A very sleepy opening day for me, as the Yankees-Blue Jays game here in the Bronx was rained out. It never rained all that hard, but it nonetheless made for somnambulent conditions and I guess ESPN got bored or something. Me, I'm never bored with blogs to read!:
• Last Friday was Blog Against Torture Day, which made me say "What th'?" I mean, is there any normal person out there who's pro-torture? Like Lis says, "As far as I'm concerned, this is a matter about which there shouldn't be sides. What's next, Blog Against Genocide?"
• Melissa at Shakespeare's Sister, eriposte at Left Coaster, Susie at Suburban Guerilla and Zuzu at Feministe continue to be among the saner voices out there speaking out against Democrats who engage in Clinton-bashing way disproportionate to her campaign missteps and certainly to her policy proposals. Melissa addresses the bullying backlash. Susie was one of the participants at the Cool Kids Con in Philly this past weekend, and posts about conversations she had with Paul Krugman and Eric Boehlert about bloggers' reactions when they note complimentary things about Clinton (as Krugman does here). The second of these posts is extremely telling, as Susie mentions the reaction the Eschacon crowd gave Boehlert's disappointment over their cult-of-personality antics. Zuzu reminds us why it's important to always call out misogyny. And eriposte reveals something I hadn't even considered about Clinton's recent meeting with the odious Richard M. Scaife, something that I think shows her diplomatic prowess in a very positive light.
• Jackson Williams at HuffPo sort of congratulates Keith Olbermann on five years of Countdown, and probably gives Keith more credit than is due over his treatment of the Democratic presidentical candidates. Today's Countdown Watch yielded 15 unwatchable minutes of Hillary-bashing at the opening, then a half hour of news and opinion like he used to do, then 15 minutes of self congratulations which included making fun of Fox News because someone noted they were the fairest network vis a vis Clinton and Obama, in that they treated both with equal contempt but didn't single out Clinton with misogyny. He did this all with absolutely no trace of irony or self-awareness. I can't say how much I miss the old Keith Olbermann. Maybe we'll get him back after the Democratic contest is finally decided.
• Elsewhere, Susie asks the same question about Mrs. Alan Greenspan that I've been asking for at least a dozen years; and Digby despairs of the on-bended-knee reaction of our press corpse to "Saint" John McCain. But there's good news -- if you include non-news media, Lance figures that the media really is liberal and reflects the ideas of a liberal populace. I totally agree, it's one of the reasons the news corpse tries so hard to repeatedly convince us reality isn't real. Who are we going to believe, them or our lying eyes?
Whew, made it in before April Fool's Day! G'night, all.
Silly Site o' the Day
End-of-month blogaround a'coming. One of my favorite bloggers in the whole world has cofounded My Gayest Look in response to one of the stupider things said by talk show host Jay Leno. Basically it's a heck of a lot of bird-flipping, with a handful of folks doing the two-fingered salute so popular across the pond.
Have I ever mentioned how amazingly proud I am of my godson? Well, you're going to hear it again. Jonny did great yesterday at his bar mitzvah. And my mom gave the family one of the best presents they could have -- she came back east early. Nobody but us three "kids" and our spouses knew about this, and more than one relative told me they couldn't believe I'd kept the secret for so long with nary a mention on this blog! But you see, (a) as conversational as Pen-Elayne might sound at times, I'm really not very Dooce-like; and besides (b) I know family members check in here and the secret wouldn't have lasted very long had I breathed word one. The expression on my aunt's face when she saw her sister unexpectedly sitting in the pew was worth the price of admission alone. Jonny remembered my Dad in his speech, which touched me more than I can say. He's so totally remarkable, in large measure due to parents who have raised him beautifully. He saved some of his highest regard for his teachers, and was excited to tell everyone about the animals he's adopted from the Saint Louis Zoo. And right after the bar mitzvah, he and brother Daniel had their annual head-shaving appointment in support of St. Baldrick's. Are these amazing, other-directed kids or what?
And yes, Rob took the "obligatory" Sibling Picture in the car park afterwards. Here you go, click to embiggen:
I hear my mom now, "Embiggen isn't a word." Welcome to the 21st century, Mom, where anything can be a word if you put it in your blog! For the story behind the Sibling Pictures (and to see past Sibling Pictures), click here. I think this is the first proper one we've had since '05.
It was a lovely day, but for whatever reason (probably allergies) we've needed about a day and a half to recover from it.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Today is my godson Jonny's bar mitzvah. I have not yet begun to kvell! Did you know there's actually an album called Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah? Nothing can ruin today, though! Robin and I expect to be inundated with questions about the Superman verdict, since we're the "comic book mavens" of the family. I'm going to let him answer them, I can't wrap my head around all the legal intricacies as is.
Datsa's hanging out in the living room whilst we're watching TCM...
A propos of nothing, it's Octopus Night on TCM, so I hope PZ Myers is watching cephelopod city! (It Came From Beneath the Sea is on as I type.)
