Suck ass, 'Star Wars' does.

With all apologies to those of the Star Wars persuasion, but Episode III ranked among the worst movies I've seen. I'll grant you that I have really yet to see the original three (IV through VI), but that does not discredit my account of Episode III being just bad in ways that were really rather avoidable. The dialogue and editing were atrocious, along with the overwrought pausing of the cameras and actors, trying to convey both an emotion and a grandeur that just do not exist. All of which upsets me because it should have been good: the plot and the symbolism are of course the stars of the show, but they should not have to laboriously carry a movie. Aside from the twisted psychological transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Vader and the taut meanings of 'empire' and 'republic', what else did this movie give us? Some will say that that's all it was supposed to provide, that it was meant as a set-up for Episode IV. I used to agree with this line of thought regarding 'placeholder' movies, back when I was an apologist for Matrix Reloaded, but no more. I now subscribe to the 'West Wing' type of plot development: keep your grand arcing storyline, but treat each episode as its own mini-play to deal with tangential stories. The problem with Episodes I through III is that there were no tangents worth exploring.

And that's enough about those things. What else has gone on this week? A lot of yearbooking stuff, specifically meetings with publishing companies. On behalf of the advisors I have taken the lead role in the discussions for next year's book, which we have to bid out to publishers in order to get the best base price and committment of quality before we sign the contract and start getting into details. This week I met here at KU with representatives from three companies (with one of those meetings being just myself and the rep, sans advisors), and also went to KC on Wednesday to tour the facility of one of the publishers. It was a very nice experience: they arranged a personal plant tour and a group of people (the rep, the new head of the customer service dept, the plant manager, and the Midwest sales manager) all took me out to lunch, which was both shrewd and appreciated. Afterwards I went downtown to visit Hammerpress Studios, and let me just say that I could easily spend a lot of money in there. They do letterpress printing, which is so rare anymore, on just about anything you could want: CD cases, thank you notes, invitations, business cards, bookmarks, postcards. The visual strength comes out, though, in the concert and event posters that cover an entire wall of the facility; the posters are also on sale, and I came sooo very close to buying a Decemberists poster from when they played the Granada in April (a concert I couldn't go to because it was right before my second Soc. Theory exam). Anyway, I told the proprietor that I wished he did books, and his response leads me to think that there might be an option here to potentially publish our own yearbook. I'm probably dreaming, but hey it is the summer; I have until August to think up outlandish ideas in my head.

Other than that, I've just been buying more music from iTunes music store: Amy Ray's album Prom (which is a rocking lesbian tour de force...what?), Antony and the Johnson's 'Fistfuls of Love' (which I found through NYU's radio station), and an EP from José González titled Crosses (which is hauntingly beautiful). I'm also making my way through a book about typography, which really shouldn't matter all that much to you all but it's rather enlightening for me about the proper forms of fonts and publishing. But I think this font geekdom is nicely balanced by PongBall, a Church of Beer production, created Monday night by the four founding members of the Church. Consisting of a ping pong ball, three plastic cups, and three floors worth of stairs and landings, it is sure to storm the nation just as soon as we finalize the team version of PongBall. Hell, we made 'cockblocking' into an official position in the game, so that alone should be worth something.


I desperately need to get back to more specific and timely posts.

Melancholyonthemorningafter.

They tell me I am done here, but I feel I was just getting started.

Commencement yesterday was a surprising gamut of emotions, spurred not least of all by the gamut of people that you walk through on the Hill. That experience was one of the coolest of my life, and it went much too quickly. A day that started with me just wanting to get it over without any hassle became a day that I didn't want to end.

As I said the other night, I did not feel emotional at all this week when I thought about myself and graduation; it was always when I thought about others when I felt that wondrous mixture of excitement & sadness. When I thought about the connection that my friends have to KU, that it has changed their lives in ways that I cannot understand now, but hopefully will soon (which is not to say that KU has not changed my life, but that I think it is on a different level):

Jeff and Michelle and the five years and a lifetime they've spent loving this place, even if it does get on their last nerve sometimes. Tom and the idealism that in his time here has been replaced by a determined focus which, though tempered by experience, will get him everywhere he wants to go. Anna and the wonderful collection of achievements and awards she has racked up in her time here, mere symbols of a KU career like few others; hell, her attitude and friendship alone is deserving of a Chancellor's award.

