As many people are really tired of poltics and hearing about the lack luster candidates (McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden, either way we're screwed). Here's something else to make you question both of the "top" candidates.

Over at Health08.org they have a handy side by side comparison of the candidates views and platforms on Health care and Health care related issues.

"Health care has been an important issue in this year's presidential campaign and the candidates have staked out positions on key health care issues. Both major party candidates have developed comprehensive health care reform proposals addressing health coverage and access, rising health care costs and health care quality. A side-by-side comparison of these proposals has been prepared and is available..."

It's actually a very useful page, so if you want to learn more, it's a good resource.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:23 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After a four year hiatus, Ktreva, Clone and I returned to the Belvidere Pioneer Festival. We stopped going due to personal issues that had nothing to do with the events. Finally a friend of ours that is the Booshway, Marshal, asked us at an earlier event this year to come. We had nothing else going on and it's literally 15 minutes from our front door to the camp, so we thought we would attend it this year.

The committee that runs the event put us with Clan Chattan. We didn't mind as we're still friends with them. However I did have to make sure they knew that we were not members of Clan Chattan. Marshall said he put us with them because he knew we were all friends.

Now of course he camped us all in the back of the camp with the Indians. I kept inquiring what we had done not only to be shoved back in with Clan Chattan, but then to be camped next to the Indians. I figured it was punishment for not going to their event in four years. The friends of ours that portrayed Indians kept telling us it was a reward for being such great people. I think they just wanted us to entertain them.

Unfortunately the musical talent for our group didn't show up which meant that we had to entertain ourselves and more scarily that meant that *I* had to do some singing. That's right folks, I sang. We could tell that it was a huge hit because NOBODY ELSE entered our camp.

It was a good time and we had fun. The event is what it is, A festival. There were arts and crafts, and farmer's market stuff. They had volunteers walking around dressed in everything from Little House on the Prairie (The High School musical) costumes to 18th century fur trade and everything in between. Including the Austrian mounted army from the Napoleonic wars.

Since this was an unplanned event, I'm not updating the Spoon and Blade with a review, this was a last minute decision.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:12 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 OOoo was the root beer guy there this year? Really about the only thing there I would have gone for

Posted by: Shadoglare at September 30, 2008 02:22 PM (Volhe)

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IÂ’m sorry that this weekÂ’s Beer Review is a night late. Yesterday was, uh, interesting. But thatÂ’s a post for a different day. Tonight IÂ’m review another donated beer. TonightÂ’s beer is Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale by the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co, Chico, CA as donated by Shadoglare.

It came in the standard 12 oz brown bottle. There is a white label on it. The Sierra Nevada logo is on the top in a yellow banner. The name of the beer is in the middle in green lettering. Between the name of the beer and the company logo is a small picture I canÂ’t make out. There is a description of the beer on it. They also note that this is the 25th release of the Bigfoot barely wine style ale.

ItÂ’s dark brown in color with a nice rich ruby highlights. It poured a thin tan head that faded quickly to a film on the top of the beer. It is cloudy, light passes through easily enough, but you canÂ’t see any clear images. There was some lacing.

The smell is of dark fruit with a hint of vanilla. The scent of bourbon from being aged in a bourbon barrel. The bitter scent of hops is present, almost overpowering. The taste is a mixture of roasted malts, vanilla bean and hops. The bitterness from the hops overpowers the scent and the taste of the beer, and leaves a very IPA like aftertaste to it. IÂ’m not sure if this beer is just a little skunky or if it should taste like this as it doesnÂ’t taste like any other barleywine style ale that IÂ’ve ever tasted. Although I will say that you canÂ’t taste the alcohol in this 9.6% Alcohol by Volume beer.

This is medium bodied beer that is light on the carbonation. There is some coating to it, which may be why the aftertaste sticks around for a long time.

This beer has been sitting in my fridge since June; IÂ’m really thinking that it may have turned. I had two of them and in the non-traditional style of beer, the second one was worse than the first one. Overall I was not impressed and IÂ’m currently giving it a 2 out of 10. Due to the circumstances IÂ’d be willing to re-review this beer.