Silly Site o' the Day
Passover is right around the corner! And Easter stuff is now 50% off. Therefore, via Dorian Tenore-Bartilucci in email, it's the Ten Plagues with Peeps.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Is it still spring break? I didn't even keep track of spring break when I was in college, as I pretty much just went home for that week. I seriously get the feeling only rich kids travel with their peers on spring break, and I guess you must either be rich or in debt nowadays to be in college in the first place so it's become this sort of weird spectator sport for rich adult television reporters and, by extension, ordinary schlubs who watch newscasts supposing they're going to see actual news... sorry, where was I? Oh yeah:
A fake ad (via Hanan) for an over-the-counter drug that's certainly in use during spring break.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Allergy Fighting Blogaround
Had my last visit to the dermatologist this morning, now that the eczema is finally fading from my legs. He said I shouldn't be surprised if it crops up again when the weather cools in late autumn, but I'm fine for now. Well, except for my spring allergies, which seem to occur earlier and earlier every year. And the OTC allergy pill gives me dry mouth, which makes me thirsty no matter how much I drink, so I might as well forget all that and plunge into the blogosphere:
• I think some of the bloggers supporting Obama so enthusiastically aren't getting what some of us are saying, which is not that Hillary Clinton can do no wrong (many think she's done a fine job of putting that notion to rest this past week, even without the usual sexist bashing) but that Barack Obama really isn't that different from her, both in terms of human foibles and, more importantly, policy plans, so supporting one over the other to the point of cult-of-personality makes no sense. The main difference is in the way each has inspired others, not in what each will actually do once in office. It's all part of what Susie identifies as the game. I think Clinton might have the edge on the main task at hand, which is undoing the tremendous damage wrought by the radical reactionaries currently in power (damage which will only increase if McCain gets into office), simply because she was around for the damage control last time. But I suspect Obama is equally up to the task of halting this country's backward movement. The only thing that saddens me is how many people seem to believe there's going to be the slightest chance of forward movement societally after one of these centrist Democrats gets elected. I just can't see that happening any more in my lifetime. Meanwhile, as Mary so eloquently puts it vis a vis the internecine Demo-squabbles, "Can we just stop the crap now?"
• It's so cute the way John Amato thinks the pundits who appear on Countdown are exclusive to Keith Olbermann, rather than part of MSNBC's stock of company players who appear pretty much on everyone's shows! The sooner liberal bloggers get hip to the fact that Olbermann (like Obama) may be more eloquent than his peers very often but the similarities between him and his "rivals" like O'Reilly are greater than their differences, the better off we'll be in the media analysis department.
• Via Petulant at Shakespeare's Sister, Sir Ian McKellan answers email about Lord of the Rings. My favorite quote is about "the fevered imaginations of slashers" (as in slash-fiction fanfic writers).
• More cool stuff from Shakesville -- your pareidolia of the day, and a truly romantic tale that doesn't surprise me at all, since I knew both Steve and Robin before we ever met, Steve via his subscribing to INSIDE JOKE and Robin via the Usenet comic book newsgroups.
• The continuing crisis: Tristero weighs in on anti-American creationists and the nonsense surrounding Expelled, PZ Myers and at least one cephalopod; and Peter David eloquently points to a Bible passage which must have gone over the heads of the parents of poor Madeline Neumann who murdered her with their selective superstition.
• More continuing crises: Kilauea, Antarctica, Arkansas... I know many people don't believe our planet is alive and ever-changing because they don't see those changes happen fast enough for our limited lifespans, but that doesn't mean we have to try to speed them up with our carelessness!
Lastly, RIP Richard Widmark. Between this and Neil Aspinall, I'm just tired of famous people dying this week; can we have a moratorium or something?
Silly Site o' the Day
My latest ComicMix column is up. Of course I continue talking about the Beatles. Not for nothing is this blog named Pen-Elayne yadda yadda. We even watched the DVD of The Story of US last night; I know the Bio channel had shown an incomplete version, but I have to say I wish the complete one had felt a little less disjointed. Still, tons of fun. I don't think I will ever outgrow my love for all things Beatle, and I'm quite certain I'm far from alone. And now that the column is up, I can repro here the video I embedded therein, in the context of a Silly Site:
And I can give attribution; LOL Together came to me via Lis Riba.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
We took advantage of the nice day with relatively fewer body aches to do a bit of shopping at the Palisades Center (malls are definitely easier to navigate on weekdays), and returned with far more body aches than we probably should have. Since we got home I've been taking it easy, practicing my math skills with Koozac (via Budgie), but probably should be practicing hand-eye instead because I'm not doing too well on this game.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
So I was in my old work neighborhood in the East Village this afternoon, and I passed by a glatt kosher restaurant with no name. In fact, they're having a contest to name it, so I thought I'd pass the URL along. Winner gets $3000, and you have another month and a half to submit a name. Thanks for your suggestion, Mom, I submitted it!
Why The Ten Commandments is being shown on Easter weekend rather than Passover weekend is beyond me. Wacky goyim. Speaking of which, PZ Myers is pretty darn sure that Christvertising is a joke.
As Mata H at BlogHer points out, this weekend marks a convergence of a number of religious festivals across a variety of faiths. For Jews, Purim has just been celebrated; contrary to what Joe Lieberman badly explained to John McCain, that's not "the Jews' Hallowe'en" but probably the most feminist day on the Jewish calendar, celebrating two courageous women, one Persian (that's my story and I'm sticking to it; now if I can only manage to get it on paper) and one Hebrew, the latter credited with saving her people from genocide. (The reason Passover is next month is because Jews stick in a "leap month" every few years, and Passover occurs this year on Adar II rather than Adar I. Oy, don't ask.) For Christians it's been Holy Week, culminating in Good Friday, Easter Sunday and, for Brits, the Easter Monday travel day. Hindus are commemorating Holi, Buddhists have Magha Puja Day, Muslims have Mawlid al-Nabi, and the descendents of the aforementioned Persians have the Festival of Noruz. Mata points out that this happens approximately once in a millennium, but most current religions only go back a few millennia anyway so I'm not sure that's really significant.
Here's the thing, though. This is a big deal for many people because we humans don't live for millennia. Most of us stretch out slightly under a century if we're lucky. But being human, we take comfort in what's come before us and what might come after us. We crave species immortality. Religious traditions are one of the ways we mark that. Even those of us with little use for religious dogma enjoy reading these myths and legends. We like to feel connected to a universal continuum of heroes vanquishing evil, of magical assistance and allies, of wicked deeds meeting just ends. And we want to believe the good things we accomplish today will be remembered by those who come after us.
This yearning for immortality is one of the main reasons I think religion is so strong, and so enduring. It's also one of the reasons I think that governments, which change fairly quickly compared to religious beliefs and customs, should ignore religion and just let it be. As humans, we may love the myths, but not everyone takes to the same myths. And legislating conformity of belief will never, ever come out well. Belief is a personal thing, even within adherents of the same religion. It's like legislating sexual habits. If enough commonly agreed upon societal taboos are violated, yeah, the practitioner will wind up on the wrong side of the law. But generally, between consenting adults -- none of Big Brother's biz, yes?
