Total Perspective Vortex
What really happened to Trillian? Theories abound, but you can see what she's really been up to on this blog. If you're looking for white mice, depressed robots, or the occasional Pan Galactic Gargleblaster you might be better served here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/guide/.
Don't just sit there angry and ranting, do something constructive.
In the words of Patti Smith (all hail Sister Patti): People have the power.
Contact your elected officials.
Don't be passive = get involved = make a difference.
Words are cool.
The English language is complex, stupid, illogical, confounding, brilliant, beautiful, and fascinating.
Every now and then a word presents itself that typifies all the maddeningly gorgeousness of language. They're the words that give you pause for thought. "Who came up with that word? That's an interesting string of letters." Their beauty doesn't lie in their definition (although that can play a role). It's also not in their onomatopoeia, though that, too, can play a role. Their beauty is in the way their letters combine - the visual poetry of words - and/or the way they sound when spoken. We talk a lot about music we like to hear and art we like to see, so let's all hail the unsung heroes of communication, poetry and life: Words.
Here are some I like. (Not because of their definition.)
Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Smart Girls
(A Trillian de-composition, to the tune of Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys)
Mama don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
Don’t let them do puzzles and read lots of books
Make ‘em be strippers and dancers and such
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
They’ll never find men and they’re always alone
Even though men claim they want brains
Smart girls ain’t easy to love and they’re above playing games
And they’d rather read a book than subvert themselves
Kafka, Beethoven and foreign movies
And each night alone with her cat
And they won’t understand her and she won’t die young
She’ll probably just wither away
Mama don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
Don’t let them do puzzles and read lots of books
Make ‘em be strippers and dancers and such
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
They’ll never find men and they’re always alone
Even though men claim they want brains
A smart girl loves creaky old libraries and lively debates
Exploring the world and art and witty reparteé
Men who don’t know her won’t like her and those who do
Sometimes won’t know how to take her
She’s rarely wrong but in desperation will play dumb
Because men hate that she’s always right
Mama don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
Don’t let them do puzzles and read lots of books
Make ‘em be strippers and dancers and such
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
They’ll never find men and they’re always alone
Even though men claim they want brains
Life(?) of Trillian
Single/Zero
Friday, May 24, 2013
Okay look, I'm sick of the Detroit bashing. We have a great hockey and baseball legacy. The Tigers and Red Wings mean a lot to Detroiters and Michiganders. Yes, they're our teams, but we also see them as ambassadors. They represent us. If it's possible for Detroit to produce high caliber sports teams, maybe, just maybe, Detroiters aren't as awful as the press we get.
I suspect that's part of the hatred for Detroit sports teams: Fans of other cities' teams can't wrap their heads around getting beat by a team from lowly Detroit. Accepting and admitting a Detroit sports team is, gulp, good, means admitting there's something positive about Detroit. Apparently that's just not something a lot of people are willing to admit. Detroit has been America's scapegoat and butt of jokes for so long that it's become impossible to accept or admit that anything good can come from there. (Every Motown artist of merit, Iggy Pop, MC5, Marshall Crenshaw, Eminem, Jack White, Detroit Cobras (to name but a few), Jerry Bruckheimer, Sam Raimi (and Bruce Campbell), and hundreds of actors past and present, myriad Pulitzer prize winners, and, oh yeah, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford (okay, Edison was from up the road in Port Huron, but close enough to count) But, yeah, nothing and no one of merit has ever come out of Detroit.
Yes, there are financial and political issues, serious financial and political issues. (Do not get me started on the recent rumor about selling art from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Seriously. Do not get me started on this unless you want to hear me swear and cry and finally get into a fetal position rocking in a dark corner.) And there is the crime that stems from financial and political issues. But like the urban blight, crime is limited to specific areas of Detroit. The rest of the metropolitan area is home to decent, neighborly, interesting, and yes, often very down-to-earth people. Sure, some are a little quirky, and some are not the savviest, but that's the cool thing about Michigan in general. We're comfortable in our skin and accept our neighbors, whatever their particular skin is. We help each other, we genuinely care, we give second chances. We defy general categories. We are proudly not the East or West coast, and we're not even really Midwestern. We're a couple of peninsulas. And each peninsula just one small border shy of being an island. It is my long held believe that is a key factor in the unique social and cultural composition of Michigan.
