Fine Dining, Dubya on Immigration, the Fightins, and Grey's

- Exciting item of the weekend was a little family time on Saturday night as Jamie and I took the parents out for a nice dinner to celebrate their anniversary at Barclay Prime, the "luxury boutique steakhouse" in the upscale Rittenhouse Square section of Philadelphia. Of course we all enjoy the finer things in life, and let me tell you, this place was fantastic. Kobe sliders (mini hamburgers) as an appetizer -- you've never tasted beef until you've had kobe. Absolutely unreal. 12 oz. Filet Mignon: there's nothing I enjoy more in the culinary world than a really good filet mignon. Barclay Prime didn't mess around, and I'll put it in my top 3 filets of all time. I think I could get used to fine dining, although my wallet would quickly become impoverished, but a career as a food critic doesn't sound too shabby.

- So who saw Bush's address this evening about tightening the belt on immigration? I loved the "I can't believe I've been in office for over 5 years now" look on his face, but more surprising was the fact that I actually agreed with what he said. In fact, several hours later, I'm still shocked. As always, the RPR doesn't look to get into political arguments. I won't entertain any such verbal conflicts. But I think the immigration issues have become too much in this country, to the point where they are just letting anyone in the country. Don't get me wrong: I don't doubt that many of these people are coming into the US to find a better life for themselves and their families. But it allows the dirtballs to get into this country and create crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism. Let's be serious, we have enough issues with these items as it is and do not need anymore.

I agree that the Border Patrol needs to be tighter with their controls of letting people into the US (on all borders), and it might help to have the National Guard helping out for a short time. Let's keep the rapists, murders, drug dealers, and terrrorists out. After all, I think that is the point of this whole thing. There are plenty of solid, upstanding citizens who want to come into the US to work hard, give their kids a decent education, and create an improved lifestyle for the whole family. There's nothing wrong with this. The streets aren't paved with gold, but this country is in a hell of a lot better shape than several of our neighbors to the south.

By the way, I'm still shocked that I agree with something Bush is promoting. Astonishing.

- Fightin' Phils: Winners of 13 out of last 14 games. Lieber throws a sick game on Saturday. Ryan Howard was in the emergency room late Saturday night with a stomach ailment, then comes in the game late on Sunday afternoon to hit 2 home runs. The team is hotter than the black leather seats of a `72 Chevy Nova sitting in the desert on a summer afternoon.

[And with that, I probably jinxed them. But there's no denying that the team is playing ridiculous baseball right now.]

- Grey's Anatomy finale: Superb. ABC did a knock-out job with this show, and after staying in the shows of Desperate Housewives, took over as the main draw of ABC's Sunday night television in my opinion. The plotlines were a little off-the-wall toward the end, but what do you expect from a medical drama? I was entertained and looked forward to each episode. In this day and age of crappy television, if a show can at least do that, then I'd say it's a success. Now I can focus my attention back to The Sopranos.

- And since I have nothing else to add, that will be it for this evening. Enjoy Tuesday.