So I am backlogged like crazy in links that I bookmarked, therefore I shall merely dump them upon the site. Maybe a witty comment or two, but that's not likely (I'm not that witty). Honestly, I even think some of them I wanted to keep for personal use or sharing amongst friends, not to leave to the barren, cold, and unforgiving anonymous internet. Whatevs, they're mostly in chronological order, in two parts (saved up on two computers), so here goes.
12.16.2010
12.06.2010
12.01.2010
TCU Joins the Big East
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5862368
I might do a College Football rundown later this week, if not next week, but until then I found this story humorous.
TCU is in Fort Worth, Texas (of Dallas/Fort Worth region fame). It is WEST of the Mississipi river, usually the indicator of East/West in NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES.
That's enough caps for now.
I might do a College Football rundown later this week, if not next week, but until then I found this story humorous.
TCU is in Fort Worth, Texas (of Dallas/Fort Worth region fame). It is WEST of the Mississipi river, usually the indicator of East/West in NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES.
That's enough caps for now.
Oh, NHL Rules Committee...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/With-Pronger-penalty-justification-more-NHL-rul?urn=nhl-289971
Yeah, this? It doesn't fly. Come on!
It's funny how everyday the NHL does something stupid like this to threaten it's own existence, when it was left comatose during the lockout year. It should know better, and it should reprimand REALLY bad officiating in a case such as this (it would be counterproductive to reprimand bad officiating on a regular basis in any sport, examples must be made, however).
-- Knuttel
Yeah, this? It doesn't fly. Come on!
It's funny how everyday the NHL does something stupid like this to threaten it's own existence, when it was left comatose during the lockout year. It should know better, and it should reprimand REALLY bad officiating in a case such as this (it would be counterproductive to reprimand bad officiating on a regular basis in any sport, examples must be made, however).
-- Knuttel
Facts Can't Get in the Way of What's Right, Damnit
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40426795/from/RSS/
Remember when McCain was a "maverick" of a moderate? Now he just seems more like a dinosaur (literally) of a conservative (not quite paleo) everyday.
Moving on...
What would it take then to make this work, and allow openly gay citizens to serve in the military? If the study had been done the other way around then McCain et co. could simply have stated that this should not have been done as a referendum, because policy decisions should be made top down. Honestly, I think he secretly agrees with the way it was done, given the way he so quickly deferred, not to the study, but to the Chiefs of the individual branches of the Armed Services.
Remember when McCain was a "maverick" of a moderate? Now he just seems more like a dinosaur (literally) of a conservative (not quite paleo) everyday.
Moving on...
What would it take then to make this work, and allow openly gay citizens to serve in the military? If the study had been done the other way around then McCain et co. could simply have stated that this should not have been done as a referendum, because policy decisions should be made top down. Honestly, I think he secretly agrees with the way it was done, given the way he so quickly deferred, not to the study, but to the Chiefs of the individual branches of the Armed Services.
101 Dalmations remake?
You know Hollywood loves its remakes -- it prevents them from having to pay writers (like me) for doing actual work and creatively coming up with new ideas...
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/is-wearing-fur-acceptable-if-you-hate-the-animal-2413815/;_ylt=AqH8EYS12Ocsj4qC4ElOiw5pbqU5
From what I understand, the difference is negligible. My buddy, Bob Sacomato, he sells nutria hats down at the park.
-- Knuttel
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/is-wearing-fur-acceptable-if-you-hate-the-animal-2413815/;_ylt=AqH8EYS12Ocsj4qC4ElOiw5pbqU5
From what I understand, the difference is negligible. My buddy, Bob Sacomato, he sells nutria hats down at the park.
-- Knuttel
IT'S A TARP
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40424612/from/RSS/
Awesome, so TARP, which was actually signed under Bush, not Obama (though it was during election season and both then-Senator Obama and Senator McCain bi-partisanly met up with Bush to get it done), is actually going to cost the American budget about 0 dollars (relatively speaking) and pretty much prevented the financial ruin from getting any worse (yes, it could have gotten much much worse, I could have been super-unemployed).
Ok, so it still cost a few billion dollars -- that's less than a percent of the total budget. Can we stop bitching about TARP now, and start bitching about something productive? Like, I dunno, the President that signed this bill was a total socialist...
