Careful what you wish for...
Well, in the immortal(ly creepy) words of The Joker (see response to Ben #7), "I'm a man of my word." Several of y'all made various random requests re: future blog posts by yours truly, and I intend to deliver. So, after several days of development, here we go...
I'll start with Bradley's, which is by far the easiest:
"...maybe an undefeated Tennessee Titans upcoming season?"
I'm tempted to go on a rant about how overrated Vince Young is, and how amazed I am the Titans finished as well as they did last year with a QB that has a 2-to-1 INT-to-TD ration, but I'll restrain myself in favor of the more succinct "You wish." Offhandedly, looking at their schedule, I'm predicting 9-7. Though if Young does live up to this supposed potential I keep hearing about, there's an outside shot at 11-5.
(As an aside/shoutout, Bradley is in the midst of developing an exciting business venture called The Score. Read his post about it here, and follow its progress at The Score blog.)
And now onto Ben's myriad random questions:
"1. If you were a movie star, what would your superpower be and would that be any help with the papperazzi?"
Invisibility. So yes. It's a scary superpower though; the temptation to use it in naughty ways would be almost too great to withstand.
"2. Is there a God?"
Probably. (See #6 for a less shitty/cryptic response.)
"3. Is there a dog?"
There may be one in the not-too-distant future, most likely a basset hound, but as of now, no. This was actually discussed this weekend (see #4 below). I would love to have one, but I'm not sure how it would fit into my life right now. (As I've often joked, I need a woman so I can get a dog and then have some help taking care of it.)
"4. What did you do this weekend?"
I don't like bringing too much personal stuff into the blog, but I went up to D.C. to visit the sister (and the mom, who was also in town).
"5. What random topic inspired you to make your first sarcastic comment this morning?"
Since I don't keep track of these things particularly well (after all, I make many sarcastic comments in a typical day), I'll refer you to one I do remember: my comment on Jeff's blog post from earlier today.
"6. Seriously, do you believe there's a God?"
I prefer to answer this question as follows: one Saturday night last year, I was driving across the alliterative Courtney Campbell Causeway at twilight. The sky was a pinkish navy blue, and to the east I could see the lights coming on in Tampa, and to the south they flickered to life in St. Petersburg. My car windows were down, the smell of salt water mixed with car exhaust that hung in the air was oddly fragrant. On my car CD player, Holly was just bursting through the church doors to tell the congregation how a resurrection really feels. And in that moment, fleeting though it may have been, everything just seemed to make sense.
So yes, Virginia, there is a God. But I'm not sure any single religion yet has been able to capture His* sheer Awesomeness. It's probably beyond mortal comprehension anyway.
* The female body is proof that God is definitely male. Kinda like how the duck-billed platypus is proof that He has a great sense of humor.
"7. How awesome is The Dark Knight? Because I thought it was pretty DARN awesome."
I would have to agree. One of my co-workers said something to the effect of "It was so good I'm already disappointed by the third one." I don't really have much to add beyond what has already been posted on Matt's blog, so I'll link there. (The ongoing discussion about villains for the third movie is interesting, though they've completely lost me with the recent "elevator" thread. Perhaps they could enlighten me?)
"8. Why do you want a blog? Get to basics. For what purpose do you keep a blog? Write stuff for that purpose."
It's gone through several incarnations: originally, it was just random updates from the life of Mike; then, it became primarily political rants with occasional randomness; now, more randomness and less political rants. I suppose I wouldn't mind returning to the more political roots (one of my inexplicable pet topics popped up in the previous post). You would think during as big an election year as this I'd have more to talk about, but I'm really still sorting things out. I imagine posts about the election will increase as the conventions draw nigh and I make my official prediction. (Astute readers may remember that my 2004 prediction turned out to be absurdly accurate, even though a full 40% of my former roommates told me I was crazy.)
And as for Matt's final request...
"I'd like a post explaining why "Underdog" isn't the best song on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga."
Sorry Matt, I don't have an intelligent answer for you. I just know that "Black Like Me" is by far the song I've listened to the most off the album, thus I have to conclude it's my favorite. [It may be worth noting that Pitchfork agrees with me (Hitchhiker's fans would do well to note the song's ranking). Not that anyone needs to give a damn about what Pitchfork says (I mean, seriously, Deerhoof? WTF?), but still, it may be worth noting.] I can't really offer any musical explanation (except maybe that I prefer pianos to horns) so I'm forced to go with mere preference. Or with the far more accurate answer of "Underdog" is the best song on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga for you, but not for me. That's possible, right?
It's funny how many of you mentioned music, as I have several musically-oriented ideas for future posts careening around this hollow head of mine. Stay tuned. Hopefully the blogging will increase.
