The Obama Presidency and Technology

I ran across two articles this morning about Obama, his presidency and technology. Given the unprecedented way the Obama campaign utilized technology, particularly cell phones and the internet, I've been interested to see if they can maintain their innovative techniques once Obama officially became president. It seems it may be more difficult for them than anyone expected. The first article, "New Staff find White House in Tech Dark Ages," focuses on how out-dated the White House is in terms of technology. Given how slowly the federal government moves, I have to say I wasn't surprised to learn this. I am curious to see how the new administration adapts to these challenges; will these technology hurdles alienate the young people and technofiles that responded so positively to the campaign? The second, "President Obama gets to keep is Blackberry," interests me more in terms of archival research than anything else. I get all the security concerns and agree they are more than valid, but I can't believe these can't be addressed. My interest is in how will any messages Obama sends via email, texts, etc. be recorded for the historical record? Again, this does seem fairly easy to accomplish, but it is a concern, nonetheless. This interest extends to my concern about how all the new forms of technology will affect our ability to perform archival research in the next 100 years.

Ben Stiller on Dodgeball: "It's layered--it was made like that."

Given Harrogate's love of Stiller's directorial virtuosity, and further celebrating Roof's triumphant return yesterday, here is a clip from the third episode of the first season of Extras.

Wednesday Musical Tribute: A Dual Ode to Dr. Demento and the Great Freddie Blassie

On a kind of related note, Pro Wrestling posts will be returning in the not-too-distant future. So be ready when it arrives.

But to more pressing matters. This will make you laugh even if you are really pissed off about something.

Sorry I've been quiet.

I just don't follow the fascination on Scrubs. Not when this exists.

Something to make us all smile

I had to share this article from People.com (yes, I still read the site; leave me alone!) entitled "9th-Grader Booty-Bumps with New Prez." I saw the newly inaugurated president dancing with this clearly thrilled young woman while watching the "Neighborhood Ball" last night. Given the tough road ahead, I thought we all could use one more thing to smile about.

Visual Rhetoric: Newspaper Coverage

A collection of newspaper covers from President Obama's Inauguration via Andrew Sullivan.

Interesting

So did not catch the inaugural today as was in the middle of my grad seminar--think they would have been willing to stop to watch but were having some good conversation on the spectacle of Maya kingship. Had been thinking about the presentation of such ceremonies all day and logically have made correlations in my head to Mayan ceremonies and those that have occurred today and continue this evening (logically many differences). I came across this image on MSNBC that just sums up my thoughts of the deliberate ideological manipulation of space for public spectacle of office--must admit f'n impressive.

Here's another question for you all

Why is John Paul Stevens, an associate justice of the Supreme Court, administering the oath of office? Doesn't the Head Justice normally do that?

And can I add that I love that Joe Biden just kissed his grown sons on national television!

*So obviously, ignore that question.

Interesting. . .

Obama was just introduced as Barack H. Obama despite multiple news reports that he would, in fact, use his full middle name. I wonder what led to this decision. Oh, and I apparently am live-blogging the inauguration.

Scrubs: Healthy Rhetorics of Gender, Healthy Rhetorics of Race, and a Healthy Wag of the Finger at Supadiscomama and Mrs. Oxymoron

Well.

As Harrogate and Supadiscomama plunge down the final homestretch of Scrubs Season 7, Harrogate finds himself casting his thoughts still a bit backwards to the Tour De Force that was Season 5. Don't get Harrogate wrong, Season 6 is filled with memorable moments and Rhetorical Zingers of all stripes. And, Season 7 is even better than Season 6, in Harrogate's humble opinion.

But there was just something about Season 5, y'all. Yes, all you television addicts know of what Harrogate speaks: for lovers of any telvision show, there is always that Season where things crystallize and the viewer realizes: "here, here is exactly why this show speaks to me so powerfully."

And so the first of these clips is a final Tip of the Hat to Season 5. What a great JD moment this is. Additionally, the Scene vindicates Oxymoron's Love of the band Toto. And finally, this clip is a good example of why Harrogate thinks that when it comes to the prickly discourses of Gender, the Writers and Actors for Scrubs do exactly what Harrogate wants done.

Just check this out and tell me if it isn't the way to go:




Now for this second clip, which is from Season 7. In addition to its reflection of Scrubs' consistently good treatment of Race, this clip has vast personal importance for Harrrogate and Oxymoron. Harrogate, in fact, insists that Oxymoron have Mrs. Oxymoron watch this second clip and be reminded of a certain incident that took place shortly after Oxytoddler was born. Verily, Oxymoron and Harrogate were on the cusp of the same experience that JD and Turk have here, but we were preemptively cut off by the Mrs. Oxymoron and Supadiscomama. Hmmmm. Something about propriety.




And finally. Why such apolitical postings on this historic day? Because to get through the murderous semester that is now upon us, Harrogate is going to need to hold close the things that calm him and spread cheer through his soul. In other words, this is no time for conventional politics in the Mind of Harrogate.

Boo-Yah!!!!!!!!

The Obama girls

No, I'm not live-blogging the inauguration, but I am watching parts of it while I eat my lunch. I just want to say that I find it highly amusing that Mrs. Mary Robinson, Michelle Obama's mother, had to remind Malia Obama, the elder Obama daughter, to stand up while everyone else was seated on the dais. She may be one of the first daughters, but she's still just a 10-year-old girl.

Breaking News....

President Elect Obama to be sworn in on Lincoln Qu'ran. Developing.....

Just wondering . . .

Why does Al Gore get a seat on the main stage for the inauguration?

Monday Musical Tribute as Well as a Question of the Day for 1/19: On Loving Songs We Do Not Understand

Harrogate celebrates the Yes song, "Shoot High Aim Low," which comes off of their practically forgotten late-80s record, Big Generator.

But today's Musical Tribute raises a question that Harrogate suspects all Situationers have dealt with. Even those who pay little attention to song lyrics tend to have a handful of much-loved pop songs, the lyrics to which they do not understand. Such has always been the case for Harrogate with "Shoot Hight Aim Low." Clearly some sort of story is being told here, perhaps even two stories being interwoven with one another. But damned if Harrogate can put it together coherently in his mind.

And yet just about every time he listen to this song Harrogate finds it mesmerizing. Yes (no pun intened), part of it is the sheer sound of the Song. Something about "Shoot High Aim Low" proclaims: Take Me Seriously Because I Deserve to Be Taken Seriously. Granted, part of it is the absolutely devastating guitar work that takes place beginning with the 3:50 mark of the video provided below: guitar work that will drop a plummet line into the depths of your ear and cause, as it were, an eargasm. But yet, there is something more.....

So here are the lyrics, followed by a very tight version of this wonderfully enigmatic song.

And it brings Harrogate to his Question of the Day: What songs if any, Situationers, come to mind as Songs Ye Love, but for the LIfe of you have no idea what the hell it is doing?


