I watched the CA portion of the Ronald Reagan funeral service and was struck with the cynical thought that it was all set up so well in order to enshrine him as the greatest president ever. That view of the hills, the sunset, wow, it was almost as though he just played his last role in a movie. Oh, and I hate Larry King, the man is a jackass. He asked, I think it was Ed Meese, if he was surprised that Nancy broke down at the end, when she accepted the flag and wept at the casket. Jeez, she was married to the guy for half a century of course she is going to break down. They were expecting his death for sometime now, and had nearly a week to prepare for this, so of course through most of it she and her family were able to maintain their composure. But at that last moment when saying goodbye it is only natural to be struck with the finality of it and break down. And of course her kids are going to comfort her. Are people in the media told to act in such a moronic way? The shit that comes out of their mouths when it isn't scripted is beyond belief at times.
Ron Reagan gave a few jabs to modern politicians, which I thought was cool. Not only did he lovingly praise his father, but he implied that his father didn't use his religious beliefs for political benefit. Which was funny because his brother Michael spoke before that with a lot of Jesus talk that I found to be almost phoney.
I always liked Ron Reagan, I remember how brilliant he was when he had his on Fox show, it was sort of like the Dennis Miller show with less jokes. Course his sister hasn't aged well, but I still remember her Playboy spread way back when. Not bad.
Poor little Michael Reagan. I feel bad for that guy. He just seemed so left out of things. I could have sworn the ass-kissing priest who couldn't get off his knees while talking to Nancy, only mentioned Patti and Ron and neglected to mention Michael. Maybe I misheard it. But then when the kids go to comfort Nancy, Michael is in the back and it looked like he was blocked out of there. Sad.
Oh but back to the ass-kissing priest, he reminded me of Ray Milland in his later years, and he seemed so un-godly with his overly sweet praise for Reagan. Though I like how he mentioned that his father in South Africa had a big picture of Reagan in his house. How appropriate, Reagan who stood fast and firm in the face of a political system based on socialist ideology would be seen as a hero in a country with a political system based on a racist ideology that he did nothing about. Talk about an 'evil empire' a nation based on racial segregation.
Ah but I digress. I have to hand it to Arnold he didn't walk up and touch the casket or anything cheesey. Though I could have sworn that he made of sign of the cross backwards, while Maria did it correctly.
Well now that Reagan is laid to rest so begins the task of every politician attaching themselves to his image or legacy.

Oh and on a side note, I plan for a huge funeral pyre on a hill or a Viking funeral when I pass into the next world. A fire so big and glorious it can be seen from orbit. Of course there would be a lot of pageantry and it would be televised.

What a real downer. I had an awful day at work with lots of bullshit, then I decide to go for some drinks with some friends and proceeded to drink enough sangria to forget about the day, though I also forgot about my credit card bills and decided to pay for the evening. But what the hell yanno, my friends take care of me, it's nice to be able to take care of them. So then it's off to the bikini cafe for some iced coffee and iced tea and more fun. So anyway, on my introspective drive back home, I am thinking about all this other stuff and making plans in my head for the future and moving forward, etc.
But still feeling good. Then I go online and Ray Charles is dead. That is a sad thing. 73 years old and he made so much music as well as being a really cool music personality. That really sucks. I think the last time I was this moved by the loss of someone I didn't know, it was Vincent Price. And before that, I did actually tear up when I heard Jim Henson died. When Fred Rogers died, it was a loss but I hadn't really cared personally beyond just being sad that someone so good and pure of heart had left this world.

Anyway, such is life and while we may feel the loss of those who die, I can only mourn so much, as I know it is the way of things and ultimately they continue on the wheel of life to a new path. We have had a lot of people at work "lose" family members and I can never say anything beyond the usual, "you have my deepest sympathy." Because no one wants to hear "well the bright side is that they have moved on to a better place and you should actually be happy that they are gone." It just wouldn't go over so well with people. In my heart of hearts, I feel that way, but even I wouldn't want to hear it at first when I lose someone.

