Greg of Planet Swank has listed his current favorite things. Ever prepared to follow the leader, I'll do the same now. My list is a lot longer than his, because I'm a much more reflective fellow than he is. (OK, the real reason is that I'm passing time waiting for a load of laundry to finish up. Yeesh....)
Movie, all-time: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
Movie, Disney: Peter Pan.
Movie, Anime: Princess Mononoke.
Movie, Musical: My Fair Lady.
Movie, James Bond: On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Movie, Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (Number 6).
Movie, Bogart: Casablanca.
Movie, Harrison Ford: Witness.
Movie, Errol Flynn: The Sea Hawk.
Movie, Ah-nuld: T2: Judgment Day.
Movie, Gene Kelly: Singin' In The Rain.
Movie, Monty Python: MP and the Holy Grail.
TV Show, Drama: The West Wing.
TV Show, Comedy: Friends.
TV Show, Reality: American Idol. (The only current one I like.)
TV Show, News magazine: CBS Sunday Morning.
TV Show, Kid's: Liberty's Kids.
Episode, Star Trek TOS: "The City on the Edge of Forever".
Episode, Star Trek TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise".
Episode, The West Wing: "Celestial Navigation".
Episode, Friends: The one where Chandler proposes.
Episode, The X-Files: Three parter, "Anasazi"/"The Blessing Way"/"Paperclip"
Episode, ER: The one where Dr. Ross saves that kid from the drainage culvert.
Episode, The Simpsons: The X-Files parody episode.
Comedy Sketch, Monty Python: "Self-Defense against Fresh Fruit".
Comedy Sketch, SNL: 1988 Presidential Debate (Dana Carvey as George Bush, Jon Lovitz as Michael Dukakis, Tom Hanks as Peter Jennings)
Comedy Sketch, David Letterman: The Donut-o-pult. (This was a nightly series of gadgets designed to fling donuts into the audience. You had to be there, I guess.)
Character, The West Wing: Toby Ziegler.
Character, ER: Dr. Romano.
Character, Friends: Rachel.
Character, CSI: Katherine Willow.
Book, Fantasy, GGK: The Lions of Al-Rassan, Guy Gavriel Kay.
Book, Fantasy, non-GGK: The Lord of the Rings, JRRT.
Book, Fantasy, neither of these guys: Mythago Wood, Robert Holdstock.
Book, Arthurian: The Once and Future King, T. H. White.
Book, SF: Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
Book, Horror: The Stand, Steven King.
Book, Humor: Island of the Sequined Love Nun, Christopher Moore.
Book, History: Dungeon, Fire and Sword, John J. Robinson.
Book, Science: Cosmos, Carl Sagan.
Graphic Novel: Six From Sirius, Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy.
Manga: Lone Wolf and Cub, Kazuo Koike.
Graphic "Non-fiction": Pedro and Me, Judd Winick.
Classical Composer: Hector Berlioz.
Work by Hector Berlioz: Romeo et Juliet. (His third symphony.)
Film Composer, living: John Williams.
John Williams Filmscore: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
Film Composer, dead: Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Korngold Filmscore: The Sea Hawk.
Classical Conductor: Sir Georg Solti.
Classical Recording, all-time: Wagner's Ring Cycle, VPO/Solti (Decca).
Rock Band: Pink Floyd.
Pink Floyd Album: The Wall.
Van Halen Album: 5150.
Led Zeppelin Album: IV.
Chieftains Album: Fire in the Kitchen.
Rock Album, all-time: Brothers In Arms, Dire Straits.
Song, Pink Floyd: Mother.
Song, Van Halen: Right Now.
Song, John Denver: Looking For Space.
Beatle: The one with the mop-top.
"Golden Oldie": "Twistin' the Night Away", Sam Cooke.
Food, healthy: The biggest apples you can find. I mean, so big they could be mistaken for melons.
Food, non-heathy, savory: Buffalo-style chicken wings.
Food, non-healthy, sweet: Krispy Kreme originals, served hot. (They're still great even three days stale.)
Pizza Topping: Italian Sausage.
Salad Dressing: Poppyseed.
Ice Cream: Coffee Haagen-Dasz.
Candy, Bar: Skor; Almond Joy. (TIE)
Candy, Munching: Reese's Pieces.
Beverage, NA, Cold: Diet Pepsi.
Beverage, NA, Hot: Coffee, no milk, lots of sweetener. (I use either Splenda or sugar.)
Beverage, Alcohol: Cockburn's Ruby Port.
Beverage, Alcohol, non-wine: Sam Adams Cherry Wheat.
Color: Purple.
Animal, wild: Orca.
Animal, domesticated: Cat.
Cat, breed: Persian.
Color, Persian cat: Tortoiseshell.
Light source: Candle.
Bookstore, chain: Borders.
Bookstore, indy: Talking Leaves. (Buffalo, of course.)
City other than Buffalo: Minneapolis.
US President, all-time: FDR.
English Monarch, all-time: Henry V.
Spaceship, Fictional, Good Guys: The Millennium Falcon.
Spaceship, Fictional, Bad Guys: Borg Cube.
Spaceship, Real: Friendship 7. (John Glenn's Mercury capsule)
Shipwreck, Domestic: Edmund Fitzgerald.
Shipwreck, World: Titanic.
Natural Disaster, all-time: Mt. St. Helens, 1980. (At the time I lived 100 miles away, and thus I got to see the eruptions.)
Football Team: Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo Bill, active: Eric Moulds (wide receiver).
Buffalo Bill, all-time Jim Kelly (quarterback).
Baseball Team: Pittsburgh Pirates.
And, that's probably enough for now. Not exhaustive, but definitely exhausting.
The personal blog of author Kelly Sedinger, chronicling the adventures of one overalls-clad wanderer.
Friday, April 18, 2003
Target is now my favorite place to buy DVDs. The selection's not amazing or staggering, by any means -- a Media Play will have more movies, and Media Play is a chain that is not nearly as good as it used to be -- but Target almost always has something of interest to me, and fairly cheap. Such as, yesterday: Grand Canyon, a favorite film of mine that I somehow always forget about until I spot it somewhere, for $5.99; and those new Hayao Miyazaki DVDs for $19.99 (three bucks less than Amazon), with instant-savings coupons for a couple of bucks off that. Wow.
(I did not buy Spirited Away, because I am under orders not to buy it so that my wife can pick it up for me at a gift-giving occasion. I have a habit of buying things for myself that she was thinking of getting me, and it gets me bawled out at least three times a year. Scary thing was, I actually had to explain this to the checkout guy, who saw that I was buying Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky and was stunned that I wasn't getting Spirited Away as well.)
(I did not buy Spirited Away, because I am under orders not to buy it so that my wife can pick it up for me at a gift-giving occasion. I have a habit of buying things for myself that she was thinking of getting me, and it gets me bawled out at least three times a year. Scary thing was, I actually had to explain this to the checkout guy, who saw that I was buying Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky and was stunned that I wasn't getting Spirited Away as well.)
I watch CSI faithfully, and I remember being fascinated when I caught surgery videos on late-night educational TV. I am far from squeamish. But you know, I have to wonder: just who is the boob at The Today Show who thought that people would want to tune in at 7:30 yesterday morning and, over their morning coffee and bagels, listen to them talk about the body that may be Lacey Petersen, complete with detailed descriptions of the body's state of decomposition and technical discussion of the bone-drilling procedure required to extract DNA samples from the corpse? Lordy....
Earlier this week a new project for Buffalo's waterfront was announced. It's an intriguing idea -- a domed amusement park -- that may help Buffalo take advantage of the millions of tourists who flock annually to Niagara Falls, thirty-five miles north. So, if it works, great.
But goshdarnit, now I want this thing. Lucky Seattle bastards....
(NYT registration required)
But goshdarnit, now I want this thing. Lucky Seattle bastards....
(NYT registration required)
There she goes again. Another left-of-center celebrity has spoken, and Rachel Lucas just wants them to shut up, the asshats. I've written elsewhere my thoughts on the whole "Shut up and entertain me" meme that's so common to the right, but I have some other thoughts now.
There has been a lot of talk recently about "free speech" and what it entails, particularly with regard to just what is guaranteed by the First Amendment to our Constitution. This has resulted in a number of notable events recently, most notably and notoriously the Bull Durham fiasco, the whole business with the Dixie Chicks, and the guy who was ordered to leave a shopping mall because he wore a shirt that expressed anti-war, anti-President Bush views.
Generally, the events go like this: a prominent left-leaning person is either shouted down, told to shut up, faces a number of economic repercussions for speaking their mind, or is told to leave the premises. The aggrieved person will complain about "freedom of expression", whereupon someone else -- a right-winger, usually -- will point out, and generally rightfully so, that the First Amendment applies specifically to government-sanctioned restrictions on speech and has nothing to do with what private citizens and companies do on private property. Therefore, the Baseball Hall of Fame's decision to cancel the Bull Durham party because of Tim Robbins's and Susan Sarandon's anti-war views is not, per se, a "freedom of expression" issue.
This is, like so many things in life, partly true. But it's also partly false.
In a strict, technical sense, the First Amendment only guarantees that the government will not interfere with free speech (within certain bounds -- the proverbial shouting of "Fire!" in the movie theater, frex). But the First Amendment is more than that. If I may indulge a bit of SF geekdom, I am reminded of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Dr. Crusher is completely annoyed with a situation on some planet, but Captain Picard won't interfere because of the Prime Directive. He later tells her, "The Prime Directive isn't just an order; it's a philosophy, and a very correct one…" He explains how the P.D. is not a mere guideline for conduct by Starfleet personnel, but a fundamental expression of the values of the entire Federation.
It's the same thing with the First Amendment.
Yes, it serves only to keep government away from the printing presses -- it's worth remembering just why we felt the need to put that amendment in there in the first place. It's because, as a society, we decided that freedom of expression was something worth protecting. We actually sought to codify respect for dissent into the very blueprint of our government, and in a democracy, we get the government we choose. So the First Amendment should be more than just a prohibition against government intrusion into expression: it should be part of our very philosophy. The US Government should never attempt to silence people; but since this is a democracy, we are the US Government -- and therefore, we should never attempt to silence people. And yet, that's what the Hall of Fame did. It's disgraceful.
And actually, what the HoF did is worse, because what's being done now is not so much to silence people as to create an atmosphere in which it is clear that certain speech is not really welcome. The HoF was particularly bald-faced in this: they cancelled the Bull Durham celebration because Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon are anti-war liberals, but several months ago the HoF rolled out the red carpet for Ari Fleischer. I also note that both Robbins and Sarandon have indicated that they had no intention of making any kind of anti-war demonstration at the event in question. But I guess we can't run the risk, after Michael Moore's actions at the Oscars. Now, I think Moore was out of line that night -- but not because his words were dangerous or because he could put our troops in danger (a laughable concept, but that's almost literally what the HoF President said in his letter to Robbins). Rather, I thought he was out-of-line in the sense of rudeness, which is something else entirely.
Rachel Lucas proceeds to ask for specific instances where liberals have had their freedom of expression violated. She's apparently looking for specific instance in which the government has had people locked up for expressing their views, which is, I think, a very narrow way to look at the issue. Instead, we should look for ways in which the message is clearly sent to liberals that they should think twice before expressing themselves. Sadly, such cases are pretty easy to find (here, here, here, for example – and that's just after about ten minutes of searching through Atrios's archives). Surely Ms. Lucas, intelligent as she is, must be aware of how scary it is when the Press Secretary to the President of the United States is saying, in a press briefing and for the record, that "Americans need to watch what they say". (Granted, this last was in response to a fairly unfortunately-timed and not-well-worded comment by Bill Maher, but it was hardly a stupid or traitorous one.)
The First Amendment isn't just a guideline for the government. It is a philosophy, and a very correct one. It is about who we are -- a nation that stands, most of all, for the right of people to disagree with us. I fear that if we decide that dissent is unacceptable in our private lives, then perhaps on a day not too far off we might decide to extend that attitude to our public lives as well. And on that day, even if every major city between Tripoli and Kabul is a smoldering crater over which flies the American flag, the Bin Ladens of the world will have won anyway.
There has been a lot of talk recently about "free speech" and what it entails, particularly with regard to just what is guaranteed by the First Amendment to our Constitution. This has resulted in a number of notable events recently, most notably and notoriously the Bull Durham fiasco, the whole business with the Dixie Chicks, and the guy who was ordered to leave a shopping mall because he wore a shirt that expressed anti-war, anti-President Bush views.
Generally, the events go like this: a prominent left-leaning person is either shouted down, told to shut up, faces a number of economic repercussions for speaking their mind, or is told to leave the premises. The aggrieved person will complain about "freedom of expression", whereupon someone else -- a right-winger, usually -- will point out, and generally rightfully so, that the First Amendment applies specifically to government-sanctioned restrictions on speech and has nothing to do with what private citizens and companies do on private property. Therefore, the Baseball Hall of Fame's decision to cancel the Bull Durham party because of Tim Robbins's and Susan Sarandon's anti-war views is not, per se, a "freedom of expression" issue.
This is, like so many things in life, partly true. But it's also partly false.
In a strict, technical sense, the First Amendment only guarantees that the government will not interfere with free speech (within certain bounds -- the proverbial shouting of "Fire!" in the movie theater, frex). But the First Amendment is more than that. If I may indulge a bit of SF geekdom, I am reminded of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Dr. Crusher is completely annoyed with a situation on some planet, but Captain Picard won't interfere because of the Prime Directive. He later tells her, "The Prime Directive isn't just an order; it's a philosophy, and a very correct one…" He explains how the P.D. is not a mere guideline for conduct by Starfleet personnel, but a fundamental expression of the values of the entire Federation.
It's the same thing with the First Amendment.
Yes, it serves only to keep government away from the printing presses -- it's worth remembering just why we felt the need to put that amendment in there in the first place. It's because, as a society, we decided that freedom of expression was something worth protecting. We actually sought to codify respect for dissent into the very blueprint of our government, and in a democracy, we get the government we choose. So the First Amendment should be more than just a prohibition against government intrusion into expression: it should be part of our very philosophy. The US Government should never attempt to silence people; but since this is a democracy, we are the US Government -- and therefore, we should never attempt to silence people. And yet, that's what the Hall of Fame did. It's disgraceful.
And actually, what the HoF did is worse, because what's being done now is not so much to silence people as to create an atmosphere in which it is clear that certain speech is not really welcome. The HoF was particularly bald-faced in this: they cancelled the Bull Durham celebration because Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon are anti-war liberals, but several months ago the HoF rolled out the red carpet for Ari Fleischer. I also note that both Robbins and Sarandon have indicated that they had no intention of making any kind of anti-war demonstration at the event in question. But I guess we can't run the risk, after Michael Moore's actions at the Oscars. Now, I think Moore was out of line that night -- but not because his words were dangerous or because he could put our troops in danger (a laughable concept, but that's almost literally what the HoF President said in his letter to Robbins). Rather, I thought he was out-of-line in the sense of rudeness, which is something else entirely.
