How was I not informed of this?

There's comedy, there's high comedy, there's mom comedy...and then there's Jalen Rose with his own blog.

That's right. You heard me. Jalen Rose has his own blog. And on BET.com, no less!

Remember, this is a man who won an his own award on PJ's Place at the end of last season. I daresay he might be the most quotable athlete since Charles Barkely. That's a bold claim kids...but I might just be willing to go for it.

If you don't think this is making my favorite links, well, then you don't know me.

Something funny...and some brief thoughts on Thanksgiving

My friend Mayra sent me this link yesterday. It's pretty cool, especially to a man who listed his Top 40 favorite superheros here. I'm 95% Green Lantern. I think that's pretty accurate: I have a good imagination so I would come up with interesting ways to use the ring, and I've definitely got the strength of will to use it. And remember my friends who are reading this: you choose to be friends with me. That's right, the nerd who just wrote this. Your friend.

I came to a realization the other day: Thanksgiving is an adult's holiday. Here's what I mean. I grew up not liking Thanksgiving at all. As a child, I didn't really care for Turkey, and I have always hated football. Plus my grandparents lived close by so I saw them frequently, so getting to go see them wasn't that big of a deal.

Now, however, as an adult, my tastes have changed. I love Turkey once a year: on Thanksgiving. Or I should say once a week, on Thanksgiving week, because of leftovers. Now that I'm off living by myself, I miss my family very much, and love any time that we all get to come back together. I also appreciate Thanksgiving more as a segue into the Christmas season. It's a good, short, sweet holiday when your family gets together, and gets you excited for the greatest holiday ever: Christmas.

So as a kid who was annoyed by the bad food, bad sports, and tons of driving in bad traffic to see people who I could see any other time, I now really look forward to Thanksgiving, and I do give thanks for the time I get to spend with my family, who I love and miss very much.

I still don't give a shit about the football though. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Thoughts on the NBA Season so far...

* Have you seen Detroit play so far this season? THEY ARE AWESOME. Wow. I've never been a fan of these Detroit teams, for two reasons: 1) I loathe Larry Brown. 2) I hate the "beat em up defense no offense" late 90's New York Knick style of basketball. I also don't like the city of Detroit. However, I like the rest of the team: I love Chauncey Billups, Big Ben, and I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Rasheed. I like Tayshaun Prince and Carlos Arroyo. I'm not a Rip Hamilton fan, but whatever.

Well, I've always been a HUGE Flip Saunders fan, since he helped make my boy KG what he is today. Plus he's a fun coach: thinks outside the box, works with what he has. And now that he's in Detroit instead of Larry Brown, I LOVE WATCHING THIS TEAM. Let's look at what they have now:

1) A smart coach who will give them flexibility to run and be creative on offense. This is an outstanding offensive team. Hamilton is one of the best shooters in the league. Billips is an outstanding scoring guard. Rasheed can kill you in so many different ways. Tayshaun Prince is an excellent swingman who's really improved his 3pt shot. McDyess off the bench is an excellent low post threat. And Big Ben is always hanging around, looking for offensive rebounds, and can dunk on damn near anyone. Larry Brown refused to admit that, and now the Pistons are flourishing.
2) Not only is this a great defensive team, but it will be a great defensive team in so many different ways. Sure, it's still the same old defensive minded Pistons, with the same great defensive players. No one is in better shape than Rip Hamilton, and those long armed players are a nightmare defensively. Prince is a poor man's Hamilton, and by poor I mean upper middle class. Billips is one of the strongest points in the league, and the pounding he gives to other points just wears them down. Then trying to scoring on the Wallaces...two of the best shot blockers in the league. Yeah. Good luck with that. So you have that personel...and then you throw in Flip, who loves to throw zones and quirky defenses at you--not all the time, just enough to keep you off balance. Teams won't know what hit them.
3) The Pistons have a decent bench this year, and aren't afraid to use it. McDyess is a great sixth man. Carlos Arroyo is an outstanding backup point who would start for most teams. Maurice Evans is a good young 2 guard who gets better every day. If Darko gives them anything at all...watch out.

