The Heights of Prosperity

FP is not as sexy as they think it is

2010-08-04T19:11:00.002-04:00

it is irritating that "opinionators" seem to only want to opine about foreign policy...somehow it's sexy, or something. domestic policy or critical analysis about american culture is blase. when i read about beinart's title i was hoping for an examination of how america as a society found itself in a situation, as a whole, where "success breeds disaster," which is how he summarizes his argument. instead it is some analytical claptrap about how foreign policy thinkers rationalize their respective courses of action.

mildly irritating

2010-08-04T11:32:00.002-04:00

it seemed this moniker of FreeBird chicken was a bit more disingenuous on first blush. an interesting branding system. owned by Hain-Celestial, of which 20% is owned by HJ Heinz, one of the nation's largest food conglomerates.

counteracting declining circulation, with drivel

2010-07-19T11:17:00.003-04:00

the mainstream media isn't so much liberal in content, as conservatives might claim. rather, the greater threat is the continual pandering to general interest, casual readers with content that focuses on the quirky and irrelevant "human interest" aspects of stories rather than relevant and important facts.

take this piece in the washington post. it discusses the phenomenon of "seat hogs" and how people are becoming irritated by it (bogus trend alert: were they not irritated before?).

the real story it would seem is that "the transit agency would need 320 more rail cars to keep congestion manageable, but the current capital spending plan does not include funds for those." This is buried in paragraphs 19-22, close to the end of the article. isn't this the real story? that Metro ridership is projected to result in "highly congested" or "unmanageable" commutes by 2020?

for the writer and the WaPo, this is all ancillary to the human drama of Metro "seat hogs." instead of writing a series of articles focusing on the lack of foresight, funding, etc. on the part of Metro in planning for the future, and how that will likely negatively impact future ridership, road congestion, etc., the Post decides that it will sell more papers, at the cost of the greater good, but writing about this type of ephemera.

apocalypse now redux

2010-05-13T11:17:00.001-04:00

words can't really describe how i feel about buckets for the cure. see for yourself.

harold ford, bite me

2010-04-26T23:21:00.001-04:00

uh, no. verizon in a broadband coalition? color me beyond skeptical. dubious, even.

random lines #1b

2010-01-22T09:29:00.001-05:00

Streaked and faded
Glowing brightly still
Perhaps you will emerge again tomorrow
To rise and fade again once more

again....why??????

2010-01-19T13:11:00.001-05:00

remind me why the daily show is again the only one saying this to dems?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Mass Backwards>

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

thanks again WaPo

2009-12-09T14:14:00.001-05:00

let the shrillness continue. brad delong compiles some new WaPo transgressions.

thanks again daily show

2009-12-08T12:11:00.001-05:00

why does the daily show consistently bring more to bear to our discourse than other media outlets?

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-3-2009/oliver-s-travels---switzerland

sometimes surprising

2009-12-04T10:32:00.003-05:00

it is nice when companies actually take affirmative steps to aid privacy protection and respond to user requests.

http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=190423927130

could not resist - maddening and saddening

2009-11-24T11:40:00.001-05:00

deep thought #1

2009-11-23T10:46:00.003-05:00

despite the "stop snitching" movement starting in Baltimore, the most popular player for the Ravens, and arguably the player with the most street credibility, is currently still playing in the NFL because he snitched on two friends to avoid a murder trial.

random lines #1

2009-11-15T14:52:00.001-05:00

blinds of cascading light
reprise their role, pushing me
towards the ill-lit corners
of my conscious mind

sex in the 21st century

2009-11-10T12:15:00.004-05:00

article on ny mag sex diaries. interesting to read. a lot of experiences are very distinctly new york. others more universal. some are hoping for love and a bit inspiring, struggling through similar struggles, seemingly out of place in Gen Y, sexy and interesting and taking post-feminism in an appropriate direction, taking it maybe a bit too far, and one who is almost beyond description, a quintessential spoiled, upper-class, entitled brat rich kid living in NYC.

and one that i think i'm in love with.

it was only a matter of time

2009-10-28T14:30:00.003-04:00

before American Apparel started using actual porn stars in their ads.

sedition

2009-09-30T10:31:00.002-04:00

how are people allowed to get away with saying this? and why are the democrats not leveraging this? i know why fox news and the other sensationalist outlets are not covering it, but why not others?

essentially calling for a military coup to solve the "Obama problem" is not something that should be allowed.

sign of the apocalypse?

2009-09-29T16:22:00.000-04:00

i think so.

boondock saints II

it didn't sink in until today

2009-09-28T16:41:00.002-04:00

i had always heard about Nixon's anti-semitism, paranoia, and underhanded political machinations. but i don't think it ever was clear until i read analysis and transcripts dealing with his theory of a "Jewish cabal" designed to damage him politically. frankly, the man was a monster, and why anyone would idealize him is beyond me. we'll put aside his liberal social agenda; negative income tax, health care reform, anyone?

choice quotes:

President Nixon: All right. I want a look at any sensitive areas around where Jews are involved, Bob. See, the Jews are all through the government, and we have got to get in those areas. We’ve got to get a man in charge who is not Jewish to control the Jewish . . . do you understand?

President Nixon: Second, most Jews are disloyal. You know what I mean? You have a—you have a [White House Consultant Leonard] Garment and a [National Security Adviser Henry A.] Kissinger and, frankly, a [White House Speechwriter William L.] Safire, and, by God, they’re exceptions. But, Bob, generally speaking, you can’t trust the bastards. They turn on you. Correct? Am I wrong or right?

glenn beck doesn't do coincidences

2009-09-18T15:47:00.002-04:00

could the noticeable uptick in vitriol and demagoguery, breaking news and frenzied rants, emanating from glenn beck have anything to do with his new book, to be published on Tuesday? no, of course not. surely it has to be a coincidence.

if the product description on amazon wasn't laughable enough as it is, enjoy this gem: "Idiots...can be found only by looking for people who hide behind stereotypes, embrace partisanship, and believe that bumper sticker slogans are a substitute for common sense."

sound familiar?

#44 historical lesson #1 - post-partisanship doesn't work

2009-09-17T15:04:00.002-04:00

lesson #1 from obama's administration: post-partisanship does not work in the current political environment, or it at least requires a firmly defined and achievable set of specific policy priorities. attempting to split the difference (triangulate, as it may be) on policy issues results in your base begin upset and the opposition continuing to oppose your initiatives, in essence irregardless of content. and if you are going to try to claim the middle ground, you need to lay out a specific set of legislative proposals, rather than let congress tackle the brunt of crafting the proposals. this latter insight applies mainly to the health care debate, but is certainly applicable in other areas as well.

further proof that a well-organized and effective campaign does not necessarily translate into productive and effective governance.

comment is free

2009-09-14T22:13:00.002-04:00

egregious moderation is such an unbelievable pet peeve. middle aged moderators with nothing better to do than sit around patrolling comment threads need to chill with the power trips.

what is the point of the internet if policing decorum devolves into simple censorship?

arch-enemies

2009-08-27T10:26:00.001-04:00

as a youngster, i read far more archie comics than i now care to admit. of course, there was no information or plots to retain, so it's not like i memorized a particularly interesting story arc, as if i was reading a real comic.

and colbert nicely relates the travails of betty to those of hillary clinton and the ridiculousness that is the MSM. (for some reason, can't embed properly)

