The Manic Mainer

I need to get to sleep

2010-08-15T04:36:00.001-04:00

I just spent the past hour reading through old blog posts for a blog I barely use anymore as opposed to getting some shut eye... only me, huh?

A quiet night...

2009-09-01T20:52:00.003-04:00

So, not much to write about, but for some reason I felt like futzing with this thing. Did some laundry, TRYING to clean my horror of a bedroom a little bit, and I have some mail to prep for tomorrow. I'll just drop it off at the 34th Street office (only New York would have a 24/7 office...) after work and be done with it.

Other than that, the big struggle is trying to hook up my DVD player and Wii to my TV. I did it just fine back at Fordham, now suddenly I can't...

Say, did anyone ever start reading this from work.

Hello...

2009-08-16T23:22:00.001-04:00

I'm guessing this blog is about to have a lot more traffic.

Well... feel free to take a look around at the true depths of my insanity...

Bush's Goodbye Kiss

2008-12-15T23:53:00.003-05:00

I'm sure you've all known about this at this point, but if you haven't, well... here ya go. As reported by the Beeb.

An Iraqi journalist was wrestled to the floor by security guards after he called Mr Bush "a dog" and threw his footwear, just missing the president.
...

In the middle of the news conference with Mr Maliki, Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," before hurling a shoe at Mr Bush which narrowly missed him.

Showing the soles of shoes to someone is a sign of contempt in Arab culture.

Mr Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, was then wrestled to the ground by security personnel and hauled away.

For the BBC news report quoted, and video of the shoe flinging, click here.

Once again... I remember.

2008-12-15T23:46:00.002-05:00

That I have a blog.

So... in the past year what's happened? Some good stuff...

I'm doing fairly well in graduate studies, with a 3.785 GPA
I have a pretty enjoyable job at the Statue of Liberty (though I'm going to keep it at that; if I bitch too much I might lose it...)
I've acclimated fairly well to New York City.
I've become addicted to Sodoku (...okay, maybe not that good...)
I got a Wii

So, things are okay right now. I have very cautious optimism about the future; is it January 20th yet, guys?

Hey, remember me?

2007-11-16T23:38:00.000-05:00

Well, do ya? No? Well, that's what happens when you go to grad school!

Welp, been here for about three months now, and I'm enjoying myself so far... just wanted to remind you all I'm still alive and that grad school takes a lot out of you. It's an endless cycle... I do too much I burn out; I burn out, I have to force myself to do a lot... well, as far as I know, I'm managing. The big concern for me right now is final papers. I'm hoping to go to town on the easiest one over break next week, and the prelim for the other two... here's hoping.

I'm also working now; I'm tutoring at a nearby school in the Bronx. Oh, jeez, was the first day hit and miss! Hopefully, it'll get better...

Until then, this is Brad, signing off from the place he's wanted to be for seven years and not regretting a moment of it.

I... I can't take it anymore...

2007-09-29T01:45:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I know... pretty quiet. Later, I'll spill some on why I've been AWOL lately. Fordham's been tough, and medical problems made it worse, but I think I'm okay now...

Okay, time to state the obvious: I don't like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. In fact, it's probably a hair away from hatred right now. They've completely destroyed all respect and faith in my government and American democracy, used the still-haunting 9/11 to do whatever the fuck they want, and live/work in a "you can't do anything about it" way. And the fucking Democrats have shown it again and again and AGAIN...

There's been quiet a few things these two men have done that made me really upset. I sobbed when Bush made his "We're going in in 48 hours" announcement. I winced at every passage of a bill that let them take away rights. I gnashed teeth as Bush used Christianity again and again to deny stem cell research and equality for the LGBT community. I looked on, agape, as they let the Gulf Coast and one of our defining cities turn into the Third World... and shrugged it off. Despite all this, I managed to swallow and keep watching the news.

Until today.

I've just found out that apparently Saddam Hussein and his sons were in negotiations to flee to Egypt and live in exile and prevent the war. However, Bush and Cheney refused and went in anyway. Further, Bush refused the pleas of British and Spanish leaders for an eleventh hour stay of declaration. And do you know why? As Bush himself said:

According to the transcript, [Spanish Prime Minister Jose] Aznar asked Bush to be more patient and emphasized the importance of a U.N. resolution. The president said he was out of patience. Aznar said he was worried that Bush was overly optimistic about what would happen. Bush reportedly said, “I am optimistic because I believe I am right. I am at peace with myself.”

You heard it, gang. The entire four years is because Bush says he's right. Just seconds later, I scrolled up to see Cheney again say we didn't finish Saddam off in 1991 because exactly what's happened would happen.

I... I can't describe what I feel right now. Something... died in me, or snapped, or something. I felt ill. I felt angry. And, most of all... fed up.

Seriously, I'm done.

Unless it's of international scale or The Daily Show/The Colbert Report, no more. I'm sick of these two cruel, heartless, arrogant, conscienceless BASTARDS.

I'm sick of their textual blithering.
I'm sick of the feral growl and teeth gnashing Southern drawl that passes for their voices.
And I'm sick of seeing Quasimodo's lost brother and ESPECIALLY that beady eyed smirk.
----------------
Oh, and the Left?

The left bloggers are just as bad now. They DEMAND perfection.

The New York Times? It should die because it was cheerleading the war like, uh, everyone else before it came around.

CNN? Political propaganda.

Politicians or newscasters that slip up ONCE? Traitors.

Jon Stewart, George Carlin, Stephen Colbert don't ask a question or attack Ann Coulter? Spineless, BJ'ing cowards.

Oh, and then comes the best part of all... the part that makes me literally scream.

Bush signs X bill, he's Hitler... Cheney advocates Y bill, HE'S Hitler... Sean Hannity says something, he's Goebbels... Republicans do that, they're the Nazis, Democrats do that, they're Chamberlain... Abu Ghraib, it's Auschwitz... Iraq, period, is the Holocaust.... Anyone who disagrees with these idiot comparisons (IE me) is reality challenged and an abettor...

Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, Hitler, HITLER!!!

*pants*

I'm sure the aspects of the left above is going to compare me to Martin "They came for the Jews..." Niemoller for this but... seriously, I can't take this anymore. I'm getting way too stressed and angry about this, and I'm sick of it.

I'm talking history, I'm finally a New Yorker... leave me the hell alone, and take your smirks and "X is Hitler!"s with you.

I'll leave you with the straw that broke the left side of the camel's back; an name withheld poster about Katie Couric bowing to NBC pressure on an interview with Condi Rice:

"The difference between Katie and a prostitute? Only the prostitute gets fucked when she sells out."

Regarding yesterday's rant...

2007-08-15T15:39:00.000-04:00

...it took less than a day.

GAH!!!!!!

2007-08-14T16:05:00.000-04:00

I'm so tired of this.

Everywhere I look, I see this...

Just as Hitler favored Farben, lucrative contracts were awarded to Dick Cheney’s Halliburton, circumventing even the pretense of a bid process.

...after this...

Hitler thought he had legalized his holocaust with the Nuremberg laws. Bushies are indulging similar and equally Nazi delusions

...after this...

Folks who think that there is some similarity between the political tactics used by the George W. Bush administration and the methods used by Germany’s chancellor for life are aware that the worst could still be yet to come.

...after THIS...

Neocons have all the qualities of Nazis

...AFTER THIS!

Recall how Bush's hatchet men impugned Senator Kerry's Vietnam War record. This was reminiscent of Nazi claims Germany's Jewish veterans of the Great War did not deserve their medals.

WILL YOU ALL JUST FUCKING SHUT UP!?!

Seriously. I'm fed up. Everywhere I read and look, here come the Nazis over the hill, with good ol' Adolf leading them! Are you people honestly being serious? Can you remind when Bush...

-annexed Canada?
-exterminated the atheists?
-invaded an entire continent?
-made it so just looking at him funny = shooting or hanging by piano wire?
-had half-decent evidence he destroyed an American landmark to get his way?
-set up camps across the country?
-had book burnings?
-had a lot of military success?
-severed with distinction in the army?
-made it so only HIS tastes are art and culture?

Oh, oh, don't you go pointing to Iraq, or Abu Ghraib, or 9/11, or the Patriot Act. I can see you trying that. Not the same thing at all. So fucking stop it right there. I can tell you what George W. Bush and Adolf Hitler have in common right now: they're human males of European descent! That's it! That's all! Cut it out!

*pants*

I'm better now... I'll time how long it takes until I see another comparison.

Welp, I just lost the will to live...

2007-08-09T18:09:00.000-04:00

I was cruising a Titanic message board recently, when I found about an animated movie set on the Ol' Millionaires' Special. Except... well... look.

The plot is thus:

This one's plot involves an evil whale hunter, Baron Van Der Tilt, who wants to marry Elizabeth, the daughter of a rich industrialist, so he can somehow gain control of his company. When Elizabeth's father learns she is in love with a gypsy he cancels the marriage; which infuriates the Baron who then decides he will force him to sign the papers at gun's point and then sink the ship to cover his traces. Thanks to a magic flute that allows him to talk to animals, the Baron enlists the aid of a bunch of sharks who in turn convince a not so smart giant squid (I'm talking Dead Man's Chest large here) to prove its great strength by hurling icebergs, that were lying at the bottom of the ocean (...) seemingly about a couple hundred meters below, at the Titanic. One of them hits the ship of course and Elizabeth and her lover must now save their lives but fortunately they're helped by a bunch of rats whom they can talk to thru her magic hearings. The giant squid, realizing a lot of people will die, redeems itself by holding the Titanic afloat, even after she broke in two (between the second and third funnel!), giving everybody aboard enough time to escape in lifeboats.

...wow.

I've seen some really, really, REALLY bad ideas regarding the Titanic before, but this one just takes the cake and shoves it down your throat. I think it all speaks for itself. For more information, as well as where I took the above material from, check out this thread at Encyclopedia Titanica:

I leave you now with the coup de grade: The Titanic/Free Willy crossover.

Oh, ha ha, cute...

2007-08-08T11:59:00.000-04:00

Remember that props I gave to Afterworld? Forget it.

Apparently, either Budweiser bought it out or had this catch all along; it's now being posted exclusively on their site. And you need to register to access it. And you need to have a driver's license. State ID won't do at all.

So, since I don't have a license (long story), I can't watch it because the site refuses to accept that fact. So, I can't imagine how many other people are stuck like me (I've heard of people who HAVE licenses being chased away from the invasion or privacy and reject of license).

So... fuck you Budweiser, and fuck you whoever devised this.

Anyone surprised?

2007-08-01T21:56:00.000-04:00

CNN: White House invokes executive privilege for Rove in attorney firings

Wow. What a surprise. Bush is using the laws he's sworn to uphold and protect... to find a way around the laws he's sworn to uphold and protect. Because as we all know (*cough*refusal to see reason about Iraq*cough*), in his beady little black vs white brain, the slightest HINT of cooperation or bowing to the whim of an investigation signifies him as weak, or foolish, or whatever else.

I'm sure it's because he's obsessed with his legacy, to look like a strong, forceful, unflinching president... but, that INDEED his legacy: strong, forceful, and unflinching when it comes to decisions he needs to change or alter. He may get out of pulling the troops out, but history will record who went in.

That'll be my job in 30 years.

I'd rant more, but it's humid, and I'm lazy, and I'm reminded about my what my favorite comedian Lewis Black said about reacting to what Bush and Co. pull: It gets to the point where you're too tired to get angry anymore.

Sheesh...

2007-08-01T18:26:00.000-04:00

BBC: Office printers 'are heart risk'

Fox35, Orlando: Diet soda can lead to heart disease

...is there anything, ANYTHING mundane on this planet that will NOT lead to some sort of disease, cancer, crippling, or mental retardation?!

Yet, wanna see something really odd?

Wichita Eagle: CAFFEINE and exercise may cut skin cancer

So, you know what? I'll hedge my bets tomorrow and eat some sour cream from the tub for lunch. I'll probably get smallpox, but avoid testicular cancer.

That horny, horny bastard!

2007-07-28T17:23:00.000-04:00

...really, I'm not even gonna comment on this one from the Guardian...

Prisoner found guilty of masturbating in his cell

Rousse Rant: "The Simpsons Movie"

2007-07-27T23:47:00.000-04:00

Welp, I thought I wouldn't see it, but it seems Fate has decided otherwise (ha ha, thing I don't even believe in). So, here's a Rousse Rant on The Simpsons Movie.

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE
Released July 27, 2007
Directed by David Silverman
(Poster hosted by Wikipedia)

THE BASICS
After seeing yet another band (Green Day) perish in its foul waters, the citizens of Springfield ^%#@$! pledge to clean up the lake baring their city's name. However, Homer Simpson disposes a large amount of waste in the lake, finally pushing its toxicity past the tipping point. Facing the fact that it is now the most polluted city on Earth, the EPA and President Schwarzenegger vacuum seal all of Springfield under a gigantic dome... with the worst yet to come. Ultimately exiled, homeless and alone can Homer find the courage (and competency) to win back his family (and Bart's respect) and save Springfield?

THE PROCESS OF GETTING TO THE GOOD
All right, I'll be frank. I probably started watching The Simpsons when I was at least in third grade (mostly because I think I got hell from a teacher for touching a game or something... that's when I started getting hints grade school would be sooooo not fun). I watched it consistently for six or seven years. And I mean consistently. I'd get pissed if I missed it for any reason. If I had lost TV privileges, I'd beg and plead to at least have The Simpsons (most of the time, I won; but I held a grudge against Mom the one time she refused on a special episode and it took me three years to watch it!) So, yeah, pretty substantial part of my life.

Then the show (and my life) really started to suck in 2000, 2001. "Kill the Alligator and Run" was what did it; I was so profoundly dumbfounded and unamused by the episode that I started to lose the drive to watch it. I also became (and still am) rather humiliated about how I reacted to Futurama at the same time, so Matt Groening's work basically fell by the wayside as I moved onto slightly better years and finally to college. While there, my tastes in everything flourished and expanded, including to newer, more recent cartoons. But still, there was a "hurt" nostalgia for The Simpsons, the first big, contemporary cartoon I watched. I did make sure to watch the Halloween specials, but even they had seen better days.

So, when I heard a movie was coming out, I really wasn't all that geared up. But, the trailers were so fucked up, part of me was curious. But still, I felt I needed to be invited, not volunteered, to see it.

Well, guess what my best friend did today, proving someone I know right (and I know you're reading this, you jackass)...

(FINALLY) THE GOOD
So, well... after the literal Rousse Rant above, what'd I think? Well, I was, well...

...pleasantly surprised.

What really got me was the memory. Everyone was in the movie. And I mean EVERYBODY. Unless they're dead or live outside of Springfield, you saw them. We're talking characters we haven't seen in years, if not a decade. Lurleen Lumpkin, Princess Kashmir, Scott Christian, Chester Lampwick, Gabbo, Roger Myers, Rabbi Krustofski, Lance Murdoch, John... all of them and more can be seen at least once. There's even a reference to the classic scene of Homer's repeated falling down Springfield Gorge! Even if the show's writing has tanked lately, I can't fault them for rewarding devoted fans by remembering all of the characters we've seen over two decades.

Funny thing is, the writing... The movie was hilarious. I was laughing or snickering for most of the movie from the opening to the end credits (Sit through them!). I noticed the entire writing staff, including Matt Groening himself, worked on the script. And, of course, there's great barbs at idiotic pop culture; I especially appreciated attacks on FOX and that bane of my history/movie existence, Titanic. Perhaps that was part of the reason the movie was fun to watch, a throw back to the olden days.

Speaking of watching... the animation was just gorgeous. It usually is with cartoons jumping to the big screen (South Park in particular comes to mind), but the colors were crisp, clean, and appealing to look at it. I noticed that they in fact brought in a lot of the old production staff of Futurama, including the very talented CGI animator Scott Vanzo. The film was very appealing to look at.

As for the voice acting, it was good as always. Nancy Cartwright, as always, invigorates Bart; Yeardly Smith makes Lisa huggable and sweet as always; and we have the usual standbys of Tress MacNeille, Hank Azaria, and Harry Shearer bringing life to the city of Springfield.

But, the people I feel really standout in the film are Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner as Homer and Marge. "Homer pisses off Marge, and has to appease her" has long been a standby of Simpsons plots. But, the movie takes it to a new level. There's several scenes, including a particularly powerful one from Marge, that make it clear that the stakes have never been higher for the survival of their relationships. Dan and Julie are very talented by default, but they really shown here.

I also want to note Hans Zimmer's awesome score. He (along with James Horner, John Williams, and Howard Shore) is one of my favorite movie composers. It was fitting of a film of this magnitude but stayed true to The Simpsons.

Also, in regards to problems I have with current episodes, there were no cameos for the sake of cameos or a ridiculous thing that finally led to the main plot! They played characters or had a purpose in the plot! The plot was there from the first few minutes! As Homer would say, "Woo hoo!"

THE BAD
So, uh, what didn't I like...

Well, there was a good bit of "jerkass Homer" as some have taken to calling him in the beginning. And there were sometimes where it seemed like Homer was being an idiot just to be an idiot. So, such scenes felt very forced and needless. Of course, once we were past that stuff, the above redeemed him.

You know, there's probably other things, but I really had a good time being with my best friend and reliving the entire series all over again with each other in an hour and a half with him.

AND THE VERDICT
Like every movie, it had its flaws and such. But, like I said above, it was a fun trip down memory lane in the glory days of one of my favorite shows. Maybe I'll turn in more often because of the film. But, above all, it was a great time with my best friend at my side. And with me about to leave Maine (which was shouted out :)) for good for New York City, it was an experience I appreciated even more.

GRADE: Hell, bias. A-.

BEST SCENE/LINE:
There's too many to count, but this one addresses a lot of what I enjoyed...

So, there we go. Good from beginning to end, at least for me. If you're a fan of the show, past or present, you'll probably find stuff to like.

Oh, and for the hell of it, self portrait of me in the Groening style from the website. My hair's a little more unruly and I'm a little pudgier, though.

Well, that's not very nice...

2007-07-26T14:27:00.000-04:00

We have a teaser poster for... whatever the hell that Cloverfield movie's really called. As you can see, something has relieved Lady Liberty of her head, and is swimming towards a badly photoshopped Lower Manhattan (there's buildings where they shoudn't be). So, the questions continue... just what the hell ARE we looking at?!

