must see tv?

So, last night was Scrubs’ series finale that wasn’t really a finale because they are going to be on ABC next year.  I was really upset during the strike when there was talk that no finale may be produced.  The finale was a decent episode, but not a good finale.  Which I guess they were going for a finale that wasn’t really a finale.  I don’t know. 

The Office has shown some signs of maybe recovering and being back on their game.  Last night was good.  And, according to promos, next week is supposed to be a big secret, which really isn’t a secret since they have all but telegraphed what will happen.  I don’t have insider info, so this isn’t a spoiler.  But, next week, Jim is going to propose but Pam will say no because she wants to pursue graphic design.  I suppose the question will be whether or not they will break up because of it, but we won’t know that until the season 5 premiere.  I have to admit, I think they may have saved the Jim/Pam storyline.  It’s hard to make something like that work for 5 seasons (even if one season was only 6 episodes).

friday queue cleaning: may 9, 2008

I don’t have any links to Tuesday’s results.  In fact, I’m not sure what the final tally in Indiana was (I never did find a “Final Results” kind of story).  But, Clinton is pretty much done.  Superdelegates are trickling away from her.  She is not mathematically eliminated yet, but the math is now a pretty advance calculus for her to win.  And, if she finds a way to pull out the primary, a lot of people are going to feel like they were cheated out of their votes.  Really, her only chances are for superdelegates to totally ignore the primary results (which they don’t seem inclined to do), or for Michigan and Florida to be counted (which would be incredibly unfair to Obama).  Either would be terribly damaging in the long run.

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The Kentucky Derby had a tragic ending, with runner-up Eight Belles injured and euthanized right on the track.  Horse racing has been in trouble for a while, and this could have been the death blow.  I’ve seen a lot of articles on this issue over the last week, and all I will add is this:  Horse racing may indeed be inhumane, I don’t know.  But I grew up in central Kentucky, the “horse racing capital of the world.”  So, I have met a lot of people in the industry.  And most of them are in it not because it is lucrative, but because they love horses.  In fact, in Central KY, some of the nicest homes are stables (a bit of hyperbole, I will admit, but not as much as a statement like that should contain).  In other words, painting these guys as evil and exploitative is not a fair picture in most case.  That doesn’t automatically mean they are right. 

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Last month, global cooling beats global warming.

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Cindy McCain says that her husband won’t go negative in the general election.  I believe her.  I don’t think either candidate will, in fact.  They won’t have to. Bush and Kerry really didn’t go negative in 04, but it was one of the most negative campaigns ever.  Now, there are plenty of people willing to go negative for you.

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I don’t agree with all of this article, but it had some interesting insights.  The basic premise is “I’m a woman, and since I know how crazy women are, I don’t want one as president.”  I’ve heard a lot of that actually.  I disagree with that conclusion, but it does offer some good critique of part of Clinton’s approach.  Keep in mind too that it’s largely tongue in cheek.  My favorite line:

I don’t even hate Hillary because she screwed up health care. Frankly, anyone can screw up health care.

Funny. 

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Finally, apparently INS is overworked, so they are enlisting UPS to help them.  A Mexican citizen but legal resident in Florida is being told to show her green card in order to receive her birth certificate shipped from Mexico.  Apparently, this is being done to keep us safe from the terrorist.  During my time as a mail room employee, I signed for thousands of UPS packages, not once having to show ID.  In fact, as long as you are at the address the package is intended for, you can claim the package, signing any name you want.  So, I’m not sure exactly how this keeps us safer. 

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Speaking of Mexico, I will be there for the next week on a mission trip.  Please pray for me.  I was hoping to keep the blog going, and if I get cell phone reception, I might, but it looks like we will be closing shop for the week (thanks to Jenny T for volunteering as a “guest blogger.”  I will take you up on that in the future).

the hotdog mystery

This afternoon, I went to my refrigerator to grab a tasty beverage.  I noticed a package of hotdogs in there that I did not remember buying.  I also noticed that there were 2 missing that I do not remember eating.  Now, being a bachelor, the possibility was there that these were simply left over from 4 years ago and somehow they just managed to surface.  However, I then noticed that they were in a ziplock bag, and it was a type that I don’t use.

So, someone has been in my fridge!!!

paper, rock, sisscors, politics

One of the weird things about the Presidential election is that of the three major candidates (though it seems that we may in fact be down to 2 now) had a “weakness” that shouldn’t really be a weakness.  John McCain is old.  Hillary Clinton is a woman.  Barack Obama is black.  None of these things should be an issue, but according to the polls, many are not voting for these candidates due to these reasons.

