Back home, kinda

He’s not my dad.

He’s the guy that married, cheated on, and divorced my mom.

However his massive house sits on a mountain two miles above Newport, a small redneck town in upstate NY.

But there is a certain air of freedom up there, with his four wheeler, semi automatic weapons and endless supply of wine. (It sounds far more dangerous than it is, really.)

This time was different though. We drank no wine…

But indulged in saki.

Instead of our usual meal from his near-grand grill he opted to treat me and my fiance to sushi from Sumo, the “best damn sushi” around (according to him.)

This isn’t a food critique blog, I am aware. But writing about driving my truck an hour and a half would suck, and I am not a meteorologist.

Sumo offers not only sushi but also an intimate an unique atmosphere. The restaraunt is split into a sushi bar and a hibachi grill. While sitting at the sushi bar you can see flames jumping above the half-wall that seperates the two sections.

The sushi is typical, but the kicker was sea urchin.

It looked like baby vomit wrapped in seaweed. It tasted like ground slug.

Post Election Apocolyptica

Tomorrow night is the election. I cannot tell you who is going to win with any real certainty, though according to Sportsbook.com the smart money is on McCain. What I can tell you for certain is that I am not going to get an bloody sleep.

Tomorrow is going to be a circus. As if the citizens of Albany needed any more reason to drive like teenagers going home from prom.  Luckily I get to walk to my polling place. Which is on Saint Rose campus. The hits just keep coming.

So I have to find the time to vote, in between classes, not to mention call in polling numbers and get to a bar and watch the dems and GOP brawl. Oh yeah and study for a Spanish oral exam.

This will be only the second election I will be eligible participate in, and I swore once that I was done the bs of politics, and this years election promises to keep me awake. Again.

Like these savages don’t cause me to lose enough sleep already.

Rantings, Ratings and Predictions.

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Usually I would be ecstatic to write about sports. But not today. Sports usually take the edge off of reading about elections and economies and sickly babies. But lately while perusing my usual haunts I threw up in my mouth a little.

What happened to the Bengals of old? No, not those 4-11 Bengals but the 11-5 team of 2005. These Bengals suck. Like… bad. Sure, there was a spark against the defending Super Bowl Champs, but losing in overtime does not translate to a win. Just like Ocho Cinco doesn’t translate to eighty-five. Why haven’t they signed Shaun Alexander yet? For just this season.

Not to be confused with a Brady-o-philic statement; I am still a bit torn up about his knee (pun intended). Because I added Mat Cassel to my fantasy roster, and started him over Carson Palmer. If Brady hadn’t gotten injured I wouldn’t have made that move. Thanks Tom.

Speaking of fantasy football, guess who didn’t start Ronnie Brown last Sunday? Are you kidding me though? Who would have thought he would play the game of his career? Really? I have been starting McFadden and Bush (Reggie). It’s been working. But 5 total touchdowns. At least the ‘Phins have a bye week so I don’t feel compelled to start him, because you know his knee will give out, on the first play of the first quarter, as soon as I do.

I knew Favre going to the Jets would blemish his legacy. The Jets are terrible.

Enough about football. What about baseball? No really. I don’t know. I stopped following it after the Mariners lost their 80^th game. The Cubs made the playoffs? Really. Isn’t Lou Pinella their manager? Didn’t he manage the Mariners? Back when they weren’t so awful. The Yankees are out. That is freakin’ sweet. No love lost. Still kinda pissed about ’98.

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Week 3 picks

Cleveland at Cincinnati- Cincinnati

At least the Bengals offense showed up week 3. The Browns are struggling. You can bet that if Derek Anderson doesn’t get it done this week then Quinn is going to put behind center. If either of these teams can find a spark the division is up for grabs.

Minnesota at Tennessee- Tennessee

Tennessee has been making a case for most improved from last season. Even with the Vince Young saga gnawing at them. Kerry Collins? Kerry Collins is still in the league!? For a team that desperately needed leadership they sure have found it. And that has made all the difference. This is not to say that the Vikings won’t be a challenge, but they won’t be victorious either.

Denver at Kansas City- Denver

Jay Cutler mania is sweeping over the Mile High city. Kansas City is a mess. They haven’t been the same since they lost Priest Holmes. Denver is going to embarrass the Chiefs at home.

San Francisco at New Orleans- New Orleans

The Saints haven’t been terrible this season. But the 49ers have been surprisingly good. This game might as well be O’Sullivan versus Brees, because they have led these two offences. Both teams have something to prove, expect a dogfight.

Arizona at NY Jets- NY Jets

Poor, poor Jets. Every loss is a heartbreaker because Favre is trying so hard. Meanwhile another grey haired QB has resurrected himself for a 3^rd time. The Jets are in underdog mode right now, and the coaching staff might have green-lit Favre this week. He’s going to throw the hell out of that football. Even if his ankle is sore.

Green Bay at Tampa Bay- Green Bay

Both teams 2-1. Green Bay holds a slight edge at QB, which gives them this game. The game will be close because the Pack is without Al Harris, and Griese is tossing the ball pretty well.

Atlanta at Carolina- Carolina

This game will be close. Carolina’s D needs to step up and keep pressure on Matt Ryan. There are high hopes in Atlanta in Ryan, Roddy White, and Michael Turner, but Carolina wants to prove that week one and two weren’t flukes.

