Cheshire Prospects

Back on Ice

2011-09-04T12:27:00.000-04:00

Well, we tried. After a really good, solid month of blogging back in July, we've fallen off the bus again. And as this season/school year begins it doesn't look like it's going to get any easier to post regularly. So back into stasis Cheshire Prospects will go. If I find anything really good or worth posting about, I will so you all will know that the blog still has a heartbeat but sorry for getting back into it and then dropping off cold turkey again. And thanks as always for your readership.

Saying and Meaning

2011-08-23T00:40:00.000-04:00

TPM highlights a great study about the characteristics of the Tea Party Movement and, of course, showing how ridiculously hypocritical it's supporters views are. But of course, it was done by academics so it can't be trusted.

Putting things in perspective

2011-08-13T22:34:00.000-04:00

Via Dean Elmore (I know, right? He's the man!), a little web tool to understand the scale of existence.

"Well I gaht her numbah"

2011-08-13T14:57:00.000-04:00

Via Alex Whalen, those "wicked smaht guys ahcross tha rivah" at MIT might have just cured viral infections. Yeah, not just one - ALL OF THEM.

Gwah

2011-08-09T02:15:00.000-04:00

Yeah, so not going to blog tonight - going to try to sort through/load the pictures from this past weekend onto my computer without it blowing up my computer. And I have a good post I feel coming on, it just needs some more time to simmer.

In the meanwhile, you can read about The Great Jewish Hope (and I'm throwing a copyright on that right now).

San Frantic

2011-08-07T21:13:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the hiatus all. Between moving this week and traveling to the City (and surrounding areas) by the Bay this weekend, the bloggy schedule has been all screwed up. We'll try to get back at it tomorrow with some reflections.

As promised

2011-08-02T23:22:00.001-04:00

The man is on point:

The Daily Show - Daily Show: Dealageddon! - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Compromise - Tea Party No-Win
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Long day

2011-08-02T02:57:00.000-04:00

We're not going to get in a legit post tonight - between moving couches, moving beds, moving moving stuff, swimming, seeing a friendly face, and finally doing laundry while watching Shark Week, I'm spent.

Just know Jon Stewart was on point about the debt crisis endgame tonight, and you'll probably be able to watch the clip here tomorrow.

Life Decisions

2011-08-01T01:02:00.001-04:00

I like to think I usually make pretty good decisions. I tend to be very logical, and try and remove my emotions from it and think level-headedly. I usually kinda pride myself on it. And this usually is exasperated by money being involved. Bonus multipliers for that the more money that's involved.

I had no intention of buying a car today. Heck, I really just went out to get a new mattress. But I was over in the neighborhood and stopped at the nearest by car dealership, intending on looking at a totally different car. But then, I kinda just wanted to check something else out. And then I drove it. And then I was there for the rest of the afternoon haggling and trying to convince myself that I could really do this.

So when I came home with this today, after getting what I felt to be a really good deal, well all I can say is:

Giddyup, Pony.

Doesn't matter if you think you're a blue or red...

2011-07-31T02:45:00.000-04:00

..You're all yellow in my mind.

Back to Econ... I know, I'm tired of writing about it too. But two things I noticed from TPM.

First, this notion from Dems that the President should just invoke the 14th Amendment, which would essentially allow him to raise the debt ceiling without any need from Congress. Does this solve the debt ceiling problem? For now, yes. Is it the way this should be done? NO! NO NO NO NO NO! You cowardly, yellow, spineless politicians - LISTEN UP! DO YOUR JOB! You were elected to lead! Leading requires you to have to be accountable from time to time - AND NOW IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES! Could it damage your chances of getting re-elected? Yes. But guess what? In three days the United States might default on it's credit, sending the economy into another tailspin. I don't know if you've noticed, BUT EVERYONE IS HURTING OUT HERE! You can either do the right thing, hopefully minimize the damage you all have caused in this idiotic tango you all have been playing at the past few weeks, and be held accountable - or you can keep being the writhing, whiny little wastes of oxygen that you are, screw the pooch on this, and then STILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE! You wanted the job - DO YOUR JOB!

I'm sorry. But that needed to be said. In caps at times, too.

Secondly, Josh Marshall makes a really great point about how incredibly redundant and moronic it is that we are having this crisis at all. Maybe someone should LEAD a movement in one of the DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE BODIES OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT to get rid of it.

And, now that that's all out, bedtime. Hopefully when I wake up, someone will have an idea of who is leading this great, broke nation of ours - and with any luck it might just be the people who we chose to do it.

Drink and be merry

2011-07-30T02:04:00.001-04:00

So, the Oregon Brewers Festival (OBF) is awesome. Like really, really awesome. Just a review of what we sampled tonight (since anything more than that is going to be way way more that what we can handle in the condition we're in):

WINNING (THE BEST OF THE FESTIVAL)
Summer Solstice Cervesa Crema (Summer Cream Ale, 5%) - Anderson Valley Brewing of Booneville, California
Idiot Sauvin (New Zealand Style IPA, 7%) - Elysian Brewing Co. of Seattle, Washington
Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild (Strong Belgian Pale Ale, 8.7%) - Lagunitas Brewing Co. of Petaluma, California
Dark Star (Cascadian Dark Ale, 8%) - McMenamins Cornelius Pass Roadhouse of Hillsboro, Oregon
Bruce/Lee Porter (Robust Porter, 8.1%) - Prodigal Son Brewery & Pub of Pendleton, Oregon

DEFINITELY WORTH WAITING IN LINE FOR
Jackalope Imperial Pumpkin Porter (Pumpkin Porter, 7.5%) - Beer Valley Brewing of Ontario, Oregon
Donner Party Porter (American Style Imperial Porter, 8.5%) - FiftyFifty Brewing Co. of Truckee, California
Altered State (German Style Sticke Beer, 6.7%) - Hollister Brewing Co. of Goleta, California
Evelyn's Imperial Sunshine (Imperial IPA, 7.5%) - Hopworks Urban Brewery of Portland, Oregon
Hell (Munich Helles, 4.8%) - Surly Brewing of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota

EHHHH...INTERESTING?
Hop Rod Rye (Rye IPA, 8%) - Bear Republic Brewing Co. of Cloverdale, California
Oranje World (Saison, 6.2%) - Black Diamond Brewing Co. of Concord, California
Girl Beer (Fruit/Session, 6%) - Boneyard Beer of Bend, Oregon
Wu C.R.E.A.M. (Cream Ale, 4,8%) - Coalition Brewing Co. of Portland, Oregon
Berried Alive! (Belgian Boysenberry Ale, 5.5%) - Old Market Pub & Brewery of Portland, Oregon

AVOID
Black & Red (Rasberry Mint Imperial Stout, 10.3%) - Dogfish Head Craft Brewery of Milton, Delaware
Zombie Flanders (Flander Red Ale, 6.6%) - Rock Bottom Brewery of Portland, Oregon

Granted, these are not all the beers that were available. There were 84 beers out to be tasted (ignoring the selection in the "Buzz Tent"), meaning really I only got to sample a mere fifth of what was offered there tonight. So if you are ever this way during the last weekend of July, be sure to hit it up. It's totally worth it.

The Rich Get Richer.

2011-07-28T23:36:00.001-04:00

Oh don't worry - despite what the title of this post might say, this isn't going to be another one about the economy, or debt crisis, or really even money. Well maybe money. But not my, nor the federal government's (or lack there of).

No, this post is going to be a little post about my New England Patriots, and them somehow signing not only one of the biggest, dominating (though disgruntled) players in the game in Albert Haynesworth, but also getting one of the ~~loudest mouths~~ best receivers in the game in Chad Ochocinco. In the same day. THE SAME DAY!

First, Haysworth. He's had a troubled past - most recently on the Washington Redskins for showing up to camp incredibly out of shape despite being one of the highest paid players in the game. And them Mike Shanahan called him on it, and barely let him play. And I'm not saying that moving to the Patriots will change that, but you need to look at the history of what Bill Belichick and his coaching staff have done with players who aren't a good fit elsewhere/and a squeaky wheel/are considered not worth the effort or washed up. Somehow, Belichick gets them to believe in the system and themselves, and the player becomes a solid contributor (Fred Taylor/Junior Seau) to an all out dominant force (Corey Dillon/Rodney Harrison/Randy Moss). Haysworth will not be relied upon to be out on the field all of the time (which is what Washington was banking on him for), Belichick is too smart for that. They'll use him situationally, a few times a series with lots of rest for the big fella so he can go in and be a playmaker, a dominant force. Maybe it'll work.

And then there is Ochocinco. Now, I don't really like Chad Ochocinco - the character. But I can respect Chad Ochocinco - the football player. And apparently he and Bill Belichick have a good relationship for having never been coach/player together. So that makes me feel like this is gonna work, that Belichick will give Chad enough leash to "be him," and in return Ochocinco is going to take it to a level of focus that we might not really recognize him from the ~~Bungels~~ Bengals. I think Chad is tired of being a sideshow attraction - I think he wants to BE THE attraction. I think he wants a ring. I think he want to not have to deal with a primadonna quarterback who can't live up to his potential - he wants to be operating on defenses with the surgeon that is Tom Brady. So I think this is going to work. And I think this is going to be fun.

And so Foxborough is again the Island of Misfit Toys. And we have The Man Who Saved Football, BB and the Lost Boys. Thank whatever deity you want, but thank them for this football season because it's going to be fun.

Well, on my end at least.

