Homercles: Space Monkey Man of Tomorrow
Sunday, February 29, 2004
If you grade enough really crappy tests,
Working out until you're a big quivering mass of sweaty jell-o is something of an improvement.
I'm thinking I'll have to find a better way of teaching this stuff next year.
On the bright side, two months down, and I'm still sticking to my resolution. The scale occasionally reads like I've lost five pounds, then it shows me back up to my winter weight. I need a definitive measure on a non-crappy scale.
Feb 29
Cardio Day 44
Time: 1:02:00
2004 Total: 44:36:00
Weights + Cardio: 45 Days (111 to go)
I'm thinking I'll have to find a better way of teaching this stuff next year.
On the bright side, two months down, and I'm still sticking to my resolution. The scale occasionally reads like I've lost five pounds, then it shows me back up to my winter weight. I need a definitive measure on a non-crappy scale.
Feb 29
Cardio Day 44
Time: 1:02:00
2004 Total: 44:36:00
Weights + Cardio: 45 Days (111 to go)
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Angel musings
1) Is it just me, or is there a possibility that the Slayers may get involved in this whole Fred/Illyria thing? Gotta admit, that'd be a nice way to tie up loose ends.
2) Working my way through the Season 3 DVD's, I've finally found an episode of Angel that I dislike. In the ep, there's this demon named Billy Plim, whose touch compels men to become violent towards women. You see, in every man, there's a wife-beater just waiting to come out.
You'll forgive me if I don't drink the Kool-Aid on this one.
I've been angry at women before; specific women, mind you, not WOMAN the gender as a whole.
But I will never act violently against a woman. Against anyone, for that matter, unless my life absolutely depends on it.
There is no doubt that there are males who do abuse women. It's a fact. But they're not men. (Don't even get me started on the legality of beating women in the Middle East.)
Being a man is more than any protest-sign-sized meme could ever encapsulate. So kindly refrain from telling me about how evil I am. I know my own dark heart, and there is no enmity towards womankind there. As for what is in there, that's between me and God.
2) Working my way through the Season 3 DVD's, I've finally found an episode of Angel that I dislike. In the ep, there's this demon named Billy Plim, whose touch compels men to become violent towards women. You see, in every man, there's a wife-beater just waiting to come out.
You'll forgive me if I don't drink the Kool-Aid on this one.
I've been angry at women before; specific women, mind you, not WOMAN the gender as a whole.
But I will never act violently against a woman. Against anyone, for that matter, unless my life absolutely depends on it.
There is no doubt that there are males who do abuse women. It's a fact. But they're not men. (Don't even get me started on the legality of beating women in the Middle East.)
Being a man is more than any protest-sign-sized meme could ever encapsulate. So kindly refrain from telling me about how evil I am. I know my own dark heart, and there is no enmity towards womankind there. As for what is in there, that's between me and God.
ROP, part 2
Again, compliments of the Lizardoids, I was led to this picture of the victims, along with their two year-old daughter, who was not in the car at the time. Their daughter, incidentally, will never have more than the vaguest memories of her parents.
Yep, they look like a threat to Palestine to me.
Rationalize away, Lefties. Tell me what a good and noble act this was.
*Update* While you're looking at the photo I linked to above, check out the "Middle East Conflict" slide show just to the right. While you're there, count how many pictures show wounded and bloodied Palestinians; I'll do you the favor of telling you how many pictures of wounded Israelis are there (At least in the first 1/4 of the pics, which is all I got through). Zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch. While you're at it, count how many of the text descriptions for the pics begin with "Palestinians," or "a Palestinian." It's at least 85% of them. Thanks, Reuters, for proving me right. Your little Pali love fest is sickening.
Feb 28
Cardio Day 42
Time:1:01:00
2004 Total: 43:34:00
Weights+Cardio: 44 Days (112 to go)
Yep, they look like a threat to Palestine to me.
Rationalize away, Lefties. Tell me what a good and noble act this was.
*Update* While you're looking at the photo I linked to above, check out the "Middle East Conflict" slide show just to the right. While you're there, count how many pictures show wounded and bloodied Palestinians; I'll do you the favor of telling you how many pictures of wounded Israelis are there (At least in the first 1/4 of the pics, which is all I got through). Zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch. While you're at it, count how many of the text descriptions for the pics begin with "Palestinians," or "a Palestinian." It's at least 85% of them. Thanks, Reuters, for proving me right. Your little Pali love fest is sickening.
Feb 28
Cardio Day 42
Time:1:01:00
2004 Total: 43:34:00
Weights+Cardio: 44 Days (112 to go)
The Hits Just Keep Coming From the ROP
Hot on the heels of the latest al Qaeda mixtape, al Aqsa Martyrs climb to number one with a bullet, for their latest hit, "Israeli Couple Slain in Shooting Attack." (Found via LGF.)
Before I go off about how this is another savage act, conducted by a savage people, let's stop and consider the possibility that this couple was a valid military target, one that posed an imminent threat to the Palestinian people.
You know, like the children in an Israeli schoolyard, a couple of weeks back.
Or like the family whose members were murdered at their own dinner table last year.
Or like the people in various Tel Aviv nightclubs and restaurants over the past three years.
Or like the Olympic athletes who were murdered in Munich 22 years ago.
Okay, considering it, considering it, done.
And as one of the evidently few sane people left on this Earth, I have to say that it is exactly this kind of thing which pushed me away from the Left. I just can't do the doublethink necessary to being sympathetic to the Palestinians. I can't bring myself to say, "Yes, it's horrible, BUT," without the thought derailing completely.
