Absquatulate

"Trade Up"

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NSFW. At first I was uneasy about a GYWO animated short, but this sold me on it:

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

No Man's Land

I'm watching the RNC to see what they have to say. I didn't watch the DNC because I was busy sleeping after working 10+ hours at my job and now I'm on vacation so what the hell. So far, the usual general yelling at the TV has ensued. But I can't get past this little tidbit from a 17 y.o. delegate from Iowa. He described Sarah Palin as, and I quote, "...a hardworking housewife..."

... not "Gov. of Alaska" nor even "mayor" or even "political so-and-so" or "experienced", but A HARDWORKING HOUSEWIFE. Because that's what matters. Naturally.

I thought about liveblogging this, but I just can't because I'd be foaming at the mouth for more than 75% of it. And don't be fooled, I'm certain the same would have been true of the DNC. I can't take the fucking pagentry of it all. Let's get down to ISSUES, not demographics.

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Also: Republicans know that WE are the best judges of regulating ourselves. Except our wombs. You know.

An Invite for Dinner

A fun game to play with your well-to-do friends on the third bottle of wine is the "What Famous Person Dead or Alive Would You Invite To Dinner" guessing game, wherein all the participants talk about what erudite dinner guests one would invite to talk to US, er, YOU, the layman. I could never really commit to anyone with any great conviction. There were the usual suspects such as Newton, Hitler, George Washington that would inevitably be brought up. My choices usually included a common medieval woman, Niels Bohr, and Abigail Adams. As for modern famous people... meh. For me they're all too recent to really want me to explore MORE about what things were 'really like' for the most part. It wasn't until tonight that I realized I was overlooking the most brilliant and obvious choice! Jon Stewart. Can you imagine a dinner with all those diners? What would one serve!?

Highway to Hell

And I thought NYU was a *good* school: Most NYU students say their vote has a price.

I can't decide which this informs:  the state of college students, the state of democracy in the United States, or the state of the financial realities of higher education.  Any way you slice it, it's depressing.

Ratatouille: Mirror of the soul?

The Amateur Gourmet recently posted an essay titled, "Ratatouille" & Jewish Assimilation (an essay, with spoilers). Jason Kottke, possibly influenced by Megnut, had an interesting take on the movie as well. I'm sure there are many others that I haven't come across. While some see the AG's interptretation far fetched and others find it dead on, I'm not terribly concerned with whether he is "right".

Interestingly, I find his take on the movie as further evidence that the story was successfully written. I've been thinking about the story quite a bit lately, how there are many things to see, learn, and hear and that one viewing isn't really enough. He sees it as an allegory for Jewish assimilation, which is to be expected perhaps because being Jewish is at the forefront of his mind. Jason, on the other hand, saw it as a commentary for bloggers and critics, which can be expected as blogging and food criticism is at the forefront of his wife's mind, and so surely has been brought up in their house. And to me, I saw the ending as a brush-off of Collette, a further minimizing of her important leap of faith and prior contributions to both Remy and Linguini's success in favor of a tidy ending for the movie. Why not show Collette as finally in charge of the kitchen, finally getting the respect she deserves? And that's probably because I've been thinking a lot about feminism lately.

The point I'm making is simply that there are many stories to be found in this movie and the fact that people find their own meaning suggests that the story was well written. All the opinions, takes, and lessons people glean from the movie are inevitably drawn from their own personal experiences. What you think about those opinions, however, is another matter entirely.

As an aside, AG asks:

(Is it a coincidence that the scurrying rats in "Ratatouille" look a lot like those in Hitler's propaganda films? And, for that matter, why does Django have a hooked nose?)

I'm guessing that perhaps Hitler's propaganda films looked like rats scurrying, rather than rats scurrying looking like Nazi propaganda. Chicken, egg and all that. Also, the fact that Remy's dad has a big hooked nose doesn't really hit me one way or another because I know lots of people who have big hooked noses who aren't necessarily Jewish, (yours truly included) and because as most people get older their noses get bigger, so to show 'age' between rats, a larger nose and a larger body size would also denote age.

Those Who Forget The Past...

There have been a number of people whom I have the occasion to speak with who have begun to quietly yet insistently belabor the immigration issue; usually by stating that the immigrants are what's driving this country into the ground and straining the (meager?) social services provided in this country. I don't know whether that ascertation is true or false as I have failed to acquire adequate research on the topic (I know nothing on immigration and it's impact on society and these people don't provide any.) However strictly from an irrational and personal point of view my ire is drawn when I hear such things, as I am the direct descendents of both Irish/Scotch and Italian immigrants. Were my great-grandparents and grandparents indolent crime ridden lay-abouts? Maybe they were but I'm guessing probably not (at least one wasn't since I knew him personally.)

So before railing against the lazy immigrants who are coming to the U.S. for a free ride perhaps asking oneself a few reflective questions could be a good exercise. For example, how many immigrants do you know personally? What are their stories? From what sources are you getting your information? How was the question of immigration handled in the past?

Condi, baby...

He can compose and perform a love ballad to the U.S. Secretary of State. Ladies, you know you want a peice of Ze Frank.

Heartbreaking

From Yahoo!News.

The Tax Man Cometh...

I just came across this wonderful sight for the Tax Foundation. Since in the U.S. taxes are due every April 15th I thought this particularly timely. See how your state taxes compare with the rest of the country, read up on how some tax laws work, and see how much of different kinds of tax your state is collecting.

A Learned Hand, Indeed.

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a political savant. I know precious little about how real politics and law work. I have my opinions, sure, based on what I do know and how I interpret the facts. But that doesn't mean I can present a logically sound argument for or against certain political or moral points since one college philosophy course does not a philosopher make. A trap that everyone one can fall into is to only listen and read to people who share your same opinions. You only get false reinforcement without fully considering alternate points of view. The responsibily of any thinking person is to test your ideas and theses to see if they still hold water lest you become mired.

And so I encourage people to go read Michael Pollard's blog, "Scrutineer". While I can't say I agree with him on most points I find his arguments quite refreshing in that they are heavily grounded in logic (probably due to that pesky philosophy degree of his. :^) Go take a look and open your mind to what he writes. You may not agree with it, but you can at least appreciate a rational presentation of a point of view. Or you might agree with it and have some food for thought.