Mission Accomplished: 502 Days Later

After being a near straight A student in undergrad it still took me 6 months to find a job that had nothing to do with my psychology degree. After being a mediocre student (grade wise) in law school it took 16 months to find a job that makes use of my law degree.

I'm not going into detail, but I'll be an assistant director of a small non-profit public interest organization. In the professional development offices this would be referred to as a non-traditional job. A.K.A. a non-practicing attorney for those readers who are not legal beagles. I'll be a lawyer that doesn't write briefs and doesn't argue cases in front of judges.

The job appeals to my jack-of-all-trades/Swiss army knife nature. I get to travel a bit to discuss issues in front of community panels (what do you know that substitute teaching experience paid off). I can recruit potential members to join the organization. I help with fundraising. I'll keep tabs on legislators to get a heads up on potential bills that affect the organization (a.k.a. lobbying). A juris doctorate isn't required for such an administrative position, but many J.D.s end up working in them. We have the right skillset.

I assume there are health benefits, 401K plan, vacation/sick time with this job. I'll ask tomorrow. Today's second interview was a 30 minute session with my boss and a board member. They compared notes at the end and said I stood out. Great! Now I want to know about such details as the insurance, 401K, and vacation/sick time. A whirlwind of a day for sure.

I've heard many '05 graduates out there are still looking. I wish you the best of luck. I wouldn't blame you if you simply gave up. I was about ready to. Tomorrow the bar results for this summer come out and I wasn't looking forward to the additional competition.

The best thing is now I no longer have to lie. I was exhausted by putting up the stiff upper lip and saying I would prevail whenever asked how the job hunt was going. If one more person asked how the job hunt was going I was going to rip out a random major organ of their's. The truth was the job hunt tasted like ash in my mouth. I reached the point where I had no idea what I was going to do. I went through so many backup plans that I no longer had any ideas. I felt like the biggest failure. I was the biggest failure. Perhaps I finally won by simply enduring. I don't know.

Yet a win is a win, no matter how ugly the process. Here's to finally winning.

Round 2: T Plus 502 Days

I found a time calculator online. Including today it is 502 days past graduation or 1 year 4 months and 14 days. Believe me I feel that passage of time in ways I couldn't articulate and you wouldn't want me to in the first place. Yet today is a special day, it is the first time I've gotten to a second interview. I'm now 1 of 4 candidates.

I'm not going to tell you where and what the position is. It is a potentially interesting, if non-traditional, position. A J.D. isn't required for the position, but it would be valuable. The lawyers there are top notch. I'm sure I would learn much while there.

When I put on the suit I feel like I'm gearing up for one last battle, one last objective. I'm tired of this fight. It needs to be over soon.

Skydiving Is A Calculated Risk.

You Are Bold And Brave

But daring? Not usually? You tend to like to make calculated risks. So while you may not be base jumping any time soon... You are up for whatever's new and (a little) exciting!

How Daring Are You?

I'm Okay With The Fly Ride.

You Should Drive a BMW

Refined and classy, you want a car that looks rich... and goes fast!

What Sports Car Should You Drive?

I Hate Waiting

I'm juggling a few things right now. I've reached a point where I'm done with what I can do and now I need to wait for other people to get back to me. It took me a few minutes but I figured out this odd feeling: anxiousness. I believe I'll get a phone call this afternoon and I'm anxiously waiting for it.

How annoying!

I'm certainly not a control freak, but when I'm waiting for the next step I get cranky. I dislike the uncertainty of some situations.

I think I'll distract myself with a workout and cleaning of my living room. I'm sure the cardio will be good for me.

I Need Longer Trips

Your Travel Profile:

You Are Very Well Traveled in the Midwestern United States (75%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Southern United States (31%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Western United States (21%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Western Europe (14%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in the United Kingdom (13%) You Are Untraveled in Africa (0%) You Are Untraveled in Asia (0%) You Are Untraveled in Australia (0%) You Are Untraveled in Canada (0%) You Are Untraveled in Eastern Europe (0%) You Are Untraveled in Latin America (0%) You Are Untraveled in New Zealand (0%) You Are Untraveled in Scandinavia (0%) You Are Untraveled in Southern Europe (0%) You Are Untraveled in the Middle East (0%) You Are Untraveled in the Northeastern United States (0%)

How Well Traveled Are You?

