Dark for a While

Sorry, due to computer issues, this blog will be going dark for a while (if you haven't already noticed). I will continue to work on ideas while enjoying 'the off season.'

Kick the can, don't kick the bucket

It seems strange to me, that without thinking of it, I can just realize its been almost exactly one month since my last update (and 2 months since my last real blog). I don't have a lot to say. Obama won the election. Phillies won the World Series. I don't have any real judgments about that stuff yet. I'll wait till Obama has actually done something noteworthy, either as President or just President-Elect, before I devote an entry to him.

Change that. One thing on my mind, before it slips away into oblviion forever. I think it's a little sad how all the news about the Obama victory was because he was the first black president. I have nothing wrong with identification based on race, it is legitmate, but I don't think it's newsworthy. From the moment his name was entered into the primaries, it was always possible for the next POTUS (President of the United States) to be black. It's not that big of a deal. I'm thrilled for him and his family, but it comes down to this: Obama is an American first, and American at birth. Then culture and education and race are all taught later, after he is already defined as American. So we should be celebrating a new American President. Rather than celebrating his race as the most interesting thing about him, look at his home state of Illinois. Good old honest Abe came from there, too. Wonderful. Also wonderful, but not unexpected: the White House is in control of the Democrats again. Great for them.

I don't think I really see myself as identifying with one party more than another. I do say another, not the other, because I do not want to fall into the trap that most Americans do, and think we only live in a two-party system. I don't like the idea of letting a party, a group, or an affiliation define yourself. Rather, I think each individual should make up the larger group, creating a diverse group that is the background that chooses the actions of the larger group as a whole. I may not be a huge Joe Lieberman fan, but I do respect him for switching from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. Do you remember when he ran in 2000 as the Vice President candidate with Al Gore for President when affiliated with the Democrats? I don't know when he switched parties. I don't really know why either, which makes this endorsement kind of hollow. But realizing that his good and well-being was not happening any longer with the Democrats and taking the active effort to seek change ? - Now that is fantastic.

End Tangent. That went on a lot longer than I had intended, and I'm not sure if I still have time (only so many hours in the day) to write the post I wanted to write. The title is irrelevant now, so maybe I should just get to my original topic and hope you ignore my excessive chit-chatting.

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About a week or so before Halloween, we were hanging out in my apartment. What we were doing, who was there - they don't really matter. This is what does: My building is an old house, divided into 6 apartments. The front door of the house/building has multiple doorbells. None are labeled. so I have no idea if my apartment has a door bell or even if it works. For whatever reason, we decide to head out. As we troop down the stairs, I see a silhouette through the glass. Only one way to find out who it is.

We open the door, and to my surprise, there are a few kids looking up at me, with the responsible parent hanging back, letting the children do their own dirty work (teaching responsibility, which I think is good). The young students were there, and I assumed they had rang the doorbell as I was walking out. To them it must have looked like they had summoned me with the bell, and to me it was just an awkward meeting.

They told me about their school project. In groups, they were to bring paper grocery bags to neighborhood houses. Attached to each bag was a list of suggested canned-food items that could be placed into the bag, which was going to be collected on or shortly after Halloween, and then donated to a local food bank for Thanksgiving. I was startled, even more so because I had not expected to see anyone or converse with anyone. I usually try to map out conversations and their possible tangents before I engage in them. I was not so lucky this time. I accepted their bag, but unwilling to go back to my apartment, I left the brown bag in the middle of the stairwell, where hopefully other tenants of my building would find it and donated accordingly.

Now it is about two weeks after Halloween. Thanksgiving is almost upon us (but if you look at major retailers, it's actually Christmas). That brown shopping bag has been forgotten. Somehow it is not on the small front porch of my building, stuck on the wooden railing. It is pathetic how empty and lonely that bag looks. Some of the sympathy I have for that bag is really blame and curiosity on my own behalf.

What would have happened if I had took that bag from the kids and just handed it back to them? Would they have just taken the bag back and walked away? Or would they have demanded an explanation. If they wanted one, would the explanation I offered have been enough? Or would it have been too much?

