Odd Obsession

Now that the most powerful and influential Randian of our time has somewhat repudiated his views , can we put Objectivism into the dustbin of history along with Communism? I mean, just because you thought that scene of a rebel architect ravishing a socialite on the top of a tall building was hot when you were 20, should you base your whole political belief system on it? Two Girls Fat and Thin was good, though.

Here's my superhero, Badass Jfro, via the HeroMachine . I'm pretty happy with her, although they didn't have a lemur, so I made do with an ermine as my mascot (maybe a fennec would be more appropriate). Nice choice of ninja weaponry, though.

Inspired by this article in Lifehacker, here is my new calling card for social situations. Moo lets you print business-size cards from your Flickr photos. Selections from my " Urban Decay " series are on the other side. I enjoy the contrast between old-school and new-school social networking. I know the thing to do now is call people on their cellphones to give them your number, but that just isn't as cool. What is more suave, taking five minutes to text in an email address, or flashing them a card? I didn't put in all the personal stuff, since acquaintances from Meetup groups or some such don't need to know.

In a somewhat recent New York Review of Books article , Joyce Carol Oates wonders why boxing is no longer so popular. That's obvious, its ass has been beaten in the global marketplace by kung fu. Not that karate, tae kwan do, muay thai, and capoiera aren't also beautiful in their own way, but the Chinese created the martial arts movie and if someone in Hollywood is looking for a martial arts choreographer, it's probably going to be someone from a kung fu background. Kung fu movies led to Hollywood rip-offs, video games, and a whole new sport based on the plot of Enter the Dragon . Nowadays, you almost never see a John-Wayne-style slugfest in a movie. Even all-American Jason Bourne uses martial arts (it looked like krav maga to me). Kung fu has become part of American culture. African-Americans were again ahead of the curve on this, as they found the martial arts movies' themes of self-improvement and struggle against the (Manchu) man congenial. In the days of the ...