My vote is wasted

I caught an earlier than normal bus this morning and am thinking I may make it my regular bus now since there was an inordinate number of cuties on the bus.

Today was back to work. A two day work week is nothing to complain about but I have to say it was really dead today business-wise.

I am concerned about the whole Russia-Georgia conflict mainly because it seems like Russia is reverting to it's old ways: Putin is saying that the United States provoked Georgia into starting this war so it would be a favorable condition to a candidate for the Presidency. Seriously- are you fucking kidding me?

Speaking of the election I can no longer keep my mouth shut. Voting for the most popular candidate in high school for class president may have been a sound decision but we are all adults now and I have to say the lesser of two evils in my mind is McCain. Obama has done nothing and has not even served a full term as a U.S. Senator. He preaches post partisan politics but has not crossed the aisle once in my knowledge. He comes from the Chicago political machine which is diametrically opposed to his preaching about politics as usual. He preaches he is post racial and yet is having his operatives conduct drives to register only African American voters in the south. He preaches about innovation and change only coming from the bottom up and yet is trying to dictate from the top down and regulate innovation and then tax it. Speaking of preaching how could he have been a member of Rev. Wrights church for twenty years and not once heard his racially inspired vitriol? He tells African American men thy need to start accepting responsibility for their actions and still continues to perpetuate the Democrat ideology of victim hood and that it is always the fault of someone else for misfortune brought about by ones own bad choices.

I got into a political "discussion" with my father about this. he is an old school Kennedy Democrat. In his mind the Democrats are ALWAYS a better choice than the Republicans. I admire loyalty but blind loyalty is dangerous. He asked me what party I was registered with. I told him neither. He then had the audacity to tell me my vote is wasted. I told him how can any vote be wasted? At that point he started swearing, lol. I said I don't fully agree with either party. I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal- a libertarian. His response is who can you affect any change without being part of party? I said that is the problem with government- parties were not the intention of the Founding Fathers. We came to an agreement- we agreed to disagree.

I am concerned that Iran seems to be on the back burner. I think within the next three years we could see a nuclear war between Iran and Israel.

I have to thank kennethinthe212 for pointing out Tim Tebow. I may have to start watching Gaytors football this season...

That was soo cool

The boys and I took in Kung Fu Panda yesterday afternoon. I have to say it was pretty damn funny. I actually enjoyed it more than WALL-E. I didn't even realize some of the big names that lent their voices to it until the credits rolled. Afterwards we all relaxed at mom and dad's and then we went out to dinner riverside in town. Since mom and dad offered to pay I ordered the filet mignon special- ha!

Today we all went to the local nature preserve and did one of the trails around the lake. Mom and dad picked the 3 mile loop. It started off auspiciously when we saw a dead mole which my oldest snapped a picture of with his camera phone. Winding our way through we saw herons. some Canadian geese and probably missed a lot since the boys were somewhat loud and I am sure scared off any of the other natural fauna. That is until we were about three quarters of the way around and we all heard this noise that sounded like a bird. I looked at my youngest standing next to me and asked if he made that noise. He said no so we all stopped. We heard it again and looked for a bird. Then my oldest saw some movement in the brush and said oh cool it's a frog. Then he looked closer and said COOL it's a frog getting eaten by a snake! Sure enough there in the brush was this frog with half it's body in a snake's mouth getting dragged away and making a noise that sound avian. My oldest whipped out his trusty camera phone and snapped away. He then called his mom to tell her about it. his brother asked to speak to her and then told her grandma wants to say hi. My mom looked at me with a what the hell look on her mouth. She and the ex really don't keep in touch and were not the closest when I was married to my sons' mother.

We then went home and had lunch then rested a bit. Then I took the boys back to the state fair and the three of us did the freak show tour and the fun houses on the midway. Funny how the spider girl today had a completely different head- last time she was this blond white woman, today she was an African American woman with corn rows- go figure. We took in the world's smallest horse again, saw a 300 pound python, and looked at all the mummified bodies in a freak show tent. We also saw the world's smallest woman- she has body odor and was drinking a beer when we walked in.

We had pizza for dinner and then dad built a fire in the backyard and we made s'mores. The boys asked if they could stay up 'til 11 and I said sure. My parents looked at me like I was crazy. Sure enough around 10:15 they both asked if they could go to bed. Put them to bed, finished laundry so all their clothes are clean when they get home to their mom.

We will be on the road early tomorrow because of the construction we hit on the way up. The husband has made dinner plans- we are entertaining int he new place even though there are a lot of boxes to take care of still. I have to go grocery shopping when I get home. Then it is back to work for two days and then the Labor Day weekend. I can't believe the summer is done.

Don't Stop Believing

Saturday at the fair was a lot of fun. We saw the world's smallest horse and the spider girl- her favorite food by the way is cheeseburgers. The boys did not last all that long because of the heat and my parents aren't spring chickens so they were more than happy to take them home early. We got home about 4 hours later.

Saturday night we went to the Triple Crown of '80s Bands That Got Killed Once MTV Stopped Playing Videos: Cheap Trick, Heart and Journey. Heart was by far the best band that night. Ann Wilson still has the weight issue but glad to see she doesn't care what people think about her figure because she can still belt it out. They did all the classics and did two REALLY good covers- The Who's Love, Reign O'er Me and Zeppelin's Going to California. Journey- first they have a new lead singer. All I have to say is Steve Perry who? Holy shit, the new guy sounds just like him and kind of looks like him too. He is Thai and Steve Perry always kind of looked Asian to me. They were good except they were playing too much crap from their new album. I did not know they had a new album and seriously, no one comes to a concert to hear the new shit- we all want your well known older stuff.

Yesterday we were real lazy. The husband went back home last night. He is at work today. I and the boys and the kids are here until Wednesday. Today the boys and I are going to go see Kung Fu Panda. The weather has cooled off a bit so we may skip the pool even though my parents keep it at a nice mid-80s temperature.

Mom and dad are now a hotspot

The drive up yesterday was not fun. I ran into a lot of construction in one particular area. It added about a hour and 10 minutes to what should have been a four and a half hour drive. The boys and the kids were great on the ride though.

When I got to my parents the kids went running around in the backyard and the boys went right into the pool. I was asked to set up my parents wireless router for the house. My younger brother tried to do it earlier this year and burned out mom and dad's hard drive causing them to have to get a new CPU. I did not have any issues with it. So now when their kids and grandkids come they can all get on the web.

We are off to the state fair today. The boys are psyched. The weather looks like it is going to be really nice.

Booty Sweat

Last night I took in Tropic Thunder. Robert Downey, Jr. STOLE the movie! He was fucking brilliant! Ben Stiller was almost as good as Derrick Zoolander. Jack Black was really in a supporting role and had one scene that had me laughing out loud towards the end of the movie. It is not really a war satire. It is totally ripping on Hollywood the entire time. I loved Les Grossman. My youngest asked if he could see it and I said no, it's rated R.

After the movie my bond friend and I grabbed a bite to eat. I always like talking the markets with him because everyone knows bond guys are smarter than equity guys. There is a hierarchy on the Street. At the top is the traditional derivative guys. Then the bond guys then equity guys. Currently at the bottom are the structured product guys since they are the ones who sold all the shit that has bankrupted our financial system even though the government doesn't want you to know that. Anyways,he thinks that FNM and FRE shareholders are screwed. He brought up the point of good bank/bad bank. He said there are two possible outcomes in his mind: 1) The government lets FRE die because it is the weak sister and recapitalizes FNM or b) The government lets both die and creates a new government agency to take over the role the two had performed. I brought up the issue of the preferreds and he said that is a good point.

Is it just me or are the field hockey players hot? It's funny to me actually. A fraternity brother of mine is from England. Every where else in the world field hockey is predominantly a men's sport and lacrosse is a women's. Here in the U.S. though that is reversed. I gotta tell ya I think the rest of the world has the right idea on this and I played lacrosse for 6 years.

Tomorrow I am taking the boys up to my parents for 5 days. We are hitting the state fair and they are psyched to take in the rides on the midway and see the freak show.

Almost done

Last night we went to the old apartment and made sure we didn't leave forget anything. We then went to the local tapas place for some dinner. It was a fairly quiet night.

Was reading about Kyle Orton yesterday and saw his picture and realized JP looks a lot like him. JP is out visiting his family in the Midwest and have not pointed it out to him yet.

Tonight I am going to see Tropic Thunder with my bond manager friend. I also owe him $100 for losing a bet about the Presidential primaries. The husband already saw Tropic Thunder with his friend Ragnar the Terrible. He loved it and said it was one of the funniest movies he has seen in some time.

