Oldies: Sunday, April 28 - Saturday, May 4, 2002...

Saturday, 4 May 2002: Yesterday was my field trip with Katie's bunch of rather precocious pre-kindergarteners... honestly, at that age, who would expect anything short of precocious. It was fun, albeit a bit hurried, as we didn't really have a whole heckuva lot of time to see all that much. Katie and I agreed that we are going to have to go back to Brookfield Zoo very soon.

The reason I'm writing about this little adventure was because of two of the little kids and how they inspired me. These two kids, named Rashad and Wes, were quite obviously the best of friends. The two were completely inseparable -- sat together on the bus, were buddies for the trip around the zoo, ate together, watched each other's backs -- despite glaring differences between them both that would seemingly separate them if they were any older.

Wes was the product of a very difficult birth. His mother gained over 90 pounds during her pregnancy as a result of an over-abundance of amniotic fluid. This massive amount of fluid wreaked havoc with Wes and he was born with severe facial deformities that he is still undergoing reconstructive surgery to amend. As a result of a lowered hearing threshold, he also wears a headset with two hearing aids that looks quite a bit like a very high-tech set of headphones for a Walkman. Otherwise, Wes was a relatively normal, everyday, white kid.

Rashad was a seemingly normal kid in all respects aside from his reliance on a hearing aid. He can talk with some difficulty, loves to fool around and play jokes, and has a helluva sense of humor. He's also black. (please note that I am not much of a believer in political correctness, so take no offense at my refusal to use PC terms such as "European American" and "African American" -- I think PC is BS).

Why the big deal about the two of these kids? They knew how different they each were. It had to be more than a bit obvious to Rashad that Wes was anything but a normal-looking kid. It had to be more than a bit obvious to Wes that Rashad didn't have the same skin color as himself. Did they care? Hell no. They were the best of friends anyway. It would be hard to imagine these two as anything but best friends. They found in each other soulmates (of the purely platonic variety) that neither skin color nor physical deformities could alter. Why can't the rest of the world be this oblivious to physical differences and use a person's true character as a way to determine whether they like them or not? Wes and Rashad are probably no more than about four years old each and far more mature than people who have been alive several decades longer than them both. 'Nuff said.


Thursday, 2 May 2002: This one is more than a bit nasty (maybe I should say "bite"). A former Australian Rules Football (soccer) player who is a member of the Port Melbourne team, was suspended for biting the testicles of an opposing player. Sadly, he was only suspended for 10 games. I would think this would warrant a far greater suspension. The player, Peter Filandia, claimed that he could not breathe when he got tangled up with Chad Davis of Springvale, so he bit him as a reflex action. Some friggin' reflex there buddy. I thought Tyson's earlobe addiction was bad. Can you imagine being either of those guys? Imagine how bad it would be realizing that some guy was taking a nip at your boys? Imagine the realization when you discover that you've got some guy's boys in your mouth? Ewwww... icky... Gives new meaning to "down under," doesn't it?

By the way, I won't be here tomorrow to update the page. I'm taking the day off work to go to Brookfield Zoo as a chaperone for all of Katie's preschool kids. Should be fun so long as the skies don't open up on us. Besides, Geocities will be conducting some infrastructure updates over the weekend. You will still be able to read my site, but I won't be able to update it at all starting tomorrow evening. So, take advantage of this chance to go into the Archives and read some of my old trash. Or, if you so desire, check out Fun With Dead Trees, pick out a book that sounds interesting, and get out from behind your infernal computer. The bookstores would love to see you.


Wednesday, 1 May 2002: A few years ago, Chicago had a great classic rock radio station called WCKG (105.9 FM). It had some of the best music around. However, due to declining ratings and increased competition, the station changed formats several times. I think it was even a Spanish station at one point (okay, maybe not, but then again...). Anyway, I stopped listening when it stopped playing classic rock. Well, for some reason, I tuned in yesterday. Don't ask me why. Consider it morbid curiosity wanting to see what they're playing now. Well, it is now an FM talk station. Not only that, but they've got just about every talk DJ that used to be on the Loop back when it was a talk station. Kevin "Kevhead" Matthews, Steve Dahl, Jim Shorts, Buzz Kilman. Hell, their morning show is Howard Stern. Coolness. I've been wondering what station played Stern in Chicago. Now I know and I'm loving it. So, if you have the chance and you live in Chicagoland, tune into 105.9 FM. Good stuff there.

