Propagating Stereotypes

Oh, Come on!!!


-The lyrics may as well be, "Rice rocket, buy this rice rock-et!"

-Is there any confusion as to the target market, here?

-Did they mix up the Japan and the US television ads?

-Throwing in the video game was just gratuitous, but definitely made the stereotype complete...I'm assuming DDR wouldn't sign off.



Anything I missed?

Hangover Part 2: Thoughts

So, without giving away any real content in the event you haven't yet seen The Hangover Part 2, I'll give my quick thoughts.  It was definitely an entertaining film, that shouldn't be arguable.  However, it wasn't exactly innovative or original.  To me, it appeared as thought the producers took a blueprint from the first movie, twisted a few pieces, and readied up a second dose of the money-making franchise.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but because of that, I have to call 'Bridesmaids' the better movie...I mean, that movie was damn funny, am I wrong?

Catching Up

Okay, so I definitely owe an update from San Diego.  We spent a long Memorial Weekend at Paradise Point in Mission Bay, which is like traveling into a whole different world.  Picture Hawaii without the humidity, except you are just a minute from the So-Cal sun-n-surf.  But Paradise Point was great, it's pretty much a self-containing resort, with a pretty popular and very 'San Diego' restaurant called the Barefoot Bar and Grill.  Live music right by the docs, facing Mission Beach and local brews on tap make this place a spot even locals will frequent.  Quick note:  If you do stay there and order food from room service, it's the Barefoot menu you're ordering off of.

There's also a putt-putt course, tennis courts, a basketball court, table tennis, paddle boats, wave-runners, sailboat and speedboat rentals, bike rentals, surreys, and a water taxi service that just started (currently only goes to Sea World, but they plan on expanding to make a Mission Beach stop).

We made our standard stop at Hacienda de las Rosas, a wine tasting room in Old Town.  It's run by a husband and wife that actually make the wine and run the shop, and their stuff is pretty good.  They have a dessert wine that is absolutely fantastic, and I'll be ordering a case or two when they finally get more vinted; stuff sells like hotcakes!

Also hung out in Mission Beach, and took some time to catch both 'Bridesmaids' and 'Hangover Part 2.'  Not to mention the essential stop at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican spot, our SD trip was absolutely a complete one!

Probably should have Publicly posted this a while ago

I've been saying it since the end of January or beginning of February, but if I haven't told you personally, you probably won't believe me when the 'I told you so' moment comes if I don't make it clear now.  As I said earlier in the year, and I have stuck to my guns on this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average will hit 11,000 again before it reaches 13,000.  Personally, I think that the market's natural level is about 10,500, meaning that the market needs to fall 20% in order to truly normalize.  Coincidentally, the definition of a bear market is a market drop of 20% or more.  This means that the government's quantitative easing program has effectively erased or inflated away a bear market.  Since QE2 ends this month, expect market volitility (and when I say volitility, I mean both up and down, unlike analysts in the media), but a general downward trend towards the 10,500 mark.  Outside forces may prevent a complete drop to 10,500, but I'm still calling out the 11,000 mark.