While I still can’t move out of Michigan, at least I’m not living in Detroit. Let’s face it. Michigan’s economy is screwed, and there’s not a job in my industry that’s available in Michigan anymore.
Until then, I guess I’ll keep digging until I find something. I may even need to get a second job, since the hours at the gas station aren’t dang near enough. Until then, there is hope. Someone out there. I know I’ll find it soon enough.
For this week’s Wild Card Friday, I have decided to talk about what is probably going to be the briefest topic ever: the weather.
With the lower than average July temperatures in Michigan, I can hardly call this summer at all. It is more like mid to late spring. With all this lackluster weather, I’m just wondering. When is it going to be summer? Even as I’m typing this, the weather is currently 67 degrees.
If this pseudo-summer has temperatures like this, it looks like we’re going to have a very cold winter. And I’ll be shoveling the snow, in late September or early October. My favorite season of the year, wasted. What a total gyp.
Because of a soreness in my right ring finger, you will not get any more updates until next week. If I am up to it tomorrow and my finger feels a little better, I may at least give you a Wild Card Friday entry. This soreness is definitely from work. In a few days, the soreness should be gone. Tune in next week for more Walker on Politics. Until then, have a good weekend.
A tragedy has occurred in our country. One of President Obama’s teleprompters died an untimely death yesterday afternoon.
It would’ve been more fun, however, if both teleprompters were broken into a million pieces. Knowing that Obama can not speak without a teleprompter, he would probably stagger though the speech, in a feat that would make Robert Gibbs look articulate. You have to remember that it is not the president that is doing the talking. It is the teleprompter. With TOTUS out of the picture, a new Communicator in Chief will need to be sworn in.
I could imagine that they have a room with 100 extra teleprompters, that they would use for such an occasion. TOTUS has lived a short life, but it is time to move on. Should there be a funeral? Nah. Only a few parting words before it’s thrown away. It must be real tragic for Obama, considering that he lost one of his beloved teleprompters.
Don’t worry. There’s plenty of other teleprompters out there. This may be true, but there’s only one TOTUS. I mean, how many teleprompters can play a trick on the president like that?
Just when I thought the “green” movement couldn’t get any more ridiculous! I am aware of the environmentalist wackos trying to save the environment with greener cars and greener packaging. Now they want a greener internet.
This is so funny. If I were you, I would read this entry as quickly as you can. The longer you spend on this entry, the more CO2 that gets released into the atmosphere. Hurry! Quick! Don’t want to pollute the environment by surfing the internet, right? This is just too much. The green movement is nothing more than just another market for businesses to tap into, and fill their wallets with more green.
Now I have nothing against businesses expanding and prospering, but this whole green thing is getting out of control. I’m for a good environment but let’s amp it down a bit. Having been an avid surfer on the internet over the years, I guess I can say that I dumped tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. And I’ll dump tons more. I’ll make my carbon footprint, um, I mean, handprint as large as possible.
Seriously. Can you really burn carbon by just staring at a stinkin’ webpage all day? Somebody call MythBusters. Maybe they can hook up a bunch of computers and see if they burn any carbon dioxide at all. Computers don’t run on gas. Just hilarious. Completely hilarious.
While Summer is been seen as the season for going outside and doing some sort of activity, it is also a time where most stations have their regular shows go on hiatus. When you come in from your Saturday or Sunday at the beach, the last thing you want to do is turn on your TV to a bunch of boring reruns. To help remedy some of that, I have put together an unofficial guide to summer shows that I watch to hold me over until the fresh new lineup begins in the fall. Without further ado, I give you the Television Summer Survival Guide: 2009 Edition.
First of all, I am well aware that Big Brother 11 has just begun and is in full swing. Just to let you know, I DON”T watch Big Brother, and have no intention to. There is waaaay too much drama on that show, which plays like a Summer soap opera.
Until Survivor: Samoa and Amazing Race 15 premires this fall, I will be keeping my distance from CBS’s primetime lineup.
