Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

I Am a Zombie

Urban Dead – The City
The exertions of the day have numbed your clouded brain. You stand where you were, swaying slightly.

I’m still playing Urban Dead once in a while — though not very successfully. A few days ago I ran out of Action Points while passing through an area of significant undead activity and…well…I was attacked and killed.

Oops.

So… the last couple of days I’ve pretty much just been hanging out with a horde of about 10 or 15 other zombies. Once in a while I wander a little distance from the horde and attack someone but, for the most part, I’m just biding my time until the horde decides to take up some kind of group activity.

The Shining

Delbert Grady in The Shining (1980)
My girls, sir, they didn’t care for the Overlook at first. One of them actually stole a pack of matches and tried to burn it down. But I “corrected” them sir. And when my wife tried to prevent me from doing my duty, I “corrected” her.

Last night A&E showed the Stanley Kubrick version of The Shining — it’s really by far the better version. The newer version, a 1997 TV mini-series, was perhaps truer to the letter of the Stephen King novel. Kubrick, though, captured the spirit of the story. A few comments on different aspects of the two versions:

Shelley Duvall (1980) vs Rebecca DeMornay (1997) as “Wendy” — Shelley Duvall’s character was, frankly, annoying. At times, I really couldn’t blame the Jack Nicholson character for wanting to chop her up with an axe. She was so whiiiiiney. BUT that’s part of what made her portrayal so effective. She was irritating, but she ultimately didn’t really deserve what her husband had planned for her — and that created some interesting tension within the movie viewer. Yes, I dislike “Wendy” but do I really think she deserves to be killed? After all, she’s just looking out for her kid… The Rebecca DeMornay character was just bland. I didn’t really care one way or another what happened to her.

Jack Nicholson (1980) vs Steve Weber (1997) as “Jack” — Okay, of course, you’ve got to love Jack Nicholson in this role. He’s so completely over the top. To tell you the truth, though, I think Steve Weber did a better job overall at giving the “Jack” character some pathos. Nicholson didn’t give “Jack” any warmth and the movie wasn’t quite as truly wonderful as it might have been because of that. Part of what makes the King story horrible is that an otherwise decent enough person (“Jack”) is turned against the people he really does love. You never get much of a sense from Nicholson’s portrayal that he ever has any particularly warm feelings towards his wife and son.

Danny Lloyd (1980) vs Courtland Mead (1997) as “Danny” — This was probably the biggest casting mistake the 1997 crew made. Courtland Mead was just… irritating! He wasn’t cute enough (those teeth, that weirdly shaped mouth) and he wasn’t sweet enough. I didn’t care what happened to little Danny as portrayed by Mead and if you don’t care about the little kid in this kind of movie… well, it’s pretty much failed. Danny Lloyd, on the other hand, was cute and loveable and you couldn’t help but be concerned for him. What an excellent little actor that kid was!

Finally, Stanley Kubrick’s directing on the 1980 version of The Shining was amazing. The atmosphere of impending doom he was able to create even with the opening credits of the movie! Amazing. And the tension just builds. Of course, Stanley Kubrick was a genius.

I could watch this movie over and over. I have watched it over and over! I’ve probably seen it 50 times over the past 25 years. It’s so great. Get a DVD of it and watch it at home. Avoid the televised versions with all the swear words cut out. The swear words are not gratuitous. They actually serve a purpose in furthering the plot. When Grady refers to Halloran as “a nigger cook” it’s an indication of how EVIL Grady is. Last night, A&E dubbed it as “a no-good cook”. Blech. It’s not at all the same. You need to hear these characters use this sort of shocking language in order to get the full effect of what’s happening to them.

Anyway, I could go on and on about what a great movie the Kubrick version of The Shining is. You just need to see it yourself. Buy your own copy. You’ll be so glad you did!

Gall Bladder Quacks

Get Rid Of Gallstones.comBefore you even think about going through with this surgery, you need to know something that your doctor probably won’t tell you: gallbladder surgery increases your risk of bowel cancer! Why? Without your gallbladder, bile will drip continuously into your digestive system!

