Pun Salad

• If you are both (a) a global warming alarmist and (b) a flatulent cat owner the owner of one or more flatulent cats, you might be interested in an article headlined "Global Warming Alarmists Can Offset Their Cats' Flatulence". I hope Al Gore knows about this.

• Speaking of Oscar-winning Al, you may have noticed the recent brouhaha attending recent revelations about his extravagant energy usage, as well as his defense. Iain Murray has an insightful short post estimating that Al is paying about $6K/year extra for the privilege of using "Green Power", allowing him to claim that his "carbon footprint" is zero. Observes Iain:
  Rationing energy has consequences. The price mechanism means that the rich can enjoy their lifestyles and the poor have to make sacrifices. Those sacrifices come with social costs of their own.

  That's a deceptively simple paragraph that relies on insightful readers (like you!) to draw some obvious conclusions. Treat it as today's mental exercise.

• Speaking of Iain, he also blogs at the Planet Gore group blog, which today contains a classic Katie Couric fact check from Chris Horner. First Katie's quoted from her very own blog:
  … after a period of time of not conceding global warming even exists, President Bush used the term "climate change" for the first time …

  and then Horner, after spending maybe two whole minutes pointing and clicking, was able to find a White House transcript from June 2001 quoting Dubya:

  Good morning. I've just met with senior members of my administration who are working to develop an effective and science-based approach to addressing the important issues of global climate change.

  Horner is appropriately derisive toward Her Royal Perkiness, but manages to avoid the phrase "lazy partisan ditz who can't be bothered to fact-check anything that's remotely critical of George W. Bush, continuing the fine tradition of past CBS news anchors." Consider that your Pun Salad value-added.

• Still not enough Gore for you today? Well you won't want to miss this important announcement:

  Are you concerned that your profligate personal lifestyle is harming the environment? Losing sleep over the long-term ecological damage resulting from those greenhouse gases constantly emitted by your family, your cars, your pets, and your shrubbery? Do you want to become carbon-neutral, but just don't know how?

  Well rejoice, sinner! Carbon atonement is no longer the exclusive preserve of the Malibu set -- with the Iowahawk EcoPals Network! This unique new system lets you, the average Joe planet rapist, cleanse your tortured psyche of the stain of enviro-guilt for as little as $9.95 per year! If enough of you follow this simple three step program, we can save the world for our children -- who will soon be frolicking with healthy polar bears atop Earth's reforested glaciers. Act now before it's too late!

  Indeed! And a selection of eight bumper stickers are also available at the link.

It's been a full fiftieth of a century since the first entry at Pun Salad. So, like last year, a few notes (some … ahem … recycled from last year):

• It's been fun. It's still fun. Really. I plan on sticking around.

• Thanks to all readers. Whether you're periodic or sporadic, Islamic or Catholic, Nordic or Judaic, geriatric or bariatric: hope you found something interesting here. You're a fine bunch.

• Incoming mail has been 100% positive, kind words, illuminating comments. Polite corrections. It's much appreciated.

• It was nice to have been e-interviewed recently by Conn Carroll of the Blogometer.

• Also especially honored to have been named last year as one of New Hampshire Magazine's "Best of NH 2006". Although (as I type) http://www.nhmagazine.com takes you out to lovely Cedar Rapids, Iowa. What's up with that?

• Thanks specifically to the good folks who've found it worthwhile to blogroll/link me: Janice Brown at Cow Hampshire; Amy Kane down on Atlantic Ave; Doug and Skip up at Granite Grok; Bill Gnade over at Contratimes; Ninth State; Shawn Macomber; Joe Malchow; Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey; the WitNit; and Constrained Katie Newmark. (Let me know if I missed you, please.) What a bunch! I'm honored.

Young creative screwball Stéphane moves from Mexico to France after his father dies; his mother has enticed him there with promises that she's landed him a job as a graphic designer. Unfortunately, the job turns out to be awful, simply making calendars using pictures others have taken. He gets involved with a couple of girls that live down the hall from his new apartment.

That's not particularly interesting, but Stéphane has an active dream life, which the movie is pretty good at depicting with cheap, but charming, special effects. It's often unclear whether scenes are in the dream-world, or reality, or a mixture of both; Stéphane and his co-characters don't behave particularly rationally in any case.

Summary: the movie is some fun, but makes it difficult to care an awful lot about what happens to the characters.