Which is why it's been so frustrating to hear all this talk lately about the 2008 presidential candidates' dealings with religious figures, particularly considering the pretty clear wording of Article 6 of the US Constitution. You know, the one that says "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." In the document that every one of these senators has sworn to uphold. Of course, we know it's an uphill battle when they swear to uphold the Constitution and its separation of church and state whilst their hand is on a Bible.
But as many point out, that separation is there for a reason, and that reason isn't to abolish all these different beliefs but to sustain them, to make people's religious rituals and practices beside the point of running a government. So people can whine about unsavory religious and political bedfellows all they want, and if Article 6 were actually adhered to it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference. Personally, I'd sooner trust someone who wasn't a member of any particular sect to leave others be; everyone else must be assumed to have something of a bias toward their own religion, particularly if they can't shut up about it.
And by "shut up" I mean "stop dragging it into politics," not "stop practicing it." If consenting adults want to flagellate themselves and stage re-enactments of actual cross nailings, as long as it isn't in our backyard (so to speak) it shouldn't be for nonbelievers to call them idiots, any more than it is for nonbelievers to cast aspersions on snake handlers in Appalachia. Their Scriptural misreadings carry their own punishment, just as the practices of Christians who choose to follow Jesus' message of love and peace see that as their own reward.
I don't care what they do, as long as it doesn't affect me. I have wacky beliefs too. I just tend not to bother other people with them. I do think there are ways for us to all live together with our individual beliefs (including the beliefs that other people's beliefs are wacky). All it takes is respect for fellow human beings, which a secular society encourages (at least theoretically) a lot more than a society built around one religious belief.
Productive Insominia Blogaround
If I'm not yet destined to return to a full-time job, I might as well start to make a difference with my copious free time. Particularly when my nervousness about joblessness leads to sleeplessness. Ness.
• Everyone's linking to it 'cause it's so much fun: the liberal blogosphere's favorite curmudgeonly cephalopod-loving atheist describes being expelled from Expelled!here, here and here for good measure, while the perpetrators let in the far more famous atheist Richard Dawkins. It's the accent, PZ. You can't help being from from Minnesota, but let's face it, a Brit will always sound cooler.
• I hate to harp on it, but other people aren't letting it go and so it keeps on feeling like a picked scab. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are pretty much equal in terms of policy proposals, experience level, ability, ideology, etc. Why is a fawning old-and-new media so enamored of the Bill Richardson endorsement of Obama whilst completely ignoring the Jack Murtha endorsement of Clinton? And I'm saying this as someone who voted for the writer, as John Hodgman puts it. But crikey, enough is too much! I admit Keith Olbermann is often a hard habit to break, to the point where I've started sporadically tuning into his second half hour rather than the slam-Clinton-praise-Obama-worship-horserace-speculation first half hour -- but Robin and I were so stunned by his show yesterday that we couldn't look away. A full hour of breathless outrage that Obama was so personally violated, when it turns out the other major candidates were too. But hey, it was a great excuse to run continual video loops of Obama up on MSNBC for a good 50+ minutes, wasn't it? So, What Susie Says. And What Mark Says, as well. You cannot keep criticizing Fox Noise when your own station is doing essentially the same thing, only betting on a different horse than they are. It's not a friggin' game, we're talking about things that will affect millions of people's lives here. And there just isn't equivalent respect for (or critique of) the two Democratic candidates who are running on essentially the same things. Keith, you've utterly lost the moral high ground here.
• Great post from Sara about the power of television drama to effect positive change. I really teared up at this one, and if that isn't an effective about how stories can move us by showing conflict resolution rather than conflict, without having to be about hate and antiheroes, I don't know what is.
• Digby wonders when the usual political sex scandals start becoming about something more. If Obama regrets that much of the nation's media can't seem have a mature conversation about race, he doesn't want to even broach the subject of how we talk about sex!
• Lastly, yet another good post from Mark about Q&A sessions. I guess it doesn't do any meaningful good any more to just remind the audience that Q&A "isn't about you," does it?
Well, it's been a hard day's night, and I really ought to be sleeping like a log...
Friday, March 21, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
I'm afraid I never shook off today's malaise. This is the first time in awhile I don't have any interviews lined up for the following week. And Rob's back is still twitchy so we never got out to exchange modems to, we hope, take care of the frequent internet and land line outages. With any luck this depression will be gone with the wind, which has finally died down outside. I really need to get out and clear my head. Maybe I'll go for a drive tomorrow after I've done my online job search. Maybe I'll just sit at home and chuckle at the very clever Beyond Petrol site that the Yes-Men have created. I tend to agree with David McCandless that this is clear lawsuit fodder, but it's brilliant lawsuit fodder anyway.
It's one of those "life has me down" days, but my depressions usually don't last long, especially with kitties about. Here are this week's poses:
Datsa, foreshortened!
And Amy, lounging about on the sofa arm.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Another season ended, with lots of great interviews but no job offers yet. Another Purim arrived, with Megillat Vashti still unwritten. This year for sure! But y'all have heard that before. Cablevision returned yesterday and replaced some more chewed-through cables yesterday (the squirrels around here find them very tasty indeed) so the TVs are working fine, but the internet and phone connections are still cutting out, so we're hoping Robin's temporary backache improves enough tomorrow for us to go up to their Yonkers outlet and exchange modems. In the meantime, I've been asking potential employers to call back on my cell number for the phone screening interviews. Had two good ones today, set up one definite interview next week and two potentials, so there is forward movement. It's just a bit more glacial than I would like, is all. But we're okay, we're relatively healthy, the cat won't stop meowing and it's an hour and a half till his dinnertime, and... sorry, where was I? Oh, everyone's talking about Obama's speech, which I thought eloquently belabored the obvious, but maybe the subject matter isn't so obvious to our largely dumbed-down electorate so it was probably worthwhile. Alternate persuasive speech topics can be generated here (via Gerard)...
