Friday, May 27, 2005

Crane Climber

I am slowly getting disgusted. Listening to Q100, coworkers, and overheard conversations, I have heard too often 'Just shoot him down', 'He deserves to die', 'He's a murderer'. What happened to that all american war chant of the justice system 'Innocent until proven guilty'. Or does it only apply in situations where you haven't been inconvenienced?

I had a two hour commute home from work yesterday due to the Crane Climber. Though I was perturbed, frustrated, in slight pain from fullbladderitis, never once did I think 'They should kill the guy'. What is it with people going down to Buckhead to actually see the spectacle (only a spectacle because of the people going to see it, a Catch 22 of sorts) with hopes of seeing the man jump? What kind of person wants to see another person die? This man for all that he may have allegedly done, is still a son, a brother, and a friend to someone. After all, if we are going to shoot people for alleged crimes, then there are some cops in Gwinnett county that are on tape killing someone and we as taxpayers paid them to do it....let's whip out the pistols!!!!

Movies and Generations

The Longest Yard comes out today. It's a remake of the classic Burt Reynolds flick from back in the day. I heard two coworkers talking about it briefly this morning. One stated that they had read reviews saying that it may be as good or better than the original. This was the young guy. THe older gentleman's response, unsurprisingly, was 'Why would they remake that movie? It was a classic.' Herein lies our discussion.

Point 1. Movies are remade to update them for the current movie generation. If my 12 year old nephew watched the 70's version of this movie he would be bored out of his little hormonal skull. Show him a movie with people he knows ie Sandler, Rock, Nellie, the chick with the new boobs from Friends and he is entertained.

Point 2. If the movie was such a classic, shouldn't someone else take a stab at it. At worst, the movie flops and the original classic remains at the top of the hill.

Point 3. I think older generations dislike seeing remakes because they have become so attached to the original version. If the remake turns out to be as good as or, movie heavens forbid, better than the original then the original loses some of it's shine. The loss of shine causes the older generation to realize just how much older and possibly disconnected they are becoming with the changing of the times.

Okay, tired of talking about this now.....

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Act Your Age

I guess I just don't get it. Mrs. Xpinionated thinks I act 22 or so because I want to hang out at my local sports bar. It's like there is some unwritten rule somewhere that says you have to settle down. You have to stop going out. There's another unwritten rule somewhere that they have instituted that says once you're married, you can't go out to a bar. Here's my take.

I live my life doing whatever I can to enjoy my life. I don't get my kicks from housework, or yardwork. I don't get my kicks watching regular TV programming. I enjoy bars. I'm a bar person. I may be at a bar for 4 hours having 3 beers and having a genuinely great time. But according to 'them' I am not acting my 30 years. When exactly did it become official that after a certain age you shouldn't enjoy what you've enjoyed previously.

"You need to settle down and be responsible" . . . . .Why can't I be responsible and not settle down? Why must my entire life change in order to embrace 'responsibility'? What about me going to a bar, enjoying myself, going home to my wife, going to sleep, waking up for work, getting to work and getting my job done, having the money to pay bills and live middle class comfortable is such a problem....

Of course, Mrs Xpinionated asks her coworkers what they do on the weekends and they say things like go to dinners with friends, catch a show or whatever.....That's not my thing. I don't want to go sit with people at a restaurant and pretend that life is Melrose Place. I'd much rather go to a bar and see what life was like on Cheers. I am more than willing to do things that Mrs X wants to but if we don't have any plans, I see nothing wrong with me going to my local watering hole.

I guess this boils down to some of the very early Xpinionated postings where I'm tired of people (and not just Mrs X) saying that my life should follow this predetermined, now that you're this old you should be doing this, path. Hell, I didn't even discover the beauty of bar life until I was 24 or so. And why is it we only get too old to do things that we like but we never get too old to do things we don't like?

Monday, May 16, 2005

Honorary Degrees

What's the deal with honorary degrees? Colleges only give them to people who really don't need them. Not to mention it cheapens a degree for those who actually studied and worked for their degree. 'Here, we want to tell you, again, how great we think you are for being such a great actor/musician/comic/politician/etc by giving you what all these people below you had to work really hard for'....this is supposed to make sense?

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Atlanta Area Cops

I just need a wee bit of clarification: A cop at the Atlanta Airport is fired for throwing a woman to the ground. Meanwhile, Gwinnett county cops (in the Metro Atlanta area) are not so much as reprimanded for killing a handcuffed and shackled man with a taser. So we fire a black cop for what at most can be considered manhandling (definitely not brutality in the scheme of brutality witnessed from some officers) a white woman. And we do nothing when eleven officers kill a black man (a restrained black man) with the excuse that they were attempting to restrain....how much restraint is needed for a handcuffed and ankle shackled man????

Thursday, May 05, 2005

NBA Basketball Shaq fires back at Buss, says weight-loss motivation was 'real owner' - CBS SportsLine.com

NBA Basketball Shaq fires back at Buss, says weight-loss motivation was 'real owner' - CBS SportsLine.com
When will the media see the child that Shaquille O'Neal is? "I needed a real owner", what kind of stupidness is that? Jerry Buss stated the obvious and the numbers backed it up, 370 lbs in L.A., 325 in Miami. I can't imagine the South Beach Diet is super strong in Miami to result in such a change. Once again, the disgust I have for this overgrown adolescent is matched by only a few things of which I wish not to address.

In response to PETA

"Tonight I'm wearing an outfit made out of human flesh. It's just so breathable. I figure I'll be safe. Nobody seems all that interested in human rights." -- Wanda Sykes

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NBA Basketball Shaq fires back at Buss, says weight-loss motivation was 'real owner' - CBS SportsLine.com
When will the media see the child that Shaquille O'Neal is? "I needed a real owner", what kind of stupidness is that? Jerry Buss stated the obvious and the numbers backed it up, 370 lbs in L.A., 325 in Miami. I can't imagine the South Beach Diet is super strong in Miami to result in such a change. Once again, the disgust I have for this overgrown adolescent is matched by only a few things of which I wish not to address.

Buss Is Star of Chat Room

Buss Is Star of Chat Room

Jerry sounds awfully upbeat. Kinda gives a playa some hope for next season.

Monday, May 02, 2005

Phil Returning?

If you would have asked me how I felt about Phil Jackson returning back in August, I would have littered the conversation with expletives, insults, and other emotion filled irrational thoughts.

Then this past season occurred. Though I was indifferent to the job Rudy T did, watching Frank Hamblen stumble through a half of a season with some of the worst motivation-inducing post game comments to the media, some of the worst game management, and overall some of the worst . . .'interimness' that I have ever seen, I can only say Phil would be a blessing.

I'm not saying he would be the best fit. After all, I read his post - retirement diary and his negatives regarding Kobe outnumber the positives, but at the same time, he has a lot of negative to say about plenty of the players on the team, as well as some refs and coaches. In fact, if it weren't for the media's devilization of Kobe, I'm not sure the book would have made the news as it did.

Whoever becomes the coach of this team, it will need to be someone that has earned respect. I don't think you can bring in a coach, including any college coaches that have no pro experience, onto this team expect their philosophy to take easily and quickly. I don't think the players will buy into it. This team needs proven leadership.