The Cultural Irritant

I'll be honest folks, I used to really like to do movie reviews.  However, I found myself sliding deeper and deeper into the abyss of negativity and relying on cynical platitudes to describe the majority of what I was watching.  I didn't stop to think that maybe it was a problem in the choices I was making of what to watch, I just found it easier to ridicule what was on the screen in front of me. Searching through the moribund wasteland of new release titles for an appropriate Valentines day movie, I settled on Crazy Stupid Love. I figured, this is something I won't have to pretend to like too much, and Janelle, wife, will most likely enjoy it. You can imagine my surprise, halfway through the film, when I found myself not hating it. Had I turned a corner? I was actually watching and enjoying a mainstream Hollywood film! Granted, there were things that annoyed me. Especially the young boy caught doing things that young boys should not be doing, then having the characte...

Valentines day has once again crept up on us like a creepy, middle-aged afternoon mall goer in a trench coat.  That's a lot of adjectives, but I feel it needed to be described that way.  For most people, especially men, it is a day of crass commercialism and trying to see what you can get away with in bed.  This is what I overhear being talked about today, and every VD in the past.  For many men and women, this is relationship crunch time.  A nice VD will cover up a multitude of sins.  The pressure is also on because, while you may not think about it again for the rest of the year, this is a day when you HAVE to show your partner you care.  For some people, the exercise of thinking about another individual, someone other than themselves, is an extremely difficult task. To me, the way VD is celebrated in this country is a joke.  It's a farce.  It would be hilarious, if it weren't such a damning narrative on the state of our culture.  Ye...

There is nothing like being frustrated by a tough project, and coming across a picture like this and realizing that the guys and gals in this shuttle strapped on a rocket and went into space. All of a sudden, recovering all your cat pictures from a busted hard drive seems a little petty.