Chick Lit

It never occurred to me that Chick Lit was a product of contemporary society, but it seems that both Mandee and The New York Times are correct. The genre, roughly six years old, is a relative infant.

So the real question I have, is this a fad, or an untapped gold mine?

All Your Base

Just in case you have forgotten about All Your Base, I thought I would Mention it. There are presently 93,000 entries in google for an exact phrase match of "All Your Base Are Belong To Us".

50 mpg

The average fuel economy of the nation is somewhere around 20.8 mpg [101.5 Radio news, Today's morning commute]. New Jersey uses 4.81 B gallons of fuel annually [2003 NJ Snapshots policy perspective]. If we raised fuel efficiency to 50 mpg-- not unrealistic considering the Civic Hybrid is somwhere around 52 mpg, and these are small advancements that are "economical" rather than pushing the technological limit.

So if the government mandated a minimum of 50 mpg on all vehicles, in New Jersey alone we would use almost 3 billion gallons of fuel less. At $2 per gallon, we'd save 6 billion dollars each year. But since we would be using less fuel, the price of fuel would drop, but roughly half (since we are using about half as much fuel). Wouldn't this savings alone more than make up for the cost of everyone buying a new Hybrid?

Birth Control

A mother in Arkansas has had Fifteen children and is looking to have more. Normally I would make a demeaning remark about the state of Arkansas. In this case though, the mother has already done it; all of the children have names beginning with J:
Joshua
Jana
John-David
Jil
Jessa
Jinger
Joseph
Josiah
Joy-Anna
Jeremiah
Jedidiah
Jason
James
Justin

Summer Reading

I've been making progress on many of the novels I've purchased over the last four years that have sat on my shelves. If I had to place a guess, since November I've gotten about a third of the way through.

Today I read a good bit of the The Mayor of Casterbridge. I was reading it online courtesy of Project Gutenberg. More importantly, it was the web based interface that lead me to start using the project. In past, one had to download the entire text file in order to read the works, but now instead, they are all available through the HTML (meaning internet explorer) interface.

In either case, in an effort to not lose all contact with the academy, I've decided to start reading through Dowling's List of reading, on the suggestion of a few gentlemen we know.

My belief Is I will read these selections in conjunction with the remaining 2/3 of present fiction I have collected. Some titles from that selection include:

The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl
Everything Burning*, Ian Spiegelman
Three Days as the Crow Flies*, Danny Simmons
The Frog King*, Adam Davies
Bandbox*, Thomas Mallon
Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, Tom Robbins
Mailman*, Robert Lennon
You Shall Know Your Velocity, Dave Eggers
Say That To My Face, David Prete


* Indicates books I've started reading, but since have put down

Ringtone Price Wars

The RIAA has increased the price of sampling songs for celular Ring tones. While MP3 downloads have gone down because of competition, Ringtones have gone up.

The real question bugging me is, why does anyone care about ringtones that they would $4.00 to download? Wouldn't it just make more sense to use the ones that come with the phone for free? Its a telephone, not a stereo.

Drunks

I was sitting at home applying aloe vera to my splotches of sun burn, [Read: Mandee's sunburn] when there was a knocking on my front door. Thinking it was the gents downstairs looking to move a car, I casually unlock the door.

In walks a very drunk black man who thought he was at a friend's house. First he asked for a glass of water. Having been in his state before, I felt obliged to help a brother out. I gave him a glass of water. He claimed it was hot. Maybe I had accidentally used the warm water since I seemed to have a preference for left side faucets.

After handing him a second glass of water, and he refusing it because it was too hot, I told him I was heading for bed. [Having read in the targum of recent attacks on youths in houses, I had at this point taken stock of the dish rack that contained my large vegetable knife] I suggested he should leave. He asked for a shot.

A shot, I think? Indeed, as much as I want this man to leave, he certainly has no right to my alcohol. In fact, what would happen to the world? Could I start showing up at other people's houses expecting shots at midnight? I don't think so. Then I realized he was pointing to the bottle of Olive Oil.

I offer him the olive oil, explaining the situation: he wanted 2 oz. of liquid fat. He left. I locked the deadbolt and the door.

Ocean

Went to Belmar with Mandee; my preference is usually Sandy Hook, but since its before Memorial Day, no one was checking tags anyway. I went in the water. It was frigid. The Body Boarders Asssociation of America, or something equally silly, was there riding waves and wearing wetsuits. Ha! I went into the water all the way wearing nothing but a pair of Target swim trunks. Wimps.

