September, 2013 archive
The Republican War on Science 0
A clear and present danger to the Republic:
Bad Hair Daze 0
Back in the olden days, when I was a young ‘un and the Beatles came on the scene, schools invested lots of energy in mandating that boys not grow their hair.
It was considered a sign of the Apocalyse for boys to have hair even a couple of inches longer than a short back and sides, let alone as long as an American icon such as Buffalo Bill.
Indeed, one of my fellow students, a star pitcher on the baseball team a year or so ahead of me, was ordered to cut his hair because it was too long; mind you, these days, he wouldn’t be noticed. In a brilliant seizure of malicious compliance, he shaved his head. As this was long before the “bald look” was the Next Big Thing, the principal* ordered him to wear a toboggan cap until his hair grew out, so a toboggan cap it was for the rest of the school year.
By the time a few more years had passed, the high school hair wars were recognized to have been a phenomenally stupid waste of energy over stupid stuff.
It is comforting sign of continuity to know that school administrations have not lost their ability to waste energy over stupid stuff.
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*The principal was a fairly reasonable guy. His family was friends with my family and we used occasionally to visit them in their house, where my brother and I would play with their daughters.
He attended my mother’s funeral as the last surviving member of their bridge club.
Back then, long hair on boys made lots of grown-ups stupid.
Mileys To Go before We Sleep 0
In the Roanoke Times, Tim Harvey suggests that we shouldn’t take Miley Cyrusly.*
The author of Ecclesiastes was way ahead of us on this one when he wrote:
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Read the rest, in which he suggests some things worth worrying about.
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*I know. That was soooooo last week.
Dulcet Tones 0
In which I bake honey wheat bread.
Flashers 0
And I thought “flash mobs” were so three years ago.
Afterthought:
One of the legacies of the wedding industrial complex is that proposals are no longer private, personal, and intimate. They have become Spectacles, and not the kind I wear, thank you.
I once watched a fellow propose on the stage of a playhouse during the curtain call for the last performance of a community theatre production.
The lady accepted on the stage.
But Second Son, who performed in the play, told me later that all hell broke loose in green room.
It took the fellow six months to regain the ground that he lost.
Piping in the Pablum 2
Jamesetta Walker goes shopping for a better deal on a television connection and finds it an unpleasant experience.
Find out why at the link.
Labor Days 0
When I worked for Amtrak, I had the privilege of knowing and working with some of the old Pullman porters and waiters. I did not know them well, but they worked hard and took pride in their work.
At least, with Amtrak, they had their own names.
Labor Days 0
Ron Pedersen, Jr., reminds us that Labor Day is about Labor, not beer and skittles, and finds precedent:
It is not uncommon to find American businesses today that, like Pharaoh, always demand more. More sales. More production. Beat last year’s or last quarter’s figures. Work harder; work faster. We even have an entire industry of energy drinks dedicated to help make it happen.
But the deeper relevance of the Pharaoh story for today is the question of who benefits from the increased production. What did the Hebrew slaves get in return for their extra labors? Nothing. Egypt’s splendor was built on their backs.
Read the rest.