On the way into the office today I heard a caller to a radio show say, in reference to the Virginia Tech incident, "You can't prevent crazy."
How true.
When things like this happen, be it in New York, Colorado, Oklahoma or Virginia, it seems that the typical knee-jerk reaction is "How could this have happened? Why didn't somebody stop it? There ought to be a law. We need new procedures to prevent this from happening again."
And after all of the discussions, hearings, interviews, analysis and reviews of procedures, such things end up (inevitably?) happening again.
Predictably, the discussion over the last day or so in the wall-to-wall media coverage has circled around questions like why the campus wasn't locked down earlier. Why did nobody see Cho's previous calls for help? How did he get the guns and ammo?
We need tighter gun control. We need more concealed carry. We need stricter campus security. Who is to blame?
All of this brushes aside the fact that the guy was crazy. We know he was crazy (aside from the obvious insanity of the act) because we are all crazy. Nobody is 100% sane (if there is such a thing).
Thankfully the vast majority of our individual neuroses don't manifest themselves in a shooting rampage. But we all have hang-ups about something. We learn to live with them, and we trust that everyone else will learn to live with their issues as well.
That some people don't, that they go off the rails as Ozzy says, is a calculated risk.
In our society, we've determined that we're willing to risk the occasional mass-murder so that we won't have to live under an oppressive totalitarian regime. We don't want our schools to resemble prisons. We don't want our interstate highways to look like Checkpoint Charlie. We don't want Big Brother looking over our shoulders every minute of every day. We don't want to give up our individual liberties.
Tragic as they are, incidents like the one that happened at Virginia Tech are the price we pay for living in an open society.
So what do we do?
We go home, embrace our loved ones, and thank whatever gods may be that we are alive and able to enjoy another day.
tagged: Virginia Tech, Cho Seung-hui, gun, Big Brother, tragedy, concealed carry, gun control
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
I was the ugly fat guy with the yellow shirt
It was great to meet you all in person.
What a strange feeling to meet people in the corporeal world that you previously knew only in the virtual one. How awkward to introduce yourself by name, then by blog?
Apologies to XO for having to ask twice for your name. I was honored to be in the presence of so much talent -- Greg, Michelle, Spyder, HIB, mToast, Cara and Eric.
I'm just sorry I had to leave early, but as I said family obligations demanded I head home early. I'll have to wait to see if that coward Tony showed up.
Anyway, it was great to meet you all, even the guys from The Pitch.
tagged: Kansas City, blog, blogger, meet-up
YouTube Tuesday: Vader + MST3K = Crazy hilarious
I've commented about RiffTrax, the video companions produced by the writers from MST3k. And I've mentioned Chad Vader in previous YouTube Tuesday features.
Now, the two great tastes taste great together.
Here's the background:
And here's a teaser of the result:
tagged: movie, YouTube, video, Chad Vader, MST3K, Mystery Science Theater, RiffTrax, pop culture
Now, the two great tastes taste great together.
Here's the background:
And here's a teaser of the result:
tagged: movie, YouTube, video, Chad Vader, MST3K, Mystery Science Theater, RiffTrax, pop culture
Monday, April 16, 2007
Book Report: The Road
All I can say is "wow" ... just... "wow"...
I bought Cormac McCarthy's latest opus The Road not because Oprah recently added it to the Oprah Book Cult, but because one of the smartest bloggers I know suggested it.
All of the comments I've heard about the story are true. It is dismal, and tragic and bleak. In fact, saying this story is bleak is like saying the Pope is a little bit Catholic. It's like calling Larry Moore "mature" (had to get a Larry Moore dig in there).
This is a raw cheerless book. And yet somehow, after consuming it in about a day and a half (I do have a job unfortunately) I wasn't depressed at all. In fact, quite the opposite.
In case you haven't heard about it yet, the story follows the struggles of an unnamed man and his young son as they trudge through a post-apocalyptic America on their way to the coast and what they hope will be a better life. Along the way, they face threats from starvation, freezing, sickness and (gulp) cannibals.
It seemed to me McCarthy was attempting to strip away everything but the essence of existence. He peeled off the unnecessary layers of luxury, money, success, power, religion (though not necessarily spirituality) and cheap sentimentality in an attempt to discuss the core issues of why we are here.