They Can Watch You, But You Can't Watch Them

The MTA is looking to ban photography and video filming in subways. While this may cut down on many bad pictures by art students, why does any authority have a right to limit photography in a civilian public place? More importantly, but simply using the subway system, riders are on video tape. No place or entity should have the right to limit a person's ability to take photography or film if in fact they themselves are under a security camera.

The Lost Washingtonienne

Apparently, a very naughty staff member of for Republican Congressman kept a very interesting blog.

The shame of it!

B&N

I just got back from Barnes and Noble with Sara and Faraci. He drove. It was an odd experience for two reasons (1) I was not driving (2) Faraci did not know how to get to Barnes and Noble.

I thought I won $3 from the pick six, but instead won nothing. Then I realized I was looking at numbers from Monday when my tickets are marked for Thursday. Yes, I said tickets. Multiple. You'll see, when I'm a millionaire.

Lastly, Mandee and I passed each other on the turnpike while commuting home tonight. This may not seem strange on the surface, except that she works in Englewood Cliffs and I work in Lyndhurst, and more importantly, had not planned it. Maybe this is a sign of things to come, such as winning the pick six.

Rabbit Invasion

An online costume rental store has 59 pink or white rabbit costumes in stock.

Imagine renting them all and having 59 people march in commencement dressed as rabbits?

Captive Freedom

Everyone morning, my neighborhood is inundated with vans picking up employees. One woman wears this disgusting orange shirt that reads "Sewing". I can only imagine she is somehow involved with tayloring.

However, this got me to thinking that the likelihood that these local women are heading off to earn minimum wage is at best unlikely. Or even if they are, minimum wage really isn't that much. Yet these people can afford a modest lifestyle (though admittedly with about twice as many people living in a house as should be).

But then I also think of salaried employees earning two or three or ten times what the neighborhood women are making at the sewing factory or McDonalds or wherever else they go. If they lose this minimum wage jobs, there are probabl another dozen equally demoralizing jobs waiting to substantially under pay them. But at the same time, they probably wouldn't make less then they do now.

On the other hand, the Knowledge Worker--coined a few decades ago by Peter Drucker--is constantly increasing his salary. The knowledge worker expects to earn more money each year. In the 1990's this meant tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions of dollars. Example: during the height of the internet boom, one saavy dotcomer traveled frequently. Instead of actually bringing clothing with him, he simply ordered fresh clothing from another dotcom, having them delivered new and fresh from packages at each hotel. When he left, he would instruct the hotel staff to donate the clothing sompeplace or take it home with them, since he had more new fresh clothes waiting at the next hotel. Excess.

But despite all this wealth and salary of the Knowledge worker, and the expectation of ever increasing salaries, there is always the fear of job loss, particularly today. The knowledge worker faces ever increasing obligations with the increase in salary-- rent becomes mortgage, car payments, credit cards, designer clothing, fancy restaurants. The expenses keep piling up.

Now of course all these expenses yield a better lifestyle. You won't see someone earning $100,000 a year living in New Brunswick with eight members of his extended family a la my neighbors. But at the same time, the knowledge worker has no freedom to leave his job. He is restrained to continue to work for ever increasing credit debts and mortgages and car payments. Even if the knowledge worker hates what he does. Fear of being unemployeed restricts the knowledge worker from simply quitting his job.

On the other hand, the poor minimum wage saps in my neighborhood have no fear of job loss; another equally mindless, equally poor paying job is not difficult to find. They do not have to worry that persuing some other line of work will bring them less money since they already have none.

Of course, these workers, service and manufacturing workers, have fairly mindless jobs that for all but the simplest people will not be enjoyable. The knowledge worker could presumably be in a line of work that at least at one time was enjoyable. Neither kind of employee has any more freedom from his or her superiors, but the service workers always have the option of quiting and finding another equally poor job. Knowledge workers on the hand, live in fear they will miss a credit card payment or won't be shopping at Nordstroms the following weekend. Quitting for them is not an option.

Real power still sits in the hands of the employer, but service employees have the freedom to leave.

Politics Here and There

European leaders obviously do not have the same level of security as the Miserable Failure we Americans have. Two incidents, one involving Tony Blair and another Gerhard Schroeder seem like basically harmless political protests. While they go beyond the usual cream pie in the face--standard fair in European Politics--I'm much dissappointed by the lack of creative interaction Americans have with our own president.

