Jesse is the Man!

I just got done watching "Predator" for the first time in years. Jesse Ventura's character really makes this movie. Who can forget such great one-liners as "I ain't got time to bleed" and "This stuff will make you a sexual Tyrannosaurus...just like me." For those of you not familiar with the picture from the movie I posted, yes this is THAT Jesse Ventura. The one time pro wrestler, part time actor, and one term governor of the state of Minnesota.

I think it's kind of funny that three of the stars in this movie ended up in politics. The obvious second was no other than the Governator himself, Ahnold. But I found out tonight that one of the more obscure guys in the movie who played Billy (the tracker who helps hunt the Predator) ran for governor of Kentucky in 2002. Makes all you aspiring politicians wonder, huh?

Yes it was a slow news day. That's OK..you might have learned something new. At least it isn't more news about the one hundred and twenty eight thousandth failed appeal by Terri Schiavo's family...appeals that are wasting the taxpayers money and slowing down an already backed up court system.

The Biggest "Dead Horse"

From time-to-time my friend Gunther over at frotuss.com mentions his "top five dead horses" that the media just HAMMERS to death. Thanks for the inspiration Gunther. For the last two weeks the horse has been Terri Schiavo. Now, this story originated here in Florida, so in addition to the two week circus of national media, I have had to hear this for months locally. No matter where you sit on this fence, you have to be just as sick of it as I am. Yes, it is a tragedy, but life will go on people. Tonight it's looking like Johnny Cochran might be a small distraction for a day or two, but trust me, it will only be temporary.

I think the media is convinced that we are all stupid and need to be force fed the same old crap. God forbid we might have to THINK FOR OURSELVES once. One of the most interesting stories I read today was about the problems the new Iraqi government is having electing leaders. Unfortunately, this story was buried somewhere underneath Jesse Jackson supporting Terri Schiavo. If anyone wants some good stories and commentary about whats going on in the rest of the world and outside of Terri Schiavo, I encourage you to check out this website: www.worldtribune.com.

End of Sermon.

Uh....my head hurts

This is the sight I saw walking into our kitchen this morning. The final tally was 12 beers, 2 bottles of red wine, and a small dent in the Bombay Sapphire "tanker". While this may not be up to par with many drinking binges, it's pretty good work for someone semi-retired such as myself.

Cheryl and I had Scott and Robin over last night for dinner and a few(too many) drinks. They both live in New Jersey and were down here for a long weekend seeing Scott's parents. Scott recently popped the big question and Robin accepted, so we decided to have a celebration for them. It was nice to catch up as we don't get a chance to see them very often. After much discussion on the subject, Cheryl and I were forced to accept the reality that they weren't going to move to Florida anytime in the near future.

Today is the last leg of the Easter Whirlwind Tour 2005 with Easter dinner at Mom and Dad's place. I think Cheryl and I will be drinking Diet Cokes all day and taking it easy...sorry to disappoint you K-Delish.

Barbara the Prognosticator?

Barbara Bush recently stated that she thought Hillary Clinton would run for President in 2008 but would end up losing. I sure hope she is right. Hillary is right up there with Teresa Heinz Kerry on my list of disliked people. While I consider myself a moderate Republican, it actually has very little to do Clinton's party affliation and more to do with the fact that she is just plain annoying.

We all know people like this. The person may be a friend of a friend or someone you see once a year when you are out to dinner. As soon as you see this person, you think to yourself, "Oh No, there's ___....I can't stand him". Most of the time you don't even have a reason, you just don't like the person. That's how I feel about Hillary. The picture above is also hilarious, so I had to post it.

And now for something completely different. Sorry, I had to throw in an obscure Monty Python reference..those guys were hilarious. Special thanks to Mr and Mrs Hickman and the Quig for their warm hospitality last night. It was nice to see the new castle of Gunther (quite literally..the place is HUGE) and we hope to be invited back to the next party.

Summer Heat Already?

It looks like winter ended and went right into summer here at the Margarita Lounge. Today its a nice humid 87 degree South Florida day and this weekend is going to be around 90 both days. Fortunately, the markets are closed today, so I get an extra day this weekend. Unfortunately, the slavedrivers at Cheryl's employer (who will remain nameless here) have her working. I've actually had a pretty productive morning getting all the yard work done and sweating my ass off(jealous Tracy?). Actually, I really like the hot weather and wish it was hot and humid all year. Sure, it takes some getting used to, but it beats the cold.

