With a Nod to The Man

I am not a Dale Sr. fan. I’ve never even seen Dale Sr. race so my only exposure to him has been the hype. I don’t do hype. I hate hype. But what is obvious to a non-traditional NASCAR fan such as myself is the tremendous impact the man had on the sport. For both the sport itself and the fans, the Intimidator was in institution. Those that did follow his career, not to mention the Earnhardt family from which he was taken far too soon, sorely miss him.

So Happy Birthday Dale Sr., wherever you are I hope you have God’s Hunting and Fishing Gear and the Devil’s Own Racecar.

Speaking of Birthdays...

A Big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Elliott Sadler tomorrow! He seems to be handling the 3-0 with more than a modicum of grace.

“Thirty to me is just the next number in line. It's not a big deal. There are a lot of people that get worked up about a big birthday like this one. They get upset or worried about it but it hasn't been a big deal to me so far. Maybe I'll worry when I get to 40 but to me it's more about what you've accomplished or how satisfied you are with life than what age you are.

Right now I am in good health. I am doing something that I love so I haven't really thought about it too much because my I'm pretty happy where I am in life. I'm friends with so many different people. Some are in their 20s and some are in their 40s. To me it's not your age but your personality, your state of mind that really matters.”

*applause*

As I am turning 34 this year I can say with all confidence this is absolutely true. The birthday where I lost it was 28 because I realized I had been out of High School for ten years and done diddly-squat with my life. As I was back in school working towards my degree when I turned 30, it was barely a blip on the awareness radar with the exception that later I noticed that things calmed down a great deal. You get more focused on what really matters and less invested in creating or dealing with personal melodrama. You can still do all the fun stuff, but you can actually relax and enjoy the ride more.

So Elliott, welcome to the 30’s. It’s more fun over here.

BTW - The guy's birthday is on Beltane. How cool is that?

Oh, For the Love of Pete...and Not Rondeau.

It seems that Maggie Gyllenhaal’s fan site went through a similar experience to the one I went through a little over a month ago for raising the simple question, “How did we contribute to the political environment that created the 9-11 attacks?”

"“9/11 was a terrible tragedy and of course it goes without saying that I grieve along with every American for everyone who suffered and everyone who died in the catastrophe. But for those of us who were spared, it was also an occasion to be brave enough to ask some serious questions about America's role in the world. Because it is always useful, as individuals or nations to ask how we may have knowingly or unknowingly contributed to this conflict. Not to have the courage to ask these questions of ourselves is to betray the victims of 9/11." ~ Gyllenhaal

Gyllenhaal in no way denied the heinousness of the act or guilt of the al Queda planners and operatives who carried it out, nor has anyone, ever, because obviously the ultimate guilt for mass murder lies with the person who was so cruelly immature as to settle an argument by hijacking a plane and crashing it into office buildings, especially when the people who died had nothing to do with the creation U.S. Foreign policy.

This isn’t about excusing anyone, it's about fully understanding how it came to be and trying to find all the ways to avoid a recurrance in the future.

She merely pointed out that it takes two to make an argument and maybe we should look at what we, rather the American government who represents us, have done to piss off people in the Middle East giving extremist groups such as al-Queda recruiting material so that when they denounce the United States as “the Great Satan” their audience thinks, “Yeah, those bastards overthrew my government in favor of a tyrant!” or ”Those bastards gave the tyrant next door chemical weapons he used against our people!” rather than “But what has the U.S. ever done to me?” and changing the channel.

Now I have discussed the ridiculousness of the arguments that “Islamic terrorists hate the U.S. because we are happy, prosperous and not Islamic” before. The U.S.’ almost constant interference in the Middle East since the end of WWII has hardly been actions to “win the hearts and minds of the people” who live there. Since WWII, America has decided elections (Lebanon), overthrown governments (Iran), played favorites according to what regime we wanted to be friendly with rather than what was best of the people (Iraq/Iran war), used nations and groups as disposable pawns in the Cold War (Afghanistan) and the Gulf War (Kurds), broken promises (pretty much everyone) and steadfastly supported, with monetary and military aid, the sometimes belligerent state of Israel.

I’m attaching a link to an article from the Cato Institute that summarizes the American involvement in the Middle East since WWII. Yeah, it’s damn long. Well we’ve been damn interfering for a damn long time. They do have something, if not a great deal, to be angry with us about.

So is it so unconscionable to suggest that perhaps it is time for the U.S. to rethink it’s approach to the Middle East? As the above linked article points out:

“We have allowed our leaders to violate George Washington's sage advice, and it has cost us dearly. For Washington, "the Great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign Nations is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible." We must rediscover the wisdom of our first president.”

(The article recommend “Ropes of Sand” by Eveland, but almost any history book that focuses one the Modern Middle East, such as the one I am using for my class now “The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa” by Long, will detail the United States involvement in the region. This isn’t some hoo-doo conspiracy theory, these are facts.)

Anyway, as a result of what she said, her fansite message board was flooded with right wing nut jobs being vicious. From the website administrator: “I have taken away the comments system, because it's gotten too outta hand. You can read it as a revoke of freedom of speech if you like, but it's far from it. There just isn't a need to leave comments like a lot of you have on this fan site. Thank you to the few people who have voiced their opinions in a calm and civil manner tho. It's much appreciated.”

Granted, Free Speech means Free Speech for all and for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you put an opinion out there, you should expect it to be challenged. But there is a very large difference between challenging someone’s point of view and bullying people by screaming personal insults and death threats at them. One is a means of opening dialogue of understanding and possibly getting the other side to see your point of view or even better, finding a common ground. The other is simple fear. Fear that the opposite debater may be right and you just might be wrong so you use any means possible to “shut them up, shut them up now!” If one truly believes the United States is utterly blameless, then what does it matter if some kooky actress says otherwise? Why get so upset about it? You know what’s right. Right?

As evidence mounts of the ultimate wrongdoings of the Bush administration, the neo-conservative right has become more irrationally entrenched in their support of it. Since they are running out of arguments, they instead are relying more and more on pure hatred and viciousness to “win”, proving the impotence of their own stance but generating tremendous hatred and partisanship while doing so. I can’t tell you the number of times I have been accused of being a “liberal” just because I think the Bush administration is incompetent and openly corrupt.(A pro-2nd amendment, pro-death penalty liberal. Who knew?) but that’s mild. The ultimate was the person with whom I was arguing wishing the president would rape me (he’s doing that to me financially already, thanks).

It’s just so fucked up right now.

But it’s not the first time it has been so, the most frightening example of when Americans became so entrenched they stopped listening to each other is the Civil War, but we’ve gone through it over Civil Rights and Vietnam and others. Such is one of the joys of American politics, the right to voice one’s opinion. The thing to remember is that one of the responsibilities of it is to listen.

But Bush Hasn’t Been All Bad Lately.

Having said all that, the one thing I will say I have been pleasantly surprised by is the Hard-line Bush has taken with Israel in insisting they remove the illegal settlements from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and stick with “The Road Map” to peace.

Well done there so far. I hope he means it and I hope can maintain that line. It would be easy to do so, “Do it or you don’t get any more aid.”

Perhaps now that his second term is locked in, he doesn’t have to listen to his handlers anymore and feels freer to act as he deems necessary.

Good Luck At 'Dega!