Mental note, cleaning out any beer in the fridge that has been in there from before I left for Oklahoma.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:59 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Damn. With a name like that I was hoping it'd be better.

Posted by: Navy CPO at September 25, 2008 08:48 PM (lx5Kv)

2 BigFoot Piss?

Posted by: oddybobo at September 25, 2008 09:52 PM (dVFQh)

3 Happy Birthday!

Posted by: Shadoglare at September 29, 2008 05:41 AM (OHoWV)

4 Can't figure out why, but beer never lasts more then a week in my fridge!!

Posted by: bx19 at September 30, 2008 02:19 PM (wzqYA)

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Well I've been in the office a whopping whole 7 business days. In that time nothing has been brought up about my little, uh, heated expressing of dissenting opinions. However I have discovered that I have reached a level of "I don't give a damn" that I've never reached before. Including, I think, a nasty case of self-sabotaging behaviors. Such as telling a manager that bad management by her does not mean that there is an emergency for my team.

Oh something about the BlogCrawl must have gotten out at work. Some rumors about me, and AK-47 and a printer are working their way through the employees.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:17 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Okay, it's just after noon here and I'm still getting information about all that happened yesterday. I'm going to start at the beginning to tell the whole story.

First off, Shadoglare, Wes, Boopie and I went shooting. I was hoping some others would join us, but they weren't able to. This was Boopie's first time shooting modern firearms and he did pretty good for his first time. He shot my Colt 1991 .45, Taurus .357 Tracker, Walther PPK .380, The AK-47 and he even put one round through the Mosin-Nagant M44. He decided that he didn't like the kick of the Mosin.

At the range there was a a guy that had a German MG-42 machine gun. We only got to see him fire a couple of rounds through it as he was having problems with it loading properly and kept jamming.

After the shoot we returned to the house to find Petey, Wil and Red already drinking and waiting on us. Of course once we got the firearms unloaded we were eager to join them in the activities.

Now, this is where things start to get a little fuzzy.

So at this point I'm blogging with hazzy and hole filled memory. I know Bruce stopped by for part of the day, but he left early. I don't remember Graumagus showing up, but apparently he did as he left a post on here. I know that there was some puking... not by me... and apparently people started taking their shirts off... again not me. Unfortunatly this was not good shirtless... this was man boob shirtless.

I know that I finally came into the house around 3:00 AM. I fell asleep earlier than that, but they were nice enough to let me sleep where I sat.

I can see I missed some blogs again, but damn, looking at the time stamp on my BlogCrawl post that I was pretty drunk early on. I also know that it was hard to work the blogroll as the computer wouldn't sit still.

Even thought I don't remember a whole lot, I can see it was a good and successful BlogCrawl. And since I survived, I will proudly display my badge of honor!

Posted by: Contagion at 11:51 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Damn, sounds like maybe I shouldn't have believed you when you said you'd remember I paid you back

Posted by: Shadoglare at September 21, 2008 01:46 PM (3/qDf)

2 Had fun. till the tequila. tequila is not my friend.

Posted by: oddybobo at September 21, 2008 02:26 PM (dVFQh)

3 I started too early and left too early. Looks like it was tons of fun!

Posted by: vw bug at September 21, 2008 06:40 PM (FPOeI)

4 I was away at a conference and came back to drunken comments! Damn! I missed it. I love being the spectator.

Posted by: Bou at September 21, 2008 08:01 PM (PyX9Z)

5 Dang - I missed it... I hate being covered up...

Posted by: Richmond at September 23, 2008 12:04 PM (7r36o)

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Hi, remember me? Graumagus? The asshole who used to have a blog that's now a spark plug emporium site?

Contagion is drunk enough to let me set a few rumors straight about where I've been lately.

Rumor 1) I've been in prison for federal weapons violation

False: What happens along the US/Mexico border stays on the US/Mexico border.
(PS: I can neither confirm nor deny that INS gets upset when they find smoldering greasy spots covered in tattered ponchos smelling of burnt frioles)

Rumor 2) I'm dead

False, unless this is hell, which would explain much...

Rumor 3: I've been kidnapped by a cult of nympho contortionists who worship fat, bald guys

False. Dammit.

