Our families' Hollywood debut!

So, my princess took her first step towards fame and stardom as she wrote, produced, directed, edited, and provided the voice-overs for this dramatic short that is sure to take cyberspace by storm!

My queen and I have watched this 15 to 20 times already. Enjoy!!!

H1N1... wouldn't want to be one!

A very big part of fraternity life are the drunken' songs and slogans you make up for rival fraternities. For the FIJI's, we would chant, "F...1...J...1... wouldn't want to be one!" Now after experiencing the agony of my brain baking I can honestly say, "H...1...N...1... wouldn't want to be one!" That's right, I had to get my queen to drive me to the doctor last night after a 5 degree fever spike in a matter of 3 hours. The doctor's examination was about 5 minutes tops and I got a cool surgical mask for my troubles! I was so sick by the time I arrived that I could figure out how to tie it around my head!

I will say that though it isn't the epidemic designed to kill 80% of the world as is emphasized on TV, it was and still is, some kind of awful! I can absolutely see how somebody could die from something like that because I went from thinking I had a cold to a 101.5 degree fever (my normal temperature is 97.2 degrees) in a handful of hours. I couldn't move without pain. I couldn't sit still without pain. I lost my cognitive abilities and had the worst headache ever. I'm telling you, I could actually feel my brain throbbing while it was baking!

I feel that the moral of this story is to always listen to your wife or girlfriend. My queen has been on me for the last few weeks about getting the vaccine and I didn't take it as seriously as she did. I felt about two inches big when I had to call her and ask,"when are you going to be home? Cause I need you to drive me to the immediate care place..." So, in light of this, I'm going to take the political way out:

Why didn't anybody warm me about this H1N1 thing going around? I could have been killed! Had I known of the severity, I would have stood in line for a vaccine a long time ago...

That's right, I'm passing the buck! On top of that, I can get away with it because I'm sick!

You would think he would know to leave a note...

After an incredible workout, I walked outside and couldn't find my car. The car I was driving has a very distinctive front end and it was nowhere to be found. I finally find my vehicle, walk to it, and was absolutely flabbergasted to find this:

There is no way he didn't know he hit me because when I took my car out of park, our compressed bumpers hurled my car back a good 5 to 6 feet!

This almost makes me as mad as when I slow down on the interstate because a police car is flying up behind me, only to see him pass me wearing plain clothes, a baseball cap, and sunglasses with his uniform hanging in the back seat! I once remember somebody wearing a similar uniform tell me that, "Getting to work on time is not a legitimate reason to break the law." Along with that worthwhile piece of advice, he gave me a speeding ticket costing me $180.

Can we as concerned citizens write police officers hypocrisy tickets?

Rush Limbaugh vs. the St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are in trouble. Since their Super Bowl victory, the only thing they've been consistent at is getting worse; game by game and year by year. As the team continues with their "commitment to excellence," the chatter around the NFL is getting louder and louder and it seems there is a constantly increasing chance that the Rams are going to move back to Los Angeles. So as the moving trucks start fueling for a move from St. Louis to the coast, Missouri native Rush Limbaugh enters the fold with a group of investors that are willing to buy the team and keep them in Missouri.

As soon as word broke out, the players association started circling the wagons and ABC/ESPN went back to work painting Mr. Limbaugh as racist and a bigot for what he had previously said about Donovan McNabb. Then Rams players started coming out against Limbaugh and claiming that they wouldn't play for him which got me thinking...

Is the current Rams' ownership a bunch of racists and bigots as well, because the St. Louis Rams haven't won a game this season. What are they talking about not playing for Limbaugh when they aren't playing football now; five games into the season?

I honestly hope the Limbaugh venture fails and the team moves to Los Angeles, so that the Rams' players and the NFL players association will have to pay for their stupidity and incompetence with cold hard cash. ESPN Radio host Colin Cowherd actually turned me on this concept which has completely changed the way I see the free agent market in professional sports. Are you ready for this? When these get their first paychecks from the Los Angeles Rams, the first thing that they are going to notice is that it is smaller than it was in Missouri. And as they adjust their spending because of this diminished income they are going to be even more stunned when tax time comes and they owe "Uncle Sam" more money!

