The United States has a massive nuclear arsenal and the best-equipped, best-trained military the world has ever seen. It is an awesome, fearsome machine that can rain down inexorable death from the heavens. But that’s not why I drive on the right side of the road. I drive on the right side of the road for a whole host of reasons — practical, prudential, even moral I suppose. (Prudential and moral often overlap where safety is concerned. Plus Not Being... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 412-414 (a few days late) Imagine trying to convince yourself that curling and cricket were more popular in the U.S. than baseball and (American) football. It wouldn’t be easy. You’d have to ignore massive evidence to the contrary while also overlooking the lack of any supporting evidence. Every time you walked down the street, you’d have to come up with some explanation or evasion for all those people you saw in baseball caps and football jerseys as... Read more
Larry Norman is no longer visiting this planet. The original Jesus rocker died Sunday of heart failure in Oregon. He was 60. By the time I saw Norman play in the late ’80s, his best work was behind him. He had become addled and erratic, prone to venting obliquely about the bridges he’d burned with so many of the people he’d worked with over the years. Yet still there were glimpses of the talent that had written so many weirdly... Read more
The holy dream becomes a holy faceAnd it leaves me reeling … “What’s Come Over Me,” Daniel Amos “What’s Going On,” Marvin Gaye “What’s Gonna Happen to Us?” Daryl Hall “What’s Happened to You,” The Call “What’s He Building in There?” Tom Waits “What’s My Name?” The Clash “What’s My Scene?” Hoodoo Gurus “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?” Elvis Costello “What’s the Matter Here?” 10,000 Maniacs “What’s Wrong With This Picture?” Bourgeois Tagg “What’s Your Name?” Adam... Read more
(Thursday flame-war open thread) The stupidest thing I’ve read/heard all week was __________________. The stupidest thing I’ve ever read/heard was ________________. Read more
One other thing I could use a bit of help with, and which therefore strikes me as good open-thread fodder in my absence, has to do with my upcoming change of address. Slacktivist World Headquarters will be relocating in April. I’m leaving this lovely one-bedroom apartment here in Everybody’s Hometown and will be moving into the third floor of my girlfriend’s father’s house (picture Rudy from Season 1 of Survivor and you’re not far off). Yes, as I’m sure you’ve... Read more
No. 37, a prayer of St. Andy. This is a brilliant song. Whatever else it may be, it is also explicitly a prayer. I was trying to imagine what an appropriate response might be to such a prayer, which led me to wonder if this isn’t also, unwittingly perhaps, a Christmas song. Read more
OK, so I’m headed to the Northeast Kingdom for the next week and will be mostly away from the Web. The last time I did this, more than a year ago, I posted a series of open threads asking for book/music/movie recommendations. I’m still working my way through those suggestions, but that’s no reason not to keep adding to the list. Somewhere to the right side of your screen is a nifty little widget displaying my Netflix list. Help me... Read more
Left Behind, pg. 411 In a rare display of economy and pacing, we skip directly from Chloe’s midflight conversion to this at the beginning of the next chapter: Buck called New Hope Village Church to set up an early evening meeting with Bruce Barnes, then spent most of the afternoon at the Chicago bureau of Global Weekly. This is a remarkably streamlined transition and a radical, but welcome, departure from the pattern of the book so far. Sure, the first... Read more
The weekend edition has this town way overrated … “Up,” Ticklepenny Corner “Up All Night,” Green “Up in This (Blood on the Banjo Remix),” Don McCloskey “Uphill Battle,” Sarah McLachlan “Upside Down,” Jack Johnson “Uptight (Everything’s Alright),” Stevie Wonder “Uptown,” Prince “Upward Over the Mountain,” Iron & Wine “Us,” Michael Been “Used to Get High,” John Butler Trio “Useless Desires,” Patty Griffin “The Usual Thing,” Marshall Crenshaw Bonus track: “Uuuu (Medium Swing),” The Seventy Sevens. Mike Roe and the boys... Read more
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