Saturday, 04/12/08

I have a lot of contempt, and also some bile, for the made-up Hollywood hipster vocabulary of Variety, and I hate to see it spread to smaller movie news sites and outlets. I didn't realize the severity of the problem until last week, when the Seattle Times ran the headline, "7 Billion Gives Shaky WaMu Firmer Footing For Now", and my first thought was, "What the hell is a 'firmer'?" 09:47PM «

Sunday, 04/06/08

Fafblog is back, at least for the present. They went off the air in 2006 a day after I sent them a small amount of cash, and I've always felt somehow responsible. 09:00PM «

I completely approve of Summer Glau becoming an xkcd recurring character. 12:06AM «

Saturday, 04/05/08

April 1 foolishness is bad enough before it gets timeshifted to days when Americans aren't culturally conditioned to expect lies (surely also one of our most unpleasant cultural exports). I'm doing dishes tonight listening to Marketplace podcasts from the last few days, and they launch into this story about how the IRS is issuing refunds in the form of consumer goods to taxpayers whose financial situations make them more likely to save or pay down debt than continue to prop up the economy with spending.

I think I just made it sound funnier than it really was. First I'm wondering why, if this subprime couple got their IRS air-conditioner in February, it's only a tax-time story in April. I had started to figure it out by the time Robert Reich told a long anecdote about Viagra. The story ends and Kai Ryssdal sheepishly recommends that I check my calendar. It's April 5th, Kai. David Brancaccio called, he wants his radio voice back. 11:59PM «

Apparently I have a rule about not blogging during the first calendar quarter. It's new. 11:57PM «

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