Evil Will Always Triumph Because Good Is Dumb.

Excellent. Evil is far more fun anyway.

You Are 42% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side. Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

When The Saints Come Marching In.

The New Orleans Saints demolished an overwhelmed Atlanta Falcons team 23-3 in a newly refurbished Superdome last night. The return of professional football to the hurricane ravaged city is hardly the end of the rebuilding process. Yet the symbol of last year's tragedy is now a symbol of normalcy at least for a few hours last night.

Having a football game reminds the world New Orleans is still there and fighting back. Life will return to normal eventually. Though 3-0 the Saints didn't need a scoreboard last night. They were winners by simply taking the field once again.

An Open Letter To Bill Ford Jr.

CC: Incoming Ford CEO Alan Mulally
CC: Tom Wood: owner of Tom Wood Ford

Dear Ford Motor Company Chairman Bill Ford,

I write this to you in the hopes that your company will learn from this problem and be better for it. With the enactment of Way Forward 2.0 Ford is cutting 14,000 salaried positions, closing 9 North America plants, and shedding a to be determined number of hourly positions. It is obvious Ford can use a few car sales now. Two major things are required for that: 1) a more compelling product line and 2) a sales staff that is willing to do what it takes to please potential customers. Issue #1 is a letter for another time. Issue #2 I will discuss now.

The story begins with the Pillar Of Hoosier Centrism being in a family way. With 2 children POHC and his wife, The Boss, decided it was time to acquire a minivan. A list of the usual suspects was created: Chrysler Town & Country, Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, Nissan Quest, the Kia/Hyundai twins, and for something a little different the Ford Freestyle crossover/station wagon. I was to tag along and be a second opinion/evaluator. I'm very good at finding buttons, knobs, latches, and other assorted mechanicals to push, prod, or pull.

After a day and a half of observing and test driving minivans the Pillar Of Hoosier Centrism and I arrived at the local Tom Wood Ford dealership. A large man ambled or slithered his way towards us. This man never introduced himself or found out our names. He simply asked if there was someone he could get for us or something we would like to see. We said we wanted to see some Freestyles. I realize Tom Wood Ford is a large dealership. After a few steps I spotted about 20 Freestyles parked together. The salesman slithered his way past the first few and Pillar had to state, "Here they are!"

The salesman never asked what our plans were for that day. You could feel the game of try to sell them something today. I'm sorry but the plan was test drive all options and weed out the lesser vehicles from the list. Upon the weeding The Boss will be participating in the vehicle decision. Purchasing a vehicle that day was impossible as half of the decision making authority was at home. A gold Freestyle was selected for the test drive.

The Freestyle has been impressive at auto shows. It is a substantial vehicle was great people and cargo carrying abilities. The interior finish is a step up from previous generations of Ford products. However a test drive is necessary to see if it'll perform to an acceptable standard.

After waiting 10 minutes in the brisk gale force winds our nameless salesman lumbered out and proclaimed he couldn't find the keys to that vehicle. In shock we suggested driving the vehicle next to our stranded keyless gold Freestyle. Nameless wonder dutifully wrote down the VIN to acquire the keys. I was in lockstep behind him to see if I could keep an eye on things.

Inside the warm dealership yet another salesman talked with us. That was fine as salesman #2 was a knowledgeable spokesperson and fun to be around. The fact we were ogling a Ford GT worth a quarter-million dollars helped. Nameless Salesman #1 slithered back out and apologized about his inability to find the keys to Freestyle #2. O.M.G. what are those salesmen doing with those keys? Mr. Ford are your plants producing cars, but not the keys?

This incident is a microcosm of the American auto industry at this time.

Mr. Ford, your company can use any sale it can get. Salesmen that are slick, unfriendly, and incompetent are of no use to you. It is my regret to inform you that POHC and I crossed the Freestyle off the list without even a test drive to compare it's worthiness to the competition.

Sincerely,
Former Ford Fans

PS: Tom Wood, your Nissan dealership is almost as incompetent as your Ford dealership. It required two trips to even get into a Quest minivan. Your staff had the attitude of not wanting to sale the fugly vehicles. POHC and I were handed off between two different salesmen on our second visit and spent over 20 minutes inside waiting for a minivan to appear by the side door. I have no idea how your company stays in business when your sales staff exhibits such poor customer service. The concierge appeared to be the only person who knew what he was doing.

