Mirth and Matter

Obsessing about nothing.

2010-01-13T07:13:00.003-05:00

Disclaimer: another rant on the way! This post is inspired by a recent news story (be it true or false), that one Kim Kardashian is reportedly enjoying a paycheck of a staggering $10,000 per tweet. There apparently is an ad agency called Ad.Ly (but of course there is) specializing in paying hefty sums to celebrities, who in exchange mention brand names and products such as

Personal Finance Guide: A Review

2009-07-07T13:48:00.003-04:00

Recently, my wife and I began to put together our first real budget. We have paid all of our debt and we would like to begin saving a substantial amount of money so that we can one day put down a large down payment on a house.Since we have been focused on finances recently, we have both been doing research. My wife is reading a book written by "America's Cheapest Family," in order to get ideas

Thoughts About Universal Health Care

2009-04-15T11:17:00.003-04:00

There are a few important health topics that I did not expect to learn about during my first two years of medical school. One such issue is the multitude of cases when a patient’s symptoms don’t follow the statistically predicted “textbook” course. Another example is the legal dilemmas doctors face while contemplating their practices. However, one matter that is particularly overlooked is a

Animal Collective Review

2009-03-02T09:29:00.001-05:00

This review originally posted here.Besides the moniker, there is little uniting the disparate and diverse groups that have come to reside under the umbrella label of “indie rock.” Once a term charged with a DIY ethos and armed with record deals from plucky independently-owned companies, indie rock has become a catch-all for all vaguely-rocking, non-major-label music produced by white

Cat on a Hot Tin Pan Alley Roof

2009-02-27T05:45:00.004-05:00

Everywhere you look there's more hurt for the music industry. Rather, more hurt for large recording labels. A recent article from Encore refers to a lawsuit by Eminem's publishing company, FBT Productions, against Universal Music Group in regards to unpaid royalties from digital downloads. The $1.6 million sum is rather unimpressive as far as industry lawsuits go. What matters it the

Medical School is Just OK

2009-02-24T21:12:00.002-05:00

“How’s medical school going?” That’s a common question, and I don’t think I have the most cheerful answer. Maybe my bitter honest sentiments were strengthened by living in Ukraine- where one never responds to an inquiry with “Great!” or “Good.” I can’t bring myself to respond that medical school is “cool” or “amazing.” The best word that comes to mind lately is “ok.” Yes, just ok. Why just

"How To Avoid Evolution in 2,408 Years; Chapter 1"

2009-02-11T03:39:00.002-05:00

"'... Good Sir, you are an Athenian, a citizen of the greatest city with the greatest reputation for both wisdom and power; are you not ashamed of your eagerness to possess as much wealth, reputation and honours as possible, while you do not care for nor give thought to wisdom or truth, or the best possible state of your soul?' Then, if one of you disputes this and says he does care, I shall not

The State of Things (a.ka pop culture today)

2009-02-10T12:45:00.007-05:00

There was a running joke a few years back poking fun at the sudden flood of band names such as The Hives, The Editors, The Subways etc. – the joke went that if the band had a name that started with ”The” and a plural ”Somethings”, it was a pretty safe bet that you were in for a ride of late 1970’s/early 1980’s new waveish rock á la Joy Division.In the Indie Rock scene, that name trend may have

Brazilian Girls Review

2009-02-05T15:07:00.000-05:00

Originally published on Fábrika, 02/03/09.Pop music has always been an international creature. Easy as it is for America to lionize its role in what has become a global phenomenon, every corner of the world has added something unique to popular music as it’s gone through its violent evolution. Pop the world over owes (African-)American music a huge debt of gratitude. But pop builds on itself; it

Kassin+2 Review

2009-01-21T15:30:00.003-05:00

In 1928, the Brazilian poet Oswald de Andrade penned an influential statement of purpose for the modernist movement in his country, a work that appeared under the unusual title “Manifesto Antropófago” (Cannibal Manifesto). His thesis was both radical and banal: Brazil’s greatest cultural aptitude lay in “cannibalization,” tearing juicy ideas from the still-warm flesh of other cultures and

Virtual Symphony

2009-01-12T16:38:00.002-05:00

This is a fantastic, completely 2009 idea: Tan Dun has composed a symphony and is inviting everybody to download music for their respective instruments, rehearse with a video of the Chinese composer conducting directly to you and your specific part, then record (video or audio) yourself playing it. All submissions will be assembled into a virtual orchestra and will be played in Carnegie Hall this

Nutrition- 10 Things You May Not Know

2009-01-11T20:58:00.001-05:00

Between Biochemistry and Nutrition classes, I’ve learned an awful lot about digesting things this past fall. Eating things just isn’t the same when you can imagine it all breaking down inside your belly—the micelles of fat, the brush border of the small intestine taking up nutrients with passive sodium transport, and the fecal-bulking fiber in the colon. Mmmm! Of course food is a huge topic in

$$ great op-ed piece $$

2009-01-04T18:07:00.004-05:00

-from the ny times-Provides a critical overview of the financial collapse.While i've read countless examinations of the recent financial collapse, this is the most provocative piece i've encountered. He regards the situation with the harsh criticism it deserves but does so in a way that is comprehensible and illuminating. $$$$$$$$$$$$

Music Review Podcasting

2008-12-16T09:18:00.005-05:00

Go here to download a podcast of my recent review of the new Guns n' Roses album "Chinese Democracy." I'll be doing music reviewing in this format more in the future.

