Another holiday is in the books for the year. You know the routine, eat with your family, watch football, and get a wee bit snockered in the process. At least that's me. Not this year, sunshine! Due to work schedules and my family's trek over the river and through the Lansing to visit my grandmother downstate, I was left kind of on an island. Luckily, Ashley's family was good enough to take in a Thanksgiving refugee to feed turkey and football to. This was my first Turkey day that I can remember when I haven't seen my family. Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve have always been sacred to me and the fact that I spent this last one away from John, Cindy, and T-Dogg kinda got me choked up.
On the bright side, I did get PAID for Thursday, even though it is my scheduled day off, putting my total hours for the week at 48. I love this paid holiday stuff, I'm not gonna lie to you.
Suddenly, I've forgotten how much I like snow. Absolutely not snow drifts and icy slush, I'm talking about that early winter snow that kinda floats ever so gently to the turf and makes streetlamps look glow with serenity. Apparently we are never going to get any white stuff here in the Fox Valley. This whole winter should seem like vacation for me after four long winters in the MQT. Bring it on, fool! Short one today. To quote one of my esteemed acquaintances and former roommates: "What? Green Bay is on Monday Night again? I hate the Packers."
I'm finished,
Nate
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Monday, November 22, 2004
Fight!!!
I will always remember the period of time Nov 14-21, 2004 as the week everybody lost they damned mind.
Last Sunday, before an NFL game had even started two players got into a fight for seemingly no reason.
The week started with a huge brawl at the Vibe Awards (reason number 10456 why rappers should not have awards shows) in which Young Buck from G-Unit decided that a good career move after winning a Vibe award would be to join a melee and stab somebody. I can just see him getting yelled at by his handlers later on: "What do you mean you didn't think there would be cameras there?" The donnybrook started after somebody walked up to Dr. Dre and punched him in the face. Doesn't get any wierder than that, right?
Right?
Fast forward to Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills for the Pacers-Pistons game. It was ESPN's marquee matchup game for the night and on the pregame show they broke down the matchup between Ron Artest and Ben Wallace, two premier defenders. By the end of the night, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson of Indiana are way off their medication, fighting in the stands with fans and in some cases punching random spectators in the face. Then as one fan who foolishly ran on the court is getting up, Jermaine O'Neal from the Pacers comes up and levels him with a running punch. Then the Pacers and ESPN make a huge deal about Pistons fans being idiots. OK, let me explain something, when players from a visiting team start PHYSICALLY BATTLING spectators, all bets on fan behavior are off. Could you imagine if Ron Artest did this in a European soccer match? That night would turn into Ron Artest limb giveaway night: "First 100 people to get into the fray get a piece of Artest's arm or leg!" We're not likely to see a fight of that magnitude in sports again, at least not for a long time.
Right?
Saturday there is a huge fight at the end of the South Carolina-Clemson game involving just about every player on the field. OK, I think we just need to take a step back and take a deep breath.
Not a chance. President Bush had stepped into a tussle between one of his Secret Service agents and a Chilean security guard(s). Come on! Do we really want the president throwing down when he's supposed to have the best security on earth? We need to learn to deal with each other and at least try to let cooler heads prevail.
And then there was this:
In northern Wisconsin on Sunday, a group of hunters got in a dispute with a man that they said was using their tree stand illegally and told him to leave. Then, in possibly the most irrational response in history that hunter, ordered to leave, SHOT EIGHT PEOPLE. He killed five people and put three in the hospital, one of them critical. Senseless. I don't think there could be a punishment fitting enough. I know people like Carrie that are against the death penalty, but in this case how can something as tragic and inexcusable be dealt with any other way?
Excuse me, I need to go lock myself in a room to get away from humanity.
I'm finished,
Nate
Last Sunday, before an NFL game had even started two players got into a fight for seemingly no reason.
