SUPERBOWL XLIII

VS









MY PICK: THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS 28 ARIZONA CARDINALS 21

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

Well, what can I say, my time in Davis as a student is coming close to an end, but man have I been having some great times, this place has really grown on me. I am so greatful for my job because my weekend fun would not be possible without it. However I experienced an unfortunate financial dent this weekend during my weekend festivities. I guess you could say I fought the law, and the law won. But man is the system flawed. Well anyhow my fraternity had our cocktail friday night, and what do cocktails entail: cocktails you guessed it. I drove downtown since it was pouring rain, rather than usually walking. The original plan was to have a sober brother drive my car back but that never occurred, so I continued with my events throughout the night. At the end of the night after hoppin around from bars to house parties I was tired and was "sobered up". I knew I could have drove and been alright but I wasn't going to chance it, so I walked home. Being the weekend, I just assumed that there was no traffic enforcement so really had nothing to worry about leaving my car overnight. After a good nights sleep I took a walk downtown in the morning to go retrieve my car. Too bad it still wasn't raining to wipe away the flashy yellow envelope under my windshield wiper. 3 minutes too late I was, i got a parking ticket for exceeding 2 hr parking space. I fully agree that it is my fault for not reading the sign the night before, I guess I am so used to pretty much any other city having free parking on the weekend, AND being able to park on campus for free on the weekends. HOWEVER, to be rewarded for my moral and appropriate decision for not taking a chance driving the night before with a 35 dollar parking ticket annoys me. the fact that i arrived at my car literally 3 minutes after the ticket was printed is also frustrating. I realize that 35 dollars is nothing compared to a real DUI fine, but I just wanted to say it was very unfortunate. We live and learn, but in the end I'll be glad to pay this great city of Davis this measly 35 dollars, because its the city I go to college in and its the city where I will remember some of my most legendary moments.

Results

So for the 2 people that participated in Joe's Blog first ever contest, thank you..especially Dr. Evil. Thanks for guessing, but you guys were way off. I got a solid 65 dollars from my coin cashing experience and will be buying my new ipod by the end of the week.



Cheers

The President of The United States of America

Today marks the inaguration of the United States 44th President...President Barack Hussein Obama. Now as many of you know, I am not one for politics, however due to all the alleged national media and american hype in regards to this day, Jan 20, 2009, I decided to write my thoughts and opinions about this "historic day". This post is truly based on my beliefs, and my opinions only. If you feel like they are ignorant or foolish, well than welcome to Joe's Blog, thanks for stoppin by and im glad you did not agree what I had to say.

Let me first start by saying that I am a proud American and am honored to live my life in this country. With that said, now former President George Walker Bush. I for one was sick and tired of hearing him being criticized by the American public and all the talk about approval rating. He was OUR President, he was the face of OUR country, WE elected him. I am not saying he had some mishaps and blunders, however, he was still THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. as Americans, I feel like it is our duty and responsibility to be proud and loyal to our country, by bad mouthing our president and protesting against him, it makes us look weak and foolish to every country in the world, it is almost embarrassing. If we don't have respect for the leader of our country within our own borders...how the hell do we get the respect we deserve from the rest of the world. being a union is what had led us to being one of the most powerful countries in this world.

On a related note, to the protesters out there that believe in their cause, I do support some movements, because that is how change is caused and that there can be no argument without two opposing sides.. However, I feel like most protesters go about their protesting in ways that are not beneficial to their cause as a group or to our country. Most of them are there to be there and just rebel against the government because it feels good. I feel like they could be out doing much more proactive things in aide of their cause rather by just holding demonstrative and sometimes dangerous rallies. There is a line that needs to be drawn here and people need to step back and learn to know when it is their turn to step back out of the action for a bit, especially when democracy has spoken(for example: prop 8).

Congratulations to President Obama on becoming the 44th president of the US and becoming the 1st African American president. I feel sorry for the new president as a daunting task awaits him. I, like everybody else, am optimistic about our newly elected president. Do i feel like people blow out of proportion how much one man can do for this country, YES. Is he the answer to all of our problems, probly not. I am a realist. I don't really expect Obama to lead us out of these tough times. i dont expect to experience a dramatic change in my own daily life or surrounding things that effect me. America is in a vulnerable state but it is my deepest hope that things DO turn around and that we as a country can all become one and support any cause that our leader supports, because it is our duty as loyal citizens and for America to continue to be a positive role model to the rest of the world and gain the respect that we rightfully deserve.

