Something Swift this way comes…

I know, at first glance, when the Swiffer reads the first few lines of this, and sees it’s about “pro rasslin” he’s gonna go “what the fu…” – but in principle, that’s not what i”m writing about here….it’s only in context that it surrounds a pro-wrestler.

I’m not ashamed to say that I do, on the occasion that I’m ‘home’ and have nothing to do, still follow the professional wrestling scene for, more or less, the entertainment value of it. I’ve followed it for a great many years, many much more religiously than I do now, as I actually believed what I saw way back when. I don’t go ditching work to watch it like some die-hard fans….but knowing the ‘entertainment” value of it now, sometimes it’s just interesting to watch for the pure athleticism of some of the athletes, and for some of the things they say. I’m not so much into storylines like I used to be, but they make it interesting nonetheless. Now I can’t say I follow it on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, all days it’s on….in fact, I usually only half-way pay attention as I’m doing other things, and usually only on Monday nights, but I’ll be honest, the next few days, I might have to make a concerted effort to watch the programming put on the air by “World Wrestling Entertainment”, and I think you all know why. For those of you who don’t know why, simply hop on over to your favorite “twist a sad story into an oblivious mess” news site….I usually frequent MSNBC.com, and you’ll probably see it on the front page.

A professional wrestler. Chris Benoit. A very POPULAR professional wrestler, and admittedly one of the ones I enjoyed watching, because of that “athleticism” he displayed, strangled his wife….then smothered his seven year old child. He put bibles next to each body, then went downstairs and hanged himself on his freeweight system. It’s a tragic story, it really is. But is it as big of a deal as people are making it? Dont’ get me wrong, I won’t play it down. Three people are dead, one of which was only seven years old.

But is the media making it more than it should be because of his “status” as a pro-wrestler? I think so. Any other day of the week…..in any town in this country, this thing could happen. It’d get three minutes in the middle of a headline news bulletin, and that’d be it until that segment recirculated an hour later. But because it’s a pro wrestler…immediately, it becomes, much like pro wrestling itself, inflated and out of touch with reality. A statement made on the WWE web site parallels my thoughts on this subject. WWE is, and I quote “concerned with the sensationalistic reporting and speculation being undertaken by some members of the media following the press conference held by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney. During the press conference, the investigating authorities made [several] points, all of which run contrary to the media speculation that “roid rage” was a factor in the senseless murders and suicide” .

EXACTLY. All they said was they “found” a steroid substance in the house. Nobody’s proven he was “on” them. And if you look at him….he’s not one of those guys with a 67 inch neck and 48 inch legs. There are far more obvious ’steroid babies’ in the ’sports entertainment’ world than him. What the media is failing to report is easy to follow with a little bit of research. Yes. There were steroids in the house. But it was stated VERY clearly, that all drugs found in the house were legal prescriptions. Do a little research.

Benoit underwent major neck surgery to repair a ruptured disc which had fragmented into his spinal column. Bone spurs came about after years of aggravation and the usual wear and tear, requiring a spinal fusion. The move that CAUSED it in the ring, is now shown in the warning video attached to every WWE DVD, along with Benoit saying, “I ruptured a disc, which fragmented into my spinal column”. Anyone who has anything wrong with their back (myself included) can tell you that one of the PRESCRIBED courses includes doses of steroids. PRESCRIBED. Meaning, they would fall under the previously category of “legal” and there WOULD be a reason they’re in the house.

All three members of the family died of asphyxiation. If any person can tell me how steroids or a suggested “roid rage” could relate to that…I’d love to pick apart your logic. NOBODY has even proven there were steroids in his system…if any one of you supposed media gurus is a “future-telling-toxicologist -slash-coroner”…you need to let someone know…because you’ll make a lot more money in that field than spreading unfounded news in the media.

I agree with the web site’s statement which says:

”The physical findings announced by authorities indicate deliberation, not rage. The wife’s feet and hands were bound and she was asphyxiated, not beaten to death. By the account of the authorities, there were substantial periods of time between the death of the wife and the death of the son, again suggesting deliberate thought, not rage. The presence of a Bible by each is also not an act of rage…. it is entirely wrong for speculators to suggest that steroids had anything to do with these senseless acts, especially when the authorities plainly stated there is no evidence that Benoit had steroids in his body, pending the toxicological reports, and that they had no evidence at this time as to the motive for these acts.”