But that would be the progressive thing to do, yes? "Yes, it's horrible, BUT . . ."
"Our sympathies are with the Israeli people, BUT . . ."
"Terrorism is bad, BUT . . . "
It's always the "BUT" that gets emphasized.
"BUT the Israeli occupation leaves the Palestinians with no other option."
"BUT the Palestinians are being oppressed."
"BUT the two-state solution is necessary for peace."
The second part of the sentence always condones or excuses the first.
The only absolute in progressive thought is that there are no absolutes. The only judgment cast is on those who would judge the actions of others to be wrong.
No, it's much better to sit there and frown sympathetically at the loss of innocent life, then promptly make excuses about "occupied lands," and "right of return." To root for the heroism of the Islamic underdogs. (Do me a favor; find a map that shows the Middle East, North Africa, and Eurasia. Color Israel blue, and all the Muslim nations on the map that refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist red. Now tell me again about who's being oppressed, or that the security fence is a land grab.)
So I guess I wouldn't make a very good progressive. I'm a pretty accepting person, but I do have a few pesky absolutes which cannot be crossed.
This is one of them: I will not even consider the slightest sympathy for the Palestinians until they adopt non-violent tactics. As it stands, I have no sympathy. As it stands, and as far as I'm concerned, the IDF and Mossad can do whatever the hell they want by way of retribution. Fifty years of bloodshed, and through it all, the Israelis have defended their land with courage, tenacity, and the audacity to tell the rest of the world that they have a right to exist.
Give me a credible Muslim leader who sincerely wants peace. Show me a groundswell of support for peaceful compromise by Muslims anywhere. The very fact that no such leader or groundswell exists shows me that Palestinians, and Muslims at large, who genuinely want peace (yes, I'm sure they exist) are either outnumbered or too intimidated to speak up.
Sounds like a violation of free speech to me. When's the Left going to get on the case? While they're at it, could they deal with the whole sharia thing, too? Maybe I'm just a racist angry cracker from BumbleFuck, Iowa, but it occurs to me that if a Muslim woman gets raped, her family does not have the right to kill her to restore honor. But hey, maybe that's just me, what with those antiquated moral absolutes and all.
Before I go off about how this is another savage act, conducted by a savage people, let's stop and consider the possibility that this couple was a valid military target, one that posed an imminent threat to the Palestinian people.
You know, like the children in an Israeli schoolyard, a couple of weeks back.
Or like the family whose members were murdered at their own dinner table last year.
Or like the people in various Tel Aviv nightclubs and restaurants over the past three years.
Or like the Olympic athletes who were murdered in Munich 22 years ago.
Okay, considering it, considering it, done.
And as one of the evidently few sane people left on this Earth, I have to say that it is exactly this kind of thing which pushed me away from the Left. I just can't do the doublethink necessary to being sympathetic to the Palestinians. I can't bring myself to say, "Yes, it's horrible, BUT," without the thought derailing completely.
But that would be the progressive thing to do, yes? "Yes, it's horrible, BUT . . ."
"Our sympathies are with the Israeli people, BUT . . ."
"Terrorism is bad, BUT . . . "
It's always the "BUT" that gets emphasized.
"BUT the Israeli occupation leaves the Palestinians with no other option."
"BUT the Palestinians are being oppressed."
"BUT the two-state solution is necessary for peace."
The second part of the sentence always condones or excuses the first.
The only absolute in progressive thought is that there are no absolutes. The only judgment cast is on those who would judge the actions of others to be wrong.
No, it's much better to sit there and frown sympathetically at the loss of innocent life, then promptly make excuses about "occupied lands," and "right of return." To root for the heroism of the Islamic underdogs. (Do me a favor; find a map that shows the Middle East, North Africa, and Eurasia. Color Israel blue, and all the Muslim nations on the map that refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist red. Now tell me again about who's being oppressed, or that the security fence is a land grab.)
So I guess I wouldn't make a very good progressive. I'm a pretty accepting person, but I do have a few pesky absolutes which cannot be crossed.
This is one of them: I will not even consider the slightest sympathy for the Palestinians until they adopt non-violent tactics. As it stands, I have no sympathy. As it stands, and as far as I'm concerned, the IDF and Mossad can do whatever the hell they want by way of retribution. Fifty years of bloodshed, and through it all, the Israelis have defended their land with courage, tenacity, and the audacity to tell the rest of the world that they have a right to exist.
Give me a credible Muslim leader who sincerely wants peace. Show me a groundswell of support for peaceful compromise by Muslims anywhere. The very fact that no such leader or groundswell exists shows me that Palestinians, and Muslims at large, who genuinely want peace (yes, I'm sure they exist) are either outnumbered or too intimidated to speak up.
Sounds like a violation of free speech to me. When's the Left going to get on the case? While they're at it, could they deal with the whole sharia thing, too? Maybe I'm just a racist angry cracker from BumbleFuck, Iowa, but it occurs to me that if a Muslim woman gets raped, her family does not have the right to kill her to restore honor. But hey, maybe that's just me, what with those antiquated moral absolutes and all.
Friday, February 27, 2004
Alas, poor (Wini)fred
This won't make much sense if you don't watch Angel. Feel free to surf on.
"There's a hole in the world. Feels like we oughta have known."
When my great-Grandfather died in 1998, I was tapped to be a pallbearer, as my drunkle was too weak even then to lift 1/6 of 300+ pounds. After the service at the church, we loaded the casket into the back of a hearse, and rode together in someone's car out to the Lost Nation cemetary.
