"I take a sip, I feel it in my mouth, but there's no taste ..."

(that's from a Miller commercial)
Welcome to the world of American beer!

I find it vastly amusing that Miller is making fun of Budwieser this way since I find both of their main beers nearly undrinkable. Three years in Germany made me into a Beer Snob. (mmm hefewietzen)

But actually the American breweries have started making something other than their weak pilsner and some of them aren't too bad (given their origins). And there are any number of brew pubs in many places which make very nice beers. I'm particularily fond of the "Oil Change Stout" and the "Scottish Ale" at Flat Branch. Their "Green Chili Beer" is good too.

And, of course, we have to pay tribute to that fine drink, the "free beer". There is actually no such thing as a bad free beer since the two adjectives tend to cancel each other out.

"And the # 1 way CBS News Can Improve It's Reputation"

"1. Oh, I dunno, stop making up crap?"

While most everything that I've seen shows or otherwise indicates that Bush did indeed get preferential treatment to get in the Air National Guard, started out as a good pilot but eventually stopped following orders and became a weak-link, they (his dad's "people") probably managed to destroy most or all of the evidence of this. I mean he (his dad) did eventually become the head of the CIA and was known as a man who could "make things happen." (sometimes interpreted as making people "disappear"?)

However Kerry did go to Vietnam and served. How well and/or how honorably may be in question (I can't comment to that as I wasn't there - a position more people should take I think). He did become a protestor afterwards but I would have more respect for one of those people than someone who sat safely at home waving signs and shouting, having no idea what things were like over there, either for the Vietnamese people or the Americans fighting there. And the protestors, especially former servicemen, seriously undermined the morale of the military. That I find difficult to stomach.

All of this (Bush's "service" and Kerry's "service") very successfully clouds the issue which are of more immediate concern, who's going to do better at the job? Personally I don't think Kerry will do any better. However I know that Bush can't do the job I want him to do (or think he should). So I really have no choice but to vote against him by voting for Kerry, as disheartening as I think that may be.

So CBS may have been correct in the things it said but having no proof, as a "responsible" news organization they shouldn't have put it out there as anything other than an opinion (an editorial perhaps?). With all the other opinions which seem to corroborate it. Many of my friends maintain that the American People are intelligent enough to get the implication or make the connection themselves. I don't agree with that evaluation but this may have been the more prudent course of action.

But CBS news is no less "factual" than Fox news or the Washington Post. (three times zero is still zero however)

No!

I don't plan on getting the Star Wars DVDs. Why should I pay George again for the same thing? And it's not even the same thing. While there aren't any significant changes, he did replace some of the original actors with the actors used in Episode II. For continuity's sake, you know.

Normally I'm a big fan of continuity (the lack of it in Star Trek annoys the hell out of me) but after the poor quality stories in the last two movies I don't want him to change some things which were fine. And I'm not a big fan of Hayden Christiansen. Sheesh, he's (if it seems possible) even more whiney than Mark Hamil was in Episode IV.

And Jack proposed a theory a bit ago that George Lucas is by no means brilliant, as many Star Wars fans make him out to be. He was just lucky hitting with a Science "Fantasy" movie at the right time and the right place. Watching the first film again you'll see the story isn't too great, the acting is only mediocre and it doesn't hold up to time well. Most knowledgeable fans agree that "Empire" was the best of the first three and IIRC he was off making the Indiana Jones films so he had virtually nothing to do with that one.

And these days we don't have to settle for lousy science fiction TV or movies (looking at Paramount - Trek, and Lucas - SW), there's more out there and it's a lot better.

I watched the season finale of Enterprise last Friday and it was incredibly cliched. In the first five minutes the bad guys (lizard men) were eating cute little hamsters in a transparent attempt to involk a more "evil" demeanor. Lame! Have them kill an underling or something in an offhanded, casual way or something a little less transparent.

And an hour later I watched the season finale of Stargate SG-1. They had their share of cliches as well but they were handled with humor and a touch of intelligent script writing as well as good direction. Two of the techs were on watch at oh dark thirty and when turn their backs to go get coffee the gate is beamed out. One says to the other "we're not going to get in trouble for this, are we?". To my mind, much better than eating hamsters. Still the same sort of overused cliche but not nearly so transparent.

Maybe I've just read too many books, watched too many movies and gotten old, grumpy and cynical.

To make things better

I've often heard it proclaimed by parents that they want to make their children's lives better. By improving technology or by sending them to college or whatever. And we can, if we examine our society, see that since the end of World War II succeeding generations have had an easier life. Indoor plumbing and power are available in nearly all parts of the country, education (such as it is) is available to many more people and the poverty level is much lower.

