November 25, 2007

Vlog?

Stop me before I vlog again. Or raise some topics and ask some questions, and this might turn into a vlog day.

ADDED: The vlog is done, and will be posted soon. It's about: Mark Halperin's op-ed about the influence of Richard Ben Cramer's book "What It Takes," the prospect of vlogging this blog's commenters (with references to Alexandra Pelosi's documentary "Journeys With George"), and whether children should call their parents by their first names.

AND: Here it is.

79 comments:

Brian Doyle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brian Doyle said...

I'd like you to answer my question in the Kinsley/Obama thread regarding why you hear patronizing in Kinsley's assessment that Obama is the most intelligent candidate in the field.

How could Kinsley express that opinion without being patronizing? It should be theoretically possible, unless the assumption is that there's no way the black man could really be the most intellectual.

To the extent that Kinsley may have embellished the claim in this piece, I think it's at least as easily explainable as an indication of the premium Kinsley puts on that quality, rather than condescension to Obama.

Maxine Weiss said...

What do you think about Nordstrom's return policy---of taking back garments without a receipt....even used, and even if bought from a completely different retailer ????

Ron said...

How about a vlog with others there in NYC? Formal discussion or party atmosphere, your call.

reader_iam said...

Have you ever been tempted to write poetry about tort law?

Ann Althouse said...

Well, one thing is, I'm not in NYC. The other thing is that, even in NYC, I can't picture doing that for a number of reason: who? with what equipment?

Ron said...

hmmm...just a thought.

If in Madison, could you do it there?

Who? You pick!

Maybe vlog the next time in NYC you meet with commenters/ at a pub!

Ann Althouse said...

Maybe we should do another meetup before the Christmas break.

But I don't think the commenters want to appear on video.

Ron said...

Maybe a vlog about humor! What you find funny now, compared to yourself in the past...

I'm not sure it's for a vlog, but discussing Hillary today, I wondered what the current boundaries are gender references in a campaign? (or even generally!) Is Hillary setting a precedents socially through her behavior? I wonder to what extent we as a nation are hurt, because certain questions/topics are taboo, and thus something we can't ask just yet.

reader_iam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
I'm Full of Soup said...

Commenters don't want to be seen - how about putting bags on their heads? like the old New Orleans Saints fans used to wear.

reader_iam said...

Not necessarily for the vlog, but did your sons always call you by your first name? I know this seems off the wall, but my own son brought up the subject recently after he found out one of his friends uses first names. I find myself surprisingly (because of my upbringing, in which I wasn't even permitted to refer to my parents by pronoun) "unoffended" by the idea, and if it weren't for my husband's reasonable objection, I'd be tempted to allow it--at least when he's not in trouble. What's the intersection between title, authority and respect, in your view? And do your students call you by your first name? I note that Ruth Anne usually uses some version of "professor" when addressing you directly.

MadisonMan said...

What's your favorite airport. You seem to be flying a lot -- Florida, W. Coast, Madison -- lately.

reader_iam said...

How did you sleep before books on tape? What is it about silence that keeps you awake?

reader_iam said...

You're doing a lot more political blogging recently. Do you think you're going to get bored with it?

reader_iam said...

Any reaction to Mark Halperin's op-ed piece in today's NYT?

Ron said...

Do a 'on location' vlog near some NYC landmark when you get back... Maybe Patience or Fortitude (the lions in front of the NY Public Library)

Maybe capturing shoppers in action....

ricpic said...

The natural order - parent higher, child lower - should never be violated by the child's use of the parent's name.
Mom and Dad, or variances of those terms of address should never be abandoned by the child or the dropping of those terms condoned by the parent.
Respect should be shown by the child, no matter what the child's age, for the parent.
It's not hip to break this rule, it is a deep transgression against our given social order.

Trooper York said...

I don't think all the commenter's would mind. I am sure Titus will be glad to be on camera.I know that Mort definitely wants to make a video with you. Just sayn' :->

Anonymous said...
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Ruth Anne Adams said...

If you were a presidential debate moderator, what would you ask the candidates? Could any of them offer any answer that might change your opinion about them?

reader_iam said...

Should a man whose ex-wife killed their older son be forced to continue paying alimony after she's released from prison?

reader_iam said...

