Few creatures of the night have captured our imagination like vampires…
What explains our enduring fascination with vampires?
What is it about the vampire myth that explains our interest?
Is it the overtones of sexual lust, power, control…
Or is it a fascination with the immortality of the undead?
And what dark and hidden parts of our psyche are aroused and captivated
By the legends of the undead

– Vampires, Godsmack

I remember when vampires were awesome.  Whether it’s a book by Anne Rice, the Lost Boys, pretty much any RPG, or Dracula himself — Vampires are to be feared.  As suggested, vampires have always had a “sexiness” to them but first and foremost, they were creatures to be feared.

No more.

I suppose it started with Blade making vampires “cool”.  Then Kate Beckinsale made them ridiculously hot.  Finally, Stephenie Meyer emasculated them.  The so-called “next J.K. Rowling” has turned vampires as ordinary teenagers experiencing overly dramatic romanticism.  Now vampires are cropping up everywhere but almost universally as a love interest as opposed to, you know, a terrifying force of evil.

Thankfully, a fellow supernatural undead, the zombie, is also riding a huge upswell up popularity.  When it comes to the undead, zombies have always been perceived as the plebs to the vampires patricians.  Unlike vampires however, zombies haven’t had to resort to teen angst for their popularity.  Left 4 Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Plants vs Zombies, 28 Days Later, Resident Evil 5, and the upcoming ZombieLand… zombies are riding high.

The mysteries of the undead will continue to fascinate the living.

– Vampires, Godsmack

Ukrops spoiled me.  Growing up in Richmond, there were, you know, other grocery stores but those were just places you went when you were in rush; You did the real grocery shopping at Ukrops.

When I finally moved out of Richmond, I was a bit taken back at the poor quality of grocery stores elsewhere.  Some were ok, the Harris Teeters of the world, while others were almost universally terrible, such as Giant.  Apparently, there used to be Giants in Richmond before I was born but like Safeway, Hannaford, and FarmFresh, it was run out of town by the success of Ukrops.

Times have changed.  It seems most of the other chains have either adapted and improved.  Giant, the poster-child for all the things other grocery store chains did poorly, has the best self-checkout system of the grocery stores around us.  The store has been modernized, cleaned up, and no longer looks like a sad derelict left over from the post-WWII building boom.

Last night, Giant took it up a notch with handheld scanners.

The beauty of this little guy is that I can scan my groceries as I shop, see my total bill at any time, and when I’m ready to check out, I simply zap a little card at the register, pay, and I’m ready to leave.  No lengthy checkout necessary.  For someone who doesn’t particularly care to spend any additional time in a grocery store than necessary, this thing rocks.  For someone who loves tech gadgets as I do, this thing really rocks.

The evolution of grocery stores is much appreciated, especially as the wunderkind struggles.  Now if we can only get payment by cell phone and RFID checkout going, I might actually enjoy going to the grocery store.   Even if it’s only to play with the gadgets.

As a VT fan, is there anything more awkward to discuss than Michael Vick?

Ever since the news broke two years ago about the dog-fighting charges against Vick, I haven’t really known what, if anything, to say about it.  The cruelty of his actions are beyond comprehension.

Watching Vick in the National Championship game in 2000 is one of my favorite sports moments.   He dodged, weaved, and made even Bowden blush in appreciation for his skills.   He then proceeded to the NFL where he made every opposing team adapt their defense.  He made football exciting.

Yet, I’m also a pet-lover of the highest degree – just ask Argo or Beta about their Twitter accounts.  Trying to resolve Vick the superstar with Vick the dog-murderer is a challenge.  I think I know now how some people felt about OJ Simpson.  I remember wondering at the time how people could possibly think he was anything other than a murderer.  I don’t need to wonder anymore.

The justice system says Vick has served his sentence.  So be it.   I guess if we’re not going to allow people to reform, why release them from prison at all?  It’s time for him to start-over.  Let’s see if he can make amends.

Every once in a while, I learn about something that not only wasn’t something I knew about, but was so completely foreign to my way of thinking that I didn’t think it could have existed.  Not surprisingly, a lot of these discoveries are from spending extended periods of time with the other sex.  Girls are weird.  Beyond weird.  They are unfathomable.  And they have taught me something I wouldn’t have “known” otherwise: Clothes are disposable.

When I buy clothes, I plan on wearing them in rotation for the rest of my life or they fall off me in threads, whichever comes later.  I’m sure this is particularly galling to Christina, a fashionista of the 9th degree, as it’s highly likely the clothes I’m buying now are already several years “out of style”.   I don’t enjoy clothes shopping.  I don’t have any hopes of impressing people with my wardrobe choices.  I only buy new clothes when absolutely necessary.  As a result, a not-insignificant portion of my clothes has been with me more than 1/2 my life.

The steady stream of clothing catalogs that started arriving in the mail about the time Christina and I moved in together should have been my first clue that things were going to be a bit different.  But hey, I spend money on games and movies, she can spend money on clothes… seems like a reasonable trade-off.  Each of us will spend money on things that can provide long-lasting value for our dollar.

