Dear democratics

PLEASE get some individuality.  I turned on CNN last night and every single democrat they had on there spouted the exact same lines about how Bush and McCain are the same, calling the Iraq war the Bush-McCain war and all of the previous economic policies the Bush-McCain policies.  You know what?  People are going to get really sick of this soon and, while people are not happy with Bush, they also realize that Bush and McCain are not the same person and you're kind of digging yourselves into a grave.  If the democrats are going to win this election, they need to focus on McCain as his own person instead of just bashing Bush, as much fun as that is.  To be honest, I think that McCain would be a much better president than Bush ever was, although I clearly would prefer not to have him in the White House.

It really annoys me about how people just tout the party line.  During the primaries, all of the Obama people said the exact same thing all the time, and all of the Hillary people said the exact same things as well.  Can't people give their own candid analysis without just following along with the current campaign strategy?

I'm home...for now

For any of you who didn't know already, I went camping in Massachusetts this past weekend. A quick synopsis: It was cold, mountains are pretty, and Boston is the worst city ever to navigate in a car.

And now that I'm settled back into my normal life, it turns out that I'm helping my sister Kate move this weekend, in Indianapolis. To a certain extent, I really want to just stay at home for a while and veg out, but apparently that's not gonna happen. Oh well, I'm really excited to see her new house and hang out, since I haven't really seen any of my family in a while now that I'm done with Symphony

In other words, I thinking about becoming a Unitarian. I haven't actually done any real research on this, but I kind of want to understand why people go to church (other than guilt) and I think that the Unitarian church is probably the only one that I could handle, seeing as they're all about open-mindedness and acceptance and all that. Or maybe (and by 'maybe' I mean 'most likely') I'll just end up thinking about it for a while, going to one service, and then forgetting about it completely

Oh, and I REALLY WANT TO SEE INDIANA JONES. I'm so pissed that I'm missing the first two weekends it's out (anybody wanna go tomorrow?)

New Music Tuesday aftermath

One of my favorite things ever to do is listening to new albums. Therefore, I always keep half an eye on the weekly iTunes email of new music. This week, there were two new releases that interested me enough to buy.

Ladytron - Velocifero

Now, I've never really been able to get into Ladytron. They're one of those bands that I've always kind of felt like I should like, but in the end they never really managed to wow me. For the most part, the vocals are what annoy me. They don't really try to make real songs, so much as throwing half-spoken, repetitive vocals over the synths. However much I love synths (and I LOVE them), I can't really put up with this for too long

This album had me really excited for the first few tracks. It really seemed like they were writing real songs, with actual lyrics and melodies, but still with their old attitude. However, as the album winded down after the few tracks, they seemed to devolve into their old habits of throwing some sort of half-assed vocals over the instrumentals. Over all, it was a bit disappointing, although there are some seriously awesome songs in the first half of the album. And if you like Ladytron already, then this album is pretty awesome.


Islands - The Arm

Islands was a pretty big deal when they came out (was it last year, or 2006? I can't remember now). The big thing is that the lead singer used to be the singer for the Unicorns, a low-fi indie-pop band that was pretty big in the early 2000s. And basically, yeah, they're Unicorns 2.0. I was really into them for about 2 weeks, before I got kind of sick of the whole sound. They were pretty awesome live, though.

To be honest, I haven't listened to the whole album yet. However, I think I already have a pretty well-formed opinion. It's fun, but it's not pushing any boundaries or winning any awards. It's mostly more of the same, and sort of meanders through. The songs have no real drive to them; they just sort of go on for a while, then they stop. You can only do so much with quirky vocals and catchy instrumentals if you don't try to push it anywhere.

Once again, as with Ladytron, they have a certain image and sound. If this is the sort of thing you like, then you'll probably like the album. It's pretty appealing, but I'm a little underwhelmed.

Now I'm just waiting for the next Wolf Parade album. I loves me some Wolf Parade.

Apparently I start too many statements with "seriously"

So I'm gonna try to stop.  Chances are, however, that I'll just find a new word or phrase to overuse.

Anyway, I went to see Prince Caspian last night.  I didn't see the first Narnia movie, so I didn't really know what to expect.  For the most part, I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Luckily, it's been long enough since I read the books that I barely remember any of the details, so I get really excited whenever they reference something I remember (Reepicheep!!!) but I don't go nitpicking details that might differ from the book.

