10 years and lots of time to get apprehensive about it......

A lot can happen in a year, right?  Even more happens in five years.  Double that and seemingly a lifetime has passed.  The entire world has changed before our eyes.  Ten years is a long time and in the next five or so days, that number of years will be on my mind.

Did you know that gas was only $1.56 a gallon back in the year 2000?  If that isn’t mind boggling enough for you, take into consideration that nobody had ever heard of an iPod back in September of 2000.  Anybody who would have uttered that word would have been looked at like they were some nut house escapee preaching about aliens.  The name Osama Bin Laden meant nothing to nobody and typing the name in your blog wouldn’t have been remotely cool because people didn’t do that then (also, the government wouldn’t have had this paragraph flagged for review in 2000.  But hey, I can use the extra page hits).

You can see my point by now.  The world has been turned upside down.  We could go on and on and blow your mind further, but that will only make most of you feel old.  It went by like a blur and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.  In the words of LOST’s Daniel Faraday: What happened, happened.  There is no time machine or quick fix in place to put life in its ideal situation.  I am where I am at for a reason (which is totally unknown to me).  There is no need to dwell on the past and what I should have or could have done.   However, this whole ten year high school reunion thing going on this weekend really wants to make me look back that far.

Valders High School.  Those words mean absolute jack and/or shit to the most of you reading this since I am certain that my readership is heavily made up of people who I met after I left that one horse town (and surprisingly a lot of Canadians if the stats from Blogspot are correct.  There are even a few hits from Lithuania).  If you hadn’t ever heard of Valders, Wisconsin I suggest that you Google the crap out of it.  It should take you about ten minutes of reading before you are all caught up.  There are a lot of dairy farms and the biggest company makes concrete structural pieces for buildings. Nobody famous has ever come out of Valders.  Mark Tauscher once visited the school for some contest a kid one.  Apparently my little brother got involved in some smack talk with him, but that has never been corroborated.  But hey, that is Valders in a nut shell.  Outside of all that, the school is the only significant thing in that town.

I do not believe that I have stepped foot in that town in the better part of 7 plus years since the family moved out.  It has been over eight years since I stepped into the school.  That is kind of perplexing to me since my mother works there and I did put a lot of time into it back when I was still in school.  I was voted the biggest Viking fan by my class senior year and was a fixture at most of the home sporting events.  I led obnoxious chants and cheers that were often met with glares by the teachers and adults that were present.  In four years, I missed one pep band performance.   My curricular attendance would have been perfect except my appendix had different ideas. 

In so many words, I fucking loved that place.   There is no reason to deny it.  I bled red.  (insert your “no shit, everyone bleeds red you self righteous prick” comment right here)  I was a regular poster boy for school spirit and might as well have hung around and became a contributing force to the school booster clubs and shit like that.  Unfortunately, the universe had other plans for me.  It was called college.  Once I got to the ole UW-Whitewater, I learned that most of the world didn’t give a shit how loud I belted out “Go Team Go” on my trumpet or how witty the insults were when I mocked the last names of the opposing team when they were being introduced.  In the grand scheme of destiny’s plan, high school got left in the dust.

I once climbed to the top of this monster.

I don’t regret it.  Honestly, the best thing I ever did was go to school two and a half hours away from home.  I got out of town and basically did not look back.  There was a road in front of me that wouldn’t have been there had I peeked, even for an instant, in the rear view mirror.  There were probably a lot of bad decisions I made during college and after it, but getting out of Valders was not one of them.  I am not trying to sound insulting when I say that there isn’t a person I really miss (with the exception of a couple family members still in town).  That’s one of the reasons I am waffling on my decision to go to this class reunion.

Maybe it makes me a dick for having no inkling of interest in seeing any particular person from high school.  Maybe it just makes me a person who has just had some much happen in the past ten years that he no longer puts much thought into people he used to know.  You’ve all already made a judgment.  It’s okay.  You are allowed to.  If you hadn’t made one, then you hadn’t really been paying any attention.  I am fully aware that typing all this could make look like a total asshole.  I’m not one, though.  I just speak these things that other people think, but just don’t say. 

The conflicting thought here is that there are plenty of people that I damn respect and admire that are going to be there.  I keep in reasonable facebook related contact with a handful of peeps.  It is never like we have full on chats or letter exchanges, but we throw around the occasional comments.  So, there is the potential that my apathy for a reunion could offend some people who are excited about the idea. 

                The psycho-analysts out there are going to assume that there is more to this.  They’ll say that Nick Wallander is throwing out all kinds of defense mechanisms that will eventually justify his decision regarding the class reunion.  They’re right.  There is plenty of stuff going on in the back of my mind.   Like anyone with their right mind, I have my apprehensions.  There are many things that could cause for awkward moments and they really don’t help the case attending the damn thing.  Since we like to mock what is in my head, let’s go over them!

·         What in the hell am I going to say when people ask me what I am up to these days?   Should I say “oh, not much.  Just slumming it in a shit hole apartment and working in a customer service center in the most hated industry in America”.  There are going to be people who have real jobs with offices and assistants and they get to fire people and play golf during the day.  

·         Does anyone want to state the over and under of times people find creative ways to tell me that I’ve gained weight?

·         People are going to call me Wally.  There is no way around it.  I hate that.  It isn’t remotely creative.  I bet I would hear it about twelve times before I told someone to go fuck themselves.

·         There will be next to nothing to talk about with most people.  That means I would rotate through the same standard topics a few dozen times.  Boring!

·         There will be at least someone who only lives in the past and somehow can recall all the stupid shit everyone did.  I loathe the fact that I might hear someone utter “Remember the time that you…”  I will be embarrassed for that person.

·         I’ll also be embarrassed for whatever it is that they remember me doing.

·         I don’t think people will get my sense of humor that has evolved over the years.  For example, someone might ask me if I am married/engaged/seeing someone.  I don’t really want to answer that, so my knee jerk response would be my dark and twisted humor.  I would probably tell them that there was, but I chopped her up, put her in garbage bags, and then dropped her into Lake Michigan.  As funny as it is, it would be totally offensive.

·         A handful of people will say that they are sorry to see that my father died last month.  The thing is, I am not.  He was an asshole and the universe gave him what was coming to him.  This one ties into the last point since I will mostly likely tell people that I am not sorry and that he was a total prick. 

·         There will not be any surprises in store for me.  If life were like a movie, I’d have a former classmate introduce me to her ten year old son who is also named Nick and I would be like “Oh, that’s a cool name.  How’d you come up with it?” but wouldn’t connect the dots in my head.  This thing will be totally predictable.

