There has been a coup de tat in my household and a mighty tyranny has been overthrown. Since September of 2004, an evil regime has reigned with an iron fist in my household, a regime with a no tolerance policy for cable television. That regime has now crumbled and a new day of High Definition digital greatness in the Minton household.

Seriously though--I made a deal with my wife in the late Summer of 2004 where, if I bought a new laptop, I would give up cable television for two years (I actually had Direct TV at the time). It was a good deal although it left my Tivo with only antennae juice to feed it and the Tivo fell prey to a lightning storm shortly thereafter.

So, I was totally off television for more than a year, watching DVDs and reading more (go figure). But in November of 2005 I purchased an XBOX 360 and there was a major techtonic shift in the digital atmosphere of my household--and the urge to purchase a HDTV became unstoppable.

I was proud to add a 42" Samsung DLP to my digital arsenal in January of this year and a new dawn of High Definition viewing (and video game playing) was born. Due to my location in Columbus, I was able to receive every major local High Definition signal with a $40 amplified antenna.

But for the past two months, I have been getting a real itch to get back into cable--probably the roll-out of the new Fall television schedule. But I cannot stand watching real television. I have to have a DVR or a Tivo so I had to research several options.

First, I could have repaired my Tivo which I still have a lifetime service plan on (they no longer offer this as an option). It would have cost be about $150 to get it fixed and would have worked adequately to record the network shows. But a Series 2 Tivo does not record in HD. To many of you that may not sound like a big deal but I assure you that once you start watching television shows in High Definition, going back to watching standard broadcasts is like going from sleeping with a Penthouse pet back to masturbating in a dark room.

The ability to record HD on a DVR was very important in my choice of which way to go.

This left me with three options to explore:

1. Purchase a Tivo Series 3

2. Purchase a Direct TV HD-DVR and get back into service plan with Direct TV

3. Digital Cable with HD-plan and HD-DVR

The Tivo Series 3 just came out a couple of weeks ago and costs about $1,000 for the unit plus you have to pay a $12.95 a month service fee. And because I'm not a South American coke dealer or own major stock in an oil company, I don't have those kind of duckets lying around the house to piss away on entertainment (no matter how cool High Definition is).

So, onto Direct TV. You can get an HD-DVR for Direct TV for about $300. The good news is that there isn't an additional fee to pay for the DVR service itself since it's built into the Direct TV unit. You do have to get a specialized antennae that has three prongs on it, so figure on shelling out another $100 for that at least. So, for an upfront cost of roughly $400, I could get a programming package that would probably run me every bit of $60 a month for HD through Direct TV.

And cable. I already get my internet through my cable company so bundling services would save me an automatic $10. Beyond that, the cable company underwrites the cost of the HD-DVR equipment so there is no upfront fee and no risk of the product wearing out or breaking. Plus, there isn't a service fee broken out from the cable packaging itself--in other words, I pay for digital cable with DVR and and extra $7.95 a month for the HD package which includes Discover Channel's HD theatre, ESPN HD, HD NET, HD NET Movies and all my local stations in HD. The DVR records about 40 hours of HD programming or about 200 hours of standard and it's fairly easy to use.

That being said, Tivo's big advantage is its ease of use. It's much easier to set recordings, season passes and navigate through the software with Tivo but the price makes it totally out of the box when it comes to sensible people on a budget making smart choices about their entertainment dollar.

Right now, I'm sticking with cable--it seems to be exactly what I'm looking for.

If you guys have any opinions or stories about your own DVR search, please leave us a comment so we can all learn from each other and find the best avenue for wasting our money.

TAGS:
Tivo Direct TV DVR HD High Definition Cable

Ahh, Sophia Coppola...

Folks, she may have been the young woman bursting to age with mature sexuality and tragic misplaced love in The Godfather Part III but it turns out that this beautiful Italian bardess has one of the most intrictate understandings of storytelling and story arc structure within a physically confining medium (you really only get about 3 hours of the audience's attention to tell a story on film).

SEE ASIDE#1 AT THE BOTTOM

And Sophia Coppola has consistently delivered us a consistent series of well-written and well-produced films which were both character-driven and universally applicable in terms of theme, circumstance and character reactions based on the words, actions and backstory we are allowed to see as an audience.

Many directors are able to deliver on the above laudation but Sophia Coppola has also given us interesting people with fantastic mannerisms that are so real you wouldn't be surprised if they walked up to you on the street tomorrow and said, "Hello."

And the relationships she displays to the audience, even in their dysfunctional mire and circling a plot without end or beginning; are real and interesting relationships worthy of further examination.

I could go on and on but suffice to say that if her past work is any indication; Marie Antoinette should be a very good film when it releases at the theaters.

ASIDES:

There is a distinction between book writing and film writing that not too many people talk about in the coffee houses and writing workshops out there--that there is a much more intricate and focused skill set needed to successfully put a story on film with a three hour window of expression for an audience who is commercially supporting the definition of your work's success in the marketplace. In other words, screen writers have to be more skilled in their craft than novelists due to the economics and audience participation in defining the success of their medium.

