Cool Shit

First up - I found some good shit! Sierra Nevada 2009 Anniversary Ale. For 2009, they whipped up a lovely IPA featuring Cascade hops grown in a sustainable manner. Sustainable is good, because running out of hops would so totally suck.

If you can find any, grab it while you can!

In other news, NEW FREE GAMES! Yes new FREE games!

First up, Meowcenaries. You lead an elite team of kittens, who are out to rescue the President from the Evilcat. Along the way, you have to kill a lot of kitten Badcatz. And find all the hidden Cheezburgers. Hours of fun there.

But maybe you are up for some strategy based games. Well in this case you want...HRmageddon. Two companies merge - only one team of employees is needed. So of course, you and your team of co-workers has to take over the office OR ELSE GET FIRED! You take over the office by either killing everyone else, or occupying the cubicles.

And then there is Dungeons And Dungeons. The King and Queen of Kink present a night of extreme pleasure and pain. The object is for you and some sort of gimp to get through each level. You have to use various kinky weapons to destroy your enemies.

There are a bunch more cool, creative, and fun games here. All free. No spyware bullshit either.

This should get you all through this week. I do not know about next week however.

Unlicensed Song Thursday

Enjoy the unlicensed song! Also if you are some sort of lawyer please note I am NOT hosting the song. I simply embedded it from You Tube, where someone else uploaded it.

So no nasty threatening letters please.



I kind of like it.

In other news, I went to see a movie. Ponyo. This is a cute really nice date movie. The movie was released in the US by Disney, but was originally made in Japan. The animation is all in the Japanese style. I enjoyed it.

Ponyo is only playing at select AMC theaters, and apparently has a $0 advertising budget. This is odd considering it is a Disney release. Disney is really good at marketing and promotion - and they really like to make money. But this movie is not really being pushed much.

But like I said this one is a good date movie. A classic tale. Goldfish meets boy, boy and goldfish fall in love, some nutty stuff happens, and nobody gets turned into sushi.

The Next Storm

Well it is not named yet, but it will be soon. Just wait. I think that by the 5 PM update today, it will be a tropical storm.

The news people are saying that the strom is expected to take a path similar to that of Bill, and therefore Florida will not be in the cone.

There is only one problem with that. Well TWO problems with that.

Problem 1 is that the area of disturbed weather soon to be Tropical Storm Danny is close to The Bahamas, moving west-northwest at 20 mph. Since it is going more west than north, if it is going to remain at sea it better turn quick. But it is moving at 20 mph, so how fast can it actually turn? Who knows.

Problem 2 is the radio station I was listening to is 610 AM. This Clear Channel station carries Fox "News" and all right wing rabid hysterical programming. Except for Coast To Coast AM after midnight, in case you want to hear the latest on bigfoot and aliens and shit.

Even the traffic reports on that station are frequently incorrect or incomplete.

So most of the time, all you hear on 610 is bullshit.

Now the as of now unnamed storm may remain at sea. And Florida may never be in the cone. But who knows.

All that can be done is to watch and see what happens.

There is supposed to be a sailboat race this weekend. I am supposed to act as a support / safety boat for the race. The sailboats might finish the race really fast!

UPDATE!!

As of 0800 EDT, the speed of the storm has slowed to about 15 mph, down from 20 mph earlier. A Hurricane Hunter aircraft is en route to check it out, when the aircraft gets there it could be upgraded to a depression or maybe a storm. The direction of movement is still west northwest.

But if the forward speed is slowing down - it could mean it is trying to turn. If it turns it will be taken out to sea.

The truth is nobody can really say where this thing is heading, or even if it will make it to a storm.

Research Results

My research on the possible trip to Brazil leads me to suspect that they do not really speak a lot of English. Sure you can find people that speak English in the big fancy hotels and in the hot tourist areas. And I might stay mostly in these areas. The big cities can be very dangerous if you venture into the wrong area, so when in a big city Ill have to be careful.

