Saturday, June 23, 2001
bah! AIDS conferees grapple with describing sex.
this is what happens when you let politicians decide health policy and procedure. maybe we should start letting the physicians treat diseases. bureaucrats don't seem to be doing so well with it.
and goddamn., this reminds me of Helms, and it just pisses me off. when i rule the planet, politicians will be imprisoned for life as punishment for screwing around while people die, just so they can complain and bitch and moan over what may be an embarrassing word or phrase, especially when most of the people that they worry may be offended by those words probably won't read the damned thing anyway.
At issue is how to define those who are most vulnerable and at greatest risk of HIV infection, and thus deserve to be given priority in treatment.
The phrase that has alarmed many Muslim and Catholic nations defines "those most vulnerable" as "men who have sex with men, sex workers and their clients, injecting drug users and their sexual partners," along with children, refugees and displaced persons.
"Some elements want to use the opportunity ... to legitimize behaviors which are totally inconsistent with the values of others," one Muslim diplomat told CNN.
this is what happens when you let politicians decide health policy and procedure. maybe we should start letting the physicians treat diseases. bureaucrats don't seem to be doing so well with it.
and goddamn., this reminds me of Helms, and it just pisses me off. when i rule the planet, politicians will be imprisoned for life as punishment for screwing around while people die, just so they can complain and bitch and moan over what may be an embarrassing word or phrase, especially when most of the people that they worry may be offended by those words probably won't read the damned thing anyway.
White House press secretary collapses during speech.
Castro falters during speech.
is there some kind of mystical connection between the two? oh! maybe Castro and Fleischer are like Glory and Ben, only they don't inhabit the same body!
Castro falters during speech.
is there some kind of mystical connection between the two? oh! maybe Castro and Fleischer are like Glory and Ben, only they don't inhabit the same body!
my sister had her son's (my nephew. duh.) birthday party today at my mother's house. my sister rented a Jupiter Jump for the afternoon. within an hour, me and my sisters had taken over the thing and had the kids at our whim. a one hundred seventy pound guy who lands near a thirty-five pound child will either bounce that child up really high, or cause the child to hit at the wrong time. either way, he or she falls, and if that guy keeps bouncing, the child will not be able to stand again. my sisters and i spent more time on the thing than the kids did, but it was fun to watch a half dozen 3 to 6 year olds jumping around, all saying "boing!" with every bounce. now though, after 5 hours on and off the thing, and an hour long water fight with the nephews and a cousin, i'm exhausted and ready for bed, at 7:30.
my other sister has decided to rent one for my other nephew's birthday next month (it's a great price, $65, for all that boinginess). i also made my mom promise to rent one for my birthday. seriously. if it's been years since you been on the Bouncy Castle at the fair or an amusement park, you gotta do it. in fact, i'm inviting all of you over to my mom's for my birthday in November for an afternoon of inflatable rubber fun.
my other sister has decided to rent one for my other nephew's birthday next month (it's a great price, $65, for all that boinginess). i also made my mom promise to rent one for my birthday. seriously. if it's been years since you been on the Bouncy Castle at the fair or an amusement park, you gotta do it. in fact, i'm inviting all of you over to my mom's for my birthday in November for an afternoon of inflatable rubber fun.
Friday, June 22, 2001
our department's admin arrived at work this morning, thinking it was just another Friday here at happy TVGuide Land, is called to meet with the department's manager, and while she's being told 'your-position's-been-eliminated-and-we-didn't-give-you-any-warning ha-ha-but-we'll-give-you-a-good-reference-so-it's-not-all-bad', the manager's supervisor (a VP.) is out loading the admin's possessions into a box (talk about first class Employment Termination services, "Let Our Executives Show You The Way Out.").
the same thing happened to one of the supervisors too. at least the thirty IT people who were axed eight weeks ago got a half day's1 notice before being told "So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night."
immediately after all that happened, a flurry of email is being sent across the network: "omg, did you hear?" "can you believe?" "should we be worried?"
so the (remaining) supervisors hold short meetings with their respective staffs (staves?): "we want you to hear this from us" (too late for that, of course)."Admin and Supervisor4 have been released." released? like they were pardoned after being imprisoned here. cubicles are rather similar to cells though.