The week started with a huge brawl at the Vibe Awards (reason number 10456 why rappers should not have awards shows) in which Young Buck from G-Unit decided that a good career move after winning a Vibe award would be to join a melee and stab somebody. I can just see him getting yelled at by his handlers later on: "What do you mean you didn't think there would be cameras there?" The donnybrook started after somebody walked up to Dr. Dre and punched him in the face. Doesn't get any wierder than that, right?
Right?
Fast forward to Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills for the Pacers-Pistons game. It was ESPN's marquee matchup game for the night and on the pregame show they broke down the matchup between Ron Artest and Ben Wallace, two premier defenders. By the end of the night, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson of Indiana are way off their medication, fighting in the stands with fans and in some cases punching random spectators in the face. Then as one fan who foolishly ran on the court is getting up, Jermaine O'Neal from the Pacers comes up and levels him with a running punch. Then the Pacers and ESPN make a huge deal about Pistons fans being idiots. OK, let me explain something, when players from a visiting team start PHYSICALLY BATTLING spectators, all bets on fan behavior are off. Could you imagine if Ron Artest did this in a European soccer match? That night would turn into Ron Artest limb giveaway night: "First 100 people to get into the fray get a piece of Artest's arm or leg!" We're not likely to see a fight of that magnitude in sports again, at least not for a long time.
Right?
Saturday there is a huge fight at the end of the South Carolina-Clemson game involving just about every player on the field. OK, I think we just need to take a step back and take a deep breath.
Not a chance. President Bush had stepped into a tussle between one of his Secret Service agents and a Chilean security guard(s). Come on! Do we really want the president throwing down when he's supposed to have the best security on earth? We need to learn to deal with each other and at least try to let cooler heads prevail.
And then there was this:
In northern Wisconsin on Sunday, a group of hunters got in a dispute with a man that they said was using their tree stand illegally and told him to leave. Then, in possibly the most irrational response in history that hunter, ordered to leave, SHOT EIGHT PEOPLE. He killed five people and put three in the hospital, one of them critical. Senseless. I don't think there could be a punishment fitting enough. I know people like Carrie that are against the death penalty, but in this case how can something as tragic and inexcusable be dealt with any other way?
Excuse me, I need to go lock myself in a room to get away from humanity.
I'm finished,
Nate
Friday, November 19, 2004
TO
OK. Seriously. This Terrell Owens - Desperate Housewives thing has got to stop. For those of you that don't know, T.O. and Nicolette Sheridan starred in a skit before the Monday Night Football game in which Sheridan (from the show Desperate Housewives) dropped her towel in front of T.o. exposing her naked back to the camera. The point was she was attempting to seduce T.O. to not play in the game and was successful. Not very creative or funny and an example of seemingly harmless cross promotion.
People just friggin lost it.
With all the shameless content that comes through on the television today, people are up in arms about someone's naked BACK. The FCC has already launched an investigation to determine if they will fine ABC, which is owned by Disney (the family company that brought us a penis drawn on the cover of The Little Mermaid), for this outrage. An officer from the FCC scolded them much like an adult scolds a child when they get caught smoking saying, "I wonder what Walt Disney would think of this if he were alive?" which is the equivalent of: "You're lucky your father isn't alive to see this!" The FCC needs to be stopped. They treated the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident as if CBS had broadcast the Spice channel by accident for half an hour. This of course was in response to gargantuan public outrage...outrage I say! It leads me to this: This nation has to lighten up. It was a naked B-A-C-K. People have to jump out of that extreme family values station wagon and take a deep breath in the sometimes smoggy air of modern entertainment. Better yet, parents could have watched this presentation with there kids and explained the situation. "Now Jimmy that's what happens when you get famous. Women will like you more if you have money and play professional football.. which of course you will never do. Because you run a 5.2 forty. And you're soft like ice cream." Just giving the kid realistic expectations.
So I was thinking that was bad enough, BUT THEN a bunch of people come out and say that the spot was racist because Terrell owens happens to be African American and apparently it perpetuated racial stereotypes.
(Crickets chirping...)
