Every night, I sit down to do homework, and I wind up turning on the tube. After about 20 minutes of flipping channels, I wind up just sickened to the point where I wind up on a channel like Boomerang. Cartoons. Shit I haven't watched since I was 10, and hoped I'd never have to deal with again.
I wanted to watch CNN, but between Wolf Blitzer having the mass appeal of a turnip, Larry King remaining blissfully out of touch with my generation, Dr Sanjay Gupta having a "Sears & Roebuck" doctorate and the medical knowledge of a retarded chimpanzee, and James Carville just scaring the everliving shit out of me with his face, I don't dare risk it. The nightmares would never end.
Of course, Fox news is no better. 3 words: Hannity and Colmes. If you don't find those massochistic enough, I present Geraldo Rivera and Bill O'Reilly. "No-Spin Zone", my ass. More like the "Off-Kilter Zone."
I'd watch MSNBC, but lets face it, they're a buncha pussies. Hell, NBC itself isn't much better. Between Chris Hansen and his constant pedophile hunt (which makes me wonder, being that there's always been pedos, but all of a sudden they're the big thing?) and Matt Lauer, who's only claim to fame is being attractive, I nearly want to just shoot my TV. Ok, they do have Tom Brokaw, but he's just a special correspondent, now. Sadly, he doesn't carry the network like he used to.
Now, CBS. Home of some of the best anchors ever. Cronkite, Murrow, Rather. Where's the hard-hitting journalism? Where's the edge of the seat Edward R. Murrow-esque reporting? Long gone, sadly. Though they save a little face, and that face is Bob Woodruff. I admit it, I'm biased, myself, in favor of CBS. But even they're known to be a bit leftist.
So what is a guy like me to do? I'm neither liberal nor conservative, not fully left nor right. Neither fully Democrat nor fully Republican. Where can I get unbiased media coverage on the TV?
Ah, fuck you, I'm gonna watch Johnny Quest.
2/24/08
History's Middle Children
So I was watching Fight Club last night, the first real night off I've had since the beginning of the month due to college, and a line struck a chord with me. "We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."
I sat for a while, at 5:30am, with a bowl of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch and mulled it over. That line is the truest thing I have ever heard. We really are the middle children of history. Everything after the "baby boomers" really are.
Think about it. World War II was over 60 years ago. Even Vietnam was easily a decade before I was born. Vets are having grandchildren now. The Great Depression? My grandmother was born after it, even. Though, that's not to say we don't have our own sot of war. We're fighting ourselves.
Just take part of the chorus to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana: "With the lights out its less dangerous/Here we are now/Entertain us/I feel stupid and contagious/Here we are now/Entertain us"
That is truth in its harshest form. We've been at war since we were born. At war with a generation of Communist witch hunters, hippies, and people who were all about drastic, radical change. All we wanted was to have our own. Our own role, our own lives, our own world. Not this ball of shit that we're basically cleaning up. My generation has to pay for the Baby Boomers' Social Security. My generation's going to be the one paying for a war we never believed in, yet had to fight and die for.
We don't want to claim that. Not to mention the ONLY people who can claim Iraq are those in the Bush Administration. Hell, BOTH Bush Administrations. This isn't my generation's legacy. Nor is the internet. Or the information boom. They're byproducts. All that came out of the Cold War.
So the question is: What DO we claim?
Answer? Columbine. Virginia Tech. Jokela. North Illinois University. That is our war. We're fighting ourselves and the tree-hugging, limp-wristed, bleeding-heart bullshit we were raised with, and the cut-throat, dog-eat-dog capitalist bullshit that runs the country. We were being raised with flowers and sunshine, while the dogs licked their chops and waited to bite us in the ass.
So we fought the only monster we could see. Ourselves and those who raised us. Honestly, look at it. For this generation, there is no Communist threat, no terrorist threat, those are relegated to those who sired us. Islam isn't our threat. We are our threat.