No econ homework tonight

2011-07-27T23:58:00.000-04:00

Instead I'm just gonna plug for Alex Whalen, the only PhDJ. Turn up your speakers and let your mind run for an hour.

All the Talent is in the Private Sector

2011-07-27T00:39:00.000-04:00

In light of the last two posts here, I can't help but share this Quote of the Day over at The Daily Dish:

"I hope we gave a little lesson to the people in Washington because the debt ceiling is a lot easier to fix than this was," - New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, on the NFL lockout deal.

Boehner's Cards

2011-07-27T00:35:00.000-04:00

In the past few weeks on negotiations on this debt ceiling/spending/taxes thing, I clearly remember the President telling Eric Cantor and Speaker Boehner "not to call my bluff" on this deal. The President wants something long term that actually addresses the problems of tax code loopholes (NOT tax increases to most Americans but rather just those who are making tons of money by cheating the system), and that addresses federal spending in areas that are the causes of our increased debt (Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, Defense). To accomplish this, the President actually has gone against the wants of his party and constituents by offering up other sorts of entitlement programs to the GOP to show that, "Yes, I am serious about this - I'm willing to put my neck out on this to reach a compromise, now throw in your chips too." But he said clearly: "Don't call my bluff."

Well, the House Republicans had to go and call because they think they're all friggin' cowboys and good guys don't budge on principle (even if that principle has very, very steep consequences). And well, it looks like Boehner was holding ace-high, and not a whole lot besides that. Saying he even had ace-high is generous, because honestly, when you get called out by the CBO for proposing something that the President has already said he won't sign and the Senate is unlikely to pass anyways, you really are holding a whole lot of crap. Considering that he decided to step away from negotiations with President Obama when they were relatively close to a deal, and then deliver this flop (and even more pathetically, how the House Republican caucus tried to rally around it), well someone has pie on his face, and I think Speaker Boehner is tasting cream when he licks his lips.

So I guess what the endgame comes to is this: Are the people we chose to represent us in office going to fail us and allow the nation to default on it's credit? As The Atlantic points out, the President and his party have offered many, many concessions to negotiate a compromise and throw ourselves a rope as we head off the brink. Even the Senate Republicans would be happy with the deal he crafted. But the fools in the People's Chamber are the ones who want to play this deadly hand of cards with a weak hand and better options.

It makes me so mad to see these cowards controlling our country in this pivotal moment when there are so many good people who are trying to do the right thing and not play games with this. Why did I think getting back into blogging with my family history of high blood pressure was a good idea when you could see this coming down the road? Sigh.

The Man Who Saved Football

2011-07-25T23:26:00.000-04:00

Robert Kraft, who despite all of the turmoil and unimaginable pain he has gone through in the past few months culminating in the loss of his wife Myra to cancer last week, selflessly worked to mediate a deal so that football players and coaches and owner and fans could have a pro football season this year.

Mr. Kraft, I am of course biased towards you because you are the owner of the team I have rooted for since I was little. But we all owe you a great debt for your work, and our deepest condolences on the loss of your amazing wife.

Watch the video in the article, it's pretty moving.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2011-07-25T00:32:00.001-04:00

This afternoon was pretty eventful/entertaining/exhausting. And just like in the Clint Eastwood classic, I ran into people who, if life could freeze frame and throw up giant words next to them, would have been contenders for the title. So let's get to it:

THE GOOD

Trek in the Park was pretty awesome. The cast and everyone involved in the project deserve way more acclaim than the many accolades they are getting in local papers. They took on Mirror, Mirror, which may be may favorite TOS episode (geek cred +1 for me, and +1 for you if you know what I'm talking about), and just did a really great job with it: played up the "theatre-in-the-round" part, made adjustments to accommodate the hundreds of people that showed up (though they need to get a better location, it has seriously outgrown Woodlawn Park), humor was inserted at just the right moments to remind everyone not to take it too seriously. It was a really great experience all around. Super, super kudos to them, and I can't wait for next year.

THE BAD

Salespeople are snakes. Car salespeople are snakes in motor oil. My experience today made me want to continue playing Peter Pan and keep riding my bike and never have to grow up and get a car. I know it's their job to push cars, but seriously - after you ask me what it'll take for me to go home with one of your cars today and I tell you I'm not going home with one of their cars today, CUT THE EFF OUT! We can be civil, hell I'll go out of my way to be cordial. But I'm not your friend, I'm not your buddy ("Who you callin' buddy, pal?"). You can't keep changing numbers and deals on me every three minutes and think I'm gonna keep up (I'm a visual learner, damn it!). You can't try and ice me twice and think I'm gonna fall for it - I watch football, basketball, and baseball (hell, we talked about baseball sitting there!), you aren't gonna get me on it, especially when I just watch you walk away twice and go and just flirt with the secretary for two minutes then come back and think I'm shaken. If I want your car, I'll buy it when I damn well please. Back off thugs.

THE UGLY

I went to a bar the other night (me, myself, and I "sharing a drink they call loneliness/but it's better than drinking aloooooone. La lala diddy da"), and the bartender happened to be from Boston and the east coast originally. She told me the thing that's going to take a while to get used to is the hippies and hipsters. I've dealt with hipsters before, and hippies I can ignore, how bad can they be in this town? Turns out - pretty bad. Trek in the Park was LOADED with them. Sure, you had some straight geeked out people (talking to you, guy in the DS9-style tunic. Geek cred +1), but there were just a lot of people who I don't really know as to why they were there. You can't do a crossword and be watching the play. You can't be sleeping and watching the play. Why are you wearing a kilt made of black jean material? You know, you don't have to cut every full-length (arms or legs) article of clothing to be somewhere around three-quarter length and look like you pulled it from Axel Rose's wardrobe in 1990. And I didn't think I could get more upset over sunglasses than those bug-looking ones wanna-be chic girls wear, but you need to cut it out with the wanna-be Ray-Bans and aviators, especially with your floral print wifebeaters, hipsters. I just don't get it. The fact I had a fitted baseball cap on made me feel really awkward in your sea of fluorescent hair streaking and trucker hats and cyclist caps is just not something that should happen. So this could be an interesting part of living here. We might need a reoccurring segment - Hipster Watch.

Oooo Weee Oooo Weee Ooooo . . . Waah Waah Waaaaaah

Tick Tick

2011-07-23T14:34:00.002-04:00

Via Harrison, this and this should make us all feel a lot better.

Oh did I say better? I meant hopeless; like fetal-position-in-the-corner-oh-sweet-baby-Jesus-what-are-we-gonna-do hopeless.

Screw it, I'm going to walk in the park.

UPDATE: Via Andrew Sullivan - a website for visual learners like me.

Now for real, the park.

On a lighter note

2011-07-23T02:06:00.000-04:00

Via Andrew Sullivan:

Rated R for Really Really Right.

2011-07-23T01:57:00.000-04:00

You want to know why I'm glad I didn't end up in government or politics? Because of having to deal with people like the Congressional Republicans, who don't seem to realize the game they are playing with the US/world economy. What shallow, narcissistic, short-sighted individuals. And we all thought these Wall Street power brokers should have been more careful and not gambled with other peoples' money, but then you have these cavaliers who care only about getting themselves re-elected for being able to say "I stood on principle" - while the world burned around you, you twits! But I guess it's our own fault, America - these are the people we chose to let represent us. Way to care:

I love Obama at the end of this, by the way. The man is about ready to say, "You know what? You want me out? I'm gonna take my retirement four years early and hit up that sweet touring circuit to pad my daughters' inheritance. Like Palin, I'M OUT! Have fun getting kicked out of office in 2012, douchebags! I'm moving back (wink wink) to Kenya!"

Make sure everyone around you sees what is going on. Don't let these thugs pull the wool over your eyes when you next go to the voting booth. I made a mistake of not feeling like my vote mattered in 2010, that I didn't deserve to have a say - it did, I did. Remember this.

Workin' for the Weekend

2011-07-22T01:04:00.000-04:00

This weekend? Work. Next weekend! Work and move. THE WEEKEND AFTER NEXT!

The Social Network Sacrifice

2011-07-21T01:11:00.000-04:00

Couple good reads for today, and their kinda connected (actually, they're literally connected since I found one linking off of the other):

First via Alex Whalen, there's this New York Magazine column by Paul Ford about how Facebook and social media are removing the process of narrative, of us as people being able to tell a story as beginning, middle, end.

The second was a link I found off of the above, a New York Times op-ed by author Jonathan Frazen based off of his commencement address to Kenyon College this past spring. His piece speaks to the fear that we as a people are losing the ability to truly love and care about things because of technology and social media like Facebook - how "liking" has become a pathetic replacement for the act of truly loving something... or someone.

As someone trying to control their dosage of "The Book," both pieces hit a cord with me, especially Frazen's. The freedom to choose is what drives not only the market but society, and it's obvious that social media is the next revolutionary phase of how we as people communicate with one another as I've said before. But in the same way as there need to be regulators to protect us in the "Wild West" that is capitalism and choice, there should be some sort of regulator for what we are giving into this new medium that grabs us at the most intimate, individual level. In the same way people deserve to be informed by a reliable source of what they choose to do in the free market, they too should be made aware (or at least have to stop and think) of what they are give in to this incredible new machine, what they sacrifice on the alter of social connectivity.

