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Global Warming/Whining

This was in the "Perspectives" section of the Sunday paper; I felt it deserved being spread around, check it out. I have to say that I don't mid the idea of conservation, but we need to quit trying to vilify others and not be led by all these ridiculous hypocrite celebrities. Their goal is only to bash certain government figures and promote their own fame. If their goal were truly reform they would lead by example.

Jessica Davis has something to say about global warming and carbon footprints

Jessica Davis, Jess.Davis@alumni.duke.edu
Sunday, July 22, 2007

Tempting as it was to hear Jane Goodall execute a series of chimpanzee calls on the miserable failure dubbed “Live Earth,” I was preoccupied with offsetting the quarter million tons of carbon emissions created by the aging musicians and pot-smoking tree-huggers by leaving the television off. Our own beloved Al Gore, who boasts a carbon footprint 20 times the size of the average Tennessean, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, hosted the event.

Though Gore was armed with an almost cultish seven-point pledge he expected the world to recite and obey to combat global doom, the only planetary catastrophe that night appeared to be the ratings. Many hypocritical celebrities joined him in Godzilla-sized footprints and in offering tips to save the world from this “crisis.” As a fellow citizen of the world, I offer a few of my own, as space constraints will allow:

* The brilliant sage Sheryl Crow imparted a tiny nugget of wisdom on her blog:

“I propose a limitation be put on how many sqares [sic] of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit.” I suggest we heed her advice and lobby the federal government to pass and enforce such a law. Even better, in lieu of producing more toilet paper, I suggest Americans use a handy copy of the Bill of Rights. Clearly, it has passed its prime in this new era of forced conservation trumping individual rights.

* Cameron Diaz lauded the idea of showering together to conserve water. I propose Diaz head up the new Shower with the Homeless state program in California. Not only would water be conserved, but celebrities can feel good about sticking another Band-Aid on the homeless problem (like brand-new shopping carts).

* In order to conserve more water, “Live Earth” should have had the attendees at the Johannesburg concert bottle up the record snow that fell there the previous week, to which they attributed their low turnout. While I am suggesting these ideas at the peak of their irony, why not have them store the water in the thousands of plastic cups that the London concertgoers left behind across the stadium despite exhortations to deposit them in recycling bins?

* Presidential hopeful John “I’m a man!” Edwards could simply use 10 percent of what he pays for a haircut to purchase carbon offsets for the entire country of China for the next decade.

* Since energy conservation will render the world dimmer as the completely dark opening of Madonna’s act on “Live Earth” demonstrated (too bad it didn’t stay that way), crime will undoubtedly increase. Let’s put these new prisoners to work planting trees as “carbon offsets” for the rest of us. We should expect an array of convicts to come from Americans who defiantly refused to use one square.

Gore assumed exhibiting such a barn-door effort to raise awareness must lend truth to his argument of pending calamity. Never mind questioning the validity of attributing the slight rise in temperature to mankind and presenting the infinitesimal fluctuation as an imminent global destroyer, though scientists have found now that the sun’s current sunspot cycle is also heating up several other planets in our system that harbor no known SUVs. I guess, in science, general consensus equates truth — right, Galileo?

Jessica Davis has a B.A. in political science with a minor in military history. Her e-mail address is Jess.Davis@alumni.duke.edu .

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.

Movie Review (The Good Sheperd)

I rented this last night at one of those new $1 per night DVD rental things they have in grocery stores now. This may be the best idea ever, I wish I had thought of it.

Anyway, this movie is about the CIA and how it came about. Specifically, they spend a lot of time teaching that these men (and women now) are truly patriots. These people will do anything that they believe is in the greater good of our country as a whole. This concept is particularly hard to grasp for most people. There is a belief out there that if people can all sit down with a cup of coffee almost anything can be worked out via negotiations and chit-chat. This is a ridiculous way to view the world and is simply no true. That said I am not condoning every action that any espionage agency takes, I just understand their intent. Back to the movie, these patriots sacrifice their bodies, lives, and families for what they believe is the greater good of The United States. The entire movie is acted out very well and has some definite Hollywood heavyweights that each deliver perfectly on-screen.

The bad news was the direction and screenplay. The time line of the film jumps too many times and does not remain sequential. If you miss one of the hard to read little notations at the bottom of the screen you will be confused quickly. It's also hard because Matt Damon just can't play a 40 something father with a 20 something child he simply looks too young. The only thing they did was change his glasses to make him look older. This was not successful but also no one's fault, he's just too pretty. There is also a scene at the very beginning and at the very that are intricately connected and I am not sure most people would understand what happened since they were sooooo far apart. De Niro tried hard but I think this movie could have had much more punch with some congruity on the time line and a little better light in some scenes. Perhaps some of the "personal" weaknesses of the main character did not make much sense to me either. Some of the indiscretions by Matt Damon were also odd and the reactions of his wife were weird since she had the same issues but whatever.

