This Just In: Michael Vick a Moron; Some Still Support Him

Yesterday, in all the same flurry of his running speed, Michael Vick tested positive for marijuana.  It came from a urine test he submitted two weeks ago, and now he’s put under a strict house arrest with electronic monitoring included.  The deluxe package!

This comes after his two previous charges of dogfighting by the State of Virginia, just passed down this week, and his federal charge of dogfighting conspiracy, which he has already plead guilty to.

Just what the hell is wrong with this guy?  He is an athlete with a unique and awesome talent.  He’s getting paid millions of dollars to play a game once a week for six months a year.  He only has to keep his life clean for 10 years or so, then he can go do whatever the hell he wants or be a commentator on ESPN.  He has pissed it away for making animals fight each other and for smoking pot.  And for knowingly having herpes.

I’m sure the athletes who got cut from the team or who don’t have the physical body necessary to play the game, but really want to, are furious with Vick.  There are tons of people out there who do good with that opportunity and set a good standard for other players and people in general.  Vick ruins it by breaking as many laws as he can.

Not only is that in itself upsetting, but infuriating is the group of people who still support him after all he’s done.   A large collection of people claim that he’s become a martyr in Atlanta, say that the courts should leave him alone after his confessions, some are (surprise) even trying to turn this into a race issue.  This man has been given an entire list of second chances and he continues to disappoint people.  There’s the herpes thing (Ron Mexico), there’s the flipping off of Atlanta thing, there’s the marijuana-hidden-in-the-water-bottle thing, and now the dogfighting thing and the under the influence of marijuana thing.  That’s at least 5 things that he deserves a cold shoulder for, and there’s still a mass of people whose shoulders are still lukewarm.  I just don’t get it.  He’s a complete idiot.

I hate to kick a guy when he’s down, but he just isn’t that smart.  Not that he unknowingly did wrong; I’m pretty sure he is aware that marijuana is illegal just like dogfights.  But I honestly think that with today’s star celebrity status, he thinks he can get off easy like so many Nicole Richies and Paris Hiltons of our generation.  Well, Paris did get the boot stuck to her, but as far as Hollywood goes, that’s a huge minority.

So my message to Vick: stop wasting your amazing high school and college years by ruining your professional career.  I mean think about it, it’s not like the guy has any type of resume typed up.  If he can’t play football, he can’t do much else except bag my groceries.  Of course it would never work out like that; he’s famous.

Senator sues God, God replies

Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers (D-Omaha) filed a lawsuit against God a few days ago, citing a laundry list of accusations including “fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects, and the like.”

Not only has Chambers sued God, but he has also extended the lawsuit to cover God’s followers (“Christians” if you will).  Chambers states that God’s followers have “made and continues to make terroristic threats of grave harm to innumerable persons.”  The article is quite hilarious, and Chambers keeps it plausible, staying within the boundaries of the biblical Creator’s own rules.

Chambers need not serve God with a notice of the lawsuit since God is all-knowing.  Chambers filed to suit to poke fun at the judicial system, proving that they will allow lawsuits to be filed for any reason.  Perhaps this stunt will get the rusty cogs working on our government branches so that ladies can’t sue for hot coffee, fat kids can’t sue McDonald’s for making them fat, and dumbasses can’t sue dry cleaners for $67 million over a pair of pants.

Chambers is also agnostic, so I think this lawsuit was also meant to poke fun at Christians for doing exactly what he claims.  Threatening eternal damnation and hellfire is pretty much the bread and butter of Christianity for some.  Otherwise, why would you give up the ability to *gasp* have sex before marriage?

Surprisingly, God responded to the lawsuit, with a magic *poof* and the papers just sat atop the desk of John Friend, clerk of the Douglas County District Court in Omaha.  God states that Chambers misses the point of human suffering, saying “I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you.”  St Michael the Archangel was listed as a witness in lieu of contact information for God.  Can’t they just pray?

Racism in Jena, LA?

Today’s big story is the rally in Jena, LA over the six African American high school students who assaulted a fellow white student. This was after the white student, Justin Barker, intimidated and taunted them for several days at school with his friends. Where the discrepancies arise is whether the six attackers, dubbed the “Jena 6,” should be tried as adults with attempted murder charges on their heads. The bigger question is whether this is a race issue or not.

