...currently reading.....
Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset...last read.....
Trout, by Ray BergmanEmbed? Win!
Fantastic Contraption
Powered by: MySpace Games >br?
Saturday, March 08, 2003
Know what sucks? Most stuff.
However..
Went to a peace march today. That's right, in Laramie, Wyoming. It was both encouraging and exasperating, at the same time. Encouraging because there were probably 150-200 people there, from little kids to oldish folks. Exasperating because there were probably 150-200 people there. And this is a freaking college town. There were hardly any college students there. Maybe 50 out of the total number. Someday, I'll go to a real college where people aren't such lazy boring bastards and they care more about what happens IN the West Wing, than what happens ON "West Wing." Actually, that's probably giving them too much credit. My guess is that they watch lots of reality shows and car racin' 'round these parts. By the way, I don't think we should have Colleges of Business. Or Agriculture. That's what drags colleges down. Bunch of young Republicans with middle-age-person-hair sitting around talking about mutual funds and shit. No desire to get anything out of college except a piece of paper that will let them make more money. College should be about one of two things: 1) Art (to include literature, music, language arts, the fine arts, etc) or 2) Science (and political or economic "sciences" don't count. cuz they're not really sciences. plus, politicians should be people with some background in something useful, like history or literature or something like meaningful that, not political science. i can't imagine anything of less value a political science degree.) All other people could go to some kind of technical school. Where the objective is to teach practical skills. Sorry, I just get depressed when I go to my Stats class (which, for some reason, is in the Business building) and have to walk by all those boring people and their boring hair and boring clothes and boring obsessions with little green pieces of paper.
Anyway, back to the encouraging part.... It was nice that there was a good cross-section of people there. It wasn't like it was all burned-out hippies, violent feminists, hackysackers, etc, though, to be sure, there were some of those folks there as well. It was good to see little kids involved in the process. Maybe my generation wouldn't be made up of such apathetic obesites (probbly not a word) if we had ever been made to care about anything other than Super Mario Brothers. I heard a father explaining to his son that we still believed in our government, we just didn't agree with what they were doing and wanted to let them know. The most poignant moment, I think, was when a car drove by, and the little boy sitting in the back, who was probably about 7 or 8, stuck his fist out the window, revolutionary-style, and said "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeah!" So in a way, it was hopeful, that maybe at least some of this youngest generation will actually give a crap about stuff when they grow up.
Wyoming is as conservative as they come. They're all about ripping big holes in the ground to take out oil, coal, gas - all kinds of stuff. They're in love with fossil fules, for sure. And by and large they are very solidly Republicans, by God. So I expected to perhaps be threatened or at least accosted quite a bit. My rough estimate, though, was that about half of the cars honked, gave thumbs up, chanted along with us while they were stopped at lights, or even got out of their cars and walked with us. Probably about 40 percent either ignored us or didn't make any reaction. Then there were some pro-war people. They ever-so-eloquently stated their views on the war, and on us marching, by revving the engines in their Camaros or '78 GMC pickups, and sometimes, cleverly, flipping the bird. But I must say this was a small minority of the people we encountered.
I didn't carry a sign or anything. I saw my role mostly as an extra, and to some degree as being there to punch inbred cowboys that might have trouble in mind. Somebody has to protect those poor, under-proteined hippies. But, happily, that never came up. I think a couple of hundred people are always fairly intimidating.
The best sign I saw today: "STOP MAD COWBOY DISEASE!!"
Brilliant...
