April, 2010

Everyday Life — No Comments
27
Apr 10

AI…and footlights?

I took a little nap yesterday, and I dreamt that we finally achieved real AI…only it chose to inhabit a robotic Angela Lansbury to pursue a career in theatre in Chicago.

I think it (she?) was getting ready to debut in a revival of “Noises Off.”

Yeah.  So I’m still insane, even while sleeping.

But my dream does have a point.  Even if we ever do achieve real artificial intelligence, we have no guarantee that it will do anything we want it to do — or anything we think it will.  Maybe it would want to pursue a career in the arts, who knows?  Just because the Singularitarians believe something doesn’t make it true.  Or probable, even.

I dreamt her early reviews were good, too — that robotic Angela Lansbury.  More power to her.  (AC or DC, I wonder?)

Madness — No Comments
7
Apr 10

Double Down Hysteria.

Everybody seems to be aghast at KFC’s new offering, the Double Down, which is a “sandwich” with no bun featuring bacon, cheese, and some hot chicken on chicken action — not to mention a side of Moral Panic.  “OH NOES,” exclaims popular sentiment, “Teh Obeeeeesity Crisis ™ just got eleventy times WORSER!”

Yeah, okay.  Let’s do a little reality check here.  Check, check.  Is this mic on?  Can you hear me in the back?  Good.

First off, how is this much different from other fast food offerings?  Not much.  It just doesn’t have a bun, which would have been welcomed with open arms during the worst of the Atkins fad.  (Have you guys forgotten how evil buns were supposed to be just a couple of years ago?)  But more to the point, this thing has about the same number of calories as any fast food chicken sandwich.  It has, according to the Magical Interwebs, 540 calories and 32 grams of fat.  Burger King’s Original Chicken Sandwich has 630 calories and 39 grams of fat, while the Original Whopper has 770 calories and 48 grams of fat.  That almost makes the Double Down look like a sensible choice in comparison, right?  The grilled version of the Double Down has 460 calories, which is about comparable to the Whataburger Grilled Chicken Sandwich and its 470 calories.

I’m not saying that you should run out and gobble up a Double Down the minute it hits the streets.  (I have zero interest in eating it, frankly, and I’m a big old Fatty Fatterson.)  But I am asking you to look at media hype with a critical eye, especially when it comes to moral panic regarding food.  (The Fat Nutritionist is a wonderful resource for that kind of thing, by the way.)  There’s always such over-the-top hand wringing whenever some new “high calorie” food item pops up, but it seems like the average person understands very little about calories — other than the fact that fatties should eat less of ‘em, of course.  (Insert eyeroll here.)

Calories are simply units of measurement — and not the yardstick of one’s moral certainty, either.  As an ex-dieter who currently practices the tenets of Health at Every Size, I know that my perspective is somewhat unique in this culture.  But the Double Down is just…no big deal.

So can we all just let it go now?

Everyday Life / Pessimism — No Comments
5
Apr 10

“It wasn’t all that…noteworthy.”

Let’s examine what went on in my exciting life last week.

Let’s see.  I changed my Twitter background last week, and I watched that damned “Scarface” school play video so many times that I’ve said “mother fudger” accidentally when I meant to say, um, something else. (Word to the wise: It’s not a real school play.  So you can stop the shock and horror pantomime about how someone should “think of the children” already.)

What else?  I ran into an old writing acquaintance randomly on the street.  And I had tea with Tanzy, too.  Man, I’m making it sound like I did something last week — well, something besides watching “The Stand” for 8 hours on Sunday, which I also did.  Shamefully.  (Also, I know I’m supposed to fear Randall Flagg, what with the evil and the mullet and all, but…I still end up a little bit afraid of Gary Sinise every time I see that mini-series.  And he didn’t even wear copious amounts of eye liner, like in “Mission to Mars.”  Gary Sinise + Too Much Eye Liner = Sarah’s Special Nightmare.  It’s true.)

I guess the only other thing I did last week was this: I came to this understanding that the way I experience my world has narrowed to this tiny pinpoint perspective of daily life, where trying a new recipe seems newsworthy and just leaving the house for anything other than work is a Pretty Big Deal.  How much of this is a function of my depression and how much of this is just a case of early onset “middle-agedness” I couldn’t say.  But it’s a limiting way to live.

I guess I have something to work on this week.