The capitalist regime we've been brought up with and in opposition to has given us the idea that if we don't fit on a magazine cover, don't wear trendy clothes, smell like a designer, we're dead wrong and will have no greater meaning. How many of us know what Abercrombie and Fitch is? Now how many of us know who Sacco and Vanzetti are, what they stood for, and why they died? Or who actually went to a school where they were taught who Che Guevarra was? Yes, he wasn't a great person, but what he fought for was much larger than him.
We're overstimulated, overmedicated, overtaxed, overstressed, and overly sick of it. How many government agencies control us, in terms of finance, education, jobs, and just the small ins and outs of life? I know that for college alone, I have gotten so many groups of people giving contradictory answers about my financial aid, my student loans, the classes I take, and what my degree entails. Not to mention the doublespeak by the organizations, federally funded, mind you, who deal with my case, as I am a disabled student. In any given week, they flip flop more than a fish on the end of a hook. Then look at how much I have to bust ass to get scholarships, grants, student loans, then have to do my homework in the 20 minutes I have left.
Is it any wonder we keep shooting up the schools?
Back to Nirvana.
Load up on guns.
Bring your friends.
I sat for a while, at 5:30am, with a bowl of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch and mulled it over. That line is the truest thing I have ever heard. We really are the middle children of history. Everything after the "baby boomers" really are.
Think about it. World War II was over 60 years ago. Even Vietnam was easily a decade before I was born. Vets are having grandchildren now. The Great Depression? My grandmother was born after it, even. Though, that's not to say we don't have our own sot of war. We're fighting ourselves.
Just take part of the chorus to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana: "With the lights out its less dangerous/Here we are now/Entertain us/I feel stupid and contagious/Here we are now/Entertain us"
That is truth in its harshest form. We've been at war since we were born. At war with a generation of Communist witch hunters, hippies, and people who were all about drastic, radical change. All we wanted was to have our own. Our own role, our own lives, our own world. Not this ball of shit that we're basically cleaning up. My generation has to pay for the Baby Boomers' Social Security. My generation's going to be the one paying for a war we never believed in, yet had to fight and die for.
We don't want to claim that. Not to mention the ONLY people who can claim Iraq are those in the Bush Administration. Hell, BOTH Bush Administrations. This isn't my generation's legacy. Nor is the internet. Or the information boom. They're byproducts. All that came out of the Cold War.
So the question is: What DO we claim?
Answer? Columbine. Virginia Tech. Jokela. North Illinois University. That is our war. We're fighting ourselves and the tree-hugging, limp-wristed, bleeding-heart bullshit we were raised with, and the cut-throat, dog-eat-dog capitalist bullshit that runs the country. We were being raised with flowers and sunshine, while the dogs licked their chops and waited to bite us in the ass.
So we fought the only monster we could see. Ourselves and those who raised us. Honestly, look at it. For this generation, there is no Communist threat, no terrorist threat, those are relegated to those who sired us. Islam isn't our threat. We are our threat.
The capitalist regime we've been brought up with and in opposition to has given us the idea that if we don't fit on a magazine cover, don't wear trendy clothes, smell like a designer, we're dead wrong and will have no greater meaning. How many of us know what Abercrombie and Fitch is? Now how many of us know who Sacco and Vanzetti are, what they stood for, and why they died? Or who actually went to a school where they were taught who Che Guevarra was? Yes, he wasn't a great person, but what he fought for was much larger than him.
We're overstimulated, overmedicated, overtaxed, overstressed, and overly sick of it. How many government agencies control us, in terms of finance, education, jobs, and just the small ins and outs of life? I know that for college alone, I have gotten so many groups of people giving contradictory answers about my financial aid, my student loans, the classes I take, and what my degree entails. Not to mention the doublespeak by the organizations, federally funded, mind you, who deal with my case, as I am a disabled student. In any given week, they flip flop more than a fish on the end of a hook. Then look at how much I have to bust ass to get scholarships, grants, student loans, then have to do my homework in the 20 minutes I have left.
Is it any wonder we keep shooting up the schools?
Back to Nirvana.
Load up on guns.
Bring your friends.
2/9/08
Screw Heath Ledger
Damn, its been a while since I was on here last. Busy, busy. So let's get right into this.