Music as Torture Update

2008-12-10T15:07:00.002-05:00

What do Nine Inch Nails tunes and the Barney theme song have in common? In addition to Reznor's and the dinosaur's penchant for purple velvet, they both share the unfortunate commonality of torture. As I chronicled in a series of posts from last April, the US military and intelligence services have been using music as a weapon of torture with imprisoned "foreign combatants" since the invasion of

Manze Dayila - Solé

2008-12-10T10:19:00.002-05:00

Originally posted on Fábrika here.Listening to the recent album by New York-based Haitian singer Manze Dayila made me think of the title to A Tribe Called Quest’s first record, “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.” This title has always impressed upon me the organic and always moving nature of music, its ability to traverse seas and cross cultures. Indeed, the cultural travels

Sign of the Times

2008-12-09T13:49:00.001-05:00

A Series of Short Thanksgiving Reflections

2008-12-01T13:20:00.002-05:00

Please feel free to add a little blurb that highlights something funny, inspiring, thought-provoking, sad, happy, or even mundane about everyone's favorite gut-distending holiday.

A Blood Thirsty Biochemical Explanation

2008-11-25T14:27:00.002-05:00

During this summer, I was preparing myself for medical school by doing foolish things- I read a popular teen vampire novel called Twilight. This week Twilight the movie premiered, although I haven’t had time to go see it yet. However, it was during this same week at one of my final biochemistry lectures that I learned something very interesting and unexpected… vampires are real! What?! Why

Random observations

2008-11-23T17:05:00.005-05:00

One of the best parts of higher education is having someone explain something to you in such a way that you exhale the quintessential "OH!" One such moment was a computer science instructor who stated the now obvious "Random generation is a human construct." It is tempting to observe the chaotic structure of the universe as random, but such an observation would be incorrect. The universe, just

Señor Coconut and his Orchestra: Around the World

2008-11-17T15:35:00.002-05:00

Originally published on Fábrika here:As a great music critic once put it, “pop eats itself.” Nowhere is this dictum as playfully and wantonly embodied as in “Around the World,” by electronic musician Señor Coconut. Our shape-shifting DJ (a.k.a. Atom) has resurfaced under yet another alias to produce a quirky, delightful collection of international pop covers. His self-described style, “

Thievery Corporation Review

2008-11-12T15:10:00.004-05:00

Originally published in Fábrika here.For most groups, establishing a unique signature sound is a matter of transcending strict genre – witness, for instance, Sigur Ros with their symphonic soundscapes that seem to defy the broad label “rock.” This is understandable, for as much as we cling to the norms of a given genre to define our tastes, we always want our favorite musicians to violate those

The World's President: Part 2 - Change

2008-11-08T16:44:00.001-05:00

On the stump, Obama liked to talk about his unique heritage, his "father from Kenya and mother from Kansas." Poised between two cultural worlds and witness to many more in his formative years, Obama's childhood presented many complex challenges to the traditional, rooted sense of identity. His father abandoned him when he was very young; he was raised for years by his white grandmother in Hawaii;

Absence makes the heart grow fond...

2008-11-08T13:14:00.003-05:00

... but doesn't make the internet any cheaper. Anyway, with a move, new jobs, a new kid, no wireless, and array of art projects, it gets tough to sit down and be Mirthful & Matterful. It's also difficult to compose the rather large essays this blog has become famous for (locally famous at least). That said, here's a few blurbs tugging at my brain. 1. John McCain. If you had run your

From 52 to 48 with love

2008-11-07T15:16:00.005-05:00

There's a poignant and telling project going on in a certain quiet corner of the Internet. View love letters from the 52% of blue America to the 48% of red America (and vice versa) here.

The World's President: Part 1 - Hope

2008-11-07T09:50:00.006-05:00

Since Barack Obama's stunning and monumental election as president earlier this week, Americans have started to repair the shame that has accompanied their nationality for years. Americans living in Berlin and Paris were out in the streets early Wednesday morning proudly displaying the flag; being an American in the world suddenly stopped being a liability and became an object of celebration. And

Twenty-four hours ago . .

