Next Archive - February 2005

How to Detect Lies

Maybe I shouldn't share this. :)


Blog Tag: Links

It's Your Turn, Sherlock

You can be a Crime Scene Investigator too, in this cool Flash game.


Blog Tag: Links   Blog Tag: Amusements

Imposing our Culture on Pets

Speaking of pets, and culture, and whatnot, I think this is just silly.


Blog Tag: Links

Culture Clash

Evidently, some Americans are upset that there was nudity during the opening ceremonies of the recent Olympic games. They complained to the FCC about allowing that to be broadcast. Now, the Greeks are upset that we're trying to control their culture.

My first reaction is that they're both wrong. I think the obsession with covering up nudity is silly, and I think the Olympics chief is even more silly for thinking that this constitutes a threat to Greek culture. To me, this breaks down into several components.

1. Is nudity a bad thing? I mean, come on, we're born nude. We can all look at our own nude forms. "If God had meant man to be naked, He would have made us that way!" I don't find nudity offensive in the least (even in unattractive specimens). I don't necessarily want it shoved in my face, or to have naked people running around when I'm trying to eat, but I don't think it's the end of the world. Personally, I find boxing more offensive. Or football. Telemarketing. Political mudslinging. But that's just me. Ultimately, though, I realize that what offends one person pleases another, and vice versa, and it's difficult to go around telling people what's good or bad when there's no overwhelming justification for it.

2. What about the children? I don't see anything wrong with nudity, nor do I think it's wrong for children to be exposed to it. Now, I'm talking about casual nudity, not about sexual, seductive or salacious forms of it. Kids can see themselves naked, and I don't see harm in them knowing what other people look like. But that's a personal opinion, and I recognize that other parents feel differently. As a parent, though, I feel strongly that I should be able to determine what my child is exposed to. If I objected to nudity, especially around children, then I would be mighty upset at people exposing my kid to it against my will. It's up to parents to determine what's good for their children, not the general public. Just because someone thinks it's okay to swear or smoke or whaterver in front of my kid doesn't mean that I should just sit back and allow it.

3. Imposing values on others. Which leads me to the issue here. People complain that America is imposing its values on others. That we're polluting their culture. For the most part, I think that's rubbish. We produce cultural works for our own benefit. Movies, books, music, restaurants, etc. We don't force them on other nations. If a country doesn't want a McDonald's there, then they should just pass a law against it. I'm not going to object to a country saying they don't want something we produced. If I did, then we couldn't tell someone else to keep their products out of our own country. Like food that's made from cats and dogs, or movies featuring child pornography. We can regulate what we find objectionable, and so can they. If certain elements of another country object to something that the country as a whole doesn't care about, then that's an internal matter. They shouldn't come crying to us. Or bomb our buildings. If they're upset that their country allows our products or values to come in, then they should complain to their own government.

4. If the Greeks want nudity in their public performances, that's fine by me. If Americans don't want it, they can just not watch. Or complain to our government. If our government prohibits the display of Greek performances in the United States, then that's our right. It's controlling the culture within our own borders. If the Greeks don't like that, then, it's the Greeks trying to impose their values on us!

So what's the right answer? Well, my first thought is that there is no right answer. Not every problem has a simple answer, or any answer at all. One method that has been tried is to regulate the culture. One standard for everybody. Like the Chinese have done. Enforced purity. I shudder at that approach. It's boring, it's intrusive, it's authoritarian. Another approach is to have no standards at all. Anything goes. I shudder at that, too.

What seems to work best is what we have. (Was Voltaire right?) People live in communities of various sizes, and each community has its own values of what is acceptable and what is not. If you don't like it, you try to change that community or you move elsewhere or you just live with it. You'll never find someplace where everybody has the same set of values, though. So another approach is to be tolerant. There again, you need to strike a balance. People talk about intolerance as if it was a bad thing, but is it bad to be intolerant of child abuse? Is it bad to be intolerant of slavery?

All we can do is muddle along from day to day, trying to decide what's best for ourselves and the good of the people, change what we can and accept what we can't, being sensitive to others. End of sermon.


Blog Tag: Opinion

Fifty Writing Tools

If you write, or even if you blog, check out Fifty Writing Tools at Poynter Online (Everything You Need to be a Better Journalist).


Blog Tag: Links

I'm So Proud... and Old

Have I mentioned that our daughter recently turned 18? There's something so very satisfying... and disturbing... about that. She's still living at home, thankfully, going to a local college and continuing to grow in so many ways. But she's a dream child. We're very proud.


Blog Tag: Chatter

Ooh, That Girl

• Aisha Tyler


• Marg Helgenberger


• Lucy Liu


• Lucy Lawless


• Emily Procter


• Salma Hayek

Some guys seem to have a type. They're hot for redheads, legs or tall women, or some other feature that makes them take notice. I don't think I have a type. I guess I'm just undiscriminating.


Blog Tag: Chatter

Elektra

Today my imaginary mistress and I went to see Elektra, with Jennifer Garner. Not a great movie, but a really good one, I think. Beautifully filmed, with an interesting if not captivating story. Garner was great as usual. At home, I watched a rental of Hellboy, which had some amusing bits but overall was just fair.

In other news, I've learned that the company that laid me off last year is going out of business. I've worked for a lot of startups, and as I consider the many companies I've worked for the last ten years, I realize that they've all gone belly up. Now, I suppose there are two conclusions that you can draw from this. On the one hand, you could say that hiring me is the kiss of death for a startup. Every place I've worked at is gone. On the other hand, though, you could say that it's my departure that spells doom to a company. Lay me off, and die!

Or, I suppose, you could just realize that it's not about me, that 95 percent of startups fail in the first five years, and my contribution to their failure is not consequential. I prefer to think that they failed because I left.


