Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Censorship is stupid

CBS is censoring this ad because it is "too controversial": See Ad. I guess controversial only means political or anti-President Bush. It is not controversial to have ads that encourage people to drink, have casual sex, break the law, spend more money than you have (and go into debt), get fat eating fast food, openly deny God or any other such positive activity. Way to go CBS!

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

The Big Chill
I hear it does not get this cold in Arkansas. It is about 14 degrees and with windchill it is about 4 degrees. It is cold and icy. But I like it. Here is my parking lot covered in a little bit of snow and a little bit more of ice.



Sunday, January 25, 2004

Big Fish pt. 2

I don’t know what it is about this movie, but I cannot get enough of it. I went and saw Big Fish tonight for the second time (I went with two people had already seen it before as well). I truly believe it is the “perfect” movie. I will put it into the same category as movies like Finding Forrester, The 25th Hour, The Truman Show and Pleasantville. It is a movie where you can laugh and cry and be heart warmed and saddened. I think it captures the essence of what film should be. It is not too serious, and it’s not too fanciful. Above all it is incredibly entertaining. It has the right story, the right director, the right actors and actresses, the right music and the right setting…It is just right. It is a bummer that when it comes to award shows Big Fish had to come out the same year as LOTR: Return of the King, Lost in Translation and Mystic River, otherwise I think it could take home all of the awards. However, I have been known to like movies that others are not so fond of, so maybe that is what is going on…

I am working on one of the more challenging assignments I think I have had in a long while. I am supposed to write a “career path” for my entire career. I am not sure what I want to be doing, and I am not sure where I want to be doing it. I guess it is good that I can sit down and think about my future and my goals for my future. But then again, sometimes that makes me feel older than I am.

On a last note I switched from BlogOut to Haloscan. Looks like BlogOut is no longer, too bad.

Friday, January 23, 2004

Captain Kangaroo Dies

Many of my early childhood memories included Captain Kangaroo. Now with both he and Mr. Rogers gone, I hope todays children will have a good influence from some TV character. Although, I am afraid they were the last of their kind.

From Yahoo! News

Thursday, January 22, 2004

The Howard Dean Issue

All of this news coverage of Howard Dean's "Iowa Yell" is making me sick. What is wrong with him showing emotion during a speech to his SUPPORTERS?!? He was not speaking to the American people as whole (yes, I understand it was on TV, but obviously the TV was not his audience). When you "preach to the choir" is it not good to get them pumped up? Don't you want those who support you to be full of energy? After watching all of the TV coverage of this event it must mean that America needs and demands a President who is lackluster. A President who shows little emotion, and never anger or excitement. I don't want an emotionless President. We have already been through 8 years of Bush and Bush Jr. I want a President who is not afraid to show emotion, who is not afraid to shake things up, who is not afraid to encourage and energize people.

Theodore Roosevelt said "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat".

I do not want to directly compare Roosevelt with Dean, but at least Dean, like Roosevelt, likes to put some energy and emotion into his campaign. We should not be faulting him for that.

With this stuff on the media, I think Roosevelt would be rolling over in his grave.

BTW, this post is not neccesarily showing my support for Dean for President, but rather, my disgust with the media coverage of the "Iowa Yell".

Saturday, January 17, 2004

Darkness

It us 4:00am, I am not supposed to be up this late. My day has not warranted this type of insomnia. My upset stomach and the sound of the rain gently splattering on my roof should do little to keep me from slumber. Could it be that I fear going to sleep at this late hour? Do I fear this darkness? Maybe I am afraid that this night is the last night and to prove myself wrong, I must wait for daybreak to sleep, just to be safe. My remedy from fear, the only remedy for this late hour that my exhausted mind and throbbing head could conjure is to numb myself with the flickering of lights from the tubes from a small black box. Better yet, I’ll wait for daylight to shine through my blinds.

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Back at it again
Back at work, back in school and back in the groove (or something like that). Recently these words from the Barenaked Ladies song "War on Drugs" from Everything to Everyone struck me. BNL have a way of saying things better than most:

"From the very fear that makes you want to die
Is just the same as what keeps you alive
It's way more trouble than some suicide is worth

Won't it be dull when we rid ourselves
Of all these demons haunting us
To keep us company

Won't it be odd to be happy like we
Always thought we're supposed to feel
But never seem to be"

BNL just has a way of putting things in perspective...and no...no thoughts of suicide or any such nonsense on this end. Just posting some interesting lyrics that struck something in me.

Saturday, January 03, 2004

The reason I am not leaving for Durango and Fayetteville today

Just think, there is 4x this much in the mountains on the way to Durango and it is still snowing.

A Hope for a Happy 2004

Once again it is that time when one has to remember to write 2004 on checks. The change in the year typically happens just as I am getting used to writing the previous year. It is so wierd to write or even think about 2004. 2004 feels like the future. (No I am not on crack...I swear).

What will 2004 bring? I think that is the question in the minds of almost everyone. By 2005 what will have changed? These ideas got me thinking back to the movie Big Fish (see previous entry). Albert Finney's character in the movie says at one point in the movie that it is was good knowing how he was going to die because he knew that he knew he could get through any challenge or situation that was not the one in which he was in. However, we can go on living with this same attitude while not knowing how we will die...because we aren't getting out of life alive...

The next 364 days will reveal to us what will happen... I don't really have a New Year's Resolution, but I do want to live my life better...that is I want to do more to live my life for Christ. My plan is to do some more consistent volunteer work as I will have more time during the week to do this work. Only God knows what else will come about.

On a random note, here is a very interesting and enjoyable article written by a friend of my family.

Riding the Jeffrey from GapersBlock.com