2008-11-05T23:34:00.010-05:00

The tremendous victory last night was just not enough. For almost twenty-four hours, I've been working to extend these moments: When Ohio was called for Barack Obama and, driving home alone from downtown Cleveland, I started sobbing. When Barack reached, almost anti-climatically, the milestone of 270 electoral votes and ended the longest, hardest-fought election in modern memory. When the genuine

That was better than New Years

2008-11-05T00:23:00.003-05:00

Which is to say that January 1st doesn't really feel any different than December 31st, at least not in the way that today feels different than yesterday. At 11 PM eastern standard time, America finally moved into a new era. I found myself in a room full of NYU students studying majors related to public service and public policy - needless to say, this is a big deal for all of us. There's

Let the Horse Race Begin

2008-11-04T19:01:00.002-05:00

A lot of political coverage throughout an election cycle focuses on the horse race aspect of the thing, fixating on who's up and who's down and where. Issues are sidelined, and many more reasoned heads out there ring their hands and pray that our political dialog was more substantive. I agree that this sort of reporting is a problem for democracy, but on one night, the horse race is all that's

West Coast Voting

2008-11-04T16:49:00.003-05:00

Voting for president on the west coast can be anti-climactic. When voting in the past as a California resident, I would usually not get a chance to vote until the evening after work. Because of time zones, I was voting even after voting booths in huge numbers of states had already closed. I remember getting home from voting only to find out that the media was already projecting a winner. The

Washington, D.C.

2008-11-04T16:25:00.001-05:00

Meredith Slesinger in D.C. writes:I was looking for my voter registration card when my boyfriend called my cell phone to tell me that the line at our precinct stretched out the door, around the corner, and down the hill into Rock Creek Park. Clearly, the residents of Mount Pleasant in Washington DC were going to be in for a long morning.General elections in Washington are generally

Quiet in Miami Beach

2008-11-04T16:13:00.004-05:00

After reading news all morning of huge lines at the polls, I headed out to three local polling places and was shocked to find not a single person standing in line at any of them. In the most notorious swing state of all, the dead quiet at the polls is surprising and a bit disconcerting. I'll head out later and see if things start picking up.

Out West

2008-11-04T12:48:00.004-05:00

Here in my south Eugene neighborhood, if one was to base election assumptions on yard signs alone, you might believe the race being waged today was between Obama and Nader. I pass one big McCain sign on my way to campus, but there's not much question who has won the hearts and minds of the Willamette Valley. We're especially pleased by our local collective memory that, on his campaign swing

Early Voting

2008-11-04T12:05:00.002-05:00

Vote early last week was very similar to the experience of buying an iPhone last summer. Although I chose a strategic time - the middle of the day on a weekday - the line stretched right out of the city hall, and an elaborate system of queues kept the parade of people moving forward. Ten at a time, people standing in the line outside the building were ushered in and taken to yet another network

Election Day Words from the "Far Left" of American Politics

2008-11-04T10:39:00.003-05:00

So I did my civic duty today, and cast my vote at my polling place, deep in the heart of Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. I was a little worried, given the words of warning in the press about shortages of voting machines, that I would get there to find throngs of people waiting in line for the one working voting machine. I was pleasantly surprised that the line I had to wait in for

Concord, NH

2008-11-04T09:51:00.002-05:00

Woke up this morning in downtown Concord, NH. You can tell this is a swing state. In Massachusetts where I live there is no contest - we are a blue state through and through. Here, people are out all over the place with signs, banners. People are honking their horns as they drive by. I've also seen about even numbers McCain and Obama signs. Projections show this state going blue, but from

The Florida Vote

2008-11-04T09:17:00.003-05:00

While I was out canvassing on Saturday, I was struck by just how outflanked McCain is in this area. Literally every few blocks I ran into another Obama volunteer with their "Change" t-shirts and clipboards. The streets were so saturated with Obama canvassers, yard signs and stickers that for a moment it was hard to believe this was a swing state. The Obama campaign's canvassing technique was

Election Blogging

2008-11-04T08:53:00.004-05:00

New media has changed the way politics is reported in this country and opened once sealed, closed happenings and impressions up to the collective knowledge of everyone. For all the back and forth in the media wars between the bloggosphere and the established traditional organizations, this is one moment where, quantifiably, bloggers can tell the story of the 08 Presidential election in ways that

Fidel Obama

2008-10-21T10:51:00.005-04:00

It's amazing to me how much traction the patently ridiculous notion that Obama is going to be another Fidel Castro has in the Miami area. I've encountered numerous people - even well-educated ones - who buy into this ludicrousness, and the only reason why I can fathom it is that, to many Cuban voters, the most important aspect of any candidate is their relationship to Cuba. Obama's a Democrat,

