Monday, September 29, 2003

what's going on

I apologize for not posting so regularly lately. Basically to be blunt about it, I am just lacking inspiration. I have already written about all the political topics that I am inspired to post about (California recall, my takes on the war in Iraq, Democratic candidates, HotRod! being ridiculous). I know I have overdone TV and pop culture lately, but I guess that happens. Particularly when I am overly- tired from exercise/physical therapy or half-sick from fall allergies, it's much more difficult to jump off the couch and do something productive when I get home. It's easy to lay around on the couch and watch TV.

I do have one major blessing to report though -- the treatments appear to be working on my calf. Although my running mileage is not very high yet, the leg so-far seems pain-free. I want to thank fellow bloggers/readers for all the prayers and well-wishes that have been sent my way. There have also been some interesting work demands as I have been preparing for a couple out-of-state trips, a potential graduate school opportunity requiring attention, and a bit of social life to boot. All good things, but they take time away from blogging. I'll post as I'm able and inspired, but the idea well has been pretty dry lately. Any comments/suggestions are welcome and much appreciated.
next year is here?

Regular readers know that part of the reason this blog is named Illinigirl is that I like sports. Not playing them so much as watching them, but I am a huge fan of Chicago / Illinois collegiate and professional teams. Overall the sports scene in Illinois has been quite dreary so far this fall. The only win Illini football has been able to eke out was against Illinois State. The Bears seem hellbent on not winning a game until October or November, not to mention the fact that Soldier Field looks like a sea-green spaceship. The White Sox petered out in early September, ruining any chances for a subway series. (An El series in Chicago, I suppose?)

Who has come through this fall? Who persevered throughout a variety of setbacks and played good, steady ball throughout September? Who is now giving Illinois sports fans something to cheer about? Da Cubs -- as da loveable losers from the North Side are heading to the playoffs.

Saturday was a pretty exciting day for Cub fans. Midway through the back-to-back doubleheader after the Milwaukee-Houston score was posted as final, Wrigley Field erupted as the fans suddenly realized that the playoff berth could be clinched that afternoon, in their presence. We were listening to the game in the car at this point, and the excitement was palpable even over the radio. It was pretty neat to see that old charming ballpark full of such excitement and, once the game was won, exuberance. A friends at work was lucky enough to have a ticket and says he feels like he saw history being made. I can't remember the last time I saw that kind of celebrating on the North Side. (Perhaps the last time the Cubs won a pennant -- when I was a gawky fifth grader, not a twenty-five year old married woman.)

As to whether the Cubs have a chance, we will have to wait and see. Regardless of all this, they have the heart. There were plenty of times this season they could have given up or lost their faith. Losing key players like Corey Patterson and Hee Seop Choi could be enough to get any squad down. Instead they took the hand they were dealt and made the best of it.

New go-to guys like Eric Karros and Mark Grudzielanek emerged. It should be noted that Karros has been videotaping Cubs games since late August. He'd like to make a film about playing baseball in Chicago, but he's also publicly said that he thinks there's something special about this team. He thinks every major leaguer should have a chance to play one year with the Cubs. That's my kind of visiting talent!

Hopefully, this season is just the beginning of great things for this team. Regardless of what happens in the playoffs, thanks for the memories, Dusty and company. Win or lose, Cub fans will realize that there's always next year!

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

What About Bob?

Why don't we ask "What has Bachelor Bob Guinney gotten himself into? I just finished watching the season premiere, and it was full of hijinks the likes of which have not been seen on reality TV before. Simply put, Bob is a celebrity now. You would have thought these women were meeting Tom Cruise, that's how excited they were. As Bob himself put it, he expected them to be excited when we walked into the room but "they were going bananas in there!"

ABC managed to pick about a dozen beautiful yet outrageously cocky women and mix them in with about a dozen beautiful yet respectable types. All of them 100% certain that Bob Guinney was the man for them. If you thought the Bachelorette was humiliating, wait until you how manipulative these women are willing to be as they try to "win" this man.