We hit the blue fields
In the blue sedan we didn't get much further
Just as the sun was rising in the mist
We were all alone we didn't need much more
So fast this expidition
So vast this heavy load
With a touch of luck and a sense of need
Seeing the guns and their faces
We look around the open shore
Waiting for something

Shoot high break low
Aim high shoot low
Break high let go
Shoot high aim low

This was to be our last ride
With the steel guitar and the love you give me
Underneath the skin a feeling, a breakdown
Well we sat for hours on the crimson sand
Exchanges in the currency of humans bought and sold
And the leaders seem to lose control
Shall we lose ourselves for a reason
Shall we burn ourselves for the answer
Have we found the place that we're looking for
Someone shouted "open the door"
Lookout

Shoot high break low
Aim high shoot low
Feeling of imagination
Break high let go
Shoot high aim low
Shoot high aim low
Nothing you can say
Shoot high let go
Takes me by surprise
Shoot high aim low
Who says's there's got to be a reason
Shoot high let go
Who says there's got to be an answer
We were all alone, we didn't need much more
Shoot high aim low
The sun's so hard on this endless highway
Shoot high let go
Shoot high aim low
I've heard the singers, who sing of love
Shoot high let go
In the blue sedan we never got much further
Shoot high aim low

Pre-Inauguration Assy McGee Award®: Harrogate's Favorite Muckraker Manages to Attack Obama and the Academic Humanities in One Fell Swoop

Brent Bozell's column on Friday made a strident case
that there ought to be controversy over Barack Obama's choice of Yale
African-American Studies professor Elizabeth Alexander, to recite an original poem at his inauguration.

This is a doozy of a read, Situationers. He manages to attack not only Obama and Alexander, but Bill Clinton, Maya Angelou, aspiring poets, English professors and PhD candidates, and of course the far left mainstream media alll in one hysterical rant.

A snippet:

Many remember Maya Angelou in 1993, proclaiming in grandiloquent tones some nonsense about a river, a rock and a tree. It was a flop. If the poem is too opaque, it will suggest to the millions watching on television that poetry is a high-faluting art best saved for gatherings of tenured professors and Ph.D. candidates sipping their lattes.

In today's America, poetry is either high art or lowbrow commerce. It comes either from avant-garde poets, writing only for a snobbish elite and ignored by the broad public; or from commercial sources, assembly-line verses crammed into a Hallmark card, written for the masses and spurned by the tastemakers. In today's culture, the most popular poems are usually song lyrics, from rock anthems to rat-a-tat rap songs about the thug life. They're not the kind of poetry you read on marble platforms for presidents and Supreme Court justices.

What a deserving recipient of the Award. Banality trebeled. Yet another believer in the Before Time. When Men were Men, Women were Women, and Furry Little Creatures from Alpha Centauri were Furry Little Creatures from Alpha Centauri.

Scrubs' "The Todd" as High-Level Rhetorical Theorist

Hard to tell what is the best thing about this brief clip. JD's announcement that after having just watched Hoosiers, he now likes sports? The wonderously relatable concept of a "Who Cares Award"? Or The Todd's Screamingly Awesome Shirt?????

Humorous Political Rhetoric, circa 2000

I remember receiving this email in November of 2000, right after the election. It says it is from John Cleese but who knows at this point. Here it is:

NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE

To the citizens of the United States of America, In the light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. (Except Utah, which she does not fancy.) Your new prime minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour', skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters. You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise". You will learn that the suffix 'burgh is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation. Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary".

Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up "interspersed". There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary then you won't have to use bad language as often.

2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize".

Continue Reading the "NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE."

Some Funny Political Cyber-Rhetoric

Harrogate has seen the following as a forwarded email and on two political blogs. Original Source unknown, but apparently it is getting around quickly.

Dear World:

We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service. The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for your patience and understanding,

Sincerely,

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Ahhhh Metaphors. Where would we be without them.

Friday Musical Tribute

For Harrogate, today's Musical Tribute is a Definite No-Brainer.

Question of the Day, Friday, January 16th

In a previous post, Oxymoron provided us with George's philosophical dilemma: every instinct of George's is incorrect. Hence, when George relies on instinct, and judges a situation, in order to make the correct decision he must follow instinct and then choose its opposite (under the assumption we face only simple dichotomies in thought, or, as Jerry said, chicken salad is not the opposite of Tuna).

But here is the Question: possessing the knowledge that he does about the "failure of his instinct," will George make the correct decision by discerning what his instinct is and then choosing its opposite or, when making decisions, will George begin to try to determine what his instinct is and, consequently, still choose incorrectly? 

Two Questions for Oxymoron

Is there a limit for your taste for musical equipment? Or, Is $64,000 for a turntable appropriate? From CNN.

Chicken Salad on Rye

In last night's farewell address to the nation, President George W. Bush said, "I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right."

Unfortunately, as most of us know, what Bush thought was right was usually wrong.

If only our sitting president had Jerry Seinfeld to put things in proper perspective: "If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right."

How wonderful it would have been to have Opposite George in the Oval Office.



"I was bright. Oh, maybe not academically speaking."

Amazing....

Everyone survived. The pilot was the last person off the plane, checking the drowning plane twice before he left. People on the shores were helping those aboard, giving them coat & dry calls and calling friends for them.

All of this just ten, maybe, miles away.

So Long and Thanks for the Um....

Gray hair and the portrait...

It is all too much: the banality; the claims that fail to correlate to reality; the smirk.

So, um. Yeah. Instead of delivering this address, I think soon to be former President George W. Bush ought to have said, "Thank you. My work here is done. I've enjoyed my time, especially the vacations.... Terrorism, Terrorism.... Iraq... Iraq... Now please, let me be the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Thank You. And God Bless America."

I, of course, would be all for it as baseball would be in a position to fold in five years, which means I would not have to pay more in city and state taxes... Damn you Yankees and Mets.

But serious, a few choice lines:

"You may not agree with some of the decisions that I have made, but I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions."

No. I'm sorry. You are the POTUS. You do not work at Blockbuster or the DMV. No one cares if you make "tough decisions" if your decisions are poor. I don't think that I should grade my students on answering the questions rather than checking to see if they answer the questions correctly.

"Moral clarity? Good and Evil?" What about Torture?

Yet, he continues: "Murdering innocents to advance an ideology is wrong. Every time. Every where." Again, if you believe in absolutes, what about torture? What about creating the conditions where a prolonged civil war will take place? Who is responsible for this? Who has been responsible for the last 8 years? Oh....

Oh well. So long. As my daughters and their children pay for your debt, "moral clarity," and "tough decisions," I bet they will thank you, over and over.

Worst speech ever....

Something Oxymoron and Harrogate Could Easily be Found Saying and Doing...

