Category: society

Tue 11 Dec 2007

Interesting interview with some guy who wrote a Lincoln book. The part that I liked is about 3/4 of the way down:

I decided I would try and piece together this Lincoln Heritage Trail that my parents had taken me on when I was a kid. I tried to find a map. I looked on the Internet, asked everyone I could. Couldn't find anything about the Lincoln Heritage Trail.

Finally, I got a call from the director of tourism in Illinois. She said, I've got your guy—the man who invented the Lincoln Heritage Trail in 1961. He's still alive. I called the guy up. Waxing eloquent, I said, It's such an honor to speak with you, because the trail is really from a time when people cared enough about Lincoln and our history to try to honor the places he'd been, to touch the places he'd touched. . . .

And there was a long pause. He finally said, Uh, thanks. But, you know, don't you, this whole thing was cooked up by the marketing guys at the American Petroleum Institute? They wanted to get people in their cars buying gasoline.

The thing had been a marketing scam. They had done it out here in the East, a George Washington Heritage Trail. There was a Hiawatha Heritage Trail. And the Petroleum Institute had put together this one for Lincoln. All to sell gasoline. When you scratch anything in America, there's a profit motive not too far underneath.

Still I ended up going to these places and dragging my poor kids along.

via Arts & Letters Daily, which if you are an unrepentant web surfer like me, and you like to read more than the latest Fark headline ("Guess the plot. Article contains the words 'Bowling,' 'Drunk,' 'Trailer,' 'Grandkids,' 'Shooting,' 'Leroy' and 'Dreads.' Difficulty: West Virginia") you really should be checking regularly.
Posted when I probably should have been in bed an hour ago [ /society ]

Fri 07 Dec 2007

Check it out -- they found the bones of a sea monster even bigger than a pliosaur. Too cool.
Posted in the morning. [ /society ]

Wed 31 Oct 2007

So, Fark tells me that there was a triple murder in Reno last weekend. One of the primary suspects turns out to be a former McQueen High School football player.

<sarcasm> Yes, Ken Dalton is my hero.</sarcasm>
Posted in the morning [ /society ]

Sat 19 Aug 2006

In order to fulfill the name of this website, I have decided to list the best Dire Straits songs for posterity.

1. Follow Me Home, from Communique
2. Romeo and Juliet, from Making Movies
3. Brothers in Arms, from Brothers in Arms, appropriately enough
4. Down to the Waterline, from the self-titled debut
5. Tunnel of Love, from Making Movies
6. Portobello Belle, from Communique
7. Where do You Think You're Going?, from Communique
8. Private Investigations, from Love Over Gold
9. How Long, from On Every Street
10. Ride Across the River, from Brothers in Arms

Ok, let's do a comparison to the Dire Straits greatest hits cd... Well, they got Brothers in Arms, Romeo and Juliet and Tunnel of Love right. These are not Dire Straits best songs, though. It makes me happy to know that with a CD burner, I can make my own dang greatest hits cd, and avoid the even-numbered tracks on Communique. Something tells me, though, that the RIAA is not happy that I can do that, even though I do own just about all of Dire Straits' stuff...
Posted pretty dang early in the morning (couldn't sleep) [ /society ]

Wed 08 Mar 2006

Not much from me recently, I admit. I've been busy -- or was that lazy? Hrmm.. Anyway, I have been silent long enough. It is necessary for me to pronounce that the Great Outdoor Fight is genius. If there isn't such a thing, there should be.

Man, I can't believe they took out Beef! This is tragic...
Posted pretty early in the morning. [ /society/popculture ]

Sat 16 Apr 2005

So, when I read complaints like this one, (oh, and by the way, Jeremy, that's not a rant. To be a rant, IMHO, you need to go on a bit longer, at least three paragraphs.) I wonder why on earth anyone would want to be an academic, anyway? Sure, there's the long summers, and tenure, but...

What I'm really getting at is, if you are even considering a career in the academy, you simply must read Lucky Jim, which I had never heard of until I came across this article via Arts & Letters a while back. I found it at a used book sale later, and though it sat on my shelf for a while, I got around to reading it about the same time I was writing my seminar paper last semester. (no commenting on how I might have gotten a better grade had I not been reading novels, now!) Now that I'm writing another seminar paper, it is foremost in my mind. Really, read it. It's great.
Posted in the afternoon [ /society ]

Thu 24 Feb 2005

Yes, I'm still alive, just busy and lazy. I've been working on my plan to destroy the earth. (Thanks, Daypop! See number 8.)
Posted in the morning [ /society ]

Sat 20 Nov 2004

What the hell is wrong with people?

"This is awesome," said Bobby Large, 24, of Greenwood. "This is the craziest thing I have seen in sports live in a long time. I was sitting there watching TV with a friend. He and I just looked at each other. We couldn't believe it was actually happening."

"We're here to support our Pacers," Large said. Referring to the Pacers like Ron Artest who had gone into the crowd, Large said, "I don't think they should have run into the crowd. But 'Go Ron'."

As if I needed another reason to quit watching the NBA. Problem is, really, is baseball that much better? I'm a big Cardinals fan, but I've never really gone to any games there. This makes me not want to. This is just sickening. I'm not gonna say one side is to blame more than the other -- frankly, I think it's a systemic thing. Everybody's to blame. And it's really hard for me to justify to myself being part of that system.
Posted around lunchtime [ /society ]

Mon 20 Sep 2004

Note to self: The statement, "I'm a reasonable person" is roughly akin to <JoeIsuzu>"Trust me"</JoeIsuzu>, meaning precisely the opposite of its dictionary meaning.
Posted in the afternoon [ /society ]

Wed 25 Aug 2004

Oh no! Now the Europeans have resorted to beheading, too! Proof positive that they're on the other side...

Via Dave Barry, of course.
Posted around lunchtime [ /society ]