Off To The Slopes
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Posted by mardenhill 2/28/2008 01:02:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Skiing
Big Head Todd Pulls A Radiohead
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The size of the files total 41 megs so you are not looking at high quality mp3s but its enough to get people interested and those who are particular about their music files will upgrade later.
I am listening right now and it's not that bad of a release. There are some major blues influences going but the jam sound the 90s appears later on in the cd.
http://www.bigheadtodd.com/
Posted by mardenhill 2/26/2008 04:24:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Music
Saltwater At MGM Detroit
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Last nite Erika and I went out to celebrate Erika's CPA license and decided to check out a new restaurant here in Detroit. The restaurant was Saltwater at the new casino and it specializes in seafood if you hadn't picked that up already. When we arrived our table wasn't ready so we had a seat at the bar. Erika had a raspberry cilantro gimlet and I had a bombay gin and tonic. The gimlet was excellent and is something we will try to make on our own. Once we were seated we ordered a bottle of gewertzaminer unfortunately I didn't get the name of. I do know it was a southern California vineyard but it had some strange name and I havn't been able to find it on the internet. Erika had the chef's tasting menu which consisted of 5 courses and a dessert. I ordered the famous Maine lobster pot pie which came out during the 5th course. Erika was gracious to allow me to sample her other plates and each of them were amazing. We both had a panko rolled crab truffle with a meyer lemon sauce. You could have eaten a dozen of them and still craved more. Another one of their appetizers were served and this was the crab stuffed shrimp in a hot and sour sauce. The black mussel souffle and potato encrusted snapper were also included. Her main course was an American kobe beef which I skipped. My entree arrived during this time and it was a production at the table. The server cut the top of the pot pie off and set that on a plate. She then removed the lobster which was in 4 pieces and placed it shell and all on the top of the pie. She finished it off with the vegetables and the truffled lobster creme. I was blown away at the presentation and the taste was even more amazing. The lobster was perfectly done and the creme sauce was rich and full of flavor. For dessert we split the banana tart and were provided with a complimentary white chocolate truffle dipped in chocolate and rolled in oreo cookies.
Just to set the record straight, we don't eat like this on a normal basis but it was our splurge and worth every penny. The restaurant, service and food were excellent and I don't have any complaints. They do have entrees that are between $30-$40 which we would like to try at a future time. If you are in interested in a high end, gourmet meal here in Detroit, I highly recommend Saltwater. Call ahead for a reservation and don't count on making any money to pay for dinner on the machines at the casino, they are tight and not worth the time.
http://www.mgmgranddetroit.com/restaurants/saltwater.aspx
Posted by mardenhill 2/24/2008 09:08:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Detroit
Sharp Aquos BDHP20U 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Now that Blu Ray has won the format battle, its time to start looking for a player. Besides Sony, Sharp and Panasonic make players and I expect many more manufacturers to join in over the next year. The big dilemma is how long do we wait before buying a player. I didn't expect the format war to be over so quickly so I was debating on purchasing a cheap upconverter. I am glad that I waited since I would be kicking myself for blowing $100 for nothing.
Unfortunately, Blu Ray players are still $400 + and it might not be until summer or even Xmas before prices drop. I found the Sharp Aquos on Amazon for $350 and it would match our tv. Part of me doesn't want to give Sony anymore money so I am leaning towards this player. As of now we don't have any Blu Ray dvds but the upconversion would be nice on some of our older ones.
Posted by mardenhill 2/23/2008 04:52:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Technology
With A Slight Of Hand......
Friday, February 22, 2008
From an interview with Texas Monthly.
There’s been a lot of talk about what your campaign would do should it get to the convention. Would you commit today to honoring the agreement made earlier not to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations? Let’s talk about the agreement. The only agreement I entered into was not to campaign in Michigan and Florida. It had nothing to do with not seating the delegates. I think that’s an important distinction.
I did not campaign--The press seems to have missed the distinction if that’s the case.
