... life is beautiful.
January 2, 2010
Another Drudgtaposition.
Drudge does commentary. You just have to figure out what he's trying to say with his juxtapositions — Drudgtapositions. Like this one today:
Why illustrate "Napolitano announces international airport security campaign" with a wall on which there are tiny side-by-side photographs of Obama and Napolitano? That means something. But what?
Why illustrate "Napolitano announces international airport security campaign" with a wall on which there are tiny side-by-side photographs of Obama and Napolitano? That means something. But what?
"I've never been in TIME Magazine. I don't need TIME Magazine."
An early rejection of mainstream media, from the movie "Don't Look Back" (which we watched again on New Year's Eve):
This is one of my favorite scenes in the great old documentary by D.A. Pennebaker. Bob Dylan is ranting — for the cameras? — and the TIME reporter looks like he walked into the room with his pencil in his hand, trying to understand but not knowing just what he will say when he gets home.
Does the film invite us to laugh at the reporter's cluelessness? I don't think it's that simple. Presumably, we're identifying with Dylan, the central character in the film we've chosen to watch, but gradually, and certainly by this point, we've been given cues to detach ourselves from our pop star hero. Do we think Dylan is being a jerk, mistreating the reporter? The reporter, whose bland doughiness makes a funny contrast to Dylan's intensity, might look as though he doesn't know what is happening here, but I got to thinking that the gears in that head were turning, and he was judging and gathering material. Who was that guy?
His name is Horace Freeland Judson, and he's no dummy. He worked for TIME for 7 years, but he is also — I'm relying on Wikipedia — a historian of molecular biology and a expert on the "deliberate manipulation of scientific data." He's been on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University, and he's won a MacArthur Fellowship. As for the film:
I'm following the TIME Magazine convention of writing "TIME" in all caps, which I haven't done in the past. I'm just for the first time noticing that's what TIME Magazine expects from me. Not that I need TIME Magazine, just that I'm noticing. And I'm wondering: Is in an acronym for something? "The [something with an "i"] Magazine Ever"?
UPDATE, May 10, 2011: The NYT obituary for Horace Freeland Judson.
This is one of my favorite scenes in the great old documentary by D.A. Pennebaker. Bob Dylan is ranting — for the cameras? — and the TIME reporter looks like he walked into the room with his pencil in his hand, trying to understand but not knowing just what he will say when he gets home.
Does the film invite us to laugh at the reporter's cluelessness? I don't think it's that simple. Presumably, we're identifying with Dylan, the central character in the film we've chosen to watch, but gradually, and certainly by this point, we've been given cues to detach ourselves from our pop star hero. Do we think Dylan is being a jerk, mistreating the reporter? The reporter, whose bland doughiness makes a funny contrast to Dylan's intensity, might look as though he doesn't know what is happening here, but I got to thinking that the gears in that head were turning, and he was judging and gathering material. Who was that guy?
His name is Horace Freeland Judson, and he's no dummy. He worked for TIME for 7 years, but he is also — I'm relying on Wikipedia — a historian of molecular biology and a expert on the "deliberate manipulation of scientific data." He's been on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University, and he's won a MacArthur Fellowship. As for the film:
[H]e was subjected to what he believes to be a contrived tirade of abuse from Dylan. During Judson's interview, Dylan launched into a verbal attack on Time magazine, and Judson himself. The film's producer Pennebaker does not believe the tirade was planned, but notes that Dylan backed off, not wanting to come across as being too cruel. However, Judson believes the confrontation was contrived to make the sequence more entertaining. "That evening," says Judson, "I went to the concert. My opinion then and now was that the music was unpleasant, the lyrics inflated, and Dylan, a self-indulgent whining show off."Here's a 2007 interview — in TIME Magazine, of all places — with Pennebaker:
Much of the film is devoted to Dylan tangling with the press. Why do you think he played so hard-to-get with reporters?A whole system of media that people had been thrashing for a long time... Ha ha. So much for my "early rejection of mainstream media"! People have been bitching about journalists forever, haven't they? And it's not as though Bob Dylan would have been kinder to bloggers if they'd been around and managed to infiltrate his entourage.
The poor souls, they were sent out to interview him and they didn't know much about him. He turned it into a circus. He was enjoying himself. But I never felt that he was being particularly mean in those interviews.
There's a scene, though, in which Dylan directs a lengthy recrimination of the media at TIME magazine correspondent Horace Judson. I have to be honest: I would have hated to be in Judson's shoes.