Reflective of this philosophy, the writing is sparse, like the landscape it is describing. Anything unessential has been left out -- even to the point of eliminating some punctuation and parts of sentences.
This is all to illustrate that there is one thing important in this story: The relationship between the man and his son. In the world that McCarthy has conjured, there is no reason to go on living other than their love for each other. They are "each other's world entire" as McCarthy writes.
And this is the hope and beauty of the story set in an altogether ugly world. That at the heart of everything, taking away all of that which we think is important, in the end love is what will sustain us.
There was much symbolism around the nature of God, good and evil, and all manner of ethical questions that smarter people than I will get into.
But for me, the book wasn't depressing. In fact, when I finished the final pages my only thought was that I wanted to pick up my 4-year-old daughter and give her a long hug.
And that's what I did.
Rating: Highly recommended
PS - I was remiss in omitting these excellent and insightful posts about The Road by other of the smartest bloggers I know:
I bought Cormac McCarthy's latest opus The Road not because Oprah recently added it to the Oprah Book Cult, but because one of the smartest bloggers I know suggested it.All of the comments I've heard about the story are true. It is dismal, and tragic and bleak. In fact, saying this story is bleak is like saying the Pope is a little bit Catholic. It's like calling Larry Moore "mature" (had to get a Larry Moore dig in there).
This is a raw cheerless book. And yet somehow, after consuming it in about a day and a half (I do have a job unfortunately) I wasn't depressed at all. In fact, quite the opposite.
In case you haven't heard about it yet, the story follows the struggles of an unnamed man and his young son as they trudge through a post-apocalyptic America on their way to the coast and what they hope will be a better life. Along the way, they face threats from starvation, freezing, sickness and (gulp) cannibals.
It seemed to me McCarthy was attempting to strip away everything but the essence of existence. He peeled off the unnecessary layers of luxury, money, success, power, religion (though not necessarily spirituality) and cheap sentimentality in an attempt to discuss the core issues of why we are here.
Reflective of this philosophy, the writing is sparse, like the landscape it is describing. Anything unessential has been left out -- even to the point of eliminating some punctuation and parts of sentences.
This is all to illustrate that there is one thing important in this story: The relationship between the man and his son. In the world that McCarthy has conjured, there is no reason to go on living other than their love for each other. They are "each other's world entire" as McCarthy writes.
And this is the hope and beauty of the story set in an altogether ugly world. That at the heart of everything, taking away all of that which we think is important, in the end love is what will sustain us.
There was much symbolism around the nature of God, good and evil, and all manner of ethical questions that smarter people than I will get into.
But for me, the book wasn't depressing. In fact, when I finished the final pages my only thought was that I wanted to pick up my 4-year-old daughter and give her a long hug.
And that's what I did.
Rating: Highly recommended
PS - I was remiss in omitting these excellent and insightful posts about The Road by other of the smartest bloggers I know:
- Joel from Cup o' Joel: The Road
- Randall Sherman at Musings from the Hinterland: Creation "Myths" Meet Creation Reality: Some Thoughts On Cormac McCarthy's The Road
Sunday, April 15, 2007
It sounded much funnier at midnight
The following IM conversation took place between 11:30 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. Saturday between myself and Xavier Onassis from HSWG.
And yes, on second thought, it is quite lame.
Here's the time and place for the blogger meetup. Be there or be somewhere else entirely:
And yes, on second thought, it is quite lame.
XO: Are you coming to the blog meet on Tuesday?
EmawKC: Still unsure. I may have family coming into town.
EmawKC: Of course they are in-laws, so it might be good to "get out of the house for a while"
EmawKC: What time you gonna get there?
XO: I work down town so I will probably be the first one there. 5ish.
XO: LOL!
Here's the time and place for the blogger meetup. Be there or be somewhere else entirely:
Tuesday, April 17thtagged: Kansas City, blog, blogger, meet up, happy hour, gondola, Clay Chastainfont>
Happy Hour until ????