The talk is that you agreed not to seat the delegation. That’s not the case at all. I signed an agreement not to campaign in Michigan and Florida. Now, the DNC made the determination that they would not seat the delegates, but I was not party to that. I think it’s important for the DNC to ask itself, Is this really in the best interest of our eventual nominee? We do not want to be disenfranchising Michigan and Florida. We have to try to carry both of those states. I’d love to carry Texas, but it’s usually not in the electoral calculation for the Democratic nominee. Florida
and Michigan are.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/polldancing/2008/02/hillary-seat-michigan-florida-delegates.php
..................................
Listen up folks, this is the line that all of us need to pay attention to: "Now, the DNC made the determination that they would not seat the delegates, but I was not party to that".
Hillary is trying to rewrite history as if the DNC decided AFTER everyone agreed not to campaign in Michigan. Hillary is trying to swindle everyone into thinking that she was also disenfranchised by the DNC and that if she had known she would have put up a fight. Yeah Hillary, just like you would have voted different on the war. And to make matters worse, one of her campaign advisers Harold Ickes voted with the DNC to strip the delegates but now he is working for Hillary and believes otherwise.
I know I keep hammering on this topic but we are seeing another shifting of the goal posts by Hillary. It wasn't enough that she lost 11 primaries in a row and is on the verge of losing Texas. She now NEEDS these delegates to even try to be competitive after March 4th and will lie to get them. I thought we might have seen a softer and almost conciliatory Hillary during the debate last nite but it was all a ruse to get us to trust her while she steals votes again.
Posted by mardenhill 2/22/2008 03:52:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Politics
More McCain Troubles....
The New York Times dropped a bombshell yesterday regarding McCain, a lobbyist, favors and the big one, SEX. Many people are not on board with the scandal due to the poor writing and lack of real proof but beneath the accusations lives the real story. Back in 99-2000 McCain was tooling around with Telecommunications lobbyist Vicki Iseman who happened to have legislation in front of Congress at the time. McCain also chaired the committee where some of the legislation would be discussed. Now the campaign has denied any wrong doing and gave evidence where McCain voted against the interest of his friend.
McCain has run a campaign bashing lobbyists and continues to push the notion that he is the true champion when it comes to earmark and influence reform. Unfortunately his actions tend not to follow what he says. I highly doubt the sex angle and believe it should have been left out but with his little "insurance" stunt that he pulled to secure a campaign loan, I can't trust the guy. He basically used the promise of public campaign money as collateral to secure a loan for his campaign. If he bowed out he would just use the free money to pay back the loan and walk away from his presidential aspirations not owing a cent. Maybe its me but I tend to think that is a bit sleazy especially coming from the guy who wrote the campaign finance legislation.
Now that I have touched on 2 scandals the 3rd has to do with the guy in the photo. This is one of Mccain's co-chairs of his campaign. This morning congressmen Rick Renzi (R-AZ) has been indicted for extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other charges related to a land deal in Arizona.
This is just starting to surface and I don't know how damaging it will be but I see a few more rough days for McCain.
If the NYT story bombs then it benefits McCain and the conservative cause.
Posted by mardenhill 2/22/2008 12:25:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Politics
Lunar Eclipse
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tonight was the lunar eclipse and if you are reading this right now, go outside to catch it in action. As of 10:05pm the moon was nearly covered and it was dark orange in color. In about 20 minutes you should see the white starting to appear from the left. Unfortunately its 19 degrees out so staying outside for more than 15 minutes at a time is pretty hard. I couldn't find the eye pieces to my telescope so I had to pull out some old binoculars to watch. They did the trick so I wasn't too upset. The last time I witnessed a lunar eclipse was back in '99 while living in Oregon.
Posted by mardenhill 2/20/2008 10:14:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Science
Clinton's Junk Yard Dogs
Tom Buffenbarger president of the machinists' union (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers)
Buffenbarger called Obama a “thespian,” and he sarcastically referred to the junior senator from Illinois as a “wunderkind.” He compared Obama to “Janus, the two-faced Roman god of ancient times.” And he pleaded with the crowd to boo Obama’s labor record.
Early in his speech, Buffenbarger asked, “So now we have a decision to make. Will we rely on the Harvard Law Review editor? The silver-tongued orator from Kansas, Hawaii and Illinois? The man in love with the microphone?”
