A Tragicomedy

I agree, wonderfully written, my dear. :) Brava! Y...

2009-01-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

I agree, wonderfully written, my dear. :) Brava! You should have one of those journalist fedoras, I think you would look smashing in one.

Occasionally (imagine!) I just leave a comment say...

2009-01-20T20:46:00.000-08:00

Occasionally (imagine!) I just leave a comment saying "good post."

Good post.

I'm sorry about the car :S

2008-09-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry about the car :S

This does not do me justice, however it is adequat...

2008-09-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

This does not do me justice, however it is adequate for now.

Well, here I am guilty of this. Although I never e...

2008-09-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am guilty of this. Although I never even think critically unless it is out loud with my friends. My girlfriends get offended because I criticized a woman's physique; then they feel bad because they do not think they are as beautiful as the woman I just criticized.

I need to clarify; I find women's bodies ugly. Having said that, when I criticize I am only doing so as a brain's measure of trying alter something that cannot be altered. To turn her back to a child, or into a man.

I am APPALLED there is nothing in here about me.

2008-09-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

I am APPALLED there is nothing in here about me.

i still wish Katie Holmes had stayed on board as R...

2008-08-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

i still wish Katie Holmes had stayed on board as Rachel Dawes for the Dark Knight; it was like the time spent getting familiar with her character in Batman Begins was wasted...

Don't forget batman beyond

2008-08-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

Don't forget batman beyond

I think it's a good idea to make a distinction bet...

2008-07-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

I think it's a good idea to make a distinction between "the batman" and "the goddamn batman". The batman is still Bruce Wayne who is cleaning up the streets to avenge his parents' murder and to give his life purpose.

The goddamn batman, on the other hand, is already dead in his own mind. Bruce Wayne is a disguise for the god damn batman.

Totally agree that Batman: TAS is the best one ever. I find it's joker much more scary as he uses nerve gas against the population of a major city. In the Dark Knight, he kills what, 20, 30 people max? Nothing compared to the weapons of mass destruction used in TAS. Plus, TAS had my personal hero, Temple Fuget, AKA the Clock King, in it. So, case closed.

HAHA, Well that is just brilliant though. :)

2008-07-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

HAHA, Well that is just brilliant though.
:)

Wheel's on fire...rollin' down the rooooooooad...

2008-07-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

Wheel's on fire...rollin' down the rooooooooad...

Love it.Wow, I don't really know what I would say ...

2008-07-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Love it.

Wow, I don't really know what I would say to my 16-year-old self, had I the chance...but it is a question worth the ponder. Perhaps I shall make a post of my own, and perhaps others will too...it would be an interesting read/meme type thing to pass on. :)

Yay...I missed your writing, even if this one is o...

2008-07-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Yay...I missed your writing, even if this one is on celebrity silliness. :P

shocked and appalled

2008-06-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

*shocked and appalled*

Actually Sharon Stone was quite correct about the ...

2008-06-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

Actually Sharon Stone was quite correct about the earthquake being caused by China's bad karma as a nation. Burma also has plenty has plenty of bad karma.

See more info on group karma at http://www.sentforlife.com/karma.html

Thanks Alex. Sharon Stone's comments incensed me w...

2008-06-12T03:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks Alex. Sharon Stone's comments incensed me when I read them in the paper but I didn't have the brainpower to respond at length.

Yeah, yeah, charity...but I find all these rich white celebrities' jetsetting and adopting and what not to be kind of patronizing. They tend to make the people they speak for invisible, and erase their agency -- they're just hordes of unfortunates who need to be "saved".

And re: Moe's comments, even if someone is complicit in wrongdoing (which we all are, no?), they certainly don't deserve to be caught up in a terrible natural disaster.

Wow, that was wordy - and I totally messed up a st...

2008-06-11T22:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, that was wordy - and I totally messed up a statement at that! Serves me right...

I meant to say that unlike what most people think, the women in Iraq have never been subjugated, nor, if the populous is left to its own devices, will they ever be.

Neither here nor there...

I'm one long-winded mofo.

My reply....will be short unlike yours you wordy b...

2008-06-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

My reply....will be short unlike yours you wordy bastard :P
...and it will be on the main page

I'm not sure if it warrants counter-arguing agains...

2008-06-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if it warrants counter-arguing against your points, considering this is an in-the-heat-of-the-moment rant, but talks about his Darfur campaign/role as UN ambassador whenever given the chance - and it's not like he needs more money or fame.

Angelina Jolie has adopted kids, and seems more busy globe-trotting to learn about and spread word on various causes. She's met and worked with Queen Rania of Jordan, who has a reputation for being an activist for many issues, including women's rights, and she's anything but "brain dead". She's considered a celebrity - in fact, she's probably the most internationally well-known Middle Eastern women. Is her activism useless because she's a celebrity? Sure, if you consider women's rights in the Mid East to be a trivial issue (Contrary to what 95% of the world thinks, Iraq has never and never will - unless the wrong people go into power or the US government decides to push legislation for laws that stifle women's rights, for the sake of justifying one of their initial motives to invade the country in the first place - liberate the women... I'm thinking countries like Afghanistan - which, I know, is changing - but especially Saudi Arabia.)

What about Richard Branson's humanitarian initiatives? And, although he gets shit on a lot, Bono's work is undeniably influential, at least to the layperson who decides to take up a cause. Even if a single man's suggestions falls on deaf ears in the political arena, spreading the awareness to many others is just as important, if not more. Change happens when large numbers demand a change, because, frankly, it's the minority versus an angry majority as opposed to the minority versus one man's thoughts. Martin Luther King Jr. wouldn't be as iconic as he is if it weren't for the thousands who put his words into action.

