Fourth meal

Yo --

I just finished eating my dinner and, as always, it was delicious. Two volcano tacos, one volcano burrito, and one nacho crunch burrito, all for a very yummy $8. And this came from a place where chefs the world over have given compliments such as:

"Nasty."
Charlie Palmer of Charlie Palmer Steak and Aureole

"Its just plain disgusting."
Nate Appleman of A16 and SPQR

"Its just scary."
Brian Bistrong of Braeburn

"Utter bastardization of one of the finest cuisines in the world. What the fuck is a chalupa?"
Joey Campanaro of The Little Owl

What the Hell? Seriously? I find it appalling that "chefs" who have an attitude of "less is more... so pay more" can stick their nose up at food that is cheap, filling, and tastes pretty damn good too. I dare them to offer anything comparable. Lets see what you can get for $8 at those fine eating establishments:
Braeburn: A poached egg.
The Little Owl: Fries.
A16: Two sides of olives.
SPQR: Your choice of an egg or a pig ear.
Charlie Palmer Steak: Nothing. You cant even get spinach at Charlies place.

Yeah, Ill take my Taco Bell over a poached egg, fries, and a pigs ear ANY day.

Anywho, if you wish to look at other "worst fast food places as compiled by Esquire and voted on by snobby chefs" you can go here: http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/worst-fast-food-0909
And if you want a real chef for real people, go here: http://thecookingguy.com

Ciao

-- DBW --

The Green Lantern of Oz

Sup yall --

Im a firm believer in the theory that the more you look for something that doesnt exist, the more likely youll be able to find "proof" that it does. And this blog is an exercise in just that.
I was watching The Wizard Of Oz recently and theres a scene where Dorothy and her gang are standing outside the door to the wizards castle and on the door was a design that instantly reminded me of the Green Lantern logo. Click HERE to see the comparison. I thought it was oddly interesting, but I didnt really pay much attention to it.

And right there is where I should have stopped.

So then I started to think of other things that kinda-sorta-maybe could be considered similarities between the two very different works.
- Dorothy travels to Oz while the Green Lanterns travel to Oa
- Dorothy uses her ruby slippers to will herself back home while the Green Lanterns use their emerald rings to will things into existence
- The wizard of Oz lives in the Emerald City and while none of the Lanterns live in "Emerald City" everything about them is emerald.
- Oz has the balding bite sized inhabitants called Munchkins and Oa has the balding bite sized Guardians. Click HERE to see.
- Dorothys arch nemesis is the Wicked Witch who has an elongated face, different colored skin, funky nose, and pointy chin while Green Lanterns arch nemesis is Sinestro who has an elongated face, different colored skin, funky nose, and pointy chin. Again, click HERE to see.

Other things that arent quite "proof" include:
- The dude in the first linked picture is wearing a rip off of Guy Gardners costume. Or is it the other way around?
- The upcoming Green Lantern film is shooting in Australia, whose shortened name is Oz.

Im just starting to read Green Lantern comics, so there could very well be other instances of (forced?) similarities, and I may add them as I come across them, but I think this was a good start to at least initiate a discussion on whether or not theres a legitimate link between The Wizard Of Oz and Green Lantern or not.

So until we meet again...

-- DBW --

Sucks to be: Ken Carson

Ken Carson? Who the Hell is Ken Carson? Until today I didnt know he had a last name, all I knew him as was Ken of "Barbie and Ken." But youre him, and on the surface, your life is awesome. Youre a decent looking dude, you dont seem to be tied down to a job, you apparently always hang out at the beach, and youre banging Barbie. You got it made.

Or do you.

In real life, I work at a major retail establishment - the cool one - and the other day at work I saw a toy called "Barbies Fantasy Groom" and I suddenly realized, it must TOTALLY suck to be Ken.
I get that Barbie is the girl equivalent of GI Joe, and shes supposed to make girls feel great about themselves and whatever, but even as a little boy I had female GI Joe figures. Not "Nancy: GI Joes secretary" or "Sue: GI Joes housekeeper" but Scarlett (counter intelligence), Lady Jay (covert ops), Jinx (ninja), and Baroness (bad ass bitch). But with Ken, you just get the token male figure. A poorly defined character whos only apparent reason for existence is to be Barbies boyfriend. Its borderline sexist.

Lets look at careers for example. Did you know that theres a whole page on Wikipedia dedicated to Barbies careers? I didnt either. But if ya wanna look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie's_careers
Anywho, Barbie has been a teacher 12 times, in the military 6 times, dabbled in politics 6 times including becoming President, an astronaut 3 times, a flight attendant 9 times, a NASCAR driver once, plus countless other occupations including artist, Sea World trainer, super hero, and Starfleet officer.

Ken? Well, hes Barbies boyfriend.