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/247055/august-18-2009/the-word---arch-enemies

reasons for the initial fascination

2009-08-01T11:18:00.002-04:00

i did end up attending a couple of iran-related events in the aftermath of the unrest, but with the clampdown within iran (on dissidents, protests, media, etc.) the news emerging is limited and certainly less compelling for most, and the limited attention span here in the US, coverage and attention has waned somewhat. however, the stronger media outlets (NYT, NPR) that i read have done a good job of continuing their coverage.

a though during the earlier course of the election aftermath had occurred to me, and to rid myself of the scrap of paper upon which it is written, i figured i'd put it up here: the fascination with events in Iran goes beyond our simple interest in the human drama and stories that surround popular movements and uprisings. it connects us with visceral feelings of solidarity, protest, and empathy, of which there is often a paucity in the US, because while our system is orderly, it also engenders apathy.

i hope the situation in Iran continues to develop rather than stagnate or revert to a version of the status quo. i am not a westerner hoping for regime change or the overthrow of the islamic republic, but rather one who is hopeful for the emergence of a government there that respects the rules of democracy, the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to freely express their opinions and grievances, and ceases to harshly dictate standards of behavior, especially for women. seeing that list i can't say that i would expect major movement on these metrics, regardless of the outcome of the current unrest, but movement in the appropriate direction is movement nonetheless.

iran momentum

2009-06-27T18:01:00.002-04:00

i had not mobilized myself to the street in support of the opposition in iran, as generally that is not my M.O., but had decided to do so...unfortunately the rally i was to attend tomorrow was canceled. i think this points to the gradual waning of the collective attention to this issue. not only have the authorities effectively limited dissent in iran, but other events continue in the US and elsewhere, and sadly peoples attention spans are short. it would have been good to participate in something last week, but i have at least kept myself informed on events, and at the very least have learned a great deal about iran that i may have not otherwise.

the nytimes discusses, as i'm sure others have, what are the next steps for the opposition movement. with protests suppressed, i think a general strike and some political machinations need to occur. but time will tell how things change. i pray that the voices of those opposed to repression are heard.

as if my disheartenment at the MSM couldn't go any further

2009-06-24T13:44:00.003-04:00

today was a banner day for the MSM. CBS selectively edits (very unethically) an exchange between Billy Graham and Nixon from the Watergate tapes. Dana Milbank writes a ridiculous and fact-short article (when did he become such a self-important, snarky, pompous dick?). jonathan weisman, who didn't win me over at the WaPo, has an above the fold piece for the WSJ (a poor one at that). and i'm also reminded that john solomon landed as an editor at the washington times (AP -> WaPo -> WashTimes: not so hot).

i have been left yearning for so long for a halfway decent source of comprehensive news, and it looks like the possibility of finding one gets dimmer by the day. the NYT is barely adequate, the WaPo is very questionable, it seems the WSJ has lowered their standards (aside from the above, editing, a highlight of their work, was cut significantly by Murdoch, and there seems to be other things i need to catch up on), and the FT doesn't have an adequate American presence.

someday i guess...one can't get all their news from blogs.

2009-06-22T22:50:00.002-04:00

i've been too busy reading to say anything worthwhile (i did post a few things on facebook), but a couple thoughts:

from huffpo live-blogging (monday 6/22):

5:20 PM ET -- A word about the past two days. In ordinary times, the violence in the streets on Sunday and Monday would have been shocking. But compared to Saturday's massive outpouring, the turnout of demonstrators has been significantly smaller. There is a good reason for it.

Over the past week, the reformist rallies that have succeeded were those scheduled days in advance, with turnout aided by massive word-of-mouth promotion. Today's mourning rally for Neda, on the other hand, was announced only this morning on Karroubi's social networking sites. In the midst of a near-complete media and technological blackout, these large demonstrations need time to develop.

It's virtually impossible for anyone to gauge whether there is a petering off of intensity among demonstrators, who now know they face incredible risks if they show up in the streets. But the last two days should not be used to argue that the unrest has dampened. The reformists are organizing another major demonstration for Thursday, and a national strike is set to begin by tomorrow or Wednesday. Those will be far better guides to how Iranians are reacting to the government's campaign of repression.

and from the daily beast, via the lede, live blogging on monday as well:

On the Web site The Daily Beast, an Iranian university student explains that, in his family, the video has exposed the deep rift in the way younger Iranians look outside the state-run media for the truth, while their parents and grandparents may not. Telmah Parsa writes:

more soon as soon as i have the time.

a prelude to a post: a snap from iran, mama

2009-06-18T14:33:00.004-04:00

something else coming on the iranian elections and their aftermath, to which i have been absolutely riveted.

but for now, this was really interesting. the words below are quoting a guns n' roses song. a stark illusion to the love/hate relationship much of the world has with America. in particular, they often hate our government, but love our culture (at least parts). i often find myself in the same boat.

credit: Saeed Kamali Dehghan, The Guardian.

these are our leaders

2009-06-16T21:03:00.002-04:00

the intersection of politics and new media has produced some interesting results, as TPM has documented. but grassley takes the cake. his tweets aren't merely akin to a 13-year old...it's like a 13-year old hybridized with a senile senator, who is excited like a puppy dog about this new fangled technology. a sample below, but read the whole bit.

Yesterday, Grassley told President Obama via Twitter that "you got nerve" for telling Congress to deliver on health care, while Obama himself was "sightseeing in Paris:"

Pres Obama you got nerve while u sightseeing in Paris to tell us"time to deliver" on health care. We still on skedul/even workinWKEND.

an open letter to eMusic

2009-06-16T11:39:00.003-04:00

eMusic has recently almost doubled their prices, in tandem with an expansion of their download catalog. here is my email to their customer service, expressing my dissatisfaction:

I am really disappointed with the new pricing structure of eMusic. Under the new scheme, the price of each download will increase from $.25 per song to $.40 per song, under my current plan. Frankly I think this is pretty ridiculous considering other services like iTunes are lowering their prices.

I understand eMusic's desire to broaden their customer base by offering more mainstream music. But I, like most other eMusic customers, do not subscribe to this service for these types of offerings. And, sadly, I have a sneaking suspicion that by making your offerings more mainstream, you will neglect the more niche offerings to which most people on eMusic are attuned.

An obvious solution is to have a tiered pricing system, similar to that adopted by iTunes, that places a premium on more popular works. This would keep eMusic a more viable place for smaller artists, for which demand for their work may be more price elastic.

The previous comments are predicated on the idea that the new music you are offering costs more, which is why you are raising your prices. If the price increase is not simply designed to offset higher acquisition costs on your end, but also allows for an increase in artist royalties from downloads, than that is a different story.

I will say that unless a tiered pricing structure is implemented, or if the album pricing system does not provide a significant cost savings, I will probably cancel my eMusic subscription after a few months of the new system. I enjoy and appreciate your service but there are number of issues, most of all the rise in prices, that I find discouraging about the new arrangement.

Sincerely,
TS

once again, ladies and gentleman, it's our 24 hour news culture

2009-06-09T14:47:00.001-04:00

leave it to jon to hold their feet to the fire

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

"i" on News

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

to answer my previous question

2009-06-09T14:43:00.002-04:00

in reading the wikipedia entry concerning my last post, it became pretty obvious that canseco was in fact juicing while on the simpsons, given his on-set behavior. or as it were, in the recording booth, which included intimidating the writers and demanding different lines that made him more "heroic." yeesshh

the big juicing question

2009-05-20T14:14:00.003-04:00

whether Jose Canseco was juicing while he was playing pro baseball is immaterial. the real question is: was he juicing when he was on the Simpsons (episode: 8F13)? that i want to know.

this just in

2009-05-12T12:42:00.003-04:00

vincent d'onofrio is a terrible actor. watching him on law and order: criminal intent is mystifying and cringeworthy. at least one person on the intertubes seems to agree.

townes van zandt - mr. mudd & mr. gold

2009-05-01T17:11:00.002-04:00

live at the old quarter. simply amazing.

three years today

2009-05-01T17:10:00.002-04:00

the life continues. what comes next?

your way?

