Special thanks go out to Van Brunt for bringing this DVD set to my apartment the other day. In the past I had seen little bits of this sitcom on FX, but I never had the chance to sit through an entire episode before. I’m glad that I did because both Seasons 1 and 2 are brilliant. The writing is magnificent and the acting is very well done. I admit that the addition of Danny Devito as a regular cast member at the end of the first season threw me for a bit of a loop, but after watching a few episodes with him it was back to normal.

My buddy told me that this was a sitcom about 4 (and eventually 5) people who are just bad people - I think that’s the perfect description. I especially like the character played by Rob McElhenney who is just an arrogant, selfish jerk. It’s actually hilarious when you watch the show. And Charlie Day (who plays a character named…Charlie) does a great job at acting as the downtrodden, constantly looked over friend in the group.

There are so many great side performances in this show that it would be hard to put them all in a concise blog article. I think the McPoyle Brothers are absolutely hilarious - the best description of them would be two grown-up, extremely creepy guys (and an equally creepy family) who gross out everyone around them. They walk around in bathrobes! And then you have outlandish performances such as the character named Artemis (played by Artemis Pebdani). Artemis is an actress, but an overly dramatic actress. It plays in perfectly to the craziness that is this show. Here’s a video (thanks to Hulu) of the creepy brothers:

If you can rent this box set or if you can find it at a good price, I suggest purchasing it. If you’re interested, you can watch some full episodes of this show at Hulu.com. I think there are some commercials mixed in at Hulu, but it’s still free! Anyway, I recommend this irreverent comedy to anyone looking for something different from their television shows.

A few of us went to go see Ironman the other day and it was a pretty impressive movie. Robert Downey, Jr. does an amazing job playing the self-obsessed billionaire Tony Stark. Since I used to be a major collector of Marvel Comic Cards about 20 years ago (disgusting that I remember things that are 20 years old now), I thought this would be a hard comic book character for the audience to get into in any great degree. I was wrong. Downey is excellent in a performance that has got to earn him an Oscar nomination in some category - I think his performance was that good.

On a different level, Gwyneth Paltrow also turns in a great performance as Pepper Potts - Stark’s assistant. There is the obligatory love story underneath the larger story of the movie, but hey, the filmmakers had to find a way to bring the women into the theaters! I commented to my roommate that the reason I liked Paltrow in this role is that it was a change from the generic, ditzy chick flick role that she sometimes gets cast in. Chick flicks - ugh.

And it is completely unfair to talk about this movie without mentioning the great performance turned in by Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane and later as the Iron Monger. Excellent - just excellent. The opening sequence in the movie really sets the stage for the close relationship that the audience believes exists between Obadiah and Stark. The opening sequence alone was worth the trip to the movie theater as was the ending battle between these two characters. Did anyone else feel like Jeff Bridges was channeling Jesse Ventura in this role? I did!

All in all, this was a brilliant movie with great performances. The use of the Afghanistan locale and the prisoner of war scenario was also a good move (and for those of you that may not know, that is pretty much the same Ironman story from the comic books). In today’s society, pitting an American against a terrorist cell is sure to make movie goers happy. I liked the added intrigue of the terrorists using Stark’s own weapons in their fight against the Americans and the innocents of Afghanistan. More good writing!

If you have an opportunity to go see this movie, then I highly recommend you check it out. Great performances, great story, great movie.

As if having a police force that entered renters’ homes at all hours of the night without a warrant or probable cause wasn’t enough, my roommate picked up on this news story yesterday: Pregnant Policewoman’s Request for Light Duty Denied by New Jersey Township Officials. Granted, due to the increased scrutiny from a national media, this story has come to a somewhat amicable resolution, but how much more bullshit needs to happen in Ocean Township before there is real change in this town?!

Stories abound at Monmouth University about the way that the Ocean Township Police Department violates the civil rights of those students who live off-campus (yes, including the vast majority of student renters who are NOT blights on the local community). The local papers run near-weekly stories about major drug busts in Ocean Township. A few years ago the Mayor of Ocean Township was federally indicted for bribing local business owners (and, oddly enough, shortly after the Mayor was indicted the top Code Enforcement official and Chief of Police both retired…shady anyone?). Local high school kids are rounded up by the dozen and arrested for underage drinking (which I’m not opposed to - but arresting? Come on…).

Just search Ocean Township on this blog and you’ll find years and years worth of ridiculous stories coming out of this town. And now we can add this to the bunch - not immediately accommodating a decorated, pregnant police officer. Shameful. Downright shameful.

