Copacabana

Funny Christmas presents are the BEST Christmas presents

"The painting was a gift Todd; I'm taking it with me."

I got The Wedding Crashers for Christmas and am happy of it. Vince Vaughn is my hero. I find him to be all those really great things (at least in terms of the characters he plays): hilarious, handsome and darkly sweet -- just like red wine. I'm a super cheese...

posted by Lola @ 4:54 PM 4 Comments

I played my best for him

I was going to talk about the striking transit workers in NY City and the horror of what's going on with the Iranian president; but then I figured, it's Christmas and I want to generate peace, and goodwill and all the fluffy stuff.

So have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Joyous Festivus.

Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.

posted by Lola @ 3:18 PM 0 Comments

The perfect holiday cake

This post is in response to someone who said my ramblings are too "cerebral" (which I'm sure was said with love...right?...)

Here's some gray matter for ya!

posted by Lola @ 9:13 AM 0 Comments

Fun with numbers without all the learning

Just bought this game at Borders. The American Scientist has a decent article on it that's really hilarious in that it echos the appeal of this game: apparently because it's a number game that contains no math. whatever. It reminds me of that great Saturday Night Live episode where Chevy Chase plays a dundering Gerald Ford debating Jimmy Carter. "I understood there would be no math..."

Hopefully the realization (again) that I am not a genius won't distract me... (non-genius indicated by double negative...)

posted by Lola @ 11:53 AM 0 Comments

Waiting for the great leap forward

"In a perfect world we'd all sing in tune, but this is reality so gimme some room./Waiting for the great leap forward.
So join the struggle while you may, the revolution is just a t-shirt away./Waiting for the great leap forward."
~Billy Bragg

posted by Lola @ 4:14 PM 0 Comments

One more reason to puzzle over the middle east

Winged Genie. Iraq, Nimrud. Reign of Ashur-nasir-pal II (circa 883–859 b.c.). One of twelve massive carved alabaster panels, on view together for the first time, dominate the walls of the Brooklyn Museum’s Hagop Kevorkian Gallery of Ancient Middle Eastern Art. Originally brightly painted, they once adorned the vast palace of King Ashur-nasir-pal II, one of the greatest rulers of ancient Assyria. Completed in 879 b.c. at the site of Kalhu (modern Nimrud), slightly north of what is now Baghdad, Iraq, the palace was the heart of a vast empire.

Did you know that it is logically inconsistent to say that Arabs are anti-semitic? Did you further know that that when half-brothers refuse to allow their familial ties to be the prominent connection between them (rather than their mutual jealousy and disrespect) that the whole family suffers? Get over it already Sons of Abraham, sons of Sem. The rest of the world is tired of walking around on eggshells....

posted by Lola @ 3:54 PM 0 Comments

Except, once my pants are on, I make gold records

Thanks Lord Somber for this link. Will Ferrell is my hero -- how much fun do you think he has at his job?

More cowbell...

posted by Lola @ 9:54 AM 0 Comments

Great Gosling

(WARNING: self-serving, diary-like post ahead where I talk about my predilection for pretty men.)

Okay, so I finally saw The Notebook yesterday and was fully prepared to hate it but knew that I would, at the least, enjoy Gena Rowlands and James Garner. I mean, Maverick man...

I borrowed it from my Dad who has been insisting I see it, I think because the character "Young Allie" might remind him of me. (Not because, despite my most fervent desire, I look anything like Rachel McAdams, who's adorable. If I did look like that my plan to rule the world would be vastly more evolved...) "Young Allie" was pretty crazy and had issues with her mommy. check. "Young Allie" was kinda bitchy and confused. check. "Young Allie" had a thing for Ryan Gosling. Holy God, check! Who the hell is Ryan Gosling and why have I not been salivating over this man/child for years?!

Let me back up -- I got my first job at 15 and forced my parents to tape 21 Jump Street every Sunday because I COULD NOT MISS Johnny Depp. Omigawd -- I would just die...

The point is, I tend to obsess about the pretty boys.

Damn you Ryan Gosling!!! You are a very, very hot man. You are Canadian and, I mean, how exotic is that? (joking...) You tend to take dark film roles and seem to be a pretty sharp guy if your emotional range can be believed. You are in a movie with Ewan McGregor.

And you are in my dreams. (Even if the real Rachel McAdams is really dating you....)

