I recently gave my views on the movie Death of a President. The concept is very good and it makes you think, but with an obviously limited budget its good to have a little imagination while viewing.
So Now I have couple more films to talk about. We'll do the big Hollywood film first.
Blood Diamond. Theres lots of reviews for this film so I'll be brief. Its good, not great but its good film. It felt like they were working too hard to be dramatic in a situation that is already overflowing with drama. A man is stolen from his family and essentially made a slave to the rebel group that is trying to overthrow the government. Another man is selling guns to those rebels in exchange for the diamonds mined by the slaves. Oh then the man who is forced into slaveries son is stolen by the same rebels to train to be a child fighter. And then there is the hot American journalist that shows the arms dealer the wrongs of his ways. Yeah its just too much. I like the message, but it could have cut out several of the sub-plots and probably would have been a better movie. Overall, good movie worth watching, worth renting if you prefer but I can't recommend buying it.
The Road to Guantanamo. Very interesting movie. The main flaw in it that I see has been brought up by critics already. But I'll get to that in a moment. The story is that of three British Muslim's who traveled to Pakistan for a friends wedding. While they were touring Pakistan they decided to go to Afghanistan to try to help those in need there. They eventually realize there is nothing they can do to try to help and so they try to leave and instead get captured by the northern alliance while traveling with Al Qaeda/ Taliban forces. Yeah there is a bit more to the story that I'm leaving out. They get handed over to the Americans and eventually wind up in Guantanamo for two years and after a total of about three years of incarceration they are let go without ever being charged with a crime. Now the flaw, their story is possible but does not seem plausible. The fact is they could be liars, they might have actually gone to be fighters with the Taliban. I don't know, but I wouldn't rule it out. The important thing is that it doesn't matter. They were captured and held without trial in inhumane conditions without a trial for multiple years. Its wrong, if they were enemy soldiers, then give them a trial and send them to jail. No one will be upset by that. What we don't want is people being tortured until they confess and still not giving them a trial. Actually we don't want torture at all, thats the real point. Watch the movie, you can view it online for free I am told but I haven't bothered finding out how.
Monday, April 30, 2007
ugh
Well was quite ill Friday, then Saturday I drove 3 hours into the Catskill mountains for a beer festival, Tap-NY. Yeah wasn't the smartest combo. And actually I'm still not feeling great so this may be even more poorly written than usual. Anyway, obviously wasn't able to fully enjoy the festival, but I wasn't going for the beer. Ok that was a factor but it wasn't the reason I was going. My sister invited me to a beer festival, I went to see her. I was a bit disappointed though when I realized that the most we actually talked was on the 15 minute drive to get breakfast on Sunday morning before we all split off. It's not that I had any pressing issues I needed to talk about, its not like there's any crisis in my life, but I've only got one sister. She lives 5 hours away, we only see each other a few times a year. It's better than when she lived on the west coast, then I only got to see her once a year. But things were a little different then, probably only on my end. I didn't appreciate how great my family really is at that time, I just took them for granted. So I'm trying to be better about that, I'm trying to see the fam more often, especially my sister. We are so similar and yet very different. We are both can be cynical and sarcastic, we're both strong people, but maybe not quite as strong as we pretend to be. Oh I also was the first member of the family to meet my sisters boyfriend. Unfortunately he wasn't feeling well either so it was a little tough to get a feel for him. He seems alright. I'm not all that protective of my sister, yes I am, but she's the older of the two of us, she's tough and she's smart and can pretty well crush most peoples wills without effort. So unless the guy really rubs me the wrong way I figure shes fine, luckily she doesn't pick bad dudes. Hehe, speaking of the dude, many of the people we were at the festival with were his friends from college, so I got a few little pieces of info about him that could absolutely be used against him. I just said that both my sister and I are sarcastic, we got that from my father. He's a great guy, everyone loves him, but he does like making jokes. If he can get a laugh he goes for it even if its at someone elses expense, but he can take a joke. That's just how we are, we rip on each other, be ready for it. Of course if your going to try to date his baby (my sister is his favorite, but thats ok mom likes me more) then he's going to test you. And so when one of the dude's friends tells me a rather insulting nickname its in his best interest not to give me a reason to tell my dad that name. Although it will be hilarious because I'm not going to be able to hold that one in for very long. I'm not sure why I've taken to calling him the dude, I don't like using people's real names on here, but I don't know where the dude came from, hes not a "the dude" at all. No dude would admit to being a Jack Johnson fan. Ok enough about all that, my sisters friends are interesting and so very different than the people I associate with, the main difference being that they actually have ambition, oh and while not all of my friends finished high school, she has a few friends that only have bachelors, most have or are working on advanced degrees. My friends work at subway, her friends have careers. It sucks hanging out with folks like that and realizing that the only difference between myself and her is ambition. She usually gave me credit as the smarter of the two of us, and yet she and her cohorts are off doing big things and I'm stuck in a dead end job with a degree I may never use again. So it goes.
I need to go back to school.
I need to go back to school.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
(giggle)
Little bit of silliness. Saw this in the comments over at Newsvine. It was an article about the new "Earth like Planet" and how this gave an atheist new hope for the universe. It was a fun and lighthearted post that slowly went the way all atheist vs theist conversations do, my god is better, no my non-god is better. At least as far as I read it never got nasty just a little bickering. anyway why am I babbling on?
I saw this and laughed so I'm postin' it here. Enjoy.
I saw this and laughed so I'm postin' it here. Enjoy.
Thor had a hammer. Jesus had nails.Score one for Thor.
Thank you Dennis P. McCann
Death Of A President
Watched an interesting movie last night, I guess there's no point delaying the title as its the title of the post. Death of a President. Its the one that caused quite a stir last year as its an obviously fictional account of the assassination of George W. Bush. So how was it?
We first I was shocked to even find it at the local video store. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, Road to Guantanamo was the first thing I spotted that I actually wanted to see. But I just wasn't in the mood for something that depressing and real. So I walked a bit further and saw Blood Diamond. I've heard mixed reviews but it seemed like it would be worth renting at least. So I grabbed that and kept walking, when I spot Death of a President with a sniper on the cover. I immediately grabbed it and looked to see if it was the film I was remembering from a while ago. Its the kind of film that blow-hards love to hate, without even watching. They hear the title and what its about and they flip, it's easy face time for them. Insult something you know nothing about to people who will never see it.
Its a fairly well done movie that was clearly on a tight budget. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who at least partially agrees with my general views. Oh and I will say its not nearly as anti-Bush as the blow-hards would like you to think.
OH this movie also has the distinction of uttering the most terrifying two words in the English language, President Cheney.
WARNING TOO MUCH INFO AHEAD IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH IT STOP HERE!!!!
Basically the movie starts out with how the infamous day started. Bush is flying into Chicago for a speech and is supposed to leave later that same day. Chicago protesters show up in droves and are angry. They break through police lines and cause the presidential limo to have to stop, at which point the Secret Service clears a path and they take off down an alternate path. At this point the S.S. (I wish there was a different acronym so I didn't think of Nazi's every time) is in freak out mode and wants the president to cancel all outdoor activities. Bush wants to shake some hands so they have no choice but to allow it. The protesters are told they have to move back from the area they were given permits to protest at. Fights break out and a few people slip past the police in the mayhem. Soon the President is shaking hands and soon after that shots are fired. The actual assassination is the only part where Bush is played by someone else and his face is not on screen, all the rest is archive footage of the actual Bush. He is rushed to the hospital where he dies some time later. At this point it becomes a search for the killer. There are two possible killers, one is a Muslim man who's clothing had gunshot residue and police found a partial fingerprint match to the crime scene. The police later find that he had attended Al Qaeda training in Afghanistan. At which point he is considered the killer and its part of a terrorist plot despite the fact that no other link can be found to any terrorist organizations. Then another man claims that his father a soldier from gulf war 1 was the killer. The father shot himself and in his suicide note he claims responsibility. The son, a vet from the current gulf war, searches for the truth but no one wants to listen. His brother was killed in the war, and his father became disillusioned with the policies.
In the end they never quite say that it was the former soldier but its fairly obvious. Its just an interesting view of who would do it, was it the "enemy of the state" the Islamic man with terrorist connections? Or was it the bitter American soldier? I thought it was a good movie, not fantastic but good. Worth renting at least.
We first I was shocked to even find it at the local video store. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, Road to Guantanamo was the first thing I spotted that I actually wanted to see. But I just wasn't in the mood for something that depressing and real. So I walked a bit further and saw Blood Diamond. I've heard mixed reviews but it seemed like it would be worth renting at least. So I grabbed that and kept walking, when I spot Death of a President with a sniper on the cover. I immediately grabbed it and looked to see if it was the film I was remembering from a while ago. Its the kind of film that blow-hards love to hate, without even watching. They hear the title and what its about and they flip, it's easy face time for them. Insult something you know nothing about to people who will never see it.
Its a fairly well done movie that was clearly on a tight budget. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who at least partially agrees with my general views. Oh and I will say its not nearly as anti-Bush as the blow-hards would like you to think.
OH this movie also has the distinction of uttering the most terrifying two words in the English language, President Cheney.
WARNING TOO MUCH INFO AHEAD IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH IT STOP HERE!!!!
Basically the movie starts out with how the infamous day started. Bush is flying into Chicago for a speech and is supposed to leave later that same day. Chicago protesters show up in droves and are angry. They break through police lines and cause the presidential limo to have to stop, at which point the Secret Service clears a path and they take off down an alternate path. At this point the S.S. (I wish there was a different acronym so I didn't think of Nazi's every time) is in freak out mode and wants the president to cancel all outdoor activities. Bush wants to shake some hands so they have no choice but to allow it. The protesters are told they have to move back from the area they were given permits to protest at. Fights break out and a few people slip past the police in the mayhem. Soon the President is shaking hands and soon after that shots are fired. The actual assassination is the only part where Bush is played by someone else and his face is not on screen, all the rest is archive footage of the actual Bush. He is rushed to the hospital where he dies some time later. At this point it becomes a search for the killer. There are two possible killers, one is a Muslim man who's clothing had gunshot residue and police found a partial fingerprint match to the crime scene. The police later find that he had attended Al Qaeda training in Afghanistan. At which point he is considered the killer and its part of a terrorist plot despite the fact that no other link can be found to any terrorist organizations. Then another man claims that his father a soldier from gulf war 1 was the killer. The father shot himself and in his suicide note he claims responsibility. The son, a vet from the current gulf war, searches for the truth but no one wants to listen. His brother was killed in the war, and his father became disillusioned with the policies.
