Kevin from Portland e-mails with more on Kraut cars:
I just have to chime in on the auto thread. Back in the 90s, I worked at Chrysler in the electronics division in Huntsville, Alabama. This was before Quisling Bob Eaton sold out one of the more innovative auto companies in the country, but that's another story. Anyway, we would regularly do competitive analysis on the various competitive brands. The one I remember best is when we looked at Mercedes and Lexus, with a Camry thrown in. We all loved the Camry, thought it was a genuinely great car, with good finish, performance, and comfort; good value for the money. The Lexus, we just laughed at. Stodgy, even with a V8, not finished nearly as well as the Camry, which is interesting because the Lexus is nothing more than a Camry. Everything under the skin is Camry. They just drop a new skin over it, plunk some doodads inside and add $40000 to the price tag. We knew the Japanese execs had to be roaring with laughter that Americans were paying all of that money just for the little hood ornament.
The Mercedes was just pathetic. We pulled out the radio and stereo, and, swear to God, the wire harness, amp, radio must have weighed around 50 pounds. It looked like the comm gear pulled from some panzer. There was nothing new in it. The finish wasn't all that great either. This was 10 years before the public woke up and started telling JD Powers what they really thought about the car they just paid $60000 for.
Then the Germans marched into Chrysler, and the good days were gone...sort of like that old famous photo of the weeping Frenchman taken when the Germans were marching through Paris. I left soon after that.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Friday, December 08, 2006
Rudolph the Red State Nosed Reindeer--SAB
Separated at Birth?
Solid gold pundit and Canadian, Mark Steyn
and
Gold and Silver seeker Yukon Cornelius?
This is not the first visual link we've made between conservative punditry and the classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
If they ever do a live action remake, that's half of the starring roles right there. If someone can find the appropriate Hermey the Misfit Elf we'll be set. (I see Rudolph as a stricly CGI insert). If we can sign Rich Lowry, or if we go in a slightly darker direction, Vox Day, we can start talking production schedules.
Solid gold pundit and Canadian, Mark Steyn
and
Gold and Silver seeker Yukon Cornelius?
This is not the first visual link we've made between conservative punditry and the classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
If they ever do a live action remake, that's half of the starring roles right there. If someone can find the appropriate Hermey the Misfit Elf we'll be set. (I see Rudolph as a stricly CGI insert). If we can sign Rich Lowry, or if we go in a slightly darker direction, Vox Day, we can start talking production schedules.
Break The Bubble, Break It Up
Bill, the unindicted co-conspirator now blogging at Yucky Salad with Bones, reminisces on a flash in the fashion pan (Since YSWB hasn't made the technological leap necessary to link to individual posts, you'll have to scroll down to December 5th to find it.):
An aside here (this should probably be a footnote, but screw it): did anything come and go faster than acid-wash jeans? They were "in" for four days, 6 hours and 23 minutes in the fall of 1987. It was a time when we were all jamming to "Pour Some Sugar On Me" un-ironically. And for those four days and change, acid-wash jeans couldn't have been more hip. Nerds could instantly vault up in the social stratosphere by showing up with acid-wash jeans on. And then-- boom-- they were out. Whoever got to decide what was cool back then woke up one day and pulling them on thought, "Oh my god are these gay." Some people (those who bought a lot of pairs, I assume) tried to keep the dream alive and it was just comical. Acid-wash jean jackets? Never in. Not even close-- in fact, they rank only behind Members Only jackets on the "Never Hip" scale. So then the people who tried to keep wearing the jeans thought that if they cut holes in them, they could keep them hip. Nice try, not happening. Maybe if you're Vince Neil, but definitely not if you're a white kid from the suburbs trying to look sweet at Fowl Play. (Come to think of it, acid-wash jeans had a remarkably similar life-span to Mississippi Live).
Ah, the mention of Mississippi Live brings back some memories. Did I ever tell you about the time JB and I went there and they had quarter beers? Two for fifty cents. Three for seventy-five. Four for a dollar. Five for a buck twenty five. Six for...
