Halloween!

   We made a somewhat last minute decision to take the kids trick-or-treating in our new, sparsely developed neighborhood, rather than our old one.

   It turned out very well. Not only did they acquire a TON of candy from a couple densely populated cul-de-sacs nearby but it was also unseasonably warm and we wrapped up the evening with a fun party at a neighbor's house.

   Halloween was meant to be celebrated on a Friday!!

W Getting Alzheimer's?!

   I just came across this.

   It is an oldie but still relevant. Just think about the deer in the headlights look in the press conference he gave a couple of weeks ago when he and King..err..Sec. Paulson tried to ram that first piece-of-shit bailout bill through Congress.

Nothing Like A Dumpster Fire

   ...to liven up a Wednesday night! Gotta love living in a construction zone!

Gratitude

   A great post on an always upbeat blog!!

Another Gem From Mark Cuban

   Another gem from Mark Cuban:

      "The reality is that for most businesses, they don’t need more cash, they       need more brains."

Pumpkin Patch, Round 2!

   Today I got an opportunity to hit another pumpkin patch, this time in Goleta, with my brother and his kids. Though definitely smaller in size than the one we went to last weekend in Ft. Collins, this one had almost all the same components (pumpkins, of course, corn maze, hayride, animal exhibit, etc.). Yes, they were lacking the pumpkin shooter but I give them a pass because they are surrounded by houses on two sides and roads on the other two sides.

   The big difference, however, is that they charged only for pumpkin sales, not for the hayride OR the corn maze, both of which the Colorado pumpkin patches seem to use as profit centers! Very curious..

A Lovely Wedding!

   This afternoon/evening was the main event - my stepbrother and his fiance were married in a lovely ceremony, at a lovely site, surrounded by family and friends.

   Good, heartfelt toasts were given, delicious food and tasty beverages were consumed, and it truly appeared that everyone had a grand time!

   Though I've missed my wife and kids on this solo journey to represent my branch of the family at the festivities, it has afforded me great opportunities to catch up with people that I usually have only fleeting, disjointed conversations with, as I try to keep track of the kids and what they're up to.

   I will be happy to be home with them at the end of the weekend but this has been a wonderful trip too!

Remind Me Again Why Anyone Would Want To Live In L.A.?!

   Today was a looong one. I worked a half day and then drove like mad to DIA, hopped on a plane to LAX, and then rushed to get my rental car and point it north on the 405 freeway to Santa Barbara.

   2:00 PM on a Friday afternoon and already the freeway is just creeeeeping..Though it did not take the full three hours it took our family to make the same drive this summer on our vacation, it still took me a good two and a half to get where I was going, most of which was spent running the following phrase through my head "Why the hell would anyone live in L.A.? What could possibly be sooo great about this place that after dealing with this sort of life-wasting commuting twice a day, every day, would make you still want to live here?"

   I just don't get it. Have I mentioned lately that I love Colorado?

Don't Look Now, It's Cheney In A Skirt!

   About all I can say about this is "Holy shit!"

   The fact that McCain picked this genius as his running mate is reason enough not to vote for him and his poor judgment skills. Remember the last 8 years? We've had quite enough of a president with poor judgment.

   Remind me again - is it November 4th yet?!

Time To Winterize

   How did late October sneak up on me already?!

   We've had several nights (and a day and a half) of frigid, winter-like temperatures yet it it not even Halloween yet!

   I had to wrap our external pipes with foam insulation and need to put a layer of Winterizer on the lawn so I can water it in before we get our lawn aerated and our sprinkler system blown out for the winter!

Bailout Sleuth

Thanks to Mark Cuban, I am now reading Bailout Sleuth.

Palintology - The Study Of Inconsistency In A Cluttered Mind

   So much for federalism...So let me get this straight - the federal government (the Supreme Court, in this case) should overturn Roe v. Wade and let the states decide how to handle abortion laws but the Constitution should be amended to ban gay marriage. OK, I see the consistency there..

Eventually People Show Their True Colors

   The newly-affixed "Nobama" bumper sticker on our neighbor's car prompted this post.

   Enough already with the negativity - I have not seen any "McSame" or "McLame" stickers on anyone's car. It appears to be only the desperate Republicans that have gone negative in such a blatant manner. If you are a supporter of the McCain-Palin ticket how about putting one of their stickers on your car and not an anti-Obama one?

