The Lakers Win!

The Lakers have defeated the Wolves, woohoo! In the midst of the most chaotic season I can think of the Lakers have done what was thought to be probable and then improbable.

And now we await the puny East so that we can stomp all over them. Isn't it funny how sports fans like myself say "we." After all I had so much to do with the victory.

Your commute

Study: Driving Longer Means Larger Waists

This story is one of many that really help to hammer home the message that your employment has a tremendous impact upon your quality of life and not just from a financial perspective.

It impacts your mental and physical health in dramatic fashion. Just think, if you hate your job not only does it make you crazy but now we see that in addition to the stress if you are commuting long distances it can make you fat. How about a Big Mac, or do you want to be a dope.

Not very surprising to read this, but it does assist in reminding us that when we evaluate potential employment we should consider quite seriously things like the commute as well as money/benefits/advancement.

Islam and the Modern World

There a ton of experts who have written about this, but I happen to like Daniel Pipes and Bernard Lewis. I thought that these two pieces by Lewis were interesting

The Roots of Muslim Rage

And

What Went Wrong

Special thanks go out to Dallas for passing this story along:

Bernard Lewis

Death is indiscriminate

There's a reason I'm alive - I just don't know what it is

I thought that the article was very interesting for a multitude of reasons. Bombs and bullets do not discriminate. If you get in the way you will be hurt. It is a tragic part of war.

And tied into that tragedy is the reality is that sometimes the only way to stop bloodshed is with more bloodshed. The absurdity is just unreal. Do we ever grow up?


And then speaking of absurd

Man Commits Suicide After Sex with Hen

How does this happen, it is foul to shtup a fowl. How do you look at the bird and think "I have got to have it..." I just don't understand it at all.

Perspective

Life is not always a bowl of cherries, but I'd lay odds that most people that have their own Blog have a better life than they realize. Does that mean that they do not have problems? No, they most certainly do.

But if you can take a deep breath and maintain some perspective you might find that things are pretty good. You could be the one out of the 75.

Report: 1 of Every 75 U.S. Men in Prison

In reference to an earlier comment about politics and leaders I came across this story today. Which just gives more support to my position about politicians just being people. This of course does not do much to mitigate my displeasure at coming across things like this, but it is all perspective now isn't it.

Fortuneteller Told Peru's Fujimori to Flee-Video

Have you ever fallen in love with someone you don't know?

Does this happen to people or is it just something that you see in the movies. They say that all movies and sitcoms are based upon real life. Does that mean that aliens are coming to take over. Will they say "nanoo-nanoo" and fly in eggs.

Whatever does it mean?

Bad movies

I just lost 2 hours of my life to "The Hulk." It was a horrible movie. Special effects were just so-so and the plot was weak. Thankfully it was on Starz so I cannot say that I wasted tons of dollars on it.

Although I did enjoy it more than "As Good as it Gets" which just got worse and worse. Bleah!

Group Unearths Part of Ancient University

What do you want to bet they found gum stuck beneath the desks.

Group Unearths Part of Ancient University

When I was younger I wanted to be Indiana Jones. I spent the Summer of '85 in Israel. During my time there I purchased a leather bullwhip that I found in the Shuk in Jerusalem. It was probably my second week there. We entered through Jaffa gate and hadn't gone too far when I found it.

I only managed to smack myself with it twice before I got the hang of it. Just slightly embarrassing to whip yourself, but we'll save that for a later date. Hard to believe that it is almost 20 years since this grand adventure.

And speaking of embarrassing incidents

Researcher Dies After Accidental Ebola Jab

Can you imagine the eulogy: If he hadn't been such a prick....

The President is just a man

Kissinger tape: Nixon too drunk to speak with British PM

Kind of a scary article. Just another reminder that the people we call our leaders are human and prone to mistakes just like you and I. The problem is that their mistakes are not unlike those of pilots, bus drivers and doctors.

They screw up and lots of others ending up paying a serious price.

At some point we are going to have to redefine our expectations of the POTUS and begin something new.

A good work ethic

We hear/read discussions regarding the necessity and the desire to find someone with a "good work ethic." It is a highly desirable trait and one that has multiple definitions because it really is subjective.

Some people are good at sitting down at a task and just working at it until it is completed. They will not take a break or stop until they are done with what they set out to do.

Others just can't work that way and do what they need to do in bursts of energy, which is the way that I prefer to work. And then are those people that are just downright lazy.

But a good work ethic does not mean that the quality of work is always as solid as the desire and effort to work hard. Sometimes you are placed in situations in which you are just wearing the wrong hat, you don't have the right tools for the job. It requires a flat head and you brought a phillips screwdriver.

That being said I am placed in a position all the time where my clients ask me to do their work for them. None of them have the balls to come out and just ask me to do it, but nonetheless they do. It makes me crazy. I have enough work to do without those lazy bastards adding to my workpile. If I wanted more work I'd tell Dubya to step aside and begin my own reign of terror. Bwahhahah.

Madonna

I am growing more and more tired of celebrities who have let fame color their perceptions of their importance in the world. Madonna is one of those people. Just because you have talent and business acumen you cannot assume to have the same skills in other areas.

That is not to say that you cannot have an opinion, but I find her political views to be somewhat shallow and I find her involvement in Kabbalah to be irritating. It is a little offensive to see a person pick one aspect of your faith and exploit it for their own gain and that is how it comes across to me. I may be wrong, but I have little reason to think so.