Yes, student, I will gladly fill this bag with non-perishable goods and return it to you promptly. But that is false. That is untrue, and the promise that is told though a smiling face, is never going to be fulfilled. I'm just going to leave this behind, like most of my generation, for someone else to deal with. I'm sure someone else will find this bag, and fill it with their unwanted items, while I am hidden away in my own little isolated world happily enjoying my food. We expect to be taken care of. In the words of Tyler Durdin, "We are a generation of men raised by women...an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't." So sorry Junior. I am too self-absorbed to help you. I am busy trying to take care of myself.

[Quick time-out. While in the middle of the above paragraph, I left the class I was in and returned to my apartment. Due to this transition, and the additional reflection allowed by the length of the walk, my tone may have shifted. Perhaps not. Just a brief notice.]

The walk I just mentioned in that little sidebar conversation made me feel guilty and curious. I never actually looked at the bag other then in passing. So I scooped the bag up before I came upstairs and am taking a serious look at it.

Help Hungry Neighbors Have A Happy Thanksgiving...just by putting groceries in this bag!

Ok, co-sponsored by the WCU Catholic Newman Student Association...benefits 2 distributors: St. Agnes Day Room, and Project 1 (serves local families affected by HIV/AIDS. [Later, I will (should/might) have an entry about religious organizations, and will serve as an update to my entry on author viewpoints.]

Leave the bag out front in a visible location by 11am on Nov 22 and it will be collected. So I can still do something. I know where some of these items are at Target, and I know I can afford them. Maybe I can do something. Maybe I can do 2 somethings. I'll try to take care of some items, and maybe you can too, and donate items to your own local food bank.

"Everything but the Turkey!
-Stuffing Mix
-Instant Mashed Potatoes
-Gravy (2 jars or cans)
-Canned sweet potatoes (1 large or 2 small)
-Corn, Green Beans, or Carrots (3 or 4 cans)
-Cranberry Sauce
-Applesauce of Canned Fruit
-Canned Pumpkin Pie filling
Box of Brown Sugar
-Hot Chocolate, Coffee, or Tea"

Fight Club had Project Mayhem. I don't have a clever name for this. Maybe we can just call it doing the right thing, taking care of business (TCOB), or actually belonging in our communities. Maybe we can calling it Kick The Can of the Community and give back.

Any other local charities that deserve consideration?




(this blog was updated on Nov 19, 2008 to fix some spelling errors)

Getting In Touch

A new feature that I will be working on is called Getting In Touch will serve as updates to older entries.

About one month ago, my new belved channel, MHD ceased to exsist. Now in its place is Palladia. As of September 1st, the channel and respective website have be revamped and recreated. The channel has matured enough to come into its own, with new shows and airing specials like the MTV VMAs. The logo is a butterfly with musical notes flowing across its wings, and has continued to impress me with high quality entertainment. The logo, displayed above, features the new slogan of the channel as well. Rock On.

Flapjack and a Cigarette

During the summer, PA legislators voted to ban smoking, and the bill was signed into law (PDF) by Gov. Ed Rendell on June 13, going into effect 90 days later, on September 11, 2008. The public had three months notice to know this was going to happen.

Senate Bill 246 forbids smoking in public places such as restaurants and businesses. Smoking is still going to be allowed at private functions and in private homes, as well as at tobacco shops. I think that this is great. Now when we go to dinner, we won't need to decide between smoking or non-smoking sections. Places that have patrons that hang out while they smoke might loose some business - diners, bowling alleys, and the like. On the flip side, maybe more people will come out to celebrate the new found clean air.

This law also prohibits smoking at government facilities. By extension, the ban effects campuses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). As a student at a state school (West Chester University), I got an e-mail on 9/11 which included this paragraph "Based upon the above, it is the position of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education that smoking, as defined by the statute, is now prohibited on the entire campus. “No Smoking” signs will be prominently posted at appropriate locations throughout the campus and maintained by the university. It is a violation of this law for employees and students to smoke on campus." (See the full e-mail at the bottom of this post)

The Clean Indoor Air Act is now controlling outdoor air quality as well. I submitted a Letter to the Editor of the WCU Quad (campus newspaper) after this e-mail was sent out. I will not be re-posting that Op-Ed, but will link it, and recall some key points.

