Obama’s Dangerous Census!

Oh Michelle Bachmann… you are proof that being wacky is no impediment to political office.  She is boycotting the census, which happens every ten years mind you, because “There’s great concern that’s being raised because now ACORN has been named as one of the federal partners… This is very concerning because the mother load of all data comes from the census.”

See, because ACORN is a big scary group.  They are stealing our info and selling it to terrorists.  Or something.  I do not exactly know what the threat is, other than Conservatives freak out about ACORN a lot, without specifics beyond possible voter fraud.  This is so beyond silly and foolish it just hammers home the question of  “what were people thinking when they voted for her”…and if she is truly representative of the opinions and ideas in her district, Minnesota has a little slice of Stupidityville right there.   Personally, I am surprised she is not more worried about the involvement of Telmundo…they speak Spanish on that network.

She considers it a badge of honor that people point out her foolishness, because “It’s clear when a person speaks out against those policies they become a target, and that should be concerning to everyone.”  But the truth is, Rep. Bachmann… you are confusing things.  No one is criticizing you for “speaking out against policies.”  Instead, they are calling you out on your repeated asinine statements.  And you have just gotten more absurd in your commentary since Obama took office.  Your commentary is almost exclusively paranoid and delusional at anytime.  There is nothing more ominous about this census than the last 22 U.S. Censuses.

Official Declaration

I just have to make this one last Mark Sanford observation… recently Morning Joe had Rudy Guiliani, Marriage Fidelity Expert, on to discuss Mark Sanford.

Rudy Giuliani “Let’s look at Bill Clinton.”

Mika Brzezinski: “Yeah.”

Can we stop using Bill Clinton as a defense of Sanford?  Please?  I mean, unlike Bill Clinton, Mark Sanford disappeared and did not tell anyone where he went for five days.  He skipped the country.  He used federal funds.  This is vastly worse than Bill lying about Monica.  Sanford left his state that he served hanging for five days.

And yet, Guiliani and others want us to ignore that and think of Bill Clinton or Elliot Spitzer.  Because vacating your post without warning for days is just like those cases.

Bill Clinton is officially the Godwin’s Law of Political Cheaters and their defenders.  If you say, “What about/lets take a look at Bill Clinton”, you forfeit the debate. Stick a fork in you-yer’ done.

That Was Really Challenging…And Freaking Boring!

To video game creators:
Do not make the most challenging parts of your game also the most boring part of the game.

I am talking to you, Sucker Punch, makers of Infamous.

Overall, there is a lot to like in the game.  You play Cole, who wakes up in the epicenter of a major blast.  Amidst all the destruction, you discover you have super powers-electricity based.  Cole also finds that he is responsible for the blast, and the public in the now quarantined city believe him to be a terrorist.

A woman from the FBI states she wants you to help find her husband, who is lost somewhere in the city.  Her name is Moya and she sends you on missions to stop the three gangs running the three boroughs.

What makes it interesting is your choices impact your public perception and your powers.  You are routinely offered choices that impact your Karma.  Helping the citizens and putting their safety ahead of your own push you towards good or evil.

As I mentioned, you have powers, such as shooting electrical bolts from your hands, you are an expert at climbing and eventually, as your power evolves you have limited flight, electric grenades and a host of other uses of your power.

It takes a lot of work to take out Reapers, more for the Dust Men and even more work to eliminate the First Sons.  Of course, along with the ground troops, there are the Conduits.  And in the case of the Dust Men, there are two kinds of Conduits and the bigger ones are tough to take down.  Real tough.

And all in all, this has been a very fun game.  I have had a great time playing it.  Overall.  But the one problem I have?  Well, to be blunt, I do not like “time based” challenges in games, where you have a limited number of seconds to complete a task.  A roof top race in Crackdown?  Well…okay…I guess it can be fun.  But here in Infamous, we have instances where you are trying race a few blocks to start satellite uplinks or follow a helicopter.  Yes, follow a helicopter around the city.  It is as boring as it sounds.  If you fall too far behind the helicopter, you have to start all over.  The satellite uplinks cause you to skate from rooftop to rooftop.  This is fun when you are taking on bad guys and not worried about running out of time.  But with the satellite uplinks, there are sometimes six of these things you are running to.  Sometimes, they are close by each other which will give you a fighting chance.  But you have such a limited amount of time, that the distance is almost impossible to make (there is one in the second Borough which seems especially challenging, from what I have read online).

