Thursday, September 11, 2008
9/11 tm
I'm not going to go on for long about this. It's September 11th, 2008. I am saddened every year to remember what the country went through 7 years ago and those who have experienced great loss. A few years ago, though, I started feeling a bit annoyed with all the "Never Forget" bulletins and comments I read on the internet every time this date comes around. Why annoyed? I feel like, it's turned into a bit of a brand name/vehicle/piece of propaganda. I felt I was in the minority in feeling this way, until I saw the video below. The same thing goes for me when I hear people question patriotism when a politician doesn't wear a flag pin. I feel it when I see an American Flag sticker on a car or when those American flags were attached to car windows forever. I know what country I live in. I am proud of where I come from. But I believe there is a fine line between that sense of pride and using it as a jumping off point into a bigger argument or worse yet, an agenda.
For what it's worth, my thoughts go out to those who lost someone in the attacks. I feel we all lost something that day, whether we lived in NY or elsewhere. I don't think it's possible anyone can ever forget.
Friday, September 05, 2008
I'm getting pretty politicked off
See what I did there? Politicked? I'm funny.
But seriously, this may come off a bit jumbled and ranty but I am tired of thinking a lot about this recently without getting it out there. I'm a pretty open minded, dogmatic person. I do my best to see the good in people and the bright side of every view point, even the ones I don't agree with.
That being said, I watched a lot of the Republican National Convention this past week. I figured it was only fair of me to do. If I am to be open minded and dogmatic, I felt I needed to infiltrate the enemy's lair and see what bedtime stories they give their evil baby dragon children before evil dragon naptime.
It scared the crap out of me.
Seriously. I needed a diaper after watching, because the crap was literally scared from out of me.
It started with them bringing out a former football player turned preacher to talk about God, his judgement upon our actions, and reference some Bible passages. They prayed a bit too. I'm not too keen on religion. What baffled me was that it seemed, in that instant, there was no separation between church and state. It seemed it was now just a concept, no longer a rule we adhere to in this nation. Jesusland. I'm a Jew. So was Jesus. Whoop dee frickin' frogger....don't care when it comes to the direction our nation has been taken in this Mr. Toad's Wild Ride of a decade.
I watched Sarah Palin's speech. It was almost like watching a Stepford Wife up there. With all this woman believes, her stances on abortion, making sure the baby gets enough camera time, the pregnant daughter issue, teaching creationism in schools, banning books for bad language or references to two male parents in a children's book....well....it baffled me. At the same time, I saw why everyone was eating it up. She's kinda hot. She reads well. She's smart. She's sassy.
She's contradictory. She's annoying. She fits the McCain ticket pretty well. To say John McCain didn't pick her to pander to the Clinton fans, to me, is like saying a bacon fat diet based solely on bacon fat ingestion is the healthiest thing out there. Seriously. Bullshit. Her speech after he announced her as his choice, with her reference to Hilary and then the comment about the glass ceiling further clinched it for me. Sure, it'd be awesome to have a woman in office. But to suggest women should vote for her because she is a woman and not touch on all the anti-woman (I use that term cuz I am tired and can't think of something better) beliefs that drive her.
The thing that scared me more than her, was the overall message from the three and a half days of the convention. Country First is a great idea. John McCain seems like a good guy. I've always thought that. But, the convention came off to me like a bunch of posturing and not a lot of substance. Sure, McCain went through some horrible experience in Hanoi. Everyone knows this. Everyone recognizes his bravery and no one questions his patriotism. But to throw that in everyone's faces along with Jesus, war propaganda, more Jesus, the American Flag, more propaganda, finger pointing, and let's just say a bit of a Jesus and war propaganda stew....all in the name of "Peace" and the theme of 'Country First' without ever really going into the real issues that the country is facing regarding economy and health care really seems like a cop out. To state that Obama is inexperienced is fine. I understand the argument and point there. To state that you have a bunch of experience is great too. But to constantly throw that in one's face every day, in every speech, and only discuss military action in Iraq and nothing else is just ludicrous. Yet, they've gotten a considerable bump from the convention.
