while i was packing up the last of my stuff monday, i found a Celine Dion cassette. i haven't bought a cassette since 1993 (when i bought an Animaniacs cassette because the album hadn't been released on CD). back in 1993, i didn't know who Celine Dion was. i don't know where the cassette came from, but it's a little unnerving. i think it's some sort of omen. i'll need to find someone who can interpret it for me. maybe one of the kids at Sam Goody.

vicious rainstorms (yay!) last night caused me to be 90 minutes late for work (boo!). now i'm going to be alone here after everyone else leaves this afternoon (eek!). this place gets scary in the evenings.

ack. i moved over the weekend. the only thing i haven't moved to my new apartment is my computer. i'm holding on to that DSL as long as i can because i won't have internet access at home at all for a while (unless i get enough financial backing for my film. see post immediately below this one, and send in your CASH contributions today!) fortunately, i was able to download several Buffy episodes this weekend, and i'll still be able to get online at work.

the upstairs neighbor at the new place is, i believe, quite insane. i caught him staring in my big glass door three times. he yelled at me, "Turn down that goddamned music, you moron!" there was no music playing. he also talks about himself in the plural. i don't think he's doing it in the Queen 'Lizabeth Royal Personage kind of way. i think it's more in the Me-and-the-Other-Personalities kind of way.

i'm sure this is going to be a fun-filled adventure in Apartment Living.

i have decided that i'd like to move forward with the film idea that Jean and i kicked around during our time at OU. i've already begun work on the sequel (actually, i've gone no further than coming up with a title, which is also the extent reached for the first one). i am soliciting backers for both films, and also the planned third film to complete the trilogy (planned, insofar as i'm planning to have a third installment).

please send me money so i can play with video equipment and swords, and so i can quit my current ho-hum job. i promise to invite all backers to a free half-price first screening, and i'll even buy popcorn for everyone.

i used to be a convenience store clerk too (in fact, i used to complain that my life was a Kevin Smith movie), which is part of why i blogged the story about the clerk's murder. it was certainly one of the most interesting jobs i've had. graveyard shift, which usually left me with plenty of time to read, but with the occasional event to liven it up, like nearly being jumped for a carton of cigarettes. or having a can of beer thown into my chest. or twelve year old kids doing grab-and-runs with cases of beer (neighborhood kids that i saw frequently, and knew their parents. not terribly bright boys, i'd say). drunks passing out on the front sidewalk. hookers offering to "take care of me" in exchange for fountain sodas(!). inebriated women offering money if i'd take my shirt off for them (easy twenty dollars). inebriated men offering to "get with me" in the back room (i worked down the street from a club). a married man stalking me. and big scary guys with even scarier tattoos yelling at me about their jobs and/or girlfriend (i guess they just needed someone to talk to). *sigh* the memories...

i'd never do it again. retail sucks anyway, but to be a convenience store clerk sucks even harder.

everyone be nice to them. you never know when you'll be reading about them in the paper (not to make any clerks who may be reading this nervous).

Sunday night, the nightly news came on with the line "In Medical Breakthroughs tonight: If you drink coffee, you may want to see this report before you have that second cup."

as a beginner coffee drinker, i thought that i should see if my new addiction may be causing cancer or curing infertility or something. the story, of course, was buried deep in the newscast, between the weather and sports, so i had to watch nearly the whole program (i hate local newscasts. too many Human Interest Stories, too little real news). finally, they get to the Medical Breakthroughs section, and i shall now summarize the report for you:

drinking coffee may cause a need for urination

seriously. that's what it came down to. not even a 'may cause you to urinate more frequently'. just that it may make you go pee. 'Coffee contains caffeine. Caffeine is a diuretic. Diuretics make you urinate.' hard hitting stuff. believe it or not, this station actually wins Emmys.

next week's story will be summarized as "Not eating may make you hungry."

TVGuide Online talked with Joss yesterday about Buffy's death. nothing new in there really except that he says it may be October before Buffy premieres on UPN instead of August like i've been hearing.

something i don't need is another Conquer the World/Galaxy game, but this one will let you assimilate!

on the horizon: Star Trek: Borg Simulator. Although it's also set in the Next Generation universe, there are no characters from the series. Instead, players get to control the entire Borg Collective and control the queen and drones as they assimilate a planet. Borg Simulator will be available early 2002.

i'm the type of guy who enjoys nerve stapling drones in Alpha Centauri and using nukes in the various Civilization games. assimilation should be fun.

just because i'm a bitter ex-employee: U.S. sues Wal-Mart. yay!