·         I don’t drink, so there will be nothing to take the edge off.

·         Adding to that last one, the bulk of it takes place in a bar.

·         I am sure there is something I did to someone that I don’t remember, but lacked any maturity.  Who wouldn’t want that to come up?

·         Despite what people will make you think, they aren’t interested in who you have become.  Most are stuck on who you were when you were just a kid.

·         I’ll admit it.  I am one of the aforementioned people.

·         What happens if I run into someone I know has de-friended me on facebook at some point?  Can I de-friend them from the reunion?

·         Valders is a speed trap and I would rather not get my first speeding ticket there.

·         Nobody there will understand all of the funny pop culture references I make.

·         Someone is going to say “Nick Wallander!  You haven’t changed a bit!”

·         Correction, they will refer to me as “Nick W.”

·         When someone’s significant other says that they’ve heard about me, my mind will go into overdrive speculating what it might have been about. 

I suppose that was more than a few things.   Clearly I am apprehensive about it.  I act like it’s behind me and I don’t care, but that’s not entirely true.  Part of me wants to see how it plays out.  Truth be told, I am quite content with my life.  However, it would be totally awesome if I could see that a few people have it worse than I do.  Maybe that is what high school reunions are for.  They present an opportunity for all of us to feel better about ourselves……

Then again, I’ll probably be the one people are pointing at and laughing.  Meh.  If I think it is happening, I’ll just poop in their cars.

               

Hey Now, you're an all star....or not, so I can't be friends with you.

While stalking through facebook I noticed one of my friends posted a status regarding a peculiar behavior I had noticed in the past.  It is something I could say that I had fallen victim to a couple times over the years.  Well, okay, maybe I wasn’t a victim, but it definitely was something I had happen to me previously.  I am talking about the strange phenomena of facebook de-friending.

                When I refer to the term “de-friending” I am not just meaning the act of removing someone from your friends list.  Although that is the simplest definition, it is not the specific act I am referring to.  I am more intrigued by those people who randomly purge their friends list of people for mysterious and unexplained reasons.  I can totally understand people de-friending over an offline dispute with an individual in their lives (or now out of their lives).  That scenario makes sense and has damn good reason behind it.  However, the people who just de-friend without a direct cause have some kind of anti-social personality disorder.

               

                Just hear me out.  I am not out of my mind.  There is something odd about doing that.   There are a handful of reasons someone might do that.  They aren’t justifiable reasons, but reasons none the less.  Then there are probably certain types of people who might be chronic de-frienders.  Let’s explore some of this bullshit.

           

    First we need to establish that most of the people we are “friends” with on facebook aren’t significant in our lives.  They are acquaintances or people you maybe knew well at one point.  Let’s be honest about what facebook is.  It is a popularity contest and a way to connect.  Ultimately, you don’t become “friends” with anyone you don’t want to.  If you ignore a request, the person may never notice or will just forget about you.  However, this leads me to the first illogical reason that a person might de-friend you.  For whatever reason, they may decide that they just don’t like you.  Well, people, that is really ridiculous.  And it is the fault of the perpetrator.   If they didn’t  like you, then they shouldn’t  have friended you in the first place.  Only a total dumbass comes to the realization one day that they don’t like someone.

                Why else might they de-friend you?  Perhaps they are annoyed by what you post or don’t like the things you say.  Well, that is just foolish, isn’t it?   You don’t have to read a damn thing that is posted.  If you do, it is because you are secretly interested in what they have to say.  Once again, these people knew what they were getting.  If they didn’t, well then they shouldn’t have friended you in the first place.

                Then there are the random de-friending events that happen because people decide that they need to weed out their friends list.  I am not sure why anyone needs to do this.  They do though.   Apparently there is a need to only have the closest of close people on facebook.  That is clearly a bunch of bullshit too.  If you want to keep in touch with just your close friends and family, use the phone.  Facebook is a social networking site.  The point is to have all kinds of random and vast connections.  It is the whole idea behind the concept.  If you want to restrict your connections, then get set up on an email listing.  Weeding out a friends list is basically the douchiest of acts one can do on a social networking site.

                Really though, who decides that their friends list needs to be exclusive?  Facebook isn’t a popular night club with a dress code.  There is no need for the pretentious and self righteous.  Anyone who is actively de-friending people who haven’t directly warranted it is probably some sort of prick.  Chances are that these assholes just think they are better than you for some reason.  Well, that is far from the truth.   Only a true loser would sit around contemplating who they are going to de-friend.  

                I also assume that some people de-friend others as a way to maintain their status.  They don’t want Sally So-and-So from high school to see that they were friends with the kid from the chess club.  Funny thing is that it is like seven years later and people are usually above such childish antics.  Nope.  People don’t really chance.  They tend to stay as sophomoric as they were as teenagers.  It really is fascinating to see people revert to their old ways once technology finds ways to bring together the same groups of people from years past.  

                Obviously this is something that I noticed happening to me.  It is a slight blow to the ego when you see it happen.  I like to think I am above that kind of feeling, but truth be told, nobody likes to find out that someone, even a faux friend, doesn’t like them.  I get over it soon after, but that initially feeling isn’t fun in the slightest.  This realization comes when you notice you haven’t seen someone’s status updates in a while.  I might not always pay complete attention to everyone, but I do tend to notice the posting trending on my news feed.  Eventually, when something isn’t there anymore, I notice.   

                The other circumstance where I notice I have been de-friended is when I see a former friend of mine commenting on a current friend’s post.  I will click their name not knowing I have been de-friended.   Then I see that their information isn’t even available to me and that I can “add them” as a friend.  Great.  Awesome.   I used to like you, dude.   However, someone was a fuck stick and had some sort of diva ego moment and considered me social garbage.   

                Have any of you experienced this?  It isn’t a big deal at the end of the day, but it still is a totally ridiculous phenomenon.   It really fascinates me how much a friend list and facebook posts affect the lives of people who aren’t even significant to you.  That is the real kicker here.  People take their time to go ahead and remove you from their friends and they really don’t even know you that well.  Seems like a little overkill for someone who isn’t worth it.  Get over yourself, assholes.  

                In conclusion, my advice to you kids is that you shouldn’t worry about it.  It is no reflection on you.  As it turns out, there are a lot of pretentious yuppies on the web looking to be big shot

By the hammer of Thor, Clay Matthews is fucking awesome!

