Immodest Proposals

NFL Win Total, Just Past Midway Update (AFC Edition)

2010-11-18T01:03:00.000-08:00

Just before the season began, I picked against the win total lines. With the byes behind us, and all teams having played 9/16ths of their games, seems like a good time to evaluate which picks seem to be on track, and which teams I was way off on.

AFC North my predictions BAL (over 10), CIN (under 8), CLE (over 5.5), PIT (under 9)
Baltimore needs to go 5-2 down the stretch to hit the over, and looking at their schedule, it's within reach, but they could just as easily slip to 9-7, so nothing is written in stone.
Cincinnati was even crappier than I expected, so no problem with them hitting the under.
Cleveland needs to go at least 3-4 to beat the over, and with CAR, BUF, and CIN on the schedule, should be possible, especially with how well Colt McCoy has looked.
Pittsburgh surprised me so far, they survived their time without #7, but with their makeshift offensive line, and a few tough road games left, their high side potential is probably around 10 wins, and it wouldn't be shocking if they slip to 8-8 by going 2-5 down the stretch, so I'm still hopeful that my picks are solid for this division

AFC South my predictions HOU (over 8), IND (over 11), JAX (under 7), TEN (over 8)
Houston sucks, they'll probably finish a disappointing 7-9 or 8-8.
Indy has been solid at home, but a bit shaky on the road, and would need to go 6-1 the rest of the way to have over 11 wins, not likely at this point.
Jacksonville already has 5 wins, so they'll probably get at least 2 more wins.
Tennessee has some solid wins, and confounding losses. They should go at least 4-3, but much better, or worse is possible.

AFC East my predictions BUF (under 5), MIA (over 8.5), NE (under 9.5), NYJ (under 9.5)
Buffalo has played well, yet they've only won one game, so feel pretty confident about them staying under 5 wins.
Miami has 5 wins so far, and with some easy games outside of their division 4 more wins are within their grasp, but they could also screw things up.
New England has done their smoke and mirrors thing and are tied for best record. On paper should have been a down year, but they do what they do. Damn, Belichick.
New York Jets season still might blow up, and all those close wins they've squeaked out for the first half, might become close losses down the stretch, still they'll probably make the over, and my picks for this whole division will probably be wrong.

AFC West my predictions DEN (under 7.5) KC (over 6.5) OAK (over 6.0) SD (under 11)
Denver looks to be the bottom dwellers of this crappy division, so the under feels pretty solid.
KC started well, but after two road losses within their division, they look a bit shaky, but will get at least two wins, so the over looks good.
Oakland might be pretty good this season, and should get at least two more victories.
San Diego seems to be doing their usual start slow, finish strong thing. They're putting up great stats, but have a mediocre record. They'd have to go 6-1 to hit the over, not impossible, but not probable, so I feel good about my pick.

The playoff picture is still pretty muddled in the AFC, Indy, Baltimore, NYJ and NE seem like locks, San Diego will probably rise up and sneak off with their division again, unless Oakland figures out how to win on the road and gets to 10-6. Pittsburgh or Miami will probably be fighting for the last wildcard spot. If I had to pick right now based on how the teams look at this moment, I think the division winners will be BAL, IND, NE, SD with NYJ and MIA getting the wildcard spots. It's going to be crazy down the stretch with a gazillion tiebreaker scenarios being the difference between division wins and being completely out of the playoffs for a few quality teams. 11-5 might be the best record, and 10-6 the worst that make it into the playoffs.

Your Daily Photo (It's Palm Tree Thursday Edition)

2010-10-28T23:37:00.001-07:00

Would your Thursday be complete without a snap of palm trees?

(didn't think so)

Your Daily Photo (Yet Again with the Oranges Edition)

2010-10-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

Didn't get out to shoot anything new today, allergies acting up with the wind blowing hereabouts.

Will have stuff possibly of interest tomorrow, the rest of my California ballot propositions voting suggestions, along with an early take on Rock Band 3 (summary, love it), and maybe even a few words on the Lakers and Clippers.

(regarding the photo above, you'd think I'd be used to the vagaries of the autofocus on the 50mm lens by now, but nope, I still forget to press the focus lock and manually focus when dealing with a shallow depth of field and a variety of things to focus on in the field of view)

Your Daily Photo (This Is What Passes for Fall Colors in Santa Monica Edition)

2010-10-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

Late October, and ripe oranges in the backyard. Life is good. Also, GO LAKERS!!!

Your Daily Photo (Staring at Stairs Edition)

2010-10-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

The stairs at the Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA, rotated to an odd angle, just because.

Your Daily Photo (Big Stripper is Big Edition)

2010-10-24T17:27:00.001-07:00

Stay classy, Vegas...

(taken at the Miracle Mile Shops, in Las Vegas)

Your Daily Photo (Mmmmm, Chocolate Edition)

2010-10-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

The photo taken at the Jean Philippe Patisserie found at the Bellagio Resort in the Las Vegas.

(sorry for the Manolo-speak, can't help myself sometimes, if the model pictured in today's post at shoeblogs were to get within sniffing distance of the confection pictured above, I think she might the faint)

Also home to the world's largest chocolate fountain (not pictured, doesn't really photograph well, but it's impressive in person).

Split a nutella crepe after dinner (at Koi, well executed Japanese food, not insanely expensive) and a show (Peepshow, featuring Holly Madison, entertainingly cheesy/sexy) Tuesday night. It was far more delicious than you'd ever have a right to expect for a nutella based dessert.

Your Daily Photo (Does a Pumpkin Have to Be Large to Be Great, Charlie Brown? Edition)

2010-10-22T22:06:00.001-07:00

Just a couple hundred pounds worth of pumpkin for your Friday night perusal.

(shot Tuesday at the Bellagio in Las Vegas)

The Conservative Closet...

2010-10-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

"It's difficult being a conservative here with so many liberals around, they don't want to hear or engage in any discussion," she said. "It's like name-calling, like calling the Tea Party people racist or not knowing much about someone like Sarah Palin and trashing her in front of me. Liberals don't really engage in two-way discussion. It's easy to be a liberal — it's more difficult, more intellectually challenging being a conservative."

From this Santa Monica Daily Press article on the shocking news that there are a few non-liberals scattered throughout our fair city.

Above, Beverly Hills resident, Diana Ross (I can not vouch for her political status, but you never know, maybe this song was about her 'coming out' as a GOP supporter...)

Are You Propositioning Me? (Part I, Props 19, 20&27)

2010-10-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

California voters are expected to legislate, since our legislature isn't up to the task. This election there are a nine statewide measures up for vote. Here are my opinions regarding three of them.

Proposition 19: Duuude, let's get stoned! (VOTE YES)
There are many reasons to vote no on this proposition, you may have a moral objection to the weed, you may think that the current medicinal marijuana laws are sufficient to supply people who have a use for the stuff (or perceive themselves as having a need) are covered. Or you may worry that passing such a law would set up an unwarranted conflict between state and federal law enforcement agencies. For me personally, that's the biggest reason to vote for this law. First off, prohibition doesn't work, substance use, and abuse, is part of human nature. Get enough people together and a certain percentage are going to want to get high on one thing or another. Criminalizing that doesn't prevent it, and seems to only make the trade in the substances more violent, militarizes our police forces, and in a perverse way, makes the drugs more glamorous. Pot would be that boring drug that old baby boomers smoke if it were completely legal. Take money out of the pockets of Mexican drug cartels, and put some of it into the state's coffers in the form of taxes on legitimate growers and sellers. Also, given that AG Eric Holder has already said he's against it, that's enough reason to be for it. At some point, the federal government needs to be challenged on this issue. I believe there is no legitimate basis for federal preemption with regards to any of the current drug laws, it's time for the states to step up and take on their proper role under the federalist system we have in place and assert the right of nullification under the 10th amendment. Nullification got a bad name when southern states tried to use it to get around Brown v Board of Ed, but the rulings against nullification were very narrowly defined, and cited other parts of the constitution (14th amendment, mainly) for justification. There is no constitutionally defined federal right to drug enforcement, so it would seem if this matter were brought up to the Supreme Court, California law in the wake of passage of Prop 19 would nullify federal pot laws within the state (the federal government could still retaliate using the power of the purse by withholding DEA funds, but the revenue from legal pot could be used to pay for enforcement of other drug laws, so that's not a problem).

Prop 20 & 27: Gerrymandering, it does a (political) body bad! Yes on 20, No on 27
Often, during the initiative process, when it looks like something that might seriously mess with the way the legislature does business might make the ballot and look attractive to voters, they use their ability to vote stuff directly onto the ballot that is similar enough to the citizen generated initiative as to cause confusion and possible preemption. When two initiatives attack the same issue, should they both pass, the one with the higher vote total is the one that becomes law. 20 and 27 are bound in this way, both are being sold as reforms to the process of redistricting. Prop 11 in 2008, which passed narrowly, was almost identical to Prop 20, with the only difference being that Prop 20 also extends to US Congressional redistricting. Prop 20 keeps the responsibility for redistricting to a 'non-partisan' panel, in the hopes that our districts will reflect geography and demography rather than the political interests of incumbents. Prop 27, in the name of 'cost-savings' does away with the panel and gives the job of redistricting back to our corrupt, ineffective, and Democratic Party dominated legislature. While the citizen panel lead redistricting may not end up giving us perfect districts, we can be assured that if our current legislature were given the power to draw up the next decade's worth of political boundaries, that the districts they draw will be perfectly terrible (from the voters standpoint, anyway, from an incumbency protection standpoint, they'll be perfect). If neither pass, Prop 11 will still be law, so an argument against voting again for a law that has already passed would be reasonable, but because Prop 27 is on the ballot, and because if it wins more votes than 20, it would preempt the better law, that reality forces voters to vote again for something they already voted for. Have I mentioned that this process really sucks sometimes?

And, here's a song some folks put together (with BANJO!) explaining each measure (without editorial comment of any kind).

Your Daily Photo (Emptiness Edition)

2010-10-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

Long time no blog. Shot taken driving back from Vegas after an impromptu mini-vacation. Might post some other shots later in the week from the trip, or take new shots, we'll see. Going back to a single shot per day, instead of five shots occasionally. Also, plan on blogging daily, again. There's stuff happening worth talking about, and even if my opinions aren't always worth listening to, no harm in putting them out there.

Your Daily Five Photos (There's One in Every Crowd Edition)

2010-09-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

Been awhile, just haven't been shutterbuggery* lately. Wandered downtown to see the scene at this year's GLOW.

The art was crap, but there were people out and about, so decided to take my camera and take some snaps. Wanted to have reasonable shutter speeds, so went with high ISO (1600), shots are a bit 'noisy', but that doesn't effect the composition, or overall feel. The biggest problem was shooting with only those ghastly sodium street lamps for lighting.

The reason I call this set, "There's One in Every Crowd", is simple, seems like in every shot there is one person, and only one person, looking straight at the camera. Strange how that works, my favorite is the guy waving in the shot taken of the pier.

*note (if homosexuality had been more socially permissible during the early 1900s, I think SHUTTERBUGGERY would have been an awesome choice for the name of a gay lifestyle/photo enthusiast monthly magazine)

Team USA FIBA Thoughts...

2010-09-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

Team USA successfully stormed through the FIBA World Championships in Turkey. Great effort, and a solid coaching job by Coach K lead to a fairly easy tournament, despite being a very young, and seemingly undersized team.

Players who proved they belong in elite company, who might not have been thought of being at that level before the tournament are as follows:

Lamar Odom: LA Lakers
?!? Where was this player for the Lakers? He was the glue that held this team together, his rebounding, activity defensively, and superior athleticism compared to other centers (he played center mostly, in the tournament), were all big surprises. Kevin Durant was, without question, the best player in the tournament, but a strong case could be made for Lamar being the second best player for Team USA. Given that he's about the 4th or 5th best Laker, that's kind of shocking. Even with bigger stars looking for a place on Team USA for London 2012, Lamar should have earned a roster spot, assuming he remains capable of playing at this level (which given that he'll only by 32 then, he should).

