Anyone who's ever had sex knows that the potential of getting someone pregnant is horrifying. Which is why 'Knocked Up' works in a gallows humor sort of way.
The plot is simple: a guy and a girl meet at a club and get pregnant after having sex...once. Hilarity ensues.
Larry Munson, voice of the Georgia Bulldawgs, who also has his own movie club here in Athens, wonders how 'the people in Hollywood ever came up with such a movie. Twenty years ago, even, they couldn't have done this.' Funny.
Only, 'Knocked Up' isn't some cutesy, what-do-we-do-with-an-unexpected-pregnancy sort of movie. It is and it isn't. The movie has a certain amount of verisimilitude and gut-wrenchingly awkward moments. The laughs are genuine and the angsty parts aren't contrived. That's very hard to find in movies today.
Especially the arguments. They get f*cking brutal. Judd Apatow really has a hold on 'adult' sexual comedies. WHile most movies pander to the lowest common denominator for comic effect, Apatow uses those low-brow moments to reinforce the stronger parts of the movie. He's not pandering, and he chose a great leading man for the movie in Seth Rogen.
The funniest movie this year so far. By far, I'd say. And I'm debating on thinking it funnier than '40 Year Old Virgin'. That, my friends, is a tall order.
Paris is going to jail, and some people seem to think that it's because people dislike her. Rob Sheffield, of Rolling Stone, writes that "Sending Paris Hilton to jail for being the most loathed celeprosy lesion in the history of the species seems like a happening idea at first [. . .] But it sets a dangerous precedent to jail celebs just because someone hates them."
What? Am I wrong, or did Paris drive without her license? Hmmm. If she went to jail for people hating her, wouldn't she already be there? She's already done enough things to warrant it, don't you think?
This week on Telebisshon, watch FOX's On the Lot, where wannabe filmmakers argue with each other for an hour and hope to become megastars (which they probably won't). 5/29 @ 9 PM. Or, on the History Channel, you can watch a show called STAR WARS: The Legacy. 'Nuff Said. 5/28 @ 9 PM.
There's a new minstrel show in town. I'd heard of Shirley Q. Liquor before - a gay white man in blackface, no less - but I thought it was just some underground nonsense. It's come to the attention of the nation, now, and a huge debate has sparked over it. How is this not considered a modern minstrel show? Being a gay dude doesn't excuse him from getting onstage and singing "The 12 Days of Kwanzaa".
Sample Lyric:
On the eleventh day of Kwanzaa... I got out on parole. I rolled a big joint, went down to church and talked all out of my head. Got happy and shouted, passed out and hollered. They called 911 and the Lord set me free! Gave my testimony, stepped on home, didn't even remember where I stayed, I woke up real hungry and confused. LORD
I've also included a performance of the song here, as well. Now, I'll get into the debate over its impact and potential racism/not racism (Chuck Knipp, the character's creator, swears that it is not).
Think of it, people: It's Memorial Day Weekend. It might even hit 150 or so, if ticket sales on Monday are comparable to this weekend's numbers. A few of the cast members have voiced an unwillingness to push the franchise forward, but, then again, with such a great opening box-office draw, how would they be able to turn it down? The studio would be able to pay them millions and millions more for reprising their roles, even if for just one more movie.
And, just to let everyone know, the Democrats are wimps. They got elected to help make the mess in Iraq better, and so far they haven't had the collateral to do anything at all. There's an old adage that goes, "To get out of a hole, first you've got to stop digging." With the way the Dems are running things, I don't know that it will be possible until 2008, if not later.
Keith Olberman said, in a special comment on his show "Countdown":
Few men or women elected in our history—whether executive or legislative, state or national—have been sent into office with a mandate more obvious, nor instructions more clear:
Get us out of Iraq.
Yet after six months of preparation and execution—half a year gathering the strands of public support; translating into action, the collective will of the nearly 70 percent of Americans who reject this War of Lies, the Democrats have managed only this:
The Democratic leadership has surrendered to a president—if not the worst president, then easily the most selfish, in our history—who happily blackmails his own people, and uses his own military personnel as hostages to his asinine demand, that the Democrats “give the troops their money”;
He goes on to say more, but alas, this is a blog and not an encyclopedia, so I must go now. Thanks for checking in.
