David's Tangled Thoughts

In my key set, I have the ability to remotely lock and unlock my car. I learned today that I can't do that with the house door.

This past week or so, I have been spending quite a bit of time at the movies. Thankfully all three that I saw were great in my opinion. I thought that I would share some thoughts about them but be warned, there is a possibility of spoilers. National Treasure: Book of Secrets I’m not a fan of Nicolas Cage so I saw the first movie with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a good and interesting movie. I went again to Book of Secrets with low expectations because, you know, sequels always suck. Now, it wasn’t as good as the original but it still did perform better than I expected. The movie is about the Gates family trying to find the lost City of Gold. While the first half of the movie had the same flavor as the first movie, the second half seemed more like Indiana Jones . That’s okay but if you find racing around to different locations in search of clues to be exciting, you’ll come to a screeching halt about halfway through the movie. And with that gol

I thought I'd take a moment to point out a new addition to the blogroll: Road-tripping with Kraig and Stacey . Keep your finger crossed that they finally leave Michigan!

I had a big post in my head about how my Christmas went down. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't what I expected either. I think I'll just spare you the details. Tea anyone?

Give it a few moments. Merry Christmas! h/t to Ryrod for posting this

Last night my friend Season and I went to two places: the new Fannie May store in Mishawaka (Granger) and the new Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo. Both opened up after Season had left for Florida. There used to be a few Fannie May candy stores in the area but then they closed a little while ago. I think that there was only one left hidden somewhere in South Bend. This new one was opened up in the new Toscana retail park located in Granger, Indiana. (It's still part of the Mishawaka retail area far as I'm concerned.) So we popped in there to have a look and buy a few things. Season got a tin of something for her mom plus some candy for herself. I got a few pieces of toffees and cremes. They tasted very good but I honestly didn't taste any difference from the chocolate I used to sell at my previous job for $3 per pound cheaper. I've been inside the new casino a little over a week ago to take my Dad out to dinner for his birthday but I never gambled there until

Solstice. h/t to kadoty86 for posting this

I'm back from church. The Children's Christmas Service was this evening and I went there with my parents, Grandma, Uncle Kenny, Aunt Julie and her husband Chris. My Aunt's kids were going to be in the service. Whatever happened to acting out the Christmas story? When I was young, there was a full play done. As the years have gone by, the service gets watered down. This year has to be the worst yet. It was a Power Point presentation. Power Point! My cousin was pretty cute-- with his picking his boogers and stabbing himself with a fake candle. My Aunt infuriated me. I was complaining about how watered down this service was. (It was at the point when I discovered that it would be held in the basement.) I made some off hand remark about going to the local Catholic church so that I could see a more traditional play. Of course, the thought of a Lutheran even considering going to a Catholic church is a gasping-for-air moment for some members. She proceeded to give me t

Yesterday, my sister and I went to Mishawaka to do some Christmas shopping. Yes, it was stupid to go there on a Saturday during the beginnings of a winter storm but we did it anyways. On our way there, I saw that Dayton Lake had frozen over completely. First time I’ve noticed it this year. The ice fisherman should be out soon. I’ve never seen anyone skating on the lake but I’d have to imagine it’d be pretty nice.

A few days ago I was going to release another set of videos. This time it was going to the movie, " The Muppet Christmas Carol. " Of all the holiday movies and specials, it is my absolute favorite and ranks as on of my favorite movies of all time. I make it a point to try and watch it whenever I see that it is going to be on television. I probably should suck it up and buy the DVD and every year I do think about it but ultimately I don't. The full movie was on YouTube and I was eager to share it with you all. Unfortunately, when I looked for it when I was ready to create another post, it was taken down. Instead I'll have to give you a short little clip that I think is rather appropriate. h/t to TheGame4864 for posting the vid.

Thanks to everyone who participated in my poll. It's by no means scientific, but it looks like real Christmas trees win out over the fake ones. I participate in Zogby polls that arrive in my Inbox about once a week or so. Yesterday I was asked this question and I felt that it was a terrible question: For the next question, please consider the following scenario: A child of illegal immigrants is born in the United States and is thereby a citizen of the United States. The parents of that child are arrested and charged with being in the U.S. illegally. What should happen to the parents under those circumstances? The parents should be deported and the child should be placed in foster care here in the U.S. The parents should be deported and forced to take the child with them The child should remain in the U.S. and the parents should be allowed to undergo a naturalization process Not sure By itself, it wasn't a terrible questions, but there weren't any follow up questions that

I'm not one that really pays much attention when fellow right-wingers complain about anti-americanism that exists beyond our borders or within the far-left groups within our borders. I try to differentiate between legitimate gripes about America's policies, and hatred that's there because somebody needs an object to tear down. But there are times when I have to wonder... This page was lifted from the BBC website. And what jumped out at me was US this and US that. I'd expect this from an American news outlet not a UK one. Fine... I can accept that because the US is the lone superpower, it is naturally going to pop up more often for newsworthy events but today I was wondering, "Why?" What really set me off was the article, " US hails Chavez referendum defeat ." The United States has nothing to do with the story. The story is about Venezuela. The Venezuelan angle should have been taken. Okay, granted, more info followed in the actual article but

Today I am announcing my participation in The Great Blogger Christmas Card Exchange of 2007. Um, I'm going to do it. The Great Blogger Christmas Card Exchange was an idea from PJS, a former blog buddy who has since moved to MySpace. It is simple enough but requires a certain amount of trust and goodwill. I will be mailing out Christmas cards to anyone who wants them. All you have to do is email me your mailing address. You can find that by clicking on my profile. Participants in last year's exchange probably don't need to give me your address again, but if you've moved or can't remember if you gave me it, go ahead and email me. For those who are skeptical of giving me your information, I give you my pledge to never give that information out to anyone else or use it to stalk you. I may google earth search you--but that's the limit. I swear! And if you request, I will also give you my address as long as you make the same pledge. Stamps are still 39¢, right