In the end they never quite say that it was the former soldier but its fairly obvious. Its just an interesting view of who would do it, was it the "enemy of the state" the Islamic man with terrorist connections? Or was it the bitter American soldier? I thought it was a good movie, not fantastic but good. Worth renting at least.
Thinking Blog Award
Someone reads this dribble that flows out from me fingers, that alone surprises me a bit, so you can imagine my shock when I checked up on my bloggin' buddy Lara at Life: the Ongoing Education and saw that she had nominated me for an award. What the Fuck? Not only does someone read it but they actually like it? That was the real shock, and this wasn't some random idiot, Lara seems quite bright. So anyway I guess I'm nominated for the Thinking Blog Award which seems to be more of a meme than an award but hey thats cool too. I've never been a part of a blog meme before, other than the one I stole about music.
Ok well Huge Huge Thank you to Lara. And now who do I pass this on to? Five Blogs that make me think, I gotta think about that for a minute, I guess thats the idea anyway.
1. Blog 4 Brains, the title is fitting as it will make you think. They only have two contributors but it would seem like many more by the level of thought they put into a wide range of topics. This is the first site I go to (after my own) each morning. I'm not sure I can praise a blog more than saying its the only one I check every time I hit the computer, well the only other way I can is with this award. So that makes it an easy choice for this award. Thank you Justin and Unum for this fantastic site.
2. My Life.... (long title), Ok ffbgirl has been a bit under the weather lately so to be perfectly honest her blog hasn't been terribly thought provoking of late. But she definitely got me thinking as she gave me some great advice as a weight my options for heading back to college. This is probably the hardest decision I've ever faced (my life has been pretty easy) so having a little guidance, even from someone I've never met, is very useful, and it got me thinking far more than anything else I've ever done with this blog, so for that I thank you with this nomination.
3. Daylight Atheism, great mantra, nighttime is for dreaming, daylight is for action. This site likes to challenge atheists, freethinkers, humanists or whatever other title we like to give ourselves into actually doing something. Also pushes for people to to think about the positives of their world views instead of always just pointing out all the negatives of religion. Which is a great philosophy.
4. Unscrewing The Inscrutable, OK this site needs to be looked at by everyone if for no other reason than this Bio.
5. Thomas Paine's Corner, A site to visit if you have some time too read. Always very well thought out, if a bit on the long side. It's not a site that get much comment traffic so if your looking for a lot of back and forth banter your out of luck, but to just sit back and read can be fun too. This was one of the first sites I added to my blog roll and its still one of my favorites. I don't check as often as I would like, well because usually I don't have time and it feels wrong to half-ass read something that was well done.
So thats my five. Hope you like 'em as much as I do. Oh and since I'm now a participant I must follow the rules which are.
The participation rules are simple:
Ok well Huge Huge Thank you to Lara. And now who do I pass this on to? Five Blogs that make me think, I gotta think about that for a minute, I guess thats the idea anyway.
1. Blog 4 Brains, the title is fitting as it will make you think. They only have two contributors but it would seem like many more by the level of thought they put into a wide range of topics. This is the first site I go to (after my own) each morning. I'm not sure I can praise a blog more than saying its the only one I check every time I hit the computer, well the only other way I can is with this award. So that makes it an easy choice for this award. Thank you Justin and Unum for this fantastic site.
2. My Life.... (long title), Ok ffbgirl has been a bit under the weather lately so to be perfectly honest her blog hasn't been terribly thought provoking of late. But she definitely got me thinking as she gave me some great advice as a weight my options for heading back to college. This is probably the hardest decision I've ever faced (my life has been pretty easy) so having a little guidance, even from someone I've never met, is very useful, and it got me thinking far more than anything else I've ever done with this blog, so for that I thank you with this nomination.
3. Daylight Atheism, great mantra, nighttime is for dreaming, daylight is for action. This site likes to challenge atheists, freethinkers, humanists or whatever other title we like to give ourselves into actually doing something. Also pushes for people to to think about the positives of their world views instead of always just pointing out all the negatives of religion. Which is a great philosophy.
4. Unscrewing The Inscrutable, OK this site needs to be looked at by everyone if for no other reason than this Bio.
"Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen."I love that bio, the rest of the site is always amusing too.
5. Thomas Paine's Corner, A site to visit if you have some time too read. Always very well thought out, if a bit on the long side. It's not a site that get much comment traffic so if your looking for a lot of back and forth banter your out of luck, but to just sit back and read can be fun too. This was one of the first sites I added to my blog roll and its still one of my favorites. I don't check as often as I would like, well because usually I don't have time and it feels wrong to half-ass read something that was well done.
So thats my five. Hope you like 'em as much as I do. Oh and since I'm now a participant I must follow the rules which are.
The participation rules are simple:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Gay folks in the bible
Ok I'm not exactly a biblical scholar, hehe, not even close. I knew there was a couple bits about how a man shall not lie with another man as he would a woman, I found that one day bored in a hotel room. I was vaguely curious where the conservative anti-gay thing came from. Armed with my basic knowledge of, "if your looking for some good hate, try Leviticus" and I found it. So I knew there was that and I was told there were a couple other parts that could be viewed that way but I never bothered looking them up. So then today I stumbled across this group called Would Jesus Discriminate? that pointed out that there are actual three gay couples in the bible. So I did a quick search, came across Religious Tolerance's site about gays in the bible. We got dudes making out in here, Ok its no porn, not even soft-core but this is not an average friendship which seems like the only way the conservative view would be able to deal with this stuff.
I like this part where they show the various translations some of which are a bit different than the others.
Shook hands? Thats funny.
I like this part where they show the various translations some of which are a bit different than the others.
 | "...and they kissed one another and wept with one another, until David exceeded." (KJV) |
| "...and they kissed one another and wept with one another until David got control of himself." (Amplified Bible) |
| "and they sadly shook hands, tears running down their cheeks until David could weep no more." (Living Bible) |
| "They kissed each other and wept together until David got control of himself." (Modern Language) |
| "They kissed each other and wept aloud together." (New American Bible) |
| "Then David and Jonathan kissed each other. They cried together, but David cried the most." (New Century Version) |
| "Then they kissed one another and shed tears together, until David's grief was even greater than Jonathan's." (Revised English Bible) |
| "...and they kissed one another and wept with one another until David recovered himself." (Revised Standard Version) |
Shook hands? Thats funny.
"I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women."HAHA, hows that work in your fundie world view? They even have an apparently not-quite normal sexual relationship between two eunuchs, not quite normal because eunuch's are guys that were castrated. Kinda hard to get freaky when.... well you get the idea. Silly fundies.
One Nation Under G_d/ Allah
Interesting take on the Israel/Palestine issue. How about a single country, instead of two struggling for power? It sounds like a crazy plan but at the same time it might work better, it would be tough for it to be worse than the current set-up. This idea is better explained by Poetic Remi, which is where I got the idea from. I don't know if this is viable but we need to start thinking outside the box on this. We need a solution and the none of the others I have heard seem viable. In other words, it might be worth a shot.
Creationism
I'm not a scientist. I know a lot more than most people in this country but thats not saying much. But I like the reactions of people who do know what they are talking about when faced with things like Creationism or ID, you know pseudoscience.
From a blogging legend PZ myers of Pharyngula.
Heres a hint.
From a blogging legend PZ myers of Pharyngula.
Creationism means never having to admit you know nothing, but you still get to pretend to be an expert
Heres a hint.
"The core value of creation science is dishonesty"
Welcome to Hell
I just added a new site to my godless list, this one is called Bligbi, it seems pretty good, then I skim through and what do I come across but a video of Rowan Atkinson's routine Welcome to Hell. I remember finding this funny years ago and am happy to finally be able to see it again. So a big thank you to Bligbi!
Dawkins vs. O'Reilly
If you want to check out the video you can go to RichardDawkins.net or you can go to YouTube. Ok I've only been able to watch the first half at this point, it's under five minutes long but I am at work right now. Dawkins was setting up the classic, "theres thousands of gods you don't believe in, I just believe in one less/ when you realize why you dismiss all the other gods you'll realize why I dismiss yours." But Bill didn't let him finish, he went to the atheist's leap of faith instead. It finishes up with the usual stalin, hitler argument and there isn't time for a proper rebuttal. It was civilized and which is more than I can usually say about Bill. It was simply too short, far far too short to be much good for anyone. you can't have a Religion vs. atheism conversation in 4:40, I mean you can but its pointless. Well thats my take on it.
Holy Shit
I mean that literally. They claim to be holy and they're pieces of shit. There was a massacre in the US so whats that mean, oh yes our old friends the Phelps and their cohorts from the Westboro Baptist Church plan to picket the funerals of those killed at Virginia Tech. Yeah thats fuckin' classy. Now I'm an absolute defender of freedom of speech, theses folks push me pretty damn close to changing my mind, but then I calm down a little. Yes they have the right. I hate to say it but they do. To use a line from someone I work with, Freedom of speech is not nice, its not pleasant, its vile and angry, but it's necessary for a free society. Of course we all have freedom of speech so anyone in the area go ahead and counter protest/ show support for those grieving. I was invited once to counter protest them once but it was three hours away and I had about four hours notice, I wasn't able to go.
Anyway these folks are about as vile as anything I can think of, I'm not sure but the Phelps protests might be worse than the old yelling "Fire!" in a crowded movie theater, but it's legal. And it needs to be. Although many towns have created ordinances saying no protests of any sort at cemeteries which is reasonable. I would still love to be at one of those counter protests, especially in VA, that will be big if this news gets out locally. I liked hearing about the "Hells Angels" showing up for the counter protests. A couple hundred bikers standing in line between the Phelps and the funerals. I gained a lot of respect for the Hells Angels for that one.