We talked on the way, about what I have no fucking idea. I just know it wasn't about where we were, what we were doing, or who we putting into the ground. Whatever it was, it was the conversational equivalent of putting your hands over your eyes. It was useless, and stupid, and banal, and it probably trivialized our duty.
But man, was it necessary.
So it makes sense to me that Angel and Spike would converse about the trivial things, because they know half a world away, Fred is dying; and they may have saved the world five or six times (between the two of them), but ultimately, they are as powerless as any of us.
Unlike us, the denizens of Joss Whedon's universe must deal with a new horror. Fred is gone (insofar as anyone is dead in the Buffy/Angelverse), but her body is now inhabited by a demon. It looks like her, and sounds like her, but it's not. And there she is wandering about.
Then again, it's not so different. Home movies and old photos show the dead, walking about, opening Christmas presents, and blowing out the candles. Ever seen a rerun of Saturday Night Live? Tell me that's not just a little creepy, watching John Belushi, or Gilda Radner, or Phil Hartman, or Chris Farley, live and mugging; their souls are gone, but there they are.
Man, I love this show. It resonates with me, and shows me things that I knew but never really put together. If Angel is ever moving, it's because it reminds me of something else that connects with me. On it's own, well, it's just another TV show, albeit one of the best ones on right now. When you mix in a lifetime's worth of experiences, well, then it's something else entirely.
Goodness, I'm so moribund tonight. But I guess it's on my mind right now. One of my students lost his Dad to cancer last week. When he came back to school, entirely too soon, he promptly began loafing. Not being disruptive mind you, but loafing. Daydreaming, playing games on his calculator, etc. I know I should talk to him, but I'm paralyzed. Here this lad is, facing something that I haven't had to really face despite being twice his age, and I'm trying to find a nice way of saying, "Sorry about your Dad. Now do some Geometry." Every time I think of saying something, it sounds so hollow, even in my mind.
The co-worker who lost his son last fall is back in the building. I smile and say hi whenever I see him, and he does the same in reply. A mutual peer tells me one day at lunch, "He says he's not all there. Says he's a shell."
I've been following the discussion over The Passion. Andrew Sullivan calls it violence "pornography." Roger Simon has no kind words for it either. I haven't seen it, but right now, I'm kinda feeling like they're missing the point.
Put me in His shoes. God tells me what's going to happen. That I will suffer as few human beings have ever suffered. I will be tortured, beaten, flayed, crucified, and stabbed. But in my sacrifice, I will live again, as will every other human being. If I can endure one day of hell on earth, then all of humanity will have cheated death.
If I'm Jesus, then I tell the world to sit and spin, and death is the end. But the real Jesus, he does what has to be done. And we are the cause for every shred of agony that is visited upon Him. I think there's a lot of impetus to forget that. Aside from the progressive notion that Christianity=bad, it seems we want less of a heroic sacrifice, and more of an ancient self-help guru. (Think Dr. Phil meets the Buddy Christ from Dogma.)
Those of us who believe would do well to never forget the sacrifice that was made, and that it is our sin that made it necessary.
Philip Dick wrote a book called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which was later gutted and turned into the film Blade Runner. One of the things that didn't make the leap was this box with handles. You grasped it, and suddenly you were inside a Sisyphean messiah figure, pushing a boulder up a hill, only to fall wounded, and be forced to begin again.
I think the Passion is as close as we'll ever get to that.
And all this comes bubbling up in me b/c of some trifle of a TV show. Maybe I'm just to the point in my life, between the 1/3 and 1/2 mark, where mortality isn't just some abstract, faraway concept.
I'll be back to normal tomorrow.
"There's a hole in the world. Feels like we oughta have known."
When my great-Grandfather died in 1998, I was tapped to be a pallbearer, as my drunkle was too weak even then to lift 1/6 of 300+ pounds. After the service at the church, we loaded the casket into the back of a hearse, and rode together in someone's car out to the Lost Nation cemetary.
We talked on the way, about what I have no fucking idea. I just know it wasn't about where we were, what we were doing, or who we putting into the ground. Whatever it was, it was the conversational equivalent of putting your hands over your eyes. It was useless, and stupid, and banal, and it probably trivialized our duty.
But man, was it necessary.
So it makes sense to me that Angel and Spike would converse about the trivial things, because they know half a world away, Fred is dying; and they may have saved the world five or six times (between the two of them), but ultimately, they are as powerless as any of us.
Unlike us, the denizens of Joss Whedon's universe must deal with a new horror. Fred is gone (insofar as anyone is dead in the Buffy/Angelverse), but her body is now inhabited by a demon. It looks like her, and sounds like her, but it's not. And there she is wandering about.
Then again, it's not so different. Home movies and old photos show the dead, walking about, opening Christmas presents, and blowing out the candles. Ever seen a rerun of Saturday Night Live? Tell me that's not just a little creepy, watching John Belushi, or Gilda Radner, or Phil Hartman, or Chris Farley, live and mugging; their souls are gone, but there they are.
Man, I love this show. It resonates with me, and shows me things that I knew but never really put together. If Angel is ever moving, it's because it reminds me of something else that connects with me. On it's own, well, it's just another TV show, albeit one of the best ones on right now. When you mix in a lifetime's worth of experiences, well, then it's something else entirely.
Goodness, I'm so moribund tonight. But I guess it's on my mind right now. One of my students lost his Dad to cancer last week. When he came back to school, entirely too soon, he promptly began loafing. Not being disruptive mind you, but loafing. Daydreaming, playing games on his calculator, etc. I know I should talk to him, but I'm paralyzed. Here this lad is, facing something that I haven't had to really face despite being twice his age, and I'm trying to find a nice way of saying, "Sorry about your Dad. Now do some Geometry." Every time I think of saying something, it sounds so hollow, even in my mind.
