Clear Vision

World peace through inner peace, not
through weapons. So ultimately we
should have one clear vision: to
demilitarize the world.

The Dalai Lama

Music Quiz: Bands A-Z

I found this exercise on a music message board. For each letter of the alphabet, list one band or artist you enjoy.

One band for each letter of the alphabet:

A) Amazombies
B) Blondie
C) Curve
D) Distillers
E) Epoxies
F) Fifty Foot Wave
G) Glitter Mini 9
H) Hemi Cuda
I) Innocence Mission
J) Joydrop
K) Krall, Diana
L) Letters to Cleo
M) Metric
N) No Doubt
O) One Man Army
P) Portishead
Q) Queen
R) The Reputation
S) Sahara Hotnights
T) Tsunami Bomb
U) UNC Lab Band #1
V) The Vexers
W) Wendy Woo
X) X-Ray Specs
Y) Yes
Z) Zuba

Bush Campaign Unveils New Slogan

Bush/Cheney: Go Fuck Yourself.

Has a nice ring doesn't it? In case anyone has forgotten, remember The President's famous words: "This is an impressive crowd. The haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base."

Karma is Real

This has to be one of the most bizarre things I've seen from the blogging community. Some guy confesses to an extramarital affair, his wife posts a response, and then she claims the situation reminded her that unfaithful husband is a good catch. What? Did I read that properly? Anyway, I love the response from Darvon:

Are you fargin' wacked out of your *mind?* This hog is a "catch?" No, no, no: you and the other woman were playing hot potato and you lost. If I were you I would abandon him on her doorstep like people do flaming bags of shit on Halloween.

Flamin' bags of shit is right. In my mind, and I'm probably considered a bit old fashioned with this way of thinking, being unfaithful to your partner is the most heinous of acts. If you're that displeased with your relationship, have the courage to end it before moving on. I also believe the "I never meant for it to happen" excuse is a lame attempt at denying personal culpability. Of course you intended it to happen. You're not a marionette, acting at the whim of some cosmic puppeteer. If you kiss someone other than your partner, you made an active decision to do so. Ditto for flirty emails, glances, and the like. Philandering is a cold, calculating act that lacks any sense of compassion for your partner.

Remember this: karma is real.

Book Snob

Snagged this quiz from Tiffany.


You speak eloquently and have seemingly read every
book ever published. You are a fountain of
endless (sometimes useless) knowledge, and
never fail to impress at a party.
What people love: You can answer almost any
question people ask, and have thus been
nicknamed Jeeves.
What people hate: You constantly correct their
grammar and insult their paperbacks.


What Kind of Elitist Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

This & That

A mixed bag kind of post.

• STK is attending an Education Leadership Conference through Friday. I'm back to my normal sleeping pattern of staying up until 3 AM and sleeping until 9 AM.
• Yesterday afternoon, I ran 5 miles in 40 minutes. Not bad for someone approaching middle age.
• Disserting is still the name of the game. After banging my head against an organizational wall for the last week or so, I finally had a break through. Rather than sitting at my computer, staring at the screen, and reworking my outline for the 100th time, I turned to a tried and true method: I revisited what I consider examplar works of rhetorical theory and criticism. I turned to Hyde's (2001) Call of conscience and Vivian's (2004) Being made strange, reviewed their organizational strategies, and figured out a resolution to my dilemna.
• I'm attending the Sahara Hotnights / The Hives show tonight. Should be great pop punk fun.
• Giving serious consideration to applying for tenure track positions at Villanova, The University of Memphis, and the University of Texas at Austin.
  
• Must have Clone Wars Animated Obi-wan Kenobi Maquette.

Format Snafu?

I received an email today about a possible format problem with my blog. IE isn't displaying the site properly. From what I can tell, the right column (links, previous posts, etc) now appears below all the text of the blog proper. I'm not sure what's going on. The site appears fine when using Opera and Firefox but definitely has some issues with IE. Alas, I don't have the time to figure out the cause of the problem. When I get a few hours of free time, I'll read through Blogger's tech help pages and see if anyone else is having the same problem. So, if you want to view my blog without any format glitches, use something other than IE.

Anyone else having problems viewing the blog?

Monday's Required Reading

Sociology and the American High Schooler
Picking on Ralph Nader*
Protesters "Caged" at DNC
Educate All Children
Amish in the City: Quality Reality Television?**

*This is the best defense of the Nader campaign I've read, at leat in terms of general arguments. The bottom line is that the US has a multi-party system, despite what the Republicans and Democrats would have the voting public believe. Both the Republicans and the Democrats need to keep out of Nader's campaign and stick to their own affairs. Bash Nader all you want, but stop the other campaign shenanigans. Quit trying to undermine the efforts of Nader supporters. That's not campaigning, that's bullying.