Two of my friends both messaged me tonight about the new Amazing Spider-Man trailer (which I refuse to link to on principle - I am not impressed - go Google it if you really care to see it). One sent me a text, the other left me a message on my wall. And rather than just use the same mediums to share my thoughts with them, I decided to call. And with both I talked for much longer than I could have honestly shared via either texting or on Facebook. I know I felt much better talking to them, it made me nostalgic for when we lived much closer together and could banter in person on almost a nightly basis. It reminded me of how much I valued our time, and our friendship. And that's exactly what I feel Frazen is talking about; we are losing our ability to tightly hang on to what we in our heart-of-hearts cherish.

So the next time someone sends you a text or wall post or any sort of message what is limited by the number of characters you can at one time, blow off the return message and dial their number. I think you'll find, like I did tonight, that the little bit of an investment it is of your time will reap you a reward that you cannot get wrapped in flat blue and white masthead.

About friggin time

2011-07-20T00:52:00.000-04:00

Thanks, adults in the room. Now do your job, Congress.

Break the walls DOOOOOOWN

2011-07-20T00:10:00.000-04:00

I know - pro wrestling is fake. Or at least the storylines and drama are, though I still think some of the people who get in the squared circle are some of the fittest, most athletic, toughest people out there. It at least get my respect for that (like cheerleading). But despite all that, yeah it's fake.

But then I see this on Grantland about how this guy, CM Punk, has pretty much in the course of a month has made everyone second guess what the hell is going on in there. The guy broke the fourth wall, then talked about it in GQ. Then won the championship. Then walked out with the belt and no contract for the next day. The next night, while the company is in Wisconsin shooting a live event, he's in his hometown Chicago watching the Cubbies, belt in tow. Now obviously there is still some sort of staged story line going on, but Punk legit doesn't have a contract and legit is the champion. It's surreal.

Well as surreal as it gets being a staged sport. But when you recycle storylines on a yearly basis, something new is better than nothing, right?

Oh jeez, here we go again

2011-07-19T00:27:00.000-04:00

Another year of me fanboying to no end:

Pacific Time

2011-07-18T02:12:00.000-04:00

I just had my first experience with what few from where I'm from can comprehend. My brother spoke of it, merely as a whisper, for to speak of it any more loudly would cause it to catch upon the wind and disappear. A mythical event, which portrays the best of sports fandom. I speak, of course, about watching the late game go sixteen innings, five hours and forty-four minutes, and have it only be eleven o'clock. That is magical.

By the way, The Tres is still, if not more, amazing than the last time I wrote about it. I love you, ESPN, in all of your self-aggrandizing glory.

Keepin' It Real

2011-07-17T16:04:00.000-04:00

Via Alex Whalen (I know, it's two in a row from him but the man pulls good stuff), anyone who calls the sitting President of the United States an "idealist" should take a look at this. The man is a pragmatic realist. I didn't vote for him because of HOPE or CHANGE - I voted for him because of his CLARITY OF VISION. I didn't vote for him because of what HE PROMISED - I voted for him because of what HE IS.

I also love that he said this to a group of college students - the dude is still a professor at heart:

The Next Communication Revolution

2011-07-16T19:14:00.001-04:00

Via Alex Whalen, from whom I pretty much got interested in and learned everything about communications policy and history - this article by Bill Wyman for Slate looks at the gathering storm clouds for the visual (TV, movies) entertainment industry and compares them to what technology has done to the music industry. They can see it coming, and you know they're gonna make the same mistakes again and again.

In Alex's class I learned that whenever there is an innovation in how information is shared, it takes the private sector and the government time to catch up and be able to truly regulate it. And usually by the time they do, there's already another new piece of tech that they don't have a handle upon that is reshaping how people communicate.

Welcome to the next generation of the digital age, Hollywood.

You better hurry up, North Dakota

2011-07-15T11:50:00.001-04:00

Off of yesterday's piece on North Dakota failing to constitutionally meet the requirements for United Statehood, we get this off the wire from CNN this morning.

Now, normally I'd be totally for splitting southern and northern California into two states. Just ask any Californian - San Franciscans hate being in the same state as Los Angelinos, and vice versa. They have very different cultures, very different vibes. Not to mention the state is huge - it could spare being split up.

That is, I was until I actually saw this "conservative" Riverside County supervisor's plan:

It would be composed of 13 largely Republican counties, most of which are inland along the Nevada and Arizona state lines. The plan would exclude Los Angeles County, but would include Orange and San Diego Counties, both on the coast.

So really this is just jerrymandering, which is then backed up by his reasoning for the drastic measure of seccession:

Stone has a long list of grievances against the state and its legislators: high taxes and fees, inability to reform welfare programs, high unemployment and excessive regulations...Stone, a pharmacist and owner of an innovative compounding pharmacy, said he drew the lines for a new state by picking 13 counties that were contiguous and fiscally conservative or moderate.

The first part there is actually my favorite part, the "state officials have done all these bad things to us." YOU VOTED THEM THERE! It's partly your responsibility you are in this mess! It is such a typical pseudo-conservative answer today, that now that we are in this mess for reasons we are partly accountable to the only way to solve our problem is to cut everything off completely. Makes perfect sense! And because taking we won't be part of California anymore, we won't have all the fiscal problems they have. Because its the state legislators and elected officials who have done this to Riverside:

Riverside County is among the hardest hit communities by the recession and mortgage meltdown, leaving many communities pockmarked with vacant homes, Stone said.
"We are the foreclosure capital of the world," Stone asserted. "We have some areas of the county that have 25% unemployment. The average in Riverside County is about 15%."

You would think that would be the responsibility of the person supervising the county, no? Please someone vote this guy out of office.

Every once in a while

2011-07-15T03:04:00.000-04:00

Time seems to cover some really, REALLY interesting stories.

First, via Steve the Whaler, you can get a preview of America's new 50th state. Aren't there fifty states already, you may ask? Not so.

And secondly, this is just too satirical not to be covered. Oh Europeans.

The Wild Blue Imagination

2011-07-14T00:44:00.002-04:00

Working camp this past week, I've come to appreciate many things but the most of which is the pure, unrefined awesome-sauce you taste when you get little kids to have fun just to have fun. I'm pretty sure, once upon a time, we old people used to call this "playing." But the little dudes and girls really have it mastered, which is kinda funny to think about really - usually time and experience allow you to master something, but the inexperienced youth of our society are the ones who really know how to do it up right. I can't think of any other species or example of where this really ever happens. Kinda cool.

Anyways, what got me on this tear is a link I found on The (Daily?) Dish (part of blogging again requires one to actually do some deep reading again). It's for Imaginawesome, an art project by artist/software engineer Garrett Miller in which he takes the submitted artwork of kids and gives it an experienced artist's touch. The product is something like what you get to the right, but the even cooler by-product is what you get below:

Zuck's Own Medicine

2011-07-13T11:16:00.003-04:00

Via Elysse, from Slashdot:
Mark Zuckerberg has decided to leave Google's new social network because he 'doesn't want to be tracked.' In other news, the Internet's irony meter has just exploded.

Mean Girls v. Godzilla

2011-07-13T00:36:00.000-04:00

College campuses frequently play host during the summer months to a variety of camps and conferences. I happen to be helping out at one right now (http://www.starsandstripestrack.com/ DING! cheap plug). But not all camps, nor their participants are created equal.

I have nothing against cheerleaders, except when they end up taking themselves too seriously. I'm sure if there was any true circulation of this blog, I would receive tons of hate mail for saying that. I'm sorry but you can't be a sport if the purpose of your activity exists entirely because of sports. I will absolutely agree that cheerleading can require a great amount of skill, and people can put in a lot of work, and it can be very dangerous. But so is knife throwing. And that's not a sport.

So this past weekend the campus played host to a youth cheerleading camp. There are few things in this world more painfully annoying than middle school girls with attitudes, superiority complexes, overly accommodating and supportive parents, and very loud, shrill voices at all times. But then they were gone. Balance had been restored to the Force.

As I walk home from work across campus tonight, I notice these big packs of kids running around all over the place. Most are wearing some form of pajamas, or what should be pajamas and not actual clothes. Another is wearing what looks like a very colorful bathrobe. Another wearing a panda bear on her head, and a Hello Kitty hair clip. And there are tons of them. Like the group (or maybe it was their street gang) that were clogging the stairway I was hoping to pass through. We had an interesting conversation, in my passing - I couldn't tell if I was being made fun of, or if the guy who was trying to speak to me was the object of the group's laughter. Maybe it was their laughter ringing with me all the way back to my room, or the tehehe's of the groups of girls giggling to themselves seemingly everywhere.

Japanese high schoolers, on campus for the next week.

I really need to find an apartment soon.

I Hate Economics

2011-07-12T01:15:00.000-04:00

You know, at some point maybe the politicians in this country will realize that it's not the "liberal communist media/academic elite" nor the "right-wing, loony, gun toting, banjo playing fascists" who are leading the country down a hole it can't dig out of, but rather each's unbudging idealism. Both claim to believe in the principles and ideals espoused by the Founding Fathers of our land - THEN START FRIGGIN' ACTING LIKE IT! You know why we have a country and a constitution? Because they compromised. And at some point everyone with hands in this deficit mess is going to have to start playing and stop passing the check to the next guy.

My leftist comrades, I'm sorry but we need to curtail spending. Yes, I know the Right was who started spending uncontrollably in the past decade. Yes, I know you haven't gotten to really even tried governing like liberals (thanks for that point, Bill Maher). Tough. Times dictate measures. You need to stop spending so much, because this deficit is ridiculous and needs to be addressed.

