The Office

After last night's season premiere of The Office, one thought keeps darting around in my brain -- what if Jim's proposal to Pam turns truck stops into romantic destinations?

I mean, seriously, you KNOW some unoriginal lame-o is going to propose to his girlfriend at a truck stop now just because that's how Jim and Pam got engaged on The Office.

Ahem...

This $700,000,000,000 (that's right - eleven zeros) bailout for Wall Street really bothers me. Why the hell should we have to pay for the mistakes of some greedy executives? I'm not an economist (clearly), but rather, a very concerned American taxpayer. If a regular Joe or Jane was having money issues, would the federal government bail them out? Fuck no. So why should we bail out these companies? What the fuck have they done for the American taxpayers lately?

Does anyone else find it fishy that Henry Paulson used to be the CEO of Goldman Sachs? Anyone? Anyone at all? What is going to be worse - the failure of some banks, or driving ourselves seven hundred billion dollars into debt? That's an insane amount of money to spend on something that doesn't really even address the greater problem, whatever that greater problem is. That's right - I'm not even sure what the greater problem is, but I sure as hell know that the greater problem is NOT the potential failure of some Wall Street firms.

What really scares me about all of this is that nobody seems to have any solid answers. Although, after following some of the discussion about this situation between my fraternity brothers in our online forum, I did hear one suggestion that makes a lot of sense - that maybe it's time to shift our economy toward greener industries. Granted, this statement was directed at a brother who, as an architect, is getting worried about his job security (since the demand for such services is closely tied to the economy), but I think it can have a broader application.

I know this is barely scratching the surface, but what are your thoughts?

My Big Idea

I've figured out how to make my house pay for itself in three little words: urban alpaca ranching.

I've got a decent-sized back yard with a chain-link fence around it. What could possibly go wrong with this scenario?

That's right. Absolutely nothing.

Now I just need financial backers. Alpacas are expensive!

The Curious Cucumber

Has anyone ever seen a cucumber do this?



No? Come on over.

It's Official

I'm under contract for this house.

The pictures on that website don't really do it justice, but I did take some pictures myself, which I have added to my myspace and facebook profiles. It's a nice little place, and the time and price are right.

We close on my 29th birthday, so for everyone out there who knows me personally, prepare yourselves to hear about the most expensive birthday gift I ever bought myself for the rest of my natural life.

It's what everyone is talking about...

And it is brilliant.

Olbermann on 9/11(tm)

Ewok, Hobbit, or Palin?

What do Ewoks, Hobbits, and Palins have in common? It’s not their stances on supply-side economics. No, it’s their nomenclature. They all seem to have unusual names. Which of these names belongs to an Ewok, which belongs to a Hobbit, and which ones are members of Alaska’s First Family, the Palins?

1. Asha
2. Bosco
3. Gundolpho
4. Willow
5. Malani
6. Piper
7. Marcho
8. Wicket
9. Shodu
10. Bristol

The answers are below.






Just for your clarification here are an Ewok, a Hobbit, and a pair of Palins:


Ewoks


Hobbits


Palins





Are you ready for the answers?

1. Asha Chirpa is an Ewok
2. Bosco Boffin is a Hobbit
3. Gundolpho Bolger is also a Hobbit
4. Willow is one of Sarah Palin’s daughters
5. Malani is an Ewok
6. Piper is also a Palin daughter
7. Marcho is a Hobbit – he founded The Shire with his brother Blanco
8. Wicket W. Warrick is perhaps the most famous of all Ewoks
9. Shodu Warrick is also an Ewok and Wicket’s mother
10. Bristol is another Palin daughter.

How did you do?

No Words

There's been something on my mind lately, and I've wanted to write about it, but everything I came up with just didn't seem right. So I'll keep it simple.

Karl Kopitske passed away on 8/22/08. I knew him, but not all that well. I did, however, respect and admire him, and rather than be disappointed that I didn't get a chance to know him better, I'm glad I had a chance to know him at all.

He meant the world to some folks who mean a lot to me, and, understandably, they're having a really hard time adjusting to a world without him. And for those of you out there to whom this applies (you know who you are), you're in my thoughts, along with Karl's family and all of his many, many friends.