Quick, Random Jabs
May 5, 2008 by Huston
- Iron Man is fantastic. Why in the world did it take Hollywood so long to make a movie where a superhero flies over to the Middle East and kicks some serious terrorist butt?
- At Port of Subs on Saturday, they forgot to put my wife’s potato salad in the bag, so she ran back inside. When she did, a guy who’d been sitting there asked her if the guy he’d just seen her with was named Huston. She said yes, and he ran outside to where I was waiting in the van. I didn’t recognize him until he told me his name–he’d been in one of my classes seven years ago. I remember him as a kind, earnest young man who wasn’t afraid to take unpopular positions. He said that after high school he’d joined the Air Force, was currently managing the Starbucks down the street, and was going into law enforcement next week. He also thanked me for the class and said that he’d loved it and benefited from it. My wife came back out with her potato salad just as he said this, so I thanked him and we said goodbye. After one especially aggravating class on Friday, it was refreshing to hear his praise. Thanks, Chris, and good luck in law enforcement.
- Try as I might to find hints of sarcasm or satire in this glowing love note for newly-released Grand Theft Auto IV, it truly does appear to be an actual celebration of acting out sociopathic fantasies and living the hollow life of an addict in the process: http://www.lvrj.com/news/18397834.html. Giving up the veneer of detachment now are we, gamers?
- Speaking of, does the obsession with brutal torture of innocent people on TV now bother anybody else? I love a good murder mystery, but give me a tasteful body in the conservatory and a detective on the case, rather than the glossy scenes of kidnapping, rape, and literal torture that seem to form the plots of most TV dramas now. I can’t finish watching an episode of CSI, Cold Case, Without A Trace, Law & Order, or any of them anymore. Do we really need extended scenes of women and children screaming and cowering from attackers in basement dungeons every week? Is that integral to the story? Is that entertainment? “It makes the story visceral,” you say. “You’re supposed to be shocked.” Whatever. Apparently nothing can be visceral or shocking unless it’s pushing the envelope of good taste to new extremes. Less sado-masochistic fetishizing, more Agatha Christie!
- In the post-Romney era, I’ve been flailing about in a void of confusion. I feel like I’m starting to come out of it, and at this point I’m tentatively leaning toward Ron Paul. Yes, the war on terror is a priority and, yes, McCain will prosecute it aggressively and effectively. But, frankly, McCain stinks on everything else. As I examine the things that matter most (see http://gentlyhewstone.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/the-five-worst-problems-in-america-today-and-the-one-thing-we-can-do-about-them/), I can’t deny that Paul is right. On limited government, restoring liberty, economic responsibility, border security, and a host of other issues, he’s rational and grounded in classical American Constitutionalism (I’ve been reading The Federalist Papers lately, so this is on my mind…) I disagree with Paul on some of his opinions regarding Iraq, but, bottom line, I’d much rather risk losing part of a larger war in the Middle East, than guarantee losing the war to preserve the success of civilization here at home…
- Go to Wendy’s. Buy a frosty and some fries. Dip your fries in the frosty, then eat them.
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Posted in Education, Humor, Living well, Politics and Society, Random | Tagged cultural criticism, Garfield, Iron Man, Ron Paul, TV violence |
