Some workplaces throw holiday parties. You just came for the Costco pizza and to see who would get schmammered. Instead, they made you play Pictionary with them. Never fear, these sample drawings will get you on the fast track to success.
Office Pictionary
Steelers vs. Texans. I bet everyone expected the Steelers to take it but Houston held steady nearly the whole time.
What fun is it, I wondered, to root for the Roethlisbergers, Breeses, Bradys, and Mannings of the world?
Well, what about Kobe? my dad asked.
Same thing. You know they’re going to be at the top of the league, so what’s fun about that?
Then what about Tiger Woods?
I could understand that a bit better. Woods got many people who would never be interested in watching golf following the sport. It was less about rooting for a winner and more about how he was such a powerful force that people just couldn’t wait to see what he’d do next!
And that’s why, when he and Rocco Mediate went into sudden death at the 2008 U.S. Open, I was rooting for Mediate.
Earlier this week, the FCC announced it would officially strike 83 “outdated media rules” from its books, including the Fairness Doctrine, which should not be confused with the equal-time rule.
The Fairness Doctrine hasn’t been enforced in over 20 years and that lack of enforcement has been cited for the rise of right-wing talk radio in the late 1980s and 1990s, including Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage. If that logic is true, then it has also helped Air America, Fox News, and MSNBC diverge as conservative and liberal voices, as opposed to providing “straight news.”
Was the FCC correct in not enforcing and, ultimately, doing away with this regulation?
As always, your thoughts are welcomed at theyellowmenace1 at gmail dot com.
So many in tech journalism have sounded from guardedly unimpressed to downright deflated over the rumors of the next iPhone. It’s easy to understand why: a mere hardware upgrade with little in the way of major cosmetic changes doesn’t generate much buzz. Consider, though, the 3GS: Released 364 days after the 3G, its increased processor speed and RAM capacity made it far more resistant to the increased demands of iOS 4, allowing 3GS users to take advantage of major changes, including video capture and multitasking, which remain unavailable to non-jailbroken 3G phones. The life cycle of the 3G effectively ended 2 years after its release, where the 3GS has demonstrated itself more resilient and usable with consumer-demanded features, and 3GS users have already shown themselves a little more reluctant to upgrade to the iPhone 4.
Should Apple and AT&T provide support for the HSPA+ protocol, the new phone will be able to download data 5 times faster than the 3GS and 3 times faster than the iPhone 4, making it a subtle but formidable release.
Today I am wearing the only purple garment I own in solidarity with those who choose to remember our young ones who have taken their lives after being bullied over the perception that they are not straight. I don’t know how the numbers have changed but, as of a decade ago, a queer person was twice as likely to have attempted suicide as their straight counterparts. Make that a non-white queer person, and that figure jumped to eleven times as likely.
This is an epidemic.
If anyone has updates to those numbers or knows of any vigils tonight, please let me know at theyellowmenace1 at gmail dot com or leave a comment here.
The debut album from Sister Mantos
Listen up, or you could miss it: the single whisper that sets the tone of the entire album.
“Yeah!”
It’s the same kind of “Yeah!” that would likely come before “Sister Mantos, back in effect!” if the ensuing vocals didn’t convey such sullen, indignant resignation.
Click here to read more about Sister Mantos: Tough Love or the Fands of Hate
The RIAA has never answered questions about the numbers it used to pervert the judicial process and file suits against individuals. This story, written by former colleague Erin James, still holds value today, even though the iTunes Music Store wasn’t launched until June, 2003.
I have a love-hate relationship with syndication. On the one hand, common newspaper columns and TV shows provide even faraway people with something to discuss over a virtual water cooler. On the other hand, it is killing commercial radio, leaving hordes of on-air talent to scavenge for voiceover work as the content increasingly originates from stations in other cities.
When John Hughes died suddenly last week, it seemed most news outlets carried their own tributes, which seems only fair. The sheer diversity of our country’s media critics — ordinarily a good thing — also revealed some problems in columns that rehashed the same IMDB factoids or were just plain boring. Roger Ebert’s writing is syndicated to over 200 newspapers in the country. A.O. Scott writes for the New York Times and is well-spread in his own right. Both writers excel because their work and wordplay is simply fun to read, even if one has no intention of seeing a particular film or talking about a certain director. Both wrote well crafted Hughes tributes, though Scott touchingly proved that he “got it,” and reminded us that some people just don’t.
None of that matters now. The most important tribute to date came from way outside the media system, which makes me wonder what kind of future media, information and entertainment have. This is the only John Hughes tribute you need to read. Its facts did not come from a hasty IMDB search, they came from someone who knew him. It is just as well written as what came from the big hitters. It should have appeared in every newspaper in the country.
Got something to say? Say it here or send a message to theyellowmenace1@gmail.com
Thank you to New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow for his piece on the self-destruction of the record industry. It’s quite possibly one of the most truthful assessments to come out. It’s fairly well thought-out, and simply put, although he gets one thing wrong and skips one important point.
Click here to read more
The worst has come to pass. We voted down everything. Our state began issuing promissory notes yesterday. Those who don’t think very hard about it blame “the legislators.” Really, though, it’s everyone’s fault, the state legislature, the governor and their constituents — us.
I say we call a legislative convention. Here’s how my fantasy works:
(Quietly, no publicity)
1. Redraw the state’s legislative districts into 40 and 20 districts equal by population, no funny shapes except as dictated by topography.
2. Repeal the 1933 two-thirds rule for passing state budgets, and the language from Propositions 13 and 98, all of which strangle our ability to make revenues balance out costs.
(As much publicity as possible now)
3. Either a cage match or a battle royal between legislators. The order of entrance to the ring would be determined either by random number generator or by drawing straws. The last person standing gets to be the Governor. This is to be broadcast on California’s PBS affiliates.
4. Have a statewide election for the new districts.
If only.
Have a happy Independence Day weekend, everyone!