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
That hour-plus-long wait in the cold for the bus yesterday took its toll, with most of my left side stiff and achy today. A good day to stay in bed, or at the computer doing job-search stuff. My latest ComicMix column is up, this one about the Beatles, part one of however many parts I can stretch it. And that should be a lot of parts, as they're pretty endlessly fascinating to me. Except I'm really, really sick of Heather Mills. Rob keeps reading me bits from the UK papers and I've shaken my head so many times I've made myself dizzy. Some nutzoid on Huffington Post actually intimated that she deserved more than she got in the divorce settlement because of Sir Paul's accumulated wealth. And what exactly did she contribute to that accumulation? In any case, the only music-related silly site currently in my bookmarks is the Savage Chickens' Metal Band Name Generator, wherein the different names were actually lettered by Doug Savage into the one-panel cartoon. Via Gerard, natch.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Fact!: I had two job interviews today. Fact!: The first is quite promising but as a large corporation they will be taking their time with the interview and follow-up process, so it may take awhile to shake out. Fact!: The second position sounded like it would become too much like my last job so it wasn't right for me; ah well. Fact!: I got to Midtown Comics in between the interviews so my folder there is finally empty... well, until the new comics arrive tomorrow. But it's nice to be caught up on all non-DC stuff for the moment, at least. Fact!: The BxM1 express bus is apparently sporadic at best during non-rush hours; after I'd walked one avenue and seven blocks (mostly uphill, toting my comics-laden bag with my interview shoes, walking stick-just-in-case, job folder and such all the way) I wound up waiting over an hour with fellow freezing passengers in weather much colder than any of us had anticipated. Fact!: Once on the bus, I received a cell phone call that turned into a phone interview and had to cut it short because I was disturbing a fellow passenger, who turned 'round and admonished me, "Have some consideration!" Excuse me, ma'am, it was only a JOB INTERVIEW that might affect my ENTIRE FUTURE, I'm very sorry to have disturbed your ride by speaking in a normal voice for maybe TEN minutes. Fact!: I didn't actually say that; I acquiesced immediately, of course, as she was in the right -- and oft-read sign on the bus makes it very clear passengers should keep cell phone use to a minimum so as not to bother fellow passengers. The HR person completely understood and we finished our phone call later, and my seat-mate was very supportive which helped mitigate my frustration. Fact!: I'm damned exhausted and Robin's had a bad reaction to a new OTC allergy medication, so I'm going to join him in bed. Fact:! The late Arthur C. Clarke will be greatly missed; and the sun rises in the east. More amazing facts (none involving me) at Mental Floss' Amazing Fact Generator (via Gerard).
Monday, March 17, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
The day after Rob's deadline was the day of "S" activities for us, as it were -- shower, sleep, se-- well, never you mind, followed by more sleep, then shopping and steak. The local Outback, in this case, where we received a nifty free promotional glass and a couple coupons for free Bloomin' Onions in addition to having the best meal in almost two years (since that tremendous one in Bristol), in major part because of the company -- our first date in over a month! -- but also because I decided to order the steak (which I never eat at home, as we're a no-red-meat household) well done. I've really gotten sick and tired lately of every food-oriented show I watch touting underdone meat, meat that's obviously not just pink but RAW RED in the middle, as proper doneness. This cult of under-doneness must be stopped! And if that takes one person at a time ordering their steak well done, so be it. Spread the word; we want to spend our evenings in bed, not in the loo! Thank you. As it's St. Patrick's Day, Robin had a green beer (Foster's premium, I believe, of which I had a sip and pronounced not bad at all) and a very strong Irish coffee. The closest I want to come to an appropriate-to-the-day Silly Site is the Random Beer Name Generator via Gerard. I particularly liked the Skinny Bastard Extra Special Bitter, for which I believe Robin will now be searching next time we go shops...
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Robin's sleeping like a baby, not surprising considering how many pages he's inked and pencilled during the last couple of months. He noted that this is is the first day in 2008 that he doesn't have pages waiting for him on his drawing board. The pace has briefly exhausted him, but the money is very welcome during my temporary unemployment period. I wish he and Javi were returning to Manhunter as the title has been resurrected and is getting a lot of press, particularly as their work on the Suicide Squad miniseries has now wrapped, but I'm sure something will turn up -- for us both. In the meantime, we're budgeting wisely (no conventions until the one in Manhattan next month), and I have my husband all to myself for a bit until the next batch of pages from Jamal arrives, so that's pretty cool. And we can finally get our 2007 taxes done. Meanwhile, I've finished my next ComicMix column which will be the first in a series (you'll see why when you read it, it's a subject about which I could write like forever), and I'm really pleased with the lovely comments on my last couple of long posts, which must mean I'm unblocked writing-wise. Speaking of politics, here's what I did with the Logobama:
This should be read after my post which was originally slated to be part of the blogaround until it got too unwieldy. Then I saw this post by eriposte on Clinton Rules versus Obama Rules, which arrived on my Bloglines subs after I posted my last rant. It reminds me a lot of the "It's Okay If You're A Republican" rules. Ahem: We're supposed to be the good guys here, the ones who don't stoop to tactics like this. Two bloggers who have been all over this have been Avedon Carol and Vastleft at Corrente, and Jon Swift just put in his inside-baseball two cents. I also liked Roy's take on this. Please see Avedon's posts here, here and here. The first one especially interested me as it was about how Ferraro's ill-considered remarks could just as easily be construed as non-racist. I don't agree with what she said, but I don't think what she said was meant as racist, and neither do folks like Earl Ofari Hutchinson (see here and here), Bryan, and Elaine Frankonis. On the other hand, folks like LowerManhattanite make an eloquent case that Ferraro's wording was atrocious at the very least. Meanwhile, the candidate herself is still experiencing continued backlash -- well, "lash" actually since many of her detractors are retaliating against her being her rather than against specific policies and so forth. Susie has some interesting comments un-spinning the old and new media frame about Clinton's work in Northern Ireland and her instant denial as to whether she believed Obama to be a Muslim. Melissa, for her part, blames Al Gore. And eRobin has a good point when she observes somewhat sarcastically, "if Hillary Clinton is even half the brilliant, scheming, all-power, narrative-directing mastermind that certain leading opinion makers seem to believe she is, and if she's no less corporate-centrist as Obama, who seems to be unable to wrestle that power away from her, then I'm thinking she's the person the country needs to lead it." Lastly, it's really nice to see others coming to the same conclusions I've reached about Keith Olbermann, including Jude Camwell and Taylor Marsh. It's kinda nice to have that 8 PM hour freed up again, particularly with baseball season about to get underway.
