2008 Year of the Rat, Final Crisis, Enneagram Type 8
2008 has lived up to its billing so far. After all, 2008 is the Chinese Year of the Rat (conquering, destruction, etc.) and the DailySkew Enneagram Year of the Type 8.
Although the world is not "coming to an end", nor is it at the brink of the Doomsday Clock, there are signs that this world will never be the same.
Of course, I'm not worried. After all I survived Y2K.
Hey, guess what? I heard at the water cooler today that the China Olympic Opening Ceremony was the most amazing spectacle of all time. Yup, it seems whoever saw the "flat screen the size of a football field" just marvels at how the Chinese are how presenting the Olympics.
You should have heard my co-workers gush about how England shouldn't even attempt to follow up this ceremony, and about how efficient the Chinese are.
Yup.
There will be no Skew.DailySkew.com coverage of the Olympics. My stance on China's human right violations is clear and on the record.
Only my Cuban co-worker realized how all the millions spent on the ceremony could have been used to help the citizens that have been crushed and exploited for their entire lives. It's all about grandstanding and pissing contents. What did they really accomplish by showing off? Joe Water Cooler looks past the slave labor and human rights violations? All a PR stunt? That's fine. Whatavah. Continue to visit Skew.DailySkew.com if you want to cut through the MEDIA hype.
I have hotmail and yahoo e-mail accounts and part of the daily ritual is reading the MSN or Yahoo headlines and social stories. Sometimes I resist clicking on the crazy headlines, like "WAS George Washington the first president?" and "Why it's better to rent than to buy", but other times I can't resist. Since I have been ranting about how American love to spend money on luxuries like the iPhone, I clicked on 12 new 'needs' that drain your cash.
Before I go on, I just want to say that most of the Yahoo and MSN articles are really paid advertisements or promotions for new books or websites. That being said, this list was pretty solid. I will give my comments after each one.
1- Daily latte (Starbucks). I agree with this. Is it necessary to get "special" coffee at Starbucks or now at the freakin' corner gas station? Home brewed not good enough for you? How about skipping on coffee all together and drink tea or something else which is a lot cheaper?
2- Cable TV. I agree with this. If you HAVE to get cable (or satellite) you'd better get basic. The premium channels are a rip-off, especially that you can rent all those cool HBO or Showtimes TV series on DVD. Cable bills kill families.
3- Manicures/pedicures: Suggesting to your wife or girlfriend to stop doing this is a one-way ticket to the dog house. But seriously ladies...just think about cutting it down and doing it yourself.
4- Botox: Truthfully, monthly Botox treatments seems to be a filthy rich thing and I don't know any middle or lower class people that spend money on that.
5- Bottled water: I agree. If you live in a city that has clean running water, you are wasting your money. If you live in a city that warns against drinking tap water, boil it first and save tons of money.
6- The second car. Probably the most controversial thing on this list so far. It takes a lot of planning to just have one car in a marriage (and with kids), and many times it is truly a need. Granted, two cars does drain the monthly budget, but this one takes a lot thinking and planning about- and would probably cause a lot of arguments.
7- Cell phones. Regular DailySkew readers know that I am against cell phones. Some families have 4 of them. Time to think about prepaid ones.
8- Lawn service. Average cost is $65 to $90 per week. You may want to...gasp...do it yourself?
9- Clothes. They last a long time. So why do we keep stockpiling them? Again, try telling your woman to stop buying new clothes, shoes, or handbags, and see what happens.
10- Private school. A huge myth that is worth $8,000 to $35,000 a year.
11- Expensive birthday parties for your kids. Some kid parties get out of control. You need to plan fun activities without throwing cash into it. Kids don't care!
12- Pet grooming. Pet's vet bills are astronomical, so you can save by doing your own grooming.
Of course, if you don't have a family of your won or pets you don't have to worry about a lot of them. I don't predict any changes in the habits of Americans any time soon, regardless of the state of the economy. However, it is good to at least THINK about where your money goes every month, and if you really NEED something.
Sex Tourism Thailand, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Dominican Republic, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Cuba.
Many men like to engage in "sex tourism" in foreign countries. You can say it's the global outsourcing of sex. It's about slavery, control, manipulation, and pedophilia.
Although United States federal law says that "any citizens who engage in international travel with the purpose or effect of having commercial sex with a person under the age of 18, or any sex with a person under the age of 16 is subject to prosecution", it is rare any gets in trouble for this. Pornography filmmakers do this too. Fools only get caught if they took pictures of the kids and saved them on their laptops.
