The Weekend Edition

Another very good weekend in the books and another that was super diverse and full of events that were slightly out of the norm. Okay, maybe not so out of the ordinary, but I had a great time with some classic Anchorage events and managed to experience some serious culture while I was at it - and I got to hang out with all kinds of great friends! Here's the breakdown:

• Early dinner/drinks with Amy, Hannah, and Joanna at Crush (plus we met a new friend!)
• First Friday exhibits with Amy, Hannah, and Joanna in downtown Anchorage
• Late dinner/drinks with Arianna, Amy, Hannah, and Joanna at Orso's
• Catching the bank job at my place super late with Hannah and Joanna (I'm beginning to think I did a lot on Friday!)
• ESPN Gameplan going off without any problems at all!
• Kim and I catching Kung Fu Panda at Bear Tooth (awesome again!)
• Falling in love with 100 Bullets
• Lunch and coffee with Kim at Middle Way Cafe
• Going to the opening ceremony thingamajig for Freeze (a big local art event Amy and Cate's agency is doing work for) with Kim, Amy, Cate, Darren, and Eric
• Drinks and appetizers at Bernie's with Kim and Elisa (and Amy for a bit)
• Football all day long with Jason and Amy

It comes out as a lot more when I type it all out. All three days were great fun. First Friday was full of great artwork, tasty drinks and even tastier food. The Freeze event was pretty cool and it's always good to support events that promote culture in the Great White North. Football coming back was obviously the highlight of the weekend (even with my boy Tom Brady going down...*cry*) as Jason, Amy and I snacked on delicious food all day while being rather ridiculous as per usual (highlights: bacon and eggs, tons of coffee, tasty sammiches, getting suckered into Bud Light Lime and Volcano Tacos, Hole in the Wall, our commentary show, five yard punts, Peyton Manning's audibles, the Panthers' come back, etc.).

So yeah, it was a good time. See below for some pics from the weekend, including the comparison of Amy and I wearing Sarah Palin masks and a group shot from Freeze. Good times to be had for one and all once again!

Amy (left) and me (right) wearing Sarah Palin masks from Bernie's

(l to r) Me, Kim, Eric, Cate, and Darren at the Freeze event at the Museum

Black Sunday

Tom Brady being helped off the field by trainers

Today was supposed to be a glorious day. First full day of the NFL season, my favorite of times, and my team the New England Patriots were kicking off the season with a layup of a game against one of the worst teams in the NFL - the Kansas City Chiefs.

All of that changed on one play, as beloved hero and team leader Tom Brady went down with an as yet undetermined knee injury. He ended up walking off with help after a few minutes, but the buzz is saying it's likely an ACL tear and that Brady will be done for the season. Even with the running game looking great and Matt Cassel playing efficiently, the Pats barely beat the Chiefs. Patriots Nation awaits the news from the MRI tomorrow dreading what it could bring. Odds are he's going to miss games one way or the other, I'm just hoping it isn't a season long injury or, god forbid, career ending.

Obviously the latter is very unlikely, but you never know with these types of things.

Just an absolutely terrible day for Pats fans around the nation, and it's never been far from my mind all day. I still think we're a playoff team without him, but the thought of starting Cassel, Chris Simms, Tim Rattay, or whoever they coerce to come over for a tryout (Daunte Culpepper?) instead of number twelve is just a thought I really can't even stand to think about. If any team can recover from that, it's the Pats. I just don't want to be forced into doing that.

Be okay Tom!

I'm not with them.

Sometimes I'm absolutely shocked that I belong to the same species as other human beings. Especially when they are in the same age group as me, but really overall, I just feel like I'm some sort of anomaly amongst people in general. This really comes up during election times, as I am decidedly in the middle while seemingly every other person I know is extreme in one direction or the other. It's not just that they are liberal or conservative, it's with that comes the resolute, single mindedness that makes politics a field I'm not remotely interested in.

The amazing thing I find is that you have two different sides who honestly believe that this one candidate will lead us to a glorious future while the other will lead us to ruin. There are no other options. That is simply the way it is. Of course both sides believe this, which means in all likelihood both are right and both are wrong to a certain degree.

That doesn't stop them from accepting no alternatives, from belittling candidates for things that they honestly probably don't understand, from saying "candidate A is clearly a liar, but candidate B has the best interest out for the American people." In my opinion, both candidates are liars. It's their nature, and they will say whatever it requires to be elected.

Sadly at this point, the key is finding which candidate fits your ideals the most and then choosing from there. There is no such thing as the perfect candidate (or in my opinion, a good candidate) so your best alternative is choosing the lesser of two evils. Whoever that is happens to be your best fit, but acting like Obama is the second coming of Christ himself or that McCain is the cure to all of our ills is going to be received with a shake of the head and a scrunched face from me.

Also, seriously people, destroying public property and causing riots at the Republican National Convention to show how you feel about the poltical system and war? Is that really necessary? I've been reading people defending those characters in Minneapolis by stating the Constitution allows for people to assemble. Yes it does, but if that coincides with the assembled groups breaking very logical and understandable laws (such as throwing bricks through businesses' windows and forming human chains on off ramps to block traffic) then you're going to get some tear gas thrown at you. Deservedly. Don't drop any "don't tase me bro" lines either, because you've earned it in this case.

I guess the point of all of this is for the first time in my 24 years of existence I want to vote, but the more I get involved with the whole process the more sickened I get. The more I feel disconnected from my age group and everyone around me as a whole. Maybe that's why young people are considered so apathetic when it comes to politics. All I know is every day closer to November 4th is just adding legitimacy to my joke of "I'm voting for Belichick/Brady '08." Better the devil you know, I say.