This is why it takes hundreds of people to successfully execute a profit-producing piece of film work. Go ask George Lucas if you could have a penny for every man hour spent on bringing the six Star Wars films to screen. He'd probably look plainly at you through his beard and squint like the sun was in his eye. Then he'd say nothing and walk away. That's how many man hours were spent bringing Star Wars to the big screens.

LINKS:

• Sophia Coppola
• Don't look now but Will Smith is about to have the Forrest Gump role that will make him an acting legend

TAGS:
Sophia Coppola Marie Antoinette

"Round on the ends and high in the middle." This is how Maynard started off one of the greatest musical performances I have seen in my many years of wandering this jungle of the Midwest.

"Listen up, stoners!" came next, followed by Stinkfist.

But first came the band Isis which was great musically but they lacked a strong lead singer--once they find that missing piece, look out for these guys because they are truly talented for a six man ensemble.

In between Isis and Tool, while they were setting up the stage; they had some crazy shit being played. I have no idea what this voice was saying over the speakers but it was insanity which eventually bled into a heated conversation between a ghetto ass black dude and a nerdy ass white guy where the black dude kept saying, "I'll kill you motherfucker. You don't know evil! I'll fucking kill you." It sounded like a real conversation that someone had taped (ala "Message from Harry Manback") but who knows with Tool.

The stage set up was brilliant: white stage with one step up riser which was also white. Justin Chancellor played his bass on the lower riser and Adam Jones played his guitar on the same level. Maynard and Danny Carey set up on the step-up level and there was a series of six foot video monitors which spanned the entire stage behind Danny and Maynard but which was also projected onto Nationwide's huge big screens (this is the same arena in which the Columbus BlueJackets NHL hockey games are played).

The sound was amazing. Maynard is the greatest male vocalist singing today and possibly ever (he'd give Robert Plant a good run for his money but they are two totally different types of singers). Danny Carey is the best drummer putting out music right now and he is in his prime, amongst the greatest to hold the sticks since Neil Pert and John Bonham.

So the music was incredible and the videos were in sync perfectly with the music being played (I'm talking down to the second here). They didn't play any pre-Aenima songs but the ones they did play were all the ones with heart (has Tool ever made a song not from the heart?).

There were a couple douche bags in the audience. One guy two rows back from me kept yelling, "Everyone sitting down is a pussy. Stand the fuck up, man!" I fought exactly three urges (each greater in intensity) to take my car key and jam it in this prick's eyesocket. Who the hell was this dickless shit to tell me what to do with my body in a public place. But I behaved--mainly by doing a little breath control and meditating on the notion that even worthless douche bags who have so little self-confidence they have to bark meaningless orders at an anonymous crowd still serve a purpose in the world.

One cool thing about last night was that the band took their intermission break on stage. Every other band I've ever seen has always left the stage and the crowd chants louder and louder and the band comes back on like it's some big sacrifice that they're willing to do a couple more songs for the $100 ticket and parking price that most people shelled out. Fuck that! Tool is so much more mature than every other musician out there when it comes to this prehensive bullshit.


There were hundreds of lighters being lit while they sat there and Justin held his up as well.

This was an amazing musical performance by what I consider to be the best band in the world right now who are each working at their artistic prime and it was an aesthetic experience I will cherish for the rest of my life.

LINKS:

• "Those Who Speak Do Not Know: Kundalini Yoga and the Music of Tool" by Joshua Minton

• Tool Band Dot Com
  
  TAGS:
  Tool Columbus Ohio Nationwide Arena Maynard James Keenan Danny Carey Justin Chancellor Adam Jones

  Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Boys Wear Pants on Tool Live
  2. A Shout Out to Tool Navy
  3. Those Who Speak Do Not Know: Kundalini Yoga and the Music of Tool

Every asshole in the universe was born with an opinion. The difference between me and most of them is that I lack the humility to stop me from bending over and constantly showing off mine.

So, Lost.

I stopped watching season 2 halfway through the second episode because my Tivo took a shit and froze up and I didn't have the patience to stomach watching live television again. Something about being forced to sit down and watch a show at a time designated by some jackass network executive just totally affronted me and turned me off television altogether.

But DVD is another medium altogether, now isn't it?

This is one of the best shows on television because nobody knows what the hell is going on in it but they can't stop watching. It is, without a doubt, the worthy successor to The X Files.

But I got burned by Mulder and Scully when the series finale came out as a complete and total cluster hump. So, I'm reserving final judgment on Lost but I will put forth a theory.

I believe that all the characters are dead and are stuck in a Tibetan Book of the Dead style of purgatory. Consider the three tempations of the Buddha: Desire, Fear, and Social Duty.

The castaways are continually being pulled by their desires and pushed by their fears. And consider that the common term in Buddhist and Hindu terminology for social duty is...you guessed it...Dharma. It is no coincidence that the project which built and manned all the hatches on the island was named The Dharma Initiative.

