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What Would People Think?

Saturday, August 04, 2007

An Even More Lightning Quick Assortment of Thoughts And Life Updates

I have nothing interesting to say. Or rather, I have plenty of interesting things to say and never the time to say them.

1. Christy and I - along with 50 to 100 other Atlantans - spoke to the Atlanta City Council on Tuesday. It didn't help. They still didn't restore the funding to the homeless shelter.

2. You know you run in small American evangelical circles when you recognize an old college acquaintance in an ad in Christianity Today. (Sorry, you can't see the ad on the website.) I was riding the train to work flipping through the magazine when I thought "that picture on that ad 2 pages back looked like Meryl Cantley." So I flipped back and realized... "holy [word an evangelical probably shouldn't use] that IS Meryl!" I haven't spoken to her in years and missed her wedding - though I was invited - because it took place on the same day as Lori and Bradley Metrock's wedding. So it's just kinda surreal to see her face in a national magazine after all these years. Her name's Meryl Herr now. Any of you Vandy folks remember her?

3. Damn, it's been a while since I've posted. Sorry about that.

4. Lion King 1 1/2 - yes, it's a Disney direct-to-video. By all rights it should be terrible. It's actually pretty funny. Best watched soon after seeing The Lion King. Lion King is to Hamlet as Lion King 1 1/2 is to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

5. Well, there goes the republic. Thanks, Senate Democrats. You make me so thrilled that we elected you last year. Way to make a stand for checks and balances.

6. In music video news Eisley (new album coming soon!) has a creepy video with "Invasion" based on....well, if you don't get the movie that inspired it, there's just no helping your ignorance of pop culture. (If you check out their Myspace, Eisley's new stuff sounds VERY different from their old stuff.) White Stripes (new album kicks @$$!!!) have a booooring video with their otherwise excellent "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)" I'm still holding out for them to release "Little Cream Soda" as a single. Because only the White Stripes can make spoken-word poetry ROCK! Finally Tegan & Sara (new album just out!) have an inexplicable video and even more inexplicable hairstyles in "Back In Your Head."

Finally -- If you don't click on any of the other random links in this blog post, click on this one and see why Tegan and Sara rock so much.

9 Comments:

  • 1. In the words of Homer Simpson, "You tried your best and you failed miserably. The moral is, never try." Or perhaps more pertinently, as they say, you can't fight City Hall. Seriously, sorry to hear that; it makes me smile that you tried though.

    2. I remember Meryl. Never really knew her, but knew of her. You made the right choice in terms of weddings by picking the one I was at. Also, I see nothing wrong with an evangelical discussing excrement, although consecrating it is a little weird.

    3. Not as sorry as we've been. Ass.

    4. So what you're saying is, "Lion King 1 1/2" works better as a play than as a movie, even though Richard Dreyfuss is hilarious and Tim Roth and Gary Oldman are solid as Timon and Pumbaa?

    5. As a relatively recent convert to the anti-partisan party, I chortled, yes chortled, not merely snickered or giggled but chortled, at the thought that the Democrats taking over the Congress would make a lick of difference. Have I ever mentioned I hate being right? (My theory: the Democrats don't want to put a check on the egregious extensions of executive power because they're planning to take advantage of them circa January 21, 2009.)

    6. Yay Eisley! That song kicks ass and I can't wait for August 14.

    By Blogger Mike, at 8/04/2007 12:01 PM  

  • Sorry to burst the anti-partisan bubble, but electing Democrats HAS made a difference...just not enough of a difference.

    Just one difference - the minimum wage has been raised. They've made moves to take troops from Iraq, if it weren't for the fact that Bush vetoed it.

    I used to be less partisan...until the Iraq War. When I realized that Al Gore would never have invaded Iraq....that's when I realized that the idea that "there's not a dime's worth of difference between the parties/candidates" is wrong and dangerously naive

    By Blogger Ben, at 8/04/2007 2:36 PM  

  • Yes, Gore would not have invaded Iraq. Then again, most other Republicans also would not have invaded Iraq.

    I agree that in Congress there is a difference between the two parties. Of course, the essence that difference just turns on which corporations are getting the biggest handouts.

    By Blogger Matthew B. Novak, at 8/04/2007 5:31 PM  

  • I never claimed for one second that I don't believe there is a difference between the parties. I agree that such a claim would be ludicrous. However, if the greatest impact the Democratic Congress has had is raising the minimum wage, I must admit I'm not the slightest bit impressed. Since I also don't favor removing troops from Iraq outright, that isn't exactly an action to make me dance in the streets either. So yes, I'm disappointed in the new Congress.

    And of course, I supported Al Gore. Avidly. More so than you, I would wager. Hence, like most Americans who got off their lazy asses and voted, I cast a ballot in favor of Gore. I recognized immediately the inherent dangers of a George W. Bush presidency (not a Republican presidency, mind you -- Matt is right that most Republicans would not have moved against Iraq). But, in the grand 7-year-old tradition of no one Mike votes for actually winning, no one listened. And here we are. So until the Democrats get a spine, I'm likely to remain anti-partisan.

    Sorry if any of that comes off harsh or combative -- as the time of the post may indicate, I haven't gotten any sleep the whole night.

    By Blogger Mike, at 8/05/2007 7:03 AM  

  • Anyways, what's more important here is that nobody has commented on how awesome Tegan & Sara are by listening to their concert clip.

    By Blogger Ben, at 8/05/2007 12:43 PM  

  • I like Tegan and Sara, but I got bored watching that clip. Didn't even make it to the end. That's pretty pathetic I suppose. Sorry.

    By Blogger Matthew B. Novak, at 8/05/2007 2:52 PM  

  • But their rambling is so adorable! And their willingness to stay and talk to their fans is a sign of their sheer awesomeness as rock stars and as human beings!

    Also, I love their response to the fans that have a sign saying "take me on tour."

    By Blogger Ben, at 8/06/2007 1:39 PM  

  • Ben - just saw your post during my typical read of your blog (along with Mike's, Jeff's, and Jacob's), and that's crazy you saw Meryl in an ad just at random. I was wondering what happened to her (went to the same HS, Vestavia) ... shame can't see that ad online.

    Glad you chose our wedding to attend by the way! :)

    Typically I would just lurk on your blog but had to come out of the woodwork to post on this one. Hope you guys are doing well. Have a good weekend.

    By Blogger Bradley, at 8/10/2007 12:42 AM  

  • Hey Ben! I've been having a nostalgic week, and I've been tracking down some old college and even high school buddies. So you saw my face in CT. Crazy crazy! I thought about leaving my email address on your blog, but blogs are kind of public. Check out the Vandy Alumni page. I just updated my info if you want my email address. I saw Bradley responded to your blog. I'd love to get in touch with him too.

    By Blogger Meryl, at 8/29/2007 9:40 PM  

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