Trail Trash

I went camping in Joshua Tree a couple days ago. On Monday, we picked an easy 2 mile hike out to an old mine. It was a nice day to hike with the weather being cloudy and about 58 degrees. So we're returning on the trail and most of the people we pass are families and couples. Then we encounter a group of 4 college-age kids. There is one boy, looking fairly normal and a girl with a Johnny Depp-Willy Wonka top hat and glasses in the front. The second pair is comprised of 2 girls in black bikini tops holding hands. Now the holding hands part I can understand. Nature can be very emotional. However, bikini tops in 58 degree cloudy weather in California is totally unexceptable on a hiking trail. Michael and I bantered about some possible reasons: drugs, boredom, Alaskans. My favorite suggestion of Michael's was that they were trashy strippers from Indio. I think I'll stick with that one. Regardless of the reason, their presence provided much laughter for the rest of the hike.

The Gardening Guys Suck!

So I had some gardeners earlier this year that operated out of Dana Point. They were called the Gardening Guys. I just got a letter from a collection agency for the Gardening Guys for a bill for July service that I didn't pay, plus late charges. I didn't pay because they didn't perform their services that month and we cancelled. So I call them up this morning and tell them that I think I shouldn't pay because of the above reason. The woman on the phone gets all righteous and says that they are a small business and that if they accepted credit cards, it would never come to this and that's why they have to get collections involved. So I say that if they had performed the service, I would have paid. We go back and forth on this. Basically, she said they don't guarantee a service date and time, so I'm supposed to pay anyway. And when I say that my current gardener shows up on the correct date and time, she says, "well, I guess that's why you switched." To me, that translated as, "we suck, but we take no responsibility for that."

Christmas Already?

Wow, it's the first of December! This year has flown by. I wouldn't have known December was so close except for the fact that my neighbors have had Christmas decorations up for about two weeks. Yes, TWO WEEKS! I couldn't believe it. They broke the unspoken, "not before Thanksgiving" rule. And I know they were egged on by the stores. I was looking for some Thanksgiving stuff last week to put on my table and the stores had eschewed all the Thanksgiving items for Christmas decorations! I mean, what happened to the last minute discounts that are on the shelves right before the holiday?
Whatever. To punish them, I'm determined not to go into any stores this year for my Christmas... hello, ebay and amazon!

What a Turkey!!

So I realized that I haven't written in over 2 weeks! Oh my gosh... my brain was consumed by Thanksgiving. We hosted this year and as you can see by my nephew's face, all went well. I must recommend, if you have the equipment, barbequing your turkey. It came out soooo good with a nice smokey, ham flavor. Thanksgiving has to be my favorite holiday. Celebrating a bounty of food and good old American gluttony with family and friends makes me so happy. We did however have a Mediterranean style menu with dishes from Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey, along with the classic stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. It was a great feast.

I LOVE THANKSGIVING!

Would You Like Fries With That?

So I'm watching Primetime on TV last night. First of all, I never watch shows like this because the story teasers are so lame, such as, "what's happening down at the mall this week? You'll never guess." And then it turns out to be about some lame scam for which only an idiot would fall. Or they're total fear propaganda trying to scare the audience with something that no one has to fear. I digress.

Last night's episode was entitled "Fast Food Nightmare." I've never heard of this scam before, but apparently it had gone on in about 70 different fast food stores across the nation since 1994. The scam basically is this: a guy calls and asks for the manager on duty, when the manager gets on the phone, the caller tells him/her that he is the police and that they need to strip search one of the employees who has stolen something. There's a little bit more build up, but not much. Well, the story last night was about the case from which they caught the caller. It was all caught on the McDonald's security camera in Kentucky. This stupid-ass assistant manager, Donna Summers (I kept thinking of Donna Summer, which made watching the show even better; Donna Summers, however, is a 40ish chubby white woman) brought a teenage employee into the back office and followed the caller's instructions for about 3 or 4 hours. Over the course of those hours the employee was stripped of her clothes, cell phone and keys and left with only an apron to cover herself. She was left alone 3 different times with 3 different men. One of the men, Donna Summers' fiance (a 43-year old exterminator) was with her for 2 hours and made drop her apron, spanked her bare ass and I think made her give him oral, but ABC didn't specify. Over all those hours, Donna came in and out of the office and never questioned what was going on and denied that the employee ever asked her for help. Finally, some janitor said that the caller couldn't be for real and then, stupid Donna Summers called her manager and found out it was all a hoax.

So there's the setup. And you know who stupid Donna Summers blamed? McDonalds. Why? Because McDonalds didn't train her properly. Who thinks keeping a girl naked in a fast food office is proper procedure? What a dumb ass!!! Even if she's being advised by her lawyers to blame McDonalds. She should be brought up on rape charges with her sick-ass fiance! Instead, she's charged with a misdemeanor for false imprisonment. The caller (who they have arrested) is pretty smart to prey on the sad saps working as fast food managers (or in this case, assistant managers). Miss Donna Summers probably got off on the power high of doing something important for the police and having control over this cute teenage girl who all the customers and other employees smile at while passing over her own nasty self!