Eric Gordon: LA Clippers
His shooting, strength, and quickness all helped to get him significant minutes backing up the 2 guard spot, and being brought in as a third guard when Team USA went small. Because of his strength, and FIBA rules allowing more contact than in the NBA, he was able to guard players a few inches taller than himself. Also, he probably benefitted the most shooting behind the closer in 3pt line. NBA 3s are just out of his range, but he has the perfect shooting touch for the international game.

Kevin Durant: Oklahoma Thunder
Everyone knows "The Durantula" is an emerging star in the NBA, but this tournament should leave no doubt in anyone's mind that he is in the conversation for best player in the league. Given that LeBron will probably play a sidekick role in Miami, Durant should be favored to win the MVP in the 2010-11 season. It's unfair that someone with his length has that kind of shooting touch.

Russell Westbrook: Oklahoma Thunder
Westbrook played his way onto the squad in Las Vegas (as Rajon Rondo played his way off) more for his willingness to play within the system than with superior talent compared to all the other 1 and 2 guards that were available. That coachability, combined with a commitment to playing solid fundamental basketball, make him worth more for his team than his basic physical toolset would seem to merit.

Players who probably played themselves off of consideration for the 2012 Olympic squad:

Chauncey Billups: Denver Nuggets
Older does not mean wiser. Too many times he took unadvisable shots in situations where more ball movement would have been wise. Wasn't great defensively, either, he wasn't terrible, but there a lot of younger players who are better physically and mentally at his position.

Tyson Chandler: Dallas Mavericks
Unimpressive tournament, he had a chance to shine, but against any but the slowest and crappiest big men, he looked lost and a bit lethargic. Dwight Howard will be the starter, and Odom and Bosh the backups in 2012, there's no roster spot left for Chandler, and he doesn't deserve one.

Looking forward to London 2012, I think the players who played well on this team should be rewarded with roster spots. Assuming these players stay healthy, then the 2012 team should be about half players from this squad, and half from the 2008 Beijing team. If I had to pick right now here's my 12 man roster for 2012:

C: Dwight Howard (he's the only true center you need)
C/F: Lamar Odom, Blake Griffin (Lamar's earned it, and Blake will be a monster once he gets back, he grabs the main big forward spot from Kevin Love)
F: Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, LeBron James (Melo is a fantastic international player, better at that game than he is in the NBA, and LeBron is LeBron, while Durant, by 2012, might be the best player on the planet)

Other bigs that might play their way on to the squad by 2012, DeMarcus Cousins (he's got huge potential), Robin Lopez, Kevin Love, Chris Bosh, and Amar'e Stoudemire.

SG: Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Dwyane Wade (Wade and Kobe should still be playing at a high level, while Curry gives you unlimited shooting range to bust up any zone defenses they face)

PG: Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, John Wall (Williams and Rose are locks for this team, assuming they want it, and they're healthy, for the last guard slot, I think after 2 NBA seasons, it might be hard to leave John Wall off this team, he has that much potential)

Other guards that might play, Chris Paul, obviously, but the physicality of the international game means his size will be a liability, so I'd favor Wall over Paul amongst smaller point guards given Wall's superior speed. Russell Westbrook is another option, he's shown what he can do. Eric Gordon might fit, if they decide they need a role player off the bench, rater than another star. That leaves Rajon Rondo amongst top US-born guards, he played himself off the 2010 team by not following coaching instructions as well as Westbrook or Gordon. His inability to shoot also is a bigger liability under FIBA rules than in the NBA, but if he improves in coachability and shooting between now and summer 2012, he has a solid shot at making this team.

The line ups that team could put on the floor together would be frightening. They could go with four shooters and a slasher on the floor with Odom/Durant/Anthony/Curry/Wall, or they could go huge with LeBron defending the opposing shooting guard, and Kobe defending the point, while James handles the ball on offense Howard/Griffin/Durant/James/Bryant, or they could go lightning fast with three guards, and no center, Durant/James/Curry/Williams/Wall.

With that sort of line-up flexibility, that team should be able to create mismatches against any team they face, even with the improved level of play they can expect in London as fewer star players skip the tournament as they did in the just concludede World Championships.

There's a lot to like about the international rules compared to the NBA. I like the closer 3pt line, the 40 minute games, time outs on dead ball situations only, and even the trapezoidal lane. I think the NBA is right in keeping the game from becoming the wrestling matches that they allow under FIBA rules, and even though officiating in the NBA is at times questionable, in international play it is outright criminal.

If the NBA adopted the international rules, while keeping their own style of officiating, I think you'd get the best of both worlds.

NFL 2010: Win Total Predictions NFC West

2010-09-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

Thursday kicks off the new season of the true 'Greatest Show on Earth', that's right, NFL Football! All odds taken from Vegasinsider.com (opening line).

NFC West, I'm tempted to give up right now and skip this division entirely. San Francisco might be frisky, otherwise, crap, crap, and more crap.

Arizona Cardinals (Win total 7.5) UNDER!
Derek Anderson is their QB. Enough said.

San Francisco 49ers (Win total 8.5) OVER!
One of these teams has to win the division, might as well be them. If they sweep their divisional opponents and just go 3-7 in their other games, that gets them to 9-7. Ought to be within reach. Let's not go crazy and expect much more from them.

Seattle Seahawks (Win total 7.5) UNDER!
Pete Carroll is going to miss being around professional level talent like he had back in Southern California...

St. Louis Cardinals (Win total 5.0) UNDER!
Sam Bradford will be something in this league, eventually, but not this season. Probably trying to play themselves out of any chance at a new stadium in St. Louis, thus paving the way to return to Los Angeles. Sucks for any fans they have left, and sucks for Los Angeles if they end up coming back, oh well.

NFL 2010: Win Total Predictions NFC East

2010-09-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

Thursday kicks off the new season of the true 'Greatest Show on Earth', that's right, NFL Football! All odds taken from Vegasinsider.com (opening line).

NFC East ought to be the most competitive division in the NFL, with three good teams, and one team capable being good, but most likely being pretty crappy. Matching up with the NFC North and the AFC South means this division has about the toughest schedule in the NFL this year. Should be three teams at 10-6 or 9-7 and one at 6-10 when the dust settles.

Dallas Cowboys (Win total 10.0) UNDER!
Plenty of talent, and they've had pretty good regular seasons the past few years, then screwed up post seasons, maybe this is the year they underacheive in the regular season and excel in the playoffs. This is a 9-7 team, no better, no worse.

New York Giants (Win total 8.5) OVER!
They should challenge Washington for the division crown, 10-6 ought to be about right for this squad. Hopefully their new digs will help come late season as Eli Manning is a horrible QB in the wind, and even though there's no roof, it's much more enclosed so the swirling winds won't screw up their passing attack.

Philadelpia Eagles (Win total 8.0) UNDER!
Kolb might be great, and might make them forget all about McNabb, or not. Probably not, this team is ready to fall off a cliff, and the legendary late game mismanagement by their coaching staff will cost them a few games and any shot at the playoffs this season. 6-10 seems about right for the Iggles.

Washington Redskin (Win total 8.0) OVER!
Shanahan is back in the league, and the 'Skins should be back as a contender. The Haynesworth crap has me a bit worried, though, maybe Shanahan is the wrong kind of coach for modern players and this team will fall apart quickly. This is a team that could do anything from 6-10 to 11-5, I'm leaning towards seeing them as at 11-5, but hard to know until they actually line up in real games. A motivated McNabb in a system he's well suited for, should produce solid offensive production, it's the defense that will put this team forward, or hold them back. I'm picking over, but this isn't a very confident pick.

NFL 2010: Win Total Predictions NFC South

2010-09-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

Thursday kicks off the new season of the true 'Greatest Show on Earth', that's right, NFL Football! All odds taken from Vegasinsider.com (opening line).

NFC South should be an entertaining division, with two good teams, one enigmatic team, and one team continuing to rebuild. They face the creampuff NFC West and the tough AFC North, so their out of division match ups are a mixed bag. New Orleans should have another solid year, though their relatively weak defense may cost them a few more games than they did last year. Atlanta might be very good, or it might all fall apart, they have a lot of young talent at the skill positions, which means they're unpredictable. Carolina will probably be awful, unless they aren't, any result from 10-6 to 4-12 seem possible. Tampa Bay will play hard, but they lack talent, so playing hard won't result into a whole bunch of victories.

Atlanta Falcons (Win total 9.0) OVER!
This is a tough one, they feel like a 9-7 team to me, so most likely this will be a push, but if a few breaks go their way, 10-6 and a playoff berth should be within reach. Should be a fun team to watch, either way.

Carolina Panthers (Win total 7.0) OVER!
Another tough one, this is probably a 7-9 team, but they still have a pretty solid defense, so they might squeeze out a few 13-7 victories that push them to 8-8 or 9-7. Will be a frustrating season for their fans, and they'll probably be ugly games to watch, but they'll be about as successful as their talent allows.

New Orleans Saints (Win total 10.5) UNDER!
Another tough call, the lines on the teams in this division all fall right at the number of victories I expect. This is a 10-6 or 11-5 team, very solid, probably in the top four teams of the NFC, but nothing like the team the team that seemed so dominate offensively last season, and their defensive lapses will punish them in a few close games.

Tampa Bay Bucaneers (Win total 6.0) UNDER!
Might challenge for the number one draft pick this year. Don't think there are any 0-16 teams this season, probably 4-12 will be as poorly as any team does, and that'll be about where this team finishes, so on the negative side, horrible for their fans, on the plus side, they might earn themselves a pretty special player in next year's draft.

NFL 2010: Win Total Predictions NFC North

2010-09-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday kicks off the new season of the true 'Greatest Show on Earth', that's right, NFL Football! All odds taken from Vegasinsider.com (opening line).

NFC North seems likely to produce one good team, and three mediocre to bad teams. Green Bay will probably be the best NFC team when the season ends, while Detroit, Minnesota and Chicago should all be .500 or worse. This division gets matched against both the NFC and AFC East, which is a tough draw with 7 very solid teams in those two divisions.

Chicago Bears (Win total 8.0) UNDER!
This isn't a good team. I repeat, they suck. Defense is aging, and they have no offense, 5-11 or 6-10 seem likely, they'll be lucky to get to 7-9. Not sure why bookies place them as a middle of the pack team, they get more respect than their coaching or roster would seem to merit.

Detroit Lions (Win total 5.0) OVER!
This isn't a horrible team. I repeat, they suck slightly less than the Bears. Probably a 7-9 team, maybe even 8-8, still pretty mediocre, but for the Lions an .500 season would practically feel like winning the Superbowl after so many futile years. There's reason for optimism in Detroit, but don't get too crazy, and hopefully the L.A. group trying to lure them away won't be successful (L.A. Lions as a franchise does have the advantage of alliteration going for it, though).

Green Bay Packers (Win total 9.5) OVER!
Best team in the NFC, at least assuming their defense shows any capability to stop opposing offenses. An explosive offense with an opportunistic defense should combine for best record in the NFC status in 2010. a 12 or 13 win season seems within grasp, even with a tough schedule.

Minnesota Vikings (Win total 9.5) UNDER!
By the middle of the season both the Vikings and the Brett will wish #4 had stayed retired. They still have Peterson, and they should still win some games, but I don't see them being better than 8-8 if Favre regresses to the NY Jets Favre rather than the improbably error free Favre from last season. Will be fun watching this team fall apart and point fingers every which way, though.

Your Daily Five Photos (Great Views Edition)

2010-09-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

Your definition of "great" may differ from that of our fine city government...

