tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35966442011-07-07T18:49:34.758-05:00In "Hurricane Eye," Paul Simon asks,<br><i>So you wanna be a writer? <br>Don't know how, or when?<br>Find a quiet place,<br>use a humble pen.</i><br>Good advice, that.mpnoreply@blogger.comBlogger731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-35993781907303264472008-01-11T10:05:00.001-06:002008-01-11T10:10:55.394-06:00

This is interesting and very, very cool sounding. Teller (of Penn and Teller fame) does Shakespeare."I thought it might be a very interesting idea to do a production in which all the magic stuff fooled audiences so that they'd be in the exact same position as Macbeth. I know it's a pretty cerebral idea, the idea that we're trying to see what it's like to be Macbeth. But," he added with palpable

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-90940721607365244332007-12-31T01:54:00.000-06:002007-12-31T01:58:45.602-06:00

...are at it again.Read this.Without getting into this subject too deeply, years of precedent establishes that what the RIAA is arguing here about personal copies is simply not a winning argument. Those folks need to get more serious about finding a new business model, and they need to stop harassing people who are still buying CDs. I'm not in favor of piracy, but fair use has a long history in

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-13437918243778466012007-12-07T13:29:00.001-06:002007-12-07T13:32:52.374-06:00

http://www.scorsesefilmfreixenet.com/video_eng.htmAmazing.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-25914129429194981982007-11-30T11:41:00.000-06:002007-11-30T11:57:20.862-06:00

So, there's this:FDA considers salt warning labels Now, what annoys me about this is the very last sentence: "The question tonight is whether the government should be limiting your salt intake for you."The idea that the government should have the right to tell me, directly or indirectly, how much salt I consume is anathema. I understand the science of it and the risks, but this just isn't one of

mpnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-46718947549556394902007-11-17T18:53:00.000-06:002007-11-17T19:12:28.322-06:00

All right, so "tag" as a note to my previous post wasn't just taunting me, I've been tagged.Here are the rules:Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.My tagger?

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-75641975457123373732007-11-17T13:07:00.000-06:002007-11-17T13:12:00.825-06:00

Movie Night has returned, and it even has its own blog.http://nutbushmovienight.blogspot.com/Re: tag, marco, etc. I know, I know, I've been neglectful.Expect more in this space shortly, as soon as I figure out what it is I want to say.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-25053405824611385532007-08-31T13:19:00.000-05:002007-08-31T13:24:34.804-05:00

So I've left the job I had since 2003. It's time for me to learn the family business.Before all that, though, taking a brief break. Making a movie, my first movie. Trying to watch a few movies, too, and reviving an old tradition a friend and I have, Movie Night.The Netflix movies sit, unwatched, on my shelf for the time being.So my Queue is static. That's depressing.

mpnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-125250183379914162007-08-05T22:14:00.000-05:002007-08-31T13:19:37.748-05:00

So, the world waits in anticipation of Bonds's breaking Hank's record. It's like time's stopped. Everyone's wondering when it will happen and where they'll be; women are crying in the streets, so overcome are they by the emotion and the anticipation. As at a parade, children want to be lifted up onto their dad's shoulders so that they can see, and everywhere he goes, there's a low solemn chant

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-57417621118083860592007-07-25T22:13:00.000-05:002007-07-25T22:23:50.106-05:00

Note to Self: never plan to elaborate on a blogger post. Either elaborate, or don't. Then move on to the next post.Like this one: Zodiac was one of the better movies I've seen from 2006. Also this week, I watched the first Mutiny on the Bounty--the one with Clark Gable.What the two have to do with one another, I'm not sure.Zodiac was interesting because it didn't end conventionally, and it's

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-55336265651031702942007-07-18T01:10:00.000-05:002007-07-18T01:15:07.976-05:00

So I bought Season One of The Muppet Show.It's different than I remembered, but then I'm only three episodes in.A good deal of it is corny, and there's a lot -- a lot -- of music. The band is really pretty darn good -- as you might imagine.It's not as laugh-out-loud funny as I expected.But I have some other, slightly more depressing thoughts about it. I'll post those as soon as I've had a

