There’s construction work along our neighborhood street — new houses going up — and our cable line got cut yesterday. So we’re without TV, telephone, and Internet.
We called the cable company yesterday evening, and they sent out a repair man this morning. Turns out the workers who originally ran the cable line through our neighborhood buried the line across the empty lot next to our house. I guess they didn’t make the mental connection: empty lot in a neighborhood = house will eventually be constructed there.
The cable guy explained that he can’t reconnect the severed line, because it still runs across the lot where the house builders are still laying foundation. So he called in a bury team to come out and rerun and bury the line around the new house. But the bury team won’t be out till tonight or tomorrow morning.
So we’re without TV, telephone, and Internet for at least that long. <sigh>
Thank goodness for our cell phones, or we’d be nearly completely cut off from the world. It’s like living in the dark ages.
Me and my boys went to a local pizza shop after an active couple hours at the park. Also there was a local high school cheer team.
I don’t normally take any note of teenage girls, (other than to roll my eyes at their silliness), but the first thing I noticed about these girls stunned me. They were in their cheerleader outfits, and well, there wasn’t much to the outfits. They were damn near exposing their butts in public.
Take a look at the pics to the right. Their skirts barely, just barely, cover their butts and lady bits. I mean, if one of the girls leans over just a bit at the pizza table, she flashes her undies at everyone around.
Now, I’m far from being an old prude. I’m not using my old man voice, “Damn kids, nowadays, ain’t got no modesty.” I know teenagers will get away with whatever they can. Teenage girls wear short skirts to get attention from teenage boys. This is not a case of me being surprised by teenagers trying to be eye-catching or shocking.
My reaction is not really so much about the teenage girls themselves — my shock is at the parents, cheer coach, and school leaders.
These girls are not college aged. These girls are in high school — around 16 to 17 years old. They are still considered minors by law and culture.
Yet their parents, their coach, and their school leaders accept these uniforms? You know an adult had to pick them out and purchase them. Their mothers and fathers have to be okay with these uniforms.
The adult authorities around them apparently don’t have a problem with these skirts that are so short, when the girl sits down, she’s actually sitting on bare butt.
Really. Who picked out these uniforms? Who measured them? Who ordered them? And what responsible adult doesn’t raise an eyebrow at them? Come on parents and teachers and principals: you’re okay with this official attire on young girls?
I’d be willing to bet that the school would not allow a non-uniform skirt this short to be worn in class on a normal school day. Hell, some schools in our area don’t even allow shorts or skirts above the top of the knee. But these cheerleader outfits show buttcheeks on some of the girls. (I specifically did not take pics of those.)
Would the parents let their girl go out on a date wearing a skirt this short? But they let them stand out in front of the whole school jumping and kicking in something like this?
I don’t expect the teenage girls to have the self control and responsibility to dress modestly, but it’s a damn shame that apparently the adult people around them don’t have the care or responsibility to keep official school uniforms appropriate for the young wearers.
And think of the boys, too. The poor things probably can’t stand up to cheer on their team for fear of revealing their perma-boners.
Q- Why do cheerleaders wear short skirts?
A- To make the boys’ root harder.
Sorry, but I had to throw in some levity to show I’m not all worked up in a tizzy about this. But I do think it is a failure of sensibility and responsibility from the parents and school officials.
Since starting my exercise regimen, I had to give up my regular, weekly game nights with my friends. My daily schedule only gives me time for the workouts in the evenings, every evening, and I can’t skip a day each week (at least not for the first 90 days). This saddens me. I miss the once-a-week evenings playing games with my friends.
I’d leave work around 4:30, to beat the rush hour traffic; it’s about a 30-40 minute drive out to my friend’s house where we play. There’s a shopping center across the street from his neighborhood, and this is the only situation when I ever really had time to shop around with peace and concentration. I’d stop in the Best Buy to check out televisions, computer stuff, or new games. Or I’d go into Target to look at clothes, toys, or home stuff.
Or maybe I’d go eat at a Chili’s restaurant and read a book. Then after the meal, I’d go park out in the shopping center lot, way out from the stores, where no one else was around, and sit in my car. I could continue reading my book, or maybe I’d lean the seat back and take a little nap. Then, after 6:00, I’d head out of the shopping center and over to the house.
Pull into the driveway, park the car, get out and go up to the front door. I’d rap on the door and immediately here, “It’s open!” shouted from the other side. I’d go in, and our sitting around talking time would begin.
We’d talk about our week, and just about anything a conversation can flow to. The other guys would arrive and join the chat. Then at around 7:00, we’d all move over to the kitchen table and set up for whatever game(s) were were going to play that night.
