Redeemer In Action

Brick, Craig and I play in Charleston's church softball league (Redeemer Lutheran) with a few other close pals. I know that I am Catholic, but I dig the comradeship on the team, so I play for the church with the red-doors. We finally got back on the winning track this week-winning our game tonight! It's been tough because we've lost 7 games by one-run.

To celebrate, here is a short video that I took of the team batting around. I edited the video and added Mofro's "War" for the montage. Enjoy!

Mega Movers Move The Spirit of South Carolina

Here is the video from Thursday night’s Mega-Movers episode, where they moved the ship, The Spirit of South Carolina. The sound was a bit off from the recording, so I took the liberty of editing the sound with a local favorite from the Bushido’s collegiate years: SKWZBXX “The Healing” from their Secret 68 album.

Crush On Obama Video

Brick sent me this video, which is by far one of the best political ads that I have seen in awhile--albeit the candidate is not directly involved with the video, and there isn’t any part of his (platform) message in the video—mainly because this reflects the culture of the “youth movement” into politics. The “Obama Girl” is Amber Lee Ettinger and the video is courtesy of Barely-Political.com



For out-takes click here.

David Ortiz (Big Papi) does the tomahawk chop!

In case you missed this from last night's game (Braves hosting the Red Sox in Atlanta), Red Sox hitter David Ortiz, did a tomahawk chop, in jest, as he was being filmed in the dug-out. Andruw Jones struck out at the end of the video, going 0-4 for the game.



Credits: Clip taken on Sony-Ericsson W300i, from original airing of game on ESPN, courtesy of the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig.

G.I. Joe Public Service Announcements and why Terrorists are gay

I am sure all of you remember the Public Service Announcements on G. I. Joe, but here is an interesting (and funny) clip that LR#8 sent me. Indeed folks this is why our generation didn't need bicycle helmets and elbow pads, we had guys like Duke and Flint to teach us the right way to do things.



And if you learn anything from the “Joe” cartoons and the actions of Evil, it is that Global Terrorists are all GAY and Love Clay Aiken. It's true. The one logical thing that the Jihad-tits are missing is that in the Koran (Quran) is says the martyr gets "72-virgins in Heaven as their prize",, but it doesn't say what gender these virgins are. Hence, the deduction (read: leap of logic) is that terrorists are homosexuals and there is 72-swinging queens of Ali-Sirloins waiting on them in Heaven. Which to me, is not much of a Heaven, but then again, I am not gay, nor am I a terrorist.

(Parody Video)

Feed your iPod: White Stripes, "Icky Thump"

With lyrics such as "Why don't you kick yourself out of the country, your an immigrant too" and "Who's using who, what should we do, you can't be a pimp and a prostitute too" you just know that the White Stripes are back in business. I love the heavy guitar and heart-thumping drums harking back to their earlier work on Elephant and White Blood Cells. Enjoy!

President Bush's limo breaks down in Rome

Now that's embarrasing
I knew they should have never changed from a Lincoln to a Cadillac. President Bush's Caddy 1 broke down on the streets of Rome (see video). Then again, anyone who has ever owned a GM product knows that the trani' is the first thing to go, especially when it is loaded down with the extra weight of bullet-proof glass and anti-tank armor.

On a positive note: the Prez hadn't had his exercise for the day and he was able to stretch his legs for a bit. Also, none of the by-standers and paparazzi were molested (accidentally) by the Italian Poliza. Then again, to quote Freud, "There's no such thing as coincidences"; perhaps Dubya told his driver, "Stop the car, I think we are close to Sapienza University-I read in the Bushido that they have a very unique atmospheric condition near here."

Wednesday's WTF? Why don't people warn those with too much Mulletude?

Photos compliments of the Bushido, taken June 9, 2007 outside of Morganton, N.C. @ West Caldwell High School. WHY??? WHY??? WTF IS WRONG WITH THIS PERSON?

Question: What was the last thing that Yoda said (to Obi Wan) as Luke climbed into his fighter in The Empire Strikes Back?

Answer: "There is another" (see: "Hunting the Gray-Fox")

Hunting the elusive Gray-Fox of the North Carolina foothills

Graduation is a rite of passage for many, but for some, graduating to a new hair-do (errr, don't) never seems to be in their grasp. As you know, the Bushido attended my sister's graduation this past weekend, not knowing that I would have the opportunity to go hunting-the elusive and majestic Gray-Fox of the North Carolina foothills-look there he is. (Photos compliments of the Bushido).

I approach the majestic creature from behind as not too startle it-look at that glorious mane of hair!









A twig snaps as I inch closer, the Gray-Fox is startled; so elusive, this stag runs to the safety of mulletude in numbers. A chance encounter, but a memorable one. I shall always remember this day, hunting the Gray-Fox.

Perhaps I will send these pictures to Mullets-Galore.com and see if there is some kind of reward for capturing the Gray-Fox on film.

Bushido Experiment: Tire Changing Hypothesis

The set-up for today's experiment is that Mel had a flat tire just moments before leaving for the Spoleto Finale. (See photos) I want to know if adding music to the video clip will make it cooler.





Hypothesis: Adding music to a tire-change video will make it cooler. (Please leave your comments to aide the results of this experiment.)





Control: Tire Change without music


Variable: Tire Change with music

LowCountry Look-A-Likes

I am thinking this is Rebecca Romain, that chick from Party of Five and Tom Hanks. What do you think? (Picture from the Spoleto Blog)

Fireworks Gun-Powder

I have to admit, I always feel a little too close for comfort when I get hit in the face with gun-powder pellets. Then again, this is only the 2nd time it has happened to me: the first time was on the 4th of July w/ Pit-Stop and Lars Phillipps when the parking garage we were on top of was only 2 blocks away from the action. Indeed my shirt was peppered that night, but I have never been hit with wrapper-see photo courtesy of J. Trabert.

Video 1:


Video 2:

Spoleto Fireworks w/ Izzy commenting in the foreground

Spoleto Finale Fireworks-Airplane

I saw a passenger airplane flying to the right of the fireworks and I couldn't imaging how cool it would have been to be looking out your window (perhaps even down) at fireworks.

Here's the video:

Spoleto Finale Fireworks

For those of you who missed the Spoleto Finale at Middleton Plantation this year, here is a video of the fireworks, mixed with a little “Dead” for your viewing pleasure.

I thought the symphony’s performance was a little short (timed just under an hour) and without the normal pizzazz of the music demonstrated in past Spoleto-Finales. Could this be the conductor’s fault? You bet. Not to beat a guy for his style, but in the past, conductors have interacted with the crowd-telling us non-nose-thumbing Plebes background on the piece that was just played. We still had a nice spread and a great time. Btw, I don’t know if you have ever seen her in person, but Channel 2’s Carolyn Murray is a rock! Enjoy the flick.

A response to Sen. Jim DeMint

South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint is a wimp. A wimp who hides behind empty rhetoric. A wimp who never has worn the uniform of an American service-member. A wimp who passes the buck for mistakes made during his and his party's watch. A wimp who made the following illogical and reprehensible comments: i.e. "Al-Qaida knows that we've got a lot of wimps in Congress. I believe a lot of the casualties can be laid at the feet of all the talk in Congress about how we've got to get out, we've got to cut and run." (The State Newspaper, James Rosen, 5-30-2007). And the wimpy icing on the cake for the 100 South Carolinians at the luncheon where DeMint made his remarks, was that DeMint made note that Saddam still has “stockpiles of chemical weapons” and "it would have been worse had we not gone in (to Iraq) " and thought that no one would notice. -Holy Republican BatMan-That DeMint guy is nuttier than squirrel sh_crap!!!

Concessions
I will concede two things about the political nature surrounding these remarks. First, the Republicans are excellent at spinning the news and the body politic. They have an amazing ability to shape the news and the views of everything from the Estate Tax (Repubs read: "Death Tax") to the results of the recent election. I am sorry Mr. President and Senator DeMint, but contrary to the Republican spin machine, your party lost big across the board in the last election because of the War in Iraq. And even more amazing, Republicans who are the minority in Congress when it comes to those who served in the military, have the "balls" to call Democrats weak on defense and wimps when fighting terrorism.

As for the President: I have a theory concerning Presidents who served and those who didn't: It often is the case that it is a lot easier (and faster) for those who never served to send in the troops, than it is for those who have seen combat and war to send our troops into harms way. But don't kid yourself, the President needs a supporting and enabling cast in Congress as well as the Courts to get away with this.

My second concession is that Democrats did let me down when they took the troop withdrawal timetable out of the bill that President Bush vetoed. I was livid that they didn't send the exact same bill to the President. I thought they caved. But then after reading Senator Jim DeMint's comments this week, I realized; as much as I want our troops to come home, I know that Republicans would watch the flag-draped coffins and body-bags come home and get on every news network to announced that these men and women lost their lives because the Democrats let them die when they didn't fund the Iraqi War. Indeed, this is reprehensible and disgraceful, but it would have happened and the thing is, a majority of the people would have bought it. The irony of course, is that we had to pledge another $120 billion to fund a war that Donald Rumsfeld, V.P. Cheney and President Bush said, would fund itself (from the oil sales).


My third concession is that although humorous (to me and the Macho Man), the photo in this post is probably a little over the top, but it seems more therapeutic than grabbing a pitchfork and torch. I digress; what Senator DeMint is missing (apart from realizing that James Rosen was in audience during his saber-rattling luncheon) is that he represents ALL South Carolinians (Not just Republicans) and for him to make such comments about Democrats, is not only simply irresponsible and noticeably heard by ALL Democrats, but he is calling every true-American a wimp. Wimps who believe in Democracy. Wimps who vote and expect their elected officials to pay in kind when they vote on the Hill.

The key to a Representative-Republic (the American System of Government*) is for elected officials to take great care of the "Trust" we have given. The Trust that our representative will vote in the best interests for the Country (the People) and not the best interest of their own, their party's, or the agenda of those who line their growingly deep pockets. The Trust that our representative will perform their duties above and beyond the call of duty. The ultimate political sacrifice might just be to ask the tough questions, vote against the pack, to think things through, to check the over-site, to check the intel and to hold the lying s.o.b.s' feet to the fire when those liars are not only exposed and documented, but when those liars' lies continue to fill flag-draped coffins for an unjust war.
Indeed, that might just be poli-seppuku, but if was in Jim DeMint's shoes, I would prefer a clear conscience and the noble feeling that I did my best when looking into the eyes of a widow or the mother of a fallen soldier and told them about a grateful Nation...

*This is another concession I will give (to Boon) who I argued over the differences between America being a Democracy or Republic for at least a week. If you throw Representative in front of each term, I am sure, you can understand my fight for Democracy.

Sara Jean Underwood PMOY and reaching the peak with Tenzing Norgay

For those of you waiting for the June edition of Playboy to hit the shelves, don't read this due to the spoiler, but Sara Jean Underwood is this year's PMOY! Photos from her MySpace page.

Picking the new Miss USA, Rachel Smith...the powers of deduction and appreciation for form and pulchritude

Watching things, especially contests of sports or other competition, on DVR can be somewhat of a challenge-especially if you already know the outcome. Since I had been on an excursion in the foothills of North Carolina-my sister's wedding-I was without any knowledge of who was crowned Miss USA 2007. Fortunately, Blackie watched other events last Friday and was unaware of the outcome as well. With equal footing, (albeit, I do have superior powers of deduction and am more of a student of "form and pulchritude" than Mr. Blackmon) we watched the 51-beautiful contestants compete for the Miss USA Crown.

Forgetting any allegiance to our beloved Carolinas, due to a shortened version of the contest which commenced during the swimsuit competition, Blackie chose two contestants: Miss Rhode Island-Danielle Lacourse and Miss Nevada-the lucky lady, Helen Salas. There was but one young beauty who caught my eye: Miss Tennessee-Rachel Smith (photo from Home Watson.com). Perhaps, it was her gorgeous smile, framed by a sculpted face and 5'11" body or the fact that she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Belmont University with a B.S. in Journalism that attracted me to her. (Belmont has performed for the Bushido in my NCAA B-Ball brackets before). Then again, as you all know, I enjoy interesting people and Miss USA's path to success was golden: as a former intern for the Oprah Winfrey Show, her charity work was impeccable working with girls at Oprah's school in Africa. Finally, my sister's husband is stationed outside of Clarksville, TN-Miss Smith's hometown (bonus points).

Taking all of Rachel Smith's attributes (both physical and extracurricular), it was easy to deduce that she would be chosen as the next Miss USA. Think about it, the reigning Miss USA (Tara Conner) was caught in scandal with her "country mouse meets city mouse" adventures of booze and debauchery. The Donald needed someone who was 21, down to earth and (sorry for the cliche) the total package. Let's see, Miss Tennessee: check, check, and checkkkk!

Miss Kansas was a little bit too (pre-Vatican II) Catholic-forget 2nd chances with Cara Renee Gorges there Tara Conner, she would have said, "You're fired-now go to the warehouse for your date with old Sparky!" Miss Nevada was the type of person who sits at 3rd base on the Black-Jack table and hits on 20; thus taking the dealer's bust card. And Miss Rhode Island would ban (of all things that are dangerous in this world) cell-phones whilst driving. I must admit, the Bushido laughed "sofa-king" hard when she said cell-phones, that I dropped my drink. This left but one queen to wear the crown-the Bushido's pick, Miss Tennessee, Rachel Smith. Congrats to Miss USA and best of luck with her work towards fighting breast and ovarian cancer. And in closing, Miss Smith, if you are ever in ChuckTown-look me up, I have a big yard with a tidal creek for your chocolate lab, Zoe to play with our boy Bear and the old girl Daisy while we discuss world politics, the ever-changing dynamics of journalism and whatever else comes to mind. (Laugh now my beloved readers, but you never know)

Pictures of Miss USA, Rachel Smith

Photos from Homewatson.com

Danielle Lacourse, Miss Rhode Island 2007-1st runner-up

She's gorgeous-no doubt-and she was Blackie's favorite, but she didn't register with the judges as the complete package like Miss USA Rachel Smith did.

Vanessa Minillo will be a judge for the Miss America Competition tonight!

I have always loved this girl-what a sweetheart. Plus, her dad used to be our Fed-Ex guy and he was pretty cool too. Catch former Miss Teen South Carolina and B.E. grad, Vanessa Minnillo.
(Photo from gunco.com)