Mid-Week

Via ESPN…the aptly named “That Ain’t Right,” a slide show of automotive monstrosities from the SEMA show in Vegas. The pic I’ve chosen to pique your fancy features my pet peeve of current automotive abominations…those outsized wheels that seemingly “grace” every other mildly or wildly customized SUV, Caprice, or other big-assed vehicles prowling the streets these days. To my way of thinking the money spent on “22s” would be better spent on a supercharger or some other horsepower enhancing device. Or decent shocks, based upon some examples I’ve seen around these parts…

Today’s Musical Moments… Two tunes from Leo Kottke. The first is contemporary Leo, playing his interpretation of the ol’ Duane Allman classic, Little Martha.

Short and sweet, as the saying goes. And simply frickin’ brilliant.

Now this piece ("Vaseline Machine Gun") is what originally turned me on to Kottke in the waaay-back, circa 1970 or so. The first time I heard this piece I simply didn’t believe it was only ONE guy on guitar…I just knew it had to be an instrumental duet. But, no. Just Leo. I bought the album and became a life-long fan.

Amazing, isn’t he? I’ve seen Leo at least three times…and always in a small venue with no more than a hundred people…at the very most…in the audience. The man has marvelous rapport with his audience and his stage banter is self-deprecating and virtually defines the word “eccentric,” as in funny-eccentric. There are few guitar players that are Kottke’s equal, and fewer still that are better. None come to mind as I write…

Today’s Political Moment of Zen (apologies, Jon)…courtesy of the WSJ:

To get the conversation rolling at that D.C. dinner--and perhaps mischievously--I wondered aloud whether Bush hatred had not made rational discussion of politics in Washington all but impossible. One guest responded in a loud, seething, in-your-face voice, "What's irrational about hating George W. Bush?" His vehemence caused his fellow progressives to gather around and lean in, like kids on a playground who see a fight brewing.

Reluctant to see the dinner fall apart before drinks had been served, I sought to ease the tension. I said, gently, that I rarely found hatred a rational force in politics, but, who knows, perhaps this was a special case. And then I tried to change the subject.

But my dinner companion wouldn't allow it. "No," he said, angrily. "You started it. You make the case that it's not rational to hate Bush." I looked around the table for help. Instead, I found faces keen for my response. So, for several minutes, I held forth, suggesting that however wrongheaded or harmful to the national interest the president's policies may have seemed to my progressive colleagues, hatred tended to cloud judgment, and therefore was a passion that a citizen should not be proud of being in the grips of and should avoid bringing to public debate. Propositions, one might have thought, that would not be controversial among intellectuals devoted to thinking and writing about politics.

But controversial they were. Finally, another guest, a man I had long admired, an incisive thinker and a political moderate, cleared his throat, and asked if he could interject. I welcomed his intervention, confident that he would ease the tension by lending his authority in support of the sole claim that I was defending, namely, that Bush hatred subverted sound thinking. He cleared his throat for a second time. Then, with all eyes on him, and measuring every word, he proclaimed, "I . . . hate . . . the . . . way . . . Bush . . . talks."

Much has been written about BDS and I’ve linked more than a few of these pieces. This one is as good as any and better than most. Not the least of which is this pithy observation:

In short, Bush hatred is not a rational response to actual Bush perfidy. Rather, Bush hatred compels its progressive victims--who pride themselves on their sophistication and sensitivity to nuance--to reduce complicated events and multilayered issues to simple matters of good and evil. Like all hatred in politics, Bush hatred blinds to the other sides of the argument, and constrains the hater to see a monster instead of a political opponent.

Which, of course, has never failed to amaze me. Read the whole thing.

(h/t: Lex)

It’s not a nice day here on The High Plains of New Mexico… a front is moving in and the wind is up. “Howling” is a much more appropriate, albeit overused, term. I won’t be going out today, reduced as I am to using Miss Zukiko for basic transportation, and today is not a good day for motorcycling. Ya, the Green Hornet runs and all her mechanical systems save one are intact. The one system that isn’t functional is the hood latch, and the hood remains in place…which is to say down… thanks only to the emergency catch. It’ll be a slow slog over to the body shop in Clovis tomorrow. But until then, the wounded Hornet will remain parked. I’m not one to tempt fate.