Now, I must admit that I'm currying favor with the picture to the right of this post. It would be disingenuous for me not to admit that. Only Michael Moore would not.
Okay, so this story is going to be very, very strange, so try to keep up. And, for reference's sake, Michael Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, might have been involved in a vicious dog-fighting ring. Okay. Now.
The radio hosts on ESPN Radio - all of them - talked about the issue today in great detail, calling anyone involved in dog-fighting despicable and mentioning that it's a felony in most states.
Well, a fellow employee of mine much higher up on the food chain walked by as the topic was being discussed and - I suppose because we're on different ends of the political spectrum - asked me, "Now why is there a law against dog-fighting?"
Do no mistake me: the man in question is extremely intelligent and was only being semi-obtuse here, so don't scoff yet. I told him I thought it was obvious. He then explained that he agreed that it was horrendous, but then he countered that he didn't think the federal government should get involved if two people wanted to fight their dogs.
I told him that I would have to think about a justification for why I thought it was a law. It seemed a pretty cool challenge, and I came up with the example of incest. I thought that certainly he would agree that, though one should be pretty much allowed to do what he wants as long as it did not harm another being, certain legislation is led by social mores and is not necessarily the fault of the federal government.
Now, when I mentioned that position to him later, telling him that you couldn't marry, say, your mother if you wanted to, he said: "But you should be able to."
Now, I have to admit that this caught me off-guard. It shouldn't have, but it did. It was a strictly philosophical and tactical maneuver. He then likened what I'd said earlier to the abortion argument, which I also should have seen coming. He told me that, if I defended abortion, which I do, that I was putting a dog's life above a human being's.
When I explained that I didn't and that I didn't think that in the first trimester a bundle of cells was a human being, much as an acorn is not an acorn tree, he persisted in telling me that if a woman can kill a bundle of cells bound to become a human, then a man should be able to kill a dog.
Well, perhaps it was a segue into talking about legislation, because he then said that he didn't agree with abortion but that a woman should have the right to do it. Because he's an absolutist in liberties, I presume. His main point was that basically nothing doing with a person's choices should or could be legislated.
Now, I'm aware that it was an overarching challenge on the belief in abortion - which ranks low on my scale of necessities in politics - but I could tell he thought he'd won. Truth be told, I don't really care. Somone so staunchly anti-government wouldn't accept less as an answer. Because there's no way to prove why there should be federal regulation. There just really is not a decent argument to say, "Well, yeah, why? Why should this be a law or this be a law? Why should it be legislated?" It's frustrating.
See how this really had nothing to do with dog-fighting whatsoever? I give up.
So I think I'm finally starting to grow up a little bit, and although it's going to be beneficial to my future, I'm not quite sure how it happened. One day I was trying to figure out how to buy all of the seasons of Aqua Teen Hunger Force on DVD and still have money for beer, and the next I'm talking about opening a 5.05% savings account with HSBC and discussing the tax benefits of starting a Roth IRA versus a traditional one.
Wow. Life comes at you fast.
Moreover, I've been contemplating saving for a house. It's one of the reasons I started the high-yield savings account. I even impressed my boss with my savings-savvy.
And it only took me twenty-five years to get this far. I'm what psychologists like to call a "late bloomer". It usually happens with kids who have affluent parents. They continue to leech off of their parents until either A) the parents cut them off or B) they wake up and realize, "Hey, I'm a f**king loser!"
Option B) very rarely happens.
It wasn't the case with me. I leeched off myself for far too long, ignoring that there is such a thing as a future and that I should be planning for it.
So I think I'm slowly freeing myself from the state of arrested development I've been in my entire life, and I'm happy. I used to be very anti-establishment, like, Hey, leave all the money-saving to bankers on Wall Street. Just give me METAL!
Now, I've realized just how dumb it was to just blow all of my money because I wanted to enjoy it.
And, to be honest, understanding markets and percentages and stuff really isn't that bad. In fact, I'm kind of enjoying this new knowledge.
Tonight I hit the coveted 300-page mark in the third novel - tentatively titled "Beast of Burden" - and also the 90,000 word mark. Simultaneously. I'm stoked!
