The Angry Fat Man

Wow, I just got back from sitting through the longest movie of my life, Lord of The Rings: Return of the King. It has to be one of the best and most dramatic films that I've ever seen. Then end was perfect and more true to the books than the rest of the story. Jackson definitely did some good work.

But GEEZE! My butt was sore after watching that all of the way through. I think the movies should have been done in more than 3 easy installments, it could have easily been broken up and still stayed true to the vision that Tolkien penned. But wow, what a great ride!!! I don't think I'll every buy that movie on video, though...three and a half hours is WAY too long.

Posted by The Younger (slightly less angry) Fat Man at 05:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I overheard two african-american women talking the other day about Kwanzaa and how it was based on ancient African festivals that centered on harvest and coming together etc. etc. etc. One was also talking about how they don't celebrate Christmas because that's a "white-man's holiday".

THIS ENRAGES ME FOR A FEW REASONS:

1. I'm sorry but, Jesus was born into Jewish and Middle-Eastern society. You can't tell me he was "white". And you can't tell me that all of the people in Europe, South America and other "non-white" majority areas are celebrating a "white man" holiday, they are celebrating the birth of their savior and his coming into our lives.
2. Christmas, at it's truest base is a religious holiday, welcoming Christ. It is not a cultural holiday like Kwanzaa, it is actually steeped in a religion that quite a few African-Americans practice. Now, if everyone who celebrates Kwanzaa and only Kwanzaa wishes to renounce their Christianity, go ahead, because there is no reason for Christians to not celebrate Christmas, that's just insane.
3. Just because you celebrate a cultural celebration does not mean that you cannot celebrate a religious celebration. And just because a celebration has become commercialized does not mean that it has lost it's meaning and become merely commercial. To a lot of us "white folk", it means a coming together of family and celebrating our love in Christ.

I've known people that celebrate Kwanzaa and Christmas together, I've celebrated Kwanzaa in high school with friends along with Cinco de Mayo and Passover. I understand the principles under each celebration and what it means to all who participate. I may not know the year-round feel of certain ways of being but I know what it's like to understand and be a little more cognizant and open to other's ways. Just try to be open and not make stupid statements about "white men" and their holidays.

Merry Christmas and I hope that your hearts are open.

Posted by The Younger (slightly less angry) Fat Man at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Why on God's green earth would you give the Heisman to Jason White instead of B.J. Symons of Texas Tech or Phil Rivers of NC State (Who both have had better numbers and stats this year)??? Could it be because we live in an age where you don't have to win your Conference Title and still be in the running for National Champ? Is it because we live in an ultra political world where the more you talk up a candidate to the voters the more rosy the picture? Is it because we have a sad sap with a super sad story? A young man who has tried to break, pull and bust just about every muscle and bone in his body but still keeps going, showing the world how tough he is?

Bah, I've seen smaller, tougher quarterbacks risk their lives on the run thousands of times more than I've seen this chicken-shit do one of those Rich Gannon pussy slides when a defender gets within 5 yards....Hell, I don't even think a quarterback should be up for an award, it's an award enough that they get to be the Rock-Star of the team! You know those guys are getting the majority of the tail and kickbacks that are thrown at the team. I mean, what about those poor bastard WRs or RBs that have to risk a concussion or severe injury every time they run down the field!!! I mean, they sprint at least 10-15 yards EACH PLAY, while the QB can back-peddle for 10 seconds or so if their line is worth their weight.

I'm still just boiling because of this stupid, lame BCS score crap! 4 out of the last 5 years we've had issues with possible Co-Champion scenarios! I still think BCS is fine, as long as you've won your own conference. How can you even be considered number 1, when you've been beaten by a team that wasn't in the top ten? For that matter, if you WERE considered number 1 and were even beat by number 2, you would still NOT, by any matter of doubt, be number 1 anymore...you've been beaten. How does Oklahoma still keep ahold of a number 1 berth??? Because of a stupid program that has already proven that it simply does not work.

Posted by The Younger (slightly less angry) Fat Man at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

DUDE!!!!