Rachel Lucas proceeds to ask for specific instances where liberals have had their freedom of expression violated. She's apparently looking for specific instance in which the government has had people locked up for expressing their views, which is, I think, a very narrow way to look at the issue. Instead, we should look for ways in which the message is clearly sent to liberals that they should think twice before expressing themselves. Sadly, such cases are pretty easy to find (here, here, here, for example – and that's just after about ten minutes of searching through Atrios's archives). Surely Ms. Lucas, intelligent as she is, must be aware of how scary it is when the Press Secretary to the President of the United States is saying, in a press briefing and for the record, that "Americans need to watch what they say". (Granted, this last was in response to a fairly unfortunately-timed and not-well-worded comment by Bill Maher, but it was hardly a stupid or traitorous one.)
The First Amendment isn't just a guideline for the government. It is a philosophy, and a very correct one. It is about who we are -- a nation that stands, most of all, for the right of people to disagree with us. I fear that if we decide that dissent is unacceptable in our private lives, then perhaps on a day not too far off we might decide to extend that attitude to our public lives as well. And on that day, even if every major city between Tripoli and Kabul is a smoldering crater over which flies the American flag, the Bin Ladens of the world will have won anyway.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
IMAGE OF THE WEEK
The Darwin Martin House, Buffalo, New York.
One of Buffalo's strengths -- which I've noted here a number of times -- is its architectural gems, many dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Darwin Martin House is one of the jewels in Buffalo's architectural crown. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903 and 1905, this is Wright's finest building in the "prairie house" style. The Darwin Martin House was very nearly demolished, but it was saved from the wrecking ball and is currently being restored.
The Darwin Martin House, Buffalo, New York.
One of Buffalo's strengths -- which I've noted here a number of times -- is its architectural gems, many dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Darwin Martin House is one of the jewels in Buffalo's architectural crown. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903 and 1905, this is Wright's finest building in the "prairie house" style. The Darwin Martin House was very nearly demolished, but it was saved from the wrecking ball and is currently being restored.
Dr. Atkins, creator of the protein-heavy, carbohydrate-light Atkins Diet of which I remain very skeptical, has died. I'm trying to imagine if his Heaven would be the world's biggest Outback steakhouse.
Sometimes the MSN front page makes me a bit nervous: "Powell goes to Syria to allay fears", but just in case that doesn't work out too well, we have to wonder "Would the Syrian army fold?"
And Kevin Drum makes a good point: if our information on Iraqi WMDs was so certain that we could ignore the fact that Blix's team found nothing, then why is it that we so far have found nothing? If there were so many WMDs, and we knew exactly where they were, why haven't we gone straight to where we know they are and held them up for all the world to see? And if Saddam had that many WMDs but moved them to Syria, how is it that our surveillance satellites didn't pick that movement up? I mean, if he had as much of a chemical and biological arsenal as we insisted that he did (using reports that were, in some cases, later shown to be less than credible), you'd think we'd have noticed the large convoys of trucks heading for the Syrian border. Unless there's a big-ass tunnel from Baghdad to Damascus or something.
Yep, Ari -- your credibility is really strong, there.
And Kevin Drum makes a good point: if our information on Iraqi WMDs was so certain that we could ignore the fact that Blix's team found nothing, then why is it that we so far have found nothing? If there were so many WMDs, and we knew exactly where they were, why haven't we gone straight to where we know they are and held them up for all the world to see? And if Saddam had that many WMDs but moved them to Syria, how is it that our surveillance satellites didn't pick that movement up? I mean, if he had as much of a chemical and biological arsenal as we insisted that he did (using reports that were, in some cases, later shown to be less than credible), you'd think we'd have noticed the large convoys of trucks heading for the Syrian border. Unless there's a big-ass tunnel from Baghdad to Damascus or something.
Yep, Ari -- your credibility is really strong, there.
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Teresa Nielsen Hayden has one of the finest left-leaning posts on Iraq I've read in the entire year and a half that Iraq has been on the radar screen. Check it out.
A new proposal for Buffalo's long-dormant waterfront has been put forth: A domed amusement park that would include such attractions as thrill-rides, snow-boarding, white-water rafting, and the usual restaurants, bars and other entertainment venues.
I'm not entirely sure what to make of this proposal. On the face of it, it looks like a nifty attraction, but I worry if this is just the latest in a long line of "silver bullet"-type proposals put forth over the years, each of which promised to create lots of jobs and bring tourists to Buffalo and generally solve all manner of economic problems in the city, but none of which has ever advanced past the "pretty pictures on the easel at the press conference" stage. If such a thing could be built, and if it really could attract all those tourists and generate the promised 1000 new jobs, great. But Buffalo's economic problems go a lot deeper than this -- the decades-long erosion of population, manufacturing jobs and tax base; the mistakes made with the infrastructure that put Buffalo's strengths in jeopardy; the lack of political leadership needed to cut through the red-tape and cronyism; a bloated governmental structure that has resulted in a bureaucratic nightmare; a lack of a high-tech industry base that will likely be necessary for cities wishing to compete in the 21st century....I'd like to see some steps taken to correct some of these problems, instead of looking for the big "juggernaut" project that will start the great and glorious turn-around for this city.
I'm not entirely sure what to make of this proposal. On the face of it, it looks like a nifty attraction, but I worry if this is just the latest in a long line of "silver bullet"-type proposals put forth over the years, each of which promised to create lots of jobs and bring tourists to Buffalo and generally solve all manner of economic problems in the city, but none of which has ever advanced past the "pretty pictures on the easel at the press conference" stage. If such a thing could be built, and if it really could attract all those tourists and generate the promised 1000 new jobs, great. But Buffalo's economic problems go a lot deeper than this -- the decades-long erosion of population, manufacturing jobs and tax base; the mistakes made with the infrastructure that put Buffalo's strengths in jeopardy; the lack of political leadership needed to cut through the red-tape and cronyism; a bloated governmental structure that has resulted in a bureaucratic nightmare; a lack of a high-tech industry base that will likely be necessary for cities wishing to compete in the 21st century....I'd like to see some steps taken to correct some of these problems, instead of looking for the big "juggernaut" project that will start the great and glorious turn-around for this city.
I've come to see this whole reality-TV craze as something of a dark period that we have to endure for a few years, after which TV will get better again. The silver lining, so far as I can see it, is that a lot of lousy writers who had jobs on lackluster "fictional" shows are now jobless, thus constricting the "writing talent pool" on television a bit. It's kind of like the theory that contracting Major League Baseball by a couple of teams will actually help competitive balance by forcing a number of players who are in the Majors out of necessity back to the Minors, where they actually belong. I figure, sooner or later people will tire of the "reality" crap and decently acted, well-written shows will make a comeback. At least, that's my utopian dream. I'd also like a pony for my daughter, as long as I'm dreaming.
I've also figured out why I like American Idol as much as I do. It's not because of the music, a lot of which is "take it or leave it". It's not because of Simon being mean, although I must honestly admit that this is why I started watching the current season -- I wanted to see if Simon is as mean as he'd been said to be. I've been wondering why I've kept watching this particular reality show, whereas just about all of the others send me racing for the DVD player. Then I happened to catch a few minutes of the syndicated version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, and I remembered why I liked that show so much when it was on prime-time while I absolutely hated Survivor, which was then new, and why I still hate Survivor.
It's because, alone of just about all the other "Reality" shows, Millionaire and American Idol aren't about narcissism. They don't celebrate devious people scheming against others. They don't invite me into voyeurism on people who have nothing going for them other than their carefully-cultivated looks. Survivor, with its "alliances" and its schemes and plots and backstabbing reminds me of office politics, and if I hated office politics when I was actually working in an office, why on Earth would I want to see it played out on TV? Why on Earth would I enjoy watching the "Big Prize" won by a person whom I would probably detest if I had to endure that person in any kind of real life capacity? I think back to that Richard guy who won the first Survivor, and I remember watching his smiling trickery and thinking of all the people I've worked with, in various settings, who were precisely like him. That's the kind of person that "Reality" TV seems to elevate, and I prefer to not spend my leisure time watching TV shows that remind me of what a bunch of shits humans can be. (This is also why I don't watch C-SPAN.)
But in the case of Millionaire, I wasn't watching schemers and plotters and would-be Machiavelli's. I was watching some guy or some woman who might work in some decent, if not particularly posh, job trying to win a lot of money merely by knowing some stuff. That I could like. And in the case of American Idol, I may not entirely like the music on display (although I did enjoy last night's episode, which focused on Billy Joel songs) and I may not care for the contestants' senses of style, but I have to love the cameraderie that exists among them. When one of them is eliminated from the competition, the runner-up invariably bursts into tears as they realize they've dodged the bullet that the person whose hand they're holding has just taken in the chest, and then everyone else gathers around the soon-to-be-gone person to wish them well. And it's not about plotting or forging alliances; Clay and Ruben don't get together to try to get Trenyce voted off, or some similar nonsense -- it's just a group of people, dwindling by one each week, each of whom is working hard to take advantage of a particular talent they've got and hopefully grab an opportunity that they otherwise might not have had. Yes, Simon can be very caustic, but the main draw for me is watching these people put their talent on the line, saying "This is what I got, America. I hope you like it." I appreciate that a lot more than watching a motley group of people who haven't showered in three weeks banding together to take down the other folks.
As an aspiring writer, I have to admire the folks on American Idol, and I partly wish there was something called Writing Idol. Of course, it would be deadly boring television -- just a group of people pounding on keyboards, and one guy scrawling away on some paper with a fountain pen.
I've also figured out why I like American Idol as much as I do. It's not because of the music, a lot of which is "take it or leave it". It's not because of Simon being mean, although I must honestly admit that this is why I started watching the current season -- I wanted to see if Simon is as mean as he'd been said to be. I've been wondering why I've kept watching this particular reality show, whereas just about all of the others send me racing for the DVD player. Then I happened to catch a few minutes of the syndicated version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, and I remembered why I liked that show so much when it was on prime-time while I absolutely hated Survivor, which was then new, and why I still hate Survivor.
It's because, alone of just about all the other "Reality" shows, Millionaire and American Idol aren't about narcissism. They don't celebrate devious people scheming against others. They don't invite me into voyeurism on people who have nothing going for them other than their carefully-cultivated looks. Survivor, with its "alliances" and its schemes and plots and backstabbing reminds me of office politics, and if I hated office politics when I was actually working in an office, why on Earth would I want to see it played out on TV? Why on Earth would I enjoy watching the "Big Prize" won by a person whom I would probably detest if I had to endure that person in any kind of real life capacity? I think back to that Richard guy who won the first Survivor, and I remember watching his smiling trickery and thinking of all the people I've worked with, in various settings, who were precisely like him. That's the kind of person that "Reality" TV seems to elevate, and I prefer to not spend my leisure time watching TV shows that remind me of what a bunch of shits humans can be. (This is also why I don't watch C-SPAN.)
But in the case of Millionaire, I wasn't watching schemers and plotters and would-be Machiavelli's. I was watching some guy or some woman who might work in some decent, if not particularly posh, job trying to win a lot of money merely by knowing some stuff. That I could like. And in the case of American Idol, I may not entirely like the music on display (although I did enjoy last night's episode, which focused on Billy Joel songs) and I may not care for the contestants' senses of style, but I have to love the cameraderie that exists among them. When one of them is eliminated from the competition, the runner-up invariably bursts into tears as they realize they've dodged the bullet that the person whose hand they're holding has just taken in the chest, and then everyone else gathers around the soon-to-be-gone person to wish them well. And it's not about plotting or forging alliances; Clay and Ruben don't get together to try to get Trenyce voted off, or some similar nonsense -- it's just a group of people, dwindling by one each week, each of whom is working hard to take advantage of a particular talent they've got and hopefully grab an opportunity that they otherwise might not have had. Yes, Simon can be very caustic, but the main draw for me is watching these people put their talent on the line, saying "This is what I got, America. I hope you like it." I appreciate that a lot more than watching a motley group of people who haven't showered in three weeks banding together to take down the other folks.
As an aspiring writer, I have to admire the folks on American Idol, and I partly wish there was something called Writing Idol. Of course, it would be deadly boring television -- just a group of people pounding on keyboards, and one guy scrawling away on some paper with a fountain pen.
I didn't follow the blogging of the person known as "Salam Pax", who was presumably a person blogging in Baghdad when the war broke out. The blog has apparently not been updated in some time, and a number of bloggers I read who were following it expressed the hopes that "Salam Pax" had not been killed in the bombing or nabbed by authorities and tossed in an Iraqi prison or met some similarly ugly fate.
Steven Den Beste now wonders if the whole thing may have been a hoax. I frame no hypotheses either way, except to note that there is precedent for this kind of hoax in "Blogistan". Stay tuned.
(As a catch-all term, I have to note that I like "Blogistan" better than "the Blogosphere". It sounds more like a place, as opposed to a kind-of nebulous realm.)
Steven Den Beste now wonders if the whole thing may have been a hoax. I frame no hypotheses either way, except to note that there is precedent for this kind of hoax in "Blogistan". Stay tuned.
(As a catch-all term, I have to note that I like "Blogistan" better than "the Blogosphere". It sounds more like a place, as opposed to a kind-of nebulous realm.)
For all my readers desperately praying for clouds in Buffalo so I'd stop this inane bit of counting the days on which I've woken up to glorious sunlight, your prayers have not yet been answered. That's right: it's seven days now! So we went from cold, wintry Syracuse just after a major ice storm, to a place where the sun has been shining every day we've been here. Ahhhh....it's not unlike a trip to Florida I took in my freshman year of college, when we flew out of Des Moines on a February winter morning and landed in sunlight and palm trees four hours later.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
I've restored my Ebay book auctions, so go forth and buy all of my books. Help finance my transition to freelance employment and the finest DVD collection north of Bradford, PA !!!
Oh, and for the really generous-minded folks out there, I've joined a lot of other bloggers in putting up my Amazon wishlist. You know, on the off chance that any of my readers has a surplus of cash....
Oh, and for the really generous-minded folks out there, I've joined a lot of other bloggers in putting up my Amazon wishlist. You know, on the off chance that any of my readers has a surplus of cash....
The main critic with The Buffalo News, Jeff Simon, isn't one of my favorite critics -- his reviews tend to be stuffy, pedantic, and focused more on demonstrating his own erudition than on examining the work in question. (Simon mainly reviews films, but he also reviews music -- mainly jazz -- and books pertaining to the arts.) However, I do tend to enjoy Simon's weekly commentary columns. He has a pretty good one this week about the war and the aftermath:
The whole article is available here.
