I’m being extra lazy today and using the same photo on two different blogs Cooper gave his permission – awfully nice of him

July 3rd

Hope everyone has a safe and sane holiday today. Here in Utah, most of the celebrating happened yesterday, which was July 3rd. Since July 4th fell on a Sunday this year, and due to a sizable amount of the population here in Utah that belong to a single organized religion, shooting off fireworks and having parades gets moved up a day.

I’ve always wondered how something like celebrating the birth of our nation gets trumped by religious mindsets. Sure, those that observe the modern sabbath day are being respectful. And yes, it only happens once every six years. But still, it has puzzled me for years why something so important has to adjust it’s celebration schedule as not to disrupt a religious practice.

Regardless of any ritual, today is the day that we celebrate our independence. And with that, I’m going to go cook some hot dogs and burgers, light some fireworks and throw back a few beverages.

Happy Independence Day to all who celebrate it.

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Shannon, Marty, Reba and Shannon’s Dad

Back in April of this year [I'm not that far behind], we had a couple of visitors to our fine state of Utah. Shannon, who is more famously known as Bubblewench [Blog, Twitter] and her dad spent a few days in Park City to golf, ski and just hang out. Since Shannon knew my wife and I lived here in Utah, she gave me a heads up and we planned a meet up.

Jumping back to October 2009, I met Shannon at Avitaween. Shannon was nothing but a fun and cool person, not only fixing me some wonderful pasta, but also making me a couple of drinks before the costumed-festivities started. Both my wife and I connected with her and had a blast. So imagine my excitement when we had the chance to meet up with her again – without having to travel [BONUS!]

We met at Market Street Grill, which is a local restaurant that serves great food and drinks. We all ate so well and shared some great wine and awesome company. Shannon’s dad [who's name I cannot recall] was such a nice gentleman and I can see why Shannon is the great person she is.

If you have a chance to meet Shannon, please do. Make every effort to do so. She’s fun and full of energy and just good people. I know I’m looking forward to my next meet up with her [and her dad, too].

To read Shannon’s post [which was posted back in April], go here.

Obviously, Arizona hasn’t grasped this concept when it comes to addressing illegal immigration.

I’ve been following this since Governor Jan Brewer signed into law the toughest immigration legislation in the country and thought I would post my thoughts on this subject.

My Stance

I am in full support of those that are living in this country and have been for years, to work towards being US citizens if they plan to stay here and make this country their permanent home. Especially if you are working here. Taxes are an important part of income generation for both states and the country as a whole. Roads get driven on daily. Parks gets played in often. Various social services like police, fire and health care are used. I’m all about being fair for all. If you take up residence and call a dwelling your home, you should be paying your fair share.

Those that come into this country and don’t contribute, you are doing legal residents a disservice. And I think something should be done to address this issue. Unfortunately, I don’t think Arizona’s knee-jerk law is going to do anything to help.

Elected officials have a problem and they want to solve it. That much most, if not all of us, can agree on. How they are going about it is where I disagree.

My friend in IT, Star Wars and Steely Dan shared this video on Twitter the other day. As I always try to keep an open mind about most things [Sorry Wayne, I will never switch back to Windows as my main computing platform], I clicked on the link and watched it.

Rep. Tom McClintock makes some valid points in this video, which is a response to a recent visit by Mexican President Felix Calderon. The first three and half minutes are spent explaining his stance, which I mostly agree with. It’s in the final 90 seconds is where Tom tends to be distracted and forgets to hear his own words.

Racial Enforcement

As Mr. Gascón has so very well stated in the following article, putting officers into the position of determining who is illegal and who isn’t without racial profiling is difficult. The entire creation of this legislation in Arizona came from the massive amount of people crossing the border from Mexico. This is not about a German citizen who lives in Arizona and hasn’t applied for citizenship yet. This is not about a Dutch resident who has lived in the state, working for the last several years. This law is squarely aimed at latinos and spanish-speaking individuals and trying to stop them from coming into the country illegally. And with this law, those are the people that will be stopped and asked for their papers the most. The only way Arizona can ensure there will be no racial profiling is if they stop each and every person and ask for their legal paperwork. Make no distinction between anyone. White, black, latino, asian, indian… you get stopped, you show your papers. That seems fair, doesn’t it? A lot of work, but with the way the law was worded and designed, it’s the only way for Gov. Brewer to keep her promise without sounding hypocritical.

