Speaking of writers I admire, Michael Kinsley has taken over the LA Times editorial page. Tragic, really. I'm not about to start reading unsigned editorials, with their intentionally bland, unbranded prose.
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04:36:57 PM,
Tuesday 11 May 2004
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Some beautifully written, sane-sounding optimism about the war. As always, I don't know what to think, but I'm cheered a tad that someone so sharp with the language can think such things. I should start taking names of journalists whose prose I admire. I suppose that's what news aggregators are for.
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(7)
04:21:34 PM,
Tuesday 11 May 2004
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My self-test for bigotry: I know I'm all right with a category of people if I am able to casually dislike a member of the group without feeling uncomfortable about it.
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02:47:46 PM,
Tuesday 11 May 2004
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Not going to blog about the news. It's bad enough to read it and brood. Thinking constructively about it is beyond me. All I'm able to do is feel miserable, and Andrew Sullivan is managing that far more articulately than I can.
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(5)
11:01:24 AM,
Monday 10 May 2004
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Idea of the day: A USB thermometer that reports the temperature by email/to a website every morning, so you can check the temperature in your cubicle before you go to work.
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(1)
09:29:24 AM,
Monday 10 May 2004
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The internet has forever changed adventure gaming. I remember the whole household being stuck on the dratted piano in one of the Kings Quests, for weeks. My father eventually broke down and called the help line. You could never be that stuck anymore. I'm currently trying to decide whether to cheat on Escape from Monkey Island. I'm sure it's just some item I failed to pick up, or something.
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10:35:36 PM,
Saturday 8 May 2004
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Hearing them on the radio, I was actually quite impressed by Bush's statement to the friendly arab press. He sounded engaged, like he was involved in what he was dealing with, rather than simply regurgitating. The tone was good, though that doesn't matter nearly so much as what he looked like, since he was speaking foreign, and I didn't see that. I did notice one thing, though: The headline everyone pulled was that he called them abhorrent. The first time, I think he meant abhorrent. Clearly, it was the first thing he was going to say, regardless of the question, it was the planned statement:
Q: What can the U.S. do, or what can you do to get out of this?
BUSH: First, people in Iraq must understand that I view those practices as abhorrent. They must also understand that what took place in that prison does not represent America that I know. The America I know is a compassionate country that believes in freedom. The America I know cares about every individual. The America I know has sent troops into Iraq to promote freedom -- good, honorable citizens that are helping the Iraqis every day.
The 'They must also understand' suggests they're two seperate thoughts. But the second time, it sounds very much like he meant aberrant:
We've discovered these abuses; they're abhorrent abuses. They do not reflect -- the actions of these few people do not reflect the hearts of the American people. The American people are just as appalled at what they have seen on TV as the Iraqi citizens have. The Iraqi citizens must understand that. And, therefore, there will be a full investigation, and justice will be served. And we will do to ourselves what we expect of others.
My best guess is that he was told to say abhorrent, but thought he was saying aberrant, or perhaps just used the wrong word, or doesn't distinguish between the two. The DOD was already using the phrase aberrant behavior on Sunday.
Someone slightly snarky at The Herald seems to have noticed this...
"Mr Bush called the treatment of Iraqi prisoners "abhorrent" but was at pains to stress that it was also aberrant."
This makes me wonder whether the stress put on the word in the headlines was snarkyness all around.
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(1)
09:24:18 AM,
Thursday 6 May 2004
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I'm sure other films have made me feel equally happy and peaceful, but they've ceded place to Laputa: Castle in the Sky. It also felt like finding a missing cultural reference point for japanese fantasy video games, like seeing Dracula, all the threads came together. It had giant airships, pokemon-like things, an ancient mysterious tree, crystals, and a strange concoction of early 20th century technology. Or is there an earlier work I don't know about?
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(4)
08:28:35 AM,
Thursday 6 May 2004
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And, along with the current trend on the blogmass, A list of mystery lyrics from randomly selected songs in my library for you to guess. I limited it to songs I could stand listening to (sorry Steely Dan), and that I'm capable of transcribing (sorry Zemfira)
1: the world could show nothing to me, so what good would living do me? Julia
2: and like the birds that fly tomorrow, we've seen machines that glide away
3: but when she thinks about her insect, she is happy
4: Leave behind all your dreams and plans, won't be needing them...
5: and it seems like 25 years of promises
6: you're someone I can believe in, someone who won't leave me feeling...
7: When I was young, younger than before Nate
8: Well I will not believe in you and then where will you be?Anne
9: I'm a space invader. Bri4n
10: there's no today and there's no tomorrowAnne again
11: and one more going nowhere just for show. Martin, because he got here first
12: Where they brought coca-cola just like vintage wine
13: We'll see how brave you are. Moss
14: You say your love is bonafide, but that don't coincide
15: too much fighting on the dance floor Martin
16: let's take the boat out wait until darkness comesPF
17: Left her car by the river left her shoes beside
18: I hope we live to tell the tale Bri4n
19: but I'd rather be the queen at the guillotine in a bloody insurrection
20: ... on everything but roller-skates
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(24)
09:19:08 PM,
Wednesday 5 May 2004
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No Credibility Whatsoever:
Tim and Erika's Croquet Blogswap Tracklisting
Riders in the Sky, by Vaughn Monroe (49)
Music! Music! Music! by Teresa Brewer (50)
Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean (61)
The End of the World by Skeeter Davis (63)
Bye Bye Love by the Everly Brothers (64)
Needles and Pins by the Searchers (64)
Shotgun by Junior Walker and the All-Stars (65)
Red Rubber Ball by The Cyrkle (66)
My Love by Petula Clark (66)
Kicks by Paul Revere and the Raiders (66)
Let's Live for Today by the Grass Roots (67)
To Sir, With Love by Lulu (67)(v. good)
Mama Told Me Not To Come by 3 Dog Night (70)
Rocky Mountain High by John Denver (72)
You're No Good by Linda Ronstadt (74)(v. good)
Dust in the Wind by Kansas (77)(blame Erika)
What I Like About You by the Romantics (80)
Africa by Toto (82)
Harden My Heart by Quarterflash (81)
Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant (82)
Ghostbusters! by Ray Paker Junior (84)(sorry)
All songs from the billboard annual top 100 list
Out of curiousity, who all ended up with a CD?
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(8)
07:58:55 PM,
Wednesday 5 May 2004
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My Newfoundland 2004 Travel Guide has arrived! It has pictures of puffins and icebergs and whales and fjords innit!
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06:30:27 PM,
Wednesday 5 May 2004
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For some reason, I find the predictable leadenness of Benedryl less worrying than the subtle stringiness of its modern cousins. Well, that and it actually stops my allergies. If I take a Benedryl at 6pm or so, and sleep for 10 hours, I can imitate a human being quite well. I hate medication. Don't even like the floatiness of aspirin. Since my allergies are behind schedule up here, they took me by surprise yesterday; I took a benedryl, curled up around Volume 1 of my new lovely Complete Far Side (you can't curl up with it, it's too heavy) and had very peculiar dreams, including a horrible one where I'd spent the last 4 years having to repeat two years of high school, and two years of college. I think it's safe to say I don't want to go back. After taking 2 benedryl yesterday at 12 hour intervals and being awake for perhaps 6, I'm functioning again. The package tells me not to exceed 6 in a day. The mind boggles.
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(3)
10:22:32 AM,
Wednesday 5 May 2004
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site & script courtesy of Moss
