Is Dick Enrico a mobster?

Dear Dick Enrico,

Your commercials annoy me. You sell exercise equipment yet you appear to be at the same fitness level of some sort of alien with no muscle tone. The message I receive from your poorly produced commercials leads me to believe that the exercise equipment you sell, either new or used, will actually make me fatter. Maybe the machines pushed in your stores contain some sort of calorie vaporizer that actually makes you inhale freshly created calories while you breathe heavily as you pound out the minutes on your elliptical trainer.

Over and over your customers agonize, questioning why they are still portly and becoming more and more egg-shaped.

I am not alone in wondering why you, Dick Enrico, a fellow Minnesotan, look a bit like a mobster pushing treadmills and exercise bikes. Answer me this sir, are you dieting? Do you plan on portraying a healthy appearance as the face of your company selling exercise equipment? Is that thick, rich, black pile of hair yours? Do you use Just For Men to color it? If the hair is natural, I apologize but I await your answer.

Thanks for your time Bro,

Sornie

MinnPics. The name says it all. It's a collection of photos from across Minnesota. It's good to quite good. Check it out.

A charmer buys ice cream

Believe it or not, I'm not a huge fan of ice cream. I blame that on the fact that it routinely gives me a terrible case of brain freeze (and yes, I DO have the equipment for that to happen).

That little aside leads to a lovely story as we tried to fill what amounted to too much time between destinations this past Saturday night.

As we made our way from our supper destination to our final evening destination (a movie) I realized that we had nearly an hour's worth of time to fill.

Luckily I had my camera gear with us so I worked on sme evening photography in downtown Chaska. Unfortunately, that didn't kill enough time so I decided that we would partake in ice cream from It's Just Perfect in the old Chaska train depot.

As we walked in I was pleasantly surprised that they were more than just ice cream. Hell, these folks had every kind of sugary treat that keeps dentists swimming in business. But I showed restraint. Not just because I am overflowing with restraint but because I am cheap and we had already spent what amounted to a couple wheelbarrows of cash earlier in the evening.

We ordered up a single scoop waffle cone in one of the sixteen flavors of ice cream they featured. I saw the wife eyeing a chocolate variety that was darker than a moonless night but I reminded her that too much of anything is not good.

The polite employee jokingly asked (I say jokingly because I had no intention of spending any more money) what I wanted. I said "Nothing for me, thanks."

"Oh, you're sharing?"

"Um, yeah", I responded.

"Oh, that's so romantic!"

Smiling, I said "Yes, it is" as I reveled in the clever developments that made me look like a charmer rather than a cold, soulless shell of a human being (as I truly am).

All told, this place deserves your business far more than the Dairy Queen further away from downtown Chaska on Highway 41.

Check out It's Just Perfect in Chaska at the corner of Highways 212 and 41 for the best real ice cream I've had in quite some time. By the way, the single scoop waffle cone was a mere $2.75.

A victory speech of sorts

Tonight at 7 PM, the doors of the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota open for what many are expecting to be a victory speech of sorts by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

I am one of a few who feels that Obama will not go as far to brag about an outright victory in the primary and caucus circuit of 2008 but his speech once he takes the stage at The X will be one to pump up his supporters and bring Hillary supporters into the fold. I feel that Obama is above the bragging and boasting that I'm sure has been the downfall of some politicians but I'm not above predictions and crystal ball gazing.

Hillary will suspend her campaigning by the end of the week and become one of the people on Barack's short list of running mates; likely at the top. He would be doing exactly what he has promised by surrounding himself with experience and knowledge to make up for what some feel as a lack of experience from the presidential hopeful.

I do like the choice of venue for what is essentially Obama's semi-finals victory. Expect plenty of painfully minute analysis over the next few days by talking heads, heads that talk and people who have no business being in front of a camera and will refer to Obama as "that there black boy".

Are we both the problem and solution?

Another day brings another record high oil price. This time it's due to some bullshit "logic" about impending shortages in the supply. The funny thing about that is that unlike when "shortages" existed in the 1970s, there aren't lines at gas stations or gas stations closing because they can't get any petro in the tanks.

Another funny coincidence is the timing for these record high prices. Not just the fact that this is happening mere days before Memorial Day and the unofficial start to the summer driving/vacation season but that prices only began escalating after our military entered and occupied Iraq. I am aware that Iraq's pre-war oil production is fairly insignificant but its loss provided a reason to begin escalating prices. Couple that with rabid development in India and China as well as increasing consumption (until recent months) in America and there's your reasons. Add in the fact that market speculators continue driving up futures prices and you have the magic formula for $4.00/gallon gas within weeks (definitely by July 4th, possible by June 15th).

This comment from here puts things in perspective.

Now is not the time for petty bickering
It is abundantly clear to anyone paying attention - we have to detach our reliance on petroleum and coal, and fast. The reasons are too numerous to even list here. Petroleum and coal served us well in the past, but the party is over. I like the idea mentioned in a previous post about forming a Manhattan Project for alternative energy research. But this will not be easy. The petro and coal industry will fight this tooth and nail. They will lie, spread false information, attack the messenger - and worse - to maintain their massive profits. They are the only ones that stand to lose if we break our dependency on fossil fuels.

It's not the time to view things in the negative. When times are toughest, innovation is where America shines (or used to). In an unstifled environment, anything is possible and many decades ago our country developed both nuclear weapons and space travel. I know that we, as a country, can overcome the current energy predicament and will come out on top. Now is not the time to take a wait-and-see approach. Now, more than ever, is the time to take chances, innovate and develop new ideas and break free from stale ways of thinking. Am I turning over a new leaf? Is it possible for America as a whole?