So where the law can't protect people, it's up to the sex tourists to stop on their own, and for us to spread the word, and not to encourage the exploitation of women and children around the world.
If only these perverts could see the consequences of their actions, and all the negative karma they spread.
If you are a sex tourist, let me list the negative things you're causing:
1) You're showing these women that sex has no meaning, and no love, and that their bodies can be sold. 2) You may be spreading or catching STDs. 3) You cause emotional and physical stress and baggage that they will carry for the rest of their lives. 4) They will continue to engage in sex acts and continue to be in the sex industry (web cams, stripping, brothels, etc.). Having a normal relationship after being treated like a sex slave is virtually impossible. 5) Many girls are under 18. You are raping them, and destroying their innocence. 6) You may believe that you are "helping" these girls short-term by giving them money, but you are destroying their lives...and yours. 7) It teaches men to view women as sex objects. All women are harmed by this.
***
So what can we do?
If you have friends that are thinking about taking a trip somewhere, and are boasting about "how many women" they can have or "how cheap the women are", you need to open your mouth and tell them how much damage they can inflict on these girls. You need to tell them to work on their own real relationships. They need to find another "hobby". Don't laugh when they talk about all the things they are going to do in these countries. Don't condone it. Embarass them, and tell them the seriousness of it.
When I was a kid living in New York, July used to mean so much to me.
#1 NO SCHOOL #2 DAY CAMP #3 Can go to sleep whatever time I wanted #4 Went to Yankees Stadium and Shea Stadium #5 No winter coats, mittens (!), scarfs, ski caps, or goulashes (!) #6 No runny noses
As an adult living in South Florida? July is just another month. I'm serious. I don't have any kids, and don't go to school, so the whole "July = vacation" thing just doesn't mean anything to me anymore. I keep reminding myself that school's out when I'm driving and see kids/teens walking around during school hours.
At my day job, I just meet production deadlines. I have a white board with red markers indicating job codes and due dates. I rush to gets projects out to meet each month's billing cycle. So July 31 has the same meaning as October 31.
In terms of weather, in Florida it's always hot, sunny, and rainy. (Yet in July, the rain can get pretty bad at times.) In New York, July = beach. In Florida, one is hard pressed to see the season changes.
In many ways, I always associated July and summertime with youthful innocence, excitement, and not having responsibilty. But once one becomes an adult, it's just another month.
In high school, I started to see how July began to lose its luster: some of my classmates who were around 15+ began to get summer jobs or went to summer school to get more credits. I finally gave into the nerd peer pressure to be productive during summer vacations, and that was the beginning of the end for July.
July 4th? Fireworks? ONE DAY OFF? Big deal.
I wouldn't even have known it was July if not for work due dates.
I know, you couldn't resist buying the original iPhone. But if you were afraid of the price tag, you went ahead and bought the iPhone 3G. Of course, since AT&T's mandatory 2-year plan has increased by $10/per month (and if you aren't "upgrading"), there is no price break. That's something Apple doesn't advertise.
So, let's say you got duped and bought it anyway. I assume (tried) to cancel your existing cell phone, otherwise it would be awfully redundant to have two cells phones, right? Can't get out of that Verizon contract, huh? Awww...
Well, by now (assuming you got past all the red tape and stress to actually sign up and ACTIVATE your new iPhone) you should have noticed that although the interface rocks and is simple, the consumer irreplaceable BATTERY loses power awfully quickly.
I keep reading and hearing about a struggling economy, yet it seems so many people are quick to use their credit card to "upgrade" and fork over $200 (8GB) or $300 (16GB), with 24-month AT&T contract worth around $70-$100 per month.
It is very important to note that if you aren't upgrading than the price is actually 400 dollars. And if you do not want to hack the iPhone (see various message boards) and use it on another network the price of no-commitment contract is $600 dollars. WOW.
Also consider this: there are cheaper clones and more capable touch screen phones out there.
There is no doubt there are cool applications on the iPhone, and it's very easy to surf (but do you REALLY think all your favorite web pages will display properly? Not.) But you really need to take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror to justify why it would be that important.
I mean, I'm sure you HAVE Internet access at home. So why pay twice? I'm sure you already have a cell phone. You may even have a REAL GPS (iPhone doesn't have real-time- it uses Google Maps- HA!) And a better camera. And an iPod or mp3 player that can display photos and video. Or a laptop.
