Hello there

A friend of mine texted me today and said that she was interested in starting a blog because she wanted to write, and asked if I knew where she should begin. So I gave her a few options and, as I type this, she is currently creating a home.
But her enthusiasm reminded me that, once again, I have neglected my own blog. For clarification, I do still write, and create, but my last post for public consumption was June 2011. Thats 7 months ago. No delusions from me though, the "public" is not demanding I change my ways either, although I still get the regular visit from various people around the world. Literally.
Just an opinion, or a theory, but I think my apathy towards my blog can be traced to the rise of Facebook and then followed by Twitter. Everyone was blogging without even realizing it. Including me.

But, Ill hop back on this horse, and see how far we ride this time.

So, Ill see you again next year.

Wait! No! Thats not what I meant! Dammit!!!

10 years - part 2

So today marks 10 years. Seems like yesterday, seems like forever.

Miss you Mom. :(

10 years

Happy Mothers Day Mom... miss you :(

Life Of A Battery: Intermission

Well, today was the day when I expected to start Part 3 of the battery test, but we seem to have run into a little problem: the new battery hasnt shown up yet.

I ordered it from Amazon on January 6th and this is what the tracking information shows:

January 6th: Arrived in St Louis, MO at 11:06pm

January 7th: Departed St Louis, MO at 8:07am

Estimated arrival date: January 11th

Thats it.

Today is January 12th and not only do I not have the new battery, but if the tracking information is to be believed, nobody else has had possession of it since the 7th.

Amazon, you have some 'splainin to do.

-- S --

Update #1: As I was typing all of them previous words, my battery "officially" arrived in Chula Vista. So...

January 12th: Arrived in Chula Vista, CA at 8:25am

Even though its sitting at the post office that literally touches my back yard, Im going to have to wait at least a couple more hours until the mail dude drops it off.

Update #2: Went to get lunch, came home and the battery was waiting for me on my doorstep. Currently charging, my fingers are crossed

-- S --

Life of a battery: Part 2

Me again --

Today is my day off, so I woke up a little later than normal, so instead of unplugging my phone at 5:00am, I unplugged it at 6:30am. So, adjusting for the extra hour and a half, I shall stop my test at 7:30pm. Or 9% battery, whichever comes first.

6:30am to 7:30am I sent/received 1 text.

Battery is at 93%

7:30am to 8:30am I sent/received 4 texts

Battery is at 80%

8:30am to 9:30am I sent/received 38 texts

Battery is at 60%

9:30am to 10:30am I sent/received 37 texts

Battery is at 33%

10:30am to 11:30am I sent/received 28 texts, and made 1 phone call that lasted 1 minute

Battery is at 15% and it JUST yelled at me to recharge it

At this point, Im gonna guess I wont be making it to 7:30pm. So, it looks like 9% battery will be the end point for this test. Guessing that will be pretty soon.

11:30am to 11:50am I sent/received 8 more texts

Battery hit the magic 9% life mark, so we can officially end this test and do a recap.

Over the course of 5 hours and 20 minutes, I sent/received 116 texts and made 1 phone call. I had no apps running, did not surf the net, played no games, had nothing running in the background, took no pictures, nothing. Again, a very rough estimate is that my battery went down 1% for every text message sent. Thats absurd!

As a direct result of these two tests, I ordered an extended battery for my phone. It came to $53 and included free shipping, and based on numerous reviews, its supposed to ridiculously increase my ability to use my phone, even with heavy usage. Some reviewers have been getting DAYS out of the battery, which is amazing, because at this point I cant really do anything with my phone because the battery tanks so quickly.

Once the new battery arrives, I will be doing a Part 3 to this. Id say a week for the battery to arrive, another week-ish of usage, and then Ill post another update.

-- DBW --

Life of a battery: Part 2

Me again --

Today is my day off, so I woke up a little later than normal, so instead of unplugging my phone at 5:am, I unplugged it at 6:30am. So, adjusting for the extra hour and a half, I shall stop my test at 7:30pm.

6:30am to 7:30am I sent/received 1 text.

Battery is at 93%

7:30am to 8:30am I sent/received 4 texts

Battery is at 80%

8:30am to 9:30am I sent/received 38 texts

Battery is at 60%

9:30am to 10:30am I sent/received 37 texts

Battery is at 33%

10:30am to 11:30am I sent/received 28 texts, and made 1 phone call that lasted 1 minute

Battery is at 15% and it JUST yelled at me to recharge it

At this point, Id call the test complete, but in Part 1 I ended the test with 9% battery, so Ill continue until I reach that number as well.

