MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
I certainly hope this Hamlet-inspired edition of the question column pleaseth the millions (or at least the hundredths of daggers) and not be caviare to the general ... (btw, it's caviar, not murder, that is most foul, both in concept and taste).
1. Something is rotten in the state of [Dagblog]?
2. A dream itself is but a shadow?
3. O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain?
4. When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions?
5. To be honest as this world goes is to be one man picked out of ten thousand?
6. Doubt that the stars are fire; doubt that the sun doth move; doubt truth to be a liar; but never doubt I love?
7. We go to gain a little patch of ground, that hath in it no profit but the name?
8. Neither a borrower nor a lender be?
9. This above all: to thine own self be true?
10. The rest is silence?
Comments
1. Let's just say you knew someone who always had fairly bad body odor. Would you tell them and how would you approach the subject? (No, Genghis this isn't about you; I enjoy your particular scent. But I once had this problem with a dormmate in college, and I feel bad that we never said anything to the poor chap.)
by Deadman on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 6:45pm
"Yo! You sleep with the pigs?"
by Marquis de Sea ... on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 4:46pm
Any other thoughts (tho i appreciate the idea, marquis!) - Is it better to humiliate someone with body odor by pointing out their problem or staying mum and subjecting them to further ostracization down the road? It's one thing to point out someone's fly is open, but body odor could be an issue they're aware of and can't do anything about ...
by Deadman on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:33am
I have a horrible sense of smell (or at least I don't bother to register bad smells). My college roommate had a hyper-sensitive nose. Turns out, my feet have a tendency to stink. Fortunately, we were good friends, so after we'd lived together about a month, she rather embarrassedly informed me of the foot issue. Turned it into our own private joke. "OMG, that *bothers* you? Ok, I'll totally make sure to wear socks." Actually, that was the same roommate who taught me that not everyone can sleep through the sound of a door closing -- some people are light enough sleepers that you have to, very gingerly, turn the handle, before softly shutting the door and releasing it.
So, don't feel too bad about your college dormmate. I'm sure somewhere along the line, someone else clued him in. But in general, as a bad-scent-impaired person, it's not nearly as personal a thing as you smellers think it might be. "Oh, the garbage is stinky? Heh. Had no idea." (Walks over to bin, sticks nose in all the way, inhales deeply.) "Huh, I think you're right about that. Ok, sure, I'll take it out."
by CaliforniaPaige on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 1:43pm
by quinn esq on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 12:32am
Yeah, I tried to blame it on a stinky roommate with a skin disease too.
by Michael Wolraich on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 12:52am
2. So the other day I found this video tape of a high school video I made for an English class extra credit assignment I did with a couple of friends. While watching it, I felt like I remembered events from that day of filming, but how much of my 'memory' do you think was real and how much was me thinking I remembered the day because I was watching the video? In other words, do you think we have our entire lives stored in our memory banks, there for retrieval if we could only find a trigger?
by Deadman on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 6:48pm
I was reading some article about an autistic fellow who was handicapped by remembering everything. When he read, he lost track of plot because he was impelled to visualize chunks of the raw text as an image and commit it to memory. I frequently watch old movies and find that while I remember certain parts very clearly, other parts have left no impression.
by Donal on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 10:50am
Is this "in general," or in your case?
by Marquis de Sea ... on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 4:47pm
I meant in general. do our brains store everything that happens to us so that if we get a powerful enough trigger, we could recall any moment in our life accurately? or are some moments never 'captured' ...
i'm just curious cause while watching that old video, I feel like i remember moments from that day when we were filming - moments that weren't on the video - but im wondering if im REALLY remembering those moments or just filling in the gaps with scenes that i think must have been something like what happened ...
by Deadman on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:37am
by quinn esq on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 12:35am
3. Do you think Sarah Palin runs in 2012? If so, how far does she make it - early primaries, late primaries, nomination, White House?
by Deadman on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 6:49pm
by Orlando on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 9:33am
you don't know ANYTHING!!!!!!! when sarah wins you'll have gigantic eg-o all over your face-o. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO!!!!!!!!! iowa republican people are super smart!!!! like last time they voted for the funny arkansaw guy who no one thought was going to win b/c he totally has their values. and sarah has iowa republican people values even more than the arkansaw guy. not like old john mccain. plus, she's going to study super hard for 4 years so she'll get all the questions right. and maybe megabitch katie couric will try to interview her again and sarah will make her look so stupid that she'll pee her pants on TV and lose her job and turn into a homeless person. LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by SarahPalinGrrrrl on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 1:11pm
Who?