The Best Birthday Ever!

My birthday tomorrow is already shaping up to be the best ever!!!! My friends Imelda & Ken sent this giant cookie to me today! Well, Imelda is the one who does all the work, but Ken is always there to say, "you're welcome" when all the thanks come in.

THANKS IMELDA AND KEN FOR KICKING OFF MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Will the Real Nicholas Cage Please Stand Up

So I was on the treadmill watching Raising Arizona, one of the best films of last century, and it made me a little sad. Yes, I was still laughing my ass off, but what the hell happened to Nicholas Cage? I think of this everytime a movie such as, National Treasure or The Family Man or Matchstick Men or The Weather Man comes out. No, I haven't seen any of these. I won't see any movies where he has sold out to be either a nice leading man, action leading man or a sad caricature of his former weirdo self. He used to be so great and natural and playing funny, awkward and sometimes hopeless characters. Sometimes he can still do it, but it's rare. Raising Arizona highlights how great he once was and how terrible he is now.

Vegas Halloween Baby!!

So we just spent the weekend in Vegas watching Halloween go by. It was one of the best Halloweens ever! I mean everyone was totally into dressing up, which makes it fun to dress up yourself. It's never any fun to be the only ones in costume. I've had the experience. Michael and I dressed up for our first Halloween in our new neighborhood one year and went out to the local bar. NO ONE WAS DRESSED UP! I mean, even the bartenders and servers weren't dressed up. I couldn't believe it. What a bunch of fools!!!

Anyway, Ken threw me under the bus by saying on his website that I would have pictures posted of all the skanky costumes from the Hard Rock. Well, I finally got around to it and added included the funny costumes too. Here you go.

Tribute to Better Off Dead

So I came by this site, The Sneeze by way of pesky' apostrophe by way of The Little Kenny. It's pretty darn funny. But the best thing he has on there by far are the interviews with the writer/director of Better Off Dead and with the guy who played Ricky. OK, there are probably better things on his site, but being the die-hard Better Off Dead fan that I am, I have to give it the highest compliment. Check it out, dawg!

Also, make sure to check out his Steve, Don't Eat It! series

Stupid Segways

Can you believe this?! They're offering tours on Segways of Zion and some state park and historical district around St. George, Utah. Michael picked up a flyer while on our roadtrip. So instead of taking a nice easy hike or walk, you put your lazy ass on one of these! I mean how hard can the hike be if a Segway can roll on it? If I was on a trail and saw one of these coming, I'd lay out some nails. In fact, I'll start carrying nails in my backpack just for that purpose.

Cactus to Hell Hike

OK, so it's really called the Cactus to Clouds hike... but it was by far the most brutal hike I've ever been on in my life! On Sunday, I did a group hike in Palm Springs where one hikes from 800 feet to 8500 feet in 10 miles. We began the hike at 5:30 a.m. The group part of the hike disappeared in about the first mile as Michael and I were at the back of the pack. Then, by about mile 2, we relieved the sweeper of his duty and were officially dead last. For the rest of the morning, we battled fatigue, loss of breath, loss of will and I tried to relieve some terrible blisters the size of dimes on the backs of my ankles.

We completed the portion of the hike that ends at the top of the tram at 1:45 and passed 3 people in the last couple miles. Well, one had run out of water and her asthma medicine and another was our sweeper who was suffering muscle spasms - so I can't take too much pride in that. I believe Michael would have made it a little faster without me. But as much as I tried and, I could not increase my turtle pace. I actually feel that the only reason we finished is that the option to turn around would have been worse after the first few miles. Those who completed the hike in less than 6 hours did the second part of the hike which takes you from 8500 feet to a little over 10,000 feet in 6 miles. This would make your whole day a nice 22 miles because you take the tram down instead of the treacherous, terrible hike that we took up.

So, I'm glad I did it; the hike gave me a good sense of accomplishment, but if I am ever invited to do this hike again or one that is similar, I either will decline or have to get a new pair of legs!

Ripped Off by "Nickel and Dimed"

So while we were on our roadtrip, we listened the to the book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. The premise of the book is to answer the question of whether one could work the low wage jobs of our country and afford to sustain housing and the other necessities of life with these wages. Basically, she wanted to test the welfare reform sentiment that a job is all you need to have a better life . As the author was to try this herself, I thought it would be an interesting social experiment. I still think it would be an interesting experiment; however, the author's effort was severely lacking and I believe it did not come close to a true experience of low wage jobs and lifestyle.

The author takes us through her experiences in 3 different cities: Key West, FL; Portland, ME; and Minneapolis, MN. She worked as a hotel maid, a waitress, a house maid and a Wal-Mart employee. From what I could tell, the longest she spent at any of these locations was a month.

