Friday 5 on Wednesday.

I went to Disneyworld, so my Friday 5 is a tad late.

Per Adam, 5 Things That Make You Wake Up In The Middle Of The Night In A Cold Sweat.

First, I would like to note that I do not wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Ever. I hardly ever dream, and never have nightmares. I know that people say everyone dreams, but I just have no recollection of dreaming anything at all 95% of the time. So, I am altering the title to the 5 things that give me insomnia, which I have at least every other night.

1. A frequent topic on my little blog, but the thought that I may not be a filmmaker scares the hell out of me. I will spend hours terrified about it. My entire identity is wrapped up in film. It is what I love, what I dream about, what I crave like a drug. In my down moments, thinking that I will never make a feature film scares the heck out of me.

2. Money. I hate it. I am terrible at managing it. I am terrible at saving it. I hate having to write checks and hope they don't clear until payday, I hate not having food in the house, or worrying that the electricity will get cut off. But even though I hate living check to check, I seem unable to change my spending habits. So, there is no winning. I get money, I spend it on stuff and then I struggle by until the next time I have money. Not the calmest way to live.

3. Death. I can't think about this for more than 2 seconds without getting in a dark mood. I believe that when we die, our emotions live on. Whatever love, hate, fear, pride we have in life lives on, creating an individual heaven or hell for everyone (a person who loved more than they hated lives with the love forever, a person who lived his life afraid lives with the fear for ever, etc) What I do not see surviving is memories. And I want my memories. The thought that one day, even 2 hundred million years from now, I will not know I ever married my wonderful wife or had my beautiful children fills me with rage. People say I won't remember that I had forgotten them, so why does it matter, but that is one lame ass excuse.

4. George Bush. I hate what that man is doing to our country. And the fact that he feels there is nothing pressing enough to prevent his from his month-long vacation in Texas is sickening.

5. My weight. I want to meet my great grandkids, but I really have to get the weight under control to manage that. lus I want to look good naked.

Damn, this is a depressing list, Adam.

Dove vs. Dean

Haven't responded to Chris' assessment of Dean yet. And I need to, and time is running short.

I agree with many things Chris is saying.

1. McGovern's op-ed was an idiotic tirade. Sorry, George, but campaigns are judged by who wins the election. Gore ran a very shoddy campaign, and he paid a price for it.

2. Yes, Karl Rove is a genius campaigner. An evil genius to be sure, but a genius campaigner. Who else would have the guts to slur the Military record of a man who survived a POW camp, when his candidate was a deserter from the Texas Air Guard?

3. Bush is a lying, manipulative weasel. (Or worse, a lying manipulated weasel).

But there are many points I disagree with Chris

1. I believe Gore would have won the election had reportedly hundreds of voters not been illegally included on a voting "scrub list." Yes, Bush won, but Bush cheated. And that is important. It is an important pre-curser to Bush's entire administration. Bush and his cronies bent the rules for maximum political advantage. Yes he won, but nor fairly. I am not advocating running on a remember 2000 platform. I think any candidate that brings it up is an idiot. But the Dems have to learn from 2000 and stop the Republican machine when it tries to manipulate laws in their favor. At worst, the Dems need to learn to manipulate some laws of their own.

2. And this one may be agreeing with Chris in a round-about way. Dean is a centrist. Look at his stands on the issues. Look at his voting record. Look at the fights he got into with the Vermont legislature. Dean is a Centrist. Now, Dean is easily labeled a far left freak, and that is nearly as bad as being a far left looney. He suffers from the New England liberal image, simply because of his geographic region's generalized political leanings. But he is not the only candidate that will have to overcome that stigma. And that is why it is important for me to stand up and say "No, Dean is a freakin Centrist". Every suggestion that Dean is a lefty, be it in the media, by pundits or by people on the street must be countered with force. We must be diligent to not let the New England liberal label stick.