However I was pondering this morning, the point at which we as the older generation, make life so simple for the next generation that we accidentally remove this desire or the ability to act on it.

"CBS, we suck less"

(Before I'm taken to task for picking on CBS, you can really fill in any of the major networks here, it doesn't matter. While they may have on something you like, they'll also have something on so bad they should be shot!)

I bounced yesterday's blog entry around some folks asking if they thought my theory held any water. I got some interesting responses but Jason's was the best.

"The problems with reality tv are (1) it's practically free to make, (2) nielsen ratings ensure that you don't have to make quality entertainment, you just have to suck less than the other guys. If you've only got 2 people watching, but they're both watching your show, you still get 100 nielsen points. It's criminal."

So the success factor is not being as bad as someone else. An interesting idea and one that clearly applies to television and so many other forms of the media. I wonder how well it applies to American society as a whole or other aspects of it.

America, no longer a nation of excellence, now a nation of "Inspired mediocrity"!
(And before someone tells me "if you don't like it, leave", I spent 13 years of my life defending your right to say that to me!)

"In the beginning there was the Talk Show ..."

It occurred to me this morning while I was driving to work listening to Weird Al's song "Talk Soup" what the deal was with all this crap reality TV.

You have the people who want to (or need to) be the center of attention. We've all known someone like that since grade school, some of us are like that (I know I have a certain amount of this in me). The "show offs". "Look at me! See what I'm doing!". And then there are the people who watch them. Without people watching them, the show offs would eventually stop showing off since no one was watching and their need to be the center of attention wasn't being satisfied. So the two are intertwined and inseparable.

So Talk Shows allowed the show offs to SAY what they wanted and know that people would listen. It isn't about the topics or allowing people to air greviences or any of that, despite what the host may claim (since on their side it's really all about ratings and people watching). It's about show offs getting guarenteed audiences for their shenanagans.

And so this glut of crap Reality TV (and I believe that the term "crap reality TV" is being redundant since all of it is crap to me) is only the next logical step in this chain. The show offs can DO instead of just saying, with a guarenteed audience. And from the hosts perspective they cost nothing to make since there are seldom any complicated sets and no actors to pay huge salaries (which rise with popularity).

That doesn't mean that I don't lament the demise of real television. Guess it will be a Galaxies and City of Heroes evening tonight!

Fence complete

Well I got over to Lowe's on Monday evening and got some landscaping stones. I blocked out all the likely looking places where she might crawl under and picked up the cardboard tube I'd been using in one place.

The game is tonight and while last week was fun and very social, we only actually played for about an hour and a half. So this week I'm ordering pizza from work to be delivered (if the timing works) just a bit after I wade through traffic and get home. We should be able to start sooner and play longer.

Monday on the way to work I was sitting at the light at Providence and Nifong in the turn lane. The light changed and I took off but there was a truck coming the other way speeding up so he could make the turn before we got out there and blocked him off. I can't fault him for this since it's often the way I drive. However he had a bed partially full of gravel and when he turned hard he sprayed us with it. I only found one spot where he dented my passenger side back door but the car is kinda dirty and it was hard to tell. Yet another example of people not thinking about what they're doing. I know that when I had 60 pounds of landscaping stones in my trunk I drove a bit more cautiously.

"I don't have lip fungus!"

Okay, the one (of three I think) commercial I found amusing I saw last night. Some sort of cell phone commercial but I forget who it was for (very effective then I'd guess so maybe that's why they don't make them funny - of course I never buy stuff from the ones that annoy me!).

There also seems to be more people who are trying to kill me. I noticed three cases on Friday where the car in the on-coming lane wasn't turning when the road did and that led them into my lane. I don't really need that sort of adrenaline rush thank-you-very-much!

It was a quiet weekend spent doing chores and playing City of Heroes. The website is abysmal but the game is kind of fun.

I measured the sections of fence that I need to block up so that the dog won't crawl under and escape (I can't really call her a puppy anymore since I've had her around eight years now I think). I went to Wal Mart looking for some landscaping tiles at Mary's suggestion but the one down south by the house seems to be pretty shabby these days. Not much inventory and it needs a new coat of paint. So it's off to Lowe's or Home Depot to see what they have. I got my grill from Lowes so maybe I'll go there first.

Ah ha!

I heard a new Subway commercial this morning. It was mostly the same but the tag line "Subway, looking out for number one" had been changed to add ", you!" to it. Apparently the marketing folks missed it the first time and someone pointed it out to them.

I still don't believe it, but then I disagree with the concept that a corporation should be treated as an individual.