The co-worker who lost his son last fall is back in the building. I smile and say hi whenever I see him, and he does the same in reply. A mutual peer tells me one day at lunch, "He says he's not all there. Says he's a shell."
I've been following the discussion over The Passion. Andrew Sullivan calls it violence "pornography." Roger Simon has no kind words for it either. I haven't seen it, but right now, I'm kinda feeling like they're missing the point.
Put me in His shoes. God tells me what's going to happen. That I will suffer as few human beings have ever suffered. I will be tortured, beaten, flayed, crucified, and stabbed. But in my sacrifice, I will live again, as will every other human being. If I can endure one day of hell on earth, then all of humanity will have cheated death.
If I'm Jesus, then I tell the world to sit and spin, and death is the end. But the real Jesus, he does what has to be done. And we are the cause for every shred of agony that is visited upon Him. I think there's a lot of impetus to forget that. Aside from the progressive notion that Christianity=bad, it seems we want less of a heroic sacrifice, and more of an ancient self-help guru. (Think Dr. Phil meets the Buddy Christ from Dogma.)
Those of us who believe would do well to never forget the sacrifice that was made, and that it is our sin that made it necessary.
Philip Dick wrote a book called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which was later gutted and turned into the film Blade Runner. One of the things that didn't make the leap was this box with handles. You grasped it, and suddenly you were inside a Sisyphean messiah figure, pushing a boulder up a hill, only to fall wounded, and be forced to begin again.
I think the Passion is as close as we'll ever get to that.
And all this comes bubbling up in me b/c of some trifle of a TV show. Maybe I'm just to the point in my life, between the 1/3 and 1/2 mark, where mortality isn't just some abstract, faraway concept.
I'll be back to normal tomorrow.
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Just for the record
I only saw it because 15 years ago, one of my friends found his dad's secret laserdisc collection by accident.
Feb 26
Cardio Day 42
Time:1:00:00
2004 Total: 42:33:00
Weights + Cardio: 43 Days (113 to go)
Feb 26
Cardio Day 42
Time:1:00:00
2004 Total: 42:33:00
Weights + Cardio: 43 Days (113 to go)
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Wait! It's not allowed! *Boing* *Boing*
If you can guess which film this lovely snippet of dialogue is from, you win absolutely nothing. And if you know, it's not mine.
Feb 25
Cardio Day 41
Time:1:07:00
2004 Total: 41:33:00
Weights + Cardio: 42 Days (114 to go)
Feb 25
Cardio Day 41
Time:1:07:00
2004 Total: 41:33:00
Weights + Cardio: 42 Days (114 to go)
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Interesting
What minor Simpsons character am I?
What lesser-known Simpsons character are you?
Brought to you by the good folks at sacwriters.com.
Well, they got me there. Although, I don't really spend a lot of time "insluting" others. Sounds like fun, though.
What lesser-known Simpsons character are you?
Brought to you by the good folks at sacwriters.com.
Well, they got me there. Although, I don't really spend a lot of time "insluting" others. Sounds like fun, though.
Then Again, Maybe I Won't
Tonight's title brought to you by Judy Blume, whose book by that name taught me everything I ever needed to know about nocturnal emissions.
Feb 24
Cardio Day 40
Time:1:08:00
2004 Total: 40:26:00
Weights+Cardio: 41 Days (115 to go)
Feb 24
Cardio Day 40
Time:1:08:00
2004 Total: 40:26:00
Weights+Cardio: 41 Days (115 to go)
Sunday, February 22, 2004
Are You there, God? It's me, Margaret
Okay, so I ran out of titles.
Feb 22
Cardio Day 39
Time: 1:02:00
2004 Total: 39:18:00
Weights + Cardio: 40 Days (116 to go)
Feb 22
Cardio Day 39
Time: 1:02:00
2004 Total: 39:18:00
Weights + Cardio: 40 Days (116 to go)
Tell me again
how the Palestinians are noble freedom fighters. Tell me about how they just want to live in peace. Tell me exactly why they're in the moral right, and not the Israelis.
Tell me, and then go straight to hell.
*Update* Reading LGF, I stumbled on some interesting comments by the Lizardoids. The most interesting one was from someone who caught the same Stalin documentary I did.
Talking about Yalta, Stalin outmaneuvered FDR and Churchill, because western nations are willing to compromise, whereas Stalin had the luxury of being the only world leader immoral enough to sacrifice a few million more of his people if push ever came to shove with the West.
The money quote: "Stalin didn't need friends. Stalin needed enemies."
Interesting.
Who are the Palestinians if they can't hate the Jews? Seems like that's how they've defined themselves. They need a cause, a target to hurl the bodies of their own people against. The most perplexing thing about this war to me, aside from the general global consensus that Israel is somehow wrong in this, is that we're fighting an enemy who has no respect for life, be it ours or theirs.
Hell, even the axis powers surrendered when they realized they were on the brink of annihilation.
I don't like where this train of thought is leading me.
Tell me, and then go straight to hell.
*Update* Reading LGF, I stumbled on some interesting comments by the Lizardoids. The most interesting one was from someone who caught the same Stalin documentary I did.
Talking about Yalta, Stalin outmaneuvered FDR and Churchill, because western nations are willing to compromise, whereas Stalin had the luxury of being the only world leader immoral enough to sacrifice a few million more of his people if push ever came to shove with the West.
The money quote: "Stalin didn't need friends. Stalin needed enemies."
Interesting.
