Honduras.

Really, in the general scheme of things? I could barely point this country out on a map, not a country that enters into my consciousness at all..

My first reaction was, "oh, another Latin America coup? Shocking, not." But since it was a slow news day I took a closer look at the reporting. And started to get angry. At my government and the news. First clue that we were on the wrong side? Chavez was taking the same stance as us. Then you get down to the facts, the guy, Zelaya, was in a feud with both his Congress and the Supreme Court there. He seemed intent on violating the rule of the land and install himself as President for life, circumventing election laws and ignoring the law.

What I think really has me cheesed off? Multiple references to a military coup...... Um... The military acted at the direction of Congress. No military leaders were placed in charge, the president of their Congress was selected to act as President pro-tem.

And from the opinion polls? Barely 30% wanted Zelaya in office. Basically it comes down that the geniuses who came up with the Constitution did not put in an impeachment capability.

Zelaya wants to violate the Constitution (at least 8 parts of it), ignored the rulings of the Supreme Court and (this is just me) is guilty of having some bad allies (Castro, Chavez, and others of his ilk). The US is in the wrong here. We should back off and let them take care of their own problems.

Forgiveness

It continues to amaze me the amount that we, as a society, are prone to let slide in those with talent. Be it sports (too many to count, in particular in the NFL and MLB arena), music/art (really, this is the only field where it is expected that the most skilled are expected to be addicts of some type), politics (sexual improrities as well as financial abound) and (to a lesser degree, which says something about our society) business. We just seem too be horribly accepting of their (massive) flaws and let it slide as though their skill was an excuse. In particular when the individual has recently died (human nature to not speak ill of the dead I guess).

I and at least one other blogger friend have been less than understanding about the national/international mourning for the loss of Michael Jackson... CG actually said, "I have never seen someone hate child molesters as much as you." There are few things said about me that I am as proud of as statement like that... I just cannot understand the amount of sadness/mourning for someone who has shown himself to be such as despicable human being. Rot in hell Michael.... Every bit of good will that was earned for your skill in music was lost for your depicable behavior.

Iran

Dear Iranian protesters. Good for you. You guys have more balls than I do (and definitely more than the long haired protesters here in the States). To step out like that and protest something wrong, when the potential consequences for you can be so grave? I admire and respect your bravery and determination.

I am embarrassed that my government remains silent in your struggle (we get so much flack from your government even when we remain silent. We might as well say something that deserves condemnation. Really, silent or speaking, we can do no right in your governments eyes. We might as well just issue words of encouragement to you to, supporting something that we hold so dear.). I apologize on behalf of my country.

Summer TV

Even though Summer is the slow season for TV affictionado (my list of shows on my Tivo's is rapidly shrinking as I watch though some of my second and third tier shows that were accumulating) it definitely has changed a lot since the time of my youth. Good god it has changed for the better. Thanks to cable (which pretty much owns the summer) there are a number of great (or interesting) shows that are on now or coming on soon:

• True Blood - HBO finally booted something out of the infield. Looks like they have a home-run here. I got addicted to it last fall and was eagerly awaiting the new season. And based on the one episode I have not been disappointed.
• Burn Notice - It has Bruce Campbell in it. Do you really need any more reasons? If you do, these should cover it; Good plots, engaging characters...
• In Plain Sight - My new favorite basic cable show. Mary and her crew are just fun, with each episode being able to stand on its own rights but skillfully interwoven.
• Pysch - Still watch it. Still entertained.
• Eureka - SciFi Channel (I am going to ignore your new name since it looks like the product of the marketing retards), you consistently produce shows that I really do enjoy watching (BSG, SG, SG:A). The average joe surrounded by the big brains? It just makes for fun TV.
• Warehouse 13 - Color me intrigued. I will definitely be giving you a shot. I eagerly await the chance to see this story expand.
• Nurse Jackie - I liked the first episode. I am amused that it already has been renewed.

It is also the time for the burnoff. We have already seen the end of Pushing Daisies (those last 3-4 minutes felt so rushed but at least they offered a little closure) and the upcoming burnoff of some of the cancelled shows (Cupid, etc). I do look forward to the handful of episodes of Better of Ted (so happy that show dodged the axe).