But you just HAD to get this, don't you. (By the way, be sure not to DROP this little guy.)
You don't care that Apple is using you like a tool with an upgrade and "price drop" every 6 months, right? Who says peer pressure is dead?
You know, I could understand it if you're making $70,000 and your wife is too.
But you're probably not, and if you are, you probably have so many expenses that you still live from paycheck to paycheck.
Do you REALLY need portable Internet at your office?
I could be persuaded to understand it if you were on the road all the time.
Other than that it seems more of a vanity thing than a practical thing.
Hey, I'm just trying to save on your monthly bills every month.
Because I really do care about you and the economy.
Just chew on this, for something that suggests it's an all-encompassing entertainment (Internet/phone/music/GPS hand held computer):
No Flash player for rich media content (Apple hates Adobe?) Can’t send pictures in instant messages No mobile TV No replaceable battery No flash memory card No Linux compatibility You're going to be dropping hundreds of dollars on upgrades for years
I love kids...I have millions of fans around the world.
I thank you for your continued support.
Remember, if you send me $19.95 through paypal, I can continue to look for Nicole's killer, and I will send you my autographed boots. And be sure to check out my OFFICIAL myspace.com page. Finally, once these bum charges are dropped against me, I will be facing Jose Canseco in a celebrity mud-wrestling match in Las Vegas on November 17, only on Pay-Per-View. For my older fans, expect the next installment of my adult entertainment streaming video.
When O.J. Simpson was on the spot in 1979, he wore Spot-bilt for that extra step. In fact many other athletes used Spot-bilt to get out of jams as well. It's unfortunate for O.J. that he wasn't wearing Spot-bilt in the 1990's or 2000's.
The preceding alternate earth message was brought to you by Pete Rose:
And promotional consideration was paid for in part by Central City, California:
My wife saw an American documentary filmed in China about the production of Mardi Gras beads.
Since China became a free market just about anyone can set up shop there as long as you follow some "rules".
Chinese teenagers who dropped out of school (they listed the need to make money for their family and the tough coursework as reasons) can work at a factory compound in the mountains.
The compound is surrounded by barbed wire, and they sleep there.
They work 6 days a week, 12-14 hours a day, with Sunday being the only day where men and women can intermingle in a social setting in the compound. However, any romance is punished.
If the production quotas are not met, the workers see a reduction of food rations (they already stand in long lines, and food is dropped into their tray, similar to the prison movies you've seen), a decrease in their hourly wage of $0.10 (ten cents), or their monthly salary is completed withheld.
There was no official threat of violence from the factory owner and management- the threat of losing the wage and barb wire is enough.
The teenagers are happy to have employment and didn't complain.
They are allowed 2 weeks off for the Chinese New Year where they spend some of their money to head back to the mainland and buy gifts for their family. One girl bought her young brother a watch, and was scolded by her mother for wasting her hard earned money.
The owner of the "factory" gets around $1.7 million dollars from the American company that ordered the production of the Mardi Gras beads. He lives like a king in China, providing toys and luxuries for his family. The guy was not a villain- he simply is a product of his culture. And which company enabled this? The company was Walmart, which sells the beads for $1 to $20 dollars.
When the film maker showed pictures and video of the New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration (the beads were tossed around, thrown in the street, wasted, and used by naked women) the Chinese teens were shocked. They were also informed that the beads sell for $1, and "special" ones sell for $20. How would you feel?
The film maker also showed the woman dancing in the Mardi Gras the film, and she felt guilty; she did not know the conditions that lead to the creation of these beads.
Are $0.10/hour workers in an overpopulated country a necessary part of this global economy? What happens if these people ever became free and demanded rights? Could Americans afford to pay $50 for beads? Would they want to produce them on their own?
The Chinese believe that Americans can't be productive and meet the quotas, and that this is the global economy.
Like Buddhism says, every condition arises from previous conditions, and every thing and every one is related to each other.
Can we judge other cultures? Is globalization a good thing? Is this slave labor? Does survival of the fittest dictate that we let things be? Is this the product of capitalism in a communist culture?
India Earthquake, No Ice in North Pole, Al Gore Global Warming
Al Gore: For the first time in human history, there will be NO ice in the North Pole. Just let that sink in a little bit. Right now, reports are coming in that a 6.7 Indian earthquake has been registered. There is no word on the amount of damage of human casualities, but if China's earthquake is any indication, it will be tragic.