NFL 2010: Win Total Predictions AFC West

2010-09-07T15:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday kicks off the new season of the true 'Greatest Show on Earth', that's right, NFL Football! All odds taken from Vegasinsider.com (opening line).

AFC West, ugh. I'm tempted to skip both the AFC and NFC West divisions at they both look horrible (again) this year. They should pick up a few easy wins being matched against the NFC West (the only worse division), but get beat up by the AFC South. If all the teams within the division beat each other, then they might all end up between 6-10 and 9-7. I can't believe I'm typing this, but Oakland has the potential to win this division if San Diego faulters, and cases could be made, even, for Denver and Kansas City. Still, most likely, this division is one big steaming mound of mediocrity.

Denver Broncos (Win total 7.5) UNDER!
I suspect they'll be the doormats of the division, I just don't trust Kyle Orton to produce more than 6 or 7 wins in a season given there's not a whole lot of defense on this team. Last year they started well, then collapsed, I think this year, they might win their first two, but then looking at their schedule a six game losing streak heading into their bye week seems probable. After that, they'll bounce back, but that won't be enough to win more than 7 games.

Kansas City Chiefs (Win total 6.5) OVER!
After last season's woeful 4-12 performance an 8-8 season probably will seem pretty good. That's all they'll get, but that'll be enough.

Oakland Raiders (Win total 6.0) OVER!
They haven't had more than 5 wins in a season since they lost in Superbowl XXXVII. Their "Commitment to Excrement" has been impressive in the seasons since 2002. Why should things turn around now? First, easy schedule, second, Jason Campbell is a huge upgrade at QB, third, they have a very good defense that if they don't make stupid mistakes, should put them in position to beat any team they face. They are capable of beating, or losing to, any other team in the league, not too many squads can say that. Let's not go too crazy, though, even 8-8 will look great after all the losing, but 8-8 is within reach.

San Diego Chargers (Win total 11.0) UNDER!
Along with the Colts, they share the honor of having the highest number where their win total is set. I think that's more a reflection of the division their in, then their talent level. Their defense is suspect, and their offense will miss Vincent Jackson if he is traded (or pouts). Norv Turner is still their coach, and that's still a bad thing. I think they slip to a 8-8 or 9-7 team this year as their division is more competitive than people are crediting, but that might still be enough to get them in the playoffs.

NFL 2010: Win Total Predictions AFC East

2010-09-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday kicks off the new season of the true 'Greatest Show on Earth', that's right, NFL Football! All odds taken from Vegasinsider.com (opening line).

The AFC East should be entertaining with three solid teams, and one doormat. Their divisional match ups are both defensive minded divisions facing both the NFC and AFC North. Basically, every week is going to be against some of the top ranked defenses in the league, that's going to be tough on all these teams. The Jets are over-exposed, but talented, New England is either sliding into mediocrity, or might be good again, Miami will be solid if Chad Henne is capable of doing something, and Buffalo, along with Jacksonville, will be trying to play their way into a new sunnier and warmer address in Southern California.

Buffalo Bills (Win total 5.0) UNDER!
Buffalo is tied with Detroit and St. Louis for lowest over/under line on their win total, and rightly so. This team is devoid of talent, and are probably going to have the worst record in the AFC by the end of the season. Not much else to say, just hope they stay where they are, the only worse team for L.A. to pick up would be Detroit.

Miami Dolphins (Win total 8.5) OVER!
Miami looks poised to do some damage this season, and I think will win this division as the Jets implode and New England doesn't quite put things together. All three of those teams are going to finish somewhere between 8-8 and 10-6, though, so any result wouldn't surprise me, but I do think only the division winner will make the playoffs (the 2nd place teams in the AFC North and South should have better records than the 2nd place teams in the East, and in the West 7-9 might win the division). It's going to be just a few plays that make the difference between an unsuccessful 8-8 team and a playoff bound 10-6, though.

New England Patriots (Win total 9.5) UNDER!
I think their plateau is 9 wins. Brady might have a great season, but I think they're actually too young on defense (strange to say about the Pats) to be much better than a .500 team this year. Any result between 6 wins, or 11 wins wouldn't be all that surprsing, though. On paper, probably a down year, but Brady is still Brady, and they've got a coach who can squeeze talent out of players (or squeeze the life out of them).

New York Jets (Win total 9.5) UNDER!
They were a 9-7 team last year, and they'll be an 8-8 or 9-7 team this year. They lead the All Hype team, but Sanchez looks lost, the Revis thing will cause ripples (even though they did sign him), and Tomlinson won't contribute. Potentially a great defense, but that'll get wasted as their offense makes key errors at key moments. They backed into a 9-7 season last year, and they really aren't improved. The Hard Knocks effect, and NYC is the Center of the Universe effect explains why some are favoring this team to do damage this year. Don't believe the hype, this is still the Jets, and they'll find ways to lose.

NFL 2010: Win Total Predictions AFC South

2010-09-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday kicks off the new season of the true 'Greatest Show on Earth', that's right, NFL Football! All odds taken from Vegasinsider.com (opening line).

AFC South is a tough division to gauge. The Colts are favorites to win the Superbowl this season, Houston might finally live up to their promise, and Tennessee looked awfully good last season after their horrendous start, so they might be interesting. That leaves Jacksonville, who seem to have a strong incentive to play their way out of Northern Florida and into the new stadium being built in glamorous City of Industry. Their cross division match ups are mixed bag, on the one hand, they're facing the strong top to bottom NFC East, on the other they get to face the cream-puffery of the AFC West.

Houston Texans (win total 8.0) OVER!
Seems like every year 'experts' predict that the Texans will put everything together and finally make the playoffs. Well, this year they're right! Woohoo! Matt Schaub had monster numbers last year that nobody noticed since the Texans missed the playoffs, but if he stays healthy (and with a very solid offensive line, he has a good chance to do just that), they've got a solid chance of improving to a 10 or 11 win team and nabbing that elusive playoff spot this franchise has yet to earn.

Indianapolis Colts (win total 11.0) UNDER!
At some point, the wheels have to come off, right? Too consistent for too long, I just don't trust them this year. Their offensive line is suspect, and Manning will get hurt, if that happens, their season is over. They do not have the depth they once did, and I don't think they'll luck out plugging in rookies in the gaps created by injuries as they have in past seasons. They look like a 6-10 or 8-8 team to me, but I seem to be alone in that sentiment.

Jacksonville Jaguars (win total 7.0) UNDER!
I think everything points to a lousy season for this team. Running backs fade, and fade fast, and while Jones-Drew seems capable, he hasn't had to be the sole featured back before, which is a recipe for problems. They still have a solid defense, but without any offensive production, they'll lose a lot of close games. But hey, they can turn things around when they come out to California for the 2011 season!

Tennessee Titans (win total 8.0) OVER!
I think they will challenge Houston for the division title this year, and should put together a nice run this year with Vince Young turning into something special as both a passer and a running threat. Or not, they are a tough squad to figure out, a lot of unknowns, but they do have the best RB, a solid defense, and have a coaching staff that's creative, so if they stay healthy, and figure out how to best utilize Young's talent set, they might end up challenging Baltimore for best record in the AFC.

NFL 2010: Win Total Predictions AFC North

2010-09-07T12:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday kicks off the new season of the true 'Greatest Show on Earth', that's right, NFL Football! All odds taken from Vegasinsider.com (opening line).

AFC North looks to be one of the stronger conferences, with probable AFC Champion Baltimore in the mix with a possibly frisky Bengals team, and a Steelers team that could go anywhere from 7-9 to 12-4 depending how healthy they stay on defense, and how they react during #7's absence. Even Cleveland might be something, but then again, they're Cleveland, so probably not. Teams presented in alphabetical order. Their divisional cross-match this season is against a solid AFC East, and the NFC South (home of the current NFL Champion Saints). None of these teams are going to get any weeks off, really. Not being matched against either of the two crappy divisions (AFC West, NFC West) might reduce each team's win total potential.

Baltimore Ravens (win total 10.0) OVER!
Despite being in a strong division, I think this could be a 12-14 win team this season, so taking the over seems like a no-brainer. A lot depends on how healthy their defensive stars stay this season, but there's no reason to suspect they won't have another competitive regular season like last year. 4-2 in division, and 8-2 outside of their division seems like a pretty good bet to make on this team. They had an easier schedule last year, yet stumbled to a 9-7 mark, but I think they'll perform better this season, some of their losses were pretty flukey. If they play smartly on both sides of the ball, they'll be hard to beat. Unfortunately, they have a history of boneheaded-ness at key moments that might undermine their talent. I'm almost talking myself out of picking them over, but on paper this is one of the strongest teams in the league, and should challenge the Colts for the AFC Championship.

Cincinnati Bengals (win total 8.0) UNDER!
Too many distractions, this team always seems ready for a breakthrough, and then something happens off field and their season goes south. I'm going with history on this one. Excluding the 1982 scab season following their Superbowl loss, the Bengals haven't had consecutive winning seasons since 1977. I have faith in this franchise that they'll find a way to fall apart and lose 10-11 games despite all the talent they seem to have.

Cleveland Browns (win total 5.5) OVER!
Cleveland's taken enough abuse this year, their NFL Franchise will give them a glimmer of hope, mainly because I expect bad things from divisional opponents Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, though, not because the Browns look particularly strong. They'll scratch out at least 8 wins this season, that'll be enough to distract Cleveland fans from all the fun the Miami LeBrons will be having in the NBA during November and December.

Pittsburgh Steelers (win total 9.0) UNDER!
If their defense stays healthy, and Dennis Dixon does a decent job, they might do well, but those are two huge ifs, and I think they'll lose key defensive players to injury, and when Ben #7 comes back after his suspension, that things won't immediately click into place. This is a 7 win team waiting to happen.

Enjoy Your Laborious Weekend...

2010-09-02T23:13:00.000-07:00

No photos today, or until Tuesday. Also, will whip up a bunch of NFL predictions to be ~~printed~~ posted then.

(EDIT: Why did I type the verb "printed"? How very anachronistic, fixed now)

Have fun, or at least as close to fun as is allowable by law in whatever jurisdiction you reside or are currently vacationing.

Your Daily Five Photos (Give the Drummer Some Edition)

2010-09-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

More shots from the salsa thing Saturday, this time focusing on the drummer. Had a good vantage point from which to take his picture, hard to capture a good shot though. Surprised he was drumming in work boots, seems like an odd footwear choice to me. When I play Rockband I rock out with my socks on (and nothing else..., on my feet), but maybe that's just me.

Your Daily Five Photos (Pico Blvd Edition)

2010-08-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

Pico is one of the main east/west surface streets from downtown all the way to the beach. Through much of that course, the businesses tend to run from dilapidated, to ramshackle, to downright Third World. Doesn't mean they lack charm, though, just means keep your head up. I was sorely tempted to hit up Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles, but having had half a large pizza for lunch, topping of the evening with the artery clogging delights served there seemed imprudent. Good eats, though, and usually an entertaining crowd at the Pico location.

Your Daily Five Photos (DANCE, DANCE, DANCE Edition)

2010-08-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

Salsa music, makes you want to move. Well, it makes some people want to move. The percentage of people who listened without moving was vastly greater than the people who listened and moved, but that might have more to do with self consciousness, lack of partners, and wanting not to give up a good seat, rather than lack of desire to do some tail feather shaking.

The music was a surprise, forgot that they've been doing a Latin Sounds series all summer at LACMA on Saturdays. The last one is this Saturday if you're in the area.

Tried to take some video, but the mic on the Nikon D5000 is terrible for this sort of thing, and the 5 min limit per clip meant that none of the songs were captured in their entirety, so nothing came out worth uploading.

Have to mic stuff separately, and sync in post if I ever want to use that camera for that purpose.

Had this camera for over a year, still haven't found many good use cases for video, lack of autofocus, the rolling shutter distortions, poor mic, and limited recording time per take all conspire to make this camera a poor choice for event video.

