06.07.07
addition to phrase book
05.04.07
rough ride
pretty soon i couldn't see anything. my headlights were reflected off the incoming snowflakes, resulting in a 100x speed version of the old starfield simulation screensaver. turning up the headlights to high beam only made it worse, amplifying the influx, and given the fact that the thick snowfall totally obscured my vision, i actually considered turning off the headlights altogether.
26.02.07
beverage control
it's not new to my readers that i think america is insane in its attitude towards alcohol.
i was once more reminded of that when i went to a kaiju show at the avalon the other night.
not only did they check i.d at the entrance to give us bright green wristbands identifying us as 21+ years old (which to me are as much a style and buzz killer as the red plastic cups for drinks), but according to "a new law", the bartenders also carded you every time you wanted to get a drink. no matter how old you looked.
and when i say "no matter", i mean they took that very literally - denying my friend's mom who was there with us, and who "used a senior citizen discount for the first time" that week, a drink. when the barman found out that she had a wristband (!), he actually called security to remove the hazard.
if all of that wasn't enough, there was additional alcohol enforcement in form of a burly guy with a bright orange jacket emblazened with the words "beverage control" strolling the crowds to make sure everything is in order.
seriously, sometimes it feels like going out in america is actually just part of a huge prison team-building activity.
Tue, 27 Feb 2007 13:07
i'm mostly just annoyed that it gives you more fuel for your over-exaggerations about america. but anyway, some underage kids in a club got killed (shot) here in d.c. recently and it's having a ripple effect as idiot lawmakers here and elsewhere are starting to decide that the way to prevent that from happening again is to ban underage people from bars and enforce it heavily. cuz people over 21 don't get shot, you know.
- cynthia
Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:09
first of all, i'm not generalizing, just pointing out evidence for a ridiculous trend. if the local government(s) would stop behaving like this, i won't have any more fuel, right? ;) second, 'over-exaggerations' is redundant phrasing.
- guy
Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:23
pfft. 'going out in america is like part of a huge prison team-building activity' is an over-exaggeration to me, and no that's not redundant. there are degrees of exaggeration. not all exaggeration is excessive. ;) and here's more about boston's 'new law'.
- cynthia
Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:25
Well, some sort of line has to be drawn for underage drinking but there are times when common sense needs to prevail (ex. carding a lady who is obviously over the age of 21!).
06.01.07
not much has changed
from a 1968 book about the middle east:
American policy, in its habitual fashion, had resulted in creating the very situation which it thought to avoid.
maxime rodinson, "israel and the arabs".
Sun, 7 Jan 2007 08:55
true but it's really kind of a universal rule...we all create what we fear most.
- cynthia
19.11.06
shteyngart's top ten reasons to love america
read this in 'good' magazine today, and thought it was pretty funny. gary shteyngart's top ten reasons why he loves america.
like
I love how people treat me with respect in America. Sir this and sir that. I'm 33 but I look like I'm fifty so when I walk into a store, service people practically get down on their knees and beg me to share my old man's wealth. I can live with that.
Tue, 5 Dec 2006 11:13
I really enjoyed number 2 paradox of people being religous but doing everything possible to enjoy their earthly life as much and as long as possible.
- timk
08.11.06
america, politics, boston, comments-on
massachusetts votes 'no' on wine in supermarkets
hard to believe (for me) - massachusetts voters voted 'no' on a law proposition that would allow local towns to give permits to supermarkets to sell wine.
since there are obviously few more dangerous issues in the world, this was also the most expensive ballot question campaign in state history breaking the record held since 1988, when the state voted on nuclear power plants.
supermarkets shelled out $7 million on trying to get the law passed, while liquor store and beer distributors paid $4.5 million to stop the law from being passed.
at the end of the day, this is a common story of legislation.
a stupid-ass law is in place, protecting some economic special interest of a small group. this lobby-propelled law has over the years thoroughly been twisted into some heap of moralistic bullshit related to 'protecting our children', just about the most hipocritical thing you can imagine from liquor stores. and now some other special interest group wants to get in. so both groups shell out millions to make up campaigns tarteting some deeply emotional decision centers in our brains, making the decision about 'consumer choice' or 'teenage drinking'. yeah, right.
trying to appease the traditionally alcohol-spooked american voter, the law in question was phrased so carefully, that i couldn't believe anyone in their right mind would reject it. it basically allowed towns to hand out a limited number of permits to grocery stores to sell wine, and only wine. towns could of course not grant permits if they didn't want to.
but at the end the scare campaign funded by the liquor companies ("foreign owned grocery stores", "190 additional drunk driving fatalities per year", "fail to stop underage buyers"), worked. astonishingly, even very liberal voters that i've talked to, were flailing on election day on how to vote on this question. when pressed to explain why exactly they oppose it, they couldn't muster any good explanations, which is not surprising, since the campaign was mainly emotional and not rational. they usually said something like: "i mean, i'm for consumer choice, but...hmm.. i don't know something.... hmmm.... don't know if it's a good idea, really."
much has been written about the difference between campaigns of hope vs. campaigns of fear. but it really comes down to the emotional response at the ballot box - when you're all alone there with the pen in your hand, and something inside you that you can't quite explain is making you uneasy about a question, it's always a little more comfortable to vote with your fear than with your hope.
Wed, 8 Nov 2006 14:05
that's pretty dumb. in maryland we booted out our republican governor and passed a referendum outlawing governors from selling off any park lands without approval of the general assembly, after our outgoing gov had attempted to sell park lands to a politically connected friend. sends a pretty strong message. still can't buy liquor after 8pm in montgomery county, though. :)
- cynthia
21.10.06
architecture
as part of my 'possibly last year in america' catching-up campaign, i made this the other day:
20.10.06
keith olbermann on the loss of habeas corpus
i'm not an american. by law and by plan i am but a temporary visitor in this country, and i appreciate the hospitality i'm afforded here. still, after over 4 years of residency here, and with all the humility of accepting that it is really none of my goddamn business, i feel entitled to at least comment on what seems to be a horrendous turn in one of the most admirable aspects of american political principle.
the american political system grew out of suspicion towards government. i believe that history shows us that this suspicion is based. many times in the past have political groups in power increased their power 'for stability' just to abuse it within a short amount of time.
this week it seems that a particuarly unbelievable undermining of some of the most basic constitutional rights has been signed into law, and as g.w.u law professor jonathan turley said "the strange thing is, weve become sort of constitutional couch potatoes. I mean, the Congress just gave the president despotic powers, and you could hear the yawn across the country as people turned to, you know, Dancing with the Stars. I mean, its otherworldly."
on another topic, i was surprised that many people don't know keith olbermann, who i consider one of the sharper political pundits on the left side of the spectrum (although he does look like a ken doll...). so killing two birds with one stone, watch olbermann's special comment on the military commissions act, and his interview of turley.
via the rude pundit.
