WCFC's Favorite Things

Rumor has it Oprah won't be airing her annual "Favorite Things" episode this year. In hopes of filling the void, here are mine:

1. Stewart Copeland
Recently, Netflix sent me "Everyone Stares: The Police Inside and Out", a documentary made by Copeland during the Police's early 1980s world tour. The IMDB reviewer who complained that Copeland's "gee-whiz" narration nearly destroyed the film is dead on, but that didn't stop me from developing a strong affinity for him and the band. He may not be the coolest rocker out there, but his energy is infectious. And when he was 28 he had some damn fine legs! As I told my pal Josh, I think the Police may be my next great musical crush. Three decades later than everyone else. Go figure.

2. "Let My Love Open the Door" (Slow version) by Pete Townshend
I heard a slowed down version of this song while at BBB this morning. I don't know if they were listening to Pandora or just someone's iPod, but I can't find this version on iTunes for the life of me. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, drop me a line!

Let My Love Open The Door (acoustic) - Pete Townshend

3. Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake
Just finished this for the po-co fiction book club. I can't get over what an amazing story teller Lahiri is! Favorite part, for those who read it: Gogol's memory of walking to the lighthouse with his father. In that moment I came to fully appreciate Lahiri's narrative style.

4. Oxycodone with Tylenol
Sure, having that fibroid removed was its own reward, but I don't wish to ignore the gift of post-operative pharmaceutical care. I spent the better part of Saturday and Sunday in a pleasant state of semi-consciousness as my uterine and abdominal muscles fused back together. The pain was real, but a distant concern for much of the time thanks to the prescribed painkillers. Sensibly, my physician only gave me 16 tablets, all of which I consumed. I'm also thankful that there were no refills. I can see how people get hooked on these pills (I'm looking at you Rush)! I'm now relying on Advil to ease the discomfort I presently feel. Goodbye "Hillbilly Heroin", it was fun while it lasted!

5. Community charity
Today I went to the community pantry to see what I could donate in advance of the Thanksgiving rush. The people working there were really busy (the rush had already begun), but they took the time to brainstorm what they needed: cereal, cake mix, stuffing? Whatever! So I went to the grocery store and picked up a modest supply of all of the above. When I returned with the goods, they didn't shower me with praise or thanks, they just accepted the donation and asked me to sign my name to the registry of donors. When I did, I saw what others had contributed in the last two days: Hundreds and hundreds of dollars in cash and food. The Pantry may not be able to give out turkeys this Thanksgiving (sadly), but they are still kept in operation by community charity. This makes me very thankful.

MPB on a Sunday morning

I'm lovin this cajun zydeco show on the radio right now. Best song so far:

"Who Stole the Hot Sauce?"

Now what...

While I was Unconscious

Today the KKK held a rally on campus to protest the mistreatment of the white man and southern heritage. What a farce! I've seen more Kluckers in Indianapolis than showed up at this spot of protest today. There were, maybe, 10 of them? From watching the videos posted on the Huffington Post, here are a few things I took note of:

1) Some of those guys are vain. I mean, what is the deal with the satin robes? Whose idea was that? And what's with the rainbows on their sleeves? The guy in red looks like he's a Portuguese Cardinal; the one in black looks like an Eastern European peasant girl dolled up for May Day.

2) Along the same sartorial lines, why do their robes indicate rank? Seems to me they'd make a stronger impact if they were all in the same duds. Take the classic white KKK robe: It's the one that packs the historical wallop. Mind you, these 12 tubby men in robes have some work to do if they want to come off as awe inspiring. But, I can't help thinking they missed the opportunity to maximize their impact by getting all hierarchical on themselves.

3) Don't they have fellow travelers that they can bring along to back them up? From the videos, it looked to me like they were alone out there. Did they think that the people of Oxford would feel the spirit of white power and just join in?

4) What did they hope to achieve? As far as I can tell, today's rally confirmed that there is no place for these guys in the modern south. Don't they realize that racism has evolved in the 21st century? That it looks more like this:




5) Mad props to the students who organized the counter-protest. This place ain't all bad. In fact, the numbers say it is mostly good.

File This Under Too Much Information

I had surgery on Friday which was, typically, difficult in the short run. Anesthesia seems to affect me more than the average patient. I've been semi-conscious for the past 36 hours and for a while there couldn't walk without vomiting. I've experienced excruciating pain in my shoulder, which is a result of laproscopic surgery. Now, it is Sunday morning (1 am) and I'm starting to feel much better. I can roll over! I can walk upright! I can walk without losing my kishkas! I expect all will be well in no time.

Venn Will I See You A-Gain?

Here is a collection of some of the best Venn Diagrams on the Web:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/06/funniest-venn-diagrams-th_n_347552.html

Here is my favorite:

Someone get on this!

Cookie Chip Chocolates.

Yes, you read that right: Chocolates with cookie chips. Why haven't I seen these before? We have chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, why can't we have cookie chip chocolate ice cream? What does the absence of this obvious bastardization of the standard American after-school treat tell us about American ingenuity? Well, it tells me one of two things: The American Empire is in its decline, or--OR!--the terrorists have already won.

What really bothers me about this? Not even Amelia Bedelia came up with them! Granted, she had a tendency to confuse idiomatic terms and take things literally (i.e., dressing the turkey, or drawing the curtains); it was not her particular penchant to confuse word order. But what if she had! Wow! Cookie Chip Chocolates!

All I'm saying is that I have seen chocolates with coffee chips, nuts, raisins, cinnamon, garlic, bacon, and cayenne pepper. I have not seen chocolates with cookie chips.
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Ummmm, I may have been too hasty hear. Turns out it has been done: [Google search]

Why come no tatoo?

There is an article on Slate.com about the intelligence or ignorance of Google users that has been quietly amusing me for the past few hours. The premise is that you can gauge the wits of Google users based on how they begin a query. You can go to the article here, or you can try this yourself:

Go to Google.com and type into the search bar the following: "what is up with..."

Note what pops up as Google anticipates what you'll write next.

Now try: "how is it that..."

Striking, no? The author of the article, Michael Agger, does not seek to confirm or deny any supposition that intelligence or ignorance wills out on Google, but I agree with him that it is funny. He is welcoming suggestions for how other queries produce similar results. I was so excited by this that I started doing my own searches to send in to him. Only now do I realize that when I suggested "why come" I balanced it against "how is it that". Well, duh. We know what "how is it that" produces! Luckily, I saved myself from total stupidity by also offering "wtf is up with" vs. "please explain."

Do you have any suggestions?