Wednesday, September 24, 2008

My home town

Here's a picture of part of my home town, River Grove, Illinois, just outside Chicago, just underneath the DesPlaines River. This doesn't happen very often, just when the river gods want a really great 100% all-beef Vienna brand Chicago style hot dog. This is Gene's & Jude's. Yes, that's the name, despite the sign on the left, which is wrong. Really great hot dogs, fresh cut fries, tamales, sodas, and unless things have drastically changed, nothing else. People line up, in long lines, in hot, humid, sticky weather to have these dogs, and they're worth it. 100% worth it. Don't believe me, just ask the river gods.
http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=2284

Right down the road is an unlikely Tiki Bar, Hala Kahiki, http://www.hala-kahiki.com/. I don't know if they were under water, but if you're going to make the trip (and you should) to Gene's and Jude's, you might as well go down the road and have one of those fruity drinks strong enough to knock the back of yer head off, while you're at it.

I haven't been back there in years, having moved to the deep south, well past the ghost of Comiskey Park, but I'm going back soon, and if the water's down by then, I'm going. See you there.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Does proximity equal experience?

So the republicans have decided that since Sarah Palin lives near Russia, that equals foreign policy experience in Russia. Huh? She's been to Canada, once. By that measure, I have more foreign policy experience than her, as I've been to Canada, TWICE, and I've seen Mexico from the border, in Texas. I decided to do a completely non-scientific, nonsensical analysis of each candidate, judging their foreign policy experience by their proximity to some cities around the world. I hope you find my findings amusing. I know that I do.










I know it looks crummy. This was the only way I could figure out to put a table into the blog. Just click to biggify. You won't be disappointed.

And just how did I get my distances? I used this keen map tool:
http://www.freemaptools.com/how-far-is-it-between.htm
Just input your own locations, and see how qualified you are to be VP!