-As of 9/16, the ashtrays are still all over campus. They are by some benches and near the doors of many buildings. If smoking is not allowed, they should have been removed prior to 9/11, as to send a clear signal.
-As of 9/16 there are no "no-smoking" signs on the north campus academic quad, and no increased presence of campus safety, public safety, or officials from the Department of Health to patrol for smokers.
-As of 9/16 there are no designated smoking areas that allow students to smoke in a safe environment. Students are still forced to smoke in the West Chester community.
-As of 9/16, there is no notice on the WCU website about this law, or on the main page of the PASSHE website. The homepage of the PASSHE site merely links to an Associated Press news story.

I maintain that this ban is a good idea that will help protect the health of non-smokers, but the three months of preparation should have been used to actually prepare. PASSHE should have notified students earlier than the day of action, and there should have been a more forum type approach for students, instead of just pawning inquires about the PASSHE policy to the Dept. of Health.

Check out news stories on this topic from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, NBC, and Fox.

Right now, the state is profiting, with one hand, off the sales of tobacco products, while profiting on the other side, by fining people for using their products.

What is the appropriate way to enforce a ban like this? Complete and total ban of all products, including sales, possession, and purchase? Or a free-for-all?

PA Department of Health
PASSHE

Points of View

Did all of August slip by without me writing a post? Wow. The middle of September is rapidly approaching.

I'm writing this in the new Google internet browser, Chrome. So far, I like it. It's very similar to Firefox, but I am not sure which one I will continue to use. The point to that is that I am not sure how the formatting will look, but it should be fine...after all Google also owns Blogger's parent company. I have noticed some sites being unresponsive: Facebook and Wired so far.

I've already made it clear which blogs I typically read. I found this off Wired maybe a week or 2 ago, and it raised an interesting point. One of my favorite childhood books was Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Think of it as Starship Troopers for kids, but less military oriented. Orson Scott Card, who has written over two dozen SciFi, fantasy, and religion related books in multiple series, and has written as a commentator for various political and religious events.

As a writer, Card is very passionate with either fiction or non-fiction. One glance at the bottom of his Wikipedia page chronicles them better than I can. I turn my attention to his article that was highlighted in the Wired article, which can be found at Mormon Times, a website that Card identifies with. He is a member of the Church of LDS (Latter Day Saints). Fine. Normally, at least for me, I don't care about anything personal about authors I read. White, Black, Asian, Mixed, Albino, Male, Female, Transgender, Jewish, Muslim, LDS, Christian, Wicca - All Fine By Me. I usually just care about when the next publishing is going to be.

When an author uses his "celebrity status" to endorse certain view points, like this one when Card calls anything pro-gay coming from the "propaganda mill." It upsets me to see someone so against a view. Propaganda is going to be spewed from either side in a major argument. But comparing Gay Marriage to abortion is absurd. They are totally different, the only thing they have in common is that 50 years ago they were all hush hush.

I can't really say enough how disappointed I am that Card has written like this, even if it was meant just for a Mormon audience. My question is: Do we read because the author is outrageous or his idea/story is outrageous. A (bad) example: OJ Simpson's unreleased book If I Did It was inflammatory. But was it such a big deal because of who wrote it, or the subject matter? Tom Clancy is not what I would think of as an inflaming writer. He writes military related stories - and usually meets our exceptions. Card has been injecting his religious views into his books for a long time, and it took me a long time to understand all of them, and finally get turned off by them. Maybe if his works were presented in that new section at Borders the Religious and SciFi and Fantasy cross section. Oh wait. That's not real.

We can't separate the writer from the tale unless its really engrossing. If JK Rowling (Harry Potter fame) wrote her next book about a raunchy orgy, people would be shocked. Shock sells BIG. I think that if we know the background of writers before we read their work, we will search out influences, instead of letting them get flushed out naturally, we loose part of the story. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and a story is just a story.

What do you think? Does the writer make the book? Or does the written word make the author? And how does this change with cross genre writers?

