I watched the 1975 movie Rollerball last weekend and was told afterwards that there was a lot of brouhaha about its violence when it was released. I suddenly realized how jaded I have become to movie violence. It’s not that I enjoy or sit calmly through the violence, but nowadays I expect it to be there and either prepare myself to endure it or avoid movies that depend on it. Since Rollerball is a tale of the entertainment of the future, I suppose it could be taken as a warning against complacency towards violence. We shall see where the scheduled remake falls in the horror scale.

GirlHacker’s checklist for quitting work:

• DSL ordered (through provider willing to first try ADSL at 13,000+ feet)
• ergonomically correct chair ordered
• internal networking strategy research begun (Intel’s Anypoint wireless does not yet support W2K or NT. Hmph.)
• 8 inches of hair chopped off (ummm well, it seems relevant somehow) (don’t worry, it’s still long)
• inline skates tuned up, ABEC-5 bearings drooled over at sporting goods store

I’ve been meaning to write about the unique garden.com “living” billboard on 101 for a while. Luckily, Salon just did a short piece on their marketing tactics so I have more trivia to pass along. The billboard is white with tubing in the shape of “garden.com”. Creeping fig vines are wrapped around the tubing. I watched the progress of its construction each morning, wondering what the heck they were up to, and when the tubing went up, I thought it was going to be a neon sign. I was impressed when the greenery went up, even more so when I realized, as it wilted and was reworked, that it was alive. Garden.com also has seasonal business cards and stationery, and “employees drink out of mugs in the shape of flower pots.”

Of course Jim Romenesko has done a wonderful job rounding up the choiciest articles on Helen Thomas’ departure from UPI. International Editor Lee Katz also resigned with the change in ownership, and he had no qualms about pinning his departure on the ultra-conservative affiliation. One of my favorite media sites, the Online Journalism Review, has a wonderful article on UPI’s ongoing demise. “The shabby remains of United Press are now in the hands of the Moonies, and nobody who claims to be a journalist will come anywhere near it.”
It closes with this wonderful plea: “Helen, I hope you’re on the phone with the big papers right now, because if that damned Dubya wins the White House, we need you there to give him hell.” (I’m not decided on the pres. election yet, but I liked this quote. Heck, substitute in whatever candidate you want and it’s still great!) An article in NewsForChange says it best: “A classy broad steps down”.

Bob Blumer, better known as The Surreal Gourmet, has released a new cookbook called Off the Eaten Path. And he’s going on a 3 month, 30 city tour in “an Airstream trailer, customized with a $35,000 industrial kitchen, and topped with 2 giant slices of toast.” (yum, toast!) He fills his books with wonderfully punny artwork that he does himself. Some of his recipes are equally off the wall, such as his method for poaching salmon in the dishwasher.

Helen Thomas, the most senior correspondent covering the White House, is resigning from UPI after 57 years. UPI was just sold to News World Communications Inc., which was founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church. Like the consummate professional that she is, Thomas did not state any reasons for her departure, and wished the new management of UPI well. Her seniority entitles her to be first for questions at news conferences, so you may have often heard Presidents saying “Helen?” right after finishing statements to the press. She also closes conferences with a “Thank you, Mr. President.” She may be back on the White House beat if she chooses to find similar work, but I’m wondering who is next on the seniority list? And will that person take over voicing the now traditional thanks to the President?

My favorite part of the Aimee Mann & Michael Penn show (probably because they didn’t do it last time I saw them) was their mini-rendition of “I’ve Got You Babe”. Michael does a clever Sonny Bono impression. Aimee claims to not do any impressions, but she did do her own parody of Michael. They’re back in Saratoga in August (yes, we already have tickets).

Those spammers have such clever subject headings. In addition to the usual porn and money headlines, I’m now getting stuff like “Why did you say that about me??” (uhhh, sorry. How did you know I was going to curse you for sending me unsolicited email?)

The subconscious can be a wonderfully helpful thing, but I wish mine were more eloquent.
All my dreams last night were about people breaking into my place. This morning, I couldn’t find my keys.
Turns out I had left them in the door — overnight. Whoops.

Researchers have posed various theories about the causes of left-handedness. Various statistics, such as identical twins with different handedness, have blown most genetic theories. Some theorized that differences in development in the womb was a factor. This NY Times article describes Dr. Amar J. S. Klar’s hypothesis that there is a specific dominant gene that causes right-handedness. If that gene is not present, a person has a 50-50 chance of being right or left-handed. William H. Calvin has a wonderful essay that presents the natural selection-based theory that females carrying infants next to their hearts and throwing stones at small animals led to right-handedness predominance.