For those of you who have a taste for adventure, Anthony Bourdain will embark on his latest culinary quest this Monday, with new episodes of No Reservations at10 p.m. To usher in this season premiere, there will be a No Reservations marathon on Sunday. Between the marathon and the new episodes, there is plenty of Anthony Bourdain to go around this summer.
Continuing in the week, ABC has an hour of Japanese game show hijinks. At 9:00 on Wednesdays, there is a new season of I Survived a Japanese Game Show. It is actually almost halfway through the season already, so if you want to catch up on all the action, you can watch the past episodes online. The series follows 12 American contestants, who are flown to Toho Studios in Tokyo to compete in a series of wacky games on the Japanese game show Majide (本気で).
The two teams compete in two rounds of games. The winning team gets an “advantage” for the second round. The team that wins the second round gets a nice reward, while the losing team is given a punishment. The punishment usually involves them working at a Japanese business related to the winning team’s reward. For example, if the winning team goes drifting, the losing team has to work at a Japanese gas station. The losing team also must decide on two people that will play in the elimination round. The winner stays, and the loser goes back home. The sole winner of Majide gets 25,000,000円 ($250,000). With more than half of the season remaining, I Survived a Japanese Game Show should make Wednesday nights more interesting.
So concludes my Summer Survival Guide. Take it or leave it, there’s plenty of Summer shows to enjoy after a long day of work. Until the fall lineup returns, I have just three words to say to Summer: Bring it on. I hereby declare boredom officially vanquished.
Now this doesn’t surprise me at all. While sales of cars tank over here, business is booming in China. In producing a good number of goods in the U.S., and sending them more of our jobs every month, it’s no surprise that China is experiencing a boom in their economy.
With increased taxation driving more of our jobs over there, giving them a few more cars to drive doesn’t come without a large price. And it’s a price that I rather not pay.
Or so they say. By the looks of things, Google is targeting Micro$oft right where it hurts: their operating system market.
With their bitter rival breathing down their neck, Micro$oft has plenty to be afraid about. With Google already having most of the search engine market, this Silicon Valley giant will their opposition hard to crush.
To take it personally, I don’t even use Bing! Heck, I don’t even know anyone who does. What the heck is a “decision engine” anyway? Furthermore, their advertising campaign for their search engine totally sucks. They just take any word a person says and repeat it in the form of a search result. Case in point: “Sucks – something pertaining to suction, the creation of a partial vacuum, or a region of low pressure.” Totally lame.
Micro$oft better beware, because a new giant is emerging in Mountain View, California. Okay, Google is already a giant. Let’s just say an army of giants is starting to emerge. I don’t know if Google’s operating system will succeed or not. If they do, Micro$oft will be crushed into a fine gelatinous ooze. Or, the reverse could happen. What will be the outcome? Only time will tell.
—- EDIT: I just realized that this is the 100th post for Walker on Politics. Here’s to 100 posts on this wonderful source of blogging excellence. May there be plenty more.
Michael Jackson’s public memorial was held today, and it ended with his kids saying goodbye to their father. Okay.
Now that we’ve covered him for nearly two weeks, can we finally move on now? I understand that some are still mourning, but let Michael rest already. He’s finally where he can be left alone, so let’s let him have his peace now.
President Obama may be treated like a Hollywood celebrity back at home, but in Soviet Russia, media disrespects you!
Flattery apparently doesn’t work in Russia. For the “reset” button to work, maybe Obama should just be himself. Even if he does, Russia doesn’t see us any differently, regardless of who’s president.
While some progress has been made, it could be quite a while before the ties here in the U.S. and Russia are completely “reset”.
On the other hand, they could play a little Tetris to end things on a lighter note. I mean, come on! We saw movies and an iPod as a couple of Obama’s diplomatic gestures to other countries. Tetris would would be the icing on the cake, and it would add another layer of meaning to the “reset” button.
That is all. See you Monday!
For Wild Card Friday this week, I have decided to reminisce about how I spent the Fourth of July in the past years, since the Fourth of July is tomorrow. What I want to talk about in particular is my favorite part of the Fourth of July: the fireworks. It doesn’t matter where they are. I just know that if there’s going to be any Fourth of July at all, there better be fireworks.