Wednesday night, a convenience store clerk was found dead at work. as far as anyone can tell, no merchandise or cash was missing from the store. an on-scene report stated that the clerk may have died of natural causes, but police were investigating it as a 'suspicious death' because there was blood coming from the man's nose. apparently, they didn't notice the gunshot wound to his chest.

Beginning in the nineteenth century, all the way through 1932, an odd creature was often reported to have been seen in Australia. The "bunyip" was semi-aquatic, much larger than a retriever but with no tail, having long, black hair. It had a horse-like head and long ears, but was never captured, identified, or catalogued.

spooky!

my favorite of the Austrailian cryptozoological sightings are the Tasmanian Tiger, thought to be extinct since 1936. one of the more reliable sightings was only 6 years ago, made by a park ranger. one day soon, we may all be able to see a live Tasmanian Tiger, if this cloning project works out.

Fox has picked up a show and has it on it's schedule as a back-up. it's i show i'm sure Anya won't be watching (i'm allowed to make a Buffy connection here because Seth Green will be in the show).

here's one for you, Jean: Diesel Preps For Pitch 2

next season's Angel will probably have at least one episode full of zany kookiness as the slightly insane new character Fred meets up with the very insane vampire character Drusilla.

reviews of the seaon finales of Buffy and Angel. Joss reassures the panicky fans (i'm not one of them, btw. i knew she and the show would be back, if for no other reason than this: UPN isn't going to pay for something they aren't getting. duh), and over here, he tells us that BTVS/ATS crossovers are now unlikely. here's a lengthy article from last Sunday that gives a lot of backgound on Buffy and Joss.

poor guy.

the mayor of Los Angeles has declared today Star Trek: Voyager day "in recognition of the show's seven years on the air and the evening's finale." i think he just wants the day off.

WB has interviews with some of the Buffy cast here. they use Quicktime, which means i can't view them here at work. as if i needed more reasons to go home early today.

fluff interview with Joss, David Boreanaz says he doesn't care which network Angel's on, and WB decides to air Buffy reruns on Wednesdays during the summer (probably in an effort to screw with UPN, says i).

good lord.. Richard Dean Anderson was arraigned in federal court yesterday, accused of taking part in what authorities believe was a large-scale "drugs for stolen goods" operation.

i'm certain, though, that it's not the same Richard Dean Anderson that i'm thinking of.

i've read the comic book version of Mutant X. it doesn't sound like the series is going to be much like it.

fans of the show Roswell have decided to thank UPN, who scooped up the big eared alien show when WB cancelled it, by organizing a charity fundraiser. i knew UPN wasn't doing all that great, but needing a charity drive to keep it going.... sheesh. the future doesn't look so bright for Buffy and the new Trek.
[yes, i did read the article. yes, i know it's not a charity drive for UPN. the fundraiser will give the money to the Pediatric Cancer Foundation in UPN's name. i'm not a totally clueless berk.]

USA Today has a good, non-spoilerish Buffy season finale review.

eeg! i'm only 3 hours away from the Buffy season finale. i have much to do before i go home, and much packing to do once i get home. additionally, i'm working on having a guest at my Watch Party of One (thereby making it a Watch Party of Two), so i'll have to clear some space for him to sit in, just in case (he'll probably also want me to feed him. no time to cook. hope he likes bologna).

everyone watch Buffy tonight so we'll have lots to talk about tomorrow, k?

one of the top headlines for the day here in Tulsa is that the legislature passed a bill to move the repeal of the vehicular inspection law up from August 25th to sometime this week. vehicle owners had a dilemna if their inspection sticker expired before August 25th. should i comply and renew, or should i let it expire and risk the fine of $75? the people are worried that police officers will take advantage of those risk-takers and snag some extra money for their respective cities. the legislature has decided to help out these poor souls by having the repeal take effect this week instead (none of this really matters to me since mine is good through next April). i'm not certain why they're bothering with this. the price of the inspection sticker is only $5. it would have been much nicer is they'd moved up the date for the change in tag prices last year. i paid $200 for mine. three weeks later it would have only cost me $80, but the jerks-who-are-officers police department would have cited me as much as possible had i not had a current tag.

