Tuesday, November 30, 2004
How can you tell just by looking at me that I hate the kind of music you listen to?
Or so asks Kids in the Hall's Mark McKinney. Music, like all art, is a very subjective field. People not only have different tastes, they actually seem to hear music differently. Fans of the same genre can be reduced to shouting matches if you ask them who is the best group, best song, or best album.
My own taste when it comes to art is pretty diverse. Actually, it can be sort of distressing when I think about it. I can't seem to peg exactly WHAT it is that I like. Shouldn't there be a theme of some sort, stringing together my tastes?
Here is an example: The last five CDs I have bought are...
1) Usher "Confessions"
2) Iron Maiden "Edward the Great"
3) FLCL Soundtrack vol. 2
4) Bjork "Post"
5) Stevie Wonder "Talking Book"
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. Its the same with TV shows, movies, paintings... you name it. It occurs to me often on how subjective life's diversions can be. For instance, think about when fall comes around and the TV stations are unveiling their new programs. Out of five shows, four of them look awful. You say to yourself "why did they even spend the money to make this?" The same is true with summer movies. Or that painting you see at the gallery that is for sale for US$1,249.00 and it seems to be nothing more than splotches of paint (and ugly shades of color to boot).
It is weird when you think about it... that these things are static (concrete) and yet their value is almost completely extrinsic. I always look at other people's tastes and try to understand what they see in something before I get too critical. I always wonder if they are seeing or hearing something I am not. And a lot of the time, they are.
The human brain is a remarkable thing. It holds so many mysteries, and for every question we can think of about it, there are several more unanswered questions. Matter of fact, the process of how we arrive at the questions to ask about it in the first place is a mystery. I guess there is truth to the old cliche about beauty and the beholder I guess.
Which leaves me with one comment; when William Shakespeare (or his ghost writer) penned "a rose by any other name..." it sounded good, but is it accurate? I mean, do we all think that roses smell sweet? My experience with other art forms tells me "no."
But then again, theater is art, and Shakespeare isn't for everyone either...
See ya!
My own taste when it comes to art is pretty diverse. Actually, it can be sort of distressing when I think about it. I can't seem to peg exactly WHAT it is that I like. Shouldn't there be a theme of some sort, stringing together my tastes?
Here is an example: The last five CDs I have bought are...
1) Usher "Confessions"
2) Iron Maiden "Edward the Great"
3) FLCL Soundtrack vol. 2
4) Bjork "Post"
5) Stevie Wonder "Talking Book"
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. Its the same with TV shows, movies, paintings... you name it. It occurs to me often on how subjective life's diversions can be. For instance, think about when fall comes around and the TV stations are unveiling their new programs. Out of five shows, four of them look awful. You say to yourself "why did they even spend the money to make this?" The same is true with summer movies. Or that painting you see at the gallery that is for sale for US$1,249.00 and it seems to be nothing more than splotches of paint (and ugly shades of color to boot).
It is weird when you think about it... that these things are static (concrete) and yet their value is almost completely extrinsic. I always look at other people's tastes and try to understand what they see in something before I get too critical. I always wonder if they are seeing or hearing something I am not. And a lot of the time, they are.
The human brain is a remarkable thing. It holds so many mysteries, and for every question we can think of about it, there are several more unanswered questions. Matter of fact, the process of how we arrive at the questions to ask about it in the first place is a mystery. I guess there is truth to the old cliche about beauty and the beholder I guess.
Which leaves me with one comment; when William Shakespeare (or his ghost writer) penned "a rose by any other name..." it sounded good, but is it accurate? I mean, do we all think that roses smell sweet? My experience with other art forms tells me "no."
But then again, theater is art, and Shakespeare isn't for everyone either...
See ya!
Monday, November 29, 2004
Back in the swing of things
What a long weekend! It was chock full of twists and turns, and endergonic activities. The holidays are finally officially here! The semester is super-close to being complete, and I have so much I need to do yet! There are so many activities vying for my time. And, needless to say, the old checkbook is about tapped out (can’t wait to start working more hours soon… did I say that?). Here are some random thoughts to catch back up…
1. It is officially the Christmas season when you see something like this; walking out of Target through the automatic “In” doors side by side, two morbidly obese women talk about so-and-so’s man being a cheat. The door starts to close (because the sensor is on the other side… it is an “In” door), and one of the “lady’s” was struck in one of her love-handles. “Ow, fu**in’door! Can you believe that. Stupid fu**in’ door. I should sue their asses.” Classy.
2. Yet another giant oil spill. 30,000 gallons off the coast of Philly. How many more of these spills will have to occur before something better is done to ensure the environment’s safety during shipping? The use of fossil fuels, mainly oil, is the 900 pound gorilla of our age; we hate it, we fear it, but it does what it wants. We can’t really stop it. However, there should be better care taken in how the fuel is shipped, packaged, and so on. It isn’t like the possibility of a spill is so outlandish; we’ve had many in the last 20 years. Too many. I can’t help but think that if the oil was flown by plane, and subsequently dumped over suburbs, all over some rich white guy’s Lexus and house, there would be some positive progress towards safe cartage. Instead, too few volunteers will spend countless hours cleaning rocks and gulls with toothbrushes, trying to repair the earth.
3. In Western Iowa, there is a phenomena that is part urban legend, part folk-story, and part conspiracy theory. It all revolves around mountain lions. A few years ago, mountain lions started showing up around cities, towns, and upscale planned communities. Immediately the news picked up on what every coffee shop was talking about; where did the lions come from? The prevailing (and I think ignorant) theory is that the Iowa DNR released them into the wild to cull deer populations, which are allegedly too high. There are problems with this theory; deer populations aren’t that high, we have just built further into their territory (so we encounter them with out cars more often). Mountain lions aren’t all that unusual here. Animals have a way of wandering where they please. My friend Becky even has seen a red wolf at her house, which is allegedly restricted to the deep south. One would think that the Iowa DNR would know better that to introduce a foreign species to control population of an indigenous species. They had horrible luck doing this on two occasions with fish. Lastly, in the past when deer populations were high, the DNR has answered by issuing bonus deer “tags” (each hunter usually can kill only one deer a season, so they are given a tag to place on the deer they killed). This not only got rid of more deer, it raised interest in hunting, and made money (deer licenses are not cheap, especially for out-of-state hunters). But try telling any of that to local yokels.
4. Another lion story. In Sioux City, a mountain lion was spotted by a mother taking her child to school. It was in a tree, soaking up the sun, not bothering anyone. As most Iowan mothers would do, she freaked and called the police. The DNR soon showed up. Their answer… shoot first, ask questions later. They killed the lion, who all the while was napping in the tree. Why not use tranquilizers? They say that it could have taken up to 10 minutes for the drugs to take effect, and in that much time the lion could have hurt some one. COULD have. Why not try that first, then shoot it if it looks like it is going to turn on them? My bet is that it would have treed itself even further up, or ran like hell, only to succumb to the drug. Instead, our brave public servants have a little murder on their hands.
5. There is nothing like staying up late to watch your favorite football team play an exciting game, only to lose by one point in the last seconds. The Devner Broncos played a fantastic game, but it just wasn't enough to beat the LAST PLACE team, the hated Oakland Raiders (our sworn enemies). By the 4th quarter, I had thrown my studies to the side and was yelling at the TV, cheering out loud (sorry neighbors), and then silent as we lost, at home, in snow, against our arch-rivals. Good game though!
Well, I’m good for now. I hope that I have some good stuff on the way this week. As finals near, things could either taper off, or my sleep-depraved mind may generate some truly entertaining (if not unihibited) posts. Until then…
See ya!
1. It is officially the Christmas season when you see something like this; walking out of Target through the automatic “In” doors side by side, two morbidly obese women talk about so-and-so’s man being a cheat. The door starts to close (because the sensor is on the other side… it is an “In” door), and one of the “lady’s” was struck in one of her love-handles. “Ow, fu**in’door! Can you believe that. Stupid fu**in’ door. I should sue their asses.” Classy.
2. Yet another giant oil spill. 30,000 gallons off the coast of Philly. How many more of these spills will have to occur before something better is done to ensure the environment’s safety during shipping? The use of fossil fuels, mainly oil, is the 900 pound gorilla of our age; we hate it, we fear it, but it does what it wants. We can’t really stop it. However, there should be better care taken in how the fuel is shipped, packaged, and so on. It isn’t like the possibility of a spill is so outlandish; we’ve had many in the last 20 years. Too many. I can’t help but think that if the oil was flown by plane, and subsequently dumped over suburbs, all over some rich white guy’s Lexus and house, there would be some positive progress towards safe cartage. Instead, too few volunteers will spend countless hours cleaning rocks and gulls with toothbrushes, trying to repair the earth.
3. In Western Iowa, there is a phenomena that is part urban legend, part folk-story, and part conspiracy theory. It all revolves around mountain lions. A few years ago, mountain lions started showing up around cities, towns, and upscale planned communities. Immediately the news picked up on what every coffee shop was talking about; where did the lions come from? The prevailing (and I think ignorant) theory is that the Iowa DNR released them into the wild to cull deer populations, which are allegedly too high. There are problems with this theory; deer populations aren’t that high, we have just built further into their territory (so we encounter them with out cars more often). Mountain lions aren’t all that unusual here. Animals have a way of wandering where they please. My friend Becky even has seen a red wolf at her house, which is allegedly restricted to the deep south. One would think that the Iowa DNR would know better that to introduce a foreign species to control population of an indigenous species. They had horrible luck doing this on two occasions with fish. Lastly, in the past when deer populations were high, the DNR has answered by issuing bonus deer “tags” (each hunter usually can kill only one deer a season, so they are given a tag to place on the deer they killed). This not only got rid of more deer, it raised interest in hunting, and made money (deer licenses are not cheap, especially for out-of-state hunters). But try telling any of that to local yokels.
4. Another lion story. In Sioux City, a mountain lion was spotted by a mother taking her child to school. It was in a tree, soaking up the sun, not bothering anyone. As most Iowan mothers would do, she freaked and called the police. The DNR soon showed up. Their answer… shoot first, ask questions later. They killed the lion, who all the while was napping in the tree. Why not use tranquilizers? They say that it could have taken up to 10 minutes for the drugs to take effect, and in that much time the lion could have hurt some one. COULD have. Why not try that first, then shoot it if it looks like it is going to turn on them? My bet is that it would have treed itself even further up, or ran like hell, only to succumb to the drug. Instead, our brave public servants have a little murder on their hands.
5. There is nothing like staying up late to watch your favorite football team play an exciting game, only to lose by one point in the last seconds. The Devner Broncos played a fantastic game, but it just wasn't enough to beat the LAST PLACE team, the hated Oakland Raiders (our sworn enemies). By the 4th quarter, I had thrown my studies to the side and was yelling at the TV, cheering out loud (sorry neighbors), and then silent as we lost, at home, in snow, against our arch-rivals. Good game though!
Well, I’m good for now. I hope that I have some good stuff on the way this week. As finals near, things could either taper off, or my sleep-depraved mind may generate some truly entertaining (if not unihibited) posts. Until then…
See ya!
Friday, November 26, 2004
Spending Thanksgiving the only way you should in Iowa... at the farm. Here is me, Farmer Carl, out in the barn. I love Thanksgiving, and I love Iowa. But, I love Colorado more... so attention Denver-area pharmacies, save a full time position for 2008, and I will be be right out! If I don't run off to Japan, that is... : ) Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!
Well, it was nice of George W. Bush to join my family for Thanksgiving! Here he is, in a rare personal appearance.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Soda Popinski
There are a lot of interesting things about being awake and at school before 5 AM.
1) The 44 oz. fountain drink that I have been using as TPN the last few days just tastes even better. I guess my taste buds sleep poorly too.
2) Every deer for a 100 mile radius is active and in plain site. In the bluffs that I live in, they are everywhere... in yards, city parks, the street, clearings, running in front of your car... everywhere!
3) You get to see that gambling degenerates don't sleep. My town has three casinos but yet there is still a guy playing the video slot machine at the Amoco station. You don't win money at it, that would be illegal... I guess addictions don't sleep.
4) Traffic and parking are no problem at all! I saw maybe 12 cars total on my drive here, and I STILL had some jerk right on my bumper, shining his lights in my mirrors.
5) You are more aware of your body's boot-up procedure. Each system takes a different amount of time to load, install, and activate. In case you are a student of biology, it goes like this: bladder, legs, eyes, stomach, sinus, then brain.
6) You can play your music as loud as you want in the study area! It is really cool to hear Van Halen "Jump" Ramones "Rock and Roll High School," Billy Paul "Me and Mrs. Jones," Mindless Self Indulgence "I Hate Jimmy Page," Usher "Simple Things," and Dead Milkmen "Smokin' Banana Peals" at full blast at Creighton University. The bad thing is, the lights aren't on in the study area yet, so I am sitting here in the dark... The study area is not lit, but the lights are on full-intensity in the snack room, offices, and (thankfully) bathrooms. Students at Creighton University have access to most of the buildings on campus via a card reader system that is linked to our ID cards. Cool, huh?
7) No distractions around (other than blogging). All of the pretty girls, funny guys, noisy P2's, and needless emails are no where to be found. :) Well, the pretty girls wouldn't be too bad...
Wish me luck on my test. I have failed all of my practice attempts online. My test is at 9 AM so, back to work! Oh, and the lights come on at 5 AM sharp.
See ya!
1) The 44 oz. fountain drink that I have been using as TPN the last few days just tastes even better. I guess my taste buds sleep poorly too.
2) Every deer for a 100 mile radius is active and in plain site. In the bluffs that I live in, they are everywhere... in yards, city parks, the street, clearings, running in front of your car... everywhere!
