Just what this country needs, another billionaire populist

So, George Soros, billionaire, has pledged $13 million to unseat Bush on November 2.

Of course, spending your money on politics is a true freedom of expression in this country, (like selling your vote). But $13 million? This guy survived the Nazis in Hungary, and is only pledging less than 2/10ths of one percent (0.1857% to be exact) on his critical mission. He has given billions to other causes, so why does he give so little to what he considers to be the most important cause?

This guy is impressive, his foundation gives out almost 1/2 billion dollars every year. He is the mastermind for Watching Justice, which monitors the U.S. Justice Department. Pretty interesting stuff. Okay, he is not the mastermind, I just like that Get Smart word from the Cold War. He just pays the bills.

It looks non-partisan, and not jingoistic. So the media and the public will ignore it.

Repeal the Patriot Act now and stuff.

--gh

USUARIOS MEXICANOS: cual es la peor cancion? - BESTandWORST.com

Okay, I was looking for the lyrics to "Mesa Que Mas Aplauda" by Climax, and came across a question in Spanish on BESTandWORST.com. The question was actually which cancione (song) was the worst (peor)... Still, an addictive song, and this Mexican radio thing has not subsided.

In looking for those lyrics, I came across Gina, a "half-Mexican/half-American from Calexico." Wow. She blogs mostly in English, then starts spouting off in Spanish when that fits the mood.


Of course, I am jealous of anyone who is so fluent in two languages. I know that being mixed ethnic has its disadvantages in this society, (I could only understand about 1/5 of the "You know you are LATINO if..." joke). However, most Americans do not know more than seven words in another language. I know about 72...

Back to Climax, here are part of those letras:
Mesa, Mesa, mesa que mas aplauda
Mesa que mas aplauda, mesa que mas aplauda
Le mando, le mando, le mando a la niña


And yes, I am aware of the slam on my motherland in the bridge....

--gh

California's 3 Strikes Law

So this year California may vote to amend their famous (or infamous) Three Strikes Law. This law has been removing violent re-offenders off of California's streets for a decade now.

It, uh, has also been locking up people who stole some batteries(31 years to life!), razor blades(25 years to life!), and a vacuum cleaner.(35 years to life!)

Oh, and my favorite was the poor fool who shoplifted a baseball glove and receiving 26 to life. Which fits the baseball analogy well. While this law has worked for putting violent offenders away, it does seem that the definition for STRIKE needs to be ammended. If you stole some shirts, then a VCR, and then bought a stolen bicycle, was that really a third strike? Or was that some kind of foul ball? Oh, and what about that rule where you can steal first base on your third strike?

Hopefully, Californians can determine the difference between a foul and a strike, (and when the pitcher hits the batter) this November. Also, I hope they don't abandon this law, just change it. As for the criminals, even petty criminals, living in Cali- ...if you stole a pack of cigarettes ten years ago, and removed a propane tank from a patio 5 years ago, leave the state.

--gh

How to start your own mexican band

Earlier I described how I ended up listening to mostly Mexican music in the last few months. Okay, not all of it is Mexican, my favorite spanish-language rap-band, AKWID is from South Central L.A., and as I wrote below, Intocable is tejano. I also have learned to enjoy bachata, which is Dominican flavored latin music. (I still have to learn to appreciate salsa or mambo music, too dancy...)

So, you want to start your own grupo? Well, you are in luck, here are the steps:
Step One-Choose your name--my favorite is to pick a noun, pluralize it, and add "del norte" to it. Examples are: Los Rieleros Del Norte, Los Huracanes del Norte, and Los Tigres del Norte. This helps people realize that you will be playing mostly norteño music. But don't worry, you can still do cumbias and even a little ranchera...
Step Two-Wear the same clothes--In Mexico, it is not only cool, but expected that you will be wearing the SAME outfits.