In a studio set up, controlling for variables, you can capture some great looking stuff given the choice of lenses, but so far, I haven't had the need for that sort of thing. For shooting stills, though, this camera has amazing versatility. You can control just about every variable as carefully as you'd desire, or you can put it on auto mode and turn it into a bulky point and shoot, and the lenses available for Nikon cameras take amazing images.

Easy enough to keep a Flip Video or Kodak Zi8 type pocketcam tucked away in my camera bag, as well as my 'real' camera, though, if video was important to me, personally, for whatever reason, I've gravitated more towards stills, and haven't figured out compelling uses for video.

Your Daily Five Photos (Spider Enjoying a Meal, Edition)

2010-08-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

Mmmm, moth.

Your Daily Five Photos (LACMA Edition)

2010-08-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

Five shots, taken today at LACMA, enjoy.

(warning, there may be some spam, sorry)

(but there are definitely no pipes)

Your Daily Five Photos (Let's Have Some Words Edition)

2010-08-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

Words, can't get away from them, at least in a densely populated urban/suburban setting.

Your Daily Five Photos (Somewhat Cliched, but Still Pleasing to Gaze Upon Setting Sun Snaps Edition)

2010-08-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

What can I say, I guess I'm a fan of the classics.

Speaking of classics, one of these shots put me in mind of this song...

You can not resist the adorableness that was a teenage Clare Grogan, it's physically impossible...

In Defense of Frequent Presidential Vacations in a Time When the Executive and Legislative Branches are Simpatico...

2010-08-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

Seems like President Barack Obama has been receiving some undue disapprobation for his penchant in taking quite a bit of "me" time. While I disagree with just about every policy goal he has ever set or achieved in his time as our nation's chief executive, I feel compelled to defend his habit of enjoying spending time away from Washington DC.

The truth of the matter is, that given the current political situation, he's superfluous, so rather than rolling around bored at the White House, a man has to do what a man has to do, and if that means lots of golf, lots of time in a variety of resorts, and lots of unwinding, then let the man eat his shrimp.

Because of the successes at the ballot box his Democratic Party allies enjoyed in 2006 and 2008, our President finds himself in the enviable position of not having a whole lot to do. It's not like any notion that comes to his head, doesn't also come to the minds of Speaker Pelosi or Majority Leader Reid (though Reid for re-election purposes, may have to pretend for a bit not to be so in concert with the President, I'm sure Obama won't take any statements from Reid between now and November seriously). Also, because the vast bureaucratic apparatus that has grown from the astonishing proliferation of agencies directly overseen by the Executive Branch, the President can CHANGE our country at will without any pesky nuisances like bringing legislation to Congress. It's truly a glorious time to be a pro-regulation member of the elite.

Now it may seem somewhat counter intuitive that given free reign over a massive and largely unaccountable (so long as the press is compliant) bureaucracy would be a slow time for a President that so clearly embraces all the wonderful CHANGE that can be brought about by the alphabet soup of agencies. The thing you have to understand about President Obama, is that the people in charge of these agencies are his people, if it's not a crony straight out of Chicago running things, it's at least a like-minded Ivy League graduate with little to no business experience to sully the purity of their vision of how our nation must CHANGE. The end result, the bureaucracy metastasizes like an especially aggressive form of cancer without any particularly active participation from the West Wing, and does so in a manner exactly how the President would want it to. Were he to bother with all that messy and tedious micro-managing that can really take a depressing chunk of potential tee time away from an avid duffer like President Obama.

He can't do 'better' by taking a more active role (and from his perspective, better means more and more federal control of every last damn thing), and given the big majorities in both halves of Congress enjoyed by Democrats, there's really no arm twisting or legislative cajoling needed to pass any legislation he really cares about passing (which of course suggests that any bill that gets thwarted, was designed to be thwarted and was just a piece of political theatre to begin with), so what's a man surrounded by a wife, two daughters, and a mother in law under his roof expected to do?

That's right, hang out and knock back a few cold ones with your favorite golf buddies every chance you get, it's what any red blooded American male would do.

So quit expecting the President to spend more time in DC, everything is going exactly as he wants, and everyone under his command is doing exactly what he expects, but by appearing to be 'hands off', Obama slyly gives himself a bit of 'deniability' with regards to any blunders that come his way, and he can always act 'surprised' and 'disappointed' whenever some underling does something that becomes a bit too controversial. Aloof detachment is the way to go if you want to preserve the ability to throw anybody under the bus at any moment they become inconvenient from a narrative standpoint.

President Obama has redefined what it means to be President in the 21st century, rather than following in his predecessor's business-like, CEO model for organizing his White House, Obama has positioned himself as "Narrator and Chief". His job isn't to run things, so much as to explain things, and shape the trajectory of the narrative.

It's a known fact that writers require copious amounts of downtime in upscale resort areas (preferably seaside) to properly get a handle on their narrative of the moment. So let the Narrator and Chief chill out, it's what he does best (cause he's certainly proven somewhat inept at everything else)

(and as a side note, it should be obvious to any benefactor out there who may wish for my own personal power of narrative shaping to increase, they'd be wise to gift me with Obama-like trips to all expense paid trips to any number of fine resort areas in this country, or around the globe, I promise to give you a shoutout in the acknowledgements of the inevitable best sellers that would follow)

Your Daily Five Photos (Yet Again, Santa Monica Edition)

2010-08-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

In today's edition, I present to you a very red truck, a rather blue bus, a somewhat judgemental crow, a place experiencing an existential crisis, and a bunch of shabbily displayed Old Glories.

Enjoy.

(if you click through to Flickr, you'll see some commentary on each photo)

(I'm not saying the commentary is helpful, or insightful, but it's there for your entertainment pleasure)

Mail, Daily --- I Read the British Tabs, So You Don't Have To...

2010-08-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

Headlines I couldn't make up, even if I wanted to...

Hayden Panettiere rings in her 21st birthday with Oompa-Loompas, seven foot chickens and even some sheep!

Wow. I thought what happened in Vegas, stayed in Vegas. Tiger Woods and the various women whose company he 'enjoyed', have set a terrible precedent with regards to reporting the goings on that happen in that wonderful city.

Now $5m man The Situation lands $400,000 deal to promote 'ab-building' vodka

On a side note, seriously, The Jersey Shore is being shown in the United Kingdom?!? Also, the one thing that had been missing in my life that I didn't know I needed until it finally came to market was protein infused vodka. Other Jersey Shore inspired products awaiting approval, strawberry-flavored fortified sparkling wine with your daily Valtrex medication, spray-on tan/mosquito repellant, and of course, a brand new line of Jersey Gelatto, a perfect melange of traditional Italian frozen desserts, mixed in with a juicy dose of both anabolic steroids and human growth hormone!

Stick-thin Whitney Port's sister makes a Twit of her on trip to coffee house

Here's today's dose of Daily Mail paparrazi shots taken in my humble little home town of Santa Monica. It's rare for a day to go by where this paper doesn't pick up a shot of some minor to major 'celebrity' going about their daily business. Usually it's a woman, and most of the time some sort of comment is made about their clothing, or body. The attitude in their "Femail" section regarding body types and body image are all over the map. While they often celebrate 'real' women, they also focus a absurd amount of attention on stupid non-flaws that no sane person would even consider (see, for example this recent, SHAKIRA HAS STRETCH MARKS! article, which every other place that posted the exact same picks instead focused on the, 'look at how ridiculously sexy Shakira looks' angle, rather than picking out some super-minor, nearly impossible to see, and most likely a result of sweat and running make-up rather than stretch marks, and even if they were stretch marks, who the hell cares?)

And a note to Whitney, instead of hitting the Bean, try one of the many small independent coffee houses along Broadway, the stalkerazzi seem to not bother anyone there, if you hit the shops on Montana or Main, you will get snapped, just some friendly advice next time you visit this sunny seaside town.

Your Daily Five Photos (Santa Monica Edition)

2010-08-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Bloglandia! It's been awhile, other than playing whackamole with Chinese spammers, there hasn't been much activity hereabouts for the past couple of months. That changes today. I'm going to post five photos each day to Flickr, either taken that day, or the day previous, and post them as a slide show here. Rather than posting everything I shoot at Flickr, I'm going to pick out shots that seem interesting to me.

Also, with the NFL season approaching, I will do my usual shockingly inaccurate season preview, but rather than trying to pick the whole season, I'm going to pick against the over/under lines for season wins for each team. I'll do a post for each division, all to be posted the day after Labor Day.

Below, today's furious five photos. Taken earlier at the recently refurbished and upscale-ified Santa Monica Place. They tore the roof off the sucka! (literally). Seems like it has succeeded as a draw to the area, but the shops themselves aren't getting much in the way of customers. I think they were hoping that RECOVERY SUMMER 2010! would have been a bit more recovered by now. Most of the stores here have other branches in other close by upscale shopping districts, I just don't see the marketplace supporting them over the long run, but time will tell. The roof off gives a nice updated look, gives a better pedestrian flow to the rest of the area, and the new restaurants seem worth checking out (if a bit on the pricey side).

Your Daily-ish Photo (Happy Birthday America! Edition)

2010-07-04T00:38:00.000-07:00

A bit of the dismantled Berlin Wall, installed at the Reagan Library. A vivid reminder of how much worse off the world would be without the principles, values, and people that our great nation creates with regularity.

Reagan was one of the best of us, amazing he managed to nab the presidency at such a crucial time. We lucked out as a nation, the 80s could have gone very differently.

Your Not Anywhere Close to Being Daily Photo (Forget It Blogreader, It's Chinatown Edition)

2010-06-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

Sincerely Yours
---XWL

Your Daily-ish Photo (Freaky Bumblebee Thinks It's a Honeybee Edition)

2010-06-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

For your entertainment, a slideshow of a freaky bumblebee, deceptively colored like a honeybee.

My backyard is full of surprises...

Crazy NBA Speculation and Internet Poll Time...

2010-06-08T16:14:00.000-07:00

Peter Vecsey in the New York Post reports that David Geffen is making a serious play for controlling interest in the Los Angeles Clippers and hopes to lure LeBron James away from Cleveland, too (the rumor is already being shot down by the LAT Fabulous Forum blog, but that doesn't mean you can't still dream of a new future for LA's moribund NBA franchise).

Seems like if the franchise were to get a chance at a reboot, that they should bury the old cursed name, and ring in a new era by renaming and rebranding themselves, here are a few choices, some have been out there before, some are my own invention, most make use of the location, or the Geffen connection, pick a favorite

As far as these names go, LA Rockers sounds good on the tongue, and you could have a dual theme of Rock and Roll, as well as Earthquakes with regards to merchandizing. Hollywood Knights, too would be popular worldwide merchandizing-wise, though why people still think Hollywood is some glamorous place rather than the ratty, rundown, and skeevy hole it has been for most of its history, is beyond my ken. That Other Team benefits from accuracy, though the might be tough to fit on a jersey. The West Hollywood Pride would have absolutely fabulous jerseys, so they have that going for them, and would be pretty unique amongst major sports franchises in explicitly courting the 'gay dollar'. The LA Ogres might work, but the Shrek thing is kind of played out, and would look dated pretty quickly (see Raptors, Toronto for previous examples of a team jumping on a current trend and then looking foolishly dated very quickly by choice of name/mascot). That leaves the LA Dragons as a pretty solid choice, you could have both a western style dragon main jersey, as well as Chinese dragon alternate jerseys to cater to the massive (and massively interested in NBA basketball) Chinese market, and given that they are already working on another How to Train Your Dragon film, looks like this is the current ongoing animated franchise over at Dreamworks, so the cross promotion thing would be of real benefit.

Your Daily-ish Photo (What Happens in the Purple Room? Edition)

2010-06-07T03:42:00.000-07:00

So, as these posts aren't exactly daily anymore, a slight change in the title (the -ish ending is ever so versatile and useful).

