Maggie's FarmWe are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for. |
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Wednesday, October 24. 2007All Hail The Techno-VikingSometimes --a man appears. Not really. Techno-Viking will choose for you, for he does not just lead; he rules. (Slight warning: There's a curse word in print on the screen at the end. But the Techno Viking does not speak curses. There is no need.) The Salton SeaThe largest lake in California (376 square miles) seems like a very strange place. It's in a desolate location, most of its water comes from agricultural runoff, and nobody swims in it. People are trying to restore it. Here's a brief National Geographic piece on it.
Photo from this Salton Sea Photo Gallery.
Posted by Opie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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14:22
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Paul McDonoughBlack and white is still the right thing for true photographs.
Thanks to David Thompson for finding some Paul McDonough photo links. I can remember when he was a lowly NYC "street photographer."
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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04:50
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Tuesday, October 23. 2007Cheer up a hospitalized vetPin Ups for Vets is back. Very therapeutic.
Posted by The Barrister
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16:10
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Ridin' DirtyRe-posted: I still get a good giggle out of Weird Al's White and Nurdy. Nurds are who make everything in the world run - including blogs - while the rest just benefit from it all and take it for granted.
Posted by Bird Dog
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09:27
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Monday, October 22. 2007"What is a successful blog?"Quoted from a piece at Chronicle of Higher Education:
So is Maggie's a successful blog?
Posted by Opie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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18:54
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An old house in the Massachusetts Berkshires
Posted by Bird Dog
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12:39
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On the Road with Umberto EcoI'd rather have Eco read to me than to read him, and my lengthy weekend road trip was a good opportunity. The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, about a 60 year-old antique book dealer with amnesia, is a bit bloated but has enough gold in it to make it worth it. The reading by George Guidall, a Broadway actor who has recorded 850 books, is superb. He hams it up, just right.
Posted by The News Junkie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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06:58
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Sunday, October 21. 2007Technical problems correctedI am fairly certain we are back up and running properly. Thanks to Chris for taking care of the problems - I know it was a major hassle. Here's a snap from the Berkshires today. That's a Sugar Maple:
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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21:20
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Who was Alec Guiness?Reposted from August, 2005 The Search for Alec Guiness What are your favorite roles? The Horse's Mouth, Kind Hearts and Coronets, and of course, George Smiley (Tinker, Tailor is the best made for TV movie ever made, bar none - a masterpiece), are mine. Oh, also, Bridge Over the River Kwai. But who was he? Piers Paul Reid's authorized biography is out, and it doesn't seem to answer the question. From the Boston Globe's review:
Read entire.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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15:37
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A Dog's View of Politics: "Papoon for President - Not Insane"Reposted from 2005 A dog's view: It's seared - seared in my cultural-bio-psycho-social memory, just like Jung meant. Remember the George Papoon campaign? As I lie here on the kitchen floor, hoping some cherrries will fall off the plate, I am remembering that glorious "One Organism - One Vote" campaign. "Papoon for President - Not Insane" We animals and other organisms lost that election, but it was a wonderful time back in 1970. The voting machines were designed to exclude and to discourage one-celled animals from voting. Gosh, Uncle Steve Post and those guys on WBAI....great stuff. A Revolution that failed. You human gods would be lying on the kitchen floor, being fed dry cardboard kibbles for supper, and we dogs would be going to work all dressed-up like dandies - wow - I mean bow-wow - and running the country. We figured that Papoon would get the massive bacteria and amoeba votes and that would turn the whole country into Greenish-Brown-Pond-Scum-colored states. Plus, if we were short a few votes, they could all just divide, and double their vote. It's all from The Firesign Theater. (By the way, can you name that breed in the photo?)
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, Politics, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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07:00
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Kenny BurrellA re-post from 2005 We have enjoyed him since the 60s - some memories there - but just stumbled into this perfect, but too short, CD - oh yeah, it has John Coltrane too, plus Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Tommy Flanagan. Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane. Look at Round Midnight, too. Can I compare Burrell with Wes Montgomery? No, too ignorant to do so.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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05:31
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Friday, October 19. 2007Dylan: Cocaine
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Posted by Bird Dog
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17:05
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Masquerades and Clothing SignalingI enjoyed The Barrister's intro to Signalling Theory, especially the lengthy biology link. It's really all just about non-verbal communication, isn't it? To what extent is my public presentation (hair, clothes, deportment, jewelry, etc.) designed to signal things about myself which I might want known, or to signal things about myself which might not be true? And how much of conventionality and conformity is an effort to not signal anything personal? After all, there are many occasions in life when one's personal "stuff" is not welcome, wanted, or appreciated. And signaling one's conventionality is, in fact, signaling that one is clued in enough to know how to do that, when necessary. At work in the office or at my Boston hospital, I tend towards Ann Taylor and Brooks Brothers business wear, with either simple jewelry, or none. If everything is "text," as the dopey lit profs say these days, what's my message? I suspect that people get into the most trouble when they signal messages unwittingly. Our Editor wonders what this young Theo lady in the photo might be signaling, above and beyond "Check me out, dude." A nice old John Deere
Tractor with the Maggie's Farm staff. But can you find the tractor? NSFW or for older fellows, on continuation page below.