-- Knuttel
Awesome, so TARP, which was actually signed under Bush, not Obama (though it was during election season and both then-Senator Obama and Senator McCain bi-partisanly met up with Bush to get it done), is actually going to cost the American budget about 0 dollars (relatively speaking) and pretty much prevented the financial ruin from getting any worse (yes, it could have gotten much much worse, I could have been super-unemployed).
Ok, so it still cost a few billion dollars -- that's less than a percent of the total budget. Can we stop bitching about TARP now, and start bitching about something productive? Like, I dunno, the President that signed this bill was a total socialist...
-- Knuttel
11.23.2010
Knuttel's Bitch-ass Weaksauce Salsa
So I've been given the task of making salsa for thanksgiving, but my last batch, I guess, was too hot for everybody.
So while I still plan on bringing some of the old salsa to thanksgiving, I had to make a new batch.
"Please, please, please, we want your salsa but it's too hot, the Knuttel," they told me amidst their tears (yes, my family calls me the Knuttel).
Making a bitching bitch-ass weaksauce salsa is no small feat, so I had to use a lot of thinking stuff to figure out how to make it work. Here is the recipe below. I'll put a post-script or something about how it actually turned out.
So while I still plan on bringing some of the old salsa to thanksgiving, I had to make a new batch.
"Please, please, please, we want your salsa but it's too hot, the Knuttel," they told me amidst their tears (yes, my family calls me the Knuttel).
Making a bitching bitch-ass weaksauce salsa is no small feat, so I had to use a lot of thinking stuff to figure out how to make it work. Here is the recipe below. I'll put a post-script or something about how it actually turned out.
NCAA Football, week 13, 2010
Even though there is sooooo much more to be discussed regarding the elections (there were many referenda (that's plural for referendum), especially regarding gun rights, sections of the recent healthcare bill, and one pretty large one regarding the possible legalization of a recreational drug; oh, and the democrats picked Pelosi to be the minority leader, that happenned too; and screw governor's races) I think it's time for me to again shift gears and to talk about college football, everyone's favorite subject.
This just in -- the BCS sucks.
I'm not just saying this because Penn State is doing awful this year (well, by Penn State standards), I'm saying this because it is fact.
This just in -- the BCS sucks.
I'm not just saying this because Penn State is doing awful this year (well, by Penn State standards), I'm saying this because it is fact.
11.11.2010
Election Day 2010: Take 3: the House
And so I finally get around to talking about the elections regarding the House of Representatives.
To talk about the numbers results briefly -- the Democrats had a decent majority, took a thorough thumping, and now are the minority party to the Republicans.
Democrats who lost were mostly moderates who won their seats in 06 or 08, in the process of voting out Republicans. Not very many incumbent Republicans lost their seats.
To talk about the numbers results briefly -- the Democrats had a decent majority, took a thorough thumping, and now are the minority party to the Republicans.
Democrats who lost were mostly moderates who won their seats in 06 or 08, in the process of voting out Republicans. Not very many incumbent Republicans lost their seats.
11.06.2010
Election Day 2010: take 2: The Senate
Part 2 of a bit by bit breakdown of this year's election results.
"The Senate"
The Senate, as we are used to thinking, is the senior chamber of Congress. Each Senator must appeal to an entire state during their election process, a concept which would seemingly breed more moderate candidates and elections. In addition the 6 year term would arguably make each Senator more independent, both of their party and the electorate they represent, as they face their wrath far less frequently.
That being said, that is not what happened this year, not at all.
"The Senate"
The Senate, as we are used to thinking, is the senior chamber of Congress. Each Senator must appeal to an entire state during their election process, a concept which would seemingly breed more moderate candidates and elections. In addition the 6 year term would arguably make each Senator more independent, both of their party and the electorate they represent, as they face their wrath far less frequently.
That being said, that is not what happened this year, not at all.
11.02.2010
Election day 2010: take 1
So polls have closed in a good part of the country, I suppose it's time to put a few cents in.
Democrats have taken a pounding thus far, whether deserved or undeserved. But that is usual business for mid-term elections -- the party in power usually loses; 2002 was an apparition (dare I say because of 9/11).
I'll analyze actual results later, as they actually come in and are finalized.
Early cable news coverage was awful. They did nothing but quibble over EVERYTHING, and loudly at that (true to form, I suppose). Once network tv coverage began, the scene mellowed, and the coverage was more sublime. I guess around this time the cable news began to lose SOME of its fury, but it still remains loud whenever they want and for no apparent reason.
