It's creeping me out that there's no 'a' in 'independence'. It sounds like it should have one at least, but no. Weird.
I've decided that Independence Day must be one of President Bush's favorite movies. It opens with Bill Pullman playing a charismatic but unpopular president. Soon, though, foreign powers (aliens) arrive and, seemingly without warning, destroy many recognizable and memorable US buildings. (Oh, and the Vice President. Take that, Cheney!)
"Jeff Goldbloom did bring us a document, I believe it was entitled 'Aliens determined to attack the Earth'..."
The President then orders a disastrous first attack on the attackers in Houston that does more harm than good and in fact, didn't really accomplish the goal they said they were going after.
But in the end, the president gives an invigorating, inspirational speech, then gets to go onto the battlefield, flying a jet fighter and saving the world from the aliens.
Seriously, isn't that Bush's dream presidency right there?
13.5.08
Daring To Be Stupid
So I've got Ubuntu and stuff. I go out of my way to put myself in contact with all my adoring public (all 0 of you... u_u) then immediately go radio-silent. I'm clearly ADD.
For instance, it's thundering and lighting outside.
A few days ago, I saw an episode of Transformers Animated(!) featuring Wreck-Gar. In the original series, he was a Junkion, de-facto ruler of the Planet of Junk, which wasn't so much a planet as a floating junk heap in space. In the new cartoon, he himself is a pile of junk, brought to life through he power of the All-Spark. And he has one question. "What Am I?"
Through the episode, he gets varying answers from varying sources. He is impeding a police action. He is a criminal. He knocks over armored trucks. He is an Autobot. He catches the bad guy. He could never be an Autobot. All he is good for is Garbage. He is a Decepticon. He dares to be stupid. I don't think that got all of them, but you get the idea.
In the end, Ratchet, who has been hurling most of the insults at him, tells Wreck-Gar that he can be whatever he wants to be, no matter what anyone tells him. So Wreck-Gar decides to be a hero, and sacrifices himself to save the city. He ends up being okay, but not only does no one notice he's gone, but no one really cares! Ratchet ends up the hero. But that's not what really bugged me.
Wreck-Gar's plight REALLY struck a chord with me. After doing what everyone else told him to do, he finally does what he wants to do, and becomes a hero. I don't know why, but for days after watching it, I could bring myself nearly to tears just thinking about that. I'm still a little choked up by it. Took me a while to figure out why, but I think I got it.
The day after I saw it, I went to church and listened to a sermon about how we need to put God's needs before our own. I'm still not sure what God's needs for me are, and that didn't really bug me. But it occurred to me, I don't really know what MY needs for myself are. My whole life, at this point, seems to revolve around what others want from me.
Yesterday I got up at about 11 o'clock to help my mom take out kitty litter. Being smeff has its advantages I suppose. After that, I got a call from Grandma Katie. She needed some computer help, and I was more than happy to oblige. Except I couldn't get that done in one day, so it was left to be continued. After that I got to come home to find my water has been shut off. Mostly my fault, and I'm kicking myself over the fact that I let it happen, but I needed my Granddad's help to fix it. After doing that, I ended up helping HIM with his computers as well.
Sigh. I'm venting now, I'm coming off as a lot more pissed off than I really am about it, I think. Maybe that's part of my problem.
Anyway, today was more of the same. After a therapist appointment (because, let's face it, I do need it) I went to help Grandma Katie AGAIN with her stuff. We got an external hard drive (500GB for 90 bucks, nothing to sneeze at, even if the software disk was BROKEN IN TWO PIECES! O_O!) to save he hard disks off an old computer, then back up their new one at regular intervals. Of course, the old computer's drives took hours to back up, and the first time was a false start because you apparently can't copy XP while it's running. Luckily, Linux boot disks solve all of mankind's problems. Still, a four hour copy session was started, so during that time, my Aunt had her birthday dinner. Afterward I got to go back an finish up with Grandma's stuff, which was nice.
That's all done.
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!!!
I've got a trip to go to Philly on Friday. Before that, I need to pack (natch), which requires laundry. I should also clean up some of the mess around my house for whoever shows up to feed my kittens while I'm gone. I also need to find someone to feed my kittens while I'm gone (again, natch). And Thursday I've promised to go with my Grandfather to visit a sick relative of some kind. I need a family tree to consult things, I think.
And just thinking about all this makes me exhausted.
And hungry.
For instance, it's thundering and lighting outside.
A few days ago, I saw an episode of Transformers Animated(!) featuring Wreck-Gar. In the original series, he was a Junkion, de-facto ruler of the Planet of Junk, which wasn't so much a planet as a floating junk heap in space. In the new cartoon, he himself is a pile of junk, brought to life through he power of the All-Spark. And he has one question. "What Am I?"
Through the episode, he gets varying answers from varying sources. He is impeding a police action. He is a criminal. He knocks over armored trucks. He is an Autobot. He catches the bad guy. He could never be an Autobot. All he is good for is Garbage. He is a Decepticon. He dares to be stupid. I don't think that got all of them, but you get the idea.
In the end, Ratchet, who has been hurling most of the insults at him, tells Wreck-Gar that he can be whatever he wants to be, no matter what anyone tells him. So Wreck-Gar decides to be a hero, and sacrifices himself to save the city. He ends up being okay, but not only does no one notice he's gone, but no one really cares! Ratchet ends up the hero. But that's not what really bugged me.
