Year: 2004

I haven’t watched Frasier regularly for years, but I always considered it one of the best shows to be on TV. They assembled a great cast of characters, and managed to combine elements of slapstick, witty banter, and even some drama. Their comedy reminded me of a modern day Marx Brothers troupe. I’ll never forget episodes with such setups as Frasier not knowing if he’s on a date or business dinner, Niles dressing up like Jesus, or nobody believing Frasier was seeing a model. The writers and actors had a fantastic sense of chemistry and timing, and it’s a shame to see a show like that leave us.

Lisa and I watched the final episode, and it’s safe to say that it kicked the final episode of Friends‘ ass. Seriously, it was one of the best finales ever. While both shows did wonderful jobs with the clips (they reminded me how long I had watched Frasier as well as how many good seasons Friends actually had). But the Friends episode seemed cold and calculated, as they tried to tie up loose ends that had been left loose way too long. I laughed a little bit, but for the most part it was like “Come one, get over yourselves and just move on!” Frasier instead focused on the unknown future that was coming for these characters. They managed to pull off another funny yet touching show in the tradition they had created.

I find it odd that I am writing this because, as I said, I haven’t really followed the show for years. It just goes to show how well done the finale was. It actually reminds me of, now don’t laugh, the finale for Deep Space Nine. I was impressed on that show that they managed to give endings for every character in a way that left their future wide open. It was an appropriate way to say “Even though we won’t get to see it, there is still more to come for these characters.” I doubt anything for years will come close to the perfectly setup closing for Frasier as he embarks on a new adventure, much like the rest of his companions. Afterall, a show like that is all about the possibilities, so it is apt that we know where he is headed but left to our imaginations as to the results when he arrives.

I am not truly a liberal. I am much more libertarian in political terms and actually lean a tad conservative in my personal beliefs. However I feel a tad more kin towards liberals as I am rather tolerant of people’s lifestyles and choices – something that does not go over well with the Republican Party. But since I see Democracy as one of the worst scams in man’s history, this is really neither here nor there.

I don’t have anything personally against conservatives in general, however lately I have been reading nothing but pure hatred and lie-infested doublespeak from the right. It has gotten to the point that I am beginning to despise the very though of someone support Bush or this damn war. As a matter of fact, as a even more accusations of prisoner abuse abound I find it difficult to even claim support of the troops over there. I’m sure a lot of them feel like they are doing the right thing and defending out freedom, but more and more I feel like I want no part of any of it… if that even makes sense.

This came up the other day as moronic debates over nuking the entire region started to rise up on the Eagles’ Message Board. It just sickened me. Unfortunately I was then foolish enough to read through some of the Bush – Cheney 2004 LJ Community. After going through many of their postings and comments I came to the realization that most of them were just outright ignorant bastards without an ounce of common sense or the ability to think on their own. It was like reading a debate written by 6 year-olds. I know it’s unfair to judge all Republicans, etc. based on the calibur of discussion that goes on at Livejournal, but it makes it very difficult to tolerate anybody when you hear the type of vitriolic, inane prattle that these hate-mongers spew.

Glad I got that off of my chest. For now I will probably try to avoid any type of political discussions, because if I hear another moron claim that Kerry actually supports Bin Laden, my head might explode. I’m just tired of beng angry…

The problem with music today is not the fault of the record labels or the radio stations or MTV. Sure, they can all be blamed for the giant cluster f*ck that is the industry itself. They can be blamed for keeping the price of CDs exorbitantly higher than they should be. They can even take the blame for keeping independent artists down while promoting far less talented pop singers. However, responsibility for the piss-poor quality of popular music lies squarely on the shoulders of a different beast: The Public.

It is in fact people’s taste that has caused music to drop so severely in quality over the past decade. And why do I say this now? After watching last night’s episode of American Idol it became painfully obvious. The unthinkable has happened, and the two most talented members of this year’s pool (the third having already been voted off in a controversy) wound up as the bottom two in this round. And in the end, frontrunner La Toya London was voted off. You could see the exasperation in Simon’s eyes, and Paula Abdul began crying at the realization of what this travesty meant.
Continue reading “The problem with music today”

In case you hadn’t noticed (and if you read via syndication like myself, I’m sure you didn’t), I went back to the Blorange stylesheet. This time, however, I adapted it to my old 3-column layout. I was just sick of looking at the default look while I try to redesign the whole site. At least this will make it feel a little bit more like my own site in the meantime.

