My Condolensces

Sad news today for NASCAR in general and Hendrick Motor Sports in particular. My personal opinion of Rick Hendrick and some of his drivers aside, my deepest condolensces to the Hendrick family and organization.

Learn To Drive

Is there something about owning a large 4-wheel drive vehicle which causes one to become an utter moron while driving? Don't get me wrong--I'm not one of those "SUVs are destroying the environment and should be outlawed!" types. But, I just can not fathom why it is that some people feel the need to purchase a massive off-road capable juggernaught when they drive like the proverbial little old lady on her way to church. 99% of the time, the people driving these things wouldn't even dream of taking them on a well maintained dirt road, let alone actually off road.

What brings up this rant? you ask. Yesterday, I had to make a quick stop at the local mall (a scarey enough prospect). Travelling through the parking lot, I got stuck behind some yutz dring a Ford Excursion who came to a full and complete stop before inching over each and every speed bump. Now, the speed bumps I'm talking about here aren't your car killer bumps that stand a foot high (and even if they were, I believe a 4-wheel drive vehicle with re-enforced suspension could handle it). Just to give you an idea here, I used to hit these very same speed bumps in my Ford Escort at ~10-15 mph without a worry in the world. They're wussy speed bumps, really. Yet here this bozo was stopping at each one, then creeping forward ever so slightly to ease over the bumps. Then, the driver apparently got rather confused at an "intersection" in the lot, where she again came to a complete stop (no stop sign for us, but stops for the other 2 directions), started to turn left, got half-way through the intersection then suddenly veered right, then finally opted to complete the left turn she originally started.

Hey, people . . . if you're going to drive an off-road capable machine, don't drive it like a subcompact. Don't become a wuss at the sight of a speed bump or crack in the pavement. I'm not saying you have to go gung-ho and try to catch some air, but learn to take them at least as fast as us econo-car drivers. And, for Pete's sake, grow a brain.

Holier Than Thou

Apparently some Bible thumpers are rather ignorant, not to mention hypocritical. I know that's a fairly obvious observation, but specifically I'm referring to this issue. Some folks are all up in arms because Halloween is going to be on a Sunday.

This quote pretty much sums up the whole idiocy of this attitude right here: "'It's a day for the good Lord, not for the devil,' said Barbara Braswell, who plans to send her 4-year-old granddaughter Maliyah out trick-or-treating in a princess costume on Saturday instead."

First things first. Halloween has nothing to do with the devil. Never has. What we call Halloween orinally began as the Feast of Samhain, an Irish harvest festival. It was later incorporated into Christian culture as a part of the All Saint's Day celebration (November 1). The reasoning was a practical one . . . the Church annually saw many converts revert to their pagan ways during certain times of the year, due to various pagan celebrations. So, the Church began incorporating elements of those pagan rituals into their own calendar in an attempt to keep converts from straying. The Easter Bunny, Easter eggs and timing of Easter were "borrowed" from the Feast of Esther, a pagan fertility celebration. Anywho, the point is, the Feast of Samhain and Halloween never had anything to do with the devil (Paganism and Satanism are mutually exclusive--pagans do not believe in the devil and devil-worshippers don't believe the polytheistics of pagans--nor is paganism inherently "evil"), never celebrated the devil, and the claim that it is "a day for the devil" is based in pure ignorance.

But more importantly is the hypocricy displayed. Apparently, Halloween is "too evil" to be celebrated on Sunday, but "not evil enough" to forgo celebrating on Saturday. I mean, if Ms. Braswell believes that Halloween is a day "for the devil" and therefore shouldn't be celebrated on a Sunday, why will she let her granddaughter celebrate Halloween on Saturday (and presumeably on any other day of the week, Monday through Friday)?

Plus, I'm betting that quite a few of these folks who are proclaiming Sunday as "the Lord's day" and therefore too holy to celebrate Halloween on have absolutely no problem "dishonoring the Sabbath" each and every week by performing household chores, watching football/baseball/auto racing, drinking beer to the point of drunkenness and cussing at the TV or in the sports stadiums. And I won't even get into the whole argument about Sunday not really being the Sabbath (if it is, then we celebrate Easter on the wrong day of the week!)

Sushi

So, I went out and saw Shark Tale the other day. Yeah, yeah, I know . . . kids movie, right? But I generally have enjoyed the animated flicks like Antz, Bug's Life, Shrek and Toy Story. This one definitely didn't live up to those. Much of the humor was out of place snippets that were just too forced & corny. The story-line was overly simplistic.

Most annoying, the animation was actually a bit sub-par. There were several shots where the movement of the fish (sharks especially) was way off . . . were they would basically swim sideways. More than once, I could swear they were using puppets instead of CGI . . . well, more accurately, puppets with some CGI additions. The look & movement of the characters truly appeared to be puppetry, and I even caught myself looking for wires once or twice.

Anywho, if you got kids, it's worth taking them to it . . . I'm sure they'll enjoy it tremendously. But if you're like me (a grown up geek who usually likes the Disney, Pixar, etc. flicks) I don't think I can recommend it.

Simply Laughable

Okay, now if this doesn't display an absolute sense of arrogance (as well as lack of responsibility) then I'm not sure what does. Alquilar apparently feels that (a) "true artisans" are either not intelligent enough or not caring enough to spell correctly; (b) it's not her responsibility to spell names correctly in her artwork; and (c) she should get paid additional moneys to correct her own mistakes.

Now, I'm not a spelling snob . . . Lord knows I'm not the best speller. But I (and every other reasonable person) do take the time and care to minimize mistakes similar to this when I'm putting together a public display, viewable report, professional document/work, etc. And I don't fault her for making the mistakes to begin with (though, in honesty, to make 11 spelling errors as she did, one must really call into question her professional integrity as well as spelling capability). But her response is absolutely laughable. Basically, she's trying to make herself seem superior, by denegrating and ridiculing the people who want the mistakes fixed. She feels that she, as an "artist", is above proper spelling, above professional integrity, above admitting mistakes; and that anyone who notices the mistakes & wants them corrected is just an inferior, nitpicking, un-enlightened dolt who is incapable of appreciating or understanding "art".

No wonder it's costing $6,000 to fix . . . they'll have to rent an entire cargo plane just to fly her ego out to correct her mistake. Personally, I think the City should tell her to fix the mistakes on her dime . . . it was her error, and as a professional she should correct her own mistakes in her contracted work. I mean think about it--if someone hired me to build them a new computer with Windows XP installed on it, and instead I installed Windows 2000, do you think I'd be able to get away with charging them extra to come back out and re-install the operating system? Heck no! I'd be expected (rightfully so) to correct my mistake at my cost.

But this is yet another fine example of how our society promotes a lack of responsibility. Alquilar made 11 spelling errors in her work, yet she goes on to somehow blame the City, insinuating that because the work was in storage for 2 years, and because there were several other people around during the installation that "could and should have seen" the errors, it's not her fault. Got a couple news flashes for you lady . . . if you're not sure of how to spell a name, look it up; and you're responsible for double-checking your own work! Don't try to blame others for your own mistakes and shortcommings.

Personally, I think it'd serve her right if the City spelled her name incorrectly (on accident, of course) in the credit & publicity & such. I bet she'd throw a major fit at that, though, and insist that they correct it at their cost . . .