A Great Day in American History

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the modification of the Volstead Act. Prohibition officially ended on December 5th, 1933 with the ratification of the 21st amendment. However, 75 years ago today on April 7th, 1933, President FDR ended a national ban on alcohol - one of his great campaign promises.

Congress modified the Volstead Act, allowing sale of 3.2% alcoholic beer, prior to the 21st amendment.  Newly legalized beer was sent to the White House and a toast was done to acknowledge the beginning of the end of prohibition. 

In honor of FDR and this monumental day in the history of this country, take time this evening to raise a cold one during dinner and toast "cheers to beer."

Instead, Save the Time, Money, Paper and Effort.

Get a load of this card from randoms Jeff and Kara. Congratulations! You are the first image that pops up when "Save The Date" is typed and searched into Google Images. With all due respect to love, devotion and commitment, can't we all agree on a little laugh at the expense of Siegfried's little brother and the card he OK'd to send out to friends and family? There, didn't that feel good.

With all the recent and impending engagements and weddings, I wanted to get a quick rant off my chest. In regard to the Save The Date (STD) card, please consider conserving energy and forgoing the unnecessary hassle.

Isn't this the email age when someone can send out an email with all the pertinent information. Don't we all get Evites? Americangreetings.com, Ourweddingday.com and, yes, Evite.com all offer STD e-cards. All you just need to be able to deal with is the Burt Baccarat playing over the websites.

How about a phone call spreading the good news to the over 40-Year-Old crowd and an SMS to your buddies.

What really bugs me about these STD is that I already have these dates on my calendar. If I'm going to the wedding, I more than likely know the persons involved and have talked to one, if not both of the parties about their engagement. Upon so doing, the date of the ceremony comes up in conversation and is promptly placed in my Outlook.

Specifically, if I am IN your wedding, I have obviously already S'd The D and do not need a reminder. I may have broken my wrist in my mid 20's riding a Tonka Toy build for a 4-Year-Old down the steepest street in Northern California, but I'm not an idiot. I can remember dates.

The most concerning issue of the STD is that it basically says "Hey! Get ready because we're going to send you another card that tells you the same info, about the same event that you are already planning on attending. " That is just 100% asinine.

Can't we at least just merge the two cards in harmony, like the synergy between the affianced? In so doing, we can really save a little bit of what dignity and fortitude we have left.

Save The Time: Has anyone seen how elaborate these things are? My roommate just got one that was encased within two envelopes, each sealed shut, with their own respective bows. Two hundred STD were sent out for this wedding. That must be at least 5 hours of your life just to get those things mail ready. Oh, the card was from his brother. My roommate's the best man, booked his ticket months ago and has the time off work. I don't think he really needed that card.

Save The Money: At roughly $2.00-$3.00 on average per card, isn't their something you'd rather use your, or your parents, hard-earned money on?

Save the Effort: With all the options out there, I know that it is at least one full day and probably 4 significant arguments over ribbon or font size that can and should be avoided.

Save The Paper: Seriously, these things are not made on environmentally friendly 100% post-consumer recycled virgin wood fiber. Save a tree, not the date. And if you must mail me an STD, drop me a note in the form of a postcard.

Flying Sucks

OK, maybe that is a bit cranks of me, but I did just sit on the tarmac at JFK for an extra 1.5 hours after they delayed us an hour - all this before a 5.5 hour flight across the country.

Then, inevitably you get on and have a seat mate that is making a slow but insistent hostile takeover of your legroom, and staked his claim on the armrest before you even sat down.

Now for some people, the sound of a jet engine is soporific - they fire it up, you pass out. Some people (the guy sitting next to me last night) have either a fascinating inner monologue or an amazing capacity to stave off boredom (he watched TBS for a solid 7 hours on the seat back TV - with no sound.

Me? I have to come up with other ways to cope with the experience flying has become and I thought I would share a couple tips.

Make sure you have the right seat: Although you can't predict the BMI of the person sitting next to you, you can at least give yourself a fair shot at comfort. The site Seat Guru has it all - down to what kind of foot room, what kind of entertainment, etc. I check it every time I pick a seat. Also - check the airlines website about 72 hours and 24 hours before your flight. Some airlines release "premium" seats including exit rows, bulkheads and the front of the plane.

Noise canceling headphones. They can be spendy - between $100 and $350 - but they are worth it. You will feel less tired, less deaf and more relaxed when you block out a lot of the noise and create your own space to either listen to your iPod or watch a movie without having to crank it up to hear anything. They are also larger and more imposing than the traditional iBuds so you will have a better chance of looking like you can not talk to your neighbor. Honestly, I don't care what you sell, and yes, I am aware of the big dumb loudmouth behind us, but would rather block her out with my headphones than discussing her with you.

Fly direct and don't fly red eye. This may seem like a no brainer, but my dumbass just flew a red eye this week. You may save $50 or $100, but you will also feel like hell, be less comfortable during the traveling part and feel worse once you get there. What's the point of getting there 6 hours earlier on the red eye if all you want to do is sleep for a solid 6 hours once you get there?

First single off new Flight of the Conchords album

If you are unlike me, and find the Flight of the Conchords music funny and ironic, here is the first single off of their new, self-titled album - 'Ladies of the World'.

Enjoy.