3) You get to see that gambling degenerates don't sleep. My town has three casinos but yet there is still a guy playing the video slot machine at the Amoco station. You don't win money at it, that would be illegal... I guess addictions don't sleep.
4) Traffic and parking are no problem at all! I saw maybe 12 cars total on my drive here, and I STILL had some jerk right on my bumper, shining his lights in my mirrors.
5) You are more aware of your body's boot-up procedure. Each system takes a different amount of time to load, install, and activate. In case you are a student of biology, it goes like this: bladder, legs, eyes, stomach, sinus, then brain.
6) You can play your music as loud as you want in the study area! It is really cool to hear Van Halen "Jump" Ramones "Rock and Roll High School," Billy Paul "Me and Mrs. Jones," Mindless Self Indulgence "I Hate Jimmy Page," Usher "Simple Things," and Dead Milkmen "Smokin' Banana Peals" at full blast at Creighton University. The bad thing is, the lights aren't on in the study area yet, so I am sitting here in the dark... The study area is not lit, but the lights are on full-intensity in the snack room, offices, and (thankfully) bathrooms. Students at Creighton University have access to most of the buildings on campus via a card reader system that is linked to our ID cards. Cool, huh?
7) No distractions around (other than blogging). All of the pretty girls, funny guys, noisy P2's, and needless emails are no where to be found. :) Well, the pretty girls wouldn't be too bad...
Wish me luck on my test. I have failed all of my practice attempts online. My test is at 9 AM so, back to work! Oh, and the lights come on at 5 AM sharp.
See ya!
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Ten days ago I turned 30. Here is the cake that we had at my party. Notice that it looks like a prescription... pretty clever cake-work! :) I posted this to tell you all I am studying so very hard for my biochem test, and I am not sure if I will post again until Monday. So, loyal viewers and Blog Explosion 30 sec. prisoners, see you later! See ya!
Thursday, November 18, 2004
"I Feel Like I'm Taking Crazy Pills!"
Hey everyone! Are you familiar with the AFI? The AFI is the American Film Institute. They serve as a body of movie experts who tell the rest of us HOW a particular movie is relevant to culture or society. I am a bit of a movie buff, and I have learned a long time ago that the best way to learn about a movie's value is to watch it, and decide for yourself. But now I am straying... In actuality, the AFI is as good natured as these sort of bodies can get; they really love the industry, and want to promote it as best they can.
Anyway, the AFI is good at coming up with the "Top 100" lists. Top 100 romantic scenes, top 100 action movies, Top 100 villains. And so on. These lists are always fun for me, although I find myself (like most snobs) in constant disagreement with the rankings. I always think that I have a better choice for candidates, or I would rank one movie lower than another, and so on.
But that is what is fun about the lists. They get you thinking. They bring out the passion that you feel about your favorite movies, and sometimes even trick you into going out and buying a movie on DVD, or at least drag it out of your collection and watch it again. In this way, the AFI is a lot of fun. They open a debate among zealous fans, and create a buzz for products (face it, movies are products) that have perhaps been forgotten.
Think about it. What if Food Network did a list of "Top 100 Fast Food items" and they ranked the McDLT as number two. Some of us remember this awesome sandwich, which came packaged in Styrofoam to keep the "hot side hot, and the cool side cool." But I think that it is the best, so I log on and blog my head off about how stupid Food Network is. Others read my blog, and are swayed by my post. McDonald's decides to reintroduce the sandwich, for a limited time, and those of us who feel as if our favorite fast food was maligned rush out and eat large quantities of it.
Sort of stupid, but that is how the AFI lists work. They tell us that Jaws is far more thrilling than Raiders of the Lost Ark. We bristle, because we know that Indiana Jones is the king of movie excitement. So we complain. Discussion of the movie's high points leads some of us to wanting to see the movie again. So we rent or buy the movie. We talk about it around friends, who may also be moved to renting or buying it. The AFI is a marketing body.
It's other function is to act as apologist for the industry. It makes the case that movies are art. To back this up, they trot out the best moments, the best actors, the best plots... they try to drown us in greatness. What they don't want us to remember are the 95% of Hollywood's output... the "Munchies," "Battlefield Earth," and "From Justin to Kelly" of the world. They want us instead to think of Hollywood in terms of "Dr. Strangelove," "Gone with the Wind," and "Annie Hall." The AFI also tries to find worth in movies that aren't very good, such as "Independence Day." They try to convince us that Hollywood knows best, and that they wouldn't have poured all of that money into a movie only for it to be forgettable. They sell us on the notion of "fun" instead of art in those cases. They all can't be "Casablanca."
Another task that they take on is to inform us of what we can't see. They point out the costumes, the set design, the sound... all of the hard work that truly is art, and that can be completely unappreciated if the acting, pacing, or screenplay lack. They tell us that "Anna and the King" is at least worth the watch just to see the cinematography and costume design. The explain that the art direction and colors of "The Last Emperor" creates a dream-like feel that shouldn't be missed. So they find ways to get us to see movies that don't appeal to us.
Why do I bring all of this up? Well, most of all because I love to talk about movies and I haven't many people to talk about them with. But mostly, because the AFI is preparing the top 100 movie quotes list. This will be interesting to see. The reason this list has my attention is because tag lines and sound bytes are tools that the industry has come to use for product placement. We are bombarded with quips and quotes on commercials and trailers. There is an art of developing one-liners that create a favorable impression in our minds.
When Rhett Butler told Scarlet "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," I doubt that many people planned on its proliferation even decades later. It happened to catch on because it was a fantastic movie, a line that fit the character perfectly, and because the film had such a powerful climax. Fast forward to Will Smith saying "Aw, hell no!" or Gov. Arnold saying "I'll be back" in every film they are in. I wonder which sort of quote will appear high on the list? "Alllllrighty then!" or "Good night, you princes of Maine..."? "Freeeeedom!" or "What we've got here is a failure to communicate"? "You can't handle the truth?" or "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges. "?
Face it, the catchiest phrases are in the least artful movies, especially the one-liners... You can only hear "Show me the money!" or "I'm the king of the world!" so many times out of context before you start to hate a movie. The AFI will have an interesting task on their hands.
My vote for best movie quote? It is from the awesome 1949 movie The Third Man (an awesome thriller starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton).
"In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
See ya!
Anyway, the AFI is good at coming up with the "Top 100" lists. Top 100 romantic scenes, top 100 action movies, Top 100 villains. And so on. These lists are always fun for me, although I find myself (like most snobs) in constant disagreement with the rankings. I always think that I have a better choice for candidates, or I would rank one movie lower than another, and so on.
But that is what is fun about the lists. They get you thinking. They bring out the passion that you feel about your favorite movies, and sometimes even trick you into going out and buying a movie on DVD, or at least drag it out of your collection and watch it again. In this way, the AFI is a lot of fun. They open a debate among zealous fans, and create a buzz for products (face it, movies are products) that have perhaps been forgotten.
Think about it. What if Food Network did a list of "Top 100 Fast Food items" and they ranked the McDLT as number two. Some of us remember this awesome sandwich, which came packaged in Styrofoam to keep the "hot side hot, and the cool side cool." But I think that it is the best, so I log on and blog my head off about how stupid Food Network is. Others read my blog, and are swayed by my post. McDonald's decides to reintroduce the sandwich, for a limited time, and those of us who feel as if our favorite fast food was maligned rush out and eat large quantities of it.
Sort of stupid, but that is how the AFI lists work. They tell us that Jaws is far more thrilling than Raiders of the Lost Ark. We bristle, because we know that Indiana Jones is the king of movie excitement. So we complain. Discussion of the movie's high points leads some of us to wanting to see the movie again. So we rent or buy the movie. We talk about it around friends, who may also be moved to renting or buying it. The AFI is a marketing body.
It's other function is to act as apologist for the industry. It makes the case that movies are art. To back this up, they trot out the best moments, the best actors, the best plots... they try to drown us in greatness. What they don't want us to remember are the 95% of Hollywood's output... the "Munchies," "Battlefield Earth," and "From Justin to Kelly" of the world. They want us instead to think of Hollywood in terms of "Dr. Strangelove," "Gone with the Wind," and "Annie Hall." The AFI also tries to find worth in movies that aren't very good, such as "Independence Day." They try to convince us that Hollywood knows best, and that they wouldn't have poured all of that money into a movie only for it to be forgettable. They sell us on the notion of "fun" instead of art in those cases. They all can't be "Casablanca."
Another task that they take on is to inform us of what we can't see. They point out the costumes, the set design, the sound... all of the hard work that truly is art, and that can be completely unappreciated if the acting, pacing, or screenplay lack. They tell us that "Anna and the King" is at least worth the watch just to see the cinematography and costume design. The explain that the art direction and colors of "The Last Emperor" creates a dream-like feel that shouldn't be missed. So they find ways to get us to see movies that don't appeal to us.
Why do I bring all of this up? Well, most of all because I love to talk about movies and I haven't many people to talk about them with. But mostly, because the AFI is preparing the top 100 movie quotes list. This will be interesting to see. The reason this list has my attention is because tag lines and sound bytes are tools that the industry has come to use for product placement. We are bombarded with quips and quotes on commercials and trailers. There is an art of developing one-liners that create a favorable impression in our minds.
When Rhett Butler told Scarlet "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," I doubt that many people planned on its proliferation even decades later. It happened to catch on because it was a fantastic movie, a line that fit the character perfectly, and because the film had such a powerful climax. Fast forward to Will Smith saying "Aw, hell no!" or Gov. Arnold saying "I'll be back" in every film they are in. I wonder which sort of quote will appear high on the list? "Alllllrighty then!" or "Good night, you princes of Maine..."? "Freeeeedom!" or "What we've got here is a failure to communicate"? "You can't handle the truth?" or "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges. "?
Face it, the catchiest phrases are in the least artful movies, especially the one-liners... You can only hear "Show me the money!" or "I'm the king of the world!" so many times out of context before you start to hate a movie. The AFI will have an interesting task on their hands.
My vote for best movie quote? It is from the awesome 1949 movie The Third Man (an awesome thriller starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton).
"In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
See ya!
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
(not) Rockin' It.
I am still sick. What was Carl doing at 2:30 AM the night before a test? Coughing. Sweating. Not sleeping. As soon as I take my test at 9 AM, I am going home and hitting the hay. If you want to cuddle, or rob me blind, come on up to Apt. 5.
See ya. -COUGH-
See ya. -COUGH-
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Here they are! The reason my mind is pudding. Feel free to send me mail, so I can once again dance around saying, "Letter for me! Letter for me!"
"Everybody loves YOU... you're stupid! They always love the stupid one! Nobody ever loves the jerk!"
To add to the ever-growing body of evidence that I am indeed not growing up... my sister bought me the Ren and Stimpy DVD set for my birthday. I have been trying to watch episodes here and there, and I have had a lot of fun doing so. The collection is great, complete with an episode that was never shown (in which Ren attacks his abusive owner with a boat oar, and hits hit over 20 times). I forgot how violent that show was! It is definitely not for kids; which makes me wonder why Nickelodian bothered with it in the first place.
I have a lot of great memories of Ren and Stimpy. It came out just as I was leaving high school, and entering college. We used to record the episodes, then gather in huge groups to watch them over and over. We memorized ever line, every sound, every scene... it was a great time.
When I first got to NCC, no one had VCRs, and there was no cable to be watched. So, I would have Sandy (who I was dating at the time) record the show for me every Saturday night. Then, on weekends that I went home, I would trade her tapes, only to return to Norfolk to share the new episodes with the ever growing Ren and Stimpy cult. We would try to hijack the one accessible VCR on campus to watch the episodes, often to the rude and condencending comments of the more "serious" students. Being a Christian college, we had our share of stuffiness.
Sandy, the supplier of our episodes, also hated the show (and still does) but she fed my addiction. She even made me a "log" doll; it is just what it sounds like. A small chunk of a log, with paper clothes nailed to it. It was a fixture of my dorm room (#325, baby!) for a long time.
Nothing was more fun that being with someone the first time they saw Ren and Stimpy. You have to realize that this was pre-South Park, so the idea of an adult-oriented cartoon was way out there. The best person to watch the shows with was my friend Nate, who more than any of my friends instantly "got" the humor. I am sort of anxious to watch the discs with him. Nate and I obsessed over Ren and Stimpy, and even edited sounds from the show into a slide show he was assembling for a missions class/society.
Ren and Stimpy was a critical rallying point for my group of friends in college. It was the key ingredient in gelling us into an official posse. Ed, Doug, Nate, Kelly, Carlin, Steve, Shane... the only freshman friend of mine who really didn't dig Ren and Stimpy was Paul (I think) and that is cool. He was into Batman, 80's music, Star Wars, and Simpsons, so that was good enough.
Together we would thrill to the rare new episode, and together we would whine when they showed the same four episodes over and over on Nickelodian. We would pour over any interview or article about the show. We would get riled up at Nickelodian for all of their editing and meddling, and were further upset when they fired Spumco/John K. when tension built too high. We felt betrayed as the show was stolen from its creator, and changed into a never ending gross-out. Games Studios never really got the show, and while it had funny moments, it really only shined when John K. was still involved. I remember the sense of disappointment we had when we realized that the episode guide printed in Film Threat magazine would never be fully realized... it contained a lost of all of the storyboards and screenplays that John K. planned on developing (many of which were cannibalized into later episodes, or dropped altogether).