But even in the safe areas of the big cities, the average person you meet on the street may not speak English. This could make ordering a beer somewhat difficult.

So I will need to learn some Portuguese. I am thinking Ill need to obtain a copy of Rosetta Stone. Maybe. That program is somewhat expensive. Maybe I can find someone who has a copy?

Anyone have a copy of Rosetta Stone Portuguese (Brazil)? Please note that Portugal Portuguese is not the same as Brazil Portuguese.

My research also indicates all I need to to to have a phone is obtain a SIM card for my phone. Supposedly, my phone is a "world band" model that can use any GSM network. I think I can also have it unlocked to work on a CDMA network. If I get a prepaid SIM card that allows for data access, my Google Maps will work - so the phone is also a GPS. Handy for finding your away around when you have no idea where the hell you are.

I will also need a travel visa. Brazil has a "you do it to us we do it to you" immigration policy. This means that as a US citizen, they charge me whatever the US charges a Brazilian citizen who wants to travel to the USA. In this case, that amounts to $130. The Brazilian Consulate will determine how long my visa is good for. It could be as short as 6 months, or as long as 5 years.

Further research also indicates that I should not really bring much with me. Lots of places suggest you pack really light, and shop for more clothes once you get there. Domestic clothing brands are really cheap and of good quality - but more importantly you do not like some idiot tourist. As easily as I can play "spot the old French Canadian" during the winter in Florida, people in Brazil can play "spot the gringo". So to as not draw any more attention to my dumb ass (Ill be the guy constantly using his phone GPS to find his way around, and ordering a cold beer like I just had 3/4 of my brain removed including 100% of the speech processing center), I should get some Brazil clothing.

This probably means a Speedo for the beach. I promise not to wear it when I get back, unless it turns out I look really good in a Speedo.

Oh yea - the beer! Brazil seems to have some decent beer. They have a lot of German style beers. They drink the stuff ice cold - as close to freezing as possible without the beer turning into ice.

I do not yet know the proper way to say "beer" in Brazil Portugese. I will need to do something about this.

Tipping for food service is accomplished by adding 10% to your bill. This is all the tip the locals will pay. It is not necessary to add any more.

One Brazillian Real = $0.546 US dollars. The best exchange rates can be found at the national bank. So Ill only exchange a little bit of money at the airport before I leave.

That is if I leave. I am still in the research phase. But really, the idea seems like a better and better one as time passes.

If I go, the trip will be in November. This is the "off" time and so airfare is generally cheaper than other times.

South Of The Equator

So I may have this chance to go to Brazil. It is not a totally done deal yet, but I am working on it. I am in the research phase.

A friend of mine is having a wedding party there. His wife's family live there This means there will be a party of some sort. And the party will be in a smaller town, in Brazil's wine country. Up in the mountains.

The general idea so far is I would fly form Miami to Rio de Janeiro. I think this means "River Of Janeiro". Or something like that.

From Rio I would have to Porto Alegre, which is in the south of Brazil. Close to Argentina actually. And from there it would be a land trek to wherever the party is to be at.

I would not get to see the Amazon River - unless the skies are clear when I fly over it. Assuming that the jet does not arrive to Rio from sea - which it probably will.

I might need to get a Yellow Fever shot. And I might also have to get the swine flu shot. Or something like that. When I get the travel visa Ill have to ask the Brazilian Consulate what the hell is up with that shit.

Malaria - the souvenir you never forget. Got to love it.

And there is more! Since most of Brazil lies south of the equator, the night sky is totally different. Seasons are reversed (when it is winter in the north it is summer in the south), but that is not all that is inverted. The moon appears to be inverted too. So do all the constellations visible from both hemispheres. Also, the winter constellations become summer constellations.

The circumpolar constellations (the constellations you can see year round - like the Big Dipper) are not visible at all. The southern hemisphere has its own set of circumpolar constellations which can not be seen north of the equator.

