Saturday, February 19. 2005
"Napoleon - if yer hungry, just make yerself a dang kay-sa-dilla." Grandma, in Napoleon Dynamite
Right or wrong? It's gotta be pure economics - a fat waitress will remind you of your diet, and you won't eat. Who else besides me is getting tired of hearing about "our failing schools?" But it's a real issue, and I don't think it has much to do with teachers - I suspect union control, and lack of parental involvement in inner city schools, are a big part. This is a thoughful piece. I don't know how Gwynnie's pal Rex found this bone, but it's a goodie, and related to the earlier essay "Life is so Scary." (Based on this website, the Bird Dog has made a significant investment in Safety-Flo, which should do as well as his other private placement investments - but this is NOT a recommendation that you should invest. Bird Dog is not a professional investment advisor.)
Friday, February 18. 2005
Well, I asked for something to eat
I'm hungry as a hog
So I get brown rice, seaweed,
and a dirty hot-dog.
I've got a hole
where my stomach disappeared.
Then you ask why I don't live here
Honey, I gotta think you're really weird. Dylan, from On The Road Again
It is called out-to-lunch. The age-old theme is the human reluctance to self-criticize, but the minor theme is "why are there schools of journalism anyway?" Name me someone in the press who writes better and is more devoted to truth than John Hinderaker of Powerline, and he didn't go, and neither did the sublime wordsmith Bird Dog...well, you can't teach writing....some folks can just turn a phrase around a concept like a boa around a rat - I love that, but cannot do it. Anyway, a review of Lehmann's piece in the New Yorker begins thus: Nicholas Lemann was named dean of the Columbia School of Journalism in 2003. It's too soon to tell whether he is making Columbia a stronger school. It's not too soon to say that Lemann, the author of two good books and many compelling articles, has made himself a weaker writer. Evidence of this decline comes in the current New Yorker, where Lemann devotes 5,000 words to asking, "Why is everyone mad at the mainstream media?" without saying anything clear or consequential in response.Nicholas Lemann was named dean of the Columbia School of Journalism in 2003. It's too soon to tell whether he is making Columbia a stronger school. It's not too soon to say that Lemann, the author of two good books and many compelling articles, has made himself a weaker writer. Evidence of this decline comes in the current New Yorker, where Lemann devotes 5,000 words to asking, "Why is everyone mad at the mainstream media?" without saying anything clear or consequential in response.
A Rather-fest? I guess the phony pompous blowhard deserves something for making an ass of himself all these years: If "Big Pharma" are the villains of today, the Dog would like to know who the good guys are. Has any technology done more for quality of life, in all of human history, than the mainly American drug companies have done inthe past 50 years? Well, the Bird Dog was ahead of the curve a few days ago when lamenting the removal of some drugs from the market due to side effects. Let's get a little rationality here:
The Bird Dog would like to plug The Teaching Company. He is neither paid by them nor does he own any shares in their company, but he does wish he had started the business. They collect the best college teachers - not the most famous, just the most engaging. Look at their website - on left column, under Other Swell Places. I have done about 8 of their courses and each has been wonderful. The music stuff by Greenberg is a pure delight. It is excellent for the car or for workouts. You can fill in all of the gaps in your education, and no exams! Like Brooks Brothers, they have regular sales, and that is the time to stock up.
Thursday, February 17. 2005
The only thing nuttier than Australia banning gun ownership - so that the Army has to be called in to shoot infestations of rabbits - is the banning of fox-hunting, otherwise known as "hunting," in the UK. Thank God for our revolution, or we might have become as nutty as England, Australia and Canada. This has got to be one of the saddest days for the time-honored Brit sporting traditions. What will be the next target of the self-righteous weenies? Soccer, because it leads to fighting? Pathetic. But maybe we can offer psychological counseling for those ex-hunters? Teach them knitting and TV-watching? And maybe those beautiful horses can be re-trained to be therapy-horses....hey - that would be a better world, right?
Read Norman Geras' piece in Dissent. A well-known Brit socialist, a retired professor, Norm is notable for not only being open-minded but for being a nice guy. And an articulate blogger. Got in hot water with the Brit Left for violating the Party Line on Iraq - how shocking ! Can you imagine such a thing ?! Bad form. Almost as distressing as a lady forgetting to wear a hat at Ascot, or sipping her tea before the hostess sits down. Who knows - it could lengthen the time 'til the Revolution, when we all will get free apple pie (or, more likely, guillotined). Click here: Dissent Magazine - Winter 2005 Another delectable dog bone. Speaking of guillotines, the Bird Dog is on the trail of The Enlightenment these days, with a fine Himmelfarb piece coming up tomorrow maybe. But this piece sets the stage. Whatever The Enlightenment was, it wasn't perfect, and even though we may live in it, like fish in water, we have to think about it. That is what Dog thinks is so cool and great about Western Civilization - not only can we think, but we don't get shot for doing it. Click here: OpinionJournal - Leisure & Arts
The whole world, it seems, is away in Vail or Telluride or Florida for the long weekend. Except for the Bird Dog, and of course the LYF. If you have a herd of 150 dairy cattle, you can't exactly drop them off at the kennel on your way to the airport.
This reminds me of the old saw: "Is there intelligent life on earth?" Isn't the real question "Is there beer on Mars?"
Wednesday, February 16. 2005
Well, not really...not yet anyway! Would not care to be Moonves right about now.
This just in from Vermont: Gol darn, nothin to read on the internet tonight. We got Mr. Bush runnin the gummint, so no worry there. Everything is peachy in I-raq. Miss Condi will have the ---ing Frogs and the Krauts kissin our butts soon, and it's not too long til -----ing mud season. Even good ole Norm is jes fussin about some --- Mayor from someplace or other. Who the --- cares? When things are goin good, the net gets ---ing dull. So dull, think I'll have a ----ing smoke and a snort and check for some new raccoon recipes on the Food Channel site. Or some snappin turtle recipes.
An amazing link, which David Horowitz posted yesterday. Every detail about the power, people, organizations, etc. dominating the very active Left in America today. So good I think we'll add it to the blogroll.
In case you had the impression that New Zealand had grown out of the Stone Age. Maybe we don't let their astronomers use the Hubble. And a depressing story about what is going on in Turkey these days - one of my favorite countries to visit. wonderful smart people, great food, good wines which they refuse to export, and fascinating, deeply historical countryside. If they lose their tourism, and the EU membership, it could end badly, and that would be a heck of a shame.
"I'm busy right now, Napoleon." Tad, in the quirky indie film Napoleon Dynamite - your 13 year-old will get it.
Courtesy of Instapundit - Law suits brewing at CBS:
A Milk-Bone to M and Gwynnie for retrieving these links: Remarkable: Click here: Photos - Ice Hotel
Tuesday, February 15. 2005
Dear Editor: This is a classic idiosyncratic Blog. I love reading it. Sincerely, Anonymous Dear Anon.: What does "idiosyncratic" mean? Flattery will get you nowhere. You do not win a signed copy of the new book. Sincerely, Bird Dog
Re: Swan Lake and Stalin - one more example of why TNR is an essential magazine.
Would have been a good post for Valentine's Day, and maybe a useful propaganda piece for all of the queens and princesses in our lives.
Is there a life-boat for us when the universe dies?
These dog bones courtesy of Gwynnie and Real Clear Politics:
Monday, February 14. 2005
From the great Steyn: a (St.?) Valentine's Day Essay:
How good is Iowahawk? Too good.
You can read his work by clicking here.
May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true, May you always do for others And let others do for you. May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung, And may you stay forever young. Dylan, from Forever Young
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