The National Front Disco

There was a mock citizenship quiz posted here which quizzes one on their knowledge of the government and US history. I took it and passed with a perfect score, so I guess I deserve to be here. Of course, I wonder how many of those clamoring to deport the "illegal immigrants" would be able to pass a test as simple as this one.

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

If You're Feeling Sinister

I've been watching reruns of the "V" television series from the 1980s. Back then, I was all over "V" and thought it was the coolest thing on television (hey, I was in fifth grade--give me a break). The show is awfully dated now. The special effects are cheesy, and the dialogue and acting are cringe-worthy, but it's a story idea that had a lot of potential.

I can't really fault the show for its special effects, since this was c. 1985--long before CGI made special effects in science fiction shows somewhat more believable. But what I can't understand is how television show back in the 70s and 80s were just so horribly written. Sure, there are a lot of horribly written shows in the 21st century, but there are a lot of very clever shows too. Clever shows back then were few and far between--or maybe my family was just watching the wrong shows. I don't understand how, with the fewer network selections, and fewer scripted programming back then, how there wasn't a greater concentration of writing talent in the shows that did exist.

Anyway, as I watch the reruns of "V" I rather wish some hotshot producer would do with "V" what Ronald Moore has done with the "Battlestar Galactica" franchise: give it a makeover and help what was a poorly executed show realize its potential. The original "V" developed a complicated analogy between the alien Visitors and Nazi Germany, asking, "If a Nazi-like invasion were to occur today (the 1980s) what would happen? Who would collaborate? Who would resist?" A 21st century version of "V" could be rewritten to comment on current events. In the original series, the heroes were a group of human resistance fighters. Today, though, we might label them terrorists. They bombed alien installations, conducted assassinations and guerrilla warfare (even using weapons of mass destruction), and violently opposed the collaborating human governments. It would be very interesting to watch the heroes in a new series have to struggle to convince other humans to join the resistance movement while they have to combat the "terrorist" label and the propaganda that would be used against them, perhaps even going so far as to imply an analogy between the aliens' occupation of Earth and America's occupation of the Middle East. It could be a very interesting series.

Handle With Care

Last weekend, I finally bought a new printer. I have been without a printer for at least two years--an inconvenience which has forced me to spend a portion of almost every weekend at the college campus so that I could print things out. At least printing there was free.

I have bad luck with printers. They are such fragile, tempermental things. My last printer just died unexpectedly. I couldn't get it to connect with my previous computer nor with my current computer. The printer I owned before that was nice and compact and served me well until the ink drum exploded one day, spilling ink dust on the carpet.

I got my new printer for under $80, but it's one of those nice all-in-one, print/scan/copy things which should serve me well in the upcoming fall semester--if it doesn't die before then.

Just Being Me

Uggh. It has been forever since I last posted. An entire semester has passed, in fact. I know I haven't been posting and it has been nagging at me these last few months, but still, I didn't post.

And it's not like I haven't had anything to post about. Sure, things have been rather slow and stable in my life lately, but there have been some interesting events. As usual, I'm just guilty of procrastination. This is always what happens when I try to keep a journal/diary: I stick with it for a while, but then I inevitably drop it. Perhaps this blog thing is losing its appeal to me.

I was thinking about this situation last night and it occurred to me that my "online presence" has also decreased in the last few months. By this I mean that I've been participating less in online communities. TWoP is the best example--I haven't posted there in a long time either, and it used to be that I'd post to TWoP all the time. It seems that the way that I use the internet has shifted in recent months, and I'm more of spectator now than an active participant. Strange.