The Swan

is awful. I mean, the girls were normal looking, and they made them ugly. And then they tell one person in each episode that they're pretty, but not pretty enough. The whole thing is twisted. And the message was clear: nobody will think you're pretty unless you let (male) surgeons and trainers remake your body. Maybe the FCC could fine Fox for this nonsense instead? This account of the discussion boards is pretty interesting (as are the boards themselves), but reading the blogs on Technorati was equally fascinating. I'm surprised that any people actually find the show acceptable.

Lisa

took pictures! Hopefully she will visit us again, since I have yet to see her adequately intoxicated.

An apple a day

probably would not have kept my wisdom teeth from needing to be removed, which is apparently the case. I went to the dentist today, and at least I have no cavities. I also confess that I really like my dentist, Dr. Keohan. I just picked the closest preferred provider to the office, so it's kind of surprising that it worked out. And I was kind of sketched out the first time I went, since it's just this tiny little old school storefront, but everybody there (all three of them) is very nice and relaxed and funny and there's a fish tank and the radio playing. Much more pleasant than Harvard Vanguard, which cost me money, anyway. Go figure.

Donald

The Trump is quite funny on SNL. If it, say, happens to be sitting on your TiVo, watch it! Also, The Economist has an interesting take on the show:

Slugging it out, say, in the jungles of Borneo for a $1m prize, a more typical reality-TV formula, is unlikely to illuminate the real lives of most American middle managers. The drama that Mr Trump offers cuts closer to the bone.... the show is the second-most popular series on television among 18-49-year-olds with incomes over $100,000, lagging only “The West Wing”...

O.C. soundtrack (at last!)

Bought the new O.C. soundtrack at the recently-enlarged Newbury Comics. A fun listen, and it includes a link to a web site with video of the scenes containing each song. While wandering the net, I also ran across fashion from the O.C..

Mmm

Lisa's in town so Andrea tooks us to Peking Tom. I highly recommend the banana rolls and green tea ice cream dessert.

Social networking platforms?

Thanks to Mike, saw a talk at the Berkman center about SocialPhysics by John Clippinger. (Also had a yummy free lunch!) His idea of instantiating communities with a template of behaviors called a "culture" is pretty intriguing, and the paper he links to about the economic and biological aspects of trust is interesting.