Culture

Not to beat a dead (but steroid-free!) horse, but man are those anti-drug adds irritating as all get-out.

In the most recent add, we see a young urban youth sitting on a bench near a phone booth, getting "up close and personal" as it were with us, the audience. Our young protagonist's weapon of choice is 'spoken word,' which isn't quite beat poetry or anything else really, but avails itself of some artistic license where delivery is concerned.

The kid lays it out, admittedly a tad more artfully than I can from memory: he knew this kid in junior high whose poetry was awesome. This 'brilliant poet' inspired our protagonist to go to college- where he's headed soon, as a matter of fact. But unfortunately, this kid's source of inspiration liked himself a little weed, and was expelled from school when he was caught with a nickel bag. He never came back, never graduated, disappeared off the face of the earth as far as urban youth boy knows. Tragic.

Gentlemen, begin your flogging.

For those not in the know, I suppose I should have put [sic] after moran [sic]. But frankly that's not the kind of thing you should be doing in a post title.

1) Jennifer Government by Max Barry. Barry is also the author of the alleged cult hit Syrup, which I have not read.

2) The X President by Philip Baruth. Philip Baruth is apparently a professor at UVM. His first book was about the Grateful Dead. Heh.

3) Wakefield by Andre Codrescu. A radio guy, and on NPR no less. Finding a review of this book that didn't edge in a few theses of its own was impossible, so take it with a grain of salt.

4) Bad Magic by Stephan Zielinski. I cannot find a review of this book that passes muster, but it rocked hardcore. So I've included a review of my own below.

As noted on Penny Arcade, the self-referential American Media Vortex has again drifted towards the alleged "link" between violent video games and acts of violence perpetrated by preteens and teenagers.

Part of me wants to take the higher path like Tycho did and stay above the fray, recognizing that no amount of careful intellectual dissection will counter the raw power of the imagery and rhetoric mustered by The Other Side. Another part of me wants to engage in samesaid intellectual dissection (and swearing!) until my fingertips bleed.

But I'm feeling Clintonian today, so instead of dissecting or abstaining, I'm going to carve out a Third Way and discuss my feelings in politically-friendly narrative form.

A pile on to the 'Merry Christmas' train.

'Happy Holidays!' vs. 'Merry Christmas!', the non-issue of the moment.

Yes. There is a certain contingent of people who feel squeamish about wishing strangers a 'Merry Christmas' out of an overdeveloped sense of political correctness.

No, this phrase should not be 'phased out.' That would be ridiculous.

Fact: Christmas is a federal holiday. Along with Thanksgiving, New Year's, Independence Day, Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Martin Luther King's Birthday, George Washington's Birthday and Columbus Day, it's a holiday that we have whether we celebrate it or not.

Solution: Since we're stuck with a Christmas Day, no matter what we believe, it might as well be a merry day, right?

Unattributed statistic: 80% of Americans identify at least minimally as Christians. 95% of Americans celebrate Christmas.

Inference: At least 15% of Americans (~45 million people) celebrate Christmas as a non-religious holiday. Many Americans celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday. Many Americans don't have any celebration of Christmas at all. They're all right. Let's hear it for freedom of religion.

I went down to Boston's Hatch shell by the Charles River yesterday afternoon to check out Dispatch's free farewell concert (the band has dispanded after eight years). My first impression was of the sheer number of people there. I have no idea how many, but it had to be in the tens of thousands. My second impression was of how disgusting it all was -- bottles, cups, cans and other rubbish falling to the ground and accumulating like snow. My third impression was that I knew we would solve the energy crisis.

Yes, my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek, but let me explain. If we can take even a third of the creative energy that people between the ages of 15 and 25 spend on ingenious methods of drug concealment and delivery, and apply that to alternative energy -- we'll be saved. Having seen a 15-year old construct a fully functional water pipe from an Altoids tin, I have to say that I can't imagine cold fusion is far behind.