More Random Shark Jumps

I do not like the rubber charity bracelet craze. And I think this one is one of the silliest I've seen. Celebrating the environment by wearing a man-made silicate on your wrist?

I think the "Live Strong" bracelets were a fantastic marketing idea, and I'm sincerely glad they raised money for a worthy cause, but you can take them off now. Not wearing a rubber bracelet does not mean you've decided to support cancer instead of cancer research.

I was watching the Colbert Report last night, and Stephen Colbert was interviewing a politician from Colorado who said his goal was to disagree without being disagreeable. Colbert asked him to demonstrate by disagreeing with the following (approximate) statement - "I think the Nazis were wrong." I don't know if the show will last, and I don't feel particularly sad that it probably won't - but I gotta hand the guy some props. I love the way he introduces guests by running over to them and accepting the applause of the crowd as though it's for him running. Awesome.

In other non-related news, I finished reading The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, this month's book club selection at work. I didn't buy his theories, really. And the smoking argument was really irritating, because for the life of me I can't remember what the tipping point was actually supposed to BE regarding the recent rise in teen smoking rates. The basic argument seemed to be that kids smoke because smokers are cool - ohhhhkkkaaaaayyyy, but why was there EVER a decrease in smoking then? Why the resurgence? I'll have to admit, one of the reasons I can't take the author seriously is because - he has ridiculour hair. One of those poofy wild curly dos that make the person look like they're trying to emulate Einstein. That look just barely worked for Einstein, who at least had the benefit of being a freakin' bona fide genius. Emulating his hair to imply your own intelligence actually makes me infer the opposite.