We must hang in there and believe that Soon, Oxy, people will be similarly having to remind us that we are "Doctors." Heh.

Thursday Musical Tribute; or, Football Players Have Feelings Too

In another context, in a quadrant of the cybergalaxy far, far away, Solon recently uttered the truism that the Cowboy Junkies' version of "Sweet Jane" is better than the Velvet Underground's version. Building off of that important insight, Harrogate would like to add that the Cowboy Junkies' version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" may well be the best version of that Iconic song, too.

But Harrogate's irrationally favorite version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" appears below, and it is all because of a little thing we Rhetoric Experts like to call Ethos.

Verily, watch legendary quarterback, eccentric commentator, and movie actor Terry Bradshaw get into the feeling of the song:

In Memoriam...

Ricardo Montalban as Mr. Roarke, who here reminds us and Marsha Brady that reality is the best fantasy of all.

I'm on an Onion roll

Mike fucks up everything. Why does he even try anymore?


Attractive Girls Union Refuses To Enter Into Talks With Mike Greenman

Introducing the MacBook Wheel

Nothing's more simple than a single giant button.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Ann Coulter on "The View"

Ann Coulter was on "The View" yesterday, promoting her latest book Guilty. The ladies of "The View" have frequently been a topic of conversation on The Situation, usually when we're analyzing their individual disagreements. In this segment, however, they all come together to collectively question Coulter's motivation and understanding of and bias against single motherhood. At one point, Sherri Shepherd even calls Coulter out for being disrespectful to Barbara Walters. I've watched this clip twice, and I'm having a hard time determining if anything of substance is actually said by anyone. Thoughts, Situationers? Do the co-hosts point out flaws in Coulter's argument or do they simply let their emotions get the better of them?

Question of the Day, Monday, January 12, 2009

After listening to a good concert recording of Ben Folds' "Mess," the question remains: what are the best concerts you have attended?

A Final Word on Scrubs and Music, Season Five

One marker of a great television series, in Harrogate's estimation, is that any given episode both stands alone as a sustainable entity, even as it advances the longer narrative arc to which it contributes. Ye do not have to be very familiar with the show's multiple relationships and subplots to "get" the sensibilities expressed, below. But for those who are familiar with the broader Rhetorical Situation, this clip stands out as exemplary of many elements, from the show's baseline Take On Medicine, to Turk's professional bravery, to the nature of Carla's belief in Turk, and to the fundamental deceny of Bob Kelso, Sacred Heart's Chief of Medicine.

All distilled in 3:23.

Oh yeah. And finally, this clip shows why the relationship between JD and Elliot is so refreshing to pop television junkies like Harrogate and Supadiscomama who are, frankly, no longer able to stomach Ross/Rachel vascillations. The romantic underrcurrents of JD and Elliot have always been secondary, and wonderfully so. The way in which she comes through for him in the clip below, is what their bond is really about.

And again. Best use of Music on Television.

Happy Monday Musical Tribute, and a Continuation of the Soundtrack Discussion

Trying to polish off his current dissertation chapter once and for all, and still ruminating on megs' recent post about Soundtracks, Harrogate has been listening to a lot Soundtracks lately. For those few who make a habit of writing while listening to Music, this trend will not come as much of a surprise, since good Soundtracks, like good pieces of writing, experience a discernible thematic continuity.

(A sidenote: In the raucous comments section to that aforementioned thread, Solon noted that he could not remember what is on the She's The One Soundtrack, which Harrogate had placed in his top ten. Nor did this announcement surprise Harrogate, as Solon has on several occasions in the past expressed lukewarm feelings for Tom Petty, whose band did all of the songs for that Sountrack. But still, Harrogate encourages Solon, and everyone else, to check out Petty's work on She's The One, as all of the songs definitely sustain a parallel with the Movie's Ambivalent attitude towards love and sex.)

Herein, Harrogate celebrates the Soundtrack to A Lot Like Love, another movie that had some strange things to say about the whole Boy/Girl Thang. Absent Harrogate's discovery of this Soundtrack, he sadly might never have been schooled by Megs on the Awesomness of Hooverphonic. But for today's Song, Harrogate celebrates "Look What You've Done," by Jet. It is really a wonderful song. Harrogate thinks that if you are not familiar with it, you'd better get there real quick.

Arizona who?

In loving memory of Douglas Adams, I ask all of those who read TRS to support the Arizona Cardinals throughout the NFL playoffs. The fact that they won two playoff games so far (the organization last won a home playoff game during the Truman Administation), will host the NFC Championship game next week, and were regarded by all, even their coach and of the players, asthe worst playoff team ever in the history of all playoff teams, means they deserve our support as their success is so improbable only Douglas Adams could see this developing.

There are underdogs and then there are the Arizona Cactus Wrens, I mean Cardinals.a

A Response to M's Recent Separation of Spheres Post, And a Follow up To Harrogate's Last Post on TRS

On Friday, M Sublimely Wrote the following: I Really Wish that I would wake up tomorrow and find my dissertation finished. That would be a lovely thing to discover.

Indeed. Reading that this morning put Harrogate in mind of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," one of our long-cherished songs about what it means to wish and dream. The version that Harrogate provides below also closed out the movie 50 First Dates, by the way: although inexplicably (pet peeve! pet peeve!) the song did not make it onto the Soundtrack for that Movie.

But Scrubs, in its 5th Season, made good narrative use of it. So here ye go M, this one's for you!

There Goes Harrogate Again, Making Another Bold Claim

Having just completed the fifth season of Scrubs, and soon to launch into the sixth one, there is no longer even the shred of a doubt in Harrogate's mind that what we have here is the best use of music ever, on a television show.

Now Harrogate of course realizes that other Board Members are not so enamored with Scrubs as he is--given his obsessive engagement with it over the last several months, how in the world could it ever be otherwise? Still, Harrogate is confident that in a moment of cool reason, it is hard to deny the show's innovative use of music to enhance Rhetorical Situations.

For immediate evidence of What Harrogate is Talking About®, Harrogate offers this shattering clip, which he and Supadiscomama had seen before, but watched as if for the first time again, last night. He invites ye all to check it out, and weigh in.

Inert Propaganda Punch Line Below

Man falls into Panda pen. Because of a tall barrier, the man cannot escape.

Panda investigates. Begins to maul the intruder. According to CNN, The man's response to being mauled:

"The panda is a national treasure, and I love and respect [him], so I didn't fight back," Zhang said. "The panda didn't let go until it chewed up my leg and its mouth was dripping with my blood."

State run propaganda runs deep in some people.

Friday Musical Tribute

Harrogate loves Amnesiac more and more with each listen. Check out this performance of "Dollars and Cents." It'll put you somewhere else for 4:41.

Michelle Malkin Takes Issue With Oxymoron's Smug Dismissal of Joe the Plumber's Journalistic Credibility

Recently, Oxymoron caused quite a blogospheric firestorm with his giggly post about Joe the Plumber's new role as a reporter from the Gaza War front.