It's shaping up as a pretty busy weekend for Cheryl and I. Mrs. Hickman and Cheryl are working out the details so we can go see the new casa-de-Hickman out in Wellington tonight. Tomorrow night we have Scott and Robin coming over for steaks, and Sunday is Easter dinner at the Original Margarita Lounge (see archives if you are unfamiliar with the terminology or drank too much last night and forgot). There is going to be hardly any time for me to watch hoops this weekend!!

Something to Remember

I was surfing the internet tonight looking for something to add to the blog when I came across this picture. Needless to say, it stopped me in my tracks. It is a picture taken on Monday of a family in Bangladesh after a tropical storm destroyed most of their village. It reminds me of a trip I took when I was in high school to Southeast Asia. During that trip, I was able to go through a small, impoverished fishing villiage in Malaysia. The things I saw on that trip were things I could never read about in a book or understand until I saw them myself. I will never be able to thank my parents enough for the education.

Looking at this picture took me back to that fishing villiage and made me realize how lucky I am to have what I have. In this country we worry about things like buying new cars or having nice clothes..these people worry about simply surviving another day. We worry about making more money....they wish they had money. We have people with eating disorders...they go hungry.

My father always told me to be thankful for what I have. I guess that many of us (me included) forget this from time to time as we drift through our "daily grind". Occasionally we all need to take a step back and remember what is really important. Just something to ponder the next time you want to complain about something.....

Take me out to the Ballgame

Cheryl and I are going up to Jupiter this afternoon to catch a Spring Training game between the Florida Marlins and the Houston Astros. While I'm going to miss some basketball games in the process, it has been a few years since I saw a baseball game and I'm really excited.

I know that I keep rambling on about the NCAA Basketball Tournament, but if you are any type of a sports fan you have to love it. Both games in Cleveland yesterday were amazing theater with the underdogs pulling it out in the end. West Virginia did some more bracket busting by upsetting Wake Forest. Leading the "Cinderella Story" this year is Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who beat a solid team from Boston College. You know it's exciting when even a non-sports fan like Cheryl was glued to the TV.

Hopefully Duke will follow suit and lose today...I just hate Duke. Ever since the days of Bobby Hurley I have had a distaste for them that I can't explain. Kind of like rooting against Notre Dame, the Yankees or Tiger Woods....it's just fun to do.

Bracket Busting Fun

As I departed last night to see the Senator for a few drinks, I was thinking to myself, "There really haven't been any BIG upsets in this years tournament yet...we are due for some tonight." Well, Bucknell and Vermont are the names we will all remember from this year, knocking out the mighty Syracuse and Kansas and ruining many people's office brackets.(including mine)

I went solo up to North Palm Beach last night to watch the night games with Mark and Chad. Chad was a no show because he fell asleep(nothing new for Chad who would fall asleep while getting a root canal) so the Senator and I watched the games and caught up. It was good to talk about golf and politics. We also got a chance to talk about politics, followed by a little politics. As many of you know, there is a reason we all call him "The Senator".

When I left the good senator around midnight after he had ingested a few Rum and Cokes, I think he was falling in love with our bartender Sophie and wondering what their kids would look like.....

"The Waitress"

Don't you hate it when you can't remember what group or person sang a certain song? In most cases you locate it in that faded corner of your beer-soaked memory from the college or immediate post-college years. While hanging out with Mr Golden this evening, he had this specific problem that many of us have had. I guess this song was called "The Waitress"?? I found a song on Musicmatch.com called "Waitress" from Live as well as "The Waitress" by Tori Amos..maybe this is what he was thinking of. I feel your pain catfisherman...

Today was essentially a non-productive day as I sat on my ass all afternoon at Brus and watched Day One of March Madness. Actually, I just got home and its already 10:30. The basketball tournament in combination with it being St. Patties Day is as good a reason as any to have a few green beers and relax, right? Cheryl showed up around 6pm to join us in wings and beer. Gunther was around most of the afternoon before being summoned home by the Gestapo around dinner time. In addition, the aforementioned Catfisherman himself, Mr Keith Golden blessed me with his presence all day. More of the same tomorrow, gentlemen? Sounds like a plan to me.

My apologies

Apologies to all my loyal readers for no update over the past few days. I've been working a lot of hours and have been stuck in that zone where no matter what you think of, work keeps popping back into your head. Sick, huh? Realizing that the big tourney starts tomorrow will hopefully kick me out of it. I'm sure that Mr Golden will be ringing my phone tomorrow to see if I want to go have a few colbeers and watch some hoops.

Has anyone seen any interesting news stories? I haven't seen anything exciting or worthy of publishing here. Robert Blake is innocent of murder...who cares. Scott Peterson was sentenced to death. Wow, now he can sit in jail for years while every conceivable angle and appeal is explored, all while the taxpayers pay for him to sit there. Once again...who cares.