WHAT?! It was a star from ABC's hottest new show (which is pretty cool by the way) and the star and MVP of the league so far this year! That is it. End of list! No innuendos, no stereotypes, none of that. When I see stuff like this, it makes me hate life. Aight, gotta roll out for the weekend. Take care, peeps.
BTW- Jaime, when you read this my email is nholtsla@alumni.nmu.edu I didn't get your previous email, so try again.
I'm finished,
Nate
People just friggin lost it.
With all the shameless content that comes through on the television today, people are up in arms about someone's naked BACK. The FCC has already launched an investigation to determine if they will fine ABC, which is owned by Disney (the family company that brought us a penis drawn on the cover of The Little Mermaid), for this outrage. An officer from the FCC scolded them much like an adult scolds a child when they get caught smoking saying, "I wonder what Walt Disney would think of this if he were alive?" which is the equivalent of: "You're lucky your father isn't alive to see this!" The FCC needs to be stopped. They treated the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident as if CBS had broadcast the Spice channel by accident for half an hour. This of course was in response to gargantuan public outrage...outrage I say! It leads me to this: This nation has to lighten up. It was a naked B-A-C-K. People have to jump out of that extreme family values station wagon and take a deep breath in the sometimes smoggy air of modern entertainment. Better yet, parents could have watched this presentation with there kids and explained the situation. "Now Jimmy that's what happens when you get famous. Women will like you more if you have money and play professional football.. which of course you will never do. Because you run a 5.2 forty. And you're soft like ice cream." Just giving the kid realistic expectations.
So I was thinking that was bad enough, BUT THEN a bunch of people come out and say that the spot was racist because Terrell owens happens to be African American and apparently it perpetuated racial stereotypes.
(Crickets chirping...)
WHAT?! It was a star from ABC's hottest new show (which is pretty cool by the way) and the star and MVP of the league so far this year! That is it. End of list! No innuendos, no stereotypes, none of that. When I see stuff like this, it makes me hate life. Aight, gotta roll out for the weekend. Take care, peeps.
BTW- Jaime, when you read this my email is nholtsla@alumni.nmu.edu I didn't get your previous email, so try again.
I'm finished,
Nate
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
I don't want YOU...for the Salvation Army.
Okay, I let this slide every year around this time, but I am finished. Done. Fine! I'm tired of being shamed and badgered by people that I just can't get away from, as they are everywhere. And the bells! The bells! The bells, bells, bells, bells! Of course, I am talking about the foot soldiers of the Salvation Army. They encamp themselves at Shopko, Wal-Mart, K-Mart (or K-Mart/Sears if you've read today's financial news), bars, gas stations, your living room, EVERYWHERE!
Now This is what I want: A card that you can buy from the Salvation Army indicating fufillment of annual contributions. Oh you know the situation, you walk out of the store and there's that volunteer standing out in the cold with a red bucket and that town crier type bell who looks at you like a Scrooge McDuck if you don't give any money. Wouldn't it be nice to whip out a "Salvation Card" to show that you're not miserly, just a plan-ahead-type of person. There could be a huge market for this! No more shame for not giving to whatever cause the Salvation Army supports! No more retirees glaring at you for not doing your part! It will be awesome! Maybe we should think bigger: A card that takes care of anyone begging for change, or telemarketers, or tax collectors or...
I'm finished,
Nate
Now This is what I want: A card that you can buy from the Salvation Army indicating fufillment of annual contributions. Oh you know the situation, you walk out of the store and there's that volunteer standing out in the cold with a red bucket and that town crier type bell who looks at you like a Scrooge McDuck if you don't give any money. Wouldn't it be nice to whip out a "Salvation Card" to show that you're not miserly, just a plan-ahead-type of person. There could be a huge market for this! No more shame for not giving to whatever cause the Salvation Army supports! No more retirees glaring at you for not doing your part! It will be awesome! Maybe we should think bigger: A card that takes care of anyone begging for change, or telemarketers, or tax collectors or...
I'm finished,
Nate
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
From dusk til dawn.
