Horchata

As weak as the Democrats have been leading congress (confirmed by a 74% disapproval rating), the reason the Dems won't have as many congressional losses is because of the complete disorganization and carelessness of the Republican party. Needless to say I was very amused when I read about the latest Republican scandal about a bunch of Republican National Committee members spending donated money at a bondage themed sex club in California. The story was actually broke by the Republican blog, Red County. Naturally, they were outraged that their donated money was going toward clubs. According to Red County, this was part of the RNC's Young Eagle recruitment. My thing is I do not care what these guys did in their personal time. The real problem is that they decided they could expense it to the RNC and no one would care/notice. Needless to say, it has been a good two weeks for President Obama. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is inching closer and closer to 11,000. His health care reform bill has passed. And his opponents keep shooting themselves in the foot.

1. I have seen a few movies recently. On Saturday afternoon, Allie and I saw Alice in Wonderland. I had pretty low expectations. Some of my co-workers saw it and were disappointed. I actually really enjoyed it. Johnny Depp was beyond brilliant. I give the movie an A-. In honor of the Family Guy episode, I went to Blockbuster and rented Roadhouse. The Patrick Swayze action cult classic. It is so awesomely bad. There were parts that were just so ridiculous, it was actually really amusing and fun. If you are bored, check it out. I will give you an example. In one fight scene, a man's throat is ripped out! Then on the opposite side of the spectrum I saw The Philadelphia Story. Always considered in conversations for the top 50 greatest movies of all times. This 1940 comedy starring Katherine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Cary Grant was as brilliant as I expected. I give it an A-.

2. I absolutely love the new Vampire Weekend song "White Sky".

the crazy train

I think I get a little bit of perverse pleasure everytime I read about the Tea Party's growing power. Today I was watching CNN and saw Sarah Palin give a speech to a caravan of 10,000 Glenn Beck clones. Some of my friends disagree with me, but I think the growing power of the Tea Party is only helping Democrats. One, the hardcore right wing is spending their money on the Tea Party and not on the GOP. Two, in a few states, the Tea Party is running their own candidates as an official party. Let's say they could get 1% of the vote. Think of how many elections in the house and senate come down to 1% of the vote. Two years ago the senate races in Georgia and Minnesota came down to way less than 1% of the vote. I also want independent moderates to view the Tea Party as the way conservatives think. I want them to associate Glenn Beck with the conservative movement. One of the states where the Tea Party is running a candidate is in Nevada. Democrat Harry Reid will be in a really tight re-election. This is only good news.

1. Yeah. I'm excited. It's not perfect, but the health care reform bill will ensure that 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured, have access to basic health care. I am disappointed that there will be no public option. But there is enough to the bill that makes me happy.

2. I have a new secret weakness in terms of fast food consumption. I have always loved Egg McMuffins at McDonald's. Needless to say I was pleasantly startled when I saw that Dunkin Donut's has created an Egg McMuffin - except instead of English muffins, they take the meat, egg, and cheese in between two Eggo waffles. Is it healthy? Am I proud of this new obsession? Absolutely not. So good.

Eye of the Tiger

I was a little blown away when I read the latest Newsweek. Although I highly doubt you would see me chained to a forest in front of a bulldozer to protect a rare spotted owl, I am an animal lover. I was amazed when I read about the waning tiger population in Asia. In 1990, there were 100,000 tigers in the wild. Today there are only 3000. In other words, the population has dropped 97% in twenty years! The reasons have all been explained many times - too much poaching, loss of habitat, pollution, et cetera. The fact that greed and ignorance have caused so much destruction to this beautiful animal is absolutely disgusting.

1. It was a good weekend. The highlight was experiencing St. Patrick's Day in Chicago. Regrettably I slept in and missed the river getting dyed. I still enjoyed the people watching. Basically, people arrive to the city early in the morning and just continue to drink throughout the whole day. I walked around Wrigleyville at 5:45 at night and every single bar had a line.

2. Nimit and I watched the movie Precious last night. Wow! What an incredibly emotionally charged movie. I give it an A. I thought it was harsh, real, and beautifully written. The movie is very sad but is definitely worth renting.

3. I see that the guy who videotaped Erin Andrews received 30 months in jail. Is that a fair sentence? I guess. What is most disturbing is that I guess he videotaped 16 other female sports reporters/"tv personalities". On the one hand, how should he be punished? He doesn't deserve life in prison but he deserves more than just leaving jail after a year with good behavior. If I were a judge, I would do something like 30 months in jail plus 1000 hours of community service at some place like a women's shelter. He obviously has no respect for women. Maybe "volunteering" at a shelter would help.

