Possumblog

Hmmm.

It’s Thursday. Seems like there used to be something we would do around here on Thursdays.

What was it?

Why, it was the AXIS OF WEEVIL THURSDAY THREE, you big silly you! That’s right, folks--America’s Most Popular Online Question and Answer Diversion Posted on Thursdays on a Blog With a Marsupial-Derived Name is BACK and BETTER than EVER!

Or not.

Our team of writers is all fresh and new and ready to go (after we were unable to come to an equitable compensation package for all the stale, old, and unprepared ones and had to send them on their way), so this season should be full of rip-roaring human interest!

Or not.

For those of you new to this exciting and grueling sport of kings, we provide for you three questions, and you provide for us three answers to those questions, and then we all read each other’s answers, and laugh and laugh and laugh. Assuming we aren’t asking questions about mortality. Anyway, all are welcome to join in--you can leave your answers in the comments section below, or you can leave a link to the answers on your very own blog.

It’s so simple even flatworms can do it!

Not quite as well as you, obviously. And they leave icky slime on the keyboard. Which I suppose all of us do from time to time, but I do have the decency to get a paper towel and wipe the keys off, something flatworms have yet to master. Then again, when you put them on a paper towel, they tend to dry out very quickly, so that might be part of the problem.

Or maybe they’re just lazy.

I tried to get one to help me carry my groceries in the house the other day and it wouldn’t. I mean, maybe I’m being too hard on them, what with them not having arms and legs and such, but still, I could have used just a little help, but NOOooo. Sorry bunch of organisms.

ON second thought, even though this is easy enough for flatworms, no flatworms may answer any of the questions. Complain all you want, but you might as well just shut up and let someone with fingers handle this one!

Where was I?

OH YES! The Thursday Three this week celebrates newness and novelty and originality and freshness and sparkly brightness with THIS SET OF QUESTIONS:

1) What are three new books that you’ve read recently?

2) What three new products have you tried lately and what were your experiences?

3) What are three new movies or shows or plays or whatever that you have seen lately, or would like to go see soon?

SEE HOW EASY THAT IS!?

So, leave your answers below or a link to your exciting new blog post for us all to come peruse.

As for my answers…

1) Well, let’s see--a couple of weeks ago I finished John Stossel’s new book, Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity. I liked it, although I think if you are an online news junkie like me, you have probably already heard a lot of the debunking of things already. Some of the chapters didn’t interest me, so I sorta skimmed them. I can’t remember which ones now, since I skimmed them.

I also just finished Tom Shachtman’s Terrors and Marvels: How Science and Technology Changed the Character and Outcome of World War II. This one took a while to get through--although reasonably well-documented, the prose doesn’t exactly fly off the page. Like so many history books that I manage to find time to read nowadays, it feels as though I’m reading through conjunctioned stacks of index cards and Post-It Notes. It also feels somewhat screedy--the implications hinting, as all good modern-day histories must (or else be deemed as unnuanced), that the overall story of World War II is missing some key parts. This seems to be the way of things now--anyone who finds out more information than what was printed before (or who is more apt at repackaging old truths) cloaks themselves in some kind of oddball clothes as the Setter-Straight of Truth. It’s not enough just to bring something interesting for everyone to ponder over, but it has to Right Past Injustices. It’s why you’re a lot more likely of late to know more about Sally Hemmings than you do about Thomas Jefferson.

Anyway, I still liked it--the theme of science being used or misused for political purposes is something to think about.

The third one is one I’m just starting-- Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters. I enjoyed the movie version of Band of Brothers, and stand amazed at Winters, who personifies a distinct kind of Americanism that is in short supply in a big part of the population today. More after I’ve finished the book.

2) Three new products? Hmm.

Well, I know one, but it’s new only to me since it HAS been around for several years--something called Water Wetter. Sounds dumb, and I was dubious at first, but this stuff is something you put in your radiator to help the water do a better job of removing heat from the engine. It’s really made for racing engines in place of glycol coolant/antifreeze, but will work well in passenger cars, too. The summertime has not been kind to a certain 20 year old Volvo I know of, especially in traffic, so I thought I would get some and see if it worked. Works like a charm--I could tell a difference in the coolant and oil temperature. The car really needs a good radiator flush, too--something a product like this can mask since it makes things run cooler and might cause you to think everything’s fine in the coolant department since it's not running as hot, but even with that caveat, it’s still a product that does what it says it will do.

I’ve been shopping for digital cameras again--this time one for Rebecca since her birthday is coming up at the end of the month. We went and played with some Monday evening at Target. Hard to believe that in only a couple of years since I bought my camera how far they’ve come in sophistication. There was a clearance-priced HP that was cheaper than what I paid for mine and had more junk on it and a bigger screen. Anyway, we didn’t get one, but I think I know which ones she likes best. The ones that come in bright colors.

Third? I can’t think of anything--we’re really just not the early-adopter sort.

3) Movies and such, huh? Hmm--well, I think I would maybe like to see All the King’s Men, but since it has Sean Penn in it and James “Gollum” Carville is one of the producers, I might be better served by getting a copy of the 1949 Broderick Crawford version.

Flags of our Fathers looks like it might be good, although I sure hope they don’t try to Pearl Harbor-ize it with all sorts of mushy love story stuff.

Flicka looks like a nice family movie, and the kids have already put in a request to go see it.

What else…oh, surely anything with Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek would be worthy of a look, right? Sure it would.

Anyway, there you go.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at September 14, 2006 05:43 AM