Oh Well Reboot

No, you are not seeing things here--talking to the five people who probably read this blog now. When I started this blog about five years ago, I thought I would write solely on news, economic, and political issues. And I've written quite a bit on the issues of the day. But last year, I just got burnt out on writing about politics and trying to report on every single political issue and story that came up day in and day out. Some of the issues were especially complex, health care as a huge example, that I felt like I didn't have the time to research or think about--much less originally comment on. For that, it was time to step away from Oh Well, and focus on other things. That is not to say that I never lost my interest in news and politics.

For even as I stepped away from Oh Well, I was still thinking of tweaking the site into something more than just a news and politics blog. I have other items that I wondered how to publish--essays from political science and economics classes, short sarcastic stories, and even some photo work that has accumulated on my computer hard drives. For a while, I did have a separate website that I published some of my essays on, but they were never incorporated with my blog as a single portfolio of my work. That was always in the back of my mind. So with a new year, I thought it was time to come back and reboot Oh Well into something new--a combined blog and portfolio of written and photography work that I've accumulated over the years. That is what you're looking at right now.

To start off, the Home page will be my blog. I'll certainly be back writing about news and politics, now that we're in an election year and there has been some fascinating dynamics taking place--especially with the Massachusetts U.S. Senate special election, where GOP state senator Scott Brown trounced Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) for Ted Kennedy's seat. More on that later. I will also be adding more page links of my portfolio. The Essays page will have links to a number of SJSU political science and economic essays that I've written. Some of these essays are over ten years old, but I think they are interesting in showing some of my thinking on political and economic thought. The Fun Essays and Stories link are just that--links to fun essays and stories that I've written, but have never published. I still have a couple of other items to add, but I'll need to go through my files to find them. The Photography page will show some photo work that I've done. For the moment, I've included a link to a photo blog showcasing some work for a Photoshop class that I've taken at West Valley College last fall. But I've got some other photo stuff I want to include--old black-and-white photojournalism work for the West Valley College Norseman, abortion protest photos when Operation Rescue came to San Jose, UCSF bike racing photography, and possibly some newer stuff. Of course, I'm working old school here with 35mm manual focus Canon equipment. But it still works. The Links page will show all my blog links. I'm thinking I want to clean up my front page, and remove a number of the web and blog links that I rarely used. But I do not want to completely delete the links. Instead, I'm going to simplify and clean the links to my front page, showing only the most common links that I regularly go to. The full set of links will be found in the Links page. I'll also probably remove some of the junk, advertising, feeds, and other stuff to be placed on the Links Page--I'm still working on that aspect. I'm definitely getting rid of all the advertising on my blog--I never made any money from Google AdSense, or Amazon.com ads. And I probably never will. So I'm going to simplify the page.

I hope you enjoy this new reboot of Oh Well. I'm still in the process of tweaking my site. If you have any comments, please post them.

Enjoy.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

For a little Cinco De Mayo celebration, how about serenading your sweetie as the romantic hound dog Droopy does in Caballero Droopy. From YouTube:

I knew I should lay off the frickin' Starbucks

Created by OnePlusYou

See how much caffeine you've had today. Click here.

The End of the World

I found this through Americablog, and it is just brilliant. Although it is pretty fast to keep up....From YouTube:



And I feel fine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Blogging has been a little light this week, since it is the Turkey Week. I'll be back posting news stories for Friday. Until then, enjoy this YouTube video for Thanksgiving:

A Halloween Trick-or-Treat: Maria and the Ghost Mice

I wrote this story out for my five-year-old niece, and she loved it. My five-year-old niece has a stuffed, black, kitten, who wears a witches' hat, that she loves for Halloween. She has named this kitten Maria. When I babysit her, we end up creating fun little stories about Maria, or any of the other hundred stuffed animals she has. Since Maria is a Halloween decoration, I came up with an wonderful little Halloween story titled Maria and the Ghost Mice. My niece loved the story. And so, I'll share it with you for a Happy Halloween.

Maria and the Ghost Mice
By Eric A Hopp

Once upon a time, there lived a little kitten named Maria. She was an all-black kitten with green eyes, orange whiskers, and a pointed witches’ cap. Maria’s mistress was an old witch, who lived in a creaky, deserted mansion in the outskirts of town.

Maria loved being a witches’ cat. Every day, she would go seek out the plant herbs and ingredients her mistress, the old witch, would need to make her potions and spells. After she gathered the herbs, Maria would then perform her favorite job—catching mice! Maria would prowl the rooms of the old mansion, using her senses to locate where the mice were. Then she would flatten her body against the floor, like coiled spring, and then pounce on the mice, catching them with her paws. Maria would then take the mice outside into the fields and release them, where they could live happily and eat the field grasses, rather than nibbling on the spell herbs inside the old witch’s pantry. Of course, there were other times that Maria would have little mouse snack between chases.

