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Monday, December 13, 2004

On Tom Waits The redoubtable Glenn Cripes captures some of my own thoughts when he says that "people identify with the idea of Tom Waits, and the music itself becomes secondary." Waits is fantastic: a great persona, tons of talent, humor, a terrific voice and ear that he uses really well. But the song just don't, or only rarely, sink into my skin and stay with me. Cripes says that Randy Newman and Loudon Wainwright aren't cool, and maybe that's so, but at least Newman has produced a couple works -- Sail Away, Rednecks, 12 Songs -- that stick with me and have for years. But it's only the rare recent song from either of these two guys that I ever remember. Cripes should also have mentioned John Prine. Prine burst on the scene a better songwriter than either of them, funnier and sadder both. Those first three Prine albums are classics. He's still good to listen to, though he's too quiet of late. Sorry, Glenn, no cute pictures of fat child actors. 10:11:08 PM  Permalink  comment []

Tom Wolfe wins Bad Sex award Tom Wolfe wins Bad Sex award: "It's the literary award no author wants to win, and this year it's gone to Tom Wolfe. The Literary Review gave Wolfe its annual Bad Sex award Monday for his best-selling novel I Am Charlotte Simmons." (Via USATODAY.com Life - Top Stories.) 6:32:18 PM  Permalink  comment []

Parents in Cupertino React to Williams Parents in Cupertino React to Williams: " NPR did a story yesterday on the Steven Williams lawsuit. That story said that there were in fact multiple complaints to the principal by multiple parents. The story interviewed several parents who said that Mr. Williams talked about Jesus constantly, during math lessons or science lessons or, as one put it, 'a hundred times a day'. They also interviewed several other teachers from the school, according to the reporter, and not one of them took Williams' side in the dispute. It also pointed out that the 5th grade textbook that he uses in his 5th grade class contains a full copy of the Declaration of Independence, putting the lie to the ADF's claim that the Declaration was 'banned in the classroom'. Particularly fascinating was this quote from Steve Williams, who when asked if he had an agenda replied, 'My agenda is to give my students an accurate representation of history.' One might wonder about the veracity of that statement given the numerous false quotations and false documents found in his handouts. " (Via Dispatches from the Culture Wars.) 1:56:19 PM  Permalink  comment []

Friends say Sherlock Holmes fan based own death on fictional case Friends say Sherlock Holmes fan based own death on fictional case: " 'The mysterious death of Britain's leading Sherlock Holmes expert appears to have been a bizarre suicide plot deliberately based on one of the cases tackled by the fictional detective himself, a report said. According to friends of Richard Lancelyn Green, he appears to have dressed up his suicide as murder in an attempt to get at an enemy from beyond the grave, a notion lifted from one of Holmes's adventures, the Sunday Times said.' (AFP via Yahoo!) " (Via Follow Me Here....) Interesting. There was a long piece in The New Yorker about this last week that didn't come directly to this conclusion, though it's not hard to believe. 12:54:23 PM  Permalink  comment []

Miss Artificial Beauty Contest (reuters) Miss Artificial Beauty Contest (reuters): " Strange news on Reuters today. A Miss Artificial Beauty contest in China! The oldest contestant is in her 60s -- and looks 30. BEIJING (Reuters) - China will soon host the finals of the country's first beauty contest in which every contestant has gone under the knife. Twenty 'man-made' beauties will parade their surgical nips and tucks next Saturday in the hope of taking home the country's first Miss Artificial Beauty crown. The contest is the latest addition to China's beauty pageant scene after Miss World was held in the southern island of Hainan for two years in a row. Beauty pageants were once considered reviled displays of western decadence but have become big business in Communist-ruled China following more than two decades of economic reforms. 'I wanted to convey a message to society -- that the pursuit of beauty is ageless,' said 62-year-old Liu Yulan, the oldest contestant who turned to plastic surgery to smooth facial wrinkles and fill out her drawn cheeks. Another contestant, who did not make the Miss Artificial Beauty finals, spent $36,000 in her quest for the perfect body, according to a Chinese Web site. Organizers dreamed up the pageant after one woman who splashed $13,000 on improving her looks attempted to sue them for banning her from the finals of a traditional beauty contest in May. Plastic surgery clinics offering everything from liposuction to eye re-modeling have mushroomed in major cities in China in recent years. " (Via I'm Gina Smith.) 11:56:57 AM  Permalink  comment []

LBJ & the Helium Filled Astronaut Via Cynical-C Blog, this is very very funny. Scott Carpenter, decompressing from setting a world record for staying undersea, speaks with Lyndon Johnson. Trouble is, as part of the decompresison, Carpenter is breathing helium. 10:58:08 AM  Permalink  comment []

Re-Thinking the War On Terror Re-Thinking the War On Terror: "The idea of a 'war on terror' has been the guiding force behind the Iraq war and much of President Bush's foreign policy. Terrorism experts are beginning to reconsider the phrase. Hear NPR's Mary Louise Kelly." (Via NPR's Morning Edition.) 9:55:37 AM  Permalink  comment []

Frank Rich: The Plot Against Sex in America Frank Rich: The Plot Against Sex in America: "Right-wing groups are targeting 'Kinsey' as part of their larger goal of pushing sex of all nonbiblical kinds back into the closet." (Via The New York Times > Most E-mailed Articles.) I just don't understand why so many people want to turn the government into nannies, determining what we can watch and read. 9:30:28 AM  Permalink  comment []

The San Francisco Earthquake I'd never seen these fantastic pictures of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire, taken by George R. Lawrence, from kites in the days after the fire ended. The last one on the page is especially amazing -- click on it to zoom it to full size. 9:28:13 AM  Permalink  comment []

The 10 Best Books of 2004 The 10 Best Books of 2004: "This year's list, chosen by the Book Review, consists of five novels, a short-story collection, a memoir, two biographies and a historical study." (Via The New York Times > Most E-mailed Articles.) I read the Roth, the Dylan, and am nearly done with the Shakespeare bio, and they're all worthy. I'll put up a list of my own next week. 9:22:02 AM  Permalink  comment []

© Copyright 2005 Steve Michel.