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October 31, 2006

I Hate Halloween. Do You Need Some Peanut Butter Cups?

By: The Dude on the Right
You could say that I never learn, but I think I just like being able to buy a boat-load of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for next to nothing.  It was another Halloween.

Year after year after having moved into my Dude-Pad, I wonder about Halloween and just how many kids I will get visiting my doorstep, dressed in those cute costumes that look so much more comfortable than the ones I had (those plastic masks with the stretchy band holding it on your head had to be the most uncomfortable thing in the world, but as a kid, I didn't care because I was transported into a world all my own.  Anyway, I digress.)  But year after year I buy the Peanut Butter Cups, and year after year, I only get visited by a few kids.  There was, of course, the one year, when the high school crowd crashed our townhouse area and I was able to unload most of my stash, but it felt wrong since none of them were wearing costumes and their "candy bag" usually was a pillow case.  But in that year I was on a diet again, and the last thing I needed were extra Peanut Butter Cups around, so the teenagers were getting three or four at a drop.

Each year I expect an onslaught of kids, especially the year 2004 when Halloween was on a Sunday and I would actually be present for the entire "Trick-or-Treating" period, but even that year the number of visitors was pretty small, and I don't really know what I was expecting, but when I was at my local grocery store the other day, there they were, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup bags, at 2 for $4, so of course, expecting an onslaught of kids, I bought four bags.

Wow, was that an over-calculation.

This year I'm on a diet again.  I've been doing doing pretty well on the exercise side, but the food side has been up and down, and I just want to know:  WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING WHEN I BOUGHT FOUR BAGS OF PEANUT BUTTER CUPS?  Why do I ask that?  Because I had one trick-or-treater visit the Dude-Pad.  He was a little vampire, probably about 7 years old, and thinking about it know I should have given him four bags of Peanut Butter Cups.  No teenagers dressed as teenagers carrying pillow cases I could have unloaded candy to, no college kids Trick or Treating for UNICEF so I could have given them a buck and 5 peanut butter cups.  Nope, I had one little boy show up and now I have pretty much four bags of candy to try not to eat all at one time.

I hate Halloween.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:26 PM | Comments (2)

October 30, 2006

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast: Stu and Ashlee Simpson, The Dude and "Running with Scissors," and "Borat" is coming.

For this podcast, Stu Gotz & The Dude on the Right are reunited once again for a recap of their weekends. The Dude works to convince Stu that Ashlee is hotter than Jessica, Stu wonders about "The Break-Up," and The Dude finds out about the fickleness of one of Stu's kids. It's a Halloween thing, The Dude doesn't understand.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:16 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2006

What's New? A Movie Review of "Running with Scissors."

For this movie review of "Running with Scissors" The Dude on the Right had two choices when seeing a movie, either "... Scissors" or "The Departed." He opted for the movie with horrible pacing and a masturbation room.

Posted by Rightdude at 3:31 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2006

What's New? A Podcast of: I Amaze Myself Sometimes, Jerry is Gone, So is Ken, and This is The Worst Weekend of the Year.

For this podcast The Dude on the Right sometimes amazes himself with his wealth of knowledge, is happy yet sad that Jerry Springer got booted from "Dancing With the Stars," is only sad about who got booted from "The Biggest Loser," and thinks the upcoming weekend is the worst weekend of the year.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:49 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2006

What the Hell is the "Chicken Noodle Soup Dance" Anyway, and Some New, Quick, CD Reviews.

By: The Dude on the Right
Blog-wise, I was going to get on this weird rant about a new dance craze I heard about on the radio, but as I tried to do some internet research I became so utterly confused I had no idea where to go with it.  The dance craze is something called "The Chicken Noodle Soup Dance" and it's based on some wacky song by some dude named DJ Webstar.  I tried to watch some YouTube videos about it, but those things are all over the place, checked out the Wikipedia definition but that was no help, so I gave up on "The Chicken Noodle Soup Dance" because it doesn't seem to have nearly the structure as the "Chicken Dance."  I suppose I really need to see this dance done at a wedding to see if it really is the dance craze it is supposed to be.

Being done with my "Chicken Noodle Soup Dance" research I decided I would at least get something posted, so I've got a couple of new "All of the Dude's CD's" entries done.  With that there are quick CD reviews of "Fairweather Johnson" from Hootie & the Blowfish, "Tomorrow Today" from Al Jarreau, and "Always On My Mind" from Willie Nelson newly posted on the website.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2006

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast: Stu Heads to Orlando and Fright, While The Dude Heads to the Movies and Types.

