beaned Jose Guillen five times in those 40 at bats. That's one beaning for every eight at bats, with two of those beanings in the same game last week.

And Pedro says they were accidents? Bullshit. You don't hit the same guy that many times and its an accident. Especially if you're a control pitcher like Pedro.

So what happens when Jose Guillen gets pissed off after getting hit for the second time in the same game? He starts towards the mound with his bat in his hand and incites a bench clearing shoving match.

As payback, Felix Rodriguez beans one of Pedro's teammates. And gets a three game suspension and a fine while the National's manager gets a fine and a suspension. And Jose Guillen gets fined an undisclosed amount. What penalty/punishment does Pedro Maratine get? Nothing. Nothing at all for serial beanings of the same player.

And that is, as is sometimes called, fucking bullshit.

What's more is that Mets pitchers beaned 6 Nationals players to the one single payback beaning of Met Paul Lo Duca.

I heard a baseball analyst call for an investigation into the conspiracy to make the Nationals suck. And I second that motion. This is bullshit and a real baseball commissioner would put an immediate stop to it. But we're stuck with Bud "Public Outcry" Selig and nothing of substance will happen.

The only good thing out of all of this is that Pedro plays in the National League now and has to swing the bat. Which puts his skinny little ass in the target. And I would have not the least problem with him getting drilled a couple of times.

Tags: baseball, hit by pitch, beaning, unfair, Pedro Martinez, Washington, Nationals, New York, Mets, Jose Guillen, Frank Robinson

The new commercials for TAG, a low end cologne spray, are excellent and, I'm sure, have resulted in much increased sales.

The ads are for their new portable spray cologne that, if the commercials are to be believed, will turn any loser into the ultimate chick magnet. Just because he smells like something better than he did before. And commercials can't lie, right? So this stuff is going to make every man in the universe so outrageously hot that women will spontaneously combust.

And the ads are good. Dude walks by cheerleading practice, deploys the cheap spray and is gang tackled by hotties with lust in their eyes. Next scene is at a car wash where the women's just go insane for the guy even though he's sprayed himself inside his car and the girls can't even smell the spray. But it doesn't matter because car wash girls are Teh Hawt. Another scene is dude spraying himself all over in school and a gaggle of schoolgirls that look like the fantasy Catholic schoolgirls in pleated plaid skirts and white button down shirts, mob him for some lovin'.

I should note that I've not smelled TAG's spray, nor do I have any wish to smell it. I mean, it might be powerful enough to turn me gay if it gets all the women within a hundred feet all hot and bothered. Or maybe it's just marketing?

[Update: I don't even know what the deal is with the Order of the Serpentine commercials that purport to clean your body and mind of poor choices for bang partners. Those commercials, in my estimation, are utterly stupid and I hope they don't sell a single bottle of their schlock shower gel.]

Tags: TAG, body spray, marketing, advertising

Here's a simple tip for anyone looking to sell something.

Tell people the price.

Seems pretty simple, doesn't it?

But I've had two instances of trying to find a price for some crap that people were selling, one on a website for tires, the other in a marketing pamphlet from opening day at PacBell Park in SF (I know its not that anymore but I'm sick of the changes, you know where I mean when I write PacBell Park). Its useless to "help" me find a product to buy without how much you're going to try and charge me for it. Duh!

You'll also see it in car ads. "Call for price" means, "Move on". Good marketing, that.

The only defense against this sort of advertising and marketing is to ignore it. Not pay into it, not give it the attention it actually wants. Passive dismissal is an ultimate sort of fuck you that's hard to overcome.

Tags: simple, marketing, name your price, passive dismissal, ultimate fuck you

Senior Republican to Bush: say "exactly what happened". Which is not what will happen, of course, but it certainly does feel nice to see some bipartisan support for a little truth at the top. Even if it is just some saber rattling to make it appear like the GOP leaders haven't been utterly complicit in allowing the President to do anything he damned well pleases.

But its a start and I'll take any ground that can be taken from the President and his Culture of Corruption.

Tags: GOP puts pressure on President Bush to disclose the truth about leaking classified information about Valerie Plame, the CIA and political payback.

Yesterday was Opening Day at home for the Giants. And we were there to soak it all in and have a great time in the first day without any rain any of us can remember. It was sunny, it was nice and the Giants won the game.

And Barry Bonds got a standing ovation from his hometown crowd not once but twice. Regardless of the witch hunt, we treasure him and recognize his contributions to the game of baseball and the indisputable fact that he is one of the greatest players to ever play the game. And its a privilege to be able to go and see him play.

We were all able to get out and up there early enough to hang out in the parking lot and tailgate a bit and enjoy the pretty festive atmosphere. There was alot of black and orange pretty much everywhere and you could walk through the entire parking lot and listen to the KNBR pregame show the entire way (interspersed with some boom diggity thump thump thump).

For reasons I'll gloss over here, we didn't get to see the starting lineups introduced but I was sitting in my seat way up in the upper deck down the left field line. And I'll also add that charging an extra $2.50 to print your ticket at home is incredibly shortsighted and stupid. And it increases the load on the stadium. It should be free or even a credit to print your own ticket for them. But oh well.

