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The Golden Dirigibleit was blurry and green; outer space in between
worth my time and yours
September 23 compareMost people my chronological age are into Nirvana. That is, they hit puberty right around the time grunge became popular. A;though I do like some grunge, I never liked Nirvana. Why? Because I saw footage of them performing live and it seemed as if they were burning the minimum amount of calories necessary to stay upright. Watch these two bands, okay, and tell me who you'd rather see.
September 20 AustraliaI notice that there has been a lot of online criticism of the Shins' album Wincing the Night Away. They say the lyrics don't make sense, that the band thinks it's "too cool for school." Personally everybody to whom I've shown or lent this album loves it. Perhaps this is because they know this album is about letting the music summon images and emotions rather than coherant statements.
However, I don't know all that many people. I'll say this, though. The lyrics do make sense. You just have to think about them for a minute or two. For example, in the song "Australia," the singer says he is "faced with the dodo's conundrum" and "the android's conundrum."
The dodo's conundrum is a reference to Alice in Wonderland. Alice meets the Dodo, who tells her that if she wants to get dry and warm she ought to run a caucus-race, which turns out to be a great many people running in a circle.
The android's conundrum is of course a reference to Isaac Asimov's I, Robot, a compilation of short stories. In the story "Runaround," Powell and Donovan have to deal with a robot named SPD-13 (affectionately known as "Speedy") whose programming is conflicted when he tries to obey both the Third Law of Robots and the Second Law. The plot is basically a logic-puzzle. Click the link below if you want a summary, or better yet, read the book. The point is, Speedy is running in circles.
So the singer is saying that he feels like he's conflicted, running in a pointless circle with no forseeable end unless he breaks out. See?
Summary of Isaac Asimov's "Runaround": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaround
"Australia" lyrics: http://www.lyricsdomain.com/20/the_shins/australia.html
Listen to "Australia": http://www.imeem.com/scaaatterbrain/music/1BZpQ70Y/the_shins_australia/
The Dodo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:De_Alice%27s_Abenteuer_im_Wunderland_Carroll_pic_10.jpg
September 19 Depthfirst paragraph to the story am writing. *** It has been said that everyone has a song which is their song. No one explains how it is chosen, or whether one is simply born with it. If it is chosen, who does the choosing? The criteria have never been explained either. Is it the song with a melody that best expresses your inner feelings? The song that describes your personality with lyrics? If that is true, do you switch songs from time to time? Or does time change your song? September 17 Gibreel on a TightropeThey rarely look at me a lonely figure on an indifferent height they point to the height itself or else their own thoughts of me falling pale shadows scattered through the air drifting more like feathers than a body pulled straight down to earth they need time to think it as I overcome their disbelief they point to my performance the skill it takes to remain me balanced in a shaft of light bowed rope-shadow slicing the ground below When I fell, they looked away. September 16 adviceAlways remember: people know better.
This is not a solution.
It is most often part of the problem. September 15 dwarfismMy apologies, constant readers. The Golden Dirigible was experiencing turbulence. Contrary to popular rumor, the terms dwarf and midget are not interchangeable. The word “midget” is considered offensive and upsetting, because it dates back to the mid 1800s, when it was popular to put people of short stature in freak shows. I’d be upset, too. “Little people” is a more appropriate term. “Midget” was used specifically for a proportionate dwarf; that is, for someone whose head and limbs were like that of a full-sized person except reduced in scale. Even the term “proportionate dwarf” is not accurate, however, because dwarfism is genetic and cannot be treated, whereas this syndrome is caused by growth-hormone deficiency and once diagnosed, can be treated. “Dwarf,” when used accurately, is used to describe someone of short stature whose arms, legs, torso or head (depending on the type of dwarfism) were disproportionate to the rest of the body. There are many different sorts of dwarfism, but we will attempt to sort out the two most confusing ones. The most common sort of dwarfism is achondroplastic. This is caused by a mutation in the fibroblast growth factor receptor gene 3 and is characterized by shortened bones, especially in the arms and legs; achondroplasia means “without cartilage formation,” except this is confusing because cartilage does form, it just isn’t converted into bone very well, especially in the upper arms and thighs. Ligaments are typically weak, resulting in the appearance of double-jointedness in the fingers and knees. However, owing to abnormalities in bone structure, the hips and elbows cannot be fully extended. Psuedoachondroplasia is much rarer. It was once thought to be related to achondroplasia, because psuedoachondroplastic dwarves look much like achondroplastic dwarves except that their faces and heads are the same size and same features as that of a regular-sized person. The prominent forehead and chin of achondroplastic dwarves are not present, nor are the crowded teeth and lack of prominence in the cheekbones. The face of a psuedoachondroplastic dwarf is normal, but the body is not-- it is much like that of an achondroplastic dwarf. Pseudoachondroplastia is caused by a spontaneous mutation of the COMP (cartilage oligomeric matrix protein) gene, completely unrelated to achondroplasia, and in my humble opinion needs a better name. Dwarfism is a dominant gene. Only one copy of the mutation has to be present in order for dwarfism to occur. However, two copies is invariably fatal before birth. This does not mean that two dwarf parents cannot have a child. In fact, The offspring of two dwarf parents has a 25% chance of being normal. I must stress again, however, that most occurrences of dwarfism are the result of spontaneous mutations. Most dwarves are born to two “normal” parents. Neither achondroplasia nor psuedoachondroplasia nor growth-hormone deficiency have any effect whatsoever on intelligence. August 05 Manatee PetitionIt has come to my attention that a developer wants to build a marina on a stretch of water in Florida that shelters about 500 manatees during the cold winter months. I like manatees. They're gentle, they don't hurt anybody, they don't even have a heirarchy within their groups. If you have a problem with manatees, you belong to the same class of people who think the Monkees played their own instruments. I don't want you reading this. Go away. For you intelligent people who know that we're all part of the same world and know that, even if you're nowhere near Florida, you and your descendents will be poorer if another sea creature disappears, please follow the link to the article and add your name to the petition to delay building in order to further research what effects this marina would have on local wildlife. Sometimes delays mean the developers decide to go look elsewhere for places to tear up.
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