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| Thursday, September 11th, 2008 | | 8:10 am |
The Meme Thing
Bold means I've done it.
Italics means I want to do it.
Plain means I haven't and I won't. 1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper nappy
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales (Bill, while there are no truly domesticated whales, I think they mean not at Sea World)
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job (If abrupt ending of a temporary position counts)
76. Won money (Not a lot but a little)
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours (
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place.
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem (Took a creative writing poetry class; realized I do not have the soul of a poet)
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous (I get letters from politicians all the time asking for my help. Uhm my money actually)
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine (Thank you Max for that.)
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz (Define Can)
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator (Considnering I used to work on the 34th floor of a high rise; the fact this has never happened to me is amazing.)
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a camp fire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter | | Thursday, September 4th, 2008 | | 1:54 pm |
| | Thursday, August 7th, 2008 | | 7:30 am |
| | Thursday, July 17th, 2008 | | 1:20 pm |
| | Thursday, June 12th, 2008 | | 11:13 am |
Dave’s New Rules for the Internet
1. You are not allowed to compare anything to a. Hitler – Yes, Hitler was a vegetarian. He also was a proponent of oxygen intake. Please feel free to cease that activity. You don’t want to be like Hitler, do you? b. Soviets Union/Communist c. The Twilight Zone- Everything like the twilight zone, you just being lazy; try harder. 2. People who should be ignored on principal a. Proponents of the Moon Hoax. (That’s people who propose that the moon landing was fake; not people who propose we should fake a new moon landing.) b. Proponents of 9-11 Conspiracies (Of course Rosanne) c. Proponents of the Face on Mars theory. Sorry, no face. d. People who can’t tell the difference between a fictional character and the actor who plays them. e. Any Shipper who describes himself or herself as militant. f. Anyone who accuses creators of grievous crimes because of something they don’t like in the story. Doesn’t apply to autobiography. 3. The expiration date on the following arguments have been exceeded a. Any Harry Potter Shipping Debate. Unless its "I haven’t gotten by Harry Potter book from Amazon yet". b. Is Smithers a homosexual or a Burnsexual? c. Tori Spellings Career: Nepotism or Deserved? Once a celebrity is in a reality tv show, your career is so bad, its kinda of mute. d. Whose cuter Charles in Charge or Chachi. See Scott Baio is 45. Its neither. 4. People who need to be left alone (even if they don’t want to be): a. Britney Spears – She’s been sacrificed to our “Haughty Celebrities Must Die God”. Time to move on. b. Flavor Flav – Your going to marry the mother of your children. Go away before you completely destroy the legacy of the Public Enemy. c. Peter Brady- You started the only sane person ever on Surreal Life, now your married to a narcissistic woman child. See what fame costs. 5. People going to internet hell. a. Any grown person who has every created, or visited on purpose an “Only x many days till said Actress is legal” website. b. All journalists who use the first amendment, the most powerful tool for freedom in the history of the world, to justify shallow shameful gossip. You may have the right, but you still suck. | | Sunday, June 1st, 2008 | | 9:25 pm |
California Ballot Intiative Time
Once again we have masive changesin the way the government works in Proposition 98 Eminent Domain and the End of Rent Control This would end rent conrol in the future. If your in a rent control apartment it stay that way. Once you move out the person who moves in is now in a non-controlled apartment. I don't live in a rent controled area and there are certainly legitimate arguements against rent control. However, I am not ready to throw out the whole kit and kabodle like that. However, here's the part that worries me. This law says the government can't take private property and put it to private use. One of the defenitions of private use is "regulation of owvership, occupancy or use of privately owned property to transfer benefit to one of more private persons at the expense of another property owner". This is where your getting to get you a bazillon law suits. This law exempts goverment acts for to eliminate public nuisense and criminal activities. This where the next bazillion lawsuits are coming from. I love how there are never any environmental exemptions in these pro-property right laws. Watch a developer convince a local agency that because a certain neighborhood has a higher crime rate that they should use their criminal activity exemption to help them develop that poor neighbor hood into middle class housing. Watch some declare that that a city ordience preventing them from building a four story house because it blocks the view of other residences