Frizzen Sparks will return, goddamnit, and an explanation of my disappearance will be forthcoming.

All I have to say is A) OJ Simpson can't frame himself and B) If you should happen to find yourself banging a Philipino whore so fugly you need to put a bag over her head, the authorities prefer you use paper, not plastic.

-Graumagus

Posted by: Contagion at 08:12 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I refus eto edit this post, I'mk back from the rang and m>aking comints! yea, I've draink al ot at the beer teasting but dammit What is it for? We've got abotu 16 people in my back hyard including Shagodlare, Wes, PEtehy, Bruce and comse blogless friends! Graumagus is going us later.

Shagoglaqre, wes, boopie qnd I went shoooting earlier. We had a lot of fun and shot a lot of ammo. The rest of them caught up to us at our, ktreva and mine, house when we returned.

Now I'm making comments!

Posted by: Contagion at 07:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The time has come and we have our BlogCrawl! I'm getting ready to head out to the shooting fest, but I wanted to make sure that everyone knows the activities and rules.

We should be at the Buffalo Range around 11:00 AM. We should be back to Rockford around 3:00 PM. Then the drinking is on.

There is a chat room for those that want to chat later in the night. You can enter the BlogCrawl chat by clicking the link. The password is an original blogcrawl

The logos:

Thanks Pamibe!

The Rules:

A) You have to be 21 years old to participate and drink. I donÂ’t want some minorÂ’s parents coming back and saying I told them to get pissed drunk and go on the Internet. If you are under 21, you may still participate as a designated blogger. If you don't want to drink but still make stupid comments, be my quest!

2) Drink as much as you comfortably feel you should. This is for fun, I donÂ’t want to have blog fodder stories involving charcoal slurries and ER visits. Be responsible, especially if you have to drive. IÂ’m saying right now that if you do something stupid and hurt yourself I will make fun of you. I am neither legally, morally nor ethically responsible for anything you do either in the real world or on the Internet. You are all adults and responsible for your own actions.

D) Please attempt to limit the Blog Crawl comments to the hours of 7:00PM September 20 and 7:00 AM CST September 21th. Just so itÂ’s easier to track and the time zone differences for all the participants. Not that IÂ’m going to link to every single post that has a comment on it, I just donÂ’t want to search for them Sunday to see what everyone said. Oh, and a drunken post on your own blog is perfectly acceptable and encouraged. Same with day after posts.

4) Try to leave a comment on every blog in the Bad Example and Frizzen Sparks family. You may use my side bar as a reference if you donÂ’t know who they are. Do not feel limited to these blogs only, go ahead and hit any other blog you would like as well. Oh, and a drunken post on your own blog is perfectly acceptable and encouraged.

Okay, there we go, let's have a great BlogCrawl!

Posted by: Contagion at 07:39 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I'm going to preface this post with a note for my wife: My darling Ktreva, please do not read this post. I know how you are senstive to my dislike of the soap fearing clans of roaming idiots, but this story was just too good not to share.

In order to get prepared for the BlogCrawl shoot tomorrow, I headed to a local gun store to pick up some 30 round mags and ammo. As I pulled into the parking lot, which is shared with some other local businesses, there were four hippies, tie dies and all. standing on the sidwalk. As I pulled in I was greated with "Hey man, No guns, more fun!" and "Guns are the root of evil."

Of course I just smiled and waved at them. I walked in, picked up my items and as I was leaving there were still there chanting something about the evils of guns. When I went to leave I had to wait for traffic. My windows were rolled down and one of the female protesters asked me "What do you need a gun for?" I couldn't help myself, I responded with:

"It's Happy, Hippie Hunting Time! I'm going to go bait a field with tie dies and pot and see if I can bag my limit."

The ghastly look on her face was classic.

So in honor of the day and the BlogCrawl I present:

The 2008 BlogCrawl Happy Hippie Hunt!

Posted by: Contagion at 08:49 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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The BlogCrawl is tomorrow! Don't forget! Just so you remember, here are the rules.

