i watched the Superbowl last night, not because the game interested me so much; i come from a country where rugby is played, which is a much more intense game; but this is supposed to be the mecca of television advertising.
although i`m not a big fan of the sport, i live in a town with a team; granted it had one of the worst records this season; and like i`ve said before reading Hunter S. Thompson has given me a greater appreciation for what`s going on and i don`t live in a hole, so i know the teams that played and some of the background, so i watched last night.
an interesting aside, although the sport seems kind of silly in comparison to rugby, i am a fan of movies about it. good, bad or indifferent, if there`s been a football movie, i`ve seen it; Rudy, Knute Rockne, Varsity Blues, North Dallas 440, Any Given Sunday; and i`m probably going to watch Friday Night Lights and the Longest Yard remake as well. there is no explanation for it, i`m addicted to them.
i was really hoping the Eagles would win last night so i wouldn`t have to hear everyone blather on about the Patriots dynasty and how Tom Brady played so well even though his grandmother died. what is it about US sports and this whole crock of shit about players and their family? they are overpaid entertainers, if Tom Brady was so concerned about his family and his dead grandmother he would have been with them. it may seem harsh, but it`s the truth; any job in the world you get bereavement time, he`s been to the Superbowl before. which is more important; his family or the game? spare me the maudlin bullshit, he chose to stay and play and shouldn`t be pitied or credited for doing so.
while i`m in full on rant mode; what a fucking, crappy half time show. Paul McCartney should stay home and enjoy his fucking money. the half time show was a snoozefest, as were the ads. there were two ads that stuck out during that whole `safe`, stale, Superbowl and they were the Ameritrade ads and now they have to apologise for the cat ad. what a crock of fucking shit. i don`t know why i`m surprised; the whole tone of the Superbowl was one of acquiescence to the people who think they know what`s best for the rest of us. heaven forbid that it looks like a cat was harmed; the point of the ad was that you shouldn`t be quick to judge what you see.
and now a segue into the other portion of the title; the taxes. we finally received our last document for us to do our taxes so i thought i`d take a stab at it on Saturday night using the online version of TurboTax; i`ve had more fun at the dentist; three hours later and owing the IRS money, i stopped. on Sunday i resumed the fight and realised that in order for us to file jointly i would have declare the pittance that i made in Jamaica last year on our taxes; another three hours later i was done with a tiny sum that will allow us to pay for the next set of USCIS paperwork and put away a little; if i did everything correctly. i`m hoping to hook up with CSG at some point today to have her double check my entries and then file. as with all other bureaucracies, the idea is to make filling out the paperwork by mere mortals as difficult as possible. i`m a fairly intelligent man, i can follow instructions and preparing this return was one of the most convoluted things i`ve ever done and having dealt with the USCIS, that`s saying a lot.
