Soundtrack in my head: Neneh Cherry, "Trout" Just found out today that the different drummer soundtrack is one of five nominees for MKE's (Milwaukee's) Blog of the Week. For my readers who don't know, MKE is a free weekly magazine in the Milwaukee area. I'll have to make sure to pick up a copy next … Continue reading MKE’s (Milwaukee’s) blog of the week
parting the waters in Madison
If anybody has seen someone here in Madison holding a staff skyward with eyes closed in concentration, well, at the very least I’d recommend being nice to the person and hope that he/she is on our side.
a lazy night watching the rotating ceiling fan blades
Soundtrack in my head: Squirrel Nut Zippers, "Got My Own Thing Now" Tonight, for the first time in a week or so, I have both my ceiling fan and my window fan running,, as temperatures will be climbing into upper 80’s and lower 90’s again in Madison. There’s something about ceiling fans and the sound … Continue reading a lazy night watching the rotating ceiling fan blades
monty python and the defense of organized religion
A number of friends of mine consider themselves spiritual but not into “organized religion.” They look at the rather checkered history of organized religion and wonder why anyone would want to get involved. When I think about the question, I think about the Monty Python sketch about a soccer game between the great German and Greek philosophers. At the beginning of the game, the philosophers line up on opposite sides of the center line, the referee throws up the ball, and…the philosophers begin wandering aimlessly around the field, hands under chins in deep thought while the ball just sits there.
the death of independent thought
When I look at the state of mass media today, sometimes I think about the fictional language of Newspeak in George Orwell’s novel 1984. In the book, the goal of the language was to increase the state’s power over the population by eliminating shades of meaning in spoken English. Each edition of the Newspeak dictionary would have fewer and fewer words. The idea was that by diminishing the number of words in a language, the state could diminishing its citizens’ capacity for thought and therefore strengthen its ability to control the masses. I don't necessarily believe that the media is involved in some sinister plot to control our minds, but it is not giving us the range of information that it could give us if it was truly acting as a responsible steward of its power, or at least a disinerested neutral party interested only in truth and accuracy.
music format: what is the sound of a round object spinning?
In my still relatively short lifetime, I am astounded at the many rapid changes that have occurred in the way that people play and store music. If people ask me what format I have my music in, my reply will be simple—I’ll say I prefer the round kind.
cat got your lung? life with cat allergies
But the difference is that while you can ask a smoker to extinguish a cigarette, you can’t ask a cat owner to extinguish their cat. Even if my body regards a cat as the equivalent of a constantly lit cigarette that eats and poops.
sinners, every single overweight one of us! (burp!)
So it’s not enough that obese people are the subject of jokes, ridicule, and assumptions about one’s competence and ability that really have nothing to do with weight. We are now considered “sinners” as well. Now I’ve heard everything.
an “administrative professionals day” story, starring jimmy stewart
Today is Administrative Professionals’ Day, a day in which secretaries, clerical workers and other office support staff are recognized and given special appreciation. The very title of this day makes it sound about as exciting as fanfold computer paper or office ceiling title. But believe it or not, I have an Administrative Professionals’ Day story that I would consider to be as heartwarming as any Christmas story or Jimmy Stewart movie.
save the internet !!!
I've put a big orange tag on my navigation bar so that you can get involved. Click it. Before the ISP's turn your computer into yet another idiot box.