We’ve Got Nothing Better To Do Than Watch TV and Have a Couple Of Brews

We’re gonna have a TV Party tonight, alright!
We’re gonna have a TV party tonight, alright!

(All right, enough with the Black Flag already)

I haven’t had a television party since the days of Melrose Place. I used to have a bunch of friends over to watch it each week, mostly guy friends of mine that didn’t want to be caught dead having a Melrose Place addiction. They had a rep to protect, you know. Regardless, we’d kick it at my place a few blocks off the beach on Casitas St in Santa Barbara and watch bad TV, drink a lot of Guinness (aka Vitamin G), eat pizza and play darts during commercials. It was awesome.

A bunch of our friends here watch Heroes. We finally decided to try having Heroes parties here like I used to have back in the day with Melrose Place. It was a lot of fun to have people over, but it wasn’t quite the same. Why? Because of TiVo. In the days of Melrose Place, there was no TiVo. We all had fun, but we also had to come together between commercials and actually watch the show. Not so with TiVo.

With the DVR technology, the well meaning, usually fun but terminally rude person (every party has one, right?) has no reason to Stop. Talking. Already. So he yammered on all night long, continually causing us to have to hit pause or rewind. It was pretty irritating – I want to have fun, but I also want to see the damn show already! Normally I’d just watch the show over him and so would everyone else – but he is one of those who just gets louder when he is being ignored. Sigh. His wife was pretty annoyed too, so she may “have a little talk” with him. If so, we’ll try it again next week. If not, no big deal – we’ll watch Heroes anyway.

Anyone else stuck on Heroes? I have a few shows on my DVR top priority list. Right now they are: Heroes, House MD, Lost and The Dresden Files. What are yours? I must say I’m happy so many plot holes got filled last night on Heroes. Finally, we discover unequivocally that Claire’s adopted dad is not the total scum bag we thought he might be. Lost dropped a few points on the priority list this season – they have been stringing out the unresolved plot lines on that show for far too long, in my opinion. Last week helped a little, but they have a long way to go.

Now Listening: The Clash London Calling

Tags: heroes lost house md dresden file tv party

Take The Blue Pill, Neo

I have been car shopping since the accident from the comfort of my recliner. I had narrowed it down to a few 5-doors and small SUVs, with the Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester in the front running. I (im)patiently awaited the day I felt well enough to take some test drives. I hemmed and hawed over automatic vs stick. I eventually decided on automatic, in spite of my love of stick shifts, because I’d have to wait until the dark side of God-knows-when to drive a stick again with the still unconnected collarbone issue and no driving approval. With an automatic, I can drive now for short periods – steering one handed and shifting left handed. It’ll be an adventure! For the rest of you on the road with me, that is. Hah. But hey, at least I can get my own damn groceries now, among other small errands I’ve been dependent on others to run.

Today I enlisted my MIL and went car shopping. By the end of the day I was exhausted, she was exhausted, my injured shoulder/collarbone was throbbing mercilessly, we had gasped ourselves silly laughing at everything from stupid cars (The Scion, aka The Toaster) to bad salesmen (like the one that would not let us leave, and kept disappearing for eons at a time, eventually chasing us to her car and holding my door open trying to make a last minute sale. Uh, no thanks, asshat.) After testing driving nearly 20 different vehicles of all makes and models in my 5-Door/Small SUV classes, I picked one, and I bought it.

After all of these years with SUVs, everyone will be shocked to know which car I fell in love with. Was it the Toyota RAV4? Nope. Subaru Forester? Double nope and a bad sales experience to boot. Honda CR-V? Nope, compounded by their price tag – if I’d found one that fit my criteria I would not have been able to buy it in my range. Dodge Caliber? No! I actually had a very hate on sight reaction to this one, plus it had issues with roominess (as in there was none) and visibility (as in having none). The Mazda3 was too small, the Outback was too pricey and also had a ton of blind spots… the list of rejected cars I thought I’d love goes on and on.

So what car was the lucky winner of a spot in my driveway? In a shocking come-from-behind maneuver (drumroll please) The TOYOTA MATRIX XR.

It is the smallest car I’ve ever owned, but it feels huge when you sit in it. It is a 4 cylynder, but it had plenty of get-up-and-go on the highway and around town. It is a 2006, and the previous owner got every option possible (no kidding, it’s a little like driving a space shuttle or something), including a remote car starter (um, yay). The dealer met my price negotiation with no haggling at all, dropping it from list by a significant amount. It is under warranty. It has a rich sound system and rides in near silence so you can actually enjoy it. Sunroof, comfy seats, AWD, enough airbags in enough places to make a hard landing feel like a night on a Tempurpedic, lots of storage, room for the dogs – I just love all the stuff this car has as well as how it drives.

