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« "A Little Princess" On Sale | Main | Are Minor Facial Expressions Readable Across Cultures? »

September 20, 2006

 Elsewhere

Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Blowhards --

* Ginny recalls those bewildering, topsy-turvy 1960s.

* Reid Farmer tours the Southwest and stops by the zany town of Sedona, Arizona.

* Shouting Thomas tells what it's like to job-hunt when you're in your 50s.

* Rick Darby marvels at the new Burqa-style gowns that are being issued by some English hospitals.

* Best use ever for a laser pointer.

* Who needs Hollywood's version of action-adventure when you can create your own fireballs?

* Prairie Mary tells why blogging suits her.

* Prof. Bainbridge lays out a conservative case against Wal-Mart. And, bless him, he doesn't neglect the aesthetic end of the question. (Link thanks to Rod Dreher.)

* Roger wonders how and why the telephone turned into an enemy.

* Razib asks why so many Japanese Buddha sculptures have curly hair.

* Jen tries to remember what she did with her favorite bra.

* Life as a caveman wasn't easy, that's for sure. (Link thanks to Charlton Griffin, who has got the YouTube bug bad.)

* Without an expanding health care sector, would we have any economic growth at all? (Link thanks to Don McArthur.)

* OK, so it isn't all guys who spend their lives perfecting absurd physical stunts ...

* Tasha doesn't care that Lonelygirl15 was a fake.

Best,

Michael

posted by Michael at September 20, 2006




Comments

Michael,
As regards the laser pointer link... With your cleverness, your uniqueness, your stepping outside the familiar, I'd always assumed you were a cat person. Only a dog (person) would be so cruel!

Posted by: DarkoV on September 20, 2006 2:38 PM

I'm a dog person through and through. But ... Was that cat unhappy? Sigh, I never know how to read a cat.

A cat person yourself, I take it?

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on September 20, 2006 3:47 PM

The French girl doing the skate dancing is pretty entertaining. One of the better aspects of living in L.A. is going down to the Venice boardwalk where there are whole squadrons of skate-dancers who do routines like this as an ensemble. It's enough to (almost) redeem disco music to see five or six guys doing a synchronized dance routine to the beat. Actually, it makes you wonder if skate dancing isn't the Platonic Idea that ordinary dancing aspires to.

Posted by: Friedrich von Blowhard on September 20, 2006 4:09 PM

Yes, Michael. Cats are where it's at. They are a creature in that dicey territory between the "Je tai deteste" of the French and the sweet purring of the Brazilians.

And, on occassion, they do exhibit a selected fondness for their housemates (we limited humans can never be their owners).

Posted by: DarkoV on September 20, 2006 6:20 PM

Re: the great wal-mart debate...

I dunno, growing up in a small college town in fly-over, it seems to me that a lot of 'mom and pop' stores sucked. Overpriced minimonopolies of country-club going, town-hall packing bullies. Okay, that's not fair. There were plenty of real 'mom and pop' stores. I'm talking about those expensive, ugly stores you'd get on main street that sold clothes, that, what the hell? Who bought that ugly, expensive crap? Anyone else know what I'm talking about? Also, sometimes we just didn't have anything, nothing we wanted to buy, so we'd drive over to the next town.

As for healthcare, I am too demoralized and beaten down by the system to have any valid opinion. Little ole me accounts for a suprisingly large chunk of the clinical revenues in my little path department.....it's a teaching hospital so it's rank socialism. I earn, and everyone else spends. Badly. You people do what you want. I'm beaten, bruised, battered, and there is no fight left in me....oh, yeah. Nationalized care is gonna rock. Not.

Posted by: MD on September 20, 2006 6:30 PM

Sedona ... it may have a beautiful natural setting, but the town itself is a grotesque tourist trap.

Posted by: Peter on September 20, 2006 9:25 PM

Ha - thanks for the link! And FYI - never did find that bra. So I bought two more just like it - I won't be so careless this time... ;)

Posted by: jenny on September 20, 2006 9:51 PM

Re: Sedona. What Peter said!

Posted by: Reid Farmer on September 21, 2006 10:53 AM

To torture a dog you'd use a harmonica.

BTW, that French chick's accent makes me go all wibbly, and I care not who knows it.

Posted by: Brian on September 21, 2006 8:04 PM

BTW, Michael, since you're always on about the digitization of culture: did you know that the music in that French girl's clip is from the world's first digital cartoon band? The Gorillaz, who can be seen performing "live" at the Grammys here. Wikipedia article here.

Posted by: Brian on September 21, 2006 8:57 PM

I found the most terrible doctor's attitude to fatter people. Please read my blog entry for details. Thanks

Posted by: Stuart on September 22, 2006 7:11 AM

Thanks for the link; it's especially nice coming from this blog.

Posted by: Ginny on September 25, 2006 10:09 PM


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