So it's been a very, very, long time since I've last done one of these. I thought that I was going to retire this feature to be honest, but I came along this excellent little survey, reflecting the Presidential Candidates, and I must say I was pretty shocked with my own personal results.
91% Chris Dodd
90% John Edwards
90% Barack Obama
85% Mike Gravel
85% Hillary Clinton
84% Dennis Kucinich
84% Joe Biden
76% Bill Richardson
41% Rudy Giuliani
29% John McCain
25% Tom Tancredo
22% Mike Huckabee
21% Mitt Romney
18% Ron Paul
12% Fred Thompson
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
So I always knew that I was a Liberal thinker, but I didn't think that the contrasts would be this obvious. The 8 Democratic nominees top the survey, with the 7 Republicans sitting at the bottom.
I don't know too much about Chris Dodd, since he isn't one of the front-runners, but I guess I should look more into him. Also, at a tie with 90% each, I'm not surprised that I really want to see an Obama-Edwards ticket. So I guess this site did a not bad job of pegging me. Although, I'm pretty shocked that I have even 22% in common with Mike Huckabee *shudder*.
This may be the retirement of this feature, unless something else earth shattering comes along (hello, Canadian Party Leader likeness tests, anywhere?). So I hope that you've enjoyed these posts while they've been there. Next time, I'll turn to something a little less personal.
Until next time,
G
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Predicting 2008
Well after doing fairly well with my 2007 Crystal Ball, I think that it's time for me to try and build on this success by looking forward to the coming year. After staring into a crystal ball, reading some tea leaves, and depriving myself of all sensory stimulation for 24 hours I have came up with the following GUARANTEED* predictions for the following 12 months.
* Guarantee not valid anywhere
1. Obama vs. Huckabee - You heard it here first, the election this year is going to come down to an African-American proponent of change taking on a baptist minister who once equated homosexuality with necrophilia. It's going to be a wild, wild ride...
2. Prolonged Strike - The crystal ball tells me that the Hollywood Writers Strike is going to last a very long time. I would be shocked if this is over by spring time.
3. Abrams will not Disappoint - I have HIGH hopes for both season 4 of Lost, and for Cloverfield. Because really, how awesome does this look?
4. Score one more for California - Mark my words, either the Anaheim Ducks will repeat as champs, or the San Jose Sharks will finally take that next step. As a Senators fan, I desperately hope that I am wrong on this one, but we'll see here...
5. Another Three Countries Scratched off the List - Sorry while I take a break for the personal here, but I think that I'll get to visit another three countries this year. I know that I'm going to Laos in March, but I have a feeling that there will be two more there, somehow, someway.
6. The Temperature Will Continue To Rise - Sure I made this prediction last year, but I don't see much changing on that one...
7. Another Conservative Minority - Sure last year I predicted that we would see a Liberal Minority, but I think that the opportunity to see that has passed, unfortunately. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were another Canadian Federal election, I just don't see much coming about it.
8. More Record Label Rebellions - So Radiohead started something by releasing the amazing In Rainbows on-line for free, I wouldn't be shocked to see some other major bands follow in their footsteps.
9. The Patriots will Lose - I don't know why I think this, but I have this sneaking suspicion that the New England Patriots will NOT win the Superbowl, making their 16-0 season completely worthless.
10. Samoa Joe will FINALLY win the TNA World Title - Yes, another repeat from last year. I think that even Vince Russo is not dumb enough to keep the gold off of Joe for another year.
11. Further Republican Misdoings - This may be the easiest and vaguest prediction I could ever make, but I am certain that we will find out about something incredibly schemey and evil that Bush, Cheney, and co have been up to, that will even push Fox News's ability to present them in a positive light.
12. Someone will Follow in Feist's Footsteps - Another Indie-Darling will break into the mainstream in a big way, just like Lesley Feist was able to do thanks to Steve Jobs.