The facts I’ve heard thus far are that about a year ago the racial tension was made public when a black student asked to sit under a tree where white students normally congregated. The white students non-violently (but controversially, insultingly) hung nooses on the tree’s branches to “send a message.” This can be taken as a threat or it can be taken as a warning. Apparently the white students who hung the nooses were given a slap on the hand in the form of in school suspension; this is after the school administration suggested they be expelled.

Three months later, in December of 2006, the six black students attacked Barker after his friends’ week of taunting. The taunting included pulling a gun on some of the black students at a convenience store. Barker survived the attack, but “was taken to a hospital with injuries to both eyes and ears, as well as cuts. His right eye had blood clots.” I have also read that he attended a school function later that night.

One of the charges requires attempted assault with a deadly weapon, or something along those lines. The deadly weapon has been cited as the shoes of the black teens, some of whom were athletes. As of now, five of the black teens were initially charged with attempted murder, but that charge was reduced to battery for two of them; the sixth teen is being charged as a juvenile. I’ve read different things from different sources, but it seems the three of the teens are still being charged with attempted murder. With a shoe.

As for the race issue, it’s not quite cut and dry for me. Growing up in the South, racism is just about fused in some at a young age. I had a personal taste of it as a young teenager, and it was only in college that I developed my own view on it. I don’t agree with any type of hatred towards a person based on their race or background. Everyone gets a fair shot with me. My point is, in the South there is always that issue, looming overhead like a dark cloud. In high school some of my classmates waved the Confederate flag proudly, but as a symbol of hatred when we played a majority-black school in sports. Most of these kids were backwater rednecks, whose brain functions could take them no farther than high school, and barely that far. I’m not saying that ignorant people harbor racism, I’m just saying that ignorant people don’t think farther than what they’re taught by their own. I have an issue with ignorance.

So is this a race issue? My first instinct says it is. There is a lot to be said about the tension that non-violent acts create. Add that to the workings of the brain of a high school student and the paranoia they must feel. It is easy to say that the white student held some racist thoughts against the black students, solely because of his berating of them the week previous. But in my experience, black people have the capability of being just as racist as white people. So then it’s easy to say the Jena 6 held equally racist thoughts against Barker. The jury that convicted the first student as guilty was all white. I can imagine many viewer’s thoughts of a small, crowded courthouse much like the one portrayed in A Time to Kill; old faded paint and creaking seats, Cypress trees surrounding the town with moss hanging off everything, the jurors dressed in Old South clothing and a southern drawl that rivals my college roommate’s. This depiction will only make things worse.

Then there’s the other side, which says to take the issue as it is, in the here and now. Lay to waste your thoughts of the past actions and anything that could have built up this moment of misjudgment and hatred on both parties. That part of me says there is no race issue, that the Jena 6 were just taking out their week of frustration on Barker, who told one joke too many. I was picked on in high school a bit, I know what it’s like to be so angry and afraid of that one person; you don’t want to turn the corner and see him, or bump into him in the bathroom during class, no one around but the two of you. If I’d have had five friends who were picked on by that same bully, I almost hate to say I’d take out my frustrations on his face.

Perhaps good, perhaps bad is the participation by the Reverend Al Sharpton, who is always first to pop his head up when any issue of black and white arises, even if it’s the color of the next game console. To me, he is fueling this already raging fire. I can only wonder what is going through his mind as he speaks to instill and inspire the massive gathering crowd. The past has taught us about the mob mentality. I only wonder how far they can go while keeping this protest non violent.

So the 21st century Civil Rights movement is upon us this very day. And I can’t decide which side of the fence to party on.

Rejoice Atlanta Drivers! City’s traffic not the worst in the US!

That’s right!  We’re the second worst.  CNN has reported that Atlanta drivers spent an average of 60 hours per year in delayed traffic in 2005.  That amount was down 10 hours/year from 2004, but the old data doesn’t sit well with me.  I feel like I spend a considerable amount more than that sitting in parking-lot-style traffic.

Three quarters of drivers go solo to work, which costs more gas and puts more cars on the road (obviously).  We’re still stuck with 4-lane highways in most places, while the population continues to surge upward.  As Alan Pikarski states: “Things are bad and they’re getting worse; we’ve used up the capacity that had been bequeathed to us by a previous generation, and we haven’t replaced it.”