Inspired by Metroplexual’s suggestion to read the NJ Real Estate Report (linked on our sidebar now), I came across a post that compared renting a home to owning a home. In truth, the article was linked from another source, but it gave some interesting points of view on the classic owning vs. renting debate. For my part, after I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad series I began thinking about money in a different way. What I like about the article linked on the NJ Real Estate Report is that it talks about some of the same principles (in a roundabout type of way) that Rich Dad, Poor Dad talks about. For example…

The NJ Real Estate Report post lists 5 different reasons why you should rent instead of own. One of these reasons is because it’s cheaper. The post says:

Cheaper. When you consider the cost of being a homeowner — mortgage payments, association dues, property insurance, property taxes, repairs, maintenance and upgrades to protect your home’s value — most of the time, renting will be cheaper.

This is true. The financial planners who subscribe to the theory that a home is one’s biggest asset are at odds with these realities. Assets should appreciate in value (not in this market!) and they really shouldn’t cost you too much money. Look at the costs above from a New Jersey perspective: mortgage payments are between $1200 and $1500 depending on the size of your mortgage and the rates; I’ve seen association dues range from $175 per month to $350 per month; property taxes are out of control in New Jersey and for the places that I’ve been looking at, they are around $4000 per year; repairs, maintenance, and upgrades - let’s place a conservative $200 per month into this pot. All in all, you could wind up spending $2400 per month on your house alone! That doesn’t take into account utility bills, food, gas, clothing, etc.

Now, as the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series taught me, let’s say you spend $1000 per month on rent. That leaves about $1400 open each month. If you were to sock that $1400 away in a the stock market, a high-yield savings account, even bonds - you’d get a higher annual return than your house would appreciate. This ridiculous current housing bubble aside, houses appreciate between 3% and 7% per year depending on market factors. Long-term returns from the stock market show double-digit gains for investors.

Makes you think - is it really worth losing money to own a house?

The Asbury Park Press ran a story this morning that talked about how vendors located on Asbury Park’s Cookman Avenue were gearing up for what they believe will be a very successful summer season. From the article:

For one thing, some new stores are coming as promised to his already active 600 block. Asbury Bark, the dog boutique, moved over from Bangs Avenue, and clothing shop Organic Style and a new bookstore are set to open in May.

For another, he said store and restaurant owners have banded together to create events such as concerts.

I used to work on the office at the old Harry’s Roadhouse located on the 600 block of Cookman Avenue. We had it all going on at that place including a special Christmas concert by Asbury Park’s own Bruce Springsteen! But our ownership was shoddy and didn’t like to pay the bills so we eventually shut down. I heard that there are new owners in that place and that there is a new wind blowing through Cookman Avenue. This area had a mini-resurgence some 5 years ago (around the time I was working in the area) and while most of the shops have remained open and in business over the last few years, there was always something odd about Cookman. That weird “oddness” is what made people stop shopping there. I really can’t put my finger on it, but it always felt more like people were walking around in a movie than on a city street shopping.

This concert series sounds interesting, though. I’ll be looking out for more information on these events!

Hard to believe that a story like this would surface in the year 2008, but here it is: Candidate speaks at Hitler birthday party. Come on. COME ON! You mean to tell me that the guy running for this Congressional seat - a guy named Tony Zirkle - walked into that room and thought, “Hey, this is a great idea!”??? I almost can’t believe it.

If you haven’t, please click on that link above and take a look at this ridiculous picture of this moron candidate standing in front of a picture of Adolf Hitler and huge swastika flags. I’m almost at a loss for words on this one. I just can’t believe this guy - who is (was) a legitimate candidate for this Congressional seat - walked into that room and told himself that it was completely okay to stand in front of that gathering, in front of Hitler, and talk about Jesus Christ. Believe me, my religion is all about evangelizing and spreading the good Word, but come on! If you’re running for office you CANNOT stand in front of Hitler in a room draped in Nazi regalia!

Where is the judgment these days? How is the public supposed to trust their political candidates when they make such stupid decisions? Again, I can sympathize with wanting to spread the good Word to even the most jaded constituencies, but this was not a bright move. In fact, it’s downright insulting. Had the candidate agreed to speak in a different room or in a manner such that he didn’t look like he was endorsing the neo-Nazis, I may have a different take on all of this. But what they say is true - a picture is worth a thousand words and the picture in that article speaks for itself.