I always thought that the Spike: The First Television Network For Men was a corny channel that only had crap and old reruns of Dukes of Hazard, Star Trek: TNG, or Baywatch. I mean it's just a horrible lineup full of crap that not many people really want to watch. And their "original" programming reminds me of some of the crap that "Wierd" Al thought up in the movie UHF.

Then, one evening, I stumbled upon the most irreverent, irresponsible pice of crap ever known to man....and I like it!!! MXC or Most Extreme Elimination Challenge has to be the silliest piece of crap anyone has come up with. Basically a production company here in the States picks up a show called Takeshi's Castle and dubs over all of the dialog with their own script. It's disturbing and crazy....The japanese folks are running around doing completely idiotic stunts that NO ONE would do here in the states. It's the kind of crap you remember seeing on Double Dare, but heck if I know what they get if they win....The only reason to watch is to see faceplants and backbreaking falls, but it's like a train wreck...you can't stop looking.

Try it out some time, it's so evil you'll feel bad about watching it. (For like half a second.)

"You gotta grab life by the lips and YANK as hard as you can." -Wierd Al, UHF

Posted by The Younger (slightly less angry) Fat Man at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)

I'm tired of the new diet ideas, the next big thing to lose weight.

I'm tired of the Atkins Grapefruit Hollywood Sugar Buster South Beach Color Zone Doctor Phil diets. At one point, low fat, high carb was no big deal...we'd burn off the carbs quickly, right? Nope, a whole slew of people blew their livers and got diabetes. So, a high protein, low carb diet is the trick, right? Well, if you don't want to have a bowel movement for a week and like the idea of heart failure because of all of the animal fat, sure! Well surely Doctor Phil has the answer, his diet is all about making changes...true, but if you buy his products it would be so much simpler, right??? C'mon, he's out to make money just like every other person in the dieting game.
Who's to know what is the right way to go, but one thing we need to focus on is life changes not diets that we can't live the rest of our life with.
We've turned into a society of get-slim-quick idiots... You have to live a life that makes sense, don't get your stomach stapled just cause Al Roker and the fat chick from Wilson-Phillips did!!! Sure, they look great, but give it ten years, we'll figure out something is wrong with the procedure and they'll have some sever health problems. If God wanted you to have a smaller stomach, he would have given you one!
I can't say that I'm the greatest authority on weight loss, but I've lost around 55 pounds in the last year and it was by using good sense...that and the diabetic drugs that I have to take now that I've made some bad decisions in my life and hit diabetes much earlier than I should have. Just use some damn common sense people, of course, I'm learning that most of the schmucks out there just don't have any to begin with anyway.

Posted by The Younger (slightly less angry) Fat Man at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

I read a story on CNN tonight that just plain pissed me off.

I am not necessarily an Eminem fan. He is purposely controversial and he gets the media attention and it sells more records. I can understand that. I think I do something similar here... some of the stances I take are a little more on the controversial side just so I can get a rise out of someone. Debate is a good thing.

Anyway, this point of this story was that the Secret Service has opened up an investigation into a bootleg song done by Eminem. Their excuse is that it could be a threat to the president. I read the lyric and I found a snippet of the song. The lyric in question is "Fuck money, I don't rap for dead presidents. I'd rather see the president dead."

OK. It isn't a well wish, but I think it is a long way from being a threat against the president. Eminem did not come out and say that he was going to kill the president. In fact, he didn't even name the president. So, isn't this so called threat vague to say the least.

Last I checked, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution says that the government cannot abridge free speech. That, to me, says that anyone can say pretty much anything. If someone wants to jump up and down and say that they want to kill the president, they have that right. You may not agree with it, but they have that right. If they are pointing a gun at the presidential motorcade while they are shouting, then that is another. I can't find anything anywhere that says it is illegal to say that you want to kill the president. Even if there is a law out there somewhere, it would be clearly unconstitutional and should be overturned.

This is a freaking song and one that hadn't even been released to the public. Paranoia can be a good thing, but this is a little extreme.

I am sure that this post has just gotten me on some list as a threat to the president. I'll have to keep my eyes out for the unmarked black helicopters now.