These are some of the most boring parts of the game, making it frustrating to get stalled by them and trying to get past them.  Please, game makers, make sure the most challenging parts of your game are fun to play.

Mark Sanford-Man of (Changing) Convictions

“I think it would be much better for the country and for him personally (to resign). I come from the business side. If you had a chairman or president in the business world facing these allegations, he’d be gone.” [Sanford on Clinton, The Post and Courier, 9/12/98]

Obviously, I am not the first to point this out.  It came up gleefully the day the facts broke.  But then Sanford says this:

Immediately after all this unfolded last week I had thought I would resign – as I believe in the military model of leadership and when trust of any form is broken one lays down the sword.

See, because unlike Bill Clinton, Sanford is man who sticks to his hard earned convic-

He even cites King David…

I have been doing a lot of soul searching on that front. What I find interesting is the story of David, and the way in which he fell mightily, he fell in very very significant ways. But then picked up the pieces and built from there.

Republicans could, of course, avoid such charges of hypocrisy (and make no mistake, this is one of the most blatant displays of political hypocrisy in awhile-which is quite an accomplishment) by simply not going fervently after Democrats for for their affairs.  If they treated Democrats with the sympathy and mercy that Republicans like Lindsey Graham are requesting for Sanford?  This would not be news, and the left would nt be coming down as hard as they are.  It’s not the fact that he is unfaithful to his wife that offends the left…it’s that he is unapologetic ally hypocritical about it.

And hey, he would be getting off easy if he resigned.

A long list of close friends have suggested otherwise – that for God to really work in my life I shouldn’t be getting off so lightly. While it would be personally easier to exit stage left, their point has been that my larger sin was the sin of pride.

DAG:I Don’t Dance

So, I read this interview with comic performer David Alan Grier.  In a “did you read what I just read” moment I noted the first two comments…

You’re not funny. And you’ll never learn when to stop sticking your foot in your mouth.

Just shut up and go away.

and

AMEN. What a sad little man he is. I am sure more people watch “Middle America” show than know who this jerk is. He is abrasive and crash!!
Go back and try to be funny. IF YOU CAN!

And I have to wonder…what interview were they reading?  Clearly they are Dancing fans, because that is the only way you could take any offense to his rather accurate comments.  For all the shots people are taking, talking as if he slammed the show in some vicious or bitter fashion…if you read what he actually said?

But you know why? ‘Dancing With the Stars’ is so Middle America, and people take it so seriously. And that’s not really my thing. It was like running for prom king because people vote for who they like or don’t like. It’s not simply, “Oh, you’re a great dancer.” It’s not the Olympics. It’s a cheesy reality show. The audience votes for who they like. If the audience doesn’t like you, they’re not gonna vote for you. If there’s a guy next to you who really sucks but they like him, they vote for him. That’s the nature of the show.

And he is dead on.  People are voting for the persons they like, not the best dancer.  Who cares.  It IS a cheesy reality show, and anyone who tries to argue differently is deceiving themselves.  But you know what?  Being a cheesy reality show does not make you a bad person for watching the show.  I watch cheesy reality programs all the time.  Cheesy can be very entertaining.  Grier is not saying you suck for liking Dancing With the Stars.  He is simply pointing out the truth about the show itself.  Not you.  It is not about you.  Get over it.

Truth be told, I view die hard Dancing fans (the kind that would be upset when someone notes that DWtS is a cheesy reality show) as a lot like the fat guy dressed as Wolverine at the comic book convention.

Okay, I feel bad about that…it’s a rather hurtful comparison.  My apologies to being so unfair to the fat guy dressed as Wolverine.