It made for some rather intriguing TV though, especially when ABC's mystery guest proved to be Bob's mom instead of Trista Rehn. She was able to offer her advice and Bob seemed to listen. He picked a couple of my favorites, Darla, Karin, and Lee-Ann. Now do they have a chance? Who knows. He dropped a couple of my favorites last night as well, Julie, Shae, and Christine.

As they showed the previews for the rest of the season, it seemed quite high on the drama. Reality dating may be good for the ratings, but it seems like a really unpleasant way to choose a spouse. As the preview rolled on, Bob seemed to become more disconcerted about "how hard this was going to be". (Not surprisingly as the previews featured an ambulance showing up to pick up one of the women after what appeared to be a suicide attempt. Note to ABC: if you are running misleading promos about something this serious, I may not be able to watch ANY shows on your network anymore.)

The seaon previews also ran clips of Bob kissing one woman. Bob kissing the next woman. Then another, then another, then another. As my husband remarked, "I don't think I have kissed that many women in my entire life". He's definitely taking full advantage of the opportunities placed in front of him.

So I guess the point of my rambling? Funny guy Bob is far from perfect. Sure he's entertaining, but this great guy personae that he had established for himself? I think it's may become sullied rather quickly. He's just like any other guy -- he has his faults. Last night he proved that he's a sucker for beautiful women, even the ones that are somewhat aggressive and obnoxious. That's probably why he didn't want to do this show in the first place. Perhaps Oprah isn't meant to be a career counselor? This whole mess just makes me terribly glad that I'm not single anymore -- if these are the lengths that women must resort to in order to meet a decent guy.

Edited: 9/25 AM for typos and omissions that an extremely tired IG made last night.

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Media hampering the military efforts?

I went to get a haircut over my lunch hour, and I ended up listening to a rather interesting passage on Rush. Congressman Jim Marshall (D-GA) recently came back from a trip to Iraq. He seemed shocked and amazed at how well things were going over there, given what he had heard in news as of late. He wrote a piece in the Atlanta paper ascertaining that the overly negative media coverage is hurting our success in Iraq.

I have to agree with him -- the doom-and-gloom reports I hear on the major news networks majorly conflict with the uplifting accounts gathered from Iraqi Internet correspondents recently. I would like to think that his article might prompt people to think, to change something. I doubt it will though. I think this is part of the media's approach -- do whatever possible to make the war in Iraq look like a failure, make Bush's approval ratings fall, help open up the field for 2004. I am not sure they realize that by doing so, we may be encouraging terrorists to perpetrate more guerrilla attacks, sacrifice the lives of American soldiers, and jeopardizing our future national security. If we don't question this approach, this will continue to be the standard in the future.

I don't think very many journalists purposefully plan to operate in such a manner, but I think deep-down many of them are subtly complying with this approach. Perhaps liberals are just more pessimistic in general when it comes to matters of national defense? (I.E. it's our turn to just lie down and take our lumps) I don't know the answer, but it's an interesting question to ponder.
Miscellaneous

Very tired girl here. I am trying to step back up my running, as I start physical therapy for my leg tomorrow and they want it back "under stress". Just a few quick notes:

I don't love the content on MSNBC, but it's quickly becoming my favorite news website. No registration, quite a bit of quantity (if not quality), and the site is well-organized and easy to use. With FoxNews, they are also seem to be emerging as leaders at incorporating the blogosphere into the web news world. Television Without Pity's Sarah Bunting's review of the Emmy broadcast was exceptional. It pointed out what worked/didn't and noted that Six Feet Under and Sex and the City were overlooked for much less-creative shows that have already "Jumped the Shark". It's worth a read.

By now, quite a few people have commented on Jessica Simpson's "Chicken by the sea" confusion. Tonight on Newlyweds -- an encore performance, as Jessica turns down some tasty-looking wings because she doesn't understand the difference between chicken and buffalo! Newlyweds may well be one of the funnier reality shows out there. As my husband likes to put it, it's like she's a female version of Ozzy.