Avalon

Some may call it schmaltz, but I dearly love “Avalon.” As a matter of fact, the Roxy Music album of the same name was the very first CD I ever purchased, waaay back in 1984 or so. Bought, of course, to augment the well-worn vinyl copy of “Avalon” that resides in my LP collection. But I digress. I auditioned several versions of this tune to select one for posting…and chose a live version. The studio version is simply exquisite, and benefits from (probably) hours of fine-tuning the mix on the console. There’s not much to quibble about in the studio version…the background vocals are suitably ethereal, the horn charts are subdued yet simply awesome, and Bryan Ferry’s singing…love it or leave it… is magnificent.

What the Hell. Here’s the studio version as soundtrack to some video whose meaning is completely lost on me. Pun intended.

The Second Mrs. Pennington and I did numerous turns around numerous rooms in numerous locations to “Avalon.” And the effect was nearly always the same…ecstasy. In one form or another.

“Dancing…dancing…”

Oh, yes.

The War

So, Gentle Reader, have you been watching “The War?” The show has been running on PBS for over a week now and except for Sunday-last’s installment, I’ve watched it all. And I’ve mostly been impressed with the first-person accounts directors Burns and Novick have assembled. Really, the first-person narratives are what distinguish this particular documentary from all the others…and there have been many… about Big Bang Two. And there was an amusing example last evening…

I’m writing from memory, Gentle Reader, so I could be mistaken about the details in this particular anecdote. But, as I recall, the subject was jokes and Marine pilot Sam Hynes related what he recalls as the best joke from the war. He opened up with “the joke was visual…and you had to see it, not hear it.” “It was in the Officers Club bar on Kwajalein (or Enewetak?)… but anyway, behind the bar, mounted on a large plaque…like a marlin or a tarpon… was this huge brassiere. And underneath the brassiere was the legend…

‘Remember Pearl Olsen!’”

That may be a “you hadda be there” sort of moment for some of you, but most of us recall “Remember Pearl Harbor!” as the watch phrase during The Big One. Leave it to fighter pilots (or other flight crew members) to irreverently remind one and all what they were really fighting for…

One more thing about “The War” and then I’ll leave it go. One of the criticisms I’ve read in multiple places is how Burns’ anti-war views bleed thorough in this film. I definitely noticed one such example last evening during the segments on the fire-bombings of Dresden and multiple Japanese cities, e.g., Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, etc. In addition to the narrative, which took pains to point out that most of the victims of these bombings were women and children (“over 100,000 children died during these bombings…”), the soundtrack was the usual tug-on-the-heartstrings solo violin dirge, explicitly designed to evoke pity. Violins are good for that, ya know. Nothing better, actually, in the world of music.

Now if it had been me scoring that particular segment I’d have used this:

Yeah, I know: it’s been done before. So?

My criticism aside, watch the re-runs if you missed it the first time around. It’s more than worthwhile.

(War) Planes, (Steam) Trains and Automobiles Big Yellow Taxis (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Didja know the Troofers hold conventions? I sorta suspected they did, but Sonny Bunch at The Weekly Standard actually went to a couple…and reports on ‘em here.

NY 9/11 Truth held its anniversary celebration, "The 9/11 Truth: Ready for Mainstream," at the Cooper Union in New York City last week. Frequently citing Abraham Lincoln--who forcefully articulated his political philosophy on the same stage 147 years earlier--the Truthers invited to speak seemed less interested in discussing the intricacies of the various plots they claim to have uncovered than in shoehorning 9/11 into causes they supported long before the terrorist atrocities of that day. Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a Lakota radio host, said he wasn't at all surprised by the events of 9/11 because "America [has been] an 'inside job' since 1492." Mya Schone, another staple of liberal talk radio, entitled her speech "9/11 and the Oppressive Apparatus of the Capitalist State."

