a dropped call can ruin a conversation...

THE UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 36
CHAPTER 10
The “FLAG CODE”

§171. Conduct during playing The Star-Spangled Banner

During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should render the military salute at the first note of the anthem and retain this position until the last note. When the flag is not displayed, those present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed there.


What part of that don't you understand, Obama?

You are not in uniform, you are a United States Senator, and you are one of the Democratic candidates for President of the United States, yet you refuse to place your hand over your heart during the National Anthem? If you are unwilling to pledge your allegiance to our nation, then whose nation are you pledging your allegiance to?

Sure some people have made a big deal out of your stance on not wearing an American flag lapel pin. I was surprised that you would come out and declare that you will not wear one as opposed to just deciding privately that you don't need excessively patriotic "flair" on your suits.

Do you have a problem with our flag? With our country? With being a citizen of this country? You're not making a very convincing argument for why America should vote for you.

Excited for tonight...

Tonight can't come soon enough...

Two hearts fading, like a flower.
And all this waiting, for the power.
For some answer, to this fire.
Sinking slowly. The water’s higher.
Desire

With no secrets. No obsession.
This time I'm speeding with no direction.
Without a reason. What is this fire?
Burning slowly. My one and only.
Desire

You know me. You don't mind waiting.
You just can't show me, but God I'm praying,
That you'll find me, and that you'll see me,
That you run and never tire.
Desire

feeling it...

In the wind in the gale, thunder and the hail
Sometimes I feel like I'm going insane
Without the numbness or the pain so intense to feel
Especially now it added up through the years

Most of the time I got nothing to say
When I do it's nothing and nobody's there to listen anyway
I know I'm probably better off this way
I just listen to the voices on the TV 'til I'm tired
My eyes grow heavy and I fade away

And I, I taught myself how to grow
Without any love and there was poison in the rain
I taught myself how to grow
Now I'm crooked on the outside
And the inside's broke...

Sad to see you go...

The internet community was hit hard this week as the popular website TV Links was shut down and the Gloucester police arrested the site's creator (for more on this story, check out these articles: The Guardian | Online Community Mourns | FACT Targets the Little Guy | Digital Spy on FACT | A State-side Reaction | Further Analysis).

This was not the first time someone has gotten in trouble with the law for computer and web usage that infringes on trademark and copyright issues, and it will most-assuredly not be the last. Without self-incrimination, I can say that I am sad to see TV Links go. It was an amazing website, the vastness of the link archive was truly awe-inspiring and exciting. Discovering new TV shows that you had never seen, catching up on missed episodes, reminiscing with an old Transformers cartoon... I can honestly say that TV Links was one of my all-time favorite websites.

But what is disconcerting about this action isn't the loss of a fun website, because really there are lots of similar websites out there (here's a list to get you started), but I worry about the legitimate legal basis for this. As some of the articles and blogs have commented, this man still hasn't been charged and authorities aren't entirely sure what to charge him with. Of course the idea is that they arrested him because his website was providing pirated content to users. But his website was not hosting the content, only linking (hence the site's name) to other sites that publish the videos. So really, his website was just a collection of links to other people's stuff. Is that illegal? Does that count as "inducement?" Even if it does, since this was a UK-based website, "inducement" isn't a recognized or punishable offense in Britain. On top of that, the majority of the content this site linked to was published on foreign (primarily southeast Asian) websites, which are outside the jurisdiction of the British police and courts.

And why is FACT going after this small-time guy instead of some of the bigger sites out there? Is it because they know he won't be able to defend himself or afford a good lawyer? Is it because YouTube has become so popular, not only with users, but also with reporters and news commentators as their pop-culture-relevance flavoring touch, trying to stay young and hip?

I am really sad to see this amazing site go, but I also feel bad for this young man who provided so much for so many people around the world and now has been targeted by the "big guns" and is pretty much hung out to dry. It's just sad....

G'day Goodell!

I do have to say that I love the endless quotes and quips and references to London Calling on Sportscenter and First Take as the dream-jobbers debate the validity and impact of the upcoming NFL regular season game being played in London, England. But as far as the idea, I don't buy it. What does Commish Goodell think this will accomplish? Why does he think this is a good idea?