Re: Idiocracy

2008-10-10T12:42:00.001-04:00

Moved from the comment section of Idiocracy.We need to separate the idea of conservatism from the Republican party (in much the same way, though to a lesser degree, we need to separate the word progressive from the Democratic party, but that's another post). In other words, I don't think we have a conservative party. All we have are Republicans.The Bush administration is not a conservative

Idiocracy

2008-10-10T09:31:00.005-04:00

Since many of us were born, the American political map - with blue states on the coasts and Great Lakes region and red states everywhere else - resembled many other maps showing different aspects of American culture and economy. It roughly correlates to the map of obesity rates, with red states being fatter than blue ones; it matches the prevalence of Wal-Marts in US communities; it matches a map

Lucid Dreaming Experiments

2008-10-04T14:12:00.004-04:00

For the past year I have been dabbling with lucid dreaming techniques. For those you that aren't aware, a lucid dream is where you realize that you are dreaming and by becoming awake within the dream you are able to manipulate the dream itself. Many of the techniques I began using can be found in the book Exploring the World of Lucid Dreams by Dr. Stephen Laberge. Laberge actually did his PhD

A German View on America

2008-10-03T14:51:00.002-04:00

An American friend recently asked me how Americans were currently perceived in my home country, Germany. He figured that the image of the “Amis”, which is what we like to call US citizens, was still affected by the alarming proportions of the war on Iraq. Now, one thing I am absolutely certain of is that Germans never directly made your citizens responsible for the war. We only criticized your

Selling the Bailout

2008-09-30T10:19:00.004-04:00

It is clear that, barring a complete overhaul of the Paulson Plan, the bill currently floundering in congress is not going to attract the votes of the stalwart members of Congress (which, it turned out yesterday, are in the majority). Representatives and their constituents are concerned about the philosophical nature of the plan (a drift towards socialism, that bogeyman of American politics); the

Down in Flames

2008-09-29T17:23:00.007-04:00

Today was indeed a momentous day in the ongoing financial crisis. With the House rejecting the new-and-improved Paulson Plan and the Dow falling 777 points, its biggest one-day loss in 20 years, once again our economic future is teetering on the edge of disaster. Congressional leaders need to regroup quickly to patch up the dam before it bursts: the Paulson Plan is covered in warts, and it is in

Newt for President?

2008-09-26T00:08:00.003-04:00

I think we are all a bit shell-shocked by the whirl of events, which makes it hard to know what to think. Add to an already complex financial conundrum, the various policy issues at play and, now, high political theater and it almost boggles the mind.Looking over the recent posts, I am both impressed with the quality of commentary and relative paucity of posts/comments, which may reflect the

Nigerian Scam?

2008-09-24T12:16:00.002-04:00

The following email has been circulating around during these tense days of bailout deliberations. We've all seen something like this before....Dear American: I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude. I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large

The $700 Billion Question

2008-09-23T22:45:00.007-04:00

It is too urgent a decision for congress to delay. We must act now or face certain disaster. Extreme times call for extreme measures. Come on, do-nothing Congress - let's move!No, this isn't a recap of the hasty congressional putsch that whipped and shamed the legislative branch into authorizing the Iraq War. This is what's going on right now in Washington in an effort to get Congress to sign off

Flog the Pols

2008-09-23T20:21:00.002-04:00

N.B. Zach asked that I comment and, based on some of our conversations, will not be surprised that I take a somewhat different view. Here it is:I’m afraid our fearless blogmeister is flogging misdirected fear when he likens our situation to a house of cards in the below entry. He raises many valid concerns about the $700 billion sweetheart deal, but may be getting some of the fundamentals wrong.

Setting Thine House of Cards in Order

2008-09-21T20:42:00.010-04:00

For those of us who grew up in the boom years of the 1990s, the idea of an economic depression was something for the history books, not the newspapers. From the collapse of the Soviet Union to 9/11, America was an island of relative peace and prosperity, even as much of the world was falling into chaos. Wealth flowed from indefatigable Wall Street; a feeling of stasis set in. Like cigar-smoking

Vampire Weekend

2008-09-18T19:16:00.008-04:00

When I discover a new band or album that really captivates me, I can become somewhat monomaniacal about it. When I get the CD, I listen to it continuously for a period of time. Sometimes I spin it so relentlessly, I'm surprised the plastic doesn't melt. I've been doing that this week with Vampire Weekend (or at least whatever the digital equivalent is—VW's myspace page is melting just a little

Republicans' Muzzling of the Global Warming Truth

2008-09-18T09:53:00.007-04:00

This recent analysis in Environment magazine (drawn from Gallop polling data) is truly alarming. Just at the time when we need to take urgent political and cultural action to slow the existential threat of climate change, Republicans are burying their heads even deeper in the sand.The entire scientific community is in agreement on the reality of global human-related climate change. As far as the

Expanding Waistlines

2008-09-16T21:26:00.003-04:00

It's easy for those of us who live in major metropolitan areas on the "liberal coasts" to forget. But head out into many communities in the US (or simply your local Walmart) and you'll get an idea of the extent of the problem. Last month, I left the cultural bubble of the Miami area and drove north into the South, to Orlando. I know the stats about obesity in America, but it was still startling

The election. From my perspective.

