An interview with the creator of the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Category Archives: Popular Culture
Who Is Overpaid?
Engineer’s salaries, taking into consideration education and responsibilities, the stress of accelerated delivery schedules and their direct impact on corporate profits and overall success of the company, seem absolutely inadequate.
Well, I’ve known a few who were. But no, not in general.
In many of these overpaid professions, there’s some kind of government-induced market failure going on (e.g., longshoremen), but in a lot of cases, it’s just the occasional irrationality of the market place.
Building Character
Jessica Gavora, native Alaskan (and aka better half of Jonah Goldberg) has some thoughts on basketball and Sarah Palin:
We didn’t play basketball to pad our college applications or fulfill some bureaucrat’s notion of “gender equity.” We played because the winters were long and cold and dark. There was nothing else to do. Maybe as a result, basketball was deadly serious business. Away games were played at the end of eight-hour bus rides or
harrowing plane landings in frozen, remote villages. Our opponents were tough, and the fans were unforgiving. And even though the law that feminists like to credit with all female athletic success, Title IX, was then unenforced in high school sports, we girls wouldn’t have dreamed of taking second place to the boys–nor did we.Palin earned her now-famous nickname on the hardcourt–“Sarah Barracuda.” Her enemies have tried to belittle her by pointing to her stint as a beauty queen, but it is clear that Palin’s background in sports, more than any other experience, is what has made her the existential threat to liberal feminism (and possibly the Democratic ticket) that she is today.
I wonder how she’d do one on one with Senator Obama? Did he ever win a state championship for his team? Perhaps it’s another comparison that his campaign should avoid.
That’s Not A Man, Baby
The latest in frightening fashion.
Being Back In LaLa Land
…I really appreciate reading about the seven most retardedmentally-challenged ways that celebrities attempt to go green.
These were all funny at the time, but it’s nice to see a well-annotated compendium.
Sex Is Associated With Sports?
Who knew?
Only people unfamiliar with history, going back to the original Olympic games. Or football, for that matter…
Sandwich Artists
Lileks explains why I rarely go to Subway.
I’d won a free 6″ sub. This was timely, since I was planning to buy one for my wife. We finished our meal; I went back to the place where the Sandwich Artists labor in various degrees of surly disinterest, and presented the coupon. The Artist began to craft the meal out the chopped and processed carbclay arrayed before him – and that’s when the manager walked over.
“For future reference,” she said, “those are for the next visit.”
I pointed to the small print on the back of the ticket. “Actually, it says for your next order.”
“Well, it means visit. It’s how we keep track of them in the back.” She jerked a thumb towards the back of the store, where the Something wet and spiny sat in a crate, swallowing souls and dreams and crapping out rules and procedure.
If there are two things I don’t like, it’s someone who tells me that fine print doesn’t mean what it says, and alludes to some company process that makes things simpler not for me, or for the employees, but some theoretical person on whose behalf the system was set in place years ago by a team of consultants who have already moved on to rejiggering something else that worked perfectly fine. On the other hand, after years of dealing with restaurant employees who couldn’t give a fig about the job, it’s difficult to carp when you find someone who does – unless, of course, that person has decided to make a point about a free sandwich for future reference.
Also, a trip to the museum.
Ignorance Of America
Frequent commenter “Fletcher Christian” is a poster child for this phenomenon. And as one of the commenters at Glenn’s post notes, the BBC is largely responsible.
The Jokes
…they almost write themselves. The headline itself is wonderful:
Giant inflatable turd escapes moorings and brings down electricity line
Read the last line, too.
You’re Not The Only One, Glenn
I’m not paying any attention to the Olympics, either. I haven’t seen a single competition, and didn’t watch the opening ceremonies. I don’t think I’ve watched any channel showing it for more than a few seconds.
It’s not political–I’m just thoroughly uninterested. I also think that it’s highly overrated as a kumbaya enhancer, and I’m more interested in people for their intellectual prowess than physical abilities. I was amused a few years ago when one of my trolls (this one from Norway, but not HH) “warned” me that if the US didn’t behave better internationally, we might not be selected for future Olympics. I told him that wasn’t a bug–it was a feature.