Yes, I really do believe that it is just a movie. It's not meaningless, as we can all take from a movie what we will, but in the end it is not any kind of political statement. Since my position has been called ignorant (e:paul,4918) I feel I have to explain myself.

I did actually take two film courses while attending UB. One dealt with music in the movies, and the various ways in which music can be used to evoke emotions or make what we see on the screen more powerful. The other was actually in the History department, and in the course we had to watch a movie during Tuesday's class. By Thursday's class we had to have a report on the movie and how we thought it followed along with the themes of the day. The Empire Strikes Back was the most memorable of the films, obviously dealing with Cold War themes.

So while I am no expert on film by any means, I do know something about how ideas like this are formulated in the heads of academics and film critics when they review a film. I also know the difference between a film which INTENDS to speak about certain political themes versus a film that people take and apply their own interpretation to, whether it makes any sense or not.

The material for the film is taken from a Frank Miller work which was done before Bush or Iraq even took place. Unless he was a very special person there is no possible way for the work to have intended to address those themes, and even if that was the intention it would have been done poorly, as there are a myriad of ways to interpret Bush in that context.

M. Faust of our own beloved Artvoice doesn't buy it either. In his review of the film he mentions that he talked to the film maker, Zack Snyder, about this very topic. Here's a cut from the review:

"I guess that's unavoidable," he sighed. "I'm not going to pretend to be like, 'What's that, Iraq? There's a war going on? What are you talking about?' That's a reality of the world. I tried to make a movie that looks at the nobility of conflict, that asks if there is such a thing. I didn't do it in relationship to what's happening now because I don't have that much foresight - I wish I had. The point is that there can be nobility in sacrifice. Does that give context to sacrifice that we've maybe lost in the muddle of our current situation, is there a way to get that back? And also the story is 2,500 years old. Does history have some bad habit of being a big circle? Yeah. But is that part of my design? I don't think so."

The film maker himself says he didn't make the movie with the current problems in mind, and that he couldn't have in the first place. That is enough to satisfy my own curiosity about the intention of the film, and to not believe anyone who attributes something to the film that was never intended.

Does that mean that the film has no meaning? No, no way, the story behind it is incredible. No less a man than Jack Valenti said that the most important part of a movie is telling a story. The movie studios are fortunate to have a reviewer like the dude at the NYT because that increases the buzz and adds a financial boost to the revenue the film brings in. Of course a movie studio wouldn't do anything to stop the debate. Like any other industry their goal is to make profit on films.

Think about Norbit for a moment, a film that the critics absolutely thought was terrible. It has actually ended up bringing in at least $80 million so far, not too bad for a shitty movie. The movie studios don't necessarily have the academics/critics in mind all the time because they are notoriously hard to please compared with normal people. All this review did was make a bunch of people rich by injecting his own bullshit into the theme of a movie, and I'm sure the guy will get a nice fruit basket on Monday for his effort. Whatever we take from it is fine, and we can learn many things from the Spartans, but let's not talk about something that has absolutely nothing to do with the movie being a central theme.

Sometimes people wonder about the bad things going on in the world. Why do people have to suffer? Why do people have to go through misery? Many philosophical and religious debates have spawned from this question, and it is a natural question people ask themselves at some point in their lives.

The answer I have come up with is that we suffer so that we are able to give special meaning to the good moments in life. Without that distinction, the special and rare moments become ordinary and we don't have as much of a connection to them.

I got a call tonight and found out that I'm single again. I've been fearing this moment for a week or so, not because I did anything wrong but because I've had this really strong, uncomfortable gut feeling. That was reinforced by the fact that she hasn't exactly been communicating with me for a few days. I hadn't stayed at her place for a few weeks.

When things like this happen people start questioning themselves, beating themselves up or thinking about their inadequacies. Lord knows I've got my share of faults.

Questions also arise in the mind about extracurricular activity. Is another guy involved? How would I handle such a betrayal? Lord knows it's happened to me before.

A clear mind reveals that the details, no matter how ugly they might be, don't matter so much because in the end my lot wouldn't change and I would still have to look to the future. She said it's because of the demands of her new job, plus the desire to spend more time with her friends.

If it's another dude, if it's the job, if she just wants more freedom in her life, I'm still on the street and I have to brush it off and move on. What else can you do?

Basically it wasn't going much further, and anyway I have never had the kind of strong attraction to her that I probably should have after dating her for a few months. I felt that this was going to happen at some point, yet still I feel deeply saddened at having failed at another relationship.