Nordstrom's is smart enough to put a pub next to the shoe department (at least in Indianapolis). Genius! They can do whatever they want, after that.

reader_iam said...

Or maybe it's just the ladies' department (it's been a while since I've been there). Regardless--still genius!

Maxine Weiss said...

"commenters don't want to be seen on video"

Yes.

I know whenever I wish to remain unseen, the first place I go is to a 'meetup' held with a public blogger.

Makes sense.

reader_iam said...

this might turn into a vlog day.

Decided yet?

Maxine Weiss said...

Well, that settles it. The next meetup at Nordstrom, with the camera-shy commenters.

Camera-shy, nothing in common, incompatible, socially inept, resentment, Althouse refusal to open her private residence, keeping people at arm's length......

Sounds like a wonderful format!

Jennifer said...

Yes, remake My Dinner With Andre. Maybe Palladian and hdhouse could join you.

Tituszk said...

I am currently giving myself a very expensive and rare algae and eggplant facial (which Madonna uses) which I purchased at the Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires.


There were so many fabulous morsels about that one sentence I wrote above.

Tituszk said...

I have something to admit fellow republicans....I once did a prostitute in Jamaica Plain, Mass. I went to his house. It lasted approximately 10 minutes and I felt extremely guilty afterwards. I never did it again.

I have put money down a strippers speedo though.

And one time, which was my first time at some sleazy strip club in Providence the stripper actually ejaculated on my tshirt which I borrowed from my roommate. The tshirt was white and the lights in the bar were florescent which highlighted all of the sperm drippings. When I returned to my friends at the other end of the bar they told me my tshirt looked like a Jackson Pollack painting. They couldn't stop laughing at me. And before we went in there I told them how mortified I was that I was going to a strip club acting all above it. 5 minutes later my tshirt is a Jackson Pollack sperm painting.

Freeman Hunt said...

Why do you think you will inevitably vote for Hillary?

Maxine Weiss said...

Well, I got into a scuffle at the cosmetics counter at Strawbridges.

Then a slight contratemps at the fragrance bar at Dillard's.

A fitting-room mishap at Marshall-Fields.

...And, a fiasco at the glove counter at Wannamaker's.

No problems at Macy's, though.

reader_iam said...

That fiasco had to have occurred quite a while ago, Maxine.

reader_iam said...

Macy's has taken over the world. Sigh.

reader_iam said...

Oh, those wonderful Marshall Fields Christmas windows, back in the day! I loved going into the city with my grandparents when I was a kid, just to see the windows!

Right up your alley, Maxine. Surely you didn't miss out?

Anonymous said...

A meeting would be cool. Has to be down South, though, Tenn or Ga. I don't mind being on camera, but I'd need advance notice to get the loin cloth dry cleaned.

Vlog topics:

-favorite game as a kid
-favorite kid game played as adult
-Is egg nog better served with rum or butterscotch schnapps
-who's funnier, Bill Cosby or Billy Crystal
-favorite Gunsmoke episode

Tituszk said...

Hello???? Fellow republicans??? I just admitted doing a prostitute and having a stripper splew on me and all you can talk about is Marshall Fields, Gunsmoke, Dillards and childhood games.

Now lets get back to me pronto.

Is that Mississippi reverend reading this stuff?

Roost on the Moon said...

Kind of a tag-along/follow-up to Freeman Hunt's question on Hillary:

What issues keep the Democratic party palatable to you? It seems obvious that aggressive foreign policy is your number one issue, and that you also favor "strict constructionist" judicial appointments. Those are two big pushes in the direction of voting republican, especially at the federal level.

What issues keep you from unabashed support of the Republican party?

Another way of putting it is as Freeman did. If it becomes Clinton v Giuliani, given everything you've written here, why on earth would you vote for Clinton?

Ron said...

Did Maxine have a fish-slapping fight down at the Fulton Fish Market?

Unknown said...

Anybody actually look at the vlog?

I only got half way through it, so I don't know if the box of wine comes makes an appearance, but I'll tell ya --

The eyes spinning like pinwheels, the waving the flowers around...

It's the funniest over the top mad scene since Fiona Shaw's freakout in "The Black Dahlia."

Actually, Ann's rapidly turning into a roadshow Blanche Dubois...

Maxine Weiss said...

Someone need to curl her split-ends.

But first you have to let them grow, evenly...then you can make whipped curls and bends.

