Adventures in My Mind
 |
 |
 |
 |
Jul 31, 2002
Despite what the media may think, little girls are not being abducted at a higher rate than usual.
Despite what the media may think, miners get trapped in mines all of the time. It's a dangerous job.
And did you know that last year's big summer story, shark attacks, was all hype too? Yes, that's right. Despite what the media may think, shark attacks were actually down last year, near an all time low, in fact.
Media saturation is one of the most insidious forms of torture in today's modern world. No matter where you turn there is scandal, murder, inflated statistics, misunderstood trends, and intellectual handwringing over non-issues. All of these things exist without media. They always have. But thanks to the 24 hour news cycle, even the smallest, most trivial event becomes national news.
Granted, the abduction and murder of a little girl is a tragic story. And the rescure of 9 trapped miners is really cool. But are either of these topics worthy of top billing on local and national news all day, everyday? No, they are not.
We no longer have news. We have human interest stories. We don't examine issues. We tug at heart strings and proudly proclaim, "There, but for the Grace of God, go I." The news should be equal parts "I didn't know that" and "That pisses me off" not the endless parade of Oprah moments that stream from our television sets today.
Where are the grizzled, cigar chomping, felt fedora-wearing newsmen who aren't afraid of asking the tough questions? Where are the people who care about their responsibility to the awesome freedom given them by the 1st Amendment? Buried after on page 15 and after the 3rd commercial break no doubt. They just don't make good "news."
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:45 AM
Jul 28, 2002
Presenting Maeve Elisabeth Carroll ...
What a cutie!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 9:51 AM
Jul 26, 2002
A quick update. Baby Maeve Elisabeth Carroll has arrived. At 1:11 p.m. today, we were blessed by her arrival. Our 9 lb. 5 oz. bundle of joy is 21" long and doing just fine. Sami is recovering very nicely from her wonderful natural delivery. I'm exhausted. I didn't think that being her coach would take this much out of me. I'll post pix tomorrow.
Thanks to all who've wished us well already. It was a good day for a birthday!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:11 PM
Jul 25, 2002
House gives Traficant the boot.
The embattled Dem from Ohio has been sent packing by the House of Representatives in a 420-1 vote. Ethics committee member Gene Green, D-TX, says this:
"This is the people's house, and we have to do our job. If we can't remove a member of Congress who has been convicted of 10 felonies -- including using his office for personal gain -- we risk losing the faith and trust of the American people that we have."I applaud the vote to expel a convicted felon from the House. I think we can all agree, party politics aside, that criminals who have used their elected offices as a platform for their nefarious schemes just don't belong there. I have an itch around the edges, however, that just won't go away. Deserving or not, Trafficant is being used as a scapegoat.
The average American's trust in institutions, and the people who represent them, are at an all time low. Too many corporate scandals, covered up sex crimes, golden parachutes, and blatant hypocricies have eroded the good faith of the average Joe. Those who occupy the upper echelons of our scandalized institutions know this, and, frankly, they are scared, especially those members of Congress who up for re-election this year. They are scrambling to take the moral high ground on any and every issue that exists. James Trafficant's legal troubles make a convenient perch for these vultures of personal values.
Problem is, however, it's all show. On one hand they know in their hearts that a 10 time convicted felon has no business working as an elected member of our great Republic. They should and must vote him out. On the other hand, however, they see it as a great opportunity to show the voters how they want no part of scandal and aren't afraid to defrock one of their own to make that point. In November, they'll trot out their voting records to show how tough they are on people who abuse the public trust. But what they won't talk about is how much money they took from the pharmaceutical companies to torpedo prescription drug coverage for the elderly or the exemption they secured for their home state on a tough new environmental law (Thank you very much, Senator Daschle.) or their windfall return of $18,000,000 on an investment of $100,000. Not one of these or the scores and scores more like and worse than them will ever rear their ugly heads. We'll only hear about how they will not allow the American people to be taken advantage of. "Just look at what this body did to former Rep. Trafficant," they'll crow, while proudly patting each other's backs.
Meanwhile, all of the Ken Lays and Bernard Ebbers of the world will go unpunished for their crimes. Shining a light on too many members of America's cronytocracy would eventually shine a light on themselves, and the members of our government, Dem and Rep alike, don't want that.
