The Transcendent Sycophant

NEW DBT OUT APRIL 18TH!

2006-03-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

I'm soo excited that I might soil myself (and by soil I mean poo poo).

...mmmm...

2006-03-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

...long...time...since... last...blahgpost.... .............................................................. ................................................................check... out...willfullymisc...my...wife's...cooooool...blahg........... ....................................................

In Larry's defense

2006-01-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

In my neck of the woods Larry Miller has come under a lot of fire because his of his choice not to show "Brokeback Mountain" in his movie theater. A lot of activists and even one of the film's stars Heath Ledger have spoken out about the decision. I see a few problems with what these people are saying against Mr. Miller.

First, I wonder if they ever considered that the decision may have been a fiscal one. I think that it is entirely within the realm of possibility that when Mr. Miller heard that "Brokeback Mountain" was a story about the romantic relationship between two cowboys, he may have thought that he would never be able to make any money showing a homosexual themed film in conservative Utah. Although it would have been a poor financial decision, because the film ended up doing very well in Salt Lake City, it does seem like a logical reason to pull the movie.

Second, even if it was a moral decision, or if Larry Miller has a problem with homosexuals, it is his theater. He owns the business and he has the ultimate decision of what kind of films can be seen in his theater. Nobody can tell him otherwise.

If we continue with this line of logic we arrive at my third point. For all the people calling Larry H. Miller a bigot, your actions condemn you as bigots yourselves. Oppinions of all kinds should be tolerated in our society wether we agree with them or not. And to sling mud at a man who stands by his convictions (let's bear in mind that he did no one any physical harm by doing so), is bigotry pure and simple.

I have come to think that a lot (not necesarrily all) of the political correctness that permeates our society today has become the new secular religion. Their main doctrine being: "Equality and acceptance for all, except those who disagree with us." I do not mean this as a blanket statement, there are some aspects of our society that can be considered "P.C." that are good things. But to condemn a man for having a different oppinion or outlook on life is bigotry of the highest order. Don't even get me started on the religious connotations that could be read into this whole situation.

You may disagree with a person, but they have as much right to act on their oppinions as you do. I don't think that it's fair or right to condemn a man for this action, especially since he has made no public statement as to why he pulled the movie in the first place.

I just think that people need to be more tolerant. That's all.

,,,,,cha·me·leon

2005-12-12T14:24:00.000-07:00

The first person to get the above joke gets a super five, which is a really awesome high five. I know, I know. It's an awesome prize, but please make your guesses in an orderly fasion. I don't want anyone getting hurt. If you decide to submit an answer and don't happen to be a person who is likely to see me personally on any given day, I will e mail you a super five. I don't know how I'm going to do that, but I'll find a way. Also, video games are cool.

More on music

2005-12-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard The Black Keys yet, you are certainly missing out.

They have a sound that's heavily influenced by the blues (especially on their first album "The Big Come Up") without being overcome by the conventions/cliches of the blues. Their sound is thick, raw and wholly vibrant. As far as I'm concerned they are the best new rock band around.

Their albums are (in chronological order):

The Big Come Up

Thickfreakness

Rubber Factory (which was actually recorded in an old tire factory.)

I recomend all three of them. This band just seems to get better and better with each album.

Art! Art? Art.

2005-11-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

So, this is my first post on the web log since...well... just look at the date on the last post. I just want to talk a little bit about what's been occupying my mind as of late.

First and foremost, my wife is on my mind. Man oh man is she cool. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, that's for sure. I'm not going to go too far in to the subject of my fledgling marriage. I'm sure that most of my readers (all four of you) don't check this sight to see the sappy side of me. If that IS why you read this log on the web, then you're sadly out of luck because I won't indulge your sap seeking tendencies.

Orson Scott Card has a website that is, really, mostly for fans or anyone interested in his work. Being a fan myself I visit his sight weekly for the reviews and articles that he writes. In his most recent review, Mr. Card said something that caught my attention and got me thinking. He was reviewing some of the artists in his area and said: "The art you surround yourself with is part of who you are. To live with art you don't love is empty. Better to hang mirrors everywhere. Or find a nice wallpaper." This statement rang true to me. And while I enjoy visual art, the type of art that keeps my interest is of the auditory variety. Music.

I have often been accused (sometimes accurately) of music snobbery. But in this post I want to talk about some of the music that I've heard that really inspires me. Most of what I'll get into is rock and roll. If you, dear reader, would like a glimpse of what makes me tick, then here it is. For each artist or group I'll tell you a little bit about their sound, what I like about their music and maybe some things that I dislike about it. As a final note before we get in to the meat of the post, I'm only going to mention the groups that have been on my radar recently, I won't mention any artist or group that, however much I love their music, I haven't been too focused on lately.

First on the list is Drive-by Truckers.
This band is often pegged by critics as Southern Rock. I think that's a sign of a lazy critic looking for an easy classification for this group. Although they do have some of the hallmarks of Southern Rock such as three guitar players and a lot of songs about southern life, that's only one aspect of their music. I think that Drive-by Truckers go way beyond such a simple label.

