Friday, May 02, 2008

That's what you call news?
So I went to CNN.com to check out today's news and under the "Top Stories" section was this earth shattering headline: Did Mariah Carey get married? This is a question to which I can only reply "who the fuck cares?"

In a world full of war, famine, genocide, and, well, actual news, this is something deserving of a headline?

Does anybody remember when news actually was news? I know that the quest for celebrity gossip is, for some unknown reason, huge in contemporary media, but this is the best they can come up with? What's the matter, didn't Britney do something space-worthy today? Is Mariah Carey even famous anymore? Are there people who actually care what she does? What is with this cannibalistic need to know every boring detail in the boring life of every boring person who has even the tiniest bit of fame attached to them? I really don't care who gets liposuction, has anexoria, files for divorce, is picked up for a DUI, adopts a Korean orphan, buys a loaf of bread, or sleeps through their wake-up call. This is not news. It's not even mildly interesting. It is however, sadly hilarious.

Now I admit that when I am bombarded with actual headlines (about the aforementioned war, famine, and genocide) I find myself longing for a good "lost puppy reunited with family" stories to restore my faith in the world. But finding out that Tom Cruise got a haircut doesn't work. It has the opposite effect. Instead of restoring my faith in the world, it confirms my faith in the fact that "the world" has totally lost its sense of perspective.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Stop calling yourself that!
And now in the "what took you so long?" department, a few citizens of the Greek island of Lesbos is suing a gay group over the use of the word "lesbian." Um....sorry Lesbos, but I think you're a bit late out of the gate on this one. This is just too funny.

Today's digression:
I object (as if that would have any effect) on the hijacking of certain pieces of art and music to sell things. The two that bother me most are the one that uses the likeness of a Van Gogh self-portrait to sell eye drops and the reworking of "Ode to Joy" into "Ode to the Manwich." Yes, I'm sure Beethoven had meat sandwiches in mind when he wrote that. How proud he'd be to know that his genius is now being used to sell crap.

Every so often you'll hear a favorite song being used to sell, say, a car, and you'll think to yourself "no, not that one!" And you feel angry at the company that has conscripted something for which you have good associations because now instead of happily singing along you're now going to think "Lexus" whenever you hear it. But I think it's worse to take something that most people think of a great art and use it to hawk products we don't need to people who don't need them. Especially poor Van Gogh, who was not a commercial success in his lifetime -- now he's a posthumous commercial spokesman. Poor Vincent!

Monday, April 28, 2008

Those darn kittens
I took some photos of the kittens in the nursery today. In case you're interested. They are SO cute. Some of them are easier to feed than others. One didn't want to eat at all. Another grabbed onto the syringe with both paws and sucked down 19 ccs of kitten food. Then cuddling ensued. I want to adopt most of them.
No, I'm not kidding
Got a spare $300,000? Why not buy a watch that doesn't tell time? (It does, however, tell you if it's night or day.)