Monthly Archives: February 2013

Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold to avoid spoilers for anyone that wants to go into it with a blank slate.

Jean-Paul’s rating: 5/5 stars

There is infinitely more beauty in sadness than in happiness.  Maybe it’s because sadness makes you appreciate the beauty all the more.

There is a Vonnegut-esqueness to Markus Zusak’s writing that made me want to hate this book at the beginning; the short sentence aside that makes Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut.  But the more Zusak utilized it, the more I came to enjoy it.  Reading “The Book Thief” was like digging for gems in a bed of gold.  There were so many single sentences scattered throughout the book that made me stop and smile.  That a person can express so much in so few words is a testament to both Zusak’s ability.

“The Book Thief” is brutally sad.  It also happens to be brutally beautiful.  The book is narrated by Death which at first comes off as annoyingly cheesy until you get into Death’s personality.  If there’s one personality that can find the beauty of the worst of situations, it’s Death, right?  And how much worse can it be than living in Molching on the outskirts of Munich during World War II?  Much worse, it turns out, if you happen to be a Jew.

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Movie Review: Side Effects

Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold even though I will actively avoid any spoilers this time around.

Jean-Paul’s rating: 4/5 stars

Soooo, you want to be a psychiatrist?  Watch this movie and call me in the morning.  I knew next to nothing about this movie going into it and I suggest you do the same if you are going to see it.  It is worth it.

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The Bridge Over The River Chicago

Hey, Chicagoans!  You know that one CTA bridge that connects about half a million people from home to their jobs downtown?  Yeah, it’s going to be closing in March for repairs.  Let the quest for the newest -mageddon slogan begin!  I’m trademarking commute-mageddon.

Fear not!  The bridge will only be closed for two separate 9 day periods between early March and early May.  How the heck they’re going to swing that is beyond me.  I’m sure we’ll all just have to guess which days the 9 day periods actually fall on within those two months.  It’s time to play “How Long Will My Commute Be Today!”, everyone’s favorite game where contestants vie to see if they can guess what the CTA has closed on their commute to and from work.  Premiering early March 2013.  Check local listings.

It’s Raining Spiders, Hallelujah

It’s a little known fact that the song “It’s Raining Men” was written by Paul Shaffer of David Letterman fame and was originally going to be titled “It’s Raining Spiders” due to Paul Shaffer’s love of all things arachnid.  It was then suggested by co-author Paul Jabara that they change the title to Shaffer’s second love for audience appeal reasons.  Today, for the first time ever, we have found the video for the never recorded “It’s Raining Spiders”.

 

I Slept With Warren Buffett Last Night

More to the point, I dreamt about him.  I really need to get new dreams.

I think I was interviewing to take his place at Berkshire Hathaway.  His secretary brings me into his office.  This wasn’t his normal secretary, but the stereotypical conservatively dressed hot secretary.  Warren Buffett is sitting in a plush lounge chair watching television.  He invites me to sit in another plush lounge chair and I sit down.

He says to me, “I think we can do coffee or tea later, don’t you think?”  And I respond, “That would be fine.”  And then we just…sit there.  The secretary is just standing there looking sexy and waiting for instructions.

An indeterminate, but not insignificant amount of time passes and then Warren asks me, “Would you come with me?  I want to show you something.”  I follow along silently.

He then takes me to his house in Rome, Italy.  This, of course, somehow happens instantly.  He takes me up to the roof of his house which is obviously a heli-pad but disguised nicely by the modern Roman architecture of the building.  The rails along the roof are quite low as a result and Warren shrinks to the size of the rails as he walks along them.

I comment about the wonderful architecture of the few bridges that I see off to one side of the building.  The bridges are quite obviously not Roman bridges.  They were very modern.  Warren then starts asking me about my travels in Rome and I tell him.  Sometime during that telling, I woke up.

I haven’t heard if I got the job yet.

