Geeky Chic

Although the word “hipster” became an insult long before Old Navy began selling “Williamsburg” tee-shirts, this L.A. Times article
about the new trend involving how the pursuit of cool is now uncool
reeks of bad reporting.  Almost everyone interviewed in the
article is in the mid-30s to early-40s age range.  Yes, people
grow old, they grow tired. Of course they give up the carefully
cultivated consumeristic disaffectedness of youth.  That’s the
whole point of getting to 35.  It’s wrong to twist this to
announce an entirely new cultural trend against cool.

And I will repeat this for the record (even though it went on the record in 2002), hipsters are dead.

**

Oh, and for this week’s international affairs update, let’s focus on Mali, the tiny African country where one of my college roommates completed his Peace Corps stint.

**

Another planet?  The 10th Planet would be a cool band name.

TK brought to my attention about how successful Congress has been in its recent campaign against Grand Theft Auto.  Our lovely Senators and Representatives
are flailing their arms about, claiming that GTA is endangering little
kids and adolescents, but its rating was initially “M” for
17-plus and it has now been changed to adults-only (18-plus).  So,
the only audience that they are protecting with this change is
17-year-olds who probably have access to the cornucopia of smut
(good and bad) floating out there.

What disturbs me more is that Democrats (particularly Hillary) are the
ones who are leading this charge against GTA.  I hate it that the
party’s idea of “family values” is censorship (the last great example
were the Gores’ lambasting of gansta’ rap in the 90s).  This is
exactly how the Dems turn off their core constituency, and lose votes
to third parties.  First, they acquiesce to the Patriot Act, now
they want to limit what adults can access.  Come on, we have free speech rights here.  Steve Johnson has an excellent open letter to Hillary pointing out her political pandering on this issue.

Two links to media critiques: (1) Kristoff complaining
about how Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt receive more attention than the
genocide in Darfur; and (2) it’s not available online yet, but in next
month’s Harper’s Magazine Mark Crispin Miller asks why did the media ignore the Ohio voting irregularities story.  The report from the House Committee Democrats
is pretty damning.   Perhaps those who claimed that Ohio was
“stolen” in November 2004 weren’t whiney conspiracy wackos afterall?

**

I am still marvelled by my transformation. In 2000, I voted for Nader,
the original consumer rights’ advocate, and now I find myself annoyed
by the whole class action litigation industry.  I view them as
sleezy, Consumer Reports-reading ambulance chasers.

**

Edit: I just consulted mon pere about my upcoming Galapagos trip (he
lived in Ecuador for a while with his second wife).  He warned me
about the flight between Guayaquil and Quito (frequent crashes due to
the mountainous terrain around Quito — couples fly in different planes).  Now, I have visions of a
crash in the Andes, followed by chaos and cannibalism.  Hm, I
don’t know if my lack of meat would be helpful or dooming in that
situation.

The watchdogs are being watched — the FBI is amassing files on the ACLU and other non-violent groups:

Nine months to go through 1,173 pages?  A first-year lawyer in the DOJ honors program could finish that in half a day.

Five-eighths of my family left for the Great Continent today. 
This means that I’ve been left behind with grandma duties that entail:
(1) moving for the second time this month, this time into the empty
unit in her building (my keychain is now an arm weight, I have keys for
5 apartments on it — the old apartment, my aunt’s building, my
grandmother’s place, my mom’s place, and the empty unit that I’m moving
into — I feel like a janitor); and (2) administering her meds (insulin
shots before her big meals, a packet worth of pills that look like
skittles to be swallowed after she starts eating, but not after she
eats too much,
another post dinner insulin shot, and pre-bedtime pills, checking her
blood sugar levels, and weighing her to see if she’s retaining water in
her lungs); and (3) being
the emergency contact person for her first alert necklace if she falls
when her nurse isn’t there.  All of this on top of my daily
billing, and they won’t return until August.

Also, my sister will have a surprise awaiting her when she reaches
Spain; I
deposited a wad of spending money into her checking account
today.  And I also handed my mother some dough to book a massage
for my step-dad.  Spoiled, spoiled spoiled.  The lot of them.  But spoiling them is better than spoiling myself.

To continue this week’s trend of linking to people who already appear on my sidebar, this is quite possibly the nerdiest commentary on the nomination of Judge Roberts to the Supreme Court.

Also, here’s an excerpt from the Crimson’s take on John G.:

I’m sure that’s why we went to the other red school.

This Time Magazine article
on the end of days is related tangentally to yesterday’s post.  It
also reminds me of how my father’s incomplete training as a physicist
ties in with his superstitiousness.  He believes that when people
pass away, they give off a charge of energy or electricity of some
kind.  He claims that a current passed through his television set
(it was switched off) when his mother passed away earlier this year.

**

Because some of myopic friends view Iceland as a destination for clubbing and bachelor parties, I’m directing my pointer at Saheli’s latest post on Indo-Icelandic relations.

**

Posner and Becker
are taking the “marriage as a contract” approach to discussing gay
marriage.  While I have been forced to renounce my contractual
view of marriage in the past, I feel that they present a compelling
political argument in favor of gay marriage.

**

The worst migraine yet:  The blank white canvas of sky in the
outer Richmond this morning  was overpowering.  A call went
in to my secretary, and I scurried back to my room, drew the shades,
and contemplated my right temple.  I think that I am at the
halfway point of migraine season.

This Times article is directly related to why I am sitting in my office.

**

A stray thought: The fact that my favorite REM album is Monster is a form of carbon dating (though as a former debate geek, the REM song that holds the most sentimental value is on Document).

Strange bedfellows: a religious privacy advocate is speaking against RFIDs
because she “believe[s] that RFID tags — tiny chips that emit serial
numbers — are
the Mark of the Beast. Many of those Christians believe humans one day
will be compelled to bear a mark on their heads or wrists, to engage in
the buying and selling of goods.”  Perhaps the Christian Right
will be sufficient to ensure that the talk of National ID cards or
Passports embedded with RFIDs never become a reality.

**

This talk of the mark of the beast, also reminds me of the new tenants [fixed the link] in my office building, who have drastically retarded the speed of our
shared elevator bank.   Their product allows one to pay using
finger-print recognition technology.  They incorporate similar
technology into their entry system; instead of magnetic passcards,
their employees use fingerprint touchpads for entry.

**

Edit: Perhaps I should go with my dentist’s hardsell on cosmetic
dentistry (in my case veneers for my front teeth) and try my hand at
TV news reporting.  I think that I have the voice for it.

The White Stripes ought to license their name and likeness to Hallmark for a
greeting card featuring their photo, with the interior message, “I hope
that we can become as cool with each other as Meg and Jack White.”

Coincidentally, I always thought it would be fun to dress up as them for Halloween.