Nick Hornby, How to Be Good

Speaking of the Spices, did you catch Surrey Spice, best of show at 2002 Westminster Dog Show? poodles are creepy, but a poodle called spice? this is truly beyond the pale. i must admit that i kept hearing christopher guest in my mind cataloging nuts. and the phrase "champion bitch" always makes me titter.

THEN, i catch a snippet of an interview with the parents of Mike Spann, the CIA officer killed in an afghani prison uprising last November. The mother was pleading with the American people to write to their elected officials to ensure that John Walker Lindh is held accountable for her son's death. Now, believe me, i am sympathetic to her loss and must plead some ignorance to details surrounding her son's death and lindh's possible connection to it. BUT, is this not a matter for the courts? now, i did read in a ny times article that his father had encouraged people to write in supporting the war on terrorism. maybe, that is what she meant, but what she SAID chilled me to the bone. and no one challenged it.

last time i checked, we had this little thing called the separation of powers, keeping the executive, legislative and judicial branches in their own spheres. and yes, part of the vibrancy of our democracy is the struggle between these spheres called checks and balances. AND i'm not so naive to believe that there is no such thing as one branch overstepping its bounds to interfere in another (see 2000 presidentai election for clarification here), but for someone to argue for a wholesale usurpation of the judiciary by the executive and/or the legislative branches made my blood run cold. is this what we are fighting for?

Sorry to switch gears here BUT...

so, it appears that we WILL be subjected to another season of the friends. since sunday, i have been grappling with this question posed on futurama, "why doesn't ross, the largest friend, simply eat the other ones?" why, indeed! now, that's a series finale! and when did tabloid reports such as "rachel dies in childbirth" become credible enough that the show's producers felt it necessary to issue a statement denying the story? you mean, it's not true?! can you imagine if whitney houston's people released a statement everytime she was on the cover of the star? it would probably give those Andersen shredders work until the next century.

scary but, i overheard someone in the office here actually say "rachel can't die in childbirth! that can't happen!" as if rachel were her best friend or downstairs neighbor not a character portrayed by an actress on a television show which reminds me of the episode of night court, where marion ross plays an old lady confusing fantasy and reality. you see, the court sessions have been playing on local television and marion comes down to give a stern talking to Dan, the prosecutor. but then begins to ramble on about characters on her favorite soap as if they are real people. Imagine Christine (queen of the lifetime movie Markie Post) explaining to Mrs. Cunningham that even though she (Christine) is on television and is real, the people on the soap are actors playing roles. now remember that these lines are being uttered by an actor playing a role. and really, i've seen too many episodes of hearts afire to ever believe that someone, even Mrs. Cunningham, thinks Markie Post is real. (though, it is pretty hot that she was Electra Woman in a failed WB pilot for a revival of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl).

Ouch, my head hurts.