It saddens me to think that, yet again, our country may vote for a president that they relate to more than someone who will truly make this place better. I hope history won't repeat itself....but somehow....it always does. Let's just hope it repeats itself in a different manner this time, than how the last 8 years have gone. If not, I'm seriously considering moving out of the country. But, I've said that for the last two elections and I'm still fucking here.
Oh, and on a side note, I'd like to slap Rudy Giuliani with a giant bag of freshly picked arugula.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Earthquakes and Kamikaze Pigeons
We had an earthquake today in Los Angeles. It was one of them medium ones, as if it were a breed of salsa that the fault lines produced. Not that I'd eat that or dip my chip into it, but just go with me on that metaphor.
Thank you.
It's one of those things, being an L.A. native, that I can pretty much gauge the size of tremor by just experiencing it. It's never a pleasant thing, as I like my ground to remain grounded. But at the same time, it's not like this is a new experience. It can be a scary one. Yet, I was more nervous than scared since I needed to drop the kids off at the pool (poop for you not so savvy folks) and I didn't want to get stuck in the bathroom during a possible aftershock.
Then there are those people who feel the need to post bulletins about the earthquake on MySpace, call you to inform you there was an earthquake, or start in on a recollection of where they were during the Northridge quake. In case you were wondering, I was in bed, wrestling with my blankets which had taken hold of my leg and in turn threw me to the floor, as I awoke from dreaming that the Russians had attacked and WW3 had begun.
It gets a bit annoying.
Not scary, at least not the one that happened today.
Last week, a pigeon with a death wish was kicked by some wanna be Yakuza member as I was meandering along the 3rd Street Promenade on my lunch break. Said pigeon proceeded to fly directly into my face. It happened in Hitchcock-ian speed that I didn't quite register what had happened until I saw the douchebag proceed to kick the thing again as it so stupidly landed on the ground and walked beside him.
This isn't the first time I have come in close contact with death wish pigeons in this area. I don't know what they've been putting in their beaks to make them act this way. Maybe it's all the McDonald's french fries I see tourists feeding them. Could french fries be the tool that turns these rats with wings into demon birds?
If so, Burt will be so sad panda depressed that no sort of Ernie loving will stop the tears from waterfalling.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sequels galore
It seems to me that Die Hard 4 and Indiana Jones 4 opened the flood gates for sequels to be greenlit of movie franchises long since dead. Beverly Hills Cop 4 is in pre-production. Tron 2 is set to come out in 2011, 29 years after the original's theatrical debut. That director is also said to be doing a remake of Logan's Run but with a younger cast. There's a sequel to Sleepaway Camp coming out shortly. Platinum Dunes, Michael Bay's production company, is close to wrapping the new remake of the original Friday The 13th which I think is just blasphemy. He said they have mixed the first two films into one but then took their own liberties with the story. Then there's the remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street, also by Michael Bay's company. That just makes me almost be unable to stifle vomiting on my computer screen. I'm unsure what the state is of the new remake of Hellraiser since the directing team that Clive Barker signed off on is no longer attached to the project. There's talk of a Scream 4 which does not yet have Wes Craven attached, a new Shrek movie, a new Pirates Of The Carribean movie, a remake of The Last House On The Left which is one of my least favorite Wes Craven films (and in my opinion, the most boring), a possible remake of The People Under The Stairs, Monster Squad, and others I can't bring myself to think of right now.
All this has me wondering...do the movie studios just not want to invest in original ideas anymore? Everything I see nowadays are movies based on comic books, video games, and remakes or sequels. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of those movies. But there's gotta be some original material out there. We need more Junos, more Little Miss Sunshines, etc.
I just got back from Comic Con and this is pretty much all I saw everywhere I looked...of course...it was Comic Con. But this was also the topic of conversation in the car so I figured I'd vent about it in my post Comic Con headache ridden haze.
Monday, July 07, 2008
iPhone, uText, weDumb, theyWin
I've been slacking off on this blog here, haven't I? A whole week and nothing new. Bad me! Bad!