Also, consider that the purpose of the Book of the Dead is one last chance for those who did not achieve the ego release of illumination upon death to deal with their issues and give up the ghost to the finality of everything. Further note that Boone and Shannon, two of the main characters in Lost died shortly after finally dealing with their issues (Boone with his infatuation with possessing Shannon and Shannon with her raging desire to be believed in).

I think that the Others are some kind of angels who take those who are innocent (children) and those who are able to be spoken to logically about their release. I don't think it's a coincidence that they captured Jack, Kate and Sawyer at the end of Season 2--the three strongest personalities with the biggest egos on the island.

So, the button actually served a function; Desmond caused the plane crash; Locke and Eko will have a new mission (assuming they survived the explosion); Charlie is going to get laid finally; Michael is likely to get his bitch ass shot off by Sayid who is on the Elizabeth with Jinn and Sun; and the other castaways are basking in the glow of an electromagnetic bomb that just went off over their heads.

Oh, and Desmond's hot ex (the wife from Mind of the Married Man) is on to his trail. I wonder if he survived the explosion and the e-bomb?

I'm probably totally wrong about what's going on but I don't care because I love a show that keeps me interested and keeps me guessing.

I can't wait for October 4th.

LINKS:

• The Lost Website

• The Neo-Nazi Party just won a party seat in a local election in Germany (will Europe never learn?)

TAGS:
Lost

Oligarchy: a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.

Sometimes I'm late at catching the small shit in life. It took me fourteen years of listening to the Dire Straights song "Money for Nothing" to realize that Sting was singing backup vocals with Mark Knopfler. But sometimes I catch things quick like when I knew right away that Don Henley was singing backing vocals on the Roger Waters song "Watching TV" about the Tiannamen Square Massacre.

But you would have to be a cosmic idiot not to know that America is run by the few at the expense of the many. And I'm not talking class warfare here but rather how the decisions about national policy are made and what influences them. See, this country was born in a fury of local politics but its likely to die a sad death in a fever of displaced nationalism where a small group of individuals with access to the wealth and people resources of the world are making short term decisions that benefit no one at the long-term expense of everyone alive and those yet to be born.

The Bush administration has been rather successful at running elections pitting certain demographics against others but this will not work as a long term strategy for solidifying a party base. Take me for example. I was a huge Bush supporter in 2000 on through 9/11 and even up to the re-election in 2004. But something happened last year. It was like a switch was thrown and every other word out of his mouth became a rotted turd steaming in the sun without meaning. But I still believe that he was the right man at the right time for the job, if that makes sense.

But times change and so do jobs.

Being President must be like wearing Sauron's ring--a position so corrupting that it warps the very fabric of your existence until you become a wraith of humanity, moving your mouth only to hear the scraping of nails down a chalkboard when you talk.

But on the other hand, one has to ask the "Progressives" of the world exactly what they would do were they to miraculously wrestle power away from the Oligarchy. How would you distribute the workload? Because the fact of material existence in human society is that we live in a world of scarce resources and these resources must be allocated to support an overall style of living.

As humans, we each have different standards of living and different visions of happiness and if rumor holds true, we are each endowed from birth with the inherent right to pursue our visions of happiness provided we do not infringe upon the life or property of other citizens to achieve it (and what success is worth all that, finally)?

The hard truth is that we cannot defeat an Oligarchy when we live in an oligarchical paradigm of existence--just like you can't defeat a theocracy when you live in a theocratic paradigm of existence. It's like drowning in an ocean and wishing you were on land--that kind of revolution has no meaning and is the playground of fools and zealots.

The only way to beat a merciless God is to eradicate it from the minds of those who cling to the fear of its graven mental image.

So if you want to beat the dragon, you have to take away his cave, all his treasure and everything he's ever known to be reality--everything that is worth defending. Not only will this break his will to control the world, it will break his will to even fit into the new world he is put into.

So, how does one go about changing a paradigm? Well, here is the rub--the only paradigm we each control is the one we live according to--the one inside our own heads.

Krishnamurti was fond of saying that we are the world and the world is in us. Reality is a hell of a flimsy thing--a long series of lies we all agree to overlook. There are gaping pot holes in the fabric of our everyday existence and what we tell ourselves is a smooth silk sheet which runs from birth to death is actually cut up skivvies with doo doo brown stains that we've assembled into a pattern like the ancient Greeks gazing at the stars after a nice mug of lysergic mead.

The trick to altering the paradigm in our head is to find one of these potholes and fixate on it until we fall into the rabbit hole and lose everything in order to gain more than we can possibly imagine. When enough people understand this, when a critical mass of the empty of head but full of spirit is reached, then you will see the dragon put outside the cave and the reign of the Oligarchy broken.

The only revolution worth showing up for is the one that begins and ends in each of our minds because that's the only one that is real.

And once again, the revolution will not be televised.

LINKS:

• Concentration Camps for American Citizens?
  

