Yeah you! The one with his car right smack in the middle of the intersection blocking traffic trying very hard to not look left or right to see the faces of the angry drivers. Don’t get me wrong, man, I feel your pain. The traffic is slow and you have somewhere to be. But you know what? Part of the reason the traffic going your way is so slow is that down the road some other jerk-off from a cross street is blocking the intersection. When you come to an intersection that is a four-way stop or a traffic light, if traffic is flowing sporadically or barely at all, its best to wait on one side of the intersection until there is enough space or movement to allow your vehicle to make it all the way across. Not only is it courteous, but especially in messy weather, you not blocking traffic can save lives! That’s right. If you are blocking the way when an ambulance, fire truck or police car comes by sirens blaring, they’ll have to slow way down and drive around YOU! Those precious seconds could mean death for someone else. So quit being an ass and stop being part of the problem.
Latest Posts
WordPress
When I first turned on this weblog, I was using a feature provided by my host. I had some problems with it. They wouldn’t let me make my own style, I had to use one of their selection. Then there was the problem with not having direct access to the files to be able to make my own backups.
Then I realized that they were using WordPress. So I went out and downloaded it for myself, turned off their feature and installed it myself.
I like it alot, especially with the stuff available now that I have access to it all. I’ll be playing around with the styles and stuff as I learn how to use it. So bear with me if it breaks every now and then.
Monster!
I borrowed ‘Dreamscape’ on DVD from my brother. This isn’t a review, but I’ll go ahead and say that I really like the movie. Normally when you pop a DVD in and it comes to the menu, ‘Play’ or whatever phrase they use for play will be the default. On Dreamscape, it was the Scene Selection.
The main menu had 4 options: Scene Selection, Special Features, Feature (Play), and Monster!
After watching the movie and going through the special features, I moved over and selected Monster! The screen goes dark, then the Snakeman’s head pops up and he goes “RRRrrraaaaaaa!!” Then it goes back to the menu. I selected Monster! again… Snakeman, “RRRrrraaaaaa!!”… Monster!, Snakeman, “RRRrrraaaaaa!!”… Monster!, Snakeman, “RRRrrraaaaaa!!”… Monster!, Snakeman, “RRRrrraaaaaa!!”… All the while, I just can’t stop laughing.
It just seems like such an odd thing to put on a DVD.
Monster!, Snakeman, “RRRrrraaaaaa!!”
Between Cups
There is this commerical for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups that talks about the feeling you have between cups. They’ve been doing angles like things for advertising for a while now… “How do you eat a Reese’s?”, etc, etc…
Anyway, the new one focuses on how people feel between the cups. The woman in the commercial says she feels “contentment”. So it got me to thinking… why not just eat one cup, then put the other one in the freezer? Eternal contentment!
It probably doesn’t work that way, but its nice to dream…
Open Water
Do you have a fear of sharks? Did seeing ‘Jaws’ make you reconsider your last beach vacation? Do you have nightmares about being left behind somewhere?
‘Open Water’ is based on true events about a couple who go out diving, and due to a headcount error, get left behind by their dive boat, with no land insight, in shark infested waters.
The movie is a bit slow to get started, but once the boat pulls away, the tension in your TV room will become palpable. Its really very well done, especially when you consider it was all shot with a DV camera. Its low budget, but it doesn’t matter. Its worth watching. But if you answered yes to my three questions above… you might never go in the water again after this one.
100,000
No, I’m not celebrating 100,000 hits to the website or anything like that. Today my car crossed the 100,000 mile mark on the odometer. It seems a bit odd to think that I’ve driven that much when you take into account that I’ve only gone outside the Atlanta area in the car maybe a half dozen times at best. 5 years… that is 20,000 miles per year, and almost all of that is driving on highways 75, 85, 285 and 400, going to and from work. My Jeep Cherokee is pitiful… I love the car, mind you, and its never broken down or given me any trouble, but its guzzles gas like its going out of style. A hearty 18 miles per gallon… and at an average price of around $1.50 a gallon for gas over that time, I’ve spent over $8,300 dollars on gas in the last five years.
