Does This Mean Jim Sinegal Is Alvar Hanso?

My family does a lot (okay, most) of their shopping at Costco. Which is pretty cool; Costco has a lot of quality goods. But over the past year I've noticed something... INSIDIOUS.

*cue dramatic music*

You see, there's this brand called Kirkland Signature that I've become familiar with. My first experience with Kirkland Signature was when my parents bought a massive package of burgers in that particular brand. Now, everything from Costco comes in a massive package, so that was to be expected. The burgers were some of the best I've ever had too. So far so good. But every time we went to Costco, we looked around...

Kirkland Signature Hydrating Conditioner.

Kirkland Signature Whole Fancy Cashews.

Kirkland Signature Tri-Ply Stainless Steel Cookware.

Kirkland Signature Supreme Diapers.

Kirkland Signature Artichoke Hearts.

Kirkland Signature Men's Solid Dress Pants.

The list goes on and on; it's disconcerting, I tells ya!

The thing is, Kirkland Signature is a Costco-only brand. In-house, if you may. Essentially, most of the products in Costco are produced by Costco themselves. Which is when we realized the truth; the Kirkland Signature brand is the real life version of the Dharma Initiative brand.

Think about it. *sage nod*

Expanding My Online Reading List

Two new feminist blogs I have discovered:

Screaming into the Void - She's angry and scathing, just the way I like my feminists.

Diary of a Black Male Feminist - Now there's something you don't see everyday. *thumbs up*

An excerpt from his latest post, addressing Chris Brown (for obvious reasons):

My crossroad came when a person came into my life and shook me to the core. This person started the deconstruction of my male belief system and 20 years later am I continuing that work. I was stuck in this “man prison” because my definition of masculinity was limited. Once I alleviated both perceived and real peer pressure that motivated me to engage in physical and sexual aggression to affirm my masculinity I was free.

It's a fantastic piece, I'd recommend it to anyone. But especially men.

Canadian Content

Daily factoid:

The Dunning-Kruger effect is an example of cognitive bias in which people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it.

Hoo boy, I hate to paint people with the same brush but my first thought after reading this? Fox News. :P

Speaking of Fox News, not going to dwell upon the whole horrible event where the Canadian Forces were mocked on national television. The host apologized, but in a predictably smarmy way. "Misunderstood" my ass.

In other Canadian news (or should I say Torontonian news?) there's a kerfuffle going on over Karen Stintz taking public speaking lessons with the taxpayers' money.

Criticized for talking too fast and sounding "shrill" during city hall meetings, Councillor Karen Stintz decided she needed to do something about it.

So she spent $4,500 (U.S.) for public-speaking lessons last year. Then she got taxpayers to cover the costs.

The vocal opponent of Toronto Mayor David Miller used the services of Lynda Spillane, an author and vocal coach who has advised other female politicians.

Fnargh, I cannot stand the use of the adjective "shrill" when describing a woman's voice. It's a gender-coded insult; how many times are men described as shrill? Shrill is used to dismiss women, to shame them into silence. Using shrill to describe a woman's voice immediately detracts from the content of her message and focuses on its presentation. And isn't that a woman's lot in life, to have her content ignored in favour of her presentation?

And yet, women clearly recognize that to succeed in a man's world, you have to talk like one. Hence the lessons. Not saying that I approve of her using taxpayer money. There's a before and after video at the link above and frankly I think the voice lessons turned her into a lifeless automaton. When she was "shrill", she was speaking passionately and from the heart. Her voice was freaking fine the way it was and haters should have just sit down and shut up instead of criticizing a competent and successful woman's voice of all things.

(As an aside, I've been tweaking zee blog over the past few days. It's looking mighty shiny right about now. :D)

More Music Discoveries

I thought I couldn't love Lily Allen more!

Shame For You

I've been thinking that you've crossed the line,
if you disappeared that would be just fine,
'cause you waste my time and waste my money
and you're not too cool and you're not so funny!
Spreading your seed all over the town
getting too greedy and messing around
Oh my gosh you must be joking me
if you think that you'll be poking me.

[Chorus]
Don't take me on no, no
Don't take me on no, no
Don't take me on
Shattered the lie but you think I don't already know,
Don't try to deny 'cause my fuse is ready to blow
It's your turn to learn I think you know where to go
It's a shame, shame, shame, shame for you

Please don't come around and knock on my door
'cause I don't want to have to pick you up of the floor,
when you ask if we can still be lovers,
I'll have to introduce my brothers,
I think that they could teach you a lesson or two,
By the time they've finished you'll be black and blue
You'll be crying like a baby,
A sea of tears they'll call the navy in.

[Chorus x 2]
LOL @ that second verse. Lily Allen's lyrics can be so spiteful, but she sings them so cheerfully. ;)

Aside from that song, there's a few others I've acquired:

• Ani Difranco - Loom (reminds me of her songs Firedoor and Shameless)
• Hilary Duff - Reach Out and Touch Me (I KNOW, SHUT UP. *facepalm*)
• The Prodigy - Piranha (good ol' industrial electronica)
• Flyleaf - All Around Me (so Rock Band, reminds me of Paramore)
• Estelle ft. Sean Paul - Come Over (mellow with a smooth, reggae vibe)
• Metallica - St. Anger (I mostly like this song for the beginning verses)