Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Oh Arnold

I have already started to slack off in my blogging frequency. I pumped out a whole three in the first week, and then nothing. I hope this was a major disappointment to all.

HAPPENINGS: There was an earthquake today. I am not sure why, but I realized I am unreasonably calm about the possibility of a major earthquake. I realized during the one today. I was on the tenth floor of a glass building. At first it felt like someone was jumping up and down next to me. Then it began to feel like a really fat man was skipping down the hall. The building began to sway and things on the tables began to shake. At the most intense part, it felt like a wave was going through the building. I think the intensity of it was heightened because I was so high up in a tall skinny building, but overall it wasn't too bad. It lasted about 30 seconds. The moment I realized my abnormal state of calm was when people in the building were getting in doorways, and I went to go answer the phone. I guess I didn't freak out for the same reason people do freak out; there is absolutely nothing you can do about it, and there is no way to see it coming or plan for it. I think I am more likely to worry at least a little more about something that can be foreseen like a hurricane because it is hard to tell how much is enough when taking the proper precautions.

INFURIATING: My governor has decided that our tax dollars should go to funding the production of non-smoking adds to be placed at the beginning of PG 13 movies that include scenes with smoking. The next step will be placing anti-speeding ads before movies like 2 Fast 2 Furious, or adds that depict the dangers of jumping from rooftop to rooftop before films that glamorize it like Batman and Spider Man movies. Then we can start placing anti-shooting-your-lover-because-he-wants-to-leave-you-and-then-lying-about-it-and-pretending-to-be-pregnant-so-you-win-your-trial ads before movies like the PG 13 Chicago. I would rather our money go to PSA's before movies like Fool's Gold warning us how stupid what we are about to watch actually is.

TIPS: If you live in Koreatown, you should make sure no one is inside of the dumpster before you toss your trash in there.

Also, I just finished the first season of Mad Men on DVD (compliments of Natalie). I would recommend it to anyone except people who are or once were addicted to cigarettes. The show just makes cigarettes look so, well, just so cool. Unfortunately for those susceptible, it is not prefaced by any anti-tobacco spots. It is a show about advertising executives on Madison Ave in the early 60's. It is funny, it looks great most of the time, and it is interesting. Something else I really like about it is that it is a cable network series. I am getting really excited about the fact that cable series are beginning, in the past few years, to do so well. In a perfect world, all programming would come from premium channels like HBO and Showtime who can be more innovative with their projects since they don't solely depend on individual programs' ratings. Censorship by no means destroys television, but it dumbs and dulls it down. Something like 24 could be a much better show on HBO or even FX.

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