What complete nonsense.Bile “drips” continually into your digestive system anyway! Your liver produces bile. Some of it’s stored in the gall bladder. The rest of it’s continually being released directly from the liver into the common bile duct. From the common bile duct, the bile and pancreatic juices that get added a little further down all get dumped into the duodenum — the upper end of the small intestine.The illustration these yahoos have on their web site even SHOWS the hepatic ducts going from the liver into the common bile duct. I guess they just presume that people looking at their site won’t notice them.

If you haven’t noticed, our gallstone remedy not only rids your body of gallstones… it actually helps “recalibrate” your body so you feel young again! I can’t say enough about the benefits you’ll receive…

Snicker! Uh yeah… “recalibrate”… uh huh. But hey, if Joe Barton, Medical Author and Researcher, says it’s true — well, it MUST be! And Joe’s secret formula for passing gall stones is available for a mere $29.97!! Such a deal.Sigh… Take it from me, folks. Don’t screw around with gall stones. If you’ve got a blocked common bile duct — that can kill you. Dead. Permanently. See a real doctor and have your gall bladder out. I had surgery to have my gall bladder out on Wednesday. I won’t pretend it was pleasant. In essence, I have four stab wounds in my gut and, well, they hurt. I can tell you this, though. I am already noticing a big improvement in my body’s ability to handle normal food. My gall bladder was one sick little unit and it was hurting pretty much any time I ate anything at all. Now, that pain and constant nausea are gone. Hurray! Don’t screw around with gall stones. If your doctor says you should have your gall bladder out, do it.

Charles R. Black: Not of This Earth!

A New Moment of Truth For a White House in Crisis
“If we are going to reach conclusions about stains on the presidency, let’s wait until he’s [Libby] convicted,” said veteran GOP strategist Charles R. Black. Calling Bush’s administration “remarkably clean,” he added: “The amazing thing is that they went almost five years without having any kind of scandal.”

What the f…?!?

What planet is Charles R. Black from?!? CLEARLY — it’s not the one the rest of us are living on! Okay, so putting aside for a moment the very controversial manner in which Bush “won” the presidential elections in 2000 and 2004, what other scandals can we point to? Oh… well, there is that little thing where he LIED about our reasons for going to war in Iraq. Is that scandalous enough for ‘ya?

Trapped in Paradise

Trapped in Paradise – www.ezboard.com
He shook his head in disgust as he remembered the press conference where the officials told people not to panic. It was only a minor outbreak. It was already being contained.

“What do you think people are going to do?” Mark muttered to himself.

Mark didn’t even bother with the more fantastic reports of people becoming violently delirious as a result of being infected. He ignored what some were now calling “The Zombie Effect.” Apparently, there were reports where people afflicted with the virus were acting just like Hollywood-styled zombies – Stilted walk, trying to bite people, pale skin… The whole act.

Our friend Steve has achieved Super Mutant status over on Apocalypse Fiction Magazine’s “Dwellers of the Wastes” discussion board — and Steve, alone among the few dwellers who continue to roam those wastes, truly deserves to be called a Super Mutant. He writes entertaining stories and he lets people read them for free. Steve recently began a new fiction project over on the board: a zombie story titled “Trapped in Paradise”. Check it out.

I love a good zombie story!

Death Knell for salon.com

Salon.com
Girls gone wild! Introducing Broadsheet, Salon’s cheeky new women’s blog. Today: Dowd-Miller “catfight”? Mary-Hate and Ashley … Plus: Celebrity chef burns women

It’s a sad thing when a publication (print or online) that you’ve come to rely upon for insightful news reporting and interesting feature stories begins to slide from the realm of “can’t start my day without reading it” to the netherworld of “why I am I wasting my time reading this”.

salon.com has, alas, begun that slide and there’s no better evidence of it than their newly introduced “Broadsheet” — a “cheeky new women’s blog”. Argh. “Cheeky”?? I’m embarrassed for anyone even using the word. And there’s simply no reason for a “women’s blog”. It’s a dumb idea. Divisive. Insulting. Frankly, lame.