....Nothing has yet proven George W. Bush to be anything other than a rich man's son, a man with a bad swagger and smirk who always looks as if he's confident that no matter how badly he screws up, daddy and his friends will bail him out.
And yet I have to admit that, as horrifying and amoral as it was to watch, it's dimly possible that this war positioned America exactly where it might be good to be for the next 50 years:
A) In the center of the world's most combustible and dangerous region, perhaps finally able to put out the major fires and bring stability to it through influence and strategic placement.
B) In the middle of one of the richest energy deposits currently known.
C) In the minds of every despot on the globe a nation fully capable of being reckless and rash against anyone who so much looks at America cross-eyed. (Remember that Revolutionary era flag - "Don't Tread On Me.")
Just as likely, though, are those other possibilities that angry people have been demonstrating about all over the globe:
A) That America is now virtually friendless in the world - except for Tony Blair, the Spaniards and the awesome forces of Cameroon - and will, therefore, be expected to clean up every toxic oil spill in global affairs for generations to come. We are now the world's cop and sanitation crew combined.
B) That America has just engendered in Iraq all the anti-American terrorism we wanted to eliminate in the first place - generation after generation of Muslim fundamentalists so steeped in hatred for the United States and so hamstrung by history that terrorist strikes on U.S. soil seem the only way to combat hopeless impotence.
C) That our capacity for thoughtless, self-righteous chest-thumping - the whole 24-hour news/talk radio apparatus that has turned American political debate into noisy gibberish - has now been so institutionalized that there is no coherent way to have an informed American citizenry. In the age of information, there is a meaningless glut of opinion and fact that can be surfed over by any president, mandate or not, in pursuit of almost any goal whatsoever. This surfeit of information may have created an entirely new kind of human ignorance.
So the question now is: Just what HAVE we done? (Or, more accurately, what have we allowed to happen in our name?)
It may take a very long and anxious time to find that out.
The whole article is available here.
Courtesy MeFi: here is a building planned for downtown London, a proposed 66-floor tower called London Bridge Tower that would be capped by a glass spire that would mirror the weather on whatever day it happens to be. The building itself is a beautiful design, but when I peruse the pictures on the website that depict the building as part of the London skyline, it seems to my eyes to stick out like a sore thumb -- a pyramidal structure rising way above the non-pyramidal buildings around it. I don't know; this building seems more suited to Coruscant than London to my eyes.
Over on IGN there's a poll up for people to name their favorite Star Wars movie. I voted for Attack of the Clones, although my real favorite is A New Hope. I was surprised to note that the film in second place is Return of the Jedi, a film which is commonly cited as when George Lucas officially lost it. Of course, I'm of the opinion that Lucas never lost it; it's just that people have misinterpreted just what "it" is.
In the "Something Learned Every Day" Department: apparently getting a lot of snow, and keeping it on the ground all winter, is not only beneficial for the local ski slopes, but also for the local golf courses, in terms of the health of the grass. I'm not a golfer, but I found this interesting.
(Oh, by the way: we're up to six consecutive days of awakening to sunlight just a-streamin' through my window. Actually, some meteorologists might use the term "partly cloudy" to describe today, but after six months of "Completely friggin' overcast", I'm putting it in the "sunny" column. And for those of you who are sick of my beating this particular horse into the ground, it's apparently supposed to rain here either tomorrow or the day after. Light at the end of the tunnel, and all that.)
(Oh, by the way: we're up to six consecutive days of awakening to sunlight just a-streamin' through my window. Actually, some meteorologists might use the term "partly cloudy" to describe today, but after six months of "Completely friggin' overcast", I'm putting it in the "sunny" column. And for those of you who are sick of my beating this particular horse into the ground, it's apparently supposed to rain here either tomorrow or the day after. Light at the end of the tunnel, and all that.)
Monday, April 14, 2003
I'm unsure as to whether I should wonder about what circumstances in someone's life led them to do this Google search, or if I should be concerned that Byzantium's Shores came up in his search results. Ugh. (Profanity warning.)
A reminder: after you're done sticking your taxes in the mail tomorrow, you can get that awful taste out of your mouth by buying the three new DVDs of films by the great anime master, Hayao Miyazaki: Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Castle in the Sky.
Oliver Willis has an interesting post about the various manifestations of sports allegiances in towns where he's lived. As per his model, here's how Buffalo shapes up:
:: It's Draft time! Bills! Bills! Bills!
:: Go Sabres! Now we have something to do in between Sundays.
:: It's Training Camp! Bills Bills Bills!
:: Yeah, the Blue Jays and Indians and probably the Pirates are closer, but screw them, this is Yankee territory!
:: Are the Sabres in the playoffs?
:: The season's starting! Bills Bills Bills! When do we play Miami, anyway? Bring 'em on!
:: NBA....what's that? (Or, if the person's an old-timer, "Hey, we had one of them franchises back in my day....")
:: We're in the playoff hunt! Bills! Bills! Bills!
:: Yeah, there used to be good college basketball around here....
:: It's Draft time! Bills! Bills! Bills!
:: Go Sabres! Now we have something to do in between Sundays.
:: It's Training Camp! Bills Bills Bills!
:: Yeah, the Blue Jays and Indians and probably the Pirates are closer, but screw them, this is Yankee territory!
:: Are the Sabres in the playoffs?
:: The season's starting! Bills Bills Bills! When do we play Miami, anyway? Bring 'em on!
:: NBA....what's that? (Or, if the person's an old-timer, "Hey, we had one of them franchises back in my day....")
:: We're in the playoff hunt! Bills! Bills! Bills!
:: Yeah, there used to be good college basketball around here....
Comparing radio stations that cater to my interests in Buffalo to those in Syracuse, I find that Syracuse gets the edge. Buffalo's main oldies station is much better than the one in Syracuse, which was a grab-bag station of oldies and "sunny hits from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s". (Oh, by the way, oldies stations across the nation take note: Just because the Beach Boys did the song does not make "Kokomo" an oldie. The song dates from 1985 or so, for God's sake!)
But as for classical stations, Syracuse gets the edge with a selection that I more routinely enjoyed, coupled with the fact that they listed every piece they played on their website, so if you joined a work in progress you had merely to note the time it was on so you could look it up later if it was to your liking. The Buffalo classical station is good, to be sure, and it had a particular show that I liked which Syracuse didn't (Adventures in Good Music with Karl Haas), but on balance I liked Syracuse's station just a bit more. Maybe it was their "Morning Sousa Wake-up", when they'd play some obscure Sousa march during the 8:00 hour.
Syracuse walks away with the prize, though, in the NPR Category. I love Buffalo's NPR station, but it does double-duty as a jazz station, whereas in Syracuse it's all NPR programming, all the time. In Syracuse I was able to hear a lot of NPR programs that I never even knew existed in Buffalo (although one big favorite of mine, Thistle and Shamrock, apparently is unavailable in Syracuse). Syracuse does have a jazz station, but I didn't listen to it very often. For various reasons I just don't get into jazz as much as I used to.
And in one random non-radio category, Buffalo is a far more driveable city than Syracuse, even given the fact that it's twice as big. This is for one simple reason: I have never in my life seen such a large concentration of "No right turn on red" intersections outside of Pennsylvania as exists in Syracuse.
But as for classical stations, Syracuse gets the edge with a selection that I more routinely enjoyed, coupled with the fact that they listed every piece they played on their website, so if you joined a work in progress you had merely to note the time it was on so you could look it up later if it was to your liking. The Buffalo classical station is good, to be sure, and it had a particular show that I liked which Syracuse didn't (Adventures in Good Music with Karl Haas), but on balance I liked Syracuse's station just a bit more. Maybe it was their "Morning Sousa Wake-up", when they'd play some obscure Sousa march during the 8:00 hour.
Syracuse walks away with the prize, though, in the NPR Category. I love Buffalo's NPR station, but it does double-duty as a jazz station, whereas in Syracuse it's all NPR programming, all the time. In Syracuse I was able to hear a lot of NPR programs that I never even knew existed in Buffalo (although one big favorite of mine, Thistle and Shamrock, apparently is unavailable in Syracuse). Syracuse does have a jazz station, but I didn't listen to it very often. For various reasons I just don't get into jazz as much as I used to.
And in one random non-radio category, Buffalo is a far more driveable city than Syracuse, even given the fact that it's twice as big. This is for one simple reason: I have never in my life seen such a large concentration of "No right turn on red" intersections outside of Pennsylvania as exists in Syracuse.
Sunday, April 13, 2003
Boring notes from real life:
:: Buffalo Sunlight Watch: Four days and counting! Woo-hoo!!
:: It occurs to me today, watching our cats wreak a bit of havoc amongst the cardboard boxes, that cats could be considered WMD's, for sufficiently modest values of "M".
:: I took the daughter to Burger King yesterday, because she recently discovered cheeseburgers. The toy in her meal was this little plush Spongebob Squarepants guy. She keeps identifying him, though, as "Sideshow Bob".
:: One hundred compact discs in a cardboard box is friggin' heavy.
:: Somehow, after every move I find some reason to go to Radio Shack and buy some new bit of connecting wire or plugs or something. This time it was an extra cord for my computer speakers, so I can easily switch to headphones if I want to listen to something discretely. My question, though, is: when did Radio Shack stop asking for bizarre amounts of personal information prior to ringing up a six-buck purchase?
:: Buffalo Sunlight Watch: Four days and counting! Woo-hoo!!
:: It occurs to me today, watching our cats wreak a bit of havoc amongst the cardboard boxes, that cats could be considered WMD's, for sufficiently modest values of "M".
:: I took the daughter to Burger King yesterday, because she recently discovered cheeseburgers. The toy in her meal was this little plush Spongebob Squarepants guy. She keeps identifying him, though, as "Sideshow Bob".
:: One hundred compact discs in a cardboard box is friggin' heavy.
:: Somehow, after every move I find some reason to go to Radio Shack and buy some new bit of connecting wire or plugs or something. This time it was an extra cord for my computer speakers, so I can easily switch to headphones if I want to listen to something discretely. My question, though, is: when did Radio Shack stop asking for bizarre amounts of personal information prior to ringing up a six-buck purchase?
Another nifty nugget from TBOGG (permalinks appear to be malfunctioning; scroll down to "They're Republicans...."): apparently the Baseball Hall of Fame's status as a sacred shrine to the game where politics has no place (hence the cancellation of the Bull Durham festivities involving liberal actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon) is actually a sacred shrine where some politics are just fine.
I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.
(Edited to repair a bit of link-suckage.)
I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.
(Edited to repair a bit of link-suckage.)
I watched Willow last night. It's a film I remember being unfairly underrated, so I was quite surprised to discover upon rewatching it that I no longer find it underrated. Now I'm wondering instead what I saw in it in the first place -- the script never seems to take life despite a number of spots where obvious underlying potential can be seen, the action and effects sequences trundle on and on and on, the villains are undeveloped cardboard baddies complete with swooshing capes and skull-shaped helmets and dramatic stridings through cavernous throne rooms. The pacing is ponderous, and the music is colossally overrated -- James Horner's score for Willow is often mentioned as his masterpiece, but I just don't hear it; I just hear the same three melodies repeated ad infinitum plus the little "evil motif" that Horner has been recycling for his movie villains for years now.
Of course, George Lucas's hordes of detractors seize on Willow as more evidence of his failings, along with Howard the Duck, from the same time period. Thing is, Lucas only came up with the story for Willow; he didn't actually write the script, nor did he direct. A lot of the Anti-Lucas Brigade says things like: "If only Lucas would only produce and not direct!" and "Lucas is a terrible writer!" But here's a movie on which he did neither, and he still gets blamed for it. I've never heard anyone mention Ron Howard's role in Willow, and Lucas's name is invariably tied to the giant dung-heap that is Howard the Duck despite the fact that Lucas had almost nothing to do with that film outside of producing it.
Watching Willow again, after seeing the first two Lord of the Rings films, is not unlike following the reading of Tolkien's novels with those of Robert Jordan. Highly disappointing (although it's neat to see that even fifteen years ago someone hit on the idea that New Zealand is the perfect place to film a fantasy movie).
Of course, George Lucas's hordes of detractors seize on Willow as more evidence of his failings, along with Howard the Duck, from the same time period. Thing is, Lucas only came up with the story for Willow; he didn't actually write the script, nor did he direct. A lot of the Anti-Lucas Brigade says things like: "If only Lucas would only produce and not direct!" and "Lucas is a terrible writer!" But here's a movie on which he did neither, and he still gets blamed for it. I've never heard anyone mention Ron Howard's role in Willow, and Lucas's name is invariably tied to the giant dung-heap that is Howard the Duck despite the fact that Lucas had almost nothing to do with that film outside of producing it.
Watching Willow again, after seeing the first two Lord of the Rings films, is not unlike following the reading of Tolkien's novels with those of Robert Jordan. Highly disappointing (although it's neat to see that even fifteen years ago someone hit on the idea that New Zealand is the perfect place to film a fantasy movie).
I don't recall if I've plugged this one before, but here's a blog about nothing but baseball. I'll be permalinking it next time I update "Other Journeys", but for now, check it out. (I seem to like Joe Morgan more than he does, but nevertheless....)
Many watchers of American Idol (yeah, I'm one of them; give me a break!) were surprised that this week saw the elimination of Rickey Smith, a wonderfully exuberant guy who performed very well this week (in the opinion of the judges, as well, including Simon) instead of, say, the woman who did a warbling rendition of Blondie's "Call Me" or the other woman who did Bryan Adams's "Everything I Do" not very well. It was surprising that the clearly stronger performer was eliminated, but it's worth remembering that last week, no one was eliminated, and thus those vote totals were combined with this week's. That's probably what did Rickey in, plus the fact that I suspect Ruben and Clay are piling on more votes each week as they win more and more converts. I'd like to see the vote tallies, though -- I wonder if Rickey somehow lost in a squeaker, or if he was legitimately blown out. (And why is it that voting can only be done on a cell phone? What's up with that?)
Of course, I think that only a stiff case of laryngitis could stop Ruben from winning this thing in a walk.
Of course, I think that only a stiff case of laryngitis could stop Ruben from winning this thing in a walk.
Well, that's just great.
By now I suppose everyone is aware that the great joy of liberation, felt by the Iraqi people as the yoke of tyranny has at last been lifted from their backs and the millstone of Saddam Hussein has been removed from their necks, has turned to that most predictable of human endeavors when joy and lawlessness mix: looting and rampant destruction, which is bad enough when it destroys businesses and economic infrastructure -- infrastructure that, as the WaPo article linked above points out, was left intact after all of the bombing only to be demolished by Iraq's own people -- but becomes downright tragic when hospitals are ransacked and the halls of the Iraq National Museum, a repository of some of the oldest artifacts of human culture, are plundered and their contents either stolen or smashed outright. The human impulse to celebrate through destruction is one of our species's ugliest traits, and given the antics that surround big sporting events in this and other "more civilized" countries, it seems to be pretty universal.