Blog Tag: Chatter

Took Long Enough

Yay. Blogrolling finally figured out how to find all the backlinks to our blogs.

You can also find backlinks at Technorati.com and more backlinks at BlogShares and, when it works, the backlinks from Truth Laid Bear.


Blog Tag: Links

A Rock in the Street

When I lived in Los Angeles (in the Valley), I used to take Topanga Canyon to drive over the hill to Malibu. I did that a lot. I sometimes took Topanga when the freeways were excessively snarled.

I just read in the paper the other day that they had to close Topanga for awhile because there was a rock in the street. If you don't know the event to which I'm referring, click over to the 2005 Winter West Coast Storm Photo Gallery to see what I'm talking about. Woof!


Blog Tag: News   Blog Tag: Images   Blog Tag: Links

musicplasma

And the links just keep on comin...

The latest wonderful web win is musicplasma, where you type in the name of a favorite musician or band and it displays a map of other artists you might like, with the bigger ones being bigger, and you can click on another artist to see the ones related to that one. Anyway, stop reading my babbling for a moment and just go check it out. It's cool!

via Smarter Stuff


Blog Tag: Links

The Eldritch Cleaver

Today's word for the day at dictionary.com is eldritch, meaning Strange; unearthly; weird; eerie.

I used to play an online role-playing game called Legends of Future Past, and some of the weapons in the game were eldritch weapons, having magical enhancements. I always wanted to get a cleaver and have it eldritched, but I never did.

Your assignment, reader, should you choose to accept it, is to find a way to use the word eldritch in casual conversation. As always, should you be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This message will self-destruct in one link click.


Blog Tag: Chatter

Asian Inventions

I braved the rain and the complaints of my body and went in to work yesterday. The ferry kept making loud thumps, and I wondered what was causing that until I observed a four-foot log floating in the water. I guess the storms have washed a lot of debris into the bay, and the ferry kept encountering them. Not a reassuring thing to know.

Anyway, by the time I got home, I was pretty tired, and I failed to post anything last night. To make it up to you, I have a second post for today. I don't know what language the page is in, but you don't have to read anything, just look at the pictures of the amusing inventions at wenxuecity.


Blog Tag: Links   Blog Tag: San Francisco

Cat Post

Somehow I ran across two cool web sites yesterday, both about cute cat pics. If you're a cat lover, or even a closet cat lover, check out Kittenbreak.com and the Amazing Cat Collection, and don't tell anybody you got those from me. (Well, alright, I guess you can, but be discreet.)


Blog Tag: Links

Until Death Do Us Part

And forever after?

It's odd. I was never very fond of my father-in-law. He was a funny guy, but there were a lot of issues that kept me from liking him. Overall, though, I rarely thought about him. Or my mother-in-law. It's been several years since they've passed on, and strangely I find myself thinking of them more now than I did when they were alive. Why is that?

There are also others who, having passed on, I now give more thought to than I did when they were alive. Even when we didn't get along. It's not that there's unfinished business, or any feelings of guilt or whatever, it's more like a sore tooth that's now gone, and your tongue is continually exploring that void, even though you lost something that was more of a pain than a pleasure.

Or is it a reminder of mortality? Or that when you think about them, you can't just file it away until you see them again and forget it? It's like every thought about them is a file you can no longer close, until you're cluttered with these unclosed files.

It makes me feel old, knowing that more and more of the people who were in my life are no longer with us. Days go by, and new candles are lit, but other candles have gone dark. What is it about the human mind that is so unaccepting of loss?


Blog Tag: Chatter

Too Much Time...

For a prime example of a web page designer with "Too Much Time On His Hands" check out the Industorious Clock.


Blog Tag: Links

Medium

So I watched the new psychic crime drama, Medium, with Patricia Arquette, and I have mixed feelings about it. I don't know what it is, but something about Arquette really, really bothers me. Too whiny, too high maintenance, too odd looking, I guess.

The problem is, I enjoyed the show. The story was good, the dialogue was great, most of the acting and the other characters were a pleasure to watch. It's written and directed by Glenn Gordon Caron, who created Moonlighting. I'll have to keep watching, and hope that Arquette grows on me.

Medium was well done, which is rare.


Blog Tag: Reviews

Octopus Cannon Hits McDonalds

This just leaves me speechless. Oh, those French! :)


Blog Tag: Links

America's First, Again

Check out America's First, Again, eh? A Canadian's account (in the Toronto Sun) of American generosity in the face of tragedy.

via blogsnow


Blog Tag: Links

A Meaty Quote

From The Quotations Page:

"You are not superior just because you see the world in an odious light."
- Vicomte de Chateaubriand


Blog Tag: Opinion

Bleh, Part Deux

Hi folks. Thank you all for your well wishes.

I guess it was the 23rd that we drove down to Los Angeles on our annual trek to see friends and family for the holidays, and it was that morning I came down with a sore throat and sinus infection, which I dutifully took with me to L.A. I was pretty miserable when the others were celebrating. Hooting and hollering do not a headache accompany well.

Then last week, safely back home but still ill, I acquired a cough. The coughing somehow aggravated my lower back, and I now have sciatica. I've been on my back the past few days, hoping to alleviate it before work starts again tomorrow. My throat is better, sinuses slowly saying sayonara, but sciatica still striking. Makes it hard to sit or walk, and lying down isn't that fun either.

So that's the haps. I'm not deathly ill, and certainly I'm better off than many in the world. Come tomorrow I may even have something better to post about. I sure hope so. Thanks for your patience, I hope to be a patient not much longer.


Blog Tag: Announcements

Previous Archive - December 2004