And this comes full circle back to what I have been saying for so long- global warming is real. Global warming, which is caused by big business and irresponsible politicians, is destroying our planet. And we need to stop it.
And now, I will retreat back into my cave of obscurity, whilst the geniuses continue to ignore my seemingly prophetic words and suggestions.
Jessica’s Law, if passed, would require a 20-year sentence for rape of a child under 12.
However, MA Democratic Representative (and defense attorney) James Fagan said that he would “rip apart” 6-year-old victims on the witness stand and “make sure the rest of their life is ruined, so when they’re 8 years old they throw up; when they’re 12 years old, they won’t sleep; when they’re 19 years old, they’ll have nightmares and they’ll never have a relationship with anybody. It's a knee-jerk legislation and every time the Legislature has named a law after somebody, it has been a failure.”
In my opinion, the criminal justice system (specifically the penal and correction facilities) should do more to reeducate and rehabilitate criminals than to simply punish them. I think if found guilty of a crime, the perpetrator should serve the full sentence based on criminal code (no bills) unless the criminal shows a complete change.
THAT BEING SAID, as an elected official, James Fagan's comments are inexcusable, and he needs to be held accountable.
Juneteenth was born during the Civil War. It is an unofficial holiday, more of a footnote in history to mainstream MEDIA.
On June 19, 1865, Union (North, Yankees, blues) General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to take possession of the state and enforce President Lincoln Emancipation Proclamation of it slaves. While standing on the balcony Granger read the contents of “General Order No. 3”
"The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere."
And there was much rejoicing.
Juneteenth is celebrated with a large feast served as an all day meal in a park or outdoors by descendants of slaves.
I guess the irony is that Juneteenth has been celebrated for over 200 years, yet you never heard about it before until now.
Here's a great clip about a case of mistaken identity, how the Internet makes everything a small world, and how people make snap judgements. Actually, it's pretty scary, and opens wide legal ramifications of posting incorrect information on the Internet. It also shows how people use search engines like they drink beer- it's a natural instinct now.
For those of you who are sending David Lawson hate mail...think twice about it before you hit send.
Police give Jen Moss tickets for walking around in a thong, and pasties over her breasts. She now may face prosecution for public indecency.
She says:
"Nudity is natural, but a lot of people are uncomfortable with it. It's OK for children to play video games where they are killing each other, and it's patriotic to murder people in a war. But women's breasts in public? You better watch out! They are charging me with putting on an illegal performance or show. I stripped my clothes to speak the truth, but I was legally covered."
Moss may face a charge for taking off her clothes, down to pasties and G-string, outside the a Catholic church, as parishioners were leaving Mass because "there are so many bad people who are hurting and destroying the Earth, and many of them are religious people."
The city of Ojai, California is divided.
With the power of the Internet, the entire world can have an opinion now.
Just to show you how popular some sites are, once word got out that Firefox was releasing Mozilla 3 today, their site was overloaded and crashed.
The Mozilla blog said:
The outpouring of interest and enthusiasm around Firefox 3 has been overwhelming (literally!). Our servers are currently feeling the burn and should be back to normal shortly. Download day will officially commence once the site goes live. The 24 hours period will be clocked from that moment. Thanks for your continued support.
Mozilla had a great marketing campaign: on May 28 they set out for the Guinness World Record for the most software downloads in 24 hours with its Firefox 3 browser. Of course, there is no world record for software downloads, Mozilla just wanted the pubclity- and it worked, probably a little too much- server down!
Rumor is that Ianare hit their site 1,323,499 times today...with no 'bot!
On the heels of Iowa's desruction, the rotten tomotatoes scare, the shocking death of TIM RUSSERT, George Bush visiting France, Marvel's shares dropping because of the disappointing $62.6 million Incredible Hulk box office, Al Gore endorsing Obama after Hillary gave up, a painful victory for Tiger Woods, gas prices over $4 per gallon, and Yankees ace pitcher Chien-Ming Wang breaking his foot, now emerges...
More than 400 city blocks and 3,900 homes were flooded in Cedar Rapids, where early estimates put property damage at $736 million.
Bush is in Paris.
Citizens have evacuated, and volunteers have been stacking up sandbags to preserve the University of Iowa.
