dec 19

- I saw "We Were Soldiers" for the first time yesterday. I thought it was great. Gibson excels at that type of role.

- I haven't been writing at all lately (like, for a week). I'm mostly sitting around, playing cards and video games, but that doesn't sound very profitable. So if anyone asks, I've been volunteering at the local soup kitchens and rescuing cats from trees. For the underprivileged, inner-city youth.

- "Spiritually. Ecumenically. Grammatically." <- ought to be on a bumper sticker. I'd buy it.

- Donald Trump didn't remove the crown from the Miss USA winner who's been out partying. What a compassionate guy. Seriously, they should name a building after him.

- I wrote an email to somebody and it was like ten to midnight (setting up the excuse early) so I mistakenly wrote "inherent" instead of "inerrant." You don't easily recover from something like that. Luckily, it kind of makes sense in the way I used it, so maybe the person won't think I'm idiotic as much as redundant.

- Rocky Balboa is only a week away.

dec 15

- If you want to buy a corn or pellet stove, I may be able to hook you up...

- I don't know if anyone got the A.A.Milne joke, 'cause no one leaves comments. Or maybe you got the joke, but didn't think it was funny. That's likely too; I have a strange sense of humor.

- Apocalypto is getting good reviews. Take that, Barbara Walters.

- CNN showed footage of this terrorist rap/recruitment video thing. Seriously, that was bizzare.

- School's out.

- Christmas list: Career, Car, and somebody to pick up my script that I haven't finished. I've got my fingers crossed.

- My boss kept telling me he was going to call me in today. He didn't, and I'm glad. In all my free time, I slept and did other boring things. I swear, this town is like Walnut Grove on tranquilizers. It's got a bar, and... and, um, yeah...

- I'm thinking of starting one of those online businesses where you write people's college papers for them. Unfortunately, I have no amibition. I'm like Mycroft Holmes without the deduction skills.

- Seeing the movie doesn't make you a fan. You're not a LotRs fan if you've seen the movies but haven't read the books. You have to read the trilogy, the Silmarillion, and the Hobbit, at least. Reading Tolkien's letters and the History of Middle Earth are bonus fan stuff. Watching Hitchhiker' Guide doesn't make you a fan. Watching the travesty that was The Spirits Within does not make you a fan.

- A.A. Milne was a great writer. If I were ever going to write a children's book, his stuff would probably be the only works I'd study.

- "Good writers borrow from other writers, great ones steal from them out-right." Hmmm..

- Look for my new book to hit store shevles soon: "Now We Are Sick."

So...

Well, something happened, and i'm not sure if it's good or bad. Anyway, my boss pretty much said he has to be at work all the time now, and I'm kind of on call, but not actually working there anymore, as a paid employee. Or this will be happening in the next few weeks. I wasn't sure, and he wasn't either.

Like I said, i hated the job, but didn't want to leave out of loyalty. If he doesn't need me, then it could make things a lot easier. We'll see what happens.

- Only two finals left. One should be easy. The other I should be studying for right now. But I'm not. 'Cause I'm stupid.

- House is better than The Unit. I've seen multiple episodes of each, and while the Unit is in no way bad televison, House is better. But apparently I'm the guy who said Ocean's 12 was as good as Ocean's 11 because the writing was well done (I don't remember saying this, but I'm told I did. I don't get drunk, so I really have no excuses.).

- I cannot think of a single move this year that I really liked. 2005 had Kingdom of Heaven, which I think is vastly underrated. 2001, 2002, and 2003 had LotR. I can't think of anything exceptional from 2004. I can't think of anything that came out this year that I'd want to own. I'll probably get Pirates 2 and X-men 3 at some point, just for the collection.

- 2007 is around the corner. And I feel old at 20. My friend who is only a year older than me is married with a kid. Maybe I'll get an igauna...

Dec 12th

- I'm depressed. I am so eager to graduate, and I'm not going to know if I can for another month, and I get the feeling it's going to wear me down. Anyway...

- “Quando dio, ole castigarci ci manda, quello che desideriamo.”
When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.

I thought it was interesting. A pagan-founded sentiment, of course, but the thought still makes you thank God for Romans 8:26.

- You know the feeling you get when you know something bad is going to happen, but you can't do anything about it? It makes you depressed. I'm depressed. I'm going to go write.

- There's this scene in the West Wing where the president is talking to his chief of staff and says something like, "Sweden has a 100% literacy rate! 100%! How do they do that?" And his chief of staff says, " Maybe they don't, but they can't do math." That's got to be one of my favorite lines of all time.

