There's just something about a post-apocalyptic nightmare landscape featuring a lone warrior with a chip on his shoulder, fast cars, scantily clad females, and leather jackets--torn and frayed or not--that are appealing to me, and apparently lots of other folk. I've seen all the Mad Max flicks, with Road Warrior the standout favorite. With Mel …
Ode to the Golden Arches
Like a beacon you shine, bringing forth your golden light from along desolate highways. You offer warmth and familiarity, food and drink, and a place to rest and recuperate. Some of my earliest memories have you as a backdrop. You have always been there for me. As a child, my father rescued me from a …
The Scorpion and the Turtle
One day, a turtle sat casually near the riverbank, not hurrying to do much of anything. He continued not hurrying in this manner for quite some time until disturbed by a scorpion that had wandered up from his right. The scorpion was of a rather ferocious looking variety, and quite large as scorpions go. The …
To Keto or Not To Keto
Having resisted low carb dieting for many years, I finally gave it a whirl in August of 2012. I started with Carb Nite by John Kiefer because it was popular among the powerlifting circles I liked to glom onto. I didn't know it at the time, but Carb Nite is just a cyclical ketogenic diet, …
Dunning-Kruger
If you're not familiar with the Dunning-Kruger effect, you owe it to yourself to read up on it. It's a fascinating study that affects all of us, yet few of us can recognize it. Essentially, the unskilled have an illusory superiority effect, where they perceive themselves to be more skilled than they actually are. Conversely, …
Tolerate my Intolerance
There's been a lot said about gluten and whether eating it is good, bad or indifferent. There isn't nearly enough discussion about the gluten content of cosmetics and hair spray. I think it would be an interesting panel discussion about whether we should be eating our Maybelline, but alas, no one is having it. The …
on Not Dying
Wires and helicopters do not get along. Wires tend to tear rotors off, and lacking a rotor, helicopters tend to do impressions of falling rocks. As a pilot, you have the shit scared out of you regularly by instructor pilots about the myriad ways you can perish in your chosen profession. Flying from El Paso …
Mandatory Acknowledgement
Forced fun on prescribed days of the week or year have always irritated me. I generally look at ritualistic behavior curiously, wondering how these actions came about and why so many are so willing to jump in and participate, in essence being told what to do and when by unknown parties with unknown agendas. Today, …
Sleeping Beauty
I will state at the outset that I am a fan of Angelina's. She has the elusive "something about her" that strikes a chord with me and always has. So when I saw the first advertisement for Maleficent, with Angie peeking out from the trees and saying "then you'll be afraid" in that sultry voice, …
Noah-A Review before The Flood
I've long been a fan of Russell Crowe and casting him against his Beautiful Mind costar Jennifer Connelly gave Noah some attractive star power to entice me to see it. But it wasn't enough. The story of the annihilation of the human race by an invisible, all-powerful and all-knowing cloud creature is so childish, that …
Joe's Blog 