And whatever happens under that purple light inside the 'motor clinic', can't imagine it being all that nice.

I'm thinking the scene in there is either Lynch-ian, or Tarantino-esque, but I could be wrong, I'll leave it up to you, dear readers, to decide what's happening in the purple room

Your Daily Photo (I've Got Your Brunfelsia Pauciflora Right Here, Buddy Edition)

2010-06-03T16:21:00.000-07:00

So, didn't get around to shooting stuff, and the Lakers are less than two hours from tip, so I've got priorities bigger than wandering around this city taking snaps, but tomorrow, for sure, something will be captured.

NBA Playoffs 2010 Edition: A NBA Finals Poll . . .

2010-06-03T13:36:00.001-07:00

I believe this poll covers all possible combinations of outcomes:

Your Daily Photo (I've Got Your Romneya Right Here, Buddy Edition)

2010-06-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Same Romneya, different day (actually shot the same day, but being posted a different day, plan on taking some shots tomorrow afternoon, so if I can get them uploaded before the Lakers game starts, tomorrow's daily photo should actually be a photo from that day)

It's Spelling Bee Time, so Thought I'd Come Up With an Appropriate Poll . . .

2010-06-01T16:19:00.001-07:00

Your Daily Photo (Bloomin' White Flower Edition)

2010-06-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

It's the return of daily photos, and daily blogging of some sort. Miss me?

UPDATE:

Looked up what kind of plant that is, it's a Romneya (aka Matilija), and is native to the region, and according to wikipedia produces the largest flower in the poppy family.

LOL Obama, Non-Daily, A Mighty Fine Cherry Pie Edition...

2010-04-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

According to David Axelrod, President Obama loves him some pie.

No surprise then, to see him pop in on a certain cafe in Twin Peaks...

Hard to believe the show first aired a little less than 20 years ago.

Your 4/20 Film List, Better Almost Late Than Never...

2010-04-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

First posted July 08, this list holds up, and Pineapple Express seems appropriately listed at #10. Here's the list pulled out of the old post, to make it easy on you:

1. Big Lebowski (nothing more to be said, really)

2. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (by far, the best of the C&C films, if you want a truly surreal experience, though, the bowdlerized version they showed on broadcast Fox has to be one of the top ones. They managed to elide all mentions of drug use from a Cheech & Chong film, and somehow transformed the huge bag of pot that Cheech's cousin Red was carrying from pot into diamonds. The sheer audacity and stupidity of creating a version of a Cheech & Chong film that has somehow magically become a non-druggie film just boggles the mind. I doubt you could find this version anymore, I'm sure the DVD version is the original, and I doubt Fox, or anyone else would ever broadcast it again, so, if you saw it, you know exactly what I'm talking about, and if you haven't seen it, then you don't know what you're missing)

3. Dazed and Confused (More about the end of high school than about getting high, and Rickey mentions two people who really didn't have big roles in the film, where the biggest star of the film was clearly Abraham Lincoln head)

4. Friday (seriously, any stoner comedy list that doesn't have this classic included, is very, very misguided, or at least very, very white)

5. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (More about the American Dream, than about getting high, but the NPH stuff saves this from being stupid and lame, instead of stupid and awesome)

6. Zardoz (I know you may object to calling this a stoner comedy, but seriously, this film is hilarious, and everyone in it had to have been high as a kite while making it, plus Sean Connery in big red diapers)

7. Topper (Alcohol is a drug, dammit, and this film is damn funny, and seeing ghosts seems pretty trippy to me, so I'm calling this a stoner comedy, and if you don't like it, tough)

8. Pulp Fiction (The first and only 'heroin comedy' ever) UPDATE: Bill in the comments reminds me that Pulp Fiction isn't the first or only 'heroin comedy' as Liquid Sky exists (I just didn't remember it, and when I did remember it, remembered not liking it much), also this review makes a case for Trainspotting being a 'heroin comedy', but I'd classify it more as a drama with occasional comic and absurdist elements.

9. Head (The Monkees film, this film is trippier than it has any right to be, and despite being as dated as hell, has some pretty absurd moments that approach being actually kind of funny)

10. Pineapple Express (This film tentatively holds a space in the top ten, Franco and Rogen together again seems like brilliant casting, and I don't see how this film could possibly go wrong). Turns out it does deserve a spot here, it's a pleasingly goofy, yet strangely violent picture that brings together a lot of talent for a lot of silliness. Franco and Rogen really should do a comedy together on an annual basis, a la Hope/Crosby or Abbott/Costello.

Bonus Pick #11 Smiley Face (that's right, this list goes to 11, and even though the characters in Spinal Tap are likely drug-addled, I'm not counting that as a 'druggie comedy') Anna Faris nails the previously overlooked, hot chick who happens to be a stoner, stereotype that too few comedies explore. She's fantastic in this film, and her misadventure is entertaining.

So, that's my lazy half-assed attempt at acknowledging this ridiculous 4/20 crap. Enjoy.

Beware the Awesome Power of a Fully Operational Eurocrat!

2010-04-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

(via Drudge)

From Financial Times:

Flawed computer models may have exaggerated the effects of an Icelandic volcano eruption that has grounded tens of thousands of flights, stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers and cost businesses hundreds of millions of euros.

The power of the bureaucrat is the power of no. Give a bureaucrat an opportunity to say no, and they'll say it. The calculus a bureacrat uses to assess risk has nothing to do with reason, and everything to do with power. This is at minimum a $1B mistake that disrupted hundreds of thousands of lives all because a tiny, previously unheralded sub-group of a UN sub-committee (The VAAC) got a raging regulatory hard on. I would bet good money that nothing will change at the VAAC, if anything, the discovery of their awesome power will only excite them to throw an even bigger monkeywrench into international aviation next time they're given an excuse.

Europe has decided unelected commissions, committees, study groups, quasi-autonomous non-government organizations, and their ilk should be welcome to run roughshod over the rights of citizens and sovereign governments to make their own decisions regarding risk. I would hope the next time one of our Cascade Volcanoes spewed in a similar manner, that our FAA would question any recommendations coming from the VAAC much more thoroughly than the European Union did.

In the European Union model of government, individuals don't have the right to say yes in order to override the bureaucrat's no.

Regulations exist for a reason, and bureaucrats must have some power, but that power should be limited, and subordinate to elected officials. Where individuals assume risks that only put themselves in harms way, that should be considered a basic human right (Pursuit of Happiness, and all).

Eurocrats have forgotten that, and the Obama Administration would like to pretend that the Pursuit of Happiness at the core of our founding doesn't also imply the notion of assumed risk.

Let's Ditch the Census, Already (and Reform the House of Representatives While We're At It)

2010-04-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

This isn't a modest, or immodest proposal, it's more a suggestion on how we can save the time, expense, and waste involved with the decennial census as required in the United States Constitution.

It's time to amend that provision away. The 2010 Census' pricetag is $14,000,000,000 and counting. I personally find the ad campaigns to push compliance with the count irksome. The 'get counted so you can get on the government assistance gravy train' angle they have been pushing is especially grotesque. It's ridiculous to suggest that communities won't know how to allocate services and budgets until they get the numbers back from the federal government every ten years. Well run towns find ways to keep track of usage patterns without house to house written surveys, and poorly run towns aren't going to be helped by knowing that their population has increased or decreased by a certain head count. Private enterprises manage to anticipate the needs of shifting, growing, and shrinking communities, and there are dozens of ways they can explore demographic patterns on a moment by moment basis.

There's no compelling reason for the federal government (beyond apportionment) to have an exact head count of how many people live in the country. Local governments need this data, but let them pay for their own data collection, and leave it up to each locale how detailed they want their data to be. I bet the current $14B+ budget wasted on creating this massive federal bureaucracy to do the current head count could have been produced at a fraction of the cost (less than $1B) with existing private surveys used by marketers, businesses, and the like. People opt in to allowing a whole cloud of data to follow them around everywhere they go, there's no reason in this day and age to duplicate a fraction of this data at a large multiple of the cost.

That covers why we should ditch the Census, but there is one function that the Census provides that can't be replaced on an ad hoc basis from community to community. While devising an amendment to ditch the Census, we also must include a provision for reforming how the House of Representatives is apportioned.

My proposal for apportionment is to count votes, not population, and to leave it up to each state to figure out some of the specific details. The details that would be the same from state to state would be as follows:

I'd end 'winner take all', instead each candidate who receives in excess of 5,000 votes would get at least one vote share. Vote shares would be allocated for each multiple of 5,000 votes a candidate receives, so if a district had 4 serious candidates, and their totals were 37,000 for A, 19,500 for B, 5,200 for C, and 3,700 for D the votes that those candidates would take to Congress with them would be A gets 7 votes, B gets 3 votes, C gets 1 vote, and D (along with any other folks who receive votes) just misses becoming a Representative.

This does a couple of worthwhile things, in my opinion. First, it makes the Census unecessary, as votes are all that counts, not population. Second, it gives political constituencies beyond just DEM and GOP a valid shot at sending folks to Congress. Third, it discourages gerrymandering as it's in each state's interest to maximize the overall vote total, otherwise their representatives will have fewer votes to take with them to Congress when they get elected. This would encourage both major parties to actively campaign in every district, and it would give minor and local interest parties a path towards representation in DC.

To prevent less honest states from turning out the dead to increase their vote total (I'm staring at you, Illinois), every state would be entitled to verify the vote total of any other state. Either, most the states will collude to inflate their totals, or the threat of litigation will prevent states from doing anything too nefarious with the way they come up with their totals.

The number of Representatives would vary from Congress to Congress, as would the total number of votes each Representative would wield. Some states might send dozens, or hundreds of reps, each with only a few votes each, as a way to give as many citizens a direct voice in the federal government. Other states might feel better served by having fewer representatives, each endowed with impressive vote totals, by having few or no districts.

Last election, far too many of the seats in the House were occupied by incumbents who went virtually unchallenged. Under the new rules, if a party with a big demographic advantage in a district ran an uninspiring incumbent, they might easily dominate the election, but they'd also be suppressing turnout, and they'd cost that rep influence when they return to DC.

Some years there might be more than 5,000 reps, others there might be fewer than 1,000 reps, depending how each state sets up their rules and the whims of the electorate. With so many folks potentially being in the House, you'd need to trim way back on all the perks and privileges that have accrued to representatives (a situation most voters would welcome, I suspect). I see a 5,000+ person House of Representatives as a feature, not a flaw, as that would greatly increase the cost and complexity of lobbying. Rather than staying permanently in DC, and only occasionally visiting their home states when they need to grub for votes, under this system, the entire House would meet only a few times a year, for only a short time, and spend the rest of their time back home amongst the folks that sent them to DC.

The current system doesn't lead to an excess of democracy, instead it concentrates power to too few who hold onto it, for too long. I think this reform would break that cycle, and go a long way towards returning a notion of service to the House, rather than privilege.

You Ain't Wrong (Week Ending 18 April 10)

2010-04-18T16:52:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody! It's time for a weekly recap of some stuff that managed to avoid wrongness. Let the effulgence of aintwrongness cleanse your soul.

Eyjafjallajokull, You Ain't Wrong, for spewing your ejecta all over the European continent. It's good from time to time, for nature to remind humanity exactly which is which's bitch.

Nick Clegg, You Ain't Wrong, for whooping ass and taking names during the first ever presidential style debate enjoyed by the British electorate. Should this lead to a hung parliament, or a Labour victory, it'll probably be a bad thing for Britons in the long run, but in the short term, having the party leaders, and by extension the parties, realize that they need to be responsive to their constituencies is a good thing.

Amanda Flowers, You Ain't Wrong, for ummmm, your condition. You are wrong for whinging about it, I'm sure there's a way to monetize it, so just think outside of the box, so to speak.

