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July 31, 2006
will donald devine google himself?
There is an article in the NYTimes this morning, about how conservatives are growing their children in vats. Really. To ensure that the lineage of conservative graft and corruption is unbroken by any generational gappage, wingers have begun to operateAnd it's a huge success! Really! Take, for example, the underlying economics. A specific camp referred to in the article, the Ronald Reagan Leadership Academy, has an inaugural class of twenty-six young Hannitys and Noonans, and was made possible be a grant of $2.5 million. By my reckoning, that roughs out to a cost-effective $90,000 per student. At that rate it actually would be cheaper to grow the students in a vat.
And let's examine the quality of instruction offered at this attractive price:
Arguing for private property, Mr. [Donald] Devine, the lecturer, noted “there are bums all over here” downtown, and “they sit on public property, not private property.” He lamented the prosecution of Kenneth Lay, the late Enron executive convicted of fraud, by asking, “Do you think it’s possible for a rich person to get justice in the U.S. today?”
With all the reverence and authority of a stand-up comic, Mr. Devine argues that wealth brings moral infallibility, and the homeless should get back on his lawn. Devine makes Dennis Miller look like John Kenneth Galbraith, and I don't mean in terms of the respective windows of their souls, if you know what I mean, chachi.
Truly, they are putting the "idiot" back into "ideologue".
(No linkage to NYT -- it is searchable! Try the old DailyKos.)
Posted by mrbrent at 09:40 AM
July 29, 2006
shout out to mel gibson
Some folk would find it interesting that Mel Gibson got popped for driving while snockered. Not me. Caring about the crimes and misdemeanors of our treasured celebrities is so 1998.However, the fact that Mel called a female cop "sugartits", now that's some fascinatin' news. Sure, he yelled some about the Jews as well, but I'll let others fry their grits over that one.
I've always figured that calling a woman "sugartits" would be the quickest way to get slapped that I can think of, just as calling a fella "bitch" would be the fastest way to start a fight. And now Mel is as married to "sugartits" as Rush Limbaugh is married to Oxycontin.
Let's just thank Mel for keeping up the fight to introduce the worst words possible into the common parlance.
Posted by mrbrent at 01:53 PM
July 28, 2006
for you foodies out there
Bourdain got out. If you were following that sort of news, you read that Anthony Bourdain was shooting some TV in Beirut when the shelling started, and then was trapped there. He finally was evacced. His account is online at Salon. It's a searing read I recommend. It's the perfect antidote to the yutz (that guy at the store, your boss, your uncle, whoever) who launch into the inevitable "Who cares about the Lebanese/just a buncha terrorists" tirade when you object to the disproportionality of the Israeli attacks. Yeah, shut your gob, meatball, do your research, and try to check for exploded civilians before you wave your little flag.And it is also a bit of an indictment, if you're the sort who still needs one.
What is clear -- as far as we're concerned -- from all sources is that there is no official, announced plan. No real advice, or information, or public exit strategy or timetable. The news clip of President Bush, chawing open-mouthed on a buttered roll, then grabbing at another while Tony Blair tries to get him to focus on Lebanon -- plays over and over on the TV, crushing our spirits and dampening all hope with every glassy-eyed mouthful. He seems intent on enjoying his food; Lebanon a tiny, annoying blip on an otherwise blank screen. I can't tell you how depressing that innocuous bit of footage is to watch. That one, innocent, momentary preoccupation with a roll has a devastating effect on us that is out of all proportion. We're looking for signs. And this, sadly, is all we have.
Yes, a good read.
[Hat tip to Zeebah.]
Posted by mrbrent at 02:49 PM
you knew i would write on steely dan someday
I never had nothing against the Steely Dan. I don't exactly have an extensive collection, but I will not turn the station when an old song pops on the radio whilst driving to Pennsyltucky or wherever it is I'm always driving. And I remember "Hey Nineteen" pretty well from Junior High, and that eye-opening moment when you actually discover what "the Cuervo Gold, the fine Columbian, etc., etc." is from a practical stand.Of course, I'd say a good half of my friends, all with pretty exemplary taste in music, really do hate them some Steely Dan, like they ran their moms over or something. Is understandable. Me, I can't take Velvet Underground. And yet still we are friends! Can you dig it?
