Just as a follow-up to that last post, I noticed this morning some recent research which essentially proves that women find the same man more attractive if they see him sitting in an expensive car, than in a less expensive one. Men don’t care about what car a woman is in. (Fortunately for the women of Canada, I use my beat-up, high mileage Focus to help mask the blinding brilliance of my attractiveness.)
Category: Aside
Aside
What does it say about me that when I followed a link to the website for the upcoming Naked Girls Reading Science Fiction show, I was frustrated that the site had lots of information about (and pictures of) the “girls” who would be reading, but no information about what science fiction they would be reading?
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The preceding post was brought to you by Crémant St. Nicolas cidre légere mousseaux from Ciderie St. Nicolas. Here’s a lovely picture of it on my desk. (It won’t oust Archibald’s Hard Cider as the champ, but it will fuel blogging quite nicely.)
Aside
So, did you read about Hugo Chavez accusing the US of causing the Haiti earthquakes with HAARP weaponry? I saw some discussion of that story, and thought it was a sign that Chavez had gone off the reservation… but it appears that it’s that the story is the result of some shoddy journalism and the Internet echo-amplification, not anything factual. Now the paranoid part of my brain is wondering if someone could cook up something like this on purpose specifically to reduce Chavez’s international credibility.
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If you are at all interested in how the business of publishing may change in response to some current disruptive technology shifts–and particularly if you’re interested in looking at the question from an author’s point of view–you should really pop over to Charlie Stross’ blog and read his post there outlining some thoughts on the question and asking for reader comments. This is one of those cases where the “don’t read the comments” rule does not apply: there are a couple of hundred comments there now with a pretty high signal-to-noise ratio, and lots of interesting (and some very scary) ideas are being kicked around.
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Looking at politics here, and in our neighbour to the south, I am starting to think that there’s maybe something to the depressive realism proposition. I am too rage-fatigued to post about today’s particular stories, but as usual Ferocious J has it covered, saying what I would probably say if I had the energy left to rant.
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OK, the latest round of crazy TSA rules had solidified my resolve to not fly into America again (at least not until there are substantial changes in the way border and airport security are run)–not that this is a big deal, since my basic hatred of airports has had me driving to Boston and such locales rather than flying for well over a decade now. But now I have to see my own country make even more STUPID security theatre rules than the Americans? Argh. No books or magazines on the plane? Seriously? The directive is specific to “US-bound” planes, and as I said, I wasn’t planning to get on any of those, but still this kind of stupidity actually makes my cranium ache.
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Over the last decade I’ve become increasingly cynical about, and frankly afraid of Americans. Not all of them–I know they’re not all the same, and there are lots of them I love–but Americans in the aggregate. I had some hope that things were changing there last year, but when I read statistics like 58% of US voters favour the use of torture in gathering information–specifically in a case where there is no ticking bomb–I am more scared than ever. Factor in that the rate is even higher for younger people and I’m left wondering if there will be anyone left who understands that this isn’t how things should be. Those numbers about how many people think the US legal system is too worried about individual rights make me despair for humanity, and for the American voting public’s ability to read.
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When Trish suggested the name Sarah for our kid, I was happy to go along. I had four reasons, two public ones and two ulterior ones. The public ones were liking the name and being amused at the notion of using a biblical name, especially one with the meaning “princess”. One ulterior motive was all about Thin Lizzy. One was about gypsies and Kali. Maybe some July I should take Sarah to Sainte Anne de Beaupre for the Romani gathering…
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I’ve had “ride the Orient Express, all the way, in style” on my bucket list since I was about 14. Apparently I will not get to cross it off. Trish and I looked at doing it the time we ended up rambling around Hungary, but ultimately deferred it. Now the chance has passed. (There is a once-a-year tourist version, but the idea of ponying up $20K US for 5 days seems a bit daunting to me–especially since I want the authentic scruffy and romantic experience, not the conspicuous consumption version.)
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Is it weird that part of my “keeping in touch with Halifax” plan involves watching what the Nova Scotia Archives publishes? And if not, would it then be weird for me to have spent a lot of time today looking at wartime recipe books? The Atlantic War Fund Club of Halifax’s Favourite Recipes (1940) and the Wartime Economy Book Of Recipes For 1945 were both recently posted, and I seem to be weirdly fascinated with them.
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I shall very shortly have to get Ontario plates to replace the NS ones. I’m thinking it’s time for personalized plates. I have a couple of ideas for things that might be unused, but I should have some backups just in case. Suggestions?
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