Stuff to See!

Tying Up Loose Ends

I always thought work was a natural activity which had its place in one's life much like any other. Having spent a lot more of my time recently working than I've become accustomed, I can see the truth in that opinion. In order to restore the economic balance of my life, I've had to disturb the work/sleep/play equilibrium of my life, which has been jarring but productive overall. It would be a lot easier, and a lot less rewarding, to have $20, 000 end up in my lap.
A number of things have happened since I've last set pen to paper, so to speak. The DC-area snipers fell asleep at the switch. The San Francisco Giants and the Anaheim Angels are tied 3-3 in the best of 7 World Series. And Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, is due to arrive on Tuesday October 29th, giving me more food for thought about the role of violence in our society (I'll do my level best to procure a copy that day to further my research). Some thoughts on those grave matters follow.
I've said it before: I love baseball in October. I called the ALCS pretty much by the numbers, but the Giants surprised me. I had them pegged for elimination by either the Braves or the Cardinals...or the Angels (in six games), but Barry and the gang have done a fine job playing toe-to-toe with an Angels team that is no better or worse, creating a close series, which is a Good Thing (TM). I got to see the salient point of Game 6 at a bar with a friend (Scott Spiezio's 3 run home run), and although Anaheim was still down 5-3, I had no doubt they would win. Which they did. I also have no idea who's going to win Game 7...but I'll stay up to find out. It's my duty as an American citizen, damn it!!
As for the alleged snipers...their downfall was in the cards ever since someone started leaving Tarot card love notes and playing phone tag with the redoubtable Chief Charles Moose. I still have no idea why the shootings ever took place...aside from the obvious possibility that John Allen Mohammad was feeling a little inadequate in life. I'm also not terribly surprised a teenager was involved, no matter to what extent. It's been a long observed fact of human psychology that adolescents can become conscienceless bastards of society (think of the Hitler Youth, or the spying brats from Orwell's 1984). Of course, most teenagers have some sort of moral compass...it's just a matter of what they learn and how they're influenced. I'm curious to find out what role the young man had in the shootings...
And whether people in the Establishment (TM) will ascribe this youth's errant behavior to the abundance of violence in the media at large, whether through motion pictures, video games, television, or any other conventional or unconventional medium. Indeed, my friend Vergil playfully suggested that the sniper was taking Grand Theft Auto 3 to the streets, and for all we know there could be some truth in that. I doubt it...but I've been wrong before.
On a different subject altogether, the vagaries of Ben Franklin's brainchild, Daylight Savings Time, have befuddled me for the 25th straight year. On the one hand, it's always nice to have a free hour of sleep. On the other hand...I've wondered what exactly made old Ben think of such a concept. It was a stroke of something...whether genius or insanity I could never decide. In all, he strove to bring the way 'civilized' Americans marked the passage of time more in line with the natural day-night cycle of the natural human, which makes sense in a backassward sort of way. It just goes to show that the observation of time is a chimera, and men are creatures of convenience.
And now...to get rid of these monstrous vermin!!!