Who are the Palestinians if they can't hate the Jews? Seems like that's how they've defined themselves. They need a cause, a target to hurl the bodies of their own people against. The most perplexing thing about this war to me, aside from the general global consensus that Israel is somehow wrong in this, is that we're fighting an enemy who has no respect for life, be it ours or theirs.
Hell, even the axis powers surrendered when they realized they were on the brink of annihilation.
I don't like where this train of thought is leading me.
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Ahhh! The hyperbole! It burns!
I caught Stalin: Man of Steel on the History Channel tonight while working out.
Do me a favor. The next time some raving lunatic says Bush is a fascist, or compares Rumsfeld to Goebbels, kindly point out to them that such grotesque exaggeration only demeans the memory of those who lost their lives, or at the very least, their freedom, at the hands of true tyrants. If said lunatic hides behind their protest-sign-sized, sloganeering mantras, that's a clear sign that all incoming mental traffic is being blocked at the on-ramp.
Should this happen, hit them. Hard. It won't help them, but you'll feel better for it.
Being a WASP with powerful friends in industry does not equal one hundred million dead. Period. And anyone who says it does just convinces me that I made the right choice when I gave the Democratic Party the finger and charted my own course.
I'm all for free speech, and freedom to dissent. When I can wake up in the morning and scan Democratic Underground, and see that, yes, those same fucktards are still posting their same old masturbatory persecution fantasies, then I know my nation is still free.
But for Heaven's sake, tone down the rhetoric. Talk like a sane person, and maybe I'll listen.
Feb 21
Cardio Day 38
Time 1:00:00
2004 Total: 38:16:00
Weights + Cardio: 39 days (117 to go)
Do me a favor. The next time some raving lunatic says Bush is a fascist, or compares Rumsfeld to Goebbels, kindly point out to them that such grotesque exaggeration only demeans the memory of those who lost their lives, or at the very least, their freedom, at the hands of true tyrants. If said lunatic hides behind their protest-sign-sized, sloganeering mantras, that's a clear sign that all incoming mental traffic is being blocked at the on-ramp.
Should this happen, hit them. Hard. It won't help them, but you'll feel better for it.
Being a WASP with powerful friends in industry does not equal one hundred million dead. Period. And anyone who says it does just convinces me that I made the right choice when I gave the Democratic Party the finger and charted my own course.
I'm all for free speech, and freedom to dissent. When I can wake up in the morning and scan Democratic Underground, and see that, yes, those same fucktards are still posting their same old masturbatory persecution fantasies, then I know my nation is still free.
But for Heaven's sake, tone down the rhetoric. Talk like a sane person, and maybe I'll listen.
Feb 21
Cardio Day 38
Time 1:00:00
2004 Total: 38:16:00
Weights + Cardio: 39 days (117 to go)
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Out of pithy titles
Feb 19
Dardio Day 37
Time: 1:02:00
2004 total: 37:16:00
Weights + Cardio: 38 days (118 togo)
Dardio Day 37
Time: 1:02:00
2004 total: 37:16:00
Weights + Cardio: 38 days (118 togo)
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Why I don't blog for a living
Because it turns out I suck as a prognosticator pundit.
I predicted Dean would go all the way. The way the media favored their darling, it seemed a sure thing to me.
I should've learned from Wesley Clark. When the Clintons put their pawn in the game, the press was as ga-ga as a thirteen year old girl with an unrequited crush. Once the ugly truth about Clark came out (you know, summarily dismissed from his post for nearly starting World War III, his lack of party cred, etc.),the news media dropped him like a hot potato.
But I didn't see it coming for Dean. Then came the Iowa Caucases, the scream heard round the world, and suddenly their sacred cow wasn't so sacred.
I feel kind of bad about it. Not that Dean lost; mind you, I still wouldn't vote Dean for head dog-catcher, much less Commander-In-Chief. But there were a lot of people who believed in him. Friends of mine worked on the campaign, and they did it solely because they were following their hearts.
In the end, none of it mattered. Dean didn't get sunk for being an ultra-lefty. He didn't fall because he had no foreign policy experience in a time of war.
He fell because the media decided he should fall.
The moral of the story: they can make you, and they can break you. Their blatant affinity for the Left can and occasionally does take a back seat to the scent of fresh blood in the water.
Feb 18
Cardio Day 36
Time:1:02:00
2004 Total: 36:14:00
Weights + Cardio: 37 Days (119 to go)
I predicted Dean would go all the way. The way the media favored their darling, it seemed a sure thing to me.
I should've learned from Wesley Clark. When the Clintons put their pawn in the game, the press was as ga-ga as a thirteen year old girl with an unrequited crush. Once the ugly truth about Clark came out (you know, summarily dismissed from his post for nearly starting World War III, his lack of party cred, etc.),the news media dropped him like a hot potato.
But I didn't see it coming for Dean. Then came the Iowa Caucases, the scream heard round the world, and suddenly their sacred cow wasn't so sacred.
I feel kind of bad about it. Not that Dean lost; mind you, I still wouldn't vote Dean for head dog-catcher, much less Commander-In-Chief. But there were a lot of people who believed in him. Friends of mine worked on the campaign, and they did it solely because they were following their hearts.
In the end, none of it mattered. Dean didn't get sunk for being an ultra-lefty. He didn't fall because he had no foreign policy experience in a time of war.
He fell because the media decided he should fall.
The moral of the story: they can make you, and they can break you. Their blatant affinity for the Left can and occasionally does take a back seat to the scent of fresh blood in the water.
