Adam's Thingy

"There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people..."

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:17:00 -0500

““”There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they’re going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses. It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious. Couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you get it.”“”

- Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, speaking to the chief executive officers of Ford, Chrysler and General Motors at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee. Their reaction:

Twilight: Adam's Book Review

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:35:00 -0500

I finished reading Twilight last night. I picked it up sometime in August and never got a chance to start it, and then Katy read it and liked it, and since then it has taken off in popularity and it seems like everyone and their mom (literally) has read it. I lost interest in it then, thinking it was just “the next Harry Potter.” Not saying that’s a bad thing, but if everyone else is going to tell me the story do I really need to read it myself?

I’m glad that I did. Because if I had waited, I’d be forced into hearing the actors’ voices and picturing their faces instead of developing a picture of them in my mind all by m’self. Not to mention if I had waited, all the books would have “Now a Major Motion Picture!” plastered all over the cover and, well, I hate that.

So, what did I think? I really, really liked it. It’s target audience is teenage girls, so at times I felt that I should be hiding the cover from view when reading in public. But I felt like I enjoyed the story just as much as they did, and if that and listening to the new Taylor Swift album makes me a bit effeminate, I guess you can call me Queen Mary Polesmoker. But maybe it also means that females are putting out better stuff than any dudes right now.

Speaking of, I think the differences between females and males is kind of what makes this story and consequently is part of the reason why it’s so popular among teenage girls who are trying to figure all that stuff out on their own. Therefore the book should probably be liked just as much by teenage boys, and for that matter the rest of us who are still trying to figure out women (or men), but it’s not as well received with that demographic probably because we’re too busy playing with our dicks to talk about feelings.

I found the theme very disturbing but at the same time very erotic, and I think that’s why women are falling in love with the male lead character, Edward. This is a phenomenon… girls and their mothers around the world are falling for Edward, a fictional character! And I think it’s because what I find so disturbing can also be seen as dangerous. And we all know women love a disturbed, dangerous, sexy guy. ::puts on a tie::

My question, though, to anybody reading who has read the book, is this (and from here on out, there be spoilers, so tread carefully): are the scenes of Edward tracing his nose along her body, stopping at the wrists and neck to smell her blood, and constantly having to pull away from her because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from killing her, supposed to be sexy?

Katy thought not, and made me feel like a perv for thinking so. I see it like this: it’s not necessarily about drinking blood, but more about how Bella is so alluring and tempting that he had to constantly restrain himself around her. Replace “blood” with “sex” (or, to an unwilling prey, “rape”) and you see the point.

The ultimate danger was kind of illustrated early on when they made the trip to wherever they went when she saw his skin sparkle (totes awesome, BTW). He said to her before they left: “let your dad know where we’re going, so I have some incentive to bring you back alive.”

If a normal guy said this, it would be creepy. If a serial killer said this, you’d shit your pants and run the other way. But if a vampire says this, you lean in closer and get all moist because it’s just so dangerous. And more than just the danger—it’s something that makes HER unique, it’s HER smell that’s doing this to him and she loves it.

You would, too.

The one thing that irritated me about the story—but not so much as to take away from the enjoyment—was the fact that Edward is really 107 years old. Vampires don’t age, so even though he appears 17, he’s been alive since 1901 and has the mind of a 107 year old.

Why is no one besides me upset by this? Just because Edward looks 17 doesn’t mean he is. If we picture Edward looking like his true age, the story just gets perverted.

My point is that a 107-year-old man has nothing in common with a 17-year-old girl. I get the whole “love is ageless” thing and understand it, and that’s fine… at first. But when the initial lust wears off, what are they going to talk about?

“Remember the Spanish Flu?” Edward might say. “The Great Depression? World War I, and II? Those were horrid! Do you remember how we had to…?”

“No, Grandpa, I don’t,” Bella might reply, “let’s go drive a hybrid car and Google it.”