But here's to Ray Charles and may he be at peace in a better place/existence(or rather non-existence)

Nothing Lasts Forever...I was in Trader Joe's last Friday picking up some groceries, and I heard this lady at one of the registers tell her husband that Entropy was the Second Law of Thermodynamics and that all things decay. She had to be about 70+ years old, which led me to believe she was talking about herself. But it was interesting to hear anybody just casually mention it. Of course Entropy is more than just decay or change. But it is usually easier to just think of it in those terms.

Why can't people just be honest and let you know what's up? I think it is fear. And I always wonder what the fear is, or where it stems from. I try to think of that and keep it in mind so that I can deal with my fears and try to push through them. Not the fear of snakes but the social fears. Cuz I'll be damned if I deal with the fear of snakes thing. I think some of it is just pure genetic memory mixed in with seeing "SSSSSSS" at a very young age.
There are images in that movie that stick with me to this day. I was gifted with an excellent memory along with my other near-superhero senses, yet this also meant that images of a man turning into a snake are stuck in my head. Along with all sorts of other fun things that I probably shouldn't have seen at other times. That's how I remember all that stuff during the 80's and even a good deal of the 70's. Ah the heights I could have attained had my genius been harnessed in the proper direction. Of course anyone who knows me, knows just how introspective and over analytical I can be, so I am sure I would have gone even more insane than I am now. I would have an island somewhere and be some crazed mad genius bent on taking over the world and turning the worlds supply of drinking water into syrup.
BWWAAAAHAAAAAHAHAAAAA!

I did not want to say anything about the death of Ronald Reagan yesterday until I had time to think about it. For better or worse, if you liked him or not, there is no getting around the fact that he was very important in shaping American politics, international relations, domestic policy, and the way Americans view themselves. I never liked him. I never thought the man had much going on upstairs, I always felt that he was playing the part of a president as an actor would rather than being a president. Maybe the two are the same. Perhaps that is what has gone wrong with our recent president.
Reagan symbolized the 1980's for me. It really was his decade. Even today he has such an influence on politics. So many current politicians think they are Reagan Republicans, so many young Republicans claim Reagan as their favorite president and place him at the head of the Pantheon of American politicians.
I always saw his influence as similar to the Pied Piper of Hameln. He did bring back to America a sense of purpose, strength and self-respect that was missing after Vietnam, Nixon, Ford, Carter and an economy that was in deep trouble. He had a bit of the John Wayne cowboy American swagger that tends to turn off a lot of thinking individuals, especially our international allies. But that same sense of self is what many Americans love because of how we see it, but also because we know it scares the crap out of some countries, even if they are our allies.
I can't be one of the brainwashed nuts who reflect on how perfect the Reagan years were or how he single-handedly knocked down the Berlin Wall and won the Cold War. He continued policies and actions that Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy were all an important part of. After the Cuban Missle crisis there was a change in how we dealt with the Soviets, and it was more diplomatic. When Reagan came into office he returned us to a war footing that scared most people. It's no coincidence that most movies about Nuclear Apocalypse came out in the 1980's. "The Day After" influenced and demoralized a whole generation to a degree that I think has not been acknowledged. "War Games" showed us how tense things would be if we lost control of our power over nuclear weapons, but the Day After showed us what would happen (in a TV way) once those weapons were launched. And of course "The Road Warrior" showed us just how expensive Gazzoline could become.

Reagan rattled his sword with SDI or Star Wars as it was called, built up our military to a huge degree, and really played the game of Nuclear Brinkmanship like no one else before him ever had. The fall of the Soviet Union was an amazing thing to witness. When it comes down to it there are two reasons why that happened the way it did. I think the most important was Economic, the other was Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev loosed the iron grip the Soviets had on their satellite nations as well as his own people. But I don't think he could have done that or would have done that if it weren't for the economic failures of Communism and the arms race that Reagan started and ultimately won.
When it comes down to it,Reagan gave us a 3 Trillion Dollar debt to revive our economy and bankrupt the Soviets. Towards the end it wasnt't a race to see who could build more weapons, it was a race to see who would go bankrupt first, the US or the USSR. Luckily we had better credit cards to count on. Which we are still paying to this day. And with a continued budget deficit we will never be able to pay off that debt. Love Clinton or hate him, he was serious about balancing the budget and making sure that the national debt wouldn't haunt the next generations of Americans. Then Dubya comes along and decides to monkey around with it because he bought into the Reaganomics that his father once called "Voodoo Economics."
That was swallowed hook, line and sinker by Republicans everywhere. But under Reagan, America was strong abroad. And that boosted American self-confidence, which we can see Dubya continuing with over-confidence to our detriment.

