2006-03-27
Hustle Wit
Media Matters - Only on Fox: "All-Out Civil War in Iraq: Could It Be a Good Thing?". On another note, the more I think about the Fox/Rove Reality Engineering approach to media and politics, the more I find the Urban Dictionary useful. Where else would I find such words as Hustla, Chimpy McFlightsuit, and McDumbass?
Now watch all the MSM, the Blogapologists and the dildoids reach to the gangsta cookie jar...Up jump the boogie!
Now watch all the MSM, the Blogapologists and the dildoids reach to the gangsta cookie jar...Up jump the boogie!
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2006-03-23
Dr. Strangetrust or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Capitalism
For the last 10 years, with all the traveling I do, I have been wondering how come European and Japanese airlines are capable of turning huge profits, when American ones linger in bankruptcy? This is all the more puzzling when the service in American carriers is so appalling: from dirty planes to flight attendants who measure the few drops of coke you get with your ice (wine is extra$$$) and the bags of 6 peanuts you get with your ticket.
And if you have kids, on a European Airline you typically get a nice goody bag with crayons, toys, and books; on American airlines, if the kid is lucky, he gets a lame card with a plane -- on our last trip, my 5 year old, when for politeness sake I insisted he would take the lame card from the captain, told me (luckily in Portuguese), "but dad, I can print a bigger one from the web, and I have my GameBoy until we get on the Air France flight". OK, so he is a little spoiled, but he knows what's good, and American Airlines aren't.
But then, what or who is leaching American carriers? It certainly ain't the service... I used to hear that it were the employee unions, but now, the funniest Republican in America, dear old Ben Stein explained it to me! I am now hiding my Thatcher-youth posters in shame... Who would think the popular capitalist utopia would revert to this?
Do read Ben Stein's article. It is an absolute must, and you'll understand the Orson Wells photo!
"So here it is in a nutshell: employees are goaded into investing a big chunk of their wages and benefits in UAL stock. They lose that. Then they lose big parts of their pay and pensions. They become peons of UAL. Management gets $480 million, more or less. 'Creative destruction'? Or looting?" Full article.
And if you have kids, on a European Airline you typically get a nice goody bag with crayons, toys, and books; on American airlines, if the kid is lucky, he gets a lame card with a plane -- on our last trip, my 5 year old, when for politeness sake I insisted he would take the lame card from the captain, told me (luckily in Portuguese), "but dad, I can print a bigger one from the web, and I have my GameBoy until we get on the Air France flight". OK, so he is a little spoiled, but he knows what's good, and American Airlines aren't.
But then, what or who is leaching American carriers? It certainly ain't the service... I used to hear that it were the employee unions, but now, the funniest Republican in America, dear old Ben Stein explained it to me! I am now hiding my Thatcher-youth posters in shame... Who would think the popular capitalist utopia would revert to this?
Do read Ben Stein's article. It is an absolute must, and you'll understand the Orson Wells photo!
"So here it is in a nutshell: employees are goaded into investing a big chunk of their wages and benefits in UAL stock. They lose that. Then they lose big parts of their pay and pensions. They become peons of UAL. Management gets $480 million, more or less. 'Creative destruction'? Or looting?" Full article.
2006-03-18
LIVE 8 DVD
"Live 8 was the greatest cultural event in our modern age. The answer is no longer blowing in the wind. There is nothing you can do that can't be done. We all were heroes just for one day. All you do need is love". (Paul Vallely)
Watch footage from that day and many other clips at the LIVE 8 DVD website. Make Poverty History.
Watch footage from that day and many other clips at the LIVE 8 DVD website. Make Poverty History.
2006-03-17
Five Years
"Gasoline prices [...] have risen by 60 percent in the last five years". A Senate Panel Interrogates Wary Oil Executives - New York Times
Ummm, five years...? It's a great Bowie track, but didn't an election happen then? Thanks for a job well done, guys. Oh well, here's Bowie...
A video of Bowie with the Arcade Fire performing Five Years at Fashion Rocks
Ummm, five years...? It's a great Bowie track, but didn't an election happen then? Thanks for a job well done, guys. Oh well, here's Bowie...
A video of Bowie with the Arcade Fire performing Five Years at Fashion Rocks
2006-03-15
Vida Artificial
Aqui está mais uma razão para estar tão ocupado mais um pouco de umbiguismo: Luís Rocha preside a conferência sobre duas décadas de Vida Artificial
P.S. Um muito grande shout out para o grande Vitorino Ramos, agora junto aos meus hangouts!
P.S. Um muito grande shout out para o grande Vitorino Ramos, agora junto aos meus hangouts!
A trip to vulgaria
Recently, I was in Maui for a conference and stayed at the Grand Wailea Resort. This is supposed to be one of the most luxurious hotels in Hawaii. I thought that there was something wrong with me for not enjoying the resort, for feeling overwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, the views are gorgeous, and the kids loved the beach and the crazy activity pool. But I am just too snob to enjoy a place like this. Today, while reading the Men's fashion spring 2006 NYTimes supplement I found the words to capture what I felt then, something Coco Chanel once said: "Luxury is not the opposite of poverty but the opposite of vulgarity". This is why I felt at this hotel the way I feel at the Cheesecake factory in the supposedly upscale malls throughout America.
BTW: I just thought of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Vulgaria from another time.
BTW: I just thought of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Vulgaria from another time.
2006-03-14
Joyride with Helga
Hello World,
Just came back from my Atlantic Ping Pong. I am shopping around for a new car, and while looking for the updated version of what I currently drive (a 1997 VW Golf GTI VR6) I went for a Joyride with Helga. Try it out, spec up your GTI Mk V and enjoy the ride. Achtung Baby, Helga ain't like a smooth Jazz virgin...Schnell, I vill pimp ur ride, auf Wiedersehen, Sucka!
Just came back from my Atlantic Ping Pong. I am shopping around for a new car, and while looking for the updated version of what I currently drive (a 1997 VW Golf GTI VR6) I went for a Joyride with Helga. Try it out, spec up your GTI Mk V and enjoy the ride. Achtung Baby, Helga ain't like a smooth Jazz virgin...Schnell, I vill pimp ur ride, auf Wiedersehen, Sucka!