• Call Dwight Schrute's Dunder Mifflin Paper Company Voicemail at 1-800-984-DMPC (3672)

• Endgadget does the awesome new High Definition Tivo Series 3 (Only the infernally stupid will pay $1,000 though)

Oh yeah, the Buckeyes won too.

In the year 1818, Columbus Ohio was an up and coming village that had been founded by Lucas Sullivant, a territorial surveyor of the West during George Washington's second term as President.

There were less than 2,000 residents of Columbus in 1818 when William Neil came to Columbus from Kentucky. The war of 1812 had only been over for two years and there was a lot of opportunity for a big boisterous man like "Billy" Neil. Some called him a sonofabitch, some called him a beneficent leader of the community but everyone called him The Stagecoach King.

He started a small inn across the street from the state capital building on High Street. He was an honest man but a hard man as well. God help you if you crossed him.

He started putting his money into stagecoaches and in a few short years what were many coach lines became few and guess who owned them?

Anc once the King of Stagecoaches was living comfortably, he started putting his money into land--the only thing they weren't making any more of.

In 1824, Columbus had a lot of low lying wetlands which bred mosquitoes by the thousands. These mosquitoes brought a plague to the residents and killed off many of the first generation of Columbus's finest.

One of these fine citizens owned a huge farm just north of the village proper. Billy Neil bought the land when he died. The Neil farm ran from First Avenue to Lane Avenue and from High street to the river we all know, love and call the faithful Olentangy. The Neil farm in the mid-1800s was the showpiece of Columbus--the jewel in the crown of central Ohio.

Billy's wife Hannah was one of the most kind-hearted citizens Ohio has ever known. She founded the Hannah Neil Mission and Home for the Friendless as well as the Columbus Female Benevolent Society, a charity which continues to provide for the needy to this day in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1863, possibly in anticipation of the Civil War smoldering down to its inevitable conclusion, the Neil farm house caught fire and burned to the ground. Hannah became sick with pneumonia shortly after and died. Billy followed her seven years later. The Neil farm was then used as a site to found the brand new Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College which changed its name in 1878 to The Ohio State University.

They started a small football team in 1890.

The Ohio State University is now the third largest arena of higher education in the United States and not only has the best football team in the nation, it has the Best Damn Band in the Land.

So, when we're all downtown watching the Buckeyes kick ass this weekend, let's remember old Billy Neil and his saint of a wife who made Ohio a better place for all of us. Actually, it's hard to forget Billy Neil because his farm had a private drive that one had to travel on to reach his farm house. It was named after, well, Billy Neil. It's still around today only now we call it Neil Avenue.

Here's a salute to the people of Columbus. Even though I can't stand your friggin' asses in rush hour traffic, Monday through Friday; I sure do love you bastards on Buckeye Saturdays.

Go Bucks!

TAGS:
The Ohio State University Billy Neil William Neil The Stagecoach King Columbus, Ohio OSU Buckeyes football

I won't deny it, I'm a straight rider, you don't wanna fuck with me...
Tupac, "Abmitionz Az A Ridah"

Ten years ago tonight, Tupac Shakur finally died after suffering six days on life support. On September 7th, he had been shot four times in the chest and once in each arm and a thigh.

I became a Tupac fan after I bought the album Thug Life on a whim--I still consider it to be an excellent album. I remember watching him in the movie Juice back in high school; it was obvious he was talented.

But I never expected to see him come up the way he did. Tupac had an amazing lyrical talent for writing very clear and picturesque scenes. Tupac wasn't the Bob Dylan of mid-90s rap; he was more like the Phil Ochs of the gangsta rappers.

Right after he died, his name was changed to Machiaveli and he released an album called Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory which had a picture of Tupac being crucified in Salvadore Dali style.

There is a common misperception with older Caucasians that rap music isn't worth the plastic it's imprinted on but this is as ignorant a point of view as black people who don't think Hank Williams Sr. and Johnny Cash weren walking music Gods.

Here's the truth people--they are all plates on the buffet table of American greatness. Stop playing favorites and pile a little of everything on your plate.

Don't be afraid. It's life and life only.

Tupac was an American artistic genius and our culture suffered from the tragic loss of his death ten years ago today.

LINKS:

• Tupac Fans Dot Com

TAGS:
Tupac 2Pac

I was a rotten damn kid sometimes. There was this kid who lived across the street from me in Decatur, Illinois when I was growing up. His name was Jamie Bone. His dad's name was Hoobie. I don't know if it was a nickname or not but it sounds now to me like a nickname.

We were merciless to this kid, calling him "boner" all the time, pushing him down, inviting him along just to make him the butt of all the jokes and to leave him stranded when nobody was looking.

Whenever we played guns he was the first to die everytime and whenever he was "It" in Hide and Go Seek, we'd all let him hide and never go looking for him--it would sometimes be days until we saw him again (although I assume he finally gave up on us and went home and didn't stay hiding for days).

