TSA body-check boycott?

I know this a little bit old, but someone asked me about it and I figured I should follow up on it.

When I first heard about full-body scans at airports, all I could think about was the scene at the space port in that classic Arnold Schwarzenegger flick, "Total Recall." All of the passengers pass in front of this giant x-ray screen and you get to see the skeletons walking through the detector. I never thought anything about it at the time because it was a pretty awesome effect at the time, especially with Arnold busting out of the screen a few minutes later. Lots of action can make up for moments that should make you think.

I don't think anyone watching that movie had a moment to wonder about the amount of radiation involved in the procedure. I know I didn't. So here we are almost a decade later and we are concerned about what this new form of security will entail. I certainly can't blame anyone who has a concern about the radiation risks, but how does the radiation exposure from this machine compare to the hour on the tanning bed, or out in the sun?

Now there is an alternative available-the body check. All the news and personal reports about this option sound unappealing. No one wants their personal space invaded in this manner. There are stories of inappropriate touching and injury in some cases. Considering my options, I think I'd be inclined to take my chances with the radiation rather than give a complete stranger that kind of access to my body.

Nevertheless, there was a huge movement to boycott the scanner and force TSA workers to perform the body checks over the Thanksgiving holiday in order to mess up the system and show government officials why both the scanners and pat downs are a bad idea. What is wrong with you people? It's the holidays. No one wants to spend more time in the airport when all they really want is to get home and see their family. I'm sure your idea has merit, but why not just call for a complete ban on air travel? That would be a whole lot more effective because the airlines would feel the need to put pressure on the government to back off.

So yeah, my first thought is don't ask people to mess up their holidays for your message. Go through the scanner and get on the plane. Just promise yourself that you won't tan that week and you will probably break even on your dosage of radiation. I'm sure that the TSA is already hard at work on new methods of doing these checks so boycotts won't do anything more than inconvenience your fellow travellers.

As a bonus opinion, I heard that one of the main proponents of the boycott wasn't even travelling over Thanksgiving. Way to go, buddy! It's always impressive to see a guy asking other people to stand up for something they aren't willing to stand up for themselves.

You will be missed Leslie Nielsen, at least in my opinion.

How do you even begin to examine the life and career of Leslie Nielsen? Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to this (Monday) morning and talk about my experience with the death of Leslie Nielsen.

So, this morning I got up to get ready to lifeguard at one of the schools I work at as a substitute. While I was doing my typical morning Facebook checks, I saw several status updates that talked about Leslie Nielsen passing away. I guess I haven't kept up with the news as much as I should because I had no idea there was any concerns about Leslie. In fact, the last I'd heard about him, was a movie I made sure to avoid: Mr. Magoo.

Don't get me wrong, I love Leslie Nielsen and most of the comedy work that he's done, but there were definitely some mistakes in his later career. Again though, I should admit that I haven't seen most of the movies I thought weren't going to be any good. I like to know my comedy will be more than just a string of jokes with no delivery. No, I don't doubt Leslie, but I do have some doubts about the people with him in the movie.

The interesting thing that I learned since this morning is that Leslie Nielsen had an entire career long before he stepped on the set of "Airplane." Even more interesting is that he was actually working as a serious actor in some pretty impressive roles. In fact, he was supposed to have a serious part in "Airplane" rather than comedy gold according to some of the reports I've heard.

So one last thought from tonight's story about this comedic superstar. "Leslie Nielsen didn't make jokes, he made indelible comic moments." ABC Nightly News.

So that's my opinion, and if you don't agree with it, then you don't know comedy.

Is global warming real?

I certainly can't consider myself an expert on global warming or planetary ecosystems, but that doesn't mean that I can't have an opinion on the matter. Let's start with some background about our planet.

First off, we need to realize that when we talk about killing the planet through our actions or inaction, it isn't exactly an accurate description. What we are really talking about is destroying the ecosystem of the planet. The truth is that the planet doesn't need us to survive. If we destroy ourselves, the planet will get along just fine. With this in mind, we do need to consider how our choices are impacting our own ability to exist on this planet.