13. I will have a great year - My third redo from last year. I figure that this is a safe one, 2007 was pretty dang good, and 2008 seems like it could be even better.
Just like last year, the spirits are keeping their signs to only 13....I'll look back sometime next year and see if I can top my 9-2-2 record!
Until next time,
G
* Guarantee not valid anywhere
1. Obama vs. Huckabee - You heard it here first, the election this year is going to come down to an African-American proponent of change taking on a baptist minister who once equated homosexuality with necrophilia. It's going to be a wild, wild ride...
2. Prolonged Strike - The crystal ball tells me that the Hollywood Writers Strike is going to last a very long time. I would be shocked if this is over by spring time.
3. Abrams will not Disappoint - I have HIGH hopes for both season 4 of Lost, and for Cloverfield. Because really, how awesome does this look?
4. Score one more for California - Mark my words, either the Anaheim Ducks will repeat as champs, or the San Jose Sharks will finally take that next step. As a Senators fan, I desperately hope that I am wrong on this one, but we'll see here...
5. Another Three Countries Scratched off the List - Sorry while I take a break for the personal here, but I think that I'll get to visit another three countries this year. I know that I'm going to Laos in March, but I have a feeling that there will be two more there, somehow, someway.
6. The Temperature Will Continue To Rise - Sure I made this prediction last year, but I don't see much changing on that one...
7. Another Conservative Minority - Sure last year I predicted that we would see a Liberal Minority, but I think that the opportunity to see that has passed, unfortunately. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were another Canadian Federal election, I just don't see much coming about it.
8. More Record Label Rebellions - So Radiohead started something by releasing the amazing In Rainbows on-line for free, I wouldn't be shocked to see some other major bands follow in their footsteps.
9. The Patriots will Lose - I don't know why I think this, but I have this sneaking suspicion that the New England Patriots will NOT win the Superbowl, making their 16-0 season completely worthless.
10. Samoa Joe will FINALLY win the TNA World Title - Yes, another repeat from last year. I think that even Vince Russo is not dumb enough to keep the gold off of Joe for another year.
11. Further Republican Misdoings - This may be the easiest and vaguest prediction I could ever make, but I am certain that we will find out about something incredibly schemey and evil that Bush, Cheney, and co have been up to, that will even push Fox News's ability to present them in a positive light.
12. Someone will Follow in Feist's Footsteps - Another Indie-Darling will break into the mainstream in a big way, just like Lesley Feist was able to do thanks to Steve Jobs.
13. I will have a great year - My third redo from last year. I figure that this is a safe one, 2007 was pretty dang good, and 2008 seems like it could be even better.
Just like last year, the spirits are keeping their signs to only 13....I'll look back sometime next year and see if I can top my 9-2-2 record!
Until next time,
G
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Looking Back at My Crystal Ball
Last year, I made some bold and daring predictions for the Year 2007, and now, 367 days later I see how my clairvoyant abilities turned out....
1. A Liberal Minority – Wow, was I ever wrong with this one!!!! While I still think very highly of Mr. Dion, he has not exactly set the country on fire, as the Conservatives are still leading the poll, and somehow, someway, Canada avoided an election during 2007.
2. The Arcade Fire’s New Album Will Kick All Sorts of Ass – Alright so this one was a bit of an easy prediction, as Neon Bible was my pick for best Album of the Year, in a year that really was full of some artistic brilliance. Follow this link to find out exactly why I loved this one so much....
3. Canada Will Win More Hockey Gold – I thought that I was going out on a bit of a limb here, as we don't always win the Men's World Hockey Championships, but hoorah, the boys won a medal for me!!! Also, add to the fact that we won yet another Women's World Championship, we took the Under 17 tourney, and of course the Under 20 just a few days ago, and things are looking up for hockey in our country.
4. I Will Go To At Least Three New Countries – Done and done. I went to China and Vietnam in April, some jaunts into Hong Kong and Macau in May (while sort of part of China, they have their own border patrols, and currency, making them more of their own country than say, Scotland), plus I just made the trip to both the French and Dutch West Indies, not sure if those count as separate entities from their mother countries or not...either way, I'm up on this one.
