Friday, May 29, 2009

Moochie's

I had a little tasty taste of SLC for dinner tonight. I ate at Moochie's here. This place was featured on the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on Food Network. My wife and I love the show, and they've featured all sorts of places we're familiar with and love. The show also provides us with an excuse to try new places--usually pretty inexpensively. This trip to Utah has now provided me with a great burger place in Roy (Burger Bar) and now the Philly cheesesteak and meatball and provolone sandwich at Moochie's.

I recommend Moochie's. Give it a tumble if you ever head out to SLC.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

UPDATE! NEW! IMPROVED!

Some commenter known as "basquegirl" recently (this morning) posted a reply that wondered aloud if anyone updates this blog.

Well "basquegirl" yes, someone does update it. Just not often. Not nearly as often as the aforementioned blog owner updates his Facebook page.

That's right, Facebook:Blogspot::Video:Radio Star in my universe. Put all the blame on VCR. I am an avid Facebooker and my stellar blog full of insightful commentary and spot-on analysis has suffered because of it. The real losers in this battle for 'net supremacy are you, all three of you, who follow my blog just waiting for just a taste of the knowledge that drips from this site.

Some things I've been thinking about over the past little while:

1) Salt Lake City sure does love them some cycling, but not as much as Boise does.
2) Saw Angels and Demons last night. Didn't read the book. Will now. Ewan McGregor was a great Camerlengo, and I don't even know if I've spelled that right. Anyway, during the movie, I couldn't stop confusing in my head the "Camerlengo" with "Carlomagno" (who is an ancestor of mine, FYI)
3) If you enjoy mixed nuts, try shopping at the downtown SLC Smith's after 9:30. The aisles were full of filberts when I went
4) basquegirl is pretty awesome and so are her kids
5) My wife gave us a second chance at getting Mother's Day right. Not sure if we succeeded, but part deux was certainly better than part deuce--which was really part one.
6) No place on earth is short on oblivions. Thankfully, no place on earth seems to be short on nice people, too. This seems to be some sort of societal yin-yang symbiosis that God has created so we don't lose faith in humanity.
7) I think if people would read their particular books of scripture--and then behave as they've been instructed--this world would certainly be a much better place to live. If only 10% of would do that (me included!!!), it would be a stellar existence. Now that I think of it, it's probably about 10% who don't that are gumming it up for the rest who are trying (or who can't read). Wha
8) It would be cool if Spring would go a little longer and not jump from 60 degrees to 95 degrees in 24 hours. I don't need anymore Al Gore-induced headaches. It's the change of seasons, not the Apocalypse.
9) Walking to work is cool, especially when it's not just down the stairs
10) I'm pretty optimistic about what will happen and I hope you are too!

Friday, March 13, 2009

The Two-headed COBRA

I spent three years in this industry, and have an above-average understanding of COBRA. I just found this little nugget, however, hiding in the "stimulus" bill: subsidized COBRA payments and a "2nd chance" clause for those who turned down COBRA eligibility.

Since businesses are required to offer this stimulated version of COBRA, downsizing to save money will end up causing them more trouble than laying off the huge bloc of employees may have...or at least send them scrambling for cash.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Good. Olbermann is an Idiot

Behold Tuesday's Cable opinion show ratings:

CABLE NEWS RACE
TUES., MARCH 10, 2009


FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,212,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,376,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,331,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,274,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 2,044,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 1,965,000
CNN COOPER 1,214,000
CNN KING 1,185,000
MSNBC MADDOW 1,041,000
CNNHN GRACE 986,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 928,000

The funny thing is that Maddow, who's been on the air a lot shorter time than Keith Uberdork, is now eating his lunch in the ratings...wait...they're both employed by MSNBC, and Maddow comes on AFTER Uberdork--which means people WAIT until Keith is done before turning on Maddow.

HAAHAHAHAHAAHAAA

Your Tax Dollars at Work, Although You May Not be at Work UPDATED

So if this is to be believed, the Kennedys are getting fatter off of your tax dollars, courtesy of the ridiculously socialist "stimulus" package that Pres. Obama signed. Now that it's already signed, we get to read the hundreds of pages of earmarks.

So much for the "Americans will have five days prior to any vote to review legislation online" pledge:
"Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them. As president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days."
Lie #1.

So much for the "no earmarks" pledge as documented here.

Lie #2.

So much for the "no lobbyists in my house" pledge.
"No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration."

Exhibit A. HHS Secy Nominee Daschle. BOOM! Outta here.
Lie #3.

I don't care who you voted for in the '08 election. But if you voted for Obama based on his shallow "hope" and "change we can believe in" bumper sticker campaign, you were misled, either willfully or unwittingly. You were misled. Inside his first 50 days, Pres. Obama has already reneged on key pillars of his "change" foundation--destroying credibility and positioning himself to be an even bigger liar than Pres. "I am not a crook" Nixon. Not good company. Not a good start.

And I leave you with this nice little summary of Obama's ability to pick credible, worthy individuals to fill his posts.

Does anyone feel inspired or a sudden increase of confidence with Timothy "Timmy" Geithner opens his mouth on the economy? <crickets chirping>

How about master locutor Robert Gibbs? "We're working on it." "We're putting together some proposals." "I'll check on it." Huh?

Heaven help us.

UPDATED: Apparently I'm not the only one who is "underwhelmed" by Robert Gibbs.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Idiot Who Got Me Off Facebook for a Night

Sean Penn is a tool. I knew this would happen. I got my copy of Entertainment magazine a few weeks ago with the Oscars preview. The editors correctly predicted that Penn would probably get "a lot of sympathy in the wake of the Prop-8 vote" and win Best Actor.