An aside here (this should probably be a footnote, but screw it): did anything come and go faster than acid-wash jeans? They were "in" for four days, 6 hours and 23 minutes in the fall of 1987. It was a time when we were all jamming to "Pour Some Sugar On Me" un-ironically. And for those four days and change, acid-wash jeans couldn't have been more hip. Nerds could instantly vault up in the social stratosphere by showing up with acid-wash jeans on. And then-- boom-- they were out. Whoever got to decide what was cool back then woke up one day and pulling them on thought, "Oh my god are these gay." Some people (those who bought a lot of pairs, I assume) tried to keep the dream alive and it was just comical. Acid-wash jean jackets? Never in. Not even close-- in fact, they rank only behind Members Only jackets on the "Never Hip" scale. So then the people who tried to keep wearing the jeans thought that if they cut holes in them, they could keep them hip. Nice try, not happening. Maybe if you're Vince Neil, but definitely not if you're a white kid from the suburbs trying to look sweet at Fowl Play. (Come to think of it, acid-wash jeans had a remarkably similar life-span to Mississippi Live).
Ah, the mention of Mississippi Live brings back some memories. Did I ever tell you about the time JB and I went there and they had quarter beers? Two for fifty cents. Three for seventy-five. Four for a dollar. Five for a buck twenty five. Six for...
Farfegfrickingnugen!
Dan e-mails to share the pain of German engineering:
Have enjoyed your expensive and annoying stories regarding German automobiles. My love for my BMW is great but $200.00 for a car battery is just silly. I'm not up on car repairs or battery expense but something tells me if I ever have to replace a battery on my Suburban it would be about $69.
And Henry weighs in on a couple of recent posts:
I can't get as exercised (exorcized) as you over the misuse of quotation marks. Let's dig into the real lexical tragedy--the misuse of what used to be perfectly good collective nouns. Behaviors is the most recent example--academic argot that has infected the language. Behavior is a collective noun. There are forms of behavior and instances of misbehavior, but not--among literate people--behaviors. E-mail is another. There is e-mail and there are e-mail messages, but nah to e-mails." We should allow behaviors only when newspapers run advertisings and send e-mails only when the post office delivers mails.
As for Volkswagens, I've been twice bitten by the bug, so shame on me.
The first time was in 1961, when I acquired a Beetle that had a sunroof but no gas gauge. When the engine sputtered, you flipped a switch that gave you a reserve gallon to find a gas station. That wasn't high-tech, but neither was an engine that required a valve adjustment every 1,500 miles. The battery was under the back seat, which meant it got precious little service attention. I used to park it on hills, so I could get rolling and start up by popping the clutch in first gear. The fuel pump ran off a steel rod that was sheathed in plastic and the damn thing would freeze up at about 30 degrees. I worked nights in Omaha, at the time, and could get the damn thing going most winter nights only thanks to the assistance of a bartender who worked in a place across the street from my job. I'd stop in to meet friends after work--at about midnight--and the bartender would send me on my way with a fifth of hot water to thaw the fuel-pump. Oh, and the back bumper was so flimsy that it could be pushed forward with no more than a tap, making it impossible to open the rear-engine hood--except by sitting in the street, with a foot against each wheel and tugging hard with (if you were lucky) gloved hands. It was a safe car, though. It the rain, at any speed over 40, water would splash from the highway, causing one of the four cylinders to cut out.
The second time was in 1968, when the Jetta was introduced with a warranty that covered two years of unlimited miles. My Jetta was a hoot to drive but a mechanical disaster. Lets see, two transmissions, a heater radiator core, shifting mechanism, several sets of CV joints up front and sundry rear-wheel bearings. A short in the ignition coil killed the engine on the highway. Many drivers on I-94 must have had an intuitive knowledge of VW misadventures, because people always would back off and let me coast cross the traffic lanes to the shoulder while I had momentum. When I traded the car, in about five years, neither right-side door could be opened from the outside, thanks to overly delicate innards made out of pot metal. There's more but, but you get the idea.
