Spare Thoughts
I've noticed that no matter how full I am, or how recently I just ate, if there's guacamole in front of me, I will eat it. Even when it's mediocre guacamole, I still can't not eat it. I don't normally crave guacamole, but when it's just sitting there, it's virtually impossible not to eat. For me, guacamole is kind of like Rocky IV. Everyone agrees it is awesome, but you typically wouldn't plan your night around watching Rocky IV. But if it's on, man, it's pretty much impossible not to watch.
Steve alerted me to ESPN Classic showing reruns of American Gladiators at 7 pm on weekdays. ESPN Classic could be awesome but isn't - I guess they're afraid of showing anything remotely interesting 98% of the time in fear that it will divert ratings away from their more meaningful sister channels, so they show kickboxing and karate and poker reruns around the clock. Finally with American Gladiators, they've found something that isn't sports, but also doesn't suck. The show was great - I don't know why it wouldn't work today, I'm sure I'd still watch. I always enjoyed the comedy of jackasses like Nitro and Turbo, and the challenges were always cool, particularly the joust and the atlasphere, where they rolled around in those steel cages. They never implemented the "Fastest Steroid Injection" competition like I kept suggesting. I guess no one read all those letters I sent in.
What I've been reading: More Sex is Safer Sex, by Steven Landsburg. It's sort of a wannabe Freakonomics, with more absurd conclusions and less supporting hard data. It's also not as tightly written, but despite the flaws, it's still an interesting read. The title comes from an essay Landsburg published for Slate in 1996, arguing that increased sexual activity from sexual conservatives would create a safer environment. He implicitly contends that pro-abstinence campaigns are likely to resonate more strongly with sexual conservatives, thereby biasing the pool even more towards those who are infected. The more clean people in the pool, the less chance your random hookup poses any danger. He fleshes his thoughts out much better than that in the link, and even more so in his book. An interesting viewpoint, which is, within certain boundaries, quite clearly correct. Not everything else he throws against the wall works, but the book is engaging and clever.
What I've been listening to: I finally got around to buying Lupe Fiasco's debut album, Food & Liquor. It's been out for half a year already, but somehow I never got around to listening to it even though I loved the initial single "Kick, Push", a masterful skateboarding-coming-of-age story with a great hook. The rest of the album is consistently thoughtful and entertaining, and Lupe Fiasco exhibits the same electric flow as he had on Kanye West's "Touch The Sky" on nearly every track. It's my favorite rap album since Talib Kweli's "Quality" - I don't know many people who listen to this sort of stuff, but if you do, check out Lupe Fiasco's "Hurt Me Soul", "The Instrumental", or "Just Might Be OK". Best stuff I've heard in a while. Or listen to Avril and Fall Out Boy - I'm not here to judge. Really.
I've noticed that no matter how full I am, or how recently I just ate, if there's guacamole in front of me, I will eat it. Even when it's mediocre guacamole, I still can't not eat it. I don't normally crave guacamole, but when it's just sitting there, it's virtually impossible not to eat. For me, guacamole is kind of like Rocky IV. Everyone agrees it is awesome, but you typically wouldn't plan your night around watching Rocky IV. But if it's on, man, it's pretty much impossible not to watch.
Steve alerted me to ESPN Classic showing reruns of American Gladiators at 7 pm on weekdays. ESPN Classic could be awesome but isn't - I guess they're afraid of showing anything remotely interesting 98% of the time in fear that it will divert ratings away from their more meaningful sister channels, so they show kickboxing and karate and poker reruns around the clock. Finally with American Gladiators, they've found something that isn't sports, but also doesn't suck. The show was great - I don't know why it wouldn't work today, I'm sure I'd still watch. I always enjoyed the comedy of jackasses like Nitro and Turbo, and the challenges were always cool, particularly the joust and the atlasphere, where they rolled around in those steel cages. They never implemented the "Fastest Steroid Injection" competition like I kept suggesting. I guess no one read all those letters I sent in.
What I've been reading: More Sex is Safer Sex, by Steven Landsburg. It's sort of a wannabe Freakonomics, with more absurd conclusions and less supporting hard data. It's also not as tightly written, but despite the flaws, it's still an interesting read. The title comes from an essay Landsburg published for Slate in 1996, arguing that increased sexual activity from sexual conservatives would create a safer environment. He implicitly contends that pro-abstinence campaigns are likely to resonate more strongly with sexual conservatives, thereby biasing the pool even more towards those who are infected. The more clean people in the pool, the less chance your random hookup poses any danger. He fleshes his thoughts out much better than that in the link, and even more so in his book. An interesting viewpoint, which is, within certain boundaries, quite clearly correct. Not everything else he throws against the wall works, but the book is engaging and clever.
What I've been listening to: I finally got around to buying Lupe Fiasco's debut album, Food & Liquor. It's been out for half a year already, but somehow I never got around to listening to it even though I loved the initial single "Kick, Push", a masterful skateboarding-coming-of-age story with a great hook. The rest of the album is consistently thoughtful and entertaining, and Lupe Fiasco exhibits the same electric flow as he had on Kanye West's "Touch The Sky" on nearly every track. It's my favorite rap album since Talib Kweli's "Quality" - I don't know many people who listen to this sort of stuff, but if you do, check out Lupe Fiasco's "Hurt Me Soul", "The Instrumental", or "Just Might Be OK". Best stuff I've heard in a while. Or listen to Avril and Fall Out Boy - I'm not here to judge. Really.
1 comment:
My favorite American Gladiators game was Assault. My brother and I used to play it in our basement with nerf guns.
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