House of Sin

Thursday, April 27, 2006

SinWatch I: Gluttony & Pride

Gluttony

Jay and Silent Bob were introduced as characters in Kevin Smith's first film, Clerks. In the twelve years since Clerks hit the big screen, Jay (played by Smith's close friend, Jay Mewes) and Silent Bob (played by Smith himself) have played a part in almost every Kevin Smith film.

The two entertainers are close friends in real life. As such, Jay's antics are often fodder for Smith's college tours. Smith answers questions, tells stories of Hollywood, and find ways to embarass his friends. At a recent event, Smith shared a story about Jay and Jay's drug addictions. The story was ultimately misquoted in the print media. Frustrated, Kevin Smith chose to detail the entire history of his friendship with Mewes, and the history of Mewes' battle with drug addiction in his blog, My Boring Ass Life:

"I figured why not put the whole tale of Jason’s battle with drug addiction into print here, where folks can get a better idea of who Jason truly is and maybe why he fell victim to heroin abuse in the first place. I’m thinking it’s gonna be at least a four-parter, and I’m hoping to wrap it up by April 6th, the day Mewes celebrates his “Sober Birthday”, when Jay will mark his third straight year of living completely drug and alcohol free."

The "tale" became 9 entries long, and describes a multi-year period of gluttony, excess, friendship, love and redemption. Go here and read.

Jay Mewes found redemption. The second sinner in this entry is not so lucky.

Or as smart.

--

Pride

I'm not a huge fan of the current President. Polls and popular opinion seem to show that a majority of the country agrees with me. Nice of you to join me, people.

Since stupidity isn't one of the Seven Deadly Sins, I thought I'd take a moment to highlight an article that puts Lord Dubya's accomplishments into perspective.

Rolling Stone magazine published an article with the, um, open-minded title of "The Worst President Ever". The article ponders where George W. Bush ranks among his colleagues:

"From time to time, after hours, I kick back with my colleagues at Princeton to argue idly about which president really was the worst of them all. For years, these perennial debates have largely focused on the same handful of chief executives whom national polls of historians, from across the ideological and political spectrum, routinely cite as the bottom of the presidential barrel.James Buchanan... Andrew Johnson... Warren G. Harding... Herbert Hoover.... Richard Nixon..."

"...Now, though, George W. Bush is in serious contention for the title of worst ever. In early 2004, an informal survey of 415 historians conducted by the nonpartisan History News Network found that eighty-one percent considered the Bush administration a "failure."

For anyone who's made a half-hearted attempt to follow the trials and tribulation of the Bush Administration, there aren't many surprises in the article. Seeing Dubya's achievements and failures put into historical perspective, though, provided a sense of self-assurance.

I'm NOT wrong. He IS an idiot.

Now, Rolling Stone magazine has never been a literary apologist for the Republican Party, and the author of the article admits that most historians are liberals. Take that into mind when you read the article.

Which, again, is here.

-- The Bastard.

Posted by The Bastard :: 12:00 AM :: 0 comments