Now I know some of you are saying, “What’s wrong with that? We need to defend our borders!” and others will say “They are taking their money from here and sending it home to Mexico” and “They don’t pay taxes and we are missing out on collecting that revenue” And I agree with those concerns and issues. As Rep. McClintock above said, we don’t want to close off immigrants from coming into this country, we just want them to become legal US citizens. I agree with that. What I don’t agree with is how this law is aimed at a specific race. Sure, it’s the biggest issue for Arizona, but there are better ways of enforcing and resolving this.

Hear Me Out

Back some years ago, The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was concerned about increased music piracy. Instead of embracing a new way of gaining customers, it took them to court and fined them for each illegally-downloaded song. Arizona is doing a similar tactic. Instead of finding a way to help those that are here illegally become legal, they are willing to fine them and place them in jail.

A RIAA lawyer sees someone with an iPod and thinks “How many pirated songs are on that?”

Those legislators that voted for this law see a latino and think, “Is that person here illegally?”

Divided We Stand

Legal US citizens that look, talk and act like those that the Arizona law hopes to label as illegal, have no need to fear of being deported. They just need to make sure they carry some form of legal documentation that proves they are legal citizens. But, they do have need to be concerned. If for some reason, there are those who enforce this new law that don’t heed to the governor’s repeated anti-profiling promise, these legal citizens will become tired of being asked for their papers, regardless of their public actions. I certainly don’t wish for that to happen, but with a long history of race divide in this country, it’s inevitable.

How do we avoid this? Repeal the law, rewrite it so that it removes the language about “reasonable suspicion” and focus the efforts on helping add more US citizens. Do this before more states, like Utah, become copycats and continue making that dividing line that much larger. This is after all, the United States of America, not the Divided Properties of North America.
]]> http://www.banalleakage.com/2010/05/24/profiling/feed/ 10 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ http://www.banalleakage.com/2010/03/19/vampire-weekend/ http://www.banalleakage.com/2010/03/19/vampire-weekend/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:34:43 +0000 martymankins http://www.banalleakage.com/?p=3006

I went with my daughter last night to see Vampire Weekend here in Salt Lake City. It was the first time I had seen them, whereas my daughter had seen them live once before in March 2008.

I admit to not being the fan that my daughter is, but I’ve listened to both albums before going to the show so I could be more familiar with their tunes – I hate being the out-of-place guy in a crowd of fans trying my best to mouth the right words.

So how did I like the show? In a word – stellar. These 4 guys are so tightly knit with their sound. Songs like “A-Punk”, “One (Blake’s Got a New Face)” and “Holiday” were very enjoyable live, replicating their album sound. But that’s just the sound. The energy Ezra and band mates Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, Chris Baio had throughout the show really proved to me that they are not just current fad.

Now granted, I did have a recurring thought as I watched them. Here’s these college guys, who have made two albums, wondering where they will be in ten years. I thought of them having desk jobs, IT guys, marketing VPs.. all sorts of occupations other than musicians. If their style of music works, they will most likely still be making albums. But what if their popularity dies down? Will they take their Columbia schooling and apply it to another entrepreneur avenue? Who knows. But let’s forget that random thought. Here’s some pics of the band I took and a self-shot video of the song “Cousins”

Ezra’s best Pac-Man imitation

Chris Baio smiled all night. He was obviously having a great time

Rostam on the keyboards

The only shot where you can kind of see Chris Tomson, the drummer

Half “Cousins”

As with most other footage I take at concerts, I limit my song recording for multiple reasons, courtesy to other’s with cameras being the first. Enjoy.

Vampire Weekend – “Cousins” live (partial) from Marty Mankins on Vimeo.

Last month, I went with my friend Kris to see Wolfmother at The Depot here in in Salt Lake City, UT

I had seen Wolfmother twice before, but this was Kris’ first time seeing the band. The last two times I saw them, they were a trio and they rocked hard. A ton of energy and the awesome sounds of their debut album were great to hear live. Since then, the band pretty much split up, but then was brought back to life as a foursome, leaving Andrew Stockdale as the only original member left. While I had my apprehensions about how they would sound now, I had hoped that they would still rock.

And indeed they did. Yes, it was a bit different sounding, but not much. They released a new album called “Cosmic Egg” and while it’s not as good as their first release, it’s pretty good. Songs like “New Moon Rising”, “White Feather” and “Phoenix” are really good, but in my opinion, are still not as a good as “Joker and the Thief”, “Woman” and “White Unicorn”. Still, I thought they had a great energy on stage and they kept the crowd in a musical frenzy throughout their almost two hour set.