Odds are, if I piss anyone off, its going to be with this one simple statement: Fuck Heath Ledger. Why do I say this? Oh, I know what you're thinking. "Oh, but Meatmarket, he was a talented actor! It was stress!"
Nope, not buying it. First off, if you're an actor and "stressed out", odds are you have more than enough money to retire for a bit. Actors like Heath Ledger make millions per role. Specially with shit like Brokeback Mountain getting awards. The income from that movie alone was enough for me and my entire family to retire happily. Letting the "stress" get to you, to the point of taking Xanax, Prozac, sleeping meds, and all that other shit, that is not something an actor HAS to deal with. Those of us with minimum wage jobs can somehow find a way to take a bit of time to ourselves to chill out and regain perspective, I'm rather sure someone with more money than most small businesses can manage.
Do I feel bad he died? I dunno, really. I'm not someone for sympathy to spare. I barely have enough to cover the people I know with problems. I can name the roles the man had that I liked on one hand. In fact, the Joker is the only role I've had any amount of like for him in. Considering that movie isn't even out yet, thats saying a bit.
Yet everyone goes on and on about how sad it is he died. I got news for you all, people die from "accidental" overdoses, every day. Difference is they aren't highly publicized celebrities. Oh, and allow me to burst your bubble a bit: Accidental overdose is a term used when someone ODs, and no evidence of suicide (IE: Suicide note, suicide call, 911 call, etc) can be found. It doesn't mean the OD wasn't suicide, there's just no visible evidence. Easily done, just don't leave a note or call anyone. Pop the pills and lay down. You don't wake up.
Do I think he killed himself? I don't care. Its another actor I don't care about dying and being overpublicized for it. The results of his autopsy somehow interrupted results on the Democratic and Republican primaries. Some actor's cause of death is somehow more important than the possible candidates for the US PRESIDENCY. What the fuckaroonie is that?
Seriously, though. I may hate 90% of the candidates for both parties (especially Mitt Romney. Fucking Hells, I hate that man), but I can honestly say I give LESS of a shit about why some actor died. I want to know which shit sandwich or giant douche I have to choose between. Bonus points if you know where that's from. I'm trying hard not to shift into politics, I'll save that for another time.
The pisser is this happens every time a celebrity dies. Remember when Tammy Faye died? It was all over the damn TV. Not that I have the same cold-hearted attitude with her. She, at least, was a charitable spirit and all-around good person. Her husband was a dick, but she was a great person, more than capable of casting off the stereotypical Christian televangelist mold. Hell, she wasn't even a homophobe! She walked the walk, unlike almost every other damned televangelist out there. The issue I have is that celebrity death often overtakes news that may be more pressing. Hell, any entertainment news. The last Harry Potter book overtook news on the Iraq war.
The only thing worse than the overexposure of Heath Ledger's death was the double homicide/suicide case of Chris Benoit. Every time I turned the TV on, I lost 50 IQ points while idiots yelled "ROID RAGE!" Major league sports have had steroid users for decades, how many of them do you hear about killing their families? And how many were debated over for well over TWO MONTHS?
Then before that, it was Jerry Falwell. Except with him, I was happy to hear it, and missed 90% of the news coverage because I was in line to piss on his grave.
Or worse, Anna Nichole Smith. Seriously, how long was that on TV? I think they stopped talking about it last thursday. I didn't care the day she died. Its no different now.
Now let's look at another side to this deal. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. One of the best comedic writers of all time. When he died, I didn't even see it on the news. I heard through a friend of mine, and was redirected to a tiny article on Yahoo News that gave me little more information on the passing of one of my favorite authors than the jacket of one of his books gave about his life.
Then when Augusto Pinochet died in 2006, I only caught the last 30 seconds of a blurb on TV, and it was seemingly never mentioned again.
So let me finish with this, as its late. Dictators and brilliant authors die, you're hard pressed to see it on the news for a plurality of minutes, but the Crocodile Hunter gets offed in the way EVERYONE had expected for fucking YEARS, and it stays in the headlines, over war and important deaths, until the body is dust.
