Never start anything in December

That’s what I’ve taken from this month, anyway. December is a time for finishing things. For wrapping things up while exerting the minimum possible amount of effort to keep them going until after the turn of the year. January…now that’s a month to get things done in.

All this is by way of an apology for not keeping up with the blog as much as I’d hoped. I’m hoping that after the new year, I’ll be able to get on the twice-weekly posting schedule that I had planned for. We’ll see how that turns out. In the interim, you can expect a one or two more posts in the next two weeks, and there are new pix to see in the ol’ Flickr account (see sidebar). So I haven’t totally abandoned you.

By the by, I have to buy a Yankee swap gift for work…suggestions would be appreciated. Also, does anyone know how the Yankees got stuck with the blame for this particular gift-stealing enterprise? Not being a Yankee myself (despite the opinion of a few southerners I’ve met), I have no inside info, and a cursory glance at the Internet yields no immediate answers.

Roller derby is a great way to spend a Saturday night.

Musings and Ratings

Winter is upon us at last. Sure, it’s going to be 50 tomorrow, but we’re in it for the long haul at this point. Ensnared until April. March at the earliest. This will be the true test of how well Inman Square’s charms stand up to the bitter reality of being a 20 minute walk from the T.

I don’t mind winter as a concept, but venturing out in it for something as mundane as going to work offers few charms. I find myself bitterly thinking of the agrarian societies that had to concern themselves mostly with staying warm and fed during the winter, because there was precious little else to do. Can’t do much plowing in the snow. Of course, it’s easy to dismiss concerns like heat and food when you have a functioning boiler in the cellar and a Foodmaster down the street. It’s not like we’re chopping wood and snaring rabbits on Wyman Circle. Even the fireplace is fake…switch-activated gas fire under glass.

Just finished Harpo Marx’s autobiography. If he’s to be believed (and he – or his ghostwriter – do a good job of projecting candor), he was a very happy person. I respect that, in a way. He also thought much better of Alexander Woolcott than most, which surprised me a little. Now I’ve moved on to Elaine Pagels’ Beyond Belief, which promises to be interesting.

December is busy. Work’s insane, and not made less so by the fact that I start hemorrhaging freelancers next week. Oddly, it seems no one, including our clients, wants to work for the last two weeks of December, and yet we’re expected to keep going, full speed ahead. There’s plenty on the “good busy” side, though. Bonnie’s got a Boston-area interview, so she’ll be staying for a few days. Chanukah’s coming, with the attendant parties and Riverway events. And at the end of it all, there’s New Year’s. All in all, I’m probably getting the long end of the stick.

And now for something completely different…
Another belated edition of:

THE RATINGS

American Idol
For: The saying goes that in a democracy the people get the government they deserve, and there’s something vaguely appealing about applying the same principle to pop stars.
Against: I’m not really concerned by the old chestnut about more people voting for a pop start than for president, since I’m fairly sure that pop stars are more relevant to most people than the president is. I’m more concerned about the hell-spawned progeny that American Idol and Survivor have brought down upon our heads. Something that on its own might be a mild irritant becomes downright corrosive when it multiplies like that.
Rating: -4

OJ Simpson’s Book Deal
For: It didn’t happen, for whatever that’s worth.
Against: Canceling it didn’t really help. Rupert Murdoch would have showed the courage of his convictions better by keeping it going than shutting it down because he realized that it was pushing the public too far. Entertainment moguls everywhere must have been saddened when they realized that they’d have to put their plans for entertainment built around profit-seeking murderers on ice for just a little while longer.
Rating: -7

The ‘War on Terror’
For: Well, it goes without saying that it would be better if we didn’t have to worry about being blown up by ideological fanatics.
Against: Everything else. When the least offensive thing about something is that it’s a meaningless buzzphrase, there are serious issues.
Rating: -9

The Ratings

I work in an office that’s seldom dull. Frustrating and stressful at times, but not dull. Most days, something like the World Beard Championships comes to our attention, to be discussed, lauded or excoriated, and eventually dismissed. The other day, flush with my blog-starting plans and drunk on the idea of becoming some sort of (extremely) minor cultural critic, it occurred to me that I should start rating things like the aforementioned Championships according to my perception of their effect on society. With my generally negative views on our civilization’s trajectory, I first considered only rating negative influences, but on running it by John, he suggested rating positives as well. Thus, the Ratings were born.

A quick note on methodology: The Ratings will address cultural phenomena, and rate them on a scale from -10 to +10 based on their contribution (causal or symptomatic) to the decline or continuation of Western civilization, as understood by the raters. Currently, we’re rating things as they occur to us, but we’re open to suggestions. Ratings and reasoning are determined in collaboration between the raters, but I’m doing the actual writing (in case anyone cared). Theoretically, the Ratings will appear each Friday. We’ll see how that goes.

Here’s the scale:

-10: Western civilization is through. Well, at least the handbasket is nice.

0: No effect. All hail the status quo.

+10: 141 million people watched the Super Bowl. Things can’t be going that badly.

With the introductions out of the way, here’s the first set of Ratings:

World Beard Championships
For: There’s a certain amount of whimsy that’s good for a society, and if you can show me anything more whimsical than this that doesn’t involve unicorns or fairy princesses, I’ll fax you a Twinkie.
Against: Too much whimsy borders on decadence. If everyone knew someone who was entered in this, I’d worry.
Rating: +1

World Wrestling Entertainment
For: There’s a long tradition of combat (even staged combat) as entertainment, from the funeral games of Achilles to the Roman gladiators. As an amateur classicist myself, that scores it some points.
Against: The flip side of the above: In the days of the Roman republic, gladiatorial combats were held on special occasions only, and were seldom fought to the death. In the empire, the combats increased in violence and extravagance as Rome slid into autocracy and decline. The parallels are troubling.
Rating: -4

Oprah’s Book Club
For: More people reading is almost always good. Plus, naming East of Eden as the first book in the her classics-focused lineup scores big points with these Steinbeck-philic raters.
Against: There’s a case to be made that Oprah isn’t the best ambassador for increased literacy, and that her popularity with her audience gives her endorsements an undue influence. In fairness, though, that charge could be leveled against many critics.
Rating: +6

Apology

Today was supposed to mark the debut of a new, and hopefully weekly feature here on S Post Facto. Unfortunately life (and a Shabbat potluck) intervened, but look for something new Saturday afternoon.

After all, content is king.