My mom mentioned recently that there’s a Tea Party guy running for state representative in my home state of Ohio. No great surprise there, but what worried her was how many yard signs she’d seen for him in the neighborhood. Now, my parents do live in one of the more conservative parts of a pretty conservative town. But there’s a difference between conservative and fringe, and up til now, it seemed like the Tea Partiers could be clearly distinguished from the usual run of the mill strident Republicans. My parents are friendly with their neighbors, and for...
Continue reading...Archives
Doctor Who, "The Eleventh Hour"
“I’m the Doctor. I’m worse than everybody’s aunt…and that’s not how I’m introducing myself.” It took almost the full hour for me to adjust to the new Doctor Who, but it did happen. The episode opened with Eleven crashing to Earth in the TARDIS, and while it was an exciting opening shot, I wish they had backed up a few minutes to cover what happened during the final moments of “The End of Time,” because I am forgetful and easily confused, apparently. We also get new opening credits, theme song, title logo, and, as we see later,...
Continue reading...Well, this is something.
Not to harp on British politics, but it is indeed historic for Britain and holds many important implications for America when the Liberal Democrats top a poll for the first time in 104 years. (Caveat- The Lib-Dems are an 80’s merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party, nonetheless….) The idea behind the Lib-Dems is one that has reached its place in history at an important moment. I’ve said to people for some time that Barack Obama’s politics, when translating American politics and policy in British politics and policy, fall well within the realm of...
Continue reading...Truth in (Crazy Anti-Choice) Advertising
Late last year, Baltimore City Council passed an ordinance requiring “limited service pregnancy centers” that do not provide abortion or birth control services to post signs saying so. The bill was enacted in response to complaints from pro-choicers that these centers were providing inaccurate and misleading information. Like, claiming that abortions are connected to breast cancer, for instance. They also tend to set up shop right next to actual clinics with actual health professionals who offer real, nonjudgmental options counseling to women. And they typically lure patients in with offers of free pregnancy testing (which just happens...
Continue reading...Liveblogging the first ever British debate (except for, basically, every week in Parliament)
3.35- Clegg opens. Fairness, greedy bankers, etc…Also, the background looks like a children’s show set from the 1980’s. The Early 1980’s. 3.36- Brown and Cameron spoke. Yawn. 3.38- This seems like a Senatorial debate in the States. NO CHEF’S FROM OUTSIDE THE EU!!!!, Really Gordon? Really? That is where you go, the food makers? Have you tried finding good Mexican food in Britain? It’s impossible, because of THE LACK OF FUCKING IMMIGRATION FROM OUTSIDE THE EU. 3.48- Cameron just talked about robbers burning down a house. Yikes. 4.31- Totally stopped watching. 4.32- Clegg doesn’t like bureaucrats. Really...
Continue reading...New Ways to Hate on Glenn Beck
Continuing on my poetry theme, I wanted to share this delightful recent discovery. As the friend who forwarded the website wrote, “poems, jewish stuff, making fun of glenn beck…I assume you were already aware?” I was not! According to their email blast, “Jewish Funds for Justice staged the Internet’s first “Twitterstorm” last week, flooding Glenn Beck’s Twitter account with some 3,000 haiku – Tweeted one by one, minute by minute – in support of social justice.” This was in response to Bleck’s (that was originally a typo, but on second thought seems apropos) tirade on churches that...
Continue reading...Polltracking the Revolution
Here’s a handy little interactive widget to play with to see how everybody’s doing in the horsey-race that is the upcoming U.K. election: [ed note from the future: this link is long dead] The important thing to know, for those not completely fluent in U.K. electoral politics, is to get a majority and build a majority government, a party needs to win 325 seats. Current polling seems to suggest that the Tories are closing in on 333-335, while Labour + Lib Dems are only at 286 (317 if you count all the “others”). Of course, Labour and...
Continue reading...Poem of the Week
As we all now know, April is being celebrated in some parts of the country as Confederate History Month. Luckily for those of us who enjoy four-week-long observances but prefer not to glorify the losers of the Civil War, April is also host to a number of other holidays. A quick Google search revealed that April is: National Volunteer Month, Jazz Appreciation Month, Facial Protection Month (what? yes. “Facial Protection Month can target anyone from construction workers to families to professional athletes.”), and the ever-important National Car Care Month. However, my favorite April occasion, aside from my...
Continue reading...Romeo, Juliet, and Twitter. Wait…what?
Mudlark and the Royal Shakespeare Company have joined forces to present Such Tweet Sorrow, a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet that takes place in real time on Twitter. Actors are given a scripted outline and character diaries, and they generate original tweets based on what the character would be thinking or feeling at any given moment. I assume that the goal of this project is to use social media to attract younger audiences, and I applaud them for that. If students become interested in Shakespeare after seeing these tweets and pick up a copy of Romeo...
Continue reading..."This is my timey-wimey detector. It goes ding when there's stuff."
In honor of the upcoming premiere of Doctor Who‘s fifth season (Saturday, April 17 @ 9PM on BBC America), I thought I’d up the nerd quotient on this blog with my first Arts & Culture post. I’m a fairly new fan of the show, and I must admit, I haven’t seen a single episode of the classic series, which ran from 1963 to 1989. What I’ve seen from the new series, however, is unlike any TV show we have in America. The story follows the Doctor, who is the only survivor of a race called the Time...
Continue reading...
Recent Comments