Another interesting thing is the notion from Clinton and her supporters that despite Obama being able to beat her in the primaries, he will not be able to beat McCain in the general election but she can.  It seems a bit illogical, but I suppose it makes sense.  For many years, I played for my church back home, Bridgeport Christian Church’s, softball team.  One season, we were one of 3 teams in a 3 way tie for first.  Our only losses came from within the tie.  And, each team was swept within the tie (double round robin):  We lost to Grafenburg Baptist twice, but beat Evergreen Baptist twice.  And, Evergreen beat Grafenburg twice. 

It is similar to paper rock sisscors.  So, according to Clinton and her supporters (as well as many others), old beats black, black beats female, and female beats old. 

This is why politics is annoying.

i need you

Next week, I’m going to be away on a mission trip to Mexico.  I want my blog to keep going in my absence.  WordPress has an option where you can write a post and then it will post it at a later time you specify.  I plan to do that, but I would also like a couple of “guest bloggers.”  To do so, you will need to open a wordpress account.  You can write about whatever you want, but it has to be fairly respectful.  If you want to do it, let me know.

music monday week 7: creed(ence)

My buddy Danny Osterhout and I both really hate creed.  However, Creedence is one of my favorite bands.  I don’t like puns, but that didn’t stop me from making the joke, “We should play some Creed . . . ence.”  It was never funny, but I always laughed.  So, the updated rankings:

2.  Creedence Clearwater Revival

15. Creed

Nothing too controversial this week.  For full rankings, click the link at the top of the page.

happy holidays

The first Saturday in May is the closest thing that Kentucky has to a “state holiday.”  In fact, as is the case with Easter (Lent) and Christmas, there is even a season leading up to the big day.  I’m not sure why the Kentucky Derby is such a big deal, but it’s just one of those things I accepted growing up.  Even though I am now in Iowa, I will still watch the race this evening.  Perhaps I should have thrown a Derby party (as is the tradition in Kentucky).  We’ll see, maybe next year.

My pick:  Colonel John.  My Cincy friends will know why.

rockin

It’s in my head, now it’s in yours.

 

i put it to you, greg

That’s an animal house quote, for those of you who don’t know.

So, I’ve taken heat in the comments for dissin Rush.  So, here is the question:  what is the positive “spin” on his comments?  Why aren’t they offensive, and why shouldn’t they be criticized?  If there is a “context” then lay it out there. 

I ask this seriously, and not sarcastically. 

social networking projects

One recurring “theme” on facebook is the students doing a “social networking” project.  Generally, they create a group or an event and see how many people they can reach in a given amount of time.  I suppose this is supposed to tell us the potential for social networking sites, presumably for marketing.

The problem is that in most cases, the group or event is described as, “We are doing this project and need as many people to join.”  To me, this is like the bet that you can get a date with a certain girl.  It kind of cheapens it if you get the date by going up to the girl and saying, “I need you play along and go on a date with me to win a bet.” 

I think these experiments should only be valid if it’s not explicitly stated that we are simply “trying to get as many people as possible for our project.”  For example, my experiment was “International Hug an Eric Day.”  In 2 weeks, it got to over 500 people.  Now, that’s not overly impressive, but when you figure it’s something as dumb as “International Hug an Eric Day,” that’s not too bad.

friday queue cleaning: may 2, 2008

For those of you who have ever gotten the email from the deposed prince of the Congo, you will find this amusing.

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Rush Limbaugh has clearly lost it.  Riots in Denver.  Remember, though, he’s not trying to encite you to riot, he’s just reminding you that it is your patriotic duty to do so.

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It’s been a slow week in the queue.  But, there are 2 recent stories that have a common thread:  how women are treated in the courts.

The first is about a Fox reality series coming out next year called “Bad Dads.”  This show will be similar to “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” only instead of chasing people who jump bail, they will instead chase guys who aren’t paying their child support.  Which of course is a good thing.

The “star” of the show is a guy who is already doing this line of work.  What is alarming is that if he is successful in claiming what is owed to the woman in question, his cut ends up being about 1/3 of what he collects.  Now, I realize that this line of work has inherent risks, and requires a great deal of skill.  I also realize that if he is unable to collect, he does not get paid, so he has to make up for it when he does collect.  Worker’s comp law works the same way.  Still, I find such a high sum to be problematic.

As the show will be eager to exploit, these women and children are “hand luck cases.”  The rationale behind charging such high amounts is that “these women are happy to receive anything we can get them.”  Which is true, and illustrates a bigger point: why aren’t we doing a better job of ensuring that child support is being paid?  Why are women being forced to pay 1/3 of what is owed to them in order to receive any of what they are owed.  There has to be a better solution to this.

The second story that came up recently is that the Republicans in the Senate successfully fillibustered the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.  This act was put into place to close a loophole in pay discrimination laws.  Years ago, Lilly Ledbetter was an employee working for Goodyear.  She worked for them for 20 years when she found out that she was being paid significantly less than the men who were doing the exact same job as her.  She filed a pay discrimination lawsuit, but it was tossed because the law said that such a claim had to be filed within 180 days.  She had filed the suit within 180 days of finding out that she was being discriminated against, but the courts ruled that such a suit had to be filed within 180 days after the discrimination occurred.