is them limiting the value of his property to enrich his neighbors. Also there a little sneak in there saying you can't take private property for a public use that is the same. I suspect this is to prevent localities from taking utlities public in the way Sacramento is. I don't actually expect agency to be doing that in the near future. I don't about the other issue this could raise. David says No. I beleive Eminent Domain law may need to be reformed. Just look at Trump trying to get Fresno to use eminent domain to make people sell at current market prices (you know the middle of a freefall) to build a golf course. But I don't trust the writers of this bill. I don't trust anybody to do this on there own. It should be hammered out in public with all intrested parties getting their say. This what our elected government is for. Prop 99 You can't transfer owner-occupied residences to private use. No rental control overturn. I am bit annoyed that the opponents to this props' main argument is that "the legislative analysis says it won't change much.. so it must be useless. I think what that shows is that this doesn't happen very often. I think its a little sneaky to make it only for owner occupied propreties. Still I am not sure I want to vote cause once again I don't trust anyone like I said. So NO Again | | Monday, May 12th, 2008 | | 11:14 am |
TV Stuff
It’s the Upfronts this week. Where the networks announce their schedules for next season. So far, we have: New Amsterdam Cancelled Dollhouse (Whedon’s new show) Mid Season All ready there are cries that Fox is trying to kill Dollhouse I’ve come to the conclusion that the main thing fans and network executives have in common is they have no real idea what makes a show successful. Five Rules Fans Think Network Executives Should Live By Five : Quality = I Like Four: Never Put A Science Fiction Show On Fridays. Unless its Doctor Who, Star Gate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Ghost Whisperer, Moonlight, The X-Files or Battlestar Galactica. Science Fiction dramas don’t do well on Fridays unless they do. Three: Networks should never counter program. If there is a successful show, they should either put on a non-quality show (see rule five) or better yet nothing. It makes perfect sense from a business perspective to abandon airtime. Two: If a show won the Best Pompous Navel-gazing Show from an online website (See Jacob at TWOP) then it must be popular. Neilson rating lie. One: Scheduling is easy. What ever you did that caused a quality show (see rule five) to be cancelled was wrong. If you moved it, you shouldn’t have. If you didn’t you should have. We reserve the right to tell you after the fact. Five Rules Executives Actually Live By Five: Whatever the previous guy did was wrong. Otherwise, they’d still be there. Unless they were promoted, in which case never mind. Four: Synergy is a really great word and no, I don’t know anything about chemistry. Three: Quality= Shows that make money. Two: Writers and Actors are not essentially to the creative process. Producers and marketers are. One: We have absolutely no fucking idea what you people want. | | Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 | | 4:31 pm |
| | Saturday, February 9th, 2008 | | 10:38 am |
| | Sunday, February 3rd, 2008 | | 12:24 pm |
David's Primary Choices
Barack Obama I just can't support two families control the White House for over 20 Years. Prop 91 No This proposition is esentially Prop 1A. There is no need to vote for it. Prop 92 No I went to a community college. I think community colleges are a very effective education tool. I oppose this law. This law would be yet another dedicated funding alternative. It limits the state's right to decide to fund it and how much to charge. tO add yet another law hamstringing the legitature from making budget decision. I have consistantly opposed dedicated funding because it limits our choices in the future. The $150 reduction in costs for students doesn't impress me enough to do this. Prop 93 I oppose Term Limits. If you don't want someone reelected then don't reelect them. Even though this would allow people to serve longer if their constituents chose them, I am going to oppose it. If for no other reason then it stinks of lets currently serving legislators a chance to serve longer but still say the oppse term limits. Prop 94-97 Yes Damn I hate these Casino intiatives, but this is basically to approve what the Governer already negotated. I don't want to have to vote on everything that Governer's supposed to do. So I vote Yes. | | Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 | | 5:13 pm |
Its Election Time ...Again
REPUBLICAN Iowa 40 Delegates New Hampshire 24 64 Delegates Total Needed to win Nomination 1259 Delegates Winning 100% of those delegates gets you 5% of the delegates you need to win the nomination. DEMOCRATS Iowa 56 New Hampshire 30 86 DELEGATES TOTAL NEEDED TO WIN NOMINATION 2,184 Winning 100% of those delegates wins you 3.9% of the delegates you need to win. Even if someone where to win 100 percent of the delegates in the Iowa and New Hampshire contests, they would be 3.9 to 5 percent of the way to winning. Yet, somehow they would be described as inevitable. With all due respect to Iowa and New Hampshire, you are not wiser then any of us. I appreciate you take the responsibility of being the first to meet the candidates very seriously. However, so would Vermont, Hawaii, Nevada, Maine, and Rhode Island. (I’ve purposely chosen small states to keep the Retail Politics feel.) The media needs to stop putting so much emphasis on these two contests. The candidates shouldn’t surrender cause they only scored 15 percent of 5 percent of a goal. Voters should not give up on candidates cause they only scored 15 percent of 5 percent of their goal. | | Friday, December 28th, 2007 | | 3:54 pm |