Wow… there’s so much I could do with that money… even half that money. Perhaps I need to seriously consider a new car…
Cellular
I like seeing action films in the theater. Dramas and comedies are fine for the small screen, but action films just beg for big. Last year I really wanted to go see ‘Cellular’ on the big screen. However, time got away from me as it often does, and I missed it.
It showed up from Netflix the other day, and I just watched it tonight. It was awesome. The action scenes were well paced and spaced, the funny moments were funny at the right moments. It’s just a really well made film. And it has William H. Macy in it too. Bonus.
If you don’t recall, the movie is about a woman who gets kidnapped and she’s held in a room with a smashed phone. She manages to fix the phone enough to make a random call, and luckily enough, the guy she calls doesn’t hang up.
It was definately worth the viewing. Good movie.
Taxes
Its getting to be that time of year again… Taxes.
I really hate being a 1099 contractor. I’m not too bad with money, I never really spend more than I have. However, I’m not good at saving money. Since my taxes aren’t withheld by my employer, I tend to spend what I have. Then it comes to tax time and I owe a huge chunk of money.
Long ago I used to complain about W-2s… never again. I pray for the days when I can file W-2s again and kick these 1099s to the curb.
Anyway, I was just planning out how I was gonna pay my money this year and it was on my mind, so now its on my weblog.
Letting Go
Normally if you ask me about current events, I’ll have no idea. I really hate the news because most of the time it bad. Horrible people doing horrible things to each other.
But I’ve been following Terri Schiavo’s case for a while now. If you don’t know, the short of it is that Terri had a heart attack 15 years ago, during which her brain was deprived of oxygen for a number of minutes resulting in massive brain damage. Most of the doctors agree that the damage to her brain is so severe that even though she does respond to some stimuli, that she is in a permanent vegatative state, never to recover beyond that of about an eleven month old. After a period of time, Terri’s husband said that while no living will existed Terri had expressed a desire not to be hooked up to tubes and machines indefinately. So he decided, after what I’m sure was a long period of serious deep thinking and probably a considerable amount of prayer, to have the machines turned off and let her pass away.
Terri’s parents don’t agree. So, for many years now, they have been fighting. Terri’s husband wants to let her go. Terri’s parents refuse to admit she is beyond help. There has been a considerable amount of legal tug-o-war in this. Terri’s feeding tube has been removed and replaced a number of times.
A little over two years ago, my mother was brought home from the hospital. The cancer had spread, and a complication of the cancer and another surgery’s healing left her unable to pass food completely and consistantly. They had gambled to stop the cancer treatment to let the other surgery heal, and the cancer took that opportunity to spread into the lymph nodes. There was nothing more medical science could do. She came home to pass away surrounded by her family. In the end, I hope she was aware of us and our love for her, but unaware of the pain of the cancer and death.
If anyone were to ask me if I had ever seen someone starve to death, the answer would be ‘yes’. If they were to ask if I would have preferred her to live unconscious for 15 years unable to communicate with anyone, trapped in a body she couldn’t control… the answer is ‘no’.
My mother is going to miss my wedding, and every other important day of the rest of my life. But sometimes in life, you have to be willing to let go when its better for the other person.
The Mod Squad
I’ve never seen the TV show, but it had to be better than the 1999 movie.
Giovanni Ribisi is fairly good in everything he does, and he’s about the only watchable part of this film. Almost, because he’s barely watchable in this. Claire Danes acts poorly, and Omar Epps proves that he’s not Wesley Snipes (a compliment to neither Omar or Wesley). The only real actor worth a damn is Dennis Farina, and he dies in the beginning… good thing too, at least he can say the rest of the movie wasn’t his fault.
I think the worst part of the movie had to be that it was just so absolutely predictable. Linc (Epps) tells Pete (Ribisi) not to damage his car… so Jodi says, “Its going to be a running gag, Pete’s going to keep damaging the car.” And it was. Like five times Pete does something to hurt the car, and it got less and less funny because you could see it coming ten miles away.
In the end, I believe I’ve spent far to much time talking about this movie… it was filmed, and that’s the best thing I can say about it.