It appears as though the book might be another hundred pages or so, but don't fret. It's paced well, and I'm thinking that it's the best book I've written thus far.
Besides, there being a "Bratz" movie coming out this summer gives me hope that SOMEWHERE there is a market for my writing. I mean, if Paris Hilton can get a recording contract, then maybe. . .oh, well, nevermind. I guess I'm not a millionaire heiress now am I?
The Vampire Guide Mar 23, 2007 - May 1, 2007 Win $500.00, 2nd Place: $200.00, 3rd Place: $50.00
The results still haven't come through on the "Vampire Guide" Writing Contest, but I'm still optimistic. I found out this morning that, were I to win, I'd get $500 and an article on the front page of the web site.
Despite that, you can read my work - as always - at Writerscafe. Click on the link below. You can read my story "Hostile Takeover", which, I'm hoping, is going to win the Vampire Guide Contest. It's pretty good.
Let me know what you think about my writing. I'm always glad to get criticism.
Um, I got tagged for a linky-thingy - what are they called - in which you draw a "Pollock" from the web site and then post it on your site and tag people.
Obviously, I'm a moron to not be able to do this.
But - hey - I can get away with that, right? You, too, can create your own Pollock painting at Jacksonpollock.org
I'm going to tag other people in hopes that they might be able to help me not be stupid. I would post my painting, but since I don't know how to save it and post it, you'll just have to trust me that it's great!
Entourage is really a great show, and I've always associated it with shows like The Sopranos, which, at times, can be extremely violent and filthy.
Thinking back on it, I don't know why I thought that. Entourage is nothing more than a (male) teenager's fantasy. I mean, what guy watches that show and then doesn't want to A) be a movie star or B) have a friend who is a movie star and be a member of his posse.
There's a lot of profanity, but so what? It's intended for adults. And, I don't think that it's excessive. Then again, I don't really think that any show has an excessive amount of cursing.
No violence, unless you count Johnny Drama nailing a dude in the face during a scuffle with Seth Green's own entourage. No nudity, as far back as I can remember. There are lots of girls in bikinis, but that's no different than, say, CSI: Miami. Not that I've ever watched that show.
So what it comes down to is perception. Because it's on HBO, I - and many other people - think that it's inherently a bawdy program. But it's not. I'll repeat: it's a teenage fantasy wrapped up in a big budget.
And I love it.
I only hope that it's able to stick around for a few more seasons. That's the one problem of HBO shows. It takes around ten years for a six-year program to air. See The Sopranos. Entourage has already begun doing the cryptic Season ?/Part 1/2 thing. Which is what Sex & the City, among other shows, did as they finished up.
Of course, I hope this isn't the case with our friends out in Cali.
Someone pretty please make sure that Alec Baldwin gets some satisfaction in the custody battle for his - "12, or 11," as he puts it - year-old child, Ireland. Kim Basinger. Yes, you. Fellow Georgian. QUIT IT! Leave Alec alone, or at least tell Ireland to call him once in a while. The two of you play nice with Baldwin.
Why?
Because I love "30 Rock." I want to see the show on the air for another few years. You know how hard it is to find sitcoms that are actually funny these days? I would sell your children into slavery to make sure that Alec Baldwin stays on "30 Rock." To me, it's just that damn funny.
According to the NY Times,
Alec Baldwin said on “The View” yesterday that he wanted to quit that NBC sitcom to write a book about “parental alienation.”
Come on. Even Carrot Top wouldn't make that joke. In either case, it's not funny, even though I doubt that Baldwin is joking.
So he called his kid a incosiderate pig. At least he didn't call her a pig f**ker. That would have been overboard.
Besides, how many of you watch "30 Rock?" It's Tina Fey's finest hour. I think it would be horrific if the show were to tank without it being her fault. So, I think it goes without saying, Tina Fey is the real victim in this whole mess.
You should be ashamed of yourselves for blasting Baldwin so badly. Nice alliteration, huh? He's only a pawn in the right-wing media's scheme to end good television and replace it all with CSI spinoffs.
Don't you get it? Liberal actors make for great shows. Not in all cases, but isn't Alec Baldwin the poster boy for everything that (Republicans think) is wrong with America? Are you going to let them ruin a great show and put such a talented writer on her ass?