16.10.06
comments-on, america, religion
it's hip to be good
during a recent conversation at a fancy boston restaurant, in a scene so ironic, it might have just been lifted straight out of a mike leigh movie - i noted that the big trend these days was for not-do-gooder types to "do good". the non-hippie hippie, the good samaritan capitalist. since this phrasing was met by some surprise by my co-diners, i thought i'd say a little something about it here, too.
so yeah - if you want to know what the hippest thing in america these days is, it's charity and changing the world. everyone who's someone is into it, and it's so trendy that even the biggest and coolest corporations are digging their hands deep into the do-gooder game. but don't confuse it with dreamy-eyed hippies. the deciding factor about the new do-gooder movement is that they're also looking out for themselves. turning a buck while saving a life, so to speak.
it's a strange blend between extreme capitalism and light tree-hugging. apple is doing it, bp is doing it, fucking timberland has now become a world leader in sustainability, and of course the list is endless - these are just the latest three examples i've seen in the last 24 hours.
timberland's slogan really captures this new trend: "make it better" - the vague "it", meaning: make great and expensive shoes, but also make the world better. no need for birkenstock, ma'am.
wherever you go in the high-powered circles in which i seem to commute these days, every over-privileged person i meet is working on some sort of idea on how to make the world a better place. this seems to come especially from people with professions that have not traditionally been connected to the love-and-peace crowd: investment bankers, economists, tax attorneys, and venture capitalists. they all emphasize the 'pragmatic' side of it, making sure i understand that this is not some lefty bullshit, but that there's a lot of money in it. as in: "i just want to say one word to you...just one word." -- "yes, sir."-- "are you listening?" -- "yes, sir. i am." -- "solar energy".
one of the reasons this new trend is possible is exactly that new twist on doing good: you can still look out for yourself, work in a top-notch creative job, get rich and famous, eat in fancy restaurants, and have only the nicest champagne at home. it's even part of the image!
another crowd that's drawn to the samaritan table is the designer crowd. the coolest names in design are all donating some of their time to good causes. some visionaries have caught on early, but designer houses around the country are catching on rapidly. here is the designer version of this trend: no need for crummy xerox prints of shiva drawn by untalented hippies. now the finest looking stuff in true haute fashion can be counted towards your global karma.
the trend has two big slogans. one is "like you give a damn", emphasizing the combination of caring and cool. the other is "doing good". you will see these come back over and over again.
it seems that this movement has been born out of a rebound from two extremes, meeting in the middle. on one hand people have become disillusioned from being unrealistic hippies (many have just gotten into the 30-something bracket, which requires a little more selfishness), and on the other hand people are getting a little sick with their selfish and empty lives after realizing that there's little satifsaction in choosing a great-earning or superficially hip or fun career. even the frequent dinners at the best bars in town are not helping. so the fusion of these two rebounds, has become this new 'good' movement.
i've been thinking about this for a while now, but it finally really hit me how big this has become, when i realized that the movement now even has their own wired-style magazine. and this is what their first editorial statement said:
We see a growing number of people tied together not by age, career, background, or circumstance, but by a shared interest. This revolves around a passion for potential mixed with fierce pragmatism and creative engagement. We sum all this up as the sensibility of giving a damn. But to shorten it, let's call it GOOD. We're here to push this movement and cover its realization.
afterword: i realize that this is a much bigger and more complex issue, which i have only touched on very lightly and from one angle. maybe at some later stage i'll write something a little more thoughtful on it.
Mon, 16 Oct 2006 19:58
yeah it's something that has been happening for several years, especially after the success of films such as the corporation and supersize me etc. in fact i'd say those films (and a few others i can't recall at the moment) drove it more than anything else. but don't worry, there are plenty of us lower-class people out there who don't give a shit about doing good. :) your perspective is tainted by the crowds you hang with.
- cynthia
Mon, 16 Oct 2006 22:47
there is more to this- part of it is a change from the idea that the govt shoudl be looking out for public welfare to the idea that individual citizens should be-- part of the trend. don't make it a 'public'/govt issue, don't make it an idealist vision based on fuzzy feelings... make it pragmatic and market-based so that the solutions are sustainable.
But you seem to imply there is something wrong with mixing the market and social change projects? The only things I see wrong with it are:
1) govts ought to be more accountable and this lets them not be so accountable
2) when people talk the talk and don't walk the walk. corporations like you mention aren't really that big into it-- many of them are just for PR. but if a corporation really mobilized its infrastructure around things and genuinely had a great double bottom line (like check out: www.worldofgood.com), why is that bad?
- paula
Mon, 16 Oct 2006 23:10
i was careful to not say that there's anything wrong with it. that's because i don't think that it's bad. my tone might be a little
suspicious, but i haven't really made up my mind either way, so i'm just pointing out the trend.
in complete honesty, something about it rubs me the wrong way, but i can't quite place my finger on it. maybe i'll figure it out at some point.
- guy
Tue, 17 Oct 2006 09:29
Yeah-- there's something that makes me uncomfortable too. Namely, the
self-congratulation about all of it; the sheer arrogance of young business people
thinking that all they need to understand is the market and apply market based
solutions and naturally social change will follow. Like they're the heroes of the
new order. When many of them have little background or training in the very very
complex issues involved in social change work, and need to, if they truly want
sustainable solutions as they suggest.
So: I think it needs to be made much more careful and humble. And as I said
before, shouldn't distract us from also holding govts responsible for the aspects of
public welfare they're responsible for. But overall, I still think ( or think I
think) it's a trend with some promise.
- paula
Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:16
i've had conversations like this before and it's always tricky. people who are very
invested in doing good are very sensitive about any hint that the impulse is
anything but good. and it's hard to argue otherwise, of course. and i'm not arguing
otherwise, necessarily. but there are subtleties, and the knee-jerk offended
reaction they give always smacks of a certain closed-minded self-righteousness.
i'm sounding like a republican. i'm not at all.
- cynthia
17.08.06
addition to phrase book
three new phrases in the american phrase book: "let's just say...", "not great / not the best", and the related "not a good / great / the best fit".
21.07.06
is everyone safe?
topping off this bloggy day - this is from the nytime's wrapup of the world cup:
What a great tournament the Germans put on. As hosts, they were tremendous, making the Weltmeisterschaft a safe and joyous monthlong party for everyone.
of course. safety first. the first thing they call the world cup after it's over is 'safe'. great.
Sat, 22 Jul 2006 14:07
someone was really trying to humiliate you with all that comment spam. is there some rule that spam must always be about penises and weight loss?
- cynthia
Sat, 22 Jul 2006 16:51
i guess it's what men and women are most insecure about, respectively. statistically.
and money.
- guy
Sat, 22 Jul 2006 18:35
actually virtually all of my comment spam (about 40/day, though the new wordpress sequesters it all so it's never published) is for antidepressants. it's actually pretty funny--the text they provide is "HI, I'M REALLY HAPPY!" then a bunch of links for xanax etc.
- cynthia
17.06.06
couple more espn/abc gripes
after watching the u.s.a-italy game today (btw, the yanks fought like tigers with 9 players vs. 10 - they even kept controlling the game - by karma alone they deserved to win this game):
cutting away to (the pretty empty) times square in the middle of an attack is not cool. and cutting to the u.s locker room during the czech game is also not cool.
then, why is 10% of the screen obstructed by the top bar, when the top half of it is just blank?
and covering up a quarter of the screen every 10 minutes to promote future broadcasts should pretty much cost a channel the fifa broadcast rights.
11.06.06
sports, comments-on, nostalgia, america
world cup fever in america
world cup fever is upon us once more and although i'm not much of a sports fan, the world cup moves me like a bad romantic comedy on an airplane.
Mon, 12 Jun 2006 06:20
with all my love to nedved, I believe the czech republic won't pass the first round. squadra azura will be there instead. The one problem with the world cup this time (at least in israel) is that it was hectically discussed for so many months before it actually started, that by the time it started, i'm already sick of it. Add to that the 300 nis that they charge just to watch all of israel's worst coaches pretending to be comentators, in a studio built as a Dr-Gav living room, and the will to watch it this time is the lowest i've ever had. Lastly, I hope brazil doesn't win. It will be too boring if they do. Being france's only fan in israel, I'd say viva la france, but they look pretty bad. So forza usa, if that's what it takes.
- yotam
Mon, 12 Jun 2006 09:03
well - we'll see in a few hours whether the czechs have it in them or not :)
i can't say that the cup was over-discussed here. even on june 8th people who supposedly cared about football asked me when the first match is starting. so at least my excitement could build properly.
but i agree with you - just not brazil.