In unrelated news, we went to a slideshow/stand-up comedy brew-ha that was given by John Krewson, who is one of the more senior writers at The Onion. He was a funny dude. Sort of a cross between Curly from the Three Stooges, and my friend Scott's friend, Hoss (they really don't look much different, so if you don't know Hoss, you aren't at that much of a disadvantage). He talked about the formation of The Onion, some about it's history, about its writers, etc. He cursed alot, but he cursed well. It's not every guy that can curse well. That guy was not afraid of ANYONE. By which I mean that he (and The Onion, in general) is not afraid to make fun of anyone, at any time, for any reason. They're independently owned, and lots of their advertising money comes from "adult bookstores" and "adult novelty stores" and "adult porn sites," so they don't have to worry much about pissing off sponsors. He talked some about the difficulty of writing the issue that came out right after 9/11. How it was difficult to be funny, and seem appropriate - The Onion office is in NY City. It was actually a little touching. And it was interesting to hear his philosophy on a number of topics, especially on humor, and what humor is. You start to understand that good comedians or humorists are just really brilliant psychologists. It was quite good.
In regards to all the harsh and potentially offensive things I said above, I would like to reference something John Krewson said the other day, after mocking Catholics for a bit, "Stereotypes are funny, aren't they? ...And ALWAYS TRUE!!! (thumbs up)" In other words, 'relax, don't be so damned stuffy.'
-m
However..
Went to a peace march today. That's right, in Laramie, Wyoming. It was both encouraging and exasperating, at the same time. Encouraging because there were probably 150-200 people there, from little kids to oldish folks. Exasperating because there were probably 150-200 people there. And this is a freaking college town. There were hardly any college students there. Maybe 50 out of the total number. Someday, I'll go to a real college where people aren't such lazy boring bastards and they care more about what happens IN the West Wing, than what happens ON "West Wing." Actually, that's probably giving them too much credit. My guess is that they watch lots of reality shows and car racin' 'round these parts. By the way, I don't think we should have Colleges of Business. Or Agriculture. That's what drags colleges down. Bunch of young Republicans with middle-age-person-hair sitting around talking about mutual funds and shit. No desire to get anything out of college except a piece of paper that will let them make more money. College should be about one of two things: 1) Art (to include literature, music, language arts, the fine arts, etc) or 2) Science (and political or economic "sciences" don't count. cuz they're not really sciences. plus, politicians should be people with some background in something useful, like history or literature or something like meaningful that, not political science. i can't imagine anything of less value a political science degree.) All other people could go to some kind of technical school. Where the objective is to teach practical skills. Sorry, I just get depressed when I go to my Stats class (which, for some reason, is in the Business building) and have to walk by all those boring people and their boring hair and boring clothes and boring obsessions with little green pieces of paper.
Anyway, back to the encouraging part.... It was nice that there was a good cross-section of people there. It wasn't like it was all burned-out hippies, violent feminists, hackysackers, etc, though, to be sure, there were some of those folks there as well. It was good to see little kids involved in the process. Maybe my generation wouldn't be made up of such apathetic obesites (probbly not a word) if we had ever been made to care about anything other than Super Mario Brothers. I heard a father explaining to his son that we still believed in our government, we just didn't agree with what they were doing and wanted to let them know. The most poignant moment, I think, was when a car drove by, and the little boy sitting in the back, who was probably about 7 or 8, stuck his fist out the window, revolutionary-style, and said "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeah!" So in a way, it was hopeful, that maybe at least some of this youngest generation will actually give a crap about stuff when they grow up.
Wyoming is as conservative as they come. They're all about ripping big holes in the ground to take out oil, coal, gas - all kinds of stuff. They're in love with fossil fules, for sure. And by and large they are very solidly Republicans, by God. So I expected to perhaps be threatened or at least accosted quite a bit. My rough estimate, though, was that about half of the cars honked, gave thumbs up, chanted along with us while they were stopped at lights, or even got out of their cars and walked with us. Probably about 40 percent either ignored us or didn't make any reaction. Then there were some pro-war people. They ever-so-eloquently stated their views on the war, and on us marching, by revving the engines in their Camaros or '78 GMC pickups, and sometimes, cleverly, flipping the bird. But I must say this was a small minority of the people we encountered.
I didn't carry a sign or anything. I saw my role mostly as an extra, and to some degree as being there to punch inbred cowboys that might have trouble in mind. Somebody has to protect those poor, under-proteined hippies. But, happily, that never came up. I think a couple of hundred people are always fairly intimidating.
