Forbin's Militia

I will say that I've always had a bit of a 'thing' for exotic-looking women. But the fact that Kelly Kapoor , the ditzy customer service rep from The Office, has visited me in my dreams on multiple occasions, seems a little peculiar. Sure she is cute, and friendly. But she is no bombshell, and is quite frankly a little annoying. In my waking hours, I'm much more of a sucker for Karen Filipelli . Sharp, ambitious, and smoking hot-it's no wonder that Jim fell for her as he tried to move above and beyond Michael Scott's Scranton fiefdom of inefficiency and dysfunction. I wouldn't mind if Karen-pantsuits nonwithstanding-visited me in my slumber some evening. But alas-I ended up with Kelly. The first time I had a dream about her was a rather sordid affair. Suffice it to say, she was an evil temptress who wanted to jump my bones once she saw my wedding ring. Scandalous business. Last night, she and I were on some sort of business trip together. Our interaction ...

I love football. And I love the Cincinnati Bengals -regardless of their futility. Sundays in the Fall are for football, and there is no doubt about that. But today, the Bengals did not play, because they had already been summarily dismissed by the Squeelers earlier this week. Therefore, my Sunday was free to pursue other interests. This morning, I played disc golf with a bunch of my friends on a gorgeous, crisp November day. I then got to watch a bunch of proficient football, including the Tennessee Titans losing their first game . I even got a taste of the 'other' football when I watched the Columbus Crew win the MLS title . Later on, my buddy Hans introduced me to an intriguing, and potentially addictive German board game called Carcassonne . When I finally got home, I enjoyed the Xavier Musketeer's upset of #12 Memphis in the Puerto Rico Shootout. After seeing UC's victory over Pitt last night , a win that will potentially in the Orange Bowl, it's nice to see ...

Chad just said this on an NFL Network interview when questioned by Steve Mariuchi as to the long-term prognosis of his career beyond this abysmal season. I give 85 props for being political. What he means is that as long as the Bengals do as they do-and as long as he himself is a Bengal-he will not be all he can be. Chad is the kind of player who definitely needs positivity and proficiency in order to operate at his full potential. When things go awry, he's not exactly the stalwart veteran leader. He's more like a pouty 8 year old. Unfortunately, if you're a Bengal-things go awry more often than not. The problem is that Chad-like many of us-was sucked into believing. He arrived in Cincy at the tail end of Bengal Dark Age. He saw potential, and he saw the passion of the fans. He knew that this team's situation could only improve-and he wanted to be a part of it. Once Marvin and Carson came to town-hailed as messiahs-he had no doubt that by 2009, he'd have played i...

Today our next president visited the White House and met with our current president. Without the cavalier nature of the latter-the former would not have won the election-much less by such a landslide. Still, when I see pics like this my conspiratorial imagination really starts to wander. Could our entire nation-especially our political system-be controlled and guided by some grand entity that pulls the strings on everything? Was it necessary to let a Skull and Bones redneck do the dirty work and squander our moral ascendancy for 8 years just so that his polar opposite could win overwhelming public support and be handed the reigns as two unpopular wars drag on, and the economy slides ever-deeper into a recession? When McCain gave his gracious concession speech , it seemed as if he never had any illusions of winning in the first place. The tapping of the pig in lipstick as VP pretty much sealed the deal, to an extent that it almost seemed orchestrated. In my limited study of Illumanat...

It wasn't even close. No hanging chads, shady tabulations, or voting irregularities. Nope-it was a blowout. The last election in some time that was not even close, much less questionable or aided by a 3rd party candidate. Barack Hussein Obama, the goofy looking dude with the big ears and the funny name was elected president by way of popular support that I have not seen in my lifetime. The fact that this was the same country who elected George W. Bush twice over the past decade is nothing short of amazing after seeing yesterday's outpouring. It seems though, that the country has changed a lot over these last 4 years. Americans were sick of most aspects of the Bush administration, to the point that it was no longer necessary to look over my shoulder at the office when questioning The Decider. To see the throngs at Grant Park last night was the ultimate dose of Everything Happens for a Reason. At that moment, the last 8 years all of a sudden didn't seem so bad.