Taking off the gloves, he said, “Barack Obama is no Muhammad Ali. He took a walk every time there was a tough vote in the Illinois State Senate. He took a walk more than a 130 times. That's what a shadow boxer does. All the right moves. All the right combinations. All the right footwork. But he never steps into the ring.”
But it was Obama supporters for whom Buffenbarger saved his most vitriolic contempt, and he proved that the Democratic Party’s coalition is nothing if not fragile. Channeling Howard Beale from the movie "Network," he yelled into the microphone, “Give me a break! I've got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He's a poet, not a fighter.”
.......................................
The gloves have been off for a while but now they are now hitting below the belt. This guy in a speech introducing Clinton went off on Obama and his supporters. Last time I checked there were over 10 million people who have voted for Obama and all from different backgrounds. I highly doubt all of them are latte drinking, prius drivers. What this lowlife is getting has to do with those who don't fall in line and worship at the feet of Clinton are somehow traitors to the cause. This is classic republican talk and interesting that it has seeped into the Clinton campaign. The broad coalition that Obama has built can stand up to and even defeat the old guard. The DLC and DNC can be taken down and if these so called "Latte Liberals" are the ones to do it, so be it. I don't mind a riot and if it means taking out the scumbags of the party and building a new one from ground up, count me in.
Posted by mardenhill 2/20/2008 12:14:00 PM 1 comments
Labels: Politics
And Its Obama
Last nite Obama adding to his winning streak and as of now is up to 10 in a row. Looking at the map, Obama has 24 states to Hillary's 11. Ignore the 13 because every map still includes Michigan and Florida in her win column. So you have one person who has swept across the country picking up wins in all areas and demographics but somehow we should discount this and give it to Hillary who has only won the "Big" states. The win in New Mexico really isn't much of a win since the margin is less than 1% but since Hill is so far down in the state count she can have it.
According to CNN here are the latest breakdowns of delegates and super delegate counts. Obama is in the lead in both but for now we should really just concentrate on pledged since the supers can change come the convention. Obama also wins in the popular vote and I expect that column to continue growing. Even when Florida and Michigan are factored in, Obama still has more votes.
I have been reading postings and comments over at www.taylormarsh.com and it blows me away that these are democrats. Taylor is a huge Clinton supporter and most of her blog bashes Obama on a daily basis. The comments are quite funny tho, there are plenty of nutballs who call Obama a sexist pig and refuse to support him. They are in some dillusional world that somehow Hillary will pull this off. They ignore the numbers and push on with dead stories that they believe somehow tarnish Obama. I am not saying that Obama doesn't have the same nutballs but Hillary's people are quite scary. The latest uproar is over Obama's "Bigfooting" Hillary during her so called concession speech. Sorry folks, it was the 2nd time Hillary refused to congratulate so why let her drone on and on?
Barack Obama
Pledged: 1140
Superdelegates: 161
Total: 1,301
Hillary Clinton
Pledged: 1005
Superdelegates: 234
Total: 1,239
Popular Vote Total
Obama: 10,234,964
Hillary: 9,324,418
Posted by mardenhill 2/20/2008 09:40:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Politics
Three Saints Syrah 2005
Monday, February 18, 2008
I decided to check out a new wine shop in town, well not new per say, but new to me. It was Plum Market, an upscale and pretentious grocery store located in Bloomfield Hills. I only went in for their wine selection which I have to say was quite nice. Upon first glance it seems like everything is a deal with one price and another in red below it at a discount. After browsing the store for a few minutes I caught onto their game and could see thru the charade. Besides having a head full of useless music knowledge that would only come in handy on Rock N Roll Jeopardy, I have a knack for remembering wine bottles and prices. After comparing some common bottles I saw a pattern of markups and their sale price being equal or possibly $1-$2 cheaper in some cases. I'm not saying Plum Market is a scam but you need be aware of their pricing scheme and not get too excited when you see a sale. I did find a number of bottles I have never heard of which then allows me to purchase them without any remorse since I have no clue of their actual price. While there this past weekend I picked up a great $18 2005 St Emillon Bordeaux and a California Syrah.
The Syrah was from Three Saints a southern Cali vineyard that retails for about $17.50. The store had it marked at $20 but had the final price at $12 which I knew was a steal. Going into it, I knew I had a decent bottle and unless it was stored improperly it really wouldn't be a dud.