I've tended to think of the war in Iraq as a case of the United States doing the right thing for the wrong reasons (and doing it in ham-handed fashion, to boot). That part of the price has to be yet another bit of excision of our cultural memory -- and by "cultural", I mean the entire human species -- makes me sick at my stomach. By destroying the Museum, the people of Baghdad have exacted a heavy price on every human being for this war.
I'm a bit unsure of whether the American forces could have prevented all of this looting and criminal behavior -- there probably aren't enough troops there to really control as populous a city as Baghdad. But they could have done more than simply sit by and watch, evidently waiting for it to die down and the looters to go to sleep. They could have protected the museum, the hospitals, and some of the more important governmental agencies in Baghdad whose functioning was essential to the daily business of the city, and whose destruction now will just make what I fear will be a rather half-assed exercise in nation-building that much harder. And I must admit that while I've never bought into the occasional left-wing idea that this war was only about oil, I've never abandoned the notion that it was at least in part about oil. The only question was, to what degree. Reading in this article that the only governmental facility in Baghdad to receive significant American protection after the conquest was the Oil Ministry does not bode particularly well.
By now I suppose everyone is aware that the great joy of liberation, felt by the Iraqi people as the yoke of tyranny has at last been lifted from their backs and the millstone of Saddam Hussein has been removed from their necks, has turned to that most predictable of human endeavors when joy and lawlessness mix: looting and rampant destruction, which is bad enough when it destroys businesses and economic infrastructure -- infrastructure that, as the WaPo article linked above points out, was left intact after all of the bombing only to be demolished by Iraq's own people -- but becomes downright tragic when hospitals are ransacked and the halls of the Iraq National Museum, a repository of some of the oldest artifacts of human culture, are plundered and their contents either stolen or smashed outright. The human impulse to celebrate through destruction is one of our species's ugliest traits, and given the antics that surround big sporting events in this and other "more civilized" countries, it seems to be pretty universal.
I've tended to think of the war in Iraq as a case of the United States doing the right thing for the wrong reasons (and doing it in ham-handed fashion, to boot). That part of the price has to be yet another bit of excision of our cultural memory -- and by "cultural", I mean the entire human species -- makes me sick at my stomach. By destroying the Museum, the people of Baghdad have exacted a heavy price on every human being for this war.
I'm a bit unsure of whether the American forces could have prevented all of this looting and criminal behavior -- there probably aren't enough troops there to really control as populous a city as Baghdad. But they could have done more than simply sit by and watch, evidently waiting for it to die down and the looters to go to sleep. They could have protected the museum, the hospitals, and some of the more important governmental agencies in Baghdad whose functioning was essential to the daily business of the city, and whose destruction now will just make what I fear will be a rather half-assed exercise in nation-building that much harder. And I must admit that while I've never bought into the occasional left-wing idea that this war was only about oil, I've never abandoned the notion that it was at least in part about oil. The only question was, to what degree. Reading in this article that the only governmental facility in Baghdad to receive significant American protection after the conquest was the Oil Ministry does not bode particularly well.
Saturday, April 12, 2003
Nifty! My wife just handed me the new Alabama Quarter, which has a neat image of Helen Keller on it, including what I assume is her name in Braille. (Not that anyone's going to be able to read the Braille writing here, since it's freakishly tiny on the actual coin.) I'm glad that Alabama came up with something other than a dull outline of their state for their quarter, and I confess that I didn't know that Helen Keller was from Alabama in the first place. I would have figured Alabama would put Bear Bryant on their coin -- but then, my general knowledge of that whole part of our country is really limited. I doubt I could name more than a couple of famous Alabamans without including Forrest Gump.
Last night NBC aired what is, in all likelihood, the last episode of Ed, which had been one of my favorite shows. I'll miss it, but I also think that like a lot of "bubble" shows that survives to a third season, Ed lost its way a bit. Oh, it wasn't as bad as the third season of Millennium; nor did it come close to the depths plumbed by Star Trek's infamous third year; but it still fell off a bit in the quality of writing. My late, lamented Once and Again held in strong until the end of its third year, maintaining its high quality, but Ed suffered because it fell victim to a common mistake of shows like this: allowing the on-again, off-again romance between the leads (Ed and Carol Vescey) to become dominant to the near exclusion of everything else on the show.
When Ed debuted, it was a smart, quirky show about a New York City lawyer who returns to his small-town-Ohio roots to buy a bowling alley and run his own tiny law firm for the town's inhabitants. This allowed all manner of interesting supporting characters, some of whom were former high school classmates of Ed's while others were simply denizens of Stuckeyville. Ed's law work manifested in cases that were sometimes amusing, other times not so amusing, but always illustrative of decent values and a sense of what's really important in life, which was always the show's main theme when it was really "on". The romance between Ed and Carol was generally something of a subplot, something to give the show a larger sense of continuity behind the more prosaic weekly comings-and-goings.
But gradually Ed-and-Carol took over, to the point where multiple episodes would go by at a stretch and the only indication of Ed's status as a lawyer would be a shot of him sitting at his desk reading a brief or something. The show's courtroom aspect provided a nice contrast to the ongoing plotlines, and they were usually written with the kind of gentle humor and wit that I've come to enjoy more in recent years. For some reason I always enjoyed the courtroom stuff on Ed, despite the fact that I generally lost interest in courtroom drama a number of years ago. (I only watch maybe two or three episodes of Law and Order in any given season, I can't stand The Practice, et cetera. Personally, I blame David E. Kelley for ruining courtroom dramas for me. But I digress....)
The first two seasons of Ed always conveyed a sense that Ed was just a guy living in the town of Stuckeyville, and that the show was really about this small town. (In fact, the show's original title was intended to be Stuckeyville.) But the focus shifted, becoming more and more focused on Ed and Carol than on the town and its wonderful citizens.
And then, in the course of executing that romance, the show gave us not one but two love triangles complicating the whole thing, and while both were begun well, neither was resolved well. First Carol became involved with the new principal at the school where she teaches, Dennis Martino. Dennis was a very prickly soul -- he could be very caustic, initially he went out of his way to annoy Carol, and he later turned out to be a recovering alcoholic. Despite this, the writers skillfully gave Dennis an underside of warmth, so it was clear that Dennis, while prickly, was still a sympathetic man who was trying to make his life better and get back to where he had once been before. Dennis showed a lot of warmth, and by creating a love triangle with three sympathetic people, the writers of Ed created a situation that could only end in one of these characters that I loved suffering a broken heart. Nevertheless, I was confident that the writers could handle it in the appropriately bittersweet fashion.
Unfortunately, they blew it. The Ed-Carol-Dennis triangle straddled the second and third seasons, and when the third season commenced, Dennis's warmth had been surgically removed, and all that was left was the "prickly" stuff. Where he had been a good man who had suffered some blows in his life, he was now simply a harsh man, and occasionally he bordered on emotionally abusive. Thus when he was shown the door, we were meant to be glad that he was gone -- but I remembered the good Dennis from the year before, and it was all highly unsatisfying.
So, then, Ed and Carol go about their lives for a while, until Ed takes on an assistant at his law practice -- a lovely and intelligent woman named Frankie. Frankie was all warmth, a wonderful character -- who was promptly injected into the Ed-and-Carol dynamic, thus creating the second triangle. And once again, we know that either Carol or Frankie was going to end up heartbroken. To shorten the telling of a long tale, it ended up being Frankie as Ed ultimately decided that Carol was the love of his life. This was all handled very quickly, with nothing at all of Frankie's reaction depicted, and the show had previously established that in the event of Ed dumping her she would simply fly off to Houston to attempt a reconciliation with the guy she had dumped earlier in the season. I guess I was supposed to be happy that Ed and Carol were together at last, but the entire thing felt incredibly rushed in the end, and I was irritated that an excellent character like Frankie was introduced only to be tossed aside once the drama-stuff was over.
If Ed is truly done, then I'll miss it. I don't want to convey that the third season was a waste, because it wasn't -- there was a lot of good stuff there. But Ed-and-Carol should never have been allowed to take over the show as it did, because it was never one of the show's prime strengths. Had Ed-and-Carol been the show's focus at the outset, I doubt I would have bothered following the show much at all. I think that the writers, to a certain degree, lost the sense of the show's actual strengths.
When Ed debuted, it was a smart, quirky show about a New York City lawyer who returns to his small-town-Ohio roots to buy a bowling alley and run his own tiny law firm for the town's inhabitants. This allowed all manner of interesting supporting characters, some of whom were former high school classmates of Ed's while others were simply denizens of Stuckeyville. Ed's law work manifested in cases that were sometimes amusing, other times not so amusing, but always illustrative of decent values and a sense of what's really important in life, which was always the show's main theme when it was really "on". The romance between Ed and Carol was generally something of a subplot, something to give the show a larger sense of continuity behind the more prosaic weekly comings-and-goings.
But gradually Ed-and-Carol took over, to the point where multiple episodes would go by at a stretch and the only indication of Ed's status as a lawyer would be a shot of him sitting at his desk reading a brief or something. The show's courtroom aspect provided a nice contrast to the ongoing plotlines, and they were usually written with the kind of gentle humor and wit that I've come to enjoy more in recent years. For some reason I always enjoyed the courtroom stuff on Ed, despite the fact that I generally lost interest in courtroom drama a number of years ago. (I only watch maybe two or three episodes of Law and Order in any given season, I can't stand The Practice, et cetera. Personally, I blame David E. Kelley for ruining courtroom dramas for me. But I digress....)
The first two seasons of Ed always conveyed a sense that Ed was just a guy living in the town of Stuckeyville, and that the show was really about this small town. (In fact, the show's original title was intended to be Stuckeyville.) But the focus shifted, becoming more and more focused on Ed and Carol than on the town and its wonderful citizens.
And then, in the course of executing that romance, the show gave us not one but two love triangles complicating the whole thing, and while both were begun well, neither was resolved well. First Carol became involved with the new principal at the school where she teaches, Dennis Martino. Dennis was a very prickly soul -- he could be very caustic, initially he went out of his way to annoy Carol, and he later turned out to be a recovering alcoholic. Despite this, the writers skillfully gave Dennis an underside of warmth, so it was clear that Dennis, while prickly, was still a sympathetic man who was trying to make his life better and get back to where he had once been before. Dennis showed a lot of warmth, and by creating a love triangle with three sympathetic people, the writers of Ed created a situation that could only end in one of these characters that I loved suffering a broken heart. Nevertheless, I was confident that the writers could handle it in the appropriately bittersweet fashion.
Unfortunately, they blew it. The Ed-Carol-Dennis triangle straddled the second and third seasons, and when the third season commenced, Dennis's warmth had been surgically removed, and all that was left was the "prickly" stuff. Where he had been a good man who had suffered some blows in his life, he was now simply a harsh man, and occasionally he bordered on emotionally abusive. Thus when he was shown the door, we were meant to be glad that he was gone -- but I remembered the good Dennis from the year before, and it was all highly unsatisfying.
So, then, Ed and Carol go about their lives for a while, until Ed takes on an assistant at his law practice -- a lovely and intelligent woman named Frankie. Frankie was all warmth, a wonderful character -- who was promptly injected into the Ed-and-Carol dynamic, thus creating the second triangle. And once again, we know that either Carol or Frankie was going to end up heartbroken. To shorten the telling of a long tale, it ended up being Frankie as Ed ultimately decided that Carol was the love of his life. This was all handled very quickly, with nothing at all of Frankie's reaction depicted, and the show had previously established that in the event of Ed dumping her she would simply fly off to Houston to attempt a reconciliation with the guy she had dumped earlier in the season. I guess I was supposed to be happy that Ed and Carol were together at last, but the entire thing felt incredibly rushed in the end, and I was irritated that an excellent character like Frankie was introduced only to be tossed aside once the drama-stuff was over.
If Ed is truly done, then I'll miss it. I don't want to convey that the third season was a waste, because it wasn't -- there was a lot of good stuff there. But Ed-and-Carol should never have been allowed to take over the show as it did, because it was never one of the show's prime strengths. Had Ed-and-Carol been the show's focus at the outset, I doubt I would have bothered following the show much at all. I think that the writers, to a certain degree, lost the sense of the show's actual strengths.
Friday, April 11, 2003
Sad news from San Diego: John Butler, the general manager of the San Diego Chargers and, prior to that, GM of the Buffalo Bills, has died of cancer.
I never quite knew what to make of Butler as GM -- he seemed to have a good eye for talent, putting together a scouting team that constantly had the Bills selecting quality players despite the fact that all through the 1990s the Bills always had their picks coming late in the draft rounds, a consequence of their decade-plus of being one of the league's better teams (and four consecutive years of being the league's second-best team). Butler had a tendency, though, to goof up on some of the financial stuff -- giving big contracts at the same time to Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson, for example, a move that fouled up the Bills' salary cap and resulted in a massive talent-purge and a 3-13 season two years ago; and I never thought Butler had as good an eye for coaching talent as he did for on-field talent. But he was an excellent football man, and he was a major part of the success the Bills enjoyed for more than ten years, starting in 1988 and only ending in 2000, with only two losing seasons in between. And from all reports, Butler's Chargers were on the road to respectability.
John Butler was a fine football man, and he will be missed.
I never quite knew what to make of Butler as GM -- he seemed to have a good eye for talent, putting together a scouting team that constantly had the Bills selecting quality players despite the fact that all through the 1990s the Bills always had their picks coming late in the draft rounds, a consequence of their decade-plus of being one of the league's better teams (and four consecutive years of being the league's second-best team). Butler had a tendency, though, to goof up on some of the financial stuff -- giving big contracts at the same time to Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson, for example, a move that fouled up the Bills' salary cap and resulted in a massive talent-purge and a 3-13 season two years ago; and I never thought Butler had as good an eye for coaching talent as he did for on-field talent. But he was an excellent football man, and he was a major part of the success the Bills enjoyed for more than ten years, starting in 1988 and only ending in 2000, with only two losing seasons in between. And from all reports, Butler's Chargers were on the road to respectability.
John Butler was a fine football man, and he will be missed.
Apparently the image of Saddam Hussein's statue being toppled is to be this war's defining image, becoming symbolically iconic as did the fall of the Berlin Wall fourteen years ago. Here were the teeming masses of Baghdad Iraqis rejoicing as the symbol of their nation's brutal regime came crashing down...except for one thing. Those teeming masses, it turns out, weren't really all that teeming. Bigger crowds have swarmed college football fields to tear down the goalposts after particularly hard-fought and dramatic victories.
