Archive for October, 2008
friday free for all »
Friday, October 31st, 2008
… On the radio, I heard the old standby ad for rail freight from CSX. The one where they say they can ship a ton of whatever four hundred twenty-three miles on a gallon of diesel. It got me confused.
Let’s say because I don’t know the real number anyway the average freight car can carry eighty tons and we’ll round the above number to 400 miles. If the car is ten cars long, which seems reasonable, wouldn’t that train go through a gallon of diesel every half mile? I’m not saying truck transit is any better its’ not but can’t we do better than that?
… Girlfriend’s in Arizona until Sunday. That’s only worth mentioning because I’m believe political leanings are in the air one breathes. I worry.
… I watched Obama’s info-mercial Wednesday night. So did 33mill others. I have to admit, it wasn’t that interesting. But, it was sort of like watching HGTV on a Sunday morning or Cartoon Network anytime before 9p. I wasn’t the target audience. Let’s all hope the middle-aged, strapped for cash, buried in medical debt folk caught at least part of it.
… At 8a this morning, I’ve already worked thirty-six hours this week. I’m not happy about it to understate things impressively.
… And finally:
I watched Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West because I was curious and hate myself. It’s not worth a full “review” but I recommend all my more conservative friends have a look. In fact, watch it Tuesday and remember: Muslims know where you live and could bomb at any second… don’t leave your houses, they’ll know! Boo! Happy Halloween.
It’s this guy that goes around interviewing like-minded people like a camera-shy Michael Moore about the threat of extremist ignorance and how their intolerance could destroy the American way of life. He talks to a dozen inflexible people about their minority views and makes a solid case for expatriating anyone he puts on camera.
Or… maybe I wasn’t watching it right. It was about fear-mongering and imaginary cultural warfare right? Ah well. Either way, it’s lame and uninteresting. It’s just another film about one fractional minority bitching about another so the general culture ignores any steps toward progress.
That it was distributed through papers and talked about on idiot radio sort of annoys me though. If an anti-Evangelical DVD came the same way someone would have been shot. Instead, this moron’s interviewed by another douchebag with a massive audience of ignorance.
buoyant »
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
The raft bucks and sways with the small waves. Rays of clear sunlight beat against my eyelids and warm my chest. In the distance, voices and boat motors spill over one another into a constant, whisper-quiet hum.
I lay on the plastic, all-weather carpet, breathing slowly. The lapping of the waves against the pontoons passes for aggressive compared to all else. My body resists nothing, releasing any tension, rolling slightly on the raft as it sways. (more…)
wtf?!? 10.30.08 »
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
“Soulja Boy Tell Em,” some guy that raps or whatever, said something pretty incredible.
sure, rap is hopelessly reliant on unbelievably simplistic riffs and samplings of actual talent. sure, it’s void of conceptualization and rampant with consumerism. most music is, just like all genres probably have artists as backward and moronic as this kid.
but other genres don’t have the same access, the same following or as much image-centric emphasis. rap is built on conditions that lead directly to closer attachment than others.
it’s why companies flirt so emphatically with it in order for their brand to be thrown in rhyme with how bling or thug an artist is. it’s morons like this built up on depressingly inane “lyrics” and falsified credibility exposed as inept, that have soured my taste for the majority of rap music.
there are artists out there common, POS, etc. that actually say something and they’re becoming more and more rare.
week »
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Just one more week and this will all be over.
That’s all I’m hearing. Sure, the election will be over and all will be right in the world. Maybe there’s a black guy behind the desk or a near-dead shell of what was never a maverick with his shaky fingers above the nuclear codes.
Whatever the case, does everyone think it’s going to just go away? If the old one’s elected democracy will be exposed as a sham. Those that are so passionate now will deflate and slink back to their Wiis and blogs. If the other wins, media will scrutinize his every move. His bills will be picked apart, eroded and rendered impotent. (more…)
cause, effect: »
Monday, October 27th, 2008
What do you get when you give corporations the same rights as citizens? You could argue you get companies with unreasonable political clout, legal protections and wealth distribution. All solid arguments but not what I’ll address today.
For this post’s purposes, it means celebrity companies make news with political endorsements just like Hayden Panettiere or any of these people.
I don’t mention this to discuss the implications of having man-woman-only marriage. Something like that is incredibly personal, based on long-standing beliefs or environmental influences that I, nor anyone else, could address with brevity. Still, in my humble opinion, it’s obtuse interference and should be viewed as government expansion, something most oppose.
I bring it up to ask you, dear SD&IF readers, should we look to corporations to tell us what to believe? These two examples are progressive and diverse modern companies. Whether anyone cares what they think matters little compared to how this opens the door for more established or conservative companies to push their two cents $6.88 when comparing CEO pay to that of average workers.
How do we define the bounds of the national discourse when so few with so much can manifest such influence? Google and Apple may be progressive and insightful but they are likely, considering the money and ideology involved, among the minority. We already rely on corporate culture to feed, clothe and finance us, do we need them to speak for us?
Cross posted at SD&IF.