Month: August 2002

From an article in the New York Times about director Quentin Tarantino and his upcoming new film, “Kill Bill”:

Privately, some Hollywood film executives speculate that the dark experiences of a continuing war against terror will pull audiences toward rougher fare. “I mean, I just watched a dog gassed on CNN,” one Hollywood production chief said recently.”

Aw. How sweet.

Found via Metafilter, from an article in the Washington Post about a new automated convenience store in Washington, D.C.:

As for the dehumanizing effects of our faceless, impersonable future? “This is ‘Modern Times,’ ” Celente says. “Charlie Chaplin went through that. People are already dehumanized.

“And it’s not like you’re dealing with a real human being in convenience stores anyway.”

Did you hear that, convenience store workers? You’re not real humans. What an ass.

Well, if it’s Friday, this must be the Friday Five:

1. What’s your favorite piece of clothing that you currently own? I own two very comfortable pairs of shoes, as well as a silky-smooth green buttoned shirt from Geoffrey Beene that I particularly like.

2. What piece of clothing do you most want to acquire? I absolutely hate shopping for clothes. There’s nothing I want to acquire. For awhile I desperately needed new shoes, and I keep thinking a terrycloth robe would be nice, but, for now, I’m good.

3. What piece of clothing can you not bring yourself to get rid of? Why? I own a lot of plaid, but I’ve been trying not to wear it as often since, with the beard, it tends to foster shouts of “Hey! It’s Al from Tool Time!” Which is maybe funny, but only the first time you hear it. In particular, I have this hideously plaid shirt, lumberjack-red with yellow stripes that you really can’t focus your eyes on too long without getting a headache, which I keep only in the hope that someday I’ll get to use it to inflict terror on unsuspecting masses or wear it as a costume in one of the Monty Python Society’s parades or performances. It really is an ugly shirt, though.

4. What piece of clothing do you look your best in? Beats me. Maybe that green shirt. I wear it often enough.

5. What has been your biggest fashion accident? I’m a heterosexual white male. I don’t think we get to have fashion accidents or emergencies. For the most part, under normal workaday conditions, I think we just wear clothes.

You learn something new every day. From Snopes.com: “Hence, pumpernickel is the ‘devil’s fart,’ allegedly a reference to the bread’s indigestible qualities and hence the effect it produced on those who consumed it.”