Also, Tracy Morgan-Jordan is fantastic on the show. There's not a better racial satire on television. Are you a racist? Okay, then, support Alec Baldwin and "30 Rock." Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan-Jordan.Or it will be all your fault.
Needless to say - or maybe not, if you don't know me - the Sopranos is one of my favorite television shows ever. If not for kick-ass comedies like Arrested Development, perhaps it would be my favorite show ever.
But, sadly, the Reign of the Sopranos is coming to an end, as the last episodes are winding down the series.
Which is fine. I expected this to happen someday. But, my question is: what is going to replace the Sopranos as the flagship show for HBO?
There has to be a franchise on which to hang the cable network's hat. The brand will only suffer if a similarly great show cannot take its place. The Sopranos and Sex & the City were the two shows that made HBO Television great. They were smart, hip, funny, YEARS ahead of their time.
And, in a few weeks, both of them will have gone the way of the dodo.
What's next? I like Big Love, but I honestly don't see it becoming the number 1 program on the network. It's a good idea, but it just doesn't have the ooomph that 'THE MODERN MAFIA' does, in reference to the Sopranos.
The truth is, you've got to have something epic to wave at the public, to say, "Look! This is the best we've got, and it's better than everyone else."
Entourage, too, is a good show, but not a leader for the company. Deadwood is gone. Rome is gone. Six Feet Under, kaputz. Same with Carnivale. Ditto Oz.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is coming back, too, for a sixth season, and I'm glad about that, but there has to be something else. What is going to be the big guy? The Wire? I don't think so.
I'm a winner, sort of! Today represents the first real indication that my fiction is leading somewhere.
Let me give you all of the news. At first, when I got home last night, I checked my profile and saw that I'd received a few new messages. Turns out, I placed 2nd in an online writing contest called "How Bizzare!"
I was so happy, I could have wet myself.
So, the gal pal and I picked up some celebratory items: cheesecake, beer, her new Simple magazine, and my leftover Japanese food.
Good times, right? Well, when I checked my account again, to revel in having actually placed in something, I found that I had placed 2nd in a Fantasy & Horror contest with another one of my stories. I was elated, to say the least. Not one, but two bits of good information in a single day.
So, for all of you who have been wondering where my time has gone, this is the reason. I've been working on getting published and getting reckognized. You can read my stuff by clicking on the link above. Or by clicking on the "Read My Writing" link below on the table.
"Hot Fuzz" is opening today, and though it's not a horror movie, Slasher Central is covering it. Why not? Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Nick Frost made one of the best zombie movies in the last two decades with "Shaun of the Dead" in 2004.
The big question coming into "Hot Fuzz" was, Can these guys go chameleon and conquer another genre of movie, in the form of the American action flick?
All appearances say yes. E! Online reviewer Alex Markerson says, "It's hard to imagine having more fun in a theater without being arrested." He gives the movie an A overall. The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive for those guys, and we here at Slasher Central are glad to see that.
Unlike other sites, though, I won't bother to spoonfeed you the plot for the sake of beefing up the post. Suffice it to say that it's "Agatha Christie meets John Woo" (it's what Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg called it on the Morning X).
I'm sure there will be lots of explosions, car chases, and hopefully - because it's Pegg, Wright and Frost - blood. If they can at all replicate the sort of "thinking dude's humor" that they nailed in "Shaun of the Dead" then this should be a must-see.
. . .That Arrested Development is no longer on the air. Lady Protocol and I have been watching Arrested Development lately, and something about it being canceled really gets under my skin. It may be the fact that it's one of my favorite show ever - probably my favorite comedy show ever - but it also has to do with what got it canceled.
A) FOX's incompetence and B) People who were too interested in American Idol to care. Both of those are sad, if you ask me.
I mean, I guess you can't lament the downfall of a television show, and I won't go into how much I love it, but come on! Arrested Development was just such a smart show.
Oh, well.
On a lighter note, people are calling the more than 5 million e-mails missing from Karl Rove's files the "15 minutes of missing tape" of this era.
How can somebody lose 5 million e-mails. Well, I can tell how it happened this time - rapidly pressing the delete button - but I can't believe that more people aren't outraged.