So why can't the media actually show it like it really happened?
So why can't the media actually show it like it really happened?
Yesterday I got to listen to The Jim Rome Show for the first time since leaving Buffalo last fall. (Syracuse didn't air it; but then, Syracuse had an ESPN Station, which to my knowledge Buffalo doesn't have.) I'd forgotten how weird the Rome Show can get, what with the e-mails and the incredibly odd calls from "The Clones"....
One thing that Rome pointed out yesterday, which for some reason I found hysterically funny, is that in yesterday's edition of The LA Times, a story about the Lakers was on the front page of the Sports section -- despite the fact that the Lakers had not played the night before -- while, four pages in, the results of the other LA basketball team, the Clippers, was only covered in a wire report from the Associated Press. Thus, the Clippers are now so woeful that the biggest paper in LA doesn't even have a reporter assigned to cover them. I couldn't help but laugh at that.
[Political stuff ahead]
Rome also apparently discussed the flap surrounding the decision by the Baseball Hall of Fame to cancel a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of one of the great sports films, Bull Durham, because actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon have both been vocal in their opposition to the war in Iraq. My take is pretty much exactly what Rome's is: this is colossally stupid, and I'm getting awfully tired of the whole "You have the right to think whatever you want, but you really shouldn't say it" meme that seems prevalent on the Right these days. A boycott is one thing; but I'm frankly sick to death of these veiled insinuations of treason on the part of anyone whose reaction to our President's actions is anything less than "Yes, sir, how high would you like me to jump, sir?"
I'm tired of being told that anti-war Americans are "America-haters" who "blame everything wrong in the world on America". I'm tired of the whole "Love it or leave it" crap; I'm tired of being told that "Supporting the troops while opposing the war" is somehow impossible (this despite the fact that when it was a Democratic President ordering American military action that Republicans opposed, "Support the troops but oppose the war" was the order of the day); and I'm tired of this business of informing protesters or people in the opposition that the mere act of opposition -- you know, that pesky free speech thang -- somehow gives aid to the enemy.
This is complete crap. Stealing technical specifications for an Apache helicopter and giving it to the Iraqi commanders is aiding the enemy. Hacking Donald Rumsfeld's laptop and handing over the plans for troop movements to the Iraqis is giving comfort to the enemy. Going to Iraq and giving anti-American speeches gives aid to the enemy. Protesting a war that a sizable portion of the American public has at some point considered questionable, and doing it peaceably and in the United States, is not treasonous, it is not anti-American, and to imply that it is is more insidiously anti-American than anything that has likely ever crossed the lips of Tim Robbins or Susan Sarandon.
Besides, Bull Durham is a classic film, dammit.
One thing that Rome pointed out yesterday, which for some reason I found hysterically funny, is that in yesterday's edition of The LA Times, a story about the Lakers was on the front page of the Sports section -- despite the fact that the Lakers had not played the night before -- while, four pages in, the results of the other LA basketball team, the Clippers, was only covered in a wire report from the Associated Press. Thus, the Clippers are now so woeful that the biggest paper in LA doesn't even have a reporter assigned to cover them. I couldn't help but laugh at that.
[Political stuff ahead]
Rome also apparently discussed the flap surrounding the decision by the Baseball Hall of Fame to cancel a ceremony marking the 15th anniversary of one of the great sports films, Bull Durham, because actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon have both been vocal in their opposition to the war in Iraq. My take is pretty much exactly what Rome's is: this is colossally stupid, and I'm getting awfully tired of the whole "You have the right to think whatever you want, but you really shouldn't say it" meme that seems prevalent on the Right these days. A boycott is one thing; but I'm frankly sick to death of these veiled insinuations of treason on the part of anyone whose reaction to our President's actions is anything less than "Yes, sir, how high would you like me to jump, sir?"
I'm tired of being told that anti-war Americans are "America-haters" who "blame everything wrong in the world on America". I'm tired of the whole "Love it or leave it" crap; I'm tired of being told that "Supporting the troops while opposing the war" is somehow impossible (this despite the fact that when it was a Democratic President ordering American military action that Republicans opposed, "Support the troops but oppose the war" was the order of the day); and I'm tired of this business of informing protesters or people in the opposition that the mere act of opposition -- you know, that pesky free speech thang -- somehow gives aid to the enemy.
This is complete crap. Stealing technical specifications for an Apache helicopter and giving it to the Iraqi commanders is aiding the enemy. Hacking Donald Rumsfeld's laptop and handing over the plans for troop movements to the Iraqis is giving comfort to the enemy. Going to Iraq and giving anti-American speeches gives aid to the enemy. Protesting a war that a sizable portion of the American public has at some point considered questionable, and doing it peaceably and in the United States, is not treasonous, it is not anti-American, and to imply that it is is more insidiously anti-American than anything that has likely ever crossed the lips of Tim Robbins or Susan Sarandon.
Besides, Bull Durham is a classic film, dammit.
[superstitious sports fan mode ON]
On the last full day that I lived in Syracuse, that town's biggest sports entity -- the men's basketball team at Syracuse University -- won its first NCAA Championship, after several previously unsuccessful trips to the Final Four.
So maybe I should plan on moving again next time the Bills get to the Super Bowl....
[return to rationality]
On the last full day that I lived in Syracuse, that town's biggest sports entity -- the men's basketball team at Syracuse University -- won its first NCAA Championship, after several previously unsuccessful trips to the Final Four.
So maybe I should plan on moving again next time the Bills get to the Super Bowl....
[return to rationality]
VIRGIL BRIGGMAN BACK ON THE AIR
Lest anyone not recognize that bit o' pop-cultural reference, yes, the move is complete. Actually, when I say "The move is complete", I mean that it is "complete" in the sense of, "All our crap has been removed from the Ryder truck and all of said crap is now strewn about our apartment, with walkways whittled through the stacks of cardboard boxes, with none of said walkways being more than eighteen inches wide". Good thing I lost all that weight; it makes negotiating an apartment that is in the mid-stages of "moving-in" at least somewhat easier.
I also can't resist one final knock on the weather of Syracuse: I've never lived in a place that received less sunlight than Syracuse. It was constantly overcast in a way that made me think of the Scottish Highlands, or of those dank moors in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Now that we're in Buffalo, both of the last two mornings have yielded brilliant, cloudless sunrises. And for all of Buffalo's charms, this city will never be known for its sunlight.
Lest anyone not recognize that bit o' pop-cultural reference, yes, the move is complete. Actually, when I say "The move is complete", I mean that it is "complete" in the sense of, "All our crap has been removed from the Ryder truck and all of said crap is now strewn about our apartment, with walkways whittled through the stacks of cardboard boxes, with none of said walkways being more than eighteen inches wide". Good thing I lost all that weight; it makes negotiating an apartment that is in the mid-stages of "moving-in" at least somewhat easier.
I also can't resist one final knock on the weather of Syracuse: I've never lived in a place that received less sunlight than Syracuse. It was constantly overcast in a way that made me think of the Scottish Highlands, or of those dank moors in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Now that we're in Buffalo, both of the last two mornings have yielded brilliant, cloudless sunrises. And for all of Buffalo's charms, this city will never be known for its sunlight.
Sunday, April 06, 2003
I wish I could say that my experience living in Syracuse had been better; I'm sure my impression of this city has been unfairly colored by the fact that we moved here just in time for a pretty harsh winter, and on the last weekend of our stay here -- the weekend during which we had to get everything packed up and finalized -- the Central New York region (actually, much of upstate and other regions as well) was hit by an ice storm that knocked out power to thousands of people, including us.
Thus it came to pass that we were packing by candlelight yesterday; we were reduced to a tiny hand-held radio that I bought for carrying on walks for contact with the outside world; we weren't able to shower for two days; we couldn't open the fridge for fear of letting the warm air into it (until we later got some ice at a minimart and stuffed the thing full, which made me wonder whatever happened to the word "icebox"). Et cetera and so forth. We did get out to eat, finding an Applebee's that had electricity (the place was packed, and it also happened to be the lunchtime choice for two dozen or so electric-company workers) and later going to the Carousel Center (Syracuse's main mall) to indulge in the delights of the food court and dessert at the Cold Stone Creamery. (This is one of those ice-cream places where they put a hunk of ice cream on a marble slab and then fold a bunch of goodies into it before serving it in a waffle-bowl.)
So: I hated the weather that we endured while living here, and I didn't live here long enough to get to know the city or find those "hidden treasures" that every local knows about but visitors so often refuse to either investigate or even admit their existence in the first place. I still think Syracuse is too small a pond for me, personally, but as we get ready to leave, I can't help but think that maybe I could have learned to like this place a lot, even if I'm not sure I ever would really have loved it.
Farewell, then, Syracuse. All of my griping aside, I had a lot of fun here, and I do hope to visit again...once in a while. Especially in 2031, when I expect DestiNY USA to actually be up and running.
Here begins my hiatus until the move is complete. I hope to be back posting on Wednesday, but more likely Thursday. Until then, feel free to check out the fine folks in my blogroll, filed under "Other Journeys". And visit them often, so that they notice me in their referral logs and link back to me! (Yes, I'm a blog slob. Woe....)
Good luck, phasers on stun, Kirk out.
(Oh, yes, I almost forgot: Hey, people of Syracuse! Good luck on that other little thing that's occupying all of your minds right now...)
Friday, April 04, 2003
Journalism in wartime is a difficult endeavour -- and it's a particularly dangerous one if you happen to be a reporter working from the actual battlefields. Many great writers and newspeople have achieved their greatness through their work during wartime, people like Bill Mauldin, Walter Cronkite, and Eric Severeid; and some journalists have died in the course of their reportage -- most famously, Ernie Pyle, who was killed during the opening days of the American campaign to take Okinawa in WWII.
War is no less dangerous for the journalists today than it was back then. Today, two journalists were killed in separate incidents: Michael Kelly (American, editor-at-large for The Atlantic Monthly) and Kaveh Golestan (Iranian, photo-journalist and 1980 Pulitzer Prize winner). The willingness to go into harm's way is admirable, whether it is a soldier who does it because he's ordered to do it or a reporter who does it so that we, at home, can understand why and how. I admire these people, and I grieve at their deaths.
War is no less dangerous for the journalists today than it was back then. Today, two journalists were killed in separate incidents: Michael Kelly (American, editor-at-large for The Atlantic Monthly) and Kaveh Golestan (Iranian, photo-journalist and 1980 Pulitzer Prize winner). The willingness to go into harm's way is admirable, whether it is a soldier who does it because he's ordered to do it or a reporter who does it so that we, at home, can understand why and how. I admire these people, and I grieve at their deaths.
As the baseball season gets underway, here's an intriguing set of predictions as to how the season will go. There's a lot of methodology here -- they use a slew of computer stats to play the season something like 50 times, and then they average out the standings to generally predict where each team should end up. Of course, it's about this time that Chris Berman says, "That's why they play the games", but this is as good a summation of where the teams stand on paper that I've seen.
My favorite living fantasy author (a distinction I have to make so as to avoid appearing to diss J.R.R. Tolkien), Guy Gavriel Kay, has a new book of poetry coming out this weekend, Beyond This Dark House. That's an Amazon.ca link; I'm not sure when the book will show up in the US, but Amazon.ca will ship to the States, as I understand it. (Of course, those of us fortunate enough to be living in cities fairly close to the Canadian border can always just hop on over and pick up the book at Chapters...which I'll be doing next month, probably, when we make our annual trek to Toronto for, among other things, dim sum in Chinatown.)
I missed out, unfortunately, on winning a signed copy of the book via a limerick-writing contest on the GGK site, Bright Weavings. Everyone who hangs out on the forums there was allowed to submit two limericks pertaining to GGK's books; my entries, predictably, were placed in the "also-ran" column. I'm just not a good poet...
(Out of respect for, well, the English language I'm not going to archive my entries here. Suffice it to say, they're available on said forums; anyone sufficiently intrigued should do their own searching!)
I missed out, unfortunately, on winning a signed copy of the book via a limerick-writing contest on the GGK site, Bright Weavings. Everyone who hangs out on the forums there was allowed to submit two limericks pertaining to GGK's books; my entries, predictably, were placed in the "also-ran" column. I'm just not a good poet...
(Out of respect for, well, the English language I'm not going to archive my entries here. Suffice it to say, they're available on said forums; anyone sufficiently intrigued should do their own searching!)
North of Syracuse there is a town called Oswego, which is right on the shores of Lake Ontario. In the time we lived here, we never managed to trek up there and see what that town is like, but the poor town was mentioned prominently on the TV news during just about every major bit of winter weather that came through. It seemed, to this dispassionate and soon-to-be-former observer, that for every inch of snow Syracuse received, Oswego received nine.
So in the insult-added-to-injury department, Oswego got shut down by the weather again last night, although it wasn't snow. This time it was lots and lots of freezing rain.
So in the insult-added-to-injury department, Oswego got shut down by the weather again last night, although it wasn't snow. This time it was lots and lots of freezing rain.
While I'm plugging Dominion, he's got a good cautionary post directed toward parents who may be considering getting a pet rabbit for the kids at Easter.
A few days ago, the left-wing blogosphere held a special "Make Fun of Dick Cheney" day, in support of the parody site Whitehouse.org, which a while back received some correspondence from the Office of the Vice President's Counsel because someone over there apparently didn't like being made fun of, or something.
Anyhoo, my favorite bit of "Make Fun of Dick Cheney" stuff is over at Dominion's blog, where he has collected a selection of funny jokes about Cheney from the likes of Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, and even George W. Bush himself.
Anyhoo, my favorite bit of "Make Fun of Dick Cheney" stuff is over at Dominion's blog, where he has collected a selection of funny jokes about Cheney from the likes of Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, and even George W. Bush himself.
Thursday, April 03, 2003
IMAGE OF THE WEEK
A "reflection nebula" in the Orion constellation.
The Orion Nebula is one of the better-known astronomical objects. Less well-known is this secondary nebula to the Orion Nebula's north. It is called a "reflection nebula" because, rather than glowing by reflected starlight, the nebula is actually glowing by the reflected light of another nebula. I love the colorations of this image.
(Shamelessly filched from Short Fat Guy, a nice blog that I would visit more often if the images forming his left-hand sidebar didn't make me hungry every time I look there.)
A "reflection nebula" in the Orion constellation.
The Orion Nebula is one of the better-known astronomical objects. Less well-known is this secondary nebula to the Orion Nebula's north. It is called a "reflection nebula" because, rather than glowing by reflected starlight, the nebula is actually glowing by the reflected light of another nebula. I love the colorations of this image.
(Shamelessly filched from Short Fat Guy, a nice blog that I would visit more often if the images forming his left-hand sidebar didn't make me hungry every time I look there.)