Idiot.

Yahoo Mail recently upgraded its e-mail services so that you can now use a quasi-Microsoft Outlook type of screen to view your mail. There are many benefits to having this type of set-up, but one of the drawbacks is the automatic advertisements that are embedded in different areas of the screen. Alright, so they’re not SO bad, but this advertisement really pissed me off:

Take a good look at that advertisement. What type of support is superior? Personal support? No… Presonal support? Yes!

Presonal support? PRESONAL support?!? What the hell does PRESONAL mean? How the hell did something like this get published on the internet on one of the highest viewed web-based e-mail platforms?! If I was the owner of the company that purchased this advertisement, I’d be off my rocker with aggravation.

But I’m glad that these bozos actually had this pathetic advertisement printed. In reality, this type of shoddy workmanship is endemic in all areas of life and it is becoming more and more widespread as time goes on. What do we expect from younger generations that are completely fine with writing: hI R U up 2 nething kewl 2day??

It’s pathetic.

While trolling over the internet, I came across an excellent essay by George Leef that I had to share. For those of you with an interest in college life and higher education overall, you have to read this essay. It’s a great combination of interesting, biting truth regarding the end results that we expect from students at our universities and colleges. My favorite part of the essay:

The final bad answer Henrie discusses is the idea, derived from John Stuart Mill, that the purpose of college is to get students to challenge reigning beliefs. The trouble with this approach is that it tends to collapse into a universal skepticism. Students are conditioned to think that all our traditions and institutions must be defective if they can’t pass the test of rigorous rationality. Utopian reformers love this, since it creates a horde of young people who imagine themselves to be deep and “critical” thinkers, but who actually have very shallow minds.

Ha ha! You really have to read the entire essay to understand where Mr. Leef is coming from. How many of us know people who have ridiculous, anarchist views on government which they attribute to their college experience (* raises hand *)? How many of us know people who justify the use of drug use because it allows them to produce deeper thoughts (* raises hand again *)? I love this article!

And it’s so true, too. Many people might be able to recall a college experience where great time and effort was put into competing theories of government, for example. Then those competing theories were used to measure up against the American system (again, for example). But how many students or graduates can recall a class that talks about how the American system (or some other system) of government is the best, feasible working government? Not many.

Anyway, just sharing - I thought it was enlightening.

USA Today is reporting that new home sales have dropped - again - to their lowest point in some sixteen and a half years. Well…duh. Is anyone surprised by this news? We have a horrible economy and that certainly isn’t helping, but has anyone actually looked at the price of a new home these days? It’s outrageous! That is, of course, unless you want to live in the Ozarks somewhere or unless you have Mommy and Daddy money paying for the home.

Speaking for young adults in New Jersey, it is almost virtually impossible to buy any home (new or used) that is on the market. Property taxes, car insurance, student loans, groceries, gas, cell phone service, cable service - everything costs way too much money per month for anyone to buy a home. For a young, single guy like me bringing in a one-person income - forget about it! But I even know married couples who are having a hard time putting together enough money to buy a home in a place where they actually want to live in this state.

Times are tough and it sucks.

MSNBC.com posted an article today that I found surprising and interesting. Apparently some of America’s highest-regarded institutes of higher learning are suggesting that graduating seniors take a year off before they start college. Fascinating! From the article:

It’s called a “gap year.” And while it’s been a common and popular rite of passage in Australia and the U.K. for decades, the concept is now starting to gain significant steam here in America.

A gap year, huh? Lump me into that portion of the American public who went to nursery school, then immediately to preschool, then immediately to grade school, then immediately to high school, then immediately to college, then immediately to graduate school, and then immediately into the full-time workforce. I started my education at 2 years old and I finished it (for the time being) at age 25. No “gap” year for me…or most of the people that I know, quite frankly. More from the article:

A growing number of high school seniors are balking at riding the academic conveyer belt from preschool all the way to university. They’re burnt out. Or not quite ready. Or they want to explore a few interests before deciding what to study in college. So instead of packing their bags in anticipation of freshman year, they’re volunteering in New Orleans or teaching in Thailand. They’re starting the great American novel, or interning to help figure out what they want to do with their lives.

I love it!

What a brilliant idea, if you can afford it. Using hindsight as 20/20, I would have loved to travel for a little bit before going to college or before going to graduate school. Of course, I couldn’t do that before graduate school because if you don’t go back to school, then you have to start paying back your loans. However, taking a year off before college to do something else would have been a good idea - especially this idea of trying to get an internship or two in the off year. Good thinking.

