Things Are Starting To Get Interesting

Let's not kid ourselves. The president is still a relatively popular guy. His numbers are about the same as those 6 months into Bush's first term.

But there is no mistaking that over the last 2 months, support for his policies have begun to drop significantly, as the independents who put him into office begin to side more and more with the Republicans on the economy and health care. The political landscape is becoming increasingly similar to the situation Bill Clinton faced during his first two years as his agenda centerpiece stalls in a Congress controlled by his own party while the Republicans sit back in unison, vote "no" on everything, and watch their popularity numbers surge back to life.

Let's also not kid ourselves about the fact that the American health care system is a mess and needs serious reforms. The main reason the system is in disarray, as I've previously argued, is that consumers aren't in control of their own dollars, so the market is not permitted to function. 60% of dollars spent in the health care sector are government dollars, and most of the rest are spent by insurance companies, not consumers. The trouble is that Obama wants to make the situation even worse.

The solution is abandoning the employer-based model, which we've had since the 1940's and receives tons of unnecessary tax incentives, in favor of individual plans with high deductibles, which are unnecessarily taxed and thus not properly incentivized. Cato's new website has more on this. I encourage y'all to check it out.

JJ

I was at the Braves game last night and let me tell you, Jair Jurrjens is the real deal. In a pitching matchup against San Fransisco's 13 year old phenom Tim Lincecum, JJ lowered his ERA to 2.67, 5th in the National League. And Frank Wren is paying him something like $400K this year AND next year! We traded Edgar Renteria to Detroit for him and Gyrowrap Hernandez a couple of years back, and it appears we've made out like bandits. I hope Wren signs JJ to a contract before his arbitration period begins at the end of next season. KEEP HIM A BRAVE!

Also, Calvary.

Friday Morning Musings from Facebook

Chris Connolly: If you want goverment healthcare move to Holland Ass wipes.

Power Hour Blues - 5th Anniversary Collector's Edition

It was the Summer of 2004. Trucker hats, "W THE PRESIDENT" decals, and girls in white tennis skirts were ubiquitous. We were at a party at Patrick Leonard's house in midtown one night when a few of us came up with the novel idea of burning a collection of our "favorite" tunes from our "favorite" bar, Bourbon Street. The CD would be aptly titled "Power Hour Blues."

In the 5 long years that have passed since that fateful July, the CD has unfortunately been scratched and is seeing its last days. But not to worry, because I am re-downloading the entire collection, and now YOU TOO can own this timeless anthology by...finding the songs online somewhere and putting them on your ipod. It is strongly recommended that you do not disturb the order of songs, however, because the album is meant to "flow" much in the same way that a Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper does.

1. Sweet Southern Comfort - Buddy Jewell (trying to find the "Go Dogs Go" version is a mission impossible, but if anyone does PUH-LEEZ let me know!!)
2. Song of the South - Alabama
3. Two Pina Coladas - Garth Brooks
4. Calling Baton Rouge - Garth Brooks
5. Dixieland Delight - Alabama
6. Girl from Athens - Pat Green/McGee??
7. Wave on Wave - Pat Green/McGee??
8. A Great Day To Be Alive - Travis Tritt
9. All Night Long (All Night) - Lionel Richie
10. Should've Been a Cowboy - Toby Keith
11. Something Like That - Tim McGraw
12. Only in America (Bush/Cheney '04 Theme Song) - Brooks & Dunn
13. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham
14. Whiskey Girl - Toby Kieth
15. I Wanna Talk About Me - Toby Keith
16. I Love This Bar (Bourbon Street Theme Song) - Toby Keith
17. Closer - Nine Inch Nails*

* = Songs they never actually played at Bourbon Street but we needed filler.

New Poll!!

Please participate!!

BRUNO

Shane, this is the clip I was telling you about.

Bruno on Spring Break - watch more funny videos

Spotted Just Over the Talmadge Bridge

George Will at His Best

A few great quotes from his latest Washington Post column:

The president says the health care market "has not worked perfectly." Indeed. Only God, supposedly, and Wrigley Field, actually, are perfect. Anyway, given the heavy presence of government dollars (46 percent of health care dollars) and regulations, the market, such as it is, is hardly free to work.

As market enthusiasts, conservatives should stop warning that the president's reforms will result in health care "rationing." Every product, from a jelly doughnut to a jumbo jet, is rationed -- by price or by politics. The conservative's task is to explain why price is preferable. The answer is that prices produce a rational allocation of scarce resources.

And then, my favorite part:

Regarding reform, conservatives are accused of being a party of "no." Fine. That is an indispensable word in politics because most new ideas are false and mischievous. Furthermore, the First Amendment's lovely first five words ("Congress shall make no law") set the negative tone of the Bill of Rights, which is a list of government behaviors, from establishing religion to conducting unreasonable searches, to which the Constitution says: No.

Tribute

I could go on and on about how big of an icon this guy was to anyone born in the 1980's, but I would really just be rehashing everything the news networks have already said.

I was trying to think of a list of his best songs, but it looks like someone over at Only in America has already done that for me, and he's nailed it because those are my top 10 as well. ("The Way You Make Me Feel" comes in a close 11th).

Anyway, it's a very sad day. That's all I can say right now. I don't have anything creative or sarcastic to say. And I can't paste any other youtube videos here because for whatever reason it's not letting me.

Debating Obamacare

If we were back in college right now, I'd have plenty of time to write out a long, detailed argument against government-run health care. I would spend paragraphs explaining how the "public option" that Mr. Obama is pushing for would slowly but surely crowd out the private sector by forcing taxpayers to subsidize a "free" plan that private insurers wouldn't be able to compete with. And I would demonstrate how the real problem in this country is that too many people have too much insurance, and not the other way around like we always hear.

Whenever the vast majority of decisions are made by third parties (whether those third parties are insurance companies or government bureaucrats), markets aren't permitted to function. It's like if your car insurance policy covered your oil changes and all of your fill-ups at the gas pump: you wouldn't care how much these things cost because you're not paying for them, so you'd consume as much as possible while prices spiral out of control (the same is true, by the way, with college tuition - costs skyrocket as kids spend 5-6 years in undergrad because they aren't paying for their education; parents, federal grants, and subsidies are). Meanwhile, doctors spend most of their time dealing with needless paperwork and fighting with HMO's and insurers instead of doing what they entered the profession for in the first place: focusing on the needs of their patients. That is the fundamental problem with our health care system.

But thanks to ABC's John Stossel, I don't even need to make the case. Because he's already done it for me, in this superb hour-long special on 20/20:

Beatles Albums, Ranked From Worst to Best

Let's go ahead and get this out of the way.