I have the story [Judson] wrote. He wrote a very good piece on Dylan. I thought Dylan was kind of nice in the end. He made jokes out of it. When I show the film, especially to kids, they want to see that as someone thrashing TIME. But it isn't that. He's thrashing a whole system of media that people had been thrashing for a long time. I never thought of it as mean-spirited.
***
I'm following the TIME Magazine convention of writing "TIME" in all caps, which I haven't done in the past. I'm just for the first time noticing that's what TIME Magazine expects from me. Not that I need TIME Magazine, just that I'm noticing. And I'm wondering: Is in an acronym for something? "The [something with an "i"] Magazine Ever"?
UPDATE, May 10, 2011: The NYT obituary for Horace Freeland Judson.
"Botox is becoming the new face of beauty and it’s unfortunate because it makes everybody look like Satan’s children."
Said Stevie Nicks, who had Botox and hated it: "For four long months, I looked like a different person. It almost brought down the whole production of the last tour. It was so bad, I would look into the mirror and burst into tears."
That's the appropriate reaction, and I wish more people would have it. By the way, do you think Botox might be the explanation for the strangely blank face Janet Napolitano presented to the world last Sunday?
At the time, I said: "That bland half-smile — that numb mask — those unblinking, wide eyes ... the visual is weirdly incongruent with the audio." That wouldn't explain the slurred speech, though, which I'm surprised didn't draw more commentary in a week when lots of people focused on the slurred speech of Senator Baucus.
In sum: Everybody stop with the Botox. As for slurred speech, it works for some.
If you aren't someone it works for... enunciate.
That's the appropriate reaction, and I wish more people would have it. By the way, do you think Botox might be the explanation for the strangely blank face Janet Napolitano presented to the world last Sunday?
At the time, I said: "That bland half-smile — that numb mask — those unblinking, wide eyes ... the visual is weirdly incongruent with the audio." That wouldn't explain the slurred speech, though, which I'm surprised didn't draw more commentary in a week when lots of people focused on the slurred speech of Senator Baucus.
In sum: Everybody stop with the Botox. As for slurred speech, it works for some.
If you aren't someone it works for... enunciate.
"How would you feel if your new boyfriend kept calling his ex?"
And his ex was Madonna.
My theory, Kate: Madonna is more interesting than you. He called her because he wanted to talk to someone who had things to say. But it does make one jealous, and jealousy makes you more boring. It's a vicious circle.
My theory, Kate: Madonna is more interesting than you. He called her because he wanted to talk to someone who had things to say. But it does make one jealous, and jealousy makes you more boring. It's a vicious circle.
January 1, 2010
December, 2009 — Part 12 in a 12-part blog series.
1. "Drastic, mindboggingly expensive policy changes are proposed based on this science, making this potentially the biggest fraud in history. Why isn't the NYT on fire trying to figure everything out and helping us readers see into the controversy?"
2. "Al Gore is trying real hard to be the shepherd."
3. "Look what Meade's got me doing."
4. "10 Reasons Why the Christmas Day Pants Bomber Will Be Blogged Endlessly."
5. Art and terrorism.
6. "It's hard to get by just upon a smile..."
2. "Al Gore is trying real hard to be the shepherd."
3. "Look what Meade's got me doing."
4. "10 Reasons Why the Christmas Day Pants Bomber Will Be Blogged Endlessly."
5. Art and terrorism.
6. "It's hard to get by just upon a smile..."
November, 2009 — Part 11 in a 12-part blog series.
1. "It's all too 'My Very First Beard - from Kenner!' It's not helping. I'm sorry! Baseball is just not sexy enough."
2. First quarterversary!
3. "This should not have happened, and the sphere of responsibility extends beyond the murderer. This is not an expression of sympathy for Hasan. It is a desire for an effective military."
4. "Surrealistic Willow."
5. "What word frequently found in profusion in Obama's speeches is entirely absent from his Fort Hood speech?"
6. "It's a style choice not to explain everything. It's beyond a style choice. It's a demonstration of faith in the capacity of readers. That faith is the spirit that keeps me going here. I want to be the writer that has that faith. But there are times when I have a crisis of faith. There are times when I look at how readers respond and I want to say: I'm kind of surprised you even read the Althouse blog. What's the point?"
7. We stumble into a forest fire.
8. "I love how Ann doesn't get exercised over politics, but does over literature!"