This movie is good but could have been great, go check it out

Movie Review (Live Free or Die Hard)

So John McClane comes back for on more (final?) round. We haven't seen Mr. McClane since 1995 but he hasn't changed much, he's still the baddest guy on the block. This movie is everything a Die Hard fan wants to see. Great pace with good actors combined with mass mayhem requiring a hero. Beyond that there is one particular scene where the camerwaork is phenomenal. In the beginning there is a shot that follows a "bad guy" as he jumps of a ten story roof and traverses some fire escapes down the side of the building in "urban ninja" style. The camera starts above him and swivels down underneath throughout one continuous shot, amazing work!

Now, for the negatives. I really had to dig for these but there were just a few things I though could have been done better. First the "hacker/hacking" scenes were mixed with actual screen shots and typical Hollywood auto cad drawings. The real thing would have looked fine. There were also a couple of scenes, one with McClane and several with the kid from the iCrapple commercials, where the lines they delivered didn't seem to have the intended affect or punch they needed. I'll have to watch the movie again but if I had to blame it on anything it would probably be either the score (music) or perhaps ambient noise in the scene drowning out the vocal inflection. I know it wasn't the actors as they were great during most of the film. Lastly, the same guy in the scene with the incredible camera work earlier was the victim of sub-par camera work in his final scene. His demise was also a touch anti-climatic for me.

John McClane is asked at one point why he does his job since all it ever got him was disowned by his kids, broke and divorced. He looks at the iCrapple kid and sums up today's society perfectly saying "No one else will do it."

This film is great, go check it out!

The Captain Gets Spotted

Yesterday after church I headed over to Wal-Mart to grab some much needed items. As we shopped we decided to eat at the Blimpie located in the store. To make life easier I decided I would take all of our items to the car while Mrs. Dude took all the babies in and got them settled at a table. As I walked out the front door of Wal-Mart with my shopping cart I turned and headed for my car when I heard a young man yelling out of his car:

"Sir!" I ignored this as I didn't think some 17 yr old would be talking to me.

"Excuse me, Sir!" Now I looked as I had noticed the car was following me.

I turned and saw an old Honda Accord with four teenagers in it, two boys in the front and two girls in the back.

"Sir, (what's her name) in the backseat just said that you are a fine looking man; I just wanted to let you know she said that."

"Thank you very much." I replied "I had nothing to do with it."

"You're really hot!" comes from one of the girls in the backseat.

"Thanks, you're cute too." This answer seemed to thrill her and got some whispering and giggling from the backseat.

For a moment I started to think that my 36 year old self might actually still be somewhat cool. As I pondered this, I realized I was heading towards my 8 seater family SUV with three car seats in the middle row. Additionally, I looked in the cart I was pushing at all the diapers, wipes, and school supplies for a housing project. I am definitely not cool, funny story anyway though. Matthew Mconahey (intentional misspelling) is a fine looking man.

Movie Review (Transformers)

Transformers needs no introduction to people of my generation, we waited so long for this to happen. This movie was pretty disappointing for the Captain. The movie tries to play to children but goes for the weak and easy bathroom humor and throws cussing in when it doesn't need to be there. Hollywood really muffed this one, it could have been spectacular. The story is great, special effects are mind blowing, camera work was out of this world, and the cast was great. The actors did their jobs well, unfortunately delivering garbage dialog at times. I guess someone thought it was funny, but no one in my theater was laughing at the crude car peeing on a human type humor. The movie seemed to do a terrible job of tight-roping trying to be for the 30 year olds that grew up with these toys, and the cartoon, and the 13 yr olds of today. I hope when they start filming the sequels they will ditch the garbage jokes and humor and pick a demographic, there was enormous potential that went unrealized.
I should have gone to see Die Hard.

Movie Review (Facing the Giants)

I encouraged folks to see this over a year ago and finally watched it myself. This movie is the tale of a Christian coach who is really having tough times at home and at work. As most believers know, life doesn't become magically easier just because you accept Christ and can in fact sometimes be very hard. The coach hasn't had a winning season, and also cannot have children that he so desperately wants with his wife. At his wit's end he turns to the scripture and is inspired to live his life for the glory of God whether his life be good or bad, including football. He inspires his team to join him, and his wife. God begins to bless them immeasurably. The story is great, and the people at Sherwood Baptist did a credible job with no "actors" using members of their congregation. Now for the bad news, I felt at time as if the characters spoke in a very "churchy" manner. Just talk normal people, your actions will convey your meaning better than trying to sound overly pious or caring. The only other negative I would give it is that everthing turned up roses for the coach. Sometimes faith and believing means God says no or wait, not just having all you rprayers answered the way you expected.

