Harry Connolly's Blog, page 209

There's what you plan, and what you do

I'd meant to post a quick update on the guy who body-slammed a moving bus Wednesday night (lacerations, broken wrist) but instead I've been distracted by http://www.peopleofwalmart.com and it's endless parade of furry boots with hot pants, hateful T-shirt slogans, epic plumbers' cracks, pimp outfits, too-short skirts with no underwear, cellulite, high heels with hot pants (on dudes), animal prints, hair cuts that make a mullet look like a 'do from a 5th Ave Salon, costumes, bellies...

A quote worth reading

According to research done by a research department of Harvard Medical School:

Lack of health insurance is associated with as many as 44789 deaths per year in the United States, more than those caused by kidney disease (n=42868).41 The increased risk of death attributable to uninsurance suggests that alternative measures of access to medical care for the uninsured, such as community health centers, do not provide the protection of private health insurance. Despite widespread acknowledgment...

I know I just linked to this blog

but it really does have a bunch of interesting posts there. More OKCupid data in convenient graph form, this time about how men and women rate the appearance of the opposite sex.

No kidding, but this is interesting. Be sure to look at the race post and the religion post.

Randomness for 1/21

1) Yet another reason I'm glad I've given up screenwriting. As bad as the credit situation is for writers now, it's better than it was before the WGA negotiated the right to determine the credit. In the old days, a producer could leave the writers' names off entirely and give the credit to a girlfriend, if they wanted.

2) A modern-day Jesse James? If Jesse James had 15,000+ Facebook fans, I guess.

3) Upcoming Nicolas Cage projects! aka, some guys with Photoshop put Nic Cage's face on...

Justice Kennedy: "The appearance of influence or access will not cause the electorate to lose faith in this democracy."

The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations and unions have the right to donate as much cash as they like to candidates, calling it free speech.

Next week, they'll grant them the right to marry each other. Sorry, gays. Better move to Spain.

James Patterson: bestseller machine

The NY Times has a lengthy profile of bestselling (co-)writer James Patterson. I have to say, whatever you think of Patterson's books (and I haven't read them based on how they're described) it's fucking fascinating.

Dude started out reading high-brow work, and won an Edgar Award for his debut novel–a noirish crime thriller with (as described in the article) no real hero. After that he dabbled in different genres, trying to find his footing, and eventually came into his own with his...

That's something you don't hear every day

Last night, on the bus ride home from work, the bus driver said something unexpected:

"A pedestrian just ran into my bus!"

Now, when I heard that, I was immediately reminded of all those accident descriptions on insurance forms, where drivers claim that trees suddenly jumped out in front of them, or that old men leap onto the hood of their moving cars. But as it turned out, that's just what happened.

As the bus was driving down the street in the right lane (I'd say it was going about 30-35...

Remember AFTER LAST SEASON?

Remember when I posted the trailer for AFTER LAST SEASON, which is probably the worst movie to get a theatrical release in 2009?

Well, here's a review from a guy who tracked down a copy. It sounds even worse than the trailer made it seem, if that's possible.

Enjoy!

A little bit about politics

Skip this if you're not interested.

Conservatives and media types are already spinning Scott Brown's senatorial win as a warning that Democrats have moved too far to the left. Even conservatives within the party are saying this. Witness Evan Bayh: "Whenever you have just the furthest left elements of the Dem party attempting to impose their will on the rest of the country — that's not going to work too well."

But this is, of course, a fucking fantasy. Coakley lost yesterday primarily...

Oh what a difference a shoe makes

In the past, when I wanted to think over a plot problem, I would take a long walk. I was one of those guys who slumped down the street, head lowered, probably muttering to himself (which is no longer so alarming thanks to cell phones), solving my stories as best I could.

Then came the pain. I've always had knee pain, but my ankles finally began to hurt, and my heels and my feet and… wow. It got bad. I was born with twisted legs, and they've always been a problem, but this was the worst...