So hes pretty much never had a job in his life, and his girlfriend has apparently done every job in the world, so his self esteem is probably kinda low. Then it takes another nose dive when his gal of 45 years dumps him - the day before Valentines Day - for an Australian surfer named Blaine. What... a... bitch!
Seriously, I give the dude props for not going into "Barbies Dream Gun Store" and getting a pistol to blow his brains out.
They would stay apart for two years until Barbie got tired of Blaine and moved on to a new career... I mean boyfriend... and got back with good ol' Ken.
So Ken finally has a job, Barbie has slowed down a bit, theyre married and have two kids. Life is just peachy for the Carsons. Yeah, not so much.
Ken is still collecting unemployment, Barbie cant decide what the Hell she wants to do with her life, theres no ring on her finger, no kids running around the house, and - the genesis of this post - Barbie is fantasizing about a groom thats clearly NOT Ken: http://tinyurl.com/26grgey

But hey, hes Carson, Ken Carson, and lifes not all bad cuz hes Barbies boyfriend and hes giving it to her good! Hes sliding into home every night! Hes putting the biscuit in the basket! The hot dog in the bun! Theyre having hot, wild, plastic toy whoopie. Hes putting his... HUH?! You got to be kidding me!!! Ken has no wee-wee?! Its not small, its non-existent! No wonder the bimbo broke up with him and is dreaming of other guys to marry: Ken Carson is literally built like a Ken doll.

I guess that also explains why he has no kung-fu grip either.

Yes, Ken Carson, it does suck to be you.

-- DBW --

Not Necessarily The News

Howdy --

In the recent past Ive written a few politically inspired posts and, at least, the majority of them have come off, probably intentionally, as anti-Republican. Or anti-friends-of-Republicans. This one will be the same since it deals with Fox News. Ahem, excuse me... Fox "News." I feel better now.

Before I do get into that, I feel the need to point out my political affiliation. Do I need to? No. But I choose to because I believe in full disclosure.
Currently, as of today, if I had to put labels on myself, Id probably say Im Liberal and lean towards the Democratic stance.
However, going back a few Presidents, I would have voted for Reagan, Bush #1 once, Clinton twice, Bush #2 once, Gore once, and then Obama. So of the last seven elections I would have voted for a Republican three times. Not bad for a "Democrat-leaning Liberal."

Anywho, lets move on.

As most of you know, theres a war going on right now. No, not the one in Iraq. Or Afghanistan. Or Burma. Or Somalia. Or even the epic civil war in Ingushetia. The last one is real too, look it up.
No, what Im talking about is the violent, bloody, war going on between Fox "News" and the White House.
In my opinion, there is a level of bias throughout most news organizations. At least the major ones. There isnt supposed to be, obviously, and news is just supposed to be news, but I suppose its to be expected when you have humans with human emotions writing and reporting on events of the world.
However, what Fox "News" does goes far beyond bias and instead is firmly planted in the territory of misdirection, misquotation, exaggeration, and most evil of all... fabrication. News organizations report on events, not stage them, and yet Fox "News" has done that very thing. And then reported on them as if they naturally occurred.
ANY group or individual would get to the point where they just get tired of all the lies and attacks, and the White House has finally gotten to the point and called Fox "News" out for what they really are: "The reality of it is, Fox News often operates almost as the research arm, or the communications arm, of the Republican Party."
What Fox "News" should have done was say "Yeah, and...?" but instead they got their panties in a bunch and exaggerated that comment to the point where the White House is now (paraphrasing) "A Russian cabal intent on abusing their power to censor Fox News from pumping truth into the homes of the American people." Hilarious.
I always find it funny that the group - or person - yelling the most, throwing the most punches, and otherwise unfairly attacking someone else is ALWAYS the one that complains the loudest when they get punched back. Seriously, Rush devotes blocks of his radio program to his "attackers" while Fox sets aside hours of their "News" programming to theirs. This, despite the fact that their entire existences are to do the very same thing they claim others are unfairly doing to them.

Everyone knows what Fox "News" really is, including Fox "News", and so I wasnt even going to write a word about any of this. Not one. That is, until I saw what Fox "News" Senior Vice President Michael Clemente said: "Its astounding the White House cannot distinguish between news and opinion programming. It seems self serving on their part."
Yes, you read that correctly, the head of Fox "News" CLEARLY said that Fox "News" is... NOT... news! AND he blamed the White House for being too stupid to know this even though Fox calls its programming NEWS, they have the "Fox NEWS" logo on the screen, and the ONLY people you associate with Fox NEWS - "Fox and Friends", Neil Cavuto, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, Bill O'Reilly - are featured in their "Fair and Balanced" NEWS promos.
So let me get this straight... Foxs producers create stories which they can then have their - admittedly - NOT NEWS people report on, and then when they get called out for it say "Youre too dumb not to see the truth" and then turn around and have their - admittedly - NOT NEWS people cry foul because people are calling them NOT NEWS. How does that make ANY sense at all?! And why does my head suddenly hurt?

Anywho.

This past Thursday I was watching The Daily Show and Jon Stewart pretty much bitch slapped Fox "News" for the very same reason I was writing this post. And, admittedly, they did so using sound bites and video clips and were much funnier, and informative, than anything I could write here.
So even though I had intentions of writing more, and could possibly lay claim that I was going to write it first, anything else I can say would probably be plagiarization, so Ill just link to the clip and let yall watch Jon tell you what I was thinking. Enjoy.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-october-29-2009/for-fox-sake-

Til next time...

-- DBW --

It sucks to be: Rush Limbaugh

Rush. Rush. Rush. Why does it suck to be you... today?

I could have written about how he wanted to buy the St Louis Rams of the NFL, and how the players, the coaches, the commissioner, everybody involved with the league said "Umm... youre a hate mongering racist and we dont want you" and so he was dropped from the group trying to buy the team.