This Syrah had the classic nose but didn't have the aromas that a Shiraz from Australia would have. The fruit was intense with shades of blackberry and plum. The body was rich and had a great smokey finish with hints of pepper and spice. If you crave fruit bombs that are not candy in nature but are easy to drink yet have a nice finish, you need to check out some Syrah.
http://www.threesaintsvineyard.com/
Posted by mardenhill 2/18/2008 09:45:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Wine
Great Blog, Check It Out
Sunday, February 17, 2008
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/
I came across this site via Andrew Sullivan and spent 45 minutes laughing. Its a collection of postings that describe white people and things they like. Some of them were dead on and if you want to be critical it could be more about class than ethnicity but no need to dive so deep into the Sociology of the site.
Some of the things White People like are:
Whole Foods
Recycling
Wine
Prius
Indie Rock (the emo side of it)
Sushi
Expensive Sandwiches and Gourmet Breakfast
Barack Obama
Posted by mardenhill 2/17/2008 06:07:00 PM 0 comments
Jukefly
Yet another "social networking" music site for you to try and forget about 2 days later. This one is called Jukefly and borrows a lot from Napster but is actually legal. You install the small client and select your music folder to populate the library. At this point you can listen to your music from any computer with an internet connection. Here is how it works, you either have a 2nd computer running 24/7 as the music server or you leave your primary computer on all the time. If you have a router/firewall you may need to modify some ports to allow traffic but that isn't too hard. The software is designed to look for an open port and with most people this should be fine since many router users don't lock down their networks.
Just with each and every other social networking site, you have the ability to add friends and look at/listen to other collections. The music is streamed from your computer and not stored to any servers which is how it stays legal. Some of the problems I have with this revolves around leaving your computer on 24/7 or setting up a 2nd pc. Besides that you have your library or whatever part of it you want open to the public. Call me paranoid but I really don't want to give everyone a look at my music and who's to say that the RIAA won't be snooping around. Just a little TMI for me. You then have the bandwidth issue with strangers streaming from your library which can slow down your internet connection. I havn't been able to find out any information on this and it may not be as big of an issue unless you have multiple people pulling from you.
It's a good idea but if I have to give everyone in the world access to my library just so I can listen to my music for free, its not worth it.
http://www.jukefly.com/
Instead I prefer Finetune, a great site that is easy to use and can be accessed from any computer. You don't use your own music, its all provided and you build your own playlists from the music available. There are some rules, you cannot have more than 3 songs from an artist but that's fine since it forces you to become a bit more diverse in your selections. I have built a playlist of over 350 songs and continue to add to it whenever the mood strikes. I have it linked on my blog and by hitting play its my own personal jukebox whenever I want. I can't control the order but since I selected the songs I am usually interested in listening to them.
Finetune doesn't cost a thing and you are not giving up your own library and bandwidth to strangers. There have been a few songs not listed but I just move on and find something else.
http://www.finetune.com/
Posted by mardenhill 2/17/2008 11:21:00 AM 2 comments
Labels: Music, Technology
And The Winner Is.....
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Its not 100% official but Blu Ray has won the format war. This past week Walmart made the decision to stop selling HD DVDs this June. The funny part of all this, Walmart was the one pushing HD DVD players for $100 at Xmas and ended up selling 100,000 of them. Now all those early adopters will be stuck with a useless player come summer. Gotta love Walmart, wonder if they will pull an Apple and provide a rebate for the players or just leave the folks high and dry.
Rumors are flying around the net that Toshiba, the biggest player on the HD side has decided to give it up and stop producing players.
At this time the Blu Ray players are still at the $300 price point, I wonder how long it will take for them to drop to an affordable price. I am willing to buy one at $200 and hope this happens in the next few months.
Betamax - Laser Disc - HD DVD R.I.P.
Posted by mardenhill 2/16/2008 10:55:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Technology
Rothbury Festival
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Michigan has its own Woodstock this year and the event will be on the west side of the state July 3rd-6th. It will feature music, art and community activism with a large influence on the environment. Some of the names appearing are Dave Matthews, Widespread Panic, John Mayer, Snoop Dogg, Beth Orton, Gomez, Jakob Dylan, Crystal Method, Thievery Corporation, Modest Mouse plus many others.