Watching Music

It’s been said many times, but MTV killed the music video. MTV had been the home of the “video star,” which according to the first music on MTV, killed the "radio star." In conclustion, MTV killed both the radio star and the video star. MTV is now based more in Reality Shows. Programs like Road Rules, The Real World, My Super Sweet 16, MTV Cribs, Pimp My Ride, The Hills, Laguna Beach, A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila, Jackass, True Life, Made, and Date My Mom (the list goes on.)

Moving on from that hyperlink festival, I'd like to look at VH1. As I was growing up, I considered VH1 to be the adult/middle-aged version of MTV. It had boring stuff and music on it that did not interest most children. The women on it were dressed in a less provocative manner, and the videos in general were smarter. I think the first music video I watched, in its entirety, on VH1 was "By The Way" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was on a business trip/vacation with my Dad in Las Vegas. Weird how I just remembered that. Anyway, that video showed me alternative ways to enjoy music. At the time, I didn't drive, so I was always listening to my Dads' conservative talk radio shows. I had already tired of MTV (I only had a six month affair with TRL). VH1, in the long run, was more visually conservative while being more thought provoking. VH1 has become popular with a somewhat younger audience with the I Love The... programing. And by all means, VH1 is not perfect (I point to example A: Flavor of Love and example B: Hogan Knows Best) just that is a step up from MTV.

There is a third music channel, that I can't say I have ever really watched. I never really cared for this genre of music, I always considered it redneck, or involving missing love, prison, and truck driving (That is a quote from a comedian, but I can't recall who, and Google didn't find anything. I am just not that creative). Sorry, the channel is CMT: Country Music Television. I don't know anything about it that would not come from the Wikipedia article, so I will summarize: Owned by Viacom (same parent company as MTV), CMT is "an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, and reality programs." There are reality shows similar to the ones found on MTV. Trick My Truck seems to the CMT solution to Pimp My Ride. There are other reality shows that put musicians in improbable situations. "CMT's current programming features country music-oriented shows (i.e. country music videos, taped concerts, etc.), country lifestyle-oriented shows, and old shows and movies that prominently feature country or Southern-rock music."

In my new apartment, I wanted to enjoy my living space. I ordered HDTV from Comcast. Well, in addition to HBO, Showtime, and Starz, I found some new HD programming. One of these was MHD - Music High Definition. This station is the freak love child of MTV, VH1, and CMT (and a distant cousin to MTV2). But wow, it seems to only have the good traits. It has a diverse range of programming (pop, alternative/adult, and indifferent country). The reality programming is music based. There are music videos, concerts, Story Tellers from VH1, MTV Uplugged and various music-related award shows (Not Grammy, more like MTV Music Awards). I wanted to sing the praise of a relatively new (Jan 2006) Network. The programming may not be original, but this is a fresh concept of re-mixing networks to bring a new idea (and new ad revenue.)

What other new programs, HD or otherwise have you recently discovered that made a change in your life? Any inspiring concepts? Does the Shawshank Redemption really do it for you?




......
Okay, my affair with TRL may have been a bit longer than six months.

Dr Horrible's Dark Tower

I just watched the conclusion of the three-part Joss Whedon webisode Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog and I can actually compare it to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, which I also concluded tonight.

The way both presentations end is very...not circumstantial, but lackluster...full circle (?) unsatisfying. That works. They both built up to a huge finish, and while the Dr. Horrible at least had a conclusion, not so much with the Tower.

I'm not going to spoil anything from the series that could be considered King's greatest achievement, his magnum opus..but I do recommend reading it, if you have like 4 months of free time. The series weaves a long tale between several other Stephen King books to create a larger universe...or universes turning on the same wheel (ka is the wheel of destiny). I grew very attached to the main characters and enjoyed their flaws very much. Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog, on the other hand, moves too quickly for true character development. This is not Whedon's best creation. There are not references to other classical works. It might be better than Angel, but it is surely no Firefly (which is only one season long, so check that out over summer).

Major kudos to each of the artists for entertaining me for so long. I don't know how long that Dr Horrible link is going to work, so look on YouTube , maybe you can find something useful there.

"Long days and pleasant nights"

UPDATE: Dr. Horrible will be available on iTunes and DVDs with lots of special features. The Dark Tower series is available in bookstores now.