There is also a chance I would be far enough south to see the Southern Lights. That would be ass kicking cool.

Also, in Brazil booze is not taxed - and it is cheap as shit. The whole country runs on alcohol. Literally. They do not use gas in cars down there, vehicles run on booze. E85 is common, and there are even many stations selling all alcohol fuel. Or as I like to call it - Vodka. I am sure they denature it or something so you can not drink it.

I would probably bring back a lot of booze. US Customs will let me bring so much back for free - I think 5 or so bottles. Anything over that and I would have to declare it and pay the duty. No big deal. Even with a duty of a couple of bucks per bottle it would still be cheap. And many times as long as you declare what you have, and you are not bringing back hundreds of gallons - they do not care. if you try to hide it then get busted - they DO care. So just declare everything.

The research phase continues.

To The Asshole On SR 836....You Know Who You Are

You are the pecker wood that almost hit me. I can understand you might not be able to see a BIG FUCKING RED TRUCK. Maybe I should be in a Cooper Mini - you might notice that better.

I was in the far left lane. Hanging out. Minding my own business. I was not zipping from one lane to the next, I do not roll that way. If I can move I do - if traffic is too heavy I just pick a lane and STAY THERE unless I have a darn good reason to get out of it. Such as my exit is approaching, or the lane is blocked off for construction or something.

And when I do change lanes - I use these things called "mirrors" to make sure nothing is around me. Hell I might even glance over my shoulder to check a blind spot.

But no. Not you. You just decide - AFTER PASSING ME SO I KNOW YOUR DUMB ASS SAW THE TRUCK - that you can just jump over into my lane.

But I know you heard the screech of all four of my tires skidding at 65 mph. Hell I might have even been going 70. Yea, above the 55 mph posted limit but this is Miami, so the speed limits are merely suggestions unless there is a cop around. What I was NOT doing was lane hopping. I had been in that lane for some some time cruising around.

And what did you do? Nothing. You kept moving over. You would have hit the passenger front quarter panel with your bumper - effectively doing the police PIT maneuver to yourself. You would have also spun my truck out of control and right into the bus load of nuns you were trying to pass. Nuns would have been running around on the highway, on fire, screaming, with blood gushing from their ears.

Jesus would have been pissed off about that.

Holy crap dude - either learn to drive or stay the hell off the highway. Better yet, stay off the highway. Or drive your car off a boat ramp into Biscayne Bay.

Really - keep moving over? What the hell? You are lucky my truck is smarter than you and decided to drift to the left on its own once I was skidding. Otherwise you would have hit me.

I let off the brake to prevent the truck from skidding into the guard rail.

By the way, I wanted to go south on the 826 - but I saw you were getting off there so I kept going east. I got off on SW 72 AVE and took the longer way home, just to avoid you. As horrible as 72 ave is (not to mention the hell known as Flagler Drive), Ill take my chances there over with you on the same expressway.

PS - just to give you an idea of how normally laid back and chill I am, when I passed you at the interchange of SR 836 and SW 826 I used my horn for the FIRST time this month and maybe the second or third time this year. I know everyone else in Miami is horn happy but not me.

I hope you are the next person in town to encounter the Green Mamba that is apparently on the loose biting people.

Say hello to my little friend.

Cross posted to Craigslist Miami.

Things That Suck

Welcome to another installment of things that suck!!!!

In today's segment, I will start by featuring LA Fitness. They suck. Really bad.

And here is why they suck. First off, on their website there is no pricing information listed. It is some sort of carefully guarded secret. Well I figured there was some sort of scam going on there, but I went in anyway.

The facilities were nice enough. There was a pool and a hot tub and all kinds of machines and racquetball courts and shit.

But....after they show you all the shit comes the fun part. The sales pitch. So here it is. The big secret that the website will not tell you.