I could have written about that. But... no, I went with this: http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93122?fp=1

Full disclosure: I am NOT a Rush Limbaugh fan. Not even a little bit. I think hes one of the most vile people on the planet with no redeeming qualities and should he die today the world would be a better place.
Part of the reason I despise him is because of the way he attacks people. Its one thing to be critical of someone or something, and do so in a responsible way, but what he does is attack people and never lets facts get in the way. What Ive labeled that kind of attack is a "drive-by" which just means he slows down, takes a couple shots, and then speeds away hoping he does enough damage to his target and doesnt care about anything else. Even the truth.
The are sites on the net devoted to keeping track of Rushs lies. And if it was an occasional thing, there wouldnt be enough for a site, but luckily for those webmasters, he does it practically on a daily basis. Heres a quick article about Rush intentionally, and continually, lying and misquoting people: http://obamapolitics.com/node/154

Rushs latest "drive-by" target was one of his favorites: President Obama. See, when President Obama was just "college student Obama" he wrote a thesis titled "Aristocracy Reborn" in which he described his "doubts" about the "so-called founders" of the United States, among other things.
So Rush, doing what Rush does, went on his radio show and proceeded to tear into the President about his college views: "This... little... boy, in college, writing about it with utter disdain, and he STILL shares those same feelings!"

One small fact: the supposed college thesis written by Obama while in college was actually written a bit ago by some guy, for his blog, and CLEARLY labeled as "satire."
But again, Rush never lets little things like facts get in his way of smearing somebody. Its always "shoot first, and never ask questions later."
To his credit, he did apologize on his radio show for being a dumb ass and believing "satire" meant "truth." Oh, wait, its Rush Limbaugh, so he didnt really apologize. Instead, he issued this statement:
"We have to hold out the possibility that this is not accurate. However, I have had this happen to me recently. I have had quotes attributed to me that were made up. And when it was pointed out to the media that the quotes were made up they said "It doesnt matter, we know Limbaugh thinks it anyway." Sorta like Dan Rather said "I dont care if these documents are forged, I know that Bush did what he did at the National Guard, I dont care if the documents are forged." "I dont care if the Limbaugh quotes are made up." So I can say I dont care if these quotes are made up, I know Obama thinks it. You know why I know Obama thinks it? Because Ive heard him say it."
Oh Rushipoo, even when youre wrong you still claim to be right, doncha? "Person A did it to me, so I have the right to turn around and do it to Person C." Thats logic right there. Youre wrong, your whole attack scheme has been exposed yet again, so just man up and admit that you eagerly let yourself get fooled just so you could attack Obama... again.

Fact checking is a corner store of the news business. You check, and re-check, and check your facts again before you ever put something out there as news. Its called responsibility. Or you can go the easy way out... you can get a radio show, call yourself El Rushbo, and not have to worry about those trivial and annoying fact thingamabobs.

Rush Limbaugh... it sucks to be you.

-- DBW --

Tracking UPS

Hola --

So, as I mentioned previously, my PS3 is... sick. Swine flu or something, I dont know. Not only did it cost me a bundle to get fixed - $160 - its also taking a bit longer than expected.

My PS3 "got sick" on August 25th while I was playing the new Batman game. I thought it would get well all by itself, so I let it sit a couple days, a week actually, and when I finally accepted that it needed professional help, I contacted Sony on September 2nd.

And so, with that in mind, heres a recap on the whole process, with updates when needed.

September 2 - Sony contacts UPS and tells them to pick up the packing box and deliver it to me.

September 2 - Im contacted by Sony and UPS and told to expect the box on September 4th.

September 3 - UPS finally picks up the box from Sony in Laredo, Texas... 22 hours later.

September 3 - UPS informs me that the new delivery date is September 8th.

September 3 - At 9:15pm my box departs from Laredo, Texas

September 4 - At 7:00am my box arrives in Dallas, Texas - a 6 hour trip that somehow takes 10 hours.

September 5 - After sitting in Dallas for 34 hours, my box finally departs at 4:54pm.

September 7 - At 12:44pm, my box arrives in Ontario, California.

September 8 - At 12:10am my box departs Ontario for Chula Vista

September 8 - At 4:30am my box arrives in Chula Vista

September 8 - At 6:43am my box is loaded into a big brown truck and sent out for delivery

September 8 - After arriving home from lunch I see a nice shiny (dull cardboard) box on my doorstep which had been delivered at 3:31pm

I followed the instructions and packed up my PS3 for its return trip to Laredo, Texas

September 9 - At 1:30pm I dropped my PS3 off at the UPS place

September 9 - At 4:25 UPS picked up my PS3

September 9 - At 9:35pm my PS3 left Chula Vista

September 10 - 12:03am and my PS3 arrives back in Ontario

September 10 - At 3:36am my PS3 departs Ontario for Dallas

September 12 - 7:20am and my PS3 arrives in Dallas

September 13 - 3:33am and my PS3 departs from Dallas

September 13 - 4:01am and my PS3 arrives in San Antonio, interesting since it didnt stop here on the way to me

September 14 - Its 3:07am and my PS3 departs from San Antonio

September 14 - 6:00am and my PS3 has arrived in Laredo

September 14 - 6:30am and my PS3 is out for delivery

September 14 - 7:39am and my PS3 finally arrives at Sony to be fixed

After, what apparently was a successful operation, my PS3 was bundled up, given a cup of cocoa, and sent on its way back to me.

