Burning Down The City

South Texas is under fire warning. In fact we are experiencing a drought. So what do the brilliant minds of Gregory do?
Fire the entire volunteer fire department!

During a meeting at the fire station Mayor Victor Lara, and Chief of Police Robert Garza told the volunteers there services where no longer needed. Fire Chief Mike Kohner said "The mayor canned all 21 of us."

Mayor Lara has given no reason for the dismissal.

Currently the city will count on neighboring fire departments of Portland and Ingleside.

No word if the surrounding cities will be reimbursed if they have to respond to a fire in Gregory.

Cobra Comander Must Be Pleased

Baroness Susan Greenfield is worried that social networking websites are causing changes in the brains of young users. The Baroness is a neuroscientist and director of the Royal Institution of Oxford University. She believes that use of computer games, instant messaging, chat rooms, and social networks may leave children with a short attention span.

Ummm, where was I?
Oh! The Baroness.
She says "My fear is that technologies are infantilising the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lighst, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment."

Infantilising? Is that even a word?

OK so we learned video game violance can be blamed on Girl Scout Cookies and Cobra is behind Facebook.

Free Goodie

X Box Live Marketplace is now offering a new map for the game Call of Duty World At War. The map is Makin. It is in fact the Makin map but you now play in daylight.

There will be another DLC package due in March. This one will not be free but is expected to be larger.

I Blame The Girl Scouts For Video Game Violence

A man in Austin Texas was arrested on charges of aggravated assault after he tried to strangle his girlfriend with a Wii controller. The woman was attacked by her boyfriend after an argument over weather or not he ate her Girl Scout cookies. The man is being held in Travis County jail with a bail set at $40.000.00.

First off if it was a box of Thin Mints I think any court would have forgiven the woman for clubbing the guy.
Secondly you always hide your cookies from people.
Third was he wearing the Wii strap?

Dodging Reckoning

President Obama addressed congress and promised to lead us from "a day of reckoning".
How?
How do you dodge the sum dues of what a bill we been running up for years. Moreover why is everyone being punished for the actions of a few. Not that that is anything new.
The innocent have always been punished for the actions of those in power.

Mr. Obama said "Tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."

I sure as hell hope so. But lets make sure those who are responsible are held accountable.

He also said "I ask this Congress to join me in doing whatever proves necessary..."
Now that just damn scary. When I hear statements like that I have visions of civil liberties being buried like dead bodies. I guess he means by any means necessary. That is code for logic and thought be damned lets just over react.

There are those in government who will use this crises to excuse a big of a power grab as they can get away with.

I had hopes for this new president but the cynic in me is now alarmed at the knee jerk reaction I see the government taking.

I don't think this is the end of the great American experiment but one hell of a self inflected wound we could do with out.

I have heard a lot about the fear of America becoming a socialist state. There are too many people watching for that to happen. The news channels and the Internet should serve as the safety cap that prevents such an action.

B Day

I got my birthday presents today.
Seasons 1 & 2 of The Mythbusters on DVD.

B Day

Today is my birthday and I feel like hell.
I am hoping to feel better tomorrow so I can see my best friend.
I did get a bag of popcorn, yummy.

Late NIght TV

I've been watching infomercials. Where did these people learn TV production? A box of Crackers Jacks?
Also is it a good idea to be pushing knifes on a Saturday night?

Face Book Face Broke

This has been a scary, funny, and long day.
I woke up with a racing heart. 110 bpm.
After taking my meds and a shower I went to the ER. There of course was a lot of questions, a lot of being poked. A great deal of X Rays taken (I can now read a book without using a light). Apparently my hemoglobin count had sky rocketed. As far as I can figure hemoglobins are tiny little goblins that live in your blood and carry important stuff to parts of your body. Stuff like oxegen, news on the latest Van Halen album, importnat stuff like that.
As I left the ER a guy walked in holding an ice pack above his eye. His friend said a two by four had fallen forty feet off the top of a building and hit him just above the eye. The nurse aked if he blacked out and the friend said "No he shock his head grabed the two by four and broke it over his knee then asked for some coffie." This is one guy I won't piss off.

I do not get face book. It so dull and boring why are people flocking to this thing?
Another thing the term of use looks like an excuse to sell your kids. They harvest more information on you than the department of homeland security.

Thought

Government is never the answer, it is always the problem.

Dude Where My Ride

I have been playing The Lost & Damned. This is the new down loadable content for Grand Theft Auto game on X Box 360.

