Archives for November 2001

November 29, 2001

Thursday, November 29 Man,

Thursday, November 29

Man, do I feel old. This year's ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame is out, and some of these guys seem way too young to be potential Hall-of-Famers (and yes, I use the word "potential" loosely). Alan Trammell? Robby Thompson? Lenny Dykstra, for God's sake?!? Isn't he still 28, with his whole career ahead of him? Particularly sad is that my favorite player of all time is also HOF-eligible, but I think my fellow Mike Greenwell fans and I are going to be shut out of the process much like us Ralph Nader supporters*.

*Yes, I always root for people that have no chance of winning. In fact, a couple weeks ago I decided I would become a big Nebraska Huskers football fan, since sooz is from Nebraska and they always crush everyone, like 73-10. So I made that decision and two weeks later, they get pasted by Colorado. So I'm sorry, Coach Solich. And I vow never again to put my support behind anyone who has the slightest chance of success.

November 28, 2001

Wednesday, November 28 Mark

Wednesday, November 28

Mark Morford is a SF Chronicle columnist that I read a lot and don't link to nearly enough. Here's his take on the whole "it's your civic duty to buy our useless crud unless you're some kind of Commie Taliban-loving ecofreak or somethin'" mood sweeping America in this holiday season.

And speaking of the holiday season (I won't much, I promise), 2,000 years of Christianity...thousands upon thousands of singers and songwriters (talented or not)...millions of somewhat creative people...and there are still only EIGHT Christmas songs ever played. Nine, if you count the Chipmunk Christmas song; but you never hear that in a store.

November 26, 2001

Monday, November 26 I've

Monday, November 26

I've been derelict in my duties - I forgot to provide a link to the fringe of sanity: the CAPAlert guy's review of the Harry Potter movie. He's against it for all the predictable reasons.

If you haven't seen CAPAlert yet, it's the crusade (and I don't use that term willy-nilly) of, I believe, one man, who aims to provide parents with a guide to what movies are suitable for your kids to watch. Provided, of course, that you only want your kids to watch movies approved by the very fringe of the lunatic fringe, the kind of people who wish Jerry Falwell would just stop restraining himself for once.

Anyway, his main point about Harry's popularity is, "what better time to embrace evil in entertainment than now when we have kicked God out of schools". Compared to your typical George Bush press conference, is Harry really "evil in entertainment"? And I love that refrain of people who say that God was kicked out of schools. Last I checked, kids get Christmas and Good Friday off, so there's that - plus it's kind of odd to hear them admit that their God can be overruled by a school committee hearing. Oh well. The review (as all CAPAlert reviews do) then takes the novel approach of citing obscure Bible passages and pretending they're relevant, and listing everything that could possibly be construed by the most easily manipulated soul in the universe as offensive.

Personally, I think the real value in CAPAlert is finding out ahead of time exactly how much nudity and profanity you're getting for your moviegoing dollar. I don't think I'm alone here.

November 23, 2001

Friday, November 23 Maybe

Friday, November 23

Maybe it's just me, but if I hear repeatedly that today's going to be the busiest shopping day of the year, that's a really good sign for me NOT to go shopping. I barely like people on an individual basis; am I really going to get any joy out of slamming elbows with them at the mall today?

November 20, 2001

Tuesday, November 20 And

Tuesday, November 20

And just when I thought educational insanity was confined to places like Alabama, here's a story from my own backyard that makes me want to go beat my head on a wall (or more to the point, someone else's head). Parents at Newton North High School here in Massachusetts were alarmed that Howard Zinn spoke to their students about how maybe, just maybe, there's another side to the story about the goings-on in Afghanistan (and as an aside, when exactly did this change from a War On Terror And Evil Wherever We May Find It to a vendetta against Afghanistan?). The line I like best? "Parents questioned exposing young teens to Zinn's opinions." I guess since Howard Zinn's views won't be on the MCAS, they aren't worth taking valuable time away from rote memorization to ponder. And local man Tom Mountain made his case for mandatory parent-licensing, saying about Zinn's views, "It's horrifying. He told these things to an entire school audience of kids 13 to 17 who don't know any better." But they do know better! They've been thoroughly indoctrinated for weeks now about how everything America does is right and proper, and should be able to see through Zinn's hocus-pocus, the silly idea that Afghan civilians might have suffered from the bombings. Incredible.

November 08, 2001

Wednesday, November 8 From

Wednesday, November 8

From the "I think it's clear to all that you people never evolved" department, the Alabama Board of Education is about to require their biology textbooks to include disclaimers to the effect that evolution isn't a fact. I was all ready to make a series of jokes here until I got to the paragraph that said, "All four voted for the insert in a 1995 board meeting remembered by many as the one where former Gov. Fob James impersonated an ape while opposing the teaching of evolution." It's hard to imagine where Alabama got its bad reputation, huh?

November 06, 2001

Tuesday, November 6 Updates

Tuesday, November 6

Updates three days in a row! I need to work extra hard this week so Bud Selig won't contract me.

November 05, 2001

Monday, November 5 It

Monday, November 5

It seems some people, who really need to take up hobbies, are trying to get a law passed in Massachusetts that will forever deny any kind of recognition or benefit to same-sex unions. They call it a "Defense of Marriage" act, as if one existing marriage will be saved or defended from the Gay Menace due to this totally unnecessary law. But now there's an effort to mobilize volunteers to shadow signature-gatherers, dispel their oh-so-family-friendly rhetoric and expose their agenda for the ridiculousness that it is. Thanks to Frances for bringing this to my attention.

In site news, the playlist from last week's 80s party is up.

And there's a new movie review up. Bet you thought I forgot all about it.

Sunday, November 4 As

Sunday, November 4

As a Boston sports fan, my sports-related pleasures are few and far between. So thank you to the Arizona Diamondbacks for allowing me to root vicariously for them the last few days. I feel a bit like an East German who woke up one morning to find out the Soviets left town. The Yankees' reign of terror is over!