This morning, Stern and Company were interviewing Kane Hodder (yes, back on the Jason X kick again). Stern started suggesting possible follow ups for the success of this latest film. One, in particular, caught my attention... Jason Meets Robert Blake and O.J. Simpson. How funny would that be? Stern even commented that Jason should wear a blonde wig so O.J. would think he's Nicole (ex-wife... remember her?). I couldn't stop laughing.


Tuesday, 30 April 2002: Okay, before I start into my rant o' the day, I must make an update to yesterday's information about Jason X. Apparently, the Box Office weekend estimates were a bit off. Jason X, instead of making $150K less than Life of Something Like It, actually made $430K more than it. And it scored two places higher in the top ten than Jolie's foray into romcom domesticity. After all was said and done, Jason X wound up the number three movie in America behind The Scorpion King and Changing Lanes. Number four was Murder by Numbers with Life or Something Like It as number five. Go Kane... go Kane... it's your birthday. Well, I don't actually know that for sure. Let's just play along, okay?

Now for my rant. NBC is having one heckuva birthday party in the coming week or so. The network turns 75 (I believe) and is bringing back all kinds of past stars to relive their roles either in reunions or on other series. The cast of St. Elsewhere is going to be on Scrubs, there will be a Cosby Show reunion, and the cast of Cheers will be on Frasier. This sort of marketing tactic scares me. Once in a while, it's okay to bring back people for guest stints. But when you bring back so many in such a short time span, then you know it's for ratings and there is not likely to be a very good script supporting the reunion. I will admit that I'm kinda looking forward to the Cheers reunion. I don't know that I want to see it so much for the fact that everyone will be back together as for the fact that Kirstie Alley will finally have something to do other than those damned Pier One commercials. Have you seen those things? They are the most annoying and, I would think, degrading commercials I have ever seen. When stars hawk products on TV or radio, the writers of the commercials usually tend to be somewhat respectful of the star. Dennis Franz hamming it for Nextel is pretty cool. Jeff Goldblum's voiceovers for Toyota are pure Goldblum. But, c'mon now, Alley is acting like a complete imbecile in these commercials and she is really proving that she has no career left whatsoever. Maybe she's thinking that she's never going to act again and that she may as well go all out, but can we try to save a little face here?


Monday, 29 April 2002: This has gotta be some kind of record. The latest installment in the Friday the 13th series, Jason X, placed in the top four for weekend movies. I can understand why it wasn't number one. But, c'mon, for a slasher flick like this that would seemingly have very limited appeal, you have to give it credit for earning a mere $150K less than a romcom boasting superstar headliner Angelina Jolie (Life or Something Like It). That's saying a lot for a flick whose only recognizable star is a friggin' hockey mask. Or perhaps I'm just trying to rationalize the fact that I really, really want to see this movie. I have not seen a Friday flick since the third one and when you consider how bad slasher flicks became as a result of the Kevin Williamson era (Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, etc., etc., and sequels ad infinitum), you gotta be happy that there has been a return to the classic blood and gore slashers of the 1970s and 80s. Thank you, Kane Hodder (the man under the mask). I welcome you back with wide open arms even if that does make me one helluva target.

Oh yeah, I've added Sebastian Junger and Michael Crichton to my list of Most Reviewed Authors in Fun With Dead Trees. I admit that I only have one review on Crichton's page thus far, but I'm reading The Great Train Robbery right now and will probably have that review up sometime this weekend or early next week.

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Thursday, 25 April 2002: Perhaps I am in the minority here... we shall see. I am a movie purist. I like to watch movies unedited and in widescreen. For me, that is the primary reason why I invested in DVD....
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Oldies: Sunday, May 5 - Saturday, May 11, 2002...

May 11
Friday, 10 May 2002: I had to make note of this little bit before I give up writing to all of you for the weekend. It would seem that a lot of people have been taking a shine to Hallee...

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