My son bought a Passat which, like my Jetta, was a hoot to drive--great on long drives, if you could fit one in between trips to the service department.
UPDATE-- More from Avonelle:
I have loved the German automobile stories you have been posting. Here's mine:
When my husband needed to replace his Honda Civic, he selected a new Volkswagen beetle. My husband is not a car buff at all, but he really thought the beetle was cool. I think he had it about 6 months when the car decided that windows were optional. It was raining (of course), and he had pulled into a drive-thru window for some fast food. When he rolled the automatic window back up, he heard a big cracking noise, and the window broke, falling back into the door. Unbelievably, he let them charge him to fix it. A few months later, in the snow, the other window did the same thing. This time, they paid for the window and replacing whatever was required so that the automatic windows didn't break the glass.
We also had a couple of Jettas that had power problems. Apparently, some sensor would get flummoxed up, and the car wouldn't let you drive more than 40 mph. Nothing wrong with the engine, mind you. Just the sensor. Phooey. Also, we had the ABS light come on once in a snow storm. Apparently, if too much snow builds up under your car, it can mess up the sensors.
We traded in our Jetta last year and bought two Honda Elements. They are fairly ugly cars, but we can haul bikes with them and they just work, you know? The car we owned the longest was a Honda Odyssey, and it just ran and ran and ran. I think the Volkswagen vehicles are over-engineered. Since we aren't car people, are objective is to own cars that get us from point a to point b without lots of stupid problems that require us to constantly head back to the dealer. I would never buy a Volkswagen again.
For the record, I should say that other than the confusing and needlessly complicated tire-changing procedure, my wife's Jetta has had very few problems. Although we did have a somewhat similar experience with an automatic window falling into the door as we were preparing to bring our newborn son home from the hospital. It wasn't a big deal and Volkswagen corrected the problem sans charge.
I do share Avonelle's feelings about cars. All I'm really asking is that it get me where I'm going in modest comfort and that it doesn't break down. I'll leave the muscle cars and giant SUVs to those guys who feel the need to compensate for other "shortcomings" in their lives.
Have enjoyed your expensive and annoying stories regarding German automobiles. My love for my BMW is great but $200.00 for a car battery is just silly. I'm not up on car repairs or battery expense but something tells me if I ever have to replace a battery on my Suburban it would be about $69.
And Henry weighs in on a couple of recent posts:
I can't get as exercised (exorcized) as you over the misuse of quotation marks. Let's dig into the real lexical tragedy--the misuse of what used to be perfectly good collective nouns. Behaviors is the most recent example--academic argot that has infected the language. Behavior is a collective noun. There are forms of behavior and instances of misbehavior, but not--among literate people--behaviors. E-mail is another. There is e-mail and there are e-mail messages, but nah to e-mails." We should allow behaviors only when newspapers run advertisings and send e-mails only when the post office delivers mails.
As for Volkswagens, I've been twice bitten by the bug, so shame on me.
The first time was in 1961, when I acquired a Beetle that had a sunroof but no gas gauge. When the engine sputtered, you flipped a switch that gave you a reserve gallon to find a gas station. That wasn't high-tech, but neither was an engine that required a valve adjustment every 1,500 miles. The battery was under the back seat, which meant it got precious little service attention. I used to park it on hills, so I could get rolling and start up by popping the clutch in first gear. The fuel pump ran off a steel rod that was sheathed in plastic and the damn thing would freeze up at about 30 degrees. I worked nights in Omaha, at the time, and could get the damn thing going most winter nights only thanks to the assistance of a bartender who worked in a place across the street from my job. I'd stop in to meet friends after work--at about midnight--and the bartender would send me on my way with a fifth of hot water to thaw the fuel-pump. Oh, and the back bumper was so flimsy that it could be pushed forward with no more than a tap, making it impossible to open the rear-engine hood--except by sitting in the street, with a foot against each wheel and tugging hard with (if you were lucky) gloved hands. It was a safe car, though. It the rain, at any speed over 40, water would splash from the highway, causing one of the four cylinders to cut out.