In conclusion, get used to that uncomfortable feeling in your rectum; it's not going away anytime soon.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:05 PM
Jul 23, 2002
Suffering from low self-esteem? Want to be more interesting? Wish that you could hang out with the really cool people?
Move to Iceland
Mac. It's not a computer. It's a lifestyle.
Still no baby, btw. Argh!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 2:23 PM
Jul 22, 2002
Well ... young Ms. Carroll is one week late. We're heading off to see the midwife in a few minutes. Hopefully, she'll be able to move the process along a little.
Today's a good day for a birthday. Stay tuned.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 11:58 AM
Jul 19, 2002
Dorothy, Aidan's betta, got herself a new home today. We upgraded to a new 2 gallon aquarium. It came complete with hood light, plastic plants, plastic rock formation, gravel, under gravel filter, and air pump all for the low, low price of $17.99. It really is quite a deal. I set it up a couple of hours ago and am happy to report that both tank and betta are doing fine.
If only I could get my aquarium up and running. It's rather large 55 gal. tank that would take considerably more than $17.99 to get it going. I've been doing some comparison shopping for the last few weeks and I've narrowed my dealers down to PetSmart.com and Elmer's Aquarium Center. PetSmart has pump and filters for very cheap and Elmer's is pretty much the authority on aquariums here in Pittsburgh. They've got a very friendly and knowledgeable staff. It should be good to deal with them.
I had an aquarium for years and years as a kid. All of my moving around as an adult, however, has made it very difficult to maintain a tank. A friend gave me my tank a couple of years ago, and I'm only now getting around to filling it up. Own aquariums is very fulfilling hobby. I look forward to doing it again.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 3:36 PM
Jul 18, 2002
Just to let you all know that football season begins next week with the start of training camp. Oh, how I miss those days of two and three-a-day practices, scorching heat, sweltering humidity, and sore, sore bones and muscles. NOT!
Actually, that's not true. If given the opportunities to strap on the old Riddel and pads, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Other than drumming, I've never enjoyed anything as much as playing football. Of course, even I had lived a dream and made it to the NFL, I'd be in the twilight of my career anyway. Old injuries and fresh hurts would be conspiring against me to make the simple act of getting out of bed a torturous event. Joints would grind against themselves. Bones would pinch and throb with memories of fractures past. Muscles would seize and cramp with the mere thought of those gridiron days ...
Yes, but the fun I would've had!
Here we go, Steelers! Here we go!
and
We are ... Penn State! We are ... Penn State!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 12:57 PM
Jul 16, 2002
Just a quick note: It now costs 100% more to attend Penn State University today than it did 15 years ago when I entered as a freshman. In-state students can expect to pay slightly over $8,000 a year for tuition. I paid $3,800 in 1987.
Where's the equity? Do you really think that with wages up only about 6% during the same period that today's freshman can expect to get an education that is 100% better than the one I got? I doubt it. I shudder to think of the costs when my children are of college age.
Tim, are you responsible for any of this lunacy? If so, knock it off!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 4:33 PM
Things People Said is an amusing site that features a bunch of quotes from accident reports, newspaper ads, warning labels, translations, etc., etc. They may all be apocryphal, but they're funny even if they are untrue.
A few of my favorites:
"Please waste." -- Signs on trash cans in an amusement park in Osaka, Japan. "Specialist in women and other diseases." -- A sign outside of Roman doctor's office. "The patient has no past history of suicides." "Thursday night - Potluck supper. Prayer and medication to follow."
Language can be such a fun thing.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:34 AM
Jul 15, 2002
The drama continues for poor Michael:
Porn Producer Derailed Jacko Song?
Any inkling of hope, no matter how desperate, that Michael Jackson had a valid dispute against Tony Mattola and Sony Music has disappeared in puff of bathhouse steam. Not only, did Sony not conspire against Michael's pitiful single What More Can I Give--a blatant attempt to capitalize on the tragedies of 9/11--but Michael and his management asked Sony not to release the song after Michael had fired the record's executive producer, the gay porn producer mentioned in the headline above. And get this ... Michael also gave the rights to the song to the guy he fired so legally neither Michael nor Sony could release it anyway.