For this podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up," Stu Gotz headed to The Sunshine State and the lovely city of Orlando to get a little frightened at Universal Studios. The Haunted Houses were scary, but not nearly as scary as the customer service he seemed to experience. Meanwhile, The Dude on the Right caught a couple of flicks, and traveled near and far for a new family member.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:52 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2006

What's New? Movie Reviews of "Flags of Our Fathers" and "The Prestige."

Two new movie reviews are posted this weekend, one being "Flags of Our Fathers," the other being "The Prestige." The Dude on the Right reviews them both. For the "Flags" movie, The Dude does admit that at times it gets a little confusing as the movie does flashbacks and flashforwards throughout, but thought it did a great job at telling the story of the dudes who raised the second flag at Iwo Jima. For "The Prestige" The Dude loves magic, but doesn't like a movie that takes too long to tell how it is done, or how the story is done. He still liked the movie, though.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2006

What's New? A Podcast of: "Dancing is Upsetting, Sweetest is Coming, and GWAR isn't in Chicago on Halloween.

For this podcast, The Dude on the Right, and The Dude's Mom, are getting a little upset with "Dancing with the Stars." The Dude has been excercising and doesn't haven't a sweetest for Sweetest Day. This doesn't make him as sad as not having somewhere to go on Halloween, namely seeing the band GWAR.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:37 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2006

A Trip to the DMV Reminded Me About a Solution for the Elderly, or at Least One Senior Citizen.

By: The Dude on the Right
First let me give a quick disclaimer.  This blog does not relate to all old people, even though the end of the blog groups them all into one category.  For instance, I'm instantly taking my mom and dad out of the suggestion at the end of this blog because, well, they're my mom and dad.  And then there are many of the nice, older folks that I have run into that don't deserve the end fate.  But of anyone deserving of the recommendation of the song I list at the end of this blog, it is the following old person.

I found myself yesterday morning at our local Secretary of State's Office, about fifteenth in line, just as the office opened, to get a license plate renewal taken care of.  It's a simple procedure, but I wanted to get it done early in the day.  There were another half a dozen people behind me in line, all of us patiently waiting our turn, and I was feeling good about life because I probably saved the life of a wayward toad earlier in the morning.

Suddenly this older lady, I would put her maybe early to mid sixties, seemingly fully able-bodied, starts excusing herself through the line, her license renewal slip in her hand.  She excuses herself past me, and I think to myself "Self, maybe her daughter or son got in line early to save her a place in line.  I'll let her slide."  And she kept moving forward, and moving forward, and moving forward, until she found herself at the front of the line, the next to be served.  She then turned, looked back at the rest of us in line, and said, in a squeaky, condescending voice, "I'm a senior citizen."  Then turned back around.

I know there is no way to sound politically correct about this, and I don't give a damn, but this woman, and I don't care how old she was, had absolutely no right to cut in line because she was "a senior citizen."  In my book I'll give you cuts if your aren't able-bodied, but she had no trouble walking, no problem standing in the cashier line, no problem with attitude, and just came off as a bitch, thinking she now deserves the world because she is qualifies for an AARP card.  The dude behind me, upon the hearing the "senior citizen" comment sort of gave a "Huh?," and I turned to him and said "And I'm 39.  Does that mean I can cut in line, too?"  We both chuckled at the audacity of the woman, but in my head, she gave a whole lot of old people a bad name.

And then it hit me, a song I had heard on the Jonathon Brandmeier radio show years ago.

It was a song about old people.  It was a song by No Time.  And the song is simply called "Eat All the Old People."  It's a lovely song about what to do with the elderly people starting to take over the nation.

Now, like I said, I suppose all old people don't deserve the fate of the song, but that older lady just reminded me that at any age, some people think they deserve better than you.  In thinking about it I should have excused myself to the front of the line, excused myself in front of her, turned around, and said "I'm thirty nine."  Then again, she looked like she could have kicked my ass.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:54 PM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2006

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up Podcast: Stu Found Drunken Bridal Party Heaven, The Dude Saw Lousy Movies, and "The D" Has a New Song.

For this podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up," The Dude on the Right does "1 vs 100," "Meerkat Manor," "The Marine," "Man of the Year," and the Tenacious D single "The Pick of Destiny." Stu Gotz finds Drunken Bridal Party Heaven (complete with boobs), Jimmy Buffett's "Take the Weather With You," but not "Broken Flowers."

Posted by Rightdude at 7:26 PM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2006

My Being a Loser is Going Public, and I'm Done with McDonald's, Now I'm Playing the Lottery!