Clay Matthews may have seemingly been carved out by the Norse Gods of Valhalla.  He is a chiseled beast who was sent down to destroy all the mortals in his path.  He especially looks the part.  He could very well be the brother of Thor, the God of Thunder.  They both have long blonde flowing locks and wear helmets with shoulder pads.  However, the fundamental difference is that Clay Matthews doesn’t need some mythical hammer to get business done.  He just needs a blitz called. Hell, if Thor and Clay Matthews were dropped into a cage, my money would be on Clay.  He is a beast.  

                Now Clay Matthews isn’t any beast.  He is more like a genetically enhanced lion that has the tendencies of a piranha.  He smells blood and he hones in on the kill.  Ask Kevin Kolb about that.  Last week he personally auditioned for the sequel to Pirhanna 3D.   He might get the part, by the way, because he looked convincing taking an attack.   You could also ask Trent Edwards what it feels like to get pounced by a man eating piranha lion.   Think about it, folks.  Clay totally is some form of lion pouncing on prey in the Serengeti.  Just look at that mane of hair for starters.  And if he were a lion, his lion name would be Simba because of his lineage.   Clay senior would be Mufasa Matthews.  Trust me here, Clay is taking his place in the circle of ass kicking.

                The Packers looked good today, right?   Nobody seems to notice because the news outlets are busy felaciating Mark Sanchez for the one good game he has seemingly ever played.  Let’s be honest here, people.  The Patriots just played a shitty game here.  The defense was lacking and Sanchez just happened to pull his head out of his ass for a few minutes to throw a few pretty passes.  Brady really did play shitty.  Threw at least two interceptions and fumbled from what I saw.  It must have been because his Justin Beiber hair got jostled into his eyes.   You’d throw like shit if you couldn’t see clear as well. 

                My point is that the Packers are playing well.  They won the tight game last week by any means necessary.  This week they manhandled a team that they were supposed to beat.  That is what a good team should be able to accomplish.  Now I understand that it is way too early to be purchasing playoff tickets.  There are 14 more weeks ahead for the Packers.  That is a long time for bad things to happen.  However, there is no reason we can’t be optimistic.  Losing Ryan Grant shouldn’t be a problem.  They have capable guys.   McCarthy just needs to learn to trust Brandon Jackson and everything will be alright.

                I am calling it right now.  Packers versus Texans in the Super Bowl.   I want to see Jerry Jones watching the game from his private suite in the Arlington Transformers Dome or whatever it is called.  He will have had a lot of time to get over the Cowboys not being there since they will have been eliminated from the playoffs long before then (probably mid November with the way things are going).  I apologize for no official NFL predictions blog this year.  I was just sick of all the predictions and analysis after all my fantasy drafts.   None of you cared what I thought anyway.

                Can AJ Hawk get traded already?  Seriously.  He hasn’t been useful in Green Bay since they stopped having him on the pre-movie commercials at Marcus Theaters.   All he was ever good for was telling people to shut up and turn off their phones.  What is impressive about that?  There are basement dwelling high school kids employed by Marcus that can do the same thing, and for less.  The Packers really should push this skill of his when trying to trade him.  I am certain that there are noisy people in Buffalo movie theaters.  There has to be since there is nothing to hoot and holler about at the football stadium.

                Okay, I am done with this one.   I can’t write much more when I would rather stay up another hour admiring my Charles Woodson autographed football.

I'd rather be creeped than scared.

It is my personal belief that there is a distinct difference between the terms “creepy” and “scary”.  In fact, you have to break the words down to their root to get what I am talking about.  To creep is for something to slowly move, often stealthy, and often building intensity.  To scare is to cause a sudden alarm or startled state.  In essence, a scare is a momentary feeling, whereas a creeping feeling builds and lurks for a while.  Many people interchange or use their words incorrectly when referring to the genre of horror in movies.  I hate that.  I really hate that.  Like with a passion.  People should think about what they are saying when they utter, “I’m going to see a scar movie’. 

In fact, I don’t even think that there is such a thing as a scary movie.  There are scary moments within the movie that may startle the shit out of someone, but the movie as a whole is not scary.  There are better adjectives to describe it.   So, to simplify my argument, I must say that there are two main types (amongst others) of horror movies.  There are movies that are a collection of scares or there are creepy movies.  I prefer the creepy movies over the other options.  They resonate more and have a lasting effect.  In fact, they are often the smarter of the movies in that genre.  Creepy movies often are slow burning and build upon the insecurities and fear of the viewer.  Some of the real good ones even manages to incorporate a few scare moment as well.  In essence, they are a complete movie experience.  Rather than momentary fright, you may have an actual emotional response invoked by the story being told.  That, to me, is really freaking awesome when it happens.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not bashing movies that are a collection of scares.  They have entertainment value as well.   However, they aren’t the movies I tell everyone at the office about on a Monday morning.  The creepy ones will usually get a stamp of approval by me with a glowing review to go with it.  I talk about them because they got in my head and got me thinking.  Anyone who knows me knows that I like a good creepin’. 

I’ve seen a lot of horror movies in my time.  Many of them are outright horrible.  Others are decent movies, but very forgettable.  The best of the bunch end up leaving me creeped out by what I saw.   The best of the bunch leaves me with a handful of films that I consider the most fear inducing of all time.  Among them I include The Exorcist, Halloween, The Blair Witch Project, The Strangers, Paranormal Activity, Let The Right One In, and The Others.  Each of those movies left me feeling afraid of something for a while and a few of them even gave me some nightmares.  You totally know a movie is creepy when your subconscious is bringing shit up while you are sleeping.

This weekend I added another movie to that list when I saw The Last Exorcism.  To say that the movie was creepy would be one way of putting it.  To say that it rattled my skin and my mind would be a better way of putting it.  It works on several different levels.  On one level it gives you the scares that so many of you are looking for.   On another level it slow burns suspense and fear causing your heart rate to increase as the movie goes on.  It will also have your mind going in several different directions.  In a nutshell, your body will have a physiological and a psychological reaction to this movie.  Perhaps I am biased and have a thing for exorcism movies since I already admitted to liking one such movie and did also enjoy Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.  Then again, that doesn’t make me so much biased, but more as vulnerable to a particular fear stimuli.  I apparently believe in demons.  Who would have guessed?

I am sure you have seen the commercial for The Last Exorcism.  You already know that it is about some girl who is possessed by a demon.  That really is all the previews tell you of the plot while showing you a few moments that intend to frighten you.  The previews do the movie a total disservice and don’t sell you on the rich character development and smart plot.  There is a lot more to it than some girl being possessed.  In fact, you are probably thinking “of course there is.  It is about some priest’s last day on the job”.   That is generally the idea, but a very vague and expedited plot description.  Let me enlighten you without spoiling what makes the movie better than the average horror flick.

