Thumbs Down – Autumn Rouse http://www.autumnrouse.com Everything I Tell You Is Hearsay Wed, 05 Nov 2025 22:08:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 4501750 i was horrified by my television this morning http://www.autumnrouse.com/2008/07/22/i-was-horrified-by-my-television-this-morning/ Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:41:10 +0000 http://autumnrouse.wordpress.com/?p=214 whilie i admit, this is not a totally uncommon occurrence, this sent me into a particularly heated frenzy of loathing and terror.

if someone could see inside my darkest nightmares, this is what they might see:

Flesh-eating fish give pedicures

remember when i mentioned my fear of fish

torture disguised as beauty treatment

well. it turns out IT IS HEREBY VINDICATED AND ETERNALLY JUSTIFIED. because, you see, fish DO want to eat you. they just usually cant. but these morons not only LET the fishes feast on their toeses, but they PAY for the privilege. holy mother of god, no. i mean forget masquerading waterboarding as “enhanced interrogation methods” this is torment couched as a beauty treatment*!

i had to change the channel before the segment was over so great was my panic and disgust. yet another sound reason to avoid Good Morning America


*in the interest of full-disclosure, some people claim to like this shit. these people are crazy and should be sterilized so as to keep that brand of crazy out of the gene pool.

]]> 212 Dinner at Mr. Jefferson’s: Three Men, Five Great Wines, and the Evening that Changed America… http://www.autumnrouse.com/2008/06/16/dinner-at-mr-jeffersons-three-men-five-great-wines-and-the-evening-that-changed-america/ Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:38:00 +0000 http://autumnrouse.wordpress.com/?p=147
by Charles Cerami

while i scooped this off the shelf with some enthusiasm when i saw it at the library, i must say it left me cold.it took me no less than three tries to even get started (never a good sign) and once i did manage to pick it up i had to fight the urge to put it back down again.

this book was based on following the course of a dinner between Madison, Jefferson, and Hamilton where much political maneuvering did ensue. yet the author takes this potentially interesting premise and makes historic porridge out of it.

these friends and rivals were all in orbit to the Washington presidency and though opposed on many issues, saw the necessity of cooperating at this juncture. this book follows the ways in which these men came to submit to this need despite their vast personal and political differences.

to my mind the tone the author adopts is too conversational for my and seems not only partisan but to assume the reader knows contextual elements of the time and political climate i feel would be better made explicit.

not having read a great deal of early american history, i still suspect there are more thorough and enjoyable efforts to be had. ( )

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