But Maria’s most favorite time was Halloween Night, when the old witch would invite her witches’ coven to the mansion for a Halloween party of celebration, spell casting, and scaring trick-or-treaters. “Now Maria,” the old witch said. “The mansion has been decorated in spider webs and jack-o-lanterns. The table has been set with Halloween treats and spell ingredients. I’m going out tonight to scare some trick-or-treaters.” Maria’s mistress pulled an old broomstick out of the closet. “But I’ll be back soon with all our witch friends, and together we’ll have a wonderful party. I want you to watch the house for me, and make sure that the mice don’t eat all our treats and spell ingredients. Can you do that for me?” Maria proudly gave an affirmative MEOW!

The old witch smiled, and then gave Maria a scratch behind her ears. “That’s a good kitty. Take care of the house for me. And watch out for the ghost mice—they can be very troublesome.” And with that, the old witch flew off into moonlit night on her broomstick.

Ghost mice? What are ghost mice? Maria wondered. With that, she began her patrol of the old mansion, looking for mice. But going through room after room in the old mansion, she couldn’t find any mice. That’s strange, Maria thought. The mice always wanted to come out of the field and live in the old mansion, where they could nibble on the food and the spell herbs. Maria strolled into the dining room, where the table was set with Halloween treats, spell ingredients, and a bubbling cauldron of apple cider.

Just then, Maria saw a shadow out of the corner of her eye. She crouched, and then slowly crept towards the shadow. Maria then discovered that the shadow formed into the shape of a gray mouse, which was oblivious to the stalking witches’ cat. Maria slightly wiggled in anticipation, and then pounced on the gray mouse—MEOW! Maria caught that gray mouse!

Or did she?

Maria looked down at her paws, and saw nothing. The mouse escaped! She looked around the room. Where did that gray mouse go? She looked back down at her paws. Slowly, a ghostly head rose up through her paws to look up at Maria—a ghostly head of a little gray mouse! The gray mouse laughed, “Hee! Hee! Hee! Silly kitty! You can’t catch us! You can’t catch us! For we are the ghost mice!”

And with the little taunt, the ghost mouse ran through Maria’s paws and across the dining room, with Maria in pursuit. Maria pounced again with the intention of trapping the little ghost mouse right at the wall. But then, the ghost mouse ran through the wall! BAM! Maria slammed her head right into the wall, where the ghost mouse ran through, bumping her nose! Maria rubbed her nose for a moment, and then looked around the room. Suddenly, she saw another ghostly gray mouse right by the dining room table. She ran towards the mouse, with every kitty intention of catching and eating that mouse. The ghostly gray mouse looked at Maria, waved, and then floated up into the air and on to the dining room table. The ghost mouse laughed, “Hee! Hee! Hee! Silly kitty! You can’t catch us! You can’t catch us! For we are the ghost mice!”

Maria was very angry. She promised her mistress that she would take care of the house and protect the Halloween treats from these mice. And now the mice were on the dining room table, about ready to eat those treats. Maria jumped up on the dining room table. She saw the ghost mouse sitting at the edge of the bubbling cauldron, cleaning his face. Maria crouched, and then pounced on the mouse—MEOW! The ghost mouse completely vanished in front of Maria’s eyes, as she flew towards the bubbling cauldron. WATCH OUT! Maria fell into the bubbling cauldron of apple cider! SPLASH! Quickly, the little black kitty jumped out of the cauldron and landed, sopping wet, on the dining room floor. Maria could see ghostly mice appearing all around her. “Silly kitty!” the ghost mice taunted. “Chase us! Catch us! Again! Again! Again!” The ghost mice danced around Maria. “We will wear you out! Out! Out!” Maria slammed her paw down on a ghost mouse, but her paw went straight through the dancing mouse’s body. The ghost mouse laughed, and then continued singing, “Wear you out! Out! Out! Then the brown mice can feast on Halloween treats!”

Maria sat in the circle of dancing ghost mice. “How can I catch a ghost mouse, when my paws go right through them?” she asked. Maria thought for a moment. “I can catch live mice with my paws because I’m alive, but I cannot catch ghost mice because they are ghosts. Perhaps there are ghost kittens that can catch ghost mice because they are ghosts! I must find the ghost kittens!” Maria ran out the dining room. The ghost mice cheered happily, “YES! We’ve driven the kitten away! Three cheers for the ghost mice!”

