Wednesday, July 26, 2006

NYC HIPSTERS LOVE DEER HUNTING VIDEO GAME

Remember the last time you were at Harpo's or Fox and Hound and you saw a bunch of people surrounding a Golden Tee or NFL Blitz coin-op video game? Imagine a bunch of liberal, PETA-belonging NYC hipsters acting the same way over a deer hunting video game.

Of course, it's happening. Apparently, they love themselves some Big Buck Hunter Pro. You know, the game you see in Wal-Mart foyers not being played, the screen fuzzy and burned from years of not being played? They love that stuff up there.

The best quote in the above-linked story comes from the editor of a hunting magazine asked about whether he thinks the game will draw more "urban hunters" to the real-world woods with their Remingtons:

"I thank god they are doing it in a bar," said Russell Thornberry, Editor in Chief of Buckmasters Whitetail Magazine in Montgomery, Ala. "I'm not sure I'd want them hunting anywhere near where I was hunting. They'd be a danger to me and the deer."


The Mailbox wonders if the reverse is true: Would rednecks in an Oklahoma truck stop go nuts over The Sims: Nightlife?

And by the way, here is the best hunting video game ever.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

STEM CELL RESEARCH IS NOT ABORTION

Here's that link promised at the end of this post.

The Mailbox has been banging it's head against a wall from listening to our President explain why he vetoed a bill which would have granted more funding for embryonic stem cell research. Specifically:


"This bill would support the taking of innocent human life of the hope of finding medical benefits for others. It crosses a moral boundary that our society needs to respect, so I vetoed it."

The moral boundary he's talking about is the same moral boundary Pro-Lifers use to defend abortion. But anti-abortion arguments don't apply because -- pardon the glittering obvious -- embryonic stem cell research is not abortion. Here's some points:

~ Stem cells are harvested from a blastocyst, which is a sack of cells formed after a human egg is fertilized.

~ A blastocyst forms five days after an egg is fertilized.

~ A blastocyst must attach itself to the uterine wall to begin changing into an infant. There is only a 33- to 50- percent chance of this happening.

~ More than 30,000 innocent lives have been lost in the Iraqi War, so next time you hear President Bush talking about protecting innocent life, just chuckle to yourself and remember that there's an election coming.

It's important for Missourians to remember that embryonic stem cell research is not abortion, because we may be voting on whether to constitutionally protect the industry. That ballot question has plenty about which to be skeptical, but none about abortion issues.

The Mailbox's formal opinion (it cleaned itself up pretty well) will appear in Sunday's Joplin Globe...it will post a link as soon as it's published. In the meantime, Wired.com's Stephen Edwars has published a list of distortions, fallacies and outright lies used by both political parties in the recent debate.

PERSONAL-LIFE INVASION:
BLOGGING, WRITING AND DRIVING


The Mailbox rules this blog with an iron hand...most of the time. Sometimes it has to hibernate, and that's when Joe -- me -- gets to write.

You'll notice some changes to the blog...I added some blogging brothers and sisters that I regularly read. Diversions are still there. The most important part was to take out that bit about how I'd update daily...THAT was funny. A few notes about some of the "Official Friends of the Mailbox":

FYI: The Mailbox does not choose friends based on politics.

ANYWAY...I just can't get a hang of this new work schedule. Don't get me wrong; I love the new job. I work with a bunch of intelligent, witty, sardonic people doing something I love. I hear all kinds of stories about Rep. Gary Nodler. And I work only blocks away from Fred & Red's.

The only part that sucks is the 80-minute drive there, and the other 80-minute drive back. It sucks away my energy, quite literally. I've gotten to where I go to bed when I hear the birds chirping. But I don't get enough sleep because my house is on the market, and people come over pretty much whenever they want. That's a whole other "personal-life invasion" entry. Throw in wanting to spend as much time with The Lovely Paula, playing Pirates CSG and writing, and there's just too much to do. I haven't been bored for months now. Ever heard of someone having too many outlets for their creativity?

