Tax Man Being a Bully

Apparently Revenue Canada is going to be going after waiters and waitresses who do not claim their tips as income. Really big brother, is that really necessary? Most servers in the food industry make not much more than minimum wage, do you really need to dig deeper into their pockets? Servers who do get tips typically work hard for them, leave them alone. If the Government of Canada wants more tax money coming in I have a couple of suggestions:

#1: Legalize Marijuana: This is an underground industry that makes billions upon billions a year of tax free income for drug dealers. Legalize it, control it, tax it. in all honesty I believe pot to be less harmful and destroy less lives than booze, and booze is legal. People will be smoking pot from now till the end of time, accept that and make it legal and taxable. And all the money saved by law enforcement not having to focus on marijuana can be used to fight the deadly drugs like meth, E, Coke, etc. 

#2: Legalize Prostitution:  It is referred to as the world oldest profession because as long as people have had money there have been people willing to sell their bodies for it, and pay for bodies to have sex with. It will always be a part of our world so why not accept it and tax it? Get working women (and men) off the streets and into brothels. Make it legit, secure and documented. Billions of dollars are changing hands in this industry every year, and all of it tax free. Why? We can bury our heads in the sand and pretend it is not happening right now but it is, accept it and tax it. 

Big Brother/Tax Man: Stop worrying about servers tips, there are bigger fishes to fry. 

Beer Goggles: July 2012

Beer Goggles: July 2012   

 

As part of my 'Random Nerdness' Blog I have included a monthly update I am calling 'Beer Goggles' where I will share a brief outline on what I am drinking, reading, viewing and listening to for the month.

 

Beer: I am drinking some Rickards. I am a huge fan of the Red, but I decided to buy the sample pack and it included Rickards Dark, Blonde, White and Red. there really is nothing better than drinking a Rickards Red on tap. I also purchased some Sleeman's Cream Ale and Coors Light Iced T. 

 

Comics & Books: I am almost a year behind in reading 'Catwoman' and 'Supergirl' from DC Comics. I keep ordering it every month and the pile keeps on getting bigger so this month I intend to get caught up on the adventures of those fine women.

 

I bought the first 2 novels in Peter David's 'The Hidden Earth Chronicles' at the Calgary Expo, from Mr Peter David himself and I even had them autographed. I'm not a big fan of fantasy novels but given that this is written by Peter David it should be an enjoyable read. I had intended to start reading Book 1 in May, but I got busy with work and such so maybe this summer I'll get cracking.   

 In March I bought and continue to read the 'Compendium' of the comic book series 'The Walking Dead'. In March I finished the first trade and I was blown away by what I read and saw. I loved it so much I went out and ordered the first Compendium of this comic series, and I will buy the second one when it is released. Robert Kirkman is perhaps one of the greatest comic book writers in history!

 

Also a Trade I'm reading is the 'Starman Omnibus 1', paperback from DC comics. Reprinting this series from the 90's written by James Robinson (Earth Two). this is a fun book to read. the art is not the best but it suits the story I think.

Viewing: I'm still very much behind in my DC Animation viewing so this month I will be watching for the first time the 'Batman Year One', 'Wonder Woman' and 'Batman/Superman Public Enemies' DVD movies. DC has done an excellent job with their movies that I have already seen so I'm sure to be pleased. 

Listening: Having a long drive to work every workday I tend to do a lot of listening. 'The Atomic Geeks', 'Nerd Lunch' and 'Classic Film Jerks' are all great podcasts I love to listen to. Some other great podcasts I listen to are: 'Nerd Hurdles', 'Starbase 66', 'iFanboy', 'Comic Geek Speak' and 'I Sell Comics'. I've also downloaded some great audiobooks I hope to crack open this month: 'Bradbury 13', radio-like drama's about some of Ray Bradbury's classic sci-fi tales. Also 'World War Z: An Oral History Of The Zombie War'. I also have William Shatner's and Leonard Nimoy's autobiographies to listen to. 

 

Well that is all for July's 'Beer Goggles'.

 

Cheers!

Poutine Quest Part III: Bacon & Onion

Today I had a poutine at Ramzi's Restaurant, unlike any other poutine I have eaten before. This one had your regular ingredients  such as fries, gravy and cheese. But added to the mix were real bacon and sautéed fried onions. WOW this was the best poutine I have had so far in my travels. They actually have a number of other poutine varieties which I will be sampling in the not too distant future. They are a little expensive but well worth it at $8.95. Ramzi's is a local chain with a restaurant in Barrhead, and another in nearby Westlock.

 My Wife Crystal too is enjoying the same poutine, while our daughter Shelby eats a banana split.

I also bought some 'Coors Light' iced t. It's alright, Crystal liked it but I don't think I'll buy them again. The bottle is awesome, but it is too expensive. Give me a real beer anytime.

