Ponyboy's Odd Comeback

Ok, check out Southland ep. 3, and tell me C. Thomas Howell's character is not based on Moe Szyslak from The Simpsons. Give Moe a badge, and you have (note: I'm at war against the phrase "you've got") Officer Billy Dewey. Get Tom Cruise some chocolate cake; it's time to "do it for Johnny."

The Great Dish Towel Experiment

As our loyal reader knows, earlier this year, I not only failed to properly multiply 6 times 4 (24, for the record), but I stopped using and buying paper towels. I'm here to report that my 24 white dish towels are doing the job very nicely, and are catching our regular laundry cycles in a timely fashion. I am yet to be without a clean, white dish towel to dry my hands or wipe a counter. While there are times when I and my wife miss a convenient paper towel, like this morning, following our dog's minor digestive incident, we seem to have alternatives handy: some extra take-out napkins, for example. So take it from me, a sanitation geek, you can save money without sacrificing cleanliness or wiping performance by switching from paper towels to a stock of twenty-four 12 x 12 inch dish towels.*

*Statement based on a household of 2 adults and 1 dog. Larger households may require a stock greater than 24 dish towels.

Shredding a Better Solo

Well hello there, loyal reader. The clocks have sprung ahead, and hibernation is over. There's much to write about, so let's get into it. First, I am putting out this idea that I had way back during season 2 of Lost: If any new Star Wars movies covering the Han Solo era should be made, Josh Holloway, Lost's James 'Sawyer' Ford, is the only possible choice for the character of Han Solo. It is obvious in an inevitable way. Just watch Lost, and realize it for yourself. Holloway pulls of the deep-steeled scoundrel-with-a-hero's-heart as well as Harrison Ford did in SW Episodes IV-VI. Holloway takes it a step further though, portraying a deeper emotional range that I can't recall in any Harrison Ford movie . . . well, maybe Air Force One, but only because Gary Oldman made Harry step up his game by pinning his head to a control panel for a solid twenty seconds. I would have been on the verge of tears too. I credit Oldman's commitment for Ford's performance.

Holloway doesn't require physical pain to express emotional range. Just look at his reaction shot to seeing Kate return to the island at the end of the most recent episode. He's a certified bad-ass with a sense of humor and a big heart for troubled alpha-females. As strong as she is as Kate, Evangeline Lilly is no Princess Leia, but Josh Holloway is Han-freaking-Solo to the core.

So who else might be appropriate for a 21st century, Han Solo era, Star Wars film? Well, the obvious choice for Leia is Natalie Portman, but that just makes me groan. She was nothing to write home about in SW Episodes I-III, but I blame George Lucas for that. He put fireworks over character and story development, and the acting suffered. Natalie Portman definitely has the acting chops--look no further than V for Vendetta for evidence of that--but the SW franchise would need a clean break from Episodes I-III just to re-establish some credibility. It could use some visual minimalism with an emphasis on character and storytelling. It all comes back to writing and directing.

If not Portman, then who? What about Luke Skywalker? How 'bout Ryan Gosling? I'm open to ideas. Discuss! Holloway is non-negotiable though.

The Post-Cynical Era

The Big Wall continues to crumble, and its foundation is gloriously compromised. There are no more excuses. We can no longer blame management. It's up to us. It's up to you. It's up to me. We are victims leaving the hospital; standing from our wheelchairs.

You have no age, you have no gender, you have no race. You are whom think you are. You are whom you want to be. You are a Kung Fu master of yourself. You are built of bullet-proof stained glass. You are bound with stainless steel. You cradle the sun within you. You glow like God at the river's edge, where your family and friends welcome you. You breathe in the spectrum. You glide through the bubble.

What would you like to do? How can you help?

Inaugural Comments, Thoughts, and Advice From My Record Collection

"Wake Up Time" - Tom Petty

"Lively Up Yourself" - Bob Marley & The Wailers

"Good Morning, Good Morning" - The Beatles

"Brand New Day" - Van Morrison

"I Feel Good" - James Brown

"Optmistic" - Radiohead

"Gratitude" - Beastie Boys

"High Time" - The Grateful Dead

"You Should Be Dancing" - Bee Gees

"Take Control" - Weezer

"Pick Up the Pieces" - Average White Band

"Bridge Over Troubled Waters" - Simon & Garfunkel

"Please Be Patient with Me" - Wilco

More later.