Cup comes to the Talledega Superspeedway this Sunday and I wish everyone on the 8, 6 and 38 teams the best of luck....and that they keep all four wheels on the ground. (Sorry Elliott, couldn't resist. I'm sure you'll do fine.) Dale didn't qaulify highly, but A. that rarely makes a difference on the plate tracks and B. he come from the back so many times to either win or be in the top 5 I no longer worry about where he starts, only where he ends up. :) Have a great race everyone!

One Term Paper Down…

Two more to go.

Rambling.

So remember what I said about Tunisia? Well, it’s just amazing what you can get away with if you keep it to yourself. Rather reminds of the Eddie Izzard quote.

“Pol Pot killed one point seven million Cambodians, died under house arrest, well done there.
Stalin killed many millions, died in his bed, aged seventy-two, well done indeed.
And the reason we let them get away with it is they killed their own people.
And we're sort of fine with that.
Hitler killed people next door. Oh…stupid man.
After a couple of years we won't stand for that, will we?”

Tunisia hasn’t quite gotten to genocide, but they sure as hell don’t want anyone criticizing the current administration. Using anti-terrorism as an excuse (sound familiar?), they are throwing journalists and teen age kids with E-Zines in jail. The following report was complied by IFEX, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, a conglomerate of Journalistic, Publishing and Human Rights organizations in anticipation for the UN World Summit on Information Society, a summit to discuss the public sharing of information thought media and other outlets. Tunisia, it seems, was an ironic choice:

Tunisia: Freedom of Expression Under Siege

Interestingly enough, despite the fact that Tunisia declared the official religion to be Islam in their constitution, none of the state’s repression is aimed at religion. It’s purely about political power. They’re actually quite understanding and accepting about other religions.

Just don’t run for office.

Actually, it really interesting that some countries that do have an “Official State Approved Religion” like Britain (Anglican) and France (Catholic) don’t seem to struggle with the questions of religion and state like other, younger countries do...like us. Maybe because they are culturally old and experienced enough to remember “Hey, if we take this too seriously, a lot of people just end up dead.” and we haven’t been through that…yet.

(Here is where history can be useful: By learning from the mistakes of other countries we can avoid them.)

BTW- Eddie Izzard Rules.


Dale Jr. Teleconference
Very interesting interview. I enjoy when he gets a chance to explain all the abstract comments he makes throughout the season that fans usually get out of context. And it’s nice to know things are working out for him with Pete, even though he and the team are a bit subdued in contrast to “Mr. Chatty”. Welcome to New Englanders Dale. *chuckle*

Serenity: The Firefly Movie.

"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are definitely coming to a middle..."

The writer that made “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (which I never got into myself) a cult hit that ran for umpteen-many seasons, Joss Whedon, asked Fox to let him develop his own show. They were thrilled and let him run with it. In accordance with the imagination of entertainment executives, they thought they were getting another “Buffy”, what they got was Firefly.

It wasn’t Buffy, it wasn’t even Star Trek. They didn’t know what the heck it was so they cancelled it after 14 episodes.

Stupid bastards.

Firefly is the working man’s SciFi. This isn’t about intrepid explorers in uniforms “going where no man has gone before”, this is about a bunch of truck drivers/smugglers/thieves just trying to get by around the gritty edges of a future that is not so clean and positive. No aliens, no esoteric space phenomena. Just trying to keep their ship, Serenity, fueled and food on the table.

The “World” is all human, most of the stories happening on or around the outer colonies (all of which environmentally resemble Southern California *chuckle*), after a future in which the the human culture has melded into an expression of the two strongest: American and Chinese. It is ten years after a civil war much like our own in which the colony worlds attempted to secede from “The Alliance”. (This effect is felt strongly as the Captain of the vessel was a Captain in the Colonial infantry and the second officer was his sergeant.)

As with Buffy, the real pillars of strength of this series ia A. The characters, three dimensional beings with sense of humor and secrets that even the most obnoxious you come to enjoy. B. The dialogue, very witty and probably the most quotable of any show ever. And C. The story lines that run through all the shows, the most powerful of which is River, a genius child from a wealthy family who was kidnapped and experimented on by the Alliance who is, as the Captain Mal puts it “Not quite right…”, who is on the lamb with her high strung and recovering snob brother Simon, who serves as the ships doctor in exchange for their passage.

Then there’s, Zoe, the cool, deadly, disciplined second officer who is married to the wise cracking Wash, the ships pilot, in probably the most realistic portrayal of a married couple seen in film or TV science fiction. Coziness, Arguments and all.

Kaylee, the ship’s engineer has some worldly wisdom, yet retains an air of innocence and sweetness that everyone is protective of her.

Book, who originally signed on as a passenger and stuck around, is a monk on sabbatical, yet several clues have come out that he may have held a position in Alliance military of intelligence. He knows way too much about weapons for one thing.

Jayne is...well, I’ve discussed Jayne before.

And finally Innara, who is the ship main source of steady income. Innara is a courtesan in the old sense of the word as prostitution is not only legal, but regulated by a guild which trains and looks after it’s members. She and Mal, the surly, down to earth yet humorous captain, have an attraction that was becoming problematic just as the show was drop-kicked off the air.

They were kind enough to release the series on DVD, which is the only way for some of us to see the entire thing. (And if you are unfamiliar with the series and have access to a copy, I recomend borrowing it and checking it out.) And the fan base has been pushing for either a new home on another network almost since the bad news came down, finally Whedon was able to get the funding and get the entire cast back together to make a film “Serenity” that is goign into test screenings. This from Joss…

“Thursday, May 5th at 10:00 pm, the movie (Serenity! Pay attention! Jeez.) will be playing at exactly 10 theaters in 10 cities across the country...

Seattle
Austin
Sacramento
Boston
Altanta
Chicago
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Denver
The Portland of Oregon”

So if you are a Firefly fan living in any of these cities, go check it out and show your support. And for the rest of us poor slobs, the trailer can be found at the films website here.

EDIT: O.K. Skip that, all the shows have sold out. Congrats to Joss and the Firefly crew!

So look for this one at the theatres folks!

Book: Yes, I'd forgotten you're moonlighting as a criminal mastermind now. Got your next heist planned?
Simon: No. But I'm thinking about growing a big black mustache. I'm a traditionalist.

Listening to: Keith Urban - Be Here

I have really gotten hooked on this album.

“A Good Day for DEI” and for Mikey-Mike and the Funky Bunch

*APPLAUSE*

DEI has come a very long way since the season began, from two engines blow ups on the 15 & a 42nd place finish on the 8 to Mikey getting a second place finish on the non-restrictor plate track and a top five for the 8. My New England sense of pessimism doesn’t want to uncork the champagne yet, but I will allow myself a little “BOO Yah! IN YER FACE HAMMOND!” (just a little one) as DEI marches onward and upward into the Chase.

It was so schweet and yet agonizing watching Waltrip fling himself around the track trying to catch Busch. He really, *really* wanted that win. I’m sure some drivers don’t even bother trying the high line and just tell their spotters, “Watch the 15 and the 9 and see how they do.” He and Kasey are always the first ones to go for that high line and it was nice to see it work for him. Dale did a great job staying out of trouble as the car came in. “Great Job!” to the entire Bud team for their effort. Things are really starting to gel. I know two races is not enough to constitute a trend, but I have no worries whatsoever about them making the Chase.

I do have an interesting analysis to undertake, if someone ever has that kind of time on their hands. It’s obvious that that Tony Jr. has Phoenix and Plate Tracks wired. We always hear about what drivers do well at what tracks, but I’m wondering what crew chiefs do well at what tracks? Do crew cheifs have specialities, tracks they really know how to beat?