From 11:30am until 11:50am I sent/received 8 more texts and hit the magic 9% battery life mark. So we can officially end this test and do a recap.

Over the course of 5 hours and 20 minutes, I sent/received 116 texts and made 1 phone call. I had no apps running, did not surf the net, played no games, had nothing running in the background, took no pictures, nothing. Again, a very rough estimate is that my battery went down 1% for every text message sent. Thats absurd!

As a direct result of these two tests, I ordered an extended battery for my phone. It came to $53 and included free shipping, and based on numerous reviews, its supposed to ridiculously increase my ability to use my phone, even with heavy usage. Some reviewers have been getting DAYS out of the battery, which is amazing, because at this point I cant really do anything with my phone because the battery tanks so quickly.

Once the new battery arrives, I will be doing a Part 3 to this. Id say a week for the battery to arrive, another week-ish of usage, and then Ill post another update.

-- DBW --

Life of a battery: Part 1

Hola --

I have a Droid, its Incredible. Ha! Little joke there. Anywho, whats not so "Incredible" about my Droid is its battery. Basically I get 12 hours out of it before it starts yelling at me to charge it. Thats ridiculous considering 99% of my phone usage is just for texts. I cant even imagine how quickly my battery would drain if I did other stuff, like music, navigation, or... gasp... making phone calls.

To show you what I mean, I will give you a recap of my days phone usage, so you can see exactly what I mean.

5:05am - unplugged my phone from the charger and left the house for work, arriving at 5:20am.

During that time my phone went from 100% charge to 97% and all I did was ride to work. My phone was not "in use" at all.

From 5:30am until 10:30am I sent or received 3 text messages

During that time, my battery dropped to 78% - again, nothing else was in use on my phone.

I went to lunch at 10:30am and got back at 11:15am. During that time I sent/received 18 text messages, nothing else.

My battery dropped to 64%

From 11:15am until 2:10pm I was working and didnt do anything with my phone.

My battery dropped to 55%

I left work at 2:30pm got home at 3:00pm, not using my phone once.

My battery dropped to 49%

From 3:00pm until 4:00pm I sent/received 38 texts and 1 picture.

My battery dropped to 33%

From 4:00pm until 5:00pm I sent/received 12 texts.

My battery dropped to 20%

From 5:00pm until 6:00pm I sent/received 17 texts.

It is now 6:05pm and my battery is at 9%

So a quick recap, over the course of 13 hours today I sent/received 88 text messages and 1 picture and lost 91% of my battery. Thats slightly more that 1% of battery life per text message. Ridiculous!!!

I JUST went into my phones settings and checked to see if I had any programs running, and I didnt. But I did notice I had the "applications can send data at anytime" box checked. Unchecking that supposedly extends battery life, so I will try to conduct another test tomorrow and see just how much my battery improves.

To be continued.....

-- DBW --

Happy Happy Joy Joy

A new year. New outcome, or same ol' same ol'? I know what I want, but I bet ya $1 I dont get it.

Anywho, a happy and productive one to all of you.

-- DBW --

Merry Birthday Mom.

Tenth year I dont get to tell you that in person. :(

Dreams dont come true

Yo --

Two nights ago I had a nightmare. I totally get that when I describe it to you, you wont think its that bad, but for someone like me, it is. And it wasnt a nightmare that was full of fear, or dread, or anything like that, if anything it was panic. Panic and a sense of "What the Hell am I gonna do now!?" And even though some of the details changed, this isnt the first time Ive had this nightmare.

K...

So Im walking down the street, following two guys whom I dont know, bu we seem to be headed to the same place. A destination Im unaware of at the moment. So were walking and we pass one of my cousins headed the other way and she says hi and asks me where Im going. My response: "Comic-Con." She tells me to have fun, and I continue on my way.

Time out.

I dont know if this will make sense, but have you ever had a dream and during the dream you kinda become conscious of the fact that youre dreaming? I mean, youre still asleep, youre still IN the dream, but theres some portion of your brain thats kinda "awake" and "watching" whats going on. Well, I do that sometimes and this was one of them.

Time in.

So I continue on my way to Comic-Con and my brain suddenly becomes alive and is like: "WHAT?!"

Somehow Im no longer walking and Im on my bike and my brain is still freaking out. And steady stream of questions start pouring out: why am I taking my bike? Where am I going to keep it while Im there? Wheres my backpack? I dont have any snacks! I didnt pack any extra clothes! Whats the schedule? Whats the schedule?! WHATS THE SCHEDULE?! What am I going to do? I cant go to Comic-Con with no backpack, no supplies, and no idea whats going on! I am SO unprepared! What am I going to do? How can I salvage this situation? Whats the plan?!

