i m N s h o

Time off for movies…   So I took a week off from work to just get away from it, relax, read a book or two, catch up on some movies and just generally do nothing that could be construed as productive. And I’ve pretty much succeeded. (Oh sure, I’ve signed up for a class at SMC and attended the first night, and I’ve done some chores around the house, but I’ve generally avoided the whole productive thing.)   I have managed to catch up on a couple of movies I’ve been meaning to see—one I haven’t seen and a couple I saw ages ago… and it’s been an exercise in frustration and disappointment. (Though I think I’ve gotten over that by now.)   Punch Drunk Love was one I was looking forward to earlier this year. Sure, it had Adam Sandler in it, which is usually reason enough for me to stay away (Mr. Deeds, anyone?). But Paul Thomas Anderson directs it, and I thought both Boogie Nights & Magnolia were fascinating films, so I figured I’d overlook the Sandl...

Don’t you wish sometimes they’d just opt for honesty?   “In a joint statement today, the combined CEO’s for ‘Big Oil’ acknowledged that the reason for this month’s drastic price hikes was, in the words of their spokesperson, ‘Profit, pure & simple’.”   “‘We raise prices every summer coming into the Labor Day weekend,’ the spokesperson read from a prepared statement, ‘We just decided that, after watching Enron gouge California for billions of dollars and get away with it, it was time we got a share of the pie. We opted for a more dramatic increase than in previous years, knowing the Bush administration was not inclined to meddle in our operations. It didn’t hurt that we could push the price for gas in California higher than anywhere else in the country, since we’ve seen that this administration isn’t too pleased with California these days.’   “‘Don’t worry,” the spokesperson concluded, ‘Prices will return to their normally exorbitant pre-Labor Day levels shortly a...

HA! I LOVE these guys!   An open letter to Rep. Darrell Issa, from The Bush Recall Team! Obviously they don't stand a chance in hell, but hey, you gotta love where they're coming from!

It’s Ba-a-a-a-ck!   Saturday morning we’re doing a little channel surfing, killing time before we leave the house. I change to one of the multitude of HBO channels on our cable and I see what looks like a really young Jay Leno in some kind of cop movie. And all I can think is ‘I didn’t know Leno ever did any movies.’ He’s always been the stand-up comedy, late-night talk-show host guy to me. While I’m watching, the scene shifts and there’s Pat Morita, doing some stereotypical Hollywood eastern mystic type shtick. I check the program listing and it’s some buddy cop comedy called Collision Course .   Sunday morning I’m thumbing through this week’s Entertainment Weekly and I come across this listing in their Deal Report column: “‘And now, Mr. Leno, at long last, we come to your riskiest film— Collision Course , with the great Noriyuki “Pat” Morita.’ Immortal thesp Jay Leno will become the first talk show host to get the lapdog treatment from James Lipton on Bravo’s In...

Our President, at his best…   Bush to Avoid Recall Talk in Calif. Visit "Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Bush bristled at the suggestion that the recall campaign was the dominant item on the nation's political agenda right now. "'There's maybe other political stories," he said. "Isn't there, like, a presidential race coming up?'"   Somebody give the Pres his milk & cookies and his pacifier. Sounds like he needs a nap.   (I do love it when Dubya comes across as petulant and spoiled. It says so much about the man.)   Oh, and while I'm doing politics… we're down to 135 candidates for governor. WHEW! THAT'S a relief!   Calif. Recall Ballot Will Have 135 Names

247 Have Filed in Calif. Governor's Race   247 people trying to run for Governor. What a farce. Estimates of what it's going to cost California for this special election are topping $66 million and counting.   Hey, can we send Darrell Issa the bill?

Fox News Sues Al Franken Over Slogan   Fox sues Franken over 'fair and balanced'   "Fox News Channel is suing liberal humorist Al Franken over the phrase "fair and balanced"… saying it registered "fair and balanced" as a trademark in 1995. "The cable network has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit seeking a court order forcing a Penguin publisher, Dutton books, to rename the book called—'Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.'"   So, let me get this straight, Fox News thinks that it owns the rights to ANY use of the phrase "fair and balanced"? Hardly seems fair OR balanced… but then, it IS Fox News we're talking here.