My parents stayed here last night before leaving early, so I just stayed here too and talked to them. And it was early on in the evening that I realized just why I was feeling so melancholy about this day that was supposed to be so redundant: I kinda feel cheated. Not on the education, mind you, or the opportunities I have had, or even on the people I have met as they have been absolutely amazing, each of them. But I wish I had met more, that I had pulled an all-nighter, that I had been able to share my one staggeringly drunk night with somebody, that I had ordered more pizzas at 1:30am and not given a damn the next day when I try to work out.

Sheesh, for a guy who is not even leaving yet I am certainly being melodramatic. I know everybody has their own KU experience, and that none is typical or ideal for any other. But to be honest, all week I could not help but feel a certain sense of envy for the fraternity and sorority members; for four years they have lived with each other, and done more for each other than I could imagine. The seniors come in as a class in themselves, and to be in a position where you can always have that core group there, no matter what, must be amazing. I have one of those myself, but it came across by sheer accident, coincidence that my upstairs neighbors just happen to be the greatest people in the world, or that the president of the KU Dems was in one of my first classes here at KU. For the Greeks, those ties are forged in a different manner, but it is the same result: a collection of wonderful individuals who make up the tapestry of KU that we will always remember. I cannot imagine living with a group of people for four years and sharing everything with them, only to break up and leave within the span of a week. Perhaps it is not as abrupt as that, but everything else is: you walk down the Hill and then the line of people ends; you're drinking that first glass of champagne and then it empties; you go to bed not wanting to lose this feeling, but the next morning comes.

That morning is now, and I am in a position unlike almost any other student here: I get a free year. No graduation or degree requirements (just the classes I want), no fretting about what comes next (that will all get sorted out in due time, so why worry), no more doe-eyed look like I still just stepped off the bus. This is my year to do with whatever I wish, and I wish do a lot, starting first and foremost with taking this most wonderful, most beautiful yearbook ever out of my head and putting it on paper for all the world to see.



And for your enjoyment, from one of my most favorite songs ever, 'Strange Condition' by Pete Yorn, from his album ... wait for it ... Musicforthemorningafter. =)

And it’s a strange condition,
A day in prison,
It’s got me out of my head
And I don’t know what I came for.

Send me the money, baby,
Do not leave out the wage.
You know you’re the best thing ever
To come out of this place,

Überpost. (Or: How I learned to stop dawdling and update this damn thing.)

So I'm graduating in about a day and a half. I finished up my papers (Korean history final and Seminar thesis) and handed them in Tuesday morning, two days before deadline, to get them out of the way. Then I just slacked around and read until my one and only final, Wednesday night, for Western Civ 2, which I had no doubts about. Since then I've just been doing a lot of napping in this damn heat, mainly because I'm too proud to give in and turn on the air conditioner; I figure if I've made it this far, than surely I can last through the weekend until the 70s hit again. But I doubt my mom and sister will like my no AC policy.

And for those just tuning in, my family has decided to convert my one-bedroom apt. into a hotel of sorts. My parents will be kicking me out of my bed for Sat. and Sun. nights, while my sister will be residing as well on Saturday night. I've already said my share about this to parties concerned; apparently I'm like Brazil or India in the United Nations: despite my vested interests and involvement, I'm denied the veto. Or something like that.

I broke down twice today and bought things that I honestly should've waited or let other people buy for me. The Design of Dissent was just sitting there at Borders, taunting me and destroying every reason I could think of not to buy it; alas, the appeal was too great (that and the 25% coupon and 10% total purchase discount I was banking on for the trip to Borders). Also at Borders I got a Moleskine sketchbook and the new Paste magazine, which includes a sampler CD. On said sampler was another track from the new Decemberists album, Picaresque. I already had a couple other songs from it, but this one was the straw that stirred the drink, as I went ahead and bought the whole thing through iTunes Music Store. The words 'magnificent,' 'mystical,' and 'sublime' do not even begin to do this album justice. If I could I would reprint the lyrics, in their entirety, in next year's Jayhawker. Who the hell cares if they're not students and the songs have nothing to do with KU? Everyone should know these words.

