due torre

Burrito Fast-est to the Top of the Slippery Pole

2007-05-07T23:03:00.000-04:00

So, three weeks after a two minute post, this site is the numbers one and two search results for "burrito.nyc.us.gov"

People, don't waste your time here: check out the real deal.

"Idiot" Savant

2007-05-07T21:32:00.000-04:00

Álvaro Vargas Llosa has a piece in the current issue of Foreign Policy magazine, updating his book from the mid-nineties "criticizing opinion and political leaders who clung to ill-conceived political myths despite evidence to the contrary."

Recently he seems to have taken up the position that the leftist wave that has elected leaders across Latin America has been propelled by what I'm sure he views as the zombie of old-school populism, back from the dead to keep the region from progressing. I'll readily admit I've never read his original book, which he co-wrote with two other authors. Having read this update, however, the only idiot I could pick out was Vargas Llosa himself.

Vargas Llosa - son of the famous Peruvian author who seems to be as committed a conservative as his father - concedes that the new wave of populist leftist is different from the ones he profiled in his original piece, people like Fidel Castro, Peru's Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado, and Nicaragua's Danny Ortega (although Nicaragua now has to deal with Danny 2.0).

Speaking of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, Vargas Llosa says: "He came to power through the ballot box, which exonerates him from the need to justify armed struggle." This is circular logic - doesn't the ballot box exonerate all elected officials from justifying an armed struggle? More to the point of leftist willingness to use extra-legal means, for every 4th of February, there's an autogolpe, an attempt to gain a third term, or - more to the point - an 11th of April. In Latin America, the left does not have a monopoly on using force as a political tool.

Vargas Llosa likes to see this new leftist wave almost as a fad, that, like Che madness 40 years ago (or today), has people embracing icons without understanding the underlying political platform. "Bolivia's Evo Morales has indigenista appeal," says Vargas Llosa. This makes it sound like he's as meaningful as flashy pair of shoes. Vargas Llosa glosses over the fact that this appeal stems from the fact that the "indigenistas" draw support from groups of people that feel they were left out of the opportunities the Washington Consensus was supposed to provide. Evo & Hugo aren't the cause of social dissatisfaction; in a sense, they are the symptom.

His laundry list of "characteristics" of modern leftist populists is so broad as to be meaningless, and certainly isn't limited to politicians on the left. Fujimori, president of Peru through 2001 (who defeated Álvaro's father at the polls in 1990), Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, a convicted war criminal who came within a couple points of winning the presidency in Guatemala in 2004, and Argentina's Menem, who tried to go for a third term in 2001, all are well-described by these characteristics.

Vargas Llosa also lists some of the transgressions of the leftist wave. He bewails "cash subsidies to the poor." The most successful of these has been Bolsa Familia in Brazil, under the administration of Lula, who no one - not even the Bush administration - has characterized as being a fire-breather populist.

But these programs are the successes of "prudent populists" - right and left. Bolsa Familia has lowered the Gini coefficient in Brazil - one of the most unequal countries in the world - without crippling that country's economic growth. In fact, it's based on a similar Mexican program (Oportunidades) begun by the technocrat Ernesto Zedillo and fostered by the right-of-center Vicente Fox administration (one of its few successes). It has since been extended by Fox's ideological successor, the canny Felipe Calderón.

Chávez's oil and cash exports also raise Vargas Llosa's ire: "Venezuela's oil money belongs to the Venezuelan people." This is true, and the Venezuelan people have repeatedly voted for Chávez, even though they know he's engaged in petro-diplomacy. In fact, he got 63% of the vote in an election in December when his oil concessions were well-known. Many voters have experienced first-hand one of the few benefits to come out of this - Cuban doctors staffing clinics in slums. It seems that even though most of this money is benefiting others, voters are willing to overlook that, as long as they get their Mercals. (The flip-side to this, of course, is that Chávez has painted himself into a corner, and as soon as he can no longer deliver on these promises to his people, there will be hell to pay. Whether it'll be an overthrow of his government, or a brutal crackdown, another caracazo is in the offing one day).

Vargas Llosa also tries to paint Kirchner as part of the leftist alliance in the offing between Chávez, Morales, Correa, and Ortega. He laments "Kirchner's attack against the US" at some event in Venezuela. But Kirchner plays everyone against each other. While schmoozing up to Chávez and the Venezuelan's willingness to buy Argentine debt, Kirchner also doesn't want to alienate the US. He kept his distance and made Chávez pay for the stadium when the latter organized a rally in BA to counter Bush's trip to Montevideo.

Likewise (and, frankly, amazingly) Lula gets scrutinized and comes up short. Brazil's "(GDP) growth is not expected to top 3.6," he says. Chile, run for the past 15 years by socialists is the gold standard for the region, but Brazil has one of the strongest economies over the past five years. While it is lagging globally, Brazil's GDP figures have recently been revised upwards & Lula has made GDP growth a priority for his second term. While there are some doubt about his ability to accomplish his stated goals (and I'll volunteer myself as a doubting Thomas), Wall Street is very bullish on Lula these days.

And like Che and the Barbudos who took over Cuba 50 years ago were embraced by the generation of 1968, Vargas Llosa is disturbed that the leftist of today are embraced by the academic elites of the US and Europe; his "useful idiots" in their ivory towers. He saves his worst ire for them, and they're obviously the targets of this piece. He points out the obvious Noam Chomsky, whose claim to fame is more of having been embraced by Chávez, rather than the other way around. Vargas Llosa's next example is "James Petras" Who? This is supposed to be one of the commanding leaders of American intellectual thought? He's supposed to have defended Castro by writing the article “The Responsibility of the Intellectuals: Cuba, the U.S. and Human Rights.” This article was published in an online magazine, Rebelión, which seems to be … lacking in intellectual heft. If this has any influence on thought in the US, then the coveted ~~John Birch Society~~ Minuteman Project endorsement should make Tom Tancredo a lock in 2008.

Vargas Llosa condemns these academics and elites as "condescending spirits." But, in portraying Latin Americans as dependent on the approval of academics, and incapable of coming up with their own solutions to issues, it is Vargas Llosa who comes across as condescending.

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It's annoying that, ultimately, I agree with Vargas Llosa's greater point - many of the decisions taken by Chávez and his "bolivarian" colleagues are short-sighted at best, and have benefited a select few. My point is that these problems are the result of the lack of institutions (both formal and informal; public and private) that feed strong democracies and strong economies. From a US foreign policy perspective - that a magazine like FP is trying to influence - saying that this is because Chávez and the rest are "of the left" is "idiotic" because it alienates some of our greatest allies in developing strong institutions in Latin America. These allies - Lula, Bachelet, Tabaré Vásquez - risked their lives to support civil society under dictatorships, and did it precisely because they are "of the left."

It's also annoying that this has been thrown together in fits over the past two weeks, in response to the comment of a friend that this article "seems pretty good." I haven't done it justice with this half-conceived response; all comments are welcome.

Nevermind No One's Used One Since 1997

2007-04-26T00:14:00.000-04:00

This may be the best screensaver I've ever seen. From my rigorous scientific research, it takes about five of these guys to be going perpetually; and fifteen or thereabouts to be bouncing off the ceiling.

(Via CT)

Wolf in the Henhouse

2007-04-23T23:26:00.000-04:00

I've nothing profound to say about l'affaire Wolfowitz; just express my disappointment.

The (apparent) preferential treatment for la Riza paints the Wolf as a Grade-A hypocrite in light of his no-holds-barred anti-corruption push. Whether it is different from SOP at the World Bank or not - if it is, then the Bank is as corrupt as this appears to be; if not, then the Wolf has been sticking out like a sore thumb.

I have had doubts about his opinions in the past. But even when I've disagreed with him I've defended Wolfowitz's intellectual honesty. While it's fun to watch clips of Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand back in the 80s, Wolfowitz was warning about Saddam's destabilizing effect on the region since 1979. If you're going to admire Al Gore for pushing global warming (as you should), you've got to respect a man who called the invasion of Kuwait 12 years ahead of time. And in an administration full of hacks, he was a true intellectual

That admiration was further bolstered by the -very brief- interactions I had with him previous to his joining the Bush administration, the reputation he built up to that point, and the comments of people who worked with him.

These revelations have destroyed much of my respect for the man and gone so far as to make me question whether I should have risen to his defense in the past. It also makes me wonder whether this apparent venality was there from the beginning, or whether it came as a result of exposure to his colleagues from 2001 to 2005.

Hokies

2007-04-17T00:33:00.000-04:00

Nothing can be said about the Tech tragedy beyond what has already been said, until we know more about what happened. All that I can do is quote one of my oldest friends, who moved down to Blacksburg two years ago:

Didn't I move away from DC to get away from shit like this? Anyway, we're about to go out and get DRUNK. The situation here has gone from surreal to sad/angry/want to drink until it goes away......

Truer words were never said. We're all raising a glass for ya.

Jackie Robinson's Jackie Robinson

2007-04-16T23:38:00.000-04:00

While I'm recusing myself from commenting on culturally significant topics, let me hip you to this:

"Your job is going to be worse than mine because you're down south." Jackie Robinson said these words to Nat Peeples in the spring of 1954.

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Federal Baseball, second only to Ball Wonk in providing colorfully independent Nats coverage.

So It Goes

2007-04-16T23:10:00.001-04:00

I have nothing to add to last week's coverage of Kurt Vonnegut's passing, but the NYT coverage is pretty good.

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This is more for me than for you - I'm switching jobs, keeping an eye on the family, and fighting crime on the side, all at the same time.

burrito.nyc.us.gov

2007-04-16T22:56:00.000-04:00

The best thing you'll read all day:

The story begins in any of the three dozen taquerias supplying the Bay Area Feeder Network, an expansive spiderweb of tubes running through San Francisco’s Mission district as far south as the “Burrito Bordeaux” region of Palo Alto and Mountain View. Electronic displays in each taqueria light up in real time with orders placed on the East Coast, and within minutes a fresh burrito has been assembled, rolled in foil, marked and dropped down one of the small vertical tubes that rise like organ pipes in restaurant kitchens throughout the city.

Petey Greene

2007-04-08T15:58:00.000-04:00

"Well, let’s cool it now. Slide on in, adjust the color of your television, hole up and get ready to groove with Petey Greene’s Washington."

Growing up in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC -and moving away and back half a dozen times- there are lots of bits of local culture there that I missed out on. Twice in the past week I've come across Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene - a DC institution worth learning more about.

Greene's Wikipedia entry sums up his claims to fame in a succinct paragraph:

After leaving prison, he was hired by AM radio station WOL to host his own show, "Rapping With Petey Greene". His stature grew, and he soon found himself hosting his own television show, "Petey Green's Washington", on WDCA-TV. On March 8, 1978, he was invited as a guest to the White House by President Jimmy Carter to honor visiting Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito. He famously quipped to the Washington Post that he "stole a spoon" during the evening gala.

The time in jail (for armed robbery) seems to have been better than the typical Lorton story - he was a DJ there, and: "In 1965, Greene persuaded a fellow inmate climb to the top of a water tower to threaten suicide so that he would be able to 'save his life' by talking him down. 'It took me six months to get him to go up there,' he later recalled."

But it's the TV show that brought Greene fame, and what brought him to my attention. A friend sent along this clip from Greene's TV show. It has to be seen to be believed.

Aside from amusing stunts like these, Greene was active in promoting the rights of ex-cons, no minor concern in a city like DC. He left a legacy with the African American community that, frankly, us white boys knew nothing about.

So it's cool to see the other piece of Petey detritus that washed across me last week: Talk to Me. Don Cheadle plays the man himself, and adds fuel to my need for a velvet suit with paisley lapels. July 20th can't come soon enough.

Chi-town

2007-04-05T17:43:00.000-04:00

So, for el trabajo, I'm going to Chicago for 24 hours next week (Tues-Weds). My evening is booked, but I'll have some free time to explore the town. Besides the Institute of Art and the "Married... with Children" fountain, what should I check out?

"Miami Vice" Vice

2007-04-04T15:50:00.000-04:00

I have already tipped my hand on my thoughts about Miami, but recently I've become engrossed in catching the old Miami Vice TV show. While I'm watching for the visceral thrill of recognizing some old neighborhoods (I even saw my old apartment building in one episode), and the fashion notes I've taken from the show are copious, the real thrills are the extras and guest stars.

Two weeks ago, I saw an episode in which Pam Greir -playing Tubbs' old flame- shot John Turturro, who had turned her sister to prostitution. A couple of nights before that, the episode cast Rocky's second manager (Burt Young) running drugs with a young Michael Madsen, all while having the bald guy Locke from Lost as his lawyer - with hair.

Last night's show's cast looked promising enough, with Brian Dennehy as the "Rev. Billy Bob Proverb", a thinly-veiled Jim Bakker, and a 21-year-old Ben Stiller in a cameo as "Fast Eddie Felcher" (really). The icing on the cake was realizing 20 minutes into the show that Rev. Proverb's nemesis (another TV preacher) was the principal from Back to the Future.

Tonight's episode promises just as much: the sublime Miguel Ferrer will be appearing as a DA, presumably to prosecute the lead guy from the original CSI. Penelope Ann Miller will no doubt play a role she later perfected in Carlito's Way.