**This show is getting surprising reviews. I'll probably check it out on Wednesday.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

It's official. The folks at Lucasfilm revealed the name of the final Star Wars prequel and I think it's a perfect choice. Yoda, Obi-wan, Mace Windu and the rest of the Jedi will face the Revenge of the Sith. The title choice should elicit a smile from Star Wars history buffs. Return of the Jedi, the third film of the classic trilogy, was originally titled Revenge of the Jedi. At the last minute, Lucas decided that "revenge" wasn't an appropriate action for a Jedi Knight. In fact, there were a few Revenge of the Jedi movie posters printed back in 1983. I suspect the early versions are something of a collector's item.

Check out the cool Revenge of the Sith t-shirt. Yes, I'll be ordering one ASAP. I'm such a Star Wars geek.

May the Force be with you!

Picture Test

A couple days back I mentioned that I recently painted a dresser. As I'm trying to figure out how to do the picture thing on my blog, I thought I'd post a picture of the new Green Lantern dresser.



Let me know if you have problems seeing the image.

Knowing

The more you experience,
The less you know.
The sage wanders without knowing,
Looks without seeing,
Accomplishes without acting.

The Tao Te Ching

Real Scoop

Thankfully, we have a superb news media keeping us informed on issues that matter.

Jenna Bush Tongues Reporters
Mary-Kate Olsen To Return Home!
Jackson Fathers Quadruplets?

Excellent choices for front page stories. ::rolls eyes::

Cracked Pots

I received the following via email. Thanks for sending it my way, Jay.

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which he carried across his neck. One pot had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion water.

At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream, "I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. Every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.

Without being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house"

Moral...

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We are all cracked pots. But the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them.

Without our little faults, foibles, and quirks, the world would be a boring place. As STK reminded me with a laugh yesterday, I have a number of quirks (cracks). I like my water glass filled to within 1/8" of the rim; if it's not filled to that point, I add water. I'm addicted to Wasabi peas (organic and dye free). I experience withdrawals when I stop eating ice cream on a daily basis (I'm in the middle of another attempt). Who am I trying to kid? If there's something to which a person can be addicted, I'm probably addicted to it (or have been). When writing academically, I can't just "get those ideas out on paper." I agonize over every. single. sentence. The result is that I've become an incredibly slow writer. The upside is that I have very little technical editing, if any, at the end of the process. I am not a morning person. Anyone who talks to me before I've had my first 1/2 pot of coffee is a brave soul. Yet another quirk is my obsession with Green Lantern and Star Wars. I recently repainted on old dresser green so that it would match my framed Green Lantern posters. Two days ago, I bought the Clone Wars Animated Series action figure of Anakin Skywalker.

Superman vs Wolverine

Any comic book fan who's spent more than fiften minutes on the internet has come to dread the infamous "vs" threads. A versus thread is usually started, and populated, by thirteen year old fanboys who constantly try and make the case for one character defeating another. For instance, Gene once sent me a link to a Superman vs Batman message board thread that was fourteen pages long and still growing. My favorite "vs" thread coincided with the release of the JLA/Avengers crossover event. The Justice League of America, published by DC Comics, met the Avengers, published by Marvel Comics, and, do to a misunderstanding (of course), came to blows. Although the two preeminent superhero teams eventually resolved their differences, made nice, and saved the universe from a superintergalacticcrossdimensional villain, several long awaited battles occured. Batman fought Captain America, Hawkeye traded shots with Green Arrow, and Superman tested his mettle against Thor. No battle caused greater controversy than Superman defeating Thor. When Superman caught mjoliner in one hand and smacked Thor around with the other, Thor fans cried "foul." How could Superman, an alien from Krypton, defeat Thor, the son of Odin and God of Thunder? The resulting "vs" threads went on for months. I'm sure there's still a thread debating the issue..

It would seem that a real life vs match may be on the horizon. Brian Singer, the director of X-men and X-men 2, has agreed to direct the initial installment of a revitalized Superman film franchise (let's face it, Superman III and Superman IV sucked). Superman's attempts to lure Singer (McG, the director of Charlie's Angels 2 was attached to the project before Singer) have angered none other than Wolverine. As the following letter from Wolverine attests, he's pissed and ready to rumble, bub.

Superman vs Wolverine

I wonder if adamantium could pierce Superman's skin? *Snikt*

Friday Night Art Spectacular

Friday night was evening of film and visual art. We started the evening by catching a screening of The Clay Bird. The following blurb is the description offered by the Denver Film Society.

THE CLAY BIRD - originally MATIR MOINA - is set against the turbulent 1960s leading up to Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan: A powerful story of a rural family torn apart by religion and war. A shy young boy is sent by his father, an orthodox Muslim, to Islamic school (madrasa).

As political divisions mount in the country, so do tensions between moderates and extremists within the madrasa, mirroring the divide between the stubborn father and his increasingly independent wife. The film touches on religious tolerance, cultural diversity and the complexity of Islam, unfolding from a child's perspective, within elegant imagery and Bengali musical traditions.

Directed by Tareque Masud. Written by Catherine Masud and Tareque Masud. In Bangla and Bengali with English subtitles. Distributed by Milestone.

THE CLAY BIRD was the first Bangladesh film to compete in the Academy Awards.