• I think we're all agreed that August had the best sum-up of the Spitzer scandal. David "This Is Not My Beautiful Governor" Byrne wonders if we haven't been provided with the names of clients one through eight because "it sure smells like a Republican setup." Well, as Ken Houghton points out, Number Six is no longer a number, but a human being, sort of -- he's Prince William's godfather, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, the 6th Duke of Westminster. If anyone uses the expression "Tally ho!" for this aspect of the scandal, they owe me credit. (What's with those gentried Brits, anyway? Joe at AmericaBlog reports that Lord Rothschild is fundraising for John McCain in England, which appears to be breaking US law.) Other good points have been made by Elaine, Hubris Sonic, Xeni, and LowerManhattanite, who gives a nice overview of NY's new governor. I didn't know he was the grandson of Basil Paterson! Man, are there a lot of political dynasties in this country or what?
• Onto less heavy matters. Mark at BoingBoing reports that Joseph Weizenbaum, the creator of Eliza, has passed away. As Firesign fans know, Eliza was one of the inspirations for Doctor Memory in I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus. Speaking of Firesign, Cat does his best to get the 4or5 on Air America during their recent cruise, which he's been documenting on his blog; here's the latest post. Being Cat, he of course has food reviews as well.
• And speaking of food, looks like Tony Bourdain's reaping the blowback from his amusing-sounding Golden Clog awards. Adam at Serious Eats talks about Tyler Florence's reaction (good lord, of course Tony's bombast is a schtick, he admits it himself, the point of the schtick is how funny it is and how well it works!) and some food critic's sudden impulse to slam Les Halles, Bourdain's old haunt. Wow guys, jealous much?
And since Blogger is down for maintenance, nobody will see this until apres Ides, but there you are, at least it's done...
To My Fellow Democrats
It's been a strange week in political cloud-cuckoo land, and I was waiting for a lot of the dust to settle before commenting on things. (I was also waiting until I'd caught up on blog reading again, which for whatever reason didn't happen until this afternoon.) Of course, the week's two big stories involve New York politicians, and I'll get to that in my upcoming blogaround, but I need to rant first.
Sayeth Turkana at Left Coaster, "I've begun to call it the Great Convergence: the formerly 'reality-based community,' both in form and content, adopting every characteristic of the corporate media." I think it's been coming for awhile, starting with the obsessive need of many of the bigger blogs to Make Money Blogging, to Storm the Gates and become Legitimate Media and sell out as much as possible in the process because that's what real media does, it's beholden to advertisers and to the very mindset that encourages and perpetuates commercialism and uses sensationalism as its bread and butter to achieve viewers (eyeballs). And time and again, this kowtowing to capitalism is damaging to the journalistic ethos of getting information to the public as completely as possible, critiquing everyone in power with equal scrutiny, not palling around with or worshipping the people you're supposed to be covering.
I have spoken before, and will again, about my disappointment with Keith Olbermann's changed on-air behavior during this Silly Season. And I've talked about how difficult and discouraging it is to get through political blogs sometimes because of their echo-chamber nature, where it seems like bloggers are playing one-up games to see who can achieve the most hits by essentially spouting the same exact opinions than the last person only more outrageously. It disappoints me because part of me thinks "these are my online friends, and they're acting no differently than the highly-paid cable people who do the same thing for their ad-driven ratings. I don't watch them, why should I read this?"
Turkana observes, complete with links to substantiate his paragraph, "Have people associated with the Clinton campaign made racist remarks? Yes. Have people at the top of the Obama campaign? Yes. Does Clinton get called out for everything said by everyone even loosely associated with her campaign? Of course. Does Obama get called out for anything said by anyone even at the top of his campaign? No." Elsewhere, he reiterates that "Once again, I have no problem with honest criticism of a flawed candidate. I do have a problem with the rampant dishonesty that has come to typify the criticism of Hillary Clinton by certain prominent supposedly-liberal bloggers."
I'm the same way. I once thought the world of Hillary Rodham Clinton. I even had a picture of her and Carole Moseley Braun on my cubicle at work. That was like 15 years ago. I no longer think she's as liberal as she used to seem, but I still think she'd make an okay president, certainly a better one than Bush or McCain. I also think Barack Obama would make an okay president, certainly a better one than Bush or McCain. To me, Clinton and Obama are about coin-toss equal on most issues, as well as in their general centrist ideology. None of the actual left-leaning candidates broke through the mainstream right-leaning media's usual ignore-and-marginalize tactics; the last liberal standing was Edwards, whose campaign I would have enthusiastically supported. So I'm resigned from the get-go that neither of these historic candidates is interested in enacting anything nearing a progressive agenda, and at this point it's a matter of who's going to be better at cleaning up Bush's messes. In that regard, I truly believe that either Clinton or Obama would do. I happened to give my primary vote to the candidate whom I consider more eloquent (Obama), because essentially I'm a writer and that's how I roll.
So it's frustrating, disheartening, enough to make me want to hurl large heavy objects at my computer, to see fellow liberal bloggers out and out attacking each other over this particular duo. I'm glad y'all are passionate, but crikey, dial it down a peg! How much do you really think your enthusiasm will be rewarded with actual programs and legislation that reflect your beliefs? If you think the payback will be anything more than superficial, you're kidding yourselves.