Here is a bit from the DetNews writeup this morning.
Promoters are billing the event, which will feature eight music stages, as "environmentally sustainable," and are gearing it toward environmental awareness, climate change and clean energy alternatives, not unlike last year's global Live Earth concerts. The fest, which is being produced by Boulder, Colo.'s Madison House Presents and Los Angeles-based concert promoting giant AEG Live, is aiming to produce almost no waste and looking to draw an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 fans, many from Detroit and Chicago.
Concertgoers will camp on-site at the Double JJ, a 70-year-old, 2,000-acre west Michigan resort, which in addition to boasting lakes, fields and horseback riding trails, also features an indoor waterpark. The Double JJ also offers lodging at its hotel and cabin facilities.
http://www.rothburyfestival.com/
Posted by mardenhill 2/13/2008 08:51:00 AM 1 comments
Labels: Music
Tangley Oaks Chardonnay 2005
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
While watching primary results I opened a bottle of Tangley Oaks Chardonnay from Santa Barbera County. This wine was amazing and its golden color was just the beginning. The flavors were punching thru with apple, pear and a bit of tropical fruit. The taste lingers on your tongue and the oak shows up at the end with a full bodied finish. Its not a huge Napa Valley or Monterey chard but for $16 its well worth it. This wine gives you a glimpse of what Cali chards are known for and a taste for something even bigger. If you are a Chard fan I highly recommend Talbot Vineyards Chardonnay, its $40 a bottle but well worth every penny. I have never had a bottle as good as them.
Posted by mardenhill 2/12/2008 09:03:00 PM 12 comments
Labels: Wine
How To Steal An Election
SENATOR CLINTON: Well, Leon, I think that both Michigan and Florida should count because these are two states we have to carry. This is not about, so much as the ins and outs of the Democratic National Committee as to whether the Democrats are going to win in the fall. In Michigan, all of us had a chance to leave our names on the ballot. I chose to do so. My opponents ran a very vigorous campaign to get people to vote uncontested. There was a campaign going on and it was a campaign against me and I still won a majority. In Florida, 2.7 million people showed up and said we will not be disenfranchised again. We went through 2000 and 2004. I think that the Democratic Party has to be looking very realistically at what it is we’re trying to achieve here. We need to win in November and therefore I think that both Michigan and Florida, uh, the Democratic Party should really give these people who came out and voted…they weren’t involved in the rule making. Give them a chance.
.....................................
I love the line, "In Michigan, all of us had a chance to leave our names on the ballot." What crack is she smoking, the DNC told the candidates to remove their names and all agreed to except Hillary. Now Obama and Edwards wised up for Florida but don't give me this bullshit spin that its the candidates fault. It was Hillary who promised not to campaign here but left her name on just so she could squeak out a win and argue for it later. Its down right sleazy and typical of the Cintons. We all have known that the Clintons will do whatever they can to gain power and hold onto it. We just never expected they would use it against their own people.
Hillary, those delegates DO NOT BELONG TO YOU, DON'T THINK YOU ARE TAKING THEM.
The more Hillary fights for these the more she destroys her own credibility and that of Bill (as if that isn't hard).......
Posted by mardenhill 2/12/2008 05:31:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Politics
My Book
If you are in the market for an External hard drive I recommend the Western Digital My Book series. They have revamped the drives from the 1st generation (which I have) to be slimmer with more hard drive capacity. This one is the My Book Home Ed 1 terabyte with triple interface USB2, Firewire and eSata. They offer a grey model called My Book Office Ed and its basically the same with just 1 connection being USB2. They throw in a ftp client service called MioNet which allows you to access your files from any computer but you need to keep your pc on at home 24/7. The final drive in the series is the My Book Studio Ed which is a silver/white drive to match your iMac and has a quad interface. Its formatted for the Mac but you can easily format for the pc or vice versa with the other drives. Basically if you are in the market for more space get whatever model Amazon or Buy.com has on sale. You can find the Office model for $260 and $280 for the other two on Amazon. I am thinking about one of these since I am running out of space on my hard drive.