The Pumpkin Patch - An Annual Tradition

   This afternoon we hit up a pumpkin patch in Ft. Collins.

   I love our annual tradition - though we have a gone to a different patch each of the four years we've been here in Colorado, we've gone with the same families and had a grand time every time!

Warren Weighs In

   This should give some hope to the doom-and-gloomers.

Newsflash - The Bee Gees Are Good For Your Heart!

   Awesome!

Sen. Angry Crybaby For President

   Yes, I speak of Sen. McCain, who made me generally despise him this evening. He has revealed himself to be the smirking, snide, generally nasty man that his detractors have long claimed he is. All the qualities I admired in him previously have been overwhelmed by his performance tonight. After begging for an apology from Sen. Obama regarding comments made by someone (Rep. Lewis) not even affiliated with Obama's campaign, McCain seemed to take offense at the suggestion that anyone other than upstanding citizens would attend his own rallies. Obama was too much of a gentleman to point out the obvious - much of the inflammatory rhetoric is coming from not only his campaign, but..wait for it...his own running mate! Yes, the incomparable Gov. Sarah Palin.

   I am now going to go hide under a rock until Nov. 4th with my sample ballot and the text of the numerous propositions on the CO ballot.

John Cleese On Sarah Palin

   This really needs no introduction - just classic.

Nothing Like Failing To Learn From History..

   It is great to see that despite countless opportunities to learn from the past, the Bush administration sees no reason to start now.

A Sham Holiday..

   Today is Columbus Day here in the States, a holiday to comemmorate Christopher Columbus' "discovery" of the New World. The only problem is, there were already people living here.

   So you know what? Though I love Italians (and have several in my extended family), this holiday is an insult to Native Americans and should be abolished in favor of something legit like Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Oh wait, that already exists..except that it is sparsely recognized..

   Rant over.

A Weekend About As Good As It Gets!

   Well, starting out a weekend at GABF figured to only go downhill from there. However, my resurgent Chaaaargers managed to drub the hated Belichick-led Pats solidly in San Diego this evening. It doesn't get much better than that, in my estimation!

   So goodnight and good luck!

GABF - It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This!

   After missing the Great American Beer Festival last year, for the first time since moving to Colorado four years ago, it was even more sweet to actually make it to the Saturday afternoon Member's Session today with a good friend!

   And it didn't disappoint. From a tasting of the impressive Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, poured for us by Sam Calagione himself, to the mosh pit..err..civil line for a fleeting shot at 1/2 oz of Samuel Adam's Utopias (we got it and DAMN that is something special - it took about twenty glass rinses to get it to stop tainting subsequent tastes!) we made the most of the four hours of sampling.

   In the curious hop aroma department, we encountered Green Flash's Imperial IPA, complete with strong marijuana tones, but a taste of pure hop juice! We also encountered the hop aroma that Jeff and Greg at Craft Beer Radio affectionately refer to as "cat pee!" Though I had been skeptical when I heard them mention this as an attribute, I got a full blast in the face and knew precisely what they meant! Fortunately, the beer tasted nothing like it smelled!

   Though we had all manner of tasty brews, from bourbon barrel-aged porters and stouts, to Scottish ales, reds, ambers, to a couple of sour beers that exceeded expectation, to our old standby IPAs and double/imperial IPAs, the most interesting of all was Harrison's Brewpub's Butterscotch, which smelled exactly like its name implied. It tasted good too, but curiously did not have much at all in the way of butterscotch flavoring which made us wonder whether there really was butterscotch in the recipe or if the aroma was achieved with some interesting grain bill.

   In any case, it was a splendid return to a stellar event!!

   I can't wait for next year!

Michael Clayton Reminds You To Be Ethical

   In a desperate attempt to return to getting a good deal out of our Netflix subscription, my wife and I finally got around to watching a movie tonight after the kids went to bed.

   George Clooney's "Michael Clayton" was the feature fare and though not amazing, it was a good solid film. I am not a credentialed film critic and I don't like people giving away plots so I won't go there, but the one thing it left me with was how much the underlying theme echoed what is going on in our country (and world, arguably?) today with respect to corporate greed and power.

   Please try hard to lead your life ethically and be nice to people. If you do that the world will be a more peaceful, prosperous place and you know what? You'll make more money because you'll have more customers that want to purchase your goods or services and who will actually be able to afford to do so.

