McSweeney's

You should probably check out McSweeney's. Off beat, odd, damn funny, bizarre, even great writings can be found there. My latest quest is to publish on their so called "scrappy internet arm". I leave you with a short work in progress, which will no doubt leave you thinking, "What a jackhole!", unless you're familiar with some of the McSweeney genre. Or not.


One in a Series of Restaurant Reviews by Conan the Barbarian and Sobatai: Thief & Archer, as Told by Their Chronicler…


Restaurant: Aquilonia #42
Food: Southern Hyrkanian
Ambiance: Dank, though tastefully so

Sobatai: While the lizard appetizers are hot and crunchy, their presentation is pedestrian and ill suited to the tastes of wandering conquerors.

Conan: Thank Crom snakes are not on the menu. That’s a plus. I’m sick of those slithering harbingers of evil.

Illusion

Check out the Astronomy Picture of the Day for a fascinating illusion. (Direct link).

Global Warming Blah Blah Blah

I sent an email to the local coffee house, Polly’s (they happen to roast their own coffee beans onsite, unlike the other inferior neighborhood coffee places): Starbucks (two of them), Peet’s, Coffee, Bean, & Tea Leaf, Café de Roma, and the other myriad places whose names escape me at the moment. I can’t believe there are so many places to get coffee around my house.

Here’s the email I wrote: “Regarding the current 'green' craze: Suggest you offer 5 or 10 cent discounts on coffee for those who bring in their own coffee mugs, instead of using your house paper cups. Dig your coffee; keep it up...”


I’m all for conservation, meaning be responsible and don’t be an idiot.

As far as the big picture goes, (I’m now talking ‘abrupt climate change’) I’m still not sure what actions, if any, need to be taken by humanity as a whole to deal with the entire global warming issue. Increased awareness is good, despite the pretty crappy band lineup at Al Gore’s Live Earth concert thing. I think we should be spending more tax dollars on planetary science to continue to review our options.

Personally, at this point in time, if I were emperor, I would allocate more resources to the education of our (i.e. U.S., wait - OK upon re-reading this, not just U.S. kids, all of ‘em) children than any other program.

I’m all over the map on this blog entry, but it all ties together. Our kids need to be taught real facts, the need to question authority, to understand basic science, to challenge historical ‘consensus’ views, and then kick butt.

As far as emotional development goes, parents better seize the day, else MySpace and YouTube and the next online chapter of Webistan will prevail. Get tough: jack into your kid’s iPhones and be a commanding presence; I'm not talking spying - just guide them to maturity.

Of course, K and I don't have kids, so I'm forced to use 'reason' and 'imagination' when speaking of topics such as 'children'. C'est la vie. My hat is off to you, O parents of the 21st century.