Governor's Ball/Monsters Ball


As the California Recall inches closer I still have ambivalent feelings towards the process. Yes, I can understand and appreciate that the process is a right granted to us voters - that if the Governor is a totally incompetent boob then the Governor should be ousted. However, this still feels like the Republicans are pulling the strings for their own benefit. Worse, this could set a precendent favoring rich folks. If they don't like the Governor and have a few million lying around, start a recall campaign. That way you don't necessarily need a majority to win. Better still, you get an idiots array of candidates to fragment the left votes. (Sure is plenty of people willing to pony up $3,500 to run.) One of the Republican's strengths is they generally work well together. Simon was the only serious threat to Ahnold and he bowed out.


(If incompetence and self-serving interests are enough to generate a recall, why don't we recall Bush? Best left unanswered for now).


But the recall will go through and for the record I will vote to not recall Davis. We knew he was a slimy piece of work when we elected him. Look at the alternative - we could have had Bill Simon. God, that thought gives me serious anal pucker. In any case, Davis was the lesser of two evils and he was handed a loaded deck what with Enron.


The $60 million for the recall could've been better spent.


So "No" for the recall. I'll still cast a vote for a replacement, but which person?


Cruz Bustamante seems the likely choice. However, one thing really bugs me about him. He's Lieutenant Governor. He should have been advising the Governor from day 1, giving sage advice. Yet we're still in this mess. If Bustamante had a better way of doing things why didn't he speak out? Didn't he discuss the issues with Davis? If he has such good solutions that he can run for Governor why didn't he do his job and present those solutions to the Governor to begin with - we'd be better off, right? EIther one mess of a lack of communication between the two and/or Davis didn't give a flying about advice and/or Bustamante sniffed the wind and decided to hold back his advice. No vote for him.


Angelyne, Gary Coleman, or Gallagher? Not a chance. The three of them should hitch up for a reality TV show about running for Governor - could be amusing and certainly no more vacuous than the other reality shows. Throw in Mary Carey for T-and A and you could have something. Hey, I know, do a remake of Ironsides with Larry Flynt as Raymond Burr...


Ahnold. No freaking way. Celebrity status aside he offers *NOTHING* of substance. He has high powered advisors but then whose interests will he serve? Gosh, this sounds REAL familiar. A leader with little political experience relying on his advisors for policy and direction. Gimme a minute. Oh yeah, Bush. Great. Just what we need. "No" to Ahnold. And looking through todays paper shows Ahnold is courting celebrities to his cause. Admittedly Ahnold is more representative of our times - bread and circuses - but still do we need another politician who can't think for himself?


Arianna Huffington. I confess - reading her columns gives me a guilty pleasure but would I vote for her? No, because simply I don't trust her. I don't trust her relationship with her wealthy ex- and motives therein. I don't trust her jumping the Republican ship to take the moral high ground in search of political power. It's easy enough to criticize, more difficult to step in and run things (which is why you won't see me on the ballot - yet). Sorry Arianna, stick to writing and being a political thorn.


Peter Ueberroth. I was surprised to see his name in the list of candidates. He entered quietly and will likely leave the same way. He could've been a contender if this were a normal election. I think of him in a Riordan mold - businessman with tight connections but then I wonder whose interests he works for. He won't get my vote.


Honestly, I don't like any of the candidates. Worse, no matter which one wins I'll be facing higher taxes and a doubtful reduction of bureaucratic idiocy. How long before California seeks salvation through invasians of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona? Lebensraum!

Kids and Cartoons

Raising kids can be rewarding. Watching classic cartoons like Bugs Bunny (and the other great Warner Brothers charatcers), Rocky and Bullwinkle, Scooby-Doo, and others and seeing the kids enjoy them as much as I did the first time around. But you can't raise kids in the past and there is some good stuff on Saturday mornings. I'm partial to X-Men, Jackie Chan, Recess, and - *ahem* - Lizzie Maguire, and my kids will watch those. But there are two shows that they *HAVE* to watch.


One is Pokemon. No problem - it's a decent show with some subtle moments. Brock is a hormone case. Ash is clueless. Misty is growing a hot streak for Brock. Jessie, well, Jessie is da bomb! Oh yes, and Pikachu is painfully cute. I don't mind watching this show with the kids. I root for Team Rocket and my kids look at me funny but then they think Dad's a bit off anyways. We have some of the Pokemon videos and I'll even play the card game with them. I just have to remind myself not to think of Nikki Cox as Jessie. Nikki Cox...Jessie...Nikki Cox...Jessie...


The other show that they have to watch is Yu-Gi-Oh. This one gets me and I can sum it in one word - posturing. Watching two characters duel their cards on TV, I think, is supposed to be like two samurai dueling. The idea being that the samurai go out state their name and heritage, show some respect towards each other, and then duel to the death. On Yu-Gi-Oh it's like watching tow teenage boys do everything but whip out their dicks for size comparison. Come to think of it that's what they should do on the show - it'd sure shorten the duels:

Yu-Gi-Oh - "I may be small but my voice is deep and my dick is big."

Joey - "I concede!"

A typical duel usually follows this script. One duelist plays a monster - it's big, it's bad, it's powerful. The second duelist plays a bigger monster. Back and forth for a while until you get the traps kicking in.

Duelist One: "I knew you would play that Blue Eyes, Green Tail, Purple Ass Dragon and that's why I set this trap..."

Duelist Two: "Nooooooo...."

Duelist One: "That's right. Gorgon Mirror causes your dragon's offense and defense to reverse..."

Duelist Two: "Hah! I knew you'd pull something lame like that and I set *this* trap card..."

Duelist One: "Noooooo...."

Duelist Two: "You're going down. Hammer of Everlasting Strength crushes your mirror thus reverting my dragon's power to normal..."

Duelist One: "Got you! You fell right into my double-secret trap which works on alternate Tuesdays...:

Duelist Two: (shaking in fear) "It's an alternate Tuesday..."

Duelist One: "That's right and that's why you're going down. My Yellow Viagra Tequila Shooter guarantees that my dick will not only be bigger than yours but will stay up longer. You're life points are 0."

Duelist Two: (with shame) "I have a small dick."

And why the hell does Yu-Gi-Oh's voice change when he's talking versus thinking?