Dec 11th

- Finals are finally here! Woot.

- Since it took me so long to be able to get in and speak with my advisor, I wasn't able to sign up for classes, and now I have to wait even longer, and I probably won't get what I need anyway. I feel like I'm in a one of Scott Adams' strips.

- I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. In fact, I have procrastinated on just about everything this semester. I think all of my papers were finished the day they were due at the earliest.... It's a good thing my parents don't read this....

- Well, Christmas is right around the corner, so we get to see all the Rudolph, Frosty, Grinch, and Claymation movies you can handle. And then some more. But are the networks content? Nooooo. They feel the need to drop utter crap on us with the inventions of Frosty Returns and Jim Carrey's Grinch. Frosty Returns is just bad televison. It's bad. There's really nothing else to say about it.

The live-action Grinch facade is in a different category. It's part of the "Rip-off the Name, and Screw Up the Story" genre. That's like making a Robin Hood where the Sheriff of Nottingham has a voodoo-practicing mother, and Robin Hood actually went on the crusades. Oh, wait, they did that too.

- Risk: It's All In The Wrist.

- PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals. On that note, we here in Michigan recently voted to not allow the shooting of doves. I was in favor of NOT shooting doves. Just because there was no reason to, and doves aren't hurting anybody. There are plenty of things to kill out there that need killing (read: Spiders).

- Follow-up: I like animals. I think animals were created by God both to comfort and provide resources for man. Killing animals with a purpose is not a bad thing (i.e. the entire Old Testament system of animal sacrifices, and as for food, etc.) Killing animals for other reasons is generally not good (except Spiders. Kill them all). In other words, I'm about like 80% of michigan's population. Use them as a resource, but don't be malicious about it.

The problem comes when people (read: Peta) start claiming animals are somehow on par with people. My dad almost voted for shooting doves just to shove it in the face of people who call it murder. Equalizing hunting with murder is trivializing both human life and the taking of it. It's also a pretty hefty accusation against God.

I don't hunt. It's not because I'm against it, but because it doesn't interest me enough. I'm not against people killing deer, because I'd rather they did than I hit one with my car. I know a lot of people who don't hunt, and who don't like the practice. I'm okay with that too. The people who I have a problem with are the ones who think animals are people too, and the ones who think animals are here for humans to take out their frustrations upon.

- I'm off to my Women's History (And Why Men Are Stupid!) class.

Dec 8th

- My PSC teacher bought 8 pizzas and showed a video of a comedian for our class today. That guy rules.

- I wrote a 6 page paper comparing Faulkner to O'Connor today for a class on those two authors. I still haven't read any of their writings.

- A kid in my first class this morning hasn't missed a single class period at all this semester. I'm pretty sure he's a freshman or possibly a sophmore. He said something about paying for the eductaion, so why not get it? "Silly, silly, silly!" - guy from Frosty.

College is NOT about paying for an education. It's about paying for a paper that says you're educated. Certainly, you will learn things while at college. You will not learn things that justify paying 5k a semester. The 5k is for the paper.

Some might say that this is cynical, and I'm sure it is, but I don't think I'm wrong. I took a Calculus class that I don't remember a single thing from. The same with Geology, Biology, Weather, that computer course, and some of those SOC courses. I remember some from History, and some from poli-sci, a lot from my first Literature class.

Mostly, what I've "learned" from college is to write better papers, and that was worth a good bulk of what I've spent. So I guess you could say that you're paying for skills, not knowledge, and that works, but it doesn't explain why I should go to a "statistics in psychology" class. I took it for the credits, nothing more.

I know I've said all this before. It's finals week, though, and my contempt for this place is growing by the hour. Check in a week; I should be all jolly by then.

- TV is having a bunch of game shows on recently. They all look the same, but the great (and it is great) thing about these game shows are the hosts they are using. Bob Saget would have been enough, but they tapped the perfection that is William Shatner, a man so bizzare that his persona has become a parrot of a parody of himself. And now they've got Penn from Penn and Teller hosting a show. This is like the apocalypse of game show horror, and we can only blame Regis Philbin for starting it all. The thing is, people are watching this stuff.

- William Shatner and Bob Saget hosting game shows.... IN THE SAME MONTH. Christmas came early this year! Naturally, I will not watch any of them. Just the fact they are there is enough. The only way this could be any better is if Chuck Norris started hosting one called "A Fistful of Dollars."

