Category: Life

Posted on
by

This morning’s Los Angeles Times article, “A %$#@ slippery slope on raw talk?”, discusses the recent court ruling that relaxed FCC restrictions on inadvertent swearing. On one side, watchdog groups (and the FCC) are complaining that this could lead to swearing and nudity throughout prime time. (Won’t someone think of the children?) On the other side, the networks point out that it’s not likely to open the floodgates of indecency:

Broadcasters could air expletives after 10 o’clock “every night of the week,” one executive said. “We don’t for a reason, because we don’t think our audiences want to hear it.”

My take: this is a much-needed relaxation of rules that, frankly, have gotten overly uptight in the last few years. If an adult screws up and accidentally lets loose with stronger language than is acceptable on TV, and the guy with his finger on the *bleep* button misses it, chances are they both already know they messed up. Give ’em a slap on the wrist. The ton of bricks approach is unnecessary, and ultimately counter-productive.

It takes a spectacularly skewed worldview to think that the occasional slip-up in the heat of the moment is equivalent in naughty content to, say, a scripted scene from The Sopranos. Once a year vs. 10 times in every scene? Big deal. We’re not talking about murder, we’re talking about words—words that everyone (yes, including your kids) has heard plenty of times.

On a related note, the article brings up the infamous Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction, since it spurred the “war on obscenity” into action. Personally, I think the most disturbing thing about the incident is the fact that all the blame is placed on Jackson herself. No one seems to remember that it was Justin Timberlake who ripped off part of her wardrobe.

Posted on
by

Found these posters advertising the opening of a new 24-Hour Fitness gym:

Poster showing partying women and text: Reason #5 of 24 · big fat honkin' party · grand opening · food, fun and prizes! · enter to win a big screen tv! · win a $2000 vacation voucher · 24-Hour Fitness

Wait, something doesn’t fit. A “big, fat honkin’ party?” Last I looked, this was a fitness center, not a fatness center!

It doesn’t help that one of the prizes is a big-screen TV. I didn’t realize “couch potato” fell under the category of “Ultra Sport.” 😀

Posted on
by

All-Flash 15Two months ago I picked up a copy of the comic book All-Flash #15 (Summer 1944), published during the thick of World War II. In the bottom margin of each page is a slogan, in rhymed couplet form, on how children could help with the war effort:

  • Bottom Lines on Following Pages Tell What to Do While Battle Rages
  • Tin Cans in the Garbage Pile Are Just a Way of Saying “Heil!”
  • Waste Fats in Good Condition Help to Make Fine Ammunition
  • Boys and Girls, Every Day, Can Give War Aid in Many a Way—
  • Every Time You Buy a Stamp, You Feed the Flame in Freedom’s Lamp
  • If You Have an Extra Quarter, Buy a Stamp to Make War Shorter
  • However far soldiers roam, the want to have some mail from home
  • Collect Old Paper, Turn It In—Help Your Uncle Sam to Win
  • You Can Walk to School and Store! Saving Gas Helps Win the War!
  • Boys Are Smart, Girls Are Wise, Black Markets Not to Patronize
  • IF YOU STILL HAVE METAL SCRAP, TURN IT IN TO BEAT THE JAP
  • Turn Out Lights Not in Use —War Production Needs the “Juice”

Case and punctuation are preserved as closely as possible. Continue reading →

Posted on
by

Yesterday, President Bush reportedly said, “Politicians in Washington shouldn’t be telling generals how to do their job.”

I guess he’d better recuse himself from any further military decisions for the rest of his term. Commander in Chief or not, the President of the United States is a politician in Washington.

Hmm, maybe he can give orders while traveling?

Posted on
by

Friday was the first rain we’d seen in over a month. By evening, the trailing edge of the storm was starting to cross central Orange County, and I actually drove back into the cloud cover to pick Katie up from work. We ended up stopping for dinner, and got back on the road around sunset.

Rainbow at sunset.At sunset, there were clouds above us, rain in the east, and clear skies to the west, showing a bright orange sun. We looked to the east, and saw a huge rainbow. It was extremely high—it looked like it ought to be an entire circle, even though I knew it couldn’t be more than a semicircle. That doesn’t come through in the one photo that came out, since it’s a matter of perception: neither of us had ever seen a rainbow centered at the horizon before. It was also faint (I had to increase the contrast on this photo), and very red.

Sunset behind a blimp hangar.

Google Images pulls up some nice pictures when you search for rainbow sunset. I particularly like this one at Flickr, which also shows spoke-like rays. Atmospheric Optics’ rainbow section is also worth a look, especially for some of the odd kinds of rainbows that aren’t often seen.

Posted on
by

It’s been a dry year for California. Water districts all over the state are geared up for drought conditions. The hills in the Orange County area are still golden-brown in mid-April. Last year at this time, they had finally turned green for spring.

Here’s a shot from the Irvine Spectrum area from April 6, 2006:

Street corner, facing a vacant lot covered with green grass, in front of green hills with a clutch of houses to the right.

That’s not a lawn behind that hedge, that’s a vacant lot. You can see it’s just as green as the strip of maintained grass along the sidewalk. Now here’s a picture taken about half a block away, taken last week, on April 6, 2007 (no, the timing was not intentional).

Same lot, from a different angle, all dry brown stubble. The hills in the background, a bit fuzzy, are also light brown.

This year, only a few weeds and flowers have managed to take hold in the vacant lot. Meanwhile, the hills are their usual golden brown. Somehow, I don’t think we’re going to see much in the way of wildflowers this year. Continue reading →

»All pages site-wide with this tag