It's been reported that JJ Abrams will give us the title and a few details today... rumor is that the movie's title may be Monstrous. I kinda hope not. Sounds... stupid.

Also, I'm hoping we actually see New York City for a change. Because usually, when we see a scene in Gotham, it's being filmed in Los Angeles or Montreal, sometimes Vancouver. And, the thing is, usually, they don't even TRY to disguise it. They just slap some stuff reading "New York" all over the place and say "There, ya see? We're in the City." Maybe it's just nuts like me, but I can tell easily.

Well, the bad news is that is indeed mostly being filmed in Los Angeles. However, a lot has been in studios behind greenscreen, and that was DEFINITELY New York City we saw in the teaser. And people at Coney Island say a team, including Abrams himself, filmed for a day. So, maybe they're filming stock footage to be added/CGI'd later? I hope so...

So, yeah, I'll post later today, after we know WTF's going on...

EDIT: Never mind, Abrams didn't give anything up except that we'd eventually get more goodies like a trailer, pics, etc.

The Apocalypse on your computer

2007-07-21T17:45:00.000-04:00

My name is Russell Shoemaker. I sold technology back when there was technology... and people to sell it to.

That's the intro to an interesting webisode series I found called Afterworld. The story revolves around a young Seattle businessman named Russell Shoemaker, who awakes in New York while on a business trip to find all technology worthless and 99.9% of humanity missing. Fearing for his wife and daughter on the slim chance they've survived, Russell decides to head west to Seattle. And, perhaps, find the truth behind what people have dubbed "the Fall." But, as one can imagine, it sure as hell won't be easy...

Here's the trailer:

Really, it's quite interesting, give it a shot...

Afterworld official site

Damnit, Susan (and the 47 others)...

2007-07-18T17:54:00.000-04:00

Hey, blinded GOP senators? Joe? It's Brad. Can we sit down and talk for a minute? Thanks.

Oh, I'm talking to a brick wall? Oh well. I'm still gonna say my peace.

Just a simple question... why?

No, seriously: Why? Why do you feel this... need to support the Party above all else when the majority of the country and common sense demands you don't? Really, can you explain this to me? I'd really like to know.

Okay, I'm gonna try not to get into the whole "you voted for the war" rant as long as you don't tell me they'll follow us home. Deal? Cool.

So, tell me... why do you feel that above everything, the Party comes first? I mean, do you have to vote for something just because Bush is perma-glued set? What if Bush decided to be dictator for life, or to invade Europe? Would you still vote for that just because Bush said so? Honestly, I'm utterly stumped here. Utterly and completely. Even if you support the war or staying, can't you at least agree that we are in DESPERATE need of changing course? I mean, look... Bush's only strategy is to throw more young men and women into that horrible maelstrom, and keep them there for half a year at best, until an IED finds them at worse.

Do you feel that's right?

Bush openly brags that even if all hell breaks loose, and everyone else on the planet Earth wants us out (including the servicemen and women in Iraq), we stay.

Do you feel that's right?

Our country is becoming a pariah. Our Army is breaking. Al Qaeda is stronger than it was before 9/11. Our debt is skyrocketing, and I (and my children) are literally going to pay for it.

Do you feel that's right?

And Bush and Cheney are so blinded by arrogance, so blinded by incompetence, and so blinded by ego, they may attack Iran. And if Israel strikes back and/or Russia gets involved and it keeps getting worse... I don't even want to think about it.

Do you feel that's right?

You don't? Too bad.

You support that... ALL of that... because you feel loyalty not to the human race, not to the United States of America and her armed forces, not to the American people, not to federal government... but to the Republican Party. And you should know that.

And if you, like Bush loves to brag, have no problem sleeping at night... I fervently hope you are voted out office, and that your party is crippled for sometime. Because you both deserve it.

We're on the Titanic of foreign policies, and the captain's steering us right into an ice field with a huge smirk on his face.

GET HIM AWAY FROM THE WHEEL, OR REVERSE THE ENGINES. NOW.

Oh, wait... the Titanic isn't the flagship of the Republican Party.

*I specify Senator Susan Collins of my former home state because although she voted to force the vote and the vast majority of Mainers want a course change, she's against the legislation. I know some people who've voted for you repeatedly in the past, and they do NOT appreciate your ignoring them. I'd be aware of that if I were you.

Tell me again why he's still in power?

2007-07-17T17:38:00.000-04:00

So, news is starting to filter in that an unstable Afghanistan isn't enough for Dubya and Dick, and the smoldering, blood soaked ruins of Iraq isn't either.

Nope, they're gonna go for the hat trick:

The shift [in Iran policy] follows an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the state department over the last month. Although the Bush administration is in deep trouble over Iraq, it remains focused on Iran. A well-placed source in Washington said: "Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo."

The vice-president, Dick Cheney, has long favoured upping the threat of military action against Iran. He is being resisted by the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and the defence secretary, Robert Gates.

Last year Mr Bush came down in favour of Ms Rice, who along with Britain, France and Germany has been putting a diplomatic squeeze on Iran. But at a meeting of the White House, Pentagon and state department last month, Mr Cheney expressed frustration at the lack of progress and Mr Bush sided with him. "The balance has tilted. There is cause for concern," the source said this week.

You're absolutely friggin' right there's cause for concern! We CANNOT sustain a three front war like this! The Army's already straining under the weight of Iraq, ready to break... and they want to go and attack an even bigger country that can defend itself that has allies that we don't want dragged into a conflict?!

GAH!!!

What's it gonna take George? Dick? You do this, and there truly is NO going back for the United States. We won't have any friends. We'll be looked at as a leprous country that will shoot you to death if you glance at us funny. Or we get a theocratic Pakistan that has a nuclear arsenal terrorists would just love to write our cities' names on them. Or worse... we'll piss off the already testy Russians and Chinese, both of whom have ties to Iran and rather affective nuclear stockpiles. The implications of this attack for America... for the world... are beyond imagination.

I honestly don't know why you invaded Iraq anymore. I have my suspicions, but I just don't know now. I further don't understand why Iran suddenly is pure evil. Considering Saudi Arabia isn't very friend to Israel and explores nuclear arms itself, there's other countries t-- Oh. Right. Oil. Forgot about that.

Don't do it. Your arrogance has destroyed millions of lives and our reputation as a just and upstanding country. Do you want to push for billions? Honestly?

I look at it this way, says the young cynic: I'm going to be living in New York City. If the unthinkable is thought, I wouldn't feel a thing. You two, however, would survive and become the most damned names in history... assuming there's anyone else left can damn you.

Just a very dark, morbid, and knowingly in vain thought...

...???

2007-07-13T21:47:00.001-04:00

I'm sure a lot of readers (IE, family, friends, and former college professors) may not have heard about the really, really bizarre teaser... trailer... thingie at the beginning of the Transformers flick. However, the Internet world/blogosphere has been nuts over it. I remember reading or hearing something about bizarre footage, but I had no idea what it was and completely forgot until I saw this. So, obviously, I now join the "WTF?!?" ranks.

This is the footage below in a total not-TMM exclusive, assuming it's still up since Paramount is annihilating anything on YouTube. Movie studios are usually pretty easy going with trailers and teasers so, as the famous Hermes Conrad once said, that just raises further questions!

So, here's what we know so far....
*It's some sort of disaster movie, heavily implied to be a ginormous monster attack
*The perspective is from a bunch of youngsters at some farewell party
*It's filmed in a way resembling The Blair Witch Project (hand held camera), yet... not stupid, and has a quality (IMPersonalO) evocative of 9/11
*It's set in New York
*It has no official title
*Fake/working titles include 1-18-01, Slusho, and Cloverfield
*JJ Abrams is involved, and the writer is from Lost, Buffy and Angel

Okay, I'll be honest... does this imagery upset me, or make me uneasy? Sure it does... the first time I saw it. But, now, I'm... transfixed. I honestly am. And considering the subject matter, it has to be pretty awesome if it makes me overlook the whole "mass destruction in New York City" aura.

Anyone got any ideas?

If you become as "WTF?!" as I have, just keep searching for Cloverfield. However, it has been said "Ethan Hass" is completely unrelated, in case he pops up...

Rousse Rant: "Independence Day"

2007-07-04T02:20:00.000-04:00

In honor of the holiday, and because a Internet phenomenon I enjoy inspired me to rip him off, TMM takes you back to 1996, when the prime selection on the July 4th barbaque was every major city and famous landmark you could think of.

"INDEPENDENCE DAY"
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Released July 2nd, 1996

THE BASICS
Sometime in the near pre-9/11 future, a ginormous ship with one fourth the mass of Earth's moon parks itself in orbit on July 2nd. It releases 36 much less ginormous saucers that park themselves over cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Washington, New Dehli, Berlin, Tokyo, Paris and London. To continue the theme, a ginormous death ray blasts said cities, starting with prominent landmarks. Can survivors including a wussy New York techie, a gung ho fighter pilot, and the President lead the remnants of humanity to victory, or will humanity bite the big one before the traditional fireworks go off for the Fourth?

THE GOOD
Ah, 1996. I was eleven and I still knew happiness. I remember this movie fairly well even though I haven't seen it in eight years. That and I thought this movie was the best thing since sliced bread. Mostly because I was enthralled by the true plot of SBU, or "Shit Blows Up."

Independence Day set the standard for SFX in its day, and you can still see why if you recall the current standards of the period. Everyone probably remembers the iconic shots that still hold up reasonably well; shadows falling across America's greatest cities, a 15 mile wide city killing machine dwarfing New York and of course, the kablazmoing of the White House. I can't deny that these are still pretty impressive scenes.

Further, the script knew what it was; good, dumb popcorn fun. It never took itself seriously (unlike me a decade later; see below). It was a recalling of the George Pal era, where the handsome young lovers always managed to somehow survive against the odds (even makes homage to that TWICE!) with their silly dialog. The performances aren't all that bad either. Will Smith's always a hoot, and I like Bill Pullman. I think Jeff Goldblum wasn't half bad. And in retrospect, the Trekkie in me liked Brent "Data" Spiner as the crazy Area 51 guy.

THE BAD
Question for you guys. How many other countries are on the planet Earth? 193 or so. What country is presented as the only one that matters? Here's a hint; it ain't Chad.

The jingoism is just... gah. There was literally a sequence where the rest of the world was like "America has a plan? WE'RE SAVED!!" Worse is the fact a British flight officer actually says something to the effect of "Finally!" when he finds out. This partly suggests to me that this guy was patiently waiting for another country to address the fact HIS OWN FUCKING COUNTRY WAS BEING BLOWN APART THE WHOLE TIME.

"America has a plan!"
"About time... I rather liked London, Manchester, Edinborough and Sheffield, too..."

Equally "gah" is the President's stirring speech that the world will forever mark America's independence as the day of humanity's liberation writ large. Sheesh. If I wanted patriotism crammed into every possible orifice of my body, I'd stare at the flag and watch the Macy's fireworks.

I know this is going too far in, but... this just annoys me. You're the ID4 aliens. You want to wipe out the human nest of "New York City." You fly 93 million lightyears to accomplish this objective as part of your overall campaign of destroying homo sapiens. And, what do you do? Painstakingly center your city blaster over the Empire State Building.

Give me a fucking break.

That is completely idiotic. I mean, honestly, think about it... when the Soviets laid siege to Berlin at the end of World War II, did they center all the artillery on the Brandenberg Gate?! Of course not! It's a completely unsound military strategy. If the aliens were serious about slaughtering as many humans as possible, you'd center it on the exact geographic center of New York (and it wouldn't do even if they were trying to just wipe out Manhattan; you'd be aiming more for Central Park). All right, sure, it's cooler to blow up iconic buildings, but it makes me question the aliens' strategy. If I were invading Earth, I'd wipe out the militaries, THEN start wasting population centers. This also ignores other brilliant facets of the invasion plan, such as knowing our satillites (which they're depending on as an advanced spacefaring civilization?!) well enough to use them for their own ends, yet fail to know we have something called "nuclear bombs." Not for the city killers, but more for the mothership...

(This is also the starting point of Roland Emmerich's obsession with annihilating New York City. He claims it's his favorite city in the world... pretty strange way to pay homage to a favorite! Not that I'm, you know, biased about it in anyway...)

...AND THE VERDICT
Yes, yes, I know, it's just a summer blockbuster, but for overanalytical, bitter, cynical people like me, I find it a bit hard to get into at twenty-two. If you check it out, it's best to turn off the brain and watch everything blow up. Other than that, you'll be distracted by the aliens' idiocy and the constant "AMERICA IS TEH R0XX0R!!!!1!1" approach. If you want a good vision of aliens invading Earth, try Spielburg's War of the Worlds (don't worry, Tom's tolerable!).

(Oh, and my being embarrassed about my 1996 review and New York blowing up doesn't help either, even if my faves are related.)

VERDICT: C

BEST SCENE: The arrival of the city killers and their fulfilling their name

BEST LINE: "...oh, crap." -Jeff Goldblum's boss upon watching the Empire State getting eviscerated/a fireball race towards him.

Okay, done ranting. Go enjoy the Fourth, eat many hot dogs, and blow up shit yourself.

Thou shall not cut me off, blasphemer!

2007-06-19T14:32:00.000-04:00

From the BBC...

The Vatican has issued a set of "10 commandments" for motorists to promote safer driving.

The 36-page document was put together by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People.

"Thou shalt not drive and drink", "thou shalt not make rude gestures behind the steering wheel" and "help accident victims" are among the 10 recommendations for motorists.

The document also warns that driving can bring out "primitive" behaviour in motorists, including "cursing, blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility".

I don't care what religion you are. "thou shalt not make rude gestures behind the steering wheel" is the best sentence EVER.

Rousse Rant: "When the Wind Blows"

2007-06-14T20:37:00.000-04:00

With the US refusing Russian demands to move the missile shield and NATO/Russian relations becoming frigid, The Manic Mainer continues to ratchet paranoia with the 1986 British animation When the Wind Blows.

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS
Directed by Jimmy Murakami
1986

THE BASICS
Jim and Hilda Bloggs are a very loving, sweet and naive couple living in England's Sussex County. After reading that international relations are deteriorating rapidly in a newspaper at the library, Jim decides to build a standard rudimentary shelter as suggested in "Protect and Survive." Three days later a Soviet missile detonates several miles away, heavily damaging their house. Jim and Hilda, thinking this will be just like World War II, have no worries about the crisis, even though all services and normality has stopped, and they're feeling ill. Surely, the government has everything under control and will come soon...

THE GOOD
This film, if anything, shows the futility of nuclear war. Not in the facetious sense virtually everyone talks of. No, it horribly exposes, even more so than Threads, just how much of a fool's errand it is to think the government of a country, any country, can deal with the event of a nuclear exchange. Threads at least showed the government regulating food supplies. The Day After, its American counterpart, showed surviving Kansas officials practicing expositional aftermath plans (however comical they are). When the Wind Blows has nothing, not even that cynical optimism. Nothing works. And no one is coming. This is a terrible fact that the Bloggs can't seem to fathom.

The Bloggs... wow. They are completely clueless and naive about their fate. They don't even know who leads the Soviet Union or their own country! Needless to say, they have no idea about nuclear warfare. Being children during the Blitz, they are confident the war will blow over. Jim tries to explain to his wife the measures taken in preventing, during, and responding to an attack (cleverly interspersed with the powers preparing for war), but they're hopelessly incorrect. The fact he thinks the KGB is the SS, among others, shows that in a bitterly comical way.

Their innocence in the face of the end of the world is endearing in a heart aching way. The dark clouds of nuclear winter? Incoming rain. The horrid smell of burnt flesh? Early Sunday dinners. Their increasing illness? Nervousness about the attack. The lack of water and electricity; the missing milkman, newspaper boy, and traffic? War interrupting services. All the while, Jim proudly praises that "the powers that be" are handling the situation. This false hope is comforting to Jim and Hilda, and heart wrenching for us.

THE BAD
Again... I really can't think of anything here. It's not a masterpiece to be sure, but it's certainly an eloquent, tragic story of the futility of war.

THE VERDICT
I remember a story a friend of mine from Susquehanna's library staff told me when I was checking out books for a paper on the risks of nuking Iran. She said that in her hometown of Memphis, city and federal leaders constantly said and even showed there were plans to evacuate the city before the ICBMs found their target. Even then, as a little girl, she knew it was total garbage.

So is the message in this film. Any government plans for the aftermath or surviving a nuclear war are bunk at worst, half truths at best. They're a covering for a false sense of security, a safety blanket that we pray is fire and radiation proof. But deep down, we know they aren't.

Humans are fragile things, physically and psychologically. We need the idea of normality, continuity to function. Ripping those away, as we see with the Bloggs, shows that fact in a dark humored but tragic way.

I joke that I'm ratcheting fear about nuclear attack here at TMM by commenting on all these nuclear films. Perhaps I am, perhaps I'm not. But, I bring this one to my readers' attention for the simple, basic fact that we are hopelessly ignorant about those wingless birds of destruction, and what they will do to our worlds. I'm sure many Americans, gung-ho after 9/11 and the initial successes in Afghanistan and Iraq, think we can win a nuclear war, or that no one would dare launch back, much as the Bloggs did. They couldn't be more wrong. Perhaps, it's best to remain in such ignorance. Until you realize it's the worst thing you can do.

If there was any movie I would force George "all options are on the table" Bush and Vladimir "it would be unfortunate" Putin to watch, this would be it. Doesn't matter to me if it's a cartoon that's twenty years old. Shut up, watch, and think.

GRADE: A

BEST SCENE/LINE:
This is one film where this just can't be done. It has to be seen to believed... and I know one reader in particular who will therefore not believe it. In fact, you're reading this right now, aren't you!?

That about wraps up the British perspective of nuclear apocalypse... perhaps next time, the Yanks get it? There's a less depressing/expertly executed one I know of...

Rousse Rant: "Threads"

2007-06-09T13:55:00.000-04:00

In honor of the current geopolitical atmosphere created by US plans to build a missile shield and Russia's threat to re target European cities, The Manic Mainer takes you back in time to 1984 for the BBC nuclear apocalypse flick Threads.

