- Monk begins the end tonight, Obsessive Influence. It’s a good show really, and I must say I never considered the impact it might have on TV. Good for it. I did like the bit in the article about Psych and The Mentalist because Psych came first and it’s more fun. And a great hour of TV once a week. Good old USA network. You used to have JAG reruns, now it’s NCIS three times a night. Which I appreciate because I can get caught up on those in between years I didn’t watch. Early bon voyage, Monk.
-Is it strange that I only really know about a cultural icon in one genre through the medium of another? This weekend is the Newport Jazz Festival, in its 55th year (one year older than my father…and four years younger than the recently late John Hughes, another cultural icon), and last was the city’s Folk Festival, celebrating its 40th year. Why is this significant? Well, because of my roundabout reference which gives a clue to how my brain seems to work. Associative. See, I know what the Newport Jazz Festival is, or that it exists at all, because it was mentioned in High Society, the musical version of The Philadelphia Story, which is one of my favorite movies. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn were in The Philadelphia Story (incidentally, one of the days this month in TCM’s month of stars is Cary Grant day, but Katharine doesn’t seem to get one…) and Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra (he also gets a day this month with TCM, and the movie poster on the website for him is High Society) were in High Society with this guy in a supporting role named Louis Armstrong. He and Bing (ever awesome) did a song about jazz and it was mentioned Bing’s character’s home was being lent to the festival. I’m not a huge jazz fan, but I do recognize some of the names from the schedule, Dave Brubeck of course and the Marsalis last name, a brother of Wynton.
But to get back to my original question, I suppose it’s not that strange. How many kids (well, people) my age or younger are only going to know about the Woodstock concert (A Moment of Muddy Grace) because of the movie that’s coming out soon? Along those lines, Julia Child…Meryl Streep plays her in a movie coming out today and a good half of the movie is basically about how awesome she was. Her kitchen is in the Smithsonian for pity sake, there was a huge…okay, a few articles really…deal about her pots coming to the Smithsonian from an exhibit in California where they’d been sent after her death until the exhibit closed, which it just did. But Julia herself? She was mentioned as part of a rant by Toby about PBS on the West Wing…I don’t even think I’ve ever seen an episode of her show. She was mentioned, I know she was a big deal in the cooking world but still…that reference is still there. And what about something like Mr. Potato Head? Are kids going to know what the toy is because of Toy Story and not because they see it in stores or their parents manage to find one?
Life’s funny that way. Vonnegut said, “Life happens too fast for you to ever think about it. If you could just persuade people of this, but they insist on amassing information.” The thing is, now dead Kurt Vonnegut (who wrote rather well, really), we’ve built a whole culture online helping people amass information and giving them the chance to think about life. What do you think this blog is anyway?
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
07 August 2009
10 June 2009
Musings, Part CC
- Colbert's guest editing Newsweek to coincide with his trip to Baghdad to do his show. Pretty cool and should be a funny issue, well...his insertions at least. Whose Bright Idea Was This?. Why I Took This Crummy Job. A Reader's Guide to the Colbert Issue.
- Now I have to go to New York....A MoMA Retrospective of Tim Burton's Career.
- So, sad but true: shots fired in DC...not that big of a deal/not surprising/not really news. Shots fired in downtown? That's news and slightly more worrisome, especially near the Mall. But shots fired at the Holocaust Museum? Now that's really not good. I wonder what brand of whackjob it will be this time. 2 People Shot at the US Holocaust Museum.
Update: And white supremacist wins! You can always count on them for the crazy and the whole really helping their cause by being crazy. Good job whackjob, way to live up to the stereotype. Two thumbs, way up.
- Now I have to go to New York....A MoMA Retrospective of Tim Burton's Career.
- So, sad but true: shots fired in DC...not that big of a deal/not surprising/not really news. Shots fired in downtown? That's news and slightly more worrisome, especially near the Mall. But shots fired at the Holocaust Museum? Now that's really not good. I wonder what brand of whackjob it will be this time. 2 People Shot at the US Holocaust Museum.
Update: And white supremacist wins! You can always count on them for the crazy and the whole really helping their cause by being crazy. Good job whackjob, way to live up to the stereotype. Two thumbs, way up.
05 June 2009
Musings, Part BB
- Escapism in Minutiae of Daily Life. Now I just need the computer to play it.
- Either this guy just writes well or he really is a cool guy. Why I'm Giving Away $1 Billion. Kudos to you Peter Peterson.
- Intriguing idea: Other Shows That Could Use A Giant 'Wipeout'-Style Catapult. You know, I might watch some of these if they made hurling people into the air a regular practice...
- Wow, thanks DC weather. Great for my birthday but on the day I'm roaming about after work in nice pants and shoes, we get a severe thunderstorm warning. April was the showers month, this is June. And we're not supposed to have sympathetic weather up here for Florida's hurricane season. And if it's going to rain, how about lowering the temperature on the day it rains, not just briefly the day after?
- One of those constants: Tom Hanks is a nice guy. Cool too. The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Tue, June 2, 2009.
- I want my marriage (when I have one) to be like this when I'm their age...though without the Alzheimer's. Still, if it's like this after 60 years...that's a life well lived. 60 Years of Marriage: Laughter is Love.
- Nancy Drew! She's awesome and can do anything. And then go to luncheon. Why Do Lawyers Love Nancy Drew? It's No Mystery.
- I find myself rewatching Fantastic Four now that I've seen the Horatio Hornblower: New Adventures movies (and Netflix, get on the ball and let me get the original 6 disc collection, I see it mocking me in Borders, why can't you be a friend like you have been all these months and move it from saved into my queue?). I just not sure which Ioan Gruffudd is better...but I think I have to go with the one with the accent. You win, Horatio. Sorry, Reed. You're awesome and smart and all but I have to stick with the Napoleonic war era naval genius version. I'm sure you understand.
- Speaking of movies, I totally lucked out and got the Thin Man collection for my birthday. The banter is mine, all mine! And I now have the William Powell and Myrna Loy collection, five other delightful movies with the pair of them. I wonder why they don't get touted as a great screen couple like Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy...they were in quite a few together, had great chemistry, and great dialogue. Well, at least I can appreciate them.
- Either this guy just writes well or he really is a cool guy. Why I'm Giving Away $1 Billion. Kudos to you Peter Peterson.
- Intriguing idea: Other Shows That Could Use A Giant 'Wipeout'-Style Catapult. You know, I might watch some of these if they made hurling people into the air a regular practice...
- Wow, thanks DC weather. Great for my birthday but on the day I'm roaming about after work in nice pants and shoes, we get a severe thunderstorm warning. April was the showers month, this is June. And we're not supposed to have sympathetic weather up here for Florida's hurricane season. And if it's going to rain, how about lowering the temperature on the day it rains, not just briefly the day after?
- One of those constants: Tom Hanks is a nice guy. Cool too. The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Tue, June 2, 2009.
- I want my marriage (when I have one) to be like this when I'm their age...though without the Alzheimer's. Still, if it's like this after 60 years...that's a life well lived. 60 Years of Marriage: Laughter is Love.
- Nancy Drew! She's awesome and can do anything. And then go to luncheon. Why Do Lawyers Love Nancy Drew? It's No Mystery.
- I find myself rewatching Fantastic Four now that I've seen the Horatio Hornblower: New Adventures movies (and Netflix, get on the ball and let me get the original 6 disc collection, I see it mocking me in Borders, why can't you be a friend like you have been all these months and move it from saved into my queue?). I just not sure which Ioan Gruffudd is better...but I think I have to go with the one with the accent. You win, Horatio. Sorry, Reed. You're awesome and smart and all but I have to stick with the Napoleonic war era naval genius version. I'm sure you understand.
- Speaking of movies, I totally lucked out and got the Thin Man collection for my birthday. The banter is mine, all mine! And I now have the William Powell and Myrna Loy collection, five other delightful movies with the pair of them. I wonder why they don't get touted as a great screen couple like Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy...they were in quite a few together, had great chemistry, and great dialogue. Well, at least I can appreciate them.
18 May 2009
Musings, Part W
- Congrats to the 4 Kuwaiti women who just got elected to their parliament. They've only had the vote since 2005 but managed to get 4 women, all with Ph.Ds from US institutions, elected in the latest election. And one's a philosophy professor!
