Random Thoughts on a Friday

Clay Aiken is gay. Shocking. I realize this may come as a blow to people, but seriously folks…let’s pay attention. Did you not see the bright red leather pants he performed in on Season 2? No? Ok, how about his perfectly feathered Liza Minelli lettuce? Fine, then the mascara HAD to clue you in, right?! Look, if you didn’t see this coming then you should be hit over the head with a shovel. Your gaydar is entirely broken and useless.

Why do politicians think we are stupid? Instead of talking to us, intelligently vocalizing what they are going to do for my country AND HOW, they feel the only way to win the election and push the conservative/liberal agenda is to completely demoralize and humiliate their opponents. I don’t care so much about parallels to Barack Obama and The Antichrist as I do a SPECIFIC plan to get our boys out of Iraq and a SPECIFIC plan to distance ourselves from foreign oil. I’m not terribly keen to know about Sarah Palin’s witch-hunting pastor or John McCain’s ancient body, ready to death rattle and drop dead at any given moment. I’d much prefer to hear anything remotely intelligent that DOESN’T have to do with military. McCain is really starting to irritate me now. No-showing Letterman and stalling debates are devastatingly poor choices. Put all this partisan groin-shotting aside, and let’s talk about how the lot of you are going to fix my country.

Hollywood needs to butt out of politics. Yes, I’m aware this is a free country and freedom of speech is encouraged. But as a matter of principal, Hollywood elite should stick to entertaining us and not soap-boxing their political views. Matt Damon’s interview regarding Sarah Palin’s inability to lead due to lack of experience was disgusting. To assume that someone would be a poor leader based entirely on inexperience is a terrible fallacy of thought. Look at some of our local leaders. How tragic would it have been if someone told Randy Horiuchi that he wasn’t electable because he didn’t have any experience when he first sought public office? Hey Matt Damon…where would your career be now if your script for Good Will Hunting had been turned down because of your COMPLETE lack of experience in writing and your mediocre performances in School Ties and a few Kevin Smith films? In my not-so-humble opinion, expounding on political issues as a famous Hollywood figure is a biased abuse of position. Too many uninformed idiots out there will think “hey, Matt Damon is HOT, therefore he must know what he’s talking about…Sarah Palin is a moron!” And talk about a pot calling a kettle black, (zero pun intended there) Barack Obama has been under fire from day ONE because of his lack of experience in political leadership, from conservatives and liberals alike. And this doesn’t just apply to democrats. Chuck Norris endorsed Mike Huckabee. The few that don’t think Chuck Norris is the fighting God of Beard are terrified of being roundhouse kicked to the face. He had to have pulled in many thousands of votes for Huckabee. Votes not earned because of his policy or his character, but because the Texas Ranger liked him.

Sette Bello has the best pizza in town, period. End of discussion. The Pie doesn’t even hold a candle to Sette Bello. Even though types of flat focaccia-type food items have been around for many centuries, the pizza as we know it was born in Napoli, Italy. Sette Bello is one of 15 pizza joints outside of Napoli that has been certified as “vera pizza Napoletana”, or “real Napoli pizza.” The ingredients are imported, the oven is special, the wood is authentic. I lived in Napoli for 13 months of my life, where I ate pizza at least once a week. Ladies and gents, the pizza at Sette Bello is legit. My personal favorites are the margherita and the Bianca.

Is an XBOX a learning tool or a useless time sink? The answer is yes. When Talmage was 4 years old he was beating platformers like Banjo Kazooie and Mario 64 without even being able to read. That’s something that I couldn’t do with a 200 page strategy guide. I firmly believe that gaming systems promote learning in kids. They fine tune reaction speed, decision-making, problem solving, and teamwork. They require rational and sometimes creative thought. Given the right title and the right environment, video games make kids smarter. That said, Talmage often plays for three straight hours. I’m convinced he would play all day long if given the chance. But the longer he plays, the harder it is to get him to stop. The harder it is to get him to stop, the meaner he is afterward. It’s a thin red line.