i m N s h o

I've posted about this before ( more than once , actually). And I joke about it all the time. So you're probably tired of hearing about it by now. But, despite all rational thought and arguments about empirical thinking and such, I am continually impressed with the way the universe conspires to slow me down. Take this past weekend, for example. On the way to work, I have the usual slow-moving commuters to deal with, the 'can't make a left turn over 5 MPH' drivers to sit behind, and a bevy of other minor annoyances as I try to get us to the freeway. But, just before we get to the freeway, I have to pull into the nearby convenience store parking lot to get something out of the trunk that Dani needs. I pull out of the parking lot onto a little side street that leads back to the freeway, unfortunately right behind someone in a driver's education vehicle. Now, since this is a tiny little side street, instead of a major thoroughfare, chances are good that if you get...

I mentioned this briefly in the comments to my previous "Haters" post, but found it interesting enough to want to comment further. In this post from the Strongly Worded Letter blog, the blog's author (one of the DJs from KROQ radio here in LA) quotes a number of people and their reactions to the poor performance of George Clooney's new movie, Leatherheads . The reason he quotes them, and the reason I'm interested in this, is the vehemence expressed in these opinions… the fervor with which they condemn Clooney as, among other things "uneducated," "arrogant," "talentless" and, rather mind-bogglingly, "misogynistic." (I'm not terribly familiar with the man's education, but listening to him speak, I can argue that uneducated is the last word I'd ever use to describe him, that he's arrogant only in that he knows what he believes and isn't afraid to state it, talentless is laughable, and I'm completely no...

Recently, on KROQ , they interviewed the guys from Flobots about their song "Handlebars" . Turns out, this is one of those songs that's got everyone lining up to either love it or hate it, without a lot of middle ground. And a lot of those that don't like it, don't like it because of the politics and a perceived 'attack' on the president. (The guys from Flobots acknowledge they assumed people would think that, but that their real intent with the lyrics, especially the last verse, was a far more general 'this is the way of politics' sort of statement, and not an indictment of any one man or administration.) In an article in Entertainment Weekly last week on the director of the upcoming film " Stop-Loss ," the article refers to a recent screening of the trailer which was greeted with "reflexive hisses." Apparently the mere notion of a Hollywood film about Iraq is enough to generate hate within an audience. So when did we become a...