What really makes me angry, frustrates me, is that very often the people who bash Detroit have never been within 300 miles of Michigan, much less Detroit. You think the octopus on the ice at Red Wings games is barbaric and emblematic of the violent mentality in Detroit? You're entitled to your opinion, but there's more to it than what most people realize.
I'm an animal rights person AND a lifelong Red Wings fan. I do not condone the practice of throwing any animal, dead or alive anywhere, especially in a nationally televised arena.
No. Octopi are not native to the Great Lakes.
But. In fairness to Detroit, there is a long standing large Greek population in Detroit. Detroit's Greektown is incredible, the food is 100% authentic and Greek Detroiters are warm, friendly, full of zest and are part of the very unique (and I mean that in a positive way) tapestry of Detroit. Detroit would not be Detroit without its Greeks.
But because of the large Greek population and the large number of authentic Greek restaurants in and around Detroit, authentic Greek ingredients are abundant and easy to find in and around Detroit. Octopi are a staple of Greek cuisine and feature prominently in many dishes. (Braised octopus is a favorite of some of my Detroit friends of Greek heritage, others like it grilled, and of course calamari is very popular. I don't eat it, but I'm often told calamari at any Detroit Greektown restaurant is the best you'll get in the US. Calamari has been served at every Red Wings party I've ever attended in Southeast Michigan,
and most bars feature calamari specials during the playoffs. ) So, yes, it is very easy to find octopi of many types, sizes and origins in Detroit. They are plentiful. Even my itty bitty home town's grocery carries them or will special order them if you want a specific type.
Further, the Eastern Market, which is a huge, fabulous, storied, historic farmer's market in Detroit and the origin of the original Red Wings octopus tradition, has vendors who sell all manner of animals, dead and alive. You can even choose a live animal and have it slaughtered on site so you can have the freshest meat possible. This is normal and important to cultures other than American, and
Eastern Market is one of the few authentic, real deal farmer's markets
in the US featuring honest field to fork foods. While I suggest vegetarians and vegans avoid the meat and fish stalls, the rest of Eastern Market is a great experience that is truly rich in culture and hospitality. (An unfortunate scene involving sheep at a childhood visit to the Eastern Market helped make me the vegetarian I am today, but I don't hold that against anyone.)
The reality is that if those octopi weren't thrown on the ice, they'd be dinner at a restaurant or home. Like I said, I don't condone the practice, and I don't eat animals, but there are local cultural factors to consider before condemning the entire state of Michigan as violent neanderthals.
Here's the equation:
A hockey team has to win 8 games in two 7-game playoff series to get the Cup. Octopi have 8 tentacles. Detroit has access to a lot of octopi thanks to the Greek population. Yadda yadda yadda, a tradition in the playoffs was born. (And no, that doesn't explain the tossing of octopi for a hat trick.)
I believe in dignity and respect for all living, or once living, creatures, so no, one more time with feeling, I do not condone the practice. Many (many) Red Wings fans, vegetarian and otherwise, do not. But I do understand there are cultural and local reasons behind it. To Detroiters, octopi are as normal as cows and chickens in the butcher case. (And no, that doesn't make it okay to throw a steak or chicken leg into the arena.) Octopi are no "weirder" to us Detroiters than lobsters or shrimp. In fact, in some parts of Detroit, octopi are probably more normal and more prevalent than lobsters and shrimp.
My playoff tradition is to wear my (getting threadbare) Gordie Howe #9 jersey and my Tigers cap when I watch the games and pass on the calamari.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Random woman at bus stop: I hate this [expletive] wind. Me: Yeah, it's windy today, but Random woman at bus stop interrupting me and holding up her hand in a "stop" gesture: Don't you dare say Oklahoma. I'm so over their tornado.
What, if anything, is the proper response to that? (other than the eyebrow raise and jaw drop gape I gave her)
4:44 PM