- And it's Upfronts week. Thankfully NBC already renewed Chuck, though for a shortened season that hopefully will be extended, ABC re-upped Castle and Better Off Ted (both great by the way) though passed on The Unusuals (which I wasn't terribly, terribly attached to anyway), and Fox re-upped Dollhouse, also good. I think NBC ditched Life though, which is sad but at least it had a partially wrapped up ending. Also read: Does Bringing Back 'Chuck' Mean a New Network Model?
- Back to the hooray for women news: Rachel Alexandra Takes Her First Step Toward Running in the Belmont. Take that Mine That Bird owner. Ha. Your jockey even abandoned the horse for the filly.
- Now I don't follow professional basketball at all but since when are the Magic any good? Magic Tops Celtics, Clearing Way for New Champion. All I remember about the Magic is that they always interrupted UPN and thus my Star Trek viewing. I think that was when Voyager was on...I really hated the team then. Probably still do. Still. When did they get decent?
- I must admit I'm conflicted about this: In Search of Europe: Sweden. Because I like the EU and I like IKEA. Maybe as an American I don't really completely understand the unwillingness to have broad, though uniform, standards and practices across a continent. We do that and, though bumpy and currently in a slump, look where it's gotten us. I will say that the store fosters an addiction...there's just so much stuff...and all so useful...gah. At the same time I'm backing the whole united states of Europe idea I still like the diverse history of the continent, and those two islands nearby and those two countries across the small sea that are connected but only ish.
- I have to say one of my favorite series of skits on SNL is Celebrity Jeopardy. I'm glad that they did one this past Saturday when Will Ferrell was back hosting. Hulu.com.
- A survey on surveys! How fun: Take Our Survey: Are There Too Many Surveys?
- And it's Upfronts week. Thankfully NBC already renewed Chuck, though for a shortened season that hopefully will be extended, ABC re-upped Castle and Better Off Ted (both great by the way) though passed on The Unusuals (which I wasn't terribly, terribly attached to anyway), and Fox re-upped Dollhouse, also good. I think NBC ditched Life though, which is sad but at least it had a partially wrapped up ending. Also read: Does Bringing Back 'Chuck' Mean a New Network Model?
- Back to the hooray for women news: Rachel Alexandra Takes Her First Step Toward Running in the Belmont. Take that Mine That Bird owner. Ha. Your jockey even abandoned the horse for the filly.
- Now I don't follow professional basketball at all but since when are the Magic any good? Magic Tops Celtics, Clearing Way for New Champion. All I remember about the Magic is that they always interrupted UPN and thus my Star Trek viewing. I think that was when Voyager was on...I really hated the team then. Probably still do. Still. When did they get decent?
- I must admit I'm conflicted about this: In Search of Europe: Sweden. Because I like the EU and I like IKEA. Maybe as an American I don't really completely understand the unwillingness to have broad, though uniform, standards and practices across a continent. We do that and, though bumpy and currently in a slump, look where it's gotten us. I will say that the store fosters an addiction...there's just so much stuff...and all so useful...gah. At the same time I'm backing the whole united states of Europe idea I still like the diverse history of the continent, and those two islands nearby and those two countries across the small sea that are connected but only ish.
- I have to say one of my favorite series of skits on SNL is Celebrity Jeopardy. I'm glad that they did one this past Saturday when Will Ferrell was back hosting. Hulu.com.
- A survey on surveys! How fun: Take Our Survey: Are There Too Many Surveys?
07 May 2009
Musings, Part S
- Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings made me want to be an architect. Then I realized that no, drawing and all that math probably weren't for me. Doodling buildings is one thing, large scale is quite another. Still, kudos to your professional achievements (because you were a jerk in your personal life): The Goodbye Swirl.
- Congrats Maine: Maine Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage. So, we now have the first state to do so without any hassle. Vermont had to overcome a veto, and the other states who've allowed it have done so because their courts ordered it. And DC just passed a bill through the Council to recognize marriages performed in other states. I think the main interest in this for me, beyond it being something I support as a matter of social policy, is that I've learned about the civil rights movement in classes and how that swept through states and studied Supreme Court cases whose decisions altered the social policy fabric of the country that started out as test cases, notably Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. This is a fascinating look at how social policy happens simultaneously at the state and national level, though not the federal. Now all we have to do is wait for the interactive color coded map, based on who did it by a the legislature, vote or by court order to show up somewhere. Then you know it's got real momentum. The map is key.
- Oh, Fringe. I was wondering when you'd mention Star Trek. Alternate universes and a crazy guy who thinks he's Spock in one episode, of course placed in the week of the premiere? Awesome tie in Abrams, awesome.
- I am even more ridiculously excited now. A positive review! A Heavenly Enterprise. I can still understand my mom's reticence about it but I was never much of a fan of the original series. Except for Spock. Because he, quite frankly, is freaking awesome. Oh, here's another from the NY Times: Star Trek- A Franchise Goes Boldly Backward. And NPR's: 'Star Trek': That Final Frontier, Boldly Reapproached. Be sure to read the comment by Angelica Czekalski to compares, rather convincingly, President Obama to Spock.
- Thank you! Finally someone getting at the crux of the issue. If we're still going to back the no sex before marriage thing, shouldn't we fix that rather than all the stuff that comes out of breaking that? Under God: Palin, Prejean, and Pre-Marital Ambivalence.
- Congrats Maine: Maine Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage. So, we now have the first state to do so without any hassle. Vermont had to overcome a veto, and the other states who've allowed it have done so because their courts ordered it. And DC just passed a bill through the Council to recognize marriages performed in other states. I think the main interest in this for me, beyond it being something I support as a matter of social policy, is that I've learned about the civil rights movement in classes and how that swept through states and studied Supreme Court cases whose decisions altered the social policy fabric of the country that started out as test cases, notably Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. This is a fascinating look at how social policy happens simultaneously at the state and national level, though not the federal. Now all we have to do is wait for the interactive color coded map, based on who did it by a the legislature, vote or by court order to show up somewhere. Then you know it's got real momentum. The map is key.
- Oh, Fringe. I was wondering when you'd mention Star Trek. Alternate universes and a crazy guy who thinks he's Spock in one episode, of course placed in the week of the premiere? Awesome tie in Abrams, awesome.
- I am even more ridiculously excited now. A positive review! A Heavenly Enterprise. I can still understand my mom's reticence about it but I was never much of a fan of the original series. Except for Spock. Because he, quite frankly, is freaking awesome. Oh, here's another from the NY Times: Star Trek- A Franchise Goes Boldly Backward. And NPR's: 'Star Trek': That Final Frontier, Boldly Reapproached. Be sure to read the comment by Angelica Czekalski to compares, rather convincingly, President Obama to Spock.
- Thank you! Finally someone getting at the crux of the issue. If we're still going to back the no sex before marriage thing, shouldn't we fix that rather than all the stuff that comes out of breaking that? Under God: Palin, Prejean, and Pre-Marital Ambivalence.
28 April 2009
Musings, Part Q
- Again with the cyclical nature of history, though I suppose we could have seen this one coming, what with the infinite wisdom and tolerance so often displayed by our lovely citizenry: Rebranding Hate in the Age of Obama.
- Say, maybe we can stick the supremacists with these guys: Don't Mess With Texas...Get Rid of It.
- I was heartbroken when ABC canceled Pushing Daisies but if NBC dumps Chuck I might be again. It's quirky, it's fun, it references pop culture. Besides, who else can do a kind of Matrix (the first movie, the best one of the three) homage to end a season and have it be completely believable for the character? How can you not love a show where the main character's Halloween costume is one of the worms from Dune?
- Yet another pre opening day Star Trek article, this one focused on J.J. Abrams: New Team Retrofits Old Starship. I have to say I am a fan of his stuff, mostly Alias I guess. I was loyal to that series to the end and watched Lost for the first couple seasons before college distracted me and now...well, it's a bit daunting of a prospect to try to wade back in. Alias though, that was awesome. Oh, May 8th...coming ever closer but not quite close enough yet.
- So we Democrats get Specter now? Oh...okay...sure...welcome...back?
