Monday, August 21, 2006
Hello me, it's me again
Once again, I've been shamed for my lack of devotion to this blog, this time by having my inaction discussed at a brunchtime roundtable. I am a bad person.
So here it is:
First off, a new title: The Virtual Panopticon had to be retired since I no longer work there. I welcome comments and criticism on my new choice.
Second: a descriptive quote has been added. It comes courtesy of Jamal Quest, who was commenting on the nature of the universe. Any offense taken by creationists or followers of other such bogus ideologies is intended.
Third: a new color scheme - I gots to keep it fresh.
Fourth: yes, the title of this post is a reference to a Megadeth song.
Highlights of the past week(s):
Historical Revisionist Coughlen discovered that the skateboard played a pivotal role in the American Revolutionary War. Apparently, it was responsible for the transport of the smallpox vaccine that Washington insisted on, and Nathanael Greene’s ability to run the Brits ragged in the hills of South Carolina. Also, American troops were paid with hard candy, whereas the Brits were given booze. The Pentagon would be wise to follow these examples of how to wage war. Mr. Coughlen’s groundbreaking dissertation The American War of Independence Revisited: Butterscotch, Big Air and the Birth of a Nation will be printed by Oxford University Press in March 2007.
Around 4am Sunday, I found myself arguing the finer points of Peak Oil with a middle-age alcoholic woman. In what I futilely hope is the most absurd statement I’ll hear from a non-politician, she swore up and down that she currently lives completely independent of oil. Needless to say, she became quite hostile when a slew of things made from petroleum – the plastic cup in her hand, the plastic chairs we sat in – were pointed out for her. I found it unnecessary and even cruel to mention the car in which she was about to leave.
The moral of this story: some people don’t have like to have their worldview challenged.
At the Unique Thrift Store in Joliet, I managed to find a mint condition copy of George W. Bush – A Heroic First Year (© 2002 The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.). I knew that a book about Our Fearless Leader, published shortly after 9/11 by the conservative and jingoist Reader’s Digest would be bad. But nothing could prepare me for how bad it really is.
The first lines of the book’s prologue:
There are moments in a man’s life when the gravity of the occasion can be energizing or overwhelming, awe inspiring or paralyzing. At these times, the people counting on him need to know what choice he will make. Will he embrace the challenge, or will the challenge debilitate him?
Then, describing the scene on September 14, 2001, at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC:
Seated next to Laura was George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States. Never breaking his glance from the altar in from of him, “41” as the father is warmly referred to by the men and women who work in his son’s administration, reached over and grasped the hand of George W. Bush. That was the moment.
Ugh. This third-grade level of drivel continues on for another 60 pages. I’m not sure how I’ll make it through.
There are 78 days until Election Day. Are you registered to vote? If so, are you actually going to vote? If not, James Madison will powerbomb you.
And finally, I’d like to offer my congratulations to Jeff and Tasha, my cousin and cousin-in law, respectively. On Friday August 18th 2006, their son, Vladimir Roland Waske was born. As they say in “the streets”, big up yourself, little Vlad.
So here it is:
First off, a new title: The Virtual Panopticon had to be retired since I no longer work there. I welcome comments and criticism on my new choice.
Second: a descriptive quote has been added. It comes courtesy of Jamal Quest, who was commenting on the nature of the universe. Any offense taken by creationists or followers of other such bogus ideologies is intended.
Third: a new color scheme - I gots to keep it fresh.
Fourth: yes, the title of this post is a reference to a Megadeth song.
Highlights of the past week(s):
Historical Revisionist Coughlen discovered that the skateboard played a pivotal role in the American Revolutionary War. Apparently, it was responsible for the transport of the smallpox vaccine that Washington insisted on, and Nathanael Greene’s ability to run the Brits ragged in the hills of South Carolina. Also, American troops were paid with hard candy, whereas the Brits were given booze. The Pentagon would be wise to follow these examples of how to wage war. Mr. Coughlen’s groundbreaking dissertation The American War of Independence Revisited: Butterscotch, Big Air and the Birth of a Nation will be printed by Oxford University Press in March 2007.
Around 4am Sunday, I found myself arguing the finer points of Peak Oil with a middle-age alcoholic woman. In what I futilely hope is the most absurd statement I’ll hear from a non-politician, she swore up and down that she currently lives completely independent of oil. Needless to say, she became quite hostile when a slew of things made from petroleum – the plastic cup in her hand, the plastic chairs we sat in – were pointed out for her. I found it unnecessary and even cruel to mention the car in which she was about to leave.
The moral of this story: some people don’t have like to have their worldview challenged.
At the Unique Thrift Store in Joliet, I managed to find a mint condition copy of George W. Bush – A Heroic First Year (© 2002 The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.). I knew that a book about Our Fearless Leader, published shortly after 9/11 by the conservative and jingoist Reader’s Digest would be bad. But nothing could prepare me for how bad it really is.
The first lines of the book’s prologue:
There are moments in a man’s life when the gravity of the occasion can be energizing or overwhelming, awe inspiring or paralyzing. At these times, the people counting on him need to know what choice he will make. Will he embrace the challenge, or will the challenge debilitate him?
Then, describing the scene on September 14, 2001, at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC:
Seated next to Laura was George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States. Never breaking his glance from the altar in from of him, “41” as the father is warmly referred to by the men and women who work in his son’s administration, reached over and grasped the hand of George W. Bush. That was the moment.
Ugh. This third-grade level of drivel continues on for another 60 pages. I’m not sure how I’ll make it through.
There are 78 days until Election Day. Are you registered to vote? If so, are you actually going to vote? If not, James Madison will powerbomb you.
And finally, I’d like to offer my congratulations to Jeff and Tasha, my cousin and cousin-in law, respectively. On Friday August 18th 2006, their son, Vladimir Roland Waske was born. As they say in “the streets”, big up yourself, little Vlad.
# posted by workplex @ 14:51 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]