9. Tree-planting time at Meadhouse. More pics.
10. "But that's not to say that the Wall Street Journal didn't lay a trap for Madison liberals. Maybe they knew they were putting in just enough resonance with racism to bait university types into crying racism. And if they do, as noted, those professors will sound silly, because there is nothing racial in the entire text of the editorial."
11. "Johnson and Sanchez were each concerned with bugs, they bugged each other, and they bugged out."
12. "The atrocity that is Empire State Plaza."
2. First quarterversary!
3. "This should not have happened, and the sphere of responsibility extends beyond the murderer. This is not an expression of sympathy for Hasan. It is a desire for an effective military."
4. "Surrealistic Willow."
5. "What word frequently found in profusion in Obama's speeches is entirely absent from his Fort Hood speech?"
6. "It's a style choice not to explain everything. It's beyond a style choice. It's a demonstration of faith in the capacity of readers. That faith is the spirit that keeps me going here. I want to be the writer that has that faith. But there are times when I have a crisis of faith. There are times when I look at how readers respond and I want to say: I'm kind of surprised you even read the Althouse blog. What's the point?"
7. We stumble into a forest fire.
8. "I love how Ann doesn't get exercised over politics, but does over literature!"
9. Tree-planting time at Meadhouse. More pics.
10. "But that's not to say that the Wall Street Journal didn't lay a trap for Madison liberals. Maybe they knew they were putting in just enough resonance with racism to bait university types into crying racism. And if they do, as noted, those professors will sound silly, because there is nothing racial in the entire text of the editorial."
11. "Johnson and Sanchez were each concerned with bugs, they bugged each other, and they bugged out."
12. "The atrocity that is Empire State Plaza."
October, 2009 — Part 10 in a 12-part blog series.
1. "I think Moore is seriously motivated by Christianity.... Am I wrong to see Moore as an anti-Semite?"
2. "This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen."
3. "But generic attacks on gay people as a group are much worse than attacks on a specific person who is a public figure, like Andrew Sullivan."
4. Incident at a Madison food co-op.
5. My roman à clef about Tripp Johnston.
6. Drive-by photography in the late-night Chicago rain.
2. "This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen."
3. "But generic attacks on gay people as a group are much worse than attacks on a specific person who is a public figure, like Andrew Sullivan."
4. Incident at a Madison food co-op.
5. My roman à clef about Tripp Johnston.
6. Drive-by photography in the late-night Chicago rain.
September, 2009 — Part 9 in a 12-part blog series.
1. "Why not send people to Mars and just leave them there?"
2. The moral argument for ObamaCare the Democrats could see should not be made.
3. The "waffle-y wedded wife."
4. "The unfortunate consequence of the beautiful amplitude of modern life..."
5. Obama bemoans the lack of civil conversation, and I hear echoes of "shut up."
6. "The Joe Wilson spirit infuses Kanye West."
7. "Hello, Mr. President we honor you today! For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say 'hooray!'"
8. "We have a president who doesn't even believe we are the good guys. True or false? Did you hesitate? Because you shouldn't even have to hesitate." (A quiz with a forthright result.)
9. "Damn, if your clue-getter isn't able to do that, you might as well give up and write more stories about what middle-aged moms in Park Slope are saying about popsicles and iPhones."
10. I got Lincoln Logged!
11. "Are Hollywood types defending Roman Polanski because they love him as a fellow artist or because of their own pedophilia?"
2. The moral argument for ObamaCare the Democrats could see should not be made.
3. The "waffle-y wedded wife."
4. "The unfortunate consequence of the beautiful amplitude of modern life..."
5. Obama bemoans the lack of civil conversation, and I hear echoes of "shut up."
6. "The Joe Wilson spirit infuses Kanye West."
7. "Hello, Mr. President we honor you today! For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say 'hooray!'"
8. "We have a president who doesn't even believe we are the good guys. True or false? Did you hesitate? Because you shouldn't even have to hesitate." (A quiz with a forthright result.)
9. "Damn, if your clue-getter isn't able to do that, you might as well give up and write more stories about what middle-aged moms in Park Slope are saying about popsicles and iPhones."
10. I got Lincoln Logged!
11. "Are Hollywood types defending Roman Polanski because they love him as a fellow artist or because of their own pedophilia?"
August, 2009 — Part 8 in a 12-part blog series.
1. "Commenting from a mountaintop: we are still sitting on the rock where we exchanged rings, and now we are married."