- guy
Tue, 13 Jun 2006 01:02
3-0. you win :)
- yotam
Wed, 14 Jun 2006 16:22
You be speakin' my mind sometimes.
about the many data on players/countries e.g. Cote D'Ivoire/Ivory Coast is in the middle of a civil war, there were requests to not let Iran play!!! (because of the nuclear talks), I must admit I learn some useful stuff, like i learned that the Trini goalkeeper in Saturday's game went to my undergrad university. H.U. U know!
German compound words crack me up. fussballweltmeisterschaft. ha.
-
Thu, 6 Jul 2006 13:55
Such a great world cup! I just got back from germany. I watched France-Brazil! I was disapointed by Brazil.
- John
18.04.06
leisair
14.04.06
senior ball dating survival guide
08.03.06
adventures in southern utah
america, as i keep finding out never ceases to enchant me, and in many places is as remote and rural as any an exotic village you might seek out for adventures. utah in particular, as kurt the towing cowboy will later say 'is the last bit of true wilderness in the continental states'. and so i found it, too.
13.12.05
generic holiday wishes
while i have much to say about the 'war on christmas', time will only allow me to share this ultra-generic holiday greeting i got over email today:
On behalf of the entire ISO staff, we would like to wish you a very peaceful and wonderful December/January holiday. Whether you travel to your home country, to some exotic place in the US or abroad, or you stay right here in Cambridge, we hope you find the time to enjoy relaxing moments with family and/or friends.
talk about covering all your bases.
14.11.05
vermont
there's a quote attributed to quentin crisp saying 'america is more like the movies than you ever dreamed'.
and i couldn't agree more.
01.07.05
politics, comments-on, america, israel
a naive view on the gaza evacuation
the way i would imagine the gaza evacuation going down around here is:
(1) IMPORTANT DEADLINE: last date for application for monetary compensation is July 1st. If you are eligable for compensation, you MUST complete Form EVC-G/05 and Form MON-G/05 and mail them before July 1st. Late applications will not be considered.
* Please note important regulations regarding disorderly conduct and monetary compensation (p.23) . If you are arrested during the evacuation you might lose eligability for monetary compensation. Please contact your local Army civilian relations office for more details.
Fri, 1 Jul 2005 21:10
yeah, that suggestion has been made by quite a few people, and I wholeheartedly support it.
one thing you didn't touch upon was that we're dealing with fanatics. The people who are moving into Gaza right now would not be interested in filling out any forms. They don't care about they compensation. They believe they have to live on this land; Everything else is details. They will kill an Arab that passes by with much less thought than most people in this country give to most of their dealings with the government. That's a central part of this issue. It's true that a lot of the settlers moved to the occupied territories because of Israeli government incentives, but these people don't mind picking up their check and moving out. You currently have people moving from Hebron to Gaza just so they can resist the evacuation. For them Massada is the way to go.
They don't give a shit.
- udi
Fri, 1 Jul 2005 23:34
really? i sometimes wonder how much of that is sincere, and how much is just a behavior that they can allow themselves because they know there won't be the worse repercussions. i think that beneath the facade most people put on (especially when the world is watching) people give a shit and an ultimatum like this will dwindle the 'extremist' population to a handful.
- guy
Mon, 4 Jul 2005 16:27
There is no reason wat so ever to believe
that the vast majority of the settelers are not idiologically motivated. They are living for several years now under day to day terrorist attacks and the equivalent of mortar bombardment. We also know their religious background and motivations.
Assuming that everyone shares your values is a simple mistake, we know what their values are, they declare them, they educate by them and they live by them, for many years now. (Note that despite all the economic incentives, the life in the territories are MUCH harder then in then the center of israel).
Another point is that the idea of "leaving them to themselves" is not practical at all.
Suppose for a second that only a few families of extreme fanatics will be left there.
Now the IDF leaves, and Hamas enters.
You may assume of course that the jewish fanatics will do everything to highten the tension.
Well, the battles are televised of course, including what happens when the settelers defences are breached. Imagine the scenes,
heads of jewish babies are paraded through gaza, for example. How long do you think will the IDF stay without reacting to save the settelers?
The "I dont want to see them and I dont care about them" approach does not originate from the rational side of us.
yoad
- yoad
Mon, 4 Jul 2005 16:54
yeah i agree that it's a good reason to pull out the civilian population to prevent an escalation of violence after that. however, i still think that despite the declared values - when push comes to shove, many people are more pragmatic than they are when things are easier.
and even though it may be harder to live in a settlement than in the heart of israel, it's still easier than the situation that you describe in the horror scenario.
- guy
Wed, 7 Dec 2005 14:51
well - looking back at it, i guess the setters were less ideologically motivated than we thought, huh?
- guy
18.05.05
american phrase book
guess it's time to unveil a still under-construction side project of mine: american phrase book, aimed at teaching immigrants the nooks and crannies of american ideoms.
North American natives will usually phrase everything in a manner that creates the least social friction in any given interaction. In most cases this results in shying away from a negative description or opinion. Almost as often, it even means not saying anything definite, and instead just stating possibilities and options.
learn the real meaning of such gems as 'You might want to consider to do X', 'That's a great idea, but...', and 'I'll have to think about it'.
and please don't hesitate to contribute if you run into any others...
Wed, 18 May 2005 11:53
Guy, don't forget the overwhelming use of the word "awesome." ex. My wedding was awesome, the car is awesome... How much awe can we experience?
- jodi
01.05.05
we stand as one
udi linked me to the fantastic music video of america, we stand as one, a beacon of alternative rock music joined with the best of stock motion graphics effects for you to feast on.
there's also a remix, called 'america, fuck yeah'.
update: the thing is probaby a spoof.
Sun, 1 May 2005 13:55
oh my god that is incredible. apparently jesus is a cheesy rock star who was reborn as america itself--"i had to leave, but i'm still here, in a different way--USA! AMERICA!"
- cynthia
Sun, 1 May 2005 14:42
wait, you're saying the original is a spoof? how do you know?
- udi
Sun, 1 May 2005 14:48
i've seen some claims about it, but the design of the homepage is what really tipped me off. the glare going around his sunglasses is just too cheesy to be true.
then i thought a little harder and realized that the stark discrepancy of technical knowledge going into the production of both the video and the website, as opposed to the very poor artistic choices just cannot be accidental.
- guy
Sun, 1 May 2005 14:51
here's someone else's thoughts
- guy
Mon, 2 May 2005 10:02
i still think it's real. that guy's hair is real, that's proof enough for me.
- cynthia
27.04.05
anti-gay telephony
listen to this fine recording of a sales conversation peddling long-distance telephony with a christian touch.
- so basically god hates at&t, mci, and verizon, yes?
- yes.
via jesus' general
22.04.05
matzah ball
kar-ben publishers pulls together american culture and judaism. my favorite is 'matzah ball: a passover story'. the picture says it all.
Because Aaron is invited to the baseball game during the week of Passover, he must bring a bag lunch of matzah and tuna to the stadium. But while his friends are off at the concession stand, something wonderful happens.
via ayelet (links to hebrew page).
tomorrow i will have another stab at my legendary version of harosset. if it works out well, i will post the recipe here soon thereafter.
20.04.05
god at the blackjack table
cute rant alea sent me about gambling drunk christians in vegas.
Oh, but if we could just tax hypocrisy in this country we wouldn't need any other taxes... all the atheists could afford to build science centers and the churches would go broke because all of their members would owe the government and have nothing left to tithe...
18.04.05
america, politics, flesh, religion
more religious hypocrisy
of course the sponsor of tennessees marriage protection act is facing divorce because of his alleged relationship with a senate aide.
guess his act was too late to protect his own marriage.
i've just about had it with hypocritical religious sexuality in america.
via jesus' general. who also brought us this.
06.04.05
flesh, cite, america, religion
on not having sex
bill maher writes about abstinence in christian american teens with an abundance of puns, and really hits the nail on the head regarding the whole warped way many north-americans view vaginal intercourse.
