The Armaggedon of Inanity is upon us: Rock Paper Scissors has become a competitive sport, likeTexas Hold 'Em Tournaments, Text-Messaging Championships, and Speed Toilet Wiping (it's coming, I'm sure). People, like this writer, are taking it seriously. Excerpts:
[A]ccording to Douglas and Graham Walker, authors of The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide (Fireside, 2004), tossing a coin is a passive act, simply letting fate take its course; during the "dance of hands" that is rock paper scissors, players influence the outcome not only by their choice of throws, but also by their ability to interpret or ignore the signals provided by an opponent. Like poker, rock paper scissors involves "tells," subtle body-language-based clues that can tip off a player's intended throw. . . .
Today's big-time tournaments feature trained referees and official rules (strictly forbidden are both the controversial "fourth throw" of dynamite and the blatantly illegal vertical paper, or "the handshake") and have created legends like C. Urbanus (he of the Urbanus Defense, a strategy in which one intentionally loses the first throw) and historic moments such as Pete Lovering's 2002 "rock heard round the world." For those of us whose life-or-death college decisions (like who had to clean the bong) hinged on rock paper scissors proficiency, the allure of competitive RPS is too strong to resist.
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Support Sirius radio? A reader forwards this link and writes:
The Catholic Channel on Sirius gets better and better. This is not your parent's Catholic radio and I really think it has the chance to attract younger Catholics that did not grow up with the Faith or who are nominal Catholics. Teens may like it, but I think it is attracting listeners in their 20's 30's and 40's. Male listeners are going to be attracted to many of the programs. The Catholic Guy show, if promoted well, has the chance to get a generation that grew up on Howard and MTV and may not stop and listen to the Rosary on radio.
I think we need to promote Catholic radio on satellite. With Sirius you get EWTN and The Catholic Channel for about $12 a month, plus all the great commercial-free Christian, country and classical music. . . Each month after paying my bill I call Sirius and let them know it is because of the Catholic programs that I am a listener to Sirius.
I don't subscribe to satellite radio, but I thought this was a PSA worth passing on.
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I liked the Talking Heads (back in the 1980s, when I may have passed as halfway cool). An entire 1980 Talking Heads concert from Rome is now on YouTube, one song at a time. This link goes to Psycho Killer. The other songs come up in sequence afterwards. For a complete list, go here.
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I'm looking forward only to discover I'm looking back. Email is dead, according to the future (teenagers). What's replacing it? Social networking (MySpace) and cell phone text messaging (and social networking on the cell phone, which I don't understand). Excerpt:
More and more, social networks are playing a bigger role on the cell phone. In the last six to nine months, teens in the United States have taken to text messaging in numbers that rival usage in Europe and Asia. According to market research firm JupiterResearch, 80 percent of teens with cell phones regularly use text messaging.
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Reminder: It's the vacation season. If certain days feature brief, less-entertaining, and/or all-around lamer posts, it's because I pre-programmed them days ahead of time.
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Something for Mondy Morning: "So you wanted to live a quiet life? But God wanted otherwise." St. Augustine
