Opie's Call to Action

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Hat tip to the newly-kickin'-it-in-the-Hub Rhode for the vid.

RIP DFW

Suicide of another tortured writer. A shame. Why does this bother me so even though I haven't read David Foster Wallace at all?

I feel obligated to move Infinite Jest a bit higher in my reading list.

Palin's Pronunciation

of "nuclear" is just like Bush's! How quaint.

Gibson's interview with Palin on ABC. There's rather a lot more to complain about in this clip, but I'll leave it up to you to enjoy.


Bonus: Turns out the speechwriters wanted to make sure she pronounced it correctly during her speech at the RNC.

An Open Letter to Jane Swift

Dear Ms. Swift,

Shut up.

Your Truth Squad is silly,
MRhé

P.S. I'm so glad this is the political discourse of the day, and not nonissues like the economy, the energy crisis, and foreign policy!

Items of Note

I've been reading quite a few articles online recently about all sorts of good stuff. For your consideration:

Benjamin Franklin: The original city slicker? A fascinating man. I need to read more about him.

How do we handle the new Russia?

The end of science? Tell that to CERN.

On Alexander Solzhenitsyn. I admit I knew nothing about the man aside from his name until his recent death. I regret to say I have not read him - but I plan on doing so.

"In Praise of Melancholy." Not quite sure how I feel about this one. I imagine it would have appealed to me more back when melancholy dominated my life. But there's something to Wilson's deceptively paradoxical point that I do agree with. The highs are never as good without the occasional lows.

Dennett on consciousness, science, and religion. Excellent stuff:

It is seldom remarked (though often observed in private, I daresay) that many, many people who profess belief in God do not really act the way people who believed in God would act; they act the way people would act who believed in believing in God. That is, they manifestly think that believing in God is—would be—a good thing, a state of mind to be encouraged, by example if possible, so they defend belief-in-God with whatever rhetorical and political tools they can muster. They ask for God’s help, but do not risk anything on receiving it, for instance. They thank God for their blessings, but, following the principle that God helps those who help themselves, they proceed with the major decisions of their lives as if they were going it alone.

That pretty much sums it all up, doesn't it?

For reals, Fox News Guy?

I missed this before, but this is pretty good. Look for the bit related to this a couple minutes in:



Also: Love pita.

Obama-Biden 2008!

A great speech from Bill last night, as well as Beau Biden, Joe's son, prefacing the Senator's own speech. A powerful and effective evening for the Dems, with a "surprise" appearance by Obama to bring down the house.

Looking forward to the man's speech tonight.

History, folks - you're watching it right now.

People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.

-Bill Clinton, Democratic National Convention, August 27, 2008

Phelps Is Fired Up!

By way of A Large Regular.

Heartbreaking, indeed. Genius? Not so much.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers. What a disappointment. I had heard a lot of positive things about this autobiographical book over the last few years, prompting me to pick it up at my favorite used book sale. The introduction was quite promising, as Eggers provides the reader with instructions on how to read the book which I found to be pretty amusing. However, the bulk of the book is too long, at times variously maudlin and boring, occasionally funny, but on the whole a trial to get through. Eggers appears to be both pretentious and self-deprecating, but it's hard to determine when, and the effort isn't worth the dubious rewards.

Eggers' parents both died of cancer when he was in his early twenties. They left him, an older sister and brother and his younger brother Christopher (Toph). The care and guardianship of Toph fell to Dave, and much of the book is about Eggers' stint in loco parentis for Toph. While it's a sad scenario, I found that I had to force myself to feel sympathy for the Eggers children. This account didn't do the situation justice. The narrative felt uneven, as if at times Eggers alternately doesn't care and then panders for the reader's sympathy.

The book pulls on the heartstrings a bit, as it cannot help but do - a young single man raising his younger brother largely on his own - but these are rare moments. The reader sees the two having fun, dealing with their parents' passing, but then Eggers mixes into this his struggles with publishing Might magazine - a kooky hipster rag - various twentysomething antics of the guys 'n' gals variety, a veritable discourse about his love/hate affair with MTV's Real World (which seemed alarmingly dated to me), and a bunch of other crap. It's a narrative with an unpleasant syncopation; a discordant arrangement.

This is a book which caused me to roll my eyes every time I took it up. I couldn't wait to finish it simply so I could start reading something else. One word to sum up this disaster? Annoying. I would avoid this one.