I believe that this was part of her unrealistic rules of the experiment. Who would think that they could move to a new city where they don't know anyone, get a crappy job that pays $7/hr and be able to pay for rent in your own apartment? First of all, most of the people I've ever known who have made that much had a roommate or significant other to ease expenses. She never explored the option of renting a room in a house, which is still done by people I know who make much more than $7/hr. To expect everyone to be able to afford housing by themselves is unreasonable, especially in one months time. I don't know of any country where that is possible.

Another part of the experiment where she just plunked herself down in a city without knowing anyone or having a particular reason to go there (like trying to be an actor in Hollywood), seemed unrealistic. She's found one person to add to her book who as done this, in effect, to show that this may be more frequent than we might think. I don't buy it. I'm thinking that most low wage earners are in or near their home town or have moved to a new city for school or with someone or to pursue some desire.

Mostly, what bothered me about this book though was the socialist propaganda tone that underlies the whole book. She speaks of the bourgeois homeowners who employ the maid service for which she works. She attacks their decor, their lifestyle, their religious choices. She accuses society of looking down on maids and not acknowledging their existence. These blanket statements are based on her 2 to 3 weeks of employment as a maid. She makes similar generalizations about all of her positions.

It's obvious from this book that she has never held down any sort of regular job. She complains of the monotony of the work, being demoralized by the management, the pure exhaustion of a 10 hour day. These are components of most jobs, low and high wage. Her revelations and self-congratulatory statements permeate the book. She is surprised when she tells her coworker that she is a writer that no one cares. She pats herself on the back for making it through a long day of work when her coworkers don't show up. I'm not sure what world she lives in, but that instance is not exclusive to the low wage job. I mention these things because I would think to write about reality, one should have some basis in it.

Her approach as a whole is highly unscientific, especially for someone who mentions her Ph.D. in Biology at least 50 times in the book. She blends statistical quotes and narrative together so as to form a report. It seems that she dug up research to support her experience rather than her experience backing up the facts. Sometimes her narrative is humorous, but mostly it is as dull as the jobs she is doing. If the intent was illustrate the doldrums of low wage work, she succeeded, but I would think boring your readers is never a good thing. Also, her language jumps about from polished academic to that of a sailor. She blames this early in the book on her truck driver husband. Yet, again with her big Ph.D. I would expect her to be able to write in a professional manner even if she can't speak in one.

As I said above, this book is basically socialist propaganda. Let me say that I do agree that the federal minimum wage should be higher. However, the author constantly refers the rich and the poor. I'm not sure where the middle class went. She doesn't seem to ever identify herself with the rich. She cites the countries that provide health insurance and other benefits to its citizens, but fails to mention the high income taxes necessary for such benefits.

It's almost as if she wrote this book for herself and friends and family to validate the time she took to do this silly experiment.

This Just Cracked Me Up

So this was on a car in Arches NP. The car was from Colorado. I find the cars from Colorado to be particularly ballsy and contain speedy drivers. We came across another Colorado vehicle parked at Bryce Canyon NP (yes, still in Utah) with the book Under the Banner of Heaven in plain view in the back window. In fact, it was the first thing I saw as I approached the car... see, they've got big balls in Colorado!

More Fortune Cookie Madness

This is kinda funny. I like crank calls as long as I'm not on the receiving end.

Proverb Cookies

So I'm back from our roadtrip and we've ordered Chinese food for dinner. I just picked out and opened my fortune cookie and it says, "To climb the ladder of success, work hard and you'll reach it." What the hell? What happened to the fortunes? I haven't seen a nice solid fortune from a cookie in years! Now they read like stupid self-help books.

On the Road Again

So I'm currently on a Utah National Parks roadtrip and I have encountered a few fools worth mentioning. But, alas, that will have to wait, because roadtrips are not the time for me to bog myself down with computers. There's a 3/4 moon out there in beautiful, clear rural sky awaiting my gaze!

Silly Stewardesses

Flight Attendants say Boycott 'Flightplan'

Why do people get so riled up about movies? I mean cops get portrayed as unscrupulous individuals all the time in movies and you don't see them banding together and boycotting movies. Why? Because they realize that movies aren't real. They aren't journalistic portrayals. Rather than the supposed unflattering portrayal of flight attendants in the movie causing me to distrust them, their silly self-important boycott will do it.

I'm Probably the Biggest Fool

"The truth seems to be that no one likes to see himself described as he is, or cares to see exactly set down what he said and did. Well, even I can understand that - because I don't like it myself when I am the sitter and not the portraitist: the frailty of egos! - and the more accurate the strokes, the greater the resentment."

Truman Capote

Crazy Pita People

These guys are on the menu at the Pita Pit.



If I hadn't eaten their food before, I'd be afraid it was laced with something. Hey, maybe it was.... Boise did look pretty good after dinner.