Mr Harrison Takes The Stage

The opening band was Thenewno2, which I had never heard of before. After doing a bit of research on them a week before the show, I found a nice surprise in one of their members.

Yep, that’s George’s son

Dhani Harrison, the son of George Harrison [guitarist for The Beatles, for the very few of you that didn't know], was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist. Now I was more interested in seeing them.

Turns out Dhani inherited his musical talent from his dad. The construction of the songs was very grunge-like, sounding a bit like The White Stripes. Their set was extremely short (six songs), but packed with energy.

After their set, I wandered over the merchandise table and met and shook hands with Dhani and the other band members [No pictures, per their manager]. Dhani was very nice and gracious when I told him it was nice to meet him.

Good Bastards

I liked these Bastards – and that’s a positive comment

After going back to my place on the crowded floor in front of the stage, I was treated to a rousing performance by another band I hadn’t heard of before. The Heartless Bastards started off a bit rough, but they rolled right into an hour set of songs that rocked big time. “Early In The Morning”, “Wide Awake” and “New Resolution” were belted out in loud fashion by their lead singer Erika Wennerstrom, who was the blonde version of Chrissie Hynde [from The Pretenders, for those of you that didn't know] in both stage presence and hair style.

All in all, a great show, incredible music and really great to meet the son of a rock legend.

On Wednesday December 9th, the former Alaskan governor was busy signing books for Mitt Romney fans in the state of Utah. But that didn’t stop Sarah Palin from extending her media coverage the same day to both national and international levels with an Op-Ed piece she wrote in The Washington Post regarding the emails hacked from a server at a prominent climate research center in Britain.

Her piece basically slams global warming and says any efforts to prevent it are a burden to tax payers. At least she admits that it’s all about the money, specifically to the tax paying citizens of this country.

This newly hacked ammunition to help the naysayers support their hoax theories, is now placed on top of a pedestal by the most popular of the GOP, who ironically doesn’t currently hold an elected position in her party. But yet three months as a running mate and less than three years as a governor, we are expected to regard her as some sort of expert on global warming and why drilling for oil is a better solution for the American public.

Well, I’m no scientist myself, but I do believe that climate change is happening. And anyone that debates me on it, I have a simple reply to them. Let me walk you though a recent conversation I had regarding climate change:

ME: I think climate change is happening and is being caused by humans and other factors and we need to take measures to prevent it.

THEM: Oh really? Well what about 10,000 years ago when the ice caps melted and there wasn’t hardly any humans on the planet. How do you explain that?

ME: Oh yes. I forgot that 10,000 years ago, the cars that spewed carbon monoxide and the plastic bottles that people drank water from helped cause that.

THEM: What are you talking about? There weren’t cars and plastic bottles 10,000 years ago.

ME: Precisely.

THEM: Well.. you know what I mean. The changes in the earth on it’s own happens every so often. This is the same thing.

ME: So the cars and plastic and other pollutants we have today aren’t causing any damage?

THEM: Well, I’m sure they are. But it’s not the same.

ME: Again, that’s my point.

Show Me The Money

Ok, so maybe my point is too simple and doesn’t take into effect many other factors and details, but think about it. Pollution and waste doesn’t make the air clean and the ground pristine. And consuming more and more energy generated by dirty sources isn’t helping either. But what about this tax payer burden Palin refers to in the article? How we can spend money we don’t have to clean up the planet? I know there’s a lot of you out there that hate to see your tax dollars be used for something you don’t support or believe in.

Fortunately, Thomas Friedman, who is a well respected and intelligent individual, wrote his own Op-Ed piece in the New York Times a few weeks ago and offered some very sound advice and solutions for climate change.

Basically, he suggests that there is lots of money to be made in producing clean energy and renewable sources of power. Sure, it’s not money that’s there today. It’s not about instant greed and wealth. It’s about security wealth and economic stability for the future. Meaning that in just a few short years from now, billions and billions of dollars can be made, and at the same time, saving the planet from further deterioration.

I would much rather trust Mr. Friedman than any elected official [or non-elected, as in the case with Palin] – Obama included – on matters of climate change. Thomas’ interest is based on fact, not some corporate lobby in his back pocket. His interest is personal, which he has written about many times. His logic makes perfect sense, even to the most inane supporters of the “Drill-Baby-Drill” club.

