Saturday, March 28, 2009

Uncomfortable Realities We Often Ignore

Hubert Selby Jr. is one of my favorite writers. Known for his gratuitous imagery, exploring the mind's stream of consciousness, its self-deception, and humanizing the inhumane, he writes about characters who are shunned by society. This music video features a montage of clips from a very intense dramatic film, Requiem for a Dream. Adapted from Selby's novel, director Darren Arnofsky delivers a very stark, surreal set of images that captivates individuals' desires and addictions. I vomitted after watching this movie the first time. Yes, it was that intense. Ironically, Selby did the same after he read The Room once he completed writing it.

This artist is one of the true musical geniuses of our time. He is the great-great nephew of Herman Melville and uses his music industry's monicker after Melville's most famous character. This is one of my favorite tracks Moby has recorded. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txuXjUk_voU

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Southern Sloppies

One of the symptoms I've noticed about the South is how spineless people are when calling you out on mistakes. Yes, I'm venting on my lunch hour. Here's a typical example. When working as a journalist, my boss came up to me one day and said, "Someone called and said you need to make a correction on your Development Authority article. The second to the last paragraph is inaccurate." O.k. I responded by saying this was what was said at the meeting. "It doesn't matter." "Well, who called in to make the complaint?" "It doesn't matter. We're going to have to run a retraction for the next issue." Translation: If you don't like the message, blame the messenger.

The South is completely opposite from New England and other places I've worked and lived in. In New England, people are considered rude for how blunt they are. I don't consider someone's uninhibited honesty as a sign of rudeness. This way, I'm not having to guess for future endeavors what I need to do to correct past mistakes or accomodate this person's requests. Bottom line, don't be a pussy if you have a problem with someone. Have some balls or pussy control to be up front and express your qualms.

Yesterday, some jackass at our main account was completely disorganized. I knew today exactly whom made the complaint. Naturally, I received the proverbial, "We provide them a service. It doesn't matter who said it. Just monitor what you're doing." This guy who made the complaint had his work station completely dishoveled, so I couldn't completely fix his mess he created. Plus, I made a sarcastic comment to him one day when he was trying to be pushy with me. This tells me a lot about the Southern culture as a whole. Yes, I make mistakes but don't call me out on them. This observation can also be applied to the sloppy, reckless Conservative pundits.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Comparing my brackets to the Prez.

It's very cool to see how down-to-earth President Barack Obama is. Yes, I've been a harsh critic over his decision to support school vouchers, since a relative is strongly involved with spearheading her state's teacher's union. I understand both sides of the argument. Unions can and have impeded progress in some areas. However, they're necessary and needed, particularly in the South where they don't exist. First, public schools are more prone for kids to embrace diversity. Second, private schools have proven to be too insular and those who have outstanding academic success end up flunking out in college because their social skills are limited to those like them. Finally, unions are safety nets for teachers who confront rogue administrators who wish to rid good teachers for frivalous reasons. That said, I'm grateful Barack has tirelessly worked to help rebuild and restore our country. Even his critics can agree that he is hard at work.

I'm competing against my best friend and 40 other employees at my company in an office pool. My friend and I agreed whomever loses will buy new cases of tennis balls for the rest of the year (inexpensive). I threw in a mere $5 on our office pool. This hasn't been my best year, and I'm jealous my friend has been nearly flawless through the first two rounds of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Barack has also done very well thus far. For a little fun, I thought I'd give you a comparison of how I've fared compared to our Prez.:

Here's mine:

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/entry?entryID=2334133

President Obama's:

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/entry?entryID=2813746

Alright. You can laugh at my picks and yes, I had a terrible start last year as well. However, my Final Four teams are still in play. I highly doubt many have taken Gonzaga to get to where I've got them going. It's risky, but they've played lights out since their loss to Memphis. They're very well balanced, have great perimeter shooters, and a few guys down low who are capable shut down defenders. If I lose, let's take it out on the basketball court. (my perfect redneck voice impersonation) Come out, come out, wherever you are. I think this was from Deliverance, but everyone I ask isn't sure.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Con-Servatives blame Obama's handling of economy on March Madness?

Con-Servatives really need to get off the plantation and get their hands dirty from time to time with the rest of us. Yesterday, it was laughable watching a Tennessee Senator blame Obama's handling of the economy for participating in the March Madness tournament selection picks. If anyone has taken part in this, it takes no more than 30 minutes to fill out your brackets. No, Mr. President. You're a public servant. You must work. Work. Work. You can't eat, drink, sleep, piss, shit, until our country looks like Pleasantville.

And what about these Conservatives these days? I love how Keith Olbermann dubs Rush Limbaugh as Boss Limbaugh. Fortunately for Republicans as a whole, you have some intellectuals who are critical of The Boss who include David Frum. My head continues spinning on who I should be called today, "Socialist, Marxist, Communist, McCarthyist." They don't even know what these terms mean let alone having some democratic process like unions. We're not staring down the barrel of a gun when we let our dissenting voices out. Well, perhaps Texas is the exception.

