Archive for the Suburbia Category

Oscar Night Commentary from Disturbia

OscarLast night I gave my own personal commentary on Twitter as I watched the Oscars.  If you missed it or don’t follow me on Twitter, here is a summary in reverse order (first tweet at bottom, most recent tweet at top), so you may want to read from the bottom up. 

  • Hurt Locker puts a hurting on the others! Bummed that I haven’t seen it yet… and @Karen_Kline just turned the channel to Big Love. #oscars

  • ZOMG! Is Jesse James crying in that cut-away shot? #oscars

  • I think @Karen_Kline might go back to brunette to just to get more “you look like Sandra Bullock” comments. #oscars

  • Props to the ceremony planners for the cool introductions of the Best Actor nominees #oscars

  • Baldwin & Martin in snuggies! Best infomercial moment of the #oscars

  • Avatar special effects made Sigourney Weaver look hot again - of course it would win! #oscars

  • WTF? Interpretive dance routine from Napoleon Dynamite? Will you get to Best Pitcture award soon? #oscars

  • Demi Moore, why did you skip the John Hughes tribute? And why did you let them paint you orange like Sarah Jessica Parker? #oscars

  • Winner of sound something? Is that the villian from Die Hard? You’re brother squealed when I broke is F’ing neck! #oscars

  • Half way through… lost 1 follower, gained 1.  #oscarcommentary

  • Can you say condescending bitch? Nobody still knows who are.  What was your name? #oscars

  • Mo’nique can probably give Mo’lovin. But wouldn’t want to piss her off - Mo’slappin! #oscars

  • Don’t know what to say? Start with “Thank you!” And this guy is a writer? #fail #oscars

  • Delightful squeal (from me this time) for Rachel McAddams #oscars

  • Yes! Love the new Cottonelle Roll Over! 72% of us can’t be wrong! #oscarcommercials

  • Couldn’ t they have done Best Make-up off the air? Did they just owe Stiller air time? #oscars

  • Roger Ross WIlliams ran down to the stage from the back like he was the next contestant on The Price Is Right! Bid well! #oscars

  • I think me and several million others killed imdb.com looking up some of this movie history and such #oscars

  • Ok.. no knocks about John Hughes! I grew up with those movies! #oscars

  • I have to see the Hurt Locker now. Just because I want to know why it has such a lame title. #oscars

  • Do you feel extraordinary when you have diet coke WITH Jack Daniels? I feel invincible after 4 & asleep after 5. #oscarcommercials

  • Another delightful squeal from @Karen_Kline “oohhh Chris Pine” #oscars

  • Randy Newman tried to stack the deck with 2 songs! Nice try! #oscars

  • Squirrel!!! #oscars

  • More squeals of delight from @Karen_Kline for Ryan Reynolds #oscars

  • I didn’t see a single movie from the Best Actor category. They must all suck. #oscars

  • I like the bald Jeff Bridges from Ironman, but this facial hair is better. #oscars

  • And this is Alec Baldwin. Classic! #oscars

  • Shouldn’t they have gay men dancing in support of Neil Patrick Harris’ opening song? Wait… they’re there. #oscars

  • Kathy Ireland! Even hotter than when in Necessary Roughness! I just eye-F’d her but she didn’t notice me through the camera #oscars

  • Meryl Streep would be the coolest mom! You know she would totally party with you & probably drink you under the table! #oscars

  • Good to see Kate Winslett being thinner than the fat Cameron Diaz, even if that Revolutionary Road movie sucked! #oscar

  • WTF? Miley Cyrus is in the top 100 influential women? Too many sheep out there if you are a woman and influenced by her. #oscars

  • Sadly, only 133 followers and my 13 yr old gets to see how witty I can be tonight #oscars commentary

  • Cameron Diaz looks like she has been eating all of Sandra Bullock’s meals this week. Looks 20lbs from her Shallow Hal weight. #oscars

  • Why is Sarah Jessica Parker colored orange? Is she the anti-Na’vi? #oscars

  • Wife (@Karen_Kline) just squealed with delight, “Ahhh Ryan Reynolds! ” as he got 1.23 seconds of camera time #oscars

  • Sandra Bullock did the “don’t eat for 1 wk before the Oscars” diet. Quick, someone give her a cheeseburger before she passes out!