I can recall fond memories of going up north and watching the fireworks by the lake at Vic’s Beach (It wasn’t really his beach, but that’s what we called it.) During one year, when I was much younger, some firecrackers got out of control. I stayed near my family to make sure that I didn’t get hit by one.
During another year at Vic’s Beach, when I was older, I remember playing In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida there. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but it led up to what I was looking forward to later.
During one year or another, I celebrated the Fourth in East Jordan, since my parents had this friend that owned hunting land with a camp site on top of the hill. I can’t remember too much about the fireworks. I just know that it was crowded and just as exciting as other years.
In a more recent year, I aaw the fireworks up north near Barton City. This wasn’t Vic’s Beach but the show was still impressive.
Last year was a different year for fireworks. Being in town, I saw the fireworks at the Tridge with a few people I knew. This was probably one of the better shows that I have been to, only I heard that the fireworks in Bay City are better.
Thus ends the memories. This year, I will be seeing fireworks at the tridge. The Fourth isn’t just a time to be patriotic, but a time to sit and enjoy the show. Here’s to hoping that this year’s Fourth will be as good as all the others. And like every year, it will end with a bang. Happy Fourth of July Eve, everyone!
—— EDIT: I actually ended up going to the Bay City fireworks, and they were FANTASTIC!!!!
If unemployment could be compared to fireworks, we all have a front row seat, watching them shoot off left and right. An especially large “firework” was launched today, indicating our 26 year high in unemployment.
With the Dow losing 223 points today, that would make it the average’s worse day since April 20th. With all these all these “fireworks” going off in various directions, it is making me extra cautious in planning my future, finding what remaining pieces of ice I can leap to, to navigate out of this ocean of unemployment.
Having just found a job at a gas station, I can very well say that I am beating the odds. My journey has begun. However long or short it may be, I will find solid land. Unemployment is something like that. Not the best analogy, but what the heck, the Fourth of July is in a couple of days. And there’s nothing wrong in celebrating early, right?
Being a resident of Michigan, I can’t help but observe the holiday of my northern neighbors. Without further ado, enjoy this slide show from the Toronto Sun.
Only three days remain until I celebrate my Independence Day. Until then, happy Canada Day, all you neighbors up there!
It was a very close race for the past 8 months in Minnesota, but the results are finally in: Al Franken wins the U.S. Senate seat. At this point, it doesn’t really surprise me either. The Democrats have been getting what they want a lot lately.
From what I hear, Franken can be a hothead so the Senate better take caution. I can at least practice calling the new Senator by his nickname: Al Frankenstein. Mary Shelley, eat your heart out.
Departing from politics once again, the time has come once again for Wild Card Friday! For this week, I will discuss my strawberry adventure and will give you my remarks on the trio of recent celebrity deaths this week.
First, I will share with you my strawberry quest. It started this morning when my mom wanted to go strawberry picking. We had to go right away, as waiting would make it even hotter weather to pick them.
So me and my brother went with my mom and we drove to a strawberry farm. I grabbed my rectangular carton and was driven out to the strawberry patch.
Once there, I got out and went to work. I searched far and wide, lifting leaves and carefully inspecting each berry. They had to be perfect, and I would only pluck the good ones. After sweeping my assigned row a couple times, it was starting to get hot, and my carton was only about a third full.
With my brother and mom about finished, we all headed back with our well-earned crimson treasure. They then got weighed. Having a carton that could hold ten pounds, I only got about three and a half pounds.
Altogether, our bounty was 13 pounds of strawberries. We paid for our reward, took it with us, and went home.
And now, my remarks on the triad of celebrity deaths. They say bad things always happen in threes. But I didn’t think the third would happen this quickly.
It started on Tuesday with Late Night television legend Ed McMahon. I have expressed my regards in Tuesday’s entry, but I still find it unbelievable for him to go like this. He set the stage for comedians like Jay Leno and Conan O’Brian. Granted, he was just a sidekick. But he was a really good sidekick, and a legendary one at that. After that, the rest happened pretty fast.
