Civic Duty

So this week is when I'm supposed to be serving my jury duty. I got the notice about a month ago and there was some confusion in the house because my father and I have the same name, save for our middle names. Of course they do not put a middle initial on the notice so we had to sort it out. I won...or lost, depending on how you look at it.

Personally I looked at it like I had won. Everyone tells me that it is the most boring thing ever, but I see it as an experience none the less. I actually think that it would be pretty cool to sit on a jury. Not that I've ever heard anything good about it, it just seems like the best possible situation in which to observe the justice system.

The one thing that is bothering me is that I haven't gone in yet. I called Friday and apparently jurors in my group weren't to show up Monday. I called Monday and my number was not one of the ones going in Tuesday. Called tonight and I have to call at noon tomorrow for instructions regarding the afternoon session at 1:30 PM. So do I have to go in, just not in the morning? Do I not have to go? Maybe I have to go Thursday? I haven't the foggiest. The whole 'call in for your fate' structure sucks.

I also don't know what it means to wear clothes that are fit to wear before the court. I'm thinking puffy shirt and powdered wig.

My MP3 Player Loves Elvis

Music is something with which I've always struggled to identify. I can appreciate a catchy tune about as well as the next person, but that is the limit of the depth. I spent most of the 90's, and thus my childhood, simply listening to what other's liked. My sister's insipid and repetitive pop music, my dad's aging rock, and my friends' alternative music. Can't help but wonder to what Green Day and The Offspring were supposed to be an alternative. Of course these days Green Day is punk. Or neo-punk. Or pop-punk. Who knows? Can you imagine walking through a music shop that was actually divided into all of the self-gratifying and ego maniacal sub-genres that musicians are constantly inventing?

Nothing against music or musicians per say. I just tend to dislike anyone who buys into their own hype or views their own work as being more pivotal and groundbreaking than it actually is. Kanye West and The White Stripes, I'm talking to you.

I do enjoy certain music. Stone Temple Pilots is my favorite band and I do enjoy Green Day and The Offspring despite my genre ignorance. Flogging Molly is also quite remarkable. I tend to evaluate music based upon whether I can appreciate the lyrics while also enjoying the accompanying noise. Seems like a silly thing to say but when so much out there is decidedly unpoetical, to say the least, it becomes a necessary statement. There is a lot of music out there that doesn't seem to have anything to say. Unless it is a purely instrumental piece, I think that's a problem. I also understand that most music tries only to speak to a very specific audience, and that is perfectly acceptable. I'm just not in very many audiences.

Patriotism

I consider myself to be a patriot.

The thing is that I'm one of those patriots that rarely sees eye to eye with the government. One of the issues with democracy is that you almost always are going to have a narrow majority whose views are going to be pressed on the entirety of the nation. (Better than the views of one person or of a very small minority being pressed on the masses, but still.) Even then it's just the narrow majority of the registered voters who actually make it out for an election. I'm also of the mind that people who whine but do not actively participate in the democratic process are no better than those people whose views include taking away freedom and use the system to do so and find so little resistance in their quest. Those freedoms include a right to marriage for all, freedom of and from religion, and the freedom to control one's own body.

There shouldn't have to be laws saying who can marry who or other such nonsense. Especially in a society where less than fifty percent of marriages last. In the making of those laws no mention of God or gods should ever come up. Yahweh, Allah, Jesus, Mohammad, Thor, Zeus, Buddha, the Flying Spaghetti Monster and all their friends should not be used as an excuse to oppress. Beyond the religious implications there is no valid argument for banning homosexual marriage and in a secular nation a religious argument should not be one at all.

I'm a patriot in that I believe in the United States Constitution above all else. Take the flag and the pledge to said flag and throw them away for all I care. They are not what matter. They are not the foundation of our country. They are not what ensure our freedom. They are not what the President and every member of the Armed Forces swear to uphold and protect. So when someone like Barack Obama comes along and does where a flag on his lapel, that's okay. The words coming out of his mouth show he is a patriot because he speaks of living up to our Constitution. Decorations do not matter.

Patriotism is a belief in freedom for all in all facets of life, a belief in the founding principles of our nation, and belief that we as a nation can find our way out of the dark to again become the beacon we once were.

Unpleasantries

Once again greasy food has proven itself to be the bane of my existence.