Shredded Beef BBQ

This was extremely well received at Saturday's tailgate. I decided to share with you.

1 very large pot roast.
3 - 4 tablespoons of brown sugar.
1 package of dry onion soup mix.
1 cup ketchup.
1 bottle of beer. The original recipe called for 1 cup, but I wasn't in the mood to drink the rest of the beer at 10 pm so I used the entire bottle of Miller Lite.

Put in a slow cooker all day. Shred the cooked beef with a fork.

Upon reheating at the tailgate and putting on buns it was fantastic!

One disclosure: though called BBQ I didn't taste what I would consider a BBQ flavor. It was still fantastic!

If You Want A Home Tour This Weekend.

Sorry for the rush, but some of you might be interested in the Architects Home Tour. Most of the homes are in Herron-Morton, Old Northside, Chatham Arch, and Lockerbie I believe. This sounds like fun, but I'm busy this weekend. If you go let me know if you enjoyed it.

Quote Of The Day.

Numerous good quotes were spoken today. For those who don't remember this game I often posted the best quote I spoke, or heard, that day. I usually don't give a context because it is far more fun that way.

"You're celibate, he's gay, and I'm married. None of us are having sex with women!"


Concerning today's adventures I have some great stories for you. With luck I'll blog them this weekend.

Friday Quotes: I Can Relate To Jack Burton

Jack Burton: Hey, I'm a reasonable guy. But I've just experienced some very unreasonable things.
- Big Trouble In Little China

The Coffee Hasn't Kicked In Yet.

"The unaddress, what's the unaddress?"

The graphic on the news confused me. It was in all capitols and UN was directly above ADDRESS. Wait a second please. The United Nations address given by the President yesterday. Could the graphics department please not use all capitols this early in the morning? I knew I better fix another cup. Is anyone else this non-functional this early in the monring?

I AM A MAN!!!

From the Vast Archieve Of Drafts I present a little bit of fall cleaning. This virtual cellar will be cleaned out soon. One reason I like this silly quizzes so much is because I like to figure out how the tests are built. It is the mental exercise of "If I answer X I'll likely get result A. If I answer B I'll likely get result B."

As long as I didn't turn up metrosexual I'm okay with this result.









Link: The Manliness (for everybody) Test written by mulletmandan on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

The smart-jock You are 58 Manly and 43 Nerdy!

With your moderate computer knowlege, super manly body, and overall good stamina, you have been branded with the horrible moniker "smart-jock". You are, of course, an awesome person, there's just no other way to describe you. Go have a huge breakfast, chop down a forest, then go home and check your e-mail.

It's Talk Like A Pirate Day!!! Arrrr!!!

I like the fact they have a "How to" section on the webpage. Useful tidbits to know IMHO.

$2.05 A Gallon!!!

I doubt such low prices will last long. Most stations seem to have gas around a nickel or dime higher, but what a cheap relief! If you're on the east or west coasts, I'm sorry but you get to keep suffering.

Separation Saturday Was EXXXXCELLENT!

I'm so glad I didn't go to the Ball State game yesterday. My beloved Boilers won, but I had too many other things to do. With the AM radio on I didn't miss much though. At least they're playing somewhat better now, but the sputtering of the 1st and 4th quarters is still a concern.

The most important news is that I was 9 for 12 in the pool this weekend. Had Oklahoma survived those interesting non-calls against the Oregon Ducks I would be sitting pretty in the polls now. (That was a great game regardless. I wish I watched it.)

Neither Michigan nor Notre Dame are in my pool but that was the best game to watch. It was never close, but watching the Irish humiliated on their own field is always special to me. The drubbing they took should shut up the fanbase concerning national championships. ND is overrated and everyone who thought about it knew it. ND didn't even beat anyone with a winning record last year. The win should calm down Lloyd Carr critics for a bit unless he loses to Ohio State yet again.

I caught the last 3 minutes of the Bowden Bowl. Tommy beat his daddy at daddy's house. Florida State trashed Clemson's kicking game that night so it was weird to see a 4th and goal without a kicker. If you're on Clemson's special teams you ought to be embaressed that the coach has so little faith in you that he goes for it on 4th and goal to win the game.

I thought Tennessee had Florida wrapped up, but I guess I was wrong. The Vols fall in the last 2 minutes.

