WhatchaMcCa(ll)in' Palin

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by Philipina A. Marcelo

Trying to veer away from the dizzying roller coaster ride of global stock market watch, I shifted focus on the next news headline-hogging event of these days – the US Presidential election, and came across this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/opinion/26dowd.html?em

It amuses me that Imelda Marcos had to be mentioned in Maureen Dowd's caricature of the Republican VP Barbie, Sarah WhatchaMcCa(ll)in’ Palin!  Imelda Marcos, as far as I’m concerned, is the modern symbol of cringe-enducing shallowness and loathsome feminine excesses - all symptoms of drunkenness from an abuse of new-found power after spending considerable time suppressing a hunger for the bourgeois status.  Watching Sarah Palin transformed in just a few weeks from this interesting political rock star - quite endearing to feminine fanhood, almost amazing  - to this totally disappointing seat of abysmal shallowness when put under substance check, it’s nauseating and almost physically painful to catch a glimpse of her on TV, in all her shrill gory!  It’s amazing how some women (and men, too) find it acceptable, with not a single ounce of guilt, to use charm as a valid excuse for lack of real capability.  And, it’s frustrating that some people do actually fall for such deceitful and manipulative use of charisma.  

When an Independent, Republican-leaning friend of mine (whose wife is a Democrat) from Houston, TX opined that maybe McCain, being a "comeback kid" might just pull off a last-minute new trick from his maverick hat to win the elections, I replied: "Nah... he was definitely the 'last man standing' (from an array of inadequate ones) at the end of the Republican primaries - that's not necessarily being a 'comeback kid', is it?  And when he chose for a running mate some shrill lipsticked loose cannon who uses the 's word', 'terrorism' and 'patriotism' without thinking when she's not shooting moose from within waving distance from Putin's neighborhood (which she considers a legit exposure to foreign diplomacy, mind you), he didn't do his campaign any favor either!"  Alright, granting that I had this exchange with my friend right after Gen. Colin Powell endorsed the Barackster, where he used very well-chosen words that I don't think Sarah Palin will ever deserve in this lifetime, I was already completely dismayed by the Republican VP Barbie's exposed shallowness during her interviews with Charles Gibson and Katie Couric.  I remember listening to her with my eyes and mouth wide open - in shock, and later in disgust! How can she run for the second highest seat of authority in the United States of America when she's clueless about the goings on outside of the State of Alaska?!  It sure looked like a case of who needs-substance-when-I've-got-this-rockin'-load-a-charm!  One thing is for sure, while she's not exactly a Paris Hilton, she's definitely no Hillary Clinton, in terms of substance either!  

So, what can I say about WhatchaMcCa(ll)in’?  The hot mama is a babe, but definitely not a sister!  

YouTube-ing it

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In the middle of my struggles to finish an agonizingly long research project, revisions to a research grant, and a couple of overdue research papers, I came across this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/business/26proto.html

Needless to say, I got derailed more than I already was!   As I hauled myself out of the bunker, I was debating with myself whether all this never ending research and publications drama should be coursed through the “conventional” path to reach a sizeable target audience, or rolled faster through the heavily media-assisted path, a.k.a. YouTube!  Just for the sake of argument, I imagined myself YouTubing my work on the mathematical modeling of the ultrafiltration of virgin whey.   I cringed at the thought!  So much for “wow factor”!  I decided I wasn’t telegenic  (or videogenic) enough to do a Johnny Chung Lee!  Then again, maybe it’s not about telegenicity, maybe it’s more about the ingenuity of the invention.  And, more importantly, it’s probably about the appeal of the invention to an audience that makes YouTube thrive.  In any case, I don’t expect so many YouTube enthusiasts would spend precious minutes trying to decipher why a two-parameter flux model is advantageous in designing batch ultrafiltration system for the processing of virgin whey.  Are you yawning already?  I thought so... my point exactly!

Nobel-ish

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Relaxing on a Friday evening, I stumbled upon the on-line article below:

http://www.slate.com/id/2201447/#return

Ah, the beautiful land of 9 million people that is Sweden, and the amazing melting pot that is the United States of America!  Having lived in both countries for considerable period of time – as a student, and therefore an outsider who voraciously took advantage of every opportunity to learn the two countries' respective cultures that their home-grown artists muse about, I cannot help but burst out laughing while reading the article.  I feel I know a little secret that Adam Kirsch doesn’t that I find his rants totally amusing.  This doesn't mean I don't respect his opinion, because I do.  For all I know, he's actually humoring his readers!  For sure, Kirsch merely strengthened my resolve to spend the next two weeks of semestral break to reach some sort of intimacy with Philip Roth’s Nobel-ish literary genius.  I can't wait….