Posted by mardenhill 2/12/2008 04:50:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Technology
Obama Wins Maine
Sunday, February 10, 2008
I found this list of states courtesy of daily kos and thought I should share it with you. Obama is ahead of Clinton by 9 states and many of these states have gone red in the past. I know Obama will not win all of these in the general but you have to admit the inroads that he is making in "Red America" is amazing and has the chance to convert many disenfrancised independents and repubicans. After the sweep this weekend of 4 additional states and more to come in the next week, February is shaping up to be big for Obama. He now needs to make his way into Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas if he plans on winning the nomination.
The latest count of states won by popular vote, plus the margin of victory:
Clinton (10)
Arkansas +43
Oklahoma +24
New York +17
Massachusetts +15
Tennessee +13
California +10
New Jersey +10
Arizona +9
Nevada +6
New Hampshire +3
Obama (19)
Idaho +62
Alaska +50
Kansas +48
Washington +37
Georgia +36
Nebraska +36
Colorado +35
Minnesota +35
Illinois+32
South Carolina +32
North Dakota +24
Louisiana +21
Maine +18
Utah +18
Alabama +14
Delaware +10
Iowa +9
Connecticut +4
Missouri +1
Posted by mardenhill 2/10/2008 10:29:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Politics
GMAT Exam
I have decided to go back to school for an MBA this fall and in the process must take the GMAT exam. I started to study for it about a week ago and spent most of this weekend with my nose in the book. The math section was kicking my ass big time, I had forgot most of the basics and blew it on the geometry. After some practice, I was able to refresh myself with most of the math. I am still strugling with the geometry, I am drawing a blank on most of it.
The english/vocabulary portion was much better, the sentence structure, grammer correction and reading comprehension was straight forward. I know I don't always write in proper grammer on my blog but its just hard to think everything thru all the time and reading other writings is much easier to critique. Going forward I will try to improve my writing online but I have a feeling that after the exam, all conscious thoughts of this will be tossed out the window.
As of now, I plan on attending Oakland University for my MBA. They have a great program with a concentration in Management of Information Systems. Out of 6 pre reqs I have 2 to take. I will take the 1st one Calculus this spring and in in the fall start the program with my 2nd class which is Accounting.
Posted by mardenhill 2/10/2008 09:22:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Grad School
David Schuster Suspended
Friday, February 08, 2008
Posted by mardenhill 2/08/2008 08:04:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Politics
Text MessageGate
The Kwame Text Message scandal continues to unravel and more and more tidbits trickle out each day. The latest has unsealed documents that show a secret handshake between all parties involved. The policemen who were illegally fired signed a confidentiality agreement that would cut the settlement pay if they spoke the truth. And if that wasn't enough, the text message transcripts were put in a safety deposit box to be handed over to Kwame after the settlement had been reached. Kwame also helped Beatty obtain a mortgage even though her credit was poor and would have never been given one otherwise.
So Kwame set up a secret deal to keep everything hush hush so he could save face and deny the affair in court. Now its all out in the open with the proof of the coverup available for everyone to see.
Now Kwame has decided to play the victim here, he has attacked the Free Press and Detroit News stating that they illegally obtained the text messages. It has now turned to a witchhunt against him and who cares that the texts exist but that they were illegally obtained. Sorry Kwame, your argument doesn't hold water and you are the one that committed the crime.
“How did they obtain these records? Where did they get them?” Kilpatrick said during a radio interview on WMXD-FM (92.3, the Mix). “The Free Press obviously had some meetings that they ought to answer to."
“I think the Free Press has committed a crime. I believe they committed a crime,” Kilpatrick said.
This quote is one of my favorites and the way the story is going, I expect there to be more of them.
"I believe I am on an assignment from God," he said. "This city has a balanced budget. We're building buildings God has continue to smile on us. I don't believe this has ever been a job I love this city. I love this job. I love this town."