Regardless, it looks like party structure in general will be in some sort of disarray/change. Whoever adapts better would appear to be better suited in 2012, not necessarily who is more productive.
-- Knuttel
Democrats have taken a pounding thus far, whether deserved or undeserved. But that is usual business for mid-term elections -- the party in power usually loses; 2002 was an apparition (dare I say because of 9/11).
I'll analyze actual results later, as they actually come in and are finalized.
Early cable news coverage was awful. They did nothing but quibble over EVERYTHING, and loudly at that (true to form, I suppose). Once network tv coverage began, the scene mellowed, and the coverage was more sublime. I guess around this time the cable news began to lose SOME of its fury, but it still remains loud whenever they want and for no apparent reason.
Regardless, it looks like party structure in general will be in some sort of disarray/change. Whoever adapts better would appear to be better suited in 2012, not necessarily who is more productive.
-- Knuttel
10.25.2010
Bookmarks and Thoughts
I've had these windows open forever, and it's really dragging down my computer (downside I guess of running a brand new OS (linux) on a 6 year old laptop).
anyways -- I share:
anyways -- I share:
10.21.2010
The Separation of Church and State
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/19/AR2010101902501.html
God, I'd hope I'd never have to write anything about this. I thought it would be common sense to ANYONE who has grown up in America that there is a separation between church and state within our government. Apparently, it's too difficult to also remember all of our freedoms guaranteed by the first amendment, at least beyond speech (by the way, it's speech, religion, assembly, press, and petition, in no particular order). Why not, I'll just post what the first amendment is, aka the easy amendment.
God, I'd hope I'd never have to write anything about this. I thought it would be common sense to ANYONE who has grown up in America that there is a separation between church and state within our government. Apparently, it's too difficult to also remember all of our freedoms guaranteed by the first amendment, at least beyond speech (by the way, it's speech, religion, assembly, press, and petition, in no particular order). Why not, I'll just post what the first amendment is, aka the easy amendment.
10.18.2010
Deficit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_exclusive/20101015/pl_yblog_exclusive/what-would-it-really-take-to-trim-the-deficit
There's all of this talk this election season about controlling the deficit, reducing the national debt, etc.
First -- definitions
The national debt is the cumulative amount of money the nation owes to other entities.
The national deficit is the amount of money the nation accrues in debt over the course of a year.
Only one President has ever gotten the debt to 0, Andrew Jackson. The last President to have a deficit of 0 was Bill Clinton, who upon the Internet boom of the late 1990s, began to pay back against the debt.
Moving on, both the debt and deficit have been big issues of this, and most, election years. Many want us to get rid of some/most/all of the debt to reduce dependence on foreign entities, namely China -- who actually only owns a plurality of the debt. Many have also seen deficit spending as one of the best ways to get the nation out of recession. The latter statement has been less popular since the passing of TARP, and most tend to focus on the other "half" of Keynesian economics -- tax cuts.
I wonder what the figures are on what the taxes would be currently, with the bush tax cuts, with the bush tax cuts for just those who earn under $250,000 a year, and without the bush tax cuts entirely. Sadly, I don't think anyone would make such a chart, and me being only 14-15 at the time the cuts took place, I am woefully unaware of what it was like financially pre-cut.
As the article states, I find it interesting that tax cuts are among the most inefficient ways to help the economy. I knew of the fact that upper-class cuts help the economy the least, but seeing as how they are the ones who control the media etc, the fact is easily ignored.
How have we really gotten so bad that tax cuts are the only way our politicians can campaign about fixing the economy, that not being for tax cuts is the equal of being against tax cuts?
The Republican plan, which was published earlier this year, in the summer I believe, only has rhetoric about cutting the deficit, while not doing much to actually reduce it in the meat and bones. The tea party contingent plans on cutting back the government as much as possible, except in the personal government project that helps each individual person.
The Democrats have not listed any plan besides letting the bush tax cuts above 250,000 expire, and keeping the rest (Obama pledged not to raise taxes on anyone who makes under that, and you'd be damn sure he's gonna keep that if he wants any shot at re-election, it killed Bush Sr.'s shot).
Honestly, raising taxes might be the only way to get out of it. With the current economic recession being largely caused by fiscal instability in people being unable to pay off their houses and credit cards, perhaps the country should look inwards and not become a parody of its people. We've spent more than we've had, but the projects can't be cut, people need them, they've come to rely upon them. So we need to suck it up, and make more than the minimum monthly payments.
