I don’t want to say much on the Presidential Election, as if if anyone is really listening, but doing so would seem to dignify it. And I’ve said my peace already in my article, Power to the People, Not to Bureaucrats. Still, an article at Reason.com caught my eye: Ten Reasons to Fire George W. Bush:And nine reasons why Kerry won’t be much better. Kerry supporters should consider its points.
Website of the day: Traffic Cone Preservation Society. Somebody had to do it, and it’s well done.
I have yet to find a review article about social psychology experiments testing people’s impressions of men with facial hair. I found some academic studies on WebofScience.com, and this humor site about the “evil goatee.” There’s also a book called One Thousand Beards. Surely Desomd Morris has something entertaining, and possible true, to say about beards. … Ah hah, a nice article in Slate sheds light on the topic.
OK, and what is it about Harley-Davidson motorcycles that it’s socially acceptable for them to be very loud? People tell me that Harleys must me modified to be so loud, too. Surely if I attached something to my Honda Civic that sounded like a Harley, a cop would pull me over for noise pollution, and if not, surely people would be pissed. I doubt riders of other motorcylces could get away with it. Now what about a Harley-clone? Is it OK for one of them to be loud? Here’s an article about it. The author expresses a sentiment I’ve noticed in myself
We have to admit that we’re not big fans of the sound of a hog once it gets much above 1/4 throttle. Under 1/4 throttle, though, the patented ‘potato-potato’ sound of a Harley that so many manufacturers have tried to duplicate is VERY cool. Even lots of people that wouldn’t admit it think it sounds pretty cool.
Yeah, I don’t get it. This morning I heard one, and while part of me was annoyed, another part of my thought it was pretty neat.
Good jokes from Prarie Home Companion’s Joke show:
Knock-knock .. Who’s there? … A control freak — OK, here’s the part where you ask A control freak who? //
How do you get a Unitarian family to leave town? … On their front lawn, set fire to a huge question mark.
Finally, finally, I saw an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm with a happy ending: Season 3: The Grand Opening. Things were looking pretty grim for the opening of Larry David’s restaurant, as the chef had Tourette syndrome, he was visible and in ear-shot of the the dining area. But what a reframe! Things ended up well, and oddly enough, the show ended without everyone hating Larry.
See, I was just about to give up on that show. It was a love/hate type of thing. Perhaps I identified with Larry too much. In his best moments, of course. Often the show would end, and I’d feel bad – as if I’d just had an argument with everyone I know, or that I’d have one with the next person I encountered.
On another topic, Walmart has 88 cent music downloads. No Beatles, really. But they do have a bunch of Jonathan Richman. Yet, his song “I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar” is listed as “I Was Dancing in the L*****n Bar.” What? What year is this?
The local FOX affiliate reported this story about a woman who bites off a piece of her boyfriend’s tongue. The newscasters Libby(?) Weaver and Frank(?) Zappolo (no, dummy, “Ron”! “Frank”?! ha ha) were doing the show, and after the report, the camera is on Zappolo, and he says “And as we know, it could have been worse.” At this point, both of them just LOST IT! The next story was about www.treatsfortroops.com, but neither of them could keep a straight face, and they giggled through it. Zappolo kept slowly chopping his hand in front of him, as if the scene was finished, and he could move on. But he couldn’t!
It was just great. Both of them stepped out of character, so to speak. Weaver asked Zappolo if he was OK, and he said something like, “Yeah, I’m OK,” but you could tell that anything could set them off again. I rarely watch the local news, but this was quite worth it.
Quote of the week:
To teach how to live with uncertainty, yet without being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy can do. — Bertrand Russell
Article of the month is The Onion’s Americans Demand Increased Government Protection
from Themselves, which for some reason I cannot find on their archives.
Walmart came up in conversation last night. A friend’s father is a plaintiff in two cases where Walmart is the defendant. In each case, Walmart employees acted rather stupidly and unjustly. That aside, Will Wilkenson’s article, Walmart, Community, and Civic Virtue is great.
And the winner for the best letter to the editor is from the October 21 Edition of The Daily Camera:
Um, bay leaves aren’t for eatingIn reference to Catherine Christiansen’s review of Lucca Lucca (Friday Magazine, Oct. 10), I’m puzzled by the comment made when describing the baked minestone soup, “the minestrone has a nice tomato broth, although the whole bay leaf was a little crunchy.”
Don’t most people know (especially a restaurant critic) that you’re not supposed to eat the bay leaf? Just curious.
SUSAN CHANDLER, Boulder
A few years ago I would not have watched this, but I was curious. Question: When she talked about her husband, she referred to him as just that, “my husband”. Not “Bill”, or “the former President of the United States,” or “the man who cheated on me, lied to the American people, and assaulted the rule of law.” Or, as ACLU President Nadine Strossen writes (see above link), “the Clinton administration bears the brunt of the blame for all those devastating assaults on cherished constitutional rights.” Apparently the Late Night talkshow hosts have had their say. Gosh, some of those quotes are great, especially:
“You know, if I were a single man, I might ask that mummy out. That’s a good-looking mummy.”
– Bill Clinton, looking at “Juanita,” a newly discovered Incan mummy on display at the National Geographic museum
In these past two weeks I’ve found myself listening to the Violent Femmes self-titled debut album (1983) – in the car, and loud. (Many undergrad boys are out of town, someone has to take their role.) Quite therapeutic. Also, I was in a mood to appreciate the album Marquee Moon (1977), by Television. Is it good or bad that I’m rarely in such a mood?
From music to literature, I’m rereading The Fountainhead for the first time in about ten years. Acording to my notes on the inside cover, I read the second half of it when I lived in California, but I can’t remember that. Damn, it’s good! I’m recording all the funny parts, too. (Part of the humor is that Rand can be funny. Really!) The parts that have affected me most are when Roark meets defeated versions of himself. His architectural hero, now old, defeated, and cynical, Henry Cameron (Book I, Chapter 3), almost melts when he sees Roark’s drawings. The other when he meets the young sculptor Steven Mallory, young, defeated, and cynical, who can’t believe Roark truly appreciates his work, and therefore, himself. The start of this scene I found humorous. Roark says to his secretary:
“Get me Steven Mallory.”
“Mallory, Mr. Roark? Who…Oh, yes, the shooting sculptor.”
“The what?”
“He took a shot at Ellsworth Toohey [pure evil], didn’t he?”
“Did he? Yes, that’s right.”
“Is that the one one you want, Mr. Roark?”
“That’s the one.”
Surely Roark sees no humor in this exchange, as it would be out of character for him even to acknowledge, even to himself, that Toohey is pure evil.
What to do as my simulation runs….Last week I got back from England, where I visited a good friend, took the Tube all over London, and spent a day in Paris. I plan to write up my thoughts on all the items I saw in the many museums there, and thoughts I had about the place. Now, however, I find it slightly worthwhile to mention an article in the April Atlantic Monthly about ‘Amazing Grace’ sung to the tune of ‘Gilligan’s Island.’ And am I using the quotation marks correctly here, or should they be double?
