My Big Problem

"And every time I've betrayed myself, I've seen myself in certain self-justifying ways.... The result is that over time, certain of these self-justifying images become characteristic of me. They're the form my boxes take as I carry them with me into new situations."

"Leadership & Self-Deception," The Arbinger Institute, Inc., Copyright 2000

T4 ***Spoiler Alert***

Recently saw T4.

How in the heck did they get Arny to look so awesome! Well, I guess if a 70 year old Harrison Ford can look and act 50 again in order to play Indian Jones, I guess there's enough motivation in Hollywood for Arny to step it up a notch in his workout routine. Nevertheless, I thought going in that it would just be another corny cameo like he pulled in T3--you laugh, he was in the entire movie--but, in this one they did a great job preserving the mystique and the physique of the T-800. But, that was small potatoes compared to the other stuff.

First the positive.

I am a connoisseur, of sorts, of military hardware. I just love the Thunderbolt. If ever there was motivation to expand the A-10 program to defeat an advanced, mechanized enemy, this movie should seal the deal in Washington. Forget about paying for climate change. Of course, using that logic, we will also need more armor plated, snowplow, tow trucks in the Army's arsenal as well; but I digress, when Transformers II comes out in June, I can definitely see Obama spending more on A-10s and C-130 gunships in 2010, because they are just so friggen cool!

I liked Christian Bale as John Connor--he actually shows us how John Connor gets that nasty scar on his cheek. I thought I'd go to my grave wondering how this kid got such a nasty ouwee on his face. Truth be told, I actually went to see the movie, because I trust Bale's judgment in scripts.

Bale held his own even though the part more or less played him. Still, no matter the actor, the T2 rules had to apply in this movie, because that was what T3 lacked. T3 was a farce! So, on one hand it was refreshing to see the franchise return to its true self, on the other hand, it was like a grown man saying AWESOME all the time, because in his youth that was the go to word for describing great tasting hot dogs, as well as the gravitational pull of the sun. His vocabulary never developed even though his knowledge and experience grew. Put less cryptically, you hear some familiar lines. In the writer's defense, however, they had to show us the genesis of some of these phrases.

One question in my mind was how they were going to handle the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Skynet only states that they were never able to get John by working in the past.

I'm sure there's more, but suffice it to say, I liked it.

The negative.

So, what's with Skynet anyway? They eventually will make a machine that can synthesize any solid form at will, but they can't figure out how to make metal sound like a beating heart? I guess they aren't audio experts. They had to create a cyborg in the past, send him to the future in order to surreptitiously, or more likely serendipitously, bring John and Kyle to Skynet to be killed. Then, the cyborg turns out to be the Tin Man. That's just goofy. I always appreciate the Matrix for giving us smart, well organized machines that actually are interested in self preservation.

Is This It?

This is perhaps the most poignant scene in "Weird" Al Yankovic's movie, UHF.

Some people think it's a metaphor for man's struggle to understand women.

Well, sorry, it is actually ironic.

This scene demonstrates the quality of a system or relationship where it may appear to the participants that they are working together to bring about the desired result, but the outside observer knows that the system or relationship will never bring about the desired result, no matter how much the participants or observer really wish it would. Hence, the irony.



This irony is situational irony. "Situational irony is the disparity of intention and result: when the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect." The blind man might think he knows what the intended result should be, but it is unlikely in the extreme that his actions will ever yield the desired result. The tragedy is the observer would really like to hear the poor man answer, "Yep!" But, alas, he never will.

The First Celebrity Swine Flu Fatality...

I want this guy to teach my kids!

I was mesmerized by this guy's presentation. Take a look.

(Immature Content. Viewer Discretion Advised.)

Adam Now Knows the Difference...

Adam now knows the difference between Dane Cook and Ryan Reynolds.

A Funeral Card I've Been Working On

This will be the message on the inside of the card:

My deepest condolences for you and your family
at your mother's passing.

For, strange it is, a loved one's passing;
Stranger still, her absence.

May her absence be filled with familiar memories,
And the fondness found in gladness.

This will be the image on the front of the card: