The Big Think

If you watch “Good Eats” on the Food Network, you’re familiar with Alton Brown. He’s the bad boy of cooking and knows a thing or two about collagen and flavonoids.
He has an interesting post over at his blog (rants and raves). Since he doesn’t have a permalink ot the post, I can’t like to it, so I’ll post copy it in entirety here.
Get a permalink, Alton!

I just saw the movie “Supersize Me” and I have to say that I liked it. It was fun, irreverent film making on a shoestring and it’s good to know that filmmakers can still pull that sort of thing off.

What shocked me about the movie wasn’t what it said, or. Heck I already new most of that stuff. What shocked me were the gasps I heard from the audience, most of whom seemed generally surprised that big business could be so…well…business like.

Here’s what it comes down to kids. Ronald McDonald doesn’t give a damn about you. Neither does that little minx Wendy or any of the other icons of drivethroughdom. And you know what, they’re not supposed to. They’re businesses doing what businesses do. They don’t love you. They are not going to laugh with you on your birthdays, or hold you when you’re sick and sad. They won’t be with you when you graduate, when your children are born or when you die. You will be with you and your family and friends will be with you. And, if you’re any kind of human being, you will be there for them. And you know what, you and your family and friends are supposed to provide you with nourishment too. That’s right folks, feeding someone is an act of caring. We will always be fed best by those that care, be it ourselves or the aforementioned friends and family.

We are fat and sick and dying because we have handed a basic, fundamental and intimate function of life over to corporations. We choose to value our nourishment so little that we entrust it to strangers. We hand our lives over to big companies and then drag them to court when the deal goes bad. This is insanity.

Feed yourselves.
Feed your loved ones.
And for God’s sake feed your children.

Don’t trust anyone else to do it…not anyone. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go out to dinner every now and then…that is after all one of the great joys of life…but it isn’t life itself and that’s what I’m talking about.

Is MacDonalds food bad for you? What do you think? Does that mean you shouldn’t eat it? No, it just means you shouldn’t live on it or anything else made by someone you wouldn’t hug.

Burgers don’t kill people.
People kill people.
Don’t be one of them.

A

Baylor’s embattled president says he’ll step down at the end of May- and become the school’s first chancellor.

read more here.

Ever see “A Christmas Story”? Remember the funny part when the little brother gets his tongue stuck to the frozen lamp post?
Well, for some reason our freezer went into overdrive and dropped to about -10 degrees. Therefore the ice coming out of it was -10 degrees. Therefore, when you touch the tip of your tongue to it, you get the same effect as the little brother did.
Let me tell you, it’s not as funny in person when you have to make an emergency dash to the sink and hot water to thaw the ice. I don’t know what’s more painful: the frostbitten tongue tip, or the missing skin (pronounced “mithing thkin”). Yeowch.

Feelth like the Mother Of All Pitha Burnth.

Don’t miss the new Jib Jab cartoon: Second Term.

New Fantastic 4 movie this July 4th. Great trailer here.

Tomorrow’s Headlines:

The year 2029

* Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia formally known as California.

* Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.

* Baby conceived naturally . . . scientists stumped.

* Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.

* Last remaining Fundamentalist Muslim dies in the American Territory of the Middle East (formerly known as Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon).

* Iran still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 10 more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.

* France pleads for global help after being over taken by Jamaica.

* Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.

* George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2036.

* Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.

* 85-year, $75.8 billion study: Diet and Exercise are the keys to weight loss.

* Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lbs.

* Massachusetts executes last remaining conservative.

* Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.

* Average height of NBA players now nine feet, seven inches.

* New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2036.

* Congress authorizes direct deposit of formerly illegal political contributions to campaign accounts.

* IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.

* Florida voters still don’t know how to use a voting machine.

*ACLU’s Marvin Sheinstein whines police officers’ water pistols could put out an eye when fired at close range.

Interesting article this morning on Powerline. It seems that ABC news put out the following call:

Jan. 19, 2005 — For a possible Inauguration Day story on ABC News, we are trying to find out if there any military funerals for Iraq war casualties scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20. If you know of a funeral and whether the family might be willing to talk to ABC News, please fill out the form below

“Note that only the families of Iraqi war dead need apply. If a soldier died in Afghanistan, or aiding tsunami victims in Indonesia or Sri Lanka, or in a training exercise, never mind. That isn’t the “balance” ABC is looking for.”

To avoid a Rather-style internet kerfluffle, they have since pulled the post from their site. Who ever claimed the media was balanced? Oh, right, they did. Read the whole thing here.

news via Yahoo:

WASHINGTON – The woman once known as “Jane Roe” has asked the Supreme Court to overturn its landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion 32 years ago.

Norma McCorvey, whose protest of Texas’ abortion ban led to the 1973 ruling, contends in a petition received at the court Tuesday that the case should be heard again in light of evidence that the procedure may harm women.

“Now we know so much more, and I plead with the court to listen for witnesses and re-evaluate Roe v. Wade (news – web sites),” said McCorvey, who says she now regrets her role in the case.

An Open Letter to Bath and Body Works:

“I know I cannot influence your decision. But know this: I will never buy anything else at your store, because all you offer is flowery fluids I can buy cheaply at Target. I have a year’s supply of liquid soap, which I will use as ever. I will refill the empty shampoo bottles with Suave. Do you understand? Years of product testing, package design, ad campaigns, the whole lot: it comes down to Suave poured in your containers, not in the hopes you will not be unduly pained, but in the fervent desire that you will be pained unutterably, and go to your graves nursing the wound.

Damn ye, sirs. Damn ye.
“

Man, I wish I could write like that.

Bath and Body Works Sucks

“As Americans commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy today, no television channel will be broadcasting the documentary series Eyes on the Prize. Produced in the 1980s and widely considered the most important encapsulation of the American civil-rights movement on video, the documentary series can no longer be broadcast or sold anywhere”

Why?

The makers of the series no longer have permission for the archival footage they previously used of such key events as the historic protest marches or the confrontations with Southern police”

“Why do you think the History Channel is what it is? Why do you think it’s all World War II documentaries? It’s because it’s public-domain footage. So the history we’re seeing is being skewed towards what’s fallen into public domain,”

This is the heart of the main argument against our screwed up system of modern copyright laws.

Read more.

Jerry Oltion has his 50 strategies for making yourself work. While he has geared his list more toward writers, I found that many of his suggestions work for anyone who occasionally has trouble staying on-task. Especially those of us who work at home.

I would add: get a big project and a brick-wall deadline. Nothing motivates me like the fact that I have to direct a major show every year. Keeps me in this seat for up to 16 hours some days.

Back to work…

Every year on the anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe’s death, a strange visitor lays three roses and a half-empty bottle of congac on the grave of the famous writer. It’s been going on for 50 years and nobody knows his identity or reason, but his annual visits have become something of a cause celebre.
Read more about the ongoing story of a strange visitation here.