Anyway these folks are about as vile as anything I can think of, I'm not sure but the Phelps protests might be worse than the old yelling "Fire!" in a crowded movie theater, but it's legal. And it needs to be. Although many towns have created ordinances saying no protests of any sort at cemeteries which is reasonable. I would still love to be at one of those counter protests, especially in VA, that will be big if this news gets out locally. I liked hearing about the "Hells Angels" showing up for the counter protests. A couple hundred bikers standing in line between the Phelps and the funerals. I gained a lot of respect for the Hells Angels for that one.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Abortion, from the other perspective
This is easily the most compelling story I have ever heard from a man's perspective about abortion. I want to say more but I've got nothing, seriously though this is worth reading. To the point that the author DBB will shortly be added to the blogroll. Again thank you DBB for this passionate story of why you have the views you do.
Dinesh D'Souza
Well all my godless friends around the blogsphere have taken their shots at this fella, so I'll get a few kicks in while hes down. Actually thats not entirely true. I'm just curious why we all cared? I mean yeah this piece about how there were no atheists to be found at the VA tech massacre was quite horrible. Which he followed up with this because he must think that his toes are quite tasty. Then he even responded directly to the attackers of his first batch of crap.
The question isn't why people are pissed, the question isn't about this guys views. The question is why are we (now including myself) giving him the satisfaction of taking him on. There is no point arguing with someone like this, they will never concede how wrong they are, so why bother. It's like ranting about how bad a person Ann Coulter is, theres no point you gain nothing. Unless something big happens I would be surprised if I ever mention Dinesh again.
The question isn't why people are pissed, the question isn't about this guys views. The question is why are we (now including myself) giving him the satisfaction of taking him on. There is no point arguing with someone like this, they will never concede how wrong they are, so why bother. It's like ranting about how bad a person Ann Coulter is, theres no point you gain nothing. Unless something big happens I would be surprised if I ever mention Dinesh again.
Friday, April 20, 2007
I Write Like a Girl
At least according to this. The Gender Genie. Just for curiosity I tried twice it needs to bee 500 words or more to work well so I tried the longest post that was only my own words, the first was about my weekend in Boston. That came up as assuming I was female. Ok that was an emotional piece about having a great weekend with a great woman, so my manhood wasn't too hurt when it go that wrong. The only other long post I had was about Bin Laden threatening to kill the Dalia Lama, when that one turned up female as well I was a little supprised then I took a closer look at how it comes up with its answer. I'm not sure how using the words your, and not often makes you a woman but apparently it does. Who knew? Its friday and is gorgeous outside, so I'm in too good of a mood to care what this things thinks. Oh and at least at school most of the best writers were girls so I'm not insulted anyway.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Second Amendment
I've heard several things on this same vein but this just cut through and hit the nail on the head with the title alone. The rest is quite good as well.
Heres the Newsvine seed, or here is the original article. Oh its from The Young Turks, I don't really know them but I've heard some good things.
Heres the Newsvine seed, or here is the original article. Oh its from The Young Turks, I don't really know them but I've heard some good things.
I'll Give You the Second Amendment If You Give Me the Rest Back
I'll make you a deal. You give me the rest of the amendments back that Bush has gutted and I'll gladly give you the second amendment. What happened to the right to an attorney? What happened to not being forced to incriminate yourself? What happened to not being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment? What happened to warrants?! What happened to habeas corpus?!!!I don't get terribly upset by the fact that I am surrounded by psycho's, I came to terms with that years ago. When you try to hand someone a flier for a politician and they simply look at you and say, "how's he feel about guns" it makes me sad. I can understand why a person would not want to vote for a politician who wanted to make their favorite pass time illegal. I get busted on by my car buddies when I mention voting for Nader. Sure he killed the muscle car, but I like his politics. He might go after the racing that I love as a means to reduce environmental damage, and yeah race cars with mufflers are lame. But its still racing, if we have a mode of transport, any mode of transport we will race it. Perfect example, segway races, uber-lame but its still a race. So on to hunting, no one cares what you do in the woods. No one plans to take away your right to go kill bambie, its just not important to the world. But taking automatic weapons off the streets and requiring background checks for pistols has absolutely nothing to do with hunting. Ok theres some hunting that uses pistols, snakes I think, but hunting usually has a season, you need to get your permit more than 5 days ahead, why is it so tough to need to buy your gun five days ahead too?
You give me all of those back and then some, and you can have your lousy second amendment. America is a little sick in the head with guns. The NRA believes we should have unfettered access to all firearms and doesn't believe there is any downside. That is so wildly disingenuous.
[...]
We have to find reasonable middle ground. But in order to do that, you have to reasonable people on the other side. Unfortunately, I think we're all out of those at this point.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Partial Birth Abortions
Ok this is another issue I catch a minor amount of heat from my liberal friends for. Basically as a guy I have a very hard time taking any stance at all. This is one of the only places where I can fully understand the oppositions stance, even if they do shoot themselves in the foot by being anti-abortion and pro-war. I feel this is decision to be made by the individuals involved and not by the government, in other words I'm pro-choice. But, and this is where I occasionally catch flak, I don't see why limits are wrong. As for the ban on partial birth abortions well, to say that you only have 6 and not 9 months to make the hardest decision anyone can be faced with seems reasonable. I understand being against this ruling for the slippery slope rational. As long as this doesn't lead to an outright ban on abortions then I personally am Ok with it. It's not the decision I would have hoped for but it doesn't bother me, thats all. As I said at the start this is an issue I'm not completely set on, a good argument either way could definitely change my stance, if you want to try go ahead and leave me a comment.
Ok now that I know that this is the first time any limit on abortions had been passed I can understand why people are worried, I guess I did know that, I just didn't think about it before.
Here is more about it, to be honest I didn't read a single word of this but I wanted a link and its the first that came up that wasn't Faux News or some other uber-conservative groups news.
UPDATE: OK maybe I was wrong. It appears that some states are already planning on putting more limits on abortions because they feel now they will be upheld. I was wrong I'm sorry, I failed to remember how adamantly people oppose abortion.
Ok now that I know that this is the first time any limit on abortions had been passed I can understand why people are worried, I guess I did know that, I just didn't think about it before.
Here is more about it, to be honest I didn't read a single word of this but I wanted a link and its the first that came up that wasn't Faux News or some other uber-conservative groups news.
UPDATE: OK maybe I was wrong. It appears that some states are already planning on putting more limits on abortions because they feel now they will be upheld. I was wrong I'm sorry, I failed to remember how adamantly people oppose abortion.
Monday, April 16, 2007
New Blog for da Roll
I just saw this little link over at Russell's Teapot, a site that has some simply fantastic anti-religion cartoons, mostly jabbing at the christians because well, in the US thats the ones we run into all the time, and the one people most likely know best. Anyway the link was over to a new atheist website. Atheist's Wager, a modern take on Pascals Wager.
But My favorite part was in the comment, which BTW this bastard has 240 comments on his first post ever! Damn. but heres the line from the comments, actually the very first comment,
But My favorite part was in the comment, which BTW this bastard has 240 comments on his first post ever! Damn. but heres the line from the comments, actually the very first comment,
"I wouldn't worship God to stay out of hell even if I thought God and hell were both real. That would be the same as following Hitler to stay out of Auschwitz."Thank you Donna.
Not Again
I don't have much to say about tragedies while they unfold. I'm speaking of course about the deadly shooting at Virgina Tech. This is already the deadliest shooting at an American School, not that it matters, it is a tragedy if a single person is senselessly slaughtered.
Here's what the BBC has to say about it, or you can find a million other articles very quickly if you go looking so I'm not going to waste my time with a bunch of links.
There are those upset about the fact that this person was able to obtain an AK-47 and will use this to springboard a new push for gun control, and we probably need it, but not yet. We don't even know the death toll yet and people are politicizing it. And this is a blog that I like, but it needs to be said. Is it so hard to have a little patience? At least wait till after the funerals before using it as an example of the problems with the world, is that too much to ask?
Apparently it is.
UPDATE: 32 dead... WTF people? No more school shootings, please?
Here's what the BBC has to say about it, or you can find a million other articles very quickly if you go looking so I'm not going to waste my time with a bunch of links.
There are those upset about the fact that this person was able to obtain an AK-47 and will use this to springboard a new push for gun control, and we probably need it, but not yet. We don't even know the death toll yet and people are politicizing it. And this is a blog that I like, but it needs to be said. Is it so hard to have a little patience? At least wait till after the funerals before using it as an example of the problems with the world, is that too much to ask?
Apparently it is.
UPDATE: 32 dead... WTF people? No more school shootings, please?
I wish I lived in a theocracy
I know I know I should never never never link to fox "news" but in this case I don't think its that critical, its a short little blurb anyway. So here ya go. Fox "news" on Islamic Serial Killers. These folks killed 18 people and were tried for five of the murders. Now they have confessed to the crimes, thats not the issue, the issue is that according to their religion they should give the people two warnings to stop, which they claim they did, then if they don't stop you kill them. Sometimes by stoning, sometimes by suffocation, or in at least one case, you can bury them alive. So after being convicted it was overturned by the supreme court because the killers were correct, the Koran does say to kill people who behaved in the way the victims behaved.
Now people who regularly read/ look at Fox "news" may see this as an example of why we must be vigilant to take down this Islamic menace. They might even say it shows why we must become the Christian nation that we were founded as. Now I'm not going to get into the fact that this is in no way a christian nation. But what I see when I read this is what America could be like if it were in fact a christian nation.
Some may say at this point, but the Koran is angry and violent, The Bible is good, the golden rule and what not, hehe, yeah right. Could a christian nation allow murder if it was sanctioned by the bible? I don't know, but the bible sure as hell sanctions violence.
I've always been fond of this one: Deuteronomy, Chapter 13 verses 13 through 16
Heres a couple hundred examples. 858 examples to be exact, just under cruelty and violence.
Now people who regularly read/ look at Fox "news" may see this as an example of why we must be vigilant to take down this Islamic menace. They might even say it shows why we must become the Christian nation that we were founded as. Now I'm not going to get into the fact that this is in no way a christian nation. But what I see when I read this is what America could be like if it were in fact a christian nation.
Some may say at this point, but the Koran is angry and violent, The Bible is good, the golden rule and what not, hehe, yeah right. Could a christian nation allow murder if it was sanctioned by the bible? I don't know, but the bible sure as hell sanctions violence.
