Friday, May 17, 2002 :::
There's an oddball little story on the front of the Bay Area section in today's Chronicle:
A private Christian school in Sacramento has expelled a kindergarten girl with only three weeks left in the school year after discovering that her mother makes her living as a nude dancer.
Ah, but does it not say in Showgirls 12:17- "Thou shalt shake thy moneymaker, and perform dances upon the many laps, for I am the Lord"? It doesn't? Man, this is the last time I buy a Bible from Crazy Horse.
::: posted by Andrewski at 10:03 PM
Calwatch says Eshleman, I say Eschleman. To-MAY-to, To-MAH-to.
All bloggers and well wishers come to the blogger party Kevin's throwing. Here's the info to save you a mouseclick. I'll be there, with beer.
BLOGGER GATHERING / END OF YEAR PARTY
WHEN: 8 PM, This Saturday
WHERE: ADPhi Fraternity (2422 Prospect, between Dwight and Channing)
WHAT: Invitation for all Cal Bloggers, and all well-wishers, to come to my house to drink beer, play cards, and figure out where this whole schtick is going. All other writers & shit are welcome.
::: posted by Andrewski at 1:48 PM
Looks like some sweeping changes will be made to the college admissions process in the form of new admission tests. Personally, I think that the problem always has been that tests like SATs only test your ability to take a test. That's the problem with standardized tests- they're standard nationwide. Therefore, it's easy for a company like Kaplan to raise your score on the tests just by giving you broad, general hints. I don't believe the SATs are racist like some campus organizations, but I believe that the system is just too easily exploited.
I'm sick of talking about Snehal, so I'm going to talk about Star Wars instead. It's a pretty slick flick, nearly two and a half hours of dazzle with occasional lapses into the most mind-numbingly bad writing/acting/directing. But the action is spot on- you will see stuff blowing up, going real fast, making neat noises, and a healthy dose of sabreplay. If that's worth a couple bucks to you, by all means, give Lucas your money. Star Wars fans: you've already seen it. Non-fans: try Spiderman first and attack Clones later if you're in the mood for flash.
It still made a grip of cash, though: 30 million in one day. People say it's not a race, but bullshit, of course it's a race. The ones that make the most go into the history books (temporarily, until they're usurped) and are during that time held up as the bar which other films can only hope to reach. Movies are fun, just like horse races are fun. It's also fun to see who wins.
Other news: the blogs have been afire with commentary on the current Daily Cal situation. Everyone seems to be hitting the right points- Beetle points out the frustration of the need to make money through advertising, which Kevin sums up in a mathematically pleasing form. CalAnon's Nolo chimes in, as does Potato Chucker (although his recurring use of SOB to stand for "Store Operations Board" keeps making me think, "Damn, who's he calling a 'son of a bitch?'"). Basically, looks like the Daily Cal will stay. It should be supported as a legitimate news publication, albeit one that needs a better editorial board to make sure it doesn't make a mockery of the school like it has on several occasions in the past year.
One last strange note: I went to a review session today in Wheeler and found a note on the door that said "SJP Room 300". I decided to be nosy and drop in on the meeting, but there was nobody in room 300. There was, however, a small "X" scratched on the door in chalk. If anyone has any theories, or cares to debunk this strange Passover-like sign, let me know.
::: posted by Andrewski at 1:18 PM
Wednesday, May 15, 2002 :::
Pretty big news: Both Matt Drudge and CNN are reporting that Bush was aware of the "hijacking threat" before September 11 several months before. Senator Graham (D- Florida) has been critical, saying that the President didn't "connect the dots". It's very likely this is because the Bush was too busy coloring at the time, but that's besides the point. Of course, the information that "sometime, someone will try to hijack a US plane and use it for some act of terrorism" isn't terribly specific, and I don't smell "scandal!" quite yet. I don't think that Bush would have allowed 9/11 to happen if he knew about it- I don't think he's that evil and stupid.
Anyways, interesting, if not entirely satisfying. Curious to see how much the mainstream media latches on to this, and how big of an issue it becomes.
::: posted by Andrewski at 9:34 PM
Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present Beetle Beat, the newest Berkeley blog. Beetle of Berkeley informs me that "sheep" is also both singular and plural.
::: posted by Andrewski at 5:50 PM
Update: I've been informed that "fish", "shorts", and "pants" all refer to both the singular and plural noun/nouns. Thanks to both Kev and Elanor.
