Nikelodeon Nostalgia

Back over Christmas break, Lisa and I were talking about how much we loved old cartoons and shows from Nickelodeon.  Back then, I was talking about how much I loved Aaahh! Real Monsters and Hey Arnold!  I am so excited to hear that they're going to be airing some of my favorite old shows on late at night. 

We Are All Politicians Now

There's this article discussing Jon Stewart and his recent may-or-may-not-be activism on his show.  I wrote back in July how disappointed I was in Stewart and the Daily Show's handling of Jezebel's pointed but fair questions about gender on the show.  I've been watching the show on and off ever since, but I've been increasingly disappointed in how conservative and self-serving he is or has become. (I say or because I'm uncertain if this has always been true or if I am only now aware of it.)  In the last two months or so I haven't watched the show at all, in part because I don't have access to a television but also because I've felt no desire for his show.  A couple days ago one of my friends asked me if I had been watching recently and I couldn't even say I missed the show; I generally don't think about it anymore, despite being a religious watcher for nearly ten years. 

Everything we do is political, even if not overtly.  Everything we do is influenced by politically motivated, and Stewart is the same.  This isn't to say he's different from other comedians; they too are political through the choices they make in terms of the jokes they make, how the present themselves, etc.  Stewart can protest his politician status all he wants, but we're all negotiating through politics.  Sure, a lot of work is about being critical about politics, but that is in itself critical, because he's chosen to make decisions on what his show does or doesn't cover, how it is covered, etc.   

Coral Watts

This might come off badly, but I love to read about serial killers.  I think most of this comes from my love of mystery novels.  Anyone who loves mystery novels knows it's because they fancy themselves a detective, and enjoy trying to solve the whoddunit puzzle.  So when I say I love to read about serial killers, it's a love of reading about how the cops caught the guy, and how they did it. 
For example, the BTK killer?  Totally caught because he used a computer at the church he worked at.  There's something enjoyable in knowing that the police lied to him to get him to accidentally reveal himself. 
But today I found the Wikipedia article on Coral Watts.  What's fascinating to me is that he is the suspect in some ninety unsolved murders, but was only convicted on about three of them.  And that people were so desperate to keep him in jail they sent out a national call for evidence against him.  His crimes were terrible and awful, but somehow I take great pleasure in knowing that he served time in jail. 
It's the sort of thing that you would see in a movie, but surprisingly, he's only been featured in two of those real crime tv shows. 

Murder Mystery Dream

I'm wondering if my dreams are so strange because I love to indulge in creative writing. Maybe my dreams can't help but feel like movies.
This time, a preacher's wife had been murdered. I knew the preacher, knew he had murdered his wife, and had no way to prove it. Kristina comes to see me in the back of a bar, bringing along "pot brownies." It actually looked like chocolate cake and smelled very strongly, and, as always, I refused. Then, as she was getting high and drunk and I was drinking, I realized how I could get him to confess on national television. And I did it.
The terribly sad thing is that this doesn't sound that far off from some tv shows I've been known to watch.