I mean, really, how much crooked shit can this administration do before people wise up?
So, a lot has been going on in my world in the last few days.
And apparently in the world as a whole, especially today. I can't even imagine the pain that the people in Virginia must be going through at the moment. It's awful.
Beyond that, I don't know how great I feel talking about the successes of my book and such tonight. I did make it to the 60,000 word mark tonight (finally), and I have entered some contests on a writing community to which I belong. I'm excited about the prospect of having people actually read my work, so that's good.
Saving money, paying off debt, all of that. Things are moving ahead. Oh, and an annoying girl from work quit abruptly today, so I guess it's not all bad.
I read Harrison Bergeron in high school. I thought it was a great story, but I also didn't have time to read a great author back then. I was forced to read the classics, old tomes I understood but about which I could have cared less.
But, during my first trip Out West, Spring of 2002, I read Breakfast of Champions on the way back. It was not the first book I ever read which changed the way I thought about life, but it was probably the most important in my overall development.
Kurt Vonnegut passed away last night in Manhattan. He was 84. On another, similar yet unrelated, note, I entered a writing contest for the first time in my career. I only hope that it was not that fact which ultimately killed Mr. Vonnegut.
I think he would have appreciated that joke. God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut.
Red State, huh? Can you just guess what that means? "Red" as in Republican, "horror" as in the horror of Conservative ideals? Along with another Smith attack on religion, I can imagine how badly he is going to treat the average American in "flyover" country with this one.
I can just imagine this guy - there's a picture of him on the blog itself - with one of those super-deep Southern accents. I'm not picking on the guy, but he seems to have a major problem with filmmakers. I guess of the NOT Steven Segal type.
I'm sorry, but I get so sick of the way that Southerners say they get misrepresented in the media. I'm a Southerner and, personally, I don't feel offended by most representations. People still talk about the imminent "Rise of the South", Vote Republican, and refuse to believe in Evolution.
Also, the new movie by Kevin Smith is sort of about Fred Phelps, the biggest bigot in the whole country. If you don't know Fred Phelps, he's the preacher/proprietor of godhatesfags.com - I refuse to link to it - and he and his "posse" like to go to the funerals of soldiers who have died in Iraq. To taunt them. I'm not kidding.
So, to me, if you defend Fred Phelps, you're a closet queen. That's the worst insult I could come up for you homophobes.
Personally, I'm not horrified by what Don Imus said. I have come to expect that sort of thing from him, and it doesn't surprise me. He's the same as Rush Limbaugh or any of the right-wing piggies who often have denigrating things to say about Blacks in this country.
I don't get it; it doesn't surprise me.
Now, I definitely disagree with what he said. He attempted to make a bad joke, step over the line for comic effect, and he most certainly did one of those things. As Patrice O'Neal said yesterday, "he bombed." It wasn't funny, not in the least, and he should most definitely apologize to the girls of the Rutgers Basketball Team.
And maybe he will get fired. But I will argue that what he said has actually been positive, in a way. His ignorance has shown that people just don't tolerate that nonsense anymore. It's not an inside joke for whites to pick on blacks, and I'm glad.
Don Imus may lose his job over this, also. That he said something so dumb and racist is bad. That people have responded positively is good. It has caused a media flap, and with good reason. But I also think that this shows we are making progress as a country. We'll always have people who oppose it, but I think in the end we're all moving forward.
I'm really proud of the work I've been doing to it. I only wish that I could modify the Jinx Protocol blog page a little more. Ideally, I'd like to turn it into a 3-column blog, so that my many, many, many links could be viewable from both sides, rather than one crappy column. It's a waste of a whole third of the page. Don't you think?
Anyway, I hit the 50,000 word mark last night in the book! Yep, the third novel is going well, and I hope to be done with the first draft by the end of the month.
Also, I think I might try to write a quickie story for the 1st Best Horror Writer Contest on WritersCafe. I just don't know that I could crank out something that would place in, oh, about two days.
I just got finished with An Inconvenient Truth - OnDemand is great - and I have to say that my views haven't changed, but they have definitely been reinforced.
Like, it definitely wasn't a wow movie for me, because I already support VP Gore's plight.
Watching it did make me think that perhaps other people should wake up to this problem. I mean, who doesn't think we are at least partially to blame at this point?
