December 2007
64 posts
Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, by Laura... →
Roger Stone, Political Animal by Matt Labash →
I’m amazed and appalled that guys like this exist outside the movies. And it’s a fine piece of writing, recipient of a Sidney Award.
JK Rowling drops hints of possible eighth Harry... →
I don’t know what to think about this. Part of me wants Rowling to let it go, to quit while she’s ahead. But, then, being a huge HP fan, I’d love for her to explore that world further, particularly without Harry being the central character.
Cake - “Thrills” - from the album...
Freegan.info →
Here in Indiana we have a name for these people - and it’s not freegan.
Man waterboards himself to see if it is torture →
via kottke.org. Caveat lector: this is an apparently anonymous post on a message board. If it is genuine, however, it is horrifying.
Maybe I’m lazy. I just unsuscribed from the Dilbert Blog feed because it doesn’t display the entire post. I know I’m probably offending a web designer somewhere, but I’d rather read everything (apart from tumblelogs, which I read on my dashboard) within Google Reader where I can zip through my fifty or so subscriptions with keyboard shortcuts.
Re: iPod Shuffle and SoundDock compatibility
j.random hermeneut found the Belkin product I was looking for. I have, however, found two simpler solutions. First, the Dynex 30-pin dock adaptor, which is backordered right now. Second - and simplest of all - is a double ended minijack plugged into the auxiliary port in the back of the speaker. My only concern is whether the remote will lose functionality if I go through the auxiliary port rather...
Anybody know how to connect an iPod Shuffle to a Bose SoundDock? It is apparently built for any iPod but the Shuffle. Someone at Best Buy told me this afternoon that there is an adaptor to do it, but an hour of googling has proven fruitless. This discussion references a Belkin product, though I can’t find anything on the Belkin website answering to that description. My mom was quite excited...
Captain Pepper →
Yummy. Even using diet.
“To understand the full extent of the constraints that the abyss places on life,...”
– Where Wonders Await Us - The New York Review of Books
Hem - “Have Yourself a Merry Little...
“May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages,...”
– eBay used to be a great place to buy books. Not anymore. Too many of these high-volume guys with generic listings. I won’t even consider buying from a seller who says a dust jacket may or may not be included, or the book might be shiny, or it might have a remainder mark. Of course, it is a...
“Well, yes, there are interesting tales to be told in the bridge years between...”
– Ross Douthat - Doubts on The Hobbit The more I think about the fact that there will be a bridge movie between The Hobbit and LOTR the more I’m inclined to agree with Ross.
The new energy bill, to be signed by Bush this morning, looks pretty good. A breakdown, according the linked WaPo piece: Its provisions represent a 25% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. An increase in minimum fleet fuel efficiency standards from 25 to 35 mpg by 2020, which could reduce US oil consumption by 1.1m barrels/day. Doubling the use of corn-based ethanol. I have reservations - for...
Movie News: Jackson and New Line agree to film The... →
via kottke
Mr. Wilson's Bookshelf: Some Fiction Worth... →
I listen to a lot of audiobooks. My favorite of 2007 - by far - is Patrick Tull reading Richard Llewellyn’s How Green Was My Valley. Right now I’m listening to Richard Russo’s Bridge of Sighs. Next up is Walter Isaacson’s biography of Einstein and Dave Eggers’ What is the What.
I truly hate these stupid customer service answering systems that try to sound conversational. I’d rather press an endless series of numbers than listen to a chatty computer.
Planetary Politics by Dave Itzkoff →
Recommended sci-fi for politicians. For example, Rudy Giuliani “might also consider reading “The War of the Worlds,” by H. G. Wells: During a cataclysmically destructive event, an observant bystander happens to be in the right place at the right time and thereafter never stops talking about it.”
WatchSlate V: Doublespeak 101
“Exotic religious beliefs aside, could there be a blander, more uninspiring...”
– NR endorses Romney « A Thinking Reed John Kerry and Bob Dole come to mind. And their campaigns turned out well, didn’t they?
On the other hand, Oprah endorses Obama. She also endorses The Secret, enough to make me very suspicious of her judgment. But if Hillary wins I think I’ll move to a cabin in Montana. She’s polarizing. Not that I mind polarizing: the less done by Washington the better. But she’s polarizing in a wearying way. I dread a recapitulation of the 90s.
“McCain may never become president, but he’ll end this race with something...”
– Standing His Ground - washingtonpost.com I can’t root for McCain like CPA, but I wouldn’t rule out voting for him. Though I’ll probably go third party in the general election (as usual), my distaste for Giuliani may motivate me to vote for McCain in the primary. (Ron Paul probably...
“Fast food makes such a savory scapegoat for our perpetual girth control failures...”
– Reason Magazine - Where’s the Beef? A little perspective on our nannies’ perpetual whining about fast food.
“By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be boss and...”
– Robert Frost via ammon
You Belong in Dublin Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You’re the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl… or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town. What European City Do You Belong In? via j. random hermeneut
Video: Eric Church, “Lightning” Powerful song. This guy is one of the best (if lesser known) singer-songwriters in country music today.
I Hate Everything (But You) by Derek Webb -... →
I am exceedingly fond of this song. I’ve felt this way many times.
Don’t teach me about politics and government Just tell me who to vote for Don’t teach me about truth and beauty Just label my music Don’t teach me how to live like a free man Just give me a new law I don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy So just bring it down from the mountain to meDerek Webb, “A New Law,” Mockingbird
You have arrived if you can commute outside the rush hour; have probably attended an elite school if you can give birth at home; are privy to rare and special knowledge if you can bypass the physician when you are ill; are rich and lucky if you can breathe fresh air; not really poor if you can build your own shack. The underclasses are now made up of those who must consume the counterproductive...
Harry and Voldemort in the Forest →
A bit of clarification from JKR. via Sword of Gryffindor
NPR : 'Sesame Street' Reissues Not for Kids →
I never expected to read this when I heard Sesame Street was reissuing early episodes: Early episodes of Sesame Street are being released on DVD — with a warning that they are intended for grown-ups and may not suit the needs of today’s preschoolers. And after watching this clip from an early episode, I can only assume these episodes “may not suite the needs of today’s preschoolers” because they...
In my desire to present myself to the world as an intellectual, I labored under a little technical difficulty: I didn’t know anything.
Joseph Epstein, Snobbery: The American Version (2002), p. 146
via Fire and Knowledge
Thomas on Various Christmas Movies
Some classic stuff from Thomas, before his blog shuts down in the next few days. It doesn’t even matter if you agree with him because he’s just a joy to read – a rare thing on these here intarwebs: So, it’s not simply that Wonderful Life is ‘theologically incorrect’. Were that the case my love for Ocean’s 11 & 12, Firefly, Stargate SG-1, and just about...
When Insults Had Class →
“He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.” - Samuel Johnson — via dailymeh
I Love BookMooch
A few of my readers will appreciate how awesome it is that I got a nice, hardcover copy of Hermann Sasse’s This is My Body on BookMooch (that means free for those not familiar with the wonders of mooching). Whether I actually read it is an open question. But that’s not really the point of book collecting, is it?