Lookin’ around the ‘sphere

I don’t think about George Clooney unless his puss in put before me – I thought his best performance was years ago, Out of Sight. But the Reliable Pundit has been thinking about him, and has a few points to make. Like me Alexandra wonders why we’re supposed to care about him.

As long as we’re talkin’ Hollywood, you must, must, must go read Charlotte Allen’s brilliant and witty takedown of Annie Proulx’s “post-Oscar Brokeback” breakdown

AJ Says the DPW deal may still be alive.

Niall Ferguson suggests, persuasively, that the Lame Duck Bush still has some bite in him.

Betsy looks at Muslim contributions from the last 1000 years. Hmpgh.

Chris Lynch has happened upon a UK list of Books you should read before you die. I take exception to the His Dark Materials Trilogy being included in the list. And I’m surprised to see To Kill A Mockingbird above the Bible, but it’s England, after all.

A Blog for All gives the heads up that – finally…finally – believe it or not, something is happening at Ground Zero: Construction on the WTC memorial is scheduled to begin this morning with the forming up of molds for the concrete foundations. However, there is still the possibility of lawsuits bringing the whole matter to a screeching halt.

Read it all.

Then read this column by Mark Steyn. It apparently has gotten him tossed out of the Brit papers.

If you know me, you know this story wouldn’t interest me no matter which president the guy served under. I think when stories like this are overblown, when the attempt is made to somehow smear someone else because of this person’s misdeed, it just weighs everyone down. And we don’t need that, these days.

Saddam and WMD not reported in MSM of course. OF COURSE.

Baldilocks has a refreshing post on music, that I enjoyed a lot. She starts off addressing the “who was better, Vaughn, Holliday or Fitzgerald” question (love them all but for me it’s Ella – it’s always Ella! And not just for the crisp enuciation, but for that marvelously lithe and springy instrument of hers), but then looks at modern music and what draws us toward a particular sound. Buster is a Sly and the Family Stone fan, and he’d appreciate it. Great post.

Uncle Junior shot Tony? I’m not really surprised. Go check out Amy’s William Burrough’s link, though. Chilling.

What is it with newspaper articles that don’t show you what they’re talking about? A few weeks ago, the NY Times illustrated the “Cartoon Wars” by showing us a picture of the Virgin Mary in Elephant Dung” and now we read about a Lutheran Pastor who is writing icons of JPII, but that’s not the icon they show. The pastor seems like a wonderful guy, though, and “The fact that a Lutheran pastor in the heart of the Bible Belt South is writing an icon for Pope Benedict XVI is a sign that the Holy Spirit is doing fascinating things in the church,” said David Tiede Hottinger, director of the Center for Evangelical Catholicism at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville. “It is also evidence that God does, indeed, have a delightful sense of humor.” Also, dig the “angelic” connection.

I do love this RECYCLED church. They’ve done a gorgeous job of combining old and new…I wish more churches would try.