James Andrews

Two years ago my brother had started a project in my parent’s apartent. He had taken down all the wall paper in the dining room, and tried to use a venetian plaster in the room. He didn’t properly prep the wall properly, so what we ended up with was a big old ugly mustard colored mess.

With my Fiancee and her family arriving in 2 weeks, I decided it was time to fix his mess. I took $100 and bought 2 gallons of the Behr Premium Plus paint. This is the stuff they advertise on TV that doesn’t need primer, and that only needs one coat. It also has a low VOC (volatile organic compounds).

This paint is true to it’s advertising. No primer. 1 coat did great coverage, but I still put on a second coat. We had a lot of little dips in the wall, that the first coat didn’t cover. The best part is because of the low VOC, you don’t have the fumes. I am sitting in the next room over and don’t smell it at all.

This stuff rocks.

5 for 5 paintbrushes.

Tonight I decided to get away from the Wedding planning insanity and take a break and see a movie. The movie “9″. I had seen the trailers and loved the animation. From the trailer I expected this movie to be really good. Unfortunately that was not the case.

While the animation was indeed excellent the thing that really disappointed me in this movie was the lack of character development. From beginning to end the characters were very stagnant. The story didn’t really go anywhere that Terminator hadn’t taken us before.

I was truly disappointed.

1 out of 5 popcorn boxes.

What is it that drives us to get useless shit that we don’t need? Tonight I am trying to clear out the attic room that is my current living area. I have 3 things that I am dealing with. Stuff that I left the last time I moved out, stuff I brought with me when I moved back in, and stuff my father threw up there after the last time I moved out. Most of it is junk no one truly needs, and junk that 1) never gets used, and 2) will probably never get used.

My brother is a prime example of someone suffering from “The packrat complex”. He buys all kinds of DVDs, Manga, anime style statuettes, games and what not. He has so much stuff that he has no room in his room for things like a clothes drawer, or a side table. Most of this stuff sits in boxes. Most if it is stuff he’ll NEVER use, or put on display. I have found all kinds of Japanese anime wall scrolls up in the attic (don’t know why they are there, but I need to relocate them somewhere that’s not my room). They could be hanging on a wall, but they aren’t, and they probably never will.

My father will put stuff in the attic, or in the basement or somewhere for storage basically to get stuff out of living space, and then before you know it, more stuff is brought into the house, by my mother, my brother and even some times my father. They see it in the store and because they have the money they just buy it. They have no real place to put it, most of the time it is never used and just sits there until my father gets frustrated and has to deal put it somewhere.

Now I am not innocent in this consumerism myself. I have a LOT of shit, and have no idea what on earth to do with it all, but it feels wasteful to just throw it out. Over the last 6-8 months I have been going through stuff and getting rid of it, but still it’s real hard.

What is it that drives us, and millions of other folks to just buy stuff they think they might use, and never do. How many people ask for those kitchen aid mixers for wedding gifts? How many of them do you see use them? They sit on the counter to collect dust 9 times out of 10 used maybe once every year or two. It makes no sense.

At the same time it’s this crazy consumerism that drives our economy, the need to buy shit we won’t use or else industry seems to crumble. Look now, consumers don’t buy, so companies don’t produce so people get laid off. It’s a nasty vicious cycle.

Now I am not religious but my mother is. She goes to church on a fairly regular basis, and recently one of the priests at the church told a tale that happened to him recently.

He says. “I was driving down the highway and didn’t realize it was a 2 lane road. I just happened to be driving down the middle, partially in each lane. There was someone behind me who honks the horn, so I moved over. They proceeded to pass me and got along side of me and gave me the one figured salute. I was at a loss and had no idea what to do, so I blessed it”.

Now I personally find this hysterical. What was the guy thinking in the other car? Was he embarrassed? Did he think it was funny? I am betting it made him more angry, but at least we can all get a laugh at his expense.

I am not a beer drinker. I don’t care for rum, or whiskey either. I like sweet drinks. My drink of choice is the “Midori Sour”. Lately I get a lot of shit about it. “Oh it’s a girls drink”. Well i am here to basically set some facts for the beer folks who seem to think their “Sam Adam’s” does more than my Midori Sours. Here is a list of information about popular beers including their Alcohol %. Beck’s is 5%, Guinness is 4.0% to 7.5%. The basic Sam Adam’s that is sold year round is 4.5%.

Basic recipe for a Midori Sour made from your local bar tender is 1oz Midori, and 2oz Sour mix. Midori on it’s own is 21% alcohol. The sour mix reduces that. We’ll use this handy dandy alochol content calculator to calculate the total. Midori is 21% AbV, so take the 1oz of midori and the 2oz of sour mix and put them in the calculator in the appropriate places. The calculator says 7%. When I pour it’s more 50%/50% instead of 33%/66% so when I am pouring it’s 10.5%. It may not be as strong as as 151 whiskey, but you beer drinking slobs have nothing over my midori unless you’re drinking Sam Adam’s Triple Block whick comes out at a 17.5% rating. so STFU.

Oh and to those Parrot Bay rum drinkers *you-know-who-you-are* Parrot Bay is 21% alcohol. Same as Midori… So unless you’re going straight for the captain which is 50% Abv, you have nothing on me, except a crappy coconut taste…. ewwwww.