The truth is, salon.com’s been on the downhill slide for months now and I’ve sort of been in denial over it. I keep waiting for them to publish something fresh and interesting. I mean… they brought back Garrison Keillor! That had to mean they were at least trying, right? Sad to say, even Keillor’s columns have been strangely dull — like they’re rejects from the pile of stuff he’s working on for books or his radio show. Or like he quickly jotted them down the night before they were due. It’s all very depressing.

And where the heck has Cary Tennis been the last couple days? His column has become one of the few reasons I even bother to tune in to salon.com anymore. Maybe he’s bailed. Can’t say I’d blame him.

Father Teaches Child to Torture and Kill Animals

Girl, 8, Credited With Year’s 1st Bear Kill
Donald Stiles beamed as his daughter, dressed in hunters’ camouflage with a fluorescent orange vest, told how she skipped school to shoot the male bear.

And so begins a new generation of people who place no value on any life other than their own. A new generation of morally blind monsters. Little Sierra has joined the ranks of the remorseless killers. Just like daddy. The Stiles family must be so proud.

At 211 pounds, the bear Sierra killed was probably only a couple years old. Hardly even a teenager — in bear years. Black bears can live to be up to 30 years old. The only significant threats to their survival are humans (with guns and cars).

The black bears in Maryland are no threat to people or livestock there. Simply put, there is no “good” reason for allowing people to kill them. The Maryland bear hunt serves no other purpose than to satisfy the bloodlust of people like Donald Stiles and, now, his 8-year-old daughter.

I’m horrified.

Steve Martin

A Happy Feat
[Steve Martin] describes his process as a constant search for “topics.” He never knows where he’ll find one, what it’ll be, where it’ll take him. But he’s always looking for something to engage his imagination and take him on a little voyage.

I love Steve Martin. Really, I do. I think, you know, he and I could really get something going. If he weren’t already involved with someone else and if I weren’t already married, I mean. (It’s okay. My husband knows about my Steve Martin thing. He’s willing to overlook it — just like I’m willing to overlook his obsession with Jodie Foster.)

I remember Steve Martin on the Smothers Brothers show. That’s just to show you how OLD I really am! I was fortunate to grow up in a house where we watched the Smothers Brothers every week.

I had a strange upbringing in some ways. My father was really into music. He had very eclectic taste, though, so he’d alternate between stuff like Johnny Cash and… opera. Yes. Opera. He loved opera. Especially the soprano aria in Madame Butterfly. He’d play it over and over. My father liked to watch monster movies on TV. And he loved to watch professional wrestling — because he thought it was funny. (This was back in the early 1960′s, understand, before professional wrestling became big business.) Likewise, he really got off on televangelists. Back then, Oral Roberts would encourage people to put their hands on their television sets — in order to receive the healing power of God, dontcha know. My dad would just laugh and laugh! These early experiences did a lot to make me the person I am today, I think… That and Steve Martin on the Smothers Brothers show.

Anyway, so I love Steve Martin. And this Washington Post article by Stephen Hunter is great. Hunter didn’t ask about the one thing that’s really got me wondering, though:

What’s with Steve Martin’s face lately? Botox? A botched face lift of some sort? Man… he just looks… weird. I’m sorry, but it’s true.

Kevin Trudeau — Again

Wait, There’s More
In 1998, Trudeau paid half a million dollars to settle a Federal Trade Commission complaint that several infomercials he helped create were false and misleading. The products included a “hair farming system” that — according to the infomercial — was supposed to “finally end baldness in the human race,” and “a breakthrough that in 60 seconds can eliminate” addictions, purportedly discovered when a certain “Dr. Callahan” was “studying quantum physics.”

Ah yes… Dr. Callahan. Callahan’s “discovery” is now known as Thought Field Therapy. You can read more about this “amazing breakthrough” on the Debunking Thought Field Therapy site. Fascinating stuff. It’s amazing what people will believe…

Salon.com also published an interesting article about Trudeau this past summer and I blogged about it at the time.