September 14 - 10:05pm and my PS3 is picked up by UPS in Laredo

September 15 - At 4:43am my PS3 arrives in Houston

September 15 - At 7:05am my PS3 departs Houston for... Houston?

September 15 - At 7:36am my PS3 arrives in Houston... again?

September 15 - Its 8:00am and my PS3 leaves Houston for a second time

September 15 - At 11:15am my PS3 arrives in Louisville, Kentucky

September 15 - At 4:09pm my PS3 departs Louisville

So it was looking like my PS3 was going to show up "around" next Tuesday, but it now should be here this Thursday. Im excited. A little lighter in the wallet, but excited.

More updates when available.

-- DBW --

It sucks to be: Joe Wilson

I decided to add a new semi-regular feature here. Thats the intention anyway. If youve ever seen Keith Olbermanns "Worst Person In The World" then its kinda like that, but I swear I didnt steal the concept.

It kinda developed out of talking online with friends about the Tila Tequila situation and so I thought Id just add it to my blog. So even though I didnt intend for it to be so, I now unofficially rename my previous post to "It sucks to be: Tila Tequila" and I congratulate her on being the first inductee into this very prestigious club. Her award is in the mail.

So, without further ado, I give you the second inductee... Joe Wilson.

This country, our country, has rules. Some of them have been written down, just in case anyone would forget, and then there are some that are supposed to be common knowledge and theres no reason to have on paper. No reason, unless youre Joe Wilson.

During President Obamas recent address to Congress on health care reform, he had said "There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally," And it was at this point that Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, stood up and shouted "You lie!"

According to 2009 Pulitzer Prize winning website Politifact.com, Joe Wilson was just plain wrong with his statement. Read the full article here: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/09/joe-wilson/joe-wilson-south-carolina-said-obama-lied-he-didnt/

We live in an amazing country, we have the most freedom in the entire world, and one of those freedoms is the right, sometimes obligation, to challenge those in power and call them out on things theyre doing wrong, even if that person is the President.

But, there is a time and a place for those criticisms, and so we must defer to those pesky rules. There are actually rules, and punishments, for those that shout out while their peers are speaking, but there isnt a rule for when someone shouts out while the President is speaking because you just dont do it.

It is an unwritten rule, perhaps even close to law, that the President, regardless of who it is, regardless of which party hes from, regardless of how much you disagree with him, regardless of how much you hate him, the office of the President of the United States - not necessarily the person - deserves your complete and total respect while hes at a function acting as the President. No exception.

And so when Rep Wilson unfortunately let his emotions get the best of him, he would soon hear about how wrong he was. Not from just people like me, or talk shows, or wed sites, or the ruling Democratic party, but from his fellow Republicans as well.

He messed up, and everyone took turns slapping him silly for it and to his credit he made a formal apology for it, which President Obama accepted saying "We all make mistakes."

Ah, but it doesnt end there.

Remember, the reason Rep Joe Wilson stood up and shouted "You lie!" at President Obama was because hes opposed to health care for illegal immigrants and thought Obama was covering up the fact that under the new health care plan those illegals would get free health care.

Apparently, like most politicians, Joe Wilson has a very bad memory, especially when it comes to his own actions. See, in 2003 Rep Joe Wilson actually voted FOR federal funds to be given to health care for illegal immigrants.

Personally, I agree with those funds being given to illegal immigrant health care, and theres currently a bipartisan bill in Congress to make it permanent, but unfortunately for Rep Wilson, he seemed to forget that he was in favor of the very thing he stood up and erroneously accused the President of lying about.

Umm... oops.

So, for my second induction, Rep Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina... it sucks to be you.

Til next time...

-- DBW --

Cant spell "A lying nutjob" without "T-I-L-A"

Sup --

Ive seen, heard, been around, my share of "domestic disputes" and Ive always felt very bad for everyone involved. The victim, obviously, and also the aggressor because somewhere inside them they think that their actions are ok. And then there are those who get caught up in the "dispute" and end up feeling just as much pain as those directly involved. Basically, nobody wins.

I also have a problem with people claiming that theyve been a victim of something when in fact they have not. Racism, sexism, violence, etc. To me, it takes away from the pain and suffering of all the other people that have legitimately been victimized. So naturally Im a bit disturbed by the whole Shawne Merriman and Tila Tequila situation.

When the story first broke I shook my head and jumped to the conclusion that Shawne had totally screwed up and he was gonna end up paying for it. And yes, I admit, as a fan of the Chargers I selfishly thought that he had hurt the team, my team, and he was an idiot for doing so.

But then details started coming out and at first I started to doubt the sincerity of Tilas claims and eventually I came to the conclusion that she was flat out lying. I wasnt there, I have no proof either way, but throughout the whole thing, Shawnes story stayed exactly the same and her story kept getting holes shot in it.

In the end, the DA looked at the evidence and decided that there was nothing there to charge Shawne with. To which Tila Tweeted "Shawne Merriman, the NFL & the San Diego D.A.'s want 2 toss me under the bus with conspiracy & corrupt judicial system. I will keep fighting." She also Tweeted "At my meeting with the D.A.(which they said never happened) they asked me to bring them all the evidence..." First, for clarification, she told the world she had a meeting with the DA on Friday, which the DA said was not correct because, well, it wasnt correct. Knowing she was mistaken, instead of correcting her Tweet, she just removed it completely. I mean, when youre caught making a statement thats not factual, its best to erase all evidence of it, right? And in the process of erasing your error, lets again take a shot at the "corrupt" DA again. Nice.

