Archive for November, 2008

Ghost Generation (TQP0118)

Posted in Jeff Holland with tags , , , on November 18, 2008 by braak

Of all the young people I work with, I am one of the oldest.

This is troubling from an employment perspective. Workplace concepts gen-yof Generation X and Generation Y differ depending on what you read. I’m currently showing the ropes to a new hire who’s squarely “Gen-Y” – he’s just out of college – so I’ve been reading a few articles on Gen-Y in the workplace, and their newfangled expectations of what a modern workplace should be like.

(According to the articles, these crazy Gen-Y-ers like having clear ideas of what their duties are, and what kind of deadlines they’ll be facing. They also like encouragement and praise. Kids today, I tell you.)

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Why Aren’t Conservatives Funny, Redux: Carlos Mencia (TQP0117)

Posted in Braak, poetics with tags , , on November 17, 2008 by braak

Man, I hate Carlos Mencia.

He was on the radio this morning; the regular radio guys I listen to were doing one of those things where they have a professionally “funny” person on for an above-average length of time, just hanging out, shooting the shit, &c.  The last time they did this, it was with Margaret Cho, and I enjoyed that.  This time it was Carlos Mencia, or, as I like to refer to him, Fat Ned.

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On Mustard (TQP0116)

Posted in Braak with tags , , on November 14, 2008 by braak

Dear Subway:

What’s the deal?  Why do you keep wanting to put mustard on top of the vegetables when you make my sandwich?  I know you guys have been at this for a while.  The guys that work at my Subway even have special shirts indicating that they want to the University of Subway.

So, while you were getting your PhD’s in Sandwich, didn’t anyone point out to you that when you put the condiments on top of all the vegetables, then they fall out with all the little bits of shredded lettuce you’ve got in there?  Or else squirt all over your face when you try and bite the sandwich?  You have to protect the mustard, man.  Keep it safe and secret in the heart of the subway.

While we’re at it, please stop looking at me like I’m crazy when I ask for extra spinach.  I’m not the one that thinks that five precisely-laid out leaves constitutes a sufficient sandwich topping.

Sincerely,

Braak

There Is No Justice in the Universe (TQP0115)

Posted in Braak with tags , on November 13, 2008 by braak

ghost_rider_mark_steven_johnsonThis is Mark Steven Johnson.  You might be aware of him, because he wrote and directed a movie called Daredevil, that hardly anybody liked, because it was dumb.

Mark Steven Johnson, with his stupid hat and his scuzzy little goatee, is the evidence that I’m going to use to support Jerry Holkins’ theory that we, the human race, are slowly being digested by an amoral universe.

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On the Bureaucracy (TQP0114)

Posted in Braak, Politics with tags , , on November 12, 2008 by braak

Don’t get me wrong; I understand where the Libertarians are coming from.  Getting things out of government services is a pain in the ass at best, and it’s reasonable to think that there must be some more efficient way to get it done.  I’m still in favor of the government running the criminal justice system, though, because the alternative to that is going to be something like wereguild or vendetta, and I just don’t see myself thriving in a situation like that.

Still, the way it works is, government systems are shitty, and the rest of us constantly complain about them and demand that they be improved, so that our lives will be marginally better.  Which is why when I received a juror’s summons, it was necessary that I respond in a civically responsible way.

My letter, after the jump.

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My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (and Spider-Man) (TQP0113)

Posted in Jeff Holland with tags , , on November 11, 2008 by braak

godInteresting article from Slate discussing a study showing how religion affects morality. Maybe not so shockingly, based on the study’s findings, religious people tend to behave more morally responsibly than atheists. Religious people also feel better about themselves than atheists. On account of the doing so much good for each other, apparently, coupled with the crippling cynicism that supposedly accompanies atheism.

In the United States.

Outside, in say, Sweden, where religion isn’t so intrinsically bound with positive ethical codes, atheists are plentiful, help their fellow man, and feel pretty darn good about themselves. Which pretty much throws a wrench into the whole study, doesn’t it?

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Politics (TQP0112)

Posted in Braak, Politics with tags , on November 10, 2008 by braak

Okay, okay, look…I’m almost done.  I got (mostly) what I wanted out of the election, and I am just about ready to stop talking about it–for a while, anyway.  I think it’s important to talk about politics a lot, because I think that one of the interesting things about America is that we’re never allowed to forget about what the government is doing.  We’d like to, I know.

We’ll, I’d like to.  I am definitely part of the crowd that is going to spend the next couple weeks pretending that Barack Obama is going to just undo a bunch of executive orders, sign a couple papers, and then POW! the economy is back on track, student loans are all forgiven, solar power, sunshine, unicorns, rainbows, la la la la I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!

obama_superman_awesome

I know that this is not what’s going to happen.  So, please, indulge me.

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This is the World We Live In

Posted in Threat Quality on November 7, 2008 by braak

strange-dancing

…And sometimes, it ain’t so bad.

A Bright and Shiny Future: A Short Play (TQP0111)

Posted in Jeff Holland, poetics, Short Fiction on November 6, 2008 by braak

The Year: 2020
The Setting: A bar, set during a pub quiz
The Players: Ron, Darryl, and Kim, a young pub quiz team in their early 20′s; pub quizmaster

Pub Quizmaster: OK, we’ve got a tie for first place, so here’s our tie-breaking question: “Who was the Republican vice presidential candidate during John McCain’s failed 2008 presidential run?”
Ron: Awww…fuck!
Darryl: Do you know this?
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STILL RECOVERING

Posted in Braak on November 6, 2008 by braak

hangover

Will return to regularly scheduled programming, eventually.

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