Granted, Clinton has said some stupid things, but not as stupid as lots of pundits twist them to be. I bet Obama has said stupid things as well and the Clinton Derangement Syndrome-soaked press (both old and new media) has chosen not to notice and report them. Turkana again, this time about Clinton's remarks about experience vis a vis McCain versus Obama: "This is campaign season, and the candidates are hitting each other hard - both candidates are hitting each other hard - but that should not be misconstrued or misinterpreted."
But darn if some people aren't going so far out of their way to gleefully misinterpret everything said by Clinton or her high-profile supporters that they've completely lost sight of both candidates repeatedly intoning until they're blue around the gills that the Democratic Party is determined to be ultimately unified around one candidate, that they're willing to support each other and consider each other as VP, that they admire the heck out of each other... and open your eyes, people, they're just not that different. They're rich, establishment, centrist politicians who (let's all say it together) have more in common with each other than they ever will with us. So just, just STOP IT, okay? Let's see how many of you can be grown-ups and support the Democratic candidate of your choice without putting down the Democratic candidate of someone else's choice. Sometimes y'all remind me of the type of comic book fanboy who can't praise one artist without knocking another.
More to come in my blogaround. Just needed to get that out of the way first.
Silly Sites o' the Day
These two go out to friends. First, Ann at Sivacracy passed along a link to The Society for Librarians Who Say Mofo, which I know Steve will get a kick out of. Hey Steve, do you still mutter about how libraries would be perfect if it weren't for the patrons?
And secondly, Keith R.A. DeCandido found this gem called "Avenue Jew," which I really hope he's told Peter and Kath about while they're all at Lunacon this weekend, since this seems right up their alley:
Maybe someday I'll get to Lunacon too. I'm assuming the video is funnier if you've actually seen Avenue Q, which I haven't yet, but I pretty much got the gist of it.
Oh well, blogaround tomorrow, I suppose. Meanwhile, let's see what the kittles have been up to...
I did a "juice run" last week, at a supermarket which delivers everything in boxes up two flights of stairs so we don't have to. They both enjoy the boxes, but Amy fit this one a bit better than her big brother.
As long as he has his sunbeam, Datsa's happy.
Silly Site o' the Day
Blogaround and Friday Cat Blogging to come. It's been another day of feeling physically... weird, not all there, like a stranger in my own body. Plus, I keep getting the sweats. At this point half of me is leaning towards a diagnosis of late winter/early spring allergies and the other half is sagely nodding, "Peri-menipause." I'm ignoring them both, and spending the day getting caught up in blog reading. Only one interview scheduled so far for next week, but I expect to send out another slew of resumes over the weekend so we'll see how it goes. Happy Pi Day, everybody!
Considering all the talk going on about white women and black men and demographic this and that and the other, it's a good time to pass along, via Cheryl Lynn, the following blogs:
I'm sure someone is already planning sites like Stuff Jews Like (this guy covers most of the bases, I think). Oh, and to attribute fairly, I first saw the link to Stuff White People like via skippy (yes! the same one who coined the word "blogtopia"), who also mentions Black People Love Us!.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
What a weird feeling watching a potential employer look up my latest ComicMix column whilst I was being interviewed! I felt all proud and nervous and happy at the same time. I still need to stock up on column ideas, for whatever reason (probably the job search) they haven't been flowing as easily as they had been. That's the case for writing and blogging in general, as you can doubtless tell by the lack of activity herein. And during Estrogen Month, too! Other than my interview, today was pretty much cooking and TV and TV about cooking. I finally decided to watch last season's Top Chef which was re-running on Bravo this afternoon, and it's got much less of the reality-show nonsense I don't like (mainly the participants ragging on each other), plus everyone seemed to win something even if it wasn't the Grand Prize which I like too. So I've now set the new season to record. I also removed the last covering off my AeroGarden herbs; so far so good! Have to finish making dinner now. Speaking of TV, here's a Discovery Channel page that helps you create your own puzzles (via HuffPo, believe it or not).
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Yesterday's interviews seemed to go well, and I have a call-back on one for tomorrow. So today's food-shopping day again, once I can force myself awake enough. I had trouble getting to sleep last night; I think I'm going to start taking an allergy pill before going to bed so I can breathe better. The New York citizen in me may be crushed and disappointed, but the cynic in me is thanking Elliot Spitzer for finally wresting the attention of the media (and I mean all media, inclusive of political blogs) away from their endless coverage of campaign horse-race speculation, if only for a day or two. (Well, I just did a pithy Screedbot about this but it didn't animate. Screedbot via Gerard).
Monday, March 10, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Rather an unusual interview day, as all my appointments are in the Inwood and Columbia/Presbyterian area. I start off on 183rd then take the bus down to 168th, and never get below 166th. Pretty swift commute, but it's a part of Manhattan I don't really consider Manhattan, much closer to me than it is to midtown. Weird. And speaking of weird, Arthur reminds us that God Hates Elves.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
A delicate constitution, to put it euphemistically, has me pretty much taking things slowly during this 23-hour day, and my sciatica (or perhaps my hip bursitis) is still flaring. It's sunny but colder, so I'll probably venture downstairs this afternoon with some empty grocery store boxes that need tossing and that's about it. I plan on finishing the last Ruth Plumly Thompson Oz book I have, but I won't be getting the next three books in the chronological series (34-36) any time soon as they're all written by John R. Neill (who illustrated all the previous ones) and don't appear to be easily attainable via Amazon, particularly not in paperback format. (Eric, any suggestions?) But I'll be sending away to the Wizard of Oz Club for #s 37 through 39, as they have those paperbacks for $12 each which seems fairly reasonable, then I'll read the more recent Oz books I've bought before moving on. Speaking of book series I love, Gerard has found a Parselmouth Generator; make sure your computer's sound is turned on!
