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.

The Ultimate Super Hero

About an hour ago, I was at Wendy's with my son. We were talking about super heroes, because that's what he loves to do. He was telling me who his favorite heroes were, and then he asked me who mine was. I thought about a book I've been reading, and finally told him, Jesus Christ! We only talked for a little while longer before we went back to your typical comic super heroes, but hopefully it got him thinking, and maybe it will get you thinking too.

I mean, just think about it. Jesus is the Son of God, so right there He has a leg up on other super heroes. He can walk on water...pretty cool. He can change water into wine, very fun at parties. He can heal the sick, the blind and the lame...always a good skill to have, especially on a super hero team . He can multiply loaves of bread and fish, so you always have something to eat when Jesus is around. He's a natural leader...look at all the people who would follow Him around and hang on His every word. And finally, Jesus defeated the power of death itself...I don't know any other super heroes that can do that (no, Superman doesn't count, because he was only mostly dead after fighting Doomsday).

But seriously, how much better off would the world be if more people thought of Jesus Christ as their hero? If heroes are supposed to be the best examples for us to look up to and try to emulate, there is no better example in all of history than Jesus Christ. I really hope our little chat stuck in my son's brain somewhere, and I hope it sticks in the minds of anyone who reads this blog.

Darn You Denver Broncos!

Darn you to heck anyhow!!!

I hate it when my sports teams, and me by extension, are made to be a laughing stock. That is what I have been faced with these past 2 days since my Denver Broncos lost to that team of convicted felons known as the Oakland Raiders by a 59-14 margin. The Raiders are the most despised of teams to a Denver Broncos fan, so to lose like that was sickening. I actually had to turn football off on Sunday. I skipped Sunday and Monday night football and all the highlight shows. I just couldn't bear it.

Then today, my boss made a joke at my expense related to the Denver Broncos. It was a very clever, well conceived joke, but I'm not used to this. Also, Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN radio were having fun at the Broncos expense. It's all foreign to me.

I started following the Broncos in 1986, and they have been competitive almost every year in that 24 year stretch. This team may not win 5 games this year, and that's hard to take, and even harder when it makes your team the butt of every one's jokes. Ugh, it's going to be a long season.

Movie Review: "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time"

I've had "Prince of Persia" sitting there, waiting to be watched for about a week now. Netflix was guesstimating that I was going to rate it 3.8 stars, and as it turns out, that's just about right. What I found was a good movie that was almost great.

"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan. He is the youngest of the 3 princes of the Persian empire. After Dastan leads an assault on a supposed traitorous city, he meets Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton), finds a mystical dagger that allows him to turn back time and the adventure begins. The plot takes several twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat. But, then it all wrapped up a little too nicely...and I really like nice wrap-ups, but this was a stretch.

Overall, the action is great, the story is good and Jake Gyllenhaal didn't bug me like I feared he would. I think a lot of people will really like this, but I also believe that there will be some, like me, who thinks it all ended a little too easily.

Book Review: "The Lost Hero"

I think Rick Riordan might be my favorite author. First he wrote the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series, which were 5 fantastic books. Then he got started on "The Kane Chronicles", which I thoroughly enjoyed. And now, he's giving us a sequel to the Percy Jackson series, "The Heroes of Olympus." I just completed it's first book, "The Lost Hero."

"The Lost Hero" is different from the Percy Jackson books in that it is told from a 3rd person point of view, and centers around 3 new heroes...Jason, Piper and Leo. This story takes place about 1 year after "The Last Olympian" (the final book in the Percy Jackson series), and things are amiss all around. First, Jason shows up at Camp Half-Blood, and is pretty sure he doesn't belong there, but he is also suffering from amnesia so he doesn't know why. Piper and Leo have memories of Jason that may or may not be real. It turns out, all 3 are demigods...children of the Greek gods. Oh, and one hero of Camp Half-Blood has gone missing (I bet you can't guess who that is).

I loved this book...couldn't put it down. I read it's 557 pages in about 4 sittings. The 3rd person point of view didn't bother me at all, and I liked that Riordan continually switches the focus between Jason, Piper and Leo. All 3 characters are great and mold well with the carry-over characters from the Percy Jackson series. I did miss some of the old characters, but I think all of my old favorites will gain more prominent roles and the series progresses. There's also the suspense of not knowing where the lost hero is and the worry over that throughout the book that kept me turning pages. Just a top notch story.

But, I will issue a warning, there is quite the cliffhanger at the end, so if you don't like cliffhangers, wait for the 2nd book to be released next fall. The title of the next book will be "Son of Neptune"...hmmm, wonder who that could be?