Air America is on the air, America

Posted on March 31, 2004

Air America, the upstart liberal talk radio network (not to be confused with the Mel Gibson movie of the same name), debuted today in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Bernadino, Portland, and on XM satellite radio. Streaming audio is also available via the Internet, although the site seems to be facing a bit of a bandwidth crunch at the moment.

I missed Air America’s official midday launch with Al Franken’s “The O’Franken Factor,” but I did catch a couple of hours of Randi Rhodes‘ afternoon talk show. If today’s episode was any indication, she’s a bit too caustic for my tastes. Sure, unbridled outrage at the Bush administration might play well for the first fifteen or twenty minutes, but the show needs a bit more substance to compete with the Hannities of the world. Then again, as far as I’m concerned, just about anything is better than suffering through Sean Hannity’s overwhelming smugness. “Three hours a day, five days a week — that’s all we ask!” Thanks, Sean; you’re too kind.

I’ll probably tune back in tonight to catch a bit of Janeane Garofalo’s “The Majority Report” and check out “The O’Franken Factor” tomorrow. While I certainly support Air America’s effort to introduce a liberal alternative into the conservative-dominated medium of talk radio, I can’t help but think the network had taken the wrong approach in choosing hosts like Franken and Garofalo to head up its flagship shows. Don’t get me wrong; I like both comedians, but therein lies the rub. At the end of the day, it’s going to be far too easy for conservatives to fall back on the defense that they’re “just comedians.” Even if Franken and Garofalo are presenting insightful critiques of the Bush administration and well-reasoned defenses of the liberal ideology, I have the feeling that they’ll ultimately be dismissed by conservatives — fairly or unfairly — due simply to the fact that they’re entertainers and not “serious pundits.” In fact, I can’t help but think that Air America might have done itself a long-term favor if it had traded in some of its initial big-name recognition for hosts with a bit more credibility and a bit less assailability. That’s just me, though.

Icebox Rolls: The Silent Killer

Posted on March 31, 2004

Spotted on Reuters:

Recipe for Danger

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Attention cooks — a recipe for rolls in the current issue of Southern Living magazine could be hazardous.

The magazine, published by Time Warner Inc.’s Southern Progress Corp. subsidiary, said it is alerting readers about potential dangers from a recipe for icebox rolls in its April issue. The magazine said it has requested the removal of all copies of the April issue from newsstands.

“It has been determined that heating the water and shortening, as described in the recipe, is potentially dangerous and may pose a fire and safety hazard,” the Birmingham, Alabama-based magazine said in a statement.

Southern Living said 12 of its roughly 2.4 million subscribers had contacted the company with concerns about the recipe. A corrected recipe is available on the southernliving.com Web site.

In a related story, Better Homes and Gardens is pulling this month’s issue due to complaints over its recipe for hemlock stew.

Tales from the Classroom: Pop Quiz

Posted on March 31, 2004

I asked my students to identify at least one interest group on an unannounced quiz earlier today. A small minority — albeit large enough to register as somewhat disturbing — listed NAMBLA. I guess I can always hope that they were referring to the National Association of Marlon Brando Look Alikes.

Thanks for doing your part to raise social awareness, South Park.

Here’s a tip: try a subtler approach

Posted on March 30, 2004

I’ve had a shockingly productive day today; I submitted a manuscript to a journal, cleaned the house, did a couple of loads of laundry, and prepared my lectures for the next week or so. To reward myself for all the hard work, I decided to go out to Sonic Drive-In this afternoon for a celebratory fresh-fruit slushie. My total came to $1.38, and I handed the carhop two dollar bills.

“Would you like your 62¢ back, sir?” she asked.

“Uh…yeah,” I responded.

“Oh,” she replied, sighing and dispensing my change from her money belt.

Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time that this has happened to me at Sonic. I’ll admit that I’m occasionally a bit out-of-step when it comes to “should I tip, or shouldn’t I?” situations (e.g. the tip jar at Subway). Still, is a 62-cent tip appropriate when all someone does is walk twenty feet to hand you a $1.38 slushie? She wasn’t even on rollerskates!