Attendance was sparse. Despite warnings to get tickets in advance in order to assure a seat, Cooper Union's Great Hall was at perhaps 25 percent of capacity on the first day. Even fewer showed up on the second day. Truthers varied in age, but the uniform of the event seemed to be T-shirts sporting slogans like "9/11 was an inside job!" and "Impeach Bush." Devotees of Lyndon LaRouche were staked outfront of the premises, warning that the ideas contained within the literature were "heavy, important, man." The LaRouchies seemed to realize they weren't welcome at the event, but it's hard to think that the sermon they were preaching was any more outlandish than, say, that of Alfred Webre, who was given 45 minutes to talk on the topics "9/11 as a war crime" and the "development of [an] international tribunal" for the Bush administration. After touching on those subjects (to great applause), he veered off course, arguing that an "artificial intelligence matrix" controlled by the Rothschild family might have caused 9/11, that the cancer rate in Iraq now stands at 30 percent, that AIDS is a biological weapon created to control the population, that global warming is being caused by a black hole 23 light years from Earth, and that the NYPD was employing a supersonic crowd disruption device that was depressing turnout.

And there’s more, much more. This sort of stuff would be funny if it weren’t for the facts that they’re talking about terrorist attacks on America — attacks that caused massive loss of life and untold billions of dollars in destroyed property and lost business income. That, and the fact these frickin’ idiots are delusional and paranoid enough to think our government is behind it all. It’s too bad “stupid” isn’t painful.

They’re beyond redemption. WAY beyond…

OK…I gotta bookmark this blog for those days when I’m either uninspired or lacking something, anything, of substance to write about: “The Conscience of a Liberal.”

Introducing This Blog

“I was born in 1953. Like the rest of my generation, I took the America I grew up in for granted – in fact, like many in my generation I railed against the very real injustices of our society, marched against the bombing of Cambodia, went door to door for liberal candidates. It’s only in retrospect that the political and economic environment of my youth stands revealed as a paradise lost, an exceptional episode in our nation’s history.”

That’s the opening paragraph of my new book, The Conscience of a Liberal. It’s a book about what has happened to the America I grew up in and why, a story that I argue revolves around the politics and economics of inequality.

I’ve given this New York Times blog the same name, because the politics and economics of inequality will, I expect, be central to many of the blog posts – although I also expect to be posting on a lot of other issues, from health care to high-speed Internet access, from productivity to poll analysis.

And Mr. Krugman is still railing, and will continue railing from now until he draws his last breath. I think he got his book title right, though. American Liberals: ALL “conscience” and little-to-no actual thought. Because there’s just SO much wrong and very little right with America, ya know.

Now I just have to remember he exists on those days when I need blog-fodder. Easy pickings.

Speaking of easy pickings…I’m sure you’ve heard TimesSelect is no more. That means Krugman, Dowd, and Rich are available for mocking by the Great Unwashed Masses now. Heh.

Good news, bad news…in The Times (UK):

An accidental explosion in a secret weapons facility in Syria killed dozens of Syrian and Iranian military engineers as they were trying to mount a chemical warhead on a Scud missile in July, a report has claimed.

Fifteen military personnel and “dozens” of Iranian advisers died when the fuel for the missile caught fire and the weapon exploded.

A cloud of chemical and nerve gases, that included the deadly VX and Sarin agents as well as mustard gas, was sent across the facility in the northern city of Aleppo, according to a new report in Jane's Defence Weekly.

The bad news, of course, is that the Iranians and the Syrians apparently have a very active chemical weapons program going in Syria. I’m sure you can figure out what the good part is. And there’s more of note in the linked article… unrelated speculation about that Israeli air strike that everyone and no one is talking about…

The Goddess Sings: Joni Mitchell reworks Big Yellow Taxi; UK exclusive: listen to the singer's new version of the 1970 hit. OK, I’ve had this playing (on loop) for about ten minutes now, and at the risk of being branded a heretic, I think I like it better than the original. Joni hasn’t recorded new stuff in a coon’s age, but she’s back! And sounding just as good as ever. If not better.