My friend Doug was especially fond of the episode called Stimpy's Fan Club. In the episode, Ren finds that only Stimpy gets fan mail, and has a break down. Stimpy, with good intentions, asks Ren to be the president of his fan club, which only drives him deeper into madness. The end of the episode shows Ren gloating about a letter he receives, on a day that Stimpy receives none. Doug, Nate, Ed, and I would reenact this scene every time mail was put out. It was rare than any of us got mail from home, and when we did, it was a big deal. "Letter for me, letter for me! Nothing for Stimpy!" would be heard in the hallway. When I read a handwritten letter (which isn't very often), I still have flashbacks to those days.
Even my dad was into Ren and Stimpy. He loved the fart jokes, and especially loved the "flying butt pliers" on the 'rasslin episode. It was always a great time when we would make a mass exodus down to CB/Omaha to see a concert, or attend the Feast of Maximum Occupancy (my dad's chili feed), because without fail we'd crack out the Ren and Stimpy tapes. We always had a good time watching those grainy, abused videotapes. Some of the lesser shown episodes were dubbed from other copies, so we had episodes that were 3rd and 4th generation on a $1.99 VHS tape (which had been recorded over and over several times). Needless to say, it is so nice to see the episodes again, but with good picture quality.
By the time the show was "revived" by VH-1, then Spike TV, it was a mere shadow of itself. Many of the edits Nickelodian had made were destructive and final (they disposed of the edited material in many cases). When Spike TV announced a new series, with John K. back at the helm, I was momentarily excited... until I saw Ren and Stimpy Adult Cartoon Party. It was not even the same show. It was heavy on super-gross-out, heavy on blatant homosexual innuendo, and low on cleverness. The dream was over.
Fast forward to now. The Ren and Stimpy DVDs are out. They say uncut, and for the most part they are. Some edits remain... for instance, there is an odd scene missing from the Haunted House episode (the bloody head fairy scene), and in the Big Baby Scam, there is a scene missing (where the grandpa whistles in the bathtub). But for the most part, the shows are intact, and wonderful. Watching Space Madness was a blast from the past, and it made me smile. Its funny how so many great memories can be liked to a moronic cartoon. : )
If you have never seen the show, you will probably remain unimpressed. Family Guy, The Simpsons, and South Park have both set standards for "adult" cartoons that weren't around back then. Even Spongebob Squarepants has elements of Ren and Stimpy to it. The originality and shock of the show is missing today. But you should watch it, and maybe get a glimpse into what drove college students crazy in the 1991-1993 era. And, maybe you can see a glimpse into Carl's psyche (I'm a little bit "Ren Hoek" in my mind).
Here is a list of my favorite Ren and Stimpy moments:
1) Ren's total melt-down on Stimpy's Fan Club
2) Ren's threatening speech to Sven and Stimpy on "Sven Hoek" episode. "I'm gonna hit ya!"
3) Stimpy's victory speech after the rasslin' match on Mad Dog Hoek.
4) Ren tempting Stimpy's mind with the task of guarding the history-eraser button on Space Madness
5) The horror of learning about "the big sleep" in Big House Blues.
6) Stimpy and Ren dressing up and acting like monkeys in "Monkey See, Monkey Do"
7) Stimpy using the ghost as a bath towel; cleaning "where the sun don't shine" on Haunted House.
8) The whole concept of Muddy Mudskipper... way too out there! I love watching him flop.
9) Powdered Toastman wrecks a jumbo jet into a semi-truck to prevent a kitten from being squished. Now THAT is funny. Especially since he tosses the kitten into traffic when he leaves.
10) The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen theme song. (sung to the tune of My Country Tis of Thee)
I have a lot of great memories of Ren and Stimpy. It came out just as I was leaving high school, and entering college. We used to record the episodes, then gather in huge groups to watch them over and over. We memorized ever line, every sound, every scene... it was a great time.
When I first got to NCC, no one had VCRs, and there was no cable to be watched. So, I would have Sandy (who I was dating at the time) record the show for me every Saturday night. Then, on weekends that I went home, I would trade her tapes, only to return to Norfolk to share the new episodes with the ever growing Ren and Stimpy cult. We would try to hijack the one accessible VCR on campus to watch the episodes, often to the rude and condencending comments of the more "serious" students. Being a Christian college, we had our share of stuffiness.
Sandy, the supplier of our episodes, also hated the show (and still does) but she fed my addiction. She even made me a "log" doll; it is just what it sounds like. A small chunk of a log, with paper clothes nailed to it. It was a fixture of my dorm room (#325, baby!) for a long time.
Nothing was more fun that being with someone the first time they saw Ren and Stimpy. You have to realize that this was pre-South Park, so the idea of an adult-oriented cartoon was way out there. The best person to watch the shows with was my friend Nate, who more than any of my friends instantly "got" the humor. I am sort of anxious to watch the discs with him. Nate and I obsessed over Ren and Stimpy, and even edited sounds from the show into a slide show he was assembling for a missions class/society.
Ren and Stimpy was a critical rallying point for my group of friends in college. It was the key ingredient in gelling us into an official posse. Ed, Doug, Nate, Kelly, Carlin, Steve, Shane... the only freshman friend of mine who really didn't dig Ren and Stimpy was Paul (I think) and that is cool. He was into Batman, 80's music, Star Wars, and Simpsons, so that was good enough.
Together we would thrill to the rare new episode, and together we would whine when they showed the same four episodes over and over on Nickelodian. We would pour over any interview or article about the show. We would get riled up at Nickelodian for all of their editing and meddling, and were further upset when they fired Spumco/John K. when tension built too high. We felt betrayed as the show was stolen from its creator, and changed into a never ending gross-out. Games Studios never really got the show, and while it had funny moments, it really only shined when John K. was still involved. I remember the sense of disappointment we had when we realized that the episode guide printed in Film Threat magazine would never be fully realized... it contained a lost of all of the storyboards and screenplays that John K. planned on developing (many of which were cannibalized into later episodes, or dropped altogether).
My friend Doug was especially fond of the episode called Stimpy's Fan Club. In the episode, Ren finds that only Stimpy gets fan mail, and has a break down. Stimpy, with good intentions, asks Ren to be the president of his fan club, which only drives him deeper into madness. The end of the episode shows Ren gloating about a letter he receives, on a day that Stimpy receives none. Doug, Nate, Ed, and I would reenact this scene every time mail was put out. It was rare than any of us got mail from home, and when we did, it was a big deal. "Letter for me, letter for me! Nothing for Stimpy!" would be heard in the hallway. When I read a handwritten letter (which isn't very often), I still have flashbacks to those days.
Even my dad was into Ren and Stimpy. He loved the fart jokes, and especially loved the "flying butt pliers" on the 'rasslin episode. It was always a great time when we would make a mass exodus down to CB/Omaha to see a concert, or attend the Feast of Maximum Occupancy (my dad's chili feed), because without fail we'd crack out the Ren and Stimpy tapes. We always had a good time watching those grainy, abused videotapes. Some of the lesser shown episodes were dubbed from other copies, so we had episodes that were 3rd and 4th generation on a $1.99 VHS tape (which had been recorded over and over several times). Needless to say, it is so nice to see the episodes again, but with good picture quality.
By the time the show was "revived" by VH-1, then Spike TV, it was a mere shadow of itself. Many of the edits Nickelodian had made were destructive and final (they disposed of the edited material in many cases). When Spike TV announced a new series, with John K. back at the helm, I was momentarily excited... until I saw Ren and Stimpy Adult Cartoon Party. It was not even the same show. It was heavy on super-gross-out, heavy on blatant homosexual innuendo, and low on cleverness. The dream was over.
Fast forward to now. The Ren and Stimpy DVDs are out. They say uncut, and for the most part they are. Some edits remain... for instance, there is an odd scene missing from the Haunted House episode (the bloody head fairy scene), and in the Big Baby Scam, there is a scene missing (where the grandpa whistles in the bathtub). But for the most part, the shows are intact, and wonderful. Watching Space Madness was a blast from the past, and it made me smile. Its funny how so many great memories can be liked to a moronic cartoon. : )
If you have never seen the show, you will probably remain unimpressed. Family Guy, The Simpsons, and South Park have both set standards for "adult" cartoons that weren't around back then. Even Spongebob Squarepants has elements of Ren and Stimpy to it. The originality and shock of the show is missing today. But you should watch it, and maybe get a glimpse into what drove college students crazy in the 1991-1993 era. And, maybe you can see a glimpse into Carl's psyche (I'm a little bit "Ren Hoek" in my mind).
Here is a list of my favorite Ren and Stimpy moments:
1) Ren's total melt-down on Stimpy's Fan Club
2) Ren's threatening speech to Sven and Stimpy on "Sven Hoek" episode. "I'm gonna hit ya!"
3) Stimpy's victory speech after the rasslin' match on Mad Dog Hoek.
4) Ren tempting Stimpy's mind with the task of guarding the history-eraser button on Space Madness
5) The horror of learning about "the big sleep" in Big House Blues.
6) Stimpy and Ren dressing up and acting like monkeys in "Monkey See, Monkey Do"
7) Stimpy using the ghost as a bath towel; cleaning "where the sun don't shine" on Haunted House.
8) The whole concept of Muddy Mudskipper... way too out there! I love watching him flop.
9) Powdered Toastman wrecks a jumbo jet into a semi-truck to prevent a kitten from being squished. Now THAT is funny. Especially since he tosses the kitten into traffic when he leaves.
10) The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen theme song. (sung to the tune of My Country Tis of Thee)
Our country reeks of trees
Our yaks are really large
And they smell like rotting beef carcasses
And we have to clean up after them
And our saddle sores are the best
We proudly wear women's' clothing
And searing sand blows up our skirts!
And the buzzards, they soar overhead
And poisonous snakes will devour us whole
And our bones will bleach in the sun
And we will probably go to Hell
And that is our great reward
For being the Ro-oy-oy-al
Canadian Kilted Yaksmen!
See ya!
Monday, November 15, 2004
This weekend's most un-metal moments
A lot of ignorance this weekend, and so little patience to type about it. But, here we go...
1) At work Friday, I heard one of the more re-donk-ulous things I have ever heard in a professional setting. A pharmacist was surfing the Yahoo news when she came across the information that skater Scott Hamilton has a brain tumor. Her comment; "That's what you get for having sex with guys." This was ignorant and bigoted on several levels. First of all, Scott Hamilton is not necessarily gay. Just because he is an ice skater means nothing. Secondly, listen to the lack of compassion in her comment. This is coming from a health care professional. Thirdly, since when does ANYONE deserve cancer? If a person is homosexual, they deserve to be stricken with a life threatening disease? What a stupid comment to make. I didn't have a ton of respect for this person anyway, but this just proves that there are morons at every station of life. I wonder what materialistic, lying lushes deserve... It makes me sick that Americans, and Christian Americans to boot, are so hateful to homosexuals. It is embarrassing and wrong to behave this way.
Let me get a little "churchy" here for a second. Even if you are a Christian, and you think that homosexuality is a SIN, you have to also be sensitive to how Jesus modeled treatment of sin and sinners. He rubbed elbows with them (got to know them on their level, in their homes/turf), confronted their sin, but in the same time had great compassion for them. The spiteful and homophobic nature of certain people smacks Jesus in the face; there needs to be love. And as an aside, from one Christian to another, homosexual sex is no worse than things you have done and not yet repented for. Sin, according to Jesus, is sin. And sinners are sinners. As humans, we are all sinners, and all brothers-in-arms when it comes to falling down, and needing a lift up, not kicks to the gut.
I hope Scott Hamilton beats his cancer, and I will be thinking of him. He is a talented and genuine individual. He has already had to battle cancer, and now it has returned in a very delicate location. Beat it Scott, and we hope to see you back on the ice.
2) The American Music Awards were on last night. The highlight of the night was centered around the showing of a Beatles clip that hadn't been aired for 40 years. Beatles... American music... what? Anyway, the highlight of the night was an apparently stoned Anna Nicole stumbling and mumbling on and off stage. She is a joke. As Jimmy Kimmel said, "may she rest in peace." Jessica Simpson did a miserable job lip-synch'ing (must run in the family), and Lenny Kravitz played his most soul-less song ever (as did Maroon 5). By the way, most of the music played/awarded on the show was not very good... Usher and Alicia Keys are probably the only worthy winners all night (and Mercy Me, who were awarded off camera at a separate ceremony). Soundscan will never have its finger on the true pulse of good music. As Breakfast With Amy once sang, "art doesn't sell."
3) Getting sick was very un-metal. My throat is sore, I have a cough, and Codiclear just doesn't last long enough. Add to this the fact that I am back to not being able to sleep again, and voila! You have a miserable zombie Carl.
4) The sermon at church Sunday was all about giving money. I can't say that I have ever heard a sermon about giving yet that didn't annoy me. Ministers so often forget that there are a lot of ways to give to the Kingdom. Instead, they always end up plugging the tithe, which is 10% of your income. And, as usual, the sermon was the longest one of the last few months. Our church has made a lot of questionable decisions in the last year or two, wasting a lot of money on a very aggressive up-town plan to build a new church and reach the community (well, a new part of the community anyway). Along with the move has come a lot of high profile activities that cost a great deal of money (such as building a recreation of Bethlehem for people to drive through for Christmas, complete with actors and props... just to get the church's name out there). Then there are the TV commercials, mass mailings, hiring a new minister of media, buying multimedia equipment... I try very hard not to question or criticize the decisions of the church leaders, but it is hard to hear them beg for money for so many projects that I see as wasteful.
