January 2010
District 9
I liked this movie.
My biggest BCS complaint
I’ve defended the BCS when everyone else hates it. But, there is one thing I hate about the BCS. It ruined New Year’s Day. Before the BCS, New Year’s Day was a smörgåsbord of college football. You start the day with the Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, Citrus Bowl, etc. Then you move to the Rose Bowl and a few other afternoon games. Finally, you would close out the night with the...
December 2009
I bought a bed frame today
Moving my mattress off the floor makes me feel so grown up.
Al's top films of the decade
This list is a list of the films that I liked best during the 2000s. Special emphasis is given to movies that surprise me by being so much more than I expected and movies that are completely re-watchable. I have intentionally left off films from 2009 because I don’t think I have the perspective to judge them yet. But, if I did include films from 2009, The Hurt Locker and Avatar would both...
Roger Ebert's top films of the decade →
I really admire this list as it includes some great movies, such as Juno and Almost Famous which I don’t think normally would get the respect I think they should.
Goals for 2010
Join Foreign Service. Complete training.
Date more. I need to go out more often. If you know any single girls in the DC area, send them my way.
Travel Abroad. I haven’t left the country since 2007. I am fairly saddened by this. This goal should be made easier by the whole foreign service thing.
Learn a foreign language. This also should be made easier by joining the foreign...
Accomplishments in 2009
I got to be a lawyer. Working as a prosecutor in DC is my best accomplishment in 2009. Turns out, I am not half bad. I won 17 of the 20 trials I prosecuted. Moreover, it was fun. I learned that work is not required to suck. This was something I wasn’t really sure about before.
The Foreign Service. When 2009 started, I knew I had passed the written exam, but I had no idea what...
“It was nice of Arizona to reciprocate by bringing a high school football team”
– An Arizona sports writer at the Holiday Bowl commentating on the fact that Nebraska was represented by the Lincoln Southeast High School Band, since the Nebraska band was snowed in.
Nelson going on offensive →
Ben Nelson put out an ad defending his vote for health care during the Holiday Bowl. In it, he defends his vote from critics.
One of the odd claims from his critics - namely governor Dave Heineman - is the deal that Nelson got so Nebraska is not required to pay for the Medicaid expansion. They claim that Nebraskans are embarrassed that they got special treatment. Nelson’s office...
Leach fired at Texas Tech →
I have mixed feelings about this issue. If I take the player’s word at face value - that he was imprisoned in a small dark room because the coach is an evil person who wanted to punish the player for claiming to have a concussion, then yes, he deserved to be fired. But, if there is any truth to Mike Leach’s claim that the player was told to be in the room because Leach thought it...
'The Dude' gets a text book →
I still hate The Big Lebowski, but thought I’d post this for your knowledge.
(And, yes, I know you think The Big Lebowski is one of the greatest movies ever. I just don’t like it. Please stop trying to change my mind on this).
Accepted or Rejected on facebook →
In an NYTimes blog, a college freshman at Northwestern argues that students shouldn’t post whether they were accepted or rejected to their top choice colleges. The basis of her argument is that (1) you aren’t really ‘friends’ with the people you are friends with on facebook, so most of the people don’t care; and (2) the poor girl who got rejected will just start...
Republican blocking TSA nominee →
Senator Jim DeMint, Republican from South Carolina, is preventing the confirmation of the head of TSA, while at the same time blasting the Obama Administration for TSA’s failures. (Although to TSA’s credit, they didn’t screen the guy on Christmas Day, because he came in on an international flight).
So, if Senator DeMint is blocking the nominee, it must be because the nominee is...
Russia planning mission to knock asteroid off its... →
I don’t know how I feel about this. On the one hand, every movie plot requires that the US, not Russia, stop asteroids from hitting the Earth. If this is real, then I want NASA involved. On the other hand, it seems like it is actually bullshit, so I guess that its better we don’t waste our money.
An argument for a bit of due process
Everyone is up in arms about the fact that the Nigerian man was allowed onto a plane headed for the United States with explosives sewn into his underwear. While I hope TSA does not take the same approach with underwear as they did with shoes following the shoe bomber incident, the bigger concern is that we had knowledge that this guy was ‘radicalized.’
According to newspaper reports,...
Real World DC begins tonight →
I really don’t care, but it was big news this summer when they were filming (ah, back when it was warm). And, somewhere out there, my college friend Jarrod is watching.
“The Republican strategy is further complicated by the fact that the...”
– The LAST paragraph in a Washington Post article about Republicans using the failed Christmas Day attack for political gain.
That’s the story, people. You don’t throw that out as a last-second aside that will barely be read. You point out the hypocrisy and stupidity that the...
Saddest Day of the Year
Today marks Nebraska’s last game of the year. Go Big Red.
Not much relief under relief plan →
As it turns out, lenders are not all that willing to modify mortgages under the plan by the Obama Administration from earlier this year. There is little to no enforcement available to the government, so everyone has to rely on the good faith of the lenders. It isn’t working.
This is one of the many reasons why Congress needs to amend the bankruptcy law to allow cram-downs on primary...
