Rachel Madoff is all excited that David Eick, executive producer of Battlestar: Galactica, is going to be addressing the UN – along with (here her voice falls – obviously she doesn’t know who he is) Ron Moore, and (her interest perks up again) some of the actors.
Rachel, don’t you have assistants or something to help you with this stuff?
On Colbert I just saw Steven Johnson, author of The Invention of Air (a book about Priestley), saying that before Priestley there were no scientific theories about the nature of air. Okay, there’s one book I don’t need to pick up.
I’m watching Maddow interviewing Pelosi on security briefings that Pelosi received but was not allowed to reveal.
Pelosi says that thanks to security requirements, she could not speak out against policies she disapproved of. Duh, of course she could. Has she never heard of civil disobedience?
Maddow compares Pelosi to Spider-man and Dr. Manhattan, both lonely because they cannot reveal their secret identities to anyone. Okay, Maddow wins a point for the Watchmen reference (though she would have earned more points if she’d made it a year ago) – but loses two points because, um, Dr. Manhattan’s identity is never secret.
Something unfortunate about the headline of this article.
From Goldfinger (the book, not the movie – duh):
A big man in Mexico had some poppy fields. The flowers were not for decoration. They were broken down for opium which was sold quickly and comparatively cheaply by the waiters at a small café in Mexico City called the ‘Madre de Cacao’. The Madre de Cacao had plenty of protection. If you needed opium you walked in and ordered what you wanted with your drink. You paid for your drink at the caisse and the man at the caisse told you how many noughts to add to your bill. It was an orderly commerce of no concern to anyone outside Mexico. Then, far away in England, the Government, urged on by the United Nations’ drive against drug smuggling, announced that heroin would be banned in Britain.
There was alarm in Soho and also among respectable doctors who wanted to save their patients agony. Prohibition is the trigger of crime. Very soon the routine smuggling channels from China, Turkey and Italy were run almost dry by the illicit stock-piling in England.
Though it’s off-topic, I can’t resist adding the following, rather less insightful passage from the same chapter:
James Bond, with two double bourbons inside him, sat in the final departure lounge of Miami Airport and thought about life and death. … He stubbed out the butt of his cigarette and sat, his chin resting on his left hand, and gazed moodily across the twinkling tarmac to where the last half of the sun was slipping gloriously into the Gulf.
James Bond must have unusual eyesight to be able to see the Gulf of Mexico from Miami.
The last step of the instructions for microwaving my lunch says:
Step 5: Stir noodles until they are evenly coated with sauce. Sprinkle toasted sesame seed topping over noodles. Enjoy.
Note that “Enjoy” is part of the instructions. This must be a boon to their customer service:
CUSTOMER: There’s a problem with my Soy Ginger Noodle Bowl. It’s filled with mouse dung and bits of asbestos.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Did you enjoy our product?
CUSTOMER: No, I did not! I just explained that it contained –
CUSTOMER SERVICE: I’m sorry, but we’re not responsible for any problems resulting from your failing to follow the printed instructions.
CUSTOMER: But my problem didn’t result from failing to follow the instructions! It resulted from the presence of mouse dung and bits of asbestos.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: The instructions called for you to enjoy our product. If, as directed, you had in fact enjoyed our product – if mouse dung and bits of asbestos had been just what you wanted – would you now be contacting us to complain?
CUSTOMER: Well no, obviously not.
CUSTOMER SERVICE: Well then, you admit that you are bringing this complaint only because you failed to follow the printed instructions. As I have explained, we are not responsible for any problems resulting from your failing to follow the instructions. Good-bye!