Wednesday, 24 May 2006

Again, I Am Amused

a.musements

Just when I thought it’d be a while before someone topped Verizon’s “field meeting” tv spot (the one where the nebbishy guy meets a thug type in a muddy field, and the thug’s impressed to learn the nebbish gets cell service out there in the boonies) in sheer entertainment value (as measured on my personal giggleometer), I come across Sprint’s “crime deterrent” ad. (Apparently, the spot debuted during the Super Bowl, but I just saw it for the first time a couple of days ago.)

03:21 AM | Comments (0) | Email this entry

Tuesday, 16 May 2006

Niven Was Right About Heinlein Being Right

a.musements,  generalities

It’s looking like I won’t need that dual-tuner TiVo, after all. The CW, (bastard child of UPN and The WB) won’t be announcing their schedule until Thursday, but one source after another is reporting that apparently it’s all over but the shouting for Everwood, while 7th Heaven — despite airing its friggin’ SERIES FINALE last week.. oh, and being utter drek for eight years of its ten-year run (and no, I don’t mean it was getting better toward the end) — and the crapfest that likes to call itself a “journey,” One Tree Hill, will be back. TANJ*, dammit.

Homefront. Murder One. Misfits of Science. Grosse Pointe. Freaks & Geeks. Undeclared. Firefly. Wonderfalls. Arrested Development. Justice League Unlimited. And now we can add Invasion and Everwood to the charnel heap.

TV… it was fun while it lasted. But more and more, it seems you’re actively doing your best to drive me away. It’s working.

On the upside… I guess I’ll have more time to read.

*TANJ: an acronym coined by Larry Niven in his Known Space books, meaning There Ain’t No Justice, a phrase appearing numerous times in the works of Robert A. Heinlein.

10:54 PM | Comments (0) | Email this entry

Wednesday, 10 May 2006

32 Years and Counting…

intro.spectacle

I visited my mother’s grave today, as I try to do every May 10. Despite the past couple days’ worth of rain, the maintenance crew had obviously recently mowed the lawn, as the headstone was covered with wet grass clippings, which I cleared away, as best I was able with my bare hands.

There are times, like today, when I think about my mother, and I feel guilty, because I’m certain to about fifteen decimal places that I’m not the person I think she hoped I would be. In fact, I don’t even know what I’d have to say to that person if I ever met him. I just don’t think we’d have very much in common.

After my mother died, I found myself thinking — a lot — about my own mortality. By the time I reached high school, I was fairly convinced that I wouldn’t live to see the year 2000. I’d be 36 by then… surely my time would be up long before that. Then, from the time I hit 25, I started looking at those five-year milestones. By the time 30 rolled around, not only was I unsure I would make it to the next milestone… I wasn’t sure I wanted to. On final approach to 40, I was pretty certain that I didn’t want to survive to that marker.

Which brings us to today… May 10, 2006. 32 years since my mother’s passing, and just about midway between the 40 and 45 milestones. My aunt (father’s youngest sister) called today, to tell me that my grandmother has some old coins that she wants to give to me, and during the conversation, my aunt said that she and my grandmother were just looking at some old pictures of my mother yesterday, and that there’s a lot of my mother in me. I’m sure it was meant to be comforting, but in actuality, it just made me feel about ten times more hollow than I already did.

So… what do I do with that? All I know right now is that 45’s on the way, and I have no particular desire to get there.

07:05 PM | Comments (0) | Email this entry

Friday, 28 April 2006

Say Goodbye, Trackbacks

in.site

I wasn’t really using them anyway, and I’ve been getting a rash of trackback spam over the past few weeks. So they’re gone.

And BTW, trackback spammers: bite me.

07:42 PM | Comments (0) | Email this entry

Tuesday, 11 April 2006

And So It Begins

a.musements,  in.site

All right… that thing I alluded to in my last post?

It’s here. Subdomain and everything. Have a look, if you dare. MUAH-HA-HA-oh, wait. It’s not sinister.

Well, not yet, anyway.

07:55 PM | Comments (1) | Email this entry

Page 2 of 20 pages  <  1 2 3 4 >  Last »