Archive for the tag: commentary

The Master of Bad Advice

commentary, lies, thought 2 Comments »

People ask me for advice. It’s not that I’m some sort of intellect when it comes to making life choices, it just so happens that I am the person there at that particular moment. I’m not quite sure, though, that I’m the most appropriate person to be asking advice from. Let me give you a few examples. This is a handful of advice I’ve handed out in the last month or so. I won’t provide context of the advice because, as you will see, it doesn’t really matter.

Advice #1: Shit happens – That’s right, it happens and it happens to you

Advice #2: Deal with it – Follows #1 frequently.

Advice #3: Tough – If you feel like I may understand, I probably don’t. It would be like me asking you the best method for checking my kid’s temp. (The answer to that one is: the butt).

Advice #4: Get over it – The advice most often given to my son.

You’re probably thinking that I’m a true artist of the asshole attitude. But the fact of the matter is, I’m very black and white. If something is wrong, make it right. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. In many situations I think there are definite right and wrong answers. People just need to be able to evaluate the decisions without letting emotion get involved.

By the way – I don’t follow my own advice. I may be asking for your help in the near future…

Brokeback Mountain Social Commentary

commentary, movies 3 Comments »

Earlier this week a local radio station was discussing the movie Brokeback Mountain . The morning show consists of 2 men and 2 women. One of the men (We’ll call him #1 for the sake of argument) on the show had seen the movie. The other male host (male guy #2) began ranting about how he wouldn’t be caught dead going to see a movie about gay men. #1 argued that there was no more than 60 seconds of actual homosexual sexual content and referred to the straight dude’s guide to Brokeback Mountain.

#2 continued to rant, stating, “Even 60 seconds is too much.” His commentary seemed a little excessive, then he opened up the phone lines. Soon, it had turned into an all out gay-bashing segment.

I was stunned that I was actually hearing this on the radio. I understand that some radio stations want an edge to their content but this is not typically one of those stations. I tried to keep my liberal opinions in check. But I still felt their comments crossed the line.

I sent the following letter:

Hello -

I was more than a little put off by your commentary about the movie Brokeback Mountain this morning. I thought it was quite disrespectful of gays. Taking calls was inviting the ignorant out to showcase their stupidity.

I don’t think you would have had the same type of conversation if it were a movie involving black people. Try this next time you want to talk about homosexuals, replace the word “gay” with the word “black” and see if you’re still willing to say the same thing. Would you come out on the air and state you will not see a movie about black people? If you are a decent and respectful person you wouldn’t.

You are doing nothing more than perpetuating inequality and creating barriers between people. Shame on you.

Jason.

P.S. I’m straight.

Just to be fair, their form-letter response:

Thank you for your comments, and I’m sorry if you found our positions offensive.

Courtney pointed out that I felt I needed to tell them I was not gay. I was trying to make the point that if I was offended as a straight man, imagine how a gay person must feel. Does being straight make my argument stronger or weaker? I don’t know for certain.

Blackout

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Is it ironic that 4 hours after I ranted in Removing Words from the Dictionary the power in my house died, killing my web server?

*Puts tin foil hat on*

Removing Words from the Dictionary

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The following words should be removed from the dictionary and our daily vocabulary effective immmediately:

bomb

death
threat
kill
die

Over the last couple of days I have heard 3 stories of kids being criminally charged in school for writing dark poems about killing and death, planes being diverted because someone heard someone else on the phone say bomb. Drastic measures are taken all in the name of Homeland Security.

I’m tired of feeling vulnderable and frieghtened. The bad guys have won. Our government is quickly stripping us of our rights guaranteed by the Constitution (Except for that 2nd amendment. We’ll need that one to fight the terrorists). And all in the name of safety. Right.
Right?
Is that why we’re in Iraq too? Safety? Homeland Security?
How about teaching our children not to hate. We should be treating those children who are depressed. Those kids aren’t the real terrorists. Go fight the good fight somewhere else. Stop making us all feel like we’re the terrorists.

Quote of the Day

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“If you are going to be weird, be confident about it.”

Screw the RIAA

commentary, music No Comments »

Two good sites for some RIAA spitefullness:

WhatACrappyPresent.com

DownhillBattle.org

I need to get me some of those stickers…

Putting life in perspective

Personal No Comments »

GlobalRichList.com really puts my life in perspective. Here I am with a brown lawn worrying about watering it so it’s just as green as the neighbors and there’s 4 billion people poorer than me.

Surprising developments

Personal No Comments »

Huh. Go figure. Most people are intregued with the McCarthy Theory. Quite honestly it probably won’t happen but I’m glad to hear that most people have grown up. I figure, if I can work up the courage I’ll try and catch him at his parents house over Christmas. Though I doubt I’ll catch him or even work up the nerve to call him. Nonetheless it’s a thought worth thinking.

I don’t need eye glasses. about 3 years ago I convinced myself that my sight was bad enough to warrant reading glasses. The optomitrist tells me I’ve got 20/20 vision. I have a hard time believing that when 90% of all my relatives wear some sort of vision correction. Yet I’m the lucky one stuck with perfect vision. So why do I wear glasses? It’s a complete mental thing. When I wear my glasses my headaches go away. My eyes stop bludging out of my head. And The world seems a better place.

If you haven’t noticed all ready I’m a hypochondriac. That in itself is a disease. Ha.

Seeking peace

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I think I hide in the past. I think that I am still trying to come to terms with events in the past. Maybe I’m still relying on the past to define who I am today? Constantly I am talking about what used to happen or what I used to do or the people I used to talk to. That doesn’t matter anymore. Living in the past will not settle my concious. Letting issues from yesterday bug me today will only make me more confused. So I’m going to make an effort, starting today, to not let the past rule my future.

One Bad Day

Personal No Comments »

Actually, let me rephrase that. “One Bad Week” I have not had one thing go right this week. I should have known this after Monday when I got a stern talking to regarding the lateness of a project. From then on it just got worse. It got so bad that today I actually thought I was going to throw something across the room. I was so angry at poor workflow and shitass work that I could find no better solution than throwing something. Luckily I grabbed a stress ball and cooled out a little. But I’m still mad as hell about workflow.

New? You want something new? You want something more than just me bitching every day? You don’t enjoy this? You don’t find me amusing? You don’t understand where I’m coming from?

Imagine getting to the top of a hill. Then imagine that someone forgot to tell you that you had to go 10 more feet up. And then when you get there, you have to go 10 more. It’s neverending. You’ll never reach the top..