Next we need to consider the concerns behind global warming. There are two big issues that have come up in the history of global warming that I associate with the concept. Back in the 80's there was huge concern about CFC's that were in pretty much every form of spray can. According to research the CFC's were making holes in the ozone layer especially around the South Pole. The other concern that is huge now is carbon emissions. The carbon emissions come from burning fossil fuels and other forms of combustion. When we burn anything with carbon in it, some of that carbon is put into the air and causes the planet to heat up. (Let's not worry about how this happens for the moment. I've got plenty more to talk about, and you can look it up for yourself.)

So what is the end result of global warming? There are lots of theories about this as well, but the biggest one right now is that eventually all of this global warming will lead to the next ice age. (Confused? Basically enough ice melts at the North and South poles that the water levels rise, and ocean currents shut down. When this happens the Earth cools back down, quickly and drastically.) Imagine glaciers driving down from the poles and parking in your back yard.

Now comes the opinion part of this piece. Does your humble writer think that global warming is real? Is it an imminent danger to life on Earth? Sort of. I think that things are getting warmer, but I'm not sure if it's all our fault. If you look at some of the guesstimated figures about global temperatures, you will see that our planet continues to go through cycles of warming and cooling. Does this mean that we are off the hook? Absolutely not.

Here's the deal, we are definitely not taking care of what we have. There are very few places, if any on the planet, that aren't impacted by the results of our industrial endeavors, and we are making it hard for all life on the planet to survive. I'm less concerned about another ice age when it's hard to get fresh air to breathe. We are on a small planet with few resources and those resources that we have are getting used up. It's time for people to think about how much they use and figure out a way to either cut back or at least recycle things when they are done.

That's my opinion on this. Hopefully it makes sense. Leave a comment, and feel free to suggest other opinions you want from me.

"The Bedwetter-Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee" an autobiography by Sarah Silverman

I thought it might be interesting to do some book reviews as part of this blog as well. What better book to start with than an autobiography called The Bedwetter? This is an autobiography by Sarah Silverman one of the most unusual and most sarcastic celebrities I have seen on the large or small screen.

My first real encounter with Sarah was here comedy special "Jesus is Magic." Before I watched this special, I thought I knew about sarcasm, but I quickly learned how little I actually knew. Throughout the show, I would find myself uncertain if she was joking or serious. I had the same experience with her part on the documentary "The Aristocrats." During her telling of the joke she made comments about being raped and abused, but there was a part of me that wasn't sure it wasn't just part of the joke. Sarah brings that same kind of humor to the story of her life so far.

The first half of the book deals with Sarah's childhood including being a bed wetter up until her high school years. We get to meet her foul-mouth father who encouraged his daughter to swear and seek the laughs that came from those swear words. As the book progresses, we also get glimpses of her high school years, entering the world of stand up comedy, losing her virginity, and her time as a writer for Saturday Night Live. This time has my favorite story when she stabs fellow writer Al Franken in the head with a pencil on a strange whim. The second half of the book looks at her career to the date the book is finish, including working on her own Comedy Central show titled, The Sarah Silverman Program.

Sarah breaks many conventions of the autobiography in this book. She writes her own introduction, and makes a pretty big deal about the process of writing it. She also spends a good bit of time writing about how the book came to exist. She even shares several conversations with her editor about the creation of the book. What really got my attention, though, was the "Advance Praise for the Bedwetter" on the back of the book.

"She's a lady and it's a black shirt." --Alec, age 3.
"I want juice." --Diego, age 2-1/2
"At recess Brody Watkins pulled my hair and I told the teacher and she yelled at him and he cried."--Emily, age 6
"Y tu mama tambien."--Luis, age 4.
"Book."--Bea, age 2

So my opinion is that you should go out and read this book. This opinion is offered, however, with a little bit of condition. I know that Sarah Silverman's style of comedy is not for everyone. She is not afraid to go for the cheap joke by writing a song about poop or speak freely about her sexual experiences, so if you would rather avoid these kinds of topics, this is not the book for you. Look her up on Youtube, or watch The Sarah Silverman Program on Netflix.  After you get done, you'll probably want to head to the book store to buy The Bedwetter.