Congrats to Elf-Boy on his win and for the smack back on Jeffie-Pop. That was schweet. But what is up with Mini-me? I know his mentor can be an aggresive little butt-head when the occasion calls for it (ie. spinning Rubberhead out at Martinsville and Dale Jr.’s “Bath in the Pits” last year) but he’s hasn’t been this stupid about it (at least not that I have seen) JJ is beginning to take on shades of Happy Harvick in his bone headed aggressiveness going into the turns. I was prepared to let the thing with Tony go as a “racin’ deal”, if there was contact it was obviously minimal maybe it was an “oops”, but this is the what? The third time in as many races and what is up with his whining post race?

“The last three or four weeks I've raced with him, when I get to him he's mad that I'm going by and he starts flipping me off and chopping me and running me all over the place. He started doing the same thing again (tonight), I haven't been around him all race. Shoots me the bird running down the backstretch and runs me all over the place and then goes in the turn and stands on the brakes to mess with me."

Boo–Freakin'-Hoo. This isn’t a cotillion Lowes-Boy. That’s no excuse for racing someone that hard into the corner and screwing up the chances of 3 other guys behind you.

Speaking of which, nice save by Mark Martin avoiding that wreck and “Good Job!” once again to Elliott and the M& M guys on pulling the 38 up from the late 20’s to an 11th place finish.

Speaking of having too much time on my hands: SciFi & NASCAR

Man those cautions can be a bore.

Now, as some of you know, I have drawn certain comparisons between the worlds of SciFi and NASCAR before (Hendricks MotorSports = the Borg) and seeing Star Wars plastered at over the RYR guys I got to thinking (always a dangerous pastime…).

‘That’s not right. We all know whom the highly talented, yet occasionally petulant blonde with the father issues is. DEI is the Star Wars universe.”

Of course this means Mikey is Han Solo...or Chewbacca. Actually he’s more the Lando Calrissian type. Truex would be Han...or Chewbacca. Kelley would be Leia. Kerry is Biggs. Tony Sr. is Ben Kenobi and reclusive Teresa is Yoda.

“Money we have. Expand chassis program we will. Yes.”

We all know who Darth is. “You must use the force at Talledega my son!”

(One ticket please. Straight to hell.)

So if Hendrick’s is Star Trek (which is cool because in expanding the universe, that could mean that Shrub is Romulan, he has attitude and the ears for it) and DEI is Star Wars, what does that make Roush, Evernham, RYR, Gibbs and Penske?

Hrm...

Fillibusters

This is simply frightening. The neo-conservative Republicans are willing to do away with anything, any check and balance, any right, that could possibly get in the way of these judicial appointments. Rather ironic given the criticism about “legislating from the bench” that GWB has been handing out lately (which is rather impossible to prohibit, since all judgments become precedent), more ironic still since that what the Supreme Court is there to do: interpret and determine the Constitutionality of laws. *DUH* When a party is so willing to run rampant over the structure of the American government and the Rights of the American people in the name of their own party agenda…*shudder*

And it’s not all Republicans. Classic Republican conservatives like Bob Dole and John McCain are both farsighted enough to have spoken out against removing this useful tool of the minority. It wasn’t that long ago that Republicans were the minority in both houses of the legislature and it’s amazing to see how short the memory is in the neo-conservative mind. But in the end, I can only hope that the neo-conservatives continue to make these short sighted, belligerent moves that alienate the classic conservative Republicans and induce them to finally excise this neo-conservative caner from their midst.

"In Turin it will be illegal to turn one's dog into a ridiculous fluffy toy,"

Quick, someone send Paris Hilton and Britney Spears tickets to Italy.

I knew there was a reason I liked Italian. ;)

At the Risk of TMI: The Today Sponge Returns to U.S.

For those of us who can't use BC Pills (and many of us simply can't because it turns us into screaming psycotic bitches from hell, which is effective birth control but not a lot of fun...), this is a God send! Or rather a Goddess send! Either way it's great!

Whee!

I get to spend the rest of the day working up a report on the Republic of Tunisia’s Constitution. People tend forget there are some parts of the Islamic world that go on about their business making no trouble at all...

Osama 1: Flightess Aquatic Avians 0

"When penguins are outlawed, only outlaws will be penguins." ~ TF KickahaOta

Not Firing On All Cylinders

After reading some of the backlog of posts here, I realized my mental acuity is not what it should be. Esp. after repeating myself almost verbatim about a TV show, very embarrassing. I apologize for this blog not being up to snuff both in content and eloquence. Gerry, midterms, papers and a low grade infection that has been hanging on for a few weeks seems to have taken it toll. Hopefully things will be cleared up soon and I can back to blogging under full horsepower.

Part 2 of 2: Sunday

Racing, racing.

It was a good day for the Bud Team, though not a great one. I’m still a bit fuzzy on why they ordered a track bar change on a car that was running 3rd only 20 laps or so into the race. *glare* While he only went down to 15th or so, he spent most of the race struggling to get back up there. It was fun watching he and Mikey race it out, if it wasn’t for the anticipated crowing of the pro-Eury ant-Teresa crowd I’ll have to listen to on the boards for this next week. But still, it is another step forward. 20 laps before the end of the race, Dale Jr. had the second (or maybe it was the third) fastest time of all the cars on the track before his tires faded. There was some tension over the radio, but I think this is one of those things that “slow and steady wins the race”, I rather see a steady trek towards improvement, learning along the way, rather than spectacular results right out of the box only to have to team collapse in confusion when things don’t go smoothly. So Good Job Guys!

Props also to 15 team too; bit slow in the pits, but they obviously got that car goin’. Great Job Mikey! And to Elliott’s pit crew for throwing everything but the kitchen sink at that car and getting into the top 15 by the end of the race. Kasey. :( And Tony! *gasp* Dude do NOT scare us like that! I'll avoid all the "Hot-Temper" cliche jokes and just thank the Gawds the guy is relatively unharmed. How did fire get into the cockpit?

Is it just me, or does every time Biffle gets out in front he’s gone. Does that guy stash a canister of nitro in his suit or what? ;) Just kidding. Man, for a back up car coming ALL the way from the back, that was one hell of a win!

End to my Spring Break: Movies.

I watched Elektra and Hotel Rwanda yesterday. Electra was ... *M’eh*, the villains sucked, but Hotel Rwanda is something I think everyone should see.

The Rwandan genocide was an abject failure on the part of the U.N. and all the western powers (America and European) that claim a higher moral standard gives them the right to interfere in other nation’s development. These people were practically abandoned as the ethnic majority in the country, the Hutus, tried to eradicate the ethnic minority, the Tutsis, as the standing army fought off rebel forces. The media got the story out, but no government cared enough to bother. Over 800,000 Tutsis, men women and children, died in slaughter in streets and in genocidal prisons. In the middle of this incredible terror, Rusesabagina, like Schindler, used what he had, what he could charm, what he could barter, to save over 1,200 people who came from the ethnicities on both sides of the conflict.

And before people think that we, as Americans, are “so beyond this sort of thing”, look what we did to the Asian American population during WWII, at what we did to the African Americans during the Civil Rights movement, at what is happening in this country now. We have armed militia, responsible to no one, out hunting down illegal aliens. How many steps is the Minuteman Project from the genocidal Interahamwe? It might not be as far as you think. And then there is the Red and Blue divide within our own nation. Given some of the rhetoric that people such as Ann Coulter have put out there such as “We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors." Don’t exactly cool the flames of hate and establish a dialog of understanding.