Wreck-Gar's plight REALLY struck a chord with me. After doing what everyone else told him to do, he finally does what he wants to do, and becomes a hero. I don't know why, but for days after watching it, I could bring myself nearly to tears just thinking about that. I'm still a little choked up by it. Took me a while to figure out why, but I think I got it.
The day after I saw it, I went to church and listened to a sermon about how we need to put God's needs before our own. I'm still not sure what God's needs for me are, and that didn't really bug me. But it occurred to me, I don't really know what MY needs for myself are. My whole life, at this point, seems to revolve around what others want from me.
Yesterday I got up at about 11 o'clock to help my mom take out kitty litter. Being smeff has its advantages I suppose. After that, I got a call from Grandma Katie. She needed some computer help, and I was more than happy to oblige. Except I couldn't get that done in one day, so it was left to be continued. After that I got to come home to find my water has been shut off. Mostly my fault, and I'm kicking myself over the fact that I let it happen, but I needed my Granddad's help to fix it. After doing that, I ended up helping HIM with his computers as well.
Sigh. I'm venting now, I'm coming off as a lot more pissed off than I really am about it, I think. Maybe that's part of my problem.
Anyway, today was more of the same. After a therapist appointment (because, let's face it, I do need it) I went to help Grandma Katie AGAIN with her stuff. We got an external hard drive (500GB for 90 bucks, nothing to sneeze at, even if the software disk was BROKEN IN TWO PIECES! O_O!) to save he hard disks off an old computer, then back up their new one at regular intervals. Of course, the old computer's drives took hours to back up, and the first time was a false start because you apparently can't copy XP while it's running. Luckily, Linux boot disks solve all of mankind's problems. Still, a four hour copy session was started, so during that time, my Aunt had her birthday dinner. Afterward I got to go back an finish up with Grandma's stuff, which was nice.
That's all done.
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!!!
I've got a trip to go to Philly on Friday. Before that, I need to pack (natch), which requires laundry. I should also clean up some of the mess around my house for whoever shows up to feed my kittens while I'm gone. I also need to find someone to feed my kittens while I'm gone (again, natch). And Thursday I've promised to go with my Grandfather to visit a sick relative of some kind. I need a family tree to consult things, I think.
And just thinking about all this makes me exhausted.
And hungry.
8.5.08
Twitter Added
Now all my ranting and raving at no one in particular are in one place! Whee! Also, since I'm going to Vancouver, I expect to do some more Twittering (Twitting?) and less full posts. And by less I mean I just won't be doing any posts while I'm in Vancouver. I don't suppose that'll get anyone to actually want to subscribe to my Twitterings but hope springs eternal for those of us with no actual contact with reality.
Zune!!!
So yeah, if you look to your left you'll see I've added a Zune card to my profile. Now you can see all the terrible music I listen to.
I've been trying to pitch Zune to anyone I can. To anyone with an iPod already, there's not much compelling reason to make the switch, especially if you've got a bunch of music off iTunes. But if you're just getting started, the Zune Pass is awesome. $15 a month to basically "rent" their music, which means there's really no buyer remorse, if you don't want something, there's no reason to not swap it out. It also has most of the same features as iTunes. Their TV series offerings are just getting off the ground, and there's still no movies, but I'm not too thrilled with the idea of paying full price for a movie I can only watch on a computer or personal media device. The Zune stuff does link rather easily into my X-Box 360, though, so I'd rather buy TV and movies from there.
I'm actually considering buying Battlestar Galactica, one of the shows they have for offer on their marketplace. I'd never seen the show before, but everyone seems to believe its the best Sci-Fi in recent years, so I may have to at least see what it is. Season one is available for 26 bucks, after you make the conversion from MS points, which seems like an OK deal. A quick look online shows that Target.com is offering it for $40, which is marked down from $60 originally. Not a bad deal.
Trick number two is that I'm broke right now. I wish my tax rebate check would show up soon. I need that $500 bucks. ...I need a job. Sigh.
I've been trying to pitch Zune to anyone I can. To anyone with an iPod already, there's not much compelling reason to make the switch, especially if you've got a bunch of music off iTunes. But if you're just getting started, the Zune Pass is awesome. $15 a month to basically "rent" their music, which means there's really no buyer remorse, if you don't want something, there's no reason to not swap it out. It also has most of the same features as iTunes. Their TV series offerings are just getting off the ground, and there's still no movies, but I'm not too thrilled with the idea of paying full price for a movie I can only watch on a computer or personal media device. The Zune stuff does link rather easily into my X-Box 360, though, so I'd rather buy TV and movies from there.
I'm actually considering buying Battlestar Galactica, one of the shows they have for offer on their marketplace. I'd never seen the show before, but everyone seems to believe its the best Sci-Fi in recent years, so I may have to at least see what it is. Season one is available for 26 bucks, after you make the conversion from MS points, which seems like an OK deal. A quick look online shows that Target.com is offering it for $40, which is marked down from $60 originally. Not a bad deal.
Trick number two is that I'm broke right now. I wish my tax rebate check would show up soon. I need that $500 bucks. ...I need a job. Sigh.
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