Securitayyy!!!

Ok this is a little late but I would just like to rant about people complaining about the new airline security measures.  The new thing is that 1) go through the body scanner or 2) get patted down.  Ok so the body scanner can see all your marbles.  Well get the fuck over it.  I'm so sick of people complaining about this.  It's for security purposes and to stop another 9/11 from happening.  I personally think they should let all the people who refuse to get scanned or patted down get onto another plane that you don't have to be subjected to security checks.  How much of a fuss would they put up over this if that was the case?  Yeah sure everyone is bitching about how it violates the Constution and takes away their freedom and all that but what about lives that would be taken away if security measures like this weren't in place?  And so what if the TSA people are going to see you essentially naked?  No one is going to be seeing ANY of you if your fucking plane gets hijacked and blown up.  I'm a nurse and I see naked people every day while they are sitting on the OR table unconscious, getting worked on; no one complains about that.  You know why?  Because it's to save lives, and so does a simple 5 second action like walking through a body scanner.  Do you know how many people the TSA guys probably see naked walking through those scanners every day?  Probably hundreds.  I'm telling you, when you see that many naked bodies on a regular basis you really don't even notice anymore, it just becomes second nature.  And you will never see these TSA people again.  It's not like they're gonna see you sitting across the bar next weekend and whisper to their TSA friend "hey look remember that guy?  he had huge balls."  The hot girl sitting next to you is more likely to whisper to her friend "hey I think that guy is gay, he keeps staring at those two TSA agents over there."

So my point is, yes, our personal freedom is what makes America great, but when that freedom interferes with the safety of its citizens then there needs to be a little give and take.  Walking through a body scanner is a small sacrifice to make to protect the people in this country and make them feel safe compared to what our military men and women do every day overseas, so shut up and just walk.

Bollocks

I recently discovered this amazing new British TV show that I just have to write about.  It was my suggestion on the last post.  It's called Skins and its about this group of teenagers that live in Bristol England.  Its a comedy but it also has alot of serious aspects too.  And the way the show is set up is different than any other show I've seen.  Each episode focuses on a single character, and in each character's episode you get to go deeper into their lives than you would if the episodes just focused on everyone all the time.  It's really kind of a revolutionary idea and its great.  Another thing the show does is that every 2 seasons it completely changes the entire cast.  Similar US shows like the O.C. and Dawsons Creek (both of which are mentioned jokingly in the show) followed their characters off to college and the shows took a turn for the worse.  Skins avoids this and just flat out gets new characters when the current ones are finished with high school.  Its keeps the show fresh and free from boring predictable story lines. 

    
In each group of friends there is a character you can relate to, whether it is Sid from seasons 1 and 2 who is in love with his best friend's girlfriend, or Emily from seasons 3 and 4 who is constantly in the shadow of her prettier, more popular sister.  There is definitely a lot of over the top and gratuitous sex and drug use but the actual stories behind the insane parties used as plot devices somehow make even the most surreal moments seem utterly and totally believable.  I'm not sure if its because everyone speaks with an accent and uses vocabulary that I'm not quite familiar with, but the show is also hilariously witty.  Terms such as spliff, and tosser are used constantly, both of which it took an episode or two for me to figure out what they meant.  The word skins actually refers to rolling paper used for joints or "spliff" as they call it.  Seasons 3 and 4 are by far the most emotional I've seen.  When I'm watching, I kind of forget about everything else around me and just let Skins take me.  For a television show it just has amazing connective powers.  Sure I've felt like that about movies but never about a 45 minute episode of a TV series.  Again, I think it's the set up of the show that each episode essentially is a short movie about a single character, complete with the ups and downs of human emotion.

    
     MTV is unveiling a US version of skins in January.  I'll definitely be watching it but I just can't see how it can be the same.  The kids in the British version are all of legal drinking age which makes the party scenes and lack of parental control somewhat believable but I'm not quite sure how the US version will manage to pull this off.  Sure there's fake ID's but it just wont have that aspect of realism that the British version has.  So if you have netflix the go watch Skins and I promise you won't regret it.

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving and what better day to start up with my blog again.  Seeing everyone's status on facebook about what they are thankful for made me think about what I was thankful for and really one thing popped into my head:

I am thankful for you Heather Marie Leahy.  Without your cruel trial of self truth and self abuse that threw my life for one giant loop I would not be where I am today.  I would not have my amazing job and my amazing coworkers that make me laugh and want to wake up every morning.  I would not have met some other wonderful people that really make my heart sing. I would not get to see old friends and family as much as I do and I would not have nearly as much fun as I do every weekend.  I discovered new music, both from my speakers and my own hands.  I am thankful that you treated me with no respect and showed me people and attitudes that dripped with anathema.  Recognizing good people is second nature to me now and knowing the opposite of respect, dignity, sanity, safety, honesty, passion, and determination only make me know the real meaning of these words better.  So thank you foolish worker bee, I feel like a queen. 

On a lighter note Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Song suggestion: Missy - The Airborne Toxic Event
TV suggestion: Skins