I do have one major complaint, though, and this may make me sound old and crotchety.  I really don't like the callous nature with which they treat violence.  I was really put off when Reepicheep made a cute little joke right before slicing somebody's throat.  I don't know what it was rated, but it was a really violent movie.  On top of that, I really do feel like they treat it as if it's okay that a lot of people die, as long as they're not important characters.  I'm not sure how I feel about a movie for young people with teenagers beheading people and stabbing soldiers in the back.

I think that this one of my major complaints about movies in general.  It's not that they're violent:  I love violent movies.  I can even revel in it (Kill Bill was AWESOME).  But often, they trivialize violence, and show a cleaned-up version that doesn't show any gore, and somehow that's ok.  Violent death becomes a thing to be thrown around, without any of the unpleasant consequences that drive home the fact that violence is BAD

FAME! I'm gonna live forever! I'm gonna take to the sky!

Seriously, why are people so obsessed with fame? If you turn the TV on at any time, chances are that there's some sort of "celebrity" reality show where has-been TV stars vie desperately for attention by competing with each other. Why do they drag themselves back into the spotlight when people generally just remark on what trainwrecks they've become?

The other thing that sparked this entry was this: ridiculous fashion choices. My theory is that these people wear absolutely ridiculous things just for the purpose of getting people's attention. For example, for those of you who pay attention to these things, remember just about every outfit Victoria Beckham has ever worn? And those ads she did for Marc Jacobs a couple of months back? Maybe I'm just trying to convince myself that they don't actually think that these are good fashion choices.

I just don't get why people make fools of themselves in front of millions of people, all in the name of fame (and, in many cases, money. Well, actually, I get it if it's in the name of money)

Do they have rehab for caffeine addicts?

Seriously, I drink a LOT of coffee. I think that it was when I went to the grocery and spent the majority of a $30 bill on coffee beans (and not even fancy ones) when I realized that I really am kind of dependent.

Every morning I have two cups of coffee with breakfast and then get a latte on my way into work. On top of that, I've been known to make another pot in the evening, and generally every time I go shopping or out, I grab a latte on the way.

The primary reason I drink so much caffeine is as self-medication for ADD. (Let me tell you, it's not a pretty sight if I try to read scientific papers or sit through a talk without any caffeine in my system) However, I think that on top of that, I have a really addictive personality, and one that really gets stuck in routines. I get a latte on my way into work because that's what I ALWAYS do. Hell, 2/3 of the employees at the bookstore café know me by sight, even some of the new ones.

Oh well, at least it's healthier than soda, which used to be my chief vice.

And the fat lady is singing

Well, maybe not actually singing yet, but she's definitely going through her warm-up exercises.  According to CNN, Barack and Hillary are now tied in the superdelegate count.  Considering that she started out with a huge lead, I think that it's really telling that Barack has picked up enough momentum and acknowledgment among the party leadership to catch up.

Let's just hope that nothing disastrous happens between now and the convention

Are you kidding me?

Is the catholic church seriously still preaching this crap?  I mean, seriously?

I tend to kind of think of the Catholic church as it is portrayed in A Canticle for Leibowitz: clinging to their old ceremonies and feigning grandeur while the city around them crumbles to pieces.  Do they realize that they're continually losing worshippers because they completely refuse to face the reality around them?

This is so backwards it's ridiculous.  

The primaries NEED TO END

Seriously, why does politics turn everybody into a raging asshole? Everybody picks one candidate, and they can do absolutely no wrong, and everybody else can do no good. The extended primary contest is only serving to divide the democratic party against itself, and if we lose a third election in a row, I'm going to cry. Or move to Europe. Or secede. Am I allowed to do that? EricLand would be an awesome place.

I would have to say that the main object of my ire is Hillary. The effect of her continued candidacy on the party aside, I'm really pissed off about her gas policy. She clearly picked the best-sounding policy which would be the easiest to understand for 'middle America'. Regardless of whether it would work at all.

First of all: the actual effect on consumers would be almost nil. Even her estimations put the benefit at about $70 over the summer for the average consumer. The more realistic calculations put it at about $30.