I do have to say that I was really happy to be with someone who had almost complete tolerance for my antics, which was very refreshing. I learned more about what I want in a woman. I learned that I still have more things in my life that are a lot more important than being with a girl who isn't absolutely head over heels about me.

It's not like it was a miserable situation. We got along quite well and enjoyed each other's company. It just wasn't right. She said the timing right now is so bad. I remember when we first met and I said to myself that it couldn't have come at a worse time. I was in the middle of fixing a bunch of things in my life and didn't need another complication. How's that for irony? I need to put the focus back on myself again. There's still a lot of work to do.

We learn the best through personal experience, and experience has taught me that getting through these situations makes the next great experience with a chick that much sweeter. I can be proud of myself and how I've handled the entire relationship. Maybe calling me normal would be a little bit of a stretch but I'm getting there.

I saw this on MySpace and I thought it was rather funny.....enjoy!

Peace, Love and Orgasms!

Your homie,
Jason



How to Make a Woman Happy

It's not difficult to make a woman happy. A man only needs to be:
1. a friend
2. a companion
3. a lover
4. a brother
5. a father
6. a master
7. a chef
8. an electrician
9. a carpenter
10. a plumber
11. a mechanic
12. a decorator
13. a stylist
14. a sexologist
15. a gynecologist
16. a psychologist
17. a pest exterminator
18. a psychiatrist
19. a healer
20. a good listener
21. an organizer
22. a good father
23. very clean
24. sympathetic
25. athletic
26. warm
27. attentive
28. gallant
29. intelligent
30. funny
31. creative
32. tender
33. strong
34. understanding
35. tolerant
36. prudent
37. ambitious
38. capable
39. courageous
40. determined
41. true
42. dependable
43. passionate
44. compassionate

WITHOUT FORGETTING TO:

45. give her compliments regularly
46. love shopping
47. be honest
48. be very rich
49. not stress her out
50. not look at other girls

AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO:

51. give her lots of attention, but expect little yourself
52. give her lots of time, especially time for herself
53. give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:

54. Never to forget:

• birthdays
  
• anniversaries
  
• arrangements she makes

..



..



HOW TO MAKE A MAN HAPPY

1. Show up naked
2. Bring food

What if the thing I ordered for my GF doesn't come in when it is supposed to? Is it time for Plan B? (Dick in a box)

Finally, thanks to (e:Zobar) I was able to go to O's web site and see what they have to offer. The missus wants to get some grub from there for Valentine's Day. So I roll over to my HSBC Web Banking to ensure I have the funds.

Wait for it.....wait for it.... -32.07

Fuck. How am I supposed to get dinner with negative money? Not to mention this will become -65.07 once they inevitably fee my ass. Trip to TO with girlfriend, new monitor, V-Day gift, parking ticket fees, cell phone bill, and of course normal indulgences = running out of cash.

This is very depressing. I'm not going to sit here and complain about the Government being responsible for my financial status, which would of course be bullshit, as it always is. I just wish I would have planned the month a little better. I probably could have put off paying the parking tickets, which in retrospect would have been worth it because I would be able to get dinner AND be able to do my fucking laundry.

Now I have to figure it out. Do I take out a C-Note from my already negative bank account, and accrue yet another 33 dollar fee so I can do my laundry and have money for dinner tomorrow, plus whatever else I might do between now and the 15th? I don't see much of a choice. I can't go to the missus and say, sorry, you're going to have to pick up dinner. Even though I think gender roles are complete nonsense when it comes to relationships nowadays you still feel something is very wrong if you don't come through on V-Day.

At least I have $2 in my pocket, which will get me a Sparks.

Interesting......makes you wonder what kind of tech the US is secretly working on, even if you don't believe in any kind of UFO mumbo jumbo.

Giuliani Moves Closer To Presidential Run:


Hmm. As far as his politics are concerned, he is without question closer to me than any other politician I can think of. The problem is that supporting him opens me up to hypocrisy because of his, ahem, lack of fidelity and discretion in the past.

Clearly something has to give. I am not ready to simply acknowledge that it is acceptable for people, even the alleged best and brightest of us, to take an oath of fidelity and trust, then turn around and act like it doesn't matter.

To me the ability to cheat exhibits a number of serious character flaws, some of them applicable to how you view your profession. I don't think this applies in all cases, nonetheless it is worrisome when you're talking about someone in the filthiest profession we've invented, and also in the position of potentially leading our nation.

No, I don't think I can give that up because I don't think Rudy G, nor any politician, is worth giving up my principles for. As much as I would like to see someone who thinks like me in office, I don't think I can in good faith support Giuliani.