First of all, the previews don’t give away that the movie is shot in the “found footage” format much like Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity.  The basis of this footage is a documentary made about Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), who is a fast talking preacher who does exorcisms on the side to make a little money for his congregation.  He is a man who gives the people what they want to hear and does so effectively because he has a keen ability to keep things interesting.   Cotton knows that he has people eating out of the palm of his hands and even demonstrates it by betting the film makers that he could somehow insert a recipe for banana bread into his sermon.  In so many words, Reverend Marcus is a show man.  In other words, he could be considered a fraud. 

You see, the exorcisms Cotton performs are not exactly what they seem.  He uses smoke and mirrors to give faithful followers the show they were looking for.   People pay him to rid them of demons.  He convinces them that they are gone and never hears from them again.  All people want is to see results.  They change their behavior based on what they see.  Are they possessed?  Reverend Marcus doesn’t know, doesn’t care, and doesn’t believe they are.   It doesn’t matter to him.  It just matters to the people he helps.  The whole idea of exorcisms is a farce in Cotton’s eyes and that is why he has decided he is going to do one more in order to show the world just that fact.

You are probably asking yourself why he would trick so many people and then just change his mind.  That is a good question.  Cotton explains himself when referring to the Vatican’s opening of an Exorcism school.  The idea of them is growing and that worries him because the process can be dangerous when involving children.   He even points to an article where a child had recently died during an exorcism.  If he can change the world’s views on the concept, then he could save some people from being hurt.  So, there you have an idea of the movie’s flawed protagonist.  Reverend Cotton Marcus is well intentioned, even if he does mislead many people in the process.

Cotton’s last job takes him to the Lousiana farm of Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum) who wrote the good reverend about his daughter, Nell (Ashley Bell), who he thinks is possessed to the point where she murders livestock during the night.   We follow Cotton has he does his fraudulent exorcism and promptly leaves like he always does.   The only problem is that this time is different for him.  The problems don’t stop and he ends up right back at the Sweetzer house performing a more thorough and seemingly real exorcism.

The Last Exorcism crafts the “possession” of Nell in an intelligent manner.  We witness a lot of strange behavior and even experience some scares with it.  However, as weird as things are, they could theoretically be explained psychologically.   As things go on, a mystery starts to develop as to why Nell is possessed or psychologically disturbed.  Regardless of which rationale you believe, you start to see it develop as pieces of the puzzle fall into place.  It is legitimately thrilling as the movie moves on and we get closer to a resolution.  There is a twist there the end that makes you think you have it all understood.  However, you don’t.  You’ll be fooled and you’ll love every moment of it.  The classic science versus faith idea is presented, but not in an obvious way.   As views we don’t know if Nell is really possessed and neither does Cotton.  He has a crisis of faith because he may be forced to believe in something he had been faking for many years. 

People who won’t see the movie will most likely assume that it is a rehash of every exorcism movie they have ever seen.  The beauty of The Last Exorcism is that it doesn’t borrow or mimic the obvious moments from movies like The Exorcist.  Sure there are similarities in how the “possessed” Nell behaves, but in general they are presented uniquely.   In other words, the possessed behaviors are presented in a realistic manner with minimal, if none at all, special effects.  The handheld shooting of the “found footage” enhances the creepy nature of these behaviors.  It feels like it could be real. 

The realistic feel of the movie helped me get more invested in the characters.  You want to see Nell rid herself of her demons, whether they be literal or metaphorical.  The interesting thing is that I started to root for Cotton Marcus, even though he is essentially a crooked con man.   Patrick Fabian’s performance and the writing of his character show that despite deceiving people, he does legitimately care about them.  He does want to help.  If he didn’t care the movie would have been a half hour long and he would have counted his money as he drive away.  Instead we are treated to a complex character that makes the movie work so much better than most horror films ever will. 

I also need to give credit to Ashley Bell for her performance as Nell.   She is absolutely polarizing as a innocent god loving teenager one moment and a messenger of Satan the next.  I could be convinced that she was actually possessed for a good portion of the movie.  Although she is convincing, it never strays into the realm of too obnoxious or absurd.  Bell keeps it in check and that sells the creepiness.

Yes, I do suggest this movie.  It has the scares for those of you who enjoy slasher films.  It is creepy for those of you who don’t mind some messed up dreams.  There is also a good psychological thriller mixed in as well.  The Last Exorcism may be the best horror movie of 2010.  I can’t think of anything else that will compete with it.  Hell, I will even go as far to say that it is one of the best character studies you will see this year as well.  Is it chopped full of scares?  No.  Is it a slow burning heart racer?  Yeah, that is more like it.  Is it a thinking man’s movie?  Only if you allow I to be such a movie.  I did and it reminded me why I love creepy movies.

Emmy Predictions

Here are the 2010 Emmy predictions I promised.  Who I think will win is in CAPS.   Who should with is in bold.  Possible upsets are in italics.  Commentary may also be included.

Outstanding Comedy Series

"Curb Your Enthusiasm"

"Glee"

“MODERN FAMILY”

"Nurse Jackie"

"The Office"

"30 Rock"

                Modern Family was bar none the funniest show on this list of shows.  I will argue that the funniest on television isn’t even on this list.  “Parks and Recreation”  was by far the best comedy on tv this season (DJ Roomba anyone?)  Glee is great and all, but it is just in this category because it doesn’t fit into drama.

