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The
Soap Box Monday, July 31, 2006 Random Stuff You know, I've never been a huge opera fan. However, I'd make an exception for this opera. Who wants to go with me? How could a governor of a politically important state like Massachusetts not know that the term "tar baby" would be considered offensive to people? I mean, seriously. This is the 21st century. I personally did not know the term had any meaning separate from its racial origins. Brilliant. Might as well give up that bid for president right now. Remember Tina Yothers? She was the cute little blond sister on Family Ties with Michael J. Fox. Well, she's one of the new cast mates on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club. VH1's web site proudly claims, "Following a nine year hiatus, Yothers returned to acting in 2004, playing porn star Linda Lovelace in the stage show Lovelace: The Musical." Mmmm..I bet her mom was really proud of that one! Friday, July 28, 2006 Fun With Ann Coulter So, this woman has been making some interesting comments lately...no, not trashing the 9/11 widows...more recent than that, although the widow comments shows you that she is completely out of touch with reality and has zero compassion for every living thing. Anyway, I was perusing some of her recent comments on TV shows and thought, "wow, this woman is nuts!" My friend, who is a bit more charitable, brought up the possibility that she has some sort of brain illness. At first I dismissed this hypothesis, but upon further pondering, I'm thinking maybe she has some sort of cognitive deficit. Read for yourself some of her recent comments and let me know what you think! Regarding Clinton, Gore, and Homosexuality:
Regarding other matters:
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Does This Sound Familiar? "Israel has been meeting stronger resistance from Hezbollah than it initially anticipated." I'm So Disappointed in My Cell Phone Co T-Mobile has pulled all advertising from the FX network due to what it considers material that is too graphic. Specifically, they re referring to Rescue Me and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. While I've never seen Sunny, I am a die-hard fan of the Denis Leary show. Leary himself just was nominated for an Emmy, which I'm sure will boost the ratings of the show but T-Mobile doesn't care about that I guess. Of course, this boycott occurred after a letter writing campaign by some Mississippi based Christian group. Dodson, CEO of T-Mobile, said that his company "will not support programming or content offerings that are sexually gratuitous and explicit, racist, hateful or excessively violent." So, to me, that means he hasn't really watched the show. Well, maybe I should break it down. Sexually gratuitous? Maybe.(Like putting contestants in barely there costumes for So You Think You Can Dance isn't gratuitous?) Hateful? Not really. Excessively violent? Perhaps I shouldn't comment on that one. (And of course, now I will comment.Usually, there is no violence in the show. However, when there is violence, it is excessive in terms of who it is against. I can think of 2, maybe three cases of domestic violence which is sooo NOT cool but it does happen and it is not glamorized. But it is still upsetting.) Racist? Absolutely not. But it's an adult show, created for adults and not shown prior to 10pm. The reason I care at all is that I want the option to see adult shows on TV. When I say adult, I don't mean XXX. I mean actual realistic situations that adults may encounter on a daily basis. I feel it's important to state that I do feel this show has crossed the line of good taste on the rare occasion but I still choose to watch this incredibly well written show. With T-Mobile pulling their ad dollars, it just weakens the possibility that smart, adult programming such as Rescue Me can continue. We all know that without the money, the best show created ever in the history of the universe would never be aired. I want the choice to not be fed pap or shown unrealistic family life where everyone is beautiful and no one is ever out of control. I want the choice to see a show that actually uses realistic language, where people battle mental illness, where genuine caring for someone is hidden under a layer of chiding because it's not cool to show your emotions in this culture if you're a man. God forbid we get a realistic slice of life on TV. Let's hope more advertisers do not follow T-Mobile's lead and endanger fine but rare adult programming. PS: Christopher Tyng's wonderful original music on Rescue Me is reason enough to watch. Just thought I'd throw that in there. Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Careful Where You Point That Thing It was reported that UN observers in Lebanon were killed by Israeli missiles. Nice aim there, Israel. Kofi Annan is calling the attack deliberate. Well, if there is one way to get the UN on your side during a military engagement, it is NOT by killing their ambassadors that you swore you would not harm. From where I sit, all bets are off now. Sunday, July 23, 2006 Lazy Blogger's Sunday=Meme Stolen from Betty, the idea behind this one is that you open up iTunes, and write down the first track that shows up for each letter of the alphabet. My list makes me look like I 1) only listen to about 2 artists and 2) am the largest geek in the world. I will accept the title of geek, but not the biggest in the world. So, without procrastinating further, here is my list: A Change Would Do You Good - Sheryl Crow So there it is. The funny thing is that some music that I listen to constantly is not represented in that list, like Jonatha Brooke and Dave Matthews or Blue Man Group. Oh well. Make of it what you will. Friday, July 21, 2006 Simple Things that Make Me Happy