Dec 7th

- Anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

- Changed settings so anyone can comment now.

- I have that song that goes "pula pula pula pula pula pula pula" stuck in my head. The problem is three-fold: I don't know any other words to that song, I don't know what "pula" means, and I don't know if the guy is actually saying "pula." So there you go. Yet another reason to hate the radio.

- I talked to my advisor person to see if I could graduate this coming semester (remains to be seen, I may end up with a few summer classes). Anyway, the guy was talking about summer graduations, and said that there's no ceremony for people who graduate in August. He acted like it was a bad thing.

I don't care about standing up in front of a bunch of people I don't know to get a piece of paper from a school for which I have no respect. CMU was cheap, and it was close by, so I went. I am not going to brag about having a diploma from this place. It's like having a diploma from the DNC. "Congratulations, you've endured 4+ years of unceasing liberal propaganda. Have a cookie."

I mean, there is a level of pride of accomplishment in actually having a degree, certainly, but as for school pride? None whatsoever. I couldn't care less if they win a football game, I don't wear shirts that say "CMU," and I don't care if our school mascot remains the Chippewa. I don't care if the student senate passes resolutions, and i don't care if Rao looks at them, giggles fiendishly, and throws them in the trash. I don't care if they spend 180,000 dollars to paint white lines of the sidewalks for "bicycle lanes," and I don't care if not a single person acts like they're there.

- On the News right now, they're talking about how Kalamazoo is still recounting a state senate election ( I think that's what it is ). Anyway, the Republican looks like Putin, and the Democrat looks like a china doll.

- My PSC 328 prof played (he didn't play it himself, he played it on the computer...). "Green Fields of France" on Wednesday, claiming it would ruin our day. He actually left the class before it started so he wouldn't get depressed. Now, sure, the song is sad, but I made it though my day all right. Until I got online afterward and looked up the lyrics ('cause you miss a lot the first time you hear a song). And then I was still okay. So clearly, my heart still needs to grow three sizes this year.

- Schwarzenegger should declare California a sovereign nation and cede from the union. Seriously, who would not be thrilled with this? He'd get to be president, California could become New France, and the rest of us normal people would never have to pretend Martin Sheen is important ever again!

- The Today Show has said "scathing" and "scorching" about the Iraq study group report 4 times in the first two minutes of show. And then some expert got on and said "twiddly-winks." He may have been making a point, but I think he just wanted to say "twiddly-winks." I mean, who doesn't?

Dec 6th

I've been busy lately, with work and school. I'm starting to feel like I'm going to graduate and get stuck in a service job, or something. "Maybe if I move to New York," I think to myself in moments of insanity. I'd hate New York. I'd hate California. I could move to Florida, but what with all the hurricanes, man-eating alligators, and torrential flooding, I'd be dead within a year. The rest of the states are no different than Michigan. Trust me, I took a geography class once, and I didn't fail it. I know these things. So I'll probably stay in Michigan.

So I got on myspace, and searched my hometown, and quite a few people came up. I recognized a few of them (one of them is a co-worker). I almost signed up out of boredom, before realizing I already did that about 3 months ago, and haven't got back on since. It takes too much effort... or something.

It looks like I'm going to continue working at the Fitness Center for another semester, at least. There is something about that place that I just... hate. My boss(es) are great guys, my co-worker (yeah, there's only one) is cool (which is refreshing, considering the bunch of yahoos we've had in this place before her), but I feel like I'm getting more idiotic by the day as people come up and talk to me about the stupidest things, and I feign interest when I really just want to say, "Shut up. Shut up. For all that is good in this world, please shut up," in a deadpan voice. That would probably get me fired.

Also, there's no place for advancement here. Not that I'd want to make it a career, but it's my boss, my other boss, and then me. The bosses are co-owners. I feel a need to be in a position of authority, because when you're the low man on the totem pole, being glib, being sarcastic, and being cynical is dangerous stuff. Authority allows for familiarity and for comfort, because the only person responsible is you. If I tick someone off right now, it goes back to my boss. I feel like I'm being repressed. And now the obligatory follow-up: Ekke, Ekke, Ekke, Ekke, Ptang, Zoo boing!

I kind of want to quit, but my boss has been tremendously loyal to me over the years (I think we've had 12 other employees come and go in the four years we've been open, and I worked the first day the place opened). They work around my school schedule, and been flexibile when there were problems. He needs me to stick around for another six months, so I probably will. Also, there aren't a lot of opportunities for work around here.