I love this woman…

Speaking of women I love… Heather Wilson (R-NM) co-sponsored H. CON. RES. 207: “Recognizing the 60th anniversary of the United States Air Force as an independent military service.” Full text here. Excerpts:

Whereas General Henry H. `Hap' Arnold drew upon the industrial prowess and human resources of the United States to transform the Army Air Corps from a force of 22,400 men and 2,402 aircraft in 1939 to a peak wartime strength of 2.4 million personnel and 79,908 aircraft;

Whereas the standard for courage, flexibility, and intrepidity in combat was established for all Airmen during the first aerial raid in the Pacific Theater on April 18, 1942, when Lieutenant Colonel James `Jimmy' H. Doolittle led 16 North American B-25 Mitchell bombers in a joint operation from the deck of the naval carrier USS Hornet to strike the Japanese mainland in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor;

[…]

Whereas the Air National Guard was also created by the National Security Act of 1947 and has played a vital role in guarding the United States and defending freedom in nearly every major conflict and contingency since its inception;

Whereas on October 14, 1947, the USAF demonstrated its historic and ongoing commitment to technological innovation when Captain Charles `Chuck' Yeager piloted the X-1 developmental rocket plane to a speed of Mach 1.07, becoming the first flyer to break the sound barrier in a powered aircraft in level flight;

Whereas the USAF Reserve, created April 14, 1948, is comprised of Citizen Airmen who steadfastly sacrifice personal fortune and family comfort in order to serve as unrivaled wingmen of the active duty USAF in every deployment, mission, and battlefield around the globe;

[…]

Whereas in the early years of the Cold War, the USAF's arsenal of bombers, such as the long-range Convair B-58 Hustler and B-36 Peacemaker, and the Boeing B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress, under the command of General Curtis LeMay served as the United States' preeminent deterrent against Soviet Union forces and were later augmented by the development and deployment of medium range and intercontinental ballistic missiles, such as the Titan and Minuteman developed by General Bernard A. Schriever;

[…]

Whereas, for 17 consecutive years beginning with 1990, Airmen have been engaged in full-time combat operations ranging from Desert Shield to Iraqi Freedom, and have shown themselves to be an expeditionary air and space force of outstanding capability ready to fight and win wars of the United States when and where Airmen are called upon to do so;

[…]

Whereas during the past 60 years, the USAF has repeatedly proved its value to the Nation, fulfilling its critical role in national defense, and protecting peace, liberty, and freedom throughout the world: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress remembers, honors, and commends the achievements of the United States Air Force in serving and defending the United States on the 60th anniversary of the creation of the United States Air Force as an independent military service.

Thanks, Heather.

Today’s Pic: Is another C&TRR train vid. Details as in yesterday’s post. No dead presidents' faces (or dead comedians, either) this time around.

Thursday, Part Deux

Laundromat AAR: The laundry bag is empty, the clothes are put away, and if it weren’t so danged early I’d pop a beer and try to recover from the traumatic experience that is the laundromat. I’ve only occasionally run into folks with whom I can have a pleasant conversation with while doing laundry; today wasn’t one of those days. Nope…today was Morbidly Obese Women’s Day at the local washateria. Not plump, not large, but morbidly obese… as in 300 pounds or so. Four of ‘em. Complete with Ritalin-deprived children pushing those little wire baskets on wheels all over the place while giving their lungs some serious exercise. Continuously, for the first 20 minutes I was there. Then they left.

Thank God for small favors. I was left wondering just exactly who would mate with such women. They couldn't have possibly gained all that weight in only four years or so, which was the approximate ages of the little monsters playing with the laundry carts. A mystery, that.

I frickin’ HATE laundromats. Have I mentioned that before? I think I might have.

Now this is Way-COOL!

You’ve heard of air pollution and noise pollution? Don’t look now, but another depressing form of toxicity is taking the fun out of life: ad pollution. That’s the creeping commercial crud that has sapped the pleasure out of TV, faxes, e-mail and, of course, radio. These days, it seems as though AM radio has 52 minutes of ads an hour.

But you have an alternative. Internet radio stations offer an endless smorgasbord of audio entertainment. Some of it is a simultaneous broadcast of what’s on from NPR, ESPN, the BBC and so on; others are Internet-only stations that serve both mainstream and niche tastes. The variety is staggering, all of it is free, and it is largely uncluttered by ads.