But one time we went too far and the cops got called. These were small houses, not ghetto but middle class in a working class town which means they were respectable domiciles--nothing flashy or overbearing despite the errant pink house which was no doubt populated by human beings with melanocyte counts numbering far greater than my own. We weren't poor but we all "weren't rich" together, if you can dig what I'm saying.

So Hoobie bone had a pretty small yard and there was a great big oak tree in back which took up a lot of it. He had an industrial size picnic table underneath the tree which, to my knowledge, nobody besides us ever sat at. Well, one day we were goofing off and mucking around; a small pack of douche bags on the come up, and someone started picking at the bark on Hoobie Bone's tree.

We were probably having a conversation that ranged in topics from what Serpentor was going to do to in the next GI Joe Marvel comic book in that fantastic story arc to who had the highest score on the 8-bit Nintendo Super Mario Brothers game.

And the bark kept coming off.

Pretty soon there were four hands picking it. Then there were six and finally, all eight hands were working feverishly, clawing and pulling the bark off this tree which had probably started growing back when FDR held Fireside Chats with a country struggling in an economic depression in a world undergoing a technological revolution and bracing for the most brutal war ever faced by mankind.

And here we were, a bunch of punk ass, know-nothing kids stripping the bark off this tree who had held up under Southern Illinois tornados, lightning storms, the onslaught of suburbia into the soybean fields and graveyards of proud Native American warriors, wives, sons and daughters--just ignorant and fucking with history.

The bark strips piled at our feet by the time the sun went down and there was an oval of open tree flesh about three feet high and two feet wide on the once proud oak, a scar that everyone driving by the Bone Home could see clearly day or night because of the spotlight that Hoobie Bone turned on each dusk to prevent prowlers from getting in his garage.

So it turned into this big thing, right? Cops were called. Parents were talked to and we were talked to in turn by our parents. My mother, God bless her, was always of the opinion that even when your son pulls a boner (pun intended), he's still your son and you look out for your own. So, I don't remember being punished, although I probably had my Nintendo taken away for a week or something like that.

But I do remember feeling ashamed of myself every time I walked outside and looked at the tree in the Bone's backyard. I had done that. I had scummed up the neighborhood by making a living thing look like shit. I don't know if I was quite mature enough back then to actually think these thoughts beyond shame but I absolutely remember the emotion of shame and the lesson it taught me.

I knew that I never wanted to leave the world around me shittier than when I found it. And it took me a lot of years, broken friendships, fist fights, and bridges of love blown clean off their moorings to figure out that it's pretty damn easy to strip the bark off the relationships we have with the people around us in life. It's easy to pick them apart, splinter by splinter, and leave a gaping scar that hangs in the air and rots for everyone to feel and smell. And I learned that it's damn hard to keep your hands from prying out of boredom at the bark which holds our lives together.

Sometimes the greatest kindnesses in the world come out of the things we don't say and what we stop ourselves from doing when every corpuscle of our existence is telling us to act and act now!

I recently went back home and drove through my old neighborhood. I almost cried when I saw that the Bone's tree was still standing and the bark had fully grown back.

And I'll be god damned if that house wasn't painted pink.

I've decide not to live blog the OSU Texas game tonight because I want to enjoy watching it. But fear not, here are RULES THAT EVERY BUCKEYE FAN IS REQUIRED TO FOLLOW!! (Hat tip to April for sending this to me on e-mail):

• Never agree to get married on a Saturday Ohio State is scheduled to play football. There are typically 40 other freakin' weekends to choose from...stand up and make her choose one of those!
  
  
• Never attend a wedding during an Ohio State football game unless you carry a TV...... and watch it even during the ceremony.
  
  
• It is OK to wear an OSU football jersey even when old.... and fat.... and bald. Extra points if you've got an OSU baseball cap on
  
  
• Always, and I mean ALWAYS, return any "O...H" with a hearty "I...O." This is true even during funerals, sex, in foreign countries or when witnessing the birth of your child.
  
  
• When Notre Dame plays Michigan, it is mandatory to despise both teams. There are no winners.
  
  
• You cannot have a second favorite football team behind OSU. You are permitted to have another team (non-Big Ten or ND) that you hate less than the others.
  
  
• It is OK to be emotional (and even "tear" up) during the following:
  • Script Ohio
  • Your child's first Buckeye game
  • Carmen Ohio
  • During a Tressel speech
  • Remembering Woody
  • After beating Michigan
  • Winning the National Championship
  • Hearing Brett Musberger exclaim,"Holy Buckeye!"
  • When NFL Buckeyes state on MNF that they are from "THE" Ohio State University
  • Hearing the phrase, "Rest easy Woody, the new man has arrived."
  • Ramp entrance.
  
  
• It is not cool to make fun of the Neutron Man. Especially now that he is watching games with Woody.
  
  
• Buckeye necklaces must be worn at all times on game day from the time you leave your place of abode until you return. One other time: If you happen to get desperate and are in the process of bagging a girl from Michigan, you must have on your Buckeye necklace to ward off any feelings of affection. (This is true even if you go over to the dark side and marry her).
  