The first question one asks oneself when hearing of any story like this is, “Could I be that brave?” Rusesabagina had opportunities to leave, but he stayed simply because he felt that if he abandoned the refugees at the hotel, “it would be as if I had killed them myself”. In today's modern society of denying responsibility for anything and everything, would we be able to instinctually recognize the responsibility we each have to each other? Are people like Rusesabagina and Schindler extordinary people or are they just like you and me in the right place at the right time? I don’t know. I don’t what I would do, I don’t think anyone can answer that question until faced with the gun. I can hope that we all would.

Part 1 of 2: Hooray for Hollywood.

I’ve spent 18 years here and really have never fit into to either the Southern California crowd or the “L.A.” crowd (those are two separate subcultures out here). But I do love living here for the opportunities that it presents, not only in simply being a multi-cultural urban setting, but for the two events I went to this weekend.

Friday Night – Henry Rollins

Now, I’ve never been a Punk fan. My "background", if you will, is Heavy Metal and Alternative back when that meant something. However, many moons ago someone handed me the Rollins book “Get In The Van”, which is an account of his days with Black Flag, probably The Seminal American Punk band. Rollins immediately struck me with his stark perception and eloquence, but also with an honesty that is not simply brutal, it’s barbaric. You don’t read Rollins to be entertained, you read him to be challenged. I don’t always agree with what he has to say, and sometimes he makes me flat out uncomfortable, but he always makes me think. (“The Portable Henry Rollins” is a good way to get introduced to his written works since it covers a wide variety of his poetry and prose from different periods of his life.)

Rollins had a series of charity shows over the weekend on the tiny little "basement club style" stage (maybe 100 people squeezed in the audience there) at McCabe’s Guitar Store in Santa Monica. It’s hard to imagine any band standing up there since the high energy, in your face, Henry Rollins took up the entire thing and held the audience, just talking, for almost two hours.

On neo-conservative pundits: “I’m not one of these tree hugging, patchouli smoking, hacky-sack playing liberals. I want the 24 hour house party with the Ramon’s and they are standing in my way God damn it! The line is drawn in the stand. This will happen on my watch!…..Actually, Bill O’Reiley and I are very much alike, except I’m right and he’s a dick.”

Now on the surface a Rollins performance may seem like mere stand-up comedy, but it isn’t. There’s much more here than funny anecdotes as Rollins takes you through the tragedies and send ups, the silly and sublime that life entails. The juxtaposition of being present at the death of one of closest friend’s mother, whom he had known his entire life, to his finest comic moment on the set of films he was shooting a scant couple days later drives home the wide range of human experience.

One thing I have always liked about Rollins is that while his viewpoint is resolutely masculine, it is not at the expense of the feminine gender. Often when you encounter someone as testosterone rich as Henry Rollins is, they don’t actually like women all that much. Oh, they like sleeping with them, but after that they just wish they would go away so they can hang out with their male friends and play video games or whathaveyou. They don’t really like women as people. In fact, one macho type I dated for sometime admitted that he thought that women in general were “naturally treacherous and vicious”. (Mind you, this was the guy who spent three years lying to me about his work/travel and sleeping with anything in a skirt. Projection much?) Rollins isn’t that way, he is confidant enough in his masculinity that he doesn’t feel the need to degrade women to make his masculinity look better. Oh, he has no issues pointing out our foibles, but he just as honestly points out his own and that of the male gender. Shown last Friday the most in his relations with the “Cosmo for Men” (my comparison), “Maxim” magazine whom he pointed out encourages men “to treat women like barnyard animals” and just like Cosmo, gives a completely materialistic and unrealistic picture of what the “American Man” is supposed to be like as well as the completely unrealistic ideal that women are looking for too.

I wish I could throw more quotes up here, but A. I don’t want to infringe any of Henry copy writes because he’s self published, and B. I can’t remember how he said it exactly, which was so funny and insightful, and I’ll probably mangle it. It was a great show and if you find out he’s coming to a local club or college campus near you, go and see him.

Saturday Afternoon – Hugh Laurie.

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation has a series of talks with professional performers called “Conversations with…” and by luck, I got clued into Hugh Laurie’s appearance there this weekend at the SAG Center downtown. It was a small venue as well, though very well appointed. The room was probably meant to hold 150 or 170, but we had well over 200 squeezed in there. They previewed the episode that will air this coming Tuesday (all I am going to say is “No, don’t thank me. I’m just that kind of guy.”) and then Mr. Laurie came out and took questions from the audience.

It is always interesting sitting in the middle of “Industry people”, who really are a breed apart, and getting a glimpse into their world. After running through various events and seminars that the SAG was giving, the MC extolled the audience that they were the “heart and soul of culture”. I guess with the amount of rejection these people have to deal with in their chosen careers, anytime they can get a boost it’s a good thing. Unfortunately, most of the questions from the audience were more fan-related than art related. I figured a bunch of actors would want to know more about acting, but I guess that goes back to the old joke: “How many actors does it take to change a light bulb? 100. One to do it and 99 to stand around and say “I could have done that better””. *chuckle* I guess there simply is nothing like “Inside The Actors Studio”.

Anyway, had I known I would have thrown something in about characterization, physicality, choice of roles and possibility of directing an episode or two, maybe ask if there is some sort of class rift in Britain between the RSC folks and the British actors who haven’t gone through the Royal Shakespeare Company. Silly me. But there were lots of questions about his work with Stephen Fry and two invitations to dinner. He did address the second most hotly debated issue on the boards (After Thank-God-Juvenile-Twit-is-Gone-Cameron) which is the focus of the show: medical vs. story/character development. It seems this show will be heading in the direction of all of David Shore’s shows: character/relationship heavy. Which I hope doesn’t go too overboard because I was looking forward to a show that dealt with more science and ethics. He also discussed some of the errors and fudging that happened to serve the story and camera angles “I know the patient couldn’t possibly be sitting up after that procedure, but it was the only camera angle they could get that way would have been looking up their nose”, some of which I understand. Yes, the medicine needs to serve the story, but there have been a couple unforgivable errors (such as the “brown eyed parents cannot have blue eyed children” bit) in the show that simply cannot be chalked up to “helping the story along”. Good writers can work with the facts, not fudge over them.

There was some discussion of the book and the status of a second, which is now “properly three years overdue”. I hope he gets a chance to work on it, because the first was just a cracking good read. He also commented on filming British TV vs. American TV:

“Are you a seven day or eight..”
“Eight, eight day schedule."
"12, 14 hour days?"
"14. Though I use the term "Day" loosely. I think there’s day in January that’s still going on….”

On filming sex scenes: "It's not that sexy really. 30 other people in the room and you hear them whispering, "Is that the way he's thinks it done?""

And he addressed Hollywood’s rehashing of old material because studio execs are too scared to underwrite new material anymore. And here I thought they simply had run out of ideas. ;)

But all in all, Mr. Laurie was quite charming and funny. Engaged the audience, addressing each person who asked the question, personally and very personably.

There was an opportunity afterwards to go up and meet him and ask for autographs and such, which I was not expecting. But I didn’t have my copy of The Gun Seller, I was wearing sunglasses inside because I was a twit and in running late had left my regular glasses in the car and there was a big crowd of people waiting to talk to him so I figured he would probably appreciate one less person coming up and saying “Gee, you’re really swell!”, especially when he looked very tired and …

Awright! Awright! I’m shy!