And I would be remiss to not mention my 2 favorites of the summer network reality shows: Wipeout (god I love the big balls... I so, so, so want to do this show... though I think my little brother D may try and kill me if I do) and I Survived a Japanese Game Show.

Rhodeside Grill

Ever been to a place that does something (in this case, brunch) pretty well and thought, "maybe I should try them for dinner?" I did and I was sorely disappointed.

I truly think that the brunch at Rhodeside is pretty solid, some original dishes and nothing to really complain about. And of course most everyone knows that it is a pretty good place to get a beer (very solid selection of them) because of it's kickball notoriety (at least in Arlington). But I made the mistake of hitting them up for dinner recently.

We started off with calamari. Bleh. Rubbery, the sauce was about as bland as can be, the breading was seriously meh... We did not clean then plate like we would for a good meal.

Then on to the main course.. Rack of ribs for her, Fish and Chips for me. Fries were not well cooked, lacked taste and more than a few were cold. My first sign that things were going to be bad for the main course was the fish and the onion rings had the same breading as the calamari. And darn if I wasn't right. The fish itself was ok. The breading was bad. The ribs were cooked right but they were overwhelmed by the tangy sauce that tasted as though it came from a bottle of KC Masterpiece. There was food left on my plate at the end of this... which for those of you who know me, means that it was bad.

Rhodeside, I will miss you for the brunch, the beer and the convenience, but I will not miss you for the food other than brunch (Rhodeside Grill is on the chopping block due to expansion of the Teachers building that is adjacent to it).

Family Weight Loss Challenge

So I have joined my brothers and my father in a little Biggest Loser B Family style.
I definitely need to lose some weight, in particular with the races I have coming in October...

263lbs at the weigh in, target is 235. I wish I could have pushed it back to after this weekend (I have a wedding to head to with my ex-roommate). So hopefully next time (in about 2 weeks) I can show at least some forward progress...

Upfronts: Fox

Sad

• Really only one sad note. Poor Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Good show. I would have liked to have seen it play out a bit more

Glad

• Dollhouse. Really, it still is a a happy note, even now... A pleasant surprise. A rare survivor of the "Death Slot" aka the slot that Fox sends SF shows off to its early death.
• Fringe. Really good. Took a bit to catch but I really enjoy it now.
• 24 - needs to redeem itself for the meek ending of the last season
• Bones - solid fun TV
• Human Target - could be interesting
  

Meh

• Family Guy - seems to be on a steady decline.
• All the new shows. As always, the jury is out. Will I watch them? Yes. Will I give them much of a chance? Nope....
  

NBC Upfronts

Excitement

• Chuck. I know kung-fu.... 'nuff said!!
• 30 Rock and The Office. Solid comedy.
• Heroes. I want to see how this goes. It got a lot better in the second half of the season.
• Day One. Intrigued am I...
  

Bleh

• Parks and Recreation. Just not impressed.
• My Name is Earl. Probably should die but this show, like According to Jim, has nine lives and will reappear on another network.
• Jay Leno - Dude.... you just killed like 6 hours of prime time scripted TV. You and your jaw are officially on my shit list. Right above reality TV.

We shall see

• whatever else new. Other than Day One nothing really leaps at me. Hopefully the new comedy on Thursday is better than the drek that was Kath and Kim.... Talk about a low bar....
  

CW Upfronts

Since I am displeased, lets start out with the ugly...
Ugly

• They killed Privileged.... :( Cute show, well written and entertaining. One of the closest sucessors to Gilmore Girls.
• And Reaper... not quite so tragic but still entertaining
• How is One Tree Hill still alive?
• And the same to Smallville.....

Good

• Supernatural got renewed. At least one more year of fun
• Gossip Girl is also coming back. Another no brainer....

Meh, we shall see

• Vampire Diaries. Somehow it just feels like Twilight, the TV Show.....

CBS Upfronts

Yes, I am doing these out of order... It's my blog and I will blog when I want to

Excitement

• Well, Amazing Race got another season. Hands down the best Reality show on TV so that is always exciting, since it always seems to be on the bubble....

No Surprise But Happy that I get more of them

• Big Bang, HIMYM, 2.5 Men, NCIS, the CSI's (more meh than anything, but good background), Numb3rs

Really!?