My point is: celebrities, especially in an age where more people are concerned about who's dating who in la-la land than who's killing who and why halfway across the world, are vital to spreading the message because people listen to them (for better or worse.) I'm not saying that they're better equipped to solve the world's problems but they have the mic and podium and they might as well use it to encourage those who really can induce change - us - to go ahead and do so.

In Sharon Stone's defense, Scientology, of which she was a part in the early 90's, is deeply rooted in fundamental eastern practices shared by most Eastern traditions, so for her to gravitate towards a purer spiritual practice and away from the sci-fi trappings of Hubbard's religion, is natural. Even though it was under a different name, she's essentially, presumably, been following a spiritual practice for at least 13 years or so.

Karma isn't just some exterior result or effect of a similar cause taken by the causer. It's more psychological than anything. Example: If you lie, cheat, and steal (cause), and was brought up with typical decent moral values (another cause), then chances are those immoral actions will trouble your conscience (effect). That's one way to look at it, and it applies to every aspect of our lives.

Stone's example of the hurricanes as a result of mistreating the Tibetans is too mystical to be taken seriously for anyone who hasn't embraced the meditative way of life, but what about the hurricanes happening as a result of China's huge carbon footprint? It seems pretty obvious to everyone now that if you pollute the environment, mother nature will come back and bite you in the ass.

"So, therefore it must not be the Chinese government doing many evils…according to Sharon Stone’s logic, it must have also been the children too."

You're assuming that children can't commit any wrongdoings... they may not be aware of the implications of their actions, but working the mines all day or taking up causes for environmentally-unfriendly forms of economic development will still destabilize the environment.

"I also heard on the news that many Chinese shop owners were hurt and even killed by Tibetan protestors….does that now mean we will see the Dali Lama and his people suffer in an earthquake or similar natural disaster? I think not."

You're interpreting karma too literally. Hurricanes might not kill them but a gunshot to the head by an enraged relative of the shop owner weeks, months, maybe years later will. If a complete stranger, completely unrelated to the hurricane event or the victims involved, comes along and kills one of those Tibetan protesters, you can argue that somewhere along his/her world line (the sequence of events in the history of that person) they made a mistake in some action that eventually leads to, however indirectly, the stranger killing them.

Anyway... I can go on. Again, I apologize for "deconstructing" your argument if it was only an unrefined rant.

Blame U of T.

One of my favourite quotes is in C.S. Lewis', The ...

2008-06-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite quotes is in C.S. Lewis', The Magician's Nephew (obviously), "No great wisdom can be reached without sacrifce."

This quote pretty much relates to everything in life for me. It's how I make sense out of things. So in relation to your blog, journalists risk and sacrifice their lives, whether it being in the dangers of communist North Korea or in a warzone, their job is also part of saving the world to bring us knowledge, to deliver that great wisdom through sacrifice. They are on a mission that definately inspries me.

"I know from experience that someone whom you thin...

2008-05-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

"I know from experience that someone whom you think you know quite well can be in sheer agony and loneliness and not say a thing. But as a friend, is it not our job to see past the often pathetic attempt at a happy facade? Maybe this friend wanted to hang out and you were not available, Fine, happens to all and cannot be helped. Maybe you did not feel like giving them a call back when you said you would. Okay, we all have, shit happens, life happens. But maybe that friend feels too lost in this guise of contentment and feels scared to seem clingy or whiney through showing her honesty."

--This is me.

Today's word is eucatastrophe. Say it with me, kid...

2008-05-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

Today's word is eucatastrophe. Say it with me, kids: eu-ca-tas-tro-phe.

In other news, our mutual friend Baltar has an interest in politics, in which case we're so fucking fucked.

True enough...but the 'model' family is not my con...

2008-05-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

True enough...but the 'model' family is not my concern but rather allowing kids to see more of reality and yet remain fun. They did not exist then I know. But the entertainment at the time et kids be kids and grow up at the same time. Whereas now it is all fake and high school musical...YEAH that is right people I DESPISE that crap. It really is hard to explain but essentially it feels like something is missing.

As for the 50's censorship....Duh, as a journalist I am not a fan. The Leave it to Beaver days are NOT the ideal in my eyes...but I just think its pretty damn sad how things seem to even be slipping from the freaking 90's.

And yes, the Weekenders was the shit. :)

I have a few comments on your post:1) What has re...

2008-05-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

I have a few comments on your post:

1) What has really changed? With the advent of technology, sure kids play guitar hero and text, but it's no different than what parents used to complain about in the "old" days. Parents/adults have always said that when they were younger things were different. And yeah, it's a slightly different society we're building, but the major things (i.e. attitudes towards and relationships with various people) are still coming up cyclically. The model family didn't really exist in those days outside of TV. It's just that now TV is maybe perpetuating a slightly different image. But who's to say people are listening to and modelling that image as much as they used to model the sugar coated image before. Need I mention the weird censorship laws of the 50s? I mean come on, in a normal household, parents slept in the same bed, so why did Lucy and Desi not do the same?

2) Maybe the kids I babysit are too young, so I don't see the problem with the programming. I prefer shows like Caillou or Dora the Explorer (though don't get me started on the whole Spanish thing) to old shows like Barney. But that's just speaking from an adult point of view of something that's entertaining. Although I do agree that kids should grow out of these shows fairly quickly.

3) And my last point: I LOVE(D) The Weekenders. I thought it was the shit. I mean, come on, the first cartoon where the kids actually changed clothes! And with that said: Later days!

Hurray!Now you write more!

2007-04-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

Hurray!

Now you write more!