Looks like it's gonna have to be McCain by default.

Gavin Newsom. I know that many of you are fans of his, after all he did break California law in marrying homosexual couples, an example of what some would call an act of bravery. I call it being an arrogant dickwad, and doing the right thing the wrong way, and setting your cause back somewhat.

He seems to be in the news again, this time for sexing his campaign manager's wife!



I am not going to be like Josh and gratuitously slam San Francisco. There are good and bad things about it, like anywhere else in the world. This is a very sad turn of events. I will wait until they vote him in again before mercilessly ripping them apart with my teeth.

Newsom deserves no sympathy whatsoever. I hope his political career goes straight down the toilet. It's nice that he apologized to the public, but what about the family he ruined? It's the PRC, so if they divorce she will probably clean her husband out anyway. Maybe if there were actual legal consequences for being a cheating whore these things wouldn't happen so frequently.

NAUGHTY!


I feel for the guy in the middle, whose boss (and mayor) fucked his wife. The guy's life is in rags. I can't imagine being in his place, not being able to trust someone who is supposed to be your greatest friend and partner in life.

Say what you want about Byron Brown - he would never embarrass us in this way. In a sense, I've got a greater appreciation for our own mayor today.

For some reason.

Anyhow, I'm not intentionally trying to be harsh to anyone. I drop F-bombs in everyday language, and of course not everyone knows that. Lord knows I've made my glowing opinions of certain people known, so it has nothing to do with any kind of malicious intent.

For me, it's not like Sean is a jerk, or a shitty personality in any way whatsoever, so I do not at all understand the abuse hurled towards him. It gives us a window into one of the darkest aspects of humanity - the need to tear down people with a positive vision. We revel in our negativity, especially here in Buffalo, where we hate who we are, and have very little tolerance for anything different.

We just celebrated MLK Jr. Day - one of the greatest Americans in history, and someone I idolize, was killed in cold blood - and WHY WAS THIS? Because he dared to dream of a future that included a united humanity, little black boys and little white boys playing together side by side. Only after the fact do we understand how terrible our mistakes were, and how foolish we have been. This is not a Sean/MLK comparison, rather an illustration of how we view people who aren't a stick in the mud.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that he's one of (if not the most) positive thinkers we have here at the moment. Not everyone is content to be pissed off or bitter at the world, and frankly I think that Sean has some very practical and useful things to say. Take for example one of his most common themes - Gratitude. We so often focus on how unhappy we are, dwelling on how people have wronged us, or on how empty our wallets are. Woe is me, do I ever have something to be pissed off about. The negative - now THAT'S reality. I say BULLSHIT. It is only half of the reality, which is that there are blessings and curses in life, and how we deal with them will determine whether we are happy or sad, a success or a failure. Duality is human nature, so wake up and recognize it. Be grateful for the blessings in your life, and don't treat the negative like it has a vice grip around your throat, choking you to death.

I think I know the problem, and it is the language and the context used. I guarantee I could take something he wrote, use my own language, and have people nodding in agreement. People react to New Age Spirituality (NAS, lol, I invented an Acro) very negatively, and very sharply, and for good reason. For every useful piece of information, and good contact you can make with another human being, there is someone else waiting to fool you and rip you off. The room is cluttered with mess. Not everyone is equipped to deal with them in a way that will allow us to determine the good from the bad.

There is an easy way to figure this out, and it has to do with motivation. What is the motivation for the person to offer you information? Is he trying to get you to buy something, or to exert some kind of control over you? Is he acting out of fear? Does he simply care about you, and want to see you happy and fulfilled? We don't know what the motivation is in all cases, and that's vitally important.

Anyway, I didn't mean to be so long winded, but what I'm asking for is simple tolerance for a person who seems like a decent enough guy, and doesn't think of it as his mission to shit on what someone else writes. I personally don't give a fuck about fashion, environmentalism, or for that matter most topics people discuss. I don't think people really care about my relationship stories, or in the past my endless droning about my depression and subsequent recovery. However, there is a basic respect that people show me, which I am GRATEFUL for, because we all know that this is a place to express ourselves and learn from one another. I know that I can look at any one of you and see part of myself, past, present, or future.

Be Kind, Please.

Was tired and not feeling all that well Saturday, so I didn't think to call her. We were supposed to hang out. I spent yesterday wondering what to say or how to say it, basically I blew it and blew it worse by freezing up and not saying anything instead of telling her something to the effect of "Well can we hang out tomorrow? I am really tired and not feeling well."

Now she thinks something is up. I am such an idiot.