Anyway, Local Memory brings to attention a letter from the band to Hollywood movie star Luke Wilson. No, really, go read.
LM thinks Steely Dan are bad-asses, but also nerds at the same time. I think that some of the letter's patois shows the age of its writers. However, I also have nothing against age, as mine is causing a nasty case of free-form perpetual nostalgia, so I am adding Steely Dan to my list of parties with whom not to fuck, in an epistolary sense (like
Wolcott and And now I will fill my pad with SD merch, like keyrings and hoodies.
Posted by mrbrent at 11:46 AM
For example, the concept that brute military force can defeat an asymmetric, non-state opponent is a concept that I am very anti. I have no degree in foreign policy, but I do have a small understanding of history, and history is littered with world powers being embarrassed by insurgencies, or terrorists, or whatever you call them. In fact, was not the USSR done in by the Mujahideen? So let's avoid this concept on a forward-going basis.
Also, let's throw in people who look forward to the Apocalypse. This includes both the suicidal and the Christianists, who seem to be getting a lot of ink these days on this issue. Here, read some of their inspired rhetoric for yourself. There is a word for these Left Behind types, and that word is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. I am anti-them, science is anti-them, and hopefully cute puppy dogs and smiling children will join us in being anti-them. Come on, puppy dogs/kids, do the right thing.
Remember, the next time someone walks up to you in the street and asks you, "Apocalypse?" you just answer, "No thanks, I'm stuffed." For you are anti-apocalypse, and I am too.
Posted by mrbrent at 03:01 PM
The tall turnstiles revolve two ways, and some trick of the engineering makes the action when leaving the subway very slow -- it takes a lot of pressure to make that sucker move. And when it moves, it moves ponderously. It gives one the overall feeling of a police state, with its overall design and function.
And it turns out that my foreboding is justified, as the tall turnstiles are apparently
death traps, with their exit-delaying mechanics pretty much guaranteeing trapped innocents in the case of an emergency. And why implement the deathtrap turnstiles in the first place? Well, it allows the MTA to cut workers, thereby saving cash and damaging the union.
Just another friendly reminder that the MTA would prefer you dead if it would save a buck or two.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:43 AM
It would be fun to sit around and riff on what a poorly conceived law this would be. (i.e., does this apply to Greyhound drivers? what if you drop the girl off right before the border, and then she walks across, etc.) But no, the real fun is in envisioning a world in which the most pressing issue facing the Senate on July 25, 2006, is the rampant and unstoppable interstate transport of girls, and then comparing that imagined world with the one we live in. And then weeping uncontrollably.
I also think that I agree with the senior Senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when he says, "Congress ought to have higher priorities than turning grandparents into criminals." I'd even settle for a Congress that had any priority at all other than mollifying its base.
Leadership is rotting head-down, and banality will soon be the standard operating procedure everywhere from your local school board to the steering committee of your town's Kiwanis. And for these purposes, we will define "banality" as "incompetence that refuses to even pretend that competence is being attempted".
Okay, let's go back to talking about repealing the President.
Posted by mrbrent at 11:01 AM
Last night I was spending a ruminative moment thinking about world politics, the future, etc. This was predicated by a rant on the Air America I had heard detailing all the ways we are fucked, all the fucked things that have already happened, the fucked things that will happen and other fucked up things. The central agent in this catalogue of no good news is, of course, US foreign policy. This is no surprise. It's only taken them five years, but the Bush Administration has destabilized an already unstable subcontinent, destroyed diplomacy as an institution and burned every last shred of good will towards the US. (I didn't have to write that last sentence, I've got it saved as a shortcut so as to save time.) Ultimately, after cogitation, I decided that my Anti-Apocalypse stand (T-shirts forthcoming) should be reaffirmed, and maybe we all people should do something before this shit gets real serious.
