Not quite a post in themselves, but a few things I enjoyed this week:
First: A contest worthy of the style and sophistication of Liz and J drunk dancing. "Guitar Xpress," is looking for your best air guitar grimace:
Pretenders to the throne of, say, Angus Young of AC/DC (among the widely acknowledged kings of extreme-pain guitar face) or Stevie Ray Vaughn (who patented a kind of uncontrolled hideous laughing look) or Eddie Van Halen (of the prolonged wide-open-mouth school) can take a picture of their own look and send it via e-mail to [email protected] or mail it to the company, which has lined up a panel of celebrity guitarist judges including Dick Dale, Roger McGuinn and J. J. French of Twisted Sister. When the contest ends in October, the winner will end up with an Epiphone guitar, 15 or maybe even 20 seconds of fame and possibly calls from reality-show casting directors offering more. :New York Times, July 22, 2004. Full article.
On demand guitar lessons, contest details and more
Second, this is the under-reported position of the season. One of the key arguments from Marriage Amendement supporters is that heterosexual couples are a necessary foundation of society (and the smooth functioning there of). But what do the experts on the history of societies have to say? Well, the American Anthropological Association, for one, says it’s just more bushit:
The results of more than a century of anthropological research on households, kinship relationships, and families, across cultures and through time, provide no support whatsoever for the view that either civilization or viable social orders depend upon marriage as an exclusively heterosexual institution. Rather, anthropological research supports the conclusion that a vast array of family types, including families built upon same-sex partnerships, can contribute to stable and humane societies.The Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association strongly opposes a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.
And speaking of … well, the third one deals with excrement of a different matter. Chicago’s aviation boss declared Tuesday that all execs with a title of assistant commissioner or above will spend an eight-hour shift mopping bathroom floors, emptying trash cans, washing sinks and cleaning toilets. Many of the approximately 20 executives on the hook, including Aviation Commissioner John Roberson himself, make more than $100,000 a year. I’m assuming this is a casual day at work.
Flak Magazine grew leaps and bounds last week with the addition of a new column – The Weekly Shredder. “Flak Magazine will begin a weekly excavation of the country's political archives in search of lies, hidden news and hilarious bloopers... so you don't have to.” The commentary is quick and witty – and, better, wildly well informed.
Read this week by J. Daniel Janzen or last week by James Norton
posted by Leigh Householder
That is the best picture ever. I think we should post that everywhere.
Posted by: erik | July 23, 2004 at 12:40 PM
those are definitely introspective looks. what song were we so impassioned about, anyway?
Posted by: liz | July 23, 2004 at 01:45 PM