Dancing to the Popmart

I've recently come to the conclusion that U2 is my default music. I always seem to come back to listening to U2. It's weird.

Anyway, a week or so ago, I decided to do something I haven't done for a long time - listen to Zooropa while playing Super Mario World. I got Zooropa on cassette for Christmas in '93, the same time we got our Super Nintendo (which came with SMW), and I remember many a snowy evening in front of the TV, controller in hand, with Zooropa playing on the tape deck. Ever since, there's been a psychic link between the two with me.

In reliving that experience, I started yet another U2 phase. I'd been pretty much U2ed out since the Elevation tour and never really got into How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, though it is a good record. It was shortly after seeing them at Notre Dame that I discovered EELS.

Since then, I listened to E & co. pretty regularly with the occasional Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash sidetrack, and I'm a better person for it. Discovering that copy of Souljacker marked half off at the bookstore marked the beginning of a turning point in my life that forced me to alter my perspective on myself and my relationship with the world, and I am eternally grateful for that.

It's like I have a relationship with the music I listen to. Not all of it, mind you, but sometimes a band or artist will come along at the right time, and a profound sense of intimacy will generate between it and myself, for whatever reason. EELS helped me in a difficult and trying period of my life in which I had to wrestle with my identity, my depression, my transition from childhood to adulthood, and the occasion for which I had postponed my suicide all those years ago.

When I saw them earlier this year, I had a very moving experience during Not Ready Yet. I really relate to that song, as I do with so many others, but it held a special meaning for me this time around. I know what it feels like to be in that state of mind, and I know how awful that feeling is.

But I think I'm past that. It took me almost 30 years, but that's over. I wrestled the demon and won. Now I'm on track for The Rest Of My Life, and it's not looking too bad. It won't be perfect, but it's not as daunting as it once was.

So, with that period in my life done, I can now shelve the music that is so precious and dear to me and move on with my life. I hope to revisit it again someday.

For now, though, I've been listening to Pop. I'm not sure why. It's not their strongest album by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it's pretty obvious that it's only really half done. They released singles for about half the album, and those versions are vast improvements. I half to wonder if they're ever going to remake the album as a whole (for, like, the 10th anniversary or something) with actual completed versions of all the tracks. And if they do, I wonder how many U2 fans will bitch about Bono raping their childhood. They did new mixed of Discotheque, Staring at the Sun, and Gone for their Best of 1990 - 2000 album, and there's also single versions of Mofo, If God Will Send His Angels, Last Night on Earth, and Please which could go on it. That leaves just Do You Feel Loved, Miami, The Playboy Mansion, If You Wear that Velvet Dress, and Wake Up, Dead Man, which, you may have noticed, were never that popular.

But how can you like U2 but not believe in God?

It's easy. Just ask Adam Clayton.

- Numb, Gone, Lemon

Not My Pope

The last vestages of my faith died with John Paul II. Despite my disagreements with the most fundamental of principles, I always had the utmost respect for the guy, and I was sad to see him go. As far as popes go, he was a good one.

This Benedict XVI guy bothers me, though, and his eerie resemblance to a certain fictional emperor doesn't help.

So, the pope has fired the Vatican's chief astronomer because of his outspoken support for evolutionary theory and repeated dismissals of Intelligent Design. You may recall that the Vatican has supported Darwinian evolution since the days of Pope John XXIII, I believe.

Way to set the Catholic Church's credibility back 4 decades, there, Ben.

First of all, evolution is not a matter of faith any more than gravity is. It's been observed both directly and indirectly and has a firm grounding in science. Without our knowledge of evolution, we wouldn't have vaccines, medicine would still be primitive, and we'd have soaring death rates.

So, the current pope, who holds a great deal of influence over millions of people, is denying reality and promoting ignorance. Fantastic. And why?

Because it implies that humans aren't special? First of all, no it doesn't. Second of all, even if it did, so? Because it's consistant with an atheist worldview? So is the germ theory of disease and elemental periodicity. And besides, what's wrong with an atheist worldview?

The real tragedy, though, lies in the people without the testicular fortitude to think for themselves and tell the pope he's wrong about this particular issue.

While it doesn't concern me directly, it frightens me because it's yet another nail in the coffin of intellectualism and enlightenment.

The whole thing just reeks of the religious right's rampant regurgitation of ridiculous, repulsive rhetoric. It sickens me. I'm glad I left.

I can only hope it's just a big misunderstanding.

- Never Gonna Learn

V: Season 2

Reading over my previous post ("You actually believe that?"), I noticed that I use the word anyway far too often.

Anyway....

We watched the first disc of season 2 last night. Season 1 ended with about half the cast either leaving or dying, the Visitors taking over LA, and the immensely gay alien leader being murdered by one of the two power-hungry Visitor Vixens.

Whereas the miniseries and season 1 were about a ragtag group of rebels struggling to preserve their way of life and to overthrow their incompetent conquerors, season 2 is completely different.

Season 1, you see, had a number of strong things going for it. First and foremost, the basic premise - a group of resistance fighters trying to survive in a Nazi-esque fascist regime set in the not-too-distant future (probably the early 90s) was compelling. There was some great conflict between the blonde scientist and that power hungry dude from My Cousin Vinny. Michael Ironside's character was pretty badass. The former street thug who opened the restaurant/safe haven for resistance fighters was nice, especially with the base of operations around. Well, they're gone now (except the blonde), as is the Star Child's mother, and the remainder just isn't that interesting.

Plus, they got rid of the Freedom Network bit at the beginning of each episode, and they changed the opening theme, which, while it wasn't that great, was at least memorable and fit the show. They replaced that with a darker, more forgettable theme and gave the show an A-Team-esque premise-reminder for an opening monologue.