Continue reading "A nice old John Deere"
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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10:07
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New OrleansOn a recent flight while readying to depart for Jack replied, "I've lived in
Posted by Gwynnie
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08:34
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Wednesday, October 17. 2007Fliter/ChopinIngrid Fliter plays Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2. (h/t, Classical Virtuoso)
Posted by Bird Dog
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15:45
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2 BooksBuddy made me think about David Gelernter's book, Drawing Life: Surviving the Unabomber. A stunning, serious, soulful book by the Yale computer science prof, which made a big impression on me when it came out. On the lighter side, I am reading Greenspan's best-selling memoir, Age of Turbulence. A fine read without a dull moment. I didn't know he had gone to Julliard, and wanted to be a jazz sax player. The guy was always the smartest guy in the room. You realize that being a central banker means learning as you go.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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15:22
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Tuesday, October 16. 2007"It was getting boring, so now we play around"
Posted by Gwynnie
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15:49
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Signaling Theory, Education, etc.The link to Assistant Village Idiot's piece on signaling and politics, in which he proposes, just for the sake of discussion:
I decided to try to learn just a little about Signaling Theory, but first I had to make sure the word didn't have two "l"s, so as to avoid signaling that I am a dunce. (It's one of those many words that the Brits spell wrong.) Moving ahead, I learned that the sociological/economic/game theory notion of signaling comes out of biology and animal behavior. I found a good introductory piece on the subject, Honest Signalling Theory (I noted that this American Bio prof likes to use two "l"s.) It's an interesting multi-page piece which begins:
I realized that maybe I do more signalling than I would like to think. Then I stumbled into a piece by Econlog's Caplan after reading some brief essays about education and signaling (Would you rather have a Berkley Diploma and No Education, or Education and No Diploma? and Jane Galt's Who are we signalling? and Tyler Cowen's Why Education is Productive - a parable of men and beasts) about the signaling value of education. Is education purely about social signalling? Of course not, but partially, yes. Caplan, in Mixed Signals asks:
Well, this was all fun, but one is quickly reminded of how often people who have cool ideas tend to get reductionistic about them: Man is all about economics, man is all about gender, man is all about libido, man is all about adapting to his environment, man is all about signaling, etc, etc. So if you look at the world through a "signaling" lens, all you will see is signaling. And now I am out of time and getting too long anyway.
Posted by The Barrister
in Education, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:33
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The Emma Maersk: The world's largest cargo shipNow you know how WalMart gets all its stuff from
Posted by Gwynnie
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04:33
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Monday, October 15. 2007Beer Pong Kings
A useful life skill to learn in college. These guys are amazing. Cannot embed the video, which is here. (h/t, Grow A Brain on the subject of beer.)
Posted by The News Junkie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:33
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Nantucket Lightship WLV-612Chris took this photo in Connecticut on Saturday, and sent it over with an email which said drily "I have some reason to believe this might be the Nantucket Lightship." Coast Guard Lightships marked the dangerous Nantucket Shoals since 1854. The Shoals are located on the heavily-trafficked transatlantic route to New York, 50 miles off the Nantucket coast. This lightship, "Nantucket 2," was decommisioned in 1983. She has been refurbished as an elegant charter and events ship. The photos of the interior would surely not be recognizable to the guys who manned her. You can tour the Ambrose Lightship, familiar to all sea travellers due to its old ocean station outside New York Harbor, in its original condition at New York's South Street Seaport.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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05:15
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Sunday, October 14. 2007Albert Collins
Posted by Bird Dog
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13:56
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Tuscany VillasIt's good fun to look for villa rentals in Tuscany. One has to wonder how people found these things before Al Gore invented the internet. We like this one, south of Siena and not too far from the tourist trap of San Gimignano. Sleeps 12, if you are lucky enough to have some friends.
Posted by Bird Dog
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08:48
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