We traveled to Washington, D.C. over Christmas and had the misfortune of flying into Dulles. One of our bags disappeared for 45 minutes and then magically appeared on the luggage carousel. My sister-in-law was directed to wait in the international flights line even though she was flying to Tennessee so she missed her flight. And security... What a mess. After waiting in line to be screened for about 10 minutes, one of the Dulles crew- probably getting minimum wage, God bless her, to keep our families and nation safe and secure- decided that the line was getting too long so just waved a bunch of people on through. Hello?!?! Why are we spending billions of dollars in creating the Department of Homeland Security and the vast associated new bureaucracy if someone can arbitrarily defeat all of that by lifting up a cloth rope in the airport? Airline Security a Waste of Cash is an article listing some other issues with airport security during the War on Terror.

Pace's Chipotle Salsa is excellent! Smooth, smoky flavor. Thick texture- the main ingredient is tomatoes. It's the first item listed so I assume that that indicates that it's the most abundant ingredient. I looked at another salsa on the shelf at Super Target and found that the main ingredient was water. Pace is clearly the way to go.

Drive By Truckers rocked last night at Sundown in the City.

Patterson Hood said "If anyone tells you that rock and roll is dead you can tell them that the Drive By Truckers said to kiss their ass."

Mike Ligon might take exception with DBT's comments.

The year 2000 was NOT a leap year.

The Democratic reaction to the election just gets funnier and funnier. They act like the majority of the country had been overrun by zombies or Nazis.

Maybe I can afford to move to San Francisco if enough jobs open up because of the exodus from the oppressive USA.

The weekend of October 2-3, 2004, will go down in history as one of the darkest periods in Tennessee football. This quote from The Tennessean really says it all: "The Titans were beginning to develop a reputation for starting fast and collapsing down the stretch. They did their best to shake that image yesterday, collapsing early in a 38-17 loss to the Chargers." Ouch!

It would have been cool if UT had made it to the game against Auburn as well.

Trillian should be a member of the Software Hall of Fame. I don't know how I got by without it for so long. Not only does it encapsulate 4 different IM clients for me, but it also handles all of my RSS feeds via its News plugin. I liked it so much that I happily forked over hard-earned cash money for it. You should do the same right now.

Do not go see Van Helsing. This has got to be the most predictable, boring, piece of crap since... I was going to say Underworld, but it suddenly struck me that Kate Beckinsdale starred in both of these craptastic films. I mean it- save your money. I'm still angry that I paid to see such a lousy film.

Wired News: NASA to Test Space-Time Fabric

Tuesday's Elvis Costello show was awesome but was tainted for me by 2 things: cell phones and dropped plastic cups! There needs to be some technology invented that interrupts cellular phone signals and prevents cell phones from ringing. And the Ryman needs to ban beverages inside the auditorium. I don't care that someone loudly dropped a cup 3 rows behind me and I had to sit with my feet in their beer but I do mind that it happened right at the beginning of "I Still Miss Someone." I witnessed someone get yanked out of the Ryman at a previous show for being lound and drunk but that wasn't taking place Tuesday unfortunately.

On another note, I went to buy the Rhino reissue on Wednesday and the clerk at Grimey's Records asked if I went to the show and if "he rocked." The clerk said that he didn't go because he was afraid that "he wouldn't rock." I replied that you don't always have to have a drum kit to rock. I don't think that he was able to process that at all.

If you are a big fan of the Jesus and Mary Chain, and if you're not you should be, you should do yourself a favor and explore April Skies.

Do yourself a favor and don't watch the film Underworld. It is a mess. I'm still not clear what was going on. And how unfortunate that in their attempt to spawn some new lingo, they chose "Lycan" to signify a lycanthrope. Everyone knows that a lichen is a moss. I spent the first few minutes of the film wondering why vampires were fighting a group that named themselves after a moss.

Today I am 35 years old.

I wasn't familar with this guy until today, but his column really goes a long way toward describing what is wrong with the media in this country. I didn't see the incident first hand because I didn't watch the Super Bowl this year.

There were 2 reasons why I didn't watch. The first is that as a Titans season ticket buyer, I've watched enough professional football. Also, I attended several UT games this year and watched even more on TV. I have devoted enough of my time this year to football.

Second, and maybe more importantly, I'm tired of having the media manufacture these huge events and tell me I must watch. Why do I care about who wins a game between some guys from New England and North Carolina? The more cynical among us claim that the advertisements during the game are the reason to watch these days in the era of NFL parity, but this is even worse justification for watching. Why should I be entertained by 30 second clips designed to entice me into spending money?

Sorry, CBS, but your arguments were just not persuasive enough this year. While I'm thinking about it, there isn't a single show that I ever watch on CBS. The only show that I can even name that appears on CBS is David Letterman's show. Wait. Is it "Late Night with David Letterman" or just "The David Letterman Show"?

Howard Dean is a maniac!!!

Obese people are sad!!!

It's always good to examine both points of view in order to make a truly informed decision. The Case for the Empire makes some excellent points, but it still does not change my mind regarding Attack of the Clones: IT SUCKED.

No one can say anything that will cause me to rethink my position on the invasion of Iraq. Death by wood-chipper, torture by power-drill and delightful dips in acid baths were all horrors faced by the Iraqi people under Saddam's regime. Someone needed to do something to eliminate this evil. Saddam had eliminated everyone who could have possibly opposed him. If not us, who? In fact, we should have done something sooner, and not just in Iraq. We should have intervened earlier in the Balkans and we should have stopped the genocide in Rwanda. I regret the suffering experienced by the Iraqi people as a result of our invasion but I still think that the end justifies the means.

I realize that it is a cliche, but I truly believe that the quotation ascribed to Edmund Burke summarizes my position best:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

We wouldn't even be having this conversation if Big Al had just carried his home state: he would have won the 2000 election. Instead, we are stuck with this Democratic internecine feud. Our troops are dying every day in Iraq, and Al Gore decides it's payback time for the Clintons. This guy so badly wants to become some type of statesman for the 21st century yet he can't get over feeling that we was snubbed and overshadowed by the Clintons. So rather than take the high road and put the past behind him, he wants his pound of flesh. This kind of small-mindedness will get you no where, Al.

I thought that his bit at the Johnny Cash memorial was very nice, very tasteful, but this latest bit of political maneuvering is so petty. More importantly he's backing the wrong horse- Dean is just a 21st century Dukakis. Al Gore's political career is over.