I saw this in the news and instantly thought of Boomsday by Christopher Buckley. If you’ve read the 2007 novel, by the author of Thank You for Smoking, you might have thought the same thing.

I grabbed the book via B&Ns bargain section just a few weeks ago so it the book is fresh in my mind. I let it sit in my “To Read” pile for a while but now that I’ve started I don’t want to put it down. It is good stuffs.

If you haven’t seen the 2005 movie adaptation of Thank You for Smoking, you should. Here is the trailer for starts:

No matter high of a pedestal we put them on (even if it is so high that they are immune to child molestation charges), they do eventually tumble back down to planet Earth plus six more feet. I know MJ was kind of a big deal like 15 or 20 years ago, but come on…

It was reported that at least a dozen fans who were Whacko for Jacko decided to join him in the happily ever afterlife. Or how many people joined MJ related social networking groups after he died? Or people running out to buy albums like they can’t make more now that he’s in a bag. Seriously… If you didn’t care enough to buy the music or join a facebook fan page when he was alive, why now?

I don’t understand the celebrity worship, not even on a small scale. It’s almost like people have to inject themselves into something so they can claim a little piece of history. Speaking of that, go to twitter and check out the recent twitter trend of posting your #lameclaimtofame.

I know they make cards for practically any occasion, but this one doesn’t quite make sense. Take a look at it for yourself.

I would have bought one for my unemployed brother if the inside said

“I would have sent balloons but mom said you might hang yourself.”

Instead, the message was pretty lame. The inside of the card said something dumb like “How’s about ‘It’s my treat’” to imply that the sender was willing to buy a pity meal for their friend.

I don’t get the point? Is it to rub it in your friends face that while they don’t have a job, you have enough spare change to drop a few bucks so you can send them a piece of mail to remind them that they are living on government handouts? If so, I’m all for it.

Vice President Biden said yesterday not to fly on commercial flights and that he wouldn’t ride the subway or go to school (he specifically mentions “classroom”). Avoid confined spaces, blah blah blah.

Oh, and speaking of class rooms… A school about 30 miles from here closed early and sent the entire district home at around noon because a child had flu like symptoms.

The whole issue has gotten a little bit silly. It’s gotten so crazy that people went back in time and made couple of terrible commercials warning of the importance of protecting yourself with a swine flu shot. Oh yeah, and those shots in the 70s killed more people than the swine flu killed…

And if you didn’t see Biden telling America to not fly or ride subways, you can here:

The truth is (according to the CDC) “Every year in the United States, on average 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu; more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and; about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes.” Here is a video from Dr. Ron Paul about the evil swine flu. I’m guessing he got a kick out of VP Biden’s advice to the nation.

I just think everyone wants a panic. Maybe they are hoping for a Mad Max or Diary of the Dead situation? It’s almost as bad as wanting for the End Times. Oh wait, I forgot… The swine flu is part of End Times. He told us not to eat the pork. Damn us all to hell!

Update: Joe Biden induced panic has officially hit the airlines. Yep. A jet with more than 260 people onboard including the crew was diverted from DC to Boston because one passenger told flight attendents about her flu-like symptoms. The one passenger was tended to by paramedics and then the plane delivered the rest of the passengers to their destination.

Since the other passengers would not yet being showing symptoms, I guess the flight eventually making it to DC means that someone grounded that plane over irrational hysteria. Otherwise all the people on the flight should have been checked out or treated.

On the 21st, a 52 year-old stripper was assaulted with a shoe. I can imagine that things probably get a little out of hand in strip clubs so the stiletto attack didn’t shock me. What I found disturbing is that the stripper was 52 years-old… Even though G-String Granny might be a catchy stage name, I don’t know that it will bring in the bucks.

Fast forward to last night. Tuesday again in the rubber capital of the world… No, not “rubber” as in a condom. I think they are referring to tires. Anyways, it’s was Tuesday so that means it’s time for another disturbing strip club story. This time it’s about a police raid on a strip club that employed a 14 year-old topless dancer.

