So, Jerry and I were at Faherty's last night watching the Sabres game (one of the bartenders used to tend during our dart nights) and a chick bartender (not the one we know) noticed my Bass Ale wasn't downed. She looked at me, handed me a napkin and said "You might need this to wipe your pussy."

Of course, I'm famous for not taking that kind of thing so when she walked by again I gave her the napkin back and told her that she'd better worry about her own pussy. SHOCKING.

And what happened? She plopped down a shot glass and poured me a Jameson's. Cool deal!

It pays to be a jerk! To be honest I thought about stepping it up a notch and offering her a hand (hehe) but that might have been going overboard.

Jerry's still laughing about the whole deal, so at least we had fun.

As estrip's budding Tony Robbins I feel I have to leave an inspiring message for everyone today, including myself.

Work hard. It's far less agonizing than watching the clock tick.

We all have tough times. Getting through them is good for the soul.

Home is impenetrable to the drama and bullshit of work/school. Keep it that way.

When was the last time you did something helpful for your fellow man?

Which means, of course, that we had friends visiting from NYC. Oh, I love those guys, the most fun and obscene people I know. They are married, so I can't publicly document everything, but I will say a good time was had by all.

The night kicked off at Pearl Street, where we drank some of their beer and watched the Sabres embarrass the Rangers. James is every bit the partisan Rangers fan, so it was fun needling him. Walt once again declared impartiality, which is fucking shameful. Some chick in there had the dirtiest mouth I've heard on a female, calling Jagr a "fucking pussy." That was the clean part. I laughed very, very hard.

After the game we went to Mother's because Jerry needed to wish a happy birthday to his coworker E-Max. She was having dinner with her visibly annoyed boyfriend. Mother's ain't the best place for a quiet dinner, not to mention it is the favored watering hole for prospective trophy wives and social climbers (see (e:Jenks) post about Ryan Miller and Andrew Peters - it is well known that Sabres visit the place, which explains the overwhelming stench of MHBs). I wouldn't say I hate the place, but it isn't my favorite by a long shot. Whenever I go there I feel a strong impulse to get the hell out of dodge and ritually scrub myself with lava rocks.

As an aside, I laughed until it hurt when I read (e:Jenks) post concerning her coworker who was dating Nick Carter, and had him stolen from her by Paris Hilton. I have to ask, was that a joke? Was she being serious? Because some celebrity threw her a bone (literally and figuratively) she's going to go through life thinking that's basically what she deserves, and nothing less. Truly hilarious. The evil motherfucker in me thoroughly enjoyed reading the post.

Anyhow, we finally, thank God, left Mother's and headed towards Chippewa. I have been trying my ass off to get rid of the flawed notion that the overwhelming majority of women are out for the dollas, and Chippewa is the very best place to test yourself when you have this mindset because you are literally surrounded by it at all times. Well, I don't think the notion is TOTALLY flawed, there is some truth to it, but I tend to overexaggerate it greatly.

Of course I assumed an alias ("Jake McDermott") and went to 67 West with my buddies for some more alcohol and debauchery. Josh "forgot" his ID so he went home. I chatted up many a chick with my married friends. These two cute chicks were there with their mothers, at least I think it was their mothers, either that or some really fuckin weathered 30-somethings. They tried to scam drinks from us, and I laughed out loud in their faces. How about a blow job honey? Walt was his usual charming self - the ladies love him, what can I say? I've always appreciated the runoff however. Jerry not so much so, he has to be the #1 dog at all times. This from a guy who fucks more girls in the span of a couple months than I have in my life. Whatever. We smoked some cigars, laughed it off and headed over to SoHo. You guys know how much I love SoHo.

There was a $3 cover, which is completely inexplicable considering there is never any live entertainment, unless you count everyone inside who is trying way too hard to make an impression. Had a Heineken, met an old friend who I hadn't seen in many a moon, and somehow lost my friends along the way. The place was absolutely crawling with hot ass. My libido is returning with a fury, which is yet another sign that I am coming out of it. Saw a tall, leggy blonde, an amazon woman, who was absolutely amazing. I've always wanted to know what I could get away with armed with nothing but $5 and my wits.

Eventually I found my buddies and we went back to 67, God knows why. Did some cherry bombs, chatted up a few more people, and the NYC guys got us a cab in less than 5 seconds. The cabbie was a cool ass dude. He let us smoke the remainder of our cigars, and he bumped some hip hop for us, loud as all hell. Elmwood looks very odd with no lights. Thankfully I've never been out of power. The guys wanted to partake in an unnamed activity which was met by my swift veto (if I won't do it, you know it's gotta be bad).

I love those guys. I wish I could hang with them more. I had an awesome night! How about you guys?

-Jake McDermott

$11.3M award for "defamatory" internet posts.



