snurri: (Default)
snurri ([personal profile] snurri) wrote2007-02-06 09:45 am

Take a Picture, Sweetie, I Ain't Got Time to Waste

According to yesterday's poll happiness is "Something to do with food," with "A warm puppy" and "A chemical imbalance in the brain" rounding out the top three. Please adjust your expectations accordingly.

On the way to work I saw a woman doing perhaps the weirdest walk I've ever seen in a non-physically challenged person. She would walk normally for a quarter-block or so, then hunker down and sort of lope forward (in the lupine sense, not the equine), taking really long strides and staying low to the ground like she was stalking prey. It was like running, only really slow so I can't figure out any benefit as far as speeding up her commute. I was fascinated and also freaked out. Keep on keepin' on, weird lady! Rock on with your weird self!

Today I am very excited about my book, specifically the new one I am still writing. This doesn't happen every day, so I thought I'd mention it.

Speaking of rocking on with your weird self, as we were before the commercial break, HOLY SHIT DUDE I KNOW EVERYONE ALREADY LINKED THIS BUT IT'S LIKE THAT "ASTRO-NUTS" SHOW COME TO LIFE IF IT WAS ABOUT CRAZY ASTRONAUTS. I think Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin need to give this woman a good talking to.

The Writers' Block has an interview with rockstar editor Ellen Datlow. Check it out. And Strange Horizons has a story from the talented Joey Comeau. It's kind of a meditation on the scary power of blood and words. Check that out as well.

I had this whole thought forming about how 24 is a workplace drama and the turnover is making it a less interesting show, but then last night's episode wasn't bad so I kinda lost interest in it. I was going to tie it into Studio 60 and how Sorkin's shows all pretty much reflect a worldview in which everyone loves their jobs and works all the time, which is pretty far from my own experience. The shows sort of work--Sports Night is a fun place to work, and The West Wing is about the most important place in the world you could work, but one of the problems with Studio 60 is that everyone is too caught up in their little dramas all the time, and they won't shut up about them, and pretty soon you just want to go get a nice quiet job as a parking lot attendant.

Prince at the Super Bowl. (Part Two is here.) Man, that makes me feel good.

[identity profile] coalescent.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Super Bowl

Ah, that reminds me: as an American, could you explain to me the deal with Super Bowl commercials?
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[identity profile] buymeaclue.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 05:11 pm (UTC)(link)
They're occasionally funny.

(Or sweet. I only watched the first half this year [sort of; we were at a BBQ place with friends, just hanging out and talking, and then they decided to stay to see Prince] [this is more than I watch more years], but I was very sad at the lack of Clydesdales.)

[identity profile] coalescent.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
They're occasionally funny.

Well, so are regular commercials. Aren't they?
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[identity profile] buymeaclue.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Even more occasionally.

They tend to trot out new ads during the Super Bowl, too. So you get new funny all at once?

[identity profile] snurri.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
With respect to the Super Bowl, I consider myself a man without a country.

[identity profile] snurri.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Serious answer? It's a proving ground for Madison Avenue, and lots of advertising campaigns launch during the game (or pre-game). The slots cost millions because there are millions of Asses In Chairs who are more or less captive aside from the occassional beer/piss run. In recent years it's become fashionable to watch the game for the commercials, which are generally longer than the standard 30-second spot, have more celebrity appearances, and are higher-concept, with smarter/sexier/more tear-jerking content. In theory.

[identity profile] coalescent.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah! Along the lines of the ridiculously extravagant Baz Lurhman perfume commercial that we got over here with Casino Royale, then, I guess. Thanks.
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[identity profile] buymeaclue.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd like to think that happiness is the chemicals being balanced, personally.

Also, I couldn't figure out if 'a warm body' applied to my own or someone else's. Either way's good.
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[identity profile] buymeaclue.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Can't believe I didn't use the icon.

[identity profile] snurri.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I could have appended "to snuggle up to/rub against/do naughty things with," but it seemed less elegant.

[identity profile] snurri.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
RE: the chemical thing, it's been posited that feelings of euphoria, etc. are simply imbalances in the reverse. Infinitely preferable, yes, but perhaps just as anomalous.

[identity profile] scottjanssens.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 06:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I thought Prince was good on stage. Billy Joel phoned it in on the anthem.

[identity profile] scarypudding.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
This is because, unlike Prince and our host, Billy Joel is not a conscientous Minnesotan.

[identity profile] snurri.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I didn't see Billy Joel. But then, he hasn't been good since "Captain Jack."

Slow running

[identity profile] scarypudding.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 08:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Did you ever see Brother from Another Planet? The way the alien "men in black" (John Sayles and David Strathairn) move in that? Maybe she was actually moving backwards and you were just seeing it in reverse.

Re: Slow running

[identity profile] snurri.livejournal.com 2007-02-06 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Sadly I have not seen that. Must remedy.