Are the Democrats in tune with America?

With a continued desire to transform America into a 3rd world country through a spending binge, it would appear they are not. Both democrats and republicans are guilty of power grabs (some ideological, some egotistical) that continue to threaten the liberties so many have died for since this great nation pronounced its independence.



Thankfully the founders understood human nature and implemented a form of government 'by the people'. In November 2010, the entire House of Representatives and 1/3 of the Sentate need to be replaced. It's time for a revolution through the ballot box.

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It's football playoff time. That means it's party time in America!!



Keep your playoff parties going with this great guacamole recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
3 plum tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
2 jalapeno peppers
6 avocados
1 lime
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin (optional)

Preparation:
Wash cilantro, tomatoes, jalapenos, lime, and avocados.

Peel garlic.

Cut stem from jalapenos and cut in half. Remove seeds/veins if you want to keep the heat down (we recommend keeping them to kick up the flavor of the guacamole).

Cut tomatoes in half and remove seeds.

Cut avocados in half and remove the pit. Use a spoon to remove from skin. Cut each half into 4 - 6 pieces (depends on size of avocados).

Cut lime in half.

Process:
Place cilantro in a food processor. Pulse chop (10 - 12 times). Remove and reserve.

Place tomatoes in food processor and pulse (10 times). Remove and reserve.

With processor running, add in garlic cloves and jalapenos. Process about 10 seconds or until minced. Stop processor and scrape mixture from the sides.

Add avocados, chili powder, salt, and cumin (if desired). Squeeze in lime juice. Process for about 30 seconds. Add reserved cilantro and tomato. Pulse until combined.

Place in a bowl, grab some chips, and party on!!!

To set your party apart from all the others, you may want to add in a rare ingredient. Check out the below video for details.

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The founding fathers would not recognize America if they were alive today. As the current administration speeds up the government power grab, we find the country on a clear direction to socialism. It's hard to believe that just over 200 years ago, freedom seeking people fought and died to escape European control, and now we are rushing to embrace former roots.

The video below is a spoof of a recent energy commercial that was modified to fit the message.

FYI, if Department of Homeland Security is watching, we are not domestic terrorists.

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Obaminocchio Montage

Members of government at any level are always easy targets for ridicule. However, one has to begin thinking when ridicule is not enough to cope with the damage they inflict. So do our leaders 'mis-represent the truth' to us on a daily basis? The video montage below provides a sample from recent news related to AIG bonuses and stimulus legislation crafted by Congress and signed by the President. Here's the rationale behind the montage:

• FACT: Stimulus legislation included language to allow for bonuses
• ASSUMPTION: Legislative and Executive branch members fulfill their moral and ethical obligations through diligent review of legislation before voting and signing into law
• CONCLUSION: Pinocchio like results come to light as demonstrated in the video

Some day, the governed may decide to actually take steps to hold leaders feet to the fire. The media seems to ignore some and expend all efforts on others.

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Earmarks, Yes or No

OK, so this is a bit behind the news cycle, but since I am not really a professional artist or cartoonist, it takes some time to get from concept to final product. I'm re-using parts of the 'O' character and bringing in a second character (hope you can guess who it might be).

I ran a little long with the monologue showing the apparent change in philosophy on certain types of spending the government seems to be taking on, but I thought it interesting that spending in some areas is presumed to need less scrutiny than others.

Anyway, to avoid the lip synch function in Anime Studio from interacting with the wood sounds, I created gaps in the monologue for some of the 'tweening'. The Anime output was exported with the sound turned off. Windows Movie Maker was used to bring the video output and sound together.

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Fun Anime Creation

Cartoons are a new addition to hamgrownvideos.com. The first creation below is a fun toon that was easier to create than you might imagine. The cartoon was made with Anime Studio 5. A close to full version can be downloaded for free at Smith Micro. With the free download, you are unable to export the toon, but you can create and play anything you can imagine inside the tool. So you can get a pretty good level of comfort before making a purchase (I'm a big fan of 'try before you buy' products). If you decide to purchase, it's only $49.99.

The most difficult part of creating this toon was drawing our President. I'm obviously not a pro, but it looks reasonable for posting. Anime Studio comes with a 'lip sync' feature that lets you import an audio track (.wav file) and the tool will automatically sample through multiple layers of the head with different mouth shapes to make it appear to speak along. The arm and head movement is easily done with what the tool calls 'bones'. Just add the bones to arms, legs, etc, and use the mouse to drag the limbs to the desired position across a timeline. The tool automatically moves the character for you between timeline points.

Enjoy.



-- hamedelic

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GTA 4 City Boating

When you live in the big city, you sometimes need some recreation to help relax. Boating is a favorite for many. As the video demonstrates, boating does not always need to take place in the water.



How do you get to the top of the building? And how can you get a boat? You can get there through a quick helicopter ride (you just have to jump out near the ledge). The boats are punched in on the phone by calling (938)555-0100.

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Jump Out Takes

OK, so not all jumps go exactly as planned. While putting together the montage in the prior post, there were a number of misses (somewhat of an understatement). Take a look and see.

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Favorite Liberty City Motorcycle Jump Sites

Check out the clip below to see some of my favorite jump sites around the city.

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Best Skatepark in Liberty City for Practicing Jumps

The below video clip shows you the location of one of the better skate parks in Liberty City for practicing motorcycle jumps. A few jumps are demo-ed.

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