Author Hubert "Cubby" Selby, Jr. died on Monday. He was best known for his novel, "Last Exit to Brooklyn" (1964) which was an extremely dark exploration of the rougher side of life, considered by many to be a continuation of the American novel writing traditions started by Henry Miller and Burroughs. He may also be familiar to many people for his novel "Requiem for a Dream" (1978), recently made into a film version by Darren Aronofsky.
Selby began writing after many years of hospitalizations for lung disease, stemming from tuberculosis he had contracted in WWII, while serving in the merchant marine. He had lost his job, and was sent home to die by the doctors, as there was nothing more that could be done for him. He decided he wanted to do something worthwhile with his life before dying, and so set up his typewriter behind his tiny apartment in Brooklyn on a card table and taught himself how to write. 50 years later, lung disease finally caught up with him.
His work is not for the faint of heart, and depicts a world of incredibly brutality and ugliness. But as he said himself, his goal was not to glamorize these aspects, but to dignify them, to provide for dignity even to the lowest elements. His work and life are challenging, but stand out in sharp relief against our picture of the nostalgiac 50's.
There are many fascinating interviews with Selby available online, which can be found at the links below, or by typing hubert selby jr into google. He really was an interesting human being. One of the things that really got me interesting in him in the first place was an interview on the DVD for "Requiem for a Dream", which is really incredible. Of course, if you didn't see it, that would mean you'd need to rent "Requiem for a Dream" which is an incredible film, but intensely painful to watch, and one that I wouldn't watch again on purpose. But if you've never seen it, its worth doing. Of course, its not exactly a friday date movie.
Selby also wrote several other books and short works, all of which sound interesting and none of which I've read. A list of works can be found at the official site below.
Notes:
CNN death announcement
All Things Considered segment on Selby
A reading by Selby of his short work "Psalm 16" (real audio)
Another page from the official site, which deals more officially with the CD released by Selby and Nick Tosches, "Blue Eyes and Exit Wounds", featuring recordings of some of their writings. It also features this lovely passage about other possible title suggestions.
Blues Eyes and Exit Wounds was recorded, in two long sessions, on October 4, 1997. Selby suggested that the CD be titled "Suck My Dick and Go Home", illustrated with a cover reproduction of the painting commonly known as Whistler's Mother. Tosches went for the title, but preferred a portrait of Princess Di to Whistler's Mother. The CD's producer, Harold Goldberg, threatened to withdraw from the project when Mother Teresa was proposed.
Its kind of cheating as an entry, but Magnus sent me this and I thought it was great. Not only is it a flash movie that has a plot and is genuinely interesting for more than 5 seconds, it is also a comic fan-boy obsessed reworking of Clerks, with decent approximations of Kevin Smith dialogue, which I'm certain could have been done much worse.
This is probably the best Flash movie I've seen, although I should qualify that a little, since Joe Cartoon and Homestar runner, while amusing, when judged as movies indepently are pretty crappy. So really, there's a lot of room to go, but its an interesting step.
I'm not a particularly big comic fan but the material here isn't too advanced, so most general readers should get the idea of it (although the comicnerds will laugh more often).
This year's Twin Cities Marathon (October 3, 2004) will limit its prize money to only American runners. Marathon officials say that it is hard for American runners to compete with the dominance of Kenyan and Ethiopian atheletes, and this gives Americans a major event to compete in.
On the one hand, it is essentially a prize for achievement, and there are numerous prizes that are given only to Americans (or only to Germans or Moroccans or Hong Kong residents). On the other hand, it is presented by the marathon officials as a labor issue, that is, American runners can't make a living with the Kenyans stealing all the prize money.
I haven't quite made up my mind how to feel about it (not surprising as I'm equally undecided on many more general global trade issues), what does anyone else think?
Of course, this should be up to Laura, but it seems appropriate to have the rest of us offer innappropriate suggestions.
Mine: FreakyHugeCurvy
Just a quick thought on how computers and internet have changed perception. I've noticed now that whenever I see someone close a sentence inside Parentheses, it looks like a smiling one-eyed man. (Like this.) I'm not sure why the one-eyed man is smiling. Is it because he's the king?
