Plural and mutable.
Just in case cleek doesn’t see my comment (which went into moderation due to excessive hyperlinks), here’s a list of author archive pages for Balloon-Juice frontpagers.
John Cole
Tim F.
Tom in Texas
Michael D
DougJ
Anne laurie
Dennis G
Randinho
Mistermix
Kay
E.D. Kain
Angry Black Lady
Tom Levenson
Freddie deBoer
Sarah Proud and Tall
SteveM
Libby Spencer
Zandar
Soonergrunt
I have so little to say, but I feel Steve Jobs’ passing as though he impacted my life directly. And in a way he did; every computer I’ve ever owned since 1984 was an Apple, and once I started programming I never really stopped.
Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
I think he understood more than anybody around him. He knew, back in the early days with Woz, that the real power of a PC was the “personal,” not the “computer.” He saw that a computer could be more than a hobby for electronics enthusiasts, and he saw that the devices we want to live with should be more than simply computers.
Everything the man touched was amazing, and I think it’s because he always kept his sights on the user, not only on the user of today but on the user of the future. I’m sure he was hell to work for, but that was undoubtedly inseparable from his dedication to his vision.
It’s painfully obvious that Apple will not be the same without him. To the extent that Apple has driven innovation in our electronic lifestyle — computers, music devices, smart phones — the rest of the world won’t be the same either.
Goodbye, Steve Jobs. Thank you.
Ripe mango for breakfast. Swimming at Stony Beach. Stuffed clams for lunch. Birdwatching in the backyard. A short nap. Steaks and corn on the grill. International folkdance at the town hall.
This is what I love in a vacation. Sightseeing is fine, but I’ll happily take ten days like this one.
On my way home from the office this afternoon, I crossed paths with a tall man dressed in black. As we approached one another, I gave him that casual nod you give to strangers, along with a non-committal “Hello there.”
As I spoke, he greeted me with, and I’m pretty sure I heard this correctly:
“Hello, Great One.”
And we both continued along our opposite directions. I caught his greeting too late to do anything but grin.
I don’t really know what it means; a brief stroll around Google doesn’t indicate that it’s a stock catchphrase of any group in particular (along the lines of “peace be with you,” my favorite line from Catholic services). But I liked it. I love when people break the boundaries of conventional interactions, especially in a heartening way.
To me, that surprise phrase communicates the universal respect expressed by “Thou art God,” but without the theological baggage. Thanks, stranger.
What are you stuck on?
The bow-tied apple-bobbing boy at 0:24 is “stuck on Band-Aid.”
The super-cheery firefighter at the beginning is “stuck on Band-Aid brand.”
The former is how I remember the jingle (which, apparently, was written by Barry Manilow) from the commercials of my 1970′s youth. “I am stuck on Band-Aid, ’cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me.” But already by 1980, the Marketing folks at Johnson & Johnson realized their brand was so successful, it had become a generic, and they tried to push back by reminding you that it’s a “Band-Aid brand” adhesive bandage.
Of course, this screws with the meter of the jingle. But they weren’t about to throw away a tune that had so thoroughly infiltrated the nation’s collective mental playlist, so they simply shoehorned the extra word in there. As a result, it sounds rushed — it sounds like an afterthought, because that’s what it is.
But the brand identity people don’t care. They would rather break the jingle than erode their brand.
I don’t know why this bugs me, but it always has. It offends my sensibilities. It reinforces my prejudice that Marketing people have no souls. (Disclaimer: I have friends in Marketing. I’m quite sure they have souls. At least, when they’re at home they do.)
I just can’t stop noticing it.
KCFW’s second digital channel started broadcasting today. Looks like they’ve picked up programming from MeTV, a Chicago station that shows comedies and dramas from the 1950s through the 1980s.
It’s probably nothing special to cable subscribers who have had TV Land and Nick at Night for years, but for those of us using only an antenna, this provides an opportunity to catch shows I haven’t seen since UHF: Dobie Gillis, The Twilight Zone, Dick Van Dyke, Bonanza, and on and on.
Only one real complaint so far: the video and the audio aren’t quite in sync. Its sound is behind by just a fraction of a second — enough to be annoying. Hopefully they’ll get this straightened out soon.