From time to time I think every politico deserves a pie in the face, even Bill Clinton (Clinton of course, would have gladly eaten the pie, I'm sure). The segregation that American politicians have from the ordinary people they legislate for is I think well illustrated here. Never would the president worry an American might slap him-- they are never close enough. Maybe that's why Ronald Reagan had no idea what a grocery barcode scanner was.

Where's the Service in the Service Economy?

While we may be living in a Service Economy, that doesn't mean we get very good service. When fast food chains started charge 10 cents a peice for extra dipping sauce, the annoyance was mild. Now though, it seems eating finger foods like chicken nuggest will leave you Messy since some places are rationing napkin use.

With rising health concerns, isn't it about time we abandon fast food altogether? I mean I love deep fried foods as much as the next guy, (ok, maybe a little more than the next guy) but I'm not all too happy with the way I'm treated by these corporations.

As one messy individual, I enjoy plenty of free paper napkins and will very much considered not going to someplace that fails to address these concerns. (On the other hand, maybe Ill just won't clean up if I spill catsup).

Women Authors

I like reading new fiction. This habit is partially due to the fact that I fancy myself a writer of new fiction, eventually. I found over the last several years that easiest way to identify fiction I will enjoy vs. chick lit is to look at the gender of the author.

While I am not passing judgement on chick lit--everyone knows its just pulp fiction--women simply tend to be more likely to produce this form of uninteresting material. Of course, given the opportunity, I would obviously write chick lit if I was giong to paid for it. But as it is now, it just seems that men are more likely to produce simply fiction rather than chick lit.

I am not saying ultimately, decades from now, any of the male authors I have read will be more or less notorious then the the women of our day, the author's of chick lit. Indeed, it seems there is a growing number of books designed for men in much the same fashion as chick lit is for women. These authors are probably no more memorable than their female counterparts.

The real question I have is, are there any authors that are women and that write books that aren't just about being single and looking for a husband / love of their lives? I've accidentally picked up chick lit from time to time. These books are not going to sit next to The Great Gatsby or The Grapes of Wrath. But I would suggest that authors like Tom Perrotta (I cite him only because I just finished Little Children) may produce material that is suitable for college cultural studies and high school literature classrooms.

Whether the discrimination is on the side of the publisher or simply in the choice of female authors, even today women are not producing works of literature. Again, there are certainly numerous men producing pulp fiction boy books, but at least a handful of gentlemen are searching for the art of writing rather than a bestseller.

Hateful emails regarding my lack of feminism should be sent to ianmac47@hotmail.com.

Voter Fraud

With the next general election a little less than six months away, controversy with electronic voting has increasingly been a topic of discussion. No one wants a repeat of the Florida Chad.

Of course at the same time, the general election may only attract 60% of the American Public--and thats in a good year. So why do some many people care that their votes aren't getting counted onAmerican Idol?

Cause and Effect: Is this why American School children rank near the bottom when compared to international students in science, math, and literacy? Or is it American's stupidity that causes such great concern that their votes might not count in American Idol while they are apathetic to selecting a President.

Franz Ferdinand

I bought a new album for the first time in almost a year (I have purchased several used albums over the last 12 months, but not many). Partially my decline is due to the difficulty in finding new interseting bands, particular since the RIAA has cracked down on Kazaa.

But anyway, Andy Z Recomended the band Franz Ferdinand to me a few weeks ago. I promptly downloaded a few tracks, and yesterday in Target I saw the album for 9.99 and picked it up. It was a pretty big impulse buy because (1) I went to target without intending to buy anything (2) as much as I love Target, I feel like I've committed a crime whenever I buy music from them.

In either case, Franz Ferdinand is pretty catchy. A bunch of their songs have this funky back beat to it that sort of reminds a bit of Cake's fourth album Comfort Eagle. That or it reminds me theme songs from 70's action television.

There are also a couple songs that I swear could be right off The Strokes. This could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. Generally, I am in favor of The Strokes, except when they play the same god damned song at the Ale N Witch. First I think no one has any taste in music, then I wonder if they really are choosing different songs and its just that the Strokes' songs all sound the same.

In either case, Franz Ferdinand was worth 10 bucks; another smart recomendation from Andy who I credit with exposing me to The Clash, The Pixies, probably most of my Cake experience, and maybe a few others. (Of course, without Napster, I never would have downloaded any of those bands, and then never would have have spent $200+ obtaining their entire discographies, but thats a seperate post).

I completely understand.

Hair!

Orthodox Jews have banned human hair wigs from India. The threat of polytheistic practices with the hair prior to being turned into a wig is upsetting some users--women who must cover their hair in public after marriage.