  • 5 min til I start tweeting about Oscar events you all watched an hour ago! Follow me if you are also slow :)

  • The AZ timezone sucks for watching live events. I get to watch everything an hour everyone else is done talking about it.

 

Umpires Deserve Justice

As a youth baseball coach for the past 16 years, this crime really bothers me.  Good umpires for youth baseball are hard to find, and nearly all of them take more crap from parents eager to relieve their glory years through their boys.  You never hear a parent yell to their son, “be a good sport and accept the call that was made”.

Scumbag 1Scumbag 2http://www.azfamily.com/news/Payson-couple-accused-of-pocketing-money-paid-for-Little-League-umpires-86294562.html

So you have these underpaid umpires that range from high school kids to out of work parents to retirees, and they agree to be heckled and harassed for $25-$30 per game… to later be cheated out of their money by a couple of greedy scumbags.  Based on the mug shots showing the extra chins, they must have been using the money to dine out at the waffle house way too much.

What are your thoughts?

Back Hair Waxing or Watching Golf?

Only Happy Gilmore made golf fun

The General Manager where I work gave me these nice Clubhouse tickets for Championship Sunday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open with a Valet Parking pass.  Sweet, right?  I don’t golf and never really attended a golf event to watch.  I have usually gone to take advantage of some vendor’s free stuff.  Mostly, we (my wife and I) really didn’t know what to expect about attending and being in the Clubhouse. I’d thought it would be cool. I was excited about attending and getting to watch from the Clubhouse hanging out with people with large disposable incomes.

The Clubhouse did have a great brunch buffet (free), all the drinks were complimentary (with well liquor), and the view of the 18th green was nice (if we stood up to watch over everyone else standing up).  Other than that…  Nothing!  It turns out that only non-Golf fans can have fun by drinking too much or by being with the nutty crowd on the famous 16th hole.  You could hear some loud cheers and boos from the 16th hole in the distance, and when Team USA tied the hockey game against Canada with time running out, there was a loud roar from the all the sky boxes with TV’s.  So if everyone is watching TV in the sky boxes, it can’t rank high on the excitement meter to watch golf live.

We did walk down to the 16th hole to check on the fun, but we didn’t feel like walking through mud to get to the bleachers, so we walked back to the Clubhouse for a final drink before leaving for the day. Basically, we spent the afternoon on a chilly patio drinking weak Bloody Mary’s, trying to avoid the urge to eat out of boredom.  It goes without saying that I would never waste money on paying to attend such an event, and if I get offered free tickets again, I’ll see sell them or try to trade them for a something more enjoyable, which could be almost anything including a back hair waxing.

Advertising Overkill

A risqué web site offered the City of Phoenix $10 million to rename the airport for 5 years. This is analogous to businesses putting their lame names on beloved stadiums.  The question is… where does it stop?  Will we see a company like this drop $10 Million to pay people to wrap their cars to advertise their website?  Will troubled businesses add this company’s name in front of their automotive or airplane logos?  Will they convince a nearly bankrupt city, county, or state to rename train stations, parks, zoos, museums or other public facilities?

Sooner or later, it will happen… only in Disturbia!

Does your dog deserve a Valentine?

3dogs-fix2.jpgIt may sound like a silly question, but let’s pretend that it isn’t for a moment and list reasons your dog deserves something on Valentine’s Day.

Your dog:

  1. Loves you unconditionally

  2. Is always happy to see you

  3. Will spoon with you without wanting sex

  4. Will kiss you no matter where your mouth has been or how bad your breath is

  5. Doesn’t care if you have if you have gained a few pounds or if you are having a bad hair day

  6. Make great snuggle blankets

  7. Can learn new tricks

  8. Will not criticize you or bring up the fact that you forget to clean, cook, or do some other semi-important task

  9. Is always willing to spend time with you

  10. Will eat anything you make

The Penis Tree

How would you feel if your neighbor did this?




http://www.azfamily.com/video/featured-videos/Tempe-tree-carved-into-shape-of-a-phallus-84198597.html 

  1. Don’t care
  2. Angry and would let them know it
  3. Report them to the HOA
  4. Upset but pretend you don’t notice
  5. Trip your shrubs like a breasts or a vagina
  6. Excited about the traffic increase at your lemonade stand
  7. Make a mental note to invite them to more pool parties

Note: You may pick more than 1 of the above.