Feb 18
Cardio Day 36
Time:1:02:00
2004 Total: 36:14:00
Weights + Cardio: 37 Days (119 to go)
Monday, February 16, 2004
Maybe a good sign
I keep adding distance to my workout, but the time it takes keeps shrinking. So, either my elliptical glider has slipped a gear, or my C/V health is improving. I'd like to believe the latter, but my glider has been all but used up. I don't think that the designers actually expected someone to keep the thing for seven years, and put some 2500 miles on it.
Oh, what the hey. Go me.
Feb 16
Cardio Day 35
Time 1:00:00
2004 Total: 35:12:00
Weights + Cardio: 36 Days (120 to go)
Oh, what the hey. Go me.
Feb 16
Cardio Day 35
Time 1:00:00
2004 Total: 35:12:00
Weights + Cardio: 36 Days (120 to go)
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Still Smarting
Damn you, WB! Take your Mammy-singing frog and shove it up your ass!
Kreegah! Bungalow!!!
Okay, I feel better now.
Feb 15
Cardio Day 34
Time: 1:01:00
2004 Total: 34:12:00
Weights + Cardio: 35 days (121 to go)
Kreegah! Bungalow!!!
Okay, I feel better now.
Feb 15
Cardio Day 34
Time: 1:01:00
2004 Total: 34:12:00
Weights + Cardio: 35 days (121 to go)
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Son of a Biscuit
Angel's been canceled. They'll play out the rest of the season, maybe do some TV movies now and again, but it's pretty much over.
Now I officially have no reason to watch the WB.
Now I officially have no reason to watch the WB.
Ay Carumba
I caught Faust:Love of the Damned on Sci-Fi tonight while I worked out.
Eviscerations, satanic rituals, decapitations, child molestation, and S/M . . .
On basic cable.
Is it the end of the republic? Our culture in decline? Nah, probably not. But there's no denying that broadcast standards have loosened up a hell of a lot since even I was a wee lad.
I do think, though, that now more than ever, parents should take some GD responsibility for monitoring what their kids watch. I'm glad that I have these choices available to me, but then again, I'm an adult. Moreover, I'm an adult with students whose parents seem to exercise no parental control whatsoever. They have no idea what their kids are watching, or doing. The hardest part of my job is teaching kids that there are such things as standards and consequences. The very notion seems alien to a lot of them.
Serious digression: A colleague of mine got into an argument with a parent over their child. It seems that the child was sick on test day, and said child was reminded to make up the test. Fast forward two weeks, and our wee one never did come in to make up the test. The lad's father blamed the teacher, saying he (my colleague) should've been reminding the boy constantly about his make - up work.
Um, pops? It's called responsibility. Obviously, you don't expect that of your child. I wish him the best of luck out in the world; he's gonna need it.
And adding insult to insult: at one point, the parent asks my colleague, "Are you a liberal?"
Mary and Joseph . . .
Let me get this straight. Expecting personal accountability and personal responsibility makes you a liberal? Libertarian, perhaps. But liberal? What, does this fucktard call anyone who dares disagree a liberal? That's really not much better then when the kids call each other "Jew." At least with the kids, I can tear them a new one when they start that business.
I need a halfwit like this on my side of the political fence like a fish needs a bicycle. And so much for reasoned debate, or the rational exchange of ideas.
Heaven help me, I am beset on all sides by fucking idiots.
End of digression.
Anyway, back to Faust. Goodness, if I were 15 again, I'd probably go apeshit over this film. At my advanced age, I appreciate the craft it takes to make a schlock horror movie.
Feb 14
Cardio Day 33
Time: 1:06:00
2004 Total: 33:11:00
Weights + Cardio: 34 Days (122 to go)
Eviscerations, satanic rituals, decapitations, child molestation, and S/M . . .
On basic cable.
Is it the end of the republic? Our culture in decline? Nah, probably not. But there's no denying that broadcast standards have loosened up a hell of a lot since even I was a wee lad.
I do think, though, that now more than ever, parents should take some GD responsibility for monitoring what their kids watch. I'm glad that I have these choices available to me, but then again, I'm an adult. Moreover, I'm an adult with students whose parents seem to exercise no parental control whatsoever. They have no idea what their kids are watching, or doing. The hardest part of my job is teaching kids that there are such things as standards and consequences. The very notion seems alien to a lot of them.
Serious digression: A colleague of mine got into an argument with a parent over their child. It seems that the child was sick on test day, and said child was reminded to make up the test. Fast forward two weeks, and our wee one never did come in to make up the test. The lad's father blamed the teacher, saying he (my colleague) should've been reminding the boy constantly about his make - up work.
Um, pops? It's called responsibility. Obviously, you don't expect that of your child. I wish him the best of luck out in the world; he's gonna need it.
And adding insult to insult: at one point, the parent asks my colleague, "Are you a liberal?"
Mary and Joseph . . .
Let me get this straight. Expecting personal accountability and personal responsibility makes you a liberal? Libertarian, perhaps. But liberal? What, does this fucktard call anyone who dares disagree a liberal? That's really not much better then when the kids call each other "Jew." At least with the kids, I can tear them a new one when they start that business.
I need a halfwit like this on my side of the political fence like a fish needs a bicycle. And so much for reasoned debate, or the rational exchange of ideas.
Heaven help me, I am beset on all sides by fucking idiots.
End of digression.
Anyway, back to Faust. Goodness, if I were 15 again, I'd probably go apeshit over this film. At my advanced age, I appreciate the craft it takes to make a schlock horror movie.
Feb 14
Cardio Day 33
Time: 1:06:00
2004 Total: 33:11:00
Weights + Cardio: 34 Days (122 to go)
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Another Shout-out
. . . to Amazon.com.
