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So it's been a busy month and I haven't had much time for blogging… doesn't mean a few things haven't crossed my path that I haven't had thoughts on. So, am I supposed to respect Dick Cheney now? Early this week, Cheney "broke ranks" with the Pres to say that he doesn't support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, that it should be a state-by-state decision and that he's always felt that " freedom means freedom for everybody ". The backstory here is that one of Cheney's daughters is a lesbian (who happens to work for the Bush/Cheney campaign— my comments on revising posts after the fact, here ) and he's very familiar with, and apparently sympathetic to, the debate because of this. So here, all along, while I've been assuming Cheney's one of the "bad guys" it's really been Bush and Ashcroft (and, presumably, other members of the Bush team) that have decided the Constitution's "not ...

As I left the theatre after seeing The Village , all I could think was that M. Night Shyamalan is his own worst enemy. A few years ago he did The Sixth Sense , which had the best twist ending EVER, and every movie since all people can think are "what's the twist in this one" and, even worse "was it as good as the one in the Sixth Sense?" SO, first off… NO . It doesn't matter which of his film's we're talking about, it's never going to be as good as the one in the Sixth Sense because you didn't expect it in the Sixth Sense. The ending came out of left field and, even if you thought you might have figured it out (I have friends that say they did—I'd never call them liars, but I'm dubious), it still was gratifying to have that twist confirmed. But now, every time you go to see one of his films, you sit there through the entire film wondering what he's going to do at the end. And it distracts you from what might be a really go...

I haven't posted in over a week. I've been kind of busy. Last week I got sent to a national doll convention near Chicago. Those of you who know where I work will know WHAT doll convention. (The convention was billed as taking place "in" Chicago… don't believe it for a second. Rosemont IL is NOT Chicago. More on that later.) Now, before I DO get to the joys of Rosemont and the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, let me make an observation… They sent ME . To a Convention . Let's see if I can convey my complete lack of interest in this proposition. I don't like crowds. I don't mingle well. I SUCK at small talk. I don't do conventions. My hobbies include movies, books and computer games. My interests are science fiction, fantasy and horror (I'm not limited to these, but they're the top three). There's a lot of overlap in those interests and hobbies. There is NOT a lot of overlap with the world of doll collecting. Did I mention I don...