They belly up. The pessimist says to the fatalist, “I’ll buy this round. What’re you having?” The fatalist points to one of the regulars to his right, says, “Give me what Bob’s having. It’ll probably kill me.” The pessimist nods, says, “Well, eventually. Make that two.” Read more
I’m seriously contemplating making a regular thing out of the New Republic‘s suspicious silence on Paul Fussell. Granted, events can and do catch editors flatfooted and unprepared. But at this point I fear something worse must be at work. Fussell died Wednesday. Slate took its time and published a decent essay of Fussell’s literary impact on Friday. There, Fussell admirer Stephen Metcalf wrote that Fussell “was at his best, was most himself, when writing about organized killing,” but judged his... Read more
“Dear God, help my sons not to do anything stupid today.” Read more
Avengers is going to beat Dark Knight, making it the third highest grossing movie, for domestic box office, of all time. That isn’t even much of a question at this point — unless aliens invade or something. (Even then, I’m not sure I’d bet against it.) It beat the number four film, Phantom Menace, Thursday and was up to an estimated $500 million plus in domestic box office yesterday. Box Office Mojo projects it will be over $513 million by... Read more
One of the things I did not expect when we set up this blog was, I have to approve all comments. This presents a dilemma because it means a) reading said comments and b) approving them. This is normally the point at which a blogger encourages civility; reminds you that it is his, her or its own blog, after all; and expresses hope that a meaningful dialogue can occur. But here’s the thing: I am not overly fond of Internet... Read more
Let me preface this story by saying it has a happy but puzzling ending. I got bookjacked last night. It was about 9 o’clock in the parking lot of Bellis Fair Mall. The book was Paul Fussell’s The Great War and Modern Memory. I had just bought it at the local Barnes & Noble along with another Fussell book, then stopped into the mall to get the food court Indian restaurant’s spinach dish. The book was with me because I... Read more
A bunch of people who don’t like the Catholic Church have been smugging themselves silly over one of those images modeled on demotivational posters. You’re probably familiar with the genre if you’re on Facebook. People like to use these things to score political points while keeping the “What, it was only a joke” card up their sleeves if they get in real trouble. This demotivational message is more heavy-handed than most, as the Facebook page from which it originates makes... Read more
The great critic and historian Paul Fussell died yesterday. Real Clear Books linked to three Fussell-related items today and our competition, Arts & Letters Daily, linked to an obituary. What has the New Republic done? Certainly nothing that I can find. Nothing so far on the front page. TNR‘s books page, which often republishes old essays, is silent. How about its new literary aggregation page? Crickets. This is extra odd because TNR published what is probably Fussell’s most famous essay,... Read more
A lot of folks are buzzing about next year’s Anchorman 2, in which Will Farrell will reprise the role of Ron Burgundy almost a decade after he first had conversations with dogs, displayed his mad skillz as a jazz flautist, and gave us that unique translation of “San Diego.” Me? I’m not so sure he’ll be up to it. No, this prediction has nothing to do with the fact that he single-handedly managed to make my previous ride uncool. (“You... Read more
Q: Why Jeremy Lott’s Diary? A: So my readers will have something interesting to read on the train. Q: People still take the train? A: I did recently, all the way from Bellingham to DC. Q: What were you doing in DC? A: I went to cover the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and I went there to help launch the latest website for my company, Real Clear Policy. Q: How many Real Clear websites do you edit? A:... Read more
Jeremy Lott's Diary
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