Taboo Plaza

A recent survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project suggests that older Americans utilize libraries in fewer numbers than young Americans.  Contrary to common sense, this study of 2,796 Americans indicates, Generation Y (18 to 30) visit libraries the most and over 72 years old visit libraries least.  

Welcome to 2008. 

There is hope for the future. 

Youngsters with books is not a bad thing.

Current Affairs

Top 10 Ways to Welcome 2008 or Rue the End of 2007:

Preparing for the end of 2007- and in turn preparing to move into 2008- you've got a couple of options for behavior to emulate.

#10- Time-tested, tried-and-true millenarian panic:

Millenarianism is essentially a undercurrent-type of belief that power structures will end because of inherent weakness- generally the end is imagined as being violent or chaotic.  With the end of current power, a new era will be welcomed with peace and prosperity. 
Millenarianism is at least as old as Christianity and probably dates back to humans first recognizing the winter solstice without immediately recognizing the inevitability of the summer solstice. 

According to John Turley-Ewart, millenarianism this year seems to be flavored with the sweet spices of environmentalism. 

Brian Fleming seems to agree.

I personally prefer the sweet, incoherent millenarian panic of something on par with Y2K.  However, it would seem we need a year ending with three zeros to really work up that kind of fervor for a new year.

#9- The oldie-but-agoodie commit to a New Year's Resolution:

There is always the fallbacks of quitting smoking, exercise, etc...  I'd personally recommend taking Colin Bloodworth's advicefor turning over a new leaf; especially number 7. 
Get rid of debt and in turn stop being sucked into the notion that you "need" things that you really only "want."

#8- Get drunk, watch the Rose Bowl and throw up.

This year, 6th ranked USC Trojans will take on the 13th ranked Illinois Fighting Illini.  Not being one to follow football, I'm rooting for USC simply because I think Illini sounds like crap when writing potential mascots down on a piece of paper. 
As a side note: throwing up is optional.

#7- Sing that old Scottish-Standard "Auld Lang Syne."

In case you've ever wondered, it loosely translates to 'days gone by.'

#6- Be Catholic Conservative.  Condemn New Year's festivities as paganism.

If you decide to take this route, you may also want to reconsider taking a tree into your house at any time of the year as well as participating in Halloween.  I'm personally not willing to give up Halloween, so brand me pagan.

#5- Recover from a New Year's Eve hangover after too many Ball drops.

If you can make "ball drop" more interesting than simply watching the NYC Times Square festivities; more power to you.

#4- Eat 365 black-eyed peas!!!

If you've resolved to live up to number 6 on this list, then you may need to consider skipping number 4.

#3- Set off fireworks.

Do you really need an excuse to set things on fire???

#2- Reflect on 2007 and decide on actions to make 2008 better.

#1- Read or write a list about the old/new year:

VH1 recently ran their 100 greatest songs of the 90's- from number 1 to number 10:
"Smells Like Teen Spirit"- Nirvana
"One"- U2
"I Want it That Way"- Backstreet Boys
 "I Will Always Love You"- Whitney Houston
"Vogue"- Madonna
"Baby Got Back"- Sir Mix A Lot
 "Baby One More Time"- Britney Spears
"Waterfalls"- TLC
"Losing My Religion"- REM 
"Nothing Compares 2 U"- Sinead O'Connor. 

On Bravo, the American Film Industry's top 100 movies of the last 100 yearswas also a pretty entertaining watch- from number 1 to number 10:
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
The Godfather  
Gone With the Wind
Lawrence of Arabia
The Wizard of Oz
The Graduate
On the Waterfront
Schindler's List 
Singing in the Rain 


MSN weighs in with their list of 10 movies to watch out for in 2008.
"Tropic Thunder" starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and a host of others.
Pixar's "WALL*E"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett
"Pineapple Express" a flick about scoring pot
"Mamma Mia" featuring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan
"Star Trek" starring Leonard Nimoy and Eric Bana
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
"Iron Man" starring Robert Downey Jr.
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" featuring Harrison Ford
The next episode in the Batman saga, "The Dark Knight" starring Christian Bale

AOL ran their Dumbest Products of 2007 list:
iCarta+: Some Apple jams while you drop a log.
ConnectR Virtual Visiting Robot: Vicariously experience your children.
NRG Potato Chips: Caffeine & vitamins in potato chips?
Windows Vista: Not bad if you don't mind upgrading you RAM and your microprocessor and if you don't mind clicking every button twice to confirm that you really want to do what you were trying to do in the first place.
First Years 3-in-1 Flush: A little lead paint never hurt anyone...hold on a second...retract that apparently it did...these guys didn't get the message.
Blow Energy Drink Mix: What better way to sell straight taurine and caffeine? Make it look like meth.
VitaSea Clothing: No seaweed in these threads and that's a problem?
Quadruple Bypass Burger: Something had to put Tempe, AZ on the map.  It certainly wasn't going to be the Cardinals.
Woof Water: Bottled water for the pooch?
Facebook Beacon: Just another reason to validate advertising sucks!
Aqua Dots: Criticized for turning into a date rape drug if swallowed. 

