I despise those inspirational posters that adorn the office walls of middle managers across the nation.  You know the ones–they feature a generic scenic photo with some faux-Zen caption extolling the virtues of teamwork or vision.  But I can totally get behind these Star Trek-themed riffs on the concept.  You gotta love the one featuring James Kirk and his deliciously smarmy smile.  He looks like he’s relishing a recent sexual conquest.  “Yeoman Rand?  Yeah, I tapped that.  Isn’t that right, Lieutenant Uhuru?  After all, you were there, too.  Heh.”

I just got a note in my Inbox regarding an organizing meeting for the DFL Disability Caucus.  I attended similar meetings during the 2004 election cycle and still have mixed feelings about the experience.  The people who took it upon themselves to chair the group were not well-known in the disability community and were not entirely familiar with the rules of disability etiquette.  One of the co-chairs was shockingly rude to a volunteer with a developmental disability during a meeting; it was missteps like this that created a lot of tension within the group and ultimately made me reluctant to get involved in future campaign efforts. 

But I’ll probably go to the meeting, despite any misgivings I might have.  I do see that the organizers are making allowances for people to teleconference into the meeting, which already shows me that they at least have a clue. 

If you’re interested in attending the meeting, here are the details:

The Minnesota DFL Disability Caucus invites you to attend an organizing
meeting on Wednesday, August 16^th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
at:

Courage
Center, Ed Center
conference room

(The information desk can direct you to the correct room.)

3915 Golden Valley
Rd

Golden Valley, MN 55422

As someone who has spent a lot of time working on contracts over the last couple months, I can appreciate the effort and attention to detail that is required to craft iron-clad agreement.  Unfortunately, even the best lawyers can sometimes craft a sloppy or vague clause, as Rogers Cable discovered recently when a misplaced comma forced it to shell out additional millions of dollars to a vendor.  Lawyers sometimes get a bad rep for exploiting such “technicalities”, but words and punctuation do matter.  And that’s reassuring to a grammar freak like me. 

This is Thor, my sister’s puppy. It’s a puggle, one of those designer breeds that evokes adoring coos even when said creature is relieving himself on your bamboo floor. I’m considering using Thor as my official mascot during the upcoming revolution. I’ll be like the guy from SPECTRE in the James Bond films. As I explain to the UN Security Council that my orbiting death ray is indeed quite operational, the camera will stay focused on Thor gnawing on his favorite chew toy.

Mike Nelson, former castaway on the Satellite of Love, is now offering a new way for us to listen to him mock modern American cinema.  His new site, RiffTrax, offers commentary tracks for specific movies that users can listen to on an MP3 player while watching a DVD of the movie.  The first two available tracks are for Roadhouse (a nuanced film celebrating the drunken misogynists of rural America) and The Fifth Element (award-winner of the Special Oscar for Most Incomprehensible Science Fiction Film Ever).

My reaction to Nelson’s idea is mixed. I have no doubt that his riffs are funny and worth a listen.  However, the process of fumbling with both your iPod and DVD player to make sure the two are in sync seems like a hassle.  And it just won’t be the same without Crow and Tom Servo serving as fellow-wiseacres-in-arms.  But with MST3K now off the air, I’ll take my biting jibes at pop culture where I can get them.  And Nelson had better do a track for Battlefield Earth.  That film is just begging for a thrashing.