In my early days on the Internet (and electronic communications, in general) I always favored the nerdier shorthand ([g] = grin j/k = just kidding [w] = wink and etc.) <-(there he is again) Sort of like proto-hypertext for the emotional space. (To tip you off on how old I am, much of this was pre-Internet in the late 80's when email was FIDOmail and BBS's were the primary communication medium. I didn't get on the web until 93-94.) <-!
Some of this has been carried over among the ubiquitous Internet TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms), but emoticons have been the emotional currency of choice. So I've become an emoticon user, in order to communicate effectively.
I heard a segment on Morning Edition today about a new book (an old book in Britain, but just coming over here) entirely about the proper use of punctuation. It was actually a #1 seller in the UK. The author talked about the fact that most people have "two modes" of writing, one for normal professional writing and one for email. In email mode punctuation, grammar, capitalization, and most other common rules go out the window. It is her theory that this is precisely the reason emoticons are so prevalent, because people aren't using all the tools they have to express themselves.
I think its a crock, really, but it is an interesting theory. I rarely discard punctuation and etc. in emails but still use emoticons, mostly because email is more analogous to conversation than it is to writing a letter. At least it is in the way that most people I know use it.
Note:
Feature on Morning Edition about Lynne Truss' book "Eats, Shoots & Leaves"
(title comes from a panda joke some of you bad joke connoisseurs might recognize)
Japanese Emoticons (Look a bit like anime actually)
1) What are the qualities of your ideal mate, including physical, emotional etc. etc. characteristics? Would she be pretty? Smart? What color eyes? What type of books would she read and movies would she watch? Would she come with nuts? :-D
2) If someone you really cared for did something completely horrible to you (say, cheated on you or dumped you without any real closure, or killed your dog on purpose) what would you do? Would you do something to get revenge or would you just never forgive, never forget and never talk to them again? (And if you did go for it, what would be your choice of revenge?)
3) Say you were trapped on a desert island with Andy, Karen, Kristin and Aaron. Who would you eat first and why? (Assuming the ultimate choice of who to eat first was left entirely up to you) And no, you can't pick yourself, because everyone knows that self-sacrifice is a cheater way out. (Anyone reading this will notice that I'm not on that list, because I don't wanna get eaten for asking the question.)
1) What are the qualities of your ideal mate, including physical, emotional etc. etc. characteristics? Would she be pretty? Smart? What color eyes? What type of books would she read and movies would she watch? Would she come with nuts? :-D
This is a great question. I hated and loved trying to answer it. But here is a too-long and still not-exhaustive list.
I'm fairly certain she would be female for a start. I'm not against homosexuality in a philosophical dimension, but I've not really been attracted to men, which is a tough hurdle to get over.
I can't pretend not to be a little shallow at least; its important that I'm attracted to her. But attraction extends beyond the purely physical as well. I like beauty, but I have no tolerance for beautiful people that annoy me. So its not the most important thing. I don't think I have a "type". Hair / eye color, body type, racial/ethnic background are all pretty unimportant to me. I can think of several women I've seen and had a private "wow" moment, but none of them looked similar, so I don't think its a "type". I'm not into the current incredibly-thin heroin junkie look that is all the rage now. I'm trying very hard to come up with some kind of physical requirement here, but nothing occurs to me. OK, I like women to have hair on their head. I don't mind if its short, but not bald.
Really, its more an attitude, a state of being. Attractiveness for me is more in the way you communicate your body language than the body you communicate with. Its the message, not the medium. Smiling helps. Not smiling helps too, sometimes. Can't be explained or expressed or taught, its just there.
To be able to put up with me, a woman would need to be reasonably emotionally stable. But then, women are only fun when they're at least slightly insane (luckily, I've yet to meet one that wasn't). Approval-seeking behavior pisses me off. Jealousy and possessive behavior pisses me off. Emotional game-playing pisses me off. Neediness pisses me off. Low self-image pisses me off. Pretty much everything that is typically involved in "relationships" (including the use of that word in this context) pisses me off.
Really, I'm not that demanding. Wait, stop laughing... Its true in its own way. I don't demand much and I expect not to have much demanded of me. I've got an obsession with independence that means I'd happily do anything for someone when I'm not asked, but demand it, and there's not a chance, even if I wanted to. Its my own insanity, and is unlikely to change.
