tsujigiri

The editorial comments of Chris and James, covering the news, science, religion, politics and culture.

"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day." -Douglas Adams

Friday, January 09, 2004

Holy moley. This is from MetaFilter:
Rickshaw Rally. Racing to the Son.

There's a cool article in last week's New Yorker by Louis Menand, called "Masters of the Matrix". [right here] It discusses a couple of recent books about Nixon and Kennedy and the manufacturing of image. The article as a whole is excellent, but, in the second paragraph there's this:
Theodore H. White, who subscribed fully to Kennedy’s view that the debates had made the difference in the [1960] election, complained, in “The Making of the President 1960,” that television had dumbed down the issues by forcing the candidates to respond to questions instantaneously. “Neither man could pause to indulge in the slow reflection and rumination, the slow questioning of alternatives before decision, that is the inner quality of leadership,” White said.
Precisely. That's an excellent articulation of my view of stage-and-spectacle style debate.

Wednesday, January 07, 2004

A small departure, if I may. The following is the list of my favorite albums released within the calendar year of 2003:
Blur -- Think Tank David Bowie -- Reality Belle & Sebastian -- Dear Catastrophe Waitress Elvis Costello -- North Natalie Merchant -- The House Carpenter's Daughter OutKast -- Speakerboxxx/The Love Below Rufus Wainwright -- Want One Lyle Lovett -- My Baby Don't Tolerate Steely Dan -- Everything Must Go
Lists mean nothing, but they're fun. Like the Book of Revelation. End communication.

Monday, January 05, 2004

Okay, sure:
The Yo-God God Detector.
I can dig it. From the "One-of-a-Kind" section:
God is love, and love means you'll never have to say you're sorry you purchased this heart-shaped Yo-God God Detector. This reddish-purple die-cast heart has a silver-tone edge, and is dotted with small shiny hearts. It is designed to stand on a table top, and measures 5" tall by 5" wide, with a 2 1/4" detector dial. -- $24.99
The comments section is out-of-control. (By the way, this should be one of those Google ads above, now.)