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Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
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3:29 am - *tap tap*
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Just checking in to keep this account alive. Look for me on DW.
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| Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
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11:17 pm - maybe i'm just lazy, but...
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I have lost the will to cross-post.
If you're looking for my writings, I've gone over to dreamwidth full-time, but I'll pop in every now and then just to keep this open. For archival purposes.
current mood:  elsewhere
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| Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
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10:22 pm - [movie review] The Call of Cthulhu
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Summary: Man stumbles across evidence of a strange cult. Wackiness Chaos ensues.
( Beyond here lies madness... )
The Score
10/10
As delightful as a tale of horror and gibbering insanity ever can be.
current mood:  enthralled
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| Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
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10:41 pm - [movie review] Let The Right One In
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Summary: Bullied preteen makes friends with strange vampiric neighbour child.
( You can come in... )
The Score
8/10
An enthralling story, gorgeously shot, but omitting some of Eli's history and certain other subplots weakened the story as a whole. A classic case of the movie, as good as it was, not being as good as the book, which is simply spectacular.
current mood:  exhausted
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| Saturday, October 24th, 2009
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1:35 am - occasionally, sensibility does win the day
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The Smart Choices food labelling scheme is being walked back, presumably because the FDA has stated that labelling programs like Smart Choices might "mislead consumers about the health benefits of certain foods" - presumably Froot Loops, which has outraged much of the blogosphere, and, astonishingly, Cracker Jacks. But since they're healthier than, say, deep-fried arsenic, I guess the manufactured food industry wants consumers to believe that these are smart choices.
If the inclusion of Froot Loops wasn't enough to convince you that the Smart Choices label was a cynical attempt to get people to keep buying processed crap by tricking them into thinking it was nutritious, the fact that the Smart Choices label is being quickly abandoned in the harsh glare of government oversight should tell you everything you need to know.
Now if only Smart Choices shill Eileen Kennedy would step down from her position as Dean of Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy...
current mood:  pleasantly surprised
current music: The Doors - "Touch Me"
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| Sunday, October 18th, 2009
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6:23 pm - it's just a love/hate kind of day
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What I loved: morning yoga, spending less than $70 on a week's worth of meals for two.
What I hated: snow (falling in ginormous flakes).
What I can grudgingly live with: the snow that falls in ginormous flakes, provided that it melts as soon as it hits the ground.
current mood:  i hate snow
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| Friday, October 16th, 2009
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5:29 pm - what the heck is going on down there?
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We had a power outage today that lasted several hours, apparently as the result of manhole fires. There are an uncomfortable number of manhole fires and manhole explosions in the Boston area. I don't believe I've ever lived anywhere that had such a preponderance of exploding or flaming manholes. Actually, I don't believe I've ever lived anywhere that had any exploding or flaming manholes.
I have no idea why there are so many, but I can tell you that I now step gingerly around manhole covers when I see them.
current mood:  nervous
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| Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
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9:29 pm - [movie review] Watchmen
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Yes. I know. I'm watching this long after the rest of the world has already seen it. Whatever.
Summary: Kind of hard to encapsulate. Let's just go with... super- and not-so-superheroes angst existentially and fight crime as the doomsday clock inches towards midnight.
( And the curtain peels back... )
The Score
6.5/10
The parts that worked really worked, but the parts that didn't were seriously detrimental to my enjoyment of the film.
current mood:  calm
current music: Flight of the Conchords
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| Friday, October 9th, 2009
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2:22 pm - nobel what now?
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Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Which, given that the country is mired in two wars, elements of the political spectrum are bucking for a third and there seems to be no political will for disengaging from any of them, Guantanamo is still operational, war crimes and human rights abuses have gone un-investigated, and the nominating process closed not even a month after his inauguration, begs the question: why?
Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting.
At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that entire paragraph could be replaced with "Because he's not George W. Bush".
Apparently the Committee sometimes awards the peace prize as a sort of encouragement for recipients to follow through on their initial efforts, rather than as a reward for a job well-done.
Here's hoping he has the will to live up to the honour.
current mood: cynical
current music: The Smiths - "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby"
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| Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
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10:22 pm - today in passive-aggressive baptist billboards
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Apparently the dust hasn't quite settled from the recent controversy, because the billboard today reads:
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire
If I wasn't convinced they were the kind of people who'd cheerfully use the collected works of JK Rowling, Charles Darwin, and Richard Dawkins as kindling, I might be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they meant this honestly and unironically.
