Friday, September 15, 2006
A Hilarious Website with Which I Am in Love
http://www.5ives.com/archives/2004/08/25/five-things-ill-be-doing-while-youre-at-burning-man/
Check this out - this guy is hilarious!! This is my favorite entry so far:
Check this out - this guy is hilarious!! This is my favorite entry so far:
Five things I’ll be doing while you’re at Burning Man
August 25th, 2004- carefully stewarding my pallor
- repeatedly watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on the TiVo
- defecating indoors—copiously, often, and without queueing
- not tongue-kissing a sweaty Java programmer in clown makeup named “Shanti”
- wearing clothes—lots and lots of square, capitalist, heinous-body-covering clothes
Monday, September 11, 2006
Local Cinema Kicks Out Mother and Child
I'm writing a letter tomorrow to the manager of the Regal Cinema Downtown to tell him what an ass and horrible human being he is for making a mother nursing her baby stop and leave.
Yes, he was within his legal rights, but I find his behavior abhorrent.
The only people who are 'offended' by breastfeeding mothers are uptight prigs with deep-seated mental problems disguised as modesty. We are biological beings. A mother cow feeding her young does not require a closet. Neither should a mother human doing the same thing.
Apparently this also happened at Atomic Burrito. Having nursed my child - with covering, I should add - everywhere from the va art museum to airplanes to restaurants to the downtown mall, etc., I am horrified at the idea that I could be curtailed. And that another mother was.
What is this world coming to, when the smug clients of downtown establishments trump the needs of a baby??? And don't tell me 'do it at home.' You might as well sequester mothers in a harem if you say something as stupid as that.
Yes, he was within his legal rights, but I find his behavior abhorrent.
The only people who are 'offended' by breastfeeding mothers are uptight prigs with deep-seated mental problems disguised as modesty. We are biological beings. A mother cow feeding her young does not require a closet. Neither should a mother human doing the same thing.
Apparently this also happened at Atomic Burrito. Having nursed my child - with covering, I should add - everywhere from the va art museum to airplanes to restaurants to the downtown mall, etc., I am horrified at the idea that I could be curtailed. And that another mother was.
What is this world coming to, when the smug clients of downtown establishments trump the needs of a baby??? And don't tell me 'do it at home.' You might as well sequester mothers in a harem if you say something as stupid as that.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Why I Hate Politics
Actually, this is more of a question: why, in fact, do I hate politics?
I was thinking this week about news because of Katie Couric's debut where she reported on Suri Cruise and how that wasn't really news. I actually didn't see the broadcast - I heard about it on a morning show (Kid Kraddick). Scarlett Johannsen was giving a quote that she thought it was lame for Couric to report on the Suri thing. Go Scarlett.
So yeah, there's other news going on in the world. I tried listening to NPR. Bush arguing for why he should be given leeway to spy on Americans. Calling on the legislature to act. Ted Koppel has a program coming up on the Discovery Channel (no, it's not on how aliens made the pyramids with the help of sharks, surprisingly) about how laws have changed since 9/11. People mad about the Iranian president at UVA. Blockade being partially lifted from Lebanon.
These are, to me, all really "sexy" stories - meaning, I have personal interest and/or investment in the content. I admired Katami's efforts to help Iran loosen up. I am extremely concerned about the loss of rights since 9/11. I am absolutely incensed with the way Israel seems to get away with bullying its neighbors because to hold it otherwise accountable would be to seem anti-holocaust or anti-semitic.
So why am I not as engaged with these stories as I should be? Why am I not reading about them or watching the news or listening to more than a couple minutes to NPR? Am I a fat, self-satisfied American? Am I oversaturated with news? Am I dispondent about the world? Am I superficial?
Maybe all of those things, but I think, even worse, is this: at the heart of it, the political issues I listed above are really not that much different than any of the Hollywood star-debacles or junior high brouhahas from my past. The fact that they are presented with "serious voices" of maturity, restraint, nonpartisanship - which frankly, makes the stories dry and boring and disingenuous - only somewhat disguises the true nature of what's going on.