2009-04-07T11:16:00.001-04:00

Flooded McDonald's from Superflex on Vimeo.

filastine, loda @ gallery in silver spring, friday march 13th

2009-03-12T15:29:00.003-04:00

if i was going to be in town, i would most certainly be at this gig. in fact, i am pretty upset that i am going to be missing it. filastine is amazing, and after catching him at loda in September, i can guarantee that his live set will be pretty amazing.

his TheirSpace. more show details. listen to some tunes and see what you think.

the way i see it #141

2009-02-16T17:43:00.002-05:00

normally these things are pretty weak, but this seemed apropos of some recent thoughts of mine:

i used to feel so alone in the city. all those gazillions of people and then me, on the outside. because how do you meet a new person? i was very stumped by this for many years. and then i realized, you just say "hi." they may ignore you. or you may marry them. and that possibility is worth that one word.
- augusten burroughs

what can you say?

2009-01-23T16:02:00.002-05:00

fox news and the conservative media...well, just watch.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Fox News Fear Imbalance

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

the inauguration

2009-01-23T14:52:00.002-05:00

i would be remiss if i did not briefly comment on the inauguration of Barack Obama as our 44th President. It was not until I heard Obama take the oath of office and deliver an excellent inaugural address did it finally sink in that George W. Bush was no longer our president, and that we were entering an administration that seems to be defined by intelligence and integrity rather than ineptness and moral bankruptcy.

standing on the mall, with the sun emerging from behind the washington monument moments before Obama took the oath of office, seemed an apt metaphor for the day.

too perfect

2008-11-21T13:06:00.003-05:00

i don't think you could script a more apt metaphor for palin's ineptness and complete vacuity.

via TPM

not a doctor

2008-11-18T15:45:00.002-05:00

the irony that adrian grenier is not only a bad actor, but that he now plays one on tv, should not be lost on anyone.

looking downwind and forward

2008-11-05T17:37:00.000-05:00

now that the election is over, and the celebrations in DC have died down, it's time to take stock of other things besides the sea change in our executive branch. and maybe look forward a bit to the composition of an obama administration, and the scope and breadth of the policy initiatives he'll pursue.

looking down the ticket, results are encouraging but there are some sore spots. the dems picked up seats in the senate and the house. in the senate, the dems will fall short of a filibuster-proof 60 seats, but not by much, likely by 2 or 3 seats.

however, rep. don young looks poised to hold onto his seat in Alaska, despite being behind in most pre-election polls. who knows how long young will last past the election, however, as he is the subject of several corruption investigations. and it looks like wingnut du jour michele bachmann is holding onto her seat in MN.

as if alaska couldn't get weirder, senator ted stevens looks to also be retaining his seat, despite his recent conviction on seven felony counts. the race at this point, however, is too close to call. not sure what will happen if stevens wins, but his pending appeal may bear on that outcome; it's unlikely that he'll be allowed to stay in the senate if the conviction sticks, and possibly he might be forced to leave earlier than achieving a final resolution in his case. alaska would have a special election within 90 days after he leaves office.

norm coleman holds a small lead over al franken; by minnesota law it has to go for a recount and franken isn't backing down on it. smith-merkley in oregon is one that's hanging right now as well.

there is some mixed news on ballot initiatives. california's proposition 2, requiring humane treatment of laying hens and sows (among others), passed resoundingly. however, voters also approved prop 8, banning same-sex marriages. california also defeated some sane drug policy changes. but overall things there are a little odd, as always. rundown of initiatives, and results. restrictive abortion initiatives in colorado and south dakota failed, and washington became only the second state to legalize assisted suicide. "The marijuana reform movement won two prized victories, with Massachusetts voters decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the drug and Michigan joining 12 other states in allowing use of pot for medical purposes." and a ward connerly-backed ban on affirmative action in Nebraska passed. rundown here.

ej dionne thinks that the obama election signals the end of wedge politics and the culture wars. the results of the vote on prop 8 and in other areas indicates otherwise, i believe. prop 8 succeeded in large part because it was supported by african-american voters who were drawn to the polls by obama's candidacy. but ej does make some other good points, so there are several grains of truth in his argument.

the politico's harris and vandehei on 5 changes in national politics ushered in by the Obama victory. and marc ambinder runs down some key factors in obama's victory.

it's encouraging that the world community paid a lot of attention to the election and that obama's victory has rekindled hope that america will live up to it's professed ideals on the world stage.

speculation and rumors swirl concerning Obama's cabinet and the ramifications for his future agenda. obama certainly is going to want to start working early, given the financial crisis and the other issues facing the country. not sure that larry summers, currently reported as a top candidate for treasury secretary, is really a good pick though. we shall see how it all shakes out in the coming days and weeks.

on the regulatory front, the fcc should be commended for approving the use of white spaces to expand broadband internet access. the post piece particularly though was terribly written, presenting the issue in a very unflattering light and emphasizing the complaints of preachers, dolly parton, etc., in opposing the change in regulations. i'm not sure how this change isn't an unequivocal win for consumers and the citizenry. the fcc also approved two mergers (verizon and alltel being the one of most import), which i'm not so crazy about, but i think it's a small price to pay for the advantages of white spaces.

it's quite a whirlwind of democracy. despite some setbacks, overall things probably couldn't have turned out any better.

the window is closing, the end is in sight

2008-11-05T10:08:00.002-05:00

our long national nightmare that has been the bush presidency has a definitive endpoint of January 20th, 2009. the clean break with the past that this country has so desperately needed will come to pass.

let us hope that obama can continue to be an inspiration to many long after this election is over. if his actions as president can match his words as a candidate, we may finally make some progress as a country.

trials and tribulations

2008-11-04T15:48:00.003-05:00

we need to have election day as a national holiday. it took two hours for me to vote today. i'm sure we would decrease wait times and increase participation if we gave people the day off. in other countries voting is mandatory, and while i don't think that should be applied here, i think we need to make it as easy as possible for people to vote.

fixing the news media, the political discourse, and encouraging active knowledge gathering by citizens is another issue; i've found, even after an almost two year long campaign, that people are still staggeringly ignorant about the positions of the two candidates.

related to my post on thursday, i did have to complete a provisional ballot in DC. my name, despite the BOEE's assertion, was not on the voter rolls. i guess i'll find out in a week if my vote counted.

oh, and on top of all that, i flubbed getting a cute girl's number whom i met in the line to vote. a poor showing all around, except for, you know, that whole exercise in democracy thing.

just read

2008-11-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

i didn't vote for obama today

the behemoth strikes again?

2008-10-30T17:36:00.003-04:00

a little unnerving to find that the online voter registration database in DC didn't have me registered, and even more so that when i called and they entered my address as additional information, i popped up. why would that matter?

this provided an odd parallel to the FBI fingerprinting process that i had just completed.

tweet! gaffe!