Of course, the obvious choice is to riot. It wouldn't work so good, but nothing energizes the underclass like a good riot. No, the obvious choice is not to riot, but what's the harm in blowing off a little steam before effectuating change? If we could only find some way to riot without anyone getting hurt, and with only the property of the evil bastards being damaged. Maturity and conscience definitely have their drawbacks.
So what I thought of, as a simple little silver bullet that could actually go a long way in driving a stake through the heart of a certain deathcult presidential administration, is this: an act of Congress. The President has been hiding behind the authority given him by the Iraq War Powers Act since 2003. Take back the authority. It's clean and elegant (and improbable), and a concrete goal, something to work towards, and sloganize. Yes, it's wishful thinking, but it does have the advantage (and disadvantage) of being more efficacious (and less fun) than a riot.
And then this morning I find a DailyKos diary from an actual Congresswoman in the House of Representatives, advocating
repeal of the Iraq War Powers Act. So, if a Representative from California and a slack motherfucker from Brooklyn can have the same idea, then this idea is a good idea, by all that is right and holy!
So it's settled. Impeachment is for those with no sense of humor or style. Let's repeal the Iraq War Powers Act. And quickly. I am tired of seeing the phrase "tipping point" in print.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:58 AM
Sadly, no. It's just some boring old hypnosis. And if you think of it, recreating deja vu may well be one of the least novel things to do with hypnosis, especially when compared to barking like a dog, say.
In the article,
scientists posit that deja vu is the brain hitting the "I recognize this" button without the recognition actually having happened. Um, duh. That's pretty much the definition of deja vu, smart guys. Hopefully you can stretch your cognitive science superpowers a little further than deconstructing the obvious.
Whatever. Find some way that I can drink it and I'm sold.
Posted by mrbrent at 09:02 AM
I realized that I myself indeed need some word-signifier to clarify my thoughts. Ten days of thinking to self, "Well, what is our opinion on [unnamed Israel/Hezbollah/Hamas conflict]?" has injured my brain, as I was wasting way too much processing power on fixing "[unnamed Israel/Hezbollah/Hamas conflict]" in my head.
Save our brains. Name the conflict.
I suggest "The War of Everybody's Aggression". Or maybe, "The Why Do You Want To Beat Me Up For Trying To Name A War War".
Posted by mrbrent at 11:26 AM
Apparently Sir Charles is a Republican no longer and has
come to Jesus, or run away from Jesus, or however you'd like to characterize. I doubt Sir Charles and I would agree about much, but it is heartening to see the Bush base erode down to the
crazified people.
(My love of Charles Barkley derives pretty much solely from the words that come out of his mouth -- nothing against his career, but I'm much more of a point guard kinda guy. For example, when cornered by a camera crew at the '92 ('96?) Olympics with the question, "Mr. Barkley, do you have any words for the people of Italy?" Charles leaned down into the camera and replied, "Hello, all you little Italian people. Keep making the good spaghetti!" End of reminiscence.)
Posted by mrbrent at 09:38 AM
The new page does still have headlines, but it's in the middle of the page and titled "In The News" and, most importantly, no longer in a box. Not the same thing at all.
So, no more fun to poke at the wacky ways of the Yahoo! copy editors and their headline writing. More importantly, no more convenient gimmick for me to flash my grammar/syntax-fascist charm across these Internets. Seriously, those "Box o' Headlines" posts pretty much wrote themselves. It's time for a new thing.
Which will be, I think, the novelty analysis of the stochastic deployment of idiom. In the English language, at least.
Posted by mrbrent at 09:18 AM
And while we're at it, let's tip our glass to the lost
Chelsea Commons, a mere ten blocks uptown. Before the building got bought out from under it, the Commons was the post-work, post-show hangout, excellent and humble bar food, home to regulars who peopled the place for decades. When they announced their shuttering in 2004, we asked the bartender what the deal was. No rent hike, no bad business -- the story was some dude bought the entire place out so a swankhole restaurant could be opened. Goodbye neighborhood bar, and hello pretentious American resto too expensive to eat lunch at.