Just a quick update…   We're up to 193 possible candidates, and counting. And this includes Gary Coleman, Gallegher (the watermelon smashing comedian), Angelyne (of the famous Hollywood billboards), Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and an adult film actress named Mary Carey. Suddenly, Arnold's not sounding so bad.

i m N s h o ?!? (for those of you wondering, that’s “in my NOT so humble opinion”)   See, when I originally set up my blog and had to name it, Ranting & Raving was the first thing that came to mind, so I went with that, assuming I’d change it later. (Well, actually I thought of Brain Droppings, then realized that was the name of a George Carlin book and decided to skip that idea.)   It’s been a few months and nothing’s really struck me, so I haven’t changed the name… until I noticed the other day that there’s another blog on Blogger that’s called Ranting & Raving (see, there’s a section on the Blogger homepage that lists recently updated blogs and I saw R&R listed and knew I hadn’t posted recently). Well, now I knew someone else was using my blog title, so I had to change it. (Let’s face it, blogging’s a vanity thing—wouldn’t do to have someone else using the same title now, would it?)   I’d debated IMHO, since that’s Internet geek for “in my humble ...

And the circus begins…   158 File Papers for Recall Election “A flood of last-minute candidates surged into California's unprecedented gubernatorial recall race Saturday, leaving as many as 158 headed for the ballot.”   158 candidates for governor. What a freaking zoo. Sure, the vast majority are probably vanity candidates doing it for a lark; to push their own narrow agenda; or just because they thought it would be fun… "I absolutely have some genuine issues. I started for publicity, but now that I'm running, I kind of want to run.” How’s that for some conviction, huh? (Read about this guy and the rest of the mob here .)   But the rest of us are stuck with a recall ballot that’s going to look like a small book and the likelihood that whoever gets elected, assuming Davis does get recalled, is going to do it on a substantially smaller number of votes than in a regular election, because who’s really going to take this mess seriously? (Not that ANY ...

Arnold for Governor?   Announcing his candidacy last night on Jay Leno, Schwarzenegger said, "I will go to Sacramento, and I will clean house." ( California recall race )   God, just the kind of simple-minded, sound-bite optimized, content-free crap I'd expect at this point. Arnold may be a very smart man and he may end up being a very capable politician. But is it really too much to ask for more than glib humor and action hero clichés from the guy that wants to run the state?

The annoyances of LA Driving…   Ah, where to start, that’s the question! Since I’ve brought up the subject, I figured I might as well sound off about some of the things that bug me. The biggest problem with LA drivers is the combination of balls-out arrogance and mind numbing stupidity. Put those together and you’ve got a hell of a combo.   The ones that annoy me the most have got to be the ones that I see as suffering from "center-of-the-universe" syndrome (CotU for short). These a-holes are the ones that are convinced that they ARE the center of the universe and that the rest of us are just petty annoyances and obstacles between them and their destination. They’re the clowns using the right turn lane at stop lights as a passing lane (a personal favorite of mine—I’ve raced people that are pulling this stunt to make sure they don’t get ahead of me, just because it annoys me so much. I know, juvenile, but what can I say). They’re the same people that think tha...

I'm going to opt for this being a good thing…   Poindexter to Quit Pentagon Post Amid Controversy (you can also read about it here .)   The only way this wouldn't be a good thing is if, now that this loon's out of the building, people might start taking DARPA seriously. Then we'd be in real trouble.

Good Stress/Bad Stress…   I saw an article a few months back talking about the benefits of good stress versus the dangers of bad stress. The terms made sense to me at the time, but they’ve come into sharp focus for me in recent weeks…   Good stress is the kind of stress you can do something about and, probably more importantly, feel like you’ve accomplished something afterwards. A deadline or project that you’re working on can be good stress because, while you’re working hard to get there, once you’ve accomplished your goal (hit the deadline, completed the project, etc.) the stress goes away and you feel a sense of accomplishment. That doesn’t mean that the stress you’ve felt won’t be replaced by similar stress for the next deadline or project… simply that you’ve dealt with that stress source and have moved on. This kind of stress can be good for you because it keeps you challenged, keeps you active, gives you that sense of accomplishment.   I...