5. “Here We Go Again” by OK Go Will Remain the Coolest Music Video I Have Ever Seen - Duh...
6. I Will Retire from Kodiak – I'm still non-commital on this one, I think that I won't be heading to my Home Away From Home for the entire summer this year....we shall see though.
7. The US will not leave Iraq, but Canada will leave Afghanistan – A half-botch here, as the US, predictably decided to stay in Iraq, and sent a "surge" to boot, where as Canada has stuck around in Afghanistan, despite a growing amount of opposition and repatriation ceremonies.
8. This Blog Will Hit 200 Posts – Well this is my 216th post, so...well met.
9. Some New Indie Band Will Blow My Mind – The term "Indie" is a hard one to define, as many of these bands are in fact on major labels. But I will say that it came true, as I fell even more in love with Stars and Wilco than before, discovered Guillemots, Besnard Lakes, LCD Soundsystem, and The National. Surely one of those must be an Indie Band of some sort.
If you don't know any of those artists then type some of their names into YouTube and be prepared to be amazed, if you are too lazy here is "Fake Empire" by The National
Awesome, eh?
10. I Will Not Eat Meat – That's right still going strong without the flesh. In fact, I think that I've become a bit more passionate about this over the past 12 months, as more and more
has made its way onto this blog.
11. Samoa Joe Will Win the NWA World Title – Man, oh man, another epic fail!!! Samoa Joe has every right to be World Champion, yet somehow, someway, TNA has failed to do so. They had three EXCELLENT opportunities to give him the gold this year and botched every one of them.
12. The Temperature Will Only Get Higher – Can I point out that yesterday in Toronto it was 15 Degrees outside? Can I also point out that it's F'n JANUARY?!?!?!??!?!
Score one more for the G Man
13. I Will Have a Great Year – This year was yet another Roller Coaster for me, but what the heck, I wouldn't want it any other way, so yes, another great year for me.
I guess that leaves my final score to be 9-2-2, not bad I dare say, even if some of the picks were pretty obvious. Over the next few days I will put forward some more predictions for 2008, and I hope to have an even better record in the coming year!
Until next time,
G
1. A Liberal Minority – Wow, was I ever wrong with this one!!!! While I still think very highly of Mr. Dion, he has not exactly set the country on fire, as the Conservatives are still leading the poll, and somehow, someway, Canada avoided an election during 2007.
2. The Arcade Fire’s New Album Will Kick All Sorts of Ass – Alright so this one was a bit of an easy prediction, as Neon Bible was my pick for best Album of the Year, in a year that really was full of some artistic brilliance. Follow this link to find out exactly why I loved this one so much....
3. Canada Will Win More Hockey Gold – I thought that I was going out on a bit of a limb here, as we don't always win the Men's World Hockey Championships, but hoorah, the boys won a medal for me!!! Also, add to the fact that we won yet another Women's World Championship, we took the Under 17 tourney, and of course the Under 20 just a few days ago, and things are looking up for hockey in our country.
4. I Will Go To At Least Three New Countries – Done and done. I went to China and Vietnam in April, some jaunts into Hong Kong and Macau in May (while sort of part of China, they have their own border patrols, and currency, making them more of their own country than say, Scotland), plus I just made the trip to both the French and Dutch West Indies, not sure if those count as separate entities from their mother countries or not...either way, I'm up on this one.
5. “Here We Go Again” by OK Go Will Remain the Coolest Music Video I Have Ever Seen - Duh...
6. I Will Retire from Kodiak – I'm still non-commital on this one, I think that I won't be heading to my Home Away From Home for the entire summer this year....we shall see though.
7. The US will not leave Iraq, but Canada will leave Afghanistan – A half-botch here, as the US, predictably decided to stay in Iraq, and sent a "surge" to boot, where as Canada has stuck around in Afghanistan, despite a growing amount of opposition and repatriation ceremonies.