So I just stood there and “window shopped”, if you will. *wistful sigh*

Happily married with three kids, of course. Damn! ;) *chuckle*

"And Remember Friday is Hawaiian Shirt Day…"

From the best movie ever for cube dwellers: Office Space.

Just Read: The Gun Seller

Hugh Laurie is not only a great actor on Fox’s Medical Drama “House”, he not only is a hugely famous British comedian (and a motorcycle enthusiast), he’s an author. In 1996 he published “The Gun Seller” a story in the tradition of James Bond-ish gritty thrillers.

Now, I’m not a big reader of thrillers. I’ve read a couple of the Tom Clancy’s. I really enjoyed Hunt For Red October, but despite the satisfyingly complex plots, the rest of them (Sum of All Fears, Cardinal of the Kremlin, Rainbow Six) left me rather flat. I loved the film of Clear and Present Danger but couldn’t make it through the book. Just couldn’t stay interested. I think it’s the characters. They just boring; proof positive that an exciting life does not necessarily mean an interesting person. It’s hard to care what happens to them. No one has a sense of humor, which would both engage the audience in their character more and give us a break. And Clancy REALLY doesn’t know how to write women.

However, I did inherit a love of Mickey Spillane from my Dad, and the dark heroes of noir murder mysteries do translate well into the dark heroes of thrillers. That combined with Laurie’s background, meant that at least The Gun Seller promised to be a chuckle.

Actually, it’s quite good. It’s surprisingly really good. The main character looks like a typical down and out mercenary type with a heart of gold in over his head, but his observations, honesty and humor really draw you in. It’s a good story too. The plot is about one step shy of too complex, so you really have to pay attention, but the brutal honesty and humor of the character gives the rather fantastic chain of events and the drama they create a rather realistic feeling, as if the main character were turning to us every once in a while and saying, "I can't belive this is really happening, can you?". The supporting players are colorful and interesting and it’s really one hell of a ride well punctuated by British’s humor: pithy observations, dry witticisms and occasional shades (just shades) of surreal Monty-Pythonesque randomness that will have you laughing out loud while the plot keeps you turning the pages.

O’Neal Still hadn’t moved.

“But the people I really feel sorry for in all of this,” I said, “besides the Woolfs, obviously, is anyone who thinks that they belong to the first group, not illegal, but all the time have been aiding, abetting and otherwise lending succor to the second group, very illegal, without even knowing it. Anyone in that position, I would say, has definitely got the skunk by the tail.”

He was looking over my shoulder now. For the first time since I met him, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Well, that’s it,” I said. “Personally, I thought is was a wonderful routine, but now over to Judith and the opinions of the judges.”

But he still didn’t answer. So I turned and followed his gaze towards the entrance to the club, where one of the doorman stood, pointing at out table. I saw him nod and step back, and the lean, powerful figure of Barnes, Russel P., strode into the room and headed towards us.

I shot them both dead there and then, and caught the next plane to Canada, where I married a woman named Mary-Beth and started up a successful pottery business.

At least, that’s what I should have done.

Great stuff. I’m going to ship it off to my Dad, he’d get a kick out of it.

Oh, and there lots of girls for the guys out there. The requisite Bond 3: the nice plucky gal, the Femme Fatale and the disposable lackey. *chuckle*

Next Friday is Earth Day

Here are some little ideas if you want to pitch in:

~If you don’t normally recycle, try keeping your soda cans, water bottles, glass and newspapers of next week and recycle them on Friday or Saturday.

~Make sure you turn off every light and appliance that you are not currently using.

~Take public transportation or ride a bike for the day.

~Go to a local farmers market for locally grown produce.

~Spend a day vegetarian. (Pizza is a perfectly vegetarian meal.)

~Plant a tree or donate to a Tree Planting Organization.

~Participate in a beach or park clean up or pick up the litter in your neighborhood (especially of your storm drains empty directly into the ocean!).

Onto Texas

Best of luck to the 8, 6 and 38 teams this weekend!

The Good, The Bad, The Fast and The Whiny.

Good News

First of all, I received a nice surprise when I got home last night.

“We have evaluated you Intent to Graduate Petition for the Associate in Arts / Science degree in History. Our evaluation indicates the following:

~ You will be eligible upon satisfactory completion of the courses listed for the Spring 2005 semester on your Intent to Graduate Petition.”

Well I’ll be dipped. The counseling office told me I had another couple classes to go. I’m getting out a semester early. I’ll have a few months off before jumping into University.

Coolness!

Bad News

Taxes suck! :(

O.k., that not really news...

Funny News

Premature Ejaculation Study

Hey, it’s spring break, lemme have some frivolous purile fun.

“The researchers timed ejaculations by giving stopwatches to the sex partners of more than 1,500 men.”

Gee, no pressure honey. *chuckle*

I pulled this article off of Fark.com, and while the commentary on it contained a relatively moderate numbers of men bragging about their “el monstro’s” ability to go for six days on end, much less than was expected really, I do find the 7 minute average to be a little on the shy side.

But the way this experiment was conducted is hardly rigorous scientific methodology. It does not mention age of subject, nor speak of attractiveness or skill of sexual partner, nor does it address the activities that preceded intercourse. Get any guy wound up enough prior and he’ll be lucky to last 30 seconds. ;)

Still no cure for cancer.

Speaking of Science

Something that I have discussed with some friends and wanted to address here is one of the most common claim of Science and Archeological quackery:

“The Scientific / Archeological establishment refuses to consider my theory because it goes against accepted theory.”

This is utter B.S.

Let me tell you someone about the research communities: They love change. If they didn’t love change, discovering something new, why the hell would they continue researching?

Relativity is being supplanted by String Theory. Modern scientists spent years in the lab discovering the Ancient Chinese were actually on to something with ginseng. Rabbits and bats change species classification about every ten years. Scientists spend their lives devoted to the search for new discoveries through the scientific method: They create a theory, they test the theory, if the test is successful (a few times) then the results are published in community journals. It get noticed within the community and other scientists test the theory. The more successful tests by a variety of scientists, the more likely the theory is valid and it will become standard theory. (“Fact” is a very, very hard title to claim in the scientific community, very.)

So whenever someone says that their medication or technique or whathaveyou is perfect and “will put doctors out of business so my work isn’t accepted in the medical/scientific community!” They’re lyin’ their ass off. Their work just hasn’t been able to stand up to the rigorous testing the scientific community requires to keep things like phrenology from being taught in med school.

Archeology is the same way. Despite many public denials, in their heart of hearts, every archeologist wants to be Indiana Jones. Maybe not with the Nazis and the Bullwhip and the Hat (o.k. maybe the Hat), but they do want to discover the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail (which, BTW-Is completely a literary invention of Chretien de Troyes for Arthurian romances. There is no historical mention of such an artifact anywhere before this writer of fiction puts it into his stories.) They would give up large portions of their anatomy to find that one artifact or lost city or new Rosetta Stone that turns the entire historical community on it’s ear, that changes the way we view history and ourselves.

Archeology approaches formulating theories differently though, or at least archeologists should. Modern archeologists look at the artifacts, the end result, and try to divine a theory. They then see if previously collected information and artifacts as well as excavating further to see if they support that theory.