Oh and don't think you're getting out of this easy either, you wolf-in-sheeps-clothes conservatives. The lefties are right (see the play on words there?) - you got us into this mess, with your wars and tax cuts for the rich and tax loopholes for corporations. Yeah, the Dems legislation to repair the jobs and economy of our country didn't work as well as they wanted. Yeah, maybe it was a crappy time to do the whole healthcare reform thing, but at least they were trying to address problems in our country. So guess how we're going to get some of that money back? Taxes. Time to pay the piper, you ninnies. You helped run up the check, so it's time for you to bite the bullet and start admitting that 1) we need revenue and not just spending cuts to reduce the debt, and 2) there are some problems that the federal government does have to address, like the NATIONAL DEBT. Not Obama's debt, not Bush's debt. The one all of us racked up. Put your patriotism where your mouth is - it doesn't taste so good, does it?

I'm gonna close with two things: First, I'm pretty sure Bill Simmons (yeah, the sports guy, of all people) made the incredibly astute observation (though I'm having trouble finding it, I think it's in this piece though) that the NFL lockout, the NBA lockout, and this whole deficit thing have a couple key traits in common - particularly the stubbornness of the parties involved to see how much they are messing everyone over, and the refusal of all parties to admit that they are part of the problem.

Lastly, I want to thank Steph for bringing to my attention this quote from Warren Buffet:

I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.

(Photo Credit: http://debtceilingcat.tumblr.com/)

West Side Story

2011-07-10T21:21:00.000-04:00

Cheshire Prospects has a new home, ladies and gentlemen - Portland, Oregon. Straight from the heartland of running, cross country, and track & field. Stumptown. Timberland. The Rose City.

Speaking of roses, let's call a rose a rose - I've done a pretty pathetic job at keeping this site up to date. Heck, I even missed our two year anniversary. If this site were my wife, I'd be on the couch.

So that ends today. I propose a challenge for myself (which wouldn't have been much of a challenge back in the day, but we ain't back in the day are we Cupcake?) and am going to blog everyday for the next month. Maybe they won't be as insightful or entertaining as they once were (thanks, damaged computer), but they'll be there. I'm going to try and provide as much insight into this new west coast easy feelin' as I can. Game on.

In the tradition of our namesake, let's have a little quote:

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.

To new adventures, and the stories to be told from them.

Well, that sums it up about right

2011-05-02T09:19:00.000-04:00

Via Alex Whalen:

I've been asleep since ten last night, so it kinda feels like I just woke up in an alternate universe.

Sound of the Day

2011-04-26T19:28:00.002-04:00

Via Alyssa:

Video of the Day

2011-04-06T20:16:00.000-04:00

Via Casey, and for all of them out there that are "making" it:

Finally something about March Madness...in April

2011-04-04T00:46:00.001-04:00

Butler Blue II is my homeboy.

So this has probably been my favorite NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament ever (I know, I said the same thing last year), for a wide number of reasons - My team was in it and played a great game against one of my other favorite teams. My bracket was totally busted very early. Lots of upsets. Lots of parity. A mid-major in the final (again). A cinderella team that nearly every sports talking head said did not even DESERVE TO BE IN THE TOURNAMENT making it to the Final Four. Young coaches with actual student-athletes, rather than your usual athletes posing as students until they qualify for the draft. Every game being broadcast. What a great three weekends of sport.

And then there's this guy - a DIII white-boy guard with A FIFTY INCH VERTICAL winning a dunk contest. No cars, no choirs, no gimmicks.

Slow it down

2011-03-23T00:28:00.000-04:00

So you know its gotta be a slow news day in the football world when this is the article you send to print.

Speaking of slow news, sorry about the gap in posting here at Cheshire Prospects - it's been a wild, busy few months. We'll try to pick it up again soon. At the very latest some of us could be unemployed again in a few months, which will clear up a lot of time in the schedule.

Primed for Madness

2011-02-26T21:45:00.000-05:00

Via D-Will, I just go so excited to realize that March Madness is nearly upon us! Guess who'd going to be a sleeper in my tournament bracket thanks to their pep band?

Video of the Day

2011-02-26T08:32:00.000-05:00

Via Marchany:

Video of the Day

2011-02-05T23:19:00.001-05:00

Supposedly this is a Super Bowl ad premiering tomorrow night, but since it's out now let's share the love:

We Three Speeches

2011-01-26T00:50:00.000-05:00

I'm not gonna go deep here on the three political speeches given tonight, so if you're looking for that glance over to the right side of the page and click one of the political blogs. They'll be better than me.

Let's start with the headliner - President Obama's State of the Union Address. Pretty positive, really liked where his head is at. Despite what the right or the left want you to believe about him, I voted the man into office two years ago because I thought he was a centrist. And that dude showed up tonight, hitting up both what comes next and why it needs to some next. The vision is to create a new America based investment in practical innovation leading to growth and structuring infrastructure and government institutions, but at the same time addressing our weaknesses including the debt and spending. Now can he pull that off? I don't know - tough to control spending when you don't hold the purse as Maddow is reminding me over my shoulder as I type this. But it was a really good, really centrist speech that broadly addressed how we need to go forward, and the boy had his game face on.

Before I move on, just one more thing: he had some great liners in this one: "Be a teacher. Your country needs you." Gays in the military right into allowing ROTC/recruiters on college campuses - that was a Paul Pierce drive into a fadeaway jumper right there. Reforming the tax code. Reforming the structure of government - DAMN. He's dreaming big.

The official Republican Response by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan was, well, sobering. I don't want to call him a buzzkill, but he did a good job reiterating that the debt is going to be a big monkey to get off our backs, and it's gonna be on there for awhile. And while I like the new Obama "future," Paul Ryan made sure to hammer home that the debt is a serious issue we're going to have a tough ride getting to that future. So in context, reasonable rebuttal. Only trick is, by itself it's got some serious issues. I still didn't hear any substantive ideas beyond "repeal health care," which isn't enough and was very limited in scope. And then there was the apocalyptic economic fairy tale Ryan fed to America's children as they were getting tucked in - good to see that the GOP isn't tried of riding that fearmongering pony yet (you would think the poor horse would have seen greener pastures by now). Seriously, chill out dude.

And then there was the other response. Apparently CNN was the only network to carry Rep. Michelle Bachmann's Tea Party response (thanks again, Rachel), and I just happened to watch it on there live. And you know, really all it did was reinforce my belief that the Tea Party isn't really a political party at all - it's a fad. So we're gonna talk just about the debt and spending, I got that over the past year of your noisemaking. At least the GOP and Rep. Ryan addressed that both parties in many Congresses and presidencies over many decades have caused out debt via our growing spending problems, but like so many who have jumped on the Tea Party bandwagon in the past year or so (including Bachmann), they have a problem being selective whith their histories. Bachmann made that case that all of the peachy awsomeness and fiscal responsibility that occured during the G.W. Bush presidency was thrown to the wind when Obama came to office, and thats why we have this huge debt to dig out of now. Man. I just hate people with revisionist histories. Especially if they're crazy. Like Michelle Bachmann.

So yeah. Go read up more from the reliable blogs on the right. Or turn on the TV to the cable news networks and listen to the talking heads because they're always right. Always.

A Love Letter to the New York Jets

2011-01-23T23:36:00.003-05:00

Dear members of the New York Jets organization and all of her fans,

I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate you. I mean really, take a minute and pat yourselves on the backs. Hell, take a week. Or a few months (you've got a lot of time now, since your 2010-11 campaign is over). I mean, you've taken all season patting yourselves on the backs already, so what's a little more time spent doing it really? You all need to soak this in.

I had some semblance of respect towards you going into this season, I really did. I didn't watch Hard Knocks on HBO this past summer where you all hyped yourselves up to no end, so I just thought of you as another good AFC East team. Really, I had a much greater disliking of the Miami Dolphins than I did you, though I certainly respected your organizations equally. In this age of pro-football parity, I like being in a division that represents all of the good that can come from it. Three playoff contenders guaranteed, like the AL East in baseball, without any of the crap parity (see this year's AFC and NFC Wests). It makes for a great football season.

But as the season drew on, I began to see you for what you were. You're just a lot of noise. The premiere defender holding out because of ego, and then you caving into his demands. Then another player getting a DUI. Then the foot porn thing. Then being a-holes for a week leading up to the game of the season everyone was waiting for, creating the media-hyped "war of words," though clearly it was one directional and all of us having to suffer through it. Sure you backed it up that game, and you beat my Patriots fair and square. Good job.

But you're so classless in doing so. And then all of these bandwagon Jets fans coming out of the woodwork to root for you. People I've never seen talking shit before talking SO MUCH shit. And you know why? Because of your noise, because you act like it's okay to be douchebags, that it's okay to have no class. Then you have real turds like this guy (I can't believe he's actually a professional writer) writing about how everyone should root for you because you're loudmouth showoffs that aren't good guys. America needs more of you, he said, that you were role models for kids today. What a joke.

And then you get beat today by the Steelers. And nearly everyone outside of those people in New York who jumped on your bandwagon because 1) the Giants were out of it already and 2) pitchers and catchers don't report for the Yanks for another three weeks, were hoping you would because you guys are assholes. You need to realize something, okay? It takes a whole lot of douchebaggery on your part to be playing a team with a player who has repeatedly admitted to taking cheap shots at other players and another who was indited for rape, and for you TO STILL BE CONSIDERED THE ASSHOLES.

But now it's all over. And I want you to really take the time to reflect on your season. About the AFC East title you didn't win. And the AFC Championship you just lost. And the Super Bowl you've been saying for the past 5 months that you were going to be in that will be played in two weeks without you. You earned yourself a spot right next to my Patriots as just another team who didn't make it to The Show. And you've gotten exactly what you deserved this season.