Outstanding Drama Series

"Breaking Bad"

"Dexter"

"The Good Wife"

"Lost"

"MAD MEN"

"True Blood"

                The Emmys often give awards to shows making their final run, which is why Lost could pull off an upset here.  Otherwise, Mad Men has it all locked up.  Just a solid third season for the AMC show.  They balance history, drama, and humor like no other show on TV.   The only thing in its way is a very good Lost finale episode, which was the one submitted for the award.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

ALEC BALDWIN for "30 Rock"

Steve Carell for "The Office"

Larry David for "Curb Your Enthusiasm"

Matthew Morrison for "Glee"

Jim Parsons for "The Big Bang Theory"

Tony Shalhoub for "Monk"

                30 Rock isn’t going to take a shutout tonight.   Baldwin is going to walk away with another Emmy.  Does he deserve it?  Not necessarily, but his competition isn’t that stiff.   Jim Parsons is the one guy who even deserves the awards.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Kyle Chandler for "Friday Night Lights" (2006)

Bryan Cranston for "Breaking Bad" (2008)

Matthew Fox for "Lost" (2004)

Michael C. Hall for "Dexter" (2006)

JON HAMM for "Mad Men" (2007)

Hugh Laurie for "House M.D." (2004)

                Emmy is gonna be in love with Mad Men tonight.   The show is that fucking good.   Why is it that good?   Because Jon Hamm brings his best stuff week after week as Don Draper, a man whose life is slowly crumbling around him.  However, there is long overdue recognition that needs to go to Kyle Chandler for his work on FNL.   Every year I hear about how awesome he was, so I think he should get credit where credit it due.  Also, it took six seasons for Matthew Fox to even get nominated for an Emmy award.  He deserved one for the first season of LOST, but didn’t get it.   He submitted the finale episode to represent his work on season six and it was the type of work that brings up tears and gives goose bumps.   The final shot of the series alone could be enough to get him the surprise win.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Toni Collette for "United States of Tara" (2009)

Edie Falco for "Nurse Jackie" (2009)

Tina Fey for "30 Rock" (2006)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus for "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (2006)

Lea Michele for "Glee" (2009)

AMY POEHLER for "Parks and Recreation" (2009)

                Lea Michele may have won the Golden Globe award in this category, but that was half way through the season.  Poehler was better for the year as a whole and was funnier.  It is a comedy category so the ability to be funny should be taken into consideration along with acting ability.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Connie Britton for "Friday Night Lights" (2006)

Glenn Close for "Damages" (2007)

Mariska Hargitay for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999)

January Jones for "Mad Men" (2007)

JULIANNA MARGULIES for "The Good Wife" (2009)

Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer" (2005)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Ty Burrell for "Modern Family" (2009)

CHRIS COLFER for "Glee" (2009)

Jon Cryer for "Two and a Half Men" (2003)

Jesse Tyler Ferguson for "Modern Family" (2009)

Neil Patrick Harris for "How I Met Your Mother" (2005)

Eric Stonestreet for "Modern Family" (2009)

                Wow, how does one show get three people into this category?   One has to wonder if the votes could cancel one another out and allow another one of the individuals sneak in and take the gold.  In fact, I think that is what is going to happen.  However, it isn’t like Chris Colfer doesn’t deserve it.  He out acted a lot of people at certain points during Glee’s freshmen run.   He also managed to be humorous on top of that.   However, if anyone else deserves the award, it would be Eric Stonestreet who played Cam on Modern Family.  He is by far the best character on the series.  NPH already won an award for Best Guest Star in a comedy series for his one episode appearance on Glee, so he won’t win here.  By the way, he shouldn’t have even won that award.  The best guest appearance on Glee all season was from Mike O’Malley (yes, the guy from “Guts”)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Andre Braugher for "Men of a Certain Age" (2009)

Michael Emerson for "Lost" (2004)

Terry O'Quinn for "Lost" (2004)

AARON PAUL for "Breaking Bad" (2008)

Martin Short for "Damages" (2007)

John Slattery for "Mad Men" (2007)

                Slattery performed with swagger and class every time he was on screen as Roger Sterling on Mad Men.  He is one of my favorite characters on tv.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Julie Bowen for "Modern Family" (2009)

Jane Krakowski for "30 Rock" (2006)

JANE LYNCH for "Glee" (2009)

Holland Taylor for "Two and a Half Men" (2003)

Sofía Vergara for "Modern Family" (2009)

Kristen Wiig for "Saturday Night Live" (1975)

                It is unfortunate that both Jane Krakowski and Kristen Wiig have to be up against Jane Lynch here.  There is no argument against Wiig, but the other two were awesome as well.  I especially am fond of Wiig who is often the only funny part of SNL.  However, Jane Lynch created an iconic character as Sue Sylvester, the brash and bold cheerleading coach on Glee.  If there was a category to have a pick be guarantee, this is the one.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Christine Baranski for "The Good Wife" (2009)

Rose Byrne for "Damages" (2007)

Sharon Gless for "Burn Notice" (2007)

Christina Hendricks for "Mad Men" (2007)

ELIZABETH MOSS for "Mad Men" (2007)

Archie Panjabi for "The Good Wife" (2009)

                All I can say here is that Sharon Gless is the best actress of this entire group.   She makes the most of all the limited scenes she has on Burn Notice.

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series

"The Colbert Report" (2005)

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (1996)

"Real Time with Bill Maher" (2003)

"Saturday Night Live" (1975)

"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" (2009)

Who doesn't want a little Snooki now and then?

“Nick Wallander, why haven’t you blogged about anything worthwhile in the past month or so?” – one of my adoring fans.

Wow, looks like somebody needed to hear some thought provoking comments from a cynical asshole really badly.  I hope they really wanted this.  As Eminem would say, “be careful what you wish for…”

Okay, so let’s point out that nobody ever requested that I get back to blogging.   I just made that up to hook you all in and make you believe I have a solid fan base.  In reality, only about seven people have ever bothered to read my blog.   And of those seven, most of them just look at the pictures or links I attach.  Nobody really wants to read anymore.  That is why Youtube was invented.  Then people can post videos where they bitch about the world rather than write about it.  Oh, and they can do so while half naked, so it isn’t anything to complain about.

The summer is winding down.  It was a fantastic summer, wasn’t it?  From the sound of it, you all did some real fun and crazy shit.  I did my share of it too.  I also did my share of sitting around and watching the television and movies.  There is little to complain about.  It was relaxing and a good time for all.  In addition to the lazy days I did manage to make a few trips to the southern part of Wisconsin, see Packers training camp, run a 5K, and realign my life’s priorities. 

As I stated earlier, I did my fair share of watching movies and TV.  That is kind of ironic since the summertime is traditionally a wasteland on TV.  However, the USA Network, AMC, and MTV managed to present me with a lot of options for my DVR.  The USA Network had their simply amazing summer line-up.  The way they break up their seasons into two halves spaced out by a few months is nothing short of brilliant.  When network TV fails me, USA manages to bring the goods.  Not only do they have original programming on, but it is quality.  Shows like “White Collar”, “Psych”, “Burn Notice”, and “Royal Pains” are smart and well written shows that might not get a chance on network TV.  There is a good mix of comedy and drama on the USA shows.  The best part is that Tuesday through Wednesday always has something for me to watch for a few months.  I couldn’t ask for more.