Maria ran out of the mansion, and into a small pet cemetery, located behind the old mansion. There, she found an incredible sight. Maria saw ghost cats and kittens chasing and pouncing little brown field mice that were running through the pet cemetery. “Help us!” the ghost cats cried. “The living, brown field mice are taunting us, as they dig into our graves. We can’t drive them back into the fields where they belong!”

Maria suddenly had an idea. “I will drive the living, brown field mice back into the fields, where they will not bother you. And in return, you can help me drive the ghost mice out of the mansion, and away from the Halloween treats.” The ghost cats agreed, “Yes! Yes! We’ll do it.” And so Maria chased the brown field mice away from the pet cemetery, and back into the fields, where they could continue to live and eat the field grasses. “And now,” Maria smiled. “Let’s get rid of some ghost mice.”

Back in the dining room, the ghost mice were still celebrating at how they drove the kitten away, when Maria walked back into the dining room, alone. “Hello again.” The ghost mice taunted. “Have you come back for some more punishment from us?”

Maria smiled, “Yes, I’ve come back,” she said. “And I’ve brought some new friends with me.” Suddenly, the ghost cats leaped through the dining room walls and surrounded the ghost mice.

The ghost mice shrieked. “It’s the ghost cats! Run away! Run away!” The ghost cats drove the ghost mice out of the old mansion, and back into the fields where they also belonged.

Maria thanked her ghost cat friends. “Now my mistress will come back with her witch friends, and we can have a wonderful Halloween party. Would you like to join our party?” The ghost cats agreed. And so for the rest of the night, Maria and the ghost cats celebrated Halloween with the witches.

The End.

Blogging will be light next week....

I'll be house-sitting at my parents place for next week, so blogging will be especially light. I'll be back on Friday. Have a good week.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July! As a little celebration, I found this great Warner Brothers cartoon Old Glory. Old Glory was produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions, and directed by Chuck Jones in 1939. It is a realistic cartoon that features Uncle Sam teaching Porky Pig about the history of the United States, and what it means to learn the Pledge of Allegiance. There is a couple of great historical details in this cartoon. The first is that the American flag has only 48 stars, since the cartoon was made before Alaska and Hawaii became states. A second little detail is that the Pledge of Allegiance does not include the phrase "Under God." The phrase "Under God" was inserted into the Pledge in 1954.

So have a happy Fourth of July and enjoy Old Glory. From YouTube:

Oh Well: A Commentary is rated NC-17!

I usually don't post the various internet tests that I find on other blogs, but this one was a surprise for me. I found this latest internet test which provides a film rating on your blog, through Blue Girl in a Red State. So why not try it and see what Oh Well: A Commentary would get? I received an NC-17 movie rating for my blog! Apparently this NC-17 rating was "determined based on the presence of the following words: dead (8x), pissed (4x), bitch (3x), ass (2x), and suck (1x). I didn't know I have such a foul mouth here, especially considering how I avoid using the seven dirty words you can't say on television. Now I can understand the word dead being recorded in this rating. I did a Technorati search on how many times I've used the word "dead" in my blog, and Technorati reports 9 instances of my using the word dead--I would imagine there are a lot more uses, considering all the posts I've written about dead young American soldiers coming home from Iraq, and the George W. Bush Administration's continued failure of the Iraq war. And even though Technorati does not show any results for my using the word "pissed," I know I've used that word a number of times in my posting to express anger. But I certainly don't remember using the words "bitch," "ass," and "suck," and Technorati didn't show any results for those words. Time to go to another search engine--Google! A Google search shows that I have 791 instances of using the word "bitch," 519 instances of using the word "ass," and only 6 instances of using the word "suck." And if you're curious, the Google search reported 849 instances of using the word "dead," and 795 instances of using the word "pissed." I guess I am a regular potty-mouth here!

So I shall place this honored NC-17 rating on my blog:

Mingle² - Online Dating

Maybe I should start using the seven dirty words as well?

Saturday Night Music--Real Gone by Sheryl Crow

Finished watching the Disney movie Cars with my five-year-old niece. The music for the opening credits of cars is Sheryl Crow's Real Gone. It is such a great song for the movie. So for a little Saturday night music, I found this YouTube music video created by Jtrait. Call it an unauthorized music video from the movie Cars:



Slow down, you're gonna crash,
Baby you're a-screaming it's a blast, blast, blast
Look out, you've got your blinders on
Everybody's looking for a way to get real gone
Real gone.

The Second World War meets Robotech?

I found this off ShakesVille, and it is both wild and weird. You can also find this on YouTube.

Here is Part One:



And here is Part Two:



It is certainly an interesting premise, and the CGI animation is certainly pretty good. Enjoy!