::: posted by Andrewski at 4:38 PM
The Daily Cal's ceased publication until the 28th, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its own share of troubles on campus. Wally Adeyemo, seen here in a giant hamster ball, is apparently pushing to get the Daily Cal offices out of the sixth floor of Eschleman Hall, where it's been for 7 years.
Personally, I believe it's absolutely essential that a student newspaper be on campus. Reporters need to be quickly dispatched to breaking news, there has to be sufficient space to house dozens of computers for individuals working on both the news side (writing, editing stories) and the business side (selling ad space). Eschleman Hall is an ideal workspace for the Daily Cal, and it's too bad Wally's pushing for them to leave. As if wanting to raise the rent on them wasn't bad enough.
The Daily Cal screws up occasionally, no doubt about it. But "punishing" a student-run paper for stirring up controversy in the last couple semesters by kicking them out of Eschleman? Not acceptable. The only hope that the Cal has is the fact that Wally will be out in a month, to be replaced by Jessie and his Girls.
New subject: Summer blogging. Calstuff's Kevin wonders aloud who of the 18 or so new bloggers will stay aboard and continue to offer continuing Berkeley and world news commentary. The Albatross Perch, for one, rises to the challenge. Next semester I want to start a sort of "public awareness" campaign for the Berkeley blogs- I don't see why on a campus of 30,000 people we can't get more than a couple hundred hits a day. If you're interested in helping raise awareness of (i.e. plugging the hell out of) your blog, drop me a line and we'll put together something for next semester.
There's a nice little independent film coming out this week that I'm sure not many of you have heard of... something about Jedi and muppets. Anyways, I'll be going to see this quaint little arthouse picture, Attack of the Clones, Thursday at Shattuck Cinemas. I'm fully prepared to smack anyone who ecstatically exclaims "Alright! Jar Jar's a senator now!". The Albatross Perch regrets the Gungan.
Besides "moose", "deer", and "Jedi", are there any other words that are the same for both singular and plural reference? Sigh, it's a slow news day.
::: posted by Andrewski at 2:31 PM
Tuesday, May 14, 2002 :::
Let's play the blame game...
Enough ink has been spilled on the subject of videogames allegedly leading young kids to horrible, horrible acts of violence, but I think I should chime in. It's a terrible tragedy whenever a kid manages to get a hold of a gun and use it on a friend, teacher, fellow student, etc- but this misdirection of the media really has to stop. This kid, it's said, was "acting out the video game action" when he shot his friend twice in the chest. Yet, I can't help but feel that if the kid didn't have access to his mother's gun plus bullets, his friend wouldn't have died. As for the videogames, these kids could have been just as inspired by a movie, TV show, or even the goddamned nightly news. The gun is the factor that caused the death, though, and this is something that gets overlooked far too often these days.
A senseless tragedy.
::: posted by Andrewski at 1:23 AM
Sunday, May 12, 2002 :::
Calstuff's Kevin has made Snehal T-shirts! I hope these catch on bigger than the Fuck Stanford tees.
::: posted by Andrewski at 7:11 PM
Clam gets his AM on! Highlights:
-The ultra-conservative (or at least misguided) host, Barbara Simpson, made an offhand comment regarding Snehal's name that I'm sure made more than a few liberals roll their eyes: "Judging by his name, he's not an American citizen, is he?". D'oh.
-Later, a caller got on the air who yelled "It's these immigrants, that's the problem. This country has always been about white power! White power!" before he got yanked. Rory's response was good: it's not racist to dislike Snehal's politics. Rory doesn't dislike him because he's Indian- he dislikes him because this class description is clearly biased.
-Nugget of Rory insight: "This campus is being run by a small group of activists...". Couldn't agree more. See my thoughts on this in Friday's post.
-Barbara Simpson's gushing remark before commercial: "He's gonna be a lawyer, folks!" Thanks, grandma.
-Caller: "Berkeley has an attitude problem... my sister went to Berkeley, she has the scruples of an alley cat".
-HAHA! Rory talks about Berekely College Republicans with a mostly positive report. Not even a hint of internal conflict. Hmm... he later uses the phrase "in very capable hands".
-A quick plug for his website, yet none for the Albatross Perch. Nuts!
-Rory cracked up the host by saying he hopes to practice "Corporate Whoredom".
Overall, a very entertaining spot. Nothing new to us here, but still neat. Congrats, Rory, on your airtime.
::: posted by Andrewski at 6:45 PM