- Say, maybe we can stick the supremacists with these guys: Don't Mess With Texas...Get Rid of It.
- I was heartbroken when ABC canceled Pushing Daisies but if NBC dumps Chuck I might be again. It's quirky, it's fun, it references pop culture. Besides, who else can do a kind of Matrix (the first movie, the best one of the three) homage to end a season and have it be completely believable for the character? How can you not love a show where the main character's Halloween costume is one of the worms from Dune?
- Yet another pre opening day Star Trek article, this one focused on J.J. Abrams: New Team Retrofits Old Starship. I have to say I am a fan of his stuff, mostly Alias I guess. I was loyal to that series to the end and watched Lost for the first couple seasons before college distracted me and now...well, it's a bit daunting of a prospect to try to wade back in. Alias though, that was awesome. Oh, May 8th...coming ever closer but not quite close enough yet.
- So we Democrats get Specter now? Oh...okay...sure...welcome...back?
23 April 2009
Musings, Part O
- This sounds pretty cool and very unlike the stately Albert Hall: Graffiti makeover for Albert Hall. Too bad I can't be there to see it.
- When in doubt, there is an association for it. Case in point: the US Pea and Lentil Trade Association, affliated, of course, with the US Dry Pea, Lentil, and Chickpea Council.
- How fun: Ask Not For Whom the Cliche Tolls. Happy birthday, Shakespeare. The big 445...I think that can be considered over the hill. And the story's a scavenger hunt!
- Interesting question: Does Music Define You?. As I said in a comment on the site (my first...Ooooo), I think we define ourselves by it, just like social or political issues, but perhaps we aren't define by it. We are more than the box a social or political issue places us in and we can like more than one type of music. Sure, there can be a similar color palate but at the end of the day it becomes a painting that's more than monochromatic.
- Why can't it be May 8th yet? Star Trek's stellar return.
- I don't get it: TV plan to find Jade musical star. I wouldn't care about Jade Goody or her life (and recent death due to cervical cancer) except I was in London when the whole Big Brother thing happened with her. Her racist comments were all over the London free papers (which, yeah, little better than tabloids sometimes but a couple were like the Express, one of DC's free Metro papers that's more like a condensed, admittedly ad heavy Washington Post) that semester. She seemed...crass and just unappealing in every way. And yet, in the past two years (has it been that long already?) she seems to have reinvented herself...by putting her whole life on camera it seems. I just don't get the appeal. Any of it.
- Monkey See has become one of my favorite blogs (and just over a month ago, I barely wrote in my own and didn't frequent, well, any...just goes to show, times change...and quickly) and a daily source of pop culture amusement, particularly today: Caution Signs Endangered Movie Characters Really Need. I really want to plot contrivance one...think a company will pick it up and market it?
- Curse you BBC iPlayer and ITV player...why do you only have to work in the UK? This is why Americans love nice Brits who post British shows on YouTube that would take us months, if ever, to get if we're lucky enough to get BBC America.
- When in doubt, there is an association for it. Case in point: the US Pea and Lentil Trade Association, affliated, of course, with the US Dry Pea, Lentil, and Chickpea Council.
- How fun: Ask Not For Whom the Cliche Tolls. Happy birthday, Shakespeare. The big 445...I think that can be considered over the hill. And the story's a scavenger hunt!
- Interesting question: Does Music Define You?. As I said in a comment on the site (my first...Ooooo), I think we define ourselves by it, just like social or political issues, but perhaps we aren't define by it. We are more than the box a social or political issue places us in and we can like more than one type of music. Sure, there can be a similar color palate but at the end of the day it becomes a painting that's more than monochromatic.
- Why can't it be May 8th yet? Star Trek's stellar return.
- I don't get it: TV plan to find Jade musical star. I wouldn't care about Jade Goody or her life (and recent death due to cervical cancer) except I was in London when the whole Big Brother thing happened with her. Her racist comments were all over the London free papers (which, yeah, little better than tabloids sometimes but a couple were like the Express, one of DC's free Metro papers that's more like a condensed, admittedly ad heavy Washington Post) that semester. She seemed...crass and just unappealing in every way. And yet, in the past two years (has it been that long already?) she seems to have reinvented herself...by putting her whole life on camera it seems. I just don't get the appeal. Any of it.
- Monkey See has become one of my favorite blogs (and just over a month ago, I barely wrote in my own and didn't frequent, well, any...just goes to show, times change...and quickly) and a daily source of pop culture amusement, particularly today: Caution Signs Endangered Movie Characters Really Need. I really want to plot contrivance one...think a company will pick it up and market it?
- Curse you BBC iPlayer and ITV player...why do you only have to work in the UK? This is why Americans love nice Brits who post British shows on YouTube that would take us months, if ever, to get if we're lucky enough to get BBC America.
22 April 2009
Musings, Part N
- I think I want one of these...Judging a Book (Bag) by Its Cover.
- Save Chuck! Ferris would approve.
- Wow are people stupid. Who would have thought they couldn't even properly read a dictionary or Google properly (By the way, for Earth day, the Google image on the main page was gorgeous)? So, last night's Moment of Zen from the Daily Show featured a clip from some Fox News program (and now I have to sterilize my keyboard for writing that) but they said that Chavez called President Obama an ignoramus and that meant, and the woman actually had to Google this (which is sad and depressing to begin with), an ignorant lawyer, to which they pointed out the fact that he is a lawyer. The thing is...they/she got the definition wrong! Yes, Ignoramus was the name of an ignorant lawyer in the play Ignoramus by G. Ruggle in 1615 but that's only because the word ignoramus is Latin for "we ignore" or "to be ignorant of"! It's supposed to be ironic...a pun of sorts, because the lawyer would have to know Latin for his work. Besides, 1615...plenty of people spoke Latin, at least the ones who understood plays. Well, fine, maybe just the educated classes who would have known the word and could laugh about the character's name because ignorant means uneducated, and while lawyers can be annoying, they do have education. Absolutely no definition I found (here's dictionary.com's slate) specifically says it's an ignorant lawyer, there's about every entry in a thesauras for ignorant (simpleton, fool, dunce, etc) but no "ignorant lawyer" save the mention of the word's origin. The label was misapplied...and for pity's sake, don't say that you had to Google the definition of a word everyone should know. It's not that hard to figure out...sounds like ignorant, mus can be presumed to indicate more. You can fake by saying it's a really ignorant person. Thank you, my bleeding heart liberal educated brain for being better. Wonder what her SAT Verbal score was...
- Happy Earth Day! Here's some pretty awesome aerial views of this here planet of ours: GeoEye. Everything from Angor Wat, to the Palm Island of Dubai, to the Mall of DC on Inauguaration Day 2009, to Yankee Stadium.
- On a slightly more somber note, I'm not at all looking forward to the day I'm in Christopher Buckley's shoes (Mum and Pup and Me). By his account he didn't really get on swimmingly with either of his parents and I'm definitely doing fine with mine. How about we all decide to table the whole dying thing until we figure out a way to avoid the whole situation? I'd be okay with that.
- Imagine the cost to change all the signs and everything: Confusion over NZ's islands' names. Reminds me of the West Wing episode wherein there is discussion on dropping the 'north' from North Dakota to promote tourism to the state because the 'north' scares people away. Does it really matter if the island names aren't properly registered? What if the whole country is named wrong/illegally/sorta-kinda-not really correctly because they forgot part B of form 23, which is obviously essential to the whole recognized name deal?
- Cool! A Fairy Tale Beginning: Snow White, She's Not. Among Disney's Royal Ladies, Tiana Is a Notable First. Go Disney.
- Save Chuck! Ferris would approve.