The U.S. Coast Guard has deployed 30 people to Iowa City to conduct search and rescue missions.
Levees have broken.
The rest of the country is focused on movie box office results, Iran, sports, Father's Day gifts, California gay marriages, and the death of TIM RUSSERT!
Will Obama or McCain work on rebuilding levees and U.S. infrastructure to prevent this from happening AGAIN? Can we use our MODERN TECHNOLOGY to help? Can we get a break from insurance companies? OR WILL WE CONTINUE TO THROW BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON THE WAR IN IRAQ, IRAN, AND NORTH KOREA INSTEAD OF HELPING OUR OWN CITIZENS?
This surveillance video shows how someone can snap at an office. This violent outburst is wrong. It's a shame that the workers just watch without trying to stop him. The response time of security or police is bad, too.
Anyway, I've felt like this sometimes but never acted it out. There's no reason to go to prison because of your office.
Former WCW professional wrestler Disco Inferno was on Main Event Radio and had this to say about Internet message board fans:
All Internet wrestling fans are basically critics. You don't see a lot of praise online. Not even only wrestling forums, but you look at political forums, sports forums, any type of message boards and it just breathes a very negative atmosphere. I'm convinced that what people do is that they cut promos against each other. A message board or forum is a free way to go online and basically argue and cut promos on each other. The problem that I have is that some of the ideas that people talk about online have a snowball effect and so many people start writing about them that they become fact. To me, they become erroneous facts.
The fact is...he's right. I have a lot of hobbies (probably too many), and every time I go on a message board forum or blog (including my own), I see some similar themes and patterns:
1) There are apologists and bootlickers who support the website administration. 2) There are posters full of hate, anger, and frustration. 3) They usually get into illogical "SHOUTING" debates with the apologists. 4) No one actually wins these "arguments". 5) The "facts" are all wrong, and generally change as you keep reading a thread. 6) Tony Vahl and Damian Hospital believe that most of the posters are sock puppets. 7) Being anonymous is an addictive feeling, and leads to people to be impolite, sarcastic, and mean. The person that rants, raves, and is "confrontational" online is teh same geek that can't even look at you straight in the eye in real life. 8) Having an "online identity" HAS to be hazardous to one's health. 9) The atmosphere is extremely negative. 10) If there is a positive thing about message boards, it's that they easily unravel scams and tear apart conventional or mainstream thinking: NOTHING and NO ONE is sacred from criticism. Although most of the time, it is unwarranted, occasionally it can be very helpful. 11) Another positive aspect is that people with similar interests can swap information and get questioned answered very quickly, and it's a great place for like minds to stroke each other's ego. However, back in my day, people did this in "real life". We as a society are headed down the road (or may already be there) where human interact becomes secondary.
Here are photos of inside the gallery, which has been shutdown and banned from the public:
Does anyone have a problem with the art exhibit being shut down and Yazmany getting carted away? Once again, we have an issue with freedom of expression versus public decency and the risk of offending people. Law enforcement agencies claim they wanted to protect two senators from harm.
I'd like to know what makes Obama and Hillary so special that we can't rent office space and display "The Assassination of Hillary Clinton" on our windows. Last I checked, some people choose to fly Nazi flags on their porches, without the police taking them away.
Frankly, I'm tired of law enforcement being able to make court decisions on the spot.
I can understand Joe Water Cooler (tm) not having an ounce of sympathy for Yazmany, and the MEDIA may accuse the artist of being a publicity hound, but he should have the right to lease space and put that sign up. He says:
“It’s art. It’s not supposed to be harmful. It’s about character assassination — about how Obama and Hillary have been portrayed by the media. It’s about the media. The Secret Service had to do a whole questionnaire with me. It was about an hour of questioning. They asked if I owned guns, if I was a violent person, if I had ever been institutionalized. I’m renting that space; the space was allocated for an exhibition and it’s my right to put those words up. They said it could incite someone to do something crazy, like break the window. The Secret Service asked me if I would voluntarily take down the exhibition title from the window. It’s terrible, because they’re violating my rights. If someone breaks a window, they’re committing a crime."
The police said:
“Why would we question him? Well, we want to determine what his motives are. Obviously they could be interpreted as advocating harm to protectees; both of the senators, of course, are now being provided Secret Service protection, that’s why the Secret Service was interested; both of them are federal employees, so, ah, of course it is a concern to federal authorities as it is to ourselves. Our lawyers are researching it and will determine if there are any violations of law; right now he is being questioned.”