2008-09-16T03:45:00.022-04:00

So, there's this election coming up. Its kinda important. On Zach's request, I thought I'd briefly (and finally) offer my 2 cents on it - being an outsider for the time being, a European, holding a passport of this small Northern European nation called Finland. You have to keep in mind though that Finland is a strange European country in that it's unlike any other in there, so a generalization

My Day Seven Years Ago

2008-09-11T21:17:00.005-04:00

I awoke after a fitful night's sleep to Chris, hysterical, shaking me and exclaiming "the twin towers have been hit by planes!" My gut didn't believe him, but I played along, jumping out of bed and running to the TV. At first, the footage looked minor: a plane had crashed into the most massive buildings in the country. How much damage could that possibly do? I thought back to pictures I had seen

Cutting-Edge Political Analysis

2008-09-09T17:15:00.004-04:00

This page kinda sums up the state of the presidential race.

The Much-Coveted "Hockey Mom" Demographic

2008-09-06T16:03:00.003-04:00

Latest Poll Reveals 430 New Demographics That Will Decide ElectionFrom "lunch-bucket Democrats" and "latte liberals" to my new favorite, "hockey moms," we've been loaded up with an earful of demographic data on what sliver of the American public is going to decide this election. The Onion clip above illustrates this sort of pseudo-scientific attempt to predict voting habits beautifully.Now, I

In Defense of the Media

2008-09-04T15:24:00.011-04:00

(Updated Below)The last three days have completely reshaped my understanding of the Palin pick and the McCain campaign strategy in general. When it was first announced that a socially conservative, female governor of Alaska was chosen for the #2 spot on the GOP ticket, I thought (like many of us) that it was a desperate attempt to pull in Hillary supports and the evangelical Christian base so

One Alaskan's Thoughts on Mrs. Palin

2008-09-03T19:55:00.006-04:00

Mirth and Matter is lucky to have a diverse readership from all over the world. An Alaskan friend and fellow blogger generously volunteered the following opinion piece on the topic of the now-infamous governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. (Additional thoughts on the Palin pick can be found at her blog.) Thanks for providing an authentic Alaskan woman's perspective on the issue du jour!I’ve

3 New Albums: Portishead, Guillermo Klein, Immortal Technique

2008-09-02T22:09:00.009-04:00

Portishead: ThirdAfter an eleven year hiatus, nobody knew quite what to expect from one of Britain's founding trip-hop groups, the reclusive and highly influential Portishead. Third, while not as deeply groovy and immediate as 1994's debut smash Dummy, nor as richly textured and harmonically labyrinthine as 1997's self-titled record, is still a force to be reckoned with. The Bristol, UK, trio of

Dear America, This is my Blackberry Speaking

2008-09-02T11:49:00.004-04:00

Let's talk for a minute about the motives of the news commentators who are leading the barrage against Palin. I haven't watched TV news for a while, but I flipped on CNN on Friday morning when the commentators were waiting for Palin and McCain to appear. Every time they said something positive about Palin, they countered it by saying, "But the Democrats will be sure to point out that [insert any

Flashback

2008-09-02T07:26:00.003-04:00

I think this post (and the excellent comments) by Zach is worth another look in light of our new potential vice-president.Current GOP spin says that Bristol's pregnancy actually reinforces Palin's family values credentials because Bristol is having, not aborting, the baby. Having a child at seventeen is a courageous act. But let's take a broader view of this.Palin's opinion on sex-ed is well

On this Episode of "The Old and the Restless"...

2008-09-01T23:48:00.005-04:00

It's shaping up to be the best show this fall, filled with juicy plot twists, unexpected surprises, and personal sagas. Our heroine tries to get her sister's ex fired in an act of passionate family revenge. She chortles mirthfully when someone publicly calls an opponent a "bitch." She was a beauty pageant winner in high school. Her out-of-wedlock teenage daughter becomes pregnant.No, this isn't a

Sympathy for the Cowboy

2008-09-01T00:00:00.004-04:00

For the second straight year, despite the so-called "culture wars" raging, a significant plurality (about 70%) of Americans agree that George W. Bush is an abject failure. Democrats and Republicans alike are eager to see his backside come January, and McCain is doing everything possible to escape the "Bush-McCain" pairing. In this regard, NYT reported today that GOP officials expressed relief

A Wetter and Windier Future?