Amanda Marcotte points out that misogynistic “pro-life” jerks like Kansas Republican Pete DeGraaf, who essentially compared rape to getting a flat tire, are usually married with children, so they must have an enormous disconnect from the daily realities of motherhood. Amanda initially suggests that their wives must be skilled at shielding their husbands from the truth, but most commenters agreed that these guys are willfully oblivious.
On a tangential note, Amanda made an offhand comment about how as a pet owner, she requires a lot of her boyfriend’s support, so how much more difficult must it be for mothers of humans to go it alone:
I mean, a pet is like 5% hassle, 95% fun, and with kids, the ratio is more like 75-25, especially when they’re little.
Naturally, several commenters seized on this “75-25 ratio” and ran with it, debating whether the “hassle” number is higher, lower, depends on the kid, depends on their age, etc. A lot of good points were made, but I have to disagree with the fundamental assumption.
Raising children is 100% hassle. Even when it’s fun.
Parenting eats your life. At least, it’s eaten mine. Once that little person enters your household, your time isn’t yours. Even when they’re sleeping or away at day care, you’re still on call 24/7. That doesn’t mean you don’t ever get to relax or have fun, it just means that your needs and interests no longer come first. You want to do your own thing, that’s fine, but you have to plan it around the children.
For many of us, the time that most resembles life before children is time at work. When I’m at the office, I’m tending to responsibilities that have nothing to do with my family obligations. In our patriarchal society, that means fathers (who work outside the home) get to spend more time in a non-parenting role. We might have a demanding job with lots of responsibility and little self-direction, but it’s still ultimately our own time.
Conversely, you might have a great time playing in the sandbox or building with Legos or reading a story with your child, but that time is still not yours. It may be a joy, it may be frustrating, but either way, it’s not about you.
Maybe I’m interpreting the word “hassle” too broadly; I think most people read it to imply an irritation. But in context, Amanda used the word to contrast with “ease,” and I think she’s right: when you’re in a parenting role — a role that the traditional patriarchal marriage allows the father to spend very little time in — it’s sometimes fun, often rewarding, but never really what I’d call “easy.”
My firstborn turns five today. Happy Birthday son!
As my wife began planning for his birthday party, several of our friends told her, “Five is a big birthday!” or words to that effect. This came as a surprise to both of us. Not that five isn’t a big deal, but that’s because every birthday is kind of a big deal when you’re a kid.
I’m not really sure why people were singling out the fifth year as some kind of milestone. I understand the attraction to multiples of ten and five, but that makes more sense when you’re older; 25, 30, 40, 50. It seems like the first couple decades of life have enough concrete milestones, having to do either with physical development or societal rules, that there’s no need to rely on properties of numbers.
I’m sure I’m missing a bunch.
I noticed yesterday evening that KCFW, the NBC affiliate that broadcasts on digital channel 9 here in Kalispell, started multicasting. For the time being, channels 9-2 and 9-3 display nothing more than a test pattern (and the words “NBC MONTANA SDI TEST”).
The station’s website was unsurprisingly uninformative about this new development (television stations tend to treat their websites as an extension of their local news broadcast, rather than as a place for information about the station itself), so I stopped by the station’s office to ask in person.
The front desk clerk didn’t tell me much — she said she didn’t know most of the details, and I see no reason not to believe her — but she confirmed that the station plans to begin broadcasting additional programming, and they’re hoping to start by the end of May. What will the programming consist of? The receptionist said the station managers are still deciding, possibly still in negotiations, so your guess is as good as mine.
I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing one of NBC’s sister channels (CNBC or MSNBC) coming in over the air. But considering that our local ABC station’s second digital channel is a FOX/My Network TV feed, and the CBS affiliate multicasts with the CW, the possibilities are pretty wide open. We’ll know soon enough.
Whatever the final selection, I’m happy to see this. Broadcast television remains pretty limited in the Flathead Valley, so this latest development will add welcome diversity to what’s available.
Update 5/28: 9-2 is up, showing MeTV.
Update 6/1: According to RabbitEars, 9-3 will be This TV, another channel specializing in retro programming.