Oil prices hit an all time high of $57 a barrel today...time to start shorting oil futures. Or if you think like every other investor who beleives they are market experts because they watched 10 minutes of CNBC today..."Maybe I should buy oil now!" Remember that CNBC was also raving about those tech stocks in March of 2000 that were going to "go up forever". Uh-huh. Moral of tonight's story? Don't be a knucklehead...use your brain. If everyone wants it and the price is going up and up, get out! End of sermon.

The Newest Margarita Lounge Fan

You know I had to do it...cute baby pictures of Lisa's daughter Layna from last night. I'm heading to the Honda Classic to watch some golf all day so no Sunday update.

The Original Margarita Lounge

While Cheryl and I were loafing around the house last night drinking wine and watching Gladiator, I got a phone call from Mom. Actually, Sue called to talk with me and ended up talking to Cheryl. Women. We are heading to Mom and Dad's place tonight for dinner, a ritual that recently has been curtailed due to various reasons. For those not aware, my parents house in Delray is the first(and original) Margarita Lounge.

When Cheryl moved to Florida in June 2002, my parents were kind enough to let her stay at their house during the summer months. Gary and Sue still lived at the condo in Pennsylvania for the summer and having Cheryl to watch over the house was good for everyone. It seems as though all my memories from that summer involve swimming in the pool, laying in the sun, and listening to Jimmy Buffett all afternoon while the warm summer breezes blew through the palm trees. Sounds good, huh? Well, it was a great summer and I miss those long afternoons at the Margarita Lounge with nothing to do but relax all day.

I'll get to see my sister tonight and her daughter Layna, who is now about 15 months old and tearing around on two legs like a tornado. As is tradition with many of my family outings, booze is flowing freely and someone usually wakes up with a nice hangover on Sunday. Wish us luck.

Madness on the Horizon

While the College Bowl Season, the NFL playoffs, and the World Series are all great events, nothing comes close to the wonderful event that takes place every spring known as "March Madness". Championship Week is well underway and Sunday is the big day...Selection Sunday. Time to get your brackets together everyone. I'm going to be running the office pool for the third straight year and hope that I can actually win this year...Gunther edged me out in 2004 by a few points.

Cat Shoots Owner

I just came across this article and find it hilarious. If you are cooking in your kitchen and have a loaded 9mm on the counter, you are a dumbass. Especially if you happen to have a cat wandering around.

BATES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A man cooking in his kitchen was shot after one of his cats knocked his 9mm handgun onto the floor, discharging the weapon, Michigan State Police said.

Joseph Stanton, 29, of Bates Township in Iron County, was shot in his lower torso around 6 p.m. Tuesday, the state police post in Iron River reported. He was transported to Iron County Community Hospital.

Michelle Sand, a spokeswoman at the Iron River hospital, said Stanton was treated there before being transferred to Marquette General Hospital for further treatment. But Marcie Miller, a representative of the Marquette facility, said there was no record of the hospital receiving a patient by that name.

A telephone message seeking comment was left Wednesday at Stanton's home.

State police said he was cooking at his stove when the cat knocked the loaded gun off the kitchen counter behind him.

Ugly Rainy Day

What a terrible day. All the rain and clouds are depressing..they make me feel like I'm in Erie again. Well, at least here it will warm up in a day or two. Nothing exciting going on today. Cheryl came home early from work beacuse she has caught the most recent bug floating around her office. I seem to have escaped the bug's wrath... so far...

The Witch of Ketchup lives!

I am trying to think of another woman who is more repulsive, annoying, disgusting and classless as Teresa Heinz Kerry. Hmmmm. Nope..can't think of anyone! According to Drudge, Teresa claims that two brothers own 80% of the optical scanning machines used to count votes in the 2004 Presidential election. And since these guys are Republicans, the election was somehow "hacked". Teresa claims that it is "very easy to hack into the mother machines." So, now in addition to being an expert on being annoying, she is an expert on things like computers and hacking into them to alter votes. Teresa is sounding more and more like the other "know-it-all" of the Democratic Party, Ted Kennedy.

Of course, Teresa didn't offer any ACTUAL EVIDENCE that votes were altered on the machines. Typical. She ought to get together with Michael Moore and they can come up with wild conspiracy theories that nobody seems to care about anymore. I guess desperate people who no longer have followings will do and say anything to get back into that spotlight. Has anyone even seen old Michael Moore recently?

It continues....