2008-10-28T10:08:00.000-04:00

mccain takes the cake, by far.

trying to play the same old game on a different field

2008-10-23T17:13:00.003-04:00

corporations and interest groups are extremely vigorous in their attempts to maintain the dominant paradigm and existing system. case in point is the NAB's opposition to freeing up for productive use the "white spaces" that exist between over-the-air broadcast television stations. it seems quite foreign to these actors to embrace change and become a dynamic, innovative entity. maintaining entrenched modes of operating is attractive i guess when you are making lots of money.

timothy karr breaks it all down at the huffington post.

nail on the head?

2008-10-19T17:53:00.001-04:00

rick redfern is learning much about the new media landscape

at a loss, sort of

2008-10-13T11:13:00.002-04:00

for reasons not worth mentioning, i end up looking at a lot of master's theses and PhD dissertations. invariably a number of them have odd, rambling dedications that divulge far too much information. often the amount of dedication text is inversely related to the quality of the actual research.

this statement, from a 2005 PhD dissertation from Capella University, was by far the strangest:

Finally, I would like to publicly thank God for the experience of New Year's Eve 1993 when the free will of a gang, through their initiation activities, left me with a bullet in my chest and the opportunity to "Be still, and know that I am God."

I'm not sure what one, as the reader, is supposed to garner from this intensely personal disclosure, but I can certainly say that it created quite an interesting back story for the resulting reading.

a small illustration of the stupidity and inanity of Complex

2008-10-12T16:44:00.006-04:00

let's ignore the fact that they are highlighting track bikes in their Style Guide A-Z (we don't need more idiotic style outlets heaping on this bandwagon), or that it's a picture of a guy on the BQE holding onto the spoiler of a Lotus. but you'd figure that if you were trying to highlight a trend, that you'd actually be aware of what are the main components (as it were) of that trend. as will be obvious to even the most casual bike rider, this bike is certainly not a track bike.

if you weren't aware of the fact that Complex simply co-opts and highlights style trends of which they are often completely clueless, then here's simply one example.

piratz!

2008-09-26T14:04:00.003-04:00

yes, they do exist, and this year has been a particularly bad one. mostly they operate off the somali coast in the gulf of aden, which borders the red and arabian seas, with yemen and somalia to the north and south, respectively. almost all cargo going to europe from asia must pass through the gulf, since it is the passageway to the red sea and the suez canal.

in this instance, they seem to have gotten their hands on some serious weaponry. might be beyond their capacity to use all the tanks, but there is an as yet undermined amount of light weaponry onboard, which can't be good for the situation in somalia, as it's already in crisis.

silence is golden

2008-09-17T12:38:00.001-04:00

but the chatter will be missed, nonetheless.

one of many?

2008-09-15T18:50:00.001-04:00

when this all started, i intended to have a series of posts about my neighborhood (see for example the title and URL), several of which are still mulling around in draft form here in blogger. i published a couple about columbia height, but not many.

well today i got sucked into reading a bunch of random posts about my locale via the Prince of Petworth, which is the kind of website i avoid for various reasons (time suck, triviality).

but i had been wondering about some restaurant goings-on the other day, and i found my answers, sort of. and i found out we're getting another crappy chain, this time a restaurant.

i can't really get into all of my sentiments about DC, columbia heights, gentrification, etc., but i will say that so much about this process is baffling. not so much how it happens, but how seemingly clueless people are about it. the ramifications are always glossed over or unacknowledged. but that seems to mirror so many things in our contemporary society.

but then again, the comments here left me with the feeling, as is often the case, that people are pretty clueless in general. so maybe this isn't the exception that proves the rule, just another example of the rules in action. at least part of it, in retrospect, is the audience of the blog, gentrifiers all and proud of it it seems.

oh, and PS, seems there was a big shooting three blocks from my house last month. who knew?

before we begin

2008-09-15T17:38:00.002-04:00

i actually watched some of SNL saturday for the first time in ages. and apparently i missed the only funny part:

almost at a loss for words...almost

2008-09-10T18:30:00.002-04:00

this video on the daily show perfectly encapsulates the hypocrisy of the modern republican party and the pundits who populate the "liberal media."

craigslist best of

2008-09-09T19:15:00.002-04:00

stay away from it. hilarious but a huge time suck. if you've got the time, have at it.

highlights:
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/nyc/804253499.html
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/780311954.html
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/det/794605266.html

last.fm back in effect

2008-09-09T14:03:00.002-04:00

when streaming tracks (scrobbling in their parlance) to last.fm, i always used only the scrobbling feature (via an iTunes plug-in), and never downloaded the actual last.fm application. this was pretty much only because I was an early adopter, and had started the whole scrobbling thing before their was an actual application for your desktop.

eventually, last.fm stopped issuing updates or support for the scrobbling plug-in. this move makes sense by last.fm, from a business perspective, since presumably the value of their service is enhanced by people having and using the physical application. they were bought (twice?) recently by an established conglomerate, and with a lot of companies struggling with how to monetize these web 2.0 assets (i.e. facebook, myspace, etc.), i guess this move wasn't unexpected.

at some point earlier this year an update to iTunes rendered the plug-in inoperable. and although i downloaded the last.fm application, for a variety of reasons i never installed it, and last.fm sort of faded from my usage. today i installed it, and am "scrobbling" again.

the OCD portion of me will end up listening again to those artists that over the last 6 months i played heavily, to make my last.fm "accurate." why i'm willing to do this but don't care that last.fm doesn't reflect my cd/vinyl listening (which is mostly what i do at home), i don't know, but i'm fine with it. it remains to be seen whether i'll pursue ipod functionality. i used to have that, but it was a huge pain. we shall see...

whither?

2008-08-28T17:17:00.001-04:00

i have no idea what this image is of, really, but i thought it was beautiful. via mudd up, via viva el colectivo?

jazzy b for real

2008-07-18T18:20:00.000-04:00

doin' it so big right now

totes awesome totes

2008-07-10T19:11:00.006-04:00

let the link love begin. get your obama fix from true souljah jazzy b. totally totes.

oh, the insanity!

2008-07-02T22:19:00.003-04:00

this is so f-ing cool, and completely nuts. three cheers for american ingenuity and stupidity.

vice redux

2008-06-27T23:22:00.002-04:00

i have talked in a previous post about my occasional disdain for vice magazine. although i still really enjoy many of their foreign articles and obviously dos and don'ts, among other stuff. but this marketing tie in with the release of the charlie bartlett DVD on VBS TV was just tiresome, lame, and totally a sell-out move. i expect more from a magazine with such an anti-establishment streak, even if it is laden with ads from major corporations. weak sauce.

a different level

2008-06-10T11:29:00.001-04:00

obviously my blogging activities never reached this level, as documented by former Gawker blogger Emily Gould in the NewYork Times Sunday Magazine. that's certainly a good thing, and of course at this point the readership here is practically (if not assumedly) non-existent, given the severely diminished frequency of new material.

the idea of constant exposure to public scrutiny, particularly as a facet of varying levels of self-promotion, complicity, and outright encouragement, is fascinating. ultimately, i think these arrangements are untenable for the vast majority of people, because they shatter the normal veneer or mental space that we occupy distinct from the world around us.

people for whom this presents limited repercussions are generally just oblivious to the ramifications or are driven enough by their desire for celebrity to ignore them. others wishing to maintain their status often lash out at criticism in the traditional manner of defending ones ego and self-confidence against external comment (actions driven by a subconscious need to maintain ones "edge" and ability to act without self-doubt).

it seems that the experience for almost all, in some form or another, is fraught with difficulty and is often quite dis-empowering. those who profess to be normal and unaffected by this process may be those who are ultimately the most damaged. for it is difficult if not impossible to fully control our external image, and it seems that most problems derive from this inability.