But after I graduate, I have to get out of here. It's a little scary, since I have no idea where to go to find a better job that I will like. I mean, i like writing, and a job that will require me to write opinion pieces, short stories, or plays is probably non-existant. I'll probably end up working some job i hate while trying to write a play on the side. After it's done, I don't know what I'm going to do with it. Anyone know how you go about getting your play published?

Benedict Arnold

- Okay, so Mr. Arnold wasn't all that bad a guy. First of all, he was a military genius who wasn't respected by any of his peers except George Washington, and secondly, he thought the French were a bunch of freedom-repressing pagans. What's not to love? You can never say that enough about the French, either. Yeah, so he tried to betray the colonies to the British, but you would to if you had the ego that Arnold had, along with the maturity of an eight year-old. I mean, you can only sleight those guys so many times before they try and give away the Hudson.

- I may end up graduating next semester, if I can get 21 credits of the classes I need. That's seven classes. I want to quit my job and just sleep for a really long time tomorrow...

- Timothy Busfield is great. Really.

- I cannot wait until this semester is over. Three more papers and finals.

Dec 3rd

- Just because I haven't linked it here yet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmgf60CI_ks

- There is both tremendous pressure on me to do school projects while at the same time an overwhelming feeling of boredom, and yet I can not force myself to sit down and actually do the projects. Instead, I get on this blog and write about it. As my cousin Andrew would say, "How does that speak to your character?" Probably not good...

- So I wore a black suit to church today, and when I put on my driving gloves, I looked like I could have been in Resevoir Dogs. No, I didn't say that to anyone at church.

- Follow-up:I want a job where I get to where a dress-suit every day. When I eventually become the writer I want to be, I think I'll throw on a suit while I type at my computer.

- Okay, I have to go write papers. On books I haven't read.

Conservatism

- I updated my profile, so now if you want to stalk me, you won't have to do so much work.

- For the two (three?) of you who come here and actually read those episodes I write, I really am close to finishing the 10th. I'm just really having a hard time transposing it from the notebook to the computer. And I don't know how to end this one...

- So, my Marxist Soc prof keeps going on about how the social right and the economic right are fundamentally opposed, and the social right keeps getting hosed by the economic right. "They vote pro-life and get tax cuts for the rich" is the phrase he keeps using, borrowing from Franks' What's the Matter with Kansas.

As far as that goes, I think I have to agree with him. Really, what progress has the social right made over the last 40 years? Society has become progressively more and more liberal.

That being said, I still vote Republican, and always will, barring some unforeseen shift in politcal outlooks. First of all, Franks' whole premise in Kansas is that Kansas is worse off economically now that they vote Republican, when in fact there is substantial evidence that shows dramatic economic growth since they began to vote in conservatives.

But that's side-bar. I vote Republican because I'm a social conservative, made so by my "religious" beliefs. If you see each life as created and given by God, then abortion can never be right.

1) Say there is a man who is going to cut off your right hand if you don't kill an innocent by-stander; are you then morally free to kill that innocent?

Yet many would argue that it is morally right to take the life of an unborn child in cases of great trauma against the mother. And the even bigger problem is that they use this "justification" as grounds to argue for completely free-range abortion practices.

2) The other side: The biggest weakness my argument has? That a young, well-off white guy is making it.

Not that I would give any ground on this, but the fact that I'm a guy makes any argument I propose on this issue much less substantial in the eyes of people who are undetermined on the issue, regardless of the argument itself. The fact that I come from a middle class background further weakens my ability to debate this.

And that leads us to point three.

3) Politics are not decided by logic, as much as I think they should be. No, instead, we get politics by emotion. "What about in the cases of rape and incest?" tugs on the emotional strings, and then anyone who says abortion is still murder is made to look like a barbarian (Devos, first debate) by the media and the opposition. And what about those cases? Those cases that make up maybe 1% of all the abortions that are carried out daily in our nation? I take you back to point 1.

And then we go back to point 2. I can never be in that position, so it's easy for me to be detatched emotionally, and argue logically. Murder is murder, plain and simple. Well... that doesn't mean much coming from a guy who will never have to worry about it.

The second reason I vote Republican? Because while they aren't making much progress, they are at least stemming the tide. If the Democrats ever get total control again, you'll see what I mean. Yes, the Republicans are giving ground, and yes, most of them only give the social right lip-service. It's better than having the other guys in there.