First of all, I just don't buy the fact that anyone outside of the U.S. is very interested in the NFL, or American football as a sport in general for that matter. I know that they have this whole new promotional campaign to try to get latinos interested in American football. It is as if they are saying, "really, it's ok. I know you love soccer, but come watch the NFL. It won't kill you." But the facts are pretty clear. Unlike other sports, American football is uniquely American and has never been able to successfully move beyond our borders. Although I am not entirely certain that there is a majority of NFL viewers in the U.S. that would want that to happen anyways. The NFL is, and always has been, kinda "our" thing. We have tried hosting games in other countries to try to get people interested and promote it, but those events haven't turned out that well. The (smaller) stadiums aren't full, the atmosphere is completely different, and the fans don't really know what is going on or what to cheer for. It is as if we said, "ok, well this is my favorite toy, but I am willing to share it with you" and then have it rejected. In the past, NFL games played outside the United States have not gone well.

But the difference is, those games were pre-season exhibition games. Not regular season games that actually count and matter!! If you play a pre-season game in Mexico City and no one shows up or the fans don't get it and sit there eating their churros completely befuddled, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter! The NFL execs get a couple extra bucks, the Mexican fans walk out the stadium not sure why there were so many points on the board and barely any kicking involved in a sport called football... and the two NFL teams go back to their respective cities with fun stories and get ready for the season. But, if it is a regular season game, being played across the pond in London, not only do you have the fans that have no clue what is going on in the game and cheer at the wrong times, if at all, fans that have absolutely no investment in the game or either team and could care less who really wins (it is like that stupid board game Hoopla where no one wins, the point of the game is for us all to be happy little fairies that encourage and build each other up).

Did Goodell learn nothing from the disaster of NFL Europe?? Those stadiums are smaller than almost all the NFL football stadiums in the U.S., but none of them sold out, no one really cared, no one watched. Europe sent a message to the front office, loud and clear, "We don't care about American football. We don't get it, we don't want to watch it, the only interest we have is the curious amazement at how you Americans get so into it." But apparently Goodell turned a deaf ear to that and has spent a ton of money, I am sure, on developing this NFL beachhead in London. I hope for the NFL's sake that there is a negative backlash both by the British and by the loyal Giants and Dolphins fans here in the states.

Speaking of which, another reason this game is a horrible idea is the fans. And no, not just the clueless and indifferent European "fans" but also the die hard, season ticket holding, American NFL fans. Home games are highly prized by NFL fans, especially ones who have season tickets, yet this game is taking a home game away from the already miserably awful Miami Dolphins. Now, the Dolphins and their fans are already having a horrible season. Both the starting QB and RB are out for the rest of the season, their usually good defense has been horrible, and their star linebacker, Zach Thomas, might miss the overseas game because of a neck injury.

So, in essence, the season is falling apart in Miami, but you are still taking away a home game that these loyal fans have paid for and expected to enjoy. Both teams are traveling all the way to London (much further than a couple states over for an away game), dealing with the time change, culture change, jet lag, and neutral, if not hostile conditions in the stadium. Then after playing in these strange circumstances, they have to come all the way back to play the following week back in the states. It is in the middle of the schedule and you expect it to not affect these teams rhythm and focus? I think it is a bad idea and I hope that it fails miserably and everyone hates it. It sucks that the Giants and the Dolphins are the ones that have to get sucked into this and that their seasons and potential playoff hopes (the Giants more so than the Dolphins) will be affected by this stupid promotional stunt.

I hope you're happy with yourself Commissioner.

The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear era, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning, and I live by the river

I rent a room and I fill the spaces with wood in places to make it feel like home
But all I feel's alone

It might be a quarter life crisis or just the stirring in my soul

Either way I wonder sometimes
About the outcome of a still verdictless life

Things I've Learned Recently

• If you're at a restaurant eating dinner with another couple, don't let your wife pull out her cell phone to use the calculator and figure out how the check should be split. It just gets messy and confusing.
• Contrary to popular belief, fried chicken, hushpuppies, and Sweet Tea for breakfast is actually delicious
  
• Round-abouts (aka traffic circles), though brilliant in foreign applications, will never work well in the American traffic system and I find communities and neighborhoods that implement them pretentious and elitist
  
• Trying to make strip malls and fast food restaurants look more classy doesn't work. They are still strip malls and fast food restaurants, it's just now they don't have good signage, good lighting, or the usual external appearance, taking away from their practical use to the customer
• Golf is stressful. I know longer see going to play a round of golf as a luxurious vacation of some sort
• Having a beer on the golf course dramatically changes your perspective on how much your mistakes really matter
  