Black Friday

I don't know if it's completely safe to say this yet, but it's where I'm going to start anyway: The world managed to get past Black Friday without any deaths this year.  That may seem like a silly way to start an opinion piece about the "Biggest shopping day of the year," but it's valid when you consider just how seriously people take their holiday shopping. There are often stories about fights that break out over a pair of discounted socks or the last Gameboy DSi that's a part of the $10-off sale. There are even stories about people who tripped while making their way into the store and were trampled to death by the crowd that followed them.

So with all the dangers involved with Black Friday, why are so many people rushing out for extremely early openings and lots of deals they probably don't really want? Well, in an attempt to bolster sales figures, stores put on huge sales to draw in customers and keep the American economy from collapsing. Does it work? Most years it does. Customers run out in waves to pick up the latest and greatest (or just cheapest) in everything. Are there great deals to be had out there? Absolutely, but does it really justify all of the insanity?

Here's a crazy thought, how much money could customers save if all of these big Black Friday sales were canceled and prices were lowered to the average sales price? No sales, just lower prices. Would people be more inclined to buy on a regular basis? Would there be less rush to crowd into stores to fight over that big sale? My guess is the answer is yes. Will it ever happen. Probably not.

So that's my thoughts on the topic of Black Friday. You can do with it what you want. If you have any thoughts, feel free to leave a comment. Also feel free to suggest a topic, and I'll try to get to it as soon as possible.

They Might be Giants, why I love this band.

Back in the 80's, (1982 to be precise) two guys named John got together and started to make some music together. Their band was called They Might be Giants. The band has continued for over twenty years with mixed amounts of fame. These days the band has expanded their efforts to include educational music for kids which include titles like "Here come the A, B, C's" and "Here comes Science."

Even if you don't know the name of the band, you have probably heard their music before and didn't know it. Songs you may have heard include "Istanbul, not Constantinople," the theme song for "Malcolm in the Middle," and the "Dr. Evil" theme from Austin Powers. You can also hear one of the Johns singing the Coraline song near the beginning of the movie "Coraline."

You can check out the band at http://www.theymightbegiants.com/ On the About section of the website the band is described as "Independent Music for Independent People." This ties in with my favorite aspect of the band. There really is no defining aspect of the band's music. One song will be a jazzy swing tune with an automated operator for the drum solo ("She's Actual Size") next your listening to a country tune with a tuba providing the bass line ("Number 3") and then you have a fast-paced rock song about the sun ("The Sun is a mass of Incandescent Gas"

Even though you may not like all of the music this band produces, I'm sure that something they have put out will appeal to you. I have always enjoyed trying to figure out the lyrics.  Some songs are straight forward, but check out a song like "Birdhouse in your Soul" or "Don't Let's Start" for some fine confusion. There's plenty more I could say about the band, but I'll leave it there for now. That way I can say more about them some day in the future.

There has to be something you're thankful for...

So here we are on the most misunderstood holiday of the year. I may be wrong about that last statement. I'm sure if you talked to St. Patrick or the men that signed the Declaration of Independence, there may be some debate about that title.  Let me try again.

So here we are on the holiday that really doesn't work as advertised. Thanksgiving has been around since the first winter after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, but it wasn't until Abraham Lincoln that the holiday was made an official part of the American calendar. Now Lincoln's approach to the holiday was that is should be a day to thank God for all that had been provided, and that's all good and fine, but that's not what I want to talk about today. What I want to know is, where are all the thankful people?

Thanksgiving has turned into a giant food fest with football and sleep thrown in. Where is there any time devoted to expressing thanks for anything that we have? I remember when I was growing up that my Mom made each of us share something we were thankful from over the past year. It wasn't much, but it was something. Now we don't even do that.