"we also want you to know that there's nothing to worry about, that everyone else's position is secure." hey! didn't they say that eight weeks ago too? are they just trying to get us to lower our guard a little before the next axe falls? is that why they're buying us ice cream today, to comfort us, and make us feel secure, loved? shhh, little employees. it's ok. the big bad "Release" Monster is gone.
1 after all the buzz lately about the use, misuse, and abuse of apostrophes, i doubt myself everytime i use one (i should doubt myself, since i write like a chimp with a Speak-n-Spell). i am beginning to fear the letter s, because it has a close association with apostrophes, and i get nervous around contractions and the possessive forms of words (only the genitive case of pronouns ease my mind, the little darlings).
the same thing happened to one of the supervisors too. at least the thirty IT people who were axed eight weeks ago got a half day's1 notice before being told "So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night."
immediately after all that happened, a flurry of email is being sent across the network: "omg, did you hear?" "can you believe?" "should we be worried?"
so the (remaining) supervisors hold short meetings with their respective staffs (staves?): "we want you to hear this from us" (too late for that, of course)."Admin and Supervisor4 have been released." released? like they were pardoned after being imprisoned here. cubicles are rather similar to cells though.
"we also want you to know that there's nothing to worry about, that everyone else's position is secure." hey! didn't they say that eight weeks ago too? are they just trying to get us to lower our guard a little before the next axe falls? is that why they're buying us ice cream today, to comfort us, and make us feel secure, loved? shhh, little employees. it's ok. the big bad "Release" Monster is gone.
1 after all the buzz lately about the use, misuse, and abuse of apostrophes, i doubt myself everytime i use one (i should doubt myself, since i write like a chimp with a Speak-n-Spell). i am beginning to fear the letter s, because it has a close association with apostrophes, and i get nervous around contractions and the possessive forms of words (only the genitive case of pronouns ease my mind, the little darlings).
McVeigh execution items pulled off Web auction
"I think it's sick, very gross," said Marsha Kight, whose daughter Frankie Merrell died in the bombing. "This is disgusting. I just can't believe there are so many sick people out there."
let's see. t-shirts and mugs and other execution memorabilia crap that was hawked in Terra Haute. people calling for gruesome torture and a painful execution of McVeigh. the billboard by the Dallas radio station. all the people who wanted to watch the execution. all of the general bloodlust surrounding the execution. and even the very event in which her daughter and 167 other people died. but this one guy is doing the same thing hundreds of others have done, and she can't believe there are so many sick people out there.
ok, lady, let's rein in the drama please.
"I think it's sick, very gross," said Marsha Kight, whose daughter Frankie Merrell died in the bombing. "This is disgusting. I just can't believe there are so many sick people out there."
let's see. t-shirts and mugs and other execution memorabilia crap that was hawked in Terra Haute. people calling for gruesome torture and a painful execution of McVeigh. the billboard by the Dallas radio station. all the people who wanted to watch the execution. all of the general bloodlust surrounding the execution. and even the very event in which her daughter and 167 other people died. but this one guy is doing the same thing hundreds of others have done, and she can't believe there are so many sick people out there.
ok, lady, let's rein in the drama please.
Thursday, June 21, 2001
though i've been feeling rather apolitical today, here's an article from Time(.com) asking How Ethical is the Bush Administration Anyway?
why don't cinemas let you pay a buck or two to go in to watch just the trailers? or why not have one screen set aside for people to watch all of the current trailers? they could charge half the regular ticket price or something, and you'd only be there for half an hour or so.
Dark Horizons says: "A.I.: Artifical Intelligence" will have "Harry Potter" Trailer 2, "Planet of the Apes" (if its not the new third one you'll know FOX won't be doing a third one), "Lord of the Rings" Trailer 2, and the big one (in a scary way) - the first teaser for "Scooby Doo".
i don't really want to see the film. i have some issues with that "i see dead people" boy.
some advice for Spielberg and his colleagues: the easiest way to get me to watch a film is to give either the protagonist or antagonist a Big Ass Sword™, or even some minor characters whom we see a lot. (but make sure to put it in the trailer or i won't know about it!). i'd go see A.I. if the tagline was "He's not real, but his love is, and he has a Big Ass Sword™ to smite those who doubt that love." any movie can be improved with the addition of a Big Ass Sword™.
that's arguable with The Sound of Music, but think of that "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" song. i'll guarantee that the nancy-boy Nazi jerk Rolf singing it wouldn't have been so condescending if Liesl had whipped a B.A.S. out of her bodice and hacked off a limb or two. or how about those nuns with their "How do you solve a problem like Maria"? Maria draws her sword, says something like "Solve this, bitch!", then we cut away. later, at sunset, we see Maria, her dress stained crimson, walking out of the convent and licking the blood from the sword. that would be a cool movie.
