:: Captain's Personal Blog ::

Stardate: Monday, February 25, 2002

Bring Back Superboy: The TV Series Petition

To: Warner Brothers Television Division
The signers of this petition would like to request that Warner Brothers drop the lien placed on the Superboy TV series that ran from 1988-1992 in syndication. The series starred John Haymes Newton & Gerard Christopher as Superboy and Stacy Haiduk as Lana Lang and was at the peak of its popularity when Warner Brothers placed a lien on it, preventing it from being aired in re-runs or released on video or DVD in North America. The show has been off the air for 9 years now and is ripe for rediscovery. The series deserves to be re-aired so that a new generation of fans can see it for the first time and so that old fans can see the series and rediscover it. Removal of the lien would also allow the series to be released on VHS and/or DVD so that fans can enjoy it for many years to come.
"Superboy" aka "The Adventures of Superboy" ran for 4 seasons and ended its run with 100 episodes and has gained a large, loyal fan following. Many fans of Superboy and Superman, however, have never had an opportunity to see the series and if the lien remains, they never will. The popularity of "Superboy" may very well increase this fall when "Smallville" premieres on the WB network. Re-airing "Superboy" during this time would be a great complement to the "Smallville" series.
Re-airing of "Superboy" is not possible until the legal lien placed against it is gone. If you want to see this wonderful series back on the air once again I urge you to sign this petition.(real names only please, no nicknames)

Sincerely,

The Undersigned
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I personally enjoyed this series while it was on the air, and was sad to learn that as of right now it will never be seen again in any form. If there is anyone out there who has seen the program and enjoyed it or Superman, I encourage them to sign the petition.

God, I really hate to do that because it seems like selling out, using my blog as an advertising agent. It's a good cause though, so I guess it's not that bad.
:: J 3:44 PM [+] ::
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Excite fortune for the day: You don't need to win the lottery.

Really? You mean I will be able to earn more than $750 Million on my own? Wow. Who knew?
:: J 12:39 PM [+] ::
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Well, it's time for a little catching up on the progress of things:

A) That website idea that I submitted a few weeks ago seems to have died. I have heard nothing about it since, and am assuming that it went down in flames.

B) I never got a response from Mark Altman of Cinescape regarding my letter to him about ENTERPRISE. No surprise here.

C) Melanie, my ex-girlfriend, has left Florida and her husband, is currently in New Jersey with her cousin, and is leaving Jersey today to head back to Pennsylvania. From there, I may not exactly hear from her via e-mail for awhile. OK then.

D) While my feelings of Nostalgia have passed somewhat, I am sure they will return. They have in the past, so who am I to buck a trend.

Hmmmm. Maybe I'll be surprised by something soon. That would be nice. Especially if it is a good surprise.
:: J 8:54 AM [+] ::
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Contrived, Backhanded or Sincerity?

McCartney Says Lennon is His Hero
LONDON (AP) - Paul McCartney's ultimate hero is ... the late fellow Beatle, John Lennon.
"I've got a few heroes, but if I really have to plump for one, well howsabouts .... John?" McCartney was quoted as saying in a celebrity poll published in Wednesday's music magazine Mojo.
"But I have to add the reservation that it could also be the other Beatles - or Elvis. Or Little Richard. Or Nat King Cole."
Of Lennon, who was shot to death in 1980 outside his New York apartment building, McCartney reportedly said, "What I admire in him was massive talent, great wit, courage and humor. He influenced me, very much so."
Together, the pair wrote such hits as "Help!" and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," and turned the Beatles into stars.
Oasis brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher also cited Lennon among their heroes.
"People will be surprised I didn't say the Beatles. Paul McCartney is a musical hero - but Paul McCartney is just not my kind of pop star. Lennon is," Noel Gallagher was quoted as saying.
"This is no diss to Paul McCartney ... He's a top man, but there's an element of professionalism, whereas Lennon was like 'plug a guitar in and I'll make it howl,'" he said.
Liam Gallagher, whose son with actress Patsy Kensit is named Lennon, added, "It's his voice I most admire."

:: J 4:25 PM [+] ::
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In the annals of humor, have you ever felt like you were an intellectual titan surrounded by first graders?
:: J 11:42 AM [+] ::
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Sleep Away Camp

Arguably, not quite the best time of my life. To be honest, while I spent a total of 11 years there, most of them were pretty dismal on the whole. As a camper, there was much that was bad. I was horrible at sports. I wasn't well liked by my peers for this and other reasons (I wasn't cool, I wasn't rude, I didn't like their music, I didn't watch sports, I didn't have the same style in clothes.) I wasn't popular with the guys or the girls. My social peers happened to be counselors, most of which happened to be the foreign ones. I was the forgettable one on campus. 7 years in the background doesn't make for a great time. Makes you wonder why I kept going back.

