New Job

So I quit my job last month to start a brewery.

My buddy Dustin and I decided that the best place for the brewery would be somewhere between Savannah, GA and England and we named our beer Otter Head. We were set to kick off our new venture at the Rock 92 Brewfest in Greensboro, but the distributor only sent us two cases of beer bottles, containing less than half an ounce of beer each!

Luckily our customers at the Brewfest weren't too upset with our lack of spring water fresh brew, and we had many people happily line up for a tiny sip of Otter Piss, I mean, Head.

Anyway, obviously the brewery thing didn't work out so now I have to move to New Jersey to sell toothbrushes. Thanks a lot, England!

Here are some pics from the beerfest, our first and last day as brewers!

Jose Reyes Chant in Greensboro

I have just three days left in North Carolina, and a few of us went to the Rock 92 BrewFest to have a good time during our last weekend in Greensboro. It was a four hour, all you can drink affair, and about three hours into it people were getting a bit drunk. Spontaneously, an Ole! Ole Ole Ole! soccer chant breaks out from these three or four college kids. I chime in, but of course sing it it with "JOSE" instead of "Ole." I did it really loud too, because otherwise you'd never even notice it, right? My buddy Dustin joined me in my Jose chant, while the other frat boys continued with the oles, probably unaware that I was pirating their fun.

I spotted a dude across the room in a Mets cap, eyeing me, wondering if I was a Mets fan, or if I was just some drunk named Jose who was imparting his own name into the song. Suddenly another guy comes running over and starts singing along with the Jose chant. At this point it was pretty even between the guys singing Ole and the ones singing JOSE. I think even one of the guys who had started the Ole chant had changed to Jose, just for the heck of it. Finally after a while we stopped and I asked the guy who had come over if he was a Mets fan. He said no, he's a Nationals fan. "Expos Suck!," I screamed. He said "No, I'm an ASTROS fan." I said, so what's with the Jose chanting then? He gave Jose a Reyes some kind of weird backhanded compliment and then called him an illegal immigrant or something. All righty then. So then I saw the guy with the Mets cap walking by, the one who was confusedly watching us sing. "PAUL LO-DU-CA!," I yelled. His face brightened and he gave me a knowing point.

That's the great thing about Mets fans. You spot a Mets cap in a foreign place and you can bet he's a real Mets fan. You see a dude in a Yankees cap in Greensboro, and odds are he's just a frat boy.

JOSE! JOSE JOSE JOSE! JO-SE! JO-SE.

Paranormal Event or Hoax?

You be the judge....


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Mookie Of The Month August 2007

Idiot vs. Idiot in Atlanta

Atlanta city councilman C.T. Martin has proposed an amendment to Atlanta's indecency laws that would make baggy pants that show boxer shorts or thongs, illegal. The amendment states that sagging pants are an "epidemic" that is becoming a "major concern" around the country.

A major concern of mine is why a city councilman thinks a dress code is a good idea. Do I think that people are dressing badly? Yes. But the phrase "fashion police" is supposed to be a joke. I don't think even the obnoxious hosts "What Not To Wear" would agree that people should be fined based on bad attire. Or maybe they would. Maybe they're behind this.




Anyway, instead of just letting this thing get dismissed by the courts, leave it up to the ACLU to completely overreact.

"This is a racial profiling bill that promotes and establishes a framework for an additional type of racial profiling," said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

Thank you Debbie, for your brilliant comment that stirs up racial tensions instead of allowing the inherent non-racism related idiocy of the amendment to stand on its own. I'm sure the ACLU really appreciates you clouding the issue. Next time we get a statement from the ACLU I'm sure we'll be listening really closely.

By the way, Paris Hilton is launching a new clothing line. Since she doesn't wear underwear, she doesn't have to worry about breaking this potential law which would outlaw exposed thongs!

Mike V on Michael Vick

It's been a few weeks now since the initial story broke about Michael Vick alleged involvement in running a dogfighting operation.  When the allegations first surfaced, Vick denied any involvement and said that he didn't know what was going on at the home but barely visited.  He said he was innocent and looked forward to clearing his name in a court of law!  Harrumph.  I was disgusted by the stories of cruel executions of weak performing dogs and the like, but I was also a little offended about the incessant media coverage.  This was everywhere for weeks!  You're not going to find a much bigger doglover than me, but I thought it was a little ridiculous how much attention was being focused on this compared to the war in Afghanistan, our Attorney General looking like an ass in front of Congress, or even the players in professional sports who had been accused of beating their wives!

Still, I thought it was a heinous crime and agreed with the NFL's decision to keep Vick out of camp until the facts came out. Well, so much for Vick being exonerated.  Vick is set to plead guilty to the crimes he's accused of.  Vick will serve his time and the NFL will have to decide what to do when he's released.

