Have a 'Street Fight' to wake yourself up
Have a ‘Street Fight’ to wake yourself up Last night I went over to some friends’ place to have a dinner and hang out. We ended up watching this movie, Street Fight, about a mayoral race in Newark, New Jersey. It’s about the upstart campaign of a young city council member, Cory Booker, against Sharpe James, the man who’d been mayor of the city for 16 years. I’m writing about it because it was just funny to see how different people respond to things.
'Happy Town' by Justin Madson
“Happy Town” by Justin Madson Justin Madson has embarked on one hell of something with his books “Happy Town.” I’ve read both volumes now, but they aren’t over yet. It’s a pretty difficult story to sum up, but I’ll try. You’ve got this small Midwestern town that somehow has all the energy and drama of a big city, just without nearly so many people. There’s a mayor’s race about to happen so they are trying to send a rocketship to Saturn except townspeople keep suddenly floating away - which inspires a cult to get started - and the world has been overcome with snow because this demon has returned to Earth.
2007 - the lessons so far
What have I learned so far in 2007? That everyone in Pennsylvania politics is infected with rabies. No, seriously. If you think I’m wrong, trust me those who don’t live here, that’s the only way you can possibly explain this shit. That you never make out with cute girls on New Year’s Eve if you forget to do your hair. Trust me, pictures will be posted later, but I looked seriously sweet on New Year’s Eve but I also forgot to do my hair because I’d been drinking and talking on the phone while dressing.
Spinner Rack: Special Philebrity Edition, Eleanor Davis' 'The Beast Mother'
The Spinner Rack: Special Philebrity Edition “The Beast Mother” by Eleanor Davis, 2006 So the funny thing about me buying the Beast Mother (a preview) is I looked the artist who drew it in the eye as I paid for it and I felt a little bad for her because I thought I was buying her boyfriend’s work and not any of her books. Only I was buying one of her books, I just didn’t realize it.
Male Bonding
Male bonding I think I could make friends with my worst enemy of all time (this kid named Joe H. from grade school) if we met by a pressing bench and he asked me to give him a spot. I always feel bonded to guys when I spot them on the bench press. I started lifting weights when I was in the 8th grade, at Pack’s Gym, but it wasn’t until Matt P.
Alarm clock
I’ve had the same alarm clock for about 16 years. It is an old Audiologic alarm that I got for Christmas sometime in middle school, because it had this weird “natural sounds function.” You could set it so that it played “waves” or “rain” or “wind.” Actually, it’s all just various tones of static that don’t really sound like anything. But I still kept it. It worked well for me. I got so that I could set it, change settings, make adjustments, without even looking at it.
Mega-Man
I have felt a little like Mega Man in the last month. Between putting in thirty hours or so a week at the Rendell for Governor campaign, then immediately flying to Kansas and driving 24 hours back in a Penske truck, only to unload a ton or so of stuff, sort it, organize it and cart a bunch of it away. In other words, I’ve been working so hard that I really didn’t have time to be tired.
Measuring Value
Measuring value Most people believe that Economics is the study of money. No more so than physics is the study of ohms or watts. To an economist, money is a unit of measure (not the only one, but the most useful). Money is a convenient way to measure trade, but economics is not really a study of trade, either. Economics is really a study of how we allocate our finite resources.
Engel's Law: or why not to garden
Engel’s Law: or why not to garden Such good land surrounds Fresno, California that it rivals the Fertile Crescent in the fecundity race. Yet if you drive through you will notice that the city is sprawling all over the place and they keep putting up the big grey box mega-stores and surrounding them with farming land. If you can’t figure out why prime farmland keeps getting paved over to provide parking for Food 4 Less stores, consider Engel’s Law.
People who finished
Even if you don’t normally like comics, I really recommend you check out these two 24 Hour Comics from Australia. This one, from Ted Prior, captures so much of what I like about comics these days. It takes an old trope, that of the sea monster, and smooshes it up with cuteness in a really intelligent way. The last panel is both sad and hilarious. Worth every millisecond. This one, from Anne Barnetson, is more about the elegance of the lines, shading and use of space than the story itself.