So. Why are you making it into something it’s not. Why say stuff that’s not true. Why, CNN, must you plaster the words “Roid Rage” across the screen, when there’s no proof of it? Why must you, MSNBC, plaster “roids this” and “roids that” across the banners when, in fact, the company Benoit worked for had a pretty decent wellness program…..and he tested clean for any illegal substances in the most recent round of random (and I might add, independently administered) testing. I point that out (that “independently administered” part) so that people can’t say “it’s THEIR test, of COURSE he passed it”.

Look at it this way. A suburban Atlanta home. A Mother, Father, and Son all dead. Double Murder Suicide. Their names…Joe Smith 40, Jane Smith 43, and Johnny Smith, 7… It sucks. You watch the news. You say “how could that happen”…and you change the channel shaking your head. But no…because there’s a “Chris Benoit” and a WWE attached to it….you gawk at it and flip channel to channel (hell, I did it too) looking for the latest ‘dish’ on ‘why’.

Guess what folks. News flash. No matter what some neighbor said he got in a text message. No matter what the media “speculates’. No matter what spin Vince McMahon can put on it, there’s only ONE person who will EVER know ‘why’, and HE AIN’T TALKIN BECAUSE HE’S IN THE MORGUE WITH HIS WIFE AND SON. SO SHUT UP.

Now, that having been said, I must, in all honesty, COMMEND, the wrestling organization for the way it handled the situation. On about 4 hours notice…they CLOSED THE DOORS to a live television event they were holding and put together a THREE HOUR tribute to the fallen star. They put aside storylines, and characters (totally dropped altogether an asinine storyline about Vince McMahon getting killed), and did what they knew best. Remembered the wrestler for what he did best. Entertained the fans. What else were they to do? It was the ONLY thing they COULD do. And McMahon himself SAID that as he stood in a wrestling ring, in that empty arena, visibly upset, to open the show Monday night. And I commend them for doing it. What else were they to do?

Now they’re saying Vince McMahon will apologize for the three-hour USA Network tribute that aired Monday night. The WWE and USA Network have received complaints about the tribute, which was produced in just a few short hours Monday. They say they’re going to apologize because they were unaware of the circumstances of Benoit’s death when the tribute was assembled, sources said. WHY? Regardless of WHAT happened, and HOW it happened, for 22 years, he was a dedicated athlete, and family man. That’s what they paid tribute to.

They didn’t sensationalize what happened to them…they paid tribute to the previous 22 years. They have NOTHING to apologize for. If anyone should be apologizing, it’s the damn media. AGAIN, I’m on that kick? Yes. Because, irregardless of the fact that he was a pro wrestler. Irregardless of the fact that he was a ‘world champion’ (a distinction determined by a committee of storywriters, NOT TALENT OR ATHLETIC ABILITY, remember..it’s FAKE), and irregardless of the fact that he was famous….three people are dead. Dead. Not ‘in the hospital’. Not “send your cards and letters to…”. D-E-A-D. You don’t get any more final than that. There’s TWO other children left in Edmonton, Canada, with no father…and an entire family LEFT besides without a brother, sister, or nephew…

And CNN wants to say, without fact, say “he was a wrestler…it must’ve been roid rage”.

F*CK YOU CNN. I hope nothing ever happens to YOUR family….

I have to give the guy credit, I wouldn’t have the nerve to do it. But to that guy in the Harvey’s parking lot tonight….I’ll raise a glass of Diet Sprite! As I came out of the store, there was an elderly black couple in an old car with a handicapped permit AND license plate….that pulled up as someone was pulling out of the only available handicapped space, and sat there politely with their turning signal on. As the car pulled out and pulled forward….a young black guy in a chevy caprice with truck tires on it and speakers that made the back window glass rattle whipped a u-turn and parked cross ways across the “do not park here” lines and the handicapped space. Totally cut off the old couple. He had no permit, no plate, and got out …left his car running, and his speakers thumping, blaring obscenities and ‘f-bombs’ over obnoxious thumping music, and his windows down….another guy who saw it happen and was on his way out to his car said “hey man, that’s not right, that man was waiting for that space and you certainly don’t need it…”. The kid looked back and said “the old f*cker can wait…I’ll be out in half minute or so”. Well – I kept on going and was going to offer my parking space to the couple (it was two spaces down away from the handicapped space, but it was closer than anything else. The man who said something got out of his car….told his wife to “get in the drivers seat and follow me”. Then he got in the the THUMPING car…the one that didn’t even belong to him……carefully backed it out of the space, and drove it to the entire other end of the parking lot, behind a pole. Now if any of you have ever been in the harvey’s parking lot at Castle Park…that’s a BIG PARKING LOT. He got out ….and waited…I pulled up in MY car….and looked at him and said “YOU”RE NUTS…BUT DAMN THAT’S GOOD”. He turned around and flashed a badge of some sort (I didn’t immediately recognize it but it had points on it which led me to believe sherriffs’s deputy of some sort) and said “let him come get ME”. and got into his car which his wife had followed him to the top of the lot with. I left, having not laughed that hard all day. Now THAT, folks, is respect for your elders.