Its important that she has a sense of humor. Its important that she has a sense of the absurd. Its important that she not take me or herself too seriously. Its important that she be tolerant with silence and not think that there's something wrong when I don't talk for long periods of time, which happens frequently. She would need to be comfortable with the fact that I could disappear for a couple months at a time. She would need to understand that needing time by myself doesn't undervalue her. She would need to put up with me being an inconsolable whiny asshole while driving on long trips, or sick, or anxious.
She would challenge me intellectually and tell me I'm full of shit when I am. I've never desired a mirror as much as a complement, someone who's gifts filled my voids and vice versa. Maybe we read some of the same books and watch some of the same movies, but its important that she reads the books I wouldn't and we can use them as discussion points.
She would be adventurous and curious about everything. Fears and reservations, to be sure, but still a certain cavalier willingness to try. She would be interested in me and my life, but far more interested in her own, and ready to passionately attack her own pursuits. She would ask me my opinion, because she knows I have one, and I'm dying to share it, but hate doing so without being asked. She would then ignore my opinion if its silly. If I'm being ridiculous she would tell me, because sometimes I need that. When I'm obsessing over things I can't change, she would either help me forget or leave me alone.
She'd better be responsible with finances, or leave them to me at her own peril. She'd better be in charge of remembering what we're supposed to do or where we're supposed to go, or leave them to me at her own peril. She'd better set all the clocks in the house ahead by some random time and change it every few days.
It would help if she finds me amusing. Especially when I'm trying to be and not just being ridiculous. It would help if she finds me not entirely repulsive.
She would like words, water, thunderstorms, traveling, reading, seriously giving a damn about things, music of all kinds, movies of all kinds, great food, stillness, eating off of someone else's plate, pictures of monkeys, Italy, sushi, Abstract Expressionism, sitting outside by a fire, art print sales, community, dirt, my insane friends, the universe of ideas, motorcycles, taking the long way, altruism, sitting in the dark and talking, my parents, big ideas, boats, Dylan Thomas on Christmas Eve, hockey, things that are new, things that are old, things that are weird, things that are green, Eastern Philosophy, irony, sitting in the dark and not talking, wearing sandals, rain, spending money on experiences rather than things, swimming, walking, laughing, and laying around naked for hours.
Is it necessary for me to say at this point that I'm single? Its OK, I'm not looking.
And no, please don't set me up with your friend who just happens to fit every one of these qualities above.
2) If someone you really cared for did something completely horrible to you (say, cheated on you or dumped you without any real closure, or killed your dog on purpose) what would you do? Would you do something to get revenge or would you just never forgive, never forget and never talk to them again? (And if you did go for it, what would be your choice of revenge?)
As I said in my answer to Lenny, I forget things very easily and quickly, and for this reason I have a very difficult time holding a grudge. I do tend to keep the people who have done something horrible to me filed away, though, to avoid in the future. But I don't think I'd go after them for revenge. Not if I didn't get to them in the first couple days anyway. I don't think I'd never talk to them again, I'd just be cautious.
3) Say you were trapped on a desert island with Andy, Karen, Kristin and Aaron. Who would you eat first and why? (Assuming the ultimate choice of who to eat first was left entirely up to you) And no, you can't pick yourself, because everyone knows that self-sacrifice is a cheater way out. (Anyone reading this will notice that I'm not on that list, because I don't wanna get eaten for asking the question.)
I can only pick one? But, there are so many good reasons to eat all of them!
Andy: Andy is a sarcastic weasel. This is endearing normally, but after 10-11 days without food, it makes him look tasty. However, there's not much to eat there. Probably need to cook him with a sauce. Also, he's been involved in a conspiracy several times to make me work. Evil.
Karen: Karen tries to appear sweet, but we all know better. The second I turn my back, she's stuck a fork in it and is opening the ketchup. Oh, don't act all innocent, missy, I know better. Of course, not a lot to eat there. But really, I see it as a pre-emptive strike. Also, I went to her house and she made me eat a lot of fresh baked-goods. See? Some people might think it was just being polite, and that it was me that kept going back to the box for Napoleons and Eclairs. Hah! She was just preparing me in case she had to roast me up later on a desert island.
Kristin: Kristin smells good, so I bet she'd taste good too. She also is a very vibrant, engaging, happy person, which is endearing normally, but after 10-11 days without food makes her look tasty. Oh, and she tried to sign me up in a multi-level marketing outfit, which makes me think about firing up the grill.
