Cruising Off The Deep End

As Tom Cruise continues to spiral towards never making another film, he'll probably rely on the support of his co-scientologists for the extraordinarily large sums of money it apparently costs to participate in this religion after his demise.
I think L. Ron Hubbard said it best "I bet people are stupid enough to take my fictional story, call it fact, and start worshipping it" or something along those lines. One of my office colleagues made me aware of the rumor that Hubbard, who wrote the book Scientology spurred from (Dyanetics), was bet my a friend that people would take is tall-tale and lose their minds over it.
Low-and-behold, people proved the friend right.
I am a Bible-believer with more than my fair-share of skepticism, so don't get me started as to why the Bible is fact; my blog would turn into boring, but amazing life-long memoirs, and I'd lose you all as readers. My question is this: Why do so many people out there jump on these DiVinci Code bandwagons to give them something to worship thats different from everyone else?
I guess rockers Poison said it best "Give me somethin' to b' lieve in", with everyone searching for hope to find peace within themselves. But I think most confuse hope with immediate resolve or satisfaction, and when it doesn't come, they're on to the next latest-and-greatest fad religion; serial believers if you will. A little of this, a little of that, they believe in a God, an idea, a tree, or a all three, and wonder how the rest of us could be so "narrow-minded" and are totally missing the boat, but enough about what could turn into a really long post, with what I would imagine would see alot of comments.
The intent of this post was just to send you all to a link that same friend from work also sent me Tom Sith Cruise, as Scientologized Cruise uses his powers to defeat Oprah. I think Dave Letterman's team must have created this.

The Desperate Stepford Housewives

I would presume the 2005 Robot World Expo in Japan would bring some pretty interesting android-like creations to the table, and those people would bring their latest robotic masterpiece for debut, but this one takes them all.
Repliee Q1 Human Android is the most life-like robot to date and has scary-good detail for a scary-good representation of a human. Can you imagine the deception on Wisteria Lane if robots were running the households; it would be a short, and bloody season. The Stepford Wives is nearing reality, performing essential, and non-essential (I'm being dirty here) tasks. Read the National Geographic article on this amazing machine, then let your mind wonder for a few minutes on just how much this type of conceptual design will impact our everyday 15 years from now.
Imagine the fact that this robot can react and interact with you and me, all based on its programming to do WHATEVER it's designed to do. Mechanics, won't need em; Fast Food attendants, barely do now, accountants, a simple program will eliminate them, taxi drivers, they smell; moms...

Don't You Know Who I Am?

Once again Fast Company, a business magazine and web/blog site, has posted another trash post about how the whole world should be ashamed of themselves for Oprah not being let into a store after-hours to shop.
This argument on the Fast Compnay Blog has so many holes that I was bound as a representative of the common-sense bearing human race to react with a rebuttal. My rebuttal can be found towards the bottom of the FC blog page, and be sure to read the banter on the way down, especially Heathers. I basically said not all whites are racist, that it's racist to think that way, and that racism is a cycle that only gets fueled by the half-cocked press crying wolf on unsubstantiated, dramatic creations that take away from the true instances.
Taking the mortar and pestle to settling racist sediment only keeps toxins in the air and never lets hatred decompose.

As the World Turns, WA Stays the Same, With Us In It

I'm sorry its been a little while since my last post, but I've been so busy making life decisions lately that I haven't had time to ponder much of anything let alone reflect on my blog. Well, it looks like Heather and I are moving to...drumroll please...Bainbridge Island, WA.
For all of you who aren't familiar with that Island, it's 11 miles West of the heart of downtown Seattle. And for all you geography gurus, you know that that means 7 miles of ferry across the Puget Sound.
Ah yes, the Island of Bainbridge, let me tell you, it sounds more appealing than it actually is.
Although it's revered by all who know it as the crown-jewel of WA, being so close to Seattle yet so far away from it all, creating a habitat for the wealthy to act like complete pretentious asses and be loved for it. But its not a classy, civilized rich, its the bitter, lost-an-election type of rich that is more concerned with the stickers on their, and everyone elses, cars than the overdue oil change.
But the worst part is that this type of climate harvests an even worse kind of human; Dirty Hippies. I speak from personal experience living in Boulder, CO. As with any utopic environment, hippies tend to gravitate towards the them like flies on birthday cake, sprouting roots out of their VW buses and infultrating the epicentic city core through restaurant and coffee shop jobs, which this Island spews of from its touristic disposition.
So, like Boulder, you have the angry rich mixed with the abhorrent poor, which breeds such an awful stench of self-righteousness that it stings your eyes and makes your nose run, and we are, yet again, thrown right into the mix of it.
Heather and I both work on the Island, and have decided these jobs are best for us at this transition in our lives, not that either are necessarily the be-all-end-all, but good learning experiences and avenues of income, not to mention the current 70 mile commute is a little wearing.

