Thursday, 10/31/02
All this morning and most of last night I've had Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" in my head -- the slow, mopey song about self-loathing on an album otherwise full of fast, angry songs about self-loathing. I haven't heard it in probably four or five years, but it was instantly recognizable as it came over the radio, even being performed mostly on an acoustic guitar by Johnny Cash. It's completely faithful, deadpan, genius.
Where the original version layers about fifty synthy guitars to get its point across, Cash achieves much the same effect with a guitar, a piano, and a couple of string instruments. On a night of spooky Halloween-themed songs, this was the scariest.
The Cash album, "The Man Comes Around", comes out on Election Day. Until then, if you have a computer that can hack streaming Windows Media (I had to reinstall Windows Media for Mac OS X before it would work), you might be able to pluck it out of KEXP's streaming archive, from Riz's 10/30 variety mix, about 2 minutes in.
Of course, it'll only be up there for two weeks, because webcast archives that remain available longer than that are illegal. Praise be to the lobbying muscle of the recording industry. 02:38PM «
Friday, 10/25/02
Today I learned that farm subsidies account for more than half of the European Union's budget. Holy cow. So to speak. 12:09AM «
Wednesday, 10/23/02
I was reading this NYT article about contract renegotiation difficulties between NBC and the producers of The West Wing. The show's bargaining position is buttressed by an improbable string of Emmy awards, but weakened by all sorts of factors, including the show's falloff in ratings (deservedly so, in the worthwhile opinion of the paper's Caryn James, the first West Wing critic I've seen break out the shark-jump references), and the producers' acrimonious victory over NBC in ER's negotiations last year.
But the real dirt in the story goes unaddressed in its copy, and left to a sidebar photograph: Jeff Zucker, NBC Entertainment president, is clearly related by blood to Bush administration press secretary Ari Fleischer. The pictures don't lie. DNA analysis seems superfluous at this juncture.
11:05PM «
Tuesday, 10/22/02
Just another reason to be glad you're probably not a Windows user: unless your firewall is snug as a bug, spammers can now broadcast messages which pop up as Windows system dialogs. Not the least entertaining thing in this Wired story is the tidbit that the author of the application which makes such broadcasts relatively easy has made about $140,000 in sales in two months without bothering to do any advertising. 12:14AM «
The USDA's new rules for labeling "organic" produce are entirely infuriating. In addition to mandating limits on pesticide use and setting up an inspection regime (as well as banning genetic modification, and going after some straw men like cloning), nothing certified organic can employ irradiation.
I love irradition. I've never met anyone opposed to broad-based food irradiation who wasn't wearing a tinfoil-lined hat. Irradiation is good for me, and the classy new green and white "USDA Organic" sticker might as well announce, "The 'E' in 'E.Coli' Stands For 'Extra'".
I also found it rather droll that "small farmers" are exempted from the federal rules. The definition of a small farmer is less than $5,000 in gross annual agricultural income. I'm a small farmer! It's almost time for me to harvest my annual crop of Christmas cookies. 12:05AM «
Friday, 10/18/02
My dad wrote a newsy, informational op-ed in the SF Chronicle today, about the Bali bombing. I forget sometimes how much he knows about Indonesia, since he doesn't talk about it constantly and I'm no longer around very much to see all the masks on the walls of his house. My parents reportedly met when he was consulting on an Indonesian art exhibit at a museum where she worked, so, you know, I approve. 03:36PM «
I went to the store last night for my usual staples and noticed that grocery store egg nog season has gotten out of the gate a little early. Huzzah! How I do adore commercial egg nog. I drink it out of shot glasses, not out of any alcoholic pretension but to make it go further (also: the glasses are easier to lick), and then I promptly undercut my prudence by drinking four or five at a time. I don't seem to recall its making an appearance prior to Halloween before. 10:52AM «
Wednesday, 10/16/02
I'm irrationally fond of this IKEA commercial, thoughtfully hosted by Andre Torrez. It's a real ad (you can also find it by navigating the wretched Flash layout at http://unboring.com and clicking on the TV set), but I haven't been able to confirm yet that it was actually shot by Spike Jonze. I think it's even funnier than the Comedian spot. 12:54AM «
This year's World Series is the first in which both participants got to the playoffs via the wild card. The Times story on the subject ends with a heartwarming statistic: "The Yankees' payroll (...) is $171.4 million. The combined payroll of the Giants and the Angels is $172.5 million."
My mom likes to make a point about New York Times writing guidelines, where unlike nearly all the other newspapers in the world, the kicker usually comes right at the end of the piece. Papers syndicating NYT stories typically have not figured this out, and when they trim for space they trim from the end, eliminating material that in a wire service article would be placed near the top. 12:49AM «
Sunday, 10/13/02
I'd heard about Robert Byrd's useful invective during the Iraq resolution debate, but didn't know exactly what was said. His office has now posted the text.