Went to apparently one of the oldest KU traditions tonight: the All University Dinner. One of the few on-campus events where alcohol is allowed to be served (red and white wine in funky milk-type bottles, hee!), it is the scene for the Chancellor's annual State of the University speech and the conferring of KU's highest honors, the Distinguished Service Citation. I'll forever know it as the night that somebody managed to fuck up a perfectly good piece of steak, the bastards (who the hell puts a cheese/butter sauce, mixed with lobster, on a steak? Honestly).

So I'm really not emotional about graduation, at least I wasn't until we started singing the Alma Mater at the end of the dinner, and I thought about how that caps off the ceremony proper on Sunday, the ceremony that I decided to go ahead and skip; just Walk down the Hill with everybody else, finally go through the Campanile, and then head out with the family in search of a good Chinese food buffet. But now I'm starting to lean again towards the ceremony, even though I could easily save my cap & gown and go to the ceremony next year when I don't have to worry about my parents hanging out in the damn heat. This is still up in the air.

So this was a rather nice year for me on the women-front; had a couple of firsts (into what categories those fall, I will not state here), met lots of great girls and had some promising situations, all of which I have impressively managed to muck up in one way or another. Not that I know exactly what happened, mind you; one told me she didn't want to date anymore and another said she didn't want a relationship after all. Which is fine really; it's just the lack of understanding about those things that keep a guy awake at 2am in the occasional morning. Anyway, I'm trying to push on and get to know some other girls a bit more, not to badger them into going out with me but just hopefully form some sort of connection there that they can see me and all of my wonderfulness™, but still keep from falling into the 'I like you as a friend' trap [I have this shirt by the way, and it's verrry pink] so that maybe, potentially something more can bloom. I'm probably failing at this as well; my biggest fear is seeming toooo interested and pestering, which then leads me to go to the other extreme of not going for it at the time or place that I should. I hear that there is this word called 'woo'; I should find whoever came up with it and bash him over the head. Not that I'm frustrated or anything, of course.

So I don't know what the point is to any of this, and there are many many things that I'm leaving out, such as the first two completed books on my summer reading list, but it's getting late and I'm hot and I'll probably wake up tomorrow and decide to redact a lot of the above paragraph. But if I did, I'd probably redact that I was redacting, and thus you would never know. Unless you saw the redaction before it was redacted. You know what man, fuck this; I'm out.

Oh! Canada.

First British Columbia did what no other state has ever done before: they formed a citizen's commission on electoral reform, then allowed a public referendum on changing the very nature of the electoral system. And guess what? It looks as though BCers are responding with a Yes! to proportional representation, which happens to be a pet project of mine. Yay for them and I can only hope this serves as an example for a few bold states here in the US...yes Oregon, I'm looking at you. You already got rid of voting day, why not be even more daring?

Then this morning I was browsing through Today's Front Pages and came across this Member of Parliament (who is in the news for switching parties before a vote of confidence, which may not mean that much to you but I'm a parliamentary nerd): who knew Canada had this girl tucked away in the halls of Ottawa? I can think of some new uses for maple syrup now... Ew, did I really just say that?

Oh be still my heart.

Via Coudal: The site of my dreams. A collection of almost every Olympic poster worth displaying (and some that probably aren't worth it but still a boon for collectors or researchers); the 1992 (both Barcelona & Albertville), 1998 Nagano and 2000 Sydney ones are especially pleasing.

Vacation.

Today, on the Hill while playing catch:

Ryan: So my friend who graduates today is moving to Amsterdam in two weeks to be with her boyfriend who works for an international consulting firm.
Jeff: *pauses in throwing motion*
Ryan: She'll be spending her winters in Spain and summers in Italy.
Jeff: You know how bad I want to leave this state? I would commit a federal crime to get sent to Terra Haute for a vacation. And just my luck, they'd send me to Leavenworth instead.

What wonderful noise.

The Guardian does a most proper tribute to the song that singlehandedly changed my life and introduced me to rock & roll.

"How does it feel?" doesn't come out of his mouth; the words explode in it. And here you understand what Dylan meant when he said, in 1966, speaking of the pages of noise he'd scribbled: "I had never thought of it as a song, until one day I was at the piano, and on the paper it was singing, 'How does it feel?'" Dylan may sing the verses; the chorus sings him.

"When I heard Like a Rolling Stone," said Frank Zappa, in 1965 a 24-year-old Los Angeles satirist, "I wanted to quit the music business because I felt: 'If this wins and it does what it's supposed to do, I don't need to do anything else.'"