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-29803033089350410682007-07-12T22:57:00.000-05:002007-07-13T00:05:05.605-05:00

I'm back.I'm not sure why, exactly.I've been so busy with the real world that posting hasn't been much of a concern lately.Earlier in the year, I finally opened a Netflix acount. And I thought I'd review the movies I was watching as I was watching them.But then I got a work-related promotion, and I haven't had a chance to take full advantage of the Netflix account.Anyway, here's a very quick

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1121495347910322322005-07-16T01:00:00.000-05:002005-07-16T01:31:10.260-05:00

Sadpunk posts rant about Harry Potter.Well, sort of.Anyway, I disagree.Though this sort of feels like an AA meeting, I must admit that I like Harry Potter. Despite the fact that I'm an adult. Despite the fact that Sadpunk is right — or at least arguably so — about most everything he says in his post.I was at the local bookstore at midnight with some friends (yeah, I know, drink the Kool-Aid),

mpnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1120025410705272492005-06-29T01:08:00.000-05:002005-06-29T01:10:10.710-05:00

Shelby Foote died Monday night.See commentary from me at my other Web site.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1118933277273672572005-06-16T09:47:00.000-05:002005-06-16T09:47:57.280-05:00

So I hear that Sony/BMG is set to release copy-protected Cds that aren't compatible with iTunes and iPod.That's smart, guys. Really smart.I have a problem with Apple's digital rights management, because it is restrictive. It's a restriction I can live with, though, and it seems to be the wave of the future. But if I buy a CD, I've bought it. And I have the right to make archival copies for

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1112854995598572732005-04-07T01:23:00.000-05:002005-04-07T01:27:41.056-05:00

The last statement in this paragraph of this article gets it all wrong. The iPod's reign over the expanding digital music kingdom shows no signs of stopping yet, with Apple expecting to sell more than 15 million of its signature players this year. iPods can only play downloaded files from the iTunes online music store thanks to restrictions in digital rights management, or DRM.In addition to

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1112854330183076862005-04-07T01:08:00.000-05:002005-04-07T01:12:10.183-05:00

I've just been exceedingly busy.And when I haven't been exceedingly busy, I've been reading.I'll be back, though. Just in case you were wondering.Because a semi-elderly (but thankfully insured) woman hit my car and destroyed its back driver's side quarterpanel, my car's in the shop. That's what I get for shopping at a Mapco.And now begins the long arduous process of waiting for my car to return

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1109134443503929602005-02-22T22:54:00.000-06:002005-02-22T22:55:54.436-06:00

Given that what a lawyer finds hilarious might be a good deal different from what a normal human might think of as funny or amusing, here are two oldies but goodies:I read this one one day on National Review Online. Regardless of your politics, this is a hoot, especially if you've ever wanted to tell someone he was incompetent. This does an exceptional job: "No Judge Ito".And this one I'll simply

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1109048348215763702005-02-21T22:51:00.000-06:002005-02-21T23:00:06.566-06:00

Back in the fall, I started a book called Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell; I bought it because the subject matter interested me and because I'm a book collector. Having now committed the cardinal sin of actually reading a first edition of what seems destined to become a very valuable book, I cannot say that I'm regretful about it.I am, after all, gentle on my books, especially when they're as good

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1107925698108732522005-02-08T23:06:00.000-06:002005-02-08T23:08:18.106-06:00

Even when it's old people pop culture. I read that Paul Simon's next album is to be produced by Brian Eno. And I don't know what that means. I know Eno is someone I'm supposed to be familiar with, I know he's some sort of legend or something. But that's about all. Somebody, please, enlighten me.