I personally have nothing against strip clubs, but these clubs don’t say much for the people of Akron. You have 38 years between in age difference between these two strippers. It makes you wonder if they were related and maybe if mommy had Tuesday nights off? Nah, that can’t be it. Everyone knows that even though stripping is genetic, it is known to skip a generation.

I can’t wait to see what news next Tuesday night brings about Akron strip clubs…

Seriously… What is up with fortune cookies? They never contain actual ‘fortunes’ or future predictions. Now they all just seem to be random phrases written in broken English. They are so terrible the ‘In Bed’ game doesn’t even work half the time anymore.

Today’s fortune cookie was a real winner. It contains the answers to the SATs. Maybe I could sell it to the highest bidder on Ebay?

To hell with it. I’m all done with school so I might as well share my secrets the next generation of drop outs…

I need an XBox 360 in a bad way. If you have an XBox 360 and/or know how to get a great deal on one, I’m begging you to answer the following questions… (Please please please)

Do you know where I can get a good deal on XBox 360 Pro?

Do I need the MS extended warranty or a retailer warranty?
Do you have any horror stories pertaining to either (or a certain retailer)?

From what I’ve read, I want to get a Jasper model so I’m a little worried about ebay or other auction sites that could be selling old stock. I’m not having much luck finding coupon codes. Oh, and I should probably mention that I don’t need the Elite system. I don’t have an HD TV so I don’t want to pay extra for a different color case or the larger hard drive. Also, I want to pick up a 12+1 Live subscription and Call of Duty: World at War.

So far, it looks like my best deal is either picking up CoD used off of half.com or buying it at Walmart.com because it comes with a 1600 XBox Live Points card. I will need at least 800 points to grab the map pack so getting the card would be nice.

UPDATE: I missed out on a huge deal this morning at woot. They had an refurbed Xbox 360 w/HDMI and 20GB hard drive for 139.99 + $5 shipping.

Also, I figured out with the help of Dell discounts I can get myself into the equivalent of a Pro system with 3 months Gold subscription and CoD from Walmart with the 1600 points for about $340. That shaves $35 to $40 off what I was looking at before but I don’t get the two freebie games that come with the Walmart console.

The first edition was written 30 some years ago. My copy is the second edition printed in 1983.

When I have some time, I’m going to write a few posts about the ideas this great little book gave me about blogging.

As of this moment, my goal for this site is the same as it was when I purchased the domain. I’m going to write reviews on books, movies, etc while rambling about some of the things I learn along the way. If no one finds it useful, I’ll settle for entertaining.

As for my different look at blogging, I’ve been reading books. Shocking, huh? I’m trying to use old media to motivate and shape my stab at new media (well, sort of new media right?). One thing I haven’t done though is read a single book about blogging.

I know there are good resources on being a successful blogger but I’m looking for more than that. SelfEducatedIdiot.com is that formula. Anyways, I’m glad you’ve stayed tuned in this far. Hopefully it doesn’t explode in my face like some sort of high school chemistry project gone wrong and hopefully you will be back for more.

Time seems to stop.
You are on autopilot.
Your mind runs faster than your car and in 40 different directions at once.

I’ve never been hypnotized, but I can under why it’s called highway hypnosis. Does it make me crazy if I say that driving long distances alone is almost therapeutic? Now that I think about it, it does remind me of a few different quotes relating to a therapy or a cleansing feeling…

For example in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, the main character at one point is talking about how he doesn’t feel right and his wife suggests he goes driving. Here is the quote:

“I always like to drive fast when I feel that way. You get it up around ninety-five and you feel wonderful. Sometimes I drive all night and come back and you don’t know it.”

Instead of talking about how she gleefully mentions hitting animals (oops), I will move on.

Rant by Palahniuk (which I personally suggest as a read) goes a little further considering a fair part of the story is about people in cars. That feeling while driving is compared to a religious or liminal experience, among other things. In the words of Buster Casey…

“This here, far as I’m concerned, this is how church should feel.”