Provo, Growing Up

The fair city which I call home has been like an adolescent in the extended family of big cities, albeit an overly religious and slightly hypocritical one. Recently it has been growing up a little bit, gaining a third 'skyscraper' downtown (and plans for a forth!), even with the number of bars. We'll be getting the UTA Frontrunner train in a few years, and there are plans for light-rail as well. On the 'scene' in Provo (or lack thereof), a few hip restaurants have been popping up here and there, and after having nothing classy but the Chef's Table within the valley, Spark opened last year and then Communal. It's nice to have restaurants where you can get reservations for busy nights, and not at the dozens of chain restaurants that proliferate the area.
I always get a little depressed when I look at the Urban Spoon page and notice that a hot dog joint is still the number one restaurant in town, above even the excellent Indian food of the Bombay House and Nick's amazing food at Nicoitalia Pizzeria. Seriously? It's a hot dog. Another reason to harbor animosity toward a certain segment of our populace. If you live(d) here, you know who I'm talking about.
Although Salt Lake and Park City are always going to outpace Provo, this is still good news. It means our town will cater to a wider variety of people than just college students, young families and the elderly. As a professed foodie, I'm very excited about this, hoping that in the near future I wont have to drive to Salt Lake to get some decent food. Still, The Melting Pot, Donovan's, Z'tejas, Stoneground, and other favorites, at least 35 minutes away. I hope this only encourages more enterprising, unique restaurants to open in Happy Valley, something sorely needed here.

Red-faced Redbox

Continually proving the movie industry is going to attempt to maintain a dying business model as long as possible, Warner blue-balled Redbox into accepting a wait period of 28 days on new-releases, a little over a month after forcing Netflix into the same submission hold. Most smart individuals realize this is a complete dick move that does nothing but hurt everyone involved, and only increases the potential for piracy.
Many people who aren't willing to fork out 4 bucks plus tax to watch a shitty new-release and would prefer to pay a dollar, but now can't, will inevitably download a pirated copy, watch it, and forget about it, feeling only slightly soiled at wasting 90 minutes of their life on a piece of poorly-executed tripe. Therefore the production company loses. The occasional not-so-shitty release may get burned, passed around, re-watched and eventually lost in the backseat of someones Toyota, which may accelerate out of control and crash, violently exploding, destroying the disc no one paid for. Just kidding, Toyota.
Redbox also has to drop a lawsuit against Warner Bros. for trying to prevent them from getting their movies, so they lose double. Pirates have to work extra hard to keep up with the releases, and the quality of their work will suffer, so everyone else loses. Maybe everyone is losing more than Warner in this deal, so they're content.

Words of Truth - From Orrin Hatch?!?

I have never been a fan of the legislators from our state, with few exceptions. Least of all these are the incumbents that have been in there for decades, and as conservatives are well known for attempting to maintain the status quo (their version of it, anyway), rarely say anything surprising. Not the best apotheosis for this is the eminent Senator Orrin Hatch; he writes, he sings, he reaches across party lines, he keeps getting elected! A surprisingly moderate conservative from Utah, he has supported stem-cell research, higher education for illegal immigrants, and pushed legislation that would let anyone who has been a citizen of the US for 20 years to run for the presidency and vice presidency. However, he hates files sharing and the Internet and his son is lobbyist whom he seems to have helped out quite a bit.
But recently, at a town hall meeting in American Fork, UT, he enraged his constituents by speaking the truth about the tea Party movement, and what it's doing to the Republican party. "If we fractionalize the Republican Party, we are going to see more liberals elected," Hatch said, with a definitive partisan spin on the message, basically telling the crowd that this movement is breaking up the GOP. And, surprise, they didn't like to hear it, as many who spend their lives in a fictional world are apt to when they hear the truth.
It's not a party based on a rational, objective look at politics and the Obama Administration's policies; it's based on a reactionary, uninformed group of people being led by disaffected politicians and FoxNews, the largest purveyor of hate, misinformation and fear ever seen. When well established politicians like Hatch are shying away from something that gathers large group of easily led conservatives, you know something is wrong.

Nuclear Winter Wear

Doomsday Sale!!
Everything Must Go!!
Need to make room for our
Nuclear Winter Wear!!
No cash, no gold, no problem,
barter your child for a better
post-apocalypse lifestyle.

Wise businessmen never miss a beat
an opening or an opportunity
some will always seek t
make a profit—even after
the illusions of safety
and peace in our world end.

Coming to you this January, be sure
not to miss this season's
hottest Geiger Gear;
and wait until you see our
Functional Fabulous February
Fallout Fashions!!

Traders become militant millionaires
banking on Cadillac survivalists
wanting custom handmade
Gucci gun-cases in their
Wasteland Edition H2
with bullet-proof glass
puncture-proof tires
and spill-proof cup-holders.

Nothing Held Back!!
We'll ignore rationing edicts
this weekend only,
just for our customers!
Bring your cash, but
leave your guns at home!
We Must Be Crazy!!
Or at Least Slightly Irradiated!!

Soon as televisions work again,
business will flourish;
the faithful line up silent
wallets and purses in hand
at fallout-shelter mega-stores
smiling in satisfaction knowing
they were right; the End is Nigh--
of high prices.

The Slacker

With the return of school, among various other excuses, I haven't posted in over a month. I am ashamed of myself, with the time I do spend on my computer, and the acquisition of this handy laptop I'm currently writing from, that I haven't done a single post in this time. I promise to be more studios about this, at least once a week sounds reasonable. If, for any reason I do not maintain this simple goal, I shall flagellate myself with a handful of various computer cords. Power cords will not be left out of this.