What you've got now.....just plain odd.

But that's the whole idea, I'm sure.

Ann Althouse said...

Christopher: You're easily distracted by flowers. Maybe you could offer a better analysis of whether Mark Halperin understood the book "What It Takes."

Maxine Weiss said...

I can just see some male hairdresser convincing Althouse that, that Hairdo is simply the height of fashion....

A male hairdresser doesn't want women to look good. Male hairdressers are in competition with the women they routinely butcher.

Butchered again! What a nightmare when it starts growing out at different rates...oh, that's right, Althouse refuses to grow it !

And don't tell me that monstrosity was created by a female hairdresser, because that just proves my point, that women secretly want to scratch eachother's eyes out !

Unknown said...


Ann Althouse said...

Christopher: You're easily distracted by flowers. Maybe you could offer a better analysis of whether Mark Halperin understood the book "What It Takes.


Isn't Halperin the pathetic coward who begged some movement conservatives to tell him what ABC News could do to make them like it better?

Why should anybody give a rats ass what he thinks about anything?

Ann Althouse said...

Well, Christopher, that's hardly responsive.

Unknown said...

Ann Althouse said...

Well, Christopher, that's hardly responsive.


Hey, you're the one who just posted an exigesis on nothing.

Ron said...

1.) I think you're looking like you belong in a Bergman film more and more these vlogs...any blonder and you'll be best suited to a Hitchcockian thriller!

2.) Maybe these commenters are camera shy but I'd ice skate in Rockefeller Plaza in front of The Gold Guy with our bloggeress, even though I haven't worn skates in years. Hope you're good at setting bone breaks! Let's discuss The Surge or Grizzly Man while we skate around...

3.) Nice use of the flowers...

jeff said...

mental note-never lend clothes to titus.

Brian Doyle said...

Maybe you could offer a better analysis of whether Mark Halperin understood the book "What It Takes.

Or maybe you could offer an explanation for why you think Halperin's (apparently) getting religion on non-horserace issues suggests he's in the tank for Hillary?

After all, she is still the frontrunner by a wide margin in the national polls, and her campaign has gotten the highest marks for technical proficiency.

Also, it's funny to hear you feign aversion to gotcha/soundbite politics when you've very recently mocked the idea that "candidates should be given room to lecture us about their policies."

Policy? Ick!

Tituszk said...

I think you looked great. A little melancholy but great.

What I find baffling is why some come here with the goal of insulting her. Disagree with her sure, go for it. Debate her which is fine but the constant insults is just baffling.

Why waste your time if she is so disagreeable.

One of my rare dogs is really sick right now and I am a mess. He won't stop throwing up. When they use the saying "sick as a dog" they mean it. Sometimes when they get sick I feel like a helpless mother trying to figure what the problem is. He seems to have calmed down now but I am still a big mess about him being sick. He's my baby.

Maxine Weiss said...

Blondes never look good in black eyeliner on the bottom lids.

You have to use a pale, to medium brown on the lower lids.

And then the idea of taking it halfway.....if you're gonna do that you have to blend blend blend so that I don't see the exact point where the lower liner stops.

Right now, I can look on your lower lids and see the exact vanishing point of that harsh liner.

Who told you to take the liner halfway?

You are better off choosing a lighter shade for the bottom and going all the way, but simply doing some blending on the part nearest the lower inner corner.

Plus, you're actually better off with a liquid liner. A liquid liner dabbed on in little dots, all the way, and then immediately blended....is for more foregiving than a dark, dry pencil.

Maxine Weiss said...

The racoon bottom eyeliner that comes to a complete standstill midway...

The uneven split ends...

Althouse at her most unsymmetrical !

reader_iam said...

ricpic: If it makes you feel any better, I (we) get far more feedback about to being too strict and demanding, in most regards, than the other way around. Civilization as we all know it will survive for another day, unfettered by my little family.

reader_iam said...

Meanwhile, hey MAXINE!

Just in time for the holiday season, The Osmonds are celebrating 50 years in entertainment! Isn't that just perfect, in timing and otherwise?

Maxine Weiss said...

You know, if I saw Althouse shimmy on past my cosmetics counter......I'd have to take her aside and redo her whole face right on-the-spot.

There are these women who come sauntering in completely uncouth and quite disheveled, hair mussed, nails chipped to the bone, etc..

