Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader probably loves rice more than anyone else in his family. He was quite distressed recently when he went shopping at one of the local “warehouse/price club” stores and couldn’t buy the 20lb bag of rice he was searching for. In fact all they had were 5 lb boxes of Minute Rice. Your Maximum Leader wonders if Minute Rice is actually rice. Anyhoo… Lucky for him he was able to nab a 25 bag of rice at another store.

Your Maximum Leader still isn’t sure what exactly caused the run on rice in this nation. The US is a great exporter of rice. There must have been some supply chain glitch that caused rice to be hard to find (in bulk at least - there didn’t seem to be a problem if you just wanted a small bag of rice).

That said, your Maximum Leader does know that in other rice producing nations - particularly those in Asia - there have been a number of factors that have contributed to rice price spikes and rice shortages. Drought has been the major factor. Your Maximum Leader read that one of the hardest hit nations was the Philippines. The Philippines has been an net importer of rice for decades now. And in this rice crunch the Philippines has been suffering. Your Maximum Leader read, with some pleasure, that Japan has agreed to sell down some of its rice surplus to the Philippines. According to the piece in the Washington Post, Japan has agreed to sell 200,000 tons of rice to the government of the Philippines. Sadly, that only puts a small dent in the problem the Philippines has. According to the reporting at the WaPo, the 200,000 tons will last about six days at current rates of consumption.

Now you might think that your Maximum Leader would want to comment on the problems of the Philippines in getting rice. That might be a good topic on which to ruminate, but that isn’t the part of the article that got your Maximum Leader to thinking. This is part that got him thinking:

The deal with Japan, though, is substantially different from the purchase agreements Manila is making with Southeast Asian countries. Japan is selling off imported rice that its people do not eat and that its government imports only because it must — under international trade rules.

Although Japan grows far more rice than it needs, it has to import about 700,000 tons of the grain a year under the terms of a 1993 World Trade Organization agreement, which obligated Tokyo to open its protected rice market to foreign competition.

The stockpile of imported rice peaked two years ago at 1.9 million tons, when Japan began using about 25,000 tons a month to feed livestock.

The emergence this spring of an acute rice shortage seems to have provided Japan with a way of unloading the unwanted rice in a way that is both acceptable to its international trading partners and good for its image.

Under WTO rules, Japan needed the approval of the United States — principal supplier of the rice it reluctantly imports — before it could reexport the grain. The Bush administration said Friday that for the sake of easing world rice prices it would back the plan to sell the stockpile.

Japanese consumers, for the most part, do not like the taste of imported rice. Even if they did, they could not buy it in Japan. Their government, to protect local rice growers, keeps it off the market and stores it in refrigerated warehouses. Japanese-grown rice costs at least double the price of imported rice.

This is one of those pieces of international trade pacts that just gets your Maximum Leader fuming. Now, your Maximum Leader realizes that American rice farmers have wanted to sell rice in Japan for decades. Further he realizes that the Japanese shouldn’t protect their rice farmers in the way they do. But to have the Japanese government buy rice and stockpile it - and eventually feed it to livestock - is just ridiculous. There are many countries that need rice - hummm… Like the Philippines or Bangladesh. Those rice importers would seem to be better targets for American rice farmers.

Your Maximum Leader also wonders about the whole “Japanese don’t like the taste of imported rice” bit. This could be because the rice that the US tries to sell in Japan is a longer grain rice with less starch than the rice you traditionally find in Japan. Your Maximum Leader bets that if American farmers grew “japanese” breeds of rice and tried to sell those in Japan the response would be better. This assumes that the market could be opened.

This appears to be another example of where well-intentioned politicians get together and make bad trade pacts (or laws) and wind up badly interfering in market functions that shouldn’t have been interfered with.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader had a great Memorial Day weekend. Although he forgot to put any sort of thank you message up, please know that your Maximum Leader is very thankful for the service given to our grand republic by our soliders, sailors and Marines (past and present). He particularly gives a big shout out to his cousins Karen and Cindy. Both are Colonels in the US Army. Karen is currently in Iraq. Cindy is between assignments overseas. Our whole family (and by extension our nation) are better for their service.