-- Knuttel
There's all of this talk this election season about controlling the deficit, reducing the national debt, etc.
First -- definitions
The national debt is the cumulative amount of money the nation owes to other entities.
The national deficit is the amount of money the nation accrues in debt over the course of a year.
Only one President has ever gotten the debt to 0, Andrew Jackson. The last President to have a deficit of 0 was Bill Clinton, who upon the Internet boom of the late 1990s, began to pay back against the debt.
Moving on, both the debt and deficit have been big issues of this, and most, election years. Many want us to get rid of some/most/all of the debt to reduce dependence on foreign entities, namely China -- who actually only owns a plurality of the debt. Many have also seen deficit spending as one of the best ways to get the nation out of recession. The latter statement has been less popular since the passing of TARP, and most tend to focus on the other "half" of Keynesian economics -- tax cuts.
I wonder what the figures are on what the taxes would be currently, with the bush tax cuts, with the bush tax cuts for just those who earn under $250,000 a year, and without the bush tax cuts entirely. Sadly, I don't think anyone would make such a chart, and me being only 14-15 at the time the cuts took place, I am woefully unaware of what it was like financially pre-cut.
As the article states, I find it interesting that tax cuts are among the most inefficient ways to help the economy. I knew of the fact that upper-class cuts help the economy the least, but seeing as how they are the ones who control the media etc, the fact is easily ignored.
How have we really gotten so bad that tax cuts are the only way our politicians can campaign about fixing the economy, that not being for tax cuts is the equal of being against tax cuts?
The Republican plan, which was published earlier this year, in the summer I believe, only has rhetoric about cutting the deficit, while not doing much to actually reduce it in the meat and bones. The tea party contingent plans on cutting back the government as much as possible, except in the personal government project that helps each individual person.
The Democrats have not listed any plan besides letting the bush tax cuts above 250,000 expire, and keeping the rest (Obama pledged not to raise taxes on anyone who makes under that, and you'd be damn sure he's gonna keep that if he wants any shot at re-election, it killed Bush Sr.'s shot).
Honestly, raising taxes might be the only way to get out of it. With the current economic recession being largely caused by fiscal instability in people being unable to pay off their houses and credit cards, perhaps the country should look inwards and not become a parody of its people. We've spent more than we've had, but the projects can't be cut, people need them, they've come to rely upon them. So we need to suck it up, and make more than the minimum monthly payments.
-- Knuttel
The Marcellus Shale
The Marcellus Shale is a large natural gas reserve that will likely be developed soon, due to its size and the demand for natural gas. Most of this reserve lies in the northern Appalachian mountains, and thus what to do with it has become somewhat of an issue for this years Pennsylvania Gubernatorial race
So the main issue is ... should the energy companies be taxed for mining the natural gas? How should they be taxed, if taxed?
Passage of a bill looks eminent, so it looks as if the issue will be more rhetorical and theoretical than anything else.
I look at it this way. The natural gas is there. How much is there is unclear, but it's there. Unless the states decide to go to war with one another, or some country invades and takes over the Marcellus Shale, it will still be there, and it will still be in Pennsylvania. In this case, it is the job of the government to make sure minimal damage is done in order to extract the natural gas, or to ensure that what damage is done can be reversed. If it takes a tax to make sure this can be done within the state budget, a tax which is the similar in neighboring Marcellus states (which, by the way, because it's in shale form, cannot be a "my milkshake drinks your milkshake" scenario), then the tax must be enacted. It's the only responsible thing to do. Having the tax will not drive away business because the industry is fixed. The natural gas is where it is and it cannot move. In fact, it is the duty of the state to make sure it is getting its fair share for parting with its limited precious resources. Is not the state its own actor in this market?
Given the recent history of the energy mining industry (ahem, BP, ahem) I'm not so certain stasis can be trusted to the corporations. And to put it flatly, once the natural gas there is gone, so is the industry with the region. Recompense of some kind must be had.
RECOMPENSE!!!!
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20101012_On_Pa__natural_gas_tax__different_polls_yield_different_results.html
-- Knuttel
So the main issue is ... should the energy companies be taxed for mining the natural gas? How should they be taxed, if taxed?