By: The Dude on the Right
First I have an announcement to make.  After much soul-searching, and trying to attempt this on my own, I have come to the decision that the only shot I have at being a loser is to open myself to the total ridicule of not being able to be one.  With that, if you have been reading my blogs or listening to our podcasts, you know I am obsessed with the TV show "The Biggest Loser," and have been trying to have it inspire me to enter the next phase of my losing weight.  So far the show isn't enough, and so I must take it the world.  For more on this, whether to make fun of me or see if I make any progress, check out my MySpace page at www.myspace.com/thedudeontheright (and be my friend) which is where I will be updating my progress, or just letting everyone know I'm giving up.  I at least hope to get through day one, tomorrow.

On another note, thanks to a Richard Roeper article and in keeping with my next attempt to lose weight, I'm through with the McDonald's Monopoly game.  Just like most everyone else I didn't pay attention to my odds of winning anything cool during the game, although I'm sure there will be a winner or two, here and there, but for the most part, play as you will, and you have an okay chance at a breakfast sandwich with your pull-off tickets, or maybe a ringtone if you also play the online game, but if you are lucky enough to win the $5,000,000 million dollar prize, paid over 20 years at $250,000 per year, you beat the odds, as Mr. Roeper pointed out, and as listed in the official rules for the game, of 1 in 41,497,391,309.  To help you with all of those commas, that is nearly 1 in 41.5 billion.  To put that in a little perspective, and from their websites, your odds of winning the Mega Millions game is only 1 in 175,711,536 (a little under 1 in 176 million), while the Powerball is even a little better at 1 in 146,107,962 (a little over 1 in 146 million).  Don't get me wrong, I love McDonald's and still think you can eat healthy there if you try, but I've probably bought about 10 extra hash browns I didn't need so far this month for my calorie intake ($10 better spent on lottery tickets according to the odds), and a few extra Diet Cokes that fine, didn't add to my waist-line, but did dip into my pocketbook and didn't get me any closer to getting that elusive "Short Line" and "Reading Railroad" to get me retired before the age of 40. 

Have fun pulling off those little game pieces, if you will, but for me I'm done and plan to spend the money I would have spent on hash browns on something I actually have a chance at winning:  The Lottery!  Hopefully it will help me lose weight.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:20 PM | Comments (0)

What's New? A Movie Review of "The Marine."

For this movie review of "The Marine," The Dude on the Right found it hard to believe he would say something like "sometimes you can blow up too much stuff." He did like "The Terminator" reference, though.

Posted by Rightdude at 6:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2006

What's New? A Movie Review of "Man of the Year."

For this review of "Man of the Year," The Dude on the Right loved the first half. The second half, not so much. He wonders, sometimes, why film folks can't just seem to stick with what is working and instead they try to get serious.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:19 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2006

What's New? A Podcast of: "Dancing with the Stars," "30 Rock," Learning to Fly, and do I try to be a Loser in Public?

For this podcast, The Dude on the Right settles into his television viewing while both he and his mom wish Jerry Springer would quit "Dancing with the Stars." The Dude also wonders what some critics saw in "30 Rock," and ponders a dilemma about public weight loss.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:24 PM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2006

City Hall Follies Turned into "Dancing with the Stars."

By: The Dude on the Right
I was going to do a blog about my dealings at City Hall today for a client, but instead, I got wrapped up into replaying "Dancing with the Stars" and as the number of contestants is diminishing, I'm starting to care a little more about who stays and who goes.  My synopsis from last night:

• Joey Lawrence:  I am now a huge fan of Joey's.  That's right, I want Joey to stick around for a while.  Why?  Because his dance partner, Edyta Sliwinska is hot and wears some of the greatest outfits.  And she's Polish.  I'm not sure how well Joey dances, although they get high scores, but she moves very nicely and shows a lot of skin.
• Willa Ford:  I know she is quickly becoming a fan of the judges, but I'm not that taken in with her, although she does have nice gams.
• Sara Evans:  I've been a stalker of Sara's since the beginning of her country singing days, and the only problem I have had with her for some of these dances is her hair.  I've always been a fan of the straight hair, but thought she lost some of her beauty with the curly hair.  I think she dances fine, has a killer smile, but had the worst outfit last night.
• Mario Lopez:  I'm sure you ladies find him dreamy, and the judges seem to think he dances well, but I don't find his partner nearly as hot as Edyta, so he's got to go!
• Jerry Springer:  Sure, he's the goofball of the competition, and his partner, Kym Johnson is cute as hell, but I'm tired of him and his constant touting that he's really a swell guy, not the guy running "The Jerry Springer Show."  He was kind of funny last night with his line about getting the prison wardens to let his "audience" call in and vote for him, but it's time for him to go.
• Monique:  She does nothing for me but is a great dancer.  She's cuter than Mario Lopez, so I'm hoping she stays and he goes.
• Emmitt Smith:  He's smooth on his feet and seems to be having a butt-load of fun, so I say keep him around a couple of more weeks.

