Oklahoma Tornado

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the people affected by the killer tornado that struck Oklahoma City on Monday.

Top 10 TV Shows of 2012-2013 Season

I admit it, I'm a TV addict, here are my picks for the Top 10 TV Shows of the 2012-2013 TV season.

1. Breaking Bad (AMC)
2. The Walking Dead (AMC)
3. Parks & Recreation (NBC)
4. Modern Family (ABC) 
5. The Americans (FX)
6. Vikings (History)
7. The League (FX) 
8. Grimm (NBC) 
9. How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
10. The Office (NBC) 

I included "Breaking Bad" because they ran the first half of their 5th (and final) season in the summer of 2012 and will run the final half of their last season in the summer of 2013, so they kind of bracketed the 2012-2013 TV season.  I love this show, I rank it with "The Sopranos" as the 2 best television shows of all time.  I can't wait to see what becomes of Walter White.

"The Walking Dead" is not far behind "Breaking Bad", it's a fantastic show.  Don't let the zombie aspect of the show scare you away, it's about much more than zombies.  AMC is certainly doing something right. 

"Parks and Recreation" IMO has emerged as the top comedy show on TV, their cast is outstanding, there's not a weak link in the bunch.  "Modern Family" still ranks right up there too, how you can not laugh at the antics of Phil Dunphy is beyond me.

"The Americans" on FX surprised me, I wasn't a big fan at first, as their was really nobody in it that was all that likeable, but it grew on me, the cast is strong, the story is fast paced and suspenseful, there's plenty of action and top it off, it's got Annet Mahendru to ogle. 

I admit, I was skeptical when I heard that the History Channel was getting into scripted dramas, but I was pleasantly surprised with "Vikings".   It's a fast paced, barbaric and highly enjoyable look at the early years of Norse legend Ragnar Lodbrok. 

"The League" has surpassed "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" as my favorite FX comedy.  It's rude, it's crude and it's funny as hell.  A little more Sofia and Rafi and this one would move into my top 5. 

"Grimm" probably won't win many Emmy's but I find myself looking forward to it every week. It's a very unique twist to the traditional cop drama show. 

"How I Met Your Mother" is still going strong with plenty of laughs, although I think single Barney Stinson is much funnier than relationship Barney Stinson.  It appears that next year will be the year that they finally explore Ted's meeting of his children's mother, that should be interesting (although I still wouldn't rule out it turning out to be Robin Scherbatsky).

I threw "The Office" in at the number ten slot, that's more out of respect for the series than out of quality of the show as it has dropped in quality quite a bit over the past 2 season.  Still, it had some good laughs and I really enjoyed how they ended the series, it was done quite well. 

I didn't include any series from any of the pay channels on my list, I'm too cheap to pay for those, although I do watch them once they hit DVD, had I included them I would imagine that "Game of Thrones" and "Homeland" would have no doubt made the list.  

I've heard good things about "Mad Men", "Sons of Anarchy", "Justified" and "American Horror Story" but I just don't have time to watch all these shows so I can't add them. 

Of the new shows, I also enjoyed "Elementary" and "Nashville", they could very well crack next years list. 

Here were my picks for the 2011-2012 TV season BTW.  

The Obama Stock Market

Fixing America

I posted this once before, but given the lack of progress I'm seeing out of our current congress I'm going to post it again today. 

