April 29, 2004
Under The Weather
So much for my streak of not getting sick. I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat and a fever. A few hours later, I was the Human Fountain of Congestion. I hate getting sick because it drains me of my energy so completely. Even sitting here to write this feels like a major task. I think I'm going to sign off now and go cough and sputter in front of the television. Send me some good karma so I can get over this quickly.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 28, 2004
Hooking Up
These are strange times we're living in. Case in point: Operation Take One For The Country. You can read the details on their website, but what it basically boils down to is some young women (and I guess the occasional token man) expressing their patriotism by putting out for soldiers bound for Iraq. And they're organized into secret cells and they keep their identities secret, like some sexed-up version of the French Resistance. I'm grappling with the sexual politics of this idea. A little recreational sex is a fine thing, but does it need to be wrapped up in the flag? Aren't these women going to engage in casual sex anyway, and this is just a way to put some went post-9/11 spin on it? Maybe I'm missing the point. Just be safe out there, people.
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April 27, 2004
Across The Pond
The BBC website has an entire section devoted to disability issues called Ouch! Not sure I'm a big fan of the name, but I like the format. It's kind of like Wired News for the disability crowd. The tone of the articles isn't maudlin or self-congratulatory and it seems to have a focus on disability culture instead of the usual "What to Look for in a Scooter"-type stuff. And it's part of the BBC, which gives it some added cred. Can you envision a major American media outlet, like CNN or NBC, carrying something like this on their website? Neither can I. I'm not sure on the details of the Beeb's operations, but I believe it's at least partly funded by the government, which might explain things. I don't think you could convince a privately held American media corporation that there's an audience for a disability-themed news portal. Maybe some of us should start a petition or something.
Incidentally, Ouch's blog mentions a bunch of other blogs written by people with disabilities, including The 19th Floor. So mad propz to us.
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April 26, 2004
Behind The Scenes
Bush is in Minneapolis today, going on about the benefits of broadband Internet access. He'll get around to universal broadband access right after he finalizes plans for a manned mission to Mars and gets Congress to vote on a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages. You see, our President is all about thinking the big ideas. Oh, and follow-through. He's big on the follow-through. The transparency of Bush's election-year pabulum is more than a little amusing. I imagine his speechwriters sitting around late at night, eating pizza and trying to think of any topic that has absolutely nothing to do with Iraq.
"Mars! Mars is cool!"
"Yeah! Like that movie with Val Kilmer and the guy that beat up his girlfriend."
"What are you talking about? That movie blew! The De Palma one, now that was cool!"
"Please. We're all descended from Martians? What kind of starry-eyed hippie crap is that? What else we got?"
"Internet access!"
"I like it, I like it. Appeals to the tech sector from a money angle and the Joe NASCARs jonesing for their porn. What else?"
"I know, I know! Gay marriage!"
"Hmm...could work. It's got God, it's got sex. The Bob Jones crowd will be creaming their jeans. Run with it!"
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April 25, 2004
Blender Of Sound
Last night, I was bored and so I decided to download an assortment of mash-ups. Mash-ups, otherwise known as bastard pop, are songs that are created from the vocal and bassline tracks of two or more seemingly dispare songs. For example, the bubbly vocals of Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious" laid down on the grinding guitars of Nirvana's "Nevermind." Or Bjork's "Hidden Place" over Daft Punk's "Something About Us." You wouldn't expect the results to work, but they usually are surprisingly good. I'm tempted to try it myself, but I think it sounds easier than it actually is. I'd need to get my hands on some studio software and it would probably take me days simply to figure out how to use it. I've never been musically inclined and I think that would be something of a prerequisite. If you want to check out the mash-up culture for yourself, go here or here. The copyright implications of mash-ups are a bit foggy. The record labels aren't thrilled with all this mixing and matching, but we need to remember that sampling is a practice that dates back to the Seventies. As an art form, mash-ups are inherently derivative, but the creativity behind them is hard to deny.