These Mice are Sooooo Big

Where do you get mice like these? Orange.

I So Lag

I just realized that had been 3 WEEKS since I've posted anything. I'm such a fool.

Disneyland: A Study in Culture

What? Yes it's true, Disneylands around the world reveal interesting differences in culture. So this article is talking about how the different cultures around the world respond to Disneyland lines in their own countries. I like this part, "French and Italians 'never saw a line they couldn't be in front of.'" That's great. Could you image that here? People would be getting knocked out and yelled at left and right. What do they do, flirt their way to the front? Now I want to go to Eurodisney to see if my Italian roots kick in and I can get myself to the front of the line.

The other thing that I found very interesting is that the French go wild over the Peter Pan ride. It's the only Peter Pan ride out of all the parks that they put this Fastpass thing in where you get to come back at a certain time without having to wait in line. What's up with the French and Peter Pan? It's a pretty boring ride here. I just can't possibly imagine what would make it so intriguing, unless maybe you can bring a bottle of wine along!

Gee, That's Swell

Hurricane Katrina: predicted to be the most damage inducing hurricane for the gulf coast since a hurricane in 1965.

The Weather Channel broadcasts had said since at least last Friday that it was going to inflict terrible devastation in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. The hurricane hit land on Monday morning. It is Wednesday; now 3 states have major damage and 3 others have minor damage and the domestic oil industry has suffered damage. So what do I read in the New York Times this morning:

"President Bush announced Tuesday that he would cut short his extended summer vacation and fly to Washington to begin work on Wednesday with a task force that will coordinate the work of 14 federal agencies involved in the relief effort. "

That's really generous. Way to support your people!

Beach Diapers

So I don't know how a person could possibly leave something so gross behind, but there was a dirty diaper on the ground next to the shower at the beach . Yes, I know dirty diapers have been found in terrible places from the time disposables were invented. It's just been a long time since I've been surprised by one. It's just such a disgusting and unnecessary thing to do!!
I mean I hate littering in general. What if I just left some yucky underwear sitting on the ground? Would that be acceptable? No. Leaving diapers anywhere but the garbage is totally wrong, no matter what the situation.

PETA Pam

So I'm flipping around the other night and I see Pamela Anderson on Larry King. I didn't watch for more than 10 seconds but seeing how fake she looks led to another thought. She's all into PETA and being vegetarian and no cruelty to animals. I can't help but think... how can she be all "I love animals" and have had plastic surgery. Now, I haven't researched this, but I can speculate that somehow animals were used in some sort of way to test or advance the medical techniques/procedures and materials involved in plastic surgery over its history. PETA is so obtuse for having her be one of their poster children.

Happy Rant

Hey, I got my first non-spam comment from someone I don't know!!!!!!!! It's in response to the Discovery Channel post. I'm so excited! I read a couple of his posts. I don't who he is or anything about him, but he's very feisty, check him out:


http://curiouoso.diaryland.com

Los Angeles Traffic SUCKS!

That's it. Every once and a while I just have to acknowledge that fact.

Discovery Channel Gone Wild

I just finished watching the first episode of the show Going Tribal on the Discovery Channel. As far as the concept of the show and "immersion" of the host in tribal culture goes, I'm still contemplating my views. What does make my mind tingle is all the nudity and mutilation. I myself didn't mind the nudity; I do hate blood though, so I needed to avert my eyes during the scarification process. I wonder how the Discovery Channel was allowed to show total frontal male nudity, topless women and a nude breast being scarred with a razor blade. They did put up a warning about indigenous nudity on the commercial breaks. But I have a feeling that if these people were actors and this was released in a movie theater it would be rated NC-17. How is it that non-compensated people being naked and bloody is more acceptable than compensated people being naked and bloody? I only ask this to the easily offended that send letters to the FCC and such.

I also ask this question with respect to the rest of non-movie channel cable being so sanitized save the Cartoon Network and animated Fox shows (they happily get away with murder). I want to see more warnings on my commercial breaks. I want to see more uncensored TV without having to pay the big bucks!

When Good Books Go Bad

So I just finished reading Deception Point by Dan Brown. It was one of those books that I just couldn't put down after getting into a couple of chapters. The book is about a political race and uses NASA as the key campaign debate. The author appears to have done some good research. I felt as I was reading it that most of the scientific and technological information was true, so few questions caused me pause during my reading. The action seemed lively, but mostly plausible (except for this far-fetched escape off an iceberg, but the book is fiction so I let it slide). But then, in the last 3 or 4 chapters as I raced to the end of the book, the scenarios of action and death-defying became more and more unrealistic.

And then, BAM! At the end of the book, a classic Hollywood ending: bad guys crushed, good guys win, a little corny humor and little romance - all in the White House to boot!

When an author brings me into contemporary social settings and real places with realistic characters, I expect a realistic ending. Nope, didn't happen this time.

