James & Norris in 2008

The NEW Presidency is coming...

Food, Folks and Fun...

Well I know it’s only the end of April, but summer has officially begun in my mind. I just had lunch with a friend downtown Minneapolis at Brit’s Pub and sat outside and the weather is UNBELIVEABLY AMAZING right now!! Sun is shining, little breeze (so not too hot), birds chirping, beautiful women everywhere, all that good crap … just amazing!

And let me just say that you have not truly experienced summer until you enjoy a pint of beer in the company of some good friends on the rooftop of Brit’s Pub on a nice summer night. There’s just nothing better; simply an amazing experience! I’ve posted a few pics of what you can expect to enjoy in the summertime if you are up for the experience.

Brit’s Pub Rooftop Pics – Complete with Lawn Bowling









Enjoy the good weather if you are in the MN metro area today!

CrackSpace.com

Well I didn’t want to be one of “those” people, but I am. I am now on and somewhat addicted to MySpace.com. (You can’t see it, but I’m hanging my head in shame right now). About a month ago I literally had 30 people, randomly throughout the course of a week, tell me that MySpace.com is sooo much fun and I need to get on it like yesterday!! I finally got so fed up that I screamed out “ALRIGHT ALREADY DAMN-IT!!! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!” (in the voice of Adam Sandler from Billy Madison). So I logged onto and signed up for all the mystery and splendor that is MySpace.com. And well I am now one of many human sheep.

Actually, I find it pretty funny. It’s truly an experiment in human nature. You are connected with literally millions of people all over the world in a more intimate way than ever before. I mean, did you know that Bob Smith III from Ft. Worth, Texas is actually a practicing snake handler that drives a volvo, has a speech impediment, likes the movie The Bodyguard, listens to Polka and shoots goats for a living? Me niether...wait a minute... who's Bob Smith III?

Well in addition to finding out things about random strangers I’ve also found people from High School that I haven’t seen in years!! In fact, I just had lunch with a long lost friend the other day because of it. So that’s good right?!? Well my friend, with the good always comes the bad…

I mean for whatever reason people will spends hundreds if not thousands of dollars to protect their personal information from identity thieves, scam artists and terrorists keeping their personal information more secret than the final resting place of Jimmy Hoffa. When it comes to purchasing or signing up for anything online, phone and mail by “secure” means or even filling out medical information at a doctor’s office (information kept under lock and key) we have all been taught to “question” and ask, “Do you really need this?” But when it comes to MySpace.com people without even thinking twice will post every last intimate detail about themselves right down to what their favorite color is, turn-ons, and what they had for dinner last night. Don’t believe me? Check it out! So much for identity security I guess. Not to mention you have all the freaks out there posing as someone they’re not. Hell, for all you know I could be a 90-year-old man from Easter Island, with a fake peg leg and an eye patch. Yar!!!! I’m NOT, but I could be.

Anyways, I’m not sure what the final lesson is out there for all the readers (of one) taking the time to read this entry. I guess it’s a word of caution. MySpace.com can be a lot of fun, but once your information it out there (on the internet) well my friend it’s kind of like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool. Use as much chlorine as you like, it just isn’t going to happen! So use the toilet from now on…errr…I mean be careful how you use MySpace.com. Yes, be careful…that’s the ticket!

Feeling bored? Here’s my MySpace.com profile (needs to be updated…sorry)

http://www.myspace.com/66354883

Worst Bus Ride Ever...

(Warning: I just experienced the 'worst bus ride ever' and below is a recounting of that event. It is not a positive tail, it is one of frustration. Read at your own risk!)

Well I just experienced probably on record the worst bus ride EVER!!!! Not to sound too negative here, but DAMN!!! Okay, I missed my bus so I had to wait an extra 15 mins for the next one. Alright, whatever.So my bus finally arrives (time ticked backwards for a while) and I get on the bus and all of the seats are just about full so I'm forced to sit in the seats in the front of the bus that are positioned sideways so you are forced to look at the person right across from you the whole trip. Awkward... I soon notice that the back of the bus is full of people of 'African-American' decent, which is cool, but not when these people keep yelling at each other at the top of their lungs like it's no big deal. I realize I'm a white boy from Minnesota, but DAMN Shaniqua (yes that was her name) I don't think that the rest of the people are as deaf as you so let's tone it down a bit, huh?!?