Speaking of Twitter, I went to her page this morning for the very first time and... I think shes keeping the place in business. She seems to Tweet more than every other user combined. Shes like one of those Spam-bots that just spews forth stuff at a rate thats staggering.

While I was there I became concerned for her sanity and at the same time laughing my ass off at here craziness. Lets just take a look at some related Tweets...

"As I said, the ENTIRE incident, every detail, will surface very soon. U will be appalled once u learn all criminal activities he engages in."

First of all, she has like 900,000 Tweets, so youd think, at some point, shed actually enlighten us with all of these supposed criminal activities that are taking place. Im not saying hes a saint, Im just saying, if you cant keep your virtual mouth shut, then say something of importance that people might actually be interested in, and dont just flap your gums about things that, concerning your reliability, probably dont exist.

"There is a STRONG reason why I was trying to get away frantically that night & they tried 2 stop me. They DID NOT WANT THE TRUTH 2 GET OUT!"

Again, if theres such a "STRONG" reason that she "frantically" tried to escape, then tell us what it is or shut up! And if they really really didnt want "the truth" to get out, do you really think a girl that barely weighs 100 pounds would be able to escape from a NFL linebacker? Really? If so, then some team better sign her ass to a contract real quick.

"Do u know the feeling when u look into someone eye's while your throat is being cut off from it's air? Knowing in any second u could die????"

So Im at a loss here, either Tila is an incredible escape artist, as I previously said, or Shawne sucks at killing people, or perhaps... perhaps... "someone" is making stuff up at worst, overreacting at best. Just saying.

"Being a woman should be an EMPOWERING thing since WE BIRTH LIFE into this world! So I will NOT let a man take away my dignity!"

No, why let a man take away your dignity when you can do a very good job of it yourself. Girl power!

"I am taking this risk and voicing my thoughts because THE TRUTH NEEDS TO BE HEARD! I have nothing else to lose but release THE TRUTH!!!!!!"

I hate to say it but, again... where... is... the... truth?!

"So if I all of a sudden go "missing" or "Dead" in the next few days....please don't be surprised that it was a set up!"

Youre fricken kidding me!!! I dont even know what to say to this. The girl is absolutely out of her mind! If I were her Id get that "truth" out as soon as possible then.

Ok, then we came to a point in her Tweets where she said this about Shawne: "He is so pathetic! Trying 2 get his followers to get him on trending topics."

Got that? The funny, sad, thing is that PRIOR to this SHE had said: "Keep it going you guys! We are still in trending topics!" and "to Number 1!!!!!!" and "to number 1 trending topics!!" and "NOW IN 5TH SPOT TRENDING! NUMBER 1 HERE WE COME!" and "We are now in 4th place and moving up to #1 spot!"

What a damn hypocrite! I dont care if either of them are number 1 in whatever, but dont knock someone for doing the very same thing youre doing!!! Sad thing is that, according to her other Tweets, she doesnt see an issue with it. Poor girl.

She also made a Tweet that very obviously appears to quote TMZ: "The D.A. Made a Reckless Decision"-Via TMZ" and she gave the link to the posting. I went to the link and ya know what, that quote isnt from anyone at TMZ, its from a statement her and her legal team made that TMZ just happened to post online. Again, why post "the truth" when you cant just make smeared statements and have the masses believe what you want them to.

"And every single person who is supporting him is probably guilty of being a WOMAN BEATER AND ABUSER AS WELL! For shame!"

Hi, my name is Sam, and apparently I abuse women. Whatever.

"Where else in the law does it say "BITCH WOULDN'T SLEEP WITH ME AND ALL MY FRIENDS.....SO CHOKE HER AND BEAT HER!"

Ohhhhhhhh, so what shes NOW saying is that she was trying to leave Shawnes place cuz he was trying to turn her into a sex toy to pass around at his party. Thats one heck of a statement, especially coming from a person that has a dedicated phone line for people to call her and beg for dates. Im in NO WAY saying forcing someone to do ANYTHING is acceptable, Im just saying that she apparently thinks its ok to be easy as long as shes getting paid for it.

"Soooo....only someone who is that desperate would go to the mainstream media and say all those things. Because he is guilty. I rest my case."

Only the truely innocent know where to go... Twitter.

"But me? I did not do that. Every single mainstream media outlet has bombarded me for interviews and I said "NO" I dont need 2 do that."

If you want her side of the story... or some version of "the truth" that might, at some point, in the very near distant future, get released but probably never will but stick around anyway... you need to follow her on Twitter and help her get to number 1 in trending topics! Woohoo!!!

We get to one final - "final" cuz I just couldnt subject myself to anymore of her Tweets - section where she starts by saying: "Him and his people already released like 5 official statements to cover his ass and I have released ZERO! Why do u think it is?"

She then followed that very statement up with, among numerous others: "Those who are guilty..talks the most because they know they are guilty."

Over the next 20 minutes, she posted 19 Tweets!!! If the guilty talk the most, then do those that know theyre lying post a Tweet a minute? Just curious?

Ive given this too much of my time already. If she was a victim then I really do hope Shawne would get whats coming to him, but Im just not buying it. All Im left with is the feeling that shes a sad sad person whos obviously looking for as much attention as she can possibly get.

