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Time for cornflakes

Interesting Site of the Month

http://www.thesuperficial.com/

This site describes itself:
The Superficial is a brutally honest look at society and its obsession with the superficial. It is not satire. It is not social commentary. It is the voice of our society at its worst. It is first impressions without sense of social obligation. It is the truth of our generation. It is ugly racism. It is jealousy. It is honest.

But the truth is (also taken from the "About Us" page):
Our goal is to make fun of as many people as possible.

In a nutshell this site is mocking celebrity and all it's entrapments. It cheers when candid photos of Jessica Alba on the beach are found and it laughs when it discovers Britney Spears is fat. Somewhere in the middle Hillary Duff is describe as "a giant rectangle", Tara Reid comes out of a club at 4am with bloodshot eyes after a long night of "studying" and Vanilla Ice is declared a wussy.

I don't know where this guy gets all this great material but I need to tap into that information highway.

24

If you saw Kiefer Sutherland on "Inside the Actor's Studio" you may have been turned off by the fact that this guy's favorite word is the Latin word "Gravitas" (meaning weighty, heavy). The fact of the matter is though his response seems so pretentious "Actor's Studio" is all about pretentiousness. James Lipton has made pretentiousness an art form but I digress, my acerbic transgressions belie my true intent, that is to review Season 4 of 24.

24 is probably the most compelling program on TV. Each hour represents an hour in the day which unfolds each season. It draws you into the lives of Jack Bauer and his team at CTU (Counter Terrorism Unit) located somewhere in downtown Los Angeles. Just like the great blockbusters on the big screen 24 pits Bauer versus the end of the world. This year he finds himself against a group of Arab terrorists out to breakdown the safety controls of a group of nuclear power plants, cause the plants to meltdown and kill millions. Creating images based on recent news events (such as the taking of hostages and broadcasting it on the news) 24 terrorizes the audience.

With the exception of Sutherland and a few cameos the cast is all new, a move that definitely gives a freshness to the storyline. While Bauer tracks the bad guys a mole has infiltrated CTU and must be found and dealt with. A mother and son grapple with their loyalty to the terrorists cause and self preservation. Old friends (e. g. Tony Almeda as played by Carlos Bernard) are brought in to help Jack save the day, and Kim Bauer though nice to look at is thankfully at camp for the season. Put this all together and you have what I believe is the best season of 24 so far.

Certainly there is a lot going on in these peoples' lives and a little suspension of disbelief is necessary. Each hour is chock full of events that bend and draw the story leaving you craving for more as the last few seconds tick away each week. What makes Season 4 so good is that all the storylines are interesting, there are no duds in this lot, no fly in this ointment, no rotten apples in this bunch, no stained g-string in this laundry, no scratch in this finish, no James Lipton in is Dinner for Five. It's just a good tight show.

24 airs Monday Nights at 9pm on FOX.

Kitchen Accomplished

After


As you can see we have been busy remodeling our kitchen. Now that it is finally done I am quite relieved. Let me tell you this job was not an easy one.

I decided to take on the job of general contractor for this project because I was tired of years of wanting a new space and no results, besides what else is there to do when you got no job. Now mind you (who talks like this?) I have no mechanical skill and my attention to detail is minimal. But I thought this would be a good learning experience and up till now every home improvement job I have taken on has never come out the way I wanted so what did I have to lose?

Did you know that if you buy stone from certain Armenian tile companies that they don't hold it for you until you come to pick it up? I purchased the stone tiles for the floor in October because they were on clearance and I wanted to get my share before they ran out. When I returned to pick them up in December they had been sold out from under me. I had already paid for them and they were not in the warehouse. I was told when I purchased them that I didn't need to rush to pick them up yet when I tried to pick them up I was told that you must pick up your purchase within 2 weeks of purchase or you will have to pick something else. I was told that this is the way the tile business works. Bullshit. Bedrosians will not get any more of my business.

Another interesting thing that I discovered is that when you purchase custom cabinets make sure that when they are installed they are level. I am told that it is not uncommon for the floor of your house to be uneven because the cement was not poured correctly or the earth has shifted. If the cabinets are not level and you choose a granite slab (or other solid surface) as your countertop the installer cannot install it properly. Oh and don't count on the countertop guy to make sure the cabinets are level before he installs the top. My slab guy would have gone ahead installing the slab had the cabinets not been so far off level (1/2 an inch). I called the cabinet people out and they re-leveled all the cabinets so the slab guy could do the install. It was a nightmare that I don't envison taking on again but I learned a lot. Mainly that I will not remodel my next house.

This is only the first phase of MOSSNEWS EXTREME HOME REMODEL.

That 70's Kitchen

Before

Look at this old kitchen. And the ceiling used to be popcorn, the walls used to be white and off-white colors.