12. Magical Mystery Tour
11. With the Beatles
10. Let It Be
9. Please Please Me
8. Abbey Road
7. A Hard Day's Night
6. Sgt. Pepper
5. Beatles for Sale
4. White Album
3. Revolver
2. Help!
1. Rubber Soul

All of these albums are amazing, of course, except Magical Mystery Tour, which was downright awful.

Could it be?

I just heard on PTI that Johnny Depp left a $4000 tip at a Chicago steakhouse. Now, I'm not concerned with his immense generosity. What I am concerned with is the fact that he was in Chicago in the first place. Chicago has been the setting of Gotham City for both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and Depp has been rumored to have accepted the part of the Riddler in the next Nolan brothers Batman film.

Is this evidence?

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Don't Know Much About Terry Pendleton.

To be honest, I still thought he was playing third base. But here's one thing I do know: we need to find a way to round up all of California's politicians and ship them to the far side of the moon. There are countless reasons why we ought to do this for the good of (what's left of) that state and the country as a whole. Here is the most recent:



True, there's isn't much to do on the moon, but I'm sure they'd still somehow manage to tax, spend, run deficits, mock the military, and brag about how hard they've worked to earn the right to spend other people's money. At least we wouldn't have to deal with the consequences of their behavior back on planet Earth.

Response to Firing TP

I didn't write this, but since I read it it changed my mind about the TP situation. From Chris Gesner at 680 The Fan:

The Bravos aren’t scoring a ton of runs and aren’t hitting all that well in the clutch. In fact, despite a few notable exceptions, the Braves aren’t hitting much of anything this year. Home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, etc. are all down. Damn you, Pendleton! Firing squad, enter stage right. Even certain 680 the Fan hosts have been calling for TP’s early retirement (I won’t name any names...John Kincade). Many callers during that Pendleton-bashing segment agreed with the unnamed host, save for one thoughtful listener who suggested that somebody among the Dickey Broadcasting staff be tasked with researching stats that would prove TP’s brilliance/incompetence. Since we are always fan friendly here at 680, your resident roadie is up to the task. Should Terry Pendleton be sent to the bread lines? No, and here’s why.

Point One: We Are What We Are For my opening salvo, I’d like to you all to welcome Rick Pitino. “Fred McGriff is not walking through that door. David Justice, Ron Gant, Mark Lemke, Andres Galarraga, Edgar Renteria, Marquis Grissom, Dale Murphy, and Terry Pendleton (ahem) are not walking through that door.” Thanks, Rick. If there is a disconnect between what the Brave’s roster consists of now and what came before, it needs to end. There are only three reliable batters in this lineup; Chipper Jones (178 AB, .303 BA, 31 RBI, 8 HR), Yunel Escobar (214 AB, .294 BA, 33 RBI, 6 HR), and Brian McCann (145 AB, .324 BA, 26 RBI, 6 HR). Three hitters out of nine on any given day. And the difference between these three and the rest of the roster can be equated with the distance between the Earth and Alpha Centauri. The trick is keeping them healthy, but we can hardly hold TP accountable for bad feet, bad eyes, and bad luck (Or can we?). NOTE: Brian McCann is our clean-up hitter. He has the fewest at-bats of the three and is tied with Escobar for the second most HRs on the team. Clean-up hitters on most competitive teams are in the double digits by now. Chipper’s eight HRs are the most any one player has hit for the Braves this season (McLouth has hit 10 for the year, but only one for Atlanta). That means that our very best power hitter has as many home runs in 2009 as Troy Tulowitski. That’s good for 32nd in the league. By comparison, Philadelphia has three players top ten in the league in HRs. Bottom line, we have no power and what little we do have is not very difficult to pitch around. You can’t teach power, they either have it or they don’t. Maybe if TP gave our guys some HGH (my bad, Jordan Schafer), he’d have a better chance of keeping his job.

Point Two: The Outfield Like my Pappy always says, “Cook the big fish first.” Jeff Francoeur needs to go. Corner outfield positions are usually reserved for guys who can flat out rake. Not so on this roster. Frenchie’s legend was born from local high school heroics, which pushed him fast through the farm system and a major league debut. Whatever glow he once had on him is now wearing off as evidenced by the AJC’s new poll question, “Should Jeff Francoeur be traded?” Absolutely, I say. Assuming any team would be willing to deal more than a set of old Jane Fonda workout tapes. I wrote recently of Mike Vick’s diminishing stats over the course of his career. That argument certainly holds many parallels here. In the beginning, Francoeur was an insanely popular and productive player. Under Pendleton’s tutelage, Francoeur hit .260, and .293 in his first two full seasons respectively. In those years, Francoeur drove in 103 and 105 runs. These last two seasons have marked a sharp decline in his production. Batting averages of .239 in 2008, and .253 so far in 2009. He’s also on pace to match last year’s 71 RBI total. Over his brief career, Francoeur has struck out a whopping 464 times and walked a piddling 125. Further damning, there are multiple signs of a player who just doesn’t get it. Without even a tweet to his teammate/hitting coach, Francoeur consulted the hitting coach of the Texas Rangers (That’s really paying off dividends, by the way). Jeff’s response to any possible insult to TP, “...it is what it is.” Way to be disrespectful and classless at the same time, Jeff! Then there was the curiously unreported, profanity-laced, childish tirade during spring training that Francoeur unleashed upon a member of the Atlanta media who had been critical of the right fielder. Dismissive of his coaches? Check. Can’t take criticism? Check mate. He’s just a water bottle, a dead dog, and a bad outbreak of herpes away from drawing a real cult following in the ATL. Pendleton would have a better shot at teaching Helen Keller to recite the Gettysburg Address than he would at teaching Jeff Francoeur to be a patient, selective, consistent hitter to all fields. Nate McLouth? Hate to beat up on the kid since he’s new to the train wreck, but here it goes. A lot of the buzz surrounding him is that he was an All-Star with the Pirates. Let that sink in for a minute. The Pirates had one representative in the 2008 All-Star game. Each team is guaranteed at least one All-Star berth. He only hit .276 that year. He’s never driven in more than 100 runs in a season. Yea, Frank Wren! If McLouth never wins the triple crown, I’m sure it’s because Terry Pendleton is incompetent. Somewhere warm, Andruw Jones can't stop laughing. Left field has been been vacant since the departure of Gary Sheffield. Name me the team that has been successful without power, average, or run production from each, or any, of its outfield positions. Coming up empty? Me too! The Matt Diaz/Garrett Anderson platoon is cute in theory, but lacks common sense in actual practice. Heaven forbid the Braves make an offer to Raul Ibanez this past off-season, we might have actually had an outfielder that could hit the ball over the fence. That must be TP’s fault too.