I suppose that it is fair to say that neither Madonna or I will lose any sleep over the other's perception of each other.

She is 45, how long can she keep this charade up and when does she change and adapt to circumstances. Maybe she will and maybe she already has. It doesn't matter. If she feels so strongly about peace she can put her money where her mouth is.

Golf

Golf

Ok, who is up for a game of golf in Afghanistan? We'll play for a buck a hole. Just think you might be able to say that your Callaway 5 iron is the reason Osama is in US custody.

No really Mr. President I thought that my ball was in the sand trap and suddenly there he was, so I swung like Tiger and hit him like the Babe. It was beautiful. The sad thing is that I lost my lucky Titleist.

In other news gum is returning to Singapore and the Trident G-ds are pleased.

Gum returns to Singapore

Edited to add that I am finally learning how to do things more effectively here. Woohoo! I am kind of enjoying this whole thing.

What can you say?

I spent time debating on how crude I would get in my Blog, it is after all my public face. But then I decided that I feel like keeping it somewhat "real." Life is really chaotic and "crazy busy" now. My father has been ill for more than a month and locked up in a hospital in New Jersey.

If I spent any more time there I might be locked up to, but for different reasons. The fercockteh jughandles are idiotic and more trouble than they are worth. If I ever run for Senate and win I am cutting off their federal funding, or enlisting Tony Soprano's crew to run things for me.

Yesterday they took blood from my arm for a basic blood count. When I removed the bandage it suddenly became apparent that my arm was bruised and discolored in a coupld of spots. I am 35, what is the deal with this bruising.

Today at my basketball game I told the guys that I caught my arm on the rim and that they should watch out or I would rain a firestorm of dunks and points upon them. Ok, I can't dunk, but I did manage to touch the rim. Not bad for a white Jewish guy who stands 5'10 and weighs 230.

I may not be very athletic, but G-d did bless me with strength, an attitude and exceptional flatulence. You never know when you need the turbo to kick in. If I didn't mention it before I am a Taurus.....

Cranky Nonsense

It must be a Monday because I am just cranky and irritable. It is one of those days in which I feel like looking for a fight just so I can unload on someone, not nice but it is the truth. But like any other day it just means getting through it and things will get better.

And now for a chorus from Annie "The Sun will come out tomorrow..."

Screw that dumb redhead and that stupid song, send her back to the orphanage and tell Daddy Warbucks that the only gazillionaire with bigger hair trouble is Trump. The man should fire his stylist.

Politics

It is May 23 for another 43 minutes or so. In a relatively short time we are about to see the next presidential election come and go. And in the interim we are going to be bombarded with information about who did what and why they are meaningful and why we need to vote for them.

Now it may be that I am a snob, no I am a snob about this, but I have little faith in the logical assessment and critical reasoning of most people. There is so much garbage spit out about the candidates and their abilities. I wish that people could and would spend more time thinking about what is being said.

It is like these knuckleheads who thought that Dean was different than the rest. Show me a real plan, something coherent and articulate and maybe we can start to speak about change.

TIVO

I have all of two minutes now before we venture into TIVO land. We got TIVO so that it would be easier to find time to watch a few TV shows that are not child friendly. It got to be so easy to watch shows that we have become Tivoized and now have way too many shows.

I think that I am going to have to go cold turkey one day or at least give up a few shows so that what little time I have reappears. That is the problem with being a reality tv junkie.

Survivor, Amazing Race and a couple others have occupied us way too frequently. I haven't spent any real time considering the ramifications of this. It dawns upon me that some people will consider me to be a part of the cultural dumbing down of America, but on the other hand I can claim to have read more books on more topics than most people. I can quote Shakespeare, Faust, Whitworth, Proust and Homer Simpson. DOH! So what, what does it all mean.

We are living in an age of information overload with so much stimulation and not much time to process or determine if these things are meaningful. And that in my mind is more important than so many other things we cry about.

Really.

Shrek 2

Not a bad flick, actually I thought that it was quite clever and really enjoyed it. Too bad the lady near me thought that she had a better story to tell. I had images of dumping a box of popcorn on her head, but the thought of jail scares me.

Bubba and Jack can be friends from afar.

The hardest part was trying to keep my precocious 3.5 year-old son entertained. He had more fun climbing the stairs, looking over the seats and playing with his popcorn than he did watching the movie.

And come Mid-July old Jack and company will unveil the latest addition to the crew. It should be interesting.

Sunday- It is not what it used to be

When I was in school Sundays used to be a time in which I would do my best to continue to forget about homework and weekday events. I remember trying to eke out every last second of the weekend, 'cuz who wanted to have to go back to school.

Most of the time I really didn't care about returning to school, it was just the principle of the matter. I couldn't be the "cool kid" without claiming to hate school at least once, now could I.

And now as a so-called adult I find that I have so many family responsibilities to take care of that I sometimes miss being at work, oy. It is not that I mind but it can get a little crazy running from store to store and family event to family event. I feel a little like the hamster on the wheel.

Midnight- And I cannot sleep

It is a little after midnight on the day 22nd anniversary of my Bar-Mitzvah. At 35 I have a house, have been married for 8.5 years, have a 3.5 year-old son and another child on the way.

No word yet as to the sex, other than it is a healthy baby. And so begins the start of my blog adventure. I cannot say where this journey will take me, or whether I'll enjoy it, but for tonight I am willing to venture out into the wild and wooly web.