Archive for January, 2009
I think I am being targeted online.
Every time I check the New York Times, I confront an advertisement for animal rights. There are two rotating ads–one with a bear whose teeth have been ripped out and is attacked by vicious dogs for the excitement of the people who put bets on which animals will win. The other ad is of an emaciated dog tethered to a short chain. Read more…
One in Five Million
Click the jump to see a pictures of a two headed turtle named Frik and Frak. I took these pictures at the Renn Faire in Maryland a few months ago. These turtles were born in 2001, and if you’re wondering, they each have separate stomachs which is why they have humps in their shell. According to the sign above their tank, one turtle in a million is born with two heads, and only one in five survives more than six months. Read more…
Someday You Will Be Loved
Thursday was the 36th Annual March for Life in Washington DC. Something like 200,000 people came, gathered from every corner of our nation, drawn year after year to the juncture where activist judges met the lies of the pro-choice leading to the legal murder of an estimated 50 million children.
Last year I was there. I couldn’t go this year, but I did go to a rally in Lansing, MI. Somehow this was different than I had expected it to be. A few things hit me.
Movie Question for the Agora
What’s the most American movie you can think of? We’re doing movie nights here where each country screens a film. This past week the Brazilians chose City of God, a fantastic movie directed by Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener, Blindness) about crime in Rio de Janeiro. I’ve heard that the Germans might be showing The Lives of Others, another great movie about surveillance in East Berlin toward the end of the Cold War. It’s a little more difficult for the Americans, since we make so many movies. Some of us were thinking a movie about American politics would be fitting (something like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), or because it’s a legal program a legal drama (e.g., 12 Angry Men), or because it’s an international legal program something like Judgment at Nuremberg. But there are also certain movies about American culture – roadtrip movies, or movies about suburban malaise, or movies that are made or take place during a particular pivotal era in American history. There have been a bunch of ideas floated, but I thought I’d open it up to you guys: if you could choose only one movie to sum up American life and culture, what movie would you choose?
On the Inauguration and Religion
I watched the Inauguration here in London with the other students in my program, a group of mostly non-Americans happy about Obama’s election and ready to join in the celebration. The experience was not particularly different from what it would have been like to watch with a group of friends in the US, with one notable exception: the surprise and distaste for the religious overtones throughout the ceremony.
UIUC Lunacy
So I was watching the evening news last night (the local news not the network cult of Obama-worship propaganda machine) and there were three stories associated with our university that I found so paradoxical that; well you guys be the judge. Does this make sense to anyone? Read more…
Oscar Predictions
Oscar nominations were announced today, with some fairly surprising inclusions and omissions in a few categories. Of particular note is that the Dark Knight was not nominated for best picture, because the Academy apparently wants to make itself as irrelevant and boring as humanly possible. Anyway, I’ve already given my rundown of what I considered the best in film this year, so I won’t bother rehashing who should and should not have been nominated. But before I read anybody else’s predictions, I am going to lay down my own for the major categories. We’ll see how poorly I do when the Oscars are presented on February 22nd.
President Obama’s Inaugural Address
Hit the jump for the full text of the speech. Please post your thoughts on his speech on this thread. Read more…
Illini Need More Free Throws
My grandfather observed a truth about Bobby Knight’s Indiana teams, they typically made more free throws than their opponents attempted. Our Illini, at least in big games, tend to shoot fewer free throws than their opponents make. Read more…