Oxymoron's post was the last straw for Michelle Malkin, who as Situationers have long known, is one of our most important public intellectuals. Today she releases a column, the title of which, Who's Afraid of Joe the Journalist, is clearly a taunt and a dare shot across Oxymoron's bow.

Among her many brilliant observations in this piece:

Joe Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. Joe the Plumber, is headed to Israel to interview ordinary citizens about life in the crosshairs of jihad. He'll be filing dispatches for conservative Internet video broadcasting site PJTV.com (to which I also contribute). Predictably, the very idea of a non-credentialed public figure attempting to "do journalism" has catty elite journalists hacking up hairballs.

But Joe the Plumber, Malkin points out, is representative of the remedy which our American journalistic discourse so desperately needs:

Groupthink, credential fetishism and the Sorbonne mentality have turned national newsrooms into stale echo chambers. For all its self-aggrandizing paeans to "diversity," mainstream American journalism remains one of the most intellectually and ideologically monochrome sectors of the public square.

Michelle Malkin. Opponent of Groupthink. Champion of Journalistic integrity. Woman for our Times.

Not Just for Academama's Bemusement. But for All of Our Bemusement.

Ahhh, Sportswriting. The one genre to which dissertation writers in the humanities can turn, to feel less pretentious. As Board Members and Commenters noted last night, the rhetoric surrounding Florida Quarterback Tim Tebow has been fairly stunning of late, to the point that he has been quite nearly elevated to the status of a Christ figure.

In the immediate wake of Florida's victory over Oklahoma, ESPN writer Pat Forde hardly failed to tap into the Tebow worship.

Tim Tebow's victory tour of Dolphin Stadium started behind one end zone and didn't stop until he reached the opposite end. As he walked along, his golden left arm remained aloft the whole way for Florida fans to touch. Men, women and children leaned over to celebrate with their hero, thanking him for delivering a national championship.

Nearing the end of the lovefest, Tebow looked at Florida media relations staffer Zack Higbee, who has spent much of the last two years helping the quarterback navigate the public demands of life as a budding legend.

Tebow said in a hoarse voice to Higbee, "I'm dying, I'm dying. Let's go home."

So many hands to slap, so little energy left. Carrying a team to a title is hard work.

Heh. From what chapter of the New Testament is Forde drawing here, anyway??? But it continues:

Now the indomitable Tebow has two of them -- one as a freshman backup and one as the center of the Gators' universe. Rarely in football does a single player so totally define a team's personality.

He's "indomitable," you see.

Oh yes. And he's perpetually underrated, but also the greatest we have ever seen. Come let us all adore him, and wonder aloud why in the name of Yaweh NFL Scouts continue to doubt this Golden Armed Leader of Men.

And while we are at it, let us Pray Tebow comes back for one more season so that he can

become the No. 1 quarterback in college football history -- at least in terms of accomplishments. Nobody else would be able to match three national titles and two Heisman Trophies if he's able to pull it off.

Yea and verily. Let the Tebow chorus ring loudly enough to drown out America's growing suspicion that College Football is a bottom a Farce.

And Now a Moment From the "OMFG" Category

Heh. Check it out.

So to sum up. Husband gives wife kidney to save her life. Wife promptly cheats on and dumps husband for her physical therapist. And on top of that, denies visitation to the husband, for the three young children. Now husband wants 1.5 Million dollars out of the deal.

Harrogate's position? They don't call it "Donate" for nothin, hubby. Sucks that you were done that way, but you don't deserve 1.5 Million dollars compensation for something you already gave her.

Get your visitation problems straightened out, count yourself lucky for being rid of the wife, and move on with it.

But anywho. Harrogate's favorite part of the article is the quote that ends it:

"This has never been done before in the state of New York," said his lawyer Dominic Barbara. "In theory we are asking for the return of the kidney. Of course he wouldn't really ask for that but the value of it."

Good lord.

Question of the Day, Thursday January 8th

Please feel free to ignore this question, as I may ignore it. But, to mock NCAA Football yet again...

Question: Who should be the National Champion for College Football?

Wherein Paulo Freire Speaks for Harrogate's Mom

Dialogue cannot exist without humility. The naming of the world, through which people constantly re-create that world, cannot be an act of arrogance. Dialogue, as the encounter of those addressed to the common task of learning and acting, is broken if the parties (or one of them) lack humility. How can I dialogue if I always project ignorance onto others and never perceive my own? How can I dialogue if I regard myself as a case apart from others--mere "its" in whom I cannot recognize other "I"s? How can I dialogue if I consider myself a member of the in-group of "pure" men, the owners of truth and knowledge, for whom all non-members are "these" people" or "the great unwashed"? How can I dialogue if I start from the premise that naming the world is the task of an elite and that the presence of the people in history is a sign of deterioration, thus to be avoided?

Boycott the BCS

From Slate.

Seriously. For how long can college football tell its fans to sit and spin?

Why hasn't the police shooting of Oscar Grant made the national news?

I only know about this killing (I'm restraining myself from not calling it murder) because of Kate at A k8, a cat, a mission. After reading through her links and the links of the blog she cites, I found more at CNN, but only after much digging. I get that I live in Canada, but I have access to American news. In fact, I often have better access to American news that I do to Canadian news. This needs to be discussed, and it needs to be discussed at the national level. Why? Because young men of color, who are unarmed, continue to be shot by police for no apparent reason--unless we're finally going to start counting racism as viable reason for shooting an unarmed man.

Wherein Harrogate Throws His Support to the Sooners for Tonight's Game

In honor of Our friend and one of our Most regular commenters, AcadeMama, Harrogate is sending out the good vibes for the Sooners tonight, and calls upon Springsteen to consecrate the Endorsement.

Another Bailout

This just in.

JTP Update

Joe the Plumber is heading to Israel for ten days. He will be the Gaza War correspondent for PajamasTV, a conservative website. JTP says that he wants to let Israel's "Average Joes" share their stories.

Wednesday Musical Tribute: Portishead's "Magic Doors"

Still a relatively new video by Portishead. Off of their superb 2008 album, Third, the song is "Magic Doors", and the video proves once again that this is one of the smokinest musical groups ever.

And as a bonus, here is a good recent performance of the song that hooked Harrogate on Beth Gibbons and her band forevermore:

My Favorite McDermott-ism

Because it deserves its own post:

"The gut is an epistemological organ."

(Comments, Solon?)

Also, a friend of ours--your neighbor, Oxy--shared this insight from McDermott with me today: "Experience doesn't diminish us. It enlarges."

Food for thought, as it were, isn't it?