In a rather "interesting" news story I was just reading, the media is at it again. The good news is that the story isn't negative. The bad news is that you can file it under the "who gives a shit" label. In yet another attempt to make Bill Clinton look like a god, the article points out that Willy recently gave up the only available bed on a plane to Daddy Bush. This was during the two ex-presidents trip to Southeast Asia to tour the tsunami disaster area.

Considering Mr. Bush is 80 and Slick Willy is 58, this is a nice gesture and probably something that most people would do. But is this worthy of being front page news on the CNN website? I've never understood why a man who repeatedly cheated on his wife is treated so well and shown in such good light. Yet if George W farts too loudly he'll never hear the end of it from the Washington Post. Strange days we live in....

Showdown at Doral

For any golf fans out there, today promises to be a big day of drama in Miami. One of the most anticipated showdowns in golf will happen this afternoon when Phil Mickelson and Tiger go head-to-head at Doral in the Ford Championship. Those that aren't golf fans could care less, but I'll have by butt parked on the couch from 3-6pm today. I'd love to see Phil beat Tiger, but Tiger played better yesterday and is a better player under pressure.

On a separate note, Cheryl and I are taking grandma out to brunch today about 12:30. We haven't seen her in a while, so it will be good to catch up. Hopefully some of her genes are in me...at 85 she is still active and kickin!

Enough Already!

Am I the only one out there that is sick and tired of hearing about Michael Jackson and Martha Stewart? I mean, one is being tried for MOLESTING A CHILD and another is a sleazy woman just RELEASED FROM PRISON. Before these two is was Scott Peterson, who KILLED HIS WIFE AND UNBORN CHILD. Before that was Kobe Bryant who was being charged with RAPE. And lets not forget about the clergy abuse scandal in Boston where priests were convicted of MOLESTING CHILDREN for years. I guess the question everyone should be asking is..."Are these really the kind of people that we should be paying attention to and looking at to amuse ourselves?" Is this what children should be seeing on TV? And I don't even have kids!

What ever happened to positive news stories? Every time I watch the national news I'm indundated with negativity and told what is wrong with me, the country, or the world. When is the last time you saw a news story about a great new invention or discovery? A great act of compasion? And I'm a Republican!

Happy Partying tonight to all those going out to have a Margarita...enjoy yourselves and have fun. I talked to Kris this afternoon in Picksburgh and he was already into the Bombay Sapphire in the early afternoon with his buddy Craig. Have a good night boys...just don't turn on the news!

Pardon Me

In a move applauded by the Margarita Drinkers, President Bush recently pardoned a convicted bootlegger named Charles Russell Cooper. I thought the days of bootlegging liquor died with The Dukes of Hazzard in the 80s? As I read the article further, I realized this guy was sentenced in 1959. Yes, I said 1959! I always thought that Presidential Pardons were big deals, but after reading this article, I have changed my mind. One guy was sentenced to one year of probation for conspiracy to file false tax returns in 1992 and he was pardoned?? I thought you had to do something serious like murder to get pardoned by a President.

Looks like W has issued a total of 39 pardons in his 4 years of office. Daddy Bush issued 77 in his 4 years in office. Notable Democrats were Slick Willy Clinton coming in at a 456 and FDR who led the group with a mind-blowing 3687 pardons. Granted, FDR served four terms in office, but 3687 pardons...thats double Willy's rate! Who says those Democrats are soft on crime, huh?

Random Thoughts to the Margarita Drinkers

1) Go ahead and fess up Kris, I know the erection comment was from you. Actually, Chad or Gunther could be to blame if they were drinking or...uh....impaired.
2) Good talk today Gunther..we need to hang out more.
3) Cheryl misses you alot Bear. Oh yeah..you too Tracy. Feel free to stop back again.
4) Scott...go buy Project:Snowblind. It's not quite as good as Halo or Halo 2, but pretty impressive for the PS2.
5) Final Four Party at the Margarita Lounge again this year? Anyone interested?
6) Hey Senator...when's the "Stufft-box" blog going to show up? I keep hearing about it but nothing yet. I'm sure Douglas is waiting for the chance to comment on that! Giddie-up and get it done!
7) Speaking of giddie-up...whats up Chad? Haven't seen any postings from you yet.

Just a suggestion...

I appreciate the postings and comments from everyone since I started my blog. As a suggestion when posting comments, click on the "other" circle instead of the "anonymous" circle. That way you can post your name and every posting doesn't show up on the blog coming from "Anonymous".

I'm feeling pretty lazy, so that's it for today. Tracy and Bear are hitting the highway tomorrow morning, so things will return to normal around here soon.