Old People = Worthless

I read this story and I couldn't help but hear all the elderly people who have told me that they are still productive members of society. For those of you who don't want to go the BBC link, allow me to summarize. This ancient curmudgeon thinks she can get out of jury duty just because she is 108 years old. Listen lady, I don't know how they do things in England, but here in America that's a sacred right that only young people can avoid for phony reasons. Tell me, what exactly is this 108 year old lady doing all day that keeps her from going to sit in a court room for a couple of hours? Huh? Heaven forbid we interrupt her busy life of crocheting and watching the British equivalent of Matlock. What, it's too much activity for her? Last time I checked jury duty didn't require you to run or perform feets of strength.

Arizona State Here I come!

Well, it's finally official. I logged on to check my status earlier today and found this waiting for me.
So, now I just have to figure out how I'm going to pay tuition....yikes.

Celebrity Zombie Holocaust Game: Part 1

This weekend, Justin, Tennille, Kaiti, Austin and myself came up with perhaps the greatest game known to man. Allow me to give you the premise.
Let's say there was a horrible zombie holocaust and you're stuck choosing between two celebrities to help you survive. Which one do you pick? Any justification is valid, but has to be thoroughly explained.

Today's celebrities are...

Crispin Glover (Back to the Future, The Doors, Willard)

or

Justin Long ( Accepted, Mac commercials, Live Free or Die Hard)

My pick is Crispin. He's flat out crazy and his connections to rats would come in handy in a pinch. Plus, I'd get to say "Hey McFly" all the time and he'd be okay with it. He's a little long in the tooth compared to Justin Long, but is better built and I would have no problem sacrificing him to zombies if the need arose. Besides, I have a feeling Justin Long would be kind of a whiny sidekick. Just a hunch. Comments? Suggestions?

The Palin Family: The Gift the Keeps on Giving

It's good to see that poor speaking skills run in the family. Some people want to see the Plain family out of the daily news. Frankly, that would be robbing the world of some of the most delightful hillbilly antics since the cancellation of the Beverly Hillbilly's.

"And so finally, my best friend just, like, blurted it out. And it was just, like -- I don't even remember it because it was just, like, something I don't want to remember."
-Bristol Palin

"I'd love to [be] an advocate to prevent teen pregnancy because it's not, like, a situation that you would want to strive for, I guess."
-Bristol Palin

(by the way, the origin of her name is based on Sarah being a big fan of Sports Center and that's the name of the city that ESPN has its headquarters. Look, I like Sports Center too, but I am not about to go name my kid Scott Van Pelt Brockmyer.)

Presidents Day Brew

As some of you may know, I recently took up brewing my own beer as a hobby. Today, I started brewing a new recipe, Blueberry Irish Stout. I took a can of blueberry's in light syrup, puréed them and mixed them with the Irish stout mix. According to my calculations this should yield 2 liters of 4.7% beer. It should be fully ready, bottled and carbonated on March 12th

It's Time to Stop Complaining and Actually Change

I've got something to get off of my chest. I am really tired of hearing people complain about the new presidential administration. Obama has been the President for less than a month and already people are complaining. He's not working fast enough, he's being too nice to republicans, he's not being bipartisan, he hasn't changed anything. Are you serious? Really, America, really? We have the worst president in modern history for the last eight years and it takes everyone 7 years before they start to complain about him. But, we expect this new guy to fix it in less than a month? I'm sorry, I'm not buying it.
Obama was very straightforward from the get go that transformation would not happen overnight. I guess he probably should have said it won't happen over a month either. The country's problems are multiple and all of them are extremely complicated. He has to walk a fine line between courting bipartisan support while also doing the things that he believes are necessary to get this country back on track, namely following more democratic principals. He's not going to please everyone, but he can't just write off the republicans. Clearly he has to be moderate.
We can all agree, this country is in big trouble. Everyday more and more jobs are lost, the housing market is pretty much dead, the deficit is unbelievable, our reliance on oil is inexcusable, we have two ongoing wars, and the planet is warming causing more and more natural catastrophes. These problems will take years, if not decades to solve (or in many cases simply adjust to). The 90's are over. The early 00's are over. The world has changed and this country must change with it. We cannot assume that we can do so quickly. It will take time, patience and resolve, but more than that it will take unity. The country has to unite. And like it or not Obama is the leader of this country. If we are truly going to change this country's direction we have to unite behind him. But, we cannot simply think that it's Obama's job to change everything. We need to understand that WE have to change things. Yes, Obama is a figure of change and I don't doubt that he will do everything he can to change this country. But, the American people need to understand we have a role in this. Our role is far more significant in creating this change than Obama's. We can't just sit back and continue to complain. The government now supports change, but the people it represents have to do the work. So instead of complaining think about what you can do to help facilitate these necissary transformations; stop being divisive and unhelpful and think about what you can do for your country.
This nation has missed out on 8 years of world changes because the last administration refused to believe that the country needed any modifications. If nothing else Obama has already done more than they did in those 8 years; he's acknowledged this need and has asked the American people to join him in helping us catch up with the rest of the world and become a leader once more. The first step is to stop complaining and do something.

There was a pretty awesome sunset last night and I hadn't taken any pictures recently. So I got out the old Cannon and took a few. Enjoy.