So this Thanksgiving, take a moment or two to be thankful. It may not seem like there's much to be thankful for, but there has to be something positive going on in your life. I may be semi-employed as a substitute teacher with $50,000 of debt waiting at the door, and no real prospects at the moment, but I can be thankful. So what about you?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer returns?

So today I was reading an article about a new movie project that I can't quite make up my mind about. There have been many reboots over the years and some of them have turned out very well. A great example of this is the recent reboot for Batman.

So what makes Batman a great reboot? For starters, consider what had been going on in the franchise when someone decided that Christian Bale should get a fresh beginning. Three men had played the part of Batman, with varying degrees of success. Keaton was a great Bruce Wayne, and an adequate Batman thanks to some rubber muscles. Kilmer was overshadowed by Jim Carey's Riddler. Clooney was just bad casting and bad writing, and way too many villains and heroes to make the movie workable. It was the perfect time to forget the past and start over.

So what does all this have to do with my opinion on a new "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" movie? Let's consider some valid reasons why a reboot movie would be a good choice after some history on every one's favorite blond vampire slayer. Back in the 90's a young writer named Joss Whedon thought up this great idea about a series of young girls that are given superhuman abilities to battle all sorts of supernatural threats, specifically vampires. Unfortunately, someone took his idea and made a movie in 1992 starring Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry. Don't get me wrong, I love the movie, but when you compare it to the TV show, it falls flat because the person with the idea didn't get to write the screenplay. A few years later Sarah Michelle Gellar took the title role and with the Scooby Gang, kept Sunnydale safe from the unrelenting forces of evil.

So now for those reasons to reboot the show. First, do you really want to watch the adventures of a 30-something slayer? Just imagine Buffy fighting vampires while trying to keep track of her kids. Chasing after the baby who can't keep from crawling into the demon-filled crypt. Maybe she can have a preteen daughter that can be hard at work learning the family business. Sounds like a lot of fun doesn't it? Maybe in a Disney-run family flick, but I'm not interested in that kind of Buffy. Besides, will the Scooby Gang want to come back for a movie?

I'm trying to avoid giving away the ending of the series for anyone who hasn't seen it all the way through yet. (If you're reading this, and this applies to you, get going. It is worth seeing it all the way through. You can watch all seven seasons on "Watch It Now" through Netflix.) Let's just say that while the show provides closure, there are way too many loose ends at the end of the series that I wouldn't want to try to sort out in a follow-up movie.

For those hardcore fans that just want to know what happens next, I suggest you turn to the Dark Horse comic series. Joss Whedon is involved in all of the issues to some extent, I'm not exactly sure how much, but I know that he keeps a close eye on the series. This is the best way to keep track of the characters and story lines you love without stretching your suspension of disbelief too much.

With that being said it's time for my explanation for why this is not the time to reboot Buffy. First it is way too soon to restart this franchise. There are way too many people that love the show and aren't willing to consider a new girl as Buffy, or setting aside everything they love and know about The Slayer. Give it some more time, and there will be a new generation of young girls out there looking for a hero and role model to look up to.

More importantly in my opinion is the lack of Joss Whedon in the project. Buffy is his creation, and she works best under his watchful eye. As much as you love Buffy the movie as a guilty pleasure, I don't think we want something like that coming back to the theaters. That isn't to say that Whit Anderson doesn't have the potential to do something great with the character and story, but I never saw "Yes Man," so I really don't know enough about her to have an expectation.

So there you have it, my opinion for what it's worth. Check out the link to the original article below:
http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer-movie-remake-gets-new-blood-with-screenwriter-Whit-Anderson/7804387?rss=rss-kabc-snippet-7808136

The First is Always the Worst...

So here's the first post, for what it's worth. I'm not really sure what this blog is going to be about or what it will look like so there isn't much point in trying to make this too impressive. Hopefully it will turn out to be something worth looking at in the future, but for right now this is what there is to see.