Recently, Devon and I acquired a new vehicle. It was a tough choice between a Scion xD and a Honda Fit; ultimately, the xD won the prize. The choice was unusually hard – a car is not something you want to buy now and regret later. And it’s not like you can just get another car if the first one doesn’t work out. We’re very happy with our little Scion, especially considering that we drove the shopping carpool this afternoon making trips to PetSmart, CostCo, and Trader Joe’s (three people and three cats will be fed for many weeks to come) and we were able to cram all our groceries into the car with no problems.

The timing could have been better – the day we drove it off the lot was the start of a week of snowfall. But aside from that, it’s really the ideal car for us – it’s a hatchback, meaning it’s bigger on the inside than the outside would let on. This is good if you have a ton of groceries or a ton of theatre props. I can’t imagine we’ll ever get a plain old sedan ever again. Also, it gets great gas mileage. It’s not a hybrid, unfortunately, but we’ll still be able to stay away from gas stations more than we were able to before. So, again – we’re both really, really pleased with the car we got.

The decision to get the car was easy enough; without it, Devon would be taking a series of busses to get to Skokie for work. But the decision on which car to get did not come lightly. It was the result of roughly one week of intensive online research (conducted by Devon) into what cars had the best mileage, safety, interior space, warranty, MSRP, etc., etc., etc., followed by about two weeks of searching the ad websites like cars.com, Vehix, and AutoTrader, test driving cars, phone calls to dealerships (conducted by me), and – finally – about a week and a half of waiting for the dealer to search a five-state radius and find us a Scion xD that wasn’t silver or white.

This is about the same length of time it took me to decide on which albums to purchase with an iTunes gift card I had received for Christmas.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 9:39 pm under Social Issues, Pop Culture, The Arts, Politics
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Apparently, topping the list of most memorable quotes of 2007 (and thus defining this year in history) is the phrase, “Don’t tase me, bro!”

This angers me, because I never even heard it before today. The fact that the most popular, most year-defining moment came while I wasn’t even looking, and the fact that I completely missed its fifteen minutes of fame, makes me think that all that other stuff I paid attention to was all for naught.

Anyway, the year isn’t over yet. That list doesn’t even include anything (or everything) that George W. Bush said this year.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 1:28 pm under Pop Culture, Damn Hippies, Politics
2 Comments

The biggest problem with the presidential primaries, I think, is the fact that parties fight with each other and whoever wins gets to fight with the other party. It’s more about getting the nomination over your opponents than about which candidate is best suited to lead the campaign.

I saw a headline that read, “Clinton aims to halt Obama’s momentum,” or something along those lines. I didn’t read it.

I understand that each candidate really really really wants the presidency and will do anything to get it. I feel the same way about burritos. But the most vicious, conniving, mud-slinging individual winning the race doesn’t necessarily help me as an American citizen. What I would like to see is not a bunch of candidates from one party trying to stop the momentum of other candidates in their own party, but rather each candidate trying to build their own momentum, and if they don’t win the nomination, use their energy to continue to boost the candidate that did win the nomination, and carry it all the way to seeing that candidate win the presidency. That would be something worth paying attention to. Right now, it’s like a bunch of squabbling hippopotamuses. No, they’re like tribbles…Yes, exactly like tribbles. Nobody from the Democrats will take a firm, decisive position on anything worthwhile, and nobody from the Republicans will take the right stance on anything good and moral. It’s not as though if Hillary lost the nomination she would then get behind the Republican candidate. She’ll get behind whatever Democrat wins it. Same with Obama. Same with Richardson. So why not just worry about finding the best candidate instead of only worrying about getting yourself the nomination? I mean, I get it, I’m not some idiot kid. I just wish it could be that way.

Stupid system.

Filed by Bil at 1:35 pm under Politics
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This may just be the best tourism ad in the universe.

Surprisingly, there are people – lots of people – that think this ad is bad for New Mexico. I can see why they might think that, but I would tend to side with this ad. It reaches people through the pop culture of the Roswell legend. Who doesn’t like aliens?

One of the main arguments from the political opponents is that it doesn’t show the beauty of the state. Of course, I don’t live there, so I can counter that everyone knows about the beauty of the state by now, and really, to someone from New England, the whole American Southwest looks the same (in the same way that to someone from the American Southwest, all of New England looks the same). So why New Mexico over Arizona? Well, on top of the desert beauty, there are aliens. Case closed, I’m going to see the aliens.

It’s an interesting (if not completely useless) debate.

Here’s another one!

P.S. We are still waiting for those pictures you promised, Bil. Yes, yes, I know.

Filed by Bil at 5:14 pm under Pop Culture, The Media, Politics
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There are few times when I curse living in a big city. I’ll admit, I am not 100% city slicker. I do love me some outdoorsiness. I particularly enjoy seeing stars at night, which, in Chicago proper, is pretty much out of the question. Most of the time there is a glow that radiates up from beyond the buildings around me, and makes the sky itself impossible to see. All I see is the glow. Most of the time I tell myself it’s okay, it’s the price I pay for living in a place where at least some of the fine establishments stay open till the wee small hours. I mean, it’s not okay, but there are bigger problems to face right now.

