Vegas Here I Come

Today I started to really plan my trip to Las Vegas for April. I am really going as a presenter for the NSSA Conference with 4 other people from work and their spouses. I have to present and attend a couple of sessions, but we are heading out two days early to see the sites.

On the itinerary so far...

1. Trip to the Grand Canyon
2. Trip to Hoover Dam
3. Cirque du Soleil show
4. Mama Mia show
5. A little gambling just to say I did it
6. Pure Fun!

The best part is that I only have to pay for two nights at the hotel and any activities I want to do. My hotel room for the other nights is covered as well as my flight and I even get money for food. I am looking forward to the trip and seeing Las Vegas for the first time. Hopefully I won't get sick like I did last year when I went to a conference in Florida.

The WORST movie I've ever paid to watch...

Tonight I went to see Cloverfield with some friends from church. It was by far the worst movie I've ever paid to watch. The whole thing was shot from the perspective of an amateur photographer (think Blair Witch Project on steroids). It made me dizzy and at times I actually felt like I was drunk. They never explained anything about the movie and the title doesn't even fit with the story. None of it made sense or fit together. If you are considering watching this movie, DON'T. It is a waste of your money and you will hate yourself for going. Watching this movie was 2 hours of my life that I will never get back.

iTunes Movie Rental Madness

I am super geeked about the new iTunes movie rental announcement. Now when I travel I can simply download movies I want to watch on my Mac and not have to take a stack of DVDs with me. I love this idea. The price is reasonable and you get to keep the movie for 30 days. The only thing that sucks is that the movie expires 24 hours after it is first opened. I don't think with will replace my Netflix subscription, but it will sure make travel more fun.

Don't even get me started on the new Macbook Air! It looks awesome, to bad I don't really need a new computer right now.

What a let down

Today is the Presidential Primary in Michigan and what a sad day it is. As a Democrat I will not be voting for a presidential candidate because not all the candidates are on the ballot. Michigan party leaders believe that the winning candidate will eventually demand that delegates from Michigan and Florida (also punished this year) be counted at the convention. However, not all the Democratic Candidates are on the ballot. Democratic candidates John Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden withdrew their names from the ballot to satisfy Iowa and New Hampshire who were unhappy that Michigan and Florida moved up their primaries.

So here is my solution to this whole problem and all the crap that comes with which state gets to hold their primary first (don't even get me started on the problems with caucuses). Hold all the primaries around the country at the same time. This will eliminate the battle over who goes first and take power away from a couple of states. It also prevents people in states who have the later primaries from being influenced by the outcome of early primaries.

The primary should be held in April (after taxes are due), this gives candidates time to campaign, but still ends in time for the winning candidate on each side to campaign for the November election. It just seems that like so many other parts of our election process, primaries are poorly run and should be changed.

Fair Weather Fans

Nothing irritates me more in the sports world than 'Fair Weather Fans'. These are the people that love the team when their up and kick 'em while their down. I have seen far too many of these fans lately following the Ohio State loss in the National Championship game. In my opinion it is OK to be disappointed that the team lost, but to turn on them is ridiculous.

Three days ago these people claimed to be the biggest Ohio State fans, but now their nothing more than hateful, spiteful people. As an Ohio State fan I was obviously saddened by the loss on Monday night, but I would never turn on the team. I stood by them all the years that we got humiliated by Michigan and won't turn on them because of a couple of bad showings in championship games.

I wish that fair weather fans would learn how to stick it out in the storm or just shut up! I'm tired of all the 'player hating' they are just kids trying to do their best. It's not like they purposely went to New Orleans to get beat.

My fair weather fan opinion also applies to all other sports and sport teams. If you are a fair weather fan and need some help learning how to deal with disappointment, just talk to any Detroit Lions fans, we are experts in weathering the storm of bad games and seasons.

The Race is on

Well the pollsters failed again. First they predicted a victory for Clinton in Iowa but Obama won, then they predicted an Obama victory in N.H. but Clinton won. We have an interesting race underway. I expect and hope for many more twists and turns. It is great when we have two good candidates running and the race is close.

On the Republican side, I was happy to see John McCain won instead of Huckabee or Romney. It looks like the Republicans will also have a close race this year.

Now onto Michigan at least for the Republicans; Democratic candidates will not be campaigning in the state for next week's primary because the Democratic party has decided not to count the delegate votes from Michigan because the state moved up its primary. So I won't be waisting my time on Tuesday voting for no reason. I will simply wait to cast my ballot in November when it really matters.

Happy Birthday Elvis!

Today is Elvis Presley's Birthday. Over 30 years since his death and he is still a celebrated artist. His music is still popular and regularly sampled in modern music. It is also used in many tv shows like "Las Vegas" and movies like "Oceans 11".

So Happy Birthday to the true King of Rock and Roll!

Political Know Nothing

This morning I found myself listening to a morning talk show where they brought on a woman who knew absolutely nothing about politics or the current presidential race. She couldn't even think of Senator Obama's first name (it's Barack for the record).

While I understand that the whole thing was meant as a joke to make us laugh, it reminded me of a conversation I had last night regarding where people get their political information from. It is a scary time that we live in where the youth in our nation (and some of the more 'mature' adults as well) get their political knowledge from people like Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert. While these comedians often make valid points, they are not political analyst or news reporters. They are as their job description states Comedians.

Relying on them for news and political information is ridiculous. Now I am aware that news reporters and political analyst are not always the best sources either, but they are at least a step in the right direction.

With the primaries under way and the Presidential Election just 11 months away, it is important that Americans do their research before voting for a candidate. And whatever you do, don't just rely on Comedy Central for your information.

You may also want to consider learning about candidates outside your chosen political party. But that's a topic for another post.

Just out of the Gate

I've been thinking about this blog thing for a while now and I've finally decided to stop simply reading what other people think and start throwing my own thoughts into the mix. So here it is an in depth look into the life of an Extraordinarily Ordinary person.