John Dvorak, You Ain't Wrong, the efforts by the likes of Sen. John Kerry won't advance real Net Neutrality, but instead is just a powergrab and an attempt to bring back the 'fairness doctrine'.

Jerusalem Post Editorial Staff, You Ain't Wrong, the Obama Administration isn't your friend (though not quite an enemy). Your nation celebrated its 62nd Independence Day this past week, and the dangers faced by Israel are as grave as they've ever been.

Flickr Blog, You Ain't Wrong, for highlighting some very nice Cherry Blossom Time photos.

Victor Davis Hanson, You Ain't Wrong, Obama's actual goals are just a crap sandwich culled from decades of failed liberal policy agendas.

Wu Yulu, You Ain't Wrong, for building yourself a rickshaw pulling robot. Your bewigged massage-bot, on the other hand, that sucker's just plain creepy...

Natalie Tran of communitychannel fame, You Ain't Wrong, film hackers are ridiculous.

All you smelly ass hipster doofuses out in Indio, You Ain't Wrong, for listening to a phenomenal amount of great music this weekend, but I still hate you. If I were aged 25-35, I'd probably make Coachella an annual trek, but at my advanced age, it doesn't have the same appeal that the festivals of my youth did (the music is still appealing, but not the 'festival' atmosphere).

Neil Armstrong, You Ain't Wrong, President Obama's recently announced redirection of NASA sucks, and is politically motivated, not based on science or engineering. NASA has problems, Obama's plan won't fix them.

Americans, You Ain't Wrong, for gathering all over the country on Tax Day and voicing your displeasure with the massive debts being run up by the current White House. It may take decades to reverse what Obama is attempting to accomplish in his four short years. The active pushback will mitigate the trouble the Obama Admistration can cause. Keep it up.

That's plenty of Aint Wrongness out there, aintwrongness spans the globe, but even with all the aintwrongness out there, Anti Aint Wrongness still asserts its nastiness like an irritation in a place you can't itch in public. This week's exemplar of antiaintwrongness is none other than The President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, and his pissy dismissal of the rising tide of public resentment at his attempt to saddle future generations with mounds and mounds of endless debt. Keep it up through November, the people will remember, and reward you and your party by sending a good chunk of your congressional allies out of their cushy jobs and on to their plush tushies.

NBA Playoffs 2010 Edition

2010-04-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

It's that time again, time for the "real" NBA season to start. Looks like it's Cleveland's year to get back to the Finals, it's hard to imagine a scenario where any teams in the Eastern Conference can take four games from the Ohio LeBronaliers. The Western Conference is a bit muddier given how horrible the Lakers have looked, how good the Suns look at times, and how deceptively solid the Mavericks team can be (while at other times, faltering).

Basically, nothing is going to get in the way of an Orlando-Cleveland Eastern Conference rematch. Out west, despite the problems they've had, I think the Lakers do have that extra gear they can kick it into, and they won't have any series of more than five games as they return to the Finals for the third year in a row.

So, that sets up David Stern's (and Nike's) wet dream finals of the LA Kobes versus the CLE LeBrons. It'd be easy to pick against the Lakers, given how poorly they've performed against Cleveland this season, and given that they just aren't playing with that much hunger. Once a title gets in grasp, though, I think their veterans, and especially their coaching, will give the Lakers the tools to defeat the better team.

So here are my predictions:

Western Conference, 1st Round:

LAL over OKC in 5 games.
The Lakers will split the first two games, winning Sunday, losing Tuesday, then sweep the rest of the series. OKC has depth, and skill, but they're too young to get it done, and will get frustrated and not perform up to their ability.

DAL over SAS in 4 games.
Despite how well Ginobli has been playing, the Spurs are too old, too creaky, and with Duncan's defensive decline, they have nobody to contain Nowitzki, who will go wild in this series sweep.

PHO over POR in 5 games.
Phoenix has too much offense, and Portland with the latest injury to Roy, just don't have enough healthy bodies to hold off Phoenix, they best they can hope for is to win one on their home floor.

UTA over DEN in 4 games.
Despite falling to the 5 seed, and completely forgetting to show up in a home game to end the season that made the difference between a 3 seed and a 5 seed, they will dominate against a Nuggets team that has too many knuckleheads on their team to be able to succeed down the stretch in a playoff game (despite last year's success with mostly the same group of knuckleheads, this year without their knuckleheaded coach to guide them, they'll be even more knuckleheaded than usual).

Western Conference Semis:

LAL over UTA in 6 games
Utah without Kirilenko don't match up with the Lakers all that well, especially if Farmar finds a way to play a little bit of defense, and Artest shows up in this series. Should be a bunch of close games, but in the end I think the Champs will prevail.

PHO over DAL in 5 games
These will be some high scoring contests. While Dallas would prefer not to run with Phoenix, they won't be able to help themselves, and in an up and down fastbreaking game, then Nowitzki becomes a liability against Stoudemire rather than an asset. If the Suns are able to dictate the style of play in this series, they'll dominate, and I think they will.

Western Conference Finals:

LAL over PHO in 5 games
This'll be a fun one. By the time this series rolls around, Bynum should be healthy(ish), and without Robin Lopez in the middle, both Bynum and Gasol should put up big numbers. The Suns are the only 50+ win squad that the Lakers have been able to consistently beat this season, and I think that will continue in the playoffs.

Eastern Conference 1st Round, 2nd round, Finals:

The Eastern Conference is going to be pretty predictable, and come down to CLE-ORL, so I'll skip the detailed write-ups.

1st Round
CLE over CHI 5 games (Bulls can pull off one home win, that's it)
ORL over CHA 6 games (Superior coaching will give the Bobcats two wins, but that's it)
ATL over MIL 4 games (With Bogut out, the Bucks have no chance)
MIA over BOS 5 games (The Cs, suck, period)

2nd Round
CLE over MIA 5 games (No contest, 4 easy wins, with one close loss for the Cavs)
ORL over ATL 7 games (The Hawks will push Orlando to the limit, but the Magic will prevail)

Eastern Finals
CLE over ORL 4 games (Cavs will dominate, and destroy the Magic, revenge for 09)

Now, for the sexy, NBA FINALS:

Defending Champion Los Angeles Lakers will upset the regular season's best Cleveland Cavaliers in 6 games (3 of which will be exciting)

Game 1 CLE by +15 points. The champs will come out flat, and get embarrassed on the road.
Game 2 LAL by less than 5. The Lakers will win a close one on the road, putting the pressure on Cleveland to win at least one in LA to stay alive.
Game 3 CLE by +20 points. The Lakers will open at Staples flatter than month old champagne
Game 4 LAL by 2. A last minute shot, by someone other than Kobe, will even the series
Game 5 LAL by +10. The Lakers will have their first easy victory of the series.
Game 6 LAL by less than 3. With two games left in Cleveland, and only needing one victory, the Lakers will pull off the upset and win a close, ugly, foul-marred game where neither team breaks 90, and neither team leads by more than five at any point in the contest.

Sorry, Cleveland, despite the talent edge, despite having the world's greatest basketball player, despite those advantages, the Lakers will find a way to win in the finals and give Phil his 11th ring, and Kobe his 5th, and the Lakers their 16th title. It will suck for y'all even more when LeBron bolts from Cleveland this summer.

Is This Thing Still On?

2010-04-15T16:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes it's still on. Will get back to blogging in earnest on Sunday, and will try to come up with some sort of NBA Playoff thing for Friday.

Been taking a break, to recharge the blogging batteries. There will be Aint Wrongness on Sunday, but LOL Obama's and Photos will be occasional, rather than daily from now on. Rather post something when there's something worth posting, rather than posting just to post.

I hope this short lacuna will lead to a better product hereabouts.

LOL Obama, Daily 08 April 2010

2010-04-08T23:15:00.001-07:00

The lesson is, never party with Senators...

Your Daily Photo (Is That a Statue of The Gipper, or Are You Just Glad to See Me Edition)

2010-04-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

Reagan, looking friendly and relaxed, at the entrance to his Library. Might get out and find something worth shooting tomorrow, so should be something other than Reagan Library snaps for Friday's photo.

Thursday's Candidate for Tweet of the Week (Vodkapundit Edition)

2010-04-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

Stephen Green, the world famous Vodkapundit, tweets:

Obama needs a Dumbass Czar. Kurtwood Smith following him around, saying, "Dumbass!" every time he opens his mouth. #TCOT #TLOT

I would like to add, that there should also be a little shock collar around his dangly bits that gets triggered whenever he answers questions with responses that take longer than five minutes (with the intensity increasing each minute beyond five). That would do him, and the world, a lot of good.

Random Thought, Terry Crews Edition...

2010-04-07T20:43:00.000-07:00

Catching the new batch of Old Spice Bodywash ads featuring topless Terry Crews, has reaffirmed my belief that this man needs to be a regular on Saturday Night Live.

They've never had a black actor on the show who could play both intimidating and funny at the same time. They've all been skinny, with Kenan being the sole exception to the skinny black dude rule, but he's rolly-polly, and not at all physically imposing.

They've never had a physically imposing guy on the show in general, so a non-wimp brings a great range of comic possibilities that they haven't had a chance to explore.

They'd run into trouble if all he did was menacing type roles, but with his looks, him in a bow-tie playing a milquetoast would be just as funny as him being the angry scary guy.

Hire him already Lorne Michaels, the show needs him, desperately. Also, he'd make a great Michelle Obama...

(also, I still say they need to go and get Seth Green, too, pairing big ass Terry Crews with tiny ass Seth Green opens up a myriad of comic possibilities)

Wednesday's Candidate for Tweet of the Week (DeepakChopra Edition)

2010-04-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

The douchetastic one tweets:

I'm never serious. RT @andrezmv: @DeepakChopra are you serious?

So right there, for everyone to see, Chopra exposes himself to the world as the fraud and charlatan that he's always been.

Anyone who has ever taken him seriously about anything was a fool and a dupe. If that's not a tweet of the day, I don't know what is.

So, stop buying his crap, or listening to him, or putting him on TV, already...

Although, this crap, is HIGHlarious, I present to you Desire from SEXLOUNGE by Deepak Chopra, featuring Demi Moore (?!?!?!?!?!???!!!!!!!)

(cummmmmmm meeerrrjjjjjjj wid meeeeee)

LOL Obama, Daily 07 April 2010

2010-04-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

Dooooooooooooooooooooook!!!

At least I know one person who might find this pleasing/disturbing, this one is for you MKHammer!

After doing it, I noticed that this blue-faced Obama comes dangerously close to looking a bit too much like a "black faced" Obama. Not much can be done about that, other than having not done this at all. The green Obamas done for St. Pat's didn't read quite as 'minstrel-y' as this one does, I think cause I was lazier and colored over his eyes and mouth.

I know the intent in my heart is pure (or at least purely satirical, rather than racial), so it stays. If we can't laugh at the President, and his supposed mega-fandom for all sports, then what can we laugh at?

Your Daily Photo (Ze Plane, Ze Plane Edition)

2010-04-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

Is there ever a wrong time to reference a long dead, really crappy, Aaron Spelling show?

And the folks at the Reagan Library are right, the 707 based Air Force One was a better looking craft than the current 747 based sucker.

Surprised President Obama hasn't ordered a tricked out A380 like Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. Not like it's real money at this point, go ahead, what's another $475,000,000 or so.

Tuesday's Candidate for Tweet of the Week (bkbrains Edition)

2010-04-06T22:50:00.000-07:00

Tweeted by bkbrains:

Mattel opens gates of hell, allows proper nouns in Scrabble http://bit.ly/99QPBG

Keeping a sense of perspective, like most board game fans. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your perspective, this wasn't a case of Mattel losing their damn minds, but bad reporting.