You take the role of Johny. The second in command of The Lost a biker gang made of a bunch of slightly over the hill wanna be outlaws. If that not enough the day you start playing the old boss of The Lost biker gang has been released from jail. And if that wasn't enough the old leader is not exactly right in the head.

This game add on cost 1600 Microsoft points ($20.00) and is 1.8 gigabytes in size.

The download offers hours of game play, new vehicles (mostly bikes), music, dialog, races, missions, and side quests.

This game is a sarcastic look at middle age crazy, life in the big city, and pop culture. This is another brilliant work from Rock Star Games.

The graphics are on the same level as the main game if not a little more polished. The audio is brilliant. The controls are very well done.

If you enjoyed the main quest of GTA4 this is a must have.

More Money For Less Work

Postmaster General John E. Potter has gotten a large raise while the post office is thinking of dropping one delivery day a week.

Potter's salary increased almost 39 percent from $186,0600 to $258,840.

This does not include incentive bonus or perks.

That will stimulate his economy.

I wounder if he has his own jet? I wounder when the last time he walked a delivery rout?

Thats Why The Glove

Tabloids are claiming Micheal Jackson may have a flesh eating disease.
Funny I didn't know there was anything real left of Jackson.

What X Box Live Needs

What X Box Live needs is Top Gear Mini Cooper Ice Hokey.
A three on three ice hokey game but using Mini Coopers in place of the usual players on skates and voice overs by the big three from Top Gear.
Audio commentary from Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond.
The winner would get a trophy shaped like The Stig.

High Sticking Is An Art

I been playing the new X Box Arcade game 3 on 3 NHL Arcade. This is not a hockey simulator but a fast pace 3 on 3 hockey shootout.
It can handle up to six player with three on each team playing live.
The controls take a little getting use to.
The audio is sharp and well done.
The graphics are splendid and in no way reality based. There are power up which cause tiny goalies. Hugh players and rocket skates just to start.
This is just a plain fun game.
Must try.

It should be noted that on line play requires you to register with EA Sports. This means giving them an email address so you can be spamed.

Claws

I have been watching the new series Wolverine and the X Men.
This is a retelling of the X Men comic book series. A had full of people cursed or blessed depending on how you see it with powers.
The mutants as they are called are harassed, hunted, and experiment on. Guilty of only being born different.

The series is well done with great graphics, an excellent voice cast, and some grand writing.
The series is doing so well a second season has been announced.
People who don't like fantasy or don't enjoy comic books will not enjoy this show but anyone who ever been picked on for being different or enjoys comics will enjoy this.
This is something you should at least try.

Highway To Smell

I have played Brothers In Arms Highway To Hell.
This is a WW2 shooter.
The graphics are last generation.
The controls are confusing and sluggish.
The audio is dull.
The characters move like puppets from a Gerry Anderson program.

If you love WW2 shooters this is a rental at best.

Purrr stige

I have started the prestige section of Call Of Duty World At War.
This is a way of adding life to the game. When you reach prestige all your accomplishments are erased and you start all over from the very beginning. All the challenges are erased and all the weapons you have unlocked are taken away and you have to do it all over again. But this time you know how to get it done so it shouldn't take so long.

This is a brilliant move by the games makers to add play value and life to the game. Now if only they would do something about all the glitchers.
Glitches are faults or weakness in the game some people will take advantage of to increase their score or even make themselves invincible.
Glitchers have no honor. They must cheat to win.

Stewart Parnell

Meet Stewart Parnell scumbag, and murder.
Parnell is the President of Peanut Corporation of America.
From everything I seen Parnell knowingly shipped product contaminated with salmonella.
Congress has subpoenaed Parnell.
Upon his arrival to the hearing he refused to answer any questions.
Parnell was dismissed but may be have to reappear before the committee.

In my view if Parnell can be proved to have shipped the tainted peanut product that has led to the death of 8 people and 501 cases of salmonella related illness Parnell is guilty of premeditated murder.

More Microsoft Crap

I purchased The Lost and The Damned an add on for Grand Theft Auto IV. However the content will not be available until February 17th. Typical Microsoft, anything the steal money from their customers. We pay in advance for a service that is weeks away if it ever really shows up at all.
Gates your a thief. More over your an *ssh*l*.

