Answering, before reading, to keep my list from my own mind.
1. My beat up black leather trench-coat. It's about 50% unwearable now, from having been so beat up (and I am having trouble finding people willing to repair/replace/renew shredded nylon interiors to leather goods). Not only is it the single most expensive lone garment I own (combining both of the garments of my tuxedo were marginally more expensive than the coat) but I've practically lived in that coat. I travelled Europe with that coat (and overstuffed the pockets on a regular basis, which is why they aren't pockets anymore). That coat kept me warm when I spent the night in Himeji station during a poorly planned Japan visit. That coat... I had more than a year before the release of The Matrix, which defense is still worthless in deflecting accusations of copying The Matrix when I'm wearing my wrap-around sunglasses.
2. CD collection. I suppose, to a certain line of thinking, it's actually like... 1000 objects. But any one of them wouldn't make the list. It would be relatively easy to replace. The bunch all together though... well... there's the price, but also the knowledge that I'd never put it back together again. There are CDs in that collection that I doubt I'd ever convince myself to spend money on again, but I retain because they (properly speaking: the music on them) were such a part of my life, that discarding, losing, or selling them would be like denying my own past.
3. Hmm, no... I guess that's it. Everything else is not just ultimately replaceable, but almost all of the rest is expected to be replaced not so long from now.
So, an amusing train of thought...
When Sarah Palin was poked in the side regarding the Bridge to Nowhere (mind you, there are hairs to split on that issue whereby she is not a liar) I thought to myself, "Well, this is the difference between somebody ready for National Politics and somebody who isn't." In that, she thought she could get away with lying. Then, maybe around this week or so I realized that she's exactly ready to fit with McCain's campaign.
Look them in the eye and lie to them.
Not to convince them, but because you don't care if you're lying, and maybe, just maybe, nobody else will either. It probably takes months of training to convince other politicians to "damn the torpedoes" but Palin was already all about it. Makes me wonder if torpedoes are outdated technology, or Palin should be scraping barnacles. Sadly, I won't know the answer to that question until November...
One thing that doesn't make sense is the "He's not trying to win" idea.
Before Palin was selected for VP, McCain was in the cellar, by a longshot.
After Palin was selected for VP, McCain is in the race, plausibly winning.
I don't want them to win, but Palin was a massively effective choice... vote-gaining-wise
Congrats to the couple. It's not often I get to look at a part of America and say, "See, some parts of the country do work." California, (following Maryland's footsteps) is have a big semi-public thing like this... I'm proud to be a Californian (even if I live a Pacific Ocean away right now).
My only regret is the increase in pitch of "That's Not Canon" in response to my George Takei/Tim Hardaway fic.
Zed @13 & Adam @15
Take a look at
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,417523,00.html
Yes, that's Foxnews, and it's one of the puzzle pieces that Mr. Feld was talking about (you can really see it in action by visiting palinpetition.com and looking at their "media coverage" links... pretty much the usual suspects). However, the quote in question looks believable. (The quote I'm talking about is Oprah saying she'd like to talk to Palin after the campaign ends.) Which is a lot more than somebody else saying, she's the sort of person who would be on Oprah.
http://www.tmz.com/2008/09/05/oprah-to-palin-i-can-pencil-you-in-later/
Is possibly the original source of that Oprah quote, I'm not sure though.
The primary linked piece points out that it's not so much about swallowing bullshit. Much more than that it's just always hearing surface glossy things which fit your preconceptions. You don't BELIEVE them (I mean... they're bullshit), but you're not hearing anything that challenges your preconceptions.
For example (in reversed political orientation, since I imagine most of the people in this thread are liberal-leaning) when Keith Olbermann calls somebody a liar for saying something which suggests an untruth... (e.g. Palin's actual quote at the deployment ceremony connecting 9/11 to Iraq was not explicitly about 9/11) you think, "Well, that wasn't actually what she SAID, but she's still bastard for saying what she DID say." (or equivalent)
The part that was most revelatory to me was: If you don't have those preconceptions, you're not just "not the audience". You're the audience, with a different desired effect. The idea that they're intentionally trying to depress/disgust the people who aren't on their side. Not trying to change their mind, not trying to break their view, but just make them stop caring. Not long ago I posted to my own dumb blog about how much I hate politics. It never occurred to me that it would be an intentional strategy.
Sandy B @20
Why is it such a high-paid and high-stress job?
Not that I expect that "Pushing Tin" was a highly accurate depiction of the job... but if Ground Control is just an extra set of eyes on radars, isn't that a monkey job?
Naomi Kritzer @16
I haven't watched a Die Hard movie since the 2nd, but... it was my understanding that pilots in airspace controlled by... ground control... do what they're told. Now, this wouldn't apply to, you know, boring a hole in the ground. But it seems reasonable to the uneducated on the topic (me) that it could lead to mid-air collisions.
Assuming, of course, that the people who are pretending to be ground control are really good at figuring out speeds and directions that will make them crash.
Which is all my way of saying, "What's wrong with Die Hard [foo], in which they make aircraft crash by feeding them false information from ground control?"
My mom wasn't big on wise advice. But she did have a very important answer to most of life's questions.
"No, I don't, but if you hum a few bars I can fake it."
Looking back on what parts of my life have passed, I see that it was fundamental to my nature. Though, quite possibly everybody's.
