Michelle Obama's Sleevelessness

I find that Michelle Obama performs her gender quite interestingly. I might even suggest an adverb I've rarely verbalized to my folk and that is: exquisitely.
Some people are having a hard time dealing with her sleeveless tops. Experientially, I do not get this. Cognitively, (and sadly) I do.

There is even a new term that explains her fashion choices: Sleevegate.

I wish I were joking.

Let's, for a moment, consider her clothing choices. Well-sculpted arms are code for something: disciplined self-respect. Good genes only take one so far, I find.

I admire her corporeal presentation because, as a bit of a gym rat myself, I experientially get how much of a time and effort investment it is to present one's self a certain way aesthetically.

So those who are bothered by her sleevelessness, might I respectfully suggest that they transform their intolerance of well-sculpted arms into, well, an intolerance of unhealthy habits that eventually lead to a lack of 'well-sculptedness'?

Now, I was not around when Jackie O sported a lack of sleeves. I was a teenager in the 90's, so what do I know, (experientially that is!) about Jackie O. But I suppose I could comment about sleevegate.

I have long maintained that form and aesthetics at large are code for rich content. I find nothing inconsequential or trivial about the kind of fitness that is rooted in healthy moderation. It's after all a beautiful thing to observe and, more importantly, experience.

Tip of the hat to well-sculpted arms, I say.

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graphs per huffpo

What I'm Reading

Edward Skidelsky's Ernst Cassirer: The Last Philosopher of Culture is definitely worthy of attention.
Ernst Cassirer, a German-Jewish philosopher (1874-1945), is one of the leading intellectuals of the Weimar period. His contributions to the liberal-idealist tradition are definitely worthy of more time and attention. I recommend.


Bethenny Frankel's Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting is an amusing and at times bizarre read. I have long maintained that dieting is rarely about the waist size and Frankel seems to support the same idea. In a roundabout way which is what makes her book, well, funny.
I find Frankel's book to be providing nothing new on the topic. What makes her book entertaining however, is how she explains that moderation is really where it's at.


William Cohan's House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street is an interesting 'reading' of the mess on Wall Street and how it it reached the point of break. This is an easy read and those who are not in the field of finance and economics should have no trouble following along. The book mostly delineates the far-reaching effects of unbridled greed. Definitely worthy a read.

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Balenciaga Logic

This top goes for $50.000. Yes, 50 K.

Now, what could the 'text' of such a top be?
-The wearer is recession-proof.
-The wearer is not recession-proof but this is her/his effort to laugh in recession's face.
-The wearer needs to have Balenciaga becase, to her/him, Balenciaga is about all the right social codes.
And many other textual reasons.

Obviously, information like this is more than just about post-Fashion Week, the new lines of the year, and how much the prices are. I am also one of those individuals who finds information like this to be about the economics of exclusivity.

Just how much is one willing to buy for exclusivity?
Well, apparently at least 50K.

Read more here.

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No Kebabs in Lucca, Italy

Consider the following:

"In this deeply conservative city, where even Sicilian food is considered ethnic, there are already four kebab houses, testaments to Italy’s growing immigrant population and the fact that many Italians, especially young ones, like eating non-Italian food. Offering kebabs at $5, the restaurants are also a bargain in difficult times.

Under the new law, these four can stay, but the banning of new ethnic and fast-food restaurants within the city walls has struck many here as contrary to the rules of free-market capitalism and the notion that Italy can offer more than visions of its long-dead past.
...
Lucca allowed the kebab shops to open in the first place only because city officials did not know what they were, Filippo Candelise, a Lucca City Council member who handles economic development, said in a recent interview in the medieval palazzo that houses city government.

Mr. Candelise defended the new regulation as essential for Lucca’s future. “We absolutely reject the ‘racist’ label,” he said. “We simply want to preserve our cultural and historical identity.”

So, if you find yourself in beautiful Lucca and you might be in the mood for a kebab, stop and stock up in Rome first and then head up. I'm certain the "buccellato" will taste scrumptious then.

I don't care much about meats anyway, as I tend to roll vegetarian-ly mostly, but I do care about the, what I call, the democratization of the tongue.

What think ye?

Read it all here.

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graph per ny times

Team Jon Stewart

This week, the tip of the hat goes to the importance of critical thinking and Jon Stewart for teaching the rest of cable news a thing or two about it.


Sorry, Jim Cramer.
I'm with Jon Stewart on this one.
Well, actually I'm with Jon Stewart a lot of the time.
CNC's Mad Money host, Jim Cramer, doesn't quite cut it for me. He makes a lot of noise, wears odd shirts that look like they're cutting the circulation to his arms, and, most importantly, engages in bizarre theatrics when giving us business news.

Cramer's show is a good example of how bad form can mess up what could be good content.
Stewart's Daily Show, on the other hand, is an example of how good form can adequately inform good content and, in the process, prove to be informative and funny.

Yup, I'm on Jon Stewart's side. He believes in critical thinking. Maria Bartiromo, get a clue from him, yes?
Here is why the Stewart vs Cramer 'word war' started.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

And this is how all the other cable shows went to town with it.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Battle

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

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Rock Show: Swiss Army Mouth

So, I multi-tasked tonight.
Well, that statement doesn't mean a whole lot decontextually.
It's where the multi-tasking happened that's worthy of note. My friend Matt, a wine connoisseur and party thrower par excellence, plays in an instrumental rock band called Swiss Army Mouth.