Lenny: Lenny looks mighty tasty, and you don't have to remove the hair as much either. Also, one time I wrote a play, and he put a reference to "Batman and Robin" in it, and I've been harboring a secret resentment that makes me want to eat him ever since.
I suppose with all the chips down, I'd eat Lenny first, cause he's a nice guy and would offer after a while, and the rest of us would say, "Yeah, OK. " Plus the Batman thing.
But really, I love them all
(especially with rice and steamed vegetables).
Not sure if any of you remember "Dr." Kent Hovind, the creation-science huckster that spent a lot of time up at Michigan Tech proving that the earth is 6,000 years old and dinosaurs rode on Noah's Ark and other such nonsense. Anyway, here's an update.
IRS raids business, home of creationist
Brett Norman
Internal Revenue Service agents are investigating a Pensacola man who
operates a creationist theme park and museum off Old Palafox Road and who
they say is evading taxes on more than $1 million in income.
This week, federal IRS agents raided the home and businesses of Kent Hovind,
51, in the first block of Cummings Road, confiscating all computer and paper
records of financial activity since January 1997.
The creation-science evangelist argues against evolution around the world. He
also sells literature and videos supporting his views and charges admission
to his Pensacola theme park and museum through a number of entities.
But in a sworn statement made to obtain the search warrant served Wednesday,
IRS agent Scott Schneider said none of Hovind's enterprises has a business
license in Escambia County or has tax-exempt status as a nonprofit enterprise.
"Since 1997, Hovind has engaged in financial transactions indicating sources
of income and has made deposits to bank accounts well in excess of $1 million
per year during some of these years, which would require the filing of federal
income taxes," wrote Schneider.
The statement is based on financial records plucked from Hovind's garbage
from July 2002 through March 2004, statements from a former employee,
Internet research and public records.
Hovind, who has not been charged, suspects he is being targeted because of
his religious beliefs. He adamantly denies wrongdoing.
He questioned the timing of the search--one day before federal income tax
returns were due.
"They've got to flex their muscle this time of year," he said. "I guess they
chose me. It will be somebody else next year."
He referred questions about business practices to Glen Stoll, director of
Remedies at Law, a frim based in Edmonds, Wash., that represents him.
"This is based on misperceptions," Stoll said. "They don't understand how the
church is created and registered, how it operates under church law, which is
entirely separate from secular authorities."
Friday afternoon, Stoll sent a letter to Schneider, demanding the return of
the property. Attached to the letter wasdocumentation that Hovind's operations--
including Dino Adventure Land, Faith Baptist Church, Creation Science
Evangelism and CSE Enterprises--operate under an umbrella organization recognized
by the State of Washington.
Alycyn Culbertson, special agent and spokeswoman for the IRS, said Friday she
had not received the letter and could not respond to it. She denied that the
timing of the search was relevant.
"I assure you that we don't go to inordinate lengths to make sure something
happens around April 15," she said. "But if the investigation is at that point
around that time, we don't hold it up either."
Hovind has a May 18 court date to face three misdemeanor charges arising from
his refusal to obtain a permit to construct a metal building on his property.
Hovind said the building meets or exceeds building codes, and he objects to
the permitting process as an undue expense on the church. ---
Snopes article on Subservient Chicken
Just wanted to take a moment to reflect upon a milestone. Last night, this blog broke the 100 comment barrier, many of which were not actually me. As comments are the lifeblood that validates a blogger's existence, I thank you for helping me feel like I'm not completely wasting my time (even if I am wasting yours).
Somehow I knew it wouldn't take long before Andy would make me regret agreeing to this. So there you have it, 10 hours 48 minutes.
1. If you were stranded on a desert/dessert/deserted island, and stupid your five records melted in the damn sun, and your bloodstained vollyball friend popped, and your solar powered TV only got the WB, and all the beer that washed up on shore was Coors Light, and the Rocketts were there, but they all died... what would be the haiku that you would write yourself in order to stave off madness?
2. Are you still angry with me for aiding and abetting Aaron in his feindish and sinister scheme to inject "Batman and Robin" into one of your plays?
3. If you could eat any Hollywood starlet, past or present, which one would it be? (Assume that a competent celebrity chef would be available to properly... prepare her.)