2008-08-29T18:30:00.007-04:00

Tropical Storm Fay, from my window on 8/18Just as TS Fay sputters out over the gulf coast, having pounded the Florida peninsula with high winds and over a foot of rain last week, two new major tropical storm systems are developing in the Caribbean, raising the specter once again of punishing weather conditions in the gulf region. Violent weather is in no way foreign to the people of Florida and

Food Tastes Good

2008-08-21T02:53:00.002-04:00

The aisles of my local beautifully disorganized used bookstore disgorged something truly fabulous and strange into my waiting hands a week ago. It's perhaps the oddest, and certainly the most amusing cookbook I've ever set my food-writing-loving eyes on. What is this culinary wonder, you ask? Well, my friends, it just so happens to be a collection of recipes sollicited from prominent indie

The face value of a John McCain energy policy

2008-08-19T20:39:00.004-04:00

Yeah, right. John McCain understands that, in this post-An Inconvenient Truth era, the environment and energy production must be addressed and used to win over as many voters as possible. Personally, I don't buy it. I used to work for a company that moved its headquarters to Arizona due to Arizona's light regulations on air pollutants, making it easier for the company to get their

The Middle Kingdom at Middle Distance

2008-08-18T13:35:00.005-04:00

My old friend Leon and I had come to Beijing on a pilgrimage: I was determined to stand on the Great Wall on my birthday. But while exploring this caught- between- past- and- future country, I found myself caught between other extremes. My own divide was between distance and detail, a problem of perspective that assaults me in any new place.If I looked too closely, the sheer number of faces and

Beijing Sights

2008-08-17T16:38:00.006-04:00

To follow up on Blue-eyed Wonder's great Beijing "time peg" idea, I thought I'd put a few photos up from my trip to the city in June of 2005. Unfortunately I'm not going to have the time to write until after our Olympic time peg transpires, so I hope these images tell a story or two in my stead.

My Dilemma With Posting on Mirth & Matter

2008-08-15T12:39:00.001-04:00

I hope that all you blog readers won’t hate me for this posting, but the fact is that I don’t think I will ever be able to post anything on this site unless I get this confession off my chest first. So you can call me a little old-fashioned, but I’ve been struggling with this “Mirth & Matter” blog concept. I like writing and philosophical/ interesting conversations. I enjoy blogging and making

What Corporate Tax Rate?

2008-08-12T15:19:00.003-04:00

A new report from the GAO finds that two-thirds of U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes between 1998 and 2005.Also from Time.com, John McCain's response to this question:TAXES: Should Bush's tax cuts for families making more than $250,000 be eliminated? Wants to keep Bush's tax cuts. Would kill the alternative minimmum tax and lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%.Kind of begs

Lilya 4-Ever Review

2008-08-11T20:23:00.002-04:00

It’s really rare to find a film that attempts to speak for millions of people who have no real voice of their own. It’s even rarer to find a film that does an excellent job telling their story. But I think director Lukas Moodysson generally succeeds in his film, Lilya-4 Ever. He is a fairly new Swedish director, and I haven’t seen any of his other films, so I’m not sure how good they are, but I

False Flags

2008-08-11T11:14:00.003-04:00

I hate to venture down conspiracy theory lane, but the revelations regarding Ivins and the anthrax scare have really raised a red flag with me. To reiterate what Zach just posted:The anthrax had nothing to do with Iraq; instead, a government agency was responsible for 1) sending the anthrax in the first place, framing Iraq, and 2) claiming that only the Iraqis could have done such a thing. This

The Grass is Always Greener.....

2008-08-06T15:55:00.005-04:00

Latley, my co-workers and I have created a list of jobs we would WANT to do if we weren't in the business of writing technical manuals. Included on this list are jobs such as dog walker, photographer, lawyer (yes we dream big) and rare book finder. We even have a list, hidden from HR, of course, titled "Plan B." What is it that keeps us from pursuing these ventures? Well let's see: job security,

To China, With Love

2008-08-06T15:21:00.003-04:00

Journalists like to talk about "time pegs," by which we mean periods during which the general public might suddenly be interested in a particular subject. Anniversaries are good ones, as are seasons, festivals, and big cultural events. Like, oh, the Olympics, for example. I'd like to throw down the gauntlet and solicit stories of, or reflections on, China (or Chinatown, perhaps?) from my fellow M

Anthrax Attacks

2008-08-01T18:24:00.009-04:00

We all remember the details of those awful couple of weeks. Just days after 9/11, mysterious packages of anthrax started appearing at government offices and media headquarters, turning what could have been an isolated act of terror into a full-fledged contagion of fear in the US. The culprit - complete with the damning evidence of letters praising Allah - were of course Islamic extremists, but

Warning!