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April 24, 2004
Guerrilla Radio
We all know commercial radio sucks. It's devolved into a noxious amalgamation of McSongs, McDJs, and McAdvertising. I'm not in my car enough to invest in satellite radio, but I've been listening to more Internet radio lately, at least when I get tired of my own collection. Right now, I'm streaming Radio Paradise, which is the shiznit. Peggy Lee just finished "Fever." No annoying ads, the DJ is not a screaming chimp, and no goddamn Brittney Spears. I may even send these guys some money. Broadcast radio is a lost cause, but Web radio is astounding in its diversity.
And on a related note, the bastards who put Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" on their list of the 50 Worst Songs. Worse than Celine Dion? Surely they jest.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 10:21 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
April 23, 2004
Art Imitating Life
Anyone been reading Doonesbury this week? Looks like B.D. has become a new citizen in the Kingdom of Gimp. I'm more than a little curious to see how the strip addresses his adjustment to a life with a disability. Will Boopsie freak and leave him? Will he get his coaching job back? Trudeau gets big props from me for not simply killing off a character. The thousands of wounded coming home from Iraq are, to be quite honest, a bigger story than the number of dead. The military has the medical technology to treat wounds that probably would have killed these soldiers ten or twenty years ago, but now they're coming home with a range of disabilities that will require treatment and other support services for years to come. I think it would be fascinating to do a longitudinal study that examines the quality of life of wounded soldiers now compared with a decade in the future. At a time when states are slashing budgets for disability services, what kind of homecoming will these soldiers face?
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April 22, 2004
Pump Up The Volume
I'm short on time tonight, but I missed this story on raves for the deaf and wanted to make sure I mentioned it.
And here's a picture that got someone fired.
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April 21, 2004
Get Wardrobe!
I TiVo'd Chris Rock's latest HBO special and got around to watching it last night. Hilarious. I did notice that the audience seemed a little subdued during his more political material and got more lively when he switched to more bawdy humor. Rock's bit on the difference between being rich and being wealthy was one of my favorites. "Shaq is rich. The guy who signs Shaq's checks? Wealthy!" Pretty much sums up everything. If you watch it, also pay attention to his analogy regarding affirmative action. Brilliant.
I need to clean out my bedroom closet. I have clothes collecting dust that probably date back to high school. Don't tell anyone, but I used to wear a lot of sweat pants in high school. Sweat pants are kind of the de facto fashion choice for people with physical disabilities. They're easy to get off and on and they're loose fitting so they don't cause pressure sores. And I wore them all the time until I realized that I looked like a complete dork in them. I think that someone in an episode of Seinfeld once said that wearing sweats is like announcing to the world "I give up!" Well, I haven't given up and even if I'm on my deathbed, I'm not letting anyone ever put another pair of sweats on me ever again. If I'm gonna go, I wanna go out stylin'.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:51 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
April 20, 2004
Suburban Hell
Five years ago today, we all learned where Columbine, Colorado was. I remember reading the essays of Jon Katz in the aftermath of the shooting and getting more than a little annoyed with his persistent theme of "The World vs. The Geeks." Likewise, I was annoyed with the mainstream media's near-instant typecasting of the goths and the geeks and anyone else who wasn't a jock or student council president as a borderline and potentially armed psychopath. Did anything really change because of Columbine? Kids still play violent videogames and yet most of them manage to refrain from going on killing sprees. The popular kids still torment the outcasts. Maybe Columbine was a function of its own context. An affluent, religiously conservative, mostly white suburb that, for reasons we still can't explain, produced a couple of violent, nihilistic adolescent boys. And what's really sad is that Columbine will continue to be exploited by politicians and activists of every stripe to promote their own narrow agendas, whether it be gun control or school prayer.
Here's a good article about Interact Theater and their latest play. Interact is a highly respected local theater group that is made up almost entirely of people with various disabilities. I've written before about the disability hierarchy and Interact, through its work, is actively deconstructing that hierarchy. Very cool. I need to find someone who wants to see the play with me.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 19, 2004
Help Wanted
I started my search for a new nurse today. I'm a little more confident about the process this time around and I have a pretty good sense of the type of person I want working with me. So I'm following up on some leads from my current nurses and I've also sent ads to some of the nursing schools around here. Incidentally, if any of you know of a nurse in the metro area who might be looking for some part-time work, send them my way. Here's the ad:
NURSE: Unique home care opportunity for RN/LPN. Client is active 30-yr-old man who is ventilator dependent, living in DT Mpls. Mostly evening/weekend shifts. LPN: $27/hr; RN: $37/hr. Applicants should be outgoing, laid back, have good interpersonal skills. Vent experience preferred but not required. Ideal for someone looking for part-time/casual hours. For more information, e-mail Mark at msiegel1@mn.rr.com.
I feel awful for the women in the adult film industry business who contracted HIV from a fellow performer. Yes, porn is a risky business, but so are lots of other jobs. Some people will condemn these women for their behavior and loudly proclaim that they deserved to be infected. I'm not interested in condemning anyone. People get into porn for any number of reasons, but nobody deserves to face death because of that choice. My only hope is that they receive appropriate medical care and that the industry mandates protected sex for all performers.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 18, 2004
Parched
Water...I need water. It's 88 degrees outside outside and the wind is blowing so hard that I'm afraid the windows will be ripped off their hinges. It's supposed to rain eventually, but right now it's drier than an AA meeting around here. I keep expecting tumbleweed to drift across the streets below.
One of my nurses has been on maternity leave and today she informed me that she won't be coming back. I kind of expected that, but the news was still disappointing. We had become good friends and I'll miss having her around. Ah well, another person steps off the merry-go-round that is life on the 19th Floor. Time for a new rider.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 04:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 17, 2004
Crime And Punishment
They found Dru Sjodin's body today. I hope that brings some small measure of comfort to her family. I also suspect that this development will reinvigorate the debate from last fall when our governor suggested that we bring back the death penalty to Minnesota. The judge for whom I once worked told me that he would quit the bench if that ever came to pass. I think a lot of judges would be really ambivalent about imposing death on someone. Minnesota may be an increasingly conservative state, but I'd be shocked if we brought back capital punishment. There's enough remnants of progressive Scandinavian sensibilities around here to keep our bloodthirstier impulses in check. But I do hope the county attorney's office can build a strong case and incarcerate the bastard who did this for the rest of his life.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 16, 2004
Head For The Hills
This geophysicist is predicting an earthquake will strike the Los Angeles area in early September. I'm curious to know how Angelenos are reacting to the news. Is there going to be an exodus from the city around that time? It would be pretty cool if we could predict earthquakes down to the specific date and time of their arrival. I'm imagining a whole fleet of buses driving people into the desert for one big slumber party and then returning the next day to clean up the mess.
Hearing about the recovery of Saint-Exupery's plane brought back memories of my high school French IV class. We read Le Petit Price and went to see a bilingual production of it at a local college. There were only nine or ten of us in the class and it was at the end of the day, so things were always very laid back. Our teacher had an atrocious accent, but I can still conjugate irregular verbs because of the endless drills he put us through
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 15, 2004
Rant & Rave
I thought I'd wait a couple days before commenting on the President's news conference. You know, get some perspective, avoid any knee-jerk reactions, that sort of thing. But it isn't helping. Those sixty-two minutes were absolutely devoid of any meaningful substance regarding our policies in Iraq. The closest thing we get is "it's been a tough week." I want to think our president has some capacity for seeing things as they are rather than how he wishes them to be. I want to think his intellect is agile enough to react to changing circumstances. But I'm not seeing that. I see a man who, when asked why he has to appear with Cheney before the 9/11 Commission, blatantly and unimaginatively dodges the question. I see a man who cannot think of one mistake--not one---he has made over the last three years. Jesus, if all he had said was that he once put on a pair of mismatched socks, that would have been preferable to watching him stammer for thirty seconds like a kid who hadn't done his homework. I thought that along with the whole born-again thing came some humility. I'm not seeing humility. I'm seeing a smug sense of arrogance that is getting people killed.
Okay, I'm done.
