Notice anything new? I've abandoned "Bluebird," out of the blue, in another feeble step into the comprehension of html. These colors, they're all just numbers. Mmmm, B1629F is lovely! Perhaps a little F3BO44 would be nice.
Now if only I could figure out how to upload my own scanned things somewhere so I could display them here. Any recommendations? I tried to set something up at freewebspace.com but got discouraged. It didn't seem that I could upload images free. Apparently, there's some damn thing you can do free there, but it doesn't seem to be what I want. I bought this book and will try to learn some more things. What I really want to do is to redesign the page and get a nice image in the banner, but that may take some time.
March 6, 2004
Another labyrinthine defense of a Kerryism. Here's my earlier one, which I corresponded with Zachary Roth at CJR Campaign Desk about (and he was not buying). Watch now while I attempt to dig Kerry out of another ridiculous hole. Here are two quotes, embarrassingly juxtaposed on the front page of today's NYT:
These two statements can be harmonized. In the Feb. 5 statement, Kerry used the expression "I personally believe," whereas in the Feb. 24 statement, he was answering a question about what he "believed." Arguably there is a difference between "believing" something and "personally believing" something. Perhaps, "personal belief" relates more to instinctive feelings a person has. This is particularly notable since in the first statement the belief is about the decision being "wrong," while in the later statement, he's responding to a question about whether the decision is "correct." There are subtle distinctions between the instinctive, personal feelings about whether permitting gay marriage is right or wrong, and the more intellectual, lawyerly analysis of whether a judicial decision is incorrect. Kerry could thus have "personally believed" that the decision was "wrong," by simply feeling his own emotions, and the use of the heated expression "dead wrong" strongly suggests that this was the nature of his Feb. 5 statement.
To have a belief about whether the decision was "correct," however, he would need to study the relevant state constitutional text and the case law of the Massachusetts courts and engage in some elaborate reasoning, which he has not done. Thus, he could correctly assert on Feb. 24 that he had never said that he believed the decision was incorrect. The reporter was asking him to explain why the decision was incorrect, and, not having studied the law, he was in no position to respond with any legitimate legal analysis. Yet, his personal belief that gay marriage is wrong had led him earlier to a genuine "personal belief" that the state court was doing something that was "dead wrong."
Kerryisms, they're enough to make you appreciate Bushisms.
On Feb. 5, Mr. Kerry reacted to Massachusetts' highest court's decision legalizing same-sex marriages by saying, "I personally believe the court is dead wrong." But when asked on Feb. 24 why he believed the decision was not correct, he shot back, "I didn't say it wasn't."
These two statements can be harmonized. In the Feb. 5 statement, Kerry used the expression "I personally believe," whereas in the Feb. 24 statement, he was answering a question about what he "believed." Arguably there is a difference between "believing" something and "personally believing" something. Perhaps, "personal belief" relates more to instinctive feelings a person has. This is particularly notable since in the first statement the belief is about the decision being "wrong," while in the later statement, he's responding to a question about whether the decision is "correct." There are subtle distinctions between the instinctive, personal feelings about whether permitting gay marriage is right or wrong, and the more intellectual, lawyerly analysis of whether a judicial decision is incorrect. Kerry could thus have "personally believed" that the decision was "wrong," by simply feeling his own emotions, and the use of the heated expression "dead wrong" strongly suggests that this was the nature of his Feb. 5 statement.
To have a belief about whether the decision was "correct," however, he would need to study the relevant state constitutional text and the case law of the Massachusetts courts and engage in some elaborate reasoning, which he has not done. Thus, he could correctly assert on Feb. 24 that he had never said that he believed the decision was incorrect. The reporter was asking him to explain why the decision was incorrect, and, not having studied the law, he was in no position to respond with any legitimate legal analysis. Yet, his personal belief that gay marriage is wrong had led him earlier to a genuine "personal belief" that the state court was doing something that was "dead wrong."
Kerryisms, they're enough to make you appreciate Bushisms.
"The 'Performance of Her Career' Is Now an Academy Award Winner." So reads the new, post-Oscars ad for Cold Mountain, which features a photo of Renée Zellweger in her ceremonial swaddling clothes, clutching the little statue. I was going to criticize the writing: in trying to use that quote, "performance of her career," they ended up having the wrong subject to the sentence, "performance" instead of "Renée Zellweger."
But the award really is for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role." Sean Penn had the line in his thank you speech, "There are no best actors." But there are no Best Actor Oscars. That's just shorthand. The Oscar he held in his hands was for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading role. So to be accurate, the actors ought to say:
Hmm... did you know that last year, when Renée Zellweger lost the Oscar... I mean, when her performance lost the Oscar .... she went home early, climbed in through the window, gave her dog a bath, and spent the night scrubbing the floor. Sounds like something Joan Crawford would do.