It being summertime also meant the return of two vastly different shows.  One is critically acclaimed and possibly the best show on television.  The other is a guilty pleasure.  The first of these shows is “Mad Men”.  I have gushed about it before.  I could go on and on some more, but I will spare you the time.  Do yourself a favor and rent the DVDs or stream the seasons of “Mad Men” online.  It will blow your fucking mind.  If it doesn’t, well then you are just stupid and shouldn’t be allowed on a computer to read this blog anyway.  Yeah, I am serious.  If you are groaning at the mere mention of a show like “Mad Men”, you can go fuck yourself.  Oh, what is that?  You think I am coming off as a bit pretentious.  Well, I hope I am because you probably don’t even know what that word means.

That guilty pleasure show I was talking about?  Yeah, you probably guessed right.  It is in fact “Jersey Shore”.  I can’t help but be amused by a show that gives me one hour a week with the worst people humanity has to offer.  If we ever wanted to give aliens a reason to come down to Earth and blow our shit away, we should send up a DVD of “Jersey Shore”.  The aliens would watch ten minutes and think Earth was full of vapid over-tanned creatures with boob jobs and drinking problems.  And yes, that is a fair and accurate assessment of those people as a whole.  Now I understand that they are fairly attractive and some people actually think the cast of the show is a group of good people.  Well, those who think that are probably as vapid as the eight cast members.  They aren’t good people at all. 

Let’s just take a step back and look at what they do for a living.  They get millions of dollars to get filmed working out, getting tans, doing laundry, drinking, clubbing, fighting, and puking.   This is not over the course of a season either.  This would be the standard outline of every given day for those people.   They literally just do those things.   Apparently they have a job at a gelato shop, but we only see a minute of that every few episodes.  MTV would rather show them getting hammered and slutting it up at clubs.  They know that the trashy girls of the Midwest want to be like the girls and get with the men of Jersey Shore.  This crowd of women is their base demographic.  They get them watching the show and then advertise for that stupid “Twilight” shit and for god knows what else.  Basically, MTV has two types of viewers for “Jersey Shore”.  There are the dumbest of humanity who think that the cast is the greatest thing since sliced bread and want to be just like them.  And then there are the smart people who watch the show to mock the shit out of the idiots on screen.  

Don’t believe me that they are horrible people on “Jersey Shore”?   Well, let me give you an example.   First off, they are all self centered people who are walking contradictions.  They all openly admit that they are on the show to get hammered and hook up with as many people as possible.  The infamous Snooki started the season with a boyfriend back home who she claimed to be happy with.  However, she subtlety mentions that if something were to happen with another man while on location in Miami that it would be more or less no big deal.  She brushed it off before it even happened.  Well, we get a few episodes in and Snooks gets a call from her boyfriend Emilio who tells her he hooked up with another girl and feels bad about it.  Snooki is enraged.  She throws shit around the house and cries up a storm.  My guess is that the dumb viewers were on her side and failed to remember that in the prior week’s episode Snooki got so wasted and crawled into bed with Vinny.  They both were so drunk neither of them knew what happened.  Oh well, she is a TV star so it must have been okay.   The worst part is that MTV did nothing to remind us of such indiscretions.   

Basically, my point is that “Jersey Shore” is great train wreck style TV.  It is horrible, but you have to watch anyway.  If it were on during the fall or winter I wouldn’t even stop to watch.  However, they are on when I am bored, so they get my critical attention.   And hey, maybe I also have a little crush on that Amazonian J-Woww.  Gosh darn I bet she could throw me around a bedroom like a rag doll.  I would take every minute of that punishment like a rag doll.

Time to shake things up like a shake weight..

I was recently struck head on by a train.  It was not a standard choo-choo train or even a locomotive.  In fact, the train I speak of wasn’t even corporeal.  It wasn’t tangible in the slightest, but left an impact as wide as blood splattered on the tracks.  This train that hit me was a train full of reality.  You see, it has come to by attention that I had become way to complacent with life.

It could have been a hard pill to swallow for most people who came to such a realization.  For me, however, I understand that such a realization provides more of an opportunity for change rather than a burden.  Ultimately I have become way to accepting of the mundane existence which I lead.  Do I have things going for me?  Sure, but they are nothing to phone home about.  In a nutshell, my life is rather boring on a day to day basis.  Sitting through my day is often like sitting through a marathon of Water World followed by The Happening on a continuous loop for 8 hours.  There are very few redeeming qualities other than a steady paycheck.  It is bland, repetitive, and mind numbing.  That is not what I ever intended when I left for college back in 2000.

I wish I could place blame on an external force for this conundrum of complacency that I find myself in.  There isn’t anyone or anything to blame other than myself.  I created the life path that lead to this point in my existence.  Destiny presented several options and I kept choosing the wrong ones.  If my life was a Choose Your Own Adventure book, it would just be a continuous loop without a real fun ending.  I’d wake up, go to work, come home, watch tv, and then sleep.  Rinse.  Wash.  Repeat.  Exciting eh?

My job really isn’t fulfilling in the slightest.  I have been with the company for essentially three years and have accomplished just about as much as I possibly could within my position.  There may be a few more responsibilities that I could pick up, but they wouldn’t lead to more pay or even a title change, so that would be a moot point if you ask me.  Some may think that’s a great way to establish your name within the ranks, but they are probably delusional and drinking the Kool-Aid.  The honest and skeptical person understands that corporate America loves nothing more than to get you to do more work without having to reward you in any means.  My current philosophy is to just kick ass at what I do.

Kicking ass is what I feel I do on a daily basis.  My numbers are good and I’ve never been on any kind of improvement program.  I have established my niche and expertise in things that others chose not to or are incapable of understanding.  The problem with this is that I think I ran out of ass to kick.  Nothing seems new anymore.  When there isn’t anything new then there isn’t a chance for excitement.   I’ve said it about four different ways already, but let me reiterate it one more time.  I am bored out of my fucking mind with what I do. 

I feel like a mindless robot.  My brain is not being used to its full potential.  The critical thinking and problem solving skills that I developed over five years at UW-Whitewater are going to waste.  There are no opportunities for my creativity and ability to think outside the box.  Instead I live through a week of scripted responses, answers on an online database, and redundant tasks.  The work assigned to me might seem like life altering shit for some of the people in the company, but I would wager to say that those are the same people who feel as if they’ve made it big because they didn’t expect much from life with a high school education.  Yeah, I know that sounds harsh, but it is a rational observation of the world around me.   Being a claims processor and customer care specialist was never on my list of ideal jobs when I decided to get an education.  The work I do everyday is nothing more than mindless bullshit meant for drones.  I want to be intellectually engaged in my work again.