More of that old Intelligent Design

Damn, I fell kept falling asleep during this episode of Nightlight last night: ABC News: Despite Criticism, 'Intelligent Design' Finds Powerful Backers.

The episode focused on the Discovery Institute in Seattle, whose website is one of those that I looked at before I wrote my last post. The intelligent design movement is being pushed out into the country from a progressive city. I call that intelligent design!

Anyway, here's a good article featuring the "debate" that the proponents of intelligent design say is going on in the scientific community. I call it more of a debunking. Maybe the Discovery Institute should feature it on their website.

Maybe Evolution, Maybe Not

Bush Remarks Roil Debate on Teaching of Evolution

Pres Bush is his usual vague way has apparently endorsed intelligent design; but not really, according to his advisors what he said was just common sense. I generally don't pay attention to what politicians say because they're usually saying it to make some supporter group happy. The only reason I'm paying attention to these statements is that the supporter groups that he is making happy can actually use his statements to affect change on the local level. His latest quote that is being championed by intelligent design supporters is " 'I felt like both sides ought to be properly taught.' Asked again by a reporter whether he believed that both sides in the debate between evolution and intelligent design should be taught in the schools, Mr. Bush replied that he did, 'so people can understand what the debate is about.' " Also, other articles about this statement reference a comment from him in Science magazine: "Bush said the federal government should not tell states or school boards what to teach but that 'scientific critiques of any theory should be a normal part of the science curriculum.' " They're all such little soundbites. He's so reckless with his positions to not fully explain them. Besides that, if local schools are receiving federal funds, then the big basics of education should be set at a federal level. What if some local school decided to teach that the South was right and it's terrible that they lost the war and Lincoln was a terrible president (actually they probably do in Alabama)? That would be an alternative historical perspective.

I don't agree with the theory of intelligent design being a theory, especially after checking out a couple of websites about it. It is a perspective. The "evidence" they claim to have is that there is no clear explanation of how certain microorganism came into being. So that's it. If I can't find a good explanation then it must be intelligent design. Whatever!

I have two big problems with saying that both sides of the debate should be taught. First of all, yes it's a debate... since when do schools teach about current political debate as scientific theory? This is a political and social debate; when you look at the scientific evidence for intelligent design you'll find none. Second problem is the question of who is the designer. Aliens? God? Mother Earth? Many gods/goddesses? Hell, let's bring back Zeus, he was cool.

Little Dogs Like Babies

I can't stand people and their little dogs that they treat like babies. Michael and I were in Palm Springs this weekend and staying at a nice, but not luxury hotel. As we came back in for the evening through the dining room, I saw a woman with her little dog on her lap at her table. This was inside the restaurant and the dog's muzzle was at table level. First of all, how socially retarded are you that you can't have your dog more than inches from your face at all times? Second of all, the restaurant is terrible for catering to such stupid behavior.

Next day, I saw another person with her little dog by the pool. She spent more time chasing after her little dog than enjoying the pool. Stupid!

Old Pushy People

I'm at Henry's Market the other night and this old lady gives me a snarly "beep, beep." I was at the checkout along side of the conveyor belt in front of my smaller cart unloading. She had room for her bigger cart to be alongside her conveyor belt and that was it. Apparently, she wanted to unload from the side, so she wanted me to move instead of just waiting. So she gave me a dirty look when I didn't move. Now that's the end of my story.

It doesn't sound like much, but it's just a small example of terrible old people thinking they have the right of way because they've earned it by age. Usually they'll move me with their carts or bodies instead of saying something. Or they'll reach right over me at the produce and give me a look like I'm the one in the wrong. They think they own the place because it's a smaller market made just for old people or something. Well it's not, grandma. Stay out of my way!

The Great Toaster Challenge

This is what my husband does with his spare time.

I'm a Big Fat Liar

Just moments ago, I lied to a real estate agent at my door. She asked if I'm the homeowner and instinctively, I said no. So then she asked if I was just visiting.

"Yes"

"Where do you live?"

"Seattle"

"I lived in Seattle for 10 years. What part do you live in?"

"The u-district, by u-village"

"Oh that's great, I lived in the Kirkland area. I now live in the neighborhood across street.
Would you mind passing this market update on to the homeowners?"

"Sure"

OK, so here I've lied to someone who lives near me and that I may encounter again. I'm so stupid. I can't think on my feet and sometimes that makes me say stupid things.

Michael said I should say that was my twin sister if I ever see that real estate agent again.

No Recycle Dudes

Lazy Neighborhood


So our recycle truck was supposed to come last Thursday to pickup the bins in my neighborhood. They didn't come. I figured holiday week, they screwed up and will be picking up two days late on Friday. I left my house early in the day and even took time to have the thought,
"If the truck doesn't come soon, I'm sure someone in my neighborhood will call today." The truck didn't come. Saturday morning I call and they send out a truck by 1:00. So this leads me to conclude that my whole neighborhood is full of lazy asses who can't pick up the phone. They probably would have just left the containers out until the following Wednesday.