(However, there has been a disturbing trend in the historical and archeological community to create the theory first and try and find the artifacts to make the theory work. In doing so they often ignore artifacts and information collected that do not fit their theory. This is not the way we should work. We look at what did happen and then divine why it happened. Not try and force events that have already taken place into fitting our personal worldview. We gain no understanding of times past by practicing History or Archeology this way.)

For millennia, the site of the Trojan War had been lost to mankind, many considered it just part of Greek myth. But in 1870, an archeologist named Heinrich Schliemann went to Turkey looking for it. Well, guess what? He found it. And while modern archeologists believe that he misidentified the layer of habitation that had to do with the Homer’s famous war, successive excavation by other archeologists proved that it was, in fact, the legendary city.

So when someone like say, Van Daniken, comes along with his half assed theories of aliens constructing the Pyramids, the scientific community sits back and says what they say to every other member of that field with a new theory: “Prove it”. But rather than providing more data and testing theories, Danekin says: “Oh, the archeological establishment doesn’t want anyone to know about my discoveries because they challenge the established order.” He’s a lyin’ whiner. He just has not provided enough data to make his work be taken seriously within the community.

So the instant you hear a scientist, archeologist, new age healer or anyone say “The establishment is trying to suppress my work!” take everything they with a hefty dose of salt.

Dust to Glory or “Dear Santa, I want a Trophy Truck for Xmas…”

Dana Brown is a documentary filmmaker who has the ability to not get the audience to leave the theatre with the thought of “Gee, that was really interesting..”, but rather “Gawd Damn! That looks like a hell of a lot of fun. I gotta try that!” His combination of brilliant cinematography, unstilted commentary from the sport’s participants and personal enthusiasm for the subject really gets the audience excited. He did it with Step Into Liquid about surfing, he does it again with Dust to Glory about off road racing and the Baja 1,000.

The Baja 1,000 is the longest single leg (meaning the race doesn’t stop overnight) auto race in the world and considered by the majority of racers to be the toughest. Entrants may race in a variety of classes from motocross bikes to dune buggies to the ultimate bad-ass trophy trucks to, no kidding, unmodified classic-era VW bugs. Racers usually trade of the seat three or four times thoughout the race, though one guy/crazy-ass MF in this film became the first motorcyclist to complete the course solo: 20 hours of hard-ass motocross racing with no rest except the few minutes it took at pits stops to fuel up and change tries. (His fatigue gets rather amusing at points.) You can have multi-million dollar teams to guys that have scraped up a couple hundred thousand to probably even less. And the contestants do not have to just contend with each other. The course not only ranges through the harsh desert of the Baja peninsula, but cities, private ranches, highways, you name it. And it’s not closed. Dodging fans, traffic & livestock is all part of the game.

I won’t tell you much more other than the film is really well done. The shots of the race itself are breathtaking and you are introduced to a truly colorful cast of characters, with race entrants from 16 to 62, in the family that inhabits the less publicized world of off road racing. For race fans this is a must see. The film is in theatres now, but if it doesn’t come to your town or you miss the release, definitely see it on DVD.

P.S. Watching this will also give NASCAR fans some understanding of where Robbie Gordon is coming from since in off road racing etiquette, bumping the car or truck you are trying to pass is considered the normal way of communicating your displeasure at your opponent’s pokiness.

“The Baja 1,000 is like an old girlfriend. “I hate you, I never want to see you again.” and a couple weeks later you’re like “I’m sorry. Can I come back?”

Cars, Music and the U.N.

Dear Goodyear, Your Tires Suck.

Wheel problems aside, watching the way tires have shred in the races this year I think it would be safe to say at this point that the new compound blows. I think it’s time to bring a second and/or third manufacturer into the mix, give Goodyear some competition to keep them on their toes. I gotta tell ya, after watching all the races this year, they ain’t selling me any tires.

Like last week, yesterdays race was very exciting. I can see why traditional fans are so attached to short tracks, lead changes and passing galore. Despite the marbles, a couple drivers were able to make that higher line work for them and that kept the day interesting, as if flying wheels and tires weren’t interesting enough.

Considering everything that got thrown at them, the Bud Team did a good job and their pit times were great! Props to Dale for wrestling a beat up car as far up as 9th. *Applause* They’re one position up in the standings and only 83 points out of the top ten. I’m pretty happy with that. :D We’re on the right track here, let’s just keep chugging away guys!

Jade has in car audio clips on his site.

Great job yesterday for Mark and Elliot. In the midst of the melee both teams had smooth days, keeping their solid cars out of trouble, moving Elliot up 2 and Mark up 6 places in the standings. Yeah!

Speaking of which, I am highly gratified to see guys like Rusty, Mark and DJ in the top ten. The more presence they have up there, the less likely that sponsors will start dropping guys just because they aren’t “young and beautiful” anymore. (Though DJ in a tux, *Day-Um!*) Besides, I like seeing the “Wily ol’ Veterans” kicking some Young Gun butt occasionally. They need it. ;)

Other notes:

~Who did not feel bad for Bobby LaBonte? That’s jus’ wrong man. When is that guy going to catch a break?
~Same for Tony Stewart, especially after the schweet pass. I tried to call my Robby Gordon/Tony fan friends after the race, but she wasn’t answering her phone. I think she was in mourning.
~Kurt and Jeffie. Maybe it was “just a racin’ deal”, “fighting over real estate”, but Jeffie-pop should have known better.
~But props to him for bringing it back from 3 laps down to win. The guy’s good.
~Kasey. Again. I’m really beginning to feel bad for the kid.
~”We could throw a house cat in there…” Y’know, if Hammond would just let up on Dale I could really get to like that guy.

“…and my foot is killing me!”

*chuckle* It’s completely self absorbed to think like this, but all could think of when I heard this (Other than "*ouch* Poor guy...") was that it was exactly what I said after going head on with the drunk driver. My little Toyota was an accordion, the engine was practically sitting in my lap, my glasses had ripped my left eyelid open when my face went into the steering wheel and it was bleeding like head wounds do: everywhere. The people at the scene kept asking me "consciousness questions": “What’s your address”, “what’s your phone number”, “what’s your mother maiden name”, etc.

“Proctor and would someone get me the hell out of here! My foot is killing me!”

Turns out other than the eyelid, which they called a plastic surgeon in at 4 am to take care of, the only other injury I had sustained was that when we hit, all my weight went into my foot which was mashed on the brake pedal and I had broken one of the metatarsals (bones in the top of the foot). I didn’t even have a concussion.

So Dale? I feel for ya man, I really do! ;)

Though maybe it’s time for some drivers to consider working out, hey?

Just a suggestion.;)

John Bolton: The Wrong Man For The Job.

The United Nations is not perfect. While it was founded on some of the highest principals of international law and democracy, the truth is the U.N. is only as strong as the commitment of it’s member countries to abide by it’s rules. When countries actually support U.N. decisions, it’s policies have been successful. However, the Rwandan genocide and the recent paternity scandals within U.N. peacekeeping forces have greatly weakened it’ reputation as a force of stability and good in the world. Reform is an issue that needs to be addressed.