Sexism Quantified

Here is an enlightening post about sexism in the workplace.  It turns out that in places where men are dramatically over-represented like Fortune 500 CEOs and Hedge Fund managers and Congress, the few women that have the jobs have dramatically higher results than their male counterparts.

For those who pay attention, this should hardly come as a surprise.  For those that don’t, how does one explain this phenomenon without pointing to blatant sexism?  It would certainly appear that women have to be significantly better at their jobs than men to even be considered for some positions.

If there were no sexism, wouldn’t you expect both men and women to perform about the same regardless of representation?  Then, you might have an argument by saying that women just aren’t as interested in certain positions.  But that is quite obviously not the truth.

So explain it.  I’m listening.

The Law Is What The Kings Say It Is

I loves me some Ta-Nehisi Coates.  Earlier this week, he was talking about Obama’s new Orwellian white paper that authorizes drone strikes on American citizens.  The title of this posts is Mr. Coates’ final thought on the subject.

The domestic policies of Obama and Bush are vastly different.  Obama has done a pretty darn good job on the domestic front whereas Bush’s lower taxes and higher spending caused a recession.  As far as foreign policy goes, though, Obama is likely even worse than Bush was.  That is not an easy accomplishment.

Now we have this white paper that gives the President almost carte blanche in the killing of American citizens.  Obama has already targeted and killed two citizens that we know about.  Anwar al-Aliki and Samir Khan.  Neither were charged with any crimes.  Neither were considered high ranking members of al-Qaeda.  From what I can find, neither were considered to be actively plotting the deaths of Americans.  What they were good at was spreading propaganda.  So apparently, the U. S. government can now kill you for spreading propaganda.

I am not under any delusions that these people weren’t bad guys.  They almost certainly were.  That does not give our government the right to kill them in a non-combat area without due process.  The President should, at minimum, be required to publicly present all evidence in court before being allowed to target a U.S. citizen.  There is no such thing a state secrets if you think a citizen is worth killing.  If the secrets are worth keeping, the citizen is worth keeping alive.  Simple as that.

Not following our own laws is just fodder for al-Qaeda recruitment.  There are enough lies told about the U.S. that end up being effective recruitment techniques.  Do we really want to keep handing them truths?  I’m sure, though, that they just hate us for our freedoms.

Sustainable Fishing

This post from Eric Loomis is astounding.  Cod is dead.  North Atlantic cod anyway.  Check out that graph.  Look at how quickly the catch drops off.  This is what happens when you over fish.

Sustainable fishing does exist, though.  And you can do your part to support sustainable fishing.  The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a handy dandy Seafood Watch Program that allows you to check to see if your favorite fish is sustainably caught.  Only buy fish that is sustainably caught.

Democrats Say Stupid Stuff Too

Today’s episode of Democrats Say Stupid Stuff Too is brought to you by Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois.  In his most recent State of the State address, he said the following: “Nobody in Illinois should work 40 hours a week and live in poverty. That’s a principle as old as the Bible.”

I believe it was the fifth commandment.  Thou shall not work forty hours a week and live in poverty.  Or was it the third beatitude?  Blessed are those that work 40 hours a week, they shall not live in poverty.  I forget.

I have to say, it’s kind of refreshing to be writing about a Democrat saying stupid stuff about the Bible.  But that’s what makes the Bible so great.  Anyone can make up any BS you want and point to some obscure passage to validate your point while completely disregarding every contradicting passage.

The sad thing is that Quinn is right.  Nobody should be able to work 40 hours a week and still live in poverty.  That’s not a principle as old as the Bible, though.  It’s a fairly new principle, given our history.  And it has nothing to do with the Bible.  It has everything to do with common decency.

So preach on, Governor Quinn!  Do what you can to reduce massive inequality to mere huge inequality.  But please, leave the Bible quoting to the professionals.  And by professionals, I mean nobody.  Because it’s just a book with some really cool ideals thrown in with a whole bunch of crazy shit.  And just like Satan in the Bible, people tend to quote it as a means to justify their ends.  See?  Even I can do it.