A) You have to be 21 years old to participate and drink. I donÂ’t want some minorÂ’s parents coming back and saying I told them to get pissed drunk and go on the Internet. If you are under 21, you may still participate as a designated blogger. If you don't want to drink but still make stupid comments, be my quest!

2) Drink as much as you comfortably feel you should. This is for fun, I donÂ’t want to have blog fodder stories involving charcoal slurries and ER visits. Be responsible, especially if you have to drive. IÂ’m saying right now that if you do something stupid and hurt yourself I will make fun of you. I am neither legally, morally nor ethically responsible for anything you do either in the real world or on the Internet. You are all adults and responsible for your own actions.

D) Please attempt to limit the Blog Crawl comments to the hours of 7:00PM September 20 and 7:00 AM CST September 21th. Just so itÂ’s easier to track and the time zone differences for all the participants. Not that IÂ’m going to link to every single post that has a comment on it, I just donÂ’t want to search for them Sunday to see what everyone said. Oh, and a drunken post on your own blog is perfectly acceptable and encouraged. Same with day after posts.

4) Try to leave a comment on every blog in the Bad Example and Frizzen Sparks family. You may use my side bar as a reference if you donÂ’t know who they are. Do not feel limited to these blogs only, go ahead and hit any other blog you would like as well. Oh, and a drunken post on your own blog is perfectly acceptable and encouraged.

And there will be a chat available!

Posted by: Contagion at 06:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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IÂ’m trying to clean the fridge out of left over donated beer. I donÂ’t remember when this particular beer made it to my house, but I do remember who brought it. It was Bruce of Back to the Batcave. Now he bought a case of this for himself to drink, not for me to do a review on. I just asked him to leave a couple for me to review kind of as a joke. So this one does not count against Bruce. I wasnÂ’t in the mood for anything particularly flavorful or good for that point tonight, so I thought it would be a good choice. Tonight IÂ’m reviewing Red Dog by the Plank Road Brewery in Milwaukee, WI (AKA Miller).

It came in an aluminum can. There is a picture of a red bull dog on it, and in white letters outlined in red with a black background it says Red Dog sideways. It also claims to be uncommonly smooth. The main body of the can is silver in color.

The color is a pale gold color. ItÂ’s clear, you can see through it easily with no distortion. You can see the carbonation bubbles rise through it easily. What head there is made up of tiny ultra-white bubbles. It disappears quickly leaving nothing on the top of the beer or any lacing on the side of the glass.

There is a scent of malts and yeast to the beer that combine to remind me of boiled corn. ItÂ’s not the most pleasant smell, but yet not a horrible turn off either. The flavor is very subtle grain combination. There is almost no hint of hops or even bitterness to it at all. There was no noticeable aftertaste.

This is a light bodied beer that borders on almost being medium bodied. There is a very mild carbonation level to it.

I remember when this beer first came out. I was in college and you could buy it cheap. This is not a beer I would go out of my way to buy, but itÂ’s not undrinkable. There are a ton of other beers that I would pick up before buying Red Dog. Basically the only way IÂ’d drink this is if it is free or if it was really cheap and I was hard up for money. Overall I give it 3 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:16 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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okay, they took down the Palin/Clinton SNL skit video, but this one shouldn't go anywhere. This really doesn't help my feelings about this election, since they seem to pretty much hit the nail on the head, both candidates are just whores for a vote.

And yes, I'm still planning on voting Obama, just because he's not McCain.

Posted by: Contagion at 04:11 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I haven't received much of a response on this years BlogCrawl. So I thought I would tantalize you with some more details. First off, we are going to be shooting at the Buffalo Range in Ottawa, IL. After shooting we are going to head back to my place for a beer tasting, we should be there around 3:00PM. give or take half an hour.

EVERYONE is welcome, just let me know.

Now, I would like to see a lot of people to participate. So please, spread the word. Let's have some fun! Oh, and just in case you really want to know, here is the logo that Pamibe has done for this year.

You know you want one of these on your blog! I'm holding onto the designated Driver, Survivor and extra special pimped out Survivor logo!