The initiation fee is either $150 or $199 - PER PERSON. If you pay the $199 your monthly membership charge is like $4 or $5 a month less. Something like that.

There are no discounts for additional members that join with you. So if you and a friend or family member want to join, it costs $150 PER PERSON - plus first and last months membership at $45 PER PERSON PER MONTH.

MATH TIME! $150 per person times two people is $300. $45 per month times two is $90, which covers the first and last months membership for one, so double the $90 for two. that is $180. Grand total - $480.

Then $90 per month after that.

And the staff will present you with a high pressure sales pitch. But wait - there is more! The pricing is so fucking secret that they WILL NOT give you the piece of paper that has all the fees. They will not write the numbers down on another piece of paper they can give you. And they will not really let you take your own notes.

Well fuck them. They suck.

Compare this to Ballys - which currently has NO initiation fee. Memberships run about $30 per month for the primary account, and then $20 for additional memberships. So for two people the grand total to get in is $100. After the first month, it is $50. But the Ballys was not that great.

The 24 Hour Fitness place is $10 a month more for two memberships than Ballys. And no initiation fee. So I am going with them. I like the hours of operation better.

So LA Fitness sucks.

In other news, there are MORE things that suck. Hurricane Bill. It could very well become a cat 4 storm in the next 12 or so hours. And it has shifted its path just slightly to the west.

Now here is why this is bad. IF it keeps shifting to the west - and it is by no means certain that it will (in fact odds are against it) - it could get dangerously close to the New York / Long Island area.

Now hurricanes HAVE hit this area before. We know this. The last time it happened was a long time ago. Powdered wig long time ago. George Washington long time ago. So it could happen.

And what would happen? Well the hurricane would push up a sizable storm surge. This is normal. But then geology comes along and throws up a big problem. Look at a map. Notice how Long Island juts out from New York at pretty much a 90 degree angle. It will act as a natural dam, blocking the storm surge and actually amplifying it. Flooding in New York City will be legendary.

Bill is not going to be that storm. It is already too far to the east. Prevailing winds are westerlies, meaning the wind comes from the west and blows weather patterns to the east. So it is highly unlikely Bill can move much further west.

But Bill still sucks anyway.

Roped In

It seems I have to join a health club, also known as a gym.

See the President told us that if we want to be healthy, we must do the following things.

1. Get off our asses
2. Eat fewer Big Macs
3. watch less TV
4. Exercise.

And for saying that, he was made fun of by the opposition. Remember the run up to the elections? When it was stated that lifestyle choices were a leading cause for much of the health care costs? And he was made fun of by fat guys who make a living sitting on their ass talking on the radio?

But really - has the USA fallen this far? When the President has to tell people that exercise is good, and sitting on your big fat ass all day is bad?

Now I was in a gym before. I decided to get into one, with the idea that after work I would stop by on my way home and do shit. Lift weights. Maybe get on a treadmill. Whatever.

I did this exactly 1 time. After work that is. Then I went 4 or 5 more times. Possibly as many as 6 times. Then I did not go for many many months, yet I kept paying the fees.

Well this time it will be different! This time I am slightly more motivated! Or so I think.

But really, it is not a terrible idea. If I use the membership. I am starting to get this gut thing going. Not common sense tells me that if I start working on getting rid of the gut now - while I can still see my feet - Ill have less work to do than if I wait.

And I know someone else who also wants to go do the gym thing, so I will not have to motivate myself to just go alone. I am sure this will help.

I do not have insane expectations. I just desire some more strength. That would be nice. I could also use some stamina. Things I used to be able to do seem like they are harder to do now.

And I need a rowing machine. This way I can compete in the DRAGON BOAT CHALLENGE!!

or I suppose I could just get a row boat. But who am I kidding there? Ill never use a row boat. Ill have to load it on the truck, go to a boat ramp. pay to park, launch it, row around, pull it out of the water, take it home, clean it off, then put it away.