Thursday, July 20, 2006 OMG OMG OMG OMG I SOOOOOOOOO want one of these! Seriously. I haven't wanted something so badly in a looooong time. If any of you were ever gonna get me something (just for being a nice human being), get me one in racing green please. Oh, and while you're at it, get one for yourself. ;) Wednesday, July 19, 2006 WTC There is another 9/11 movie coming out next month. This one stars Nick Cage as a Port Authority cop. Every time I see the commercial I think, "It's too soon! Those wounds are still too raw to relive that day. Especially on a huge screen!" But it was 5 years ago now. Shouldn't we have healed somewhat? As I thought about it, I realized that our government hasn't given this tragic event the time or distance to let it heal at all. They keep poking at it, keeping the wound fresh and oozing. It's the battle cry for the war in Iraq, even though Iraq had nothing to do with it. It's the reason why the gov't taps our calls and won't allow me to check in on a flight online. It's almost the catch-all reason for why the government does anything these days. Don't get me wrong. I don't think we should forget about 9/11. How could we ever forget it? But, please, for Pete's sake, give us time Hollywood and Washington, to grow a new layer of skin before the next bombardment. Don't worry. There will be a visible scar forever. We'll carry it around the rest of our days but please! Stop ripping off the scab to reveal the damaged tissue below, thanks. That HURTS! I can just hear my mother's voice saying, "Stop picking at it or it will never heal!" Saturday, July 15, 2006 Just Because I Don't Have Enough To Do It's amazing what you will do to procrastinate. What do I do? I start a new blog. It's called "What can you buy for a buck?" and I'm hoping to get replies from all over the world, although results just from the US will also be interesting. Some days it seems like a dollar won't buy you shit but I bet somewhere in the world, a dollar would actually buy you lunch...it's just not here. So hopefully I'll get some traffic over there and will find some interesting results. Thursday, July 13, 2006 What Grad Students Do for Fun (and Profit) I had an fMRI today mostly to find out what it was like. I also got paid a whopping $30 for doing it as part of an experiment. (That's a hell of a lot better than paying $600 or more to get it done like most people do.) Let me tell you, it's not as fun as everyone says. What? No one said it was fun? Oh. While I kept it together, I could totally see how people freak out in those things. I could have made myself freak out too if I had tried. Instead I was trying to meditate in there but the damn machine is sooooo loud, it was virtually impossible. Actually it wasn't that it was noisy but that the noises were arrhythmic that got to me. Also, after being in there for an hour, it really did become uncomfortable...and I had to pee...so they stopped the experiment and I have to say it was great to get out of that tube! Wednesday, July 12, 2006 To My Friends in Massachusetts... ...including Julie, Julie(tte), Mike, Steve, Kathy, etc... Nice tunnel system! I hope it wasn't your tax dollars that paid for that over-budget, behind-schedule pile of concrete that is now falling apart and crushing people. Tuesday, July 11, 2006 Random Update So I'm back in a rental car...a really crappy one. It is a 2007 Ford something (I thought it was a Taurus but I see on the Ford web site that there is no 2007 Taurus) and could not be more boring. There's not even a CD player. But what I dislike the most is the gas mileage. I only have to fill my little Mazda about once every 8 days. This car has already gone through a 1/4 tank in a day and a half! Gawd knows with gas prices what they are I certainly don't want to be buying gas more often. By a small margin, you -- my faithful readers--think I should keep my car even though it's jinxed. I agree. I really like it and don't want a new car. I just want to stop getting into car accidents! I'm really not into obtaining more debt. Thanks. This is week two of my teaching experience. Teaching college students is VERY different thank teaching corporate type people. I'm still not comfortable in my college classroom. Half the time I keep thinking I'm such a fraud and the students are going to find out. Don't get me wrong. I do know what I'm lecturing about but still...after being a full time student for the last two years, it's a very strange feeling to be on the other side of the teacher-student relationship. I haven't had any offers yet on my New Mexico related stuff by someone from another country. Ah well. I thought it was some good stuff! Sunday, July 9, 2006 Gimme Your Stuff!
So, there's this site called "Gimme Your Stuff" where you offer things from your part of the world in exchange for stuff from other parts of the world and I can't pass it up! I'm willing to send someone:
I can also offer Mexican candy if you're adventurous. All of it has chili in it and usually something sweet and sour...yes, all in the same candy. I am open for any trades from other nations. I particularly would like Japanese fabric or Cadbury hazelnut Brunch bars (no raisins please!) but again, I'm open to whatever. Whatcha got? Friday, July 7, 2006 VOIP? Does anyone out there reading this use VOIP? I was looking at the Vonage web site and I really could save at least 50% on my land line. However, I really don't know the pros & cons from a user standpoint. It would really make me crazy if there were a lag on the line. So, anyone here have any experience with VOIP? Do you like it? Hate it? Think it's time has not yet come? Let me know! Wednesday, July 5, 2006 Enough Already! I was sick of Nelly Furtado's new song, "Promiscuous Girl" before her new CD was even released. That damn song is ubiquitous! And is it just me or does that song sound like something the Black Eyed Peas rejected? Also that "Hips Don't Lie" song by Shakira is one where if I hear it one more time, I'm going to puncture my ear drums for some relief. In general, I like Shakira but this song seems more inane than her others. Also, parts of the song sound like they passed her voice through some sort of auto-tuner thingie (in other words, she needed some help staying on pitch. If you listen carefully, there are parts of the song that sound just a little more "robotic" than others.) Maybe I'm getting old enough that anything that would appear on the Top 40 is just mildly annoying. Sunday, July 2, 2006 Yesterday Was a Bad Day... ...to be American at Wimbledon. Mardy Fish retired after the first match (back pain?), both Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick were beat in three sets. Any Frazier and Venus Williams were both beat as well. So that leaves zero American men and one American woman (unseeded Shenay Perry) at the premier grass tournament. On a personal level, the falling of all these American players means I save many hours I would spend watching Wimbledon on TV.
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