Passage of a bill looks eminent, so it looks as if the issue will be more rhetorical and theoretical than anything else.
I look at it this way. The natural gas is there. How much is there is unclear, but it's there. Unless the states decide to go to war with one another, or some country invades and takes over the Marcellus Shale, it will still be there, and it will still be in Pennsylvania. In this case, it is the job of the government to make sure minimal damage is done in order to extract the natural gas, or to ensure that what damage is done can be reversed. If it takes a tax to make sure this can be done within the state budget, a tax which is the similar in neighboring Marcellus states (which, by the way, because it's in shale form, cannot be a "my milkshake drinks your milkshake" scenario), then the tax must be enacted. It's the only responsible thing to do. Having the tax will not drive away business because the industry is fixed. The natural gas is where it is and it cannot move. In fact, it is the duty of the state to make sure it is getting its fair share for parting with its limited precious resources. Is not the state its own actor in this market?
Given the recent history of the energy mining industry (ahem, BP, ahem) I'm not so certain stasis can be trusted to the corporations. And to put it flatly, once the natural gas there is gone, so is the industry with the region. Recompense of some kind must be had.
RECOMPENSE!!!!
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20101012_On_Pa__natural_gas_tax__different_polls_yield_different_results.html
-- Knuttel
10.11.2010
KA-BROOM
Question: What is the sound of a sweep?
The playoff future looks bright for the Phillies, with but one exception -- the offense looked rather anemic. That is to say, most of their offense was generated from defensive errors. This needs to be rectified.
Pitching was stellar.
2 complete games, 1 no hitter, and no runs surrendered by the bullpen -- against the NL's most potent offense of the year, no less. The Reds had the team triple crown, and their first baseman was close to getting a personal one.
The next series shall be interesting, and I hope they both exhaust eachother.
I don't know how I feel exactly about the possibility of a Yankees/Phillies rematch though. Sure, having the Phillies win would be awesome, but would that particular matchup be good for baseball?
-- Knuttel
The playoff future looks bright for the Phillies, with but one exception -- the offense looked rather anemic. That is to say, most of their offense was generated from defensive errors. This needs to be rectified.
Pitching was stellar.
2 complete games, 1 no hitter, and no runs surrendered by the bullpen -- against the NL's most potent offense of the year, no less. The Reds had the team triple crown, and their first baseman was close to getting a personal one.
The next series shall be interesting, and I hope they both exhaust eachother.
I don't know how I feel exactly about the possibility of a Yankees/Phillies rematch though. Sure, having the Phillies win would be awesome, but would that particular matchup be good for baseball?
-- Knuttel
10.02.2010
The Modern Anti-Hero
The modern day anti-hero is in our midst, upon the TV screen: Jersey Shore's Angelina "Jolie" Pivarnick.
But Knuttel, one might say, how could this possibly be?
It's quite simple, really.
First off, no one on the program displays true heroic qualities. None of them have any explicit virtue or anything like that. They may display "jerk with a heart of gold" qualities, but that rarely ever extends beyond their "family" or anyone else allowed within their group. This too extends to Angelina.
So what does she do that makes her heroic, in an anti-hero kind of way?
She remains (or at least remained).
She was an early departure on the first season, leaving the rest of the cast to bond without her. Sure, she did an annoying thing or two (notably cock blocking Mike and Pauly D in an extremely obvious way), but the whole cast annoys each other really. They're all immature, annoying assholes. It's what they do.
So why then does Angelina get outcast as such? Sure, she wasn't there for the first season, but that didn't stop the cast from accepting other second season people, such as her friend Jose.
Week in and week out she continuously took shit from the rest of the cast. She slowly worked at gaining their trust, only to have it taken back in a quarter of the time for something usually trivial, something any other cast member would be just as likely to do -- in the hot tub with Vinny's uncle hitting the ball into Snooki's face could easily be an accident, especially with someone who would probably not be very athletic or coordinated, something that Snooki could have very easily done to Angelina (except she would've brushed it off as nothing and no one would have left the hot tub terribly upset).