In other news…

Your Maximum Leader and his best buddy (his brother really) Kevin spent just a little time this weekend. Damning gas prices to hell, your Maximum Leader drove to Northern Virginia and picked up Kevin and returned him to the Villainschloss. There we enjoyed some sandwiches in the company of your Maximum Leader’s brood. Then Kevin and your Maximum Leader went and saw “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Your Maximum Leader went to the film with two thoughts. The first was that it would be good to “recapture a bit of youth” with Kevin. It was with Kevin that your Maximum Leader saw the first three Indiana Jones movies. So that was going to be good. The second thought was that the film couldn’t be all that good - so it was best to approach with lowered expectations.

Indeed, your Maximum Leader fully expected IJ&TKOTCS to suck big time. And in fact it did not suck big time. Sadly, it wasn’t all that either. If you expected it to suck big time - then you came away slightly impressed. Your Maximum Leader thought the story was a hodgepodge of charactatures of 50’s “B” movies. The dialogue was campy and forced. And even the special effects (where one would expect the film to shine) were just okay. Karen Allen’s role was merely ornamental - which was sad. And Shia LeBoeuf has a silly girl’s name.

The best that can be said of this film is that in 20 years some 13 year old kid might really enjoy it on a rainy Saturday morning on TV. That is assuming that there is TV 20 years from now and 13 year old kids might watch it.

Your Maximum Leader belives that this past Saturday is the only time he will ever see IJ&TKOTCS. (It is possible that at some point in the future your Maximum Leader might see the movie on TV and stop his incessant channel surfing to watch for a few minutes.)

Anyhoo…

It was very good to see Kevin. Your Maximum Leader is happy that Kevin is on the road fulfilling his wish to walk across America exploring themes of religous diversity around this nation. Kevin is now in Blaine, Washington at the beginning of his journey. Your Maximum Leader prays for Kevin’s safety and good fortune on the road. Fare thee well Kevin. I look forward to welcoming you home after a great journey.

And lastly…

Villainette #1 must be the lucky charm for the Washington Nationals. This past Sunday, your Maximum Leader and his eldest child went to the Nats/Brew Crew matinee. This was, perhaps, the 9th or 10th Nats game Villainette #1 has been to see in person. In all those games, she’s never seen the Nats lose. Your Maximum Leader was sure by the middle of the 9th inning on Sunday that his daughter’s luck was going to change. The Nats were down and it wasn’t looking good. Then all of a sudden they got men on base, men were batted over, and Elijah Dukes scored the winning run on a wild pitch. It was incredible. Then when it was all over, your Maximum Leader and his daughter went down on to the field (and she ran the bases - along with a few hundred other kids…). It was a great Sunday afternoon.

Except for one thing…

This is the “lessons learnt” part of the post…

Your Maximum Leader put some sunscreen on his arms and neck and face… He forgot to put sunscreen on his legs. Now his knees (and pretty much only his knees) are so damned sunburnt that it is painful to do just about everything involving movement of his legs. Indeed, the sunburn on one side (the right) is so bad that it seems as though it is actually swelling.

Lesson is - wear sunscreen.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been enjoying baseball and hockey of late. Lots of baseball in fact. Is there anything better than sitting (laying) on your comfy sofa and watching your team play a friendly game of baseball while enjoying the company of your family? Well… Yes there is… That is actually attending a game…

Your Maximum Leader went out to the new Nats ballpark last Tuesday night to see his beloved Nationals fall to the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 in what was a rather compelling pitching duel. Allow your Maximum Leader to share with you a few of his thoughts on his experience…

First off, it was your Maximum Leader’s first trip to the new park. Nats park is great. The sightlines are great from everywhere. He was sitting in section 129 for the game (about 10 rows behind the Nats dugout). But he went up and visited with some friends sitting in section 318 on the upper deck. Those seats had a lot going for them. You could still see the game really well, and you could look out of the park and see the Capitol dome and Washington Monument. In some ways, your Maximum Leader prefered those seats. Of course, they are considerably cheaper - and that is a plus. And sitting up on the upper deck gave you more of a feeling of being part of the crowd and experience. On the proverbial other hand, the good seats are damned good. You can’t see anything outside of the park, but then again you are there for the game. The good seats seem to have much better access to food and concessions. Those are plusses.

As for the food and concessions… Your Maximum Leader didn’t partake of most of the “local favorites” available in the park. He did buy some Giffords Ice Cream - which was great. But he did not go to “Bens Chili Bowl.” There does seem to be a tremendous variety of food and drink available (at greatly inflated prices). Lines at all the concessions stands moved quickly and efficiently. The bathrooms were as clean as you could expect them to be (it is a stadium afterall). All in all the experience was very good.