2. "When you go back home, say hi to my favorite Texan."
3. You want Hillary to tell you what her husband thinks?
4. When The Moderate Voice gets immoderate with me, there is no moderator.
5."'Death panel' rhetoric — and other dysphemisms."
6. The food that makes me a Hoosier.
7. "Oh, we gotta keep grandma alive so she can tell us more about Woodstock."
2. "When you go back home, say hi to my favorite Texan."
3. You want Hillary to tell you what her husband thinks?
4. When The Moderate Voice gets immoderate with me, there is no moderator.
5."'Death panel' rhetoric — and other dysphemisms."
6. The food that makes me a Hoosier.
7. "Oh, we gotta keep grandma alive so she can tell us more about Woodstock."
July, 2009 — Part 7 in a 12-part blog series.
1. What a scoop it would have been if that hand would have scooped David Brooks's scrotal sac!
2. "Y'all got 2 computers?!... How'd you get that?"
3. "If we persevere in our quixotic quest for a fetishized medical equality we will sacrifice personal freedom as its price. We will become the voluntary slaves of a 'compassionate' government that will provide the same low quality health care to everyone."
4. "Don't all the nominees lie that way? Sotomayor is laying it on particularly thick. And at some point, we do need to acknowledge the disgust ... or at least — this would be more my speed — laugh and roll your eyes."
5. "Boys conquer Craggy Pinnacle."
6. Meade composes "How Obama lost me" for me.
7. Under the influence of Satan, we fail to make a pilgrimage to a dishonored President's place of honor.
8. The larger meaning of Henry Louis Gates's Larger Meaning Doctrine.
9. "I will be victorious. Always be victorious. All rising!"
2. "Y'all got 2 computers?!... How'd you get that?"
3. "If we persevere in our quixotic quest for a fetishized medical equality we will sacrifice personal freedom as its price. We will become the voluntary slaves of a 'compassionate' government that will provide the same low quality health care to everyone."
4. "Don't all the nominees lie that way? Sotomayor is laying it on particularly thick. And at some point, we do need to acknowledge the disgust ... or at least — this would be more my speed — laugh and roll your eyes."
5. "Boys conquer Craggy Pinnacle."
6. Meade composes "How Obama lost me" for me.
7. Under the influence of Satan, we fail to make a pilgrimage to a dishonored President's place of honor.
8. The larger meaning of Henry Louis Gates's Larger Meaning Doctrine.
9. "I will be victorious. Always be victorious. All rising!"
June, 2009 — Part 6 in a 12-part blog series.
1. "I was a caryatid for Frank Lloyd Wright."
2. 4 reasons why The National Review might have portrayed Sonia Sotomayor as the Buddha.
3. "President Obama alone with the Post-Impressionists".... "Obamalisa and Obama Van Gogh".... "Another room in the Obama Museum"....
4. "Shhh, Meade. People are going to think you're a fictional character. I knew it as soon as I saw that picture of him on a porch, reading the paper. Hey, I have that same man at home!"
5. The Tick Flick.
6. "There's a huge bug in my house. I want Obama to kill it for me."
7. Obama and the blow-jobbiest ad ever.
2. 4 reasons why The National Review might have portrayed Sonia Sotomayor as the Buddha.
3. "President Obama alone with the Post-Impressionists".... "Obamalisa and Obama Van Gogh".... "Another room in the Obama Museum"....
4. "Shhh, Meade. People are going to think you're a fictional character. I knew it as soon as I saw that picture of him on a porch, reading the paper. Hey, I have that same man at home!"
5. The Tick Flick.
6. "There's a huge bug in my house. I want Obama to kill it for me."
7. Obama and the blow-jobbiest ad ever.
December 31, 2009
May, 2009 — Part 5 in a 12-part blog series.
1. The death of a camera produces a special effect.
2. "What a wild walk that was. The murder, the music, the ecstasy..."
3. "God watch over our troops."
4. "I'm going to have to use a household drill to make a hole in your boy's skull."
5. "What happened in the twilight down there in the bottoms."
6. "4 reasons I'm glad Obama nominated Sotomayor."
2. "What a wild walk that was. The murder, the music, the ecstasy..."
3. "God watch over our troops."
4. "I'm going to have to use a household drill to make a hole in your boy's skull."
5. "What happened in the twilight down there in the bottoms."
6. "4 reasons I'm glad Obama nominated Sotomayor."
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