My Letter To The Government

July 28, 2006
The Honorable Paul S. Sarbanes
309 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510

Dear Senator Sarbanes,

As a native Missourian and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue
Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the
Immigration and Naturalization Service in an effort to determine the
process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.

My reasons for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal
alien stem from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for
which you voted. If my understanding of this bill's provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, what I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out. Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine.

Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively?
This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid
heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.

Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would
receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications.

If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal
(retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be
most appreciative.

Thank you for your assistance.

Your Loyal Constituent,
Randy Raley

"Superman Returns"

I just saw it at the IMAX/3D house. Loved it. Great entertainment. Drags a bit toward the end, but man, what a ride. Noticed a great deal of Jesus imagery, or was that just me? You think it's a long movie from the running time but it went by like a flash. Lex Luther still lives, Lois Lane's heart still pangs and yes, there will be a sequel, I'm sure. From a guy who LOVED the first one(1978 with Christopher Reeve), I really enjoyed this one
4 1/2 stars out of 5.

Rut Roh!

Not good news for the home team...where have you gone Lance Armstrong?

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time

I can't argue with most of them, hell I couldn't even put together my top 100.
Here's the top ten....

1. Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan

2. Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones

3. Imagine, John Lennon

4. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye

5. Respect, Aretha Franklin

6. Good Vibrations, The Beach Boys

7. Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry

8. Hey Jude, The Beatles

9. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana

10. What'd I Say, Ray Charles

Will It EVER Stop?

I bought the albums in 1969 and in 1970 when they were new. I bought the cassettes when they were new. I bought the CD when they were first available on CD. I bought the MFSL version (Original Master Recordings) of the CDs when they were available and now, I just bought these two releases in 5.1 surround sound.
Man, I cannot wait to hear this in surround sound...

Another awesome memory from my teen age years...

The Fattening of America

What has happened to us? Fat, lazy and greedy. Not a day goes by, there isn't something about the dumbing down of the culture. We are fat, we are lazy and we need to get over it and get our faces back where they can do something. Not eat your life away.

More Beautiful Pictures

Here is something not many of us get to see, unless you live near there - Mt. St. Helens at sunrise. Mt. St. Helens continues to spew ash, while it is forming a lava dome in the crater and still having minor tremors.
Here in this sunrise shot, she appears to be blowing smoke rings (and anything so benign is welcomed, given recent history). What forms the "smoke rings" is the air flowing over the mountain getting pushed up higher as it goes up and over the top. The moisture content and initial temperature are just right so that the moisture
condenses from a vapor to small particles at the higher altitude. When the moving air moves past the peak and comes down again, the particles evaporate back to an invisible vapor.
The two "pancakes" describe that there are two layers of air for which this is happening, thus making this awesome picture possible.

More chalk drawings from Julian Beever.

Depending on your view, this picture means nothing...

What about a different view of the same chalk drawing?

Look at the expressions of the passers by...

My favorite: remember, this is a chalk drawing on the street. Wow!

Everything You Wanted To Know About Headbanging

Brilliant Wikipedia entry.

"George Micheal Is Tapping This"

"Wake ME Up Before YOU Go-Go".

Read the gory details here.
Makes nothing I ever did in my past worthy of that.
I feel woozy.

Here's Where Your Gas Money Goes

Engineering at it's finest....


Look at the scale of this monstrosity in Dubai, take a look at the palm trees for reference.....


This is the inside...


So, our gas money goes to the people of Dubai so they can ski in the desert. Is this a great country or what, to be so benevolent to people who obviously need it.....



Think about it the next time you fill up...or then again, don't.

Storm Pictures

Four days after the storm, there are still 350,000 homes without power. That translates to about a million people. Here are some pictures of the storm and the aftermath...

Cheap Trick

Man, I haven't been to a concert in a long time, the idea of fighting crowds, drunks, etc. hasn't appealed to me in awhile. The last show I saw was the Moody Blues at Starlight Theatre in KC about three years ago. They were not good.

Last night, my friend from KC came in to see Cheap Trick with me for free as a part of the Live on The Levee series being held on the Riverfront in St.Louis. It was a beautiful night, nice and cool with no humidity. The first time I saw anything that resembled Cheap Trick was in 1974 when what became Cheap Trick played at my high school prom. They are from Rockford Il, and my prom was in East Moline about 2 hours away.

I spent 6 bucks to park and that was it. Great show, fun band. The four original guys are still in theband and Robin Zander still has the voice. Rick Neilsen is still one of the most underrated guitar players on the planet and the rhythm section was their usual excellent self.

They played the hits, but some other stuff that I enjoyed "I Know What I Want" and "Voices" were treats. i wanted to hear "On Top Of The World" and "Everything Works Out If You Let It" but those are pretty obscure.

After, the fireworks were great and it ws treat from the to have the finale set to "Born To Run". Thanks guys, great show. See you next Saturday night for Grand Funk Railroad. How many times can I relive my youth this summer?