I could go on and on about deregulation, the environment, crime, etc. Though I think the biggest crime the Reaganites are guilty of is lying about his Alzheimer's disease. They point out that he didn't develop it until 1993/1994. They even call it "a surprise to many." Well I was not the least bit surprised. Where the hell were these people during the 80's? He showed signs of it during his presidency. The jokes were there for years about how he was senile. His defenders think it would hurt his image to say that he had the disease during his presidency. But what they don't realize is that they hurt the disease and those with it, by denying that a person could be a pretty functional president for 8 years with the disease. We know FDR couldn't walk, Kennedy had major health problems, so come clean about Reagan.
It angers me that they would lie so blatanly and that so many people tend to buy it and the rest of the revisions of history associated with his presidency.

Reagan really did change America and again, right or wrong he was an important president who has been a tremendous influence in much the same way Kennedy inspired generations of Americans. It will be interesting to see how that continues to develop or change.

I am stuffed. I just returned from a surprise birthday party for a friend from work. Carne asada, salsa, tamales, mmmmm. Good food. I didn't drink much just had a shot of the Bushmills I bought for my friend and a shot of some German grape brandy he had. It was a pretty small group so there wasn't any beer, just sodas and good bbq'd carne asada. It was very mellow for everyone. Which is good because I certainly don't want to drink or eat too much just for the sake of a party or having a good time.
Well I am off to watch MAD TV before I go to bed. Today was an early and productive day and I plan on doing the same tomorrow, getting up early and running errands and doing chores around the house. And later of course watch some TV and maybe look over some wishlists for books and cd's or dvd's. I want to continue to build my libraries and I have neglected my music collection in favor of movies and books. But lately I have wanted to get more music. I used to have a good list somewhere but since I don't listen to the radio at home anymore, just the car, I don't jot down ideas anymore.
It's always easier to hear a song and then remember that you don't have that album, but you should buy it, than to just sit and try to think of albums you want out of the blue.

Ah, such a wonderful day. More ridiculous shit at work causing me grief. But the upside today is that the GM is seeing more of it and is getting a more clear picture of the way things are. I forgot to put on my calendar that I had a lunch appointment with my hot milfy Staples rep. so that was a nice surprise today. I always look forward to having her take me out to lunch. Had a perfect steak and I didn't have to pay for it. So that killed two hours today. I did refrain from reminding her that last year when we had lunch during a conversation that drifted to politics, she said "well you will see they will find the weapons of mass destruction." Ah even then I knew the truth. It would be interesting to have heard her excuse for Bush though.
But when a hot older woman buys you lunch it's not polite to perform an "I told you so", as much as I enjoy those.
After work went out for a beer with some work friends, then off to the cafe for a bit. Good times.
I arrived home in time to shower and then sit back and watch Femme Fatale starring Rebecca Romijn. Not bad, what you would expect from Brian De Palma of course. Plus there is the hot sexy scene in the beginning of the movie.
Listening to some good music and looking forward to a productive yet relaxing weekend. Some days life is good. Other days, it is even better than good.

Sometimes there is so much to say but you just don't know how to express it all. Or should you even express all of it? What will I think of this time, this moment when I am 40. Or 50. Will I be satisfied with the way that I have spent this time, or will I wish i had cherished this time more?
You know in the movie Back to the Future when Michael J. Fox looks at the picture of his brother and sister and they fade, well I get that feeling sometimes. The only difference is my feeling is in reverse, that is my vision is of what the future holds(held) for me. And I see things fading from that.
Yet I know too much about self-fulfilling prophecies. We tend to create our own worlds based on the conceptions we have, and this limits us. Sometimes we think this is all we deserve, or all we are capable of. And so we let things slip through our grasp. While there are just somethings we have no control over, there are so many more things we control than we give ourselves credit for.
So when I feel this way, i just ask myself WWYS?
And I feel renewed in my drive to realize the goals at hand.
To a greater degree than we would admit, we create our own future and choose our own path. And where ever that may end, I know I will enjoy it along the way.
Except for work though, cuz work sucks donkeyballs.