I won't put up with it!

reader_iam said...

Which spot?

john said...

Titus - how old are your dogs? Is the sick one drinking lots of water then throwing it up? Have they gotten their parvo vaccines; because parvo can be quickly fatal in puppies

See, someone pays attention. Good luck with your rares.

reader_iam said...

I note that Donny & Marie each take a different approach to applying eyeliner. Well--different strokes, so to speak, for different folks! Whatever works. (On the other hand, l'il Jimmy's approach, I'll admit, is ... well, questionable.)

Hey, Maxine, switch on CNN! There's a veritable treasure trove ripe for critique!

Run, don't walk, toward your destiny.

reader_iam said...

The Osmonds discuss Mitt! (At a point or two, Donny shakes his head!) Marie says she wants to be the first woman president!

(I think Larry King Live--which I don't regularly watch--reruns nightly. Break out those TIVOs, folks!)

Tituszk said...

They are all up to date with all their shots, thanks.

We went into a park today and I think they got burrs on them and one of them has a burr lodged in his throat. He was calm for awhile. Now he is barfing again.

Tituszk said...

The Pats Eagles game is scarey right now. The Eagles are leading and I love my Pats.

Simon said...

Maxine Weiss said...
"Althouse at her most unsymmetrical!"

When was it decided that symmetry was always to be desired?

Maxine Weiss said...

I really feel that Althouse needs some guidance in terms of putting on her face.

I know all the tricks of the trade.

former law student said...

titus: what kind of burr? the cocklebur is extremely toxic:
http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/plant32.htm
You could call the National Animal Poison Control Center of the University of Illinois can be reached by calling 1-900-680-0000 or 1- 800-548-2423.

Normally, though, dogs are experimental eaters and will throw up their mistakes. The other possibility of concern is intestinal blockage -- then they wouldn't be pooping either.

I'd call your local emergency vet and see what s/he says.

John Stodder said...

The Osmonds are celebrating 50 years in entertainment! Isn't that just perfect, in timing and otherwise?

Took my kid and his cousins to see "Enchanted" on Friday night. Wonderful movie. But of the endless previews was one for a comedy about a father taking his daughter on a tour of colleges. It stars Martin Lawrence as the Dad and ... Donny Osmond! Wha?

John Stodder said...

Isn't Halperin the pathetic coward who begged some movement conservatives to tell him what ABC News could do to make them like it better?

Why should anybody give a rats ass what he thinks about anything?


Leaving aside the ad hominem attack on Helprin that transparently evades the question...

I'm just curious why I should take left-wingers seriously when they beat up Fox News for bias when they consider a network news reporter a "coward" for trying to include a marginalized group?

Halperin has taken a lot of heat for making statements in 2004 that some construed as bias toward John Kerry. Maybe he thought it wise to correct the perceived imbalance. But the left has a zero-tolerance rule for heresy. Just ask Juan Williams, a liberal columnist who the left now loathes and seeks to discredit.

There is something so deeply high school about the left. And Christopher is our own little liaison from that world.

Unknown said...

John Stodder sez...
Halperin has taken a lot of heat for making statements in 2004 that some construed as bias toward John Kerry.

Actually, Halperin has taken a lot of heat for begging conservatives to blow him as a result.

He's a pathetic weasel and an embarassment to all that walk upright.

Bob said...

James McMurtry talks about the parents thing in his great song Childish Things:

Every other weekend at the age of thirteen
With my fishing pole and my Field and Stream
Ridin’ back home on the Trailways bus
I looked out the window
‘Til I saw too much
And I called my parents by their own first names
I played in the alley
But I didn’t play the game anymore

I put away childish things...


And yah, he's the socially liberal child of socially liberal parents, for what that's worth.

John Stodder said...

Unsurprisingly, you missed my point.

Halperin instructed ABC News staff to handle distortions from Kerry's campaign differently than distortions from Bush's campaign because of some vague notion that in Bush's case the distortions were more "central" to his campaign strategy.

That's basically a partisan statement. Campaign are in the eye of the beholder. A Democrat would completely agree with Halperin, but a Republican would not. When those kinds of judgments are being made by a supposedly neutral reporter, they can no longer claim neutrality.