What's appaling me now are the people who are rushing to Vick's defense.   R.L. White, president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP said that Vick shouldn't be banned from the NFL.   "In some instances, I believe Michael Vick has received more negative press than if he would've killed a human being," White said. "The way he is being persecuted, he wouldn't have been persecuted that much had he killed somebody."  You know, I have to agree with White there.  I just wonder why he's so worried about this multi-millionaire's career options when so many other African Americans are struggling to put food on their table?  But White's next comment was worse.  According to the article, White also said he didn't understand the uproar over dogfighting, when hunting deer and other animals is perfectly acceptable. Does this guy really not see the difference between hunting deer with a rifle and "starving pit bulls forced to tear one another apart for hours, and animals beaten to death, shot, hanged and electrocuted when they did not perform well."???  Seems Stephon Marbury doesn't see the difference either.  Marbury, who has also taken heat for donating sneakers to boys teams but not girls, said "You know, from what I hear, dogfighting is a sport. It's just behind closed doors."  I'm sure Knicks fans aren't surprised Marbury would miss the point, but seriously, has our society degenerated that far that we can no longer draw distinctions between levels of cruelty?  I mean, I'm no fan of hunting, but even PETA would agree that Vick's crimes are worse than a deer hunters'.  Right?

Of course this story wouldn't be complete without a dose of irony.  The 53 pit bulls seized from Vick's house are on a deadline.  If no one steps forward to claim the dogs by this weekend, they will likely be euthanized. 

V Music: Spoon

I stumbled across Spoon recently. I love these guys! The lead singer sounds like he's British, though he's actually from Texas, which not coincidentally is where the band formed. I'll do my best to describe their music - it's fun rock, marked by interesting and catchy rhythms and great lyrics. All Music's Mike DaRonco says that "Their hybrid of indie and punk resulted in a number of Sonic Youth and Pixies comparisons," they are "musically adventurous," marked by "mixed unusual instrumentation and nods to Motown and soul," Good enough a description as any, I guess! I highly recommend you visit their myspace page to sample the music. Then, go to itunes and download some tracks or an album (or two). I've got "Don't Make Me A Target," "The Underdog," "Black Like Me," "Sister Jack," and "The Way We Get By" on my iPod rotation.
Link: Spoon on myspace
Link Official Spoon website

Cool Video of the Week

Have you seen the video on youtube of the bison who save their calf from the lions? Even though it was shot by an amateur on a safari, the scene plays out like a perfectly scripted vignette. Scene opens on lions. Bison enter stage left. Chase ensues. Tragedy! Sudden unexpected turn for the worse! I won't give away the dramatic climax, but even the way the "actors" exit "the stage" is oh so Hollwood! You have to watch this 8-minute video.

Idiotic Lawsuit of the week

So now one of the Rutgers basketball players is suing Don Imus and CBS for defamation of character. I am not going to mention the name of the basketball player, but her opportunistic lawyer said. "She would do anything to return to her life as a student and respected basketball player -- a more simple life before Imus opened his mouth." If she wanted to remain anonymous, why did she go on Oprah to talk about it? Why bring up a lawsuit, all these months later which puts her name in all the papers? Give me a break! No one knows the names of those players! All they know is Imus's quote about the women's Rutgers team. She should sue herself! Imus was wrong for making his comments, and he should have been disciplined, but this lawsuit is beyond ridiculous.

V Politics: Kucinich '08

If you haven't jumped on the Dennis Kucinich bandwagon yet, now is the time. He's the only candidate in the race who gives straight answers to questions, and he's the only one with the nerve to take a bold stance on civil liberties. He has an actual plan for America, and Iraq, and most importantly delivering health care and education to all Americans. He also refuses to take a dime from corporations or lobbyists, so if you like what he stands for, he needs your support. The media is only paying attention to Clinton, Obama, and Edwards on the Left, and Romney and Giuliani on the Right. Why, 14 months before the election, why have the media centered in on these five candidates? Show your support for Kucinich (or even Ron Paul, Chris Dodd or Mike Huckabee) and let the media know that the candidate's stances on issues and policy should be the story, not which candidates are raising the most money, or even who is stacking up in meaningless polls.
Link: Reuters: Democrat Kucinich: long shot who keeps on running

V At The Movies

Netflix delivered "The Queen" this week. Even after watching this film about the British Monarchy's reaction to Princess Diana's death, I still don't get the whole concept of the British Monarchy. Am I even saying right. I looked it up on Wikipedia, and gleaned a little information, but honestly I have to say that the whole monarchy business is the one thing that makes the British people look a little stupid. From what I can gather, the monarchy is essentially just a symbolic leadership figure that saps millions of dollars from their economy. The British public's obsession with the goings-ons of the Royal Family is only slightly less dumb than Americans' obsession with Britney, Paris, Nicole and Hillary. I just don't get it. The movie was pretty much a snoozefest too. Unless you're a Diana-fan, and need to check a box off your list, I say skip this disc.
The Queen Grade: C-.
Other recent films on DVD I'd recommend: Zodiac, Knocked Up, Breach, Reign Over Me, Fracture

We were lucky enough to score sneak preview tickets to Superbad. Because Arrested Development is one of our favorite shows of all-time, we were really rooting for "George Michael" Michael Cera to have a hit movie. I think our hopes will come true. This movie is really funny. Although perhaps a little derivative of American Pie (and every other movie about high school teenagers trying to get laid), the banter between Cera and his co-stars was just hilarious. Producer Judd Apatow (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Talladega Nights) has quickly become the comedy producer of the moment, supplanting The Farrelly Brothers. And if they ever get around to making an Arrested Development movie, Michael Cera just upped his salary because this movie is going to make him a pretty big star. Very, very funny.
Superbad Grade: A-
Other films in theatres I'd recommend: The Simpsons Movie