2008-07-31T19:31:00.004-04:00

********This blog post contains sweeping generalizations and philosophizations (yes, it's a word...now) based on limited and perhaps insignificant observations.*********I've notice that my friends have been using the phrase "I feel like" as a replacement for "I think," in everyday speech. For example, instead of saying "I think that media's coverage of this presidential campaign is biased," they

Distinction

2008-07-31T18:07:00.004-04:00

One of the perks of being a parent is getting to watch your favorite children's shows on OPB once again. On the cusp of a little Reading Rainbow watching with David I saw a commercial that involves Super Grover writing his initial into an insignia. The message of the commercial was to support your child's progressive endeavors by pinning artwork on the fridge and constantly giving them support

Insightfulness

2008-07-30T09:13:00.003-04:00

For many regular M&M readers, the blog is a healthy way to avoid work. Situated on our desktops, only a mouse click away, it provides us with a welcome distraction from what we get paid (or get degrees) to do. However, despite the hours that I've probably dumped into reading and writing on here in short spurts while the work clock is ticking over the last 6 months (yes, we've been online that

Thanksgiving in July

2008-07-29T12:07:00.003-04:00

In the two years I spent living in Japan, I felt homesick only twice. Once while sitting at my desk on a rainy Thanksgiving morning, feeling conspicuously absent from the steamy bustle of my mother’s kitchen. And once upon finding a tiny plastic crate of blueberries in a rural Japanese supermarket.The box held a mere handful of the round blue fruit, and was sold for an outrageous price. But the

Gaffes

2008-07-28T09:19:00.005-04:00

As Barack Obama was making his fairytale trip through Europe and the Middle East last week, John McCain was flirting once again with the other extreme of political life: the gaffe. Below is an adumbrated list of a few things McCain (and his surrogates) have said in the last couple weeks (for a few more, go here):- Confused the chronology of the "surge" and the Anbar Awakening (as discussed in the

Ain't no Messiah

2008-07-26T14:14:00.000-04:00

As a pre-blog appetizer:I had a dream a few nights ago that I think is worth sharing.I have a place in my dreams where I meet famous people. It's typically in Eugene, and is a run-down warehouse type of location. The first person I remember meeting here was Richard D. James, also known as Aphex Twin, the second was Tom Waits, and in this particular instance the famous individual was Barack

WARNING: THIS NUTSHELL MAY CONTAIN PEANUT PRODUCTS.

2008-07-25T23:26:00.011-04:00

So this week I HAD to face a number of quandaries. Not least, a new study out of Pittsburgh (or some equally ignominious a setting) has revealed (for the thousandth time) that cellular telephones cause cancer. The quandary is this: do I start holding my cell phone an inch away form my face like those putzes who speak into their cell phones while holding them an inch away from their faces (lest

Visaless (Part 2)

2008-07-23T10:01:00.006-04:00

I recently received the following email from a Finnish reader and friend in response to my last post. Russians and Japanese aren't the only ones made to jump through hoops to visit our dear country! As an American, this is truly embarrassing. I've provided links to some of the issues he discusses:I was just checking out the blog, and reading the "Visaless in Vladivostok" piece. Seeing my

How happy are we?

2008-07-21T20:54:00.004-04:00

The piece below appeared today in the Oregon Daily Emerald, the University of Oregon's student newspaper, where I'm a summer columnist. I'm re-running it here less as a means for shameless self promotion (no, really) and more as a way to gather more responses on the question it poses, which has become a minor obsession lately. Start asking around. You'll be surprised at what people say.Take a

Critiques by an Overzealous Children’s Writing Workshop Instructor

2008-07-18T18:13:00.004-04:00

Submission Title: My PoniesAuthor: Becky HindlesonAge: 8Genre: NonfictionBecky, Becky, Becky. Alright. First off, your choice of subject matter was derivative, hackneyed, and insultingly unoriginal. It seems every eight year old girl is prone to profess her obsession with horses, ponies, and all things bearing fur. Your audience has read this before. Why can’t more eight year old girls delve into

Singing Fish

2008-07-18T11:22:00.003-04:00

The field of zoological musicology, touched upon intermittently here in the annals of M&M, has had a new breakthrough: the singing toadfish. Follow the link to read the story and see a video.For another M&M posts on this thriving academic discussion, go here, or, if you have a minute, go here (but certainly don't go here, because it doesn't have anything to do with this topic whatsoever).