We agree that Halperin realized after the fact that he needed to do something to earn back his credibility with the portion of his audience that were not partisan Democrats. Included in that were meetings with "social conservatives."

You're not okay with that. It's "cowardly."

By what objective standard is it okay to appease the left but cowardly to appease the right? Answer: none. Ideally, both views should have equal access to the airwaves, and be given equal weight by reporters. Well, ideally for me, but clearly not for you. You think giving one side access to the airwaves is something that only sub-humans would do (the "embarrassment to all who walk upright" comment).

Well, fine, but then don't come crying here about Fox News bias. You don't have a principle to stand on to oppose the bias on that network. You oppose them because they set you back politically -- period. You want news that makes Democrats look good and Republicans look bad. It's all PR to you. Halperin didn't play the hack role you demand of him, and so you shun him. Similar complaints have come out lately about Tim Russert and Juan Williams, two more liberal journalists who believe the principles of their profession should outweigh their biases. They're being shunned too, with some calling for all Democratic candidates to boycott interviews or debates in which they are involved.

Who else is on christopher's enemies list? Stay tuned...

reader_iam said...

Hey, MAXINE!--and Titus, you won't want to miss this and this, respectively.

reader_iam said...

Policy? Ick!

Me, I'm a "Policy? Yum!" type, by nature and IRL. But there ain't no purchase in that, boy--and don't even pretend to the pristine on behalf of yourself, either, commenter Doyle. As if! Who's kidding whom?

Now, back to the fun stuff.

reader_iam said...

In the vlog, Althouse asked which commenters we would like to see her interview.

Here's a start (just a start), in no particular order:

Revenant.
Trooper.
Maxine.
MadisonMan.
Beth.

Just a start, as I said.

Paco Wové said...

"Althouse asked which commenters we would like to see her interview."

What would be really cool would be "commenters we would like to see her taze, perhaps repeatedly". That, I'd even watch a vlog for.

MadisonMan said...

titus, my spaniel (not rare) will also get burrs on his coat, then eat them off, ingest them, and then barf all over the house trying to get them out of his stomach. Totally disgusting and absolutely predictable.

Hope the rares are in fine fettle again.

Trooper York said...

How about Althouse karaoke Christmas special where we espouse our political views and personal preferences in song? Now that would be a vblog that would be a hit on Youtube. I would be happy to sing “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.” Titus can belt out “It’s Raining Men.” Maxine can sing a selection from “Cats.” Lucky can sing “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.” Reader_iam can warble “I Will Survive.” The whole congregation can do a selection from the Chipmunks Christmas album in squirrel voices. It would be craptastic.

Tituszk said...

To all my fellow republicans thank you so much for your compassion, concern and recommendations while my rare dog was sick. He is much better today. He ate a burr from his coat and it got stuck in his throat. He ended up throwing up until 3:00 last night while I held in him my arms singing The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow from Annie and selections from Sound of Music. He is back to himself today. Last night was intense though we ended up on top of each other all night. He couldn't get his face close enough to mine. It was weird how intense I loved him last night-not in a sexual way. Anyway he is back to normal.

Thank you everyone. And Althouse I did not receive any words of support from you. Shame on you.

Neville said...

Ann, thanks for the Sunday vlog (heck, I was playing Halo and you were vloggin!) and looking forward to seeing what's next. Like the casual, no-need to edit- blog-as-you-are approach. The warm cowl-neck sweater put me in mind of fur enshrined Marlena Dietrich in "Shanghai Express" ("It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily!") Bravo on brevity: the 10 minute max is a format to be broadly emmulated, especially legal v/bloggers who do go on and on. Interesting point about blogger meet-ups- (having attended one recently)there may be a way to get a predetermined portion recorded (signed releases, etc.). To record a meeting in the entirety serves no useful purpose (at least respecting the structure of the meeting at which I participated); opening it up to a webcast and bi-coastal participation is more what I'd envision as vlog-worthy.

Neville said...

Oh- and I strongly disagree with the comment of MW about male hairdressers...a friend who knows Moshe Feldekrais has told a story: when pressed by a colleague for Feldenkrais' "breathing exercises" for pregnant women to shorten labor, Feldenkrais shreiked "Idiot, there is no such thing as a pregnant woman!" When one generalizes, one has missed the opportunity to see clearly.

PeterP said...

I had the sound off, but I don't think there was any nudity.