The second time was in 1968, when the Jetta was introduced with a warranty that covered two years of unlimited miles. My Jetta was a hoot to drive but a mechanical disaster. Lets see, two transmissions, a heater radiator core, shifting mechanism, several sets of CV joints up front and sundry rear-wheel bearings. A short in the ignition coil killed the engine on the highway. Many drivers on I-94 must have had an intuitive knowledge of VW misadventures, because people always would back off and let me coast cross the traffic lanes to the shoulder while I had momentum. When I traded the car, in about five years, neither right-side door could be opened from the outside, thanks to overly delicate innards made out of pot metal. There's more but, but you get the idea.
My son bought a Passat which, like my Jetta, was a hoot to drive--great on long drives, if you could fit one in between trips to the service department.
UPDATE-- More from Avonelle:
I have loved the German automobile stories you have been posting. Here's mine:
When my husband needed to replace his Honda Civic, he selected a new Volkswagen beetle. My husband is not a car buff at all, but he really thought the beetle was cool. I think he had it about 6 months when the car decided that windows were optional. It was raining (of course), and he had pulled into a drive-thru window for some fast food. When he rolled the automatic window back up, he heard a big cracking noise, and the window broke, falling back into the door. Unbelievably, he let them charge him to fix it. A few months later, in the snow, the other window did the same thing. This time, they paid for the window and replacing whatever was required so that the automatic windows didn't break the glass.
We also had a couple of Jettas that had power problems. Apparently, some sensor would get flummoxed up, and the car wouldn't let you drive more than 40 mph. Nothing wrong with the engine, mind you. Just the sensor. Phooey. Also, we had the ABS light come on once in a snow storm. Apparently, if too much snow builds up under your car, it can mess up the sensors.
We traded in our Jetta last year and bought two Honda Elements. They are fairly ugly cars, but we can haul bikes with them and they just work, you know? The car we owned the longest was a Honda Odyssey, and it just ran and ran and ran. I think the Volkswagen vehicles are over-engineered. Since we aren't car people, are objective is to own cars that get us from point a to point b without lots of stupid problems that require us to constantly head back to the dealer. I would never buy a Volkswagen again.
For the record, I should say that other than the confusing and needlessly complicated tire-changing procedure, my wife's Jetta has had very few problems. Although we did have a somewhat similar experience with an automatic window falling into the door as we were preparing to bring our newborn son home from the hospital. It wasn't a big deal and Volkswagen corrected the problem sans charge.
I do share Avonelle's feelings about cars. All I'm really asking is that it get me where I'm going in modest comfort and that it doesn't break down. I'll leave the muscle cars and giant SUVs to those guys who feel the need to compensate for other "shortcomings" in their lives.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Evil Santa!
I remember being scared of Santa.
Click here for a compendium of scared lil' churlens encountering Ol' Saint Nick.
Triumph Forsaken
No, the title of this post is not the subheading of the ISG report. Rather, it's the title of a remarkable book by Mark Moyar.
Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965
If all you know about the Vietnam War is what you learned from TV documentaries and Hollywood movies, you need to read this book. If you think you already know everything there is to know about the Vietnam War, you need to read this book, because I can almost guarantee that you don't.
Triumph Forsaken is the first of a two-part history of the war by Moyar that challenges much of the conventional wisdom about Vietnam and shoots holes in many long-held conclusions. It's not merely an opinion-filled polemic however. Moyar has dug deep into the archives of all the relevant parties, including unearthing a good deal of information that has only been made available in recent years.
In particular, he sets his sights on some of the journalists whose reporting and writing on the war has largely shaped the public impressions of it to this day. Halberstam, Sheehan, and Karnow all come under fire for the way they misrepresented what was really going on to suit their own biases and were intentionally mislead by South Vietnamese sources and stringers, who in some cases were actually communist agents. Sound familiar?