Movie Review (Man of the Year)

Man of the Year is about a talk show host who decides to run for President of the United States. This storyline had enormous potential and a stellar cast but really failed to deliver. First, the main character is supposed to be an Independent who dislikes both parties, but is CLEARLY a Democrat in everything he says and represents. I know, Hollywood big shock and I can let that one slide. The worst thing to me about the movie was the audio track. I think the director's tried to film a lot of ambient sound and everything sounds like a shouting match. Too much white noise in every scene really stole all the thunder from some well played scenes by Robin Williams. The frantic pace of some conversations and visuals also caused many seemingly funny moments to fall flat. This movie sucks!

My buddy likes swimming

E-mail me for the video.

Live Earth (Pros and Cons)

I am sitting at home watching Live Earth. I would say it's pretty mediocre, in both talent and content. So whether or not you think global warming is real some of the ideas are fine anyway. But really, doesn't everyone already know to swap out their light bulbs and recycle? I use CFL bulbs and recycle plenty of stuff and I am not even a liberal. <--- that's funny. Are we once again at a place where some people are crying for change and it's the conservatives that are doing the crap anyway? So let's say everyone starts pitching in, here are the issues I have.
E85 ethanol or CornGas currently costs about $2.50 per gallon here in TN. Vehicles that can burn this fuel lose a ton of fuel economy when they use it. So now are we just pillaging another resource, can we grow enough corn to run all these vehicles. If so can we make it cheap enough to offset the loss of fuel economy?
Solar Power is something I really want to do on my house. Why does this crap cost so much? Really it's a few sheets of film, glass and some batteries yet to convert my home could cost $30,000. I can pay for a lot of electricity before that's worthwhile and I don't have that kind of money to help out the planet.
The last question I have is about these modern day hippies that bitch at the government about guns, global warming, or (insert crap here). How many of these people have unarmed security and came in a vehicle that wasn't a giant limo or hummer? How efficient are their homes, and do they have more house than they need? Hey superstars let me see you live it, then I might be interested in what you say with your 8th grade education.

Liberals (keep up the good work)

So, besides the obvious stated above, I just read this on CNN.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal appeals court Friday ordered the dismissal of an ACLU lawsuit challenging President Bush's domestic surveillance program.

Want to know why? Because it was never illegal and has a very targeted focus. I am fine with people not liking something but don't vilify, or make it something it isn't. In order for this program to listen in on a call, the call must originate from or be destined to a known terrorist state. You can still call your crazy college roommates and not be listened in on. Feel free to dislike the President/Congress/(insert government faction here) but don't be a tard about it.

Also, has anyone noticed there have been NO CHANGES since Democraps took over?

Great Cigar Shop

While visiting Rochester New York last week I got online and looked for a local cigar shop. This is always a bit of fun for me as you can tell what the locals seem to favor. In Rochester one place was called The Cigar Factory and was about a mile from my hotel. I walked down, in 94 degree heat, and found a place that looked like a run down old main street shop. I almost didn't go in.

I went in and met Don Cisso the proprietor and his wife. He explained to me that he rolled over half of his stock right there in the shop with a partner and they were both from Cuba. Now I was intrigued as I have smoked only one Cuban cigar previously and it was fairly decent. Cisso educated me on the different leaf types and what he had to offer that was similar to big names I have smoked. I ended up choosing a Red Wine and Honey "after dinner" smoke, and a bourbon which was good anytime. These were not flavored but were scented for a tiny aroma of the stated flavor. These cigars were $2 - $12 a piece, much cheaper than name brands, and were absolutely the best smokes I have ever had. Cisso mixes a mild leaf with a really strong leaf halfway through the smoke that will tingle your tongue. This is the type of smoke that will be fantastic with a good cup of coffee. I plan to be a regular customer of The Don from here on out.

If you like the occasional cigar please visit:
http://www.doncissocafe.com/

Cigar Review (Dirt Torpedo by Drew Estate)

The Captain smokes one or two cigars a month and, because of my travels, I get to sample several different types. My current favorite in a flavored cigar is the Acid Kuba Kuba. This is a medium-bodied wonderful smelling and tasting smoke. It has a very sweet flavor and a great aroma. Recently jumping to a close second is the Natural Dirt also by Drew Estate. This cigar has a sweeter wrapper and I chose the torpedo for a good 30 minute burn. The aroma is not quite as good, to me, as the Kuba. This is a good occasional cigar as I believe the sweetness would become overwhelming if smoked regularly. It is also just a touch more full-bodied than the Kuba once you get 1/4 into the burn indicating a stronger leaf in the middle. My next flavored review will be of the Drew Estate Java, these smell like heaven and I can't wait to try one.