I might do this a total of 1 time.

But I do want to take part in the Dragon Boat Festival. That will be cool. I already have a team name and everything.

The Drunken Sailors.

That is my dragon boat team name. Drunken Sailors. My team will take dragon boats to the next level, by combining a boat race with rum. We will start the race with a full bottle of rum, and during the race we will have to empty it.

I am really hoping that Flor De Cana will be a sponsor. That would be so cool. I may also write to Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and ask then if they want to sponsor a boat. If Sierra Nevada goes for the sponsorship, the team will still be The Drunken Sailors and the boat name will be something witty such as "Pale Ale". The hull can be painted green and everything. That would be cool.

If you are a marketing person from Sierra Nevada - think about it! Sponsor my dragon boat team! It will be great exposure for you (unless we capsize and all drown) AND it will not cost much. Dragon boats are not really super expensive.

But back to reality. The gym. I have been ordered to join one. So I must do so - as I have learned to always just follow orders. You get into less trouble that way.

I am thinking I will like the 24 Hour Fitness place the best. They are always open, so there is no rush to get there within certain times.

But do they have a rowing machine? Who knows. Ill have to find out.

Photos of the dragon boat and the scurvy band of pirates crewing it will become available as soon as I have a scurvy band of bilge rats to form the team, and of course a deagon boat to put them all into.

Ana Is Dead, Bill Is Still Around

Tropical Depression Ana has dissipated. I expected this to happen. It was already weak and disorganized before it encountered the land mass of Hispaniola - so really it did not have much of a chance.

It could reorganize over water, but that is not very likely. The models are against this happening. It is still out there, and will probably dump some rain somewhere.

Bill is still around. It is also getting stronger. It is supposed to stay out at sea, but will probably throw high surf at the Atlantic Coast from the Carolinas north to Long Island. No big deal - so long as it remains at sea.

And that is pretty much it for all that fun stuff. At least for now.

Other than that, there is not a whole lot going on.

I have plans to get out on the water this weekend. It remains to be seen if this happens or not.

Tropics Heating Up!

It seems I stopped paying attention to the news and the Tropical Prediction Center website, and THREE things managed to sneak up on me.

1. Tropical Depression Ana.


Not going to be a big deal. The forecast track drags it over Hispaniola no matter what. Pretty much, There are some decent size mountains that rip storms a new one if they pass over them. And then there is not much time over open water till it could get very close to Cuba.

And even if it stays off Cuba, conditions are not supposed to be too favorable for storm development. Added to this is the storms rather rapid movement. The rapid movement indicates wind sheer and stuff.

So pretty much for South Florida Ana looks like just some rain. Might get some wind too. But nothing too terrible. It looks like it will either be a tropical low pressure area (rain storm) or possibly a tropical depression (rain storm with some wind).

2. Tropical Storm Bill.


This one will be a hurricane soon. Hell it may be now, I have not checked the most recent update.

Bill will remain at sea for a while. There, in the warm waters, conditions are more favorable for storm building. If it is not a hurricane as I type this - it will be soon. By the middle of this week it could even be up to a cat 3, maybe 4. A fairly strong storm.

But it looks like it will remain at sea - a threat to nothing other than ships. And ships at sea can get the F out of the way.

3. Tropical Storm Claudette. This one popped up out of nowhere, and hit the FL panhandle. And it is probably a good thing it just popped up out of nowhere. Sort of.

On one hand, this is bad because people have little time to prepare. If you boat is at a marina - you better get there quickly and do something about it. If you live in an area prone to flooding - better get ready fast. So that is not really good.

But here is what is good. There is no time for the storm to get any worse. The Gulf waters are bath tub warm. If this storm had more time, it could very well have hit as a hurricane.

I really ought to pay more attention to this stuff.

Readers Ask Again

Today's question is from Fuzz! It was actually in a comment left on his blog, but I am cross posting it here in an effort to update this site with something.