The movie was pretty damn good, by the way. Nick Cassavetes, son of Gena Rowlands, directed. His dad, John, and Gena had one of those long-running Hollywood marriages which is generally miraculous. The movie made me miss being young in the South...

By the way, gotta give a shout-out to IMDB for fueling my misguided desires.

posted by Lola @ 12:23 PM 0 Comments

Complacent with their majesty

Answers.com gives the definition of arrogance as "overbearing pride." Pride is more fully defined as:

pride
n.

1. A sense of one's own proper dignity or value; self-respect.
2. Pleasure or satisfaction taken in an achievement, possession, or association: parental pride.
3. Arrogant or disdainful conduct or treatment; haughtiness.
4. 1. A cause or source of pleasure or satisfaction; the best of a group or class: These soldiers were their country's pride.
   2. The most successful or thriving condition; prime: the pride of youth.
5. An excessively high opinion of oneself; conceit.
6. Mettle or spirit in horses.
7. A company of lions.
8. A flamboyant or impressive group: a pride of acrobats.

Arrogance is an interesting concept. It seems to be fairly polarizing: most say they either admire a little arrogance in someone or despise the quality altogether. I was having a conversation earlier with someone whom I think is a pretty good judge of such things and he echoed what is essentially an ancient concept: pride cometh before the fall.

I believe myself to be arrogant -- to the point that I jealously guard my pride in something I know I'm good at or that I've worked for. I feel a sense of entitlement. It is the nature of our culture I suppose. I'm grateful I'm afforded the leisure to have such a thing as a sense of entitlement. Except...

We (in my office) have been interviewing folks for a student worker job, and a professional, foot-in-the-door one at that. The resumes we received were exemplary and, having interviewed 4 of the 6 candidates, I'm struck by the maturity of these kids (I certainly was NOT that mature at 21...). They amaze me. And then I have to slowly let it sink in that these kids -- who are computer programmers and world travelers -- are very likely regretting even applying when they spend 20 minutes listening to the babble of my perpetually insecure, over-compensatingly arrogant co-workers who have no idea the genius of the wizards sitting across from them. These kids who have spent months in Spain attempting fluency while at the same time designing websites that allow campuses across the country to trade textbooks, or have worked opening bids for local governments while planning a mission trip to Northwest Africa, they are not impressed with your need to advise them of what they can expect in the "real" world. Um, they've been out there man. And, judging by what I know of you, learned more about that world than you have in your 40 or 50 plus years. So shut it!! This interview isn't about YOU -- can't you tell that by the glazed look in the eye of the candidate that I would very much like to have working for us but am afraid that if I contact them with an offer they'll turn me down based on your rambling talk about how much their dream job at Ernst & Young will make them a lot of money but will stress them out. Um and you know because...? Oh, I forgot, you once knew someone who knew someone who might have worked there. Look, these kids are as smart as you are clueless, and if they list this company as their career goal I bet they've done some research. That's what appropriately confident people do. And by the way, you're embarassing yourself. It's no wonder that the "demotivational" poster above is so funny. It follows the very first rule of funny -- it's true.

posted by Lola @ 2:26 PM 0 Comments

Shilling for capitalism

I realize it's not difficult to be irreverent and to creatively mock the current trend is fairly easy (and I should know), but these just floor me. I think my 17-year-old nephew might be getting a tee shirt for Christmas...

posted by Lola @ 9:40 AM 0 Comments

A Che a day keeps the critics at bay

My good friend Lord Somber, who formerly posted the accompanying image (he's got a devilish sense of humor and is quite good, eh?), has sent me the elusive meaning of the Argentinian phrase this little neo-hippie wannabe is sporting on his (so original) Che Guevara shirt. (It's almost not worth the effort cause if you don't know by now....man....). This article is well-written and links to even more informative ones about who this man, so celebrated by the (faux) intellectual elite, actually was. The meaning is contained in the article. I challenge you to read. Here's a taste:

Che Guevara was killed 38 years ago and, in death, his history has been turned into a myth that culminated in the 2004 Motorcycle Diaries, executive produced by Robert Redford. The movie was an ode to the young Che's South American journeys as a 20-something idealist. Never mind who he was to become. As writer Anthony Daniels has noted, "It is as if someone were to make a film about Adolf Hitler by portraying him as a vegetarian who loved animals and was against unemployment. This would be true, but ... rather beside the point."

posted by Lola @ 1:29 PM 0 Comments

Klosterman: king of professional appreciators

Chuck Klosterman has a new book out. If it's anything like Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto there's gonna be many funny hours this Christmas...