Happy Easter Yeggs!

Happy Easter Yeggs.

Happy Easter! Yes, the Easter Bunny is coming with LOTS of brightly-colored Easter Eggs. Unfortunately, the Easter Bunny seems a little sad, having to deliver all these eggs to so many people. He needs some help! And who would be the perfect bunny to help him, but Bugs himself. The Happy Easter Rabbit--HOORAY!

I found one of the best cartoons to celebrate Easter--the 1947 Looney Tunes classic Happy Easter Yeggs, starring that famous rabbit Bugs Bunny and directed by Robert McKimson. So as you're stuffing your face with jelly beans and Cadbury Eggs, make sure you have enough room for Easter Rabbit Stew, take a moment to enjoy this wonderful Easter cartoon from YouTube:



And remember, Doc, keep smiling!

Some Woodstock memories--Country Joe and the Fish

I found this little gem of a song called I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die, by Country Joe and the Fish. Now Country Joe and the Fish was a small folk band, playing with Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, and Iron Butterfly. The band became famous for playing I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixing-to-Die at Woodstock. They performed the song on Friday August 15, 1969. The song has become the classic anti-war song during the Vietnam War.

So I figured it is time to resurrect this great song from Country Joe and the Fish. From YouTube:



And here are the lyrics:

Gimme an F!
F!
Gimme an I!
I!
Gimme an S!
S!
Gimme an H!
H!
What's that spell ?
FISH!
What's that spell ?
FISH!
What's that spell ?
FISH!

Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds —
The only good commie is the one who's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Huh!

Well, come on Wall Street, don't move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don't hesitate,
Send 'em off before it's too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

I didn't know Ronald McDonald was a martial arts expert....

I found this YouTube video off Shakespeare's Sister. All I can say is WTF?

I didn't know that old Ronald McDonald had picked up some of Bruce Lee's moves. From YouTube:

Merry Christmas!

It is Christmas time! Time for some spiked egg nog, Santa Clause, presents, and good Christmas cheer! Now I could write a nice, long, analytical post regarding the Bush administration’s incompetence in Iraq, but I don’t think my brain can take that—even with the Pete’s Holiday Blend coffee in my system. But I did find something that really instills the true holiday spirit of Christmas for this year. I’m talking about the pre-pilot episode before the pilot episode of South Park’s The Spirit of Christmas.

I’ll admit that I don’t watch South Park that often, but when I do catch it, even I’m struck by the show’s wicked satire and parody of today’s current events. I knew about the first South Park episode Jesus verses Santa, which inspired Comedy Central to develop the short film into a television series. But even I never saw the short animation work Jesus verses Frosty, which caught the interest of Fox TV executive Brian Graden. According to Wikipedi:

In 1992, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, then students at the University of Colorado, made Jesus vs. Frosty, under the "Avenging Conscience Films" moniker. Parker and Stone animated the film using only construction paper, glue, and a very old 8 mm film camera, and premiered the film at the December 1992 student film screening. The movie features four kids who are very similar to the four main characters of South Park, including a character resembling Cartman but called 'Kenny', a hooded boy resembling Kenny, and two other nameless boys resembling Stan and Kyle. The film also includes some classic South Park ingredients, such as an absurd story-line, crude language, graphic violence and a 'moral' at the end.

The story is that the four kids build a snowman and, in the vein of Frosty the Snowman, put a magic silk hat on it to make it come to life. Unfortunately Frosty turns out to be evil and deranged, sprouting huge tentacles and killing the Cartman-resembling boy. This leads one of the boys to be the first to utter the famous line: "Oh my god! Frosty killed Kenny!". The boys go to Santa for help, but it's Frosty in disguise, and he kills the Kenny-resembling boy. The two remaining kids run away, and then find a nativity scene with a baby Jesus, who flies to the evil snowman and kills it by slicing off the magic hat with his halo. After seeing this, one of the two says another known line: "You know, I learned something today". The two kids realize the true meaning of Christmas: presents. So, as a deer nibbles on the Cartman-resembling boy, they go to their homes to find the presents hidden by their parents.

In 1995, Fox executive Brian Graden paid Stone and Parker $2000 to make another animated short as a video Christmas card he could send to friends. In turn, the duo created Jesus vs. Santa. This version of The Spirit of Christmas featured an animation style very similar to South Park, as well as more developed versions of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny (and a cameo appearance of a girl looking exactly like Wendy Testaburger, sitting on Santa's lap). It largely established the characters as they would be used in South Park. The movie also contains elements which would re-occur in the series, such as Kyle being Jewish and rats eating Kenny's corpse. The film reportedly had a budget of $750, with Parker and Stone keeping the rest of their commission. The making of the short was parodied in the South Park episode "A Very Crappy Christmas". (In terms of the South Park universe, Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman created the film to rejuvenate interest in Christmas, although Kenny's death is the result of him dying in "real life" and Stan dubs over Cartman's voice after he quits the project.)