And, lastly, their fiscal polices work. Reganomics work. Bush's tax cuts are working. So there you go.

michael richards

I had to give this guy more time. It keeps getting better. MSN.com has an article titled "Jewish by Association" about Richards' claim that he's Jewish (in defense of some of his anti-semitic remarks way back in April), when he's really not by any definition. Does this warrant instant access into the Maurice Clarret Club of the Crazies?

So, anyway, Richards goes on to meet with the "Why-Aren't-They-Defrocked, Because, Seriously, This Is Getting Ridiculous" two-man team of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and apologizes repeatedly, and somehow George Bush ends up being the bad guy. Because he hates black people.

Is there a more idiotic, yet accepted practice, than to go on a racist's radio show to apologize for being a racist?

- I had about four days where I was allowed to sleep in for Thanksgiving break, and now it is really, really hard to adjust back to opening here at work. I could go face down at any moment.

- The dollar continues to plunge. I keep wondering if I should start worrying or, you know, doing something.

- Tracy Morgan got arrested for another DUI. Why do we care? Exactly.

- Ben Wallace needs his headband! He needs it, people. Us regular folks wouldn't understand.

- Sports stars are a bunch of babies.

- This is the best season of Survivor, yet. There are some really smart, likeable, under-dogs who are suddenly winning. It's great.

- I know, I know, reality tv is trashy.

nov 28th

- The dollar is weakening, global warming is going to kill us all, and I have a 15 page paper due tomorrow that I haven't done any work on. And now I ended a sentence with a preposition. Can it get any worse?

- I think all the tv shows are taking fall breaks now. Is this a new thing, or have they always done this and I just haven't noticed?

- I like non sequitors.

- It's 8:39 and I'm still at work because there are certin people who just won't get home, so I'm writing this.
'
- Now they're leaving.

- Still leaving.

- Huh.

- Now they're talking.

- And getting ready to leave.

- There we go.

- Come on.

- "Goodnight!"

- And I am out of here!

nov 27th

- You know what's insane about the Michael Richards controversy? It's that he's not a racist! True story.

- OJ Simpson's deal got squashed. Look for his next endeavour as he and Mike Tyson co-star in the upcoming film "Innocent: Or not."

- Is there a "teen starlet" who is not absolutely digsuting? I don't think so.

- Michael Vick flipped off his home crowd after they lost yet again. How much longer before the talking heads get to the point where most of us have been for awhile now: overrated, overpaid, over-merchandised?

- I have so many papers to due within the next 7 days. It's cutting into my writing time.

- You know why you don't have any polymascotfoamalate? It's because you're a communist fool, red.

update

- Thanksgiving. Rather uncommercialized, as Holidays go, save for maybe the grocery stores and turkey farmers. I didn't even watch football this year. I played some (my team won 56 to 28 - take that, Ragans ;P).

- I bought a cellphone, finally. It remains remarkably under-used at the present.

- Heroes' big episode was actually exciting. I don't know why, and I didn't like how they ended it, but it's been awhile since I've found a television show exciting like that. Lost isn't exciting, it's just weird (imo).

- I have to get to church. If you see a bear holding a shark, it might have stolen my baby.

"Now you're the one with a fork stuck in your eye!" - Blue Laser

more about writing

So I'm in trouble. It's not exactly writer's block, since the words are coming. It's just that the words are bad. The writing is bad. I'm pretty certain it's just a phase, but it's one of the most depressing things that happens to me. I'm getting nowhere in my play, and I've lost the drive to keep my "episodes" going.

My problem is drama. I can write flippant stuff, cynicsm, sarcasm, banter, but I can't write drama. I can't write tragedy so that it comes off as something gripping, something touching. It drags, and I inevitably leave the screen with a feeling of "what is this mess?" Ugh.

I can't figure out if I'm depressed because my writing is lousy, or if my writing is lousy since I'm depressed.

- Ohio State beat Michigan by 3 points.

- Happy Feet got more money than the new Bond flick.

- Prison Break keeps killing off characters. This is a good thing.

- The dad on Heroes is my favorite character. I hope he survives the night.

november 15th

- I'm actually excited about this new Bond film. From what I hear, it's going to kind of rewrite the Bond history, but that's fine. The "Bond world" was never the drawing point. I've heard only good things about Craig's portrayal. I like the guy; I don't remember him being in much besides Tomb Raider, but he was good there. It looks like a darker version of the Bond series, much like the most recent Batman. Darker is good.

- Doesn't it seem like Hugh Jackman is in every other movie being released this year?

