Balls. Balls!

There was a time, whence younger selves grazed the plains, that I was told television--sitcoms and family shows, specifically--were slowly poisoning us. Not in the conventional sense, as the generation itself was more or less a shuffling mass of inconsistence. Rather, it was in reference to the 'half hour conundrum,' wherein Generation Y would observe Leave it to Beaver-esque problems in half-hour formats. The problem was far from emulation of a 1930's black-and-white cardboard cutout; television had to be more relatable for its audience, but the problems would still start at the first minute and would be resolved at the end of thirty minutes regardless.

I'm getting that feeling all over again with Scrubs. It's far from shallow; there's still the underlying difficulty of being a doctor, the moral decisions and long-term friendships and various sorts of jazz.

This is usually the part where I decide what I'm thinking is retarded and I'd never want to read it, so I hold backspace for a while and stare blankly. Then, instead, I'll think of somthing awkwardly amusing to me, and end up erasing it even faster. Eventually, one twentieth of what I type makes the Intrawebs.

But Scrubs. It attempts to give that all-too-familiar 'everything is alright' ending part of the time, but thankfully returns to the reality that sometimes--a lot of the time--not everything is alright. I'd heard that differing doctors had said it was one of the most realistic medical shows available, as far as the emotions go. It doesn't exactly seem implausible.

Penn and Teller did an interesting bit on People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, or your friendly neighborhood PETA. It's difficult to watch unbiased at first (and definitely to be avoided in a work setting, given the swearing), but part of being liberal is being open-minded. I'm starting to see similarities to a cult more than a non-profit organization dedicated to killing animals so they don't get killed.

Doug Elfman, columnist for the Chicago-Sun Times, had an interesting piece to say on the mayor of Las Vegas, who attempted to get the video game Rainbow Six: Las Vegas banned for depicting terrorists in fictional casinos. To quote the mayor:

…(the game) could be harmful economically, and it may be something that’s not entitled to free speech (protection)… I will ask… whether or not we can stop it.

Elfman's response?

Politics is silly. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman acted in “Casino,” which depicted murdering mobsters in Vegas… But he thinks a video game set in Vegas is bad for business?

When I lived in Vegas, I liked Goodman because he’s a character. He served as guest photographer for Playboy. He endorsed a brand of alcohol while in office. He used to be a lawyer for defendants in organized crime cases…

For the zillionth time, listen up, you politicians who dismiss video gamers as a bunch of voteless 12-year-olds:

The average age of gamers is 33… Think about your legacy. Someday, history will judge quotes by Goodman and other anti-game crusaders as parallels to anti-movie people of the early 20th century who said films were the downfall of civilization…

I’d bet if the hotels and the city got money from the game, it would be catching less grief.

Congratulations, mayor… You gave a little marketing aid to a slightly disappointing shooting game.