Randy Winn got off the schnide quickly with his first hit after going O for San Diego. That was a good start to the bottom of the inning after a quick top by Noah Lowry.

I joined in the rest of the stadium when Barry came up with men on second and third in the first inning. I understand why he was walked but I sure as hell didn't like it any better than anyone else.

When Noah pulled his Sabbathia and went out, I was worried that the game would fall apart. And when Fassero served up two quick homeruns I was very concerned. But then the bottom of the inning came. And the Giants got all the offense they would need for the game in 6 runs.

There was much walking around and enjoying the spectacle of the game from a variety of vantage points. When the sun finally broke through and the bleachers warmed up and we were way back up in the shade, it was time to head back out to where my seats were. And three of us, two drunk and one driving, made our way to a couple of seats out in the sun where we could enjoy the last few innings of the game in warmth. And there was a Braves fan that the guys heckled.

There were some late inning worries but they got the win and that's a really great way to end Opening Day.

But that's not where the day ended for us. We hung out in the parking lot for a while, allowing the traffic to disperse a little bit. Then we got hungry and got in line for a long time. Which was a bad idea later as we were sniffing fumes. We got to a gas station and it turned out to be commercial only, which was a problem.

We kept going on in the hopes of being able to make it to another station but we weren't gonna be lucky enough to pull it and the truck slowed to a stop near Alemany in South San Francisco. We hiked up to a station, bought an overpriced 1 gallon gas can and Paul finagled a ride back to our car, which was very cool.

After filling the rest of the way up we drove down to Los Gatos and stopped in for a libation break and got some good apps while we were at it. And a damned parking ticket. Which was lame, lame, lame and now Los Gatos is on my fuck-you list.

Tags: trek, Atlanta Braves, fantastic, Opening Day, baseball, San Francisco, home opener, Giants, Barry Bonds

Libby Testimony Bodes Well for Sick Democracy. Its Fitzmas! Hurrah! Hurrah! One of the few bastions of justice, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has brought all the sad little citizens a gift. A conundrum of a lie and a leaking.

Here, let's let the goodies speak for themselves, okay?

Fitzgerald quoted Libby as saying he was authorized to tell New York Times reporter Judith Miller that Iraq was "vigorously trying to procure" uranium. Fitzgerald said Libby told him it "was the only time he recalled in his government experience when he disclosed a document to a reporter that was effectively declassified by virtue of the president's authorization that it be disclosed."

But wait, there's more!

Libby's testimony puts the president and the vice president in the awkward position of authorizing leaks. Both men have long said they abhor such practices, so much so that the administration has put in motion criminal investigations at their behest to hunt down leakers.

What's this, they hate leaks and yet they authorized leaks, according to sworn testimony by the Vice President of the United States' Chief of Staff? Ooops.
What's the Democrats response?

"The president and the vice president must be held accountable," Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said from the Senate floor. "Accountable for misleading the American people, accountable for the disclosure of classified material for political purposes. It is as serious as it gets in this democracy."

And yeah, I think I'm going to have to agree. How could you not? How can just explain away such a brazen lie?

And the Republican response?

Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said the White House would have no comment on the investigation. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the president has the "inherent authority to decide who should have classified information."

I almost feel sorry for Scott McClellan. But then I remember that he's a tool. Truly and completely. I Republican speak-bot without even the slightest shred of human dignity. I bet his hands are always cold and clammy.

And Alberto Gonzales seems to be saying that Bush can do pretty much any damned thing he pleases. Which is exactly why Bush appointed him Attorney General. So now its okay that Bush gave classified information to be leaked to the press for his own political ends and to help push the country in to an ever-worsening war?

The bells are starting to toll. And, Mr. Bush, they toll for thee.

How do I know? Why don't we take a look at your latest poll numbers, shall we?

Bush approval rating: 36% approval, lowest ever in this poll.
Bush foreign policy: 40%, also a lowest ever.
Bush handling of Iraq: 35%, another lowest ever.
Bush approval rating among Republicans: down 12% in the last year.

What about the GOP-led Congress that's been your muscle?
Overall approval of GOP-led Congress: 30%
Which party should control Congress: 49% Democrats, 33% Republicans. The 16 point margin is widest ever in this poll.
Protecting the Nation: Tied at 41% each, this is an issue the GOP has dominated for decades (according to the article).
Republican approval of GOP-led Congress: 40%.

Tags: Libby, Republican, Bush, approval, lowest ever, GOP-led Congress, Plame leak, Special Counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald

Sometimes there are advantages to not working. Like being able to go to a Thursday afternoon Home Opener at PacBell Park in San Francisco with a couple of pals.

And its supposed to be not rain at all tomorrow (almost a miracle in and of itself).

The only question is whether Bonds will play as its a day game after a night game. But it is the home opener and he will be welcomed with open arms at his home stadium.