1. If you were stranded on a desert/dessert/deserted island, and stupid your five records melted in the damn sun, and your bloodstained vollyball friend popped, and your solar powered TV only got the WB, and all the beer that washed up on shore was Coors Light, and the Rocketts were there, but they all died... what would be the haiku that you would write yourself in order to stave off madness?
waves crash on bottles
Radio City beckons
Hey, Charmed is on now!
or perhaps
Wilson, REM,
No salve for necrophilia,
sun sets so slowly
or maybe even
island breeze of death
makes me wish Andy was here
so I could eat him
2. Are you still angry with me for aiding and abetting Aaron in his feindish and sinister scheme to inject "Batman and Robin" into one of your plays?
Yes.
3. If you could eat any Hollywood starlet, past or present, which one would it be? (Assume that a competent celebrity chef would be available to properly... prepare her.)
I'm tempted to make an Asian food joke, here, but as that's in extremely poor taste, I'll just imply it and it can be more tasteless and foul in your imagination than I could have really managed on my own.
Most modern starlets are too lean by far, so we'd have to get a bit more golden age. Marilyn looks tasty, but probably a little too conventional of a choice. Elizabeth Taylor looked scrumptious in her day, but I'd be afraid they'd screw up the order.
I think my best choice would be something a little foreign, but still comforting, both exotic and traditional, a little sweet, a little spicy. Therefore my choice is Ingrid Bergman (with chili oil and rosemary).
Apparently its a "Have it your way" Burger King promotion. Which is normal enough. Except most BK promotions don't involve dressing someone up in a chicken suit and garter belt, and then allowing you to type in things to him to perform over webcam.
The responses seem canned, but they have quite a library (including knowing the difference between a waltz and a polka, not to mention the moonwalk).
The question: What does BK hope to accomplish with this?
The somewhat more disturbing part: Its kinda fun.
What is one thing you want to do before you die?
Are you at all angry at me for injecting Batman and Robin into one of you plays?
To blow your nose, is it toilet paper or facial tissues?
What is one thing you want to do before you die?
Wow, there's a lot more than one. So I guess I just pick one then.
...
Nope, I can't pick one. Here's two.
1) Finish a novel
2) Learn how to play Chopin Waltz C#-m No. 2 (on the piano of course)
Are you at all angry at me for injecting Batman and Robin into one of you plays
Let's say that I was angry at the moment, but I forget about it until you make an effort to remind me. Then I become angry again and start making plans to have you assassinated.
Actually, I forget about most things, good and bad. But, even when you remind me, no, it doesn't really bother me that much. So I just avoided you at the time until I forgot about it (20 minutes or so later).
To blow your nose, is it toilet paper or facial tissues?
Toilet Paper, Facial Tissue (Kleenex we call them in my house, despite the fact that we don't buy that brand), sleeve, paper towel, dried leaves, squirrells... I have no opinion at all about any of them, just whatever's close. I've never intentionally bought Kleenex unless I was asked to do so by someone else, as I always find alternative paper products to use.
Oh yeah, and I lied, here's one more for number 1;
3) Ressurect Mark Rothko and sock him in the eye.
Questions to answer for today.
1. What would be your super hero power of choice?
2. What are your guilty pleasures? (Or guilty pleasure, if there's really only one.)
3. How do you feel about regret? Is it inevitable or unnecessary, or a combination of both?
I'll work on the rest in installments.
1. What would be your super hero power of choice?
There was actually a fantastic "This American Life" episode dealing somewhat with this topic (Listen Here), although it actually was more strict: Which super-power would you rather have: Flight or Invisibility? While you've left it open, I suspect most people would fall naturally into one of the above two camps. And I suspect it probably ties in with other personal dichotomies like Type A / Type B, Introvert / Extrovert, or Beatles / Elvis. Hmm... perhaps I can combine these for indicators into the "ish index" and compete with Myers-Briggs. I'm an IBIB :)
So I'll admit to being boring and being in one of the two camps: Invisibility all the way. I think more than flight, or super-strength, or the ability to speak with dolphins in Swahili, invisibility is the most appealing. As a writer, I think a certain degree of voyeurism is inevitable. Its not a creepy sexual thing, but rather an insatiable curiousity for "real life" when you're not there, to be an actual independent observer.
