Idle Ramblings: 10/01/2003

iTrick or iTreat
iKnow what I'll be dressing up as for Halloween.

Does anyone have Panther yet?
If so, let me know what you think.

Exagerated death stories?
The doom and gloom people may be rearing their heads again. I really don't think it's big news that a repeat of Enterprise didn't fare too well against the World Series. But maybe that's just me. I think it's safe to say that Trek is just something that's not going to do as well as the network execs would like in a network environment.

We're not going to take it...are we?
Okay, I'll be the first to admit to having bought Twisted Sister's album some 20-or-so years ago, but what I want to know now is, What hasn't Dee Snider just gone away?

The best night of television is back
Last night's season premier of 24 did not disappoint. Jack, with his 17" PowerBook, and all Mac-equipped CTU are off to a big start. And to make things even better, FX started reruns of the first season of The Shield immediately after 24.

Sweet.

For those of you who enjoy laughter...
...I strongly recommend the Mr. Bean boxed set. Three DVDs of all the Mr. Bean episodes. Go and get them NOW! After all, you don't hate laughter...do you?

Mission Accomplished?
This is just part of a vast left wing conspiracy to go around and place banners behind Dubya which, six months down the road, will make him look bad.

The hip blacklist
Anybody who is anybody now wants to get on the NRA Blacklist. Spock and Picard are on the list and so is Garfunkle. Ahnold isn't on the list even though he is in favor of gun control. I guess he figures trigger locks won't interfere in the hunt for Predators. N'Sync is on the list, but the Backstreet Boys are not. Brittaney Spears is on the list, however, which may explain why it just didn't work out between her and Justin. Oddly enough, Michael Moore's name is not on the list. Go figure.

Cool stuff
New new iTMS offerings are pretty cool, even if they are now being offered to the unwashed masses of Windoze users.

iPepsi
I wonder if you can get the Suicudal Tendencies tune "Institutionalized" under the new deal between Apple and Pepsi. (For those of you who didn't grow up listening to early 80s skateboard punk, you might want to find the tune and give it a listen.)

Who you gonna call?
If there's something strange in your Tupelo neighborhood, who you gonna call? Apparently, these guys.

Attack of the Killer Vampire Penguins
There's a lot of stuff on the web about Vampire Penguins. I don't really know why, but it is kind of odd. Just do a Google search. You'll see.

Ladies and gentlemen...
...the great James Darren's first run in with Trek happened long before Vic Fontaine. Darren directed the final episode of T.J. Hooker, a show we now know to be a prequel to the Trek franchise about a 20th century law enforcement official who is an ancestor of Kirk. Apparantly Darren uses the Time tunnel to travel back and forth through time acting, directing and singing his way through eternity.

Duh!
Again...Duh!

Oxford Lost
This past weekend I spent more time in my former home of Oxford than I have in many years. I left Oxford almost 11 years ago at a time when the city which, at first, held William Faulkner in disdain and then came to embrace him, was making some big decisions about where it was heading.

Oxford would not be Oxford without Ole Miss: not The University of Mississippi, but Ole Miss, with all the good things and historical baggage that brings along with it. Ole Miss would also not be Ole Miss without Oxford for the exact same reason. Both have a love/hate relationship with one another and neither could survive without the other. I've spent significant amounts of time in Hattiesburg and Starkville, and while both benefit greatly from their universities, neither is as inextricably tied with their school as is Oxford.

For those of us who did our time in the town that is now a city, the change over the past 10 years can be startling, but none was as startling as my trip to the Oxford (s)Mall. Since its opening when I was in junior high, the Oxford (s)Mall was the closest thing those of us growing up near Oxford had to ties to the big city. Later, in college, our friends from Dallas, the East and West coasts, Chicago, and other large metro areas just didn't get the significance of the Oxford (s)Mall to us "natives." They didn't understand just what it provided for us.

Sure, it was a place to go and buy over-priced athletic shoes or the latest fashions which were about six months behind the rest of the country. But it was also a place where on weekends during high school one could go and play a game or two of Tron or Galaga before trying to bluff your way into an R-rated movie. You could go to Walden Books and get the almost latest bestseller, pick up the new X-Men, sci-fi novel or leaf through the dog-eared "photography" books which usually made their way to one of the back isles where the people at the checkout counter couldn't see.

Now, even those small youthful thrills, and those later additions like David's Dollar Tree, are history. A walk through the (s)Mall Friday night was like a walk through a ghost town. There are fewer than a dozen businesses still operating. Most of the building is empty, with the remaining businesses gathered on the east end near the main entrance like passengers getting ready to depart. Twenty minutes was all it took to take it all into, and that included two games of air hockey at the aptly named "Yesterday's" arcade.

The (s)Mall is just one example. Everywhere you look things are changing. For one thing there are plenty of places to eat. Restaurants of all types have popped up. There are also a lot more bars catering to a more diverse crowd. (It's funny how a university where the majority of students are underage can support so many bars.)

There are also a lot of new apartments. New apartment complexes and expensive homes are being built everywhere. Oxford has become a boom town. It features a new, spacious Wal-Mart, where, were we to spend some time late night with the right crowd, could be a lot of fun. And for David, there is not just a new Dollar Tree located right next door, but a whole Dollar Forrest with isle after isle of cheap crap that no one really needs. (Including the $5 worth of cheap crap I didn't need.)

New businesses seem to be popping up all over the place. Word has it that there will even be a new theater put into place. The university is now attracting big-name celebrities like Art Garfunkle, Art Garfunkle and Art Garfunkle to perform in the new state-of-the-art fine arts center. And Ole Miss is beating teams like Florida more often than losing to teams like Northeast Louisiana.

I think, all in all, it's a positive change for those who chose to attend the university. I would have loved to have all the extra diversions around so I could have spent even less time concentrating on academics than I did. But now, almost 11 years after I left Oxford, I don't think I would like to return. Not to the city proper. Perhaps somewhere out in the country between the city and my home town. Maybe somewhere that's convenient to the university and the big ole Dollar Tree (we still didn't see an actual tree), but where we can escape the constant flow of SUVs.

If you haven't been there in a while, it's still Oxford, but our Oxford in all its relatively unexciting glory, is a thing of the past.

Free state (with large burger and a drink)
So, is anyone moving to New Hampshire?

Fair and balanced a little to the left
If Al Gore is successful in buying a cable news network I want a job. I want my own yelling show where I can be shrill and closed minded and not let my guests actually be able to get their point across and then belittle them for the views they hold. I really think I could do this. I'd call it "Damn, people are stupid." I think it's be a hit. (Actually, if it's on a liberal news network, it'd probably have to be "Damn, Republicans are stupid." The only problem is there are some Republicans, believe it or not, I admire and some Democrats I'd love to feature on my show. Oh well, Al and I can work that out in contract negotiations.)

Idle Ramblings

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Thursday, October 16, 2003

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Sunday, October 05, 2003

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

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