Skipping two years (because I couldn't stand being a camper there any longer) I came back as a counselor. As a counselor I was like the teenager who everyone flocks to because he has a car. Thanks to some wisdom of the director of the camp, I was essentially put in charge of the newly-built indoor sports arena. It was full of electronic goodies, and my services on that front expanded to the whole A-V front of the camp. It was nice. Once again, I was only known for my work, was seldom appreciated and just faded into the background despite this. The other cool part was that I was liked by my campers. At least most of them.

I had good times, but it is arguable that there were many times more bad than good. I could argue that I wasted 11 summers of my life. However, I enjoyed my work. My fondest memories come from the times I spent in solitude in such a beautiful place (it was in the middle of the Catskill Mountains) and from the times when I was doing my work. I enjoyed it more than other people appreciated it. For nostalgia's sake, I do paint over the ugly parts. It's a shame really. I can get very emotional over how much I miss the place. However, when we did eventually part, it was on bad terms. This was due to the staff and not to the environment. THE CAMP, ITSELF, is not responsible, but that doesn't change the fact that I feel I can't go back.

That saddens me. I would like to go back at some point. Maybe in 10 years when I have clearly moved on. It sounds stupid that some place would have such an emotional hold on me. It's really hard to put into words. Maybe it's all about a departure from innocence.

Maybe I just don't like change.......That would be TRULY depressing.
:: J 8:54 AM [+] ::
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Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune once wrote:

"Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the dispoosal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth."

You know, lately the nostalgia part has been figuring promenently in my mind. My ex-girlfriend, my college days, my days at camp. It's all been coalescing in my mind. I may put this into words when it has finished and I can articulate it perfectly.
:: J 4:23 PM [+] ::
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Realization of the Morning:
There are two things that I truly can not stand in music (past most country music)

1) I already knew that I don't like whiny music. I.E. Alannis Morrisette and her ilk. Essentially, while I do believe that music should be emotive, I really don't need to listen to someone whining in my ear incessantly about their own problems. I have my own problems and so do my friends and family. For me, that's enough. I don't need someone to do it in song as well.

2) As such, I have discovered that Metal music (at least the guitars) seem to have the same kind of tonal quality to me. In short spurts they are certainly good. But to compose an entire song, let alone an entire CD, around it is a bit too much for me. I just can't stand listening to that high a pitch for too long, it makes me uncomfortable.

I suppose that the attraction of film scores to me is that the instruments all sound like they are speaking. Not whining, but speaking. I am currently debating the aesthetics of a music that I don't listen to with a friend of mine, and like I told him, it is hard to speak intelligently about something which I know little about. All I can speak about is what I have been a witness to.
:: J 10:32 AM [+] ::
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Every once in a while I find myself drawn to certain programs in an effort to check in on society in general. Today I bumped into The Ricki Lake Show. What caught my ear more than anything else was the use of "Get My ______ On." I always used to hear "Get My Groove On," but I never heard that you could substitute other words in place of "groove." As far as ease of speech is concerned, isn't it faster to say "I was trying to sleep" vs. "I was trying to get my sleep on?" I mean, near as I can tell, economy of words is usually a reason behind slang, so I just don't get it.

Get My Swerve On - What exactly does this mean and where does it come from?

Get My Sleep On - Why? I ask you, Why?


:: J 10:31 AM [+] ::
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Making Sense of Senseless Nonsense

I just don't get it. I just got a call detailing the problem with my car. It seems that ONE of the TWO headlight motors is broken and has to be replaced. It will cost about $287 + tax to fix. The "good news" is that it will be under a one year warranty.

So, let me get this straight. What they're saying is that if that ONE, SINGLE, SOLITARY motor breaks down, I can have it fixed for free anytime in the next year. That's a heck of a comfort.

The fact of the matter is that after 3 years of careful use, my car gets a major malfunction in a motor that there was NO WAY I could prevent, and here I have to pay $300 to get it fixed? That doesn't seem to make a heck of a lot of sense.

But that's just me venting. After a few more paychecks, I guess that won't hurt as much.