Posted by: Contagion at 06:51 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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For those of you that missed it, here is the intro to Saturday Night Live this last week. Tina Fey does an excellent Palin. She looks and sounds like her. For those that follow politics, this is hilarious.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:42 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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A group of friends of mine, including Bruce, usually get together on Sundays to watch football. Today I'm hosting the gathering. YAY! They never wanted to come here in the past because my TV was too small. I only had a 32 inch. Well last January I bought a 50' HD and now it's okay to come over.

I'm not sure how many people are going to be here, as it always fluctuates week to week. But I know I'm grilling up a ton of burgers.

If you're in the neighborhood stop by, just bring your own beer.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Now for the cute content of the day. The future of Rock is alive, check out this little kid lipsync Jukebox Hero by Foreigner.

Posted by: Contagion at 10:45 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Notre Dame sweatshirt - check. Camo pants - check. Rockin' kid - check. I love it. The 80s ain't never gonna die!

Posted by: Mrs. Who at September 13, 2008 06:18 PM (z+bTV)

2 OMG what a smooch!! He reminds me of Clone when he was smaller

Posted by: h~ at September 13, 2008 06:29 PM (lg4Cc)

3 Loved the double fist pump... the kid rocks.

Posted by: T1G at September 13, 2008 09:29 PM (ZHgID)

4 Not only is the kid adorable, but he's a ND fan?!?!? He's set for life.....

Posted by: Tammi at September 14, 2008 07:53 AM (pWX3U)

5 OMG! What a hoot!

Posted by: oddybobo at September 14, 2008 10:38 AM (m+TQk)

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This arguement has been going around the blogosphere for a long, long time. I remember seeing many a post about it. What do you call soft drinks? Is it soda, pop, coke, etc. This arguement has even gone on outside the blogosphere. I know many of my friends and I have had this debate.

Someone has taken this debate to a new level and actually did a survey to find out. Then they made a map based on the answers. Finally we have the Soda Vs. Pop map.

Click to enlarge.

They also have a breakdown on to how the map can be read over at Strange Maps. Looking at this map I have to conclude pop is the most used term!

Posted by: Contagion at 09:48 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Yeah, I'm totally a soda guy, even though I live in a pop area. I just thing "pop" sounds stupid

Posted by: Shadoglare at September 13, 2008 10:31 AM (jHfl8)

2 That's pretty cool!

Posted by: Roses at September 13, 2008 01:06 PM (ncThF)

3 It's Coke dangit. I don't care if its Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Diet Coke or Gatorade it's still a durn Coke!

Posted by: BloodSpite at September 13, 2008 02:04 PM (OwcwO)

4 A pop is what you get up-side the head. Ya drink a soda.

Posted by: Wes at September 15, 2008 08:05 AM (1crE/)

5 That was dang cool. And it is 'drink.' Not Pop, not soda, not coke. "You want a drink?" "Yes. Whatcha got?" "I got coke, pepsi, diet coke, dr. pepper, and tea." Now- the tea thing....be careful- if you like it sweet, you better tell them. And vice versa.

Posted by: rave at September 16, 2008 01:20 PM (hVKpB)

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This is really cool! Esquire magazine has come up with a cover using E-Ink (Electronic Ink) that blinks.

Apparently they are only producing 100,000 of these.

Looking at this makes me wonder how far away are we from the days when we have moving pictures in newsprint. Think about it. All those fantasy and Sci-Fi movies may not be far off. The newspapers from Harry Potter and the wanted posters from Serenity/Firefly.

Now what I really want to know is, how much is this going to cost?

Posted by: Contagion at 09:32 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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From the creators of the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment, EeepyBird show us how to have fun with sticky notes. eepybird.com

Oh man, I could have been doing this when I was in Tulsa! I wish I had found it earlier.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:12 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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One last explosion from Coo Coo for Cocoa Puffs.

Two hours sitting on a tarmac at the Tulsa Airport due to flight delay because of weather

Three seats in a row, me in the middle

Four and a half hours of being stuck in the plain on a 1 hour 45 minute gate to gate flight.

Five buses that arrive and leave before my bus arrives to bring me from O'hare to Rockford. Due to a traffic accident on 90 holding everything up.

Six hours and 45 minutes from boarding the plane, I finally arrive in Rockford.

It's all worth it to be home.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:39 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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