When I was preaching, I liked to focus the attention of "giving" on time spent doing good (in or out of the church). Money is sometimes an easy cop-out. I think the spirit of the message of giving is to give of yourself to better something around you, and in turn you will be bettered. This can be anything from participating in Big Brothers-Big Sisters, teaching a Sunday School class, doing odd jobs for a elderly woman, or giving someone a ride to their doctors appointment. In our culture, time is worth far more than money. Anyway, I was disappointed to see our minister go to the tithe well with such energy. He is the best minister I have ever seen, and even he got pulled into my pet peeve. To close, I'll end with a paraphrased quote from his sermon. Not tithing means that you are an atheist in your giving life, and God doesn't see our lives as separate elements, so not tithing makes you, in fact, an atheist. You can't trust God in all areas in your life but one... so failure to give 10% of your income to your church is a sin. (I'll never buy into this line of thought. There is a spirit to the call to give that goes far beyond a religion-tax, which is what tithing is being presented as).
5) This is for my own benefit, I need to vent. My birthday party. It was okay, but I missed out on my volleyball game. My wife purposely (maybe subconsciously, but still with purpose) planned to hold a birthday party with both sides of the family at 3 PM. I hate to complain about something that was done to honor me, but here is a note to future wives and husbands out there; do NOT throw a party for someone at a time when they have something else they had rather do, and do not expect them to rearrange their whole morning to help clean and set up for their own party. I am so not into the big celebration, and I was satisfied with dinner and a movie (which we did on the 10th, and it was nice). So imagine my frustration when I spent the morning rushing to do errands for my own party. To add to the anger, my friends weren't invited... it was just my family, who I see on a weekly basis anyway! And my brother, who I actually wanted to hang out with the most, didn't come. Basically my whole day was centered around this two hour get-together, and it is rare that I have a Sunday free to do what I want. I am a little upset about this. So Phuong, I am sorry I missed the game, and I would have expressed my frustration to you a little better on the phone, but I had 20 people in a tiny apartment, and no privacy to vent. Anyway, I feel better now.
There were some positive things... my nephew & sister bought me the Ren And Stimpy DVDs. Those are such a fun blast from the past. I ate a lot of good cake (I'll post a picture of it later). The Kansas City Chiefs lost. Lot's of good manga came out this week; I bought and read the sixth volume of the manga Pita Ten, which is getting better with each volume... only 2 more to go until its over!
Tomorrow is going to be a great day as well; Kids in the Hall Season 2 DVD set comes out, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Vol. 3 DVD comes out, Alice 19th #7 (the last volume) should finally be out, and Evangelion #9 is finally out! So much time-wasting goodness is headed my way, and me with so many studies I need to do...
See ya!
1) At work Friday, I heard one of the more re-donk-ulous things I have ever heard in a professional setting. A pharmacist was surfing the Yahoo news when she came across the information that skater Scott Hamilton has a brain tumor. Her comment; "That's what you get for having sex with guys." This was ignorant and bigoted on several levels. First of all, Scott Hamilton is not necessarily gay. Just because he is an ice skater means nothing. Secondly, listen to the lack of compassion in her comment. This is coming from a health care professional. Thirdly, since when does ANYONE deserve cancer? If a person is homosexual, they deserve to be stricken with a life threatening disease? What a stupid comment to make. I didn't have a ton of respect for this person anyway, but this just proves that there are morons at every station of life. I wonder what materialistic, lying lushes deserve... It makes me sick that Americans, and Christian Americans to boot, are so hateful to homosexuals. It is embarrassing and wrong to behave this way.
Let me get a little "churchy" here for a second. Even if you are a Christian, and you think that homosexuality is a SIN, you have to also be sensitive to how Jesus modeled treatment of sin and sinners. He rubbed elbows with them (got to know them on their level, in their homes/turf), confronted their sin, but in the same time had great compassion for them. The spiteful and homophobic nature of certain people smacks Jesus in the face; there needs to be love. And as an aside, from one Christian to another, homosexual sex is no worse than things you have done and not yet repented for. Sin, according to Jesus, is sin. And sinners are sinners. As humans, we are all sinners, and all brothers-in-arms when it comes to falling down, and needing a lift up, not kicks to the gut.
I hope Scott Hamilton beats his cancer, and I will be thinking of him. He is a talented and genuine individual. He has already had to battle cancer, and now it has returned in a very delicate location. Beat it Scott, and we hope to see you back on the ice.
2) The American Music Awards were on last night. The highlight of the night was centered around the showing of a Beatles clip that hadn't been aired for 40 years. Beatles... American music... what? Anyway, the highlight of the night was an apparently stoned Anna Nicole stumbling and mumbling on and off stage. She is a joke. As Jimmy Kimmel said, "may she rest in peace." Jessica Simpson did a miserable job lip-synch'ing (must run in the family), and Lenny Kravitz played his most soul-less song ever (as did Maroon 5). By the way, most of the music played/awarded on the show was not very good... Usher and Alicia Keys are probably the only worthy winners all night (and Mercy Me, who were awarded off camera at a separate ceremony). Soundscan will never have its finger on the true pulse of good music. As Breakfast With Amy once sang, "art doesn't sell."
3) Getting sick was very un-metal. My throat is sore, I have a cough, and Codiclear just doesn't last long enough. Add to this the fact that I am back to not being able to sleep again, and voila! You have a miserable zombie Carl.
4) The sermon at church Sunday was all about giving money. I can't say that I have ever heard a sermon about giving yet that didn't annoy me. Ministers so often forget that there are a lot of ways to give to the Kingdom. Instead, they always end up plugging the tithe, which is 10% of your income. And, as usual, the sermon was the longest one of the last few months. Our church has made a lot of questionable decisions in the last year or two, wasting a lot of money on a very aggressive up-town plan to build a new church and reach the community (well, a new part of the community anyway). Along with the move has come a lot of high profile activities that cost a great deal of money (such as building a recreation of Bethlehem for people to drive through for Christmas, complete with actors and props... just to get the church's name out there). Then there are the TV commercials, mass mailings, hiring a new minister of media, buying multimedia equipment... I try very hard not to question or criticize the decisions of the church leaders, but it is hard to hear them beg for money for so many projects that I see as wasteful.
When I was preaching, I liked to focus the attention of "giving" on time spent doing good (in or out of the church). Money is sometimes an easy cop-out. I think the spirit of the message of giving is to give of yourself to better something around you, and in turn you will be bettered. This can be anything from participating in Big Brothers-Big Sisters, teaching a Sunday School class, doing odd jobs for a elderly woman, or giving someone a ride to their doctors appointment. In our culture, time is worth far more than money. Anyway, I was disappointed to see our minister go to the tithe well with such energy. He is the best minister I have ever seen, and even he got pulled into my pet peeve. To close, I'll end with a paraphrased quote from his sermon. Not tithing means that you are an atheist in your giving life, and God doesn't see our lives as separate elements, so not tithing makes you, in fact, an atheist. You can't trust God in all areas in your life but one... so failure to give 10% of your income to your church is a sin. (I'll never buy into this line of thought. There is a spirit to the call to give that goes far beyond a religion-tax, which is what tithing is being presented as).
5) This is for my own benefit, I need to vent. My birthday party. It was okay, but I missed out on my volleyball game. My wife purposely (maybe subconsciously, but still with purpose) planned to hold a birthday party with both sides of the family at 3 PM. I hate to complain about something that was done to honor me, but here is a note to future wives and husbands out there; do NOT throw a party for someone at a time when they have something else they had rather do, and do not expect them to rearrange their whole morning to help clean and set up for their own party. I am so not into the big celebration, and I was satisfied with dinner and a movie (which we did on the 10th, and it was nice). So imagine my frustration when I spent the morning rushing to do errands for my own party. To add to the anger, my friends weren't invited... it was just my family, who I see on a weekly basis anyway! And my brother, who I actually wanted to hang out with the most, didn't come. Basically my whole day was centered around this two hour get-together, and it is rare that I have a Sunday free to do what I want. I am a little upset about this. So Phuong, I am sorry I missed the game, and I would have expressed my frustration to you a little better on the phone, but I had 20 people in a tiny apartment, and no privacy to vent. Anyway, I feel better now.
There were some positive things... my nephew & sister bought me the Ren And Stimpy DVDs. Those are such a fun blast from the past. I ate a lot of good cake (I'll post a picture of it later). The Kansas City Chiefs lost. Lot's of good manga came out this week; I bought and read the sixth volume of the manga Pita Ten, which is getting better with each volume... only 2 more to go until its over!
Tomorrow is going to be a great day as well; Kids in the Hall Season 2 DVD set comes out, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Vol. 3 DVD comes out, Alice 19th #7 (the last volume) should finally be out, and Evangelion #9 is finally out! So much time-wasting goodness is headed my way, and me with so many studies I need to do...
See ya!
Thursday, November 11, 2004
“That Donkey Is Such A Bad Influence On You!”
Or so says Marge Simpson of Homer. We all have a few donkeys in our lives. People or things that motivate us through threat, guilt, or promise. There are real things that act as harpies, will o’ wisps, and that proverbial little devil on your shoulder.
There was a huge chunk of my life in which I honestly and passionately believed that there was no such thing as peer pressure. I thought that it was an excuse used to either get out of trouble, to place blame elsewhere (i.e. “may baby would NEVER do that…”), or to justify social workers and high school counselors. Basically, I thought the entire notion of influence is a myth.
My skepticism started early in my life. The movie The Day After nearly ruined my mind for good as it scared us all senseless with the threat of nuclear war, but I used to think, why would anyone want to destroy us if they knew we’d destroy them too (it was years before I saw, and fell in love with, Dr. Strangelove).
I was a big fan of role playing games (back before home video games were so sophisticated and so widely owned). I also loved heavy metal music. In the early 80’s if there were two things that got a lot of negative attention when it came to teens (other than sex and drugs), it was RPG’s and heavy metal.
They said that RPG’s made you lose grip on reality. There was an urban legend at the time that kids were so distraught when their characters died, that they would commit suicide. And of course, many of us remember the one about the kid who was convinced he could fly… all of these and more were furthered by an awesomely awful made for TV movie (which I think starred a young Tom Hanks).
And then there was heavy metal. It had back masking. It made you want to kill yourself. It led to drug abuse and Satanism. Twisted Sister was a bigger threat to the US than smutty TV like Dallas, and wonton materialism. You may not know this, but Judas Priest actually had to go to trial for manslaughter, based on the assumption that heavy metal bands were purposely telling kids to kill themselves through back masking. As we all know now, the industry is all about money, and it would make no sense to slaughter your prime demographic.
Fast forward. When the events of Columbine temporarily changed the United States into oversensitive, overreacting mother hens, I was one of the loudest critics of those who said that movie, music, and video games held any role in the tragedy. Then came the whole Jackass phenomenon, backyard wrestling, Grand Theft Auto, and Britney Spears.
Whether it is a vast conspiracy or some sort of psychological mumbo-jumbo, I treat it the same, with extreme skepticism. I had serious doubts that any one person could be so easily bent into something else just because of the imposed will of others.
What I didn’t realize is that I was starting to question the very nature of identity. The whole debate over influence asks hard questions about what makes you “you.” Am I predisposed to certain activities? Will I completely surrender my self to defer to someone else? Can another person make me do, say, or be something I am not?
Now, I am at a point in my life that I believe strongly in the power of influence. Granted, I still don’t hold Motley Crue or TSR responsible for the actions of others. But there is some validity to the idea of influence. I can feel it working in my own life; what I say, do, wear, eat, and drink. Decisions of whether to skip class, spend money on an item, or participate in an activity all depend in some part of what someone or something is telling me. And the consequences for listening to others can ruin a person.
It is a sad state. It makes me unsettled to know that I allow who Carl is to be tainted by something outside of myself. And I consider myself such a individual! I feel influence working its magic when I let my Sailor Mouth fly around people that don’t mind so much. I feel influence when I am dressing in the morning before school compared to mornings before I hang out with my brother. Most of all, I feel influence at work when I submerse myself in angry, negative media.
The truth is, influence is a useful tool when it comes to biology. As we became social creatures, we needed a mechanism to unify minds. We become susceptible to those with stronger personality. We let the mob mentality sweep over us. And the bad thing is, the same mechanism also allows us to be led astray and taken advantage of (see also advertising and nightly news). Influence changes what you value, what you care about, your morals, and your goals.
There are humorous examples of the powers of influence. Look at the distribution of social fads. Remember the flurry of patriotic car decorations after 9/11? Most were made out of the country, and almost all of them were emblazoned with some platitude that was barely understood by the owner of the SUV it was stuck to. Before that it was the WWJD bracelet and “Jesus” fish (and their rebuttal counterparts). Now it is the ridiculous magnetic ribbons.
The Democratic Party was very hip to influence, as they proudly trotted out rock stars and movie star to sway voters. The GOP was no different, they just chose different spokes models. Before President Bush addressed Council Bluffs, crowds were treated to a short concert by beloved Christian songster Michael W. Smith… catch the subliminal message there? These messages are EVERYWHERE! It’s an awful movie, but watch Rowdy Roddy Piper in They Live. I feel like if we all could just put on those special sunglasses for one day, we'd feel very used and angry.
The Christian church exemplifies this topic well (as do most religions and cults). A widely accepted indicator of a person’s faith is often superficial things like who they hang out with, what music they listen to, and how they dress. Basically, there is a matrix you are expected to be plugged into (which varies from family to family, church to church). You listen to Christian radio, marry Christians, wear Christian clothes, read Christian fiction (funny concept to me), vote for Christians, hang out with Christians, read books by authors sympathetic to your sect, seek education by Christians (often at home), push for Christian laws, go to camps funded by your own church, play softball in Christian leagues, and in some places, frequent Christian businesses.