Well cheery news from this here burg they call Appleton: The body of a 20 year old woman was found in the trunk of a car in the Copp's Foods parking lot in Neenah. Tragic and scary at the same time. But hey, Neenah's a scary town, in fact I believe Neenah is an Ojibwa word meaning "Ishpeming." The good new is they arrested a guy who confessed to strangling her in his apartment. This was apparently after she had expressed a crush on the suspect that went unreciprocated. He was, however using her as his own personal taxi and for "other things." My point of course is: Women are idiots sometimes. For every good hearted independent woman who buys her own clothes and pays her own rent there's always at least two girls who get hung up on some drainpipe of society that disregards them no matter how unworthy they may be of said affection.
In other news, I am now officially in the middle of 10 hour work days. There's something about getting up in the morning when the sun is barely out yet and driving home in the pitch dark. Also because of our lovely time zone here in Wisconsin, it is completely dark by about 5pm. I feel very nocturnal. The advantage of course is that I only work four days a week. The downside is that my day off is Thursday, just a wee little break before 10 hours on Friday. Well, my shift is almost complete and I need to start packing up my cares and woes (and get a tape ready for Scrubs. I'm not kidding, watch that show tonight. Grrr.)
I'm finished,
Nate
In other news, I am now officially in the middle of 10 hour work days. There's something about getting up in the morning when the sun is barely out yet and driving home in the pitch dark. Also because of our lovely time zone here in Wisconsin, it is completely dark by about 5pm. I feel very nocturnal. The advantage of course is that I only work four days a week. The downside is that my day off is Thursday, just a wee little break before 10 hours on Friday. Well, my shift is almost complete and I need to start packing up my cares and woes (and get a tape ready for Scrubs. I'm not kidding, watch that show tonight. Grrr.)
I'm finished,
Nate
Monday, November 15, 2004
On Rapid River...
I recieved a pleasant surprise this last week as my buddy Corey from high school left me a message on one of my previous postings. It made me whistful for the days back at old RRHS when we was just little punks. It brought back the good times when we would go to football games in the Dome, using Dick LaChapelle's computer to download all kinds of copywrited content over that blazing 13.3 k/ps dial up line, or when we won that track championship...wait, I wasn't in track. Nevermind on that last one. Gotta say that those deinately were the days.
Ponder this when you get a chance today: Do you remember when we didn't live in an on demand world? In 1988 if you told your phone company, "Hey, I'd like you to just pay my bill out of my checking account and next time, I'd like to do it on my computer...in my pajamas. And I'd like that to be free."
Silence.
"Riiiiggghhhtt, and you can certainly get home in your flying car. Goodbye, freak!"
I'm finished,
Nate
Ponder this when you get a chance today: Do you remember when we didn't live in an on demand world? In 1988 if you told your phone company, "Hey, I'd like you to just pay my bill out of my checking account and next time, I'd like to do it on my computer...in my pajamas. And I'd like that to be free."
Silence.
"Riiiiggghhhtt, and you can certainly get home in your flying car. Goodbye, freak!"
I'm finished,
Nate
Friday, November 12, 2004
Check Local Listings
Ahh...fall. It means football, leaves turning colors in the crisp winter air, delightful little scamps getting dressed up for Halloween, and most importantly: New seasons on TV!!! Sometimes the season's anticipation is legendary like the season after someone capped Mr. Burns on "The Simpsons" or when "10 Simple Rules" came back even after John Ritter had passed away. Some could stand to somehow get lost in the summer like "Wildboyz" on MTV (seriously, name someone who likes that show. Go ahead.) Others leave you saying, "NBC is going to base its weekly rotation on the last legs of ER, Will and Grace, and Law & Order? Really? Do they plan to show "The Apprentice" six nights a week next fall?" Here are some TV highlights for all who maybe have real lives and don't sit around and watch TV every night.
Scrubs- Watch this show. Watch this show. Watch this show. It's on Tuesdays at 9:30/8:30C. Watch this show. On NBC. I will not tell you again.
