Boy, that Miers nomination has started quite a storm.

Thoughts?

LOL, okay, I shall be the first to deliver a blow -- and not the good kind -- to the side of Hoodlumman's head.

'Nother topic: hasn't anyone else seen "Serenity" yet?

Is is chilly in here?

Anyone see that "HIV causes brain damage" story on Drudge a day ago or so? Sully of course came to mind, figured Ace would've had a story up, but then that may have been a bit low even by his standards.

If anything has been discussed more than the Miers' nomination on this site, it's been my chest, and I really think people are getting TIRED of that, too.

What about Firefly, did anyone watch that?

I really think people are getting TIRED of that, too.

Of course you're wrong.

I haven't seen it, bbeck. But that's due to laziness more than anything.

Its like the parrot in the monty python skit Ace.

bbeck,

I saw the firefly series and I really liked it. It's different. It is about the future in a star trek way but without the stupid uniforms and on a busted up ship. The characters are good with a lot of funny lines that take you by surprise. There is an old west feel to it. You like the characters even though they are thieves, prostitutes and the like.

I want to see the movie, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

RWS, I really enjoyed the movie. I think both the series and the movie had their flaws, but considering the mush that's labeled as SF in the theaters nowadays I found Whedon's creation refreshing.

I saw Serenity. It's not very good. The show is much better.

Episodic TV does certain things better than movies. You can have little asides and bits between characters that would get cut out of a movie (as, at least in an action-adventure movie, most of the screentime is dedicated to the central conflict/plot).

Serenity tries to have both quiet, silly moments and bit dumb action-movie stuff. A lot of the humor isn't the sly, smart humor of the show, but the sort of blast-it-out-to-the-cheap-seats kind of dumb humor you see in action movies all the time. Some of it's good; a lot of it's grating.

The actual story feels too compressed for a movie. It feels like what it probably was-- a long plot-arc intended to unfold over six or eight episodes, condensed into a two hour movie. So a lot of the movie is just going here and there to quickly (sometimes with almost no foreshadowing or reason) this or that plot point. It's like LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring in that respect. A lot of it is rushed, Just One Fucking Thing Happening After Another.

And the lack of a really strong narrative drive makes the movie both rushed and overstuffed with plot AND boring at the same time.

It's not a bad movie. It's just inferior to every single episode of the show I've seen. It may be a decent sci-fi movie, but only because so many sci-fi movies completely suck.

Two stars, maybe two and a half. The damn show should have been kept on the air. The basic story here, played out as it should have been over the course of a season, would have been great.

I get to see Serenity on Saturday - finally (never get to see movies in the theater what with the kids and all). Having Netflixed the Firefly series so I could watch it all in order in a couple of weeks, I'm totally pumped up.

On the other topic: I don't think the male psyche ever tires of talking about female anatomy. Ever.

Ace,

Who won the poetry slam from last week? Since I got disqualified and was "voted off the island", I'd like to know who to kneecap in the parking lot congratulate. My turd-poem ought to get some kind of honorable mention, though -- even Harold Pinter has never written a poem to a turd, as far as I know.

I had to read Pinter's crap back in college, by the way. All part of the "modern lit" series of courses. I got the only "C" in English I've ever gotten for savaging his play The Basement. And I only got the "C" after I threatened to take the jerkoff teaching the class to the head of the department -- he wanted to give my essay an "F". Asshole. I still remember his name, too: Taylor Carman. Taylor, if you're out there: you feel this? This is my dick in your ear. Fuck you, you simpering halfwit.

Ah Ace, now I'm getting bummed. You're describing the same feeling I had with the Farscape mini-series. Too much crammed into too little time, leaving no room for the characters to do their thing.

It doen't help that there's a lot of story to be told here, but that all of the characters and concepts from the TV show have to be quickly re-introduced for those who don't know the story thusfar. That takes about fifteen minutes or so, further squishing the time allowed for everything that comes thereafter.

Not to reveal spoilers, but... I've got to say part of my disatisfaction is due to... well, I can't say. Anyone who saw the movie knows what I'm talking about.