This guest post from Stefan Fatsis at Slate's BrowBeat blog explains the misunderstanding and misreporting that lead to "Proper Nouns" becoming a trending topic on Twitter today.

LOL Obama, Daily 06 April 2010

2010-04-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

Obama, gets his Bieber on...

(and despite my coyness in the description at Flickr, I was inspired by http://lesbianswholooklikejustinbieber.tumblr.com/)

(also if you haven't already noticed, I make some jokes here that I don't at Flickr, and vice versa, so if you want the full LOL Obama experience you really have to see these both places and read the full descriptions over there)

And I found that tumblr site through this TMZ photo gallery of celebrities getting their Bieber on...

Your Daily Photo (It Was From a Position of Uncompromised Strength Reagan Negotiated a Reduction in Nuclear Arms Edition)

2010-04-06T00:27:00.000-07:00

A reminder, that we faced evil, unblinkingly, with strength. We met, and dealt, but did not surrender the option to build defensive weapons. The 'failure' at Reykjavik was a key component in reducing the threat that the Soviet Union posed, and helped hasten the collapse of the Iron Curtain. Reagan was willing to deal, but he was not willing to compromise.

If only we had a President again who reserved that attitude against our adversaries, rather than against his political opponents.

The seeds for Obama's defeat in 2012 are being sown, and watered by his own incompetence, hopefully he won't do too much damage between now and then.

The Real Danger From Obama's Latest Mewlings...

2010-04-06T00:07:00.000-07:00

The President mewls:

The United States will continue to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in deterring non-nuclear attacks. To that end, the United States is now prepared to strengthen its long-standing 'negative security assurance' by declaring that the United States will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and in compliance with their nuclear non-proliferation obligations. This revised assurance is intended to underscore the security benefits of adhering to and fully complying with the NPT and persuade non-nuclear weapons states party to the Treaty to work with the United States and other interested parties to adopt effective measures to strengthen the non-proliferation regime.

You goddamn idiot, Mr. President. "This revised assurance" goes farther than any statement by any past President, even ones as cojones deficient as James Earl Carter, in neutering our ability as a nation to meet the threat that comes from belligerent nations and bad actors within nations.

That we are a country with the capacity to wipe out any other country, and that we have leaders crazy enough to do it if provoked, has been a cornerstone of United States diplomacy and self defense since those two bombs we dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the leading single economy, top military, and most prosperous state in the world, we are juicy target for any country, or group within a country, for some nasty bit of assymmetrical warfare directed at our population.

The threat that we would meet a WMD attack by a state, or state sponsored group (or even state tolerated group) with a WMD attack of our own on a biblical scale has been an integral part of our defense. That is, until we elected President Obama. Thanks a lot, the inevitable attack on a big city will be firmly and unequivocally your fault (and as a resident of likely target #2 or #3, with NYC always being target #1 for the crazies, I'd rate LA and DC neck and neck as 2nd or 3rd likely, a special personal thanks Mr. President).

The conventional wisdom regarding assymmetric warfare is that it favors the small over the big (David v Goliath), but the threat of an overwhelming and highly assymmetric response from our military given a major provocation used to be one of our big advantages over those weenies in Europe. Even while protesting us, and calling our leaders 'cowboys', Europeans knew that those 'cowboys' they derided were what kept them as safe as they were, and that our willingness to be more belligerent than the craziest of belligerents was good for democracies across the globe. Obama wants to dismantle that. Idiot, I guess it will be up to Sarkozy and the French to play the world's crazyman, now.

I can't believe we elected someone who ate up all that Soviet sponsored No Nukes crap that was being spewed across college campuses in the 70s and 80s, and thought that'd be sensible as a guiding principle for our defense posture. And just in case you think I'm making up the Soviet angle, from Time Magazine in 1983:

The question of Soviet influence becomes difficult to call when counterespionage officials try to uncover KGB links to the antinuclear movement in the U.S. and Western Europe. By CIA reckoning, the Soviets spend roughly $3 billion to $4 billion each year on overt and covert propaganda activities. According to a State Department official, as much as $600 million may have been spent so far on the peace offensive. Using national Communist parties or recognized Communist-front organizations like the World Peace Council, the Kremlin has been able to channel funds to a host of new antiwar organizations that would, in many cases, reject the financial help if they knew the source. Western intelligence experts believe that the mass movement in opposition to new NATO missiles in Europe probably was not Soviet-inspired, but they fear that the Kremlin's active measures have given the movement greater momentum.

So this latest bit of Obama-nonsense seems like it's just the 'radical' Occidental student (as pictured above) peeking out from the moderate facade that he wrapped himself in during his campaign. He's stuck in the mindset of the Vietnam-addled, USA must apologize for being mighty, late 70s, and the Reagan hating campus 'intelligentsia' with their, how dare we have a leader who is willing to defend our position in the world and recognize the Soviets as evil, mindset of the early 80s. Hard to believe that the subsequent decades haven't taught Obama the lessons that everyone else seems to understand. He's trying to undermine everything Reagan accomplished, both domestically and globally. He has a compliant media, and Democratic Party leadership willing to follow him to doom. Seems like the rank and file is starting to balk, and more importantly, voters are seeing red, but will that anger stick around till November? Depends on events.

I suspect Secretary of State Hillary Clinton must be scrambling to move up her exit from this sinking ship, and she's going to stage, as soon as possible, a very public conflict between the White House and the State Department so that she can resign as a sensible Hawk while Obama looks like the naive Dove. I don't see her sticking loyally by Obama and putting aside a lifetime of ambition to defer to this jerk, but you never know, maybe she trusts in him and took the job because she believes in the direction that Obama will lead.

(above, Obama at Occidental image, borrowed from this HuffPo piece, photo by Lisa Jack)

Monday's Candidate for Tweet of the Week (from SportsPickle)

2010-04-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Matt Howard is a two-time Academic All-American, yet not smart enough to shave off that mustache. Sad.

Heh.

Great Moments in Other Blogs' Comment Sections (Gawker Edition)

2010-04-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

so what did Kenny do to the creators of south park?

(in response to a Gawker post about accusations flying regarding the reason behind the offing of Nicolette Sheridan's Desperate Housewives character)

Darkly Twisted Thoughts That Are Also Chuckle-Worthy From the Mind of Ken Jennings (First in a Highly Irregular Series)

2010-04-05T19:55:00.000-07:00

A trip to the dinosaur museum and the children’s museum! Wait a second. If the dinosaur museum is where you see dinosaur skeletons all bleached and mounted…what’s a children’s museum?

Heh.

The rest of that post, here.

LOL Obama, Daily 06 April 2010

2010-04-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

Miniature Obama gets around. A shame Miniature Obama forgot to bring along a Miniature Chauffeur, hope he knows how to drive that thing himself...

Your Daily Photo (Giving the People What They Want Edition)

2010-04-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

For some unknown reason, there was a big spike in traffic to my Flickr photos taken at the LA Auto Show these past few years. Probably just some bot hitting the all of flickr, but here's a Honda P-NUT for you, anwyay.

Things That Would Be Entirely Unsurprising to Just About Everyone Else on the Globe...

2010-04-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

A few women marched toplessly through the streets of Portland Maine this past Saturday. (ht Drudge)

Clearly, the organizer of this event, Ty McDowell, has lived most her life in some alternate reality where she wasn't aware how this sort of display would be consumed by a significant portion of spectators (my guess, that alternate reality probably goes by the name of Bowdoin Gender and Women's Studies Department, but can't find hide nor hair of her elsewise on the internet, so who knows)

Here's her reaction as described in the local rag:

Ty McDowell, who organized the march, said she was "enraged" by the turnout of men attracted to the demonstration. The purpose, she said, was for society to have the same reaction to a woman walking around topless as it does to men without shirts on.

However, McDowell said she plans to organize similar demonstrations in the future and said she would be more "aggressive" in discouraging oglers.

She's angry because people spectated while she chose to make a spectacle of herself and her compatriots.

If it's important for her to make toplessness normal for both men and women, then don't march in numbers Easter Weekend through the center of town. Folks took snaps, leered, and possibly jeered (though doesn't sound like there was jeering, just creepy leering), because it is unusual, because it was intentionally staged to be a spectacle, and because BOOBIES!!!

Sorry, boobies make some men a bit infantile, or at least juvenile. Male toplessness will never be equal to female toplessness in our society, get used to it. People discriminate between male torsos and female torsos, and that's that.

A suggestion for McDowell, for the next march, seed a few (obviously) under 18 year old girls in the mix, then any photos snapped by any creepy guys won't be publishable anywhere given our overly aggressive interpretation of what deserves to be described as 'kiddie porn'. That would turn the oglers from creeps to criminals the way our laws are currently interpreted.

Nudity shouldn't equal pornography in anybody's mind, yet that's how nudity is now treated in our culture (and that's a recent development). Make that nude person under the age of eighteen, and suddenly that nudity isn't just mere pornography (which is still ridiculous), but that nudity is transformed into outright obscenity (which is really ridiculous).

So, if you are going to challenge one social norm, might as well attack another one while you are at it.

I personally don't see a problem with women letting their areolae air out in public (and this is really about nipples and areolae, cause you can tool around in a bikini top that exposes everything but in every corner of this country already), and I doubt there are many public prosecutors who would charge a woman for letting hers free in a non-lascivious manner regardless of what the statutes say in that jurisdiction.

Beaches hereabouts for awhile were unoffcially topless. It wasn't explicitly stated that it was allowed, but folks (especially foreign tourists) weren't hassled on the beach if they chose to expose their breasts in a non-sexual way. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your attitude), that has gone by the wayside, and lifeguards are supposed to discourage the practice again, even when it's a lithe young frenchwoman showing off her moneymakers (and that's a travesty if you ask me).

Also, apparently, aliens totally dig it when women show off their areolae in public. I know this because the person behind National Go Topless day (and there is such a thing, though this recent thing in Maine appears not to be part of that) is the head of the Raelians. GoTopless.org (link shows some shots from past GoTopless days, so in the world we live that makes the site NSFW, which is another ridiculous thing) was founded by Maitreya Rael.

Here are few shots by a professional photographer taken at the Venice Beach event last year (also, NSFW given the idiotic and nervous attitudes people have in workplaces around the possibility of even the appearance of some sort of perception of sexual harrassment, but despite finding it stupid, I understand why human resources departments institute these sort of policies given our litigious society).

Seems like there are bigger things to worry about, whichever way your personal preferences fall on this matter.

And to be fair and balanced, here's a link to a more feminist-minded take on the same event from Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon.

You Ain't Wrong (Week Ending 04 April 10)

2010-04-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

You Ain't Wrong was a feature at this blog, early on, long ago dropped away, but is being resurrected today, and will be featured subsequent Sundays for the forseeable future.

For those who don't remember 'You Ain't Wrong', it's a collection of links to people around the web who exhibited exemplary aintwrongness during the week that was. Aintwrongness isn't just a mangling of the English language, it's also a way of life. Aintwrongness is doing your thing, while not impeding other folks ability to do their thing. Aintwrongness is recognizing when you might be trending towards douchiness and altering course away from douchebagdom. Aintwrongness isn't exclusively American, but more often than not, the American people are the most aintwrong people on this globe.

On to the aintwrongness...

M. Simon at Power and Control, You Ain't Wrong, obama's recently announced plan regarding expanding drilling is all smoke, mirrors, and half-truths. That he can get away with this nonsense due to a compliant and uncritical media is the antithesis of aintwrongness.

Dr. Helen Smith, You Ain't Wrong, questioning the wisdom of some social conservatives panicky attitude towards pornography. Free speech must protect speech you dislike as well as speech you like. Pornography is speech (when it's not outright obscene), and must be protected. I think Smith is on to something when she suspects that the real issue is controlling male sexuality. Any activity can become a wedge between partners in a weak relationship, just as healthy relationships have room for each partner to have quality 'alone time', even if that alone time involves questionable activities such as knitting, reading Dan Brown novels, or 'self-abuse' while watching videos of otherwise naked people pleasing each other while wearing animal masks (hey, don't judge).