Some people in the disability community are protesting the new film United States of Leland. I guess it's about a teenager who murders another kid with autism. A lot of people are upset because apparently the film asks the audience to feel sympathy for the killer and because the kid with autism is treated as little more than a plot device. I got an e-mail at work asking people with disabilities to write letters to the editor criticizing the movie. This kind of protest bothers me. I'm not about to criticize any work of art I haven't seen myself. And even if the movie is a worthless piece of shit, don't we have better things for which to fight? One movie isn't going to make or break society's attitudes about disability. Yeah, yeah, I get that negative stereotypes of disability in the media is a bad thing, but are we gonna also start burning copies of Moby Dick because Ahab is one major amputee prick? How about Dickens and his whole pity party for Tiny Tim? I'm sorry, but sometimes identity politics really piss me off.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:34 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 14, 2004
Mooching
I was checking my Visa bill over lunch and I noticed a charge of which I had no absolutely memory. I called the credit card company and discovered that it was some "hobby store" in Las Vegas. Then I called the number associated with the vendor. It turns out that some guy in Jupiter, Florida ordered three hundred dollars worth of sex toys using my credit card number. I'm absolutely mystified as to how someone appropriated my account. The card wasn't stolen and it never even left my wallet in Miami. Fortunately, the charge was removed from my account and I'm not too concerned about it. However, I think I will ask for a new card given the slight chance that someone may still have my number. But I bear this guy no ill will. I hope that he's enjoying his new Turbo-Charged Vibrating Ecstasy Sleeve, or whatever the hell he bought.
The FDA has improved for human trials the brain implants about which I've previously written. I'd be the first in line to volunteer, but I'm not too crazy about wires dangling from my skull. Two surgical openings in my body is enough, thank you very much. Think I'll wait for the wireless version.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 13, 2004
From Bad To Worse
I've held off saying too much about the situation in Iraq because it's all been said already. I'm glad that Bush is finally holding a press conference tonight, but I'm not terribly optimistic that he'll say anything revealing. I think the variable in this whole mess is whether the current level of violence will be sustained or whether it will ebb enough for some stability to return. Even if the violence does subside, will it cycle up again in a few months? Unlike some on the left, I don't advocate a withdrawal of our troops. It's our mess and we need to clean it up. Where my confidence fails is in the current Administration's ability to develop a coherent set of policies for creating a civil society in Iraq.
I've been thinking about doing some consultant work on the side. The question is, what kind of consulting? Something in the disability field, obviously. One of my pet issues are the challenges confronting adolescents and young adults with disabilities, which I don't think I've addressed here before. A possible topic for tomorrow.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 06:08 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 12, 2004
Tesseract
Here's a brief article about a young man with cerebral palsy who was admitted to a hospital for bedsores and malnutrition. The story doesn't contain enough information to determine whether the mother was negligent, but the description of the boy's condition is alarming. As many parents of children with disabilities will tell you, including my own, raising a child with intense needs can be exhausting. Everything becomes centered on the care of that child. And sometimes, it simply becomes too much for some families. I witnessed minor examples of neglect in some of my friends with disabilities back when I was a kid. Bodies that hadn't been washed, clothes that hadn't been changed, etc. It's not behavior that's justifiable, but it is understandable, especially considering the slashes in state human services budgets over recent years.
Next month, ABC is airing a television version of A Wrinkle in Time. It's one of my favorite books, so I really don't want to be disappointed in this adaptation. But knowing Disney, they'll screw it up and make it all cutesy. Incidentally, there's a great profile of Madeleine L'Engle in last week's New Yorker.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 11, 2004
Art House
I hope all of my Christian-inclined readers had a pleasant Easter. I spent part of today looking for a Z-Code emulator to play some of my old Infocom games. Frotz for Windows is a good choice, in case you're interested. There's also a SCUMM emulator for playing old Lucasarts games like Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. A visit to eBay could be in my future.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch Naqoyqatsi. Philip Glass is a pretentious bastard, but I really enjoyed the previous two films in the trilogy. Kind of like chillout music for the eyes.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:53 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 10, 2004
Gone Fishing
If you aren't checking out Josh's Talking Points Memo, you really should be. He cites a Washington Post article that reveals the President has spent approximately 40% of his time in office on vacation, working or otherwise. This figure in and of itself doesn't mean anything. Time away from the White House doesn't necessarily equate with goof-off time. But it is interesting to note that Bush is going on vacation just as the situation in Iraq is deteriorating at an alarming rate.
Meanwhile, in some forgotten land in possession of actual weapons of mass destruction, nuclear brinkmanship is being played. North Korea probably doesn't pose an imminent threat, but it's disconcerting that this story has fallen off the radar of the American media.