Very good.

Not quite excellent.

Let your Maximum Leader be frank. The new Nats ballpark has a lot to commend it. If you exclude Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, for their historic character, how does the new Nats park compare to other newer parks? Alas, your Maximum Leader hasn’t visited many of the parks he’d like to go to in order to make a fair comparison. He’s seen games at Shea and Tampa, and the Nats park is much nicer than either of those. But Shea will be gone next year. He’s seen games at a number of other ballparks that are now gone (in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Seattle, San Francisico and Cincinnati). The Nats park is better than those deceased parks. The Nats park is at least as good as Turner Field in Atlanta. But what gets your Maximum Leader’s goat is that the Nats park might not be as nice as Camden Yard in Baltimore. Perhaps it is the glass and limestone at the Nats park instead of the brick and iron at Camden Yard. Perhaps it is the warehouse at Camden Yard. Perhaps it is that little picnic area in left field at Camden Yard where you can buy (a horribly overpriced) crab feast. But the Nats park doesn’t give your Maximum Leader the same feeling as Camden Yard. From a purely architectural sense, Camden Yard fits it surroundings and its city well. Nationals Park seems like it was placed in a neighborhood. Admittedly there isn’t really a predominant architectural style to Washington DC. That statement isn’t fully true, we do have roman revival or 30s totalitarian gothic. But it was unlikely that the new ballpark was going to be designed to look like the Flavian Amphitheatre or the Nuremburg Olympic Stadium. Your Maximum Leader hopes that the neighborhood around the Nats park will grow up and develop a character that improves the look and feel of the park. It is likely to happen - but it will be some time off…

By the way… Your Maximum Leader and Villainette #1 will be back in section 129 on Sunday to watch the Nats take on the Brewers of Milwaukee. If you are going to be at the game let your Maximum Leader know… We’ll get together.

But before your Maximum Leader goes to see the Nats on Sunday, he will be watching the Detroit Red Wings take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals…

Like our friend Card, your Maximum Leader will be rooting for the Red Wings. (NB to Card: Your Maximum Leader will be looking for you on the TV.) Your Maximum Leader cannot abide by any team in the East other than his much beloved Washington Capitals. Since the Caps are out, it has got to be the Western team. Detroit is one of the original six. Detroit is Hockeytown. And your Maximum Leader has seen the Red Wings win a Stanley Cup. (Yes. Live and in person. Your Maximum Leader saw the last two games of the Red Wings sweep of the Capitals back in 1998.) So he will be rooting for the Wings.

He may even buy some tako to eat while watching the game. Good octopus is too expensive to just throw on the ice…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has taken note of the hullaballoo surrounding President Bush’s recent remarks to the Knesset in Israel. First the required prelimiaries… Your Maximum Leader thinks that Bush could have made his points more eloquently if he had either the talent or had engaged better speech writers. By having either rhetorical talent or a better speech writer(s) Bush could have also avoided the whole situation (and still made his point about talking with terrorists or rogue nations). Alas, the President did not do that and here we are with a President injecting himself into politics while on a visit overseas. Which is something he should not have done. The President’s glib comments about his policies not changing but the political calendar changing were poorly done and he and his staff should have tried to act more presidential on their visit. (Of course, begging the Saudi’s for more oil doesn’t lend itself to being presidential.)

These comments have put the President in a bad place; nor have they helped Senator Obama. But frankly there are a few things that seem to get overlooked in this whole matter. First off, Barack Obama has not tried hard enough to clarify his position about talking to Iran or any other nation we (the US that is) doesn’t like. In this Senator Obama does sound hopelessly naive. You can trot out all the lines you like about Nixon and China and Reagan and Gorbachev. But Obama still seems to adhere to his early statement that he would talk to anyone. Before Nixon went to China you had years of secret negotiations at different levels. The talks worked their way up to Nixon. They didn’t start with Nixon. Additionally, Nixon had a reputation and experience in foreign affairs. Senator Obama has no significant foreign affairs experience. While having no significant foreign affairs experience shouldn’t preclude one from being president; sounding like a fool when you speak about foreign policy should. Now on one level your Maximum Leader is certain that Senator Obama knows that you just can’t speak with any leader at any time. But for all his oratorical skills he handled this subject like as badly (in a bizzaro universe way) as George W. Bush. These two seem to fight over the poles of badness on this issue. Bush boldly declaring that we will never talk to the bad guys and Obama saying that he’ll invite them over to the White House for an all night bull-session.