Wired list their top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2007- number ten to number one:
"Transistors Get Way Smaller" 
"Scientists Clone Rhesus Monkey to Produce Stem Cells"
"Planet Discovered That Could Harbor Life"
"Engineers Create Transparent Material as Strong as Steel"
"Soft Tissue from T. Rex Leg Bone Analyzed"
"Laboratory Mice Cured of Rett Syndrome"
"Enzymes Convert Any Blood Type to O"
"Mummified Dinosaur Excavated and Scanned"
"Chimpanzees Make Spears for Hunting"
"Researchers Turn Skin Cells to Stem Cells."

Forbe's listed their top 10 best and worst stocks of 2007.

Lake Superior State University released their list of overused words and phrases from 2007.
This list includes:
perfect storm
organic
post-9/11
give back
random
emotional
 sweet
pop
under the bus
it is what it is

If that's not enough you can visit Time's 50 Top 10 Lists of 2007. 
They've covered: News; Arts & Entertainment; Science; Business; Tech & Sports; as well as Pop Culture.

Finally, Jay Graziani offers his wish list for offshore gambling in 2008 including:
Increased use of book-to-book transfers and account-to-account transfers.
A resolution to the U.S. legal situation.
Expanded mixed martial arts betting.
Pinnacle back online for U.S. bettors.
More bookmakers with cojones.

Our Nation is Now Dumber for This…Thank You for Your Participation!

I have to hand it to Burger King. 
Their new advertising campaign is a hell of a lot less creepy than their last one.  If I ever see that perverted looking king character again, it will be too soon.  He just makes me feel dirty.  He's always looking at me like I'm a piece of meat or something.
He makes me feel like he'll sodomize me, chop me up into little pieces and deposit my remains in many trash cans about the city.


Their new ad campaign, on the other hand, is somewhat interesting with a splash of mildly compelling.  I'm personally fascinated by the fact that some of the folks reacting to "no whopper" actually signed a release form to allow their image to be associated with the commercials. 

Freaking out in a business establishment doesn't top my list for images I'd like of myself generally circulated.  Regardless of how justified the reaction, freaking out on a hourly employee seems a bit heavy handed and asshole-ish.  I'd especially apply this impression to the guy who yells "get me a whopper" at the end of every commercial.

He looks like my old drunk uncle Stevie.  That old bastard was mean as hell and unpredictable.  He'd just as soon start throwing blows in a Dairy Queen as drop his trousers and deuce in the middle of the floor.  He was a dirty, old bastard my old drunk uncle Stevie.  There was nothing more comforting at night than having old drunk uncle Stevie's beer breath and cigarette stained fingers tucking you in; letting you know that he took care of the assholes at Burger King today. 

By god, he would've punched that kid in the face today if he didn't get his 'goddamn Whopper.'  Old drunk uncle Stevie would've killed that kid and not thought anything else about it.  Old drunk uncle Stevie don't play! 

Good old drunk uncle Stevie.  May his voice always be immortalized with his new catch phrase, "Get me a Whopper!"  It brings a tear to my eye to think that one day we may put that on his headstone when he dies (probably from slipping on the deuce he dropped in the middle of Wendy's when he was still screaming he wanted a Whopper.)

As for Burger King, the new ad campaign is definitely better than the old one.  When selecting mascots, the drunk red-neck always trumps the king and now I can definitively say that Burger King's ad campaign has surpassed Quiznos' roadkill campaign from years past in both taste and quality.

Plus the new ad campaign inspired this clip which is just funnier than hell.

Campaign Trail

Thursday the 2008 U.S. Presidential cycle officially gets started with the caucuses in Iowa. 

"Polls show Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina tied for the lead in Iowa."

Five days later, the New Hampshire primaries replay the drama in Iowa with the additional pressure of Iowa's return weighing down on everyone.  From the Republican side of the house, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney seem to be leading the pack in Iowa; however, this may be deceptive.

"Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have largely bypassed Iowa to focus on later states..."

McCain and Guiliani are gambling that the Mid-West is overrated, especially McCain.  Without a win in New Hampshire, McCain's campaign may take a serious blow.  He's a tough old codger though and will probably hold on until the last bitter breath is drawn from his last attempt to fulfill the duties of President of the United States of America. 

"[E]very four years the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire elevate or doom candidates..."

Therefore, most of the candidates are canvassing hard to squeeze the last bit of support out of Iowa like a lemon run too many times through a Juice Weasel.  A popular theme this go around seems to be an almost open attack on the powers that be.  It is a hard theme to galvanize people around- or really even discuss rationally- because there rarely are names given to these 'powers' other than "special interest" and "lobbyists."  Obama, Huckabee and Edwards have all spoken about trying to check influence and control.

"Edwards assured a crowd at a stop earlier in the day in Independence, Iowa, that he‘ll work diplomatically with fellow lawmakers and save his ire for the powerful interests."