If you don't get the Sleuth Channel, let me recommend remedying that immediately.

Good Moments in Bad Web Design

2007-04-04T15:15:00.000-04:00

So the Washington Post redid its website, although to be frank, except for a change in font & size, I don't notice a whole lot new about it (there's supposed to be some changes further down the front page of the site, and... zzzz...). One of the annoying things the left in the site design is the set of drop-down site menus at the top of the homepage ("News", "Politics", "Opinion", etc.). These are terribly laid out (who expects a drop-down menu in multiple columns?), not to mention confusing (the first choice under "News" is, naturally, "Politics")

I expected them to adopt something similar to what the New York Times has, with sections listed down the left side of the page. And, in fact, for the print edition and individual sections, the Post does this, as well. These are much more intuitive to follow. In fact, even Posties themselves prefer to follow these left-hand menus. Quote St. Barry of Svrluga:

The whole Nationals section of the site - which you can get to by clicking on "Nationals" on the left side of washingtonpost.com/sports - should really take off in the next couple of weeks.

Never mind that the Nats section can be accessed from the "Sports" tab on the front page (it even gets second billing, ahead of the first-place Wizards).

Now I could understand why someone wouldn't want to use the left-hand menu. On the Times site, it does look ~~a little~~ really cluttered. But the obvious solution is what my boy Tom has done over at Manifest Density (never mind the overall site design looks ripped off the now-defunct Memefirst). Tom should lend his little expanding list widget to the WP IT people, so they can publish an online newspaper that is no longer as obfuscating as it is informative.

Taxing Thoughts on Private Equity

2007-04-03T14:48:00.000-04:00

Felix Salmon, who's forgotten more about economics (and housing start prices in particular) than I'd ever have the chance to learn, ventures an interesting hypothesis about the algae bloom of private equity:

An editorial in the New York Times today cites a paper by Victor Fleischer in which, over the course of 51 densely-argued pages, he shows that private-equity principals get taxed at ridiculously low rates for no good reason. Here's the tax dodge: if you're running a private-equity fund, then most of the money you invest belongs to your investors, or limited partners...

Now because you [or your investors - mike d] have made an investment in the fund, most of your individual profits can be structured as being capital gains on that investment, rather than income. Let's say you own 1% of the fund, but receive (as is standard) 20% of its profits. Thanks to your 1% stake, that entire 20% profit share – and often some if not all of your 2% management fee as well – is taxed at the 15% capital gains tax rate.

This compares to the 36% that investors would be charged on regular income. Quite a savings.

Now there are a couple of interesting points Felix didn't mention, that make this seemingly straight-forward causation interesting:

-First, the capital gains tax was lowered to 15% in 2003. Previously it had been at 20%, but was lowered as part of Bush's 2001 tax package, famously designed to first give back the fruits of boom and subsequently salve the wounds of a bust. The paranoid out there would note that this administration has become a byword for government secrecy - maybe they want secrecy at the commanding heights of the economy? I doubt it, and doubt this was an intended outcome of the tax change, but it's the first thing that popped into my fevered mind. More realistically, this change might explain why the rise of these funds is happening now, as opposed to during the '90s.

-Also as part of Bush's tax package, this tax benefit is set to sunset in 2010. Most observers (sloppy writing, I know, but "I think most people think" is even worse) saw the sunset as a means to sell as temporary cuts that would be made permanent by the permanent Republican majority Karl Rove was working on back in 2000. But with Pelosi at the helm, and 2008 looking grim for the 'R's, the tax benefit is set to expire three years hence. Does this mean the story DealBreaker flogs to death in the Fall of 2009 is the "Great Unwinding of PE Firms"? You heard it here first.

-But this begs the question: why was a cap gains tax cut enough? Five percent can be the difference between make and break for fund managers, but both 15% and 20% are below the income tax (36%) charged to the tax bracket these guys are in. So why is this happening now, when the benefit of moving this cash stream from income to cap gains has been around for so long?

~~I dunno.~~ The answers are left as an exercise for the reader.

UPDATE: In the comments over at Felix's, Sebastian Holsclaw points to Sarbanes-Oxley, and not tax policy, that is driving this trend, saying that it's a drain on small & medium-sized companies. While I think that SOX has affected companies in unexpected ways, I think that a company that is planning a $4 billion IPO cannot be described as "small".

San Juan Chamula

2007-03-27T23:06:00.000-04:00

Catch up on the trip with my earlier post. This is the second half of the story:

The following morning, waking up in San Cristóbal de las Casas, we headed out to check out a nearby village. The guidebook points out this little town, 8 kilometers outside of San Cristóbal, as having a "unique religious life", and tries to describe it a little bit as a syncretization of Christianity and Mayan traditions. But the description doesn't do it justice. The whole experience was like watching the Apocalypse at a county fair. I doubt this description will do it justice, either, but it's worth a shot...

The first thing you notice on your way into San Juan Chamula is the sign out front telling gringos not to take photos inside the church, or of any religious rituals (a warning seconded by Lonely Planet). Adding to the odd feel, just beyond that the road into town blocked off by dump truck, and we got out of our taxi and walked into town, stopping at the tourist office to get tickets that allow gringos in the church.

The center of town is a big market in town square selling food, clothing, machetes - the usual random stuff that gets sold in Latin American squares... the one odd thing is the dress most of the guys are wearing- either a white or dark mohair (I think) sleeveless tunic, gathered at the waist, and worn over regular street clothes- jeans and a button down shirt, typically. A few of the guys in the dark tunics also have a white headwrap - almost like a turban - with red tassels hanging down the back. The guidebook identifies these guys as "cargo holders", that is, people with religiously significant positions in the community.

Like most Latin American towns, the central square is focused on the town church, which here has a courtyard. People are streaming into the San Juan Baptista church courtyard, and the church itself. We walk through the courtyard, and a guy with "cargo" (so he wears black mohair cassock and white headwrap) takes our ticket to go into the church.

As we're walking in, out front of the church door is an older guy wearing "festival gear" (bright, multicolored clothing - almost like a jester - with a matching conical hat) and sunglasses is dancing - shuffling, really - to an accordion and singing something that isn't Spanish. He's dancing around stylized bulls that look to be carried or worn, that have a wire "cage" built around them. Maybe he's blessing them or something? Some people are watching him, but more are going inside the church. So we go inside.

Inside the church... beyond altars lining the walls, and a couple in the middle of the floor, there's no furniture at all, except for what must be altar-carriers pushed to one side. The altars are shoulder-to-shoulder, covering every saint you can think of, and are just hectic- one had some sort of lamp with a cutout of the Virgin of Guadalupe on it, playing Christmas carols. Streamers or banners hang from the center beam to the side walls. But what you notice is that the place is packed, more than 3/4ths full of people, standing, kneeling, walking around, talking. Further adding to the overwhelming almost-claustrophobia is that the air is clouded - thick - with incense, pine needles carpet the ground, and candles are everywhere.

People are doing all sorts of stuff in the church. Right inside the door, off to the right, there is a crowd in front of the baptismal font or holy water font, which is behind a wooden cage. Many of these people are holding babies, I guess to be blessed. While there's some milling around, i never saw any definite activity.

People are crowded around a makeshift altar in the middle of the floor, about a third of the way down the hall, where a Catholic priest is holding Mass in Spanish - this is a big source of incense. I can't tell if he's striving against the insanity around him, or has surrendered to it - I think the latter.

But the most impressive - and, frankly, unnerving - is that people are kneeling on the ground, praying. Not just counting the rosary, mind you. This involves an elaborate set up of thin candles on the ground in front of you - a row of two dozen tall white ones, another row of two dozen medium white ones, and then a squad of short ones in all sorts of colors. This is all headed by four or five big votive candles, and all these candles are lit at the same time. A bottle of soda (or sometimes water, I think) is left as an offering. One woman looked on the verge of tears praying (not in Spanish). The pine needles make the sitting more comfortable, although I think they have a religious purpose. Either way, the needles and all the candles, the place must be a fire-trap.

Oddly, a lot of people were socializing. One guy who I watched setting up his candles interrupted himself to say hi and shake hands with an amigo that walked by. Lots of guys were just loitering around, chatting it up.

The priest blessed the crowd around him and left, the Mass over. Guys started handing out crosses from the altar for people to carry, and many started out the door with them. The crosses were green, had pine branches tied to them, and had peoples' names on them. The people at the altar weren't sad or momentous about it- some seemed to think it was almost a happy chore. I never really saw what they were doing with them after they carried them outside.

Back outside, we wandered around. Guys with a synth and a guitar were jamming in the same not-Spanish at full blast, right next to the church with these huge, concert-quality speakers. We grabbed a coke and some churros and sat at a plastic table outside the church courtyard, taking it all in.

A parade forms behind us: some guys in the "cargo" gear, half a dozen guys under the "bulls" I'd seen earlier in front of the church, which were now armed with fireworks on the "cage". Kids in masks were swarming between them- some of the masks were quite modern: the "Scream" movie mask, Vicente Fox, Dubya, Fidel, Saddam even. At the end of the parade was a 20-person or so marching band.

The parade started off. As the parade marches around the market, a guy at the head of the parade sets off a rocket every 30 feet or so, and we can follow the parades progress around the town square. Some of the rockets explode in the air, some fall back to Earth as misfires. While the parade is marching, M-80s are being set off in the church courtyard, scaring the bejeezus out of me, at first.

The parade gets back to the church and after a while, the fuse on one of the "bulls" is lit, and a guy in the festival gear tries to lasso it while it runs around. The bull is armed with roman candles and M-80s. You wonder how many fingers/eyes are lost in all this. The band arranged itself in the gazebo in the church courtyard, and lamely tried to compete with the dudes with the speakers next to the church. The kids are now chasing the bulls, trying to put out the fireworks with palm fronds they have.

Finally we ask the guy selling sodas (wearing a dark tunic) whether this is normal. Turns out we were there for the day before the Fiesta de Santa Rosa, and this was all getting ready for that. "Queman castillos esta noche," he said, which I took to mean they were planning some serious bonfires that night. We decided not to come back for that, as much as we'd been warned against traveling the hills at night as that I can't imagine how spooky the place must be at night.

After that experience, the afternoon spent looking at churches in San Cristóbal kind of pales by comparison.

What Is John Bolton Up To?

2007-03-21T21:03:00.000-04:00

Everyone's favorite ex-recess-appointed-UN-Ambassador has been on a media push this week, showing up on the Daily Show last night and on the BBC's Newsnight tonight. He certainly fields the questions better in the former than in the latter appearance (when looking at the video - skip to 31:45 to get to Bolton), and Paxman's questions certainly show the lack of credence that the Bush administration has worldwide.

But the real question is: Why? Why is Bolton doing this? He's not pushing a book - Al Kamen (I think) mentioned in a column a couple of months back that Bolton's memoirs will be published this coming December, a short year after he left Turtle Bay. And its not like there's a 90-day waiting period between leaving the administration and going on the talk-show tour (I'm not sure George Stephanopulous waited 90 days from leaving the Clinton administration to join This Week).

The only guess I can come up with is that he (or his publisher) hired him a publicist, who is looking to soften up the media with an eye towards pushing the book this fall. But that's pure speculation.

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Bolton comes across as a curmudgeon on TV, but we all know TV can be deceiving, in real life people are different, etc, etc. I once had drinks with someone who worked for Bolton and described him as "as much an asshole as he looks like on TV" (I may be paraphrasing, there). Also, I almost -literally- ran into him at LaGuardia once, as he was coming off a plane at full steam, with a secret service guy (I assume) hustling to keep up. He looked as pissed off from taking the Delta shuttle as he does doign everything else, it seems.

AC/DC

2007-03-19T21:35:00.000-04:00

(Where's the keystroke combination for "Lightning Bolt"?)

A couple of people have been talking about this story on Atlantic City in the NYT today. Messr. Yglesias' money quote:

The hope is that they'll be able to take AC upscale and make it more like a miniature version of Las Vegas. In principle, it seems like a good idea. Las Vegas is 270 miles from LA, which is about the distance between Boston and Atlantic City -- New York, Philadelphia, and Washington are all much closer. In principle, it could be a place people go a lot. But it's just awful -- really, profoundly unappealing.

Funnily, this article has been emailed to me by a friend who's bachelor party we'll be celebrating this weekend in -wait for it- Atlantic City. I'm going, even though I agree with the assessment of Atlantic City as "just awful". The only other time I've visited, the three of us who went -on a spur-of-the-moment long-weekend- came away feeling that the city was really seedy. The boardwalk had a feel that (I'm hoping) was aimed for "charmingly nostalgic" but was more "run down". The following weeks, I got as much mileage out of using the line "the ratio of sweat-pants to regular pants was dangerously high" (it sounds better when it's delivered as being spontaneous, and three beers into the evening) to describe the clientele. So I'm headed back with hipster tongue planted firmly in cheek.

But the other thing damning AC is that it's soo hard to get to. Las Vegas is 270 miles across a desert from LA, where everyone owns at least two cars. Moving up to Gotham a couple of months ago, I sold my car, as who in their right mind wants to park in the city? My counterparts from downtown Boston, Philly, and DC feel the same way.