Harry’s Country Club
(Harry’s in the River Market, NOT Harry’s in Westport)
112 Missouri Ave
Kansas City, MO 64106
Friday, April 13, 2007
Friday Blogthing: Sex and the City and Me
This seems to make a lot of sense. I think this actress who played this character turned out to be gay. So maybe I really am a lesbian trapped in a man's body.
tagged: Sex and the City, Miranda, Friday, blog, quiz, character, test, dating
| You Are Most Like Miranda! |
 While you've had your fair share of romance, men don't come first Guys are a distant third to your friends and career. And this independence *is* attractive to some men, in measured doses. Remember that if you imagine the best outcome, it might just happen. Romantic prediction: Someone from your past is waiting to reconnect... But you'll have to think of him differently, if you want things to work. |
tagged: Sex and the City, Miranda, Friday, blog, quiz, character, test, dating
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Imushamed
Well thank god science that's over.
CBS has made the right decision in listening to the clamoring mob and firing washed-up radio talk show host Don Imus for saying what nearly every hip-hop artist spews at 50 words per minute.
And I for one couldn't be happier. It's not that I really care what happens to Imus, or freedom of speech, or racial equality or the hypocrisy of cultural leaders or that the traumatized members of the Rutgers women's basketball team can now begin the process of healing and trying to avoid the fate of becoming crack whores because of the debilitating abuse of an old white geezer.
What I'm most grateful for is that now that our long national nightmare is over -- a nightmare that the mediots dutifully pasted wall-to-wall across the 24-hour news cycle -- we can begin to focus once again on the other important stories of the day.
Stories like:
tagged: Imus, race, culture, black, ho, Rutgers, Anna Nicole Smith, obesity gene, pet food, gonorrhea, free speech, hypocrisy
CBS has made the right decision in listening to the clamoring mob and firing washed-up radio talk show host Don Imus for saying what nearly every hip-hop artist spews at 50 words per minute.
And I for one couldn't be happier. It's not that I really care what happens to Imus, or freedom of speech, or racial equality or the hypocrisy of cultural leaders or that the traumatized members of the Rutgers women's basketball team can now begin the process of healing and trying to avoid the fate of becoming crack whores because of the debilitating abuse of an old white geezer.
What I'm most grateful for is that now that our long national nightmare is over -- a nightmare that the mediots dutifully pasted wall-to-wall across the 24-hour news cycle -- we can begin to focus once again on the other important stories of the day.
Stories like:- Who is really the father of Anna Nicole Smith's child?
- Who is poisoning our pets and elderly?
- Do these genes make me look fat?
- How will we survive the attack of the drug-resistant gonorrhea?
tagged: Imus, race, culture, black, ho, Rutgers, Anna Nicole Smith, obesity gene, pet food, gonorrhea, free speech, hypocrisy
More Bloch Building pics
In the interest of keeping everyone informed, I wanted to post a link to British design blog dezeen and it's photo feaure on the Steven Holl's Bloch Building.
They don't post any commentary, instead opting to go out on a limb with the press release issued by the Neslon-Atkins Museum of Art, but the images the feature are pretty amazing.
And there's not one mention the words "Butler Building."
tagged: Steven Holl, Nelson Atkins, art, architecture, Kansas City, museum
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The new N-word
I'm not sure whether it's good or bad that I'm just now learning about this Don Imus fiasco.
I have F-Bombs and Dan to thank for cluing me in (interesting how I'm learning about the "news" from bloggers now).
If you're clueless like me, here's the 411: Don Imus is in Dutch with the Blacks because he referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos". Offended Blacks and the PC Police want him fired for using the racial slur "nappy".
The aforementioned F-Bombs points out that even black people are racists when they use the term "nappy".
Dan throws in with Jason (half)Whitlock who notes that this is much ado about not very much and that "the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show."
That's a good point, and one that I've tried to make before.
Personally, I wonder why there is so much fury over Imus' use of the term "nappy," but nobody really cares that he called the women "hoes"?
tagged: Imus, race, culture, black, ho, Rutgers, Whitlock
I have F-Bombs and Dan to thank for cluing me in (interesting how I'm learning about the "news" from bloggers now).If you're clueless like me, here's the 411: Don Imus is in Dutch with the Blacks because he referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos". Offended Blacks and the PC Police want him fired for using the racial slur "nappy".
The aforementioned F-Bombs points out that even black people are racists when they use the term "nappy".