Oh, and the dog's name is Dylan, so presumably, it's black, it's a pedantic mongrel, it's got his bone in the alley, it licks her face when she sleeps, it's collar's from India, it means more to her than a dead lion, and it's barking and running free.
But the award really is for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role." Sean Penn had the line in his thank you speech, "There are no best actors." But there are no Best Actor Oscars. That's just shorthand. The Oscar he held in his hands was for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading role. So to be accurate, the actors ought to say:
"I'm happy to accept this award on behalf of my performance, which is unable to be here tonight and in any event, incapable of holding a statuette."
Hmm... did you know that last year, when Renée Zellweger lost the Oscar... I mean, when her performance lost the Oscar .... she went home early, climbed in through the window, gave her dog a bath, and spent the night scrubbing the floor. Sounds like something Joan Crawford would do.
Oh, and the dog's name is Dylan, so presumably, it's black, it's a pedantic mongrel, it's got his bone in the alley, it licks her face when she sleeps, it's collar's from India, it means more to her than a dead lion, and it's barking and running free.
My all-time favorite Rehnquist idea. From an interview in the NYT about his current book, Centennial Crisis, about the disputed 1876 election: when asked about his next book, the Chief Justice says:
He adds that he can't do the drawings himself, so let me say, I went to art school (long ago), and I've done some cartooning over the years and have quite a collection of artistic comic books. Now that I'm figuring out how to do images here, I'll try to put some of my pictures up at some point. One of my most elaborate ones involves Justice Blackmun and his statement, "From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death."
Here's my favorite comic book:
That's a style entirely inappropriate for a cartoon history of the Supreme Court, at least the authorized Rehnquist version. Visitors to my law school office may notice a postcard of this Mark Beyer work near my door:
Actually, the more I think about it the more I'd love to read a cartoon history of the Supreme Court illustrated by Mark Beyer. That postcard could represent one of the Justices, hard at work at his desk, haunted by the criticisms of the other Justices (at the left) and worried about the fate of the litigants (on the other side of the window).
C'mon Chief, take a chance! We know you love art from the fact that you told the NYT that if you hadn't become a Supreme Court Justice, you would have liked to be an architect or a symphony conductor ... and from the stripes on your robe (photo from the NYT):
I don't know there is going to be a next book. I think maybe some sort of a cartoon history of the court. That has been done, but it's not been done with a very good text. I've always enjoyed cartoons. That's one of the things I would like to have been able to do, I would like to have the ability to draw.
He adds that he can't do the drawings himself, so let me say, I went to art school (long ago), and I've done some cartooning over the years and have quite a collection of artistic comic books. Now that I'm figuring out how to do images here, I'll try to put some of my pictures up at some point. One of my most elaborate ones involves Justice Blackmun and his statement, "From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death."
Here's my favorite comic book:
That's a style entirely inappropriate for a cartoon history of the Supreme Court, at least the authorized Rehnquist version. Visitors to my law school office may notice a postcard of this Mark Beyer work near my door:
Actually, the more I think about it the more I'd love to read a cartoon history of the Supreme Court illustrated by Mark Beyer. That postcard could represent one of the Justices, hard at work at his desk, haunted by the criticisms of the other Justices (at the left) and worried about the fate of the litigants (on the other side of the window).
C'mon Chief, take a chance! We know you love art from the fact that you told the NYT that if you hadn't become a Supreme Court Justice, you would have liked to be an architect or a symphony conductor ... and from the stripes on your robe (photo from the NYT):
March 5, 2004
Mysteries. I'm just beginning to explore the mystery of getting an image to appear on this site. I had thought I couldn't do it, but that U.N. flag gave me hope. Please, St. Teresa, help me:
That picture of St. Teresa is from an article in The Economist about scientists studying the brain activity of nuns, using positron-emission tomography and functional magnetic-resonance imaging, to "identify the brain processes underlying the Unio Mystica—the Christian notion of mystical union with God." The scientists have a hypothesis that this mental state has something in common with out-of-body experiences and even phantom limbs and the capacity of mescaline to "inspire feelings of spirituality or closeness to God" in anyone. If they are right, shouldn't we all be entitled, as a matter of religious freedom, to use mescaline?