It has decent safety ratings – 5 and 4 stars on all but Side Impact Passenger, which I can live with, especially with all 1 million air bags and the other safety features the previous owner opted for. It handled well in mud (there was no snow to test it on today, unfortunately) and in light ice. It’s a bit lighter than I’m used to, but not much. It has seats that fold perfectly flat, so even though it is small you could fit a long piece of lumber in it if you needed to. Why I’d need that I have no idea, since honey may never get to drive this car… hee hee (just kidding, honey).

The dealer had it up on their web site until I bought it, so I can actually share with the interwebs the actual car, which I pick up tomorrow all clean and shiny and new car smelling:

The dealer is Hurlbert Toyota, and the awesome salesperson is Gary Anderson. Tell him I sent you or ask me for his card!

Now Listening: The Be Good Tanyas Hello Love

Other places you can read my stuff today: here and here

Political Deluge

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything about politics or current events. Honestly, even the most politically active people suffer a little burnout now and then, and I’m no exception to the rule. Lately it’s just been easier to focus on the Brit Brit Bad Choices Extravaganza or other fluff than it has been to think about the state of politics and other happenings around the nation. While I’ve been focusing on healing, writing and shaking my head over the current Snatch Pack tramping around Hollywierd, a lot of important things have been going on everywhere. Since clamping my hands over my ears and shouting “La La La I Can’t Heaaaaaaar Youuuuu!” doesn’t seem to be working, I guess I’ll focus on what’s happening in the real world.

Iraq has been in the news for years thanks to the whims and wishes of the Great Decider and his sidekick/puppetmaster, the Imperial Vice President. The American people have voiced a majority wish for withdrawal (never mind the original majority vote to not go in the first place), Congress has voiced an opinion to withdraw and political pundits everywhere have yammered on about the need to get out of Iraq, to stop sacrificing good and loyal soldiers for a megalomaniac’s wet dream. Each cry for sanity has been met with resistance, devious behavior and outright deception by Bush Co.® – from Presidential “signing statements” that ignore the Constitution to misinformation in the press. Now England, our only ally in this futile endeavor, has slapped W on the wrist with it’s decision to withdraw. (You can read the articles here and here.) This is big news folks. This leaves Bush, and the American soldiers he seems to willing to sacrifice for so little, looking like the last kid picked for dodge ball. Bush Co.® should pull out of Iraq post haste, but I’m betting they will try to “stay the course” again and distract us with another crisis. Which brings me to political news event number two…

In January we decided that our “diplomatic process” in Iraq was working so well we should try it elsewhere. (Not in North Korea, where it might make sense, mind you. Just “elsewhere”.) So what did our Great Decider and his Imperial Vice President tell our loyal and hard working troops to do? Why, storm the consulate in Iran, of course! (Article here.) In case you don’t know why this was bad, it has to do with the fact that we stormed the consulate. Your country’s consulate, no matter what country you are part of, is supposed to have inviolate protection. It is there to provide aid to your people when they are abroad and at home, among other things. There are treaties upon treaties with countries everywhere enforcing this concept of a small neutral area to help your countrymen in need. To storm a country’s consulate is a huge violation of trust with that country, but also with our allies. I believe this may have been instrumental in our losing England’s support in Iraq – we sent a very clear message that our country can not be trusted, at least not while under the leadership of Bush Co.®

Not only was the storming of the Iranian consulate a violation of trust, it was poking the bear with a stick. It’s as if Bush Co.® was purposely trying to provoke a fight with Iran, while already overextended in Iraq and elsewhere and continuing to ignore North Korea’s nuclear testing (article here) and other incidents that far outweigh Bush Co.’s® fragile ego in importance. What other incidents should be higher on our list, you ask? Good question. How about China’s recent anti-satellite missile discharge? (Article here.) Remember the endorsement of torture by our own government in recent months? (Article here.) Perhaps we can talk about the minimum wage and the reluctance of Republican Senators to pay working class Americans a living wage. No? (Blogging the debate here, here and here. Poverty guidelines here.) What about the outing of our own CIA agents last year, endangering their lives? (Article here. Thread here.) This is only the tip of the iceberg on things that are more important to our health as a nation, politically and financially, than continuing a war without end for a man without conscience. I haven’t even begun to discuss the loss of freedoms we’ve suffered for the hubris of Bush Co.® or our lack of resources to help our own disenfranchised people, much less the struggling people of other nations. (More on this here, here, here, here and here.)

