As you can probably deduce from Kiwi’s guest post a few days ago, the packing operations have escalated from Major to Serious. It’s now less than a week till the movers come, and all holy heck is being unleashed. Mountains of books, CDs, and various other items are indeed being dismantled and certain dodgy pieces […]
Entries from September 24th, 2007
Video of the Week
September 24th, 2007 · Comments Off on Video of the Week · Culture, Foreign Policy, History, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, TV, Video
In case you missed it, Keith Olbermann was on fire this week. His special comment was possibly the most powerful I’ve seen him deliver. And his ultimate point about the sacred dividing line between the civilian leadership and the military is one that needs to be heard more often — too many people don’t seem […]
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Nodilogue (and Blogscratching)
September 22nd, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Chicago, Culture, Fringe, Internet, Journal, Performance
I’m a little behind the times with this, but I wanted to offer some belated shoutings-out and linkback lurve to my fellow participants from The Nod this past Wednesday evening. Don Hall and Joe Janes did a great job of hosting the evening, making everyone feel welcome and creating the opportunity for the gaggle to […]
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Observations on the Recent and Continuing Unpleasantness
September 20th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Cats, Culture, Essays, Journal, Kiwi, Mr. Blue
Disturbing changes are taking place in the world, and we do not know what they signify. We are afraid that something terrible is going on, some fundamental destructive process that is entirely outside of our experience. You can read this in our wide-eyed stares, our defensive crouches, our tendency to go into hiding for longer […]
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Roundup: Swiftly Tilting Planet Edition
September 17th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Swiftly Tilting Planet Edition · Activism, Books, Chicago, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Fantasy, Film, Foreign Policy, Hate Crimes, Health, History, HIV/AIDS, Infrastructure, Journalism, LGBT, Lit, Media, Nature, News, Peace, Politics, Public Transportation, Roundup, Science, Science Fiction, Tech
Eric Alterman has an outstanding column in The Nation on how the media’s mean girls (of all genders) develop the narratives they use to bring down the presidential candidates they take a dislike to. With examples of what they did to Gore in 2000, and what they’re doing to Obama and Edwards right now. Two […]
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The Bright Side of Death
September 15th, 2007 · Comments Off on The Bright Side of Death · Activism, Comedy, Culture, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, Human Rights, Politics, The Economy, Stupid, Video
This week’s smash-hit viral video is a cheery little mash-up in which a Monty Python classic gets its peanut butter in the chocolate of the modern-day healthcare crisis. … and here’s the handy action link. If William Jennings Bryan were alive today, he might say something about not crucifying mankind upon a Cross of […]
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The Song Lyric That Made Me Cry Today
September 15th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Culture, Journal, Music, Poetry
This one: I guess all I’m really saying is how I think you’re wrong here and some things are worth the chaos that they come along with — Trembling Blue Stars, “Letter Never Sent” (which has a bridge worthy of Neil Finn) (First installment in a possible recurring series … feel free to share […]
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Colbert on the Klingon-Republican Alliance
September 12th, 2007 · Comments Off on Colbert on the Klingon-Republican Alliance · Comedy, Culture, Foreign Policy, Media, Peace, Politics, TV, Video
Stephen notices the Republicans’ rhetorical reliance on the word honor, and points out who else tends to use that word a lot.
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Roundup: Pink Elephant Edition
September 10th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Books, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Energy, Film, Foreign Policy, Health, History, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Internet, Journalism, Language, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, News, Peace, Performance, Politics, Racism, Roundup, Science, Tech, Theater
General Petraeus says that “victory” in Iraq will require 9-10 more years. I’m trying to imagine how ten more years of bloody occupation can possibly work out to a victory. More on that subject here. A bill has been introduced in Venezuela to restrict baby names to a list of 100 approved choices. “The bill’s […]
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Trailer for Rendition, with Meryl Streep, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Reese Witherspoon
September 10th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Comics, Culture, Film, Human Rights, Media, News, Politics, Torture, Video
Via Towleroad, the trailer for the new movie Rendition, scheduled for release October 19 in the US. I’m not usually one for movies that get the “thriller” label, but the political dimension to this one — and the quality of the cast — make it look like an early standout among fall releases. There’s […]
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Russell Hoban News: New Releases and More
September 7th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Books, Culture, Fiction, Film, Lit, News, Russell Hoban, Science Fiction, Theater
I just updated the News page over at The Head of Orpheus, the Russell Hoban Web site I maintain, so I figured I might as well cross-post the info here as well (with a few slight formatting tweaks). Autumn 2007 is shaping up to be a great season for Hoban fans, with Russ’s next novel […]
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Music: Deborah Harry, “Two Times Blue”
September 7th, 2007 · Comments Off on Music: Deborah Harry, “Two Times Blue” · Culture, Music, New Wave, News, Video
From Debbie Harry’s forthcoming solo album Necessary Evil, which is due out October 9 in the US. I’m not entirely sure about the video, but I really like the song. You can hear another track from the album, “If I Had You,” on Ms. Harry’s official MySpace page.
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