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1106634031496720772005-01-24T23:51:00.000-06:002005-01-25T00:20:31.496-06:00

What else is there to say that hasn't already been said, and said by more eloquent folks than I? Oddly, one of my more persistent Tonight Show memories involves death. I remember hearing that Jim Henson had died, tragically, from what was called "walking pneumonia." And I was upset — as if I'd lost a friend. Because I'd seen Jim and Kermit and Piggy and the whole gang on The Tonight Show not

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1106529414101537842005-01-23T19:15:00.000-06:002005-01-23T19:16:54.100-06:00

More on Johnny Carson's passing later tonight. I'm collecting my thoughts.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1106202685810956152005-01-19T23:54:00.000-06:002005-01-20T00:31:25.810-06:00

My long-term email pal and her husband are off on vacation to Mexico this weekend. That means no email confessionals until Sunday. It's strange how attached one can become to technology; I remember a time when there was no email, but I don't know how I'd really get along without it now. Blogs are somewhat the same — a new development that's changing the landscape without our even noticing.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1105510246639228942005-01-12T00:05:00.000-06:002005-01-12T00:10:46.640-06:00

When, oh when, will this movie open in my city? I've already seen The Aviator — stunning film with stunning performances by DiCaprio et al. Am afraid I'm going to miss Sideways due to local theater chain's ineptitude at scheduling the flick at a convenient time for me to see it. And well, that leave's Clint's flick. My prediction: Scorsese, overlooked too many times, wins directing Oscar for

mpnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1104890958903687572005-01-04T20:04:00.000-06:002005-01-04T20:11:29.760-06:00

But it still sucks. Dave Barry retires. Sorta. Or something. His last, maybe, here.

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1104212586126320492004-12-27T23:40:00.000-06:002004-12-27T23:43:06.126-06:00

I'm concerned that the best show on television is about to be canceled. It may not be everybody's cup of tea, but The Wire deserves another season. HBO ought to renew it. If you haven't seen The Wire, check it out — even of cop shows aren't your thing. The first season is available on DVD now, and the second will be out in January. The third just concluded its run.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1102406297977213462004-12-07T01:41:00.000-06:002004-12-07T02:35:55.286-06:00

Yesterday, December 6, The M celebrated his thirty-fourth birthday. It was a quiet celebration with the parents, following a somewhat restrained party on Saturday night. Saturday night's affair was supposed to be bigger, but one of the participants fell off his bed and broke his arm, so owing to swelling and the big ol' arm splint, the crowd convened at the Hub of Western Civilization, where

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1102404801087530342004-12-07T01:32:00.000-06:002004-12-07T01:34:11.290-06:00

http://artsandlettersdaily.com/ Sweeeeeeet.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1102404717733115752004-12-07T01:23:00.000-06:002004-12-07T01:40:20.076-06:00

An interesting article, here. I'm not sure I agree with or understand it, totally. But I have an intense dislike for Derrida; it's a pleasure to read, "This isn't an insight, it's a tautology. Necessarily, every X excludes not-X, else it would not be X." Or my favorite: [S]kepticism about the existence of truth and/or absolute value, and our knowledge of either, has been a staple of Western

mpnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1101517460844297592004-11-26T18:54:00.000-06:002004-12-07T01:17:32.486-06:00

Does it bother anyone but me that people seem to have utterly forgotten the art of proofreading and -- the subject of today's post -- typesetting? Ever see a sentence like this: "You're crazy as hell", she said. Everyone knows -- or at least, The M thinks everyone ought to know -- that the comma after the quotation marks should actually be inside the quote, like this: "I am not," he replied,

mpnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1100758148387104872004-11-18T00:06:00.000-06:002004-11-18T00:09:08.386-06:00

This cartoon is one of the most reprehensible things I've seen in a long, long time. Which party's the racist one again?

mpnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1099873532685911852004-11-07T18:15:00.000-06:002004-11-07T18:25:32.686-06:00

Wow. I can't believe I haven't posted anything to the Blog since before I left for Knoxville. The Conference was great. All the papers were good, the food was good, the company pleasant, and the Webmaster's award ( a plaque and a signed Cormac McCarthy book) was a complete suprise. The Marty Party went off well, too. Lots of folks, lots of food, lots of fun, and a late ending. It's always a

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1097648744754245902004-10-13T01:23:00.000-05:002004-10-13T01:25:44.753-05:00

Well, in the morning, I'm off to Knoxville, Tennessee, for the annual Cormac McCarthy Conference. I'll not be presenting a paper this time, but I will be documenting the affair with the new camera. As one of my bosses put it, some folks are curious about what kind of people would attend a Cormac McCarthy Conference. Here's hoping that the weather will be good and that the fall foliage will be

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1097648321567946932004-10-13T01:18:00.000-05:002004-10-13T01:22:18.070-05:00

This is the first picture I've taken with my digital camera. Well, the first one I'm willing to share, anyway. Say hello to Miss Quentin. 