Good sense prevails -- the California recall election is back on. As for the nudie pictures of Arnold that are rumored over at Drudge, so what? Perhaps the Clintons lowered my standards, but it's not like we haven't had American politicans who have done worse. If we threw out the leadership skills of every American that had made a mistake, what would we be left with? My libertarian tendencies showing through, I guess.

Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone recovering from Isabel. Jennifer Graham's Richmond hurricane diary on NRO helped put it in perspective for me a bit. Even with a mild hurricane, things are still pretty rough out there.

Eyelids drooping...gotta go for now. Back as time allows.

Monday, September 22, 2003

Ramblings on Ritter

As I have mentioned on the blog before, my husband and I watch a lot of TV. Perhaps too much, as I was reminded yet again last week when I checked out an article at MSNBC. The Five Best TV Shows You Aren't Watching? I'm already watching three-and-a-half of them.

Regardless, one of the few shows we were looking forward to watching in the fall was 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. Within a couple episodes last fall, we were hooked. It's fairly standard sitcom fare, but they had clever writers that definitely "got" teenagers. The dialog was never too cloying but generally funny, and it did so without resulting to gross-out or explicit humor that is everywhere on primetime these days. John Ritter pulled off the dialog brilliantly and even managed to make some of the more formulaic, Bob-Sagety scenes touching. It was a sweet, innocent, fun hour of TV.

One of my favorite aspects of the show was seeing Larry Miller. As the more conservative blog-types here might know, Miller is a Hollywood actor who writes regularly for the Weekly Standard. His tribute to Ritter was published at the site today. Ritter seems to be as nice a guy off-screen as his characters were on-screen.

I was in-utero when Three's Company began and in kindergarten when it ended. I watched him guest-star on Buffy and thought he did a great job in a dramatic turn as Ben's dad on Felicity. I'm not certain why his death has affected me so much though. I'm guessing it's because he reminds me of my father -- roughly the same age, love to make people laugh, all-around decent guys. They make your world a bit brighter just by inhabiting it, even if it's just a half-hour of TV each week. What more can you really ask of an entertainer?

Quite a few media types have criticized ABC's decision to have the 8 Simple Rules father pass away and try to continue the show with his TV "wife" and "kids" dealing with the loss of their father. What very few have pointed out is that as proud as John Ritter were of this show -- he probably would have still wanted it to go on, for the sake of supporting cast and crew. I'll be interested in seeing whether Katy Sagal can carry the show and whether the writers can eventually spin comedy out of the tragedy of it all.
Peoria Pundit's Almost-Always True Observations
Sixteen top-notch observations. Pretty funny and definitely worth the read.
This week at Sunday School...

It seems that the overall theme that will be studied by our room-full of twelve and thirteen year-olds this term is going to be simply "love". Heavens knows that I can't think of an age group that could use the lesson more. Junior high and high school...those can be such cruel, miserable years for teenagers.

This week the scripture was the classic passage about love, 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13. Keep in mind that these children are too young to know this passage by heart. They don't yet understand that this passage will be read aloud at every single wedding they attend for the next few decades. It will be recited by the scripture readers, sung by various vocal artists, included in the programs, imprinted onto the cocktail napkins. (Not being condescending here, as it was read during my ceremony last fall. It's just a beautiful, insightful passage. It's tough not to use it).

It was neat to see this passage for the first time again through their fresh eyes -- and to hear them dissect it word by word. While it is frequently used in reference to matrimonial love, somehow we got into discussing it within the context of the business world, whether billionaires and philanthropists are earning and spending their money for the right reasons, if that can truly be a loving act. I don't have much more insight to offer on the topic at present, but I thought I'd post the passage here for others to ponder:


If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;

it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect;

but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.

So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I Corinthians 13:1-13

Friday, September 19, 2003

In lieu of a real post...