"THREADS"
Directed by Mick Jackson
First aired in 1984

THE BASICS
It's nearing wedding day for Ruth Beckett and Jimmy Kemp, two youngsters in England's fourth largest city, Sheffield. News of a Soviet invasion of Iran and American complaints are at first mere background noise to the impeding ceremony. However, that quickly changes when the UK is dragged into the fighting when the US counter invades. Clashes of increasing intensity break out first across the Persian Gulf, ultimately spreading to the NATO/Warsaw Pact curtain. As military conflict between the two superpowers and their allies continue, the British government begins to air the famous "Protect and Survive" broadcasts nonstop, forcing Ruth and Jimmy to accept the impossible is happening. Reneging on their real life promise, the Soviets launch tactical missiles (including at a target just outside of Sheffield), prompting NATO respond. Ultimately, the exchanges come to full scale ICBM attacks, resulting in a total of 3000 megatons across the planet, plunging Earth into a nuclear winter. Multiple warheads annihilate Sheffield itself. Alone and shell shocked, sole cast survivor Ruth begins to wonder if the others weren't the lucky ones...

THE BAD
(It's a friggin' nuclear war film, it's not 'good'!)
The background and realities glimpsed at in Threads are from a 1980 British study called "Operation Square Leg," wherein Britain was blasted by 131 ICBMS. Experts such as Carl Sagan were also called in to help depict the realities of the aftermath following such an attack.

It's not pretty, guys.

Threads is unflinching in its depiction of the end of the world. Death, decay, and destruction are everywhere. Burned, rat-eaten bodies are litter the remains of streets and blocks. People are shot dead for looting. Fire and rubble are the norm now. Food is rationed only to those who can work. All of this truly serves its purpose: the message "THIS IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN SURVIVE (MR. REAGAN)." It's very hard, in my mind, to think of a proponent of nuclear weapons as anything but sadistic if they watch this and their mind isn't changed.

THE ACTUALLY BAD
I really can't say anything here. Perhaps my only complaint is that with everyone but Ruth wiped out, the movie lost some of its expanse. But, any other complaint (probably including that one) I have is because of the subject matter and its main argument of the horror of nuclear war's after effects.

THE VERDICT
I confess I've paused while writing this part. I've tried to be eloquent yet not preachy, but... screw it.

Do I think nuclear war is still possible?

Yes. Not just because I have no faith in the human race, but it can be seen how easily it can get out of hand. Lest we forget a Norwegian satellite launch in 1995 made some Russians think the United States was attacking, and only Yeltsin's "wait and see" kept The Finger of The Button.

I've seen all the big nuke movies. This, The Day After, Miracle Mile, The War Game, etc. But, none have left me as "..." as Threads. And, I think that's why this film is so good in its horror.

I think back to when this was made, 1984. A year or so before I was born. My parents had lived their entire lives looking upwards to see if ICBMs were arcing overhead. For the most part, my baby sister and I were spared this. My dreaded cataclysms are high school, the debt I'm in from Fordham and Susquehanna, and other petty things. I've asked them how it felt to be living under Damocles' nuclear sword, and they both quickly rebuff or change the subject. That in itself answers the question.

The news of Russia threatening to re target Europe, and the nuclear weapon-obsessed American administration's refusal to cancel the missile shield plans makes me recall "Star Wars" and wonder if the impossible can truly become possible. I'm not fretting, but I'm certainly keeping in mind how it could still happen. That's why Threads is so frightening: twenty plus years later, it's still believable and realistic.

Think about it... what if there's another mistaken ID? What if someone sets of a city buster in an American city, especially with THESE guys still in power? What if Pakistan is taken over by religious fundies? It CAN happen. Never forget that. But, at the same time, do not become obsessed over it. I would like to think even the most militant and nutcase leaders would know the consequences of attacking another nuclear country with their own arsenal.

That... and the macabre fact I'll be living in New York City... is what helps me sleep at night.

Bush just met with Putin at G8. All he wanted to do was have a "freegasm" (what I call speeches/rants about this country not being free, that country not free enough, etc). Putin's offer of Azerbijan for the shield partially difused the crisis, but the point remains. Get your priorities straight, George.

VERDICT: A-

"WORST" SCENE: The attack on Sheffield.

BEST LINES (I hope you can see why)
"Jesus Christ, they've done it... they're doing it!" Jimmy's friend Bob upon observing a detonation at a nearby NATO facility
"...BASTARDS!!!" Bob after looking at the ruins of Sheffield.

Oh, last but not least... a poignant vid with Sting. If you don't wanna see what happens to people/mass scale devastation, stop at 3:40.

Al Qeada Representive: New Trade Center "should be built quickly and have a large tower viewable from many miles away"

2007-06-02T23:47:00.000-04:00

From the Onion's new news network, a representative of 9/11 family members and al Qeada speak on the new design for the World Trade Center...

Al Qaeda Also Fed Up With Ground Zero Construction Delays

Wow... ignorance for ages 9 and up!

2007-06-02T17:30:00.000-04:00

DISCLAIMER: This entry makes disparaging remarks about a paticular, crazed interpretation of the Christian faith. The Manic Mainer does not, repeat, DOES NOT view all Christians in this way. Thank you.

You guys ever hear of Kirk Cameron, or at least post Growing Pains? Well, it seems he's been back over the past few years with a guy named Ray Comfort. They're a pair of what I call "Christozombies." I'm not talking about the vast majority of Christians that I know and love who are outstanding, intelligent, and open minded people. I'm talking about the kind who thinking of nothing but the Bible for explaining life, the universe, and everything without being open to new ideas that ol' Yeasuess didn't speak of. Like zombies, they want to "infect" others by forcing their interpretation of the Bible on people. Kirk and Ray are stunning examples of these. Look at what their beady little brains have come up with now...

Yes. That's right. A board game disproving the theory of evolution.

Okay, look, I dunno if my readers believe in evolution or not. And frankly, I don't care, you're all free thinking human beings and can make your own decisions. But, honestly. What kind of IDIOT would seek to disprove a scientific theory with a board game? Does this mean that if I want to prove thermodynamics is bullshit, I need to call up Milton Bradley? What about a book? That TV series I've had the extreme misfortune to watch, yet can't stop watching as if it were a hideous donkey on Ark wreck? Or the radio network you have? Seriously, these two have no idea how to argue effectively. Behold... their most famous argument. It certainly makes me wake up with the sweats nightly!

(See my favorite bash of this here.)

They also scare me and piss me off at once...

WHY THEY SCARE ME
THE MESSAGE
You guys ever hear what they have to say? The way they share their faith is creepy to an extreme degree. They argue such things as...

*You must "surrender" yourself to Christ
*You must hate everything and everyone you love EXCEPT God and Jesus
*Everyone deserves Hell. Ghandi, according to them, is in Hell for one example.

I mean, honestly... how does that NOT seem like signing over your free will to your faith and all but becoming a zombie? I do realize that a love of God is part of the Christian worship, but, to love Him more than your own family? I'm sorry, I just couldn't do that. And if that means Hell, gimme some Crisco, I'll lather myself up now.

WHY THEY PISS ME OFF
THE MESSAGE
Okay, as some of you may know, I'm an atheist. However, I strongly believe in the right of freedom of religion. However, I also believe in freedom FROM religion, as well as separation of Church and State. But, according to Kirk and Ray, I am...

*Evil
*A criminal
*An idiot
*Blind
*Racist
*Ignorant of reality.

...please tell me how they think I'll consider their point of view if they call me those things.

INSULTING INTELLIGENCE
Yeah, this is real cheap. They openly flaunt this: Don't go for the intellect, go straight for the conscience. So, yeah, completely disrespect my intelligence and ability for thought, and make some cheap shots at guiliting me into your belief system. Don't answer my questions or discuss our disagreements like mature grown ups, make me cry instead. That's real mature, guys.

They also do this really obnoxious thing where they try to find a chink in the armor of someone, then pound the hell out of it. A real example from their episode "disproving" evolution (Oh, jeez, you have to see this middle part to believe it)...

RAY: Where did life start?
GUY: From an asteroid hitting Earth.
RAY: Where'd the asteroid come from?
GUY: Another planet...
RAY: Where'd the planet come from?
GUY: Big Bang?
RAY: Where'd that come from?
GUY: Uh...

So, basically, they "attack" people who aren't as knowledgable, and make them look like idiots or the common denominator for evolutionists. They're leading them down the path, waiting until they're totally hapless and have to consider religion. They also cut away when they claim to have an "expert" without him or explaining their beliefs. Again, cheap. The fact they openly encourage not even READING up on what you're trying to disprove is even more offensive.

MISUSE OF HISTORY
Grrrr... they openly say people who read or write history without keeping Christianity in mind work in blind faith. I'm spending tens of thousands of dollars in college and grad school, and I do NOT appreciate being told that. They constantly cite two passages as being proof of the Bible being true, one talking of terrible things happening, the other the Temple's destruction. Unfortunately, any idiot can say "oh, something bad is going to happen in the future" and predicting the destruction of the Temple was done by everyone and their mother's mother. It's kinda like New York pre-9/11 is in disaster movies.

I'm sure there's other things I'm forgetting, but it's time for some Chinese food. Nummy! Let me close with this debate on ABCNews where they were just... wasted.

Oh, and happy birthday, Mom!

*And happy 100th post to me!

Life demanding death

2007-05-31T14:05:00.000-04:00

Interesting news from the Beeb in Rome today... over threee hundred people who are serving life sentences in Italy are asking for the Italian president to reinstate the death penalty.

Italy's apparently leading the fight for a global end to capital punishment, so I'm doubting they'll get anywhere.

For the record, here's where the countries of the world stand on capital punishment:

I can't help but observe that we're the only Western country that still has the death penalty, putting us with the countries Bush bitches about for not having enough freedom...

My godless heathen rating

2007-05-26T17:53:00.000-04:00

From a fun little test I found earlier today....

You scored as Scientific Atheist, These guys rule. I'm not
one of them myself, although I play one online.
They know the rules of debate, the Laws of Thermodynamics,
and can explain evolution in fifty words or less. More
concerned with how things ARE than how they should be,
these are the people who will bring us into the future.

Scientific Atheist

92%

Spiritual Atheist

83%

Apathetic Atheist

58%

Agnostic

50%

Angry Atheist

33%

Militant Atheist

33%

Theist

25%

What kind of atheist are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

Well? Why not check it out for yourself?

"Honest! Serious! It is super, super critical!"

2007-05-24T12:10:00.000-04:00

So, today's lead Americas headline from the Beeb...

"Critical time for Iraq says Bush"

Really? Didn't you say that when the Dems threatened to hold funding?

And when support of the war faltered?

And then when you first announced your "surge" earlier...

*starts ticking off on fingers*

And the execution of Saddam...

...the struggles before that...

...every 9/11 anniversary...

...many of your weekly addresses...

...every time there's a peak in violence or major attack...

...all three of the elections, including the one you've made a tag line ("Twelve million people")...

...the capture of Saddam...

...the deaths of Qusay and Uday...

...shortly after the invasion...

...the invasion before it and...

...CRIPES, even BEFORE it!

Dude, you can only call things critical when the events you sight I can't even count on my hands...

By the way... why did we invade this week? Sure does change a lot...

The worst part of waking up (from college)...

2007-05-21T18:22:00.001-04:00

...is $17,000 worth of loans in your cup.

Did I mention I have no idea how to pay it back, let alone make Fordham/living in New York work yet?

Oh, right... I graduated.

2007-05-21T01:26:00.000-04:00

Well... I graduated last Sunday. With a 3.7 GPA, as a magna cum laude. With family and friends looking on.

Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful achievement. I... just think it hasn't quite hit me yet, you know? I've been at Susquehanna for, what, four years? Made very close relationships with professors and students alike, people I may never see again. I'm used to going back and forth between Selinsgrove and Windham in late August (doesn't mean I like the length of the trip!). So, I think there's a certain numbness right now. It'll probably hit me soon enough.

But, I must look to the future. First things first: Where'm I living? I'm preparing to talk rooming and develop a plan for the grad school experience as we, uh, read; I'm calling Fordham ResLife tomorrow for ideas. People are suggesting the Bronx's Belmont neighborhood, but I'd like to save money if I can. And think of the future anyway; eventually I'll need an apartment, shared or singular (someday, I hope!) for everyday life in Gotham.

I also have some projects to complete: Complete clean-out of my room (already in progress) and trying to find employment (historic trends don't look good). If worse comes to worse, I have Dad's paper route ($50 a week). But, regardless, it stands to truth:

Fordham University and (at long last!) New York City, here I come!

...please be gentle...?

Welp, that's about it...

2007-05-07T15:38:00.000-04:00

I did my last academic thing for Susquehanna Friday. So, it's a matter of winding down time now. One awesome chapter of my life concludes as the next great one, grad school in New York, waits to begin...

T-minus 6 and counting...

Live(ish) from NCUR: Day 3 (and, uh, 2)

2007-04-14T00:22:00.000-04:00

Yeah, yeah. I didn't post about Thursday. Whatev.

DAY 2
MORNING
Oh, wasn't this fun. I had a nice little adventure...

So, I'm going to do a cruise of San Francisco Bay, right? I thought I was just going to be able to go back and grab a windbreaker and more comfortable shoes. BUT OOPS! I wasn't going to have enough time for that after all. So, I had to get on a shuttle back to the Four Points Sheraton, grab said stuff, rush back to the lobby, and catch perhaps the last shuttle back to Dominican University. So, yeah. Great fun.

Morning wasn't a total loss though. I got a really cool satchel thingie, some trinkets, and I have to admit these were the comfiest hotel beds I've ever slept in...

MORNING TO MY PRESENTATION
Not much to say here. There was a speaker that shared her experiences at NASA. It was pretty interesting, but it far outweighed the argument of her presentation. I think it was seven points of success or something.

Lunch was interesting. It was a really nice sandwich, chicken pesto. Only problem was the bread was almost impossible to chew at first. Oh well. We in Susquehanna contingent basically lolled around on a lawn. Much fun was had.

One thing I didn't think much of (though I should have in retrospect) was how many colleagues were saying they were coming to see my presentation on Thomas Nast's art regarding the Tweed affair (he actually used it to rant about New York's Irish population). I'd learn I should have soon enough.

MY PRESENTATION
Ah, the big moment arrived! I was third out of a group of five. I remember a few people came in from Susquehanna at first, mainly my advisor, the trip leader, and few students. What got me was after the first presentation. I saw a bunch of people gathering outside; they were all from Susquehanna. At least half to two thirds of my group came to see my presentation.

And, they loved it.

I'm still getting praised for it. I really didn't think it was all that special. Don't get my wrong, I worked my ass off and then some to get my project the best it could be. But, they said it was the best they'd seen at the conference. I'm still flattered and honored by the showing of support. No, scratch that. Camaraderie.

BAY CRUISE
Yay, I got to ride on a boat!

Seriously, though, it was a great time. All you can eat Italian buffet, a nighttime cruise in one of Earth's most celebrated cities, just being able to lounge around and chat... what more could you ask for?

Man, it was fun. We passed Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, watched the sun set behind the Bay Bridge, came within spitting distance of the Golden Gate Bridge... that was a beauty of a shot. So, yeah, it was an awesome experience and a great cap to a really nice day.

It was a bit weird when a guy from a Bulgarian group I was talking to suddenly pointed to the Golden Gate and said "Lots of people kill themselves from there." Always a surefire conversation starter.

DAY 3

MORNING
Eh. Woke up. Nothing more extravagent than that. I did see a friend's presentation, though.

LUNCH
I had the roast beef today. There was some kinda... sauce or spread on it. Really made it yuck to me. I shoveled down as much I could, but it wasn't much. More lolling with Susquehannians on a lawn during break.

PRESENTATIONS
In gratitude for how they treated me, I tried to see as many colleagues' presentations as possible. So, that was fun and interesting, since I kept annoucing myself with "I've come to annoy you now." Ah, my ever present cynicism.

AFTERWORDS
I had dinner at the Food Court of a nearby mall after playing Human Frogger (seriously, the traffic here is worse than New York. The walk signal has barely said "Walk" when it says "Stop." When we're, ya know, in the middle of the road). Stopped by a bookstore to grab some San Francisco books. Then came home and dicked around in the pool for a while. T'was nice.

I also had a bit of good news from SU; an essay a friend and I had to do has been given a slight extension. And I REALLY should be doing that right now.

See you sometime soon?

Live(ish) from NCUR: Day 1

2007-04-11T19:38:00.000-04:00

Hey all. Still alive... I did not experience any crashing to the ground in a mass of flames or famished Brazilian soccer teams. w00t.

Soooo... what's happened so far:

SU TO PHILADELPHIA:
Yeah, I get on a bus at 11:30 PM from Susquehanna to Philadelphia. I think I was the only one besides the driver (I hope) that was awake the whole time. Did chat with a few people before they passed out, but otherwise uneventful.

PHILADELPHIA:
Basically, I laid on my ass on a cold concrete floor for two hours, drifting in and out of consciousness. I was also almost not allowed on the plane because some jerk screwed up my ticket number. The security searches, reflecting our being at terror alert paisley, went uneventful if not annoying.

PHILADELPHIA TO ATLANTA:
The damn plane sat around for an hour. I got a Coke and a bag of crackers for meal service. I tried to nap, but I was in an aisle seat, and stewardesses and passengers kept hitting me in the face. Ergo, I did not succeed in the endeavor to sleep.

ATLANTA:
Just had some Domino's with a buddy and killed time until the plane took off.

ATLANTA TO SAN FRANCISCO:
THIS was fun. I got to watch Cartoon Network, track where we were on the flight plan, and did not keep getting hit in the face. I also started a new story somewhere over Oklahoma. I got a meal service of TWO Cokes and TWO crackers. The bastards in First Class actually got a lunch. F**kers.

Seriously, though, seeing my country slide under me, virturally from coast to coast, was an amazing experience. I saw the Mississippi, the Rockies, the Great Plains, the Sierra Nevada, and some random cities. It really put things in persective for me. It was an awe inspiring experience, seeing the most powerful country on Earth look like a small scale model.