I hope he does play but I'm just looking forward to getting out to a ballgame. And we're hitting it early so we can see batting practice and really have a good time. Hell yeah!
Tags: Opening Day, baseball, San Francisco, home opener, Giants, Barry Bonds

Homeland Deputy Arrested in Seduction Case. More at IP Politik (mostly just swear-laced invectives but still nice to read).

The end cannot come too quickly for scum such as this.
Tags: Brian J Doyle is an internet pedophile douchebag. Homeland Security, Tom Delay, Bush

Hey Jimmy Fallon, thanks for being the main part of the worst commercial ever. You know, the one where you're drinking a Pepsi and dancing with some chick across the street?

The one that forces me to change the channel or pause it on your stupid face so my mind won't be reinfected with the absolute stupidity of the ad.

And Pepsi sucks. And Pepsi's ads suck. The Jackie Chan/Jay Mohr ad where the Diet Pepsi can's stunt double is a Diet Coke? Yeah, the lasting image there is Diet Coke, not your shitty soda. Well done, dumbasses.
Tags: Jimmy Fallon and Pepsi sucks. Badvertising

Its been a little while but I ran off a new Cheddar X last night and wanted to run it all the way through before it passed off my radar again. So, here we go!

1. What food completely repulses you?
Mayonnaise.

2. What food or foods did you used to love but can't eat anymore?
The big Sweettarts, too many one sunny afternoon in my stupid youth and those taste buds got permanently burned.

3. What food used to repulse you but you like now?
Raw oysters, shrimp, spinach. Does whiskey count?

4. If you had one choice of food forever, what would it be?
Probably a Cobb Salad because it could be deconstructed into a couple dozen different dishes. But anything for too long will become its own hell.

5. What song or singer should you like but do not?
U2, bunch of poser wankers.

6. What song or singer shouldn't you like but do?
I admit to liking some Shakira and one The Brit song. Also, apparently I'm in the minority of people who like Bjork but I think that's because I associate her with a pretty good time of my life.

There now, that wasn't so hard. Want some cheese of your own? Go, get some!
Tags: Cheddar X, questions, meme

Tom Delay gives up his re-election bid to start toughening up his sphincter.

Good riddance to bad filth.
Tags: Tom Delay is a corrupt Republican douchebag, his re-election bid will turn into an indictment.

It appears that prayers directed at a recovering heart surgery patient are, at best, useless and, at worst, a detriment to recovery.

Study fails to show healing power of prayer and actually showed an increase in the number of complications for the folks that knew they were being prayed for.

Death rates across the survey were about the same so praying probably won't kill you faster, just make things tougher for you.

And somewhere, the vengeful Gods are sitting and smiling because things are as they should be. Sort of. You know, if there were God or Gods.
Tags: Survey says, prayer is ineffective in helping heart patients' recovery

I read a good trick to use to prepare for a job interview and thought that it might benefit some other folks too.

A UCLA study found that people who thought about their positive qualities before a high-pressure situation secreted less of the stress hormone cortisol. The article says that self-reflection can counter the release of the hormone by putting events into a larger perspective.

So, positive self-reinforcement now has more scientific backing. Give yourself a pep talk before you face an interview and you can come off more like yourself and less pinched.
Tags: job interview, positive visualization, stress, cortisol, relief, antidote

Jeff Fucking Passan is the new head baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports and makes not even the slightest nod to any pretense of editorial objectivity in his slash and slander columns. (Note, I'm only guessing that his middle name is Fucking, it might Douchebag, Asshat, Cocksucker or Loser but I'm going with Fucking).

His latest is Hope Springs Eternal, about the start of the baseball season and all the hopes he has for the upcoming season.

Among them that Barry Bonds will quit because Jeff Fucking Passan has looked at him and declared that he's obviously juiced and cheating and shouldn't be allowed to even talk to children. Or some such bullshit.

Hey Jeff Fucking Passan, show me the drug tests that Barry has failed? You can't because they don't exist. Show me the proof you've got that Barry was and is juiced now? You can't because you don't have any proof. You are just talking out your ass.

Hey Jeff Fucking Passan, if you're going to level slander and libel at people, why don't you take the non-pussy step of putting a damned email address on your columns so that irritated fans like myself could tell you exactly what a shitheel you are.

Because there is no feedback, there is only the Jeff Fucking Passan show and its a very bad and tired show written by a guy who's still pissed off because he didn't have the physical skills to make it as an athlete, so he sits in judgment over people who he couldn't even stand in the shadow of.

Which makes Jeff Fucking Passan, a big pussy who's not worth reading. Are you listening Yahoo? Get a journalist to write up your baseball news, not this angry asshole with a chip on his shoulder and nothing but disrespect and hate for the game's greatest slugger.

Fuck you, Jeff Passan, fuck you and your pissant little ego. Or better yet, why not try to actually write like a real journalist and report the news without your proclaimations of unproven guilt. Its lame ass pricks like you that are helping to fuel an incredibly stupid witch hunt that will amount to nothing.
Tags: Jeff Passan, Jeff Fucking Passan, baseball, Yahoo sports, anti-objectivity, bad journalism