As it stands, however, it looks a little more like passive-aggressive whining because the forces for tolerance in the community have found themselves unable to tolerate intolerance.
current mood: cynical
current music: Watchmen
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| Monday, October 5th, 2009
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11:07 pm - [hockey] some brief notes from yesterday's game
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A new year at the rink is like a new year in school. It's always kind of interesting to see who's old, who's new, what everyone is wearing, what's different.
It seemed like there was an unprecedented level of corporate sponsorship this year. The player mugshots had an obvious Walmart product placement that I don't recall from previous years. The penalty box is now sponsored by Uncle Bob's Self-Storage, which I suppose is somewhat appropriate, since they're the ones who are putting themselves there. Interestingly, Uncle Bob does not sponsor the home team's penalty box; instead, they sponsor the penalty kill. It does bug me whenever I hear the "This power play/penalty kill is brought to you by [sponsoring company]." No. It's not. It's brought to you by the player who got themselves put into the box. Gah.
Tuuka is in Boston full-time, and Dany Sabourin was in goal. I remember seeing him back when I went to Lock Monsters games, but more recently than that, I remember his utterly hair-raising appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs, where he subbed in for a flu-ridden Roberto Luongo. No one knew what the deal was with Luongo, or whether he'd be back, and a totally demoralized Canucks defense folded. Sabourin made five saves in what must have been the longest and most intense couple of minutes of his life. I would like to think that after an experience like that, every game would be met with a kind of icy calm. He acquitted himself well last night, so maybe it does.
current mood: amused
current music: Canucks vs. Blue Jackets
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| Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
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8:30 pm - [hockey] And the season has begun...
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Dear Canucks,
That is the team that everyone is saying has legitimate Cup potential? Seriously? Because... not seeing it. Maybe if you'd stop making Luongo do all the heavy lifting?
Try that. Because it's too early in the season for you to be this painful to watch.
Dear Bruins,
That first game was shaky, but you seem to have found your feet. Thank you for giving me a reason to celebrate the season.
Dear P-Bruins,
See you tomorrow!
current mood: hopeful
current music: Bruins vs. Hurricanes
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| Thursday, October 1st, 2009
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8:30 pm - this week in aggravating baptist billboards
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I don't drive through that part of town often so apparently I missed it, but there was a bit of an uproar involving the Baptist church signs that led to two letters to the editor and, from what I can gather, no small number of angry calls to the mayor's office and the local Human Rights Commission. From what I can gather, it went a little something like this:
Church puts up typically offensive billboard, reading "Homosexuality, like all sin, is ungodly and unhealthy."
This being a relatively liberal and tolerant community, the predictable outrage ensues, and the church is forced to take down their billboard. It is then replaced with one reading "Creation promotes the sanctity of life. Evolution degrades it." Never mind that reason and science are celebrations of that which makes human beings different from the non-reasoning animals. Since when has reality ever played into these people's belief systems?
It's hard to say for sure, but I suspect that this may have gone down shortly before the "You have a problem with God & the Bible, not the church" billboard. It certainly would explain its defensive, hostile tone in a way that really nothing else would.
Kudos to my community for standing up against bigotry.
current mood: validated
current music: Bruins vs. Capitals
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| Monday, September 28th, 2009
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5:57 pm - the problem of roman polanski
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I'm going to just come out and admit it: I am a bit of a Roman Polanski fan. I enjoyed Chinatown, I adored The Tenant and Revulsion, and I believe that Rosemary's Baby is the scariest movie ever made. I even like The Ninth Gate, and the last time I checked, no one likes that movie.
That said, I am exceedingly glad that he has been detained and will likely be facing extradition to the United States where he will finally - after 30-some years - face sentencing for the crime of raping a child. A crime to which he admitted guilt, weaselly claims of the victim appearing to be of legal age notwithstanding. And even if she had been of legal age, drugging her for sex and refusing to stop when she said "no" is still rape.
The bottom line is, he raped a 13-year-old girl. He admitted to it, but couldn't stick around long enough to face the consequences. Now the consequences have caught up with him. If he were any kind of a decent human being, he'd tell his defenders to back off, instruct his lawyers to stop fighting extradition, and return to the States to settle the issue in the American court system.
Anything else I have to say has already been said better, and by other people.
current mood: cynical
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| Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
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5:52 pm - today in aggravating baptist billboards
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"You have a problem with God & the Bible,
not the church."
Yes. Thanks for reminding me that there's no place for me in Christianity as a whole, and that it's not just that your bigoted little church has no place for me, or others who think like me. As if I could ever forget.
