My Feelings on Bluegrass
Lavatoryrotica
I noticed a cryptic message scrawled on the inside of a bathroom stall today. This is what it said:
I'm assuming the author was not advertising a well-groomed rooster for sale, although that's not an option I'd personally rule out. Another thing to consider is, if the writer's intent was for me to "show" my "cock", to whom was I supposed to show it to? I was alone in the stall at the time, to the best of my knowledge. Although, it's also possible that this person was issuing commands using standard text-adventure format, and I was being watched on a C64 monitor somewhere.
Given the opportunity to sit down with the vandal, I'd point out that such graffiti might be more effective in a place where cock exposure isn't the default behaviour - such as a monastery, the waiting room of a clinic for erectile dysfunction, or a cat's belly.
Taint Panic!
In more entertainment n00zlez, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has earned my full recommendation. What's interesting is the mixed response it's been receiving from the multitudes.
The critics can't seem to strike a solid consensus on the movie. Some object to the lack of a linear plot, while others claim there's "odd pacing", or that the "droll" source material is highly superior. Books and films are two entirely different forms of media; the adaptation of the former into the latter has proven a historically difficult task - especially when it comes to pleasing the rabid fans of an original issue which already possesses something similar to overgrown cult status. For example, I'm almost entirely sure that there's some super-fan out there with the little green tongue-y guy tattooed on his taint, who was so offended by the lack of a screwdriver and/or toothbrush in the movie's opening scenes that he stormed out of the theater and demanded a refund.
As a moderate fan of the book, I'm probably not capable of providing objectivity in the case of movie v. text, but, as far as I'm concerned, the film stayed pretty faithful to the book. The dolphin-packed opening was solidly funny; the ending was exactly as one might have imagined it would be, considering the "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" is the opening theme for the second book, and that's precisely where the first movie leaves off. Stick that in your collective pipes and smoke them, critics.
Political discussion ahead. Ignore at your own leisure.
Left Behind
One thing that right-wingers do well is ignore history, primarily because they're ideologically programmed to condone its repetition. Social progress is constantly being made, and as the Republic is gradually shaped to resemble the will of the people, the values of the Right begin to look more antiquated:
They want Strict Constructionists in the Supreme Court, narrowly interpreting the Framers' intentions in order to create the collateral effect of the reduction of Federal regulation on corporate entities - all the while, claiming that the invisible forces of the free market will "naturally regulate" business through supply and demand, and totally ignoring the mountains of evidence to the contrary. They're pushing to undermine public schools via unfunded mandates like the educational act "No Child Left Behind", in order to sell the public on the notion that private schooling is the only viable one of two methods (which will serve to create a system of "education for the wealthy, day labor for the poor"). They demand the projection of America's "superpower" image, while our showcase wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are only serving to highlight our painfully obvious vulnerabilities.
The common ideology demands that Republicans reject progressive taxation. As a result, the party's vested corporate interests demand that Republicans apply business solutions to Social Security in order to reaffirm its solvency - so, rather than simply fixing the holes in the bucket, we are being asked to pour more and more water into it in order to keep it perpetually full. The ideology demands that Republicans utilize media "events" such as the Terry Schiavo case as political tools to advance their "culture of life" rhetoric, yet they do little to acknowledge the social and economic inequities which lead thousands, around the globe, to die of various preventable causes while others shop for their third vacation home.
Some might say, "Well, then, let them go on their rampage. They'll overextend themselves, and prove your point in due time." To that, I can only remark that things must get much worse before they take a turn for the better; the only social change we'll see is that which is brought about by ourselves. So many people have become so disillusioned by the electoral process that they've effectively shut off their political radars for the time being, but something will eventually drive them and their indignation back into the fray - be it gas prices, talk of another war or impending draft, domestic inequities, or whatever.
The right wing have every intention of stacking the courts with conservative Justices, removing filibuster rules which tend to serve as a check against the "tyranny of the majority", privatizing every industry available for privatization, consolidating all media under ideological ownership, "racing to the bottom" by outsourcing all labor, buying out Congress in order to expedite pro-business/anti-human rights legislation, and the elimination of the middle class in the process. It's not a conspiracy, it's greed and selfishness gone unregulated.