Point Three: The Infield Third base, shortstop, and catcher are good, as we’ve already established. Was it Meatloaf that said “3 out of 5 ain’t bad?” No. His percentage was much better than that. We have Casey Kotchman at first. A guy who, when not on the DL, had his best season with 12 homers. TWELVE HOMERS! First base, last I checked, was a power position (like the corner outfield positions, but I repeat myself). Was Rico Brogna not available? I like Kotchman’s defense, I do, but the man has never driven in over 100 runs or hit over .300. That’s with over four years in the AL before he came to Atlanta. He may not do worse here, but I don’t think TP (Or the ghost of Ty Cobb) could get him to hit much better. Kelly Johnson is not Ryne Sandberg. A bold statement, I know. Were it not for the grace of Bobby Cox (the guy that let him start his career 0 for 30 without benching him), this guy would be bagging groceries with kids still waxing poetic about the time they spent bagging with Kurt Warner. Who started the rumor that this gibrone deserved to hog a starting gig in The Show? He’d make a passable 8th hitter (.238 AVG), but we’ve stuck him at the top of the order for reasons passing understanding. He doesn’t have lead-off speed. He doesn’t work the count (Almost 2-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio for his career). He did, however, hit .287 last year. Not that TP had anything to do with that. The Braves organization was once stocked with talent up the middle. O’ Elvis Andrus, where art thou? Oh, that’s right, we traded him to Texas for a rent-a-player who didn’t have a single meaningful hit in a Braves uniform (I’m talking to you, Teixeira). Mark DeRosa, why hast thou forsaken us? Oh, that’s right, we let you go for nothing and now you are an integral part of the success of every franchise you are with (Then Cubs, now Rangers). I guess TP is making all of the personnel decisions too.

Point Four: The Real Culprit Roger McDowell is an amazing pitching coach. This year, the Braves are 4th in the majors in strikeouts, 8th in ERA, 1st in fewest home runs allowed, and 10th in fewest runs. He’s amazing. This year, he’s amazing. From 2006-2008, Roger was a terrible pitching coach. The bullpen couldn’t hold a lead and the starters couldn’t get out of the 6th inning. That is, of course, when they actually made it into the 6th inning. Bob Wickman, Chris Reitsma, Chuck James, Jo Jo Reyes, Kyle Davies, Mark Redman, and Joey Devine were among the many hurlers who peddled their dreadful wares during those years (To say nothing of the conspicuous absence of Mike Hampton). What magic elixir did Roger drink this past offseason to imbue the current staff with such great prowess? That’s right, we got rid of all those guys and signed professionals. You could rub a million lamps and wish that Kelly Johnson, Jeff Francoeur, Casey Kotchman, Nate McLouth, Jordan Schafer, Matt Diaz, David Ross, Martin Prado, Omar Infante, Gregor Blanco, Greg Norton, and Garret Anderson were forces to be reckoned with and future Cooperstown inductees. They’re not, they never will be, and the genie you wish upon will laugh in your face. Magic, it would seem, has its limitations. A coach, a manager, a boss, or whathaveyou, is only as good as the talent he is given to field. Frank Wren has done nothing to help Terry Pendleton in this regard. NOTHING. Nothing but trade away the only center fielder the Braves had in camp that had any record of success in the majors (Josh Anderson). Nothing but alienate both John Smoltz and Tom Glavine (Who are those guys, anyway?). Nothing but allow every capable left fielder in free agency to disappear before settling on the 36 year-old who’s riding the sharp down slope of a solid career (Sorry, Garret). No real attempt was made to address first or second base (That bit with Furcal made zero sense). No real attempt was made to address serious concerns in the outfield (The answer: Ken Griffey Jr. The question: “What player hasn’t been relevant in nearly a decade?”). Then again, I guess every team relies on their hitting coach to negotiate with Scott Boras. It was posited on this very station that if an employee doesn’t respond to the message preached by his or her manager, then the manager should be replaced. Funny, maybe it’s my military background talking, but every job I have ever held has taught me the exact opposite. If an employee is not willing or able to do the work, you hold the employee accountable. If an employee is incapable of making adjustments, you find someone who can. Barring that, you fire the guy that keeps hiring substandard labor. Frank Wren's previous GM credits include driving a wrecking ball into what was once a proud Baltimore Orioles franchise (With no small amount of help from Peter Angelos). Check the Turner Field parking lot, I think he's at it again. All Terry Pendleton has ever done is win the National League MVP Award, win a batting title, play in five World Series, be a vocal clubhouse leader and a major contributer to the reason people actually care about baseball in this city. He has also done his dead-level best to polish the turds that Frank Wren keeps leaving in the dugout. Bobby Cox has done his best too (Better than all but three major league managers in over a century). So, yeah, maybe we should follow Jeff Francoeur’s lead and hire that guy in Texas nobody ever heard of.

Georgia Theater is no more

The Georgia Theater in Athens burnt to the ground this morning. I've seen a lot of shows there. Never more, never more.

Seinfeld Quote of the Day

"Every day it's something else with you. I don't know anything about you any more. Who are you? What kind of life are you leading? Who knows what you're doing? Maybe you're making porno films."
"Yeah. I'm Buck Naked."
- George's mother and George, in "The Outing"

Fire Terry Pendleton

I've never been one to call for the firing of any coach, mainly because I'm not that smart about that stuff. I let the big boys handle their business, and I accept my role as the simplistic fan who just wants to win. However, I need some counterargument for why Terry Pendleton should continue to be the Braves' hitting coach. Yes, there are other players and staff who seem the more obvious choice for being discharged, but I'm just thinking pratically here.

Wikipedia defines the hitting coach:

A hitting coach, as the name suggests, works with a team's players to improve their hitting techniques and form. He monitors players' swings during the game and over the course of the season, advising them when necessary between at-bats on adjustments to make. He also oversees their performance during practices, cage sessions, and pre-game batting practice.

From my view from the couch, it appears that TP isn't good at his job. And I'm not just talking about Francoeur, Kelly Johnson, and the other underachievers of the 2009 Braves. Think back to Andruw Jones and even Mark Teixeira, who really was just pretty good with us. Think about how Andruw and Francoeur went to work with the Rangers' hitting coach in the offseason. Now Andruw's hitting much better, and Francoeur's improvements dropped off after the first month or so. So, I say fire TP's lazy ass. What's the worst that can happen? Could the replacement hitting coach really make this team be anymore impatient at the plate?