  
• Always take off your hat during Carmen Ohio and physically remove the hats of anyone in your vicinity who fails to do so.
  
  
• Everyone should rush the field after an OSU home victory over Michigan at least once in their lifetime.
  
  
• Attending Skull Session is mandatory at least once each season.
  
  
• ESPN employees must be verbally taunted at every opportunity.
  
  
• We must all pray that the next president of OSU has more of a clue than the present one.
  
  
• When you die, you must have at least one item of Buckeye memorabilia with you. (Specify which one in your will, that way your spouse won't pick something stupid).
  
  
• You are forbidden to fall for the National Media crap sandwich that Joe Pa is still a "good guy."
  
  
• Recruiting must be followed as intensely as any game. This is true even if it puts your job/career at risk.
  
  
• Attend the Spring Game. It makes it easier to survive the summer.
  
  
• When in church, it is not sacrilegious to count being a Buckeye as one of your blessings.
  
  
• Try to never boo a former or current Buckeye football player.
  
  
• Correct anyone who doesn't refer to OSU as "THE" Ohio State University.
  
  
• When making fun of guys in marching bands always caveat your comments with a statement that, regardless of what you just said, anyone in TBDBITL is very cool.
  
  
• Admit that secretly, you wished you played tuba and could dot the "i."
  
  
• It is important to consider the "good old days" ARE NOW. Enjoy them even when OSU doesn't win the National Championship.
  
  
• Scarlet and Gray always works.
  
  
• It is never ok to talk to a stranger at the urinal next to you unless he is dressed in OSU garb. That said, the topic should be limited to Buckeye football.
  
  
• There are no bad seats in Ohio Stadium.
  
  
• If you attend a game at Wisconsin, you must never engage in "Jump Around" at the end of the third quarter no matter how tempting. Also, never, and I mean NEVER, take your kids to a Wisconsin game unless you want to explain why everyone there are drunken cheesehead jerks.
  
  
• If your wife asks you what was the greatest night of your life, admit the truth that it was January 3, 2003. Sex isn't as important or rewarding as that National Championship.
  
  
• Plant a Buckeye tree in your yard.
  
  
• Hang a Buckeye flag on game day. If any of your neighbors counter with a Michigan flag, it is your solemn duty to tear it down and deface it anyway you see fit. If you have a neighborhood community, make it a rule that there will be NO Michigan flags displayed outside on anything at any time of the year.
  
  
• It is "ok" to not get the drum major thing; it is "not ok" to fail to cheer when the plume touches the field.
  
  
• In honor of Woody, the principle of "paying forward" should be practiced at all times by all Buckeyes.

TAGS:
Ohio Ohio State Buckeyes

The two major parties are working very hard to shut down the voice of the most qualified candidate for Governor here in Ohio and I'm fed up with it. Below is a copy of the letter I sent to the channel 5 news media:

Greetings,

I run a fairly popular blog from Columbus Ohio and Bill Peirce was kind enough to grant me a 30 minute interview last month (you can listen to the interview and read the transcript here). As a writer and an online marketer of information, I understand that controversy and drama are what draw and keep the attention of others. I promise you that if you give Bill equal time with the two major party candidates, he will create a firestorm of drama that will leave the other two stuttering. He will not be flashy and overbearing but he will argue logically and passionately using ideas that are right and strong and when compared to the party lines of the other two, will leave your viewers with a refreshing alternative to the humdrum political nonsense we've seen in American politics for the past twenty years.

In the late 1850s, there was a minor party just beginning to make headway in America. The recent "Great Compromise" following the Mexican-American War forced Northern abolitionists to not only accept further slavery as a lawful disgrace, but bid them to lawfully return any escaped slave to its owner, an outrage that pushed the reformers of the newly formed Republican Party into the limelight of American politics and hence set the course of America's future. Ohio was a major, perhaps the major, state which influenced the 1860 election and brought Abraham Lincoln to the forefront of American politics and the rest is history.

But it never would have happened had President Lincoln not been given a forum from which to speak to the people and the Ohio media was a major lynch pin in the future of American politics. It can be once again if you act from integrity and fairness instead of bowing down to corporate shills and political hack barricades that have been instituted to keep the wealthy and powerful exactly that at the expense of the liberty of the individual American citizen, particularly the one residing in Ohio.

I'm not asking you to endorse the man or his passing ability; I'm just asking you to let him on the field to prove his worth in a quarter of the game. When he starts scoring touchdowns immediately, I won't even say I told you so. But not to let him on the field is not to act with the heart of a true Buckeye.

Do the right thing. Let the man play!

Sincerely,

Joshua Minton

Editor, www.boyswearpants.com

LINKS:

• Bill Peirce Website
• Bill Peirce MySpace Page

TAGS:
Bill Peirce Ohio Libertarian Governor Politics Election

Today, the Ohio 6th Circuit Court decided that the Ohio system of electioneering is completely unfair to third party candidates. This is how it begins, my peeps. This is how the corporate parties begin to die--when common sense creeps back into the courts, case by case.