Oh yeah baby, "1X"

Nothing.

Well, maybe some amateur foot fetish porn to remember the season by on YouTube. But for almost all of you, I'm pretty sure that's still nothing.

At least you can go to sleep knowing you made sure someone out there in the world didn't get the nothing you did out of this season.

See you next time, jerks.

"One man can make a difference..."

2011-01-22T17:37:00.005-05:00

Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., 1915 - 2011

"One man can make a difference, and every man should try." ~ Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis

From The Atlantic, the biographer of the late Sargent Shriver eulogizes a man who may have quietly contributed more to the shaping of and accessibility to the American Dream than many in the last half century.

Steve Stossel's book can be purchased here.

West Wing Bait

2011-01-22T15:58:00.000-05:00

Via Sullivan, Skip Oliva highlights some crazy (awesome) constitutional paradoxes.

I should have been a constitutional lawyer.

Priorities?

2011-01-17T00:14:00.000-05:00

Is it bad that I'm as upset about Inception losing as I am about the Patriots?

How to Dream of the Stars

2011-01-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

Last year I went down to Washington, D.C for a dew days with my folks, and one afternoon my father and I went to the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian. They had an exhibit there where you could walk through and there were full color, wall sized photographs of images NASA had captured via various telescopes and exploratory probes. I was standing in front of one photograph in particular, and image one of the Mars rovers had captured of the Martian landscape, and it was as if you were standing on or celestial neighbor. I turned to my dad and said, "If NASA wants more funding and for people to care about the space program again, they need to do more like this." I was overwhelmed and inspired.

Via Alex Whalen, a YouTube video someone put together that attempts to capture the same spirit:

Arizona

2011-01-12T09:44:00.001-05:00

I'll let Jon Stewart comment on this more eloquently than I can here, and ask you all to meditate upon this quote as I have:

"Be kind; for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Reverand John Watson

A post about...ballet.

2010-12-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

I mean not really. I went to see Black Swan tonight, staring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. It's a psychological thriller about ballet. Going in I didn't know what to expect, since I know nothing about ballet besides it being a dance form and having seen The Nutcracker a hundred times through high school (thanks dancer friends and cultural grants). But I heard this movie is going to win stuff when the awards season rolls around, and it's been getting pretty good reviews. Some friends wanted to go, so hell - MOVIE NIGHT.

I'll let someone with much more of an eye for critiquing movies break it down for those wanting more, but I will say this: it's a good flick. I was as equally disturbed and creeped out by it as I was loving it. It's beautifully shot, and the story can be read at so many levels. Portman does an incredible job (I forgot she was the Queen of Naboo the entire time I was watching this, which puts her in DiCaprio/Inception status), and has you questioning the boundary of Nina's (Portman) reality the entire time. At one point, my friend turned to me in the theater and said "I think she's going to turn into a swan." You can't tell if Black Swan is about to go del Toro on you like Pan's Labyrinth, or Silence of the Lambs, or what. But it engaged me the entire time I was sitting there, for better or worse.

And there is some worse, but it's necessary to the story. I haven't squirmed in my seat that much since watching people get their legs sawed off and breast cancer removed with a knife in John Adams. But it's so necessary to take you down this rabbit hole with Nina, the story would lose its edge without it.

So I'm recommending Black Swan, was very much a sleeper surprise for me. And if you can stomach it, you'll see some of the best story telling, acting, music, and cinematography this year.

Never retiRED

2010-12-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

I saw the movie RED tonight, featuring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Mary-Louise Parker among a ensemble of notable others. Strongly going to recommend this one - the film does a great job of combining a quick pace and explosive action with witty dialogue and humor. Reminded me a little bit of Lucky Number Slevin in its style (not to mention Willis and Freeman staring in it), but with better timing and more compelling cast of characters.

If there is one complaint I have though, its that some of the characters are just underdeveloped for the stars playing them - Freeman's character, while central to the plot, almost feels like a cameo, and Parker's character is such a passive female role and so foreign to those of us familiar with her from The West Wing and Weeds. Willis's character, while the protagonist of the tale, does feel a little too familiar at times - while a bit softer than "Butch" from Pulp Fiction, I was waiting for him to have to go back to his house to pick up his father's watch off off the kangaroo on the nightstand. Malkovich, however, steals almost every scene he's in - his delivery of the quirky comic relief is very entertaining and helps to make sure the movie never takes itself too seriously.

But all in all, it's an enjoyable ride for just under two hours that will leave you quite entertained. If you can still find it in theaters, go catch it.

Holi-dazed

2010-12-29T01:59:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays everyone. This past month has been the most negligent I've been on here since, well, my last time benignly neglecting my duties as a blogger. Did a lot of travelling, and trying to recharge the old battery for the onslaught that will probably be the next five months. I'll see if I can back into it and into some sort of routine to post up regularly.

Most of all, hope this finds you safe and truly happy. Happy 'Nother Year everyone.

Sound of the Day

2010-12-06T11:28:00.002-05:00

With thanks to my Mom:

Getting FIFA'd

2010-12-02T12:41:00.000-05:00

Congratulations soccer, you just signed yourself to an eight-year deal of still being a second tier sport in the United States.

Seriously, if Bill Clinton can't sell you on a deal, then it absolutely is a lost cause.

Getting touched

2010-11-28T12:08:00.000-05:00

It's rare here at Cheshire Prospects that we actually get to do some first-hand reporting on something. But having flown this past week and gotten to actually experience the TSA's new security protocols, I figure my opinion might actually have some sort of weight this time around. So here's what we got from it:

Philly doesn't have the new scanners yet, so they aren't patting you down. At least on Wednesday they weren't, which I find kind of surprising since PHL tends to be a pretty high traffic airport as a hub for a whole bunch of airlines. But oh well. You missed your shot, Osama.

Providence did have the new x-ray-see-my-naughty-bits scanners. Now granted, I didn't have much a problem with the new regulations and protocols to begin with, but I still didn't quite know what to expect. Well here it is - you go in between what looks like two giant curved servers, put your hands over your head, WOM WOM WOM, go stand on this mat on the other side in case they need to pat you down, and then get. The Man never touched me - in fact I didn't see anyone get stroked.

So sorry all you worriers, none of the TSA got to feel up my sweet love handles, made extra sweet by our five pies, baklava, and cheesecake two days before (side note, I am all for dessert and really am a big fan, but seven desserts for 13 people? Really?). Now I can only hope my scanner x-ray makes it in to Playgirl: TSA.

I'm sure that some people did get patted down this holiday travelling season, to which I say - suck it up. You want an invasion of privacy? Let's go wire-tap some phones or suspend habeus corpus. I don't like to fear-monger, but when you're trapped in an aluminum tube 10,000 feet up with a couple hundred gallons of jet fuel strapped to you and someone with a couple screws loose and stuffed underwear, you're gonna wish somebody gave everyone on your flight a once-over with their hands coming through security.

You want to be safe (or out of debt, or healthy, ) America? Start making some sacrifices. Get comfortable enough with your body to know the balding TSA guy with a wife and kids at home trying to pay the bills doesn't want to have to feel you up either - it's just his job to see if that's a stick of dynamite in your pocket, he doesn't care if you're happy to see him.

Video of the Day

2010-11-28T11:25:00.000-05:00

Via Sullivan, Danny MacAskill is back doing things that just don't make sense having taken physics classes. Just a beautiful production. Oh Danny boy...

How the West will be re-won

2010-11-26T19:28:00.000-05:00

I've been on a bit of a bender lately, watching Westerns. Now I'm no movie buff (like this guy or my buddy who got me turned on to them - thanks Asha) so I can't entirely speak as to why these kind of pictures don't get made as frequently as in their golden era, and to be fair I haven't seen anything with John Wayne in it yet. I do think though that as you go through chronologically, I can figure out what happened and why the Western genre has lost some of it's edge. And why I think it'll never be like in the days of my dear ole dad, why I think the Western is making a comeback.

Here's what I've seen so far of the old westerns (in order of seeing them):

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Outlaw Josey Walles
A Fistful of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Then you throw in what I guess we can call "90's Westerns:"

Tombstone
Maverick
The Quick and The Dead

And then what I'm going to call the Millennium revival:

No Country for Old Men
3:10 to Yuma (remake - I know, I need to see the original)
There Will Be Blood

Now I'll start off by saying that I've enjoyed every one of these movies, though certainly some more than others. "The Man With No Name" trilogy is just incredibly well done - I never really understood why everyone thinks Clint Eastwood is such a badass until now, and I think he actually does an even better job in Josey Walles as far as having a much more compelling character and developed story beyond being just a drifter bounty hunter (and I can't even get started on how much it made me think of Cowboy Bebop - nerd cred). And Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is also very well done as any Redford/Newman collaboration is, made slightly later that some of the other movies on the list and reflecting the cinematic ground covered by them.

But the 80s and 90s were a different time, where the moral ambiguity and fine line tread by characters in older westerns gets wiped away and replaced with clear-cut, lighter, drier characters. The Quick and The Dead, while I find it to be a very well shot and scored movie, has a plot and characters that are blatantly stereotypical. Maverick with Mel Gibson is amusing, but so much lighter than earlier films that its more of a comedy in the Old West than anything else. Tombstone, the only of the three that really makes an attempt at jumping into the vein of its predecessors, but seems so commercially stock that it never reaches its potential.

I think the western is making a comeback though, though in a very different incarnation than the classic westerns of yesteryear. Granted, Bale and Crowe's 3:10 to Yuma is a remake, but it is incredibly well done and the characters are not the one-dimensional cutouts that we've seen in westerns the past few decades. Look at Daniel Day Lewis and his performance in There Will Be Blood - not a traditional shootout western but evolved to show the politics, the grittiness of the old west and characters with very conflicted moralities.

And then there is No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers epic. This is what I think defines the new future of westerns - not necessarily set in the old west but a modern representation of what made those old westerns so great: complete drama, good guys doing not so good things, bad guys being boldly bad, suspense, and really not knowing how good was going to overcome the bad in the end (if at all). While the western genre will never be as prominent as it once was, I would much rather see infrequent, high quality dramatic westerns come out of Hollywood than what has been passed of for it over the last quarter century.

The Coen's have another western coming out soon, a remake of John Wayne's True Grit with Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin, and the trailer for it looks great. I know - I'm a hypocrite because I rant about Hollywood only remaking movies and not having any original ideas anymore, but tough. Here's to hoping the Western can be re-won:

The Response

2010-11-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

Via Luc, a mashup of two Nike commercials about what it takes to be a legendary champion:

"It's a Small World After All..."

2010-11-20T23:37:00.000-05:00

So there's some sort of stats thing that the fine people at Blogger run that keeps track of how traffic gets to our little spot here in the series of tubes, and makes note of where in this great big world of ours they're coming from to check it out. And upon review of this information, while most of our hits come from the good ole U.S. of A., there were two anomalies: Russia and Brazil.

So shout out to our readers in Russia and Brazil - I don't know how you happened to stumble across the (frequently un-updated) mess that is Cheshire Prospects, but thanks for stopping by.

Beer News II

2010-11-20T23:20:00.000-05:00

Sam Adams' Chocolate Bock in their new Winter Classics mix pack is unreally good. It's like a chocolate milkshake beer, which may be the greatest drink combination anyone has ever thought of. And even better, it replaced that god-awful Cramberry Lambic in the mix, which was always the beer-equivalent of the last kid getting picked for dodgeball anyways. We actually would make it a punishment to have to drink them when you've gone through the rest of the awesome line-up in the mix (Boston Lager, Winter Lager, White Ale, Holiday Porter, and Old Fezziwig's Ale) and all that's left in the fridge is "The Lambic."

But no more! The wicked witch is dead! So check it out.

Out of Exile

2010-11-20T23:04:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I suck. I know. Serious lack of blogging. But let's see whats going on, shall we?

I mean, I even got Audioslave to reunite and play for our glorious return. Okay, not really but I guy can dream:

Prodigal Son

2010-10-31T23:37:00.000-04:00

Right back at you man. Right back at you.

Not the Public Enemies we thought they were.

2010-10-27T14:06:00.000-04:00

If there's a will...

2010-10-26T00:50:00.000-04:00

...there's a way to balance the federal budget. Come on folks, if Esquire can do it, then you sure as hell can too.

Sound of the Day

2010-10-19T23:52:00.000-04:00

Via Sullivan, a sweet mash-up of Pink Floyd and the Bee Gees:

Beer News

2010-10-14T23:10:00.000-04:00

Sam Adams will always have my heart (and tongue, and stomach), but this news from Pennsylvania's ow Yeungling Brewery is gonna make a run at it.

The Postal Service works in mysterious ways

2010-10-14T23:07:00.000-04:00

Good news, everyone! After giving up all hope that the book I was going to be reviewing would show up - ta da! - it arrives. Though it might have been here for awhile. It seems the postal service doesn't think the mailbox is a good place for, you know, mail, so they left it by the front door.

That's broken. And we never come in.

Of course, as karma would have it, there was also a box of my aunt's chocolate chop cookies that was sent to me for my birthday, which all sort of beastie (aka squirrel) had gotten into prior to discovery. I nearly cried.

But so now, with book in hand, we'll try to carry out the plan - I'll try go give you a little review of how it reads and let you know what my thoughts are on what it espouses. And hopefully this will shoot some life back into my blogging, since I've been doing such a poor job at it as of late.

So stay tuned - Cheshire Prospects is running hot again!

"Rolling my stones, gathering no Moss"

2010-10-06T11:19:00.002-04:00

Conspiracy Theory: When Bill Belichick had his "talk" with Randy Moss a few weeks ago about his behavior, it was actually to give him an assignment - a NFL black ops mission. Moss will force himself to be traded each week to whoever the Jets are playing next, and then traded back to New England before the Oct. 31 trading deadline. And that's why Belichick is a genius.

Real Theory: Crappiest birthday present ever.

Sound of the Day

2010-09-30T20:09:00.000-04:00

Video of the Day

2010-09-22T14:34:00.000-04:00

Via Sullivan, the Kaiser Family Foundation produces something every American should watch about health care reform:

Hard Knock to Swallow

2010-09-19T22:24:00.001-04:00

I don't watch Hard Knocks because I have better things to do with my time, but I might have to watch this week's episode to see what kind of cuss-laden speech Rex Ryan gave to the Jets at halftime to make them come out and shit gold for thirty minutes.

Because well, I'm poor.

And I could use thirty minutes worth of gold shit.

...Also, I'm pretty sure Jason Taylor is a zombie, because that S.O.B. just won't die. Or retire. I would accept both as a reasonable end.

Tap the keg

2010-09-12T21:06:00.000-04:00

Prediction I have no business making beyond the fact that I like it:

Next big thing in brewing - RYE BEER.

Ish is good.

Unlike some seriously confused Christians in Florida

2010-09-10T19:03:00.002-04:00

...We're going to do what you're supposed to do with books.

So we're going to be doing a little bit of a special event here at Cheshire Prospects - we've been asked to to a book review! In the coming weeks we'll be reading and discussing Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More by Stever Robbins, the Get-It-Done Guy from his Quick and Dirty Tips podcast. If you'd like some more information about the book, a preview of the first chapter, and how to pre-order it before it drops, head over to this website.

Once I see how the book is set-up, I'll let you know how we'll break down the review and discussion. I think this'll be a fun exercise for all parties involved. If you want to snag yourself a copy and have a little reader dialogue in the comments section, I think that would be pretty cool too - our own little online book club. Maybe it'll even lead to this becoming a more regular feature, like how TNC does over at his spot.

And maybe it'll actually make me a more effective blogger!

How we really save America

2010-09-08T23:52:00.000-04:00

By acting more like these people and less like these people.

"You know that new sound you been lookin' for?"

2010-09-05T16:10:00.000-04:00

Linkin Park has it. When I first heard The Catalyst a few days ago, I was seriously like "What the hell is this?" Electronica, really? I had head that LP was going in a new direction, but really? ELECTRONICA?!

But now I can't stop listening to it. It's what I've heard some refer to as "a grower:" a song that, the more you listen to it, the more you like it. And thinking back to other LP albums (Meteora, and definitely Minutes to Midnight) many of my favorite songs from their band have been like that. The more time you spend with it, the more you notice the detail and work that go into it, little things that get lost in the blunt ear trauma that LP can tend to cause at times.

So give it a listen. Go into it with an open mind. I recommend watching the video (which is pretty cool and creative on its own), and then plugging your headphones and listen a couple more times before deciding how you feel about it. There is some pretty sick layering that Shinoda and company have put together in their opening single to A Thousand Suns that can't be appreciated through laptop speakers.

A Thousand Suns drops September 14, and I'm kind of excited to see what the rest of the album will be like.

If you want to hear another track off of the album, check out LP's MySpace page (MySpace still exists?!) to check out Wretches and Kings, another very different style LP song with hints of Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against The Machine.

In the Teapot

2010-09-05T12:36:00.000-04:00

Conor Friedersdorf highlights Dave Weigel's post on the history of the Tea Party movement, how the Republican Party's attempt to jump on to it, and it's impact on the future of politics in the federal government.

In Her Cathedral

2010-09-05T10:36:00.000-04:00

With a hat tip to Zoe Pollock, a pair of photo essays from Matador Trips that will leave you marveling at Nature in all her glory.

Video (Experience) of the Day

2010-09-03T23:23:00.001-04:00

Via The Daily Dish (I suggest trying "eats" and "shaves"):

Not just oats

2010-09-02T22:46:00.001-04:00

Quote by Quaker thologian Richard Foster that I found really insightful today:

There is a time to feast and there is a time to fast. It is the disciplined person who can feast when feasting is called for and fast when fasting is called for. In fact, the glutton and the extreme ascetic have precisely the same problem - they cannot do what needs to be done when it needs to be done.

Happy 200th post everyone.

When the Circus is in Town

2010-08-31T01:17:00.000-04:00

Conor Friedersdorf over at The Daily Dish highlights the most level-headed analysis of Glenn Beck's rally in Washington D.C. this past weekend, and makes the best point I've heard on the whole thing:

Mr. Beck has spent a career reinventing himself whenever it suited his advancement, and that it's rather risky to hitch the libertarian wagon to a mercurial entertainer with a penchant for radically changing his beliefs and a willingness to sucker his biggest fans.

I think the people of this movement are very serious in their beliefs about what is wrong with this country and the world we live in (regardless of how based in fact or reality they may be), and that they, like every other American, has a right to express it, to gather together in celebration or protest of it, to worship however they see fit. If this is something that supposedly has come out of the Tea Party movement, then it is good to see that for once in its short history it has decided to stand for something rather than just against everything. No ideas, but I'll take the positivity at it's face value.

