You are currently browsing the Down with Absolutes! weblog archives for January, 2005.
Well, go to Yahoo! and do a search on “down with absolutes.” It’s so cool to see your own site on a search engine. And I’m number one! Let’s be fair, though. Down with absolutes is kind of a unique phrase, so no need for me to get all excited.
Posted by Mike Matthews in General at 9:58 PM PST
I’ve probably seen GoldenEye 20 times over the past ten years. It’s one of my favorite Bond flicks and is certainly Pierce Brosnan’s best in his four-film run.
Funny that I just NOW understand the plot to its fullest. While watching it (again) last week, I actually paid attention to a bit of the dialogue between Bond and rogue agent-turned enemy Alec Trevelyan. Most interesting in the conversation is how the scriptwriters obviously did a bit of historical research in presenting this one ominous plot twist in the film.
In the opening action sequence, Bond (007) and Trevelyan (006) infiltrate a Soviet weapons facility. Trevalyan is presumed dead at the end of the stunning pre-credits sequence, however, nine years later he shows up.
The plot twist is that 006 was an orphan of parents who belonged to a now nearly-extinct population of Eastern Europe, formerly of the Soviet Union. This particular group–called Cossacks–of individuals so-hated the Soviet regime that they actually aligned themselves with the Nazis during World War II. In realizing there was no way Germany was going to win, they attempted to talk the British into allowing them to join the allied forces. When the British refused to help them after the war, the Cossacks were returned to the Soviets and most were slaughtered for treason.
Here’s one British soldier’s account of “Rounding up the Cossacks.”
So, orphan Trevelyan later infiltrated MI:6 (British secret service) to exact his ultimate revenge against the British government that turned his Cossack parents away 50 years before. The plot twist is that the Russian general in the film that is helping Trevelyan exact his revenge didn’t know 006’s parents were Cossacks…so, it turns out NO one–even those aligned with him–could trust 006.
What a great movie. I suppose it’s great that I now know the backstory to this film, but I often find myself doing that with Bond pictures (I still don’t understand Diamonds Are Forever.) Laced with just the right amount of history and politics, James Bond movies are perfect entertainment. You’ll be reading more about them here.
You can thank me later for the history lesson. Or you can just comment below.
Posted by Mike Matthews in James Bond at 7:51 PM PST
So, I’m trying to decide on a color scheme. So far, for my visited links, I’ve chosen quite a putrid shade of orange, #FF9C4A. So, all the links you’ve visited on my page will show this tangerine-orange type of color. Do you have any other ideas on some colors that would make a nice color scheme? Share your thoughts on this here Comments board, link below.
Technically, the title of this blog is Down with Absolutes, but on the title area of the page (found at the top of the window…to the left). I finally inserted this tagline after successfully manipulating some html.
I’m getting pretty damn good at this stuff.
I think I deserve a treat.
Posted by Mike Matthews in General at 9:22 PM PST
OK…it’s 10:45 in the morning. My cousin Joanna is in Wilkes-Barre, PA, with some old college friends who have decided to wait on line for the past two hours to purchase tickets to see U2 in Philadelphia in May. So she calls me.
They needed my help in trying to find some tickets online via Ticketmaster. Those damn concert promoters and censorship-czars like Clear Channel have so thoroughly fouled things up by allowing scam-fronts called ticket brokers to jack up prices 500% before tickets were put on sale to the public. Tickets were probably sold out when the fifth person stepped up to the front of the line. Sorry, cousin…looks like you won’t be seeing Bono & Co. perform “Where the Streets Have No Name” this time around.
On to my complaint: Nevermind that none of her “I-love-Dave-Matthews-but-that-new-Usher-CD-is-HOT!” girlfriends probably even own U2’s awesome new album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. These girls probably don’t have anything outside of either U2’s 1987 opus The Joshua Tree or the Best of 1980-1990 Collection. More likely looking for a fun night out than to actually see the spectacle that is U2, the concert will probably serve as another venue in which to get drunk, in my estimation.
As many of you know, music is probably the most important form of extracurricular entertainment in my life. I hate seeing these teenyboppers who will jump off any bandwagon as soon as they’ve jumped on. If you like an artist or group, how can you like simply like one album or song and discredit the rest of his, her or its catalog? Call me crazy, but if you’re all psyched at 10 in the morning to see U2, you’d better damn well have the album for which they’re striking out on tour to support.
Joanna, I still love you. See you at the gym.
Posted by Mike Matthews in Music at 10:55 AM PST
I just couldn’t resist.
I’ve never considered myself one wrapped up in calculations and ambiguity. I feel I’ve prided myself on being able to remain that way when meeting someone new or having a political debate with a family member. When I remain uncalculated I often produce the best results.
But my deviousness and calculation came out yesterday.
While at worked, I demanded my friend, The Nyominx, do something to satisfy my underfanned ego. I requested she take a photo of me outside, wrestling with the garbage. Now, I admit. This would have been a heck of a lot better if I’d been “caught in the act,” however, since that wasn’t going to happen, a little indulgent self-deprecation would have to do. So, yes, I was a cold (literally…look at all that snow!), calculated individual yesterday. Scroll over the image to check out the caption.
So…here I am. I don’t mean to degrade those who do take out the trash; this just is not where I saw myself after attaining a Bachelor’s degree in journalism.
I’ll get over it; I always do.
PS…Excuse the nasty jeans hanging too low. I’m in the process of losing weight and it seems even a trusty belt can’t do its job. The shimmer of blue you see is my Hawaiian shirt I try to wear every Friday.