Odds are, if I piss anyone off, its going to be with this one simple statement: Fuck Heath Ledger. Why do I say this? Oh, I know what you're thinking. "Oh, but Meatmarket, he was a talented actor! It was stress!"
Nope, not buying it. First off, if you're an actor and "stressed out", odds are you have more than enough money to retire for a bit. Actors like Heath Ledger make millions per role. Specially with shit like Brokeback Mountain getting awards. The income from that movie alone was enough for me and my entire family to retire happily. Letting the "stress" get to you, to the point of taking Xanax, Prozac, sleeping meds, and all that other shit, that is not something an actor HAS to deal with. Those of us with minimum wage jobs can somehow find a way to take a bit of time to ourselves to chill out and regain perspective, I'm rather sure someone with more money than most small businesses can manage.
Do I feel bad he died? I dunno, really. I'm not someone for sympathy to spare. I barely have enough to cover the people I know with problems. I can name the roles the man had that I liked on one hand. In fact, the Joker is the only role I've had any amount of like for him in. Considering that movie isn't even out yet, thats saying a bit.
Yet everyone goes on and on about how sad it is he died. I got news for you all, people die from "accidental" overdoses, every day. Difference is they aren't highly publicized celebrities. Oh, and allow me to burst your bubble a bit: Accidental overdose is a term used when someone ODs, and no evidence of suicide (IE: Suicide note, suicide call, 911 call, etc) can be found. It doesn't mean the OD wasn't suicide, there's just no visible evidence. Easily done, just don't leave a note or call anyone. Pop the pills and lay down. You don't wake up.
Do I think he killed himself? I don't care. Its another actor I don't care about dying and being overpublicized for it. The results of his autopsy somehow interrupted results on the Democratic and Republican primaries. Some actor's cause of death is somehow more important than the possible candidates for the US PRESIDENCY. What the fuckaroonie is that?
Seriously, though. I may hate 90% of the candidates for both parties (especially Mitt Romney. Fucking Hells, I hate that man), but I can honestly say I give LESS of a shit about why some actor died. I want to know which shit sandwich or giant douche I have to choose between. Bonus points if you know where that's from. I'm trying hard not to shift into politics, I'll save that for another time.
The pisser is this happens every time a celebrity dies. Remember when Tammy Faye died? It was all over the damn TV. Not that I have the same cold-hearted attitude with her. She, at least, was a charitable spirit and all-around good person. Her husband was a dick, but she was a great person, more than capable of casting off the stereotypical Christian televangelist mold. Hell, she wasn't even a homophobe! She walked the walk, unlike almost every other damned televangelist out there. The issue I have is that celebrity death often overtakes news that may be more pressing. Hell, any entertainment news. The last Harry Potter book overtook news on the Iraq war.
The only thing worse than the overexposure of Heath Ledger's death was the double homicide/suicide case of Chris Benoit. Every time I turned the TV on, I lost 50 IQ points while idiots yelled "ROID RAGE!" Major league sports have had steroid users for decades, how many of them do you hear about killing their families? And how many were debated over for well over TWO MONTHS?
Then before that, it was Jerry Falwell. Except with him, I was happy to hear it, and missed 90% of the news coverage because I was in line to piss on his grave.
Or worse, Anna Nichole Smith. Seriously, how long was that on TV? I think they stopped talking about it last thursday. I didn't care the day she died. Its no different now.
Now let's look at another side to this deal. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. One of the best comedic writers of all time. When he died, I didn't even see it on the news. I heard through a friend of mine, and was redirected to a tiny article on Yahoo News that gave me little more information on the passing of one of my favorite authors than the jacket of one of his books gave about his life.
Then when Augusto Pinochet died in 2006, I only caught the last 30 seconds of a blurb on TV, and it was seemingly never mentioned again.
So let me finish with this, as its late. Dictators and brilliant authors die, you're hard pressed to see it on the news for a plurality of minutes, but the Crocodile Hunter gets offed in the way EVERYONE had expected for fucking YEARS, and it stays in the headlines, over war and important deaths, until the body is dust.
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