I think I have found a new favorite TV show. Well, not on network TV either. The Showtime original show “Dead Like Me” looks kind of interesting
It is a drama/comedy about an 18 year old girl who is killed by a piece of a Russian space station that doesn’t burn up during reentry into the atmosphere; rather it is about her afterlife experiences with her new job of Grim Reaper. Georgia Lass, or George as the main character is called, is played by Ellen Muth. George has many of the same qualities that I really liked about the MTV cartoon Daria: sarcastic, low-key, and out-and-out funny! In fact, George does kind of carry herself much like Daria and has the same “who the hell are you and why should I care?” look.
George’s boss is Rube, played my Mandy Patinkin. He shows her the basics of her new job of Grim Reaper. (Those who help souls move from the living world to their final destination) He has this kind of “yeah I know you don’t care but I don’t care more” attitude going while dealing with George.
Other players are: Mason (Callum Blue), Betty (Rebecca Gayheart), and Roxy (Jasmine Guy) are all Grim Reapers as well. I don’t think that Joy (Cynthia Stevenson) and Clancy (Greg Kean) will be around much longer in the series as they are George’s parents; ditto with Reggie (Britt McKillip) George’s younger sister.
If the subsequent episodes are all as entertaining and funny as the pilot it should be an interesting show indeed.

Better late than never! The Friday Five:

1. How are you planning to spend the summer [winter]?
Well, for what’s left of the summer, I’d really like to do something special. It is our 25th anniversary. However, it is a contract year where KC works and she has been told that the month of our anniversary she will NOT be able to take vacation. Kind of limits the options.

2. What was your first summer job?
My first summer “job” was working for farmers in the area baling hay. Not steady, but it was my first summer job. My first “paycheck” summer job was working for a construction company laying sod and general grunt work.

3. If you could go anywhere this summer [winter], where would you go?
When we were in San Diego I had a great time. I’d like to go back and check out more of the city. I’d like to go back without the kids and do stuff that we couldn’t do with them along – ya know, nightlife stuff.

4. What was your worst vacation ever?
Jeez; didn’t really have vacations when I was growing up. Really. I’m not kidding. Well, we went to Lake Odessa and camped for 2 weeks one summer. Lake Odessa is a small lake off the Mississippi River about 30 miles south of where I grew up. Since I’ve been married, we’ve gone on a number of small vacations and a few larger ones – they’ve all been pretty good, each in their own way.

5. What was your best vacation ever?
The best ever would have to be either our San Diego trip or our Disney World trip. Both were about a week. Both involved beaches, sight-seeing and souvenirs. Both had their own appeal, and both were really great.

Yes, yes, yes!! I can hardly wait! I will be one of the first ones to sign up for this: the National Do Not Call Registry. It is supposed to stop telemarketers from calling you! Yes, yes, yes!! No more calls while I am trying to enjoy a meal with my family. No more calls asking if I want to buy new siding, windows, get another credit card or refinance my home. Finally!

Blogger is back up. It was acting goofy with my usual blogging tool, wbloggar. I make my entries in wbloggar and then publish them directly from my PC. Even get a preview. For the past week I had to copy the contents of the editor window in wbloggar and then copy it to the posting tool of Blogger. The last two days I couldn’t even access my account on Blogger because they were moving it to another server. Now its back up and wbloggar is on a new release (v3.02). All in all life is good with this thing.

Well, this story on AP has me angry all over again. I guess I’ll go over my rant again. Why is the RIAA so against sharing music on the internet? Is it possibly because they are using an outdated marketing model? Or is it simply because they are a bunch of greedy bastards and want ALL the money?

Let’s examine some facts:

1. You can record songs off the radio to a medium of your choice with an inexpensive boom box.


2. You can record your purchased CDs, LPs (I know, I date myself here) or cassettes to the medium of your choice.


3. You can record songs from X-radio to the medium of your choice.


4. You can record the audio from TV to the medium of your choice.


5. You can record the audio from digital cable TV to the medium of your choice.

Now, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) comes along and says all of this is illegal along with “ripping” songs from CDs and converting them to MP3 format to play on your computer. (For those of you who don’t know, “ripping” is the process of copying a CD track from the CD to your computer while converting it to a different format that doesn’t take up as much space on your hard drive. A 4 minute song on a CD takes up about 40-50 megs, but as an MP3 takes up 3-4 megs). Furthermore they point to the decline in sales during the last two years as the only justification that this so-called “file-swapping” is killing their business.
Let me make this clear: The RIAA is calling me a theif for converting songs I have on MY purchased CDs into MP3 format to play on MY computer. They say that I am a theif because they aren’t making as much money as they thought they would in the last two years, which by-the-way have been in a declining economy where EVERYTHING is experiencing a decline in sales.
Now I remember a time in the not-so-distant past (early/mid 1990’s) where radio stations in this area of the midwest proudly advertised that they would play an entire CD from the first to the last track without commercial or DJ interruption. These stations normally did this in the wee hours of the morning on the weekend, starting around 2am or so. Now, I’m not completely stupid (although KC might beg to differ here!) but the impression I got is that if you stayed up and got your cassette (or other medium of your choice) ready you could have a CD recorded to tape to play as often as you’d like. These were not the “moldy oldies” but CDs that were released within the previous two or three months.
Tell me true, is this not the same? I get the music I want for the cost of the blank medium. The only difference is the range of the broadcast. The internet broadcast is worldwide; the radio broadcast is fairly local, usually within about 60 miles or so for clear reception.
On another track of thought, I remember when CDs were first available in the mid/late 1980’s. The cost of a CD was the exhorbitantly high at $17-$18. However, a benevolent RIAA told us that when the cost of the medium was reduced, so would the cost of a CD. The reason the cost was $17-$18 was because the technology was new and the medium was fairly expensive. No one was purchasing a 100 pack of blank CDs. Heck, a 10 pack cost just under $80. Now you can buy the medium in bulk for less than 15¢ each. Why aren’t we seeing a reduction in the sale price, with a reduction in the cost of production? One word: Greed. The artists are not seeing the fruits of the high price of CDs, so where does the money go?

I learned a new term on The Busy Mom Blog: FICSAT. Friends I Can See And Touch. (That was for all you folks from Rio Linda) I guess we do have dual lives; our on-line personna and our real-life personna. I think mine are both pretty boring, but hey, not eveyone is like me (thank God!). Very cool, Busy Mom. Thanks for the vocabulary lesson, now back to your regularly scheduled program…..

Went down to my favorite local bar, the Missippi Brewing Company, with KC last night and watched Cheese Pizza. Man, do they put on a show! They bill themselves as “The Wild Retro Band”, and they are kind of on the wild side. They play two sets. First set is pretty much 80’s rock, a lot of Cheap Trick, but also some Kiss, Poison, Guns ‘n’ Roses and some other bands. During the show the lead singer, Buk ‘The Scooz’ Sundeck, bought not one but TWO bottles of Apple Pucker to be distributed to any of the ladies who would come up and take a swig with him (yeah, some of them showed their appreciation by flashing him their.. um, nevermind). Then they take a break and after the break they come out in drag. Yes, Martha, in drag; as in now in dresses, boas, high heels, etc. They also play metal rock covers for a lot of 70’s tunes. I’ve never heard “Saturday Night” by the Bay City Rollers done quite like that! (Or “King Fu Fighting” or “I Think I Love You”!)
My brother and his wife met us there. He has worked at the bar entrance collecting cover before and said this was one of the largest crowds he has seen there; he also noted that there was about a 3 to 1 ratio of girls to guys. Good show, $5 cover, $5 pitchers, what more could a guy ask for?

Left out for a few weeks, here it is, the Friday Five:

1. Is your hair naturally curly, wavy, or straight? Long or short?
As it gets longer, what hair I have gets somewhat wavy. I get the “spit curls”, as my wife calls them.

2. How has your hair changed over your lifetime?
It’s kind of gone south – you know, from the top of my head to my chest. I really got a lot of chest hair after I lost a lot on top.

3. How do your normally wear your hair?
I wear it shorter in the summer and longer in the winter, but nothing special.

4. If you could change your hair this minute, what would it look like?
I’D GROW IT BACK! Of course, if God wants to take the hair from my head, who am I to argue?

5. Ever had a hair disaster? What happened?
I grew up with one. My dad insisted upon cutting our hair with a family barber set. The problem was, long hair was in at the time and the only ones who willingly wore hair short were total asshats or the military (Vietnam was huge at that time and not popular at all). I was the only kid in school with quarter-inch hair; as if I wasn’t geek enough already! This happened until I left for college.