by Donal on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 10:50am
Does the KKK party have primaries?
by Marquis de Sea ... on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 4:48pm
4. What was the saddest moment in your life (Mine: Visiting my grandfather in the hospital after his stroke ... That was my first true understanding of death and dying)?
by Deadman on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 6:51pm
by Orlando on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 9:36am
nov 4. i cried for like 8 hours straight !!!!!! but then i knew that i had to be strong like sarah and focus all my positive energy on the next time!!!! and i need to send her lots of positive thoughts for 4 years to help kick election ass be the first woman president!!!!!!!!
hey dead guy, u r a total !!! u need therapy or something!!!!! i'll send u some positive energy too but not too much b/c i need it for sarah!!!!
by SarahPalinGrrrrl on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 1:27pm
5. Have you ever cheated? At what? Have you ever been caught?
by Deadman on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 6:51pm
by Orlando on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 9:39am
yes it counts. i don't remember ever engaging in an involved form of cheating (like having test answers written on my hand or anything like that), but I know I often would take furtive glances at other's people tests (i usually called it confirmation rather than cheating). and when genghis holds his cards at poker way open in front of him, i can't help but look (and sometimes I even tell him!).
i was never caught taking peeks i don't think, but i remember in sophomore English class, my teacher was highly suspicious that I cheated on this Macbeth quote test because i got 100%. It just so happens that the book I got from the school had almost all of the quotes that ended up being on the test underlined so I ended up focusing a lot on those when i was studying (maybe hoping that these were somehow going to be on the test but having no way of knowing). I think he thought I somehow got an old copy of the test from my brother, who had him about 5 years earlier.
by Deadman on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:44am
No. Why? Did someone say something?
by Donal on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 10:18am
by SarahPalinGrrrrl on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 1:30pm
Apparently you haven't seen my scores on the playfish games... If I cheated to get those, I would be cheating stupid.
by Marquis de Sea ... on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 4:50pm
6. Is romantic love anything more than chemicals and hormones in your brain firing through a certain mechanism that gives you pleasure? If it is, what else is it? If it isn't, does the fact that you feel that way make romantic love any less meaningful? What about other forms of love (child-parent, friend, etc.?) ... are those, too, purely biological and chemical emotions?
by Deadman on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 6:56pm
by Orlando on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 9:31am
Romantic love usually brings more pain than pleasure. Sometimes the pain comes early, sometimes late.
If we are nothing more than automata, then love is nothing more than one subroutine. Same with parental love and friendship. If we are more than the sum of our parts, love is a reflection of that.
by Donal on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 10:31am
Wow, that made me sad. I'm not saying romantic love doesn't usually or maybe always end in pain (but arent the good moments often greater than or equal to the pain that arise,s even if they can't match it in intensity)
and as far as your second point, well, what do YOU think... are we more than automata, more than the sum of our parts? I don't consider myself religious, but I still think we are.
by Deadman on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:49am
Don't be sad. I'm reading a book about an oft-disappointed man and it is dredging up memories of all my failed romances.
I'm programmed to think we're more than automata.
by Donal on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 4:57pm
Mind-body dualists are so confused.
by Marquis de Sea ... on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 4:51pm
I'm confused, but only because I'm not sure I know what that means. Can you explain?
by Deadman on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:50am
Hmm... I think maybe romantic love is lust plus familial love. I suppose love in general is expressed chemically/biologically, and influences our biology and chemistry, but it doesn't exist exclusively in those realms.
by CaliforniaPaige on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 1:29pm
by quinn esq on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 12:38am
7. If you had the means, do you think this is a good time to buy a house?
by Deadman on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 6:58pm
Yes, but a small, energy-efficient house, well within your means.
by Donal on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 9:55am
But travel time from my apartment to work is 8 minutes ... oh... and I own it.
by Marquis de Sea ... on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 4:52pm
As long as you plan on living there 5-10 years and can afford a cache of emergency mortgage payments as well as a decent-sized downpayment. Though I think the market will continue to improve (from my perspective, as a non-owner) for a while.
by CaliforniaPaige on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 1:17pm
by quinn esq on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 12:38am
8. OK, we know there is blame to go around on all sides, but if you had to give a percentage to it: How much blame for our current economic mess lies with the people who took on too much debt and signed ridiculous mortgages without reading (or caring about) the fine print and how much lies with the banks that made the loans?
by Deadman on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 6:59pm
I'm shy about ravishing this virgin post, but it's irresistible. That Shakespeare guy sure could write him some, eh?
