Friday, February 15, 2008

TAGGED BY TOAST

I've just been tagged by Toast in possibly the stupidest meme I've ever seen. Gee, thanks big fella. Señor Toasty passed the baton with a healthy coating of snark on it. And silly him, I dropped it cause it was soooooo slippery. Oops. Sorry.

Meanwhile, let's do this here thing and pretend like it never happened. I'm supposed to:
1. Grab the nearest book (that is at least 123 pages long).
2. Open to p. 123.
3. Go down to the 5th sentence.
4. Type in the following 3 sentences.
5. Tag five people.
Whatever. Let's see. I closed my eyes and grabbed, and after knocking all sorts of knicks & knacks off the bookshelf (I will blame Toast if Mrs. Mike gets pissed) I came up with . . .

"Reflections," by depressed-and-ultimately-suicidal, German-Jewish philosopher & social critic, Walter Benjamin. I think I read parts of this for some class in college. Let me turn to p. 123:
"The village chronical, agricultural development, production technique, cultural institutions are graphically recorded in lines of development, along with components of tools, machine parts, retorts containing chemicals displayed every where on the walls. Out of curiosity I went up to a shelf from which two Negro faces grimaced at me. But as I came nearer, they turned out to be gas masks."
And there you have it, in all its fascinating detail. Production technique! Lines of development! Negro faces! Or just the "gas masks" that look ever so much like Negro faces!

And now, as required, allow me to pass the baton (sans snark) to Edwardo, Rickey, Steves, and since Toast didn't tag him, Furious. Enjoy gents.

Hmmm . . . that's only 4, but I'm mandated by the Great Meme Lord to tab 5. I wanted to leave George out of it, since he hates memes so much. But since I know so few people in this big, lonely blogosphere, I'll just have to do what I have to do. George, apologies but tag, you're it.

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10 Comments:

Blogger Toasty Joe said...

Who's this "Toast," and why is he stealing my identity?

8:02 AM  
Blogger Mike said...

Uh-oh! A blog name war.

Please guys, don't fight. No.

Don't. Please don't.

(Am I being convincing enough?)

8:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've read the three sentences three times and still don't understand them.

Applesaucer

9:29 AM  
Blogger Noah said...

Smitty is very happy you skipped him.

By the way, the 3 sentences you typed? I can't make them make sense in my brain.

10:51 AM  
Blogger Rickey said...

Rickey brought this upon himself we suppose... A response will be issued once Rickey is within the proximity of his bookshelf.

11:02 AM  
Blogger Mr Furious said...

Here's mine.

You didn't escape for long, Smitty.

12:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This has nothing to do with your meme (although if I were a blogger and had been so tagged, mine would be: “It is.” We were stating facts and at the same time arguing, an argument whose depths only he and I could fully comprehend. I went to the kitchen to pour myself a drink, bringing it with me to the dining table when Chitra announced, a few minutes later, that dinner was ready.)

I just wanted to vent about the chicken shit Democrats in the U.S. Senate who apparently find life in that august body to be so far superior to life any where else, that they would rather wipe G.W. Bush’s ass with the original Constitution than risk not being reelected. Is there no one in government and no one in the press other than Glenn Greenwald willing to call a liar a liar and a law breaker a criminal?

4:49 PM  
Blogger steves said...

Thanks. All the people I know that blog are already tagged. I will grab a book tomorrow and post on ATK.

11:23 PM  
Blogger George said...

Damn you, sir. Here I am, still down San Diego way post-conference looking at your blog on my new iPhone (a wonderful toy, btw), so I only see a bit at a time, and I can't be happier I'm not tagged.

And then what should creep (I choose the term on purpose) into my screen but a special paragraph tagging me.

I am not near my bookcases, so I will use the book I have with me, What to Eat by Marion Nestle.

They are bad for health--they raise the risk of heart disease--their risks have been known for at least thirty years, and companies should have figured out how to get them out of the food supply long ago.

Bunge was particularly interested in this issue at the time because after years of lobbying by nutrition groups on one side and the food industry on the other, the FDA had just ruled that the label of every packaged food would have to discolse its
trans fat content, starting in 2006. The industry had balked at disclosure for three reasons.

I'm not tagging nobody. I'm not putting this on my blog.

That's all you get, a brief, unexciting peek at the trans fat story.

As for Walter Benjamin, he won't make sense excerpted like that. And everyone should read his great essay "Unpacking My Library." A booklover's dream.

2:24 PM  
Blogger Rickey said...

Alright... the deed is done and Rickey reponded.

12:26 PM  

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