And getting around from one of those cities to another is easy. If you want to head to DC or Boston on the cheap (which is the only way to go, if you're going to AC), after ten minutes online, you know to take your twenty-dollar bill in hand and head for certain corners in darkest Chinatown any hour on the hour. The train is just as easy (if 2.5x the price).

But, when I look for transportation for a weekend in AC, it doesn't exist. Or rather, it does, but it's impossible to find and -dangerously- they don't put prices or schedules online. More annoyingly, 95% of what I can find online is same-day return service, for those old grannies looking to hit the one-armed bandits and be back in time for Matlock. The a lá carte choices given you to every other city on the eastern seaboard (Richmond?) don't exist.

If the Borgata wants to differentiate itself from Trump, it'll lay down the $1000 a weekend to reel in a busload of ~~gamblers~~ guests.

...and a train down to the city that gave us the Reading Railroad takes almost four hours and changes in Philly.

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This idea is about four years past it's expiration date, but it would have been great to see a satire mash-up of the Sopranos and the OC called "the AC". Or maybe the execution would never live up to the possibilities.

Managing Expectations

2007-03-16T21:35:00.000-04:00

Sez Kaus:

U.S. military deaths in Iraq have apparently declined by about 20% since the "surge" began.

This is based, as near as I can tell, on comparing end-of-2006 numbers with the most recent news from Iraq.

Sez the American DeTocqueville, on the same comparison:

It would not be too tough to believe that US military commanders (and the adminstration, for that matter), who just launched a controversial "surge" of some 30,000 troops, are hoping to set the bar as low as possible for the end of 2006 (conveniently in the "pre-surge" timeframe). Then, with even the remotest calming in Iraq, or the most modest calming of the situation during the first part of 2007, look for subsequent reports to point to improved conditions.

Ego Unstroked

2007-03-14T21:51:00.000-04:00

A blogging coup - a link from a real A-lister. I should be ecstatic. But like all the insecure, I attempt to fill the hole deep inside me with the pretense that the hit-count déluge is a sign that they like me, they really like me.

But Lucy keeps pulling away the football. My coup coincides with the complete collapse of the Sitemeter server. As a result, my hit-count chart for the day flat-lines:

Maybe my hopes of bringing this back from the dead were premature...

Killer Oops

2007-03-13T23:48:00.000-04:00

So the New York Times broke down and made their super-secret Times Select content available free to anyone with a .edu address. While this is obviously an attempt to get college students hooked on a national newspaper, I think the unintended result will be that college grads like me to start giving the $40/year to their alumni association. I'll get a couple of decent lectures, a couple of mediocre advertisements, a free .edu email address, and a Times Select subscription to boot.

Subscribers to the paper edition of the Times already get Times Select access with their breakfast reading. If you assume that a large majority of NYT readers outside New York are college grads (a fair assumption), then the fact that a surprising number of colleges offer .edu addresses to their alumni could be another nail in the coffin of the much-criticized Times Select.

The unexpected boost to alumni subscription (at least among colleges whose alumni are sharp enough to notice this) will be a gift from the NYT to college fundraisers everywhere.

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Also worth noting: if you're a HS student, you're SOL with a .us address (if they're allowed any).

UPDATE: Muchissimas gracias to Mickey Kaus for the link. From the commenters who have drifted in, several have said below that they haven't been able to register their alumni accounts, and suspect that the NYT is filtering out alumni. However, as alumni emails are dolled out in different manners (some just redirect the .edu email - but if you have an endowment as big as Hahvahd's, you can have your own @post.harvard.edu server). So to filter out alumni, wouldn't the NYT have to contact every university in the country to figure out how they register their alumni? Signing up for the .edu service sends an email to the address you sign up with - maybe the email is disabled if it's forwarded (can they do that?)

TIME-SELECTIVE UPDATE: The Mongol hordes have crashed the paywall! From the comments:

Apparently they haven't filtered out all alumni addresses. It did take a while to percolate from my alumni address to my current e-mail address,

The NYT just needs to feed the squirrels that power its servers a higher-protein feed-mix.

TWO DAYS LATER UPDATE: Soccer Dad (from Bahlmer) in the comments points out that your local library is all you need.

Notes From the Ride South

2007-03-08T00:29:00.000-05:00

Over the course of a week two summers ago, I joined my parents in a 1700-mile journey south from Mexico City (this was a subset of their massive, 11-day, 3400-mile trek, south from Washington, DC). Before you ask: Yes, I'm the kind of masochist who willingly joins his parents for a car trip ten years after he's escaped such sentencing.

Despite being the first people – since our paleolithic ancestors 14,000 years ago – to sneak themselves south across the North American landmass, we had a good time of it. Our first day of travel was to (a pre-strike) Oaxaca: former capital of the Mixtec Empire.

A lot of the time was – unsurprisingly – spent driving. This was done early, fast and non-stop. We typically would be on the road by 7:30 am, after whatever breakfast our hotels could provide at that hour – the place in Oaxaca was incapable of getting their act together in time – with only stops for gas. The roads were two-lane blacktop for the most part, and in surprisingly good condition. If you've ever driven the back roads across the Blue Ridge Mountains, you'll get a feel for what it was like.

But instead of the hour drive between I-81 and Route 29, we could put in a nine hour day of twisting roads that doubled-back on themselves, and at times were broken up every mile by a home-made tope, or speed bump. In a weighed-down, low-clearance Camry, the grinding sound the undercarriage made scrapping over those things was excruciating. Progress was further slowed by the fact that unlike those runs over the Blue Ridge, this was the main road, so in addition to us, every tractor-trailer was down-shifting through these mountains, slowing progress. And it's best not to think that just about every other one of these semis was a double hauling gasoline to the next Pemex station.

After an uneventful drive (by the above standards), we got in at about 1pm. The afternoon was spent at a leisurely lunch of tacos (and a michelada – a glass of beer with lemonade, Tabasco, and – occasionally – Worcester sauce, rimmed with salt), strolling through a former monastery-turned-museum about the history of the area, and then retiring to the zócalo (central square). At the zócalo, we joined my father – who had wandered off on his own – for another beer and the one thing I'd promised myself I'd try this time: chapulines, or fried grasshoppers. Despite having been told previously that it's "just like eating popcorn," I was disappointed. They were OK, but tasted like dried shrimp, and were very, very salty. Not sure if I'll need to try them again anytime soon, but now I've had 'em. We dined that evening on some Oaxacan cuisine: I had some chicken in mole negro, the 30-odd ingredients of which include half a dozen types of chiles, lard, cinnamon, pecans, almonds, peanuts, and chocolate. Delicious.

I'd been to Oaxaca once before (and this was my folks' fourth trip), and so had already seen the spectacular ruins of Monte Albán and the world's largest (widest?) tree in Tule outside of town. So the following morning my mother and I went further afield, up to Mitla (ruins) and Yangul (more ruins), to check out the remains of a civilization that flourished over a thousand years ago in the valley.

That was followed by a nice leisurely afternoon at the house of Mark, a friend of my parents'. He's a really interesting guy- he came down to Oaxaca in the early 70s to play baseball(!) in the Mexican leagues, supposedly, and never left. My parent's age, he settled down in the area, marrying a Oaxacan – more properly, Mixtec – woman, and raising an interesting bicultural family (his eldest had just finished six years in the [US] navy, and is now going to state college in Cali, while his younger kids go to private high school in Oaxaca).

Mark picked us up just after two, and drove us up to his place outside of town with a gorgeous view of one of the three valleys that intersect at Oaxaca. We were headed up for lunch, after stopping in town to get beer & dessert (the necessities, obviously). An appetizer of fresh bread and Oaxacan cheese was followed by BBQ chicken, with squash and corn that were grown on their property, and the obligatory rice & white corn tortillas. All very good, and Mark had some Mezcal -not homemade, as I'd hoped, but a gift from a local distiller- to "help with the digestion". Once again – delicious. The last cool touch was that dessert was served with coffee that was grown on a farm owned by the family of Mark's wife, Delia, in the south of the state.

Afterwards, Mark took us on a tour of his territory- one and a half acres that they grow corn & vegetables on, and that they're thinking of turning into four bungalows to rent out. You get the impression that while Oaxaca has always had a bit of an attraction to gringos of the granola-eating variety, Mexico's stability and (relative) prosperity have increased the area's profile with snowbirds or people looking to retire full-time to some place with less strip malls than Sedona.

We also walked through "town" (San Juan Huayacam - that last is Zapotec for "between two rivers," supposedly) to check out the church (closed) and "center". The whole walk was redolent of this book I've been reading forever, and was hoping to finish on the trip, Under the Volcano, which is about a (British) consul in Cuernavaca, written in the '40s. It's a bleak book, but it's interesting in its depiction of "the big Gringo" in a small little Mexican town- watching Mark in San Juan Huayacam was the closest I'll get in 21st century Mexico, I think.

It was also very interesting to see his interaction with Delia. An obviously intelligent woman (just retired from 30 years of teaching, I think), she is very traditionally Mixtec, even though she's fluent in English (or at least understands fluently- she spoke Spanish with us) and married to a gringo. So she served and cleared dinner, and he spoke of her at times almost like she wasn't there- very odd. But they seemed comfortable with it, so who am I to say?

That night I snuck out of the hotel to catch an evening celebration of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, author of Don Quijote. We'd seen a sign for this up in front of the Iglesia Santo Domingo right near our hotel the day before. Camera in hand, I loitered in front of the appointed church at the appointed time. The celebration turned out to be a seventeenth century battle of the bands, in which the "Tuna Oaxaqueña" from the big city hosted the "Tuna Provinciana" in parading down the main pedestrian street of the old town. It was a really appealing civic demonstration, and as near as I can tell, was done more for the benefit of Oaxacans than for us tourists.

The following morning we set out for San Cristóbal de las Casas, better known as ground zero of the Zapatista revolution, in Chiapas. The drive was long – 9 hours in the car, leaving Oaxaca before 8am. The scenery was gorgeous, and the roads very windy through the mountains – it was almost like a car commercial, slaloming back and forth along the twists of the road. Rain came down on us the last hour of the trip, and didn't let up that evening. I got drenched getting us into the hotel. Wearing sandals wasn't pleasant, as I had to slog through two inches of running water gushing down the high gutters of a town obviously prepared for downpours. The fact that the temperature dropped about 30 degrees in the last hour of the drive as we scaled the mountains added nothing to matters. The rain gave the town a very ominous feel- you could easily see oppressed indigenous groups flipping out, or the chupacabra coming to get us, or something crazy like that. While I was happy that it let up the following day, it did add to the atmosphere.

Content

2007-03-08T00:24:00.000-05:00

After a two year hiatus, why not, right? I make no promises, but we'll see if I can't get the ball rolling with some old stuff...

...more than anything else, it's time to move some of these other posts down the front page of the blog.

Dawn over Biscayne Bay

2005-06-30T18:07:00.000-04:00

This was taken from my front doorstep at 7:45 in the morning on June 7th. That's what makes Miami worthwhile.

Nadir

2005-06-29T11:42:00.000-04:00

Mind you, I was in a pissy mood with Miami before this. To alleviate that mood, I decided to get off my slothful ass and get a pass so I could get into our free gym here in the building. As the passes were manditory since the beginning of January, and it was the end of May, that'll give you an idea of just how slothful I was. The following is from a little over a month ago...

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As it looked like it was about to pour cats & dogs on a Sunday afternoon (and now, an hour & a half after I went down to the gym, it still looks like it...), I went down to the gym (at a little before 6pm) to pretend to know what I was doing on some weight machines, and then get in a half hour on the exercise bike, to burn some of the old fat...

Our gym is a simple gym, but it has a gorgeous ground-floor view out over Biscayne Bay and out to Star Island. The exercise bikes & treadmills are pointed directly at the bay, so if you're pedalling a little too hard to read whatever you brought, you can zone out on the view and listen to whatever monstrosity you've downloaded off the net that week. There were a couple of people hanging out on the dock behind the building, and I half-noticed them as I debated bringing up some MP3s for a friend when I head up to New York tomorrow.

I have ten minutes left on the bike when a dark blur flashes down outside, to my left. It's a mannequin that lands on its feet before giving into the momentum and falling backwards, away from me. Bits of debris fall down with it. But it's no mannequin, and at a second look, those are definitely the ends of his shinbones -tibia, or whatever- sticking out at his ankles, and his feet are laying there at an unnatural angle.

The first couple of seconds are given over to processing what just happened- I'm still pedalling away, but have slacked off a bit, and my head is tilted a bit to one side, blinking once or twice. Before the feet have even registered with me, I assume this is some bizarre prank whoever lives on the second floor (with the balcony right over the patio), most likely drunk, is pulling, and this ass-clown is going to get up, giggling. But he doesn't.

At this point, one of the guys out on the dock, who obviously has a better grip on reality than I do, has come up to the gate and is opening it to get to the patio. Behind the glass, the ankles register with me. Before anything else, before even thinking to attend to the guy on the ground (in retrospect, as I haven't taken a CPR class in 15 years, this is probably for the best), the thought goes off in my head like a claxon: "Call an ambulance!!" I hop off the exercise bike, and, iPod in hand, haul off to the front desk.