Posted by Mike Matthews in Personal at 8:11 AM PST
My partner in crime, The Nyominx, and I worked on this little trifle in between customers at the store.
Ms. Nyominx was waiting on a customer when I commented on her drawing…”Is this a man or a woman?” She didn’t have an answer, so I played around with it a bit. The drawing is hers, the words, mine.
Don’t look if you are easily offended by “naughty” words!
On a side note, my sister has me hooked on Starbucks Coffee’s Java Chip Ice Cream. This stuff is gonna keep me up all night.
Update #1: Doing crap like this is probably what got me fired.
Posted by Mike Matthews in Dumb stuff at 10:19 PM PST
So, as many of you may know, I was fired last July from my job at a large insurance company. For a 22-year old, I had it pretty good. Salary, overtime, flexible hours, tuition reimbursement. Then I fouled it up by not being more efficient in cleaning my computer’s hard drive.
But, that’s another story.
So, I’m driving home tonight from a family dinner, listening to NPR (that’s National Palestinian Radio for all you conservatives out there!) and on comes the classic Smiths song “How Soon is Now?” I’m against illegal downloading of music, but I recommend everyone listen to this wildly ambient and airy pop song. Morrissey’s voice never sounded better.
That song is featured on the album I was listening to before I was called into a meeting to be terminated. As uncanny as it is, a song I once really, really loved now seems to make my stomach turn. Simply by association with my termination, my brain has ejected what I once thought a good song and forced it into the “unlistenable” pile.
Maybe I’ll love it again in a few years.
People say that the most shocking and unbelieveable things that occur in one’s life often lend themselves to the most lasting impression in one’s memories, and even dreams. I can attest to that. I still have dreams/nightmares that I am processing medical and dental claims from India, Japan and Romania (yes, it was a VERY interesting job…). I still have dreams/nightmares of staff meetings in which I show up half-naked. I still have dreams/nightmares of never recovering from the bone-chilling loss of such a secure job.
Simply put, I feel I’m recovering from the termination. I could wax poetic on the real reasons I feel I was “let go,” however, I would do a disservice to myself and the company that employed me for a great six years. Give me a couple months. I’ll delve deeper.
Posted by Mike Matthews in The Great Termination at 9:42 PM PST
Hi,
Please excuse the crazy color scheme. I’ve been fooling with CSS the past few days and some things just aren’t coming together. I promise I’ll have something more aesthetically pleasing in the near future.
Posted by Mike Matthews in General at 3:49 PM PST
So, I accepted a job as a substitute teacher this past week. I currently hold a job at a family cafe. A job I’ve been wanting to rid my self of for the past six months I’ve been working there.
Why? Let’s just say it isn’t conducive to my extreme need and desire to become a bit less plump. Working around homemade banana cake, pastries, cookies and butter (yes…butter by the teaspoon is pretty damn tasty) will not help me in thinning out this waistline.
Sure, I’ve made it a priority in the last two months to get to the gym AT LEAST four times a week. Too bad a huge difference doesn’t seem to be registering on the scale, though I do enjoy the gym immensely. One good thing about being morbidly obese comes in the form of more calories burned. In one hour of cardio goodness, I can burn up to 1000 calories. Now, granted you only need to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound, this shit should be melting off me rapidly.
Alas, this is where my cafe job is the ultimate nefarious enemy. The 1000 calories I burn on Monday are quickly replaced Tuesday with a sausage and bacon sandwich, a black and white donut, endless amounts of iced tea (OK…I do use Splenda for that) and a slice or two of Jewish apple cake. And that’s all before 10 am.
In conclusion, a new job (and certainly one in which 30 pairs of student eyes look back at me) should help me lose those pounds for which I’ve committed myself so thoroughly to the gym.
I have yet to be assigned to a school…but please let it happen soon. I fear the next chocolate chip cookie may send me into catatonic shock.
Posted by Mike Matthews in Personal at 8:05 PM PST
I hate to use such a deragatory term to describe women; especially the two most important women in my life right now; mother and sister.
But, I just can’t help identifying the source of my craziness this weekend. If you don’t know, I live in Delaware and a blizzard has swept through the area. A nasty blizzard. A blizzard of a magnitude I haven’t seen in……a year or two. I’m stuck in the house with my mother and sister and both are driving me up a damn wall.
Thankfully, I bought the first season of Penn & Teller’s Bullshit! with my Best Buy gift card. This series is great. Of particular interest were the episodes involving creationist loons, environmentalist wackos and bottled water purists. this series definitely has a little something to offend political followers from both sides.
Ok, I’m tired. I’ve got other interesting posts in the pipeline, so stay with me.
Posted by Mike Matthews in Personal at 4:35 PM PST
Hello, my fellow earthlings.
This is Mike M., formerly of Angelfire…now striking out on my own.
This site will be an amalgamation of several things; most importantly my need to spread my political filth to a larger audience. I feel with my own domain I’ll be able to maintain a certain level of self-righteousness unafforded to me when I previously blogged on Angelfire. I received well over 500 hits on that site (most of those hits being directly from myself) in about four months, so I’m hoping to do better than that.
But, I’ll need your devoted help! Spread the word on my site. Encompassing not just politics, I promise to delve even deeper into the realm of Mike. I’ll keep you posted on what my life is currently like, both personal and professional, as well as get down and dirty with some particularly touchy subjects I’d like to tackle with a wider audience.
Be prepared to participate. Because me participating alone amounts to only, well…you know what I mean!
This is only the beginning. Let’s get started!
Posted by Mike Matthews in General at 11:51 AM PST
