All Art is Quite Useless

When you think of PBS, do your grandparents come to mind? If so, then it is time for you to take a closer look at public television. I enjoy many PBS programs, but Frontline is by far my favorite. Frontline is an investigative documentary-style show, with each segment focusing on a different issue. I consider myself a fairly well-informed person, but the knowledge I have gained from watching Frontline makes me question how closely I’ve been paying attention to the world around me. 

Last night, my husband and I re-watched a particularly gripping segment called, “Cheney’s Law.” This episode details the ways in which Vice President Dick Cheney has sought to expand the power of the executive branch so that  Congress can no longer exercise its right to oversight. Cheney began these measures immediately after the attacks on September 11, 2001, but has been fervent in his support of executive authority ever since he was the Secretary of Defense under the first Bush administration. The segment reveals Cheney’s manipulation of the Justice Department and the constitution in order to defy the Geneva Conventions and allow tortuous interrogation techniques to be used against so-called enemy combatants.

Another one of my favorite segments is called “News War.” This episode examines how the media covered the lead up to the Iraq war, in most cases supporting the invasion based on sources from inside the Bush administration. These government sources would insist upon confidentiality, give tenuous evidence regarding Iraq’s WMDs, and then go on to cite the newspapers’ reports to further bolster their rationale for war. It is an engaging and shocking examination of how the media’s lack of skepticism helped pave the way for the war in Iraq. 

These summaries are just the beginning of what can be learned from Frontline. It is a truly remarkable work of journalism, whether the segment is about Dick Cheney or global warming. The best part of all is that every Frontline is available to watch on the PBS website for free. Check out an episode and I promise you will be hooked! Go to the Frontline website  to see all of the episodes online. New episodes air Tuesday nights at 9pm on PBS. Don’t know what channel PBS is? Ask your grandparents.

Do you ever have one of those days when you wonder, “What am I doing with my life?!” When you feel an overwhelming sense of ennui? The kind of day when you curse yourself for majoring in your passion instead of something practical? Well today was one of those days for me. I spent the morning moping around, feeling pathetic and hopeless. I finally pulled myself out of my depressive stupor and decided to go to the library to get some books, only to discover that it is closed for Veteran’s Day. After that failed mission I headed to the grocery store, only to find that I’d forgotten my list. So as I was wondering aimlessly around the store, trying to remember all of the ingredients for this evening’s dinner, I started to think about certain songs that can always make me feel better. These aren’t happy, lovey songs, but angry rocking songs that help me to snap out of my state of ennui. Maybe I’m weird, but listening to Kim Gordon yell or the Stooges rock always makes me feel empowered and strangely happy.

Here is my playlist to cure ennui:

1. The Stooges- Search and Destroy

2. Sonic Youth- Eliminator Jr. 

3. Sleater-Kinney- Call the Doctor

4. Pixies- Something Against You

5. Dead Kennedys- California Uber Alles

6. Libertines- I Get Along

With the stock market tanking and the cost of living skyrocketing, now is a good time to save money on food. I’ve been living on a tight budget for a while and I’ve learned some tricks that allow my husband and me to eat pretty well for a low price.

1. Scavenge through your pantry. I often look in my pantry to see what we already have and then base my meal around those ingredients. For example, if I have a can of beans and a jar of salsa, then all I need to buy are tortillas and cheese to make burritos. Pasta is another pantry staple that only requires the addition of sauce, olive oil, or chopped tomatoes to make a meal. If you don’t want to buy anything else, open up a can of soup and make some toast.

2. Plan meals that use similar ingredients. When you make your shopping list, think about how you can utilize an ingredient in two or more different meals. My husband and I usually make pizza one night (using Trader Joe’s pizza dough) and then use the remaining sauce and cheese to make lasagna or pasta another night. If you buy sour cream and cheddar cheese to make enchiladas, use them later in the week as a garnish for chili or baked potatoes.

3. Slow cook your way to savings. Cutting back on your meat intake is an easy way to save money, but if you get a hankering for some then slow cooking is the way to go. My favorite meats to slow cook are pork shoulder (for Carnitas) and beef chuck roast (for Pot Roast). You can buy both of these for less than $3.00 a pound and after a day of gentle simmering both are delicious and tender.

Keep reading for my Carnitas recipe…

Continue reading 5 Tips for Eating Well on a Tight Budget »

I’ve been watching CNN for the last few hours and they keep reporting that John McCain has accused Barack Obama of being a socialist because of comments he made in the past pertaining to the “redistribution of wealth” in the United States. I take issue with McCain’s assertion, not only because it is not based on fact, but because it disregards the role of policy in influencing the current distribution of wealth in our country.

In 2001, NYU economist Edward N. Wolff found that the top 20 percent of Americans own 80 percent of the wealth in this country. This did not happen naturally. Government policy plays a huge role in determining how wealth is distributed. Wealth and power go hand in hand in the United States, so it is no coincidence that most of our elected officials are in the top 20 percent (and want to stay there). How do they retain their high financial status? By passing laws that deregulate Wall Street and give tax breaks to big corporations and wealthy Americans.

My main point is that policy plays a part in the distribution of wealth in this country, whether it be concentrating assets in the hands of the wealthy or giving tax breaks to the middle class. Barrack Obama does, in a sense, want to redistribute wealth in the United States by repealing George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy. But this is not socialism. It merely restores some fairness to our capitalist nation. Free markets should not equate to the U.S. being an aristocracy.

John McCain has been calling Obama a socialist to elicit a negative knee-jerk reaction from populist Americans. The irony of the situation is that the only politician who has enacted an arguably socialist policy is George W. Bush.

Paul J. Richards / AFP - Getty Images File

If you’ve been following the news at all lately than I’m sure you’ve seen the polls saying that Obama has a lock on the presidency. I stridently support Obama, but I do not like to hear this kind of talk. It might be superstitious, but I feel like it kind of jinxes him. I think it’s safer to be pessimistic about him winning until all the votes have been counted.

To be honest, my pessimism is a direct result of the Kerry/Bush race of 2004. I was a sophomore at a very liberal college, U.C. Santa Cruz, where everyone was absolutely certain that Bush would be ousted. Our collective consciousness could not even entertain the idea of his reelection. I clearly remember my excitement as I went to cast my ballot. It was my first time voting in a presidential election and I thought it was so cool that my vote would help get rid of George W. Bush. I had such a sense of pride and self-righteousness as I walked out of the polling place. I could see the same somewhat narcissistic pride on the on the faces of those around me. Little did we know that by the same time tomorrow all of our liberal hopes and dreams would be as dead as Dick Cheney’s soul.

Continue reading Why I’m afraid to be optimistic… »

Welcome to All Art is Quite Useless!

I chose to name this blog after Oscar Wilde’s irreverent words because, strangely, they remind me of the importance of art. Art serves no real purpose. You can’t cure any disease with art. You can’t use it to mow your lawn or fix your car. Art may be useless in a utilitarian sense, but therein lies its power. Art has nothing to prove.

Like art, this blog is also quite useless. It’s more useless than this urinal!

Duchamps' Fountain

My only hope is that it will entertain and inspire thought, like the most effective works of art.

This blog will cover my various interests, including, but not limited to: current events, politics, the media, photography, cooking, sewing, feminism, literature, television shows, films, music, PBS specials, advertising, history, art, travel, fake investing, cats, celebrity news, fashion, marriage, yoga, how to live well with little money, my love of the Marx Brothers, etc.

I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!