*I googled "fire terry pendleton" and came upon this recent write-up at the AJC about the very same subject. Mark Bradley says that TP should not be fired, and argued that Francoeur's and Schafer's problems existed before they came to the big leagues. Then shouldn't it be the hitting coach's job to help fix those problems? What else is he expected to do?

Damn Confounded Technology!

Dear Stephen,

I know you are very scared and confused right now. You came home after a sweat-filled day of hard labor last Friday, turned on your picture box, but it was all fuzzy! You banged it a couple of times. You adjusted the rabbit ears - still nothing.

It's going to be okay, Papa Bear. Just follow this clicky-linky, www.dtv.gov, and carefully follow the steps!

St. Patrick's Day Conception Celebration

Join us tonight at Kevin Barry's as we celebrate the conception of our favorite holiday. In nine short months, we will give birth to a liquor-drinkin, green-jacket-wearin, hows-your-mom-an-em-in middle-aged man named Ted Brogan.










Mom, it's me, Teddy...Gaga, etc.

Braves

So we are back to .500. It is a brand new start. Braves are 5 and a half games back of the Phillies; 3 games back on the piece of trash Mets. We got one of the top 5 starting rotations in the majors. We just added a 30/30 all-star in "Nasty" Nate McClouth. The top half of the lineup will make an opposing pitcher sweat: McClouth, Escobar, Chipper, and McCann. I would even say our set up dude and crazy closer, Soriano and Gonzo, are at least top three in the National League. Shoot, even Moyland and O'Flaherty have been showing up to PLAY.

We need to win tonight. When Greg Counsel was asked how the Brewers got to the postseason last year he said, "We just beat up on the Pirates." If you want to win your division or get a wild card birth in the playoffs, you HAVE to beat the bad teams. We can't split a series with the Pirates, lose a series to the Rockies or Diamondbacks. We should win every single game played against the Nationals this year.

Braves need to beat the Orioles in the series this weekend. Starting next Tuesday, they go on a 15 game stretch where they play Cincinnati, Boston, Yankees, Boston, and Philly. They even have to make-up a game with the Cubs sometime in there.

Will the finish above .500 this year?

Tech Terrorist

I thought I would put this up before the Only In... network got to it.

Ex-Ga. Tech student convicted of video terror plot.

There Goes $50

While we usually spend our time lamenting the garbage that Hollywood produces on a monthly basis, I have to say I'm quite excited about this summer's releases. There's lots of great stuff either out already or coming out soon:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Terminator Salvation
Up
The Hangover
GI Joe: Rise of Cobra

Have I missed any?

Happy Friday

Individual Income Tax Revenues are Down

Revenue from individual income taxes fell 44 percent in April 2009 from the level in April 2008, according to new statistics from the Treasury Department. Corporate, estate and gift and federal excise taxes also posted declines. Individual Income Taxes April is traditionally the month with the highest collection of individual income taxes.

In April 2008, the Treasury Department collected $244 billion in individual income taxes. The government collected $136.7 billion in April 2009. This represents a decline of $108 billion, or 44 percent. According to the American Institute of Economic Research (AIER), the 44-percent drop is the steepest decline since 1981...

Raising taxes on the rich fixes everything...

Article in the WSJ stating how much money the state Maryland is losing this year after deciding to raise taxes on the upper tier of income earners to make up for their shortfall. I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh, but he's now stated he's moving to Florida to avoid income tax after it looks like New York has decided to do the same thing. Good for him. I'm sure he isn't the only one.

Jon Minus Nine

As most of you know, I have been married to my beautiful wife Jennifer for over two years. Because I get to watch the Braves almost every night and 10 to 30 hours per week of football in the fall, I have to compromise and watch reality shows like American Idol, The Real Housewives of Whatever, and Jon and Kate Plus 8.

The big season premier of "Jon and Kate Plus 8", or as I like to say J&K+8, was last night!!! I don't like Kate. I never liked Kate. She yelled at Jon about not using a coupon. She tells him to be quiet during the interview portions of the show. She is very controlling. She has a reverse-mullet haircut.

Since last season, the couple has been on the cover of many tabloid magazines for alleged cheating. The whole show last night was Kate complaining about the paparazzi. Two things: it is funny reality TV stars are being stalked by the paparazzi, and you have a TV show where people follow you around with cameras already. How can you tell the difference? I bet most camera men look like Ryan and MAR had a baby together then peed on it. Does it matter if the peed-up camera dude has a TLC or a TMZ shirt?

Divorce is a terrible thing. I hope they can get past this and stay together for their kids and for America. Tomorrow: Patrick's review of 18 Kids and Counting.

Ghostbusters 3: The New Generation

In light of Pat's tribute to the timeless classic, it looks like it is a done deal that the whole gang is coming back for a 3rd installment with a whole new Generation of ghostbusters http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2009/05/dan-aykroyd-says-ghostbusters-3-may-start-filming-in-winter.html

I say this could be a great idea as long as it is a thoughtful process, and not a piece of junk that sums up Hollywood these days.



Opinions?

One More Time

Silicone Sister tonight at Pour Larry's. Doors open at 8, Show starts at 10.
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As Serious As It Gets

In America today, death lurks around every corner. While compiling a comprehensive list would take years and millions of dollars, I’ve narrowed them down to the absolute worst scourges we face in this country today. Here they are, The Top Five Worst Threats to the American Way of Life:

5. This Rain – Seriously. Customer and co-worker alike have never seen continued rain like this. It’s cloudy and everything is wet. Boo.

4. Bird Attacks – Released this week, a study conducted at the University of Florida found that Mockingbirds can identify individual people after encountering them as few as two times. They were found to attack those individuals who repeatedly threatened their nest, while ignoring bystanders. You have been targeted for Termination.

3. Sexting – Sending a nude photo without the consent of the subject in the photo. $2,500 fine or a year in prison for the perpetrator, monthlong embarrassment for the victim. No one wins in this cruel game.

2. Swine Flu – H1N1 virus. 6,552 confirmed (or probable) cases nationwide, 27 in Georgia alone. No vaccine, no known cure. Combine the films Outbreak, I Am Legend, and 28 Days Later. That’s what we’re facing here.

1. Kris Allen – According to everyone I work with, it’s an unconscionable travesty that Adam Lambert didn’t win American Idol. Even Simon thought so. Clay Aiken, however, agreed with America and declared in his infinite wisdom and negligible talent that Kris was the rightful winner. Wait a minute… an election where the result didn’t please everybody? This is still America, right?

Stay sharp, America. We’ll get through this. Godspeed.

It's Not Fair

I'm surprised this hasn't surfaced on OIA yet.

UGA officials discuss future of UGA-Fla. game.

