The Voices in Frank's Head

A large number of Americans will soon be without a job or unemployment benefits now that Congress has refused to extend authorization for long-term unemployment benefits. Congressional Republicans claim that unemployment compensation hurts job growth. They say it makes people lazy and not want to work. At the same time, though, they also want to give billions and billions in tax dollar subsidies to oil companies, multi-national agribusinesses, and every other large corporation around. I suppose the solution, therefore, is for all of the unemployed people to form their own corporation. At which point in time, the GOP will then be willing to dump 10 times the cash on them as they would've gotten in unemployment benefits. They can call this new corporation the God Bless America Envelope Company. The first order of business for GBAEC will be to hire a handful of people to make envelopes or, more likely, contract that part out to someone in a Third World country. The company can ...

First, yes, I know it's been forever since I've updated this blog. I said it was possibly ending, but after a couple of years, I finally had something that I wanted to share. This simply seemed like the best vehicle for putting it out into the universe. With the help of some friends on Facebook, I managed to create at least the first draft of my bucket list. I will invariably add a few things to this as the years go on. However, I figured it was time to at least start one. Therefore, in no particular order, here are the items on my bucket list. Drive Route 66 from beginning to end; Visit Prague; Visit a random city and take a walk that only ends once I've taken a picture of every letter of the alphabet; Attend the Pierogi Festival in Whitting, Indiana; Visit the American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa. This, by the way, is the house that Grant Wood posed his models in front of in his famous painting, American Gothic . Go to Chicago and re-enact Ferris Bueller...

Stock Photo by Dalia Drulia After more than eight years of posting on this blog, I have decided to bring it to an end - at least for the time being. I am actively posting on three other websites and don't have the time to maintain this one as well. There is always a chance that I will return to blogging here. However, at least for the time being, I feel a need to put this on hold and focus on those other three sites. For those who still follow this blog, and wish to follow me elsewhere, the first of the three sites is my neighborhood blog - the Warrendale (Detroit) Blog . I also review books, movies, and television shows at BlogCritics.org . Last, but not least, I write travel related articles for Examiner.com . To everyone who has read this blog over the years, thank you!

According to local news reports, two kids were shot today in Detroit's Brightmoor neighborhood when an argument over how to make Kool-Aid turned violent. I swear, I'm not making this up. Two kids really and truly were shot today because of an argument over Kool-Aid. Two Shot in Detroit After Argument Over Kool-Aid: MyFoxDETROIT.com This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I write fiction. Reality is just too damn strange to be believed some times.

3D printing has been around for awhile now, but it has finally come up with something that truly grabs my attention. They have finally started to use 3D printers to make custom bikinis . Unfortunately, no one has come up with a way to use a 3D printer to create a bikini model. I suppose that will come with a future upgrade. For now, we have to do it the old-fashioned way - either pay them lots of cash to show up or convince them you're European royalty.

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett  recently threatened to remove President Barack Obama  from the ballot this year in Arizona due to concerns that President Obama wasn't really born in the United States. He asked the State of Hawaii to confirm the validity of his birth certificate once more. However, the State of Hawaii hasn't responded to Secretary Bennett's request. This is likely because the Republican Governor of Hawaii Linda Lingell   signed a bill into law two years ago making it their state's official policy to ignore such requests because they are so ridiculous and troublesome. On behalf of Democrats everywhere, I would like to express my profound gratitude to Secretary Bennett and birthers across this great nation. It would normally be very difficult for a sitting President to be re-elected with unemployment as high as it is and with approval ratings as low as President Obama's are. However, Secretary Bennett and his ilk appear to be going ...

Sometimes I feel like writing a novel is like giving birth in slow motion.

Former Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm  argued in The Huffington Post that Mitt Romney did nothing to save Detroit. What a coincidence! Neither did she.

Why, yes, there is a place where an ordinary guy like me can rent a helicopter gunship to pump round after glorious round of 7.62 mm ammunition into the side of a mountain. Full details of this are available on the hotel's web site . Do we live in a magnificent country or what? The only question that remains is: who wants to go with me?