I Had A Different Post Planned

But I was… a bit shocked to turn on the TV and see another famous person had died.  Not Farrah Fawcett…that really isn’t a surprise.  The poor woman was battling cancer for years.  Anyone dying of cancer is tragic, but it is not…sadly, shocking.

No, Michael Jackson has passed away.  And I really do not know how to respond.  His entertainment contributions are overshadowed by unresolved allegations that I have a hard time pretending do not exist.  This is far different than overlooking a person’s struggle with drugs.  Or infidelity.  I can see just focusing on the good.  But how do you ignore a bad that is in truth, one of the worst things a person can be guilty of this side of murder.

I wish I could just “remember the good times”…but I don’t care who it is…we cannot just overlook his history because his music made us feel good.

So, at best right now…I find the death of easily the biggest pop star that lived in my time, at only 50 simply surreal and uncertain about how I should feel.

Another One?

Seriously…it seems like every Republican getting caught in adulterous relationships is one who has been a hard line critic of other politicians (Such as…say…Bill Clinton) for their entire careers.  So, if there is one lesson to be learned?

If a politician is heavily moralizing about another politician’s behaviour and calling for that person’s ouster?  Assume they will be guilty of the same “crime” in the future (if they are not already secretly guilty now).  Just presume they are hypocritical jackasses.

If I Was an Actor?

I would get roles as the fat friend.  I venture a guess in some movies I would be the sweet fat friend…in some the fat beer swilling buddy…whatever.  And I could probably keep getting work as soon as I found that right niche.

I watched the House Bunny (Thanks Comcast for free Starz for one year) and I could not help but notice, among it’s many flaws?  Casting for women has come almost no way, baby.  Seriously, look at that classic of modern films Sidney White.  Like the House Bunny, there is a band of geeky losers in a run down campus home that there were about to lose to a bigger, more evil sorority.  Sydney White’s group of actors playing the losers were a slew of guys who pretty much all play some variation of “geeky loser”.  Outside of one or two people in that cast of losers, few could also play “the hot guy”.  Most of them will not be leads or the main romantic interest.  Sam Levine and Danny Strong are likeable, but they will likely play geeks for awhile to come, even cleaned up, they still kind of seem goofy.  I suppose it is possible they could pull a Patrick Dempsey, who did manage to start a career as a geeky loser in teen comedies…and then became the “hot love interest” thanks to Grey’s Anatomy.

But the misfits of the House Bunny?

Kat Dennings.  Emma Stone.  Katherine McPhee.  Rumer Willis.  Really, all the misfits are cute, and then they “uglified” the girls.  So, in 80 some odd years of film making, actresses have to be attractive, even when playing non-conformist geeks.  It’s rare to see a plain girl, or a flat out “not stereotypically pretty girl” playing one of these roles.  Because, of course, the girls always get a makeover that makes them hot babes.  I get that the film was trying to communicate a message of not selling yourself out-the House Bunny goes out of it’s way to say all of Shelly’s (Anna Faris) ideas about ultimately miss the point-because it is not how you look that matters.  It goes for the feel good message-and one I want to get behind (especially the film’s attempt to convey the soriority girls becoming the very thing they hated…self absorbed, looks and materially obsessed shells of their former selves).  It’s still troubling, even though the film is trying to attempt a “Legally Blonde”-where the fish out of water suffering humiliation from her mean peers is the girl who would normally be the tormentor…not the tormentee.

I am, I guess, very ambivelant…it was certainly nice that Colin Hanks’ character was not falling all over himself over the hot Playboy Bunny…instead, he seems to regret his initial date.  It’s the first sign to Shelly that maybe some guys like a woman with substance.  And yet, they saw fit to cast almost nothing but very attractive women to play the geeks, while they feel no such pressure for the men in similar roles.  Anyone have more succinct thoughts?

I Knew It Was Time to Stop…

Reading the Left Behind books when I found the “Jesus Loving Good Guys” so annoying that I started to hope the Anti-Christ would win.

Rock TV: The SitCom

A bit of background, Rock TV’s sit-com actually had 37 episodes in the can.  It is believed the plug was pulled by the CW after the “Zac Efron Debacle”.