Dark Horizons says: "A.I.: Artifical Intelligence" will have "Harry Potter" Trailer 2, "Planet of the Apes" (if its not the new third one you'll know FOX won't be doing a third one), "Lord of the Rings" Trailer 2, and the big one (in a scary way) - the first teaser for "Scooby Doo".
i don't really want to see the film. i have some issues with that "i see dead people" boy.
some advice for Spielberg and his colleagues: the easiest way to get me to watch a film is to give either the protagonist or antagonist a Big Ass Sword™, or even some minor characters whom we see a lot. (but make sure to put it in the trailer or i won't know about it!). i'd go see A.I. if the tagline was "He's not real, but his love is, and he has a Big Ass Sword™ to smite those who doubt that love." any movie can be improved with the addition of a Big Ass Sword™.
that's arguable with The Sound of Music, but think of that "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" song. i'll guarantee that the nancy-boy Nazi jerk Rolf singing it wouldn't have been so condescending if Liesl had whipped a B.A.S. out of her bodice and hacked off a limb or two. or how about those nuns with their "How do you solve a problem like Maria"? Maria draws her sword, says something like "Solve this, bitch!", then we cut away. later, at sunset, we see Maria, her dress stained crimson, walking out of the convent and licking the blood from the sword. that would be a cool movie.
Wednesday, June 20, 2001
it's the Rocky Horror Giles Show! now we know what he does after hours in the magic shop.
(and why is it that, when i look at that URL, my first thought is 'tee hee!'? bad terrence!)
and Giles also performed as Wynonna Judd at one of the Bronze's weekly drag shows.
[sweet transvestite seduced by Jean, who emailed the links to me instead of posting them herself]
(and why is it that, when i look at that URL, my first thought is 'tee hee!'? bad terrence!)
and Giles also performed as Wynonna Judd at one of the Bronze's weekly drag shows.
[sweet transvestite seduced by Jean, who emailed the links to me instead of posting them herself]
#3 in the Bitter Ex-Employee Series: Wal-Mart hit with lawsuit. Female employees file class action suit alleging sex discrimination.
so, the rumor about Giles being approached to play the Master in some new Dr Who audios hit 2 out of 3. he has been approached, and it was for some future Dr Who stories, but it wasn't for the Master. it'd be a totally new villain created specifically for him. go Evil Giles!
*****
Kate Mulgrew told Sci Fi Wire that "her next project will be a one-woman stage show entitled Tea at Five, which stars Mulgrew as Katharine Hepburn." since the debut of Voyager, i thought Kate Mulgrew resembled Katharine Hepburn enough to play her sometime. it was probably that bun-of-steel hairstyle she had.
Kate Mulgrew told Sci Fi Wire that "her next project will be a one-woman stage show entitled Tea at Five, which stars Mulgrew as Katharine Hepburn." since the debut of Voyager, i thought Kate Mulgrew resembled Katharine Hepburn enough to play her sometime. it was probably that bun-of-steel hairstyle she had.
Movies So Bad You Shouldn't Watch Them Sober reviews: The Mummy Returns. (oops. heh. forgot the link)
and from the Left Behind review:
and from the Left Behind review:
Left Behind is based on the "best-selling book" of the same name. Of course I don't know anyone who actually bought it, but then again, I don't know anyone who owns a Garth Brooks CD, and he's the best-selling artist of all time. The book and the movie are about a journalist who attempts to discover the secret behind the disappearance of millions of people (probably the same ones who own Garth Brooks CDs and copies of Left Behind).
'So you don't have any bat-powers? So it's just an outfit?'
Joss imagines the conversation, should Buffy ever meet up with Batman, in an interview about comic books. Joss gets cooler all the time. like me, he thought Cypher's mutant power was cool (though i'd much rather have something with much more destructive capability).
Cypher's special gift was intuitive understanding of any language or code. he could learn a foreign language in minutes by listening to someone speak it. when the other members of the New Mutants can hurl cars, possess a person's mind, or create portals through time and space, though, most people think Cypher's powers are kind of lame, and not all that useful in battle, which is probably why he's dead now.
and "New Mutants" is a terrible name for a team or title of a comic book. who was the creative genius that came up with that?