Secrets we knew I was keeping.

I'm taking this from Alison, because it's been a while since last posting and that's not cool.

A - Age you got your first kiss: Twenty-one.
B - Band/Song listening to right now: Dave Matthews Band, "Two Step."
C - Crush: Well there is this one girl who has indeed caught my fancy...
D - Dad's name: Virgil.
E - Easiest person(s) to talk to: Tom, Jeff, Michelle, the Parents (else they get mad at me for not mentioning them in yet another thing).
F - Favorite bands/artists at the moment: Oh the Decemberists, how you've snatched me away from everything under the sun.
G - Gummy worms or gummy bears? Worms rule; you can pull on the sumbitches, and get different flavors in one thing.
H - Hometown: Humboldt, Kansas.
I - Instruments: Used to play saxophone and piano, now I use Adobe InDesign & PhotoShop to make beautiful things.
J - Junior High: Zillah, then Humboldt Middle School
K - Kids: S'pose, if only to raise the cutest daughter known to man.
L - Longest car ride ever: Oh let us not even go there.
M - Mom's name: Sharon.
N - Nicknames: Rhino, Scarecrow, Sparrow, Scarface (old track accident), Woody (after the woodpecker! Perverts...).
O - One wish: To create a work of genius and beauty that is the culmination of everything I've ever learned, felt and thought.
P - Phobia[s]: Loneliness, bugs, awkwardness, bugs, horror flicks, bugs.
Q - Quote(s): How about just the most recent? "No matter how much I walk, I will never reach it. For what does Utopia serve? For this it serves: to walk." –Eduardo Galeano
R - Reason to smile: I'm about to graduate, I've started planning my 'opus', and I'm going soon to meet Mr. Schooner for our weekly dance with the devil.
S - Song you sang last: I think it was parts of 'The Engine Driver' by the Decemberists earlier today.
T - Time you woke up [today]: 6am the first time to convince myself not to work out today, then 7am for sure.
U - Unknown fact about me: I can't whistle.
V - Vegetable you hate: Most of them.
W - Worst habit(s): Picking at the skin around my fingernails; it's my nervous condition.
X - X-rays you have had: Both feet and right arm, that I can remember; maybe some others for my surgeries.
**where is Y?**
Z- Zodiac sign: Capricorn.

Lists.

I'm gonna be honest with you: I spend an assload of time on the internet. An unbelievable amount of time really, just dicking around and for the most part checking the same damn websites about two hundred times a day, so I love coming across new sites. But if I had to choose one webpage as the supremo place to waste I-kid-you-not hours, that would have to be the Lists at McSweeney's Internet Tendency [check the linkie to your right]. Nowhere near your standard top-ten lists, they are submitted by users who believe just as strongly in unintentional ironic comedy as I do. I have my own favorite lists to savour here, but for an instant classic go to Brainstorming Ted Nugent's Vegan Cookbook; humour never had it so good.

By another name.

Tonight, at J&M's:

Michelle: It hurts. *pointing to leg*
Jeff: What does?
Michelle: This.. *continues pointing*
Jeff: That's called a hamstring; it's what Ken Griffey Jr. pulls every year.

Things I Love, #26.

The way the Decemberists' Colin Meloy warbles 'bones' and 'home' before the last chorus in my new co-favorite song The Engine Driver. Beautiful, beautiful stuff; if I could publish the lyrics on the cover of next year's Jayhawker I sooo would. (Oh, the other co-favorite? Golden Age of Radio by Josh Ritter. I'm not really a country guy, but that's because Toby Keith-crap is ever-present instead of this most wonderful song.)

"Tuning in to hear an echo is not our idea of a good time."

Read this article on the joy of radio, all of radio; smile; anxiously await summer and the thought of driving with windows down and stereo on. Bonus points if you leave your iPod behind.

Survey time.