Now, if you bothered to read that last bit you will see something else that is being overlooked here. No matter what anyone (Democrat) says about John McCain being George W. Bush’s third term - it is not going to be so. McCain is no George W. Bush. No matter who is elected we will get change. It is unfortunate that McCain’s comments on this don’t seem to get as much play as they should (except perhaps on Fox News). McCain is right to point out that Obama’s comments (once attacked by Hillary Clinton) are striking in their naivete. But the Democrats (and political hacks in general) prefer to make this about Obama and Bush and not about Obama and McCain. Your Maximum Leader sees the potential political benefit of this. But eventually one would hope that the Democrats will do more than run against George W. Bush. (Although in all honesty, George W. Bush running against Bill Clinton worked out pretty well. Okay… Almost pretty well.)

All in all your Maximum Leader agrees with Bush’s sentiment - there isn’t any argument or turn of phrase that will convince Iran or Al Queda that they are have been wrong all along. But this is a perfect time for candidates to espouse a clear vision for how they would conduct their diplomacy. John McCain appears to be trying this, and Barack Obama has opted to attack Bush and McCain instead of elevate the discussion.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been meaning to comment on the comments he’s received about his Monarchy of Booze post. First off… Please recall the hierarchy:

King of Booze - scotch whisky
Queen of Booze - vodka
Crown Prince of Booze - Bourbon
Duke of Booze - Tennessee whisky
Earl(s) of Booze - Canadian whisky/Brandy
Marquise of Booze - Gin
Baron of Booze - Rum
Knights of Booze - Tequila
The rising middle class of Booze - wine
Serfs - of course peasants drink beer
Amendments/Additions/Ameliorations:
Dancing Dwarves of Booze - Sloe gin
Court Sluts of Booze - flavoured Brandies

Now… Allow your Maximum Leader to get a few things out in the open right now… First off… Bobgirrl grows more and more alluring with every comment she posts. She likes single malts, hockey, and - of course - bacon. If your Maximum Leader were single and living on the left coast (neither of which are in the cards) he would certainly see if he had what it takes to be Bobgirrl’s future ex-husband.

Secondly… Many commenters seem to imply (or is it that your Maximum Leader is inferring?) that your Maximum Leader doesn’t have what it takes to do vodka chilled and naked. Well… He polished off that bottle of vodka in his freezer by pulling out a shotglass and taking three shots in rapid succession to do in the damned thing. It wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t all that either. It is just too raw and medicinal. Even though your Maximum Leader sits in his Villainschloss typing this post while wearing his reproduction 1976 Vladislav Tretiak Soviet olympic hockey team jersey, he doesn’t think he has any Russian in him. The vodka didn’t warm his spirits or insides like the good scotch does. Hence, vodka will only be the queen consort of booze and not ever the queen regnant of booze.

Thirdly… Flavoured vodkas are just pansy drinks. If you want to add flavor to vodka, you just add something to the vodka. It shouldn’t come “pre-infused” it is just wrong…

Fourthly… Gin… Now allow your Maximum Leader to state clearly here… In your Maximum Leader’s family there are two factions. They are sort of like the Lancastrians and Yorks. They are the Gin drinkers and the Scotch drinkers. Never the two shall mix. Yes, in your Maximum Leader’s family you are one or the other. You get the taste early and it never leaves you. Your Maximum Leader was replused by his first sip of gin; but he was enraptured by the first sip of scotch. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t understand gin at all. So… You are probably asking yourself, “Self, why did my Maximum Leader, no fan of gin himself, put Gin into the monarchy in such a favored position?” Good question. He must have done it because your Maximum Leader is a semi-benevolent autocrat. In this case we’ll draw attention to the semi-benevolent part. Just because he can’t stand gin doesn’t mean that he doesn’t realize that some of his minions have different (and wrong) tastes. Of all of the freedoms your Maximum Leader wants to take from you, your ability to enjoy your gin (if you can) isn’t one of them.

NB to Card: Your Maximum Leader has his eye on you there Card… Comparing gin to Richard III. Now your Maximum Leader realizes that you were just doing the typical R III as Shakespeare characature comparison and not a legitimate historical comparison… But still… Your Maximum Leader tries to rehabilitate ole Dickon wherever he can… Damned Henry Tudor. (The Welsh bastard!)