As far as religious rules governing life, I think most are pretty silly. But in this instance, Im not sure which is more absurd-- wearing a wig because showing your hair after marriage is considered inappropriate, or banning human hair wigs made from India?

If only you could still sell your daughter into slavery.

Don't Be Evil

One of the most widely used blog publisher applications is Movable Type. [Blogger is free]. As of yesterday, Movable type introduced a new pricing scheme that essentially prices mid size casual bloggers out of the market.

As they are the MS Windows of Blog software, they stand to earn a huge wad of cash, though they still insist they offer a free version. Sure now, everyone stands to earn a bit of profit off of their intellectual property. But they are probably shooting themselves in the foot; most people blog are probably capable of downloading a pirated version of software.

In either case, the point I was originally trying to make is that Movable Type's business model is exactly the opposite of Google's corporate motto "Don't Be Evil". Essentially, Movable Type gave their service away, hooked users, and now are making them pay for it. It seems to me they are on the verge of violating Sherman Anti-trust laws. Bastards.

In either case, Im glad I use blogger. But it wouldn't surprise me if other internet services that people deem essential start trying to do the same thing; AOL IM, Hotmail, search engines Pay for Search, Subscriptions for online maps and directions, for online white page look ups, ect. ect.-- Indeed, if only everyone was as good as Google.

Trucks.

Normally, trucks on the Western Spur of the Turnpike are my worst nightmare. The turnpikeat this point cuts through the marshy meadowlands with many bodies of water. As a result, the Turnpike steeply inclines and declines on four large humps in the road. 30 ton trucks don't accelerate too well here, and either through stupidity or arrogance, drivers of these big rigs never stay in the right lane. As a result, traffic is always pretty bad.

Today though was amazing. The cars and SUVs were all jammed over on the far left lane becuse the trucks were hogging the center and right lanes. I then proceded to weave between the slow moving 18 wheelers for four miles--essentially passing one truck, changing lanes, passing the next one and so fourth. This work beautifully until a middle aged man driving a compact car decided to get into my lane. Damn. But it was fun while it lasted. It sort of reminded me of this Tiger handheld driving game I had a dozen years ago.

Expecting Erik

There have been days when Erik was expected. Sometimes he doesn't answer his cel. Try (609) 275-9720 next time; its a pay phone on the northbound tracks leaving princeton. Ask for Erik.

Thanks to the PayPhone Project.

Garden Gnomes

So the police have threatened a man's naked garden gnomes.

While everyone is reporting that the man has now painted over their nudity, I have to wonder where they can purchased, since obviously, I want one.

Garden gnomes are cool. Naked garden gnomes are better.

Ice Cream and Bananas

Gas isn't the only thing costing more. Apparently, icecream is skyrocketing up too. But what I find interesting is that the article cites that the average person eats 26 servings of ice cream a year. In a seperate article a week ago, I read that Americans eat on average 87 bananas a year.

Guess why I don't fit this pattern?

Graduate Bound

Those bound for Graduate school may find this a bit interesting regarding Getting Published.

Good Ridance

It seems the Baptists-- or at least one of them-- want their children out of Public schools citing that the government run instiutions are godless. The article also suggests that if the 16.3 million members pulled their children from public schools, the system would collapse.

Quite contrary I believe. In fact, imagine if all those students were pulled out; the same number of teachers would be able to teach much fewer children. Thus the remaining students would be even better prepared. The homeschooled Baptist children might make great Baptists, but would probably fair pretty poorly at university, especially in things like science and history (since these contradict the bible). So in turn, there would be even fewer students vying for spots at lower cost public universities (since not knowing anything about evolution should descredit most applicants to an accredited college).

In either case, I hope the Baptists do pull their children out and have them home schooled. At least we wouldnt all have to worry about school prayer anymore.

Beat the DMCA

I'm generally unhappy with the DMCA which restricts the rights of people who have paid for copyrighted material. If you are too, then you can actually do something. Write to your elected officials in support of the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act, a measure that would restore many of the historically gauranteed fair use under copyright.

The Pope

The Newark Catholic Arch Bishop is making a stink because NJ's Governor Jim McGreevey is Pro-Choice. Specifically, the Gov has essentially been kicked out of the catholic church, or at least banned from taking communion, which for catholics is essentially not being part of the church.

In either case, this whole bit is enough for me to officially denounce any connection to the pope. If nothing else I should be excommunicated for using various forms of birth control.