Now if youll excuse me, I need to go buy a Merriman jersey and get ready for Mondays game.

-- DBW --

Update

Me again --

Quick update, some have asked where the rest of my Comic-Con recap is, and because of "other" circumstances that have nothing to do with me, ill most likely not be posting the rest. Sorry.

I actually would have finished the recap prior to these "other" circumstances happening except for one thing... my computer died. Luckily for me, I have connections with some very cool people and my computer is in good hands being checked out and Im currently writing this on a tablet laptop that they let me borrow. Basically, a loaner computer while mine is in the shop.

Now, if that wasnt bad enough, last week my PS3 died as well. This was probably due to the heat weve been having, but unfortunately I dont have connections to get it fixed, so its getting shipped off to Sony and is gonna cost me $150. Nice huh?

Anywho, thats been my life for the past month-ish.

Oh! It may have taken three years, but I FINALLY got a new mattress. Unlike the one I replaced, this one is bigger and actually fits my bed frame. I know, youre jealous. :)

Aight, Im outta here.

-- DBW --

Comic-Con 2009 - Preview Night

As promised, heres the first of five posts about Comic-Con. I almost titled this "How Twilight ruined Comic-Con" but I instead went with the generic and figured Id just interweave bits and pieces here and there and hopefully youll get how sparkly vampires ruined it, or at least altered it for the worse. So yeah...

PREVIEW NIGHT (7.22.09)

I basically take one vacation a year, and its not even a real vacation, its more like an extended weekend, but its to go to Comic-Con. My excitement starts mid-June when the first bits and pieces of information are released, it increases once July hits and the information starts piling up, and it continues to build right up until Preview Night when Comic-Con unofficially officially starts.

At 11:45am on Wednesday, as I clocked out of work, my excitement had built to an easy 11. I picked up some last minute necessities - like granola bars - and then rushed home, loaded my backpack, and practically sat on the edge of my bed watching the clock slooowly tick off one minute after another on its way to the magic hour of 3pm when we were going to leave.

Once we left the house we made a scheduled stop at Target, then had to go back home to get a forgotten item, then to Jack In the Box for food, then back to Target again. Slight delay, but now we were set and the fun was about to begin.

Or not.

Its about 3:30pm when we arrive at the Convention Center, and upon stepping out of the car my excitement was very quickly replaced by shock, fear, dread, and an overall "Youre f'n kidding me!" feeling.

There, sitting on the grass, are about 100 people. In some sort of a... a line. My "uh-oh" detector gets a ping, but I ignore it for the moment and start to walk towards the Convention Center and see - to my horror - tents, sleeping bags, air mattresses, and people lined up on the side of the building in a makeshift city. The "uh-oh" meter? Off the charts.

Something isnt right and so I go up to one of the Elite security guards who was standing nearby and I asked him what the people on the grass were doing and he looks at them, then at me, and says "I have no idea what theyre doing, but the people over there (pointing to the "city") are in line for Twilight." As soon as he finished that sentence, he was informed by people getting in the grass line that it too was for Twilight. My jaw almost hit the floor.

Let me remind you that its 3:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday, and the Twilight panel wasnt until Thursday at 2 in the afternoon. At this point, these people are in line an entire day before what they want to see is even happening. And I would find out later that the "city" had actually been there since Tuesday. TWO DAYS EARLY!

And that is why Twilight ruined Comic-Con.

Yeah, I know, you dont know how that ruined anything, so Ill explain further. Once the doors open for a panel room at Comic-Con you can sit there until the last panel ends and the doors close. That can literally be all day. And some rooms - specifically Hall H - people do exactly that. And thats one of the reasons backpacks full of water and snacks are essential. So even though Hall H holds roughly 7000 people and youre more than likely to get in, getting good seats for your group is top priority, otherwise youre going to be way in the back of the room looking at dots on the stage.

Last year, we got tickets to see an advanced screening of Tropic Thunder, so we decided to leave Comic-Con early that Friday to go home, shower and change, and then catch the movie later that night. On our way to the car we walked past Hall H and saw that there were maybe five people in line for Saturdays panels. This was about 7pm and people were pointing and taking pictures cuz everyone thought they were nuts to get in line that early for the next days panels.

After the movie ended we drove past Hall H and decided to just hop in line and sleep there. This was about 4am, we were about 75th in line, and the doors opened at 10. We thought we were hardcore cuz we were sleeping outside for 6 hours.

Now take that information and apply it to what my mind was trying to grasp at 3:30pm this year: there are already two lines comprising a couple hundred people, one is basically a city, and were still 19 hours from the doors opening for Hall H. Now you can see why the fear and shock showed up.

"What are we going to do? Do we go home and come back in the morning as planned? Do we skip Preview Night and hop in line? Do we forget about Hall H altogether? WHAT DO WE DO?!"

I didnt actually verbalize that right then, but I kept thinking it over and over as me, Mary, and Steve walked to get out passes. While we walked, I called Justin and let him know about the dumb vampire fans, and we hastily came up with a plan: me, Mary, and Steve would try to enjoy Preview Night and then Justin would meet us outside at 8pm and wed all get in line. For the next day. At 10am.

Real men dont sparkle, dammit!

