Grindhouse

Amazing. This movie is a sick, twisted masterpiece, paying homage to the classic bad movies of years gone by. One half bad zombie movie, one half car chase (think Duel, or more of that ilk). Tipping the scales at a massive 3 hour plus run time, I...gasp...left the theater feeling like I got my money's worth.

The Rodriguez half isn't as good as Tarantino's, but hell, I am a Tarantino fanboy. Almost as much fun as the two movies...an old school double feature...still geeking out...was the fake movie trailers in between. Rob Zombie, Eli Roth, and others contributed to the chaos, featuring such so bad they're good gems as....SPOILER ALERT...

Werewolf Women of the S.S.

Seriously. Parody/tribute to a genre gets no better than what these madmen have wrought. If you liked Sin City or anything by Tarantino, check this one out..support the Empire. I'll pay to see it one more time just to up it's box office take before ultimately buying the DVD(s).

Got me

I've been had...the previous post references an April Fool's joke. I don't know who was behind it, but well done. Apparently, there is no BBQ tax in Belgium, but the knee jerk tendencies of the world today certainly made the ridiculous sound plausible. Bravo.

Priceless.

French speaking Wallonia, a province of Belgium, has just approved a tax on barbequing. This, of course, is supposed to reduce and/or discourage greenhouse gas emissions. But, how will they track such an airborne release?

Good question. It seems our Belgian friends have thought of everything. You see, there will be helicopters with thermal sensors so that they can detect emissions, and enforce the law. Unless there is a larger news story, something about the wafflemakers creating a magic helicopter that runs on pixie dust....

Ah, hell, I'll just ask it. Wouldn't the countermeasure burn more fossil fuel and cause more emissions than your average backyard grill? Just checking.

Pizza and Beer

Wow. I am a spoiled, spoiled man. After falling in love with a chef, and being exposed to brick oven pizzas created by master craftsmen, and finding what really good beer is, the bloom is off the old college experience rose.

One of my brothers invited me to his dorm for a PPV event. Bunch of guys, laughter, in all a testosterone laden good time. But I had forgotten the twin evils of the broke college diet, Dominos Pizza and Milwaukee's Beast.

My misssion for the week is to get some Victory, Stone, or a good Belgian ale and introduce the younglings to a brew you can taste.

Another Ridiculous NYTimes Front Page

Wow, so rich nations are spending more money to offset the effects of global warming than poor countries are. Kind of like rich countries spend more on everything than poor countries do, because, well...they are rich, and the other ones are poor. That's the big difference between rich and poor. Front page stuff, guys.

The classic template is whatever bad news comes, women, minorities, and the poor will be hardest hit. In the case of global warming, however, there are some spectacular upsides. The poorest nations frequently have issues with food supplies. Good news. If the planet warms a couple of degrees, there will be more available and viable farmland, and growing seasons will be significantly lengthened. For the slower people out there, that means more food. Will some African nations be less able to produce food? Honestly, in all likelihood, yes. Would the effect be as drastic if they were not corrupt infighting nations? No.

The actual results of warming will be far less than predicted, which the alarmists will claim is because of the preventive measures they advocated. After a few centuries, the earth will begin to cool again, and the same Chicken Littles will say it is all man's fault, and we must dramatically alter our lifestyles. Every generation predicts the end of the world. It's in man's genes.

The rich will be in a better position to weather whatever comes, and those of lesser means will suffer more. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Yet somehow, it is still front page news.