The problem is you are ignoring the intellectual inbreeding that can give birth to monstrosity. The church (as an example) is failing to see the power that influence can have. It realizes the positive power of constant reinforcement, but misses the fact that influence takes away a degree of personal accountability. It is hard to be self-actualized when you are bombarded from every angle by one particular ideology. Jesus called Christians to be in the world but not of it. Ignatius of Loyola realized that segregation from society was not a good exercise for holiness, and thus we now have Jesuit learning institutions that mix religious thought with the secular sciences. (And thankfully, we have Creighton University)
The Jesuits realize that influence clouds us finding who we are, and how we relate to the universe and God. How can we be expected to fill our role in life if we are forever being led about? Even if you think God is a notion born of this need to enforce influence, you have to admit that there are plenty of sources out there trying to cloud you from being a true individual, and from making truly informed choices.
Perhaps the truest tests of who you are is perhaps these two things; 1) how you act and think when no one else is privy to you, and 2) the moments you choose to buck influence in public. Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall, wrote that sometimes our most uncharacteristic moments are our mist deeply revealing to what we really are. Think about this in your life. Who are you, and what makes you this way? In the next week, try to pin point influences that change your course of action, and pay attention to how you handle your life. Maybe in a short time, you can start to become acquainted with who YOU are.
To close, there are two great mindsets that sort of kick against this notion of influence (almost to the point of paranoia). One is the refrain of the crotchety Iowa male that says, “If I want to know what the weather is doing, I’ll stick my head out the window.” The other is the warning made to me in Bible college; “if you want to know what the Bible says about something, maybe you should read the Bible and not read a book telling you what it says.”
See ya!
There was a huge chunk of my life in which I honestly and passionately believed that there was no such thing as peer pressure. I thought that it was an excuse used to either get out of trouble, to place blame elsewhere (i.e. “may baby would NEVER do that…”), or to justify social workers and high school counselors. Basically, I thought the entire notion of influence is a myth.
My skepticism started early in my life. The movie The Day After nearly ruined my mind for good as it scared us all senseless with the threat of nuclear war, but I used to think, why would anyone want to destroy us if they knew we’d destroy them too (it was years before I saw, and fell in love with, Dr. Strangelove).
I was a big fan of role playing games (back before home video games were so sophisticated and so widely owned). I also loved heavy metal music. In the early 80’s if there were two things that got a lot of negative attention when it came to teens (other than sex and drugs), it was RPG’s and heavy metal.
They said that RPG’s made you lose grip on reality. There was an urban legend at the time that kids were so distraught when their characters died, that they would commit suicide. And of course, many of us remember the one about the kid who was convinced he could fly… all of these and more were furthered by an awesomely awful made for TV movie (which I think starred a young Tom Hanks).
And then there was heavy metal. It had back masking. It made you want to kill yourself. It led to drug abuse and Satanism. Twisted Sister was a bigger threat to the US than smutty TV like Dallas, and wonton materialism. You may not know this, but Judas Priest actually had to go to trial for manslaughter, based on the assumption that heavy metal bands were purposely telling kids to kill themselves through back masking. As we all know now, the industry is all about money, and it would make no sense to slaughter your prime demographic.
Fast forward. When the events of Columbine temporarily changed the United States into oversensitive, overreacting mother hens, I was one of the loudest critics of those who said that movie, music, and video games held any role in the tragedy. Then came the whole Jackass phenomenon, backyard wrestling, Grand Theft Auto, and Britney Spears.
Whether it is a vast conspiracy or some sort of psychological mumbo-jumbo, I treat it the same, with extreme skepticism. I had serious doubts that any one person could be so easily bent into something else just because of the imposed will of others.
What I didn’t realize is that I was starting to question the very nature of identity. The whole debate over influence asks hard questions about what makes you “you.” Am I predisposed to certain activities? Will I completely surrender my self to defer to someone else? Can another person make me do, say, or be something I am not?
Now, I am at a point in my life that I believe strongly in the power of influence. Granted, I still don’t hold Motley Crue or TSR responsible for the actions of others. But there is some validity to the idea of influence. I can feel it working in my own life; what I say, do, wear, eat, and drink. Decisions of whether to skip class, spend money on an item, or participate in an activity all depend in some part of what someone or something is telling me. And the consequences for listening to others can ruin a person.
It is a sad state. It makes me unsettled to know that I allow who Carl is to be tainted by something outside of myself. And I consider myself such a individual! I feel influence working its magic when I let my Sailor Mouth fly around people that don’t mind so much. I feel influence when I am dressing in the morning before school compared to mornings before I hang out with my brother. Most of all, I feel influence at work when I submerse myself in angry, negative media.
The truth is, influence is a useful tool when it comes to biology. As we became social creatures, we needed a mechanism to unify minds. We become susceptible to those with stronger personality. We let the mob mentality sweep over us. And the bad thing is, the same mechanism also allows us to be led astray and taken advantage of (see also advertising and nightly news). Influence changes what you value, what you care about, your morals, and your goals.
There are humorous examples of the powers of influence. Look at the distribution of social fads. Remember the flurry of patriotic car decorations after 9/11? Most were made out of the country, and almost all of them were emblazoned with some platitude that was barely understood by the owner of the SUV it was stuck to. Before that it was the WWJD bracelet and “Jesus” fish (and their rebuttal counterparts). Now it is the ridiculous magnetic ribbons.
The Democratic Party was very hip to influence, as they proudly trotted out rock stars and movie star to sway voters. The GOP was no different, they just chose different spokes models. Before President Bush addressed Council Bluffs, crowds were treated to a short concert by beloved Christian songster Michael W. Smith… catch the subliminal message there? These messages are EVERYWHERE! It’s an awful movie, but watch Rowdy Roddy Piper in They Live. I feel like if we all could just put on those special sunglasses for one day, we'd feel very used and angry.
The Christian church exemplifies this topic well (as do most religions and cults). A widely accepted indicator of a person’s faith is often superficial things like who they hang out with, what music they listen to, and how they dress. Basically, there is a matrix you are expected to be plugged into (which varies from family to family, church to church). You listen to Christian radio, marry Christians, wear Christian clothes, read Christian fiction (funny concept to me), vote for Christians, hang out with Christians, read books by authors sympathetic to your sect, seek education by Christians (often at home), push for Christian laws, go to camps funded by your own church, play softball in Christian leagues, and in some places, frequent Christian businesses.
The problem is you are ignoring the intellectual inbreeding that can give birth to monstrosity. The church (as an example) is failing to see the power that influence can have. It realizes the positive power of constant reinforcement, but misses the fact that influence takes away a degree of personal accountability. It is hard to be self-actualized when you are bombarded from every angle by one particular ideology. Jesus called Christians to be in the world but not of it. Ignatius of Loyola realized that segregation from society was not a good exercise for holiness, and thus we now have Jesuit learning institutions that mix religious thought with the secular sciences. (And thankfully, we have Creighton University)
The Jesuits realize that influence clouds us finding who we are, and how we relate to the universe and God. How can we be expected to fill our role in life if we are forever being led about? Even if you think God is a notion born of this need to enforce influence, you have to admit that there are plenty of sources out there trying to cloud you from being a true individual, and from making truly informed choices.
Perhaps the truest tests of who you are is perhaps these two things; 1) how you act and think when no one else is privy to you, and 2) the moments you choose to buck influence in public. Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall, wrote that sometimes our most uncharacteristic moments are our mist deeply revealing to what we really are. Think about this in your life. Who are you, and what makes you this way? In the next week, try to pin point influences that change your course of action, and pay attention to how you handle your life. Maybe in a short time, you can start to become acquainted with who YOU are.
To close, there are two great mindsets that sort of kick against this notion of influence (almost to the point of paranoia). One is the refrain of the crotchety Iowa male that says, “If I want to know what the weather is doing, I’ll stick my head out the window.” The other is the warning made to me in Bible college; “if you want to know what the Bible says about something, maybe you should read the Bible and not read a book telling you what it says.”
See ya!
"You maniacs! You blew it up! Damn you! Damn You all to hell!" Here is an example of why I wanted a digital camera... so I could take pictures of my toys. : ) Here are some Japanese collectible toys called Kubricks. They are a mix between Lego people and Playmobile. They are quite popular with collectors, as there are editions of the figures for several movies and cartoons, as well as supercool unique designs (Like To-Fu... little men with giant square heads, apparently tofu). There is a knock-off company that makes figures called I-Men, but nothing beats Kubrick for funky, tongue-in-cheek fun. They have Star Wars, Disney, Sesame Street, Evangelion, Kelloggs logo characters... so cool! You can get them in little boxed sets, blister packs, or in gumball/prize machines. Next time you are surfing Ebay, check 'em out!
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Hey 19 (That's Aretha Franklin)...
Well, it has finally come... Carl is 30 years old. So how does it feel? The same as always, except now it seems even more ridiculous that I spend so much time reading manga and playing video games. Age has never really bothered me at all, but this year I do feel sad that I have hit a major milestone in my life, and I am basically where I was ten years ago... no house, no career, in college, and out of shape. Oh well, plenty of time to change all of that later...
I changed the poll today, but I wanted to report the results. More than half of you think that we will see a woman president sooner than I will pay off my student loans. A couple of you said that we'd land on Mars first, or that Roe vs. Wade would be overturned. The rest of you concur that I will pay them loans off first. No one voted for a "gay president" or "African-American president" or "pharmaceutical cure for AIDS." Interesting results. Personally, I think we will see a woman president first. It won't be easy for her on any level, because in America, those who have any power in government are old-school, boys' club, rich, white men. And the people (dollars) who support those men are propbably even worse.
I am torn on the African-American president thing; it would be great, but the nation still seems to be subliminally racist, and I don't think that a) an African-American could get the support (i.e. money) that white candidates do, and b) would find a lot of allies in politics. I think that in our nation, you don't have to look far to find those who want "blacks" to remain submissive. We're comfortable with them filling certain roles in society, but for the most part we expect them to exist as stereotypes. All you have to do to prove this is listen to how people talk. I hear people say "black guy" or "over by that black girl." We use code words like "urban," and we talk about areas of town where black populations are high as if they were their own cities (around here it is "North" Omaha). And for the Hispanics we do the same. It's Mexican this, and South Omaha that.
Well, enough for now. As I enter my second 30 years (I hope), I look forward to enjoying my life more. Here are my 19 favorite things (in no order) as of right now; things I hope to do more of.
1) Learning about the world of science, particularly evolution & anthropology
2) Watching well made and artful films.
3) Listening to Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, and other great music.
4) Playing role playing games on my PS2 (or whatever system I have at the time)
5) Reading a good book
6) Debating about God
7) Spending time with my friends
8) Playing racquetball and tennis
9) Riding my mountain bike on wooded trails
10) Learning Japanese language and culture
11) Cooking and eating good food (my recipe book is slowly growing)
12) Watching animals (like monkeys)
13) Typing in my blog and working on my short stories
14) Watching NFL football and World Cup soccer
15) Collecting DVDs of my favorite movies and TV shows
16) Finding ways I can help other people
17) Reading manga (especially RuroKen... which is monthly now!)
18) Sending care packages to my freinds in other countries
19) Laughing
See ya!
I changed the poll today, but I wanted to report the results. More than half of you think that we will see a woman president sooner than I will pay off my student loans. A couple of you said that we'd land on Mars first, or that Roe vs. Wade would be overturned. The rest of you concur that I will pay them loans off first. No one voted for a "gay president" or "African-American president" or "pharmaceutical cure for AIDS." Interesting results. Personally, I think we will see a woman president first. It won't be easy for her on any level, because in America, those who have any power in government are old-school, boys' club, rich, white men. And the people (dollars) who support those men are propbably even worse.
I am torn on the African-American president thing; it would be great, but the nation still seems to be subliminally racist, and I don't think that a) an African-American could get the support (i.e. money) that white candidates do, and b) would find a lot of allies in politics. I think that in our nation, you don't have to look far to find those who want "blacks" to remain submissive. We're comfortable with them filling certain roles in society, but for the most part we expect them to exist as stereotypes. All you have to do to prove this is listen to how people talk. I hear people say "black guy" or "over by that black girl." We use code words like "urban," and we talk about areas of town where black populations are high as if they were their own cities (around here it is "North" Omaha). And for the Hispanics we do the same. It's Mexican this, and South Omaha that.
Well, enough for now. As I enter my second 30 years (I hope), I look forward to enjoying my life more. Here are my 19 favorite things (in no order) as of right now; things I hope to do more of.
1) Learning about the world of science, particularly evolution & anthropology
2) Watching well made and artful films.
3) Listening to Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, and other great music.
4) Playing role playing games on my PS2 (or whatever system I have at the time)
5) Reading a good book
6) Debating about God
7) Spending time with my friends
8) Playing racquetball and tennis
9) Riding my mountain bike on wooded trails
10) Learning Japanese language and culture
11) Cooking and eating good food (my recipe book is slowly growing)
12) Watching animals (like monkeys)
13) Typing in my blog and working on my short stories
14) Watching NFL football and World Cup soccer
15) Collecting DVDs of my favorite movies and TV shows
16) Finding ways I can help other people
17) Reading manga (especially RuroKen... which is monthly now!)
18) Sending care packages to my freinds in other countries
19) Laughing
See ya!
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Very Interesting
We sometimes forget what a horrible foundation that our consumerism is built on. We all need to stop and think about the consequences of all of our actions, even if it is accumulating McDonald's Happy Meal toys. Look here for an interesting project a guy is working on. I am always torn in what I feel about the world "factory" economy. Are American demands creating jobs overseas (therefore eliminating jobs at home), or are we adding to the misery and near slavery of the working class? It's a lot to think about. What do you think? Post a short comment below, if you don't mind. I really am curious in what you all think about these sorts of things.