Lastly… Our dear friend (and new dad! - Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!) Buckethead speculates that there is a Monarchy of Booze, Principate of Wine, and Republic of Booze. Your Maximum Leader will overlook Buckethead’s careless bandying of Frenchified insults early on and focus on the matter at hand. (NB to Buckethead: Watch out who you be calling French there…) Your Maximum Leader is clearly a true monarchist in this matter. He knows that a monarchy is the only way to go and that all those silly wines and beers have to controlled and not allowed to get out of hand. That will lead to mobocracy and the tyranny of the masses! Great jeezey chreezey! If we let the beers get out of hand they will start mulitplying and become mass-produced cans of pisswater…

Oh yeah…

If you have suggestions or comments on the Monarchy of Booze… Please feel free to comment.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was shocked, and not in the Claude Rains way, to learn something today. By way of explaination… Your Maximum Leader follows a certain amount of business news every day. On his home page he has some stock exchange info, some stock info, some mutal fund info, and some foreign exchange info. He often glances over the foreign exchange info just to see how “sound the pound” is - so that he can use that cliched expression in conversation that day. (And he has been able to use it now for quite a while.)

Well… For reasons that pass his understanding, he hasn’t put the Canadian Dollar on his tracking widget. So imagine his shock when he learned today that the Canadian Dollar (the Loonie!) is now worth more than the Greenback. He supposes that this means that Canadian prescription drugs aren’t that much cheaper any more. He further supposes that Canadian “gentleman’s clubs” are no longer the bargain they once were…

Thank you housing bubble, increasing demand for oil by China and India, lowered interest rates, increased inflation, and of course - George W. Bush for making your Maximum Leader now feel like he needs to hoard all those Canadian quarters and dimes he hithertofore threw in a big glass jar. That stuff is worth something now…

Carry on…

PS - In all honesty, this whole post was the result of your Maximum Leader actually learning the US/Canadian Dollar exchange rate today - and then going and reading Skippy’s Blog. He just wanted to throw out that “gentleman’s club” line…

Now you can really…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader asks you to take note of one of the rotating tag lines on this site. It reads “Just because you can quote Monty Python with a fake accent doesn’t make you funny.” Your Maximum Leader finds great truth in this line. He also thinks that you can still quote Monty Python in certain contexts and have it be funny.

To wit: Dana Milbank in today’s Washington Post.

Did you happen to see his piece? The one entitled “This is an Ex-candidate.”

In the piece Milbank weaves his own take on Hillary Clinton winning the West Virginia primary yesterday with the famous parrot sketch from Monty Python. Your Maximum Leader came away from the piece thinking to himself “Damn. This is harsh. We’ll have to blog about it.” (Because your Maximum Leader writes in the 3rd person and thinks in the 1st Person Plural - the “Royal ‘We.’”)

A sample:

Customer: “That parrot is definitely deceased, and when I purchased it not half an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it being tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk.”

Pet-shop owner: “Well, he’s, he’s, ah, probably pining for the fiords.”

2:57 p.m., Yeager Airport, Charleston, W.Va.: A steep descent brings Clinton’s plane to Charleston’s hilltop airport. After an appropriate wait, she steps from the plane and pretends to wave to a crowd of supporters; in fact, she is waving to 10 photographers underneath the airplane’s wing. She pretends to spot an old friend in the crowd, points and gives another wave; in fact, she is waving at an aide she had been talking with on the plane minutes earlier.

Aiee! That smarts! Where is the neosporin? It actually gets a little worse.

Your Maximum Leader is happy to see the Democrats do everything in their power to blow this election. It is par for the course. The only thing that would be a sure sign of the Democrats committing -SERIOUSLY COMMITTING- to complete defeat in November would be Barack Obama hiring Bob Shrum as his campaign manager. Since Obama doesn’t seem inclined to do that, one must just keep hoping for Hillary to stay in it.

Your Maximum Leader has to admit that he doesn’t know what else to say about this ongoing Democratic primary season. Of all of the things he speculated about in 2007, this wasn’t one of the options. It is incredible. He hopes this just continues to roll on through Denver.

He suspects that it will… Without her presidential run, Hillary is a hollow-cored woman. She has nothing else. When she falls (finally) it will be hard for many to watch. Not your Maximum Leader of course. But others…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader thinks this is the funniest think he’s seen in a while. He laughed aloud - twice while watching it.