I've always been fond of this one: Deuteronomy, Chapter 13 verses 13 through 16
So if America was a Christian nation, and you decided to incinerate New York City because you found out that there were people worshiping other gods, could you be punished? You conformed to the commands of god as the bible explicitly describes it, is that wrong? YES! In the world of morals it is obviously wrong to destroy a city because some people were of another religion, but if your principles aren't based on morals but are instead based on the bible then how can murder be wrong let alone outlawed? This is why I don't want to live in a theocracy. If you do then be my guest, move to Iran.13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;
15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again
Heres a couple hundred examples. 858 examples to be exact, just under cruelty and violence.
Whenever we read ... the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize humankind. And, for my own part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is cruel. -- Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
No Spelunking For You
Spelunking means going into caves, it also is a word that makes the young at heart giggle, and once you know the real meaning it makes the term Ass-Spelunker all the funnier. Oh that goes back to probably jr high when we used the term Ass-Spelunker thinking it was funny but not knowing what spelunking was other than a funny word.
So yes I'm using this term for its giggle inducing connotations. So hows the whole no-sex sex education working? Well according to anyone who's ever been a teen it won't work, and now even the White House has had to admit it. So how does our government deal with finding out conclusively that a program they have put so much faith in (so much so that they reduced aid to Africa if they didn't teach abstinence only) doesn't work? Friday night news dump of course. This is my favorite line,
Ok and here is the promoters defending their program against this report.
They teach abstinence until marriage, its not a bad idea to have family planing in your mind even when your married. You might be in a good relationship, but that doesn't mean your ready for a family yet. There is no evidence that these abstinence only programs work better, but this also didn't show they work worse, which is an important point that in the interest of fairness must be pointed out. I think there is enough info in the world that kids don't really gain much from sex-ed. They learn details about STDs and anatomy, but those who were planning on have sex are still going to, those who want to wait till marriage still will, my only concern is making sure that they know about safe-sex, and how putting a condom on wrong makes them ineffective. Nothing worse than trying to be smart and still having the unwanted outcome.
Hat tip to Crooks and Liars for being awesome, and for the links to the CNN article. Heres one from The Guardian.
So yes I'm using this term for its giggle inducing connotations. So hows the whole no-sex sex education working? Well according to anyone who's ever been a teen it won't work, and now even the White House has had to admit it. So how does our government deal with finding out conclusively that a program they have put so much faith in (so much so that they reduced aid to Africa if they didn't teach abstinence only) doesn't work? Friday night news dump of course. This is my favorite line,
"We have been promoting ignorance in the era of AIDS, and that's not just bad public health policy, its bad ethics"Now I work with teen mothers (ok I only work in the office), I have several friends who had children while they were hardly more than children themselves. I also know very religious people who refuse to use birth control because thats against gods plan, and they don't like condoms, claims to be allergic but they make non-latex for that reason. Shockingly they have had a few scares (Late/STDs), although it is genuinely shocking that they have only been scares and not worse. Teach people the truth is that too much to ask? They are going to do what they are going to do, they can either know all the dangers and the ways to reduce those risks or they can go blindly into the night. Either way young people are going to have sex, there is no way to prevent that, its genetics, animals want to fuck. Its just that simple, teaching people to be responsible is the hard part, telling people "just say no" is a lame excuse to try to avoid a topic that is so natural, yet so taboo in our society. It doesn't have to be awkward, in the words of the movie "Van Wilder" don't be a fool, wrap your tool. Its sad that their is better sex-ed in a national lampoon movie than there is in our classrooms. But thats useful actually, if safe-sex can become the norm within popular culture it can be a very powerful tool for changing the national mindset of young people. Oh and obviously any sex-ed includes the fact that abstinence is the only fool proof method of not ending up with a child and not having it hurt to pee.
Ok and here is the promoters defending their program against this report.
"The field of abstinence has significantly grown and evolved since that time, and the results demonstrated in the Mathematica study are not representative of the abstinence education community as a whole."Um... Quick question how can "the field of abstinence grow and evolve?" How many ways are there to say no humpy humpy? Oh they also point out that it was only a sample of 1% of the programs, yup thats how studies work, you can't study everyone, you study a few thousand and make inferences based on that. One of the programs had children meeting every single school day. That could reduce teen sex by simply not giving them time to fornicate. Or they'll be thinking about sex every single day.. oh wait.. teens, they're already thinking about sex many many times a day.
They teach abstinence until marriage, its not a bad idea to have family planing in your mind even when your married. You might be in a good relationship, but that doesn't mean your ready for a family yet. There is no evidence that these abstinence only programs work better, but this also didn't show they work worse, which is an important point that in the interest of fairness must be pointed out. I think there is enough info in the world that kids don't really gain much from sex-ed. They learn details about STDs and anatomy, but those who were planning on have sex are still going to, those who want to wait till marriage still will, my only concern is making sure that they know about safe-sex, and how putting a condom on wrong makes them ineffective. Nothing worse than trying to be smart and still having the unwanted outcome.
Hat tip to Crooks and Liars for being awesome, and for the links to the CNN article. Heres one from The Guardian.
Crazy Ass Weather
Maybe that should be our term instead of Climate Change and its way better than Global Warming, which is way more than just warming, its Crazy Ass Weather. Its snowing out right this moment. And fairly hard. I'm in a valley that for some reason usually gets much less snow than surrounding areas, we also miss out on the lake effect snow, which is nice. The biggest snow storm I can remember happened in March in the 90's when we got four feet one evening. But its April now, and its not even the begining of april its the 16th. We're currently looking at a few (3-4) inches on the ground and they are expecting another 3-5 tonight. Now I just talked about how the fact that it is snowing in april is a sign that Climate Change is real, and not a sign that global warming is a fraud which simple minded folks might think based on the name. So I'm not going to say too much more about it. If you want you can scroll down a little and find the one called Snow.
Migratory animals must be so confused right now, they didn't know when to leave in the fall because it never decided to become winter until January, now its still winter in April. Why do I have a bad feeling that this is going to be a very hot summer. I hate the heat, it takes the fun out of going outside if you sweat standing still. Of course losing about 60+ lbs would help in that regard.
Migratory animals must be so confused right now, they didn't know when to leave in the fall because it never decided to become winter until January, now its still winter in April. Why do I have a bad feeling that this is going to be a very hot summer. I hate the heat, it takes the fun out of going outside if you sweat standing still. Of course losing about 60+ lbs would help in that regard.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Best Take on Imus
Ok I'm a fan of The Rude Pundit, but seriously this might just have to be the best response to the whole Imus debacle. His point is clear be angry at him, stop listening to his show, stop buying products that are advertised on his show, but don't fire him for doing exactly what he was put on the air to do.
Heres a taste. Go Here for the whole thing, but be warned, Strong Language.
This might be my favorite part here. OH and again STRONG LANGUAGE, including a word that otherwise would never get on this site, you can probably guess which one.
I just hate censorship. Was he wrong to say what he did? Absolutely, but this is America, he can say it if he wants. But we don't have to listen.
Heres a taste. Go Here for the whole thing, but be warned, Strong Language.
Because, ultimately, what happened to Imus happened because of his speech, and if you wanna, say, giggle when the Rude Pundit attacks someone, then Don Imus gets to say his non-FCC violating insults. Yes, the Rude Pundit's aware that there's a qualitative, historical, and ethical difference between calling white conservative evangelicals nasty names and calling a women's college basketball team "whores," but it's still speech. Hate speech is speech; yes, sadly, angrily, we must call it "speech."
The Rude Pundit's concern can be divided into two incompatible areas with cliched names: the slippery slope and the sacrificial lamb.
The slippery slope is that we start getting 'em all fired, de-advertised, whatever. And this is where the Rude Pundit's grappling with this fucker like he's trying to put snakes in a bottle (yeah, yeah - it's early, the Rude Pundit hasn't slept yet, fuck off). No, of course MSNBC and CBS don't have to give Imus a platform for his speech. But this point is that they did. And they knew, they fucking well knew, what Imus was about. Just because this time his bullshit, sad, I'm-down-with-poor-man-lingo fucktardery got noticed by Media Matters and others, that doesn't mean that they didn't use Imus and profit off him and, to be sure, egg him on for ratings.
This might be my favorite part here. OH and again STRONG LANGUAGE, including a word that otherwise would never get on this site, you can probably guess which one.
The real solution is to use speech to combat speech, not silence. Rather than getting Imus fired, why not get people to stop listening? And if they don't, if they wanna listen, well, fuck, you lost then. But you need to keep trying to get people to shift away from one way of thinking. Just because you got rid of Imus doesn't mean the sentiments go away. Just because you come up with some pussy voluntary ban on the word "nigger," or you say "the n-word" instead, doesn't mean the word or the feeling goes away. Civil discourse? Fuck that. It's not possible. You don't change hearts and minds by silencing people. (The Rude Pundit has called for Ann Coulter to be kicked out of newspapers, but not for her pathetic little wet spaghetti slap insults - it's because she says things are facts that are, in fact, lies.)
I just hate censorship. Was he wrong to say what he did? Absolutely, but this is America, he can say it if he wants. But we don't have to listen.
Killing the Dalai Lama
What is wrong with people?
I wrote a bit then realized I never summed up what the hell I'm talking about. Go here, Al-Qaeda threatened to kill the Dalai Lama.
I bust on religion pretty hard around here but how could anyone be so upset by the Dalai Lama that they would kill themselves to try to kill him? First off its a bad plan from the fact that he is believed to be the reincarnation of the original Lama, meaning if you kill him he's only going to be replaced by someone else. Then there is the fact that at least by my limited knowledge Buddhism is one of the better religions, I mean its all about finding "god" in yourself. I know there are some issues with Karma, namely that if a baby is born with problems it is assumed they were a bad person in their last life and therefore should not be pitied. But all and all their pretty good folks. And of them religious leaders the Dalai Lama is about the only one I would actually care to meet. He is not afraid of science, he realizes that the world has changed in the thousands of years since his holy texts were written, new information is available. He says that it is wrong to hold on to out dated dogmas in the face of new evidence. Of course the fact that they don't believe in an omnipotent god makes this view far easier to accept than it would be in other religions. Which leads me to this lovely quote.
Silly terrorists.
I wrote a bit then realized I never summed up what the hell I'm talking about. Go here, Al-Qaeda threatened to kill the Dalai Lama.