the tibet issue

2008-04-02T17:16:00.002-04:00

i have been following the recent issues in tibet since their occurrence with great interest. i've probably spent far too much time on it, and i think i need to make a clean break from getting too deep again, so i won't post lots of links or anything here.

my thinking on this issue has certainly evolved, but it's difficult to have a productive discourse via the internet, for several reasons. i did spend an inordinate amount of time reading comments on this post, on Nick Kristof's blog. I posted twice, #248 and #460. Sadly I didn't really get great responses to my questions of the other posters, and after my second comment I had to just leave it at that. Part of the problem is that the post was linked to by lots of pro-Chinese (and pro-Tibetan to a lesser extent) websites, which heightened the invective and seemed to make a rational discussion of the issues at hand all the more difficult.

the whole process was an illuminating experience for me, however. history, the media, the internet, all seem a little bit different in my conception of them now. but i was nonetheless disappointed, not only in the responses to my thoughts but in the difficulty in having a reasoned debate, given the medium, language barriers, and other issues.

back in effect

2008-03-27T11:26:00.001-04:00

not me, per se, but rather old music blog stand-by lemon red. not to get too meta, but the lineage of the evolution of my musical tastes traces back to discovering his blog like three years ago. funny how the internet works.

hot fire, fer sur.

beyond belief

2008-02-12T14:45:00.001-05:00

I think Kevin Drum has it right. What purpose would a McCain presidency serve on the foreign policy front, and why would we expect that more aggressive posturing with "rogue" nations would somehow become effective, after its stunning success under the current administration?

why so fire?

2008-02-01T17:28:00.000-05:00

i can't figure out why i find this graphic so fascinating. well, i guess i could be all po-mo and deconstruct it, but i'm at work and there's no need for any of that bs. hella dope. in case you're curious, it's the header for the fool's gold blog. droppin fire over there these days, on the nu-rave hip tip (i refuse to use the word hipster and am still searching for alternatives. it has now lost all meaning.

dejected and disappointed, i know

2008-01-18T12:19:00.000-05:00

I had grand plans for my one january post (haha), but I can't seem to conjure up the links I was looking for. Instead, I will give you some Afro-Funk from Ice, who later became the Lafayette Afro Rock Band. Classic jams. via Benn Loxo

Ice - Time Will Tell

the mind of the upper echelon athlete

2007-12-06T22:46:00.000-05:00

this extremely illuminating piece about Dirk Nowitzki's Chapelle-esque retreat to Australia after the Mavs' first round playoff exit got me thinking again about the nature of thought in sports. it seems to me that professional athletes are better off not being particularly intelligent, or at least intelligent in an intellectually curious, humanist sort of way. the tendency of such people is to over analyze things or be almost too aware of their surroundings. the professional athlete, on the other hand, while needing to be aware of and react to situations, cannot overthink, and has to rely much on instinct. Nowitzki seems to be a well-rounded, smart guy, which makes me wonder about his ability to truly succeed in the NBA, to become a champion. it's not that he could "choke" in the commonly understood definition of the term. rather, it's a matter of too accurately feeling the burden of your surroundings and position. a normal, super high-level athlete may be aware of these crunch time expectations, but only of his responsibility for them, not necessarily their full weight and import and the true consequences thereof.

simian mobile disco Radio 1 big weekend mix

2007-10-23T18:05:00.001-04:00

i played this for my sister and she loved it and wanted a copy. after not being able to find it again online, i uploaded it. figured i'd share. it's from sometime this summer.

back to...1980s nostalgia blogging

2007-09-26T16:10:00.001-04:00

i was just talking about 3-2-1 contact and mathnet the other day. and i totally remember that fat boys one billion song, especially the chorus. i was jumping around the house singin' that all day. i think i drove my mom nuts.

getting a little ridiculous at this point

2007-09-13T17:27:00.001-04:00

i just don't really get how this thing happens. this administration has the reverse midas touch...everything turns to shit. i think the general conclusion i've come to is that even if the administration has a good idea (take more accountability in schools, for example), their record has proven that they are completely incapable of competently implementing such ideas. basically, you have to tune out their discussions of substantive policy, because they're just going to screw it up.

the link in question refers to a bizarre intersection of bush's oil company cronyism and efforts at iraqi political reconciliation. but then again i guess it's not so bizarre, unfortunately.

Feeling Good, Lewis!

2007-08-17T18:40:00.000-04:00

i told you. here's the recent summer mix, reminding us that while it's ebbing slowly, there's so much good stuff still left.

cosmo baker, still good. via 5151.

cracked crab and lobster for everyone.

Looking Good, Billy Ray!

2007-08-17T17:29:00.001-04:00

this dropped a while ago (the beginning of summer, to be precise). i've been derelict, but it's a companion piece, so stay tuned for more.

cosmo baker dropped this amazing summer mix, feeling good, as a way to start off the summer in the appropriate mood. still o' so fresh today. enjoy it, with more soon.

bonesaw q. doorjamb

2007-07-05T11:37:00.000-04:00

Simpsons avatar's can be created here, in advance of the movie that opens July 27th. Fidelity to my actual appearance is of course limited, for various reasons, ranging from aesthetics to design engines to vanity/ego.

It remains to be seen if it'll be old-school or new-school Simpsons. The more important question I guess is whether or not it will suck. Fingers crossed on my end.

jheri curl alert

2007-06-26T21:01:00.000-04:00

the rub djs are always rockin' it out in brooklyn and around the globe. unfortunately, i've never made it out to a rub party or been able to check any of them live. although i like to get down, my nyc friends aren't really down like that, and i've never been able to motivate much. not that i pushed too hard i guess.

but whenever they have a mixtape drop, i'm up on it. given that we've just hit the first day of summer (and it almost hit 100 in DC today), wanna pop out and throw back to a classic summer mix that dropped this past. from their own dj eleven comes summer madness, a collection of funky, laid back cuts that perfectly fit that summer aesthetic. this was the precursor to his winter sadness mix that i sent off to my boy after we hit that bad winter stretch in january. although similarly amazing, thankfully we've turned the corner and summer is back. now get out there! tracklist

the unbanal drollery of spectrum auctions

2007-06-14T17:50:00.001-04:00

I don't think I could agree more with this sentiment by Kevin Drum about the upcoming 700 Mhz spectrum allocation auction. Political issues can be boring enough as it is for the average person, but I think telecommunications policy faces some additional hurdles to being relevant to the public. I hope above all that some politician, preferably a presidential candidate, can turn this into a viable issue. The ramifications for the public sphere, for innovation, and for consumer choice and service improvement, could not be more clear. via MY

latin heaters, comin with cumbia et. al.