Joss imagines the conversation, should Buffy ever meet up with Batman, in an interview about comic books. Joss gets cooler all the time. like me, he thought Cypher's mutant power was cool (though i'd much rather have something with much more destructive capability).
Cypher's special gift was intuitive understanding of any language or code. he could learn a foreign language in minutes by listening to someone speak it. when the other members of the New Mutants can hurl cars, possess a person's mind, or create portals through time and space, though, most people think Cypher's powers are kind of lame, and not all that useful in battle, which is probably why he's dead now.
and "New Mutants" is a terrible name for a team or title of a comic book. who was the creative genius that came up with that?
Tuesday, June 19, 2001
Half of world's 6,800 languages could die by 2100 from CNN, and Most World Languages Gone by 2100 from Discovery.com.
when i was a student at OU, my anthropology professors were abuzz with a project the department was working on involving a man in western Oklahoma who was the last speaker of a Native language. they were recording him as much as possible, and he was working with linguistical anthropologists to set the grammar in writing so that the language wouldn't be completely lost. there was some urgency in the project, as the man was in his mid 80s.
i read, last summer, in the Native American Times of the death of man who was the last member of his tribe and the last speaker of his tribe's language. i don't know if this man was the same as the one with whom the University had worked (as i understand it now, there are several languages with only a few remaining speakers with whom the University is working to preserve), and i thought then, as i do now, that, if language is not only a method of communication but also a reflection of the way a person perceives the world, beyond the issues of identity and culture, the world has lost a truly unique perspective on itself.
Ethnologue Language Family Index is a nifty little resource listing thousands of languages grouped by family.
i'll quit abusing my native language for now, until i find something else to post about.
when i was a student at OU, my anthropology professors were abuzz with a project the department was working on involving a man in western Oklahoma who was the last speaker of a Native language. they were recording him as much as possible, and he was working with linguistical anthropologists to set the grammar in writing so that the language wouldn't be completely lost. there was some urgency in the project, as the man was in his mid 80s.
i read, last summer, in the Native American Times of the death of man who was the last member of his tribe and the last speaker of his tribe's language. i don't know if this man was the same as the one with whom the University had worked (as i understand it now, there are several languages with only a few remaining speakers with whom the University is working to preserve), and i thought then, as i do now, that, if language is not only a method of communication but also a reflection of the way a person perceives the world, beyond the issues of identity and culture, the world has lost a truly unique perspective on itself.
Ethnologue Language Family Index is a nifty little resource listing thousands of languages grouped by family.
i'll quit abusing my native language for now, until i find something else to post about.
Monday, June 18, 2001
have i mentioned yet that i'll be taking vacation during the second week of next month? i'll be going to South Carolina. a good buddy and ex-lover of mine invited me down for a few days of unholy debauchery involving live fowl, a kilo of cocaine, and Tom Green movies. there's nothing like sitting around with a flock of coked up chickens watching Road Trip over and over. hee! how Strom loves it!
yay! the monkeys are fighting back against the depredations of man! go monkey army! (actually, it's kind of scary. these monkeys are about 5 feet tall. it'd be different if they were some of those cute little 18 inch monkeys)
[via Metafilter]
[via Metafilter]
India's 'monkey-man' branded imaginery. lies! it real, i tell you! the New Delhi police have probably captured or killed it, and now, the Indian government wants to deny it ever existed because it doesn't fit within the Scientific Paradigm. they can't explain its existence, so they just explain it away as imaginary, and the world is made a little safer and a little more predictable.
Spike Lee hasn't directed a musical since 1988's School Daze, but all that may soon change: The New York Post reports that Lee is in "discussions" with Miramax Films about directing the film version of Rent. Miramax acquired the rights to Jonathan Larson's prizewinning musical (it's "La Boheme" goes downtown, basically) in 1996, but agreed not to release the film before fall 2001 in order to protect international productions of the musical. Stephen Chabosky is currently at work on the script. Lee is said to be a big fan of Rent, and has seen the musical several times.
the jury's still out on whether or not this is one of those Things That Should Not Be. i'll probably make my decision after they announce the casting of Michael Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and/or Freddy Prinze Jr. [quote from Film.com, found via Dark Horizons]