Comedy material #1

Relationships:

Most guys will probably have this experience. You don't have a girlfriend, and your not getting anything. Then all of a sudden some girl takes a liking to you, and you start getting some.

Immedietly you can tell that a million other woman are interested.

You wonder if it's you or them. Do they smell the other girl, do you just seem more relaxed?

You ask yourself is it just in your mind?

Part of it might be that you just don't care. Don't woman find that they are attracted to guys who just don't care. As soon as you tell a girl that your in love with her, her interest declines.

Woman why do you want guys to tell you that they love you? I guess we all want to be told that someone loves us. Maybe its a universal human emotion.

I wonder if any of this is amusing.

I just saw the film Star Trek tonight.

I have to say that I was really disapointed with it.  There were a number of problems with the film. First, there was not much of a plot.  Second, the characters were not really developed in a believable way.  Third, like most big budget movies it relied way to much on special effects.  Finally, it ultimately left me feeling empty which is typical of most Hollywood movies these days.

The basic structure was that the young Kirk is angry at his fathers death, which occurs at the opening of the film, he is busy wasting his life on drinking and womanizing.  On Vulcan there is Spock who is studying hard and doing his best to be emotionless.  

We catch up with them at academy.  Where Kirk solves a puzzle.  Whereas with William Shatner you had the sense that he was trying to win any he could, but that he ultimately felt that he was doing it for the greater good.  Somehow he managed to have both idealism and egoism in the same character.  With this actor you got the sense that he just wanted to win, and he couldn't give a damn what anyone thought about it.  When confronted by the Spock character he doesn't seem to show any respect or admiration for his opponents.

Later on the guy who killed Kirk's father is now trying to destroy federation planets with miniture black holes that have been brought back from the future, by Spock who was originally sent to save the Villan's planet Romulus, but failed to arrive on time, and both the old Spock and Nero the Villian end up back in time, Nero arriving 25 years ealier and destroying the senior Kirk's ship.  Nero then waits another 25 years, and captures Spock, and steals his miniture black hole device.

First off, why do only certian black holes send you back in time, whereas most of them just destroy you, it simply makes no sense.

The narative structure is that simple, they show a little of them growing up, they show them at the academy, the first fight with Nero, then the final fight with him.  Along the way all the Star Trek crew is introduced.

It really had almost nothing to do with the original Star Trek, which had deep philosophical questions, and was more faithful to science fiction.  This one has nothing to do with science fiction, unless your idea of science fiction is simply to have big ships, with black holes, and other technical things.

The entire story could have taken place in modern society with a band of terrorists stealing some nuculear bomb, and the plot would be basically the same.  The time travel element is not really explored, it is a mere trop.  Even a film like Back to the Future examined the paradoxes of time travel in a more profound way, which is not saying much.

If you are a Star Trek fan you will not recognise Spock, but the rest of them are caricatures.  In order to get decent character development you need realistic situations, sending groups from one disaster to another just gives me the sense that they are standing around watching a house blow up, or some other titanic event, that makes the people themselves insignificant.

That gets to central problem of placing special effects at the heart of the movie.  THere is no time really to experience the subtleties of acting, when there is this sublime experience of the impossible or otherwordly.  A giant explosions the size of star ship, or black hole destroying a planet is hyperbolic.  Imigine if in the Empire Strikes Back the destruction of Elderon had taken place in an action sequence and then quickly the characters rushed off to do something else.  There was a dramatic moment, and the movie took time to help you feel the wieght of what had just happend.  Here its just off to the races, this happens, then that, then this, then that, bam, bam, bam, and there is no silence, explosions keep coming fast and furious.  Even when Kirk is sent to an ice planet, the minute he steps outside a CGI monster chaces him, only to be eaten by another monster that in turn also chases him.

It's as if the film makers think if you don't experience the sense of an explosion, fight, or chase within a couple of minutes you'll get bored.

But, by the end of it, in fact those very explosions become boring.

The penultimate scene involves the black hole machine crashing into the Romulin ship, thus destroying it, but not before Kirk feigns the offer of help to the ship, thus getting revenge on them for pretending to help the ship of his father, and the enterprise earlier in the movie.  Its a very crude and juvinial form of revenge.  

So the bad guys are simotaneously destroyed by the enterprise and the black holes.