No, the new place is open. It is called Trestle on Tenth. Wheee. From its website:
Well, we hope your business dries up like a mineral water spilled in a desert. Nothing personal, but closing down a fine local as you did will bring you worse juju than my mean words.
Also, please let us know where to find a chicken wandering happily. Wasn't aware that "happy" was a chicken-option for locomotion. Gotta see that.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:42 AM
I know, I'm being mean. As is Cardhouse, who shares
this link with us, which is further evidence that the President of the United States is a creepy jerk that you would never ever want to date your sister or borrow your car, let alone lead the United States. (England
concurs.
Which screws are loose in the heads of the citizens that honestly feel that the President is a charismatic man? Is it just a ploy so that each person of low moral character can know, in their black hearts, that they are a better person than the President?
It's funny. Barbara Bush always seemed like the kind of mom that would slap the taste out of your mouth for impertinence or bad manners.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:22 AM
Of course, the bottom line is that the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive -- one can be rude and an idiot at the same time. But we were all talking more about the significance of the live camera feed. Which of the implications was more of a shock, or which one might effect more change. Basically, which one you would rather sleep with?
I personally am not as scandalized by his lack of geopolitical deftness. I was a little taken aback that the rumors were true, but his sentiments were really no worse than the dogma of the dudes whose actual job it is to advise the President on these issues. You can pretty much imagine Cheney and his snarling coterie of fellow travelers explaining to the President that, yes, the Syrians just need to tell 'em to cut the fucking shit. No, it's not his lack of expertise that gets to me.
Fucker's creepy, that's what gets to me. He's not just awkward and vulgar, he comes on like the awfulest man in the world. He sniggers, he talks with food in his mouth, he browbeats the help over a Diet Coke. He's not just out of place in the international community, he'd be out of place at a VFW pancake breakfast.
You think I'm exaggerating? Dig
this. The President inappropriately touches heads of state. In fact, it looks like he was in full mack mode. Hopefully the crazified 28% out there that still do not regret their vote can expect a similar backrub, soon.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:42 AM
The President's timing, as usual, is spot on -- in times of crisis, make a laughing stock of oneself. All he was missing was a birthday cake and a guitar.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:56 AM
Did maybe some linkspammers take a little business trip to South Korea before the bottom dropped out?
Posted by mrbrent at 04:11 PM
Sadly, no. Holy Fuck it is then.
Though I have come around on one issue -- no more silly talk about the end of the world. It's flashy and cool to predict one's own demise based on geopolitics, and therefore I no longer want any part of it. Sure, there are an armful of scenarios positing how tensions successfully spin out of control like a modern-day assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but there are just as many that don't. Hopefully the players in this drama have the attention span of the average American, and in a month this will all be a distant memory, like that time we lost an entire city.
The Apocalypse, if impending, certainly doesn't care one way or the other if I'm wasting my breath inviting it. So I'm this point forward decidedly anti-Apocalypse, and unafraid to say so. Somebody smart and ambitious print up some Ts -- I'll take two or three.
There are places for earnest discussion of how to heal with substate actors, and sad nausea of the US's current international influence, but this place isn't one of them. This is the place for worrying about the growing prevalence of high fructose corn syrup, and haterizing on fools, and endless iterations of, "If I knew then what I know now".
In the grand tradition of speaking my mind through linking, go read defter, deeper analysis, like
Wolcott discussing Larry Johnson, and
Josh Marshall.
[LATER, THE NEXT DAY.] I want to add
this TPM post to the list of accumulated wisdom on matters of the Middle East. It's another shortie, but it hits on two points I think important to keep in mind. First, the arc of conflict over the past decades has not been a straight line -- there was a period not long ago where tempers had cooled and peace was being negotiated. Secondly, the current Middle East skirmish is the "has-no-clothes" moment for the "post 9-11 mentality". For a buncha old white guys who spent the past six years implementing their plan to remake the world, starting in Iraq, they sure seem awful quiet/nervous right about now.
