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, April 18. 2007An American Family
The ten-year story of The Sopranos, in Vanity Fair. I did not know that Chase was Italian.
Posted by Opie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:57
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Joshua Bell at L'Enfant PlazaHe brought his Strad, too, and picked up an easy, tax-free $32. I think it was a delightfully wacky thing to do. Story here. The audio here. (h/t, reader)
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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09:42
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Bugatti Veyron
Watch this 1000 hp Bugatti production car reach 250 mph. The driver is certainly enjoying the ride, and evidences no guilt at all about driving such an environmentally
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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06:21
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Princeton, NJ, yesterday
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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06:18
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Tuesday, April 17. 2007Liviu Lebrescu
Story here.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:17
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Monday, April 16. 2007Pansies in the rainThanks for the photo, reader.
Posted by Bird Dog
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05:04
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Saturday, April 14. 2007John Bogle interview
He's always good to listen to. Audio here. One quote: "Investing is simple, but it's hard. Like losing weight."
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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10:16
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Friday, April 13. 2007Might be worth watching
America at a Crossroad, at PBS, this week. I see no crossroad, but it might be interesting to see what they have to say.
Posted by Opie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:39
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Thursday, April 12. 2007Vonnegut
Never was a big fan, but he was very popular in my youth, and everybody read him, including me. I guess he was a sign of the times, and you have to admire anyone who can write books that people want to buy and to talk about. Blue Crab has a nice obit.
Posted by Bird Dog
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19:54
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Boat of the Day: LightningSome us grew up sailing and racing Lightnings when they were the largest racing class in the US. 19' with a heavy centerboard and a three-person racing crew. They work as a fine day-sailer too. This 1966 Lippincott brings back the good old days. That outboard, though, ruins it. I have flipped a few of these with the spinnaker up, when a squall blew through. Photo is Cape Cod.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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05:00
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Wednesday, April 11. 2007"I'd like to check you for ticks"I find it amusing that, for all of our effort, this was the most-often Google-searched item on Maggie's Farm in the past week or two. A love song to listen to, from Brad Paisley. Image: Hard-bodied dog ticks.
Posted by The News Junkie
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12:15
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Boat Photo of the Day: CatboatFor those who know zilch about sailboats, catboats are comfortably beamy, have a mast far forward, and one sail, usually with a gaff rig. Catboats remain popular on Cape Cod. This one, the graceful 16' Lynx, is built by Cape Cod's Arey's Pond Boatyard.
Posted by Bird Dog
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05:06
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Tuesday, April 10. 2007Aviation Estates
Your private runway in your backyard. It's the latest thing in convenience: aviation estates. Take a look at Jumbolair.
Posted by Opie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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14:59
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Joke of the Day: The Rabbi and the IRSThe IRS sends an annoying auditor to audit a synagogue. The auditor is going through the checks, and turns to the Rabbi and says, "I notice that you buy a lot of candles." "Yes," answered the Rabbi. "Well, Rabbi, what do you do with the candle drippings?" he asked. "A good question," noted the Rabbi. "We actually save them up. When we have enough, we send them back to the candle maker. And every now and then, they send us a free box of candles." "Oh," replied the auditor somewhat disappointed that his question actually had a practical answer. So he thought he'd try another question. "Rabbi, what about all these matzo purchases? What do you do ... with the crumbs from the matzo?"Ah, yes," replied the Rabbi calmly, "we actually collect up the crumbs, we send them in a box back to the manufacturer and every now and then, they send a box of matzo balls." "Oh," replied the auditor, thinking hard how to fluster the Rabbi. "Well, Rabbi," he went on, "what do you do with all the foreskins from the circumcisions? ""Yes, here too, we do not waste," answered the Rabbi. "What we do is save up all the foreskins. And when we have enough we actually send them to the Internal Revenue Service." "The Internal Revenue Service?," questioned the auditor in disbelief. "Ah, yes," replied the Rabbi, "Internal Revenue Service. And... about once a year, they send us a little prick like you."
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:01
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Everything about Sexual Desire at The New York TimesA special edition of the NYT Science Times. Some of it is self-evident, but it's always a fun topic. I think one common assumption of the researchers has something wrong, though, at least for young men. For young men, the question should be what turns them off, not on: they're always on, otherwise. It's amusing to read in the NYT about "hearty tumescence," but I thought the funniest quote was this:
Good grief. Under what rock did they have to look to find someone who would say that? But at least she didn't say that her favorite was Al Gore with his hockey stick.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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08:45
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Risk TelevisionRisk management in the financial world is evolving into an entirely new, specialized, highly-paid profession, akin to that of actuaries. "Internet television developer Mash Networks launched Risk Television, a network devoted to financial risk management research and news. The stars of this network are analysts, investment bankers and members of the Federal Reserve, who give video interviews on topics such as enterprise risk management, risk assessment and operational risk case studies. Mash Networks also operates Sox Television, devoted to study of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act."
Posted by Opie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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04:50
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Monday, April 9. 2007Dog of the WeekIf the Easter Bunny didn't make it to your house yesterday, this might be why:
Posted by Bird Dog
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04:45
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Sunday, April 8. 2007SopranosLove 'em or hate 'em, they're back tonight at 9 for the final season of 9 episodes. It's one of a very few things I will watch on TV. Evil is fascinating, especially when it's fiction. How will this final season end? My guess - it will fade out with Tony, in his bathrobe, and Carmela squabbling in the kitchen while Tony looks for orange juice in the fridge.