But don't just take my word for it. Check out the glowing reviews at the Triumph Forsaken Official Website. Better yet, be sure to tune in to the Northern Alliance Radio Network this Saturday, when we'll be interviewing Mark Moyar at noon (central time). Listen locally on AM-1280 The Patriot WWTC or from just about anywhere on this pale blue dot via the internet stream.
UPDATE-- Chris e-mails to suggest that this is also a good Vietnam War read:
Vietnam: The Necessary War: A Reinterpretation of America's Most Disastrous Military Conflict by Michael Lind
Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965
If all you know about the Vietnam War is what you learned from TV documentaries and Hollywood movies, you need to read this book. If you think you already know everything there is to know about the Vietnam War, you need to read this book, because I can almost guarantee that you don't.
Triumph Forsaken is the first of a two-part history of the war by Moyar that challenges much of the conventional wisdom about Vietnam and shoots holes in many long-held conclusions. It's not merely an opinion-filled polemic however. Moyar has dug deep into the archives of all the relevant parties, including unearthing a good deal of information that has only been made available in recent years.
In particular, he sets his sights on some of the journalists whose reporting and writing on the war has largely shaped the public impressions of it to this day. Halberstam, Sheehan, and Karnow all come under fire for the way they misrepresented what was really going on to suit their own biases and were intentionally mislead by South Vietnamese sources and stringers, who in some cases were actually communist agents. Sound familiar?
But don't just take my word for it. Check out the glowing reviews at the Triumph Forsaken Official Website. Better yet, be sure to tune in to the Northern Alliance Radio Network this Saturday, when we'll be interviewing Mark Moyar at noon (central time). Listen locally on AM-1280 The Patriot WWTC or from just about anywhere on this pale blue dot via the internet stream.
UPDATE-- Chris e-mails to suggest that this is also a good Vietnam War read:
Vietnam: The Necessary War: A Reinterpretation of America's Most Disastrous Military Conflict by Michael Lind
You Get To Me, You're Always Outta Champagne
In last Saturday's Wall Street Journal Eric Felten pined for the good ol' days of highflying libations:
Now there's no expectation that the flight attendants should have cocktail-mixing knowledge beyond an ability to distinguish the minis of vodka from the minis of gin. But in the early days of air travel, cocktails were an essential part of the luxuries provided. In the late 1930s Pan American World Airways had a fleet of flying boats called the "Clippers." The biggest of them, the Boeing 314, featured a cocktail lounge at which various proprietary cocktails were mixed in silver shakers, including the Clipper Cocktail -- rum, dry vermouth and a dash of grenadine.
A few years after the war, Pan Am was flying Boeing Stratocruisers, and among the plane's selling points was that it featured a downstairs cocktail lounge. As they would on Boeing 747s decades later, passengers got to the lounge via a spiral staircase. The idea for devoting so much space to a lounge wasn't just about pushing liquor. Travelers were used to the freedom of roaming the decks of a ship or wandering the length of a train and found airplanes confining. The lounge gave them someplace to get up and go to; the cocktails gave them a reason to get up and go.
The various indignities that one has to endure when traveling by airplane these days could be somewhat alleviated if you at least could get a decent drink once you've finally made it to your seat. I don't expect flight attendants to be "bartenders in the sky," but is a little basic knowledge of mixology too much to ask?
I don't know how many times I've been frustrated by their inability to answer such simple questions as, "What kind of Scotch do you have?" or fill such simple requests as, "with just a splash of water." After looking on in dismay as I receive a glass filled with one part Scotch and six parts melting ice one time too many, I've taken to explicitly ordering one glass with the whisky and one with water to avoid the horrors of dilution.
And these experiences are not limited to a certain locally based carrier not exactly renowned for superior customer service either. It happened to me while flying on Singapore Airlines, oft-touted as the epitome of world class air travel. In hindsight, I probably should have ordered a Sling.
