Why Bother, TBS...?!?

I watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on TBS tonight. (Great movie, so-so station.)

Anyway, I wonder what passes for censorship nowadays. Imagine my surprise when I heard the word "asshole" unedited. (I knew they could say "ass," didn't know it was possible to say the "hole" thing. ;) ) Then, of course, there were other unedited words like "crap," "Hell," "damn" and "dickless." Yet they edit out the "God" in "goddamn" as well as "shit?" Do you really think that anyone watching the movie that would complain about a word like "goddamn" are going to say, 'but it's OK that they kept "asshole" in'?)

Why bother, nighttime cable television? You let every other piece of profanity on the air!

Interesting Links (20071206)

...from a co-worker:

Formula concerns arise: Group finds hormone-mimicking chemical in all liquid baby formula it tests

Toyota shows violin-playing robot

A Family (Guy) Restaurant?

I saw a commercial this weekend with which I take exception. Well, OK, it's not the commercial as much as the principle of the thing. It was for Subway, and apparently, they know have Peter Griffin, (of Family Guy fame), as a spokesperson. (Spokescartoon?) Anyway, it's inappropriate for a "family restaurant," (yes, they have "kids meals"), such as Subway to be using someone from such an adult-oriented show to sell their wares. Don't get me wrong: I like Family Guy, but would I want my younger kids to watch it? No. You'd never see McDonald's using such a spokesperson, (not that they're perfect either).

Are the pickin's that slim, Subway? Or do you just hope to sell more subs by being a bit "edgy?"

Oh, and by the way, I've never once received a sub in your restaurants that looks anything like the monster sandwiches you show in your commercials. There's no way Jared would have lost that much weight if he was getting that much food every time he ordered one of your subs.

Rock On, Rock Band!

...just don't do it for long, or you'll break the guitar.

My Son bought Rock Band for the Xbox 360 last Tuesday and we've taken the Fender Stratocaster that it comes with back to Best Buy, (not their fault, it's just where we bought it originally), twice to be replaced. It started acting up on me again last night, so that makes three times in a week. The problem is with the strum bar either not registering notes, or registering too many notes. This is apparently a big/known issue, (see thread). Other than that, it's a pretty cool game.

License Plate Impropriety?

I was just wondering, after seeing a car yesterday with a license plate of "ROCK OUT", how does one go about getting such a plate from the DMV? Is no one there familar with the expression "rock out with your..." Well, I'm assuming you know the rest...

Is it OK to have a plate that just insinuates but doesn't say? What's next?

"FURBUR"?
"UCKYOU"?
"KISSMY" or even "KISSMYA"?

How about "TEABAG"?

Then of course there are plates like

"SUCKIT",
"EATME", (you could claim it was an "Alice in Wonderland" reference),
"BLOWME", (perhaps you like meteorology).

I should mention that I heard a story some time ago about a driver whose license plates were taken away from him after he'd received them and put them on his car because he'd snuck one past the DMV. His plates read "3MTA3". Do you see it? If you need help, there's a hint in this Web page at snopes.com.

I'm sure that somewhere, the rules are all documented. I'd be curious what they say, and what I could get away with.

Maybe He Just Hasn't Won His Wings Yet...

Today is the first day of my "new hours" and I realized something about our glorious leader. Perhaps he is really our guardian angel, sent from above to force us into better situations. Perhaps someone up there realizes how bad we have things here and that some of us will never take the initiative to improve our situation, so He actually had to force our hands by making things so miserable that we had no other choice.

Just a thought. I'm sure it would be the only time that our Bureau Director had ever been referred to in any such way, with eyes skyward. I'm fairly certain it's usually with a nod in the other direction.

Get Off the Road...!

(Admittedly, this post is a bit late. It's something I was going to post many weeks ago, but didn't get to. Now with my new found "blog time," I figured I would play a little "catch up." I'm planning on an old post tomorrow as well.)

...My son is driving! He finally took his driver's ed this Summer and now has his "temps." What a milestone! Of his core group of three friends, only two of them rushed to start driving. He and another friend really had no interest, and decided that when one of them did finally take the plunge, that the other one would as well. So this Summer, that friend's parents made him do it, so...

Incidentally, did you know that the "proper" hand placement, "10 and 2" when I started driving, and "9 and 3" when my sister, (15 years my junior), started driving, is now "8 and 4"?!? What the Hell! Try it once. Talk about awkward! I much prefer my own style, thank you: right arm resting on the center "arm rest" at the elbow, left arm draped over the steering wheel at the wrist or below, at 12 o'clock.

Yeah...I am cool...

Thinking of...

mrg and hcff, who are supposed to be inducing some time today. Best of luck, guys!

