Rachel Maddow on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart:
Don't shoot people, and don't encourage the shooting of people
Stephen Colbert:
Praise the lord and pass the guacamole.
Stephen Colbert devoted a chunk of his segment a few days ago to the South.
He began by saying "I am a proud son of South Carolina."
The byline then added 'Probably a brother of South Carolina, too.'
Apparently he cured himself of his southern accent, and attempted to prove that it continued to exist by eventually saying "Ich bin ein Southerner."
This was no doubt paying tribute to Bill Clinton's famous Berlin Wall cockup: he was giving a speech in Berlin, and instead of beginning with 'Ich bin Berliner' (meaning I am a Berliner, thus creating a feeling of solidarity), Bill began with "Ich bin ein Berliner", which to a non German speaker would seem to be the more syntactically correct statement. Unfortunately, the terminology 'ein Berliner' means 'a jam doughnut'. Oops.
It also reminded me of a story one of my friends told me about when her class learnt German for a few weeks of year 7. When they learned the 'ich bin' construction, they all immediately put their jumpers on their heads and ran around the school yelling "Ich bin Laden!!!".
But I digress.
There was then the Colbert Report's unique spin on the civil war.
In my opinion, the civil war wasn't caused directly by slavery. It was Lincoln's non-core promises combined with a hell of a lot of interstate rivalry. I have several essays on the subject, but I won't subject you to them.
He then made what was possibly one of the best calls... ever.
When discussing the Double Down, all he could say was "Surely this is the warped creation of a Syphallitic brain"
Someone purported to be the German ambassador to the UN then came on and was presented with a cupcake, because apparently McDonalds is attempting to market them to Germans.
Apparently the cupcake looked weak.
Hans Beinholdt then made some marvellously poignant remarks about children's birthday parties. Unfortunately, it won't work if I merely transcribe it. You'll have to watch the show to grasp the full hilarity. Although if you follow the links you'll see him.
I then settled in to enjoy some ABC2.
Grumpy old women is underwhelming to the nth degree.
There was then some good Austrian Inspektor Rex, as opposed to the weird Italian franchise with the cop whose jeans are too tight. Unlike his Italian counterpart, the Austrian guy manages to look stylish even when he's been shot. Pants (not jeans) a shirt and vest. That's how cops should dress. None of this tight jeans crap.
Again, archaism wins.
And as you've no doubt noticed, I've finally worked out how to put in links and images. Hurrah.
Showing posts with label the ABC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the ABC. Show all posts
Friday, April 16, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
High Heels and the Feminist Construct
I was listening to the radio on Tuesday, and almost every (AM) station was talking about the fact that this season's heels are supposedly ridiculously high.
ABC news radio cited the example of this year's Oscars (which I didn't watch, so I can't comment), which were supposed to be especially 'feminist' (their words, not mine. Apparently the fact that a woman won best director for the first time made it 'feminist'), every woman had to be helped onto the stage by a man because of the ridiculously high heels they were wearing.
As I've already said, I didn't actually watch the Oscars, nor do I have any inclination to do so, so I'm unable to give my own opinion of the ceremony as such, but with regard to the women being helped onto the stage: WHO CARES?
Seriously, why is it such an issue that women are wearing incredibly high shoes? It's not as if feminism is regressing, and I highly doubt that it's all part of an elaborate plot by men to subjugate us, so why all the furore?
High heels do admittedly have detracting factors. The shrinking of one's Achilles tendon being an especially notable one. But such effects only occur with habitual wearing. Just like everything else, heels in moderation are actually a good thing.
They make short people, such as myself, seem taller. At 165 cm, my height is towards the short end of average. At 165 cm with an extra 15 cm of shoe, I'm just short of six feet tall. Which is an improvement.
It could be said that I'm pandering to the masculine defined construct of what women should look like etc. but I'm not. I'm just using Lamarck's theory of evolution in the vain hope that it'll work.
Just as Lamarck believed that giraffes, whilst trying to reach leaves which were progressively higher up on trees stretched their necks, and passed on this characteristic to their offspring, who further stretched their necks and so on, I'm hoping that if I wear high heels, by body will grow, and I will become taller. This is the theory of learned behavior. I'm reasonably certain that it's not going to work, but whatever.
And now returning to the initial issue of the Oscars, if a bunch of actresses and the like decide to wear painfully high shoes, I'm happy for them. Admittedly, if the shoes are so high that they can't actually walk in them, then that poses a bit of an issue with regard to practicality, but it's entirely their choice. It doesn't mean that women will engage in a mass exodus from the workforce, deciding to become stay at home mothers who live to do nothing more than pander to their husband's every whim. Perhaps it's just because, like me, they're short.
ABC news radio cited the example of this year's Oscars (which I didn't watch, so I can't comment), which were supposed to be especially 'feminist' (their words, not mine. Apparently the fact that a woman won best director for the first time made it 'feminist'), every woman had to be helped onto the stage by a man because of the ridiculously high heels they were wearing.
As I've already said, I didn't actually watch the Oscars, nor do I have any inclination to do so, so I'm unable to give my own opinion of the ceremony as such, but with regard to the women being helped onto the stage: WHO CARES?
Seriously, why is it such an issue that women are wearing incredibly high shoes? It's not as if feminism is regressing, and I highly doubt that it's all part of an elaborate plot by men to subjugate us, so why all the furore?
High heels do admittedly have detracting factors. The shrinking of one's Achilles tendon being an especially notable one. But such effects only occur with habitual wearing. Just like everything else, heels in moderation are actually a good thing.
They make short people, such as myself, seem taller. At 165 cm, my height is towards the short end of average. At 165 cm with an extra 15 cm of shoe, I'm just short of six feet tall. Which is an improvement.
It could be said that I'm pandering to the masculine defined construct of what women should look like etc. but I'm not. I'm just using Lamarck's theory of evolution in the vain hope that it'll work.
Just as Lamarck believed that giraffes, whilst trying to reach leaves which were progressively higher up on trees stretched their necks, and passed on this characteristic to their offspring, who further stretched their necks and so on, I'm hoping that if I wear high heels, by body will grow, and I will become taller. This is the theory of learned behavior. I'm reasonably certain that it's not going to work, but whatever.
And now returning to the initial issue of the Oscars, if a bunch of actresses and the like decide to wear painfully high shoes, I'm happy for them. Admittedly, if the shoes are so high that they can't actually walk in them, then that poses a bit of an issue with regard to practicality, but it's entirely their choice. It doesn't mean that women will engage in a mass exodus from the workforce, deciding to become stay at home mothers who live to do nothing more than pander to their husband's every whim. Perhaps it's just because, like me, they're short.
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