Characters:
Bill Rafferty
Jay Bilas
Sean McDonough
Jimmy
Karl Ravech
Jason
Mike Brey
EXT. BEAUTIFUL REEFS. The camera...ah, who cares? It's freaking Hawaii!
INT. A BASKETBALL ARENA. Players in crimson and others in white warm up. The camera pans to three men in Hawaiian shirts. One is tall, one is funny looking, and the third can best be described as "a voice." They are the broadcast team.
Sean: Welcome etc.
Jay: Intelligent comment.
Bill: Thing that doesn't make sense.
Sean: Reasonable Commentary.
Jay: Insightful contribution.
Sean: Straight-talk about a good play.
Bill: (growls) NAME! UNINTELLIGIBLE WORD!
Sean: Jimmy has something for us on the sidelines.
Jimmy: I pestered the heck out of the coaches, and they told me "I'm tryin' to coach here."
Jay: I love Tom Crean.
Sean: Relevant pleasantry.
Jay: Excellent post play!
Bill: THING THAT'S ACTUALLY RELEVANT SHOUTED FAR TOO LOUDLY!
Sean: Stalkerish comment about player's family.
Guy at home: Harangody's mom is hot.
Sean: They're about to head into the locker room, Notre Dame with a 19 point lead. Jimmy's with Mike Brey.
Jimmy: How do you feel about this half?
Mike Brey: We're better than they are.
INT. A FUTURISTIC, DOOFISH LOOKING NEWS STUDIO. The camera focuses on two men, a self-important d-bag alongside your average sports anchor.
Karl: I'm important, and he's not.
Jason: Yes I am. Jerk.
Karl: Irrelevant side story to fill time.
Jason: Man I hate this job.
INT. THE BASKETBALL ARENA. Play resumes.
Sean: We're back.
Jay: Continued smart basketball point.
Bill: (mouth foaming) BUCKETS! ONIONS! BUCKETS OF ONIONS!
Jay: Homoerotic comment about players, or possibly Tom Crean.
Sean: Filler comment to distract from boring, lopsided game.
Bill: (emits gurgling sound, then) LITTLE KISS! NAME! BASKETBALL! STRANGE NOISE THAT MIGHT BE A WORD!
Jay: Bill, the game's over.
Bill: Buckets?
..scene..
Monday, November 24, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Some quick writing practice
I recently discovered the six-word memoir, here at Smith Magazine. I suppose I can quote myself here, since the site says I keep the copyright but anyone can quote me for non-commercial use. Anyway, here are my inaugural entries:
Six Word Memoir:
"Who needs money? ...guess I did."
"Wondered why. found answer. I forgot"
On Love and heartbreak:
"We thought not, yet still were." (this one I'm proud of)
All are attributed to Benjamin D. Plume, aka me.
I just hope I don't end up accidentally plagiarizing. At only six words, it seems that would be easy. I would think a lot of entries end up at least very similar without one stealing another's work.
Six Word Memoir:
"Who needs money? ...guess I did."
"Wondered why. found answer. I forgot"
On Love and heartbreak:
"We thought not, yet still were." (this one I'm proud of)
All are attributed to Benjamin D. Plume, aka me.
I just hope I don't end up accidentally plagiarizing. At only six words, it seems that would be easy. I would think a lot of entries end up at least very similar without one stealing another's work.
Monday, October 20, 2008
File Under "NoYDB"
Or, "None of Your Damn Business." Rather, none of our damn business. For once, I am in support of an action taken (or in this case not taken) by Sarah Palin.
I'm sorry, but this is supposed to be private.
Voters need to be informed regarding who they're voting for in a democracy, but no one should be asked to release their medical records to the public.
I'm sorry, but this is supposed to be private.
Voters need to be informed regarding who they're voting for in a democracy, but no one should be asked to release their medical records to the public.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Top 10 Sci Fi shows
This isn't based on anything, or for any particular reason. I haven't blogged in a while, and I was watching Babylon 5, and it got me thinking about my all-time favorites. so here we go:
10 Alien Nation
9 Futurama
8 Star Trek: Voyager
7 Babylon 5
6 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
5 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4 Star Trek: The Next Generation
3 Angel
2 Battlestar Gallactica (new version)
1 Firefly
Not quite making the list were Sliders, Roswell, Andromeda, and Third Rock from the Sun...and the other two Trek Series. Again, this has no basis in objectivity, just what I personally found appealing. I would probably include the X Files had I ever really watched it.