Overzealous Larchmont Meter Maid

So I take my mom with me to go up to LA to have lunch with my sister and we go to Larchmont Village - nice street with lots of restaurants. We fill up the meter for two hours and go have a great lunch and a French bistro style place. I had the best chicken curry sandwich on olive loaf and garlic mashed potatoes.... I digress. Anyway, we get back to the car and I have a ticket. My sister ran over to the meter; we still had 25 minutes left. So it turns out the ticket was for my lack of front plates. I don't even have a bracket for front plates. I've been driving and parking this car all over southern California for 2 1/2 years and I've gotten a ticket, but never has the front plate issue been mentioned. Stupid meter maid probably didn't have enough real tickets under his/her belt for the day, so had to give me one!! Lesson: don't park on Larchmont without front plates.

Stupid Parents - Good Batman

So I went and saw Batman Begins this afternoon. Great movie, better than any of the other Batmans. Mostly dark with a couple corny moments, but hey, you need a little bit to lighten the load.
So here's my gripe. I noticed a fair amount of kids at this movie. That got me to thinking about the most recent lawsuit against video games, the one involving Grand Theft Auto. Then I'm thinking about all the times parents go on TV and blame violence in movies, video games and music and sex in music videos and all the bad media to which their children are exposed. Well, stupid parents, why don't you stop taking your children to violent movies? I can say that about a quarter of the full theater today were children under 10 with their parents. Oh, am I to feel sad that you really wanted to see this movie? That there weren't any other movies to take the kids to? That you just had to get the kids to be quiet for two hours. This isn't the first violent movie I've seen parents bring their kids to. So you better stop blaming the media and start taking care of your kids!

King Tut - A Fresh New Face

So I'm watching the local news last night and there are people protesting the King Tut exhibit that opened in L.A. yesterday. I missed the actual news story, so I looked it up and found out what all the commotion was about. The protesters want the curators of the exhibit to remove three modern representations of Tutankhamun. At first when I read the story, I disagreed with their protest. I think it was due to the quotes by the protesters' spokesman, Legrand Clegg. The focus of the protest is that the busts in question portray King Tut as white rather than black. I looked into the "reconstruction" of King Tut as it was covered on the National Geographic website. It is based on CT scans of the mummy and uses forensic methods of facial reconstruction from skulls. That's all fine, but they do admit that the skin tone is just based on a middle tone of modern Egyptians. OK, so there is varying opinion as to the skin tone of King Tut. Well in my opinion, this will always be a subject that will be in question. From what I've read, there is no conclusive data as to who was King Tut's mother, so his actual lineage is not factually substantiated.

So this leads me to where my gripe is actually going. I do agree with the protesters that the new representations of King Tut should be removed from the exhibit. However, I do not agree with their reasons. The exhibit is comprised of artifacts. Why do the artifacts need to be tainted with modern technology's view of this ancient figure? There are many realistic representations of him in sculpture constructed in his time already. Why do we have the constant need to modernize history. What is so important to know exactly what King Tut looked like. Aren't the representations done in his own time sufficient? Does knowing exactly what he looks like truly affect his rule, his history and his legacy within Egyptian culture and understanding of the ancient dynasties? I don't think so. I think representations of him based on modern technology should have their own place. Forensic science is its own discipline. I believe the use of advanced technology in researching and reconstructing the past needs to be discussed and observed on its own without influencing actual physical evidence of the past in an exhibit such as this one. Just let the artifacts speak for themselves.
This is a privately funded exhibit, so the way to really protest it would be to not attend. I still want to go though. Can I really sacrifice seeing great artifacts because I don't agree with the juxtaposition to modern day technology? Still deciding...

Public Healthcare. Is it that great?

Quebec's Ban on Private Health Insurance Is Nixed - New York Times

"The justices took a year to rule on a case that began in 1997, when George Zeliotis, an elderly Montreal man, tried to pay for hip replacement surgery rather than wait nearly a year for treatment at a public hospital."

Good for the Canadian Supreme Court!

"the universal health-care system -- while considered one of the fairest in the world -- has been plagued by long waiting lists and a lack of doctors, nurses and new equipment. Some patients wait years for surgery, MRI machines are scarce and many Canadians travel to the United States for medical treatment."

So liberals of the U.S. always point to Canada and their government funded healthcare. Is it that great? Apparently, it's illegal to pay for your own healthcare unless you're a non-resident. So great, the government pays for your healthcare, but you just have to wait a couple years to get it! That would be great to find out in 2 years that you have a cancer that could have been helped if caught early on.

But yet, "Most polls indicate Canadians support Medicare, despite the high taxes needed to fund the service, seeing it as a marker of egalitarianism and independent identity that sets their country apart from the United States, where some 45 million Americans lack health insurance."