Huckabee, on the other hand, seems to be scaring people within the Republican Party and potentially finding himself the target of a network of individuals within that organization (despite his early success in election polls.)

"The Republican establishment is galvanizing against upstart GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, worried that the former Arkansas governor is unreliably conservative and unprepared for the challenges of a general election campaign or the Oval office."

Apparently, conservative elements within the GOP have steadily begun voicing opposition to Huckabee's campaign.  It is assumed by some that without GOP support- and the money that comes along with GOP support- Mike Huckabee's campaign would be seriously wounded and more than likely unable to compete on February 5th when candidate nominations take place in 20 states at once.  A good showing in Iowa might do Huckabee good; however, money has been deemed "critical" to his campaign.  Without support from the GOP establishment, Huckabee would need to raise enough money to compete with GOP coffers.

"Republicans traditionally are a top-down organization, and want a nominee that comes from the establishment and will do the bidding of GOP leaders and organizations, political analysts on both parties say."

Doing "the bidding" is just how I like to romanticize the contest for President of the United States of America.

Question of the Week 

How do you feel about lying? 
Can it ever be okay to lie? 
Is it ever more than just a toleration- meaning can lying be a good thing?

Did you continue to perpetuate the lie of Santa Claus last year?  You know you'll eventually have to tell them?  Have you prepared your story yet?  Do you think that will rest easy on your conscience?

Back to the original question though, how do you feel about lying?

12/30:
(1865) Rudyard Kipling- He wrote The Jungle Book.
(1928) Bo Diddley- He's a legend.

(1959) Tracey Ullman- She's responsible for a lot of the Simpsons' success.
(1975) Tiger Woods- It's an amazing feat to get everyone to know your name.
(1984) Lebron James- Right now, he's the future of basketball.

12/31:
(1869) Henri Matisse- People still pay a lot of money for his paintings.
(1880) George C. Marshall- It's a hell of a thing having your name tied to the complete restructuring of an entire continent.
(1942) Andy Summers- The Police have some good jams.

(1943) John Denver- I don't care what anyone says, this guy could write music.


1/1:
(1735) Paul Revere- Birthdates are a funny thing when you go back this far.  Does anyone really know what day Mr. Revere was born?  He was a literate and crafty man.  A birthday can serve as a nice symbol when writing a myth.

(1752) Betsy Ross- One of the only women written into the Myth of America.  Perform a Google search on Ms. Ross.  Very few of those initial sites have anything to do with her as a person.  Compare and contrast with a Google search on Paul Revere?  What does that say about her?  What does that say about us?

(1919) J.D. Salinger- The Catcher in the Rye is a nice stop along a journey to understanding more.
(1943) Don Novello- He was associated with Saturday Night Live for a time.  That's good enough for a mention here.
(1958) Grandmaster Flash- This guy is given a lot of credit for being in the forefront of a large urban, social movement.  Although the video below doesn't deal directly with Grandmaster Flash for very long, it is an interesting perspective on the culture that Grandmaster Flash helped bring into existence.

1/2:
(1936) Roger Miller- "King of the Road" is an all time classic.


(1968) Cuba Gooding Jr.- I've got this joke that I'm probably the only person on the planet thinks is funny.  One day my friend tells me he saw Cuba Gooding Jr. in a restaurant a couple of days before.  I play like I don't really know who that is, so he's really trying to sell me on the fact that it was a big deal he was in the same restaurant as Cuba Gooding Jr.  I know who Cuba Gooding Jr. is but I play like I don't so my friend is really just laying it on thick.  Cuba was like a couple of tables away and all that jazz.  Finally, I ask him if he talked to Cuba and my friend said no.  I told my friend, "You should've gone up to him and said 'Dyno-Mite.'"  Rightfully so, my friend thinks this is a stupid idea but for the next hour, I keep hitting him with 'Dyno-Mite' and trying to make him feel stupid that he didn't say it to Cuba Gooding Jr.
Like I said, I'm probably the only person that finds that funny, but I'm smiling right now.

1/3:
(1892) J.R.R. Tolkien- I couldn't make it through the Hobbit on paper, but I made it through the movies.
(1945) Stephen Stills- Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young made great music.

(1946) John Paul Johns- Led Zeppelin is a group of legends.

(1952) Jim Ross- One of the best wrestling commentators of all time who should consider retirement.

1/4:
(1809) Louis Braille- He liberalized the world for blind people.
(1905) Sterling Holloway- I never knew his name, but his face was all over the place on television when I was a kid. 

He was the voice of the Cheshire Cat in Disney's Alice in Wonderland movie.
(1935) Floyd Patterson- It takes a special kind of person to step into a ring and take a couple of shots to the head.

1/5:
(1931) Robert Duvall- He's got a very impressive resume. 

(1950) Blondie- She had her moment.
(1969) Marilyn Manson- He's having his moment.

Belly Laugh

I've never seen him do stand up before, but judging from this clip Biff (Thomas Wilson) is a pretty funny guy.