Farrah Fawcett died early Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately, I don’t know too much about her. She is kind of before my time. One generation too late. I do know that she was on a season of Charlie’s Angels. Weird Al Yankovic also mentions wanting to buy her famous swimsuit poster on his Backstreet Boy parody, “eBay”. Other than that, I don’t really know much about her.
Finally, a celebrity death that would trump all the others in fame and adulation happened. Michael Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 Pacific Time. Upon hearing this news, I could not believe what I was hearing. It almost felt like a dream. Was this really happening? I admit that I’m not a diehard MJ fan, but the very fact of him completing the death trifecta was shocking. Three Aces of Spades in less than three days. Michael Jackson was adored by many around the world, selling over 100 million of just his “Thriller” album alone. My other memories of him come not from his music, but from the parodies of his music. Interestingly, I have a third connection to Weird Al parodies. Two of them, in fact. Weird Al Yanovic has parodied him in two food-related parodies. “Eat It” (A parody of “Beat It”) and “Fat” (A parody of “Bad”).
All in all, it was a shocking week of celebrity deaths, and Michael Jackson’s death really took the cake. Looking back on all the deaths this week, it has really brought to me an astonishing truth. No matter how famous you are or will become, you can not take your wealth with you.
A life of fame becomes nothing more than a futile attempt to be enjoyed, loved, or cherished. At the moment of death, all power is lost, and you become nothing more than a fading memory. A memory that is only kept alive by a lasting legacy.
In summary, I would have to say that life is short. Find the one important thing that matters and don’t let it go. Hold it, embrace it, and cherish it. And I am glad to say that I have found this thing, and I am not letting go. R.I.P. Michael Jackson. You WILL be missed.
In very much the same way the Democrats in Congress rushed the stimulus bill through, they now want to vote on the 1,201 page (previously 946 page) monstrosity: The Waxman-Markey Global Warming Bill. Now wait just a minute here! Just a few months ago, they proceeded to pass the last bill in undue haste.
There was no time to think about it. They just pushed it through before we even knew anything about it. First of all, this bill will have virtually no impact on climate whatsoever. This was stated from the Heritage Foundation, when they sited the analysis of the Congressional Budget Office.
This bill in the long run will cost this country millions of jobs, trillions of lost income, a larger national debt, and higher energy prices. Prices that are expected to be 50 to 90 percent higher than they are now. Not wanting to make the same mistake as last time, the Dems hired some speedreaders to read through this massive bill.
Now it doesn’t matter whether they have these speedreaders or not. They will still want to pass the bill anyway. What Congress needs to do is allow us to see a few of the important items in the bill so we can see how it will affect us. All this looks like to me is just another useless bill. Why would you pass a climate bill if it does NOTHING to change the climate? All I see it as is just another way to tax us and destroy even more of the jobs that still remain in this country.
I have a bad feeling that this is not the last of the outrageous legislation that the liberal run congress will be passing. Not by a long shot. There might be hope in 2010. Maybe.
Now I clearly understand why it’s so hard to get a job in Michigan. According to this map from the Sacremento Bee, Michigan won’t see pre-recession levels until 2014.
Texas, on the other hand, will rebound as early as this year or next year. I’m fed up with Michigan. That’s it. I’m moving to Texas. That’s if I can get a JOB to save enough money to move out of this vocational wasteland….
North Korea is not holding back, and doesn’t seem to fear our president, as they plan on launching a missile at Hawaii on the Fourth of July. Hawaii seems to have everything under control, with their missile defense systems.
With this technology, it seems that they can blow up the missile in its final stage of flight. This may sound conforting, but North Korea’s reckless attitude toward our country is really starting to scare me. The North Koreans detect weakness in President Obama, which is why they’re not afraid of going after us.
If Obama wants to keep our country safe, he needs to show more muscle and let Kim Jung-il know we mean business. This calls for responsibility, which is something that I still need to see more of.
This just in. Ed McMahon has recently died at 85 today. In thinking about the life of Ed McMahon, one song comes to mind. That would be the song “Here’s Johnny” by Weird Al Yankovic.
My only other memory of him is when he was involved with Publisher’s Clearing House.
Farewell, Mr. McMahon. You have set the standard in Late Night TV and we will not forget you.
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