There's been one central issue that has been floating around in my head for a couple of weeks now. Maybe not really "central" but it definitely does keep popping up. It pops up when I'm at work, when I am holding conversations through email, through instant messenger, and then it popped back up in my head when I saw George Carlin's last interview on Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
Most recently, the concept popped back up when I was watching Californication last night.
Our society is progressively getting dumber. I've been seeing it everywhere. George Carlin stated it's the gadgets. The new technology. The vastly growing internet and our obsession with the latest new cell phone/sidekick/video game playing/ipod etc etc. I'd have to agree.
Driving home the other day, I was watching this girl in the car next to me not once take her eyes off of her sidekick which she was texting on. The majority of people I see are texting, listening to their ipod, talking on the phone more often then not.
This brought me to wondering what my life in high school would have been like if MySpace was around. Better yet, if the internet was accessible then as it is now. I remembered, for entertainment back then, I'd have to leave the house. Go outside and play. Read a book. Write a story. Something creative.
Now we're fat. We're dumb. We're lacking a certain sense of truly caring and a drive to learn. I'm using the royal we here. I'm referring to what I see around me, to the younger generation. I used to work at MySpace and couldn't ever get past how much kids are desensitized now to visuals, language, and concepts that when I was a child were off limits to teenagers. This desensitized nature spills over in their lack of interest in school, their poor communication skills, and in turn writing essays for English class that more-so resemble a shorthand cyberspeak instant messenger conversation.
I don't see it getting any better. We need some sort of hunger and discipline for knowledge in this country and I don't believe we have it. It all starts with the educational system. Actually, it starts with the parents. Doesn't it always start with the parents? Don't they always say that. I guess it's true.
I hate the term LOL. I never use it. I don't like texting in shorthand. It makes me feel like I am undercutting the initial purpose for language meaning and useage. That being said, I don't believe this problem will go away. All this fuss over the new Apple this or new Microsoft that, the new cutting edge video game system, etc leads me to believe that we definitely will get to a point where computers and gadgets will take over. We will get so frickin' lazy that a Skynet situation much like that in the Terminator movies actually, for some outlandish reason, seems kind of possible.
I wish people would pick up more books, put down their handheld devices, get off the computers, and go outside and become more aware of the happenings in this world and their environment. Who knows, maybe that would make somewhat of a difference?
Then again, there's always a possible future where technology and robots take over.
Friday, April 25, 2008
The Yearning For Zion Ranch
It sounds like an animal sanctuary you'd find attached to a church, but it's actually the Polygamist Camp that was raided this month. I'm sickened and disturbed by this story. Children as young as 14 were sexually abused and married to older men. Women weren't allowed to cut their hair, wear red (since the color belongs to Jesus?), and could not leave. I even read a 14 year old girl was arranged to marry her cousin.
They wore colonial attire and gave the image of living in a simple colonial style compound. Apparently under the fear that the apocalypse is upon us. If you ask me, this isn't that far off from being a cult much like that in the vein Jim Jones or David Koresh.
What's worse is a lot of the children who was escorted out and are now in state custody are pregnant, unfamiliar with modern society, and don't know who they may be related to outside of the compound. DNA tests are being done to try and figure this out but I can't even begin to imagine living in such a sheltered compound away from modern society and then try and become acclimated to it. I'm somewhat reminded of the movie The Village.
Here's the article I read on this subject, which I also was watching on the news while sweating on a crossramp at the gym last night:
534 women, children leave polygamist ranch
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
To Hell In A Handbasket
This bitch gets a reality tv show, starts her own clothing line, is working on an album, and voting for John McCain.
Ahhh...America.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Teeth, Fingers, and The Post Office
While we're on the subject of what is dirty, manners, and teeth...let me tell you a little story about the trip I took to The Post Office yesterday. I work in Santa Monica and this area of Santa Monica is already a seething mixture of tourists, hot people, hippies, and mentally disabled dirty vagrants.
The Post Office resonated this.
