Seattle Confidential

When I read this story this weekend, it started to nag at me.  Why did this sound so familiar?  But then it hit me.  This is the beginning to the plot of L.A. Confidential.  Based on the book by James Ellroy, the movie told the story of the fallout after several LA police officers were gunned down execution-style in a local coffee shop.  Of course, in the movie, set in the 1950's, a group of young black men were framed for the murders, and then killed themselves by dirty cops to try to cover up a larger conspiracy, involving police corruption, drug dealing, and intimidation.

I know that this is not the case here, but it stood out so much in my mind when I read the story, that i felt the need to comment.  I feel for the families of the officers killed, and want to send condolences their way.  It is apparently also unclear whether the suspect, Maurice Clemmons, is still alive. He was apparently wounded in the attack, and has been holed up in a standoff with police at a house 30 miles from where he apparently opened fire and killed 4 police officers.  However this shakes out, whether Clemmons is still alive or not, the whole thing is just so senseless.  Life is short enough without crazed gunmen trying to make it any more truncated...

V For Very Republican

ABC has recently introduced America to V, a reimagining of an 80's British miniseries, in which an alien race called "The Visitors" descend on Earth and attempt to establish relations with Earth in order to make a mutually beneficial relationship.  The Visitors have much to offer in the way of technological and medical advances that we have not yet come up with.  But they want something in return, and they're dodgy and coy when it comes to finding out what it is.

**Potential Spoilers ahead**

As of now, I've only seen the pilot episode, but I like the cast, which includes Elizabeth Mitchell(Juliet from Lost), Morena Baccarin(Inara from Firefly), and Scott Wolf(from Party of Five fame).  In the pilot, they arrive and begin the establishment of diplomatic relations, while we also see an underground group that is trying hard as they can to fight against the Visitors' occupation of Earth airspace.  They maintain that there have been Visitors in sleeper cells on Earth for years, gathering information, and getting themselves entrenched in human life.  The Visitors obviously have some more dastardly agenda than they would let on.  We also see an attack on the underground resistance, in which we find out that the Visitors, while seemingly humanoid, actually are reptilian creatures under their human facade.  I'm looking forward to where this goes, and am intrigued in tracking down the original British miniseries to see how it compares.

I've been mulling over the idea of aliens covertly living among us since the days of Men In Black, but V simply reinforces the idea of aliens hiding in plain sight...does this offer some insight into Fox News?  The likes of Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Glen Beck, Sean Hannity?  Even the corpulent fatty, Rush Limbaugh?  It would be brilliant...they take the focus off themselves by railing against illegal immigration...it's GENIUS! 

Now...which one to hack up with a machete to prove it...hmmm...eenie meenie mineee......

state of the Scott address

Lately, I've been getting nostalgic...A LOT.  It seems that everywhere I turn, something takes me back, whether it be to my childhood, or high school, or, most recently to a few years ago when I was in a band that I thought would still be taking the CT music scene by storm. 

I was just realizing that I'm in a completely different place in my life, and probably couldn't swing the band thing  now, what with Maya taking up so much of our time, and our sleep schedules dwindling more by the day.  Am I sad?  A bit, but I'm pretty happy with where I am at this moment.  I have a wonderful family, a new home, a group of friends that is unrivaled, and a job that...well, let's just say it pays the bills.  I think what I miss most about the band was just having that creative outlet to explore, and the camaraderie of the band(Please do not say that this blog can be my creative outlet...it's not creative...it's just rant-y), but at this point, most of the time, I'm too tired to be creative.  I'm lucky if I get time to read.

Every year, I tell myself I'm gonna get down to brass tacks, sit down and spend NANOWRIMO crafting the great American novel, but it never happens.  I've had ideas in the past, but nothing ever fully pans out to the point that I could imagine myself being able to actually conclude a story.  I know that the point is to write, but I don't want to get knee-deep into a world with characters and a storyline and then bail out because it won't work.  It seems too daunting.  I know I should try because I may surprise myself, but I find myself not only a perfectionist, but also a procrastinator, and those two don't mix.

For lack of a cohesive ending here, I'm just going to make up a word:

Kabloomingdales - a fight that breaks out at a sweater sale in the mall

Veteran's Day

I know that it was yesterday, but I came across something yesterday that I simply needed to talk about, but didn't have time to blog about yesterday.  Veteran's day, besides being my niece and friend Dan's birthdays, is a holiday to celebrate the men and women who have fought and, in some cases, given their very lives to keep America safe and free.  In celebration of that, a lot of people get the day off, banks and schools are closed, no mail is delivered, and, as of recent years, some popular restaurants reward the sacrifice of veterans by offering them free entrees for the day.

A friend of mine who served in the first Gulf war ate completely for free yesterday.  Do I begrudge him this small thing?  Absolutely not. He sacrificed his time and put himself in harm's way, so what is a free meal?  Applebees and Moe's both provided a free meal, and I'm fully on board, but then I read that Outback was also participating, but veterans could only get a free Bloomin' Onion for their service.  Seriously?  These people survived time in some pretty hazardous warzones, came back safe and sound to their families and you're going to give them a heart attack-covered onion?  Awesome.