- Wow are people stupid. Who would have thought they couldn't even properly read a dictionary or Google properly (By the way, for Earth day, the Google image on the main page was gorgeous)? So, last night's Moment of Zen from the Daily Show featured a clip from some Fox News program (and now I have to sterilize my keyboard for writing that) but they said that Chavez called President Obama an ignoramus and that meant, and the woman actually had to Google this (which is sad and depressing to begin with), an ignorant lawyer, to which they pointed out the fact that he is a lawyer. The thing is...they/she got the definition wrong! Yes, Ignoramus was the name of an ignorant lawyer in the play Ignoramus by G. Ruggle in 1615 but that's only because the word ignoramus is Latin for "we ignore" or "to be ignorant of"! It's supposed to be ironic...a pun of sorts, because the lawyer would have to know Latin for his work. Besides, 1615...plenty of people spoke Latin, at least the ones who understood plays. Well, fine, maybe just the educated classes who would have known the word and could laugh about the character's name because ignorant means uneducated, and while lawyers can be annoying, they do have education. Absolutely no definition I found (here's dictionary.com's slate) specifically says it's an ignorant lawyer, there's about every entry in a thesauras for ignorant (simpleton, fool, dunce, etc) but no "ignorant lawyer" save the mention of the word's origin. The label was misapplied...and for pity's sake, don't say that you had to Google the definition of a word everyone should know. It's not that hard to figure out...sounds like ignorant, mus can be presumed to indicate more. You can fake by saying it's a really ignorant person. Thank you, my bleeding heart liberal educated brain for being better. Wonder what her SAT Verbal score was...
- Happy Earth Day! Here's some pretty awesome aerial views of this here planet of ours: GeoEye. Everything from Angor Wat, to the Palm Island of Dubai, to the Mall of DC on Inauguaration Day 2009, to Yankee Stadium.
- On a slightly more somber note, I'm not at all looking forward to the day I'm in Christopher Buckley's shoes (Mum and Pup and Me). By his account he didn't really get on swimmingly with either of his parents and I'm definitely doing fine with mine. How about we all decide to table the whole dying thing until we figure out a way to avoid the whole situation? I'd be okay with that.
- Imagine the cost to change all the signs and everything: Confusion over NZ's islands' names. Reminds me of the West Wing episode wherein there is discussion on dropping the 'north' from North Dakota to promote tourism to the state because the 'north' scares people away. Does it really matter if the island names aren't properly registered? What if the whole country is named wrong/illegally/sorta-kinda-not really correctly because they forgot part B of form 23, which is obviously essential to the whole recognized name deal?
- Cool! A Fairy Tale Beginning: Snow White, She's Not. Among Disney's Royal Ladies, Tiana Is a Notable First. Go Disney.
20 April 2009
Musings, Part L
- Well, the Washington Post has jumped on the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies train (Zombie? Let Austen Flesh It Out) , with other delightful additions that I now have to hunt down. Is it weird that I'm really looking forward to Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?
- YouTube is now Hulu? Deal Brings TV Shows and Movies to YouTube. I suppose it will be useful, though I'm used to watching things on there in 10 minute bits and as long as people still can upload their own videos (I mean, how can they ask us to give up Hamster on a Piano?) then I'm okay with this...I think. Time will tell.
- As you might imagine, I am a huge mental_floss fan. It's quirky, it's random, it has great info on the weirdest things...take 12 Oddly Specific Museums Preserving Our History or How to Stop Unwanted Phone Books or 8 Countries and States That Moved Their Capitals or the difference between pyramids and ziggurats (hint, ziggurats have ramps) or in the magazine, all about furniture, like the history of La-Z-Boy. And the shirts...awesome. A sampling: An Apple A Day still leaves you 2-4 servings short of your daily fruit recommendations. Friends Don't Let Friends Derive Drunk. Idioms are for the birds. Inconsistency: It has its ups and downs. Hokey Pokey Anonymous. A place to turn yourself around. Veni Vidi Wiki: I came. I saw. I edited collaboratively. Vampires are a pain in the neck. The Constitution: I read it for the Articles. Archaeologists will date any old thing. And two of my favorites: Easter Island: Why the long face? and Pluto, 1930-2006: Revolve in Peace. Gah. Absimally clever.
-Oh, Daily Show. I love you. You always come through for me and my liberal ire against idiots. Tip of the hat and salute.
- WB thou art awesome today. Because I just discovered, with a little help from NPR (Inside 'Hollywood's Attic': Warner Opens Its Vault), your archive. More from Cary Grant? And Katharine Hepburn? A film or two for my book (with the possibility of more, oh please add Kisses For My President [a 1964 film with the dad from The Happiest Millionaire, and the guy from Double Indemnity whose name escapes me...Fred something, but it has a female president which would totally be great for the book])? And a 1931 version of Private Lives, one of my favorite plays (Noel Coward is a master of banter)? And they're all under $20? Awesome. Check it out: Warner Archive.
Edit: The actor is Fred MacMurray. I knew it was Fred something. He was in over 100 movies and a TV series. He may be best known for Double Indemnity but he's more fun in Happiest Millionaire. Which would make sense based on the title.
- Why have a giant dish when you can have a network of dishes? Switch-on success for superscope. Again, part of me wishes I'd gone into astronomy or some other scientific space thing. These pictures promise to be awesome. Besides, I could totally get away with putting an X-Wing or an Enterprise model on my desk.
- Oh good, Ask brings back butler Jeeves. I hope it'll be useful while working for kgb_ now. Except...it better not cut into the volume we get.
-The Pulitzer Prizes were handed out today: 2009 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters, Drama and Music, 2009 Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism, Damon Winter's A Vision of History-Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography (this guy can take a picture, no doubt about that). Not quite sure the 13 short stories should count for the fiction award (isn't it supposed to be a book?) but whatever, it works I guess.
- YouTube is now Hulu? Deal Brings TV Shows and Movies to YouTube. I suppose it will be useful, though I'm used to watching things on there in 10 minute bits and as long as people still can upload their own videos (I mean, how can they ask us to give up Hamster on a Piano?) then I'm okay with this...I think. Time will tell.
- As you might imagine, I am a huge mental_floss fan. It's quirky, it's random, it has great info on the weirdest things...take 12 Oddly Specific Museums Preserving Our History or How to Stop Unwanted Phone Books or 8 Countries and States That Moved Their Capitals or the difference between pyramids and ziggurats (hint, ziggurats have ramps) or in the magazine, all about furniture, like the history of La-Z-Boy. And the shirts...awesome. A sampling: An Apple A Day still leaves you 2-4 servings short of your daily fruit recommendations. Friends Don't Let Friends Derive Drunk. Idioms are for the birds. Inconsistency: It has its ups and downs. Hokey Pokey Anonymous. A place to turn yourself around. Veni Vidi Wiki: I came. I saw. I edited collaboratively. Vampires are a pain in the neck. The Constitution: I read it for the Articles. Archaeologists will date any old thing. And two of my favorites: Easter Island: Why the long face? and Pluto, 1930-2006: Revolve in Peace. Gah. Absimally clever.
-Oh, Daily Show. I love you. You always come through for me and my liberal ire against idiots. Tip of the hat and salute.
- WB thou art awesome today. Because I just discovered, with a little help from NPR (Inside 'Hollywood's Attic': Warner Opens Its Vault), your archive. More from Cary Grant? And Katharine Hepburn? A film or two for my book (with the possibility of more, oh please add Kisses For My President [a 1964 film with the dad from The Happiest Millionaire, and the guy from Double Indemnity whose name escapes me...Fred something, but it has a female president which would totally be great for the book])? And a 1931 version of Private Lives, one of my favorite plays (Noel Coward is a master of banter)? And they're all under $20? Awesome. Check it out: Warner Archive.
Edit: The actor is Fred MacMurray. I knew it was Fred something. He was in over 100 movies and a TV series. He may be best known for Double Indemnity but he's more fun in Happiest Millionaire. Which would make sense based on the title.
- Why have a giant dish when you can have a network of dishes? Switch-on success for superscope. Again, part of me wishes I'd gone into astronomy or some other scientific space thing. These pictures promise to be awesome. Besides, I could totally get away with putting an X-Wing or an Enterprise model on my desk.
- Oh good, Ask brings back butler Jeeves. I hope it'll be useful while working for kgb_ now. Except...it better not cut into the volume we get.
-The Pulitzer Prizes were handed out today: 2009 Pulitzer Prizes for Letters, Drama and Music, 2009 Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism, Damon Winter's A Vision of History-Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography (this guy can take a picture, no doubt about that). Not quite sure the 13 short stories should count for the fiction award (isn't it supposed to be a book?) but whatever, it works I guess.
