Perhaps this has been obvious to everyone except me for the longest time, but after reading a list over at McSweeney’s I had a revelation. Although I’ve never much cared for the original Star Trek series — or any Trek for that matter — I was always aware of its barely clothed subtext regarding racial harmony and peace among the people of Earth.

Something that never clicked in my mind though was the purpose of the Klingons. Now, suddenly, I get it. The Klingons are animalistic and brutal-seeming in their glorification of battle, to the exclusion of most other personality traits. Duh, Chris. They are the id, the bestial nature of humanity’s war-like tendencies personified in a race against whom we constantly struggle. We must fight against our own ferocious natures to progress “where no man has gone before.”

And all this time I thought they were humanoid to save on costuming. I don’t watch enough of any Trek show to see similar man-vs.-himself struggles in the canon, though I do see a sort of opposite struggle going on in the Vulcan attitude toward logic.

I won’t mentally disagree next time I hear someone say that Gene Roddenberry was a genius.

Well, similar at least. This put a huge smile on my face. It should do for you, as well.

They’re Taking The Hobbits To Isengard [flash]

Also: Jeffrey Ross roasts Pamela Anderson. [.mp4, NSFW, completely worth the download time]

Also Also: Anyone can build a whiz-bang Chicken Scalder. [thanks to JC at work]

I’ve been known to correct people’s grammar and spelling, particularly in typing. I correct my own when necessary (and sometimes when not) and blush at my mistakes. In the event that someone takes offense at my speaking up and argues that it is irrelevant because I (eventually) understood them, I get quite flustered.

You see, good communication to me is not irrelevant. Not ever. If language was misused in a conversation, but I immediately understood the intent, then the foul is on me when I chide the mistake. With the advent of email, IM, IRC, and in-game channels, however, it is all the more imperative that proper grammar, spelling, and usage prevail. Without inflection and the further context of facial expression, miscommunication is bound to occur. Thus, special care should be taken to express oneself without ambiguity.

Yet, the internet — to use a comprehensive, if generalized, term — is riddled with inaccurate statements and arguments made all the weaker by the issuer’s poor command of the language. Examples are everywhere, yet difficult to cite. It goes beyond the simple misplacement of punctuation or the dangling participle. It has evolved into a language of its own, perhaps for the worse. Try to explain to an anonymous soul on a forum the “cry-wolf” implications of an acronym like LOL and see how long it is before the argument degenerates into nothing resembling civil discourse.

Granted, there are times in friendly internet communication that I intentionally put on the airs of an English major; but, even when I politely point out the correction and a concise reasoning for its significance I am often met with resistance to the point of hostility.

I have chosen as my cause the reclamation of accurate communication. To me, it is no less worthy a cause than any political, personal or philosophical ideal. After all, could any one of us claim that they have never had a minor issue turn into a dilemma simply due to poor communication? I could not.

An independent film-maker responds to those heartfelt ads about movie piracy. And I rejoice.

Undergroundfilm.org – Independent Movie Distribution

After reading this new theory, I had to spread the word. It’s important that people everywhere learn about the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I want to believe.

Open Letter

This post from meg made me smile. You see, instead of actually being brilliant, I have opted for being brilliant by proxy.

My trip to New York State pretty much sucked, but MHG’s got some photos up from the Fort up in the Adirondacks.

SB: Which do you need first?
Management: Both.
SB: Well, Copernicus, you might want to rethink the physics on that one.

But, I met Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell yesterday, so I figured I’d blog a little. Czeltic Girl clued me in that Bruce Campbell was going to introduce his new movie at the Oriental, so with a little prodding from MHG, I went to see.

Check out CG’s photos on the subject! And a blurry one with comments that repeat this blog entry!

We declined having our photo taken at the Bruce Campbell signing, a decision we will forever regret. Or for a while, anyway.

Bruce jibed at MHG and me, “Oh, 2-for-1 deal, eh? You couples get away with murder.” MHG replied, “Yeah, but we still have to buy 2 movie tickets.” “You got me there,” Bruce smiled. MHG got saucy with BRUCE CAMPBELL!

Bruce is a lefty. We had to have our books set out a certain way so he didn’t get all kinds of paper cuts from the dust jackets. We were #288, but we got signed around 190.

The movie was delightful B-fare, prompting a one-liner review from MHG that was a perfect summary: “It’s been a while since someone made a movie like that…on purpose.” Saucy!

Well, I was putting my employment in peril all last week by concentrating on entertaining you, the Steelbuddha reader. But no comments? Poop. I’m going to work if that’s how you’re all gonna be. That, and I sort of want to stay employed. And I do mean sort of.

I’m going to take a brief relief from blogging. I should be back in August sometime. Meanwhile, a short poem left in Post-Its on my computer by a co-worker. Each line break is a new Post-It.

So while I was on the
interstate
I thought to myself
It’s a nice day, I think I’ll
roll down the windows and
open the sunroof
when all of a sudden
a mysterious white paper
flew out the window
and I sit here hoping
it wasn’t too important.