I bust on religion pretty hard around here but how could anyone be so upset by the Dalai Lama that they would kill themselves to try to kill him? First off its a bad plan from the fact that he is believed to be the reincarnation of the original Lama, meaning if you kill him he's only going to be replaced by someone else. Then there is the fact that at least by my limited knowledge Buddhism is one of the better religions, I mean its all about finding "god" in yourself. I know there are some issues with Karma, namely that if a baby is born with problems it is assumed they were a bad person in their last life and therefore should not be pitied. But all and all their pretty good folks. And of them religious leaders the Dalai Lama is about the only one I would actually care to meet. He is not afraid of science, he realizes that the world has changed in the thousands of years since his holy texts were written, new information is available. He says that it is wrong to hold on to out dated dogmas in the face of new evidence. Of course the fact that they don't believe in an omnipotent god makes this view far easier to accept than it would be in other religions. Which leads me to this lovely quote.
in a recent document, Osama bin Laden denounced "pagan Buddhism" as part of his general attack on anything not Islamic.(most) Buddhists don't believe in a single "god" how the fuck can they be Pagan you twit!?! Now I'm obviously no fan of Bin Laden, but before I always at least considered him mildly intelligent. He's a pretty impressive guerilla fighter, I mean he's now had Russia trying to kill him when they were a superpower, then he pissed of the US and yet the bastards still alive, he can't be stupid. If you want to hate them for not being Muslim thats one thing but at least have a better excuse than calling them pagans. If he was talking about Hindu it would be more understandable, but I'm not going to let myself get side tracked onto explaining why Hinduism is NOT polytheistic. Seriously folks Buddhists aren't threatening, at least in recent times you don't here much about fundamentalist Buddhists, it just doesn't work. They don't kill others for having the "wrong" beliefs. So back off. Of course if your dealing with a suicide bomber appealing to reason might not be the best route and so they are going with more security, makes sense. I haven't read enough by the Lama to know but I have been told that he's not accepting of gays, but all things considered thats not surprising. Given his track record of open-mindedness (at least by religious leader standards) he, or one of his successors, will probably change this someday.
Silly terrorists.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Vonnegut, again
I think I've said all I can about him, although I did just read a great little post about someone who was at a church book burning and he saw someone throw a Vonnegut book on the fire and so after a moments thought he reached in a pulled the book out. Now thats a compliment.
Anyway why I did this second post was simply to say that there are few times I have ever wandered my usual favorite blogs and everyone of them had something to say about the same issue. Everyone it seems has some connection to his works. Some even had personally met with him. I never realized how many people were fans.
Thanks again Kurt, we're all going to miss you
*
A.M. UPDATE: Last night I sat down and started reading Slaughterhouse Five again. It had been a while since I last read it. Next thing I knew I was 2/3rds of the way through the book so I figured I might as well finish it off. That might be the fastest I've ever read a real book.
ANOTHER UPDATE: When asked what he would like people to say at his funeral Vonnegut suggested his favorite joke,
"Kurt is in heaven now"
Anyway why I did this second post was simply to say that there are few times I have ever wandered my usual favorite blogs and everyone of them had something to say about the same issue. Everyone it seems has some connection to his works. Some even had personally met with him. I never realized how many people were fans.
Thanks again Kurt, we're all going to miss you
*
A.M. UPDATE: Last night I sat down and started reading Slaughterhouse Five again. It had been a while since I last read it. Next thing I knew I was 2/3rds of the way through the book so I figured I might as well finish it off. That might be the fastest I've ever read a real book.
ANOTHER UPDATE: When asked what he would like people to say at his funeral Vonnegut suggested his favorite joke,
"Kurt is in heaven now"
Snow
Its April 12th and it was snowing this morning. I was going to write about that initially but was distracted by the passing of my name sake.
Now those who don't believe in evidence will use this as evidence that global warming is a scam. Now normally the line "those who don't believe in evidence will use this as evidence" would be illogical, and hypocritical, but when your already talking about people who don't believe in evidence then normal arguments can be thrown right out the window, they'll probably land on top of logic which was tossed long ago even before when they had spring cleaning on sanity, reason, and questioning. But the fact still remains that I had crystallized frozen water landing on my head this morning. How can that be proof of global warming? Easy, first off their is a reason we have abandoned the term global warming in favor of Climate Change, its not just semantics its just a more accurate term. It basically means that we are screwing with the environment in unprecedented ways and we honestly have only guesses as to what will actually occur. What is know is that things will change. Change isn't always a good thing. If the breadbasket of america was suddenly to turn into a desert it would be bad. I don't claim to know what will happen, no one knows for certain (other than the baby jesus) what will happen, but the chances of it being a good thing are slim to none and the chance that we will no longer be able to support all the people on earth is a very real one. Then again we aren't doing that great a job supporting everyone on earth now, and right now we have that ability. Imagine how many people will starve if we honestly can't make enough food, and some of us are still gluttons.
Anyway, climate change is happening, if you don't believe it try going outside, then think is this normal?
Now those who don't believe in evidence will use this as evidence that global warming is a scam. Now normally the line "those who don't believe in evidence will use this as evidence" would be illogical, and hypocritical, but when your already talking about people who don't believe in evidence then normal arguments can be thrown right out the window, they'll probably land on top of logic which was tossed long ago even before when they had spring cleaning on sanity, reason, and questioning. But the fact still remains that I had crystallized frozen water landing on my head this morning. How can that be proof of global warming? Easy, first off their is a reason we have abandoned the term global warming in favor of Climate Change, its not just semantics its just a more accurate term. It basically means that we are screwing with the environment in unprecedented ways and we honestly have only guesses as to what will actually occur. What is know is that things will change. Change isn't always a good thing. If the breadbasket of america was suddenly to turn into a desert it would be bad. I don't claim to know what will happen, no one knows for certain (other than the baby jesus) what will happen, but the chances of it being a good thing are slim to none and the chance that we will no longer be able to support all the people on earth is a very real one. Then again we aren't doing that great a job supporting everyone on earth now, and right now we have that ability. Imagine how many people will starve if we honestly can't make enough food, and some of us are still gluttons.
Anyway, climate change is happening, if you don't believe it try going outside, then think is this normal?
A moment of silence
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Kurt Vonnegut Jr. has passed away.
"I will say anything to be funny, often in the most horrible situations,"
I know the feeling, but not right now.
I don't know what to say about one of if not my favorite author passing on. Here is what some others have said.
C&L, EB, Salon*, BC, NPR he loved NPR....
Here is his official website.
This might be my favorite interview on The Daily Show, Obviously it's with Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Thank you to Crooks and Liars for the vid. (if that link doesn't work go here, scroll down)
And Big Hat Tip to my friend Justin at Blog 4 Brains for being the first spot I saw announcing this, and it was dedicated to me. So that was cool too. Thank you Justin.
But most of all thank you Kurt, without your works I may never have realized what joy can be found in words.
Goodbye Blue Mondays *
UPDATE: After reading a few other fans posts about this man I feel I have not done justice. I don't think I have the literary skills to do justice, but I could have done better. One little problem I have always had was that as soon as I read my first Vonnegut book I found almost every other book he had and read them as rapidly as possible. I was terrible at english but I had to choose a modern american author for class, we were given a list and the only ones I had heard of were immediately chosen. It was a friday afternoon so I decided I needed to pick one that I would remember on monday. I ran through the list and saw one with a Jr. at the end. The teacher looked at me and said I think you'll like him. On monday I had completely forgotten who I had chosen and franticly ran through the list again until I spotted that trusty jr. I went to the library and picked one out, for the life of me I can't remember which. The assignment was to read 3 books by the author, if memory serves me I read 7. As someone who didn't read I suddenly had out read every student in the class, even the future valedictorian looked at me and wondered why I was putting so much effort into this. I just didn't see it as work for the first time in my school life.
The problem as I was alluding to is that if you read seven books very quickly by the same author, who recycles name and places and who books are anything but linear it gets very hard to remember which book is which. Thats why last night I had just grabbed a bunch of novels off my shelf including two Vonneguts and an Adams. I started reading Adams because I thought it was the one I bought and never read, it wasn't, but I was too lazy to switch. But there is something strange about the fact that I had intended on reading one of his books last night then find out this morning that he has died, or as Deborah put it (and I wish I had thought of it),
Kurt Vonnegut has come unstuck from time.
I will have to make sure I read his book again, space them out a little so I can keep them straight this time.
So It Goes...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. has passed away.
"I will say anything to be funny, often in the most horrible situations,"
I know the feeling, but not right now.
I don't know what to say about one of if not my favorite author passing on. Here is what some others have said.
C&L, EB, Salon*, BC, NPR he loved NPR....
Here is his official website.
This might be my favorite interview on The Daily Show, Obviously it's with Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Thank you to Crooks and Liars for the vid. (if that link doesn't work go here, scroll down)
And Big Hat Tip to my friend Justin at Blog 4 Brains for being the first spot I saw announcing this, and it was dedicated to me. So that was cool too. Thank you Justin.
But most of all thank you Kurt, without your works I may never have realized what joy can be found in words.
Goodbye Blue Mondays *
UPDATE: After reading a few other fans posts about this man I feel I have not done justice. I don't think I have the literary skills to do justice, but I could have done better. One little problem I have always had was that as soon as I read my first Vonnegut book I found almost every other book he had and read them as rapidly as possible. I was terrible at english but I had to choose a modern american author for class, we were given a list and the only ones I had heard of were immediately chosen. It was a friday afternoon so I decided I needed to pick one that I would remember on monday. I ran through the list and saw one with a Jr. at the end. The teacher looked at me and said I think you'll like him. On monday I had completely forgotten who I had chosen and franticly ran through the list again until I spotted that trusty jr. I went to the library and picked one out, for the life of me I can't remember which. The assignment was to read 3 books by the author, if memory serves me I read 7. As someone who didn't read I suddenly had out read every student in the class, even the future valedictorian looked at me and wondered why I was putting so much effort into this. I just didn't see it as work for the first time in my school life.
The problem as I was alluding to is that if you read seven books very quickly by the same author, who recycles name and places and who books are anything but linear it gets very hard to remember which book is which. Thats why last night I had just grabbed a bunch of novels off my shelf including two Vonneguts and an Adams. I started reading Adams because I thought it was the one I bought and never read, it wasn't, but I was too lazy to switch. But there is something strange about the fact that I had intended on reading one of his books last night then find out this morning that he has died, or as Deborah put it (and I wish I had thought of it),
Kurt Vonnegut has come unstuck from time.