3. I agree on Chris' assertion that the candidate has to appeal to 51% of the voters. But I believe Dean is the best shot of doing this.

a. Dean has practically neutralized any threat from the far left, and has not had to change his more centrist views to do it. The far left is excited about his potential to win. Nader has already said he might sit the election out if Dean wins the nod. Dean has brought those people back in the fold.

b. Dean has neutralized the NRA vote. Dean's NRA record is equal to Bush's, and Dean is proud of this. The NRA wins either way. Now, I am not saying this is a good thing, but there were many mid-western states where Bush's sole strategy was to scare the gun-owners. That will not be an issue in 2004 with Dean. Certainly, the NRA will give lip-service to Bush, but they will not spend the millions of dollars in 2004 like they did to defeat Gore. There is no need for them to spend that money. The NRA will divert those millions to fights in other places and other times.

c. Support for the War in Iraq has dwindled from 75% in April to %9% now, and it is still dropping. Dean's early campaign centered around his opposition to the war in Iraq, not because he is a peacenik, but because American was not justified in attacking based on the intelligence provided. Dean's position from the outset is what many Americans are coming around to, that this war did not justify the threat.

d. Bill Clinton won in 1992 on Health Care reform, and the situation is much worse now. Dean is a medical doctor who provided health care to 99% of under 18 kids in Vermont, while cutting the taxes and balancing the budget. Bush can only dream of a record like that.

e. Vermont is not in the middle of a budget crisis. Vermont has money to fund it's programs, even while they cut taxes during the 90s. Vermont has one of the best economies in the nation right now. Texas' budget is toast. We are broker than broke. Dean has the record to defeat Bush on economic policy.

f. One more comparison with Clinton. Dean is charismatic, in a way none of the other candidate's (except maybe Sharpton) can match. Charisma wins elections. Beyond issues and platforms, charisma wins elections.

So, these are a few reasons I think that not only can dean pull in that 51%, but how he is our best shot at getting that 51%.

4. And finally, what scares me when I see Chris saying Dean will lose, to me it is equivalent to throwing in the towel. I see no Democratic candidate, other than Dean, who even has a shot of winning in 2004.

a. Braun? Unelectable.

b. Sharpton? unelectable

c. Graham? His campaign is a non-starter, his plan is to get his name recognition up for the VP slot.

d. Kucinich? Here is the candidate who most fits my politics. If I wanted to nobly throw the election, I would be rooting for this guy. I am a far left democrat. But I am not supporting him because he can't win. His stand on the issues, while exciting the leftmost 5% of the country, will repel the middle 15%. I am in this to win, and Kucinich can't do it. Besides, Kucinich has the charisma of a wet sponge.

Now we enter into the "Contenders"

e. Lieberman? Nothing but Bush lite. He will lose the left most 10% of the country, and you need those lefties to win too. I would have to force myself to the polls and vote while wearing a gas mask if Lieberman wins. His campaign is dead, he agrees with Bush on Iraq, tax cuts and economic policy (so why not just keep Bush in there) and he lacks any sort of grassroots presence, and those grassroots are important to win campaigns. Free labor is a necessity.

f. Edwards? He is going nowhere in the polls, his name recognition is zilch, he is also running for re-election to the Senate and polls have him losing his Senate seat. He has money and he is a Southerner and he is easy on the eyes. But he is too politically green (as opposed to Green). He would be trounced by the Rove campaign machine. And he suffers from the same allegiances to Bush's position that Lieberman does. The lesson of the 2002 races was A Democrat who supports Bush's major platforms will lose. Because if you are going to vote to support Bush, you vote for Bush.

g. Gephardt? Consistently lost the House to Republicans while he was in charge. His voting record of the past 2 years is that of bending over backwards to please Bush. Worse than Lieberman and Edwards, Gephardt help draft and win support for issues that Democrats hate. The Iraqi war, the Patriot act, tax cuts for the wealthy. He has huge support of the unions, but name a democratic president that won't have the support of unions in the General election? Especially with Bush changing work laws so that companies are not required to pay time and a half for overtime.

h. Kerry? This is where the smart money is at, but I see it as a major catastrophe. Kerry is just as easily branded as Dean as a New England liberal (in fact, more easily so, since his voting record matches a New England liberal a lot more than Dean's does). He voted for the Iraqi War, and is now waffling. He is waffling on tax cuts. His campaign (so far) has been nothing but reactive, responding to the proposals of other candidates without offering a solution of his own. He is the worst of Clinton without Clinton's great advantage, his charisma. Kerry will waffle, and stand up to Bush in a half-hearted sort of way. And be intellectual and smug, and Bush will revert to folksy and win in a landslide.

