static

static, interference, intervention, intervene, get involved so as to alter or hinder an action, white noise, snow, fuzz, fuzzy, Fuzzy, ME

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Bad Reviews

This is going to be a general critique of critics. Some journalists just should not do criticism. A good review should give you an overview of that which is being reviewed, let the reader know whether the reviewer thought the piece was good or bad, and give reasons. A good review may also employ wordplay. The online music magazine Pitchfork is very good at this. When the word play in the review is obvious or excessive, it lessens the effectiveness of the review. I read a review of a reunion performance of the rock supergroup Cream and as might be expected by this review, the reviewer employed way too many puns about cream, the dairy product, while referring to the performance. While the idea that the performance was decidedly mediocre was expressed, reading the numerous puns was positively painful.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Death

This post will be very quick as I don't have much time (I am still having to use library computers). Having said that I felt that these two things were important and needed to be posted.

Mother of the Civil Rights Era, Rosa Parks, has died at her home in Detroit, she was 92. The former seamstress will be remembered most for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. Her arrest and subsepuent conviction touched off the 13 month Montgomery bus boycott. The story says that she was tired and didn't know what she was doing, but she had a past history helping with voter registration and other civil rights acts. In an interview later, she stated that she knew exactly what she was trying to do by getting arrested.

The 2000th American soldier was killed today. Demonstrations and vigils will be happening all over the United States to express the fact that the people of this country vehemently disagree with this war and want our soldiers, who are friends and family to return home immediately.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Still Down

Again, as I am still having to write this somewhere other than my own computer, I am pressed for time so this will be quick. I haven't done much volunteering lately although I do have a benefit for United Cerebral Palsy on Friday. I have been doing a lot of reading and movie watching lately. In the last week I have finished We Thought You Would Be Prettier by Laurie Notaro, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, Pagan Babies by Elmore Leonard, and am presently working on Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. I have also watched a documentary about Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, a documentary about the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre called Dig!, the Oscar winner for 2004's Best Picture (among others), Million Dollar Baby, and an indie film starring Hope Davis and Campbell Scott called The Secret Lives of Dentists.

Every year, after the Nobel Prizes have been awarde, Harvard University awards the Ig Nobel prizes. Awards for research that at first is seemingly ridiculous but can actually have a point. I found the fluid dynamics winner for this year to be pretty funny, check it out.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Groundhog with Braces

My computer is still down so I am still writing this from my local library. I happened to see this story today that just cracked me up so it had to go into the blog. A groundhog residing in Brookfield Zoo apparently has a bad case of snaggletooth. "Stormy's" lower incisors are growing apart and his upper insisors are growing between them. Under normal circumstances, a groundhogs upper and lower teeth wear against one another. Because a rodents teeth grow all of their life, if Stormy's problem were not corrected, he would starve to death even living in the zoo. So Stormy has been given braces. The veterinarian dentist trimmed his teeth with a buzz saw and then wrapped suture wire around his lower incisors in order to bring them back together. This is the fourth tinsel treatment for Stormy since August, the treatments will continue until his lower teeth are growing straight.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Dead Computer

You may wonder why I haven't updated in several days. My computer crashed on Friday and my system disc is nowhere to be found. I have been relegated to doing my internet surfing at the library which means that my time is limited. Until I can get a new disc, my updates will be sporadic at best.

I had wanted to post about the Mammoth tooth found in Dupage County and about the Nobel Prizes that had been awarded last week. As my time is limited, I can only mention them and let those interested peruse the links provided.

I also had a good time last week volunteering at a benefit auction for a cat rescue organization.

My time is almost up so I will post more at a later date.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Very Short

Harriet Miers is totally unqualified to be a supreme court justice. Her nomination stinks of cronyism as badly as Michael Brown's appointment as head of FEMA. Luckily, neither side cares for her much because she is an unknown quantity. I say that her views are not important, she isn't qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice because she has no experience as a judge at any level.

I love Best of Chicago lists. I pick up Chicago Magazine every year to peruse what they think the best place to get a tattoo, where to get the best hot dog, or who the best DJ is. New City has a Best of Chicago online now that includes, among other things, the best Chicago Landmark that no one visits (former location of John Wayn Gacy's House at 8213 W. Summerdale), Best Churrascaria (Brazilian Steakhouse, Brazzazz), or Best Art Blog (Iconoduel).

In Iraq, the Numbers are now 8 for October and 1941 in total.

Monday, October 03, 2005

The Weekend

I could really do a substantial post on the weekend if I felt like writing. The weekend is when I do most of my volunteering and this last weekend was no different. I volunteered with One Brick to work at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Working at the Food Depository is always a good thing. They are very organized and they definitely put their volunteers to work. In the many times that I have been there I have repackaged pasta, repackaged frozen corn, broccoli, potatoes, separated orphans (big boxes of assorted dry goods that come from grocery stores), and paper products. This weekend we did produce. We took boxes of lettuce, canteloupe, and limes, threw away the spoiled food and reboxed the stuff that was still good. With the lettuce, this involved peeling the first couple of layers off. There was, however, some heads that were not salvageable at all. The canteloupes we tossed were moldy or soft. This was actually most of them. Most of the limes though, were good. While it was slightly disgusting at times, it was good to go because I saw several of my friends, a few that I haven't seen in about six months.

Yesterday, I spent the day at my sister's house. It was the last day my sister's inlaws were going to be around, they live in Spain and they were returning today. I really enjoy talking with them, its interesting to get a European perspective on current events.

Tom DeLay was indicted today by a different grand jury for money laundering. Again Mr. DeLay has proclaimed his innocence and claims that prosecutors are manufacturing charges. I again say that it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. With three charges to fight now, two of which seem to be fairly serious, hopefully this ends his career.

In Iraq, the American casualty total is now 1936. 49 were killed in September and 3 have been killed in October so far. I will start catching up with those people that I have not yet named this week.