Archives for: December 2009
12/16/09
Oil industries scrambled to respond to the opening video from the Copenhagen conference (above) after being inundated with letters from distressed children begging the corporations to stop making stuff.
"We consider this a read threat," said Edison chairman, Peter Ludwig, as he looked down upon a throng of children, some covered in fake blood, others chained to power generators, while still others gathered their talking Barbies and PSPs and burned them in a huge pile. "I mean, when three-year-olds are going on hunger strikes, you can't just sit still."
Mr. Ludwig has released a video of his own, questioning the practicality of alternative energies, that he hopes will produce a business-friendly counter-hysteria:
12/15/09
12/07/09
There's something about fine or semi-fine craftsmanship that attracts me, even if the extra care with which something is made is useless. For example, watches are essentially disposable. The cheaper quartz and digital watches are actually more accurate and rugged than Omegas or Rolexes, but I'd prefer the latter because...I don't know, craftsmanship. It's somewhat different with knives, as the material with which they're made is important. Still, there's an element of useless craftsmanship with that as well.
It's not just guys, either. Women prefer a quality purse, even one many times more expensive, than one of slightly lesser quality.
Anyways, since I discovered them in high school, I've always been partial to Parker pens. The feeling of a better pen in the hand justifies the Parker's higher cost compared to Bics or Paper Mate. I know that there are more expensive pens, but I disallow myself those because of another one of my character traits, losing stuff.
Well, I lost my Parker so I went into Staples to get another. As usual, they didn't have the plastic ones I prefer; they had the even more expensive yet inferior all-metal ones.
Cross pens have never really attracted me.
That's when I discovered a new pen on the blotter, a Sheaffer. Same price. Darn similar designs. I tried one.
Assessment:
They write the same. The Sheaffer is a bit thicker. The Parker has a little better clicking mechanism, the Sheaffer's being slightly more mushy. I like the Parker's shirt nib(?) over the squarish Sheaffer nib (?? can anybody help me out here?). Essentially, a toss up, however.
Tie-breaker:
"Sheaffer" is harder to spell: It doesn't come up on Firefox's spell checker, at least. The Scheaffer's made in China and the Parker in England.
One might be inclined to buy a pen from the country that gave us paper. On the other hand, England's made better use of paper by providing it to Shakespeare, Dickens, Austin, etc.
China has superior martial arts, unless you count darts. England loses points for having the most boring Classical music on the planet. England did spread civilization around the world. China, according to Roland Emmerich might save us from severe sub-crust forces in just three short years. Errr, what to do?
Miss China 2009, Sheng Yu (Yu Sheng?):
Miss England 2009, Katrina Hodge:
Hmmm. This is a tough one. Does Venezuela make pens? I'll go with Miss England because she's a corporal in the Royal Army.
Parker is hereby proclaimed the official pen of Asymmetric.
12/03/09
Wow. That dude's lucky there's such a thing as arm wrestling. The only better match between a sport and an individual would be a game called "making an ass of yourself" and Joe Biden.
Here's the Hellboy character. My friends say the comic is good. The second movie was pretty bad.
12/02/09
One of my best celebrity journalists, Rachel Uchitel, has been outed as such by recent events. Her effectiveness seriously compromised, I had to let her go today. The people here at Asymmetric (well, person, two cats, and a dog), wish her well.
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