• Much as I appreciate JLH breasts, Ghost Whisperer needs to crossover into the light.
• Same to you Medium. Time to move on to the next plane.

Meh

• Everything new. I might watch it (and NCIS spinoff will get a real look) but nothing to get worked up over.
  

ABC Upfronts...

Ah, the exciting times for a Media Addict. While we have gotten early confirmation that some bubble shows (Chuck, Better off Ted, Dollhouse) have been renewed it is interesting to see where it all fits together...

Yep, late.... busy at work....
Hm...

Excitement

• Better off Ted is coming back!!
• V, Flash Forward and Eastwick all look like they are worth a look.
• Looking forward to the last season of Lost!
• Jim is dead.... now we cut off the head, sew in Garlic to the mouth and bury it in a crossroads and hope it stays there.

Apathy/no surprise

• Grey's, Private Practice, Brothers and Sisters. And that's pretty much all other than the above that I watch...
• The new sitcoms... I will give them a try, but I am not expecting much...

Sadness

• Samantha Who?.... Cute show. While not tragic,
• Scrubs - Was this necessary? While I love me some Scrubs, this years ending felt like so perfect of an ending that this just leaves me conflicted...

MCM Historic Half

What a difference training can make. Final result time of 2:14:04, a 10:15 pace for 13.1 miles (including the grueling 10-11 mile stretch where it seemed to be constantly uphill). That represents a good 11 minute decrease from the National Half Marathon. And of course it didn't also come with the near shock levels of reaction that I had to the last race (I was in seriously bad shape at the end of the National HM... like sick for 2 days bad).

And what a difference competant management can make. Adequate water, poweraide, and even sports beans at one point. None of this running out of cups crap like at the National Marathon. Strong presense of volunteers, no shortage of medical personnel, and a well organized ending. It was downright refreshing.

Though I could have done with a little less rain. I was a serious drowned rat by the end of the run, with a period intense rain just as I got to the downtown proper area. I literally wrung my pants out a couple of times during the race and my feet were soaked halfway through. I know that on some level I had more confidence on this court because I used to live in (and run around) Fredericksburg so most of the course was known to me. The course itself was nice, relatively flat, plenty of interesting things to look at and (given the hour and weather on a Sunday) a good crowd of supporters.

A very pretty course and I highly encourage people to do it, it was a great race and course.

Really Arlington?

Moving your Health Department from the middle of the County(Clarendon) off to a fairly remote corner right by the gates of Ft. Myer? Poor planning. You are removing the following:

• Ease of access. The Clarendon location is right on the bus and Metro lines. The average people you have heading to these services? Not so car friendly.... And it pretty much makes it basically impossible for the employees to use public transportation to get to work.
• Parking. Easily this is what is going to affect both the general public and the businesses that operate in the Clarendon area. This will mean no more free parking after 6 for that area other than the pitiful street parking.

Toss in a snow job of the County board by the County management by forcing this through with little regard to little things like, y'know, review (hmm... this sounds familiar). So much for transparency of Government, at least here in the PRA (People's Republic of Arlington).....

Star Trek.

Really, really good. Go see it.
This is one of the most approachable of the Star Trek series. You could go in with no knowledge of Star Trek and enjoy it (CupcakeGirl is a good example.. she said she liked it). Very action oriented, much more of a "realistic" feel (some things I liked, there was actually things like military discipline on the ships, the tech level felt more believable (engine room, bridge), fights seemed realer (bodies, vacuum)) and was quite a fun night.

I watched this on IMAX, but the theater was so full by the time we got there so we were way up front. I really hate how we Americans fill in a theater, even when it was packed. So much lying (I am saving that seat = my fat ass doesn't want anyone sitting next to me.... I did look back at least once or twice and saw that a number of those "saved" seats were empty... why was I not surprised).

PS, J.J. Abrams, you are officially banned from the lens flare effect... are you kidding me? You just used up a lifetime pass, something like 200+ uses...

Media Notes

Movies

• I Love You Man - saw this while I had freetime at drill (shocking). Pretty entertaining.