Trouble is, to listen to Internet radio, you pretty much have to sit at your computer all day. Why doesn’t somebody invent a physical radio that can tune in all of this streaming goodness? Not a stereo component or computer peripheral, but a true-blue old-time tabletop console, with a row of preset buttons and built-in speakers?

Somebody finally has. Several somebodies, actually. Companies like Roku, Com One, Revo, Terratec and Tivoli have all produced tabletop or bookshelf radios that are freaky hybrids of the old and new. You tune into radio shows just as you have for decades, but the radios’ antennas are internal Wi-Fi receivers that connect to a wireless home network. Talk about good reception: these radios can pull in any of 10,000 Internet radio stations from all over the world, without a single pop of static.

I won’t buy one. Well, not until I resume a conventional sort of life, anyway. As it stands I can listen to Radio Paradise …and do… from anywhere within El Casa Móvil De Pennington, and often when I’m outside, if the windows and door are open. All I have to do is turn it up. While my ‘puter doesn’t provide the sound quality (or the sheer volume) my stereo does, it’s perfectly adequate. Just ask my neighbors. But an internet radio that isn’t a computer IS a way-cool idea.

Pictured is the Phoenix radio (one of five boxes featured in the article), about which the NYT sez: “(Com One, $250). This model is made to move, thanks to its small size and weight (just over two pounds) and its ability to run on four AA batteries. Indeed, it’s the only portable stereo Internet radio here; the others are all monaural.”

Dang. I wish I had been here last night, instead of in P-Ville:

Mr. King was headlining his own tour, the B. B. King Blues Festival, which made a local stop at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden (formerly known as the Theater at Madison Square Garden). So it’s his party, but he makes a lot more of these in-between monologues than the average concertgoer might want. Maybe it’s just that he knows his physical limits. (It’s no joke to be 81, with diabetes and one-nighters scheduled into the foreseeable future.)

[…]

Etta James was to be on the tour but canceled two weeks ago; she is recovering from complications after abdominal surgery. This left more time to the third performer on the bill, Al Green: about an hour and a quarter of magnificence.

In a tuxedo with cummerbund, gold star of David hanging from his necklace, and chewing gum, the Rev. Al Green spent the first 10 minutes laughing, singing a few newer songs, and delivering red roses to the audience. Then, with two synchronized male dancers working around him, he began a row of hits from the early 1970s: “Let’s Get Married,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” “Tired of Being Alone.”

I’ve seen Etta James…several times. But I’ve never seen Al Green. And The Reverend Green and B. B. King on the same bill? Priceless. I’m gonna go dig out an Al Green CD now…

Dang. Just DANG!

Today’s “imagine the disappointment” moment…is a tie. First:

Location:
State: New Mexico
City: Portales
Time of Visit: Aug 9 2007 11:26:38 am
Visit Length: 58 seconds
Referring URL: http://www.google.co...s&btnG=Google Search
Search Words: women looking for sex in portales
Out Click: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_esgHMfCm1AYVQomGmzIu8PABwEJa0lk5LUQgLupoGbxfp_lQj1PYiK578_Fq8hzU4ZP-UpusLRz-C_A6d4Mp2NqANrxiy-nUjqMCwYN59HA_9HX25bQiHrSBSkoNUJGAMP78Iy5396ar/s200/Father and Friend.jpg

That was interesting, especially the out-click… but this?

Location:
Country: United Kingdom
State/Region: Norfolk
City: Saint James
Time of Visit: Aug 9 2007 10:43:06 am
Referring URL: http://www.google.co...ear old boys&spell=1
Search Words: pictures of a good looking 14 year old boys
Visit Entry Page: http://exileinportal...looking-kids-eh.html
Visit Exit Page: http://exileinportal...looking-kids-eh.html

Just weird.

Today’s Pic: Pelicans…yes, pelicans…on a mirror-calm lake somewhere in Yellowstone. I was up, out, and about quite early in the morning, if memory serves, and stopped by this lake to take in the sheer beauty of these graceful birds feeding on the lake. The picture just doesn’t adequately capture the moment, Gentle Reader. But it’s close.

May, 2000.