So far so good

Two days into my new job and so far so good. One of the weirdest things about starting my third job in the past year is the judging looks by those who view me as an obvious flake for constantly quitting jobs. Those who know me well know the reasons why I had to leave my previous stints of employment. Whether they be financial issues or sanity issues, to me, I always had more than legitimate reasons for needing to explore other job possibilities. My biggest fear is that potential future employers will view this gap in my resume as problem in my work ethic and/or commitment. Do you know how on the bottom of the front page of every section of USA Today there is a little survey "snapshot" section? Today's survey was to HR managers. It asked the simple question, "Do you find a one or more year gap in the resume to be a serious red flag?" 93% of those who responded said, "Yes". Naturally, this caught my attention. Don't get me wrong, after two days, I am very happy with my new line of work. However, what's to say my health club doesn't have lay-offs in the future and I have to resort to sending out more resumes? Do I leave it blank? Do I list that I work at three different places in the past year? Do I write extensively in my cover letter about the gap? Needless to say, it is often futile to play the future guessing game. For now, I will just hope I continue to enjoy my new job, make a livable salary, and find enough fulfillment that I do not need to send out more resumes for several years.

1. Yesterday Allie and I watched the movie Julia & Julie I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it. I give it a A-/B+. It is just amazing at how talented Meryl Streep. From Kramer vs. Kramer, Adaptation, Doubt, et cetera, Streep is the most talented actress in the United States. Julia & Julia is not a complex movie by any means, just a fun romantic comedy with several very witty moments.

2. Ladies and Gentlemen, victory is closer than I ever thought possible. Today on his show, Rush Limbaugh said, and I quote, "I'll just tell you this, if this passes, and it is five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented - I am leaving the country. I am going to Costa Rica." C'mon Congress!!!

3. Speaking of movies, I read on ESPN that Robert DeNiro has signed onto star in a new movie as Vince Lombardi. A few years ago I read this brilliant biography about Vince Lombardi called When Pride Still Mattered by David Maraniss, I wondered when there would be a movie about Lombardi's life. DeNiro will be perfect for the role.

4. Currently listening to "There goes my love" by The Blue Van.

Kitsch

Today was a day I had been dreading. For the past few months I have been working as a sales representative at a credit card processing company. I had a terrific manager, wonderful co-workers and I hated to resign. Unfortunately, the pressure of 100% commission, in an economy that makes straight commission jobs difficult, I had to find a better position. On Saturday I accepted a position at a health club. My position will be to try to secure new members. Although this position is still heavy commission, it does have a base salary, plus I can walk to work, and enjoy free gym membership. All in all, I will be in a better situation.

I did have a very nice weekend. After a pretty stressful week,, Allie and I decided we wanted a night out. We met up with some friends in Evanston, and went to a nice steak restaurant named Pete Miller's. We are friends with a host, and he hooked us up with great seats. They are known for their live jazz; and they most definitely did not disappoint. After blowing my entertainment budget for the week, I decided that I would not spend any more money this weekend. I did end up going back to the Art Institute to see the rest of the exhibits. It is in my top three art museums I have ever seen. Their miniature room collection is amazing.

Since I last wrote, I have watched a lot of movies - some good, some bad. Here is the recap:

Law Abiding Citizen: The critics panned this movie, but I really liked it. It is pretty violent, but also really interesting. I give it a B+.

The Crazies: This movie came out on Friday. It is the same type of zombie movie as all the others. A virus hits a small community and makes them all turn into zombies. Although Jim, Sarah, and Allie all enjoyed it. I thought it was remarkably banal and lacked any creativity. It was more gross than anything else. I give it a D-.

Zombieland: I thought a good fix after watching a trite zombie movie, would be to watch a spoof of a zombie movie. I give this movie a B-/C+. It had its funny moments. Woody Harrelson was excellent. Bill Murray's cameo was hysterical. However, the movie was kind of ridiculous - not in a good way.

Ghost: This movie came out 20 year ago and is a classic. Starring a young Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, and Patrick Swayze, I had heard that Ghost was really good but I had never seen it. It is definitely a chick-flick, and kind of cheesy but still a really well acted, well written movie. I give it an A-/B+.

Extract: I pretty much love anything that Jason Bateman does. Extract is no exception. With great performances by Kristen Wiig, and J.K. Simmons, I thought this movie was quite funny. At times it was slow, but all in all, it was worth the $1.00 rental charge at Redbox. I give it a B.

Surrogates: Not great but certainly not awful. This sci-fi film starring Bruce Willis was actually better than I expected. It is not going to win any awards, but is worth renting. I give it a C+/B-.

1. I had never heard of the "singer" Justin Bieber until this weekend. Unbelievably bad pop music. He is the worst thing to happen to pop music in years.

2. I am not sure if it is because I am a loyal Minnesotan, or if I just really enjoy the taste, but when it comes to coffee shops, I will always be a Caribou Coffee guy. Based primarily on nostalgia, some of my favorite memories in high school were of meeting friends for laughter and conversation while enjoying a chai tea, smoothie, turtle mocha, or hot chocolate at Caribou. Unfortunately, due to a lack of discretionary income by its customers, Caribou's business model has struggled the past three years. Needless to say, I am very excited and interested in the new Caribou. In the next year, Caribou is going to revamp their whole image from the folksy, cabin feel to a new chic, modern feel. Although this might turn off people like me, I can understand the marketing staff to try something new to see if it can bring business up.