That picture of St. Teresa is from an article in The Economist about scientists studying the brain activity of nuns, using positron-emission tomography and functional magnetic-resonance imaging, to "identify the brain processes underlying the Unio Mystica—the Christian notion of mystical union with God." The scientists have a hypothesis that this mental state has something in common with out-of-body experiences and even phantom limbs and the capacity of mescaline to "inspire feelings of spirituality or closeness to God" in anyone. If they are right, shouldn't we all be entitled, as a matter of religious freedom, to use mescaline?
What country are you? I took the what country are you test. In fact, I originally posted their little image thing of the results, but then I decided I really didn't need a big turquoise United Nations flag on my blog and deleted it. Oh, what the hell! In a way, I actually agree with the result, not because I'm a huge U.N. fan, but I do actually believe/hope that reason and dialogue will save us all, eventually. So here it is:
You're the United Nations!
Most people think you're ineffective, but you are trying to completely save the world from itself, so there's always going to be a long way to go. You're always the one trying to get friends to talk to each other, enemies to talk to each other, anyone who can to just talk instead of beating each other about the head and torso. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, and you get very schizophrenic as a result. But your heart is in the right place, and sometimes also in New York.
Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid
Yes, I'm back from lunch, and I've read the Times. And I've got eight observations:
1. Go ahead and hunt the protected-species eagle, because that fox is cute.
2. Who wouldn't want Hirb to give them a bath?
3. A question actually posed by a NYT writer: "Why shouldn't movie moguls get their groove on wearing $2,300 sweaters handmade in Scotland and adorned with elegant motifs like skulls with Mickey Mouse ears, marijuana plants or French phrases inviting observers to perform on one's person acts whose names cannot be printed here?"
4. Kudos to Neil MacFarquhar for thinking of an adjective to precede "clad" other than "scantily." For decades, writers have searched their minds for an alternative and now, finally, a solution: "skimpily clad." (Read the article, too, to learn how "Abdel Hakim, a strapping young Saudi, kissed Kawthar, a raven-haired Tunisian beauty, and all hell broke loose." It's about reality TV in the Mideastern milieu.)
5. When friends couple for purely economic reasons: a letter expanding on the current marriage debate. I raised some similar points here. Can two platonic friends marry just so one can get the other's health insurance benefits? Sure, if they are a man and a woman.
6. Goodbye to Stephen Sprouse, who "served guests his famous Bloody Marys in measuring cups and [whose] address book consisted of writing phone numbers on his arms with his ever-handy felt marker."
7. Harsh but hilarious words from Warren Burger, pre-Supreme Court:
8. Six width-of-the-puzzle answers in the puzzle! Thanks, Will.
1. Go ahead and hunt the protected-species eagle, because that fox is cute.
2. Who wouldn't want Hirb to give them a bath?
3. A question actually posed by a NYT writer: "Why shouldn't movie moguls get their groove on wearing $2,300 sweaters handmade in Scotland and adorned with elegant motifs like skulls with Mickey Mouse ears, marijuana plants or French phrases inviting observers to perform on one's person acts whose names cannot be printed here?"
4. Kudos to Neil MacFarquhar for thinking of an adjective to precede "clad" other than "scantily." For decades, writers have searched their minds for an alternative and now, finally, a solution: "skimpily clad." (Read the article, too, to learn how "Abdel Hakim, a strapping young Saudi, kissed Kawthar, a raven-haired Tunisian beauty, and all hell broke loose." It's about reality TV in the Mideastern milieu.)
5. When friends couple for purely economic reasons: a letter expanding on the current marriage debate. I raised some similar points here. Can two platonic friends marry just so one can get the other's health insurance benefits? Sure, if they are a man and a woman.
6. Goodbye to Stephen Sprouse, who "served guests his famous Bloody Marys in measuring cups and [whose] address book consisted of writing phone numbers on his arms with his ever-handy felt marker."
7. Harsh but hilarious words from Warren Burger, pre-Supreme Court:
[In 1961:] "I'm getting so I don't read what these 'phonies' on the S.Ct. write ... The horrible thing is that the Eisenhower appointees are doing most of the damage.""Phonies"? I wonder if he was a big fan of "The Catcher in the Rye."
[Later:] "Last Monday's effluvia of the Nine Great Minds is worse than most. ...As I watch this batch of mediocrities function I fear for the Republic. It would be hard to add up two total Supreme Court-caliber men out of the whole nine of them.""Effluvia"? Hey, I used to have the word "effluvia" over there in my blog description but I changed it to "various random items" to avoid being offputting when somebody said they had to look it up.
8. Six width-of-the-puzzle answers in the puzzle! Thanks, Will.
I thought you said you were going to lunch? Yet here you are still yakking about The Apprentice! Class is over, it's Friday, the morning paper isn't read, there's a Friday-level crossword puzzle to be done. Go to lunch! Go to lunch! .... Remember when Omarosa wanted to go to lunch? .... Go to lunch!
