On November 17, Fox Searchlight released a film directed by Richard Linklater and inspired by Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation. I was lucky enough to see an advanced screening of it on November 14 at the Colony Theater in Raleigh, NC.
The film isn't a documentary. It isn't a comedy or a satire. And it isn't a literal adaptation of Schlosser's book. It's a tough, unsettling look at what's happening in America right now.
I had an idea today. Don't look so surprised; I have ideas every day, all the time. But lately, my ideas have actually been plausible and worth the extra time and effort.
Today I came up with the idea to do a "List of Things To Do Before I Die." There were a lot of things I wanted to do or try. Some of them were to try lifestyle changes to try. I wondered how I could do that. How in the world could I try a lifestyle change? One day surely wasn't enough to get a taste, and an entire year seemed like a waste of time for some changes. Its really hard to keep motivated for an entire year. Then it hit me while watching an informercial. Try it for 30 days free of charge. A 30-day trial. Perfect.
I remember Thanksgiving last year. My father's family, my mother, brother, and I, and my 'adopted cousins' (my mother practically raised this woman since she was 14. She's now 31 with a 13-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son) all crammed in my grandmother's house in North Carolina. It was warm inside, plenty of food, plenty of people.
This year, it's looking a lot different. My family has split up. My brother works and lives just outside of Charlotte, NC now, I go to school in just outside Raleigh, NC, and my mother is in Delaware. My brother is staying with my aunt close to my grandparents. I live on campus (otherwise homeless), and my mother bounces around the state of DE from friend to friend until our settlement funds come through (she's homeless too).
Is a burrito a sandwich? The Panera Bread Co. bakery-and-cafe chain says yes. But a judge said no, ruling against Panera in its bid to prevent a Mexican restaurant from moving into the same shopping mall.
Panera has a clause in its lease that prevents the White City Shopping Center in Shrewsbury from renting to another sandwich shop. Panera tried to invoke that clause to stop the opening of an Qdoba Mexican Grill.
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Today I received in my mailbox a personal invitation to an advanced screening of Fast Food Nation.
Okay, let's rewind a little bit. I'm the president of the campus programming association, also known as the Campus Activity Board on my campus. Aside from the Student Government Association, we're the second most regarded and 'important' organization on campus. I'm also a mass communications major with dual concentrations in audio recording technology and video production.
Residents of Ohio, are you embarrassed? I think you should be. Recently you announced to the world (well, your State Board of Education announced on your behalf) that you'd be adding Intelligent Design to your high school curriculum. [Edit: The October vote has voted against ID in the curriculum. Congratulations, Ohio. Now where's Kansas?]
For those who haven't heard of it yet, Intelligent Design is the latest spin on Creationism. It's the new boy on the "we didn't evolve from no damn monkeys" block. Have you ever noticed that people who don't believe in evolution seem to be living examples of their own arguments?
