And now... a word from the president.

For those who don't know, in the past four weeks I have had a total of six interviews with two different companies. Last week, I found out that I will not be working at either company. They have both gone with different candidates. My pride has been absolutely crushed; leaving me to start at ground zero. Let's get creative people! After six months of being unemployed I have nothing to show for my hours and hours of applying to jobs, interviewing, critiquing my resume, and networking. Nothing. To say I am dissapointed would be an understatement. I have this great opportunity to start over with my life. What should I do?

1. After a successful eight or nine days in Alaska, I am happy to be home. Alaska is absolutely gorgeous. Everyday we hiked on glaciers, or rafted by moose and bald eagles. If you like photography and scenery, then Alaska is your place. The weather did not cooperate. Alaska only gets 44 days of sunshine a year. We were actually pretty lucky that it only rained half the time we were there. The rest of the time it was miserably cold and windy. The highlight of the trip was the cruise ship itself. For those of you who have never cruised, I would happily spend all my future vacations cruising. After I was criticised for my three page post following my Washington D.C. trip, I will leave this post by saying if you want to know more, just ask!

2. I saw two movies while on the ship. I give Gran Torino and A. It had an original story, and the writing and action was terrific. Clint Eastwood is still such a badass! Unlike Kevin James... I saw his movie Paul Blart Mall Cop. I give it a D+. There were times I laughed out loud at how ridiculous the movie was.

3. Currently listening to "Will you be there" by Michael Jackson.

land of the midnight sun

I will get to Alaska in a later post. Right now I am still incredibly saddened to think about Michael Jackson. In the past thirty years, can you think of someone who was a bigger international celebrity (non politician of course) than Michael Jackson? Madonna? No. Mariah Carey? No. Nobody. His first solo album came out over thirty years ago and ever since then, his fame and world-wide popularity have gone untouched. I have always been a fan of Michael Jackson. As many of my friends know, I have always loved The Jackson Five. Despite me writing this from Minneapolis, I am 99% sure that my CD player in Chicago has the Jackson 5 Greatest Hits in it. I also own several solo Michael Jackson CDs. This is not the place to discuss Jackson's tribulations. Such pop classics as Beat It, Bad, Thriller, and others will love in infamy long after Jackson is laid to rest. What stands out to me the most about Jackson is his all around performance. Just two weeks ago at a party, we we were talking about dancing and we all agreed that Michael Jackson is the greatest dancer of all time; and it isn't even close.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaTYjHcDqtI



His sideways moonwalk is still the most impressive dance move I have ever seen. Besides his countless hours of charity work, I hope fifty years from now, Jackson is remembered as the greatest performer of our lifetime, and not for his other scars. From one giant Michael Jackson fan... you will be sorely missed. May you finally receive in heaven the peace and tranquility that you were never afforded here.



1. Why must the the Timberwolves continue to disappoint me? Sigh! They trade their two shooting guards on the team (Mike Miller and Randy Foye) for the #5 pick in the draft. I was okay with this. Both Miller and Foye are average at best NBA players and this gave them the #5, #6, #18, and #28 picks. Four picks in the first round is pretty awesome. I actually hoped they would do something like trade the #'s 6, 18, and 28 picks for the number two pick - but they didn't. Here is what they did instead. First they drafted 18 year old Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio. Okay, I like this... oh wait. Rubio has said that he doesn't want to play for a "small" market or a cold city and now it looks like he wants to stay in Spain and play. The very next pick, the Wolves select tiny point guard Jonny Flyn at #6. Why would they take back to back point guards? What do they do at pick #18? Draft another point guard, who is undersized, in Ty Lawson? And at #28, they draft an undersized shooting guard in Wayne Ellington. Now, they will have four point guards on the roster and their only shooting guard is an undersized rookie?! I hope that new GM David Kahn has a few tricks up his sleeve.


2. I saw that there was a military takeover/coup in Honduras yesterday? I can't believe in 2009 that that still happens! An evil general comes in, kidnaps the democratically elected president, points a gun at him and this time didn't kill him but flew him to Costa Rica, and declared himself dictator. It is 2009!!