Back Pain

My back has been aching recently. I'm filing it under old age. I do have a very nifty little item that helps. It's a herb pack. You place it in the microwave for 50 seconds and get it nice and warm then place on the ache in your back. It works wounder. It has seeds in it that smell wonderful. Cinnamon, Peppermint, Yarrow, Spearmint, and more.

Congressman Proves Himself A Real Twit

A congressional delegation secret trip to Iraq was going just fine. Then Representative Peter Hoekstra twittered his arrival on his Black Berry.

He posted the message "Just landed in Baghdad."

Here is his Twitter page. http://twitter.com/petehoekstra

Twitter is a free service that lets you post messages to the public or followers.

Congress critter Hoekstra is a Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee.

How about a committee for using you brain?

Winded

We are under Wind Advisory. The winds are gusting from 25 mph to 45 mph. There even a warning out for high profile vehicles such as RV, big rigs, and trucks.

Duel

I had an old watch repaired. It has two faces. The top one is set on Texas time and the bottom on is set on British time.

Losses

The above photo shows where the carousel once stood in my favorite mall. Much to the annoyance of mall management I was not the only one taken photos of the empty space.

Word is the real work of the refit of the mall starts on March 15th.

The mall is currently half empty. Some stores will be shutting down permanently and others are moving else where. But it seems as if the down turn in the economy is not slowing down the remodeling.

Holly Melt Downs Batman

Christian Bale apparently blow a fuse when a cinematographer ruined a take by checking a light.
I have listened to the audio and frankly Bale is right. The reason you have technical run throughs is to solve problems such as these. If the light had blown during a take it was up to the director to call a "Bust" and have the lighting reset.
Bale was right although he could have simple asked the director to have the man tossed from the set. I also fault the director for not putting his foot down on both the actor and cinematographer.

No Longer 18

Happy Birthday Mr. Funier!
And if you don't know who Mr. Vincent Damon Funier is well in his own words "...That's a drag." Maybe you should go ask Alice, Alice Cooper that is.
Today is the 61 birthday of the main man himself Alice Cooper.
Alice is a legend in rock and roll circles, an actor, a restaurateur, a golfer, and radio DJ.
Alice legend is built around his stagecraft and showmanship.
Happy Birthday Alice, may there be many a round of golf in your future.

PS. Schools out!

Cool

It is 32 degrees outside but no wind so it does not feel so cold. That sound odd doesn't it.
The rest of the week will be below the 80s.
This may be the ending of our winter cycle here.

I am not looking forward to summer especially hurricane season.

Hero Or Heel

WWE has turned Chris Jericho into a heel or bad guy again. Jericho is amazingly good at being a smarmy self centered jack ass. He plays the part as well if not better than most.

It is fun watching a former face or good guy turn bad, Hulk Hogan proved that in his turn into Hollywood Hogan during the nWo phase of WCWs run. Hogan did turn back into the good guy which he admitted he had planed before his turn to heel.

I think on of the great all time bad guys was Scott Hall. He just dripped evil and conceit. Jericho is giving Hall a run for his money.

Wakeup Mr. Murray

Today is Groundhog day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so we will have six more weeks of winter. No word if Bill Murray has seen his shadow today.
Oddly enough no one is showing the classic 1993 film. If you have not seen this jem it places Bill Murray in the role of a self centered news reporter Phil Conners. Conners must relive February 2nd over and over again until he grows up. The film is very well done and even the annoying presance of Chriss Elliott can not ruin this film. If you have one of those days that go on forever give this movie a try.

Bow Wow

Yesterday was Superbowl Sunday. I however watched the Puppy Bowl 5. The Puppy Bowl is what the cable channel Animal Planet offers as counter programing to the football game.
The Puppy Bowl is a large grid marked out like a football field. Then a bunch of puppies are given a ton of toys to play with. You just sit there and watch these hyper cute hyper active pups play for an hour.
Of course there is a half time show. Kitten Show. Plenty of cute kittens play while all kinds of lights and confetti are drop on them. There where two scene stealer's in this part of the show. The first was a cat how simply had enough and decided to take a nap. There was a second kitten who was overwhelmed by it all and found a nice safe place to wait it all out.

The rest of my day was spent with housework.

Fire Warning

Even though we sit on the Gulf of Mexico and it is winter my home town is in the middle of a fire warning. The humidity is so low and it has not rained in such a long time there is a danger of fire. The people who live on the outskirts of town and the refineries are all keeping an eye out for grass fires. I would love one or maybe two more cold fronts and plenty of rain.