Fail

Happy Halloweenie

Enjoy. The sound level is really low on this, so you'll probably need to turn up your speakers quite a bit.

Bodie-O-Lantern

For Lizard

I'm really not happy with my carvings thus far, but somebody wanted to see these.

The Politics are Dancing.

With November 4th quickly approaching, I find myself actually caring about an election for the first time in my life. This disturbs me greatly, because it is another sign that I am getting old. Some people like to keep who they are going to vote for a private matter, but I'm not one of those people. Unfortunately I still haven't decided on who I am going to vote for. I do know that I will not be voting for Obama(not that it really matters in California). Here are a few of the reasons why:

• I hate that every chance he gets he trashes President Bush's presidency. I really like President Bush and the job that he has done. Bush has had to deal with events that have never occurred in our history. It's easy to play Monday morning quarterback after something happens. The fact of the matter is that there has not been another terrorist attack on our soil since September 11th. I think we take that for granted when we consider how frequently terrorist attacks occur in other parts of the world. I also hate the fact that the majority of our country's problems (especially the economy) could actually be blamed on Bill Clinton's administration and a House and Senate dominated by Democrats. Somehow Clinton escapes the blame (Do we forget that he was impeached?). It was like Clinton handed Bush the keys to a nice looking Pontiac 6000(the greatest car in the world) and once Clinton left the garage oil started pouring out on the floor, the shocks went out and somebody had siphoned the gas out of the tank. I guess America has a short-term memory.
• In the debates that I have watched he doesn't give a straight answer to any real question. I know that this is how politics works, but I wouldn't mind a genuine answer. Instead I get some tap dance around the question into another topic that he prefers to discuss.
• The thing that really bothers me is that a lot of the questions he side-steps have to do with his past and the people who he associates with. He has associated with known terrorists. He thinks we are naive enough to believe that he had no idea what kind of things his preacher and spiritual advisor of over 20 years(the one who married he and his wife) was saying against our country. However, he is very open about the fact that he did drugs early on in his life.
• Obama decided not to use public funding for his campaign, after saying that he would. (When you check the box on your tax return to have $3 go to the campaign fund, this is what it would go to.) Instead, his campaign has been financed privately. He has raised over 605 million dollars since last year (McCain took the public funding of 84 million dollars). Who has made the majority of those donations? I would guess that it is the rich. Then Obama claims that he will turn around and increase taxes for the rich. I'm not buying it.
• His solution to just about everything is to increase spending. I'm not stoked about the increased taxes that will result from that way of thinking.
  
• These elections come off like your typical high school elections. Promises are made by both parties that realistically have no chance of occurring without going through the rest of the government (high school administrators/Congress). So what we are left with is deciding who has the better character, qualifications, and experience to deal with the rest of the world. And that is where Obama loses my vote. He doesn't have much experience, hasn't associated with the best people in his past, and just gives me the impression that I'm not getting all of the facts.

That doesn't mean that I will be voting for McCain though. Here are some points about him:

• I really can't question his patriotism. He has fought for our country and was willing to give his life for the country's benefit. When hearing him speak he does seem to be genuinely concerned about the well-being of our country.
• For the most part, he has stuck to the issues and not made much of Obama's various indiscretions in the past. This may change as we get closer to election day.
• I'm not a big fan of his health care plan.
• He also makes claims about changes that will occur that really don't stand a chance at making it through Congress.
• For the most part, I really like McCain. The main hang-up for me is Sarah Palin. McCain does look very old, and I don't have total confidence that he will make it through his term. I'm not so sure that I am comfortable with Palin replacing him. She doesn't seem to have much experience either.
  

So there is my voting dilemma. Maybe I will just write somebody else in. Anybody want to make me an offer? I wonder if I can take a picture of my vote? I'll have to look into that. Like I said before, it really won't matter in California.