I've watched two of their games already, and this team is not only fun to watch, but they are so driven! Remember, this is the team that wore WWF championship belts aroudn with them last year. They've been one of the best teams in the NBA for at least five years now, and it's true: they aren't getting the respect they deserve. It's pissing them off, and their playing with that chip on their shoulder, which is fun to watch.

Plus, with every win, Larry Brown looks more and more like the arrogant asshole that he is. So now I can finally say...goooo Pistons!

* Kudos to Philly, who is somehow 6-3, in spite of the fact that they are terrible. To all the Andre Iguodala fans who said he was going to break out this year, I say slow down. I think he's going to need one more year to figure things out; next year will be his breakout year. But when it comes, look out. He is going to be awesome. He's one of those guys who looks a little lost and shellshocked at times now, but you know he's going to kill people in the very near future.

* Kudos also to Milwaukee, and most especially T.J. Ford. How can you not root for this guy, and this team? You've got T.J. coming back from his spinal injury that should have ended his career, and once again he's the high flying, high energy guy that he was before. You have Bobby Simmons proving that last year wasn't a fluke. You have Jamaal Magloire not playing for the Hornets anymore and obviously loving it. You have Mo Williams seemingly unable to miss from 3pt land. There will be ups and downs this season, but we will see the Bucks in the playoffs, as I hoped.

* Kudos to Boston, Charlotte, and Orlando for being bad--but not as bad as everyone suspected.

* I'm so happy the Knicks suck and that Larry Brown look like ass. Can you tell I don't like Larry Brown?

* Don't get too excited about the Clippers people. Sure, they're in second now, but this is a team just WAITING to self destruct. Corey Maggette has already started screaming at the media about not starting, and Mobley, Cassel, Kaman, and Wilcox are still certifiably insane. This will end badly.

* I'm starting to get really pissed at Denver. God they are such a cursed franchise! Would you guys stop playing mediocre basketball? They should be doing so much better.

* Enjoy the Lakers being mediocre now, you Lakers fans. Hey, Kobe scored 42 last night! And he only took 36 shots to do it! What's scary is, he shot 41%...and that's one of the best shooting nights he's had this year. I really think Phil is just letting Kobe shoot himself out of LA, at which point they'll trade him in February and blow the whole thing up. But hey, Smush Parker is playing great!

* So the Kings. Yeah...not looking so good. It could be that they just need time to adjust and get everyone comfortable, but it sure doesn't have that feel, does it? If they end up sucking this year, then it will be official: Shareef Abdur-Rahim is the new Orlando Woolridge.

* I knew the Sonics would be bad...but not this bad. And quite frankly, I don't see them getting any better.

* As for the Mavericks: once again, good job Mavs for exceeding expectations! Dirk is once again being a good leader. Marquis Daniels is playing much better this season than last, and Devin Harris has definitely raised his game up a notch. DeSagna Diop has looked GREAT: everything the Mavs hoped for, and some. Even Van Horn isn't looking terrible. Things are looking good, and they are starting out much like they did last year.

Potential problems for the Mavs: Dampier's performance has made last year's pathetic showing in the playoffs look good; he has given them less than nothing. Defensively, the Mavs are not where they should/need to be. I was expecting Josh Howard to make a Leap of some kind, and while he has played as well as he did last season, he hasn't improved on last season. And finally, like I said, the Mavs started this way last year, and it did not end well. Time will tell...

* Remember kids...the NBA...it's FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC!!!

Turnabout is fair play

Let it not be said that I don't give all an equal voice.



Enjoy ladies!

Ahh...those were the days...

Nirupa is always urging me to write more posts for my female readers. So here's one for you ladies:



Certainly this was the golden age of America. ;-P

Do I long for those days, and wish there were more women like that? No, of course not. Anyone who knows my friends (Nirupa, Mayra, Brande, Robin, Katie [both of them], Linda, etc.) can easily tell that. But that, of course, just makes it more fun to tease them by posting this here.

And gentlemen, for those of you who are looking for that kind of woman, and think she cannot be found, you are wrong. There is a place where you can find your 1950's housewife.

Where, you so desperately ask?

Oklahoma, my son.

Motorcycle Racing

Busy couple days.

So check out these pics.






So who is this pro racer? A pro like Ben Bostrum? Troy Baylis from when he rode Ducati's, perhaps?