After the film, we proceeded to Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis for an art opening. Peter Illig, one of STK's work colleagues, put together a sizeable display of his recent work.

I feel so cultured.

Intimidation

Found this quiz on a Denver Nuggets forum I frequent.  Do your best!
 
If you were going up for an offensive rebound, what would be more intimidating:
 
A) A small puppy
B) A Pop Tart
C) Skita
D) A Mr. Potato Head
 
It was a close race, but Mr. Potato barely edged the pop tart and the puppy. Skita? He's the answer you put in there as the throw away.

Smells Like a Goth

I'm working diligently on my outline for Chapter 5: The Reclamation of the Subcultural Self. Nifty chapter title, eh? The basic gist of the chapter focuses on the way in which subculturalists simultaneously negotiate collective and individual subjectivities. In other words, how does someone articulate both group membership and individual identity. The way in which people walk the precarious line of being a member of a group, while still being different enough to be an individual, absolutely fascinates me. Anyway, I've been pouring over hundreds of email messages and message board posts that I've collected over the past five years. I found the following exchange particularly amusing.

Poster 1: If it looks like a goth, thinks like a goth, talks like a goth, smells like a goth, and acts like a goth, it must be a goth.

Poster 2: I really hope we're not going to go in to a long debate about what Goth smells like. ;P I am getting some very unpleasant memories bubbling back up... people who dance all night in clubs, swathed in ass-sweaty vinyl, smoking and drinking constantly never really smell too good by the end of it.

Poster 2 is right--there's definitely a distinct smell that permeates a club toward the end of the evening. I'm struck with the urge to laugh and gag at the same time.

WWJB


There were more anti-Bush protesters in Duluth, Minn., Bush's second stop. Scores of them lined the streets as he breezed through, and opposition to the Iraq war was a common theme. One demonstrator held a sign that read, "Who would Jesus bomb?"

Beautiful.

Ten Stories You Should Know About

Thanks to media coverage of the war in Iraq, most of us have missed out on some significant world stores. According to the UN, the list includes such crises as child soldiers, the African AIDS epidemic, and overfishing.

Free Expression . . . Unless Your Expression Criticizes Me

Need more proof that President Curious George and his administration seek to stifle your freedoms? Read on:

WHEN President Bush made his speech Sunday at the state Capitol, he proclaimed: "On this Fourth of July, we confirm our love of freedom, the freedom for people to speak their minds, the freedom for people to worship as they so choose. Free thought, free expression, that’s what we believe."

But a Texas couple who tried to speak their minds were hauled away in handcuffs.

Jeff and Nicole Rank, reportedly from Corpus Christi, attended the Statehouse event wearing T-shirts saying “Love America, Hate Bush.”

Charleston police dragged them off on trespassing charges. Sgt. R.E. Parsons said they refused to leave a no-trespassing zone.

Capitol police director Jay Smithers told Wheeling newspapers the couple had tickets for the assembly, and wore jackets to hide their protest shirts as they passed through a security checkpoint, then exposed their shirts. “We asked them to go out to the designated protest area but they refused,” he said. “They told our people they would not leave and sat down on their hands. We didn’t have any choice.”

Yes, police had a choice. They could have let the couple express their anti-Bush feelings, just as others in the crowd were expressing pro-Bush feelings. The Bush supporters weren’t dragged away in handcuffs.

Theoretically, the Independence Day event was a public, patriotic ceremony open to all people of all political views. But it had the flavor of a Republican campaign rally. Many in the Statehouse crowd wore Bush emblems and chanted “four more years.” Party agents passed out Bush buttons and waved voter registration sheets. The couple criticizing Bush stood out as a glaring exception to the GOP mood.

The Ranks had come to West Virginia because the wife was doing environmental work for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, On Tuesday, Jeff Rank told some Charlestonians that FEMA had fired her. On Wednesday, a FEMA official said only that Nicole Rank had been “sent home.”

What does that mean? Was she sent back to Texas for wearing a shirt denouncing the president? Has her government job been terminated? The FEMA official wouldn’t say, and we couldn’t locate the Ranks in Texas to ask them.

News of this incident is trickling around America. Out in Washington state, the Tri-City Herald printed a sarcastic editorial titled: “Let freedom ring — somewhere else.”

“On a day the nation celebrates its freedom, Bush handlers and Charleston police apparently decided to make an exception for Bush’s event on the state Capitol grounds,” the paper said. It added that Americans have a right of free speech — “Except in Charleston. Except on the Fourth of July. And except for Bush critics.”

The right to criticize the government is the most precious freedom spelled out in the First Amendment of America’s Bill of Rights. When police manhandle a couple for rebuking the president, but do nothing to others praising the president, a basic element of U.S. democracy has been injured.

wvgazette.com

For those who want access to almost any newspaper or magazine on the web and don't want to register, check out Bugmenot.com. I discovered the site recently and love it. Beware, some of the logins and passwords are a bit crude. I think I just accessed the NYTimes as "Asshat1"