Megan brought up a good point to me. She said:

During my reading of the book, I kept wondering if the reason I was falling in love with Edward was because of the type of narrative. I mean if the book had been written in third person-omniscient would I have loved him so intently? Or is the only reason I love him because the narrator (Bella) loved him so much?

How do you feel about Edward? Do you see him as someone you’d like to emulate? Or do you, as a male, fall for him with the same veracity that I, as a woman do? Or are you somewhere in between?

Edward is not someone, as a male, I’d like to emulate. Not just because I don’t really have any appetite for blood, but because he’s the embodiment of an “old fashioned” male. He lifts Bella up and carries her around, attends to her every need, tells her exactly what to do and yells at her when she doesn’t but then immediately forgives her and tells her he loves her anyway. It’s this assertiveness, danger, protection, and forgiveness that I think women (or anybody) find attractive, but a year into the relationship can just be seen as being an overbearing asshole.

Then again, he is a vampire, so human characterists may not be applicable.

In the end, it’s just that he’s a bad boy that you can’t bring home to mommy and daddy.

But I do think Megan has a point in that if the story were written from a third-person perspective, it wouldn’t have been as effective. I’d be curious if the series would have been as successful if you weren’t constantly inside Bella’s head. I’d be willing to bet it would tank, because, really, it’s pretty easy to fall in love with Bella, too.

The bottom line: Stephanie Meyer is one of those authors who truly has “the gift,” and has created a very powerful world with very real characters and done it at a “teenage” writing level so it’s not bogged down with big words for the sake of big words. And that’s something that anybody—male or female—can appreciate.

One day I’ll post a video of my dog Sophia. In the...

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:04:00 -0500

One day I’ll post a video of my dog Sophia. In the meantime, this isn’t much different.

Regarding one sentance posts.

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:54:09 -0500

Katie Geiter asks: “I don’t get these particular posts. You have title that says “I don’t know if it can help….and then you entry says …..but it can’t hurt, I guess. What are you talking about? Is there a link that you are refering to? I don’t get it!”

She’s not the first to ask. On posts like that, the title is generally a link and the one sentance blurb is me saying something about that link. So click the link.

Embarrassing Scenario #1

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:31:32 -0500

One of the most embarrassing situations I could ever find myself in involves food. It’s thankfully only happened a few times in my life, but each time it was mortifying. Example:

Person: What happened to that Apple pie I had in here?

Me: ::mouth full of food:: Huhm?

Person: I was saving that, where’d it go?

Me: ::holding a mouth full of food:: I, uhm.. ate it?

Person: The whole thing??

Me: ::thinking about the empty pie plate in the trash and how I had crammed the entire thing in my mouth:: Uhm.. yeam. Nom nom nom.

Not only do you feel bad for eating their stuff, you feel like a tubbo every time.

Just me?

Stomping grapes.

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:54:47 -0500

Have you seen this video?

And why did I miss it on Family Guy?

Hilarious. Poor Stewie.

Pot roast.

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:03:06 -0500

Katy and I are having a pot roast for dinner tonight. I got up early to cut the vegetables. It will be delicious. I added the spices, too, and my mouth is watering as I think about it.

Before he died, my “grand” Uncle Gene said he should have eaten more pot roast. If he did, he claimed, he would have lived longer. Sounds like good advice to me!

I got my new ride.

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:34:00 -0500

I got my new ride. It’s a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt.

People seem to have the same reaction: “oh, it’s NEW?” Yes, I wasted money getting new instead of used. However, it’s frickin NEW, meaning I am the only one who will ever own this, so no hidden surprises like finding out it was involved in a front end collison 2 years after I bought it and therefore needs a new power steering pump every year and half. And also, autotrader.com couldn’t find a used Cobalt with a manual transmission within 100 miles, so that’s that.

After 7 years of no real car payment, paying hundreds every month just to drive to and from work is going to be a huge adjustment for me.