Libertarians Win Lawsuit with Secretary of State Ohio Election Law Ruled Unconstitutional

The US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled today that Ohio's election laws are unconstitional, restricting the rights of voters, candidates, and political parties of reasonable access to the ballot.

"The evidence in the record shows that in Ohio, elections have indeed been monopolized by two parties...The LPO has put forth evidence that Ohio is among the most restrictive, if not the most restrictive, state in granting minor parties access to the ballot," wrote the Honorable Julia Smith Gibbons, US 6th Circuit Court Judge. "Put simply, the restrictions at issue in this case serve to prevent a minor political party from engaging in the most fundamental of political activities - recruiting supporters, selecting a candidate, placing that candidate on the general election ballot in the hopes of winning and ultimately, the right to govern."

Ohio requires new parties to nominate by primary. Since the primary in presidential years is in March, the new party petition is in November, a full year before the election. The majority court opinion said the combination of the relatively high number of signatures (1% of the last presidential vote was 56,279 signatures in 2004) plus the extremely early deadline, taken together, is unconstitutional. No minor parties appeared on the ballot in Ohio in 2002, 2004, or 2006

Under these same laws, current Libertarian candidate for Governor Bill Peirce was compelled to enter the race as an independent. "This is a step in the right direction. We want to get our name and views out there before the public, but we're still being excluding from the public debates."

"We're very pleased with the decision," said Ohio Libertarian State Chair. "We're just seeking equal treatment under the law as the two major parties. All we want is a level playing field."

According to Richard Winger, of Ballot Access News and the Coalition for Free and Open Elections, "There are three remedies the Ohio legislature and the Secretary of State may pursue: sharply reduce the number of signatures needed for minor parties, allow minor parties to nominate by convention and change the deadline for filing signatures, or allow independent candidates to declare a party label when they qualify for the ballot."

"We look forward to working with the legislature and the Secretary of State's office to bring Ohio's election laws in line with the court's decision," said party secretary Robert Butler. "There's already a bill from Rep. Jim Trakas'
office that deals with this issue."

LINKS:

• Read the Entire Decision Here

TAGS:
Ohio Politics Libertarian Bill Peirce Third Party Two Party

Since the movie came out on DVD today, I thought I would repost this review and urge all of you to purchase it and watch it in your own homes again or for the first time--this one is a must own and a must watch!

There was a wrong way and a right way to make this movie. This was done the right way.

As far as the technical aspects of filming go--there was very little "drama" injected into the direction. The music was very low key until key events took place (the collision of each aircraft with each tower, the explosion of 77 at the Pentagon, etc.). And there was ambient noise in every scene, so you felt like you were literally huddled amongst the hijackers, the FAA, NORAD, each flight center, and the United 93 passengers. This ambient noise was the key to not overdramatizing the movie and turning it into James Cameron's Titanic.

And make no mistake about it, this was a movie about 9/11--not just a movie about Flight 93. It just so happened that the heroic action of those passengers rising up against their Islamist terrorists was one of the only shining points on that horrible day.

The main character in this movie is information--how it flowed, where it stalled, who had it on time, and who had it too late.

It's a very strange thing to watch a movie where you know the outcome before the characters do and it was different from Titanic or Schindler's List because it was not character driven--it was event driven and we as audience watchers already knew the major events. This movie does an excellent job of filling in the background events, the small chains of happenings that led up to the big events and, of course; it clearly demonstrates the breakdown of the United States disaster response system despite the best efforts of very talented and patriotic individuals.

This is much closer to a documentary than a dramatic film, without any narrative despite the occasional text overlay to set the place of scenes unfolding.

I was unaware of how many emotions I still had sublimated about that day but they came out through the course of this movie and twice I was seized with tears. Frustration. Rage. Sadness. It was all still right there. Close. I had buried these things deep down because the effect they had on me was similar to Anakin Skywalker at the end of Star Wars Episode III.

I was happy to see that Muslim's blood spilled on the wall of the cockpit as the heroes of Flight 93 overtook him and ended his miserable god-filled life of hatred. But perhaps, almost five years is enough time to bring these feelings back out in the open, examine them, and accept them.

This week, JD said something to the effect that he couldn't believe that people still deny that we are at war with Islam because they are most certainly at war with us. This movie will help put that back into perspective.
There is nothing insulting about this movie. There is nothing commercially cheap and it was not "too early" for it to be made and viewed as some claim.

On the contrary, this movie is a valuable piece of Americana and despite some "filling in of the gaps" it comes across as an accurate representation of all the events that happened that day, the failures of the system to recognize and respond to them, and should serve to crystallize exactly why we are fighting the war we are currently engaged in--because it was thrust upon us.

And like all modern tragedy--the movie begins and ends with prayer for God to grant victory over enemies.

I highly recommend that each of my readers see this movie and feel free to leave their reactions in the comment section or track back to this post in thier own blogs.