| | 9:04 am |
TV Awards
Best New TV Show Pushing Daisies – May not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I love it. The only flaw I see is that lovely as Chuck is, its hard to pine when you have a ready and willing Olive in the corner. Worst New TV Show John From Cincinnati – No not Caveman. No Not Bionic Woman. No Not Viva Laughlin. This show. It’s the worst kind of crap. Pretensions Crap. It now surpasses Aliens Resurrection is the most effective waste of good talent I’ve ever seen. It also gets this title for having the potential to be a great show but going completely off the rails. I am still flabbergasted at its defenders. However, maybe they are right and I am just a close-minded fool who should stick to things like Tilia Tequila. However, if your defense of this show is essentially “You too stupid to understand it,” then I really have no respect for you argument. Biggest TV Crime Deadwood getting axed for John from Cincinnati. Most Boring Almost Porn Tell Me You Love Me: I just couldn’t stand people whining their relationships the entire episode, no matter how much sex was put into it. Shows I Stopped Watching Prison Break: Was always my cracktastic show. However, after the death of Sarah, with full Seven treatment, I decided this show had exceeded my dead girlfriends quota. Plus Chuck was much more fun. 24: My Other cracktastic show. Show started strong. First nucking H’s hometown and Dr. Bashir being on TV again and all. Then it just got dull. Really really dull. Biggest Disappointment (Not John From Cincinnati) Bionic Woman – Creator of Battlestar Galactica, made this very tepid and uninspired show. Also made Katee Sackoff look like Joan Rivers in one scene, that was unforgivable. Least Interesting Couple on TV Andi and Sam from Reaper: Sam’s a cool character and we know the actress playing Andi can be interesting. But somehow, this hasn’t translated into an interesting character. Andi’s basically exists as a love interest. That’s about it. Add to that the show doesn’t even seam that interested in her. Its much more focused on the relationship between the three guys or Sam and the Devil. Which is fine, but they need to find Andi something to do other then be hesitant about dating Sam. Most Interesting Couple on TV Dexter and Rita from Dexter Yes, she’s a mother who escaped an abusive relationship to wind up in a relationship with a serial killer. But I said interesting not healthy. I think its interesting that Benz is the Buffy alumni doing the most interesting work. | | Monday, December 24th, 2007 | | 4:53 pm |
Santa Baby
All People Not Eartha Kitt: You Think. "What a Spoiled Bratt?" Eartha Kitt: "Damn, Santa. Get that woman her list, you slacker." Have a Merry Christmas. | | Thursday, December 20th, 2007 | | 5:07 pm |
Three Shows Down
They’ve cancelled 4400 and the Dead Zone and all but officially cancelled Journeyman. Of all these I am most disappointed by the end of 4400. The nature of Journeyman allows us to leave it with some things unanswered but 4400 not so much. I really wanted to see what Marco did with his cool new power. Alas, I will never know. Dead Zone was a mercy killing. There was absolutely no element of production that didn’t suffer due to the massive change in staff and location last season. The only reason Marci and I watched it was to make fun of it. Which is sad cause it was a solid show once upon a time. Journeyman was an interesting premise helped a lot by a very good cast. I also like how he told his wife in the first episode. Still this show’s been on borrowed time for a while. What’s most interesting about this is the online response is how typical it is. A show is cancelled; the same responses are kicked out. The Network is Stupid. There is no Reason to Watch Cause they just gonna cancelled it anyways. (This comes regardless of how long the show’s been on. Three episodes or Three Hundred) Damn Writers Strike (This one’s new). Which actually makes little sense. They should given it a better time slot. The criteria for this time slot is always “some other time” and when said person is most likely to be home. The network hates X and screws his shows. Cause networks are in the habitat of spending millions of dollars just so they can pull the rug on someone as some sort of prank. They should give it more time to build it audience, look at Seinfeld. Don’t however look at the other 150 shows that started weak, and got weaker. The Martians are responsible. (Shh don’t tell anyone.) The reason shows get cancelled most of the time is not enough people watched. I am a fan of serialized dramas. However, I must face the following facts: Serialized Dramas are expensive. Audiences prefer other shows more. Sitcoms, reality and procedural dramas. Serialized Dramas lose viewers easily and pick up viewers with difficulty. Serialized Dramas costs escalate faster then other shows. Television is a business. Why is American Idol still on and Arrested Development and not? Because that’s good business. You can’t spend quality. The television business does not reward good intentions or even being right in the long run. Executive A renews Journeyman despite low ratings. Executive A gets canned. Journeyman suddenly becomes a hit. Executive A will not get his job back. Thus I am faced with the fact that the kind of shows I like don’t often get made, and frequently get cancelled. Stupid Martians. | | Thursday, November 8th, 2007 | | 4:50 pm |