The SS said:
“We did not shut down that exhibit or request that anybody else shut it down. This was brought to our attention, we went out there and had a conversation with the individual, but we did not shut it down.”
Man can't ride airplane wearing TRANSFORMERS T-Shirt (Megatron)
A security guard at a London airport threatened to arrest Brad Jayakody for wearing a Transformers T-shirt featuring Megatron because of the gun.
Why does riding an airplane entail suspension of civil rights? Seriously. Was he stopped because he wasn't a WHITE Englishman? Do airport security guards take their jobs too seriously? Are they afraid to get fired if someone was "offended" by this man's cartoon robot shirt? The Transformers are a WORLD-WIDE phenomena, this t-shirt did not have some obscure character on it.
Who CARES if a passenger would be offended? Sounds like this guy was being singled out. He should sue.
The next time you're driving on the highway or languishing in traffic in a city or town, you may be watched...by a billboard.
No, this is not a conspiracy by George W. Bush, President McCain, or the other reptilian overlord, it is being done by high-tech advertising agencies such as Quividi and TruMedia Technologies.
Consumer habits are tracked on the Internet, no matter what your security is, so within advertising circles, these billboard camera systems are seen as a long-awaited answer to the problem of how to measure the effectiveness of billboards, and how to figure out who is seeing them.
Of course...if the general public knew about this, they would protest their rights to privacy.
One driver that passed it was then interviewed by a reporter and had this to say:
“I didn’t see that at all, to be honest. That’s disturbing. I would say it’s arguably an invasion of one’s privacy.”
Indeed, having one's face stored on a computer network and used for marketing purposes does sound weird. Also, law enforcement agencies can issue a court order to review the digital images. I'm not surprised, but I just wanted to give this Public Service Announcement so everyone knows. Like I've been telling everyone- advertisers rule this world, and they can- and will- do whatever they want. No reptilian conspiracy necessary.
So, what did we learn from the Virginia Tech Massacre?
1) The MEDIA will cash in on whatever they can. 2) American school systems are STILL in need of reform. 3) Society will never change unless each of us hold each other to better standards, starting with parents raising their children the correct way. 4) Nothing.
George Lucas' Star Wars fanbase is truly pathetic: they complain, nitpick, and moan about everything but willingly fork over hundreds of dollars (or more!) over their lifetimes to his product each and every time he released more commercialized crap.
The sad part is, pre-Internet, I had no idea that this love-hate relationship even existed, or perhaps it was created by Internet message boards themselves- I don't know. (As a kid, I knew that Trekkies were nitpickers of Star Trek, but were loyal and worshiped Gene Roddenberry and the actors; and they would at least try to come up with Stan Leesque No-Prizes.)
I do know that the first trilogy was not critically acclaimed- only A New Hope is ranked by filmed critics, but still can't hold a candle to 2001 (according to film critics). But the fan base- the kids and teenagers of the 1970's and 80's perceived the three movies as the greatest works of art, and even saw them in a religious sense. The epic films spoke to them. The characters became icons and were lovable. Darth Vader was a villain that was adored. And they were correct, and I was one of them.
Fast forward to the dawn of the new millennium: what happened? These same fans, who willingly contributed so much time, effort, and emotion continued to do that- but in negative ways! They still saw all 3 movies (multiple-showings, too), got the DVDs, boxed sets, video games, and merchandise even though they will swear to us that the movies sucked and Lucas sold out. (I believe I only know one person who refused to see Episode III at the time in came out, and I was pretty frustrated with him.)
Perhaps with the Internet, we know more about Lucas' "issues", and we as fans are exposed to all of the contradictions of the six movies. Perhaps it became more apparent that Lucas has been cashing out all of these years, using geeks as "tools", and made statements that left us confused ("My dream was to make documentaries"). Perhaps we had such an emotional and spiritual connection to the original trilogy that any retroactive additions revealed in the second trilogy were seen as unnecessary or offensive. Perhaps fans got older and saw that the dialog is "comic booky". Perhaps the boys from the past were unable to share these nerdy experiences with their girlfriends or wives with the new movies when they were 30. Perhaps the fans themselves read the novels, fan-fiction, and were actually exposed to better quality professional sci-fi, to realize that 1) Lucas is unoriginal and likes to "borrow" and 2) there are MANY better talented writers than Lucas- some have made "it", and others who are blogging for free. Again, thanks to Internet, everyone can be a journalist (just ask Drudge), sports general manager, franchise owner, President of the United States, pro wrestling booker, scriptwriter, novelist, or director.