"She's gonna pick a star in the night
And pray to make it all right
She tried so hard not to pick a kite
She always prayed to headlights"
- the Wallflowers, Three Marlenas
I'll start with Bradley's, which is by far the easiest:
"...maybe an undefeated Tennessee Titans upcoming season?"
I'm tempted to go on a rant about how overrated Vince Young is, and how amazed I am the Titans finished as well as they did last year with a QB that has a 2-to-1 INT-to-TD ration, but I'll restrain myself in favor of the more succinct "You wish." Offhandedly, looking at their schedule, I'm predicting 9-7. Though if Young does live up to this supposed potential I keep hearing about, there's an outside shot at 11-5.
(As an aside/shoutout, Bradley is in the midst of developing an exciting business venture called The Score. Read his post about it here, and follow its progress at The Score blog.)
And now onto Ben's myriad random questions:
"1. If you were a movie star, what would your superpower be and would that be any help with the papperazzi?"
Invisibility. So yes. It's a scary superpower though; the temptation to use it in naughty ways would be almost too great to withstand.
"2. Is there a God?"
Probably. (See #6 for a less shitty/cryptic response.)
"3. Is there a dog?"
There may be one in the not-too-distant future, most likely a basset hound, but as of now, no. This was actually discussed this weekend (see #4 below). I would love to have one, but I'm not sure how it would fit into my life right now. (As I've often joked, I need a woman so I can get a dog and then have some help taking care of it.)
"4. What did you do this weekend?"
I don't like bringing too much personal stuff into the blog, but I went up to D.C. to visit the sister (and the mom, who was also in town).
"5. What random topic inspired you to make your first sarcastic comment this morning?"
Since I don't keep track of these things particularly well (after all, I make many sarcastic comments in a typical day), I'll refer you to one I do remember: my comment on Jeff's blog post from earlier today.
"6. Seriously, do you believe there's a God?"
I prefer to answer this question as follows: one Saturday night last year, I was driving across the alliterative Courtney Campbell Causeway at twilight. The sky was a pinkish navy blue, and to the east I could see the lights coming on in Tampa, and to the south they flickered to life in St. Petersburg. My car windows were down, the smell of salt water mixed with car exhaust that hung in the air was oddly fragrant. On my car CD player, Holly was just bursting through the church doors to tell the congregation how a resurrection really feels. And in that moment, fleeting though it may have been, everything just seemed to make sense.
So yes, Virginia, there is a God. But I'm not sure any single religion yet has been able to capture His* sheer Awesomeness. It's probably beyond mortal comprehension anyway.
* The female body is proof that God is definitely male. Kinda like how the duck-billed platypus is proof that He has a great sense of humor.
"7. How awesome is The Dark Knight? Because I thought it was pretty DARN awesome."
I would have to agree. One of my co-workers said something to the effect of "It was so good I'm already disappointed by the third one." I don't really have much to add beyond what has already been posted on Matt's blog, so I'll link there. (The ongoing discussion about villains for the third movie is interesting, though they've completely lost me with the recent "elevator" thread. Perhaps they could enlighten me?)
"8. Why do you want a blog? Get to basics. For what purpose do you keep a blog? Write stuff for that purpose."
It's gone through several incarnations: originally, it was just random updates from the life of Mike; then, it became primarily political rants with occasional randomness; now, more randomness and less political rants. I suppose I wouldn't mind returning to the more political roots (one of my inexplicable pet topics popped up in the previous post). You would think during as big an election year as this I'd have more to talk about, but I'm really still sorting things out. I imagine posts about the election will increase as the conventions draw nigh and I make my official prediction. (Astute readers may remember that my 2004 prediction turned out to be absurdly accurate, even though a full 40% of my former roommates told me I was crazy.)
And as for Matt's final request...
"I'd like a post explaining why "Underdog" isn't the best song on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga."
Sorry Matt, I don't have an intelligent answer for you. I just know that "Black Like Me" is by far the song I've listened to the most off the album, thus I have to conclude it's my favorite. [It may be worth noting that Pitchfork agrees with me (Hitchhiker's fans would do well to note the song's ranking). Not that anyone needs to give a damn about what Pitchfork says (I mean, seriously, Deerhoof? WTF?), but still, it may be worth noting.] I can't really offer any musical explanation (except maybe that I prefer pianos to horns) so I'm forced to go with mere preference. Or with the far more accurate answer of "Underdog" is the best song on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga for you, but not for me. That's possible, right?
It's funny how many of you mentioned music, as I have several musically-oriented ideas for future posts careening around this hollow head of mine. Stay tuned. Hopefully the blogging will increase.
"She's gonna pick a star in the night
And pray to make it all right
She tried so hard not to pick a kite
She always prayed to headlights"
- the Wallflowers, Three Marlenas
