Candy For Idiots

Will be traveling this weekend, but I wanted to wish my plethora of readers a happy Independence Day!

In the mean time, check out this crazy story!

I didn’t really want to post on Rush Limbaugh’s record breaking contract which was divulged today, but more wanted to post this freakin’ awesome picture in the New York Times Magaine.

I, for one, think it resonates well with the public. I know that more than anything, nice man-breasts on my presidential candidates is extremely important, which is why I inherently REFUSE to vote for a woman! I doubt McCain’s man-breasts are as nice as Obama’s.

Oh my goodness! This is the absolute coolest thing EVAH!

Years ago, aviation enthusiast and inventor Yves Rossy dreamed of soaring through the sky like a bird.

In 2006 that dream took flight.

Known as Switzerland’s “Fusion Man,” Rossy in November 2006 became the first man in the world to fly with wings and four jet engines strapped to his body.

The flight lasted six minutes in Bex, Switzerland, and included an emergency parachute programmed to automatically open if he were to black out, NBC11 reported at the time.

“The idea is to have fun, not to kill yourself,” Rossy said in the story.

Wearing a white helmet with the words “Jet-Man” on the front, Rossy dives out of a plane, fires up his red wings and propels through the atmosphere, leaving a trail of white smoke in his wake.

These days the former Swiss air force fighter pilot can be seen making figure eights over the Swiss Alps during his days off from work as an Airbus pilot for Swiss International Air Lines.

Seriously people, how amazingly awesome is that? I want one! I want one! I want one!

If you’re a fan of the iTunes store, the AppleTV and great HBO programming, then this article will surely make you squeel!

HBO and Apple today announced that U.S. customers can now purchase and download HBO programming from Apple’s iTunes service.

The line-up of programs will include the Emmy Award-winning programs “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “Deadwood” and “Rome,” as well as “Flight of the Conchords” and “The Wire.”

In an iTunes first, pricing for the television shows will vary. “Sex and the City,” “The Wire” and “Flight of the Conchords” are priced at the standard iTunes $1.99 U.S. per episode, while “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “Rome” are priced at $2.99 U.S. per episode. iTunes customers can also choose to purchase entire seasons of their favorite programs.

The HBO episodes won’t be available immediately after they air. HBO says it will only make programs available on iTunes when the shows are released on DVD. The delay in releasing programs to Apple is to avoid the possibility that online sales would cannibalize the pay television channels lucrative subscriber base.

The sale of HBO programming is currently restricted to U.S. account holders. Canadian customers wanting to purchase the programming can set up separate U.S. based iTunes accounts.

This is so awesome! Now I have to talk the wife into letting me spend mucho money to download my favorite shows (The Sopranos & Deadwood).

I found a post over at RachelLucas.com and thought I’d play along. The point is, if you were elected temporary supreme dictator of America, what laws would you pass, appeal, etc, and they would say in place after you left office. Let’s start, shall we?

1) Since the primary purpose of the Federal Government is to protect the citizens of this great land, I would double the size of the current military (yes, double) and double their salary’s. I would place about a quarter of all armed services on the borders (north & south) to eliminate illegal immigration.

2) I would build the double-layered fence along the border of Mexico, which is already law, and I’d also spring one up on our northern border, too.

3) I’d eliminate the Federal income tax, and go back to tariff’s and taxing imports and exports as our primary source of federal revenue.

4) Since #3 is going to bankrupt the country, I would eliminate 99.999% of all federal programs and allow the states to make their own decisions as to how they want to run their state, not the country. Because a large centralized government always leads to fascism/communism eventually.

5) I would IMMEDIATELY allow the expansion of drilling for natural resources (oil) in the United States, regardless of the geographical location, and I would also end the suspension of building refineries. Also in my energy policy, I would allow for the creation of at lease 500 Nuclear Power Plans all across the United States.

6) The Constitution will be reviewed by me, and I will elaborate on what our founding fathers actually meant in their writings and my further explanation will be law. Specifically the second amendment. And when an amendment is passed to negate a previous amendment, they’re simply going to cross each other out. How silly is it to have an amendment on the books, and then another one saying that the first one is null and void. Just get rid of the stupid thing. Geez!

7) Our educational system will be completely overhauled. Teachers will be paid based on their results. If the results don’t meet certain expectations, they will be fired. Parents will be responsible for their children’s results, too. If a child fails to graduate, his parents will be fined and incarcerated for up to 2 years. The child who failed will then be required to pay back the government for all of the money it cost to have them educated as he enters the work force.