8. This Blog Will Hit 200 Posts – Well this is my 216th post, so...well met.
9. Some New Indie Band Will Blow My Mind – The term "Indie" is a hard one to define, as many of these bands are in fact on major labels. But I will say that it came true, as I fell even more in love with Stars and Wilco than before, discovered Guillemots, Besnard Lakes, LCD Soundsystem, and The National. Surely one of those must be an Indie Band of some sort.
If you don't know any of those artists then type some of their names into YouTube and be prepared to be amazed, if you are too lazy here is "Fake Empire" by The National
Awesome, eh?
10. I Will Not Eat Meat – That's right still going strong without the flesh. In fact, I think that I've become a bit more passionate about this over the past 12 months, as more and more
has made its way onto this blog.
11. Samoa Joe Will Win the NWA World Title – Man, oh man, another epic fail!!! Samoa Joe has every right to be World Champion, yet somehow, someway, TNA has failed to do so. They had three EXCELLENT opportunities to give him the gold this year and botched every one of them.
12. The Temperature Will Only Get Higher – Can I point out that yesterday in Toronto it was 15 Degrees outside? Can I also point out that it's F'n JANUARY?!?!?!??!?!
Score one more for the G Man
13. I Will Have a Great Year – This year was yet another Roller Coaster for me, but what the heck, I wouldn't want it any other way, so yes, another great year for me.
I guess that leaves my final score to be 9-2-2, not bad I dare say, even if some of the picks were pretty obvious. Over the next few days I will put forward some more predictions for 2008, and I hope to have an even better record in the coming year!
Until next time,
G
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
LAST Month in Fantasy Sports -- December
Sorry this regular feature has been delayed, but you know...Caribbean...
So for those of you DYING to know about how my hockey pool has been going, fret not, I'm here to report on that to sate your burning desires. As you may (or more than likely don't) recall, my roster at the end of November was as follows:
C - LeCavalier, Jokinen, E, Staal, J. Carter,
RW - Jagr, Radulov, Knuble, Goddard, Lupul
LW - Holmstrom, Brown, Chimera, Prospal
D - Rafalski, Campbell, Redden, Aucoin, Schneider
G - Nabokov, Budaj, Price
Also, Further reminder that every day you can dress 3 each of C, RW, LW, G, plus 4 D, and 2 other Forwards. Also, that skaters get points as follows: 1 G, 1 A, 0.75 +/-, .5 PPG, .5 PPP, .5, SHG, .5 GWG. .5 PIM, and that goalies get 2 points for a win and 3 for a shutout.
Over the course of December I made the following changes: (note: I made a few changes since January started, but I'll cover those when I talk about that month)
Drop - Add
RW Lupul - C/RW Hudler
LW Chimera - C/LW Straka
C/RW Hudler - RW Pominville
C/LW Straka - LW Carcillo
Place LW Carcillo on IR - RW Guerin
So not as many moves as in previous months, and to be honest my moves were rather erratic. Also, like last month, it seems that I have centered my transactions around a handful of players who remain on my periphery, as I change between a few of them.
First off, I cut Lupul for Hudler and Chimera for Straka in order to get a bit more flexibility out of duel position players. However, I really messed up since Lupul went on a huge tear almost immediately after I cut him. Ahh well, live and learn, eh?
I noticed that other players had cut Pominville and Carcillo, and I decided that I needed to add both of these players for a few different reasons. First off Pominville was going through a bit of a slump, but he is easily a 75-90 point player, who sees some power play time, so I was expecting better results out of him than Hudler. Carcillo on the other hand, is far and away leading the league in penalty minutes, so I added him, despite his injury. In our pool, with the loaded scoring for penalty minutes, he is among the top scoring players, at the current moment he is 5th in the total points (Sydney Crosby is 6th....), so I added him, placed him on Injury Reserve, and then added my previously rejected Bill Guerin.