Even a synopsis of the political crapfest over the last few months has me feeling overwhelmed with the effort of keeping up and fighting the good fight. All that and I haven’t even scratched the surface – there is so much more going on we need to keep ourselves aware of. One way I do this is through the folks at EA Forums’ Symposium and Current Events topics. You’ll notice three of my linked article go back to EA – that’s because it is one of the few places I’ve found where we can discuss the events of the day without a cat fight emerging – it keeps us focused. I highly recommend a visit to those topics. The people over there keep me abreast of what’s happening in the world and in the United States even during my “stick my head in the sand” periods. Don’t forget to tell them phoenixx sent you (that’s me).

If you, like me, are enjoying a stick your head in the sand moment while the world whizzes by your head at top speed, check out my sidebar. I have some lovely distraction in my pages, especially the “Fun With Videos” page, and a ton of blogs for you to read. You’ll find celebrity snark toward the bottom, but there is also music, books and more all waiting for you to discover. Enjoy, and keep your head above water in this time of political turmoil. Also, don’t forget that while I try to make my links obvious by using “article here” tags, there are also a lot of links that will show when you hover your mouse over my text – so get clicking!

Now Listening: 7 Seconds Walk Together, Rock Together

Other places you can read my work today: here and here

Tags: iran iraq darfur politics decider

Jibber Jabber

It’s all about the comments, baby! I have been getting a buttload of comment spam. This is annoying as all hell, so I have dealt with it (I hope) by changing the way comments are made. If you have any trouble using the new comment method, which requires a sign in, please let me know.

I watch the ripples change their size…

“…But never leave the stream of warm impermanence“

There are a few changes in where you can read my writing.

My association with Suite 101 has ended, and I am currently working on moving that content elsewhere. For the next few days if there was an article, blog, biography or book review you enjoyed you should still be able to find it at Suite 101 under American Fiction, however; hopefully the move will be complete soon and I can let you know the new address to read my work. Meanwhile, I will leave the link in the sidebar until the content is moved to make it easier for you.

I have a new location that I have contracted to write for, called HubPages. I am writing articles on consumer technology concentrating on Apple products and various gaming systems, mobile phones, and other gadgets. The pay scale for HubPages is based in part on activity and in part on ad revenue. The more views of my reviews, the better I will do there, obviously. To that end, I will be linking to any new HubPages I have written in the sidebar here to make it easier for you to find them. Please feel free to share your knowledge, discuss differing points of view end debate product merits in the comment section to be found at the bottom of each HubPage. If you would like to write for HubPages as well, click this link.

I also have been tapped to write about Apple products for 451 Press. It’s a new venture with more articles every day. Stay tuned!

Now listening: David Bowie Changes

where to read my writing

Please bear with the site design being down…

while I make it compatible with the new Word Press. All Posts and Pages should be up and working, and the “look” will be back soon.

Update: as these things sometimes do, my design upgrade project has expanded. Instead of just updating the old design to work with the new platform, I am doing a revamp to add some features I have been wanting for a while. The new version of WordPress, 2.1, has some nice features and is worth the upgrade. One thing to note is that it reads the pages differently and you will have to change any older designs to accommodate that.

Now Listening: iPod Shuffle

wordpress 2.1

The Power of Three

 I have a new least favorite saying: " it will be OK, you know bad things only happen in 3s."

I call bullshit.  Bad things happen to the power of three, or a multiple of 3, maybe, but not only in threes. Take a look at the last few months, for example. In November I fell and chipped my kneecap, my honey lost an important bid and we had several medium to major issues with the house that were expensive. In December, several of my writing clients and several of honey's construction clients put us off for the holidays, causing a huge financial crunch we are still struggling to get out of the of. So far, we are still in the realm of "normal but frustrating", right?

So then on January 14th I have the accident, breaking my right clavicle,  as I mentioned. This means I lost three weeks of work before finding software to help me, and honey lost three weeks of work, or at least full time work, because I needed him to help me do so much " every day" stuff.  Now I'm a little more mobile, he is back working full-time, and I am able to write at about 80 percent of my normal efficiency. I'm all excited to finalize a project for my client today, an ebook, and what happens? My left handed awkward typing deletes half the book!  This client has already waited through the clavicle break for this project! Not to mention the other client thatt has been waiting on this project to be finished and the bones to be healed for his project!

 That isn't all that's happened this week, either. Honey gets a call from his client on Tuesday. This client is also a friend. Honey has been doing some work on his house, including replacement of all of the windows.  There was one window left to install that was so large and heavy honey needed help.  He stored this 400 pound window against the fence, out of the way,  while he waited for a helper. You'll never guess what happened. We got 50 mph gusty winds on Tuesday that blew this 400 pound window into the wife's new car. That means money out of pocket and/or and insurance claim.

Fuck. Me.

 I'd just like to say "Hey planet, screw your theory of threes".

Now Listening: The Clare Voyants Pass It On 

Tags: bad things happen in threes