Do you ever just have one of those weeks where you have no energy? I'm not sure if it's the Sunday trip to St. Louis making me tired, the fact it's my second week back into a solid exercise routine, or a major allergy/sinus flareup...but I cannot summon up the energy to do much of anything. Case in point...I am a twenty-five year old female at home at 8:30 pm on a Friday night. I've already taken a ninety-minute nap this afternoon, and I am ready to go to bed. I could hardly get myself off the couch to help with and eat dinner.

Therefore I am begging out of any real thinking for the evening. However, I feel like I am really neglecting my posting, so I am at least throwing up answers to the Friday Five. (Did you know today is its second anniversary?) Anyways, I am planning on getting some real rest this evening, so hopefully I can crank out a few real posts this weekend. Thanks for bearing with me and checking in -- hope real thoughtful posting can resume soon.

1. Who is your favorite singer/musician? Why?

Egads. I don't know -- I mostly like musical groups. If I had to pick an individual, I might go with Billy Joel. When I have seen him perform, he has seemed to have a great personality. Surprisingly, the lead singer for Everclear seemed like a nice guy in that same respect.

2. What one singer/musician can you not stand? Why?

Jennifer Lopez, hands down. Not sure why -- perhaps she just comes off as too superficial and egotistical? I've never liked any of her songs, although I can tolerate her movies. (I will give her credit for not starving herself and promoting a healthy body image for young girls. I'm not sure she does that on purpose though.)

On a related note, the musical group I cannot stand at the moment is Black Eyed Peas. Even if their tune is catchy, the attitude kills it for me.

3. If your favorite singer wasn't in the music business, do you think you would still like him/her as a person?

Probably - especially if he didn't have the drug/alcohol issues that have seemed to accompany his musical career.

4. Have you been to any concerts? If yes, who put on the best show?

Let's see -- Billy Joel, GooGoo Dolls/No Doubt/Bush, Dave Matthews Band, Everclear, REM, and the Beach Boys. Billy Joel at the Assembly Hall was a great show for me, but I saw REM at the gorgeous outdoor amphitheater in Milwaukee and that concert was wonderful.

5. What are your thoughts on downloading free music online vs. purchasing albums? Do you feel the RIAA is right in its pursuit to stop people from dowloading free music?

Personally, I don't do much of either. There is just not much music out there that I consider worth purchasing. I will listen to various radio stations to get my fix, but I really have to be impressed to purchase an album. There are just too many other things I could be doing with my money instead of paying $15 for a CD with three to four songs I like.

I think I would feel guilty if I tried to rip full albums off the Internet. I generally like to support the artists I listen to so the record companies will keep paying them to produce music. It is copyrighted after all, so I think the RIAA has a right to pursue legal downloaders. I think that perhaps it is not the smartest business move to do so, as it's going to tick a lot of their customers off. They will stop downloading, but I wonder if they won't find other ways to get free music or quit purchasing CDs for a while. I think that Universal's strategy -- reducing the cost of its CDs to make purchasing more appealing to the consumer -- may be a smarter way to go.

Monday, September 15, 2003

Something's rotten

I cannot say that I am surprised by the federal appeals court's decision to block the California recall election. I can say that I hope Californians get outraged. Their legislature drafted these laws for a reason, passed them through the legal channels. Their citizens followed the protocol to implement this election because they felt that governor was not performing sufficiently well.

The court's premise for blocking the recall election seems to be this:

"Hey, these voting machines may not be working equally well in all counties. I know you followed these silly let laws to set start this electoral process, but they mean nothing unless we feel voting methods are 100% accurate. Basically, we're just going to postpone that little election you requested indefinitely. Gray stays as governor indefinitely. Until when? Oh, until we decide that all the voting machines have been replaced to our liking. That will take years you say? Well I guess you will just have to wait until another election rolls around. Nevermind that these machines were just as screwed up when the governor was elected. Why didn't we make this ruling before that election? That's irrelevant."