The most disappointing bit, though, was that they abandoned the cool story arc (the best thing they had going for the show) for a weekly adventure format. Basically, it's a lame version of the A-Team, but with aliens and casualties instead of flipping cars and Mr. T.

In short, a very badly executed good idea has turned into a very badly executed bad idea.

I can't wait for the next disc.

- Nick's Geography Lesson

"You actually believe that?"

Last year, in October or November, I believe, we were at my parents' house, and my Mom asked if we'd been reading anything interesting lately. I mentioned that, yes, I have been reading a few interesting things, particularly a book called Finding Serenity (which is a collection of essays about the fantastic, short-lived show Firefly, which, if you haven't yet, I demand you watch immediately) and the courtroom transcripts of the Kitzmiller v. DASD case in Kansas, which was concerned with whether Intelligent Design could be taught in science class. When asked what the witnesses had to say, I told them that there really wasn't anything new, aside from the fact that Intelligent Design is just creationism relabeled.

Evolution:

This, of course, opened up an enormous can of metaphorical worms because Dad immediately chimed in to say, "No it's not." My parents are smart and well-educated, but unfortunately, they're also hopelessly conservative. Anyway, Dad then told me to read some Behe and Dembski. I informed him that both were wrong, that Dembski has no credibility whatsoever and can't be counted on to give an impartial opinion since he was (at the time) a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute. As for Behe, he actually testified at the trial and had his ass handily handed to him. It was a beautiful moment. Then of course there was Barbara Forrest's damning testimony which I absolutely loved. But I'm digressing.

So, Mom offers up her favorite anti-evolution argument - If we come from apes, why are there still apes. Well, the fact of the matter is we don't come from apes, per se. We share a common ancestor with modern apes (and are apes ourselves), so to ask why there are still apes if we come from apes is like asking why there are still Irish people if we come from Irish people.

I also pointed out that we haven't stopped evolving, that there's no way of know what we're evolving into, that 99% of all species that ever existed on the planet have gone extinct, that theory means something different in science, and that no current species is any more evolved than any other.

Creationism:

So, she hits me with this one: Where did we come from?

I tell her we obviously come from less evolved organisms that go all the way back to the first microscopic single-celled life form.

"And you actually believe that?"

Ever have one of those moments where you have to choose between what your brain is screaming and what is more, you know, tactful?

Well, I went the tactful route and explained that it's not really a matter of belief, but a conclusion drawn from the evidence given.

I didn't mention that I was insulted by such condescending questioning. This is why I don't tell my parents anything personal.

But seriously, what did she expect?

"You actually believe that?"
"No Mom. I believe that the universe came about 6,000 years ago when an invisible man got bored one day, uttered the universe into existance, made humans in his image, created the moon, planets, stars, and galaxies for show, then sent his only son over to suffer and die JUST FOR ME and about 6 billion other people, because I touched myself to nudie pics when I was 16."

I'm not one to insult other people's faith.

Ok, I am, but not to their faces. Plus, I would've been kicked out of the house without having dinner, and I wouldn't have gotten any help with the new freezer.

Well, it turns out that righteousness triumphed over ignorance, and Intelligent Design was found to be Creationism in a bad suit. Since then, the term has started to die, and we have new ones like "Sudden Emergence" and "Teach the controversy", despite there being no such controversy in the scientific community.

Anyway, I spent the next few hours explaining to my father that Irredicible Complexity has been falsified already and that evolution isn't concerned with the origins of life itself, just the origins of species from other species.

Anyway, there was a study last year whose results were recently revealed, that showed what people in a number of countries believe in with regards to evolution. Basically, people were asked whether they agree with the statement that evolution is true (which it is, if you'reone of those elitists who believe that observing something occur means it's real). The good news is the United States didn't finish dead last. Turkey did. We finished a little bit ahead of Turkey.

It saddens me when people deny reality because it violates their comfortable faith. That's why I make it my business to violate other people's comfort zones. One of the first and most important things I learned in educational psychology is that discomfort leads to education.

- En Gee Ell

Spoilers

Rosebud is a sled.
Darth Vader is Luke's father.
Boomer is a Cylon.
You're Darth Revan.
The kid's the killer.
Snape kills Dumbledor.
Qui-Gon Jinn dies.
She's really a guy.
Verbal Kint is Keyser Soze.
Norman Bates did it.
The planet is really Earth in the distant future.
Soylent Green is people.
Magneto loses his power - mostly.
Wolverine kills Jean Grey.
Bruce Willis as a kid watched his adult self get gunned down.
Henry Fonda convinces everyone the kid is not guilty.
The closeted military neightbor kills Kevin Spacey.
Holden and Allysa break up after he tries to wrangle himself a 3-way with Banky.
Caitlin has sex with the dead old guy.
Bethany is the Last Scion.
Dante and Randall buy the Quick Stop/RST Video.
Bunny was never kidnapped.

Brad Pitt and Ed Norton are the same person.

Nicole Kidman and the kids are really dead.
Alec Guinness blows up the bridge.
Ashton Kutcher strangles himself as a fetus/tells Amy Smart's younger self he hates her.
Jesus comes back to life.

Bruce Willis is dead.

Mr. Glass is the villain.

The aliens are allergic to water.

It's really modern day.

ET goes home.

Michael kills Fredo.

The shark eats Quint.

Gollum bites off Frodo's finger and falls into Mt. Doom.

He dies in the end.

She dies in the end.

It was all a dream.

It was all in his head.

He survives the night but is mistaken for a zombie and shot in the head.

Milton burns down the building and goes to Mexico with the travelers checks.

Jules finds God.

Mr. Pink survives.

Shaun and Liz survive.

Red gets parole and finds Andy.

- Nitty Gritty Litter