Think about it:
Presidential power, spying on Americans, etc. = whiny guy who wants to do what he wants without any oversight because he's doing it for the good of others and claims the moral high ground and bullies other people into going along with it, and if people complain he's overstepping their bounds, he says they are just anti-God or anti-America or anti-Republican
- how is this different than michael jackson wanting to have boys over for sleepovers without any oversight, he's doing it for the good of others, to help them overcome cancer, and when people criticize him, it's racism
Israel bombing Lebanon - how is this different than the girl in school who is confined to a wheelchair but who secretly picks on the pretty blonde but no one can say anything because to do so would make them seem anti-disabled?
People mad at Katami - this is just like when on Lost, the french lady warns everyone about the others, but no one wants to listen because she's previously been an ass
Koppel on post 9/11 laws - our rights are being diminished in the interest of security. Yet, we're all just taking it. kind of like how we all just take this ridiculous Tom Cruise craziness. We all know he's crazy. We even say he's crazy. But he has a cute kid, and we still say 'aw' instead of 'who the f-cares, the dude is crazy?" ok. Maybe people do say that. But they should be saying it about the laws, too.
The problem is, we do say Tom Cruise and Michael Jackson are crazy. We're not as afraid to state an opinion about that because their stories aren't cloaked in faux-intellectual draperies. But to say Bush is a wacko jacko, too, subscribing to the cultish religion of power-mongering - well, that would just sound uninformed, right? We can't just say he's nuts, because we're afraid... afraid of sounding stupid, and unsubtle, and maybe of the consequent fbi visit...
I guess my point is, I find it hard to listen/watch/read "real" news because it's frustrating and overwhelming and, at the base of it, human behavior is childish, selfish, and repetitive, no matter if it's a politician or a socialite. The latter is easier to take because the stupidity there doesn't cause the deaths of innocents. Only the death of innocence...
I was thinking this week about news because of Katie Couric's debut where she reported on Suri Cruise and how that wasn't really news. I actually didn't see the broadcast - I heard about it on a morning show (Kid Kraddick). Scarlett Johannsen was giving a quote that she thought it was lame for Couric to report on the Suri thing. Go Scarlett.
So yeah, there's other news going on in the world. I tried listening to NPR. Bush arguing for why he should be given leeway to spy on Americans. Calling on the legislature to act. Ted Koppel has a program coming up on the Discovery Channel (no, it's not on how aliens made the pyramids with the help of sharks, surprisingly) about how laws have changed since 9/11. People mad about the Iranian president at UVA. Blockade being partially lifted from Lebanon.
These are, to me, all really "sexy" stories - meaning, I have personal interest and/or investment in the content. I admired Katami's efforts to help Iran loosen up. I am extremely concerned about the loss of rights since 9/11. I am absolutely incensed with the way Israel seems to get away with bullying its neighbors because to hold it otherwise accountable would be to seem anti-holocaust or anti-semitic.
So why am I not as engaged with these stories as I should be? Why am I not reading about them or watching the news or listening to more than a couple minutes to NPR? Am I a fat, self-satisfied American? Am I oversaturated with news? Am I dispondent about the world? Am I superficial?
Maybe all of those things, but I think, even worse, is this: at the heart of it, the political issues I listed above are really not that much different than any of the Hollywood star-debacles or junior high brouhahas from my past. The fact that they are presented with "serious voices" of maturity, restraint, nonpartisanship - which frankly, makes the stories dry and boring and disingenuous - only somewhat disguises the true nature of what's going on.
Think about it:
Presidential power, spying on Americans, etc. = whiny guy who wants to do what he wants without any oversight because he's doing it for the good of others and claims the moral high ground and bullies other people into going along with it, and if people complain he's overstepping their bounds, he says they are just anti-God or anti-America or anti-Republican
- how is this different than michael jackson wanting to have boys over for sleepovers without any oversight, he's doing it for the good of others, to help them overcome cancer, and when people criticize him, it's racism
Israel bombing Lebanon - how is this different than the girl in school who is confined to a wheelchair but who secretly picks on the pretty blonde but no one can say anything because to do so would make them seem anti-disabled?
People mad at Katami - this is just like when on Lost, the french lady warns everyone about the others, but no one wants to listen because she's previously been an ass
Koppel on post 9/11 laws - our rights are being diminished in the interest of security. Yet, we're all just taking it. kind of like how we all just take this ridiculous Tom Cruise craziness. We all know he's crazy. We even say he's crazy. But he has a cute kid, and we still say 'aw' instead of 'who the f-cares, the dude is crazy?" ok. Maybe people do say that. But they should be saying it about the laws, too.