Home is best for the big game!

The day of the big game… As usual, we have several options for watching it, but we choose to stay home.  Why?  A variety of reasons, but having an awesome wide-screen HDTV and surround sound system is NOT one of them.

Instead of discussing why we don’t go elsewhere, let me explain the advantages of staying home (not necessarily in order).

  1. The kids are welcome
  2. Inexpensive, higher quality food
  3. No mark-up on the beer & liquor
  4. No line for a clean bathroom
  5. No drinking & driving risks
  6. The dogs get to be there
  7. Comfy couch
  8. No tipping required
  9. Easier to tweet during the game
  10. Unlikely to get drinks spilled on us
  11. No waiting for overburdened wait staff (the cooler is next to the couch).
  12. No drama with other party guests
  13. Kids can go to their own room if they a bored.
  14. Screaming loud at the TV will not annoy any strangers
  15. Nobody will see how big of a wuss I am when I eat seriously spicy guacamole
  16. Added excitement of avoiding a dog attack when you get carried away with your high-fives
  17. The ability to switch to an HBO movie if the game gets one-sided
  18. We can watch the game wearing whatever we want, which means wife doesn’t have to keep re-applying lip gloss.
  19. Pre-game co-ed showers (in the privacy of the master bathroom of course).
  20. Half-time cul-de-sac football game!

Stripper - Most Dangerous Job in Disturbia

 

The other day, the lives of PHX area strippers were threatened by a patron upset over the refusal to provide sex as part of the service. Read more about it here.

This led me to think about what jobs are most dangerous here in Disturbia.  A little research will lead to a list of dangerous jobs such as coal miner, logger, crab fisherman, steel worker, etc.; however, people in those jobs know the work is dangerous.  I believe that routine jobs that should be safe are really more dangerous.   The workers have no idea of the dangers, and they aren’t taking any precautions to limit the dangers.

Here is my list of most dangerous jobs in AZ Disturbia (aka the PHX Metro area):

5. Fast Food Worker

 

Combine 16 year olds with sharp knives, hot grease, minimal supervision, and the potential to be robbed for $85 in the cash drawer and you have a recipe for disaster.

4. School Bus Driver

 

It’s no longer a leisurely drive with rowdy kids. Now drivers have to worry about kids being beaten or sexually assaulted in the back, and the drivers have to watch out for drug deals or other violent activities.  It takes a stone-cold som’bitch to do all this with his backs to the future felons. When you see the gun, knife, or shiv in the mirror, it’s probably too late.

3. Bank Teller

Sure… you have the panic button, but is that going to stop a bullet? With the financial crisis the way it is, and the police force reduced due to budget cuts… bank robberies have been more frequent and more successful than they used to be.  I bet we see more before banks get serious about limiting the ability to interact directly with tellers. 

2. Youth Sports Coach

You may think the parents appreciate you volunteering to coach because they either will not or cannot do it. However, all it takes is benching a kid for throwing his bat before you worry about getting jumped on your way to the parking lot by his crazy mom or dad upset over the discipline.

1.  Stripper

See the news article referenced above… Come’on! If you have to be escorted to your vehicle after work, you should be getting paranoid. On top of that, you are rubbing up against people with questionable hygiene, who may even have a communicable disease and open wounds.

 

Is he running from the law or this face?

Whoa!Local news… more white collar crime by idiots.  In this case, a couple embezzles from a charter school.  A note in the article states they are looking for the husband in this case.  I’m just wondering if he is running from the law or if his wife’s scary mug shot is motivating his flight.

How Does This Help?

So the local news website posts a link about a possibly suicidal missing woman, then the follow-up article after she turns up fine calls her out and broadcasts her name and personal issues to the entire metro area (and whoever else reads the link).Gee… is she going to feel good about herself now?