10 Alien Nation
9 Futurama
8 Star Trek: Voyager
7 Babylon 5
6 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
5 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
4 Star Trek: The Next Generation
3 Angel
2 Battlestar Gallactica (new version)
1 Firefly
Not quite making the list were Sliders, Roswell, Andromeda, and Third Rock from the Sun...and the other two Trek Series. Again, this has no basis in objectivity, just what I personally found appealing. I would probably include the X Files had I ever really watched it.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Science, politics, and stupid people
First, let me say, Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh. h. hhhh.
I am so tired of the refusal to accept scientific discoveries simply because they might alter the status quo. I am tired of closed-mindedness, and of people who blindly follow the wrong leaders in their thinking. I am tired of politicized science, and yes I admit that it happens on both sides of every issue. Would you like to know what I'm talking about? Browse there, and read some of the links. Fascinting stuff.
To the sheep, I raise this question: whom do you find more trustworthy? A politician whose job requires dissembling and dishonesty, and often open lying...and a majority of whom use their clout to get away with violations of the law? Or a scientist motivated by a desire for knowledge, whose job requires by its very nature honesty, open-mindedness, and clear reporting? Of course of late the line has been blurred, as both left and right have dipped their hands into science, using money, power, and threats to coerce scientists to manipulate results.
Still, if a staggering majority of the scientific community holds a similar position on something it seems only reasonable that they are correct, especially at times when the opposite view is held by a majority of elected officials (see: climate change from 2000-2004). It would seem to me that the majority of political influence on science would have to come from the party in power. If that is still not enough to tip the scales, don't you think the position of the scientists is the stronger?
Both scientists and politicians are often brilliant, but the former are brilliant at discovery while the latter are brilliant at manipulating human minds. Again, which do YOU find more credible?
Here is a brief and incomplete history of political (and religious, which really amounts to the same thing) opposition to science. Let's see if there is a trend.
Heliocentrism: Philolaus hypothesized in the 4th Century BC that the Earth moved. In 1543 Copernicus's work was published (posthumously) even then it was forced to contain a preface stating that it was merely "mathematical convenience" and not reality. It was not until the 17th century that it was accepted by the church (and hence, the western leaders) as correct that Earth revovled around sun. So, 2000 years...I don't have that kind of time to wait for people to admit truth, and anyone who fails to do so is an enemy of knowledge.
An intersting fabrication, not so much of science but of history, is this. Man, I was taught in school, as an undeniable fact, that the Catholics thought the world was flat...how unbelievably depressing that truth can be shunted so easily...
In 1543 Vesalius counted ribs in men and women, and was met with fierce controversy...shouldn't men have one fewer than women if God made Eve from Adam's rib? Anyone want to count now? Why was this one even a problem? I mean, even for literal-minded morons it would seem to make sense that Cain and Abel would be born with the normal number of ribs.
King James I said the following in regard to smoking: "A custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmfull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse." It took until 1964 for the Surgeon General of the US to point out how bad it was. Even then the tobacco industry and its stakeholders tried to convince the public otherwise.
That last link also mentions the 10-year delay of plate tectonic theory, because it was "classified military information" relevant to "underseas warfare."
I could go on, but the idea is that there are always those who would oppose new science for selfish reasons, or to preserve the status quo, and those fools are at last proven dramatically and completely wrong. Does anyone (sane and reasonable) now dispute the Solar system, human rib count, the hazards of tobacco, or plate tectonics?
Now, two major controversies of science face us. Both have obtained scientific consensus, although opponenets deny the existence of such a consensus in either. One is opposed politically, the other religiously. They are climate change and evolution. The arguments against scientific consensus come from people who do not know what the phrase means.
I will not go into the details of why either of these theories is clearly correct. The point here is that history is on the side of the scientific community. Why can't we accept science now, so that those who worked for it can realize its benefits, instead of rationing those benefits only to their distant descendants?
I am so tired of the refusal to accept scientific discoveries simply because they might alter the status quo. I am tired of closed-mindedness, and of people who blindly follow the wrong leaders in their thinking. I am tired of politicized science, and yes I admit that it happens on both sides of every issue. Would you like to know what I'm talking about? Browse there, and read some of the links. Fascinting stuff.
To the sheep, I raise this question: whom do you find more trustworthy? A politician whose job requires dissembling and dishonesty, and often open lying...and a majority of whom use their clout to get away with violations of the law? Or a scientist motivated by a desire for knowledge, whose job requires by its very nature honesty, open-mindedness, and clear reporting? Of course of late the line has been blurred, as both left and right have dipped their hands into science, using money, power, and threats to coerce scientists to manipulate results.