I wish I had seen more of the Auburn/LSU slugfest for the SEC West. Auburn scores only a touchdown and they still win the game.

Last and least fellow Big 10 university Indiana LOSES to Division I-AA Southern Illinois 35-28. Guys, what time is it?

I Hate Transcribing New Magic Words.

Problem:

You see some job leads that are not lawyer-type jobs, but where someone with the legal training could easily fit in. Many jobs don't require legal knowledge, but can use the research, analysis, public speaking, managerial skills that law school develops. How do you translate your skill set into the key phrases and magic words a non-traditional job employer would look for?

My previous cover letters were almost a cut and paste job. I didn't need to tweak them very much between employers. I was getting interviews so I believe it was a decent cover letter. Now, with non-traditional jobs, I'm creating a more verbose cover letter and that isn't a good thing I believe. I need get my point across and sell how my skills are relevant to their job and ignore my degree within one page.

I think I'll save this editing project until after dinner. Right now I'm firing mental blanks. If legal employers won't show me any love, perhaps non-lawyers will.

PC vs. Mac

Best line I heard yesterday from DrunkenIrishMan.

"Either you get a PC which can be crap or an Apple which is pretentious crap."

Never before has the war been put so succinctly.

Friday Quotes:

Jake Blues: Book us for tomorrow night.
Maury Sline: Hold it, hold it. Tomorrow night? What are you talking about? A gig like that, you gotta prepare the proper exploitation.
Elwood Blues: I know all about that stuff. I have been exploited all my life.
- The Blues Brothers

Eris Was Always Full Of Chaos.

The body that led to Pluto being demoted from planet status has finally recieved an official name: Eris. Eris was the Greek goddess of chaos and strife. The discovery of the little ball of rock with a diameter 70 miles larger than Pluto forced astronomers to come up with a definition for planets. Pluto lost. So does Eris. We have dwarf planets now that Pluto, Eris, and the asteroid Ceres fit into now.

No date has been set to christen the wannabe planets Sleepy, Dopey, Bashful, et. al.

Can You Pass Third Grade Geography?

With some of the small states you need to be so precise on the mouse. You'll see when you get there. I didn't get them all correct the first time but at least I knew it was a GEOGRAPHY test and not a GEOMETRY test unlike certain BIGLAW lawyer that I will not name.

One Day I'll Test Drive The New Scobby Rex.

I reserve judgment on the styling until I see one without camouflage. Yet it looks promising so far. It's turbocharged, with manual tranny, in a small hatchback/wagon style, with all-wheel drive. Sounds tasty doesn't it?

OTOH I do get to start testing minivans this Friday. I'm the second opinion, not the actual buyer. Until I'm in a family way I wouldn't test drive one on purpose. Oh well, new shiny sheet metal is always fun to crawl through.

Maybe She Can Outrun A Police Radio.

Danica Patrick drove her new race car on Chicago's Michigan Avenue this morning. IFom the pic you can see she had rain tires on. Someone was smart because racing slicks would spin her out.

"Car 54 can you give a description of the car?"
"A batwing?"

House Better Be Recorded Somewhere Or I'm On The Warpath.

I can't help it. I love the misanthropic doctor. One day I hope to say whatever I want and still be right. Does anyone else find it funny a British actor is playing an American doctor who makes fun of British people?

Dr. Gregory House: J'ever notice, how all the self-sacrificing women in history, Joan of Arc, Mother Teresa... can't think of any others, they all die alone? The men, on the other hand, get so much fuzz it's crazy.
Dr. Wilson: It's an unfair world.

At Least It Isn't Just Me.

I've been attending real estate association meetings for several months now. I've had interest in real estate for years now. 8 or 9 years ago I was giving serious thought to purchasing a Broad Ripple duplex to live in and rent out the other side. Over the summer I've learned there is far more to real estate investing than being a landlord. Tonight's topic concerned tax sales. Talk about perfect timing. A friend has been bugging me for knowledge on tax sales as he wants to get into that aspect of real estate investing.

