The misinformant [Bryan]

Jack Black gives a little therapy for those of us depressed by how quickly misinformation propagates and spreads. Also, reminds me of Jack Black's cinematic masterpiece, School of Rock. Part 1 is good, part 2 even better.

Finishing the basement as an existential project [Bryan]

We've decided to finally finish our basement. There are many practical reasons: We need the extra bedroom to accommodate our growing family; we need a nicer place for guests to stay when they come, we need a place to send the kids when they are annoying their mother, and so forth. I am going to be doing most of the work. The biggest reason for this is that I want to test myself. Call it a midlife crisis if you want. In my mind, though, real men build things. It has always been so and will always be so. I want to test myself again the world in a new kind of way, against wood, steel, and concrete. I also want to develop a side of me that has been dormant for awhile now, the side of me that loves the smell of freshly cut lumber and the feel of a circular saw whirling in my hands. I love it so. Heaven help me, I do love it so. Now, excuse me while I heroically descend to the basement.

What will our grandkids say? [Bryan]

Things were accepted in the past that are not accepted now, things like slavery, burning witches, and so forth. So, is there anything that is commonly accepted today that future generations will condemn us for? An interesting article published a few days ago asks precisely that question. The author, philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah, argues for the following candidates: Our breathtakingly enormous prison system, the ugliness and brutality of industrial meat production, the way we ignore and institutionalize our elderly, and our destruction of the environment.

Seems like a good list to me.

Pink goo -- Updated [Bryan]

Try to guess what the below substance is...



And the answer is...Chicken McNuggets. Apparently they grind up the meat material and it comes out looking like pink goo. Then they have to dye it back to a more edible color. Yuck. Not sure I'll be eating any more of those.

Update: The American Meat Institute chimes in, claiming that this stuff isn't in all chicken nuggets, only some of them. I guess that is comforting. I guess.