Still, if a staggering majority of the scientific community holds a similar position on something it seems only reasonable that they are correct, especially at times when the opposite view is held by a majority of elected officials (see: climate change from 2000-2004). It would seem to me that the majority of political influence on science would have to come from the party in power. If that is still not enough to tip the scales, don't you think the position of the scientists is the stronger?
Both scientists and politicians are often brilliant, but the former are brilliant at discovery while the latter are brilliant at manipulating human minds. Again, which do YOU find more credible?
Here is a brief and incomplete history of political (and religious, which really amounts to the same thing) opposition to science. Let's see if there is a trend.
Heliocentrism: Philolaus hypothesized in the 4th Century BC that the Earth moved. In 1543 Copernicus's work was published (posthumously) even then it was forced to contain a preface stating that it was merely "mathematical convenience" and not reality. It was not until the 17th century that it was accepted by the church (and hence, the western leaders) as correct that Earth revovled around sun. So, 2000 years...I don't have that kind of time to wait for people to admit truth, and anyone who fails to do so is an enemy of knowledge.
An intersting fabrication, not so much of science but of history, is this. Man, I was taught in school, as an undeniable fact, that the Catholics thought the world was flat...how unbelievably depressing that truth can be shunted so easily...
In 1543 Vesalius counted ribs in men and women, and was met with fierce controversy...shouldn't men have one fewer than women if God made Eve from Adam's rib? Anyone want to count now? Why was this one even a problem? I mean, even for literal-minded morons it would seem to make sense that Cain and Abel would be born with the normal number of ribs.
King James I said the following in regard to smoking: "A custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmfull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse." It took until 1964 for the Surgeon General of the US to point out how bad it was. Even then the tobacco industry and its stakeholders tried to convince the public otherwise.
That last link also mentions the 10-year delay of plate tectonic theory, because it was "classified military information" relevant to "underseas warfare."
I could go on, but the idea is that there are always those who would oppose new science for selfish reasons, or to preserve the status quo, and those fools are at last proven dramatically and completely wrong. Does anyone (sane and reasonable) now dispute the Solar system, human rib count, the hazards of tobacco, or plate tectonics?
Now, two major controversies of science face us. Both have obtained scientific consensus, although opponenets deny the existence of such a consensus in either. One is opposed politically, the other religiously. They are climate change and evolution. The arguments against scientific consensus come from people who do not know what the phrase means.
I will not go into the details of why either of these theories is clearly correct. The point here is that history is on the side of the scientific community. Why can't we accept science now, so that those who worked for it can realize its benefits, instead of rationing those benefits only to their distant descendants?
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Just a couple of random colliding brain cells
1) Now that so many documents require only the last 4 digits of a SSN, in an effort to tighten securtiy, won't that just make the last four a coveted piece of information? Now one can be scammed with only 4 digits, instead of 9.
2) Any job worth doing may be worth doing well, but when you find yourself forced to a task not worth doing, you might as well half-ass it. Then you'll save energy for those worth doing.
2) Any job worth doing may be worth doing well, but when you find yourself forced to a task not worth doing, you might as well half-ass it. Then you'll save energy for those worth doing.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Nomenclature
In a fit of inspiration (or silliness, depending on your point of view), I decided to rename my blog. For one thing I was never satisfied, even remotely, with the "Deep and Shallow Waters" moniker. For another, I wanted the title to speak at least in part to what this blog is about. Since it wasn't about much of anything except a collection of thoughts, this was no easy task.
The significance of the new name is this: As a collection of my thoughts, this blog is nothing more than personal reflection. Of course everyone's reflections are unique, but I feel that mine are often further out of the vein than most. That isn't to be a braggart, but it has been observed that my mind is a little strange. Too true. Everything that bounces around in my head certainly comes out at a different angle, redirected by my sense of humor, my cynicism (which isn't ever-present but can be strong), my tendency to search for middle ground, the war between my realist and idealist sides, or one of my other many eccentricities. Since thoughts are reflections, and reflections bent are refractions, then what are skewed thoughts but refractions? Hence, I unveil "Reflections are Refractions."
The significance of the new name is this: As a collection of my thoughts, this blog is nothing more than personal reflection. Of course everyone's reflections are unique, but I feel that mine are often further out of the vein than most. That isn't to be a braggart, but it has been observed that my mind is a little strange. Too true. Everything that bounces around in my head certainly comes out at a different angle, redirected by my sense of humor, my cynicism (which isn't ever-present but can be strong), my tendency to search for middle ground, the war between my realist and idealist sides, or one of my other many eccentricities. Since thoughts are reflections, and reflections bent are refractions, then what are skewed thoughts but refractions? Hence, I unveil "Reflections are Refractions."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)