I get to the front desk out of breath and drenched in sweat (from the bike, not from the 100-yard dash from the gym to the front), and blast in the front doors. I immediately confront one of the 20-year-olds they have working the front desk here, and gasp like a fish: "Call a fucking ambulance -gasp- Someone just fell -gasp- On the fucking patio behind the gym." Guy turns to his partner behind the desk and says call an ambulance, and heads out the front door back to the gym. I follow, gibbering about how I'd been on the bike when this happened, and God knows what else.

The guy heads out onto the patio, and I don't follow, as I don't have anything productive to add, and don't want to get in the way. I watch, flustered, from the elevator hallway, which has a glass door out onto the patio (right next to the entrance to the gym). I'm at a loss of what to do- I toy with the idea of shying away people who are coming in and out of the elevators from looking out on the patio. But then I realize they can't see what's going on out there anyway, and my shushing -or whatever- would just attarct attention to what was going on. I realize I can actually be useful by waiting out front for the medics.

I head out front just as the responding officer shows up- I wave him out towards the patio, where he takes charge of the situation, and the medics show up a minute or two later, coming out on the patio from the far side of the building, which lets out onto 10th street.

From this point out, we (me, the couple of guys from the dock, and a couple other residents) are just gawkers. I watch from inside the gym -which the guy from the front desk let me back into- as the medics do their thing, talking to the guy (who is breathing, but I can't tell if he's conscious- he doesn't seem to be responding, and I never see him move his limbs under his own power), and putting a neck brace and other padding on him in preparation for lifting onto the gurney. After rubbernecking inside for a while, I headed out to see if this poor guy was OK. I was really confused that no one who was having beers with this guy when he fell over had come down to check up on him.

Outside, I was disabused of a couple of those thoughts. First, it was a she, not a he. That long-haired guy with some cloth across his chest was a girl in a sarong-wrap top or something. I thought she was wearing trunks, but now (a little over two hours after the fact), I can't remember.

After she was wheeled away -and the officer closest to us couldn't or wouldn't give us a readout on her condition- another officer picked up what I had thought was a book that had come down with her. He turned to another cop and mentioned that it was a passport, which from where I stood looked like the blue US ones. Near that, which they didn't pick up, was either a small book tented on the ground or her wallet. So she wanted to be identified. And it was with that thought that I realized that she hadn't fallen by accident.

One of the cops said that someone across the way, in the Mirador, had seen this woman open the door out onto her balcony (rumored to be the sixth floor), and walk straight out and climb over, with no hesitation.

I head back upstairs, and my roommate and his friend have been blissfully ignorant of the whole deal, so I fill them in on happenings. I hop in the shower, and it's only when I get out that they fire up the sirens on the ambulance to drive off. I don't know why. The evidence guys -CSI types, I think- just left the site a couple of minutes ago, but a quick check shows the Miami Herald site is still mum on all this. So who knows what the back story is.

While I get down on Miami as a place to live -it's awesome in 36 hour doses, with your amigos in tow- I can only imagine what goes on here, that I'm not aware of, that would drive someone to that.

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A month later, I've still seen nothing in the news -anywhere- on this. When I got back to my apartment building a couple of days later, after travelling, I asked at the front desk, and the guy there wasn't particularly enlightening, but he was of the understanding the woman -from the 9th, not 6th, floor- didn't survive. It's disheartening that something like this just gets swept under the carpet, but there you go.

Miasma (rolls across the Everglades...)

2005-06-28T23:56:00.000-04:00

I'd written a solid 500 words last night on what is wrong with Miami and dammit if Blogger and Camino don't get along like they should, and everything got deleted. Which is annoying, and -frankly- surprising, as all the hipster kids would tend to be using both (everyone who's cool has a blog, and everyone who's cool has a Mac, right? I'm cool, right?). But I digress (what do you call it when you digress before you've even reached the subject at hand? “progress”...)

While the computer in the other room downloads Google Earth (homina homina homina), I'll try to rewrite this.

Miami is weird- it's an incredibly fun town in 36 hour segments. When I have friends in town for the weekend, we have a famous time. Admittedly, it's not particularly enlightening for those of you following along at home (how many times can you read “...and then we went to the Delano, for $12 cocktails and the ogling of much silicone,” over and over again before you realize this has just turned into US Weekly.com?), but it's fun nonetheless (although the amount of sleep I get in drops precipitously).

But it's the Tuesday, 9pm, situation that gets me down. There's nothing to do. Or, more accurately, there's no one to do it with (doesn't that sound dirty). Almost everyone in this town is a moron (those of you offended, please- spare me your letters). I was talking to a friend on the phone today, and she mentioned how the line I'd fed a mutual friend that “the most intelligent conversation I've had in Miami is about real estate. And I hate real estate.” had gotten back to her. With all observation humor (or attempts at it), it's funny 'coz it's true (well, almost true. I had a conversation on Saturday about the furniture import business that was simply fascinating, let me tell you).

Miami is not an intellectual mecca, fine. It's the kind of town that is not going to attract people who's salient measurements are their SAT scores- I can accept that. But the way in which the town fosters a lack of intellectual curiousity is amazing. I mean, nominally, this town does have some intellectual/artistic attractions: Art Basel Miami Beach is a pretty big deal, and everyone who's anyone in entertainment in Latin America has spent some time here, if nothing else because they speak the language.

But with almost everyone I've met here, whether they're native born or imported (and the segregation between locals and trnasients is arguably worse than it is in DC, a town notorious for it), I've found myself gasping for conversation after 90 seconds of small talk. Even the banal platitudes of weather, sports, and work are too difficult for us to manouver in a way that one of us isn't looking to our cups, muttering that we should refill our drinks.

And, with the few people I've met here who are interesting, we're ('we'? Counting yourself as one of them? Well... with this post as evidence, I'm obviously not wild about Miami) so bitter about being in Miami that we're no fun to be around. I had drinks in March with (among other people) a guy who is the local Spanish-language correspondent for a big news provider/corporation. Originally from Colombia, the guy asked me my thoughts of Miami after six months. Putting the best face on it I could, I said that I was still getting adjusted, discovering the place, etc, etc. With his wife at his side, he retorted back to me: “I've been here for five and half years. I still don't like the place.” Those encouraging words are typical of the people who are “smart” here. Which makes them insufferable to hang around with, because, as I mentioned at the top of this rant, Miami is fun.

I hate being this negative about a place, but, well, here we are. And, despite all evidence to the contrary (e.g., this whole damn site), I still think there's some benefit to the old “if you haven't anything nice to say, don't say anything at all” canard, and so haven't posted much about my experience down here.

I have been lucky to travel some, and have meant to post about that, but hey- I'm lazy.

So does this mean we can look forward to another almost-year-long hiatus briefly interrupted by cryptic posts like we've seen in the past? Who knows! But, while I've been noodling around on this end, a couple of things I've drafted will probably become posts shortly, and -if we're lucky- the momentum will lead us on to further posts.

So, before I'm off to DC on Friday, we can look forward to one more negative, and then two positive posts about Miami. Stay tuned...

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And was this post prompted by the noting by some that I haven't posted in forever? Of course not...

Victor at Sea

2005-02-17T13:51:00.000-05:00

I swear I'm really writing up some stuff on Paraguay- strange stories from the land where monkeys play harps. In the meantime, distract yourself with another hastily-written review of Miami's newest hotel, the Victor. Krucoff should really start living up to his title and start editing my stuff. It's hard to write through a hangover.

Living off the Grid

2005-02-04T09:39:00.000-05:00

For the half dozen of you that clicked through from the Catalina post on Gridskipper (newest member of the Denton-Gawker keiretsu), you'll notice I haven't put much up here recently. The move to a new spot (Miami) has kind of focused me on other tasks (like finding a bed), and I haven't had the time to devote to navel contemplation I'd like. However, I'm off to Paraguay(!) tonight, so I should be able to milk a couple of posts out of that trip, in about a week or so...

As they say, stay tuned.

2004-11-08T22:49:00.000-05:00

'You know how in college years would go by and you wouldn't notice anything?"

I swear my roommate just said that while on the phone with a friend of his.

Örn öffenð þe Icelandic

2004-11-01T11:33:00.000-05:00

Örn Arnarson, the boy who outswam a shark, and won America's heart by insulting it with crude obscenities at every turn, has learned from his brief stint here at due torre.

He now has his own site, Islensk Menning, where he jabbers on in Icelandic about pressing topics of the day, which near as I can tell, seem to be the dismal state of Redskins football, tackling small children in Halloween costumes, and the tendency of the Pentagon to "embættismönnunum" the State Department when it isn't looking. Good stuff.

If you think a good time is "Vodka, Nick Cave, and reading the Old Testament or Hayek," his is the blog for you.

Gilded Exile

2004-10-25T22:18:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to write a longer (well, for me- 200 words?) piece on how I've been settling in to Miami. While I can't exactly complain (see fotos below), I still very much feel the fish out of water here: despite speaking the lingue franche (ok, well not kreole), Miami is (obviously) very different from DC or New York or the Northeast in general.

While I'll try to bring up some witty anecdotes from Miami Beach over the next couple of days, I thought I'd start out with what everyone wants to see (or, rather, what I'd like to rub in everyone's face), the eye candy, shots from my apartment (you will get this same spiel, word for word, when you come and visit):

First is the view from my bedroom window, looking east over Miami Beach. The road running out to the beach is 10th St. As you can tell, except for apartment buildings (like mine) on the west side of the island, and Hotels on the east side of the island (north of this picture), the island is relatively low-lying, almost undeveloped (one of the roads that runs perpendicular to 10th in the middle there looks positively suburban.

Next is the view west from my balcony, out over Biscayne Bay and to downtown Miami. The island in the bay is Star Island, home to Miami's obscenely rich. The most recent neighboor to move in there is Shaq, now of the Miami Heat. At the southern end of the island is the mansion that is supposed to be the one from that documentary of Cuban-Miami relations, Scarface. Behind the island you can see two cruise ships (I think they're both "Carnval" cruise ships) docked at the port of Miami, home to countless tourists who want the experience of travelling abroad without the hassle of leaving the country. Finally downtown Miami is a fairly non-descript business district, with one notable building designed by I.M. Pei. The tallest building there is lit up at night in varying colors in a pale imitation of the Empire State Building:

These last two are not meaningful shots, I just thought they were beautiful sunset shots from Miami. They, like all the pictures here, are big enough to be desktop backgrounds, if you so desire (n.b.: my fotographic experience consists of less than a month owning this camera):

First Presidential Debate

2004-09-30T23:15:00.000-04:00

Ninety minutes of non-stop foreign policy, and not one word on Latin America. sigh. I'm toilin in the dark over here.

(More seriously, I'd like to see some talk about immigration policy in the domestic debate, which is pretty much: "Whadda ya think about the Mexicans?")

Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's...

2004-09-29T11:04:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's a blimp.

Photo from my back deck

Either Ozzie Smith or Cal Ripken, Jr. would still make a great SS

2004-09-29T02:14:00.000-04:00

When I was in elementary school, I got to go with my best friend Bayard and his family to watch an opening day game between the Baltimore Orioles and the St. Louis Cardinals. The cool thing about that game (in addition to the short-stop duel between two future Hall of Famers) was that instead of being played up in Baltimore at the storied Memorial Stadium, it was played in DC at RFK stadium.

I would love to be able to repeat an opening day at RFK, this time to watch the Senators.

Weather's here, wish you were fine.

2004-09-27T11:28:00.000-04:00

I will be pontificating in a self-absorbed fashion offline for the next couple of weeks, as I make like the swallows and head for Capistrano, or some such thing.

That explains the deja vú I get watching Spartacus

2004-09-22T01:36:00.000-04:00

"By the time Dick, in the last decade of his life, came to the conclusion that reality as we know it is an illusion used by the Roman Empire to numb the minds of Christians"

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A shadow of the style of TMFTML, in honor of his retirement from the blogosphere.

Jantando na Mesa do Imperador

2004-09-20T18:16:00.000-04:00

[27-9-04: I don't know exactly what Blogger just did, but it deleted the post I had here when I tried to make one orthographic change, and now I can't get it back. The bastards.]

'I (Heart) NY' vs 'Yo Amo Miami'

2004-09-20T17:17:00.000-04:00

No move is complete without a party:

After much scuffling, Trevan & Mike have come to the realization that this town isn't big enough for the two of them; in fact, the town isn't big enough for one of them. With the interests of Washington at heart, then, Trevan is moving to P. Diddy's New York, and Mike is moving to Don Johnson's Miami; Trevan to walk down Wall Street, Mike to wallow in the gutter press.

But before you all get worked up, get down with us one last time this Friday at Bossa, which is conveniently equidistant between NYC and MIA in Adams Morgan. We'll be sippin' the Crystal after 9pm and be rockin' until we get deported from the District.

If you're on the continent, stop on by.

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And no, not Cristal, Crystal.