The point of this blog and what I've said repeatedly is the GOP is the "Until it Happens to Me Party." They will continue using extreme policy positions to thwart common sense. When they begin suffering from misfortunes, that's when they want the rest of us to enter the picture and give them handouts. It seems we've given them quite a few handouts these past eight years.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

My tradition continues

I've taken part in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament since I was 6. Yes, that was the age when I made my first basket a mere few feet away from the basket. Instantly, I became hooked on the game of basketball. My height helped me gain an advantage over those my age and some older. The strengths to my game were outside shooting and defense. Today, I still enjoy watching others duke it out on the court.

Last year, I was extremely lucky when picking Kansas to win it all. All Memphis had to do was make a few free throws down the stretch and foul the ball handler who received an inbounds pass with less than 10 seconds remaining and this pick would've been all for naught. Luckily, Mario Chalmers drained a three and the Jayhawks prevailed in overtime. This year, I see a lot of similarities in Louisville to that Kansas team, so I've got Rick Pitino's team winning it all.

The same can be said about pundits you see on cable news networks. My advice is don't listen to the ESPN analysts. I was hopeful that Creighton (attended basketball camp there in Omaha, Neb.) was going to be the last team in based on this bracketology expert, Joe Lunardi. He was practically wrong on every team that he believed would be selected as the last ones. I've seen just about every one of the teams in this field play this year, so I can make informed decisions based on matchups. It's funny how the ones who usually win their office pools or other contests don't even follow the game. I think those who enjoy the college hoops game tend to overanalyze.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! If you're not wearing green, I'm gonna' virtually pinch ya'. Some prefer wearing the orange.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Skip from my Lou Holtz my darlin' and Proof Reality T.V. isn't Real? OMG! LOL!

My family lived about 10 minutes away from the University of Notre Dame for nearly 10 years. I grew up as a huge Fightin' Irish football and basketball fan. My dad took me to the games, and I remember the rise the Irish took to football supremacy. Dating back to the Gerry Faust administration, the Irish had some mediocore seasons to say the least. There was one memorable game when quarterback Steve Beurlein nearly led the Irish to an improbably upset over Michigan. They came up a little short and so did Faust's tenure with the team. The South Bend Tribune's sports section had a glaring headline, Oust Faust. Sure enough, the university fired Faust and hired a feisty up and comer, Lou Holtz.

The team began recruiting some legendary players like Tim Brown, Raghib "Rocket" Ismael, and Tony "Tony, Toni, Toney has done it again and you can't go wrong with Uncle Ben's" Rice. Holtz was known for persistently pacing back and forth on the sideline and occasionally suffering from nervous twitches that had him picking grass off the field. The Irish quickly became a national powerhouse and finally, won a national championship over West Virginia in 1988.

Today, Lou Holtz serves as a sentimental college football analyst for ESPN. If you're a betting man, don't put your odds on Holtz' picks. I know he loves pepping up the underdog, but his expectations are unrealistic. I have a soft spot in my heart for Lou, but he needs to stick to football. Recently, he was seen palling around with Sean Hannity on Hannity's America. If you suffer from any mental deficiencies, you can expect to have a few more if you believe what Hannity tells you. Here's Herr Keith Olbermann's analysis of Lou and Hannity on their silly thoughts about global warming:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#29498957

Keep it Real

A few old friends and seemingly self-proclaimed entertainment experts used to criticize my choice to watch World Wrestling Entertainment's Monday Night Raw. "Huh, huh, you have to be gay to watch men in tights. You know it's fake." My sharp tongue replies, "You just don't see the true entertainment value behind wrestling. It offers great parodies of people we meet each and every day." I provide a few examples and they responded with a deer in the headlights look.

Here's why I've returned to watching Monday Night Raw. Take Randy Orton's character. It takes great non-verbal skills i.e. facial expressions to pull off his cerebral and callous actions. Lately, his character suffers from IED (Intermittent Explosive Disorder). It's a disorder where the character suffers bouts of uncontrollable rage and thus, he doesn't take responsiblity for his brutal actions, most notably Vince McMahon's family for hospitalizing them. You also have an egotistical, primadona in Chris Jericho. He mocks the audience for their lack of contributions to society and lately, has called on all the washed up WWE legends to challenge him to a match. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat came out and was quickly dismantled by Jericho. Wrestling entertainment offers more than skillful athleticism; it also offers great comedy.

The Village Voice's Michael Musto is drop down hilarious. However, he just looks like a guy who has a snotty streak to him. If I met him out somewhere, I'd ask him what he finds most intriguing or provocative in the latest pop culture news. Ten minutes later, I'd probably leave. Hell, I might as hell play you the entire Olbermann show from last night. My favorite line he used was directed at The View's Elizabeth Hasselbeck, "Her priorities are so far up her hoo hah, Barbara Walters can't find them." He also used a term I never heard before, "douchenozzle." Eventually, if the time is right, I hope to use this term. Here's his take on the latest shenanigans from ABC's The Bachelor:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#29499036