And it makes me ill to think that I spent all that money repairing my old car, only to decide it wasn’t worth it 2 weeks later. And that was cash, too, not credit. That was cash I was saving each month for my wedding or an emergency, and I figured a broken car is an emergency, so I used it all up. It’s the equivalent of me taking over a thosuand dollars and flushing it down the toilet.

Anyway, how long before I start saying “my piece of shit car?” Hopefully when I’m done making payments, at least.

A few years ago I told myself my next car would be a hybrid. I decided against that, because hybrid technology is not the solution to the problem we’re facing. It’s kind of like plugging a little crack in a dam with a piece of duct tape. And anyway, my little digital readout (I have a digital readout!) tells me I get 40mpg which is better than some hybrids.

Americopoly

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:52:00 -0500

Dave, Logan, Rachel, Katy and I just played Americopoly, the American History version of Monopoly.

I suggested we play it like true Americans, where money is no object and if you get into trouble the government will help you, so Dave helped solidify the concept by defining the parameters: as soon as you own eight properties, you are eligible for a bailout. In other words, if you go bankrupt, the bank will give you 3x the mortgage value of all of your properties with no penalty to you as long as you own at least eight. The second time you need a bailout—because hey, why not—you get 2x the value of your mortgage, again with no penalty.

Surprisingly, it added an interesting concept to the game, and worked just like our real economy—since you had to own eight properties to be eligible for the bailout, the bailout naturally went to the biggest, strongest players, pushing the little guys out of the game early on.

I’d recommend incorporating that new aspect to your game the next time you play.

If GM goes bankrupt, what happens to me?

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:39:00 -0500

I understand, I guess, why the financial bailout was necessary. If I understand the situation correctly, if nothing was done it would basically mean “nobody knows what the hell would happen besides all of the sudden the US dollar becomes worthless, not just figuratively, but legitimately worthless.”

Nobody wants to see that happen, so, okay, help them out. (I’m angry at what I’m hearing about how there’s no oversight and the money has been largely used up already, but what am I going to do about that from my cubicle?)

Anyway, WHY ON EARTH would anybody be considering a bailout for the failing automakers? Our economy rests on banks, not cars. If automakers tank, it’ll suck, but we’ll be just fine. Bailing them out would be like bailing out Target. There’s no greater risk here: when business fail to innovate and drive new business, they fail. The automaker’s in this country pushed SUVs and cars nobody really wanted based on 100 year old technology. Their fault. Their loss. Goodbye GM, hello whoever comes next.

Having said all that, I have a question I need to know the answer to. If GM fails, and I buy a new GM car, say, tomorrow, with a 3-year warranty, what would happen to my warranty?

I don't know if it can help...

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:38:32 -0500

I don't know if it can help...: …but it can’t hurt, I guess.

Auto Mobile

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:27:00 -0500

I’m driving home from work yesterday and am approaching the busiest intersection on my commute home. I get into the left turn lane, when everything shuts off. I turned the ignition, and absolutely nothing happens. No lights, no clicking noises… total silence.

Meanwhile, people are honking behind me. I hastily wave them by and they give me “the look” as they pass while I dig for my cell phone.

I saw this coming. I should have pulled over when my radio went out about 2 miles back and my instrument panel started to flicker. But there I was, right at the intersection of Geddes and Huron Pkwy., stalled as a motherfucker with nowhere to push the car to get it out of the way.

I called AAA for a tow truck and I was “Priority 1” given my location, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t mean anything because it still took almost an hour for the tow truck to get there. They had me call 911, the first time I’ve had to do that in my entire life, to get a police car to sit behind me with it’s lights on since it was getting dark and I had no flashers since everything was dead.

I felt like an ass.

I told myself I’d continue to drive this car until it died. It died. I was stranded. I just put almost $2000 into getting something else repaired only two weeks ago. I’m looking at that more like a poker loss…. I made the right decision at the time, but it didn’t pay off in the end, because here I am about to put more money into it.