The Hulk; what a movie. KC and I went to see it on Friday evening; it has taken me this long to kind of get a handle on the movie and see it as a movie rather than a glamorized comic book extension. Not that it was a bad movie or anything like that. It just wasn’t a GOOD movie, at least not as good as the hype or even my own expectations.
As far as the acting goes, it is not any better than the old The Incredible Hulk TV series with Bill Bixby as Dr. Bruce Banner and Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk. Ferrigno actually has a VERY small role as a security guard (about 10 seconds of camera time). Others around me in the theater showed their ignorance as they all recognized Lou but had no idea who was with him – it was none other than Stan Lee, the creator of the Marvel Comics characters. The old TV series is something of a rarity in that it was sci-fi and yet well written and respected in its time.
That being said, I was amazed at the computer generated (CG) effects and the way they were blended in to the movie. It won’t be long and we won’t be able to tell CG from RL (real life) acting, at least at the rate they are going now. I thought that Eric Bana did a capable job, but not outstanding – not that he had much to go with here. Jennifer Connelly did an OK job, but she has done better in other roles (most notably Mulholland Falls). I’d say that Nick Nolte did the best acting job in the film, up until the final half-hour or so when his character was completely CG. One bright spot was Ang Lee’s directing. I thought the use of multi-paned screens and bubbled fadeouts made it seem more like the comic book and less like a movie. Also, I don’t think there is a better director of action movies, and this one definitely had a lot of action.
Some of the details are not what I remembered from the original comic book series and definitely not from the TV series. Details like the origin of the Hulk, details like the history behind the Hulk. I don’t think they added or took away from the movie, but they were definitely not the “facts” that I remembered. Also, a teaser: in all comics, TV series and this movie, how can the Hulk grow to the size he becomes and ONLY his pants (and then only what appears to be shorts) stay with him and stretch to fit him? Seems to me that he’d outgrow those as well… HMMMMM… I never did understand that.
All in all it was an OK movie. Not one I am desperately waiting to own on DVD, but not a bad movie either. If I am to go again, I will go to a local theater that plays “second run” movies where the admission is only $3, the New Strand Theatre. Probably the only reason I’d buy the DVD is to complete a Marvel Comics set. While this movie is not a “forget it – never again”, it is also not a must-see. I’d rate it a 5 of 10.

···An article in the Daily Iowan (the University of Iowa’s daily student “newspaper”) today caught my eye. It is in the guest opinion here; the line in particular is: The First Amendment’s separation of church and state is not a foreign-policy tool; it’s a peculiar American conception.
···Here again, we have a misinterpretation of the Constitution. The First Amendment states (according to Cornell University’s Law School): “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
···Simply tell me where it states that church and state are separated. It ONLY states that the state shall not establish a state-sponsored religion. (In essence, we do have a state-sponsored religion of secular humanism, but that is an entirely different argument than this.) The idea of separation of church and state is later judicial interpretation of this amendment, and not the amendment itself. It also says we have freedom of religion (free exercise thereof), but it doesn’t say that we have freedom FROM religion.
···While I agree completely that the government should not sponsor one religion over another, I also don’t live in a vacuum; we should allow our faith to guide us. Everyone has their own faith journey. If we don’t allow our faith to guide us, then we aren’t much better than the animals around us.

The Blogger’s 10-Layer Salad, as grabbed from infinitepink:

LAYER ONE:
– Name: William Edward Hilton
– Birth date: August 6, 1956
– Birthplace: Muscatine, Iowa
– Current Location: Muscatine, Iowa (gone far haven’t I?)
– Eye Colour: Hazel
– Hair Colour: What I have is brown and grey
– Height: 6′7″
– Righty or Lefty: Mainly a Righty
– Zodiac Sign: Very Leo

LAYER TWO:
– Your heritage: Dutch, German, English
– The shoes you wore today: Converse
– Your weaknesses: Chocolate
– Your fears: My body falling apart so I can’t do what I want
– Your perfect pizza: Salvatore’s Meat Lover with extra cheese!
– Goal you’d like to achieve: MCSE

LAYER THREE:
– Your most overused phrase on IM: I don’t really use IM.
– Your thoughts first waking up: Why are mornings so early?
– Your best physical feature: They are all equally bad
– Your most missed memory: Just sitting with my grandparents and listening to them BE.

