Boycott ExxonMobil

I've been fuming over rising gas prices for a while, especially lately when it seems the price has risen for no reason: we're not involved in a new war, there's been no natural disaster, and currently there's been no increase in demand.

The newspapers have either provided lame excuses why the price should go up (gasoline additive has been outlawed in several states, speculation over Iran's nuclear program has affected the price of a barrel of crude), or provided pipe dreams that the price will come down in mid-summer for no particular reason.

There've been many emails floating around about one day "gas-outs", but these don't work for two reasons: 1) we've all got to buy gas sometime, so if we don't buy any today that means we must buy it tomorrow or the next day; 2) the oil companies examine their profits over the course of a week, not a single day.

But during my recent trip up north to visit my son, I visually reaffirmed what I've always noticed...that Exxon stations (and Mobil, also Esso, since they're all part of the same company) consistently have the highest gas prices.

So this got me to thinking...why not boycott Exxon/Mobil/Esso stations? This way I can still buy my gas, I'll probably get it cheaper anyway, and (best of all) I'll be sticking it to company that's been reporting record quarterly profits ever since Hurricane Katrina!

BOYCOTT Exxon, Mobile, and Esso!!!

Dalek

I just finished watching an episode of the new Dr. Who on the SciFi channel.

Dalek is about the Doctor finding the last surviving Dalek, which is being held prisoner. Apparently, the Time Lords and Daleks wiped each other out in the last "time war", so the Doctor is the last Gallifreyan and he thought all the Daleks whiped out.

While keeping with the old "Exterminate!" bit, this Dalek is extremely intelligent. This is the episode when you learn why the Daleks are so feared, just this one whipes out a whole bunch of people.

Oh, they also resolve the whole Dalek VS stairs issue.

Zombies of Various Flavors

I've been checking out a series of graphic novels called The Walking Dead. The creator is paying homage to all those cool zombie movies, his premise is following one character through his journey (as opposed to a movie, where at the end you're left wondering "But what happened next?") As with all the good zombie movies, the real focus is on interpersonal relationships and how people and society breaks down...kinda like MTV's The Real World, "What happens when people stop being nice and start being real." Just add zombies.

I also checked out a limited series called Marvel Zombies, which is friggin' hilarious. This is an alternate world where the Marvel heroes are super-powered, flesh-eating undead. So basically in each issue they're up against one hero who's still human (in issue #1 it's Magneto), who they slowly wear down until it turns into a feeding frenzy.

Adrift And At Peace

I haven't had much to say lately, but this is largely because I'm finding myself very, very content with my life. My new job is working better than I could have possibly imagined, and every other aspect of my life is just going so well. I am happy, content, and at peace.