I will have to make sure I read his book again, space them out a little so I can keep them straight this time.
So It Goes...
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Soundtrack of your life
If your life was a film, what would the soundtrack be?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library. (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.
7. When you're finished, tag some other people to do it!
I included my favorite lines to songs that I have favorite parts of, plus links to pages with the lyrics if you want to read what these guys are saying. And yeah for some reason I have almost no music by women. I guess I like fairly aggressive music, and there are few female voices that work well for it, but there are some. Like the Horror Pops.
Opening Credits: Punk Rock Jock - Operation Ivy
Its a good fast song but very upbeat, nothing scary. Although the lyrics are nearly unrecognizable.
Waking Up: Thieves In The Night - Mos Def (maybe Blackstar?)
I'll point out that for some reason I have a lot more hip/hop on my phone than I normally listen too. I was on a Mos Def kick when I loaded songs onto the phone, which is my mp3 player. Anyway its a pretty good song. Favorite line,
"I asked him why we follow the law of the bluest eye, he looked at me said I'm clueless why? The question was retorical the answer is horrible."
Actually there are some lines right after that I might like better but thats more effort than I plan to expend.
First Day At School: You Will Lose Faith - NOFX
Favorite band. Good song from their newest LP, which is one of the most atheistic albums I've ever heard, especially if you get "never trust a hippy" which is an EP (or do I have those switched) and has only about 6 songs. Buy both then burn a copy with both on it, I like it that way.
"The unsympathetic judge who was having a bad day so he threw your life away is your faith a comfort still I know the answer still I ask where is your god now?"
Actually there is a part that would have been more fitting about breaking up a fight at school, only for someone to pull a gun and getting shot for trying to help.
Falling In Love: Instant Crassic - NOFX
Way too fitting. funny that it gave me the same group twice in a row, it happens.
"I'm swimming in a sea of pee, I'm hiking up a big mountain of poo, I feel like rolling in glass when I'm without you."
Fight Song: One Dead Cop - Leftover Crack
Ok I cheated on this one. Operation Ivy is not fight music. Leftover Crack is.
" I never took such pleasure in a death, A hatred born of freedom’s dying breath, The police kill and then they lie some more, In a conspiracy to cage the poor."
Breaking Up: March of the Crabs - Propagandhi
Not my favorite song by them, lyrics aren't easily deciphered so no particular favorites.
Prom: Twice in a Lifetime - Mos Def
Theres a female artist at the start of this song that I'm just not a fan of. Shes spends too much time saying how great she is, and I'm never a fan of excessive ego's.
"You stoppin' us is preposterous, like an androgenous masohganist, You pickin' the wrong time, steppin' to me when I'm in my prime like Optimus."
preposterous like an androgynous misogynist, come on thats funny, yeah its spelled very wrong on the lyric page.
Life: Let Them Eat War - Bad Religion
I'm not sure what this would say about your life, unless you were a president or a king or something.
"You never stole from the rich to give to the poor, All he ever gave to them was a war, And a foreign enemy to deplore."
Good tune. Great Band. Lead singer has a PhD from Cornell I guess he's even taught a couple classes. I bet he's a cool teacher.
Making babies: Interrogation - The Coup
Ok terrible song for making babies. Who "makes babies" to one song anyway? I'm not trying to brag but "making babies" takes at least a full album, two if they are punk (short albums), although due to the tempo you might have a heart attack. I can think of worse ways to go. Oh anyway this song is nuts. Its all about talking to the police, first just about trying to avoid them, then about killing cops by the end of the song. I do like the begining,
"I aint seen shit, i aint heard (nothing) i dont know what happen, i dont speak pig latin"
I just love the idea of saying, I'm sorry I can't understand you, I don't speak pig latin, to a cop. If your not white you'd get shot. oh theres also a line about a "dead ocean of pigs" yeah I don't think these guys like police officers.
Mental Breakdown: Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
"Kiss ass while you bitch so you can get rich, But your boss gets richer on you, Well you'll work harder with a gun in your back, For a bowl of rice a day"
DK has plenty of songs that would be fitting to have a mental breakdown too. Too Drunk To Fuck, and Kill The Poor come to mind. The first of those would be a good song for (not) making babies.
Driving: Sold As Freedom - Anti-Flag
I'd be speeding if this was my driving song... so... yeah.
"Fight fire with fire!, Pull gasoline on the world inferno, Burn it so hot that the world incinerates, when they're all dead we'll have no issues to resolve."
Flashback: Piss on Your Grave - The Coup
This is a song about peeing on George Washington's grave. Not sure if this is my favorite part but its good, er sorta, I mean its about something bad, but well done. I'm sticking with its good,
"That bitch ass on the front of a buck, never gave a fuck, he forced his black women slaves, to give him dick sucks, and when he bust a nut, he'd laugh and cackle, let the leather whip crackle, send 'em back to pick tobacco shackled."
Getting back together: I'm the one - Descendants
Ok this is an example of pre-emo emo. but quite fitting.
"I'm the one, who's shoulder you've been cryin on, i'm the one who wants you more than anything, you don't feel the same way you made it clear to me, but i'll stand my ground and maybe, you'll hear what i've been sayin, after all i've said and all i've done, i'm the one"
Wedding: Where They Wander - Horror Pops
This might be the only female led group on my phone. It would be a great song to dance to if you can do a swing at considerably higher than normal speed. It would be cool if you could pull it off. If you don't know the Horror Pops think of old swing music, mixed with punk rock and crappy horror movies. Of course this song is about zombies which isn't the best subject for a wedding. Oh well.
Birth of Child: Helena - Misfits
Hmm... this would have been better for the wedding.... This is a pretty twisted song in all reality.
"If I cut off your arms and cut off your legs, Would you still love me anyway?, If you're bound and you're gagged, draped and displayed, Would you still love me anyway?, Why don't you love me anyway?"
Those are just the opening lines.
Final Battle: Atheist Anthem - Leftover Crack
Uh not sure where to start. this is definitely a song you could get in a fight to. And someone is going to lose, and lose badly. Considering my death scene is next I'm not sure if I get mortally wounded here or if I'm the winner then get hit by a bus.
Death Scene: Who Killed Marilyn? - Misfits
These guys were big Marilyn Monroe fans, hence they named their band after her last movie. Oh and they hate the Kennedy's because they blame them for her death. Which is the reason for the song Bullet which is about JFK getting shot.
Funeral Song: Selfish Man - Flogging Molly
Irish punk rock these guys and Dropkick Murphys are just a great combo of old irish drinking songs and punk rock, flogging molly being the slightly more mellow of the two.
"And life leads me here, It shows me, I have never really loved no one but me, Like the time, you slipped through my hands, I'll never understand why I'm such a Selfish Man."
I have never really loved no one but me, I thought that was quite true until I was recently reminded that its not.
End Credits: The Roof is on Fire - Bloodhound Gang
This song shouldn't need an intro. great on so many levels. Everyone my age can still sing at least half of this song without the music. If one person breaks into it, instantly others will join in. Heres a good verse.
"Yeah I'm hung like planet Pluto hard to see with the naked eye, But if I crashed into Uranus I would stick it where the sun don't shine, 'Cause I'm kind of like Han Solo always strokin' my own Wookie."
Only problem is Pluto isn't a planet anymore.
Ok I stole this straight from My Life.... but thats sort of the idea. Usually these get passed on not stolen, but no one has ever sent me a meme, so I'm just going to pretent that someone did. Oh and I did cheat a couple of times, had to get some good songs up there, and some variety, so I broke #6, srry. Hope you enjoyed my little list.
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library. (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.
7. When you're finished, tag some other people to do it!
I included my favorite lines to songs that I have favorite parts of, plus links to pages with the lyrics if you want to read what these guys are saying. And yeah for some reason I have almost no music by women. I guess I like fairly aggressive music, and there are few female voices that work well for it, but there are some. Like the Horror Pops.
Opening Credits: Punk Rock Jock - Operation Ivy
Its a good fast song but very upbeat, nothing scary. Although the lyrics are nearly unrecognizable.
Waking Up: Thieves In The Night - Mos Def (maybe Blackstar?)
I'll point out that for some reason I have a lot more hip/hop on my phone than I normally listen too. I was on a Mos Def kick when I loaded songs onto the phone, which is my mp3 player. Anyway its a pretty good song. Favorite line,
"I asked him why we follow the law of the bluest eye, he looked at me said I'm clueless why? The question was retorical the answer is horrible."
Actually there are some lines right after that I might like better but thats more effort than I plan to expend.
First Day At School: You Will Lose Faith - NOFX
Favorite band. Good song from their newest LP, which is one of the most atheistic albums I've ever heard, especially if you get "never trust a hippy" which is an EP (or do I have those switched) and has only about 6 songs. Buy both then burn a copy with both on it, I like it that way.
"The unsympathetic judge who was having a bad day so he threw your life away is your faith a comfort still I know the answer still I ask where is your god now?"
Actually there is a part that would have been more fitting about breaking up a fight at school, only for someone to pull a gun and getting shot for trying to help.
Falling In Love: Instant Crassic - NOFX
Way too fitting. funny that it gave me the same group twice in a row, it happens.
"I'm swimming in a sea of pee, I'm hiking up a big mountain of poo, I feel like rolling in glass when I'm without you."
Fight Song: One Dead Cop - Leftover Crack
Ok I cheated on this one. Operation Ivy is not fight music. Leftover Crack is.
" I never took such pleasure in a death, A hatred born of freedom’s dying breath, The police kill and then they lie some more, In a conspiracy to cage the poor."
Breaking Up: March of the Crabs - Propagandhi
Not my favorite song by them, lyrics aren't easily deciphered so no particular favorites.
Prom: Twice in a Lifetime - Mos Def
Theres a female artist at the start of this song that I'm just not a fan of. Shes spends too much time saying how great she is, and I'm never a fan of excessive ego's.
"You stoppin' us is preposterous, like an androgenous masohganist, You pickin' the wrong time, steppin' to me when I'm in my prime like Optimus."
preposterous like an androgynous misogynist, come on thats funny, yeah its spelled very wrong on the lyric page.
