Category Archives: Rant


Rant

NHL: 05-06

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FoxSports: The NHL and the players’ association reached an agreement in principle Wednesday on a six-year labor deal, ending a lockout that wiped out last season. […] “That’s going to be our next big step – winning back the fans,” said Nashville Predators forward Jim McKenzie, a 15-year NHL veteran. “We’ll have our work cut out for us.”

You ain’t kidding there, Jimmy m’boy: I’m more interested in the release of NHL ’06 than I am the start of the season. Anyone one event distantly connected to the NHL should be ashamed of yourselves… except for the Zamboni drivers.

I don’t think there could be anything wrong about a Zamboni.

Rant

London? Are Ya Kidding Me?

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Sky.com: London mayor Ken Livingstone has condemned attacks on the capital as “cowardly”.

He says a good deal more than that. I happened to catch it live this morning: without taking anything away from Guliani, Livingstone gave one of the bests “speeches” that I’ve heard in a long while… sorta like “Shove this umbrella up yer ass and then open it” but with a British accent and a good deal more charm.

Pretty ballsy terrorism, though, going after London. I don’t think there’s anything the latest batch of terrorist can do to England that they haven’t already endured through World War II and then by the hands of the [insert an Irish-English conflict group here]… they’ll be stronger through it than we were, I think.

Sucks just the same.

Rant

And Then Your Stomach Says…

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And then your stomach says, “what the hell did you do to me?”

Over the weekend I heard that Cold Stone Creamery opted to recall all of their cake batter ice cream… something about salmonella poisoning – after all, there is raw egg in cake batter. I don’t blame Cold Stone for this – call it a typo or a mishap – but I can certainly blame them for what they’ve done to me today with their “red pan” flavor of the month…
Continue reading And Then Your Stomach Says… →

Rant

When Will People Learn?

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NeoWin: In their second major ruling on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a federal court verdict that would have required cable companies to open up their networks to third party Internet service providers. The decision will severely limit broadband operations for competing ISPs such as Brand X and EarthLink.

“The Bush administration has made it clear that they are hostile toward small, independent service providers like us. And we think that is a big disaster for consumers, and a huge win for the monopolistic phone and cable companies, which spend millions of dollars on lobbying efforts,” said Jim Tickrell, president of Brand X Internet.

While I’m not disputing that this is a blow for consumers or that the Bush administration might be hostile towards… well… anyone these days, I wonder how is that a factor here at all?
Continue reading When Will People Learn? →

Rant

Happiness Is…

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…love.

*snort* Yeah, right. Let’s try that again.

Happiness Is… seeing that other townhouse in your neighborhood listed for $40,000 above what you paid for yours, just two months ago. Even with the cost of the improvements I’ve made on mine – which implies that mine is in better condition – it’s still gotta be several tens of thousands more.

Don’t mind me; I’m just sitting here a bit stunned at the moment.

Rant

YAJR: Yet Another Jeep Repair

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Scary. About a 18 or 24 months ago I had the catalytic converter on my Jeep replaced. Was neat cuz like it was *chunk* *chunk* *chunk* at every light. It included a billion year warrantee on parts and service and it ran me about $300 or $400. Had to be done.

A couple of weeks ago I started hearing a loud rattling as I accelerated 2nd-3rd and 3rd-4th… ahhh!
Continue reading YAJR: Yet Another Jeep Repair →

Rant

FU to F1?

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MSNBC: American fans finally fed up with F1

I somehow missed this all day today… looks like the US Grand Prix for Formula One Racing was a pooch screw this past weekend. A tire issue caused 14 of the 20 cars to stay out of the race – judging by the reaction of the fans, I’d say this is like having a five man team roster for a baseball game. And while I have no official opinion of F1 – or NASCAR for that matter – I felt that I should at least share the picture below, if only to point out that even the best censoring team can miss a forest – or in this case a bird – for the tree…

Rant

Oops: Boom in Emerald City

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KIROtv: A man armed with what appeared to be a grenade was shot at the new federal courthouse in Seattle during the noon hour on Monday, police said.

Rumor has it that they denied him a latte at Torrefazione or something. OK, maybe not, but they’re still reporting in the details. Besides, more than a couple of times, the reporters have jumped to the wrong conclusions – a number of times, the story is “A” on Monday morning and quietly modified to “B” by Tuesday morning. I guess I’m allowed to speculate on my own, if I want to.

Completely off topic, I’ve recently discovered the Matcha latte at selected Starbucks stands and all Seattle’s Best Coffee… tastes just like bubble tea when poured over ice – none of the local Starbucks stores have it, though, which is really pissing me off… SBC’s aren’t as numerous and the campus shops are closed on the weekends… especially because only Starbucks makes fraps and I want a Green Tea Frap; it’s a regular item in Japan.

That mermaid had better get to steppin’ and update her menu!

Rant

Missed Opportunity

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MSNBC: Police were hoping Friday that molestation victims would step forward after a convicted child molester was arrested on charges of molesting a boy and authorities found logs suggesting that he abused thousands of children over 30 years across the United States as well as in Mexico and Brazil. […] Schwartzmiller was arrested in Everett, Wash., on May 23 while visiting a longtime family friend.

Sorry folks. Had I know that this human-shaped piece of fecal matter was so close to my current hometown, I woulda done something about it… like bought a shotgun and rented a bullet or two. Who could convict someone for popping a cap in this guy’s kneecap or one of his testicles? I wouldn’t. In fact it would have saved the courts a bit of time and tax payers a lot of money, but alas, no one knew about it until after he got shipped back to CA.

Can’t wait to see what O’Reilly has to say about this one…

Rant

Jackson Verdict

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Yeah, yeah, I know, over done and all, but I’m watching the live coverage and just chuckled at what’s going on. MJ is late to court – due to traffic – so the reporters have free air to fill. And are doing it in true TV News fashion: inane babble at it’s finest.

One thing of interest is has been a comments from one guy… “the reporters out here are worried about what might happen if Michael is found guilty of anything… the fans are so devoted to MJ and they’re convinced that the media hasn’t treated him fairly – the members of the press are concerned about what violence might break out if a guilt verdict is read!”

Personally, I think MJ will be found guilty of giving alcohol to a minor – which in truth is very European of him – and will walk on the rest. Americans have the right to be freaks and being a freak doesn’t make you a criminal. Being a criminal makes you a criminal. Of course, I also don’t think there’s an innocent side to this case: both parties are guilty of something bad in my eyes.

Hey, MJ fans, if you do riot, please don’t burn your own city, but feel free to smack around any reporters with a Nerf bat – I’m sure that they deserve it for something.

Rant

Reflections: Pacific Northwest Edition

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Has it been a year? Already? Yeah, actually, it has. A year ago I hopped off a plane at Sea-Tac on June 11. Took a rent-a-car over to my temporary housing in downtown Seattle, with a couple of suitcases filled with clothes, and a signed offer letter from Microsoft.

A year later, I’m a “property” owner in Redmond, I own a bike and helmet, and have been lurking around for a pound of “special” M&M’s to bring into work on Tuesday – it’s a tradition in my group to set up an offering of M&M’s (or other candy) to the digital gods every anniversary of your StartDate: one pound per year. I’m also watching it rain at the moment, in weather that’s almost too cold for shorts, even though it’s June…

“Man, I ain’t changed, but I know I ain’t the same” [Wallflowers] or as I like to think of it: w00t.