I am quite interested to see how Californians react and if/how the Supreme Court reacts for that matter. I'm not so concerned with the fact that Arnold, McClintock, and Bustamante won't get to duke it out. I'm more concerned with the fact that this court just found a nitpicky little excuse to toss out a law. Why even bother having a legislative system if the courts can take a rule and magically render it moot?

Obviously, I'm not a lawyer. There are legal types out there that are far more qualified to dissect this issue than me. This is just my off-the-cuff response to the ruling. Something's rotten in the state of California.
Picking up

The tile is done. Hooray! We survived two days without a functional bathroom, due to the compassion of nearby friends and my in-laws. We survived a long weekend without a kitchen, chock full of the best fine dining establishments that our budget and schedule would allow. (Subway and McDonalds were visited multiple times).

We survived a day trip to St. Louis with my family to see the Lion King at Fox Theatre. It was a very cute show, but I think I have perhaps outgrown the Disney 'magic'. Gorgeous costumes and talented actors, but somehow theatre loses something for me when I know the plot by heart. Perhaps it's when I sense PC overtones oozing out at every turn. Either way, I left a bit wistful that we won't make it up to Chicago to see Mamma Mia by the end of this month.

We also survived an ill-advised journey down towards the "Edward Jones Dome" just as the Rams game let out. An adventure perhaps but it just led my husband and I to come up with a theory. There are Chicago people in this world, and there are St. Louis people. For some reason, we are most definitely Chicago people.

Maybe it's the glitz and glam of Chicago that St. Louis seems to lack. Perhaps it's the fact that I fell in love with Michigan Avenue at Christmastime as a young girl. Possibly it's just the fact that I'm a Cubs fan. It may be that I just enjoy rude cabbies and outrageous traffic jams. There's also a chance that I just find Lake Michigan more picturesque than the Mississippi River.

Don't get me wrong. St. Louis is a great town in which to spend a weekend. It has some great entertainment options and nightlife. I would wager that it's a much easier place to actually live than Chicago. Even given all the ugly traffic and politics of the city, there's just something about the Windy City that makes it tough for me to stay away.

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

Remodeling break

We're doing a little remodeling around here. (The house, not the website!). Extremely last-minute planning as the contractor just decided he could work us in. We're practically homeless for the next couple days though, so I will post as I'm able. Just FYI in case you notice I'm AWOL!

Monday, September 08, 2003

Depps of misery

Not so much time this evening, but Ben Kepple has posted a great assessment of Johnny Depp's comments last week and his later insistence they had been taken out of context. Gotta love those German translations!

Sunday, September 07, 2003

Administrative note

Woo-hoo! How about those Cubbies? It's the second week of September, they've won seven of their last eight, and they are in first place. Thank you Houston! I'm holding my breath and crossing my fingers.

On a related note, can you imagine where they might have been if Hee Seop Choi and Corey Patterson had never gotten injured? Pure speculation...but there's always next year! That's if this year falls through. An all-Chicago World Series is not out of the question...how many years can Chicago sports fans say that? Good thing baseball is giving us something to cheer about, because it doesn't look like the Bears will be competing anytime soon.
weekend

It's ten o'clock on Sunday evening, and what did I get accomplished this weekend? Feels like nothing. It's just about the opposite really. I worked overtime on Friday, took a nap, watched The Big Chill, spent several hours cleaning, revised the local sorority alum club directory, went to church, did a lovely post-church dinner at Fazoli's, shopped for furniture, prepared a Sunday-school lesson, taught a class, finished revising that directory, cooked enough Italian beef to last us a week, ate dinner, watched Sex in the City, got on the Internet.

It's sort of ironic that the things I really want to do over the course of the weekend are the last to get done. I have a list of about ten friends to e-mail and four or five blog posts I want to write, but need to balance my time/energy more effectively so I get around to all of them.