The best sign I saw today: "STOP MAD COWBOY DISEASE!!"
Brilliant...
In unrelated news, we went to a slideshow/stand-up comedy brew-ha that was given by John Krewson, who is one of the more senior writers at The Onion. He was a funny dude. Sort of a cross between Curly from the Three Stooges, and my friend Scott's friend, Hoss (they really don't look much different, so if you don't know Hoss, you aren't at that much of a disadvantage). He talked about the formation of The Onion, some about it's history, about its writers, etc. He cursed alot, but he cursed well. It's not every guy that can curse well. That guy was not afraid of ANYONE. By which I mean that he (and The Onion, in general) is not afraid to make fun of anyone, at any time, for any reason. They're independently owned, and lots of their advertising money comes from "adult bookstores" and "adult novelty stores" and "adult porn sites," so they don't have to worry much about pissing off sponsors. He talked some about the difficulty of writing the issue that came out right after 9/11. How it was difficult to be funny, and seem appropriate - The Onion office is in NY City. It was actually a little touching. And it was interesting to hear his philosophy on a number of topics, especially on humor, and what humor is. You start to understand that good comedians or humorists are just really brilliant psychologists. It was quite good.
In regards to all the harsh and potentially offensive things I said above, I would like to reference something John Krewson said the other day, after mocking Catholics for a bit, "Stereotypes are funny, aren't they? ...And ALWAYS TRUE!!! (thumbs up)" In other words, 'relax, don't be so damned stuffy.'
-m
Thursday, March 06, 2003
See? Bush is now trailing an unnamed, unreal, hypothetical democrat in the polls. When people start saying they want a democrat to come in so the economy will get better, you know the Republicans are in trouble. Seems like worries over the economy (or money in general) is the most common reason for voting Republican to begin with. If people don't think Republicans can fix the economy, then there could be only a couple of reasons left for voting that way:
1) You are some kind of billionaire
2) You work for Boeing (or Lockheed, etc)
or
3) You have suffered a severe head injury that took away your ability to use reason and critical thinking.
-m
1) You are some kind of billionaire
2) You work for Boeing (or Lockheed, etc)
or
3) You have suffered a severe head injury that took away your ability to use reason and critical thinking.
-m
Wednesday, March 05, 2003
Got a comment today. 'Too many links and not enough stuff.'
OK. You want content, you want action, you want passion, you want Desire? It's a good album. You want something you can put in a book of quotations, when I'm dead and resting comfortably in the belly of a coyote?
Speaking of coyotes..
God bless the coyotes - those gaunt grifters of grasslands, those meager misfits of mountain meadows, those silent specters of stream shores. They clean up the rotting deer, the stinking expired snake. Early in the morning, when you're walking through the woods, they make music more beautiful that Mozart, Beethoven, or Lennon, more haunting than Johnson or Drake. They limit the mesopredators (read: housecats) that would eat the songbirds that sing to me in the morning. They keep an eye on things. Don't worry if you get distracted and temporarily forget about the mountains, the swamps, the desert, the prairie, the rivers, the ponds - the coyotes are watching. They're watching now and they will be long after the last miserable human being dies his or her lonely death. In fact, they will probably eat the last miserable human being.
Pity the man who doesn't learn to love the coyote. He's probably the guy with the housecats. Killing all my birds. May God have mercy on his sorry ass, cuz I won't.
If you haven't read Mark Twain's "Roughing It":
1) What the hell HAVE you been doing?
and
2) Get busy!
And for now, check out this link, which features Twain's description (or, perhaps, ballad) from said book. The best of Pablo Neruda's love poems sound childish, hollow, dispassionate, and lifeless compared to this passage.
-excuse my link..and my opinions.
-m
OK. You want content, you want action, you want passion, you want Desire? It's a good album. You want something you can put in a book of quotations, when I'm dead and resting comfortably in the belly of a coyote?