I know I want to shoot myself when I merge onto 285 in the morning and see 4 glorious rows of snail-paced cars streaming up the highway.  I would be all for an organized, well-thought out public transportation system.  MARTA, our railway system,  just doesn’t cut it; it doesn’t reach enough of Atlanta.  The bus system is, quite honestly, slightly scary in some parts of Atlanta.  I know there are people hard at work on some sort of solution, but isn’t Georgia Tech right down the road?  You’d think that the school holding some of the world’s smartest brains could help figure out a decent solution.  I know cost is always a factor in politics, but our taxes in this state are ridiculous as well.

Factor in the time and money that would be saved by police officers and ambulances working on the countless traffic accidents per day in the perimeter, and it might balance out.   Maybe.  I’m no accountant guru, but I know there’s some equilibrium in effect at some point.  Sure, us ATL-iens would be suffering for a few years while they build the system (I’m thinking railway), but future generations would enjoy it greatly.

London does it, New York does it, Japan does it.  I’d love to see Atlanta out of the top 10 cities with the worst traffic.  Or at least not behind Los Angeles.  5.1 million people in our city last year, and that number will rise.  I’m commissioning the genius level people in the world to help us figure out a way to get me to work within a reasonable amount of time.  Doubling my commute is just getting old.  I’ll bake cookies for the winner!

UF Student (justifiably) Tasered *Updated*

Update at the bottom of the post

I’m sure everyone has already heard/read/seen the story about the UF student, Andrew Meyer, who was tasered in front of the crowd at a speech Senator Kerry was holding on campus. At first view, in fact at nearly every view, it seems that the police are using a bit of excessive force to subdue this student. Each video I found on YouTube tells the same story of how a passionate student is shut out and forcibly removed.

However, this is not the real story. From piecing together several different accounts of UF students who actually attended the speech, the cameras switch on at the moment Meyer takes the mic. . .for the second time. What the videos do not show is the actions that took place before Meyer was allowed to ask his question. This is from the digg.com post about the event:

“Let me expand a bit since I was there:

Everything was going pretty well until this asshole showed up.

So here’s how it went: Kerry gave a speech for roughly 40-45 mins first, then a moderator asked him some questions followed by a Q&A session. Obviously not everyone could get to ask a question. So after 6 or so questions, the moderator says that we won’t be taking any more questions. This guy gets really pissed since he was standing next in line, and starting shouting and making a ruckus. I was sitting just a few rows in front of the mic.

He started getting all angry and started saying “we have been listening to you for 2 hours, it’s our time to ask questions”, (it was more like an hour) to which Kerry said “if you didn’t want to hear me speak, why did you come?”. Then this guy started shouting again and then the police starting getting a hold of him. Then Kerry told the security to stop and told the guy to calm down and that he will take his question after he’s done with the current question.

Then the guy’s turn comes up and you can see in the videos how he’s being such an ass…he sounds mentally ill to me. But then security grabs him and starts pulling his shirt and his female friends got really worried and started shouting at the security…the guy keeps shouting and they take him to the back of the auditorium and for some fucking reason they taser him AFTER he’s been subdued and put down…one of his friends started crying.”

Here is a second account from another student who attended:

“I was at the Kerry speech today, sitting 2 rows away from all the action. I’ll let you know how it really went down.

The forum was going to be over at 2 pm, and Kerry spoke for so long that the Q and A portion had to be shortened. He only got through about 7 of the 50 people who were waiting to ask questions. While the final question was being read, some douchebag ran down the aisle, grabbed the mic from the other side of the room, interrupted the kid who was talking, and started yelling at Kerry, demanding that his questions be heard. He started ranting about how Kerry talks in circles or something, and everyone was getting annoyed. The cops are all over him in no time and try to escort him out, but he starts yelling and resisting. Kerry insists that they let him stay and even agrees to answer his question.

After the interrupted guy’s question was answered, Kerry keeps his promise and lets the angry guy talk. This is the point where people started taking their cameras and phones out. All the videos floating around youtube start around here. You can see in the videos that his questioning gets kind of inappropriate, so somebody cut his mic. Instead of shutting up, he starts yelling and making an even bigger scene. He struggled all the way up the aisle, and started violently trying to free himself. They threatened to taze him and he wouldnt stop fighting, so he got tazed. They only had to arrest him because he was causing a disruption and wouldn’t leave peacefully. He wasn’t being silenced for asking tough questions, trust me.