I recognized the speaker. He owns a law firm I applied to earlier this summer. One of his partners is also a club officer. After the class some people hang around to chit-chat, work up deals, or ask the speakers some questions. I'm listening to some of the follow-up questions and suddenly the partner and I are by ourselves. He said something. I replied that it's amazing that I've learned so much more about real estate by attending these meetings than I've ever learned in law school. (TRUE!) He replied that school is a bad place to learn about anything practical, otherwise we wouldn't spend so much time on the Rules Against Perpetuities. (Also quite true!) He confirmed something I've known about for over a year now: the job market around here is horrible.

"We had an ad out and were completely overwhelmed by the responses. We got ten times the responses we were expecting. Good for us I guess as it really allowed us to pick who we want."

I wonder what would have occurred had I taken Washington or Oregon instead.

PS: in case you're curious I'm on Plan M by now. Plans A through K are history. Survival is the only goal now.

For A Clipboard Of Data

The 3 ring binders had some useful information for data analysis, but they weren't really needed.
The calculator would be handy, but wasn't a required item.
I put everything in the bookbag for easy transport.
I drove across town to have my dad help me with some calculations.
As soon as I started unpacking my bookbag I realized the one thing I left behind. The clipboard full of paper, notes, and all the data I wanted to analyze. It was the one item I truly needed and I didn't have it.

*face palm*

I left the clipboard next to the bookbag. My dad wasn't thrilled.

*deep sigh*

I Have 9/11 Fatigue.

Tributes are everywhere. Of course this is a day we should remember as Americans. Yet I would prefer not to remember today. I'm simply tired. Maybe I'm being a wimp about it. Maybe it churns up emotions I would prefer not to deal with at the moment. Today will be a good day to submerge myself in the infinite To-Do List.

I can't wait for Sept. 12th tomorrow.

Yes Tell Me Something I Don't Know.

File this one under "duh!"

Your Personality Cluster is Introverted Intuition

You are: Multilayered and complex Inspired and driven to achieve your goals A visionary with a complete life plan Intuitive enough to understand difficult problems, ideas, and people

What's Your Personality Cluster?

Dog Alert!

I needed a cute dog pic to warm up your Monday mornings.

What Do You Mean They're Cancelling Stargate?

Only three people who read this blog will care, but it appears Mark Stern is at the top of our enemies list. He is the Sci-Fi Channel executive who decided not to renew Stargate for an 11th season. I've never seen Pierre Bernard's Recliner of Rage on Conan O'Brien before (YouTube is sweet), but he states the words I'm thinking.

The holy trinity of fantasy females must be saved.

Indy Cultural Tidbit: The Greeks Are In The Houses!

Things to do this weekend if you're staying in town.

Greek Fest
OMPHA baby!!! Today and Friday at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. Who doesn't love some good Greek food?

Herron-Morton Home Tour
Hey I prepaid at the Talbot Street Art Fair but I can't find my receipt. This will be an exercise on whether or not they keep better records than I do. Plenty of Victorian style and newly built historical blend style homes on tour. One home is even down to the studs. Oh yeah the guts are shown baby! Sunday only, but the weather should be nice. Come on down and walk around urban revitilization.

The Failure Of My Generation

Ed Part I: From the Vast Archive Of Drafts this post was started December 1, 2005. Time I finished it I guess. I'm so glad I'm not going back to substitute teaching this year. It wasn't as flexible as they said, and it doesn't pay enough for the crap you have to deal with.

Ed Part II: Blogger misplaced this post but I managed to retrieve it. I can be crafty sometimes.

This thought occurred to me a nearly two months ago in the middle of class: I could be teaching the children of people I went to high school with. 8th graders are a jaded, rebellious group. I had been switched to a different middle school and was learning that something was horribly wrong at Satan Spawn Middle School. At Regular Middle School once the 8th graders knew you they would work with you to an extent. At SSMS these children were outright evil. Later I would talk to other subs and regular teachers at other schools and told that it something was simply different at SSMS. This was the problem school of the district. For whatever reason these children has no respect for authority, didn't care about learning, didn't care about consequences, and they ruled the classrooms, not the teachers.

What caused these children to simply disrespect adults? What caused these children to be so self-indulgent in their own world that the outside world didn't matter to them? Did their parent(s) not care about their education by providing any reinforcement? Did any adult provide any positive attention to them? Did these hellions not have an example of someone working hard to accomplish great things? I didn't have any answers for those questions, but I knew one thing. It proved impossible to teach at SSMS.