And my comment about republicans was taken poorly by some people, so let me say that I got into this mindset after listening to some morons on a list called MLUG (Mizzou Linux Users Group) spout inane "facts" (with no proof) about the Bush campaign. I made a comment that I didn't understand how we could elect someone so bad at math. An obvious (to me at least) jab at the President's fiscal policy (which I consider to be wildly irresponsible). The response by the self proclaimed republicans was that the ability to do math isn't a pre-requisite for the job (and no, they subsequently posted disproving the theory that they were just being as clever as I was trying to be). I was apparently too subtle for these particular "republicans".

However I know a few others, Brian Lehmann for one, that I respect immensely and consider a good friend. So while it may appear to be an unfair generalization, it was meant in jest in an effort to assuage my anger at those MLUG folks.

"Republicans are like Gays"

This was something Jason said last night at the game while we were cooking. "I don't have anything against them but I can't imagine how they come about." Andy started this discussion and he had something similar to say but I can't remember it right now. I'll see if he does.

I'd can imagine the furor this would produce among that community (the Repub...) I was going to say the Republicans but if I were Gay I'd be deeply offended to be compared to Republicans so I think it could run both ways.

Speaking of the game, it's been running very well lately. Two weeks ago I made these little cheese wontons that were very simple to make (a bit time consuming to fold the wonton skins) cooked up pretty quick and were very well received. So well that I did it again that Saturday for my housewarming party. They brought in several main courses from Okii Mama's (good oriental food for fair prices) and it was wonderful. Andy brought these evil little ice cream things that had one and half times your daily recommended allotment of saturated fat (peanut butter things) and then the game was a blast.

Last week we only did pizza but the game was a whole lot of fun. Jason and Lorie didn't make it but they wanted to play anyway. Jason even got a white chip for role playing when Andy made a "meh" sound that Jack said he makes when he misses with his melee attacks.

Last night I made baked pasta, Jason made bruschetta (wonderful), Jack brought toasted ravoli and garlic bread and Andy brought gelato from this place we go to near the house. And the game was a blast again. They should be able to finish up in no more than three weeks though so it's going to be like the end of Andy's Vampire campaign was (for me at least). The closing of something that was so much fun and so rare that you feel sad it's over and wish it could go on.

"Subway, watching out for number one"

Clever. Very clever. You'll notice they don't say that number one is actually their corporate bottom line, with the implication that they don't care about your health as long as you continue to buy their product. People will (incorrectly) assume that it means them.

And later on they talk about "non-lowfat condiments like mayonaisse and cheese". If you don't catch the double negative then you may assume they mean mayonaisse is okay to eat on your sandwich and it will still be low fat and good for you. How many people actually know enough about the language (or pay enough attention to it) to realize that a double negative is actually a positive (odd that in a place of such limited logic like our language, this particular mathematical concept carried through).

But as far as a commercials go the Subway ones are not nearly as annoying and condescending as, oh say, the Doctor Angus ones from Hardees, or the Mister Wendy ones from Wendy's ([sigh] I know Dave Thomas died but do we have to suffer this?), or ANY of the McDonald's ones (ever!).

"The Bankrupcy Center"

Does anyone else find it disheartening that bankrupcy is now advertised? That it seems more "forgiveable" than it might have been in the past. I'm all for second chances, it is in the spirit of good will, but I always looked upon bankrupcy as giving up, surrendering. And that seemed to me to be just short of saying "will you manage my finances for me since I seem to be incapable of it?".

I guess I just don't like giving up. Some hereditary stuborness perhaps. Maybe nurtured and fueled by the military. But I got into trouble years ago and spent nearly three long years digging my way out. And I was very proud of the fact that I paid off all my debt.

But when I went to buy my house I was told that a bankrupcy will only stay on your credit history for two years while the events which often cause people to go into the various debt consolidation programs will stay for seven. That doesn't seem like the way to encourage fiscal responsibility and payment of debts.

But then that could also be why they elected a man who has no intention of balancing the budget (my 'bad at math' analogy was apparently too subtle for some people).

"The District"

That's what some sort of downtown merchant association is now calling some strange shaped area of downtown. "The District". Apparently businesses within this area had to redo their advertising, business cards, whatnot to reflect that as their location. I don't know that it's replaced their address, if so it might become difficult to find some of them, but since I find it incredibly pretentious and don't plan on patronizing those businesses I doubt I'll find out.

I mean if Columbia were a fair sized city (100k+ population) and there were other "zones" I could see having a "The District" since there would be some other section, like "The Hill" (the Italian section) in St. Louis. Or the "Riverfront". I guess I know too much math and know perfectly well that you can't divide something into one part!

More later, got Op Center today and it'll probably be slow.