Now there's no expectation that the flight attendants should have cocktail-mixing knowledge beyond an ability to distinguish the minis of vodka from the minis of gin. But in the early days of air travel, cocktails were an essential part of the luxuries provided. In the late 1930s Pan American World Airways had a fleet of flying boats called the "Clippers." The biggest of them, the Boeing 314, featured a cocktail lounge at which various proprietary cocktails were mixed in silver shakers, including the Clipper Cocktail -- rum, dry vermouth and a dash of grenadine.
A few years after the war, Pan Am was flying Boeing Stratocruisers, and among the plane's selling points was that it featured a downstairs cocktail lounge. As they would on Boeing 747s decades later, passengers got to the lounge via a spiral staircase. The idea for devoting so much space to a lounge wasn't just about pushing liquor. Travelers were used to the freedom of roaming the decks of a ship or wandering the length of a train and found airplanes confining. The lounge gave them someplace to get up and go to; the cocktails gave them a reason to get up and go.
The various indignities that one has to endure when traveling by airplane these days could be somewhat alleviated if you at least could get a decent drink once you've finally made it to your seat. I don't expect flight attendants to be "bartenders in the sky," but is a little basic knowledge of mixology too much to ask?
I don't know how many times I've been frustrated by their inability to answer such simple questions as, "What kind of Scotch do you have?" or fill such simple requests as, "with just a splash of water." After looking on in dismay as I receive a glass filled with one part Scotch and six parts melting ice one time too many, I've taken to explicitly ordering one glass with the whisky and one with water to avoid the horrors of dilution.
And these experiences are not limited to a certain locally based carrier not exactly renowned for superior customer service either. It happened to me while flying on Singapore Airlines, oft-touted as the epitome of world class air travel. In hindsight, I probably should have ordered a Sling.
I'm Cold And There Are Wolves After Me
No offense to Sisyphus and his list, but I have to think that one of the Top 11 highlights of the Iraq Study Group is that all these geezers were all able to meet for nine months without anybody breaking a hip, getting lost on the way home, or passing away. The average age of the members was SEVENTY-FOUR. No offense intended to our senior citizens out there, but when I want some advice about how to best prosecute and win a war, my first inclination isn't "Let's ask grandpa." (Although it should be noted that Grandpa Simpson did provide Bart with the formula for victory over Nelson.)
Vim and vigor are probably not the first words that come to mind when you think of the ISG. Heeding strategic advice from the consensus report of a committee is foolish enough. When that advice is being offered by people with more experience driving ten miles under the speed limit with their turn signal on in Florida than investigating what's taking place on the ground in Iraq, it's a complete farce.
UPDATE-- James e-mails with a clarification:
At the risk of being mocked for being wrong, wasn't it actually "Herman" the one-armed military antique/surplus/weapons store guy who Grampa Simpson introduced Bart to who developed the "stratedgery" that defeated Nelson?
True that. It was Herman who devised the classic "pincers movement" and saturation bombing (with water balloons) that forced Nelson to sue for peace. But if it wasn't for Grandpa Simpson, Bart would have never had access to said advice. And the old coot did seem to relish his role:
I thought I was too old. I thought my time had passed. I thought I'd never
hear the screams of pain, or see the look of terror in a man's eyes. Thank
heaven for children!
--Grampa Simpson, "Bart the General"
Vim and vigor are probably not the first words that come to mind when you think of the ISG. Heeding strategic advice from the consensus report of a committee is foolish enough. When that advice is being offered by people with more experience driving ten miles under the speed limit with their turn signal on in Florida than investigating what's taking place on the ground in Iraq, it's a complete farce.
UPDATE-- James e-mails with a clarification:
At the risk of being mocked for being wrong, wasn't it actually "Herman" the one-armed military antique/surplus/weapons store guy who Grampa Simpson introduced Bart to who developed the "stratedgery" that defeated Nelson?