2007-05-31T17:26:00.000-04:00

while the whole blogariddims series has been killing it completely (check them out), the newest mix is complete fire. them dudes out of London, the Heatwave Collective, send in a latin diasporic blend of all things funky, "sung, rapped and MC'd almost entirely in Spanish, from reggae to soca, dancehall to cumbia and reggaeton to hip hop."

these guys have been killing it for a while in London (check out Blogariddims 10 for more, plus their remixes), now if they only could make to the States! or better yet, if I could make it to London

movie of the week: the vice guide to travel

2007-05-19T23:16:00.000-04:00

i can't say that i've always been an unquivocal fan of vice. previously i've been accused, in this regard and others, of "hating." this term specifically i find bothersome, in it's connotation as downgrading things or people that may be successful. not to get all serious here, but my dad always told me as a kid not to hate, because that was the reason that so many people in our family died during the Holocaust, and i've tried to live by that maxim.

my friends and i have a misanthropic attitude in general, especially when together. so one might fit my attitude within that paradigm, but i feel that there are legitimate complaints with vice. specifically, mine stem from a number of aspects of the magazine. first, although vice might be considered an originator in this regard, i find the postmodern 21st century ironic, biting, contrarian-style of writing extremely tiresome. not only that, but it seems that this type of sarcastic prose is easy to do in many respects. vice however, probably does it pretty well. but as my friend mike has pointed out, their content is often inconsistent. there are often a few issues that backslide into this lazy, sardonic writing, but then they produce an excellent issue, such as the applachian issue, that avoids this tired formula.

my other complaint is that the magazine projects a totally anti-establishment ethos, but is completely supported by advertising, often from major multinationals at that. they even decry the corporate drive behind subscriptions, but at least subscription-based magazines have some amount of money coming in besides ad revenues, while vice is completely ad supported.

the vice guide to travel:

all that being said, i thought the vice guide to travel was an excellent piece of work, especially for a documentary-style piece. there is some crazy shit that happens, and while not all of the short pieces are equally enthralling, overall it was quite fascinating.

a lot of the stuff in the movie is stuff that really needs to be reported (the pieces in palestine, pakistan, and bulgaria particularly). my question during these parts was "how is vice doing this and not other media outlets?" it seems like we should be getting an inside look at the transmission of jihad ideology to youths in palestine, the culture of guns in pakistan, and the ease in which one can aquire a nuclear weapon, from mainstream media outlets. at the least what vice found should be more widely reported.

the pieces i mention (palestine, pakistan, and bulgaria) i liked the best. the report from the favelas is brazil was also great...jesus, the correspondent outfit that the guy was wearing was ridiculous. i though he was going to get shot at any moment when he was inside the party.

the extras were very cool, but they definitely needed more. the only major letdown was the piece from the congo, which wasn't that interesting and was sort of anticlimactic. it felt like the author went to the jungle and just got too fucked up to do anything meaningful while there.

one question was: where do they get all money for this stuff? all the offices (they have like 20 or something)? is this all from products and advertising? i'm sure these perks and the cachet of working at vice allows them to pay people very little, a la the music industry. but i digress.

overall though, great stuff. now if i can just make time to watch more of Vice TV.

other movies:

empire of the sun
interesting, but unfocused and melodramatic. christian bale is quite intriguing in his first role.

a bronx tale
for a movie billed as a conflict between two powerful men over the control and future of a young boy, there really isn't much from those male roles, specifically de niro, who practically disappears from the second half of the film. and the young male lead was just so stiff. there was an interesting overall plot, but it wasn't sufficiently novel or compelling. de niro directed, which may be why his role is diminished in the latter stages, as he might have reacted too strongly against the perceived tendency of actor/directors to insert themselves into their work. chazz palminteri, who plays the counterpoint to deniro's character, wrote the screenplay. maybe that's part of the reason he plays such a larger role. overall, i wasn't really impressed and expected a bit more. the moral parables felt forced as well.

unbreakable
an okay flick, but very uneven. m. night always crafts a great movie visually, but otherwise, his work is inconsistent. this movie felt overwrought, and always weighed down by it's own sense of self-importance. you certainly can say that about most of his movies. the comic aspect is initially intriguing, but gets tiresome, although the final aspect of the device is quite interesting.

stripes
hilarious, but completely ludicrous. bill murray always seems to play a variation on the same character. in this case, it's an early iteration, and it's pretty funny.

say anything
apparently according to an article i read, all women really want is lloyd dobler. i can see that. from a guys perspective, diane court wouldn't be so bad. this is also part of the reason why john cusack has had such a good career, because of this enduring legacy (i'm sure it's also related to the fact that many of his characters are dobler-esque).

other flicks:
casino royale, beerfest, millions, million dollar baby, wall street, the princess bride, brokeback mountain, true romance
st. elmo's fire - i don't see what all the fuss was about.
talladega nights - ditto
ray - jaime foxx was fantastic, but i had the same complaints about this one as i did about walk the line. plus the historical liberties were a little annoying.

oh look, a pony

2007-05-12T13:29:00.000-04:00

although i don't have a horse in this race (and in all actuality, as a wizards fan should be rooting against the cavs), i'm throwing this out in the midst of cleveland pushing for the EC finals. take any inspiration as needed.

artist: Randy Newman

still flying

2007-05-08T17:28:00.000-04:00

i was jamming to the lyssnar! mix by Caps and Jones, particularly the last song, and was thinking "where have i heard this before?" hopped to google and typed in some of the lyrics (a completely unheralded google usage, btw), and realized it was the song from the silence of the lambs. q-lazzarus never meant anything to me prior to that.

four boys and a guitar

2007-05-05T17:04:00.000-04:00

one late evening a few years ago, back in vt, my friend charlie and i were at this girl sophie's house. she threw on some old pre-doo wop vocal music, the authors of which i had no clue. charlie then asked "is this the mills brothers?" indeed it was, and it was quite good. i had been meaning to download some of their stuff, and finally got around to it. i'm still sifting through their prodigious discography, but i grabbed this track for a couple of reasons. enjoy. title: across the alley from the alamo.

this song is also apropos to some recent travel i did for work. i visited the alamo bend navajo reservation in new mexico this week. it was definitely interesting, but i'm going to resist the temptation to use this as an excuse to pen a long missive about the state of native americans. suffice it to say that the mescalero apache a few hours to the south seem to be doing much better economically than the alamo navajo.

rolling rocks

2007-04-10T10:58:00.000-04:00

this song does really make you want to go to the roller rink. that's something i need to do more of i feel. although it wouldn't be the same place as compared to what it was in the 70s and 80s. the glory days, it would seem, in this context. artist: vaughn mason & crew

robble robble

2007-03-30T11:59:00.000-04:00

from awesome african music-oriented blog Benn Loxo Du Taccu, we find this song, Tchop Tchop, by artist Humbertona. i'm totally obsessed with it right now.

it's traditional-based cabo verdian folk from the 1970s (for lack of a better description). apparently the album was banned by the portugese, as it was released prior to independence, and the colonial overseers were trying to suppress expressions of indigeneous culture. rereleased now by Morabeza Records. original post from Benn Loxo is here. enjoy!

why we love the internet

2007-03-23T17:52:00.000-04:00

ah, technology...via el stence, the top 15 unintentionally funny comic book pages. hilarity. although jughead should have made an appearance somewhere it seems. iirc there was a lot of bizarre innuendo around his eating habits that made it into those archie comics.

stepping it up

2007-03-21T12:02:00.001-04:00

to reflect all that it is that i am, gonna start doing some mp3 bloggery up in here.

first, today, a track that i listen to almost every day when i get to work. i've gained such an appreciation for anthony hamilton, and desperately need to get his other albums besides 'Ain't Nobody Worrin.'' he's at the top of my music listening for last week, as you can see on the right (at least this week anyway).

courtesy of next-level web file sharing from divshare, you can listen to this inline on the blog, and download it straight from here. track is 'Can't Let Go,' sorry title is obscured. will adjust file renaming accordingly. hotness! enjoy.

inconceivable!