I got in line and struck up a lovely conversation with two girls visiting from England. They told me the word "Awesome" is very American and they would say "Lush" or "Mint". I have now decided I will do my best to use those words more. Sadly, it'll probably be involved with discussions of alcohol and mouth wash. But still...
So I am standing there and this line is taking forever. This is when my attention was drawn to the woman standing on the other side of this island they separate the line with. In this island are various post office ecoutrement. Well this woman looked to be in her late 40s or early 50s. She had the air of a gypsy...maybe psychic....or could just be a pagan. I don't know. I've been around enough to know. She probably had an extensive collection of Stevie Nicks memorabilia somewhere at home.
She was having quite a hard time with the post office tape dispenser. Kept pulling the tape but couldn't cut the tape on the metal teeth the dispenser has. So, and I shit you not, she proceeded to bend down and grab the tape in her mouth and attempted to rip the tape with her teeth. It didn't quite work out to her advantage though and she ended up looking like a snaggle tooth gypsy dog woman. I had to turn around as to not laugh right in her face.
But seriously, the Post Office...especially in this city...is not somewhere you want to put your mouth on, let alone teeth. I'm sure you'd get less germs fucking an ash tray used by Gene Simmons.
But what do I know? I don't smoke and can't stand Kiss.
Nose Picker
As children, we are raised being told that it's rude or a dirty thing to pick one's nose. I remember when I was kid, I would see my grandmother and mother mask their fingers in tissue paper before plunging into their Jew nostrils to do God's work.
Yeah, God's work. I said it.
I never truly understood what was dirty about this. I mean, sure, there are germs everywhere. But it's not like you have a butt on your face.
(A note to those with butts on their faces: I mean no offense and my prayers are with you.)
How much of a difference on the rude spectrum is it then, to thinly veil your finger with a kleenex before proceeding to pick away? Is it safer, this way? Does society deem this more of the clean way of doing things? Why not create a finger kleenex condom for such things then?
I feel that if it's located on one's face that the person has the right to touch it or deal with whatever issue they are facing.
(Yes I realize I just referred to facing a face
issue.)
Anyway, I was thinking about this recently. I guess I constitute being a random nose picker and I'm not quite sure that I'm embarrassed. Yet, this more-so happens around this time of year due to allergies. I wake up with cave dwellers taking up space in my Jew nostrils. I have em too...with the rest of me Jew parts.
I have no problem with invading my face holes with my fingers....as long as I know they have recently been cleaned. Although, I find that I do this without thinking when....say....driving after a long day of work. It's almost like a meditative state of nose picking. I am only aware I'm actually doing this heinous act when I feel a driver passing me and looking over.
Oh, whatever, like you don't do this!
But what really brought this to my attention was this past Sunday. I was at a writer's meeting at a coffee place. I had just left the restroom and I felt like my nose was full of itchy itchy. So I scratched the most outer inside part of my nostril. Not even picking it. And as I walked with the tip of my index finger touching the technically inside of my nose, I made eye contact with the hottie in the pink top. It was like time slowed down and she looked at me and for that split second, I saw her register what I was doing in a way where her look translated into me being Elephant Man or something.
Whatever. Like you don't too...Pinkie! Maybe not. But you probably enjoy pedicures done by your own set of teeth.
Maybe not.
I don't know.
Right now the nose is itchy itchy again.
I must fight the URGE!
Oh me...
Driving to work this morning, once again I had this thought that the world is full of stupid people. Of course, with my luck, they all swarm to the 405 freeway at the same time every morning. Every day, all the time, I am confronted with the fact that millions of drivers do not know how to merge. Seriously, not that difficult. When you see that two lanes are becoming one, either by the big white arrow painted into the road showing you where you will need to move your car, or simply by the fact that your two lanes has become one wide one that is slowly narrowing...this means you merge. This does NOT mean you drive parallel to me and constantly look over at me like I am the jackass for staying in the lane like I am supposed to. Like I'm taking over your territory or something. The nerve, I must have for abiding by the rules of the road.
Just think of it like a zipper, people. One tooth after the other until the zipper lines into place. Not that difficult of a concept.
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