Ok. I don’t know if this is a Utah thing or if this is something coming back. My wife warned me that the 80’s fashion was coming back and that is scary. In the past week I have noticed a ton of teenagers and young women wearing miniskirts with like spandex leggings on underneath. Scary.
So I am now on the 4th day of my first business trip. I am scheduled to be out here for two weeks so this is just the beginning. I just thought I would comment on a few things:
- I really like this Hampton Inn. The room is nice and spacious. The bedding is quite comfortable (the beds have down comforters) and I have slept pretty well for being away from home. They serve a free hot breakfast (nothing special but its free…so) that is sufficient. Most of all heir service has been excellent. All the employees have been so helpful and friendly. I’d stay here again!!
- Too much food!! I am alloted $41 a day for food expenses. It seems like a lot but it can go pretty quick if you eat a nice dinner. I’m doing my best not to overeat (I have lost a little lately and don’t want to gain it back) but it can be hard. I’d like to get a small simple lunch but the people I’m with sometimes insist on a big lunch and dinner. I feel like I am always stuffed!!
- Its cool being on/near an Air Force Base. At any time I can look up and see F-16s doing maneuvers overhead. Yesterday an Apache practically hovered over my hotel for a few minutes. Hill has an Air Museum that was pretty cool. They house an SR-71 Blackbird…my favorite plane growing up.
- I miss my girls. Sappy? Yes I know. It has been nice not being puked on and not having my arm hair yanked out…you really need to stop that ERIN!!
I’ll have pictures of the trip up soon.
I just finished watching the Florida Republican Gubernatorial candidate debate on television. Until tonight I had not watched an hour of PBS since my Sesame Street days, which probably makes me seem dim witted by the “intellectually elite,” but who cares. This primary race is being run by two candidates: Charlie Crist and Tom Gallagher. I was leaning towards Gallagher before the debate, which has not changed, but I am now faced with a quandary that I will likely have to work through during the next Presidential election as well. The issue is that the candidate I like will have a harder time beating either of the Democratic candidates than Charlie Crist would. It was readily apparent during the debate that Crist was blessed with that special ability to speak that one must be born with. Much like Bill Clinton, he can connect with an audience and appear to empathize with them, even when they are complete strangers. The problem with Crist is that he is far too left for my tastes (though still a neocon right winger according to the libs). He says he is Pro Life, but I have no confidence that he would sign into law a ban on abortions in the State, if Roe vs. Wade is ever overturned by the Federal Supreme Court. He is in line with President Bush and Senator Mel Martinez on the issue of illegal aliens, I am not. He presented a large amount of new spending plans; I think that we need to decrease our outlay. He is also very wishy-washy on the issue of gay marriage. He says he is against gay marriage, but is for gay civil unions. When asked by Tom Gallagher what the difference is between marriage and a civil union he skirted around the question. In my opinion the only difference is semantics.
On basically every issue I agree with Tom Gallagher. He deserves my vote, right? The problem is that I would rather have Crist as my Governor than either of the Democrats who are running. I think that if Crist gets the Republican nomination he will cruise to a relatively easy victory. So, is it better to vote for the “lesser of two evils” or vote for the guy that I truly would like in office? The Democrats were faced with this very issue in Connecticut earlier this month, and they chose the guy they really wanted. That decision may really hurt them when Senator Lieberman is reelected as an independent. At least those liberals were honest and supported the candidate that they thought would best represent them.
When I go into the voting booth two weeks from today I will be voting for Tom Gallagher. The primary elections are where “we the people” have the ability to show the parties the direction we would like to see them take. Understanding that, I simply cannot vote for Crist. I believe that we Republicans are going to be faced with a very similar issue in the 2008 Presidential election. Rudy Giuliani and Senator McCain (from Arizona) are the most talked about front runners at this early point, and I have the same basic issues with them as I do with Charlie Crist. That race is still a long way off, so hopefully someone more suited to my tastes will step forward and run. I have a feeling that it is going to take the support of the entire Republican base in order to keep Mrs. Clinton out of the Oval Office.