In some respects a child is a reflection upon the parent. I wondered where did we as parents go wrong with the current generation. Some independence is good, but independence requires wisdom as a guide. At age 13 these kids weren't as wise as they acted or believed. Did we give them too much independence and no boundaries because our hippie parents decided boundaries were bad for us? Down with the man, rebel against the machine, fight the establishment man, and let's smoke a joint! That was our parent's motto and did they pass it along to us? Did we in turn pass that to our children?

I don't know, but I feel we failed somewhere. It seems we've reaped what we've sown. Our's was the first generation where limits truly fell into disuse. Now I can't get this generation to understand they can't do anything they want. Even with multiple teachers in the room too many students were too interested in their own mouth.

I fear we as parents and as a society have finally created a generation of children that know no bounds. They truly don't understand that we're interdependant as a society. In order to have a functional society we have to realize some limits exist on our abilities. In other words: it isn't all about me, me, me! Perhaps it is our fault as parents. In our coming of age it was the Me Generation 80s.

Is it too late for society to fix what we broke?

Friday Quotes: Keep Your Friends Close...

Matthew Gideon: I thought you said you never hold a grudge.
Galen: Well, I don't. I have no surviving enemies... at all.
-Crusade

Robert McCall: Don't do something you won't live to regret.
-The Equalizer

Bonus points if you can figure out the trivia connection between the two quotes.

If I'm So Young Why Do I Feel So Old Sometimes?

Old is the wrong word. Experienced and worn down are more correct.

You've Experienced 48% of Life

You have a good deal of life experience, about as much as someone in their late 20s. You've seen and done enough to be quite wise, but you still have a lot of life to look forward to.

How Much Life Experience Do You Have?

When The Cubans Parachute Down The Rally Point Is At My House!

Bonus points if you get the concept I'm borrowing for the title.

You Are a "Don't Tread On Me" Libertarian

You distrust the government, are fiercely independent, and don't belong in either party. Religion and politics should never mix, in your opinion... and you feel opressed by both. You don't want the government to cramp your self made style. Or anyone else's for that matter. You're proud to say that you're pro-choice on absolutely everything!

What's Your Political Persuasion?

Are You Lookin' At Me?

Things must be wrong when I'M swiping a quiz from Frequent Citations. Universal trends are in flux, cats and dogs living together, it hit the fan or some such concept. This will take the place of a nice long post of interesting observations I wrote and Blogger ate!

You Belong in Brooklyn

Down to earth and hard working, you're a true New Yorker. And although you may be turning into a yuppie, you never forget your roots.

Where Should Your Inner New Yorker Live?

The Chuck Norris Option.

Spammers sent me another email from myself to myself. This time I was selling Viagra. I forgot one option on the poll: Option F is deploy Chuck Norris.

Don't Try To Solve Your Relationship Problems In A Public Place.

So many people are stupid. Do they truly believe because they're in their car that no on can see them? Is glass not usually transparent? Glass in your SUV and this window next to our restaurant booth allows light to go through. I'm only 10 feet away and I can see you. So can the entire restaurant.

She put forth a good effort for 30 minutes at least. She didn't want to listen to his story. Crossed arms and looking away from him. She should have kept walking out of the SUV and be rid of him. At the gas station she should have just kept on walking. He had his smile, his charm, his laugh. Eventually a waitress went out there to remind them we could see their antics. Did they have a shocked look on their face? No they simply carried on. One long night of being out and the relationship was rocky.

She still took him back after 30 minutes of his Swiss cheese lovetalk. It was Swiss cheese due to all the holes. Any bets on when they get into another argument and she finally dumps the chump?

*I wouldn't normally be so hard on them, but from what I could hear it was every cliched make up line in every bad romantic movie you can remember.

I Just Walked Into That Trap.

Crazy Tim: I think we need something different for the tailgate.
Me (pondering on different foods that can be appropriate for a tailgate): Ummm...how about kabobs? (Who can resist meat on a stick?)
Crazy Tim: That's a great idea Brian. Why don't you bring them on Saturday?

Here is the Quote Of The Night and I want an answer to this question.

"Who knew olive oil was flammable?"

Next Time I'm Bringing Sunscreen.

Last week was very cloudy. I went to Saturdays (will a grammarian please tell me if I need a ' before the 's' please) game and didn't bring sunscreen. Saturday was a very sunny day. I'm fried due to my own stupidity. It is bad enough to require lip balm every 30 minutes, but now I'm molting. Watching your own skin peel off is a disgusting feeling.

