More on Glen Beck

For a different perspective on the Glen Beck rally from this past weekend go here and read.

Katrina: Five Years Later

Five years ago today the world changed for a lot of people.  I've written a lot about it and you can find some of it if you're interested by clicking on Katrina on my side bar.  For a nice wrap up of stuff about Katrina than and now go here and read.

A Rant

The sign says "Twenty Items Or Less".  I guess you just can't read.

I don't mind if someone goes through the line with a few more than twenty.  But when someone goes up to the line with a basket full of groceries and gets checked out.  Than I'm mad.  I don't blame the cashier, because they've been told if someone comes up to their line they have to take them and not get the customer upset.  But it's worth it to get six more customers standing behind this lady in line upset.  They should be able to politely tell the customer that this is a checkout line for less than 20 and she needs to go to another line.

This the the type of person that knows she can just get what she wants if she pushes enough and is loud enough. Why do stores worry about people like this?  And I say this, being in retail, knowing we aren't any better where I work.  If someone yells loud enough and long enough, they normally get what they want.  God forbid, we upset one customer.  Especially someone that deserves to be upset.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the good customers, the ones that are quiet and shop and deal with things like this are the ones that get the shaft.  And those are the ones that stores should be looking after.

Restoring Honor

Sometimes I'm really surprised by what Americans want to believe.  It seems we as a nation want to promote stupidity and hate.  I don't think everyone should agree with me, but at least listen to what these people say.  And ask yourselves how you can follow them.  Glen Beck had his "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial today.  One of his speakers was a preacher that had this to say about Hurricane Katrina right after the storm struck:

"the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans" because the city hosted a gay pride parade" 

How can anyone hate that much?   For more about the rally go here.

Happy Birthday Jack Kirby

And why was today chosen as Read A Comic In Public Day?  Because it's Jack Kirby's birthday!  And if you don't know who Jack Kirby is, than you're not much a comic book reader.  Jack Kirby is responsible for some of the greatest comic books created.  With Joe Simon, Stan Lee or by himself Mr. Kirby's creations are the building blocks for a lot of what's out there now.  Captain America, Fantastic Four, Challengers of the Unknown, Hulk, Thor, the New Gods....the list goes on and on.  Without Jack Kirby comics would be a lot poorer.

Happy Birthday Jack Kirby!

Read Comics In Public Day

Today is Read Comics In Public Day.  For the genesis of this day go here and read.  This is for all those people who read comics but are secretly ashamed of it.  Don't be ashamed!  I've never been afraid to show that I read comics.  When I used to take public transportation I would read whatever new comics I might have purchased that day.  The thing when to do when taking a public bus is to always be reading, a novel, a comic, whatever.  It just makes the trip quicker.  So if you have a comic read it in public today.

Unanswered Questions From Lost

I found this video over here, but it asks a lot of questions that were never answered on Lost.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

LOST Season Six on DVD

The final season of Lost came out on DVD this week.  I haven't purchased it yet, but I will.  I have the previous five seasons, so it's just a matter of time before I buy this one.  I think I'll wait and see if it goes down it price some and until I'm ready to watch the entire six seasons.  When I do buy this season I plan to go back to season one and start at the beginning and watch it all in one long continuous session.

I never wrote my wrap up post about the ending of Lost, so after I watch the series hopefully I'll sit down and write my thoughts on it.  To sum it up quickly: I think how much you enjoyed the ending of Lost was where you came down on the Faith vs. Reason argument that was the basis for the ending.  If you favored Faith you liked the ending, if you were on the side of Reason you probably didn't enjoy the ending as much.  I was with Reason, so to me the ending wasn't what I was hoping for.  I knew it wasn't going to tie up all the loose ends, but it really tied up very few.  They left way too many holes, I think mainly because they had written themselves into a corner and had no idea how to explain some of the stuff.  I have nothing against happy endings, but to me it felt like it was forced, so everyone on the island got a happy ending.  And Sayid's true love was Shannon.  I'm sorry I just can't believe that.

Allright, I'll stop here before I continue to rant, but I really want to write up my thoughts soon on the ending.  I still think Lost was one of the best shows ever on TV and I was afraid a bad ending would spoil the entire show I still think the series holds up, despite the ending.

Katrina: Five Years Later

Another article about Katrina Five Years Later can be read here.

5 on Friday

Ok, I've missed the last couple of 5 on Fridays but I'm back.  Today I'm featuring Ryan Adams.  Mr. Adams is long overdue an album of new material.  He hasn't put anything out in awhile.  And this from a man that once put out three albums in one year and one of them was  a double album.  One of the biggest criticism of Ryan was that he put out too much material, but I found it a weak criticism.  His material was good and I loved the fact that he wasn't taking four or five years to put music out.  If you look back at some of the greatest the Beatles were coming out with an album just about every year, CCR put out their three best albums within a span of only a few years.  Today artists and labels are afraid to "flood" the market or put out too much material too quickly.  I'm not saying put out stuff you don't think is good, but if you think it's good get it out and let us hear it.  The last I heard Ryan was supposed to be putting out a five album set, but so far nothing....

(Oh, and I included one song from his days with Whiskeytown.)

And as always go to Trav's site and check out more 5 on Fridays.

Katrina: Five Years Later

Katrina: Five Years Later

You hear about how bad it was in the city, and I"m not saying that a lot of bad things didn't go on, but it was easier for the press to talk about how bad people were reacting to the storm.  Here's something that shows how good people were during the storm.

Five Years Later....

We're coming up on the anniversary of Katrina.  Five years since the storm wrecked its way through the Gulf Coast.  Honestly I wasn't thinking about it until I came back from visiting my Mom and turned the TV on.  Lots of talk about the storm.  Life here is divided into two parts since the storm:  Before Katrina and After Katrina.  You don't realize how often that comes up in conversations.  So over the next few days I'll be posting stuff about Katrina.  If you're tired of hearing about it or think that we should get over it and move on since it's been five years, just skip these posts.  But moving on is hard, I know people that are still working on their homes.  You can drive down I-10, and while it doesn't look like it once did, you can still see the effects of the storm.  My brother is still doing work on his house from the storm.  Here's a link to go read.

Losing My Mind

Today at work my boss asked me what was happening tomorrow, tomorrow being Sunday.  I told him nothing, I was just off.  He replied that I had requested Sunday off, that was why he had given it to me.  Now I have no idea why I requested it off...I'm sure something was happening if I asked for it off.  But what?

A mind is a terrible thing to see vanish....

5 on Friday

Ok, it's another Friday and another chance to play 5 on Friday.  Go over to Trav's site and see what it's all about.

For today I pick an old favorite of mine.  As youngsters he and his brother formed the group the Blasters.  They came of age during the punk revolution and while their music was far from punk they gained a following in such circles.  The Clash were such fans they had them open on tour for them.  While his brother, Phil, has pretty much opted out of the rock and roll lifestyle for that of a professor of math, Dave Alvin has continued to make some great music.  My Five on Friday today is from Dave Alvin.