So the three of us head upstairs, get out badges and go to get in line for the exhibit floor which opens at 6... but its full. So we go to get in another line, but its full too. We finally get into the third line, but were pretty deep in it. Not a huge deal, just means well get onto the floor 10 minutes after everyone else. Last year Mary and I got into the first line, and that was at about 5pm. Things change.

Having some time to kill, I get a bright idea to go walk outside and check on the Hall H line. What could be the harm in taking a quick walk? I get there, see that about 50 people had joined it and I called and gave Justin an update. So far so good. Im walking back and I try to get into the door I exited and, despite having my badge already, Im told I have to get into the huge line of people that have yet to get theirs. Umm... no.

I decide to cut the line and a minute later Im in the building. I go up the escalator to get back to Mary and Steve and if I make a right Im right there with them, but no, Im directed to go left and get in another line for people that are getting badges. Umm... no again.

I walk directly to the front of the line and then walk right in the door. I make my way to the other side and again tried to get to Mary and Steve. All thats separating us is one of those rope things but its being guarded by, well, a guard who well call "Bob." He tells me that I cant pass the rope and that Id have to "go around that way" even though I can see my people and point them out to "Bob." He says sorry and directs me to "that way" again and so like a good boy, I go around.

After my five minute walk I end up LITERALLY on the other side of the rope. No joke! Instead of looking at "Bob" face to face, Im now right behind him. Ridiculous.

Now theres another guard for me to speak to and I tell him that my people are right around the corner in line and he says "ok, but this is an exit only" and if I go past him I cant come back. I say ok, and I go around the corner and theres yet another guard who stops me and he wants to know what Im doing and I say Im trying to get back in line and he says "Did I give you a password?" I never saw this guy when I left, so the was no password to be given, and I look at him, kinda frustrated, and I say "Were you supposed to?" and he just shakes his head and tells me to go ahead and I finally get back in line with my people.

My quick jaunt turned into a ridiculous trip, but at least it gave me something to write about.

To be totally honest, I dont really remember much of what we did inside. We walked the floor, saw some cool stuff, but other than that its a blank to me. Hmm...

Its now 7:50 and we head outside to go meet up with Justin and hop in line. Once were in - about 400 deep - Justin and I went home to shower and change and get supplies and then we went back and Mary and Steve went.

Once all of us were together again, it was roughly 11pm and we had to try and get some sleep cuz Comic-Con: Day 1 was right around the corner.

Til next time...

-- DBW --

Im back

Hello my friends we meet again, its been awhile, where should we begin.....

The pretty much sums it up, havent really posted in a while, for various reasons I havent really felt much like doing so, and I will make no promises that Ill do better in the future. Ill try, but... well... Ill try.

Over the next couple days I plan on blogging about my Comic-Con adventures. One post per Comic-Con day, five posts in all. Thats the plan anyway. Anyone willing to take bets on if thats what actually happens?

I shall leave you now and get back to writing about Preview Night or, in comic book terms, Comic-Con: Day Zero.

By the way, a "No-Prize" to anyone that knows where my opening line comes from.

See ya in a few...

-- DBW --

:(

  Happy Mothers Day, Mom... I miss you :(

Oppression by minorities

  Normally Im rather quiet and laid back, but once in a while something crosses my path that seriously rubs me the wrong way. One of those things happened yesterday.

  Im sitting in the lounge at work, reading a book while on lunch, and was in a position to overhear a conversation between a friend of mine whom Ive known for many years and an acquaintance whos one of the nicest people at work.

  Purely for context only, I have to point out that my friend is Mexican and, at the very least, bi-sexual. My acquaintance is black. Both are minorities, and should know better. Or so I would think.

  Heres how it started.

  A couple days ago at the Miss America pageant, Miss California was asked her opinion on gay marriage - a touchy subject here in California - and she said that she was opposed to it.

  I support her opinion 100%. Shes freely speaking what she believes in, and she has every right to believe that, and nobody should tell her otherwise. But I dont agree with her views at all. And thats a very important point that far too many people seem to disregard all too easily - its ok to disagree, as long as you dont try to impose YOUR values and morals onto someone else. 

  So Im in the lounge and my friend (F) says to my acquaintance (A) "Did you hear about Miss America?"

  A: "Yeah, and its sad that people are trying to make her feel bad for saying that."

  F: "I dont think thats right either, we live in America and we have free speech, so she can say whatever she wants to."

  A: "Thats the way its supposed to be."

  F: "All she was saying was that she didnt think it was right for gay people to get married. Theres nothing wrong with that."

  A: "Right, and she didnt say it was because of her religion or anything, she said it was what she herself believed in."

  F: (Whispering) "You know, Im all for people being allowed to love whomever they want, but I dont think they should be allowed to get married."

  A: (Whispering) "I agree. Thats how I voted."

  F: (Whispering) "Thats how I voted too. We won, and I dont know why they cant just accept that and move on."

  Ok, there is SO much wrong with that conversation I dont know where to begin. Do I start with gay rights, or do I start with religion? Hmm...

  Lets see, first of all, my friend sleeps with girls. Or has slept with girls. Its not my business, I dont care. Regardless, she is one of the "they" she speaks of and I feel sorry for her if she ever falls for one of these girls shes sleeping with and decides she wants a more meaningful relationship. My friend also has two daughters, and while it would be a nice touch if one of them "decided" to be gay, I wouldnt want either of them to have to deal with a Mom who has those views.