"Free speech is intended to protect the controversial and even outrageous word; and not just comforting platitudes too mundane to need protection." - General Colin Powell

Posted by The Angry Fat Man at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

They. It is an interesting word.

Webster's Dictionary defines it as meaning "those ones - used as third person pronoun serving as the plural of he, she, or it or referring to a group of two or more individuals." It is used to point out people and their actions... They are going to the store or they are working really hard.

It is also used as a way for people to pass the responsibility for their actions on to someone else.

Take the current situation in Cincinnati, Ohio. A 350-pound crack head named Nathaniel Jones who was drunk and hopped up on PCP died while being placed in police custody. This guy took a swing at one of the cops and it took six cops using their nightsticks to get him down on the ground and handcuffed. While he was down, he had a heart attack. People are coming out and saying that the reason that he died was that "they" were out to get him. Who? The white cops, of course. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that Nathaniel Jones was black.

So, what the lawyers, the NAACP and the dead guys family is saying is that it really wasn't Jones' fault. It was the police officer's fault that he weighed 350 pounds and had an enlarged heart. It was the cops fault that he was drunk and on drugs. The officers must have baited him into taking a swing at them. And, of course, Jones had nothing to do with the fact that that he kept swinging after they tried to restrain him.

Folks, get over yourself. Nobody was out to get him. There may be some training issues that have to be resolved with the cops, but when you see a ham-sized fist coming at your head, you do what you have to do. Jones was obviously self destructive and he finally imploded. I'm sorry that he died, but he did it to himself. Yes, the coroner says that he wouldn't have died if he hadn't been in the fight, but he wouldn't have been in the fight if he hadn't placed himself in that position.

"We've gotten to the point where everybody's got a right and nobody's got a responsibility." - Newton Minow

Posted by The Angry Fat Man at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I start with a quote from Jim Nabors' loveable goofball character Gomer Pyle to show that once you go dumb, there's nowhere to run. It took Nabors six years from his first appearance (1963) on The Andy Griffith Show to get his own show in the form of the Jim Nabors Hour (1969). He never could get out of the "goofy" character and was typically typecast as such...but wow the man can sing!!! That was his way of differentiating himself from his character, showing talents other than being silly.

Now to the present. A runway model, turned sit-com player Ashton Kutcher is trying REALLY hard to get into serious acting. What's this, you say? A person who has played such deep roles as "Kelso" on That 70's Show and one of the idiots from "Dude, Where's My Car" can't land a project with serious role???

It seems that Ashton may have decided to leave Cameron Crowe's next project "Elizabethtown", because Crowe reportedly told Ashton that he REALLY needed acting lessons. This, only months after Ashton was set to his heels on a Soderbergh project because S.S. thought that the publicity from Ashton and Demi's relationship was really negative.

Guess what Ashton, welcome to the real world. We have a certain thing called specialization here and it's a horribly inhibiting thing. While I may work for a telecomm giant in an engineering aspect, a friend of mine, with the same education and background is now a supervisor for a small computer help desk firm. Do you think that either of us can jump ship and do the other's job??? Maybe....but who's going to give us the chance? Face it pal, you are the comedic foil and will always play the loud idiot, get over it, play to your stupidity!! Learn to sing, or juggle, or something...let your inner dancing monkey out! Because that first dramatic role you ruin will most likely be your last!

Posted by The Younger (slightly less angry) Fat Man at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Maybe I'm in the wrong line of work......maybe I should work for the DMV or be a cop or something.

Or maybe I'm just REALLY bored when I drive......

Or maybe, just maybe, I'm the only one really paying attention!!!!!!

I saw another "30 day tag" infraction this morning.
Someone had taken the 10-22-03 and made it into 12-22-03, try writing this on a piece of paper....go ahead....I'll wait.

Can't make it look convincing, can you? Well, this cat really tried hard, it looked like a horribly shaped 0 with the tail of a 2 coming out the back end. It was bad, I mean real bad, I think Ray Charles could have seen that one for what it was.

Here's a final thought folks.....use WHITE OUT!!!!!!!

Posted by The Younger (slightly less angry) Fat Man at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)