I believe defeating Bush is imperative. Bush must go for the good of this country. Which means that I have to pick the winner from the above 9 names. I see not decision but Dean.

I am not a violent man. It takes a lot of hard work to get me upset enough to committ violence.

And as a non-violent man, I will not advocate having an open season on anyone who pays to hunt naked woman with paintball guns. I will refrain from suggesting that they be shot with extreme prejudice and strapped to the hood of a humvee as I dance about them singing halleluja.

However, I do sugest that we immediately remove all children from the participants custody permanently, and impose forced sterilization as they walk in the door. So, yes, you can hunt naked woman. But damn it, you can't breed afterwards.

If Adam gets to go a different list for fictional characters, then so do I.

1. Lazarus Long. I want to have a huge dinner party with him and his entire family. (This means I also get to meet Jubal Harshow, Maureen Johnson, Ishtar, Galahad and many others. If they take me for a ride in Dora, I get to meet John Carter, Gulliver and Glinda the good witch)
2. Granny Weatherwax. She can make me some apple stumble. And I would probably get to meet Magrat and Nanny Ogg as well.
3. Gandalf. I'm sure there must be something he needs me to do to save the world.
4. Obi Wan Kenobi. The force is strong in me. Really.
5. King Arthur. Not the 9th century Welsh king, but the 17th century romantic figure. I could worn the idiot.

Friday 5

Today's topic by Melissa

5 historical figures or fictional characters you'd like to have dinner with

Gosh, quite the broad one this week.

1. William Shakespeare. We would have gotten along famously, I feel sure, especially after I introduced him to Shiner Bock.
2. Dylan Thomas. Just to hear him speak in person. The man's voice is what I imagine God's to be like. Booming, usually incoherent and Welsh. We could share a lamb.
3. Ginger Rogers. The woman that did eveything Fred Astaire did backwards and in heels. Whipped cream might be the only food needed.
4. Georges Méliès. The magician turned filmmaker who turned film into an art for storytelling. We would split a big bucket of artifically buttered popcorn.
5. Jesus. We could share a bottle of port, but I would be sure to be the one buying it in case he gets any funny ideas. But what I wouuld really like is for me, Jesus, Budda, Moses and Mohhamed to get together for a champagne brunch. With Migas.

I see that I did not include any fictional characters. I might have to make that a seperate list later this week.

And to end on a depressing note, the first person my mind went to when I started to think about this topic was Casey. Not to tell her anything that was left unsaid or anything like that. I just want to laugh a bit more with her, if only for a little while.

I always think of interesting things I have to say on this thing when have no access to a computer, but when I am sitting here, they all esape from me. Ideas must not like the monitor's radiation or something.

I spent a long time the other day writing as very long Blog entry about Religion and Mass Media, centered around Mel Gibson's upcoming film, The Passion. I was attempting to make the argument that religion is too personal to put into the hands of such an emotionally manipulative mass medium such as film.

But of course, this is bullocks and I had to delete it. In my attempt to show outrage at Mel Gibson, whose religious views are rather extreme, making a biased movie about Jesus and his statements that the film is so powerful, Muslims and Agnostics converted during the filming," I attempted to say that religion and mass art should not mix.

Religion and mass media mix all the time, every bad movie about good vs. evil, every film about people falling in love, every sitcom about wacky kids and their zany parents is making a religious statement. Both attempt to bring our lives into some sort of focus, to give us a rubric through which we can measure our own lives. In a very basic sense, religion and mass media are the same thing. Their methods are different, but the goal is the same. They answer Why? They appeal to different people, to different aspects of ourselves, but they are both interested in the Why?