Posted by mrbrent at 03:11 PM
And if you do not reside in the greater New York City area, well, then, it is not practical for you to go to the Ted and Julie Show, so, I guess you should do whatever it is that you ordinarily do. Comparison shop? A nice long night of TV? Invade Lebanon?
But yeah. Go see that show. If you don't like it, I'll write you a poem.
Posted by mrbrent at 09:15 AM
I just thought I woulda heard about it.
The world has joined the conspiracy to make me feel stupid. Or at least imminentize my previously unknown capacity for stupidity.
Posted by mrbrent at 12:36 PM
My first thought upon reading about (on a CRT, natch)
the death of Syd Barrett: "Prepare for a day of snarky headlines including some iteration of 'shine on you crazy diamond'".
Don't you see? My ability to experience Syd Barrett's passing like a normal adult has been obviated by my 24/7/365 (366 in Leap Years) media self-awareness! All these ones and zeroes flying back and forth have assimilated my forebrain! How can I lead a happy and productive life when there are twenty million eyeballs staring at the back of my head -- especially when two of those eyeballs are mine?
Ooh, I like this new paranoia. It's so much better than the "Somewhere, someone is having more fun than I am" dread of the 90s.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:36 AM
I pulled for the French. Of course, the French did not win, so for my fellow French-pulling football fans, the afternoon was bittersweet. Partly because of Italy's victory, and partly because of this, a momentary lapse of reason from French star Zinedine Zidane.
I have heard some wonder aloud whether Zidane's foul brought disgrace on France or merely shame. Me, I say that perhaps headbutting some dude's sternum into shards is more important than a game. Also, the act involved neither surrendering nor cheese eating, so I would tell the people of France that perhaps Zidane should be embraced and not pilloried.
What sport to watch now? NASCAR? Golf? No, sorry. Lucha Libra, my friends -- the sport of kings, where headbutts do not bring infamy to a nation.
Posted by mrbrent at 11:07 AM
Basically, the feds were contacting at least one of the Bells seven months before 9-11, asking for assistance in setting up a domestic surveillance program.
Of course, the Administration has been using 9-11 as an excuse for its spying on its own citizens. So then the President's post-9-11 mentality predates 9-11 for almost a year. Which is odd, considering the lousy job he did in preventing 9-11.
In another world, this would be big news. Nine-to-fivers would shake their heads while reading the evening paper on the commute back home, children would ask their parents, "Why is the President spying on us?" etc., etc. But in our own personal post 9-11 world, it's just one more atrocity, hard to pick out of the field of atrocities we've been pelted with, and if we say words like "fascism" or "dictatorship" then our patriotism will be questioned and our home addresses will be published by David Horowitz.
No, we just sit around and get jealous of those other constitutional democracies that are not frauds. Or, if you are a Force of Righteousness, sit around and hate the gays and the Mexicans.
Hey, speaking of atrocities, get a load of
this! (Which is the result of
this, as recommended by
Ellis
and
Rogers.)
Posted by mrbrent at 12:47 PM
I'd have a little easier time swallowing these news items if they ever bordered on credible. The Miami Seven (thank God they have a cool nickname now) were nothing more than a buncha nerds in a treehouse with secret handshakes and sullen aspirations to "be somebody". And the
most recent plot has Wile E. Coyote written all over it. As put by the A.P.:
In other words, the nascent threat the FBI is breaking it arm trying to pat itself on the back for preventing was about as fiendishly clever as blowing up all the bridges so Manhattan floats off into the Atlantic, or drilling a hole in Wall Street so the Island takes on water and sinks.
Hey, last night I overheard a drunked-up homeless fellow muttering that he was going to "kill 'em all." If I blow him into the Feds can I be a hero too?
Posted by mrbrent at 09:17 AM
Why all the Kenneth Lay jokes? He has apparently experienced
corporeal rejection of his soul.