Life: Let Them Eat War - Bad Religion
I'm not sure what this would say about your life, unless you were a president or a king or something.
"You never stole from the rich to give to the poor, All he ever gave to them was a war, And a foreign enemy to deplore."
Good tune. Great Band. Lead singer has a PhD from Cornell I guess he's even taught a couple classes. I bet he's a cool teacher.
Making babies: Interrogation - The Coup
Ok terrible song for making babies. Who "makes babies" to one song anyway? I'm not trying to brag but "making babies" takes at least a full album, two if they are punk (short albums), although due to the tempo you might have a heart attack. I can think of worse ways to go. Oh anyway this song is nuts. Its all about talking to the police, first just about trying to avoid them, then about killing cops by the end of the song. I do like the begining,
"I aint seen shit, i aint heard (nothing) i dont know what happen, i dont speak pig latin"
I just love the idea of saying, I'm sorry I can't understand you, I don't speak pig latin, to a cop. If your not white you'd get shot. oh theres also a line about a "dead ocean of pigs" yeah I don't think these guys like police officers.
Mental Breakdown: Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
"Kiss ass while you bitch so you can get rich, But your boss gets richer on you, Well you'll work harder with a gun in your back, For a bowl of rice a day"
DK has plenty of songs that would be fitting to have a mental breakdown too. Too Drunk To Fuck, and Kill The Poor come to mind. The first of those would be a good song for (not) making babies.
Driving: Sold As Freedom - Anti-Flag
I'd be speeding if this was my driving song... so... yeah.
"Fight fire with fire!, Pull gasoline on the world inferno, Burn it so hot that the world incinerates, when they're all dead we'll have no issues to resolve."
Flashback: Piss on Your Grave - The Coup
This is a song about peeing on George Washington's grave. Not sure if this is my favorite part but its good, er sorta, I mean its about something bad, but well done. I'm sticking with its good,
"That bitch ass on the front of a buck, never gave a fuck, he forced his black women slaves, to give him dick sucks, and when he bust a nut, he'd laugh and cackle, let the leather whip crackle, send 'em back to pick tobacco shackled."
Getting back together: I'm the one - Descendants
Ok this is an example of pre-emo emo. but quite fitting.
"I'm the one, who's shoulder you've been cryin on, i'm the one who wants you more than anything, you don't feel the same way you made it clear to me, but i'll stand my ground and maybe, you'll hear what i've been sayin, after all i've said and all i've done, i'm the one"
Wedding: Where They Wander - Horror Pops
This might be the only female led group on my phone. It would be a great song to dance to if you can do a swing at considerably higher than normal speed. It would be cool if you could pull it off. If you don't know the Horror Pops think of old swing music, mixed with punk rock and crappy horror movies. Of course this song is about zombies which isn't the best subject for a wedding. Oh well.
Birth of Child: Helena - Misfits
Hmm... this would have been better for the wedding.... This is a pretty twisted song in all reality.
"If I cut off your arms and cut off your legs, Would you still love me anyway?, If you're bound and you're gagged, draped and displayed, Would you still love me anyway?, Why don't you love me anyway?"
Those are just the opening lines.
Final Battle: Atheist Anthem - Leftover Crack
Uh not sure where to start. this is definitely a song you could get in a fight to. And someone is going to lose, and lose badly. Considering my death scene is next I'm not sure if I get mortally wounded here or if I'm the winner then get hit by a bus.
Death Scene: Who Killed Marilyn? - Misfits
These guys were big Marilyn Monroe fans, hence they named their band after her last movie. Oh and they hate the Kennedy's because they blame them for her death. Which is the reason for the song Bullet which is about JFK getting shot.
Funeral Song: Selfish Man - Flogging Molly
Irish punk rock these guys and Dropkick Murphys are just a great combo of old irish drinking songs and punk rock, flogging molly being the slightly more mellow of the two.
"And life leads me here, It shows me, I have never really loved no one but me, Like the time, you slipped through my hands, I'll never understand why I'm such a Selfish Man."
I have never really loved no one but me, I thought that was quite true until I was recently reminded that its not.
End Credits: The Roof is on Fire - Bloodhound Gang
This song shouldn't need an intro. great on so many levels. Everyone my age can still sing at least half of this song without the music. If one person breaks into it, instantly others will join in. Heres a good verse.
"Yeah I'm hung like planet Pluto hard to see with the naked eye, But if I crashed into Uranus I would stick it where the sun don't shine, 'Cause I'm kind of like Han Solo always strokin' my own Wookie."
Only problem is Pluto isn't a planet anymore.
Ok I stole this straight from My Life.... but thats sort of the idea. Usually these get passed on not stolen, but no one has ever sent me a meme, so I'm just going to pretent that someone did. Oh and I did cheat a couple of times, had to get some good songs up there, and some variety, so I broke #6, srry. Hope you enjoyed my little list.
google yourself
I do this from time to time for shits and giggles. I normally just look at the top couple and laugh. Actually the first one that comes up is a black judge from Florida which I find amusing. So this time I went to see how far till it was actually me, I also was curious if this site would come up, I don't use my real name when I write but my real name is on here if you know where to look. I also got thinking about this when my mother pointed out that smart companies will search possible employees. Think about that when putting drunken pictures on myspace. Also set your myspace to private, or don't use myspace which is probably the best plan. Anyway I first found myself on page 5 as my name was mentioned in the local newspaper announcement for my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary. BTW: huge congrats to the G-rents. I make another appearance on page 5 for a comment to The Nation magazine.
At least through Google it looks like I'm safe. I'm not ashamed of anything I've written. But there are things here that many people would find objectionable, especially my rants against religion. It's probably better that employers don't read this. At least not until I've been on the job a little while.
At least through Google it looks like I'm safe. I'm not ashamed of anything I've written. But there are things here that many people would find objectionable, especially my rants against religion. It's probably better that employers don't read this. At least not until I've been on the job a little while.
Thank You!
I love my little blog here. Some times I wonder if anyone is reading it, but I honestly don't care. I write because I want to. I write about what I want to write about sometimes its politics, sometimes its religion, the environment, how corporations are taking over the world and killing us all, how the unions are just corporations in their own way, or sometimes I just write about whats going on in my life. I occasionally ask questions, I don't usually expect answers because well like I said I have no idea if anyone reads this stuff. I don't even have a site meter cause when I did I always was concerned about how many hits I was getting. But then I left a little nothing post about journalism. Down just a couple. And not only did I get a couple responses but one was even very useful. ffbgirl from My Life... gave me the idea of Multi Media Communications. Sounds cool. So for being the first commenter to genuinely help, I say thank you! I'm going to look into what this degree is and see if it sounds appealing.
Your so going on the blog roll now.
Peace!
Your so going on the blog roll now.
Peace!
Evil Post (almost)
Dammit! I missed it by one. This is my 667th post, neighbor of the beast. Obviously I'm not superstisious, and I'm clearly not concerned about the scary number, but I do enjoy making jokes. Like for 6/6/06 I sent Happy Evil Day e-mails to my friends. So I would have done a nice little Evil post had I noticed. oh well.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Journalism
I've been thinking of possible career/education paths and I have often been interested in journalism but I don't consider myself a good enough writer for that profession. Who knows.
Monday, April 09, 2007
I lied
I said things were over and that I would get back to normal. Well things are still over, at least romantically, but I'm far from back to normal. I'm still very mixed up and I could just snap at any moment. Of course I'm not sure what will happen if I snap. I've come to the conclusion that I'm an emotional person who just doesn't care about much. If something manages to catch my attention then I can be very passionate about the task or job or person but most of the time I just don't care. But for the first time in my life there is something (someone) I am passionate about and I can't do anything about it. I tried to get past this over the weekend. I tried to say how it couldn't have worked, other people who know us both tried to comfort me but the only person who can comfort me is the person who can't comfort me. Just a few weeks ago I was fairly bored and depressed but at least I was stable. Now I'm bored, depressed, hopeful, confused and walking a tight rope (unstable). Thinks might not have been good when I just ignored all emotions, but they were easy.
smooth move shrub
Well the CEO of ford saved the presidents life by preventing him from blowing up the hydrogen car by plugging in the electric plug into the hydrogen tank. I'll assume the CEO was just acting out of self-preservation as he would have been blown up as well. See Hydrogen is perfectly safe, so long as we don't allow complete idiots to own the cars. Ok Shrub go play in the corner now, "No bad shrub." I've told him a million times not to play with electrical outlets. One of these days I should just let him, might teach him some respect. More info here.
Ann Coulter Master Satirist?
I know I know I normally refuse to acknowledge her existence at all let alone a whole post about her but this piece is so unexpected that its worth it.
The Coulter Hoax
Yeah its good, hope you enjoy. Satire about Satire that's not Satire at all.
The Coulter Hoax
On occasion, Coulter’s satire is quite esoteric. Such is the case when she states, “Behe disproved evolution—unless evolution is simply a nondisprovable pseudoscience, like astrology.” To understand the subtle linking of Behe to astrology, one must be familiar with Behe’s testimony in the Dover trial in which he had to concede that if intelligent design was accepted as science, one must also accept astrology.
Yeah its good, hope you enjoy. Satire about Satire that's not Satire at all.
ready to run
Not literally, I don't run.
But theres a bug in my side saying to get the hell outta dodge. I'm bored, half my friends will be gone by the end of the summer. My job is great but sucks at the same time. Theres no joy in it other than some very nice people I work with. Besides that I get nothing from this job and it barely pays the bills. So if anyone is looking for someone who can do almost anything fairly well and doesn't live anywhere overly hot, let me know I'm game for anything at this point. Seriously the best thing in my life right now (besides my family) is being the roadie for my friends band. I'm stuck in a rut and I want out I don't really care what direction I go so long as I'm not sitting still any more. I'm closing in on two years in this office, if I stay much longer they might need to put the padding back on the walls from the psych-center days. The first places that come to mind are Ithaca, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Boston, err maybe that last one should get scratched off the list at least for a little while. Where else do I know people? Buffalo. You can probably tell that I like it up here in the northeast. I'll go farther but it would be nice to know a couple people before heading to a new place.