I've gotten sick every single time I've eaten from KFC. That keeps me from actively pursuing it as sustenance, but has always failed to keep me from ingesting the tender, fried morsels while in their presence. Who's to tell if my curse would ever be lifted?

Today's episode was due to some greasy, delicious pizza that ripped me apart royally once inside. One does not discuss such things in polite company, suffice to say that I will be spending at least part of my day tomorrow cleaning my car door.

I am Jack's Tension Headache

Spent most of these three days that I have off trying to find a job. Thursday through Sunday I'm spending in Asbury Park, doing my best to build Benny Go Home into something more than a slogan. It's going pretty well, but it is, as it always has been, a labor of love. That's how I always describe BGH, though when I talk about love, I'm not just talking about BGH, I'm talking about my home. It's awesome to be doing something that people appreciate, that they can get behind whole-heartedly.

But alas, I gots ta get paid. Thus I am seeking outside employment that I can use to pay the bills. I'm perfectly capable of doing everything that I need to do for BGH and holding a full time gig. Hell for the last semester of school I did what I needed to for BGH, held a part-time job, an internship, and went to school full time. I like to stay busy, keeps me focused. I have way too much time on my hands right now and would love to sacrifice 40 hours a week to the higher cause of paying bills. At least I'll be working for the weekend.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday with my first being Christmas and third being Independence Day. Not surprisingly, this correlates with my list of favorite things: gifts, food, and explosions.

Not only is Thanksgiving the start of the holiday season, which while being the most exploitative time of the year still manages to hang on to its "most wonderful time of the year" label, its the only holiday that is completely food oriented. With no birth of nations or messiahs to get in the way, food takes center stage. People obsess over their meals and it seems that no matter how many times people cook a Thanksgiving dinner, they're always unsure about it. That means that every year something turns out different, even if the menu never changes.

Not to mention the fact that I love turkey and it is the one day out of the year that I get to eat it home cooked. Some people luck out and have it for Christmas too, but I usually get stuck with dry, salty ham. The rest of the year it's either "It was just Thanksgiving" or "Thanksgiving's around the corner" and the turkey drought continues until the following November. At least I still have a few days of leftovers before gravy soaked breast meat, marshmallowed sweet potatoes, and savory sausage filled stuffing become just memories for another long year.

Lament of the Comic Nerd

This is probably the angriest I've ever been after coming home from my weekly trip to the comic shop.

Normally I come home looking forward to diving into one of my favorite books, but not so much this week. I'm home empty handed. There was not a single thing out this week that was worth my time and money. Why?

Let's start with Captain America: The Chosen #1. This is the story about the last days of Captain America and is supposed to be like the Spider-man: Reign mini-series which was supposed to be like The Dark Knight Returns. There's a huge flaw with this book and that happens to be its timing. It comes out months after Captain America was killed off in a way that is nothing like this book. "Captain America is dead! But here's another way it could have happened..." No thanks. Any weight the story may have had is gone thanks to the whole 'killing off a dead character' angle.

Next we have the beginning of the end of J. Micheal Straczynski's way too long run on Amazing Spider-Man with Amazing Spider-Man #544. Sure his run started out good and for a while featured the awesome art of John Romita Jr. but fell off pretty quickly due to his seemly stubborn refusal to use classic Spider-Man villains in a way that didn't involve them sleeping with the long dead Gwen Stacy. Now we have poor old Aunt May on her death bed since Civil War and Peter Parker's been crying ever since. Her death has been dragged on for months and any impact it may have had was scraped off miles back up the road. Not only that but this whole "One More Day" story has been hyped for so long I feel like I've already read the damn thing. Guess what? Apparently Peter and Mary Jane won't be a couple anymore or whatever. Marvel chose to use the ends this "event" is supposed to accomplish as a way of promoting it thus removing the point of telling the story. I'm just looking forward to the next arc which will be JMS-free and may actually feature some of the witty banter and awesome villains that makes reading Spidey worth while. Oh and one more thing. Joe Quesada is a douche-bag. He's the one drawing "One More Day" and while he is a great artist and decent Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, that little "Still Only $3.99!" tag he slapped on his cover is not in the least bit funny. "This issue is over-priced! Isn't that a stitch?" Must be hilarious to the folks collecting the dough but it's a slap in the face to those on the other side of the equation.