A Pound of Pierce's Pitt's Pork, Please

2004-09-20T13:33:00.000-04:00

Late breaking news: El taco grande himself, the D-ram, the artist formerly known as my brother, informs me that the BBQ joint earlier in question is none other than Pierce's.

Consider this a recommendation, for next time you're in the area.

Great Moments in Technological Dependency

2004-09-20T11:46:00.000-04:00

I'm here at Tryst, squandering my last couple of days of vacation, and like me, many other people around me here are using their laptops in a semi-productive fashion.

The best, however, is the guy sitting right next to me, with a big, wide, laptop keyboard spread out in front of him, hunting and pecking while he types out an email on his Blackberry.

He's not heavy, he's my brother

2004-09-17T16:02:00.000-04:00

Blogger happy hour; self-referencial self-satisfaction; the usual nonsense. In keeping with my duties as Mayor of the Backwaters of the Internet, I've managed to keep out of all the pictures people have put up, but they give you an idea of the turn out DCist got: pretty impressive for a less-than-a-month old blog.

I, of course, showed up to hector and kibbitz. I came in for some heat on disparaging their eighteen-part miniseries on life in a nursing home, but enough misdirection and sleight-of-hand (coupled with generous drinking habits on the parts of all concerned) moved the conversation onward to safer topics.

(Although it looks like they loved me so much at DCist they're listing me twice in the post: both as a writer here, and as a "representative" from MemeFirst. I hope to one day graduate to being "Minister Plenipotentiary and Nuncio" for the site.)

The best part of the evening came out of a discussion about barbeque. One of the contributors to DCist was extolling the virtues of this BBQ house just past Williamsburg (whose name escapes me, but it's supposed to be excellent). I naturally represented for the family, with my brother reiging in "Illysburg." Not only did the natual question follow ("Does he go to William & Mary?") but she asked point blank: "Is he a Psi U?" I guess I've got the "has a brother in Psi U" look going for me- I'll try to leverage it with the ladies as much as possible.

So Chris, while you're out there in the pine forests of Southern Virginia, know that not only does Rebecca Walters remember you, she thinks I actually have redeeming value as your brother.

-----
A lot of people are complaining this morning about hangovers. I just slept in.

No shit, Sherlock

2004-09-15T15:38:00.000-04:00

...so six months ago I was mugged. (No, no, I'm fine, it was nothing serious- the guy just wanted my wallet, I gave it to him, they eventually caught him, etc.. I just had to get that out there: my brother called me up today, and when I told him I was walking out of the DC Courthouse, I could hear his eyes rolling on the other end of the line, and the thoughts of "what's he done this time?" shoot through his brain...)

So, as I was saying, I was stopped for a little scratch, and they caught the guy, and today I was called in to give testimony in the armed robbery case the govt. (as this is the District, they literally make a Federal Case out of it) brought against the guy. Mostly this involved making small talk in the witness holding tank with the other schlub who got stopped by this guy that night. But some of it involved reading my grand jury testimony, and if you think hearing your voice on a tape player is wierd, it's nothing compared to reading a verbatim transcript of your own speech- I use a lot of "yeahs".

But the best part was getting to listen to my 311 call in the AUSA's office (I'm not sure if it's going to be admitted as evidence). I made the call after I got home, after I'd been mugged by a guy with a knife, and after I'd been out celebrating a friends birthday, and possibly having a few drinks. The call is fairly straighforward, with the operator getting down all the vital information I can provide her, until we get to this exchange:

OPERATOR: Can you describe what he was wearing?
ME: Umm... well, he wasn't wearing a tuxedo.

As the AUSA put it right before we got to that: "This is my favorite part."

-----
Also, I'm hoping my grand jury testimony may be one of the first to specifically mention the 7-Eleven Spicy Bite, a beast I've never eaten, but know too much about.

A New Hot Air Focal Point

2004-09-14T15:29:00.000-04:00

...to balance out Capitol Hill.

So the folks at DCist are having a launch party for the site up at Reef on Thursday. (For those who remember -and haven't been to the swamp in a while- Reef took over the old Star of Siam space in Adams Morgan. It's mediocre bar space and bizarre entrance policy is made up for by a very nice rooftop deck-bar)

You know they're scraping the bottom of the barrel (and not just because of their three-part exposé on eighty-year-old women in Washington), when they drop due torre a line asking us to stop by:

We'd love to get a good showing of local bloggers together at the launch party. We've read your sites before, and it'd be great to meet you all in person! So come on out if you can make it.

Who are they kidding? No one reads this site- two of the three "authors" here don't read this site!

...much more disturbing is that -as near as I can tell- the writers at DCist are all younger than I am. From young pup to elder statesman of the blogosphere, all in ten months. Truly, what an amazing future we live in!

Up here, I'm already gone.

2004-09-14T02:45:00.000-04:00

KRAMER: You're wasting your life.
GEORGE: I am not! What you call wasting, I call living! I'm living my life!
KRAMER: O.K., like what? No, tell me! Do you have a job?
GEORGE: No.
KRAMER: You got money?
GEORGE: No.
KRAMER: Do you have a woman?
GEORGE: No.
KRAMER: Do you have any prospects?
GEORGE: No.
KRAMER: You got anything on the horizon?
GEORGE: Uh...no.
KRAMER: Do you have any action at all?
GEORGE: No.
KRAMER: Do you have any conceivable reason for even getting up in the morning?
GEORGE: I like to get the Daily News!
KRAMER: George, it's time for us to grow up - and be men. Not little boys.
GEORGE: Why?
KRAMER: I'm goin' to California. You know, I got the bug.
GEORGE: Yeah, I think I got a touch of something, too.
KRAMER: No, the acting bug. Ever since I was in that Woody Allen movie.
GEORGE: "These pretzels are making me thirsty"? That was one line! You got fired!
KRAMER: I know, I know, but man! I never felt so alive! Now, are you coming with me?
GEORGE: Uh, no, I'm not.
KRAMER: Alright, suit yourself. But let's keep this between us - we're key brothers now.
*Kramer gets up to leave.*
GEORGE: You're not really gonna go to California, are you?
KRAMER (points to his head): Up here, I'm already gone.

man, am I itching to get out of dodge and find Miami... it literally keeps me up at night.

What happens on the orange line, stays on the orange line

2004-09-10T16:02:00.000-04:00

Ladies, these were the men your parents warned you about.

(for Salim & co.- if you don't get it, don't sweat it)

Stefan's Assignment Desk

2004-09-10T15:06:00.000-04:00

From Stockholm, a story that I now pass on, third hand. I've spent five minutes googling for mention of this in print, but can't find it. However, the source of this story would be in a position to know, and does not have a history of fabricating tales (you've guessed it, he's a twelve-year-old student):

Recently, Göran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden, was heard muttering discouraging words after checking his voicemail (possibly to the effect of "Fucking kids"). When pressed to explain such a condemnatory description of children (who, as we know, are "our future"), the following came to light: recently, a senior member of the government (possibly Thomas Östros, Minister for Education) was speaking at a middle school somewhere in Sweden. After the uneventful speech, the respected connected one accidentally left his cellphone at the school (possibly on the counter in the little boys' room). As would happen, some curious student found the cellphone, and, scrolling through the addressbook, found the Prime Minister's personal number. Now he did what anyone of us would do if we were twelve years old and armed with such sensitive information: he passed it out to all his friends.

So in addition to messages of political import, the Prime Minister has been receiving voicemails from middle-school children, who have been leaving such bon mots as: "the penis is long." One can only hope that these first-form fortunes brighten his day.

Anyone out there who is plugged into the Swedish political system better than I am is more than welcome to follow up on this.

Tú te amas; yo - Miami

2004-09-10T14:25:00.000-04:00

So through the connections of a fellow co-conspirator, I have been offered a real job (look ma- healthcare!), and I have been spending the past two weeks doing the due diligence to prepare for a move to the crown jewel of the Caribbean, Miami.

A great place to visit; I didn't think I could stand to live there- that's how I have always thought about Miami. The airport (how I know Miami best), aptly coded MIA by the FAA, is a gray purgatory one is exiled to before or after trips to South America. The city itself has always been fun to visit, on the few occasions I've gotten the chance. It's one dimentional, but it does that one dimension very, very well.

In preparation for being sent into gilded exile, I have been looking into the necessary accoutrements for surviving in the land of ex-Long Island grandparents, Columbian coke-smugglers, and disgraced politicians of all stripes: the white linen suits (see the example in the obligatory photo), the balcony-bedecked apartment from which to lounge in a hammock at all hours, and the white 1989 Crown Victoria, to be used in getting to the golf course and the early-bird, all-you-can-eat buffet special.

It's funny that everyone asks me if I'm ecstatic to be moving down: I'm not. First, I haven't signed on the dotted line for anything (the apartment people have proved elusive- but I'm hoping to nail that down over the next couple of days). Second, the start date isn't until October, and mentally I still see a lot of September between here and there. And third, while it's exciting to be moving on to a new and very interesting job, while half of me is excited, the other half is scared shitless: it's journalism, and I've never done journalism before. As you've no-doubt noticed, I can barely string together a non-cornball sentence, much less a whole damn article.

Of course everyone I know is ecstatic to know I'm moving there- they now have a place to crash. Let's just hope this isn't a place for me to crash and burn.

Those aren't doughnuts- they're zeros

2004-08-26T08:34:00.000-04:00

On the heels of the ballyhoo surrounding the opening of a new Krispy Kreme store on Dupont circle, and the subsequent snafu on opening day, now comes word that KKD is (further) falling through the floor, thanks to an earning report half of what it was a year ago.

While the official word is that Atkins America is pinching them in the love handles, the resignation of the COO a couple of weeks ago to do the same gig at Restoration, and (more ominously) an SEC investigation into accounting shenanigans involving a franchise-buyback program are more likely culprits of the tasteless results.

It is obviously the job of all of us here in DC to eat as many of their doughnuts as possible, to get them out of these financial dire straights.

Technical Difficulties

2004-08-25T17:24:00.000-04:00

So Örn's archnemisis Wonkette went out and got herself an iBook the other day:

Apple iBook G4: $1099.00
AirPort Extreme Card: $79.00
Parking at Clarendon Mall: $.50
Ass-fucking jokes: Priceless

You really can buy your way out of any situation. Wonkette would like to thank the capitalist system for making her return possible. We'll get busy shortly.

I must be doing something right if I've got the same laptop as the Queen of inside-the-beltway gossip. But I've recently been having serious sensitivity issues with the touchpad on this little deuce coupe of a computer. It's gotten to the point I think I'm headed out to the same Apple Store she went to to see if they can do something. It'd be interesting to see if she (no doubt a heavier user of the iBook than I) runs into the same problems.

-----
not that that excuses the lack of posting- "day job" (and i use the term loosely) is the excuse i'll give. but i can no longer use that excuse.

Consider this the obligatory comment about how neither of these guys is as cute as Jen Chung

2004-08-23T12:32:00.000-04:00

So, in a move that might actually motivate some writing over here (coupled with a subtle "what happened to due torre?" from the 'rents over the weekend), the Gothamist keiretsu has extendend a tentacle down to Dupont's Swamp: DCist is live.

Go get a fix of Marion Barry pride.

Bütros in the Hizzouse

2004-07-07T17:23:00.000-04:00

If you know what's good for you, you'll catch the 4pm (DC time) flight from Reykjavik on Friday to see Bütros Bütros (the band so nice they named it twice) at DC's favorite overpriced hole, the Grog & Tankard, this Friday at 11pm.

you've been warned.

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

2004-07-07T17:18:00.000-04:00

...or, at least give me one more week to start writing again.

In the Life of Mike (2004 Edition, Release 2.1), I've been spending a lot of time in front of a computer doing boring work. Combined with the fact that I'm perpetually behind on said work means that it's hard to crank up the difference engine and put out self-righteous pap like I used to, at least on paper. Cranking it out in bars, however, I'm still golden at.

But, I should be able to bring things back on stream once I'm done with round one of this project I have strapped myself to, like a captain to his ship.

Your source for all your Bütros needs....

2004-06-03T17:39:00.000-04:00

We actually get referrals to this site looking for Bütros Bütros Washington DC or Bütros Bütros restraining order, so I feel it's only fair to point out that the only band in Washington, if not on the face of the earth, to sing in Arabic about the Dukes of Hazzard will be rocking the Grog & Tankard this Friday, after 11pm.

Tell 'em Ace sent you.

Hélène

2004-06-03T17:36:00.000-04:00

Like anyone who reads this doesn't read MemeFrist, what with my constant hectoring, but a brief post up about Hélène De Beir, killed doing a job she loved in Afghanistan.

Congratulations, you win my roommate's toaster oven

2004-05-27T14:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning we had our one-thousandth visitor to due torre.

Those numbers would be more accurate if my mother wasn't reloading the site fifteen times a day. There's no way they could be considered impressive...

Tikal: the Movie

2004-05-27T13:35:00.000-04:00

I was getting lunch today (at Burrito Fast, the best burrito-to-go joint in the greater MtP conurbation), and waiting in line, I was staring at a poster of Tikal with my mind was idling in neutral. Tikal is a beautiful site (I've never been, I'm going on pictures here), and like other Mayan sites (Chichén Itzá), is a location waiting to be turned into a cinematographic masterpiece.

