Well, between Super Size Me, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Dodge Ball (yes, Dodge Ball), I have to admit that thoughts of fleeting this country haven't crossed my mind more than once.

Well, everyone knows about why Super Size Me gets me going. But as long as the American public continues to financially support Ronald's Regime (McDonald, not Reagan) aka buy lots of Big Macs, we will continue to see lot of unhealthy people in this country.

Fahrenheit 9/11. I'm sorry. Really I am. Throughout my entire time on this blog I've tried to make it a point to not discuss politics and other topics that cause friction and bad juju. But if you see this movie, and just knowing what we already know about G Dub, we would be fools to vote for him again. Am I out of line saying this? I don't think so. A dear friend of mine who just graduated from law school is in the JAG corps. He was deployed to Iraq two months ago. He wants everyone to go out and please VOTE this fall so this doesn't happen again. That's the point of the 9/11 movie. As a member of the armed forces you sign up knowing you might be killed in combat. But what a waste of a great human being, if THIS OIL-GREED WAR is what brings a bright young man who has been so kind all his life to his death.

If GW wins, I might have to move to Canada. I don't want my hard-earned tax dollars going to this man's elitist war.

Dodge Ball. OK, I like Ben Stiller. He's a funny guy. He's had some great moments in show business. But this movie was a complete waste of my time and matinee money. I decided to check it out because I was hoping to "dodge" the storm system going thru Iowa as I came back to the Twin Cities after a short trip home. Yeah, it had its one liner moments. And then the ending was cute and unusually satisfying. But it was STUPID!!! It was just like anything these days in corporate America, including Hollywood. You could see the sausage factory of comedy before your eyes. Please, please, please, do NOT waste money on this movie unless it's someone else's money. And then when you come back, please apologize to that person you've stolen five bucks from (or, Lord help me, eight bucks for the evening show!) and tell them that you wish deep in your hearts that this money could have gone to charity and not into Ben Stiller's pocket.

If I see Dodge Ball 2 in previews next year, I am DEFINITELY moving to Canada. Or Europe. Or perhaps Australia. Yeah, that'd be quite nice.....

I guess this is why I say America is a short-lived civilization. We've all at once become too lazy, too sick, too comfortable, too wasteful, too dumb, too corrupt.

Back in '97 I was lucky to complete a seven week archeological dig in Ashkelon, Israel. In discussing the digs from previous years during a tour of our dig sites, I came to learn that humans have always been idiots and heathens. The archeologists found the skeletons of mostly female babies in the sewers of the Roman bath/whorehouses. The prostitutes were killing their babies and dumping them with the others. Gosh, where did the Romans go?

OK, well, food. I went to Block E last night and stopped by Applebee's. Had their Weight Watcher's chicken skillet with rice instead of flour tortillas and a glass of Merlot. Read some books at Borders. Went to Cold Stone Creamery and had to have some ice cream. I tried a sample of their cake batter ice cream. Inside my head, was not just an "mmmmmmm" but instead an "mmmMMMMMMmmmmm!" But I still decided on the frozen yogurt base instead of the ice cream. There are three sizes of dishes. Like It, Love It, and Gotta Have It (supersize equivalent). I just Liked It, since I LOVE MY FIGURE more. In the base, I had them place some great BTD ingredients: blueberries, raspberries, peanuts, walnuts, and....hot fudge. And I told them that they should call this creation the "Erika with a K." It was good, but I have to admit, it's not my absolute favorite ice cream. In fact, I really don't eat much ice cream these days. Huh.

Today I rode the LIGHT RAIL for the first time. It's very nice. I took a trip to Manny's Tortas on East Lake street. My Spanish is bad and the lady's English could have been better. I don't know if the pinto beans I ordered on my torta were lard-free. I had the turkey with lettuce, beans, guacamole, tomatos, onions. I have always meant to go to this restaurant because I heard good reviews. But I probably should have settled for the Ethiopian place across the street since I was craving that more.

Then of course, went to Fahrenheit 9/11. Rode the bus home mad at the world. OK, that brings me to writing this blog. That's been my day.