It's a Random Thought Kind of Day and Other Tales

Random Thought 1)

Reuben sandwiches are the best sandwiches ever. Don't bother trying to change my mind, it won't work. You are wrong and your sandwich is inferior.

Random Thought 2)

Kanye West and Eminem take turns being the douchiest of douches, but when they are good, they rock my freaking world! Which annoys the hell outta me.

Have you ever heard (or read) Kanye West speak? He is so consumed, so impressed with himself, so god damned egotistical, it is sickening. I watch or read anything he says slack jawed at the level of narcissism. I read an article in Rolling Stone when Kanye and 50 Cent had albums drop on the same date. I went into that article liking Kanye's music but not knowing the man. When I was done, I didn't want to know anything else. 50 Cent entered the town square carrying a six shooter at high noon. Kanye is dancing from foot to foot round back of the school when class let out ready to go fisticuffs, thinkin' he's Mohammed Ali.

Eminem irks me for other reasons. Here is a man who has the ability to bend words to his will and possesses a rhythm few rappers can achieve. Take away his ability to bitch about his mother or his ex-wife and we're rarely given anything better than his alter-ego Slim Shady. Who accomplishes nothing but remind me that most 12 year old boys annoy the shit out of me.

Perhaps unfairly, once an entertainer falls out of favour with me for reasons unrelated to his/her brand of entertainment (actors, musicians, etc) I usually dislike their product as well. Kanye and Eminem are exceptions to this rule. And for reasons I am unable to explain, I continue to dislike them with fervor when I do, but when I like them musically? I might as well erect a statue in honour of whichever one happens to be on my radar, and it's both of them right now.

Random Thought 3)

Okay, so I forgot my third random thought because I re-read the Rolling Stone article.

Here are some fun facts for ya:

1)Facebook hates me today. I have had to post every comment I have made two or three times because I keep getting errors.

2) Never ground your children from electronics when you aren't feeling well, it's forty degrees outside, and all of their friends seem to be away. They will do their best to break your will and drive you crazy. I've got news for them though, my resolve remains strong!

3) Hurricane Bill is very low on my popularity list right now. Mr. Sprite is due to go away again tomorrow morning (when Bill is supposed to hit us the hardest). I have no problem holding down the fort when the Military calls Mr. Sprite away. I do however, have a problem literally holding down the fort. They (you know who they are) are saying Bill is going to hit us pretty hard and I don't mind saying that not having my bigger, stronger, more knowledgeable in situations of extreme peril counterpart around for this is freaking me out a little.

That's it for now folks. If the weather predictors are right, I may post on location tomorrow from Oz!

Just a Thought or Two.

Have you read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged? I have. I found it intriguing. I have believed a person or society, for that matter, that is stronger, richer, healthier should take care of those that are weaker, poorer, sicker. Ayn Rand did not believe so. She coined the Objectivism philosophy. I am over-simplifying it, but it essentially the right to your own genius, profit and.....No, no I can't over-simplify it, because my explanation above doesn't nearly do it justice. Read the book. Seriously, it's long, but I think it's worth it.

Ayn Rand wrote an entire book (a few, actually) devoted to her philosophy. She makes an excellent argument. Atlas Shrugged had me questioning my beliefs. A particularly poignant part of the book is a conversation between the protagonist and another character - I don't remember who, I also don't remember the quote word for word and it's Sunday morning so I am reserving my right to be lazy and not look it up. You will get the gist, I am sure - The question is posed; If Atlas carries the weight of the world on his shoulders and the world is thankless for it, what would you have him do? The answer; shrug. I found that to be some of the most powerful imagery I have encountered in my reading travels. The image carried so much weight I had to put the book down for a bit to devote some thought to it. But it isn't the idea of Objectivism I am here to talk about today, it's that they want to make a movie based on this book. So I checked IMDB . Apparently one person or another has been threatening to do this for awhile. I have a number of problems with this.

1 - the book is better than a thousand pages long.
2 - there is a monologue in the book, a very important monologue in the book that took me 3 hours to read. Yes, 3 hours, don't let it discourage you though, I found it to be the only part of the two books I have read by her (the other was the Fountainhead) where her preachiness was overbearing. I think the entire thing could have been said in a hell of a lot less words, but I have never written, edited or published a book, so who am I?
3 - from what I have read on IMDB so far, I think they may miss the point.
4- and this one isn't a problem, per se, just something that makes me go hmmmm, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are tied to it. Angelina as Dagny Taggart obviously, but will Brad Pitt be John Galt or Hank Reardon? Hmmmm
5- I already said it in 1 & 3, but it bears repeating, this is a big fucking book, BIG book, not just in length but the idea, the story that conveys the idea....I just don't think Hollywood can translate it to screen without losing a lot of the message. Plus, I'm not sure the general public will want to see this movie. Ayn Rand takes self-serving, shoves it down your throat, asks you to chew on it a bit, digest it, and enjoy that fucking meal. People don't like self-serving. Unless Hollywood completely re-writes the characters, I would be willing to bet most people will dislike the leads in this story. If they succeed in writing the characters so that people will care about them, I think they will lose the idea. I dunno. Again, I have never written a screenplay of any sort, let alone one based on a book, so what do I know?

I don't know if I want this to be made. I'm not sure my faith in Hollywood is strong enough to trust that they can do this. I don't know if, when they do it, I will want to see this movie or if I will be able to resist my curiosity. We shall see.