Plastic Coffee Cups

Link fest 2000

Hey. So I still haven't worked up the gumption to post that blog I've been thinking about (sorry Crystal). I was just sick of looking at the post I put up after consuming all those, um, prescription back pills.

It's been pretty quiet 'round these parts lately, as it usually is. I'm done with traveling for a little while, which is good for my wallet but bad for my only-slightly-whetted appetite for getting outta Dodge. Been hanging with my man Paul a lot, which is great cuz I haven't seen that guy in a minute. I've been obsessed with Ratatat, Flight of the Conchords and BSG lately. The former makes me feel a little hep (as Raoul Duke would say), the latter makes Drew harass me nonstop.

And Flight of the Conchords...well, that just some of the most brilliant television ever.

I've also been trying to follow all this shit going down in Jena, La. (WARNING: Political rant to follow.) If this is, in fact, the "beginning of the 21st century civil rights movement" as the Rev. Al Sharpton and others have pointed out, it seems like it's auspicious at best.

While I whole-heartedly agree that there was injustice in the whole situation, and the legal system is CLEARLY completely and totally racist, the whole issue would be much clearer and easier to rally behind if the suspects hadn't committed the crime. They were treated unfairly, yes - they were unjustly sentenced and bail was set too high and the jury, judge and prosecutor were all 100% white - but they still beat up that kid. It wasn't bad - the white kid went to a school function the night he was beaten - but it was still six on one and a crime did happen.

This isn't a Parks/King/Lewis struggle, where the bad guys and good guys were clearly drawn out - the bad guys were using dogs and fire hoses, the good guys were organizing sit-ins and making speeches and calling on God to help them. It could be that, 40 years from now, we'll point back to Jena and say that we wish "things were that clear now," but part of me can't help but feel conflicted about the whole situation. On the whole, I come down on the side of the Jena 6 and (perhaps especially) their families. But I find it hard to believe that this could be the start of something as meaningful or important as what happened all those years ago.

posted by Werd @ 11:31 AM 4 geriatrics ran up a hill

Effin Red Sox

Stupid Red Sox. Up 7-2 in the 8th and lose the game like a bunch of fuckin chuds. So typical.

In other news, tonight I am The Baxter.

posted by Werd @ 2:41 AM 1 geriatrics ran up a hill

Blerg

Have an awesome idea for a post, but I'm too tired and it's too late and I've had too much Yuengling to post it.

For now, there's this.

posted by Werd @ 2:00 AM 2 geriatrics ran up a hill

Detox Day 2: Higher-level brain functions return!

So a combination of fantastic financial strain (I have about $40 American for the next two weeks) and 3 weeks of heavy imbibing have put me into detox of sorts here. I feel very, very good about it. I've been able to sweat out most of the horrid toxins (PBR and scotch, mostly). I'm starting to remember what words like "aesthetic," "acrimonious" and "the" mean. Drew and Lou may remember that guy from college.

The nice thing is that I've had lots of time to read lately, and have picked up some good stuff. I finally read my first Christopher Moore book, "The Lust Lizard Of Melancholy Cove." Then it was half of Ken Kalfus' "A Disorder Peculiar To The Country," which was actually a pretty big disappointment since I like his other stuff (particularly "The Commissariat Of Enlightenment" and "Thirst") so much. Then it was John Hodgman's "The Areas Of My Expertise," which was just as good as I'd hoped it would be. Highly recommended. Now it's "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt, a book, as it turns out, I put off for far too long. It's simply delightful. And yes, I just used a word to describe a book that most people (myself included) thought was retired in 1962.

In a little self-promotion that's a couple weeks old by now, some of the organizations I work for ran a massive campaign against BP, which was planning to increase toxic dumping into Lake Michigan by several thousand pounds every day - 1,584 pounds of ammonia and "4,925 pounds of suspended solids, tiny sludge particles that escape water treatment filters." On Thursday, August 23, BP said that they wouldn't increase dumping because of "ongoing regional opposition." Yea, 80,000 petition signatures will give you that impression, won't it, assholes. Now all we have to do is get said assholes to hold up their end of the bargain. Mad props to my boy Will for launching and coordinating this tactical nuclear strike and sticking it to those bastards.

posted by Werd @ 10:37 PM 9 geriatrics ran up a hill