NO!!!

That's my brother Bob! Taking the turn at 70mph. Flying all over the course like a badass! How cool is that?

This is Bob at his Track Date, which is basically his training to become a pro racer. Enjoy the pics! We're proud of you Bob!

Guest PostGay Marriage: Vote For Liberty Linda Long

PJ's Note: As some of you may or may not know, today there is an election in Texas for Proposition 2. This is an amendment to the state constitution on whether gay men and women should be allowed to marry. My good friend Linda Long (who brought us our beloved Hamster Fighting Machine), feels very strongly about this issue, and would like to encourage everyone to go vote. How would she like you to vote? I think she says it best...enjoy everyone, and thanks Linda!

Why are so many people up in arms about Proposition 2 in Texas (and in America)? Isn't it clearly unconstitutional to restrict the rights of any citizen ... and isn't this proposition clearly doing that? And on what grounds? ..... please, please, don't tell me religion. This has NOTHING to do with your own personal religious beliefs ... this is a state constitutional amendment, not church.

It is our obligation as citizens of this great country to fight to protect liberty and not to take it away- many people have died to protect the rights of citizens of this country. Are we honoring them with proper dignity by allowing the restriction of rights to a portion of citizens because we feel we are "holier than thou" enough to judge what rights get allocated to some citizens and not others?

Aren't the conservatives/republicans against strong government control anyway? Then why would they support this? In addition to this interest of many republicans, what about the economic implications: don't many companies give benefits in recognition of same sex parters? Some companies have already threatened not to build in Texas if this proposition is passed. This non-inclusive move would hurt the "Jesus for Big Business" campaign the Republicans are pushing right now.

The last Constitutional Amendment (although we are not voting to change THE Constitution, thank God!) that was written to take away rights and not protect them was the amendment for Prohibition ... and we all know what happened to that.

And here's the thing: If you don't want to be gay and get married to someone else of the same sex, great- good for you. You can choose to do that! And if your church chooses to marry two people of the same sex, you can choose to go to another church if you don't like it- its a free damn country. Remember that the church doesn't have to recognize any marriage it doesn't want to: Catholic churches don't recognize Baptist marriages (my parents had to get married twice so the catholic church would agree to baptize me), no churches recognize common law marriages, etc. BUT, the state should recognize and protect the rights of ALL people within the state, regardless of their religious beliefs (and they do so for people stuck in common law marriages).

And for those people that say that the allowance of gay marriages threatens the sanctity of marriage, listen up: the biggest threats to the sanctity of marriage are the temper, ego, psychological health, selfishness and sensitivity of the two people involved in the marriage ... and NOT the marriage of others.

Now there isn't much to say in defense of banning gay marriage unless you break out your bible ... and in that case, you've stepped outside the bounds of writing law (yes, believe it or not ... there are ideals that came before writing of the bible ... summed up by one of the greatest Americans of all times as "basic human rights"). No doubt, gay marriage will probably get banned in Texas (there are plenty of uneducated religious fanatics that can't understand the importance of separation between religion and law; like homer simpson says, "that's funny because its not me").. but it won't be constitutionally protected. Thank God for our Deist driven forefathers (yes, that's write, the constitution was written in terms of Deist ideals and not Christian- whether or not some of the writers were indeed Christians ). I love that about being American.

So when you get out to vote, today and in the future, think bigger. Think about all citizens ... what if the tables were turned and someone wanted to take away your rights based on their religious beliefs. Wouldn't you want them to say, "I believe XXX, but I won't impose my beliefs on you so that we can both live freely together in America."

When you begin to strip rights from citizens, you are climbing a slippery slope. If we can begin to allow for rights to be taken away from people, we are just beginning to "boil the frog" (if you don't know the story of how to boil a frog, look it up).

Here's a great quote to end with from Martin Niemoller about the effect of not acting when others rights are being taken away; even if it doesn't affect us:

"When the Nazis came for the communists, I kept silent since I wasn't a communist. When they locked up social democrats, I was silent since I wasn't a social democrat. When they came for unionists, I did not protest since I wasn't a unionist. When they took the Jews away, I did not protest since I wasn't a Jew. When they took me away, no one was there any more who could protest."

