A strange thing happened this weekend

So, I leave my house with the dog in tow for his usual Saturday morning poop-a-thon when our eyes are assaulted by a blinding white light. I quickly don the eye shades and notice that the sky has this strange color to it, I think people refer to it as "blue". Anyways, the clouds seemed scattered here and there, as if they were running from something. My eyes focus on the object of the clouds' terror and the source of the blinding light, a big ball of fire was smack dab in the middle of the sky. What the hell is this? Where are all our dark friendly rain clouds? Why the hell is it so hot?

I have since discovered that this yellow ball of flaming death is referred to as the "sun" and is pretty common over the skies of San Diego, although for the life of me I can't remember ever seeing it before. It doesn't really matter because I have been reassured by our ace meteorologists that our familiar rain clouds will return this week and help to drive away this oppressive monstrous fire object in the sky. Maybe someone should let the President know about this, for all we know it could be an Al Qeada trick.

On a final note, I'm glad to see that my prediction of a Colts-Saints Superbowl has come true. I have no idea who to root for. Should I cheer on Peyton with his "awe shucks" attitude and insane selling abilities or should I go for the obvious underdogs and cheer on Drew so that he can continue the tradition of former Chargers' players going to and winning the Superbowl. At least I have 2 weeks to decide. Thank God they moved the Pro-Bowl before the Superbowl. There's nothing like a totally meaningless game before the biggest of the year.

Keep watching this space. Who knows maybe I'll live blog next week's game. Yeah right, like I want to be the one person in America who watches that dirge.

Playing hooky

Apparently its the end of the world down in good ol' sunny southern CA, so I decided to spend at least one day home from work before the tornadoes, thunderstorms, and great balls of flaming death rain down upon us. You know, there's just something relaxing about staying home on a rainy day, especially when you get to go get a tuna melt with the family at the Broken Yolk. I hear tomorrow the earth is going open wide and swallow us whole. Could be worse, at least I'm not this guy:



I have no reason to watch NBC anymore. I hope Conan kicks Leno's ass in the ratings when he returns this fall with a new show. Go team Coco.

Keep watching this space.

Dances with Thundersmurfs

What do you get when you combine Thundercats with Smurfs with the plot of Dances with Wolves and film it in 3-D? Apparently a billion dollars and a Golden Globe for best motion picture. But is it really worth all the hype and accolades heaped upon it? Is Avatar the greatest movie achievement in film making history? My answer is a resounding no.

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the film. Visually its stunning, especially in IMAX 3-D, but besides that it is nothing I haven't seen before. If you've seen any of the Star Wars films, especially the prequels then nothing on the screen is going to make you cream your pants and shout out "SWEET ZOMBIE JEEBUS!!! I've never seen anything like that before!" Hell, the entire last act of the film looks like Cameron was playing a session of HALO. But then again, according to my wife I've become jaded a lifetime of video game playing with their addictive immersive game play.

Then there's the story, filled with cliche's, moustache twirling villains, and unobtanium, by far the dumbest sound MacGuffin I've ever heard of. Everything you've heard about the plot is true. Yes it comes across as humans(IE American military) bad, primitive indigenous peoples(IE Native Americans or any number of primitive cultures) as noble and in harmony with nature. I can't stand the myth of the "noble savage". Sorry if I come across as politically incorrect but native Americans were violent and did not live in harmony with nature. The buffalo population was in decline prior to the arrival of the white man. Life for all stone age tribes, regardless of continent of origin was nasty, brutish, and short. Cameron's noble Na'vi would be no different.

Politics and cliche aside, Cameron does prove to have remarkable vision and the special effects are outstanding. I still think that Avatar is more cartoon then a traditional film and yes I did think of Star Wars at different parts in the film. One scene has an obvious connection to the ways of the force. However, its a breezy two and a half hours that should be seen on the IMAX screen in 3-D. I don't think the movie will be quite as enjoyable at home as it is in the theaters. Well worth the price of admission, but nowhere near the best science fiction film of the year. I'm sorry but I still think District 9 did much more with far less then Cameron's epic of excess.

Keep watching this space.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

While I was born a Raiders fan and will bleed silver and black till the day I die, I must face the fact that they are not in the playoffs. Hell, they probably won't return to the playoffs until there are some major changes in management. I'm looking at you Mr. Davis. Anyways, because of this dilemma I need to pick a team to cheer for, and while it pains me to do it, I've decided on the San Diego Chargers.

My reasoning for this controversial selection is quite simple; I want a new football stadium in the city of San Diego. I love the fact that we have football here in San Diego and if the city doesn't build a new stadium then that means the Chargers will bolt for LA and the new stadium being built in the City of Industry. I do not want to have to take my son up to LA in order for him to see the Raiders play. I just don't want to drive that far on a Sunday.

The way I see it, the Padres got their new ballpark when they went to the World Series. Since they didn't win, the whole project was threatened by numerous legal actions and city wide votes but eventually they built the damned thing and downtown has become a nice place to hang out. If the Chargers go to the Superbowl, they get that much closer to having a new stadium, but they still need to win the big game. See, unlike in 1996 when the Padres failed, San Diego 2010 is facing large financial problems, and there are more people in the city who do not want the city to waste money on a building that a small portion of the population would use. They would much rather spend that money on libraries, you know places everyone wants to go to. So in order for the new stadium to be built without countless legal challenges is for the Chargers to win the whole damn thing and if it takes me cheering them on in order for it to happen then I'll swallow my pride and take one for the team.

So there it is. For the first time in my life I will root for the San Diego Super Chargers to finally get their rings and as an added bonus a new stadium for me to take my son to every time the Raiders come to town. Hopefully by then, the team will have more going for them then just McFadden. So go Chargers, we're all counting on you. Don't give me another reason to hate you more then I already do.

By the way, they should play this video at every home game from now and till the end of time and gives me more of a reason to support the home team.



Now wave to your mom. She's in the stands. Keep watching this space. Go Chargers!

2010, the year the laughter died

It happens at the end of every year on radio; all the morning talk shows go on their two week break, and I'm left listening to reruns or the same damn song played ad nauseum through the holiday season. Typically it makes working the last two weeks extra tedious but there is always the promise of a brand new year morning show bliss. Unfortunately for my coworker, she was looking at the 2010 without her beloved Mikey Show. While I felt bummed at the news that Mikey would no longer be on Rock 105.3, it didn't bother me too much because I am a DSC fan. Still, the situation with the Mikey show, and the Jeff and Jerr cancellation earlier in the year as well as some ominous comments by Dave on their last show made my spider sense tingle.

Finally, the first Monday of the new year came and I climbed into my car and flipped the radio to KGB and was greeted with music. My heart sank, I knew what it meant, then the announcement came that the DSC was no more. According to the station, they were offered a lucrative contract and turned it down. What they don't tell you is that the DSC was contracted to run through 2010. So why were they removed from the air? Why is Clear Channel killing all the top rated morning shows in San Diego? I have no clue, my best guess is money, its always about money and at least SDRadio.net seems to confirm that guess.

I'm sure the DSC will end up somewhere, they are just too good at their jobs to not land on a station some where. My hope is that they still broadcast in SD. Oh well, at least the Simpsons are still going strong. Here's to twenty more years.

Keep watching this space, and the Simpsons every Sunday at 8pm on Fox.