As I noted in the comments to the post immediately below, this is indeed a lazy Sunday. Here it is, nearly 1400 (as I write) and I’ve not updated the blog. To say I’m lacking in motivation would be serious understatement. So…this will be sorta brief.
Interesting. I’m number two in a google search for “"public perception" +bbc +bias.” That search turned up more than a few interesting links. Thanks, Unknown Visitor from the
I dunno if this is a good thing, or not. I still blush, quite visibly so, even at my (relatively) advanced age. The scene: A couple of nights ago. My phone rings, I glance down at the Caller ID screen as I pick up the phone to answer; it’s SN1. I answer the phone thusly:
“So, how was the chick-flick?”
(Brief pause)
“This is Erma.”
Blood rushes to my face and neck in an alarmingly rapid reaction. I know this to be true because I was standing in the bathroom and looked directly into the mirror as I heard Erma speak.
“Uh, Hi, Erm! I thought it was Buck!”
“Unh-hunh”
Back story: SN1 had told me Erm’s birthday was going to be a low-level affair; her “wish list” included dinner out, followed by a quiet evening at home with just the two of them watching a movie of her choosing, and said movie would definitely be a “chick-flick.” And SN1 was under instruction to enjoy it (the movie). I opined to Buck that that just might be beyond the pale…in other words, you can ask me to watch such a movie with you, but demanding I enjoy it is quite another thing altogether. Just my opinion, mind you. I’ll not divulge SN1’s thoughts on the subject. And that’s why I answered the phone as I did.
We both (Erma and I) got a good laugh out of this, Thank God. I told her SN1 had relayed her wish-list to me, to which she replied: “Obviously.”
Lesson-learned: Someone else might just possibly be using someone else’s phone. Just possibly.
I want to move this link from frequent reader Bec from the comments up to the front page, so to speak. While the article is somewhat depressing, it reveals the complexity of the problem we have to deal with in
Update: What the HELL is it with Blogger? This is the second post in a row where the word-wrap function around a photo doesn't work. No meaning is lost, it just looks clunky. And I'm all about aesthetics, ya know.
Hi Buck.
ReplyDeleteBoy that was fast! The link disappeared already! I tried sending a copy/pasted one via your email but it didn't go through. Oh well. It's going to be in the August 13 issue of the New York Times. Gary Farber found it early somewhere else: "Michael Young, longtime opinion editor of the Beirut Daily Star, blogger, writer for Reason, and so on, has a typically long NY Times Magazine piece that won't actually be published until next Sunday."
Instead, here's a link to a fascinating discussion today on the war by Lebanese Bloggers. The comments are well worth reading for insight and slightly more positive than I might have thought.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Unknown Visitor from the UK! I dunno if this is a good thing, or not.
You never know whether to smile or to duck and cover! :)
I love a good chick flick. Last night I went to the cheap movies with my daughter and a friend. We went to see "The Devil Wears Prada". Later, when I told Toby all about it (all of the fashion stuff and how cute Simon Baker was...), he said that he was glad that he didn't see it. Jesse and I try to watch our chick flicks when Toby is not around - all of the groaning and eye-rolling is such a bother. It was good of SN1 to watch with Erma - he gets points for that.
ReplyDeleteBec: Ya know, I probably shouldn't have posted the NYT Mag link, since I (we) knew it was only temporary. You're right, the comments at the Lebanese Bloggers link were interesting. What's interesting, too, in a side-bar sorta way, is a lot of those folks aren't writing in their native tongue. Yet they come across (for the most part) very eloquently.
ReplyDeleteLou: I always found something else to do when the chick-flicks came out. I actually watched (and thoroughly enjoyed) this one, however!
I hate chick flicks. Because I always cry and I *hate* that. I want a good action or adventure story.
ReplyDeleteLaurie sez: Because I always cry and I *hate* that.
ReplyDeleteMy emotional buttons are easily pushed, as well, and my reaction is the same as yours, Laurie. Which is why I mentioned I wouldn't go see "Flight 93" in a theatre, but would watch it at home (which I haven't done as yet). If I remember correctly, I was taken to task for that statement. Not by you, mind you, but by a drop-in.
I can't help it, I don't like it, but that's the way I'm wired.