Sometimes unexpected stuff is welcome. Sometimes it's very unwelcome. For me, the big surprises in Serenity were of the latter sort.

Yep, Ace, I got the feeling from the movie that Whedon figured this was his only shot to finish up the story and he had to cram a bunch of stuff in...in addition to setting up the plot for people who weren't familiar with the series. It could have been better and I really would only recommend it to people who were familiar with the series and already cared about the characters.

It was certainly superior to "War of the Worlds," but not as good as "Batman Begins," which is coming to DVD Tuesday, I think.

Not to reveal spoilers, but... I've got to say part of my disatisfaction is due to... well, I can't say. Anyone who saw the movie knows what I'm talking about.

I know EXACTLY what you mean, and fortunately I knew about it before I went into the movie. Talk about unnecessary!

Yes, that's what I figure...

but it doesn't really work. I guess he thought this was his last shot. I would have been happier had he had more faith in himself and his story and set up a movie that doesn't resolve the central plot arc of the show, thus leaving the door open for a sequel or (preferably) a continuation of the series.

As it stands, it's like the end of Lord of the Rings. With Sauron gone, what is left to do? Not really much of anything.

So even if a new Firefly series is greenlighted, what does he do next?

The movie doesn't quite end with the fall of Sauron, but the central mysteries are revealed and the main enemies are largely... well, not defeated per se, but it's kind of like Frodo at the end of LOTR again. Okay, now that he's destroyed the ring, even if there were a "Sauronian Remnant" remaining, why would they bother hunting him down? Vengeance, I guess, but for no other good reason.

Ace,

This feeble attempt to distract the disaffected right from the real matter at hand, the Miers non-confirmation, is a betrayal equal to that of President Bush's.

No dissent from the party line now for you too?

And how come everyone knows all about this bbeck person's boobs (and I'm hoping it's a "she")? Is there a nice pic out there somewhere?

Batman Begins sucked eggs.

Talk about rambling and incoherent. Do screenwriters not know the definition of "story" anymore?

When you know what you story is, that means you know what your story isn't. That makes it simple and obvious what to cut.

If your movie has a bunch of weird, irrelevant stuff crammed in, it means you didn't know what your story was about in the first place, or maybe didn't know whose story it was.

Actually, there's a pic on this site, somewhere, though I can't find it. Bbeck modeled my t-shirt for me.

Some t-shirt post contains a shot of her throbbing milkmelons.

I liked the show, and I thought the movie was alright.

I find it refreshing that someone finally came up with a sci-fi concept that's just about human beings and their problems, without getting a bunch of corny aliens involved, forcing you to wonder who on Earth they're supposed to represent.

And with the series, I thought it was a really interesting departure to have some form of Christianity survive into the future. You don't see that very often.

I can't stand Spielburg or Cruise, but I surprised myself by really liking War of the Worlds. As an exercise in cinematic bigness, I loved it.

Similarly, I just finished playing through HalfLife2 (thanks to...someone in another thread long ago who suggested it). I was so blown away by the modeling, I ran out and bought a better video card just to appreciate all the rust and stucco and peeling paint. It was not only a visually huge experience, but you got to shoot back. Mucho recommendo.

On the other topic: I don't think the male psyche ever tires of talking about female anatomy. Ever.

Yeah, I'm just a geeky piece o' meat to you guys. Good thing I kinda like that.

So even if a new Firefly series is greenlighted, what does he do next?

A shirtless Adam Baldwin would make for a good start, but I'm easy in that respect. Honestly I don't know, and considering it's not making much noise at the box office, I'm not sure if a sequel's gonna happen anyway. I think most fans were hoping for a new series, but I think the 'spoiler' made that unviable.

Incidentally, I give people ONE WEEK to see a movie before I talk about spoilers freely, and then you're on your own.

Anyone notice the whole series is directly lifted from the old sci-fi RPG Traveller?

I mean, it's very, very close to Traveller. Wheedon just emphsized the Wild West aspect, but that was mentioned in Traveller as well.

Whedon actually nods to that game in the first episode, with Wash saying something like "Okay, Travelers, let's get going."

bbeck is a lady, throbbing or not, and definitely not a 'bbeck person.' Ace's site is gifted with a number of ladies with acerbic wit and no little amount of class, and bbeck is among the foremost of these.

