I do have a Texas temper, I admit that.

I wasn't going to say anything about this but I'm starting to get seriously annoyed by it so I am going to rant for a bit.  I see all these comments about "Texas wants to secede" and "please let Texas go" and snide remarks about "Good riddance." and things like that.

My biggest problem with this is that they are talking about THE ENTIRE STATE when it's actually just SOME of the people that want to secede.  And the last time I checked, it was less than 1/4 the population of the city of Arlington, which is not the biggest city in the state.

Yes, I understand that Texas has a lot of stupid, redneck morons that would make America a better place if they were not a part of it, but that does not mean that the entire state is populated thusly.  You're grouping all of us into a stereotype that does not actually apply.

I am a native Texan.  I was born and raised right here in this state.  Of my 34 years on this planet I have spent a total of 2 years outside of this state, not including trips to other locations.  I can not eat spicy food.  I can barely tolerate black pepper and I can't eat Taco Bell tacos without sour cream because they are too spicy.  I have never actually seen a horse in person unless you count the pony with which I had a picture taken when I was three or four years old.  The only farm that I have ever set foot on was my Uncle's farm in Ohio.  I do not like football and I don't understand it.  The only reason I pay attention to the Cowboys' schedule is because it effects my route to work.   The only oil derrick I have ever seen is the one at Six Flags over Texas.  And I do not want to secede from the United States.

Part of the reason is completely selfish.  I really like my rather large income tax refund every year.  I currently pay no withholding tax and because I make less than $36000 a year, I still end up getting nearly $5000 back each year.  That wouldn't happen if we weren't part of the United States of America.  Also, I don't want to have to get a passport to go to San Diego which is my current plan for 2014.  It'd be nice to be able to just drive from Arlington to San Diego for Comic Con without having to pass through border patrol.

My parents are already having a hard enough time paying their bills.  If Texas secedes, they lose nearly $1000 a month in income from Social Security.  They lose their medicare which means they have to pay for doctor visits as well as already having to pay for all of their prescriptions.  So that's even less money that they would have coming in.  I would have to get two more jobs in order to help support them and would end up working myself into an early grave because of it.

Yes, all of the reasons I have for NOT seceding are selfish and all about me.  But when you think about it, that's exactly what this request to secede is all about.  It has nothing to do with the wishes of the entire state.  It has to do with the selfish, annoyingly stupid, ridiculous desires of 0.3% of the population of the state.

So please, do NOT generalize the entire state because of the wishes of the few.  Understand that there are people that are nothing like the idiot rednecks that want to leave the US.  

RED DAWN Spoilers ahead

Okay, so I never saw the first Red Dawn but I know that it had Patrick Swayze in it and I know that it had to do with Soviet Russia invading the US.  This Red Dawn is a bit different but completely awesome.  In this one, North Korea takes over using an advanced EMP device.  Then baddassery ensues.  


First of all, let me say that Josh Peck has totally pulled a Jerry O'Connell.  He was an adorable little fat kid that grew up and got really freaking hot.  Though I could take Josh a little more seriously if he hadn't been doing intense face throughout the whole movie.  He did a really good job in this movie, though, and his deliverance of the final speech, one which had been previously given by Chris Hemsworth toward the beginning of the movie, was awesome.  Though Josh playing a high school kid seemed a little extreme, he did a very good job.

Speaking of Hemsworth, he was very good in this movie.  His American accent is pretty awesome.  He had good chemistry with Peck, who played his younger brother, and the whole thing was done really well.  Him being a marine that rallies the troops was awesome.  Sometimes he was a dick, but that's because he had to be a dick.  And he got to be the one to drop the single F bomb in the whole movie.  It was completely appropriate though.  "You fucked with the wrong family."  God that was amazing.   I am still wondering, though, why in the scene when the truck was stuck in the mud, Thor was letting all the weak humans try to push the truck out of the muddy spot while he stepped on the gas.  And yes, I just made that joke.

Now, on to Josh Hutcherson.  Let me just say, Peeta got bad ass.  At first he was this adorable little nerd that threw up when he saw a dead guy and couldn't even handle shooting a deer.  By the end of the movie, he was wielding that gun like Rambo and inspiring the citizens to rise up.  If The Hunger Games had guns, Peeta would have won in about 2 seconds flat.  That's all there is to it.  He did a really good job.

And let me tell you, NOTHING screams America like a Mustang with a 50cal strapped to the top and followed by a HMMWV.  Now, why did I spell out HMMWV rather than just saying Hummer?  Well my friends, that's because a Hummer is a pretentious asshole "I have a tiny penis and a lot of money" luxury vehicle that is driven around every day streets.  A HMMWV is the military version, called a hum-v.  High Mobility Multi Wheeled Vehicle.  There you go.  Those were not Hummers in that movie.  They were HMMWVs.  Just saying.

Now on to Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  He made an awesome retired Marine.  And I loved the accuracy of their M16 rifles only firing one shot at a time, unlike some movies that have M16's going off like AK47s.  Also, THEY HAD SILENCERS!  I never got a silencer for my M16.  It made me seriously jealous.  Can you tell I like weapons?  I know, it's kind of sad but at least I don't go on murderous rampages with the weapons I so adore.  I just like them.  Anyway.  JDM was good at rallying the troops as well, very good at getting things done and just all around awesome.

I was a little happy to see Kenneth Choi too.  He didn't have a very big part, but he was also in Captain America so there you have 2 Marvel movies represented.  I was trying to see who else from Marvel would pop up.  Just saying.

The only other Asian face I recognized was Will Yun Lee and that made me happy.  I'm glad that they didn't round up every recognizable Korean face for this movie.  He played Captain Lo, the prefect for that area or something like that.  Basically he was in charge of the bad guys in the city.  He's the one that fucked with the wrong family.

Let me tell you a little bit about Connor Cruise too.  He did a great job.  Very good actor.  Not as bad ass as his daddy TC, but still good nonetheless.  Very emotional.

Over all I give this movie my seal of approval.  It was very well done.  It wasn't overly effects driven and it wasn't horribly ridiculous.  There were a lot of funny moments in it.  A lot of warm moments.  There is blood and death and violence but that's what happens in war.  And that is exactly what this movie is all about.

MAJOR BIG ASS SPOILER AHEAD DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU PLAN TO GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!   And I do recommend you go see this movie.

I was extremely disappointed when they killed off Hemsworth's character.  I said "Why'd they kill the pretty?"  But, he wasn't the only pretty.  But I realized something.  They had to get rid of his character because he was stealing all the badassery and they needed the Joshes to have some of that.  He needed to share and when you're Thor, sharing the badassery is just impossible.  So he had to die.  It was very sad, though.  Very sad.

Disney Logic

So my daughter showed me this picture that said "if Cinderella's shoe fit perfectly, why did it fall off?".  That got my brain thinking. 

When you run in high heels, they slip a bit even if they fit perfectly.  And that's leather shoes.  Now you've got a girl in glass shoes.  Glass is already a slippery substance.  Add to that the fact that she had been in them all night. Most people don't like to think about it but feet sweat.  And she was all giddy and heart racy from meeting her true love.  So there she is, sweaty feet, slippery shoes, and then she starts running.  It's amazing she only lost one shoe. 

Just saying.