As you hopefully know by now, this year's Jayhawker has a title, but not a theme. The title, which was carefully chosen on the basis of "I thought it sounded cool" back in November, is Dance with the one that brought you. Since I put it on the cover the context of it has jumped out at me, after conversations with other editors; significantly, it's about loyalty, a trait that I think I've demonstrated in recent weeks with regards to my love of this publication. But since I'm starting to focus on next year's book now, I'm lining up titles for the Jayhawker 2006. So I present for public consumption, with you, dear reader, in the role of advise and consent, the world premiere of the Top 10 Titles I've Come Up With So Far (Subject to Change At Any Time Based on My Playlist):

Came to You With Best Intentions. —Dave Matthews Band
This is How I Remember You Best. —Richard Shindell
Powers of Expression and Thoughts So Sublime. —Bob Dylan
We All Felt Inspired. —Get Up Kids
Wayward Sons. —Kansas
Cause There’s Got to Be Something That They Can’t Destroy. —Abileen
There’s Nothing Like This Built Today. —Interpol
The Ink is Almost Dry. —Leona Naess
To Be Sure These Days Continue. —Dave Matthews Band
You Can’t Come Back All the Way. —Bob Dylan

Edited to add: For your consideration, among my goals for the 2006 is to bring back some traditional elements (as in 1916 traditional) but in a very contemporary form; whereas this year's book was art magazine, I want next year's to be literary journal. And perhaps it will help to imagine the title in this typeface, which is currently my frontrunner for next year.

I am taking this way too seriously.

State.

This morning was the swan song for my former journalism advisor: Allen Wilhite. He received the Jackie Engel Award for Journalism Teacher of the Year, and was also inducted into the KSPA Hall of Fame. Despite my command of the English language I'm afraid I cannot truly state here how much he has meant to me over the years, so I'll just say that I do very much wish him well in the years to come, and that Lew Perkins is indeed a douchebag for pricing Mr. Wilhite out of his KU football tickets.

In other news, the KSPA state contest was fun. I got to impress some yearbook vendors and some high schoolers (and meet a super cool girl from Cimarron; maybe she'll even read this blog) when I served as the speaker/subject for the feature writing competition, in which they had to write a story about yours truly and the work I did with the yearbook this year. They really had to twist my arm to get me to do that.

When I got home a fresh batch of DVDs was waiting for me, so I watched Man on Fire first thing. It was fantastic; the perfect combination of violence and grief, a wonderful juxtaposition of vengeance and atonement. Plus, the one thing I was looking forward to most: the subtitles. Because I am, after all, a resident of font geekdom.

Wasting time.

Double meaning for that title, because yes I should be reading articles for my paper due next Thursday. But also an addition to my earlier post on the evolution 'debate': this thread from Daily Kos, with a requisite amount of Kansas bashing that one must unfortunately plow through to find nuggets like this:

I agree with everything you have said here. I toil (yes, toil) in higher education and I can tell you that this type of ambivalence about science can be seen in the up-and-coming generation.

One thing strikes me, however, and that is the slightly alarming notion that students in Bangalore are not studying intelligent design; their teachers are not having to waste valuable time trying to reconcile fundamentalist religious thought and science.

Nope. In Bangalore, their studying math and science and they are going to beat the pants off our kids in the global marketplace. Maybe then we can get our heads out of our arses. Or not.

Not a perfect world.

I've said before that I am always so very reluctant to mention Ann Coulter on my blog, but this quote is truly in the realm of 'Why didn't I think of that before?':

Coulter commits the worst political sin you can commit in a democracy – she doesn’t allow that there might be such a thing as a loyal opposition. In Coulter’s world there is only support for the government or opposition by any means possible. This way lies perpetual revolution, and I can’t imagine why anyone, let alone a conservative, would want to be along for the ride.

Charade.

I haven't posted anything about the 'evolution hearings' going on in Topeka right now because 1) Josh Rosenau is doing a wonderful job of unmasking the whole thing and 2) are you fucking kidding me?

Off the top of my head let me tell you some things that I've come to discern over the years with regard to evolution and intelligent design.

• Creationism/ID is not worthy of being taught in science classes because it is not science. It is the antithesis of science. They approach the debate from the basis of 'Well we have the book of Genesis here, so let's work backwards and see what can possible prove it, and then that's that.' Whereas science operates on the premise of 'Well, we have this hypothesis, so let's gather data and evidence and see where that takes us, and then retest it, and see where the holes are, and after that we'll gather more stuff..' Science is a never-ending search for natural truths.

