The Passion of The Media of The Passion of The Christ

-I’m really sick of the media attention that The Passion of The Christ has gotten. I’m sick of it because of the debate over whether or not the film is anti-Semitic or not. One rabbi says it is, another says it isn’t, the woman who plays the Virgin Mary (who is Jewish) says it isn’t. The movie probably isn’t anti-Semitic, but people can always get the wrong idea from a movie. Then again, one thing I notice is that things never seem to be as offensive to the people that aren’t the target. I’ve seen whites talk about various things on TV that I would definitely call racist and brush them off as not racist. I won’t be able to give a real viewpoint until I actually see the film, and that won’t be until the DVD release. One viewpoint I can give is that the merchandising from the movie is awful...Jesus nail necklaces???

-I believe someone has it out for the anime/manga communities on IRC. A couple of days ago, Mirc-X, an IRC network that many anime/manga channels were hosted on, got bombarded with DDoS attacks (in other words, they were hacked) and the company behind the network decided to close the network entirely. Many channels moved to the Aniverse IRC network, one set up for anime/manga channels (but one that also banned those with AOL connections and has had points of instability). Now, guess what? Aniverse looks to have been hit as well. This leaves groups scrambling yet again to find homes for temporary channels. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I’d think that the Anime/Manga establishment paid someone to bring those networks down. But I’m not. Besides, the saying that best describes those places on the internet to download various hazily legal things comes from Bebe’s Kids: They don’t die, they multiply.

-As a longtime Simpsons fan, I should lament the show’s current state, say that I haven’t watched in the past eight years, and call for the show’s cancellation ASAP. However, instead I am saying that I haven’t enjoyed the show this much in a long time. I have seen every single Simpsons episode (as have countless others). I even stayed with the show through the weird “Mike Scully” era and enjoyed a good amount of those eps. But with veteran producer/writer Al Jean at the helm, the show is starting to recover from the weirdness. There are heaps of genuine laughs, references for longtime fans, and actual continuity. Plus, the show has returned to being more character-driven and having actual emotion. So, if you’re one of those fans I kind of hated on, watch The Simpsons again. It’ll never be as good as the golden age eps, but you may actually think the show is good again.

-Upon seeing the video for "Presidente" from Kinky, it revived my interest in getting their new album "Atlas." By the way, I have yet to find that damn album in Best Buy or Circuit City...even in the Latin section.

-"Sex and The City" is over and I managed to never watch a single episode. Maybe now they'll show it from the beginning and I can see if it's as good as so many said it was. For that matter, HBO should show "The Sopranos" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" from the beginning as well. All three shows are probably at least good, but it's hard to jump onto a show midway into its run. And there's no way in hell I'm paying money to buy the first seasons on DVD if I don't know if I'll like them.

-Woohoo! ReBoot Season 4 is coming to DVD! It was probably the best season of the show, combining the action of the 3rd season with the humor of the first two. Now if they could release the first 2 seasons to DVD and finish off the show, it would be wonderful.

-So Nader is entering the presidential race. Joy. I really hope he abides by his promise to drop out of the race if his run makes it so it would help Bush get re-elected.

-Finally, I'll briefly give my view on gay marriage. Why not let them marry? I'd rather a gay couple in love get married than a heterosexual couple who are only doing it because of power, politics, or money. As for the sanctity of marriage, good old Mayor Daley summed it up quite well when he said that "the only threat to the sanctity of marriage is divorce."