Well Mom and I pulled off a major Coup. Doing anything in my Parent’s house

without Dad knowing is next-to-impossible. But thanks to a little schedule

swapping at work (Thanks Chelsea!) and a lot of back-breaking driving, I got to

surprise my dad for Father’s day..

I took off right after work Saturday at 3, with a goal of being there by 6:30

because Mom was stalling dinner until I could get htere. The drive wasn’t bad

until the last 40 miles, which took the better part of 75 minutes…and put me

in there at about 6:45, or so. But the look on Dad’s face was great when I

knocked on the door and he opened it.

I took him out to the Pirates of the Caribbean 3 movie at Disney’s theatre on

Downtown Disney on Father’s day, (that’s what the picture here is, they have the

most beautiful theatres) my treat (it was the ONLY thing he’d "let" me treat to

while I was there….though I wanted to do more) ….which was cool….almost an

hour too much cool, but I swear there’s every special effect in the free world

in that movie to MAKE it 3 hours long. It would have been just as good at 2

hours in length, I’m fairly sure… Even Dad said that.

We went to "Beaches and Cream" at the Disney Vacation Club afterwards…and

ate WAY too much stuff that’s not on any of our diet’s. Look at this

picture…they actually have one on the menu called the "Kitchen Sink" – and

it’s served IN A KITCHEN SINK…with as many spoons as you think you can give

out to people to help you eat it. There was a family of eight that got one while

we were there. That was Sunday, and right now, 48 hours later, I bet they’re

just finishing it! Came home and hit the pool for a few hours (yeah, I actually

got some sun!) and then just went and chilled out and watched TV for a while.

Monday morning Dad and I got up and went and looked at all the car lots just

to see what we could find, checked out new cell phones, fixed an old cell phone

(BEN….TAKE NOTE…IT’S FIFTEEN DOLLARS FOR AN I-560 ANTENNA IN HAINES CITY,

FL. You’re not charging enough!) and then went to lunch with Mom (who was

working) at 1PM.

I gotta say, I had a great time, and Dad seemed to as well. Surprise trips

(and the time off to DO them) like this come few and far between in our family,

but that means it’ll be another 9 months before I get to see them again. That

sucks…but hey…what can you do..

Jessie was happy to see me!

Me and Dad at the Vacation Club resort.

Happy belated Father’s day to all, particularly the Swiffer, because I BELIEVE this is his first!

We are, indeed, all made of stars.

I have one night of classes left and then I’m done with school! MUAHAHA! I didn’t know if I would make it this far or not, but I have, and let me tell you, it is a load off of my shoulders. My final class is Economics 191 and I had to do a project for it. Several people that are close to me know about the project and have helped me by proof reading it until they’re ready to puke when I bring it up *laughs*. I turn it in tomorrow, and hopefully will make a good enough grade on it to pass the course. For anyone who has an interest in either economics or wants to just see what I’ve been working on diligently (and sometimes not-so-diligently) this quarter, I’ve put it up on my server at http://swift.homelinux.net/research_project.pdf

It does require that you have a product that can read Adobe pdf’s but those are plentiful and I leave it to you as to your choice of reader to use. Take into consideration that the basic premise of the project was for me to decide on a type of business I would like to run or a hobby that I enjoy and relate it to the ideas of economics and explain how some of the concepts of economics applies to the project. I hope that I’ve succeeded in doing that and until now have only been soliciting feedback in the form of proof-reading and clarity issues. If you want to share your thoughts on the project (whether you think it sucks, whether you think that I’m missing something, whatever) feel free to leave a comment with this post – even if I don’t reply, I do read any and all comments left on here.

In other news, still nothing on the job-front but I’ve had some excellent suggestions from several different people, so for now I’m keeping my options open.

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell right now.