Iranian Protests heating up again →
Once again, protests in Iran are widespread and the government continues its crackdown. The biggest difference from this summer’s protests are the lack of media coverage. Iran essentially kicked the media out and it has worked in diminishing the international impact.
A great week
I had an especially enjoyable week visiting Omaha and Shenandoah for Christmas and my cousin Matt’s wedding. A few highlights (pictures to follow soon).
Seeing Tyler, my best friend from elementary school.
Back in the day, we were best friends and inseperable. We lived a block apart and were in the same class. All of my elementary school memories involve Tyler. We remained close...
“80 degrees year round is boring”
– Sign at a Taco Bell in Omaha during the Christmas blizzard.
A Christmas Miracle →
My friends in Africa had their very own Christmas miracle.
Slow news
I went to my cousin’s wedding last night. This morning, when I woke up, my uncle showed me the sports section which said Urban Meyer had resigned from Florida. This was the first time in probably a decade where I first heard breaking news in a physical newspaper.
Christmas schedule
I am headed to Omaha/Shenandoah tomorrow for Christmas. I would expect a lot less frequent updating. Here is my current planned schedule
December 22 - wake up at 330 am, leave house by 4, get to Rueben and Ellen’s by 5, drop off Bailey, get ride from Rueben and Ellen to airport - flight leaves at 7. Family picking me up in Omaha.
December 22 - I am meeting with my best friend from...
The interesting story of Tom Navy
One of the more interesting aspects of Meet the Natives: USA is the figure of Tom Navy. One of the goals of the five men of Tanna is to find Tom Navy. According to their history, Tom Navy came to their island during WWII.
According to the show, the native people of Tanna were fighting each other during WWII. When Tom Navy came, he convinced them to become peaceful. He left keepsakes, such as...
Traffic from hell
I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon. I left the store at 225. The store is 3.87 miles from my house. I got home at 420. Yes, almost 2 hours to travel 3.87 miles. Actually, it took about 1 hour 45 minutes to go .7 miles and 5 minutes to go the final 3 miles to my house. It sucked.
Weird Week
So from last Thursday until a week from today, I will work one day, but no days off are created equal.
Thursday - called in sick
Friday - worked
Saturday and Sunday - weekend
Monday - Snow Day in DC
Tuesday - “Time Off” award (my bonus from last year)
Wednesday - Vacation Day
Thursday - 5 hours vacation day and 4 hours off for a federally declared half day off. Thanks,...
1 tag
Survivor Shocker
SPOILER ALERT
I absolutely cannot believe that Russell lost on Survivor. Yes, I still watch Survivor. In fact, it is one of probably three shows that I must watch on the day it airs (along with The Amazing Race and How I Met Your Mother). And, this was one of the best seasons in history due almost entirely to Russell.
He did things that no other person had ever done. First, he sabotaged his...
Meet The Natives: USA
Interesting show about five men from the Pacific island of Tanna who come to America, on what is essentially a fact-finding mission. They really shine the light back on us, when they wonder why we have snakes and rats for pets, question cooking turkey in a plastic bag (they fear it will poison them), and decide that the objective of football must be death.
The show is on the Travel Channel and a...
Yahoo!!!!
I’m on vacation a day early as the federal government is shut down in DC tomorrow. Now, as long as I can get out on Tuesday morning, this storm will have worked out quite nicely.
“.
,
We’re on the one yard line”
– David Axelrod, on passing health care.
I really hope they don’t have the Nebraska offense on the one yard line.
Excessive Celebration
At the end of the St. Petersburg Bowl, a Rutgers player caught the onside kick cleanly and ran it back for a TD. Just before he got into the endzone, he planted his feet, dove into the endzone and did a flip. The flip was flagged for excessive celebration, which was assessed on the kickoff.
Now, I personally think that there has been too much regulation of celebrating, but I think the penalties...
Supreme Court to review Melendez-Diaz →
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. Melendez-Diaz that states can no longer use lab reports on their own to prove that drugs are drugs or that a person blew above a .08, etc. They must bring the exact chemist or analyst in to testify in person (unless, of course, the defendant waives the chemist). In an unusual move, the Supreme Court is going to review that decision...
Pope moves closer to Sainthood →
Avatar 3D (2009)
In general, I believe that the biggest key to a great movie is a great story. At the heart of most great movies lies a great story, that can truly stand on its own. There are times, however, when the film - bringing the visual, audial, and story together as one - surpasses anything the story could do on its own. The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Slumdog...
Bank charging 79.9% interest rate →
Recently passed legislation, requires that banks charge no more than 25% of the credit limit in fees. First Premier Bank, which charged over 100% in fees (min. fee was $256 on a $250 credit limit), decided to circumvent the law. They now only charge $75 in fees, but raised the interest rate from 9.9% to 79.9%.
Congratulations, you’re pre-approved.
Thoughts the Big Ten Expansion
The Big Ten recently announced that it was looking into expansion, which it seems to do about every five years or so. It always seems like the goal is to get Notre Dame to join, but that is probably not going to happen. Recent speculation has focused on the possibility of Nebraska or Missouri joining the Big Ten.
I think the Big Ten probably will expand because they don’t like having an...