I will refrain from the Kenneth Lay jokes. Not because I have respect for the dead -- nope, I have the same respect for the dead that I have for their previous living incarnations -- but rather because I'm-a lay off the shrill for one day.
But if you close your eyes, it is me making the Kenneth Lay jokes in your dreams.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:35 AM
I was in Montreal. I would therefore like to shout out to you beautiful Montrealers, who possess my new favorite North American city. When my French is passable I will return, and then know what it is you are saying. And to the people of Restaurant au Pied du Cochon, yes, we do understand the implication of the word "frog", at least, we do now. Do I love the poutine? How could I not love the poutine?
So, oui, Montreal, allez, allez, allez.
Did politics happen while I was gone? I just was in a nation that was not so embarrassed by itself. It felt funny.
Posted by mrbrent at 10:39 AM
July 27, 2006
you got your armageddon in my peanut butter
I would like to expand my Anti-Apocalypse campaign. Not so much the breadth of it, or, for God's sake, the amount of time I do not spend on it. I'd like to define "Apocalypse" to include other related concepts that should also be avoided and opposed.
not good news for claustrophobes or the skittish commuter
You know, I always felt in the back of my mind that there was just something not right about the new subway turnstiles. If you haven't visited NYC lately (ever?), a couple years ago the MTA started ripping out the old turnstiles (which looked pretty much just like the ones you remember from movie theaters) and replacing them with new "tall" turnstiles, which are much more like a revolving door than a turnstile. These started popping up in unmanned subway entrances, as the tall turnstiles are pretty much impossible to jump.
July 26, 2006
yes, i know that's not what banality really means
Yesterday, the Senate decided to disagree with me. I was all hepped up that yesterday should be day one of our campaign to repeal the Iraq War Powers Act. Sadly, the Senate instead decided to
pass a bill
criminalizing the interstate transport of a girl for the purposes of having an abortion.
July 25, 2006
coincidence... or deja vu, maybe?
Usually, I need three instances of coincidence before I give credance. Today I will settle for two.
let's play science 7.25.06
I faintly remember this feeling of disappointment.
So I'm trolling through Ellis'
research site and stumble across the headline, "Deja vu 'recreated in laboratory'". I was naturally excited, what with my passing interest in cognitive science and my fixation on all things novel. What could be more fun than random and unjustified deja vus? And how great would it be to deja vu people randomly? Or, better yet, in the office? This advance in deja vu technology could set the pranks arms race ahead by a hundred years -- hopefully it comes in either a pill or some kind of ray gun.
July 24, 2006
even wars need names
If we can ignore the atrocities for a split second, I know a certain conflict that could really use a name. True, names are but artificial labels we use to blind each other to the truth (anyone?), but they are also valuable in as much as we are all unified in the purpose of knowing what each other's talking about. Also, once there is an accepted name, then proposed names that carry pejorative connotations (such as "The Israeli Invasion of the Innocents" or "The Islamofascist's Reward") have a little less traction.
July 21, 2006
keep making the good spaghetti
Charles Barkley hits the reverse. You may be familiar with the profound Republican tendencies of NBA Hall-Of-Famer Charles Barkley, or, Sir Charles Barkley, or the Round Mound of Rebound, if you will. Proving that once you hit seven or eight figures the GOP makes personal sense to you, Sir Charles was once rumored to be considering a run for governor of Alabama.
July 20, 2006
goodbye box of headlines
It is with a sniffling tear that I write this. The Yahoo! Box of Headlines is the latest victim of the uphill march that is progress. The world-dominating warlords at Yahoo! decided that their mainpage needed a little redesign, and now, where the aggregated headline with a line around them used to be is a bunch of radio-button drop-down content teasers that I guess are all bright and shiny. Me, I like driving stick.