Thanks for reading

S

So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on here.  That’s been mainly because I just was staying away from putting too much down while I was in school.  Didn’t want to get thinking about all the stuff that I had to get done and let it pile up on me any more than it already was.  So, I stayed away.  Got fussed at because all I’d posted the last time was a song – can’t say as I care much one way or the other because hey, this is my joint, you don’t like it, get off it…but I can understand how people might actually want to hear from me every great now and then.

So, this week is my official last week of school, and I’ll be done – graduate with my AAT – Networking Specialist (associates of applied technology) degree.  Everyone keeps telling me what a great accomplishment it is, and how proud of me they are, how smart I am…but I just don’t see it that way.  I guess because of the way I was raised, or the school system I was in or something…but I’ve always lived with the belief (and the reality) that if you say you’re going to do something, then you do it and you do your best at it.  If you fail, you know you did your best and the task was beyond you…if you succeeded then you did what you were supposed to and overcame the task…doing what you’re supposed to do doesn’t earn you praise and awards.  At least it shouldn’t.  An AAT is no big deal..I’m a very junior step on the ladder from the bottom up.  Hell, I don’t even qualify for most of the jobs out there on the jobsearch websites.

That’s another thing that bothers me…now I’ll have this degree, but everyone wants a bachelor’s degree at least..so, now I’m faced with the prospect of trying to find a job in a market that frankly doesn’t want me.  Sometimes it doesn’t matter how hard you swim, the tide still sweeps you away.  So, now that I’m done with school, we’ll see how long it takes me to get a job doing something with/in my field of interest.

I tell ya what…people wonder sometimes about why I get so down…it’s stuff like this that gets me down.  It’s like I live life waiting for the rug to get yanked out from underneath me all over again.  Fatalism and depression are such wonderful traits to deal with, especially when it’s your life’s work and goals you’re considering.  Maybe I’ll end up being wrong and finding the job that suits me right down to the ground.  I hope so.

Anyways, that’s it for now, just a short, if not so sweet post.

More later,

S

I think, after an appropriate period of deliberation, and several people’s encouragement, and checking out the legal ramifications, that I will be taking my rants and views (and that of others) to the digital-audio format in the very near future. Shows will contain little or no music, as the powers-that-be have deemed that to be illegal….but nobody can put a cease-and-desist on opinion. Details are sketchy at this point…but being worked out as we speak. This much I know:

* Spoken Word only – no music -
* original content and views of those I share the same ideals with
* distributed via ‘megaupload’ – will send instructions for those who may not know how to use this service. Some people who were not on the list for my shows prior will be on the receiving list for this now.
* MP3 Format. Most likely 96kbps to keep file size down
* Sporadic delivery. No schedule. Just when I get enough to fill a small time block, I’ll put it out

Those who are expecting shows like I’ve put out in the past may be disappointed as they will feature no mainstream music or artists (except maybe commentary on them).

Feedback will be welcome and appreciated. New email address will be setup accordingly.

More details as the first episode comes together.

There are things in this world I’ll never understand. I think they’re best left to those who are meant to, or the criminally insane, who feel they’ve been ‘priveledged’ to. One of those things I’ll never understand is just why it is everyone’s in such a damn hurry, and at the same time, why nobody’s in a hurry. Why can’t the world just move at a pre-determined pace. That way nobody’s saying “Hurry Up” or “Slow Down”. Today, I decided I wanted to go and get a smoothie. I know, they’re not completely on our diet, but you know what…I deserve it once in a while, we all do. And besides, if you get the right one, it’s still PARTIALLY good for you, right? So I got in my car and I’m headed across town, be-boppin’ my way along listening to the radio, window down, it wasn’t that hot, just kinda enjoyin the day. I get about half way there, and I’m moving along and the speed limit is 35….and I’m moving 37 according to my speed-o-meter….and this guy comes barrel-assin’ up behind me in a little nissan sentra…with a muffler so loud it sounded like it…well…it sounded like it had none at all. It’s 1:30 in the afternoon, and he’s got those dumbass flourescent headlights….and they’re so bright…that it’s hurting my eyes in the rearview….at 1:30 in the afternoon. Now, over his engine, and his high beams, the audible noise of “thump, thump, thump” is evident, and the high pitched tones of some…person…I dare not call him a musician, cause that ain’t music to me….yelling out the ‘n’ word and the ‘f’ word at high volumes. And he runs right up on my bumper…literally…close enough I couldn’t see his headlights anymore….and starts blowing the horn and fluttering his hands at me like a bird as if to say “move out of the way”. I look down, I’m doing 2 over the limit…so I slowed down. Hate to get a speeding ticket, you know. He beats the steering wheel, flips me the bird, and runs right up on my ass end again. Rinse. Repeat. We get to the traffic light, I’m going through straight…so he decides he wants to go left, pulls up in the lane beside me….cranks his stereo to the max…looks over at me and flips me off again…so I reached down…cranked mine up to the max….on Van Halen’s “Eruption”….flipped my hat backwards, and gave him the old “ronnie james dio horns-high salute!”. Now comes the fun part….I just chuckled….cause every stereotype in the book you could think of, this kid portrayed…and then he decided he wanted to show off…so he did…light turned green…he peeled out…left half his tires right there at Alden and Jerry Jones…. and half his brake shoes about six blocks up on Baytree when he did the same barrel-assing – through Remerton. I went by him (either way you go, you’re gonna end up on Baytree) with my radio goin, at the speed limit, and blew the horn at him, stuck my horns out the window above the roof, and kept right on goin. I’d dare say…I never understood why anyone would get in such a damn hurry…until I got to the smoothie place.