8 ) There will be an abolishion of the minimum wage. People should be paid according to their abilities, and that’s it. Also, there will no longer be bankruptcies. You will be forced to pay back the money you owe people, or your wages will be heavily docked until that is completed.

9) Our foreign policy will focus on peace and order throughout the world, specifically pertaining to the protection of our allies. We will no longer be involved with the United Nations and most of our international aid will be ceased until the country we are providing that aid to conforms to a decent country, such as ours. You might say, “What about the children???” Yeah, what about them? If a country is starved because we’ve stopped giving them aid, then they will rise up and take their country back and establish a country with morals and standards and goals, and produce a better quality of life. Then we will help them with aid, technology, etc. We will stop supplying and financing regimes.

10) And finally, all hippies will be deported. I just don’t like hippies. They stink and drive stupid scooters.

Well, that was fun! What do you think of my supposed rule?

Mainly, I have shaped my thoughts around the fact that I don’t want Tony to die, thus I’m persuading the final moments of The Sopranos to reflect that. However, a lot has been made about the Member’s Only guy eying Tony at the diner. He leaves his seat to head for the bathroom, which has been conspired to imitate Michael Corleone in The Godfather.

The main problem with this assumed “hit” and that of The Godfather hit is that Michael was meeting with the foes he murdered. The gun was placed in the bathroom because MC was searched prior to the meeting. Not the case with Members Only. How many hits have you seen on The Sopranos? When has such an easy hit on this show been so vague? The only time I remember a hidden gun in the entire series of The Sopranos is when Chris whacked the Russian (I think?) dude at Satriale’s in Season 1 (I think?). Remember? The gun was hidden behind a bench (I think?) because they were MEETING there.

Members Only just walks in, looks at Tony, runs off to pee, and we assume he kills Tony, like that makes any sense whatsoever? I will say that the obvious blackness and silence at the end does play into the episode where Tony and Bobby talk about death. But everyone thinking who, or what, and Chase saying that “everything is there” in relation to the conclusion of the show doesn’t lead me to believe that Tony gets killed. It just doesn’t. If everything is there, then there’s not enough there for me to conclude that Tony is dead. Sorry.

Chase is meticulous. Obviously. He wouldn’t arrange a hit like this. It makes no sense, whatsoever. It’s inconsistent with any mob hit in the history of mob hits, regardless of the supposed similarities to The Godfather. Short, but sweet; that’s why I don’t think Tony is dead.

I finally got around to watching The Sopranos series finale. I thought the episode was decent, pretty much indicative of the season as a whole. I like the fact that they popped Phil Leotardo. Weezle.

I, unfortunately, couldn’t not read spoilers before I was able to see this episode. Everyone was talking about it so openly that it was virtually impossible to avoid knowing what happened. I’d literally have to move to Iran or live under a rock, or something. So, knowing how the show ended before actually seeing the show, I felt an utterly hopeless sadness when Tony started playing “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey. Because I knew this “was it”, and there was to be no more Tony Soprano.

For me, it was honestly like watching Old Yeller, or Bambi die. It was it. The end. The omega, so to speak. I am truly disheartened.

I think that we watch TV and fiction because it’s not real. Because, you know what, we as humans desire closure. Regardless of what it is, we want to see an end. If we don’t, our thirst isn’t quenched.

When I watched Six Feet Under, they actually put closure on the series and on the characters. Whereas I feel as if their closure was a bit hokey, it did give me something, and that’s more than Chase did with The Sopranos.

Though I know these characters are complete and total sociopaths, even as Tony tried to seduce A.J.’s psychotherapist into talking about his childhood woes, you still fall in love with the characters. As FBI agent Harris learns of Phil Leotardo’s death and cheers in delight, I too felt a warmness because of the connection I made with these fictional characters (in a total non-sociopathic way).

It’s hard to put into words, but I feel as if we got screwed with this conclusion (or lack thereof). I wanted closure. I spent 8 years of my life following these characters and I don’t want to decide for myself what happens to Tony at the end. I want David Chase to tell me exactly what happens to Tony and his family, where he goes from here and what stripper he’s going to bang next! I feel as if I’m owed that.

Again, sadness is how I feel. Not only because I feel let down by the conclusion, but because The Sopranos will be no more, ever. I will have to rely on rewatching the episodes, hopefully finding things that I hadn’t seen in the past. Maybe Showtime can turn Brotherhood into something that can match the ethos that The Sopranos has. I doubt though, that anything will ever match the ambiance that The Sopranos carried so well for so many years.