I mean, there are people who think that methane gas produced by cows is as big a threat as CO2. Now, I know that downplaying CO2 is a big part of denial, but come on.
What is easier? Ridding the world of car exhaust, or lowering emissions from bovines? I would think the latter, not the former, would be easier. I'm not trying to downplay cow exhaust - ha! - but we've always had cows, horses, etc. We've not always had cars, so I would guess that cars are more integral to preserving the balance we have in nature.
Of course, I know people who think that Global Warming is bunk. Yeah, I know. You should be surprised that I'm friends with Republicans.
Well, today didn't really have anything to do with the formerly great rap artist, but I did, in fact, have a great afternoon/evening.
First of all, I got to leave work early - I begged off of work - to go see the new QT/RR double feature Grindhouse.
In two words: Fan Tastic.
I really liked both movies. AND the trailers in between, which I have been raving about incessantly. Well, the movie exceeded expectations on all fronts, which was great. It was gory and funny and tongue-in-cheek. Sheer fan stuff, but if you like horror, this is the place for you. I loved it, for God's sake!
And then I went out with my friend Bendy. Bendy, it should be noted, is a composite of my friends Ben and Wendy. Anyway, we went to Wild Wing Cafe and got a platter of wings. 25 wings; 5 wings with five flavors. It was great.
See, here's the thing you might not know about me. I love hot food. Spicy is awesome. SO, tonight, I convinced Ben to order five of the Braveheart wings. They're the hottest flavor that Wild Wing Cafe has, so it's customary that I get them.
Needless to say, they were impressively warm and hit the spot.
But, alas, I'm about to hit the hay. I've got a long day at work tomorrow. Tomorrow is the annual G-Day game for the UGA Bulldogs, and they have a scrimmage in the Spring. So, working at a bookstore which sells Bulldawg apparel, I am obligated to work on said day. Boo.
Okay, so I've been looking forward to the new Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez collaboration since it was announced sometime last year.
Two of my favorite directors making cheap, 70s-style schlock? What's not to love there?
But seriously, the movie looks like it's going to be full of debauched fun. Although I want to look at the current reviews, I'm trying to hold off. The Yahoo! Movies section has it as a B overall, but I don't know that it's accurate. I mean, come on. This is a purely genre movie(s)(?), so you can't really quantify it with an objective score, I don't think.
Anyway, that's the fanboy coming out in me.
Yesterday, I partook in some delicious - and supremely unhealthy - Taco Bell for lunch. I try to eat fast food once to twice a week for the strange things it does to my body.
But, until yesterday, I had no idea just how bad it is for you. Well, I did and I didn't. I've seen Supersize Me, and I know the dangers of eating fast food over and over. I'm sort of a healthy guy, so it is kept to a minimum for me.
But yesterday, when I got back to work, I mentioned what I'd gotten - a "few" cheesy bean and rice burritos - and almost had a heart attack when I saw how much each has in calories, fat, etc.
490 calories, 22 g fat, etc. Might as well have been a million! I freak out all the time - it's just how I cope - and this sent me into a health shock. I mean, yeah, cheese isn't that good for you, but I didn't think beans would be the death of me.
This is how I came to the conclusion that the beans are the killer: the plain bean burrito has 12g fat! I know they're refried and all, but the refried beans that I get from the store - Vegetarian beans - have only about 1g fat per can. What the hell are they doing to these beans, man?! You could cook those in pure lard and nt get that sort of result. Jesus.
I resolved that if I ever eat Taco Bell again - who am I kidding - that I just have to get the cheesy-bean-and-rice burrito, hold the beans. The cheese and rice will have to suffice, I suppose, as they are the healthier of the two ingredients in that concoction.
There's so much going on in the world right now that I hardly have the time to comment on it all. The Bush Administration is crumbling around Dick Cheney. Luckily, Bush hasn't really had enough to do with it to warrant any sort of criminal investigation.
The Supreme Court has finally upheld a ruling on the way Bush and his cronies have (mis)treated the environment. I bet Robert F. Kennedy is throwing a Happy Fit somewhere still, even a few days after the fact.
Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove might be out of work this year (as if they've ever done any in the first place)! I'm on fire tonight!