July 19, 2006
trestle on tenth
We applaud Gawker for
ill-wishing progress. Yes, NYC's storied Village Idiot (kind of like Coyote Ugly but terrifyingly not kidding) shuttered up a couple years ago and is being replaced by some swankhole that will make you wish we could eat the rich. The Idiot was not exactly the neighborhood hangout, but it was an experience you'd put yourself through once or twice a year, just to prepare for the eventuality of the Apocalypse (which, BTW, I am against). And while you'd think that opening an overpriced and useless lounge two years too late to horn in on the Meatpacking District boom would be punishment enough, I say actively hoping for an embarrassing failure is more like it.
We hope you'll let discussions abound like fish in a creek, your minds wander happily like a flock of chickens.
in which i intend to hurt the brittle feelings of the president
Just can't stop thinking about President Dr. Octopus. He really does comport himself like a man whose only success has been as the pawn of others, as a man who has never not needed bailing out.
July 18, 2006
president dr octopus
I had some interesting conversations last night concerning our suave and debonair President of these United States. The topic of these conversations boiled down to: "George W. Bush: Foreign Policy Retard or Merely an Oafish Lout?"
July 17, 2006
oh shit
The tubes of the Internets will be filled with this link soon. To further demonstrate the President's shrewd understanding of the theory and practice of international relations, and the understated statesmanship that the administration uses to lead the world like a shining beacon of all that is good and bacon-flavored, I give you
a barnyard epithet.
July 16, 2006
hello, korea
Have any of you who run your own little Internets concerns noticed the abatement of linkspamming? Shuffling through the Titivil stats, which two months ago were stuffed with a couple hundred referring links from spammers ("online-poker-for-me.com" and the like), I see that all the garbage cialis/mortgage chaff has ceased. In its place is a meager two links, one from a Korean pop singer, and one from a Korean medical newsletter.
it's the end of the world, like we know it
So I been sitting around trying to figure out something cogent to say about military actions in Lebanon. You know, something a little more gripping than, "Holy fuck."
July 13, 2006
ted and julie show
I'm not the boss of you, but do what I say anyway. If you reside in the greater New York City area, then you would find it rewarding to get thee to the
Ted and Julie Show in the next three weeks. I saw it last night, and it is one of the kinds of shows where everyone laughs until their teeth hurt. They run for three more Wednesday nights, info at the link above. (Once they update their website, I'll link that too.)
July 12, 2006
dumb question
This might be banal in light of how it came to my attention, but I can't help wondering. When exactly did Bombay become Mumbai? Nothing against the name change -- I can see how Bombay can have some racially patronizing connotations. And, "Mumbai", that's fine-sounding.
July 11, 2006
the internets have ruined us 07.11.06
It is true; the internets have ruined our lives.
July 10, 2006
zidane
If you did not watch the World Cup, then you missed out on a certain amount of grace mainlined into your sports-fan skull. What is the nature of this grace? In America, it is the grace of pretending to be European for an afternoon.
July 07, 2006
This one's been bouncing around the tubes of the internets for some while now. I will link Tom Tomorrow's version of the story, as I feel like I've not given Tom much linkage lately.
protecting us from invisible teeth robots
You'd think that cascading reports of busted terror plots would fill me with something other than cynicism. Not so. They are only reports of the ongoing war against Oceana -- no more than the shufflings of the papers on your desk when the boss walks in your office so you "look busy" in your little war against terror and/or accounting.
It's unlikely that any plan to flood the financial district would work because it is above the level of the Hudson River.
July 05, 2006
today's forecast 07.05.06
Today be on the lookout for Kenneth Lay jokes. They should be sporadic this morning, with heavier Kenneth Lay jokes peaking around drive time. Most Kenneth Lay jokes will be shrill and joyless, with localized areas of funny.
July 04, 2006
service interruption explained
This is the obligatory "I was away and did not post anything" post. I think that perhaps the one thing (besides intellectual vanity) that unites everyone that dabbles in this personal e-publishing experiment is the urge to explain/justify posting stoppages. Of course, the intrinsic value of these explanations is debatable, which leads to this public hand-wringing, which is very exciting to peruse, I'm certain.