• I am really competitive
• Overly-hyper-and-bubbly waitresses need to chill out. Someone working in the food service industry with that much energy must be hiding something... or on drugs
• There is a very real and potentially painful limit to how much fried seafood one person can eat
• Corvettes can still make women turn their heads and say "Damn! I want that car!"
• No matter what you eat at a Waffle House, you will always leave happily full and feeling dirtier than when you entered, but in a good way
• I hate Myrtle Beach
• Broadway at the Beach (in Myrtle) is the most ridiculous monstrosity in the world
• Girls with southern accents = to die for
• I can't help being attracted to a woman that serves me beer (ie: bartender, drink cart girl, brewery tour guide... etc.)
• People in the South know the difference between Virginia and Northern Virginia and treat people differently from each
• Although you may get an amazing education, compared to some of the larger universities, W&M students might only get 50% of the "college experience"
• Never take the Skyline Drive for granted. If you have the chance, set aside time and go for a drive on it at least once a year, preferably in the Fall. Drive the entire road at least once
  
• Spending too much time with one person in the car will always get old, no matter who they are
  
• It is possible to get sick of CDs that I once thought were perfect and amazing for all times and all moods, especially in the car
• Trying to listen to a CD in a convertible on the interstate is pretty much a waste of time
• Getting new CDs in the mail is like self-declared Christmas and always puts me in a good mood
• It always feels good to have someone ask, "Have you been working out?" and legitimately mean it, whether they are a golf instructor or good friend you haven't seen in a while
  

We're only one argument from deaf

When you get these feelings next time... next time
Oh, be sure....
You're gonna tear someone apart
I wanna know how it all works out
I had a feeling we were fading out
I didn't know that people faded out
That people faded out so fast

I wanna show you what I've got inside
But you know those parts of me died
Just like that, they faded out
They faded out so fast
And there was love enough left to fix it

But... there it is

Colbert Dips Toe Into Proverbial Pool...

In Stephen Colbert's constantly tongue-in-cheek way, he some how was able to poke fun at the New York Times columnists not only from his own desk on the TV set, but from theirs as well! I think this woman learned a valuable lesson: don't try to intimidate Colbert or get him to back down by challenging him to anything, cause he will take you up on it. As The Decemberists found out, Stephen doesn't back down, no matter what the challenge is.

Read Colbert's NY Times column here.

Spirit of Troof

I ran across this video again. It had been a while, but it still makes me laugh. I know the language is bad, but that is the funniest part. Is this guy really a preacher somewhere? This is some sort of phone-in program, but just like the camera work and video "special effects," the audio is so shoddy, you can't hear the callers. So it looks like this preacher is just talking to himself, which makes it even better.

Once again, brace yourself for the language. It really is over the top...



I don't know which is best:

• His trimmed, balding head and braided ponytail
  
• His missing tooth
• The background/green screen picture that doesn't change. Is that Yosemite Falls?
  
• When he randomly starts laughing in an unsettlingly insane way
• When he throws out expletives every other word while talking about Jesus and the Holy Spirit

Lord, please help us...

Transport, motorways and tramlines
Starting and then stopping
Taking off and landing
The emptiest of feelings
Disappointed people clinging on to bottles
And when it comes it's so so disappointing

Let down and hanging around
Crushed like a bug in the ground
Let down and hanging around

Shell smashed, juices flowing
Wings twitch, legs are going
Don't get sentimental
It always ends up drivel

One day I'm going to grow wings
A chemical reaction
Hysterical and useless

Let down and hanging around
Let down... oh so let down...

The end must be near...

Today's sign that the Apocalypse is near: George Clooney and Ben Affleck should run for President.

Since when does Brad Pitt no anything about anything other than looking pretty and getting paid ridiculous amounts of money? And good lord, of all the people in Hollywood, why would you pick them? The over-the-hill has-been and the perpetually worthless idiot. And since when does being an actor qualify you to run our country? Is it because you are so good at faking/lying/pretending? Hollywood to politics: Reagan, Arnold, and now Thompson. I don't think Clooney or Affleck could handle it.

Yet another reason why Pitt should keep his mouth shut and leave the thinking to the big boys...

Taking it too far...