Is there any greater irony than the fact that the Christian Right actually got their precious little adolescent daughters to say to their freshly scrubbed boyfriends: "Please, I want to remain pure for my wedding night, so only in the ass. Then I'll blow you." Well, at least these kids are really thinking outside the box.
04.04.05
life planning
boston metro has a scoop today: 'finding fulfillment in life, when money's so important, takes effort'.
Her colleagues in financial planning recount many a story of successful people, whose ambitions got them where they are, but whose habits of always needing and wanting more made them so restless that they couldn't enjoy their affluence. In an ironic twist, the very factors that allow for material success can and sometimes do undermine the ultimate goals: personal fulfillment, good health, strong relationships and other things that make life worth living.
no, really? this reader is shocked. honestly - sometimes i, too, feel like i'm surrounded by enormous [...] children.
but fear not, a solution is at hand. the groundbreaking philosophical findings of the metro weren't just leftist propaganda, but actually a lead-in to a piece about the new and blooming business of 'life planning', which is considered a sort of new-and-improved financial planning:
[They] ask clients: What is the purpose of money? Do you acknowledge the limits of what it can achieve? How much money is enough, anyway?
[...]
About 450 planners have taken a two-day workshop in "life planning," where the California-based Kinder Institute of Life Planning teaches them to probe what clients crave most deeply and then brainstorm creative ways to finance it.
Yup, that really gives off the sense that they learned the lesson taught by not being happy in the rat-race. And no -- as much as I wish I did -- I'm not making this up.
Tue, 5 Apr 2005 11:24
i like how you removed the "powerful" from the quote about enormous children. :)
- cynthia
29.03.05
military guide to american culture
just found this wonderderful guide to the american culture put out by some military agency named SAFTA.
some gems include:
- Restaurants serve the food people are most interested in eating.
- Most Americans sleep only once a day from 10 or 11 p.m. until 6 or 7 a.m. Weekends are personal time.
- People coming to work or to meeting each other in a routine setting will usually use a verbal greeting and response.
- Americans comfortably stand about 30 inches (75cm) apart when they are talking.
- Students often report to the classroom early and exchange greetings and light conversation.
and my favorite:
Holding the hand up, palm forward with the fingers either extended or together means stop. This can easily be confused for a wave of the open hand which means "Hello". You can tell which gesture is intended by the look on the individual's face. Hello is usually accompanied by a smile.
reminds me of the guide to speaking up in class they handed out to international students when i was studying at parsons in new york.
Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:02
It always seems like those pesky pedestrians are demanding that I stop when they want to cross the street. But when I'm the pedestrian, I am only saying 'thank you.'
- Alea
Sat, 2 Apr 2005 07:28
Number V is pure shite though.
- jodi
28.03.05
supermarket moments
at cvs today, easter monday, all the easter candy is 50% off.
that makes most chocolate incredibly cheap, cheaper than the same weight of chocolate that's not easter themed.
at a time where both my friendly neighborhood cvs and my friendly neighborhood star market are redressing their calendar-driven sections in preparation for the next holiday (i spotted sunscreen and american flags, but i'm not sure what the holiday is), being so-last-week is apparently really bad for business.
so chocolate actually gets penalized for being bunny-, egg-, or chicken-shaped. a bag of regular m&m's is $3.49, but an equally heavy bag with egg shaped m&m's goes for $1.49 today. as if it matters what shape your m&m's are. similarly, a huge chunk of easter-bunny shaped chocolate is only $.99 today.
star market has basically completely redecorated by the time i walked by at midnight tonight. only a measly shelf of easter chocolate was left there. and to think that only yesterday the resurrection of christ and related sugar products were still big sellers.
i love the days when all the supermarkets change colors.
on an unrelated note, i can't help but smiling at the somewhat depressing job-application terminal they have there. it's basically a big carboard back with a little screen and keyboard standing in front of it inviting passers-by in english and spanish to apply for a job. right there, right now. at the machine. no human interviewer necessary.
it's almost as if they're telling people: come work for us, apply right here to get a first hand impression of how efficiently we downsize workers and replace them with computers!
Tue, 29 Mar 2005 08:09
i hope you avoided the easter bunny-shaped chunk of chocolate. it's always waxy and gross. sunscreen and american flags sounds like independence day, but that's not until july. maybe it's just a general summer's-coming section. and i never noticed the job-application terminal, what a strange concept. mc-job application. i wonder if they do eventually get an interview with a robot. but lots of places want online job applications these days, and perhaps grocery stores are aware that some of the people who would want to work for them would not have regular computer access.
- cynthia
Tue, 29 Mar 2005 10:21
yeah, and the terminal is also strangely tucked away in the corner between the 'rent-a-vaccum' shelves.
- guy
Tue, 29 Mar 2005 11:07
The real deceptive part about the chocolate bunnies is that the big ones are hollow. Cheap, thin, hollow bits of brown wax. But the M&Ms are normal.
Can you apply to be an automatic checkout machine? Can I build a robot to apply to be an automatic checkout machine?
- Alea
27.03.05
nashville's creepiest motel
i'm logging footage from my road trip to the south last winter.
this is probably nashville's cheapest motel, and yes that green, empty jack daniels infested liquid holding container used to be a pool.
Sun, 27 Mar 2005 23:04
you wish it was jack daniels.
- udi
Mon, 28 Mar 2005 12:52
i thought you hated the word 'creepy'?
- cynthia
Mon, 28 Mar 2005 14:14
I think it's also nashville's sketchiest motel.
- udi
Sat, 2 Apr 2005 00:52
He also hates "sketchy."
- Paulette
Sun, 3 Apr 2005 03:03
I know.
- udi
Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:49
That looks like the Hallmark Inn. Thats basically a crack motel. Did you get shaken down by the police?
- D
25.03.05
politics, america, comments-on
democracy labs
i like the idea that the states are like little testbeds for policy ideas, keeping the justice and government systems heterogeneous and experimental in a safe way. good policies ideas will eventurally travel between states, but if there's some fuck up, it can be more contained. finally the really good ideas will be implemented on a federal level.
Fri, 25 Mar 2005 17:10
i must say that i disagree with you on this one. from my limited experience of the U.S. i do feel differences between people in different parts of this country. probably in most cases, two adjacent states are pretty similar (though i did feel a shift crossing the state line from MS to LA), once you've travelled a thousand miles, there are pretty significant differences between the peoples.
if you tried to reconcile those differences on the federal level as they come up in all matters that call for legislation, you wouldn't be able to get any law passed. the death penalty is just one easy example. gay marriage is another one.
just because most of the world doesn't know where ohio is does not make its identity insignificant. most of the world doesn't really know where israel is either.
- udi
Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:40
as you would from asking people in meah shearim (a religious neighbourhood in jerusalem) and tel aviv about gay marriage, or eating cheeseburgers. or as you would get from asking people at Haifa University and in the factories in Yeruham about whether Arabs should have civil rights. So there are differences, I still think that there is a national identity and that it wouldn't be right to give people from the university and the factory or from the orthodox sector and the liberal sector different driver's license.
- guy
Fri, 25 Mar 2005 19:50
I think that in this case - size does matter.
- udi
Fri, 25 Mar 2005 20:52
what american ever argued for state's rights based on preserving a state's "character"? culture has never had anything to do with it, it's always been about preventing too much centralized power. you non-americans and your "culture" stuff. :)
and you can't judge america by the interstate. the interstate is like its own state and has little to do with local "culture". if you rode the whole way down side roads it would be a very different ride.
- cynthia
Fri, 25 Mar 2005 21:22
i don't judge american by the interstate, and it was a different ride on the side roads, but not a ride that would prompt me to say that it's a different country...