My son got married this year, and asked me to do a "reading." I chose Polonius's well-meaning homily to his own son. It's jam-packed with advice like this, much of which oddly stands the test of time.
I then noted that, despite the wisdom of his words to his son, Polonius proceeds foolishly to get himself stabbed dead while hiding behind a curtain in a woman's bedroom. It got a chuckle from the wedding guests.
by acanuck on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 1:19am
The house-flippers were greedy, but the banks leveraged themselves to ridiculous proportions. Nevertheless some sort of recession was bound to accompany energy depletion.
by Donal on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 10:17am
duh!!!! it's all b/c of those acorn people who made the banks give money to the poor black people even tho they knew they would never pay it back.
by SarahPalinGrrrrl on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 1:34pm
Snow white ate the apple without asking about the poison, but it was her evil step-mom who made the poison.
by Marquis de Sea ... on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 5:17pm
The correct answer is 80% greedy (ignorant) people and 20% greedy banks. we have to stop absolving people of personal responsibility. If you are signing something you don't understand, then that is your fault. no one put a gun to your head. Should government have been more involved to try and stop what happened? Absolutely. But that still doesn't absolve you from making a bad decision. The reason I give 20% to the banks is that the only way this became a problem was that it became systemic, when everybody was signing mortgages and taking on debt they couldn't pay back and that was only possible because of widespread industry malpractice.
by Deadman on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:54am
by quinn esq on Tue, 12/09/2008 - 12:41am
that's a good point! i buy it ...
by Deadman on Fri, 12/12/2008 - 3:36am
9. When you were a young child, what did you want to be when you grew up? If you're not that now, why not?
by Deadman on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 7:01pm
I remember thinking, "Wow, I could live into the 21st century!"
So far, so good.
by acanuck on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 1:20am
When I was young, I changed my mind a lot. I didn't really form any strong attachments to any career until I was in high school. At that point it was a toss up...I was either going to be a lawyer or a high school band director. I have up the music thing early in my college career, but the lawyer thing lingered until a couple of years after college when it was time to make the decision about law school. Ultimately, I decided that I would probably love law school but hate being a lawyer. So, I'm not. While I was still in college, law school was the path to getting elected to office. I wanted that too. Until I got a job on a campaign staff for a governor's race and realized that politicians, and especially political operatives, would eat their own young to get ahead. Not. For. Me.
by Orlando on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 9:18am
Nothing firm. I wanted to be whatever I watched or read. One evening in my early teens, I made the dizzying realization that in a few years I would have to pay my own way. I lay on my bed as the enormity sunk in.
by Donal on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 10:11am
by SarahPalinGrrrrl on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 1:17pm
I more or less made it.
by Marquis de Sea ... on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 4:54pm
i remember wanting to be ball player, but quickly realized i didn't have the skills (i do wish I had learned the value of working out earlier, while my body was maturing).
I also remember wanting to be a sportscaster, but I dont have the voice.
Also actor, novelist, screenwriter, TV show host; these are other professions I sometimes wish I pursued/want to pursue and didn't/haven't.
But the main problem for me is NOTHING clearly stood out as being something I must do or love to do more than anything else. i've always been superjealous of those driven people who know very clearly from an early age what it is they were meant to do and then pursue it at all costs.
by Deadman on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:59am
I wanted to be a writer. And an Olympic swimmer. Then I realized how much work writing is and detoured into technology instead. Not sure how I never it made it to the Olympics, though.
by CaliforniaPaige on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 1:20pm
10. Which option do you think best describes what happens after you die: a) Nada/You become fertilizer b) Heaven/hell/purgatory (some sort of traditional unearthly afterlife) c) Reincarnation d) Other (please explain)?
by Deadman on Sat, 12/06/2008 - 7:02pm
Jennifer Love Hewitt tells you to stop looking at her chest and go towards the light.
by Donal on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 9:56am
If it was a choice between love's chest and the light, i'm not sure I'd head in the right direction ...
by Deadman on Fri, 12/12/2008 - 3:37am
TRain ride to hell... I can't find the video for the version I have in mind
by Marquis de Sea ... on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 5:16pm
I think I saw that on the Twilight Zone.
by Donal on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 4:58pm
A, C, and D.
You become a memory, an influence.
by CaliforniaPaige on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 1:23pm
... a barely-remembered page in a dusty book.
by Donal on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 4:59pm