- Which leads to "Happy Feet." If it were any animal but penguins, I don't think I'd care. But it's PENGUINS. I am really looking forward to seeing that movie. Tap-dancing penguins are awesome. Yes, I know, it's yet another talking animals film. But it's dancing PENGUINS. See what I mean?

- Michigan vs Ohio State this saturday. Exciting stuff! ... ... Like I care about college football. I'm thinking I should try harder to care, though, considering my recent outburst about dancing penguins.

- College football. Huzzah!

- Gary Jules' "Mad World" is the music to the commercial for "Gears of War." Apparently, the song was first used in "Donnie Darko," which I hear I should see. I read the basic plot on Wikipedia (is there a more fantastic website?), and it sounds intriguing. Anyway, the song is sweet.

- OJ Simpson has (I believe) a book coming out titled something along the lines of "If I Did It, Here's How It Happened." Translation: Nyah, nyah, ny-nyah, nyah. He's thumbing his nose at the rest of the country. I can only hope those idiots on the jury are awaken by many a bout of heart-burn and irritated ulcers. And someone in the government dispatches an operative to cap Simpson.

post-election

I really don't want to go to some of my classes today. There is going to be an inproportionate amount of gloating from the crazies on the left and probably from the teachers too. Still, I'm not too disappointed in the overall outcome.

- Stephen Colbert on the New York Post headline "Good Noose" about Saddam's verdict: "I personally would have gone with 'Aww, SNAP!'"

- Michigan: Devos lost, which is too bad, because Granholm isn't doing anything for the state. However, the big proposals went the conservative way; most importantly, the ban on affirmative action past. That will take some of the wind out of the bags that attend CMU.

- Republicans lost the House and the Senate is still being decided. Ouch. McCain had it right, though. You can't spend as much as they spent and still call yourselves fiscal conservatives. Hopefully they learn from this, and start being true conservatives again.

- Studio 60 is getting harder and harder to watch. Still has good writing, but as much as anti-right-wing (double hyphen? that can't be right..) propaganda doesn't bother me, Sorkin's continual bashing of people who go to church is getting repetitive and heavy-handed. It's too bad, because there was a decent thing going on there. NBC says that it hasn't been axed yet and is still profitable enough keep it. If it makes it to a second season, Sorkin' going to have to find something else to focus on.

- Patriots lost to the Colts. I was pleased. Still waiting for Simmons to write his article about it.

- Just came from one class. This day could turn out better than I expected. Apparently, the affirmative action ban is crushing the spirits of liberals all around. I'm actually gleeful. As I said before, I didn't care so much if Republicans won, but that Dems lost. The Dems won, largely, but things like this make my day. I was having a hard time not giggling earlier when they were lamenting the ban.

- Still, South Dakota failed to pass it's heavy abortion ban, and Santorum was defeated. I liked him; he's like the poster boy for everything the teachers at CMU hate. The professor was giddy about his defeat. I hope he runs again in two years.

- This is fantastic! http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blratherisms.htm

November is here

- Mr. Eko was apparently killed last night on LOST. If he is gone for good, then the people over at the LOST camp are idiots. It was interesting that the first time the smoke appeared (last season), Eko held it off. Something to do with his spiritual state, perhaps? He better not be gone for good.

- In other LOST news, what's with the new people? The show would benefit from less characters, not more characters who follow an over-used formula.

- Rasheed Wallace got tossed for complaining to the refs, under the new NBA rule that allows refs to give technicals for players whining to them. I'm thoroughly thrilled.

- There was a bag of candy put at the desk at work, in case trick-or-treaters came by, but none did. I showed very little self-restraint with that candy.

- John Kerry made my day. Drudge had a great picture up this morning with soldiers in Iraq holding up a banner that said "HALP US JON CARRY - WE R STUCK('k' was backwards) HEAR N IRAK." I don't particularly care if the Republicans win this November; I just really want the Democrats to lose.

Halloween

- New Homestarrunner cartoon commemorating the event should be out, hopefully.

- Once again, I'll be at work during the "trick or treating," which is fine, since I never took part anyway. I'm going to ask my boss to buy some candy to put at the desk in case kids come in (they never do, but I'm at the desk all evening).

- Vikings got trounced. I figured they would, but it's still depressing.

- Proposal 2 is on the ballot this november in Michigan. It basically bans affirmative action. There is an epidemic of panic and outrage on the campus over this; it's crazy. Still looks like it's going to pass though, so that's good.