Egalitarianism?? Haven't they heard? THE WORLD IS NOT FAIR!

I don't know about those Canadians. I have a more hands-off view of government. I think it is cruel to make people who can afford quicker medical service wait for their public service to come along a year later. As for millions of Americans lacking health insurance, well the only thing I would support the government to do is to improve public health facilities and make the more affordable healthcare systems (like county hospitals), safer and more desirable places to seek healthcare. The funds it would take to support every American's health insurance would be way to great! How about regulating insurance companies to make their plans more affordable and less limiting? I know I consider what I pay for the "what if something terrible happens to me" insurance seems like quite a lot for something I haven't had to use ever!

CNN.com - Man's leg lands in yard

No fools here, this just sucks!

CNN.com - Man's leg lands in yard - Jun 8, 2005

Stupid Green Day

So there I am sitting in the dentist chair numbing up in preparation for getting drilled. I see Entertainment Weekly, nice light reading as I await my dentist's return. I come across a picture of Green Day all done up in their pretty suits and eye-makeup. I must preface the rest of this with the fact that I currently despise Green Day as a bunch of posers. Accepting Grammy's... letting people call them "punk." Look, I don't pretend to know a bunch about music, but I do know posers and the members of Green Day are a bunch of posers - putting out a concept album, who are they, Pink Floyd?

So anyway, on to the Entertainment Weekly article... they're such dorks, they're all in suits and the article quotes their stylist (yeah, that's so punk to have a stylist):" 'Looking smart in a suit is not new,' says Green Day stylist Dee Anderson. ''It's more a resurgence of the old-school punk style of bands like the Clash.' " (whole article here). Did I miss something? I don't remember the Clash wearing Christian Dior? Maybe there's a tie and funky sports coat sometimes, but I don't remember them being all pretty with makeup and designer suits. Plus, if you've got to point to The Clash... where are those real old-school punks? If I know who a band is, then they've made it to mainstream radio and that, except in rare cases, doesn't exactly equal PUNK!

POSERS!!!!

The Fuzz

Super Fuzz


So some cop yesterday totally blocked traffic just to give some guy a ticket. I'm stopped at a light behind a motorcycle cop. We are sitting at the light for at least a minute. He doesn't have his lights on or isn't motioning at all to the driver in front of him. But after he crosses through the intersection, after there is a little pocket for the driver to pull off into, the cop turns on his lights and pulls the guy over. So this is a lane with no bike lane and no space to pull over. I and the 10 cars behind me now have to stop and wait til the lane next to us is clear to go around.

It gets worse. I come back along the same street about 10 minutes later on the other side. The driver is gone, but the cop is still there, his motorcycle still in the lane blocking traffic while he finishes writing in his note pad standing under a tree in the shade. How frustrating! What did the driver do that was soooo bad that it was absolutely necessary to pull him over in this inconvenient spot and then continue to block traffic.

Well as I approach my freeway onramp, the cop cuts me off and then bangs a u-turn. Ahh, now I see why he's giving out tickets. There is an offramp that only allows you to make a right turn when you get off the freeway; it is marked with double yellows and a lot of people cross them. This is because the signage on the offramp doesn't say "only." So unless you've done it before, you don't know you're going to get stuck in that right turn. Now, yes, the drivers who cross the double yellow could cause accidents and shouldn't do it. But how about putting up better signs on the offramp and using those plastic barriers to inform the driver and prohibit the crossing of the double yellow? No, the jokers down at City Hall would rather have a cop cause traffic, more possible accidents and issue tickets. They might as well make some revenue out of this poor street planning.
Fools!

Thanks George!

Alright George, I expected the usual merchandising and promotions bullshit that usually accompanies the Star Wars movies, but come on! Yes, I had a bunch of action figures and the droid factory after the original Star Wars came out. But that's the key, "after." I'm all for movie previews and interviews. But do the characters really have to sell everything they can get their hands on? I think Darth Vader alone is endorsing I 3 or 4 different products and with humor! I don't want to see this evil, menacing character turned into a show monkey before the movie even comes out. And then, I go to the grocery store and the shelves are crowded with Star Wars life size cardboard cutouts. Why bother showing previews in the theaters. You've already turned the movie characters into advertising whores? Is that what the culmination of 30 years of working on the same project does to you? I suppose that's what you want people to remember instead the Revenge of the Sith. Is the movie that bad that you're hoping people will see it, but remember the commercials instead? Everyone goes to your movies whether they like them or not. Some just go to criticize them. So stop being a jerk when you know we're all going to see the movie anyway!