ack. there are postings that say that, in the live-action Tick this fall on Fox, two characters will have different names: die Fledermaus will be Batmanuel (which i can grudgingly accept), and American Maid will be known as Captain Liberty (which is so lame it's nauseous). there is absolutely no cleverness in that name, and i wish a pox on whomever came up with it.

my dreams have reached a new level of mundacity. last night, i dreamt that i was shopping for groceries. i was Comparison Shopping and even had coupons. my life must really suck.

this is good for a smirk first thing in the morning: Voyager's Wang Looks Ahead

oh good lord! there was only one Full House fic, so i decided to read it to see what someone could possibly write about that ridiculously saccharin show. someone had some serious Danny/Jessie fantasies. blech.

here's something to keep me busy between tomorrow night's season finale of Buffy and August's season premiere:

3,681 Buffy fanfics. or i could read some of the Starsky and Hutch or Full House.

i don't think anyone can refute his calculations.

have you been thinking "there just aren't enough mouse-eating, false-skin-wearing, we'll-trade-for-your-water-and-snag-most-of-your-population-for-snacks-while-we're-at-it aliens on tv anymore"? someone's been thinking the same thing.

*sob* it's gone!

updated: eh, the bastards... now it's back. but now i'm kinda wishing they'd take it down. that site makes Jimmy out to be a real idiot, not the lovable, dumb as rocks lovely that he really is. no good.

bloody hell. today is the birthday of someone in the office, and i see that there's a cake stashed in the community cube. this means there's going to be one of the those "Let's get everyone together and socialize over cake" moments. i hate that.

a photo of the cast of The Tick, with Arthur, American Maid, Die Fledermaus and Tick. heh. Arthur does look like a bunny.

i have decided to sell my extra copies of Kithbook: Pooka and Kithbook: Sluagh.

anyone interested can email me with offers.

sorry, folks. when i said in a post yesterday "Professor shot," i didn't mean the Professor from Gilligan's Island. i apologize for any confusion.

the drink of choice for the Buffy and Angel season finales watch party of one. it probably tastes like crap, but hey, gotta have a theme for the night.

woo hoo! thank you, sir, for the heads up.

i should probably stop emailing members of Congress, especially when it's just to send a link and say something like "how do you like them apples?" they may not like that, and they'll probably have some sort of Congressional Secret Police spirit me off to the secret Congressional Dungeon and Sacrificial Pit deep beneath the Capitol. if ever i vanish, that's probably where i am.

Another major set we toured was a faux-mountain top that comes into play at the movie’s end. Without mentioning any spoilers, we were told that this set involved a battle between Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and one of the bad guys, which Suckle describes as a “pretty balls-out, kick-ass fight…[a] really incredible comedic/action set-piece bringing together The Matrix and the WWF.” Part of this action scene will involve wire-work with a Hong Kong wire team.

a tour of the Scooby Doo set. i'm not sure what "balls-out" means (not in this context anyway), but i do know what "kick-ass" means, especially when used in tandem with SMG's name. i'd be pleased as peaches if it involved a staking, particularly of Freddy.

Prinze Jr., not Jones.

Professor shot.

The gunman selected the victim at random, shot him four times with a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol, placed a note by his body and then shot himself, Hall said.

The note said the gunman intended to kill an innocent person.

yesterday, UPN (among others) announced their 2001 fall line up. it includes a brief description of what went on behind the scenes in order for UPN to get Buffy. i didn't know network programming worked this way.

Section 31 has a more detailed description of the unveiling of Enterprise, along with a look at the title treatment. UPN is supposed to air a sneak peek at the series next Wednesday.

[Faith Gimmill] is a member of the tribe of 10,000 in who live 15 villages spread across Alaska and Canada. Her people are close to the wildlife of the refuge that includes polar bears, musk ox, wolves, and moose. They are particularly close to the 160,000 Porcupine caribou that migrate in large herds from the ANWR to near the Gwich‘in villages.