Anyway, I'm always thinking about how to make the blog better (at least before 417 Pundit decides to pick on me). The Mailbox isn't going away anytime soon, though we never hear from it much anymore. Some upcoming changes include additions to the Diversions & Distractions and more of my fiction work. Maybe, one of these days, I'll get www.joehadsallisdamuthafugginBOMB.com and REALLY clean this place up.

Soon, Chez MoJoe will be somewhere in the 64802 and I'll have more time to devote to creative enterprises. Life after divorce is pretty frickin' sweet. All y'all who visit here, thanks for keeping up. And to my fellow Springfield bloggers: Can we have the get-together on a Monday night sometime, please? I really wanna see/meet y'all!

That's all for now...I have to build TLP a 100-point kick ass fleet for this Sunday's tournament.

~joe

Saturday, July 15, 2006

CHIMP PLAYS MS. PAC-MAN

Official Mailbox props to M. Brothers, he with the Numb Thumb, (best name for a video game blog EH-var) for first post.

The Mailbox watched this chimp playing Ms. Pac-Man. The Mailbox is such a geek that all it could do was obsess about that crazy maze it had never seen before. The Mailbox also wishes it had such a good video game coach when it learned to play the game for the first time.

DEBATE OVER AIR TRAVEL AND CAMPAIGNS A WASTE OF TIME

As the campaign season heats up, already the parties are picking at each other over pointless issues. Jeff Lehr of the Joplin Globe files a good story about how A.G. Jay Nixon and Gov. Matt Blunt (Matty Matt Blunt Blunt Whoo WHOO! -- as he's known at the design desk) treat job-related air travel.

Blunt believes in not spending any taxpayer money for flights. That means that lobbyists are paying for the air travel. It's nigh impossible to figure out which lobbyist is paying for the flight, meaning the public has no way of finding out who is buying influence. But, if you ask Blunt, he champions the practice because it cuts down state costs and keeps taxpayers from paying.

Nixon uses a state plane to take flights for A.G. business. If a newspaper or two ask him campaign-related questions...well, he's already there, why not answer, right? How conveeeeenient.

The two are the front-runners for Missouri's next gubernatorial election. So from now on, anything they do is going to be campaign-related. So, how exactly are they supposed to conduct their state business without the air of a campaign? Short answer: They won't.

Blunt has been to the Joplin area four times in the last two weeks to sign ho-hum bills surrounded by supporters. Nixon has answered pointed questions about state policies that fall outside the realm of his office. The Mailbox's question: So what?

This air travel issue is a wash that preaches to the converted and gives the faithful something to demonize. The Mailbox's advice: Ignore it. Besides, a certain state law is enough to assure the Mailbox's vote without this air flap.



Tuesday, July 11, 2006

REGGIE-LOVE A LITTLE TOO THICK IN THE BIG EASY

It's been a while since the Mailbox has spit out anything about the state of the Saints. Quick recap:

~ Superdome reconstruction is ahead of schedule.

~ Pre-season optimism levels are higher than usual.

Despite the lack of a signed contract for their #2 draft pick Reggie Bush, uncertainty about their quarterback's injured shoulder and getting picked to finish last in the division, warm-fuzziness abounds. Maybe it's getting a little too thick: The New Orleans Times Picayune is saying that Reggie Bush should already be rookie of the year.

First of all, no one is more critical/pessimistic/realistic about the Saints than the Times-Pic (except for its Saints' Forum participants). Second of all, there has never been more uncertainty about the team in the last few seasons. New coach, quarterback and high-profile college running back...look how well the last one worked out.

To be fair: There are 136,000 reasons the Times-Pic is calling for Bush's sainthood. The man hasn't signed a contract and he's already negotiated $136K in donations for area charities. He has also quickly accepted the area as his new home and done much to become part of the community.

Let's all back off the Reggie love for a while. No one is more excited to see him play in the black and gold than the Mailbox (which will be in Tennessee to watch him and Vince Young in the preseason. Woot!). But the heightened affection will drop faster than presidential approval ratings when Bush can't agree to a contract with the Saints. Let's wait for the man to score a couple of TDs before proclaiming him a saint.

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