I would have loved that internship idea because honestly, at 27 years old, I’m not entirely sure that my current field is one that I want to stay in for the long-term. Anyway, this is an interesting idea and I wish that there was some data to show that taking a year off after high school provided a net benefit for the student. I’m also lured by the idea of a “gap” year where you have no “real world” responsibilities! I was just telling one of my roommates that once I pay off my student loans and all other major outstanding debts AND I put aside enough money to live a scant life off of the interest, it has always been my plan to either take a sabbatical from my job or leave the workforce for about a year. Again, I’ve never really had a “break” from school or athletics or work and I’m not willing to wait until I’m 67 for my first long-term vacation!

But I have to get there first… Wish me luck!

As I type this, I’m sitting in my professional development class on fund raising for nonprofit organizations. The class started about a half an hour ago and so far the topic of discussion has been the completely unsurprising New York Times article that was published yesterday regarding the television military news analysts (former army guys telling the country how to interpret the war). I should stress that “discussion” simply means our instructor actually reading the article verbatim and stopping to interrupt with liberal outbursts at portions of the article that make her angry.

When will this bullshit end? I’m here to learn about fucking fund raising and I’m being lectured to by a liberal professor reading from a liberal newspaper about a completely unsurprising story!?! Come on! I’m here to talk about fund raising, damn it! As I sit here in the thirteenth week of this course, I can report from a student’s perspective and a professor’s perspective that this class has been a complete disaster.

Without getting into the meat of the New York Times article (which I read yesterday AND I listened to the interactive feature, too), this story is not unexpected. You mean the Pentagon asked former military officers to spread the positives about the Iraq War? OH MAN! Someone call the paper and get this printed! Oh wait, I guess someone did…

Anyway, this is ridiculous. My company is paying good money for me to learn about fund raising so I can help build a fund raising program at the office and I’m being lectured to about the military? Give me a break…

Although this post is a few days late, I just wanted to say congratulations to this year’s winner of NBC’s The Biggest Loser: Couples - Ali! In the end I wound up rooting for Kelley, but the transformations that the three finalists went through were absolutely amazing. And an extra congratulations to Ali for being the first female biggest loser. She managed to beat out Roger who lost some 164 pounds!

I’m glad that I got into watching this season of The Biggest Loser - the show definitely has a new fan in me.

This post may only be relevant to my fellow Catholics, but if you’ve been watching the Papal visit coverage anywhere on television, you likely have seen the rock star-like response that Benedict has received everywhere that he’s visited so far. I just watched him enter St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and not only did the people outside of the cathedral go bonkers when he stepped out of his car, but the priests, nuns, and bishops on the inside of the cathedral gave the man a prolonged standing ovation!

And true to Catholic form, the applause lasted until Benedict began to kneel in front of the Blessed Sacrament - then it was like someone hit the “off” button because it was suddenly quiet.

Seeing the mania around Pope Benedict’s visit makes me wish that I had planned to go and see him in New York. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to make a trip to the Vatican for one of his masses there! Anyway, the response that Pope Benedict has received will hopefully accomplish two goals. First, I hope that it puts America further up the list for future visits by the Pope and second, I hope it helps to reignite Catholicism in America. Frankly, I think both goals have been accomplished!

Anyone who is unfortunate enough to watch this self-righteous loser’s show on HBO (a channel that my apartment will hopefully be canceling on May 1st), knows that Bill Maher is a jerk. He’s the type of arrogant, pompous prick who thinks that his thoughts are better than everyone else’s and that - because he’s smarter that you are - you should just take his “witty” barbs in jest. In case you haven’t heard, the New York Daily News can fill us in on what this dirtbag said about the Pope the other night:

“Whenever a cult leader sets himself up as God’s infallible wing man here on Earth, lock away the kids,” said Maher, comparing the Catholic Church to the polygamist cult authorities raided in Texas last week.

“I’d like to tip off law enforcement to an even larger child-abusing religious cult,” Maher said. “Its leader also has a compound, and this guy not only operates outside the bounds of the law, but he used to be a Nazi and he wears funny hats.”