- guy
Sat, 26 Mar 2005 01:30
ignoring the historical background, decentralization of power, cultural changes, it's also a simple question of size and identity (culture being just a component thereof). the u.s. is so huge that the gap between the federal and the municipal is simply too big. there are so many things that the federal government simply doesn't deal with - a burden that would otherwise make it ineffective.
the u.s. is not unique, i believe, as an interim level can be found in germany, russia, canada, brazil, among other places, even if the division of power in those cases differs per case.
also, "we" (non-americans, israelis, whatever...) sometime overlook how significant the state is as part of the identity of americans. i think that growing up without such a component in our own identity our "social receptors" lack the apparatus to see it.
- shai
Sat, 26 Mar 2005 09:41
it's funny, i have had conversations with other americans about how most small countries are the size of american states, and how weird it would be to have each neigboring state speaking a different language.
- cynthia
Sat, 26 Mar 2005 11:30
i guess that in this case too size matters. the point of this post was that i heard a convincinv argument *for* state legislation. but since more words were devoted to explain my prior anti-state stance, that's the only thing that people took away from it.
- guy
Sat, 26 Mar 2005 12:57
that's one of the risks you run writing a blog, isn't it?
people might sometimes comment about and question your long-standing presuppositions, not only your new insights.
- udi
02.03.05
tracking aliens
cynthia sent me a link to an npr story about how the dept of homeland security is piloting a program to electronically monitor immigrant-applicants using location trackers.
The Department of Homeland Security is experimenting with a controversial new method to keep better track of immigrants who are applying to remain in the United States. It is requiring aliens in eight cities to wear electronic monitors 24 hours a day.
The ankle bracelets are the same monitors that some rapists and other convicted criminals have to wear on parole.
they should do it for all citizens! and allow public access to that information. that would be fun. i want to know where my friends are, too.
hmm, maybe that's too dangerous. how about they allow public access to this information only to people who are card-holding members of the republican party. that way the information won't go into the wrong hands. and that would also encourage people to join the party.
Sat, 5 Mar 2005 22:50
gives me the shivers... it's frightening to see - time and again - how the world, in general, and the u.s. in particular are steadily drawing closer to an orwellian nightmare. this tendency is so powerful yet so many people don't even see it. ... it's not invincible, though.
- shai
28.01.05
no dress code in auschwitz
The vice president, however, was dressed in the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower.
18.01.05
safe trip
there's few things that annoy me as much as the general consensus of paranoia that's the staple of existance here, and the worst part is that it's spreading all over the world, where 'safety first' becomes the undisputed axiom of what's important in life.
i much prefer the high-risk but worthwhile approach.
particularily unnerving is the insistance of people in the u.s to wish their fellows a 'safe trip', where in every other language i know of people wish each other a 'good trip'. but here it's like - i don't care if you enjoy yourself, just don't die on me, please!
knowing that pet peeve of mine, my friend zoz forwarded me the following quote, 'from george carlin's latest book, 'when will jesus bring the pork chops?'':
go george!
always having something bad to say, however, i must point out that that 'creepy' is also one of my least favorite word in american english. not as bad as 'sketchy', but still.
13.01.05
sidewalks
walking and sliding back home last night, i thought how american it is that everyone is responsible to clear the sidewalk in front of his own house from snow and ice. it's not the city's business, but instead the home owners' problem.
the result: a patchwork of clean and slippery sidewalks, with the poor pedestrian at the mercy of the citizens' laziness. in other words, the problem is totally unsolved because of the privatization, and you stand a good chance to slip and break an arm.
the reason is supposedly that the sidewalk is owned by the home owner, so the city shouldn't be cleaning up other people's mess.
good thing cleaning the roads of ice is not the home owners' responsibility, otherwise we would have cars crashing into trees whenever they drive by a vacant lot.
talking to someone about this, she asked me if in israel the city clears the snow from the sidewalks. that's a good question, and we'll investigate it the next time there's ice on the sidewalks in israel.
22.12.04
blue state pride
there's nothing merchandise-proof in the u.s - not the police, not the subway, certainly not wars. hell not even full-blown national disasters.
but this is even further out there - people are showing their pride in losing the elections. blue state pride merchandising is advertised all over the pinko web.
what's next? 'i got syphilis' baseball caps?
unrelated: a blog entry here is #1 hit for 'MIT geeks'. strange.
09.12.04
cnn's most emailed stories
a web exclusive: the top 10 emailed stories from cnn.com.
honestly, they really do reveal a sad state of the union in a year that brought us a major overseas war and a presidential election.
and someone is obsessed with dogs.
ten: woman finds fingertip in salad
nine: study finds dogs understand language
eight: canadians open arms to americans
seven: dog saves woman's life by calling 9-1-1
six: wedding guests eat victim
five: frequent sex cuts cancer risk
four: pup shoots man, saves litter mates
three: swimmer drives with shark on leg
two: barbie and ken call it "splitsville"
and the most e-mailed story by cnn.com readers:
03.12.04
jury duty
i was invited by the commonwealth of massachusetts to perform my duty as an american citizen and serve on a trial jury.
naturally, i'm not allowed to do that, since i'm not actually an american citizen. i just need to fill out the right circle, telling them that i'm not, and send it back.
don't they have a way to tell who's a citizen and who's not other than asking the person? isn't that like an interesting statistic about people that the government would want to save on some computer file?
it seems odd (but not surprising) that the most powerful fingerprinting and photographing superpower doesn't even know which residents are citizens and which aren't.
Sat, 4 Dec 2004 11:58
that's hilarious. i've never been called to jury duty, but you have.
- cynthia
Sat, 4 Dec 2004 12:35
you got it probably because you registered with the RMV. That's when I got it here in NY.
I think it's part of the american aversion to having the government know everything about them - instead they let the government know everything about them less efficiently. They don't want to have a national ID card like we do in Israel, but somewhere someone in the FBI knows which books you read.
- Udi
Sat, 4 Dec 2004 14:22
don't think so because it was forwarded from my old address in cambridge. there was a place to fill out your address if it changed, but i was too lazy to do so. er, not too lazy, i just don't think it's democratic to update the government with my address.
that reminds me of this report i'm reading from the MIT-CalTech project on the vote. where they say that it's undemocratic to have a citizen ID.
and btw, cynthia, i was called for jury duty in NY state as well, i guess i have that 'fair and honest' look to me.
- guy
Sat, 4 Dec 2004 17:04
hmmm...i wonder if they allow the 'jury selection' interviews to do the filtering and are just too lazy to do preliminary checks. do you just ignore the notice, or do you notify them somehow that you're ineligible? or perhaps the government is actually only pretending to want you for jury duty and is instead keeping tabs on foreigners. i was never called here or in maryland.
- cynthia
Sat, 4 Dec 2004 17:48
forget that first question, i should read more carefully...
- cynthia
25.11.04
deserted
nope, you can't get just one more thing done. and you can't pick up a bottle on your way to dinner, and you can't just grab a coffee, or just buy that 3/16'' screw you just remembered that you need.
Fri, 10 Dec 2004 21:47
I was really hungry one thanksgiving night, and tried for a long time to find somewhere to get food. Finally someone had the good idea that a hotel restuarant would have to be open, so we went to the marriott lobby bar and grill or something. Next stop was the hospital cafe, luckily it didn't have to come to that.
- jesse
22.11.04
of course...a list
05.11.04
some positive vibe
It's far from over. The tunnel is just a little darker -- and longer -- than we imagined.
04.11.04
OutOfVotingMemoryException
ok, sorry for the geeky title, i just spent a few days running algorithms in java.
anyway, the onion - once more - had it right when it called what happened two days ago as an 'attempt at democratic elections' european election monitors are appalled, and i hope nobody thinks it's beyond this administration to cheat their way through the elections.
but cheating or not cheating apart, by far my favorite story so far is that of the e-voting machine losing 4500 out of 10500 votes because it was running out of memory.
it's nothing new that this is not a very technology-savvy country, as i've noted a few times, but what kind of storage system did they use that can only store 3,005 (!) votes? an atari 2600? or maybe every vote was stored as a 100M movie file?
and there is no backup for the votes that were lost? hell, i back up papers that i write every night on two machines.
and the machine didn't stop accepting votes when the memory ran out? it just overwrote the old votes?
god. some programmer should be put in prison for malpractice on that one.