Like I said, that probably wont register as a nightmare to some of you, but it was not a fun dream for me. And like I said, not the first time I was "going to Comic-Con" and had NO idea what was going on. I wonder if theres any hidden meaning to this or if my brain is just screwing with itself. Whatever. This is one dream I know will NEVER come true. Thankfully.

-- DBW --

We the jurors...

Back in February of this year I wrote a blog about the upcoming terrorists trial that would be taking place in civilian courts. Need a refresher: http://dbwtimes.blogspot.com/2010/02/if-i-said-someone-masterminded.html

Well the very first trial has come and gone, and the results are exactly as I anticipated: Innocent.

Well, to be accurate, Ahmed Ghailani was found innocent on 179 of 180 counts. The one count he was convicted of - conspiracy to destroy government buildings - comes with a minimum sentence of 20 years.

Of course, Obama is being blamed for this failure. Not the fact that this guy was possibly innocent. Not the fact that the evidence against him, if he was guilty, was minimal or circumstantial. Nor the fact that some evidence had to be thrown out because the previous administration used "coercive" means to get that evidence. For those of you that are a bit slow, coercive is another word for torture.

So yes, shame on Obama! Its all his fault that the Bush administration tortured a possibly innocent man to get circumstantial evidence that wouldnt hold up in court. Boo Obama! Boo!

And before this gets too far out of hand, lets get one thing perfectly straight: this isnt about Obama, no matter how bad people want to point the finger at him. The evidence was compiled by the Bush administration and the verdicts were delivered by the American people.

And not just any American people, New Yorkers. Yes, the trial of an accused Middle Eastern terrorist was held in the city that was devastated by Middle Eastern terrorists, and the jurors put aside their potential prejudices and delivered a verdict based on law, on the Constitution, and not on emotion or politics.

As US District Judge Lewis A Kaplan said told the jurors: "You have shown that American justice can be rendered calmly, deliberately and fairly by ordinary people, people who are not beholden to any government, not even ours, and It can be rendered with fidelity to the Constitution.You have a right to be proud of your service in this case."

To those infuriated by the verdict, I have one question for you: what it more important to you, justice or a conviction no matter the truth?

And to those of you who are bitching that the trials should have stayed in military court, I have one question for you: is it your belief that a military court would have convicted him even though the evidence proved he was innocent on 279 of 280 counts?

And lastly, a question to the military court: Would you have convicted him anyway? And if so, shame on you.

Dont misunderstand, I do not wish for the freedom of those who are guilty, but right is right and wrong is wrong and the ends do not justify the means. Were a country built on laws and individual rights, and they extend to all those on our soil, even if that soil is a CIA "black site" in some country thats looking the other way.

Hate Obama all you want, hate the verdict or the process too, but the jurors did the right thing and justice was carried out.

-- DBW --

So long LT, I wore you well

Today is a bittersweet day.

Today I officially retired my LaDanian Tomlinson jersey. We had good times, we had bad times, and when the Charges changed their uniforms, we cried a bit cuz we knew our days together were numbered. And then when LT went to the Jets, we pretty much said our goodbyes to each other. So, my dark blue #21 jersey will now take up residence next to my dark blue and orange Padre jersey. They will be missed, but never forgotten.

Now, the reason I was able to officially retire my LT jersey is because I now have a powder blue Philip Rivers jersey! Yes, I finally broke down and bought one. And, to borrow a line from my last blog... Im THRILLED!

Hopefully this will be the thing the Chargers need to get their heads out their asses! And hopefully Philip Rivers doesnt get traded.

Til we meet again...

-- DBW --

Bloggy Blog Blogger

Yo --

Regular readers to my blog know that my postings have been highly... irregular. In the past Ive thought about how to improve this, have made vows to do so, and have always slacked off. So this time, no promises.

But...

About two months ago I finally got a smart phone. An Incredible to be precise. The thing basically does everything but make me breakfast. I love it! One of the things Ive been looking into is downloading an app to let me blog from my phone, whenever I wish. Still looking for the right one, but I AM looking.

Anywho, so I log into Blogger for the first time in a while to see specifically if I could sync it to Facebook - one of the main culprits keeping me from consistently blogging - and I see something of extreme interest to me...

Blogger now has a tab called "Stats".

If you use Blogger this is probably not news to you because you probably log in more than I do, but since this is my first time seeing it, Im THRILLED!

Once upon a time I had downloaded an add on for a prior blog because I was curious who was reading what I wrote. And to find out that Blogger now does this... Im THRILLED! Did I say that already?

So now with my smart phone, and my new stats tab, these just may be the "fiber" my blogging diet has needed. But again, no promises.