Everybody's Working (on) the Weekend...

I began the rather daunting task this weekend of installing the wood laminate flooring that we bought a week or so ago from Menards. We're going to be doing the whole upstairs, with the exception of the kitchen and bathroom, (no stairs either, but arguably that's not the "upstairs" so should be implied). That means three bedrooms, the living room, dining room and the hallway. After most of Saturday and Sunday spent working on it, I've almost completed the master bedroom. I have only the closet to go, (and then installing the trim). I don't know what kind of drugs the people at Bob Vila's Web site were on when they said it should only take about 45 minutes. Perhaps when you've got a whole crew working on the thing, and everything is pre-cut. Well, I am still happy with the results.

More Time for Blog?

I received an e-mail at work today after requesting an exception to the "standard" work hours that would:

1. Provide for extended coverage when paired with my co-worker who was requesting a similar, but earlier excaption, and
2. Account for the fact that I don't typically take a lunch hour, (allowing me to work an 8 hour day, rather than 8.75 hours).

Here's the e-mail:

From:   Bureau Director, still older than Methuselah  Sent:  Wednesday, August 15, 2007 9:34 AM To:    Me Cc:    Section Chief; Division Administrator Subject:       WORK SCHEDULE: Exception Request Your request for an exemption from standard work hours has been reviewed, and is not approved at this time. As of September 10 your work hours will be 7:45AM-4:30PM. If you need additional time to comply with this schedule due to personal reasons please contact me to discuss. We will continue to periodically review work schedules and make adjustments as necessary to meet agency support and customer service objectives. If the nature of your daily work activity or project assignments requires adjustments to any daily work hours please discuss them with me or your section chief so we can accommodate the work activity on that day. If you have any further questions or wish to discuss work hours further please contact me.

I have to wonder if this isn't back-lash due to the fact that I haven't complied with his "unofficial dress code" (request) forbidding his staff to wear shorts in the workplace. (FYI: there's almost no way he'd ever get that made "official" as it would never make it through HR and the Union.) At any rate, perhaps this will translate into more time for me to blog, as I am literally forced to take a lunch hour every day. We'll see...

Board To Revisit New School's Name After Hmong General's Arrest

This is pretty amusing, for people that may believe "political correctness" has become an epidemic in our country. Most people reading this are probably already familiar with the story, but I just wanted to document it...

News Story - WISC Madison

It's All About the Precedent, Baby...

Oh, yeah...and it's freaking disgusting!

‘That Paris deal’ sets horrible precedent - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

...More on the decline of our civilization...

...And then there's this lovely story... Their parents...oops, I mean guardian, must be so proud...

Reality Bites

Ugh. I have been so sick of reality television for so long. I just don't get the fascination. Every time I see some new reality show, I am shocked by how the creators, (and subsequently, the viewing public), will sink to new lows. Now I am even more convinced that reality television is contributing to the decline of our civilization...

People suck, in many ways...right? Many are selfish, inconsiderate, slovenly, rude, blah, blah, blah...I could go on. So what does reality television do with that attitude? It puts it in the spotlight. It glamorizes it. I think it could even be said that it makes (some) aspire to be like that. A week or two ago, my wife (*sigh*) was watching one of these crappy shows on E!, I think? Something about "celebrities" competing to shed pounds? Well, the part I saw had "Screech" from "Saved by the Bell" being the biggest jerk he could be, and cursing to the judges and his fellow competitors. And some of them were giving it right back to him. It was "*bleep* this," and "*bleep* you," and "I'm going to give you a big *bleep* so you can go *bleep* yourself with it," and then "Oh my *bleep*-ing *bleep*! I can't *bleep*-ing believe you, you piece of *bleep*! Don't you ever *bleep*-ing *bleep*-ity *bleep* *bleep* to me again, you *bleeeeep*."

sigh
Anyway, then the next morning? More of the same, as I awoke to a show called "Shear Genius" on Bravo, (I'd fallen asleep watching, believe it or not, a non-reality movie on Bravo the night before). Anyway, on this particular installment of tripe, some talentless hack was reacting to being put in her place by a judge, stating something like "I don't give a *bleep* what she thinks!"

Jesus, Joseph and Mary, people! When is this country's misguided fascination with this steady onslaught of garbage going to end? Let's put on some TV with some thought behind it. Something where you don't have to see the dregs of society at their "dreggiest," with nary an wholesome word in the entirety of their empty heads, much less what's spewing forth from their big pie-holes!

Reality television? I say thee, *bleep* you and the horse you rode in on!

Tragedy, But...

A couple quick comments about this horrific Cho Seung-Hui story from Virginia Tech...