Early in bumppo.net's illustrious rhetorical career I singled out a particulary evocative little snippet from Lincoln's second inaugural address. Byrd mines similar value from Representative Lincoln's correspondence:
"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose -- and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you have given him so much as you propose. If, to-day, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invading us' but he will say to you 'be silent; I see it, if you don't.'
"The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress, was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons. Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us. But your view destroys the whole matter, and places our President where kings have always stood."
Lincoln is elsewhere to be found on the record about the American relationship to kings named George. 11:16PM «
I was sorry to hear that Stephen Ambrose died today, from lung cancer. I'm in the middle of HBO's rebroadcast of the surprisingly terrific Band of Brothers miniseries, and I've been looking forward to the book he was working on when he died. In a Newshour interview with David Gergen in Jule he described it as "an account of the parts of American history that appeal to me, because I've changed my mind so completely on them." It sounded like genius to me. Read the transcript.
I'm going window-shopping in a kitchen supply store to try to cheer myself up. 02:58PM «
Albert Einstein is apocryphally credited with the line "One cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." Joe Lieberman, quoted in Slate, updates the familiar phrase: "The best way to achieve peace is to prepare for war." I can hear the whir of the bumper-sticker presses spinning up even now.
Don't get me wrong, Florida 2000 was a horrible travesty, but I can't say I'm sorry that Joe Lieberman isn't the guy an arrythmia away from the presidency. I look forward to not voting for him in many future national primaries. 02:46PM «
Friday, 10/11/02
So yes, since my flameout posting a few weeks ago, I concluded I was sufficiently motivated to stay in town that I secured for myself some fine Bush Jr. Economy minimum-wage employment. The goal is to free up enough time and generate enough angry motivation to get back to Natty Threads and a few other things I've been thinking about since the late 20th century. With Jen moved back to Massachusetts for the time being, this is the point where I figure out if it's going to happen. 03:23PM «
Returning from a long hiatus imposed by my stupid new job and other pressing domestic matters, I want to share with you my skyrocketing fondness for New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
"The question before us is straightforward," Mr. Bloomberg said to the standing-room-only crowd gathered for the first City Council hearing on the legislation. "Does your desire to smoke anywhere, at any time, trump the right of others to breathe clean air in the workplace? Common sense and common decency demand the following answer: The need to breathe clean air is more important than the license to pollute it."
Why can't that be my mayor talking? Seattle desperately needs an antismoking ordinance covering clubs, bars, and restaurants. I'd kill for one, and if murder isn't going to get it done, I'll donate time and/or money.
With the exception of the Tractor Tavern and Jazz Alley, I don't think I've ever been to a club in Seattle that had ventilation adequate to prevent me from seething over the goddamn scene kids and their goddamn cigarettes. I subject myself to far fewer shows because of it. There are probably two performers a week at the Crocodile I'd pay to see, but until Jesse Sykes' appearance last Saturday coincided with Jen's leaving town, I hadn't been by in months. I might get to one of the Neko Case appearances in November, but I need something on that level of greatness to make the insufferable atmosphere worthwhile.
The fact that California, land of sporadic civil genius, has already taken this step without collapsing the economy should be all the economic evidence anyone requires. If even one bar had gone out of business, you can be damn sure the owner would have been flown out to that New York city council meeting.
When was the last time you heard movie theater managers agitating for their customers' permanent access to nicotine? Movies are way the hell longer than most musical performances, with patrons who are less likely to wander away and get a drink in the middle. And I have exactly zero sympathy for people who can't be bothered to get up from a productive night of drinking and go smoke outside.
The other reason Bloomberg is warming my heart is his flat refusal to participate in the NY Columbus Day parade if Dominic Chianese and Lorraine Bracco don't get to come along. "I'm sorry if anybody is annoyed, but if my friends can't march, people that I think have done things for the city, then you know, I'll find some other way to celebrate the Italian heritage that we have in the city." Bloody right.
(Update: The parade organizers actually went to the extreme of filing, and losing, a lawsuit to force Bloomberg to participate without any nasty actors. They also tried to get a federal court order preventing the Mayor from extending invitations to Sopranos actors.)
While I'm singling out elected leaders for praise, Rep. Rick Larsen of the 2nd District and Sen. Patty Murray both voted against the offensively unconstitutional Iraq resolution. Larsen is in a tight race in terrority verging on yahoo country, may have hurt himself, and voted no anyway. On the other hand, Sen. Maria Cantwell, who's not up for reelection for four years, voted for it. Aside from maintaining Democratic control of the Senate and occasionally helping the judiciary committee reject an intolerable nominee, what precisely is Maria Cantwell good for? A sock puppet could do both of those things, as long as it was a Democratic sock puppet. 03:21PM «
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