RIP Ernest Borgnine

RIP Ernest Borgnine

 

I always liked Ernest Borgnine. As a kid one of my favourite movies was Disney's 'The Black Hole', in which he played astronaut/reporter Harry Booth. I remember him being one of the first celebrities to do a 'Simpsons' cameo appearance, and now that I am a father of kids myself I have heard his voice on several occasions as 'Mermaid Man' on 'Sponge Bob Square Pants'. I most recently seen Ernest Borgnine on the Bruce Willis flick 'Red'. I admired him for the fact he was a man in his 90's and still acting and still being very active. truly inspirational. He seemed like a real down to Earth nice guy, too few of those these days in Hollywood. He will be missed.  

The Amazing Spiderman? Worth seeing?

Has anyone seen this new flick? I am debating whether it's worth my time to go see. Mike from the 'I Sell Comics' podcast is a guru of comic knowledge and he did not give it a positive review. I trust him if he ways he doesn't like it it probably ain't that good. I may be going to the city on Tuesday to watch this film, because I need to pick up my comic books from my store anyway. Mike also mentioned that the 'bonus' scene in mid-credits made no sense. Very sceptical about this film the more I think of it.

Without having seen this film here is a list of my pro's and con's going in:

Pro's:
- Casting seems solid. Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Denis Leary seem to be perfect fits for their roles.

- Special Effects look great. The Lizard looks very cool.

- Great to see 'Spiderman' back on the big screen after 5 years. Yes it has been 5 years!!!

Con's:
- Despite 'Spiderman 3' being less than stellar I enjoyed Sam Raimi's take on the wallcrawler. Had he stayed with the series I'm sure he would have taken us to some very cool places. I had hopes that by film 6 we would see 'The Sinister Six'  take on Spiderman, but now with this reboot we are starting from scratch.

- With the first 3 Raimi films we saw Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Venom, Sandman... will we see new versions of these characters in future 'Amazing' sequels or will they be lost. Alfred Molina was superb as Doc Ock, it's gonna suck to see that role recast.  

- Tobey Maguire was excellent as Peter Parker. Wish we could have seen him grow with the role.

- Despite 'Spiderman 3' being less than stellar do we really need a reboot so soon? We've already seen the origin of Spiderman, his origin was told 10 years ago. Do we really need to go there again?

- The Lizard is the big bad for this film? As far as Spiderman rogues go he is not one I really cared to ever see on the big screen. I would rather have seen The Scorpion, Mysterio or the Rhino in this film.

Well what do you think? 

On The Menu #5: Local Fast Food

I live in the town of Barrhead, in the province of Alberta located in the great nation called Canada. Barrhead is a smaller community, about 4432 people call it home. We have some fast food establishments such as KFC (formerly Kentucky Fried Chicken), A&W, Subway. We have a few smaller fast food chains such as Burger Baron and Ramzi's. I'll break down these places and give you my 2 cents on them as I have ate at everyone of these places many times.

 

KFC: I do love the KFC chicken burgers, nuggets, poutines and chicken bowls. But the chicken itself is very very greasy, it is very expensive and I have had issues in the past with the service at this particular KFC. I'll grab a sandwich from time to time from them, or a poutine/bowl but other than that I avoid KFC. I have a family of 5 and it is almost impossible to afford to feed them all there without spending less than $50 bucks. The pricing is outrageous as far as I'm concerned. And as I said i have had issues with the service there. On one occasion in particular they over charged me and when I pointed it out to them they really made me feel like crap for having pointed it out to them. They have drive thru but most times the speaker doesn't work so you have to order from the window.

 

A&W: I love me a Teen Burger more than any other burger. A&W does have good food, prices aren't that bad and the service there is very good. Probably the place I frequent the most. They have drive thru too.

 

Subway: Eat fresh indeed. I love eating there. It can get pricey especially when buying for the family but sometimes its worth the expense. Service is good and so too is the menu.

 

Burger Baron: They have great food, I especially loved their grilled club house. They also have a great selection of ice cream both hard and soft. They make DQ style 'Flurries' which are awesome. They even have had contests to create your own 'Flurry'. The service is great, the owners are very nice people and it is a great place to visit when in Barrhead. This is a family run business.

 

Ramzi's: They are another great establishment that makes great burgers and pizza. They also have a great menu of ice cream. Another bonus is that they have drive-thru and the owners are very nice people. This too is a family run business.  

 

Well if your passing through Barrhead I hope this has helped you out in deciding where your gonna eat. TTYL!

Poutine Quest, Part II: A&W

For supper tonight I have bought myself a poutine from A&W, with a couple of 'Papa Burgers' that were on sale 2 for $7. As mentioned before and important element to a great poutine A&W is good gravy, which A&W has. However I feel that the cheese should be melted more, which is a failing with A&W poutines. However it still is a great eat, and speaking of which I am now going to eat the food pictured.

TTYL