The "spoiler" thing might actually be thrown in to make a series viable, because, well, think about it. New elements, you know?

Should meatmelons throb?

Bounce? Sure.

Stand at attention? God willing.

I don't think sweater-puppets throbbing is healthy.

Weasel, don't you think a HalfLife movie would work?

Imagine a sci-fi Poseidon Adventure. It starts out with some earnest but highly intelligent scientist going to this strange and unique self-contained world.

Then all hell breaks loose. He has to fight his way back to the surface. There's your basic plot thread right there. Very linear, very strong.

Tons of villains, obstacles, etc.

Then, he gets to the surface at the end of Act II and ... for Act III, he has some crazy government conspiracy thing to deal with.

It practically writes itself.

ace,

you really should read all the thread in your posts. Someone DID link that picture of bbeck and we had a fine time with it.

The "spoiler" thing might actually be thrown in to make a series viable, because, well, think about it. New elements, you know?

Eh, not for me. I can't say why because SOME OF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET, but my reasons are good.

So, which Firefly chick is the hottest?

And Sean, there's a link to the t-shirt picture in the
Gerry Daly at RedState: thread ("bbeck is real and fabulous" or something).

Phinn, I'm so out of the loop, I didn't realize there was a Doom movie coming out later this month. My boss sat me down and made me watch trailers. It's bizarre; the clips I saw actually make it look like a first-person shooter, with the weapon sticking out of the center of the screen and everything.

It's probably going to suck hugely as a movie -- how long could you sustain interest with that? -- but they've faithfully reproduced the Pink Boys and the Scratchy Things and all the stuff that peopled my nightmares ten years ago. Bawoooo!

And I'm NOT throbbing. Not in the picture, anyway.

I can't say as I liked War of the Worlds all that much, but I think it's more due to the story than any fault of Cruiseberg.

Really, it's the same story of Independence Day but without any central character in on Earth's defense. We just follow a guy around (and not a particularly interestingone at that.) If Wells hadn't written his book and the name didn't have built in brand value, I can't see any studio head signing off on that script. "What? The guy just walks round til they just die off? Of a disease? That doesn't make them explode? Get the fuck outta my office, moron!"

Really, there is absolutely no third act to that show and Speilberg should have changed it like he did with Jaws. In Benchley's book, the shark just dies of like a heart attack, or some such non-climatic health issue. In the movie, they had the thing blow up. Much, Much better.

Shit's gotta come to a head and then explode. Rule numero uno.

The hottest is Saffron, though she's not really a Firefly chick.

Second hottest is Inara or whatever, because she's a dirty, filthy whore.

Then the mechanic, because she's also kind of a whore, and she's nice and dumb to boot.

The other two are cute too.

Weasel, yes, Doom's coming out, and I don't know if I'll see it, but we'll at least rent it for the Karl Urban factor. Ho-ly cow.

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/076095.php

Dayumn. Not throbbing, mind you, but absolutely bursting.

It's bizarre; the clips I saw actually make it look like a first-person shooter, with the weapon sticking out of the center of the screen and everything.

Yeah, weird. I get why you'd have one shot in the trailer, just a nod to the game, make people smile, but they keep showing that first-person shot, making it seem like it's going to just be a filmed video game.

And it looks CGI, so that shot looks very videogamish too.

Leading to the question: Why watch the movie when you can be in the movie by just playing the dumb game?

The hottest person on the whole ship is the Captain, bar none.

Yummy.

Interesting that Ace listed his female preference in terms of complete sluttiness, lol.

Inara lost points with my husband in the "Heart Of Gold" episode, when she got all upset after Mal got laid. HEY, either put out for Mal or don't give a crap who he's doing.

Hubby likes Zoe for the smokin' bod and Kaylee 'cause she's really easy.

The hottest person on the whole ship is the Captain, bar none.

Uh, NO. Jayne would be just an ANIMAL in the sack...and he's 6'4" with a jaw-dropping build. And then Wash, 'cause I likes the geeky ones.