So I guess the moral of my story is to pay attention to the waiver wire! Some people make some questionable decisions (myself included as someone could have cleaned up with my dumping of Lupul, before he got hurt) and you have to be ready to capitalize on them, I guess I just lucked out this time.
At one point during December I seemed to be on pace for my Christmas wish list as I had over a 110 point lead on 2nd place in my pool!!! However by the end of that month it shrunk to somewhere around 75 points, due to some good moves on Iggy's part and that pesky injury to Tomas Homlstrom seemed to be conspiring against me. As January has started, I currently sit with my smallest lead in months, as Iggy has closed to be within 65 points. I have made a few moves at the start of this month, and Holmstrom has just returned, also I'm looking forward to a return of Carcillo in order to really help me boost my lead.
Also last month, I talked about how I was happy that I rejected an offer to trade Price, but now I find out today that he has been sent down to the minors...there goes that rotten luck again.
That's pretty much all that I have to add for this edition, I didn't pay as much attention to my pools this month due to the holidays and such, perhaps that's why my lead shrunk so much. I guess now I have my priorities set again, no more need to worry about relaxing or the spirit of giving, it's all back to the most important thing, bragging rights.
Take care and happy pooling!!!
Until next time,
G
So for those of you DYING to know about how my hockey pool has been going, fret not, I'm here to report on that to sate your burning desires. As you may (or more than likely don't) recall, my roster at the end of November was as follows:
C - LeCavalier, Jokinen, E, Staal, J. Carter,
RW - Jagr, Radulov, Knuble, Goddard, Lupul
LW - Holmstrom, Brown, Chimera, Prospal
D - Rafalski, Campbell, Redden, Aucoin, Schneider
G - Nabokov, Budaj, Price
Also, Further reminder that every day you can dress 3 each of C, RW, LW, G, plus 4 D, and 2 other Forwards. Also, that skaters get points as follows: 1 G, 1 A, 0.75 +/-, .5 PPG, .5 PPP, .5, SHG, .5 GWG. .5 PIM, and that goalies get 2 points for a win and 3 for a shutout.
Over the course of December I made the following changes: (note: I made a few changes since January started, but I'll cover those when I talk about that month)
Drop - Add
RW Lupul - C/RW Hudler
LW Chimera - C/LW Straka
C/RW Hudler - RW Pominville
C/LW Straka - LW Carcillo
Place LW Carcillo on IR - RW Guerin
So not as many moves as in previous months, and to be honest my moves were rather erratic. Also, like last month, it seems that I have centered my transactions around a handful of players who remain on my periphery, as I change between a few of them.
First off, I cut Lupul for Hudler and Chimera for Straka in order to get a bit more flexibility out of duel position players. However, I really messed up since Lupul went on a huge tear almost immediately after I cut him. Ahh well, live and learn, eh?
I noticed that other players had cut Pominville and Carcillo, and I decided that I needed to add both of these players for a few different reasons. First off Pominville was going through a bit of a slump, but he is easily a 75-90 point player, who sees some power play time, so I was expecting better results out of him than Hudler. Carcillo on the other hand, is far and away leading the league in penalty minutes, so I added him, despite his injury. In our pool, with the loaded scoring for penalty minutes, he is among the top scoring players, at the current moment he is 5th in the total points (Sydney Crosby is 6th....), so I added him, placed him on Injury Reserve, and then added my previously rejected Bill Guerin.
So I guess the moral of my story is to pay attention to the waiver wire! Some people make some questionable decisions (myself included as someone could have cleaned up with my dumping of Lupul, before he got hurt) and you have to be ready to capitalize on them, I guess I just lucked out this time.