No comment on the markets as I think I have made my position on them clear enough lately.

That's all for now.

What a difference a day makes

I was totally fried last night when I wrote but after a good night of sleep I am much more with it.

The one thing I learned last night is we need curtains pronto! Don't get me wrong- last night when I crawled into bed it was really cool seeing the full moon shine as you fall asleep but the privacy sucks and the sun is bright in the morning.

So Ascension- the nations #1 gay beach party- was fun. There was a great breeze and the music was pretty damn good. CS- Mr. Clifford's boyfriend- knows all the djs because he does lighting for clubs on the weekends. He was psyched!

Mr. Barrett brought the new D&D players handbook. I read thru it and am a bit dismayed that gnomes are no longer a character race option. Also illusionist and assassin are not classes available- neither is the monk. They had some new races available which was pretty cool and the warlock class was interesting- very Elric-like.

They all called me dad for the weekend as I was a bit parental and I did have to yell the rules at them while they were in the pool.

They caught the train back today. I believe they were stuck in the bar car.

We had dinner with TK tonight; he looked at our new apartment and approved. We also broke down a lot of boxes and got the kitchen pretty much set up to my liking.

The markets today were dead. Not unusual for an August day. I have to say that the more the Treasury says they will not backstop FNM and/or FRE the more it makes me think they will be nationalizing them by Labor Day. Also the fact that dollar LIBOR is still at a high differential from Fed Funds and what it normally trades at in relation to Fed Funds makes me concerned.

Mr. Barrett asked me if I thought we were close to an economic doomsday. I told him my opinion is we could be but I don't think we are. I believe we are in for a rough ride and this recession is not like anyone in our generation has experienced.

Mariah is stalking me?

I picked up our weekend guests at Penn Station Friday and we hopped onto the train out to Sayville. We had tall boys for the train ride out and caught the 7:35 boat over. I took them all grocery shopping and then made them dinner. Everyone was pretty much beat from travelling all day but Mr. Clifford and I went out with TK. It was fun.

Saturday the husband came out a little after noon. The weather was amazing. I was given dinner duty again. We went to high tea because Mr. Barrett and KR spent most of the day at the beach. After dinner all of us but the husband went over to Cherry Grove to the Ice Palace for Summer Snaxx. It was ok, not great. We then hiked back through the Meat Rack. Mr. Barrett was a bit put out by the pace I set for the hike.

Today we hit Ascension- which by the way I found out is the #1 gay beach party in the nation- and had a blast. The weather again was amazing. I did get a bit freaked out though when Mariah started singing that she wanted me to touch her body and if I didn't she would hunt me down. We left early, our guests are leaving tomorrow- they were smart and took Monday off. The apartment is total chaos and I am pretty friend mentally and going to bed after I shower.

Today is gonna be crazy

So waiting for the movers to showup. The place is pretty much totally packed up, stealing one of my neighbors wifi service- not my fault if they don't put security on it.

The husband took the Nazi over to the new place so she will know where she will be cleaning next week. The kids just got picked up by the dog walker for the day- which is a good thing since the little girl is freakin' out with the whole thing.

Once we get done I am rushing into the city, picking up a bunch of roadies, getting train tickets and meeting Mr. Barrett, Mr. Clifford and their respective significant others for the train ride out to the beach. The husband is coming out tomorrow morning with the kids since he has to stay later to oversee the moving of his art collection.

Enjoy the weekend.

Nice pants

So yesterday morning after I swam I was getting dressed in the locker room. There was a married guy who told me I had nice pants. I said thank you but thought to myself no straight guy EVER tells another guy nice pants; he may think it but never says it- especially in a gym locker room.

Mr. Barrett and Mr. Clifford are coming up to the beach for the weekend. Mr' Clifford is bringing his bf, Mr. Barrett is bringing his friend who seems to be more than a friend but I don't want to say more for fear of jinxing him. We are all going to Ascension on Sunday- thus making my second ever circuit party. Mr. Barrett also wants to go to Super Snaxx over in Cherry Grove on Saturday night. I told him we'll figure that out Saturday whilst we lounge by the pool drinking the husband's margaritas.