I used to have a lot of respect for Richt. This is just gutless. Tech gets tired of losing to Georgia, so they hire a coach who can beat them. Georgia gets tired of losing to Florida, so they want to move the game? If I was a Georgia fan, I would be embarrased by this movement.

Some choice quotes from the article:

"There are things we want yet out of the city of Jacksonville that can even the playing field a bit." - Michael Adams

"I have very strong feelings about that, but the problem is I change my mind about once a week." - Bob Bishop

45-42. Love you, got to go.

Trivia Question

I'm sitting up at The Distillery which, I must say, is a very nice place. I'll have to make this a weekend night stop. Anyway, they're showing this silent film on one of the TV's and it got me thinking...

Which came first, color motion pictures or motion pictures with spoken dialogue?

I'll put this to the film buffs (Ryan, MAR).

Go.

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BMBS: The Movie

Following OIA's lead, here is the cast for the greatest movie ever made. The plot? A mockumentary about the rise and fall of The Seersuckers, an oldies and beach music cover band. Go ahead and mark this one down for post of the year.

Chris: Mark Paul Gosselar



Joe: Bull from Night Court



Mike: Michael J. Fox



Patrick: Norm MacDonald



Ryan: Tom Green



Hank: Chris Kattan



TC: Drew Carey



Snuffy: Philip Seymore Hoffman


Sorry Tim and Michael. I couldn't come up with anyone for you two.

Boog vs. Chip

I was flipping channels between American Idol (Gays vs. the rest of America) and the Braves game on Sports South last night. Braves won and the rest of America won, but I digress. Joe Simpson has been a great analyst since Turner picked him up in '92. He is doing all the games this year (unless Fox or ESPN picks up a game), but he switches between Peachtree TV with Chip Carey and Jon "Boog" Sciambi on Sports South. I think Boog does a great job, better than Chip, and he and Joe have a great chemistry. Boog has a cooler nickname, too. I want to call someone Boog. Snuffy kind of looks like Boog. Maybe I'll call him Boog. Chip has one thing going for him: he shares the same nickname as the single best wrestler in the history of BC wrestling, Chip Anderson.

Baseball is a story-telling game. Boog and Joe related the catcher's gear to the Wizard of Oz's tin man and Sigourney Weaver's outfit in the Alien movie, and it kept me watching a 12-1 game.

Tonight: Cheney vs. Obama. Patrick will be tweeting his thoughts the whole time.

Fromance

noun. A love for afros and everyone with afros.

"Stephen has a fromance with Fro-Double-YO."

25th Anniversary

"We're Ready to Believe You."

Jaywalkers Beware

Damn Swedes.

Savannah police to warn, cite unlawful pedestrians.

A Well-Deserved Endorsement

Good live music is hard to come by in Savannah, but if you're in town Saturday, May 23rd, join me at Pour Larry's to watch Silicone Sister. They're an 80's hair metal cover band and they are incredible. You will not be disappointed. I will be attending after CTC's Retirement Party. Show starts 8ish.

Hedge Fund Manager vs. Obama

Check out Clifford S. Asness' defense against Obama's attack on hedge fund managers.
This is going to be a long eight years.

"Let’s be clear, it is the job and obligation of all investment managers, including hedge fund managers, to get their clients the most return they can. They are allowed to be charitable with their own money, and many are spectacularly so, but if they give away their clients’ money to share in the “sacrifice”, they are stealing..."

"...The President’s attempted diktat takes money from bondholders and gives it to a labor union that delivers money and votes for him. Why is he not calling on his party to “sacrifice” some campaign contributions, and votes, for the greater good? Shaking down lenders for the benefit of political donors is recycled corruption and abuse of power..."

The best part is the ending:

"This is America. We have a free enterprise system that has worked spectacularly for us for two hundred plus years. When it fails it fixes itself. Most importantly, it is not an owned lackey of the oval office to be scolded for disobedience by the President.I am ready for my “personalized” tax rate now."

Sand Gnats

If the Sand Gnats became the single A team for the Braves, would it make you care more?

Top Eleven Albums of the 1990's

Chris and I came up with this list the Friday Night of Heritage weekend in Hilton Head. We couldn't eliminate one to make it an even ten. I challenge you to try.

Here they are in no particular order.

Ten - Pearl Jam
Cracked Rearview - Hootie & the Blowfish
Purple - Stone Temple Pilots
Dookie - Green Day
Blue Album I Weezer
Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins
Get a Grip - Aerosmith
Vitalogy - Pearl Jam
Insomniac - Green Day
Unplugged in New York - nirvana
The Colour and the Shape - Foo Fighters
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Beach Music Challenge Final Results

Congrats to Snuffy on his wedding. Hope he and his wife have fun in St. Lucille or wherever it's called. Also look forward to helping Rick Schwarz set his business up so he can be a CEO by 26. This assumes, of course, that Rick actually makes it to 26.

Here are the results from our contest:

At #5, a three-way tie: Up on the Roof - Drifters, What Kind of Fool - Tams, Carolina Girls - Chairmen of the Board

#4: 39-21-40 Shape - The Showmen

#3: Double Shot - Swinging Medallions

#2: Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy - The Tams

And the number one beach music song (no surprise here)...

Give Me Just A Little More Time - Chairmen of the Board

Final Results:

Me - 35 points
Ty - 25 points
Bryan - 25 points

Thanks for playing.

I just found out the Heritage Bank on Stephenson was robbed this morning. Maybe today is not a good day to work at a bank on the Southside...

I cleaned up my posts about mobile blogging from earlier. Go to your Blogger Dashboard to set it up.

Check out email posting

The Y is crowded so I'm going later.

I just set myself on email posting. You can too from your Blogger Dashboard.

--
Sent from my mobile device

Tea Party Economics

Forbes.com has a great article up today that explains the "concentrated benefits, diffused costs" principle, why democracies fuel government growth, and why the tea parties might be a signal that things are finally starting to move in the other direction, at least temporarily.

Will 2010 be another 1980 or 1994? Too early to tell. Probably not. The public still doesn't trust the Republicans, who have nothing remotely resembling the charismatic leaders that led them to victory in both years. But considering that the generic congressional ballot poll is now tied for the first time in 5 years after double-digit Democratic leads, and that the president's "strongly disapprove" ratings have more than doubled during his honeymoon period, things aren't off to a great start for the party in power.

