Philosophical Warning Labels

This is just funny enough to blog.

Example entry:
Cartesian Evil Genius Alert:

Check out the amazing list of repercussions from Janet’s faux pax: CNN.com – The Jackson stunt: What now? – Feb. 6, 2004

The thing is, people seem to be so focused on the breast itself. But it was the context that created the flap. (No pun intended. Really.) I mean, if the boob hadn’t prairie-dogged, was the context of the song, the lascivious nature of the dancing and the fetishy clothing enough to cause this outrage?

I guess what I’m getting at is this: was it really so awful? I think the thing that offends me about it isn’t the breast itself, it was the cynical, callow use of it in this context. And the foolishness of promoters and planners and NFL execs who think that cheerleaders flashing their inner thighs and come-hither looks, or the bombardment of sexual imagery in the commercials during games, or the chest-painted fans are any more “family-friendly and all-American” than Janet’s borg-like nipple.

And why is it that everybody is up in arms over this (something that happend after *my* kid was in bed and asleep, mind you), when all through the day Sunday you could’ve seen hundreds of people shot, murdered, raped or abused on hundreds of other TV broadcast movies and shows?

Boob tube indeed.

[EDITED TO ADD: Now that I’ve upgraded to the new Moveable Type engine, I’m trying comments again. You may have to register to comment, but it’s worth a shot. 10/31/04]

Movable Type-based blogs like mine, over the last few months, have been plagued by spam bots (or people with too much time on their hands) posting spam comments in the comment areas of blog entries. These spam comments are just nonsense with URL’s attached to things about penis enhancement and homeowner loans. I’m sick of them, and there’s no easy way to weed them out of the blog once they’ve been posted, so I’m going to just turn comments OFF in my blog until MT has a new release that makes it easier to manage the commenting feature.

Just so y’all know.

But, really, this is just another example of how stupid people kill the goose. Eventually everybody will have to restrict access to what was an excellent way for people to discuss and commune with one another. Some people, frankly, do not deserve the Internet.

Eddie Izzard is the New Dr. Who???

I’m not sure how I feel about this. My nerd-geek side rejoices. My sophisticated high-culture “Izzard is the best comedian for overeducated smartasses like me” side is kind of squicked at the idea … like he’s slumming.

Hopefully the show will have better production values (and writing…and actors…etc.) than the previous incarnations.

Whoa… check it out. I just might have a reason to visit Louisville again.

What you get when you type Weapons of Mass Destruction into google today and hit “I feel lucky”.

I haven’t posted in a while, but this was too funny to pass up. I gotta start blogging more…it’s like I’ve become a hermit or something.

Maybe even something serious next time…who knows.

I scored 44.97041% – Major Geek at The Geek Test. Oddly…I feel a certain pride…

For months now, Fry’s (outpost.com) has been including this little item in its email ads. It isn’t so much that they’re selling it, but that it’s a highlighted item in my weekly opt-in spam that I find disconcerting. I mean, it’s like dada but without irony. Which is, face it, disconcerting. Anyway, if you want to purchase a gas mask I suppose this would be a decent place for it. Only $68.90!!

I’ve been so blogless lately. Pitiful. Was a time when I’d pop every little thing up, and now it just doesn’t occur to me as often. But it isn’t that I haven’t been running across fab stuff to pass along, or that I haven’t been thinking incredibly profound thoughts (ok, that’s a stretch), it just slipped out of my routine somehow. But I’m gonna redouble my efforts.
For example, here are a couple of things that Wurman and Tufte would be proud of: information design at its best.
1. Sexual Fetish Entity Diagram showing all the major fetishes and their relationships,
and
2. The Buffy Sex Chart, making visually clear who has done the nasty with whom on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I assume it doesn’t include sucking just blood…).
Now, what somebody should do is a diagram showing the relationships between these two … that would be worth printing out.

Chris Locke’s sordid tale of a consulting pitch had me in stitches as I checked email from my warm bed this morning before work. And I needed that today. Because yesterday was an election day, and I live in North Carolina. Check it out: Entropy Gradient Reversals – Faster Horses!

Pick any three countries and see what they are the Axis of. (Or, more grammatically, see that of which they are an Axis.)

I’m really slammed right now at work. Crazy. And my computer is on the fritz, so I don’t have that mobile “quality time” I used to get to post to blogs and such. But in the meantime, let me say, I really want to work for these guys.