With all the kid-touching going on, I'm really surprised the church has been so bold as to try and dabble in politics.

Lifetime Music

When CD's first came out, the public was promised that the higher cost over cassattes were justified because of the longevity of the CD-- essentially the CD was suppose to last our entire lifetime assuming the user took care of it.

Now though it seems CD Rot threatens to wipe out aging collectings of CD's and possibly even DVDs.

I have said on numerous occasions the biggest obstacle for me to buy downloaded songs off of iTunes or pay Napster is that the MP3's are actually AAC or some other format that restricts the users ability to copy it from computer to computer.

In either case, between CD rot and AAC files, it seems the best solution is statutory assurances of time-less rights to music or movies that are purchased. Essentially, purchasing an MP3 or CD or DVD grants the buyer a license that is gaurantees them one copy anytime, anywhere, in any format.

How is this idea different then the system today? Its really not, since copyright law has always allowed users to make personal copies of data despite what motion picture association president Jack Valenti thinks.

Instead though, the idea of a timeless licence would gaurantee access to data until the copyright ran out. But also, the licences could be sold-- "I sell you all rights I have to any copies of this music". So instead of just selling used CD's, users could buy the entire license. While this of course cuts out the RIAA from making profit on repeat sales (such as if you break lose, or have a CD stolen), that's just the way the cookie crumbles. In essence, current copyright law should support this idea anyway. It really just depends on how many judges the RIAA have contributed money to.

Feeling Unemployed?

view this Map to see what states have lost the most jobs over the last four years.

Sony's Mini Disc

Anyone remember the Sony Mini Disc? They were about half the size of regular CD's and you record to them. I have a player / recorder, but they are mostly useless technology because sony never licensed the hardware to anyone. Now Sony is launching a Music Store to Compete with i-Tunes. What's the point though, since Sony's products will only work on Sony Memory Sticks, i-Tunes on the iPod and so forth.

it really begs the question, Can't all MP3's just get along?

Destroying California

So I had been quite excited by the advertisements of 10.5, the earthquake miniseries airing on NBC this past weekend. Of course i was not watching since the Sopranos was on.

The cities nearest California-- Seattle, Vegas, and Portland were all stuck to their televisions with high viewing ratings. Could this be because they are hoping for ocean front property?

I guess Im not really dissappointed that I missed this miniseries because I dont really care about the character development. Im much more interested in watching parts of California collapse, trains collide with giant gaping holes rifts, and tidal waves. I got all of this from the 30 second advertisements, so watching 4 hours of commercial television for two more minutes of disaster footage probably isn't worth it.

Our Hero

This Article quotes our Miserable Failure of a president saying 'Peace and freedom depend upon this election. Prosperity for the people depend upon this election.' He has probably never said anything so accurate.

Anyone out there still looking for a job (I know this is a small percentage of MacBlog readers, since everyone is an academic) should realize that replacing Bush is the best idea yet: the President controls direct appointment of roughly 10,000 people. So at least 10,000 non-republicans would have jobs after November if he was unelected. This is good because all the Republicans he has working for him don't need the jobs anyway; Republicans are either uber rich, i.e. Bush's Tax cut, or understand that God will provide for them somehow, if they would just stop sinning.

Maybe Erik Doesn't Have Allergies.

Fear of dormitory showers may not be entirely undeserved. Bacteria in soap scum are quite the dangerous little devils. Sure this article points that really this means people with increased risk of and decreased immune system protection; but every time I have an allergy now, I'll have to wonder if I really should just replace the shower curtain.

Fun with electricity.

As if texas hadn't produced enough foolsthis one tried to kill his wife by dropping a radio into a bubble bath. Seems the bugger was trying to collect a five month old insurance policy on her.

But as it seems, its pretty tought to die by bathtub electrocution. Indeed, its really the act of not being dead when an appliance falls into the tub that you die.

Bud Bowl

The hype about the upcoming friends finale is centering around the high cost of advertising. Im not really planning on watching; however, if there was going to be a bud bowl, I might be interested. What can I say, Im a sucker for stop motion beer bottles.

The Ocean

Mandee wanted me to take her to the ocean today so we went to belmar and walked on the beach in the cold wind. I got my feet wet. It was good.

Then we drove through Asbury Park. It was sort of like driving through chernobyl. Four lane boulevards were completely empty of cars and buildings looked like they had been abandoned for years. This was contrasted sharply by the mansions of Deal, NJ. All this has shown is that I need to have several million dollars and sweet beach house.