Alaska has experienced a number of oil spills, 17,000 in the North Slope since 1972 according to The Last Great Wilderness Project. The most recent one occurred earlier in April of this year.

from the Native American Times article by David M. Scholes

i hope she gets to feeling better.

heh. a joke

something new to waste my time on: PicRave (thanks a lot Metafilter).

I like to play the guitar. Chicks love guitars, hopefully. Maybe I can play you a song, hopefully. Or I can tell you all about root beer. Or maybe we could go running, since I am a runner. Consumption sumption what's your function? this guy sounds like loads of fun.

you must enjoy macaroni and cheese, shave with pear scented skintimate, have flannel jammies and refer to yourself as "the bestest hoo-hoo-nanny this side of detroit". knows what he wants, though i'm getting an Oedipus vibe from this one.

I'm unemployed and live with my parents! I do make web pages for companies in my spare time, but basically I am a loser. a little down on himself, i think.

this guy is from the Home of Happiness.

and so, after a wasted hour, i stop.

my boss came by to give me my weekly free copy of the print TVGuide (just try to beat my benefits package!), he enters my cubicle, raises his eyebrow and says "I know which one you want" before tossing down a copy with Jeri Ryan on the cover.

wrong, bub. i want the Kate Mulgrew. seriously, who wouldn't? Kate could kick Jeri's butt easily, and, as far as i'm concerned, Kate has better hair.

ever the ones to capitalize on one of the hokiest "Collectible" items ever (anyone remember 24 covers in one week for "The Simpsons"?), TVGuide Online has an exclusive 4th "Bon Voyager" May 19th issue cover in a collectible box for only $20.

btw, i was unaware that Jeri was a former Miss Illinois.

Wolverine's getting an origin.

Smallville has a website up. looking at that photo makes me miss Dean as Superman.

UPN has scooped up the WB-cancelled Roswell, possibly influenced by the 12,000 bottles of Tabasco sauce that fans sent in. it looks like the WB's line-up will be heading off to UPN, except for Angel, of course. UPN may be cancelling Celebrity Deathmatch, which really sucks because i still haven't seen my fantasy deathmatch: Kristy "Movie Buffy" Swanson vs. Sarah "Ass Kicking Series Buffy" Gellar. well, that or Pope John Paul II vs. John and Paul from the Beatles.

X-Files will be back for another season, with considerably less Mulder. The Tick is expected finally to premiere (yippee!), and The Lone Gunmen is expected to be dropped. excuse me while i enter catatonia. i'm holding out hope that the last one will prove to be false. i need my weekly Jimmy fix, dammit!

Christian Rock music has destroyed many lives.

maybe Buffy should move from Sunnydale to Hollywood.

btw, i figured out the Wolf, Ram and Hart thing before Wesley did. neener!

and today is David Boreanaz's birthday. he looks good for 240-something (and he looks good for 30 too).

ok, i did panic a little last night at the end of Angel.

for some Buffy talk, go see what Jean has to say (at the link above). don't miss Buffy next week. it's the showdown between Buffy and Glory, and from the previews, it looks like it's going to one kick ass battle.

i didn't realize that he's been in-the-closet.
[gratitude to Max for the link, and the intense feeling of being excluded from the party. why didn't someone tell me that, until now, he was still ambiguous or uncomfirmed or whatever? maybe i should watch more television. oh, and by the way, i actually already do know Shaggy's name.]

El presidente has nominated John Walters to be the U.S. Drug Czar. Don Hazen gives ten reasons for the Senate to reject Walters.

E! Online asks Joss and the Scoobies some questions (yay for Tara!)

bloody hell, they're moving Angel to Mondays, which Roswell will soon vacate (so long, big-eared alien boy), and putting Smallville in Angel's old spot. Smallville will not fit with Buffy the way Angel did, so this will totally screw up my Tuesday nights, and the rest of the week will go with it without Voyager on Wednesdays and the possibility of The Lone Gunmen not coming back at all. my entire week may be shot this fall. of course, Quantum Trek is supposed to premiere, and there is a chance that Gunmen will be back (i need my weekly Jimmy fix), so maybe it won't be too bad, but my Mondays and Tuesdays will definitely be screwed up.