We'll see how the voting goes tonight, but if I'm getting rid of anyone right now it's Mario Lopez that has to go.  I'd say Jerry Springer, but I think he's got the hotter dancing partner.

I've got to finish this up so I can catch the premiere of "30 Rock," find out who gets booted from "Dancing with the Stars," and then decide whether I watch "The Biggest Loser" or "Lost" tonight while things catch up on my TiVo.  Too much TV, so little time.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 7:53 PM | Comments (0)

October 9, 2006

What's New? Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up: The Dude Hates Stu, Stu Watches Meerkat Manor, Stu Went to a Reunion, and The Dude Found Heaven.

For this podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up," Stu Gotz gets The Dude on the Right sucked into more TV shows, but so far The Dude is able to repress the urge to watch "Meerkat Manor." Meanwhile, Stu got to see drunk people at a reunion while The Dude, in addition to seeing a movie and watching The Chicago Bears, found heaven. Sort of.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:21 PM | Comments (0)

October 8, 2006

What's New? A Movie Review of "Employee of the Month."

For this movie review of "Employee of the Month," The Dude on the Right thinks he should have opted for hanging out with Mother Nature for an hour and a half rather than seeing this movie. It's better for a DVD or cable viewing on a snowy evening when you're stuck in your pad. But he did laugh, and like Joe Simpson, does like Jessica's boobs.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:01 PM | Comments (0)

October 7, 2006

Hating Stu Gotz, Fry's or Mother Nature, The Chicago Bears or Getting Stuff Done.

By: The Dude on the Right
I have to start out this blog by simply saying that I hate Stu Gotz.  Fine, maybe it is really Mama Gotz whom I hate, because she first suggested this, but Stu brought up something in the last couple of weeks that right now, well, it's the last damn thing I need.  Hopefully I'll remember to have it out with Stu on Monday when we do our Weekend Wrap-Up and let the world know why I now hate Stu Gotz.

But I did find something I love today, and it was in a quest for a telephone that I found it, and that is the store Fry's Electronics, or Fry's, or whatever the hell it is really called.  All I know is I planned on going for a walk today, on a warm, fall day, in the Forest Preserve near the Dude-Pad, where the fall weather is bringing beautiful colors to the leaves, but instead I found myself in a different kind of heaven, where I was able to find a battery for the stylus of my Palm Pilot, a new phone for a client, the DVD of "Thank You for Smoking," and had I already won the McDonald's Monopoly game, there would have been a whole lot of more spendin' going on.  But I held back, didn't buy the HD TV I've been looking for, nor the combination bread-bagel toaster that also cooks an egg, nor the refrigerator with the TV in it, nor the CB antenna that I don't really need right now, but as my Dad always says, "It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it."  Fry's is a store all about that quote.

Oddly enough going to Fry's and walking around for over an hour went totally against my movie viewing, although I did get the exercise I wanted.  Heading to the theater this morning I intended to see "The Departed," you know, the Martin Scorsese flick which is getting a lot of critical acclaim, but the running time was over two hours.  This being one of the last, warmer weekends here in Dude-Town, I said to myself, "Self, what a waste to spend so much time in a movie theater when you could be out enjoying Mother Nature!"  So I opted to see "Employee of the Month" today to cut my time stuck indoors.  Then I went to Fry's and spent the afternoon, well, you get the point.  So much for Mother Nature, but I did see some fantastic TVs that would look great in my living room, or my bedroom, or my office, oh hell, they've got a butt-load of TV's for every room, and some of them even had Mother Nature scenes playing, so my getting out in the open air wasn't a total loss, even without seeing the beautiful colors of the leaves.

Now, as much as my screwing up seeing Mother Nature today happened, tomorrow brings future dilemmas because I am behind on my animating of our next episode of "Stu & The Dude Reviewin' the Movies for You," that being "Jackass Number Two," would like to see "The Departed" and write a review for that movie, have seen "Employee of the Month" and have to write a review for it, have a good twenty movie previews to type, want to review the new X-Men DVD I have and the "Thank You for Smoking" DVD I picked up today, and the Dude-Pad could really use a good, fall, cleaning to get me to spring.  And to top it all off, The Chicago Bears play tomorrow, trying to keep their undefeated season in tact, and to top it on top of that, I still need to catch last week's episode of "The Biggest Loser" which might hopefully get me inspired to quit playing the McDonald's Monopoly game.