True that. It was Herman who devised the classic "pincers movement" and saturation bombing (with water balloons) that forced Nelson to sue for peace. But if it wasn't for Grandpa Simpson, Bart would have never had access to said advice. And the old coot did seem to relish his role:
I thought I was too old. I thought my time had passed. I thought I'd never
hear the screams of pain, or see the look of terror in a man's eyes. Thank
heaven for children!
--Grampa Simpson, "Bart the General"
A Date Which Will Live in Infamy
Birthday greetings go out to Noam Chomsky, a spry 78 years old today. How do I know that? Garrison Keillor told me in a tribute this morning on National Public Radio.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Christmas Around the Tube
Tim from Parker, CO writes in with some advice on how to have your Midnight Mass and Pee Wee too:
You say you won't stay up until one a.m. to catch a highly recommended episode of Pee Wee Herman. I would agree. But maybe it's time a certain resident of the State of Minnesota caught up with the rest of the world. One word: TiVo.
The rewind feature alone is worth it all. When those damn talking-head football and hockey announcers get a replay wrong, you simply rewind it and watch in complete control of the slo-mo.
I'm not sure how you sell this to your Significant Other. My wife made the decision one day out of the blue; who was I to argue. Last week, she said it was time to get a big screen HDTV. I fear the apocalypse is upon us.
I think I need to work up the technological ladder a few rungs before getting a Tivo. I must admit the whole concept of easily recording and rewatching anything anytime confuses and frightens me. And having the ability to have complete control of the broadcast and fast forward through the boring parts threatens to smash my already Internet ravaged attention span to the subatomic level.
Laura M. from parts unknown also writes in with another Christmas Classic recommendation:
I enjoyed your post about the Christmas classics. After reading it though, I realized you did not mention Frosty the Snowman. Now, you may not rank it up there with Charlie Brown, but it's one of my favorites. Not to worry, he's on right after Rudolph on this Friday nite (both on CBS). Thanks for the heads up about The Grinch being on network TV again. If I'm not mistaken, it's been on cable the last few years, and I always managed to miss it. Thanks again for the entertaining commentary.
You say you won't stay up until one a.m. to catch a highly recommended episode of Pee Wee Herman. I would agree. But maybe it's time a certain resident of the State of Minnesota caught up with the rest of the world. One word: TiVo.
The rewind feature alone is worth it all. When those damn talking-head football and hockey announcers get a replay wrong, you simply rewind it and watch in complete control of the slo-mo.
I'm not sure how you sell this to your Significant Other. My wife made the decision one day out of the blue; who was I to argue. Last week, she said it was time to get a big screen HDTV. I fear the apocalypse is upon us.
I think I need to work up the technological ladder a few rungs before getting a Tivo. I must admit the whole concept of easily recording and rewatching anything anytime confuses and frightens me. And having the ability to have complete control of the broadcast and fast forward through the boring parts threatens to smash my already Internet ravaged attention span to the subatomic level.
Laura M. from parts unknown also writes in with another Christmas Classic recommendation:
I enjoyed your post about the Christmas classics. After reading it though, I realized you did not mention Frosty the Snowman. Now, you may not rank it up there with Charlie Brown, but it's one of my favorites. Not to worry, he's on right after Rudolph on this Friday nite (both on CBS). Thanks for the heads up about The Grinch being on network TV again. If I'm not mistaken, it's been on cable the last few years, and I always managed to miss it. Thanks again for the entertaining commentary.
Pet Peeve #763
Incorrect usage of quotation marks. The latest egregious example greeted me as I walked in to work today and noticed a sign on a table of pocket calendars:
"Free" Calendars
So is there some catch? Are the calendars in fact not really free? Am I going to get sucked into some multi-level marketing scheme if I chance to pick one up?
If you mean free, just say it and save the quotation marks for situations where they are appropriate. You know, like the government is here to "help" you.