NYPD Blue- I have a soft spot for this show. One of my very guiltiest pleasures. If I had the time everyday I would watch the two episodes that are on TNT early afternoon...oh, wait, that was my last semester in college. I love the characters for their flaws as well as the heroism they display in cleaning up the streets of New York. That being said, when you subtitle the show in its last season "NYPD BLUE: The Final Season," you know this is going to be a train wreck. And then last week I see this on a preview: "When a friend from the past returns... Jimmy Smits guest stars on an all new Blue." Gulp. They killed him off the show!!! His ghost is returning? Is this Days of Our Freakin Lives?
Joey- I never really got into Friends. You take a small, played out, NYC accented part of that show and create a spin off and it's a recipe for disaster, right? Not so fast. This show is not that bad. I can't believe I just said that. Joey is still the same as he was on Friends, just more of the focal point of the show rather than occassional comic relief. Of course, on the obligatory hottie side Drea de Matteo who plays his sister is downright scrumptious.
Scrubs- Seriously, watch this show.
King of the Pride- Pixar animation and the voice of John Goodman. That's like saying ketchup with brats...you can't go wrong.
Will and Grace- This show is like an old boxer that doesn't know when to retire. When it becomes painfully obvious that the reruns of a show are exponentially better than the new episodes, it's timeto hang it up. Alas, I still like this show. I think we can all agree that Karen is one of the finest supporting sitcom characters ever created, right up there with Kramer and Andy Kaufman in Taxi.
JAG- This show has flown under the radar (teehee) for years and it's still great.
Things I don't care about- The OC, The Apprentice, Survivor, The Biggest Loser, CSI's: Miami, New York, Detroit, Negaunee.
I'm finished,
Nate
Scrubs- Watch this show. Watch this show. Watch this show. It's on Tuesdays at 9:30/8:30C. Watch this show. On NBC. I will not tell you again.
NYPD Blue- I have a soft spot for this show. One of my very guiltiest pleasures. If I had the time everyday I would watch the two episodes that are on TNT early afternoon...oh, wait, that was my last semester in college. I love the characters for their flaws as well as the heroism they display in cleaning up the streets of New York. That being said, when you subtitle the show in its last season "NYPD BLUE: The Final Season," you know this is going to be a train wreck. And then last week I see this on a preview: "When a friend from the past returns... Jimmy Smits guest stars on an all new Blue." Gulp. They killed him off the show!!! His ghost is returning? Is this Days of Our Freakin Lives?
Joey- I never really got into Friends. You take a small, played out, NYC accented part of that show and create a spin off and it's a recipe for disaster, right? Not so fast. This show is not that bad. I can't believe I just said that. Joey is still the same as he was on Friends, just more of the focal point of the show rather than occassional comic relief. Of course, on the obligatory hottie side Drea de Matteo who plays his sister is downright scrumptious.
Scrubs- Seriously, watch this show.
King of the Pride- Pixar animation and the voice of John Goodman. That's like saying ketchup with brats...you can't go wrong.
Will and Grace- This show is like an old boxer that doesn't know when to retire. When it becomes painfully obvious that the reruns of a show are exponentially better than the new episodes, it's timeto hang it up. Alas, I still like this show. I think we can all agree that Karen is one of the finest supporting sitcom characters ever created, right up there with Kramer and Andy Kaufman in Taxi.
JAG- This show has flown under the radar (teehee) for years and it's still great.
Things I don't care about- The OC, The Apprentice, Survivor, The Biggest Loser, CSI's: Miami, New York, Detroit, Negaunee.
I'm finished,
Nate
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
victory.
So darned much has happened since the last time I blogged on, I don’t know where to start! I saw Northern beat Michigan State two times (scratching their way up to 11th in the nation as of 11/01), the Red Sox won the World Series (the Curse that never existed is finally over), I started on the phones at work, etc…
Oh, yeah, some guy named Bush won the election too. I’m sure he’ll do a very good job in his second term.
Four.
More.
Years.
I’m finished,
Nate
Oh, yeah, some guy named Bush won the election too. I’m sure he’ll do a very good job in his second term.
Four.
More.
Years.
I’m finished,
Nate
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