I suppose that is what I miss the most about my last job, at UW-Whitewater as a “Compliance Manager” in the office of Research and Sponsored Programs.  I was at least challenged to think every now and then.  Granted the pay was about 30% less than I make now and it was technically a limited term job, it was engaging and offered new opportunities to grow every day.  When I moved to Green Bay was the moment I came complacent.  I just needed to find a job to pay the bills and give me a little padding to live comfortably.  I settled.  There is no other way to say it.  As stated earlier, this whole mess of nonsense is all my fault.

So, what the hell is this rant all about?  Well, as I stated earlier, it has become crystal clear that I have become complacent.  Well, as I have straightened out some details of my life, I was able to see that changes need to be made.  These changes are both professionally and personally.   Settling is something I can no longer do.  There are other options for me in every facet of my life.  There are new career paths to be explored.  There are new people to meet.  There are other women to woo.   There are adventures to be had.  All of these ideas were not realistic to me in the past three years because I needed to do what I was doing to get by.  At the time it was the only way to do things.  It is time to stop needing and to start wanting.

A new day is dawning for me.  I’ve been online scoping out new jobs with every extra minute I have.  New cities are being researched as potential places to live.  Different people are becoming more regular components of my social life.  I am slowly breaking the shackles of redundancy.  I feel as if I am being liberated a bit more every day.

Oddly enough it all started when I decided to sign up to run that Packers 5K that just took place.  I had never done anything like it before.  There needed to be a first time for everything.  My new philosophy lately has been that I can’t make something a reality unless I have set a concrete plan in place.  Something had to be official somewhere for it to be a real goal.  By investing my money into that run, I had no excuse not to do it.  There was a real endgame that I was unable to avoid.  I had to get my ass running or else I was going to be an embarrassment and out $25.

Running was something I had attempted to get into several times previous.  In most cases I did so for just a couple weeks and then interest fizzled away.  Sometimes I just lost all motivation or made excuses not to do so.  That shit stopped when I decided to run the 5K.  To further encourage myself, I bought new shoes to go with my Nike Plus device as well as new shorts and a gym bag.  The more I invested into the task, the more I was motivated to accomplish it.  I did something new and scary.  It was something I never thought I would get into.  But I did it.  I ran that 5K.  I finished it.  Most of all, I enjoyed doing it.  That is why it was such an awesome experience.  It isn’t every day that you get to invest yourself into something you enjoy doing.

For now I will go through the daily motions.  I will probably be fairly bored to fucking death doing so.   However, I am going to explore whatever else is out there.  Will I find a new job?   Possibly.  Maybe I will end up going back to school.  I have seen a lot of people do that lately.  What is stopping me from doing that?  Absolutely nothing.   I used to think there was some invisible force out there discouraging me from doing so.  Well, that was me making up bullshit excuses.  Something big is on the horizon and I am going to find that shit if it is the last thing I do.

It better not be the last thing I do, though.   I could think of a million better ways to die.  Like being hit by a meteorite.  That would at least be a great story to tell all the other dead people.

I project a review of "Inception"

“What's the most resilient parasite? An Idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules.” – Cobb (Leonardo DeCaprio) in Inception.

Take that phrase in and let it absorb into your mind for a moment.  Are those not the most insightful words you have read all day?   Not many words spoken have ever captured a concept more accurately.  Ideas are exactly as Mr. DeCaprio’s character described.  Good ideas.  Bad ideas.  It doesn’t matter.  An idea could carry the power to shape the course of events for anything from a single soul to an entire race.  However, for these ideas to have any effect on the world, they need to be perceived by someone.  The perception of ideas is what creates our reality.   This is exactly the point that director Christopher Nolan makes with his movie, Inception.

Anybody who has followed me on Facebook or Twitter already knows that I was gushing praise about Inception within moments of the end credits rolling.  The film is a masterpiece and a mind-fuck of epic proportions.  It is a rare example of a movie that makes a point but demonstrates it by having an effect on the viewer.  There is no secret that I loved it and will suggest it to just about everyone.  I say just about everyone because I know a handful of people who probably couldn’t mentally comprehend the near complex nature of the story.

And yes, this is me taking shots at “dumb” people.   More specifically, by “dumb” people,  I mean those who have the inability to pay attention enough to listen to what the characters are telling you.  Christopher Nolan wrote the screenplay to Inception and included dialogue that not only explains in detail what is about to happen, but it occasionally acknowledges the questions that the audience may be asking.

For those of you who don’t have a clue what Inception is about, let me give you a brief summary.   DeCaprio plays Cobb, a master of corporate espionage, who works alongside his partner, Arthur (Joseph Gordon Levitt), in the business of stealing ideas on a freelance basis.  The catch is that they use a special technology to steal ideas from dreams.  To make a long story short, a man named Saito (Ken Watanabe) hires them to do the exact opposite in the dreams of his competitor, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy).  When I say do the exact opposite, I am referring to the planting of an idea, which would be described as the term “inception”.  The problem with the process of inception is that it has never been done before due to the fact that the human mind can spot foreign idea like it were a sore thumb.  Needless to say, Cobb and his crew have some work ahead of them.

That’s the basic concept of the film and really all you need to know.  However, I should tell you that Ellen Page plays Ariadne, an architecture student, who is recruited to mentally create a set of landscapes and environments for Cobb’s team to use in their subconscious.  She plays a pivotal role because she is the one that asks all the questions we are asking.  She also gets really nosey into Cobb’s past which is great because his baggage is the heart of this story.  Also working with this rag tag crew are a forgery expert named Eames (Tom Hardy) and a chemist named Yusuf (Dileep Rao).  Their unique sets of skills are used brilliantly with the concept of dream invasion. 

Inception as a whole is a little science fiction mixed with a heist film, a thriller, and a psychological character piece.  The story is essentially told in a linear fashion, but with multiple layers that are easy to keep track of if you are paying attention before the mission starts.  This is helpful to those who spiraled into confusion when viewing Nolan’s first big film, Memento.  It was also helpful that the film immediately acknowledged skepticism that audiences might have about a movie about dreams.  The first thought that came to mind when I learned about Inception’s plot was that we’d all just be fooled by some dream within a dream nonsense.  Well, in the first ten minutes of the film, this idea is addressed directly and we immediately come to an understanding that it won’t be used as a cheap method of plot resolution.

What more is there to say?  Lots actually, but I honestly don’t have the time or patience to write it all here.  You also don’t have that much time to read.  Instead, let me share with you a few bullet points of why I loved this movie.