At one point during December I seemed to be on pace for my Christmas wish list as I had over a 110 point lead on 2nd place in my pool!!! However by the end of that month it shrunk to somewhere around 75 points, due to some good moves on Iggy's part and that pesky injury to Tomas Homlstrom seemed to be conspiring against me. As January has started, I currently sit with my smallest lead in months, as Iggy has closed to be within 65 points. I have made a few moves at the start of this month, and Holmstrom has just returned, also I'm looking forward to a return of Carcillo in order to really help me boost my lead.
Also last month, I talked about how I was happy that I rejected an offer to trade Price, but now I find out today that he has been sent down to the minors...there goes that rotten luck again.
That's pretty much all that I have to add for this edition, I didn't pay as much attention to my pools this month due to the holidays and such, perhaps that's why my lead shrunk so much. I guess now I have my priorities set again, no more need to worry about relaxing or the spirit of giving, it's all back to the most important thing, bragging rights.
Take care and happy pooling!!!
Until next time,
G
Monday, January 07, 2008
"You'll see the good in everyone"
“You'll see the good in everyone”
-- Sloan
Right now I sit on a flight from St. Marteen to Charlotte, en route to finding my way back home after a fantastic Caribbean adventure, where I was apparently too busy having fun to pay any attention to this little nerdy space in my life. Here at 34,000 feet I find myself reminded of one of life's little lessons.
As I boarded my flight to leave, we taxied out on the runway, and sat there waiting for fuelling. The muffled voice of the pilot told us that there had been problems earlier in the day with the fuel truck and flights were delayed all day. He apologized for the inconvenience and asked us to be patient.
I adjusted my seat, grabbed the magazine I bought for the flight, and nervously checked my watch, I only had an hour and 15 minute lay over in Charlotte before my flight was scheduled to leave for Buffalo. “Ah well” I thought “Not much that I can do about it”.
I read a few articles, I waited.
I listened to my iPod for a while, I waited.
I cracked open a new book for a bit, I waited.
I stared out the window, I waited.
I waited, I waited.
Finally, after a solid 2 hours of waiting the fuel truck arrived and started doing its job. Upon refuelling, we appeared ready to take off. Ever the optimist, I thought that maybe, just maybe I might be able to make my flight to Buffalo if they were able to make up enough time and there were some delays. Then, I heard something that made my jaw drop.
“Ladies and gentlemen” the captain muffled over the speakers, “While we have finally refuelled, there are some passengers who are demanding to get off the aircraft, and in order to accommodate them, we need to taxi back over to the terminal and unload them.”
Yes, you read that one right, after two hours of waiting, people decided at the last possible moment that they were going to get off of the plane.
Needless to say a chorus of “boo”'s, “Oh my God”'s, and “What the hell?”'s followed.
As the plane got back, a couple, perhaps in their 50s got up, and began collecting their belongings. The remaining passengers all turned towards these two, and mustered up every ounce of glowering that we could. As they finished collecting their things, a round of applause broke out. I really never thought that it was possible to clap with biting sarcasm, but now I know better.
After the people got off the air, I heard the now very familiar voice of the captain say “We can't believe this any more than you can, and unfortunately according to safety regulations we have to get these bastards luggage off of the aircraft.”
Yeah, the captain said “bastards” over the intercom, that almost made it worth it to me.
We waiting for another half an hour or so to find the luggage of these people before finally taking off, thus making it seem impossible for me to get to Buffalo, and therefore home, on time.
Now in my 25 years on this planet, I have seen, and done some pretty selfish things, but this really has to rank up there with most despicably low in my mind. I understand being angry about the delay, and anxious about the possibility of missing a connecting flight, but there really is no excuse for that sort of behaviour. They made every passenger even more delayed on their trip, and also gave the flight crew and even longer day, and they really don't deserve it.
So while the Bible, and a great band tell us to find “the good in everyone”, there are situations like this when I remember one of the most important lessons I have ever learned in my life, some people really are just assholes.
Until next time,
G
-- Sloan
Right now I sit on a flight from St. Marteen to Charlotte, en route to finding my way back home after a fantastic Caribbean adventure, where I was apparently too busy having fun to pay any attention to this little nerdy space in my life. Here at 34,000 feet I find myself reminded of one of life's little lessons.