But every now and again I see an article like this one from the 16th of November, describing the awesome comet and/or meteor shower that I WAS NOT ABLE TO SEE because I live under a giant cloud of smog and second-hand smoke.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 10:37 pm under Damn Hippies, The Science
2 Comments

It’s not like I’ve been slacking. Really. I have not had a day off in WEEKS. And between the fact that I’m never home and the fact that when I am, I’m in the midst of a very moody, angry depression brought on by grief, I’ve not been much in the mood to write about anything. My cats have even noticed. They are cuddling more with me than usual. But maybe that’s just the fact that it’s getting cold.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Devon at 12:03 pm under Atheism, Damn Hippies, Love
3 Comments

Quote from Barack Obama yesterday:

“I have clearly stated my belief that gays and lesbians are our brothers and sisters and should be provided the respect, dignity, and rights of all other citizens. I have consistently spoken directly to African-American religious leaders about the need to overcome the homophobia that persists in some parts our community so that we can confront issues like HIV/AIDS and broaden the reach of equal rights in this country.

I strongly believe that African Americans and the LGBT community must stand together in the fight for equal rights. And so I strongly disagree with Reverend McClurkin’s views and will continue to fight for these rights as President of the United States to ensure that America is a country that spreads tolerance instead of division.”

On the surface, it’s refreshing to hear this sort of candor regarding the LGBT community from a top contender for the Presidency — had it come from a Republican I think I would have dropped down dead — but it’s a shame that legalizing gay marriage doesn’t fall under his heading of “broaden[ing] the reach of equal rights.” Just a reminder to all of you out there: ideology always trumps semantics. If you’re in favor of civil unions that offer the same rights and benefits as traditional marriage, then you’re in favor of gay marriage. Why call it anything else?

Can someone please tell me why we’re wasting any time as a country debating this issue? There is no discussion. We have far more pressing things as a nation to be united for. But out of curiosity, any word on the religious right about this?

Filed by Trevor at 2:37 pm under Social Issues, Damn Hippies, Politics, Homophobia
1 Comment

I am preparing to write my first real high-stakes proposal. By high-stakes I mean there’s a chance of rejection. I wrote grant proposals in college but that was pretty much like asking for pennies that fell through someone’s pants-pocket and into their shoe.

I’m not sure why I made that analogy, because there isn’t any money on the line. What I mean is this: I have a shot at getting an actual theatre space to have a staged reading of a play I wrote. Our bad-ass new theatre company, Per Diem, will be producing it in the spring and I want as much publicity for our ice-breaker show as we can get. And staged readings are key. I want to have several of them, in fact, at various venues around the city. I’m thinking small stages at bars and cafés may be the way to go, but if I can get a space that is known for doing staged readings, that would help take it a lot further. So in that sense, the stakes are rather high. At least, they are in my mind.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 10:57 pm under Shameless Plugs, The Arts, Politics, Fightin' Words
3 Comments

Bil sent me a link to a protest MoveOn Chicago had organized in response to Bush’s recent appalling SCHIP veto, so I headed on down last night to take part. Initially I’d intended to write a little play-by-play in the manner of my Ira Glass post, but frankly at the moment it’s a little hard to take a glass-half-full attitude about the current situation in our country. It brings me no end of misery at the realization that we have just barely under a year-and-a-half remaining with our current president; thus I believe ours is the generation that will see the collapse of this great nation, save the scenario in which we stop treating democracy like a spectator sport.

I will say this, however: I was greatly encouraged by the sheer volume of supportive honking from passing drivers, not to mention the presence of several resident physicians from UIC and Northwestern. Please, please contact your representative and urge them to vote to overturn Bush’s veto in two weeks. Please.

[EDIT: This clip of the fantastic Rachel Maddow going up against Pat Buchanan must be seen. Excellent!]

(Keep reading…)

Filed by Trevor at 8:32 am under GOP, Politics, Fightin' Words, Activism
2 Comments

Lately I have seen headlines that make me cringe and I have been making myself ignore them. I don’t usually notice these headlines when it is convenient for me to be outraged or depressed, so I tend to just roll my eyes and move on with my life. It’s nothing new, I figure, nothing useful or good.

Like this headline:

Bush committed to tracking al-Qaida

Sometimes I can’t help but start to read it, but then I see the opening paragraph:

CAMP DAVID, Md. - President Bush said Monday that with the right intelligence U.S. and Pakistan governments can take out al-Qaida leaders, and wouldn’t say whether he would consult first with Pakistan before ordering U.S. forces to act on their own.

This is both laughable and frightening, and I’m at work today, so I stopped reading that one right then and there.
(Keep reading…)

Filed by Bil at 11:31 am under Social Issues, Politics, Activism
14 Comments