For all you "Omarosa suing" Googlers. Folks, I did a Nexis search and found no articles about Omarosa suing. Here's something to read though. It's a USA Today article about last night's show discussing problems real-world employers would have if they fired people as harshly as Trump does on the show.
The article goes on to say:
USA TODAY expert Earl Stafford, CEO of Unitech, says it's possible to fire people in such a way that, given time, both sides respect each other. Trump says he has fired people in many different ways. "They hate you the next morning and forever after."Don't you think if Omarosa were really suing, USA Today would not have referred to "a lawsuit in real life" like that?
He said the firing of Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth in Thursday night's episode was a "vicious deal" and may have led to a lawsuit in real life. "You can never let a lawsuit get in your way of doing what's right."
The article goes on to say:
Trump says fired employees have sued him on occasion. "I usually win. If you're willing to take it to the end, juries aren't sympathetic to people who say you destroyed their lives. They'd much prefer somebody go out and get another job."In another legal development, again according to USA Today, Trump "says he has trademarked the words 'You're fired.'"
Private letters of a private man. I haven't had time to read the morning paper yet. First things first: I had to tend to my blog (and tell the world what I think of The Apprentice) and get my thoughts in order for my Conlaw1 class that meets at 11 (the historical development of commerce clause interpretation). But once class is over, despite the gloomy weather today, I plan to walk down to State Street, get a latte and a sandwich, and plunge into today's NYT. I especially want to read Linda Greenhouse's writing about the Blackmun papers.
I'm starting to get a queasy feeling about some of what I'm reading. Much as I love to know the background to the cases I've studied for so long, the behind the scenes wrangling I've always speculated about, I think it's not quite right to be revealing private letters and notes so recently written, many by persons still living and still active on the Court. I quoted a letter from Justice Souter yesterday, because I found it touching and charming and eloquent, but, really, I don't think it's right that Souter's private letter is available for everyone to read. Souter is a mysterious character and in fact that letter seems to reveal his strong feeling about maintaining the mystery about himself. I can imagine a person committing some wrong that might make us think it's a good thing to deprive them of the private zone they have claimed for themselves, but nothing of the kind can be said about Justice Souter. The man is entitled to be the mystery he chooses to be. Sorry if I added to the deprivation of privacy yesterday, but the letter was in the NYT.
I'm starting to get a queasy feeling about some of what I'm reading. Much as I love to know the background to the cases I've studied for so long, the behind the scenes wrangling I've always speculated about, I think it's not quite right to be revealing private letters and notes so recently written, many by persons still living and still active on the Court. I quoted a letter from Justice Souter yesterday, because I found it touching and charming and eloquent, but, really, I don't think it's right that Souter's private letter is available for everyone to read. Souter is a mysterious character and in fact that letter seems to reveal his strong feeling about maintaining the mystery about himself. I can imagine a person committing some wrong that might make us think it's a good thing to deprive them of the private zone they have claimed for themselves, but nothing of the kind can be said about Justice Souter. The man is entitled to be the mystery he chooses to be. Sorry if I added to the deprivation of privacy yesterday, but the letter was in the NYT.
"Drama Queen." Prof. Yin, whose blogging veered over into orange backup territory this week, says he's going to miss Omarosa. Yes, she was powerfully entertaining. So was Sam. But both of them had a way of making everyone else's behavior into a reaction to them. It will be good to get a chance to see how people act without the distortion of reacting to Omarosa/Sam.
Miss Alli at Television Without Pity is totally in love with last night's episode. ("Okay, if you're not watching this show? You must start. You simply must start. Although honestly, you must start like two weeks ago, so I'm already sad you didn't.")
Meanwhile, I keep finding people coming to my blog after Googling "Omarosa + suing," so I guess I better find out what that's all about so as not to disappoint people. Especially, now that writing that will cause my site to come up even higher when they Google that. I'm thinking she's trying to sue her way back on the show or collect some cash on the theory that they aggravated her concussion by pressuring her to work for 48 hours straight without a sit-down lunch break. She shouldn't sue though. Omarosa don't sue! Don't you realize millions of people find you immensely entertaining? You could have a whole reality show built around you--I'd call it "Drama Queen"--but who will want to deal with you if you show yourself to be all litigious?
Miss Alli at Television Without Pity is totally in love with last night's episode. ("Okay, if you're not watching this show? You must start. You simply must start. Although honestly, you must start like two weeks ago, so I'm already sad you didn't.")