3. Currently listening to Sugar Daddy by The Jackson 5.

Solstice

Today has been a long day. Actually, it's Summer Solstice; so today is the longest amount of daylight for the year. That's not why today was long though. I just got up from my nap and I have that groggy disoriented feeling that you get when you take too long of nap. This morning, bright and early my family and I went to the amusement park Valley Fair. It was an absolute blast. But with the walking around, the rides, the noise, and the humidity, I am exhausted. Going to bed at 2:30 last night probably didn't help anything. After a fun day, a group of us went to downtown Minneapolis. The weather was hot and it was hopping downtown. We went to Brit's Pub and all had a good time laughing at my techniques to get women, drinking good beer, and enjoying the Minneapolis skyline. After that, I wanted to check out the new, chic bar Barrio. We went but we didn't stay long. Drinks were, and I'm not kidding, $13.50 for one beverage. We didn't stay there long. After Barrio we walked around downtown for a bit before settling on Sneaky Pete's. The one woman in the group immediately noticed how sketchy it was. The men all kept their mouths shut and enjoyed the "view". As usual, whenever I am surrounded by attractive women, I hid in a corner and people watched. It was loud but a blast in SP's.

1. As you probably know, I am headed to Alaska for eight days tomorrow. I am unsure whether I will have any Internet access but I am bringing my journal along so if I don't post throughout the trip, I can assure you that you lucky people will be bombarded with my thoughts on the trip when I get back.

2. It is a high of 90 degrees the rest of the week in Minneapolis. Naturally, I will be in Alaska with an average high of 63 degrees.

3. I saw this on Andrew's facebook page. It is comedian and Daily Shows correspondent's speech to Obama at this past weekend's radio and TV correspondent's speech. It is very good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW7OPByRGDY

Currently listening to "The Believers" by Brother Ali. Album: The Truth is Here.

Vampire chic

Have you seen all of the Facebook groups that say, "When I was young, Pluto was a planet..." and other type groups about how things have changed now in 2009 versus when we were youngsters. One thing that has changed from when I was young is the idea of vampires. Which leads me to create the new term Vampire chic. Yesterday, on my drive back to Minnesota, I stopped off for a bite to eat and perused Barnes and Noble. In there I saw about a half a dozen children, no more than eleven, reading the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. Earlier in the week, I had caught most of an episode of the HBO series True Blood (which is their highest rated show of all time.) And this morning I read in TV Guide about the new show called Vampire Diaries; which is on the WB. Let me first throw out there that I have never read any of the Twilight Series; or seen the movie. From what I understand they are targeted to girls between 12-16. I don't quite think I am who Meyer has in mind. I have heard an amazing mix of opinions from some who say it is the most over-rated piece of garbage, to it is the best book they have ever read, to it is sending feminism back fifty years, to it is the definition of a fairy tale romance. From my small experience with True Blood, I found out right away that it is not for young girls. It is the most graphic show I have seen since Dexter. What I find interesting though is how in both of these examples, the good versus evil is blended to such an extreme that there are no true heroes... just those who are flawed and those who are really flawed. I guess my question is do you think this is good for young America? If you read Stoker's Dracula, there is a clear good and evil. Van Helsing = good. Dracula = bad. I don't keep myself up late at night thinking about these things but it has been on my mind recently. One reason that turned me off about HBO's True Blood was its banality. It doesn't take an idiot to see that the vampires (and by the way, the show takes place in Civil War era America) are a social parallel to homosexuals in 2009. The bad guys on the show are the religious extremists who want to hunt down and kill all the vampires. The vampires aren't evil; they're just misunderstood. Obviously I thought this was lame. While gays are certainly unfairly prosecuted by many of the religious extremists in America, there is one major difference... homosexuals don't want to kill you and suck your blood. Odds are this is just a fad and not a trend and five years from now, nobody will care about vampires.

1. One of my favorite movies ever to make fun of is the Michael J. Fox 1980s comedy Teen Wolf. To my pleasant surprise, it is being remade. This is going to be awful! http://www.moviehole.net/200919534-exclusive-teen-wolf-howls-again

2. Have you heard the recent Al Roker controversy? Yes, that's right, Al Roker controversy - the beloved weatherman on NBC's the Today show. I did not see it but apparently Heidi and Spencer were on the Today Show and I guess Al Roker just ripped into them for embarrassing and plagues on society. It is amazing today what constitutes as "celebrity". Yesterday I was at the grocery store and the first three magazines I saw - US Weekly, People, and TV Guide all had Jon and Kate plus 8 gossip. When did Kate Gosselin become a People cover woman? Apparently if you have lots of kids, are even somewhat attractive, and you and your husband cheat on each other is the perfect recipe for becoming a celebrity. I have to get busy.