SAN FRANCISCO:
Well, I drove through it. That was fun. Seriously, we all had orgasms of glee driving over the Golden Gate Bridge and seeing Alcatraz Island. It was a sight that our professors would have been proud of.

SAN RAFAEL:
Well, it's my hotel town. Seems pretty nice. We'll see what happens.

OKay, that's my first post on NCUR so far. But for now, I'm as famished as someone in the First World can be. I'm getting some chow. See ya.

I had a break?

2007-04-08T23:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I don't know how I did it, but I got a LOT done in the past few days on the assignments and projects looming. And, I did it without any extensions or cancellations from professors. I'm pretty damn proud and content with myself, if I may say so. Modestly, though, since I'm not out of the forest yet. We'll see what happens...

So, NCUR looms. I'll need to crash course review, but I've done okay in other presentations, so I should be okay. Here's hoping, eh? If I have Internet service and time, I'll do some "On site from NCUR!" posts.

To close off, here's the start of a BBC film about the Phelps family. You may know them as the guys who protest funerals from dead in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, they were up here in Maine twice earlier this year. You can find all seven parts in the list to the right. Just be strong about it... I can only take the arrogance and cruelty of these basatards for so long personally.*

*They consider that a compliment, BTW.

STFU, Cheney (and Rush for that matter)!

2007-04-06T11:09:00.000-04:00

Yep, Vice President Cheney (or, as a friend of mine calls him, "the Big Dick") asserted to Rush Limbaugh (every one's favorite walking pharmacy) is STILL asserting, despite four years of interrogation, research, and retrospective inquiry that Saddam and al-Qaeda were bosom buddies. This was the same week, by the way, that a report from the Pentagon itself reported that such connections were non-existent. In fact, not only were they non-existent, Saddam himself tried to hunt down al-Qaeda agents in Iraq.

It calls to mind Jon Stewart's comments on the deal with Cheney STILL be allowed to growl at people about liberation and last throes:

"So, I think we're beginning to see the pattern. Cheney causes some high level embarrassment or makes a blatantly erroneous statement about American policy, his clout is questioned... and yet his clout goes on. All of this does beg the question: What the f***?!"

So, basically, for the next, oh, (looks at calender) 21 months or so, we're still going to be led by the hunched over one and his puppet boy king. Here's to another 21, America.

I think some reader's pet just died.

...wow.

2007-04-06T10:20:00.000-04:00

I'm sure you all know of talking head Bill O'Reilly (or, as Keith Olbermann calls him, the big giant head). You probably also know he has this habit of, well, spitting venom at people, whether it be a beraved son from the destruction of the World Trade Center or the average American protesting Iraq. He doesn't like being challenged.

You should see what happened yesterday.

O'Reilly was "discussing" a terrible drunk driving accident in Virginia with Geraldo Rivera. I put "discussing" in quotes because, well... you have to see it for yourself. So, go ahead.

Academics and TV execs are a royal b-

2007-04-03T16:55:00.000-04:00

So, yeah, the next few weeks are going to be fun. At least an average of two papers for all of my professors before the 20th (ha ha, my birthday, fun). And that's not even counting presentations, finals, senior year wrap up stuff, and the day to day readings of five classes. Or, for that matter, a major project in one of the classes as a final. With all due respect to my professors, they seem to have this nasty habit of thinking they're the only one I have to do any work for...

Now, normally, this kind of thing wouldn't stress me out. But OOPS. I was accepted to NCUR. Which takes almost an entire week out of my life. Which means I'm going to be scrambling to get a LOT of things done before the 20th. Trust me, I should be (and am) very proud of such an achievement. But, still, I could have used those five days...

Can I do it? Jeez, do I really have a choice?

There is ONE bright spot. On the 21st, I'm taking a bus down to my beloved Gotham. And, I mean, I AM TAKING A BUS DOWN TO NEW YORK FOR THE DAY. Anyone who tries to take even that away from me will face my wrath, yay verily.

*****

In other news, [adult swim] sucks. For those of you who don't know, [adult swim] is a sub-channel of Cartoon Network that airs one of my favorite shows, Aqua Teen Hunger Force (an anonymous acquientance has mentioned the "angry box of French fries [Frylock] disturbs [them]," which cracks me up). Now, ATHF is putting out a movie on the 13th, and they claimed they would show it in full on last Sunday. But OOPS, again. What day was last Sunday? So, I knew from minute one it was an incredibly idiotic attempt at a joke.

I didn't think it'd be as stupid as it was.

They did what I thought they'd do: show part of the movie, and then fake out (in this case, show it incredibly small and go to regular programming). So, yeah, expected. What got me was that they spent the next hour and hour screwing up shows I usually watch by taking up the screen with, in essence, a non-stop hour and a half of "HA HA! WE FOOLED YOU!!" messages. It's the most idiotic thing I've seen in a long time. And not a funny kind of idiotic thing. It's moronic and obnoxious, not funny. And, an irritating moronic, too. Only I would be really pissed off at a dumb April Fool's "joke" I saw coming from day one.

It's supposed to be funny, as a bunch of idiots claimed on cartoon boards I frequent insisted (going so far as calling it hilarious)?

As they would say on Aqua Teen: ...I ain't f[car horn]ing laughing.

***

In other other news, one of my grad school choices is an idiot.

Out of respect for the institution (though it doesn't deserve it for this idiocy), I will not name it. But, it seems to think I owe it stuff, namely my academic transcript and recommendation letters. Here's the thing... I mailed 'em. I KNOW I did.

They claimed I didn't.

I went to admissions, and they had me e-mail the secretary of the history department.

They refused to respond.

I e-mailed admissions about the problem, and they themselves e-mailed the department about the problem.

They again refused to respond.

So, ya know what? F[crash]k 'em. We all knew I was going to New York anyway, right?

***

Thus endeth my bitch-fest. Good night, America.

Well, that was a good week...

2007-03-19T22:08:00.000-04:00

I've had a good week, it seems...

I was accepted to both Villanova AND Fordham University for their graduate studies programs. My top pick so far is Fordham, but I'm waiting to hear from three other schools. Incidentally, I also applied to my dream choices Thursday, Temple and NYU.

In addition to this, I presented at the Regional (PA/NJ) Phi Alpha Theta Conference Saturday here at good ol' SU. I won best overall paper!

Here's hoping NCUR will also be, to quote everyone's favorite Kazahk journalist, "great success."

Rousse Rant: "Breach"

2007-03-08T18:45:00.000-05:00

Today's rant is the Chris Cooper-headlined thriller Breach. Expect a catch-up of Ghost Rider when I think to write it up.

"BREACH"
Directed by Billy Ray
Released February 16, 2007
Trailer

THE BASICS
Up and coming FBI employee Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillipe) is tasked to keep an eye on the famed Robert Hanssen, former head of the Soviet intelligence wing and the FBI's best computer analyst. The Bureau wants to track Hanssen's lewd sexual actions from in and outside of the office, or so O'Neill is told. It soon becomes apparent that Hanssen is, in fact, a traitor, having given intel to the Russians since 1985, handing the Kremlin everything from moles to the contingency plans for the government's survival during a nuclear attack. Now assigned to catch the most devastating traitor in American history, O'Neill must track Hanssen while trying to keep his family life in line. But, how long can a mere analyst trick one of the most experienced agents in the FBI?

THE GOOD...
What's the best thing about the film? Chris Cooper's portrayal of Hanssen, easy. Hanssen, a cynical, no-nonsense, devout Catholic with a seedy sex life, is not an easy character to portray. Cooper captures this complex man with a great drive and gusto to match. There's one thing you can gather from this imagining of the infamous agent: You do NOT want to screw around with this guy. But at the same time, Hanssen is understandable, perhaps even almost likable. At once, you can see why O'Neill both knew he needed to bring the "Boss" down, yet respected him at the same time. Phillipe portrays the struggling employee well enough, but he does seem over-emotional during the scenes of great duress. Still, on the whole, O'Neill is depicted as a generally likable guy who is trying to complete his job.

Ray does a great job at conveying an atmosphere of tension when appropriate. Hanssen is a very suspicious agent, and can tell when people so much as rifle through his suitcase. His use of camera angles, cuts, and score do well to serve the mood of time running out as O'Neill struggles to get evidence as his nemesis comes closer and closer to discovering him. The cuts can be jerky, yet serve the purpose intended.

THE BAD...
The ending feels... I dunno... flat and somewhat sudden. True, anyone who bothered to read a newspaper in early 2001 knows what happened (Hanssen was nailed and set to jail for life), so it's not like the writers could do too much to make the ending all that exciting. Still, there is a sort of lackluster resolution that jars with the gradual ratcheting of tension and drama that had been building throughout the film until this point. A shame, but not enough to totally ruin the film as a whole.

...AND THE VERDICT.
Even if the ending is less than stellar, Breach is an enjoyable hour and fifty. If you really like cloak and dagger espionage films or the seamier side of America's security apparatus, check it out. If you're a purist, or can take it or leave it, wait to rent it.

VERDICT: B

BEST SCENE: To be honest, there wasn't any one scene that stuck out for me.

BEST LINE:
"Tell me five things about yourself, four of them true."
"I'm not good at fibbing."
"...that would have been your lie..."
Hanssen and O'Neill, upon their first meeting

I'm not dead yet...

2007-03-02T19:36:00.000-05:00

"I want to go for a walk!"

Seriously, it's been just a LOVELY week of reading, exams, and papers. Damnit. 'Bout ready for Spring Break... but, technically, I'm not there yet. Have to wait out a few days here at good ol' SU. Been a while since I did any fan______; I'll try to do some now.

Later.

In better news...

2007-02-26T21:55:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention in the face of the previous idiocy that I applied to another grad school today. It was Villanova University for a Master's in history.

Wish me luck!

...

2007-02-26T21:51:00.000-05:00

In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court of the United States intervened to revoke the Academy Award won by 'An Inconvenient Truth' last night at the 79th Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, in Los Angeles, California.

Seriously, all I can say about this is "..."

See how fucking petty and whiny the Bushies and big oil are here.

Here we go again... again...

2007-02-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

Yes, dear readers.

It pains and bothers the hell out of me to report that the Bush administration and military officials have officially drawn up war plans against Iran. And it won't just be the nuclear facilities that's on the target... it's most of Iran's military capabilities. Which, it can only be assumed, lie in or near major cities throughout the country.

Worse yet? Bush, Cheney et al believe such a strike will inspire a massive revolt against the mullahs and Ahmadinejad, thereby ending yet another nasty regime. While you're busy trying to understand that, I give you this quote from an Iranian expatriate:

At a farewell reception at Blair House for the retiring chief of protocol, Don Ensenat, who was President Bush's Yale roommate, the president shook hands with Washington Life Magazine's Soroush Shehabi. "I'm the grandson of one of the late Shah's ministers," said Soroush, "and I simply want to say one U.S. bomb on Iran and the regime we all despise will remain in power for another 20 or 30 years and 70 million Iranians will become radicalized."

"I know," President Bush answered.

"But does Vice President Cheney know?" asked Soroush.

President Bush chuckled and walked away.

...

He's crazy. And remorseless

THE PRESIDENT (and his entire frigging cabinet, probably) IS STONE FUCK CRAZY. MAYBE EVEN PSYCHOTIC, IF HE FINDS THIS FUNNY.

I... I'm actually physically for a loss for words right now. I... okay, the best I can do is this: if you thought Iraq was bad, wait until the United States blows up ANOTHER country under Bush's delusions of freedom... ho ho, just you wait. I am seriously wondering if he is going to bring the world to the brink of anarchy... or worse.

So, to end with, here's an example of the Bushspeak: Jerome Corsi, the guy who slandered the hell out of Kerry in Unfit for Command, posits a detonation of a nuclear device in New York, at the very foot of the Empire State Building. The yield of this weapon is impossibly high for Iran, even if it really is developing a nuclear program. Remember that if you take a looksie, guys.

They don't got my vote!*

2007-02-19T13:14:00.000-05:00

Remember that whole "separation of church and state" thing we have going on? Here's a few upstanding examples of that from the vivaing parties for the '08 Republican nomination:

Mitt Romney: "[W]e need to have a person of faith lead the country."
John McCain: "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."

What I love best about this? Here's the whole of the Mitt Romney quote, emphasis mine:

''One of the great things about this land is that we have people of different faiths and different religions, but we need to have a person of faith lead the country.''

In that case... I nominate Keith Ellison.

*Apologies to any English majors. -Ed.

This would ruin your day if you worked in the Empire State

2007-02-19T11:35:00.000-05:00

Check out this rather bizarre yet interesting CGI animation. Apparently, it's the intro to some movie called The 10th Kingdom. I have to say, it's not every day you see the Empire State Building turn into a mountain, or Fifth Avenue a flowing river. Althought, I have to admit the image of the Trade Center telescoping into the ground is... disconcerting.

Also, I'd have made the Chrysler turn into some kinda cathedral or magical tower, not... explode... into, uh, pixie dust. That and there's already a castle or two in Manhattan. Actually, there's a lot of landmarks/landforms I'd fool around with in such a scenario.

Rousse Rant: "The Day After Tomorrow"

2007-02-17T00:20:00.000-05:00

In honor of the cataclysmic snowstorm that has thrashed our country (including my current neck of the woods, central Pennsylvania), and the fact even an event like this couldn't close Susquehanna, I present to you this review of Roland Emmerich's latest onslaught against landmarks, The Day After Tomorrow.

"THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW"
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Released Memorial Day, 2005.
Trailer

THE BASICS
Climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) and two colleagues are at work in Antarctica, one of which is an intern. You know you're having a bad first day on the job when you break a fucking continent in half. Oh, wait. It's global warming on steroids while on steroids. Distraught over a chunk of ice the size of Rhode Island breaking free of a glacier, Hall presents his findings to a UN conference in a snowy New Dehli, being rejected by Dick Chen-- er, Vice President Becker. One of those who take Hall's warnings seriously is the Hedland Center's Terry Rapson (Iam Holm), himself a studier of "cataclysmic climate shift." It turns out Hall's warnings are correct... and in vain. Disasters ranging from baseball sized hail in Tokyo to landmark-seeking tornadoes in Los Angeles to a massive tidal surge engulfing New York plague Earth as three ginormous storms cover her nothern hemisphere. To make things worse for Hall, his son Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal) was in New York when the uber-blizzard enveloped the city; he must now make it from Washington to Gotham before his son turns into a human popsicle.

THE GOOD...
Okay, c'mon. Who doesn't like a good a "shit blows up" sequence in a film. Or should I say, for this one, "shit freezes/floods/is torn up" sequences. Roland Emmerich can do one thing well: annihilate landmarks. And he does it with his usual gusto. His favorite punching bag, New York, gets it again here (albeit much more mournfully than ID4 or Godzilla). The effects are amazing, even if you're watching it on a little TV. Tendrils of frost consume the Empire State Building, a tidal surge drenches Lady Liberty to her armpits, a tornado makes confetti of the Hollywood Sign and downtown Los Angeles... all of it with an amazing level of detail and awe.

The writing is surprisingly good for a disaster movie. Don't get me wrong, it's no masterpiece (see "The Bad"), but I was surprised to see characters that were more than 1D placeholders at times. Of course, I'm a sucker for father (and mother) and son stories. Emmerich co-wrote the script with someone; I assume the other guy did the lines and Emmerich did "this gets destroyed" stuff.

Speaking of Emmerich, I was pleased that his usual "AMERICA IS TEH R0xx0r" attitude is not present here. I mean, the fact that there was a sequence in ID4 where it looks like the British, Russians, and Japanese were letting their cities getting blown away while waiting for an American-led counterstrike is just... gah. There are American flags to be sure, but there's nothing like ID4 or The Patriot (which wasn't half bad either) in here.

Also, loved the not so subtle Bush and Cheney bashing. :D

THE BAD...
Okay, some of the writing is pretty damn patchwork. We've got The Sick Kid, Comic Relief Guy, and Dog That Survives Dog among other standards for disaster movies. Also, some... most... all of the logic and science behind the movie is... er. I especially love the idea of the snow hurricane whose eye makes the temperature drop -8000 degrees in three seconds and chases you through buildings (two friends of mine LOVE that part). Actually, now that I think of it, NASA and a lot of scientists officially washed their hands of this movie because of the lack of, um, science...

Seriously, it's a disaster movie, people. Do you seriously want me dissecting this as if it were Citizen Kane? Sheesh.

I will say this: For someone who claims to love New York City, Emmerich sure seems to blow it up a lot...

...AND THE VERDICT.
The science is hokey. The script has it lapses in logic and storytelling. And, to be fair, it's basically to go from eye candy to eye candy. But, damnit, The Day After Tomorrow is good, dumb fun. It's good for a night of turning off your brain with friends, and perhaps a little MSTing to boot. Again, it's a disaster movie. Go in expecting catastrophe as opposed to drama, and you'll have a good time.

Despite the killer cold and general mayhem that's waaaaay too fast, I do appreciate the message behind the film: Global warming and climate shift are the gravest dangers to mankind. Politicians can rant and rave about terrorism and Iran all they want, but Osama and Ahmadinejad couldn't hope to unleash the chaos of such an event. Despite my snarkiness earlier, I believe global warming is happening. It may not come like this, folks, but mark my words: As Jack Hall says in the beginning, if we don't do something, it's going to be our children and our children's children who pay the price. Keep at least that part of your mind when you watch the film; that far outweighs any flashy effect ILM could create.

VERDICT: B

BEST SCENE(S): Any scenes with mass destruction. >:-)

BEST LINE(S):
"Gentlemen... to England." "To mankind." "...to Manchester United!"
-Terry Rapson (Ian Holm) and colleagues over a shot of Scotch.
"Well, the last chunk of ice that broke off was the size of Rhode Island. A lot of folks would say that was pretty sensational."
-Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) to Chen-- er, Becker.

"I'm protecting it. This Bible is the first book ever published. It represents the dawn of the age of reasoning. As far as I'm concerned, the written word is mankind's greatest achievement. Laugh if you want. But if Western Civilization is finished, I'm going to save one little piece of it."
-Jeremy (an atheist) on saving the Gutenberg Bible and summing up my own feelings about mankind and our future.