I apologize for certain areas where I just ramble..i basically just free writed this thing in about 15 minutes..points may seem contradicting at times but it was just my way of not being able to convey my thoughts effectively thru writing.
There you have it. CHANGE THAT WE CAN BELIEVE IN?

Football Picks

VS

Tough game to call here, i think that it comes down to which of the QBs play better. My vote here is McNabb..the eagles are on a roll and cardinals i think lack a stable and consistent running game..I expect a lot of big plays in the game and high scoring, but I'm going with Philly

VS

Been calling this for weeks, but the Steelers I think are on their way to a Superbowl victory..I expect them to handle Baltimore with ease and rookie QB Flacco will show his inexperience and Big Ben and the steel wall will give the ravens a tough time.

Idiots

what is up with stupid teens and basketball hoops..pretty great

CH..CH..CHANNGGEE

So after losing a 400+ dollar iPod Touch, I have been feeling a bit empty and a bit cheap lately, as I know in the next few weeks I will just have to man up and spend money on a new one. I've always been a bargain hunter and always buy electronics on the internet, as they are ALWAYS cheaper. My top seller is Amazon, they have anything. So with that, that will most likely be the place of purchase for my upcoming iPod purchase. Now on a related topic, coins. I have never been one to carry around change..it bulks up my wallet, makes annoying sounds when I walk and is heavy. After any cash transaction I keep the change until I get home where I put it in my coin glass. So with that, I have a huge glass of coins waiting to be cashed for cash. So rather than sitting down and rolling up rolls of coins to take to the bank, I utilize CoinStar, one of the greatest services to hit stores for all of us lazy coin counters. Now as I have been previously criticized for using coinstar, since it takes commission for every dollar, I do admit that it was a mistake as I lost about 10 dollars. HOWEVER, CoinStar has implemented a new service, FREE coin counting if you redeem a gift certificate or gift card with your coins instead of bills. Brands include: Target, Starbucks, Circuit City, Borders, iTunes, and AMAZON. I will be cashing my coin collection within the next week, and then will use that amount to help ease the pain financially (or so it seems) of my ipod purchase.

With that said: Here is the FIRST CONTEST to ever hit Joe's blog. Can you guess how much money I will get from my coin stash? Keep in mind there seems to be a good amount of quarters in there. Leave guess amount($) and email address in the replies. The only rule I can think of is that you are only allowed 1 guess. Note: I do not spam and winner will receive some sort of gift of my choosing.

THERE YOU GO, HAVE AT IT.

savage

Farewell My Friend

What a way to start the blog back up, the death of Ipod Touch, truly one of the greatest gadgets of my lifetime. In hopes of sounding more like a music guru instead of a gadget geek, this Ipod was the ultimate music machine, able to store all my wonderous tunes and even control my itunes library thru a wifi remote. But yea, what got me hooked to this thing was really its other capabilities, including games, apps and most importantly wifi connection and ability to check my email and send aims thru a wireless connection, not to leave out the calendar that kept me up to date on my class times and work schedule.

So without further ado the details of the unfortunate and untimely death of my iPod Touch. It was about 5 days ago, Friday afternoon I recall, and I am taking down my familys fake(and non christmas smelling) Christmas tree. My mom had just left to pick up some requested food items for my final dinner at home before I headed back to college. Within 5 minutes of her departure, a wretched empty feeling ran thru my body.. 5 minutes to late. Thanks to my carelessness after taking down our outside xmas lights hrs before, my ipod was on its final ride of its precious life, lightly placed on the back of my Moms car. I ran immediately outside frantically searching the graveled pavement for my IPod hoping for a minimal collision with my shelled outer casing. After running a couple blocks....nothing. What had prevented the iPod from not falling off??? well most likely my Mom's cautious and safe driving. Had it been me driving, it would have fallen off before i reached the end of our driveway. But I wouldnt be here telling you this had it not happened. I constructed an all out search party, including me walking halfway onto the on ramp of the freeway, nothing. So as I sit here today, my only hopes is that my iPod is smashed to pieces on the highway. It would have been more comforting seeing it but I never found it. The thought that it could still be somewhere or was picked up on the side of the road still looms in the back of my mind. But nothing can change the past, so I can't get too bitter about it..however I only got to enjoy the 400 dollar gadget for 4 months. and to top it off my good pair of headphones were attached to it.