Basically, was mildly entertained by the special effects, halfway through the movie was getting really bored.

I think I just might start my own firm. Here is my reasoning. The best I can come up with at the moment seems to be to join a rather small firm as an associate. Then I'm splitting 40/60 with the partner.

Now if the firm is successful that is a good deal. However, if the firm is not, then it is a terrible deal. What clients are being brought in?

I was starting to think that the first firm that I went to was a good deal, there the lady gave the same split except she made no mention of legal aid, and she also mentioned bringing me a few clients. But her office was nice and it was here in Toronto.

The guy in Owen Sound, well he would probably also be giving me legal aid cases. That is the only way it can make sense for them.

But, I really wonder. Well he was going to pay me about 40, 000$ and that must mean that he pockets the rest.

I wonder if I could get a extension on my line of credit to start my own firm. Maybe make an appointment with a bank.

Here is what I figure. I have this law license that almost no one can get. Some people finish law school and can't even find a place to article. So I got this license, that also paralegals don't have.

So I should use it, because how hard is it really to do some of these files, it is not that hard.

So I have to decide what am I going to do in my practice, just criminal maybe.

Criminal sounds like a good area to do. But family might also be fine, could do some corporate commercial stuff in there also, deal with assets.

But, criminal is pure violence, drug charges, etc... That seems like it would be not that difficult from what I have covered.

Ideally there is some government job waiting out there for me, and I really have to actively consider how to end up in the USA, because there is a lot more money there than there is here in Canada. Maybe the trick is to go to Windsor and then do that job for 1 or 2 months, and then start my own practice, but is it really worth it to even do it for that long.

So the guy says that he gets 90 new clients each month, and that they have to send some work away. So that must mean there are those clients out there. The girl told me there is a list, and on that list are a whole bunch of clients.

What I need to do is pay the insurance, and all the other fees and just transfer over my membership, I think that it will be fine if I do that.

There is no problem starting your own business and it really pays in the end.

Conservatives and tax cuts. It’s like an obsession with these people. Whenever there is extra money collected from taxes the conservatives can’t wait to reduce taxes and give it all back. This seems to make some sense when there is a surplus, assuming the market economy is properly allocating resources, which for them is an article of faith, they never present statistics showing the market is producing optimal outcomes. But, what is really surprising is that they believe tax cuts are also the answer when times are tough and there is a recession. What better way is there to stimulate the economy than to give back some of the money the government has taken in as tax revenue? Needless to say this raises the question of how one could possibly think that reducing taxes will stimulate the economy. During a recession small businesses and large ones are stockpiling money, they are not investing because they are afraid about surviving in the short term. The same goes for individuals. When I’m concerned about my job, the first thing I’m going to do with that 100$ is to put it in the bank and save it. Last thing I would do would be to go out and spend it, unless I absolutely must. And yet they still argue that tax cutting is the best way to stimulate the economy. What can you possibly say about people who propose the same treatment regardless of the circumstances? In good times cut taxes, in bad times cut taxes. In other words the solution to all problems of government is to cut taxes, and it easy to see that this makes no sense. They will counter that liberals want to raise spending when times are good, and also when times are bad. But, it was the liberals that reduced the deficit when they were in power. It was the democrats under Clinton that also trimmed the deficit in the US. So the idea that liberals just spend is nonsense. They do however tax the wealthy and corporations more than the lower and middle class.

The market. What is the market? The modern economy is heavily influenced by government expenditure, the whole military industrial complex is directly funded by the government, and in all advanced countries it is directly funded by the state, what then to make of the argument that the market knows best. Defense contractors may be private companies but they are publically funded, and the same goes for colleges and universities, all publically funded. So when conservatives argue that the government should not be involved in the economy you have to take it with a grain of salt. What they really mean is that the government should not be involved in providing health care, or in educating people, or even in taking care of prisoners, and increasingly should also not be involved in policing. The funded of resource extraction, high tech, and industrial production are all presumably good things for the government to be involved in. There is no mythological free market, and there never has been. The mantra, “the market knows best” is clearly a ruse deployed when needed.

Crime and the scapegoats. A staple of the conservative diet is the demonization of marginal figures in society. First, there are the criminals who liberals treat with kid gloves. They should be executed if serious criminals, and otherwise imprisoned for longer sentences. Moreover the marginal and poor figures in society are cheating and taking advantage of government largess. Needless to say they never delve to deeply into the actual amount of money that people on social assistance receive.

