Movie Review (Green Zone)

I saw this Saturday and even though I wasn't tempted to turn it off, it was kind of boring. The actors played their parts well, and I think that things were represented alright but it just wasn't engaging. It may have been the veiled political messages or maybe just the subject matter. One reviewer called it "Jason Bourne goes to Baghdad." It's nothing like the Bourne series, and the character is completely different too. Overall it was entertaining but I wouldn't rush out to see it. The other option was Hot Tub Time Machine, but plugged in online said it was pretty foul so we chose to skip it.

Movie Review (The Book of Eli)

Amazing! This was a great story even if a bit violent. The violence and language seemed contextually accurate so I can handle that, nothing gratuitous. IF you haven't seen it, run don't walk. The only knock I have was that the movie was incredibly dark. When I say that I mean I couldn't see things on the screen sometimes. I also could have done without the sepia filter used to shoot most of the scenes. Even with that, I almost cried at the end which surprised me.

Home Depot

I find it odd that you can wear LGBT paraphernalia but you cannot wear the words from our pledge of allegiance. This is a perfect example of discrimination and is very unfortunate. If Home Depot wants to actually be fair, don't allow either one. You also shouldn't allow your employees to wear their uniform aprons in non-company events or off property. If you really want equality, then be equal. If you just want to pick a side then say you're choosing sides and be prepared for the consequences.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2009/10/28/florida-man-says-home-depot-fired-wearing-nation-god-pin/

You have got to be kidding me

Absolutely amazing that anyone thinks this is alright. Another reason my kids won't ever see a public school if I can help it. I hate this stuff for the teachers out there that oppose this type of crap.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/09/montana-school-proposes-controversial-sex-education-program/

Too funny

This is dang funny, I worked for some morons like this once.

"Classic" Movies

Mrs. Dude and I have been watching a couple of "classics." First we watched Breakfast at Tiffany's; I always wondered what this flick was about so I decided to watch it with her. After seeing it I still wonder what it's about. It was somewhat funny and I never wanted to turn it off, even though it's about 2 people who prostitute themselves, but I never really cared about it either. What I mean is that if the power would have gone out it would have been fine by me. It was cool to see a young George Peppard rocking the screen but he was way cooler as Hannibal on the A-Team. So anyway, the movie was weird and I hear it's being re-made. Speaking of being recycled, is there a movie out there that isn't currently being recycled for the second or third time? I guess no one has tried to do E.T. again yet.

This past weekend we watched Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. I saw this movie as a younger person but can honestly say I only remembered two scenes. This movie also seemed weird and I think a re-make of this could definitely be better. It would have been cool to do it while both main actors were still alive but that opportunity has passed. I also wouldn't have cared if we didn't finish this movie, it really was odd.

Up next is African Queen, I will let you know what happens.

Gay Clergy

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ordained a bunch of gay folks, amazing. I know this "debate" can go on and on over a host of issues, but it still amazes me. I mean first "we" start ordaining women which is crazy enough and now this. I guess this sums it all up:

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20

Censorship Inconsistencies

So I am watching TV on Saturday, during the day, and on one movie a guy freely uses the word "prick" more than once. He isn't talking about a needle in your finger either and that is quite clear. Then later on the same channel, during a comedy, the word "nigger" is edited out. That doesn't seem consistent.

More AT&T Awesomeness

I decided to post some SpeedTest.net results. Here are the results to my Nexus One when I have three bars of 3G goodness:
Ping: 109ms
Upload: 0.18Mbps
Download: 0.89Mbps

So that's NOT fast, but compare it to AT&T's crap DSL:
Ping: 139ms
Upload: 0.06Mbps
Download: 0.66Mbps

I have got to get back on cable.

Wow

I found some interesting articles today, these don't seem to get much attention:

http://www.ldlad.com/articles-of-impeachment-of-barack-hussein-obama

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/10/experts-say-obama-misrepresented-views-justify-offshore-drilling-ban/

http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/10/acorn-employees-tell-fbi-of-deliberate-election-fraud-according-to-new-documents/#ixzz0qYSJEDRl

Presidential Approval Tracker

Check this out:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/presidential-approval-tracker.htm

AT&T Ripoff

We recently decided to give up on Knology as our ISP after the 900th prolonged service outage. After reviewing all the price gouging offers, we decided to select the slowest, cheapest, thing from AT&T.While we were having our negotiations, the sales people said we could get their DSL Elite for only $5 more per month. See this ad. We had already switched our phone over with just basic service at this point. We decided on accepting the $24.95/mo offer knowing the promotion would only last a year. Imagine our surprise when we got our first bill and saw we were being charged $44.95/mo for DSL and had been signed up for AT&T long distance. When we finally got a live body on the phone they said "of course" we had to pay full price on the DSL for three months before getting the promotional rate and that "of course" you have to be an AT&T long distance subscriber to have their DSL elite service. No one seemed to care when we said this had not been disclosed to us. After THREE days on the phone with six different customer service representatives we finally got rid of their long distance and their "elite" DSL. I now have the slowest crappiest Internet connection ever.