Something tells me Jayne would not be a generous lover.

Ace is where I come to find out what's HOT HOT HOT in the world 'o nerds. I just remembered why.

Something tells me Jayne would not be a generous lover.

Strangely, I think he'd be plenty generous, but I doubt we're talking about the same thing. ;)

And really, does a woman have to be "generous?" I just thought she had to be THERE.

I get that, but I have a feeling it would last two minutes, unless he could quicken it up to finish sooner.

Just sayin'-- Jayne's an asshole. Not Adam Baldwin. Jayne, the character.

well geeze, just cuz I say someone is hot doesn't mean I am evaluating what their performance in bed would be like.

bbeck, you and ace are just ANIMALS!

But hey........ I like it. ;-)

Unfair, bbeck - I won't be seeing Firefly until it's out on video, so don't go spoiling it for me. Children have definitely cut into my "me" time.

Y'know, this thread could have gone anywhere. Anywhere. And here's where it leads us - comparatives of the relative sexual 'generousness' of male scifi characters.

Sometimes I hate the internet and what it tells us.

carin,

Firefly is on DVD! (the series) The movie of it, Serentiy isn't yet. It just came out.

I get that, but I have a feeling it would last two minutes, unless he could quicken it up to finish sooner.

Har. Two minutes is plenty of time for ME. What kind of women do you date, Ace? :)

Just sayin'-- Jayne's an asshole.

See, THAT'S where we disagree. He's got some bad qualities, but he's got some good ones that are more subtle. The episode where he turned River in was a one-time deal, IMO, and in the movie he was drunk when he tried to do that bad thing.

And RWS, lol, Mal is good-lookin', no doubt, he's just not first on my list.

Carin, I never saw Firefly until it came out on DVD. I don't watch network television (except for Craig Ferguson). The boxed set costs about $50.

And yeah, Dr, this is a strange subject to discuss, but this is pretty mild in comparison to some, no?

So, which Firefly chick is the hottest?

Yes.

$50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

someone sent that DVD set to me. I had no idea it was that expensive. Geeze.

Getting back to poor Otho, who was ignored, some of the diseases that attack the body infected with HIV cause brain lesions. That's been known almost ever since AIDS first appeared. I don't know if that is what Drudge is talking about (I never read Drudge, his site makes my eyes ache), but I wouldn't be surprised at anything that spunky little retrovirus can get up to.

this is a strange subject to discuss, but this is pretty mild in comparison to some, no?

Yeah, the sci fi sexy is one thing. But you're girls. And you're talkin bout boys. It's just not done, you understand.

I haven't seen it, bbeck. But that's due to laziness more than anything.

Um, would that be Firefly, or bbeck's chest?

Has anyone watched the Battlestar Galactica miniseries?! I loved it every bit as much as Firefly (but to compare them would be like comparing Star Wars to Bladerunner).

I might not be so tired of the Miers thing if it hadn't been 90% of the posts by the biggest bloggers ever since news broke. And seriously, has anything changed since then? Have we had any startling revelations?

Not really. A few people have said stupid things about the nomination, and some other people have reacted stupidly to those statements. Blah blah freakin' blah.

Somebody wake me when real news occurs in this story.

Fork, no, I don't watch it because I got so badly turned off after 5 minutes of the miniseries. I know I'm in the minority, but the one scene I saw was beyond stupid and I couldn't handle it...

(I've complained about this scene before)

It was some scene where Starbuck, Dumb Chick, was having trouble with her fighter, and she was sitting in the cockpit waiting for the maintenance people to fix or finish what they were doing. She wasn't professional, she didn't act like an officer, she was sitting there rollling her eyes petulantly and then she screamed "COME ON!!!" at the workers. Uh, was that supposed to be tough? Was that supposed to make the workers think, "Oh, she wants us to HURRY"? If there was one iota of reality, the crew chief would have calmly come up to the cockpit, tossed a tool in her lap, and told her to get off her can and fix it her da** self.

I've just never been a fan of the "tough chick who has to act like a mutated *itch-man to be taken seriously." Men hate and disrespect that sort of woman in real life, and women aren't too crazy about the type, either. That scene, and the scene from the previews where she slugged some guy, made me say, "Er, I don't think so."