The folks at Web MD published a quiz recently to highlight "Bedroom Mistakes Women Make." Surprisingly, not bringing a sandwich was not one of the ones they talked about.

Adam Yauch photo by Fabio Venni Adam Yauch , co-founder of the Beastie Boys , past away today at the age of 47 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Back in the late 1980s and 90s, I used to hate the Beastie Boys. When one of their songs came on the radio, I always changed the station. It was only really in the past decade or so that I've realized the pure beauty in the rebellious, if at times obnoxious, nature of their music. Adam Yauch, you will be missed.

I frequently bookmark lengthy on-line articles and blog posts that seem interesting, but that I don't have time to read completely when I first find them. It may take awhile, but I always go back to them eventually. I stumbled upon Avi Steinberg's  article in The Paris Review  last February (the midst of income season). It dealt with the librarian as a recurring image in pornographic or sexually explicit literature. I'm glad that I bookmarked this one because it's really good. Check out "The Librarians Naughty Habit" by Avi Steinber in The Paris Review   here .

The Avengers  had a special showing at the Tribeca Film Festival. I was lucky enough to get video from this event from the producers. I'm so excited to be able to see The Avengers  in theaters this coming Friday.

The Women Bringing You Sandwiches page on Facebook is organizing their 3rd annual "Women Bringing You Sandwiches Day" on May 17. The vast majority of people who have found this page appear to enjoy it for the good heartened joke that it was intended to be. However, there is a certain segment of the internet population that have responded with profanity laced insults, not only for the organizers of this but for those who would participate in it. Women Bring Sammiches - And Controversy It's both amazing and, quite frankly, a little depressing that something as simple as woman bringing a sandwich can prompt tirades of profanity and stupidity. I know that there is something about the internet that always brings out the craziest of the crazies. I'm also relieved to note that for every one person who left a such post, there are approximately a hundred other Facebook users who are sensible about it. Still, the anti-women bringing sandwiches tirades are at least a li...

The Five Year Engagement , starring Jason Segel  and Emily Blunt , opens in theaters everywhere this Friday. I look forward to it. Hopefully, they will explain the important questions that this film raises, like, why did this couple rush their engagement?

This is a sad commentary, but I've realized something about American life and politics. Success in American politics, it seems, is often measured by the volume and ferocity of the hate mail one receives.

Don't Date Cats I have some simple advice for the single women of the world: cats are cool, but there's something wrong with you if you put 5 different pictures of your cat on your on-line dating profile and you're not in any of them. A part of me cannot believe that there are women out there who actually need this advice. However, after reviewing a few on-line dating sites, it's clear that such a need does exist.

As I look through my Facebook news feed, I see that my Republican and Libertarian friends are having fun with the fact that President Barack Obama was fed dog meat, among other things, while he was a child living in Indonesia. He discussed this fact in his memoir Dreams from My Father , which was published in 1995. Is it just me or does it seem really, really desperate to have to go back to President Obama's childhood in order to find something to make fun of?

2012 is only a quarter of the way over. However, has hit a sudden rough patch. The Lingerie Football League announced that they are putting their entire season on hiatus for 2012. They will be back in the summer of 2013. If anyone needs me, I'll be at the bar sulking.

I'm once again doing taxes this year. I'm not thrilled to be back in the financial services industry, but I'm good at it and the money is decent. Anyway, an 80 year old gentleman came into my office yesterday afternoon. He dumped a stack of papers on my desk and asked me to figure out how much owed in taxes. As I was working on his return, we started talking about life. At one point or another during our conversation, the subject of women came up and, in particular, how hard it can be for guys to understand them. Like a Painting by Picasso It was at that point that this wise gentleman shared an important insight with me. "A woman is like a great painting by Picasso ," he explained with a knowing smile across his face. "You don't have to understand it in order to enjoy having one around." It took me a moment to soak in the simple brilliance of his analogy. Truer words, I believe, have never been spoken by any man.