Please Tell Me It Is November 4th Already!

   From CNN:

      "One small additional point, my friends. Do you know how many times the political pundits in the last two years have written off my campaign? Huh?" McCain asked. "They were wrong when I supported the surge and said I was finished; when I said I would rather lose a campaign than lose a war. And some of them are wrong now.

      "We'll win, and we'll win the state of Wisconsin, and we'll win this election," he added.

   Unfortunately, Sen. McCain, it is clear that at this point you would rather lose everyone's respect for your integrity and morals than lose a campaign. You and your running mate have made some despicable statements about Sen. Obama, and like Sen. Biden, I think you're chickenshit for not saying these things to his face when you had a chance to do so on Tuesday night!

The Post-Debate Analysis - A Clear Win By Obama

 Well said - I was going to do a whole post-debate analysis but Roadkill Refugee already did the job for me!!

This Has To Stop!

   Like I said - Palin's a pile of shit.

I'm Done Being Nice - Palin's A Pile Of Shit

   Who does she think she is? And what has she accomplished that gives her the right to speak with such authority on the matter?

Please Run On Your Own Merits!

   It is pretty clear that the Republicans are in full-on desperation mode considering they've resorted to almost exclusively running a campaign against Obama, as opposed to running on McCain's own merits. In response, Obama has taken his formerly optimistic, encouraging advertising and made it mainly anti-McCain. The voters are the losers when this happens.

   This is the kind of drivel I detest in politics and makes me wish it was November already.

   Pleeeeease tell me that Tuesday's debate will be substantive and not just an accusation fest!

Birthday Party Fun!

   Finally a break from the political nonsense!

   My son had a terrific birthday party today and it served as a great reminder that something's clearly trump others in matter of importance.

   There is nothing like seeing the huge grin on your child's face to jolt you out of the fixation you've established on greedy people making piss-poor decisions on their constituents' behalf when, in fact, they are far less concerned with representing their folks back home than they are just trying to get re-elected so they don't have to get a real job ever again.

   Oh wait - I'm falling back into the morass!

   Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Mmmm - Smells Like Bacon!

   I love that at the height of the discussions among the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns about reforming governmentin Washington, with a specific focus on earmarks, both fucking houses of Congress saw fit to pass the bailout bill, complete with pork attached.

   I don't care how beneficial funding for arrows, cyclists, movies, race tracks, rum, and wool is to folks in the home districts of the reps that tacked this shit in - this stuff DOES NOT belong in a financial crisis bailout bill. If these causes are worthy of funding then they can stand on their own in bills specific to them.

   We need to throw all these fucking bums out!

The Hopes And Dreams Of Our Graduating Class..or Notes From Tonight's Debate

   Newsflash - Gov. Sarah Palin is not the moron some supposed she was following her pathetic interviews with Katie Couric. In fact, she was just robotically reciting the McCain campaign's talking points.

   She did, however, get her ass handed to her by Sen. Joe Biden this evening.

   She reminded me, scarily, of George W. Bush and his inability or unwillingness to listen. Palin repeatedly said things that made it clear she was not listening or if listening, not processing, what Biden had just said. And she did her best to not answer any of Gwen Ifill's questions.

   She also didn't do McCain any favors, in my opinion. She talked about herself and Alaska an awful lot. But then again, she is definitely running harder for (unelected) President than Biden is.

   Palin is clearly not ready for primetime and her folksy demeanor just turned my stomach, frankly. I want to know that our vice president is someone with significant skills and judgment, not someone that is just a down-home regular person. I want someone from the top of the heap intellectually and I'm quite certain she is not. The more I listened to her pontificate, the more Palin reminded me of that high school graduation speaker everyone knows that, while probably sincere and well-intentioned, just comes off as too self-important and lofty in their proclamations about the greatness the Class of XXXX is bound to achieve.

   Please, for our kids' sake, don't vote for McCain because whether he or his supporters want to acknowledge it, the actuarial facts don't lie and he may well gift us all the first President from the great state of Alaska, free of charge and without the inconvenience of an election.

Is Palin's Unscripted Idiocy A Ruse?

   Here's a conspiracy theory for you.

   Do you suppose the Palin unscripted idiocy that we've seen is an elaborate ruse?

   Seems like some ultra-low expectations going into tomorrow's VP debate would not be looked upon unfavorably by the McCain-Palin campaign..

   I'm just sayin'..