some Smallville info: the show will have Lana Lang and not Lois Lane as previously reported, and Luke Duke will be Clark's pa. also, the 15 year old Clark will be played by a 24 year old actor who does not look to be anywhere near 15. and this is the guy that's going to be Lex Luthor? don't really get that menacing, evil guy vibe from him (maybe that's why he's also a good guy, voicing the Flash for JLA).

an email making the rounds at work:

KIDS BOOKS THAT YOU PROBABLY WON'T SEE PUBLISHED


1. You're Different -- And That's Bad
   
2. The Boy Who Died from Eating All His Vegetables
   
3. Robert: Dad's New Wife
   
4. Fun Four-Letter Words to Know and Share
   
5. The Kids' Guide to Hitchhiking
   
6. Kathy Was So Bad That her Mom Stopped Loving Her
   
7. Curious George and the High-Voltage Fence
   
8. All Cats Go to Hell
   
9. The Little Sissy That Snitched
   
10. Why Can't Mr. Fork and Mrs. Electrical Outlet be Friends?
    
11. That's It, I'm Putting You Up for Adoption.
    
12. Grandpa Gets a Casket
    
13. 101 Things You Can Do at the Bottom of the Pool
    
14. The Magic World Inside the Abandoned Refrigerator
    
15. Controlling the Playground: Respect Through Fear
    
16. The Pop-Up Book of Human Anatomy
    
17. Strangers Have the Best Candy
    
18. Whining, Kicking and Crying to Get Your Way
    
19. You Were an Accident
    
20. Things Rich Kids Have, But You Never Will
    
21. Daddy Drinks Because You Cry
    
22. Your Nightmares Are Real
    
23. Where Would You Like to be Buried?
    
24. You've Got Hepatitis B, Charlie Brown
    
25. Valuable Protein and Other Nutritional Benefits of Things from Your Nose

Authorities expressed shock Friday about the abuse of a 13-year-old developmentally disabled boy who was hog-tied to a tree and hit with balls, fists and spraying water while family members and friends videotaped the actions.

In a court affidavit, Detective Diane Young said the victim told her that Richter and Cy Zezza tied him to a tree in the front yard on Brookline in east Bartlesville and struck him with tennis balls and a basketball they threw at him.

The boy had a rope burn on his left shoulder and three rope burns on his abdomen when he was interviewed by child welfare authorities, they said.

The videotape, seized by police, shows the victim crying in pain and tied with rope at his hands and feet. At one point, his attackers picked up the screaming boy by his hands and feet.

Several times the boy was sprayed in the face with a water gun. The video also shows Cy Zezza punching the victim, according to a court affidavit.

Police said Richter told them that he tied the victim to a tree but said his hands were free and that they were playing catch with him, the court affidavit stated. Richter later told police he was punishing the boy "for cussing in his house," according to the affidavit.

[Police Lt. Steve] Johnson said he is not aware of any calls coming into the police Detective Division about the abuse case, despite the fact that the video shows cars and a bicycle passing by the house while the boy lay screaming in the front yard.

(see article, though i've posted most of it)(by the by, emphasis mine)

that the mother allowed her friends to do this while she and others watched doesn't suprise me. i've long ago accepted that some people are monsters who do this type of thing, but, motorists and bicyclists passed by. neighbors must have heard the screaming. someone had to have seen this happening, yet no one called the police. they looked away and let the monsters go about their work. i hate people.

in the last two months, there have been 25 burglaries in the area that i'm moving into at the end of this month. go me for finding the crime hotspots.

if you were a Thundercats fan like me, here are some audio outtakes that aren't for kids.

Paramount's finally made it official.

Douglas Adams died over the weekend.

i spent the day at my grandparent's. i hadn't been there in quite a while, so my grandfather wanted to show me around and point out some of the changes and improvements he and my grandmother had made to the farm. afterwards, he, my uncle, my mom's man and i sat on the porch. they talked while i listened. i discovered that fathers and grandfathers actually do sit around and discuss power tools. i always thought that that was something like a folk tale, but they really do.

today was a good day, all in all. mothers and grandmothers are the best. especially grandmothers, constantly asking "are you eating enough?" and "do you want me to send some [insert name of grandmotherly food] home with you?"

"Come on, the word 'shit' is not blasphemy, for Christ's sake!"