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1097395690490318602004-10-10T03:05:00.000-05:002004-10-10T03:08:10.490-05:00

That's how long I was at work Thursday. From 9 a.m. to 3:45 in the morning on Friday. And back again at 10 a.m. Friday. But I did leave at 2 -- nice short day for the M, who was delirious from lack of sleep. One of my bosses said, "the last time I pulled an all nighter, I was drunk." Well, I wasn't, so I remember it all too well. I'm still recovering.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1097128233182836712004-10-07T00:48:00.000-05:002004-10-07T00:50:33.183-05:00

While I'm still working like crazy this week, this article is worth reading. It's old now, but I think it's probably more relevant now than it was when it was written since its notions, even just a few years out, seem almost quaint.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1096955592595232732004-10-05T00:45:00.000-05:002004-10-05T00:53:12.596-05:00

For those of you who may be following this particular blog, I'm not dead yet. Lots of work at work, together with a month-long succession of parties, has contributed mightily to my not posting here more regularly. In tech news, I did finally break down and order my first Mac. In other news, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell continues to be a great book, though I've not had the time I'd like to

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1095228213887567402004-09-15T01:03:00.000-05:002004-09-15T01:03:53.516-05:00

After reading several reviews, I went to the local bookstore yesterday to buy a book. This particular book, which runs to about 800 pages, is by a first-time author named Susannah Clarke. It's called Jonathan Strange &amp Mr. Norrell. I'm very early into the reading of this one, but it's clever, and I'm enjoying it a great deal so far. It's no doubt going to be a publishing sensation, so

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1093715787714344272004-08-28T12:56:00.000-05:002004-08-28T13:12:37.076-05:00

President's Remarks to the Unity Journalists of Color Convention: Now in terms of the balance between running down intelligence and bringing people to justice obviously is — we need to be very sensitive on that. Lackawanna, for example, was a — there was a cell there. And it created a lot of nervousness in the community, because the FBI skillfully ferreted out intelligence that indicated that

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1093502319827314532004-08-26T01:32:00.000-05:002004-08-26T01:42:38.003-05:00

A friend of mine sent me the following. The Washington Post's Style Invitational [also here — I could spend days reading this kind of stuff] once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are the 2003 winners: 1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1093500825305916782004-08-26T01:04:00.000-05:002004-08-26T01:14:29.676-05:00

Oh my. Finished Everything is Illuminated last evening. What a ride. One of my favorite passages:Every widow wakes one morning, perhaps after years of pure and unwavering grieving, to realize she slept a good night's sleep, and will be able to eat breakfast, and doesn't hear her husband's ghost all the time, but only some of the time. Her grief is replaced with a useful sadness. Every parent who

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1093500172543886962004-08-26T00:53:00.000-05:002004-08-26T01:03:36.196-05:00

VivaLaLesley disputes my information about baby carrots. The following is taken from Cooks Illustrated's E-Notes, April 2001."BABY" CARROTS While researching our story on roasted carrots [. . .] we learned that the popular bagged "baby" carrots in the supermarket qualify as "babies" in terms of size only. The diminutive carrots are pared-down versions of a special variety bred for extra

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1093007859801341072004-08-20T08:16:00.000-05:002004-08-20T08:19:26.646-05:00

Yes, Everything is Illuminated continues to be great — so great that I don't want to write here because I'd rather read. However, I've been thinking about this particular subject for a while now and wanted to at least get started. I like lists, though they can be maddeningly frustrating sometimes. Here, then, are ten books I love &#151 these books are on this list not only because I love them,

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1092720755220058632004-08-17T00:18:00.000-05:002004-08-17T00:33:06.673-05:00

A good friend recommended that I read Jonathan Safran Foer's first novel, Everything is Illuminated. Having just started the book — I've read about five pages — I am already compelled to mention it here. It's not thus far an easy book to explain, but it is hilarious; the first part of the book is narrated by a Ukranian translator writing in English, and the effect is riotous. A sample: Many

