Mr. Bill George

What follows remains one of my favorite things ever written. Period. — Dear Madam, I have...

Wed, 23 May 2012 02:19:37 -0400

What follows remains one of my favorite things ever written. Period.

—

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

Photo

Sat, 05 May 2012 22:09:00 -0400

Taken using the app ‘Pano’ on an iPhone 4S, then...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:17:00 -0400

Taken using the app ‘Pano’ on an iPhone 4S, then edited further using ‘Snapseed’.

POST HUNGER GAME SHOW [The following is a text conversation that does include SPOILERS] CD: Haha....

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:14:00 -0400

POST HUNGER GAME SHOW

[The following is a text conversation that does include SPOILERS]

CD: Haha. Hunger Games sucked.

BG: You agree or just commenting on my thoughts?

CD: I saw your shouldigoseeit and laughed because I felt the same way. I tried to leave the movie but my friends wouldn’t let me.

BG: Haha. You gotta back me up on Twitter. I’m entering a flame war.

CD: I hated it.

BG: It would have redeemed itself if she slit his throat at the end when they changed the rule back.

CD: And drank his blood for the hell of it.

BG: There we go! I was gonna tweet things that would have made it better: an R rating, semiautomatic weapons, and a story that wasn’t so goddamn stupid.

CD: And if Elizabeth Banks had been shot with a shotgun maybe. I was thinking the whole time ‘Why the fuck does she have a southern accent? Is this America? WHAT IS PANEM?’

BG: Honestly the whole concept is ridiculous. “Forget spending money on healing the nation and feeding our people. Let’s spend it on elaborate television productions.”

CD: And I didn’t know anything about this coming in.

BG: Yea, I went in fresh knowing only it was a life and death tournament. Which sounded exciting. My mistake!

CD: And does the FCC exist in Panem? Sounds like something should exist. Does that mean Panem allows cursing on network TV? GET ME TO PANEM!

BG: Amen. Also, “Let’s keep all our supplies in one place, surrounded by land mines that are visibly marked by mounds of dirt. If we get hurt we’ll air drop some magic healing potion that cures all wounds within 6 hours.” Ahh this movie made me so mad you have idea. I am legitimately angry.

CD: Yeah, what’s up with those parachutes. And those demon dogs that suck at biting? Four dogs can’t get one scratch on that little bitch, Pita? I want him dead.

BG: Don’t get me started! So they can just manifest creatures of their design wherever and whenever they want? How about manifesting some wheat?!

CD: Man up and put a T-Rex that shits out bread after it eats humans.

BG: Now THAT’D be productive. As opposed to, say, staging a tournament that includes such thrilling moments as: ‘Child climbs tree!’ And ‘Girl picks berries!’

CD: And WTF was up when they found her and then couldn’t kill her with the bow? How about this geniuses: Ask the girl that could slice the wings off a fly with her damn knives to MURDER HER. I was so angry at that moment.

BG: “We’ve mastered throwing weapons… so let’s go ahead and wait out our target that’s 30ft above us in plain sight.”

CD: She isn’t immune to rocks.

BG: Same when she was looking at the camp from afar. Eventually it’s one kid left. Shoot him with an arrow! Your goal is to kill people. He’s right there!

CD: It’s like they drafted the people who don’t have survival skills OR common sense.

BG: Same thing with them hanging out in packs. Everyone has to die. Don’t take alliances and never miss an opportunity. So frustrating.

CD: I’d be like ‘Yeah! Alliance!’ And then stab them repeatedly.

BG: Exactly! They all fell asleep at one point. Horrific. Throw in some SEALs as referees just to make it interesting. Absurd. The whole thing was just silly.

Aaaand scene!

Latest addition to the family.

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 09:10:00 -0400

Latest addition to the family.

"Peace was never an option."

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:15:09 -0400

“Peace was never an option.”

- Erik Lehnsherr (a.k.a. Magneto) in X-Men: First Class

I used the ‘WordFoto’ app on a picture of my...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:17:37 -0400

I used the ‘WordFoto’ app on a picture of my favorite cola and my favorite ‘Star Trek’ commemorative glass. Neat results.

Photos from my recent walk to the Enfield CT WWII Honor...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:44:00 -0400

Photos from my recent walk to the Enfield CT WWII Honor Roll.