2007-02-25T00:41:00.000-05:00

despite a thorough addiction to television as a child, i have only just watched the princess bride today. maybe it was that i didn't have cable until i was almost in college. apparently the movie was played on tv nonstop during the early 1990s. despite this deprivation, i still managed to somehow know and use the inigo montoya revenge line though.

populism, venezuelan/dc style

2007-02-20T22:16:00.000-05:00

so apparently dc law has it that you have to clear the sidewalk in front of your property. of course, the dc government hasn't managed to do that quite yet for a lot of city properties or areas with ill-defined property rights, a week after our "big" snowstorm. but that's not what we're talking about here.

occasioned by my running loop, i head down massachusetts avenue down embassy row. the only delegation on my route that has yet to clear the snow from the sidewalk in front of it's embassy is venezuela. you'd think a country that gives out free/discounted heating oil as a sign of it's goodwill towards the poor could manage to shovel off the sidewalk. after all, the people walking skew poor. power to the people indeed.

classic bball - swagger jacking

2007-02-14T23:48:00.000-05:00

browsing around free darko the other day and came across their euro guide. awesome stuff as always, especially the illustrations.

this one especially. he only needs a cig.

democracy and a dash of common sense

2007-02-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

so, i was reading about the power sharing government that's been formed between Hamas and Fatah. given the terms, and the lack of concessions that Hamas has made towards Israel (namely, recognizing it), denouncing violence, etc., i'm not so sure how effective it will be at quelling violence in and around Palestine. looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for some meaningful developments in the middle east.

one thing stuck out in the article:

The agreement calls for Hamas to control nine government ministries, the most of any party, followed by Fatah with six.

this got me to thinking. wouldn't it seem that some of the failures of democracy in other countries is that they still operate in ways akin to some sort of spoils system? the spoils system was how the American system operated in the 1800s, where whichever party was in power distributed civil service jobs to friends, contributors, etc. now of course we have a non-partisan civil service, except for the higher level positions which are political appointees in executive branch agencies.

the situation where certain factions, either de jure or de facto, control certain ministries/agenices, certainly seems to contribute to die hard political activism, violence, etc., because people really do stand to lose access in some cases if their party loses. and while with non-partisan ministries/agencies means that it's very difficult to get around bureaucratic obstructions, treatment by these agencies is egalitarian and we have limited corruption. having partisan ministries leads to all sorts of trouble: bribery, graft, selective policy application, use of power against political rivals, etc., with all the concomitant problems. iraq, for example, has situations where certain parties (i'm unclear whether this is de jure or de facto) control certain ministries, where these problems have become endemic.

the point can be made, and it has been made in similar situations, about how the current administrations fixation on "democracy" as a fixative for the problems in other countries is completely misguided. this issue of partisan government agencies only serves to highlight the inadequacies of this perspective.

CW watch - dc real estate edition

2007-02-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

since i've moved to dc, i've been talking about changing the height restriction. now it looks like some scholars from the brookings institution are saying the same thing.

for those who don't know, buildings in dc can't be higher than 130 feet (which i believe is the height of the capitol building). now, some people have told me that this makes dc more aesthetically pleasing. while i do like the row houses, i'm not sure if i totally agree with that sentiment. i certainly don't agree with that sentiment in the face of skyrocketing rents and home prices.

i usually think of this issue in terms of the effect of the policy on home prices and apartment rental rates, but the brookings scholar Christopher B. Leinberger was talking also in regards to the price and supply of office space, which seems also to be an issue. all the more reason.

dc is such a low density city, and the height restriction is one of the problems. if you've ever travelled out to NOVA or seen the MD suburbs, you've seen some of the consequences. concentrating the region's growth within the district has any number of advantages, including reducing driving (with the reduction in road construction outlays, pollution, gas consumption), reducing sprawl, and making the city more affordable, among other things.

unfortunately, for the expansion in housing supply to have the full impact and to attract families with kids, the dc public schools need to improve considerably. the leadership of the city, however, is well aware of this and how it factors in to the city's ability to retain the high tax base young couples (read: yuppies) who have moved to the city in recent years. whether or not they can actually achieve anything in the schools remains to be seen.

some sort of sensible policy that keeps the restriction in place for the areas around the mall and the capitol seems like an appropriate solution. this would allow the historic areas to retain the gravity they have now, while allowing larger development in other areas of the city. with so much of the city's row houses designated as historic, you'd save large portions of these homes while still allowing for larger development on fallow or underutilized land. the key here is sensible, which sometimes is a foreign term for the dc bureaucracy. and some upgrade in the architectural designs of the new developments (compared to what we're getting now...yeesh) would be nice, and might help dispel dc's image as an unimaginative cultural wasteland (which isn't entirely untrue).

i couldn't finish this without commenting on the quote at the end of the wapo piece.

"Rosslyn has tall buildings and views of the city, but if you change the height limit and someone builds in the air rights above the Watergate then you've blocked that view," said Don Kreuzer, a dentist who has lived in Foggy Bottom for 35 years. "D.C. is beautiful because of the height limits. If you change that you're going to ruin the view."

who cares what the view from rosslyn (i.e. virginia) looks like? i'll agree that the height limit does make dc somewhat more pleasing and manageable, but a maximum 12 stories for buildings is just ridiculous (in our nations capital no less!). for the most part, people who live in dc don't have a view of dc, it's only there for the people in the suburbs. i suspect that this guy lives in one of the few high rises in foggy bottom that actually have a view of the lincoln memorial, and he's just phrasing it in a manner that seems less self-interested. furthermore, if you keep the restrictions in place around the mall, the capitol, and the monuments, then this wouldn't even apply.

hopefully this idea reaches the point where it becomes more than just something academics mention occasionally at panel discussions and gets some serious debate.

Update: DCist harks on this as well, and raises a lot of good additional points. they come out on the same side of this as i do. they also pointed out the faulty assertion about the relationship between the capitol building and the height restriction. mythbusters!

whither iran...and iraq

2007-02-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

so, despite the fact that we haven't even come close to figuring out the first mess that we started, as josh marshall points out, the true question right now in american foreign policy is unfortunately whether or not we will attack iran. the administration can't even be bothered to stay focused on staying the course. hawks are out insinuating that iran was behind the recent attack on US forces in Karbala (although they are now apparently saying that it was actually a bunch of iraqi generals).

meanwhile, i'd say things were going from bad to worse in iraq, but i think we've past the point where such a statement is actually meaningful. it turns out that we're fighting an ever fractious group of enemies, and that, sadly unsurprisingly, the mahdi army has been using the iraqi defense forces as a way to equip and train their members. i think most people thought this was a problem, but not on this scale.

with the new national intelligence estimate on iraq released today, we find the intelligence community extremely pessimistic about the possibility of success for the president's surge plan, and for the future of iraq generally. basically, it finds that even if the surge plan could pacify baghdad to a significant degree, such that political dialogue could even be possible, it wouldn't make a difference. the political and sectarian gridlock is just too insurmountable. the sunnis can't adjust to their new role, the shiites can't make any concessions or accept any affronts to their majority status, and the kurds and their play for kirkuk could have drastic consequences (and lets not even mention the situation with turkey).

not only that, but the NIE explicitly rejects the possibility that iran can have any significant influence, given that iraq is already rending at the seams. i guess that might be the only positive thing about it. but then again, that probably won't even matter to the contingent pushing for confrontation.