Work has been such a headache lately. It's really taking a toll on me. And for what? No extra money, no praise, not even a sense of purpose. I just went out to dinner with my buddy from work who is our MIS Director and it was such a relief to just relax, have a beer and hang out with a friend. It was cool too that he gave me a compliment about how he views me as one of the few people on or near his level and appreciates how observant I am. Which is nice to hear, and the feeling is actually mutual. He is one of the few people there that I consider to be on my level. So many people we are surrounded by just have no clue. I think that is one of the most frustrating aspects. I have a lot of patience for young people who have no clue, but once you reach a certain age, you should have a general idea of things. Ah, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, that much I am very well aware of. But let's put the polite bullshit away, some people are just fucking stupid. It's that simple. And I don't mean the ones who went to a crappy school, or whose parents never stressed education, or even some people I know who have a level of intelligence but have a learning disability, or those who pretend to be ignorant and rely on being cute. NO I am not talking about those people, I know who they are and have an idea of their level of intelligence. NO, I am speaking of the people that are fucking stupid. You know them. Admit it.
I am not advocating their wholesale slaughter or anything like that. Nor would I advise pointing at them and mocking them as they reverse a mailing label and a return address label on a package, so that 3 days later the mailman delivers the package back to them and they wonder in bewilderment how come the intended recipient sent it back. Not realizing that they just mailed the package to themself. NO I wouldn't think it nice to mock them for that.
That kind of ridicule is best left for after work or even on a blog.

Anyway, it was nice to relax after work with someone who I consider to be a good guy and is becoming a good friend. If I can come away from this job with one or two good friends, then it makes a lot of the bullshit worth it. And they help pass the time while we stare in wonder at the marvels of those around us and try to figure out who is really sane, them or us.

It's finally happening. Age is taking it's toll on me, at 31 my lush, full head of hair is beginning to thin, yet for some reason the hairs haven't left, they just relocated to my ears. What is that about? I don't think that is fair at all. I always figured I would have at least until 40 to enjoy my hair and health. I have reintroduced working out to my life and it feels good. But what is the point if I am healthy and in shape but have no hair, or rather hair in the wrong places?
Sure there are more important things to worry about in this world. But this whole aging process really sucks. When the hell is someone going to tell my DNA to keep doing exactly what it was doing when I was 22? Is that so tough? It's in there somewhere, some instruction or process that degrades the renewal process. Of course we would have some major population problems, which would of course lead to even more environmental problems. But damn it sure would be nice to be eternally young. I think it would be great.
Although I don't know if I would be able to ever get the senior discount at Denny's then.

Is it too much to ask that when I arrive home from a workday like today that I am greeted at the door by a beautiful woman wearing jeans and a tank top holding a large pepperoni pizza in one hand and a six-pack of beer in the other? I think I deserve that much. Maybe after we eat we watch some tv before she gives me a massage and tells me about her day.
I am almost tempted to at least go out and get the pizza and beer so I can relax, but that would be what Oprah or Dr. Phil would call "emotional eating." Plus more importantly too much beer and pizza would prevent me from meeting that beautiful woman. It's best to snag them when you are in shape and then let yourself go once they are trapped in a loveless marriage.
So I will skip the beer and pizza today and instead go work out and then read or watch some South Park.