Saturday, March 08, 2008
IWD Blogaround
As promised, a blogaround to celebrate International Women's Day. Here's some goodlinks from Feministing to get you started on your celebration. Don't forget to check out all the women-run blogs listed in my Bloglines subs (accessible from the sidebar, right above my Top Six) and my regular reading listed in the sidebar!
• What Avedon said. Especially "It's not the support or supporters I object to, it's the enthusiasm and the fanatics.... it's not as if either Clinton or Obama are exactly FDR incarnate; they are both fairly average "liberal" politicians who are thoroughly schooled in the arts of serial triangulation. They ain't radical; nor are they idealist; they are simply better than any Republican alternative." I think her much-wished-for moment of believing again probably won't happen in our lifetime, based on the hour and a half of brain-leakage I suffered at the auto shop today which had their TV tuned to Fox Noise. These people actually believe Clinton and Obama are "far left" and that populism is dangerous and will drag us "back to the Carter years" (and I'm thinking "what was wrong with the Carter years?") and health care for all would be a fate worse than death (I guess they prefer people without healthcare to die as they're doing now) and omigod I can't remember what else because it was all so relentless and myopic and reality-denying and wrong wrong wrong but, hey, at least I now know whatever happened to Wayne Rogers so it wasn't a total waste I suppose. I now seriously want to see a Wayne Rogers-Mike Farrell "Alda Co-Star" political debate. I would pay money for it.
• What Digby said, too. She starts with "The idea that sexism is politically incorrect is laughable" and it gets even better from there. To me the anti-Clinton hysteria (yes, I use that word ironically) is, as Digby points out, utterly irrational. Just like the anti-Clinton hysteria was in the last decade. Her conclusion is pretty much the same as Avedon's -- we're likely not going to see this mentality fade away any time soon. Too many people have invested too much time and emotion into it to ever admit their entire attitude is erroneous.
• Also at Hullabaloo, dday gives the real reason why the Bush administration wants to coddle telecoms on this FISA thing, quoting Glenn Greenwald: "Bush is finally being candid about the real reason the administration is so desperate to have these surveillance lawsuits dismissed. It's because those lawsuits are the absolute last hope for ever learning what the administration did when they spied on Americans for years in violation of the law." They don't care about the telecoms, they care about covering their own tracks. This entire administration has been about breaking the law then covering it up. I like to believe that history will see justice done if only because they're so incompetent at everything else that this will all have to come out during the next Democratic administration, the one that has to clean up everything. But of course the Republicans will then begin the chorus (they're already gearing up for it) that "it's old news, it doesn't matter any more, let's put it all behind us and move on" so that the cycle of law-breaking and covering up can begin again once they're back in power.
• I don't need to read the Charlotte Allen "tee hee, women are so stupid and by the way I work for the IWF which claims it's non-partisan but everyone knows is about as conservative as the Heritage Foundation" spew in the Washington Post, because I derive far more pleasure and information from the responses to it. And thank goodness there are so many articulate women (and not a few men) with enough energy to tackle this nonsense in such an amusing way! My favorite has got to be Jessa at Bookslut, with this zinger and this follow-up.
• I can't believe anyone still cares what Chris Hitchens thinks of anything, particularly women. But comedy writer Julie Klausner takes him on in HuffPo.
• I'd been anticipating Bryan, whose blog is currently the place to go for Iditarod updates, putting in his two cents about the "Confederate flag" version of Florida's license plate, since he does a regular Passing the Plate feature. Suffice it to say I was not disappointed.
• Is there some sort of weird epidemic of fake autobiographies again? I thought we were done with that nonsense when Oprah shamed James Frey for A Million Little Pieces, but I guess not. Now comes news that not only was Misha Defonseca not Jewish and not raised/protected by wolves 60 years ago, but Margaret B. Jones was never raised by a black family in south central L.A., but by a white one in Sherman Oaks. Ooh, so close! Some of us are far too trusting, I suppose. Deep down, maybe we all Want To Believe. The Telegraph has a good bit on "the literary tradition of the fake memoir."
• Oh good, I'm not the only one who's noticed the change in Keith Olbermann of late. I'm inclined, of course, to believe it's not really a change, it was there all along and we just didn't notice it until he started, like everyone else at his station, obsessively indulging in horserace speculation to the near-exclusion of any other real-world news.
• It must mean something when various liberal blogs are accusing the Clinton camp of running an ad in which they claim Obama's face is digitally darkened to, um, I guess make him more scary-looking?, and meanwhile some voices in the feminist comics blogosphere are having a very interesting discussion about the lightening of skin color in black female comic book characters. Cheryl Lynn in particular brings the goods. I'd love to get a colorist's take on this!
• Melissa Krause makes a compelling case for why you can't always (or ever?) separate a person's publicly-held opinions from their creative endeavors, using Dave Sim as her example. Although I think the fact that she's never read Cerebus shouldn't prevent her from spelling the title correctly.
• Ampersand links to the new Bad Cartoonist blog and their example of the ultimate in laziness, an editorial cartoonist using the same exact drawing twice in a month and just substituting a different caption.
• Hanan Levin posts the following video of Tony Bourdain interviewed at Google HQ, which I'm swiping because I want more hits. :) Seriously, Hanan's always worth repeated visits, so peruse his blog too! Here's the video:
• Lastly, I really like Lis Riba's links to typing tests, as I like to keep timing myself during my job search. Last time I tested at a prospective employer and actually received my score, I think it was 104.
That's all; don't forget to sprint those clocks forward an hour tonight, my fellow Americans, to begin Daylight Savings Time! Aw geez, I have to redo my AeroGarden's timer again?
Silly Site o' the Day
Happy International Women's Day! Blogaround to follow, after I get back from taking the car for an oil change, picking up my dry cleaning, etc. Can I finally get rid of the Slut-o-Meter today, then? I've been saving it since first having seen it on Feministe ages ago...
Friday, March 07, 2008
Wow, She Turned Out Okay After All
I was expecting, with a name like Fifi Trixabelle, that this poor gal would be in major therapy for awhile, but just look at her!
