The Sunday Night Post
June/2004: The SNP - That's right, it's Sunday night.
So tonight, I've basically flipped between the computer, the TV and video games. Right now, I'm watching "CNN Presents... Warsaw Rising" for the third time tonight. Yes, that's right, I've already watched it twice today. It is simply amazing. Such heroism. It is hard to truly grasp what the Polish that rose up in 1944 against the Germans were made of. It is harder to grasp that the same elements that composed their bodies, compose ours. These were mostly uneducated, poor individuals who grabbed stones and old rusty pistols to fight infantrymen and tanks.
The special is simply well-produced and presented without gain. It paints the major three allies in equally bad light. The Russians, for killing the Poles who helped throw the Germans into disarray in the city. The English, for selling out Poland to the Russians after the war. And lastly, America, for not pressing Stalin to "allow" us to help the rag-tag fighters who needed ammunition. It is simply a moving special on every level, positive and negative.
Positive, because humanity can be as great as those thousands of brave poles. One particularly touching story involved an underground fighter who organized volunteers to storm the nearby concentration camp. The commander of the Polish forces said it was too risky, but the fighter found the troops to do it, took one of two repaired German tanks, and liberated the camp. Only a few hundred Jews remained inside the camp (Most of the Jewish populance had died in the even more heroic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943), yet these poles risked their lives to save them. Upon entering the back area of the concentration camp, the leader of the rag-tag force happened upon a military-trained Jew, who saluated and presented to the Poles what would become one of two Jewish brigades. Straight out of the concentration camps.
Yet, negative, as well. The ultimate betrayal of those underground fighters, and the reminder of just how evil the Germans were. Murdering the Polish populance randomly, destroying eighty percent of the city just out of hatred. And also negative, when you consider the attitude we have towards Poles today. They're derided as stupid, as inferior by many. However, no nation occupied by the Germans, including the French, resisted as sternly. They charged on horses in vain to struggle against the Germans at the start of the war, and lobbed stones and petrol bombs to struggle against the Germans at the end of the war. They paid a terrible price at both points, and then paid an even worse price for forty plus years afterward under Soviet rule.
And if I were to say the above to ninety plus percent of people my age, I would be met with a shrug and a vapid "okay." What a shame that most can't appreciate these past heroes, let alone appreciate the why of how hard they struggled: For freedom.
Other than watching the same hour-long documentary three times on CNN, I also got to catch quite a bit of an old Ronald Reagan interview with Larry King. I'd say more about that, however, Larry King is the world's worst interviewer.
I also took the time to check out a preview of "The Incredibles", the upcoming Pixar movie about a family of superheroes that come out of retirement to deal with a menace to their city. Simply incredible looking, and it's great to see Pixar create something that is a tad more geared towards adults. Their animation style is definited suited towards these sorts of projects, and hopefully they do more of them. Otherwise, I'm simply excited for "The Village", because I'm completely enthralled with anything M. Night Shyamalan does. He could do the third installment of the Brady Bunch movies and I'd be all over it.
Erika posted a nice story about getting to meet her absolute favorite singer and how nice he was to her. Very cool of him, but I still don't understand how one is supposed to act around a "celebrity" they look up to. Before Elliott Smith stabbed himself in the chest twice, I went over in my head what it would be like to meet him, and each time I thought of potential scenarios, they all went terrible. I had nothing in common with someone like him, and I don't even know what I would have talked about. The music? How cliche, talk about something that any artist wouldn't want to talk about. I just don't get how one is supposed to act. It, to me, seems like a lose-lose situation. Then again, Erika won, so... I guess the previous sentence is incorrect.
The weather here has been terrible, as it always is during our "Rose Festival." I think I'm supposed to be excited because it's Rose Festival time again... however, I've already dealt with this shit twenty five times so it's already lost it's luster. Sometimes I think about moving to a new city just so I could go do something new. I've done everything here, or at least, everything unique that I would want to do. Then again, would another city have all that much that is unique and different from our own "unique and different" events? Even Pasadena has it's own "Rose Parade", so I suppose I would be bored anywhere.
The woman at Subway undercharged me by two bucks yesterday. That was good food.
Lastly, today, my diet consistented of a milkshake, half a bottle of Sunny Delight, and a bag of Chex Mix. And not spread over a twelve hour period, but all in the same single hour.