13 April 2009
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.
- 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.
08 April 2009
Musings, Part H
- I’m not sure how I feel about this idea; Thin and Inexpensive Netbooks Affect PC Industry if only because I want a computer to do more than just access the Internet. I can understand if you just need the internet and need more than a phone but if you’re going to have a computer, have a computer. I myself want an iMac. One with a huge hard drive so I don’t have to worry about space for a few years (at least that’s the hope, depends on how much video I find and no, I don’t really have space on the desk for an external hard drive) and so I can get some stuff off my iPod (namely BSG podcasts) that I put on there to free up space on my laptop. Irony is, now my iPod is full. Which hasn’t happened before…but I’ve gotten a lot more music while having this iPod compared to the last one, which was a 15 GB.
- Thank you writer Raina Kelley: Five Truths About Reality Dating Shows you just summed up why I hate reality shows, the dating ones in particular. I don’t understand why they are so popular. With the most recent Bachelor as evidence (solely gained through reading blurbs on it and never once letting the channel surfing get anywhere close to it with any length of a pole, 10, 11 or otherwise) all reality dating shows do is show the worst sides of people, unfortunately mostly women. I don’t understand why they let themselves be paraded around and given little more consideration than a shirt or tie selection for the guy in question. We watch TV and movies to see people that aren’t us, why would we want to watch our lives, we’re living them and besides, normal people? Boring. All reality shows do is reinforce stereotypes of people in a faux parallel world where the situations are carefully written and tailored so the outcomes are what they are: predictable, embarrassing, usually disgusting, degrading, and a pox on our society. I hope I never become a woman who is so desperate for some kind of comfort, whether it be through an “attractive” or “powerful” guy, each measured by the size of his bank account, that I’ll dump all of my self-respect and hope for real (not reality) love that I attach myself to someone relatively well off in such a painfully atrocious fashion. I may be square, but as Huey once said, it’s hip.
- So, who wants to show this to the US government? Facebook, YouTube At Work Make Better Employees
- Not to keep (rather, again) complaining about this but this article brought to mind some interesting comparisons, Inside the Duggar Family’s Conservative Ideology to what I remember about traditional Hindu culture, and if I remember correctly, often to current Indian culture as well. These families are teaching their daughters to have no concerns, no skills beyond that of a domestic, motherhood centered life (and in this age, unless you are well off, you can’t raise a family on one income alone, particularly a large family). From what I remember, women in India were to be obedient to their father and brothers, then to their husbands, and finally to their sons, keeping the obedience to the husband to his death, if she wasn’t required to do the whole funeral pyre with him thing. One would think that these Christians (I won’t say so-called though I’m sure they’d call me a so-called Christian) wouldn’t like following the practices of a “heathen” culture. The same kind of obedience is found in Islamic cultures as well. I was really hoping that my daughters (when and if I have them, plural or singular it matters not, though I’m not doing more than 3 kids I’d actually like to enjoy them and I’m sure not having to contend with more than two siblings is a good thing for most kids’ quality of life as well [I only have 1 sibling]) wouldn’t have to put up with the cult of domesticity, as my AP US History book called the whole keep women barefoot in the kitchen (whether literally or figuratively) movement. I really hoped we’d gotten past that. But no, history cycles and we’re doomed to repeat it so I guess they will. I only hope that the work of the women in the early parts of the 20th century were enough to override the more pernicious aspects of the Co’D. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. And teach them that yes, babies are cute, but only one or two at a time. And if you’re going to go against your upbringing…get a tattoo or something, don’t go towards a whacko religious movement/cult.
- I came across this on the NPR website, it’s a list of the 100 top musical works of the 20th century, originally broadcast in the year 2000 . I like lists like this. I like going through them and seeing which I’ve heard (hopefully a lot) and which I haven’t but really should, and which I just don’t understand how they got on the list. It’s like the AFI movie lists. Looks like I’ll have to set up an Excel list for music now…
- Thank you writer Raina Kelley: Five Truths About Reality Dating Shows you just summed up why I hate reality shows, the dating ones in particular. I don’t understand why they are so popular. With the most recent Bachelor as evidence (solely gained through reading blurbs on it and never once letting the channel surfing get anywhere close to it with any length of a pole, 10, 11 or otherwise) all reality dating shows do is show the worst sides of people, unfortunately mostly women. I don’t understand why they let themselves be paraded around and given little more consideration than a shirt or tie selection for the guy in question. We watch TV and movies to see people that aren’t us, why would we want to watch our lives, we’re living them and besides, normal people? Boring. All reality shows do is reinforce stereotypes of people in a faux parallel world where the situations are carefully written and tailored so the outcomes are what they are: predictable, embarrassing, usually disgusting, degrading, and a pox on our society. I hope I never become a woman who is so desperate for some kind of comfort, whether it be through an “attractive” or “powerful” guy, each measured by the size of his bank account, that I’ll dump all of my self-respect and hope for real (not reality) love that I attach myself to someone relatively well off in such a painfully atrocious fashion. I may be square, but as Huey once said, it’s hip.
- So, who wants to show this to the US government? Facebook, YouTube At Work Make Better Employees
- Not to keep (rather, again) complaining about this but this article brought to mind some interesting comparisons, Inside the Duggar Family’s Conservative Ideology to what I remember about traditional Hindu culture, and if I remember correctly, often to current Indian culture as well. These families are teaching their daughters to have no concerns, no skills beyond that of a domestic, motherhood centered life (and in this age, unless you are well off, you can’t raise a family on one income alone, particularly a large family). From what I remember, women in India were to be obedient to their father and brothers, then to their husbands, and finally to their sons, keeping the obedience to the husband to his death, if she wasn’t required to do the whole funeral pyre with him thing. One would think that these Christians (I won’t say so-called though I’m sure they’d call me a so-called Christian) wouldn’t like following the practices of a “heathen” culture. The same kind of obedience is found in Islamic cultures as well. I was really hoping that my daughters (when and if I have them, plural or singular it matters not, though I’m not doing more than 3 kids I’d actually like to enjoy them and I’m sure not having to contend with more than two siblings is a good thing for most kids’ quality of life as well [I only have 1 sibling]) wouldn’t have to put up with the cult of domesticity, as my AP US History book called the whole keep women barefoot in the kitchen (whether literally or figuratively) movement. I really hoped we’d gotten past that. But no, history cycles and we’re doomed to repeat it so I guess they will. I only hope that the work of the women in the early parts of the 20th century were enough to override the more pernicious aspects of the Co’D. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. And teach them that yes, babies are cute, but only one or two at a time. And if you’re going to go against your upbringing…get a tattoo or something, don’t go towards a whacko religious movement/cult.
- I came across this on the NPR website, it’s a list of the 100 top musical works of the 20th century, originally broadcast in the year 2000 . I like lists like this. I like going through them and seeing which I’ve heard (hopefully a lot) and which I haven’t but really should, and which I just don’t understand how they got on the list. It’s like the AFI movie lists. Looks like I’ll have to set up an Excel list for music now…
27 March 2009
Musings, Part B
- I really wish I could write one of NPR’s This I Believe essays. Problem is, I’m sure my one overarching belief, if I indeed have one, has been said already by one more eloquent than I. I tried once. Couldn’t manage to get it right. I tried to write about the importance of the space program. Something about the majesty of space tied with anecdotes of watching them lift off in my backyard at home. Because I could and did. We’d watch the countdown on the TV then race through the house to the backyard and look east and watch the small glowing dot rise above the houses with the smoke trail behind. We even got tickets a couple times and watched it down at one of the viewing areas close by the cape. Now that’s spectacular. And night launches? Every bit as amazing as pictures tell you. Anyway, too bad I couldn’t crack it. Perhaps one day I can write about my belief in the power of a book and make it sound different from something they’ve already got.