Posted by mardenhill 2/08/2008 03:30:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Detroit
Portrait Of The Michigan Delegate Mess
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Here are all the jackasses who have screwed Michigan out of their delegates and vote in the 2008 Democratic primary. The 1st person is Mark Brewer the head of the Michigan Democratic Party. The 2nd is Senator Carl Levin, the 3rd Congressman John Dingell and the 4th well that is Howard Dean, head of the DNC.
Mark Brewer along with Carl and John pushed for the MI primary date to be moved forward and had the local legislature and Jenny Granholm sign off on it. Dean threatened to pull delegates but the state called his bluff and went forward. Dean then instructed the candidates to remove their names from the ballot and pledge not to campaign. Well everyone but Hillary did so and in the end the vote was either for her or uncommitted. Hillary won in the end even though she didn't campaign. Luckily for Florida the rest of the candidates left their names on the ballot and even though they didn't campaign it was a better representation of the voting public.
What could happen next is that if Hillary is down in the delgate count she will petition the DNC to honor the votes since she happened to win both states. Obama will protest stating that he wasn't even on the ballot in MI. Howard Dean is now freaked out since there is no clear front runner and that the convention could be the deciding spot and he doesn't want a public fight. If Hillary gets the delegates, there will be a revolt from the Obama supporters and if it came down to MI giving Hillary the ultimate nomination many people including me would be pissed off.
So what are we to do, hold a caucus where both candidates come back to the state? Some say yes while others say no because of dumb ass rules on the books. Do the delegates just get tossed in the garbage and not counted at all? Well that will leave a very large state disenfranchised and without a voice.
People complain that MI shouldn't have moved their primary up, well they don't live in a state that has had its own personal recession due to manufacturing job loss and the problems surrounding the auto industry. The Bush administration who had no problems bailing out the jackasses who created the current credit crunch, ignored MI and the big 3 for years and refused to help. We here are tired of being ignored and felt the only way the country would pay attention was to bring the candidates here early to speak to us. What happened, the DNC run by an idiot got his panties in a wad and punished us for speaking up out of turn. If the Democratic party won't even acknowledge MI's woes what chance do we even have to survive?
So now everyone is all in a panic over this and it serves them right. If the Democratic party is about change they should have honored Michigan's request. Instead they just went along with "history" and screwed us all.
There is plenty of blame to go around between all of these guys and I hold each and everyone of them personally responsible for screwing me out of my consititutional right to vote for my candidate.
Posted by mardenhill 2/07/2008 11:10:00 AM 2 comments
Labels: Politics
Paczki Time
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
This year Paczki day came up quick and caught everyone off guard. For those of you not familiar with the deliciousness of this pastry, its full of butter, sugar, eggs and lots of calories. I'm neither Polish nor Catholic but I grew up in Wyandotte which is both so I am an honorary member. I stopped at Holiday Market in Royal Oak since I never tracked down a bakery to place an order. Here at the office we have Blueberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, Bavarian Creme and Apple to choose from. I apologize for the diehards but no Prune flavored this year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paczki
Posted by mardenhill 2/05/2008 08:59:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Misc
Even The Grateful Dead......
Monday, February 04, 2008
Besides the Dead, you have some more recent artists playing in NYC tonight in support of Obama.
If you want to tune into the Dead show, you can stream it tonight at the link below starting at 10:30PM EST.
http://www.iclips.net/
Posted by mardenhill 2/04/2008 08:51:00 PM 0 comments
Ritual Coffee Roasters
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Posted by mardenhill 2/02/2008 11:01:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: Coffee
Brian Jonestown Massacre News
Friday, February 01, 2008
New BJM this March under Anton Newcombe's "A Records". The title is My Bloody Underground which is believed to pay homage to My Bloody Valentine, JAMC and The Velvet Underground. Either way, it just means new BJM which I can't wait for. The band has allowed the dowload of the full length from their website since Sept but they were just raw studio sessions and not the final mixes.
If you are not familiar with BJM, they are a Bay area psychadelic rock ensemble consisting of numerous members over the years. Lots of drugs and fights between members and other bands dot the history of this group. The sound ranges from 60's psychadelia to the Stones and a bit of shoegazing. Their last EP in 2005 was pretty mellow and hypnotic and I am interested to see what we will get when we the official full length drops next month.
Posted by mardenhill 2/01/2008 03:15:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: Music
