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Liar
Posted 2:25 PM, Mar 28, 2007 |
A little known old-wives’ tale is that if someone you’re talking to finds a hair in their mouth while speaking, it means they’ve told you a lie.
I didn’t know about this until I read (where, I can’t remember) the origin of this myth:
In the 6th century, Epimenides, a resident of Crete, reportedly wrote, “The Cretans are always liars.” Of course, this is a paradox, since Epimenides himself was a liar, making his statement a lie, which meant Cretans were always truth-tellers, and so on. Well, it turns out Epimenides came to an untimely death. For weeks after creating this paradox, he bounced around the house, extolling his cleverness for all to hear. As one would imagine, people got tired of it, and one morning Epimenides did not wake up - he had been suffocated. Someone had held the hairy pelt of a wild hog over his mouth. (His wife was the prime suspect, and, instead of being prosecuted, was treated as the grand matriarch of Crete until her death at the age of 67, ancient for a person in the 6th century.)
Since then, hair in the mouth and lying have been inextricably linked.
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Werner Herzog
Posted 3:16 PM, Mar 26, 2007 |
The EC and I went to see Werner Herzog last night at the Aero. First, he introduced himself, etc., and then we saw 1992’s Lessons of Darkness, followed by a Q&A section, and then 2005’s Grizzly Man.
I don’t know much about “film,” ha ha, and I don’t know much about Werner Herzog, but:
1) Lessons of Darkness was a pretty film. It looked really nice, something that Herzog at first insisted he couldn’t take credit for and that the main cinematographer, Paul Berriff, should get just as much credit. But, when it came to the actual credits, under Director, it just said Werner Herzog, so I guess we see where his opinion really lies. In any event, the film did a spectacular job of presenting burning Kuwaiti oil-fields and ravaged Middle East environments as alien and totally unrecognizable. But it was too long.
2) In the Q&A section, Werner came off as pompous, pretentious (saying things like, “the facts don’t matter” and admitting to making up a quote in the beginning of Lessons and then attributing it to Blaise Pascal - Mr. Herzog, you’re no Blaise Pascal), and arrogant.
3) All of these attitudes were backed up by the unsettling Grizzly Man. It wasn’t unsettling because of the content, but because the way the film was put together. It seemed to make a mockery of many people in the film, including the Grizzly Man, Tim Treadwell, at times. He made the coroner out to be a total goofball and cut the film in a way that it elicited laughter at a friend of Treadwell’s breaking down in tears at one point. Again, Herzog seems to think he’s better than everyone, a dangerous thing for a documentary filmmaker. He seems to find his subjects in Grizzly Man odd and peculiar and exploits their foibles (and even their footage) for cheap laughs.
4) The EC and I were surprised that Herzog was appearing at all three nights of his films’ showings at the Aero. It was basically a little Werner Herzog film festival. However, after hearing him talk and watching his films, I realized that of course he’s showing up. It’s a little festival all about how great he is. If it wasn’t socially gauche, I’m sure he’d have put the festival on himself.
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Breathe Easier
Posted 10:42 PM, Mar 23, 2007 |
Those of you that were becoming concerned can now breathe easier:
1) I have cleaned up the messes I have left around the house. I mean, like, clothes and boxes. Not… messes.
2) I have finally updated the current listen section on the sidebar. You might wonder if I was really listening to Field Music’s Tones of Town for the last three weeks. I was. Why weren’t you?
3) I am pulling out of my aforementioned cold. If I was an airplane and an altitude of zero was death, I probably only went into a tailspin to the height of Mt. Everest, but still, that’s kind of scary and gross.
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Gallery: Griffith Observatory Plus
Posted 9:03 PM, Mar 20, 2007 |
The EC and some friends and I went to the Griffith Park Observatory the other day. Before that, the EC and I hung out around Grauman’s Chinese Theater and some other places over in that neck of the woods. These photos are from these excursions.
Griffith Observatory Plus
Also, I added a new photo link, Shorpy, the 100-Year-Old Photo Blog, (via kottke) to the sidebar. Not to dwarf my own artistic, photographic abilities, but these are great. I only feel slightly better because the blogger didn’t actually take the photos.
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Conscious
Posted 12:03 PM, Mar 19, 2007 |
I’m still conscious and alive over here. I was at a corporate training all last week, then had a busy weekend, including work on Sunday, and also got a new computer and have been transferring everything from the old computer. Now that all that work is done, I think I’m coming down with a cold or something; I’m a little under the weather.
However, the EC and I did visit the Griffith Observatory, as well as some other Los Angeles locales, over the weekend, and there are photos on the way.
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Change of View
Posted 7:20 AM, Mar 15, 2007 |
Quick note:
I’ve been at a corporate training all week, but yesterday I stopped by Ye Olde Math Shoppe to pick up some materials and found myself eagerly helping students and actually wishing that I had been there all week. Even as I drove home from a late meeting, I drove by YOMS and saw a student with her hand raised and wanted to just pull over and run in and help her out.