In many ways, Star Wars spawned an entire generation of unhappy sci-fan fans who put their money where their mouth isn't. Sure comic books fans have always done this since time immemorial, but as you can see now, the comic book industry has been dying as the prices increased and because they are so many other entertainment options today.
And that's what makes the new trilogy irrelevant to the next generation of fans- the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Spider-Man Trilogy, Disney movies, and other sci-fi and fantasy movies will be seen just as good or better than Star Wars as the years march on. You see, no matter how Lucas tries to restore and modify the original trilogy, the scene of someone from the future watching all six in a row and feeling emotionally rewarded is a pipe dream.
At this point, I personally know only a handful of loyal fans that enjoyed the second trilogy. I am one of them. For those who hate the new trilogy, perhaps there is a nostalgic factor that the original trilogy is held in such high esteem, while the new trilogy is seen as junk. I can see both sides of the argument: that the new trilogy lacked the charm, Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness, and some things were just best left alone, like Stormtroopers being Boba Fett clones.
As a consumer in this economy, if I don't like a product, I have to send a message and not buy it. I guess the love/hate fans just had to see how Episode III ended, even though they claim they hated Phantom Menace and/or Episode II. And, since they are completists they just had to get the DVDs. I guess they showed their "loyalty". Or perhaps they still had faith Lucas would go out great to their liking in Episode III.
With Lucas announcing a new Star Wars project, so far the Internet message boards have been buzzing and very excited about it; in fact, many 30-year old men loved the original Cartoon Network's Clone Wars animated series, so they'll probably watch this while their wives and girlfriends are doing something else, maybe record in on TiVo, or leach it off BitTorrent. Of course, for those Star Wars geeks who don't have a girlfriend yet, well, Lucas loves you.
I guess at the end of the day, Star Wars just isn't important to me anymore. The Star Trek universe has much more depth to it (although it's not an apples-apples comparison). I haven't watched the Star Wars in two years, whereas Star Trek episodes and movies from all the different franchises are more enjoyable to me at this stage.
I'd like to thank the critics, message boards, parodies, and spoiled fans for tainting my love, and giving me the correct perspective that debating continuity of Star Wars is utterly meaningless, and to do so would be giving George Lucas free advertising. It's just not fun anymore, and they can never truly be pleased. There is no avoiding it, either. I'm not pitching that you, the reader, agree with me. I also don't want to come off like a snob or look down upon a hobby (since millions of people are Expanded Universe fans and are still loyal to the franchise) because I have my own peculiar hobbies, and still get very enthusiastic and obsessive about my hobbies, which are just as "meaningless" as Star Wars. But for me, knowing that there will not be another trilogy set after RotJ featuring the true hero of the story- Luke Skywalker- means the spin-offs, and animated shows just won't cut it. I've seen all 6 movies more times than any other movie. For me, there's not much left to say about them. I had a great time viewing each one at the time I saw them, but I can't help but hear and read (and agree with) very convincing arguments showing that Lucas and his product are overrated and severely flawed. So, this is me, Damian Hospital letting go of the attachment, and bidding farewell to all things Star Wars (for now).
Thank you for being newsworthy, Carmen Kontur Gronquist.
Thank you for putting me back at the top of the Izea RealRank Top 1% again, Carmen Kontur Gronquist.
For the last couple of days, since you got kicked out of office, there has been a renewed interest in the Carmen Kontur Gronquist photo that was posted on myspace a while back.
You see, like most Oregon mayors, you kept out of the spotlight, and were a complete unknown until you posed in lingerie and posted it on myspace. It became a national story a while back. I got some decent traffic then. Then you got kicked out of office this week, and I got around 3,500 hits Thursday by Internet perverts who want to see the Carmen Kontur Gronquist photo.
Some things amaze me:
1) That people can actually spell "Carmen Kontur Gronquist" or something remotely close to it. 2) That the entire world is searching for "Carmen Kontur Gronquist photo", and 3,000 of those netizens wind up here, especially since Google knocked me to PR0. 3) From the smallest towns in Hicksville, USA, to Latin American Populist countries, to the coldest spots in the former Soviet Union, to Asian countries, people have been searching for Carmen Kontur Gronquist since she got kicked out of office.