Fuzz asks:

"Love that India Pale Ale. I believe it is a Sierra Nevada. What's a double like?"

Glad you asked. It is like a regular IPA on roids. It is darker, on account of the increased amount of malt. This also gives it more alcohol kick.

It also contains A LOT of hops! The bottle claims that the brewer uses 7 different kinds of American hops! And not just a dab of this and a pinch of that - over 6 pounds of hops goes into each barrel.

The result is an intense beer, with a very fragrant nose and a deep hoppy taste. It blurs the line from a pale ale to a barleywine. Without seeing the label, I would have probably put it into the barleywine category - although most barleywines are more sweet than bitter. Maybe that is the difference.

The double IPA is not the kind of beer you are going to pound. You are not going to sit down with a 6 pack and drink em all up. Well not unless you had some buddies to help you out. This is the kind of beer you really only want one, maybe two of per sitting. It would make a good after dinner beer.

But it would be a terrible beach beer. Far too heavy. I picture this beer more as something you could crack open and pour into the proper glass (fine beer requires the right glass after all), while you lounge on the couch by the fireplace on a cool night.

Or in my case, while I hang out on the patio in the dead of winter and it feels like the whole world is air conditioned. A nice crisp cool South Florida winter night, with an optional patio fireplace thing if I ever get one.

The Samuel Adams "Longshot" beer selections are limited editions. They come from an annual home brewing contest sponsored by Samuel Adams. Various winners are selected from the entries, and Sam Adams brews winning beers for a period of time. The double IPA I have is a 2008 winner.

If you happen to find a box of "Longshot" pick it up. The box I have came with 2 double IPAs, 2 traditional bocks, and 2 cranberry wits.

Readers Ask

Today the question is from Doozie.

"How are you? I've not been here in a coons age. Are you on facebook?"

I am OK. Not a whole lot is going on right now. Things are actually pretty slow. And yes, I am on Facebook. Using my secret identity, also known as my real name.

Come to think of it - how have you been? You changed the settings on your blog - so I can not get to it anymore.

Ill check the email posted on this blog if you want to contact me there. I really do not use that gmail account very much anymore. All it gets is crap at this point. Gmail has spam control, but it does not seem to work that great.

If you find me on Facebook, Ill give you a better email address through a private message or something.

Harassed By The Police

Actually the title is not very fair to the police. I was not exactly "harassed".

What DID happen was I was driving home from a night of hanging out with a friend of mine and her really hot friend. As a consequence of this, I was not exactly paying much attention to what was going on.

And for some reason, every single light on US1 was timed in such a way that I had to stop for ALL of them. What the fuck? It was almost 3 AM! Why can't the lights cycle so as to let whatever traffic is on the road to FLOW?? Why stop me at every damn light?

No wonder traffic flow is so shitty here. The idiots who time the lights can not even get light traffic flow at 3 AM right.

So by the time I got to another road that would take me off US1 to I-95 I hit it. Hallandale Beach Blvd. I was actually able to move. I did not get stopped at every single light.

Which was the problem.

I was not exactly paying attention to every last detail on account of the hanging out with my friend and her hot friend. So I did not notice that one of the cars I flew past had a light bar on top of it. I also did not notice the cool paint job it had. Most importantly, I failed to notice the word "Police" written on the side of the car.

I did at some point notice a car behind me. And I thought "I bet that is a police car".

And then the red and blue lights came on. Oh great. I instantly knew what the problem was. I was clearly speeding. I knew it. The cops knew it. Everyone knew it. Busted.

I did not know I actually passed the police car until after I was stopped however. The first question asked after "where is your license" was "did you see me when you passed me"?

Well no. I did not. As crazy as that sounds - no.

And the real crazy thing is that normally I do not speed. Usually I am going a reasonable speed - not 60 in a 40 or whatever I was doing. And when I am going too fast, I certainly do not pass a cop! That is just insane. Who the hell does that?