It’s a shame that they had to taze the guy, but he had a chance to calm down and didn’t take it. He probably didn’t pose a physical threat to anybody in the room, but someone can’t just hijack the floor of a forum like that and expect not to get kicked out. This wasn’t some poor guy who was brutalized for trying to ask some tough questions. He’s just an obnoxious guy who had a fit when there wasn’t time for his questions and refused to be calm even when he was given the chance to speak. He was looking for trouble, and everyone applauded when he was forced to leave.

Nothing pisses me off more than hearing stories about power tripping cops abusing their power, unnecessarily tazing or arresting people, etc. It’s a huge problem and I’m glad it’s being discussed. Just don’t mistake this for one of those cases”

The big similarities between these two articles are that Meyer interrupted a student, demanded to ask a question and then visibly attempted to break away from the University Police Department. He was given a chance to relax and leave peacefully. They were simply trying to get him out of the door. When he began refusing and breaking away from the UPD, it became resisting arrest, which is illegal. Take the arrest and fight it in court later if it was unconstitutional, but don’t try to run away from them.

It can also be said that the UPD thought Kerry himself might be in danger from this student. When he breaks away from them he begins heading towards the stage. This might be stretching it, but it is a valid observation.

It seems to me that Meyer is purposely disturbing the peace here. Here is one of the better YouTube videos:

This clearly shows the defiance of the student and his disrespect in asking the question. It also gives an idea as to the student’s agenda. He is not being calm or collected; he is clearly trying to create an uproar. To me he looks like a kid who is just wanting to cause a problem and get a settlement from it. Apparently he also has a blog; there is a picture that shows him on a streetcorner with a sign that tells the ending of the last Harry Potter book. There is no reason for that except to draw attention to yourself for being an ass and piss other people off.

Now the big question is: were the UPD officers excessive? The video I have seen show that they only tried arresting him after he broke free twice. There lies the resistance and that is where he broke a rule. When they have him on the ground, face down trying to cuff him, he continues to resist by moving his hands around. That is why they tase him. It isn’t excessive if your arrogance and defiance get you in that situation.

From my standing, a well deserved tasing. Now hang him.

Here is a new video showing exactly how smarmy this kid is.

There’s also an AP article that details some parts of his website, showing more of his attention-getting shennanigans. Per the article:

Meyer has his own Web site and it contains several “comedy” videos that he appears in. In one, he stands in a street with a sign that says “Harry Dies” after the latest Harry Potter book was released. In another, he acts like a drunk while trying to pick up a woman in a bar.

The site also has what is called a “disorganized diatribe” attributed to Meyer that criticizes the Iraq war, the news media for not covering the conflict enough and the American public for paying too much attention to celebrity news.

I still hold my view that he’s a troublemaker and deserved his treatment, only now I can add that he was seeking it out for his own gain. All he really did was shift the focus of America for a day from things more important in the news. UF kids, in all their jean short glory and mullet-style dos, don’t surprise me.

Why the Japanese Rule

The Japanese rule. Oh I don’t mean they rule in the “world power” sense of the word. They might have produced 80% of the electronics in your home, including that badass toaster your grandmother got you for your birthday, but they don’t have an army near the size of ours. America: Fuck Yeah!

Jokes aside, the Japanese have a very odd culture. It’s full of schoolgirl outfits, pigtails, giant-eyed cartoons, vibrant colors, wacky techno music, costumes, cutsesy voices and poo poo porn (I’ve heard). They really know how to put their own spin on things. And they can even put a spin on American ideas as well. Or in some cases, they create it their way, then they have to water it down for the American audience. Because lord knows we can’t handle bare boobies, but bring on all the razorblade mazes and flesh games you want. If it’s bloody, we’re in. Fuck Yeah!

Take video games for example. I’ve been known to dabble in them from time to time. My daily scouring of the internets sometimes brings me to interesting things I’ve never even heard of. Devil May Cry, a popular, stylish video game, puts you in control of Dante. Dante is some sort of demon, wielding both swords and guns. You accumulate points by creating combo attacks, and there are plenty of enemies to destroy littered around the landscape. Here is a short video of some gameplay.