I have no joke for the Pat Tillman thing. It's just sad that he died in Friendly Fire, which, according to David Cross, is the most unfortunate euphemism. I agree.
But yeah, there's a lot going on, to say the least. I'm not positive about this, I'm really not. It's a shame that the office of the president has been sullied like this. But do any of you get the feeling that the bully's secret is finally out? Like, it's been revealed that the one kid in school who always made everyone else feel stupid can't read, or something?
Phew. For a long time there, I thought this administration was bulletproof. I'm glad/not glad that it's not.
What's confounding my sadness is that I'm reading a book called The Price of Loyalty. It's about the Bush Cabal, starting with its inception in 2000. Gosh! We had such a great f*cking chance to save Social Security, change the tax system, fund education, give a 1 trillion dollar tax cut, and then have some money left over. Oh, Jesus, that makes me so mad/sad/cynical.
So that's what I'm going through right now. I know I promised that I wouldn't talk politics as much, but this just had to be said.
Oh, but on a lighter note, I'm 140 pages - or 42,000 words - into the third book. I'm going to attempt to have it done by the end of the month. I've been pacing myself at 2,500 words a day. That's 75,000 words a month, or nearly an entire novel a month. If I could write 6 books this year, I'd be stoked.
"He came in with a large group of 12 or more without reservations and asked for a table. It was a very busy night, but a table, although cramped, was provided. On his way out, he made a nasty comment to the manager: 'Thanks for nothing.'"
Piven was at the HBO-sponsored festival to appear on a panel with fellow "Entourage" stars. Allegedly his tip also left something to be desired.
"He left a DVD of the first year of 'Entourage' to one of the waiters. [An employee] ran up the stairs and hurled it at him as he was leaving."
That's sad, because I really like[d] Jeremy Piven. I thought he'd be different, maybe, since he's been struggling at getting to fame for so long. Oh well. That's what I get.
At least he didn't leave a DVD copy of Judgement Night or Very Bad Things on the table. That would have sent to wrong message, I think.
All right. Here's an interestingly personal issue that really drives me crazy, and I hate to say it, but it's an entirely important thing.
Or so I thought.
I've always had the perception that education - or learning - all implies the same thing. I always thought growing up that having a secondary education would involve people who all held the same belief: that education was important.
Boy, was I wrong.
At least in the state of Georgia. I hate that my own personal assessment of the intellectual world was so off that no one really cares about what happens in the world, and what is right or wrong. That really disappoints me.
Now, tonight's incident is an entirely subjective and unimportant issue, but it speaks volumes for the world around us, and - frankly - it pisses me off. I'm so entirely sick of college students, especially those attending the most popular state school in Georgia, making a mockery of education by being so oblivious to the truth.
Now, what happened tonight was so minute that it doesn't matter, but it's such a significant symptom of the disease that is anti-intellectualism that I can't ignore it.
Again, I'm sorry.
At a party tonight, someone mentioned something about a bridge. I, as always, disputed what was said, calling the structure an "overpass" and not a "bridge". One girl, who shall remain nameless, said that it was an overpass. In fact, she insisted that it was a bridge, and, when a few other people agreed with her, she resolved that she was right.
Fine, I said, and I wen to look it up. Pretensious, I know, but that's just the way that I am. If something is going to get contentious, I just want to know the facts about it. What harm is there in that?
Well, when I found out the difference, which is minute but still present, I walked outside and said something about it. The party involved said, "Oh, we're so over that topic," as if if were never up for discussion in the first place.
Arrrrrgggghhhhh! I hate conscious anti-intellectualism. People who go to college should not be so lazy, especially when it comes to knowing something. Now, the person in question is not necessarily that smart in the first place, but I expected more out of my fellow academics.
And, to end this post, it's not that she was said way tonight; no, indeed, she has been that way about just about anything in which she has no knowledge, which covers a great number of topics.
It drives me crazy, and I hate it. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I feel. Wait, I'm just about to go back out there and cause more trouble. Wish me luck.
Anyone who's ever had sex knows that the potential of getting someone pregnant is horrifying. Which is why 'Knocked Up' works in a gallows humor sort of way.
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This is the Reason His Daughter Won't Speak to Him
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