Windows arrived today. Hooray! I was staining the ceiling last night in anticipation of the installation. I didn’t want to risk getting stain on the windows. Man, let me tell you, that was a hot job! No windows (Since they were wrapped) or doors opened while working on the back porch. I was dripping!
Picture of the installers on the Picasa page.
Picked up my Craptastic Cub Cadet today. A to Z said it had a bad pulley, and sensor for the starter disabler. One of those fine safety features that makes sure you cant start the mower while laying under the blades retrieving a sandwich. Well, I dont remember exactly how the directions went… But I seem to recall that illustration.
Pekin politics, news and blogs.
Its a great feature that we are able to comment on news in the local paper via the website… Write a letter? Are you nuts? So, the Pekin Daily Times has been a nice outlet to blast news and editorials that I deem petty, socialist or moralistic.
A recent example of this was an article about a guy who attempted to kill a dog for another man. It was a crime in the respect that the guy who flubbed the killing: A) Did not kill the dog, and left it suffering B) Committed the killing on someone else’s land.
So, now all the animal lovers (And there are far to many of you creating some kind of agenda for animals) want this guy thrown in jail, and other people who have used him prosecuted. Give me a break! We have better uses for the courts, lawyers and police to be attending to than this kind of garbage.
Link to the article, and comments to my comment: http://www.pekintimes.com/articles/2008/07/25/news/news980.txt
On this vein of local news. Since the local editorials in the paper range from goofy college memories to a mind-numbing recitation of economic stats that somehow lend credence to a vote for Obama… I have turned to some local blogs. 2 in particular are constantly updated and seem to have a vocal group of followers that make comments.
http://www.pekinnewsandviews.com/ and http://knightindragonland.blogpeoria.com/
At first, I was a fan of reading sites like these. I loved how they could say things that a newspaper would be afraid to publish. Like name problems that REAL people are thinking about.
Then after a few months of checking them out… It came to me that all of these barbed comments pointed at local politicians and newspapers are just the tomato throwing of the blogger. You might agree with them 50% of the time… But, that other 50% that you dont agree with???
Well, if you happen to share the view of the “enemy”? Lets just say you better not comment on it! Then the barbs come back at you.
What does it all mean?
It means the newspaper is a good place to go for news that is not slanted or skewed to a personal agenda. It may not be perfect, but they certainly pull a better balancing act than bloggers will ever attempt. Now, if we could have an editorial page filled with equal space for bloggers… Then we might be on to something.
Who are you maaaannnnnn? I’m Batman
The Dark Knight. Um, wow… What can I say? Even the best movies have a hard time distracting me from how sore my but is after 2 and a half hours. Not this one. I was ready for a third sequel to come on as soon as this one was over. Its a great movie. And its not really that much of a superhero movie. Batman has some cool toys, but they never really make a presence on the movie. Its a drama of good and evil… It might as well have been set in Shakespearean times.
Yes, Heath Ledger was good… I am so sick of hearing about his posthumous Academy Award… The one that no other living actors will be able to touch. Unless they want to follow a similar route? I’m sure it will make his suicide seem OK when someone else holds the award and talks about how much Heath would have loved this. Little consolation in my book.
Now, all the talk is about #3. Angelina Jolie as Catwoman, Johnney Depp as the Riddler, Dick Cheney as the Penguin… I have a hard time believing that the same guys who just made this movie will resort to the failed recipe that brought the last string of Batman movies to a halt. (Oh, and ruined the Spiderman franchise!) Drop the 3 villian movie, and stick to a great 1 on 1 battle like the Batman and Joker. At this point, after what I saw in The Dark Knight… I think they will do the right thing.
Lastly
Going on vacation with the Giancarli’s in a short time. Look for updates on that in the coming weeks!