An Apt Voice From The Past...
I'm reading
A Coffin for Dimitrios, a mystery-thriller written by Eric Ambler in 1937. Almost 70 years ago, Ambler wrote the following words which seem to have special relevance in America today:
In a dying civilization, political prestige is the reward not of the shrewdest diagnostician but of the man with the best bedside manner. It is the decoration conferred on mediocrity by ignorance. Yet, there remains one sort of politcal prestige that may still be worn with a certain pathetic dignity; it is that given to the liberal-minded leader of a party of conflicting doctrinaire extremists. His dignity is that of all doomed men: for, whether the two extremes proceed to mutual destruction or whether one of them prevails, doomed he is, either to suffer the hatred of the people or to die a martyr.
The Passions of the Christ
OK, this has a very limited audience, admittedly, but if you watch the NBC daytime soap opera
Passions, then you may appreciate the humor in the following parody:
The Passions of the Christ, a Web-based comic book/strip thing-a-ma-bob.
It's just a lark, but if people like it, more Passions-based humor could probably be arranged. If you haven't seen the show, which was recently highlighted on Entertainment Weekly's "Must List," it's the world's most bizarre soap opera, which can't seem to decide whether it's a soap, a parody of a soap, or just a parody of itself. If you have a high threshhold for stupidity and repetition, it's quite entertaining.
Now With Even More Low Risk of Sexual Side Effects!
A commercial for "Wellbutrin," the latest unfortunately named antidepressant, features an attractive young woman making the following comment: "I think it's nice that there's a low risk of sexual side effects." The FuckedWorld Grammar Cop is obliged to note that this statement — which airs approximately 47,215 times daily — actually states that it is simply delightful to unnecessarily experience a risk of sexual side effects.
I presume that what Wellbutrin INTENDS to convey is that the risk of side effects is REFRESHINGLY LOW, rather than that consumers are THRILLED to HAVE the risk. But that is not what the commercial says. Of course, I could be wrong. Perhaps the sexual side-effects include multiple orgasms, longer penises and bouncier breasts. And yet, somehow, I doubt this.
Star Trek Blues
In tribute to the demise of Enterprise, check out the
Star Trek novel which never was. Five sample chapters, and I have more related material around if there's an interest.
Star Trek: Orders of Magnitude
