It's 2003! Somehow it doesn't look as cool as 2002 did! Oh, well, we've got a year to get used to it.
Art Bell has retired from his national radio program. There was a period where my schedule/life style allowed me to hear his show every night. Got me through some rough times, and I will miss his enthusiasm. But, to be fair, he hadn't done his broadcast on a regular basis for some time, and I have kept a somewhat more normal schedule of sleeping at night. If he does a future show and it is available to me I will listen.
The show 'Angel' returns tonight, just in time! Prett lousy fare out there. 'Firefly' was cancelled, but shows like 'Yes Dear' keep being produced? Perhaps if Joss Whedon could make a deal with CBS to call 'Firefly' CSI:Galaxy or somesuch, it could get picked up for more eps? I am liking 'Life With Bonnie' quite a bit! Great cast and nice little sitcom. No 'issues', no screaming or even much in the way of wisecracks.Just smooth and professional.Nice. Also, 'Andy Richter Controls the Universe' is back! Wonderful stuff! They throw everything at the wall to see what sticks and I end up laughing uncontrolably!
Unfortunately it is on at the same time as 'Alias', but with 'Angel' switching to Wednesdays, there's less of a conflict there. 'Alias' is still very good. 'Buffy' continues along, but it's on UPN, and with Sarah Michelle almost definitely leaving, the current apocolyptic storyline just might be a cool way to wrap up the series run.
No movies for me this month. Next month I know I'll probably see 'The Two Towers', but with it being the middle part of a trilogy, I am not as excited as I know I will be to see the conclusion.( I also had the starnge experience of reading only the third book.) Musically I am quite happy to have found a copy of Kate Bush's 'Sensual World' at a discount store this week! I am in Bush heaven for the moment. Though I am looking for a copy of Blue Oyster Cult's 'Shooting Shark'. Great song co-written by Patti Smith.Just obscure enough that I am having trouble finding it.But I love a good quest!
If anyone likes good, fun comics, there are two being published by DC that I am hooked on: Hawkman and JSA! Excellent writing and art on both! And, unusual for the comics field, consistent!
I have to make one political comment. Well, two. I really like what I have seen of Senator Frist. He is a great replacement for Trent Lott. He has behaved heroically both as a doctor, coming to the aid of motorists in Florida, and as a senator, coming to the aid of his party as the media attacked.Good show!
The other comment is about this Ryan guy in Illinois! What could he have been thinking? There's rumors that he'll end up in jail soon, and will be treated better for having done what he did. He comes across in interviews as an arrogant blowhard, and I was expecting a whiny moralist. So it's fun to be angry at him now! I personally see the death penalty as the last resort by society to protect its members from psycho/socio-paths who are willing to murder to get what they want. A deterrent only in the case that the killer put to death will not kill again. Revenge for victims' families? If they get some closure from it, perhaps. But that's not the purpose. I think it simply keeps that person from killing again. I also think it more reasonable to put to death someone who killed a stranger, because the potetntial pool of victims for the murderer of a loved one or friend/acquaintance is much smaller than the potential pool of victims for the stranger killer. He/she targets all of society and that is the case where the system steps in and protects society from the killer by preventing him/her from killing anyone else, by putting him/her to death.
I recall watching the TV movie about Matthew Sheperd's murder. His parents, played by Sam Watterston and Stockard Channing, decided in the last half hour of the movie, to plead not to put Matthew's killers to death.I remember thinking,as a gay man, that they might be assuaging their own guilt, but they were in fact putting me at risk, since I already fell into the category of someone they might wish to kill in the future, based upon their track record.
But in Ryan's case, I was thinking that he made a decent case for U.S. citizens to arm themselves. His claim was that the system was fatally flawed and all of these innocent men should not be put to death. I agree about not putting innocent people to death. What Ryan didn't say was that the murder victims had never been killed or that he had miraculously resurrected them So if the 167 people he pardoned are innocent, but the murders occured, then there are at least 167 killers running around our society with potentially deadly intent! I say we need to arm ourselves NOW! I know I'll feel safer. And, if we accidentally kill the wrong person, well, I hope it happens in Illinois.