Their greatest strength is that they have three very talented song-writers, Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell. Their songs range from humorous (Demonic possession, Zoloft) to the tragic (Heathens, Decoration Day).

I think that the songs have become more refined in their newer albums, but their first two albums still have some of my favorite songs on them. The Living Bubba is a true story about a rocker who contracted aids, found solace in his music and faced death with dignity. Sandwiches for the road might be the most achingly beautiful song ever written about baloney sandwiches. One of these days is a wonderful song about a restless man who passes his wandering ways on to his son.

It's looking like I'm going to have to do this post in installments. I'll be back later with some more about the music that inspires me.

Firefox is cool

2005-11-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

On a whim, I decided to switch my browser to Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. I gotta tell you, I like it a lot. What do I like about it? Well there are supposed to be a lot of security features that just aren't present on explorer. It is very customizable. The best thing that I've found on firefox is the tabbed browsing feature, I absolutely love it. It's also free, which made it that much more attractive to me. For all those who think that Microsoft is the devil, and want to do whatever you can to take them down a notch, firefox is your program. It's better than explorer, and whenever you use it you really feel like you're socking it to the man.

I miss the weekend.

2005-11-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

So I'm back to the grind. What makes it worse is that I had such a good weekend. That combined with my penchant for going to bed late makes me especially bummed to be at work right now.

Eight days.

2005-11-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

Eight days I've been at this. Eight days I've been trying my hand at amateur (or less than amateur) writing. And you know what? So far, it's been pretty rewarding, and satisfying, and cool and all that stuff. I know that most of my posts have been pretty short, but I'm working up something with a little more meat that will probably be up within the next few days. More later.

Ninja Gaiden Black (and Blue)

2005-11-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

My wife bought me Ninja Gaiden Black for my birthday, and it's a great game. I've played through about six chapters but seem to have run in to a snag. Alma, the boss at the end of chapter seven is absolutely destroying me. I guess I'm going to have to try a different strategy, maybe a little more defense and a little less recklessness.

For my birthday, I also recieved some dvd's a cd and a pair of pants. They're all wonderful. Many thanks to my amazing wife for the wonderful birthday presents.

Comment Spam? Are you serious?

2005-10-31T10:49:00.000-07:00

This is ridiculous! How pathetic would it be to have someone ask you what your job is and tell them that you leave people annoying comments on their blog. "I'm a comment spamer. That's right, I annoy people for a living."

To anyone tempted to leave comment spam on this blog, I must tell you in advance that your comment WILL be deleted. I will NOT click your link. And I'd like to say this in advance: Screw You!

For anyone who wants to leave actual feedback here without trying to sell me something, you are welcome with open arms.

Al-a-ka-zam-a-ka-zoo

2005-10-31T09:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everybody! Here's a good web comic with a Halloween-esque feel to it. This is an excellent comic which is updated Tuesday and Thursday. There is an on going story, and my only complaint is that it doesn't update more often. This is a very minor complaint however because Les McClaine has put together a very good comic with an engrossing story and excellent art.

Day Three

2005-10-28T14:55:00.000-06:00

Well, it's the third day of my blog, and I've still recieved no response. I assume that people write these things in order to have them read. I wonder however; how does one get people to read one's blog? More this weekend.

Transcendent Schlock

2005-10-27T14:24:00.000-06:00

OK, so I know that I said that there would be a new post tomorrow but there's something I still want to say. I have a websight here that claims to be sycophantic, and there has been absolutely now brown nosing featured on the transcendent sycophant. Well I'm going to do a little right now.

There's a man named Howard Tayler and he writes, draws and publishes a comic strip on the internet. The comic strip is called Schlock Mercenary and it's awesome. Schlock Mercenary is a science fiction/comedy/sometimes horror comic strip, and I've been reading it for about 4 and a half years now. Sometimes I feel bad that I read his strip each and every day without ever giving anything back. Never bought a t shirt, never made a donation, never even even contacted the guy but man did I ever enjoy his comic. The beauty of it is, you don't have to contribute you can just enjoy the comic strips. It's premium stuff and you can view all of the strips starting at the very first one starting here. Trust me, the art gets better. Just stick with it.

Howard Tayler. I am in awe.

El Pan que Habla

2005-10-27T09:13:00.000-06:00

Day two of the blog, and I'm still pretty vague on what I'll be writing about. Perhaps I will eventually have some original fiction. Really this blog is the result of me telling myself that I should start writing. Yes I'm an aspiring writer and I have a blog. Isn't that unique? I don't know at this point how far I'm going to take this, only time will tell. New post tomorrow.

Checklist

2005-10-26T16:25:00.000-06:00

Things I need for my blog

Computer

check

Pretentious Name

check

Nothing but the vaguest idea of what I'll be writing about

check

That's it. It looks like I've got all the makings of a blog here!