- Looks like Studio 60 is getting the axe, for various reasons (i.e., people don't watch it). I agree with one critic completely, though, who said that the sketches they show blurbs of the show doing are not funny. He said that the show set themselves up as the savior of "good" television, and then they show us these absolutely below par sketches. I thought that was a good point.

Unfortunately, the rest of the program is suffering for it. Particularly in the last few episodes, Sorkin seems to have gotten into his rhythm. It was smart again, because Sorkin was writing about what he's best at... writing. West Wing was all around brilliant, but never so much so as when Sam, Toby, or Will were talking about writing (at least to me).

Apparently, writing is not enough to keep an audience. The cast is brilliant, again (though neither D.L. Hugley or Tom Corddry seem comfortable), and it bothers me that Matthew Perry won't be on anything, and this was probably Whitford's last series, at least for awhile.

- Heroes is a big hit, but I can't stand the show. I like the Japanese guys, of course. I like the brothers, and the cheerleader story. The problem is that they are focusing on so many different groups of people that nothing ever happens to anyone. It's kind 0f like Lost, only with no interaction between all the characters.

For a lot of people, the story and setting is enough. I like dialogue, I like back-and-forth, and I like character development off of other characters. Heroes excels at the first, with very little in the latter, while Studio 60 focused on the second to the detriment of the first. Guess which one isn't getting cancelled.

oct - 28, 2006

Let's get to it.

- If you've ever worked service for a substantial period of time, you probably had regular customers, some of whom made you feel worse just by seeing them pull into the lot. Either they're rude, they stay for ever, they want to spend the whole time chatting with you when you have other things to do, etc. Some of those people just started coming back for the winter, where I work. It's depressing.

- Tigers lost. Not much else to say.

- Apparently, there's a new movie coming out that's making a big deal because it has a black man portraying Jesus. I have a problem with this movie; the same problem I have with any of the other ones about the life of our Lord.

This is excellent - http://weblog.wordcentered.org/archives/2004/02/25/gibson_and_communion_with_god.php

It's really long, but even if you just scroll through to where he references Scripture, that will be enough.

And are we just completely throwing out the second commandment here?

Btw, claiming Jesus was white, had blond hair, had blue eyes, or was generally anything but Semitic in appearance is foolishness.

- I've got 7 pages of my play written yesterday. They went fast, but I have only vague notions of where to go and that's only 1/15th of what I want to start with. I have a beginning an end; I'm missing the road in between. And, for those of you who've read my "episodes," I made sure the setting wouldn't be confusing.

on the fly

Busy day, but here are some things I wanted to jot down.

- It's really hard to defend the Republican congress right now. I keep hearing how the Christian Right is going to be staying home in the next election, and I can't blame them too much. I will be voting, of course, as the alternative seems worse, but these guys are a mess right now. I think my vote will mostly be in opposition to Pelosi getting any more power. The woman is cracked.

- Maurice Clarret and Ricky Williams have got to be two of the biggest morons in Earth's history. That thought hits me occassionally.

- Vikings vs. Patriots on monday night. The fact the Vikings beat the Seahawks means they have a shot, but I'm not expecting great things.

- Glenn Beck did a segment about how much of Iraq is better off than all the stuff you generally hear in the media, and my PSC teacher showed that today. The four communists in the front row practically leapt out of their seats. Owens (the prof) is perhaps the only true moderate teacher I've met at CMU, so he was pretty fair. I don't really have a strong opinion on Iraq anymore, but if it ticks those guys off that much, I'll at least give it lip service.

- CMU is a liberal haven of left-wing propaganda and ideology. The only name more vile to the average professor than George W. Bush is possibly Joe McCarthy. Apparently, there's evidence that McCarthy was actually a physical manisfestation of Hanbi. Thank goodness for George Clooney and his band of intrepid reporters who brought the demon to his knees.

more cowbell

It's the only time I'll do that, I promise. Bill Simmons is gifted, to say the least, so it more of an honorary thing than a ripoff of his homage.

- Joss Whedon needs to write another show. Unfortunately, his best receptions have been sci-fi in substance, and those don't do very well on the major networks.

- Studio 60 made an interesting point on one of its earlier episodes, that my brother pointed out to me. There's a sketch that only 2 people out of all the test groups laughed at, but Perry's character keeps in it the show because it's smart. Just because people don't get or like what you're writing doesn't mean it's not good. Of course, it could also mean it's utter trash.