Passover somehow slipped past me this year. I have a couple Jewish friends who try to bring me back into the fold by inviting me to their respective seders, but we didn't connect this year. Of course, according to the Orthodox and Conservative branches of Judaism, I was never really in the fold. My mom isn't Jewish, so the rulebook says neither am I. Of all the religious holidays I don't observe, I have a special fondness for Passover. You can interpret the story of Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt as a strong commentary on social justice and our obligation to each other as human beings to strive for a world where noone is bound by political, economic, or religious shackles. Whatever your belief or lack thereof, that's something worth remembering.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 05:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 09, 2004
World Traveler
My sister should be somewhere in Italy now. She's on spring break and is making her way through Florence, Rome, and Venice before going up to Germany to visit my brother. The Siegel clan is quite the jet-setting bunch lately. All I can say is that she better bring me some cool stuff when she returns to the States. She still owes me for all the free food she's mooched off me since starting college.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 08, 2004
We'll Always Have Miami
I just got off the phone with my friend Elizabeth in Miami.
"When are you coming back to Miami?" she asks.
Ah, geez. It figures that I had to go all the way to Miami to start dating again. Wonder what the credit limit on my Visa is.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:41 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Remix
Republicans were rubbing their hands together in glee back in 2000 when Ralph Nader was running for President. I say turn-about is fair play. Let's all sign this petition urging former Alabama judge and certifiable right wing nutjob Roy Moore to run for prez under the banner of the Constitutional Party, whoever the hell they are. After all, Bush really isn't the Bible thumper he pretends to be. I mean, what's all this namby-pamby garbage from him about respecting all world religions? Shouldn't he be forcing the Army and Marines to forcibly convert those misguided heathens in Iraq and Afghanistan? C'mon, Roy! Your people need you!
For my fellow electronica music freaks: a catchy version of "Man of Constant Sorrow" that will get your body rockin' and booty shakin'.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 07, 2004
The Cringe Factor
Here's one word to describe Air America, the new liberal talk radio network: craptacular. Granted, I've only listened to Al Franken's show. Maybe the other hosts are better. But Al couldn't interview his way out of a paper bag. He even has the assistance of Katherine Lanpher, a former Minnesota Public Radio personality, but she basically plays Ed McMahon to Al's uber-boring Johnny Carson. The show inflicts the most pain when they try to be funny. It's like listening to a bad skit put on by a couple eighth-grade English teachers on open house night. Hopefully, they'll learn to relax and actually listen to their guests. And the whole network has this white, middle-class, Starbucks vibe going on. They need to get Chris Rock or Margaret Cho on the air. Cuz the way things are going now, Air America will be dead and gone in six months.
Ugh, too many evening meetings this week and not enough writing time. Remind me not to join any more committees.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 06, 2004
Coincidence Or Karma?
I want to give a big shout-out to my friend Molly. Molly and I were friends in college and I recently learned that she has found a job with the state of Wisconsin that is almost identical to mine. When you think about how specialized our field is, it's kind of remarkable that we would end up doing the same kind of work. Life is strange, no?
I'm bored with slapping around Dennis Kucinich, so I'm going to make Ralph Nader my bitch for a while. I thought this story was telling: Nader couldn't get 1,000 people at a caucus to get him on the ballot in Oregon. A measly 1,000. But he still gets 4-5% in the national polls, which mystifies the hell out of me. I like to think that most of these people expressing a preference for Nader are going to come back to reality once the chips are on the table.
