gdp's Comments

Matters of Varying Insignificance : Six Degrees of Jane Austen Films

Thu, 7 Jan 2010 19:37:33 +0000

Not to mention Staunton as this lady: http://razzzedbywolves.wordpress.com/2007/07/ Ah, England. Such a small island. It's not possible to throw a rock there without hitting a good actor. :)

Matters of Varying Insignificance : A Convergence of Monkeys, Nerds, and Lightning

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:40:49 +0000

I agree with your take on the Harry Potter exhibit. As a Potter fan, it's pretty cool to actually see things like Alan Rickman's Snape outfit and Harry and Ron's four-poster beds. (And who knew Helena Bonham Carter is so tiny?) A lot of classic British wit apparently went into the props, especially the schoolbooks, with their variety of typefaces and design styles from different decades. (Gilderoy Lockhart's books, appropriately enough, had gilt lettering and looked like cheap coffee table editions from Barnes and Noble.) And fans of British art and literature will enjoy the paintings, most of which are knockoffs of famous paintings. There's one of Wordsworth with a wizard's cap on, and I saw Spencer, Byron, Queen Elizabeth I and quite a few other notables. But, yeah, the wands were a ripoff. For $45, they better perform actual spells, preferably ones that work on cats. (Fermatus Brattus!) Too bad: I would have gotten one had they been a reasonable price -- and, with all the kids visiting, I bet the shop would have sold out in no time.

Matters of Varying Insignificance : Monday Morning H-Back: December 14

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:00:12 +0000

Nope, I didn't make the playoffs. Guess we won't be naming our first kid Dallas after all. :)

WYSIWYG : Bingley's Owl Impression

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:01:28 +0000

Pretty good, Bing! http://www.janbrett.com/mitten_masks_the_owl.htm

Matters of Varying Insignificance : Visions of Students Today? I Hope Not

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:37:22 +0000

Amen. The dominant message I got out of this video was "Entertain us!" They whine about having big, lecture-based classes with readings that are not "relevant" to their lives, and which are so boring that they either Facebook through class or don't show up at all. And faculty, presumably, are supposed to fix this by putting on a song and dance every class, integrating video and Internet to recapture the attention of the terminally ADD-afflicted, and make the readings all about them. How are these kids supposed to go out and solve "war," "racial tension," and all the other problems they complain about if they can't be bothered to pick up a book, stay awake during an hour-long lecture, or fill out a scantron sheet? Grrrr, and they need to get off my lawn while they're at it . . . And I agree that the video doesn't represent the smart, motivated kids who take responsibility for their own learning. It paints all students as brain-dead, technology-addicted slackers. (But, then again, they're the ones who made the video . . .)

Matters of Varying Insignificance : Start 'Em While They're Young

Sun, 2 Aug 2009 03:42:10 +0000

So cute! I love how she tries to sound "Dylan-esque," too. If only we could clone her . . . :)

Matters of Varying Insignificance : Bad Drivers Beware: He's Not Gonna Take It Anymore

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:47:37 +0000

Hee hee hee! Old people in China are awesome. And I really can't blame this guy, given that drivers in China will honk madly at you even if you're trying to cross the street 500 yards away, and will only slow down at the very last second to avoid running you over. Yan Zheng-ping: the Outlaw of the Zebra Crossings!

Matters of Varying Insignificance : Are Secessions on the Way in China?

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:52:32 +0000

Good analysis, John. I doubt that the writer of that article's ever been to China. He seems to be extrapolating too much from Europe, where people have strong regional identities (Scottish, Welsh, Breton, Basque, etc.) that often override their national identities. (Which, I guess, crushes my hopes of a nascent New England Pride movement emerging in China, marked by a preference for Dunkin' Donuts and clam chowdah. I hear the latter is popular in one little corner of Guangzhou . . .) ;)

Matters of Varying Insignificance : Our Own "Best of the Triangle" List

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:27:40 +0000

I'd just like to add that, at Spice Street, the buffet comes free with a brunch dish (waffles, pancakes, etc.). You get a lot of food for your buck and the buffet is excellent: grape leaves, hummus, breads, etc. The Granary at Fearrington Village and the cafe at the NC Museum of Art also have great brunch food.

Matters of Varying Insignificance : Another Trip to the North Carolina Zoo

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:13:43 +0000

Wow! Awesome pictures, baby! I love the one with the otter underwater and the duck making ripples. And those gators look like they're about to munch on some of the kids who were visiting the zoo . . .

Matters of Varying Insignificance : More Revisionist Crap Concerning Journalists' Salaries

Tue, 2 Jun 2009 22:15:30 +0000

Ah, the old bourgeois-bashing shtick. Ehrenrich's been writing for elite magazines so long that she's forgotten what it's like to be working for the local paper. Just because journalists have laptops and sit in cubicles doesn't mean they don't work as hard as auto workers, or that they don't suffer as much as when they get laid off. (In fact, auto workers have become the face of the recession, thanks to--guess who?--the media.)

Matters of Varying Insignificance : The Chinese Education Experience

Thu, 14 May 2009 05:31:05 +0000

Oh, man, better hope the House Un-American Activities Committee never comes knocking on our door . . . :)__Seriously, though, cool post. These kinds of cultural differences are so fascinating. I wish more American students had the same sense of personal responsibility as Chinese kids--it'd make life a lot easier on teachers

Matters of Varying Insignificance : Movie Review: Star Trek

Sat, 9 May 2009 04:13:49 +0000

I just don't understand all the love for this film. Currently, it's pulling a 96% positive rating on RottenTomatoes.com. Trekkie issues aside, it still was one of the laziest pieces of filmmaking I've seen in a long time. I mean, Kirk is born during an attack during which his father is killed . . . and then has to face the selfsame villain who offed his old man? Where did that plot point come from, Scriptwriting for Dummies? (And what's worse is that that the filmmakers don't even use that fact to flesh out Kirk's character but drop it entirely! So Kirk doesn't even care that he's facing his father's killer?!) And then kiddie Kirk steals a 300-year-old car, which somehow still runs and still has gasoline in it, even though everybody's long ago converted to antimatter, and plays a 300-year-old band on the stereo (the Beastie Boys?!), for no other reason than "because it's kewl"? That'd be akin to, oh, one of today's kids making off with a horse and cart with a minstrel in the back playing "Greensleeves" on his panflute. And then there's a scene where roughnecks insult Kirk in a bar, just so he can get beat up by them to show how tough he is, and then Spock gets insulted by Vulcan bullies (Vulcan has bullies?), just so he can show how emotional he is under that aloof facade, and on, and on, until the cliches and the plot holes and the stupidity cause your brain to melt and start leaking out of your ears. Ugh. In the future, will we be able to execute people for crimes against creativity? And don't get me started on Hottie!Kirk. Despite the fact that he looks like a Calvin Klein model, he scams on every girl in sight, uses pickup lines that Leisure Suit Larry would consider too obvious, and spends his final exam munching on an apple like some prep-school snot who knows he never has to study because his daddy's on the Board of Trustees. (I'm sorry to say, fellow Trekkies, that I am talking about the Kobayashi Maru scenario.) And then he's promoted to First Officer and then Captain for that kind of behavior?! To whom is that a likely, or attractive, scenario, except for thirteen-year-old boys who think that school sucks and that girls will fall all over them if they can just do an ollie on their skateboards? After I saw the movie, I thought of it as just another example of how Hollywood underestimates the intelligence of its audiences. I felt vaguely insulted that someone thought people would be satisfied with this shoddy, gaudy, unoriginal pablum. Well, my cynicism about the taste of the average moviegoer has just been restored. At least there's one good negative review out there. (Of course, the author's being flamed like no tomorrow on Rotten Tomatoes.) I suggest you check out it: it's well-written and pretty damn funny, especially the graf on Kirk: http://antagonie.blogspot.com/