Dan throws in with Jason (half)Whitlock who notes that this is much ado about not very much and that "the gangsta rappers and their followers in the athletic world have far bigger platforms to negatively define us than some old white man with a bad radio show."
That's a good point, and one that I've tried to make before.
Personally, I wonder why there is so much fury over Imus' use of the term "nappy," but nobody really cares that he called the women "hoes"?
tagged: Imus, race, culture, black, ho, Rutgers, Whitlock
Book report: The Judgment of Paris
I don't really have room to complain. I've got a good job, wonderful family, nice house, tons of hipness.
But being this awesome does have its drawbacks.
For one thing, I don't have as much time for free reading as I used to have. That's why it has taken me two months to read the 375 pages of Ross King's The Judgment of Paris, which has been on my reading list since at least last August.
I was interested in this book for the subject matter (French art and the introduction of what became known as Impressionism), but also for the author. I had previously devoured King's Brunelleschi's Dome and was impressed with his ability to bring out the juice of history.
I wasn't disappointed in that regard with The Judgment of Paris. King has an ability to take the potentially dry dates and places of history and weave in the perspective and personality of the historical characters to make the events interesting and meaningful. In this way, for example, he connected the historical dots between the Battle of Puebla in Mexico (which gave us the Cinco de Mayo celebration) with the plight of starving French artists in 1860s Paris.
Le déjeuner sur l'herbe - Édouard Manet
The book chronicles and juxtaposes the lives of two Parsian artists through 1860s and 1870s France -- legend-in-his-own time Ernest Meissonier and legend-in-our-time Édouard Manet -- along with the social, political and cultural events of the time that produced artistic geniuses such as Monet, Degas, Cézanne, Renoir, Pissaro and others.
The account stresses the interrelatedness of events, attitudes and people and the affects of all of these on the course of artistic endeavor. It's not what I would call your typical Sunday afternoon page turner. The stories take an effort by the reader to keep track of names and time lines.
But the effort is paid off in an added interest and understanding of how and why the painters listed above became known as Impressionists (a pejorative term when first coined by Parisian art critics). It also gives a view, through the lens of history, of the fleeting nature of fame and the fickle nature of cultural fashion.
It also speaks to to the universal tendency of one generation to deride the artistic heights of the previous. Just like there was a disco record burning in Caminsky Park, there were calls by some French art critics burn all of Meissonier's work. It's interesting how history repeats itself.
King expounds further in this clip from a book signing courtesy of ForaTV:
tagged: book, art, literature, France, Paris, Ross King, Judgment of Paris, Impressionists, Manet, Monet, Meissonier
But being this awesome does have its drawbacks.
For one thing, I don't have as much time for free reading as I used to have. That's why it has taken me two months to read the 375 pages of Ross King's The Judgment of Paris, which has been on my reading list since at least last August.
I was interested in this book for the subject matter (French art and the introduction of what became known as Impressionism), but also for the author. I had previously devoured King's Brunelleschi's Dome and was impressed with his ability to bring out the juice of history.
I wasn't disappointed in that regard with The Judgment of Paris. King has an ability to take the potentially dry dates and places of history and weave in the perspective and personality of the historical characters to make the events interesting and meaningful. In this way, for example, he connected the historical dots between the Battle of Puebla in Mexico (which gave us the Cinco de Mayo celebration) with the plight of starving French artists in 1860s Paris.
Le déjeuner sur l'herbe - Édouard ManetThe account stresses the interrelatedness of events, attitudes and people and the affects of all of these on the course of artistic endeavor. It's not what I would call your typical Sunday afternoon page turner. The stories take an effort by the reader to keep track of names and time lines.
But the effort is paid off in an added interest and understanding of how and why the painters listed above became known as Impressionists (a pejorative term when first coined by Parisian art critics). It also gives a view, through the lens of history, of the fleeting nature of fame and the fickle nature of cultural fashion.
It also speaks to to the universal tendency of one generation to deride the artistic heights of the previous. Just like there was a disco record burning in Caminsky Park, there were calls by some French art critics burn all of Meissonier's work. It's interesting how history repeats itself.
King expounds further in this clip from a book signing courtesy of ForaTV:
tagged: book, art, literature, France, Paris, Ross King, Judgment of Paris, Impressionists, Manet, Monet, Meissonier
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