TV

• Dollhouse - Still loving it, all the way to the end. Me and CG gasped when we saw the reveal (I called it a little before it was stated). Next week looks... fantastic!!
• Chuck - OMG. I know Kung-fu!!! God, I love this show and really hope that all this bubble talk is just that. I really want to see how this plays out.
• Amazing Race - Really, the editors of this show are great. While there are no teams that I really love, there are a few I don't like (yes, I am looking at you deaf boy.... your mom sooo carried your whining ass)
• 24 - really, I think this may have been the most twisty season yet... Go Jack! Go Chloe (kick Janeane Garafalo's characters ass.. that woman pisses me off so much)
• Big Bang/How I Met Your Mother - This must be just about the best comedy block on TV right now. The season enders/near enders have just been entertaining..
  

I think my external drive for my Tivo is about to die. Already moving some shows off and have a replacement ordered....

Video Games

• I got nothing... a few games of Halo 3 and that is about it..... Rare for me..
  

Piola

So my family (parents, a brother and my GF, CG) decided that it would be a good way to cap off the weekend by taking advantage of a fantastic deal that Piola only run on Sunday from 5PM to 10PM. All you can eat pizza for $15.
Basically they have a set list (for the night, they rotate every week) where they come around and offer whatever comes out of the oven to you.

Let me tell you... it was fantastic!! Luckily there were only 2 pizza with the fungus so CG and I were quite happy. I think I got to try every item on the list (minus the ones with fungus on them) and quickly found my favorites (and ones I didn't like... yeah.... I am looking at you eggplant). Very good deal and a great chance to try some pizza's that you wouldn't necessarily commit to an entire pizza of, sight (and taste) unseen.

Who buys DVD's anymore?

I recently wracked my brain and tried to remember the last time I bought a DVD (or BluRay or HD-DVD... pretty much any physical disc). As you can see above, I used to buy them... A lot.... (I probably have around 1500 disc's.... mainly Anime). I don't count games (since you pretty much have to buy them in disc form) but I think it came out to be the middle of last year (where I bought a collection of my of my favorite TV shows). I also can understand people with little children (who have the ability to watch the same show something like a billion times) or special excemptions for shows that you just love (like women and "Pretty Woman", "Sex and the City", etc).

But with all the options out there (Netflix, Tivo, etc) who really needs those physical discs cluttering up their environment? I know that I (and a couple of people I know that used to buy a lot of stuff) have seen our activity slow to a trickle....

Army Cupcakes and Cakes

This past Drill I had 2 soldiers retire from my unit (one SSG with 29 years of service and one SFC with 35 years of service). Check out the awesome cupcakes and cakes that one of the Soldiers (who was also leaving, though she was just ETSing) prepared for the "Hail and Farewell" party we had at the end of Drill. She did an awesome job (and the cake/cupcakes tasted as good as they looked).

Taste of the Nation

So yummy!!!!
So full!! (I woke completely full this morning, after passing out from a food coma)

There were so many tasty treats that it is hard even to start. Lots of favorites (Co Co Sala had some awesome stuff), lots of new places and some really great drinks (tried the mixologists drinks.... no wonder they are so popular if all their drinks were as strong as the one the poured last night. As well as good friends like the belgian beers). A very pleasant way to spend an evening (and the best part was that most of it went to a charity).

National Capital (Half) Marathon.

What a nice morning for a run! I completed the race (13.1 miles!! This is actually the longest run that I have ever completed in a race. As part of Operation Run Fatboy Run this is the first of series that I am running (next weekend is MCM Run to Register 10K, so that I get my spot in the MCM next fall) in just a shade over 2:20(so basically around a 11 minute mile).

The good:

• Pretty course. I can't think of the last time I have been through some of these neighborhoods and it was a really great way to see DC
• Overall a fairly level course
• Good crowds. I liked the one neighborhood where people had beer available to the runners (I did not partake. I had been contemplating having beer at the end, but my body disagreed).

The bad:

• Wow, DC roads are in bad shape. There really is no point where you are not looking at the ground making sure that you have good footing
• Running out of cups. Really people.... this is race management 101. Having people take water/poweraide from gallon jugs was just plain awkward.
  
• Not training enough. I was destroyed after the run. Like by the time I made it to the Metro with CupcakeGirl? I was warming my hand in her hands. For those of you that know me, that is unheard of. By the time I made it back to Courthouse? Teeth chattering, slight nausea.... I am only feeling human now, some 5 hours after the race.

yes, I am a fashion disaster when I run....