Teaching Sunday School has been an interesting experience, if a bit trying. Our church school runs during the early family service, so last week we tried the late worship after our class. Not a great idea. After sixty minutes attempting to teach twenty-two middle schoolers, the only thing I wanted to do was close my eyes. (They are wonderful kids, but convincing them to curb their socializing and study the Bible at that age is challenging, to say the least). My husband and I tried a Saturday evening service this week. It was lovely and a bit more personal than the large Sunday crowd, but it left today feeling a bit empty. Worship is such a great way to start the week. Not sure what the solution is here though...

So I haven't made a real post this weekend. I have updated my blogroll however, updating links and adding a few regular reads back to my list. We welcome Jay Solo's Verbosity and Little Green Footballs back to the list and usher Mapchic onto the Illinois blogs list. All three high quality reads.

Between these three and the other links at right, I'm sure there is some quality commentary on the President's address this evening. My thoughts? Fairly good speech, but I wish he'd made one like it every month for the past year or so to make the American people feel more informed and invested in this battle. As we prepare for another grim anniversary this Thursday, it's good to remember what our soldiers are fighting for, what our soldiers are fighting to prevent.

Until next time...

Wednesday, September 03, 2003

Celebrites on US

Yesterday turned out to be "Give the US a dirty name day" as described at Josh Claybourn's site. The always-batty Johnny Depp came out with a slew of downright nasty comments towards America. Maybe he should do us all a favor and not come back from this vacation to France. My husband and I have been meaning to go see Pirates of the Caribbean after all the positive word-of-mouth, but I think we'll keep that $17 for ourselves now. Awful courageous of him to voice such anti-American opinions two months after his big comeback movie opens... Sorry to make you wait til video, Orlando Bloom!

Just a few days after her controversial make-out session at the MTV Music Video awards, Britney Spears decides to jump on President Bush's bandwagon. In the same interview where she says wouldn't kiss another woman again unless it was Madonna, Britney jumps onto the support Bush bandwagon. CNN's article on the interview makes her seem...well perhaps a bit clueless? I applaud her blind patriotism, but I still wonder how many parents will buy their teenage daughters her next album.
My pop culture obession continues

I finally gave in and watched Queer Eye for a Straight Guy last week. I found it to be an interesting mix of Trading Spaces and What Not to Wear. In the episode I saw, the "Fab Five" took perhaps one of the mostly grossly unclean apartments I have ever seen and turned it into a happening bachelor pad for their crewman.

First of all, they did have some pretty good ideas. I really liked the outdoor courtyard they came up with...I think I really need a house with a patio sometime soon. Also, the breakout star / fashion guru Carson Kressley does have good taste in clothing.

Most of what they teach these men is common sense and good manners. I can't believe that their mothers didn't cover this stuff. For example, take your girlfriend out to a nice restaurant once in a while instead of hanging out at her place. Try to be romantic with some candles and a nice cup of coffee /dessert. Clean your bathtub once a year or so. Contrary to what the made-over crew member asserted, a bathtub is more than just a receptacle to catch all the dirt that is being washed off your body.

A few things are taken to the extreme though. Speaking as a girl who likes masculine men, well I'm going to find it a bit strange if my former quarterback / offensive lineman husband starts heading to the salon for manicures every three weeks. Not to mention the fact that this recommendation seems like a budgetary drain, particularly for someone who is not rich or has a family. I can't afford regular manicures myself! And waxing the poor guy's back...OW! Note to all the heterosexual males out there: If this is what it takes to get a woman to stay with you guys, then you do not want to be with her. Run! Run now!

All in all, it's a pretty entertaining half-hour of television. I myself wouldn't term this show mind-opening. If anything, it plays up all the traditional stereotypes about gay men. Perhaps it works for some though.

Me and Hillary

Over at Inner Monologues, Meredith takes me to task on whether my recent description of Hillary Clinton (8/28) was mean-spirited and angry. I give her that did over-generalized, as I am certain far too many Midwesterners support Hillary for my liking. Perhaps the mean-spirited criticism is well-deserved as well. I have hit a grumpy patch the past couple weeks. If it had a vicious tone, I apologize as that was not my intent.