Deep financial concerns and even deeper psychological concerns have made The Gloved One even better fodder for the tabloids. Hopefully he'll fade away into obscurity and keep the bizarre circus that is his life to himself. We should be so lucky!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 9:45 AM
Jul 12, 2002
Tim Menees, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial cartoonist, hit the nail on the head with today's shot at the Pittsburgh Board of Education:
In it, complete yinzer and board president, Jean Fink is seen chasing off money from three charitable foundations that give millions to the district. Behind her the crumbling wreck of the school board building has bones and arms sticking out from the windows and door.
For those who don't know, here's some back story:
Foundations yank Pittsburgh school grants City school funding cutoff provokes calls for a shakeup Pittsburgh school chief says board caused grant losses Editorial: Harsh lesson / Appalled foundations withhold school funds
The Pittsburgh school board is a joke. It is giving a brand new definition to it's well deserved negative appelation of parochial. There is so much in fighting and bickering and blatant bigotry that it can hardly be recognized as a group of civic leaders.
The board's majority members operate as a mindless clique enthralled to board president Jean Fink. This Jabba-like character rules over meetings with all the finesse and diplomacy of your drunken Aunt Tilly. How this buffoon was elected to such a high position I'll never know. Certainly the voters in the city of Pittsburgh must shoulder the blame.
For years, and deservedly so, the city of Pittsburgh--and Western Pennsylvania at large--has been saddled with a provincial reputation--it's population a backward-looking proleteriat afraid of change. If something was done a certain way yesterday, it would be done that way today, tomorrow, and the next day. Refreshingly, some of the coal dust and soot has been wiped from our collective eyes. We have seen the way cities like Austin, Seattle, Boston, Minneapolis, et al, have responded to changing times, and we've listened.
But for what end? To have the Yahoos that run our schools single-handedly dismantle decades worth of work? Can you imagine the difficulty these foundations had in deciding to pull school funding? What must the rest of the country be thinking of this? The PR damage alone is a travesty, not to mention the programs that will be cut as result of the cash shortfall.
Ms. Fink, do us all a favor and resign. The children of Pittsburgh deserve better than you.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 2:49 PM
Jul 11, 2002
What is Michael Jackson's deal anyway? The biggest selling performer of all time has become a poor, tired excuse for a human being. His face, a scarred wasteland, has no resemblence to its former self. His timid little voice speaks to a world that doesn't care to listen. His latest ablum was a critical and commercial disaster, a list of retreads that made no aural distinction from the last ablum or the one before that or the one before that. It appears that the wheels have come off.
But wait ... the mouse seems to have one last roar:
Jacko: I'm hated because I out sold Elvis
That's right. The fading fortunes of the former King of Pop are all just a big conspiracy. The molestation rumors? A sham! The bleached skin? Blatant falsehoods! The never-ending plastic surgeries? Lies to discredit him in the eyes of his fans! Everything bad in the former pop star's life is simply a result of a huge conspiracy to destroy him and his career. And of course, those two stalwarts of the black community, Johnny Cochran and Al Sharpton, where on hand to lend a chorus of hosannahs and amens.
Among his claims of conspiracy: 1)Former Sony music head Tommy Matolla is racist (even though he has twice been married to black women) and 2) The record industry turned on him after he broke the sales record of Elvis and The Beatles.
Okay, let's get one thing straight. The lying thieves that pass as record company executives don't give a good goddamn what color your skin is as long as you bring in the green. When you no longer bring in the green, they show you the door. That's what has happened to Mike. Nor do fans care what color your skin is, as long as you record some new and tastey grooves. When you no longer make their toes tap, they show you the door. That's what happened to Mike.
There is much sadness to the walking parody known as Michael Jackson, but this paranoid delusion is saddest of all.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:46 AM
Jul 10, 2002
"Michael, please get back behind the wheel. Why must you insist on one more for the road? It's a good bloody thing that I can drive myself, you great sot!"
David Hasselhoff, loved by millions of Germans, checks himself into Betty Ford Clinic for rehab. Full Story.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 4:45 PM
Jul 9, 2002
The creative community lost a hardy soul yesterday with the death of director/producer John Frankenheimer. Under his sometimes gruff and brusque exterior beat a heart that lived for the cinema. There was nothing he held so dear as a finely spoken line of dialougue or beautifully composed shot. He somehow brought the urgency of his days of directing live television to the big screen. In doing so, he made some unforgettable moments.
