MacAloney Randomness

Go figure.  After my last entry I said how I was going to do a better job of updating my blog.  That was back on April 7th.  And here I sit on May 3rd and nothing much has been updated around these parts.  It's not due to lack of wanting to write about things, it's just that I've been on vacation and also dealing with tornadoes.  So here are some random thoughts that have gathered in my mind that I figure I would toss out there for your reading pleasure.

Oakland is a Dump?  

Oakland Crime Map

Practically my whole life I have been lead to believe that Oakland, CA is one of the worst places to visit in the USA.  I heard a million things about crime, nasty people, and overall ugliness on a scale that makes the toughest areas of Washington, DC seem like Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.  Having just visited there though, I'm really not sure where this reputation came from.  The people there were not only pleasant, but friendly and for the most part happy.  At no point of walking around downtown Oakland at night did Manina or I feel unsafe or uneasy.  In going to the Oakland Colosseum to watch the Boston Red Sox play against the Athletics, the fans were really nice.  I'm pretty sure I didn't even hear one profanity yelled the whole game.  Amazing!!!  So if in your travels to the left coast you are given the opportunity to visit Oakland, I highly recommend it and do so with an open mind.

There's Nothing to Look at Here!
Is it just me or am I the only person who feels bad for the poor victims of the tornado super outbreak last week?  It was like the rest of the USA could care less about the suffering of our own citizens and more about a stupid wedding in England.  I mean seriously folks!  Why aren't the knuckleheads from Hollywood lining up to lend their appearances to charity events for the victims?  Why don't you see a crawl at the bottom of the television screen asking people to send a text message to a number to donate $10 to the Red Cross for the victims of the deadliest tornado outbreak in almost 40 years?  Oh wait, cause everyone was waking up at 4am on a Friday morning to watch some awkward looking tool wed a girl who is clearly too hot for him, but is doing it for the money and status.  Well done America!

National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) product captures rotation tracks of April 27-28 tornado outbreak

Down on the Farm
I saw on HowChow yesterday that farmers markets are opening up this week in Howard County.  That is awesome.  I plan on visiting the farmers markets a lot more this summer.  In fact, I'm going this week in search of some vegetable plants to plant on the side of the house.  Last year a picked up a pepper plant that grew like crazy.  Green peppers and basil plants, here I come!

If you want more information on the Farmers Markets in Howard County, you can visit their Facebook page.

Fighting Fat?  Fund the National Parks!
Last week I did a great 4.5 mile hike in Muir Woods, which is located just outside of San Francisco, CA.  If you have never been there, it is an amazing place to visit.  You feel like you are in the village of the Ewoks on the planet of Endor.

Muir Woods, as well as other National Parks, was celebrating "National Parks Week" and admission fees were waived to all parks.  The place was absolutely packed!  Now I'm not sure if it is always like this at Muir Woods, but I got to wondering if the place was packed because it was free.  There were tons of families out there enjoying a beautiful day in the park.

All I hear now a days is how the Government wants to intervene on your life and tell you how to raise your kids.  Whether its forcing you to buy your kid's school lunch or putting taxes on soda and snack food, we are all being told what to eat.  How about this?  How about we use some tax dollars to fund the National Parks system to an appropriate level so that they can remain open for free, year round.  Imagine the possibilities here.  Families would definitely take advantage of this to get out and enjoy some of our national treasures on a regular basis. This would get the kids out and cut back on childhood obesity.  Great!


Oh well, that is all I got on my mind right now.  Glad you took time to read it.  I'm open to any comments you got on anything posted here.  Have a great week!

-Brent