How could this be? Well, it's because the marginal tax rate in California, for salaries over 1 million dollars is 10.55 percent! That is a dramatic difference from the 6 percent marginal tax rate in the state of Missouri. Also, any California resident will tell you that the taxes that they pay to the state of California are not deductible on their federal taxes, while Missouri residents get to deduct every single penny. So instead of deducting the money that they paid in state income taxes, they are going to have to pay federal taxes on every single dollar that they pay in high state taxes..

What does this mean? It means that all players making the median income in the National Football League, $740,000, are going to see their state net effective tax rate increase by 58 percent or $26,000. Players making over a million dollars will see their net effective tax rate increase by 76 percent or at least $46,000. Now you might think it doesn't matter because they are all millionaires, but you have to remember that the league minimum is $285,000 and the average career in the NFL is somewhere around 3 and a half years.

So, are these NFL players ready to put their money where their mouths are? Are they going to see ESPN fueling the fire for what it seems or is it because that ABC/ESPN is trying to distance themselves from catching any sort of heat for hiring Limbaugh in the first place? Rush Limbaugh is a controversial figure; so much so that half of the country can't stand him. That said, what did ESPN really think they were getting? Finally, I think that the St. Louis Rams should actually win a game or two before they start saying who they'll play for and who they won't.

As far as moving to Los Angeles is concerned, I think they should leave the decision up to running back Steven Jackson, because the moving is going to cost him just over a half a million dollars a year! Now, I don't think the Los Angeles Rams players and staff are going to have to shop at Aldi's after the move, but it will affect their lives. So much so that it could be the difference between affording six top dollar cars instead of seven. To "Joe the Plumber," that sounds ridiculous, but to a poorly educated professional athlete, it might be what keeps him for being a happy employee and in all businesses an unhappy workforce produces poor results. Thus continuing the Rams' "commitment to excellence" while adding a new level of disgust to another major NFL market.

As a Colts fan, I'd suggest not hiring Mayflower for your move to the coast...

Peace at what cost?

One of the major slogans during President Obama's run for the White House was that," a vote for Obama is a vote against Bush." So did this message travel all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to the Nobel selection committee?

Saints and heroes such as Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. had to devote their whole lives to peace and they managed to be quite successful without ever putting their name on a ballot. I have a real problem with any politician that is currently holding office to receive the world's most prestigious honor for peace, because I strongly believe that the only politicians that don't have dirt on their hands are the ones that have never held public office. Power and fame corrupt. It's just part of the human condition. Which is why I feel that no active politician should receive such an award.

President Carter dedicated his life after the White House to helping those less fortunate through his tireless work with Habitat for Humanity; completely isolated for his Presidency. There is no way you can honor somebodies commitment to peace while the the fundamental principle of their elected office is to defend this country from foreign aggressors. There is a war ongoing on two fronts of combat and people have been killed under the Obama administration and due to the "War on Terror," more deaths will follow.

Though I congratulate the President on such a prestigious award, I think that the Nobel committee would have made a much stronger statement by not awarding the prize if there were no suitable candidates. One thing that I'm finally learning in life is that in most situations there will never be a winner, but what's most important is how you play the game.

Put your hands together for the Fever!

I was absolutely heartbroken to watch our Indiana Fever lose in game 5 of the WNBA title. This was my first WNBA game and it was THE best basketball game that I've ever watched! I know that guarantees aren't a good idea in sports, but I can guarantee that I will be at our Fever's first home game next season ready to scream my butt off!

The Indiana Fever were great competitors and excellent representatives of the state of Indiana, specifically the city of Indianapolis. They should return home with their heads held high because they without a doubt put forth 110 percent effort and that's all even the best human being can do.

Since I am a "Johnny-come-lately," I can't say thank you for the memories. But I will say I can't wait to watch our Fever make more memories for many years to come!