More McDermott

From "Culture":

The most perilous threat to human life is secondhandedness, living out the bequest of our parents, siblings, relatives, teachers, and other dispensers of already programmed possibilities. We should be wary of the inherited, however noble its intention, for it is the quality of our own experience which is decisive. Failure, deeply undergone, often enriches, whereas success achieved mechanically through the paths set out by others often blunts sensibility. We are not dropped into the world as a thing among things. We are live creatures who eat experience.

Ann Coulter's "Guilty", or Why I love Matt Lauer

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I've always been a big fan of Matt Lauer's. While his job on The Today Show often calls for him to do what most of us consider journalistic fluff, occasionally he gets to show his real talent for pointing out people's hypocrisy (anyone remember his interview with Tom Cruise about post-partum depression and anti-depressants?). This morning, Lauer took on one of my least favorite people, Ann Coulter. It seems Coulter is promoting a new book Guilty, in which she claims, among other things, that all of society's ills are to blame on the single mother. While this certainly isn't a new argument, Coulter makes the argument with such venom that it is difficult to get past her obvious hatred for women. Lauer deftly questions both her points and her tone. Coulter is, as usual, condescending and, to quote Tom Cruise from the aforementioned infamous interview, "glib."

On a side note, one of the reasons I dislike Ann Coulter (and Dr. Laura and their various cohorts) is that they bash the very institutions that got them where they are today. Coulter and Dr. Laura (sorry my references aren't more up-to-date; it's early here in CU Land) are both very outspoken against feminism and feminists, be they of the first, second, third, or fourth waves. Coulter's numerous idiotic statements, such as when she said in a 2003 interview with The Guardian that "It would be a much better country if women did not vote. That is simply a fact. In fact, in every presidential election since 1950—except Goldwater in '64—the Republican would have won, if only the men had voted," reveal her true ignorance. If women were still denied the right to vote, it is highly unlikely she'd have an international audience with whom to share her regressive ideas.

Question of the Day Part the Second: IS an "Adult Pretending to be a Child Still an Adult"????

Solon's favorite blogger over at TalkLeft, TChris, offered up this fascinating post on Sunday, and Harrogate has had it rolling around in the back quadrant of his teeming brain ever since.

The issue before us, Situationers, is succinctly articulated by TChris

A troubling trend that vexes those of us who believe the police should prevent or solve crimes, not manufacture them, is the detective sitting in a chat room posing as a 15 year old waiting to engage in salacious conversation with an adult. Courts have typically held that an adult who travels to meet the "15 year old" for a sexual encounter can be charged with attempted sexual assault of a minor, even though the defendant never chatted with a minor and no actual minor was ever at risk.

TChris's own position on this issue is compelling:

Whether a mistaken belief about a chatter's age (when the belief is induced by a lying law enforcement officer) should lead to any form of criminal liability is questionable. Putting that question aside, it is reasonable to recognize, as Indiana now does (at least until the legislature closes this "loophole"), that people who don't put a child at risk deserve greater leniency than those who do.

It is of course no surprise that he or Jerlayn would take this stance, as standing up for defendants' and/or criminals' rights (unfortunately for some commenters who tried to morph it into a mouthpiece for a particular brand of feminism) is the true backbone of TalkLeft.

But in addition to the Legal Question, there is also a Rhetorical Situation here that needs to be examined. (Oxymoron, for example, continues to argue that when you are watching a football game on television, that the colored first down line is actually on the field. Of course, Oxymoron also once argued that Styx was a great band, so you have to be careful with Oxymoron.)

So, likely all of us on this Board dislike the idea of Entrapment. But will anyone here straight-up say that detectives should stop trolling for "pedophiles" in this manner? Or conversely, will anyone say straight up that the detective posing as a fifteen year old (what if the detective poses as an 8 year-old) is doing the right thing, indeed, protecting children?

Harrogate will leave the light on for you.

Fear Appeals and the War

The following commercial aired this morning on MSNBC in the greater NYC area. The commercial is from the IFCJ (International Fellowship between Christian and Jews) and asks for donations to support Israel in light of the recent fighting/ war in Gaza.



The commercial is interesting (it is targeting the high Jewish population in NYC) as it asks for donations during a "time of war" without mentioning how the money will be used other than to vaguely say "Save Lives." Further, it truly lacks any discussion of why the conflict exists and avoids discussion of proportionality in attacks. Instead the commercial seems to hide around the ideographs of "terrorism" as it seeks support. Finally, the religious element only exacerbates the political conflict, especially when a Christian group attempts to join forces with one side.

While I am certainly not arguing against a right to self-defense and a right to live peacefully, even if that means some violence is necessary, I am struck by the organization's claims that only one side is suffering in this ordeal or that one side suffers more than the other. It seems that if there is going to be any resolution to this conflict, this ad that seems only to equate one side with terrorism is a short term goal only.

Question of the Day: Tuesday, January 6, 2008

Yesterday, Sasha and Malia Obama started their first day of school in Washington D.C. Before the girls went to school, President-Elect Obama allowed a professional photographer to take pictures of the girls and the family and placed the photos online at Flicker.

Is it better for the Obama family to provide photographs of the family to the public, thereby diminishing the value of photos from the paparazzi even if it diminishes the privacy of the family, or to withhold photos and access from the public to protect the privacy of the family and, especially Sasha and Malia?

Update: Based on the Flicker account and prior practices of the Obama campaign and transition, the Obama family and administration seems to place a great emphasis in controlling the situation, meaning that it is reasonable to assume that there will be more photos like these over the next four to eight years (e.g. maybe graduations, Proms, and formal dances though the Obama family may exclude the pictures of dates to protect their privacy-- i.e. let us never see Levi Johnson again.)

Hat Tip: Ben Smith.

Question of the Day

Monday, January 5th.

It is not as philosophical as the previous though still important.

Earlier in the evening, while Sweet Toddler J created a delicious dinner for me in her kitchen, the two of us were listening to The Beatles' White Album. Overall, it is a very sound album e.g. "While My Guitar Gently Sleeps," (George wrote and recorded with Eric Clapton without the rest of the Beatles); "Back in the USSR" (recorded without Ringo); "Dear Prudence" (about Mia Farrow's sister who was in India at the same time the Beatles were there); "Bungalow Bill" (about someone who while on retreat with the Beatles in India left the compound to go hunting); Blackbird (though Sarah McLaughlin's version in I Am Sam may be better); Happiness is a Warm Gun; Why Don't We Do It In The Road; etc.

However, It may not be their best work as there are too many songs on the two album set that are just terrible. As much as it pains me to say Appetite for Destruction is a much better complete album than the White Album as even "Night Train" is a better song than "Glass Onion." (FYI I hate songs that are self-referential either to the band name or to other songs and "Glass Onion" is the worst song ever for meaningless self-references.)

At best, this should be one album. Maybe a longer album but one nonetheless.