After Maher said this, he flashed a picture of Pope Benedict XVI on the screen. Not only is this disturbing and disgusting, but it shows that Maher has a gross lack of understanding of reality. All this desperate-for-ratings-jerk had to do was listen to ONE comment that the Pope made since he arrived in America a few days ago to realize that he has reached out to the extreme minority of Catholics who have been abused by bastards who managed to make their way into the priesthood. All this loser had to do was open his ears (not even his mind, just his ears) and listen to the healing words spoken by the Pope. The Pope stopped and met with an inter-religious group the other night to let them know that we’re all in this thing together. The man has been the very height of religious professionalism and ecumenical evangelism since he assumed the Papacy and since he entered America.

Now, I know that this loser Maher said these disgusting, hurtful words because he wanted to get people like me to write posts like this. I also know that he wants to get people like me to watch his apology on his show tonight. Well, Maher proves once again that he knows nothing about our religion. If Maher is truly sorry for his words, then he has my forgiveness and the forgiveness of the Church. We don’t need to watch his stupid show to hear him say, “I’m sorry.” We are, however, also consumers of goods and as a consumer of HBO I choose to vote with my dollars and no longer have this channel on my lineup.

In the act of drawing a higher rating to his program, I hope that Bill Maher has set-off an Imus-like firestorm and eventually finds himself unemployed. He’s disgusting and should be shunned by all.

Mercifully, the powers that be at Sirius Satellite Radio and the Howard Stern Channels have decided to give us a better line-up of programming on Fridays on the Howard 101 channel. Although they will still be replaying the near-unlistened-to (and unlistenable) Mastertape Theatre on Howard 100, there will be live programming on Howard 101 starting at 7am and running through 2pm before Scott Ferrall comes back with a live show from 7pm to 11pm.

The new line-up looks something like this:

• 6AM-7AM: Howard 100 News Week in Review
• 7AM-10AM: Jay Thomas - Live
• 10AM-2PM: Bubba the Love Sponge - Live
• 2PM-3PM: Super Fan replay
• 3PM-7PM: Bubba the Love Sponge - replay of Friday morning show
• 7PM-11PM: Ferrall - Live

It’s somewhat annoying that the Howard Stern Show has not done a Friday Show in a long-time (over a year at this point) and that the “Friday Show” with Gary and John Hein was canceled (stupid decision). These shows brought much-needed and much-wanted live content to the airwaves. This is where part of the disconnect comes in between Howard and his contemporary audience comprised mostly of everyday people. Everyday people work on Fridays and they hate when their daily routine is goofed up…that includes what they listen to on their drive to the office!

Anyway, great move on the part of Sirius and the Howard Stern channels.

Minding the Campus is a great website that keeps an eye on the many oddities that seem to take place at college campuses. You know these oddities - the private school that believes they do not have to follow American law, the public school that believes they can restrict a student’s right to freely express their views (in a non-harmful way), the college professor that bashes and berates America…while he lives and raises a family in the very country he seems to hate. There are illogical happenings all over college campuses and Minding the Campus is one of the best sites to monitor what’s going on.

Just recently they posted a commentary by Charlotte Allen that discussed the increasing costs of college textbooks. This is one of the most thoughtful, thorough discussions of this topic that I’ve read and the comments on the post are equally as thought-provoking. If you have the time in your day, I highly suggest reading this commentary.

For what it’s worth, my stance as an Adjunct Professor is to assign textbooks that deliver the message of the course and - most importantly - help students learn the material. If that goal can be achieved with a used text or text that is cheaper than a brand new book, then I’m happy to assign an older text for the students.

While looking around FOXNews.com I noticed a story about a high school student arguing that his “American Government” textbook is biased. The article cites some parts of the textbook that claim global warming is still being studied and that the Supreme Court decision on striking down the Texas law regarding gay sex harmed the fragility of the federal system.

What bothers me is that this story is nothing more than a high school student with too much time on his hands - and a considerable liberal bend - trying to take the low road on each of these debates. The low road, as anyone who keeps an eye on political discourse can tell you, is to immediately claim that the other side’s argument is wrong and presents an inherent bias. It’s sad, really.

But I don’t blame the kid. In fact, I admire his will to put himself out there in the public eye. I do, however, blame the horrible education system in New Jersey that apparently has failed this child. A citation from the article linked above:

Another part of the book that the report criticizes deals with a Supreme Court decision overturning a Texas law banning sexual contact between people of the same sex.

The authors wrote that the Supreme Court decision had a “benefit” and a “cost.” The benefit, it said, was to strike down a rarely enforced law that could probably not be passed today, while the cost was to “create the possibility that the court, and not Congress or state legislatures, might decide whether same-sex marriages were legal.”