I wanted to say that mass audiences do not have the training to separate the narrative of Jesus from the cinematic tricks filmmaker's use to present their biased view as fact. Not only is this quite snobbish, it is the same logic used by priests who didn't want to translate the Bible into English, because mass audiences did not have the education to really understand it. And there is nothing I hate more than religious snobbery.

So, I can't say that Mel Gibson should not have made a movie about Jesus. I can't say that people should not go see it. I can't help it if people walk away from the film with a distorted view of Jesus' Passion that may affect their perception of Jesus. If a single film can alter one person's faith, that person's faith was not terribly solid to begin with. And besides, wrestling with different religious viewpoints is a good way to find your own religious path.

But I still think that saying "Muslims and Agnostics converted during the shoot" is tacky.

Friday 5

This is the most terrrifying topic to date.

5 ways I'm becoming your mother/father

1. I am taking my children to Disneyworld, even though we are broke. My parents did this every other summer of my life from 8 to 18. And they were broker at the time than we are now.
2. I have an intense need to handle big problems for other people. Or to try to handle them anyway.
3. A likeness for random adventure and getting in just a touch of trouble.
4. A deep desire to write, even though I never actually get any writing done.
5. And last and scariest, on dark days when I begin to feel that I will not be a filmmaker, and I consider the other things I may become, and the only career my brain can seriously ponder is a Priest. Father Will.


This list was especially difficult for two reasons. One, despite the fact that my father is a good guy, and much better at many things than I, I have always been of an independent breed that hates such comparisons. Two, my father and I have been a lot alike since birth (well, my birth anyway), so finding ways I am becoming like him instead of ways I have always been like him is tough.

Who was the first guy to figure this out?

Researchers Eye Impotence Pill Based on Black-Widow Spider Venom

My daughter called me at work today to tell me to tell everyone i know that she is a genius.

Consider it done.

And then consider how terrifying it is to have a 4 year old forcing you to publicly declare her brilliance.

Well, my dream of posting to this thing once a day has, so far, been quite illusory, but I am getting better. I think.

In the news, I stumbled upon this. Vietnam Veteran Files Constitutional Challenge to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and Federal Sodomy Statute, and wanted to add it to the legalizing sodomy discussion.

Basically, a Decorated Vietnam Vet was dishonorably discharged in 1997 for sodomy, losing a pension estimated at over $1 million 20 days before retirement, and now he wants that discharge reversed in light of the Supreme Court's recent ruling.

Bully for him, I say.

While I am not sure his case will stand much of a chance, I can see how discharging anyone for homosexual acts will now be a very tricky situation. Maybe, he types, daring to dream, this will finally break the idiotic Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and allow gays to serve in the military outright and openly. But I know it won't. Probably, the Supreme Court will not hear this case, and if they do, they will rule that the Military operates in a seperate legal sphere that allows such discrimination for "the good of military morale." But, we can dream.

I stumbled upon one of the greates websites in the multiverse

http://gutenberg.net/

This is a free, online library of just about every important public domain work. It has thousands and thousands of books. Incredible. I just downloaded and read H.G. Wells War of the Worlds. Free and easy. And, you can even download the books into a PDA and take the books with you.

Really, go check this place out. It is awesome.

Now, I just have to decide what I will be reading next.

Today's Friday 5

The Five Possessions or Habits That Most Clearly
Identify Me As A Member of A Particular Marketing
Demographic.

Hmmmmm....

1. Children (Leaves one open to that most lucrative of Demographics, kids. My children want everything sold on Nick Jr)
2. A really cool entertainment system. (Geek, DVD nut, Audiophile, as well as tons of cash on movies, when I have the time)
3. My Size 55 Sweater from the Men's Big & Tall Store (Fat people clothes, Diets, Low-fat Blah, blah, blah)
4. Technophile (I must have the latest and greatest tech device, I pine for them. Oh, how I pine. As a subset, a willing a joyful internet shopper)
5. A passport (I'll go anywhere once)