Author: Aaron Weber

Almost Totally Unrelated Paragraphs

Tiny tiny apartments. In Japan, of course, they’re wicked cool.

RIAA Radar, to tell you what music is made by musicians not represented by the loathsome RIAA>. It’s like a “sweatshop-free” label on your music, sort of. Although I’m sure that packaging was made in a sweatshop anyway.

Possible upcoming literary-themed Simpsons episodes. Me, I’m apeshit over the Family Guy these days.

Ol’ Mickey D is apparently angry that its legendarily crappy jobs are now officially recognized as such. Gee, you make awful, unhealthy products, you provide shit jobs for low pay and little hope of advancement (OK first job for a teenager, I guess, maybe, but even so…) and become a popular culture icon, and then complain when your popular culture iconography isn’t completely glowing? Not much sympathy for you, I’m afraid.

Not with so many people weighing 900 pounds or more. What gets me about this is the number of them who died from weight-loss complications. Sure, their weight was a serious, possibly fatal health problem, but what would make doctor prescribe a 500-calorie diet and not expect severe problems?

And since we’re supposed to discuss language and irony here, a rather odd little interview between a guy named Dong Resin and The PATRIOT Act. Not some band, mind you. The law itself. I think this is supposed to be some kind of a joke, but I’m not sure.

Fantasy and Reality

When I was a child, I would draw designs for amphibious sportscars and think of how cool it would be. Of course, so did all the other kids. But a few people never grew up, and they have now actually gone and built one and are selling it for just $250k. Cheaper than a 1BR condo in Cambridge, I guess.

(You didn’t think I’d manage a post without bitching about real estate, did you?).

Hostility

There’s a new, and highly-reviewed Boondocks anthology. I’ve got a copy and it is indeed very, very good. I like angry humor. I feel like we do indeed have a right to be hostile. Given that we’ve got misogynistic lying bastards in the White House.

On the other hand, I feel genuinely hostile to things that are a little too sincere and treacly. They make me uncomfortable, and then my discomfort makes me uncomfortable. After all, lots of people like that stuff, and my disdain for it probably indicates snobbery. And what if I end up bitter and alone and writing a book about how democracy really isn’t any good and people should be led by their betters, namely me. Where would I be then?

Linky Link

More voting machine trouble. People wonder why the liberals won’t give up about the 2000 election, but there’s plenty of people who still want to study, say, World War II, or the Roman empire, and you don’t say to them “Why don’t you give up trying to figure it out? It’s over!”

Nor is there a well-organized, well-funded group of people dedicated to thwarting you, like there is for, say, the holocaust or basic science and the evolutionary theory.

Maybe people can take consolation in the fact that the FCC is now going to permit the F word, as long as it doesn’t have to do anything with fucking– you can use it as an adjective, for example, insulting a customer service representative. Although, really, if you’re mean to the CSRs, they won’t be nice and escalate your issue to where it can get fixed.

At large race:
Matt O’Malley, because he has a good platform and a good website to promote it.
Michael F. Flaherty, Maura Hennigan, and Patricia H. White, because the Phoenix likes them. And very much not Roy Owens, who’s a nutjob..

In my district (Eight, Fenway/Back Bay/Kenmore), although I like Carmen Torres because she’s got strong ideas about urban development, I think I’m going to vote for Michael Ross, who has the right kind of experience in urban planning and city management, is younger, and is endorsed by the Phoneix.

For further reference: Candidate Profiles, and Phoneix Endorsements.