The irony of television

I was watching the finale of "The Biggest Loser" and a commercial came on for this new ABC show:

http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/huge

Funny.

Movie Review (Gamer)

I thought the commercial looked cool, so Mrs. Dude rented it. I had to turn it off after 10 minutes because of all the gratuitous language and nudity, what a waste.

Anonymous Gift

This past week I got two separate job offers and an anonymous source paid our utility bill. God's grace is so amazing. These offers are great news since I have been unable to get a job even at Lowe's. Now we have to decide if we want to move and/or how much travel will be involved.

Pity Party

Yesterday during my pity party I prayed for guidance and then decided to mow my neighbor's yard. That was a nice experience that God presented and allowed me to serve someone else and not focus on my own selfishness. Praise God for that opportunity.

Unemployed

I am really not enjoying this anymore. I know God will take care of us but my pride is being continually assaulted. Today my son asked why we couldn't open the pool and I had to tell him we don't have the money to do it this year. Being a great guy, he offered me his piggy bank. God is teaching me humility right now, I have to learn to love it.

Pray For Your Enemies

As I have been seeking employment, I have had some really great interviews that have wound up being complete dead ends. I know a lot of people have been telling partial truths about me and it's been quite a struggle. Last night I decide to pray that God would bless these people and their lives. I would ask those of you that read this to join me in asking that God bless them and draw these people close to Him.

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:44

Trying to buy a car

As I 'm trying to buy a car, I keep running into people who don't understand that they cannot charge more than the vehicle's worth. They also don't seem to understand that putting tires on a vehicle does not increase its worth but is simply regular maintenance. Consider the following emails, this is for a 2000 Honda Accord EX w 135k miles.

From the seller:
Condition Value


Excellent
$7,315


Honda Accord Ex

Power everything, leather, front dual airbags, front side air bags, premium sounds, sunroof, its everything! and 135k miles on it.

I just looked it up and thats what it says. I have a bunch of people wanting to look at it. So let me know.

Its worth more than Im asking for it. I owe 325.00 left on it. I just paid 6000.00 off of it. And only have that much left.

I should really be asking 6500.00 for it. since i still owe on it. Cause Im wanting to get somethig else after this car..

From the Captain:
I'm not working with dealers, because I'm only willing to pay the "private party value". With these features and mileage, Kelly Blue Book shows the following. If you end up lowering the price please let me know, best of luck selling it.



More Photos
Condition Value

Excellent $5,065
Good $4,590
Fair $4,040

From the seller:
No def not. You are not adding all the stuff that it has. Im not taking that for it. Def not.

Its worth more than that. And its in very good shape with low miles. there are honda accord 98 models all online for 5999.99 still. i would be stupid to sale it for less. plus i just paid 6325.00 on it to pay it off. and i have to replace it with something else. so no.

sorry!

From the Captain:
That was every available option with the miles you listed for this zip code. Best of luck selling it, I hope you get what you need for it.

So far I haven't heard back but wee will see. Here is another example of someone asking $5800 for a 2001 Chrysler 300m with 120k miles :

From the Captain:
I went home and ran a pricing report on your vehicle with my own observation of the condition. My estimation is that the vehicle is in good to fair condition based on the possibility of needing engine work, one or more front brake rotors needing replaced, and the cosmetic issues like the cracked dashboard, blown front speaker, stereo knobs, and the burlwood trim being pulled away from the dash. If you decide to lower the price, let me know.

I got the following values:
Condition Value

Excellent $3,965
Good $3,565
Fair $3,115

From the seller:
Here are the NADA and Consumer Reports I also ran when pricing the car. The work done three months ago was $741 for the new tires/belts plus I had the tires rotated/balanced/full alignment yesterday for 90. I had the rotors checked at firestone when I initially had the work done, and they do not need replacing. He said they could re-cover them for 70 if I recall correctly, so that's not too expensive of a fix (it was not necessary at the time which the guy I was working with agreed). I do not believe the engine work will cost more than 200-300 dollars, and am willing to take that off of the price. I was quoted 100 dollars at firestone in order for them to find the leak, and then whatever it costs to patch/fix it.

Let me know what you think when you take a look at these reports. I averaged the two of them when pricing the car, also taking the recent improvements into consideration.

From the Captain:
I hope you were able to sell the car, the prices you sent appeared to be retail but I am sure someone will pay that for it. Additionally, I do not count maintenance as improvements.

Movie Review (Cop Out)

The trailers were so funny, the movie is awful. I really hate it when funny things in the trailer aren't in the film too. I regret going to see this one, horrible.