It's sentiments like this that make me want to back away slowly from those who claim to be Christian.
current mood: stressed
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| Sunday, September 20th, 2009
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2:30 am - well, it's about time
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After putting it off for the better part of a week (I was sick, what else can I say?), I finally got around to doing the grocery shopping. And for the first time in the better part of a week actually made dinner in a way that consisted of more than just opening a can or a package, or if you want to be really clever, two cans and mixing the contents together. I made a lovely chickpea garlic soup with pasta, and ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) st_darwin made some delicious bread.
It always feels better to eat my own cooking than it does to eat delivery, takeaway, or even frozen pizza. I really should try to do it more often.
current mood: satisfied
current music: Varinder Singh - "Nitri Sharab Vargi"
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| Monday, September 14th, 2009
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2:07 am - RIP, Jim Carroll
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The Basketball Diaries and Catholic Boy were absolutely integral parts of my adolescence, to the point where I don't think I'd be the person I am today without having experienced them in the way that I did then. His art touched me in ways that little else has. And so has his death.
If the lyrics of "People Who Died" hold true, he's got a lot of good friends where he's gone. Thank you, Jim. For everything.
current mood:  sad
current music: Jim Carroll - "People Who Died"
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| Friday, September 11th, 2009
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2:13 pm - and in a follow-up to wednesday's post...
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Today in the mail I received a letter from my college, helpfully informing me that my literature class had been cancelled. Gee. You think?
The letter was dated September 2, but the envelope was post-marked yesterday.
I'm kind of thinking a ball got dropped somewhere.
current mood: rolling my eyes
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| Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
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12:45 pm - the cracks are beginning to show
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The crappy economy apparently means that everyone is traipsing back to school to train for (nonexistent) jobs, and I think my college is collapsing under the weight of record enrollment.
Exhibit A: My physics class has a web component. I attempted to log in to the web component yesterday, only to be directed to a Page Not Found page. I fired off an email detailing my username, password and error message to computing services, who are normally quite helpful in responding to these issues. Almost 24 hours later, I have yet to hear a reply, and am still unable to log in. Given that this is where the professor will be posting our homework assignments and practice tests, I need access. I'll be speaking to him tomorrow about this.
Exhibit B: My literature class was cancelled. In previous years, I've gotten plenty of notice regarding cancelled classes (generally a month before the start of the semester), so it's not too difficult to register for something else. This year, no one bothered to notify the students, and with record enrollment, a lineup of 200+ at the registrar's desk, and waitlists the size of regular classes, there's pretty much no way I can get into another class at this point. Except for the classes which no one has registered for, which have all been cancelled. Gah.
On the bright side, at least I'll have plenty of time for physics.
current mood: disappointed
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| Saturday, September 5th, 2009
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1:53 pm - when smart choices go stupid
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So, with obesity rates rising, food manufacturers are at least trying to give the appearance of offering healthy foods for consumption by the masses. The latest attempt is something called the Smart Choices food labelling program, which purports to helpfully label healthy foods for consumers so that they don't have to expend any candlepower figuring out whether or not a food is really good for them.
If I sound skeptical, it's because I am. For one thing, this is an industry-driven program, so it's going to be a lot easier for Big Food to slap "healthy" labels on things than it is for them to actually begin offering healthier food options. For another, apparently Froot Loops is now considered a Smart Choice.
I knew that Froot Loops were intensely sugary, but until I read about the Smart Choices problem, I had no idea that they were 41% sugar by weight. And I had no idea that they contained partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. But if trans-fatty Sugar-Os are now getting the "Smart Choice" checkmark of approval, you really have to ask yourself, "What wouldn't?"
And it's extremely disingenuous for Eileen T. Kennedy (who ought to know better) to try to claim that Froot Loops are a better breakfast choice than, say, a doughnut. The whole point of the Smart Choices checkmark is to provide a visual cue for health-conscious-yet-woefully-underinformed shoppers in the supermarket. People aren't staring enraptured at the boxes in the cereal aisle because they're comparing cereal to doughnuts; they're comparing cereal with other cereal. I mean, that is the alleged point of this program, right? To help people make "smart choices" in the grocery store? And by her standard, you could just compare everything in the grocery store to deep fried Twinkies and label it all a "smart choice."
Best quote of the article from Michael Jacobsen, who was part of the panel which came up with this mess:
You could start out with some sawdust, add calcium or Vitamin A and meet the criteria."
current mood: cynical
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