The problem is, we do say Tom Cruise and Michael Jackson are crazy. We're not as afraid to state an opinion about that because their stories aren't cloaked in faux-intellectual draperies. But to say Bush is a wacko jacko, too, subscribing to the cultish religion of power-mongering - well, that would just sound uninformed, right? We can't just say he's nuts, because we're afraid... afraid of sounding stupid, and unsubtle, and maybe of the consequent fbi visit...
I guess my point is, I find it hard to listen/watch/read "real" news because it's frustrating and overwhelming and, at the base of it, human behavior is childish, selfish, and repetitive, no matter if it's a politician or a socialite. The latter is easier to take because the stupidity there doesn't cause the deaths of innocents. Only the death of innocence...
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
My New Favorite Website! Check it Out!
You know it's gotta be worth it if I'm using exclamation marks.
Seriously, go to this website and watch the utube "mp4 player" video. It had me busting several guts.
But these other links are entertaining, too. The $39 dollar experiment also was a great read.
Is there a term for the kind of 'web thrill of delight' one experiences when links actually lead to something worthwhile!!??
Seriously, go to this website and watch the utube "mp4 player" video. It had me busting several guts.
But these other links are entertaining, too. The $39 dollar experiment also was a great read.
Is there a term for the kind of 'web thrill of delight' one experiences when links actually lead to something worthwhile!!??
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Children up for Adoption in Virginia - this is so scary
I woke up thinking about the directory of children waiting for adoption in Virginia.
It's just like a dating service, only instead of hot bods, it's kids, some of them really young, some of them frighteningly old, stuck in foster care and needing adoption.
You HAVE to check this out: http://www.adoptuskids.org/states/va/browse.html
Look at Amber, aged 17, who likes to knit...
It's so depressing, all these children without real parents or anyone to love them. 100% of the people I know who were adopted or spent time in foster care were abused and suffered mightily.
I went through a phase where I was going to adopt instead of having 'my own' child. I felt it was the morally responsible thing to do. I still feel that way - except that it's so much easier to accidentally get knocked up than it is to go through the process of adopting a child.
Would it were easier... I mean, adopting a teen would be great-- get extra help mowing the yard... (just a joke)...
I can't believe the title of this page is "Browse Virginia's Kids." It's like shopping for pants or something. Grrr.
It's just like a dating service, only instead of hot bods, it's kids, some of them really young, some of them frighteningly old, stuck in foster care and needing adoption.
You HAVE to check this out: http://www.adoptuskids.org/states/va/browse.html
Look at Amber, aged 17, who likes to knit...
It's so depressing, all these children without real parents or anyone to love them. 100% of the people I know who were adopted or spent time in foster care were abused and suffered mightily.
I went through a phase where I was going to adopt instead of having 'my own' child. I felt it was the morally responsible thing to do. I still feel that way - except that it's so much easier to accidentally get knocked up than it is to go through the process of adopting a child.
Would it were easier... I mean, adopting a teen would be great-- get extra help mowing the yard... (just a joke)...
I can't believe the title of this page is "Browse Virginia's Kids." It's like shopping for pants or something. Grrr.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Why do we need streetsweepers?
FUNNIEST thing ever (okay, not even close, but still, pretty darn ridiculous): watching this giant, cold war tank machine the size of a trash-compacted house slowly and noisily lumber up our street to turn, dumbly, in a circle in our sidewalk - slow and imperious, deliberate and dull and unstoppable - wondering what the heck it was doing only to see it has little tiny brooms uselessly shuffling along its side.
HA HA! WHat the heck?? So much structure, gasoline, energy, and seriousness for an automated and pointless BROOM??
Seriously -- how much money does it cost to run these machines, and shouldn't it be going somewhere else? There's plenty of litter in the city that will not be reached by these ineffectual little sweepers... not to mention homeless people and all that.
Good god, it was ridiculous.
HA HA! WHat the heck?? So much structure, gasoline, energy, and seriousness for an automated and pointless BROOM??
Seriously -- how much money does it cost to run these machines, and shouldn't it be going somewhere else? There's plenty of litter in the city that will not be reached by these ineffectual little sweepers... not to mention homeless people and all that.
Good god, it was ridiculous.
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