McCain Vows To Replace Secret Service With His Own Bare Fists

Your Maximum Leader would like to see McCain’s trophy wall… He also thinks that McCain’s plan to replace debates is a winner.

PS - Don’t forget to read the crawler. Especially the drug-resistant drummer bit…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader realizes that very few of his readers actually live in Fredericksburg, VA (as does your Maximum Leader). But for those of you who do, please realize that today is Election Day for city government. You have the opportunity to elect a Mayor and two memebers of the city council.

Your Maximum Leader encourages you to vote for Debby Girvan for Mayor and Mary Katherine Greenlaw and BJ Huff for council. Your Maximum Leader has been volunteering for Mrs. Girvan over the past few months and hopes she can pull out the upset victory over the exceedingly well-financed and incumbent mayor.

For those of his readers in North Carolina and Indiana, your Maximum Leader advises you to get out and vote as well. Frankly, he’d like to see you vote in the Democratic Primaries - where your votes actually will count for something. He would like to see the Obama/Clinton race continue through the Democratic Convention. That would be way cool fun. On the one hand, your Maximum Leader thinks that if Clinton looses both primaries today she will come under tremendous pressure to withdraw. He doesn’t believe she will, but he chorus will be deafening.

We’ll see what happens.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been trying to finish off this bottle of vodka he has in his freezer. As longtime readers know, your Maximum Leader is a Scotch/Bourbon man. So vodka isn’t his bailiwick so to speak. He prided himself by discovering that mixing vodka and V-8 Mango/Peach juice was a way to get both liquor and vegetable nourishment in one tall glass. Alas, one of your Maximum Leader’s readers wasn’t quite as impressed.

Card wrote in a comment the following:

My Maximum Leader, I have always been a scotch drinker myself. I consider scotch the King of Boozes. I have for many years also been a fan of vodka, which I consider the Queen of Boozes. I would never defile scotch by mixing it with some vile, alien substance. I think the queen deserves the same respect. I humbly suggest that you toss the V8 Fusion down the toilet or your kid’s throat where it belongs. The queen is an absolute delight when she is chilled and naked.

Well said. Your Maximum Leader must admit that he sort of likes the V-8 fusion with or without the vodka. (It is also okay with rum.) So it is unlikely that it will go down the loo. But he isn’t sure that he can handle the vodka straight-up. And your Maximum Leader isn’t going to go for one of those pansy “flavoured” vodkas. They seem wrong in principle.

Anyhoo…

Your Maximum Leader read this comment and it got to perculating in his mind. He certainly agrees that scotch is the King of Booze. But he wasn’t sure about vodka being the queen. Well… He wasn’t sure at first. But the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. Then your Maximum Leader’s bizarre little mind got to thinking more… The result of his thinking…

Behold! The monarchy of booze:

King of Booze - scotch whisky
Queen of Booze - vodka
Crown Prince of Booze - Bourbon
Duke of Booze - Tennessee whisky
Earl(s) of Booze - Canadian whisky/Brandy
Marquise of Booze - Gin
Baron of Booze - Rum
Knights of Booze - Tequila
The rising middle class of Booze - wine
UPDATED! - Serfs - of course peasants drink beer

This is just a premilinary hierarchy. If you care to add to the list, please feel free to do so. Make suggestions and your Maximum Leader will expand the list.

God save the King (of Booze)!

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been lazy. He had plenty of time to write up a whole bunch of post over the weekend and then schedule them to magically appear throughout the week. But instead, he opted to do play outside with his kids. Then he decided to play inside (sometimes with and sometimes without) his kids on his newly refurbished X-box.

Did your Maximum Leader explain what happened to his X-box? Non? Well, a few weeks ago the Wee Villain decided that he wasn’t enjoying his game of Lego Star Wars. So he decided to force open the disk tray. While the game was still running. That there was a problem. When your Maximum Leader figured out that he couldn’t just pop out the tray and replace it with a new one, he sent it back to Microsoft. It cost him $100. That sucked. But on the positive side, they also went ahead and fixed that “red ring” problem too (even though your Maximum Leader had not experienced the “red ring” problem.

So, to put a fine point on it, your Maximum Leader was lazy this weekend. Sure there were many family activities that had to get done - and did get done. But then your Maximum Leader just sat around and did very little. We’ll see if he can be a little more productive on the blog this week.

Carry on.