It would also feed my anti-social streak when I don't feel like dealing with people.
The only comparable thing I could come up with would be the ability to manipulate time (to make it slower, I don't want any less time).
2. What are your guilty pleasures? (Or guilty pleasure, if there's really only one.)
Despite attempting to be reasonably green, I have an absurd love for hot showers. Or hot tub or steam sauna. Anything involving hot and water together in the most wasteful possible ways, I love it. I suppose its good that I am somewhat concerned about the waste, as otherwise I'd be in the shower for an hour every day. World Civilisation as a whole is coming to some real dangerous and difficult problems relating to freshwater consumption, and sooner than you think. I know this, and yet, hot showers feel so good. Hooray for Hot Water!
I play video games far more than I really should. I should be writing or working on music or opening my mail. I rationalise it to myself because I don't watch TV more than an hour a week. But that's like saying, "Its OK to eat this ice-cream, because I didn't eat cake earlier." Or, "Its alright to stab this kitten, because I didn't drown a kitten yesterday."
Otherwise, I try not to allow myself guilt over pleasure. I happen to think pleasure is nice, I just try to avoid getting it by taking something from others. On a philosophical level, you could argue that's impossible, but I've never been a zero-sum kind of guy.
3. How do you feel about regret? Is it inevitable or unnecessary, or a combination of both?
As a Zenist, I consider it illusory and ultimately meaningless. I also recognize it as very "real" in the personal frame of reference.
I'll say in my personal life I try incredibly hard not to have regrets, but I'd be a great big liar if I said I suceeded at that. I think regret can have value as a guide toward where the universe wants you. And it should be used in that way, not as something to hit yourself over the head with, but to show you the ways in which you've lost touch with what's important to you.
Someone much smarter than I said that we regret the things we haven't done more than the things we have. I find this to be true. So if you find regret about the things you haven't done, that's a good indicator towards where you should be headed. And if in doubt, do it. If it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger (to quote the typically wrong Nietzsche), and if it does kill you, you won't regret it for very long. (OK, this might be bad advice. Perhaps a little more examination is needed than "If in doubt, do it". Lets assume you've already made the rest of the judgements about benefit, likelihood of death, etc. )
I try very hard not to let my fear of things interfere, and not to make decisions based on my fear. I fail at this as well, but I think it is a good prescription for avoiding regret, as regrets are unlikely to happen when you behave in a way unspoiled by fear. This doesn't mean to throw caution to the wind, but rather to judge a course of action on its merits, rather than on your fear about the outcome.
So, to finally come to an answer, I think regret is both inevitable and unneccessary. But there is some value to appraising and observing my regrets for what they can tell me about me.
OK, I found this on Samantha's blog, who found it on some other person's blog.
quote:
This is blatantly taken from Desmond's journal (a link to his journal is on the right called: alex knight, if you're curious).
"I want everyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions, no more no less.
Ask me anything you want.
Then I want you to go to your journal, copy and paste this allowing your friends (including myself) to ask you anything.
Okay, now here's the trick, if I feel uncomfortable answering the question on here, I will answer you directly, if I know your e-mail or ICQ or AIM or what-not. :-) So now let's get some questions."
And since I took the liberty and asked Des three questions, I'm abiding by the rules and giving everyone else the same opportunity.
I asked my three questions of Samantha, so I feel it only fair to offer myself up. Of course, I'll apply the same caveat that the questions I'd rather not publish will be answered privately. Samantha's three questions session revealed her to have recently become insane, I can only hope for such results.
Watch wild boars live in Germany
(With Sound!)
No I'm not making it up.
Just a quick recommendation to read this Easterblogg entry, which I think is an important call to reason amidst the histrionics of the Democrats over the "smoking Presidential Daily Brief". While the Bush Administration may have handled its terrorism policy poorly or perhaps failed to address the problems that already existed (neither of which has been proven so far), suggesting that a one-page document saying that Al-Qaeda wished to attack inside the US should have incited any major action in the governemnt is both overblown and irresponsible.
Note: I just made a PR (Personal Record) for longest sentence.
Watched some great hockey over the weekend. My wings lost yesterday, but not too much to worry about yet, although I'd like to see the Power Play start working again.
