A few weeks back, Rob Nelson was waxing philosophic about some movie—I forget which; I really wasn’t paying attention and I smoke too much dope. I don’t know why I kept reading it, ‘cause I wasn’t planning on seeing the movie anyway, but them Mr. Nelson decided to draw a parallel between the film in question and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, mentioning the “banana blow-job scene” in the latter. [Editor’s note: The movie in question was Celebrity (Film Clips, 11/25).]
Man, what crack was he smokin’? There ain’t nobody goin’ down on no banana in Fast Times! Jennifer Jason Leigh was wrappin’ her delicious little lips around the sleek orange shaft of a carrot (under the strict, sensual tutelage of the late, grate Phoebe Cates). True, the shape and curve of he carrot is not as anatomically correct as the banana (and thus the banana would have been a better choice), but Mr. Nelson, in his esteemed position as arbiter of cinematic greatness/foolishness, should get his shit straight before he goes tossin’ it off so flippantly. Or not. Whatever.
-A letter to the editor from my beloved D in 1998. What the hell did I get myself into?
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Near Future Laboratory » Drift Deck
I used that very same laser cutter on my MFA project. I didn’t know you could engrave paper though—they used a 6-ply stock from Dick Blick. I always thought it would have been awesome to use the laser cutter to engrave wood and then make a multi-layered woodblock print out of it.
Since I work at home for my job, I often leave the TV on while I’m working. We have the smallest cable package you can get, and thus the pickings are slim. I’m also a news nerd, so today, I had MSNBC on while awaiting McCain’s announcement of his running mate. After Palin was confirmed as McCain’s selection, the reporters (pundits, opiners, whatever) on MSNBC publicly announce that Wikipedia was their “best friend right now” because they knew so little about her.
Which is interesting, and scary, given this incident: Palin’s Wikipedia Entry Gets Overhaul.
Eventhough MSNBC outrightedly said that they learned about Palin and Palin’s beckground from Wikipedia, I’m sure others—professional reporters and the general populace—learned about her from this page also. I can’t help but think that the favorable bio may have lead to favorable opinions (and reporting) even though it’s pretty clear it was edited to highlight certain things and downplay others.
“ Vacuous suck-upping
— Peggy Noonan on MSNBC on some media person that described Obama’s acceptance speech as such: “it wasn’t a speech, it was a symphony”
“ That’s not a paradigm shift,
that’s a train wreck.
— Some MSNBC guy on a potential McCain-Liberman ticket.
I hadn’t really noticed any of my food prices going up. I am vegan, meaning I don’t eat meat, dairy, eggs, or anything else that came from an animal. Up until now, a lot of the increase in the cost of foods have been in these animal-based areas. One, because animals require a lot of trucking around. Two, because a lot of the corn that many animals are fed have been going to ethanol production instead. Thus, the price of corn has risen significantly for the first time in decades.
However, in the past few weeks I have been noticing increases in some of the things I routinely eat. A couple of weeks ago I noticed the price of organic walnuts go up from about $6 per pound, to $11 per pound. And just yesterday, organic quinoa went up from $2 per pound to $4.50 per pound.There was a notice posted on the quinoa bin which blamed drought and transportation costs.
Granted, I eat a lot of organics, though I don’t intend to stop eating them despite the fact that I haven’t purchased walnuts since the price increase, and I won’t eat quinoa as often. Still, I expect food to increase drastically in the coming years—especially for those who eat a lot of dairy, eggs, and meat. If anything, it both makes me grateful for my dietary decisions (though the cost of food is not the basis for this decision), and is a warning to eliminate extraneous expenses as much as possible.