What a lovely smile! And she's not a stick figure like her sisters "Pixie" and "Peaches." Although she did have a bout with the drink about six years ago...
Amy's just thrilled that Robin moved the larger speakers from the studio back into the living room, as they give her a boost to the top of the bookcase to get at the dry food Datsa can't eat:
Off to bed; between the rainy weather and my sciatica acting up, it's getting hard to sit still, even in a recliner...
Wow, I just found this old blogaround that I wound up never posting. I blame the weird 15-minute snowstorm early on the afternoon of March 1, heavy-looking flakes being blown around by high winds, which disappeared as quickly as it had arrived leaving bright sunshine now with no trace there had ever been any precip. We took advantage of that to toss most of our remaining trash, and I finally unpacked and started it. When we checked the mail after doing the trash run, I was delighted to find my new passport therein. Our original marriage certificate followed a couple days later, so that was a relief. I'd mailed out the application on February 16, and it was all processed ten days later, not to expire now until 2/16/18. It was the last thing I needed to "Riggsify" as the old one had my former surname of Wechsler-Chaput on it, so every time I used it I had to tell the passport person "Look at page 23" for the added note when the surnames on the passport and airline ticket didn't match. Add to that all the interviews this past week and at least one on Monday, I feel like March has begun with a lot of forward movement and promise. This is the month when I'll get a new job! So here's the lost blogaround from a few days ago, to be followed by another one when I'm done with today's reading:
• The big story on a couple foodie blogs is the scandal of celeb chef Robert Irvine. Amy Sherman at Epicurious posted a link to this fascinating article in the St. Petersburg Times about how Irvine's consistently misrepresented himself and his credentials to both employers and financial colleagues. It's one of those articles that gets better and more outrageous as it goes along. My jaw was really dropping by the end of it. Doesn't Food Network have anyone vetting its "star" chefs? Apparently not; as Marisa McClellan on Slashfood reports, Food Network has now fired Irvine. Couldn't happen to a sleazier guy. Makes those of us who don't pad our resumes look bad.
• Speaking of lying, Zed gives a great example of a circumstance wherein lying has definite positive effects. It's one of those things where you go "of course, that's a brilliant way to teach, why don't more people think of it?"
• And speaking of food, I wish I lived near Neil Gaiman so I could have some honey. Actually, considering where he lives, I amend that to "I wish he lived near us."
• Victoria has pretty much had it with biased reporting. I know to an extent everyone has a bias, but why does it always seem to manifest as either bashing or adulation instead of something that's a little less personal? As Susie rhetorically asks, "Must everything to do with the press corps be reduced to junior-high rules?" Yes. This has been today's edition of Simple Answers to Cogent Questions.
• It's Estrogen Month again, and Diane asks, Who's your favorite female blogger? A great question, I want to swipe it and ask it too! Leave your fave estroblogger names and links in the comments. Present company excepted, of course. :) Also remember to check out all the great women bloggers listed on my blogroll, as well as on the sidebar where it says "Where are all the women bloggers who aren't on the blogroll below? Many are here!" That leads to my Bloglines subscriptions, which contain two humongous "Where the Women Bloggers Are" sections. In fact, in honor of Estrogen Month I've once again moved those sections toward the top of my subscription list, right below my Top Six.
• Lastly, at Shakespeare's Sister, Kenny Blogginz reveals his newest interview round about Will Ferrell's new movie. Considering Demitri Martin, whom I now think of as "the poor person's Kenny Blogginz," is one of Ferrell's concert-tour buddies, I found this highly appropriate.
Put to bed, and finally posted! Onward.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
A wasted day, pretty much. I did a bit of food shopping when I took my interview suits to the dry cleaners, as nothing happened on the job front... mostly I slept again. Maybe it's allergies. Hoping tomorrow is better. Via Tanya at Epicurious, here's the ultimate food fight:
I'd hate to be the one to clean all that up...
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Via Teresa, there's a whole blog dedicated to tracking down "reformatted songs." I recently pointed to an example from Todd at Shakespeare's Sister, who found a bunch of songs broken down in chart form. It's a clever way to play around with song lyrics, even if the pictograms and PowerPoints are sometimes over my head. Oh, and my ComicMix column is up; made this one right under the wire. I need to start stockpiling ideas again!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
I'm getting too old to be traipsing about as much as I did today. Two interviews, two agencies, two phone calls about future prospects, everything came in pairs today. So, so tie-tie (there, that came in pairs as well). Here's a weird link via Gerard that I don't have the energy to figure out: the hair particle drawing generator. I guess it's mesmerizing if you're in that kind of mood...
Monday, March 03, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
I'm awake and showered, my checkbook is balanced and updated, and I'm all set to waltz out the door in about an hour to the wild west (and I mean FAR west) of Chelsea to the day's only interview. But tomorrow I have two set up, both of which are in what I call the "agency corridor" so I hope to hit at least two agencies in between, as it looks like I'll have a lot of time to kill during the day. Wonder if the library will let me hang around at all? Oh, speaking of books, Gerard passed along perhaps the funniest generator I've seen in awhile, the Ultimate Harry Potter Name Generator.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
Wow, all that enthusiasm I had yesterday must have overloaded my circuits; my body just broke down for most of the day, most of which I spent in bed or in front of the idiot box. Got to see a few innings of a Yankees spring training game, didn't really recognize anyone but the announcers, who are as annoying and disingenuous as ever. Gonna be a long season. Also caught a little of the pledge-driven PBS Osmonds special, which reminded me I wanted to run this video:
It's kind of like if the Osmonds and Jacksons really did get together for those basketball games Tiger Beat was always talking about; a very weird Mormon mashup. Via Terry at I See Invisible People.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Silly Site o' the Day
White Rabbits! I wasn't sure this qualified as a Silly Site, but Robin thinks it does; enjoy the Oscars in 60 Seconds, at Mahalo Daily:
