...I'm still not sure if Saddam's hanging is the right thing.

Did he deserve it? Probably, but at the end of the day was it worth it?

Still haven't caught or punished the people responsible for 9/11.

Iraq is in a catatrosphic civil war, one that has claimed lives of innocent civilians and American military which stretching said military to fumes.

There's no doubt that the person who made the call to go to Iraq hasn't a clue what he was doing nor does he have a clue of what to do next or how to fix it.

Or course I found this quote from Bush to be very rich -- "the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime." Fact is this was a personal vendetta all along and it had nothing to do with Saddam's treatment of the people of a nation since Bush could give a shit about those people.

This all just feels like a bad Western flick that no one can write an ending for.

I haven't written about my Ledger Edge in a while, at least not since she left the newspaper we worked at about a good year before I left the same newspaper. Well she left to move to Tampa (gasp a whole 30 miles away at the time) and after a strong couple of years of working for "corporate" she decided to pursue a graduate degree at Indiana.

I was excited when she told me she'd be back in town for the holidays. I wanted to eat sushi with her since I had only eaten sushi once before and the fact that I actually tried sushi would shock her enough (in actuality the stuff ain't bad with enough ginger and soy sauce on it). She, of course, enjoys sushi like 10 times a month since she's a vegetarian and I guess sushi is to vegetarians what steak is to carnivores.

Anyway the sushi never materialized as she had a pretty busy stay in the Sunshine State. However, we happened to be in the same place on Tuesday and decided to hit the local pub for a cider.

Most of time was spent talking about her boyfriend. I'm pretty tough on the guys she dates....she might say that's an understatement, but I don't think I'm completely unreasonable. Besides most of them were douchebags.

Case in point, her boyfriend gets some good marks from me. He seems to be nice and helpful and cares about her very much. Her description -- "He constantly tells me I'm the greatest thing that ever happen to him" (you are) and "he worships the ground I walk on" (he should). She also informs me that he picks her up to take her class when it's too cold (which is often, especially for a natural Floridian like herself). And he's quite the whippersnapper, only 24 (yes the Ledger Edge likes 'em young) but already in the doctorate program for computer science.

This isn't to say he's got some flaws...major flaws...He's a cat owner for one thing. I have a big problem with guys owning cats. Now I like the fact that the young man has a pet, pets build character. But a guy can't own a cat, especially while there are good dogs that are in need of male leadership. Dog is man's best friend after all. And if you aren't allowed to have dogs where you live...try an Iguana or a Ferret or something cool like that.

Guys owning cats...I just can't get into it. A cat is the equivalent of a guy owning a purse.

I won't get into more of our conversation because it's personal and I know she reads this stuff and she's already going to be mad at me for mentioning the whole cat thing. But it was great to spend some time laughing and catching up with her. She's doing well at IU and I'm real proud of her, but I really miss her.

Labels: Friends

...please :)

I received one of these little (and I mean little) diddies for the holiday. It's part of my plan to downsize in 2007. Moving into a smaller, more cozy apartment, possibly getting a smaller car, working less hours, eating less (and healthier food) and possibly buying a smaller TV.

Anyway I've already got those larger iPods with the 30-40 gigs of space but this little shuffle is better for listening to music while I workout and, to be honest, how many times do you listen to more than 240 songs in a single setting? Probably not often.

Anyway I've got about 50 songs I can't live without so I piled all of those on there, but I want you, my faithful readers, to give me suggestions for the other 190-200 songs. Tell me what you like, whether it be old or new, tell me which songs you can't live without.

Labels: iPods and Other Gadgets

After a day of observance for the death of James Brown, we can now finish the countdown. The envelope please.

1. Motley Crue -- "Dr. Feelgood": There was no doubt in my mind that the "Crue" was going to be number one. I make no mistake in believing that they, not Poison, were the signature band of that genre. Some people may argue my song of choice by saying that Motley Crue was no longer considered a glam metal band when they released the Dr. Feelgood album. That's a fair argument but I counter by saying just because the band survived the destruction of the genre doesn't mean they were any less a part of the genre. They need to be applauded for being good enough to survive when many didn't. That being said every Crue song was fair game.

My first thought was using "Girls Girls Girls", as that was the signature song of the band in that era and the epitome of what the Crue was about. However, it just isn't that good of a song. I enjoy "Home Sweet Home" but I've already had plenty of power ballads on this countdown. I also considered "Wildside" and "Kickstart My Heart", but in the end Dr. Feelgood is my absolute favorite Crue song for both musical content and the message.

Musically it starts with a terrific drum intro by Tommy Lee (a highly underrated musician which is partially his own fault) and continues with a hard sound that pumps adrenaline through the system. It was also the peak of a band that was confident enough in their music that they didn't need to do anymore of the silly antics.

And this story of a young man who rose to power through the drug dealing game is so ironic because at the time the Crue made this album, they were trying to get away from Dr. Feelgood. In the end he was destroyed and so were many of the band's addictions to drugs. Or at least the really really bad drugs. Anyway, here's the No. 1 hair band jam of all time. Dr. Feelgood.

Labels: Hair Band Countdown

...Early in the Christmas morning James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, passed away leaving this world devoid of his soulful soungs.

It's 4 a.m. and I'm wrapping presents so this might sound a little disjointed but I can safely say that James Brown was one of the 10 most influenitial recording artists of the modern era.

He now joins Charlie Chaplin and Dean Martin as famous stars who died on Christmas. RIP