Secondly, where's the money coming from: She wants to pass the tax onto the oil companies. While I'm all for that in theory, what's actually going to happen is that the oil companies are just going to raise prices to make up for their lost revenue. The result: no change for consumers, or even a possible price increase.

Third, she's going to take on OPEC? How? We have no economic leverage on them, and the countries involved are our precious "allies", without whom we'd have no bases in the Middle East. They've got us in a stranglehold, and in a knock-down brawl over oil prices, i don't doubt that they'd win, especially since our demand for energy is much higher than our capability to provide for ourselves.

It's really pissing me off that Hillary is resorting to sensationalism to try to pump up votes. Considering that she started out as the nuanced candidate who understood the details of policy-making, this is a sad example of a politician's empty promises.

I'm sorry, I really didn't want to get into politics on this blog, but I really need to vent. I'm so frustrated with all the bullshit being flung around in this election (to be fair, by all sides, but I feel that there is considerably more coming from Hillary's camp).

Seriously, can't I just have one ailment at a time?

Last Saturday, I noticed that my right eyelid was acting a little funny. Over the next week, it grew gradually more swollen and irritated, and now I have a giant ball of poo occupying my upper right eyelid (and clearly, 'poo' is a medical term). According to WebMD, it's due to a clogged oil gland. So yes, I have a giant zit in my eyelid.

On top of that, I've noticed that my left eye has been becoming increasingly gunky when I get up in the morning and throughout the day. And this morning? It's pink. Yes, I think I have pink eye.

Why, body? Don't I take care of you properly? Don't I give you healthy food, and make sure that you're properly exercised?

Ha! Take that, normality!

I am such a HARDCORE BADASS now.

To see the world in a grain of sand

You know, I can never remember where that quote came from, but I've always kind of liked it. Anyway, I had a crazy moment this morning when I was making breakfast. I looked at the nutrition information on my bagels and saw that they each have 240 calories. I just thought that it was totally amazing that one bagel has enough accessible energy stored within for a person to run almost 2 miles. That just seems crazy to me, not just because of the sheer amount of energy, but because of the efficiency of the human body.

The main reason that I went into biology is that life continues to amaze me. It's all of these little things that, when you really think about them, refuel the sense of wonder that keeps me on the life-track that I'm pursuing.

I mean, just think of any living thing, even a bacterium. It is such a finely tuned machine that it can adjust to myriad conditions and produce faithful copies of itself, all without any guiding consciousness. Humans are YEARS from creating a completely autonomous robot, and certainly not anything with even close to the same degree of sophistication as a single bacterial cell.

Please label me

I started reading Matt's blog yesterday, and while a whole lot of it is religious and therefore not particularly applicable to my world view (although very enlightening in the mindset of a gay Christian), I thought that the most recent post, about coming out of the closet, was very interesting. Why do people feel the need to come out? Why is being gay such an important part of one's identity that everybody needs to know it in order to understand us better? Here's the majority of the comment that I left on the blog:

I definitely think that it is a very important moment when one takes upon themselves the culture label of “gay,” even more so than when they discover their attraction to members of the same sex. More often than not, it is that which makes us different from mainstream society, that which is counter to what is considered normal (and some may argue good), which defines us. For example, if I were to describe myself in as few words as possible, I would use the term ‘gay.’ I would not think to mention the fact that I am a white, middle class male, even though these are actually essential contributors to my identity. Being gay, because it is counter to the mainstream, is a very powerful cultural label that tends to pervade the entirety of one’s life. The decision to take on such a label is not an easy one, and to a certain extent, I can understand a person who wishes to remain in the closet, or who may say “I’m not gay, I just like to have sex with men.” I think that this is part of the power of pride parades: they are an affirmation of one’s acceptance of the gay (or, to be more politically correct, queer) cultural label.

Of course, this is all from my own perspective, as a gay man. Coming out as a lesbian, bisexual, transgendered person, or any other variant of queer has its own connotations and cultural trappings. Often, I believe that the cultural labels that define us also actually shape us, pushing us into polarized positions of "gay" or "straight," when the actual identity may be much more fluid, which is an opinion that has been voiced by many people for years. Regardless, I do choose to take on the identity of a gay man, and I recognize that I embody many of the cultural stereotypes of the label, whether that is my natural disposition (haha, if such a thing exists) or a learned behavior.