At least my carhop asked if she could have my change, though. A couple of years ago, I was paying for a $13 haircut with a $20 bill in a salon at the mall. The hairdresser counted out seven dollar bills into the palm of my extended hand and then simply took two off the top for herself, sticking them into her pocket as a self-made tip. I was so dumbfounded by the sheer audacity of her actions that I had stumbled back out into the mall before I completely processed what had just happened.

And I was actually going to tip her, too.

Condi Strikes Back

Posted on March 30, 2004

I’ve been feeling a bit guilty about my recent posts here at Apropos of Something featuring photos of Evil Condi™ in action. After all, the woman is going through some rough times right now what with the 9/11 commission and everything. That being said, here’s a photo of Happy Condi™ to balance things out:

Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention “I Thought I Told You To Take Your Damn Hand Off My Shoulder” Condi™ pictured below:

The Return of Evil Condi™

Posted on March 29, 2004

CNN.com apparently just can’t get enough photographs of a dour Condoleezza Rice. Now, they’ve included a blurry President Bush (via Photoshop?) for added effect:

By my count, this is at least the third iteration of Evil Condi™ that has appeared on CNN’s front page in the past four days — and I was away from the Internet for most of the weekend.

The Superhuman Menace

Posted on March 28, 2004

J. Jonah Jameson, Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Bugle*

In my role as editor-in-chief here at the Daily Bugle, I am confronted on a daily basis with what various individuals consider the major problems that plague New York City today. All told, they run the gamut of sources of blame. Traffic, crime, climate, George Steinbrenner — the fingers have been pointed in a hundred different directions. However, I’m here to tell you that there’s one clear root for all the discontent in this once-fair metropolis. This scourge which befalls us is the superhuman menace, and it must be dealt with — promptly and for good.

Over the past several years Manhattan has turned into little more than a stomping ground for freakishly powerful superhumans. Though they group themselves into camps of good and evil, the average citizen has just as much to fear from the so-called “heroes” as we do the villains. Battling in our streets, these superhumans consider themselves above the law, dispensing justice without the “inconvenience” of having to deal with a judge or jury. Not only this, but the super-powered “heroes” residing in Manhattan only serve to attract more superhuman villains, each with a plot more devious and destructive than the last. More “heroes” leads only to more villains; the problem itself is self-perpetuating.

In lieu of an actual entry

Posted on March 27, 2004

Deep in the Apropos of Something archives, a heated debate continues to rage on among commenters presumably stumbling onto the site via Google: bear or tiger?

Dining in the Classic City, Part Deux

Posted on March 26, 2004

My friends and I had the strangest lunch experience the other day. We went out for Mexican, and immediately noticed that our server seemed a bit “off,” so to speak. For instance, she insisted on calling us “boys” and engaging us in small talk that I would place somewhere along the continuum between flirtation and outright ridicule. Eventually, we got around to placing our orders, and Justin, a vegetarian, asked our server if the cheese and onion enchiladas combo would contain any meat.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” she explained. “You’re going to get a cheesy sauce on your enchiladas instead the usual tomato sauce, since the tomato sauce has meat in it. Then, you’re going to get a double order of black beans and no rice, because the rice is cooked in chicken stock.”

Sure, her delivery seemed a bit matter-of-fact, but I had to give her credit for knowing the restaurant’s menu and looking out for her vegetarian customers. Things got even stranger, however, when the other member of our party placed his order for a chicken burrito.

“Good choice — my personal favorite. Now, do you want black beans or refried beans with that?”

My friend asked which she would recommend, to which she responded, “You’ll get black beans. You know, it’s great that you boys trust me so much…you know, not to spit in your food or anything.” She then walked off laughing.

