Archive for May, 2006
Things that are stupid and make me laugh:
People who say, "While I don’t agree with so-and-so’s opinion, I will defend to the death his right to say it." This is a favorite of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. That’s why they didn’t enlist. So they could stay here to protect me the next time some guy voids his bowels all over my 1st Amendment rights.
Donny Deutsch. Never has a person been more appropriately named. Oh my god, did you see that one where he really stuck it to the pedophiles? Way to take a tough stance on a controversial issue, guy. My hero.
Anti-drug commercials. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve almost shot my friend with daddy’s gun after smoking marijuana. It’s like the people who make those ads got inside my head while I was high. The old school ones were even better. This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs with a side of bacon.
Movies on TV where they dub in clever, kid-friendly alternatives for swear words. "Look at this motherlover right here. Flip you, African American."
May 30th, 2006
Five useful websites:
del.icio.us - Create and store bookmarks at this site. Great for whenever you’re on another computer and can’t remember a url. You can also browse through the bookmarks of other people and check out all the interesting stuff you’re missing.
bloglines.com - Keep track of new posts and entries for your favorite blogs and news sites all in one place. A big time saver. If you get a lot of your news online, just subscribe to all the sites you frequent and check here for when they’ve updated. If you don’t check on that kind of thing so often, only subscribe to blogs that aren’t constantly adding new posts.
soyouwanna.com - A wide-ranging list of heavily condensed Idiot’s Guide type essays for topics like converting to Buddhism and faking indie rock knowledge. Humorous and informative. So basically, the two failed goals of this blog. Screw those guys.
mininova.org and isohunt.com - The two best bittorrent search sites. Good for: TV shows, movies, software, radio broadcasts, new albums, old concerts. Not good for: specific songs, obscure or older movies and TV shows.
howstuffworks.com - They actually have a pretty extensive list of stuff here. Check it out, mang.
Soon to come: Five political blogs, five fun websites and probably not much much more!
May 24th, 2006
10. The Worldly Philosophers. Great book about the most influential economic minds and their ideas. Wonderful introduction into the world of economics.
9. Catch-22. Gotta have a war book on here. I personally like Slaughterhouse-Five better, but had I read that and not this I would only partially understand the universe.
8. Guns, Germs, and Steel. The history of humans. Always interesting to know. My main beef with the book is that he used that second comma after germs. Not really incorrect, but tacky and unnecessary.
7. What Liberal Media? There have now been a large number of books written about right wing think tanks, media and their impact on the public discourse. This one, by The Nation’s Eric Alterman, is in my estimation the best of the bunch. Thorough, entertaining and more objective than many of the others.
6. Fast Food Nation. Great expose on the fast food industry that also details how much it has shaped the culture and corporate climate of the country.
5. Siddhartha. You probably should read Steppenwolf, too, but I haven’t so I can’t speak to its merits.
4. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. How globalization and worldwide corporations have dropped a deuce on the earth’s eco-systems and indigenous peoples. Which we all know, but he has an insider’s perspective, and writes without being whiny.
3. Brothers Karamazov. Religion, Law, Morality, the inner demons of man, all wrapped up in a compelling drama. Not sure the guy thinks too highly of the ladies, however.
2. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. From streetsmart gangster to a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, this guy did it all. A How-To guide, if you will. One of the more intimate biographies of one of the more fascinating people.
1. Catcher in the Rye. Wonderful and depressing coming of age story about a crazy kid in a crazy world. Told first person, so it lacks some of the beautiful character descriptions of Salinger’s other great works (which you should also read), but it’s a fine novel. A book for and about outsiders (like a Wes Anderson movie). Mark Chapman and the guy who tried to assassinate Reagan were both obsessed with this book. Just throwin that out there. Crucial to understanding the universe, however.
Honorable mention: No God but God and Everybody Poops.
(Blogger’s note: This list assumes you already know your Bible, Quran and Shakespeare. And a more appropriate title would be 10 books you really ought to read if "Prison Break" isn’t on.)
(Blogger’s note addendum: For the most part, philosophers have been excluded from this post because that is a separate list.)
May 17th, 2006
A couple days ago I watched a short documentary made in 2000 of Al Gore with his family. Filmed by Spike Jonze it was designed to flesh out the man’s identity, and show a much more palatable persona than the public is used to seeing. Here was Big Al as this beloved family man, with convictions and morals and even a personality that a lot of the country could get behind. His seriousness and boyscoutery seemed so endearing and marginal, good-naturedly mocked but also admired by his wife and kids. Oh yeah, he also came across as very presidential. Gravitas balanced out with some southern modesty and compassion. He had this sincere but wizened idealism that was really inspiring. So what’s the deal?
Gore’s daughter said he had a problem with the celebrity aspect of contemporary politics. Well so do I, Baby Gore, so do I. Covering celebrities/politicians is so often about creating and then reinforcing a certain image or persona. Trivial acts, mannerisms and traits are greatly exaggerated and over reported. Too much is made of things like say, oh, an awkwardly passionate kiss at the Democratic Convention ("by gosh, he’s just trying so hard to ditch that emotionless robot") or a talking point repeated once too often ("he said lockbox twice this week, what a tiresome bore"). Using this standard, it becomes absurdly easy to build up or tear down anyone we wish ("Arnie took the H3 out over the H2 today. Such a trooper, doing his part for the environment").
So the Gorester is shier than your average bear and not particularly well-liked in the media. However, as MJ says, "don’t stop till you get enough." My man Al is back: Gore/Feingold 2008. Just like Tricky Dick, just like Rocky. Put up your dukes, America. Hahaha.
May 16th, 2006