To ease the pain I will probably purchase one in the coming weeks. not going to buy as expensive as one, most likely a refurbished one to cut down on price. but anyhow I am currently back to my white 3rd generation click wheel ipod..which still is going strong but man do i miss that iTouch. Farewell.

My Top 10 Albums of 2008

2008 was a great year, i guess. Really flew bye. well anyhow after doing some research I learned that people love top 10 lists. I present to you, in my opinion, The Top Ten Music Albums of 2008!

#10 Of Broken - The Panic

• Found out about this band around 6 months ago, they are very solid, great rock, just the right amount of heaviness
  

#9 Drum Major Instinct - Back to The Sun

• Back to the Sun is the fabulous solo-effort by the former vocalist of uprising Reggae Rock studs Rebelution. There is an amazing flow to the album with soothing lyrics and great surf/mellow tunes to keep you movin.

#8 Slightly Stoopid - Slightly Not Stoned Enough to Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid

• Slighty Stoopid released a "slightly" new album this year with a few new tracks but mostly previously released. One of my favorite reggae rock bands out there and this album doesn't dissapoint.
  

#7 Rise Against - Appeal to Reason

• One of my most anticipated albums of 2008, and to be honest when I first heard it I was pretty dissapointed. It lacked Rise Against's signature heavy punk sound that was heard in previous albums, but after listening thru it several times it hooked. I am open to the change, and as it is one of my least favorite rise against albums, it is still a very very good album.
  

#6 Secret and Whisper - Great White Whale

• Discovered this band through one of my band websites. Once I had a listen I knew I had found an amazingly talented new band. I'de say this album has the best tracklisting on this Top 10 list, as every song on the album is a favorite. very consistent album, always a plus for any music fan.
  

#5 Tea Leaf Green - Raise Up the Tent

• Found out about this great jam-band thru my brother Mike. great feel good album
  

#4 Valencia - We All Need A Reason to Believe

• One of my favorite bands 2nd full length album release. About as poppy as I get, Valencia finds a way to always lure me in with their catchy lyrics.
  

#3 The Used - Shallow Believer

• Not much here, anyone that knows me knows that The Used is on the top of my all time favorite bands. This album is more like a greatest hits cd and features all the songs I've always loved to rock out to
  

#2 Stick Figure - Burnin' Ocean

• Best reggae album out there today. what makes it more special is that all songs are made by one musician. when I'm in my mellow music moods, this is always my GO TO
  

#1 UnderOath - Lost In The Sound of Separation

• With the completely opposite sound than my #2 album of the year, I without a doubt name Underoaths Lost in the Sound of Seperation my NUMBER ONE ALBUM OF THE YEAR. It is hard to believe this band is a Christian band, as their sound and lyrics are overshadowed with gut-wrenching screams, mind blastering guitar riffs and ear ringing drum beats. Their genre can be classified as metalcore/screamo. As about as heavy of music that my ears can take, Underoath’s - Lost in The Sound of Separation is an extremely heavy hitting album yet provides the adrenaline to last a lifetime. Being a big fan of this grammy nominated band, this new album is my favorite of their six studio albums. So if you are looking for an unpredictable, ear-splitting, full of ferocity and melody, this is the band and album for you. But don’t tell me I didn’t warn you, it hits your speakers pretty hard.

Runner Ups Include: Blues Traveler - North Hollywood Shootout, Natural Incense - Step Inside, High Tide - Play Me Reggae

Keep your music ears open, you never know when you will be recommended or told about your soon to be favorite band.

Back in Action!

I must say, it feels great to be back. I've got some great ideas on posts and am trying to revamp the layout a bit. feel free to participate in the poll on the right. suggestions welcome. Happy 2009 and hope you enjoy the new year.

WOO PARTY!