Apparently me. That is who.

So here I was. Busted. No defense. Nothing to say other than "yea, that was me" and "I am sorry for being a dip shit". I figured that whatever I was going to get was well deserved.

As it turns out, all I got was a ticket for not having a copy of my vehicle registration. This is actually a very good thing. I was cut a MAJOR break. All I have to do to make all this go away is obtain a copy of my registration, and mail it back to the police. Then the ticket vanishes. No fine, no points, no anything.

A speeding ticket would have cost me money. Money I really do not have right now.

All in all, it worked out quite well.

I will not pass any more police cars when they are doing the speed limit. Lesson learned. It was really stupid. Ill go back to my usual driving habits.

I am apparently really bad at speeding. I can not do it right. My dumb speeding ass did not notice I was passing a police car?!?!? Really?!?!

If you can not do something right, you should not do it at all. So I will not.

Movies

Wednesday was a movie intensive day! I went to see two of them. On the big screen.

There was a good reason. Both had a very limited number of screenings. In one case it was see it today or never. Well maybe not "never", but not anytime soon.

Movie 1 is called "Moon". This movie had a $0 advertising budget, which is a shame because I liked it. I only found about it by looking at show times for the other movie I went to see. I saw a listing for one showing of "Moon" at noon. That was it. Well that was a bit odd, seeing as how I had never heard a thing about it.

So I looked it up and discovered a few things. First, it is a Sundance film. Sony is behind it - so it had some sort of budget. And it takes place on the moon, So I wanted to see it.

The movie is about one Sam Bell, who has a three year contract to mine helium III on the far side of the moon. Earth needs helium III, not for balloons - but as fuel for fusion reactors. Important stuff!

I recommend not watching the trailer. Just look for it playing near you and check it out. Watching the trailer lets you in on too many things.

I did not watch any trailers or whatever before I saw it - and I am glad. I just had to watch it without any clue of what was going to happen next. The way a movie should be watched.

It was nice that there was no advertising at all. Counting me and my friend I went with, there were only 6 people watching it. It was quiet, nobody was trying to yell things at the characters in the movie - it was like a private screening just for the two of us.

Movie 2 was a one time one day showing of an opera. The Magic Flute. The live performance took place in 2006, but this was an encore thing. It played nation wide yesterday only at 7 PM in whatever time zone you are in. If you missed it - you missed it. Better luck next time I suppose.

It was interesting. First, they made all the opera people stand in a special line. Normally you just hand the people your ticket, they rip off the stub and hand it back to you, and then you are in. You can go buy concessions or play video games and stuff.

But no. Not this time. I was directed to the special line. Everyone else in the line was old. So I am thinking why the special line? Did the opera goers cause a problem last time? Did they get routy? Did they all try to sneak into another movie they did not pay for? Did they rob the concession stand? What?

The mystery deepened when none of the other people in the line reported never having seen such a thing before.

And then they checked everyone's ticket stub again before walking into the theater - which was only a few steps from the line.

Those opera people must be a big problem! Trying to sneak into Harry Potter 6!

Anyhow the theater we were eventually allowed to go into was one of the larger ones. There was PLENTY of room, although a good number of people showed up. It was really nice too. A good seat at a live opera is a couple grand. In Miami, the best seats are $2 - $3 grand! That is some serous scratch.

The step down from seats that cost $1k or more only cost about $700. Then $400.

The cheap seats way WAY in the back are around $45 each - but you are looking down at the stage from great height. Good luck seeing much.

At the theater, you are looking at a big screen. You can see the performers and stage set very well. And it is only $12 a pop for tickets.

All in all, it was worth it. I liked both movies. So did my friend. She had not heard anything about Moon. I knew we were going to see the opera, and since Moon was only showing Wednesday and Thursday at noon - I just asked her if she wanted to see two films on the same day. It was either that or miss it. We both have things to do today, but Wednesday was clear.

