Musings, Part I

- So, Jesuits. Pretty cool people usually. Within the myriad Catholic religious orders, they’re the most famously academic. If you see ‘Jesuit’ attached to the name of a college, you know it’s going to be a good one. Most are more than just a priest, they’re encouraged to be in the world and keep going in whatever profession they came into the order with, which was usually something academic. Here’s another reason they’re cool, a sense of humor: God to Man: Get Over Yourself .
- Leave Pixar alone, Pixar’s Latest Film Has Wall Street on Edge. I think Up looks great, then again I like…everything Pixar has done (even Cars which isn’t really my…well, it doesn’t speak to my very limited sports interests and isn’t my music genre of choice). I loved Wall-E. It was adorable and amazing to look at and Up doesn’t look any different. And the cranky old guy? He looks kinda cute. How cool would it be to float away in your house by means of hundreds of balloons?
- This recent NY Time article, Somali Pirates Said to Seize Ship with US Crewmen reminds me of a Daily Show report from last year, from after the election called The Buccaneer Stops Here. One of the many things I love about the Daily Show, besides the irreverent humor that nonetheless makes very good points about, well, everything, is John Oliver’s reports. I’m not sure why he’s my currently my favorite correspondent, possibly the British thing, possibly because he tried to refuse to do Dickensian English during his first reports on the show, during the Queen’s visit to the US, but I find him hilarious. So the whole pirate thing in the news brings to mind his report from November. Watch. Enjoy. Laugh.
- It’s funny how certain things become associated with other things in your mind. I think that’s one of the ways I learn, I link stuff up in my head and it may not make sense, but it seems to work out okay. So the association of today is Vienna Teng’s new album. I love her stuff. Unwritten Letter #1 is one of my top…three favorite songs. Anyway, her third album either came out or I found it when I was studying abroad in London. I, as I always do with new music, listened to it pretty much constantly for a while there. That semester in London was also when I decided to see what the deal was with Doctor Who, since I was in the country it came from. Turns out, the newly revamped series (the only part I’ve seen) is pretty much…awesome. I could go on and on about how cool it is and how great the 10th Doctor’s hair is (it’s pretty awesome) but since I was watching Doctor Who and listening to Vienna Teng’s third album those two are now linked in my brain. I can’t watch an episode without one of the songs sort of starting up in my head and vice versa with listening to the cd. I have the same problem with Eiffel 65 and one of the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? computer games. The game was pretty cool but the show, of course, was better. Oh Rockapella.
- An ode to peanut butter: Peanut Butter: It’s More Than A Sandwich. I like PB. Jif is the best kind, hands down no others need apply. Despite having sort of sworn off peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (I decided freshman year of college that 13 years of them in school was quite enough to last a lifetime) I still enjoy PB toast and PB in other things, mostly Reese’s Peanut Butter cups which are my favorite candy. And the article is right, it is very American. You can’t find proper PB in Europe. Not just because we process things different but because they have things like Nutella and don’t understand our fascination with PB. PB is one of those simple foods that is just plain good on, well, quite a lot of things actually. My mom swears the best PB is from the top of a fresh jar, which yeah, is probably true. I’m not sure I’d refrigerate PB like the author of the NPR article does but a friend of mine refuses to refrigerate butter (which is just weird to me) so maybe it’s just a quirk.
- It’s kind of amazing to have friends who remember your quirks and indulge them for you.