Posted by The News Junkie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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19:53
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Easter birdsAt the feeder today, between church and a late brunch on this chilly Easter: Cardinal, Blue Jay, BC Chickadee, Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, WT Sparrow, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, Purple Grackle, SC Junco, Goldfinch (half-moulted), BH Cowbird, House Finch, WB Nuthatch. Not to mention the fat Red-Tailed Hawk eyeing the squirrels at the feeder. Image: Moulting male American Goldfinch. Our males are not this far along with the moult into breeding plumage.
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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13:52
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Saturday, April 7. 2007SacrificeShut up and Sing Department: Elton John's Sacrifice, YouTube. I promise that you will like it. (h/t, Tangled Web) Here's a version with Elton John, Dire Straits, and Clapton Lyrics here.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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09:07
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Friday, April 6. 2007Easter Traditions: Don't forget the CannolisRe-posted from April, 2006 "Now the bricks lay on Grand Street, Photo yesterday, at Ferrara's on Grand St., NYC, to pick up some Easter wheat pies. Creamy, with just the right amount of Citron. Not exactly Yankee food. Kind of sad to see Little Italy slowly being absorbed by adjacent Chinatown - but Chinatown is great, too. In fact, wonderful. Feels like Asia. Any woman who carries a genuine Gucci or Prada or Kate Spade bag is a big sucker. This is knock-off city, for the folks with brains. These days, the third-generation Italians have taken the Holland Tunnel and moved out to Soprano-land to try to capture the American Illusion of suburban bliss. But the suburban kids all come back to NY, not to mention the ambitious rural kids from across the USA, and across the world. What fun it would be to own a little pied a terre in Little Italy, or on University Place, or in Gramercy Park, or anywhere near Zabar's. Thanks to Rudy and now to Bloomberg, NYC is as good as it has ever been - probably better. Why? The parks have all been re-done, and are welcoming, friendly, with all sorts of stuff going on. The tourists, and the "bridge-and-tunnel" crowd, are back with a vengeance. Interesting things to do and places to see - endless. Places to eat - fuggedaboutit: good everywhere. The cops - out of their patrol cars and just walking their beats like the old days, and seeming reasonably friendly although they have to maintain their NYC cool. The whole place is gleaming, busy, happily crowded, ethnic as anywhere in the world, and full of the usual new construction everywhere. One heck of a town. (Only complaint: Bloomberg says we can't smoke in bars. That is truly nuts, as bad as the UK. If I can handle life, I ought to be able to smoke in a bar without a Mommy telling me what to do. How about having smoking and non-smoking bars? Hmmm, I predict the non-smoking would go out of business.) We did not forget the cannolis.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, Religion, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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12:38
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Tuesday, April 3. 2007Candidate for Best Essay: Humans are behaving better
I am re-posting this essay because I think it got a bit lost in the mix over the weekend. Why so important? Because it makes clear that our civilization and our culture - including our religion - are what we have going for us. These things are precious, and more fragile than we'd like to think. The noble savage is a child's dream.
World violence is diminishing. A History of Violence - a speech by Steven Pinker. A sample:
Read the whole thing (link above). Sounds like Freud's Civilization and its Discontents wasn't too far off. Civilization has its challenges, but the alternatives aren't so hot. Image: Mor's Feast of Attila the Hun Monday, April 2. 2007Sky-diving down a mountain
Unbelieveable but real. Youtube
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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07:29
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Boat of the Day: 1941 19' Chris Craft "Barrel-back"This pretty boat has twin 350 Crusader engines. Speaking of boats, Sippican Cottage does Boatyard. Many can relate, I am sure.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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06:13
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Sunday, April 1. 2007Peace activists descend on Baghdad, protest Al Quaida and JihadAbout 5000 anti-war protesters from the US, Britain, France, and Germany braved the dangers to assemble in Baghdad yesterday to protest ongoing Al Quaida activities against the people of Baghdad. "As long as Al Quaida and Iran continue to create mayhem in Iraq, there can be no peace or security. The good people of Iraq do not deserve this," said a press statement issued by the organizers of the march. It went on to state "We urge the Islamic terrorists to lay down their arms and bombs and to get a job, get married, open an Individual Retirement Account, and help build the economy of this fine country so all can have happy, normal, peaceful lives." Carrying placards reading such things as "Stop the war," "Al Quaida sucks," "Nice people aren't suicide bombers," "Iran Go Home," "Al Sadr is a Nerd,"and "Guys with bombs won't get dates," the marchers followed a route through the main thoroughfares of downtown Baghdad for about five hours yesterday, and will hold a press conference this morning before returning to their homes. The march was entirely peaceful, and thousands of curious but supportive Iraqis emerged from their homes and shops to watch the marchers as they banged on pots and pans and chanted "Bombs aren't cool - let peace rule," "Don't be a fool - freedom is cool," and "One, two, three four - we don't want your Jihad war." As the marchers broke into John Lennon's deeply moving hymn "All we are saying...is give peace a chance," we asked Omar, a bread merchant whose shop was along the route, for his reaction. "Veddy nice hats," he observed. Photo of the Baghdad peace march borrowed from Dr. Sanity's piece on the peace movement.
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
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05:33
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