Flavor du Jour

A New York man is suing various fast food companies claiming that they are responsible for his being overweight and having two heart attacks. My fear, of course, is that this law suit will go the way of the case involving McDonald's and the woman who spilled hot coffee all over her lap. If our screwed up justice system does its magic, this guy will find his pockets nicely, though unjustly, lined with cash.

It's a symptom of a larger problem in America. Many American's have become too quick to say "I'm gonna sue you!" every time someone does or says something they do not like. And in some of these cases it means a big pay day. Many law suits are no longer filed out of necessity or true wrongs, but because someone sees an opportunity to raid the pocketbooks of not only Corporate America, but also "friends," neighbors, business partners, lovers, and family. The popularity of shows such as The People's Court, Judge Judy, Texas Justice, and Judge Joe Brown only push the disturbing trend further. Suddenly it is easier and better to take people to court and ruin relationships over even a small amount of money.

The real problem is a society full of people who have abandoned their morals, their sense of right and wrong, and any iota of personal responsibility. Suddenly nothing you do is your fault. You're overweight? Blame fast food, but forget that you made the decision to purchase and consume that food. A murderer used a handgun to take the life of a loved one? Forget blaming the murderer, who made the conscious decision to kill, and carried out that decision. Blame the gun manufacturer instead. Afterall, they made the gun used in the murder. Nevermind that a gun is an inanimate object which is incapable of making decisions, targeting anything or anyone, or causing harm without the direct involvement and manipulation of a living person. Are you dying from lung cancer? Well, since you were a life long smoker, try suing the tobacco companies. Afterall, it was their product which caused your illness, and you shouldn't bear any responsibilty for your decision to use such a harmful product. In short, don't blame yourself for your poor choices, blame someone else.

But when does it all go too far? When someone pokes out their eardrum with a Q-Tip and decides to sue the manufacturer? When a drunk driver plows into a car killing the entire family inside, and decides to sue the alcohol company and the car manufacturer because their products landed him in prison? Or when someone born with an abnormal feature decides to sue his parents for giving him the unfortunate genes which caused the ridicule and angst suffered throught his life.

Unfortunately for the adult masses, it's more or less already too late. But, our children are still at a point in their lives where they can, and need, to learn that their choices and actions have consequences. It's in the hands of parents, teachers, law enforcement, the legal system, and the media to send out the message that when you do the crime, you must pay the time. There can be no "get out of jail free" cards, which seem to be abundant in our society. No more blaming anyone but yourself for your choices and actions. Otherwise, it becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. By taking the route we are currently on, we move closer towards relinquishing all control over our thoughts and actions. Suddenly nothing we do or say is our fault, which means it's not under our control, so the idea of letting government make all of the decisions for you doesn't seem so bad. I've read 1984 and Brave New World and both scare me. Not because the societies portrayed in each are so horrible, but because I can see us heading straight in that direction if we aren't careful. Giving up our power over ourselves only digs our graves even deeper. And tossing aside any sense of personal responsibilty means also giving up our power over ourselves.

Austin Powers: Mojo gone for good?

Sequels are rarely better than the original, and Goldmember is no exception. The film relies heavily on the jokes which made the first movie funny. But after awhile, those jokes become old and tired. I tend to laugh at just about everything, but my boyfriend who is a little harder to please only found himself laughing twice. Many jokes were overly obvious, like "Preparation H" which we all saw from a mile away.

The plot was lacking as well. I wasn't nearly as satisfied by the story and the outcome as the original movie, and it left me with a bit of an after taste. Even the second movie had a better plot than the third. It seemed more of an opportunity to parade out a number of Hollywood's top celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Danny DeVito, Brittney Spears, Kevin Spacey, Ozzy Ozbourne, and Steven Spielberg. Their roles in the film didn't seem to support any greater purpose. Instead it felt more like an attempt to attract moviegoers with celebrities they know and love from other great films. It almost seemed to be an attempt at a substitute for good jokes and a decent story/plot.

The film not only paraded out a number of A-Listers, but catered to corporate interests as well. At many points the film seemed more like a series of TV commercials slapped together into a 94 minute film. Heineken, Subway, and Preparation H are just a few of the products woven into the story. I guess they needed to fund the film somehow.

I did like the introduction of Austin Powers’ father (Michael Caine), but felt that it could have been developed a bit more. For instance, why is it that Nigel Powers doesn’t look much older than Austin when Austin had been frozen for 30 years? Shouldn’t his father look at least 50 years older than him? And there was no explanation as to why Austin’s father wasn’t in attendance at important events in Austin’s life. I was left wondering what happened to Felicity Shagwell and Austin from ten minutes ago as well. At least in the second movie they resolved the Vanessa issue before Austin moved on. There was little to no chemistry between Austin Powers’ and his flame du jour Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles, who by the way did a horrible acting job). As a matter of fact, it seemed that Austin has lost his mojo once again, and this time I don’t think it’s coming back.

Overall I have to say that the first movie was by far the best. And the sequel, though it too relied heavily on jokes from the first, at least had some originality and was still a hilarious movie. But Goldmember seemed way out of league next to the other two. Despite my overall disappointment, I did have a few laughs. Certainly it could have been worse.

Austin Powers fans will get a kick out of some of the moments in the film. I don't know if I'd suggest paying the full price for the film, but instead save it for a matinee. Really great movies I can see going to twice, just to get a full experience. But a second viewing of Goldmember will have to wait until it comes out on video. Of course, I will likely buy it anyway just to complete my Austin Powers collection, but it wont be the one I watch the most.

I missed the Website of the Week yesterday, and I was going to put up something else. But, my new fan Muffy has inspired me to post something just for her.

So Muffy, next time you need an answer to a complex political question, there is a simple and easy way that doesn't require much thought (because we all know liberals like Muffy abhor logic). Just visit the Liberal 8 Ball for all of your typical liberal excuses and answers.

Thanks to Rory for the link!

Quite a few years ago, while sick, I attempted to answer the age old question "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll Center of a Tootsie Pop?" Armed with a Tootsie Pop from my Halloween stash, I set out with a piece of paper and a pen. Every ten licks would produce another strike on the paper, until soon I was down to nothing but the tootsie roll. The final result took an hour to reach.

So, how many licks did it take to get to the tootsie roll center of the Tootsie Pop? 2553.

I'll be switching rooms soon. One of my brothers is moving out, and the other is getting moved into my much smaller room. Which means that I get a much larger room (and a much larger closet!).

I spent most of yesterday going through everything in my room in an effort to get rid of things I don't need. Yesterday I went through clothes and some miscellaneous unfiled papers. Hauled out of my room was: one garbage bag full of documents, notebooks, and other stuff I no longer need; two bags of shoes; four bags of clothes; and one broken suitcase. And despite the fact that I purged my closet of about 1/3 of my clothes, I still had to really squeeze stuff in. It happens everytime I get rid of clothes. The clothes I'm keeping seem to grow to take up my whole closet.

I'm a horrible pack-rat, and the next few days will be tough. I hang on to everything thinking that someday I might need it. Or that it has the tiniest shred of sentimental value. And there have even been a few times that I've gotten rid of things and then regretted it later because I, or someone I knew needed it.

Every time I've taken on a task like this in the past, I've failed miserably. But today, I must become like Attila the Hun, raiding my room for loot and burning the rest! Okay, so I wont actually be burning everything else. But, I'll at least try to raid other people's wallets by selling my junk to other unsuspecting pillagers at a garage sale in a few weeks.