Just in case any of you geeks and nerds out there were wondering: IT’S NOT COOL TO WRITE WORMS OR VIRUSES! In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Any person who sits around their house writing this crap in the belief that it will make them popular or powerful is actually the lowest form of loser. You have effectively proved that you will never be able to talk to a girl or have any reasonable form of a social life. And remember, this is coming from a self-proclaimed nerd/geek (ok, other people label me as such way before I had the chance, but you get the idea).

This weekend, German authorities captured the teenage author of the Sasser worm. It turns out that – SURPRISE – he’s a loser who thought writing these worms would bring him friends. The opposite occurred as one of those so-called friends supplied evidence to Microsoft to put him away in exchange for a quarter million in reward money. Pretty funny, you think doing this makes you some sort of underground hero when instead it has elevated Microsoft’s status in the computer industry. Afterall they were willing to cough up some dough to put you behind bars and help deter further crimes. Seriously, Microsoft has almost made itself “cool” in my book by making this move – oh the irony.

If you want to impress me, find a security hole and report it. Try to fix it. Help improve the systems. Writing an exploit so that Grandma’s computer keeps crashing and she can’t e-mail her kids, or some understaffed and overworked IT guy has to work late night fixing your mess is just lame and pathetic. Please, just go out and get a life.

The headline is for Mike. That would sum up why he won’t be getting that commentating job he so desires 😉 . Nevertheless, the Flyers did in fact pound the Lightning last night to even up the series at 1 a piece. I’ll laugh if the first team to get my home town a championship in over 20 years is the one I care least about. But it’s still fun, and this the most hockey I’ve watched since the Flyers were in the Stanley Cup Finals… and Ron Hextall was in goal!

Who knows, maybe we actually will get tickets to the Finals if it ends up being San Jose vs. Philly… At least then I know it won’t be a 0-0 tie!

My sister Suzanne e-mailed me this morning to let me know that the Philadelphia Inquirer was running an article about our oldest sister Lisa. The article talks about my sister as a mother, touching about just how much energy she put into her children’s lives during her short time here. It reminds me of how wonderful she was. I want to write more, but I also don’t feel like crying at my desk right now. Maybe later. Since I think you may need to register (and to preserve it), I will also post the entire article here.
Continue reading “Honor Thy Mother”

Well, just call me Kando Daibai. Honestly this isn’t very surprising, since my Christian beliefs don’t really jive with any of the majors. I usually come out as Buddhist – similar to me being described as Libertarian in political quizzes.

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What religion should you belong to? or=#505A84 size=4>Buddhism Learn to be one with the world.

I can’t explain just how funny this “monster” blimp story is. Trust me, just read it. ROTFLMAO!

I guess when the Supreme Court steals a supposed democratically-elected presidency away from you, it takes a lot to regain some motivation in life, but buying a cable network? Is this some sort of mid-political life crisis? Okay, I don’t really mean to knock the man when he’s down, but one comment really did strike me as funny:

“This is not going to be a liberal network or a Democrat network or a political network in any way, shape or form,” Gore, 56, said. He added that he hopes to counter the trend toward “consolidation and conglomeratization” of the media industry and contribute to its “democratization.”

Hmm, sounds like a pretty good idea to me. So let’s take a look at the money behind this “TV rebellion”:

Apple Computer chief executive Steve Jobs is on the company’s advisory board, and investors include former AOL Time Warner chief operating officer Robert Pittman, who stepped down as the company battled financial and accounting woes, as well as Real Networks chairman Rob Glaser, former Warner Home Video president Warren Lieberfarb, Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy and actor Bradley Whitford of “The West Wing.”

Now I’m really confused. That’s like saying I want to make an honest film about real people and than casting Ben Affleck and J-Lo.