From the Notebook

-The Russian invasion of Georgia saddens me greatly. One of my teachers from middle school once told me of his trip to Georgia, and how the people there were always happy to celebrate any occasion, including introductions, with drink and fine food. My teacher suggested he spent a majority of his time there a little “too buzzed.” Georgia had troops in Iraq as well, and Georgia had opened itself up to the west; unfortunately, not in any way that will help them in the present conflict. (Fortunately, at time of publishing, the Russians have said they will cease hostilities.)

-The longer I live and the more movies I see, the less I tolerate crap like “Mr. Woodcock.”

-Picked up the new Stargate direct-to-DVD movie “Continuum” for my brother, and I decided to watch it to pass the time. Well, okay, I’ll admit to watching the occasional episode of Stargate and actually being somewhat interested in the movie. If you’re in to Stargate, you’ve already purchased and seen this movie a half dozen times. It is the last Stargate appearance for the late Don S. Davis and is probably the last time we’ll see Richard Dean Anderson as General Jack O’Neill. It is also pretty good science fiction, much better than the first Stargate movie (starring Kurt Russell). If you’re not a sci-fi person, it’s still funny and smart but can’t be considered a great film.

-Some Burger Tour news, the Napa Valley Grill has officially bumped the Twin City Grill off the tour. Both restaurants were located in the Mall of America. The Citizen Grill knocked off the 5-8 Club while the Town Talk Diner has pushed Adrian’s off the list. Harry’s and The Black Forest Inn are being weighed against some of the other spots on the tour so there might be other changes coming. I’ll begin editing the 2nd edition sometime after the RNC.

-I have yet to receive any confirmation I’ve passed the background check, so there’s no guarantee I’ll be at the RNC just yet. In any case, I’ve already made arrangements for the convention and gotten the time off work, so I’m stuck going one way or the other. So, if I won’t be in the convention, hopefully I’ll be outside getting tear gassed in the midst of the protests.

-Last week I came to the shocking realization I would vote for Paris Hilton before I voted for Barack Obama. It got me thinking, there exists a real possibility my candidate, who is nearing the end of his generation’s mean life expectancy, could die (of natural causes Secret Service) anytime before the election. Who would I cast my ballot for in case of tragedy? I don’t even know what the election laws are regarding the death of a presidential candidate. I would consider writing in Fred Thompson or Mike Huckabee, maybe the Veep candidate (unless it’s a Democrat). I might even vote Bob Barr. In the end though, I would probably just write in Ted Nugent.

-I thought the DailyLit.Com idea of reading books in five minute chunks through the email was great…Until my internet went out (now in its 5th week) and reading emailed Nietzsche became a low priority with my limited online time. Now I’m three weeks behind in the emails and not too terribly interested in spending hours reading anything off my computer screen.