Which led me to the idea of a Mayan blockbuster: lush forest, white limestone, red-feathered headresses. A tragedy set in the mysterious collapse of the Mayan civilization twelve centuries ago. Diego Luna (the other guy from Y tu mamá también) plays the young prince whose smart friend realizes that unless changes are made, the people will starve and chaos will reign. Edward James Olmos as his father, the King, whose power is waning in his winter years. And Danny Trejo as the king's vizier bent on letting the people starve to strengthen his position and to succeed the king on the Jade Throne high atop the Templo Mayor.

Jaguar Knights, Human Sacrifice, and Chac Mool. Coming to a theater near you, Summer 2008.

I'd say woo-hoo, but they're not going to let any of the stores in MtP do this...

2004-05-24T17:15:00.000-04:00

D.C. to Let Liquor Stores Stay Open Until Midnight

gadfly to the b-list literati. that's me.

2004-05-24T11:42:00.000-04:00

MemeFirst name-checked in the New Yorker. My sister will be so jealous.

[UPDATE] But not all the news is good: the mere reference in a respected journal seems to have killer the electronic soul of the site. Maybe we've just exceeded the bandwidth alloted to the whole damn country of Sweden.

[DOUBLE SECRET UPDATE] It seems to be working again...

Good News

2004-05-22T15:13:00.000-04:00

Just so's I can't be accused of writing nothing but bad news here, rumor has it that the proposed Starbucks they were going to build on Mt. Pleasant St., and thereby kill the soul of the neighborhood, has been nixed. Whether by poor projected revenue or the voice of reason is left unsaid.

But I rejoice.

I call this enemy...the sun.

2004-05-22T14:24:00.000-04:00

(or another concern of mine about the decline and fall of Adams Morgan)

Some unnamed (not cause it's a secret- it's cause I can't remember) Greek developer has supposedly bought up all the buildings between Citi- er, Left Bank and the alley that empties onto 18th St about 150 feet up from the 18th & Belmont intersection. This Greek shopping magnate now holds sway over such establishments as the New Orleans Café, Burrito Brothers, a forgettable barbershop and a sketchy "Books & News" joint that is a cross between a head shop and the Porno Depot.

If they were to be bulldozed into the ground, I would miss none of these spots, with the exception of the New Orleans Café. So I am willing to bow in reverence to the whirling dervishes of capitalism that will lead this latter-day Onassis to erect a new building on prime real estate. If he could bend the DC Alcohol Beverage Control Board to his will and have more sidewalk seating, all the better. While I worry that the new space could play host to something offensive to God, like a TGIFridays, I am more afraid of what is going to put in over the new real estate: I'm afraid of the building itself.

As geology has molded Adams Morgan, 18th Street between say, Kalorama and Columbia road, is lined with turn-of-the-century (no, no, 1900) townhouses, that all pretty much top out at three stories. In the summer, this allows for sitting out and catching the evening sun during happy hour at any place along the eastern side of the road (ahhh, the hallowed days of yore, when we did happy hour...). The only obstructions to this glory are the buildings Left Bank and Reef are in, and in Reef's case we luck out, as the locale across the street (Tryst) doesn't have sidewalk seating.

But with the possibility of seven stories of sun-blocking cement rising over the west side of 18th Street, as part of some developer's plan for overpriced condos, the patio seating of Toledo Lounge, Mezé, La Fourchette, and that indian place (doh!) would all be left as soulless as a prison yard.

So please, Mister Real Estate Mogul, make the new condos exclusive, and stick to four floors, tops.

"Since the beginning of time man has yearned to destroy the sun. I will do the next best thing...block it out!"

-----
I realize that post was rushed towards the end, but I'm on my way out the door. Sorry.

Unverifiable fact of the day

2004-05-20T16:03:00.000-04:00

According to otherwise-unimpeacheable college roommate MLG, one in nine of all Swedes have been on reality TV at some point.

The rationale behind this is that reality TV was "invented" in Sweden, and has been on TV there for something like the past twenty years. While I could see a significant number of people having been on TV in Sweden, that's still one million people. Highly dubious.

A quick Google search turns up nothing to confirm the fact, so I'm going to chalk it up as lost in translation somehow. But I thought it was too good to pass up.

This One's for my bro...

2004-05-20T12:03:00.000-04:00

Jon Stewart's William & Mary Commencement Address. Maudlin towards the end, but better than any one I've ever sat through:

Today is the day you enter into the real world, and I should give you a few pointers on what it is. ItÂs actually not that different from the environment here. The biggest difference is you will now be paying for things, and the real world is not surrounded by three-foot brick wall.

And he even references Psi U...

Trouble on the Left Bank

2004-05-19T15:04:00.000-04:00

(this is my first attempt at architecture- or cuisine-based commentary, so bear with me)

Recently Cities, the heart of Eurotrash Adams Morgan, underwent a serious face-lift. For a couple of years it's been waffling between whether it would be a restaurant downstairs/club upstairs, or club downstairs/VIP club upstairs, or club downstairs/million-dollar condos on the third floor and nothing in-between. Whatever the layout du jour, it was always a good place to get your pretensions on. I always imagined it did well (and from all you hear, it did, with the owners opening up Mezé accross the street as a restaurant/lounge with a heavier turkish accent). So I was surprised when they closed down without much fanfare to undergo six weeks of remodelling.

Eight weeks later (contractors, no doubt, being contractors), they've reopened, under the same owner and more-or-less the same management, as Left Bank, an "all-day french bistro" (the name highlights the fact that DC is on the left bank of the Potomac, a fact that anyone who lives in this town would never think about, and look at you wierd for pointing out).

Trouble is, I think Left Bank is going to fail. What is it trying to be? If it's trying to be an all-day diner, it's got the competition of, well, The Diner across the street, and the established joint has a (slightly) cheaper menu that fits into the more established diner genre. If it's trying to be a French bistro (which I would encourage, frankly), then why does it have an omlette cart that comes around for breakfast? Why is there a sushi bar in the back?

Left Bank's schizophrenia continues with the decor: the walls look stolen from some poor school in Oaxaca, the barstools from the set of 2001, the tables are picnic tables (!) cast-off from some IKEA design studio.

The whole effort smacks of trying to be all things to all people, and succeeding in pleasing none. Which should please the competition, but be a dissappointment to the rest of us.

Follow-up on Marginalia

2004-05-12T12:29:00.000-04:00

So back in the dark days of winter, I rambled about how corporate social responsibility programs in many ways were marketing gimmicks much more than they were corporations being socially responsible. At the time, I included a cheap shot at Starbucks, without backing it up. This article by the due torre fave Rob Walker, talks a bit more about Starbucks & Newman's Own, and how they use social responsibility as a marketing tool. The money quote:

TransFair USA, a nonprofit founded in 1998 and associated with the Fair Trade Labelling Organizations network, oversees a certification process, and beans bought at the proper price (currently $1.26 a pound) carry a "Fair Trade Certified" label--appealing to consumers who are in the know, and trying to educate those who aren't.
...
Cycon sniped that TransFair "won't tell you" how much coffee certain "self-proclaimed 'socially responsible' companies" buy at Fair Trade prices, and helpfully listed those percentages for Green Mountain (12%), Starbucks (1%), and Seattle's Best (0.5%).

Bad decisions made while drunk...

2004-05-12T11:15:00.000-04:00

Or, Great Moments in Government-Media Relations

So the Brazilian government, in it's infinite wisdom, has decided to eject Larry Rohter, NYT bureau chief in Rio de Janeiro since the dawn of time, from the country for his journalism, which is "flippant, deceitful and disrespectful to the honor of the President of Brazil." The government has cancelled (cassado) Rohter's visa, and given him eight days to leave the country.

The brazuca indignation comes from Rohter's article in the NYT on Sunday, about Lula's supposed drinking problem.

This is a wrong step at almost every level for the Brazilian government, and is disappointing coming from the administration of a man who started his career fighting against the oppression of the military government. And that's exactly what this is: oppression. It's no coincidence that all the Brazilian papers are using the word cassação to describe the move. While the dictionary translates the word as to "void, annul, cancel;" that neutral definition does not provide the dark connotations that cassação brings.

In a brilliant turn of bureaucratic authoritarianism, the post-64 military government used to cassar (for 10 years) the political rights of anyone who opposed them. Instead of making them dissappear (althought that did happen) or arresting them (which happened as well), anyone who criticized the government would be cassado. The Orwellian Newspeak feel to the word reflects the censorship that's being practised by the government.

Or, as Claudio Shikida put it much more wittily than I, we're tasting the "authoritarian hangover."

-----
And yes, I still do occassionally write. After my hiatus in New York, and getting back into the swing of things here at the National Affairs Desk, hopefully I'll be posting more here and elsewhere, soon...

BUTROS BUTROS DECLARED BARTENDER'S SECOND FAVORITE LOCAL BAND

2004-04-23T11:48:00.000-04:00

compiled from wire services

Washington, DC, April 21 -- In a chance meeting at Rockland's BBQ on Wisconsin avenue,
Takoma Park resident Charles Rollins discovered that an anonymous bartender
from the Grog and Tankard (2408 Wisconsin Ave), listed Butros-Butros as his
second-favorite local act.

"Yeah," said Rollins, "I was just sitting there having a few beers and I
started talking to this guy... I was bored with all the women I was hanging
out with, so we started chatting. It turns out he was a bartender at the
Grog. I said, 'dude, who are your favorite bands that play there?' Without
hesitating he listed this one band first, who I don't remember, but then he
said, 'I'm definitely a fan of Butros Butros.' Dude, that makes Butros like
number two on his list!"

When pressed for more information about why this bartender liked Butros so
much, Rollins was shy on details, "I don't know, maybe he thinks alcohol
sales are good when they play, but I really doubt it's the music," said
Rollins. "Then I told him I knew Butros' drummer and the guy was totally
like, 'cool.'"

When asked for a reaction regarding the bartender's proclamation, Butros
drummer Jim Arkedis stated, "that's bunch of hooey, I paid that guy at least
$50 to say we were numero uno. I can't believed we'd get publicly stabbed
in the back like that! First he makes us pay for our own drinks, now this?"

Coincidentally, Butros-Butros is scheduled to play at the Grog and Tankard
this Saturday night (April 24), and aims to stake a claim to number one in
that bartender's heart. "I don't really care about awards," said Arkedis,
"it's just nice to be nominated." But then, with a slight change in tone,
Arkedis confided, "Oh, who am I kidding, my life's dream is to be number one
at the Grog! Please like us more than those other guys, unnamed bartender
man!"

Scandinavian Synergy

2004-04-22T15:16:00.000-04:00

Örn, I just noticed that this week's banner at Memefirst is taken from an old map of Iceland. thought you might find that interesting.

The Minor Fall, The Major Lift

2004-04-15T00:02:00.000-04:00

The Minor Fall, The Major Lift:

SEEING AS WE’RE NOT PROVIDING MUCH ORIGINAL CONTENT TODAY ANYWAY, WE MIGHT AS WELL JOIN IN THE LITBLOGGERS’ VERSION OF THE CHAIN LETTER

Pick up the nearest book.
Open it to page 23.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

And right next to the car is a cord of new firewood: pine, elm, cherry.
--Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72

It's a hell of a town

2004-04-12T23:31:00.000-04:00

So I think I'm headed up to New York for three weeks.

If I was inspired, this'd become an older, flabbier, more self-medicated Gary Benchley. But then, I've already given up on being a rock star. I"m still down with sleeping on people's couches, though.

(Also, I just realized that, as Jim and Örn are proving, none of my friends blog. Is it because my friends are illiterate? No, cuz I can name-drop newspapers, magazines, and publishing houses -just dare me, I will- that prove otherwise. I think it's just that my friends are less self-absorbed. Poor them.)

Is Google the next LTCM?

2004-04-06T15:24:00.000-04:00

[Google has] one of the world's largest computers that's all but incapable of crashing

Kottke is one of several people to have followed up on this perceptive piece about Google.

It's interesting how all these comments talk about how Google is going to be a centerpiece of a web-based OS, and how it'll revolutionize the computer software market. I'm not qualified to say whether that's going to happen or not, and whether it'll be a good idea or not; but I think it will and I think it will.

But that line above got me thinking: if we're all basing our computing on a great system that can't fail, what happens when it does? 'Cause we know it will.

My thought in response to the line about was Keyne's old chestnut: "Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent." LTCM "couldn't fail", and did. And there was a way to bail it out that let civilization continue to function.

Google "can't fail". Let's assume it can. What is the web-ap equivalent of William McDonough getting all of Wall Street around his ocnference table, and getting them to take a haircut?

(it's a badly-phrased question, and I might have some answers, at least to such a situation that would cause Google to fail. I'll try to re-think it further* and then maybe post it to Memefirst, to egg people on...)

*the DST time change as really messed with my sleeping habits. my brain is fried...

Stupid

2004-04-06T14:04:00.000-04:00

I guess thank goodness my office doesn't have a window...