NOTE: The William George listed is no relation.

Photos edited in Snapsneed using various configurations of the...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:12:00 -0400

Photos edited in Snapsneed using various configurations of the grunge filter.

My favorite photos from my recent trip out west. The full...

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 11:47:00 -0400

My favorite photos from my recent trip out west. The full gallery can be found on Flickr.

"We have a non-smoking airport here in San Francisco. We do have a designated smoking area outside..."

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 11:41:00 -0400

“We have a non-smoking airport here in San Francisco. We do have a designated smoking area outside the terminal, it’s called ‘Nevada’.”

- United Airlines Pilot

Television Update: Awake - Brilliant pilot. Film quality. In fact, it should be a film. It’s...

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:50:03 -0500

Television Update:

Awake - Brilliant pilot. Film quality. In fact, it should be a film. It’s premise is so far beyond a police procedural. I’ll keep watching but the early reports from the AV Club don’t sound promising.

Justified - Probably the best drama on TV at the moment. It has gotten better and better with each season. If you’re not on board, get on it.

New Girl - Funniest new show this year. A must watch.

Glee - Awful. Just awful. And it continues to get worse.

Archer - Always funny but this season seems less… memorable somehow compared to the previous two. Still hilarious and I recommend.

30 Rock - Losing it’s stride. Baldwin remains the most reliable laugh on the show.

Idol - Auditions and Hollywood and Vegas were all rough. But now that we are in the Top 13, it’s looking much more promising and I already have some favorites (a.k.a. Phillip Phillips). Worth a watch.

The Voice - Strong talent this year. Now that we are out of auditions we go into the awkward battle rounds. We’ll see how it goes this year but I still only watch this show on DVR because there is way too much filler, wasted time, and ‘human interest’ content.

The West Wing - Still the best drama I’ve ever seen. Currently re-watching the series for a third time. I always bring something new to it and always enjoy it. (I’d say best overall show ever but we can’t forget Seinfeld. And I still haven’t seen some contenders like The Wire, Friday Night Lights and Deadwood. (They’re all on my list.))

Shark Tank - To put my thoughts in perspective, whenever discussing this show in conversation I refer to it as, “Shark Tank: The best show on television”.

"I don’t get political points for being an idealist. I have to do the best I can with what I..."

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 07:12:38 -0500

“I don’t get political points for being an idealist. I have to do the best I can with what I have.”

- Jim Gordon, The Dark Knight

I love this movie. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. If someone were to...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:50:18 -0500

I love this movie.

A lot.

Like, a lot a lot.

If someone were to write a movie specifically for ME, this would be it. Throughout the entire thing I was sitting in the theater with a ridiculous grin on my face from ear to ear.

Seriously though, did I mention how much I love this movie?

"Okay ramblers, let’s get ramblin’."

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:17:50 -0500

“Okay ramblers, let’s get ramblin’.”

I get that this new Disney film is actually based on an older...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:29:00 -0500

I get that this new Disney film is actually based on an older intellectual property than the Terminator series, but they should know better. Context matters.

You can’t just name the movie after the protagonist (who just so happens to have a strikingly similar name to one of the most famous protagonists in recent film history) and not expect people to scratch there heads.

The name ‘John Connor’ has a place in popular culture as humanity’s only hope for survival in our inevitable war against machines. My personal opinion is that Disney really should have taken that into consideration.

I know I wouldn’t want everyone’s first reaction to my new, blockbuster film to be, “hey, that sounds like that other guy.”

Growing up, my mom would usually say things like, “You know, when you’re married…...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:37:00 -0500

Growing up, my mom would usually say things like, “You know, when you’re married… blah blah blah.”

Lately her language has changed to, “If you get married… blah blah blah.”

It may just be political correctness and her desire not to be presumptuous etc.

… But it’s terrifying.

Best Super Bowl ad this year. Easily.

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:43:32 -0500

Best Super Bowl ad this year. Easily.

"Every camera, every phone, All the music that you own, Won’t change the fact you’re all..."

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:38:20 -0500

“Every camera, every phone,
All the music that you own,
Won’t change the fact you’re all alone.”

- Cake (Sick of You)

Five lines from ‘Aliens’ I use on an almost daily...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:34:00 -0500

Five lines from ‘Aliens’ I use on an almost daily basis.