Update: James Fallows has a gret piece about how while the choices in iraq are hard and necessitate losses and sacrifices, the choice concerning iran is straightforward and unambiguous: No war with Iran.

shotgun willie

2007-01-30T14:32:00.000-05:00

lately, i've been listening to a lot of willie nelson, and although i'd listened before, it all really came about over christmas when i borrowed my mom's car. yes, normally i would never be taking musical cues from my parents (especially not my mother, who usually has the same 6 cds in her car for months), but that's how it happened.

now at certian moments of extreme pain or embarassment, you'd be willing to trade lives with anyone. as a rule though, the list shortens when you aren't under duress. i try to shy away from this kind of thinking, but if i could trade lives with anyone, i think willie nelson's life would probably be the most interesting, if not necessarily the most enjoyable. make great music, meet interesting people, travel all over the country and the world, consume large quantities of drugs and alcohol, and still be kicking around and respected, with enough movie cameos to allow me to never play another concert should i so desire. i would take all that, even with the bankruptcy/tax evasion problems.

then again, i think it's somewhat of a sign of a weak human being if you'd be willing to throw away all your experiences to have someone else's life. i guess it becomes palatable if you've had a somewhat boring existence, but i'm not sure i qualify. so maybe this particular instance points to my inherent weakness, although as i added i try to avoid this kind of thinking. you be the judge.

movie of the week: stalag 17

2007-01-22T12:56:00.000-05:00

seeing as how i have become quite fascinated with films and see quite a lot of movies (part of the manifestation of this movie fascination i will explain shortly), a good running feature that i've decided to implement is the movie of the week. on occasions where i see more than one that week (or in this case since it's the first feature and i've got a backlog), i might give a short synopsis of multiple pictures in one post, as you'll see below.

ah yes, a manifestation of this movie fascination. so, i've got quite a burned dvd collection that i am building, and i've got a serious Netflix queue and monthly bill; i just had to downgrade to five at a time, as needless to say, they're coming in faster than i can watch them. an rss feed to the top five in my queue is off to the right. anyway, on to the movie(s).

stalag 17
classic flick from the 1950s. Robert Strauss and William Holden star, the latter winning an Oscar for his role as the hard nosed Sgt. Sefton. Set in a Nazi POW camp for Americans in WWII, it's a fantastic mix of comedy and drama, with the ensemble cast of POW characters spanning the broad cross section of the American diaspora.

Billy Wilder, who I'm not extremely familiar with, directed. Some have complained that this didn't gel with Wilder's other work (Sunset Boulevard for example) as far as being too dark, but I don't think that's a legitimate criticism. The film did minimize the atrocities of the Germans a bit, especially considering how recently the war had ended, but American POW camps were, from what I understand, bastions of calm among the chaos and genocide of the other German prisoner operations.

Holden's character is fantastic...never yielding to anyone, and never letting you be sure if he's doing the right thing because of moral or fiduciary considerations. He's a classic anti-hero who provides no moral redemption to his fellow POWs and no easy answers for the audience. The cinematography is pretty decent considering the period, and the traditional overacting of early American movies is considerably muted.

The blend between comedy and drama/tragedy can be uneven at times, with the movie decidedly front weighted with comedy, but during most of the film, as the suspense builds, it strikes a great balance and provides an amazing range of emotions rarely found in concert.

overall, an excellent movie. highly recommended.

I've seen some other movies recently in the theatres, so I'll put a little bit about those as well.

The Painted Veil - Ed Norton is one of my favorite actors, so I was excited for this. I'm not familiar with the book (by W. Somerset Maugham), but from what I understand this version, that Norton has been trying to make since the late 1990s, looks more at the politics of the times and further develops some of the romantic elements. Despite occasional forays into areas of overwrought drama, it was quite a good picture. Some interesting concepts, aside from the obvious story about how people truly come to love one and other, are the idea of games that people play, as well as the readily apparent contradictory sociopolitical conceptions put forth by Norton's character. The few complaints I had revolved around: a) the passage of time, as portrayed, often felt disjointed, and b) the movie was shot on location in China, but the cinematographer chose to shoot mostly very tight shots, not giving a sense of proportion or really allowing the beautiful countryside to affect the movie in any significant way. This overly tight framing also found it's way into much of the rest of the movie, but my aversion in this respect may be more personal preference as far as filmmaking goes. Overall, a very good flick.

Volver - putting aside an pejorative connotations, if any movie deserved the label "chick flick," Volver certainly is it. There are only a handful of male characters, and the only one of any consequence (it spoils nothing to reveal this) makes an early exit. I had my issues with this movie, but it was quite funny and engaging nonetheless. Penelope Cruz is excellent in her role. A primary complaint was the final plot twist, which I just found far too outlandish. But still worth seeing, particularly for Cruz' performance.

Children of Men - despite the fact that it usually seems that Clive Owen is always playing the same character (maybe it's the accent), i always enjoy his performances (see Closer: "why? because i'm a fucking caveman, that's why!"). This was a really interesting movie, and the second half is really thrilling and pulse pounding. Sci-fi always requires a bit of suspension of disbelief surrounding the original premise or situation that led to the particular future condition experienced by the characters, but i still felt that the writers could have provided a bit more information on the background of the time period, rather than asking the viewer to accept it on faith. they dole out information in small doses, but ultimately it's not enough. i also found the documentary style camera work to be annoying in the early stages of the movie, but as the action develops it ceases to become a concern, as there is enough going on on-screen to distract from it. the ending i felt was great, with the sharp cut to the credits and the end score setting a great final tone for the whole feature. good, and worth seeing as well, despite my complaints.

so that's that. happy movie watching. more next week.

thanks again riaa

2007-01-22T11:22:00.000-05:00

dj drama and don cannon busted for making mixtapes. i think the riaa is finally really off their rockers, as most of the "bootleg" music used in mixtapes comes direct from the major labels, who use these things to promote artists (see jeezy, t.i., etc.). read about it here, here, and see it on youtube here. Note the copious amounts of ridiculous innuendo in the fox tv report, and the deep, soulless glaze to the riaa guy's eyes. i don't think they could be more clueless if they tried. guaranteed that drama had tons of contracts with labels to help promote their artists.

a little on the motivations

2007-01-20T11:33:00.000-05:00

so i started this more just as an outlet, so if it ends up being a tree in the woods kind of thing, then so be it. but i'd been meaning to start a blog as a place to collect my thoughts, and this is the result. the other day at work i got a snappy idea for a title, and for the URL, like i mentioned, and i then spent 5 minutes on blogger and got it running.

of course, part of it is that humans like to hear ourselves talk (or think), and i guess this is the 21st century equivalent. and obviously we perceive our insights as important. and partly because i've got a lot of random crap on my mind.

so we'll see what comes out of that combustible mix.

a little bit (on the) country

2007-01-19T09:16:00.000-05:00

smart people of course can deduce quite a bit from the title and URL of this blog (assuming you know a bit about washington, dc) , and may in fact come to some additional conclusions that may in fact not be unwarranted.

the title and URL came about as my lamentations about my neighborhood have grown greater. just something that had been on my mind, and served as a snappy title and whatnot. needless to say though, this will not be some lame neighborhood blog about all the random crap that annoys me, or something that will be full of NIMBY-esque proclamations about what should and shouldn't be going on in columbia heights.

rather, this will just be a lame blog generally (aren't they all these days. especially those that are started in 2007!); general interest i guess would be a category, and by general interest, i mean my interests.

that being said, i do have some forthcoming posts about columbia heights related stuff. so stay tuned.

episode iv: a new hope

2007-01-18T11:50:00.000-05:00

well well, look what a random thought at work will get you. i feel like i'm looking over at the edge of the grand canyon, waiting expectantly for the echo of my voice to return. we shall see what this all gets us (me, and god forbid anyone who actually reads any of it).

tim