If this is a religious issue for you, then love your neighbor as yourself. I'm sure your neighbor, gay or straight, would do the same for you.

Coupla things...

* Is there a better name for a woman than Apollonia?

* So Pirate's Day has now come and gone. That's right. There's a National Dress Like A Pirate Day. I couldn't make this up. Now don't get me wrong; I'm all for having fun, and I appreciate enjoying your favorite character as much as anyone. But two thoughts on this: 1) This was pressing enough that Congress voted to make this a National Day? Really? We don't have anything else we should be doing? 2) Don't we already have a day where you dress up and act as your favorite character? I thought so. Why are pirates so special? Why do they get their own day? I'm betting there's both more Star Wars fans out there than Pirate fans, and I think it's safe bet as to who is more passionate. So is there a Star Wars day in the near future? I didn't think so.

No more stupid days please.

* So the Catholic Church has recently passed a ban on gay priests. If you're gay, you're not welcome. Question: Why does it matter? Last time I went to Church, priests take a vow of celibacy. So no one should be having sex with anyone. Not with women, not with men, not with kids. I think that's the real problem the Church is having, not the fact that there might be some gay priests out there. Let's just uphold our vows people, and we don't have to worry about anyone's sexual orientation.

* From a friend, who has wished to remain anonymous (even though she's appeared on here before): "Is there anything worse than when you’re on a road trip on a beautiful day, riding with your windows down, having a good time…and then get stuck behind a car where they are smoking in front of you?"

* Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention please. I would like to settle this debate.

Han did NOT shoot first.

Thank you.

* Every day, as I walk to and from work, and I pass a white 2001 Ford Mustang. This Mustang has one of those plate outlines on the back that says, "Barry Manilow: Music & Passion."

It cracks me up every time I see it.

* Ahhh...it's moment's like that that I live for. There must be something wrong with me.

* An Honorable Mention to my top heroes list: Mario, Spawn, Wheeljack, Qui-Gon Jinn.

* So I'm watching Transformers the Movie the other day (I know, I know), and I'm shocked to discover that they say "shit" in the movie. Not only that, but the chapter on the special edition dvd that they say that in is called "Swear Word".

Now for those of you who don't know me, I am a fan of cursing. It's what we do in our family. We get angry or frustrated, we drop a colorful metaphor, and we move on with our lives. We don't stay angry and get high blood pressure or anurisms, we don't beat our kids or our spouses, we just drop an explative and move on, feeling much better. They're just words. Never in my life have I been in favor of censoring speech.

But is that really necessary? Do we really need "shit" in Transformers? Is this what Optimus Prime really wanted? For the first time in my life, I would have to say no. That shouldn't be there.

* Could things look any worse for the Bush administration after Miers removed herself from the Supreme Court nomination? Jesus, these guys can't do ANYTHING right this term. I don't even have a joke here. G Dub, you're embarrasing me. PLEASE get your shit together. (See, shit works here.)

* Okay ladies. Alias. The TV show. With Jennifer Garner. Question: why do you like it so much? All she does is dress up like a whore! The whole show is based on 2 things: 1) Jennifer Garner dresses up like a ho. 2) Jennifer Garner kicks someone's ass. I'm just shocked that you guys are on board with this as you are. Why do you overlook the fact that every episode she has to pose as a stripper, or prostitute, or escort, or whatever, when stuff like that drives you crazy about other shows? I'm just curious.

* I'm going to throw this out here, against my better judgement. Here is a link to my profile on myspace.com. It's one of those online friends posting thingys that are really popular in colleges right now. Some friends of mine made me join. If this is your cup of tea, there you go. I will say this: I do enjoy the random ass messages I get from complete strangers. Wow. You never know what some people are going to say.

* Anyone who has your Christmas lights up, take them down. Now. I love Christmas more than anyone, but you cannot put your lights up until after Thanksgiving. Have respect for the season.

* Peace.

No.

That's not the philosophy here at PJ's Place. I wouldn't encourage you all to leave comments so much if it was.

Forgive me

But I've started a new job this week (same company, new area) and thus have been delayed in getting things up. Coupla Things coming, probably tomorrow.