Now, I’ve never worked in a restaurant, but I’d assume rule number one is to avoid the phrase “spit in your food” whenever possible — even if it’s preceded by such phrases as “I promise not to,” “I didn’t,” or “I won’t.”

This kind of wackiness continued throughout the meal, including the waitress chastising Justin at one point for not finishing his refill. I think it was all in good fun. Of course, I’m also relatively sure that our server was completely insane. You just had to be there.

Evil Condi

Posted on March 25, 2004

Check out this photo from CNN.com this morning:

Thanks, CNN — now I’m going to have nightmares about Condoleezza Rice tonight after seeing that glare o’death. Somebody please send this woman a Pick-Me-Up Bouquet? — stat!

Wild, wonderful

Posted on March 24, 2004

I stumbled across this story at Caffeinated Ramblings yesterday:

W.Va. Governor Is Offended by T-Shirt

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gov. Bob Wise sent a letter to Abercrombie & Fitch on Monday demanding that the clothing retailer stop selling a T-shirt that spoofs the state with the slogan, “It’s All Relative in West Virginia.”

Wise said the T-shirt depicts “an unfounded, negative stereotype” of the state.

“I write to you today to demand that you immediately remove this item from your stores and your print and online catalogues,” Wise wrote. “In addition, these shirts must be destroyed at once to avoid any possibility of resale and proof be given thereof.”

Abercrombie & Fitch spokesman Tom Lennox declined to say whether the New Albany, Ohio-based company would comply with the governor’s request. He said the T-shirt, which features the slogan on an outline of the state, has been selling well at $22.50.

“Abercrombie and Fitch was born and raised in the USA, and we honor all 50 states in the union,” Lennox said.

West Virginia is not the only state that is spoofed on an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt. Another shirt’s slogan is “New Hampshire. 40 million squirrels can’t be wrong.”

You can scope out the shirt at A&F’s website. Oh, and the post title is West Virginia’s state motto.

For what it’s worth, this isn’t the first time that I’ve commented on Abercrombie and Fitch here at Apropos of Something. That being said, if you’d prefer not to wade through my thoughts on this latest bit of controversy, now would be a great time to stop reading and maybe check out one of the sites on my blogroll instead. Otherwise, feel free to continue.

Showtime, Synergy!

Posted on March 23, 2004

Let’s get something straight here: there’s only one Jem, and she’s truly, truly, truly outrageous. This chick is just a straight-up imposter. Word.

Spammers begone!

Posted on March 23, 2004

The comment spam here at Apropos of Something finally got to be more than I could handle, so I installed Jay Allen’s MT-Blacklist earlier this afternoon. Peddle your generic Viagra and hentai elsewhere, spammers!

I had heard that MT-Blacklist was easy to install, but I had no idea that it was going to be that easy. It seems to be working fine, but let me know if you encounter anything that’s broken.

Yo Joe!

Posted on March 23, 2004

When we were kids, my best friend and I always settled for taking apart our action figures and swapping their heads, arms, and legs, but it seems that the potential for creating art using G.I. Joe figures knows no bounds…

Artist uses GI Joe to recreate masters
Ananova

A Chilean artist has opened an exhibition in which he recreates famous paintings with plastic toys.

Pablo Ferrer uses toys from the GI Joe range — the US equivalent of Action Man — to recreate masterpieces by the likes of Rubens.

He says his Liliput to Brobdingnag exhibition, at the Gabriela Mistral Gallery, is intended to be humourous.

Mr Ferrer told Las Ultimas Noticias: “I think that my work has something funny about it because it shows an ironic view on the history of art. Also it makes you think about the phoney side of the paintings.”

I don’t know art, but I know what I like — and I like any piece of art that features Dr. Mindbender prominently.

PastaMania runnin’ wild

Posted on March 22, 2004

What’s better than this image that I found in my inbox earlier today?

Nothing, that’s what.

Oh, and since creativity is running a bit low today and I don’t have anything of substance to write, the extended entry includes an image that I hacked together while I was considering different ideas for my recent redesign.

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