Among other things held against her was Vinny taking offense to Angelina saying that JWoww is talking about how drunk Pauly is, saying it like, "she's talking shit," when it's closer to, "she's talking a matter of factly, with little inflection of criticism." This of course leads to a fight. Later after a long dispute between her and Vinny, they end up drunkenly sleeping together. Vinny later states this act as doing it so he has something against her. Let me say that again, Vinny slept with Angelina so he could later hold it against her. How evil is that? Anyways, this comes within a day of Angelina saying she slept with Jose, when she didn't, leading to the later vitriolic accusation of sluttery -- you slept with two dudes under 24 hours. Nevermind the fact that MVP (Mike, Vinny, and Pauly) are either aspiring to or successfully doing this with their respective opposite gender the entire Miami stay.
And then the hammer comes down on her in the form of Mike, formalizing his anger against her and urging every second for her exit. JWoww offers advice to just stay and deal with it, Mike is an asshole, but the damage is done. The pressure is too great, as Mike is a forceful asshole who believes his opinions are synonymous with those of the rest of the house, and besides the advice, she gets no support.
The impetus behind the final argument is a misplaced menstrual pad, though I suspect it was moved by MTV's cameramen or staff. While I believe she is a sloppy and dirty person, I have a hard time believing someone would purposely do something like that -- leaving the alternate hypothesis to be something accidental, like as if she threw it at the trash can, it failed to make it in, and she didn't look back (which is still very dirty). Either way she had deniability.
In any case, her only true crime is being herself. She refused to submit in a culture of misogyny. Simply look at the relatively subdued personalities of the other female cast members, as well as the very one sided accusations of slutty behavior (Mike, for instance, is never criticized for sleeping with many women, rather sleeping with ugly women).
In summary: she is ostracized mainly for not fitting in, and takes abuse from the other house mates on a daily basis for doing this. For refusing to be someone besides herself (when all options are rather morally neutral at best), she is the modern anti-hero. At the very least, she carries the hero's burden. She doesn't want to simply be another guidette, she wants to be Angelina the guidette, and for this she should be commended.
-- Knuttel
But Knuttel, one might say, how could this possibly be?
It's quite simple, really.
First off, no one on the program displays true heroic qualities. None of them have any explicit virtue or anything like that. They may display "jerk with a heart of gold" qualities, but that rarely ever extends beyond their "family" or anyone else allowed within their group. This too extends to Angelina.
So what does she do that makes her heroic, in an anti-hero kind of way?
She remains (or at least remained).
She was an early departure on the first season, leaving the rest of the cast to bond without her. Sure, she did an annoying thing or two (notably cock blocking Mike and Pauly D in an extremely obvious way), but the whole cast annoys each other really. They're all immature, annoying assholes. It's what they do.
So why then does Angelina get outcast as such? Sure, she wasn't there for the first season, but that didn't stop the cast from accepting other second season people, such as her friend Jose.
Week in and week out she continuously took shit from the rest of the cast. She slowly worked at gaining their trust, only to have it taken back in a quarter of the time for something usually trivial, something any other cast member would be just as likely to do -- in the hot tub with Vinny's uncle hitting the ball into Snooki's face could easily be an accident, especially with someone who would probably not be very athletic or coordinated, something that Snooki could have very easily done to Angelina (except she would've brushed it off as nothing and no one would have left the hot tub terribly upset).
Among other things held against her was Vinny taking offense to Angelina saying that JWoww is talking about how drunk Pauly is, saying it like, "she's talking shit," when it's closer to, "she's talking a matter of factly, with little inflection of criticism." This of course leads to a fight. Later after a long dispute between her and Vinny, they end up drunkenly sleeping together. Vinny later states this act as doing it so he has something against her. Let me say that again, Vinny slept with Angelina so he could later hold it against her. How evil is that? Anyways, this comes within a day of Angelina saying she slept with Jose, when she didn't, leading to the later vitriolic accusation of sluttery -- you slept with two dudes under 24 hours. Nevermind the fact that MVP (Mike, Vinny, and Pauly) are either aspiring to or successfully doing this with their respective opposite gender the entire Miami stay.
And then the hammer comes down on her in the form of Mike, formalizing his anger against her and urging every second for her exit. JWoww offers advice to just stay and deal with it, Mike is an asshole, but the damage is done. The pressure is too great, as Mike is a forceful asshole who believes his opinions are synonymous with those of the rest of the house, and besides the advice, she gets no support.
The impetus behind the final argument is a misplaced menstrual pad, though I suspect it was moved by MTV's cameramen or staff. While I believe she is a sloppy and dirty person, I have a hard time believing someone would purposely do something like that -- leaving the alternate hypothesis to be something accidental, like as if she threw it at the trash can, it failed to make it in, and she didn't look back (which is still very dirty). Either way she had deniability.