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1092340390796259272004-08-12T14:53:00.000-05:002004-08-17T00:35:07.666-05:00

CNN.com - Cheney blasts Kerry over 'sensitive war' remark - Aug 12, 2004: The Kerry campaign Thursday said that the senator's comment was being 'taken out of context' and the 'meaning twisted' by the Bush/Cheney campaign. Kerry spokesman Phil Singer told CNN the Democratic candidate was referring to cooperation with allies. President Bush himself, Singer said, used the word 'sensitive' in a

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1092339549052035032004-08-12T14:39:00.000-05:002004-08-28T13:21:54.316-05:00

CNN.com - Cheneys Go After Kerry - Aug 11, 2004: [Mrs. Cheney] was responding to an audience question about Kerry's remarks last week to the Unity 2004 conference in which he said, "I believe I can fight a more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war on terror that reaches out to other nations and brings them to our side." I have looked for the rest of

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1092338449102574632004-08-12T14:20:00.000-05:002004-08-17T00:38:33.330-05:00

VP's Remarks in Dayton, Ohio: But a good defense is not enough, and so we have also gone on the offense in the war on terror — but the President's opponent, Senator Kerry, sometimes seems to object. He has even said that by using our strength, we are creating terrorists and placing ourselves in greater danger. But that is a fundamental misunderstanding of the way the world we are living in works

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1092177439778616332004-08-10T17:28:00.000-05:002004-08-10T17:37:19.780-05:00

Today was my second sick day. Again, I slept a lot. But in between sleeping episodes, I've been contemplating what I'm going to do about my new home theater room. The plans have been drawn up, and construction should commence soon, so I'm becoming very concerned about what equipment is going into that room and how I'm going to get it there. My big dilemma is display technology. I used to sell

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1092104936896778022004-08-09T21:12:00.000-05:002004-08-09T21:28:56.896-05:00

Last weekend, a good friend of mine got married. After his first date with her, he called me up in the middle of the night to let me know that he was going to marry her. That was about two years ago. Lo and behold, he did just that on Sunday. I was at the bachelor party on Friday night, where the groom was injured by a fairly nasty fall and the best man got a black eye. I merely got tackled by

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1092103593319989032004-08-09T20:48:00.000-05:002004-08-09T21:12:49.973-05:00

It's been busy lately, and the level of busy-ness has apparently caught up with me. I took a sick day from work today due to a cough and sore throat incident, and so now I'm on some pretty powerful antibiotics and a narcotic cough syrup. Whether I'll be back at work tomorrow is an open question; all I wanted to do today was sleep. But that's following two eventful weekends. Weekend-before-last

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1091164454062415562004-07-30T00:03:00.000-05:002004-07-30T00:27:21.163-05:00

So, I watched the post convention blowout for Kerry. John Williams and the Boston Pops, fireworks, and so forth. Nice display. Kind of grating to hear John Williams music (like Superman, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc.) against that scene. I kept wishing for Born on the Fourth of July. No dice, but what I got may have been better. It was certainly more...odd. Wagner's "Ride of the

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1090825508925906622004-07-26T02:01:00.000-05:002004-07-26T02:05:08.926-05:00

Finished Motherless Brooklyn. Great book. Am excited about the prospect of the movie. If nothing else, it'll be a tour de force for Norton. Also, need to mention that I have to be at work in seven hours. Ick. Lyle Lovett and Antiques Roadshow coming up this week, both on Saturday. Should be fun, but maybe a bit hectic.

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1090808631205804352004-07-25T21:11:00.000-05:002004-07-25T23:12:43.046-05:00

As is usual on Sunday, I'm doing laundry. I actually prefer to do laundry on Friday night or Saturday, but sometimes it gets put off a day. Yesterday, I went with my cousin and my mom up to Ripley, Tennessee, to an estate sale. Pretty stuff, some of it, but I wound up with more questions than answers about some of the more expensive items there, so I didn't buy anything except a couple of ceramic

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1090472626067651232004-07-22T00:03:00.000-05:002004-07-22T00:10:19.143-05:00

The Drudge Report posts a photo of a storm that must've hit Miami this evening. It's truly an amazing photograph. 