3. Currently listening to "Crazy Bitch" by Buckcherry.

iRan

What a nightmare for the world regarding Iran. For those who don't know, last week, ultraconservative Iranian President Ahmadinejad "won" his re-election campaign. This is not good news for the United States considering this pompous jerk is anti-American, doesn't believe in the Holocaust, and antagonizes America constantly with his nuclear arms threats. The problem his his "win" was that he didn't really win. According to neutral election officials from countries like Canada, the election was rigged. Ahmadinejad's opponent, Moussavi and his supporters around the world have been furious and the result has been chaos on the streets of Tehran. One of the problems America has is that Ahmadinejad has a close relationship with powers Russia and China. In fact, he is currently hiding out in Russia until things settle down. I don't pretend to be an expert on Iranian politics. I know that Moussavi is much more moderate. I also know that if the Grand Ayatollah intervenes, he can order a recount? Again, I am not positive about that. For the good of the free world, hopefully a positive situation comes from this.

1. This morning on CNN, their talking heads already have begun talking about various Republicans who have all but already announced they are running for President in 2012. These people have spent an inordinate amount of time in states like Iowa, and New Hampshire. These people are already giving lots of press conferences and policy speeches. I would look for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, former Representative Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and our good friend Sarah Palin to be the Republican field in three years. Interestingly enough, of all those people, they think Palin will win the nomination... if she can do a couple of things. First off, they say she really shouldn't run until 2016 or 2020... but that's what they said about Obama too. First they say, she should run for senate in two years. This will give her a little more publicity and allow her to do the proper networking. Second, she should avoid press conferences but do one policy speech once every three months on the economy, and national security. Their third piece of advice was obvious. She needs to study up on the issues. She was embarrassingly dense regarding the key issues that a President would face. Unlike the other gentlemen, and to my disgust, Palin is an excellent fundraiser who oozes charisma. It will be her intelligence that will decide if she wins the Republican nomination or not.

2. Yesterday on HBO sports, Favre finally ended speculation by saying that he would like in fact to join the Minnesota Vikings... but he, and the Vikings, want to make sure he heals properly from his biceps and shoulder surgery. I can understand this from both sides. I actually came away pretty impressed with Favre. If he can play like he did in 2007, it could be a very exciting season. All I can say is, I cannot wait for the first Monday Night Football game of the year... Vikings AT Green Bay.

3. Insane Tattoo!!!!: http://www.geekstir.com/with-great-tattoo-comes-great-responsibility?loc=interstitialskip

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

This was not one of those relaxing, lay by the beach, sip mojitos, and work on my tan weekends. This was a whirl-wind weekend; and I would not have had it any other way. Thursday, my friend from college, J. Koo, returned from his epic trip to Asia and we hung out all day. Thursday night, Koo and I showed off our cooking skills and made an elaborate dinner for ourselves and Jim/Sarah. The dinner was awesome, and took about two hours and almost every plate and sauce pan I own. We made a variety of Indian dishes. After dinner, we met up with Anay and Allie and headed out to an un-named nightclub before calling it a night. Friday, I welcomed two house guests. My Iowa State friend Robbins came to visit, with his girlfriend. They were visiting Chicago for the weekend and stayed at my apartment. Friday night, we had a nice Chicago style pizza dinner, and then spent the rest of the night dancing at The Red Ivy. Saturday afternoon was game time, we met up with Jim, and all of us watched a Twins victory over the Cubs at Wrigley. After a nice dinner of Lucky's sandwiches, we walked around downtown, and had ice cream and watched the Buckingham Fountain change colors. It is my new favorite view of downtown. After that, we spent the rest of the night at our friend Jacqueline's house warming party and called it a night. After a delicious brunch at Orange, I sadly wished Aaron and Lauren a nice drive back to Iowa. Great weekend but exhausting... I will probably be asleep by 9:00 tonight.