I did my multi-tasking at club Ravari while we were waiting for Matt's band, Swiss Army Mouth (SAM), to get on stage. Even though the schedule has been unforgiving, I promised I'd go and support his band. So, there we were, surrounded by an absence of lights, a sea of TV's, loud people, my party, and my iPhone on which I was trying to get some paper reading and grading for work the next day. Grading a paper on Foucault at a rock show makes a ton of sense, by the way. Back to the show at club Ravari.

Matt plays bass for Swiss Army Mouth. Swiss Army Mouth's songs are paced well. Their music made me think of the person about town who has places to go, things to do, and no time to waste on a long track. Their sound is the kind that moves with purpose. I reckon, that's why I dig it.

SAM is an instrumental rock 'n roll band and I wish there were more acts out there that followed that same pattern. Economy of language is a great thing in the realm of rock. In the band's own words:

"SAM seeks to melt the faces of those who seek Rock. Armed with an Orange, a Rectifier, 15" bass speakers, and a set of plaid drums, SAM is sure to do just that. Swiss Army Mouth's songs are short and to the point, lending itself well to the instrumental niche. With their longest song clocking in at 2:53, you won't have time to wonder where the vocals are, and you won't care."

I really don't like to talk when I'm at a rock show. I do, however, like to text. Especially with my friend Liam, another good musician I love seeing on stage. During the show I write: "Oh man! I love rock!!!"

And very few people in my address book know what I actually mean by that. It means that I love rock enough to find time to pursue it even when the schedule says 'No!' and other responsibilities need attention.

Liam writes:

"i was just thinking the same thing. listening to the hives on the train. :)"

And that's what rock shows do for me. They create an arena in which a bundle of other musical connections are made and past nostalgias fuse with current sound cravings and non sequiturs.

Perhaps Liam is right. It's time to give The Hives another chance yet again. It's been a while. Maybe Camera Obscura will be next.

After the show, I remarked that what I liked about it, other than how cool it is when I see people I know in real life practice their art, was how easily the music S.A.M. played let me process the myriad of things that needed processing that night. The fact that the tracks were short, to-the-point, and denuded of certain ceremonies one is, alas, bound to see in certain rock shows contributed to my enjoyment.

The next day when a colleague asked how my Thursday night went, I succinctly replied, "Went to an industrial rock show to support my friend, Matt's band, graded papers while at the venue, caught up with friends, and agreed on a travel budget with the other half. How was PBS's Masterpiece Theater for you? What's Kenneth Branaugh up to?"

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graph per myspace

Great Article on Economics and Dante

The true perk of Twitter is the info it gives me re: good new pieces to read.
The following is one such example.
I concur with the premise. What's even more amazing to me is that it is written by a Columbia College junior majoring in English called Lucy Tang.
Tip of the hat to you, Lucy!
As a matter of fact, we just talked about something similar in my medieval course today.
Dante, and the Middle Ages, are always relevant, folks. And I'm not just biased. I like to think I'm right. :)

"What Dante knew during the Medieval Ages still resonates strongly today. He finds usury distasteful because moneylenders generate money from money—not actual work. Like St. Thomas Aquinas once said, “It is in accordance with nature that money should increase from natural goods and not from money itself.” The crash was a huge wake-up call for former investment bankers—it essentially revealed to them that their life source had no grounding. Everything they dealt with dissipated within days.

Dante’s vocation as a poet, while considered laughable by many today, has a sense of enduring purpose. He can at least point to his poems and declare, “Here, I wrote this. These words are mine!” God, or nature, or maybe even DNA has endowed people with imagination and creative inspiration, and what could be more wonderful than revealing this innate potential?"

Read it all here.

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Fashion Is Danger

Too funny/relevant to ignore.
Bret and Jemaine channel Bowie, Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel, and much of the SynthPop scene.

It's a well-captured satire of the substance of fashion and the 'cool factor' of rock musicians.

Methinks my friend, Liam, of the West-based band Calico, will concur.

Also, to read a previous piece I wrote over a year ago on the 'text' of the scene and scensters, check this out. Tip of the hat to Liam for his continued discursive presence.

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Ohio State Mash-up/Remix Conference

Might I inform those of you in Central Ohio to check out the following info on a conference on Remixing?

I feel strongly about the importance of understanding Remixing and all its informational and cultural ramifications. Ergo, I had to make the schedule fit it.

And HetPer has already given a tip of the hat to the efforts of such academics as Lawrence Lessig who are actively engaged in making sure that remixing and copyright laws do justice to the new age of information management.

The Mashup/Remix Conference will take place this week on the Ohio State campus in Columbus.

To find more info an inquire after registration, click here.

A bit says:
"The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and Wexner Center for the Arts have collaborated for a novel discussion on the implications of mashup and remix in the world of Web 2.0. Recent technological developments have created a wave of user-generated content in which pre-existing sounds and images are appropriated, reshaped, and shared with unprecedented ease. Bringing together new media artists, prominent academics, and influential members of the media community, this event will discuss ways in which the digitization of music, film, and visual art over the internet is influencing the future of these industries and the future of copyright law."

The conference is free for OSU faculty and students.

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Pictures of Notice

Tip of the hat to Tyler over at MR for the pointer.
I'd want to see this in person.
A place like this would beg for literary attention. It just might bump the University of Washington's library, my favorite library at this point, by a spot.

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