![]() |
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. |
Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page
Categories
QuicksearchLinks
Blog Administration |
Tuesday, June 23. 2009NewportNewport ain't all fancy yachts. At 6am last weekend, these fishermen were lining up their dories to be towed out to sea:
Posted by Gwynnie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
05:16
| Comment (1)
| Trackbacks (0)
Monday, June 22. 2009A real live succubus
It would not be amusing if a guy did this. "It was great," one (the only honest?) fellow admitted.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
11:25
| Comments (3)
| Trackbacks (0)
Sunday, June 21. 2009
Posted by The News Junkie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
22:18
| Comments (5)
| Trackbacks (0)
DadFrom Jim Bishop's reminiscences of his father, A Father's Love Goes on Forever and Forever, one quote: Being a father is an awesome calling and responsibility. Granted, just about anyone can father a child, but what an awesome calling and responsibility it is to be a father. At 64, I’m still learning, even though both our daughters have long flown the nest, are married and have put Anna and me squarely in the grandparenting stage of life, something we thought old people did.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
14:50
| Comments (5)
| Trackbacks (0)
Shop Class as SoulcraftFor Father's Day, I am recommending Matthew Crawford's 2006 essay about work, of the above title, in The New Atlantis. One quote:
I see he has expanded his thoughts into a new book. An excerpt from the book appeared in The NYT Magazine last month: The Case for Working with your Hands. A quote from that:
Some days, definitely. Other days, more abstract work is just fine. 50/50 might be ideal for me, but a work-out in a gym is no substitute for doing something physical and real. We men need to engage mind and muscle together to feel whole. You can see it in any little boy, and it never goes away. Chain saws, brush wackers and tractors are my skill level. It's called unskilled (at best, semi-skilled) work.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
13:55
| Comments (6)
| Trackbacks (0)
The F wordMany of us here have discussed how much can be learned from failure, and how relatively little can be learned from success. Thus it is gratifying to see the child of Memphis and legendary hedge fund owner Paul Tudor Jones delivering a 9th Grade graduation address to the "Buckley Boys" in which he declined to discuss the recommended sanctimonious topic of "service" and instead spoke about the value of failure. Good on him. Almost all of my wisdom has come from my errors and failures - whether personal or professional. Read his speech, and invite your kids to read it too. Cape Cod wavesIs it summer yet? 60 degrees F here this morning with fog and a cool rain. It's what we call Cape Cod weather. Here are some normal summer waves at Orleans. (the constant misspellings on YouTube titles bugs me):
Nice autumn surf at Nauset:
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
05:07
| Comments (3)
| Trackbacks (0)
Saturday, June 20. 2009On ye olde pity pot todayA sucky day. Two tooth extractions last evening as prep for some implants, and then today the basement flooded (17/20 of the past days with heavy rain). It's raining as I type, too. Six guys here all day with a dumpster and suction hoses removing everything from the basement (old tax records and other records too, totally soaked), the carpet, the tiles and linoleum underneath, the wood shelving, etc etc. How heavy is soaked carpet? Plus the wallboard took a terrible hit: it's done. Fans and dehumidifiers humming away right now. What an f-ing mess. Glad I have homeowner's insurance. Sorry I do not have dental insurance - but I'd be uninsurable in that regard. I tell myself that if these are my worst problems, I am probably in pretty good shape. But my jaw hurts. Don't you hate it when people complain? It makes others feel like they should say or do something to make it better, or to fix it. Well, at least I am not in an iron lung ward. That must have really sucked. The last iron lung inhabitant died last year. My brain makes me wonder how they avoided bedsores, how they pooped, and why they didn't unplug the damn thing late at night while the nurses were dozing:
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
21:08
| Comments (7)
| Trackbacks (0)
A good man, not a great manAs we grow up, we realize that no Dads are "great men" in the usual sense. Just as flawed as we are. But, in my view, any Dad who sticks by his kids and keeps 'em in sneakers is a darn good one. Neptunus discusses his Dad for Father's Day.
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
13:49
| Comments (4)
| Trackbacks (0)
Your Connecticut Summer Fun Help Desk
Connecticut Antique Machinery Association and, if your travels happen to take you near Coalbrookdale, England, Ironbridge, Birthplace of Industry. Photo: An old trolley at the Trolley Museum. I remember how the old trolley tracks could twist your bike tires when you rode over them as the tracks were gradually consumed by layers of asphalt. The bus lobby beat out whatever trolley lobbies there were and roads, unlike tracks, were built and maintained by government. A shame. Photo below: Cylinder of a Corliss Steam Engine at the Machinery Museum
Posted by Bird Dog
in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
13:02
| Comment (1)
| Trackbacks (0)
Train stationA friend sent a photo he took of the Darien, CT train station. At 5:45 am the southbound platform would be jammed with riders to NYC:
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
05:31
| Comments (0)
| Trackbacks (0)
Friday, June 19. 2009True American Grit
All about grit, at In Character.