Making New Friends

The Final Stretch

Please meet our final 10 contestants:

Artist: The Drifters
Hometown: New York, NY
Song: "Up On The Roof"
Year: 1962



Artist: Chairmen of the Board
Hometown: Norfolk, VA
Song: "Carolina Girls"
Year: 1980



Artist: Mel and Tim
Hometown: Holly Springs, MS
Song: "Backfield in Motion"
Year: 1969

(video unavailable)

Artist: The Tams
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Song: "What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)?"
Year: 1964



Artist: The Showmen
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Song: "39-21-40 Shape"
Year: 1961



Artist: Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts
Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC
Song: "Baby Let Me Bang Your Box"
Year: 1966



Artist: Chairmen of the Board
Hometown: Norfolk, VA
Song: "Give Me Just A Little More Time"
Year: 1970



Artist: The Swinging Medallions
Hometown: Greenwood, SC/Athens, GA
Song: "Double Shot"
Year: 1966



Artist: The Tams
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Song: "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy"
Year: 1968



Artist: Sam Cooke
Hometown: Clarksdale, MS
Song: "Twistin' the Night Away"
Year: 1962



voting continues tomorrow...

Tale of the Tape: Fender v. Fender

If any of you have been following the nonsense over at our bastard stepchild blog OIA (which you probably have not), then you have seen the debate about who is the real Fender. Currently holding the belt is Jeffrey "Fro Pup" Fender '01. The challenger is an upstart from St. James named Robert "Schwarz, Jr." Fender '07. The tape does not lie, so let's jump right in.

Alias
Jeffrey: Fro Pup
Robert: Schwarz, Jr.
Advantage: Jeff

Class of
Jeffrey: 2001
Robert: 2007
Advantage: Jeff

JROTC Rank
Jeffrey: Major
Robert: Major
Advantage: Push

Family currently attending BC
Jeffrey: nephew
Robert: brother
Advantage: Robert

Higher education
Jeffrey: maybe some classes at Savannah Tech
Robert: University of Alabama
Advantage: Robert

College team of choice
Jeffrey: Clemson
Robert: Alabama
Advantage: Jeff (always been a Clemson fan)

Ultimate career goal
Jeffrey: Manager of Tubby's in Thunderbolt
Robert: Insurance agent
Advantage: Push

Most often compared to
Jeffrey: Charlie Webber
Robert: Rick Schwarz
Advantage: Robert

Parochial school attended
Jeffrey: BSS
Robert: SJS
Advantage: Jeff

Ever slid in a pile of dog shit at recess?
Jeffery: Yes
Robert: No
Advantage: Robert

Known Snuffy since
Jeffrey: 1991
Robert: 2006
Advantage: Jeff

Final Score:
Jeffrey: 5
Robert: 4

There you have it, folks. The tape does not lie.

Club 7teen Resumes Tonight

Club 7teen will kick off the 2009-10 fiscal year tonight at Kevin Barry's. Items on the agenda include:
- Election of officers
- Participation in the Beach Bum Parade
- Discussion of a post-parade gathering on St. Patrick's Day
- Selection of the All-Cannon Basketball Team

Try to make it if you can.

Sergio Garcia....

You sir are a whiny little bitch. They set the course up easier to appease the crybabies like you, but that's just not good enough. I thought it was a great Masters, and the course played exactly like they wanted it to:

Blue Horshoe Does Not Love CTC

However, Blue Horshoe loves CJH. More on this to come...

Chet Harper

One of the greatest SNL skits of all time.

RAY ROMANO SPORTSCENTER LONG @ Yahoo! Video

Round 2

Here are the 18 songs that made it through our first round:

"Double Shot (of my Baby's Love)" - The Swinging Medallions
"Up on the Roof" - The Drifters
"What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)" - The Tams
"39-21-40 Shape" - The Showmen
"Backfield in Motion" - Mel and Tim
"Baby Let Me Bang Your Box" - Doug Clark and The Hot Nuts
"Give Me Just a Little More Time" - Chairmen of the Board
"Build me up Buttercup" - The Foundations
"Dancing in the Moonlight" - King Harvest
"I Love Beach Music" - The Embers
"Under the Boardwalk" - The Drifters
"Twistin' the Night Away" - Sam Cooke
"Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy" - The Tams
"Carolina Girls" - Chairmen of the Board
"Just My Imagination" - The Temptations
"Brandy, You're a Fine Girl" – Looking Glass
"Tears of a Clown" - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
"Another Saturday Night" - Sam Cooke

There remains a great deal of animosity among beach music purists, myself included, toward "Brandy" and "Dancing in the Moonlight." Well this week is your chance to see to it that songs like this don't advance. Things are going to speed up a bit now too - this time around, 6 songs will be voted on and only the top 3 will advance to the third round, leaving us with only 9 for next week.

Next time you're in Atlanta...

Make sure to hit up the "Obama Zone".

What Does It Take...

...to get more votes for this song?

26 More Hours in Dillon

Friday Night Lights has been renewed for two more seasons, thirteen episodes each. I remember after the first season how unlikely it was that it would get another season, and now here we are looking at five total.

I have no idea how they are going to keep this season's seniors in the storylines, or if they plan on introducing a whole new cast of students and players. But I do know that they fixed all the mistakes of the second season, and now I have complete faith that this show will continue to be one of the very best on television.

Newt is converting

Newt is set to convert to Catholicism. Good thing he got his affairs out of the way first.

Round One: FIGHT!

After eliminating non-BMBS approved songs, we ended up with 29 nominations, listed below.

"Double Shot (of my Baby's Love)" - The Swinging Medallions
"The Horse/Love is Alright" - Cliff Nobles & Co.
"Up on the Roof" - The Drifters
"What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)" - The Tams
"39-21-40 Shape" - The Showmen
"Backfield in Motion" - Mel and Tim
"Myrtle Beach Days" - The Fantastic Shakers
"Baby Let Me Bang Your Box" - Doug Clark and The Hot Nuts
"I Got the Fever" - Billy Scott and the Georgia Prophets
"Give Me Just a Little More Time" - Chairmen of the Board
"Build me up Buttercup" - The Foundations
"Dancin' in the Moonlight" - King Harvest
"I Love Beach Music" - The Embers
"Under the Boardwalk" - The Drifters
"Stay" - The Chantels
"Ocean Boulevard" - Band of Oz
"Summertime's Calling Me" - The Catalinas
"Twistin' the Night Away" - Sam Cooke
"Having a Party" - Sam Cooke
"Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy" - The Tams
"Carolina Girls" - Chairmen of the Board
"The Way You Do the Things You Do" - The Temptations
"Aint Too Proud To Beg" - The Temptations
"Just My Imagination" - The Temptations
"With this Ring" - The Platters
"Brandy, You're a Fine Girl" - The Sailors
"Tears of a Clown" - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
"Another Saturday Night" - Sam Cooke
"Cupid" - Sam Cooke

And just to make sure we get a nice round number, I added 1 more to reach 30:

"What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" - Junior Walker and the All-Stars

Starting today, we will vote on a set of 5 randomly selected songs each day. Each set will be up for at least 24 hours, but make sure you check us out at least once a day so you can vote. If you are unfamiliar with some of the titles, most are available on YouTube, so you can sample them there.