I'm a saaaaaaaad puzzle builder :-(

2007-02-16T22:50:00.000-05:00

I'm really bumming right now. One of my most loved hobbies is going the way of the dinosaur.

Ever heard of Puzz3D? No? Okay, how about 3D puzzles? Still in the dark? That's okay.

Puzz3D is one of Man's greatest achievements. It's two types of projects. First, you put all the puzzle pieces together into large sections. Then, you put those section together to turn it into a model of a landmark! They're awesome! Or were.

I remember the first one I ever got: the Empire State Building. Huge, 3 foot model of the icon of the city I love (when it was the city I liked) from my grandparents. What I remember most was the huge "DO NOT OPEN HERE" note my grandmother taped on the front. It took me weeks, but I finally completed it. Unfortunately, the older puzzles don't hold up well as they age, and the puzzle fell into disrepair and, well, apart. Fortunately for my childhood, I found a sealed one on eBay and bought it. And in homage to David Macaulay's Unbuilding, I used the majority of pieces from the old puzzle in the new puzzle's mooring mast.

Not only that, but not even a year after that terrible day, Puzz3D let me rebuild not just the Twin Towers, but the entire World Trade Center complex in their uber-challenge pre-9/11 Lower Manhattan puzzle. Today it has a place of honor in my room back in Maine, at the center of my shrine to New York City. My favorite from my collection of icons from around the world.

Seriously, I have dozens of 'em. The Vatican, a Spitfire, Venice, San Francisco, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Capitol, the Sears Tower, Sydney Opera House, Petronas Towers, the CN Tower... I could go on. And here at Susquehanna, the Titanic and several of New York's finest towers keep me company. There's no bigger thrill for me than to wake up Christmas morning or on my birthday to find new one(s) waiting for me.

Until today.

Last year, Hasbro bought out Wrebbit, the company that designs and produces the Puzz3Ds. At first, I shrugged it off, thinking it was just a corporate takeover. Those things happen, you know. Then I heard that the production of new puzzles was to be stopped. Okay, no problem... it sucks, but they had the same thing happen back in the 1990s. This week, I found out there were new ones of German landmarks available... for Europeans only. Today, I saw this note on a puzzle site:

Wrebbit was acquired by Hasbro in late 2005 and the product line has since been drastically reduced. Larger puzzles are disappearing. Hasbro has made a final decision: the Wrebbit line of puzzles is to be terminated. Production has already ceased of the Towers and all other puzzles for adults. What is now in their warehouses is all that shall be left available for sale.

So... that's it. The puzzle line that has brought me thousands of hours of fun, relaxation, patience, anticipation and concentration is dead. It's drying up and falling off the vine. And I don't even know why. No one does but Hasbro. All I know is... I feel very sad.

Puzz3D kept me entertained regardless of my mood.

Puzz3D made me smile in anticipation of my dad's "You got ANOTHER one?!" cry whenever he found out I got a new one.

Puzz3D helped me finally start to put the most painful day in my life behind me by letting me restore the place that symbolizes all my hopes and dreams for the future after what seemed like the end of the world.

And now it's gone.

I... really don't know what to think. And, I've heard Hasbro won't even supply replacement pieces anymore. So, this really is it: every time I take a puzzle apart to rebuild it, I run the risk of leaving it incomplete forever. The joy I've felt building these wonderful puzzles will now be replaced by worry I'll lose a piece. You really can't destroy a hobby anymore than that. Hasbro has accomplished what a lack of space, scarcity of stores, and prices couldn't.

It's funny... the opening dedication of Unbuilding is "to those who don't realize what's important until it's gone." After September 11th and the horrific sophomore year of high school year that preceded it, I thought I learned to appreciate everything I had, be it family and friends, a book, a TV show, or even a hobby.

I now see, as a hobby that's lasted for more than a decade ends, that I did not.

I'm going to miss you, Puzz3D.

I'm going to miss you a lot.

Liberals... and room temperature IQs... just do it better

2007-02-14T22:24:00.000-05:00

Seriously, take a look... if you dare... at the conservative answer to The Daily Show.

Again, seriously... I'm not even going to bother commenting on this one. It's just not needed.

Wow, how economic!

2007-02-10T13:18:00.000-05:00

Two stories that I (and no one else should, for that matter) don't give a flying f*** about bashed for the price of one!

Seriously, though, I'm not in the mood or possession of free time to make another rant about how idiotic media is. You can take the previous models, though. They're available in Laci Peterson Lime and Barbaro Brownie Chunk.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel like having a salad

2007-02-08T20:54:00.000-05:00

So, today, the Beeb showed the world the designs for the so-called "Doomsday vault." The vault, in case you don't know, is being built in Norway, whose icy temperatures will help aid the facility in keeping its cargo. And what a cargo it is: seeds for every damned agricultural product on Earth. In other words, think of this overgrown freezer as the Noah's Ark of food. The official statement by the program's head is that it is to be used to protect such foodstuffs "from future catastrophes, such as nuclear war, asteroid strikes and climate change."

...

...don't you think we should use this money and effort to, oh, I dunno... MAKE SURE THIS KIND OF THING DOESN'T HAPPEN?!?

I mean, if I had to choose between saving a packet of seeds and making sure a f***ing rock or glacier or ICBM doesn't land on my frigging head, forget the seeds, and get me a helmet, or a really big blow dryer, or something so that instead of being incinerated, I get cool superpowers. Like, teleportation or laser eyes or something.

Oh well, I was never a big fan of produce anyway. Got the gut to prove it.

A jury of my peers, Part II

2007-02-08T14:27:00.000-05:00

Well, I should have posted earlier, but...

Turns out they loved it. Well, actually, had some issues with the ending and some things I didn't tackle (which I responded to by saying I wanted to do it, but couldn't due to space), but other than that, it was unanimous that it was a good story, and I had a good time being praised and advised. It seems everyone really got a kick out of the timid Hitler clone...

...don't ask.

I may post it later when it's revised, but we'll see.

A jury of my peers, Part I

2007-02-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

Well, today I'm going to hear how my first story for "Speculative Fiction" has been received. I'd be lying if I said I was fully confident it was a success. I have to confess a certain timidness to what is about to happen.

Why, you may ask?

It's because the reason I've done fanfiction for certain shows is because I decry their utter lack of plot and character development (Juniper Lee is probably the worst offender). I fear that I may learn today I cannot practice what I preach.

I guess we'll have to see.

N.Y.C.! N.Y.C.! N.Y.C.!

2007-02-07T11:26:00.000-05:00

According to a Reuters dispatch on Yahoo! News, the Empire State Building was voted the most popular, and perhaps famous, structure in the United States. Not only that, but New York came away with the largest share of the 150 list (though only the Chrysler also made the top ten; virturally everything went to Washington).

Go ahead, look... ain't she a bueat?

This makes me happy for two reasons:

1) New York is awesome, and it pleases me when it's recognized as such, and

2) It's nice to read about a building that isn't threatened with or infamous for terrorism... 'cause, ya know, the fact the geographical region we consider New York City today has been inhabited since the last ice age means that only 9/11 and the "War on Terra" is worth mentioning. Seriously, there's more to Gotham's history than that terrible, terrible day. Please try to remember that, dear readers...

Ever get the feeling why you bother?

2007-02-05T21:42:00.000-05:00

I sure do, as of late... it's one of my classes. Don't get me wrong, I love all five of 'em, but there's one in particular (which will remain nameless) that's hard as hell to read for.

Why is it hard for me to read its material? Basically, we're assigned a great deal of reading... but we never discuss it in class. In fact, we rarely discuss ANYTHING in class, it's mostly lecture based and open debate you can BS on. And that's all well and good for a painfully early morning class, but I feel like I need something more to make me read. Especially since all our exams are take home except for the final, which may be take home as well...

So, here I sit, broken hearted, killing time in a cafe, waiting for it to be 10 PM by blogging. It's mostly because I can't stand the fact I'm missing Heroes for frigging WWF Wrestling (although I can now watch it thanks to a friend's taping it every night). But, I'm going to go grab a sandwich before the meal time deal ends. As for later, I dunno... recent events have pretty much freed up my night life, so I might try to start some work on a paper, ironically for the very same class I just bitched about...

Peace out, yo.

He's just so... stoic!

2007-02-05T21:38:00.000-05:00

...if by stoic you mean "blank, vapid stare" of course...

Try this on for size, Fryman

2007-02-05T13:20:00.000-05:00

This was brought to my attention by another reader of TMM...

Look out, Boston. Your innocent shall suffer. Big time.

Oh, BTW, found the incident of Mooninite terrorism I meant to post Thursday... shudder in terror at what could have been in Beantown:

What is wrong with people?

2007-02-04T00:56:00.000-05:00

Honestly... there's reports of the second worse one-day death toll in Iraq, climate change FINALLY being accepted by the US government, and a devastating flood in Indonesia... and what's a leading headline?

"Barbaro's brave fight won't be forgotten"

Are you freaking kidding me?!

He was a HORSE! An effing HORSE!

Look, don't get me wrong, I know this was a terrible way to end, and that horses (and the Derby itself) mean a lot to people. But, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of fans who have had to put theirs down. Yet, we don't hear about that, now, do we? No, we don't. I mean, when our family pet dies, if I were to proclaim to the world that "Merv's struggle with stubborn chew toy has ended," do you think CNN or the Times would come gallivanting over to record the reactions of my neighbors, family and I? Of course not.

I know what you're thinking... "Oh, Brad, how dare you;" "Oh Brad, you evil bastard;" "Brad, how dare you compare this to your dog being an idiot!" Well, that's the thing I'm getting at people: Trivial matters and perspective. Barbaro was a horse, a horse, of course of course. A lot of promising stallions and mares have their lives taken tragically, and unfairly. Barbaro is far from the first big name horse to die. And he'll be far from the last. I can assure you that a year from now, a lot of people won't remember who or what "Barbaro" was. He will be forgotten. It's a bitter truth the followers of this story have yet to realize. This is just another example of the media failing to cover what really matters in life. Readers from the time when my blog was nascent and rarely updated what I think of Laci Peterson.

Dammit, media, WTF is wrong with you? Do you think Edward R. Murrow would hold his cigarette aloft in a contemplative musing about euthanizing a horse? Or Walter Cronkite taking off his glasses to tell us "Barbaro died, at ten PM, EST?" For serving as the watchdogs of American democracy, you sure do stay in your doghouse a lot. I don't think you're liberal or conservative, I think you're just... lazy. Maybe even timid. Maybe Watergate made you really, really tired and feel like you deserve a generation or two off?

While I cannot truly claim to impersonate Murrow, I must try to end on a contemplative note. When the media of our great democracy gets hung up on missing women, falling horses, and celebrity sex, the very thing they are sworn to protect feels it. It is in this way, not necessarily just through fraudulent elections or ill fated wars abroad, that we may lose our way and stray into the dangerous waters of complacency and disinterest. If we are to continue to remain the beacon of freedom and independence so eloquently proposed by her founding fathers in that small Philadelphia room nearly two and a half centuries ago, we as a nation must demand that the men and women who gives our information are held to account. After all, the people who wrote that declaration would not have gotten far had the media of their day, town criers and runners, decided town drunkards were the big story. That is the charge of every American. And if they want to truly be allowed to take pride in carrying that name... they must strive to know what's going on. But, we all know that Simon's chewing out of a fat guy is the news that we must, above all, need to hear.

I'm Brad Rousse, and indeed good night... and good grief.

I am evil incarnate

2007-02-03T16:56:00.000-05:00

Only the most evil people on the planet would find this compendium of, among others, old women and little kids taking various balls to the face would find this as hilarious I did, I'll betcha.

Boston is Sofa King We Todd Ed

2007-02-02T14:24:00.000-05:00

Seriously, the hysteria in Beantown is starting to border on infuriating as opposed to hilarious.

Boston and Massachusetts officials are demanding full criminal charges against the guys who posted the signs in and around the City on the Hill, and are planning to sue Turner Broadcasting. This is, need I remind you, pissing and moaning about the equivalent of me nailing an effing LiteBrite to a board and hanging it on a street lamp, as if it were a tragedy of a monumental scale. They're even breaking what I've taken to calling "Godwin's Law 2.0": Bringing in 9/11.

"Just a little over a mile away from the placement of the first device, a group of terrorists boarded airplanes and launched an attack on New York City," police Commissioner Edward Davis said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Note, FYI:

The Signs

September 11

You can see the correlation here.

Speaking of New York, how did THEY, the city that fell victim to the worst terrorist attack in the history of the Western world and a bulls eye to match, handled it:

"By contrast, in New York City, officers went to the various locations amid the hysteria in Boston and found only two of the devices -- both attached to a highway overpass. Police said it did not appear any were placed on the subway or landmarks such as Empire State Building or Brooklyn Bridge."

Inspiring, huh? I can't wait until the country goes to full nuclear alert over Juniper Lee trying to catch a stray Easter Bunny.

So, what if you want to something productive (unlike me) instead of bitching (like me)? A reader has just left me this in comments:

Peter Berdovsky Legal Defense Fund
Law Office of Michael L. Rich
74 Newport Street
Arlington MA 02476

So, write in folks, and save these two fine upstanding American boys from the idiocy that is Boston's government. Maybe, we can convince them to drop the charges and see reason... but I have a feeling we'll see the Red Sox win a World Series before that day.

Mike Godwin needs to moderate the Internets

2007-02-01T22:37:00.000-05:00

I was looking through the Google Images search engine for the picture in the previous posting. This image came up on the fourth page.

Either someone has made a big mistake, or Bush has the worst fans ever.

In other news, Hillary has an endorsement, from... uh...

...you know, why do you even need me posting this stuff. I should just show you it and go "Here, look at this."

Farmer Bush: Mower of the Press

2007-02-01T22:28:00.000-05:00

Check out what our esteemed leader was up to earlier today:

"I would suggest moving back," Bush said as he climbed into the cab of a massive D-10 tractor. "I'm about to crank this sucker up." As the engine roared to life, White House staffers tried to steer the press corps to safety, but when the tractor lurched forward, they too were forced to scramble for safety."Get out of the way!" a news photographer yelled. "I think he might run us over!" said another. White House aides tried to herd the reporters the right way without getting run over themselves. Even the Secret Service got involved, as one agent began yelling at reporters to get clear of the tractor. Watching the chaos below, Bush looked out the tractor's window and laughed, steering the massive machine into the spot where most of the press corps had been positioned.

So... let's get this straight:

Lite-Brites of cartoon characters: Bad.

Psychopathic president laughing maniacally as he hunts down the press core with a gigantic tractor: Priceless.

For everything else, there's November 4, 2008. Dreamt of by everyone who's not a Republican.

I hope you can see this, because I'm blogging it as hard as I can.

2007-01-31T17:49:00.000-05:00

This... is priceless.

For those of you who don't know, I'm a fan of the offbeat Adult Swim/Cartoon Network show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," which follows a box of fries (Frylock), a milkshake (Master Shake), a wad of hamburger (Meatwad), and a fat guy (Carl) as all manners of weird, random and pointless shit happens to them, such as inept alien invasions, pop up ads that form in the real world, and evil sandwiches.

But, it seems the show has caused a bit of a scare in Boston... one of the more popular villains, Ignignokt of the Mooninites (Atari character-like aliens from the Moon who come to Earth to smoke crack, read porn, and steal weenie wraps while flipping everyone off), has appeared on several devices to advertise the show in the Boston metro area. And, well... all hell is broken loose.

Let me illustrate some perspective here.

Here's Ignignokt.

Here's Err.

Here's what's been happening today, culled from various sources, emphasis mine:

Subway service across the Longfellow Bridge, between Boston and Cambridge, was suspended temporarily but was later allowed to resume.
The Charles River and two bridges across it were closed
Bomb units scrambled to investigate five suspicious devices reported almost simultaneously throughout the city. The reports forced the temporary shutdowns of part of an interstate, a key inbound roadway and a bridge between Boston and Cambridge.
The FBI is en route to Boston for an investigation.
An angry Mayor Thomas Menino said a stiff penalty will be pursued against whoever was responsible for the devices."I wouldn't be surprised to see someone charged in this. This is an extremely serious situation," former FBI Director Bill Gavin [said].
In addition, the Pentagon said U.S. Northern Command was monitoring the situation from its headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Also, witness perhaps the best screencap from FOX News since Scott Peterson's blood red "DEATH" face stamp:

So... basically, the most powerful nation on Earth was terrified about a character flipping us off. What are we, a hegemony or a buncha pussies?

I mean, for crying out loud, they actually blew one up: "The first device was found at an MBTA subway and bus station located under Interstate 93 on Wednesday morning. The device was detonated and determined to be harmless[.]" That's right. Detonated. As in, blow it up, explode it (thanks to my roommate Jon for that one).

What interests me is that no one's pointing out that these devices, which have also been said to be in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia among ten cities total, have been in these locations for two to three weeks. So, coming up on six years after September 11 (ya know, the day where humanity was changed forever if you listen to Bush et al), what this proves is you can orchestrate a massive terrorist strike on American soil... successfully!

I don't know about you, but that kind of time delay and geographic scale really isn't something that you should proudly go "GOT IT!!" about if you want America's anti-terrorism abilities to be taken seriously.

Forget pulling out of Iraq... running around in terror over a cartoon should "embolden" the terrorists plenty.

Well... I really do think this speaks for itself. I'll leave you now with the Mooninites committing an act of terrorism.

Well, this is... subtle.

2007-01-28T00:55:00.000-05:00

Somehow, I get the idea that he feels Bush is a warmongering, humanity-hating dictator. I dunno why, just a... feeling.

I'll be damned... I'm gay!

2007-01-26T23:16:00.000-05:00

...assuming you believe a site named "Love God's Way."

Seriously, I couldn't come up with something crazier than this if I tried.

LGW has posted a list of bands that, I eff you not, will turn even the most manly of man into a feminine, Jesus-defying pussy. Let's see... I like at least one song of the following bands:

The Doors
Queen
The Rolling Stones
Madonna
The Indigo Girls
Nickleback
Red Hot Chili Peppers

To FURTHER prove their idiocy, look at some OTHER bands on there... because, when I see these bands, yeah, I think of stuff pandering to their homophobia:

Lou Reed
Nirvana
Frank Sinatra
Eminmen
Metallica
Judas Priest

Look out, America! Heavy metal and lounge singing are tools of the Devil!