Of course, salaries are confidential, so she had no way of knowing.  This case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which upheld the ruling.  This is such a stupid ruling.  How is it possible to file a discrimination claim before you know you are being discriminated.  This sends a message to employers:  it’s okay to discriminate as long as you can keep it a secret for 6 months.

John McCain was not present, but noted that he would have voted against it because it “would lead to frivolous lawsuits.”  I agree that frivolous lawsuits are a problem in this country, but can anyone with a straight face argue that Lilly Ledbetter’s case was frivolous.  Goodyear doesn’t even deny discrimination in this case, they simply argue that they were successful in closing the loophole.

If a statue of limitations in nessecary for that reason, then fine.  Just make it 180 days after the person becomes aware of the discrimination. 

they grow up so fast

I’ll be the first to admit it:  one of the big problems during Tubby Smith’s era at Kentucky is that the staff seemed to always be a bit behind in recruiting. 

Billy Gillespie does not seem to have that problem.  In fact, he is a bit too far ahead it seems.

He just got his first committment for the 2012-2013 season.  For those of you unable to do the math, that means the recruit in question is an 8th grader.

This is problematic for a couple of reasons.  We will go with the competive reasons first.  I remember when I was in 8th grade, I was sure that at least 20 guys at my middle school would go on to be Division I players.  Of those 20, 5 were still playing competitively by the time we were seniors, and one went on to play Division I (for a mid-major).  Now, I will grant you that Billy Gillespie is better at evaluating basketball talent than I am.  But still, there is just no way you can project whether or not an 8th grader is going to be a good college basketball player.  The kid still has most of puberty before him. 

But, the bigger problem is why is a kid that age even being asked to make his college choice already.  According to the article, he hasn’t even decided where he will go to high school yet.  Now, in 8th grade, we all had a college picked out.  Some of us ended up going there.  Most of us did not.  Let the 8th grader be an 8th grader.  There is plenty of time for people to make money off of him later in life.

hanna montana is done

As has been well documented over the years, child stars have a difficult time transitioning into adulthood.  Some make it okay, but many have trouble.  Part of it, I think, is that they have to “grow up” before a child should have to grow up.  In the end, they miss out on some key moments in their development.

If the adults in their lives know what they are doing, they can create an environment where the child can be both a kid and famous.  Too often, parental greed gets in the way, and they want to make sure they can make as much money off of them before they turn 18 and start earning money for themselves.

The adults in Miley Cyrus’ life, as is now well known, have totally dropped the ball.  In fact, I don’t know that it would be hyperbole to call letting a 15 year old pose like that on the cover of a magazine child abuse.  She has now been sexualized at an age where that shouldn’t have happened yet.  Look at Brittney Spears and Lindsay Lohan over the past couple of years.  If there were a way of betting that would be Cyrus’ fate in the next 5 years, taking such a bet would be a no-brainer.  The stuff we do to teenage girls through our media is just criminal.  I guess it wasn’t enough that Billy Ray Cyrus was a bad musician, now it seems he is a bad parent too.

music monday week 6: even if it’s free, i still don’t want it

Today I saw this article announcing that Coldplay is giving away a free single.  I think free is too expensive to listen to Coldplay.  I admit that Coldplay has talent.  I think it’s possible that I might like them better in concert than on the radio.  But for some reason, hearing their music just irritates me.  I can’t explain it.

I kinda feel the same way about U2.  The difference is that U2 does have some stuff I like.  But, if a song comes on the radio from “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” it just puts me in a bad mood.  I heard Vertigo the other day when hanging out in a coffeehouse, and it made me want to leave.  I can’t explain it.

So, this weeks Music Monday theme are bands that I think could be really good but aren’t.

8. U2

12. Coldplay

Click Music Monday at the top of the page for the full rankings(we are all the way up to 15 now).

email threats

Tonight I got a really weird email.  The guy started it off by apologizing for “beating me up in high school.”  He then went on a really condescending rant about my “actions” against a police officer.  Obviously, I never went to high school with this guy, and was clueless as to the nature of the action against the police officer.

I googled my name and found this.  Apparently, someone with the same name as myself in Oregon decided to cite a police officer for illegal parking.  So, I’m not sure if the guy sending me email threats even knew the guy in the story, or just assumed that there was only one Eric Bryant in the US (if you are wondering, there are several).  I’m not sure he does grasp that, since his efforts in reaching his old schoolmate was to put the name in front of @gmail.com.  I suppose this is one of the downsides to having that email address; I get emails all the time from people thinking they are writing to an Eric Bryant that they know.  It can be entertaining from time to time.

I don’t agree with the Eric writing the ticket, but I had to write the guy back.  It was clear from his letter that he is still the same bully he was in high school.