Month: September 2008

Another random Friday

We come again, as we always do, back to this:

  1. “Rock Paper Scissors” by Ani DiFranco, guessed by marisa
    It’s hand against hand and both hands are mine
  2. “At Last” by Neko Case
    I own every bell that tolls me
  3. “All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands” by Sufjan Stevens
    And will I be invited to the sound?
  4. “Good Times, Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin, guessed by Occupant
    I don’t care what the neighbors say
  5. “Unexplained” by Meat Puppets
    A firefly is not a candle
  6. “Long Line of Cars” by Cake
    We’ve got to keep this fire burning and accept a little gray
  7. “Father Lucifer” by Tori Amos, guessed by marisa
    He says he reckons I’m a watercolor stain
  8. “Heaven Is My Home” by Randy Newman
    Now this sweet world is precious to me
  9. “Crash & Burn” by Blues Traveler
    Gonna watch you fall like a tower of cards
  10. “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, guessed by Occupant
    That don’t matter, he said, ’cause it’s all the same

Here are last week’s answers. This week’s are up to you. Good luck!

The old switcheroo

Something just occurred to me. This is not a comparison that holds up under under close scrutiny, perhaps, but on the face of it, the McCain/Palin ticket is some ways a direct reversal of Bush/Cheney.

Bush was dumb and inexperienced, without a lick of international knowledge, but a regular feller. That’s Sarah Palin in spades; her chief assets seem to be that she’s a soccer hockey mom and knows where Russia is. (And that’s her supporters talking.) And this time around, McCain is Cheney, the old evil white guy apparently willing to do anything, sacrifice any ideal, to secure more power and the Presidency.

Again, it’s not a perfect analogy. Bush actually had considerably more experience in government in 2000 — amazingly enough — than Sarah Palin has now. And it’s questionable whether Dick Cheney ever had any ideals to sacrifice. But there’s a part of me that can’t help but wonder if someone in the McCain camp doesn’t just want to turn to the American people and say, “See, we are different. This time around, the dumb one will be Vice President!”

Various

  • Fantasy Magazine describes Exo-Squad as “nearly influential,” which seems about right. It was never anything like a hit, and wasn’t perfect, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen an American cartoon show this ambitious or well plotted. Especially one that wasn’t a comedy. Most of the first season is available on Hulu, if you’ve never seen it.

  • You know, it would be cool if Tina Fey played Sarah Palin on this week’s Saturday Night Live. But I’m really hoping no one will have to play her — or even remember who she is — after Election Day.

  • Wow, I knew the Large Hadron Collider had generated some silly fears that it might, y’know, destroy the universe, but actual death threats? (Well, okay, maybe not so much. I think the headline plays up that angle a little too much, but still.)

    • I guess it’s worth repeating, but the LHC won’t destroy the universe. It may rock you in the head, but the universe is pretty safe. If the sort of particle collisions that are planned could create a black hole, as has been suggested, then those black holes are already being created all the time in the Earth’s atmosphere by the collision of cosmic rays. But if you’re still worried, and want status updates on whether or not the universe has been destroyed, check here.

  • Theodora Goss: “I find it funny and a little disturbing, the extent to which children’s books reinforce a mammalcentric point of view. Mommy frogs take care of their baby frogs, mommy spiders take care of their baby spiders. No wonder when Ophelia sees butterflies, one larger and one smaller, she assumes one is the mommy and one is the baby. Intellectually she knows that butterflies come from caterpillars. If you asked her where butterflies come from, she would tell you: caterpillars. But we react to things emotionally, not intellectually, first. So, baby butterflies.”