20 Political Reforms to Reshape & Fix America:

1. Filibuster Reform - filibuster abuse by the GOP has gotten out of hand, I think I'm fairly safe in saying that the current use of the filibuster was not what the founding fathers had in mind, let's fix it. 
2. Electoral College - any system that allows someone to win the Presidency without a majority of the popular vote is flawed and in need of reform.  Let's move to a national popular vote. 
3. Senate Composition - why does a state the size of Delaware have the same number of Senators as a state the size of California or Texas?  How about we give one of Delaware's Senate seats to a larger state, such as New York (thus giving Delaware 1 Senator & New York 3 Senators)?  Or we could just increase the number of Senators, say from 100 to 120 or so with the larger states gaining more Senate seats. 
4. Redistricting - the gerrymandering of congressional districts is taking away any real competition in many districts. In the 2012 elections Democratic House candidates won more votes than Republican House candidates yet the Republicans maintained their control of the House of Representatives, how is that a representative government?   The states obviously cannot be trusted to end this practice so let's pass federal legislation to prohibit partisan politicians from having a say in the composition of congressional districts.   
5. Lobbying reform - right now, we are a country that has been bought by corporate interests, we desperately need to get money out of politics.  One way to do that would be to put restrictions of former government officials from moving straight to K-Street after leaving office. More transparency and disclosure would also be helpful.
6. Election Day - Federal standards are needed, the Voter Empowerment Act is a good place to start.  I'd also make election day a national holiday in an attempt to get more people to participate.  We should be making it easier for people to vote not doing everything in our power to discourage it.
7. Trade Pacts - I'd renegotiate all existing 'free trade' pacts to include 'fair trade' provisions and enforce the 'fair trade' provisions that already exist but are not enforced.  Many of these free trade pacts have had a negative impact on middle class Americans, shouldn't we all be playing on an even playing field?  
8. Dream Act - we live in a country made up of immigrants, I don't see an issue with keeping the best and brightest immigrants here.  There are lots of economic benefits to this too. It's also not too realistic that we can round up all of the illegal immigrants and ship them out of the country anyways.  Pass the Dream Act.
9. Single Payer Healthcare -  we pay more for healthcare than any other country in the world yet our healthcare system ranks #37 in the world, that's not acceptable.  It also appalls me that millions of Americans are going without healthcare.  Obamacare was a step in the right direction, but we can still do better.  
10. Assault Weapon Ban - nobody needs to own an assault weapon, they were designed for warfare, that's what they should be used for.  I'm tired of all the mass killings, it's time for action.  
11. Tax Reform - it's not right that the wealthy are paying less in taxes than those in the middle class, implementing the Buffet Rule would be a good starting point.  There's also absolutely no reason that dividends and capital gains shouldn't be taxed as income, let's fix that.  Putting an end to offshore tax havens should also be a priority as should stiffer penalties for tax evasion.  I'd also institute the Financial Transaction Tax. 
12. Legalize Marijuana - our war on drugs is not going anywhere, a different approach is needed.  Is marijuana really any worse than alcohol?  There's economic benefits to legalization too.  It's time to legalize it, regulate it and tax it.    
13. Campaign Finance Reform - the Citizens United ruling was an atrocity and needs to be repealed.  Being that it's doubtful that the U.S. Supreme Court will reverse it's decision the only answer is a constitution amendment forbidding corporate personhood, let's get it done. We need to get money out of politics and this would be a good start.  
14. Supreme Court Term Limits - why do Supreme Court Justices have lifetime terms?  That's ridiculously long, how about 1 ten year term, then out with the old and in with the new. 
15. Ban the Death Penalty - it's barbaric, it's racially biased, it's costly, it's entirely possible we are sending innocent people to their death, most of the civilized world has already outlawed it, it's time we follow suit.  
16. Legalize Prostitution - why are we prohibiting the actions of consenting adults?  Legalize it, regulate it, tax it and I wouldn't have an issue with it.  Regulating it would of course be the key.  
17. Reform Social Security - why would anybody want to end this program?  It's been wildly successful.  There's an easy fix too, just remove (or raise) the cap on income subject to social security taxes.  Most people pay this tax on 100% of their income, why doesn't this apply to everybody? 
18. Save the Post Office - another easy fix, the Republicans manufactured the crisis within the post office (I assume to privatize it and to rid themselves of a powerful union) by forcing the USPS to pre-fund their pension plans 75 years in advance and gave them 10 years to do it.  What business do you know of that could survive that type of stipulation?  Remove that arbitrarily selected 75 year funding limit (or lower to say 10-15 years) and problem solved.  I don't want to privatize this service, I doubt they could do it as cheaply or as effectively.  I also don't want to see the end of Saturday mail. 
19. End Affirmative Action - it had it's purpose, it was needed at one time, it did what it was suppose to do, but it's jumped the shark, all it leads to now is a form of reverse discrimination, academic mismatches and negative psychological tolls, it's time to end it.  Let's judge people on their merits, not on their race, sex, age or sexual preference.  
20. Legalize Gay Marriage - if two people love each other and want to share their lives together, who are we to tell them no?   Let's keep government out of the bedrooms, what happens between 2 consenting adults should only be of concern of those consenting adults. 

RIP 'The Office'

So long "The Office", it was a nice run!  I really enjoyed the series finale. 

POTpourri

• GOP votes to alter the 40 hour work week.  Who are they looking after? 
• Atmospheric CO2 concentrations reach 400 PPM milestone.  
• Big Oil rakes in huge first quarter profits. 
• How Big Oil uses the Republican Party to subvert American democracy.
• Raquel Pomplun named Playboy Magazine's Playmate of the Year 2013.   
• Shouldn't the IRS be taking a closer look at tax exemption claims of political groups? 
• Republicans vote to repeal Obamacare for 37th time.  
• Vogue calls Kate Upton the Hottest Supermodel on Earth.  
• Welcome back Ed Schultz, your voice has been missed.  
• RIP Dr Joyce Brothers & Chuck Muncie.
• Seth Meyers tapped to replace Jimmy Fallon on "Late Night".  
• Have I mentioned that I'm a fan of Nadine Velazquez?  
• The Far Right calls for Obama impeachment.  Yet again.  It's getting comical.
• Minnesota passes Same Sex Marriage bill.  
• FOX brings back '24' and Jack Bauer!   
• Zoe Saldana goes nude in Allure!  Kind of.  
• NTSB pushes for .05 blood alcohol limit for driving.  
• Burger King rolls out a McRib buster.  
• When do the investigations start on the cuts to embassy security?
• Deficit reduction picks up steam.  Another lost GOP talking point.