Fri, 5 Nov 2004 12:51
wow, and i thought my lame connect-the-dots-with-magic-marker-on-a-sheet-of-paper voting experience was ridiculous...
- cynthia
Fri, 5 Nov 2004 15:37
boing boing just listed that story. i guess i'm ahead of my times again...
and i saw technorati again, and i still don't understand exactly what that is and how it works...
- guy
Sat, 6 Nov 2004 16:38
it just tells you who's linked to you.
- cynthia
03.11.04
toughts of secession
them liberals here at m.i.t look hazy-eyed over to canada. the more laid-back types eye mexico. they all note the well defined border between the blue states and the red states, and it's almost like secession is in the air.
looking at the map, an unnamed democrat here said: 'see all those blue states? what we should do is adjust the tax laws so that we pay less federal taxes and all those red states will starve and maybe then they'll find out that they're actually depending on us democrats to survive'.
i never understood why the north didn't let the south secede in the 1800s, or as udi once said 'i thought the union was a voluntary thing'. maybe now is a good time to reconsider.
Wed, 3 Nov 2004 18:02
did I say that?
yeah, I guess. makes sense. secession was in the air in this blue state too. at least it was in the air around me. I suggested that NY and CA secede, but I guess we can throw in MA.
- Udi
Thu, 4 Nov 2004 00:51
well thank you very much. just to remind you - we brought you kerry...er, maybe that's not a good argument.
funny thing i overheard today was someone saying: 'i want to see all those red states live without hollywood movies, and without fox news, and without mtv and all the cool things that we give them. then we'll see'.
it's totally like 'we're doing all the hard work and then you vote against us' here in boston.
- guy
02.11.04
americans are french when it comes to floors
in an unrelated story, a kind spirit bought me something called a floor rag, imported - no less - from israel. for my american readers, it's a piece of cloth that is aimed to collect the dirt from the floor with the intention of actually cleaning the room, instead of just wetting it, moving the dirt around and obscuring it with fragrance.
floor cleaning is not a big favorite here, and floor rags are a piece of household equipment almost impossible to obtain in the u.s of a.
you know, i've always wondered why shower-happy americans love to make fun of the french for just using perfume instead of washing the scum off, when that's exactly what they do with all their other clearning chores: wet, disinfect and distribute.
and the winner is
since nobody really gives a fuck what i have say on the topic, i will now announce that 'some words to not' calls the 2004 presidential elections for incumbent president and republican nominee george w. bush.
with florida gone and ohio nothing more than wishful thinking for the dems, it's safe to say that we are looking forward to another four years of great comedy in the white house.
there sure were some long faces on the t tonight. people were not very happy.
i know that there are supposedly some 1,000,000 uncounted votes in florida, but hey - i think it's over.
01.11.04
elections tomorrow
and it's the home of democracy (as another subway poster says). too bad that they're short 500,000 volunteers to staff the voting booths, because presidential election day is not a paid vacation day. for a country spreading freedom and elections all over the world, one would think that they would encourage people to attend their own elections. but that would be too much to ask.
Mon, 1 Nov 2004 11:05
i was told i had to bring a photo id, i think that sign is wrong.
- cynthia
Mon, 1 Nov 2004 11:27
maybe. it was an official sign by the mayor of boston, though.
- guy
halloween
if you ask me people should dress up for every party. it's just so much fun. there's always something to talk about and you are smiling like an asshole even before you had your first drink. not to mention what being dressed in a miniskirt riding the t does to your sense of self consciousness.
also girls seem to really embrace the holiday to dress down and dirty for that occasion. it's almost like the alcohol excuse - as if the high boots and sexy top are not really 'they', it's just a costume innit?
in general my anecdotal observation finds that guys try to dress up funny whereas girls really try to walk the boundary between having a recognizable costume, but still looking sexy. you don't see many of them dressing up in baggy bunny costumes, or covering their faces.
it's one of those lovely american things, where prudence and decadence fight it out. as long as it's a costume, it's fine. anything for the holiday spirit.
Mon, 1 Nov 2004 11:06
ugh i HATE the costumes girls wear on halloween--kitten ears and devil's horns and a slutty outfit. so much for feminism.
- cynthia
Sun, 25 Feb 2007 20:07
It IS the holiday spirit: being something that you're not. So yeah, I put away my grad student t-shirt and jeans and pull out my short skirt and tall boots for Halloween. What of it? It's nice to let yourself go and try out living on the other side every once in a while. It has nothing to do with feminism or chauvinism, and everything to do with mixing things up a little.
- hap
28.10.04
one night in boston
due to time and navigation constraints i ended up watching game four at 'spirit' and boy was i out of my demographics. the harvard m.b.a crew cut was mandatory and everyone was dressed business-casual.
26.10.04
dnc messenger
what on earth made the democratic party copy the graphics from msn messenger for their homepage?
are they trying to be 'hip'? do they have a license for that?
Wed, 27 Oct 2004 02:08
hey, check this out. I want to see someone carve that out of a pumpkin. it seems like some graphic designer over there is on a roll.
- Udi
Wed, 27 Oct 2004 10:39
hmm.. one could sorta claim that their b/w rendering of the logo is actually a "carving pattern", but what are we supposed to do with the gray areas on the flag in the second one?
- guy
25.10.04
warhol on america
from my current subway reading:
What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.
In Europe the royalty and the aristocracy used to eat a lot better than the peasants - they weren't eating the same things at all. It was either partridge or porridge, and each class stuck to its own food. But when Queen Elizabeth came here and President Eisenhower bought her a hot dog I'm sure he felt confident that she couldn't have had delivered to Buckingham Palace a better hot dog than that one he bought for her for maybe twenty cents at the ballpark. Not for a dollar, not for ten dollars, not for a hundred thousand dollars could she get a better hot dog. She could get one for twenty cents, same as everybody else.
this is, of course, not true in general (you might have noticed that some people have nicer chairs than you, even in america), but it has a grain of truth in it that characterizes the american revolution. it's true for coke, and it's true for hot dogs, and also true for movies, and tv. even donald trump can't get better episodes of the 'sopranos' than you.
also, reading on, i was surprised to see warhol mention a technique to deal with things that i call my own, and just lengthily explained to a friend over the phone last week.
Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:00
this is actually only true of cheap junk food--the poorest can't eat foie gras or lobster every day, and the poorest also can't afford healthy food in america, as salads cost 4x as much as a cheeseburger at mcdonald's. which a celebrity might eat once in awhile, but it's not their steady diet like it has to be for many poor people.
- cynthia
Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:57
true, in general, warhol is full of shit. but it's a cute point to think about.
- guy
08.10.04
just say it, dammit
ok, this is old, and this is well known and maybe too personal for this blog's trend.
but, dear fellow americans:
if you want to say "no", say "no". don't say "this might not be the best idea". because i don't care if it's not the best idea, espcially if it only "might" not be the best idea. i can do the second best idea, no problem. and i'll just do it. "no" is just as easy to say.
and if you want to say "please do something", just say "please" and "do it", don't say "you might want to consider doing this". because i'll consider, and i'll debate and i might just do something else. beacuse you just told me to maybe consider. "please so this" is just as easy to say.
but i would be stupid to expect straight talk around here.
02.10.04
wedding rehearsals
i heard that they are now planning to have first date rehearsals, as well. if you are planning to have a first date, they match you up with someone else who is having a first date soon, and you can rehearse the date before you go on your actual first date. there's even a buy-back guarantee in case you like your rehearsal date better than your real date.
Sat, 9 Oct 2004 14:02
have you ever seen a catholic wedding? at an hour long and very elaborate, you'd want a rehearsal.