In any case, her only true crime is being herself. She refused to submit in a culture of misogyny. Simply look at the relatively subdued personalities of the other female cast members, as well as the very one sided accusations of slutty behavior (Mike, for instance, is never criticized for sleeping with many women, rather sleeping with ugly women).
In summary: she is ostracized mainly for not fitting in, and takes abuse from the other house mates on a daily basis for doing this. For refusing to be someone besides herself (when all options are rather morally neutral at best), she is the modern anti-hero. At the very least, she carries the hero's burden. She doesn't want to simply be another guidette, she wants to be Angelina the guidette, and for this she should be commended.
-- Knuttel
9.29.2010
9.26.2010
The downfall of western society: a Pixar story
So I finally saw Finding Nemo.
I was dissappointed, but not really. I didn't like it, but it was standard Pixar fare.
Without further ado, I shall now let loose my anger upon Pixar.
All they make are treacly little Oscar-bait pictures. The funny part, of course, is they'll likely never win any best picture Oscars for doing this, as animated pictures rarely ever win the best picture Oscar. Though animated Oscar-bait pictures are usually much more likely to make money than non-animated ones -- plus lower production costs; theyre running to the bank.
But my point is they don't challenge the medium in any way other than technical. They don't treat it like an art, they treat it like an exercise. All the stories are the same tug-at-your-heartstrings bullshit. Oddly enough, all the stories also have a very anti-human message.
I shall go through this latter part in list format, using the list of Pixar films made, according to wikipedia.
Toy Story, 1995 -- While the conflict is mostly between Buzz and Woody, it is brought up mostly by Andy the human kid's temporary taste in toys. Also, there's the kid next door who terrorizes and destroys all toys, though he would be considered a minor-antagonist. Add in the fact that humans aren't supposed to see the toys move ever, and really any human is an enemy of some kind in this movie.
A Bug's Life, 1998 -- I don't remember anything about this movie. It sucked too much for me. Plus it was a blatant knockoff of Dreamworks' 1998 movie Antz. Funny thing is when Dreamworks goes toe to toe with Pixar on films of comparable quality, Dreamworks usually makes the better film. This is the beginning of this trend. Are people even in this movie? Oh man, that's the most evil of all.
Toy Story 2, 1999 -- Already going into the sequel well on their third effort, the antagonist in this mediocre movie is the toy collector.
Monsters, inc., 2001 -- I don't really remember this movie, but I think the antagonist in this movie was the little kid that runs around the monster city.
Finding Nemo, 2003 -- The main antagonist in this movie is the Sydney dentist (how an ocean clown fish managed to survive the trip from the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney is beyond me). All the oceanic "enemies" were merely plot obstacles (were the jellyfish ever aware of their presence?). It is also one of the first movies to make a dramatic stand against people and what people stand for explicity, criticizing the "stealing" of fish from their natural environments, and really people "invading" upon any oceanic habitat. Also, anyone notice how the final "obstacle" was a fishing boat, of which the fish were at least aware of fishing grounds? Not to mention a clown fish would probably get tossed overboard during the sorting process as by-catch. Also, even though Shark Tales was decidedly mediocre, it was still better than this.
The Incredibles, 2004 -- The antagonist is, at first, the humans who ban superhero activities in public. This is used as a plot device to set up the main antagonist, a normal human who captures and fights superheroes with his robots.
Cars, 2006 -- I could only stand about 5 minutes of this crapfest. Too many awful car puns. Anyways, I don't even think humans exist in the "Cars" universe. What is the purpose of a car's existence then, if not to propel the driver? Thus, existentially, humans are, too, the enemy.
Ratatouille, 2007 -- The enemy in this movie is every human which attempts to stop a single rat's attempts at becoming a chef.
WALL-E, 2008 -- The antagonist in this movie is natural human sloth. As people develop better and better technology, they become lazier and lazier, ultimately turning earth into a trash pile. The robots running the ship realize this, using it as their reason to keep the humans away from earth, even though it can now "support" life. Kung Fu Panda was superior to this film in every single way, even in only the first five minutes.
Up, 2009 -- Never saw it, don't plan on seeing it, but I can bet you there's an indictment against humankind somewhere in there.