Apparently Trudeau is a Scientologist — which goes a long way towards explaining his apparent complete lack of a conscience.

Life After Death

Salon.com Books | We see dead people?
Yeah, and if energy is neither created nor destroyed, what he’s saying makes perfect sense, that this energy should persist. But whether or not it should persist as a being that can fly around the room and communicate with you, that’s something else entirely. What would it be like to be that energy? That’s the question nobody can really answer. But it just seemed sort of evident when he talked about it that the energy of your consciousness is going to persist. It has to. I wish I had a background in quantum mechanics, because I think that if one day we do have an answer that’s where it will come from.

Okay, so energy persists. Yes. I understand that. Here’s the biggest problem I immediately see with Gerry Nahum’s research, though, as it’s described by author Mary Roach in her interview on salon.com: Considering the presumed finite supply of energy, the age of the universe, and the number of conscious beings who’ve inhabited even just our own planet, exactly whose energy is it that’s persisting?? Based on what we know of thermodynamics, it’s not unreasonable to presume that one kind of strong reaction (the consciousness of a live person, for example) might borrow energy from its immediate environment — much as a growing plant will use the energy of decaying microorganisms in the soil around it. So, if our consciousness is continually using and re-using the energy around us (as really it must), then ALL consciousness is only an amalgamation of atomic bits and pieces from other kinds of energetic events. Nahum appeals to thermodynamics on the one hand, but then presumes — for no reason mentioned by Roach in this interview — that the energy of consciousness persists in an organized form — like a radio wave sent into deep space. It seems very unlikely that in an energetic environment like our planet (or even our galaxy), organized energy would remain organized long enough to result in ghosties or other kinds of spooks.

I’m just saying…

Anyway, check out salon.com’s interview. It’s fun and interesting. For that matter, it wouldn’t hurt to also check out Mary Roach’s new book Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife.

I think it’s possible to believe and disbelieve at the same time. I definitely think it’s possible to apply critical thinking and be skeptical and at the same time ignore critical thinking and believe in a ghost in your house. No one can study love in the laboratory, or even human memory — OK, we understand the parts of the brain connected with memory, but to me the fact that you can even call up an image from 10 years ago, and, boom, there it is in front of your eyes, in your head, that’ll never be fully explained to me. Or dreams — even though we have an explanation, it seems like a bizarre mystery.

It does seem that way, doesn’t it? Consciousness is a fascinating thing. Our self-awareness. Our (apparently) uniquely human way of experiencing what it is to be our selves. It all seems so very important — as though it MUST mean something.

If you’re asking me whether it does mean something, I’d have to answer that I don’t know. I think it’s unlikely, though, that our lives have any deeper meaning in the conventional theistic religious sense or that our consciousness somehow persists after death.

I’m reminded of something I read yesterday in salon.com — in the article about Richard Thompson, the attorney defending “Intelligent Design” in Pennsylvania. When asked why the whole “Intelligent Design” battles matters so much to him, Thompson replied:

“If you are nothing but an accident of nature, then nothing you do is dependent on objective truth(…) There is no life after death. (…) If you go to bed, and if you die its OK, you’re just another piece of matter bouncing around and you’ll change into something else. That’s why, even if 100 million scientists say we are unplanned, that we’re just purposeless beings in this universe, the general population won’t buy it. And neither will I.”

And that’s really what all of this — this search for proof of conscious existence after death — is all about, too. It’s all about the BIG FEAR that your existence as a conscious being, no matter how significant it seems to you, really has no deep meaning.

You are a temporary clump of matter and energy in the big soup of the universe.

That’s it.

Now, here’s my secret to happy life: Know that and be okay with it. Be more than okay with it. Be happy about it! Our universe is a nice place! It’s good to be a part of it. It’s good to know that my energy, when its done being me, will move on to become a part of something else. A tree? A rock? A star in some distant galaxy? All good!!