One of the more interesting moments over the last few games came in the Montreal-Boston series. As I'm a big fan of original six NHL teams, and of the Habs, especially. But they're starting to try my patience. Montreal won the last game, but in the final minute had one of their players (Mike Ribeiro) give one of the greatest acting performances since "Raging Bull". After being knocked to the ground, Ribeiro fell down then seemed to notice that he was one of only two players back to defend against 3 attackers, which would have resulted in a 3 on 1. He then proceeds to writhe in pain on the ground for a good minute, doing his best impersenation of John Hurt in "Alien". After they stop play a trainer comes onto the ice, touches his shoulder for a few seconds and then Ribeiro gets up and skates to the bench, while trash talking to the Bruins bench. Classy, Mike, classy. Some of the real highlights were the interviews with Bruins players after the game.
Today, coach Claude Julien defended Ribeiro, saying he must be hurt because he didn't practice and didn't play in the remaining 35 seconds of the game. Of course he didn't play: He was too busy taunting Marty Lapointe!
Its hard to figure out how to deal with something like this, and I know I'm asking too much, but I expect nothing less than for the coach to issue an apology and insist that it won't happen again, and then make the player apologize. That would likely have put an end to it, and taken some of the wind out of Boston's sails as well. As it is, the Bruins are ready to play and mightily pissed-off (with reason).
Articles on the Ribeiro Affair
NY TIMES
First Item from the "Who thought this was a good idea?" department
Body piercing and tattoos make way.
Apr 7, 1:23 pm ET
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Body piercing and tattoos make way. The latest fashion trend to hit the Netherlands is eyeball jewelry.
Dutch eye surgeons have implanted tiny pieces of jewelry called "JewelEye" in the mucous membrane of the eyes of six women and one man in cosmetic surgery pioneered by an ophthalmic surgery research and development institute in Rotterdam.
Cont. at link
Source: Reuter's Oddly Enough on Excite! News
http://news.excite.com/odd/article/id/396103|oddlyenough|04-07-2004::13:24|reuters.html
Next from the "Proof that God is either non-existent or perverse" department
And it gets better
If you're looking to eat out near Auburn Hills this coming Monday or Tuesday, then you can do so to help a good cause. The local Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will receive 20% of proceeds at Max and Erma's in Auburn Hills this Mon/Tues (12, 13, or Easter Monday as its known in GM). So not only can you get a good meal and help a good cause, but I just saved you from fighting over what to eat.
I think I ate at Max and Erma's and it was pretty good, but that was a long time ago so I can't give anything but a lukewarm review. Anyone out there have input?
Go here for the flyer you will need to print out and bring with you to the restaurant (should be up later today).
Also
Max and Erma's
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America
Team in Training (if I could recommend one experience in life to every person on earth it would be to participate in Team-in-Training or one of the many similar charity athletic programs. A few of the many other programs are listed here. There are few things in this life that can offer the same level of satisfaction for such a relatively small outpouring of effort. 6 months of work and pain and hell, in exchange for something wonderful you can carry with you the rest of your days, that can't be taken away.)
After almost 25 years, Bob Edwards will no longer host Morning Edition on National Public Radio. Is this an exciting new direction or just New Coke?
An Open Letter written to the NPR Ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin
(To keep you up to date, Jay Kernis is the Vice President of Programming responsible for the changes.)
Jeffrey:
I'm not going to say anything you haven't heard 53,000 times about Bob Edwards. I just want my voice to be one of the 53,000. Bob Edwards has been an essential part of my morning for as long as I can remember. So much so, that even on the days I sleep in or stay home sick, I will often go to the website to hear ME around 11. The idea that someone would try to replace Bob in the name of "changing news environment" or "expanding coverage" is irretrievably stupid. I hope Jay Kernis enjoys the new job he gets serving fries at McDonalds in a couple of months. It will be better than he deserves.
At my local station WDET in Detroit, The pledge drive that began last Monday, March 29th is still going on. DET used to raise $600,000 to $700,000 in five or six days, sometimes less. Now it's Tuesday (8 days later) and they still have over $30,000 to go. On-air, the hosts are trying to attribute it to the economy, but it hasn't taken this long to finish a pledge drive in the last 3 years. There is only one change that wasn't there a year ago, and that is Bob's removal. I thought long and hard before I called in my pledge this year. You can guarantee I'll think even harder in the fall. In the end, the decision came because WDET has a lot going for it in original music programming and other fantastic local-interest content that would make it a great radio station without any National NPR programming at all. For Jay Kernis to pass this off onto local stations by saying that refusing to donate only punishes local stations is an incredible load of horse-puckey for one person to shovel. So Mr. Kernis and the NPR central management have *no* accountability at all? It all goes to the local stations? Very brave. In fact, I take back what I said earlier, I hope he gets fired from the McDonald's job too.
