The measure, the top priority of the National Rifle Association in Florida this year, passed the House 94-20 on Tuesday. It had already passed the Senate.

Czetlic Girl and I had this to say on the subject.

SB:He drunkenly swung at me so I shot him in the face. It was self-defense.
CG: I’m going to Florida to just shoot people. It’ll be fun. Wanna come?
SB: You bet. Let’s start with Jeb Bush.
CG: Excellent!
SB: There should be a rule. To get into the NRA, you have to take a bullet.

CNN.com – Florida to allow use of force even outside home – Apr 5, 2005

If by someone’s work shall you know them, then I know Mitch Hedberg as a deceptively brilliant and utterly hilarious man. I have to credit him with bringing MHG and I together and his passing is sadder than I ever thought it would be. Some people at Metafilter had good things to say and a few great quotes to share.

I want to say more about this, but I’ve honestly never been so sad about the passing of a “celebrity.” I’m glad someone who knew him could say the things we’re all thinking. [road diary entry about Mitch]

I’m going to go home and listen to some Mitch. I miss him already.

Mitch Hedberg’s Official Website: currently down from too many hits: irony, perhaps.

..in German.

Stapler Fahrer Klaus [.wmv]

Thanks to Alfalfa Martini for the heads up and 15% Prettier for finding it first. Well, kind of first. Apparently, it’s OFN.

I ush.

Surprisingly, my duties as usher were more nerve-wracking than my time as best man in September. Apart from the possibility of a crasher, there were monumental tasks, colossal feats such as seating people, lighting candles, and … seating people.

All right, from the forced perspective of actually writing it down, it seems easy, I’ll give you that. But not having seen the bride face-to-face in three years and knowing close to no one else, having to tell them where to sit and having the entire ceremony in mind made me nervous at the time. The other bouncer was the bride’s cousin, and together we looked quite a pair. Apart from our jokes about forming some sort of tag team wrestling duo, we had little in common. Still, like everyone involved or attending, he was good people.

The groom’s family were all short people, which made it a little awkward for either of us beefy Wisconsin boys to escort his mother, who was the tiniest of them all. When all was said and done, however, we had only missed one cue and it was at the wedding planner’s insistence to “leave the runner.” It turned out to be good advice, as releasing the pews into the receiving line took long enough as it was, even with the attendance whittled down by inclement weather.

I was early to everything this weekend, a fact that would no doubt shock most people who know me. MHG and I stayed at the church, as I was in a few photos, then attempted to hang around long enough to not be too early to the reception. Unfortunately, we had nothing to do, and so ended up at the reception as early as we were to everything else.

To be continued…

I’ve been in a state of self-analysis lately, determining why I’m willing to put myself in a position of wage-slavery when all of the people whom I admire have avoided such servitude. Not surprisingly, it comes down to courage. They have had the courage to work toward their dreams, and I have not. I hope to change that.

My heroes include:

Spider-Man – I know, he’s not a real person. Maybe I should be idolizing Stan Lee instead for creating him. To me, however, Spider-Man is the perfect hero. He’s a working stiff. Although he is possessed of great intelligence and amazing superhuman abilities, he realizes that his duty and responsibility is to do what no one else can, even at the cost of his own happiness and success. No other comic book hero is as fully realized as a human being as Spider-Man, to this day.

Jack Black, Ron Perlman – Two guys who do not fit the Hollywood ideal, yet have achieved based on that very principle. Jack Black rocked his way to the top and maintained his allegiance to the entirely underrated Kyle Gass. Ron Perlman took what jobs people would offer him early on, relying not on good looks, but on raw talent and determination to, as he puts it, “put his kids through school.” Now, he’s the oldest actor ever to play a superhero.

Joss Whedon, Ben Edlund, J. Michael Straczynski – Gifted writers all, but what makes them truly admirable is their adherence to quality above profit. Each of them continued to work to have their art produced and eventually made their mark on the TV scenes, only to become the upper eschelon of geek idols.

Czeltic Girl sifted through waxy and sent me disturbing news about Bugs Bunny. it didn’t take long for the internet to FLASH-RAGE on that shit.

‘A New Bunny’ [Flash, NSFW]

Despite the comments of a few people up front, this MetaFilter thread about torture holds all kinds of interesting and volatile questions. As often is the case, jonmc, the former cockeyed absurdist, sums the true question up nicely in a couple of his comments:

“Art can often provide catharsis, when the protagonist or hero does what we would like to do to a wrongdoer but can’t because of legal or moral restrictions. Escape valve or tacit approval?”

“Art isn’t obliged to provide us with role models, merely reflect reality, right? Big questions.”

I hate to be paranoid, but I am. This whole scenario of torture appearing on major TV shows, torture not as evil but as necessary and in the hands of the heroes, is to me an obvious ploy by media to get us to slowly accept the horrors of some of our actions since 9/11. To be certain, torture has been used throughout our bloody history, but never were we expected to accept it. It was hidden and, when discovered, severely punished even if the person was “just doing their duty.”

Now, instead of angry letters condemning the glorification of torture, we hear more about (even today) whether Janet Jackson’s strangely unarousing nipple indicates moral decay. It’s an argument that has never died, only become more ludicrous: is sex (which harms none when properly applied) somehow more corrupting than violence?

My feelings on the matter are obvious. Opinions of the masses to be found in that thread above. Read.

P.S. I’ve just recently joined MeFi. Combine that with my lack of real work to do this week, and Buddha’s Bellyaching may as well be called MetaFilterFilter.

P.P.S. By bizarre providence, the one-a-day George Carlin calendar I have at work is also about torture.

I know this shirt has been around a while, but it never used to apply to me, because I would perform the within-mentioned act. Since my last such attempt went so horribly sour, I think it is now appropriate for me to own.

The undefeatable mathowie hacked into Alan Greenspan’s G5 to snag this little gem. Thanks to Czelticgirl for the heads up.

More bitching I’m afraid.

In the last week, I have paid over $60 for parking. Up until this week, I had been parking in the lot owned by my company. Parking illegally but morally. I have asked my company several times for a space, but have been passed over in favor of people who have worked 4 fewer years for the company and left soon after my rejection. I have asked again and the slots have been given out to other undeserving folks.

So, although I care very little for the laws of this city, I morally understand the imbalance of fairness my parking for free causes for those who must pay. Regardless, I parked illegally. I made sure on each occasion of this breach of the peace that my vehicle was blocking nothing, no legal spots, no door-opening space for said spots, no loading docks, no dumpster areas.

Despite my careful consideration, there are those who saw fit to have me ticketed (well within their rights, I do not blame them) and to leave gentle reminders on my windshield not to park there.

After one such reminder, I decided to curtail my law-breaking and see what opions lie out there for free parking. Finding none over the course of the week, I chose to once again risk ticketing and dispproving looks and park back where I had been (again, as conscientiously as possible.)

Scandal! In my place, on three occasions now, were two SUVs. Two clumsily parked, already oversized SUVs blocking doors, parked diagonally so to prevent trucks from loading and unloading into the futon store, and clearly owned by people who do not care a wink for others. Now, not only my chances of parking there with minor retribution, but the reputation my car had for not REALLY being obtrusive – they’re ruined. Once again, the careless actions of others create situations which I am powerless to change.

Sartre said it best: “Hell is other people.”