Month: March 2003

Any accountants in the house? There’s nothing like doing my taxes (or trying to do them) to make me remember how stupid I am about money. I’d simply assumed that because I have only one real source of income this year (last year, I effectively had three paychecks), figuring out how much I owe would be relatively simple. But I still have this Rollover IRA from my last job that’s confusing things — coupled, of course, with my natural stupidity about money. I suppose the worst that could happen is I’ll file my taxes and be sent an angry letter indicating that I neglected to pay the correct amount. (Last year, I did in fact end up having to send the township a second check for about seventeen dollars.) But I’d rather not let that happen. I’d much prefer this to be a simple process of plugging numbers into boxes and then adding them up.

Although, whatever I do, I should probably figure out what needs to happen with that Rollover IRA. I seem to remember being told initially that I couldn’t transfer the 401k from my earlier job to my new retirement plan at the University, but it seems silly to keep this small amount just sitting there, especially if I am going to end up owing taxes on it.

Don’t mind me. I’m just stupid about money, that’s all.

Both Rob and Remi have expressed an interest in seeing the new film Willard. Which seems like a good enough excuse to share these two quotes from Roger Ebert’s review:

“Willard” is a remake of the 1971 film, which was a surprise hit at the box office. My explanation at the time: People had been waiting a long time to see Ernest Borgnine eaten by rats and weren’t about to miss the opportunity.

A few of the rats pop out: Socrates, Willard’s choice for leader, and Ben, who is Ben’s choice for leader. Ben is a very big rat (played, according to ominous information I found on the Web, “by an animal that is not a rat”).

Ebert was less than enthusiastic about the film. However, as Keith Phipps points out:

…anyone who feels that the sight of Glover maniacally instructing a herd of rats to “Tear! Tear!” is reason enough to show up won’t be disappointed. (Everyone else probably knows well enough to stay away.)

While I found both the trailer and music video bizarrely intriguing, I think I’m going to give this one a miss, at least while in theaters.

The English language needs a non-gender-specific pronoun. When speaking of “someone”, my natural inclination is to also say “them” of “their”, which is grammatically incorrect. But “he/she” or “his/her” is cumbersome. “It” just isn’t a workable alternative.

A very interesting article in today’s Salon raises an extremely important question:

Why is it that polls show President Bush losing the ’04 election to an “Unnamed Democrat,” but beating all the Democrats who are currently in the race?

I wish the Democrats would grow a spine. I wish they would remember the reason there’s an opposition party. I wish they were willing to make what might be unpopular decisions because they’re the right decisions. I really don’t think I can handle another four years of George W. Bush.

Rob writes:

In the meantime, we need to start doing some food renaming of our own. From now on, American Cheese is to be called “War Cheese”!

Of course, some so-called French foods are actually American as well, including apparently French toast (thanks to Joe Conason for the link). And why has no one demanded that we start pouring Creamy Victory Dressing on our salads? Is it because they realize it’s stupid and that our nation’s leaders ought to have better things to do with their time?

Look, even if I disagreed with the French on this — and I don’t — their representatives to the United Nations are simply executing the will of their people by attempting to avoid a needless and dangerous war. They’re acting like a democracy. Demanding that they follow the company line and bow to pressure from the United States demeans the principles of that democracy. Responding with bad French jokes and renaming foods is nothing but petty and childish.

And, as Neil Gaiman points out, it “will just make them laugh at you.”