I got a phone call yesterday from Gillette Hospital asking me to participate in a repeat performance of a continuing legal education class I did last year. It was something that sprang out of the Supreme Court case that concerned my law clerk experience. Have I written about that here? Tell me if I haven't. Anyway, I guess the CLE brought in some significant donations to the hospital, thus the encore. I'm looking forward to doing it again. I still have a yearning to teach someday and this is the closest thing I can get for now.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 07:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 05, 2004
YOU SEE A BOARDED-UP HOUSE TO THE WEST
Peter Gabriel is working on a Myst game. Poor Peter, but his last album did kinda suck, so maybe he needs the money. I never could get into Myst. It struck me as a pretentious slide show with obscure puzzles. Which reminds me. I was poking through my hard drive and found my collection of old Infocom games. Talk about old skool. Before you had your fancy Nintendos and Segas, there was Infocom. I used to spend hours in front of my old Apple IIe, slowly typing out commands like PUT BABEL FISH IN EAR or KILL GNU WITH CROWBAR. i was always bugging my dad to get me the latest Infocom adventure when they came out. And then, a couple months later, the hint book with the invisible ink clues. I think I liked them because even though they were text-based games, they were so well-written that I could clearly see those places in my mind's eye. When I look at them now, it's with a mixture of nostalgia and respect. Games are a thousand times more sophisticated today, but I've rarely been immersed in them like I was when I was twelve, bathed in the green glow of a monitor and making friends with a robot named Floyd.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:55 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
April 04, 2004
Time Shift
The switch to Daylight Savings Time always throws me off a little. The sun lingers in the sky well past dinnertime, which seems unnatural to my winter-addled brain. But it's a sign that summer approaches, which is always welcome news in these parts.
Some good news in the Minneapolis paper today. Kerry leads Bush by twelve points in Minnesota. It's even months before the election and much can change, but seeing those numbers still gave me a warm fuzzy this morning.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 04:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 03, 2004
Playing Politics
Slate discusses the newfound popularity former Senator Max Cleland is enjoying within the Democratic Party. They point out how he and John Kerry have become joined at the hip lately, appearing together at all kinds of fundraisers and campaign rallies. Which, when you think about it, is kind of odd. Cleland was a so-so senator with a decidedly conservative bent. I don't think he and Kerry were all buddy-buddy when they were both on the Hill. So what gives? My theory: it's the wheelchair. Cleland is a ready-made symbol of Democratic outrage at Republican dirty tricks. "Look what those Republicans did to this poor man in the wheelchair! We'll get those bastards! " Hey, whatever works. But it does strike me as just a tad condescending. If Cleland wasn't in a wheelchair, he'd be just another poor schlub who got bitch-slapped by the GOP in 2002. Instead, he's some kind of hero. I'm not saying that's right or wrong, but I think it reveals some interesting things about the intersection of disability and politics.
Hellboy was the shiznit. Lots of great eye candy, but also a film with a surprising amount of depth and feeling with a solid ethical center. Hellboy is kind of unique in that he's a blue-collar superhero with a blue-collar perspective on the world. Kind of an oversized Teamster with red skin and questionable parentage.
Finally, for your Saturday evening reflection, here are some pictures of a lovely Buddhist sand mandala.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 09:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 02, 2004
Broken Engagement
I'm supposed to go to my district convention tomorrow. I should have considered the timing a little further before volunteering because I'm not quite back to full speed yet. It's funny how I was humming along on all cylinders in Miami and now I feel like simply sitting on my ass all day. Er, I guess I do that anyway, but you know what I mean.
Does the FCC really have nothing better to do than watch soaps and gripe about too many people taking their shirts off? Does this fear of a little bare flesh make sense in a world where every newspaper and news broadcast is plastered with images of charred bodies dangling from a bridge? A recent episode of South Park did a hilarious job of deconstructing the sex/violence dichotomy in American culture. I won't summarize the plot except to say it's the one where the kids get their hands on some way cool samurai weapons. The episode also does a great riff on Japanese anime.
Think I'll go see Hellboy tomorrow. Elvis Mitchell in the NYT gave it a glowing review, which kind of surprised me. I've never read the comic, so I have no fanboy expectations going in.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:30 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 01, 2004
Feed Your Head
I came across this little blurb entitled "Thirteen Ways to Raise A Nonreader." Clever. When I was a kid, I would read at the dinner table. It pissed off my parents to no end, but I think they let it slide to get me to eat a little more (I wasn't a big eater back then). All that dinner time reading was probably good preparation for college and law school. Then again, I kind of flubbed my way through my Victorian Novel exam because I never finished Middlemarch. I think I still got an A, though. And in the unlikely event that I ever produce children, I'll actively encourage them to read at dinner, so long as it's nothing by Tom Clancy or Danielle Steele.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at 08:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack