Wisdom of the Sages
Episode IV
Spring 2008
Hello People of the World!
Well, it’s tax season. Or maybe just after it. I hope you filed your return in a timely fashion, or at least your extension. Here we are with something just as fun, the new edition of your favorite now-blog newsletter from the greatest writer under the Heavens. No, me.
Okay, let’s get thing started with some weird and some sad news:
:[ First item: The WB Household, well, got a new puppy. A Sharpei-Basset mix. Her name is Molly. It is so hard for me to stand on principle on this one. You all know how I feel about keeping a dog in the city. I have no defense. Bonnie got a puppy to cheer our girls.
And on that note: read my Ode to a Big, Fatty Kitty.
:[ So, Brian Urlacher wants to get his ball and go home. Man, he does everything but say he’s gonna tell his mom on us. Poor boy, has a 7-year, 52 million dollar contract to play a game, A GAME!
:[ Amusing Ourselves to Death - pt 2: I have learned two things living in this great country of ours; 1) we are a nation of drunkards, and 2) we will defend our right to drink and smoke more fervently than our right to habeas corpus and privacy and to be not tortured.
:[ Bandidas - the greatest western EVER! If you don’t think so, you’re a coward.
:[ On the Discovery Channel: "Who Killed Tut?: The Case Re-opened". I wouldn’t have bothered with this. But seeing the ad on TV made me angry. You see, about four years ago, two NYPD Forensic dept cops made a special about King Tut being murdered and did a psychological profile of who could have done it. Then, about a year or so ago, the Egyptian Museum Scientists, opened his casket and did an MRI on Tut’s ACTUAL remains and found NO evidence of foul play. There was no major news about that find. And that wasn’t good enough for the Discovery Channel and the two white cops who lost face. They get another special and they get to go over evidence again to try and prove themselves right. I mean two cops against the whole of Egyptian Science and Archeology. Weird. If anyone has seen it, can they tell me who it turned out?
:[ The Native Experience: I am writing up something more on this. Please let me know if you wish me to eloborate. If not, I'll chuck in a short item in next month's WOS.
:[ I have noticed a sort Geek Backlash in the media, as if we do not want the smart people being accepted. Like the sudden dislike of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. On "Heroes" everyone complained bout Hiro spending too much time in Japan and should get back to the presence. They just wanted him acting like a child-like geek instead of, well, a Japanese man.
Take the recent hubbub about the movie called "Fanboys" about some serious Star Wars fans breaking into Lucasfilm to screen "The Phantom Menace" before it opens. Now, Miramax bought it and as usual did serious re-writes and shoots. The major plot point of the friends doing this for a dying frined was cut out in favor of making them look overly zealous about Star Wars. I guess Geeks have nothing to do with human contact and will never fit in. Right?
:[ Did you know that during the time of Christ, "Inspired Writing" was considered divine and authorial. So, it was early Christian, humans, that decided what was "The Word of God".
:[ 4000 dead in Iraq. We passed that mark on Easter Sunday. Irony. With the economy and gas prices as bad as they are, we’re supposed to think getting $600 each is going to fix that? They say that the Dow gains 2%. It is like being buried 100 feet in the ground and praising yourself when you climb up two feet. People tend to forget the person who buried you there. He just walks away from it all, all smiles and righteousness.
:[ Here’s a sample of the WOS: Photo Edition. Enjoy!
:[ Question of the Week: Does Intelligent Design make God stupid? I'll let you know what I think next time!
:[ I was standing on the el platform (That means "the" platform.) at Clark and Lake, when this guy in a Redskins cap walks up and stands next to me. He sees me then, wouldn’t make eye contact. Hm. I wonder why. A gigantically huge Native guy wearing a NATIVE PRIDE cap and he’s got an Indian head logo on his. I wanted to say "Nice hat", but he never looked at me though I was maybe three feet away.
The Redskins logo reminds me of when scientists of the 1880's paid for the heads of Indian men to prove that their brains were smaller. Paying cash money for an actual Indian head.Just to prove Westward Expansion would be no more than cleaning out the mice from a field. How is paying $15 to $20 for a representation of an Indian head that much different in term of how people view Natives these days?
:[ Three Kingdoms UPDATE: Two-volume, Updated, Unabridged Version. Finally getting to Volume Two. Lord Guan and Zhang Fei Yidei have been murdered, leaving the last Oath Brother, Liu Bei Xuande to get revenge on the Southland for it was agents of the Southland that carried out both killings. Though both murders have been avenged, Liu Bei makes a critical mistake, in my opinion, by continuing to press against the Southland, even though they atoned for the killings by giving up those responsible for them to Liu Bei. Together, they could have defeated the Northern Wei and brought Cao Cao to justice. Instead, Cao Cao dies in power and is posthumously named August Emperor after Cao Pi usurps the Han throne and declares himself Emperor.
Now Liu Bei marches on the Southland and Sun Quan allies with Cao Pi and the Wei in defense.
It was news that John Woo was making a movie based on this that got me into the books, now here we are, after four consecutive readings of Three Kingdoms, is his movie finally getting into movie theaters in Asia this fall. It will probably be summer 2009 before we get it here in the US.
Oh well. At least I’ve still got the books. I am now contemplating reading the two-volume Brewitt-Taylor translation.
:[ Finally, our China, (China plate - mate) Christian Cuba has discovered the answer to that age-old question: After eating dinner, when we went to see Tranformers: The Movie, the 80's animated flick at the Music Box, Cuba asked what the Autobot did or would be doing if they we not constantly at war with the Decepticons. (Yeah, we really do have these discussions. A lot.) I couldn’t think of anything but having "regular" jobs, I guess. It was then we passed an "Optimal Optics" eye glasses place and Cuba said because of Optimus Prime’s name, maybe he was an optometrist in his regular life, "before the war". I had to agree. Awesome!
:[ The Absolute last item for this month: One evening as I boarded the Red Line train coming home I saw a beautiful, young Asian woman sitting in a corner seat.
Well, I hope this hold you over for now. Still no takers on the comments or response end. I’ll keep asking. I don’t get paid or win a prize or anything. I just truly want to know what you think. If I’ve been a jerk or something to you, chalk it up to ID Theft, or, the creation of a really convincing alter ego persona.
Also, I am sloooooooooooowwly making my way through my address book, sending out "The Note", a sort of update/keeping in touch house keeping thing I do. So, if you haven’t received one, look for a message titled "The Note". Okay?
Until next time; "Quality eye care at low costs is the right of every sentient being."
