Sigourney Street

I had no idea where Sigourney street derived its name until I began my new class on "Literary Losers" (actual title). Apparently Sigourney street is named after the famous Hartford poet Lydia Sigourney, who was equal to Poe and Hawthorne in her day. In honor of my class (and because I'm a total suckup) I have compiled some of her poems in a handy format. Check them out (Adobe Reader Required)

My thought on her is that there's a reason why she didn't become part of the canon. Her poems proselytize far too much. Check out "The Jews" to see what I mean.

The Irony Is...

Okay, so I actually think the Bush swearing incident actually makes him more endearing to me. Except, I'm not exactly sure the poor guy really knows how the definition of ironic. As if it's ironic that the UN just hasn't bothered to talk to Syria about it. His jabbering (not the swear) doesn't make him sound like a world leader, but a guy who's just shooting the shit with a neighbor and doesn't really understand the complexities of the situation. You know what would be great? If the UN asked the people in the Middle East to just stop fighting. It's ironic that they haven't.

I also think this conversation between Blair and Bush is perfect...

Chirp, Chirp

I hate the total lack of cell phone etiquette that seems to have pervaded our world. Less than five years ago, many of us were complaining that people talked on their cell phones in public places. Many would loudly converse about all sorts of private things on their phones.

This behavior seems completely normal in comparison with the grating "chirp" feature that has invaded cell phone technology. Now, instead of just hearing one half of the conversation, we are privvy to both parts with an obnoxious, nail grinding sound preceding it. Often these conversations aren't "quick, it's an emergency" but rude and inappropriate words and phrases that I cringe at when I see children around. For some reason, the users of "chirp" also feel the need to turn up the volume of their headsets as loudly as possible.

This menace must be stopped. People no longer appreciate the concept of silence. Instead, even in settings that lend themselves to solutide and meditation, people feel the need to use chirp and bother others who are just trying to get some peace. If anything, cell phones have shown us how we don't really need to respect those around us.

The Medical Machine

Can there be any person that is braver than this teenager? He's gone through chemo once, dealt with the weakness and terrible pain it's caused, and decided that when the cancer came back he didn't want it again. Instead he wanted to go through the alternative medicine route, and if he died then he was ready for that. What an enlightened way to look at things.

Except, the government has chosen that even though his parents support his decision, he doesn't have the right to say what to do with his body. Many of us have had the opportunity to watch a loved on go through chemotherapy. There are many out there who know first hand just how painful and debilitating it is. This young man has the courage to stand up and say he doesn't want to do it again. Why can't the authorities respect his decision?

Instead they threaten to throw him into a Juvenile Detention Center. Is this not ridiculous? The kid is dying, spending what could possibly be his last few years alive and theywant to lock him up. That would truly make his wish come true.

The truth here is that the medical industry is a thriving behemoth that can't exist if people start refusing medical treatments. This issue brings up a major point-that the medical foundations in our country are now simply political organizations. They exist to protect their own assets anmd continue to sell us on medicines we don't necessarily need. It's all about the money in the medical industry today, and we are suffering the consequences. Denying a dying boy his own rights in order to prove a point and set an example is the lowest thing they could possibly do. Yet it appears they are doing just that.

Ninja Review!

Here's a more eloquent review of POTC. Damn, ninjas are super smart.

Disappointing Pirates

I vividly remember the first fun scene of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Jack Sparrow was striking a hero pose, as his ship was quickly sinking. He ends up sinking the ship next to the dock and walks on land unscathed. It's a moment of pure fun and joy. The rest of the movie fit that mold entirely. It felt like the filmmakers were just trying to have some silly fun.

The sequel starts off ominously, with a heartbeat on a cold, stormy night. The bright blue seas of the Caribbean that dominated the first one are barely visible. Instead, Pirates is packed full of lengthy exposition, ridiculous action scenes and comic relief that feels so forced it's embarassing. In the first movie there was a cool sword fight between Jack and Will on top of rafters. They swung from ropes and fought hard in a cool and organic way. In this movie there's a bloated fight scene between three people in which they fight on top of an enormous water wheel. The wheel spins and eventually comes off it's mooring and goes out of control. I get what they were going for with the over the top action, but in this case it just comes off as too ridiculous. In the first movie there is clever and funny dialogue. In the second one, Elizabeth throws a stupid fit because Jack and Will are fighting again. She stomps, kicks sand around and acts irritated. My thought is that someone was accidentally filming Keira Knightley during this scene and it got edited in. It sucks all the energy out of the swordfight while simultaneously being annoying and not funny.