As I boarded my flight to leave, we taxied out on the runway, and sat there waiting for fuelling. The muffled voice of the pilot told us that there had been problems earlier in the day with the fuel truck and flights were delayed all day. He apologized for the inconvenience and asked us to be patient.
I adjusted my seat, grabbed the magazine I bought for the flight, and nervously checked my watch, I only had an hour and 15 minute lay over in Charlotte before my flight was scheduled to leave for Buffalo. “Ah well” I thought “Not much that I can do about it”.
I read a few articles, I waited.
I listened to my iPod for a while, I waited.
I cracked open a new book for a bit, I waited.
I stared out the window, I waited.
I waited, I waited.
Finally, after a solid 2 hours of waiting the fuel truck arrived and started doing its job. Upon refuelling, we appeared ready to take off. Ever the optimist, I thought that maybe, just maybe I might be able to make my flight to Buffalo if they were able to make up enough time and there were some delays. Then, I heard something that made my jaw drop.
“Ladies and gentlemen” the captain muffled over the speakers, “While we have finally refuelled, there are some passengers who are demanding to get off the aircraft, and in order to accommodate them, we need to taxi back over to the terminal and unload them.”
Yes, you read that one right, after two hours of waiting, people decided at the last possible moment that they were going to get off of the plane.
Needless to say a chorus of “boo”'s, “Oh my God”'s, and “What the hell?”'s followed.
As the plane got back, a couple, perhaps in their 50s got up, and began collecting their belongings. The remaining passengers all turned towards these two, and mustered up every ounce of glowering that we could. As they finished collecting their things, a round of applause broke out. I really never thought that it was possible to clap with biting sarcasm, but now I know better.
After the people got off the air, I heard the now very familiar voice of the captain say “We can't believe this any more than you can, and unfortunately according to safety regulations we have to get these bastards luggage off of the aircraft.”
Yeah, the captain said “bastards” over the intercom, that almost made it worth it to me.
We waiting for another half an hour or so to find the luggage of these people before finally taking off, thus making it seem impossible for me to get to Buffalo, and therefore home, on time.
Now in my 25 years on this planet, I have seen, and done some pretty selfish things, but this really has to rank up there with most despicably low in my mind. I understand being angry about the delay, and anxious about the possibility of missing a connecting flight, but there really is no excuse for that sort of behaviour. They made every passenger even more delayed on their trip, and also gave the flight crew and even longer day, and they really don't deserve it.
So while the Bible, and a great band tell us to find “the good in everyone”, there are situations like this when I remember one of the most important lessons I have ever learned in my life, some people really are just assholes.
Until next time,
G
Friday, December 21, 2007
Holiday Leave
I'm heading to my dad's today to begin the Christmas celebrations (mental note: must finish my shopping...), so I will probably not be posting again until I'm down in the Caribbean in a week or so...yeah it's a tough life.
Whatever you're celebrating this time of the year, I hope that it's a great one! This certainly has been an interesting year for me, and I'm glad that I have this blog to look back on as a sort of a public and nerdy diary. Hopefully, you've all enjoyed following me along this past year and a bit.
To tide you over in your constant search for Glenergy, here is a video of one of the funniest things that I've seen in a very long time.
Brilliant, eh?
Until next time,
G
Whatever you're celebrating this time of the year, I hope that it's a great one! This certainly has been an interesting year for me, and I'm glad that I have this blog to look back on as a sort of a public and nerdy diary. Hopefully, you've all enjoyed following me along this past year and a bit.
To tide you over in your constant search for Glenergy, here is a video of one of the funniest things that I've seen in a very long time.
Brilliant, eh?
Until next time,
G
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Candidacy Chaos
We reflect more on the year that was by looking at the story of a comedian, a fundamentalist, a self-proclaimed martyr, a retired soldier, grassroots campaigns, and some audacious hope.