Ugh. That was dumb.
So tonight, I've basically flipped between the computer, the TV and video games. Right now, I'm watching "CNN Presents... Warsaw Rising" for the third time tonight. Yes, that's right, I've already watched it twice today. It is simply amazing. Such heroism. It is hard to truly grasp what the Polish that rose up in 1944 against the Germans were made of. It is harder to grasp that the same elements that composed their bodies, compose ours. These were mostly uneducated, poor individuals who grabbed stones and old rusty pistols to fight infantrymen and tanks.
The special is simply well-produced and presented without gain. It paints the major three allies in equally bad light. The Russians, for killing the Poles who helped throw the Germans into disarray in the city. The English, for selling out Poland to the Russians after the war. And lastly, America, for not pressing Stalin to "allow" us to help the rag-tag fighters who needed ammunition. It is simply a moving special on every level, positive and negative.
Positive, because humanity can be as great as those thousands of brave poles. One particularly touching story involved an underground fighter who organized volunteers to storm the nearby concentration camp. The commander of the Polish forces said it was too risky, but the fighter found the troops to do it, took one of two repaired German tanks, and liberated the camp. Only a few hundred Jews remained inside the camp (Most of the Jewish populance had died in the even more heroic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943), yet these poles risked their lives to save them. Upon entering the back area of the concentration camp, the leader of the rag-tag force happened upon a military-trained Jew, who saluated and presented to the Poles what would become one of two Jewish brigades. Straight out of the concentration camps.
Yet, negative, as well. The ultimate betrayal of those underground fighters, and the reminder of just how evil the Germans were. Murdering the Polish populance randomly, destroying eighty percent of the city just out of hatred. And also negative, when you consider the attitude we have towards Poles today. They're derided as stupid, as inferior by many. However, no nation occupied by the Germans, including the French, resisted as sternly. They charged on horses in vain to struggle against the Germans at the start of the war, and lobbed stones and petrol bombs to struggle against the Germans at the end of the war. They paid a terrible price at both points, and then paid an even worse price for forty plus years afterward under Soviet rule.
And if I were to say the above to ninety plus percent of people my age, I would be met with a shrug and a vapid "okay." What a shame that most can't appreciate these past heroes, let alone appreciate the why of how hard they struggled: For freedom.
Other than watching the same hour-long documentary three times on CNN, I also got to catch quite a bit of an old Ronald Reagan interview with Larry King. I'd say more about that, however, Larry King is the world's worst interviewer.
I also took the time to check out a preview of "The Incredibles", the upcoming Pixar movie about a family of superheroes that come out of retirement to deal with a menace to their city. Simply incredible looking, and it's great to see Pixar create something that is a tad more geared towards adults. Their animation style is definited suited towards these sorts of projects, and hopefully they do more of them. Otherwise, I'm simply excited for "The Village", because I'm completely enthralled with anything M. Night Shyamalan does. He could do the third installment of the Brady Bunch movies and I'd be all over it.
Erika posted a nice story about getting to meet her absolute favorite singer and how nice he was to her. Very cool of him, but I still don't understand how one is supposed to act around a "celebrity" they look up to. Before Elliott Smith stabbed himself in the chest twice, I went over in my head what it would be like to meet him, and each time I thought of potential scenarios, they all went terrible. I had nothing in common with someone like him, and I don't even know what I would have talked about. The music? How cliche, talk about something that any artist wouldn't want to talk about. I just don't get how one is supposed to act. It, to me, seems like a lose-lose situation. Then again, Erika won, so... I guess the previous sentence is incorrect.
The weather here has been terrible, as it always is during our "Rose Festival." I think I'm supposed to be excited because it's Rose Festival time again... however, I've already dealt with this shit twenty five times so it's already lost it's luster. Sometimes I think about moving to a new city just so I could go do something new. I've done everything here, or at least, everything unique that I would want to do. Then again, would another city have all that much that is unique and different from our own "unique and different" events? Even Pasadena has it's own "Rose Parade", so I suppose I would be bored anywhere.
The woman at Subway undercharged me by two bucks yesterday. That was good food.
Lastly, today, my diet consistented of a milkshake, half a bottle of Sunny Delight, and a bag of Chex Mix. And not spread over a twelve hour period, but all in the same single hour.
Ugh. That was dumb.
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