Or so I thought.  As I “learned”, clothing is disposable.  Nothing wrong with wearing it once and out it goes.  This is particularly acute for special events and vacations.  “Every girl needs a new dress for a wedding… you can’t expect a girl to wear a dress she wore before”.  If you plan a vacation, she of course needs new clothes as the clothes she currently has are only for the 10 mile radius we reside in.  Apparently, there are whole store brands that are designed for cheap, throwaway-able clothes.  My sister Erin takes the idea to the highest level when it comes to shoes.  She is adamant that her shoes are clean or they get thrown away.  I don’t know about you but I have never been able to wear shoes without letting them touch the so-called dirty ground at least once.  Dirt on the shoes leads to shoes in the trash.  All of this is mind-boggling to me.

When I get an invite to a wedding, there is no doubt what I’m going to wear: my suit.  My only suit.  Vacation?  My shorts.  The same shorts I’ve own for years.  I don’t care if the left leg is ripped and falling off.  My shoes only get replaced when Christina complains that she can see my toes through them.

I’m not sure if this is a local thing or not but there are suddenly these clothing collection bins in every parking lot in Northern Virginia.  These are (I’m assuming) well-intentioned, charitable organizations that take this old clothing and does who knows what with it.  More power to them and I hope they do some good but I’m more impressed with their insight into this whole disposable clothing phenomena.

At least they get it… I’m still completely dumbfounded by the whole concept.

Despite his eccentricities and his alleged scandalous activities, there is one thing we can thank Michael Jackson for other than his music talent: Single-handedly reviving the economy.  In a time when celebrities seem to be dying off at an alarming rate (Ed McMahon, Billie Mays, Farrah Fawcett, Steve McNair, etc), only the early demise of Michael Jackson was enough to send the populace out in a panic to purchase his legacy.  Eat your heart out, Bernanke.

The NFL draft officially ends the coverage of sports I usually care about watching.  Shortly thereafter, most of the regular tv shows have their finales and go on break for the summer. The end result is normally a severe lack of compelling television content.  I don’t watch all that much television anyway but I’ve found myself watching random sporting events, including bits and pieces of the NBA playoffs, NASCAR, golf, ping pong, tennis.  I even went to a baseball game (though I would have to be extremely bored to sit through a game on tv).   The lack of decent tv coverage of soccer is particularly galling during the summer as that would certainly fill in nicely.  That said, the most captivating thing I’ve watched so far is the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee.  I can’t even fully explain it beyond that it’s nice to see kids idolized for being smart.  Not to mention the coolest kid I’ve ever seen in Kennyi Aouad:

I’m a convert. On the recommendation of a friend after conveying how obsessed I was about the Spelling Bee, I added Spellbound to my Netflix queue. Supposedly, it’s Wordplay for spelling bees and if so, I’m sold.

I’m always shocked when I hear someone say “I don’t want a credit card” or “I try not to use my credit card” so that they don’t spend too much.  I’m the exact opposite: If a store takes credit cards, I use my credit card, no matter the price.  Cash is obsolete as far as I’m concerned.

Today, there is an article on CNN about a group urging a stop to all use of credit cards.  This is like taking matches from an arsonist and saying he’s cured.  The problem is not the matches, it’s the psychotic lunatic setting fire everywhere.  Similarly, credit cards are not the problem but the complete inability of people managing their personal finances.

A responsibly used credit card is a great thing: it’s essentially a month long interest free loan every time you use it.  Not to mention the cash back and other rewards many credit cards offer.

Is there any nation loved less than Mexico these days?  Somalia has its pirates and North Korea has its belligerence but I don’t think any other nation can claim quite as many haters as Mexico.   Between the escalating war between police and drug dealers and the outbreak of H1N1 (the disease formally known as swine flu), they have not gotten much good press in 2009.  It’s pretty bad when even China, purveyor of hazardous exports, doesn’t want your exports.  Mexico had already been taking a beating from America for years over immigration and I can’t imagine the latest troubles are going to do anything to help its cause.

Other than the draft, the big news this weekend is that the USA is about to have an infestation of pigs inhabiting our air ducts.  That’s what people seem to be searching for on Google these days.

Luckily for me, my mother-in-law is a VIP in the hospital world so she let me know that it was actually swine flu I should be freaking out about.

From the Halls of Montezuma,
To the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marines.

Until recently, I think most people in the U.S. assumed piracy died in the Age of Sail, years before the U.S. even existed as an independent nation, but piracy has existed to varying degrees even to modern times.  The Straights of Malacca near Singapore have long been a haven for piracy but the dramatic rise of piracy off the Horn of Africa has been shocking.   As bad as our economy seems to be, it’s disturbing to think of how far a society can fall when the only way to sustain a living is to resort to piracy.  It’s hard to dissuade the lifestyle when the Somalian pirates who succeed can live like kings and are considered celebrities in their hometowns. (more…)