Thursday, May 28
O Snuggie, What Hath Thou Wrought?
Elegant medieval robes and voluminous togas are one thing, wearable towels another. Between this and Sudoku*, it's no wonder Western Civilization is in a state of advanced collapse.
*Seriously, I have a theory that the burst of interest in Sudoku is one of the most potent signs of advanced societal decay. Crossword puzzles require some degree of common knowledge or received cultural wisdom, either pop or high. Sudoku's popularity, based on numbers, or math, or something, I don't know, presupposes no shared cultural knowledge or experience. An alien from space could do it. Indeed, a lot of folks on the Lexington Avenue subway I saw doing their morning Sudoku may well have been from Planet Zoltron. Either we are collectively too stupid to take an interest in our cultural surroundings (no matter whether they're John Cage or, on the other end, James MacMillan), or so personally self-contained that we don't have any in common. Both are disturbing possibilities. Meanwhile, I can't hear you with these wonderful iPod earbuds in...
*Seriously, I have a theory that the burst of interest in Sudoku is one of the most potent signs of advanced societal decay. Crossword puzzles require some degree of common knowledge or received cultural wisdom, either pop or high. Sudoku's popularity, based on numbers, or math, or something, I don't know, presupposes no shared cultural knowledge or experience. An alien from space could do it. Indeed, a lot of folks on the Lexington Avenue subway I saw doing their morning Sudoku may well have been from Planet Zoltron. Either we are collectively too stupid to take an interest in our cultural surroundings (no matter whether they're John Cage or, on the other end, James MacMillan), or so personally self-contained that we don't have any in common. Both are disturbing possibilities. Meanwhile, I can't hear you with these wonderful iPod earbuds in...
![[SMMMHDH]](http://www.mgilleland.com/music/smmmhdh.png){kind=small}