Hottest Firefly babe? Kaylee. Cute, geeky, fun, and fun-loving.

Oops, I meant I won't see Serenity until it comes out on DVD - I have the Firefly on the top of my netflix cue. I'm tired, and not thinking straight.

Actually, I really really like Battlestar - while Starbuck isn't my favorite character, she doesn't irritate me that much. The story certainly isn't centered around her - so liking/disliking her isn't pivotal.

So, here's my dumb question-- anyone miss me?

Sheesh, I'm on vacation, barely tending to my own site, and this place become Miers Bitchland.

If it weren't for all the free booze and the slim-yet-real chance I might catch a glimpse of bbeck's ample heaving bosom, there'd be no reason to hang out here at all.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

bbeck, like Firefly, I didn't immediately warm to all of the characters. Starbuck and Apollo are irritating initially, but good characters often begin as flimsy charicatures in television series. Give them time. It's a helluva show.

bbeck, like Firefly, I didn't immediately warm to all of the characters. Starbuck and Apollo are irritating initially, but good characters often begin as flimsy charicatures in television series. Give them time. It's a helluva show.

I know, Fork, but I'm just not a TV watcher first off, and secondly, I've heard people talk about how great the show is...and then they talk about the recent stuff with rapes involved. Not my thing!

But hey, to each their own. It does make me happy that TV is trying to make some quality SF.

Got to see her left arm, and hair color.

big smile too

bbeck, would you say, auburn?

Change of topic.

Following a link from one of the commenters here, I came across this site:

Columbus: bigot, war criminal, genocidal maniac, and all-around bad guy.

I am not an expert on Columbus but some "facts" in the FAQ section seem suspect. Particularly:

2. Question: Aren't these accounts of Columbus an exaggerated revision of history?

Answer: No. By conservative accounts based on Spanish surveys, the Taino numbered as many as 8 million in 1493. [Source: Cook and Woodrow, Essays in Population History, Vol. 1, Chapter VI, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971, cited in Churchill].

During Columbus' tenure as "viceroy and governor" of the Caribbean Islands and the American mainland from 1493 until 1500, he instituted policies of slavery (encomienda) and the systematic murder and rape of the Taino population. Dominican priest, Bartolome de Las Casas was the first European historian in the Americas. He was an eyewitness and wrote in painful detail of the tortures he witnessed. In a survey conducted in 1496, he estimated that over 5 million people had been exterminated within the first three years of the Columbus rule. [Actual survey conducted in 1496 by Bartolome de Las Casas, cited in J.B. Thatcher, Christopher Columbus, Vol. 2 [Source: New York: Putnam Sons Publishers, 1903-1904), p. 348ff. cited in Churchill.] Later accounts that gloss over the horrors of the Columbus regime are the revisions of history.

By the time of Columbus' departure, only 100,000 Taino were left, and by 1542, only 200 were left. Within the entire Caribbean Islands, about 15 million indigenous people are estimated to have been exterminated within one generation of Columbus' arrival. This is genocide, the wholesale killing of an entire race of people. These policies, established here, laid the foundation for extermination policies that Europeans used to justify the elimination of over 100 million native people throughout the Western Hemisphere. By any standards those numbers describe a Holocaust.

I don't have a source to refute this. But, these numbers seem so absurdly exagerated that I can't even take them seriously.

They assert that 5 MILLION indigenous peoples were killed in the first 3 years. How is this possible? First, we are talking about the years 1492-1495. This is the BEGINNING of the exploration and colonization. How many "imperialist dogs" could have actually had the chance to make it to the New World? Hundreds? Thousands?

If we do the math, we find that 5 million dead =

1,666,666 dead a year
138,888 dead a month
34,722 dead a week
4960 dead a day, every day, for three years.

No way. I can't see how that could even be possible using swords, pikes, etc.

Am I being naive to question these stats? Does anyone here at the Ace Of Spades have input on this?

I just find it all very suspect. Not to mention the fact that the site is full of annoying liberal-speak.

bbeck, would you say, auburn?