Now the Japanese take on the same style of game. The protagonist uses both swords and guns. There are lots of enemies around to slash and shoot. The rating system is even the same (sadly, no “rawesome” rating given). However, the Japanese put an Asian spin on things and make the characters girls in bikinis. That idea is just so novel and amazing, I can’t believe no one else has tried this.

Genius!

Another quick example on the video game front. Fighting games, wrestling games, volleyball and even golf. The Japanese have infiltrated almost all outlets of gaming with their crazy bikini ideas. What’s next, bikini Mario Kart? Are we gonna find out that the person under that Metroid suit is a girl? Oh wait.

Even their gameshows are scantily clad. Can someone tell me what the point of this is?

I will not complain. Observation is completely okay, however. So, what are your strange encounters with the Japanese bikini obsession? And please don’t post anything about poo poo porn. Thanks.

3:10 to Yuma = Amazing

Last night my pal Mitch and I went to see 3:10 to Yuma at the theater down the road. I was excited for a few reasons: 1) Christian Bale is one of my favorite actors. As I’ve stated before, American Psycho is an amazing piece of work; the social commentary alone is priceless. 2) Russel Crowe ain’t bad either. Granted, he is a little bit of a weirdo in real life (read: drunk Aussie), but what good actors aren’t just slightly off the reservation? Plus his movies tend to be great, and he’s great in them. His sincerity is…sincere. 3) I’ve wanted to see a good western for some time now. My usual throwbacks are Tombstone, Unforgiven and Open Range, but it’s nice to have a new one to rely on. There’s just something about horses, guns, spurs and hat hair that really gets me going. Almost as much as a flaming meteor headed for Earth.

I don’t want to post any spoilers, but if you’re wary of ruining any piece of the movie for yourself, read no further. That goes for all 8 of my readers. So let me start with the characters. Bale’s character, Dan Evans, is a former Civil War vet who was injured and turned to ranching. He’s a family man with strict morals and a hard head. He’s also poor and in debt. He serves as the “good guy” in this flick, if you want to categorize the main players. Actually, he’s probably the closest thing to a good guy in a western as I’ve ever seen. Even Clint Eastwood’s and Kurt Russell’s characters in Unforgiven and Tombstone could be shadowed as bad, due to their past nature.

Crowe’s outlaw portrayal as Ben Wade is my favorite kind of villain. Again, that’s a vague category to put him in, due to his nature; you’ll notice it when you first see him on screen. Anyway, I like villains who have a severe capacity for good. Lots of characters in big movies have it: De Niro’s character in Heat, Alfred Molina’s Dr. Octopus, Darth Vader for cryin’ out loud. I like the dual nature of bad guys because it lets me side with them and create tension for myself in the movie.

The story is pretty basic and linear. Ben Wade, evilest villain in Arizona, is caught and being escorted to Contention, AZ to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma prison. The action comes in a few different points. Most threatening is Wade himself, who is wily, sneaky and capable of fucking things up. Wade’s gang of 7 or 8 is also a danger, but not until the end of the movie. They have a side story of chasing the escort gang to Contention. They’re temporarily lead by Charlie Rose, played by Ben Foster; he is also ruthless, trying desperately to fill Wade’s shoes and be a badass. Other minor threats are Indians, random posses and, according to my 6th grade English textbook, time.

The film focuses heavily on the characters and their interactions and change. Bale is Crowe’s equal opposite in the film, but Crowe’s personality doesn’t allow him to be full-on enemies with his grudges. He’s charming and dangerous, yet he has a tinge of understanding, which isn’t normal in a villain’s resume. There are small bends in the road in the film, some you see coming and some you don’t. They were all welcome surprises, some even shocking.

So the movie was great, I was thoroughly pleased with my $8.50 spent. It was a good ending to a strange beginning. Mitch and I decided to eat close to the theater, so we hit up a nationally known restaurant with its own airline and owl mascot. After we ate, watching the WV vs Maryland game, one of the waitresses came up to let us know she thought we were “really cute.”

It went something like this:

Waitress: “Hi, I just wanted to come over and let you guys know I think you’re really cute. I told Maria (our server) I was going to come over. There aren’t going to be any girls coming to beat me up are there?”