Here is the question: What "great" album would be better if songs were removed from it? Additionally, how could an album be better is other songs, recorded around the same time as the album of choice, were included (e.g. is songs from Radiohead's Amnesiac were added to Kid A--- not that Kid A needs improvement)?

Question of the Day

A couple has two children both of whom suffer medical problems though the exact nature of the problems have not been diagnosed. The reason for the lack of a proper determination of the illness: the parents possess religious beliefs for a religion in which the religious doctrine does not accept that there are mental illnesses or neurological disorders and, further, does not accept certain forms of medicine as reasonable treatments for illnesses.

Instead of drug use to treat mental conditions, the religious doctrine states that healing should be spiritual.

Question: Does the state possess an interest to intervene on behalf of the family to diagnose the medical condition and, if one is found, to provide treatment for the children even if it counters the religious beliefs of the parents?

College Football Fans of the World, Unite; Or, More Likely, Sit and Take It For Another Five Years

Well, it seems that the College Football Corporate Bowl Season is about to implode yet again. Of course I am speaking of the delicious irony provided by the Utah Utes at the hands of Nick "There is no need for me to honor my contract" Saban's Losing Tide....

Let's recap, shall we? The only undefeated team in Division I, the Utes from Utah, could not play for the National Championship because they are not in one of the major divisions as determined by college presidents from the major football factories who do not want to share revenue with anyone.

Instead, the powers that be scheduled the Utes against Alabama, a team that went undefeated until their conference championship game and, fortunately for those who dislike College Football, that loss eliminated 'Bama from contention. Yet, a funny thing happened on the way to the Utah's destruction by the hands of Alabama: Utah demolished Alabama.

Now, Florida and Oklahoma, teams that each have one loss, will play for College Football's National Championship sometime this year. Oklahoma received an invitation to the game somehow even though they finished with an identical record as Texas and Texas beat them on a neutral field when those two teams met around midterms. Florida received a trip to the big dance by virtue of beating Alabama in the SEC title game.

At this point I would prefer to watch Oklahoma beat Florida, Texas beat Ohio State, and Utah proclaim they are the National Champions while USC, another one loss team, sits on the sidelines and cries over the fact that the powers that be only let them play in the Rose Bowl each and every year...

Wow this is an exciting way to determine a champion...And to think, since ESPN has the rights to the Bowl games until 2014, nothing will change.

Here's to the Oxymoron Family Ushering in 2009!!!!!

Existentialism: A Bonus Question

Why did you break your chains and leave the cave?

Existentialism: The Three Most Important Questions

First, do you think I should thicken?

Second, to what end?

Third, can I count on you?

To clarify: Is it possible to grow? What are the limitations to my growth, especially in light of the necessary pain that will need to be endured? Can I trust you, especially in light of disillusionment, despair, and a growing sense of disconnection with the workd and others?

Ha Ha!!!

Hey Texas. It is already 2009 here. What is taking you so long?

Happy New Year!!!

Soundtracks

Solon and I are in the car thinking about how hard it is to compile a really good soundtrack. So I pose the question: what are your top ten soundtracks? In thinking of the best from our generation, here are our favorites (in no particular order):

Singles
I Am Sam
Judgement Night
Garden State
The Crow
Romeo and Juliet
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
The Last Time I Committed Suicide
Trainspotting


Honorable mention:
In Good Company
8 Mile
Dirty Dancing
The Big Chill
Forest Gump
Purple Rain (Harrogate?)
Clerks
A Hard Days Night
Magnolia
Stand By Me
Help!
The Graduate
Natural Born Killers

Next Year, Be Brave

An inspiring television sequence. Whoever chose this particular song to go with this particular sequence: Tip of the Hat to Ye!!!!!

Tuesday's Musical Tribute.... Bentham Wins!!!!

We drove to the dreaded Ikea this morning to find cheap but comfortable furniture.For some reason our Ikea experience was rather tolerable, even I dare say enjoyable, unlike the last time the four of us attempted to shop there. Let's just say that no one needs to be institutionalized this time....
It is Tuesday Harrogate, Tuesday.

Of course, we have a new Ikea experience to discuss. Ikea in Brooklyn is in a rather dodgy area of Brooklyn, along the waterfront by the Battery Tunnel. To get to the store, you must drive through what looks like a terrible neighborhood, highlighted by the Police "Crime Scene" yellow tape that closed a block near the store. Yet, that was not the only spectacle to be seen.

In the spirit of Jeremy Bentham, the NYC's finest deployed a panopticon of sorts, the Police Watchtower, which contains four cameras. Normally this type of equipment is used for crowd control. Now, they have been employed to prevent crime and, according to the NYC PD, they have worked already in other areas of Brooklyn, even at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge (see below).



To celebrate Bentham's victory, here is "All Along the Watchtower," since "you and I have been through that and this is not our fate."



To listen to the Dylan version, click here.

An Iconic Merry Christmas from Harrogate

A Very Waits Christmas

A Twofer. "Silent Night" followed by "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis" and then back to "Silent Night." Good stuff. As with most Waits, especially good in the late night hour.

Wednesday (that's right, Wednesday!) Musical Tribute

When Harrogate reflects on the relationship between the following glorious drinking song, and the TRS Board Members, his thoughts turn naturally to Paperweight first, because Harrogate knows DAMN WELL that Paperweight has loved this song for a long time, even though he and Harrogate have never spoken of it.

But the song certainly casts a broad net. Chances are high that this song has a special place in the hearts of p-duck and m, for example. And perhaps even if you caught him in the right mood, Roof Almighty would admit that this is indeed the "perfect country-western song."




"Well I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison;
And I went to pick her up in the rain.
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck,
She got run over by a damned ole train!

And I'll hang around as long as you will let me;
I never minded standin' in the rain.
And you don't have to call me 'Darlin,' Darlin:
You never even called me
(I wonder why you don't call me),
Why don't you ever call me by my name?"

List, list, O list

Brief let me be.

Sleeping within my orchard, my custom always of the afternoon, upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, with juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did pour the leperous distilment; whose effect holds such an enmity with blood of man that swift as quicksilver it courses through the natural gates and alleys of the body, and with a sudden vigour doth posset and curd, like eager droppings into milk, the thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine; and a most instant tetter bark'd about, most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, all my smooth body.

Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd: cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd, no reckoning made, but sent to my account with all my imperfections on my head:

O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!

If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not; let not the royal bed of Denmark be a couch for luxury and damned incest.

But, howsoever thou pursuest this act, taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge, to prick and sting her.

Fare thee well at once! The glow-worm shows the matin to be near, and 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu!

Tuesday, December 23rd

Happy Festivus. In the spirit of the holiday, let us air our grievances....

Seriously. It is today.

Seriously, seriously. There is even a book about the holiday: Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us.

Monday Musical Tribute

This is perhaps Harrogate's favorite Christmas Song. And this version is up there with the best of em. It just makes Harrogate so freakin' happy to watch this. So very, very happy. He suspects it will make YOU happy, too.