Speaking of coyotes..
God bless the coyotes - those gaunt grifters of grasslands, those meager misfits of mountain meadows, those silent specters of stream shores. They clean up the rotting deer, the stinking expired snake. Early in the morning, when you're walking through the woods, they make music more beautiful that Mozart, Beethoven, or Lennon, more haunting than Johnson or Drake. They limit the mesopredators (read: housecats) that would eat the songbirds that sing to me in the morning. They keep an eye on things. Don't worry if you get distracted and temporarily forget about the mountains, the swamps, the desert, the prairie, the rivers, the ponds - the coyotes are watching. They're watching now and they will be long after the last miserable human being dies his or her lonely death. In fact, they will probably eat the last miserable human being.
Pity the man who doesn't learn to love the coyote. He's probably the guy with the housecats. Killing all my birds. May God have mercy on his sorry ass, cuz I won't.
If you haven't read Mark Twain's "Roughing It":
1) What the hell HAVE you been doing?
and
2) Get busy!
And for now, check out this link, which features Twain's description (or, perhaps, ballad) from said book. The best of Pablo Neruda's love poems sound childish, hollow, dispassionate, and lifeless compared to this passage.
-excuse my link..and my opinions.
-m
Now for the News:
-Like Memory, but with cows . Pretty tough, since there are really only four kinds of cows: brown ones, black ones, black and white ones, and ones that look like they're not from around here.
-Don't piss off the king of pop.
-Mediocre tired today.
-OK. This isn't even funny.
-Geez. This lady is pretty dedicated..
-SNL scritps
Wednesday is my day to work 8 hours. Plus a class, and a billion hours of homework:
"Frankly, Mr. Shankly, this position I've held,
it pays my way and it corrodes my soul."
-'Frankly, Mr. Shankly' by The Smiths
That about sums it up..
-m
-Like Memory, but with cows . Pretty tough, since there are really only four kinds of cows: brown ones, black ones, black and white ones, and ones that look like they're not from around here.
-Don't piss off the king of pop.
-Mediocre tired today.
-OK. This isn't even funny.
-Geez. This lady is pretty dedicated..
-SNL scritps
Wednesday is my day to work 8 hours. Plus a class, and a billion hours of homework:
"Frankly, Mr. Shankly, this position I've held,
it pays my way and it corrodes my soul."
-'Frankly, Mr. Shankly' by The Smiths
That about sums it up..
-m
Monday, March 03, 2003
News:
-Hey, U.N....PSSSSSSST!!! Remember North Korea...? Don't you have more important things to do that watch out for my sugar intake???. Sheesh...
-Well, when November 2004 rolls around, I'll be leaning this way.
-I never knew
-Wow, where would the world be without the innovations of the japanese???
-Mabe we should bring these back...
-You know Bush is doing a bad job when Larry Hagman, the guy who played Texas oil baron J.R. Ewing (basically, he played the part of George W. Bush, bratty, ignorant, slimy oil guy that inherited millions of dollars and had everything handed to him on a silver platter but still manages to screw everything up on a regular basis), has this to say about him:
"[Bush is a] sad figure: not too well educated, who doesn't get out of America much. He's leading the country towards fascism... he wouldn't understand the word fascism anyway."
--Larry Hagman
-Uhhhhhhhh...dunno
-Sorta tired again.
OK. so. last night i dreamt that i won the lottery. i don't know how much i actually won or anything, but i remember i was pretty rich. So I woke up in a pretty good mood. I'll get over it..