Yeah, at the time. It's currently brown, but the rest is the same.

ahhhhhh... women. they wake up one day and say "today I think I'm going to become a brunette".

you gotta love that.

TheShadow:

Did you see who wrote their manifesto? Our old buddy Ward Churchill!!

Re: Battlestar Galactica, the new version -- every time I turn it on it's got people who look like they just came off the set of Clear and Present Danger -- in other words, they look like 20th-21st century Americans in a standard spy/war/adventure flick down to the clothes and the tv cameras. Where is the scifi? Even the Cylons have been turned into "look just like humans" (so we won't have to extend the budget to robot costumes). If I wanted a war movie in space I'd rent out Spaceballs. As for Firefly I haven't seen an episode, much less the movie, but the more I hear about it the more it turns me off. The worst are the "it's just like a Western!" adulatory comments. 1) If I wanted to see a Western, I'd watch a goddamn Western. 2) I fucking hate Westerns.

WRT BSG. . . Geez Andrea, what do you want, Buck Rogers silver jumpsuits?

Bitch, bitch, bitch.

:-)

Dave at Garfield Ridge,

Well, I asked about you practically hourly. I guess Ace got so sick of it he he deleted my comments.

;-)

Dan at Carfield Bridge:

Um, yeah, me too, I really missed you.

[For RWS only: Who is that guy?]

Haven't seen Serenity yet and the boxoffice returns, so far, are lousy. All the hype and it has only earned $20 million.

The next box office bomb will be Clooney's new movie, Goodnight and Good Luck.
It will do as badly as Kinsey, with a pitiful gross of $10 million.

Movies worth renting:
Sin City
Collateral
The Last Samurai
Lost in Translation
Sideways

Movies that suck:
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
XXX: State of the Union So bad I couldn't even finish it.

I'm waiting for Netflix to deliver Hitchhiker's Guide.

Do not see The Village. Totally blows.
I lump League of E.G. and Van Helsing into light fun fare. Along the lines of Army of Darkness (Boomstick Ed.) Dumb but fun.

And Battlestar rocks. I hate these screwy half seasons they run though.

I didn't notice Churchill's contributions until you mentioned them. He must be fond of Nazi analogies. His infamous "Little Eichmanns" is joined by three papers he published comparing Columbus to Nazis.

Stranger still, they recommend that instead of celebrating Columbus, Italian-Americans consider celebrating "people who truly deserve to be recognized for their achievements."

You know, great Italian-Americans including Anne Bancroft and Henry Mancini. Strange.

All this geek shit is well and good, but I've just stumbled across some real important stuff -- the use of Coca Cola as a contraceptive.

This has staggering filmography implications for the gang bang genre of porn films. I've enlisted Ted Kennedy as lead investor for an upcoming tour deforce trilogy set. Nobody has tapped the product placement aspect of porn production yet. Ted feels this is a wide open field for enhancing revenue.

No, I'm Geoff, you're TheShadow.

Oops.

Getting late...

I just found out that if you typed in "failure" in the Google search, the first link that comes up is a biography of President Bush from the White House website. This might be old, but it's new to me. Maybe it says something about Google.

There's an article at Snopes explaining how liberals have gotten together to game the search engine, and there's a quote from a Google executive saying that they don't mind.

Enough with the old stories...

Meh, there are plenty of "old" stories that deserve revisiting - like THIS ONE.

Of course anyone from any large American city will be absolutely mystified why the car in question wasn't stripped clean down to a barren shell. I've seen broken down cars on the Cross Bronx Expressway look like they were attacked by a pack of metal eating sharks within 24 hours. With the advent of cordless Sawzalls and the price of scrap steel these days I expect even the bar shells are dispearing.

...Mark Darragh, 22, a sales assistant, who also lives in Oxford Street, said he had spotted traffic wardens regularly walking past the abandoned car. "I just found the whole thing hilarious. It’s incredible that the council left this bit of the road unsurfaced instead of taking the car away."

Councillor Bob Cairns, who represents the area, said he reported the matter immediately to the roads department after two constituents told him about the abandoned car on Friday.