The tow truck guy said it was probably the alternator. I guess that’s only a few hundred dollars but like I said… how many more times do I have to resurrect it before I consider it “dead?”

My huge ass McDonalds gut tells me it’s time for a new one. The past few years I’ve been eyeing the Toyota Yaris, Chevrolet Cobalt, and Chevrolet Aveo (not the hatchbacks, those are ugly). I’ve narrowed it down to the Cobalt this morning, it’s a bit more than the others but is rated higher in safety.

Would you consider this dying? Or do I make this $200-$500 repair on a car with almost 200,000 miles hoping that in two more weeks the transmission doesn’t seize?

This is a scary thing to have happen, I can’t imagine the...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:28:00 -0500

This is a scary thing to have happen, I can’t imagine the terror for everyone involved, and I empathize, but how is this news? This was on the front page of CNN.com.

What’s even more ridiculous is the mother’s assertion that “more needs to be done,” and every time she thinks about it she gets angrier. To me, this speaks to the lack of personal responsibility that seems to be going around. How about this: when standing on the edge of a cliff, be the fuck careful.

My Apple Finally Crashed

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:01:16 -0500

In the interest of fairness, since I’ve been known to talk shit about Windows and how great Mac’s are, I felt I should tell you that my Mac died yesterday for no apparent reason.

I got home, turned it on, and it wouldn’t do anything. The screen was frozen with the “hour-glass” equivalent pinwheel thing. I gave it some time, rebooted, etc. Same problem. After troubleshooting for an hour, I found out that Finder (the equivalent to Windows Explorer, essentially the interface of the operating system) was corrupt. So much so that the reinstall disc could not repair it.

So much for Mac OS never crashing on me.

Luckily, their Time Machine feature worked like a charm and after wiping the hard drive clean I was able to “restore” it to it’s exact state as it was on Tuesday, so I didn’t lose anything.

But it was very frustrating.

Comics cost more now.

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:03:00 -0500

Hey, who said it was okay that comics go up in price by a dollar? At first it was only the “special” issues that cost $3.99 instead of $2.99. Then “semi-special” issues started costing $3.99, and now it seems like 80% of all comics are $3.99, some are $3.50, but none are $2.99 anymore.

We need to stop our dependence on foreign paper, that’s what. If Marvel and DC go under, can the government bail them out?

Terminator: "Mr Furguson Is Ill Today"

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:33:00 -0500

That Terminator Show tried to do something a little different this week and segmented the hour into chunks, presenting each character’s “story,” showing different pieces of the narrative from that person’s point of view.

It would have been more effective if it all hinged on literally one piece of the story rather than “here’s what John was doing” when “Sarah was off doing this.” They could have started the episode off, for example, with James Ellison kneeling in the church with Cromartie standing behind him holding a gun to his head. Ellison could give his line, whatever it was, and then we could flash back to “John’s story,” and watch how each character got to that point while we bite our nails wondering if Ellison’s gonna die.

As it was, though, it was still a very, very strong episode. It’s easy to say “they should have done this…” but honestly, it was so much more than I could have done. The scene with Sarah in the trunk was so suspenseful, and I was shocked when Ellison opened up the trunk. My reaction was, “how did HE get there?” and it didn’t seem like poor writing because we knew the next scene would begin as “Ellison’s Story,” and how he came to open up the trunk.

Another thing I liked about this episode: Riley. I was nervous about her character at first, but I’ve grown to like her. I like how she’s not a stereotypical “girlfriend” to the main character, but is cautiously keeping her distance because she does not know a thing about him. Yet she runs off to Mexico with him because I get the impression she’s not from a good home and sees some danger in John Connor. And I love how, when it was evident that John had been lying to her the whole time (when a waiter recognized him as John Connor, not Baum), she didn’t get up and storm out in anger, but backed John up every step of the way, even when guns started blazing. Because when you see something in someone, no matter what, if you honestly believe what you see in them nothing can change your mind, not even the words they say. That’s a loyal friend, right there.