Flee, flee!

Oh, BTW... love the cheap shots:

The Village People
Elton John(really gay)

So now... in tribute to Love God's Way... I leave you with Nickelback's "Photograph".

It's official

2007-01-24T12:55:00.000-05:00

Finally got contacted by NCUR a few hours ago... it's a go.

Dear Bradford Rousse,

Congratulations!

Your abstract, "THEM DAMNED PICTURES: THOMAS NAST'S NOT-SO-HIDDEN CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE IRISH IN THE TWEED AFFAIR", has been accepted for an oral presentation at the 21st National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR 21) at Dominican University of California on April 12 - 14, 2007.

Please refer to the Presentation Guidelines Section when preparing your presentation:

http://www.dominican.edu/ncur21/presentations

General information is available on the NCUR(r)21 website:

http://www.dominican.edu/ncur21

You will receive another email containing your presentation date and time as soon as all student presentations have been scheduled.

I am happy indeed.

In academic conference news (Update)...

2007-01-23T16:30:00.000-05:00

My mistake... apparently I -AM- attending NCUR. They just didn't think of, you know... telling me.

I feel cared for already.

Susquehanna's brightest and their bodily functions

2007-01-23T01:15:00.000-05:00

This is an actual line from an e-mail, sender and address withheld:

"Absolutely, no urinating on the floor or toilet seats, please; only IN the toilet!"

Doesn't it just fill you with pride and hope for the future that we'll be leading the world someday?

We're f***ed, Part II

2007-01-22T21:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I lied about staying tuned for Wednesday about the time shift...

I'm sure you all already know, but I like to keep promises; the Doomsday Clock was indeed moved Wednesday. We're now five minutes from midnight. Midnight, of course, is when we all die in a horribly hot fireball of radioactive fire and whooziwhatsit.

...or is it?

The Bulletin's scientists are saying that climate shift has now been added to the equation on moving the clock back and forth. As they say themselves in their press release on the change:

"The major new step reflects growing concerns about a "Second Nuclear Age" marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing "launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks."

So, who knows? Maybe instead of The Day After, we'll get The Day After Tomorrow!

*thinks that might be a good double header review sometime if he can watch some movies for a change...*

In academic conference news...

2007-01-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

Mixed bag on conferences today.

On the one hand, it looks more and more likely I have not been accepted into NCUR, or the National Conference for Undergraduate Research. The fact I've seen people blog their own acceptance e-mails and we were to find out Friday says as much. This year was to be held just outside of San Francisco in mid April, and much fun was to be had. C'est la vie, I suppose. It would be nice to at least get a "Dear Mr. Rousse: You suck" e-mail to confirm it.

One the other hand, I'm to be a speaker at the Phi Alpha Theta regional (Eastern Pennsylvania/New York State/Connecticut) conference in March. That's all well and good; it's at Susquehanna, and I'm not only a member, I'm also a client! ...er... officer, actually.
The funny thing about that is that, uh, I never... uh... officially volunteered for it. I'm still more than likely going to do it (looks awesome on the resume, and I like talking about New York City history), but I'm still a bit... befuddled at what happened.

Oh well.

*For those who don't know, I'm presenting my senior thesis, which was a look at Thomas Nast's depiction of the Irish in his work about the Tweed scandals. Very insightful and fun for the whole family, ages seven and up.

Seven Days Later...

2007-01-22T21:19:00.000-05:00

Well, what a fun and wild week this has been.

Did you catch the sarcasm? No? Oh well.

The past week's been fairly brutal. The amount of reading is far beyond what I expected it would be. At least a hundred fifty pages a night total. I didn't even have to read that much for my friggin' senior seminar project! And the first paper is still weeks away! It should start calming down in two weeks, maybe three... but, until then, I'm still time managing like crazy. I wanted to look into being more fit and other things this last semester, but MORE work is the last thing I wanna do when I'm doing some sort of academic or manual work for nearly TWELVE HOURS STRAIGHT minus food breaks and going to and from class or work.

Among other things today alone, I:

Was scolded for not knowing how to define "afterword" 'correctly'
Was SCALDED by water from a grill
Didn't do all the reading for the other class
And, I'm unable to watch Heroes because my roommate is a HUGE WWF fan. Do not get me started on how much I think that sucks, because I'd never stop.

Maybe tomorrow will be better... but with me being in class for six hours total and having an all day call at work, I'm highly doubting it.

Change of Course

2007-01-16T20:55:00.000-05:00

Hey readers,

I've since decided to not discuss classes on The Manic Mainer. Even if I don't name names or genders, it would still be a simple matter of looking up the class title to see who taught it, and something may get blow out of proportion. It also disrespects the privacy of my professors. Accordingly, all posts discussing classes have been deleted. If I truly feel the need for a Rousse Rant of Book Nook, I'll ask for permission. But, outside of that, don't expect anything further about my classes at Susquehanna.

I apologize to my professors if their privacy has been violated.

-Brad

I bid thee farewell, Maine

2007-01-14T02:08:00.000-05:00

Yup, I'm on my way back to Susquehanna today. Eight hour car trip.

...

...I should probably get to bed. Cya when I'm back in Pennsylvania.

Rousse Rant: "Children of Men"

2007-01-13T16:47:00.001-05:00

"CHILDREN OF MEN"
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Released December 25, 2006
Trailer

THE BASICS
It's 2027, and humanity has entered its twilight years with a whimper. An unknown agent has rendered all women infertile in 2009, leaving the youngest people on Earth in their late teens, mourned as international icons upon their deaths. With the knowledge it's all over within a century, civilization has collapsed at the seams. Riots, ghettos, terrorism, refugees, devastated cities, nuclear war and a general malaise of doom rule the planet now that the human race knows it's going the way of the dinosaurs. An inhabitant of this world is Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a London bureaucrat at the Ministry of Energy. Theo's life is further disturbed when he is abducted by the terrorist group "The Fishes," an agent of whom is his former wife Julian (Julianne Moore). As Theo unwillingly sinks deeper into the intrigue of the group following a terrible attack by refugees, he meets Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), a young African woman who is a refugee... and pregnant. It is now up to Theo to not only keep Kee and her belly safe from just about everyone in England, but to get her to the coast and an organization working for a cure to the infertility, or else homo sapiens are history.

THE GOOD
Well, what's good about the movie isn't good in of itself. Trust me in that the universe and people you see know it's OVER. London is a grungy, filthy, decaying city filled with citizens that look only somewhat better. Think 1984, the Warsaw Ghetto, the Iraq war, Auschwitz and the Israeli/Palestinian crises combined, and you basically have an idea of the world of Children of Men. The decay and morbidity is relentless, as it should be. We see a world bereft of hope and purpose, dying on the vine. Walls are splashed with tattered newspaper depicting the downfall of civilization, as ads of officially sanctioned suicide drugs play next to propaganda assuring Britons that "ONLY BRITAIN SOLDIERS ON." The film makes no bones about the fact that people greet that with a snide "what's the point?" The hallmark of this pointlessness is when Theo wanders through a ruined elementary school: There's no point to it being maintained anymore.

The acting is certainly a selling point as well. Owen does his best to portray Theo, who is gradually getting worse and worse mentally and physically as the film continues. Also of note is the always wonderful Michael Caine as Jasper, Theo's junkie/hippie/Rhodes scholar/whatever else friend. Newcomer Ashitey sells her role well enough, but as you can imagine it's mostly kept to keeping her belly away from... well... everything.

The screenplay, which had several people (including the director) involved, is extremely well done for a product that had so many people in the kitchen. It's fast, it's witty, British through and through, and it tells its purpose without pointless padding or melodrama. The movie keeps your attention the entire time. And like any good science fiction set in the future, it serves some wry commentary on present events (look closely for where and how Theo and Julian first meet, as well as who keeps order in 2027 England). Leave it to those Brits to keep a stiff upper lip as the world disintegrates around them.

THE BAD
The "villains" are idiots in this movie. No, really. There are times where you will be stunned how Theo and his fellow refugees manage to pull off some of their escapes, and how some of their pursuers expect to catch them with their itchy trigger fingers.

The ending is far too abrupt. I really can't say more about it, since it will ruin the entire film.

It's also never explained how exactly women became infertile to begin with. There's hints that pollution, radiation, even the long feared bird flu pandemic (I don't even KNOW how you could figure that one) may be responsible for the disaster. This was a bit of a letdown, since there was so much emphasis on the human race's imminent end without saying, uh, how.

(Oh, and don't think you can laugh off the plot without the reason of infertility being stated... it's a real possibility.)

...AND THE VERDICT.
Children of Men has its flaws, but the canvas upon which its painted has to be seen to be believed. I really can't describe the detail, the realism, and sheer hopelessness and decay Cuarón has created in this film. This is the best post-apocalyptic movie I've ever seen, and certainly the best one where the end is caused by infertility of human beings. Don't avoid it just because it's dark and morbid; it's a vivid reminder of just how fragile our civilization and our species are, at a time where we desperately need to keep that in mind.

VERDICT: A-

BEST SCENE: There's no one scene. For this one, let's just say the atmosphere entire.

BEST LINE: "WILL THE LAST ONE ALIVE PLEASE TURN OUT THE LIGHTS" -Graffiti on the wall of the London Underground.

That's it for "Rousse Rants" for now, kiddos. I may review some old movies I've seen later on, but I don't know when the next new one will be. Until then, make up your own damn mind.

We're f***ed, Part I

2007-01-13T16:26:00.000-05:00

According to several news agencies, the famous "Doomsday Clock" is going to be moving... towards midnight, I'm afraid. No word yet on how far; the official announcement will be Wednesday. But, it sounds like it'll be a fairly substantial jump, with the Bulletin calling it a "major" announcement, citing a "second Nuclear Age marked by grave threats."

For those of you who don't know, the Doomsday Clock is a symbol from a journal called The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Basically, it's a measurement of how close we are to blowing ourselves up. In theory, if the clock ever reaches midnight... well, let's just say there probably won't be anyone to wind the clock up to reflect it. Currently, as you can see to the left, we're at seven minutes to midnight: nothing to panic about, but we could be doing better.

The clock started its macabre work in 1947 as a symbol of nuclear war, two years before those damn dirty reds got the bomb (go figure). The closest we've been is two minutes, after mutual tests of the hydrogen bomb in 1953. The furthest it's been was in 1991, reflecting the end of the Soviet Union and the success of arms reduction treaties. The last time it was moved was in 2002, mostly due to our esteemed leader pulling out of numerous arms treaties. Another piece of evidence to the claim that, as he loves to puff his chest out about, he is making the world ever safer for us all.

C'mon, living in a world of cockroaches won't be THAT bad. Just... slimy and stuff. And, hey, look at the bright side... Steve Guttenberg will be there.

Check back Wednesday for the time shift... if you can handle it.

W... T... F.

2007-01-12T17:12:00.000-05:00

If you can't tell yet, I'm rather fond of New York City. Some... most... all... would say obsessed. So, as you can imagine, blowing it up or raping it is a good way to get on my nerves.

This one... I think America's Mayor and the leader of the (thankfully over) Republican Revolution need to turn their titles and have a nice night of electroshock. Because this is beyond all logic. I think you may need to sit down for this one.

Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich have compared 1990s New York to... are you sitting down?

Baghdad.

Yes. Rudy and Newt are comparing New York City, perhaps an icon of human civilization and diversity, to Baghdad, perhaps a symbol of human anarchy and strife.

I mean, I can sorta see what they're saying, it's kinda obvious... I went there in 1997, and I still remember how my dad I were getting shot at, targeted by car bombs, watching fire ravage whole swaths of Queens... I mean, look at this file photo from 1998 of Downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn...

Oh, wait. That's Armageddon.

Okay, look, first off Rudy, Newt, I can kinda see where you're coming, why you're trumpeting your horn. Although it's debatable how it was done, Rudy lowered crime, cleaned up Times Square, and made New York more livable since it's nasty downturn in the 1970s. And, we do need to do more than blow shit up if we want to be serious about rebuilding Baghdad, let alone Iraq. But, let's look at your claims here, and why they're like the guy you suck up to: Asinine.

Murders: New York was a murder capital... but, here's the thing. You say 2,000 murders a year. Right now, 2,000 people are being murdered in Baghdad every few months. Say what you will about Gotham's streets, New Yorkers didn't have to walk in fear on Fifth Avenue or drive on the Gowanus afraid that the bus next to them is about to explode.

Unemployment: I'm sure Baghdadis would love a job... but they're too busy trying not to be blown up or keep their families alive. And, it appears there aren't many jobs for Iraqis out there; they're all going to American contractors.

Neighborhoods: Too many Baghdad neighborhoods are being pervaded by fire, gunshots, explosions, anguished screams, and rivers of blood.

"Workfare": Do you think Iraqis would rather have a grafittiless city or a, um... city?

Look, you guys, and your other little talking head friends and Bushies. Stop comparing things to history! You never get it right!

The Iraqi Civil War/Insurgency is NOT like the SS werewolves!
Saddam Hussein was NOT Adolf Hitler!
Bush's (minuscule) postwar plan is NOT the Marshall Plan!
Bush is NOT Churchill!
Postwar Germany HAD experience with democracy! Iraq DOES NOT!
There is NOTHING like World War II here! Stop comparing it to World War II!
And, George... oceans have NEVER PROTECTED US! SOVIET ICBMS! THE JAPANESE CAPTURE OF THE ALEUTIANS! GERMAN U-BOATS OPERATING OFF THE EAST COAST! YOUR OWN DAMN HOUSE WAS BURNED BY THE BRITISH, MR. HISTORY MAJOR FROM YALE!! STFU ABOUT THAT!

*eye twitch*
*eye twitch* *calms*

Look, basically, the straw grasping being made for this by people still deranged enough to support this is so pathetically stupid it's not funny. If you HONESTLY think that there is a similarity between 2007 Baghdad and 1990s New York City... I fear for your sanity. Because... wow, just wow. Honestly.

If you MUST make a historical comparison, guys, I'd go with the Draft Riots. MAYBE the economic downturn in the 1970s. But, I'll tell you this much: There's a big difference between the Bronx burning and marketplaces becoming death traps. But, let us hope we don't pull out, because, according to Bush et al, there will suddenly be a massive invasion of terrorists and "Islamofascists" (whatever the hell that means), and all that will be left is this:

...oh, wait. That's Independence Day.

What planet does Bush live on?

2007-01-12T13:19:00.000-05:00

From his address Tuesday (I didn't get a chance to read it until today):

"And we concluded that to step back now would force a collapse of the Iraqi government, tear that country apart, and result in mass killings on an unimaginable scale."

Yeah, what planet does ol' Georgie-boy live on? He should take a look at his briefings sometime:

WOULD collapse the Iraqi government? al-Maliki's very open about saying he wishes he never took the job to begin with, and the government doesn't even function effectively.

WOULD tear the country apart? The execution of Saddam was just another reminder of how pissed off Sunnis and Shi'a are t each other. In fact, you say YOURSELF the country's being torn apart!

They blew up one of the holiest shrines in Shia Islam - the Golden Mosque of Samarra - in a calculated effort to provoke Iraq's Shia population to retaliate.
Their strategy worked. Radical Shia elements, some supported by Iran, formed death squads.
And the result was a vicious cycle of sectarian violence that continues today.

WOULD result in mass killings on an unimaginable scale? ...dude, do you even KNOW what's been happening over there?

But, don't worry, he's got a more realistic idea about how things will end:

"But victory in Iraq will bring something new in the Arab world - a functioning democracy that polices its territory, upholds the rule of law, respects fundamental human liberties, and answers to its people."

You know, George, there's this planet called "Earth" that you should try to live on. Actually, no. Scratch that. Stay away from Earth.

For the speech itself: I didn't read anything new. Just that he's sending more bullseyes over there. Other than that, he just blithered about the same things (9/11, 12 million voters, terrorists invading America, etc) in slightly different ways. At least the press abroad likes it.

Rousse Rant: "Night at the Museum"

2007-01-11T19:35:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Ben Stiller's new comedy Night at the Museum.

"NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM"
Directed by Shawn Levy
Released December 22, 2006
Trailer

THE BASICS
Well meaning but helpless Brooklynite Larry Daley (Stiller) has hit rock bottom when it comes to life. His car's been booted, he's divorced, and the new guy is threatening to take his son away. Desperate, he applies for a new job: Night watchman at the famed American Museum of Natural History. What he doesn't know, however, is that every exhibit in New York's prestigious museum comes to life at night! Soon, Larry finds himself meeting (and fleeing) everyone from Gaius Octavius to Attila the Hun, to Lewis and Clark and Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams). As Larry struggles to get his job and life (and the museum) back in order, it soon becomes apparent that may only be one part of his problems...

THE GOOD...
Okay, if you can't tell by now, I like history. No, actually, love it. Obsess, even. So, this was a bit of guilty pleasure, seeing so much of human history wandering around in the background. I personally, would have a total "geek-gasm" if I found such a place. Name a period (Manifest Destiny America, Victorian England, Maya, etc), and you'll probably see some sort of representation there. It's obvious to someone like me who's actually BEEN to AMNH that this isn't the real interior (though you DO see the actual exterior), but the set designers for the most part do an excellent job of making a representation, if not copy, of the museum interior.

The acting was fun too. Stiller plays a guy who's literally been thrown into chaos well, and the expressions on his face are priceless as the world descends into anarchy around him (note him fleeing the famous T-Rex skeleton here). Robin Williams, it goes without saying, plays Teddy in a way I think even the real man would say "Bully!" to, right down to the mannerisms. Dick Van Dyke, playing the former night watchman, plays his part in a surreal creepiness/bounce that adds well to the atmosphere when we (and Larry) are first getting to know the museum. I also liked Carla Gugino as a museum tour guide; her excitement and joy about history is definitely something I can relate to. Snarky Brit Ricky Gervais of The Office fame is enjoyable as the world-weary, stuffy curator of the museum. Look out for Brad Garrett in a very booming cameo. Finally, I like Owen Wilson (I remember when he was an expendable one liner actor in stuff like Armageddon), and he performs a great cowboy with gusto.