Getting back to the here and now, the Florida Senate primary is going to be more difficult to decide upon than the race for Governor. I honestly have not spent enough time researching the candidates to make my decision yet. Incumbent Bill Nelson seems pretty well liked by the Democrats, so he will be a formidable foe for any Republican candidate to beat. Catherine Harris became a sort of “hero” for the Bush supporters after the 2000 election. I never saw her that way since I believe all she did was complete her job. Bush was the winner of the Florida popular vote, and she certified it. Does that act alone mean she should get the chance to go to the Senate? Not really. More to come on that race…
StevePEZ was gracious enough to send this book up along with my birthday present. For those that don’t know, Bad Twin, written by fictional author Gary Troup, is part of the “game” and mystery of the hit ABC show LOST. This book isn’t directly associated with the show but if you are a fan of LOST (and more so if you have followed all the web based content along with it) you will pick up on subtle references and familiarities.
For someone not following the LOST phenomenon this book may seem like any fictional suspense/mystery written by a little known author. The tie in with LOST comes in the preface to the book, a letter from the publisher touting the sad news that the author Gary Troup was a passenger on Oceanic Air Flight 815 from Sydney to LA which mysteriously vanished somewhere over the Pacific. All passengers were presumed dead. For someone not following the show this could be believeable. The only other way to know is if you read the credits page, where in very small print it says that the book and also the author are fictional. There are questions as to who the actual writer is but I will leave that to you to find.
**Note about spoilers** I will try not to reveal more than the book’s own synopsis…
The book centers on a lethergic PI, Paul Artisan, who makes his living exposing affairs and medical malpractice frauds. He is then approached by Cliff Widmore (name sound familiar?), a very sharp and rich businessman and heir to the Widmore fortune. Cliff’s twin brother Zander has gone missing and wants Artisan to find him. Cliff feels that his brother is in danger and needs to be found.
Relutantly, Artisan takes the job and as he digs into the puzzle of Zander’s disappearance he finds that the plot runs deep. People start dying all around him as the real stakes of the mystery unfold.
The book was enjoyable. It was short and only took a few reading sessions to complete. As a story it stands on its own feet. Coupled with a LOST background the book offers a little more.
There are no direct tie-ins with the plot or characters of LOST but there were some references that a person “in the know” might pick up:
Widmore Family - We met Penelope Widmore and her father in the flashbacks of Desmond.
Hanso Foundation - Advertise in the LOST timeslot
Alvar Hanso - Founder of Hanso Foundation, associate of Widmore
Mr. Mittlework - Involved with Hanso, on Widmore board or directors
Mr. Clucks Chicken - Where Hugo (Hurley) worked
John Locke - mentioned as a philosopher
I’m sure there were more that I can’t remember. Steve?
This is in response to Steve’s post about how many concerts he attends that have teenagers there.
I don’t know the exact reason but I have two overlapping theories:
Let me first pose a question. The music you listen to now, is it the same style/genre/bands you listened to in High School? Does it seem so odd that teenagers could like the same music as you? You still play the same video games as them so this should be no surprise.
Many of the so called Christian bands are knockoffs of secular ones so, yes, parents are more likely going to allow their kids to go to a Christian concert than a secualr one. If these kids grew up sheltered like we did then they would jump at any chance to see a band live since the availability of Christian concerts is minimal.
You must consider the venue these shows are played in. The HOB or Hard Rock Live venues cater to all types of crouds depending on the night. Many other non-Christian bands play in clubs and bars that have a minimum age of 18 or 21. That filter alone may make those other shows seem more adult.
This is not always the case though. Take for instance the Switchfoot show we saw at The Social a couple years ago. That place was crawling with teens and its a club and it serves alcohol. Switchfoot is marketed as a teen friendly band and is more likely to draw on that crowd to it’s shows. I wouldn’t so lump Weezer into that category.
Think about most Christian bands you see live. The shows are usually at festivals (all ages) or in Christian/neutral venues. You really don’t see many in clubs and bars.
This may or may not be obvious to you and i may be way off but it makes sense to me. All for now.