However, it is the sole representation of the planetary community in which we live; the one forum for countries to have a dialog. Assigning a man who has shown himself to not only be antagonistic of the organization (“There's no such thing as the United Nations. If the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference.”), but also openly contemptuous of International Law period ("It is a big mistake for us to grant any validity to international law." ~ ignoring the fact that international laws protect us and our citizenry as well as other nation) is simply cruising for a disaster. The U.S. is in deep in the tar pit that is Iraq, not simply in commitment but in loss of international esteem. Many may think that we are the 800 lb gorilla, what need have we for international esteem? Given our commitment to Iraq, a peaceful solution to a situation…say like North Korea, isn’t simply preferred, it’s the only option. Maybe it would be better to have someone who actually encourages people to work together rather than pounding the opposition over the head with his presidential administrations agenda. Someone who will actually listened to the intelligence community rather than having them demoted for not saying what he wanted to hear. Someone who believes that all nations have the right to speak than just us. (“The U.N. Security Council only needs one permanent member: The United States.”)

The choice of John Bolton for this post was simply appalling. Not only is it almost the biggest “screw you” the Bush Administration can make to the international community, it is a choice that will simply embarrass our citizens around the world. I pray to God his nomination is defeated.

Listening to: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Disclaimer: my attitude towards music is then same as many people’s attitudes towards painting and sculpture: I don’t know much about it, but I know what I like.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are one of those bands that at first thought seems to be just there. When people think of “Great American Voices” you won’t find him/them named that often next to Elvis, Chuck Berry, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, Areosmith, etc.

“What about Tom Petty?”
“Oh yeah…”

He/They just seem to slide under the radar.

“Well she was an american girl
Raised on promises
She couldn’t help thinkin that there
Was a little more to life
Somewhere else
After all it was a great big world
With lots of places to run to
Yeah, an d if she had to die
Tryin’ she had one little promise
She was gonna keep

Oh yeah, all right
Take it easy baby
Make it last all night
She was an american girl..."

And yet, who can think of the 70’s without “Breakdown” or “Refugee”, the 80’s without “Free Fallin’” or “Don’t Come Around Here No More” or the Early 90’s without “Into the Great Wide Open” and “Last Dance With Mary Jane”. Petty'ss seemingly simple bluesy rock n’ roll musical approach disguises lyrics that are blunt and occasionally disturbing, like classic Americana skewed, as if peeling back the layers of image to reveal the real America in all it’s painful and seedy glory.

“There's pigeons down on Market Square,
She's standing in her underwear.
Lookin' down from a hotel room,
Nightfall will be coming soon.
Oh my, my, oh hell yes, you got to put on that party dress.
It was too cold to cry, when I woke up alone.
I hit my last number, I walked to the road.

Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain.
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again.”

Often clashing with record companies and promoters, Tom Petty has rarely really gotten the critical attention he and the Heartbreakers have deserved, but it is impossible to imagine American Rock n’ Roll without them.

And his work with the Traveling Wilburys rocked too. ;)

“Modern Society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyles.”

First of all, the only reason for my lack of commentary on the passing of Pope John Paul II is that fact that the TV is inundated with it already. I really don’t need to say much more. I have a great respect for the man in both his very eventful life, his humanity/personality and what he was able to accomplish in the world and the church within the confines of Catholic dogma, however I do understand where the criticism comes from in condemning the use of condoms in Africa and not taking a stronger role in the pedophilia scandals (though his health was failing at the time).

Still, I think as far as Popes go, he was one of the best the Catholic Church as ever seen. He will be missed.

On Behalf of Honest College Students Everywhere: Nicole Kristal is a Shoddy Fraudulent Bitch!

"Just sit at her computer and type for her," my boss advised me with my first client, a private-high-school student. But as I typed her name at the top right corner of the screen, she slithered onto her bed to watch "Are You Hot?" I asked her what she remembered about Huxley's "Brave New World."

"She's a slut," my client said with a sigh, referring either to the character of Lenina or the woman on TV. After a handful of three-word responses like that, I realized she didn't care. I was hired to do the thinking. The parents knew it. So did my boss.

Welcome to the world of professional paper-writing, the dirty secret of the tutoring business. It's facilitated by avaricious agencies, perpetuated by accountability-free parents and made possible by self-loathing nerds like me. For three-hour workdays, the ability to sleep in and the opportunity to get paid to learn, I tackled subjects like Dostoevsky while spoiled jerks smoked pot, took naps, surfed the Internet and had sex. Though some offered me chateaubriand and the occasional illicit drug, most treated me like the help. I put up with it because I feared working in an office for $12 an hour again.”
She then goes on to talk about other clients and whine about how depressed she was and how sad it is that her singer-song writer career never took off.

Sounds like divine justice to me. If she had any integrity at all, she would have walked out of her first assignment. If the she were truly remorseful, she would turn over the names of students that she had “completed nearly two years of college for” (or less) to the schools to have their degrees revoked and she and the tutoring company she worked for would stand trial for fraud.

I work 40+ hours a week and go to school at night and bust my ass to get the grades I do. How dare someone help spoiled, irresponsible rich kids cheat me and other honest qualified students out of places in college and the workplace and then ask me to feel sorry for her.

Sticky Sticky: Should AmerIndian Tribes Be Able to Lay Claim to Ancient Remains?

That’s a toughie, and one of the reasons I went into the history side of things rather than the anthropology side. (Besides simply not being that nosy. People who have been dead for a few hundred years are not likely to be embarassed if I pry into their personal lives.) ;)

Of course, part of it is the natural human reaction to dead bodies. If someone dug up your grandmother and stuck her in a glass case on display, you’d be pretty irate too. She’s not there anymore, but your feelings for her are. So while my family is very black humored, cracking jokes in the ER and probably will crack them over each of our corpses, I understand the feelings involved. Then there are the cultural rituals that each tribe feels that need to be fulfilled for the betterment of the soul in question and the tribe.

However, I do think there needs to be a limit of some kind. I don’t think anyone has a personal attachment to an ancestor 300+ times removed. Tribal cultures have shifted and changed so much he would have to be thoroughly studied to determine which tribe he should be remanded to anyway. (In fact, that’s one of the reasons they want to study him, ifs he more closely related to the peoples living in the area now, Apaches, Maya or of the peoples living in Chile?) So while I can sympathize with Tribes protecting the remains of their ancestors from the last couple centuries or so, I think they are outta line with this one.

Not Everything is Bad...

Things may still be dicey in Kyrgyzstan, but they are trying.

And Syrian Troops Quit Lebanon as U.N. Backs New Probe

YAY!

Film About the Baja 1,000

Dust to Glory looks kick ass. Gonna have to check that one out!

Have a great weekend all and Best of Luck to the Dale, Mark and Elliot and their teams!

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought. ~ Pope John Paul II

P.S. Random Act of Kindness

Some guy standing in front of me at the food court paid for my lunch. How sweet! :D

Better Late Than Never

O.K. I’ve reached a breathing point. I didn’t make my History of Modern Middle East midterm last night (emergency), so I’m probably screwed, but at least all the work is done.

“This is how we do it…”

Great race last Sunday. I mean it. The race itself, while not so much fun for the drivers, was a blast for the fans once they pried off Rusty’s death grip on the lead. That man is going to be one hell of a challenge when they go back to Bristol in the fall.

First off, considering that over half the cars in the field were involved in wrecks, including Elfboy’s full throttle slam into a spinning Jeff Burton (I don’t care if you don’t like the guy, you winced when you saw that), and there were no serious injuries I would say that the safety measures NASCAR has implemented in the last five years have really lived up to their promise. Now having said that, I saw some shenanigans going on out there. A couple guys trying “bump and run’ that had no business trying it. That’s one of those, if-you-can’t-do-it-right-every-time-don’t moves. Ergo there should be about dozen drivers on that field who have legitimate claim to that move. JJ obviously is not one of them.

