Beckett, Lantchips & Mrs. Sunshine

As one can imagine, I, much like all of you, will be pretty gosh darn busy, dag nab it! The holidays are upon us, work is busy, and winter will soon make my commutes a bit longer and more painful. I'll do my best to continue writing 5 days a week or so, but definitely I'm going to miss a day here and there. Tomorrow will likely be my last post until the following Monday as I will be headed up to Maine for the holidays.

I just wrote about three paragraphs and the browser refreshed and deleted it all.. and man am I pissed off.

Anyway there is a lot to talk about today and I want to start out with some promising news. I'm sure all of you Sox fans are as psyched as I am!

The Big One

Josh Beckett may be coming to beantown soon! Provided he doesn't get blisters on his fingers too frequently this will be a big plus to the Sox organization! I guess this means that I likely won't get Beckett on my fantasy league team again this year like I have had the past two. Now everyone and their dog will likely try and recruit him... grrr.

Well I'll continue by summing up briefly recent events in the wild and crazy life of George.

Kate and I went to see "Walk the Line" this weekend, and I highly recommend it. If you liked last year's Ray, this film is even better. Witherspoon and Phoenix are nothing short of amazing. Not only is their acting prowess top notch, but they show great musical and singing ability. I'd even say I'd prefer their "covers" of these great legends to most of the new crap that graces the billboard charts of today.

The nice thing about this story is, yes it is one of tragedy, however we get to see "good" ultimately triumph in the end. It takes the characters a lot of hard work, and they need to overcome many failures first, but in a world of cynicism over relationships, love, amongst many other things it is great to see a story where people beat the odds.

Sunday Kate and I trekked to Quincey Center via the Red line to catch a free shuttle to the new IKEA store in Stoughton. Sadly we were the only people who utilized our particular ride over. They had full sized buses driving people over constantly from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. The traffic was pretty hairy as we approached the store, which is fittingly on a hilltop. A place of worship for the American consumer. We are being introduce to a foreign God.

The IKEA store is quite large, although most people tend to exaggerate its size. And upon observing this edifice on a hill, it is built to encourage you to exaggerate its presence. Many people will tell you it has three floors. The truth is, the first level is a parking garage, with some shipping. The second level is more shipping, and about 60-75% a warehouse. Also on the second level is a snack shop and the main registers which are essentially along the line of any large box store. (Think Home Depot or Lowes specifically). Additionally on this second level is a decent sized area, probably similar in size to a Bed Bath and Beyond, devoted to exactly those items. Out of everything I saw in IKEA it was the one thing in particular, kitchenware specifically, that I'd consider purchasing. (50 cent pint glasses ooh la la)

The third floor (really the second) is made up of furniture. Like any furniture showroom you can purchase the pictures and various other accessories decorating each display. If you recall Service Merchandise or True Value House (for those of you from the Northeast U.S.) purchasing follows the same sort of method. You write down the code of the item you want, then you go find it downstairs in the warehouse. Service Merchandise of course would go get it for you, but its all about profits now days. No need to pay those extra employees if they don't have to.

If anything at all, I had to admire this trendy bad-assed box store on roids brought to America by the socialist country of Sweden, no less (the irony kills me :D). I really wish they had ABBA and Ace of Base blasting through the store's speakers instead of the hip-hop they were playing. If not that, I think at least some new age music, and perhaps an occasional voice over by a seductive woman with a foreign accent, who would suggest various purchases; that would have been appropriate.

This store really is built to be worshiped like a cathedral. It is on a hill covered in striking bright blue paneling. Bright yellow letters spell out IKEA. An additional tower sits on top of one corner, a new age steeple for our new pagan religion. There is a striking lack of fast food joints nearby encouraging you to consume their hotdogs and "Swedish" junk food available in the IKEA restaurant and cafeteria. Perhaps Lantchips are actually sacrament in worship of efficient European design. Lingonberry juice, serves as the holy wine. For those really devout worshipers they can indulge in cinnabuns with thick sickly sweet frosting elegantly dripped across them with purpose.

