Random 4-28

nothingsevergonnastandinmywayagain

Sin City

Saw Sin City last night. Even though I like that stylish sort of comic book genre, I've never actually read the series. So I cannot speak to how true it is to the books, but the impression I get is that the core of the stories was kept with a few details added or dropped for convenience or continuity. Anyway, if you are squeamish or have ever had any recurring nightmares in which blood is colors other than red, this might not be your cup of oily, day old coffee. But if you like the idea of a story where the bad guys get beaten down and the good guys (if your moral compass if demagnetized) suffer just as much in the process, then if you haven't seen it by now, see it.
I wonder, now, how this movie would be with a crowd. I saw it in a theater with a population of 5, myself included. I suppose it doesn't qualify as a date night movie for the majority of couples in this world, save for those who met at a comic book convention or in rehab.
The actors all took to their roles as if they were confident that this movie would not destroy their careers, even the Gilmore daughter (Bledel), who was able to cast aside the prim uptightness of her television personality to portray a guilt-ridden hooker. That was the only performance that surprised me; Bruce Willis and the rest did what you'd expect them to do with this material.

Done!

Grad school, the sequel, is now complete. Which begs the question, if they'll let someone like me be a school principal...
No, just kidding. It was a lot of work. And though I didn't do everything I wanted to do during my internship, I picked up on enough to be effective.
So now I get back those hours of the week. Maybe it's time to get a second job, until I can turn this degree into a cash cow. Or maybe I'll finally tackle the long-neglected task of learning to play the piano. Yes, extremes. Typical me, typical me.

Mixology

Ever been making a mix tape or CD, and there is a band you like and want to put on it, but you just cannot figure out how to make them fit in with the rest of the songs?
And you employ various strategies. Sometimes you can lead off with the odd duck, then bounce along with a couple more of the less aligned tracks until settling into a consistent groove around track 4. Or there is the instrumental bumper, which feels almost like a commercial break...we'll be back with our regularly scheduled mix after these messages. The worst thing, though, is the end of the mix straggler, actually something I am guilty of more often than I would like. And there is no clear solution, because every situation is different.
I guess that is why I liken it to a minor work of art, the creation of a good mix. And since I have the artist's streak in me, but no particular talent with a paint brush or chisel or blowtorch, I channel my artistic energies into the selection and ordering of songs.

Pre-emptive Strike

So this is what I do not understand. You're a Republican, there's this dictator in Iraq who you think is going to do some really awful shit. So you go over there and grab him. Now, at the same time, you are advocating sex ed programs that are based on abstinence. Because kids might have sex, might get pregnant, might catch some disease. Let's just be real for a minute. Saddam did awful things and it's a certainty that he would have done more evil, so I'm okay with him being gone, even if the methods we used to justify it were muddled at best and outright despicable at worst. Teens are going to have sex, and no amount of abstinence pledging is going to change that. Let's stop pretending. You cannot deal with an issue effectively if your basic assumption about it is incorrect. Instead of preaching abstinence, why not give kids the facts. Explain to them how much it costs to raise a child. Help them value their own life, and their prospects for it, enough so that they can make an informed decision. Same thing with Iraq; if they had been honest about it, I bet the big surprise would have been how many people would support the same result; ie., removing Saddam from power. If you humanize the situation, if you make people sympathetic to your cause, you can usually get what you want.

Countdown

Can I truly be only 5 days away from completing grad school, the sequel? And could I possibly have any more inane homework to finish up before being truly, totally done? Yes and No. Don't you love when people ask insipid hypothetical questions then answer them? Maybe. If I updated this nonsense every day, would anyone read it? My sources say no. Alrighty then. I should be outside. Instead of in here, doing homework, listening to Postal Service. "I'll be the phonograph that plays your favorite albums back as your drifting off to sleep."

Torture

This just in. I have it on good authority that Chicago radio stations are piped into the cells of Guantanomo Bay detainees.