He added: " I’ve been told it will definitely be removed. However, I’m not happy at all that the road was not resurfaced properly and it seems it wasn’t done because of bureaucratic legal problems. There must be some way of cutting back on red tape."

A council spokeswoman said: "Because of the damage that had been done to the car, it wasn’t in a safe enough state to be removed last week before the work was carried out.
...

P.A., here in CT there was outrage when a lazy-ass road crew, faced with a dead deer in the area to be paved, simply paved over it.
Fucking guys.
I swear when they plow in the Winter, they tear up curbs on purpose to guarantee themselves some hours in the Summer.

*crickets*

*curled in fetal position under desk*

This place is pretty slow today, isn't it?

Don't tell me you all are working.

Well, for one thing, the server seems to be playing silly buggers today. I've just hit post on a comment in another thread thrice, and it gobbled it up each time. No doubt, all three will appear in a minute, to make my triumph complete

Slowly...going...insane...

I work (for the next eight days anyway) at a place where a lot of kids come through. There is one particular parent who brings her toddler in while the kid's sibling gets therapy. That kid is always screeching, banging toys and the mother does F**KING NOTHING ABOUT IT!!!

TRY TO WRITE A GRANT WHILE A KID IS SCREAMING AND USING A BIG PLASTIC TOY BIN AS A DRUM!! GO AHEAD, JUST TRY!!!

Okay, I feel much better now.

Yeah, well except for my regular nice people, my store is a nonstop parade of assholes today.

People who decide not to do business, then grab free shit (for the customers; candy, water, little date-books) on their way out the door just fucking amaze me.

Oh, man, I couldn't work in an office without headphones. I don't concentrate through noise well at all. If I'm writing or something where music would be a distraction, I listen to white noise. On those days, I have to pee implausibly often, but I generally get my thinkin' done.

Today, I am studiously ignoring a tight, important and onrushing deadline. It would probably be easier to work on it than to continue ignoring it this hard, but that would not be the Weasel Way.

I studiously ignored last night's "important and onrushing deadline" - probably what made me so cranky on the elitism thread. Somehow I made it anyway (at 3:45 this morning - 15 minutes to spare), so I'll have to hone my procrastination skills for next time.

I forgot my iPod today. That was my first mistake. Usually I just throw on some music and write away. I have a crapload of work to do in the next few days, as I'm switching jobs and want to clean up a few projects here.

Fortunately, I work in a place that has soundproof hearing test booths, so I went into one of them and sat for a few minutes in blessed silence. It was wonderful.

One time, I jacked off. It was cool.

At work?

Fer crissakes, Dogstar, stop wanking and fix the market.

Well, it was work for me.

Did you forget to get good pics of the kids to send to your family and friends? Or maybe you took one, but the dog was in the photo and has since died, making your photo sad instead of merry.
Worry not.
Call your doctor and make an appointment ASAP.

Great Christmas Card Idea

Dogstar, I'll have to try that. Sounds neato.

For the benefit of random parties, just a quote from a memo by the Bond producers on why some actors were overlooked:

Hugh Jackman, it read, was "too fey", Colin Farrell "too sleazy", Eric Bana "not handsome enough" - and Ewan McGregor "too short" at 5ft10.

Dogstar:

Now you've got me curious. How do you do it?

First, you gotta find stuff that's, like... How can I say this? It makes you breathe fast. But it's not like running. It's more like Christmas, when you were little, but you're not jumping up and down, you're just sitting there.

Whew, this is hard. Maybe the girls know.

Wait, that's it! Girls! Now I remember!

This story is so funny it will make you cry.
A old moonbat/poet/murderer/escapee gets sentenced to...

A whopping Three Years!
The man should strung up by his balls for the rest of his life.

A brief re-cap:
His name is Norman Porter.
Occupation: Armed robber/killer/poet/moonbat/handyman

You guys have got to read this story.
It has all the elements of liberalism and social injustice and buffoonery. The biggest buffoon is Michael Dukakis. Read on --

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/03/23/murderers_arrest_ends_fugitive_life_as_chicago_poet?pg=full

Then read this story for the sentencing and follow-up:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/14/killer_turned_poet_could_get_additional_three_years_in_prison/