I saw Troy today and I was very much impressed. It's a good movie with some amazing action scenes. The fight scene with Hector and Achilles was amazing. I have seen bloodier fights, and fights with more intricate, albeit unrealistic moves, but this one looked so fluid and realistic. I liked the horse they used for the movie, it was a nice touch that they used parts from their ships to build it. Sure they made some adjustments to the Iliad to make it more cinematic. A 10 year siege would have bored most people to tears. But I think they could have at least stretched the events to a longer time period, at least 6 months. Just to assemble 1000 ships and all those troops, plus supplies (war movies tend to forget to show supply lines) would have taken at least a few weeks. And I would have stuck with Paris getting killed and Helen being captured and returned to the Greeks. They really skipped some of the feeling of the complete and total destruction of Troy and it's people.
But for a Hollywood version of the epic poem, it came off pretty well. It would have included too many characters to stay true to the story, and it would have made the Lord of the Rings look like a short subject.

On May 1st I posted my thoughts on some of the initial reports of the Iraqi Prisoner abuse story. At that time pictures had not been released and there were faint stories of what sounded like harassment and some roughing up of Iraqi citizens by American military personnel. I don't think at this point it is necessary for me to link to any of the many stories you can find online about this new scandal. My first feelings two weeks ago have only intensified. I feel at a loss to understand how anyone can think that violating the rights of an occupied people will make things easier for the military stationed there or for the larger goal of building stability. I have no illusions about what humans are capable of or of what this country can allow or condone in our history. But how do we show we are different from the dictator we replaced if we use the same methods he did to control the population? When do we begin to practice what we preach, when do the so called Christians who are worried about the FCC and our culture, when do they show their disgust for such abuses?
If anyone should resign from the Bush administration, it should be Colin Powell. As the senior diplomat and as a former military man, he should be outraged at what has been allowed to happen. And allowed is the key word. It wasn't just a few "bad apples", it was allowed, condoned, encouraged and more than likely ordered all the way from the President. Yah I said it. He allows Ashcroft and Rumsfeld to detain prisoners from Afghanistan for over 2 years with no due process. Shit if we are going to execute them, even in a kangaroo court, lets do it and at least keep up some kind of appearance of due process. Show some concern of your image.
In politics and diplomacy, image is important. Substance is too. But image makes a big difference. Sprite couldn't be more wrong.
The current image of the US is not good and that affects us and will affect us for a long time to come.

The following is a random thought that occurred to me just now:

my problem is i always try to untie the knot rather than cut it or skip it

i sit there trying to figure it out, following each lead, each string all just to untie it, coaxing and squeezing the knot

I think it was 1991 and we were just out of high school. I used to always go see local bands play and hung out with friends who had bands and therefore was into the local scene. One night we went to see some bands play, I don't even remember who. Thinking back I can remember helping a friend work on his car that day and hoping we'd finish up so I could meet up with my other friends and go see the bands. Then we saw one of his neighbors, a girl from my class and I was talking to her and she suggested we go out. But once we were done with his car, and went by her house I think she had left for somewhere else. She was always cool, sorta cute in that geeky way, smart and probably would have made a good girlfriend. Anyway, so because my friend was taking too long I missed that chance, but I knew of a few hotties from school who would be at the show. So I dragged him there, it was some place in Costa Mesa, I don't remember exactly where, but I do remember that they had a huge section of Newport Blvd closed as they were building Triangle Square.
So we arrived and saw some bands, and I bumped into this other girl from one of my other classes. Very cute, one of those hippie chicks, into things just for the sake of being different. But again, very cute. So I asked her out and gave her my number on a business card for some Taco place, which I had because they had damn good food. We went out once and it wasn't there for her or me either. She was too out of it and into hippie crap for me. For some reason though whenever I hear The Catherine Wheel's "Black Metallic" I think of that night I asked her out amidst the crowd and music.

Life never turns out how you expect it to.

As funny as the show was, and as much as I always rooted for Ross, that last episode of Friends just felt more rushed and hurried than it should have. Oh and it does suck that real life just isn't like that. In real life, tracking your ex-girlfriend/wife/baby's mother to the airport would lead to a restraining order and a listing on the local police's stalker list. Plus Joey had it right, move on.

For lunch we went to the South Coast Plaza and I was thinking back to how different that mall was when I was a kid. It really has become a symbol for the affluence of Orange County. I remember when there weren't that many "upscale" stores there. It was like any other mall with just mom and pop shops and the usual chain stores. Plus they had more food places. The world is ever changing.