LAYER FOUR:
– Pepsi or Coke: UGH! Diet Mt. Dew!
– McDonald’s or Burger King: Missippi Brew Burger!
– Single or group dates: No matter – I’m flexible
– Adidas or Nike: Avia or Converse
– Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Snapple!
– Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate (is there anything else?)
– Cappuccino or coffee: Coffee stunts your growth.

LAYER FIVE:
– Smoke: nope
– Cuss: Only when I’m really angry; then lookout!
– Sing: daily – sometimes hourly.
– Take a shower everyday: Of course.
– Do you think you’ve been in love: I know I have. I still am.
– Want to go to college: Been there, done that.
– Like(d) high school: yup, but not for the classes
– Want to get married: Not again, I enjoy this one too much.
– Believe in yourself: Most of the time
– Get motion sickness: nope
– Think you’re attractive: Why did you have to ruin a good poll?
– Think you’re a health freak: Nope, but I like health foods.
– Get along with your parent(s): For the most part, yes.
– Like thunderstorms: Especially the lightening flashes!
– Play an instrument: Sax, flute

LAYER SIX: In the past month…
– Drank alcohol: Oh yeah; Killians, baby!
– Smoked: Nope
– Done a drug: ibuprofen only
– Made Out: Hey, I’m married!
– Gone on a date: Again – Hey, I’m married!
– Gone to the mall?: yup – Woodfield in Schaumburg
– Eaten an entire box of Oreos?: No, but the month before, yeah
– Eaten sushi: Here in Iowa, we call that stuff bait.
– Been on stage: no.
– Been dumped: Again – Hey, I’m married!
– Gone skating: nope
– Made homemade cookies: yup
– Gone skinny dipping: well, in our hot tub
– Dyed your hair: If God wants to make my hair gray, who am I to argue?
– Stolen anything: nope
– You sound boring: Only by your messed up standards.

LAYER SEVEN: Ever…
– Played a game that required removal of clothing: OH YEAH!
– If so, was it mixed company: Of course.
– Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Yup; don’t even know how I got where I woke up.
– Been caught “doing something”: heh, heh! Ahem, YES.
– Been called a tease: Are you kidding me?
– Gotten beaten up: nope
– Shoplifted: Yeah, when I was a kid.
– Changed who you were to fit in: Ashamedly, yes.

LAYER EIGHT:
– Age you hope to be married: I was 22 when we got married.
– Numbers and names of children: 2; ZDog and Breezomatic.
– Describe your Dream Wedding: Been there, lived it.
– How do you want to die: As a typical male, in the saddle, baby!
– Where you want to go to college: Not going back for that.
– What do you want to be when you grow up: Who said I have to grow up?
– What country would you most like to visit: Australia

LAYER NINE:
– Opposite sex or the same? Opposite; I’m an outie and prefer innies.
– Best eye color? Steel blue, like KC’s.
– Best hair color? Blonde, like KC’s.
– Short or long hair: Longer in the winter, shorter in the summer.
– Best Height? Taller (of course)
– Best weight: No particular preference here.
– Best articles of clothing: If I could only get KC into a leather bustiere!
– Best first date location: Out with others after some event, like I did with KC.
– Best first kiss location: A nice little peck on the cheek.

LAYER TEN:
– Number of drugs taken illegally: Volume or variety?
– Number of people I could trust with my life: 8
– Number of CDs that I own: 200 or so (data and music)
– Number of piercings: None yet, but who knows?
– Number of tattoos: None yet, but who knows?
– Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: Too many to count – I was involved in sports when younger.
– Number of scars on my body: Major ones, only about 4; about 2 dozen assorted smaller ones.
– Number of things in my past that I regret: Jeez, I try to put these out of my mind.

I think I finally burned out on what I was doing. I was spending hours obsessing over a stupid card game, Spider Solitaire. I don’t know why I do stuff like that – obsess over something to the exclusion of all else – but I do. Thank God I married the woman I did and she understands I am that way. Probably start back into the habit of regular posts now.

Speaking of regular posts, I just got an interesting email from a fellow Wartburg Knight, Sean Meade. He contacted me via a Google search and having a blog and being connected to Wartburg. Interesting; my blog is now showing up in Google! I guess I’d better get back to writing.