they live. make your own, if you get bored of listening to mine. share and share alike.
Mar 30, 2008
Mar 29, 2008
thinking green. sort of.
Skimming the weekend editions of our venerable major broadsheets, there is a noticeable difference in the way tonight's Earth Hour is being covered by our national and local newspapers.
The Star, unsurprisingly, has embraced the darkness with open (smothering?) arms, updating the top story of their website as the environmental shadow rolls through each major time zone. "Scandinavia darkens" sounds awfully ominous if you take it out of context, but I digress.
The Globe meanwhile is approaching tonight's... festivities, with a fistful of salt. Rex Murphy's op-ed piece, while hitting an awful lot of nails on the head, also manages to make him seem more sourpuss than John Lithgow was in Flashdance.
The Life section of the Globe also features a to-do list for tonight that plants its tongue so firmly in its cheek you almost expect the writer to don a Captain Planet costume tonight and run around purple-nurpling hippies.
The contrast I think speaks a lot to how we as global citizens have accepted the commodification of environmentalism. Although I also believe the reality of the situation is complex and lies in a happy medium, both views will certainly hold more than a modicum of truth up to our organic wax candles this evening.
see you in the morning.
Mar 27, 2008
petit parce que tous et jambon
Awards from Columbia University!
I said I'd never drink again.
I lied.
Mar 19, 2008
sweet googly moogly
as a testament to entry #89 of my current favourite blog, st. patty's '08 was indeed a 24-hour... surreal thompson-esque romp of hedonism, which i will not soon (if ever) forget. and rest assured it wasn't because of the parade -- although we did get to heckle rudy giuliani from spitting distance.
new york is great, but going on a giant three-day bender with 30 classmates in new york?
priceless.
and by priceless, i mean about $300.
new york is great, but going on a giant three-day bender with 30 classmates in new york?
priceless.
and by priceless, i mean about $300.
Mar 15, 2008
bringing it back to the lede
at the conclusion of a great novel, one feels disappointed that the ride is over, but would never wish that the author had tacked on an additional 100 pages just because it was a good book. no, the timing of the end is just as integral a part of the work as the very first sentence itself.
and so it was that as the wire came to a close, i was left with a palpable sense of contentment, if such a thing exists. it was the way it was meant to be, no more no less, and it was perfect in exactly that way.
it's difficult to explain the appeal of the wire not because the plot is complicated. if you were to hit the "info" button on your digital cable box, the one sentence description would sum up the series quite aptly; something along the lines of "cops and drug dealers struggle to maintain control over Baltimore city streets."
what is difficult is explaining the nuance and subtleties of the show that make it probably the most well written and thorough piece of art ever to grace a television screen.
granted, the program skews towards a heavily male demographic. but the depth with which the show is written, the broad swath of social, political and economical intricacies that it tackles successfully is simply astounding. one could easily argue that watching this show could teach you more about the cynical realities of bureaucracy and social injustice than any university course you could ever sit in on.
much has been said about the fact that the wire helps us see ourselves for who we really are, from the macro scale of urban social and infrastructure decay to the individuality of our own ethical and moral statutes. "we're writing greek tragedies," said wire creator david simon in a recent interview with the onion video club.
greek tragedies were meant to be parables however, and as such one is left to ponder the lessons the wire is trying to teach us.
you see the tragedy unfolding before you, the heroes, the pitfalls, the failures and the pariahs. so what do you take away from it?
there's not much more you can ask of a television show.
the wire said what it felt needed to be said in the most concise and eloquent way it could say it.
knowing that it came from the pen of an ex-journalist, this is an accomplishment of truly grand proportions.
naming the last episode "-30-" was something maybe not every viewer will understand. the symbol represents the end of every filed work in a newsroom, marking the final stroke of your story. that poignancy is a perfect example of the show's awe inspiring attention to detail.
what a fitting end to a wonderful work of social commentary.
and so it was that as the wire came to a close, i was left with a palpable sense of contentment, if such a thing exists. it was the way it was meant to be, no more no less, and it was perfect in exactly that way.
it's difficult to explain the appeal of the wire not because the plot is complicated. if you were to hit the "info" button on your digital cable box, the one sentence description would sum up the series quite aptly; something along the lines of "cops and drug dealers struggle to maintain control over Baltimore city streets."
what is difficult is explaining the nuance and subtleties of the show that make it probably the most well written and thorough piece of art ever to grace a television screen.
granted, the program skews towards a heavily male demographic. but the depth with which the show is written, the broad swath of social, political and economical intricacies that it tackles successfully is simply astounding. one could easily argue that watching this show could teach you more about the cynical realities of bureaucracy and social injustice than any university course you could ever sit in on.
much has been said about the fact that the wire helps us see ourselves for who we really are, from the macro scale of urban social and infrastructure decay to the individuality of our own ethical and moral statutes. "we're writing greek tragedies," said wire creator david simon in a recent interview with the onion video club.
greek tragedies were meant to be parables however, and as such one is left to ponder the lessons the wire is trying to teach us.
you see the tragedy unfolding before you, the heroes, the pitfalls, the failures and the pariahs. so what do you take away from it?
there's not much more you can ask of a television show.
the wire said what it felt needed to be said in the most concise and eloquent way it could say it.
knowing that it came from the pen of an ex-journalist, this is an accomplishment of truly grand proportions.
naming the last episode "-30-" was something maybe not every viewer will understand. the symbol represents the end of every filed work in a newsroom, marking the final stroke of your story. that poignancy is a perfect example of the show's awe inspiring attention to detail.
what a fitting end to a wonderful work of social commentary.
Mar 12, 2008
hamster huey and the gooey kablooey
In light of this whole Spitzer scandal, I'm trying to decide if I'd be more offended to find out my spouse was cheating on me the regular way or paying for sex with a prostitute. I'm inclined to think the latter is less hurtful in terms of taking a hit to my ego, however it would also be somewhat more disturbing in that I would seriously, seriously question my judgement.
In terms of self-worth however, I think I'd definitely choose fate B given the previously mentioned option. Heck, if the prostitute was super smoking, I'd probably understand. I mean, if someone OFFERED me $4000 to sleep with them, I'd probably be like "are you nuts? I'm not worth that much."
Not to say I'm easy. Just... pragmatic.
In terms of self-worth however, I think I'd definitely choose fate B given the previously mentioned option. Heck, if the prostitute was super smoking, I'd probably understand. I mean, if someone OFFERED me $4000 to sleep with them, I'd probably be like "are you nuts? I'm not worth that much."
Not to say I'm easy. Just... pragmatic.
Mar 5, 2008
Mar 2, 2008
pbj
Alas, I am out of jelly. Looks like lunch will just be peanut butter today... that's kind of like having a car with no windshield -- it'll get the job done, but you're probably not going to like it.
We all make purchases we regret (right now, I'm looking at some Bjork concerts that were bootlegged onto VHS and a copy of Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Megadrive. Did I mention I own neither a VCR nor a Megadrive?)
I must say though that at the time, these seemed like wise purchases. I cannot fathom why.
Here is a list of things that I used to think were cool, but sadly, no longer like. (And to Dashboard Confessional -- I'm sorry. It's not you, it's me).
- FILA
- EZ Mac
- Emo music
- Television
- Second Cup
- Guitar Hero
- Alicia Silverstone (Part of me fears one day she will read this, and it will cost me my chance.)
- HTML
- Skee-ball
- Turtleneck sweaters
- Professional Wrestling
- Dragonboat racing
- Michael Moore
- Naps
Here, conversely, is a list of things I have begun to grow a new appreciation for:
- Sandwiches
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)