Oh and I received yet another picture of George and Laura Bush along with their plea for money and a bunch of propaganda about the Democrat Party. Quite funny stuff actually. Reading it, I can see how easy it would be for some NASCAR dad to get pissed at Kerry and stick with Bush.

Good times.

Hot. Very Hot. No not the weather again, it is cooling a bit. I am talking about Gina Gershon. I remember noticing her in Red Heat a long time ago and damn she just gets hotter with time. I didn't know until about a week ago that we got the Independent Film Channel, and when I got home from work today I happened to notice that Rocked with Gina Gershon was on. It follows her music/publicity tour for the movie Prey for Rock & Roll, which is going for a whole L7 Grrrl Rock thing. It's a short series done in a documentary journal style. So we get to follow her around the country as she plugs the movie and plays music at shows to again promote the movie as well as just have fun. She is a cross between Joan Jett and Janine Lindemulder and at 42 she is as hot as ever. Be sure to watch it if you have the channel and keep some ice water nearby in case it gets too hot.

Hot. Very Hot. Dry Heat. Some wind, not a hot wind like Santa Ana Winds, but not a cool breeze that would make a difference. It was like this last weekend, then in the middle of the week it cooled down for a few days, now it is back again and expected to last at least up to the middle of the week. How am I to get anything accomplished when its this hot? I am sweating like a monkey in a whorehouse. I have lived through weather that is hotter than this, but I expected such heat in Fresno. I went shopping today for a Mother's Day gift, and I wish I had other places to go too. It was refreshing to walk around in nice air-conditioned stores. But my laundry was calling me. And nothing is more fun in this heat than to fold clothes fresh out of the dryer.

First thing when I got up today, I grabbed the newspaper to look through the sales items as usual, and I noticed an article in the LA TIMES regarding U.S. abuses against Iraqi prisoners. Then sure enough I see a similar article online. It just makes me sick to think that this is the kind of crap we allow to go on after we defeat a nation that was not poised to attack us. And even if they did attack us like the Taliban supported Al-Queda, it wouldn't justify America abusing the rights of prisoners of war. Whether you call them enemy combatants or rebels or terrorists or some thug from South Central LA who kills an old lady, we have a higher duty to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, as well as international laws to behave in a more civilized manner than those we call the enemy. I am not saying don't kick down doors and politely knock if you think Osama is in the house, but once you have people in custody we owe it to ourselves to take the moral high ground and do the right thing. And in the same way that our soldiers are dying to protect us, their negative actions also represent us. When they put their lives on the line for America we owe them our respect. But when they cross a line, they must also be held accountable. And not just the individual soldiers but the ones who lead them and encourage behavior we know to be wrong. But how can we expect American soldiers to treat Iraqis humanely when we have dozens of cases of sexual assaults involving Americans assaulting their own comrades?
While reading this article, it also struck me as very sad how this Iraqi man views women :

"They were trying to humiliate us, break our pride. We are men. It’s OK if they beat me. Beatings don’t hurt us, it’s just a blow. But no one would want their manhood to be shattered,” he said.
“They wanted us to feel as though we were women, the way women feel and this is the worst insult, to feel like a woman,” al-Shweiri said.

I wonder if he will view women's rights in Iraq differently from now on?

While on the subject of justice and two wrongs don't make a right...is something that has bothered me for some time. The white male bashing. For the past decade or so it has been the style to use white men as the butt of jokes in ways that I find offensive. No, please allow me to whine further....Certainly the culture, economics and politics of America have favored white men of certain backgrounds. (as most people tend to forget the prejudices against German immigrants, Irish Catholics, as well as poor or landless white males) And while white men are certainly still in a position of power enough to be able to take a few jokes and barbs, I find that the slinging of such jokes and barbs is unjust. Or more appropriately it is the acceptance or lack of notice given such jokes/barbs that I find offensive. Being all for free speech, say what you will. But I find it sad that people don't see how such things if put on the other foot would be unacceptable.
This movie New York Minute has a tv preview with Eugene Levy and then these two black ladies who call him a cracker. And the use of this racial slur is supposed to draw laughs? Racial slurs of any kind are just wrong. Period. To accept the use of one is the accept the use of them all. How can it be right to make fun or disparage one race but not another? Even these people who walk around and call themselves or their "own people" names are not doing anyone any good. White trash is another term people like to throw around with ignorance of its implications. White trash begs two questions, One-these people aren't up to the high standards of being White? Two-Why do we not add trash to the proper names for other ethnic groups? The answer to the first one is, it's bullshit. The answer to the second one is, we already have disparaging names for just about every other ethnic group.
Obviously the slurs against most other groups have more power and meaning behind them and therefore we are more sensitive to them. But in all fairness shouldn't we move past using any terms that disparage people based on their ethnic background.
Can't we just stick to calling people non race based names, like fuckhead, shitface, asshole...etc?
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Addiction is a terrible thing. Right now I am in that addiction phase with this game. It is a lot of fun. I meant to write a little something about what a hot day it was Sunday, but the sudden warmth also caused the Jasmine to bloom everywhere. Monday when I walked out to my car to go to work I could smell it in the air and sure enough I saw the Jasmine had blossomed. I love Jasmine, we used to have a wall of our old house covered with it right before the front door and during summer nights it would just drift in through the windows. In my twisted ways and thoughts, Jasmine plays into one of my figures of speech about the loveliness of a woman. If I see a certain woman that strikes a certain chord in me, I think "I'd love to make love to her in a field of Jasmine." Which is not that good if you have ever seen Jasmine because while it does grow on vines, like grape vines the base is woody and is made of branches before the vines spread. And that would hurt. But that's really beside the point. The point is when I smell Jasmine, especially in cool night air, the scent just lifts me into a sense of euphoria that almost feels like heaven.

Ok, back to my game before I have to go to bed.

So this past Friday I was had dinner with my friend, his girlfriend, her sister and her sister's friend,who happens to work in the computer gaming industry with a friend of mine from high school. It's a small world. So this guy was telling me about this game, Call of Duty that he is playing that he enjoyed a lot and kept telling me I needed to run out and buy it. It is a First Person Shooter or FPS, set in World War II. There are several of these that popped out in the past year or two. Medal of Honor and Battlefield 1942 are the other two big name ones out. For awhile EA games was heavily advertising MOH all over the place. The games looked good, but I have never been a big fan of the FPS games. But I decided to give this one a try, so I downloaded the two free demos available at the Call of Duty website and played them like crazy on Sunday. It took me all of a few minutes to get the hang of it and from there I was having fun. So much fun that when it was over I was left wanting much more, so much more that I went to bed last night with visions from the game dancing in my head. Which is common if you play video games a lot. Especially if they are the kind that you have to force yourself to turn off just so you get a few hours of sleep or you forget to feed yourself. Also pretty common.
Anyway, I ran out today and bought it and am quite happy with my purchase. I will however try to limit myself to just an hour of gaming after working out.
If you want to have some fun try downloading and playing the demos, give it a few minutes of getting killed to get used to it. You will have fun. I know I will.

I saw "Man on Fire" today. It was pretty good. Some of the plot elements were very unoriginal but you can't argue with the acting abilities of the cast. Well except for Marc Anthony. Essentially the movie is about the girl who opens the heart of a wounded and tormented silent tough guy. Then of course she is kidnapped and he vows revenge and in the end the usual story of redemption. Perosnally I could have done without the redemption aspect. That is why I always liked the Punisher's character, nothing but unmitigated revenge. No retirement on a beach somewhere, no dying to save the life of a kitty cat. Just relentless killing until he dies. A man with no hope, nothing to live for but the revenge. Which is one of the reasons why I still haven't been able to bring myself to watch The Punisher movie. Maybe tomorrow. Who knows.
Why the hell is popcorn so freeking expensive. The small popcorn is $4.50. The jumbo size is $6.00. Small drink is $3.75 and the largest drink is $4.25. How silly is this going to get? A small popcorn and a small drink would cost you $8.25. That is crazy insane. The absolute most they should charge for that should be $5.00. Obviously that is insanely high too. But it's not as bad. 5 bucks for a small popcorn/drink combo. I don't know how they can sell these things to us with a straight face.