Tragedies

Being home has been, surprise surprise, exceedingly dull. Granted, it's good being on break and all, but Schenectady is far from being the most exciting city in the world. I've missed two different get-togethers (slept through one and couldn't attend the other because of the damn dogs) and I STILL don't have plans for New Year's Eve. Perhaps I'll be going down to NYC? Who knows.

I've spent the days reading Wicked, hacking at my rather long game queue (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy XII, Super Mario Galaxy, and Star Wars: the Complete Saga), and even picking up the metaphorical pen to work on Recruitment Theory--my masterwork on rush and recruitment practices at MIT. I most certainly have not been following the tragedy in Pakistan as much as a political science minor should be. The assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is a disaster indeed, and it will be interesting to see how Bush and Congress handle losing one of their main liaisons to that region. Apparently Al-Qaeda is taking responsibility for it now. Who would have known. But my question is: if she knew her life was in danger to begin with, why the hell did she pull a Franz Ferdinand/JFK? Haven't world leaders learned by now?

Equally as tragic in its own way is the news of former Yankee Jim Leyritz being charged with DUI manslaughter and property damage, killing a woman last night while he drove around intoxicated. That's unacceptable, especially for a professional ballplayer who should easily be able to get a driver in any situation. He's looking at 15 years and full loss of his license. Good. Everyone caught driving while drunk deserves such a punishment. Sorry Jim, but your famous homer back in 1996 won't save you here.

And since we're on the subject of downers, let's talk Hello Kitty. Japan's Sanrio Co. somehow got the idea that it would be profitable to market their cat to men. Yes folks--Hello Kitty mens' products will go on sale in Japan in January and will soon follow in the US and elsewhere. Sanrio's spokesman notes the following:

The usual bubble-headed shape of Hello Kitty was slightly changed for a more rugged, cool look to appeal to men in their teens and early 20s. For example, a picture of the cat on a $36 black T-shirt has the words, "hello kitty," instead of the usual dots for the eyes and nose.

Yes. Because putting words on the face is more "rugged" and "cool". Forget the fact that she's still wearing a bow. Or that it still says "Hello Kitty". Or hell, that it's still Hello Kitty at all. The marketing manager here clearly deserves to be fired with a dose of public humiliation.

My final topic this evening will be the New England Patriots. Tomorrow they're going for the record books by being the first team in NFL history to have a 16-0 season. Coincidentally, they're going to have to beat the New York Giants to do it (Have I mentioned how my four college years have also been the worst sports years of my life? But I digress). In fact, the Giants have already made the playoffs, so tomorrow means nothing to them (Hm. A New York team squeaking its way in and then sleeping until the postseason begins, letting a New England team ride to glory. Why does that sound familiar?) But enough with the baseball allusions. The fact is that history could be made, and if not, I have something else to rub in the faces of RSN (because face it--all of them also support their football team). This all means that I have somewhat of an urge to watch this game. But should I? I'm not a fan of football at all. The sports fan in me says: "Who cares? Either way it will be worthwhile to see, and what else will you be doing?" But the sports elitist in me says: "Stay away! You don't really care about the outcome, so don't sell out and watch the game because everyone else is doing it. You hate when people do similar for baseball, don't you?" Hmm...

I'll make a decision tomorrow. I actually wouldn't mind using it as an excuse to have another gathering, but we'll see.