1. Interview #4 tomorrow... wish me luck!

2. Currently listening to Oxford Comma by the band Vampire Weekend.

We sure are cute for two ugly people.

Yesterday was a good day. After two phone interviews, I had an in person interview with my hiring manager and the vice president. I thought I give it 100% and the waiting game started. To my pleasant surprise, less than 24 hours after the interview, the HR representative called me back and I have a meeting with the CEO and COO next week. I am purposely not going to reveal who the company is. I have all my cards on the table here with this job. I'm ready!

1. After a rough couple of months, Jimmy Fallon has actually been fantastic this week. I do think he has to fire his writing staff though. His stand-up monologue is not funny. He is nervous and shuffles around too much. However, his interviews are good, and his skits are very funny. The nervousness will go away, but if he doesn't replace his writers, he's in trouble. On Monday, Mark Paul Gosselaar came on the show as Zack Morris - the character he played ten years ago on Saved By The Bell. He was great. He did the time-out, talked about Zack Attack, his time at Stansbury College, and more. Go to nbc.com and watch it. Yesterday, the main guest was Will Ferrel. You can't go wrong with him.

2. I enjoyed Sarah Palin's tirade this morning against David Letterman. For those who don't know, Letterman top's ten list was all about Palin. He referred to her working part time as a slutty flight attendant, among other quasi-offensive statements. Comedians make a living saying offensive things like that. That is nothing compared to the jokes about the Clintons, or W. If Palin wants to be taken seriously, she has to toughen up a bit and not let guys like Letterman get to her.

3. I was worried this year's NBA finals would suck. Nah. It has been awesome! Yesterday, it was a shame that one of the teams had to lose. Both the Lakers and Magic played awesome.

4. I have very much enjoyed the Colbert Report this week. He is in Baghdad the whole week performing stand-up for the troops and doing his show live there. It has been funny and I am sure a welcome change for our country's bravest.

5. Currently listening to "Anyone Else But You" by Moldy Peaches. Album: Juno Soundtrack

"It's June and it is so cold out we can see our breath."

As you can probably figure out, I never did make it to Indianapolis. I had planned on leaving for Indy at about noon when I decided to call my friend Mike and ask if he wanted to join me. To my pleasant surprise, he said yes. He was working on Friday so he left after work and we would leave for Indy Saturday morning. Unfortunately, our Indy friend Rus called at about 10:00 and said actually this was not a good weekend to visit. I was cranky for a bit but that quickly subsided as Mike and I ended up having a great weekend. We got lost on the South Side, walked around the University of Chicago, walked around Lake Michigan, ate really good food, and bar-hopped. It was a really fun weekend. My highlight was Saturday night when Mike and I were at a dance club. As per my usual, I was sitting in the corner people watching and Mike went out and danced. He found an attractive woman, asked to dance, and the woman not only accepted, but proceeded to just maul him. He tried to escape on at least two occasions and was unsuccessful. The only winner... me.

1. I actually ended up seeing three movies since the last time I blogged. The first two I rented were both good. Valkyrie, is a WWII true story movie about those in Hitler's inner circle who tried to kill him. I give the movie an A-. It was action packed, emotional, well acted, and very good. Next I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The movie was way too long. It was really good but too long. The movie was about three hours long. The time of the movie didn't bother me. 90 minute movies can be too long if there are superfluous scenes. An hour could have easily been cut out of the movie with no critical plot being removed. I give the movie a B though and it is still a good movie. The movie highlight of the weekend was Sunday night when some friends and I saw The Hangover. I loved it and I give it an A-. It's raunchy, and sophomoric... and hysterical.

2. I got a call back that I have another interview tomorrow!

Megaladon

Last night was awesome. Some friends came over and I cooked a delicious dinner of salmon, tomato basil pasta, broccoli, and homemade punch. We then watched the movie Shark Attack 3: Megaladon. Before I continue, please check out this preview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nzd0R_OeOc

After I saw that, I knew I had to rent it and share it with as many people as possible. The first half of the movie was terrible. It was just mildly bad; which made the movie uninteresting. We were then introduced to the Megaladon and as you can see, a 60 foot long shark that terrorizes tourists in Mexico has awesome written all over it. if you enjoy awesomely bad movies, check it out.

