Morning musings

[weaktwos]

syreene is doing an excellent job on passing on the news. Of particular interest to me is this New York Times editorial:

Psst...Justice Scalia...You Know, You're an Activist Judge, Too

Sarah Bunting had me in stitches last night with this little gem: Ronco Dependent

Here's a snippet:
Product: The Mouthwash Dispenser

Problem "solved" by product: Having to hide "that ugly, old mouthwash bottle"
Pre-existing solution to "problem": Cabinetry; remembering that it's a bathroom

There is, I am certain, a thesis in American consumer society's frank fear of/refusal to acknowledge what really goes on in the bathroom. Toilet-paper cozies…scented plug-ins…bleach-soaked towelettes…it's like those ads for the Clorox Toilet-Cleaning System or whatever where the lady is staring all horrified at her toilet brush, like, it's a toilet brush. Unless you're using it to stir pancake batter, who cares how germy it is? It's used to clean the place where people pee, shit, and barf, okay? Find a way to live with it already, my God.

On the Environment....
Mother Jones has some interesting articles here.

Most interesting is a round up of conservative think-tanks that fund the "debunking" of global warming evidence.

Comments

Thank you! :)

[syreene.livejournal.com]

I do my best. ;)

That Ronco article is hillarious, by the way....thanks for the link! :)

My mother-in-law has an addiction to the Home Shopping Network, so she'd always buy all these kitchen gadgets and end up giving them to the family...I've got various salad choppers and cookie decorators and things stuffed in back drawers because in the end, a knife and a little work does wonders. ;)

Re: Thank you! :)

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

Exactly, all those gadgets are essentially cheap toys. :-)

[misanthropist.livejournal.com]

Scalia is precisely that, a conservative activist judge. He's a joke. But he's a genius. So that makes him a little dangerous

[dangermouse74.livejournal.com]

hehe that ROnco article was highly amusing :-)

[lavenderjones.livejournal.com]

The Ronco bit was a scream! My favourite bit:

Product: The Spountin
Problem "solved" by product: Faucets in home not enough like water fountains
Pre-existing solution to "problem": Live in park, elementary school, or other public facility; get a life

Why? Why would you want this? You crank it on your faucets, and the water comes up in a water-fountain loop instead of streaming straight down. Fine. Someone invented that and patented it. It doesn't mean anyone needs it.

"Well, what about when you have a really tall skinny vase and you can never quite get the water --" Okay, good point. But do you think that's the primary selling point in the ad? No. The primary selling point is that it's easier to take pills now that you don't have to crane your fat head all the way down into the sink and drink out of the faucet anymore.

I'm not joking. Evidently, the practice of running an inch of water into a freakin' glass is not as widespread as I'd thought. I mean…Jesus. What did people do before The Spountin, throw a couple Advil into their mouths and then lap up water from the bidet? OPEN. A. SODA. MY GAAHHHD.

And you know how you fill those vases? You put water in…a glass. And you pour the water from the glass into the vase. It takes thirty seconds. It takes a lot longer to fix the plumbing you fuck up when you try to attach the Spountin, which The Spountineers deny will happen, but it will. Nowhere is the potential for user error greater, it seems to me, than with an ASOTV product.

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

Awww yeah. that's the stuff.