First of all, it is just horrible beyond belief that it happened. It saddens me to the core of my being, and I grieve so for the victims, and the families and friends left behind.

With that said, I think this is an unfortunate sign of the times that this monster's actions are spread throughout the media, everywhere you look. It frustrates me, (and others, I know), how much energy the media spends on covering the shocking, the terrible, the horrible news, and how relatively little effort they put into covering the positive, uplifting, inspiring ones. Is that a reflection on the quantity of such news there is of each end of the spectrum? Or is it just a reflection on the depths to which the media will stoop, nay, debase themselves, to sell a story? I suspect the latter, but perhaps it's a little of both. Of course one has to wonder as to the effect of near glamorizing the perpetrators of all these atrocities. It's like a child who doesn't get the attention/affection he craves by being a good boy, so instead lashes out and revels in the attention he does receive, albeit negative. It's better than nothing, right?

Then, there's the focus that some seem to have on the violent stories/screenplays this guy wrote for school. Apparently, he wrote such awful things about throwing hammers at people, and attacking them with chainsaws. Another one with students who fantasized about killing a teacher who had molested them. Cho's fellow classmates were horrified, wondering what he was capable of. Um...hello, people? You want to see more of that carnage? You need look no further than your local movie theater. Do people think the same thing about the guys who wrote Saw? Hostel? Turistas? So many, many more...? (And yes, they do seem to be predominantly guys, don't they?) My point is that perhaps Cho had become a product of our society. Maybe we need to take a closer look at the kinds of things that pass for "entertainment" these days. I'm not just talking movies, but television, music, books, video-games, blah, blah, blah... You name it, and "it's" boundaries of good taste are most likely being eroded. I hate to be this way, but I just have to wonder...

Finally, I would like to express my derision for the Westboro Baptist Church's plans to protest the Virginia Tech funerals. That is all I think I need to say.

I Don't Care What You Think; You're Not Cool!

Hi...I'm back. It's been a while. Sorry. I've had lots of things going through my head, but just haven't taken the time to express them textually.

Anyway, just wanted to post about this stupid commercial for Madison Media Institute I keep seeing where this ridiculous loser girl tells us about her experience at "MMI." Um, I'm sorry, but take the fucking piercing out of your stupid ass lower lip before filming the commercial! Honestly, I have no problem with piercings...I even have a few myself. But I don't need to see your poser-ass self trying to look cool every other night on my TV! Aaauuuggghhh!

There, now you know how I feel. See you in another couple months. ;)

UPDATE(s):

• 20070413 - Oh, and I don't care what your professor told you in Keepin' It "Reel" 101, that bit where you pause, searching for just the right words to say, doesn't make you seem more genuine... It just makes you seem like an idiot! And it allows my attention to be drawn back to that stupid "bull ring" in your lip.

1-800-contAActs?

Why exactly does 1-800-CONTACTS think their logo needs to look like a double-A battery?


C'mon! It's not just me that wonders this, is it?

Happy Valentine's Day!

I guess I should also say "Happy Drive Like an Asshole Day!" (Of course it's also optionally called "Drive Like a Dumb-Ass Day," depending on whether you're inconsiderate or just incompetent.) Seriously, today, between the 2-3 accidents I saw on the road, (after they had occurred), the multiple people driving in my lane, either with me, or coming at me, and the multiple accidents that they were reporting on the radio during my drive home from work, everyone seemed to have forgotten how to drive today. And I'm sick of it!

Scrubs

I've really been getting into Scrubs in syndication lately. I just love J.D.'s character. In tonight's rerun, he went to a bar to meet Turk and said to the bartender, "I'll have an Appletini, please. Easy on the 'tini,'" to which came the response, "no problem, lady."

Heh heh heh...

Then, the other night, there was an episode where the janitor had been posting signs around the hospital stating, "Senior? Gay?", followed simply by a picture of J.D.'s face. This resulted in a bunch of, (as J.D. put it), "old queens" meeting on his back porch to socialize. One night, after chasing them off again, as he was cleaning up after their party, J.D. thinks to himself, "I hate cleaning up after those messy old queens. Oooh, appletini, when did they start drinking straight guy drinks?"

Classic...just classic...

Students Barred From Bus For Speaking English - Education

Got this from my wife. Like she said: what if this was the other way around?

Students Barred From Bus For Speaking English - Education

Incredible...

'Octopuss' Car Wash

I was driving past an Octopus Car Wash this afternoon, and noticed that they had the following displayed prominently on the sign in front of their establishment:

N O W     H I R I N G
A L L     P O S I T I O N ' S
I hope one of them is a grammar checker!