·         Good use of special effects.  Sure there is plenty of CGI utilized in Inception, but it is not as blatantly obvious or over the top like Avatar was.  Despite the movie being mostly set in dreams, there is still a level of realism to everything, just as if you were experiencing a dream first hand.   That scene from the trailers with Paris folding over itself is one for the ages. 

·         Joseph Gordon-Levitt may become a bona fide leading man after this.  He has deserved it since great work in Brick, The Lookout, and 500 Days of Summer. 

·         When the Academy Awards nominations come out, there will be a nomination for Marion Cotillard. She already has one under her belt, but her performance here could put another on the mantle.  (Not sure if she would be a supporting actress or the leading lady)  Cotillard plays Mal, the primary antagonist.  For the most part she appears as Cobb’s subconscious projection of his wife.  Essentially, her character tends to show up while Cobb is working and makes things get messy.  Cotillard does an amazing job balancing a frail helplessness with pure menace. 

·         There is a fight scene in the middle of the movie that takes place in a hotel hallway.  When you see the film, you’ll know which scene I refer to.  This scene is a game changer for the way imagination comes to life on screen.  It will likely make people stop thinking about how innovative the bullet dodging was in The Matrix.

In conclusion, I must simply say that Inception will blow your mind wide open.  The movie does what its characters seek out to do.  It implants an idea in your head and gets you thinking.  Ultimately, this is the goal of most filmmakers and one that is rarely ever accomplished by them.  You will leave the theater with all sorts of thoughts rolling around your head.  You’ll have questions.  You’ll create answers for yourself.  You’ll talk about the movie with friends.  Before you know it you’ll have theories you are sharing or you’ll be online blogging away about it.  Then you’ll suggest the movie to friends just so you can talk to them about their thoughts and feelings.  Basically, a whole lot of thinking will come from Inception.  That is a lot to chew on.  All because of one simple little idea.

When the smoke clears....

I don’t smoke.  I probably never will smoke.  I am not even a drinker.  However, despite not engaging in either of those vices, I have found myself out and about at local bars and restaurants with my friends.  I go there to be social, to have a good time, and to just get out of the house.  Regardless of the volume of fun to be had there was always one common thing with all my experiences out on the town.  At some point in the evening or the next morning I would have a terrible headache.

                I know what you are going to say.  Nick Wallander is an ass clown liar and I knew it all along!  No, he is not.  So, you can relax as I assure you that these headaches were not due to a hangover.   That would be impossible since I don’t drink, but in some ways it would be better to just have a hangover headache as opposed to the truth.  I was having second hand smoke headaches.  Hours of inhaling cancerous fumes will do that to you.  If the headaches alone weren’t annoying enough there was always the soot colored snot that got blown into the tissues.  On top of that are the perfectly good contacts abused by the smoke as well.  The smoke in the bars was nothing but trouble.  At least it was for the non-smokers.  Those who did smoke were blind to these instances due to their nicotine addiction.  They are the biased experts on the issue because they are, you know, addicted to a powerful drug.

                Go ahead.  Yell at me for not knowing what I am talking about.  Tell me that smoking isn’t addictive and that nicotine is not a powerful drug.  Tell me that second hand smoke is just a myth.  Tell me that I should just stay at home if I don’t want to get some smoke blown in my face.  Well, okay.  Don’t tell me that because I will just tell you that you are starting to get rude.  I would follow it up with a “Why don’t you stay the fuck home and smoke your cancer sticks?”. 

                If you haven’t figured out yet, I am going into an opinionative rant about the newly instilled Wisconsin smoking ban for bars, eateries, and places of business.  A lot of things have been said about the new law.  Both sides of the issue are throwing out comments about their rights being violated one way or another.  In reality, both sides have valid points.  There is no doubt about that.  However, one thing can’t be argued.  This law is better for the health of the general public.  People who smoke can still smoke, but they won’t be up in other people’s business when doing so.

                Now I know what a lot of people argue at this point in the discussion.  The smokers are going to suggest that the non-smokers just go to establishments that have already decided to ban smoking.  Well, isn’t that a selfish statement?  Why the hell can’t you just step outside for a couple minutes?  Wouldn’t that be easier on everyone?  Let’s also not forget about the people who work at these bars and eateries that often don’t have a choice where they work, so they have to endure pillars of cancer gas every night.  What about them?  Should they just not work?  It isn’t as simple as telling the non-smokers to move along.

                Argument point number two is about the bar owners’ private property rights being taken away.  Many people believe that the state shouldn’t get to make that call since people have the choice to go to bars.  People walk in on their own free will into private property.  They should accept what the environment is and the owners should have full discretion if you ask some people.  Hmmm.  This is an interesting point.  I see what they are saying, but I can offer a great retort to that.  These people are essentially saying that being on private property means that the laws of the public should be exempt.  This becomes a bigger issue than it needs to be because part of the opposition is arguing for a behavior/drug that they are addicted to.  They don’t realize that there are plenty of existing regulations that they already adhere to that bar owners could argue are an infringement to their private property rights.   The thing is that people don’t complain because it doesn’t affect their addiction.

                Think about this.  If there weren’t state sanctions on health rules on private properties, the people working in the restaurants wouldn’t even need to refrigerate their food.  Would you like to eat spoiled meat on your hamburger?  Or how about this?  Let’s say screw it to the state’s interference with private businesses and let that bartender mix a drink after left the bathroom without washing their piss covered hand. That would be splendid, wouldn’t it?  Mmm.  Who doesn’t like a tangy drink?  Better yet, let’s forget all consideration for the health of patrons and just let the fry cook send out a shit burger!  It is okay though.  It is their right to do that.  If you didn’t want a shit burger you could go to another place to eat.

                See what I did there?  It makes more sense when you compare the new smoking ban to existing regulation.  It isn’t so bad when you think about it.  We already abide by standards that many could complain are restrictions on individual rights.  The point is that we don’t complain because there is a general understanding that things are for the good of everybody.  In due time, the state of Wisconsin will adjust to the new smoking ban.  The alcoholics will still frequent their corner bars because they need their booze more than a smoke filled room.  The chain smokers will find refuge in the smoking areas outside and may even learn to like the social scene outside of bars.  It will take a little time, but in the end, the state wide smoking ban is good.

                It will be awesome when I don’t have to worry about the smell of smoke on my clothes in the morning.  I won’t have to worry about ruining my contacts or blowing smoke snot from my nose.  I will sleep better without a headache.  However, I may still have to worry about the slight chance of syphilis.