The $200 Toaster

There is something decadent yet fascinating about this toaster beginning with the price tag of $219. While toasted bread can certainly be ruined by a bad toaster, I believe toast can only be made so good regardless of price. So there is something else going on here. The copy on the web site says the toaster is commercial grade. Great, now you can make toast like the professionals do in hospital cafeterias. Hand assembled in England (where toast is almost the national dish). The toaster's heating elements are said to be award-winning. Who hands out those awards? I never considered a toaster as status symbol before but the Vario 2-Slice toaster by Dualit must be one.

Ethnicity

I'm half Danish, half German so it follows I would like chairs that make one sit up straight.

Being and Becoming

A fundamental difference between Europe and America is the concept of being and becoming. The American is constantly in a state of becoming an American. How this is to be accomplished is left up to the individual. To the Frenchman what is and what is not French was decided a long time ago–he needs only to be to be French.

Jean-Luc Godard Tells a Joke

A man sits down at the counter of a diner and orders a cup of coffee. Having taken a sip he says, “I am afraid of no man. I will not pay.” He finishes his coffee and leaves. He returns the next day only to behave the same way. The owner of the diner feels this must be stopped and hires a bouncer. The following day the man returns and orders a cup of coffee. The bouncer steps forward and asks, “Are you  afraid of no man?” “That is true,” says the man. “Well I too fear no man,” replies the bouncer. The man turns to the owner and says, “Make that two cups.”

Experimental Religions

PRECEPT #1 When you die you understand everything.

Perseverance

If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times.

"The world is full of drunken geniuses no one understands."

Yet I persist.

Robert Bresson

Watched Bresson's Pickpocket last night.
Today I'm still not back in synch with the rest of the world.