Here is a screen shot of the new Inuyasha RPG game for the PS2. It isn't Final Fantasy by any means, but then again what is? It does a great job of immersing you in the anime/manga world, and it should be pretty popular with Inuyasha fans. I like it so far, but I haven't got into any "crawling" or battles yet. See ya!
Just a quick note... or two.
Hey! If you are reading this site, and you own your own blog, you ought to think about joining Blog Explosion (there is a link on the right hand side, down a ways). I did, and I went from averaging between 12 and 20 hits a day to over 30. Your traffic just goes crazy.
How are you all? I am in the calm before the storm. After this week, the semester gets rather intense. I have some preparation I need to be doing, and I also need to make headway on a paper for Biochemistry. But, as my photo post above shows, I have something else on my mind when it comes to free time... what little free time there is...
One last comment... the city I live in, Council Bluffs, voted in a ban on ownership of pit bulls. There are a lot of ordinances for those who already have them to retain them. It seems weird, because I don't think I have ever heard of a city banning a particular breed of dog before. But maybe there aren't as many irresponsible dog owners per capita in other cities...
See ya!
How are you all? I am in the calm before the storm. After this week, the semester gets rather intense. I have some preparation I need to be doing, and I also need to make headway on a paper for Biochemistry. But, as my photo post above shows, I have something else on my mind when it comes to free time... what little free time there is...
One last comment... the city I live in, Council Bluffs, voted in a ban on ownership of pit bulls. There are a lot of ordinances for those who already have them to retain them. It seems weird, because I don't think I have ever heard of a city banning a particular breed of dog before. But maybe there aren't as many irresponsible dog owners per capita in other cities...
See ya!
Monday, November 08, 2004
To say last week took a bit of a toll on me would be an understatement. For once in my life, though, I think I did an adequate job of not broadcasting to the world that I was down. But today totally turned a lot of that negativity around! I was the recipient of two unexpected and unwarranted acts of kindness, and I also received an email that, well, never mind (for once there is something I don't care to talk about). The picture is of one of my gifts. The other was a baggie of home-made M&M cookies, which I ate promptly, so there is nothing to photgraph! Thanks to Kim for the delicious cookies! The booty on the picture is from my friend Yuki from Singapore. Did she overdo it or what?! Left to right, there is candy, postcard, bookmark, a Singapore edition of the manga Ragnarok, more snacks, and a cool figure of Ruroken himself! I was spoiled today, and it couldn't have come at a better time. I love you all! See ya!
Misty May and I Dig It
Hi ya! Yesterday I had the opportunity to play volleyball with my intramural team. I joined the team in October, and I have missed like five games already (for assorted reasons). I had a lot of fun, and I forgot how fulfilling team sports can be... but they also can be humiliating and frustrating. I hate feeling like the weak link in anything, and last night I definitely played that role! In my own defense, it has been literally seven years since the last time I have played volleyball.
It was really strange. I only knew one person on the team, and so I met her before the game to warm up. The other girl she introduced me to was very nice, so now I was comfortable with two people, and I was starting to feel less nervous. Nervous, you say? Yes. My stomach was in a knot. I was more nervous than I had been for any test this semester. My heart was beating sort of hard, not just from running around either. I guess it was time for the old social anxiety to start to kick in.
As if someone just opened a gate, the other four players showed up. I didn't catch anyone's names (I think there was a Dan in there somewhere). Anyway, the game got underway, and I was really dreading the first time the ball came to me. You know, first impressions and all. But come it did, and I hit it the wrong way. Then too hard. Then the wrong way again, followed up by at the wrong time (co-ed rules really confused me). To finish the cycle, I also hit it using the wrong method (you have to bump a received serve). Then I had to serve... *SIGH*
By the time we had lost the first game, my stomach was inside out. I literally felt as if I was an angry word of criticism away from needing to throw up. I don't know what makes me uptight, it isn't like I am shy. I feared that I would feel that way around strangers, and so that has been a big factor in why I haven't played at all. I wouldn't have showed up for Sunday's game at all if I didn't feel like my time to spend with P. is slipping away for me, and that I was disappointing her by signing up and never coming to play.
My fears were, however, furthered by the fact that the others started playing positions to cover me. I really wanted to do well, because I wanted to welcome during future games. I had a lot of fun despite my lack of ability, and my nervousness. So team, I am sorry for my poor play, but thank you so much for the fun time! Playing team sports is one of the things I miss most in my life. I am an athlete trapped in the body of a chubby bookworm... the limiting reagent in my physical fitness is always the presence of other people willing to work out/play tennis/play racquet ball/go running with me. When did I get so dependent, and how can I fix it? Or, maybe I'll just accept who and what I am, and get more aggressive in finding sports partners.
Oh, by the way... we won, so that is cool! The fact that my own poor play didn't kill the team loosened me up a bit, and has given me a little steam for the next time I can play. That's all I have for today. My brain is sort of cloudy, and needless to say, by thighs and forearms are sore today. I'll get back to my old bloggin' self soon enough.
See ya!
It was really strange. I only knew one person on the team, and so I met her before the game to warm up. The other girl she introduced me to was very nice, so now I was comfortable with two people, and I was starting to feel less nervous. Nervous, you say? Yes. My stomach was in a knot. I was more nervous than I had been for any test this semester. My heart was beating sort of hard, not just from running around either. I guess it was time for the old social anxiety to start to kick in.
As if someone just opened a gate, the other four players showed up. I didn't catch anyone's names (I think there was a Dan in there somewhere). Anyway, the game got underway, and I was really dreading the first time the ball came to me. You know, first impressions and all. But come it did, and I hit it the wrong way. Then too hard. Then the wrong way again, followed up by at the wrong time (co-ed rules really confused me). To finish the cycle, I also hit it using the wrong method (you have to bump a received serve). Then I had to serve... *SIGH*
By the time we had lost the first game, my stomach was inside out. I literally felt as if I was an angry word of criticism away from needing to throw up. I don't know what makes me uptight, it isn't like I am shy. I feared that I would feel that way around strangers, and so that has been a big factor in why I haven't played at all. I wouldn't have showed up for Sunday's game at all if I didn't feel like my time to spend with P. is slipping away for me, and that I was disappointing her by signing up and never coming to play.
My fears were, however, furthered by the fact that the others started playing positions to cover me. I really wanted to do well, because I wanted to welcome during future games. I had a lot of fun despite my lack of ability, and my nervousness. So team, I am sorry for my poor play, but thank you so much for the fun time! Playing team sports is one of the things I miss most in my life. I am an athlete trapped in the body of a chubby bookworm... the limiting reagent in my physical fitness is always the presence of other people willing to work out/play tennis/play racquet ball/go running with me. When did I get so dependent, and how can I fix it? Or, maybe I'll just accept who and what I am, and get more aggressive in finding sports partners.
Oh, by the way... we won, so that is cool! The fact that my own poor play didn't kill the team loosened me up a bit, and has given me a little steam for the next time I can play. That's all I have for today. My brain is sort of cloudy, and needless to say, by thighs and forearms are sore today. I'll get back to my old bloggin' self soon enough.
See ya!
Saturday, November 06, 2004
Nobody puts Baby in a corner.
Among other things, this weekend I watched Dirty Dancing yet again. I know I have seen this movie more than 20 times now. It never amazes me how awful the movie is… the acting, the premise, the acting, Swayze, Swayze’s acting, Swayze’s singing… Yet I always watch it. It goes to show that “good” movies and good movies aren’t always the same thing.
Another fun thing today was hanging out with my brother for a short amount of time. I don’t get to do this nearly enough any more. We talked about our normal range of things… girls, new DVDs that have been released, getting into shape, our jobs, and music (we decided the new Helmet album is embarrassing).
I have a fun relationship with my brother. We are more like best friends than brothers. But we’re more like brothers than best friends. Get it? I don’t. Anyway, people say that when we are together, we recede into a country-like drawl, and we speak in our own language. It is true. We have a flurry of references and code words that allow us to talk about anything and not be immediately understood by others. I am not sure when or how this started, but it is a beautiful language into itself. And it is forever evolving.
A lot of it is dependant on the shared experiences we have. Similar movies we have seen, CDs we have heard, sense of humor, anecdotes we have told… all shared. We share a lot. A lot of stories, ideas, frustrations, opinions, and most importantly, we share one killer CD collection. Our tastes are about 95% the same. Yet, people constantly fail to link us as brothers. Weird, considering we look nothing alike. :)
One instance came up today. I probably shouldn’t even use this particular story, for a couple reasons, but I am tired and have measurably weakened inhibitions. And, in truth, it is more appropriate than some of the other tales…
I was in the final stages of making a mix CD for a friend (actually working on a couple). My brother is always interested to see how I choose songs, and what order I put them in, and other such boring stuff. Well, he feigns interest anyway… So I told him who the CD was for, and started through the set list. When we got to one track in particular, he chuckled and said “Superliminal.” I laughed, and we let the topic drop. Then I erased the set list, and that particular friend isn’t getting a CD, not just yet.
You see, the term “superliminal” in the Smith Brothers context has roots in an episode of The Simpsons. In it, an evil plot is revealed; the US Navy is using a popular boy-band to talk American kids into joining the Navy. Nioj eht yvan. An evil Navy officer explains his plot to Lisa; they employ three levels of suggestion. Subliminal, liminal, and superliminal. Lisa inquires, “Superliminal?” The man demonstrstes. He leans out the wondow and shouts at a passerby “Hey you! Join the Navy!” And the passerby says “Okay!” and runs off to enlist.
Although my main intention with these CDs is to share my music with others, Mark reminded me that I tend to theme it up on occasion. By saying “Superliminal,” Mark not only demonstrated the classic Smith knack for comedic timing, and total recall of useless info, he also communicated that he thought my message maybe was coming through too loud and too clear for the intended listener. Point taken. Possible embarrassment avoided.
We all communicate in this way, to some degree. Within our in groups, whether it is family, friends, religions, social classes, countries… we all have messages encoded within our words. We share ideals and experiences, and so we are able to communicate in a way that is not fully aware to outsiders. It is really interesting when you think about it. It speaks to the ugly xenophobia and capitulism (not capitalism) that is inherent in society.
To close, Mark and I had several Smith Brothers moments today… some intentional, some that went by completely unrecognized. But one did stick out, and because I was the butt of it, I won’t explain it, only tease you with what we call it. I had a “Nike sandal” incident.
See ya!
Another fun thing today was hanging out with my brother for a short amount of time. I don’t get to do this nearly enough any more. We talked about our normal range of things… girls, new DVDs that have been released, getting into shape, our jobs, and music (we decided the new Helmet album is embarrassing).
I have a fun relationship with my brother. We are more like best friends than brothers. But we’re more like brothers than best friends. Get it? I don’t. Anyway, people say that when we are together, we recede into a country-like drawl, and we speak in our own language. It is true. We have a flurry of references and code words that allow us to talk about anything and not be immediately understood by others. I am not sure when or how this started, but it is a beautiful language into itself. And it is forever evolving.
A lot of it is dependant on the shared experiences we have. Similar movies we have seen, CDs we have heard, sense of humor, anecdotes we have told… all shared. We share a lot. A lot of stories, ideas, frustrations, opinions, and most importantly, we share one killer CD collection. Our tastes are about 95% the same. Yet, people constantly fail to link us as brothers. Weird, considering we look nothing alike. :)
One instance came up today. I probably shouldn’t even use this particular story, for a couple reasons, but I am tired and have measurably weakened inhibitions. And, in truth, it is more appropriate than some of the other tales…
I was in the final stages of making a mix CD for a friend (actually working on a couple). My brother is always interested to see how I choose songs, and what order I put them in, and other such boring stuff. Well, he feigns interest anyway… So I told him who the CD was for, and started through the set list. When we got to one track in particular, he chuckled and said “Superliminal.” I laughed, and we let the topic drop. Then I erased the set list, and that particular friend isn’t getting a CD, not just yet.
You see, the term “superliminal” in the Smith Brothers context has roots in an episode of The Simpsons. In it, an evil plot is revealed; the US Navy is using a popular boy-band to talk American kids into joining the Navy. Nioj eht yvan. An evil Navy officer explains his plot to Lisa; they employ three levels of suggestion. Subliminal, liminal, and superliminal. Lisa inquires, “Superliminal?” The man demonstrstes. He leans out the wondow and shouts at a passerby “Hey you! Join the Navy!” And the passerby says “Okay!” and runs off to enlist.
Although my main intention with these CDs is to share my music with others, Mark reminded me that I tend to theme it up on occasion. By saying “Superliminal,” Mark not only demonstrated the classic Smith knack for comedic timing, and total recall of useless info, he also communicated that he thought my message maybe was coming through too loud and too clear for the intended listener. Point taken. Possible embarrassment avoided.
We all communicate in this way, to some degree. Within our in groups, whether it is family, friends, religions, social classes, countries… we all have messages encoded within our words. We share ideals and experiences, and so we are able to communicate in a way that is not fully aware to outsiders. It is really interesting when you think about it. It speaks to the ugly xenophobia and capitulism (not capitalism) that is inherent in society.
To close, Mark and I had several Smith Brothers moments today… some intentional, some that went by completely unrecognized. But one did stick out, and because I was the butt of it, I won’t explain it, only tease you with what we call it. I had a “Nike sandal” incident.
See ya!
Friday, November 05, 2004
Zombies hate clotheslines...
Warning: there is nothing too introspective about this blog today…
Thursday was a better than average day for old Carl. I got to see some my coworkers (who I haven’t been able to stay in touch with now that I am in Pharmacy school), and I also became the owner of two very cool things.
