Saturday 30 Oct 2004

Pasty

Crest Vanilla Mint toothpaste: perhaps the most disgusting toothpaste, ever.

Not because it tastes bad. Because it looks like tartar sauce. Seriously. Visually, it’s nearly indistinguishable from tartar sauce, a foodstuff which would be difficult to eat first thing in the morning, much less smear all over your teeth.

And then there’s the whole “is tartar on your teeth the same stuff that’s in tartar sauce and what does this all have to do with Cream of Tartar?” thing…

Friday 29 Oct 2004

What God wants.

“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”

— Susan B. Anthony

Thursday 28 Oct 2004

Ansel Adams quote

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.”

— Ansel Adams

Monday 25 Oct 2004

Antici…pation

This guy is booting Apple’s current operating system, Mac OS X 10.3, on a 25 MHz 68040 Mac from 1993. I use the present continuing tense because it really is happening right now — he started it within the last day but the boot process, if it completes successfully, will take around a week to finish.

Friday 22 Oct 2004

Progress

From Al-Faitha Foundation, a support organization for GLBT Muslims [emphasis added]:

During the time of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632 AD) there was not one single case of a reported punishment or execution for homosexuality or same-sex acts. The first execution to ever have been carried out was during the time of the third Caliph, Omar, who ordered a homosexual man to be burned alive.

Scholars at the time differed in opinion on this form of punishment, arguing that no human should be burned (according to the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad), thus it was decided that homosexuals should be thrown off the highest building and then stoned to death.

Baby steps, I suppose…

In other news, the universe will be turning 6008 years old soon! Happy birthday, Universe!

Sunday 17 Oct 2004

Hurting Political Discourse

Jon Stewart on Friday’s CNN political show “Crossfire” called hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala “partisan hacks” whose style of so-called journalism is “hurting America”. His appearance was gutsy, funny, and penetrating, just like The Daily Show.

Video downloads (Windows Media and MPEG-4) here or BitTorrent files (only Windows Media) here. (To play Windows Media files, non-Windows users will likely need VLC.)

It’s sad that Mr. Stewart’s Daily Show, a satirical pseudo-news show on Comedy Central, is often more informative than “real” political news programs.

The invisible hand of the news-for-ratings market is fantastic at generating profit and satisfied (or satiated) customers but doesn’t seem to do as well at keeping the populace informed. Arguing against that by saying that they’re just making what the customer wants is commiting the same mistake ultra-leftists are often rightly accused of: ignoring human nature and arguing ideology over experience. What’s the answer? I don’t know; but cable news “debates”, talk radio, and the dominant political parties (along with an attitude toward politics that would be more appropriate for sports fans than responsible citizens) have made political discussion in the United States sound like an elementary school classroom. And we revel in it — look at a commercial for nearly any political TV program.

I’ve been struck by the poorness of the system during each of the presidential debates — even a political junkie wouldn’t be able to keep up with the figures of potentially dubious accuracy thrown out by the candidates. If you feel you were able to refute the arguments of at least one of them intelligently: is this because you were informed — from reputable sources! — on the topics discussed or were you using your political party’s talking points to counter those of “the enemy”?

So, what should we expect candidates to do in this environment? Why would we expect truth from them? Why would we expect ourselves and our fellow citizens to be properly informed?

Sunday 10 Oct 2004

affiancee?

fiancé — a man engaged to be married

fiancée — a woman engaged to be married

I had no idea these were two different words.

Manufacturing Consent

A New York Times article on the visual messages of the two presidential campaign candidates: the logos, typefaces, colors, and layouts used in the campaigns’ advertising materials.

(I agree completely with the author.)

Friday 08 Oct 2004

Body modification

Lance: Hey, whadya think about Trudi? She ain’t got a boyfriend. You wanna hang out and get high?

Vincent: Which one’s Trudy? The one with all the shit in her face?

Lance: No. That’s Jodi. That’s my wife.

Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino

Saturday 02 Oct 2004

The Common Man™

News reporting agencies: whenever you’re thinking about doing a segment, the premise of which is asking the political opinions of the people of this small manufacturing community nestled in the hills on this early morning just before sunrise as they stop at the local cafe for coffee, eggs, and pancakes as they do every morning before their work day begins, perhaps you shouldn’t. That’s likely been done before.

Friday 01 Oct 2004

You forgot Poland!

www.youforgotpoland.com

The most bizarre, Monty Python-esque line from last night’s debate.

copyright © 2006 Grady Haynes      powered by WordPress