July, 13, 2001 archives

the beast was back this week, after being bumped for an independence day special last week. the ratings were even worse than the last time it was on (although just slightly). i'm always disappointed when a show feels it has to make up a country (although the president of said fake country was so badly stereotyped that he was funny). and what the hell was up with that tiki bar and beach room? i expected isaac to show up and start serving drinks. but the episode was a cliffhanger, so apparently the show will play out at least one more episode.

every once in a while, i think about writing a movie script. then i realize that i might have breathed in too much of this los angeles air. or i'm feeling the effects of the brain cloud. given my inability to hold my attention through writing a short essay once in a while, i don't think there's much to fear.

speaking of screenplay writing, i've always loved this article by terry rossio & ted elliott (writers of aladdin, the mask of zorro, shrek, an unproduced script based on the sandman comics written by neil gaiman, and other stuff). the lesson of the article (strive to do the best, not just "crap plus one") is absolutely one to live by even outside of writing a screenplay.

target starting carrying kellogg's-branded boxers (but they don't seem to be available online). the person who thought this up is a damn genius. there's something very deeply satisfying about having tony the tiger, toucan sam, and the sugar pops frog on your underwear.

a question asked of the yes/no oracle: "Does the serving size for strawberries from our garden, 299.70 grams in weight after they are washed and trimmed, have 121.918 calories?" the answer was no. even more frightening, the person kept asking with various degrees of precision. they eventually pegged it at 121.931 calories after another dozen queries. apparently they also have 37.49886 milligrams of calcium. (i'm definitely going to have to troll the logs and figure out what else can be learned about this person's strawberries.)

i wonder how much people would pay to watch the questions getting asked and answered as it happens. it is certainly more entertaining than big brother 2.

my favorite question asked of the oracle: "are you lying to me?" (either answer is funny.)