Meanwhile, I keep finding people coming to my blog after Googling "Omarosa + suing," so I guess I better find out what that's all about so as not to disappoint people. Especially, now that writing that will cause my site to come up even higher when they Google that. I'm thinking she's trying to sue her way back on the show or collect some cash on the theory that they aggravated her concussion by pressuring her to work for 48 hours straight without a sit-down lunch break. She shouldn't sue though. Omarosa don't sue! Don't you realize millions of people find you immensely entertaining? You could have a whole reality show built around you--I'd call it "Drama Queen"--but who will want to deal with you if you show yourself to be all litigious?
Trump bonds with Heidi. Did you notice, in the boardroom scene on The Apprentice last night, when Heidi rolled her eyes at one of Omarosa's haughty remarks, Trump smirked a little smile at Heidi? He felt like rolling his eyes too, but resisted that. Another thing I think Trump is resisting in the boardroom, which Heidi also resists in the boardroom, is using what Omarosa calls "the F-bomb." Heidi uses the f-word on the street all the time, of course. When Omarosa primly cited swearing in her effort to get Trump to fire Heidi, did you see the big laugh from the usually impassive Carolyn? Carolyn must know that Trump swears all the time around the office, making Heidi a much more appropriate apprentice.
Great Trump quote:
Anyway, nice to see Kwame get some camera time. I can see why he hasn't gotten much time before. He's cool and sensible and circumspect. He says just enough and it's well thought out. That's great technique.
I love Carolyn. Aside from looking just perfect, she almost always has an expression on her face that is calm and composed, but seems to convey that she sees and knows everything. When occasionally she gets an expression, it's wonderfully effective, like when she looked with disgust at the picked-over food in the losing team's gallery.
Anyway, great show. Great editing and sound effects foreshadowing the problems the team would have trying to sell the creepy looking art. Hope all the artists, chosen and unchosen, get a boost in sales from the appearance on the show. I'm sure they will. How many people does Meghan need to like her? Millions watched the show. Even if 99% were appalled, if .01% of the nonappalled 1% are interested in buying, she has it made.
Great Trump quote:
"By the way, all my life, I've been hit in the head with plaster."He doesn't like complaining--and exaggerating (when did the bump on the head become a concussion?). And crying has not been a good technique. Bursting into the boardroom, unbidden, because you want to display the tears while you've got them going about as good as you think you'll be able to--that was really bad technique.
Anyway, nice to see Kwame get some camera time. I can see why he hasn't gotten much time before. He's cool and sensible and circumspect. He says just enough and it's well thought out. That's great technique.
I love Carolyn. Aside from looking just perfect, she almost always has an expression on her face that is calm and composed, but seems to convey that she sees and knows everything. When occasionally she gets an expression, it's wonderfully effective, like when she looked with disgust at the picked-over food in the losing team's gallery.
Anyway, great show. Great editing and sound effects foreshadowing the problems the team would have trying to sell the creepy looking art. Hope all the artists, chosen and unchosen, get a boost in sales from the appearance on the show. I'm sure they will. How many people does Meghan need to like her? Millions watched the show. Even if 99% were appalled, if .01% of the nonappalled 1% are interested in buying, she has it made.
March 4, 2004
Harlan, entertained ... Souter, not so much. Two things I enjoyed reading in Nina Totenberg's NPR reports on the Blackmun Papers (available through SCOTUS here). The first one is Blackmun, in his oral history, describing the Justices and clerks viewing pornographic films to determine whether they were obscene:
I remember one time Justice Harlan was there, sitting with his law clerk up front. Of course, his eyesight was almost totally gone, and it was hard for him to see. I sat right behind him, and as the film moved on--and they were all alike // he'd lean over and say to his law clerk, "and what are they doing now?" and the law clerk would describe it and Justice Harlan would say, "You don't say, you don't say."The second is a written message from Justice David Souter, explaining why he was declining to go to a speech Blackmun recommended:
"I know you get a kick out of these things, but you have to realize that God gave you an element of sociability, and I think he gave you the share otherwise reserved for me."
Double feature suggestion: Decasia. If you take my advice and see Wisconsin Death Trip, may I suggest that you make a double feature of it with Decasia? Both films are quite short. 
Both are inventive reuses of photography. WDT reenacts old photographs (see previous post) and Decasia takes scraps of decaying old silent era films and edits them together to make a rather abstract feature-length visual accompaniment to a strange and beautiful symphony.The boiling defects in the dying film interact with the original photography making new images, outside of their original contexts. It's quite dreamlike and fascinating and disturbing--and absolutely fitting to the music. You should see it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