By the way, I think this will get far worse before it gets better. I would bet that many long-time Bob listeners don't even know about this yet. To make things perfectly clear, the voice of this listener suggests that Jay Kernis (and/or the entire programming department responsible for this change) is incredibly short-sighted in his programming decisions about Morning Edition, and should be held accountable for their mismanagement of the situation. I have enjoyed many of the recent changes, and find that Day to Day is quickly becoming one of my favorite programs. But you don't put bunny ears on the statue of David, you don't repaint '66 Mustang with Rustoleum, and you don't change the formula for Coca-Cola. Anyone who doesn't understand that is destined to become a marketing case-study, and I doubt the textbooks will be kinder to Mr. Kernis than I.
------------------------------
Kevin T. Moss
Listener and Member, WDET
Notes:
NPR Ombudsman Open Letter to Bob Edwards
(Link likely to change to this soon)
NPR Morning Edition Damage Control Site
WDET Detroit Public Radio (101.9 FM on your radio dial)
You can contact Jeffrey Dvorkin yourself by emailing ombudsman@npr.org
I watched the ABC program "Jesus and Paul" tonight, and apart from the incredibly weird MTV moments, it was really interesting.
I was reasonably impressed by the objectivity and the degree of genuine discussion about Jesus and Paul's lives. While they were certainly a bit more cautious around Jesus, they still brought up some good points, about the lack of historical data to support much of the Gospel account, especially as it concerns Pilate.
They also had a ton of pretty big names like Rev. John Shelby Spong (Episcopalian Bishop and strong advocate for reform of the core of Christianity. Pretty radical by any measure.), Elaine Pagels (author of The Gnostic Gospels among other works, recently on the Gospel of Thomas), and Ben Witherington III (a scripture scholar who seems to be much more of the literalist school).
I enjoyed the discussion quite a bit, even in the tame parts. This was all broken up however, by the bewildering use of loud rock and hip-hop song montages, complete with quick-cut shots between ancient sites, modern versions, and illustrations. While some were at least on-topic "DC Talk's "Jesus Freak" for instance) many were completely incongruous (most notably REM's "End of The World As We Know It" while talking about Paul's conception of the coming apocalypse). I can only think that this was an attempt by some executive producer to "spice it up for the kids". Unfortunately, it was not spicy, merely stupid.
For those with an interest in alternative views of Christianity, I'd recommend looking into Pagel's Books. The Gnostic Gospels are a pretty interesting study, even if you happen to think they're a load of crap. At the very least, the differences seen between the Canonical Gospels, the Pauline texts, and other accounts of Jesus' teachings and the history of the time show that a message is as fluid as the number of messengers.
Another interesting note: The program was co-sponsored by Beliefnet, which marks a pretty mainstream union between a television network and a prominent (web-only) website. Seems like one more example of the web's increasing power in the media universe.
Notes:
Beliefnet's Jesus and Paul page
ABC News Jesus and Paul page (Wait! There's no link!)
That's because ABC wants you to pay for a subscription to read about a program on their network. This is brilliant. In fact, ABC news is your source for NOTHING (without a credit card). And its a commercial site, built solely for the purpose of telling you about the shows it wants you to watch, and yet has constant advertisements that you have to click-thru to get to the tiny amount of content there is (like what shows are on tonight) This has officially entered my bottom 10 websites by people who should know better.
Quick Profile of Bishop John Shelby Spong
Highly Effusive Profile of Spong
Highly Invective Profile of Spong
Semi-scholarly refutation of Spong
NPR feature on Elaine Pagel's book on the Gospel of Thomas
Fresh Air interview with Pagels from the same time period
Yeah, I could create an April Fool's Entry. But who wouldn't be expecting that? So, I intend to create an April Fool's Day Entry on September 24th. You won't expect that!
Of course, I just told you about it.