Hortense at Jezebel, You Ain't Wrong, expressing disapproval at celebrities who claim afflictions they don't actually have. Realizing Moby and Miley Cyrus are both idiots in their own special ways doesn't take great insight, but it's a notion that deserves expressing, nevertheless.

The Bird and The Bee, You Ain't Wrong, in releasing your surprisingly fantastic exploration of the Hall and Oates songbook. Above is a very pregnant Inara George, along with the rest of The Bird and The Bee, performing with a 'special guest' from a month ago at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles (and if you want to help a blogger out, when you buy this album, buy it through the link on this page).

Professor Bainbridge, You Ain't Wrong, in highlighting the awesomeness that is Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear. Automotive media done right.

Speaking of Jeremy Clarkson, You Ain't Wrong, on applauding the joint operation of nuclear subs by France and Britain. Here's an excerpt to convince you to click the link:

There’s another reason it’s important for the navy to maintain its fleet of boomers. Having a nuclear submarine in your arsenal is what makes a country important. Take that away and what is Britain left with? A lot of potholes, a health system that doesn’t work and a bunch of political leaders who have to make after-dinner speeches to make ends meet. We’d have to be twinned with Ethiopia.

The villagers of Vrontados, You Ain't Wrong, nothing says Easter like pyrotechnics!

Netflix users, You Ain't Wrong, if you stream Metropolis (2001 Anime version, not a remake of the Fritz Lang thing). It's beautiful, it has a decent story, and the English dub isn't too annoying. Recently available for streaming, if you haven't seen it before, indulge yourself and enjoy. And for those that picked up the iPad and the Netflix app, go ahead and use this as the movie you test watching films on that device you Apple fanatics are all in love with at the moment.

Lovers of kickass images, You Ain't Wrong, if you check out this Flickr Blog post of people launching stuff.

Victor Davis Hanson, You Ain't Wrong, when you hold the Obama Administration's feet to the fire. Read the whole thing, but here's VDH's close:

In any isolated circumstance, we are willing to give the president of the United States a pass on a particular disturbing decision. But after 14 months of them, the Obama particulars add up to a remaking of America that is now clear and consistent: Grow government; redistribute income; establish permanent political constituencies of dependents; increase entitlements; hike taxes; demonize “them” while deifying their supposed victims; seek global neutrality abroad; and always play fast and loose with the truth.

I think that's a sufficient amount of aintwrongness for this reborn You Ain't Wrong post. But there was also another feature to these posts that also gets reborn this week. As there is a north and south pole, as there is black, and there is white, as there is Yin and Yang, there is aintwrongness and antiaintwrongness. As you'd expect, antiaintwrongness is the state of being that exemplifies all that is opposite of aintwrongness. Now I know some may quibble and suggest that it would be simpler to call it 'wrong' or 'wrongness', but I posit that antiaintwrongness is different from mere wrongness in that it isn't just the state of wrongness, but it's also the state of being in opposition to all that is aintwrong. You can be aintwrong without being right, just as you can be wrong without being antiaintwrong, but there are those moments when stupidity, stubornness, and general assholery leads to the state of antiaintwrongness, and when those moments happen, I'll be here to point them out.

For the re-inaugural edition of AntiAintWrongness this week, I feel compelled to go after our dear leader, President Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama exemplifies the epitome of AntiAintWrongness when he let loose with a 17 minute response to a simple statement by a citizen when she complained that she felt she was 'over-taxed'. If that's not a moment that goes into the AntiAintWrong Hall of Fame, then there shouldn't be an AintAintWrong Hall of Fame. Also, Anne Kornblut at WaPo's 44 blog, you get an antiaintwrong within an antiaintwrong for your attempt to give the President a pass for his extreme douchebaginess. Kudos for reporting it, but a slap on the wrist for doing every journalist trick in the book to try and downplay just what a remarkably out of touch, tetchy, and thin-skinned jerk the President revealed himself as being (once again) with his rambling 17 minute 2500+ word diatribe.

Hope you enjoyed me getting type-y for a change. It's been awhile, I plan on more posts where the words outweigh the pictures hereabouts, but you'll still be getting your daily doses of Photos and LOLObamas. And as the week develops feel free to drop links in the comments as suggestions for the aintwrongness that will get recapped on April 11th.

LOL Obama, Daily 04 April 2010

2010-04-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

President Obama, doesn't let celebrating Easter get in the way of working hard.

Good for him.

(depending on what work he's working on, might be bad for the country...)

Your Daily Photo (Bloomin' Lilies Edition)

2010-04-04T14:39:00.001-07:00

Our lilies don't bloom around Easter, generally, so make do with lilies from June. Happy Easter.

LOL Obama, Daily 03 April 2010

2010-04-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

President Obama signing a proclamation declaring a Cesar Chavez day. Seems like he's been inflated in importance cause hispanics needed their 'own' civil rights figure, but the UFW accomplished very little, waged an ineffective strike and boycott, and were supported by, and used rhetoric inspired by outright communist.

The sort of divisive idiocy spewed by the UFW and groups like La Raza and MEChA damages the lives of those hispanics that buy into their anti-assimilation, anti-american and anti-business rhetoric. Naturally, Obama supports that sort of nonsense, it fits right in with his various mentors like Ayers and Wright.

Your Daily Photo (Jelly Belly Edition)

2010-04-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Almost bought a huge thing of Jelly Bellys last Costco trip, but trying to cut down on sugar, so passed.

Guess I could have turned them into a sugary "LOL Obama" similar to this Reagan portrait, but Obama doesn't have a connection with the brand the way Reagan did.

LOL Obama, Daily 02 April 2010

2010-04-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

I think it's time to amend the constitution and eliminate the census. It's needlessly expensive, it's needlessly intrusive, it's wastefully executed, and it duplicates work done by municipalities and states.

Rather than apportioning congressional seats through the census count, apportion them by the vote totals in each district every other presidential election year. That'd fix a lot of nonsense (while creating some interesting new nonsense).

Your Daily Photo (Go Lakers and Things You Might Also See at the Obama Library Edition)

2010-04-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, Pres. Obama's future museum will have a few of these on display as well (he's already received one signed ball from the LA Lakers, why not a few more?).

LOL Obama, Daily 01 April 2010

2010-04-01T18:39:00.001-07:00

Nimbus on FULL!

Your Daily Photo (Like the View? Edition)

2010-04-01T18:38:00.000-07:00

View from Reagan Library.

LOL Obama, Daily 31 March 2010

2010-03-31T23:42:00.000-07:00

Your Daily Photo (Part Two in the Ongoing Series, Things You Won't See in the Obama Library Edition)

2010-03-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

I don't see them proudly displaying a bunch of firearms gifted to President Obama during his term at his eventual presidential library.

Reagan was a believer in 'peace through strength' in more ways than just the Second Amendment.

Obama, not so much.

LOL Obama, Daily 30 March 2010

2010-03-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

Your Daily Photo (Exactly 29 Years Ago Edition)

2010-03-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

March 30, 1981 John Hinkley attempted to kill the recently inaugurated President Reagan. We dodged a bullet as a nation that day, Reagan didn't. He had a lot left to do, and he survived to do it.

The man himself, below, on Larry King recounting what happened.

LOL Obama, Daily 29 March 2010

2010-03-29T23:58:00.000-07:00

Is there a budding 'bromance' between Obama and Karzai?

I'm not saying this photo is evidence of that, but I'm not not saying that, either...

Your Daily Photo (Something You Probably Won't See at the Obama Museum Edition)

2010-03-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

LOL Obama, Daily 28 March 2010

2010-03-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

I think they're messing with me now. Surely they knew when they posted this last week that I'd have to reference the clip below...

Your Daily Photo (Perspectives on Perspective Edition)

2010-03-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

Too busy watching basketball to go out and shoot stuff today. Planning on going to the Reagan Library tomorrow, so should have lots of photos posted by the end of the day.

LOL Obama, Daily 27 March 2010

2010-03-27T23:54:00.000-07:00

Finally, the Obama Administration gets serious about deficit reduction...

(although the ads from GM and SEIU are kind of taking money out of one pocket and putting it in another, but their hearts are in the right place, I guess)

Your Daily Photo (Randomly Selected Photo of the Day Edition)

2010-03-27T23:52:00.001-07:00

LOL Obama, Daily 26 March 2010

2010-03-26T23:57:00.000-07:00

It helps to know that Chukchi are natives of remotest Siberia, and ethnic Russians enjoy telling rather derogatory jokes about them.

Your Daily Photo (Game On! Edition)

2010-03-26T23:40:00.000-07:00

Haven't been much of a shutterbug lately, a photo from about half a year ago will have to tide you over. Hoping to shoot something tomorrow, but no promises.

LOL Obama, Daily 25 March 2010

2010-03-25T23:01:00.000-07:00

Your Daily Photo (Small Yellow Flowers Edition)

2010-03-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

LOL Obama, Daily 24 March 2010

2010-03-24T22:32:00.001-07:00

No other comment needed, I think.

Your Daily Photo (Check Out Those Arms Edition)

2010-03-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

LOL Obama, Daily 23 March 2010

2010-03-23T23:00:00.001-07:00

Your Daily Photo (Don't Put Another Dime in the Jukebox Edition)

2010-03-23T22:47:00.000-07:00

Something shot more currently,tomorrow, at least probably. And, dammit, I still like that song...

Your Daily Photo (Got Wood? Edition)

2010-03-22T23:57:00.000-07:00

LOL Obama, Daily 22 March 2010

2010-03-22T15:46:00.001-07:00

I may have altered the President's, and the Vice-President's heads slightly, but the smugness of their expressions was clearly visible in the original.

Your Daily Photo (An Upside Down Flag is a Sign of Distress Edition)

2010-03-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I just rotated the picture, the flag was fine back when I shot it the day before Independence Day, last year.

Seems rotating that image 180 degrees is a good way to illustrate today, Dependence Day.

LOL Obama, Daily 21 March 2010

2010-03-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

For those who don't follow basketball, here's a YouTube clip of Shaq's original rap

And, to be fair to Pete Souza, he wasn't completely fixated on the President's ass in his original photo (below). Just shows you the power of cropping (which is mentioned in this Gizmodo post, as well).

Your Daily Photo (You Might Call it Rusted, I Call it Well Seasoned Edition)

2010-03-20T22:15:00.001-07:00

Possible names for a Los Angeles based David Geffen owned NBA franchise...
	Los Angeles Rockers
	Hollywood Knights
	That Other NBA Team That Plays at Staples Center
	West Hollywood Pride (at least it's not the Gay Pride, not that there's anything wrong with that)
	Los Angeles Ogres (with Shrek as mascot, naturally)
	Los Angeles Dragons (better name, better DW animated franchise)

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In the purple room...
	there's probably a gimp being brought out, right now
	a dwarf is speaking backwards
	a groovy forgotten 70s hit is playing as someone loses an ear
	there's a man huffing NO2 while extolling the virtues of Pabst, Blue Ribbon
	nothing untoward, dramatic or creepy is happening, darnit

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The NBA Finals are here: What will the results be?
	Lakers in a hard fought 7 games triumph over the Cs at Staples
	Lakers in 6 games, winning one in Boston, and all their home games
	Lakers in 5, humiliating the Celtics in Boston in the final game as payback for 2008
	Break out the Brooms! Lakers Sweep the Cs in 4!!!
	Lakers in 3! After trouncing the Cs in the first 3 games, mercy rule applied, and 4th game cancelled

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The Obama Administration is...
	incompetent
	incoherent
	inconsequential
	incontinent
	incognizant
	inconsiderate
	incorrigible
	(and in honor of Vizzini) INCONCEIVABLE!

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