There are way too many lawyers in the world. They are fucking sharks. Predators. Law firms are some of the very few businesses in Buffalo that can afford billboard and TV advertising (the other businesses being car dealerships).

Broke a nail? I'm sure someone out there would be willing to try and get you a heavy reward. What nonsense.

The fact that people can even do something like this sets a dangerous precedent. What, if someone gets offended are you going to sue them? I guess so.

What are we becoming?

Just a few quick things:

1) The job is going fine. So far I like it. It is by far the most professional and organized company I've worked for up to this date.

2) I'm still constantly thinking about how people become happy. I've learned cash has nothing to do with it. Now, don't get me wrong, cash can and will do many things for you. It will get you nice things, and a gorgeous girlfriend. It will not however make me or anyone else happy. People are always looking for something, and are always replacing real happiness with the transitory kind that comes from getting a new gadget or fucking some random chick. I'm still searching but I'm on my way.

3) I have to now shave and shower and dress nicely every day for my job, and I do believe it has a positive effect on how I carry myself, and how I feel about myself.

4) Finally there is a new upstairs neighbor. I met her yesterday. I think she'll fit in well at the house. Oh yeah, it also helps that she is extremely easy on the eyes, and has friends, blonde friends (now don't you brunettes start whining to me - I'm swedish). The evil son of a bitch that I am suppressing wants to prowl but it's probably not the wisest choice at this time.

And, no, I'm not talking about the very awesome Chicago song.

In case anyone wondered, I got the job in Grand Island. It sounds like a challenging and interesting job. I'm going to get a lot of experience in Visual Basic. Finally I will have benefits again, and I am making the same amount of money as I did before, which is great. I don't start until October 2nd, so I still have to bridge the gap in terms of finances, but at least I know I'm not going to be poor forever.

It's been a rough year, but I always felt that as long as I stayed positive and did my due diligence that things would be fine. It is very difficult to stay positive sometimes, especially for me, but the proof was in the end result.

I want to thank Lee and Timika for being in my corner - have no doubt that I drew strength from you, and it is much appreciated. I'm not out of the woods yet - I still have to find out how much I've improved since I went in and out of therapy. There are still things about me that I know have to change if I'm going to continue on this run. I got a call from my Uncle telling me how my family is proud of what I've done since January. I don't tear up a lot but I really had to fend it off during that phone call.

This is just one part of my improvement. It's an important part, no doubt, but I still have to become more of a reliable person overall. I still have to be better. I freely admit there are some ugly things about Jason, but at least I know about them and want to change.

I'm looking forward to PMT's housewarming party. I can't believe it's been almost a year since the Halloween party. Meeting Twisted is going to be cool. Partying with you all is going to be a lot of fun. It is a very humbling and gratifying experience to have people who don't know you so well, but still feel comfortable enough to talk about their lives and experiences freely. It feels great. It lets me know that I'm developing into a better person, instead of remaining the evil son a bitch that I've been on occasion.

I found a really cool piece of software that facilitates the creation of a podcast, and the coolest part is that it's free. It also has a lot of features. I think I'm going to be able to create some interesting things with Josh's help. Larson vs. Larson isn't all that far off.

PEACE.

Roughly translated from what my Uncle told me.

When you walked outside today, did you step on an ant?

You don't know?

If you did, can you say that the ant was a bad ant and deserved it?

You don't know?

If you did, it was an accident, and you can mourn for the ant but you can't say anything so bad about yourself because you honestly didn't know.

Sometimes, people (or other beings) are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And something was different. I wish I could put my finger on it.

But all I can tell you is that when I woke up I felt like a different person. It was very powerful, almost as if my personal storm clouds parted, at least for now. I'm very thankful, even if it is only for a day.

Yes, another excursion into poisonous popular culture by the abnormally spot-on Jason.

Madrid banned models with a Body Mass Index below 18 from strutting their stuff in a major fashion show. Here's the link from Yahoo News:

Here's the picture from the article. Feast your eyes on THIS!


Hubba hubba! Notice the stick-like features and the hair! I call it "Bird's Nest Chic."

Now I can't speak for all men, because I do know at least one guy who likes their women this way, but I'm almost certain guys don't like women with the body of a stray animal. I'm just sayin.

Who was the person who looked at a 90 pound model and said "Yeah, that's HOT?" No guy I know would find this the least bit appetizing, let alone subject themselves to the maintenance costs, including the raging cocaine, scotch and cig habits. I can only assume it was a self-hating woman.

And I also have to question whether women REALLY aspire to this. I mean, that's what everybody is saying, that models are looked up to (God knows why), and that they have undue influence on young people. There is being fit, there is looking good, and then there is looking like Gandhi. NOT HOT!