And to those of you in France, Greece, Poland, South Korea, Brazil, and the United States... hi. :)

Until next time.

-- DBW --

Thank you, come again

Sup --

Full disclosure: I work at a major retail chain. The name is not important because this has nothing to do with either my company or my store specifically, but if you know me, you know who pays me. And this is neither the official, or unofficial, opinion of my company, it is mine and mine alone. Well, mine and pretty much every other person that works retail.

There is one thing that I hate about my job: guests. I know, I know, if it wasnt for the guests, I wouldnt have a job. I get that. But what I dont get, what bugs THE HELL out of me, is how, and why, guests can come into my job and treat it as either a playground for themselves or a day care for their kids.

On one hand, I can kind of... kind of... give the kids a pass, because, well, theyre kids. Their job is to do stupid stuff. By their parents, thats another story. 1) Where are they? 2) Why havent they taught their kids the difference between right and wrong, or at the very least simple respect?

Case in point: closing shift, Sunday, September 5, 2010

Its about 8pm at night and Im walking behind a family that consisted of a Mom, a Dad, and 4 kids ranging between 4 and 6. Each kid was carrying a giant playball.

Sidenote: If you work in retail, and if your store sells these playballs, chances are you despise them as much as I do. Kids come in all day, take them from the bin, and play with them. Most of the time setting them down on the floor and walking away when their parents finally come pick them up from "day care". Which means we have to pick them up and put them away constantly. I HATE these balls, and since they only sell for about $2.50 each, my company better be getting a massive return on them to justify their continued selling of them.

So Im walking behind the family, were all headed to the checklanes, and I was actually thinking to myself that it was nice to actually see someone buying them for a change. We get to our Snack department, and out of nowhere two of the kids take the balls they were carrying and just throw them as hard as they can down the aisle. The parents didnt say a word to either kid, and the group continued walking. Me? I actually said out loud: "What the fuck?!"

The group continues to the checklanes and the other two kids take the balls they had and throw them as hard as they could into our Girls department. Again, Mom and Dad say nothing. Me? I couldnt help but say "You mother fuckers!"

It was obvious that the parents had absolutely no intention of buying one of the balls, let alone all four, so what the hell did they think was going to happen to them? Did they think the balls were going to put themselves away? No, they probably figured, like every other inconsiderate assclown that shops retail, that it was the job of the employees to just walk around and pick their shit up. Cuz thats what I get paid for, right? But what gets me even more, is how could the adults condone the behavior of the kids? How can they just act like it was normal?

Honestly, if they werent purchasing merchandise, I would have picked the balls up and thrown them at the back of their heads. Ok, probably not, but in my mind I saw each kid getting pegged and dropping to the floor. But, I was the good boy and did nothing like that, instead, I picked the balls up and stood there holding them as I stared a hole through both parents. Basically: pay for the stuff and leave my store.

Before I wrap this up, I have one misconception to clear up: NO, I do NOT get paid to pick your crap up and put it away! That is something that I have to do, IN ADDITION TO, my normal job that I actually DO get paid for!

So the next time you walk into a store and decide not to purchase something and set it down nowhere near where it goes, or allow your kids to play with something and then throw it through the store, just remember that someone has to pick that up for you. Probably the same someone that could be assisting another guest with their shopping experience. Or the same someone that could be stocking the shelves with that item you came in for. Or the same someone that could be going up to help cashier to help you check out faster.

So the next time youre in my store - or any other store - and you get frustrated because theres nobody around to help you, dont even bother to bitch because theyre probably picking up after someone else. Someone... LIKE YOU.

Til next time

-- DBW --

3 down, 6 to go

So yeah, today I almost died.

Really.

Im standing at a stoplight, watching the other light on my right, waiting for it to turn yellow, knowing it will turn red soon after, and then my light will be green and I can continue on my journey.
Im standing there, standing there, standing there, and Im thinking: "Why is this light taking so long?" Finally the other light turns yellow, and I look to my left to see that a truck is coming, but its about half a block away and slowing down. Nothing is out of the ordinary.
My light turns green, I check to see that the truck has stopped - it has - and I then step off the curb and into the crosswalk. It takes a few steps, but I get to the trucks right headlight, second step and Im at the middle of the truck, third step and Im at the trucks left headlight. Im in the process of taking the fourth step to clear the truck completely and.....

BOOM!!!

I have no idea what the Hell just happened, but when that fourth step was completed I turn around to see that the truck I was just walking in front of is now in the middle of the crosswalk. The reason is because the driver of a car that was following behind the truck wasnt paying attention and slammed into the back of it, pushing it right into the path I had JUST walked.
If I was one step, half a step, slower... if I had stepped off of the curb a second later, I wouldnt be able to write this because I literally would have been dead. Crushed by a truck.