Just Not Political

So I’ve outlined that I’m no scientist. And I have no background on global warming or climate change. But I do understand basic logic. And basic logic tells me that when I drive my car, I’m polluting the air. Switching to a vehicle that uses less air-polluting fuel is a step in the right direction. Eventually moving to a zero-emission vehicle should be the plan to even further reduce our carbon footprint. Recycling plastic instead of throwing it the regular trashcan will help prevent our landfills from becoming larger piles of non-renewable products.

I should also mention that I honesty don’t think Palin is an idiot. In fact, I think she’s actually quite smart. But on a political level, she’s got too much invested in oil, gas and other non-renewable energy sources, ignoring the obvious in exchange for protecting the current monetary stream. She’s hoping to get as many on-board with that with the concern of stealing tax dollars to “save the polar bears” is not worth believing a “bunch of science people’s made up theories.”

I know there’s enough of you reading this that will never change your minds and follow down the “it’s a hoax” path. But for me, I’m convinced that doing my part can and will make a difference. And I hope that there’s enough people in the energy sector that will share my concerns in their efforts to clean up the sources they use now to generate power. Then someday in the near future, we all can look back and see the difference that was made, instead of seeing bankrupt fat cats wondering what happened.

Today was the opening of the first In-N-Out Burger locations in the Northern Utah area. Located in both Draper and Orem, there were people that waited in line overnight and for some – more than 36 hours.

For this Southern California native that has been in Utah for over 20 years now, it was a great thing to see. I’ve been eating at In-N-Out since I was five years old [that's over 40 years now] and they haven’t changed their menu once in that time. Simple, tasty and goodness.

Here was my experience on opening day at the Draper location. A willing workmate went with me. He is an In-N-Out fan, too and wanted to make sure he didn’t miss out on the excitement.

We arrived just before 11am. Not as busy as we thought it would be.

And the line was very short, compared to what it was earlier.

Almost inside. We can see the menu from here.

Double-Double animal style with a strawberry shake.

“Come to papa.. come to papa… you thing of awesome taste”

“Happy Happy, Joy Joy”

Less than 30 mins after getting there, we ate and left. The line is much longer now.

And this is why we didn’t do the drive thru opening day.

The people towards the front of the drive thru line.

Even the police were called in to direct traffic.

Taking orders in line. In-N-Out does it all.

So if you are ever finding yourself here in Utah or if you live here now, we have In-N-Out Burger now. Other burgers better watch their bottom bun.

Getting here wasn’t bad. A four hour flight from Salt Lake City.

online from the iPhone while in flight.

I will continue to rave on and on about how cool it was to Twitter and be online during the flight. I got a free pass for the GoGo Wireless service. And not just from the MacBook Pro, but from my iPhone, too. AT THE SAME TIME! Amazing how such a simple thing as getting online made me so happy – at 40,000 feet in the air, no less.

But tonight is the night for Avitaween.

Excited. Ready to get my drink on. Meet some bloggers I’ve not met before.

A full report with photos will be posted.

Now off to enjoy the day.

“Never fear, alcopop lovers. The state store will be stocking the higher alcoholic content versions (read: a lot more than the 3.2% sold now) of Bacardi Silver, Smirnoff Ice and Tilt for purchase and consumption.”

Well, something happened to change that. Let me go into detail.

The new law [which went into effect October 1, 2008] was designed to remove the temptation from underage drinkers spotting a wine cooler at the grocery store [which is just a clever way for lawmakers and teetotalers to hide their agendas behind the "protecting the children" mantra], while jacking up the prices that they would sell for at the state-run liquor stores. [the real reason for this "ban"]

But something happened after the bill was passed. The companies that make these beverages found a requirement that seemed a bit much. New labels needed to be put on the flavored beverages sold in Utah. These labels needed to state that such flavored alcoholic products contained alcohol. Huh? Come again?

Let’s see if I understand this. Utah tells grocers they cannot sell Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi Silver anymore. Utah then says these drinks will be available at their state-run liquor stores, which sell only products containing alcohol. Yet, they need a label stating these beverages “contain alcohol” for what reason? Once again, those who do not drink or who have never drank should not be making the laws concerning alcohol.