What will matter are my votes on the various propositions. Here is a break-down of how that will go:

• Proposition 1: NO. I am not willing to give the government the o.k. on spending 9 billion dollars. Sure, it will probably reduce the time of my morning commute, but we are talking about billions of dollars.
• Proposition 2: NO. It is in the farmer's best interest to keep animals from being stressed. Chickens wouldn't lay eggs if they weren't comfortable. All that passing this prop will do is send these farmers south of the border. The economy doesn't need that right now. Animal protection groups need to leave my food alone.
• Proposition 3: YES. Sick kids get my vote.
• Proposition 4: YES. I'm anti-abortion to begin with, so this is a no-brainer.
• Proposition 5: UNDECIDED. I have to still read into this more. I have a feeling that there is some extra stuff in here that will allow some criminals special treatment that they don't deserve.
• Proposition 6: YES. Only because the L.A. City Council is against it.
• Proposition 7: YES. Renewable energy seems like another no-brainer. Although I am reminded of a Deep Thought by Jack Handy. "I believe in making the world safe for our children, but not our children's children, because I don't think children should be having sex".
• Proposition 8: YES. This isn't about denying rights. Check out this video:

• Proposition 9: YES. This will save money, and it keeps the right people informed.
• Proposition 10: NO. It will increase my taxes. People should buy those vehicles because they care about the environment, not because they get a monetary benefit.
• Proposition 11: YES. I don't really care about redistricting, but AARP is for it and old people are wise.
• Proposition 12: YES. I'm o.k. with helping out veterans.

That is a break-down of how my November 4th will go. Feel free to let my stances sway you in your voting.

Fantasy Basketball

Dear Friend,
You are cordially invited to participate in the immensely enjoyable event known as Joshua's fantasy basketball league. If you make the correct decision and join the league, you will find yourself among an elite group. Consider yourself very privileged to receive this opportunity to lose to me. For those of you who have not played fantasy sports, it isn't very difficult and doesn't take up much of your time. If you make the mistake of not joining(shame on you), perhaps you could pass this invitation on to someone who might. The deadline to join in October 26th, so don't delay.
to begin click on this link

or copy and paste this in your browser:
http://basketball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/nba

to join the league you will need:
the league i.d.number: 97736
and the password: windmill

Good luck and have a delightful day,
Joshua

I agree with Newt!

There are numerous reasons why I am going to vote YES on Proposition 8, but here is one of the main reasons:

Killer Klowns from Outerspace

If you are looking for a great Rocktober movie, look no further! Here is the trailer to one of the greatest movies of all-time.


If that has caused you to want to watch this movie immediately, then click here for a wonderful surprise!

A Howl For Ideas

The calendar says that today is the first day of Rocktober! Halloween has slowly become one of my favorite holidays. I've always enjoyed a good scare and love horror flicks.

I remember watching Elvira host us through some very poorly produced ones.

I also enjoyed the Twilight Zone marathons around Halloween. It is a Halloween tradition of mine to watch my all-time favorite horror movie, appropriately titled "Halloween", every Rocktober. I'm pretty sure that movie was on poor people T.V. every Halloween when I was a young lad.

The movies are great and all, but I don't think I have really come to enjoy Halloween until fairly recently. I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps it is because I now have kids who like to go get candy(Things always seem better when you get to experience them through your kids). Maybe it is because of all the candy I get to sneak from the kids' stashes. Or it could be that I get to be crafty. Whatever the reason, I think Halloween will keep getting better for me as the years go by.

Now, to the true reason for this post. I need help with some ideas. I recall asking for ideas for a past project and receiving a couple, so I figured more people may step up this time. Here are the ideas I am looking for:

• I help out with the young men at church and we are in charge of a spook alley at our Halloween party. We received numerous compliments for the one we did last year, and everyone is expecting this year's to top it. I could use any ideas for the spook alley. The challenge is that we have to make it scary enough for adults to enjoy, but not too scary for the kids. One of the parts I liked from last year's was a room with a T.V. with a scene from "The Ring" on loop. In the next room we had one of the young women climbing out of a makeshift well. It was pretty cool.

• Next, I could use creative costume ideas. My parents pretty much hooked me up with a good costume idea, but I can still be persuaded to try something else. Plus, Sara still needs a costume.

• Probably my favorite part of Halloween is carving Jack-O-Lanterns. I will probably do one of each of the kids and then one with each of the kids. Along with that I will probably do a few others. I welcome ideas on what to carve. I will take this time to recommend a great pumpkin carving website, The Pumpkin Wizard. Here are some Jack-O-Lanterns of past years to give you an idea of what I may be able to do:

Thank you in advance for any suggestions, and here's hoping that you have a Rocktober to remember!