Voodoo Academy, a Full Moon production (see review). it's terrible. bad acting, bad script, really bad dialogue, cheesey special effects, and guys in revealing-wear. well worth it if you like movies that don't even make the B grade.

Freddy Prinz Jr. cannot be Batman. stop saying that.

according to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Bakula will be the Series V captain. i still say that the first officer should be a hologram that only the captain can see.

A concert by Jennifer Lopez has been cancelled by German officials over fears it could wake hibernating bats.

the U.S. is a Rogue Nation.

eating posts again, i see.

i just finished watching "Heros," the episode of Angel in which Doyle dies. he went out like a hero (which i didn't expect), but geez that guy's accent is sooooo fake.

‘Our country has made great progress in the
past in reducing drug use, and we will do it again.’
— JOHN WALTERS
Drug policy adviser

what country/fantasy world is he living in?
[source was an MSNBC article]

simple pleasure.

someone has answered my question and let me know that Stephen Snedden is not just some big dumb oaf.

Fred Phelps is coming here to protest against the Gay/Straight Alliance at Jenks High School on June 4th. Jenk's last day of class is May 24th, so Fred will be protesting at a nearly deserted school.

More fan fiction: Debbie Gibson... is disturbed by a horde of attacking ninjas. After killing two of them, Debbie unmasks the leader... to find that it is fellow 80s star Tiffany. After fighting for a while, they have lesbian sex.

a fanfic. be warned, it's an erotic fanfic thing. it was the Tiffany-as-ninja-clan-leader part that got my attention.

[anyone notice that i like to string words together with hyphens? link taken from Popbitch]

last night's Buffy (yes, this means there may be spoilers in this post. read at your own risk. don't blame me if you're a weak-willed spoilerwhore):

starts out immediately where last week's left off. Buffy grabs Dawn and takes off running. Glory starts to follow but Evil-Eye Willow smacks her down for a sec, giving Buffy a little bit of a head start. turns out that it didn't matter, because Glory suddenly decides to go all Barry Allen and zip across the UC Sunnydale campus. Buffy is just about to cross the street when Glory stops several feet in front of her. Glory's looking all smug, and says something like "Any last words, Slayer?" to which, Buffy replies "Yeah. Truck." you can almost see the cartoon Questionmark of Confusion appear above Glory's head right before the *SMACK!!*. a tanker truck slams into Glory, throwing her down the road and into a parked car. i laughed myself out of my chair. i'm not kidding. i ended up on the floor just in time to see Glory morph into Ben, which just set me off even more to see Ben in Glory's dress, causing me to do an asthmatic wheeze through my laughter and dig my inhaler out of my backback. i ended up laughing through most of the first commercial break.

of course, after that, it started to get more serious and didn't laugh so much. Anya cracked me up with her Spam and pan-in-the-purse, but pretty much, there were very few chortles and chuckles for the rest of the ep. i liked Spike's goggles, and the way Buffy stood up to everyone about Spike being there. she was being practical, and i wondered whether she'd be willing to kill actual people (the Knights) to protect Dawn.

there were many, many 'that's cool' parts. Spike grabbing the sword, Buffy on top of the RV, Spike and Xander bondage (that doesn't sound right), Willow getting powerful, stupid Knights wearing chainmail, in the desert, chainmail that was way too heavy for them to be fighting in effectively, Buffy punching out Head Knight, the Spike getting singed by stray sunbeams.

i know there are those out there (and lots of them, it seems) who don't like Tara, but i do, and it made me very sad to see her in the Insane-Because-I've-Been-Brainsucked state. Tara's cool.

overall, this episode had several "oh shite!"s, many "no!"s and, at the end, a chin-quivering "oh, Buffy."

usually, it news when a cast member from a series reveals something about a highly anticipated upcoming season finale. so desperate to publish *something* every day about Buffy, it's now become news when a cast member won't reveal anything.

a question about whether Jennifer Lopez's new movie Angel Eyes is a supernatural thriller or not. the answer?

"The supernatural aspect of it is love," [Director Louis] Mandoki said. "Love is supernatural.

blech. i don't think i'll be seeing this one.