I have to say it is a very sad comment on the fourth estate that the freakin' National Enquirer is the one who broke the story on John Edwards' affair. I think the best thing I heard was all the whining that if the MSM hadn't squashed it, Hillary would have won the Iowa caucuses and been the nominee. It made me wonder if she would end up starting a fight at the convention in Denver. I have to say it is not out of the question when you think about all the Clintons are supposed to have done in their careers. My bond manager friend says no fucking way that will happen.

So I read yesterday that the IMF had done a study on recessions. Apparently they came to the conclusion that most recessions last three quarters. The caveat is that a recession preceded by a credit crunch or housing bust tends to last five times longer. That tells me that the current recession we are in won't end until approximately April-May of 2009.

JP is home, saw him last night at drinks with the other gays in the village. I am glad he is back, we missed him this summer. He is going away again in a couple of weeks but he did offer to help us with the move Friday and I took him up on the offer.

Speaking of the move we are basically done packing, just have a few things to take of the walls.

Water polo is violent

Am I the only one who is very concerned about Russia invading its neighbor? Seriously, I believe the U.N. institutes a global truce during the Olympics and yet Russia felt the need to invade Georgia. No one seems to be concerned and is more worried about whether or not Michael Phelps gets 8 gold medals. Don't get me wrong- he is pretty damn hot but still, a war in the Caucuses right next to Iran does not help lessen the stress of the move this Friday. I admit I don't have all the details but I have to say the cynic in me says it is because Georgia has an oil pipeline that totally bypasses Russia and that is the real reason, not solidarity with ethnic Russians in South Ossetia. But I digress...

Bear market rallies are violent and quick. I think that is what has been happening for the past two days. Volume has been light. Banks are still tightening credit. The vaunted consumer is showing serious signs of distress. As usual the government is massaging the data. They tweaked the recent unemployment figures. I was told they are now not asking people who are working part time if they would want to be working full-time and are counting them as employed. The same person told me if you un-tweaked the numbers the jobs number was very bad.

My sister-in-law is staying with us for a few days. The husband is helping her with her college hunt. He is also making her help with the packing- he is so practical.

We got more packing done tonight. I'd say we are about 60% done which is ahead of my agenda.

Sunday the husband and I watched some water polo- That sport is hardcore. It is like a combo of rugby and basketball but in the water. And the guys are hot and have nice meaty thighs and asses.

Brendan Fraser still has it...

Friday night when I got home we sat down for dinner. My oldest was feeling adventuresome and tried Thai food for the first time. He quickly decided he'd rather have pizza like his younger brother- thankfully I know my sons well and had ordered extra slices. During dinner we were watching the Olympics. An advertisement for the Presidential race was on and my youngest made a comment that sounded like The Cane and A Bomber. The husband and I started chuckling and the husband told my youngest that was a really good way to refer to the two of them.

So we got a lot of packing done yesterday. We started right away in the morning. I went to the storage store and bought all the boxes, a LOT of bubble wrap, tape, a really cool tape gun. and various other items that aid in packing. We took a break for lunch and then when right back to the job. The husband then ran into the city to run some errands so I took a nap. When he got back I was sent for some more boxes. Then we went out for dinner. The husband and my oldest wanted sushi. The youngest does NOT eat sushi. So we compromised. The husband and my oldest went to the sushi place and I and my youngest went around the corner to a grill that serves chicken fingers. After we went to see The Mummy, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I must say Brendan Fraser still has it- there is one scene where he is shirtless and he looks really good with just a dusting of chest hair. The rest of the movie was good too, lol.

This morning the husband and my oldest went and played tennis while I packed more. After they got back the boys and I went to lunch while the husband packed. I brought him back some lunch. We packed more, then I got the boys in the truck and drove them back to their mom's house. I then turned it right around, got home, jumped in the shower and we went and saw The Dark Knight. It was really good. The husband thought it was really creepy and somewhat depressing. I thought it was very true to Frank Miller's book of the same title in tone and morality.

Saw the trailer for Watchmen- I am totally psyched for that flick. I remember reading that when it came out and it was really amazing and mind-bending.

Tomorrow and the rest of the week will be dominated by packing- something new and different.

No beach this weekend

So the husband and I signed the lease for the new apartment Tuesday night. We then went and grabbed a quick dinner at our favorite restaurant. We headed to drinks with the other gays in the village. The husband went home early and I went out to the local gay bar with JZ and RB. Apparently Tuesdays are amateur strip night. It was fun but I definitely had a few too many beers and JZ made us do this shot called purple death.

