Ok, it is the 4th of July and bombs are burting in air ...

but it seems to have a whole nuther meaning in the 21st century. We seem to be not so much celebrating our freedom as threatening the freedom in other parts of the world. I mean, heck, after our first preemptive invasion of another country in our history, bombs bursting in air must seem very threatening to other countries watching our pageant on CNN, the BBC and particularly Al Jezera. Mission has not been accomplished since we never had a real clear idea what the mission was so we have no idea how to judge accomplishment. There are no weapons to be found but no one outside of the US actually believed there were weapons. We have now unsuccessfully handed over power to our idea of Iraqi rulers who will most likely bear strong resemblances to our rulers in Vietnam, our rulers in Chile, our rulers in Iran and even our former rulers in Iraq, the guy we now have locked up and sitting down for what was supposed to be a nice mock trial lead up to our November election. But ...

But, Saddam does not seem to be playing by the rules, so look for less Saddam coverage or maybe a Jack Ruby like accident if he really gets unruly and maybe starts talking about his long term relationship with King George the 1st and/or Rummy, hisself

So, the idea of bombs bursting in air seems like a bad idea this year if it ever was a good idea. Probably I just didn't think real hard about the metaphoric reality of fireworks and what they stand for these days. Luckily in the Midwest where I live it has been raining off and on all day and seemed to really start to come down just as the first 'bombs bursting' launched tonight.

I think next year I may push for a fireworks free 4th and see who shows up.

Sincerely, Mediajazz@gmail.com

My so called media

No idea why it took me so long to see this series but I have been watching the 19 episode, 5 disk set this week. I just finished the Christmas episode 'So called Angels' which manages to channel Scrooge and 'It's a Wonderful Life' into a show which dances on the line of maudlin without ever going over and dealing with incredible powerful ideas ranging from abuse to homosexuality to family and relationships. I think the single scene which prevents it from tipping over the line is the help line scene where Brian Krakow -- maybe the most annoying teen character ever put on the screen ( and the one I identify most with for obvious reasons 8-) ) -- called the help line and reaches Rayanne, the teen bad girl character. He starts to cry from loneliness and Rayanne who is on the other end of the phone asks Brian what clothes he has own and then proceeds to talk about her low-cut tank top and she feels the need to take it off. Brian then asks her if he's reached the right help line and she responds with a total tag line: Do you still feel like crying? Must be the right help line. Then the show goes back into Rickey's abuse and abandonment story ending in the Church. This might be the single best dramatic show I've seen on TV. Boston Public, Felicity, American Dreams all pale by comparison and none of them could have been done without this show which canceled after 19 episodes and never had a 'final' show.'

I think I see MSCL as the follow up to The Wonder Years in a sense.

If oyu are looking for good viewing this summer you can't do better than
MSCL in any form.

--Thom

Stuff I like #1

Stuff I like right now is

Alias the TV Show; Alias the web game; Alias the PS2 game

Why?

Because it all works and demonstrates that TV maybe the prototype tool for games.

--Thom