Speaking of loyal friends… Cameron seemed to have an emotionally hard time when she realized she wasn’t doing what she was meant to do and protect John Connor. She said, almost in a panic, “I can’t let anything happen to him!” Derek even gave her a strange look when she said it, because it wasn’t very Terminator like. We learned that the Cameron we know is a copy of a human that was close to John in the future, and presumably “stole” as much of the human’s memory as possible, but it’s interesting that feelings seemed to come with them. I wonder what that means.

And what a creepy scene when Cameron took off her shirt and sat with John on his bed. As I’ve said before, the love interest between those two does not creep me out… the wooboo-jeebies I got from this scene came from John’s reminder that they are supposed to be brother-and-sister. Awk-a-ward. However, just because Terminator-love doesn’t creep me out doesn’t mean John is the same way. I have a feeling the whole reason he took off to Mexico wasn’t just because he was dealing with everything, but his reaction to seeing Cameron lying next to him knowing full well that under that skin is metal.

Anyway, Cromartie is dead. I guess we now definitively know the answer to why he left Ellison alive in the end of season one… because he’d lead him to Sarah Connor. He said this a few episodes back, but I was still hoping it was because Ellison was instrumental in creating Skynet in the first place (something that still has potential given his work with Shirley Manson-bot). But as it happens, it turns out Cromartie was right. Too bad he also led Cromartie to his death.

Cromartie was actually a pretty good villain. He was pretty terrifying at times, and that creepy smile never got old.

So it turns out Fox has moved Terminator to Friday nights starting in January. Given the low ratings, this move is catastrophic and is all but a cancellation notice. Shows like Battlestar Galactica have seemed to survive fairly well on Fridays, but this is FOX, not Sci-Fi. FOX is quick to pull the plug and I’m actually shocked this show lasted past the first season. But good shows seem not to last very long, and I’m hoping they have time to develop a killer series finale that ties everything up nicely for Terminator Salvation next summer.

bralfucious: via Duncan via img255.imageshack.us

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:41:56 -0500

bralfucious:

via Duncan via img255.imageshack.us

Where's my $35 go?

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:26:43 -0500

Since no news organization seems to be reporting it, who do I call to find out what’s going to happen to all the extra money Barack has now that the election is over? I contributed twice and am curious as to whether or not he banks it for 2012, or puts it in his pocket?

Losing my life savings in the stocks.

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:55:00 -0500

A few years ago I bought $20 worth of stock in Sirius Satellite Radio, just out of curiosity. I knew I wouldn’t make millions, because at that time, after fees, it only bought around 2 shares at roughly $7 a share. I just thought it would be fun to say I owned Sirius.

Since then, I have seen it gradually decline, until today, when I thought I’d check up on it for the first time since they merged with XM and the market tanked.

So what’s it worth now?

Sirius stock is now worth $0.26 cents.

My $20 has turned into $0.60 cents over the course of about 4 years.

I’ve put together a proposal for congress to review that, if passed, would bail me out of this mess for a nominal tax payer cost of $50. $20 to get my money back, and $30 to take myself out to a congratulatory dinner.

Sanktittie.

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:22:00 -0500

If I knew more about historical context and how people used the English language 100 years ago, I’d write a faux opinion article that might have appeared in a newspaper about how allowing women to vote would “destroy the sanctity of voting.”

Gay marriage is, obviously, the civil rights issue of our time. Fifty years from now, 52% of people alive today will be the grandparents who have to explain why they think gay people aren’t fully human and therefore not deserving of the same privileges they enjoy. Their grandkids will shrug them off and say, “oh, grandpa…” knowing that some day that attitude will just die off.

My grandpa used to call my black friend “the chocolate” and had a really hard time eating at the dinner table with him. I was too young to really put this together. Anyway, he’s dead now, so I’m sure my friend would be much more comfortable at the dinner table.