So basically, the weird thing is, I find myself actually wanting to go to work. No offense to my previous job, but past the first 3 days, maybe (maybe!), I actually wanted to go. The rest of the time, at best I just didn’t mind.
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Gallery: In and Around the VA II
Posted 10:09 PM, Mar 12, 2007 |
Since my first VA trip, I’ve been waiting to get back there, but just haven’t had the time or motivation or something. But tonight, I drove over so I could explore some of the deeper parts of the VA. It’s eerily extensive.
Two stories before the link:
One: I was kneeling down to take a photo and smelled something unsettling. It was dark, so I couldn’t see very well, but I glanced around and could see a squished squirrel on the pavement beside me. I was tempted to take a photo, because you never know what you find, but sometimes you know what you don’t want to find, so I didn’t.
Two: I was taking pictures near some sort of energy apparatus / steam farm and there were people working, and I was worried they would think I was suspicious, taking pictures with this tripod that could be a terrorist device, so I gave up. It then occurred to me that we’ve lost the war on terror.
In and Around the VA II
Some of the pictures are dark - that’s how it goes. They look good on my monitor, but your mileage may vary.
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Cheese Wad
Posted 9:23 AM, Mar 10, 2007 |
Last night, the EC and I ordered two calzones from Frankie and Johnny’s Pizza. I don’t think Frankie and Johnny actually run the place - based on their calzones, they probably died of hardened, cheese-filled arteries. I’m talking about actual cheese. In their arteries.
We got the calzones, which looked like something you might find on the street, maybe an old leaf or dirty advertising insert. The two girls running the register were dopes and only charged us for the additional ingredients instead of actually charging us for the calzones. Thus, the ECs calzone was $1.50 and mine was $2.25.
Unfortunately, there were virtually no toppings inside, but there was cheese. A lot of it. Essentially, I’d say we got 1.5 pounds of melted cheese for $3.75, which is a good deal, really, but not when you’re tricked into eating the whole brick of cheese straight. Then it’s just wrong.
I ate almost half of my entire calzone in a mind-numb state, watching Jeopardy! and chewing like a cow. And then I began to notice what I had just eaten. In the second half of the calzone, I removed the toppings and ate them all in about three bites.
The leftovers from the EC’s and my calzones looked like the explosion of a wheel of cheese. It was not satisfying.
I’ll tell you another story about calzones later, a very good one that brings back warm memories of greasy fingers and actual edible food, instead of this arterial horror story.
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Take Me To Your Leader
Posted 4:50 PM, Mar 7, 2007 |
When the aliens come, they will imagine that telephones rule the earth. They will say, “Take me to your leader,” and wait to be brought to a phone/copier/fax machine. Boy, will they be surprised and confused to learn that we are actually in charge. Those foolish aliens.
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Employment
Posted 11:47 AM, Mar 6, 2007 |
So I don’t know if I really explained it here, but I actually have a new job, one that requires me to work regular (albeit a little strange) hours, full-time, with something called a “salary” (?) and even some “benefits” which I presume are things like heat and free electricity. If these “benefits” turn out to be better than that, well, then I’ll consider myself maybe the luckiest “employed” person on the “planet.”
This job requires me to “manage” a business, meaning I am in charge of advertising. I think the best advertising I can do for the business is to not mention it by name on this website.
It seems like a good job - in addition to getting some good management and business experience, I get to work with students, basically 2nd through 12th grade, on a daily basis, and my involvement with the students is entirely up to me on a daily basis. There are always other things that need to be done, and always other instructors on hand, so I can work or not work with students as I feel like it. The good news is, without the discipline problems of teaching in a regular school, I actually enjoy working with the students.
What a concept!
Because my job doesn’t start, during the week, until about 1:00, it leaves me time to wake up without an alarm and ease into my day, watching a little television and doing a little reading and maybe practicing some guitar or clipping toenails.
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Typhoons and Snowstorms
Posted 10:05 AM, Mar 4, 2007 |
Last night, the EC and I met up with Jennykim at Typhoon, a restaurant/bar (emphasis on bar) located at the Santa Monica Airport. It was a cool place. We all had a good time, and Jenny and I decided we were 2-for-2 on successful outings, so that’s a good sign. I also actually called her this week instead of just emailing because “that’s what friends do.” She took a photo of the three of us, and I suspect it will be over at her site sometime soon.
Also, my hometown of Duluth, MN was blitzed by a blizzard over Thursday and Friday. Some photos are at the Duluth News Tribune.
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My New Invention
Posted 12:29 AM, Mar 2, 2007 |
This idea occurred to me while driving home from my full-time, real job today, when, twice, pedestrians caused people to slam on their brakes by crossing in the middle of the street:
You should be able to buy a device that makes an extremely loud smashing sound, like two cars colliding with one another. It can have squealing brakes and everything.
Sure, the pedestrians will figure out that there wasn’t really an accident, but I think the jarring sound will be enough to make them think twice.
Maybe you can even buy a deluxe model that sprays blood or hurls a plastic arm through the air. You know, for kids.
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