Time, money, truth, representation, Chipotle, Hanukah, Quo Vadis, Mr. Splashy Pants

IMAGE OF THE DAY

NOT ENTIRELY UNRELATED STORY OF THE DAY:

The intelligence on Iran's weapons of mass destruction turns out to have been erroneous and in all likelihood represented in a less than honest way. Hmm. That must be a typo in the country name.

INTERESTING QUASI-PARADOX OF THE DAY:

Recently, the Chinese published what was purported to be the first picture they've ever successfully taken of the surface of the moon. The claim was attacked as fraudulent, based on the uncanny resemblance between that photo and a moon surface photo previously taken by NASA. This claim of fraudulence was in turn countered by a reminder that NASA had taken a comprehensive photographic survey of the entire surface of the moon so, ironically, the only possible confirmation of the claim that the Chinese photo was fraudulent was not that it looked just like one of the NASA photos but rather that it DIDN'T look just like one of the NASA photos. All of which didn't in any way help confirm whether or not China's claim to have successfully taken photos of the moon surface was fraudulent or not. But at least it pointed out the deliciously problematic nature of attempting to determine the truth or falsehood of that claim and maybe even spawned a few dissertations on truth, representation and epistemology in the technological age.

Or at least some quality head scratching.

FINANCIAL INDICATOR OF THE DAY:

As many of you might know, I am a big fan of the restuarant chain Chipotle. The Chipotle restaurant near my office is very very popular. At lunch, there is almost always a line that snakes all the way through the restaurant and out the front door. But a more telling indicator about people's enthusiasm for this restaurant's fare is the following. For some reason, the building in which this Chipotle is located forbids the restuarant from putting a vestibule in front of the store. As a result, cold gusts of wind blow through the door and into the restaurant all winter long--keeping the cervezas (and the burrito-holic patrons who imbibe them) extra well chilled. Last night was such a night. And yet, despite the near arctic dining conditions and the full range of more climatically appealing dining options in the area, the place was still pretty much packed. In fact, there was still a pretty long line. In other words: You might want to buy the stock. (CMG--NYSE).

Full disclosure: Theodore Vegas holds shares of Chipotle stock and would probably benefit from your taking his advice as a fully uncredentialed and partially self-interested financial advisor.

LFAQs OF THE DAY:

Given that the adverse circumstances described above in no way discourage people from eating at Chipotle, it is reasonable to ask: Would the restuarant continue to be packed if there were regular skunk sprays every hour? If someone scattered white powder around the place and yelled "Anthrax!"? If they played nothing but Michael Bolton music? If the restaurant were on fire? If Robin Williams were performing there all night?

Are you rich enough to afford morally defensible animal protein? (Not to pimp Chipotle again, but their meat is almost entirely free range! And you know what a meaningful designation "free range" is! :))

Does Mike Gravel sound angry and cantankerous even when he says "I Love You?"

Are time and money involved in a dysfunctional relationship?

As you may know, Greenpeace has recently set up a contest to name a whale that they've adopted. Countless dignified, lyrical names were submitted (many with mythological overtones etc.) but the name that has been a runaway winner in the voting has been Mr. Splashy Pants. Anyhow, here's my question. If there had been no writer's strike and The Colbert Report had been on the air, would Stephen Colbert have rallied his viewership to vote for naming the adopted beast Colbert the Whale? And if so, which name would have ended up winning? (Or would Colbert have recognized the almost divinely decreed inevitability of Mr. Splashy Pants and simply angled for a co-branded effort, like Mr. Splashy Pants Colbert?)

Why do so many of the things we should be seeing and knowing about (interrogations/tortures, the industrial slaughtering of animals, the discussions in the Oval Office that affect our freedoms and fate etc.) take place in secret whereas so many of the things we have no business seeing or knowing about (Larry Craig’s sex life, Britney Spears' and Paris Hiltons' existence etc.) are constantly right in our face?

Factoid: A new blog is started every second. My question. How frequently are blogs discontinued? And what period of inactivity should be deemed sufficient to allow one to legitimately infer discontinuation? After what period of inactivity should a blog be presumed dead?

BREAKING NEWS STORY OF THE DAY:

Mike Gravel Reaches $100 Fundraising Milestone.

EDIFYING MOMENT OF THE DAY:

After many years of vaguely (and lazily) faking it, I finally learned what the hell "Quo Vadis" means...thanks to the fact that Pat Buchanan, in his unbridled pretentiousness, named his new book "Quo Vadis, America?" and some reviewer pointed out that it was emblematic of Buchanan's shameless hucksterism that he eschewed the reader-friendly "Which DIrection are you heading in, America?" or the "Which Way You Going, America?" for the impressive sounding Latin phrase. (And, in might be added, in much the same manner in which I eschewed the simpler "shunned" or "avoided" in the preceding sentence for the ostentatiously learned "eschewed."

Hifalutin or straightforward? Quo Vadis, Vegas? Quo Vadis?

RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE OF THE DAY:

I experienced the Hanukah miracle. No, not the whole thing about the oil lasting for 8 days and 8 nights. The fact that I managed to strike a match to light the menorah with a broken thumb!

OBSERVATION OF THE DAY:

I used the word "tucchus" and the word "meshugganah" today. I almost never use yiddish words. I think it's just the Hanakah talking.

CONCEPT OF THE DAY:

Serotonin vampire. He meets happy, pleasantly upbeat, slightly spacy people and says "I vant your serotonin. I vant to drink your serotonin!"

WEIRD THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

Watching guy with an iPhone operating the touch sensitive screen and thinking "Wow, it must be so cool to have a thumb."

DARK COMEDY MOMENT OF THE DAY:

I am explaining to my friend about the guy in "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" who has total shut-in syndrome--meaning he is fully lucid but totally paralized and can only communicate by opening and closing his left eyelid. And he asks, "Now what I want to know is: can he slip a noose over his head with that eyelid?"

RANDOM SINGLE SENTENCE PORTRAIT OF THE DAY:

His words were perfectly pitched between sincerity and the complete absence thereof.

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Posted on 12/6/2007 ( Permanent Link )
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