I ordered Angel:Season 3 on DVD earlier this week. The title was released on Tuesday, and here it is in my hot little hands on Thursday. Six dollars cheaper than Best Buy or Wal-Mart, no sales tax (for now anyway), and free shipping.
Feb 12
Cardio Day 32
Time: 1:05:00
2004 Total: 32:05:00
Weights + Cardio: 33 Days
I ordered Angel:Season 3 on DVD earlier this week. The title was released on Tuesday, and here it is in my hot little hands on Thursday. Six dollars cheaper than Best Buy or Wal-Mart, no sales tax (for now anyway), and free shipping.
Feb 12
Cardio Day 32
Time: 1:05:00
2004 Total: 32:05:00
Weights + Cardio: 33 Days
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Trek Wars, Part 2
5: In Trek (at least in TNG and Voyager), they have to hold a meeting to decide EVERYTHING.
6: The Wilhelm Scream
7: The way Princess Leia jiggles when she runs
Feb 11
Weights Day 1
Cardio + Weights Total: 32 Days (124 to go)
6: The Wilhelm Scream
7: The way Princess Leia jiggles when she runs
Feb 11
Weights Day 1
Cardio + Weights Total: 32 Days (124 to go)
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Crossing Religions
There's a Star Wars fan film called The Formula, created by a bunch of local people, including a girl I went to high school with back in the late 80's. It's a wonderful parody of Star Wars, SW fans, and the endless stream of lightsaber duels that seem to make up the preponderance of SW fan films.
Anyway, there's a snippet of dialogue, wherein a Trekkie is coerced into creating the lightsaber effects for the film within the fan film, and he objects on the grounds that it would constitute crossing religions.
That always struck me as funny, partially due to the portrayal (or homage) to militant Trekkies, and partially because it's true. For geeks of my generation, it boils down to the Holy Trilogy vs. the Immortal 79 episodes. (I'm excluding LOTR, The Matrix, Babylon 5, et al, as I was well and truly grown up when those came out.)
I started out as a huge Trekkie, but I've grown into more of a Star Wars fan.
Trek just doesn't ring true for me.
Some reasons:
1: Klingons are supposed to be badass, right? So why do they fight like pussies?
2: A future where there's no money, and everybody has everything they want, just sounds weak. Where's the incentive to do anything?
3: The original crew members were explorers, warriors, people of passion. Next Gen, well, what a bunch of pansy-ass wussies.
4: Jedi Knights. 'Nuff said.
I'm sure I'll think of more, but I'm weary from my workout.
Feb 10
Day 31 (125 to go)
Cardio
Time:1:01:00
2004 Total:31:00:00
Anyway, there's a snippet of dialogue, wherein a Trekkie is coerced into creating the lightsaber effects for the film within the fan film, and he objects on the grounds that it would constitute crossing religions.
That always struck me as funny, partially due to the portrayal (or homage) to militant Trekkies, and partially because it's true. For geeks of my generation, it boils down to the Holy Trilogy vs. the Immortal 79 episodes. (I'm excluding LOTR, The Matrix, Babylon 5, et al, as I was well and truly grown up when those came out.)
I started out as a huge Trekkie, but I've grown into more of a Star Wars fan.
Trek just doesn't ring true for me.
Some reasons:
1: Klingons are supposed to be badass, right? So why do they fight like pussies?
2: A future where there's no money, and everybody has everything they want, just sounds weak. Where's the incentive to do anything?
3: The original crew members were explorers, warriors, people of passion. Next Gen, well, what a bunch of pansy-ass wussies.
4: Jedi Knights. 'Nuff said.
I'm sure I'll think of more, but I'm weary from my workout.
Feb 10
Day 31 (125 to go)
Cardio
Time:1:01:00
2004 Total:31:00:00
Monday, February 09, 2004
Sunday, February 08, 2004
Saturday, February 07, 2004
Hmmmm
Found via Occam's Toothbrush:
Nasrallah Pulls No Punches
"The resistance movement [against the U.S. in Iraq] may not be able to remove the U.S. from Iraq within a year, but it will be able to remove Bush, [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld and [National Security Adviser] Condoleezza Rice, together with their Zionist friends, from the White House," Nasrallah assured his listeners. Nasrallah's scenario requires no deep understanding: Suicide attacks and sabotage operations against the American forces in Iraq will cause American public opinion to turn against the president and not re-elect him, thus bringing about the disappearance of this group of leaders from the White House.
That, at least, is the situation on the surface. However, according to American sources, Syria has made it clear to Hezbollah that it will not permit the organization to carry out operations against Israel or to take action that is liable to bring about even heavier American pressure. Along with this clarification to Hezbollah, Syria let the heads of the Palestinian rejectionist groups arrive at a hudna with the Palestinian Authority - in other words, Damascus supported a respite, even if only temporary, in the armed resistance, ordered the Lebanese army and the Lebanese prosecution to take action against militants who attacked American targets in Lebanon, and made vague utterances to the effect that it is ready to renew negotiations with Israel.
Now exactly WHY would it be so gosh darned important to militant Islam that Bush not be re-elected?
Because they want it to go back to the old staus quo, that's why. They want the return of those halcyon days when terrorists could do whatever they wanted, without fear of retribution.
ATTN: Democratic candidates. Time to clue up. Terrorism is not a law enforcement issue. Serving subpoenas does not deter Islamists from terrorism, nor does it do anything about the poisoned culture of the Middle East. If you could just see this one obvious thing, I'd have a real choice come November.