So as this "wonderful" and "colorful" conversation is going on in the back of the bus a couple of stops later "Stinky Sam" the hobo gets on. This guy obviously has problems. First he doesn't walk so well (took him 5 mins to get on the bus and another 10 to find enough change), then he proceeds to sit down about a seat away from me. Again, this guy has serious problems, and I will touch upon the biggest on...no sense of smell. What transpired next was the most horrible smell known to man, animal or alien. A mix of the most vile BO and urine combination imaginable. This was BAD folks!!! I mean it was such a powerful stink it brought tears to my eyes. Time to take a bath buddy, please, for me!

After a few stops, full bus or not, I couldn't stand it much longer so I got up and started moving towards the "volume impaired" people in the back of the bus. After a little while, a seat finally opened up. I sit down and who comes marching down the aisle in full on army fatigues, crazy unkempt grey hair, black glasses and reeking of cigarettes? None other than 'Crazy Carl The Conspiracy Theorist'.

Well Crazy Carl sits down next to me and proceeds to tell me that he is a conspiracy theorist; he tells me that if you can't find a problem then you just aren't looking hard enough. Just a great motto don't you think? Well, I try to give him the hint and ignore him, but Crazy Carl just isn't having it. Not today, my good sir!! So he continues to describe on in detail how America is a Facist Regime and how he prays every night that someone would "get rid" of Kenneth Lay. Only he didn't say "get rid", he used more violent means to describe how he wishes someone would dispose of this man. So now I'm starting to fear for my safety, as he continues on other theories. Then just as I'm about to get off (thank God!!) he proceeds to write 5 websites I need to check out to "inform" myself of all the problems going on in America. I grabbed the slip of paper and ran off the bus like it was on fire.

All I can say out there for the kids tuning into our program today is, "Kids, never take the bus, ever!!! And never talk to strangers even if they talk to you, it's a trap!! If you're cornered, well just scream and run as fast as you can anywhere, but there!! Trust me on this one."

The oldest debate...

Fighting in the Mid-East (Christian, Muslim, or Jew)
Which came first Chicken or the Egg?
Is there life on other planets?
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

There are some debates that have withstood the test of time and are never meant to be solved, but one overshadows all others and that is the question of what do you actually call the Carbonated Sweet beverage that comes in cans? Pop, Soda or Coke??? I definitely have my own preference to be sure, however this is a question that came up in the events of my life as they unfolded today and frustrated me to no end. I had a conversation with a copywriter I work with on a TV spot, we are doing, and we spent wwwwaaayyyy tooooo long conversing on which term we should use “pop” or “soda”. Seriously, wars have been solved quicker.

I guess that we will just have to agree that we are all wrong; that or you agree with me and just call this magical beverage “pop” once and for all.

If by chance you are looking for facts on this great debate here’s an interesting website:

http://www.popvssoda.com

In the meantime, I'm going to spend my time on things that can be solved quicker like say ... curing cancer.

The Godfather Trilogy … Great Classic or Old film hype???

“I know it was you Fredo!! You broke my heart!” – Michael Corleone (Al Pacino)

Well as every guy is duty bound at least once in his life this weekend I watched The Godfather Trilogy for the first time. Why has it taken me so long to watch these so-called masterpieces, you ask? Umm…well (insert good excuse here). So there!

Anyways, I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into these movies. These films have become Americana themselves. A part of society that is quoted among friends and loved ones, “Never go against the family!” So after many decades of hype I have no choice but to like these movies right? WRONG!! Just kidding, I actually enjoyed these films I just wanted to be argumentative.

The review verdict: pretty good. After watching these films I do feel that Godfather I and II were definitely the better of the three. I enjoyed them, if nothing else for the sole purpose of seeing what all the hype was about and the basis for many rip-offs (some say homage) for many gangster films and jokes. But I didn’t feel they were by any means the best films of all time. However, I will caveat this by saying seeing these films today just isn’t as impactful as when they were first released and were truly groundbreaking filmmaking. So it’s probably not fair to give them a review under today’s standards.

Morale of the story, I enjoyed the films; probably not the best films of all time, but I do feel these are classics that most should see. This may sound like a review of indifference, but in many ways that is how the films left me feeling. Take it for what it’s worth.

Cue the exit music…