But theres a bug in my side saying to get the hell outta dodge. I'm bored, half my friends will be gone by the end of the summer. My job is great but sucks at the same time. Theres no joy in it other than some very nice people I work with. Besides that I get nothing from this job and it barely pays the bills. So if anyone is looking for someone who can do almost anything fairly well and doesn't live anywhere overly hot, let me know I'm game for anything at this point. Seriously the best thing in my life right now (besides my family) is being the roadie for my friends band. I'm stuck in a rut and I want out I don't really care what direction I go so long as I'm not sitting still any more. I'm closing in on two years in this office, if I stay much longer they might need to put the padding back on the walls from the psych-center days. The first places that come to mind are Ithaca, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Boston, err maybe that last one should get scratched off the list at least for a little while. Where else do I know people? Buffalo. You can probably tell that I like it up here in the northeast. I'll go farther but it would be nice to know a couple people before heading to a new place.
Grindhouse
I watch too many movies, but I rarely bother to spend the money to go to the theater. But as some of my recent posts will indicate I was having a pretty bad day on Friday and so a good friend convinced me to go see Grindhouse. He didn't have to twist my arm too far, plus I had a free ticket from christmas. It was exactly what I needed. Three and a half hours as far from reality as sobriety will allow. The first movie was Robert Rodriguez zombie spectacular. Completely over the top and un-realistic. It was great. The second one was much slower. Lots of classic Tarantino dialog centered around a group of strong women. I almost wonder if Quentin keeps going female heroes to make up for reservoir dogs which didn't have a single speaking line for a woman. Or maybe he just realized that its his choice if he wants to be surrounded by beautiful women while at work... But the important bit is that the movie ends with a great chase scene between a Charger and a Challenger, straight out of Vanishing Point which is mentioned a few times in the flick. But being Tarantino he must take it another step further, so during the entire chase, there is a woman crawling around on the hood of the Challenger. They were playing a game where one person lays on the hood of the car while driving when suddenly it turns into a chase scene. Oh the woman are stunt professionals hence their rather unusual views of what constitutes a good time. Then again I've ridden in locations other than inside of a vehicle on a few occasions, ah the joys of youth and stupidity. So good flick, plus the fake movie previews are fantastic, such as "Werewolf Women of the SS." Quality.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Double Plus Ungood
The whole craziness is over.
I've lost the only girl* I've ever loved, again.
This whole event felt like it could have been the kind of movie that makes women cry, I just didn't know it was a dark comedy, the director never lets me read the script.
*(fuck you feminists shes can be a girl even if shes a woman, and an incredible woman at that)
I've lost the only girl* I've ever loved, again.
This whole event felt like it could have been the kind of movie that makes women cry, I just didn't know it was a dark comedy, the director never lets me read the script.
*(fuck you feminists shes can be a girl even if shes a woman, and an incredible woman at that)
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Hehehehe, nicely put
From the Latest Carnival of the Godless: You're going to hell edition
It might just be because I love the book but I like this bit.
It might just be because I love the book but I like this bit.
But Mark Dominus’s complaint that the Bible gets the value of pi wrong is certainly off target. Like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Wikipedia, the Bible is always right; whenever it conflicts with reality, reality is in error.Thank You Abstract Nonsense. I hope you all caught the irony. Oh and the book that I love is HHGG not the bible, both are fiction, but one is way funnier and possibly more believable.
Just a friend is no picnic either
The great Biz Markie, The Clown Prince of hip/hop
I'm not sure how I didn't think of this song before, its on my mp3 player/phone I hear it all the time. Its exactly whats going on, other than I'm not the guy singing the song. I'm the friend, and it's not a spot I'm comfortable with, not at all. But its a good song so listen to it.
I'm not sure how I didn't think of this song before, its on my mp3 player/phone I hear it all the time. Its exactly whats going on, other than I'm not the guy singing the song. I'm the friend, and it's not a spot I'm comfortable with, not at all. But its a good song so listen to it.
Thunderbird Issues
Ok I'm a big fan of mozilla, its got some cool features, its not microsoft, and its free. But in the last couple days I've started having problems. Thunderbird, Mozzila's answer to Outlook, has been acting funny, not automatically finding new emails, generally going slowly and it claims that I have 183,402 emails in my inbox. I have a little over a thousand in reality. Something is weird.
UPDATE: apparently its a good idea to clean out your inbox all the time and don't keep old emails there. who knew? Theres a couple other little tricks that I'm going to try.
UPDATE: apparently its a good idea to clean out your inbox all the time and don't keep old emails there. who knew? Theres a couple other little tricks that I'm going to try.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Chocolate Jesus
I don't understand why people care. Ok someone made a huge chocolate jesus, a bunch of christians freaked out, no more chocolate jesus. I mean yeah its sad that these assholes deprived bringing joy to a bunch of children in the form of a huge block of chocolate but its not very surprising. Oh the "sweet lord" was naked, thats why the christians freaked out, that should be mentioned.
But it just seems like people care way to much, I mean yeah the fundies are insane, so what? thats hardly news worthy. I wouldn't care if there was nothing going on in the world but there is so lets just be done with this story.
Heres the only link I feel like putting up for this topic.
The Rude Pundit: What would chocolate jesus do?
But it just seems like people care way to much, I mean yeah the fundies are insane, so what? thats hardly news worthy. I wouldn't care if there was nothing going on in the world but there is so lets just be done with this story.
Heres the only link I feel like putting up for this topic.
The Rude Pundit: What would chocolate jesus do?
No pitch for you
Now obviously the white house will say that the president will miss opening day for the second year in a row because he is too busy. Now I don't give a rats ass about baseball it makes golf look exciting which in turn is somewhere behind a sharp stick in the eye for fun things to do. But its a nice little tradition that people like. And to be honest I would love to see Bush step out onto the field and have most of the crowd booing him loudly. It happened to the Dick last year.
Or a little poem version from Buzzflash.
Bush's reception would not have been swell;
The White House finally got some good intel.
Or a little poem version from Buzzflash.
Bush's reception would not have been swell;
The White House finally got some good intel.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Snoop Dogg on Bill O'Reilly
hehehehe.....
I like Snoop in that he seems more laid back and able to laugh at himself which is something many rappers lack. At the same time I don't like his views on women, but after this clip, I like his views on Bill O'Reilly.
Oh and,
Warning Strong Language
I like Snoop in that he seems more laid back and able to laugh at himself which is something many rappers lack. At the same time I don't like his views on women, but after this clip, I like his views on Bill O'Reilly.
Oh and,
Warning Strong Language
The Best Week(end) Ever
I know that quite the claim but seriously the only other long weekend thats even in the running was a little over a year ago when the fam went to Pittsburgh to watch the Super Bowl at my sisters place which is right on the strip with all the bars. After the game thousands of people poured into the streets and were giving high fives and hugs every where, black white country metal punk yuppie hippie republican it didn't matter, everyone was just happy. I had never seen a happy riot before, it was pretty amazing. Then the next day we got up early went home, then hopped in a car and when to NYC for my friends bands show at the historic CBGB's, I got to stand on the stage where The Ramones got their start. It was amazing.
This last weekend was better. I spent 3 days rarely out of arms reach, hell rarely out of contact, with some one I'm beginning to realize really might be my favorite person, ever. Which is why I'm considering this my personal best weekend ever. The weather was fantastic, it was sunny with a couple of clouds, it was warm but cool enough that you weren't sweating even after hours of walking around Boston. I was surprised by how friendly the people were, then again my friend was also quite shocked, she told me that she had never seen Bostonians so friendly as they we towards me, apparently happiness is contagious because people were just talking to us where ever we went, and I was wearing a green hoodie. I was forced to get a little emergency exhaust repair on my vehicle while in the city, and even that turned out to be fun. We had walked from half way across town over to the garage and it wasn't done yet so we went to the bar, when the beautiful girl I had been walking with immediately orders two Guinness's only to turn and say, "you like Guinness right?" I almost lost it right there. Some old drunk mumbled to us and walked away. Then on the TV news there was a report about an 18 year old that was shot in the head while riding the city bus, We both immediately realized that it occurred not far from her apartment but neither of us were too keen on figuring out exactly how close, ignorance is bliss. At that point another random dude at the bar strikes up a conversation. We had a pint then wandered back to the repair shop, still wasn't done, oh well. I figured it was better not to head back to the bar before my truck was done being worked on, so we hung out in the waiting room, and were laughing our asses off with the guy behind the counter. You know your in a mood where nothing can bring you down when your sitting in the waiting room of a place that has had your vehicle for several hours to do half an hours worth of work, is over charging you, and is generally not a very pleasant place, but you can't help but smile and still have a great time.
I could continue on about the weekend, I would like to, but alas there is no time. Back to reality.
This last weekend was better. I spent 3 days rarely out of arms reach, hell rarely out of contact, with some one I'm beginning to realize really might be my favorite person, ever. Which is why I'm considering this my personal best weekend ever. The weather was fantastic, it was sunny with a couple of clouds, it was warm but cool enough that you weren't sweating even after hours of walking around Boston. I was surprised by how friendly the people were, then again my friend was also quite shocked, she told me that she had never seen Bostonians so friendly as they we towards me, apparently happiness is contagious because people were just talking to us where ever we went, and I was wearing a green hoodie. I was forced to get a little emergency exhaust repair on my vehicle while in the city, and even that turned out to be fun. We had walked from half way across town over to the garage and it wasn't done yet so we went to the bar, when the beautiful girl I had been walking with immediately orders two Guinness's only to turn and say, "you like Guinness right?" I almost lost it right there. Some old drunk mumbled to us and walked away. Then on the TV news there was a report about an 18 year old that was shot in the head while riding the city bus, We both immediately realized that it occurred not far from her apartment but neither of us were too keen on figuring out exactly how close, ignorance is bliss. At that point another random dude at the bar strikes up a conversation. We had a pint then wandered back to the repair shop, still wasn't done, oh well. I figured it was better not to head back to the bar before my truck was done being worked on, so we hung out in the waiting room, and were laughing our asses off with the guy behind the counter. You know your in a mood where nothing can bring you down when your sitting in the waiting room of a place that has had your vehicle for several hours to do half an hours worth of work, is over charging you, and is generally not a very pleasant place, but you can't help but smile and still have a great time.
I could continue on about the weekend, I would like to, but alas there is no time. Back to reality.
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