I've just read Thirst by Ken Kalfus, a book of short stories.
It would be lazy to label them 'weird;' rather, they are ... unconventional. They end, and then it's up to the reader to say, "What happened?"
I enjoyed them. They made me think. I'm going to read more of his books.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Make Up Your Minds
Bring in your film and we'll give you digital images on a CD-ROM.
OR
Send us images from your digital camera and we'll print them out for you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch TV and movies on the screen of your mobile phone.
OR
Watch TV and movies on your 50" flat screen plasma TV.
OR
Send us images from your digital camera and we'll print them out for you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch TV and movies on the screen of your mobile phone.
OR
Watch TV and movies on your 50" flat screen plasma TV.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Sub Marine
Recently, my wife and I saw a TV announcement that the movie Das Boot would be shown later this week.
"Oh," she said, "that's the film with the theme song 'Ve all live on a Cherman submarine, a Cherman submarine, a Cherman submarine ... '"
"Oh," she said, "that's the film with the theme song 'Ve all live on a Cherman submarine, a Cherman submarine, a Cherman submarine ... '"
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Important Books III
Everyone should read this book by Chris Hedges:
Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America
Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America
Monday, April 09, 2007
Pack Up All Your Cares and Woe, Yo, Yo, Yo
Several years ago, I was on the Subway, and observed an [East] Indian lady talking to a Canadian lady. The Indian lady was punctuating her conversation with Eh wherever she could, obviously to fit in with her, I'm guessing, less articulate Canadian colleague. After a while, she stopped doing it, because she couldn't keep up the charade.
I saw a white teenager on the bus yesterday, sprawled on a seat, feet on his skateboard, talking on his cellphone, punctuating his conversation with Yo, without any of the Indian lady's hesitation or discomfort. I thought that maybe Yo had replaced like in his limited vocabulary, but he used both words.
There is a genuine Black culture in North America, but I've rarely been exposed to it, instead to the manufactured hip hop subculture. This would seem to be what this guy was imitating or assimilating. Why?
Many people of his generation are emulating the cool, successful, sexy images of black rappers, rapperesses, musicians, athletes, and other non-typical, one-in-a-million black people - a similar percentage to those people of other races, as far as I know - without questioning the images presented to them by the media. They do both themselves and the black community a disservice by this servile imitation.
Recently, I watched a black author being interviewed on TV. He had written a book, the title of which escapes me, bemoaning the fact that the high salaries and public success of black athletes was detrimental to the black struggle for equality. He suggested that black people look at the examples of these athletes, and conclude that black equality has arrived, that the struggle for equality is over, and that there's nothing left to fight for. Obviously, this is not the case - as Chris Rock said, "Shaq is rich, but the man who signs his cheques is wealthy!"
Watching him reminded me of a late 60's University of Toronto Psych. class, where the professor told us about a book, listing American Jewish professionals, and other successful Jewish people. He informed us that the book had been published not by the B'nai Brith as a celebration of Jewish success, but by the Klan as a warning that "the Jews are taking over America!"
I saw a white teenager on the bus yesterday, sprawled on a seat, feet on his skateboard, talking on his cellphone, punctuating his conversation with Yo, without any of the Indian lady's hesitation or discomfort. I thought that maybe Yo had replaced like in his limited vocabulary, but he used both words.
There is a genuine Black culture in North America, but I've rarely been exposed to it, instead to the manufactured hip hop subculture. This would seem to be what this guy was imitating or assimilating. Why?
Many people of his generation are emulating the cool, successful, sexy images of black rappers, rapperesses, musicians, athletes, and other non-typical, one-in-a-million black people - a similar percentage to those people of other races, as far as I know - without questioning the images presented to them by the media. They do both themselves and the black community a disservice by this servile imitation.
Recently, I watched a black author being interviewed on TV. He had written a book, the title of which escapes me, bemoaning the fact that the high salaries and public success of black athletes was detrimental to the black struggle for equality. He suggested that black people look at the examples of these athletes, and conclude that black equality has arrived, that the struggle for equality is over, and that there's nothing left to fight for. Obviously, this is not the case - as Chris Rock said, "Shaq is rich, but the man who signs his cheques is wealthy!"
Watching him reminded me of a late 60's University of Toronto Psych. class, where the professor told us about a book, listing American Jewish professionals, and other successful Jewish people. He informed us that the book had been published not by the B'nai Brith as a celebration of Jewish success, but by the Klan as a warning that "the Jews are taking over America!"
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Baseball
The Blue Jays won their season opener in Detroit last night, by a score of 5 - 3. Today is a day off.
Do you know the difference between American government® and baseball? In baseball, a W is a good thing.
Do you know the difference between American government® and baseball? In baseball, a W is a good thing.
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