UPDATE-- Tim e-mails with evidence of the widespread nature of the problem:
Flickr: "Quotation Mark" Abuse
"Free" Calendars
So is there some catch? Are the calendars in fact not really free? Am I going to get sucked into some multi-level marketing scheme if I chance to pick one up?
If you mean free, just say it and save the quotation marks for situations where they are appropriate. You know, like the government is here to "help" you.
UPDATE-- Tim e-mails with evidence of the widespread nature of the problem:
Flickr: "Quotation Mark" Abuse
Mama's Gonna Keep Baby Healthy And Clean
While most states would probably envy the fact that Minnesota has just been ranked as the healthiest state in the nation (again), our state's bureaucratic do-gooders are dreaming up new ways to take care of their wards:
Minnesota is still the healthiest state in the nation, so why are health officials worried? We smoke too much and we're getting fat. One in five Minnesotans still puffs away and nearly 24 percent are obese, according to the United Health Foundation annual survey released Tuesday. The fat epidemic has hit everywhere, but Minnesotans are gaining weight at a faster clip than the rest of the nation -- a 132 percent rise in the obesity rate since 1990 compared with 110 percent nationwide. "We want to celebrate our success, but it would be very easy to become complacent," said Dianne Mandernach, state health commissioner. "When we look at our obesity rate, that's not good."
Fear not chubby citizens, the state is here to help:
Already Minnesota has a "Cover Your Cough" campaign (not with your hand, thank you very much) and a hand-washing campaign, both widely copied by other states.
The state's "Ban the Bug" flu shot clinics cranked up for the season Tuesday, and Mandernach said the "Eat Five a Day" campaign (as in eat five fruits and vegetables) will probably get upped to seven or possibly nine servings. "Five's just not enough," she said.
Hey state? I just went to the bathroom. Can you tell me what to do next? How about a "Wipe Your Ass" campaign to help us hygienically challenged citizens out?
A statewide ban on smoking in public places will come up for serious consideration in the next legislative session, with the support of Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Good ol' conservative T-Paw strikes again.
And because of climbing obesity rates, Mandernach said, she also is looking at a "Just Turn It Off" campaign that would urge Minnesotans to turn off their televisions and computers. Why? Research shows that the longer the tube is on, the more viewers munch, she said.
Your tax dollars at work folks. I guess we're just happy to pay more for the state to tell us how to live better. We'll always be baby to them.
Minnesota is still the healthiest state in the nation, so why are health officials worried? We smoke too much and we're getting fat. One in five Minnesotans still puffs away and nearly 24 percent are obese, according to the United Health Foundation annual survey released Tuesday. The fat epidemic has hit everywhere, but Minnesotans are gaining weight at a faster clip than the rest of the nation -- a 132 percent rise in the obesity rate since 1990 compared with 110 percent nationwide. "We want to celebrate our success, but it would be very easy to become complacent," said Dianne Mandernach, state health commissioner. "When we look at our obesity rate, that's not good."
Fear not chubby citizens, the state is here to help:
Already Minnesota has a "Cover Your Cough" campaign (not with your hand, thank you very much) and a hand-washing campaign, both widely copied by other states.
The state's "Ban the Bug" flu shot clinics cranked up for the season Tuesday, and Mandernach said the "Eat Five a Day" campaign (as in eat five fruits and vegetables) will probably get upped to seven or possibly nine servings. "Five's just not enough," she said.
Hey state? I just went to the bathroom. Can you tell me what to do next? How about a "Wipe Your Ass" campaign to help us hygienically challenged citizens out?
A statewide ban on smoking in public places will come up for serious consideration in the next legislative session, with the support of Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Good ol' conservative T-Paw strikes again.
And because of climbing obesity rates, Mandernach said, she also is looking at a "Just Turn It Off" campaign that would urge Minnesotans to turn off their televisions and computers. Why? Research shows that the longer the tube is on, the more viewers munch, she said.
Your tax dollars at work folks. I guess we're just happy to pay more for the state to tell us how to live better. We'll always be baby to them.
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