The top 3 of each set will advance, eliminating the bottom 2, which will leave us with a "Sweet 18" for next week. If this process seems long, arduous, and superfluous, it's because it is. But we take our beach music seriously here and that's the whole point. The Sweet 18 will also be burned onto a CD that will be available for purchase, so you can look forward to that.

Honorable mentions that should have been nominated but weren't because ya'll were too busy wasting your picks on gay songs:

- It Will Stand - The Showmen
- 60-Minute Man - The Dominoes
- Silly Little Girl - The Tams
- Too Late to Turn Back Now - Cornelius Brothers
- This Old Heart of Mine - Isley Brothers
- Get On Up - The Esquires
- Gimme Some Kind of Sign - Brenton Wood
- Only the Strong Survive - Jerry Butler
- Save the Last Dance for Me - The Drifters
- Patches - Clarence Carter

BMBS Beach Music Challenge

It's warming up outside, the Masters is in a couple weeks, baseball is starting back up, and soon we'll all be at Tybee staring at high school girls and listening to music our parents and grandparents made out to.



Here are the rules:

1. Anyone (not just members) may nominate up to 5 beach music songs and place them in the comments to this post. Submissions are due by Sunday at noon.
2. A song may only be nominated once, so make sure you check previous nominations before submitting your own.
3. Comments that try to gay it up by being sarcastic and making fun of this process by nominating songs that are obviously not of the beach music genre will be deleted.
4. We will then vote on the songs by breaking them up in a way that prevents people from merely voting for themselves each time. I haven't really thought about how I'm going to do that yet but I'll figure out something. Maybe we'll do a playoff system. It ultimately boils down to how many submissions we get.
5. The person who nominates the highest-scoring songs wins a free slushie at Tybee Tyme. Below is the point schedule:

1st place song - 25 points
2nd place song - 20 points
3rd place - 15 points
4th place - 10 points
5th place - 5 points

Has anyone seen Pat lately?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510722,00.html

The Turning Point

The good news: The economy is starting to turn around. It will be a while until we're in full recovery mode and until job growth really starts to kick in (probably not until 2010), but the worst is finally over and things will gradually begin to improve between now and the end of the year. This is good for those of us leaving school and finally entering the job market.

Look for President Obama, who has only been in office for 60 days, to take credit for this recovery and somehow attribute it to the trillions of dollars that haven't even been spent yet. And look for the media to give him a pass on this.

My hope is that things improve rapidly enough that it will erode Obama's "disaster/crisis" mandate for the trillions in new spending proposals and allow voters to realize that none of what Obama is proposing is necessary or beneficial. It is tragic that the administration feels it necessary to burden us and future generations with massive amounts of new debt when we could have come out of this mess just the same without Washington spending even a dime.

The bad news: once banks start lending again and the expansion takes hold, we are going to have inflation, the likes of which haven't seen since the 70's.

364 More Days!

St. Patrick's Day has come and gone and the post-parade depression has commenced. That being said, it's time for our annual review of the St. Patrick's Day season. Leave your review in the comments section.

Luck of the Irish

I was able to get off of work and will be in attendance tomorrow.

John Stossel's Bailouts and Bull****

Below are a few segments from an hour-long special that aired last night on ABC.

Have a great weekend...

Savannah Morning News

SavannahNow.com continues to be the most poorly designed website on the internet.

T-Minus 4 Days

Weather.com
Tue Mar 17
Mostly Cloudy
Hi: 70
Lo: 49
10% chance of rain.

Accuweather.com
Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 71 °F RealFeel®: 70 °F
Partly sunny
Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 50 °F RealFeel®: 47 °F
Partly cloudy

It looks like the luck of the Irish will prevail once again, but keep saying your prayers!

T-Minus 5 Days

Weather.com
Tue Mar 17
Scattered T-Storms
Hi: 64
Lo: 42

AccuWeather.com
Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 66 °F RealFeel®: 64 °F
Mostly cloudy with rain possible
Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 47 °F RealFeel®: 42 °F
Clear

Last Night's Forecast:
SVA Sing-A-Long was nice.
The beer at SVA was more expensive than Pinkie's
Schiv wore the green jacket.
Shane celebrated.
Sauers06 was there too.
Snuffy & JJH4 made their stage debut at KB's.

Ryan Adams and Mandy Moore Get Married

I'm not sure how many of you listen to Ryan (not Brian) Adams' music, but in general it's really good. Regardless, it looks like he and Mandy Moore got married by a probate judge in Savannah the other day. Hopefully this doesn't influence other Hollywood hipsters to do the same. I like Savannah without Paparazzi and minimal liberalism.

The Whopper Bar

Taken from http://www.inquisitr.com/19632/whopper-bar/:

The Whopper Bar: All Beef

To be clear, the Whopper Bar won’t actually be serving alcohol — but it will be serving plenty of beef. The Burger King venture will offer Whoppers, Double Whoppers, and Steakhouse XT burgers, along with new Bourbon Whoppers, Three-Cheese Steakhouse XT burgers, and Pepper Bacon Steakhouse XT burgers. Each will come with options for 22 different toppings. Among the choices: guacamole, smoked bacon, or steak sauce.

A “Contemporary” Edge

The first Whopper Bar opens today at the Universal CityWalk in Orlando. Its look is totally different from the typical BK, as seen in the photo above: The bar boasts an open kitchen, a bar-like countertop, and a whole new color scheme. Employees will also wear different uniforms, matching the red, black, and gray restaurant design. Burger King hopes the updated take will give its brand a new “contemporary” edge, representatives say.

Whopper Bar Plans

Burger King is planning six more Whopper Bars around the globe by the end of 2009, with the next set to open in Munich over the summer. Los Angeles, New York and Singapore will soon see locations as well. Eventually, the company says it could open as many as 500 of the units around the world in everywhere from stadiums to casinos and cruise ships.

*edit: I know the picture gets cut off. This formatting sucks.

T-Minus 6 Days

Weather.com
Tue Mar 17
T-Showers
Hi: 71
Lo: 49
40% chance of rain

AccuWeather.com
Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 62 °F RealFeel®: 58 °F
A morning shower in spots; otherwise, cloudy
Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 43 °F RealFeel®: 36 °F
Partly cloudy and windy

ONE MORE WEEK!