A Boeing 737 and a Gulfstream jet flew down the Potomac River landing path (into National Airport), without landing. Just before noon, they flew in at 500ft. ("Washingotn Monument Height"), with two F-16s in pursuit.

It turns out this was a photo shoot the Air National Guard arranged- supposedly for an ad.

Never mind that there was no mention of this this morning in either local paper, nor did either the Air National Guard or the FAA put out a press release preparing people for what looked exactly like the kind of terrorist attack we've been dreading for three years.

At best this is tasteless. At worst, it's sheer stupidity.

Amazing.

Idiots.

O's on top

2004-04-05T13:17:00.000-04:00

I am absolutely useless today- I'm waiting to hear back on a possible contract position, which they'd want me to start in a week. I figure if they really wanted me, they'd have contacted me by now to let me know. It's driving me nuts.

My only consolation is that the Orioles, who hold my fitful allegiance (despite being owned by a man who actively hates "half [his] fan base"), are ahead of the Yankees, thanks to their decent showing against a Bosox team that hasn't brought it all together yet. I can enjoy it today:

2004 American League Standings
East	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	DIV	Streak
Baltimore	1	0	1.000	---	1-0	0-0	1-0	Won 1
NY Yankees	1	1	.500	1/2	0-0	1-1	1-1	Won 1
Tampa Bay	1	1	.500	1/2	1-1	0-0	1-1	Lost 1
Toronto	0	0	.000	1/2	0-0	0-0	0-0
Boston	0	1	.000	1	0-0	0-1	0-1	Lost 1

Central	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	DIV	Streak
Chicago WSox	0	0	.000	---	0-0	0-0	0-0
Cleveland	0	0	.000	---	0-0	0-0	0-0
Detroit	0	0	.000	---	0-0	0-0	0-0
Kansas City	0	0	.000	---	0-0	0-0	0-0
Minnesota	0	0	.000	---	0-0	0-0	0-0

West	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	DIV	Streak
Anaheim	0	0	.000	---	0-0	0-0	0-0
Oakland	0	0	.000	---	0-0	0-0	0-0
Seattle	0	0	.000	---	0-0	0-0	0-0
Texas	0	0	.000	---	0-0	0-0	0-0

y = clinched division title
x = clinched playoff berth

Kinja do it?

2004-04-01T16:24:00.000-05:00

I'm blogviating again...

So the latest rage in blogging is the RSS reader. Briefly put, this is a program that takes RSS feeds (like the one to the right, there) from several different sites, and collates them into one window- like a My Yahoo for opinion writers.

It's a great idea, and a lot of people have gotten worked up about it. I have shied away from them up until this point, because I didn't want to run another program (on my already-stretch-to-it's-RAM-limits computer), but would rather have run it in my web browser.

Well, Nick Denton, blogmedia god, has answered my prayers with a new site: Kinja. It's very easy to use, and allows you to quickly glance over what's developing in News & Commentary through the day.

The nice thing about it is that if you're interested in what other people are reading, you can look at their lists at http://kinja.com/user/username. My username is my last name.

I only wish they'd let us play around with the layout more...

Blather

2004-03-30T12:38:00.000-05:00

In the torrent of blogging that the past 14 hours has produced, I've also tried my hand over at Memefirst: talking about the death of language (I wanted to refer to this story, but didn't know where to put it); and shooting my mouth off about Örn's secret love, Condi Rice.

The Wolf Man is Never Wrong

2004-03-30T12:19:00.000-05:00

(or, Örn's daily reading list)

An interesting theory from Timothy Noah over at Slate as to why the Wolf is so dead-set confident on his opinions. Worth a read.

I still have mad respect for the Wolf for calling Saddam Hussein a threat back in 1979- to date myself here, he's been right on that for almost as long as I've been alive. But Noah does point out that this does leave him being as inflexible as the Pope once he's decided he's infallible.

I am not a journalist. Or a writer.

2004-03-30T11:19:00.000-05:00

Which is why I need to get back into the practice of writing 100 words a day. So's I get better at expressing myself through writing. Right now I best express myself three Johnny Blacks into the evening. Which is a great place to be, but not always feasible at 10am...

Anyway, it's Tuesday, so: Örn, when are you coming to DC?

Dick & Pat

2004-03-29T23:05:00.000-05:00

I just re-watched Nixon tonght. What a great film. Oliver Stone went a little overboard with the cinematographic tricks in what is strongest as a psychological portrait of a deeply tormented man. In addition to the traditional "American" tragedy the Nixon story is portrayed as, the film would be great just as a portrait of the marriage of Richard and Patricia Nixon.

Bud Light as metaphor

2004-03-29T23:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I went to a family wedding in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. As a penitent sun-worshipper, and as we were suffering 30-degree (F) weather a week ago here in Our Nation's Capital, I jumped at the opportunity. Florida -north or south- is in many ways a different country from the US, and I needed to "travel abroad".

I was anticipating the wedding itself (and the recepetion afterwards) with dread, however. The side of the family from which my (now-married) cousin comes is decidedly more conservative, both socially and politically, than my own. Whereas we combine a Irish-(lapsed-)Catholic fondness for tipple (but not smoking, it seems) with an east-coast big-city liberal outlook, they have taken the social restraint of the rural south and the (in their case soft-spoken) moral righteousness that comes with strict (Baptist) Christian belief. That belief was so strong that the cousin in question just finished studying theology at an unaccredited college (how many colleges do you know whose websites end in '.com'?).

This is not to say that we don't get along: they're wonderful people, I'm proud to have them as relatives, and Thanksgivings are always a good time with them. But we all know to steer clear of politics and religion over the turkey and candied yams.

While that divide meant that me & the folks (the token siblings were unable to join us) would be out of our element to begin with, the situation was only going to be made worse by the distinct lack of alcohol at the reception. The evangelical tradition in the US by and large foreswears alcohol; it what's led to the infamous dry counties, mostly in Kentucky (you're supposed to be unable to serve Jack Daniels in the county it's brewed in).

And as anyone can tell you, a wedding party without booze ain't a party.

When we arrived at the reception, our worst fears we confirmed- the strongest thing they were serving at the bar was Rose's Lime Juice. Curling myself up with a coke, I looked forward to a long night of inside jokes I wouldn't understand, all led by an overly jocular MC with the most egregious mullet inflicted on the new millenium.

And that's when relief came through. Lit by the light of the bathrooms, down the hall and around the corner, stood a cash bar. The taste of that Bud Light was the taste of tolerance and understanding for other beliefs. I'd like to think that if we can reach that on drinks at dinner, we can reach that on the bigger things, as well.

18th St Success Story

2004-03-23T12:39:00.000-05:00

(those of you who don't give a damn about Adam's Morgan or the dynamics of owning a bar there, you can skip this)

Via our non-Icelandic arch-nemisis, Wonkette, the good-government types over at Fundrace.org have developed a nice little political data-mining tool to allow you to spy on your neighbors. and their political proclivities. Looking around Adams Morgan, one discovers that the owner of Cities has given $2000 to the now-defunct Edwards campaign. This non-tax-deductable donation was no doubt made with the current six week renovation that Cities is going through in mind. So in addition to the serious money invested in a renovation, the month and a half of foregone revenue, and the possible loss of clientele to the competition, the owner(s) of Cities are confident enough to drop two grand into presidential politics.

They must be doing something right over there.

UPDATE: An "Owner" of a "restaurant" at the same address gave $500 to fuel Joementum...

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As an aside, an unnamed National Geographic "TV Executive" gave two g's to Fightin' Joe Lieberman, and an equally unnamed "Proposal Writer" for Deloitte & Touche gave a cool $1000 to Kucinich. As I have friends who could fill both these criteria, it'd be interesting to know who's doing what...

More seriously: sya what you will about the corruption in American poltiics (and I do) this kind of openess is cool...

El Homo XXV

2004-03-23T06:58:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday Jim. This is happy day in history. Mussolini formed his Fascist movement in 1919 and on this day in 1933 the Reichstag granted Adolf Schicklgruber Hitler dictorial powers. Jim should enter politics.

Hrólfur

2004-03-22T18:21:00.000-05:00

I have realized that I am by myself most of the time. I live alone and the person I spent most time with is my cat. His name is Hrólfur H. Karlsson ( The name Hrólfur is an old Viking name and the German name Rolf traces its roots to it, the last name is a bit of a word game and it can mean a son of a shark in Icelandic). Hrólfur is a Norwegian forest cat. We get along quite well. Just like me he is not very talkative and he also likes to drink.

Anyway, I have been thinking about the relationship that I have with my cat. When I lie in the sofa and read he is there with my and I pet him. When I dine he sits at a cheer next to my (a notable exception is when I dine at a restaurant). When I take a bath he comes into the room and keeps me company. To make a long story short he is great and the most deep and profound relationship I have with anyone right now is with my cat.

Most people would worry about this but I don’t. You see living with a cat, that is a cat of Hrólf´s caliber, is just like living with your inner self - a dark furry hairy inner self that likes both fish and mice. And now I can pet my inner self and all this makes me rather content and happy. But if I would have to move Brussels this summer I would probably have to leave my inner self behind here in Iceland. God knows where that would lead me.

Örn pay attention:

2004-03-22T16:58:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is Jim's birthday. He turns 27. That is all.

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yes, yes, I'm not posting about anything useful. I'm not feeling very useful. I'm going to Miami/Ft Lauderdale this weekend. I'm hoping to get some insight into something there. Leave me alone.

What is it with Rio and Sex Ed?

2004-03-21T22:46:00.000-05:00

So following on my previous rant about the abuse of Rio de Janeiro by US advertisers, tonight I saw not one, but two ads with Rio in the background. The one that prompted this post was for a birth control pill. Once again, the Jardim Botânico was featured in the ad. Additionally, the Modern Art Museum in Niteroi was featured in the pill commercial, as it was in the first one tonight (whose sponsor I can't remember).

Could the post-99 devaluation be driving ad dollars to be spent in Rio? It's certainly more affordable than it was when the real was pegged to the dollar. Globalization once again rears it's head...

Over at Memefirst

2004-03-18T12:31:00.000-05:00

Eurof (currently challenging Örn for the Barclay Card Most Difficult Name to Pronounce Cup) has just put up a post on this very deal, and he seems to be decrying the "with us or against us" paradigm that the administration keeps pushing on people like me:

...I see it as a terrible tragedy that Iraqi welfare seems to be aligned with that of a particularly unfortunate form of US superiority-ism. I’m trying to think of some way to separate them, to help Iraqis without helping out the neo-cons, and I think it involves an embarrassing climbdown, the electoral defeat of Dubya, possibly abandoning the federal solution currently in vogue, and UN control of the whole sorry mess. Any other ideas?

Örn, you might want to dip your toe (or your oar, or öår, or whatever...) into the water over there...

More on Spain

2004-03-17T14:46:00.000-05:00

I diasagree with you Mike.

If members of Al-Qaida are not enthusastic diciples of Metternich or Bismarck they are surely that they are not able read anything into recent events. And their interpretation will guide their future actions. Therefore I am right concluding that the new government in Spain is playing a dangerous game – a game with a result that could hurt Europe.

And more on their grasp on Realpolitik. They seem to know quite well what happened in Beirut and that godforsaken African state. They view Americans as being weak. If you punch them they will go back home. Hopefully that will not happen in the future but it has happened in the past and that piece of history is fundmental for this whole Al-Quaida business.

And Zapatero is not pursuing this policy because he want´s a mandate from the UN. He is being a populist and this whole business is a bona fide example of a poor domestic policy triumphing over important foreign policy.

How all this will affect the European Cup this summer is another matter. My money is still on England but I reckon that Spain could go far.

Now let´s stop arguing and have some red wine...(and Mike do not start your next blog with the remark that I obviously had some read wine when I wrote this).

Why is it always about Al-Qaida? Why can't it be about sending me the wrong message?

2004-03-16T11:18:00.000-05:00

(I'd like to preface this by pointing out that I think it eminently fair for any country to reserve the right to do almost whatever the hell it wants after 200 of it's own people are brutally murdered. We did that after September 11th, and most sane people recognize the immediate subsequent action in Afghanistan was an appropriate response, some reasonable concerns notwithstanding. The fact that the Spanish people took all their anger and anguish and channeled it into one of the most fundamental symbols of what seperates us from terrorists is nothing short of amazing.)

Örn, articulating the conventional wisdom of those who see Al-Qaida's influence in Sunday's election in Spain, states below:

I am worried about the Spaniards recalling their troops from Iraq. It clearly sends a wrong message to the terrorists; a message that says Europe can be steered away from Washington.

What if it doesn't? What if the result on Sunday, and subsequent threats aren't about the message sent to Al-Qaida, but the message sent to Washington?

First, I don't think Al-Qaida is particularly listening on this one. The actions of that network over the past ten years do not show the kind of grasp of realpolitik necessary to use the Europeans against the US like the French used the Ottomans against the Holy League at Lepanto. While the fact that the bombing was three days before the election shows that those considerations cannot be ruled out, the various numerology theories running around (3/11, 911 er, 912 days since 9/11, etc.) suggest that the election might have been only a secondary consideration at best. This is something we can debate to no end, but as none of us has access to the minds of Al-Qaida top brass, it's hard to make definitive rulings on this one.