- Why is it that for some bands the song(s) I love from a particular CD isn’t (aren’t) the single(s)? Cases in point, Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” was huge, probably thanks to Grey’s Anatomy, but I liked “Open Your Eyes” much better on that CD (Snow Patrol’s, not the GA soundtrack). And The Fray’s first CD, “How to Save a Life” was the single (also probably thanks to GA) but “Little House” was a much better song in my opinion. I’m not sure what the single is from Snow Patrol’s latest, but I adore “The Golden Floor”. Simply love every second of it. It’s also a good thing I buy the whole album when I like a song on it or else I would have missed some great stuff that takes a few runs to appreciate. Like Keane’s latest, Perfect Symmetry, at first (few) listen I didn’t think it was as amazing as Hopes and Fears, on which I love almost every song equally, I didn’t even think it sounded like the band in the first place. Now I think it does and there are some great songs on there. Hopes and Fears is still the best of their 3 though.
- I wonder if it’s weird to miss Battlestar Galactica already, not because of the story or characters, because I’m kind of still ticked off about how all of that ended up (Kara just disappears, really? Lee’s left all alone, really? Baltar gets a happy ending, really? Blah blah, life isn’t fair, whatever. This is fiction. Thus happy can happen. Of course not that BSG was ever really happy…whatever, not the point of this tangent) but because it means the music is over? By music I mean the fabulous soundtrack provided by Bear McCreary. I don’t think I’ve ever spent two weeks listening to related soundtracks in this fashion before. Sure, I tend to listen to things on repeat after I first get them but not at the exclusion of other new things. And never have I tried so hard to find a particular (non-canon/slightly canon/writers messing with fans) couple’s theme before. I think I nailed it down though. I think.
- Third related music musing in a row, it really is true (at least for me) that the first version of a song you hear is your favorite/becomes your standard. The first version (believe it or not) of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” I heard was Bear McCreary’s in BSG. Now I find the Jimi Hendrix version to be…eh. I mean, it’s still a good song, lyrics wise, but there’s something about the way McCreary used the guitars and had the group do the lyrics that just…it’s been described as an eerie version, which okay it sorta is but it’s a cool version too. It sounds…modern, I guess. More rock like, or at least alternative (which, by the way, does alternative just mean no long guitar solos? Or is it just modern/current rock? Whatever, it’s still my genre of choice though I should probably look up a musician’s definition of it sometime beyond knowing which bands fall under the category). The same thing applies to some of Frank Sinatra’s hits. I just don’t like his version as much as say James Darren’s or Harry Connick Jr’s. Except Fred Astaire’s version of “Night and Day” I don’t like as much as the newer versions, say the one in De-Lovely or by others though I’m sure I heard Fred’s first. Maybe his is just a standard of how I don’t like it to sound. Hmm.
- The idea of Twitter annoys me. Maybe because I heard about it first from the Daily Show episode that talked about the non-State of the Union presidential address where Stewart talked about Senators and Representatives “twittering” during the speech, thus not really paying attention. I blame Twitter for Facebook’s new design. I liked my status thing. I liked it being called a status, not a “share” thingy. If you have random comments about stuff, use a blog…I hereby promise to go over 140 characters in each post. Still though, NPR’s pop culture blog’s, Monkey See, positive comments about Christopher Walken’s does cause curiosity to bloom, however unwillingly (Tweets of the Rich and Famous ). And I have hereby committed a listed internet discussion mistake (Ten Toxic Things You Should Never, Ever Attempt to Discuss on the Internet ). Whatever. I love my Mac. There, another. Others that I have comments on: home schooling is a mistake and I love Coldplay’s “Clocks” and “Trouble” because I appreciate a good piano part in a rock/pop song. I have no real feelings on the others…I’m sure I could come down on one side or another though.
- The thinking, connected, informed person’s Urban Dictionary: Schott's Vocab For a more regional Urban dictionary, it seems the Dictionary of American Regional English, On to Z! Quirky Regional Dictionary Nears Finish, is close to being finished. I wonder if all the stuff from my Baltimorese shirt will make the dictionary. Maybe those are mostly dialect instances though. What’s weird is that I kind of want a set of the regional English dictionary. Because it looks like a set, 4 volumes at least. I think they’re supposed to have an online version though. Which would be equally cool. Amazing how a punishment my fifth grade teachers had, copying the dictionary starting from page one (one kid made it to the middle of the A’s) now seems like an interesting read.
- I think this is my problem with CBS: Open Up For More of What's on CBS's Menu See, I like the quirky, the out there, the non standard. I adored Pushing Daisies which ABC cruelly dumped, though I do admit I like Better Off Ted which seems to have been put in its place. Maybe it’s just that I don’t care what the critics like or don’t like. I make up my own mind after reading a summary. If it sounds interesting, I give it a go. And yes, I do watch The Mentalist.
- Hooray for DC: Prime-Time Location I love Bones. It’s interesting, the corpses are always…interesting and its set in a DC. I say a because it’s the Jeffersonian not the Smithsonian and that graveyard in the pilot near the Washington Monument? Doesn’t exist. And if it did, no way would that girl have been able to be buried there. I’m sure its hard enough to get into Arlington. Still, its nice to see pretty aerial shots of the Mall.
- Oh, Broadway. I love Guys and Dolls and totally agree with Jeremy McCarter, Back on Broadway, that it is one of the best musicals out there but Oliver Platt as Nathan Detroit? Oliver Babish as Nathan Detroit? The lard seller whose name escapes me but married Lena Olin in Casanova as Nathan? Really? I mean, I know that in the movie version they had to add another song to appease Frank Sinatra but he’s great, amazing, as Nathan. I even love the song they added, Adelaide. I can sorta see Lauren Graham as Adelaide but she will always be Lorelai Gilmore (even with admitting the whole going back to Christopher bit of the last season which I refused to watch until he was gone again) to me. But Oliver Platt I can’t see. Nathan is more wiry and slinky, quicker, slicker than the eloquence and presence Oliver Platt usually brings to roles, at least those I’ve seen and can remember off the top of my head. I wish the cast the best and if I were in NYC I’d see it but I just have trouble picturing it in my head.
- Why is it that for some bands the song(s) I love from a particular CD isn’t (aren’t) the single(s)? Cases in point, Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” was huge, probably thanks to Grey’s Anatomy, but I liked “Open Your Eyes” much better on that CD (Snow Patrol’s, not the GA soundtrack). And The Fray’s first CD, “How to Save a Life” was the single (also probably thanks to GA) but “Little House” was a much better song in my opinion. I’m not sure what the single is from Snow Patrol’s latest, but I adore “The Golden Floor”. Simply love every second of it. It’s also a good thing I buy the whole album when I like a song on it or else I would have missed some great stuff that takes a few runs to appreciate. Like Keane’s latest, Perfect Symmetry, at first (few) listen I didn’t think it was as amazing as Hopes and Fears, on which I love almost every song equally, I didn’t even think it sounded like the band in the first place. Now I think it does and there are some great songs on there. Hopes and Fears is still the best of their 3 though.
- I wonder if it’s weird to miss Battlestar Galactica already, not because of the story or characters, because I’m kind of still ticked off about how all of that ended up (Kara just disappears, really? Lee’s left all alone, really? Baltar gets a happy ending, really? Blah blah, life isn’t fair, whatever. This is fiction. Thus happy can happen. Of course not that BSG was ever really happy…whatever, not the point of this tangent) but because it means the music is over? By music I mean the fabulous soundtrack provided by Bear McCreary. I don’t think I’ve ever spent two weeks listening to related soundtracks in this fashion before. Sure, I tend to listen to things on repeat after I first get them but not at the exclusion of other new things. And never have I tried so hard to find a particular (non-canon/slightly canon/writers messing with fans) couple’s theme before. I think I nailed it down though. I think.
- Third related music musing in a row, it really is true (at least for me) that the first version of a song you hear is your favorite/becomes your standard. The first version (believe it or not) of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” I heard was Bear McCreary’s in BSG. Now I find the Jimi Hendrix version to be…eh. I mean, it’s still a good song, lyrics wise, but there’s something about the way McCreary used the guitars and had the group do the lyrics that just…it’s been described as an eerie version, which okay it sorta is but it’s a cool version too. It sounds…modern, I guess. More rock like, or at least alternative (which, by the way, does alternative just mean no long guitar solos? Or is it just modern/current rock? Whatever, it’s still my genre of choice though I should probably look up a musician’s definition of it sometime beyond knowing which bands fall under the category). The same thing applies to some of Frank Sinatra’s hits. I just don’t like his version as much as say James Darren’s or Harry Connick Jr’s. Except Fred Astaire’s version of “Night and Day” I don’t like as much as the newer versions, say the one in De-Lovely or by others though I’m sure I heard Fred’s first. Maybe his is just a standard of how I don’t like it to sound. Hmm.