House will vote to punish U.N. over Human Rights seat.

like little children throwing a fit because they don't like what happened. bastards.

ok, so i just completed this little Match-You-to-the-Philosopher quiz, and i was equated (at 100%, no less) to Nietzsche. having read nothing by Nietzche, would someone be kind enough to let me know whether i should be please with this or not? [found via Metafilter]

wow. i've nearly gone the entire day without mentioning Buffy. did you think i might not say anything at all about it today?

please. it's Tuesday. it's Buffynight. i've been busy most of the day, but now, with less than an hour before i go home, i've got the spare time. i won't say much though. i'm still a little dazed from watching the eps i downloaded last night. some very good ones.

everyone tune in to the WB tonight and watch Buffy. last week (in what i have affectionately dubbed the "Oh, shit!" episode), Glory brainsucked Tara, leading to the discovery of the Key's identity (in a roundabout, just happened to tear down the walls at the right time kind of way). this week's episode follows immediately on last week's, with the gang going on the run from Glory. in an RV. it's the Roadtrip episode! so far as i know, though, Tom Green does not make a cameo.

another in the 'headlines that cracked me up' series (please keep in mind that i am a simpleton): New Middle East Violence Erupts Despite Pope Appeal . not the 'Violence Erupts' part (i'm not a total bastard). the 'Pope Appeal' part. it conjures up images of John Paul walking down the street while people say "man, that guy has some real pope appeal."

and Pope Makes Parting Plea From Syria for Just Peace. just peace. to hell with everything else.

Gov. Frank Keating vetoed a bill Monday that could have resulted in fines of up to $50,000 against candidates who lied about their opponents' voting record.

In his veto message, Keating said Senate Bill 352 "inappropriately limits the First Amendment right of freedom of speech." The bill "can be construed as not allowing for fair comment on a voting record and would likely have the effect of chilling constitutionally protected speech."

eeg. i found this on Dark Horizons:

"Halloween 8: Busta Rhymes has been confirmed for the role of 'Freddie' according to MTV News"

i couldn't find whatever MTV News report that's from (i didn't look too hard though. i hate the MTV website).

it's a good day when you get to spend a couple of hours watching Buffy at work. nacho grasses to Jean for pointing out someplace to download eps that i've not seen before.

yippee! just got the news: my best mate's coming home!

i finally got to see it. "Hush" is the coolest episode, and parts of it are downright scary.

read a war game scenario involving India and Pakistan.

a look at US public opinion concerning the death penalty.

do shows like WWF Smackdown have a season finale?

this woman frightens me.

hooray for me. i work for a Dittohead.

for you, Jean.

someone has invented a working tractor beam.
[via Metafilter]

an idea for a reality show i'd watch.

A high school substitute teacher was fired after taking off her shirt in class and teaching in her sports bra.

she should have known: if the shirt goes, the bra goes.

''It didn't seem like a big deal, but maybe something's totally wrong with me,'' Gibson said.

it's much more difficult to find photos of a bilby than you'd think.

here's the Australian Bilby Appreciation Society with a photo. even better, they have a cute little plush Easter Bilby.

jokes like this crack me up beyond belief.

i'm a simpleton, i know.

Dark Horizons has a report on a visit to the set of the live action Scooby Doo. no new photos, but there is a brief paragraph recapping a talk with Sarah Michelle Gellar that suggests that Buffne (hey, it's better that Daphy) might do a little butt kicking.

[Michael Elashoff] was assigned to review Relenza, the new flu drug developed by Glaxo Wellcome. He recommended against approval.

"The drug has no proven efficacy for the treatment of influenza in the U.S. population, no proven effect on reducing person-to-person transmissibility, and no proven impact on preventing influenza," Elashoff wrote, adding that many patients would be exposed to risks "while deriving no benefit."

An agency advisory committee agreed and on Feb. 24 voted 13 to 4 against approving Relenza.

After the vote, senior FDA officials upbraided Elashoff. They stripped him of his review of another flu drug. They told him he would no longer make presentations to the advisory committee. And they approved Relenza as a safe and effective flu drug.

the LA Times report on the FDA's changed role in protecting public health by working as a partnership with pharmaceutical companies. the author won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for this article (yes, yes, i'm just now getting around to reading it).

this is interesting: U.S. loses seat on U.N. Human Rights Commission.