Also, strategically, Spain's withdrawl from Iraq will make little difference: Spanish troops are less than 1% of western forces in Iraq.

Second, I don't think Zapatero is talking to Al-Qaida on this one. He's talking to Washington (and London, but Blair abdicated independent action on the Iraq matter, so I'm going to be my Ameri-centric self and talk about Bush). He's not questioning whether we should be fighting terrorism, he's questioning whether what we're doing in Iraq is fighting terrorism. He's not quesitoning goals, he's questioning methods. He's the elected representative of what was called (by a man wittier than I) the "Anti This War Now Left". And one of the major reasons that Left was against the war was because there wasn't a UN mandate.

Now Zapatero sees a chance to influence Washington, and, like any good politician, he's using that leverage to the maximum. Not two months ago in the SOTU, Bush listed Spain as a vital ally in the "international coalition" in Iraq. Zapatero knows that it is in Bush's interest to keep Spain in Iraq. And so he's using that to get what he wants: a UN Mandate.

Lecture, worries, stupid professors, Splendor and my arse

2004-03-16T09:37:00.000-05:00

The lecture went quite well and I got the impression that people thought it was interesting. I focused mainly on the rational behind Washington’s war on terror, Iraq and etc. I tried my best to explain the American angle since most people here are primarily exposed to the typical stereotype of the current administration as a bunch of warmongering and cheeseburger eating idiots. Obviously the talk was colored by the horrific events of 3/11.

I am worried about the Spaniards recalling their troops from Iraq. It clearly sends a wrong message to the terrorists; a message that says Europe can be steered away from Washington. Maybe Kagan is right about the European perception on the international environment - maybe people here wrongly think that we are dealing with people that can be negotiated with and maybe Venus is about to be raped. A former professor of mine said in a interview in a Icelandic paper today that we should learn from the N-Ireland situation and try to negotiate with those people. This profound analysis clearly proves what I have always said: it is not very hard to be intelligent in Iceland.

I saw an awesome flick last night. It’s called American Splendor. It’s about this comic book writer from Cleveland (yeah I know Jim, Ohio is where it’s at) called Harvey Pekar. I guess he’s a cult figure in the States. He is odd, uncompromising and cranky and I guess that know you know why I liked the movie.

It’s a bit hard to find a cheap ticked to Baltimore these days. But I am trying. The biggest cost would be a hotel - can anyone help with that? But if I succeed in getting my arse over I will gladly explain and go into details of the structure of the society of the Vikings in Iceland - especially if I can do it over a couple of bottles of wine.

My man José Maria

2004-03-15T15:37:00.000-05:00

From Edward Hugh at A Fistful of Euros a couple of days ago:

There are in fact victims from 11 countries, many of these countries surely being in Latin America. In fact so important is this question that José Maria Aznar spent a significant part of his public appearance this morning underlining that any person among the victims who was found to be 'undocumented' would automatically be 'regularised'. In addition any immigrants who have died in the attack and who had not been naturalised are automatically to be conceded the status of Spanish citizens, for themselves (posthumously) and for their families.

I was pleased to see this. The last time (I think) he was in DC, José Maria Aznar spoke at SAIS, it would have been about May of 2002. At the time the war in Afghanistan was being wound down, and while there were rumors of interest in Iraq, the push for war that would be seen in the summer and fall hadn't started up yet.

Aznar (who spoke in Spanish) gave what was no-doubt his stock "talk to the Americans" speech, and what surprised many of us was how a lot of the phrases he used had a racist, anti-immigrant undertone to them (this was toned down in the English translation).

I don't want to say I'm accusing Aznar of anything here: I don't remember exactly what he said (and can't be bothered to track down a transcript). And, given that Spain has a tradition of high unemployment, his subliminal resentment at the wave of Argentine or Moroccan or wherever immigration: while I don't approve of it, I understand it's source.

Suffice to say that the tone of his speech left a bad taste in the mouths of many of us in the audience. Lacking any further monitoring of the Spanish political scene, that taste was what first came to mind when my thoughts turned to Aznar.

However, a token action like this wipes that taste from the mouth, and reminds one of the difference between civilization and barbarity. He didn't have to do it, it won't change the world, but it was an acknowledgement that we are all brothers. It's something I could never imagine Osama bin Laden doing.

The Volokh Conspiracy

2004-03-15T13:24:00.000-05:00

Studiously ignoring what I wrote not five minutes ago, this post by Jacob Levy over at the Volokh Conspiracy is a great argument on how a vote for the PSOE on Sunday was not a vote for appeasement. A hat tip is necessary to the fact that Messr Levy was (and is) pro-Iraq War:

Was it 'appeasement' for us to leave [that is, get US troops out of Saudi]? No. It wasn't appeasement even though al-Qaeda wanting us out was relevant to the calculation of our interests. Neither is it appeasement for Spain to decide to withdraw peacekeeping troops from Iraq simply because al-Qaeda wanted all western troops out of Iraq as well. It's a legitimate choice for Spain to make about where to concentrate its efforts. And if it was a legitimate non-appeasing choice before last Thursday, it remains one after. [Emphasis original]

I haven't blogged a lot lately

2004-03-15T12:56:00.000-05:00

Because I feel like I haven't had a lot of "original" thoughts lately. I read somewhere once (see- another unoriginal thought!) that these things can be broken down into two types of blogs:

"portal" blogs (like the everreferenced Instapundit, Slashdot, or A & L Daily, these are more google-search-style lists of links that are useful to get a feel for what is being said, or just to catch an article you would never have seen otherwise); and

"content" blogs (like Talking Points Memo, the omniscient Memefirst, or el profundo Southern Exposure, these blogs create their own content).

Broadly speaking, the latter feed content (along with "old" media sites and other sources, that provide content inadvertently) into the former for distribution. You can imagine it like energy distribution: there are opinion generators out there that are valued for their opinions, and then there are opinion distributers out there, valued for their ability to get said opinion out to a lot of people.

As I don't pretend to have a loyal following listening to everything that I say (oh, but one day I will, and that day some things will change...), I write here mostly with the idea that I have a "unique" perspective and opinion on "things", and that articulating that opinion will help me understand that better, and hopefully even result in a response questioning that opinion, allowing me to refine it even more.

But recently, those opinions refuse to form themselves of their own free will. I see a lot of things I agree with, some things I disagree with, and lots of stuff I find interesting, but there is no stroke of lightning (despite Jim's dabbling in interprative theology last night, I look forward to the lighting strikes) that impels me to strike the muse while the iron is hot (or some such thing). And so I don't write, as I don't think the "Look at this site" posting is particularly enlightening beyond the four seconds it takes you to check out the site. (I say that knowing full well I've done just such posts plenty of times before. In a perfect world, I would take the time to explain why the site is worth looking at).

Man, do I hate Mondays...

-----
That aside, Örn, interesting article- it feels too brief, though. I don't know the first thing about mideval Iceland, and so feel that I'm losing a lot of what Friedman is saying because I don't have familiarity with the Saga of Njal. However, I'm intrigued by his idea of "Legal Systems Very Different from Ours," about which I know jack squat.

Also, you seem to take pleasure in ignoring the comments I put down there, so I'll re-ask my questions: How did your talk go on Friday? What did you talk about? What questions were asked?

Are you coming to DC this weekend? Do you know Bütros Bütros is scheduled to rock Grog & Tankard Stadium (home of the Fighting Bar Rats) this Friday?

Friedman and D.C

2004-03-14T17:29:00.000-05:00

The author of this article is Milton´s son and it is rather interesting: http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/Iceland/Iceland.html

Another thing - I am going to call up Icelandair tomorrow to find out if I can get a cheap flight to D.C this week.

Siamo in Onda

2004-03-11T11:35:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the hiatus (although if Örn would put one-tenth the effort into writing that he does into reloading this page, we'd have the next Ulysses on our hands...). More coming soon. In the meantime, this guy is like my evil twin.

American politics and a question

2004-03-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

I am giving a lecture for a group of fat cats in Reykjavík next friday. I am going to lecture about American politics and the trends that are currently shaping them and the upcoming elections. I would appreciate your thoughts on the subject along with potential jokes.
---
And now for the weekly question: Which of the Marx brothers, Karl, Groucho or Richard said the following: Man´s best friend outside the dog is the book. Inside the dog it is too dark to read?

The first one to come up with the right answer can claim a free beer at the Kaffibarinn in downtown Reykjavík.

Get out the vote

2004-03-04T10:54:00.000-05:00

Via Örn's favorite onanist, Wonkette:

The only time in my life I might spend $24 for a T-shirt.

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BTW, this is a perfect example of the internet in action. The story so far: Urban Outfitters, a lame corporate chain store masquerading as a hip boutique, has started selling shirt proclaiming: "Voting is for Old People." Needless to say, various old people have gotten up in arms about this (Matlock must not have been on), and how it discourages the key 18-35 demographic group from exercising their fundamental rights. So some schmuck with a silk-screener responded with these, is now making a couple of thou off two minutes of inspiration while he was high.

Postage Paid if Mailed in the US

2004-03-03T14:51:00.000-05:00

Posted elsewhere:

A brief note on Southern Exposure pointing to Brad DeLong's essay on capital controls.

A brief snarkfest on the evolution of the verb "clarting" at Memefirst.

I die a little more each day...

2004-03-02T23:37:00.000-05:00

As you've no doubt caught on, I'm a big fan of Rio de Janeiro, a place, as the song goes, blessed by God. One of the most beautiful places in Rio is the Jardim Botânico (Botanical Garden), which, the rare times I get my ass back down to Rio, I try to stop by.

So you can imagine my discomfort at a commercial currently airing on American TV (I'd link to it if I could, but I can't find a version online). It's a very tastefully done commercial, with a happy couple bicycling down the avenue of the Imperial Palms (left), and around corners with the distinctive "street" signs they have to guide you throught the garden. The commercial then closes with the same couple frolicking in the surf of Leblon beach in front of Dois Irmãos. It's a beautiful shot, and eu morro de saudade everytime I see it.

This is a commercial for Valtrex, a drug designed to suppress genital herpes.

Words fail me.

Wonkette!!!

2004-03-02T16:29:00.000-05:00

A female wanker!!! Don´t like it a bit.

Well for all the good they've done me I might as well have stuck them up my arse.

I want this job

2004-03-02T15:27:00.000-05:00

From Wonkette:

You would be forgiven if you failed to notice the lack of any new Wonkette content today before about 12:45 PM. And, of course, 'new' is a relative term: The t-shirt scandal, funny pipictures of candidates, gay marriage. . . the jokes aren't really new, they're just linked to different stories. Once we work in some reference to Kerry's mortician mien, we'll have to start over at "Bush is dumb." Stay tuned! In any case, we couldn't post earlier because we were still a little drunk. OK, a lot drunk. Sorry.

A solution

2004-03-02T12:55:00.000-05:00

I find this gay marriage controversy in the US rather funny. But I am not going to make fun of those puritans that live in the West. Instead I am proposing a solution – a pragmatic solution that everyone can live with.

First of all allow gay men to marry lesbians. This arrangement would be sort of a trial period that would go on for 20 years or so. If the marriages between the gays and the lesbians go well, and there won’t be any significant problems such as a generation of Americans growing up knowing how to dress properly and clean themselves, we would extend the law so that gays can marry gay men and lesbians can marry others lesbians.

If all goes sour, WHAM becomes popular again and Wal-Mart starts to sell fondue pots, simply ban the whole thing and write it stone.

Further notes from the Sierra Maestra...

2004-03-01T15:41:00.000-05:00

A new sighting in the guerrilla campaign to have the Sierra Agradable rise against the capitalist running dogs in the tropical lowlands of the Columbian District.

At the corner of 17th and Lamont:

"DON'T
JUST
VOTE"

I Will Fight No More Forever

2004-03-01T15:37:00.000-05:00

We're starting to get a steady torrent (remember, that's by due torre standards, so we're talking three hits in a week here...) of referrals from the fine gentlemen at Memefirst, so I can no longer wait to think up something appropriately witty to say to announce that they have been kind enough to offer me a spot over there.

Being the popularity whore that I am, I of course immediately said yes, and have promptly brought down their collective age, intellect, and level of discussion. Whether my addition will prove fatal to what has up to now been a successful site remains to be seen.

For those of you poor lost souls visiting this barren part of the 'net, please stay a few minutes, and languor over Örn's impotent rage at Charlize Theron's success at the Oscars last night, or Jim's cryptic signals about the flaws in the armor of our society.

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and, yes, I did verbify a noun there. and it felt good to do so...

Örn cries into his Guinness...

2004-02-27T02:45:00.000-05:00

(...or my first internet date)

So -overcoming all odds- I made my first attempt to translate from cyberspace to meatspace this evening. And y'all (by "y'all", I mean Örn for where it was; Stefan for who it was; and no one else reads this...) would be jealous... I had a pint (or three or four...) at Biddy Mulligans with Felix Salmon and Charles Kenny, two bloggers (I still hate that word...) of higher caliber than I.

In the words of Bill S. Preston, Esq., it was "excellent."

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yes, I did have a few beers; and yes, I don't care...