“You’re gonna have a hard time holding me.” “Be fun trying.” –Myrna Dell and Walter Sande, “Nocturne” Read more

MOREWELL!!!: (sorry) From “The Art of Donald McGill”: “When one examines McGill’s [comic postcards] more closely, one notices that his brand of humour only has meaning in relation to a fairly strict moral code. Whereas in papers like Esquire, for instance, or La Vie Parisienne, the imaginary background of the jokes is always promiscuity, or the utter breakdown of all standards, the background of the McGill postcard is marriage. The four leading jokes are nakedness, illegitimate babies, old maids and... Read more

HORROR CHILDREN UPDATE: A friend reminded me of this quotation from Hannah Arendt (from memory and possibly misquoted): “Every generation, Western civilization is invaded by barbarians; we call them ‘children.'” Read more

Blogwatcher, blogwatcher, he rides a pitch-black steed, Blogwatcher, blogwatcher, he’s very bad indeed… Sursum Corda: Good posts on sin and the Visitation. Unqualified Offerings: Wolfowitz vs. Taiwan (ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!); random mutterings about the NBA, salaries, whatnot that sports-y people might enjoy/understand; and a Netscape-hate-fest contest. Amy Welborn: Ex-Archbishop Weakland’s apology; a priest, a volcano, and much much more; why contemporary art sucks; pro-life investigations slammed by Associated Press (my take on this is in the comments). Plus lots of other good... Read more

“I treated her like a pair of gloves. When I was cold, I called her up.” –Cornel Wilde, “The Big Combo” Read more

THIS IS A GOOD IDEA. Read more

CREEPY HORROR CHILDREN OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT: Last week, the City Paper ran a little blurb on an art show that involved creepy dolls. I forget what the deal was–why dolls? why not?–but CP’s reviewer noted that dolls are inherently eerie. The reviewer added that horror movies often include a clip of children’s voices singing or chanting in haunting unison. Why? There are a lot of different elements mixing together here, a lot of different sources of creepiness. First, dolls and... Read more

THERE IS NO FUTURE IN EINSTEIN’S DREAMING: Sorry, just wanted to sneak in a Rotten reference there. Actually, Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams is a fun little book–takes about an evening to read if you curl up in a chair with some food and go all the way through–it’s got approximately the same relationship to philosophy that a bag of trail mix has to a steak dinner, but that’s kind of the point. Sometimes you want a diversion, not a brain-batterer.... Read more

Don’t turn around, oh-oh, Oh, Der Blogwatcher’s in town, oh-ho! Mickey Kaus, The Hateful One (=no permalinks): Did you know that despite recession, welfare caseloads fell slightly in the last quarter of 2001? Neither did I. Click here and scroll, scroll, scroll like the wind! until you hit the last post from Thursday. Brink Lindsey: Really good, basic post on (classical) liberalism and prudential judgment. Charles Murtaugh: A basic point about reproductive cloning. Why does this point elude some people?... Read more

“How big a chump can you get to be? I was going to find out.” –Robert Mitchum, voice-over, “Out of the Past” Read more