Derek Araujo, the report’s author, said that’s a matter of opinion and that gay-rights activists, for example, see it differently. “The major problem with this is they describe the costs and benefits of the system in a very political way,” he said.

No, you morons, this is not a matter of opinion. Stop blurring the fucking issue that the textbook is talking about, damn it. The “political” part of this debate is not looking at the issue in terms of American Government (which is the purpose of the class and textbook in question). American Government can ONLY be taught from the facts, not from a biased point of view. When it IS taught from a biased view or to an audience/class that has inherent biases with no preparation for a clean discussion, you get stupid stories like this one.

From the standpoint of American Government, the issue here is the Supreme Court making a decision about an issue that is not specifically cited in the Constitution. A teacher (and a textbook) MUST make that connection. Now, if you want to ignite some debate with the students you can always ask for their opinions on the issues themselves (in this case, gay marriage). That will probably bring a lively discussion. But the authors of this textbook (James Wilson and John Dilulio) are correct - the root issue here is the Supreme Court deciding whether or not gay marriage is legal. Does anyone read the Constitution any more besides Ron Paul?! This type of issue is to be decided by the states, period.

Now, if one wants to make an argument that certain freedoms are being restricted and thus the Supreme Court needs to step in, then I can buy that argument if it’s made well. But the issue at hand here and as discussed in this textbook is one that is not inherently political. It’s a basic, fundamental discussion of how the American federal, judicial, and legislative system work together. Get over it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did NOT use this textbook in my class on American Government that I taught last semester. I did, however, use a previous version of this text as a student at my ultra-liberal Graduate School. Also, I was sent an updated copy of this text by the publisher when I began teaching my course and I made the decision last semester to switch to the college version of the textbook in question.

The Georgia chapter of the NAACP is questioning the sentences handed down to those two bimbos in the infamous “Barbie Bandits” bank heist cases. They are questioning why the two young white women received less harsh sentences than the two black men involved in the case.

In an attempt to save the great state of Georgia - and its hardworking taxpayers - some money, let me quote from the CBS article linked above:

Michael Chastang, 28, was sentenced to 10 years for being the mastermind of the robbery, and bank teller Bennie Allen III, 23, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to five years. Both men are black. Chastang also is serving 15 years on unrelated drug-trafficking charges and Allen was on probation for a drug conviction.

So one of these fellows had additional drug-trafficking charges on his plate and the other one was on probation for a prior drug conviction. The dopey blondes did not have any such prior or contingent records. Is there really a need for an investigation here? If you commit a crime and then commit ANOTHER crime, your penalty is harsher - bottom line.

Geez, some people are just stupid…

Microsoft is hoping to duplicate the rabid success of Nintendo’s Wii by re-creating the Wii Remote for use with XBox 360. For all of the younger gamers out there, this is exactly what Microsoft did when it took over Netscape as the top internet browser in the late 1990’s and this is how Microsoft began to dominate the personal computer market.

Granted, I do not think this will be successful because all of the bad things about Microsoft and Windows (poor customer support, extremely high prices for a mediocre product, and unexplained stall-outs on the hardware) are present on the XBox 360 and gamers are famously fickle about such issues. However, this is pretty pathetic. The gaming division at Microsoft lumped all of its hopes in bigger and better, but much like their personal computing division, they didn’t ask the consumer what they wanted. The same problem happened with Sony and the miserable sales performance of PlayStation 3.

Nintendo created a new gaming experience at a reasonable cost with a decent presentation and they’re decimating the competition. Will high-definition gaming take over the market at some point? Absolutely. But that time is not now nor is it in the near future. Gamers wanted something new that didn’t cost them a sizable portion of their paychecks and Nintendo delivered. No fake XBox 360 wand will be able to replace that fact.

But it’ll be fun to watch Microsoft try…

Found this e-mail from about two years ago buried in my “saved e-mails” folder. I got a kick out of reading it again - I hope you do, too!

Gore and the Clintons are flying on Air Force One. Bill looks at Al, chuckles and says, “You know, I could throw a $10,000 bill out the window right now and make one person very happy.”

Al shrugs his stiff shoulders and says, “Well, I could throw ten $1,000 bills out the window and make 10 people very happy”.

Hillary tosses her perfectly sprayed hair and says, “Of course, then, I could throw one-hundred $100 bills out the window and make a hundred people very happy.”

Chelsea rolls her eyes, looks at all of them and says, “I could throw all of you out the window and make the whole country happy.”

Ha ha ha! Go Chelsea!