A subfield of Giancomo's 18:
Novels that were sent in "idea" format to Neil Gaiman, and are waiting for him to get around to writing them. Because, you know... he has to eventually! I mean, I sent that idea 4 years ago, all he has to do is flesh out the details! Seriously, it couldn't be easier.
JKRichard @30
The first page of results seem to be 3/4 jokes about it, rather than people who believe it. Upthread there are people who have found the "Obama is the Antichrist" message in the wild though. So, I suppose there's something there, I just don't know what.
More generally, I haven't read Revelations recently (actually, now that I think about it, ever) but I watched The Omen a couple times... Wasn't the Antichrist supposed to be born of a prominent family? Or is that a mistranslation of "government-cheese eating"?
As far as I can tell, the "Obama as Messiah" thing is actually a slur against his supporters, not him.
It's "look at those people, they're looking at a politician as if he were the Messiah." Then they say, "look, you're a reasonable human being, you don't think Obama is a religiously prophesied savior of the world, do you? You don't want to be a part of that group, do you? They're icky, and irrational!"
It's a pretty boring sort of straw-man, except for how deep into the media it got. But I guess the Republican political machine is really good at making things up out of thin air and getting the media to respond to it.
John Stanning @26
What you're presenting there isn't 3 dimensional space. It's a 3 dimensional presentation of a 6 dimensional concept. Or, a 3 dimensional presentation of one of those polygonal graphs they use to show athletic ability. Speed, strength, flexibility, etc.
Putting independent variables in opposite directions of the same axis is misleading at best
Of course things can be beautiful and true, the question is can novels? I don't know, I don't read many novels which post high on truth. I'd say... Stephenson writes pretty high on truth. (that can be taken in at least 2 ways, the two I can think of I intend, but not in a funny way, so I disclaim pun intent). And while his prose is (frequently) interesting, I wouldn't say beautiful.
The axis that troubles me is Realistic v. Symbolic. Unrealistic things might be obvious markers to the reader that they should consider why they're in the book though. Interesting question the more I think about it... (Would the Statue of Liberty be as powerful a symbol, if it was 5'6" tall?)
BTW, am I the only person that looked up "Dinosaurian" to ensure it didn't have an unexpected meaning?
Well, I'd say that the defense is impossible. If McCain was aware of how computers are shaping the world, he'd know that it's in his (and everybody's) interests to get involved with them as soon as possible.
We're not talking about somebody under The Digital Divide. We're talking about somebody who has never decided to learn how to use a computer. And who claims to be aware of their power.
Well, okay, it's possible that it's true, but that McCain can't make the connection between the power of computers (he claims to be aware of) and... you know... humans. Wait, no... it still doesn't make sense. He would need to prefer ignorance or weakness to actually be aware of their power and influence and not take the time to learn to use one.
Could we stop dressing Mr. Obama's corpse? It's much harder to do while it's still walking around, talking, and earning votes. He doesn't even look good in that color. And, additionally, a funeral home employee I know has reported that embalming fluid doesn't carry enough oxygen to substitute for blood in that way.
Really, you'll find the process much much easier when he lies down. Sanity, and humanity willing, this will be at least 40 years from now, at which point we can talk seriously about opening the Obama Presidential library.
David Harmon @7
The "Benevolent Autocrat" assumes that the primary things standing between governors and successful governance are "red tape" and "bad intentions."
I think that's a foolish, if optimistic view. Considering you can lead very poorly even with good intentions... An omniscient, benevolent autocrat... well, now you're getting somewhere... and REALLY have a problem with succession...
There certainly are restaurants that push up the "expected size." A place like The Cheesecake Factory makes it's money on the idea that at "semi-decent" quality, marginal ingredient costs are negligible so they may as well just give you a ton. As a corollary, the actual cheesecake you get there is normal sized (baking techniques seem to demand a certain size?) but there's 6 pounds of whipped cream next to it...
This is different from The Claim Jumper which makes its money on the novelty of paying more money for enormous, bloated, over-sized meals.
I wonder whether people eat more, or less, at buffets if plates are larger or smaller. On one hand, people are likely to eat what they take (so small might be preferable) but if plates are small, people might just take 2 of them... The more walking back and forth between buffet and table you do, the more time you have with which to notice you're full. I can't really work out the factors in my head.
All that aside... vegetables themselves in America are much larger than they used to be. Bell peppers are gigantic! (something about genetic plasticity in play there...) potatoes have also gotten large, etc.
I'm siding with the "Troll" group.
Parody, it is not. Or, if it's parody, it's unsuccessful. Trolling however, isn't about making fun of the person you pretend to be. It's making fun of the people who believe that you are what you pretend to be. Trolling in discussions that are (currently) as intractable as ID, is pretty much the application of firearms to school of cooper-mediated fish. Everybody is fully convinced that the other side does not have redeeming qualities, so it's very easy to display yourself with none, and be believed.
I am voting troll as a utilitarian though. It's not that I have evidence, it's just that if he's not a troll, the human race is that little bit worse than I would otherwise believe. The more respect for humanity I can save, the better!
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 1 |
| 2008 | 23 |
| 2007 | 18 |
| 2006 | 5 |
| 2005 | 8 |
Total: 55 comments. View all these comments on a single page.
The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Scott:
Show all comments by Scott.