The forbidden Kingdom

If you ever wondered, what would it be like to have a movie that
combines 'Karate Kid' and 'The Wizard of Oz', you got to see
'The forbidden Kingdom'. It's a action packed movie with cool
Kung Fu, great humor and ............. ahhhhh, who am I kidding.
For some reason, every time I see a movie with Jet Li, I am disappointed.
After 'Romeo PLEASE die', this is another boring Kung Fu movie.
The story is dull and didn't make much sense. The CGI looks fake
all the way, not sure if they did that on purpose, to make it look more artsy.
So, what's left is a bunch of Kung Fu fight scenes which get old really fast.
Just to give an idea on the logic of the movie, here is a tidbit:
The female villain, who is flying around tree tops all movie long, is killed
by falling off the balcony of a castle. Mmm, I guess, she ran out of flying
power.
Well, this one will get a 2.5 out of 5.

And the new president is........... McCain

Yes, you heard it here first. I make a prediction that McCain is going to
be the next president. After watching results from the primaries in PA
I come to the conclusion that the Democrats are just to stupid to win.
Looks like Clinton successfully clawed her way back and with the proven
tactics of negativity and polarisation, she has success. That means more
bickering and fighting and still no candidate. It looks like the voters really
go for that. And yes, I am biased. Not so much for Obama, but against Hillary.
The more I follow the campaign,the more she looks like a democratic Bush.
In the meantime McCain is sitting on the sideline, enjoying the show. Perfect.
Ah well, every democracy gets the leaders it deserves.

Tax day

The 15th, is approaching fast and we all know what that means: TAX DAY!
I just finished mine today. It took longer than expected, thanks to
Massachusetts. Their tax return is more complex than the federal one
and you need to provide proof of health insurance, because it is now
mandatory, if you can effort it. And, I can not e-file and have to use
the good old snail mail. Ah well, it's all set and done, unless I forget
to put it in the mail.
This week feels kinda weird at the office. I hear German spoken everywhere.
We have a bunch of guys from the German office in town, mostly for
the SAE world congress next week. Interestingly, I find it not that easy
to talk German in a English spoken environment. Even when I share an
office with Fredi in Peoria, we would mostly talk in a German/English
gibberish. Usually, when I go back to Germany for vacation, it takes a couple days to go back into the German groove and I have been
accused of having an "American" accent. Funny.
Speaking of talking, I had to go to the dentist yesterday, because
of a cracked tooth and the assistant actually started a conversation with
my mouth filled with cotton strips. I've seen this type of 'conversation'
in so many comic sketches that I almost had to laugh out loud when she
nodded and responded to my mumbled answers.

Food Notes

Finally, I nice weekend. With temperatures in the 50's I ventured out
to find a driving range to see if I could still hit the little white ball.
Unfortunately, the ranges I passed, were still closed. Too bad. But
I found a little park and took a stroll around the lake. It was nice
to do something outside for a change. Afterwards I went to Red Robin
for their famous BBQ burger. "This is a tasty burger" and was good
for a chain restaurant. I am also trying different cuisine around here.
I had some great sashimi tuna at the Cherry Blossom Japanese restaurant
and a great lamb wrap with hummus at the Pita Cafe, the other day.
They is really quite the variety of different restaurants here and with
the Detroit area known for their Greek influence, I tried some gyros, too.
Wow, that was probably the worst gyros I've ever had. It tastes like
gnawing on a leather shoe. Terrible. Come to think of it, I never really
hat great gyros in the US, ever. Most of the time it's ok, but in
comparison with the Greek restaurant in my home town it's just a
dry peace of meat with some greek seasoning. Ah well, I'll try something
different next time. My co-workers tell me, there are some good Indian
places around.

The Bank Job

Slow weekend, with temperatures still in the 30's I didn't really
feel like doing something outside. So, instead I checked out a
movie theater close by. I was in the mood for some light
entertainment and I picked 'The Bank Job",
a heist movie that is based on a 1971 bank
robbery in London. Overall an entertaining
movie with a descent storyline and good acting.
I'd give it a good 3.5 out of 5.
The theater I went to was your typical
concrete box multi screen place and the
only thing that caught my eye was the bar
inside. They actually sold beer and
cocktails inside the theater.
Wow, haven't seen that in the US in a while.
I also decided to make a statement for spring today. In an act of
defiance I decided to move my golf clubs into my car. Take that,
winter!

Fake Outrage

Today, I came across one of my favorite pet peeves. Fake Outrage. Over
the years I have witnessed a few, but today was a beauty. I was standing
in line o grab some lunch. The guy in front of me got up to
the counter and complaint that whoever made his chili salad earlier
forgot the chili. Just as the person behind the counter started to
fix his salad, the guy demanded to see the manager. Then he went into a
fit, explaining that he had to drive back for 15 minutes
to get his chili and that he lost a half hour of his life. He
obviously was going for some free coupons and he actually demanded
an apology from the person who forgot to put the chili in his salad.
Hilarious! I guess he took a cue from the current presidential race. It
seems like everyday, in either the Clinton or Obama campaign, somebody
says something mildly confrontational and the other side is OUTRAGED!!!
This is going on for weeks now and it turns my excitement for the election
totally off. Because, we all know, there is more to come.

FROHE OSTERN!

Frohe Ostern and Happy Easter wishes from Michigan.