Vikings Stadium Fly Through

I don't know about you, but I really like the looks of the future Vikings stadium.

AZ Tidbits

• 56% support Legalizing Marijuana in Arizona. Get it done!
• Jodi Arias convicted of first degree murder.  
• Phoenix Suns hire Ryan McDonough as GM.  
• Yet another failed bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and keep them in Glendale. 
• Arizona State unveils newest new Sparky.   
• Dierks Bently's Whiskey Row set to open in Scottsdale on July 4. 
• Desert Mountain HS lands top notch basketball coach. 
• UA unveils new football uniforms.  They look pretty sharp.  
• Do you know the Top 10 Pizzeria's in Phoenix? 
• Where will Michael Beasley be playing next year?
• We will not forget your vote on background checks Jeff Flake. 
• Karlos Dansby returns to the Arizona Cardinals.  
• Former Arizona Congressman to marry partner.  
• Evan Gordon to transfer away from Arizona State.  
• Tedy Bruschi named to College Football Hall of Fame. 
• Arizona Cardinals release QB Brian Hoyer. 
• Republicans risk razing Arizona edge by losing Hispanics. 
• Mel Kiper rates Ka'Deem Carey as the 3rd best RB prospect in 2014 NFL Draft. 
• WTF is happening at Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale?
• If you haven't tubed the Salt River I highly recommend. 

May Flavor of the Month . . . . .

 . . . . is Hillary Fisher.   Catch her on Twitter, and Facebook.  Absolute Perfection!

Top 10 MILF's

In honor of Mother's Day, I thought that it would be appropriate to unveil my new Top 10 MILF list.

Here goes:

1. Marissa Miller
2. Jessica Alba
3. Megan Fox
4. Doutzen Kroes
5. Miranda Kerr 
6. Lily Aldridge
7. Kate Beckinsale
8. Adriana Lima
9. Giselle Bundchen

World Trade Center - New York

It's back!

Jon Stewart on the Benghazi Hearings

He makes some good points don't you think?  Part 2 here. 

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Fox News should be embarrassed.

POTpourri

• LeBron James wins his 4th NBA MVP Award.
• Do you think the "birthers" are concerned with Ted Cruz's birthplace?  
• Orb wins the 2013 Kentucky Derby. 
• FHM names Mila Kunis the 'Sexiest Woman in the World'.   
• RIP Chris Kelly & Jeanne Cooper. 
• Bar Paly stole the show in "Pain and Gain". 
• Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches posts highest close ever.  Republicans not impressed.
• Minnesota Timberwolves fire David Kahn as GM and hire Flip Saunders. 
• Michelle Keegan tops the Zoo Hot 101 List. 
• Miley Cyrus tops Maxim's Hot 100 List.  Really?   
• The Right Wing Benghazi Witch Hunt is really quite appalling.  
• Is it too early for a 2014 NFL Mock Draft?  
• Has there ever been a minority party as intransigent as the current crop of GOP pols?
• I rather enjoy the 'Hottest Babes' tumblr page. 
• How did we end up with the worst congress that money could buy? 
• When did the NRA become part of the far right?   
• Sales of Farrah Abraham's porn debut is doing quite nicely.  
• How exactly does the "values party" elect an adulterer to Congress?  Gerrymandering?
• Whether he will admit it or not, Charles Ramsey is a hero in my book! 
• George Karl named NBA Coach of the Year Award.

VS Multi Way Bra

Thank heavens for VS!

Top 10 Baseball Movies

I think it's time I update my list of the top baseball movies.  '42' doesn't quite make the list, I have added 'Moneyball' though.  Here's my updated list of the Top 10 Baseball movies:

1. Bull Durham - 1988 - Kevin Costner
2. Field of Dreams - 1989 - Kevin Costner
3. The Bad News Bears - 1976 - Walter Matthau 
4. Moneyball - 2010 - Brad Pitt
5. Major League - 1989 - Charlie Sheen
6. The Natural - 1984 - Robert Redford
7. Sugar - 2008 - Algenis Perez Soto
8. The Rookie - 2002 - Dennis Quaid
9. Eight Men Out - 1988 - John Cusak
10. A League of Their Own - 1992 - Tom Hanks 

Others:  Hardball, 42, The Sandlot, Mr Baseball, Bang the Drum Slowly, Mr 3000, The Scout,  For Love of the Game, Cobb