The value of work. Whether someone is producing something useful like a widget, or merely serving coffee, the conservative believes that they are producing goods for society. Their work is creating social value, and they are being taxed on part of that value. The taxed portion is taken by the government and used to support people who do not work. Thus the resentment that I’m working while other people live off the fat of the land. Needless to say government taxes are collected from many sources not just personal taxes. As well, many people get back a large portion of their taxes, and in fact are paying very little. Finally, if your one of those poor souls serving coffee you might appreciate that your tax money can be used to buy a cup, thus facilitating your continued employment, on a scale writ large that means that all those people complaining about being taxed, are often dependent for the these government expenditures for at least part of their income.

Sometimes I wonder have I made the right choices in life.
The fact is that you can always second guess every decision that you make, should I have gotten this cereal instead of that one. But the reality is that you should never second guess your decisions.

On a ride back from Montreal I heard that the father of this Venezualan guy became a lawyer at the age of 53 or 60 or something like that.

So its never to late to become a lawyer.

In Montreal to pick up my American Passport

I got to montreal yesterday, and this morning I went to the Consulate to pick up my passport, and Erika's. It was really fun to finally get it. Looking through the book you could tell that there is a lot more money in the USA then there is in Canada. The passport was really fancy.

At the back of the book there was an indication that I had to file a tax return at least declaring that I had no income in the USA during that year, so I guess there is something to the fact that as a US citizen you have to give some indication of whether you are liable for taxes or not.

Tonight I watched a movie called, defiance, in fact it was a pretty straightforward movie. It showed a group of jews hiding in the forest from the Nazi's, and there sympathizers.

I was of course emotionally moved by watching the movie. I felt that it showed that at least some jews did not just sit back and let the Nazi's kill them, some of them at least faught back.

I thought the director did a good job, showing the characters to be simple people motivated by a desire to surive. Although it was in many ways a typical american movie, in the sense that there was no responsibility attributed to any forces.

Although the fact that even the russian partisans and communisits hated jews seemed to be a very appropriate thing to point out. I like the line where the brother Zus says what are jews good for except dying.
It was pretty clear that everyone was out to get them.

It's quite a hike to come here from Toronto. I guess the 5-6 hrs drive is really something else.

Now that I have the passport I can apply to work as a JAG which should be really fantastic if I can get hired. I will also take the civil service test as soon as I have a chance.

Saturday morning.

It is now saturday morning, well just about the end of it. Within 20 minutes it will be noon. I woke up a bit late but I feel like I got alot more sleep then I've had this past week.

My plan for today is to meet my friend. Contact some places that are looking for new apartments, and do some other stuff related to job hunting.

I think its best to set up a map or plan for the day so that I can get everything done that I want to.

This is my new room. I rather like it, but alas I might have to move at the end of the month.

What am I thinking about these days? Well to get a job as a lawyer at a law firm I will have to do quite a bit more networking. What is networking? I guess its meeting with people with an eye towards getting ahead.

These are some of the pics of my cool new room. I has a fireplace, which doesn't actually work. It also has two lights above the fireplace that give a nice ambiance. There is a huge mirrored closet. And plenty of shelf space. But the highlight is clearly the really high ceilings which make the room feel much bigger than it actually is.

Here are some pics of it.

Also on thursday night I went to a martial art class for the first time in 4 years. Again it was Taekwondo. But, much to my shock there were no koreans in the class the night I went. I kept asking asian looking classmates if they were korean and the replies I got back were negative. Finally, before leaving I asked this elderly blackbelt, and sure enough he was vietnamese. With a smile on my face I shook my head, and said where are all the koreans?

The most fun during the class was the sparing. I was doing drills with this lanky young white guy, who seemed a bit tentative. For the sparring in the middle of the class I switched to this chinese guy who was also a white belt, and had a very similar build to my own. His kicks were certainly much harder then the young guys, and also we were quite similar both in terms of build and also in terms of fitness level. After kicking each other for a bit we were both fatigued.

The hardest part of the class was the bouncing on the toes, that really required a lot of energy and my legs were just not there by the end of it. But time flew by and the massive amounts of sweat confirmed that it had been a great workout, and fun too!