The story differs significantly from Jesus vs. Frosty. Jesus descends to South Park where he meets the kids. He asks them to take him to the local mall, where he finds Santa. It turns out that Jesus has a bone to pick with "Kringle" - according to Jesus, Santa diminishes the memory of Jesus' birthday with his presents. Santa is aware of the feud, and claims that "this time" they will "finish it". They stand up for a fight (accompanied by sounds and music from Mortal Kombat) and duke it out, accidentally killing various bystanders (including Kenny) in the process. Jesus pins Santa down, and they both ask the boys to help them. Stan hesitates, and wonders: "What Would Brian Boitano do?" (this is later parodied as a song in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut) The figure skater miraculously appears and delivers a speech about how Christmas should be about being good to each other. The boys transmit the message to the fighters, who ashamedly agree and decide to bury the hatchet over an orange smoothie. Just like in Jesus vs. Frosty, the boys again realize the true meaning of Christmas: presents. Kyle remarks that if you're Jewish, you get presents for eight days. The others decide to become Jewish too and, while rats are eating Kenny's corpse, leave the scene.

Graden initially distributed the video to 80 friends in December 1995, one of the friends rumored to be George Clooney. Brian Boitano ended up getting a hold of the tape, and was apparently flattered by his depiction. After months of being passed around on bootleg video and the Internet, the film caught the attention of cable network Comedy Central. The network hired the pair to develop South Park, which premiered in the USA on August 13, 1997.

In 1997, Jesus vs. Santa received a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for best animation.

It is amazing how a Fox television executive such as Graden was willing to pay Stone and Parker $2000 for a short “South Park” animation film that he enjoyed, and wanted to share it with his friends and family, but who failed to realize the potential success this short film could become as a regular television series. Fox already had a successful animation series in The Simpsons. They could have had South Park as well. Unfortunately for Fox, Comedy Central saw the potential of this Graden “Christmas card,” and developed it into the series South Park.

Anyways, that is a little of the history on these two wonderful short films. I found them both through YouTube. So here they are for an early Christmas treat. The first is South Park Episode 0: Jesus verses Frosty. The second is South Park Episode 1: Jesus verses Santa.

South Park Episode 0: Jesus verses Frosty.



South Park Episode 1: Jesus verses Santa.



Merry Christmas!

The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

I've been feeling a little sick today, so it has been bed and hot tea for me. I've been lightly checking the blogs, and I found this wonderful gem from Shakespeare's Sister. This is just totally funny! The original source is from YouTube.

So I present to you The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed

Hope you all have a Happy Turkey Day--don't stuff yourselves too much with turkey and dressing. And while you're at it, try not to goo too overboard in your prayers of thanksgiving as Milo did in this classic Bloom County comic strip by Berkeley Breathed--one of my all-time favorite comic strips.

60 Minutes' Ed Bradley Dead At 65

CBS television network newsman and correspondent for '60 Minutes' Ed Bradley is shown in this 1981 file photograph. Veteran CBS newsman Bradley, 65, a pioneering black American journalist who won acclaim as a Vietnam War correspondent and later as a reporter for '60 Minutes,' died on Thursday of complications from leukemia. (CBS Photo Archive/Handout/Reuters)

What else can I say but RIP Mr. Bradley:

(CBS) Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley died Thursday at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan of complications from leukemia.

Bradley joined the staff of the venerable news magazine 26 years ago. His consummate skills as a broadcast journalist and his distinctive body of work were recognized with numerous awards, including 19 Emmys, the latest for a segment that reported the reopening of the 50-year-old racial murder case of Emmett Till.

Bradley grew up in a tough section of Philadelphia, was wounded while covering the Vietnam War and later became the first black White House correspondent for CBS News.

He was a man who broke down racial barriers - and became a role model for young African Americans, 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl reports.

"The pressure is there," Bradley said. "It's been there every day of my life."

There is one tough journalist. Ed Bradley--you will be missed.

Will our government go back to governing....

The way it should be? From YouTube:



Maybe President Bush and Karl Rove will need to watch this video as a refresher course in how our government works?

School House Rocks!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Have a fun night out Trick-Or-Treating--watch out for the rocks!



And hopefully the Great Pumpkin will select your pumpkin patch as the "most sincere."