I just learned that the best egg rolls to be had at any price in all the land are the Shrimp Egg Rolls served by Mr. Chan at Chan's Chinese in Bend, Oregon. Not only are they incredibly delicious, but they are presented to the delighted diner at a temperature perfectly compatible with immediate consumption.
Thank you, Mr. Chan!
07 March 2007
06 March 2007
Bend
I'm in Bend tonight, a town of about 75,000 in the high desert of Central Oregon. When I left Detroit this morning it was about 7 degrees F outside, and when I arrived here it was about 70. Pretty nice! This is a pretty cool little town, with lots of funky restaurants and lots of people out walking around the downtown area.
One thing I couldn't figure out was that some of the cars driving by had tires that were making all kinds of noise as they rolled down the street. At first I thought there must be a bunch of gravel in the treads, but I finally figured out that these were snow tires with studs on them. I have to say that I grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, and we got a lot of lake-effect snow there; we never had tires with studs on them. Sometimes we put snow tires on the car, sometimes we didn't. It reminded me of when I went to California for the first time one Chistmastime, and during a drive into the mountains we saw signs talking about the requirement for chains. Chains! Crazy.
One thing I couldn't figure out was that some of the cars driving by had tires that were making all kinds of noise as they rolled down the street. At first I thought there must be a bunch of gravel in the treads, but I finally figured out that these were snow tires with studs on them. I have to say that I grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, and we got a lot of lake-effect snow there; we never had tires with studs on them. Sometimes we put snow tires on the car, sometimes we didn't. It reminded me of when I went to California for the first time one Chistmastime, and during a drive into the mountains we saw signs talking about the requirement for chains. Chains! Crazy.
03 March 2007
The Popularity of Anti-intellectualism
I just read in my local paper that Fox just debuted a new TV game show to record numbers, 26.5 million, on Tuesday. This not only makes it the most-watched series debut in Fox history, but the most popular debut of any series since 1998 (according to Nielsen). The show is called, "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" The rapt viewer of this show is evidently treated to the hijinks which ensue when adults are quizzed on the knowledge to be found in elementary school textbooks.
I hope that all of those viewers (a set of which I am not a member) were merely exhibiting a kind of morbid curiosity, wondering (as I do) whether the show's contestants were really up to that kind of challenge.
But I worry that most of those viewers were really wondering whether they themselves were smarter than a fifth grader. And when I think about how maybe some non-trivial fraction of them found themselves deficient, I just imagine them laughing as they tell their sympathetic friends, "I didn't hardly know none of them questions!"
Is this really be the standard to which Americans want to compare themselves?
This is all good, harmless fun, I suppose. Until somebody gets up in front of a school board somewhere, let's say, and wants to make an argument one way or another about something that takes maybe a bit more than a fifth-grade education to really understand. Then I think it's not so much funny as it is dangerous.
We don't merely tolerate ignorance, we embrace it, even encourage it. I think we should all stop acting like a bunch of fifth graders. Ignorance is not funny, or cool; it's just ignorance.
I hope that all of those viewers (a set of which I am not a member) were merely exhibiting a kind of morbid curiosity, wondering (as I do) whether the show's contestants were really up to that kind of challenge.
But I worry that most of those viewers were really wondering whether they themselves were smarter than a fifth grader. And when I think about how maybe some non-trivial fraction of them found themselves deficient, I just imagine them laughing as they tell their sympathetic friends, "I didn't hardly know none of them questions!"
Is this really be the standard to which Americans want to compare themselves?
This is all good, harmless fun, I suppose. Until somebody gets up in front of a school board somewhere, let's say, and wants to make an argument one way or another about something that takes maybe a bit more than a fifth-grade education to really understand. Then I think it's not so much funny as it is dangerous.
We don't merely tolerate ignorance, we embrace it, even encourage it. I think we should all stop acting like a bunch of fifth graders. Ignorance is not funny, or cool; it's just ignorance.
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