by way of stereo making minimal contact … “Here Comes the Rain Again,” Eurythmics “Here Comes the Sun,” The Beatles “Here Comes Your Man,” The Pixies “Here I Am,” Daniel Amos “Here I Am,” Lyle Lovett “Here’s Where the Story Ends,” The Sundays “Heretics,” Andrew Bird “Hero,” Steve Taylor “Hero in Me,” Jeffrey Gaines “Heroes,” David Bowie That Steve Taylor tune is his version of Surprised by Joy, his testimony of what C.S. Lewis called sehnsucht — “an unsatisfied desire... Read more
National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” yesterday discussed the image problem facing American automakers: According to global marketing information firm J.D. Power and Associates, 42 percent of all car buyers … won’t even look at a vehicle built by a U.S. company. Dave Sargent, J.D. Power’s vice president of auto research, said [that is] a mistake. “Many consumers still have a view of the Detroit automakers that the products are not as reliable as the imports, but what our studies show... Read more
The whole DUI thread that evolved in comments to the previous post reminds me of a conversation I once had with Dick Cheney in an undisclosed location. He wasn’t too impressed with the new, lower blood-alcohol standards either. “You call that ‘impaired’?” he said. “In my day a DUI used to mean something. I wasn’t just blowing some wussy 0.9 — my blood type was single malt. Kids these days …” * * * * * * * * *... Read more
Cathy McKitrick of The Salt Lake Tribune reports on a legislative battle in Utah that sounds a lot like the one in Delaware: “More mobile-home owners agree: Displaced need time“: Many mobile-home residents are elderly, disabled and live on shoestring budgets. Under those conditions, any kind of move is difficult. As land grows more scarce and more valuable, park owners find it in their best self-interest to sell to developers who want to build high-end homes. State law requires only... Read more
“Scandal brewing at Oral Roberts U.” is the AP headline, but that seems like an understatement. “Scandals” — plural — is more like it. You’ve got your basic nonprofit-violating-its-tax-free-status scandal: Three former professors … sued ORU and [its president, Richard] Roberts, alleging they were wrongfully dismissed after reporting the school’s involvement in a local political race. Richard Roberts, according to the suit, asked a professor in 2005 to use his students and university resources to aid a county commissioner’s bid... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 343-344 We’re back at the Pan-Con Club at JFK. If this were a TV show, movie or play I’d admire the economy and resourcefulness the authors demonstrate here in reusing this set so many times. In a supposedly globe-trotting novel, though, this repetition seems less like efficient set design and more like a failure of imagination. Thrillers like this are supposed to take the reader to exotic locations around the world, to present travel as adventure. Left... Read more
The following was originally posted on May 20, 2003 on my old Blogspot site. The permanent links to those archives have gotten bloggered, and since I’d like to be able to link to this post in the future, I’m reposting it here. – – – – – – – – – – – – “The most critical time in the history of the world” What happens to a man to whom all things seem possible and every course of action... Read more
“The Gift,” Lone Justice “Gimme Shelter,” The Rolling Stones “Girl,” Texas “The Girl from Ipanema,” Astrud Gilberto “Girlfriend,” Matthew Sweet “Girlfriend in a Coma,” The Smiths “Girls Talk,” Dave Edmunds “Girls Talk,” Elvis Costello & the Attractions “Girls …,” Marshall Crenshaw “Give All to Love,” Niobe “Give My Love to Rose,” Johnny Cash Read more
The word “landlord” is pretty brazen, if you think about it. Look at each of those syllables and consider their combined meaning. As an apartment dweller, I have a landlord, but our relationship is more politely contractual than that feudal-seeming word makes it sound. For people who live in manufactured housing, however, those connotations of serfdom can be devastatingly real. They own their homes, but not the land their homes sit on, which means those who own that land can... Read more
I haven’t written much about the demonstrations in Myanmar because there didn’t seem like much I could add. Or much we could do. But maybe there is. Foreign Minister Nyan Win Ministry of Foreign Affairs Naypyitaw Union of Myanmar Dear Minister I am deeply concerned by the reports that hundreds of monks and other peaceful protesters, including well-known comedian Zargana and member of parliament Paik Ko have been detained. I strongly urge the Myanmar authorities to release them immediately and... Read more
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