Toy Story 3, 2010 -- The third sequel of the Toy Story franchise, it improves upon the second one. Humans exist as the usual background foe, special emphasis placed upon the little kids who destroy and go through toys, not understanding their limits. The main antagonist is mob-boss of the daycare, Lotso Hugs, but all of the conflict in this movie is driven by abandonment issues the toys feel from their human masters.
So there you go, Pixar hates people. I expect a Pixar remake of Soylent Green, rewritten as a feel good story.
-- Knuttel
I was dissappointed, but not really. I didn't like it, but it was standard Pixar fare.
Without further ado, I shall now let loose my anger upon Pixar.
All they make are treacly little Oscar-bait pictures. The funny part, of course, is they'll likely never win any best picture Oscars for doing this, as animated pictures rarely ever win the best picture Oscar. Though animated Oscar-bait pictures are usually much more likely to make money than non-animated ones -- plus lower production costs; theyre running to the bank.
But my point is they don't challenge the medium in any way other than technical. They don't treat it like an art, they treat it like an exercise. All the stories are the same tug-at-your-heartstrings bullshit. Oddly enough, all the stories also have a very anti-human message.
I shall go through this latter part in list format, using the list of Pixar films made, according to wikipedia.
Toy Story, 1995 -- While the conflict is mostly between Buzz and Woody, it is brought up mostly by Andy the human kid's temporary taste in toys. Also, there's the kid next door who terrorizes and destroys all toys, though he would be considered a minor-antagonist. Add in the fact that humans aren't supposed to see the toys move ever, and really any human is an enemy of some kind in this movie.
A Bug's Life, 1998 -- I don't remember anything about this movie. It sucked too much for me. Plus it was a blatant knockoff of Dreamworks' 1998 movie Antz. Funny thing is when Dreamworks goes toe to toe with Pixar on films of comparable quality, Dreamworks usually makes the better film. This is the beginning of this trend. Are people even in this movie? Oh man, that's the most evil of all.
Toy Story 2, 1999 -- Already going into the sequel well on their third effort, the antagonist in this mediocre movie is the toy collector.
Monsters, inc., 2001 -- I don't really remember this movie, but I think the antagonist in this movie was the little kid that runs around the monster city.
Finding Nemo, 2003 -- The main antagonist in this movie is the Sydney dentist (how an ocean clown fish managed to survive the trip from the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney is beyond me). All the oceanic "enemies" were merely plot obstacles (were the jellyfish ever aware of their presence?). It is also one of the first movies to make a dramatic stand against people and what people stand for explicity, criticizing the "stealing" of fish from their natural environments, and really people "invading" upon any oceanic habitat. Also, anyone notice how the final "obstacle" was a fishing boat, of which the fish were at least aware of fishing grounds? Not to mention a clown fish would probably get tossed overboard during the sorting process as by-catch. Also, even though Shark Tales was decidedly mediocre, it was still better than this.
The Incredibles, 2004 -- The antagonist is, at first, the humans who ban superhero activities in public. This is used as a plot device to set up the main antagonist, a normal human who captures and fights superheroes with his robots.
Cars, 2006 -- I could only stand about 5 minutes of this crapfest. Too many awful car puns. Anyways, I don't even think humans exist in the "Cars" universe. What is the purpose of a car's existence then, if not to propel the driver? Thus, existentially, humans are, too, the enemy.
Ratatouille, 2007 -- The enemy in this movie is every human which attempts to stop a single rat's attempts at becoming a chef.
WALL-E, 2008 -- The antagonist in this movie is natural human sloth. As people develop better and better technology, they become lazier and lazier, ultimately turning earth into a trash pile. The robots running the ship realize this, using it as their reason to keep the humans away from earth, even though it can now "support" life. Kung Fu Panda was superior to this film in every single way, even in only the first five minutes.
Up, 2009 -- Never saw it, don't plan on seeing it, but I can bet you there's an indictment against humankind somewhere in there.
Toy Story 3, 2010 -- The third sequel of the Toy Story franchise, it improves upon the second one. Humans exist as the usual background foe, special emphasis placed upon the little kids who destroy and go through toys, not understanding their limits. The main antagonist is mob-boss of the daycare, Lotso Hugs, but all of the conflict in this movie is driven by abandonment issues the toys feel from their human masters.
So there you go, Pixar hates people. I expect a Pixar remake of Soylent Green, rewritten as a feel good story.
-- Knuttel
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