We’d play, talk, joke, and have a generally fun time until about 11:00. Then we’d put away our gaming stuff, and hop back over to the den for more idle chat. We’d chat for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, and then we’d usually break all together, saying, “Good night, it was fun,” and head out to our cars. Another 30-40 minute drive back home, and to bed.
And then, inevitably, Calfgrit5 wakes up at 5:30 the next morning to start our day.
One week of P90X workout done. I’m sore in a few areas, and there’re no visual results yet, but I feel good.
I found the Plyometrics (jumping) the hardest to do. I think I injured my inner thighs with this workout. They were too sore for longer than I would expect for just working them hard. But they got better.
I found Yoga X the most aggravating to do. Not that it’s difficult to do, (though it’s as hard as most of the other workouts), but it’s impossible to keep my eyes on the TV while going through the various poses. There’s no one starting position where your head doesn’t get turned away from the TV screen at some point — sometimes for a long time, through several more motions.
The whole regimen is enjoyable, in a tiring, sweating, sore kind of way. I’ve felt much better after each workout than I felt before starting. Last night started my second week (of 13 total), and I was really looking forward to the Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X workouts, especially after the simple X Stretch workout ending the first week.
It’s funny, in a weird way, how after a hard workout, watching very fit and ripped/buff people on the screen, when I take off my shirt to get in the shower afterward, I’m surprised to not see a big difference in my body. I feel like I should already have the tone and muscular shape, and it’s disappointing to see the regular old me in the mirror. But I’ll get there.
I’ve finally gotten my new diet regimen mostly figured out — I’ve stocked up on appropriate food, and I’m making better choices. Between loving the workouts, and accepting the diet, I have strong hopes for the next 12 weeks.
I don’t have a problem with the concept of Hollywood updating an older film. Some movie stories are good enough to be timeless, but they just need an update for the current culture. The Karate Kid is one such movie story.
I saw The Karate Kid in the theaters in 1984, when I was a high school teenager, and I firmly liked the film. It became part of the American culture at the time. But looking back at it now, the presentation is a bit dated.
The story can still resonate with kids today; it just needs modern actors and modern scenery. The script could almost be reused as is, but some tweaking for modern culture would help it. This is why I think the idea of a new production of The Karate Kid is a good idea.
But then I saw the trailer:
A couple of things jump out at me:
First, why the big difference in the story? Why a completely different story? The original script and story didn’t need to be scrapped.
1984 move is to another American city. 2010 move is to China? 1984 Daniel was 16 years old. 2010 Dre is 12 years old? These drastically change the mood of the story.
If a story is good enough to be retold, isn’t it good enough to be retold without being completely rewritten? If they’re going to tell a totally different story, why reuse the old name?
The move to China introduces two oddities:
One: Will the movie be subtitled, (I doubt it), or will everyone conveniently speak English for us, (I expect so).
Two: Chinese martial arts is not Karate. It’s Kung Fu, (as said in the trailer). Calling this film “The Karate Kid” is like naming a movie “The Baseball Kid” and having it be about cricket.
So, they invoke the name of a classic film, but then rewrite the script in such a way that it is only very vaguely related. Why bother presenting it as a “remake”? How about just calling it, “The Kung Fu Kid”? (Upon deeper reading about this film, it seems it will be titled The Kung Fu Kid in other countries.)
By reusing the original name, the producers seem to expect to bring in people who liked the original (a demographic old enough to remember the original). But anyone familiar enough with the original to be drawn to a remake will immediately see (from the trailer) that this isn’t a remake at all. People will either like it or dislike it regardless of their feelings for the original, because this is essentially a whole new movie.
This is like the Starship Troopers movie. For some reason, the producers wanted to associate the film with the name of a great novel, but then they made the movie in such a way that the story had no relationship to its namesake. And anyone who would be interested in the movie because of the novel would see immediately that it wasn’t related to the novel at all, (and would probably be pissed, as I was). Anyone who didn’t know of the novel wouldn’t care that the film pretended to tie in to it.
Too often, Hollywood thinking and marketing just makes no sense whatsoever.
Take a look at the pics to the right. Their skirts barely, just barely, cover their butts and lady bits. I mean, if one of the girls leans over just a bit at the pizza table, she flashes her undies at everyone around.
The adult authorities around them apparently don’t have a problem with these skirts that are so short, when the girl sits down, she’s actually sitting on bare butt.
I’d be willing to bet that the school would not allow a non-uniform skirt this short to be worn in class on a normal school day. Hell, some schools in our area don’t even allow shorts or skirts above the top of the knee. But these cheerleader outfits show buttcheeks on some of the girls. (I specifically did not take pics of those.)