Houston at Jacksonville- Jacksonville

Fred Taylor has gotten better as he’s gotten older. How many backs can you say that about? Houston is headed for another losing season.

San Diego at Oakland- San Diego

Is there any doubt? San Diego is a good team that has a hard time getting their act together.

Buffalo at St. Louis- Buffalo

Where’d Buffalo come from? St. Louis is this years Oakland. The Rams have a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball and on special teams in order for them to have any success next year. Are they trying to kill Trent Green?

Washington at Dallas- Dallas

Dallas is this year’s favorite-all around the board, this is the game of the week. Not just because of the deep division rivalry, but because Washington is real good too. Jason Campbell has an arsenal of options, but Romo has T.O. There is a potential upset in the cards but this is Texas Hold ‘Em.

Philadelphia at Chicago- Philadelphia

Philly has got to win a lot of games this season to contend with the Super Bowl high Giants this season. So far so good, but they cannot make mistakes. Their potentially Westbrook-less running game may have a tough time against the Bears D, if they show up.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh- Pittsburgh

Baltimore is looking to go 3-0 and Pittsburgh is looking to stop them. Roethlisberger could hit the ground eight more times this week if he doesn’t get out of the way of the perpetually-nasty-Ray-Lewis-led Ravens D. The Steelers O-line needs to protect Big Ben. Needs.

Damn you FOX

Alright FOX News… You’re breaking my balls. It’s bad enough that you sent Tony Snow into the Bush white house, where he then got cancer and died. Coincidence? I think not. Haven’t you done enough damage? Now you must whore your local news outlets?

While surfing the internet for some “local” news I stumbled on your fine information corporation, WXXA-DT-TV Fox 23 Albany, and snuggled in between ads were three letters… The dirtiest of letters… T.M.Z.

Are you serious?

How is Hollywood local? Do their uber salaries and bad habits affect us in the Capital Region? Andy Dick running around with no shirt on isn’t really local news… That really isn’t news anywhere actually. Which further proves my point. I don’t rely on your for very much, but I would appreciate a bit of respect.

Alright, I concede that there are no real celebrities in Albany, though some might consider the mayor of Lark Street a celebrity and  Trey Anastasio was arrested in Whitehall, but if people want to fill thier heads with carpetbagger journalism then let them type those three letters into thier search bar. Why must you distract people from somewhat real information.

Capital News 9 and the Times Union will be my primary local news sources. Both sites are comprehensive and offer the same local coverage. Even their ads are for local universities and retailers. 

It would be unfair to hold the Hearst affiliation against the Times Union. But they are the best in the city. Surely Metroland must be considered, but Metroland’s problems dwell deep within the management’s lack of desire to broaden their readership.

I wrote a long blog explaining what happened to the news industry, and my opinion is further enforced by my recent discovery… T.M.Z on a local FOX affiliate  

Politics for the world

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So let’s talk about the world. Let’s talk about the warming of it. Let’s talk about what the big four in the political world have to say about.

Let’s start with John McCain.

According to Politifact.com “the Congressional Record shows that McCain spoke up about global warming in January 2003. And as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, he held hearings on the issue several years before that… On Jan. 9, 2003, McCain and Sen. Joe Liberman introduced the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act, which sought to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capping them and allowing companies and utilities to sell or trade their emission rights.” What the site doesn’t mention is that Obama is an original composer of the Act.

Governor Palin seems to be confused about her position on whether or not global warming in man made. During an interview with Newsmax, Palin said, “A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.”

This was before she became the attack dog for McCain. After the nomination, in an interview with Charlie Gibson she said, “I believe that man’s activities certainly can be contributing to the issue of global warming, climate change.”

During a political rally in South Carolina, when he was still running for President, Joe Biden had said “If I could wave a wand, and the Lord said I could solve one problem, I would solve the energy crisis… That’s the single most consequential problem we can solve.”

So, Obama and McCain have the same strategy, since they co-authored a bill. Gov. Palin has no idea what she is talking about from one day to the next and Biden wants to fairy-God-mother it away.

Maybe the four of them should just google it.

I typed in “best global warming solution” just to see if the internet offered any breakthroughs that are not in the talking points of the candidates. The first choice was hemp. According to the Pure Energy Systems wiki “easily grown and robust Cannabis Hemp is one of the best if not the very best plants overall for fuel, building supplies, medicine, fiber, food, paper, and substitute for wood. Some go so far as to argue that it could be the best solution to global warming.” These claims are made with no sources cited. The next on the list I will call the “no shit” recommendations, from Grinning Planet.com

Replace frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Society has been sticking to the same type bulb that Edison invented. These fluorescent bulbs last longer too.

Run your dishwasher only with a full load. If your not… That just seems kind of counterproductive.

Improve your hot-water setup. To do that they suggest wrapping your hot water heater in something to keep the heat from dispersing. This will ensure that your hot water heater does not work overtime.

Don’t leave the water running. Haven’t they been pushing this since the ‘70’s?

Maintain your HVAC system. See the hot water suggestion.

Replace old appliances. So the makers of EnergyStar can get wicked rich.

Bring back the clothes line. Dirty hippies don’t wash their clothes, therefore they don’t understand the need for a dryer.

The list goes on you can check the web site for the remaining common sense suggestions.

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