But. If you want the Real Deal. Nat King Cole. Nuff Said.

I worry that the Situation is dying on us.

Goddammit, you bitch! You never backed away from anything in your life! Now fight!

Fight!

Fight! Right now! Do it! Fight goddammit! Fight! Fight! Fiiiiight!

Monday Night Waits

Megs, here is a side of Waits we did not explore when you guys were down here in Texastown. But you need to get to know this side of him. And do not worry, CDs will come, at least one of which will allow you to explore the side of which Harrogate speaks.

Tip of the Hat to Roof Almighty, who feels this is a song that deserves to be taken seriously.

Is She Being Ironic?

An in interview, Sarah Palin told Human Events (via CNN) that she regrets she did not "seize the opportunity" to speak more to the American through the media. This quote seems priceless:

“I was not allowed to do very many interviews, and the interviews that I did were not necessarily those I would have chosen. But I was so thankful to have the opportunity to run with John McCain that I was not going to argue with the strategy decisions that some of his people were making regarding the media contacts.

“But if I would have been in charge, I would have wanted to speak to more reporters because that’s how you get your message out to the electorate.

Palin's rhetoric style downplays any conception of irony. Her calling for more interviews is quite odd since in her interviews she did quite poorly (see here) and is quite hostile to the media and the first amendment.

Yet, her ignorance of irony on one level works to her advantage as she negates McCain's handlers by praising McCain.... "I did not come to bury McCain, but to praise him..."

Only four more years till she runs a campaign on her own....

I don't know what side to take in the forthcoming...

RACE WAR!!

HA HA!

Check this out.

A Little Drag to Start the Day

Here's an awesome image of RuPaul dressed as both Michelle and Barack Obama (found at eonline.com, of course). Apparently, the pic is part of the promotional campaign for RuPaul's new show.

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday Musical Tribute....

It's Tuesday, Harrogate. Tuesday.

To celebrate the Roof's last, great tag and to leave a tribute to the past few wonderful days, my one and only post from this Texas trip is: Yakety Sax. Sweet Toddler J (or Jeezey) danced to this sing while devouring lunch. Hence, it must be good.



For a shorter version, click here.

Quote

Lite weight: "STINKY PANTIES!"

Bush: 2, Random Task:0

"Normal Birth"

To follow up to M's last post (and my comment that got cut off somehow), what disturbs me about the Orgasmic Birth site is the idea that there is such a thing as a "normal" birth. If we were to poll the TRS mothers we'd find many different birthing experiences; none more "normal" than others. While an unmedicated home birth might be a more "natural" way to give birth, the truth is that the process does carry inherent risks for mothers and babies. Furthermore, the idea that one way of giving birth is more "natural" and "normal" ostracizes women who, for whatever reason, cannot have an unmedicated home birth.

"A large part of the reason is that technocratic practitioners are deeply afraid of birth. As a result, they overuse technology in an effort to make themselves feel in control of a process they don’t really understand. [...] Why isn’t that OK? Because, as I say in Orgasmic Birth, the overuse of drugs and technology interferes with the normal physiology of birth and causes far more harm than good. It is a sad fact that obstetricians are not trained in and do not understand the normal physiology of birth. How could they be? Only about 3% of births in the United States, including those that take place at home, are normal; drugs and technology dominate all the rest. Doctors almost never see normal birth. Therefore, they have no opportunity to learn about it. "

According to this logic, duckling's birth was abnormal and my doctor was scared.

Drugs and technology kept my baby breathing when she was having difficulty, drugs protected my heart from infection (I have a heart condition), forceps helped prevent a c-section, pitocin (evil satan's syrup that it is) sped up stalled labor, etc. None of the technology or drugs was used without my consent, my doctor exuded confidence and did not want to intervene until she had to, and all of it seemed normal to me at the time.

Aaahh... I could write on this much more, but sadly mediocre student papers beckon.

Look, up in the sky, it's a stupid man

While out walking The Woof Almighty (aka Harley Reads / aka The Harlequin / aka The Brown Double / aka Montana Slim), she and I, I am pretty sure, saw Marine One stroke by on the way to campus.

I fu
[Editpost motivated by Thinkpol]

Yay! America achieved!

Orgasmic Childbirth

My friend L sent me a link to an article on Orgasmic Childbirth. I'm curious to know what everyone at TRS thinks about this.

This is why parents get angry at teachers

I want to preface this post by saying that I generally think parents are too quick to blame teachers for their children's bad behavior or bad grades. Most teachers in this country are overworked and underpaid, and many parents are unwilling to acknowledge problems with their children, preferring to heap all the blame on teachers.

That said, reading this story entitled "Teacher sorry for binding girls in slavery lesson," reminds me that sometimes teachers are to blame. On some level, I understand the pedagogy behind a move like this, I really do. When I teach Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, I mark off a space that is 3' high, 7'long, and 9' wide, which are the dimensions of the crawl space that Jacobs occupied for 7 years to escape slavery. I have my students lie down in this space and imagine what it felt like to be in the space for 5 minutes, let alone 7 years. So I understand wanting students to understand as much about slavery as possible. But binding the hands and feet of students is taking things a bit too far.

"If the Pope is right, we are seriously fucked": Understanding Polution as Sin

On March 10th, M uncovered the Vatican's new list of sins, which includes pollution. Megs follows with a post about prescription drugs in our drinking water.

Drawing her first premise from M's post, Megs constructs a frightening argument.

Premise #1: The Pope says Pollution is a Sin.
Premise #2: Pharmaceuticals Pollute Our Water.
Conclusion: Therefore, We Are Seriously Fucked.

Enjoy hell, everyone!

But Main Street's still all cracked and broken...

What's your favorite business title?

Kid Rock Goes Deep

I saw this on Storytellers last night. I dug it. This is Kid's attempt to write something relevant. From his album Rock N Roll Jesus:



"Now God damn it! I'm scared to send my children to church." Amen.

Seriously, we needed to research this?

Ok, so I'll freely admit that my own research is a bit esoteric, but then again, I doubt I'll ever require huge sums of money to complete my research--at any point in my career. That said, it really irritates me when people research the obvious, as this doctor did: Study Unveils Likely Cause of Mt. Everest Deaths. I mean, seriously? We needed to conduct a lengthy study of all the deaths of climbers on Everest from 1920 to 2006 to know that most of them likely died from a lack of oxygen, complicated by the extreme weather conditions present on Everest? Hell, I'm not a doctor, I'm not a mountain climber, and I've never been to the Himalayas, but you know what? I knew this without having to read a study published in the British Journal of Medicine. I ask my fellow Situationers, most of whom are also academics: did this really need to be researched?