I noticed Will Yuck, the manager of the largest fixed income trust in the world, is out talking his own book up again. The guy is known in the biz as getting his trades set up and then going and touting it as what is going to happen. He definitely got his lunch money stolen when he was in high school.

Speaking of the markets and trading there were two blogs I and a lot of others in my line of work used to read all the time. I say "used to" because the writer of one of them got laid off and the writer of the other one was told by his employer to shut it down or lose his job. I had drinks quickly last night with SA. He is an old friend of mine, we figured out we have known each other for 16 years, and his business partner. There were alos some really interesting people he brought along. It was at this rooftop bar. I didn't get to chat a lot because I had to cut out early to meet the husband for dinner with a friend.

We decided last night that we would have to skip the beach and start seriously packing up the place. We have the boys this weekend too so they will get enlisted in packing- well at least their bedroom. Then we are going to take them to see the new Mummy movie.

The husband and I are totally psyched Bret Favre is coming to the Jets. I hope he moves to Hoboken so I can surreptiously follow him around. There is precedent since Eli already lives in Hoboken.

That was fun

This weekend we had a full house again at the beach. The husband's former co-worker DR and his boyfriend PF took the train out with me Friday afternoon. We had roadies for the ride. When we got there we went grocery shopping and skipped tea. I was responsible for dinner and the three of us drank a lot of wine while I made dinner. The husband got out there in time to join us for dinner. We then hopped in the pool and after we went off to the ubderwear party at the lounge at the harbor. I have only been to it twice before. I noticed one change- they now are showing porn videos during the party. We got home and then went skinny dipping.

Saturday morning we had a very nice breakfast and then sat out by the pool until our friends JW and JD arrived. Then the rain began so we moved onto the back porch and played cards. DR kept telling the husband I had set the bar high for dinner and kept the pressure on him. I got sent to the pantry to get him his supplies for the meal. Then I and out guests went to tea. We had fun and returned back promptly at 8:30 and were all put to work to help get dinner ready. I have to admit the husband definitely surpassed me in the arena of dinner. I told him though that I was taking partial credit since I did the grilling for the dinner. We all then promptly fell into food comas and did not make it out- which after Friday night's activity is not a bad thing.

Sunday after we saw off our guests we took the ferry back and went to the husband's mother's house to celebrate her birthday. She made excellent paella.

I read an excellent editorial in the WSJ today discussing just what windfall profits are and what makes them winfalls. Senator Obama's plan seems a bit disingenous since it only targets the traditional targets of the Democratic Party. I am a bit disappointed because his entire campaign has been about not being the usual political race. I also do think that he is very subtly and smartly playing the race card and then saying he is not doing it. I have probably just pissed off a lot of people with that comment but what the hell- you can't be friends with everyone.

Swam this morning since I need to get serious about training for the OCT race we signed up for. There was one hottie getting out of the pool as I was getting started.

THe FBER is always late to the party

Yesterday there was an article on BBERG saying we may have entered a recession in late '07. My response to that was a big DUH! i have been saying since Thanksgiving we are in a recession and that it will be longer than any we have seen in a long time. One expert even said that yesterday too. Usually once the FBER declares we are in on we have already started exiting it. This time however once they declare it my guess is we will be only half way through the pain.

Wednesday I got to chat with Mr. Barrett on IM for an extended period of time. It was fun because he is normally not on and when he is he is usually not verbose. But it was different this time and I learned all I wanted to about the light brown apple moth and how it is a threat to our way of life. I'm looking forward to seeing him when he and the rest of the DC posse visits us at the beach in a few weeks. Mr. Clifford is overseas again somewhere in Asia I believe.

The boys went to see The Dark Knight last night with their mom. That is a big deal since she normally doesn't take them to the movies. Also I was surprised she took them to such a violent and dark movie. My brother the doctor out of the blue earlier in the week told me he saw it and thought it really should have been rated R. The irony is I know if I had taken them I would have gotten an earful from their mother. The husband probably thinks I should call her out on it but it really isn't worth it to me to get into a pissing match. Ex-wives are not rational when dealing with their ex-husbands and I would not win the argument.

We have a full house at the beach this weekend. One of the couples that went to Las Vegas with us is coming out. The other couple is a former coworker of the husband's and his boyfriend. I am taking the train out because I don't feel like driving.

I think JP is due back in town next week. It will be good to see him again.