Please enjoy Tokyo resident Jeremy Hedley’s observations on the recent trend of male eyebrow plucking in Japan. Hilarious.
Besides being a well-designed site, Hedley’s Antipixel is a consistently good read, full of compelling observations and peppered with fabulous photos (be sure to check out the photos illustrating his series on neighborhood houses, in the Architecture category).
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Martin Pointdexter: J’accuse
Trent Lott’s recent comments aren’t really that shocking, are they? It’s not as if anyone needed further proof that the senator from Mississippi is a reactionary toad.
“I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years, either.”
Nothing new there.
The real news here comes from Al Gore’s reaction, which is just the latest embarrassment from the desperately over-eager former Vice-President.
“To say that the problems that we have in America today, some of them, stem from not electing a segregationist candidate for president … is fundamentally racist,” Gore said.
Asked if he believes Lott is a racist, Gore said, “Trent Lott made a statement that I think is a racist statement, yes. That’s why I think he should withdraw those comments or I think the United States Senate should undertake a censure of those comments.
Racist? Censure? Come on. Lott is an idiot. And his politics are despicable and destructive. But is it really so bad that he says what he feels? Isn’t this the way we find out who a person really is? His words speak for themselves, and are rightfully being publicized and derided. Do we really need Gore rushing to be the first to scream “racist” at the top of his lungs? Talk about zealous overkill.
It’s way past time to put Gore out to pasture. He means well, but he’s not leadership material. And he’s never going to be President.
Narcotic, Anti-narcotic
Last night I watched Mission To Mars and Requiem For A Dream. The first almost put me to sleep (what a waste of Mars). The latter made it difficult to get to sleep — not exactly something to send one off to slumberland with sweet dreams.
Slopes And Soaks
Saturday morning, I woke up early, grabbed my snowboard and jumped on the train to Matsumoto. Met some friends and we drove north to Goryu ski area in Hakuba.
Snow conditions were a bit disappointing, but it felt great to be back on the slopes. At the end of the day, snow started to fall, and it doesn’t seem to have stopped since.
We left Hakuba around 5pm and headed back towards Matsumoto, with a stop at an onsen. There’s nothing quite like soaking in a hot outdoor pool with snow falling.
It’s Snowing
Don’t Vote
Ah, those silly, democracy-loving Republicans. Always ready to take the high-road in politics, aren’t they?
In Louisiana, a Democrat Wins a Tough Senate Race
With a last-minute outcropping of anti-Landrieu signs, the Republicans did their best to suppress the black vote so crucial to Ms. Landrieu’s fortunes.
The new signs, paid for by the Louisiana Republican Party, said: “Mary: If you don’t respect us, don’t expect us.”The quotation was from a popular black official, State Senator Cleo Fields, who had initially been cool to Ms. Landrieu’s candidacy because she had not supported his bid for governor and because he believed that she was taking the black vote for granted. Mr. Fields later endorsed Ms. Landrieu.
The Republicans paid black youths $75 today to hold the signs aloft on street corners in black neighborhoods.
How is the opposition party going to match this? Perhaps by hiring Christians to wear t-shirts to church with this message: Armageddon scheduled for Election Day—God says “Stay home!”
Things I Do NOT Want For Christmas
Nice Mind
Putting On The Pounds
Did I really just hear this right? Whitney Houston told Diane Sawyer that she became so thin that she had to be digitally altered to add weight after an appearance at a Michael Jackson concert? (Send those digital technicians to save Courtney Cox, STAT!)
I heard this mentioned on All Things Considered, where host Jacki Lyden took a little dig at Ms. Sawyer by setting up the bit with something along the lines of: “Last night Diane Sawyer put her journalistic chops to the test and interviewed Whitney Houston.” This just after Lyden’s colleague, Lynn Neary, played video games on air.
Digitally Altered (NPR RealAudio Stream)
Pricey Prose
At Salon.com: Why do books cost so much?