"...When I win the lottery gonna buy all girls on my block
A color TV and a bottle of French perfume
When I win the lottery gonna donate half my money to the city
So they have to name a street or a school or a park after me
When I win the lottery
Never run a flag up a pole
Like mr. red, white, and blue down the road
But I never called myself a hero for killing a known communist
Now I can walk into any old bar
And find a fight without looking too hard
But I never killed someone I don't know just 'cause someone told me to
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy the house next to mr. red, white and blue
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy Post 306 American Legion, paint it red with five gold stars
When I win the lottery
When the end comes to this old world
The rights will cry and the rest will curl up
And God won't take the time to sort your ass from mine
'Cause we zig and zag between good and bad
Stumble and fall on right and wrong
'Cause the tumbling dice and the luck of the draw just leads us on
And when I win the lottery, gonna buy all the girls on my block
Silver-plated six shooters and a quart of the finest highland scotch
'Cause when I win the lottery, the rights will shake their heads and say that
God is good but surely works in mysterious ways
When I win the lottery"
-'when i win the lottery,'
by camper van beethoven
C'est fini..
-m
-Hey, U.N....PSSSSSSST!!! Remember North Korea...? Don't you have more important things to do that watch out for my sugar intake???. Sheesh...
-Well, when November 2004 rolls around, I'll be leaning this way.
-I never knew
-Wow, where would the world be without the innovations of the japanese???
-Mabe we should bring these back...
-You know Bush is doing a bad job when Larry Hagman, the guy who played Texas oil baron J.R. Ewing (basically, he played the part of George W. Bush, bratty, ignorant, slimy oil guy that inherited millions of dollars and had everything handed to him on a silver platter but still manages to screw everything up on a regular basis), has this to say about him:
"[Bush is a] sad figure: not too well educated, who doesn't get out of America much. He's leading the country towards fascism... he wouldn't understand the word fascism anyway."
--Larry Hagman
-Uhhhhhhhh...dunno
-Sorta tired again.
OK. so. last night i dreamt that i won the lottery. i don't know how much i actually won or anything, but i remember i was pretty rich. So I woke up in a pretty good mood. I'll get over it..
"...When I win the lottery gonna buy all girls on my block
A color TV and a bottle of French perfume
When I win the lottery gonna donate half my money to the city
So they have to name a street or a school or a park after me
When I win the lottery
Never run a flag up a pole
Like mr. red, white, and blue down the road
But I never called myself a hero for killing a known communist
Now I can walk into any old bar
And find a fight without looking too hard
But I never killed someone I don't know just 'cause someone told me to
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy the house next to mr. red, white and blue
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy Post 306 American Legion, paint it red with five gold stars
When I win the lottery
When the end comes to this old world
The rights will cry and the rest will curl up
And God won't take the time to sort your ass from mine
'Cause we zig and zag between good and bad
Stumble and fall on right and wrong
'Cause the tumbling dice and the luck of the draw just leads us on
And when I win the lottery, gonna buy all the girls on my block
Silver-plated six shooters and a quart of the finest highland scotch
'Cause when I win the lottery, the rights will shake their heads and say that
God is good but surely works in mysterious ways
When I win the lottery"
-'when i win the lottery,'
by camper van beethoven
C'est fini..
-m
Sunday, March 02, 2003
New news:
-DON'T MISS IT!!! The event you've all been waiting for....The event they will be talking about for millenia to come!!!! March 17th....It's the Fairly Crass Reunion Extravaganza Tour...One day only at Steve's house, in Kutztown, PA!!!! Tickets only Contact Mark immediately to purchase tickets!!!..Don't mention it to Steve!!!
-In other news, saw "Daredevil." Darker than Spiderman. Horrible soundtrack. Andre the Giant would have made a great Kingpin...Overall pretty good. Stock superhero film.
-m
-DON'T MISS IT!!! The event you've all been waiting for....The event they will be talking about for millenia to come!!!! March 17th....It's the Fairly Crass Reunion Extravaganza Tour...One day only at Steve's house, in Kutztown, PA!!!! Tickets only Contact Mark immediately to purchase tickets!!!..Don't mention it to Steve!!!
-In other news, saw "Daredevil." Darker than Spiderman. Horrible soundtrack. Andre the Giant would have made a great Kingpin...Overall pretty good. Stock superhero film.
-m