Im now in the middle of the crosswalk, and I finish walking across the street, but Im watching the guy in the truck and the girl in the car to see if everyone is ok. Guy is moving around - his truck is mostly ok, girl is moving around and appears to be physically fine, but he car is fucked up bad and she starts to cry, really cry, when she gets out and realizes whats happened.
By this time the truck guy was out and over to her, on his phone calling the cops, so there wasnt really anything I could do to help either one of them. So I continued on my journey - after I had Tweeted that I had almost died, of course - and scratched another of my 9 lives off my list.

Til next time...

-- DBW --

The civility of terrorists

If I said: "Someone masterminded a terrorist act on US soil by using a vehicle as a weapon and destroying a building with it, killing far too many people, all because he opposed the Government of the United States" youd think of Osama bin Laden and 9/11, right? Or perhaps maybe youd even think of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?

Now, would it surprise you to know that I wasnt talking about Arab terrorists, planes, and New York buildings? In fact, I was referencing an American terrorist, a rented moving truck, and a Federal building in downtown Oklahoma City.

On April 19th, 1995 Timothy McVeigh loaded a rented Ryder van with 5,000 pounds of fertilizer and racing fuel and parked it in front of the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. When the bomb went off, 450 people were injured and 168 were dead, including 19 children who were in a day care on the first floor.
The reasoning for this terrorist act was that Timothy McVeigh wanted revenge for "What the US Government did at Waco and Ruby Ridge" and he hoped to inspire a revolt against what he considered "a tyrannical federal government."
He has been quoted as saying: "The administration has said that Iraq has no right to stockpile chemical or biological weapons ("weapons of mass destruction") - mainly because they have used them in the past. Well, if thats the standard by which these matters are decided, then the US is the nation that set the precedent. The US has stockpiled these same weapons (and more) for over 40 years. The US claims that this was done for deterrent purposes during the "Cold War" with the Soviet Union. Why, then is it invalid for Iraq to claim the same reason (deterrence) - with respect to Iraqs (real) war with, and the continued threat of, its neighbor Iran. If Saddam is such a demon and people are calling for war crime charges and trials against him and his nation, why do we not hear the same cry for blood directed at those responsible for even greater amounts of "mass destruction" - like those responsible and involved in dropping bombs on the cities mentioned above. The truth is, the US has set the standard when it comes to the stockpiling and use of weapons of mass destruction."

There is no hard definition of "terrorism" but under Federal criminal code 18 U.S.C. 2331, the United States has defined "terrorism" as: "Activities that involve violent... or life threatening acts... that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State and... appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping..."
And under this definition, McVeigh was tried as a terrorist, in a civilian court, and was convicted of all 11 counts of the federal indictment and was sentenced to death, which was carried out on June 11th, 2001. But he did not leave this world before saying: "Isnt it kind of scary that one man could wreak this kind of Hell?"

So whats the point of this? Well, seems that there are politicians who are trying their hardest to block trials of people - "terrorists" - being held in Guantanamo Bay. At least, they want to block trials in civilian court even though some of these people - like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - are accused of the very same thing Timothy McVeigh did. Coincidentally, Mohammeds crime came three months to the day after McVeigh was put to death for his.
So whats the difference? Why is it ok to capture, try, convict, and execute one terrorist and not another?
"Because theyre war criminals and any trial should be held in military court. besides, military trials are quicker." No, no theyre not - there was no war, they did not act with the authority of a particular country, they acted alone because of their personal beliefs, and Timothy McVeighs trial was not in military court. And if military trials are quicker, then why the hell havent they happened yet?

Now heres one possible reason: military trials are closed doors, whereas civilian trials are open for the public to see. "So, what does that mean?" It could mean that these politicians - mostly Republicans - want these trials kept quiet so as not to cause issues for a certain former President and his administration.
See, its pretty much accepted that during the course of our "war" with whomever were at war with, we did some very very bad things. Things that are not only embarrassing to our country, but also highly illegal by our own rules as well as the generally accepted rules of civilized nations of the world. And while its one thing to talk about these at the water cooler at work, its quite a bit different to have to admit to these things in a court, under oath, for the record, and for the world to see. Only way to make sure that doesnt happen is to have a military trial, which would come complete with conveniently closed doors. "If you cant hear us admit to doing it, then maybe we didnt do it at all."

But like I said, thats just one possible reason, but Im sure the truth is much more innocent, right?

Right?

Til next time...

-- DBW --

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 --