1000 buffalo stampede

The split weather out here (Sat was nice, Sunday … not so much) didn’t keep me from my friend’s Mardi Gras celebration this past weekend. More than just a New Orleans themed party, it was a victory celebration. Ann (my friend) ran a 27 mile marathon down in the Crescent City, raising money for the San Francisco Aids Foundation and Katrina Relief through Habitat for Humanity.

Yes, I said 27 miles. continue reading…

Ultron, Incorporated – “Global Domination one happy customer at a time”.

Ok, that’s not really the slogan of Ultron, Inc., but it sure feels right. Long-time fans of the Avengers (Capt. America-style, not Emma Peel) know Ultron – the robotic arch-enemy of the Avengers. In a Cyclon-ish twist, Ultron was created by Dr. Pym (Giantman, Ant-man, Yellow Jacket and more … the good Dr. Pym was unable to pick a single heroic identity for his career. We should all be so challenged) as a research assistant, and went horribly wrong.

Ultron’s evil knew no bounds …

And now, according to the readout at the ATM in the Emeryville Food Court, his evil has reaching into the realms of banking.

… and, yes, when presented with the option to pay the mighty Ultron $1.50 for his ATM services, I said “yes”.

One does not snub Ultron, after all. Unless you have the benefit of an adamantium shield, powered armor, or a Quinjet.

No surprisingly, I have none of the above. Yet.

For the amusement of my readers (and for the education of my non-readers … i.e., the people who desperately need this info sadly ain’t the ones reading…), my two corollaries of the crosswalk:

1. Motorists: when there is a pedestrian in the crosswalk and the “Walk” sign is green and in their favor, you’re supposed to sit there. Period. You don’t creep up, you don’t honk, and – dumbass – you don’t nearly clip them making a right hand turn through foot traffic. Yes, I’m talking to you, Mr. Moron-Driving-the-Hotel-Shuttle, and thanks so much for all but running me down (and, yes, the complaint you just had lodged on your record … that was probably me calling your boss … I mean, you did realize that the name of the hotel was in big, bold letters on the side of your van, right? No? Why am I not surprised?).
2. Pedestrians: don’t cross the street in the middle of traffic. Believe it or not, you’re actually supposed to wait for traffic to stop, and the little “Walk” light to turn green. Just running out into the street in the middle of traffic is just moronic. Frankly, I’ve got little sympathy if you jump into traffic and get hit by a bus. Tragic, but really, shouldn’t a basic sense of self-preservation be kicking in to say, “Hey … maybe I shouldn’t be walking into an oncoming bus?” No? Well, I guess that explains the downgrade of the gene pool, doesn’t it?

Somehow, it feels like Darwin’s Law got suspended shortly after Darwin coined it …

No, I didn’t bother watching or listening to the State of the Union address the other night. I did, however, read the full text of it.

I was tempted to comment on it (wholly or in portions) … but, really, couldn’t work up the motivation. I found it extremely de-motivating, actually.

I’m apparently not part of President Bush’s “hopeful America” (or more appropriately, his speech writers hopeful America).

In fact, I have no hope or faith whatsoever in the future, or at least in President Bush’s (and his Administration and party) vision and ability to deliver a future that I want to be a part of.

Not surprisingly, I have no hope or faith that his “noble opposition” (that would be the Dems / The Left) can do the same.