Well, the big day is finally here. It seems like it couldn't come soon enough. For some reason though, I've felt very calm and more optimistic than 4 years ago. I don't feel consumed with the anger, spite, and frustration that I felt when the Monkey Boy was elected for a second term. My overall feeling at that time was, "How on Earth could America re-elect this moron, continue this war, and further destroy the world-wide reputation of our nation?!?!" Well-we did, and we got what we asked for. My confidence in the American public took a major hit that day. Fortunately, these last few years have shown that with every action, there is a re-action. There is no way that we would be about to elect a black president with an Arab sounding name had it not been for GW. I suppose it restores a little bit of faith in the system and the natural ebb and flow of things. If Obama wins, it will be the neocons' turn to hate life for a while. We screamed fascism, they scream com...

When I tuned in to watch the conclusion of Game 5 of the World Series last night at the published 8:00pm starting time-I saw what looked like an Obama ad. When the ad persisted and there was no "I approve this message" to punctuate a thought-I wondered what was going on. What it was was a paid half-hour Obama special right before the last game of the World Series. Not only that, but the Tampa Bay Rays were playing in the game-so I'd imagine a good deal of Florida tuned in when they thought the game was to start. The piece was very good-I dare say inspiring-and it ended with a live rally in Florida. I'm sure the spot was anything but cheap-but interms of accurately targetting a large amount of viewers in a swing state-it was brilliant.

While one could make a case for the first 2 days of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, my favorite time of the sporting year is right now. The NFL season is in full swing at the same time as MLB playoffs, and finally, the World Series. This time of year is when I miss having 2 TVs side-by-side as I did in my bachelor days. Tonight, the Philadelphia Phillies are attempting to clinch the series by winning Game 5 at home. It's 39 degrees and pouring in Philly right now, the game is tied through 5 and a half. Tampa Bay tied things up in the top of the inning, then play was quickly halted. The game most likely won't be finished tonight, as the radar forecast looks horrid. Really makes you wonder if the umps were just waiting for the Rays to score so that play could be suspended and Philly wouldn't win the World Series via a rainout. That would have blown. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Titans try to remain the only undefeated team in the league as they take on the Indianapolis ...

While I agree with a few of Alexander's arguments , I think it misses the main point of why many are so repelled by Palin. Many democrats/liberals/leftists-especially if you include everyone supporting Obama this year-are a far cry from the stereotypical government-loving, elitist, feminist, Hillary-worshippers that this article makes us out to be. Really-If it was McCain vs. Hillary-I would have had to hold my nose as I voted. I have nothing AT ALL against women who are beautiful like Palin, and I honestly had no idea about her husband’s personality/occupation whatsoever. It’s great what she’s been able to do in her career, without sacrificing her family or her looks in the process. She is a great example of what American women can accomplish. She even has maintained her folksy ways, and has not been corrupted by too much time in Washington. These things are all valid, but they do not make her capable of being our second stringer in the oval office. I think the real dista...

This column below was sent to me, and was written by Prioleau Alexander. While I don't agree with his appraisal of the situation, I couldn't find the link, so I just grabbed the text. You can read my retort to this here. I also just saw that our favorite Alaskan has fallen out of favor with some McCain aides for going off script. Surprised? Anyhoo, here's Alexander's column: The 2007/2008 War for the White House. There are those that say it'sthe worst race ever, and those that say it's the tightest race ever,and those, like me, who say it's pretty much politics as usual: MyGuy, Yea! Your Guy, Boo! There is, however , one new phenomenon in this year's racethat baffles me, and I can say with confidence it is a new phenomenonin American politics. I'm speaking of the left's searing hatred of avice-presidential pick, Governor Sarah Palin. Where does this come from? What is it about her that inspires such w...

So it's finally over. After 21 years of being the pied-pipers of our age, The Phish from Vermont is finally hanging it up. I'm sure our reactions to this are quite varied, as varied as our reasons for liking them in the 1st place. For some they were just a really good band, for some they were just a really good party. For others, they were a primary social unit responsible for bringing people together and shaping a community. For some other folks, they were the purveyors of mystical experiences and therefore garnered a kind of religious devotion. For me personally, they were all of these things at once, with time being the variable that dictated which aspect I valued the highest. Whatever the case, they created their own little world: A microcosm in which every interaction, every deed, every emotion was more pronounced and more intense than in the 'real world'. Just like a wrinkled raisin tastes stronger than a grape. So are we going to miss all of that? I'm ...