One of my key personal weaknesses is that I get far too vitriolic when I detest someone. There are few people in the world that make me feel this way – people that somehow I cannot see their good side. (Short list at present: Jesse Jackson, the Clintons, and Hot Rod! Blagojevich). I definitely concede that I need to work on this. If not to develop a more Christian attitude, then because I’m going to give myself a heart attack before age forty at this rate.

That being said though, "Machiavellian shrew" was the first description that came to mind. I am not convinced that it was inaccurate. Straight from dictionary.com:

1. Machiavellian, adj.: suggestive of or characterized by expediency, deceit, and cunning.
2. shrew, noun: a woman with a violent, scolding, or nagging temperament; a scold

Why do I feel this way about the Clintons? I was fourteen years old when their term in the White House began. The general vibe I got from the Clintons…they just rubbed me the wrong way. I was embarrassed by how they led their lives and our country. Not as much by what they did, as the way they tried to cover it up, their lack of apology when the truth surfaced, and how they portrayed everyone who objected to this behavior as a raging maniac. I was convinced that they would do anything to win. Now that Bill has retired -- provided the 22nd amendment holds -- Hillary bears the brunt of these feelings. In my mind, she is the student council geek who will will bending all the rules to win at all costs – a real-life Tracy Flick (Election) with much higher stakes.

As I said before, this is just my impression – of both of them. (What’s the male equivalent of shrew? Brute perhaps?). Without going into the conspiracy theories on the string of ill will that befell many of their associates, here’s a smattering of my influences:

Dick Morris – An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton
Peggy Noonan – Newly Aggressive: Hillary changes her tone
David Limbaugh -- The Clintons: They’re Your Problem

I may be logical and right. I may be mean and wrong. As always, this is just a place for me to express my opinions. I’ve always been a big believer in gut feelings. Generally I can disregard anyone’s political affiliation if I feel they are genuine and sincere. That's not what images of Bill and Hillary bring to mind though. My gut feeling there: extreme queasiness.

Monday, September 01, 2003

More about Sex

Last week's Sex and the City post elicited a couple great elaborative posts from Blackavar (at the blog Silfray Hraka: The Warren) and Stephen Karlson (at Cold Spring Shops).

These posts further elaborated on the challenges and problems with Generation X / Generation Y to settle down and/or enter into serious relationships and marriage. Interesting perspective from two somewhat older guys...I hope to elaborate on this trend further later this week.
Bowling for baloney

I don't read Rachel Lucas on a regular basis, but I came across her post Bowling for Bulls**t the other day. What a fabulous read.

Perhaps it was because he passed off this editorialized dreck as a documentary and won an Oscar for doing so, but I have avoided Michael Moore's latest film like the plague. I've gotten the willies everytime I considered renting this movie. I've gotten nauseated whenever I hear pieces on Stupid White Men or his controversial Oscar speech. I get angry when I hear one of my touchy-feely co-workers claiming that the man is a genius. I feel such dislike for this man that it bothers me sometimes. I have generally just written this off to the fact that I disagree with virtually all of his moral, political positions.

I'm not begrudging the man any of his First Amendment rights. He has a right to say and film whatever he wants. I don't doubt that he is smart or a talented filmmaker. I DO doubt that he is objectively "documenting" anything. He's trying to advance his political causes in an incredibly manipulative piece of filmmaking that was portrayed by the American film industry as fact. Just what kind of warped reality are these people living in? Just because Michael Moore sees the world in such a warped manner, doesn't mean the media has to help convince citizens to buy into the anti-American propaganda he is peddling.

Stepping off the soapbox now...end of rant.

PS. Rachel also has up a great piece on the impending 9/11 anniversary and the lack of commemoration it will be receiving by the major television networks. I couldn't have said it better myself.