The rather fawning profile of our war-time President is making the rounds. The passage that bothers me is this one:
It's not Bush's religious visions that give me pause here -- although, quite frankly, they do; I've never liked being around people who are so certain of God's opinions -- but the whole bit of secrecy involving the Presidency that is at the heart of this administration. True, no President really likes the press, and generally administrations try to keep their cards hidden at all times; but the degree to which this administration wants to keep everyone in the dark as to what's going on is truly awe-inspiring. Historians are going to have a hell of a time chronicling the years of Bush the Younger, between Bush's decision to keep Presidential papers off-limits indefinitely and his obvious lack of introspection that leads him to reject even the most standard types of record-keeping.
Hell, Bush's own father -- Bush the Elder -- kept diaries and notes during his Presidency, and later generated at least one book (A World Transformed) about the seminal events of his years in office. Somehow I can't see Bush the Younger ever being interested in history enough to put his own pen to paper, and he doesn't seem sympathetic at all to the other people who will have such interests.
I think it's going to be fascinating, twenty or thirty years from now, to see what Presidential historians make of this man.
Bush believes he was called by God to lead the nation at this time, says Commerce Secretary Don Evans, a close friend who talks with Bush every day. His history degree from Yale makes him mindful of the importance of the moment. He knows he's making ''history-changing decisions,'' Evans says. But Bush doesn't keep a diary or other personal record of the events that will form his legacy. Aides take notes, but there's no stenographer in most meetings, nor are they videotaped or recorded.
It's not Bush's religious visions that give me pause here -- although, quite frankly, they do; I've never liked being around people who are so certain of God's opinions -- but the whole bit of secrecy involving the Presidency that is at the heart of this administration. True, no President really likes the press, and generally administrations try to keep their cards hidden at all times; but the degree to which this administration wants to keep everyone in the dark as to what's going on is truly awe-inspiring. Historians are going to have a hell of a time chronicling the years of Bush the Younger, between Bush's decision to keep Presidential papers off-limits indefinitely and his obvious lack of introspection that leads him to reject even the most standard types of record-keeping.
Hell, Bush's own father -- Bush the Elder -- kept diaries and notes during his Presidency, and later generated at least one book (A World Transformed) about the seminal events of his years in office. Somehow I can't see Bush the Younger ever being interested in history enough to put his own pen to paper, and he doesn't seem sympathetic at all to the other people who will have such interests.
I think it's going to be fascinating, twenty or thirty years from now, to see what Presidential historians make of this man.
Another memo to self: When attending a science-fiction and fantasy convention, don't annoy author Jo Walton. (Or, I suspect, get into a discussion with David Brin.)
Memo to self: I need to read TBOGG more. I've visited him sporadically for a while -- mainly when Atrios cites something there -- but having read this post, I just have to admire the dark sense of humor that obviously holds sway in a person who can morph Peggy Noonan into a character from a Shirley Jackson story.
About ten days ago a warm spell arrived in the Syracuse region, which melted off most of the winter snow and made some of the grass turn green. Along with the arrival of spring came the flocks of seagulls. (And now, by virtue of merely typing those three words, "I Ran (So Far Away)" is going through my head. Ah, the hell of having come of age in the 1980s....)
But then we got a last-gasp blast of wintry weather, with a few inches of snow the other day; this resulted in the comical sight of seven or eight seagulls sitting hunched atop every streetlight in the area. (Comical for me, that is. I'm sure the gulls themselves saw none of the humor in it; they're probably thinking, "What the hell?!")
Well, it's still cooler than the warm spell, but the snow has again melted and the gulls are picking at that muddy stuff that exists in between the "permafrost" ground of winter and the green, green grass of summer. And they're occasionally scurrying to avoid the rabid golfers who insist on playing in weather that puts them in mind of a quick tour of the links but which puts me in mind of "The Hound of the Baskervilles".
If Spring is your favorite season, then don't move to Upstate New York. Spring here always sucks.
But then we got a last-gasp blast of wintry weather, with a few inches of snow the other day; this resulted in the comical sight of seven or eight seagulls sitting hunched atop every streetlight in the area. (Comical for me, that is. I'm sure the gulls themselves saw none of the humor in it; they're probably thinking, "What the hell?!")
Well, it's still cooler than the warm spell, but the snow has again melted and the gulls are picking at that muddy stuff that exists in between the "permafrost" ground of winter and the green, green grass of summer. And they're occasionally scurrying to avoid the rabid golfers who insist on playing in weather that puts them in mind of a quick tour of the links but which puts me in mind of "The Hound of the Baskervilles".
If Spring is your favorite season, then don't move to Upstate New York. Spring here always sucks.
Wednesday, April 02, 2003
The eyes of the boxing world my focus this June on Buffalo, if a set of fights involving Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson (although not against one another) are successfully scheduled. Ralph Wilson Stadium -- home of the Buffalo Bills -- would likely host the event, which could feature Buffalo's own local boxing star, Joe Mesi, in one of the bouts.
As an affirmed Buffalo-chauvinist, I'm always in favor of putting a little national spotlight on the Niagara Frontier for reasons other than snow (although, hey, snow's fine too), so a big boxing event would be neat. I'd love to see Buffalo get into the act of hosting bigger sporting events; the HSBC Arena, for example, would be a great place to hold the NCAA Final Four, for example, or the World Figure Skating Championships. I've never thought that Buffalo does enough to attract big-time attention to itself, so a big boxing event could work.
(Although, as far as boxing itself goes, I can't say that I care all that much. It's not my favorite sport, not by a long-shot. My take on boxing is swiped from a stand-up comedian I saw on TV years ago, whose name I can't recall: "You have to wonder about a society that considers masturbation 'self-abuse' and boxing 'a sport'.")
As an affirmed Buffalo-chauvinist, I'm always in favor of putting a little national spotlight on the Niagara Frontier for reasons other than snow (although, hey, snow's fine too), so a big boxing event would be neat. I'd love to see Buffalo get into the act of hosting bigger sporting events; the HSBC Arena, for example, would be a great place to hold the NCAA Final Four, for example, or the World Figure Skating Championships. I've never thought that Buffalo does enough to attract big-time attention to itself, so a big boxing event could work.
(Although, as far as boxing itself goes, I can't say that I care all that much. It's not my favorite sport, not by a long-shot. My take on boxing is swiped from a stand-up comedian I saw on TV years ago, whose name I can't recall: "You have to wonder about a society that considers masturbation 'self-abuse' and boxing 'a sport'.")
In the time I've been reading SDB faithfully -- since before I launched Byzantium's Shores, which was in turn almost fourteen months ago, and I still read him pretty much daily -- I've noticed that SDB chafes when people try to label him in certain ways. He doesn't like being characterized as a conservative, a right-winger, or a libertarian, among others, and he can generally cite some of his personal beliefs that illustrate his dislike of whatever label is in the offing. He'll actively endorse other labels for himself, though -- Jacksonian, for example, or "ethical cynic". But for the most part, SDB seems to cultivate a general dislike for labels, and for grouping people together except for matters of pure convenience.
Which brings me to (gulp) France.
SDB really doesn't like France. I mean, he really doesn't like France. Of course, he's got a lot of company in the America of "Freedom Fries"; but SDB has been railing against France for a lot longer than most other Americans have been burning down laundromats which their owners decided years ago to call "French Cleaners". SDB hated France before hating France was cool, to the point where his post on the first anniversary of 9-11-01 was -- you guessed it -- a diatribe on how much he dislikes France.
So in the last week, he's engaged in a bit of conspiracy theory about French motives in opposing the Iraqi war; it turns out there's some French company that would benefit by the war not taking place, with said benefits also accruing to President Chirac and others in the French government. This may be so, but I'm a bit nonplussed by the general warblogger position that of course France opposes the war on motives of pure economic gain, but to suggest even slightly that the Bush Administration favors war even in part on such similar motives (Halliburton? Bechtel?) is, well, dumb at best and "America hating treason" at worst.
And then, there's SDB's response to the vandalism and desecration of cemeteries where the British and American dead were interred after World War II and various other conflicts. To desecrate such a place is one of the most cowardly and odious things a person can do, and I agree that whoever did this is utterly, spectacularly vile. But to then go on, as SDB does, to interpret this act as indicative of the entire nation's beliefs is utterly absurd. He says:
It certainly demonstrates the blackness of somebody's soul, to be sure. But every Frenchman or Frenchwoman? Come on. And no, polling statistics on French attitudes don't make the connection between that country's anti-war attitude and this specific act of desecration either, despite this claim to the contrary:
This kind of "lumping of everyone together" into one gigantic political tent has not been a pleasant development in American politics, and I don't think it bodes well for international affairs, either. The entire nation of France should not be held accountable for this desecration any more than the millions of Americans who oppose abortion should be considered accessories to James Kopp's murder of Dr. Slepian; this desecration no more demonstrates "the blackness of the French soul" than does the acts of a couple of hillbillies in Jasper, Texas demonstrate "the blackness of the Texan soul".
(BTW, I have little doubt that if there were a French military graveyard somewhere on American soil, it would have received some similar desecration by now. There's always some boob out there willing to go that extra mile to make his beliefs known. Witness what happened to this poor laundry owner.)
Which brings me to (gulp) France.
SDB really doesn't like France. I mean, he really doesn't like France. Of course, he's got a lot of company in the America of "Freedom Fries"; but SDB has been railing against France for a lot longer than most other Americans have been burning down laundromats which their owners decided years ago to call "French Cleaners". SDB hated France before hating France was cool, to the point where his post on the first anniversary of 9-11-01 was -- you guessed it -- a diatribe on how much he dislikes France.
So in the last week, he's engaged in a bit of conspiracy theory about French motives in opposing the Iraqi war; it turns out there's some French company that would benefit by the war not taking place, with said benefits also accruing to President Chirac and others in the French government. This may be so, but I'm a bit nonplussed by the general warblogger position that of course France opposes the war on motives of pure economic gain, but to suggest even slightly that the Bush Administration favors war even in part on such similar motives (Halliburton? Bechtel?) is, well, dumb at best and "America hating treason" at worst.
And then, there's SDB's response to the vandalism and desecration of cemeteries where the British and American dead were interred after World War II and various other conflicts. To desecrate such a place is one of the most cowardly and odious things a person can do, and I agree that whoever did this is utterly, spectacularly vile. But to then go on, as SDB does, to interpret this act as indicative of the entire nation's beliefs is utterly absurd. He says:
There can be no greater demonstration of the blackness of the French soul than this desecration.
It certainly demonstrates the blackness of somebody's soul, to be sure. But every Frenchman or Frenchwoman? Come on. And no, polling statistics on French attitudes don't make the connection between that country's anti-war attitude and this specific act of desecration either, despite this claim to the contrary:
I would suspect that the majority of the French will deplore this vandalism. But they won't disagree with the fundamental opinions of those who committed it. They will deplore the means by which the message was delivered, but not the message itself.
This kind of "lumping of everyone together" into one gigantic political tent has not been a pleasant development in American politics, and I don't think it bodes well for international affairs, either. The entire nation of France should not be held accountable for this desecration any more than the millions of Americans who oppose abortion should be considered accessories to James Kopp's murder of Dr. Slepian; this desecration no more demonstrates "the blackness of the French soul" than does the acts of a couple of hillbillies in Jasper, Texas demonstrate "the blackness of the Texan soul".
(BTW, I have little doubt that if there were a French military graveyard somewhere on American soil, it would have received some similar desecration by now. There's always some boob out there willing to go that extra mile to make his beliefs known. Witness what happened to this poor laundry owner.)
You know, I'm just about ready to give up trying to figure out where 24 is going. I mean, I have no intention of not watching it; I am as hooked on this damned show as much as I've ever been hooked on anything. But whenever I read or watch an espionage thriller, I tend to expend a lot of effort trying to figure things out. (Not that I'm all that successful, all the time....) But now, I'm totally at a loss as to what's going on. What started with a simple race-against-time-to-stop-the-terrorist-scheme has become, rather audaciously in my view, a race-against-time-to-stop-World-War-III. The closing moments of last night's episode, in which yet another rogue group seemed to show up, just sealed the deal. I have absolutely no idea where they're going with this. They could have the 24th episode of this year be a montage of shots depicting the world ending in nuclear holocaust, and I wouldn't be any more surprised than I would be if everything wraps up next week and Jack Bauer spends the remaining eight episodes or whatever soaking in a bathtub with scented salts and oils.
As for The Misadventures of Kim Bauer, I've come to almost see her storyline as comic relief as she gets herself into one scrape after another. Maybe next week she'll get tossed into a lockup cell with Nina Myers....
As for The Misadventures of Kim Bauer, I've come to almost see her storyline as comic relief as she gets herself into one scrape after another. Maybe next week she'll get tossed into a lockup cell with Nina Myers....
An update on the St. Bonaventure University basketball scandal: the Atlantic-10 Conference has decided to allow SBU to remain in the conference, while also levying some hefty fines for the basketball team's forfeiture of its final two regular season games following an eligibility gaffe (that's putting it mildly) in which a player was strong-armed through the admissions process by the head coach and the SBU president, despite his very obvious lack of eligibility. The president, Robert Wickenheiser, has already resigned, while the head coach and several others are still on administrative leave (which basically means, "You're done, but we're trying to figure out a way to get rid of you without having to pay your entire contract").
Maintenance notes and Meta-blog entries abound:
:: I'm supposed to be on hiatus for moving purposes starting today, but I'm not, I guess. Things are moving smoothly enough that I may limit my hiatus to this Friday until next Wednesday. Or so. Of course, I shall keep everyone informed.
:: I've just noticed that I've been permalinked by The Rittenhouse Review, which is a very pleasant surprise. Thanks, Mr. Capozzola!
:: I finally got around to updating Reverie and Passion today. (For newcomers, this is a side-project of mine, a blog pertaining to classical music in general with a specific focus on this year's bicentennary of my favorite composer's birth, Hector Berlioz.)
:: I'm supposed to be on hiatus for moving purposes starting today, but I'm not, I guess. Things are moving smoothly enough that I may limit my hiatus to this Friday until next Wednesday. Or so. Of course, I shall keep everyone informed.
:: I've just noticed that I've been permalinked by The Rittenhouse Review, which is a very pleasant surprise. Thanks, Mr. Capozzola!
:: I finally got around to updating Reverie and Passion today. (For newcomers, this is a side-project of mine, a blog pertaining to classical music in general with a specific focus on this year's bicentennary of my favorite composer's birth, Hector Berlioz.)
Tuesday, April 01, 2003
I had a bunch of funny changes (at least, I thought they were funny) that I was going to make to my sidebar in honor of April Fool's Day; however, now that the day is into the mid-afternoon, I'm thinking, "What's the point". Anyway, I was going to change the names in "Other Journeys" (my blogroll, for newcomers) to reflect alternate realities. Some of the changes I was going to make include:
Eschaton was going to be Little Green Footballs.
