twinkies down 2-0

it bothers me when people complain about the free enterprise system or capitalism.

well, more so when they complain about it being a terrible system and how its destroying the earth and society.

i'm pretty sure it's not the capitalism, but the inaction of the citizens that is destroying the world.

while academic and military research has started a lot of the major technical and societal changes we have witnessed (the internet, psychology, etc), it is when somebody figures out how to make a profit on it that is when it begins to make an impact on the regular person.

what company doesn't advertise it's website nowadays?
what person doesn't pay a market to make them a sandwich (which, beyond being the most perfect food, may be the easiest to assemble)?

it is inaction and lack of will power that lets corporations and the system get away with fucking us over.

take exxon mobil. i actively make sure that i do not fill up at a exxonmobil station. if i'm lost in conneticut and i've been on E for 50 miles, that's a different story. but for my everyday commuting gas, i refuse to give my money to exxonmobil.

those silly internet petitions that go around saying "today is no buying gas day," those would work if everyone actually listened to them and took part.

we could drive that company into extinction. if everyone really cared enough about it, we could make sure exxon never made another dime.

but we don't.

because we're lazy.

or with voting. voter turnout for the 2004 presidential election was 55.3%. that was the highest since 1968. where are the other 45%? if they got out and voted for one candidate? in '04 bush received 50.7% of the vote. that's 50.7% of 55.3%. do you know how much that is?

my calculator says just over 28% of eligible voters picked w.

isn't anyone else outraged by this?

this blows my mind and pisses me off.

i may not cast a vote in every primary (i do in governor and president years), or for county clerk, but i do vote.

but at least i am out there trying to make a difference. if an extra 1.5% of voters that didn't vote went out and voted for kerry in 2004, bush would have lost.

not even 1% would have made the difference in 2000.

how can people just not care?

scrubs marathon on comedy central

the departed looks like a good film.

carla is cleaning up and organizing all our board games.
i do not know why and i do not question.

axis and allies
risk
outburst
sequence
backgammon
pictionary
scrabble
mindtrap
jenga
mancala
trivial pursuit (millenium edition)
trivial pursuit (pop culture 2)
dominoes
skipbo
balderdash

i want monopoly but not the new one where they updated the placenames and market prices.
like now, you get $2 million for passing go. and you can buy like time square and football stadiums and railroads are now airports.

you shouldn't mess with classics. there are things can be improved and should be improved (like a new edition of madden every year). but there are things that are the way they ought to be.

like monopoly. where $200 is a paycheck and taxes are only 10%.

i miss those days.

one more shot

again, i shall be introspective on my use of this blog and the purpose it served in my life.

when i first started this, i was a 21 year old that had no idea what i was doing. neither on a long term scale nor a day-to-day basis.

but as we approach the 26th anniversary of my life, i find i'm much better on the day-to-day aspect of life. it is spending time with carla or it is work or occasionally it is friends.

the long term is still a bit hairy, but i least know what is going to happen, just not when. i will become a captain for trader joe's. i will buy a house. i will get married. i will get a dog.

but what about this blog? i have asked that question many times here. every 6 months or so, i get back on and give it a try. and i always claim that this time will be different. and everytime it isn't.

try and failing isn't as bad as never trying. but trying and failing a whole bunch of times is pretty close.

let's give it one more go.

lost blew my freakin' mind!

to keep the theme of greatness and undisputed statements going, i offer this:

"all along the watchtower" by jimi hendrix is greatest rock song of all time.

stairway can take a back row seat to this.

it is not only the best cover of all time, it is the best 4 minutes of rock'n'roll.
period.
infinity period.
double infinity period.

the guitar work (especially from 2:00 to about 2:50) is beyond phenomenal.

not to disrespect my hometown boy of bobby dylan, but jimi plays--and sings--that song the way it was supposed to be done.

there's too much confusion; i can't get no relief.

such a powerful use of the double negative by dylan. it truly needed the smooth, yet smoky, vocals of jimi to bring the dire emotion of the song to the forefront of our minds.

that's total bull-plop, but you get the meaning.

the song is total kickass

even if you're not on acid or mushrooms.

realworld/roadrules gauntlet II was the lame

so i've decided that there is a perfect food and it is:

the sandwich.

now, my definition of a sandwich is going to incorporate a few other foods that you may have not put into the sandwich category. but once we begin examining the structure of said foods, then it may make sense. i ain't guaranteeing anything.

the reason for the sandwich being the perfect food?
there are two, actually.

1. it's handheld and self contained. a complete meal in a nice, neat, little package.

2. sandwiches can, and are, made with anything you want.

and i don't know if you can claim either of those reasons is more important than the other.

ok, the foods that may not be construed as sandwichs as of yet:

pizza. it is basically an open faced sandwich. layer of bread, layer of sauce, meat and cheese. which in my estimation, is a sandwich.

burrito. an open faced sandwich rolled up.

quesadilla. a mexican sandwich

basically anything with a tortilla. but not nachos. not tortilla chips. tortillas.

so sandwiches are the perfect food.

so go out and have a b.l.t. or a b.m.p.b. (banana/mustard/peanut butter) if you want.

while supersize me did have some moments of humor and insight, it was a ridiculous premise, and--as i thought--over-hyped

the world is black and white.

the research we are doing in biology, physics, mathematics and psychology is very important. it is going to lead us, eventually, to a set of first principles. every layer we peel back on the complexity and makeup of the universe will lead to an ever simpler explanation of why. and with enough desire and resources, we--as imperfect and mortal humans--will decipher the Ultimate Truth.

it may not be a neat little package like e=mc^2 or 42, but the Ultimate Answer will be something understandable. it will be a first principle upon which everything is built upon. this physical universe has laws and rules which it must obey. we will figure it out. humanity has an unquenchable desire to know.

i also believe that this truth extends beyond mere physical regulations. God has a moral component to itself. there is an Ultimate Moral Truth as well. whether it is a stand alone truth or that it, too, extends from the Ultimate Truth is yet to be seen (but i'll place all my money on that they are entwined in some fashion). but it means that there is a baseline moral truth out there. there is a right, and there is a wrong.

shades of gray are fine and dandy for the psychologists and the sociologists and the gen x parents that can't control their children.
but that doesn't make it correct.
in fact, i believe they are totally wrong.

there is right and wrong. and that's all there is.

am i saying that i am always right? i would like to think i am, but i'm wrong a lot. more so the longer i live, the more wrong i become; but that's a whole 'nother rant.

am i saying i know what is right and what is wrong? not entirely. i'm saying there is a right, and there is a wrong. we may not know what is right until we discover the Ultimate Truth. we may just be fumbling through ever darker shades of gray until we get to a point where God goes, "whoa, buddy, i think you got it. congratulations."

i would like to think that we are on the path as a species. are we slow as fuck getting there? most definately, but the universe has waited--what? 15 billion years--for us to get this far. i'm sure it can wait a bit longer.

actually, i'm a 100% sure.
cuz that's the way it is.

does anyone use baby oil on babies?

you ever see the fox commercial for the tv ratings and blocking the different levels so to protect your children?
the one where everyone has their rating above their head? TV-MA, TV-7, TV-14, etc.

the part i love is the dog.
he has a ? above his head.

does that mean the dog doesn't understand tv, or does that mean we can't figure out what is appropriate for a dog to watch?

either way, it's funny.
to me, anyway.