Eggers also widely employs a writing pet peeve of mine - pervasive profanity throughout. Now I'm no prude: profanity has a natural and reasonable place in dialogue, both actual and written, and is even effective used sparingly otherwise (its rarity emphasizing its power as verbiage) but I find its persistent use in prose outside of dialogue to be lazy, cheap, uninteresting and uninspiring.

But what the fuck do I know?

Toxic Garbage Island

You need to watch this.

Then watch the rest of the series.

Highly disturbing.

On a broader note, VBS TV appears to be the awesome - brainchild of Spike Jonze (Creative Director, i.e. Schtonk Captain) - it's a bunch of young peeps taking it to the streets straight up - Mexico City, the Pacific Ocean Trash Gyre, Jamaica - music, culture, eco-awareness, and a whole assload of upper-level schtonk mixed up in there.

Check it out.

Seriously, though, watch the TGI series.

"Why Jesse Jackson Hates Obama"

A good op-ed from Shelby Steele in the WSJ, methinks.

Ted's Return

Love him or hate him, this is pretty awesome.

Equal Opportunity Employer?

Methinks Beckett probably weighed in on this latest hire by NESN.

Good job, everybody!

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, by Michael Chabon, is his first novel, published in 1988. He started writing it as an undergrad and submitted it as his thesis for his M.F.A. One of his advisors sent it to a literary agent, and Chabon was published at twenty-five years old.

Pittsburgh is a coming-of-age novel. It follows Art Bechstein, son of a big money man for the Pittsburgh mob, during the summer after his graduation from college. Art befriends a group of wacky characters including the flamboyantly gay Arthur Lecomte, wildman and mob "pickup boy" Cleveland, and the gorgeous Phlox Lombardi, and has a summer filled with booze, drugs, and sexual escapades, with the odd bit of danger to life and limb mixed in.

It's not a great book. It's good - as a first novel it's quite impressive. To see where Chabon started and how he could produce a masterpiece like The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay some 12 years later is fantastic. Chabon's an excellent writer. He uses once of the most extensive vocabularies of any modern writer in my experience and he has a flair for a nice turn of phrase. Pittsburgh is fun, funny, and sad in parts - it's a boozy, sexually-charged youthful romp, but it's more than that. I'm not sure how much of Chabon is written into the novel, but probably more than a little.

I'm glad I read this after having read the tremendous Kavalier and Clay, because I feel like I understand Chabon better as an author. However, if Pittsburgh had been the first novel of his I had read, I would be less inclined to read more of him. As a standalone read it's decent, but as a glimpse into how an accomplished author got his start, it's well worth it.

Jennings on Obama

From Ken Jennings' (of record Jeopardy! fame) blog. Amusing.

Props to Erin for the link.

An Audacious Feeling

I recently finished Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope, on loan from the Benoc Lending Library. It's a good read. Barack comes across exactly as he has in his campaign. He writes in broad terms about America, about the problems in our politics and how we can go about fixing them. It's personal at times as he discusses his family life. It's interesting when he talks about his life as a U.S. Senator. He seems genuine, intelligent, and committed to his vision of a better United States. I remain convinced that he is the dynamic force necessary to help us improve our seriously flawed nation.

Hope Changes Everything

From ObamaVideo08.com by way of Lessig.

The Future First Lady

Here's Michelle on Larry King Live:

O's Dominion

Obama made his momentum in the race official last night as he drew ahead of Hillary in the delegate count with his sweep of the so-called Potomac Primaries in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. CNN has him at 1,215 to Hillary's 1,190. Not only did he win but he won by a considerable margin, and his appeal has reached an even broader base cutting across all demographics, especially as he won over Latinos (albeit a small percentage of the population but still bodes well for the upcoming Texas primary), the lower-income demographic and split the white women vote (both of which were previously the sole province of Hillary).

I feel more and more committed to Obama's candidacy as each day passes. We are watching the greatest, most important presidential race of our lifetimes, and it will have a historic result.

It was Hillary's race to lose a mere week ago. It's Obama's race to win now.

Yes we can! Obama '08

US to Remain in Iraq Until 12,008

A pretty funny take on will.i.am's "Yes We Can" video:



John McCain should not be President. Barack Obama can defeat him with your help.