But I don't like hypocrites - and when you look at what this movement espouses, what it is supposed to stand for, what it hopes for our country, that's what you get - hypocrisy. You see the paradoxes, the strawmen, the breakdown in their flawed logic and arguments. You need more than just being upset at the way the world is to change the world. Tantrums and group therapy sessions don't help to make things better, to move us forward. This past weekend serves as a call to dig in in the trenches through the midterm elections, sponsored by the money that brought us the neoconservative movement (with all of it's hypocrisy), and broadcast without interruption, without question by an uninquisitive media organization. But who can blame Fox - it's their niche, they made it, and they give the people what they want how they want to hear it. Just like Hannity. Just like Coulter. Just like Palin. Just like Beck.

One must know the difference between when he has gone to Forum or gone to the Circus. It's when the line is blurred that we lose sight of truth and reality, and replace it with the stories of entertainers.

Can you tell I'm hungry at work?

2010-08-27T17:36:00.000-04:00

In another food-related article I read a few years ago and was resurfaced a few days ago thanks to Conor Friedersdorf, the most interesting thing you will ever read about condiments.

One of the few things I miss about Media, Pennsylvania

2010-08-27T17:29:00.000-04:00

Via The Daily Dish, an insightful article in Fortune about the success of Trader Joe's.

What's in a name?

2010-08-22T17:02:00.000-04:00

Via The Daily Dish, a list of what you call different groupings of animals. Or why I love the English language. What would we call a group of bloggers?

Dibs on this idea

2010-08-22T16:58:00.000-04:00

Inspired by this post by Patrick Appel about this article, I have a cool idea.

At least I think it's cool.

Someday in the future there will be clothing on which the design is amorphous (think Rorschach's mask in Watchmen). And the fabric of the clothing (let's say a shirt) has a USB port for your smartphone, on which you have an app for said shirt. You are browsing the Internet and come across a cool design or picture you like. You import the image or pattern to the app, plug your shirt into the phone to download the design, and the shirt changes to either project the image or design.

Not quite self-drying clothes Back to the Future-style, but come on - it's cool.

I expect royalties.

Things that are offensive at "Ground Zero"

2010-08-22T15:09:00.001-04:00

So I'm watching NBC this morning, and they have this show every Sunday morning called @ Issue where they bring on some folks with opposing views of something and discuss it. Sometimes it's local, sometimes it's more of a national issue, sometimes it's an issue that shouldn't be an issue. Like today, discussing the proposed mosque in lower Manhattan.

One of the debaters was a representative from the Independence Hall Tea Party Movement (yeah I know, those Tea Partiers and their Founders symbolism). After a week of everyone hashing through this whole thing, he more or less conceded up front that he and the other "seventy percent" of America (a fact I still don't quite believe no matter how many times I hear it thrown around) have absolutely no legal basis for their objections to there being a mosque built at 51 Park, two blocks from where the WTC towers once stood. About time. End of story.

But of course it isn't, because he believes that the Muslim group wanting to build this mosque/community center is being insensitive to the Americans who sacrificed their lives on that day nearly nine years ago, and the family's and friends who still mourn their loss. Some claim it is some sort of "victory mosque" for the radical islamists who perpetrated the attacks. Some are just being straight up racist, and don't really care about their own bigoted hypocrisy. According to them all - even though they have a right every constitutional right to build there, it is "deeply offensive."

So that got me to thinking - what else is in a two block radius of the "Ground Zero" site? What else is there that is, I'm sure, offensive to someone? Aside from the place being called "Ground Zero" for the past nine years, which is of course offensive to those who died in Washington and Pennsylvania as well on that day.

So here's a list of what I found, courtesy of Google Maps:

Citibank, American Express, Meryl Lynch, The American Stock Exchange - offensive to anyone who has been impacted by the financial crisis they and their competitors/partners plunged the United States into these past two years.

Deutsche Bank, Bank of Japan - so near to the epicenter of the financial crisis, the Japanese and Germans (Deutsche sounds German, right?) mock our financial instability. And let's not forget they fought us in World War II, because seventy years is still too soon.

University of Phoenix - offensive to anyone with a real paper degree from a real university.

New York Public Library - offensive to ghosts (the librarian ghost in Ghostbusters was just doing her job, why must she be persecuted for it?!)

Millennium Hilton - offensive for helping to sustain Paris Hilton.

Irish Hunger Memorial - offensive to potatoes. Doubly offensive to red (headed) potatoes.

New York State Department of Health - offensive for flaunting it across the Hudson to New Jersey.

Tribute WTC Visitor Center - offensive for helping to keep "9/11 porn" hawkers in business.

Amish Market - offensive to actual Amish.

McDonald's and Burger King - offensive to the health of all Americans.

Starbucks - offensive to anyone who just wants a cheap cup of coffee.

St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church, John Street United Methodist Church, Battery Park Synagogue, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, St. Paul’s Chapel - offensive to any American Muslim who would like a place to pray and worship in peace unharrassed and persecuted by, supposedly, "seventy percent of Americans."

Video of the Day

2010-08-15T18:44:00.000-04:00

My brother sent this to me a while back, but I haven't had time to watch it until now. I'll be showing this to my athletes. Take it away, Coach:

Fanatical Religious Hypocrisy

2010-08-14T18:42:00.000-04:00

So every once in a while I watch Fox News because, well, I'm a political masochist. But today the news, dare I say, was nearly "fair and balanced" - so Glenn Beck must be on his meds.

That was until I saw this report of a Fox News poll where despite 61 percent of those polled felt that there is a right for there to be mosque/community center built at "Ground Zero" in Manhattan, 64 percent of those polled felt that it is not right for one to be built there.

If there's one thing that really drives me nuts, it's hypocrisy. You can guess which number was discussed with greater importance by the Fox pundits. And since it is just a poll, really it doesn't matter it all. But if we pretend it did, the only one that actually has any clout is the fact that the group has a RIGHT to build a mosque there. It doesn't matter if it is insensitive (which it isn't - at all) or that the majority of people don't like it. It's America - as long as it's legal you can do it.

Apparently President Obama commented at a dinner celebrating the beginning of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan that he felt that the group looking to build there had every right to do so, but would not comment on the "wisdom" of the matter.

The pundits of course then tried to deduce what the President means in all this. Their conclusion was that Obama chose the "politically expedient" option for his public opinion. GWAH! Why does it have to be "politically expedient?!" Perchance it's not some conspiracy of Obama playing the game and is actually what he thinks, you know, since he's a constitutional scholar? The commentators also would like to see him weigh in on their other polling question, which Obama refused to do, because he is "supposed to be the moral leader of our country." NO HE ISN'T! He's a citizen chosen to "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Which he did by saying he believes the Islamic group has a right to build there. That's it. It's not a conspiracy! It's all there for you America! It's right there in front of you if you'd only open your eyes!

...

Sorry, I Beck'd out there. Pop pop swallow. Whew that's better.

What I'm saying is I wish people in this country would stop thinking one person or group or whatever is morally superior than another. You aren't. I'm not. No one is. You want to be Constitutionalists? Go read the Constitution. Freedom to practice one's religion doesn't just extend to you. Freedom to marry doesn't just extend to you. Freedom to speak, to protest doesn't just extend to you. It's everyone's right, and so until we start coming up with real solutions to real problems and not these imaginary culture war ones, things aren't going to get better for anyone but those who profit from schemes and loopholes and hurting those weaker than themselves.

There are Japanese Shinto temples near Pearl Harbor. There are churches in countries in which the vast majority of citizens are Muslim. There are three religions living in Jerusalem. There are Muslims in Israel, there are temples in Gaza. Let people practice their religion, and as long as it is not going out of it's way to hurt anyone, let it be practiced in peace. In our country diversity and tolerance are not a sign of being conquered - it is a sign of strength and testament to the resiliency of or founding documents.

Vacation Recap

2010-08-14T17:34:00.010-04:00

Or, "Things I learned on my summer vacation" with pictures:

+ MegaBus - you get what you pay for. I would say that it is definitely a big step up from the Chinatown buses out there, but man were those seats uncomfortable (though the duration of my trips - 10 hours - probably didn't help with that). And I didn't make use of one of the big selling points of their service (free wifi and power outlets). But the price point was great - if I got my tickets even sooner, it would have been even better. So props to MegaBus, but work on your spelling.

+ The Second City comedy troupe - good show, had some really funny stuff going on. I know it's got to be hard living up to the names that have come before you on your roster, but you guys and girls were worth the price of admission. Thanks for the good time.

+ The recent climb in pitchers being sick and throwing great games is a very, very good thing for baseball. I went to see the Jays game against Tampa Bay last Sunday where Brandon Morrow was one out away from a seventeen strikeout no-hitter. Probably the most riveting baseball game I've ever seen in person, and it wasn't even at a game where I was rooting for someone (though I was pulling for the Jays a little, since the Sox are trailing Tampa). The entire game, no one would say a thing about what was happening, but everyone was thinking it. Not only did the game fly by (sub 2 1/2 hour game) at a great pace to keep you interested, but it was a really impressive feat to witness and the guy didn't even pull it off. More people will like watching baseball if that's the kind of thing I can look forward to at games.

+ The Skydome (yeah yeah, Rogers Centre whatever) with the dome closed - very weird. Baseball should not be played inside. Ever.

+ The Skydome with the dome open - very awesome. The CN Tower is right next to the stadium and is the dominant feature of the Toronto skyline when the field's dome is open. And it lights up at night. Another baseball stadium crossed off the list to visit, and it was a good one.