T-Minus 7 Days

Very conflicting reports

Weather.com
Tue Mar 17
Hi: 68
Lo: 45
60% chance of showers

AccuWeather.com
Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 70 °F RealFeel®: 68 °F
Plenty of sunshine
Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 36 °F RealFeel®: 33 °F
Clear and colder

To multiply wealth by dividing it?

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

~~~~~ Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931

A Whole-Hearted Thank You From a Half-Irish Heart

As you may have noticed, I have a St. Patrick's Day problem.

My obsession with this holiday is partly overcompensation for the lack of Irish heritage on my father's side of the family. There are plenty of Flemings from the old sod, but my father's family most likely did not come from Ireland. I can, however, trace my mother's family back to my great, great grandfather, James Whalen, whose arrival in the States from County Wexford coincided with the Great Famine. My grandfather, William Whalen, was proud of his Irish heritage but he did not take part in the revelry of St. Patrick's Day. Therefore, my mother never had any Irish traditions to pass down to me.

It was because of my friends that I discovered the magic of St. Patrick's Day. Growing up with the Leonards, I was practically adopted into their family, much the same way Tom Hagen was taken in by the Corleones. I can remember going to the very first Irish Festival at Grayson Stadium with the Leonards. In addition, Stephen welcomed me to join the Flags of Ireland in the 6th grade. That was the first year I ever marched in the parade.

At BC, I became friends with Mike and Patrick, both of whom have Irish roots on both sides of the family tree. Mike invited me to join the Parade Committee with him in 2005. In 2002, Patrick invited me to my first Clan-na-Erin breakfast. Tom Coffey was the guest speaker, Joe Welch impersonated Father O'Brien, the bar was open and I was hooked.

Now, I am marrying into a family with a rich Irish tradition and I hope to pass this along to a future generation of Flemings. If I am lucky enough to have a son, I can't wait to see him march in the parade as a Benedictine Cadet and to bring him and a few of his friends to their first open bar St. Patrick's Day breakfast. I guess a daughter would be okay, too.

I look forward to celebrating St. Patrick's Day with all of you for many years to come.

T-Minus 8 Days

Conflicting Reports.

From AccuWeather.com

Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 72 °F RealFeel®: 71 °F
Times of clouds and sun

Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 38 °F RealFeel®: 40 °F
Mostly cloudy


From Weather.com

Tue Mar 17
Showers
Hi: 68
Lo: 49
60% chane of rain

T-Minus 9 Days

Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 72 °F RealFeel®: 70 °F
Warmer and humid with rain

Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 50 °F RealFeel®: 54 °F
Periods of rain

It's time to bring out the rosary beads.

Things I Hate, Volume I: Places that Only Serve Pepsi Products

It happens every time you decide to hit up Taco Bell or Arby's. You're happy because you've been thinking about that Baja Chalupa all morning or you can't wait to devour a Chicken Bacon & Swiss combo. You place your order, pay the cashier, then, as you walk away from the register with your drink cup, you look to your left and it hits you: you should have just gotten water because this place only serves the worst kind of beverage possible: Pepsi products.

And for whatever reason, fountain Pepsi products taste even worse than bottled ones. Combos at Taco Bell normally include those huge drink cups, which at first makes you think you're getting a good deal, until you realize you're only going to be sipping on 24 ounces of the pure carbonated nothingness that is Diet Pepsi.

Now before I begin a typical Ryan or Snuffy-style rant about some little uninteresting nit-picky pet peeve concerning food/entertainment that really has no impact on anyone's well being in the grand scheme of things, let me make clear that Diet Dr. Pepper is entirely exempt from this criticism. I'm not even really sure if Dr. Pepper is considered an actual Pepsi product or if it just happens to conveniently exist alongside the others, but it gets a pass here because it's damn good and made in Texas. This dawned on Chick-fil-A, a stalwart Coke partner and ally, when it added Diet Dr. Pepper to its lineup a few years ago.

Back to my original point, it is clear that Pepsi is symbolic of everything that is wrong with the world. It is the Sega Genesis of soft drinks. Not only is it Yankee, but it's always trying to desperately one-up and out-advertise Coke by mocking Coke's conservatism. It is forced to rely on "extreme" and "hip" marketing tactics to compensate for and cover up what is obviously a far inferior product. It pitches itself as "New Age" and the "New Generation's" drink of choice. Most recently it has even tried to cash in on Obamamania with these new "Hope" billboards. Thatta way to further alienate clear-thinking Americans like me. Good job.

And Pepsi's contamination of society is more widespread than you think. Not only does it infect otherwise respectable establishments like Sbarro, KFC, and Pizza Hut, but typically any restaurant west of the Mississippi or north of Virginia will only serve Pepsi. Next time you're in Vegas or anywhere else out West you will always get the "We don't have Coke, Pepsi's okay right?" question from the server. It's just as bad, if not worse, than discovering the absence of sweet tea anywhere south of Jacksonville. Water obviously ends up being the only real choice in these circumstances.

Finally, back to the Obama thing, it's clear Pepsi's deficiencies parallel the new administration's. It demonstrates how just because something is new does not make it good or right. Flashy advertising, glitzy marketing tools, savvy product placement, and polished delivery techniques do not make what you're ultimately trying to shove down our throats (socialism) taste any better.

T-Minus 10 Days

Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 67 °F RealFeel®: 66 °F
Mostly sunny

Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 46 °F RealFeel®: 45 °F
Partly cloudy with a couple of showers; warmer late

YAY!

If Pat was Grand Marshal...

T-Minus 11 Days

Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 67 °F RealFeel®: 62 °F
A couple of morning showers; otherwise, mostly cloudy

Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 38 °F RealFeel®: 31 °F
Rain

Oh shit.

Happy Birthday to Me

UPDATE

I ordered the NY Strip, medium rare, "Oscar-style" with a crab cake drizzled with remoulade sauce on top of a bed of asparagus (thanks for the tip Hank). We had the blackened scallops for an appetizer and ordered a side of the roasted garlic mashed potatoes. It was definitley a Top 5 meal.

T-Minus 12 Days

Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 61 °F RealFeel®: 62 °F
Sunny

Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 43 °F RealFeel®: 41 °F
Partly cloudy

T-Minus 13 Days

Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 70 °F RealFeel®: 71 °F
Times of clouds and sun

Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 47 °F RealFeel®: 46 °F
Partly cloudy

This makes me feel much better.

Your First Official St. Patrick's Day Forecast

Courtesy of AccuWeather's 15-Day Forecast.

Tuesday, Mar 17
High: 61 °F RealFeel®: 52 °F
Partly sunny

Tuesday Night, Mar 17
Low: 34 °F RealFeel®: 24 °F
Clear and cold

This makes me a little nervous.

2 Weeks Notice!