Me: “I’m engaged”

(waitress moves to stand beside Mitch)

Mitch and Vi (she’s Asian, go figure) then proceed to flirt with each other about birthdays, where Vi states that at her last birthday bash, there was girl-on-girl make outs involved and maybe some clothing removed. She was pretty straightforward about not having a problem with either girls or guys. All this within literally 5 minutes of her coming up to us. So one thing is certain: she’s crazy, and Asian, so a crazy Asian. And since she’s crazy, she’s right up Mitch’s alley. For the visually impaired I’ve created a diagram.

Note that “Female” and “sanity” are paired and always come paired, and the slutiness of the girl is divided into 1, meaning the girl isn’t usually a full out slut but on the way to total slut capacity.

Now that I’ve created a new law, which I’ve entitled “Mitch’s Law,” I will now cure cancer, stop terrorism and detonate the meteor currently hurtling towards Earth.

Last “Free Man” Party

I’m still recovering from last weekend. My best man Josh planned a ridiculously smashing Labor Day weekend for my side of th wedding party and a few friends. We all met up in Athens on Friday night, got settled in Josh & Cheryl’s house, then went out to eat and drink and watch the Braves suck. We got pretty well drunk at the restaurant, but Josh had the amazing idea of heading downtown. We all carted down in Andy’s truck — myself, Josh the driver, Andy, Jarred, Kirk and Buzz. Mitch stayed behind (vag) due to burrito sickness. Or something.

Anyway, downtown was packed as usual on gameday weekends, but still doable. We hit a few bars, All Good, JR’s for a quick shot, Winery and then Chapel. Or that’s all I remember anyway. At some point I did my usual drunken ritual of making fun of random people on the street. Some chubby Asian guy was whining about something on the sidewalk, and I slurred “crazy freshman,” to which he replied, very insulted “I’m a JUNIOR!” I guess he won that battle. I also high-fived some angry fellow who was gesturing after his angry girlfriend, not at all looking for any sort of high-five. Kirk reminded me later that he yelled after me “who the fuck is this guy?” like some sort of Italian. Ho! Speaking of Italian, we were travelling to a bar when Jarred said something to a girl waiting to cross the street. She replied in Italian “grazie,” which set Jarred off, since he’s decently versed in Italian. I think she just stared at him like he was some Asian junior.

At some point between arriving back home that night and going to bed, I blacked out. During the blackout I did speak to my fiancee, so I hope I behaved myself. Honey?

Saturday was a fun filled day of eating, drinking, tailgating and game-watching, followed by the most packed downtown I’ve seen in awhile. Due to the volume of college bodies we could barely get in a bar to get drinks, much less get drunk. Of course we didn’t get down until around 11:45, and Athens bars close at 2 a.m., which sucks. Josh made the night by convincing to girls to make out (with rigorous tongue movement, I might add) for all of us and the bar to see. No matter how the day went, the Dawgs won, and we watched Michigan get stomped by App State. The house is truly upside down.

Sunday was more of a chill day. Steaks were bought and we grilled at the house. Josh is the Grill Master; I’ve met no equal to his skills. We stuffed ourselves with dead cow and corn and then watched the Braves lose. Again. We pretty much laid around all day until it was time to get ready for night #3. We all got ready and went off to Dave and Buster’s, which is this huge arcade with a bar in the middle. We ate, drank and played ourselves stupid on video games. Also we “found” two buckets of tickets laying around the place, so we quietly added those to our pile of spoils. Gotta get that huge stuffed animal, y’know? While eating at the bar, I was giving the bartender a tough time by asking her to turn the TV’s to ESPN 8: The Ocho, but she was convinced they didn’t subscribe to that version. And thanks to some of Jarred’s antics earlier, when she tried to get us to take some shots, I asked if she had a shot called “Fisting.” It was a unique night to say the least.

Monday Josh, Mitch and I played a tough 9 holes at the UGA golf course. Tough mostly because we suck hard. Like menstrual cramps hard. At least Mitch doesn’t slice the drive every damn time. But hell it was enough for me to have my buddies there, joking around and doing donuts in golf carts. Monday was a great end to a great weekend. As usual, I didn’t want to leave Athens. I miss that place and the friends I had there.

My deepest thanks to Josh for planning and paying, and I greatly appreciate everyone driving a decent distance to see me off to my certain doom.

So I survived my bachelor party with no incidents. Some of you might ask, why no strippers? I just think thats a stupid cliche and usually garners stupid results. I prefer to just have a great time with all my man friends while consuming as much alcohol as possible. Call me crazy. Plus my friends give way better lapdances.