The first is a new DVD. My favorite horror movie of all time, if I have failed to mention it (grin)… Night of the Living Dead. I already had a copy, but the new version was on sale. A little back-ground; the movie has long been the subject of fierce copyright battles. Now, pretty much anyone can package this movie for sale. So there are a lot of horrible copies of it out there… and no real “authorized” or definitive editions.
The new edition is issued by 20th Century Fox, so I could expect high video quality and great sound. It pays off on both counts. There is a gimmick or two that also make it interesting… first of all, it offers a colorized version of the movie. (YAWN) And, by the way, IT HAS A COMMENTARY TRACK BY MIKE NELSON! Yes, the same Mike that hosted Mystery Science Theater 3000 (greatest TV show ever) for half of its run.
The commentary is simply hilarious. It is like a one man version of MST3K, complete with pop-culture references, and nick names for the movie’s actors. One particularly great MSTie moment is when a zombie has a lady trapped inside her locked car. Mike riffs about what the On Star call might have sounded like in that situation. Mike even calls the heroine of the movie a “load,” which is a trademark MST3K slam. Dude, it makes me miss MST3K a lot. I do miss Crow, Tom Servo, Gypsy, Nanites, Torgo, and TV’s Frank, even more than I miss Seinfeld. I need to start getting episodes of that show on DVD again…
As a side note, Mike has lost none of his form. It makes me wonder… could we ever see a MST3K reunion? It has been about 5 years or so since the show ended. Surely they are feeling nostalgic, and Rhino Home Video has been doing reasonably well with the MST3K DVD collections.
The second thing I came into possession of is a new digital camera! I have never owned one, but have always wanted one. It is a Canon A85 (4.0 MP). I absolutely love it! It was an early 30th birthday gift from my wife. So a dream of mine has come true… and you can expect a ton of pictures to be popping up on the site in the future.
What was the first subject of my photography career? My sock monkey, of course! I had teased that I would post pictures of it eventually. I have had this thing since I was a small child. In the USA, it used to be common for mothers and grandmother to make these toys out of actual socks. Many heavy, winter socks had heels that were a different color than the rest of the sock. This worked out well for making a monkey. My monkey is of a particularly fun variation… it also has a red “heel” area located on his rump… I used to make my little brother kiss it when we were young (instead of saying uncle). I love my sock monkey!
So, as soon as I post this, I will also post a photo of my dear sock monkey. Be ready for a flood of pictures from me and my new toy! Who knows what I will come up with now!
See ya!
PS – I'm Huge! (for you MST3K fans out there…)
Thursday was a better than average day for old Carl. I got to see some my coworkers (who I haven’t been able to stay in touch with now that I am in Pharmacy school), and I also became the owner of two very cool things.
The first is a new DVD. My favorite horror movie of all time, if I have failed to mention it (grin)… Night of the Living Dead. I already had a copy, but the new version was on sale. A little back-ground; the movie has long been the subject of fierce copyright battles. Now, pretty much anyone can package this movie for sale. So there are a lot of horrible copies of it out there… and no real “authorized” or definitive editions.
The new edition is issued by 20th Century Fox, so I could expect high video quality and great sound. It pays off on both counts. There is a gimmick or two that also make it interesting… first of all, it offers a colorized version of the movie. (YAWN) And, by the way, IT HAS A COMMENTARY TRACK BY MIKE NELSON! Yes, the same Mike that hosted Mystery Science Theater 3000 (greatest TV show ever) for half of its run.
The commentary is simply hilarious. It is like a one man version of MST3K, complete with pop-culture references, and nick names for the movie’s actors. One particularly great MSTie moment is when a zombie has a lady trapped inside her locked car. Mike riffs about what the On Star call might have sounded like in that situation. Mike even calls the heroine of the movie a “load,” which is a trademark MST3K slam. Dude, it makes me miss MST3K a lot. I do miss Crow, Tom Servo, Gypsy, Nanites, Torgo, and TV’s Frank, even more than I miss Seinfeld. I need to start getting episodes of that show on DVD again…
As a side note, Mike has lost none of his form. It makes me wonder… could we ever see a MST3K reunion? It has been about 5 years or so since the show ended. Surely they are feeling nostalgic, and Rhino Home Video has been doing reasonably well with the MST3K DVD collections.
The second thing I came into possession of is a new digital camera! I have never owned one, but have always wanted one. It is a Canon A85 (4.0 MP). I absolutely love it! It was an early 30th birthday gift from my wife. So a dream of mine has come true… and you can expect a ton of pictures to be popping up on the site in the future.
What was the first subject of my photography career? My sock monkey, of course! I had teased that I would post pictures of it eventually. I have had this thing since I was a small child. In the USA, it used to be common for mothers and grandmother to make these toys out of actual socks. Many heavy, winter socks had heels that were a different color than the rest of the sock. This worked out well for making a monkey. My monkey is of a particularly fun variation… it also has a red “heel” area located on his rump… I used to make my little brother kiss it when we were young (instead of saying uncle). I love my sock monkey!
So, as soon as I post this, I will also post a photo of my dear sock monkey. Be ready for a flood of pictures from me and my new toy! Who knows what I will come up with now!
See ya!
PS – I'm Huge! (for you MST3K fans out there…)
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Puss... in Boots! Check out this cool Japanese Shrek 2 poster I received in my latest copy of Newtype Magazine (Nihongo edition). Isn't fun to remember that Hollywood movies are foreign movies to the rest of the world? So often we forget that the USA isn't "the world." Enjoy Shrek-san! If you want to treat yourself to a good foreign movie, pick up Korea's 'Old Boy' or Japan's 'The Twilight Samurai.'
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
The Long, Good Tuesday
So much to talk about today! I don’t care how annoying politics can get, election day is a total blast. I love watching the coverage as they light up the states, talk to “experts,” and try to make sense out of endless polls. I don’t want to talk completely about politics, so I will throw in a few Carl-isms in the mix also.
But before I start, a young man from Iowa was killed today in Iraq. He was from Emerson. I am 90% sure that I know that kid, and I want to say that my sympathy is with his family. War is so stupid, and I hate that we are in Iraq at all… but then again, we aren’t exactly living in Eden anymore.
******WARNING: It will be a long one today!******
I’ll divide it into chapters in case you want to just read a part or two at a time.
1 -----
- Proud: I am proud of our country. The turnout was very high, and there was a noticeable increase in civic pride. The words “record turnout” were on everyone’s lips. People voted with a passion. It was nice to see. They had two hour lines in Omaha, with some precincts even running out of ballots. People were civil and patient, and it made me proud to be an American.
- Not Proud: The youth turnout was poor. We were sort of duped into thinking that this was the year the young people mobilized. The percentage of youth turnout of 19-29 year olds was about equal to 2000. Too bad. The democrats were banking on it, I think, as they utilized everything from MTV’s videos to “Rock Against Bush” concert tours. The dreaded “exit polls” said that the youth were not decidedly anti-Bush at all. But, in fairness, as P-Diddy pointed out (what a great political analyst to rely on), 17% this time is a greater number than 17% of last time. The overall numbers were up. Ignore statistics or die.
- Curious: How will we live together the next four years knowing that we split our votes almost to the person in many communities? There seemed to be a lot of unrest and anger in the years following 2000’s election (which was understandably side-tracked, then reignited thanks to 9/11). The light has been turned on, and our divided nature has been exposed… will we see a rush for moderate stances? Will we see conflict?
2 -----
I still don’t understand the Electoral College. I don’t see where it helps represent me/us any better than a popular vote. I must be the only one. Colorado was voting on a measure to dole out its 9 votes based on percentages of popular votes, but it was resoundingly voted against. I wish I understood its value better…
- Proud: The television coverage this year was far better, and way more lucid, than in 2000. It was a little theatrical, but they were gun-shy to declare winners in the states.
- Not Proud: The candidates did not fill me with pride. I still refuse to think that these two are the best we have to offer. Oh McCain, where art thou?
- Curious: Ted Kennedy. His name is used in vain a lot by both sides. Republicans use it to scare voters in a bogeyman-esque way. The Democrats use him as a yard stick to show how lesser-liberal their man is. I wonder if this bothers him. He has become an in-joke to all.
3 -----
Ralph Nader. The fly in the ointment. In a way, I respect the people who went out and voted for him on principle. On the other hand, I feel like it is not the time to play the game of “ideals.” The election process is monstrous, and I hate it as much as anyone, but it is a 2 party system (like it or not). A vote for Nader is truly a wasted vote. You cannot convince me on any grounds (beyond classroom/tavern philosophy) that this is otherwise. Play the game, and vote for one of the two guys who has a chance at winning. Voting for Nader is almost an evasive action that does no one any good.
- Proud: I am proud that so-called “character” was not the fulcrum of this election’s campaigns. I hate when it becomes a rallying cry, because everyone’s hands are dirty. At least at that level. To quote a classic movie (and relevant considering the charges leveled at Kerry early on), claiming that the other candidate is of a worse character than another is like “handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500.”
- Not Proud: Abortion, the monster that cannot be stopped. Stab it with your steely knives, but you just can’t kill the beast. (Is that right? I am sort of rusty on my Eagles quoting). In Council Bluffs, there was a disgusting billboard of a slaughtered fetus. It (the billboard) was strapped to both sides to the RV, with the slogan “Does Kerry Care?” I don’t want to get hooked into the abortion debate, but let me say this… (there’s always a “but”) the argument for many pro-life people is that the fetus is a living human, and that it should have rights as one. To terminate a fetus is to murder, they say. Okay, then why take away its dignity by showing it about town? It would be similar to a pro-Kerry RV displaying a soldier’s shredded body after a mortar attack, with some similar uncreative and over-passionate slogan. Either would be inappropriate, and I am sickened and angered by the fetus-mobile. Pro-life supporters wonder why they have been so demonized in the media… (you aren’t exempt pro-choice people! Remember your awful “I had an abortion” shirts?)
[note: on re-reading this post, that quote seemed in bad taste, considering the topic. This was unintentional! The “beast” I speak of is abortion, not fetuses. I leave it in, because my aim was to bring some levity to a topic that is so grossly divisive and in honesty, without hope of resolution]
- Curious: Why was terrorism such a big issue? Was it because of our natural fear? Or was it manufactured by the media/campaigns? For me, it is something we will never fully stop the threat of… I am surprised that social security and health care (REAL concerns) weren’t bigger issues. Kerry’s wife was a bigger concern than terrorism…
4 -----
There is a great deal of talk about vote tampering. The biggest thing, even locally, is Federally Inactive votes. Those are ballots that are cast, but their fate is up in the air. They may not count at all. In some areas (again, even locally) people were called as late as Monday evening, and told that their precinct’s polling place had changed. On and on it goes. It sometimes feels as if there is indeed a conspiracy at work.
5 -----
To close, let me address a matter of faith (or two). Let me tell an anecdote/parable. While I studied heavily this last week, I constantly had the TV running. Other than dozens of hours of horror films, I watched a lot of anime DVDs. I finaly was able to watch the entire series of Trigun from beginning to end.
In Trigun, there is a character who is a pastor/gunman. His name is Nicholas Wolfwood, and he carries a giant metal cross with him wherever he goes. He is sort of a man-of-the-cloth who lost his way. In his heart, he wants to do what is right, but the means to get to those ends often perplex and elude him. In the meantime, he makes mistakes, builds regrets, and shuts himself off from those around him.
In the climax of the series, he is mortally wounded, and he staggers to a church, leaving trails of blood behind him. He stoops at the altar and addresses God out loud, leaning wholly on his cross. As he petitions the Lord, he begins to reflect on his life, his motivations, and his actions.
“Was everything I did a mistake? If so, can I be forgiven? I didn’t want to die like this!”
But die he did. Was he forgiven? Did he find peace? Was he wrong in his actions, or were the ends enough to justify his choices? Did his existence even matter? Was there even a God there listening to him, or was he merely addressing himself in a detached manner, trying to make sense of his own life? Is that all mankind ever really needed from religion anyway, the idea that someone was out there, caring, listening?
I am a lot like Wolfwood; dragging my cross through life, trying to make sense of things. I have a lot of good that I want to do, but I too have made a billion mistakes. I suspect that I will be kicking against the goads until my last days as well, and I know that I will die with a lot of regrets. Life doesn’t make a great deal of sense to me, and I have a very hard time stepping out on faith. But deep in my heart, like Wolfwood, I see myself leaning wholly on the cross, seeking understanding and forgiveness, fighting death, but aware of its inevitability. In all things, good and bad, at least I know I have been as honest with myself, and others, as I could.
I still have my cross, Gary. It’s heavier than I can tolerate sometimes, but I couldn’t imagine myself without it. Be patient with me.
6 -----
Well, it looks like I got back into the swing of typing. I cut stuff out if you can believe it or not. I have a great mini-essay written about Christian bumper stickers and graffiti in Council Bluffs, but it didn’t seem to fit the mood. Sorry the blog was so long. : ) But then again, I am not exactly twisting anyone’s arm to read this crappy online diary! : ) Just kidding! I appreciate everyone who stops by, and I always welcome feedback. Thanks for all of the encouragement and correction, and have a great day!
See ya!
But before I start, a young man from Iowa was killed today in Iraq. He was from Emerson. I am 90% sure that I know that kid, and I want to say that my sympathy is with his family. War is so stupid, and I hate that we are in Iraq at all… but then again, we aren’t exactly living in Eden anymore.
******WARNING: It will be a long one today!******
I’ll divide it into chapters in case you want to just read a part or two at a time.
1 -----
- Proud: I am proud of our country. The turnout was very high, and there was a noticeable increase in civic pride. The words “record turnout” were on everyone’s lips. People voted with a passion. It was nice to see. They had two hour lines in Omaha, with some precincts even running out of ballots. People were civil and patient, and it made me proud to be an American.