The painful sting of logic

2008-07-13T18:48:00.003-04:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7504484.stmJust for the sake of kicking the religious community off of its high horse, it is entirely feasible that homosexuality is nature's way of curbing epidemic population growth often times caused by the religious community's assumed duty to over-populate. Yes, the jury is still out on the myriad of reasons homosexuality exists, but my assertion can be stated

Across the Universe

2008-07-08T13:56:00.006-04:00

Cheap, I know, but I woke up with that song in my head this morning. I'm sure Yoko will get to me soon enough (who was, in her defense, a very prominent and respected figure on the Downtown scene until she had to devote her life exclusively to championing the impossible-to-determine wishes of her late husband). I had a conversation with Zach awhile ago about my distaste for beats. Well, not

Visaless in Vladivostok

2008-06-29T11:27:00.004-04:00

America is, the old phrase goes, a nation of immigrants. The fact that historically we have been made strong by our openness to foreigners is hard to dispute. From the first waves of German farmers in Pennsylvania to the Irish later in the 19th century, to the boatloads of Eastern European Jews at the beginning of the 20th century and extending all the way to the Mexican workers of today who prop

The Balkanized States of America

2008-06-26T09:44:00.005-04:00

Mark's "Bush" post brought up a very interesting phenomenon in contemporary America: people willingly blind themselves to the facts out of allegiance to a certain political ideology. In The Economist this week, there is another article that points to our ever-increasing political balkanization.I remember first noticing this phenomenon during the 2004 election. Despite reading polls that Bush and

Bush

2008-06-24T16:39:00.005-04:00

These days, it seems that public disapproval of President Bush is like water to a fish: it is so prevalent and permeating that one hardly notices it surrounding everything. Every day, we suck it in and blow it out.And if that's true, David Brooks is kickin' it like a fish out of water in this op-ed for the New York Times. He raises some interesting issues, not just about Bush, but about how our

Bleakonomics (Part 2)

2008-06-20T13:34:00.004-04:00

Returning to the topic of the economics of live music...The Principle of Fun leads to an interesting reality for live musicians: the more money you get paid, the less fun you're expected to have (ie. the more you're supposed to pander to the manager, the audience, etc.); the less money you get paid, the more freedom you have to have fun and play some music. There is thus an inverse relationship

The Bleakonomics of Live Music

2008-06-20T12:20:00.004-04:00

I remember seeing the great downtown jazz group Sex Mob play a show in New York back in 2000. At the time, all the members of the band were well known in the scene, and they completely packed the club (Tonic, R.I.P.) with enthusiastic fans. It was an amazing show: they played with the sort of creative recklessness and playful pomp characteristic of great live jazz, but still not exactly a daily

Dinosaurs still rule the Earth

2008-06-20T04:03:00.003-04:00

If you believe in karmic retribution then you might find yourself tossing around the idea that people of European descent are in it deep right now. Two reasons:1. Manifest destiny - we just had to keep acquiring land. As a result we now have a nation so large in its expanse that the only way to keep it running is to be eternally devoted to fossil fuels. Us left-coast folk have it a lot worse.

Summer Travel, Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Gas Bomb

2008-06-19T12:59:00.007-04:00

On National Public Radio yesterday, there was yet another story about the height of gas prices in the U.S. The result (so the story went) is that the highways have seen a sharp downturn in people who are willing to ride the asphalt in order to reach their summer destinations. But with new costs being added to airline travel daily ("I'm sorry sir, the toilet only accepts exact change, or your

Uncontacted

2008-06-18T21:39:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, this photograph was released by a team of surveyors flying over an isolated corner of Amazonia. It appears to show three painted people - two of whom are aiming bows at the plane - surrounded by a small village and dense jungle. In and of itself, the photo is unremarkable, but the unwitting subjects are members of one of the few "uncontacted tribes" remaining on

Beautiful opinions

2008-06-17T22:58:00.004-04:00

In a New Yorker podcast last March, the wonderful Adam Gopnik uttered a two-word phrase that I can't get out of my head. "He is," Gopnik said, "beautifully opinionated."(For those of you playing along at home, give yourself one point for appreciating the phrase, and five points for appreciating the source.)I've been thinking lately about this idea of being beautifully opinionated. It implies a

Ragging Pony: Rapper. Trianglist. Badass. ~An Elegíe for a Pioneer~

2008-06-17T19:48:00.001-04:00

Needless to say, the lack of formal academic study on the roll of the concert triangle in modern hip hop is perhaps the greatest travesty of the current millennium. Much critical attention has been heaped upon the beats, lyricism, and culture surrounding the genre of hip hop, yet critics remain shamefully silent when discussing the role of the triangle.The triangle, in the context of

The Enemy of My Enemy . . .

2008-06-16T14:29:00.006-04:00

What do internet trolls hate more than ridiculous lawsuits? Greenpeace, apparently.You have to read the article and the comments to appreciate it, but here is the summary. Spanish real estate developers are suing Greenpeace because they put out a book which features photos of Spain manipulated to reflect what they might look like in the future based on the IPCC sea level rise estimates. The