There are other movies I want to see. One is "The Hurt Locker".

But if you can find it playing, DO watch Moon. If not, there is always Netflix! Add it your your queue now.

Sleepless In Miami

While not being able to sleep (for various reasons) I decided to look for things to do. I have a friend who expressed interest in going to see stuff at the Performing Arts Center.

So I went to the PAC website and downloaded the performance schedule. There are some good things going on - but not anytime soon. November or December the Bizet opera "Carmen" will be there - that could be cool. There are also various orchestra performances - next year.

I also checked the Florida International University school of music schedule. There are some cool things going on there too - for cheap! Since I went there I can get tickets for $5. But the season is sort of over, it starts up again in the fall.

Same for the New World School Of The Arts. Most of the stuff that New World puts on is free, or really cheap.

But there was one thing I found. A Fathom Events presentation. What Fathom does is bring live or recorded performances to your local movie screen. Can't go to London to see a concert? Well if Fathom Events covers it - you just go to a nearby movie theater and catch it there.

Wednesday there will be a one time screening of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute.

So I ordered two tickets. Ill pick them up Wednesday. Then go see the opera. There will be at least one magical flute - or I will demand my money back.

I still can not seem to get to sleep.

Short Mission

The boat mission was short today. It was a nice enough day - but there is something to say about getting back home when there is still daylight.

I forgot to take pictures. I suck. I know.

In other news, I was watching some news show. Actually these shows are less about news and more about opinion and commentary. But these days opinion and commentary is passed off as news.

The guest on the show - who may have been fake for all I know - was bitching and crying about how the new GI Joe movie was somehow proof of a vast liberal Hollywood conspiracy to hate on America. The movie was unfit for anyone to see. It sent the wrong message. And so on.

Get this - his main bitch was the uniforms in the movie. All black metal robot suits. Something more like "the UN" than American forces.

Uhhhh...the UN wears camo and blue helmets dude. What the hell planet do you live on?

He also said that the original cartoon was not like that.

Uhhhh...what cartoon were you watching? Are you sure it was not Scooby Doo and you were just high?


Now, which branch of the US Military is represented by the cartoon character above? Garden shears? Is that guy using garden shears as a weapon? Do the Marines not use rifles anymore or something?

No, the original cartoons represented a military force with no uniform code at all. Wear whatever you want! Like flip-flops? No problem! Want to walk around with a parrot on your shoulder? OK! How about a football jersey and some sort of WWII tankers hat? Also OK.

If the movie has the actors all wearing the same stuff that is closer to the real military than the 80s cartoon.

So was the guy on TV high? Stupid? No, I do not think so. He just wanted to get on the TV to push the accusation that there is a vast Anti-America campaign taking place in America. That liberals and mostly liberal Hollywood hate America and want to see it destroyed. And only he - and those who agree with him - can stop it.

And the "proof"? A movie based on TOYS and a CARTOON from the 1980s.

That or the whole segment was a set up. Fake. Made up. Some actor reading a script. Some sort of secret marketing campaign designed to create "controversy" in an attempt to drive up box office sales.

Who really knows anymore?

Still Kicking

It has occurred to me that I have not updated this site in a couple of days, Maybe even a week? Who knows.

An unprecedented amount of time. Well stuff happens I suppose. There was not much to report really.

Today I plan to get out on the water. Once the sun rises. I have to be up in 5 hours. At least the alarm is set to go off in that amount of time. Ill get up, no problem. Everything is mostly ready to roll.

Ill try to get some cool photos. It will be a simple day without much running around. I have to balance going out and having a good time with fuel consumption. I want to have fun - but I do not want to use more gas than necessary.

I anticipate a good day. It will be a party cruise, with some swimming at a popular sandbar.

After that - it will be Monday. For what that is worth. I have a lot of things to do. The question is will get them done, and what (if any) success will be had.