- The idea of Twitter annoys me. Maybe because I heard about it first from the Daily Show episode that talked about the non-State of the Union presidential address where Stewart talked about Senators and Representatives “twittering” during the speech, thus not really paying attention. I blame Twitter for Facebook’s new design. I liked my status thing. I liked it being called a status, not a “share” thingy. If you have random comments about stuff, use a blog…I hereby promise to go over 140 characters in each post. Still though, NPR’s pop culture blog’s, Monkey See, positive comments about Christopher Walken’s does cause curiosity to bloom, however unwillingly (Tweets of the Rich and Famous ). And I have hereby committed a listed internet discussion mistake (Ten Toxic Things You Should Never, Ever Attempt to Discuss on the Internet ). Whatever. I love my Mac. There, another. Others that I have comments on: home schooling is a mistake and I love Coldplay’s “Clocks” and “Trouble” because I appreciate a good piano part in a rock/pop song. I have no real feelings on the others…I’m sure I could come down on one side or another though.
- The thinking, connected, informed person’s Urban Dictionary: Schott's Vocab For a more regional Urban dictionary, it seems the Dictionary of American Regional English, On to Z! Quirky Regional Dictionary Nears Finish, is close to being finished. I wonder if all the stuff from my Baltimorese shirt will make the dictionary. Maybe those are mostly dialect instances though. What’s weird is that I kind of want a set of the regional English dictionary. Because it looks like a set, 4 volumes at least. I think they’re supposed to have an online version though. Which would be equally cool. Amazing how a punishment my fifth grade teachers had, copying the dictionary starting from page one (one kid made it to the middle of the A’s) now seems like an interesting read.
- I think this is my problem with CBS: Open Up For More of What's on CBS's Menu See, I like the quirky, the out there, the non standard. I adored Pushing Daisies which ABC cruelly dumped, though I do admit I like Better Off Ted which seems to have been put in its place. Maybe it’s just that I don’t care what the critics like or don’t like. I make up my own mind after reading a summary. If it sounds interesting, I give it a go. And yes, I do watch The Mentalist.
- Hooray for DC: Prime-Time Location I love Bones. It’s interesting, the corpses are always…interesting and its set in a DC. I say a because it’s the Jeffersonian not the Smithsonian and that graveyard in the pilot near the Washington Monument? Doesn’t exist. And if it did, no way would that girl have been able to be buried there. I’m sure its hard enough to get into Arlington. Still, its nice to see pretty aerial shots of the Mall.
- Oh, Broadway. I love Guys and Dolls and totally agree with Jeremy McCarter, Back on Broadway, that it is one of the best musicals out there but Oliver Platt as Nathan Detroit? Oliver Babish as Nathan Detroit? The lard seller whose name escapes me but married Lena Olin in Casanova as Nathan? Really? I mean, I know that in the movie version they had to add another song to appease Frank Sinatra but he’s great, amazing, as Nathan. I even love the song they added, Adelaide. I can sorta see Lauren Graham as Adelaide but she will always be Lorelai Gilmore (even with admitting the whole going back to Christopher bit of the last season which I refused to watch until he was gone again) to me. But Oliver Platt I can’t see. Nathan is more wiry and slinky, quicker, slicker than the eloquence and presence Oliver Platt usually brings to roles, at least those I’ve seen and can remember off the top of my head. I wish the cast the best and if I were in NYC I’d see it but I just have trouble picturing it in my head.
26 March 2009
Musings, Part A
- Ever notice how on TV when there’s a company that deals with new/wacky/cutting edge/sorta out there science it’s always ____ Dynamic? On Eureka its Global Dynamic, shortened to GD. On Fringe its Massive Dynamic. And now on Better Off Ted its Veridian Dynamic. Is the Dynamic supposed to indicate the company’s cool and forward thinking? And since on Fringe the company’s kinda mysterious and murky, does the blank fill in of Massive indicate its imposing or something?
- I’ve come to think that if you belong or identify with a group you should be embarrassed by at least one thing the group does or advocates. No group or community is perfect and there are things that should just be slightly offensive to the sensibilities. Mine? This: Vatican Official Criticizes US Bishops on Abortion In case you were wondering, I’m on the pro-choice side of the debate. I want control over myself and my life and while I completely agree abortion is being used as a kind of birth control by many, there’s a certain quality of life argument that can be made for both the mother and the child and women deserve the right to not be forced back to back alley practices of old. Safe, legal, and rare. And if you’re going for the “it’s a life” argument, go the Catholic route and do life in everything. You can’t be pro-life in one area without being pro-life in all, like many Republican Catholics are, at least those who support the death penalty. I can more easily live with being a bad Catholic in regards to the pro-choice/pro-life debate than being a bad liberal, strange as that might sound. I’m against the death penalty though so this whole bit just now might be the pot calling the kettle black. Whatever. I accept my own dichotomies and force anyone, besides myself, to follow them. I am large, I contain multitudes as the poet wrote.
- Along the same lines, the condom thing is equally annoying. When the time comes, I intend on using birth control. I’m not sure I care that it goes against the Bible. As that one speech in The West Wing points out, we do a lot of things these days that are forbidden in the Bible. Everyone decries the presence of condoms in schools or birth control being used it seems at any age but if proper Christian fundamentals were really being followed, protection wouldn’t be an issue as no one would be having sex before being married. The whole abstinence thing, remember that bit? The same thing is happening around the world. I still remember a discussion in my Religion, Politics and Civil Rights class (amusing enough held over the dinner hours and all topics you shouldn’t discuss over dinner in polite company, as the maxim goes) {Professor Peach, rest in peace and I’m hoping you’re having a fun time in whatever afterlife you wound up in…do Buddhists ascribe to an afterlife? Probably should have paid more attention during that lecture…} about strict non-use of birth control or protection in the Philippines because they were Catholic and yet there was this huge problem of families living on maybe two yards square worth of space with about eight people. And plenty of unwed mothers with several children. What happened to the first rule of abstinence? The world is doing just fine on being peopled (it isn’t a must as Benedict once said) and we’re multiplying just fine. Perhaps now we can turn more fully to quality of life not quantity? I’m not advocating for restrictions on births like the Chinese have (or had?) just planning, I guess. Which is why I think groups like this are insane: Quiverfull Movement .
- I’m reading a lot more news since I got a job. It’s a slow week and my supervisor is out on leave so I’m basically in a holding pattern until someone needs help with something. Washington Post.com, NY Times.com, NPR.org, Newsweek.com you are my friends. I just wish I could justify staying up for the Daily Show. Ah well, Hulu.com you’re a lifesaver in that respect. And the show’s website which is one of the best network-cally run ones around. Comedy Central, in my opinion, has no equal when it comes to ease of access to video clips or full videos. Then again, I’ve only used it for the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, other shows could be different. Still, the player is one of the best. I’m looking at you, ABC, because your player still has a tendency to hate me which is why I have to watch your stuff live. *shakes fist* That and because it’s hard to find your stuff elsewhere, unlike Fox and NBC. And CBS? If you haven’t put The Mentalist back up on your site, do so immediately.
- Pearls Before Swine, I love you. I love your sometimes dark humor, I love the adorableness of Pig, the cynicism of Rat, the unfailing failure of Larry, your little Viking people that read Cosmo, your animation of inanimate objects, the homicidal tendencies of the sea anemone, the guard duck who really just wants a little war, Mr. Snuffles, the summer romance of Larry’s son and the girl zebra next door, your fairly regular breaking of the “fourth wall” as it is on TV by characters going to berate the cartoonist, the list goes on. I love you even more now that I’ve found your cartoonist has a blog: the Official Pearls Before Swine Blog . Added to that joy is the news that you have plush toys. I see a Pig in my future. Maybe even a Rat.