:: J 10:18 AM [+] ::
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Watching MALLRATS on FX is just NOT a good idea. Hell, neither is broadcasting it.
:: J 1:58 PM [+] ::
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Cinna Stix are SOOOO much better than they look. As that Fire and Ice killed my tastes for Cinnamon, I'm surprised how much I like the stix. They really are mild on the Cinnamon, which is cool. *sigh*
:: J 1:00 PM [+] ::
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There are fewer things more frustrating than being in a group of people, saying something and having it be totally ignored, as though you didn't even open your mouth. Multiply this by no less than 10 times a week and you have my relationship with my work environment.
:: J 12:40 PM [+] ::
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I am minutely scared. My car is going into the shop tomorrow. My car hasn't been in the shop for a truly major mechanical malfunction in it's life. It is a 1998 Black Pontiac Trans-Am with the really cool sounding WS6 Performance Package (AKA Ram Air.) It is a really cool car. It even has T-Tops! *sigh* I love my car and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Now, it has a slight malfunction of sorts. I think it's a short in the electrical system. Either way, when I close the headlight doors, there is this God-Awful noise that erupts, which I liken to a VERRRY LOUD lawnmower for 5 FULL SECONDS. It is very bad and very frightening.

Also, for some reason, now when I arm/disarm the car, the headlight doors open and then close (which ALSO causes the noise.) It's kind of embarassing to have every turn to look at your car as you get into. "He's probably stealing that car!" It's just something I want fixed now so that I can continue to enjoy my wonderful BATMAN-esque car.


:: J 10:37 AM [+] ::
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BTW, please forgive my gratuitous use of Boldface, Underlining and Italics. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon, but I'm still proud that I know how to do them, still thankful to Cheryl for teaching me them, and just happy that I know the little I know of HTML.
:: J 5:43 PM [+] ::
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What a day. Worked on a special project today. That was on top of the normal stuff I had to do today. Doesn't sound like much. Actually, it's quite a bit, for a Monday. And I feel fulfilled. I made a conscious decision today not to let laziness get me down and to be the kind of person I was when I first started working here. To wit:

After spending hours on my special project, I was asked by a co-worker if i wanted her to take over for me on the rest of my stuff for the day, in case I felt a little overwhelmed. I actually considered it for a while. Half an hour (easy to do, when the offer is made over a text-page.) After thinking about it, I realized that I wanted to keep working. There was really no reason for me not to. I mean, so what? Just because it was early in the week doesn't mean that I don't have to work as hard as I do later in the week. Lately I've been wondering if I've been slowing down and maybe not caring as much about my work.

I mean, I know I enjoy my work, but that doesn't mean that I may not be taking a more lax position towards it. Maybe I have become a little too comfortable in my position. But I think that should change. I should take a more gung-ho approach to my work. The kind I used to have when I started. Eager to please, and eager to do the work. Lord knows I am not doing what I truly want to be doing, but that doesn't make what I do any less important and that doesn't make where I am any less special. It's a tough world out there, especially now. It's high time I treated things as though I was as thankful as I know I should be.

It's easy to make this kind of resolution now, keeping it may be difficult, but damn it I am going to try. Complacency has made me weak and lazy. It's time for me to put an end to that and start really WORKING again. Onwards and upwards from now on. EXCELSIOR!
:: J 5:41 PM [+] ::
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From the ol' Excite Fortune for Today: "Your finances will improve greatly."

Anyone want to tell me when this is supposed to happen?
:: J 11:31 AM [+] ::
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I should just chalk this up to a bad day at work:

1) Because of all the work that I couldn't get done last night, I spent the entire morning rushing to get everything done, which I can usually do blindfolded.

2) Got yelled at for doing more than I had to.
This one has me a little concerned. I always thought that initiative was a good thing, but evidently it isn't. I can sort of see why, if it is perceived that the initiative makes me look to available to other areas when I'm really not. I suppose that makes sense. However, seeing as how the only problem that arose was that I had to run around a lot because the people I was working for were terribly disorganized, I didn't see it as something to get yelled at for. Once again, I suppose the whole undermining authority thing is a good reason. After all, if my boss says I'm not available in the future, they can always use this precendent as a response. At least that's the theory I have, although I will admit it is a bit thin.

3) At some point today I think I pissed off someone I work with (other than my boss.) I really don't know what I could have done. The GOOD news is that in this case, I really don't care, so there are no worries. It's just another log on the fire.

Past that, the day went really well. I can go home tonight and bask in the glory of a job well done. YAY me.

:: J 5:50 PM [+] ::
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Many THANKS to Cheryl for teaching me how to do BOLDFACE and UNDERLINING!
:: J 11:56 AM [+] ::
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