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1090471485995823062004-07-21T23:09:00.000-05:002004-07-22T18:34:28.783-05:00

Dang. It's always something. First it was William F. Buckley's new autobiography, which awaits my perusal following Motherless Brooklyn. And now, it's Roger Kimball's The Rape of the Masters: How Political Correctness Sabotages Art. Q&A with Kimball is available on the National Review's Web site. I read the article looking for excerpts to post here and found that exercise to be fruitless,

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1090214414071352162004-07-19T00:04:00.000-05:002004-07-19T00:25:55.530-05:00

This weekend was full; Saturday night I hosted a grill-out party; it was fun, and it went late, but I think the mosquitoes ate more than the people did — and the people ate a lot. In fact, the party spilled over into Sunday morning. Folks went home, and then some of them came back tonight for round two. Too bad that work beckons in the morning for everyone.   I've decided that a digital camera

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089867081085611322004-07-14T23:40:00.000-05:002004-07-14T23:55:02.953-05:00

After a day of agonizing heat and humidity, a cold front is in the process of coming through tonight; it's brought thunderstorms with it, and some relief from the sauna-like weather of earlier today. Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler. Motherless Brooklyn continues to be an enjoyable read, though I've not been able to devote as much time to it as I'd have liked. On the way from Amazon.com is

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089694284616038032004-07-12T23:48:00.000-05:002004-07-13T00:06:11.663-05:00

I've spent most of the day, at work and after, battling what seems to be a summertime cold. I'm not bad off yet and hope not to be. This is a cold that apparently arrived on the plane with my sister, who was here last week. My mother's had it, and I've felt poorly all day. There's nothing worse than a cold in the summertime. Got an invitation from an old friend to his wedding, which is in

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089416759413201342004-07-09T18:43:00.000-05:002004-07-09T18:45:59.413-05:00

I am, and have been, a staunch Bush supporter viz. the War on Terror (up to and including the Iraqi campaign). When I happened across the news feed that appears now on the right pane of the site, I just couldn't resist posting it. It took all of two seconds to add.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089340485620830182004-07-08T20:59:00.000-05:002004-07-08T21:37:29.610-05:00

I've mentioned before that I'm the Webmaster over at The Cormac McCarthy Home Pages. Few people know how that came about; here's the story. I was fortunate to have been allowed, while in college (1989-93), to interview Shelby Foote, who came to school and spoke one morning. During the course of our chat (I was nervous, and tapes of the event betray such by my constant mmmm-hmmms and other verbal

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089267463034028012004-07-08T01:13:00.000-05:002004-07-08T01:18:18.950-05:00

Upon reflection, I'm struck by the fact that around that same time, I was reading Robert Ludlum's books: The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Conspiracy, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, etc. It's possible I could have picked up the below-mentioned tip from Robert Ludlum. But Bond's just so much cooler. Even if, as I heard once, you shouldn't shake a martini because it bruises the gin.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089267093488906122004-07-08T00:39:00.000-05:002004-07-08T01:19:38.246-05:00

Or, The Doug Wamble Ramble A few weeks ago, I went with friends to see Harry Connick, Jr. The venue was an outdoor park, and the six of us congregated there and waited for the show to start. At the last minute, the show's organizers had announced an opening act. It was to be a fellow named Doug Wamble, who plays a kind of loose acoustic jazz/blues. One of the group I was with not only knew who

mpnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089175613291721932004-07-06T23:43:00.001-05:002004-07-06T23:46:53.290-05:00

Added an RSS feed to the Blog this evening. Well — added something like one. An Atom feed (per Blogger), and a piece of script that lets me parse RSS feeds from other sites. My example, in the right pane, is the iTunes Music Store RSS. Information about how to do this came from: http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed/ More on this experiment later.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089092281793509772004-07-06T00:30:00.000-05:002004-07-06T00:40:41.266-05:00