1. I actually rented two other movies in the past few days. First, I rented the action movie Taken. I give it an A. It was heart wrenching, action packed, and really good. Next, I saw the movie Revolutionary Road with Kate Winslett and Leonardo Dicaprio. This movie will make you hate humanity. The acting was good but it is very emotionally draining. It is no surprise the Academy loved it. I give it a B-.

2. Yesterday I finished the John Grisham book The Partner. As usual, it was excellent.

3. I am off to Indianapolis in a few hours. Wish me luck.

Aspiring Sociopath

Has anyone seen any of the first two tonight show's with Conan O'Brien? I have watched both episodes and so far so good. Monday's episode, Conan was clearly very nervous, and the show was shaky and therefore not that funny. He is still an excellent interviewer and anytime you get Will Ferrel on your show, you know that comedic sparks will fly. Last night, Conan was fantastic. His shopping spree on Rodeo was hilarious! His interview with Tom Hanks was also fantastic and Green Day was good.

1. Did anyone else see the MTV Movie Awards? I did not but the Bruno/Eminem scene was extremely funny and Andy Sanberg and Will Ferrel's song about explosions was also very good.

2. I was at a grocery store with my roommates and the actress Megan Fox came up. This is going to sound strange... she is so unbelievably "hot" that I am not attracted to her. To me, she is in the same ballpark as a Carmen Electra. I am much more attracted to girls who are pretty, but seem much more down to earth, smart, and cool. I'm thinking more Natalie Portman than Pamela Anderson. This rule is thrown out the door for Marissa Miller.

3. Currently listening to If I was Santa Clause by Atmosphere. Album: Lucy Ford

Cool guys don't look at explosions

Happy Monday everyone. Friday night, Jim/Sarah and I grilled and then saw the movie Terminator Salvation. Meh. I give it a C+. The special effects were outstanding and the movie was really "cool". However, the plot was weak and because I had never seen any of the Terminator movies, I didn't get much of the story. Saturday during the day I didn't really do much except play with the puppy. Saturday night I headed back to Evanston because Jim/Sarah were having a big party. It was a lot of fun. However, after five margaritas... I don't even really remember the night ending, I just remember waking up the next morning. Sunday morning I played with the puppy outside and then to enjoy the nice day, some friends and I went to a really fun music festival called the Belmont Sheffield Music Festival. Good food, lots of music, lots of free stuff being given away. After watching a disappointing Cubs game, and enjoying a nice meal with the Kendig sisters, I was ready to call it a great weekend.

1. I was saddened to read that Dr. George Hiller, was gunned down at his church yesterday morning. Hiller became famous when Fox News host Bill O'Reilly publicly harassed him because of Hiller's role as one of only a handful of doctors willing to perform late-term abortions. Hiller has had many attempts at his life including bombings, and being shot in both arms in his past. Despite heavy security, he felt compelled to continue his practice saying that 99% of the abortions he performed were when the mother's life was in critical danger. This is a sad day for America and a black eye on the Pro-Life movement. Perhaps, the movement should stop protesting Notre Dame by throwing fake babies with blood on them all over campus, and shooting doctors, and figure out how to reduce the overall total amount of abortions in America by promoting effective sexual education, and adoption options for the mother.

2. I am a Lebron James fan and I was a little disappointed when the Cavs lost to the Magic. However, James refusing to shake hands after the loss is completely unacceptable. Later, not only did James not apologize, he said that he was a competitor and it would be too hard on him. Nobody is questioning your passion, work ethic, and competitve nature. However, James, you are a role model to millions of people and your tantrum is humiliating to yourself, your team, and your sport. I have a feeling though that with Wally Sczerbiak's 13 million dollar a year contract expiring this year, Zydranas Ilgauskas' 10 million dollar a year contract expiring, and Ben Wallace's almost 20 million dollar a year contract expiring, the Cavs will bring in a ton of talent to compliment Lebron. The Cavs are here to stay.

3. Please watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15S0g8pG6HU

4. Did anyone watch the last Jay Leno on Friday? I did. I thought it was funny and well done. I am very excited for the beginning of the Conan O'Brien era that begins tonight.