Off to India

Alright guys, I'm off to India. Flight leaves around 4pm friday. Might be incommunicado for a while. Another cousin of mine is getting married. Hope you guys all have happy holidays. I will be back around [edit] Jan 3rd.

Oh yeah, saw King Kong. Wasn't all that great. It was pretty good when it came to Kong and the action but lot of stuff like Jack Black was off.

Arrested Development might be saved!

Both ABC and Showtime are in talks to save it if Fox cancels it! Needless to say I will definitely get Showtime if AD moves there. [link]

Animal Cruelty?

Check out this article at slate that discusses what we have done to dogs by breeding them as we do.

The reason [dogs are] useful for genetic research is that dogs are neatly divided into breeds, each of which is plagued by specific diseases. And the reason dogs are divided into diseased breeds is that we made them that way. Dogs are the world's longest self-serving, ecologically reckless genetic experiment, perpetrated by the world's first genetically engineering species: us.
...[this led to] epilepsy for springer spaniels, diabetes for Samoyeds, bone cancer for Rottweilers.

Here is the link.

Texans game

Wow, that was the greatest finish ever. I knew I could count on the Texans to lose. I had faith. Could it be any more obvious that we're going for Bush? Last three games have been lost in the last minute during which the defense did not get a single stop. I have completely gotten over any hesitation to rooting for them to lose. The only thing that could stop us from getting Reggie is that last game with San Francisco. But I have faith. 1-15 here we come.

Happenings

Crazy weather, but I love it. This is my second favorite kind of weather. I wish it was completely overcast as well as insanely cold. I've actually been holed up except for going on food runs. And I saw a movie today - Syriana.

The movie was pretty good. From the guys who made Traffic, but about Oil instead of drugs. It wasn't as good as Traffic but it was pretty sweet. The disconcerting thing was watching the Pakistani terrorists-to-be (sorry Shey) and understanding everything they were saying (in urdu).

The only other thing I've been doing is reading Calvin and Hobbes. I went and bought the 25-pound, 1500+ page, every Calvin and Hobbes that ever existed compilation. I had a 50 buck gift card at borders so i got it for 60 bucks net. TOtally worth it. I'm on page 412 of about 1500. Trying to get it done before i leave for india next friday.

Tookie, T-800 and Bush

Now that the 1000th execution in the US since 1976 has gone through, I did a little reading on it.

Check out some of the crimes for which people have been executed before: counterfeiting, horse stealing, buggery and concealing the birth/death of an infant (link). Of course, these crimes are no longer punishable by death.

The big story now is the scheduled execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, a co-founder of the Crips. He has seemingly rehabilitated as much as any person could. Interestingly, Tookie met some body-builder in the '70s who was very impressed by how fit he was. How does that matter? Well, that body-builder is now going to decide if Tookie lives or not since he is the governor of California.

And what are el presidente's views on this issue? Check out these comments from Tucker Carlson who interviewed Bush in '99 when a woman on death row was close to her execution:

In the week before [Karla Faye Tucker's] execution, Bush says, Bianca Jagger and a number of other protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask.

Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them," he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with [Tucker], though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' "

"What was her answer?" I wonder.

"Please," Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "don't kill me."

Yikes. Here's a link to the article giving the whole story.