- The whole Kenny Rogers "what did he have on his hands?" situation is being completely maintained by ESPN and other sports news outlets to bring some kind of intrigue to an otherwise boring World Series (as Simmons said, who outside of Michigan and Missouri is watching this thing?).

- X-men 3 was entertaining, but they messed so much stuff up. The more you know about the comic books, the less you liked the movie, it seems to me. The Phoenix was done all right, for the amount of time they had, but Juggernaut, Angel, Cyclops' death, Xavier's death, and Leech not being green and having three fingers were all problems.

- Daniel Craig is the new James Bond. The previews for Casino Royale look good, and neither Pierce Brosnan nor Sean Connery were at their best in Goldeneye and Dr. No, respectively (though Goldeneye was one of the better Brosnan films; he just didn't seem as comfortable in the role). The other "Bonds" don't count. Hopefully Craig will fall into the role.

- We watched a Keith Olbermann editorial in PSC class today. Very anti-Bush, but the guy wrote his stuff so well that I may have to start watching him more regularly. On a similar note, we also watched "Out-Foxed," the "documentary" about how Fox News is right-wing. There were only a few parts that actually used data, and the rest of it was guys who were fired from Fox News or guys from competing outlets saying how Fox is biased. I mean, they interviewed Walter Cronkite. The man is a raging communist.

- Follow-up: Republicans know Fox News is biased. The only reason I will tell a Democrat that Fox News is truly "fair and balanced" is because very little causes them to launch into a hissy fit like that does. It's fun to watch the ensuing meltdown. Also, CBS, CNN, ABC, and NBC are all left-leaning, and they claim balance, so Fox gets the same pass.

- This summer, I was at Cedar Point, and there was one of those things that you hit with a hammer, trying to get the bell to ding. A guy took a shot, and got a 97 out of 100. Then his girlfriend stepped up and got a 96. I think everyone in the vicinity breathed a huge sigh of relief for the guy, but still felt a lot of pity too.

writing

I basically made this so I'd have a place to write when I'm not at my home PC. There are a few things I should probably relate, since they might have future bearing.

1) I'm a huge fan of Aaron Sorkin's work. He's the best writer in television today, and, though I'm not nearly old enough to make this claim, possibly ever.

2) Aaron Sorkin is extremely liberal in his views, while I am not. I vote conservatively, I think conservatively, and I disagree with the ideology behind many of the plots he creates in his shows.

3) That doesn't mean he's a bad writer, or that I don't watch.

It seems to me that people on "both sides of the aisle" are too eager to get offended by people who disagree with them publicly. Democrats hate Sean Hannity. Republicans disdain Al Franken. Both sides have people who are deeply offended by the other side's pundits.

I don't get it. Jon Stewart's Daily Show is a liberal propaganda machine. They make their living lampooning our President and conservatives in Congress. I watch it when I can, because it's incredibly witty and well-done. I know some conservatives who would completely abhor the show if they saw one episode, beacuse they would be upset at Stewart's shots.

I personally think the left is worse than the right (though I'm obviously biased). The right often seems to think that those who disagree with it are crazy, stupid, emotional, and illogical. The left thinks the right is pure evil. They take being offended to a new level, and actually hate people like Rush limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and Britt Hume (Britt Hume? Yeah, I was surprised too.) .

I'm all for boycotting a show if you personally don't like it. I don't care what you watch, or why you choose not you. I care when people begin to enforce this on other people. There is a campaign on the left right now to take power away from Fox News. Instead of just not watching, they are actively trying to make it so others can't watch as well.

That being said, I'd rather people were able to not get offended by things that don't support how they feel. I'd rather people could watch Sorkin's shows for their brilliant writing, and not worry about any liberal feelings that come over. It's as if we've all become so weak. We can't handle opposing views being displayed. It bothers us; it sickens us.

I don't get it. What do we expect? People in the world don't think like you. They don't think like me. They don't think like each other. So who cares if one of them says one thing, and another says something different? Each person should know what they believe, and if you're weak enough to be swayed by a television show, then shame on you, and you'll never do much for any ideology anyway.

My point is (yes, this long ramble had a point) that just because you don't like the side something is coming from doesn't mean it doesn't have merit. The Daily Show is genuinely funny; it's liberal, but it's funny. Aaron Sorkin is genuinely gifted in writing dialogue. I want to be a writer someday, so I watch his shows and read the transcripts over and over, studying his style. I don't care about the plots, or the storyline; at least, I don't care enough to stop listening to his genius.