IKEA's product line is approximately what I expected. Most of the furniture I found to be well... I found it to be ugly to be quite honest. The things that I did like tended to be pricey which kind of goes against the whole point of IKEA to begin with. When comparing the pricier items of my favor, I'm sure I could find an equivalent product somewhere else for a similar price that would almost surely be better made. There were a few things I saw here and there that appeared reasonably sturdy. This store has only been open for about a week, and I noticed that the IKEA fake wood laminate countertops and furniture on display was already chipping and showing signs of wear.

The way I see it you pay what you get for. Maybe you'll find a sharp looking ultra modern bookcase, but it will likely sag with the weight of your books, or the veneer will splinter off slowly each time your foot accidentally brushes its corner. I would advise forking over an extra 25% or so to another furniture store, and get furniture that lasts twice as long.

There were some dirt cheap tables and stools which I'm sure as a college student I would have loved, however they tend to be painted like the colors you'd expect children's furniture to be, or they looked like you may have ripped them off from your high school cafeteria. In the interest of feeling slightly sophisticated, you'll have better luck scoping out sidewalks during spring cleaning for your apartment furnishings.

While we were there, the store's entire computer system shut down and everyone was stuck in check out lines for extended periods of time. As Kate and I browsed, announcers came on repeatedly to announce they were working on the problem.

Anyway we did get a bag of Lantchips (European Potato chips made in Idaho) and a couple of 75 cent sodas. It was a very entertaining day and I feel well versed in the latest consumer craze.

Well you knew it was coming, and now the time is here for me to post some current events. Politics

In the U.S. the story of the day is probably the devastating cuts being made by a struggling General Motors. I haven't heard the speculations, but I would imagine that this could clear the way for Ford and Toyota to surpass what once reigned as an untouchable front runner in the world of automotive.

Hopefully the people in the affected communities can recover soon. It is almost unbelievable that the Saturn plant that makes the "Ion" is already shutting down and it is only 15 years old.

Shock and sadness at GM plants

Next, more directly related to politics:

McCain, Graham warn GOP may be in trouble

I enjoy a few of the quotes and points made in this article and I'll reference a couple below.

"If we really want to do well in 2006, we need to have fiscal discipline like Republicans campaigned on," he said. "We have lost our way as a party. Our base is deflated and taxpayers don't see any difference between us and the Democrats." Lindsey Graham, R, South Carolina.

No one currently has fiscal discipline. This administration has been spending more on nearly everything. And its a joke when the democrats complain about the proposed cuts being devastating, because the cuts don't even come close to returning spending levels to "Clinton era" levels of spending. Bush spent more on education, social services, Medicare. The social level of our government has expanded more over the past four years than any other time since FDR's New Deal when Social Security was first established. Republicans supporting smaller government went away when Newt Gingrich and the contract with America were run out of office, partially by none other than our wonderful revered Tom Delay. Political pundits are claiming the #1 reason the last series of budgetary reforms failed was there was NO pork attached, so all of the upstanding citizens in the legislative branch of course voted it down.

Next Senator.. with any luck President McCain weighs in on the war and its affect of voters opinions:

The party, he said, must be honest enough to admit that things aren't going as well as hoped in Iraq.

"Democrats who have this cut-and-run strategy -- the public doesn't want to follow that. They want to follow Republicans who understand the war is not going as well as it should but who understand that our security is better off with a successful outcome in Iraq," he said.

The message in Iraq, McCain said, "is we are making progress, we have to make progress and we regret the loss of every single young American. But the benefits of success are enormous."

This of course leads into:

Hillary: Immediate Iraq Withdrawal a 'Big Mistake'

Which if you take the time to read what Mrs. Sunshine has to say... It churns my gut that I agree with her. I feel what Hillary Clinton is saying reflects reality in a manner that is intelligent and accurate. There I said it... I agree with Hillary. If you'll excuse me I have to go wash out my mouth with soap and flog myself now.