Amused Musings On A Slightly Absurd World

2011 in review

amused0472 — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:31:44 +0000

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 22 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Lesson Learned the Hard Way

amused0472 — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:51:58 +0000

This week a Dutch magazine called Jackie printed an article calling pop princess Rihanna a “n–gga bitch.” WTF???? The editor of the magazine apologized, calling the reference a “joke.” Rihanna put the editor on blast on Twitter and dropped an F-Bomb for good measure. The editor ended up resigning her job, but was still a bit clueless about the extent of her piss poor judgment. Here’s the lesson–white people can never use the ” n” word to refer to a black person. NEVER!!!!!!!!!!! It doesn’t matter if the use of the word is in jest or not. It’s hurtful and degrading in any and every perceivable context. So just fucking stop it.

Two Penguins in Love

amused0472 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 04:06:43 +0000

I thought this story was interesting. Apparently penguins sometimes pair into same-sex couples. Buddy and Pedro have bonded at the Toronto zoo, although zookeepers will be splitting them up placing them with females to preserve the species. I don’t know–I think Buddy and Pedro should be given an egg foster. What do you think?

My Qadaffi Moment

amused0472 — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:37:48 +0000

The dictator is dead. All the hoopla has reminded my of I trip I took to Egypt in 1988 as a high school exchange student. I had a host family and was able to hang out with the friends of my host family’s teen-aged daughters. One of the friends was an teenager who I believe was from Lebanon. Over 20 years later I remember him for two reasons. First, he had the most beautiful red-brown skin that I had ever seen. And his hair was the same color. I have never seen anyone else with that skin tone. Secondly, the boy couldn’t really speak any English and my Arabic was comprised of helpful phrases like “where’s the bathroom.” Anyway, when we met, he smiled at me with his beautiful skin and pearly whites and said “F–k Qadaffi!”And we bonded instantly. I suppose this sentiment has remained relevant to this very day.

WTF Moment of the Week 9/26/11

amused0472 — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:55:33 +0000

This week UC Berkeley College Republicans will be hosting a “Diversity Bake Sale.” See here. Yes, if you’re white, your cupcake will cost you $2, $1.50 if you’re Asian descent, $1 if you’re of Hispanic/Latino descent, $0.75 if you’re black, and $0.25 if you’re Native American. Also every woman gets $.25 off. What the *((()(&^^&%%%&%&^? Supposedly this little bake sale is supposed to be some sort of protest against affirmative action. My first thought was, are these guys insane–they go to Berkley the epitome of institutional liberalism. Granola, anyone? Next, what does this really say about affirmative action? Really all it says that cupcakes for white people are more highly valued than cupcakes for all other races. Really, what the fudge?

CeeLo as Urkel?????

amused0472 — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:13:27 +0000

Whatever, just don’t cry about it. Enjoy!

NYC Free Bird

amused0472 — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 23:58:47 +0000

New York has all kinds of headline-stealing critters: bed bugs, the Bronx Zoo Cobra, the JFK turtles. Not to be outdone, this week a peacock escaped from the Central Park Zoo and perched on the window ledge of a tony apartment building on Fifth Avenue. When he got tired of gawking at the locals, he went back home. See story here. Way to hold it down, free bird! LOL

The Debt Crisis in Song

amused0472 — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:32:29 +0000

I’m pretty much out of words to express my frustration about this whole debt ceiling mess in Washington. So I thought I’d pick a song that, at least in the chorus, sums up my feelings as a way to shout to the universe.

Check Yo’self

amused0472 — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:06:34 +0000

I’m an attorney and in the job I’ve been in for the past several years, I’ve seen all types of cases where people solve their problems with guns and knives. So not too much causes me pause. But today in the news there was a story about an off-duty McDonald’s manager who punched a woman in the face for bringing a service dog into the restaurant along with her two autistic children. I guess the manager lost her mind over the mistaken belief that the animal could not come into the restaurant. [Some people believe only dogs for the visually impaired are allowed into a public place, but in truth the law allows service animals for people with a wide range of disabilities.] Even if the off-duty manager believed she was right, how was punching someone in the face the answer to the problem? There were all sorts of ways to clear up the issue without violence. Now the manager has lost her job and is wanted by the police for assault and battery. Really, people? What in the hell are you thinking out there? You need to use your brains and not your fists. Chill the hell out.

Who’s Minding the Store?

amused0472 — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:11:24 +0000

Former Atlanta Public School (APS) superintendent Dr. Beverly Hall’s denials about anything about the rampant cheating at APS schools and Rupert Murdoch’s spectacular denial about the phone hacking going on at his global company have me really thinking about who’s in charge of these powerful organizations and who’s accountable for the intricate malfeasance which is wreaking havoc on innocent people’s lives.

Even if these two “really” didn’t “know” what was going on in their organizations, how could they have occupied top leadership positions? Their denials do nothing to absolve them of wrongdoing, but simply make them look superbly incompetent and sad, sad, sad. I mean, if you’re sitting on a shit pile, how can you not smell the stink?

No government investigation or hearing, threats of retribution, or pie in the face can do enough to make these scoundrels pay for the havoc they leave in their wake. And shame on us for being too apathetic to see that no one was minding the store until things got out of control.