Step Three-Choose your instruments-This would normally be hard in a North-American pop band. So you spent 8 years in band? TOO Bad!!! Band instruments SUCK! Well, not so in grupera music. Keep that saxophone, clarinet, sousaphone (primary bass instrument, it appears, honestly!), baritone, trombone, trumpet, or crash symbols. Do you want symbols, snare AND bass drum? Then you have to employ THREE percussionists! Oh yeah, and the sexiest instrument is the accordian. You heard me, the accordian. If you play the button accordian, then you are even more ranchera! I watched this one video (okay, I bought a DVD as well...) where there were 16 people in the band. Oh yeah, you can have a guitar, but you MUST have a bajo-sexto...

So, there it is, steps one two and three. Be sure to mix things up with cumbia, ranchera, grupera, norteño (or tejano if you're on this side of the Rio Grande).

Enjoy!


--gh

KBBX

Okay, over Spring Break I was trying to track down a loose connection in my truck, so I disconnected the battery to see if the terminals were dirty. After I got it all together, I realized that I lost all the preset buttons on the stereo. I pushed search and landed on KBBX, a rather weak channel from this distance, actually. Over the last few months, I rarely changed it listening to my newly assigned music. (I was too lazy to reprogram it, actually.) I thought, I really can listen to ANYTHING --sort of like Mark and his non-aversion to food... I really do listen to everything. (I must say that I listen to death metal and contemporary (white) christian music the least.)

So, how long can I listen to grupera and banda music? Actually, I am hooked. The last CD purchase were a tejano band named Intocable (untouchable, for any american unfortunate enough NOT to know spanish in the 21st century.) The CD purchase before that was a Mexican version of "Now, that's what I call...", featuring cumbia, norteño, banda, and grupera music. If you don't know the difference, listen to a spanish-language music station for 2-3 months, it will sink in.
--gh

Duck Feet

Okay, I am the first to admit that I have somewhat wimp-ish food issues. I like to cut the fat from my steak, even filet. The egg has to be cooked just right (not burnt, no runny white parts). I have an infantile gag reflex. However, I am still a man, aren't I?!!!



No, I am not. I was curious about the unusual cuisine on my colleague's desk. I stared at it for several seconds and could not even guess what it was. My Taiwanese friend was about to eat duck's feet. He was very encouraging about them being absolutely delicious, and I wanted to say that I ate duck feet. He tore off the smallest part and handed it to me.

It was room temperature, which did not help. Just one feeling of that fatty skin on the back of my throat told me that I ought not be messing around with this delicacy. I told him that it did not suit me, but I saved the rest for Terra. I left the office, walked across the hall and entered a classroom. Moments later I was regurgitating repeatedly into a trashcan. I am so ashamed. I should know better, I cannot even eat the skin off of a KFC breast.

BTW, it took forever to find an image of this item. The above picture does NOT do it the proper weird justice that it deserves. In fact, that picture, found from the Google Image Search is a broken link and only found in cache. I defy you to find a better image of this tasty treat, leave it in the comments below...
--gh

You've GOT to be kidding me, his name is SPANKY?

Here is further proof that we need a full Internet site dedicated to bringing down the aberrant profession called clown: Thank you for your public service, The Smoking Gun!

Man, I really hate clowns. John Wayne Gacy was a clown. (Remember his quote: "Sometimes clowns kill."?)

I really, really, HATE clowns.

--gh

Not responsible

Well, I didn't really share this with you earlier, but I am now coming off of one of the worst flu situations that I have had in a while. Maybe it was a Lucky Flu, because I only had the aches, and felt lousy, mostly leaving my insides intact, and not really nauseous either....

However, I don't think I should claim responsibility for anything that I blogged about in the last week...

--gh

Backwash GoiterCam

Uh, this is self explanatory: GoiterCam
--gh

Mark Osborne's "MORE" - The Story

I absolutely love this short film. You may have seen it on MTV as the visuals for a Kenna video, "Hell Bent."

This is the best 16mb on the web, imo:Mark Osborne's "MORE" - The Story
--gh