More Hat Knowledge

One of my most commented early blogs was a post about the Fedora. You know, it's sorta sad that 2 comments counts as a lot for me. But I digress.

Yesterday, my friend and I went on walkabout at work. Walkabout is when we take a 10 minute break and go walk outside. It was about 45 degrees yesterday, so my friend put on his Ivy League Cap, though he didn't know it was an Ivy League Cap, and neither did I. In fact, I mistakenly referred to his Ivy League Cap as a Tam O'Shanter...how embarrassing for me!

So, without further adieu, some explanation. The Tam O'Shanter is a traditional Scottish style hat worn by men. This hat is named after a character in a poem by Robert Burns, written in 1790. And yes, I found that on Wikipedia. The Tam O'Shanter differs from an Ivy League Cap in that it has no bill and often has a ball or some other decoration on top. The Tam O'Shanter is pictured above.

The Ivy League Cap is the style of cap made famous by the late professional golfer Payne Stewart. Sadly, Wikipedia doesn't appear to have a page dedicated to the Ivy League Cap, and I'm too tired to go down a rabbit hole. Google "Payne Stewart Hat" to see what this style of cap looks like.

Now that I have expanded every one's hat knowledge, including my own, I'm going to bed.

Movie Review: "The Gamers: Dorkness Rising"

At the recommendation of Nuke, I gave this Indie film a shot. Nuke rated it 3 stars, and generally we're one star apart, so I assumed "The Gamers: Dorkness Rising" would be a 4 star movie for me. I don't know if I wasn't in the right mood or if Nuke's build-up was too much, but it fell short of a 4 star movie, though not a complete flop at 3 stars.

The plot follows a group of Dungeons and Dragons gamers who just can't complete this quest set forth by the Dungeon Master. They finally decide they need to add another 2 players. Sadly, they seem to not have 2 more friends. So one of the gamers invites his ex-girlfriend to join the group and the movie takes off from there.

I'm generally not a fan of low budget Indie films, though this had it's moments. As a former D&D gamer, I can relate to the characters, or I can identify who from my group the character most aligned with. Every D&D group seems to have the crazy guy, the dense guy, the reasonable one and the one who takes it way too seriously, and "The Gamers" does a good job reflecting that. I guess maybe it's my maturing taste in movies that prevented me from fully embracing some of the silliness of this movie. That was a joke...not really sure why I didn't like this more.

This is a good, but not great, flick. I'd put it right up there with "Fellowship of the Dice" for showing the real world of role play gaming.

And So It Begins...

On the eve of the 2008 elections, I started this blog because, in part, I was so highly annoyed that Barack Obama was going to be elected our 44th President that I needed an outlet to vent. Here we are 2 years and 102 political blogs later, and we are on the verge of another power shift in Washington. This time, it's the Republicans who are poised to take over the House and maybe the Senate. They will gain Governor seats and pick up State offices all throughout the country. One would think I would be rejoicing at the good news of tomorrow, but I'm not.

Don't misunderstand me, I still believe Barack Obama and the Democrats are really bad for America. Their policies are damaging and their motives are unclear. Really, any change away from these guys should be a good one. However, I'm cautious because the Republicans were barely any better the last time they were in power. So, I'm going to sit back and be prepared to vote against the Republicans in 2012 if they get in there and act in a manner that reminds me of the Democrats in any way.

It's time for a fundamental shift in this country, and that isn't going to happen by electing the same old tired politicians year after year. One of the funniest commercials this election season is that of Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who has been in Washington since before I was born. This commercial is listing off all the problems with Washington, and then asking us to send Chuck back to fix them. To which I scream "Haven't you been there for the last 35 years Chuck?!!! What have you been doing?!!! You should be ashamed to run this commercial!"

It is for this reason that I think the Tea Party is really good for this country, though the Democrats and media surely disagree. The people running as Tea Party candidates are not career politicians. They are grandmothers, businessmen and women and ranchers who are fed up with politics as usual and are trying to do something about it. They know what it's like to live outside the political class and they see where this country is headed if things don't change. I am praying that as many Tea Party candidates as possible are elected tomorrow, and I'll be doing my part.

For the first time in my life as a voter, I'm doing a protest vote tomorrow. I'm not voting for any incumbents, save for my local state representative. I am voting 3rd party for Governor of Iowa and I am writing in a candidate for the US Senate. I know that my candidates won't win, but I'm tired of holding my nose and voting for the lesser of two evils. Tomorrow is the beginning of what I hope will be a fundamental shift in this country. I hope to see you all out there with me voting for real change...for a change.