Arthur has been writing some eloquent prose about “The War on Someone or Something, We’re Not Sure Yet” (my title, not his). Go there now.
Category: words mean things (Page 156 of 223)
Imagine I call you up, and say that you’re going to die tomorrow.
Well, maybe not die, but you could be seriously hurt. And maybe not tomorrow, but soon. I really can’t say how, or anything about the circumstances – who, what, where or when. I’ve heard this from reliable sources, but I won’t tell you who they are. And yes, I told you the same thing last week, and nothing happened, but I was less sure then. Trust me. You should just really be on the alert, because this is a serious thing. You could die.
What’s wrong with this picture?
“Vice President Cheney has been moved to an undisclosed secure location. Meanwhile, tonight the President will be attending Game 3 of the World Series.”
-actual news report on NPR this afternoon
“Time can’t just disappear. It’s a universal invariant.”
-Dana Scully, X-Files pilot episode
Scully obviously forgot about Daylight Saving Time. As I took my walk this morning, I was struck by seeing all the municipal clocks around the neighborhood that hadn’t been adjusted, since the time change always takes place over a weekend. It still amazes me that we can all decide, with dubious benefit, that no, it’s not 2 a.m., it’s actually 1 a.m. And poof! So it becomes. Group hallucination. My grandmother was a travel agent in Arizona, and suffered through a double whammy – Arizona doesn’t go on DST, but the Navajo reservation does (!). So dealing with travel times was complicated to say the least. I always feel disoriented and crappy at every time change, and I really wish we would just pick a time and stick with it. This tinkering with reality has got to have some long-term consequences.
P.S. Watching the pilot episode of the X-Files is a great way to be both incredibly entertained and upset about the sad state of TV these days.
P.P.S. Anyone who’s read Einstein’s Dreams (a masterpiece) knows that time is not a universal invariant anyway.
Do you collect domain names? I’m sure a lot of webheads have registered more URLs than I have, by a long shot. But I recently got two that I really like, even if I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with them:
mightyforces.net (after I saw “Almost Famous”)
authenticvoices.net (influenced by reading The Cluetrain Manifesto)
I was thinking that I might call my e-mail newsletter “Mighty Forces,” since all the other names I’ve come up with sound too corporate and boring (“Web Success” etc.). And the weblog directory might fit well under “Authentic Voices.” I’m still mulling it over. What cool URLs have you registered?
I live amongst these people every day.
Watched Ellen Degeneres’ new sitcom last week. I have to tell you, I would rather watch her old show at its most strident than this watered-down, let’s-not-offend-anyone-with-a-heartbeat piece of committee-created junk. It’s so mild, it barely registers on your synapses before dissolving into the ether. I especially like the “she’s gay but not in any way a sexual being, please don’t boycott us” stance of the show, which seems to align with way a lot of Americans think of gay people: it’s OK to be gay, sort of, in principle, as long as there’s absolutely no outward sign whatsoever.
To get a new show, Ellen’s given up her voice. And that’s sad.
Brutality smeared in peanut butter. Read this. Please. (via Arthur)
I definitely have not been mentioning Osama Bin Laden (aka the Head Evildoer) on my weblog enough lately. Osama, Osama, Osama. When I heard the rumor that you were dead, I thought, “I hope Bert is OK.” I was not nearly as concerned with the welfare of Mary-Kate and Ashley, however.
And to whoever made that stupid Flash movie with George Bush playing the bongo drums: is that all you have to do with your time? How long did that thing take you? Why must you torment us so? Oh my sweet lord.