Almost Home

My buddy overseas is counting the days till he's completed with his most recent stint fighting terror and creating democracy. In the below statements taken from his most recent email correspondence he touched upon things we are aware of, yet so blind to inside our US media bubble: Media bias for political agendas:

"As I'm sure you probably saw on the news, we lost four guys over the last week and half, two of which were SF guys, the other two conventional soldiers, but at an SF compound. The first two individuals got hit by an IED, the other two happened to be on the Landing Zone (LZ) when Haji got lucky with a couple of mortar rounds. So as always, please say a prayer for them and their families.
On a seperate note, from the looks of it, since we lost four individuals, the press is all of a sudden saying we losing ground over here in Afghanistan, and the Taliban and Al Quaida are getting stronger (This is based upon recent New York Times and Washington Post recent articles dated 9 JUNE 05)
Too say the least they are, as usual, farthest from the truth. For instance, the articles didn't happen to mentioned that those two yahoos who decided to launch a couple of mortars on the LZ where quickly and efficiently disposed of by the main gun of an Apache helicopter about
15 minutes after they launched their rounds as they were retreating back to Pakistan..sorry but they weren't fast enough to use the international boundry as their safe-haven."
" We are just setting up another basic training course to train another 100 Afghan soldiers for the border control points. We had over one-thousand Afghan locals show up and try to make the cut for the selection process. So, at this point we are not losing Afghan soldiers, in fact we are getting more than enough volunteers who want to serve and protect their country....Guess the New York Times, and Washington Post, missed that one also."

It's sad to think about the drugged-up uneducated hippies that spat on our returning soldiers in battle's past, but it's may be worse to think about the impression media's creating for battle's future. Our society's so blindly lead and influened by such a corrupt few in news and TV that American's are willing to throw logic threw the screen door and buy into the propaganda against the principles of our nation, the principles that have afforded us the freedoms and luxuries that allow daft-prick citizens to denounce its greatness.

A Must View Clip

I don't normally spread the disease that is spam, but after witnessing the video clip from Putfile.com, courtesy of my less than normal buddy Greg Gellas, it truly is a must-view. Be forewarned, people with sensitive stomachs and frequent nightmares need not participate. To all the rest: Brace yourself.

The Residential Market: Hanks Said it Best

On the eve of our first home, wherever that may be, it's always comforting to read articles on 25% home value increases in a year. This sellers market is insane. I can't wait to overpay on the bubble, maybe even get into a bidding war for an, at-best, moderate home in the middle of no-where with nothing to offer; Oh how I lose sleep counting the days.
With the dangling of low interest rates and happy lenders, anyone with $40 bucks in their pocket and 4-months of continuous experience wiping tables at McDonald's can get financing to buy a home.
On the surface, the sympathetic thought would be to cheer this arms-reach of the American dream, but one has to wonder what lies below the surface.
Why is it that people think a dollar earned is a dollar spent. Coming in with offers 20% higher that the asking price, which is always "the stretch" seller's would love to get on their homes if they're lucky, banking on the buyer being stupid. Well "stupid is as stupid does" in this case, over and over again. It must not be stupid if everyone's doing it? Please.
Everyone's trying to jump on the buy-bandwagon while the money's still free, but the beat on the street is that the rates aren't suppose to rise much further in the near future, and that the rate up-swing will level-off, which is just one factor that may help settle demand.
Basic economics will always prevail, and the supply of tract homes that everyone seems to love (or should I say towne homes with a fence) will eventually meet demand, supply will go up, and the value on the exitisting over-priced crap will go down, and then we can all pick up a home on the foreclosure list: Whoopie!
For me, I guess the only alternative to buying would be to rent or move in with one of you, so post a comment with your name, address, and what you typically stock your fridge with and we'll go from there. "Ok, but I get the bunk on top" (Big, you should know that)

All That's Left Is Begging

GM announced yesterday that until July 5th, all GM brands and models available to employees will be sold below invoice, at the GM employee discount rate.
GM's, along with the other US carmakers' sales have struggled in recent years, and while flourishing companies like Honda begin stepping on American automaker's toes with accelerating SUV marketshare and the introduction of the Ridgeline, Honda's first pick-up truck, GM is doing whatever it takes to not get run over.
This type of incentive is great and gets people thinging about GM and GM products, but keeping the enthusiasm beyond July 6th is unlikely.
Peaking even my foreign-car-loving mind, I perused the GM site, scrolling through every model of every GM brand, and I can tell you there isn't much to pick from. My inital thought was this would be a great time to pick up the C6 Vette, but of course that model's apparently not cared for much by GM employees because it wasn't available for the employee rate. Hmmm... I'm sure the machine-press operator that's slaved 24 years of his life in Flint, MI with a 76' Stingray t-shirt and rebel flag bandana holding back his hippie-horseshoe wants nothing to do with the car that enticed him to start working for GM anyway; silly me. Something tells me it's just been removed for this sale, because I haven't heard about any big GM strikes lately.
I encourage you to go to GM and shop around, as this is a good deal, but be fore-warned, there isn't much. Saab has a decent inventory these days (mainly because GM hasn't tampered with them too much), and the XLR Caddy convertible or CTS-V might be nice. Ahhh... that's about it folks.

And the Award Goes to...

Apple, Coach, Williams-Sonoma, White House/Black Market, and Steve and Barry's. Haven't heard of some of these? You will.
The International Council of Shopping Centers, the association anyone in my line of work should be involved with, announced last week at its annual convention that these retailers have been awarded the 2005 Hot Retailer Award. Granted on success, growth, appeal, and landlord satisfaction on drawing traffic and creating 'the buzz' every retailer would sell a kidney for.
The 'up-and-coming' or 're-birthing' requires differentiation retailers want, but most can't achieve, so these brands have certainly arrived. Keep an eye out for their boom and find out why they were chosen from the ICSC Hot Retailer Article.