- During the election I was sick of hearing about it. I was sick of hearing about it back in January 2003 when I was in London and they were already talking about it. Now, I’m sick of hearing about the economy. I know, I know I should be more concerned as a now responsible adult but really, I’m just not.
- A really annoying song to get stuck in your head is “Camptown Races”, especially when it’s only the first verse.
- It’s probably pretty nerdy to be thrilled to be wandering around the building of a Federal department. The Department of Agriculture is huge though. Seven wings in the larger building (South), six floors and a basement in each, at least 3 elevators per wing too. And there’s a sub-basement that’s a promenade. It has two gift shops, a post office, a credit union, a gym, a smoothie place, and a pretty nice cafeteria in it. And it’s an older building too so there’s wooden doors and signs for stuff. It’s like being part of history, in a very political science nerd kind of way. But right now? I really don’t care. The cafeteria has vanilla coke, ergo I am set. Oh, and men still wear bow ties. I had a sighting today.
- I’m reading the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka ARRA, aka the Recovery Act. There are more zero’s in this thing than I’ve seen in a long time. It’s also 407 pages long, granted it’s a Congressional bill so it’s all centered with quite wide margins but still, long. Also, there’s a space in the word government between the n and the m on one page in the 40s. Not sure they meant for that to happen.
- It really sucks when both of your pendant watches’ batteries die in the same week. Even more so when your favorite/normal one dies while you’re in transit on your first day of work. At least I have a nice wristwatch, even if I hate wearing them. I’m too used to my necklace watch. And I don’t really have time to go hunt down a watch shop to get the batteries replaced. And the one wasn’t supposed to be able to die, you were just supposed to wind it. Grr.
- It’s really annoying when you’ve pretty much thought that caffeine didn’t really effect you all that much and it’s partially confirmed when after downing a bottle of Coke you still fight to keep your eyes open. Not fair. And I’m not about to take up coffee. Force of will it is then. Just in case, I’ll keep up with the chocolate and Coke. Who knows? It may have been an off day.
- Not all chicken salad is created equal. The best is with chunks of chicken instead of looking like whiter tuna salad. Booeymongers, I salute you.
- Why is that when I have no page limits I tend towards verbose? Case in point, this entry.
- I’ve come to think that if you belong or identify with a group you should be embarrassed by at least one thing the group does or advocates. No group or community is perfect and there are things that should just be slightly offensive to the sensibilities. Mine? This: Vatican Official Criticizes US Bishops on Abortion In case you were wondering, I’m on the pro-choice side of the debate. I want control over myself and my life and while I completely agree abortion is being used as a kind of birth control by many, there’s a certain quality of life argument that can be made for both the mother and the child and women deserve the right to not be forced back to back alley practices of old. Safe, legal, and rare. And if you’re going for the “it’s a life” argument, go the Catholic route and do life in everything. You can’t be pro-life in one area without being pro-life in all, like many Republican Catholics are, at least those who support the death penalty. I can more easily live with being a bad Catholic in regards to the pro-choice/pro-life debate than being a bad liberal, strange as that might sound. I’m against the death penalty though so this whole bit just now might be the pot calling the kettle black. Whatever. I accept my own dichotomies and force anyone, besides myself, to follow them. I am large, I contain multitudes as the poet wrote.
- Along the same lines, the condom thing is equally annoying. When the time comes, I intend on using birth control. I’m not sure I care that it goes against the Bible. As that one speech in The West Wing points out, we do a lot of things these days that are forbidden in the Bible. Everyone decries the presence of condoms in schools or birth control being used it seems at any age but if proper Christian fundamentals were really being followed, protection wouldn’t be an issue as no one would be having sex before being married. The whole abstinence thing, remember that bit? The same thing is happening around the world. I still remember a discussion in my Religion, Politics and Civil Rights class (amusing enough held over the dinner hours and all topics you shouldn’t discuss over dinner in polite company, as the maxim goes) {Professor Peach, rest in peace and I’m hoping you’re having a fun time in whatever afterlife you wound up in…do Buddhists ascribe to an afterlife? Probably should have paid more attention during that lecture…} about strict non-use of birth control or protection in the Philippines because they were Catholic and yet there was this huge problem of families living on maybe two yards square worth of space with about eight people. And plenty of unwed mothers with several children. What happened to the first rule of abstinence? The world is doing just fine on being peopled (it isn’t a must as Benedict once said) and we’re multiplying just fine. Perhaps now we can turn more fully to quality of life not quantity? I’m not advocating for restrictions on births like the Chinese have (or had?) just planning, I guess. Which is why I think groups like this are insane: Quiverfull Movement .
- I’m reading a lot more news since I got a job. It’s a slow week and my supervisor is out on leave so I’m basically in a holding pattern until someone needs help with something. Washington Post.com, NY Times.com, NPR.org, Newsweek.com you are my friends. I just wish I could justify staying up for the Daily Show. Ah well, Hulu.com you’re a lifesaver in that respect. And the show’s website which is one of the best network-cally run ones around. Comedy Central, in my opinion, has no equal when it comes to ease of access to video clips or full videos. Then again, I’ve only used it for the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, other shows could be different. Still, the player is one of the best. I’m looking at you, ABC, because your player still has a tendency to hate me which is why I have to watch your stuff live. *shakes fist* That and because it’s hard to find your stuff elsewhere, unlike Fox and NBC. And CBS? If you haven’t put The Mentalist back up on your site, do so immediately.
- Pearls Before Swine, I love you. I love your sometimes dark humor, I love the adorableness of Pig, the cynicism of Rat, the unfailing failure of Larry, your little Viking people that read Cosmo, your animation of inanimate objects, the homicidal tendencies of the sea anemone, the guard duck who really just wants a little war, Mr. Snuffles, the summer romance of Larry’s son and the girl zebra next door, your fairly regular breaking of the “fourth wall” as it is on TV by characters going to berate the cartoonist, the list goes on. I love you even more now that I’ve found your cartoonist has a blog: the Official Pearls Before Swine Blog . Added to that joy is the news that you have plush toys. I see a Pig in my future. Maybe even a Rat.
- During the election I was sick of hearing about it. I was sick of hearing about it back in January 2003 when I was in London and they were already talking about it. Now, I’m sick of hearing about the economy. I know, I know I should be more concerned as a now responsible adult but really, I’m just not.
- A really annoying song to get stuck in your head is “Camptown Races”, especially when it’s only the first verse.
- It’s probably pretty nerdy to be thrilled to be wandering around the building of a Federal department. The Department of Agriculture is huge though. Seven wings in the larger building (South), six floors and a basement in each, at least 3 elevators per wing too. And there’s a sub-basement that’s a promenade. It has two gift shops, a post office, a credit union, a gym, a smoothie place, and a pretty nice cafeteria in it. And it’s an older building too so there’s wooden doors and signs for stuff. It’s like being part of history, in a very political science nerd kind of way. But right now? I really don’t care. The cafeteria has vanilla coke, ergo I am set. Oh, and men still wear bow ties. I had a sighting today.
- I’m reading the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka ARRA, aka the Recovery Act. There are more zero’s in this thing than I’ve seen in a long time. It’s also 407 pages long, granted it’s a Congressional bill so it’s all centered with quite wide margins but still, long. Also, there’s a space in the word government between the n and the m on one page in the 40s. Not sure they meant for that to happen.
- It really sucks when both of your pendant watches’ batteries die in the same week. Even more so when your favorite/normal one dies while you’re in transit on your first day of work. At least I have a nice wristwatch, even if I hate wearing them. I’m too used to my necklace watch. And I don’t really have time to go hunt down a watch shop to get the batteries replaced. And the one wasn’t supposed to be able to die, you were just supposed to wind it. Grr.
- It’s really annoying when you’ve pretty much thought that caffeine didn’t really effect you all that much and it’s partially confirmed when after downing a bottle of Coke you still fight to keep your eyes open. Not fair. And I’m not about to take up coffee. Force of will it is then. Just in case, I’ll keep up with the chocolate and Coke. Who knows? It may have been an off day.
- Not all chicken salad is created equal. The best is with chunks of chicken instead of looking like whiter tuna salad. Booeymongers, I salute you.
- Why is that when I have no page limits I tend towards verbose? Case in point, this entry.
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