Nasrallah Pulls No Punches
"The resistance movement [against the U.S. in Iraq] may not be able to remove the U.S. from Iraq within a year, but it will be able to remove Bush, [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld and [National Security Adviser] Condoleezza Rice, together with their Zionist friends, from the White House," Nasrallah assured his listeners. Nasrallah's scenario requires no deep understanding: Suicide attacks and sabotage operations against the American forces in Iraq will cause American public opinion to turn against the president and not re-elect him, thus bringing about the disappearance of this group of leaders from the White House.
That, at least, is the situation on the surface. However, according to American sources, Syria has made it clear to Hezbollah that it will not permit the organization to carry out operations against Israel or to take action that is liable to bring about even heavier American pressure. Along with this clarification to Hezbollah, Syria let the heads of the Palestinian rejectionist groups arrive at a hudna with the Palestinian Authority - in other words, Damascus supported a respite, even if only temporary, in the armed resistance, ordered the Lebanese army and the Lebanese prosecution to take action against militants who attacked American targets in Lebanon, and made vague utterances to the effect that it is ready to renew negotiations with Israel.
Now exactly WHY would it be so gosh darned important to militant Islam that Bush not be re-elected?
Because they want it to go back to the old staus quo, that's why. They want the return of those halcyon days when terrorists could do whatever they wanted, without fear of retribution.
ATTN: Democratic candidates. Time to clue up. Terrorism is not a law enforcement issue. Serving subpoenas does not deter Islamists from terrorism, nor does it do anything about the poisoned culture of the Middle East. If you could just see this one obvious thing, I'd have a real choice come November.
Friday, February 06, 2004
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Figures
I finally get into a rhythm, the kids finally settle down after the school cancellation on Monday, and we were finally learning something.
Now I see there's a 2 hour delay for tomorrow.
That's just friggin' great.
Oh well, que sera sera. It happens every year. I just have to make the best of it.
Feb 5
Day 27 (129 to go)
Cardio
Time: 1:05:00
2004 Total: 26:54:00
Now I see there's a 2 hour delay for tomorrow.
That's just friggin' great.
Oh well, que sera sera. It happens every year. I just have to make the best of it.
Feb 5
Day 27 (129 to go)
Cardio
Time: 1:05:00
2004 Total: 26:54:00
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Oh. My. Goodness.
Found the website for Chick Publications. (Hat tip: AllahPundit) You know, those creepy little comic books people leave around to entice others to convert to Christianity?
Check out this piece on the evils of Catholicism.
Honestly, these people do no service to God. If quoting scripture with hate in your heart isn't a sin, then I don't know what is.
Check out this piece on the evils of Catholicism.
Honestly, these people do no service to God. If quoting scripture with hate in your heart isn't a sin, then I don't know what is.
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Lieberman's Dropping Out
So much for Joe-mentum.
And so much for the only Democratic nominee I'd consider voting for. Kerry and Edwards have a long way to go before I'm convinced that they wouldn't roll over and abandon the Great Middle East Enema. Last I heard, they were making noises that terrorism was a law enforcement issue, not a military issue.
Yeah, because the law enforcement approach worked so well after the first WTC bombing. Yessir, stopped 'em dead in their tracks. And in a related story, cappuchin monkeys are flying out of my ass, singing "Die Walkure."
And so much for the only Democratic nominee I'd consider voting for. Kerry and Edwards have a long way to go before I'm convinced that they wouldn't roll over and abandon the Great Middle East Enema. Last I heard, they were making noises that terrorism was a law enforcement issue, not a military issue.
Yeah, because the law enforcement approach worked so well after the first WTC bombing. Yessir, stopped 'em dead in their tracks. And in a related story, cappuchin monkeys are flying out of my ass, singing "Die Walkure."
Monday, February 02, 2004
Snow Without End
It's been snowing since 7:00 this morning, with no let up. The snow day was nice and everything, but I want to be able to finish the school year before July.
Feb 2
Day 25 (131 to go)
Cardio
Time:1:02:00
2004 total: 24:46:00
Man, I can't believe I've spent an entire 24 hours plus this year exercising. An entire day of my life, going for miles but moving nowhere.
Hope that's not a metaphor for the whole exercise thing.
Feb 2
Day 25 (131 to go)
Cardio
Time:1:02:00
2004 total: 24:46:00
Man, I can't believe I've spent an entire 24 hours plus this year exercising. An entire day of my life, going for miles but moving nowhere.
Hope that's not a metaphor for the whole exercise thing.
Snow Day
No job for you. Come back, one day.
Well, it seems that there's a furor in the making for JT and Janet's tit-for-tit last night. Good Lord, I watched GMA for 30 minutes this morning, and they brought it up three times!
Get over it. It's a breast. Millions of people have them. Billions even.
Although I do find MTV's statement hilarious. "Purely unintentional," they say. Justin Timberlake says it was a "wardrobe malfunction."
Right.
C'mon, let's be honest here. Like everything else MTV produces, it was a crass manipulation of celeb appeal and prurient interest. At the very least, I think they could be honest about it.
Well, it seems that there's a furor in the making for JT and Janet's tit-for-tit last night. Good Lord, I watched GMA for 30 minutes this morning, and they brought it up three times!
Get over it. It's a breast. Millions of people have them. Billions even.
Although I do find MTV's statement hilarious. "Purely unintentional," they say. Justin Timberlake says it was a "wardrobe malfunction."
Right.
C'mon, let's be honest here. Like everything else MTV produces, it was a crass manipulation of celeb appeal and prurient interest. At the very least, I think they could be honest about it.
Sunday, February 01, 2004