USS Clueless was going to be The Patron Saint of Brevity.
Interact was going to be Liv Tyler For President. (Sean doesn't care for Liv Tyler as Arwen in the LOTR movies.)
Archipelapogo, a liberal who lives in Dallas, was going to be Texans to Re-elect the President.
Rachel Lucas, a conservative in Texas, was going to be Texans for Hillary.
Wil Wheaton Dot Net was going to be The Kid Everyone Hated On Star Trek.
Charles Stross, the fine SF writer from Edinburgh, was going to be linked with the old SNL line: If it's nae Scottish, IT'S CRAP!.
Caitlin R. Kiernan was to become Kaitlin R. Ciernan. (Best I could do....)
The Rittenhouse Review was to be renamed Specter '04!!!.
CalPundit was to be morphed into Dinesh D'Souza.
Oliver Willis? Today, he was to be Daniel Snyder's Bee-otch.
A Skeptical Blog would have become The Uri Gellar Fan Club.
And my favorite, Hullabaloo, was to be rechristened as The Peggy Noonan Estrogen Brigade.
I was also going to change the names of the books I'm currently reading: Hey, This Office Has No Corners! by George W. Bush; an Emeril Lagasse cookbook entitled Recipes for Writers, or, One Hundred Ways To Prepare Ramen Noodles; and Peter Jackson's memoir, Confessions of a Sweeping Helicopter Shot Fetishist.
Oh well, what could have been....
(And thanks to Matthew Yglesias, for directing some much-appreciated traffic my way. For a minute I thought that SiteMeter had been taken down in whatever flames consumed Blogger this morning! No, EMTSDB is not going to be a regular feature here, I am sorry to say. I do hope Steven sees it, though, because I think he'd find it amusing.)
Eschaton was going to be Little Green Footballs.
USS Clueless was going to be The Patron Saint of Brevity.
Interact was going to be Liv Tyler For President. (Sean doesn't care for Liv Tyler as Arwen in the LOTR movies.)
Archipelapogo, a liberal who lives in Dallas, was going to be Texans to Re-elect the President.
Rachel Lucas, a conservative in Texas, was going to be Texans for Hillary.
Wil Wheaton Dot Net was going to be The Kid Everyone Hated On Star Trek.
Charles Stross, the fine SF writer from Edinburgh, was going to be linked with the old SNL line: If it's nae Scottish, IT'S CRAP!.
Caitlin R. Kiernan was to become Kaitlin R. Ciernan. (Best I could do....)
The Rittenhouse Review was to be renamed Specter '04!!!.
CalPundit was to be morphed into Dinesh D'Souza.
Oliver Willis? Today, he was to be Daniel Snyder's Bee-otch.
A Skeptical Blog would have become The Uri Gellar Fan Club.
And my favorite, Hullabaloo, was to be rechristened as The Peggy Noonan Estrogen Brigade.
I was also going to change the names of the books I'm currently reading: Hey, This Office Has No Corners! by George W. Bush; an Emeril Lagasse cookbook entitled Recipes for Writers, or, One Hundred Ways To Prepare Ramen Noodles; and Peter Jackson's memoir, Confessions of a Sweeping Helicopter Shot Fetishist.
Oh well, what could have been....
(And thanks to Matthew Yglesias, for directing some much-appreciated traffic my way. For a minute I thought that SiteMeter had been taken down in whatever flames consumed Blogger this morning! No, EMTSDB is not going to be a regular feature here, I am sorry to say. I do hope Steven sees it, though, because I think he'd find it amusing.)
OK, whatever Blogger is doing to the templates had better be some kind of April Fool's thing. I mean, obviously I'm into it, but I'd rather not have my template changed for me. (I actually had a set of template changes just for today....maybe they'll work later. Only reason I'm noticing this right now is that I couldn't sleep.)
EDIT: Just testing. Now the whole thing seems to be less-than-functional....
ANOTHER EDIT: For a little while last night, my template was seriously loused up, like the Blogger equivalent of The Fly: my posts appeared, OK, but in someone else's template, with that person's links and whatnot. Things here reverted to normal fairly quickly, but I wasn't as fortunate as some -- it appears that the bug afflicted a lot of other blogs, and things are only now getting back to normal. I think. Hmmmm....
EDIT: Just testing. Now the whole thing seems to be less-than-functional....
ANOTHER EDIT: For a little while last night, my template was seriously loused up, like the Blogger equivalent of The Fly: my posts appeared, OK, but in someone else's template, with that person's links and whatnot. Things here reverted to normal fairly quickly, but I wasn't as fortunate as some -- it appears that the bug afflicted a lot of other blogs, and things are only now getting back to normal. I think. Hmmmm....
As of late, Matthew Yglesias has taken over the mantle of composing the "Shorter Steven Den Beste" posts that D-Square Digest began before his intestines flared up. I had considered doing it myself, but I'm just too busy; and besides, I wondered what would happen if we tried to go the other way. So, without further ado, I offer:
(drumroll)
EMTSDB!!!
(That's "Even More Turgid Steven Den Beste").
I figured, "Why make him shorter? Let's make him even more impenetrable!" This I did, by systematically taking a fairly long post of his and running it through Babelfish, translating it into Japanese and then back again. What's scary here is that in parts it seems to scan better, and there's one sentence here that is even more haunting in its computer-translation than in the original. And, it's about 800 words longer!!
:: The United States keeps the election for president job $dm 4 years. Practical problem of the Republican Party member and the democracy person, being to be important not to lie the candidate, but it designates everything of the party. And as a practical problem, the candidate is chosen by the extended order of primary election of various states.
The candidate because of one party or other things is or, when this process of who begins, occasionally that is not clear. But that does the fact that he wins designation, being the conclusion majority which says and is put off 1 candidate is stronger than other everyone frequently.
The reporter attaches on various campaigns, those and travels to various states which parallel to method. And the reporter not being able to give remuneration vis-a-vis speech, " seeing here there is no at all. Next?" A certain way really there is no contest of type with when, depending upon the reporter we want that seeming the way. This happens $dm simply 4 years, after all, that is known when it is the carrier manufacturer of the journalism. Especially, for the tv reporter of the campaign road, as for those many of air time profit you want, that speaking at least it seems the newsworthy way, the average which which is, or concerning either one to find what has the necessity.
So, there is a tendency where especially with the quick primaries, some quantity to the point spreads for the candidate and establishes. With primary election, naturally, there is formal definition of victory: Anyone obtains most polls namely victory. (In many cases, allotment of the representative is proportionate to poll calculation, but, principle is same. But so it is), the candidate is really based, it improves or from it was expected you try badly, how the reporter bringing the standard of a kind of high level.
As for this it can be taken to the ridiculous extreme, he 25% profit, is to enter into the following stage which has new self-confidence in 20% substituting and there is a campaign of the 2nd candidate, but considering influence within the day when that campaign how comes, in order to try the fact that you handle this retreat, whether you re-appraise the maneuvers, being enervated with the presentation which is strong in the extent which obtained 65% of poll in only 75% substituting where he is expected, is surprised the leader copes shock of fainting how and high primary of the specification which is immediately after hears you. While campaign of the leader which tries the fact that this is handled as a sign of reporter seeding is really in trouble, 2nd catches, how it is turned to the position where the leader is struck. Completely, perhaps they furthermore go from victor that of the contest, 2nd declare completely even in the fact that relation first the person obtained two degrees in many from the poll.
Because candidacy to come any that kind of things of rear were known when it happens, but, the majority of times is the rhetorical crock of the reporter of this type. After all, as for fiction of the victory which is based on striking the political point extent to the cool fact that you must deteriorate calculation of the entire representative of the leader has risen to other things faster anyone. But it seems that urges an undecided state which really something should report to the reporter because between, is, it returns to the watch, it continues the viewer.
That me why stops the fact that long time you see news of the tv before and high is. If there is no story, those form one.
Because candidacy to come any that kind of things of rear were known when it happens, but, the majority of times is the rhetorical crock of the reporter of this type. After all, as for fiction of the victory which is based on striking the political point extent to the cool fact that you must deteriorate calculation of the entire representative of the leader has risen to other things faster anyone. But it seems that urges an undecided state which really something should report to the reporter because between, is, it returns to the watch, it continues the viewer.
Organization of the same news and large number of the completely same reporter presently has covered the Iraqi war, non- realistic) I who have lived became aware to expectation absolute actuality of the American campaign is ignored in substituting the tendency which resembles (mainly the fact that you speak part because of that (namely the reporter) the fact that it had something which has happened with battle for organizing the news concerning the progress of war just which well with. Thing goes the well really, but, unless it is, when similar, being thought, as that is defeat, the fact that the United States did not strike the point extent, is reported is meant.
Actuality differs greatly. Take the destiny of the column of escort and the troop who are moved in Iraq as a concrete example. We successfully moved the regiment of the other unit and two entire divisions and the Cav inside the remarkable range of Baghdad just of small-numbered day, was token resistance only. There was a killed and wounded, but, those barely, were in feeling of the thing which really displays the loss of combat power. (Clearly as for those was not barely those series with the sorrow which is felt. It was lost) practical intended because of everything, we wanted, for the present concerning that when with what being done the 3rd infantry unit and the 1st MEF could go to the desired place the Iraqi troop power.
On one hand in the place where the fact that the formation where the Iraqi person is important in order to attack us is moved was tried, now directly there are times when it is plural from the basra or Baghdad. Using air strike and the artillery in order we detect that, to destroy that and something which happens in case of each with that kind of was? When everything which is not the car goes the majority where large portion of the person is killed, or has been hurt.
That problem for the jubilation, is not proper. But as for that the person whom you kill today you tomorrow fighting is the fact that it is not there,; The tank where today it is destroyed by the missile cannot shoot tomorrow with you. You must do in the war, one of the things is in order you murder to destroy, now we so are the adept very by the fact that it does directly. When trying the fact that the column is moved under the cover of the sandstorm where the Iraqi person is principal even, it covered, it thought of those which protect their movement vis-a-vis air strike, when the butchered you obtained, you find the column.
So, while having done, so one being extreme on the 5th with the absolute scale " aggressive effective for the portable column " does not take the damage essentially in you, 300 miles there are we who are moving our columns, other things it is extreme and there are times which Iraq moving try the column to our air power, lose those. Rather than those being in the absolute foundation, the large quantity good we have been clear.
But that is not whether the publication is that cover or. Being in part, in addition you witnessed as for portion of the small behavior where there is a large number of the reporter who was imbedded it happened with the beginning exposure to actuality of war, that scale and the magnitude which are interpreted ?. They the platoon of the marine soldier are small swaying vis-a-vis the grip of the Fedayeen, you observe at that you engage, you observe at that the American dies and plural per seat become the person, as the time that " " heavy resistance " and principal fight " so been, you speak concerning that. It is possible to be exactly large fight really, or whether that the vividness where entire scarcity of understanding is connected is the example which is made to misunderstand. When what which is seen as the loom of his himself eye where the reporter is large very especially he really does not possess with anything in order to compare that for the scale.
Really it is the brusqueness which is the receiving electricity edge of " heavy resistance " coming in order or to witness the result of catastrophe of the true troop, like the thing in order to see, every one of the reporters presently note of our air power or the artillery was caught directly at one of the Iraqi columns, is not. They after that should report the result, first it is not. Being, (with, even excessively because of those good fortune)
But in addition as for the reporter in the coverage of the primaries you engage with the same kind of phony and you acquire the handicap which it continues to that. Obtaining you obtain, the American them does not move the column, only source of minor trouble has faced, the Iraqi person has been possible them being destroyed the column, but, it is to be supposed in order the point the American is better than that and to do. Regardless of absolute state, they did not strike the point extent. We should have, in addition they did not do. The Iraqi resistance is strong in the extent which is surprised. The American movement rather than being expected, is difficult. The American killed and wounded rather than being expected, is heavy. The American order has fainted by reconsidering the maneuvers which are based on resistance and retreat. The leader of the Iraqi troop is the jubilant concerning the function which resists. As for victory of campaign there is doubt.
And that everything has inquired about those which is only heart of the reporter or the reporter. The causing ? where the Iraqi person really wins the fight of the absolute term at the place where it is not as for that the presages of the expectation which each side of efficiency for artificial expectation of compilation from on the other hand has been based on the absolute result of lucid appraisal, and the thought of type completely the failure which type achieves without fail the after the necessary.
As for that it is possible to happen. Nothing of wars is certain. But furthermore the smart you bet the gold with the leader.
Our ranges depending, you desired the fact that it brings the surrender of the principal Iraqi unit with wholesaling in at this war which is possible. Perhaps instead to be less clear now being to many unit us rather than little the wholesale escape of the importance with respect to the military affair, you encourage, but, thought at times little that it had become because it is skillful that it caused the ? was not. That had the value of attempt, but, plan did not require that. Large number of the Iraqi unit which remains does not hand from war and, being not to sit down, we must destroy those, the fact that is done. We must kill many of the person of those units, desired everything of the nearly-bloodless war where that means the fact that the fact that is done means the fact that now it goes. And our units being battle in addition that it means, no human applying of our people dies the person, or the fact that is is meant.
We had always known that it is a certain unit, it fights; What and in the place that was question more. Now we know rather mainly, that is the following step. Actually, as for that it continues already because of the couple of day.
And placing in mind became weak call by result of the custom military power of important this Iraq, it continues to become weak. If being the idiotic because Syria does (with as for the Syrian government so directly it becomes and I do not intervene do not expect those), then there is no reinforcement of the important troop because of Iraq. Having there, if the small stream of the weapon which in addition comes and smuggled from a certain Syria, does not have, already, it stops that eventually completely. It is everything which does the fact that he whom now it has in order to fight with some Saddam has. Actually he being at the bit one time which has been defeated, to that air strike rather than doing the fact that he has it is many, is that.
Function of the custom Iraqi troop, day, has decreased irreversibly to day. The person or the device or supply are not exchanged you losing.
But that is not in case of us so. Our terrestrial combat formations were not impaired almost. Those have been possible now re-being supplied. Three American division is moving to the theater. The navy and the air force ship the missile from supply in order to exchange those which the bomb profit, are used. Although our helicopters and the jet aircraft continuing to decrease the value of battle of the Republican Party supervision, our powers of the theater have risen.
Observe to without being done to we. Us as for the unit you went to bed between this lull, obtained many supplies, to take the worry of maintenance, the device could prepare many battles what you have obtained, does not look at the threat of every enemy of the Iraqi of the sky air force was entire no permission absence, they made start only the grip of the missile. (For the present. We, on the other hand what which was seen, become from the source of trouble a little more.