Best of 2008: APB for Harrogate

In the midst of March Madness, Solon issued an all points bulletin for Harrogate, which I found extremely amusing, as that period was the only time this Spring when Harrogate wasn't blogging profusely. I also enjoyed Southpaw's cogent analysis of Solon's missteps in his search of Harrogate.

To Descend is Honorable

I don't know how I overlooked this beauty of a post from February 12th. It is probably one of my top five for the year.

The post was initiated by Harrogate. But today's retrospective honors Megs for her profound comment to that post. It is a comment that forced me to do much soul searching. In the end, I knew that she had tapped into a deep and powerful truth: it is honorable to descend on Saturday, but praiseworthy every day.

Quote Of The Day

Litewieght: "No shower, Daddie! I have to fart!"

This is your life; or, The Tuesday Musical Tribute....

"You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake...." It is a mind-numbing kind of night. A night in which the most exciting thing in the world, an inside look into Harrogate's or Oxymoron's or Super D's or M's or Meg's (maybe not Roof's as I may not return and definitely not South Paw's as he is incapable of writing) inner thoughts, would not be enough to save me from myself.

It is Tuesday night. I have five papers left to grade and then an exam tomorrow and more grades to discover.... One grade at a time....



"I say deliver me from Swedish furniture." A few months ago, we went to Ikea. Megs still has not recovered; neither has Sweet Toddler J. I never liked the store in the first place....

Bonus song of the day: The Pixies, "Where is My Mind?"

Bonus Query: What is the worst act ever implemented out of boredom? I mean something with absolutely no value whatsoever but you did it any way because, well, because... because you were bored....and then you enjoyed it....Mine on the flip...

Deepak Chopra chastises Sean Hannity

Unlike many of my fellow bloggers I don't make a practice of reading or listening to Sean Hannity (why would I want to deliberately raise my blood pressure like that?). I did, however, run across this very interesting letter from spiritual guru Deepak Chopra to Hannity on the Huffington Post while eating my lunch today. Here's my favorite part:

No one expects the right wing to change, but for what it's worth, they have entered an era of reconstruction. They've lost both their power and their credibility. Instead of trying to educate me about being an American, you might want to re-educate yourselves about dirty pool and below-the-belt attacks. Just a thought.

A White Lie and a Pedagogical Lesson; Wherein the Shit Hits the Fan

4 March 2008:

Texas TRS bloggers do the Two-Step. They cast their primary votes during the day and return to their polling station later that evening to caucus.

5 March 2008:

TRS bloggers share their experiences: M reports that her experience was anti-climatic and criticizes the entire process as anti-democratic; I admit that my caucus was anything but sexy, Harrogate claims that his experience was boring, although his retelling of the story suggest otherwise, as he found himself "in the middle of things"; and Paperweight reveals that his caucus was "a waste of FUCKING time" [emphasis his].

Following these less-than-stellar reviews of the Texas caucus, Megs reminds Situationers that their suffering was worthwhile and calls for a joint ticket. Solon quickly offers arguments against a joint ticket.

Meanwhile...

Harrogate, Sarah, and I convene in Harrogate's office. We further discuss the caucus. Even though our experiences fell short of expectation, Harrogate notes that Solon probably wishes that he was still in Texas so that he could caucus. The reason: the idea of deliberative democracy in action makes him "cream his jeans." Sarah and I laugh at this expression, as neither of us have heard it since middle school. Admid our laughter over creamed jeans, a very bad idea emerged: let's fool Solon. Yes, let's see how excited he gets knowing that one of us is a delegate. With hesitation, Sarah consents. I sit in the corner, still laughing over the expression.

Sarah makes the fateful statement in the comments section of Megs's post:

I just wanted to let you all know that I hung around for the end of the caucus and was chosen as a delegate.

Four minutes later, Solon replies:

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO jealous...

But the conspiracy was short-lived, for Sarah could not live with the lie. She could not continue to toy with Solon's emotions, and so she revealed the entire plot on TRS.

Harrogate back-pedals and claims that the conspiracy against Solon was a pedagogical lesson designed to show "what voters in Florida and Michigan must have felt, on learning that they would not, in fact, get to have a say [in the democratic primary], because of sealed agreements made by removed forces." He then quickly changed the topic back to the joint ticket. But, alas, it was to late. Things were headed downhill. Quickly.

Solon is obviously hurt, as he does not respond for some time.

But Megs fights the good fight, closing the day with a post that identifies "an actual delegate." Stab. Ouch.

6 March 2008:

Harrogate begins the day with a post on the "Michigan and Florida Clusterfuck." Solon replies to said post, addressing Harrogate with a new epithet, "Oh Wise Harrogate, supporter of Senator Clinton and, hence, possessor of the truth; teacher of pedagogical lessons." Much like Romney after Huckabee's win in West Virginia, it seems that Solon is pissed.

The aggression against Harrogate continues. And he feels it. He calls Oxymoron, upset that the seemingly innocent "delegate" joke has backfired and made things very, very bad.

Then Paperweight fuels the fire, publishing a post that asks Obama supporters to tell him why he, like many of them, should hate Clinton. I try to neutralize some of the antagonism in the post--and some of the tension on TRS, in general--by commenting on his use of "fucking" throughout his post. But my efforts fall short, as Megs feels that she and Solon are being attacked by PW. More fun ensues.

Eventually, M calls for everyone to take a breather, to focus our energy towards our dissertations. She is more successful in this attempt to steer us away from heated political discussion than in her previous attempt.

Things come full circle when Megs asks Reverend Todd to comment on the current issues being discussed the Rhetorical Situation. I inform Megs that the Good Reverend hasn't been following our discussions because he is busy studying his delegate's packet. Ha!

"This is Just a Football Game."

John Lennon was killed twenty-eight years ago tonight. Howard Cosell announced his death on Monday Night Football. You can watch the announcement, which is quite surreal, on You Tube.

Here is Nightline's report from that night.

It is a rather creepy story. Chapman desried to live out some Catcher in the Rye fantasy: "He [Lennon] knew where the ducks went in the winter." Hours before Chapman killed Lennon, he appeared in a photo with him that was taken outside of The Dakotas.



After the shooting, Chapman sat down on the sidewalk, read Catcher in the Rye, and waited for the police.

This brings us to Monday's Musical Tribute: There is no tribute...

P-Duck Speaks Up

P-Duck has been silent for a while, but she is no Grinch. Thus, in the sharing spirit of the season and in homage to the nostalgia lately experienced on the Situation, she humbly offers this timeless classic.

An Age Old Dilemma

For Oxy and Oxy alone.



Note: This film may not be suitable for minors.

Speaking of Gifts...

This might also work for Christmas.

Sometimes Spouses Also Search for Gift Ideas...

So hide well your contraban.

Sunday Musical Tribute

I woke up with this song in my head, so I felt compelled to share. Unfortunately, this isn't a particularly good version, but apparently many people aren't compelled to post songs by Allison Moorer.