+ The Hockey Hall of Fame has the lamest hours ever - who closes at 5PM?! It's your national sport! I've seen you all when you aren't working - all you do is hockey, or get ready to play hockey. Stupid.

+ The Great Lakes - I finally saw my first Great Lake (Ontario) in person and it's pretty mind blowing. You can't see the other shore! That's not a lake, that's the ocean. I was told there's an island you can ferry out to in the lake where you can't see the shore at all in all directions - a legit island in the middle of nothingness. Will do on the next trip.

+ Canadian Beer - more than just Molson. Strongly recommend Mill St. Organic and Sleeman. Alexander Keith's was alright, as was LaBatt 50 (the dirty French beer, as I was told to refer to it as). Hoor-"eh" beer!

+ YORKIE chocolate bars by Nestle - so I went all "Little Rascals" and bought into the greatest marketing scam of all time. I was thinking I was gonna be let into a super secret - like I was one of the five chosen to go into Wonka's factory. No. It was a chocolate bar. Good chocolate, but still, just chocolate. Not nuts, no crispies, no goo. They say it's "chunky" chocolate, but it tasted like just a chocolate bar to me. You know it was some woman who came up with the marketing idea for it too. Just embarrassing.

+ Niagara Falls - go. It's unbelievable. It's like being at the Grand Canyon, but with lots of water and less dry heat. Drop the fifteen bucks on Maid of the Mist, the touristy boat ride to the base of the Falls, and you won't regret it. I couldn't stop smiling, it was just so cool. So go.

+ Poutine tastes better than it sounds. Poutine is not better for you than it sounds.

+ Mounties - you need more of them Canada. I didn't see one, which left me disappointed considering how all over the place Dudley Do-Right was. I mean, I broke your laws - I drove in your country and was speeding on your highways. You need more law enforcement. Your limited Mountie force couldn't catch me on their horses when I was doing 120km per hour. You need to work on this Canada. I'm an American, but you shouldn't just let me walk all over you like this.

+ Toronto is an awesome city, I really had a blast. Reminds me a lot of Boston in that the architecture mixes the historic old buildings of the city with very contemporary, almost futuristic looking designs. The trains make the city accessible, but you can definitely walk around downtown without any need for it. People were incredibly nice (though that might have just been because of my company). Food was good, lots to do, great people - can't ask for much more than that in a vacation.

Thanks for having me Canada. I'm back.

Oh yeah... One more thing

2010-08-07T02:16:00.001-04:00

It's amazing what you can remember to write about at two in the morning before going on a vacation.

I love me some Yogi Bear. Probably my favorite Hanna-Barbara cartoon as a kid, and I watched A LOT of them. And there has been some outlandish Yogi Bear plots (though I probably watched it a million times).

But I'm with Dan on this - this is a tragedy.

There are way better uses of Hanna-Barbara intellectual property. Like Harvey Birdman - Attorney at Law:

Meanwhile, Rebbeca E. at BuzzFeed notices that Warner Bros. may want to rethink this movie poster.

What the "eh?"

2010-08-07T01:36:00.000-04:00

Finishing her duties covering for TNC, Alyssa Rosenberg on her coming trip to Alaska:

Once you're a grown-up, life doesn't just hand you opportunities to discover that you have capabilities greater than you knew. If you don't seek them out, you can peak knowing that you're capable of holding down a job, paying your rent, getting along with your adult families, with additional jolts only coming along when you become a parent, lose a parent, or face death yourself. The things you discover when you travel are smaller, individually, than those large revelations, but I think they're worth learning, secret knowledge you can take back into civilian life.

I'm off to Toronto and the great Northlands. See you all when I get back.

The Never-ending Continuing Adventures from Crazytown

2010-08-06T19:41:00.000-04:00

If a Supreme Court Justice denies your appeal to be heard before the SCOTUS, you can keep appealing to the other eight on the Court until one accepts? ORLY?

"Why not?"

2010-08-06T19:27:00.000-04:00

I'm not a big Christopher Hitchens fan, but the man is one of the greatest, deepest minds of the generation. I remember his last appearance on The Daily Show and feeling a sense of understanding of where he was coming from for the first time in a long time without his usual smugness blinding me to the poetry of what he was saying.

Little did I know that the same man I was watching was struggling through the illness of his yet-diagnosed cancer. Read his moving account of his first weeks struggling to recover here at Vanity Fair.

Conservativism and a California Afternoon

2010-08-04T19:41:00.002-04:00

Last night over dinner, my friend (subtly goading me into talking about it after I said that I had lost much of my fire for politics) and I got to talking about the forum and politics and policy. We talked for a while, slipping back and forth between all sorts of issues and policies - environment, drugs, taxes, health care, big and small government, LGBT rights - we ran the gamut. And while I pretty much came down on the liberal side of things on most issues, there were times I shocked myself when I would hear the espousal of conservative positions coming from thine lips.

Conservative. Not Republican.

And one of the things we spent a lot of time on was how things change, but that it takes time. It's not that what people hold as true is wrong or right, good or evil - but it takes time to convince people that what they believe is either right or wrong. I'm not going to hold it against people if they have a certain view of the world and can justify it truthfully to themselves and others. And instead of having some high and mighty government official tell you that "this" is the law of the land like a monarch, people need to be shown that there is a better way of doing things. Convince me that I'm wrong, show me that there is a better way, that it will make my life, my people, my country better. And then we'll tell friends, we'll show others. And they'll show others. And then there comes a tipping point, where all it takes is a little push from government to realign the law.

And we've seen it work and fail countless times throughout our country's history. LBJ and civil rights - worked. Clinton's health care reform - failed. Women's suffrage - worked. Alcohol prohibition - EPIC fail. Pre-Civil War emancipation - fail. Lincoln's Union-only emancipation - worked. Government responds to the people. Convince the people, and things change. And maybe I'm alone in this, but that's not a liberal, big government concept - I think that's a very conservative one.

Which brings us to today's news out of California - after nearly two years a judge has overturned the Prop 8 ban on gay marriage. I can remember how disappointed some were in 2008 - an African American had finally been elected President, but Prop 8 was a very bitter aftertaste to such a momentous occasion. But while it has taken some time, some very courageous lawyers in California have shown, SHOWN that there is no rational, reasonable basis for prejudice. This isn't "judicial activism," it's exactly what the justice system of our country is supposed to do - look at facts, not opinions, and make a decision.

It's the process occurring as the process is meant to, and that's not big government in my book. Today's ruling was a very conservative one in my opinion, and will undoubtedly show how un-conservative the current state of affairs in the Republican and right wing of America's political system actually is. And the process isn't over - there will be appeals, and the decision today could be overturned again, but if brought to the Supreme Court I think the arguments made in this case and this decision will be incredibly hard to rule against. But the process will take its course.

I've seen this a few time spread across the web this afternoon, and is one of my favorite quotes. The words of Martin Luther King, Jr.:

Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

Honorable reaction from the gallery: Andrew Sullivan and all his readers, Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight. More to come as there is more...

UPDATE: As usual, Sully is much better at actual round-ups than I am. Yeah I'm lazy.

Late Summer Stall

2010-07-28T01:09:00.001-04:00

As usual, things have been kind of been stalling out here a Cheshire Prospects. Again. And I'm sorry. Again. I'm moving at the end of the week, and combined with lack of access to a reliable computer during my spare time... le sigh, I haven't been doing a good job. I hope that next week will see a little more production, and then hopefully a bit of a write up about my little vacation to the Canadattic in a few weeks. After that point, I'll be back on payroll and who knows what'll happen then.

But for the time being, I'm sorry for a lack of new material and exploration and entertainment. I'll try to dig in a little and find the creative vein.

In the words of Biggie...

2010-07-22T18:03:00.001-04:00

...it was all a dream.

Go. See. It.

Regulate this

2010-07-16T19:59:00.000-04:00

Via TPM, House Minority Leader John Boehner thinks "having a moratorium on new federal regulations is a great idea." He'd like to put this stay on for a year.

Whew. Where to start?

It's not like making regulations is more or less the day to day business of legislators and the agencies of the federal government. Oh wait, it is. So Rep. Boehner wants to more or less excuse himself from, you know, working. So he can focus on more important things - like pandering to the tea partiers and trying to get Obama out in the next presidential election.

What an ingenious stunt - I mean, bonus points for playing it like this is some sort of actual plan and not just an extension of the Republican obstructianism that's become the primary tactic of the minority party while crying foul for the President and his party to not attempting more "bipartisan outreach."

And sure, while you wouldn't be putting a moratorium on emergency regulations like those on the oil or gas industries right now (the only sane sounding thing in this jig, which probably only sounds sane because of how ridiculous the rest of it is), you want to halt any of the regulations being laid out for health care reform, or financial reform, or energy reform, or environmental reform because, of course, that's all the stuff your side had been losing on in the past 18 months.

And sure, it's not like a lack of regulations and appropriate oversight was what caused this. Or this. Or this. Or any of this.

John Boehner is an "ideas man."

No, there isn't.

2010-07-16T18:54:00.000-04:00

To answer TNC's question - he hits the nail on the head.

IMPROV EVERYWHERE

2010-07-16T18:14:00.000-04:00

... does some seriously funny and impressive ish. Hat tips to Patrick Appel filling in over at The Daily Dish and to my buddy Dan from over at The Eighth Samurai:

Where's my damn flying car?

2010-07-16T17:54:00.000-04:00

Until then, welcome to the next generation of parking garages thanks to our friends in Budapest:

(Hat Tip: Chris Bodenner filling in for Sully)