Here's a tidbit thanks to Amazon's genius marketing scheme that allows potential buyers to read several pages of select books. (I'm just saying that their sales probably skyrocketed after they implemented that little gem and they could have easily lost their shirts. Just goes to show that the public wants to trust their vendors, but I digress...)

Here's the truth as translated by the pop-culture uber-nerd Klosterman:

Two days before I finally packed up my shit and left Akron, I had a phone conversation with the man who would be my immediate supervisor at Spin magazine, and I expressed my relocation insecurities. He tried to explain what my life here would be like; at the time, the only details I could remember about my two trips to New York were that (a) the bars didn't close until 4 A.M., and (b) there seemed to be an inordinate number of attractive women skulking about the street. "Don't let that fool you," my editor said as he (theoretically) stroked his Clapton-like beard. "I grew up in Minnesota, and I initially thought all the women in New York were beautiful, too. But here's the thing -- a lot of them are just cute girls from the Midwest who get expensive haircuts and spend too much time at the gym." This confused me, because that seems to be the definition of what a beautiful woman is. However, I have slowly come to understand my bearded editor's pretzel logic: Sexuality is 15 percent real and 85 percent illusion. The first time I was here, it was February. I kept seeing thin women waiting for taxicabs, and they were all wearing black turtlenecks, black mittens, black scarves, and black stocking caps...but no jackets. None of them wore jackets. It was 28 degrees. That attire (particularly within the context of such climatic conditions) can make any woman electrifying. Most of them were holding cigarettes, too. That always helps. I don't care what C. Everett Koop thinks. Smoking is usually a good decision.

posted by Lola @ 12:12 PM 0 Comments

Dilbert creator opines

Thanks to the Daily Pundit (see link in link section) for this good news:

Scott Adams, creator of the satirically genius comic strip Dilbert is now blogging. Aces!

posted by Lola @ 3:09 PM 0 Comments

Is there really a brain drain?

Man was this story encouraging. I'm kind of obsessed with China. As one who fashions themselves a student of world history (deservedly or not...) I have been very aware of the conflicts the West has had with the East over the course of the 20th century. [Please note: the following diatribe is in no way a criticism of the East. And why do I feel compelled to say this? Because political correctness is a bitch...]

Working at a University, particularly a research university, I hear all the time about the supposed "brain drain;" i.e. the proliferation of eastern advancements in the fields of science and technology. Couple this with the undeniable fact that we outsource a bunch of business we could reasonably do here (except that we in this country are just too hoity-toity to do menial work, yeah?), and the fact that, at least in China, there is a philosophy of government that is (hmmmmm. the politically correct monster again) less that democratic, all this "a billion people in China" and "48 to every one of us" stuff can get scary. Except....

China is a veritable petri dish of organisms. There's a whole damn lot of them. And, from what I can tell, the folks living under the antiquated political system they've got are pretty miserable (remember Tiananmen Square?). It seems that every "killer" virus comes out of there (including speculation that the Spanish flu of the early 20th century originated in the east), and Communism (sorry all you neo-Marxists who romanticize what is essentially a tyrannical form of government) is pretty much a proven failure.

So rock on Michael Viscardi, the home-schooled San Diego teen who won first place for his genetics and mathematics research at the 2005-06 Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology. Maybe you can pave the way for the oppressed scientists in China to desire the freedom to operate in their land without the strangle-hold of government playing a role. I mean, you didn't even need the school system, did ya, ya smarty pants!

posted by Lola @ 10:49 AM 0 Comments

Those pesky devils...

A reader (I have a reader!) posted a comment responding to the link on C.S. Lewis from last week. So, in response to "heckrazer": yes, I have read the Screwtape Letters and most of The Problem of Pain. I find that it helps to read Lewis aloud; you? It's hard for me to internally make sense of someone that much smarter than me...

I've included an except from the Screwtape Letters below because I could never do the concepts to which he refers any sort of justice in the explanation of them. They are messy and unconventional. I live in a very "hip" and "indie" (I know, silly...) town and it never ceases to amaze me that these people I see everyday doing flashy (yet somehow still creatively uninteresting) things know nothing about truly unconventional thought. Lewis writes this particular book from the point of view of a demon giving advice to another demon who is trying to capture a man's soul. Not only is this kind of writing brilliant, but it can also be damaging (everyone knows how much intellectual Christianity is accepted in academia, where Lewis was firmly entrenched). Since he, very literally, plays devil's advocate in the novel, he is also risking offending those who share his belief system but maybe are able to understand only the very straightforward. And we know that the churches are full of these folks as well, don't we heckrazer?