So many things to do, and there never seems to be enough time, and with tomorrow being probably one of the last, nice, weekend days to get out of the house, how the hell do I figure out what to do?  It was easy in college, we would just go up on the roof and get a suntan and drink maybe one or two beers.  It sucks being older.

And to top all of that I had a dream the other night involving a good friend of mine whom I've known for just about forever, where in the dream she kept kicking me in the ass to get shit done that I haven't gotten done yet.  I suppose I should just listen to her and get shit done and quit complaining about it.

This Dude's life is so complicated.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 5, 2006

What's New? A Concert Review of Roger Waters.

For this concert review of Roger Waters, here in 2006, The Dude on the Right blames himself for not seeing Roger earlier. He also wonders if Roger Waters gets in trouble for the Pig getting loose, wishes he could have tracked the Pig and put it up on Ebay, and doesn't mind Roger getting political. In the end, the music makes him forget about those things.

Posted by Rightdude at 8:41 PM | Comments (0)

What's New? A Podcast of: Thanks to My Niece, I Love and Hate McDonald's, I Have Some New Favorite TV, and Stu & The Dude at YouTube.

For this podcast The Dude on the Right gives a "Shout-Out" to some relatives, is close to being a millionaire, or ten pounds heavier thanks to McDonald's, and likes some new TV shows. He's all over the place.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:52 PM | Comments (0)

October 2, 2006

What's New? A Podcast of: Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up: Stu at The Zoo, Ashton Kutcher Wins, Bears Win, The Dude's Diet, and Goodbye Internet Gambling.

For this podcast of "Stu & The Dude's Weekend Wrap-Up," Stu Gotz went to the zoo while The Dude on the Right went to pet stores. They also discuss things like "The Guardian" and "School for Scoundrels," even "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and too much T.V. The Dude also breaks it to Stu that as much as he was planning on doing some internet gambling, thanks to the way our government works, that's pretty much out of the question.

Posted by Rightdude at 7:29 PM | Comments (0)

October 1, 2006

The Folks at McDonald's are Psychic or They Hate Me.

By: The Dude on the Right
Either the folks at McDonald's are psychic, or they just hate me.  Here's why...

It's Sunday morning and I am reading my morning newspaper.  There isn't anything totally exciting in the newspaper, then again, there usually isn't, but I still enjoy, even in this digital age, reading the newspaper.  So I finish the news portion of the paper, and now it's time to peruse the bundle of ads to find stuff I don't really need that's on sale.  Nothing at Circuit City, nothing at Meijer, nothing at the furniture stores, and there it was, the Best Buy ad.  I know, right now you're wondering what the hell a Best Buy ad has to do with the people at McDonald's hating me or being psychic?

Well, it seems Best Buy has once again teamed up with McDonald's, and there, in the Best Buy flyer, was the announcement that the Monopoly game is starting up again at McDonald's come October 3rd.  Even though I have never won anything cool during McDonald's Monopoly promotion, there is a sense of excitement pulling those little pieces off of the hash brown wrapper, off of the fries' box, or off of my large Diet Coke.  What will it be?  Will I be an instant winner of maybe a breakfast sandwich?  Better yet, maybe I'll win a cool prize instantly.  Better yet, the excitement of wondering if this will be the piece that completes my trilogy of Pacific, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania Avenues.  My game board becomes filled, usually with that one elusive piece that makes me a big winner missing for each block of properties.

I love the McDonald's Monopoly game, and here is why I know they hate me, or might be psychic.

I'm watching "The Biggest Loser" last Wednesday and decide it is time to start my diet plan and actually do some exercising.  But being the procrastinator I am, and with the weekend coming up, I look at the calendar and decide that October 1st would be the perfect day to start.  I could eat a little crappy on Saturday, a nice steak with a big ol' baked potato smothered with butter and sour cream, but then go grocery shopping on Sunday for nothing but healthy food and start hitting that exercise bike on Monday morning.  It was a perfect plan up until Sunday morning when I saw that damn Best Buy ad.

Now what the hell am I supposed to do?

I love the McDonald's Monopoly game, but still want to be a big loser, and herein lies the true dilemma.  If I skip the dieting and play the McDonald's game I'll probably be a big loser, and if I don't play the game and eat healthy and exercise during October, I'll be a big loser.  Now I just have to decide which way I really want to be a bigger loser.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 5:17 PM | Comments (0)

What's New? A Movie Review of "School for Scoundrels."

For this movie review of "School for Scoundrels," The Dude on the Right saw a lot of potential for Billy Bob Thornton beating up on Jon Heder. Sadly the war they have if pretty lame.

Posted by Rightdude at 5:15 PM | Comments (0)