I was really looking forward to the fact that they were filming two Pirates movies back to back. But when you film two movies at once, there is no opportunity to analyze the preceding movie and figure out what flaws it had. So now I'm not so sure Pirates 3 will even be worth seeing.

Of course, the movie might be worth seeing merely based on ILM's unbelievable CGI work. It is by far the best CGI characters that have ever been created.

Professor Rockstar II

I love the snoozefest that is Beyond the Headlines when Colin is put on the panel. The awkward tension between Colin and Shelly is worth it on its own. My favorite part was when Shelly chastised Colin, saying (for like the fifth time) that it was her show. Colin's response:
"Well that's kind of a drawback, don't you think?"

Now that's good television.

Sometimes A Movie Just Clicks

I need to make an embarrassing confession-I loved Adam Sandler's new film. I walked into the movie expecting the same juvenile comedy Adam Sandler has always given us, just with a new gimmick. I got exactly what I wanted.

But I also got so much more. About an hour and a half into the movie I found myself overcome with emotion in a way that few films capture these days. It was raw, real and incredibly unexpected. Is Click a new classic, or even all that well put together? Not really. There are tons of missed beats and awkward moments. However, the lessons that it teaches, and the moments where I was absolutely caught up, were entirely worth it. It's better than most summer nonsense.

I Need to See Dr. Katz

because I missed him so...Seriously, Dr. Katz was by far the greatest series Comedy Central ever produced. It was great improv comedy with a twist of the awkward moments that have become so prevalent in comedy today.

Comedy Central should take note of their roots, rather than continually focusing on the overly political and purposely offensive comedy. Dr. Katz's strength came from the fact that it remained relatively clean and inoffensive. Please produce more of it.

Writing

Here's the thing about how I know a piece of writing is going well for me. It's when things happen that I have no plans for. Characters take on their own traits as I'm writing, seemingly writing themselves. The plot has become organic and my outlines arde beginning to evaporate. I'm really enjoying finding out who the characters are and what the story is.

Ignorance is Bliss?

This is by far the best example of a United States senator's total lack of knowledge and how an ignorant person can ramble on about something they don't really know.

From Senator Ted Stevens(R) Alaska:

I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o’clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?

Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially.

So you want to talk about the consumer? Let’s talk about you and me. We use this internet to communicate and we aren’t using it for commercial purposes.

We aren’t earning anything by going on that internet. Now I’m not saying you have to or you want to discrimnate against those people […]

The regulatory approach is wrong. Your approach is regulatory in the sense that it says “No one can charge anyone for massively invading this world of the internet”. No, I’m not finished. I want people to understand my position, I’m not going to take a lot of time. [?]

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It’s not a truck.

It’s a series of tubes.

And if you don’t understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

Now we have a separate Department of Defense internet now, did you know that?

Do you know why?

Because they have to have theirs delivered immediately. They can’t afford getting delayed by other people.


Plus, it is by far the funniest description of the internet that I have ever heard. Is this really how dumb the leadership of our country is?

Thanks Cory

Rowland Comeback Tour 2006

How does a man repent for his sins? Well, if you're John Rowland, you apparently take the whole "falling off was the best thing that happened to me." Yes, learning from your mistakes is always a good thing. But this line of defense suggests that Rowland was completely unaware that he only realized it when he was caught doing it.

Bullshit.

Morally, this is a tough issue for me. We can be sorry for our actions and deeply be hurt by them but that does not change the fact that we performed them. A killer does not become any better because he is sorry for what he did. Rowland took the massive amount of trust we gave him and abused it massively. That kind of trust can never be earned back.

Does this not reek of an extremely disingenuous marketing ploy? Rowland repents, says he has learned his lesson a few hundred times and then releases a book on how to become a better person through a higher power. I feel a miniseries in the works.

Cooler than Star Trek?

Not quite, but you still need to check it out if only for the amazing camp value.