Saturday, October 8, 2011

Week in Review - October 8, 2011

Here are links to a few fun and interesting things you might have missed on my blog this week. It's a long review this week, but a good one!

Just one day before the death of Steve Jobs this week, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek biblical parody about the evolution of Apple products. After his death, there was a public outpouring of love and support for Jobs, though it was mixed with some anti-Jobs sentiment from those who didn’t appreciate his virtual canonization. Sadly, the nutcases from Westboro Baptist Church also weighed in (ironically via their iPhones), drawing bizarre connections between Jobs and homosexuality, and then announcing plans to picket his funeral.

The best example I saw this week of Steve Jobs as a great man, versus Jobs the revolutionary inventor or techno-pioneer, was the video of his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford, where he talked honestly and openly about death as life’s greatest invention. He will be missed.

Sarah Palin gave a short and typically unintelligible tribute to Steve Jobs (“he was an island that touched so many people”), and more importantly, Palin announced her decision not to run for President. As I speculated in a will she-or-won’t she Palin post just hours before her announcement, she kept her supporters guessing, “until she was forced to climb atop her money pile and announce that she can’t run" because of her family commitments. 

While Palin’s announcement was good news, we also had some “feel bad” stories. I published my break up letter with Bank of America last week because of planned new fees for debit card usage. (I have not completely broken it off yet, but I am seeing other banks.) In a stunning coincidence (or because hackers hate banks too), the BOA website went down the day after the new fee announcement and the site was royally fucked-up for much of the week. 

Also down on their luck this week, TV’s much-beloved Simpsons family is in jeopardy over contract disputes with Fox, and Hank Williams Jr. learned from ESPN the hard way that only actual cartoons (not cartoonish country boys) can get away with ridiculous comments comparing the President to Hitler. Oh, one more bonafide sad note, it turns out that the sea lion who crossed eight lanes of traffic on Highway 101 near San Francisco this week had actually been shot (probably by a fisherman), and eventually had to be euthanized.

I hate to leave you feeling down, so I’ll close with a reminder of some feel good stories. This video of a deaf woman hearing herself for the first time is stunningly sweet and touching, and the story of the Michigan homecoming queen/field goal kicker is an “I Am Woman” motivator. Lastly, there is no love like a mother’s love, so look out Michele Bachmann, because Amelia is not going to let you demonize her 6 year-old son, who like most girls and a few boys, wants to kiss Blaine on Glee.

As always, thanks for reading.

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