I'm buying the new huge Paul Simon CD set; I'd prefer to wait until the albums are released in SACD or DVD Audio, but I heard this track the other day, and I am for some reason completely captivated by it. It's a demo of "Homeless" that was evidently recorded prior to Simon's South African trek. QuickTime Windows Media Player Sometimes, simplicity speaks for itself.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089062900367877082004-07-05T16:22:00.000-05:002004-07-06T00:01:30.290-05:00

Last night, I started Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn. That means I've abandoned both Gould's Book of Fish and Simon Winchester's Krakatoa, which have been sitting on my bedside table for a while now, untouched. Lethem's book is intriguing, as the narrator has Tourette's Syndrome, so is given to sudden verbal outbursts. The Tourette's is mostly not being played for laughs, but it does make

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089061918708404942004-07-05T16:09:00.001-05:002004-07-06T00:28:26.033-05:00

http://www.michaelmoorehatesamerica.com/ A film about a guy's trying to get an interview with Michael Moore, who apparently won't grant him one.

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089000822578458862004-07-04T23:08:00.000-05:002004-07-06T00:02:59.286-05:00

My family is a strange group of people. Before the big patriotic concert, there was large family gathering. Food everywhere. My sister's in town, too, so she was there. My dad's family doesn't get together much, but when they do, it's almost always a hoot. My dad's family is the crazy side. How crazy depends on the day. They weren't really crazy today, only moderately so. Not enough alcohol was

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1089000506498711822004-07-04T22:55:00.000-05:002004-07-06T00:03:41.576-05:00

The life keeps getting stranger and stranger. "The girl" has moved back here from another city, but she's dating another guy, and they're pretty serious. She and I have had our big talk, and the outcome was much like I'd expected, but not what I'd wanted. However, her moving back here has allowed us to reconnect with each other. We talk more, and actually get to see each other from time to time

mpnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-1081216765281355202004-04-05T20:59:00.000-05:002004-07-06T00:42:35.863-05:00

I have decided to renew my commitment to my Blog. Henceforth, it shall be about what interests me. As that varies from day to day, so will the subject matter of this blog vary. Today's topic is the nature of the Blog itself. I've discovered that a friend of mine has a Blog. And this friend, who happens to be female, does not know that I know of the existence of her blog. The question of the

mpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-782132782002-06-26T01:51:00.000-05:002004-07-06T00:04:50.700-05:00

A few more housekeeping items. I've never really laid this out before, so I beg your indulgence. I believe that words mean things. The meanings of words can be ascertained by reading them, both in isolation and within their context. I also believe that words are valuable and should not be trifled with. I have little patience for people who waste words. I believe in God. Creator-God,

mpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-782130412002-06-26T01:42:00.000-05:002004-07-06T00:05:25.080-05:00

Amazing, how willing we are to share our lives with others, even strangers. We're truly social creatures. The question is, how much will I reveal? Ground rules: No Names. Say nothing here that I wouldn't want to have friends read. Those, for now, are the rules.

mpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-781870662002-06-25T13:26:00.000-05:002004-07-08T01:23:19.053-05:00

A friend asks how one knows about Blogs and how word spreads about them. I responded that Blogs are organic, and that word of them spreads like everything else on the 'Net — by word of mouth. Actually, I don't think I said that about Blogs being organic. But perhaps I should have. Anyway, even though this Blog is very new, drop me an email and let me know what you think of my infant Blog. I

mpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-781689202002-06-25T02:37:00.000-05:002004-07-08T01:22:44.206-05:00

Ah, yes. The question of identity on the Web. I suppose that right now, I'm the fabled tabula rasa — a blank slate. An empty bucket into which you can pour your own ideas, hopes, dreams, aspirations, perversions, desires, white lies, petty falsehoods, and immutable truths. It's an odd sort of power, being a vessel for all those things. I am what you want me to be. Or else, I'm just some

mpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3596644.post-781682842002-06-25T02:07:00.000-05:002004-07-08T01:23:01.346-05:00

So, here we are. Or, at least, here I am. I've been captivated by the idea of Blogging since reading an article about it over at Webmonkey a few weeks ago — at least, I think it was Webmonkey. I'd thought to start this Blog with the confession that "this is about a girl," but then I got into a furious ethical debate with myself about how much I should reveal about the girl and her relationship

mpnoreply@blogger.com