LINKS:
JD's Post
Annika's Journal on United 93
Blather Review on United 93
Alexandra on Why She Won't See United 93

TAGS:
United 93, 9/11, War on Terror

Tommy's Talk: We arrived at Tommy's at about 13:15 and were told by the moron taking names at the door that it would be an hour and a half wait. There were probably twenty people standing around waiting, by no means a standing room only crowd. This idiot, in his infinite wisdom, turned away droves of potential paying customers by telling them it would be an hour and a half wait two hours before game time. We were seated in 20 minutes. My step-dad, my father-in-law and I sat and ordered a pitcher of Miller Lite, three Italian subs and a large pepperoni pizza. My step-brother showed up as they put the pizza on the table and the waitress brought the second pitcher.

Topics of conversation included:

• The idiot at the door taking names

• The irony of Chris Spielman's (former OSU linebacker) first ESPN announcing assignment covering the Michigan Vanderbilt game

• The signed Jim Tressel T-shirt in the Tommy's display case which read "To my friends at Tommy's PS: Great Pizza!"

• My step-brother's screwgie at the hands of the Kroger pharmacy when they gave him only 9 of a 14 pill prescription for antibiotics and how it would be impossible for him to prove it (his theory is that they shook out last 23 pills from the big bottle, divided it into two piles and then put the wrong pile in his bottle)

• The rising popularity of Fantasy Football (we all concluded it would be a waste of our time)

• The effects of the new time clock rule which starts the clock at the placing of the ball instead of at the beginning of the set

Our bill came to $47.07 and we tipped the waitress $10 and made our way to Shoe at 15:10.

The Game: The first quarter was amazing, with three touchdowns by the Bucks. Troy Smith's arm looked as good as it ever has and flawless pass to Teddy Ginn brought the first and second TD and Gonzo's reception brought us the third in the quarter. Chris Wells scored another 6 at the beginning of the second but that was pretty much it. The team missed a lot of opportunities throughout the rest of the game:

• Missing a tackle which should have been a safety

• Chris Wells fumbling the damn ball on the 2 yard line

• Tressel putting Justin Zwick in on 2nd and Goal and him fumbling the frigging ball again

You could definitely feel a pull back after the first quarter and my suspicion is that once we hit a 28 point lead, we began playing next week's Texas game. Consider that the Longhorns destroyed the Mean Green 56-7 today--to me, that means that Texas put all their cards on the table. You don't just destroy a weak opponent by 49 points unless you're trying to put the points on the board. On the other hand, Tressel is nothing if not conservative and I would hate to be on the other side of the poker table from him because the man keeps his cards close to his sweater vest.

While there were a couple of mistakes which cannot be made in next week's game--the Bucks backed up their number one ranking, in my opinion and I think a lot of the pull back after the first quarter blow out was in preparation for next week's game.

But time will tell. All in all, it was a great start to what will undoubtedly be a great season here in the capital city of Ohio.

I think I'm going to try Live Blogging the Texas game next week.

Weirdness of the Day: The old man in sitting in front of us tucked his shirt into his underwear. Not that I was purposely looking or anything, but he sat leaning and had an Akroyd. That's just some serious strangeness. Who tucks their shirt into their underwear?

LINKS:

• OSU Buckeyes vs. Norther Illinois Huskies

TAGS:
Football, Ohio, Ohio State University, Buckeyes, Northern Illinois University, Huskies

I finished watching Rome on DVD--this show came on HBO right at the time that I gave up my cable television so I was unable to watch it when it aired. Boy, did I miss out.

This entire first season is about the rise and fall of Gaius Julius Caesar which should immediately pull up connotations with Shakespeare's famous play of the same name. Caesar was born in 100 B.C. and lived until March 15th, 44 B.C.

Two things that didn't happen in this show:

1. Nobody said, "Beware the Ides of March."

2. Caesar did not say, "Et Tu Brute" to Brutus as he lay dying in a pool of his own blood on the Senate floor in the final episode.

The show begins with the ending of Caesar's campaign in Gaul (France) and shows how he shared power with his close friend and mentor Pompey Magnus and eventually began a Civil War with Magnus and his allies Cicero, Cato and, of course, Brutus and Cassius (Brutus was like a son to Caesar).

But the true shining star of this show is the character of Lucius Vorenus, a captain of Caesar's 13th legion who eventually becomes a Magistrate and finally a Senator, appointed by Caesar days before his death.

This show is as gritty and real as you would expect ancient Roman times to be and the arena battle in episode 11 makes the fight scenes in Gladiator look like a first draft.

This show delivers the goods--great drama, great acting, great directing and production. Lots of blood and lots of relentless sex. I'm still not sure whether Caesar's death was a tragedy or a triumph and whether the Senatorial conspiracy was a tyrannical coup de tat or the most openly honest act that a group of politicians executed in all of human history.

One thing is for sure--it makes for incredible television.
LINKS:

• Gaius Julius Caesar
• ROME on HBO

TAGS:
Rome, Julius Caesar, HBO