Not that I'm complaining. On the contrary, thanks for the hits, Carmen Kontur Gronquist. I broke my all-time Izea Real Rank championship for one night at #106! For one day, I was champ again, after being written off at #989. Of course, it's only downhill from here, but that's okay. I made the comeback, no matter how brief. I did it! I won! For one day only, but I still did it!
We truly live in a new technological era where the court systems are setting new precedents.
It has been ruled that sending a MySpace friend request is a violation of an order of protection, which states "no contact allowed".
It is amazing that one click of the left mouse can cause criminal charges like that. For those of you not in the social networking world, a friend request in Myspace, Friendster, Facebook, or wherever is one of the most mundane things on the Net.
Culture Shock So many people say, "The Japanese are so weird." I say that EVERY culture seems weird to an outsider. THAT BEING SAID, I want to put you on a Japan Acid Trip right now. The first video is in Japanese, and the second is the English translation. Ultraman is VERY, VERY popular in Japan. The theme song has been officially been ripped from Dr. Wily's stage in Mega Man II. The sheer amount of obscurity is geekiness would be 10/10 in the USA. Sign me up.
It was revealed that 26% of all airline flights were late last year. Between the security hassles we have to deal with TSA and customs, not to mention parking or the sub par meals and "services"- like fighting for blankets and pillows, this shows how pathetic the US Airline industry is.
I really love that reality show Airline, which shows all of the hassles and problems that travellers experience every day. I wish something could be done about making our airline experience as simple and hassle-free as possible.
Research, sponsored by mobile phone companies themselves, revealed that using the cell phones before bed causes people to take longer to reach the deeper stages of sleep and to spend less time in them, which in turn interferes with your body's ability to repair damage suffered during the day.
This was published by MIT's Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium and funded by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum.
Dr William Kohler of the Florida Sleep Institute said:
"Anything that disrupts the integrity of your sleep will potentially have adverse consequences in functioning during the day, such as grouchiness, difficulty concentrating, and in children hyperactivity and behavior problems."
As Tony Vahl and Damian Hospital have been saying for years- mobile phones is this generation's cigarette smoking, meaning that the physical damage done is horrific, but the general public casually engages in this behavior with no regard to the consequences.
By now, everyone knows about the controversy with the Golf Channel personality (and friend of Tiger Woods) named Kelly Tilghman. In response to her co-anchor's joke that younger players should "gang up" on Tiger Woods during the golf tournament, Tilghman said that they ought to "Lynch him in a back alley". She was innocently laughing during the exchange, and Woods' agent was said he didn't think there was any ill intent.
MEANWHILE, the so-called Rev. Al Sharpton starting making his protests and demands, like he speaks for the black community. Anyone who lived in New York during the 1980's knowns that Sharpton is a fraud, self-promoter, and should be working in the WWE.
So, thanks to the MEDIA, Tighman had to be suspended for two weeks.
Dave Seanor, editor of Golfweek, wanted to use a cover to draw attraction about this controversial story, about how the Golf Channel got "caught in a noose". There was a debate, but he decided to go with the noose. He needed to meet a deadline and forgot to run the final copy by his boss.
Well, once again, thanks the MEDIA and PGA, Golfweek fired Seanor.
If all of this sounds ridiculously oversensitive, politically correct, and bowing to the perception that advertisers would pull from their products, you are correct.
Look-
Kelly Tilghman made a bad joke.
Tiger wasn't offended.
Is there any evidence that black viewers were offended? I mean, did the Golf Channel get phone calls, e-mails, or letters from blacks demanding justice? I doubt it. But the MEDIA ran with it, like it was a big thing. Same with the Golf Weekly magazine cover.
No one speaks for "the black community", especially a scammer like Al Sharpton. Dave Chappelle is more in touch with "the black community" than Sharpton.
What is "the black community" anyway?
Offending blacks (or any other group) is the least concern of the Golf Channel- advertisers are. Let's face it, advertising and commercials make the world go 'round.
Thanks to the MEDIA saying the Golf Channel employs a racist, the Golf Channel had to act to show the advertisers that they respect all demographics. This is all about money. As Batman asked in Identity Crisis, "Who benefits?"
Now, is there anything wrong with bowing to advertisers? NO, of course not! But let's just be honest here.
Of course, I'm not worried. After all I survived Y2K.