- cynthia
27.09.04
bread
you gotta be wondering about a nation that has bread so wrong.
it costs $3 for a pound, tastes like sugar, is soft like a marshmellow and molds within 2.5 days.
the only two other basic foods that are as malfunctioning here are coffee and milk.
i just switched to soymilk, because it tastes more like milk than milk. they actually try to make soymilk taste like milk, whereas they seem to try to make milk taste like stale water.
plus it's not very nice to drink some animal's mother's milk who is impregnated all the time just for that with no chance to see her young.
actually i'm being unfair, there are many basic foods that are as malfunctioning as bread around here.
25.09.04
how about the eat less pizza and exercise diet?
someone told me that ¼ of americans are on a low-carb diet.
i don't know if that's true, but judging by the cereal-box and fast-food restaurant index, it might well be. if kellogs come out with a low-carb cereal and even burger king have a low-carb menu, everyone wants low carb (not to mention low-carb beer).
on the other hand, my instincts tell me that if burger king and budweiser are supporting something, i should probably steer clear away from it.
but really, i commend anyone who has the discipline to be on any diet. chapeau.
for me, in the past, only the eat the fuck less pizza and chocolate and exercise daily diet really worked out.
'but it's scientifically proven!' you say.
which reminds me of the old joke, in which this guy hits on a gal, and tells her that his watch can read her mind. and now it tells him that she has no underwear on. 'wrong' says the lady. to which the man counters 'damn, it's an hour fast'
at the rate that diet science moves, i'm always on the scientifically proven diet. my watch is only a few months off.
15.09.04
journalism, cite, nostalgia, america, israel
happy new year
on the occasion of the jewish new year, haaretz came out with a special issue today about israelis and the world, entitled made in israel - israelis without borders.
i was supposed to write a piece for that, but ended up not having the time (the story of my life?)
anyway, seems like there are some interesting articles there, and starting to read one of yuval ben-ami's pieces (haaretz's correspondent in boston), i came across this quote, citing a daughter of an israeli couple that moved to new haven. she has never lived in israel, but misses 'home'.
in a short quote she manages to both explain what's weird about living in the u.s, how israeli she is, and how not israeli she really is.
the things i like most when i visit in israel, are the simple things. like when i tell them 'my name is yael', they say 'ah, cool, yael', and when i say 'i am moroccan', people get a little scared.
- scared?
no, i'm kidding, you know, moroccan, knives, gotta be careful. i'm just kidding. in israel they get what 'moroccan' means. when i tell people here 'my name is yael', a whole saga starts of me trying to teach them my name. and when i tell them 'i am moroccan', they say 'ah, how interesting. where's morocco?'
may your new year be blessed with great love and small moments of happiness.
09.09.04
overheard subway conversation
- i keep wanting his mom to come into starbucks, so that i can tell her that i'd be the best daughter in law she can imagine. maybe then she'll tell him to call me.
01.09.04
the difficult way home
coming back this time was not easy. stepping off from a near-12-hour journey nursing an annoying cold, the first thing i notice are the usual american cultural icons that make me shake my head in disbelief:
Thu, 2 Sep 2004 11:25
i feel similarly every time i come home from a visit with my friends in nyc. not so much the cultural issues of course, just the longing. it's more of a mental space than a physical one.
what are your objections to "COMMUTER RAIL THIS WAY"?
- cynthia
Thu, 2 Sep 2004 19:55
just the all caps. what's wrong with "Commuter Rail this way"? so much more gentle.
- guy
Fri, 3 Sep 2004 08:22
ha--true. i think it's the frustration of workers who deal with the public showing through...after being asked enough times where the commuter rail is, even their signs start shouting...
- cynthia
Fri, 10 Sep 2004 10:24
at least I read something about the wedding! And about you! I still appretiate the internet - it provides me some insights about your in - head and sharing some of your thoughts - that I miss so much - love Ima
- ima
23.08.04
you guys just walk
it's almost like there's too many people volunteering, so some are just given random things to do.
Mon, 23 Aug 2004 13:37
*lol*
well all i know is that a friend of mine got me to donate $20 to some cause she was walking for which i never would have given otherwise. something about the pressure of friends makes these things successful, as illogical as they sound when you take them apart.
- cynthia
Mon, 23 Aug 2004 15:27
i see - so it's much like getting people to donate through a guilt trip?
"damn you, i'm sweating out here, can't you even spring a tenner?"
- guy
Tue, 24 Aug 2004 08:11
ha--pretty much. and the more pushy the friend, the more money people donate. she got something like $1400, and it was all for some home for pregnant teens--not on the top of anyone's charity list. and they only walked like 1 mile.
- cynthia
Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:05
I'll be walking home tonight...
- COLORBLIND
12.08.04
'the corporation' visited
minor spoilers
'oh i wish i had some honey bunches of oats', says the well-trained american refugee. 'or some mountain dew red alert'. brands are american culture. and guess who's making a buck out of it. not you.
06.08.04
dirt
Sat, 7 Aug 2004 11:00
"Stains are badges of an exciting life". something is indeed very wrong. Still, even if they're just selling detergetn, at least their message is one that sends people to play outdoors. If you want to see another stupid ad campaign, check out this one from burger king. The company I work for did the "interventions". ugh.
- Udi
Sat, 7 Aug 2004 12:47
Regardless of its fucked-up-ness, I kind of like it. Hey, it got the job done, right? You saw the ad, went to their sight, and know what they're tyring to sell. Not only that, but you got (at least) two other people to do the same. I"d say it worked. And yes, we do spend too much time indoors.
- Ady
Sat, 7 Aug 2004 13:04
what would that job be? for me to look at their site and think they're out of their minds?
i've been meaning to visit their site since i saw this in january, so it only took them a marketing effort of 7 months of billboard and subway ads to get me to go there, and immediately forget what company it is that they're trying to promote. i can't see how their marketing dollars were put to good use here.
but that's not even my main point. the main point is that getting dirty is commercialized...i mean - getting dirty?
i should start a campaign for oxygen.
everyone is trying to sell something. anything. just sell - so you can have more money and work more and be more pressured. it just doesn't make sense to me.
maybe i'm just in a bad mood.
- guy
Sat, 7 Aug 2004 17:39
it's just a lame advertisement. i see this and i just see some frustrated creative type working for an ad agency trying to come up with a way to stand out, a different way to sell laundry detergent. i don't think it's worth getting upset over.
- cynthia
28.07.04
anecdotal
from a radio ad for an erectile dysfunction drug:
a scientifically supervised anecdotal study has shown that 98% of the participants reported an increase in sexual potency.
10.07.04
prepare to be interrupted
- Present your ideas clearly and get directly to the point. Prepare to be interrupted in the course of your presentation.
07.07.04
happy to announce
02.07.04
pretty damn f-blank-blank-blank-blank-d up
had lunch in the big city tonight, and saw the following inscription on a big building:
"the new england shelter for homeless veterans"
27.06.04
post-jdate
blaire wants to be engaged by the end of the year. thing is, she's not seeing anyone at the moment.
so, in a culture ridden by reality tv, the most logical thing is to make a competition out of it.
hope she wont be too disappointed when she realizes that prioritizing the state of marriage over the actual choice of husband might not be the recipe for happiness.
other than that, she doesn't seem half bad, so if you're a jewish male between 25-31 fitting all the standard american dating criteria (you know, gym, commitment, earning money and having a goal in life) and want to get married to a goodlooking jewish girl real soon, you should give it a try.
25.06.04
fahrenheit 9/11 visited
no spoilers. just thoughts.
this is the best the average consumer can stomach: image, image, image, flash, simplified claim, flash, soundbyte, image. i mean, seriously, who knows this better than the white house and fox news?
my guess is - it will soar.