Anyway, the man had guts and chutzpah. And he didn't need flashy cars, stupid haircuts and piercings to prove it.

Remember, in the following excerpt, enemy = God (to a devil...). The last, enlarged, part, is particularly important for me right now. I'm glad you wrote because this post is reminding me to live in the present and is proof of the folly of those (you know who you are....) who cannot.

"The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which our Enemy has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present -- either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure.

Our business is to get them away from the eternal, and from the Present. With this in view, we sometimes tempt a human (say a widow or a scholar) to live in the Past. But this is of limited value, for they have some real knowledge of the past and it has a determinate nature and, to that extent, resembles eternity. It is far better to make them live in the Future. Biological necessity makes all their passions point in that direction already, so that thought about the Future inflames hope and fear. Also, it is unknown to them, so that in making them think about it we make them think of unrealities. In a word, the Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity. It is the most completely temporal part of time -- for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays. Hence the encouragement we have given to all those schemes of thought such as Creative Evolution, Scientific Humanism, or Communism, which fix men's affections on the Future, on the very core of temporality. Hence nearly all vices are rooted in the future. Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead. Do not think lust an exception. When the present pleasure arrives, the sin (which alone interests us) is already over. The pleasure is just the part of the process which we regret and would exclude if we could do so without losing the sin; it is the part contributed by the Enemy, and therefore experienced in a Present. The sin, which is our contribution, looked forward.

To be sure, the Enemy wants men to think of the Future too -- just so much as is necessary for now planning the acts of justice or charity which will probably be their duty tomorrow. The duty of planning the morrow's word is today's duty; though its material is borrowed from the future, the duty, like all duties, is in the Present. This is now straw splitting. He does not want men to give the Future their hearts, to place their treasure in it. We do. His ideal is a man who, having worked all day for the good of posterity (if that is his vocation), washes his mind of the whole subject, commits the issue to Heaven, and returns at once to the patience or gratitude demanded by the moment that is passing over him. But we want a man hag-ridden by the Future -- haunted by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth -- ready to break the Enemy's commands in the present if by so doing we make him think he can attain the one or avert the other -- dependent for his faith on the success or failure of schemes whose end he will not live to see. We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow's end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present."

posted by Lola @ 9:55 AM 2 Comments

Aslan lives. Try not to be angry about it....

The Chronicle of Higher Education, one of the best newspapers in the country despite its (supposedly) limited demographic, has a fantastic article about C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia.

If Lewis and his Christian apologetics makes you angry, you may not agree with the slant of this article. But I just love the guy. Ask J.K. Rowling if Lewis was an inspiration for her Harry Potter series. Betcha he was.

And besides, I think it's very interesting that the guy went from affirmed atheist to one of the most prolific apologists of the 20th century. I'm just saying it's interesting...like maybe divine inspiration gets proven in the practical outcome...

posted by Lola @ 10:36 AM 2 Comments

Kitschy Candy Rock

This may never move beyond the kitsch stage because Pez dispensers themselves never really acheived renown as a truly practical way to dispense candy. But definitely clever and, I'm sure, bound to sell millions for a short time.

posted by Lola @ 9:11 AM 0 Comments

It happens here, too, Mr. High and Mighty

So Bored Athenians has a post that speaks to U.S. troops in Iraq writing stories and then paying Arabic newspapers to run them. This is being presented across America as a terrible, secretive, and propaganda-like effort. Except....

It happens all the time here. Open up the NY Times on a Sunday and you may see a 12-page "advertorial" on the situation in Saudia Arabia or Israel or anywhere else that wants to PAY to have something run. Nature of the newspaper beast I'm afraid. It's what's known as freedom of the press ... The press is free to publish whatever they damn well please. We have to hope they are responsible with that freedom. (ideas blatantly ripped-off from this morning's FOX News, by the by...)

My point is simply -- try not to be too much of a hypocrite....

(I correct you because I love you Bored Athenians!)

posted by Lola @ 9:29 AM 0 Comments