• Theory means something else in scientific circles than it does in the common vernacular. A theory is not something that is just thrown out there as if pulled out of a scientist's ass; it is a proven, logical framework for how something occurs in nature. You cannot just say 'My theory on why the sky is blue is because it's full of Skittles.' Darwin didn't write 'I have this thought about natural selection, but rather than show you how I came to it, I'm gonna have a beer.' Theories require substantial evidence because they must hold up under a brand of scrutiny that most of us cannot imagine; creationism & ID don't hold up at all, but when you don't worry about the details I guess that's alright. Bottom line is: a scientific theory is very substantial. Just look at gravity.

• That being said, it's rather a moot point here. Evolution as a process is certain; it is a biological fact of life. The theory part comes in with regard to the method by which it occurs, for which natural selection is the current front-runner. Evolutionary change is the foundation of modern biology; every advancement made in the last 150 years owes itself to this establishment. To deny evolution is to deny the very fruits of modernity.

• Beyond which, the notion that evolution is a godless way of teaching kids about the world around them is about the most irrelevant thing ever. Of course it's godless, in the exact same way that multiplications tables and dictionaries are godless ways of teaching kids about arithmetic and grammar. Science doesn't concern itself with questions of God and religion, and for good reason: it has no bearing on natural processes and events. Of course, what do you expect from religious people, who should be the welcoming bunch, when they say the following:

When the Pitch asked Calvert how he could explain the fact that a scientist like Miller had no problem accepting evolution while also being a Christian, the lawyer said that Miller just "wants to keep his job."

Anyway, all I can think is that these people really could've saved themselves a lot of time and energy by picking up a book and reading about the last time all of this went down. Or better yet, go rent the movie that was made about it. In fact, I have a copy of the DVD; I'd be happy to loan it to the State Board of Education. But let's hope they have regular DVD players; computers might be next in the witchhunt. After all, binary codes don't involve Jesus.

Ryan's Night of Decadence.

To celebrate: 1) My award as Outstanding Student Organization Member of the Year [because I don't know when to stop bragging]; 2) The release of Jayhawker the Annual MMV; 3) The completion of my third Soc. Theory exam; 4) The handing in of the rough draft of my seminar paper; 5) The fact that I haven't read for my Korean history class in two months; 6) Cinco de Mayo; 7) Schooner Night... I planned on getting trashed tonight.

Instead, I did even better. After a dinner of burritos at the President's Roundtable, I went and got Sylas & Maddy's ice cream with Tom (two scoops of a most sublime vanilla), followed by a Shiner Bock, followed by a few slices of Wheat State pizza. And no homework. I am the downhill side of graduation friends.

So tomorrow I have to decide whether to work out in the morning or go grocery/office supply shopping, and then meet with the advisors to discuss next year's book. Because I am all about the planning ahead. I guess the neighbors and I are supposed to go to the baseball game in the evening for quarter hot-dog day. But I'm not sure about that yet; I think one night of decadence is enough. Then again, I should practice for Commencement weekend. Oh yes.

This was uncalled for.

So the books came in today, and they're wonderful, and they're fantastic, and even I could not believe how beautiful the cover turned out to be with the material that I chose rather blindly back in freaking September. So I won't say any more about it except that I owe the world's biggest thank you to David Mucci and the members of the Student Senate who chose me as the Outstanding Student Organization Member of the Year for 2005. I literally choked up about 20 seconds into my impromtu remarks when I started talking about how much I hope we retained the spirit of the book after 117 years, and how it's the tradition I love most. Gah I'm such a softie...anyway, I think this book is going to bring a lot of happiness to a lot of people and seeing people look through it when they don't know I'm around is bringing the biggest smile ever to my face. And I have all to look forward to again next year.

'On Globalization & Imperialism'

The paper I'm working on for my senior history seminar. I figure anytime I can mention Subcomandante Marcos on the first page, as well as use lyrics from the Ramones, Mac Lethal, and Bob Dylan, I must be doing something right.

Australian punks...

... Stole my idea. Okay, perhaps not my idea (I first thought of it when reading about Hunter S. Thompson's campaign for mayor of Aspen in 1970), but I loooove the idea of wallposters serving more of a function than just a cute graphic and some words. Make it engaging, make it controversial, make it fabulous or horrendous, just make it something. These guys are off to the right start.

Holy crap.

So I just realized that I toooootally forgot about the return of Family Guy last night. One would think that my neighbors would've come down to get me, seeing as how they all know I don't have cable anymore. I mean the radio is great and all but sometimes I just want Stewie dammit.