Mon, 28 Jun 2004 10:11
are you suggesting that any liberal who dislikes michael moore or disagrees with the masses is just doing it to look like they are "independent thinkers" and not because they actually disagree?
- cynthia
Mon, 28 Jun 2004 10:58
no i'm not.
i'm suggesting that liberals value breaking the ranks and thinking differently, and therefore tend to try and think differently within their own ranks, a symbol of which is not liking michael moore.
what i was suggesting is an explanation of why conservatives always seem to be more unified, and it's the liberals that always seem to split and make themselves weaker that way.
as a generalization, conservatives thrive on faith, liberals on doubt.
- guy
Mon, 28 Jun 2004 14:08
ok.
- cynthia
Wed, 1 Dec 2004 06:46
In your free time, check some information about...
-
24.06.04
fahrenheit tomorrow
and since everyone and their mothers are busting balls about this movie that it makes you sick, and i definitely have nothing to add on this topic, i'll just quote tony:
youre a dog in a dirty fight. the other dog is definately deceitful and mistrustful, and ugly, and selfish, and solely interested in its own agenda. the other dog told the nation that there were definately weapons of mass destruction in iraq and that those weapons needed to be removed in order to protect america. and yet some liberals are trying to pretend that that dog's inaccuraccy is on the same level as yours.
woof
professor of erbology
these days, girls is 'avin sex at younga ages, de's an increase in absentee fathers, and mo an' mo people is 'avin affairs... but we shouldn't just concentrate on da good thangs.
many of you have heard that ali g gave a commencement speech at harvard's class of 2004 class day this month.
fast forward the stuck up 'avahdites to 1:25:00, and make sure to stop the streaming video before the 'a-capella dream team' starts chanting. i kid you not.
22.06.04
oh, so you want it actually delivered?
"look buddy. you can pay $10 to have your package delivered. but if you want it really delivered, that will cost you another $7. just so that, you know, nothing bad will happen to it on the way."
17.06.04
c+c visited
Fri, 18 Jun 2004 18:21
something tells me you haven't visited the american south...
- cynthia
Fri, 18 Jun 2004 20:04
actually, i was thinking about my roadtrip to the south when i was writing that, and admittedly, things are much slower down there.
but still, i think that you have to live in a place like that to really get into that pace, you know, have your friends there, get to know the place, the people. it's not
quite the same as a tourist.
- guy
Sat, 19 Jun 2004 08:35
your comment box is tiny! i think it's actually kinda cute. i'd agree that you'd probably have to live in the south to get into it...but you probably wouldn't wanna. but generally yes pretty much all americans are achievement-oriented. it's an attitude that informs the media so it's pretty much everywhere, even southern cities. but not austin, tx, for some reason.
- cynthia
02.06.04
yuppie baby?
an american friend visiting our common israeli friends, who have a little girl, found it hilarious that the child had a toy garlic press. i failed to see the humor.
only later i realized that she thought that a garlic press was a very yuppie utensil, as if the kid had a purple plastic champagne cooler.
to me, coming from the middle east, a garlic press seems almost as basic a household item as a knife, making it a natural fit for a child's play kitchen.
Tue, 30 Dec 2008 06:02
Do they make toys of garlic press for kids? Never seen one. We don't use that much ourselves and hence to see it as part of a child's kitchen toy set is something that should be amusing!
28.05.04
nowhere to return to
i'm aware that i'm probably biased by my mood, but this morning i just feel like i don't belong. to alleviate the pressure, i went to the common room and tuned into the israeli tv station. what a state of affairs it must be when i turn to israeli culture for some normality...
Fri, 28 May 2004 10:20
:( sorry you're feeling discouraged. a friend of mine in grad school who moved here from africa made a short film on this topic. he felt out of place both here and there. but he did move back to africa.
- cynthia
Mon, 31 May 2004 20:14
I think your 10 year dream is fabulous. here in honduras i don´t think that i´ve ever heard one of my neighbors talk about ´solidad´or that state of not belonging. i´m interested in going back to the states and meeting their family members who went mojado to see if they have encountered the feeling yet.
- daniela
Mon, 31 May 2004 20:19
mi primita! to run into you here of all places. i'm so happy to see you soon.
- guy
12.05.04
show me your wallet!
11.05.04
restaurant style
the coffee machine in the lobby promises "coffee house taste", the cheese in my fridge boasts "deli style" and the tortilla chips in my cupboard are proud to be "restaurant style". as if mass-production vouches for fine taste.
in the little mediterranean country where i'm from, it's usually the opposite. you're supposed to feel ashamed that you're even buying packaged food. when you do, the label will reassure you that it's all "home style" and that it "tastes like self-made". no brand would want to be "restaurant style". hell, most restaurants try to call themselves "home style".
i guess in the u.s. there's more faith in the commercial.
27.04.04
travel, comments-on, politics, america
why europe is different
- alcohol is served and consumed in public. i was particularly shocked when the border police walked by a group of students drinking beer on the train without telling them something like "sir, you might want to put this beer can away. it is against [fire?] regulations." (btw, i love the north-american polite-imperative construct "you might want to". on the face of it, so vague - in reality, very distinct).
Wed, 26 May 2004 16:20
Very nice. You know I share your view on our beloved America, but just from curiosity it will be interesting to do the same list for America and Israel. Maybe it will give us some perspective.
- oh-riit
Thu, 30 Sep 2004 16:23
thanks guy for a very nice piece! i just got back from a very short visit to holland (after 4 years in the states) and observed the following:
- people have time: when you stop someone (anyone) in the street (any time) to ask for help - they stop and explain lengthily until they are sure you are satisfied.
- variation: in the states you can drive for days but stay at the same place.
- the local trains suck.
- momi
10.03.04
stranger in a strange land
walking home from lab today (admittedly in a melancholy mood), i noticed a saddening fact.
during almost two years of living in the united states, and knowing little about this country before i got here, i kept being surprised, amazed and shocked about various aspects of the culture here at the "hub of the empire". ever so often i would shake my head or rub my eyes in disbelief that such a place really exists.
but tonight, walking in the dark, when i tried to think about the ten biggest oddities of this place, what i came up with was pretty much a list of the most clicheed statements about america one can think of. it felt pretty useless realizing that my wildest emotional revelations, upon inspection, are nothing more than just the stereotypes i already had before moving.
18.02.04
former miss massachusetts on the radio
overheard an ad for a dentistry school on the radio today
thanks to the dentistry school i have a job that pays well, that's flexible and that allows me to help people improve their appearance in ways that can change their lives.
and i thought that teeth were for processing food.
news flash: janet has nipples
lack of time has postponed a posting i was going to put here about the inherent hypocrisy of u.s sexuality and its long-lived affair with alcohol.
in the meantime, some of what i had in mind on the topic was said in a great 'tech' opinion column published this week. like
when the breasts and butts that titillate us on a daily basis come without the packaging of a thin piece of cloth, the barrier of a pay-per-view fee or the apparent protection of an online adult verification service, entertainment suddenly crosses the line, becoming lewd and obscene exposure that should be banned, censored, fined, and lambasted.
14.02.04
journalism, captain, music, america
new column (translated): dollar songs
the united states of america is a society in which trade plays a central role not only in business, but also in the public and private mentality. an american child learns from early age that every experience that's worth anything is intimately connected to a product or a service, and that happiness has a pricetag. one of the strangest things a foreigner experiences here is that almost all the child memories of the local people have some brand name in them (this can be a visit to "6 flags", bread with "peter pan" peanut butter, or a family outing to "tgi friday's"). this is not accidental. much money is invested in child-targeted advertisement, and this bulk of ads engrains the notion that if something doesn't cost money, it's probably worth nothing.
use filters on the right to see additional content by month or category
content here by guy hoffman .. as seen times since march 2004
Sat, 7 Jul 2007 10:23
welcome back.
- Udi
Sun, 8 Jul 2007 07:53
glad you are back
- tatiana