Marks day wasn’t so hot, :( I hate seeing that man get wrecked out of a race, there is nothing so painful as watching Mark Martin being disappointed.

But on a happy note, both Dale and Elliot’s days were kick ass! The 8 Team has had a rough start to the year which was expected. It takes time for folks to settle into new situations like this. They were NOT aided by all the nay-sayers in the fan base. I understand people have gone so far as to harass Pete over his phone. (Note to world at large: People who do juvenile shit that this are LOSERS!) But that was a solid run and hopefully the first step in the journey in the right direction. Dale drove smart (and missed all those wrecks. *applause*) and good choices were made. Only thing is the time spent in the pits. Every time I looked, it seemed like Dale was losing a couple spots. Gotta pick that back up guys.

Elliott’s day was great as well, getting the pole and staying up there! Good on ya mate!

Now on to Martinsville! Lets keep this train moving guys! :D

Oh For the Love of Pete!

Not having cable I miss much of what goes on the racing world, but I have been reading about this incident with Hmiel and Jarrett.

First of all, after the brouhaha last year I thought they had instituted a 5 second delay.

Secondly, IT WAS WHILE HE WAS IN THE FREAKIN’ CAR & THE RACE WAS STILL GOING ON. Most of the drivers have acknowledged that the one-finger salute is tossed around the track more than tires are. So not only do they have to mind their P.C. P’s & Q’s while they are being interviewed post race, they have too during the race? Somehow I think they have more important things on their mind.

I understand the need for NACAR to maintain a certain standard of behavior for their drivers. After all, these races are not being shown on HBO, but national television networks; there must be a level of decorum on display for the little ones. If a football team leaving to field after losing the Super Bowl can do it, so can NASCAR drivers.

However, this is one hell of a stressful sport. The stick and ball sports do not require the endurance or levels of concentration required of those in auto-racing, not to mention spending 4 hours in a sauna while doing it. The different amount of uncertain variables a driver must contend with throughout a race would dwarf those of a football team, no doubt. So people shouldn't be acting so shocked and wounded when a cuss or an obscene gesture slips. NASCAR needs to cut their guys a little slack.

The 5 second delay for one and drop the point deductions for another. Points are earned for accomplishments on the track; they should not be deducted for mistakes off it. Sure 10 grand is pocket change for these guys, so make it more than pocket change. 50K or 80K. Take away the average price of an entire car, 100K+. That’ll make them sit up and take notice. But don’t determine someone’s championship standing based on a what comes out of their mouths (or hands) in the heat of the moment.

House Rules

No, seriously. It does. Fox's semi-new TV show “House” is great and potentially one of the best medical dramas to be seen in a while. The “medical mystery” premise is one of many scientific, social and ethical permutations to be explored and the character of Dr. Greg House, genius virologist and misanthrope, is both brilliant and highly entertaining. Especially as executed by Hugh Laurie, British comedic actor who has recently moved to explore Drama. He’s doing quite well. *applause* He also wins the "Best American Accent Performed by Member of the U.K." Award. Dunno why, but of all the (Ex)Commonwealth nations, British actors seem to have the hardest time with the flat American Accent. (Aussies usually do it best....though I can honestly say I have never heard someone from Maldives attempt an American accent.) The show needs to develop it’s other character a bit more, Foreman is one I am especially interested in. He seems to be the moral and emotional heart of the show. I think he interest House as a Protégé’ as well because as he has a B&E charge from way back, House sees him as someone who also might break the rules when necessary.

Anyway, as long as the Execs keeps the romantic schmaltz outside the main cast (and there are hints egging all the ‘shippers on already…Good God, you people killed the X-Files, haven’t you had enough already?) and keeps this a medical drama and not “The OC” in lab coats, we have the makings of a great show!

All the Pope, All the Time.

And can someone tell me why Jimmy Carter, a humanitarian who has actually met the Pope was bumped from the American delegation to the Vatican in favor of Condi Rice who, as Secretary of State with the President out of the country, should really be here managing things?

Oh, that’s right. Cheney does that anyway.

Either that or she’s assuming the FBI will take care of it.

Gas Prices

So despite having reserve of our own, our society has become such irresponsible consumers that we will soon have to pay the same prices that Europe does.

Good. We deserve it. Yeah I hate shelling out 35-40 bucks to fill my tank, but hybrid technology and alternative energy sources should have been fully researched and applicable years ago. It’s our own damn fault. Maybe now we get on the ball and start looking for alternatives instead of being chained to the Middle East.

She’s Back & She’s Bad

Apologies for my recent hiatus from my blog. I tend to handle sadness & depression by going turtle and removing myself from reality as much as humanly possible. I’ve gotten quite good at over the years. I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do, but there it is.

So lets just catch up, shall we?

First of all...

Who gives a flaming f*ck about Terry Shiavo?

That is was a terrible battle between two sets of people acting in what they both felt was Terry’s own interests is a very sad story. But you know what? It was a private one. Given the lack of documentation about Terry wishes, I can see why it went to court, but the legislature and government executives and the media should have NEVER gotten involved.

If Congress is going to hold an emergency midnight session, I would have far rather seen them using that time to address the plans for withdrawal from Iraq, the failing U.S. economy, a balanced national budget, overhauling our intelligence organization so that presidents can’t pin the blame their crappy decisions on divergent info from known pathological lairs, rejecting the nomination to United Nations Ambassador of a man who has shown open hostility towards the UN and international law, homeland security, North Korea or any number of other topics far more important to the wellbeing of the United States than this one.

And no, that does not include Steroid Scandals in Professional Athletics. I don't give a damn about them either.

While discussing this with my Sister-in-Law, we came up with the idea that Legislators need to be taken off salary and work on a commission only basis. Instead of getting paid to waste time with bread-and-circuses topics like this, not to mention rubbing elbows with corporate fat cats at cocktail parties in multi-million dollar resorts in a Grand Caymans and working on the campaigns to be reelected, they should be paid in accordance to the bills they pass and how many people they benefit. Maybe then they would understand that THEY WORK FOR US.

Now people are running around saying that Shiavo’s death and the recent decline of Pope John Paul II (one of the best Popes in history IMO) are somehow linked in some quasi-mystical/spiritual fashion.

Folks, the day Terry Shiavo died:

6,585 people died in the United States

109 of them were children under the age of 14.

106 people of the total died in motor vehicle accidents

82 killed themselves

42 were murdered

(Based on national averages provided by the CDC.)

Where is the national outcry for them?

Let get some perspective people and move on.

Where I’ve been…

I’ve gotten further drawn into TV-Land through “House”. The premise of the show is “medical mysteries”, patients coming in with a confusing variety of symptoms that only a brilliant doctor and his staff can diagnose. The most engaging aspect of the show is the almost completely misanthropic doctor with a wit so dry the Amazon drops an inch whenever he opens his mouth, often being so refreshingly un-PC and telling some very dark truths about ourselves. It’s a bloody brilliant character creation pulled off to wry perfection by British actor Hugh Laurie, who also gets the “Best American Accent Ever Done By a Member of The UK” award. (I don’t know why, but of all the (Ex)Commonwealth countries Brits seems to have the worst time imitating the flat American accent. They usually trip themselves up in someway. Aussies usually do it best.)

Now...

I’ve got 4 essays to write for my midterms, so I’ll be a bit busy next week. So best of luck to the 8, the 6 and the 38 teams at Bristol this weekend and my thoughts and prayers are with the Pope and all the Catholics in the world.