I know there is always a lot of this crap with all the Star Wars releases, but this time it seems like there is much, much more. So of course I'll be seeing the movie. So I guess I'm the idiot for paying George in the end anyway and he knows that. He knows that no matter how much crap he throws at us we will all still go to his movie. And I could say it will all be over with the release on May 19, but we all know there will be the theater re-release, the DVD release, the revised DVD release, the enhanced revised DVD release and then probably another theater re-re-release that will all be accompanied by the same promotional garbage. Way to go George!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

So I saw this movie last night and thought it was mediocre. My friend Adam was terribly disappointed. Taking his reasons for disappointment into consideration, I reread some parts of the book. Today, I thought about the movie and feel that it doesn't have much to do with the spirit of the book. So I was going to write all my reasons why and back them up and so forth. But then I went to the IMDB and checked out the the message board. Man, the posts are either totally silly, "Oh this was a great movie, I can't believe you didn't like it" or a 10-page thesis critiquing every minute of the film. I mean the authors are searching the movie for all the inconsistencies with the books, radio show, TV show, etc. Then they go on to write about the screen adaptation of the Lord of the Ring books. And then they look at all the book to movie adaptations over the history of film. Of course some are going to suck. Of course the director/writer will have to change things, even the plot. I can make the list of many books better than their movies and many movies I would see and never read the books. So let's just look at it as a movie. Pretending I didn't read the book: the love story was overbearing for a good sci-fi comedy and slowed down the pace; the fact that earth is a giant computer was kind of glossed over and that concept could've used a bit more oomph; Ford Prefect is cool, let's hear more from him.
That's it.

Lazy Asses!

OK, so I had to do a lot of grocery shopping at different stores the other day. Everywhere I went, I was reminded of the lazy asses of the world. Why is it so hard for people to take the carts to the nice little homes that the stores make for them in the parking lot?!!! Most grocery stores have them within a few spots of your car. I have seen people push them into the planters when there is a cart corral just 2 parking spots away!! So here I am in a hurry, I find a parking spot and there's a damn cart in it. So I have to get out of my car and move the stupid cart because there are no other spots. How hard is it people!! I will give excuse to those who have multiple screaming monster children hanging onto the cart. It is better for them to just get in the car as quickly as possible and just drive far, far away. But everyone else is a lazy ass!

Oliver Stone Editing

What's up with the Olive Stone/Brady Bunch style editing making its appearance in movies and TV lately? I just kinda watched "24" and they've got that silly split screen action. Then it was in "Sideways." I have also watched some very bad TV movies, "Locusts" and "10.0" (that ridiculous earthquake movie). They both had it. I would have to think that using the same cheesy split screen trick as terrible TV movies would be a bad idea, but I guess that's why Hollywood isn't knocking down my door.
I know there's more movies that I can't remember that are using it ... more than one a decade is definitely too many!

Jane's Fools

OK, so this is old news, but I just heard about it on the radio this weekend. "Mountain Song" by Jane's Addiction is going to be used in a Coors commercial. Now, I loooove Coors as my camping beer of choice. But come on... after having a boffo career, does Perry Farrell need to be selling his music for a commercial? Maybe he doesn't own it and sold it to Michael Jackson or Moby a while ago. It's not even the sell-out thing that bothers me. I don't even care if you use the money to open some homeless shelter or something! It's that now instead of just thinking "I love how this songs rocks," I'll be thinking, "Oh it's that silly Coors commercial with all the rushing water and maybe some funny animals or sexy ladies." Come on guys, stop ruining your music!!!

Too Many Babies

So I'm flipping around the morning news shows today. Not only on Today, but on GMA as well, at the very same time a surrogate mom who is carrying quintuplets - yes 5 babies - is being interviewed. I chose the Today show segment because I hate Katie Couric and love to watch her terrible interviews. Here's this HUGE pregnant woman sitting with the doctor and the mom-to-be. First of all, I understand that fertilization is an expensive and difficult procedure. Do they really need to try with 5 embryos though; that's a bit overboard. So stupid Katie asked the mom-to-be how is she going to deal with this? So the mom-to-be says, "I don't know." That's a direct quote! I'm not making this up! The surrogate is 6 months pregnant and the mom-to-be doesn't know how she is going to deal with 5 babies. Has no plan. But she's picked out names for all the babies. Probably just figures she'll get a bunch of free stuff, which the Today show gave her a bunch of diapers, courtesy of Target. Also I'm sure she's planning on tapping all her friends and family. That's great! I'm sure that's just what they were missing in their lives - helping you raise 5 babies! Oh, and the surrogate decided not to take $15K for her services because of all the financial hardship the couple will be facing.

New Website is Up

So I finally finished changing up our website. Man, my brain is fried. I'm so sad, the whole thing took me hours and now I have no energy to comment on the fools of the world! However, if you want some April Fool's fun, check out the Making Fiends April Fool's Episode

First One is Free

So I go to my buddy Ken's website and I'm jealous. Look, he can rant about whatever he wants. I want something cool like that, but my design abilities are pretty limited. What? He didn't create it all by himself?

Watch out! The world is full of fools and now I have an arena.