Suitable for medical marijuanaFiresign Theater, 1974:
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
12:19
| Comments (0)
| Trackbacks (0)
The perennial poor-mouthsThe language of the perpetually poor. h/t, Driscoll's Poor little rich hipsters. Throwing money away (essential pleasures and rewards like smokes and wine not included) shows disrespect for one's own time and labor, and thus for oneself.
Posted by The Barrister
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
09:20
| Comments (0)
| Trackbacks (0)
MechaI thought it was just an Alaska-style lawn sculpture, but the thing moves, too. Battlefield potential no doubt. Can you picture 30 of these, heavily armed, at the Battle of the Somme? h/t Jonah at NRO
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
07:08
| Comments (6)
| Trackbacks (0)
Thursday, June 18. 2009AthenaI grabbed this photo of Jim Clark's 289' Athena (built in 2004 by Royal Huisman Yard) in Newport, RI this weekend -
Posted by Kondratiev
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
16:18
| Comments (4)
| Trackbacks (0)
Tuesday, June 16. 2009Cool toys from our youth which would be illegal today
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
10:14
| Comments (3)
| Trackbacks (0)
Monday, June 15. 2009Snapple's Big Apple Barbecue Block PartyPhoto quality looks like the Bird Dog pup took these with her cell phone yesterday, in Chelsea (aka Hell's Kitchen):
![]()
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
16:51
| Comments (2)
| Trackbacks (0)
The new Elmore Leonard
Reviewed here. Sounds like good fun.
Posted by Opie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
12:25
| Comments (0)
| Trackbacks (0)
xkcd
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
09:09
| Comments (3)
| Trackbacks (0)
Saturday, June 13. 2009How people open your locked luggageIt's so easy:
Posted by Gwynnie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
12:26
| Comments (3)
| Trackbacks (0)
Sippican Cottage Furniture makes good stuffIt's time for a free ad for Sippican's craftsmanship. Readers may recall the stunning and unique humidor he made for me. He seems to be able to make anything, in any historical style, including custom built-ins. I'm sure he'd love to build something for you, especially if you are friendly to him. Here's his furniture site. Here's a small (Shaker?) Tiger Maple side table he made for us: Sipp was kind enough to bring over a similar table the other day, in an antiqued (can't appreciate the antiquing in my in photo) finish. It is situated among the pile of other engagement gifts, below: Continue reading "Sippican Cottage Furniture makes good stuff"
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
05:53
| Comments (8)
| Trackbacks (0)
Friday, June 12. 2009The NBA
Why so many ties in NBA games?
Posted by Gwynnie
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
09:32
| Comments (0)
| Trackbacks (0)
Floating
Posted by Bird Dog
in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation
at
06:08
| Comments (0)
| Trackbacks (0)
Hey Jenny Slater. Hey Jenny Slater. Hey Jenny Slater![]() It's difficult to write, and in turn, tell jokes. Really funny people rarely tell jokes. They outline a narrative in a humorous way. If you sprinkle in a funny turn of phrase here and there, those are jokes, but they're not the point. If you've ever seen a good comedian appear in a nightclub when they're working on new material, it's generally really disjointed and unfunny. There's no thread running through it yet, and the jokes bomb or get a laugh, but you can't get a wave to ride on. A monologue done nightly is just watercooler chat. The day's happenings in a stream. But Letterman's DOA joke about Sarah Palin's daughter wasn't really topical, and it wasn't funny, and it stuck out like a sore thumb. It was an excuse to be vicious, and it showed that Letterman had been waiting for quite a while for any chance to say something unpleasant about someone he really doesn't like.That's why it seemed so jarring. Letterman likes to trade on his midwestern homeliness, and likes the association people have always made between him and Johnny Carson. Carson was from the midwest, too, of course, and Carson liked Letterman and had a lot to do with his success. It always rankled Letterman that he didn't replace Carson. He's become bitter about it, and it shows. But the impetus of the joke that bombed is exactly why Letterman never replaced Carson. Carson was talented, and funny, and wry, and light on his feet, and he was every bit the equal of every star that sat across from him. He knew what to talk to stars about, because he was a star. Letterman was always a kind of lame-o Lucifer to Carson's Archangel, and everybody knew it. Letterman made his name by being the king's fool. The king suffered someone aping him, to amuse him, but a fool is always a fool. You're allowed to say what you want, but there's no promotion ever in the offing. You get to hang around until you put your foot in it. And when you displease your sovereign, you get the ax, not the hook. Letterman's congenital problem manifested itself in spades. He is a Beta male in an industry filled with Beta males. Even the industry's a Beta. He's not even an entertainer -- his job is to talk to and about entertainers. They say politics is show-business for ugly people, and the similarities are manifest. Politics is often home to Beta males that try to cut in front of the big men on life's campus by the side door. Same deal. That's why they get along famously. Continue reading "Hey Jenny Slater. Hey Jenny Slater. Hey Jenny Slater"
« previous page
(Page 167 of 250, totaling 6248 entries)
» next page
|