The irony in that suggestion is incredible.

It would seem to me that to win "Best Actor in a Leading Role" you would have to be "the best actor in a leading role." Now, I'll come clean. I don't know that I've seen any of the films for which the men nominated in this category were nominated. This commentary isn't about that. If Mr. Spicoli truly was the "best," then he deserved to win. However, if Entertainment magazine's pre-Oscar summary of the situation has any merit, then Penn wasn't the "best" actor, but simply the "Best Role by Which to Make a Hollywood-esque Political Statement."

You be the judge.

I am inclined to believe that the uber-liberal secularists in Hollywood selected Penn in order to give him the pulpit from which to lob these gems:

"For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it's a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that support...We've got to have equal rights for everyone."
Yeah, Jeff Spicoli. I saw the signs of hatred. Those signs of "acceptance" and "inclusion" and "tolerance" that were lifted high in San Jose as the home of a Prop 8 and their car were vandalized. I saw the "love" and "understanding" as the Los Angeles LDS Temple was picketed and elderly temple patrons were jeered, mocked and profaned. These "courageous warriors" for "civil rights" were conspicuously absent, however, from locales associated with other more sizable voting blocs who opposed Prop 8 in California. For example:

- African Americans
- Latinos
- Catholics (practicing...)
- Evangelicals
- Muslims

Especially that last one. Why not picket a mosque? Why pick on the LDS church? You and your (m)ilk, Mr. Penn, are cowards. When you have no ideological leg upon which to stand, you shout louder, instead of understanding the merits of an argument. Yours is the intolerant, undemocratic, anti-social, non-inclusive, ostracizing side. Your loudmouthing from the Oscar stage ("You commie, homo-loving sons of guns") simply belies your own shallowness.

Watch the career trajectory of Mr. Penn. The more he started spouting off against conservative values, the more Hollywood and Cannes love him. His secularized agnosticism is certainly indicative of an apple that has fallen quite from his Russian/Lithuanian Jewish and Irish/Italian Catholic tree.

But all that worship and reverence of God has no place in Hollywood.

So Penn got me off Facebook for a night--to post this. When an agent of intolerance points the finger at others and accuses them of his own crime, it's time to tune out. Penn's hollow argument may play well in the Kodak Theater, but preaching to the choir comes across as so cowardly.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

When You Invite UConn to Play, Watch Your Meat

I found this little tidbit as I checked the ESPN site this afternoon (as I do quite frequently). I know it's dangerous to have great basketball teams come to your place to play, but I had no idea that the Huskies were known for pilfering porterhouse.

I'm loving that headline.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Well, their politics are straight out of the Dark Ages...

If this is true, and I really hope it is, the Bubonic Plague has struck an al-Qaeda training camp in Algeria. As my post suggests, this is the most fitting piece of karma I've seen in quite some time, as the politics of AQ are to return man to the Dark Ages, forcing women out of schools, and creating a patriarchal society where these same women have no say, no rights and no place save it be below the man.

I smell a rat. A plague-infested rat. Maybe this is all the workings of the CIA's latest bioweapons program: RC rats running around desert camps biting terrorists. Heh.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

I can't take it anymore...


I know it's been an eon since I've posted, but Facebook has taken control of my online life. If you really want to know what's up with me, go there. Now, for the reason I've posted.

I am going to officially boycott history Tuesday. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT OBAMA'S INAUGURATION. I'll tell you why.

The consistent cross-outlet fawning over PE Obama is disgusting. The ten official inaugural balls are opulence in a time where frugality is needed. $150M? Come on. Four years ago, the media decried Pres. Bush for having any sort of gala at all. "Too expensive." "Unnecessary." Where are they now? They are silent and complicit in this. It is, after all, their doom and glooming which in my opinion, contributed to the outcome of the election. The consistent character assassination of both Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin, playing the old "Republicans are doofuses, dummies and dolts" card, was so transparent. The hero worship aboard Obama Force One by media reporters was about as far from objective journalism as you can get. Chris Matthews's tingle on his leg moment actually made me wretch a little in my mouth.

What did the losing side do in 2001? They cried "thief" when the election was won in the Electoral College by G.W. Bush. They then spent the next four years complaining about the illegitimate president who "stole" the White House. When he kicked Kerry's can in 2004, they complained again that "millions were disenfranchised." Complain. Complain. Complain. We just found out what the liberal loudmouth machine does when their guy wins: they spend millions of dollars--many of them my and your tax dollars--and throw a party...er...multiple parties.

What does $150M buy?
  • At $250K a pop, you could apply a personal housing bailout to 600 people.
  • At the new low price of oil of about $60 a barrel, you could add almost 4.2 million barrels of oil to the strategic reserve.
  • The military could purchase 18 additional Predator MQ-9Bs and drop some crap on idiots around the world who are causing such a ruckus--like Hamas kooks in Gaza or Taliban fools in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
  • Give every teacher in my now-home state of Idaho an $11,000 raise. (That's the 13,328 non-administrative members of the IEA--the union leadership doesn't need a raise. They need to be fired, along with every other teacher union hack in America.)
I could think of a million other uses for Obama's millions, but The One has decided that the best use of these funds, and the taxpayer dollars used to secure law enforcement support, etc. is to have a Bruce Springsteen concert for Mom and Dad and the JoBros with Miley Cyrus for the kids.

Guess which mouse-themed network we will NOT be watching in our house come Tuesday?