Shawn Levy also does a phenomenal job of making the museum literally come to life. There is never a dull moment in the background of the film while the exhibits are alive. Woolly mammoths stroll the halls, Civil War soldiers duel from room to room, and neanderthals play with 21st century objects, giving the viewer a convincing feeling of being in a living museum. It's clear that a great deal of attention went into the making of the film in this regard.

THE BAD...
I think the only thing that sticks out for me is that, well, we've seen the "divorced/endangered father seeks to win their son back from the new dad while dealing with a comedic scenario" a lot. A great deal, actually. Hell, I can name quite a few right now and I'm sure you could too. It is, however, a bit of fresh air in that this is a vanishingly small aspect of the film, and the climax is focused more on father and son working together to save the day, as opposed to the father alone. And now that I think of it, my science fiction (and now speculative writing) professor argued there's only two stories: A stranger comes to town, or something happens. So, I suppose it's fair to keep that in mind here.

I was also a bit confused as to the motivation of the "villains" of the film when the climax of the film appears, as it feels somewhat forced and loose. Not enough, however, to detract too much from my enjoyment of the film.

Besides that, there isn't anything that really sticks out as "bad." Go into the museum expecting zany fun as opposed to something like the real AMNH, and you'll be fine.

(There is, however, the fact that I will probably find myself like Larry [Penniless, struggling, and eking out a living in history in New York City] in the near future thanks to grad school... nothing like reminding me that I wish Damocles would take his sword back.)

...AND THE VERDICT
This movie was very enjoyable, to my pleasant surprise. It was funny, witty, and well paced, three things that seem to be hard to do for family movies these days. Again, my only major complaint is that the story falls into a retreaded plot, but that tread is so deep that to fault it seriously on that alone is petty. This is a museum that was a great exhibit to pass through, and I wouldn't mind attending again (hoping there's a Winston Churchill or Fiorello LaGuardia statue next time).

Oh, and wait for the credits.

VERDICT: A-

BEST SCENE: Probably when Larry first realizes what Cecil means by the below exchange.

BEST LINE(S):
"Don't let anything in or out."
"...out?"
Cecil (Van Dyke) and Larry (Stiller) on museum procedures.

"[Sure]...make fun of a history geek!"
Rebbecca (Gugino), upon thinking Larry's taking her for a fool.

That's it for Night at the Museum... check back Saturday for the post-apocalytic epic Children of Men.

We laugh, laugh, right in Der Fuehrer's Face

2007-01-11T13:46:00.000-05:00

The prodigal country of war crimes guilt, Germany, is at it again. No, not genocide, but playing films about the guy who did one. Except... there's a twist to this one.

Goosestepping hot on the heels of the excellent film Downfall comes Mein Fuehrer - the Truly Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler, which proclaims itself to be the... well... truth about the ultimate symbol of Godwin's Law.

I haven't been able to find a plot summary in English (or German, for that matter), but as far as I can tell from the Beeb, it's at least about the last year of the Third Reich. What's of note in this one is that this will be different from the usual parody image of Hitler, a guy with a mustache marching around stiffly with an arm in the air while screaming "SEIG HEIL DER JUDEN DUETSCHE RECIH JIFJUGHIURGHUGRUHGRIGRGHGREU!!!" as loud as he can. Apparently, this Adolf Hitler is

"...a manic depressive, who is sexually impotent and wets his bed. He is reduced to a bumbling buffoon... [t]oo depressed to give his big speech to the people, he demands that a former acting coach, who is Jewish, be brought in to help boost his confidence... a sick, weak individual, used by those around him."

I do believe this may be the first functionalist vs intentionalist comedy ever. That in itself is an accomplishment.

What should really be of notice to people is that the director of the film, Dani Levy, is Jewish, citing that he did the film "to have a better understanding of what made German people follow Hitler." I can see where's coming from... I'm well aware laughing and mockery is the best weapon in your arsenal when it comes to hardship and a seemingly insurmountable challenge.

I also hope this, as the BBC article says in the conclusion, means that Germany is finally starting to come into its own as a postwar country. I'll be honest: I feel bad for Germany. A country we have to thank for the likes of the printing press and some of the world's greatest composers has the Nazis conjured first and foremost in people's minds. Not to mention the hypocrisy the world has about dictatorships in history. No one seems to have a problem with, say, Josef Stalin growing in popularity in Russia or Benito Mussolini's granddaughter in the Italian government preaching fascist ideas. But, just let ONE skinhead rally happen in Munich, and the entire world is screaming its head off in condemnation. I heard after the latest on the Israeli ambassador says he now fears for Jews all over Germany. Yes, because those idiots are representative of the whole country. Kristallnacht II is surely imminent.

Does this mean the horrors of Nazism or the Holocaust should be forgotten or excused? Of course not! I'm just urging that people have perspective and common sense. Stalinist Russia alone lasted more than twice as long as the Third Reich, and killed at least three times that of the Holocaust. And don't forget Chairman's Mao's Great Leap Forward, or Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. And modern democracies like England, France, and the United States should remember imperialism, the Crusades, and their own dabbling in eugenics and lebensraum. Yet, as I just said, no one seems to mind 1 out of every 5 Russians saying they'd vote for Stalin as president. Not to mention the fact the vast majority of perpetrators have died; are we really to scream "SHAME!!" at a population that is increasingly not even alive in 1945 for eternity? Face it, guys... we've ALL got blood on our hands if you dig deep enough. I mean, just look at that face...

There is one thing that strikes me a little odd, though...

"Even local Jewish groups have said they have nothing against making fun of the Nazis."

The Jews of Germany are saying there's no objection to make Nazis look like a bunch of idiots? Does that go without saying about as much as Nancy Pelosi saying she has no objection to Will Ferrel making Bush look incompetent?

...

Oh, great, now look what you made me do, Hitler. I broke Godwin's Law. Jerk.

And, to round it out, speaking of Adolf Hitler in a bathtub...

(I know I'd be pretty pissed if I had a floppy nose bigger than my head)

A sure sign the end approaches

2007-01-10T16:10:00.000-05:00

If there's any unmistakable clue that your break is at an end, it's that you're getting books for next semester...

I got confirmation on their being ordered today, for three classes out of five (two don't require any, but they'll probably make up for it somehow in work). It puts me $220+ in the hole, and I'll be lucky if I get back even $40 at the end of the semester. Susquehanna does not treat her students nicely when it comes to buybacks. However, the bitterness that this is my last semester in college, and the dread of the bill for grad school gives me more to worry about.

I changed my mind... the book distributers are pretty evil. Adelphia's just stupid.

More on my classes Sunday.

Adelphia, you utterly, utterly worthless piece of...

2007-01-10T02:59:00.000-05:00

You know something? I’ve always wondered why those guys who ran Adelphia did that whole embezzlement thing. They’re a huge company, billions of dollars in profits, they should have more than enough money, don’t you think?

Now, I know why.

Now, with their hi-speed service dropping out on a regular basis, with “Connection error” and “Connection failed/dropped” messages constantly appearing, as if it were orchestrated in a well choreographed ballet of irritation, I know why.

They embezzled because they know how much they SUCK.

I was willing to let it slight at first, you know. The first three times, all the first night I got back from Susquehanna, I thought it a hiccup. Happens with everyone, even at my college, and it was only a few seconds. But, the third night, with it literally dropping out a rate of FIVE TIMES in TEN MINUTES, I started to realize that maybe, just maybe, Adelphia was a piece of shiite.

We’ve called them, you know… they said they’d fix it, but they didn’t. They deferred us to Time Warner Cable, who’s taking over Adelphia’s HSI in our region. They lied. I saw them tinker with something taking a walk a week ago, but it didn’t make a change. I figured, you know, maybe after Christmas, it’d get better. It has not. I figured after New Year’s. It did not. Now, I do believe Adelphia has decided to mock me, in a conspiracy so grand in scale even the Illuminati or the faux Learned Elders would be humbled.

Now, I have no idea how much longer I’ll be online when I log onto AIM or Mozilla. Nor do I have any idea when I can get back on as my computer is consumed by error after error. It could be a few seconds. Or it could be, as I angrily pound out the first draft of this rant in Microsoft Word, an hour. At least, since I’m going to bed after I revise this.

Now, I can’t do much of anything I wanted to do online while on break. I wanted catch up with my friends about break; they never see my messages, as I talk to myself, not knowing they can’t. I wanted to plot out and revise my stories with a guy I know in New Jersey; I’m lucky if we can just exchange files or set the scene. I wanted to catch up on some shows people say “you’ve GOTTA see this,” but the connection failures are so frequent, so unstable, that my files are corrupted. It was only by luck that I managed to submit my application to Fordham and order my books for this semester before, once again, the connection snapped like the pathetic little twig it is, erasing my work (it’s happened on message boards) for good.

Now, it’s nearly two as I write this. All that is left is a blood-red “Connection failed,” now burned into my screen and poor, hapless retinas. Adelphia sucks so much, it’s actually, in itself, stupid. The main control says we’re getting a signal, but my laptop says there isn’t even a connection in place on my computer!

See why they embezzled? Because they realized how utterly WORTHLESS their HSI is, so they said to each other “Damn, we better milk these stupid saps for all they’re worth before they get wise so I can build that private golf course and land my Concorde on it!” And, well, that’s exactly what those assholes did. And we’re left, as Rod Serling said once in a Twilight Zone episode, to be handed the bill.

Look, I’m guessing there isn’t anyone out there who isn’t family or friends reading this, but hear my anguished, Cassandra-like cry: DO NOT GET ADELPHIA HSI. You will rue it for the rest of your life. It will haunt you, tormenting your soul, eating your conscience, keeping you awake at night, leaving you to curse yourself for your ignorance. And if there’s an afterlife, you’ll find either St Peter or Satan, a black mark next to your name in their book, as they smirk “So, you got Adelphia HSI, didn’t ya.”

*exasperated scream of agony*

I give up. I have no idea when… or if at the rate failures are going lately… you’ll see this desperate wail on “The Manic Mainer.” I’m going to crack open my latest book and call it a night, tormented again by the evil that is Adelphia HSI. I remember I was wondering why I wanted to go back to Susquehanna during dinner tonight. Now, I know why. To sate the addiction that is Mozilla, the crack yearning that is YouTube, the MJ that is AIM, soothing my bored, geek self into an orgy of bliss and contentment. Because, my supply keeps getting cut off here. Not by the narks, but by a bunch of idiots.

Fuck you, Adelphia. Fuck. You.

PS: You’re probably wondering why I’ve filed this under “Internet finds” and “Idiots.” Well, it’s because, via the INTERNET, I have FOUND out that Adelphia is IDIOTIC! See it now? You don’t? Then you are lucky… you do not know my pain.

Book Nook: "If Britain Had Fallen"

2007-01-09T16:17:00.000-05:00

Yay, now I'm doing book reviews! Expect lots of them to be history or science fiction in nature.

If Britain Had Fallen
Norman Longmate
London: Greenhill Books, 2004

THE BASICS
As the title suggests, If Britain Had Fallen explores the possible fate of the British Isles had Nazi Germany gone through with Operation Sealion, the proposed invasion of England. The cover shows a success for the invaders with the homage to the famous picture of Adolf Hitler visiting Paris shortly after its surrender. Scheduled to take place in September, 1940, Sealion's success hinged on the ability of the Luftwaffe to knock out both the RAF and England's early warning radar chain. The preparations of both the invader and to-be-invaded are discussed, leading to the Battle of Britain. History, of course, shows what happened; Hitler and Goring's decision to refocus instead on civilian targets allowed the RAF to recover and win the battle. Longmate, however stops actual history just before that fateful decision for his scenario of England falling under the swatztika.

THE "PLOT"
His scenario started with a simple enough point of divergence from reality: The Luftwaffe kept up the pressure on the RAF, and ultimately doubled it. Within a week, the RAF had effectively ceased to exist in southern England, as had the country's chain of radar stations. With air superiority firmly in hand, Sealion went forward. Ultimately, up to half a million German soliders had poured onto the beaches from Dover to Lyme Regis, besieging Britain's coastal defenses and the civilian Home Guard. Although the first 72 hours were bloody for the invaders, they eventually gained the upper hand and push inland. With German forces now virturally unopposed and sweeping north towards their ultimate objective of London, the royal family was evacuated to Canada, and Winston Churchill (one of my favorite figures in history) went down with the ship in style as the capital was overrun:

"Later that afternoon with the Germans already in Trafalgar Square and advancing down Whitehall to take their position in the rear, the enemy unit advancing across St. James 'Park made their final charge... Churchill reluctantly abandoned the machine-gun, drew his pistol and with great satisfaction, for it was a notoriously inaccurate weapon, shot dead the first German to reach the foot of the steps. As two more rushed forward, covered by a third in the distance, Winston Churchill moved out of the shelter of the sandbags. as if personally to bar the way up Downing Street. A German NCO, running up to find the cause of the unexpected hold-up, recognised him and shouted to the soldiers not to shoot, but he was too late. A burst of bullets from a machine-carbine caught the Prime Minister in the chest. He died instantly, his back to Downing Street, his face toward the enemy, his pistol still in his hand."

After the death of Churchill, Longmate returns to a more serious and realistic tone in postulating "What next?" The author looks to not only occupied Europe in general as a guide, but a little known fact of history: The Germans did in fact part of England, the Channel Islands, for a great deal of the war. The theory he comes up with is a mixed bag, and it's not pretty.

As expected, we see the confiscation of most useful things for the German war effort, namely food, equipment, rubber and petrol (likely to be used in the imminent Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union). The the museums are looted, their contents carted off to Germany for the private collections of Nazis higher-ups. As if to add insult to energy, Longmate reveals, Hitler was going to have Nelson's Column and its base taken down and rebuilt in Berlin. And of course, the Jews of the British Isles are at first ostracized, and then moved to Eastern Europe "for safety reasons."

However, Longmate argues England would have had it much worse than, say, France or Holland. Evidence suggests that the vast majority of young men would have been taken to Germany for slave labor, effectively wiping out the population and workforce. Due to the stubborness of the British, it would be likely that a larger occupation force would remain on the island. Envious of England's farmland and textiles, such industries would also be taken away, as would basic living needs like electicity, gas, and running water. In short, the British Isles would be a destroyed and humbled country, without much hope of rescue like the rest of Europe. Longmate suggests in closing that the United States and the rest of the British Empire would likely not attempt a rescue of the continent, focusing instead on the Pacific after Pearl Harbor ended isolationism.

THE GOOD...
Without a doubt, the shining moment of If Britain Had Fallen is the reconstruction of how Sealion might of gone, assuming of course that the Germans had air superiority. Usually, I don't like alternate history, as it's EXTREMELY hard to craft correctly (don't listen to Harry Turtledove; it's never "If no A, then B"). It's a very vivid and convincing read, and at times downright disturbing, reading like an alternate reality history book. Perhaps the most unnerving is the postulation that Himmler, wanting in on the crushing of the Reich's last enemy, would send an SS unit in after the Wehrmacht, and they would immediately start commiting the atrocities we all know and hate them for. In particular, Longmate writes of a British Lidice that briefly strengths British resistance, but it the end, it is all for naught. Longmate also effectively captures the increasingly hopeless attempts to repel the invaders, and that the British know it. The description of the royal family's evacuation from the Isles and the fall of London (besides the somewhat campy last stand of Churchill) define the end of England.

The other positive is that I really had my knowledge of occupied Europe broadened. I had NO idea that Germany actually held some part of England during the war. Therefore, reading about the occupation of the Channel Islands was a refreshing and informative change of pace. Instead of re-reading the same facts I know about, say, the French Resistance or the White Rose or Vichy France, Longmate was presenting information that I had no idea about. I enjoyed the book immensely for that as well.

THE BAD...
The problem is, Longmate focuses a bit too much on the occupation of the Channel Islands. In some places, it seems more a history of that than a musing on a Nazi England. To be fair, Sealion never happened, and the Germans didn't really plan as much for the occupation of compared to the invasion, so his material was limited. However, the author's method is telling about the experience of the Channel Islands in detail, and then periodically saying "Oh, this is what I think would have happened in England based on this" for a few paragraphs. Simply put, I would have liked to have seen more extrapolation. I would have in particular liked to seen more support on his argument about there being no Quislings, because as he ironically points out later, occupation does horrible things to people. Also, some further discussion of anti-Semitism in England would have been appreciated.

Also, there's a few things Longmate discusses that seem to be straying from his topic. In particular is Hitler's plans for the supercity of Germania (nee Berlin). He does try to lead it into an occupied England in a unified Nazi Europe, but it still seems to distract from the focus of the book. Also, his opinion on England's fate economically is hard to pin down. He describes the Isles both being stripped of everything useful and being left to their own economy, but doesn't seem to decide on any one outcome.

...AND THE ENDING.
Despite focusing a bit too much on his extrapolation material and wavering on his outcomes in some subjects, Norman Longmate penned a fascinating work with If Britain Had Fallen. This is the first time we've seen more than the plans for Sealion, or a "what if" of their execution (I've seen both British and German victories, incidently). And as I said previously, this scenario reads like a textbook/chapter from an alternate reality history book, even writing "historians would call this battle" or "this day would be known," which was a nice touch I thought. If you're a World War II buff, an alternate history person, or just want to expand your horizons about this defining chapter of world history, you should pick this up as a supplement. But, I'd suggest you try a more well rounded history of the European war/Nazi Germany first to fully appreciate it. Try the primer-level The Complete Idiot's Guide to Nazi Germany or, if you want to put hair on your chest, the classic The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

VERDICT: Like I said, great read, but with its flaws. Borderline B+/A-.

BEST PART: The simulation of Operation Sealion.

BEST LINE: N/A. It's a history book.

The kind of logic he denied his victims

2007-01-09T01:18:00.000-05:00

I was just looking over the comments about the execution of Saddam Hussein (because there's not that much being said about it), and I just noticed this one from ol' George Dubya:

"Today, Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial -- the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime."

So... Saddam Hussein denied his victims the justice of wanton execution. I'd say more, but I do believe the logic side of my brain has just looked at its fellow components, loaded a revolver, and ventilated itself.