Now, the Tropical Smoothie chain is apparently the only place in the world where you could go directly from “what’s the hurry” to “What’s the holdup” in less time than it takes to rinse the blender. ten…I stood there waiting for my smoothie. Were they busy? No. Run out of “Blimey” or “Limey” – the two main ingredients? No. In fact, I was the only customer in the store. And he knew I was there because the buzzer went off and he looked up at me from the back room when I came in. What, might you say, could be the holdup? Apparently, judging from some of the words he was using, and some of the graphic ‘acts’ he was describing, he was on one of those 2.99 a minute lines on the store phone…and that guy weren’t gonna get off his call for no white boy who walked in for his low fat smoothie. Finally….I walked over to the door…and opened it…and closed it…opened…closed…open..close…open close…every time it triggered the door buzzer….or bell, or whatever the hell it was…I know it was noisy and he heard it….and I yelled to the back about the fifth or sixth time…”hey man, no hurry…you just let me know when this gets annoying!”. He comes out and says “sorry man, my DM was on the phone”. I looked back at him and said “you talk about what explicit acts your girlfriend is capable of to your DM? Damn sure wish MINE was like that!”. He turned bright red and said “oh…you heard that…?” I said “yeah, I heard that, and if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking the REAL number to the REAL DM and your name….TO GO” and I left. I went and got myself a coffee smoothie somewhere else. And in that split second, I realized, that I’d just bounced from “What’s the hurry” to “what’s the holdup”. Man…call me the pot…where’s the Kettle? So I’m on my way…just riding around…and I’m headed back down park avenue for something….and this brand new HEARSE….yeah…I said it…a HEARSE…with the name of a local funeral home in the window, comes careening by, at like 60MPH….and jumps lanes to the point that had I not stepped on the brakes, I’d have lost my front bumper to his back bumper. I don’t care who you are or who’s fault it is..if you collide with a HEARSE…and there’s a body in there, you’re gonna feel like hell (and probably go there too). Now, I have all the respect in the world for hearses. But, to my knowledge, if they’re not transporting, not in a procession, and not led by an officer, they still have to obey the law. Plus, there was no casket in there…I think they use a van for actual pick up now…right? So I called the funeral home and complained…. He apologized…which is really all he COULD do…I mean, come on, who’s gonna take complimentary service from a FUNERAL HOME? No thanks. But see, In that instant, I went back to “what’s the hurry” again. Too much bouncing around! So, here’s what I propose. I propose the world be in sync with a different song every day. All clocks, schedules, traffic lights, elevators, movement, blenders, phone calls, showers, whatever…will be set to a different song. Monday – Everyone hates Mondays….so we’ll pick fine, uplifting tunes for monday. Anything Aerosmith or similar will due. Tuesday’s a good day to just kinda chill out….so let’s do Soft rock day. Wednesday..that’s a day everyone looks forward to..hump day! So, we’ll get some good rythym goin. Let’s do songs with great drum solos! Thursday….well – I think we’ll do Jazz on thursday. Friday….it’s party time for the weekend…so let’s do country music, and it’s obligatory that you play ‘it’s 5-o-clock somewhere” on the nose, at 5-o-clock” Saturday and sunday are free days. But for the days of the week, the world will be synced to music. No more speeding, no more cutting people off, no more waiting in a long line for anything. And if your boss says…”YOU’RE LATE”….just say…”hey man…Celine Dion came on and slowed the whole friggin world down – I’ll make it up…tomorrow is David Lee Roth day…. Works for me.