One car and the grip of attack of the sniper of town the rear section by Iraq " opposing to expectation, strong presentation " Baghdad which it does being soon, with respect to the military affair which the effect of the bomber of hundred assaults which attack the part of the RG is compared are trivial.
But the reporter looks at the result of the bomb of that car. He perhaps that you know no person of 4 marine soldiers whom that kills it comes. Peace it comes from existence, experiences war never directly, that like unimaginable catastrophe does not seem the way. When, on one hand the bomb starts falling those that like in the land of the Iraqi position, he does not see.
Rather than being made we, we have done many hells.
It is good, can obtain. But the Iraqi person was expected it dies being the droves,; As for that the point which spread in the war is so enormous and coming why was is. From " being expected thing well, " building momentum " it does the absolute result which it cannot curve namely concerning that each side " by doing how approximately is, see.
Simply it is not that. As for at this war whether concerning some side which is not decided by the poll of the reporter it won the edge, you vote. Perhaps, for the football of the NCAA, but work of victory of war comes from the concrete success of the battlefield, that is appraised in the prosaic foundation.
Really it is not that concerning body calculation. As Vietnam proves clearly, rather than victory losing you where you do not mean the fact that you kill the enemy. But rather than it means that and we having been defeated, there is no relationship to which we have been defeated, or directly many from the fact that they are their devices and supply it destroys the fact that we have killed the Iraqi soldier directly. Those things do not guarantee victory, as for us without those to win, longer it is not possible.
Method of the only substance with expectation when and the fact that you have not lived is really kept to those by our leaders and our poll people who are important, really loses the center and when brings in order to withdraw, it is we. But entirely because of the nattering, Prime Minister Bush president and Blair shows the sign of the thing which becomes weak by the publication, we being supposed continue because it requires many of the killed and wounded for us who at this war of the thing which we still think can take between the large portion where we are strong verifying it shows the poll of opinion of the American poll person clearly.
There is no point which spreads in the war.
(drumroll)
EMTSDB!!!
(That's "Even More Turgid Steven Den Beste").
I figured, "Why make him shorter? Let's make him even more impenetrable!" This I did, by systematically taking a fairly long post of his and running it through Babelfish, translating it into Japanese and then back again. What's scary here is that in parts it seems to scan better, and there's one sentence here that is even more haunting in its computer-translation than in the original. And, it's about 800 words longer!!
:: The United States keeps the election for president job $dm 4 years. Practical problem of the Republican Party member and the democracy person, being to be important not to lie the candidate, but it designates everything of the party. And as a practical problem, the candidate is chosen by the extended order of primary election of various states.
The candidate because of one party or other things is or, when this process of who begins, occasionally that is not clear. But that does the fact that he wins designation, being the conclusion majority which says and is put off 1 candidate is stronger than other everyone frequently.
The reporter attaches on various campaigns, those and travels to various states which parallel to method. And the reporter not being able to give remuneration vis-a-vis speech, " seeing here there is no at all. Next?" A certain way really there is no contest of type with when, depending upon the reporter we want that seeming the way. This happens $dm simply 4 years, after all, that is known when it is the carrier manufacturer of the journalism. Especially, for the tv reporter of the campaign road, as for those many of air time profit you want, that speaking at least it seems the newsworthy way, the average which which is, or concerning either one to find what has the necessity.
So, there is a tendency where especially with the quick primaries, some quantity to the point spreads for the candidate and establishes. With primary election, naturally, there is formal definition of victory: Anyone obtains most polls namely victory. (In many cases, allotment of the representative is proportionate to poll calculation, but, principle is same. But so it is), the candidate is really based, it improves or from it was expected you try badly, how the reporter bringing the standard of a kind of high level.
As for this it can be taken to the ridiculous extreme, he 25% profit, is to enter into the following stage which has new self-confidence in 20% substituting and there is a campaign of the 2nd candidate, but considering influence within the day when that campaign how comes, in order to try the fact that you handle this retreat, whether you re-appraise the maneuvers, being enervated with the presentation which is strong in the extent which obtained 65% of poll in only 75% substituting where he is expected, is surprised the leader copes shock of fainting how and high primary of the specification which is immediately after hears you. While campaign of the leader which tries the fact that this is handled as a sign of reporter seeding is really in trouble, 2nd catches, how it is turned to the position where the leader is struck. Completely, perhaps they furthermore go from victor that of the contest, 2nd declare completely even in the fact that relation first the person obtained two degrees in many from the poll.
Because candidacy to come any that kind of things of rear were known when it happens, but, the majority of times is the rhetorical crock of the reporter of this type. After all, as for fiction of the victory which is based on striking the political point extent to the cool fact that you must deteriorate calculation of the entire representative of the leader has risen to other things faster anyone. But it seems that urges an undecided state which really something should report to the reporter because between, is, it returns to the watch, it continues the viewer.
That me why stops the fact that long time you see news of the tv before and high is. If there is no story, those form one.
Because candidacy to come any that kind of things of rear were known when it happens, but, the majority of times is the rhetorical crock of the reporter of this type. After all, as for fiction of the victory which is based on striking the political point extent to the cool fact that you must deteriorate calculation of the entire representative of the leader has risen to other things faster anyone. But it seems that urges an undecided state which really something should report to the reporter because between, is, it returns to the watch, it continues the viewer.
Organization of the same news and large number of the completely same reporter presently has covered the Iraqi war, non- realistic) I who have lived became aware to expectation absolute actuality of the American campaign is ignored in substituting the tendency which resembles (mainly the fact that you speak part because of that (namely the reporter) the fact that it had something which has happened with battle for organizing the news concerning the progress of war just which well with. Thing goes the well really, but, unless it is, when similar, being thought, as that is defeat, the fact that the United States did not strike the point extent, is reported is meant.
Actuality differs greatly. Take the destiny of the column of escort and the troop who are moved in Iraq as a concrete example. We successfully moved the regiment of the other unit and two entire divisions and the Cav inside the remarkable range of Baghdad just of small-numbered day, was token resistance only. There was a killed and wounded, but, those barely, were in feeling of the thing which really displays the loss of combat power. (Clearly as for those was not barely those series with the sorrow which is felt. It was lost) practical intended because of everything, we wanted, for the present concerning that when with what being done the 3rd infantry unit and the 1st MEF could go to the desired place the Iraqi troop power.
On one hand in the place where the fact that the formation where the Iraqi person is important in order to attack us is moved was tried, now directly there are times when it is plural from the basra or Baghdad. Using air strike and the artillery in order we detect that, to destroy that and something which happens in case of each with that kind of was? When everything which is not the car goes the majority where large portion of the person is killed, or has been hurt.
That problem for the jubilation, is not proper. But as for that the person whom you kill today you tomorrow fighting is the fact that it is not there,; The tank where today it is destroyed by the missile cannot shoot tomorrow with you. You must do in the war, one of the things is in order you murder to destroy, now we so are the adept very by the fact that it does directly. When trying the fact that the column is moved under the cover of the sandstorm where the Iraqi person is principal even, it covered, it thought of those which protect their movement vis-a-vis air strike, when the butchered you obtained, you find the column.
So, while having done, so one being extreme on the 5th with the absolute scale " aggressive effective for the portable column " does not take the damage essentially in you, 300 miles there are we who are moving our columns, other things it is extreme and there are times which Iraq moving try the column to our air power, lose those. Rather than those being in the absolute foundation, the large quantity good we have been clear.
But that is not whether the publication is that cover or. Being in part, in addition you witnessed as for portion of the small behavior where there is a large number of the reporter who was imbedded it happened with the beginning exposure to actuality of war, that scale and the magnitude which are interpreted ?. They the platoon of the marine soldier are small swaying vis-a-vis the grip of the Fedayeen, you observe at that you engage, you observe at that the American dies and plural per seat become the person, as the time that " " heavy resistance " and principal fight " so been, you speak concerning that. It is possible to be exactly large fight really, or whether that the vividness where entire scarcity of understanding is connected is the example which is made to misunderstand. When what which is seen as the loom of his himself eye where the reporter is large very especially he really does not possess with anything in order to compare that for the scale.
Really it is the brusqueness which is the receiving electricity edge of " heavy resistance " coming in order or to witness the result of catastrophe of the true troop, like the thing in order to see, every one of the reporters presently note of our air power or the artillery was caught directly at one of the Iraqi columns, is not. They after that should report the result, first it is not. Being, (with, even excessively because of those good fortune)
But in addition as for the reporter in the coverage of the primaries you engage with the same kind of phony and you acquire the handicap which it continues to that. Obtaining you obtain, the American them does not move the column, only source of minor trouble has faced, the Iraqi person has been possible them being destroyed the column, but, it is to be supposed in order the point the American is better than that and to do. Regardless of absolute state, they did not strike the point extent. We should have, in addition they did not do. The Iraqi resistance is strong in the extent which is surprised. The American movement rather than being expected, is difficult. The American killed and wounded rather than being expected, is heavy. The American order has fainted by reconsidering the maneuvers which are based on resistance and retreat. The leader of the Iraqi troop is the jubilant concerning the function which resists. As for victory of campaign there is doubt.
And that everything has inquired about those which is only heart of the reporter or the reporter. The causing ? where the Iraqi person really wins the fight of the absolute term at the place where it is not as for that the presages of the expectation which each side of efficiency for artificial expectation of compilation from on the other hand has been based on the absolute result of lucid appraisal, and the thought of type completely the failure which type achieves without fail the after the necessary.
As for that it is possible to happen. Nothing of wars is certain. But furthermore the smart you bet the gold with the leader.
Our ranges depending, you desired the fact that it brings the surrender of the principal Iraqi unit with wholesaling in at this war which is possible. Perhaps instead to be less clear now being to many unit us rather than little the wholesale escape of the importance with respect to the military affair, you encourage, but, thought at times little that it had become because it is skillful that it caused the ? was not. That had the value of attempt, but, plan did not require that. Large number of the Iraqi unit which remains does not hand from war and, being not to sit down, we must destroy those, the fact that is done. We must kill many of the person of those units, desired everything of the nearly-bloodless war where that means the fact that the fact that is done means the fact that now it goes. And our units being battle in addition that it means, no human applying of our people dies the person, or the fact that is is meant.
We had always known that it is a certain unit, it fights; What and in the place that was question more. Now we know rather mainly, that is the following step. Actually, as for that it continues already because of the couple of day.
And placing in mind became weak call by result of the custom military power of important this Iraq, it continues to become weak. If being the idiotic because Syria does (with as for the Syrian government so directly it becomes and I do not intervene do not expect those), then there is no reinforcement of the important troop because of Iraq. Having there, if the small stream of the weapon which in addition comes and smuggled from a certain Syria, does not have, already, it stops that eventually completely. It is everything which does the fact that he whom now it has in order to fight with some Saddam has. Actually he being at the bit one time which has been defeated, to that air strike rather than doing the fact that he has it is many, is that.
While our powers are reconstructing because of the following stage, on the long supply line it has become clean, our aircraft are " the plinking " tank and - in town the village it is hidden in the position where it was cheated, or it carries from the Iraqi armored vehicle which is dug. One at a time. Exactly, you observed at that another tank mile goes with 1/4 flames - source of attack the glimpsing... is made in place of the Iraqi tanker. At the time of inducing the final collapse of the Iraqi troop the important way thing psychological pressure the way is most certain thing physical destruction.
Function of the custom Iraqi troop, day, has decreased irreversibly to day. The person or the device or supply are not exchanged you losing.
But that is not in case of us so. Our terrestrial combat formations were not impaired almost. Those have been possible now re-being supplied. Three American division is moving to the theater. The navy and the air force ship the missile from supply in order to exchange those which the bomb profit, are used. Although our helicopters and the jet aircraft continuing to decrease the value of battle of the Republican Party supervision, our powers of the theater have risen.
Observe to without being done to we. Us as for the unit you went to bed between this lull, obtained many supplies, to take the worry of maintenance, the device could prepare many battles what you have obtained, does not look at the threat of every enemy of the Iraqi of the sky air force was entire no permission absence, they made start only the grip of the missile. (For the present. We, on the other hand what which was seen, become from the source of trouble a little more.
One car and the grip of attack of the sniper of town the rear section by Iraq " opposing to expectation, strong presentation " Baghdad which it does being soon, with respect to the military affair which the effect of the bomber of hundred assaults which attack the part of the RG is compared are trivial.
But the reporter looks at the result of the bomb of that car. He perhaps that you know no person of 4 marine soldiers whom that kills it comes. Peace it comes from existence, experiences war never directly, that like unimaginable catastrophe does not seem the way. When, on one hand the bomb starts falling those that like in the land of the Iraqi position, he does not see.
Rather than being made we, we have done many hells.
It is good, can obtain. But the Iraqi person was expected it dies being the droves,; As for that the point which spread in the war is so enormous and coming why was is. From " being expected thing well, " building momentum " it does the absolute result which it cannot curve namely concerning that each side " by doing how approximately is, see.
Simply it is not that. As for at this war whether concerning some side which is not decided by the poll of the reporter it won the edge, you vote. Perhaps, for the football of the NCAA, but work of victory of war comes from the concrete success of the battlefield, that is appraised in the prosaic foundation.
Really it is not that concerning body calculation. As Vietnam proves clearly, rather than victory losing you where you do not mean the fact that you kill the enemy. But rather than it means that and we having been defeated, there is no relationship to which we have been defeated, or directly many from the fact that they are their devices and supply it destroys the fact that we have killed the Iraqi soldier directly. Those things do not guarantee victory, as for us without those to win, longer it is not possible.
Method of the only substance with expectation when and the fact that you have not lived is really kept to those by our leaders and our poll people who are important, really loses the center and when brings in order to withdraw, it is we. But entirely because of the nattering, Prime Minister Bush president and Blair shows the sign of the thing which becomes weak by the publication, we being supposed continue because it requires many of the killed and wounded for us who at this war of the thing which we still think can take between the large portion where we are strong verifying it shows the poll of opinion of the American poll person clearly.
There is no point which spreads in the war.
Here is an interesting mental exercise I received in an e-mail the other day. Enjoy.
:: Take your time and see if you can read each line aloud without a mistake. The average person can't.
This is this cat
This is is cat
This is how cat
This is to cat
This is keep cat
This is a cat
This is dumbass cat
This is busy cat
This is for cat
This is forty cat
This is seconds cat
Now go back and read the THIRD word in each line.
:: Take your time and see if you can read each line aloud without a mistake. The average person can't.
This is this cat
This is is cat
This is how cat
This is to cat
This is keep cat
This is a cat
This is dumbass cat
This is busy cat
This is for cat
This is forty cat
This is seconds cat
Now go back and read the THIRD word in each line.
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