I had the great pleasure of meeting and coming to know John as a student at AFI in 1994. He was lecturing on his two latest HBO films The Burning Season and Against the Wall. He had us laughing at the Hollywood war stories he gained through his fifty year career. But mostly, he had us listening closely to the pearls of wisdom he laid before us. "Never compromise your vision," he told us over and over again. That same viewpoint landed him afoul of producers and studio execs during his long and esteemable career. It also made him a standout with few equals.
John rarely made movies that people wanted to see; rather, he made movies that people should see. The Manchurian Candidate, The Birdman of Alcatraz, Seven Days in May, and his later work with HBO stand out as some of the finest examples of cinematic direction. Even during his low times in the 80s, the poor scripts that he was given to work with where handled with the deft precision of a master craftsman who consistently elevated his craft to art. That is his true legacy to novice and veteran filmmakers alike: if it's good enough to do, it's good enough to do right.
I wish that I had sat at your table much longer than I did. It was exhilarating. Thanks, John. We've learned much.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 1:25 PM
Jul 5, 2002
'Lil' Dale' carries the mark of a champion
NASCAR fans are legendary for their devotion to their idols. One need look no farther than the next pick up on the highway to see decals, flags, and bumper stickers dedicated to their heroes: Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Tony Stewart, and, of course, the biggest of them all Dale Earnhardt. "The Intimidator" was a legend before he died at Daytona last year. Now, he's a demi-god.
There are more number 3 stickers on pick ups and '78 Monte Carlos with mag wheels than the standard rust, primer and DUI convictions. The picture above and the resulting hubbub take the cake, though. The goat, "Lil Dale" was born with a spot of hair that looks like the number 3. And, as you may have guessed, the faithful are making their pilgrimages to Mecca, or at least the farm on which Lil Dale resides. Hundreds of NASCAR faithful are flocking to see this goat, thinking that it is some type of message from the afterlife. Apparently, even death can't beat The Intimidator.
I hear tale of a potato farmer in Idaho what has a spud that's the spittin' image of Sterling Martin. You fire up the truck; I'll get the beer!!
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 11:13 AM
Jul 2, 2002
If only the recent spate of rational jurisprudence could be counted on to last.
Federal Death Penalty Struck Down
Federal judge, Jed Rakoff, has declared the federal death penalty act of 1994 to be unconstitutional, saying that it "denies due process and, indeed, is tantamount to foreseeable, state-sponsored murder of innocent human beings." Further,The judge found that the best available evidence indicates that, "on the one hand, innocent people are sentenced to death with materially greater frequency than was previously supposed and that, on the other hand, convincing proof of their innocence often does not emerge until long after their convictions."
What next then? An appeal to the Supreme Court, of course. And what should we expect from this confusing bunch of geriatric legal scholars? I have no idea, but recent decisions have shown the Court to be leaning substantially against the death penalty.
The Supreme Court will be hearing two of six recently accepted death penalty cases in its next term beginning in October. With even some of the most conservative federal judges seriously considering the constitutionality of the death penalty, big changes may be in store, especially in Texas. Eighteen executions have already taken place there this year, and it's only July.
The decision has no affect on state death sentencing, where the vast majority of executions take place. But with states like Maryland and Illinois placing moratoriums on executions, maybe more will catch on to the idea that state sponsored murder has no place in the U.S. legal system.Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discriminatory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent.
--Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. 1994
For more info: The National Coaltion to Abolish the Death Penalty
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 11:45 AM
Jul 1, 2002
Sixth Sense? Loved it!
Unbreakable? Should be called unwatchable!
And now ... Signs, a movie about crop circles. Yes, crop circles, those wonderful little pranks that had us all thinking that we were being visited by aliens--that is until the jokesters who were really making them stood up and took credit, complete with video of some of their most impressive pieces.
How does one base an entire movie on a concept that has been proven a sham?
I must admit that the concept intrigues me. I'm thinking of making a movie that depicts how the stock market will make me an instant millionaire by investing in dot coms and telcoms. Or, maybe I'll make a movie that depicts how the government is looking out for my best interest by protecting my constitutionally guaranteed rights of freedom and liberty. Or better still, I'll make one about corporate executives who are honest, hard working individuals that would never lie to artificially inflate earnings and stock prices. And believe it or not, the hero of this one is a CEO who is actually worth his $25,000,000 a year salary.
Nah. On second thought, no one would ever believe it.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 2:01 PM