Partisan double standards, and fictionalizing for profit

The current flap over the upcoming ABC docudrama The Path to 9/11 is a textbook case of partisan hypocrisy. And that label applies to liberal and conservatives alike.

Let's start with the liberals -- not all liberals, of course; I am referring to activists and bloggers -- since they're the ones who are ticked off at ABC. Their outrage is directed at various fictionalizations of the 9/11 saga that the Hollywood types have either dreamed up or improvised. These scenes apparently depict Bill Clinton's national security team as being less than vigilant about the growing threat of Osama bin Laden during the late '90s. Infuriated liberal activists are currently demanding that ABC either shelve those scenes -- or cancel the five-hour miniseries in its entirety. (And a new report in Variety says that outright cancellation is still possible.)

Looking at this case on the merits, it's clear that the liberal camp does have a legitimate beef; even ABC has admitted taking some dramatic liberties with the known facts. But I don't recall the liberal camp acting with similar concern back in 2003, when a CBS docudrama about Ronald Reagan was planning to take some dramatic liberties in its depiction of the former president.

Quite the contrary, in fact. Liberals thought that the Reagan show should air just as the miniseries producers intended it to air -- in the name of freedom of speech. And when conservative activists, led by the Republican National Committee, went after CBS and demanded (in the end, successfully) that the network dump the show, liberals were outraged that there could be such an assault on free expression.

People for the American Way railed in a press release about "right-wing thought police," and Barbra Streisand (whose husband was playing Reagan) wrote on Nov. 4, 2003, "I don't believe Democrats often, if ever, try to muscle the First Amendment like this....This (conservative effort) is censorship, pure and simple." But now that liberals are going after ABC for taking similar liberties with Clinton, I don't hear her, or other famed Friends of Bill, sounding any concerns about "censorship."

Most conservatives, however, are also selective in their outrage. They don't seem very concerned that the Hollywood types (whom they generally dislike) have filmed fictionalized scenes that depict a former president in a negative light. In fact, they've barely said anything at all, content instead to chuckle at the liberals' discomfiture.

Yet the scene was very different in October 2003, when they were so outraged that Hollywood had filmed fictionalizeed scenes depicting their favorite former president in a negative light. Back then, when a major network acted in this fashion, it was viewed as fresh evidence of liberal-media perfidy.

As Ed Morrow of the National Review said, "Attempts to distort our history must be resisted. Historical truth is simply too valuable to be made a plaything for biased filmmakers rewriting it to fit their politics." And Ed Gillespie, the Republican party chairman, said on MSNBC that "there's infotainment and docudrama and reality TV and the lines between fact and fiction blur. That's fine when it's entertainment, but when you're talking about...the Reagan legacy formation, I think that it's important that we get things right."

Where's the plea from Gillespie today, demanding that ABC "gets things right" about the Clinton legacy?

Actually, some conservatives have spotted the double standard, and they have copped to it. Commentator Jonah Goldberg: "A pox on everybody...(C)onservatives howled in outrage (in 2003), and got CBS to drop it. Why shouldn't liberals have a go at the same thing?" James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal website wrote the other day, "The Clintonites may have a point here. A few years ago, when the shoe was on the other foot, we were happy to see CBS scotch The Reagans."

I could just leave the issue here, having made the argument about partisan hypocrisy. But that's not the root problem. Actually, it was Gillespie, in the service of his partisan argument, who identified the root problem when he mentioned the rise of infotainment and the blurring between fact and fiction.

The networks have opened themselves up to these kinds of partisan attacks by embracing the docudrama format, apparently in the belief that mass audiences aren't interested in history unless actors read the lines and scripts contain the dramatic "beats" that work best between commercial breaks. There once was a time when vital issues, such as the road to 9/11, would have been explored at length in news-division documentaries that aired in prime time -- I can remember NBC White Paper and CBS Reports; Edward R. Murrow came earlier -- but that format was not deemed sufficiently profitable, so it was dropped.

But now that the networks, in the pursuit of ratings and ad dollars, have embraced a format that necessarily mixes fact and fiction, they have in a sense reaped the whirlwind -- opening themselves up to attack from whichever partisan camp feels aggrieved about the fiction element. One Hollywood producer laments to Variety, "Starting with The Reagans, everything is now political. It's become so divisive and nasty. It's very sad."

Actually, what's really sad is the networks' assumption that, in our polarized era, they can somehow take liberties with history in the pursuit of profits -- and not get any grief about it.

---

MY TAKE:

This article expresses my feelings on the subject very accurately, and blasts the canard that since the media is corporate, then they will always side with Republicans.

Another point to be made is that the networks are VERY interested in playing down their participation in the tabloid journalism which is aimed at playing into the divisive, partisan nature of almost every single discussion. Nope, the media isn't at fault at all! Ahem.

Jason