The Writer's Strike
My totally unsupported and random predictions on the consequences of the writer’s strike. Assuming a long strike. Shows that people watch more out of habit then anything else will suffer ratings decline. I suspect the middle of the road shows that don’t generate a lot of interest will suffer once they come back and their viewers have moved on. If ER wasn’t in its last season this would have killed it. In my totally unprofessional opinion, shows like the Law and Orders and Ghostwhisperer may not survive next season. I am going against the grain. This strike will not lead to more Reality Shows in the long term. All the proposed Reality Shows that will on our TV for the next few months are very derivative. People will watch, but they will also get tired of them. All of them. Once regular programming starts again, I see a some of the current reality shows disappearing. It could happen. Some obscure type of programming that no one is remotely thinking of right now will be huge. It will lead to more shows like it. It will lead to its own category at the Emmy’s. And the Emmy’s will completely screw up by giving it the wrong show. I don’t know if this programming will be local access, Norwegian elkhound Soap Operas or Curling, but it’s going to be huge. It will further cement a trend towards uninterrupted seasons; such as 24 or summer, Cable shows. Lots of people will check out online content and realize 90% of anything not porn is bad. Networks will use their cable material. Expect to see Battlestar Galactica and Psch on Network Television. This will give 4400 and the Deadzone another season. The era of the Writer-Producer Superstar may be over. Executives upset that their Writer/Producers supported the other side will less likely give that much power to a writer again. Heroes and Lost will never recover The lack of the Daily Show will force journalist fans to man up and start doing their job. | | Monday, November 5th, 2007 | | 1:53 pm |
Peanuts and Schultz
I’ve finished reading the new Charles Schultz biography. It has been released with some controversy, because Schultz’s family is protesting it as an inaccurate portrayal of him. Unlike other artists I’ve been found of, I didn’t have a strong impression of him. Not cause of anything having to do with him, but because of how completely his work has been part of my life. There is film of my during the Christmas of my fourth year, excitedly opening a stuffed Snoopy. My love for Snoopy existed prior to any conscious memory I have. At some point, I would come to realize that he was created by someone, but that was just an intellectual realization. In my heart, Snoopy just was. So, if Schultz wasn’t this wonderful fatherly figure that everyone assumed he was, so what? The Schultz presented in this biography is someone who suffered an entire life with clinical depression and minor agoraphobia (not diagnosed in the book, just my interpretation.) He appears to have an inability to believe that the affection and love he receives is real and in turn that makes it more difficult for him to show that love and affection back. In the end, it made him feel alone all the time, despite family and friends. I can’t attest to the accuracy of this view. I suspect it is true to a point. One of the flaws in the book is its very one note in its interpretation. The idea that depression and loneliness could inspire Peanuts is rather obvious. However, no human being is one thing. And in this book, Schultz seams to be solely motivated by his emotional issues. Even Snoopy, this book postulates comes from sadness and disconnectedness. Snoopy as wish fulfillment. I believe in the depressed Shultz. In the alone in a crown of loved ones Schultz. Where is the joyful Schultz? Where is he playful? Whimsical? I just don’t believe that the creator of Snoopy, Woodstock, Pig Pen, The Great Pumpkin and the “Pop Corn, Pretzel and Buttered Toast” Thanksgiving, would have so little of that in play. | | Thursday, September 27th, 2007 | | 1:45 pm |
Reaper
I am not sure how long a comedic “Brimstone” will work but we shall see. Ray Wise is pretty cool as the devil. If there is any reason to watch its cause of him. Most everybody else is okay. Some potential, but we will have to wait and see.
The lead’s best friend is a problem. He’s the type of character that would work if written by Kevin Smith (not just directed by Kevin Smith), but here he screams look at me try so hard.
| | Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 | | 12:16 pm |
| | Friday, September 21st, 2007 | | 1:23 pm |
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