  My acquaintance is old enough to have gone through a portion of her life having to deal with racism. Maybe not alot of her life, but enough to know what it feels like to have other people tell you you dont have the same rights that they do. So she has alot of nerve to try and do that to someone else.

  Human rights should NEVER be put to a vote. That idea itself is absurd. But because it was, and it passed, we here in California are now guilty of "legally" oppressing a section of our community. And for those not familiar, the definition of oppression is: "the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner." Simply, it was cruel for the voters of California to exercise their authority and unjustly take away gay rights.

  Continuing: "Racism, sexism and other prejudices are often studied as individual beliefs which, although not necessarily oppressive in themselves, can lead to oppression if they are codified in law or become parts of a culture."

  Lets do a really quick, and simple exercise. Lets start with this sentence: "In California, it is a law that people who are gay are not allowed to get married." Got that? Now go back to that bold "gay" word. Lets change it to, oh, I dont know... black. Now read the sentence with the new word. Kinda screwed up, huh? In fact, if you changed "gay" to ANY OTHER ADJECTIVE like blonde, or elderly, or green eyed, or right handed, or people from Utah, or people with your name, or... ANYTHING... the outrage of such a law, or the mere attempt at a law would be incredible! Yet, gay is acceptable?! How did we come to this? How did "Its my right to take away the rights of someone else" become our motto?

  And think about this, the only group of people in the entire world that are not allowed to get married are those that are gay. If you murder people, you can still get married. If you rape kids, you can still get married. If youre a terrorist, you can still get married. Think about the worst of the worst of society, and it doesnt matter, they still have the right to get married, but if youre gay you cant. Thats ridiculous! And for those out there that think its ok for a child raping murdering terrorist to get married and gay people cant... take a gun and put a bullet in your head now. Go ahead, Ill wait. 

  And dammit, if youre so convinced that "you won" and youre right, dont fucking whisper it in a lounge when you think nobody can hear you - speak up, be proud, and tell everyone else to kiss your ass. Or, you know, continue to huddle in secrecy and whisper to your minority friend cuz youre embarrassed by your beliefs. Whatever validates your view I guess.

  For the record, and contrary to my acquaintances statement, Miss California said “The way that I answered might have been offensive... but for me, it was being biblically correct.” So it WAS about her religion, which is fine.

  She also said “It did cost me my crown. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I said what I feel. I stated an opinion that was true to myself and that’s all I can do. It is a very touchy subject and I see where [Hilton] was coming from and I see the audience would’ve wanted me to be more politically correct. But I was raised in a way that you can never compromise your beliefs and your opinions for anything.” And again, good for her, she had a very public stage and didnt hide from her view no matter how unpopular it was. No whispering for her. 

  Which brings me to the bible portion of our program.

  Though I dont go to church, I do not actively read the bible, nor am I religious in any way, I am also NOT anti-religion at all. Again, I think people should be allowed to live their life how they please and if following the bible is what they choose to do, then nobody should tell them otherwise.

  That said, and using a wide brush to paint the world generally, I have not known a single group of people to be more close minded, judgemental, hypocritical, and flat out mean spirited than those that call themselves religious.

  The bible is law, the bible is Gods word, the bible is, well, gospel. And it should apparently be swung around and used as a weapon... as long as the swinger can twist the words to suit their needs and be allowed to pick and choose which portions to follow and which to ignore.

  Nowhere in the bible does it say that being gay is a sin. Yet people continue to take verses out of context, misinterpret passages, or flat out make stuff up - such as the oft quoted Leviticus - all in an effort to keep the sanctity of their third marriage. If thats not true, dont tell me, SHOW it to me. Yeah, thats a challenge. Accept it or shut up.

  Truth be told, the bible is full of a bunch of screwy things. Some real head scratchers. So for fun, here are a couple things the bible does talk about, and where to find them.....

  DEUTERONOMY 22:13-21

  If it is discovered that a bride is not a virgin, the Bible demands that she be executed by stoning immediately.

  DEUTERONOMY 22:22
  If a married person has sex with someone else's husband or wife, the Bible commands that both adulterers be stoned to death.

  MARK 10:1-12

  Divorce is strictly forbidden in both Testaments, as is remarriage of anyone who has been divorced.

  MARK 12:18-27

  If a man dies childless, his widow is ordered by biblical law to have intercourse with each of his brothers in turn until she bears her deceased husband a male heir.

  EXODUS 21:7-11

  It is acceptable for a man to sell his daughter as a sex slave.

  LEVITICUS 11:6-8

  Its a sin to touch the skin of a dead pig.

  So while the bible doesnt say Adam and Steve cant get married, it CLEARLY states that most of the people I know should be put to death by stoning, which would save me money on Christmas presents. It also clearly states that I can walk up to someone and ask how much I can have their daughter for, so I can... umm... you know. But Christ! I love football, so what am I gonna do about that dead pig thing?

  Thank God I have the option to do what all the other bible thumpers do: "Its a sin if it goes against my morals, but if it pertains to me, then the bible shouldnt be taken literally." Convenient, huh?

  Anywho, if you choose to read more about being gay in the bible, go here: http://www.soulforce.org/article/homosexuality-bible-gay-christian

  I guess the point Im trying to make is that you have every right to disagree with gays who want to get married, but its your obligation as a human being to support them for wanting to do so.

  Ok, Im done ranting now.

  -- DBW --