This year holds some very exciting promise. After putting up with a scary, war-mongering, constitution-defying, oil-greedy establishment south of the border, there is finally a chance for it to change.
While the election is still a solid 11 months away, there has been no shortage of drama already in this very wide-open race. At the start of the year, it seemed destined to be a Hilary Clinton against either John McCain or Rudy Guiliani, now a short while later and that remains in question.
On the Democratic side of things, we have seen the rapid rise of Barack Obama and a fairly strong surge by John Edwards. At the end of the day though, I think that Obama really is going to be the one to pull ahead. The man is just too good of a speaker, and is putting forward too strong of a message to be ignored. There is a certain appeal in an Obama-Edwards ticket, if for nothing else than potential sitcom moments that a black guy and southerner tandem possess. Saturday Night Live would have a field day with those two running together.
Of course, joining the Democratic candidates was comedian Stephen Colbert, whose satirical campaign came very close to reality. He planned on running in his home state of South Carolina, and garnered incredible support, including the fastest growing Facebook group in history. However, the South Carolina Democratic executive council voted against his nomination. It's too bad, because him running could have made things very, very interesting.
On the Republican end there seems to be a far more open field. There is once again the man that was blatantly robbed in 2000, John McCain, who is joined by former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani, and a cast of relative new comers to the world's eye. With the "Back to Basics" message coming from Senator Ron Paul that seems to be gathering a very large grassroots movement, and the "Trust in God" message coming from Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, being the two most interesting.
Huckabee seems to be gathering all sorts of momentum, especially among the evangelical-right that helped put Bush into power. I would not at all be surprised to see a Huckabee-Obama showdown, in a truly monumental and epic presidential race. We would see the first African-American candidate, promising change, go up against a Southern Minister who has associated homosexuality with necrophilia at one point. Make no mistake about it, this is a very important year for the course of the United States, and therefore the world. We should have a lot more to reflect on in one year's time.
Until next time,
G
This year holds some very exciting promise. After putting up with a scary, war-mongering, constitution-defying, oil-greedy establishment south of the border, there is finally a chance for it to change.
While the election is still a solid 11 months away, there has been no shortage of drama already in this very wide-open race. At the start of the year, it seemed destined to be a Hilary Clinton against either John McCain or Rudy Guiliani, now a short while later and that remains in question.
On the Democratic side of things, we have seen the rapid rise of Barack Obama and a fairly strong surge by John Edwards. At the end of the day though, I think that Obama really is going to be the one to pull ahead. The man is just too good of a speaker, and is putting forward too strong of a message to be ignored. There is a certain appeal in an Obama-Edwards ticket, if for nothing else than potential sitcom moments that a black guy and southerner tandem possess. Saturday Night Live would have a field day with those two running together.
Of course, joining the Democratic candidates was comedian Stephen Colbert, whose satirical campaign came very close to reality. He planned on running in his home state of South Carolina, and garnered incredible support, including the fastest growing Facebook group in history. However, the South Carolina Democratic executive council voted against his nomination. It's too bad, because him running could have made things very, very interesting.
On the Republican end there seems to be a far more open field. There is once again the man that was blatantly robbed in 2000, John McCain, who is joined by former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani, and a cast of relative new comers to the world's eye. With the "Back to Basics" message coming from Senator Ron Paul that seems to be gathering a very large grassroots movement, and the "Trust in God" message coming from Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, being the two most interesting.
Huckabee seems to be gathering all sorts of momentum, especially among the evangelical-right that helped put Bush into power. I would not at all be surprised to see a Huckabee-Obama showdown, in a truly monumental and epic presidential race. We would see the first African-American candidate, promising change, go up against a Southern Minister who has associated homosexuality with necrophilia at one point. Make no mistake about it, this is a very important year for the course of the United States, and therefore the world. We should have a lot more to reflect on in one year's time.
Until next time,
G
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