Man, it is stuff like this that pisses me off.

First of all, after watching the video, I would be willing to give the business owner the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he didn't know it is illegal to fly any other flag above the American flag. Judging by a couple of the ignorant comments to the news story, it seems that there may be quite a few people living in this country, let alone citizens, that don't know about this law.

I do, however, know this law as well as the other regulations for correctly handling (and disposing of) an American flag. Maybe it's because I was in the Boy Scouts or was raised in the family I was, taught these important lessons and ideals by my parents, or maybe it is my excellent observational skills that allowed me to notice how the American flag is honored and respected when flown over businesses and federal buildings (even if the US flag is at half-mast), or even the United Nations building (all flags are at the same height and are the same size, except for the UN flag, because United Nations property is technically international territory) or the way a color guard dips all flags but the US flag during the National Anthem.

So, yes, I know the law. I know both the letter and the spirit of the law and watching that video sickens and saddens me. But not because some dirty infidels from south of the border are purposefully insulting our country. Yes, the man was wrong to fly the Mexican flag over his business like that. But isn't there a more civil way of addressing the situation? Do you really believe that the flying of the Mexican flag above ours was a defiant and cowardly attack on America, Mr. Psycho-war-vet?? He wasn't declaring war or trying to come out and "fight" you as you claim, he was showing support for the Hispanic community in Reno and didn't know it was illegal.

Someone should have informed him that what he was doing was against the law instead of cutting down his flag and throwing it on the ground. The look of confusion, fear, and brokenness when the owner walks over to pick up his Mexican flag off the ground makes me really sad. He is an American citizen and I am sure he was wondering why he isn't welcome in our country, why he isn't accepted. Is this how we treat our own citizens? Is this how we "welcome" them into our country?

In our country, our flag and all it stands for should have a place of honor, not flown below another flag, not used as a picnic blanket or a firestarter, not left in the attic to be eaten by moths or thrown away in the trash can. Too many people have served and died to protect the freedoms we have in this country to disrespect the symbol of that freedom. But we should not trade freedom for oppression and antagonization of others who come here to enjoy those same freedoms. Let him support the Hispanics and his heritage, but inform him of the law and the reason for it so that he can willingly comply, instead of ripping down the flag and throwing it on the ground. Don't just slap some fishsticks on a plate and throw them in the microwave, take some time and teach him how to fish for himself.

Secondly, those comments replying to the story were some of the most ignorant things I have ever read.

1. Hey, hippie-liberal Oregon boy, I was going to rail on your lack of knowledge about our country (spending too much time reading Nietzsche and Marx?) and its flag, but since I already covered that and it appears you are not alone in your ignorance, I'll have to figure out some-other-way-to-mock-your-incredibly-annoying-excessive-use-of-hyphens. And no, just because you are a self-proclaimed "white American male" (really? In Oregon??) that doesn't mean you inherit knowledge of all things American. You still have to pay attention, study, and learn. Idiot.
2. And to the lady from Ashburn (I know it is an assumption, get over it), representing the Old Dominion so well, you lost me very early in your comment, so I skipped it and went on to the next one. Only after coming back later did I see that I may almost agree with you on some parts of your statement. But the fact of the matter is, Jesus wouldn't be getting involved in politics, even if some of the things he did upset the overly religious and political. And the act of you just throwing his name around as if it is a "Get Out of Jail Free" card that will help you win any argument is offensive to me. Jesus would care more about this man than about his actions, even if they did violate the law.
3. And Ms. Hernandez, I am not sure which flag you were referring to as "the Flag," but neither of them needs capitalization. And if you were referring to the Mexican flag in such a way, bestowing such great honor on it by giving it a capital letter and treating it as its own proper noun, then it sounds like you might be further off the wrong end of the pool than this poor business owner. At least he wasn't doing this to glorify The Flag of Mexico. But judging by the rest of your post, you just don't understand when to use the Shift key. See below.
   
4. And maybe I am picky, but the spelling and grammar errors that are rampant throughout these posts piss me off so much. I am not claiming that I never make mistakes, but good grief! Some things said were nonsensical and stupid, but even some comments with a point were so filled with flaws I was too distracted to actually get it. "If you aint got nothin' nice to say (including grammar and spelling), then don't say nothin' at all..."

Alright. That is all I have to say about that. Remember, freedom isn't free; it costs a buck o' five.