For my own $0.02... the only way this could have been MORE of a kangaroo court is if it were actually in the Australian Outback. Now, don't get me wrong, Saddam Hussein was a terrible person who lead a terrible regime (and don't get me started on the comparisons of Nazi Germany... not even close). But, to call this a "fair trial" is beyond absurd. The Shi'a government and a Shi'a convicted him of murdering 148 Shi'a, and hanged him with Shi'a squad looking (and cheering) on. All other charges against Kurds and Sunni have been dropped. I can think of no better way to incorporate the Sunnis than making a martyr of Saddam Hussein, and no better way to enforce the legitimacy of the Iraqi government than having it a Shi'a operation from start to finish.

And when you think of the litany of crimes attributed to the Ba'ath Party while they were in power, 148 is nothing in comparison. This is like executing Adolf Hitler for cutting you off in traffic, or Josef Stalin for stealing candy from a baby: Out of allllllll the things you did, let's go for a really easy, minor one.

It's such a shame... I was so eager to Slobodon Milosevic go to prison for putting a tack on a teacher's chair.

Gas in the Big Apple?

2007-01-08T10:35:00.000-05:00

CNN and FOX5 are reporting there's a "gas odor" spreading across New York City, focused primarily in Manhattan and the suburbs in New Jersey. Although everyone's stressing it's not terrorism (great that has to happen everytime there's a problem, eh?), there's a lot of head scratching. Not only is no there idea where it's coming from, but New York's utilities companies are reporting no leaks in their systems.

Developing, I suppose...

EDIT: Well, as of 2 PM, they still don't know where the gas is coming from. Some people blame ConEd, others places in New Jersey... who knows?

NASA, you morons.

2007-01-08T10:11:00.000-05:00

From CNN.com:
Scientist: NASA found life on Mars -- and killed it

So, apparently, when the Viking probes went on their merry way in the late 1970s, they didn't know what they were looking for. So, they decided to tinker with the soil, and see what would happen:

One Viking experiment seeking life on Mars poured water on soil. That would have essentially drowned hydrogen peroxide-based life, he said. And different experiment heated the soil to see if something would happen which would have baked Martian microbes.

So, that's how Earth's first interaction with extraterrestrial life went: We killed it. Score one for us and interplanetary relations. Because, if it's one thing we humans do really well, it's killing lots and lots of people.

I'd be careful next time you start dinking around with Martian life, guys... the last thing we'd want to do is make one very angry.

TV Show Review: "American Dad," "Bush Comes to Dinner"

2007-01-07T21:11:00.000-05:00

I guess "TV Show Review" will have to do until I get a wittier title. For the most part, I assume the reader knows at least SOMETHING about the show. I mean... why else would you read it if you didn't? :)

"BUSH COMES TO DINNER"
American Dad
Air Date: January 7, 2007

THE BASICS
Stan wins an essay-writing contest, leading President Bush to come over for dinner. His dream evening is nearly ruined by Hayley's constant attempts to grill him on Iraq. The evening turns for the worst when Bush gets back on the horse and becomes a raving drunk. Meanwhile, Roger and Steve think they've tracked down Osama bin Laden, but it turns out to only be a Georgetown medical student.

THE GOOD...
All and all, I really enjoyed this episode. It had some pretty good lines, it moved effectively, and avoided many of the pitfalls (unlike Hayley) that MacFarlane's shows usually fall into. Namely, throwing in random pop culture and shock value, or beating up the teenage girl character for the hell of it (IOW, don't get me started on Family Guy).

The parody of President Bush... well, I think it served its purpose. Let's face it. Love him or hate him, it doesn't take much to make fun of George W. Bush. I think the episode did hit upon some of the generic Bush jokes (his mispronounciations, his odd way of carrying himself, etc). Showing Bush drunk, raving like a maniac, and running through town buck naked at night is certainly daring, but for the most part it was used affectively.

I'm guessing some liberals may be calling foul about Bush giving the moral of the story, even making Hayley thank him. I think that's unmerited. Even though there's a lot I don't like about Bush and his job performance, one thing I will give him is that he gave up liquor to stay with his girls. That takes a lot of guts and hard work to do. So, I don't think it odd that he scolded Stan for calling Hayley a hopeless drunk... I could see Bush arguing that to give up your daughter to booze is a terrible, terrible thing. In fact, I say kudos to the writers for not taking an easy out with Bush making an ass of himself, but showing that he's a human being, not an aimless parody. I also liked how Hayley obviously has a mind, and didn't post pictures of a drunk Bush on the Internet like a brainless liberal stereotype from Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity. Still, I'm pretty sure "President Cheney" was one reason she did that.

THE BAD...
Nothing really stands out at me as being bad. The only thing I might complain about is all the licks Hayley took during the episode, as she's my favorite character. Such things pale in comparison to what's happened to her this season, both in and out of character. But, I've always felt it's certainly in Stan's character to hurt, imprison, even maim his "evil liberal daughter" to make sure Bush enjoys his evening. We officially have confirmation on that.

I don't think Steve and Roger's subplot really went anywhere, as it was so brief and "Meanwhile..." in design, only serving as a cause belli for Bush's intoxication. However, I suggest you watch the credits.

...AND THE ENDING
Overall, great episode. "American Dad" is a hit or miss show, and tonight, for the most part, it was a grand slam. If you wouldn't mind (or eagerly embrace like moi) a parody of the most powerful man on Earth that includes streaking and skinny dipping, I'd suggest you watch it. If you're a fan of the show, regular or casual, I'd also recommend it. If, however, you think such a parody is akin to taking God's name in vain and an act of treason, I'd stay away.

VERDICT: Again, awesome episode. A-

BEST MOMENT(S):
1. Bush's streaking/babbling through Langley Falls.
2. Bush's urging to Stan to not give up on Hayley.
3. Hayley's never-give-up attitude to grilling Bush (that is one tough teenager!)

BEST LINE(S):
"I made you a wallet out of their hides." Hayley, informing Stan how she survived his latest attempt to kill her with unnamed creatures.
"Uhhhh... no... blood... for oil..." Hayley, trying to shake of Stan's stun dart.
"Touch it. TOUCH IT! Ha ha ha!!!" President Bush, drunk, telling Stan to touch a model Washington Monument.
"Go to the quiet corner, Stan. No, it's not milk time." Deputy Director Bullock, to a sulking Stan.

Whoever came up with postgame shows....

2007-01-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

...needs to be dragged out into the street and caned (as in, hit with a cane).

Honestly, what's the f***ing point of postgame shows? You JUST watched the damn game. You already KNOW what happened, why do we need a bunch overpaid fading stars to tell us "Philadelphia beat New York tonight" when we just saw that? On top of that, they have a ticker keeping you up to date on other games, so why? What's the point! I wanna watch my damn cartoon, not Terry Bradshow and the other guys saying "X played a great game!" and "Y is looking tired" and "Z is the heart and soul of this team" to each other. It's just... stupid!

On a more down note, I want to say sorry to Dad, since his New York Giants lost to Philadelphia in tonight's nailbiting ending. Better luck next year.

(EDIT: It seems my ranting took longer to type than the postgame show. Let's... just forget this happened, okay?)

I must be getting better at this

2007-01-07T19:49:00.000-05:00

I've been posting for a few days straight... sometimes several times a day! I'm so proud of myself... *sniff*

Nothing major happened today, I went to the Maine Mall in South Portland and windowshopped with my best friend. I also went to a Pizza Hut Italian Bistro. Yes, you read that right. Pizza Hut is operating an actual restaurant. And, I have to confess... not too bad. I certainly enjoyed the fettuccine alfredo, and my bud's BBQ pizza... Mmmm mmmm.

Well, that's enough for now... I'll be back later tonight for my first TV show review, tonight's episode of "American Dad," entitled "Bush Comes to Dinner."

....

I can't wait.

But, what will we eat now?!

2007-01-06T20:54:00.000-05:00

A tragedy for us college students:

TOKYO - Momofuku Ando, the Japanese inventor of instant noodles — a dish that has sustained American college students for decades — has died. He was 96.

I, like millions of other undergrads, have also depended on the wonder that is Ramen many a night. He will be missed. Let us crack open a bowl of Chicken-flavored noodles in his honor.

*crack*
*slurp*

You can read Mr. Ando's obituary here.

Stupid Adelphia

2007-01-06T15:17:00.000-05:00

If anyone thinks Adelphia's HSI connection is a good one, you should sign yourself up for electro-shock therapy, effective the day you started.

I've been back to Maine on Winter Break since December 14, and the Internet connection here leaves a good deal to be desired. Sometimes it's fine. Sometimes you can't get on for a few seconds. Sometimes, a few hours. And, it seems there are no really answers to what's going on, which makes it all the more obnoxious.

*le sigh*

I'd say I'm ready to head back to Susquehanna, but this is pretty petty and, well... I kinda like not having to do anything academic.

New Format: Yea or Nay?

2007-01-06T13:59:00.000-05:00

I decided to try a new format to herald in the New Year and my attempts to blog frequently.... what do you guys think?

...if anyone reads this, that is...

The Best Part of Waking Up is Jesus' Aroma in Your Cup

2007-01-06T12:40:00.000-05:00

Anyone seen this new video on AlterNet, about Christian Embassy? It's a promo about politicians and Pentagon employees who are putting "[their] relationship with Jesus Christ" foremost in how they do their jobs. This doesn't smack of that whole "seperation of church and state" thing at all, does it? Personally, I have no trouble with people being open about their faith and how it sustains them. But when I see the American military and Capitol Hill boasting about how it channels them, then I have... concerns.

Faith is a double edged sword. It can be a wonderful way of staying on your feet in a tough day, motivating change, and centering your morality. That's all well and good, and I have respect for that. But when you start putting that as the spearhead for how you do your job, in a country of three hundred million people of different faiths, and start using Christianity as a core chunk of your "America 101" lectures, then we have trouble. It's that simple.

I like how one guy says towards the last third that they're only bringing the message of Jesus, not religion. It doesn't work that way. He's the head of Christianity, you can't talk about Him without His faith. It's a package deal. It's not an option, like driver's side airbags, you can just take out. It's that simple.

Do I think, like, a Christian theocracy's coming? Of course not. But, on the other hand, I sure don't like where this could be going. I mean, "Aroma of Jesus?" D'oh.

If you wanna see it for yourself, go nuts: http://alternet.org/blogs/video/45438/

I should probably have said this earlier...

2007-01-06T01:28:00.000-05:00

I applied to Fordham University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences last Saturday. I'm hoping to get my Masters in history. It's the first of five school's I'm applying to.

Wish me luck!

(Also, a big thanks to Susquehanna's entire history department for lending all sorts of aid, from reviewing my statement to putting up with my confusion of how to apply to a grad school)

Rousse Rant: "Poseidon"

2007-01-06T00:03:00.000-05:00

I figure in order to get this baby going again, I'll review movies and TV shows I've seen. I'd have picked a better title, but unlike some people, my last name doesn't alliterate well with a unit of time. Naturally, there's spoilers, so if you want to see it unspoiled, don't read!

"POSEIDON"
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Released May 12, 2006

THE BASICS
So, basically, as the poster suggests, a big ol' boat gets knocked over by a big ol' wave, and it's up to a ragtag group of survivors to haul stern and get out before she sinks. It's a remake of the 1972 classic, which was a dramatization of a novel by Paul Gallico, both of which I've partaken of (and recommend). "Poseidon" holds up well enough, but it does leave something to be desired in the end. There really isn't a plot to the movie outside of the above, so to go into detail is rather pointless.

THE GOOD...
First and foremost, the actors. I think Richard Dreyfuss (a naval architect), Kurt Russel (a former firefighter/mayor of New York, woo!) and John Lucas (an ex-Navy man) are the best, and the three of them work well together trying to save themselves, as well as their fellow survivors. The cast as a whole works well, but for me these were the most likeable characters. While others pull at your heart strings by design, these three were more well-rounded and sympathetic to the viewer.

The other positive would have to be, without a doubt, the titular scene where the Poseidon gets hers from the rouge wave. It really is an amazing sequence, which YouTube can attest to below (Warning: General disaster mayhem).

In addition to the above graphics, Petersen and Co. have done an amazing job of creating a dying ocean liner. The creaks, bangs, gurgles of flooding water, and short circuiting sparks are extremely well done, and do wonders to add to the atmosphere as the Poseidon continues to descend (hee hee) into chaos and destruction. I also left the film impressed with the set designers. We're basically talking about building an entire ship, rightside up AND upside down. An incredible feat to say the least. If there is one flawless star to behold in this film, it's the stupendous work of the art and digital effects crews.

THE BAD...
But, there's negatives to this, as you can imagine. Ultimately, I have two main areas of complaint. While the acting is generally good all around, the characters are pretty cookie cutter. IE, the mother, the little boy, the idealist, the obvious redshirt waiter, the oblivious captain, the guy we all want to hiss at and die, etc. It's kind of perplexing that such a thing happened, since Akiva Goldsmith is supposedly an Academy Award caliber writer (maybe it was a slow year? He did totally screw up The DaVinci Code). Although it can be somewhat distracting, this alone doesn't, er, sink the movie.

Perhaps my biggest complaint is that the movie at times seems to go out of its way to be morbid. Where do I begin. With the waiter that was impaled, then CRUSHED by debris? Watching a little boy nearly drown before his helpless mother's eyes? Or maybe the increasing body count via flashfires, flashflooding, and flashfalling. While it didn't make the movie unwatchable, it was distracting and somewhat unnerving, which an action/disaster movie should not be. They're not overly graphic scenes, but it can get redundant at times. You're supposed to kick back and turn the brain off, not grimace (unless it sucks). Call Freddy or Jason for that kind of thing.

(As a minor negative, I was surprised there were no references to the Queen of Ocean Liner Sinkings, the Titanic. EVERY OLS, including The Poseidon Adventure, has one.)

...AND THE ENDING.
So, what's the final verdict on "Poseidon?" If you're like me, someone who likes to kick back every now and then with a brainless, FX laden romp, you may want to give it a try. If you don't like that kind of thing, or would find the above morbidity upsetting, I'd suggest you steer clear and stay in harbor. In the end, it's a good popcorn flick, but nothing more.

VERDICT: I'll be generous: B-

BEST MOMENT(S): A tie.
1. The capsizing of the Poseidon.
2. Seeing the body of an asshole who got crushed by falling machinery float by John Lucas' character underwater a minute later.

BEST LINE(S): Another tie.
1. "No. No." -First Officer Chapman (Gabriel Jarret), upon first sighting the rouge wave.
2. "These ships weren't designed to float upside down." Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss), arguing why his fellow survivors should try to escape.

This'll eff up your day...

2007-01-05T13:27:00.000-05:00

Check out this lovely depiction of the end of all life as we know it from the Japanese station NHK's "Miracle Planet." I saw the English version on the Science Channel, a few years ago. Even if it's subtitled, it doesn't take away from its... uh... impact.

Apparently, the writers felt that the six mile chunk of rock that pwnd the dinosaurs, the New York sized chunk wanting to make a Deep Impact and the Texas-sized one bringing Armaggedon was boring... so, they lobbed a chunk the size of HONSHU ISLAND at Earth. Like I said... this'll eff up your day, at least until this stuff reaches your neck of the woods.

EDIT: There's some scientific discussion of this here. And, if I have any easily scared readers, let me quote the man here:
"I’ll stress right here that the odds of anything this size hitting us even in the next million years are slim to none. We know of every asteroid this size in the solar system out to terrific distances, and none is slated to ruin our day (or millennium)."

I shouldn't be allowed to wash dishes

2007-01-04T13:28:00.000-05:00

Remember those ancient days where I had trouble at a restuarant washing dishes? (You may need to nap for a while to do that.) Well, I just finished the dishes for my dad, and I nearly flooded the counter, then shot myself with the hose extention.

Something tells me Donald Trump won't be calling for my expertise anytime soon. Now then, I'm going to call my best bud and see if he can do anything before I head back to college.

Thomas Jefferson's a filthy raghead!

2007-01-03T21:58:00.000-05:00

I know one person who actually reads this commented I do too much political commentary, but I have to point this one out. It's a news brief on how Keith Ellison will be allowed to use the Quran during his swearing in tomorrow. And that's despite a giant bruhaha about his doing so. I think it shows the Constitution still works.

A lot of people comment on how America is a Christian nation. Unfortunately for Pat Robertson and his ilk, that's not quite true. If one would read the Treaty of Tripoli from 1796, you would find the following comment from the American representative:

"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion..."

Oops.

Now, I personally am an atheist, so I obviously don't subscribe to either the Christian or Muslim faith systems. However, I do believe that every American has a right to practice religion as he or she sees fit, provided you don't, you know, go blowing up abortion clinics or something. So, the idea that he HAS to be sworn in on the Bible is idiotic at best, and bigoted at worse. I'd like to say at this point congratulations to Rep. Ellison, and I hope he defends the Constitution in Congress as well as he has before being sworn into it.

Oh, and the fact that the Quran used to be owned by Thomas Jefferson makes it all the more appropriate and symbolic... unless you think the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence would be a terrorist coddler, in which case I suggest you smack yourself upside the head a couple times.

LINK O' THE DAY: Why do I care (if I'm not faithful)? This guy sums it up well.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-03T21:46:00.000-05:00

I'd resolve to keep this blog going, but... I really seem to suck at that.

If anyone from fanfiction.net reads this, check out the latest chapter of "The Life and Times of June, Jody and Ophelia."

Oh, I forgot...

2006-11-09T16:42:00.000-05:00

If anyone from FF.net reads my blog, I posted a new oneshot last week, called "Pushpins." It's based on the last scene in an episode of Jericho, a new CBS TV series. Check it out sometime, especially via InnerTube if need be.

Anyway, go over and take a gander at it here. It's my first live-action fic, so be more gentle than the only review I've had so far...

Let's Try This

2006-11-09T16:35:00.000-05:00

Hey, I know... I'll leave the thing right here, and then I can remember to post! Sounds fun, huh? I sure hope so, anyway...

So, w00t, the Dems have pwnd in Congress this week... I look forward to two years of lame duckery from our current President.

Anyway, if ANYONE is reading this, keep checking back... I'm going to try to have an exclusive ChickTrack bash in the near future. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really should get back to that History of Medicine pathography analysis...

LINK O' THE DAY: Get some real news... try the BBC.