Vote Quimby.
I noticed a cryptic message scrawled on the inside of a bathroom stall today. This is what it said:
I'm assuming the author was not advertising a well-groomed rooster for sale, although that's not an option I'd personally rule out. Another thing to consider is, if the writer's intent was for me to "show" my "cock", to whom was I supposed to show it to? I was alone in the stall at the time, to the best of my knowledge. Although, it's also possible that this person was issuing commands using standard text-adventure format, and I was being watched on a C64 monitor somewhere.
Given the opportunity to sit down with the vandal, I'd point out that such graffiti might be more effective in a place where cock exposure isn't the default behaviour - such as a monastery, the waiting room of a clinic for erectile dysfunction, or a cat's belly.
Taint Panic!
In more entertainment n00zlez, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has earned my full recommendation. What's interesting is the mixed response it's been receiving from the multitudes.
The critics can't seem to strike a solid consensus on the movie. Some object to the lack of a linear plot, while others claim there's "odd pacing", or that the "droll" source material is highly superior. Books and films are two entirely different forms of media; the adaptation of the former into the latter has proven a historically difficult task - especially when it comes to pleasing the rabid fans of an original issue which already possesses something similar to overgrown cult status. For example, I'm almost entirely sure that there's some super-fan out there with the little green tongue-y guy tattooed on his taint, who was so offended by the lack of a screwdriver and/or toothbrush in the movie's opening scenes that he stormed out of the theater and demanded a refund.
As a moderate fan of the book, I'm probably not capable of providing objectivity in the case of movie v. text, but, as far as I'm concerned, the film stayed pretty faithful to the book. The dolphin-packed opening was solidly funny; the ending was exactly as one might have imagined it would be, considering the "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" is the opening theme for the second book, and that's precisely where the first movie leaves off. Stick that in your collective pipes and smoke them, critics.
Political discussion ahead. Ignore at your own leisure.
Left Behind
One thing that right-wingers do well is ignore history, primarily because they're ideologically programmed to condone its repetition. Social progress is constantly being made, and as the Republic is gradually shaped to resemble the will of the people, the values of the Right begin to look more antiquated:
They want Strict Constructionists in the Supreme Court, narrowly interpreting the Framers' intentions in order to create the collateral effect of the reduction of Federal regulation on corporate entities - all the while, claiming that the invisible forces of the free market will "naturally regulate" business through supply and demand, and totally ignoring the mountains of evidence to the contrary. They're pushing to undermine public schools via unfunded mandates like the educational act "No Child Left Behind", in order to sell the public on the notion that private schooling is the only viable one of two methods (which will serve to create a system of "education for the wealthy, day labor for the poor"). They demand the projection of America's "superpower" image, while our showcase wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are only serving to highlight our painfully obvious vulnerabilities.
The common ideology demands that Republicans reject progressive taxation. As a result, the party's vested corporate interests demand that Republicans apply business solutions to Social Security in order to reaffirm its solvency - so, rather than simply fixing the holes in the bucket, we are being asked to pour more and more water into it in order to keep it perpetually full. The ideology demands that Republicans utilize media "events" such as the Terry Schiavo case as political tools to advance their "culture of life" rhetoric, yet they do little to acknowledge the social and economic inequities which lead thousands, around the globe, to die of various preventable causes while others shop for their third vacation home.
Some might say, "Well, then, let them go on their rampage. They'll overextend themselves, and prove your point in due time." To that, I can only remark that things must get much worse before they take a turn for the better; the only social change we'll see is that which is brought about by ourselves. So many people have become so disillusioned by the electoral process that they've effectively shut off their political radars for the time being, but something will eventually drive them and their indignation back into the fray - be it gas prices, talk of another war or impending draft, domestic inequities, or whatever.
The right wing have every intention of stacking the courts with conservative Justices, removing filibuster rules which tend to serve as a check against the "tyranny of the majority", privatizing every industry available for privatization, consolidating all media under ideological ownership, "racing to the bottom" by outsourcing all labor, buying out Congress in order to expedite pro-business/anti-human rights legislation, and the elimination of the middle class in the process. It's not a conspiracy, it's greed and selfishness gone unregulated.
Vote Quimby.