So out of the top three brands: Tilt, Bacardi Silver and Smirnoff Ice, only Smirnoff Ice complied enough with new labels so they could sell their product at the state liquor stores. They are the higher alcoholic content versions other states like Nevada and California sell. But their price went up. A lot. A six-pack of Smirnoff Ice went for $7.99 at the grocers. Now it’s $12.21 at the state store, which makes it about $2 a bottle. During my last visit to another state that sells Smirnoff Ice, the exact same six-pack sells for $6.99 at the grocery store. That’s an 85% markup. Ouch.

The company that produces Bacardi Silver [Anheuser-Busch] told Utah they would most likely not be selling their product here in the state due to the new label requirements. And Tilt, also produced by Anheuser-Busch, is not here, even though the label on the cans I purchased outside of Utah do clearly state they contain alcohol.

What part of “Contains Alcohol” is not clear?

What’s Available Then?

Ok, now I’m sure some of you may be asking, “Is there still alcohol left to buy there in Utah?” Sure there is. The grocery stores still sell 3.2% and 4.0% beer, some of the brands being flavored [the flavoring has to be part of the brewing process, like with Bud Light Lime], and the state-run liquor stores sell hard alcohol like vodka, rum, gin, wine and tequila. These choices are plentiful for any adult who wishes to imbibe. But my main complaint regarding the banning and new requirements for the flavored alcoholic beverages seems odd, especially when you consider you can get much harder alcohols without much trouble.

For fans of Smirnoff Ice or Bacardi Silver, you either need to pay the increased cost at the Utah state liquor store or take a 2 hour drive either east or west of Utah to get your wine cooler fix.

To see the details, here’s a news article from October 2008 that explains the basic changes: Utah first in nation to ban flavored beers

One of my favorite chain restaurants is closing a location, after 20 years in business. T.G.I. Friday’s, via their owner Slaymaker, made the decision to shutter the first Utah location of this popular eating establishment.

Starting in 1989, I’ve been going to this location and enjoying a good meal. As the years progressed, I’ve taken ex-spouses, my daughter, friends, dates and my current spouse to this location. Sure, I’ve visited the other Friday’s locations here in Utah, but this particular location was always a favorite.

One last visit

Hearing of it’s closing brought some sadness. I told my wife that we needed to go pay one last visit this past Saturday [which was their final day in business]. The two of us had been there at least 60 times in the last seven years, obviously a favorite place for us to eat. For myself, I can say I had logged over 300 visits, collecting and redeeming thousands of points that we used mostly for free appetizers – not to mention the many wonderful drinks I’ve enjoyed being served.

“Uh… you need to change this sign”

The closing of this location was brought on by the 2008 demolition of the Cottonwood Mall. This Friday’s location was supposed to remain open throughout the entire project, sticking around for the rebuild, to be completed in 2011. But obviously, the lack of regular mall visitors took it’s toll on those who visited Friday’s. Slaymaker, the owner of the Utah T.G.I. Friday’s locations, made a business decision to close this location.

As we walked into the restaurant, the manager was greeting all of the customers. We told him how long we had been coming to this location, mentioning my twenty-years of visiting and how sad we were to see it close. After all, this was the one of the first Utah restaurants to have a full service ball. [yes, Utah can be a bit behind the times when it comes to alcohol]

We were seated and our waiter took our order [both drinks and food] and we enjoyed a couple drinks [berry mojito for me, top shelf margarita for my wife] and two great meals [I had the pork chops, my wife has a sirloin steak]

As we finished our meals, the manager came up to us and mentioned that the news was there and would we mind being on camera. Of course we agreed.

On The News

With the camera pointed at me, then at my wife, we were asked how long we had been coming to this location, how sad were we that it was closing and then some general follow up questions.

Below is the video clip. This was the Top Story on the 10pm news on Saturday night [March 28, 2009]. It was part of a larger story about how many businesses were affected by the delay during the mall rebuilding project.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Click here for a link to the written story: “TGI Friday’s in Hollday closing“

NOTE: To those that read the story before, my last name was misspelled. It has since been corrected in the text story, but in the video clip, it’s still spelled wrong.

15 Seconds of Fame

It was cool to see my wife and I on the news. People talk about their 15 minutes of fame. Well, this was our “15 seconds of fame” [for each of us], but still exciting, none the less.

Psst… the service at the Southtowne location is better than the Foothill location. Just sayin.

As for those who are curious, we will still frequent other Friday’s locations here in the state [they are building a new location this August at another mall], but will always use this location as a barometer for great food, awesome drinks and a memorable atmosphere.