- Not Proud: The youth turnout was poor. We were sort of duped into thinking that this was the year the young people mobilized. The percentage of youth turnout of 19-29 year olds was about equal to 2000. Too bad. The democrats were banking on it, I think, as they utilized everything from MTV’s videos to “Rock Against Bush” concert tours. The dreaded “exit polls” said that the youth were not decidedly anti-Bush at all. But, in fairness, as P-Diddy pointed out (what a great political analyst to rely on), 17% this time is a greater number than 17% of last time. The overall numbers were up. Ignore statistics or die.
- Curious: How will we live together the next four years knowing that we split our votes almost to the person in many communities? There seemed to be a lot of unrest and anger in the years following 2000’s election (which was understandably side-tracked, then reignited thanks to 9/11). The light has been turned on, and our divided nature has been exposed… will we see a rush for moderate stances? Will we see conflict?
2 -----
I still don’t understand the Electoral College. I don’t see where it helps represent me/us any better than a popular vote. I must be the only one. Colorado was voting on a measure to dole out its 9 votes based on percentages of popular votes, but it was resoundingly voted against. I wish I understood its value better…
- Proud: The television coverage this year was far better, and way more lucid, than in 2000. It was a little theatrical, but they were gun-shy to declare winners in the states.
- Not Proud: The candidates did not fill me with pride. I still refuse to think that these two are the best we have to offer. Oh McCain, where art thou?
- Curious: Ted Kennedy. His name is used in vain a lot by both sides. Republicans use it to scare voters in a bogeyman-esque way. The Democrats use him as a yard stick to show how lesser-liberal their man is. I wonder if this bothers him. He has become an in-joke to all.
3 -----
Ralph Nader. The fly in the ointment. In a way, I respect the people who went out and voted for him on principle. On the other hand, I feel like it is not the time to play the game of “ideals.” The election process is monstrous, and I hate it as much as anyone, but it is a 2 party system (like it or not). A vote for Nader is truly a wasted vote. You cannot convince me on any grounds (beyond classroom/tavern philosophy) that this is otherwise. Play the game, and vote for one of the two guys who has a chance at winning. Voting for Nader is almost an evasive action that does no one any good.
- Proud: I am proud that so-called “character” was not the fulcrum of this election’s campaigns. I hate when it becomes a rallying cry, because everyone’s hands are dirty. At least at that level. To quote a classic movie (and relevant considering the charges leveled at Kerry early on), claiming that the other candidate is of a worse character than another is like “handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500.”
- Not Proud: Abortion, the monster that cannot be stopped. Stab it with your steely knives, but you just can’t kill the beast. (Is that right? I am sort of rusty on my Eagles quoting). In Council Bluffs, there was a disgusting billboard of a slaughtered fetus. It (the billboard) was strapped to both sides to the RV, with the slogan “Does Kerry Care?” I don’t want to get hooked into the abortion debate, but let me say this… (there’s always a “but”) the argument for many pro-life people is that the fetus is a living human, and that it should have rights as one. To terminate a fetus is to murder, they say. Okay, then why take away its dignity by showing it about town? It would be similar to a pro-Kerry RV displaying a soldier’s shredded body after a mortar attack, with some similar uncreative and over-passionate slogan. Either would be inappropriate, and I am sickened and angered by the fetus-mobile. Pro-life supporters wonder why they have been so demonized in the media… (you aren’t exempt pro-choice people! Remember your awful “I had an abortion” shirts?)
[note: on re-reading this post, that quote seemed in bad taste, considering the topic. This was unintentional! The “beast” I speak of is abortion, not fetuses. I leave it in, because my aim was to bring some levity to a topic that is so grossly divisive and in honesty, without hope of resolution]
- Curious: Why was terrorism such a big issue? Was it because of our natural fear? Or was it manufactured by the media/campaigns? For me, it is something we will never fully stop the threat of… I am surprised that social security and health care (REAL concerns) weren’t bigger issues. Kerry’s wife was a bigger concern than terrorism…
4 -----
There is a great deal of talk about vote tampering. The biggest thing, even locally, is Federally Inactive votes. Those are ballots that are cast, but their fate is up in the air. They may not count at all. In some areas (again, even locally) people were called as late as Monday evening, and told that their precinct’s polling place had changed. On and on it goes. It sometimes feels as if there is indeed a conspiracy at work.
5 -----
To close, let me address a matter of faith (or two). Let me tell an anecdote/parable. While I studied heavily this last week, I constantly had the TV running. Other than dozens of hours of horror films, I watched a lot of anime DVDs. I finaly was able to watch the entire series of Trigun from beginning to end.
In Trigun, there is a character who is a pastor/gunman. His name is Nicholas Wolfwood, and he carries a giant metal cross with him wherever he goes. He is sort of a man-of-the-cloth who lost his way. In his heart, he wants to do what is right, but the means to get to those ends often perplex and elude him. In the meantime, he makes mistakes, builds regrets, and shuts himself off from those around him.
In the climax of the series, he is mortally wounded, and he staggers to a church, leaving trails of blood behind him. He stoops at the altar and addresses God out loud, leaning wholly on his cross. As he petitions the Lord, he begins to reflect on his life, his motivations, and his actions.
“Was everything I did a mistake? If so, can I be forgiven? I didn’t want to die like this!”
But die he did. Was he forgiven? Did he find peace? Was he wrong in his actions, or were the ends enough to justify his choices? Did his existence even matter? Was there even a God there listening to him, or was he merely addressing himself in a detached manner, trying to make sense of his own life? Is that all mankind ever really needed from religion anyway, the idea that someone was out there, caring, listening?
I am a lot like Wolfwood; dragging my cross through life, trying to make sense of things. I have a lot of good that I want to do, but I too have made a billion mistakes. I suspect that I will be kicking against the goads until my last days as well, and I know that I will die with a lot of regrets. Life doesn’t make a great deal of sense to me, and I have a very hard time stepping out on faith. But deep in my heart, like Wolfwood, I see myself leaning wholly on the cross, seeking understanding and forgiveness, fighting death, but aware of its inevitability. In all things, good and bad, at least I know I have been as honest with myself, and others, as I could.
I still have my cross, Gary. It’s heavier than I can tolerate sometimes, but I couldn’t imagine myself without it. Be patient with me.
6 -----
Well, it looks like I got back into the swing of typing. I cut stuff out if you can believe it or not. I have a great mini-essay written about Christian bumper stickers and graffiti in Council Bluffs, but it didn’t seem to fit the mood. Sorry the blog was so long. : ) But then again, I am not exactly twisting anyone’s arm to read this crappy online diary! : ) Just kidding! I appreciate everyone who stops by, and I always welcome feedback. Thanks for all of the encouragement and correction, and have a great day!
See ya!
All Killer, No Filler
Dude! Has it been a while since I posted or what?! Okay, time to do some catching up.
- Do we ever get comfortable with ourselves? I had a dream last night that my hair looked awful and I couldn't do a thing about it. I gelled it the best I could, only to be ridiculed at school. The more I tried to fix it, the worse it looked. Once I woke up, and remembered what I was dreaming, I was embarrassed. These negative self-esteem feelings run pretty deep, don't they? Here I am a week away from 30 years old, and I am still having these panic dreams about public acceptance. I envy anyone who is free from this self-negativity.
- Today is election day in the USA. We get to vote on laws, politicians, and our President. Who ever we vote in as our president will be our leader for 4 years. There are three things I find interesting about the election: 1) both candidates are poor. Bush comes off as an arrogant fundamentalist, and that is dangerous in today's world climate. The last 2 candidates from the Democratic Party have been awful. Are these the best "leaders" our country is churning out? 2) the votes are going to be close. I doubt we will have a "winner" by the nights end. The last election ruined that forever. Expect recounts, hand counts, and law suits. 3) Again, it is going to be close; is America that divided? I think that this says a lot about the USA. I am not that excited to vote, as I feel so disappointed this year by both candidates, but I am still going to vote. My vote is for Kerry, FYI, and it isn't because I think he'd be a better President, it is more of a vote against Bush. Kerry has so many flaws, but I am hoping they are different flaws... and that a change of guard my start to ease the hostility towards the USA. Bush embodies everything the world hates about Americans, and good-or-bad, those qualities are too inflammatory. Long story short; vote.
- I got a 70% on my biochemistry test. And I am happy! I have never been so happy to get a 70%. Funny how on the first test I got a 68% and I was devastated. It just goes to show how things are relative. When the semester started, I was alive with potential. Now that the stone is rolling downhill, I am just trying to stay out from under it. What I am trying to say is, don't be expecting a 4.0 from Carl this semester...
- Even as a so-called Christian nation, America is alive with superstition. They have a statistical anomaly that says if the Washington Redskins win their last home game before the election, that the incumbent wins (and vice versa). This goes back for decades. People really buy into this, and were either upset or excited that they lost this weekend. I am not completely sold that the universe rides on Christianity... there is that chance that we could be wrong... but I doubt that there is some sort of cosmic force that decided to place the fate of one nation's government on the results of a football game. We love these sorts of mathematical oddities, but we need to grow up and put less stock in statistics. As they say, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
- I have further criticism for the so-called Terror Alert system. Prior to the campaigning, the Bush Administration was having a good old time raising the alert on the slightest "chatter." Now, we have a video tape from Bin Laden himself, claiming responsibility for 9/11, and threatening another attack... and the alert has not changed, yet they have rerouted ferry boats, semi trucks, and heightened security around certain facilities. Why? Well, I have three opinions on this. The first is 1) the government does not want to discourage voter turnout. Rumors have been consistently surfacing about an election-day attack as it is, and the government does not want the public staying home on such an important day. 2) Bush does not want to be accused of trying to scare voters any more than he already has. A knee-jerk reaction to the tape only looks like weakness and scare tactic. 3) The government is realizing that the alert system is a joke. No one cares about it, we're desensitized to it, and we don't trust "them" to actually be able to warn us of anything before it happens. It's like a tornado siren in Iowa... when you hear it, you just go on with your life... unless you see the tornado tearing through your town.
Okay, boring day, but I have to get back into the habit. Be sure to vote. I don't feel like I am "rocking" the vote, or voting so I don't "die," but I do feel like I am doing my part as an American citizen.
See ya!
- Do we ever get comfortable with ourselves? I had a dream last night that my hair looked awful and I couldn't do a thing about it. I gelled it the best I could, only to be ridiculed at school. The more I tried to fix it, the worse it looked. Once I woke up, and remembered what I was dreaming, I was embarrassed. These negative self-esteem feelings run pretty deep, don't they? Here I am a week away from 30 years old, and I am still having these panic dreams about public acceptance. I envy anyone who is free from this self-negativity.
- Today is election day in the USA. We get to vote on laws, politicians, and our President. Who ever we vote in as our president will be our leader for 4 years. There are three things I find interesting about the election: 1) both candidates are poor. Bush comes off as an arrogant fundamentalist, and that is dangerous in today's world climate. The last 2 candidates from the Democratic Party have been awful. Are these the best "leaders" our country is churning out? 2) the votes are going to be close. I doubt we will have a "winner" by the nights end. The last election ruined that forever. Expect recounts, hand counts, and law suits. 3) Again, it is going to be close; is America that divided? I think that this says a lot about the USA. I am not that excited to vote, as I feel so disappointed this year by both candidates, but I am still going to vote. My vote is for Kerry, FYI, and it isn't because I think he'd be a better President, it is more of a vote against Bush. Kerry has so many flaws, but I am hoping they are different flaws... and that a change of guard my start to ease the hostility towards the USA. Bush embodies everything the world hates about Americans, and good-or-bad, those qualities are too inflammatory. Long story short; vote.
- I got a 70% on my biochemistry test. And I am happy! I have never been so happy to get a 70%. Funny how on the first test I got a 68% and I was devastated. It just goes to show how things are relative. When the semester started, I was alive with potential. Now that the stone is rolling downhill, I am just trying to stay out from under it. What I am trying to say is, don't be expecting a 4.0 from Carl this semester...
- Even as a so-called Christian nation, America is alive with superstition. They have a statistical anomaly that says if the Washington Redskins win their last home game before the election, that the incumbent wins (and vice versa). This goes back for decades. People really buy into this, and were either upset or excited that they lost this weekend. I am not completely sold that the universe rides on Christianity... there is that chance that we could be wrong... but I doubt that there is some sort of cosmic force that decided to place the fate of one nation's government on the results of a football game. We love these sorts of mathematical oddities, but we need to grow up and put less stock in statistics. As they say, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
- I have further criticism for the so-called Terror Alert system. Prior to the campaigning, the Bush Administration was having a good old time raising the alert on the slightest "chatter." Now, we have a video tape from Bin Laden himself, claiming responsibility for 9/11, and threatening another attack... and the alert has not changed, yet they have rerouted ferry boats, semi trucks, and heightened security around certain facilities. Why? Well, I have three opinions on this. The first is 1) the government does not want to discourage voter turnout. Rumors have been consistently surfacing about an election-day attack as it is, and the government does not want the public staying home on such an important day. 2) Bush does not want to be accused of trying to scare voters any more than he already has. A knee-jerk reaction to the tape only looks like weakness and scare tactic. 3) The government is realizing that the alert system is a joke. No one cares about it, we're desensitized to it, and we don't trust "them" to actually be able to warn us of anything before it happens. It's like a tornado siren in Iowa... when you hear it, you just go on with your life... unless you see the tornado tearing through your town.
Okay, boring day, but I have to get back into the habit. Be sure to vote. I don't feel like I am "rocking" the vote, or voting so I don't "die," but I do feel like I am doing my part as an American citizen.
See ya!