Note for this Saturday: bring SPF 30.

Confessions Poll: Should Spammers Be Considered Terrorists?

I check the spam folder to make sure a real email didn't get sent there by accident. I find it interesting when I get an email from myself. This one was rather innocuous. It was some financial scheme. Viagra and MILFs are far more common subject lines. Did you know over half of all email sent across the planet is spam?

I'm tired of it. I'm tired of receive unwanted email. I'm sure network admins are tired of that much unwanted traffic on their servers. I'm tired of someone hijacking my email address to peddle their filth. I consider a deluge of spam to be denial of my internet services.

Time for a poll: should spammers be considered terrorists?

A: Yes, send the FBI after them.
B: Yes, send in the SEALs.
C: Yes, let the IRS follow the money.
D: Yes, the spammer masterminds are hiding in a cave near the Pakistan border.
E: Yes, one laser guided 500lb bomb will solve the problem.

Help Me Jesus! Help Me Tom Cruise! Use Your Witchcraft To Make the Scoreboard Better!

Week One: 8 out of 12

By the time I got home I could catch the second half of the Cal-Tennessee game. I figured this would be the best game on Saturday. Cal is one of my teams so I was especially interested. I have them going 11-1 this year. Then I discovered Cal was losing bad. My heart seized up and I had a stroke.

I found my notes today and discovered I had Cal losing to Tennessee! I felt so much better. Now I recalled my thought processes last week. Tennessee had something to prove after last season and Cal was in the way for a ripe upset. Never have I been so happy about a loss.

At least I made the right call, but 9 out of 12 would have been a sweet start to the season.

Georgia Tech On My Mind:

Why oh why couldn't Georgia Tech pulled off the upset of Notre Dame? The call against Calvin Johnson on third down was bogus. He had control of the ball while he was airborne. He was horizontal in the air with both hands on the sides of the football. How could the Big 10 refs view the video and say Johnson lacked control? Talk about a drive killer! Does anyone else believe Notre Dame is overhyped? ND is one Brady Quinn injury away from being mediocre.

Why does television insist on starting games at 8:30pm? It shouldn't be nearly midnight when a game finishes.

George Lucas Disease Is Spreading.

First Ted Turner tried to colorize numerous black & white films.

Then George Lucas redid the original Star Wars trilogy with modern computer graphics. I can accept he wanted to clean up the special effects (FX). I can accept he wanted add in more elements to a scene that he simply couldn't do at the time. Yet George didn't trust his instincts and had Han Solo react to someone shooting him in the cantina. HAN SHOT FIRST and for a good reason. Han Solo was an amoralistic space pirate! The audience needs to be queasy at first and wonder if this guy will sell out our heroes at his earliest convenience.

Now Star Trek, the original series, is being released for syndication with updated computer graphics for special effects.

The team (headed by 18-year Trek design vet Michael Okuda, no mere hired gun)
says it took a WWGRD approach, imagining how Gene Roddenberry would've
approached the show's design and effects if he'd had access to contemporary
technologies. Apparently, we'll see starbases teeming with people, shimmeringly
"realistic" alien landscapes with moving clouds and glittering water surfaces.

Is anyone else tired of old works being "updated" to suit modern tastes? Can't a piece of cultural art be left alone? How far do we take this trend? Most of the women in Peter Paul Ruebens' paintings are rather fat for modern tastes. Should someone hire a new painter to skinny them up? (Perhaps the phrase should be 'skinny them down' in this case.) How about we just paint Paris Hilton or a skeletor Nicole Ritchie onto Ruebens' canvas? I feel some of Mozart's pieces are rather dull. Can I add a electric guitar and booming drumset to his work?

I'm willing to accept things in their context. I'm tired of revisionist histories and updating for "modern" tastes. The fun of some things is accepting them for what they are. In this case part of the charm of Star Trek was the cheap and cheesy special effects. It was a product of the 1960s and as an audience we shouldn't force modern production values and styles onto something 40 years old. It is what it is. Let it be.

Friday Quotes

I almost forgot this show existed. I enjoyed watching it as a kid. I think I'll get the DVD set one day.

"If we understand others, in time, I believe, we come to understand ourselves."
- Commander John Koenig: Space 1999