Seymour Hersh on why Kerry isn’t winning by a landslide: “I think one thing you have to face up to is the fact there are roughly 70 million people in America who do not believe in evolution – and those are Bush supporters.”
(Via Andrew Sullivan.)
Author: geoff
Celtics… then Pats… now the Red Sox
So finally, incredibly, the Red Sox have done it.
When I came to the USA 23 years ago, Boston sports was all about the Celtics. Larry Bird, Robert Parrish, and all the rest of them: although there were various pretenders (Philly? LA?) the Celtics were the natural champions.
Then came a drought. Occasionally the Red Sox would tease their fans, but everybody knew better than to take them seriously.
Then, quite unexpectedly, the star-less Patriots started winning; grinding out victories with a frightening implacability.
And now, from the depths of despair after three games of the ALCS, the Red Sox have swept to victory, under a total eclipse of the moon. Sweet. Stay safe, everybody.
Mobility
Tim wrote: “Bluetooth? I think it hits the sweet spot for me. I’d totally love one of the hot new phones with high-speed flat-rate data that I can leave in my bag. Then I stick a Bluetooth headset over one ear, and then have my computer connect through it so I’m really on the Net all the time.
But… iPod? Blackberry? Texting? Not for me, thanks; at the moment anyhow. Are there others like me?”
Today I use a Nokia 3650 phone and my PowerBook. Both support Bluetooth. The phone has a (primitive) camera, and I can easily transfer the photos to my PowerBook and into iPhoto. I also use Romeo and Veta Universal to use my phone as a wireless mouse for the PowerBook. I sometimes use my phone to display speaker notes during presentations, which I transfer from the PowerBook. I’d like to sync my PowrBook’s iCal calendar into my phone, but I haven’t yet taken the time to sync Sun’s EdgeCal service with iCal. I don’t use my phone as a modem, not because I can’t but because people tell me it’s far to easy to run up enormous phone bills. (I don’t have an “unlimited data” plan.) All of these features use BlueTooth.
iPod? Yes, I have one: I love it for long flights, or walks; I also play it through my car stereo. Texting? Not outbound, but absolutely inbound. I have EdgeCal set up to send a text message to my phone 10 minutes before every appointment, including location and phone number (for phone conferences). Not only does this work when I’m not online; the discreet “beep” is a great way of initiating a graceful end to my previous meeting, so that I can actually get to the next one on time! (An alien concept to many, I know.) And I definitely use the browser on my phone for ad hoc information – headlines, stock prices, sports scores (GO SOX!!!), flight schedules. (Oh, yes: I use text messaging to get flight and upgrade notices.)
Having said all this, I’m probably going to switch to the Treo 650 when AT&T Wireless starts shipping the GSM version. Better screen, cleaner browsing, more apps, usable games…. I’ve tried games on the Nokia 3650, but it’s really not quite usable – partly because of the quirky circular keypad. I figure that the Treo 650 should be almost as usable as my GameBoy Advanced.
Hitchens vs. Hitchens
OK, this is priceless. The mercurial expat Brit writer Christopher Hitchens (note my restrained description) has seen fit to endorse both Kerry and Bush!! Maybe another bottle of port will cure his double vision. Or perhaps he should stick to writing about Henry Kissinger and George Orwell.
(Thanks to Atrios.)
"How many more have to die?"
From Capitol Hill Blue: How many more have to die?: “An internal memo circulating at CIA headquarters at Langley says more Iraqi civilians have died since the American invasion than died at the hands of Saddam Hussein over the past decade.”
RIP: John Peel
Starting in the late 1960s, John Peel introduced a generation of British radio listeners – including me – to wondrous and strange “underground” music: Captain Beefheart, the Incredible String Band, Country Joe and the Fish, and many, many more. (Who can forget the Purple Gang’s “Granny Takes A Trip”, an innocent little ditty whose title was guaranteed to get a rise out of BBC management?) He even started his own record label, Dandelion, to give a chance to college bands like Principal Edwards’ Magic Theatre. And the wonderful thing was that he wasn’t stuck in one era: he was always looking ahead, introducing listeners to the unexpected, for nearly 40 years.
On my last trip to England, I was driving down the M40 and tuned in to a talk radio show which seemed to defy all the rules for the genre. It juxtaposed topics in a head-spinning way: the silly, the sad, the ecstatic, and the profound. The host’s voice seemed familiar, but I was concentrating on my driving, and so…. And then at the end I learned that it was John Peel, in a non-musical role, and I realised why the program had challenged conventions. Because he always did. Thanks, John. And goodbye.
Update: Chris just posted a nice piece with a link to John Peel’s favourite song, Teenage Kicks by the Undertones.
Update: The radio show was Home Truths. You can listen to a tribute issue of this wonderful program at the BBC Radio 4 website.
Two CDs of the week: "Blackfield" and "Speak"
It’s like waiting for a bus… you hang around for ages, and then along come several. Well, in this case the waiting has been for the mail from England, which finally delivered two very special CDs with one thing in common: Steven Wilson.
In the USA, Steven Wilson is best known as the leader of Porcupine Tree, the progressive and increasingly heavy rock band that began with some home produced tracks with a fictitious back-story and has now become a major force, with albums such as The Sky Moves Sideways, Signify and In Absentia. But in Europe, he was always better known for a variety of collaborations with different artists using different names. Which leads us to today’s crop.
First up is Blackfield, a new project by Steven and Aviv Geffen. The songs are simple, short, direct, and beautiful; the sound is that of Lightbulb Sun-era Porcupine Tree, with full, sensual arrangements. Deeply satisfying. The album is short – ten songs, just over 30 minutes – and there’s a bonus CD with two new tracks plus a live version of Cloudy Now and an MPEG video of the title track.
The second album is Speak by No-Man. Tim Bowness and Steven Wilson have been No-Man since the late 1980s, and this material first appeared on cassette back in 1989, long before they had a recording contract or a sense of where they were going! Although unmistakably by the same artists who gave us the rich soundscapes and tone poems of Flower Mouth and Returning Jesus, Speak is more eclectic, less structured. Fragments of melodies, rhythms, and “found sounds” of indefinite provenance sweep in and disappear as if dissipated by a sudden breeze, while Tim’s quietly insistent words pull you in. I have all of No-Man‘s later work; it’s good to be able to hear their roots.
Blackfield has been released in the USA, but No-Man recordings are hard to find. The best source is Burning Shed Records in England.
The empty accusation of the "L-word"
From the Des Moines Register: “Yes, Kerry is liberal. But what’s to fear from a liberal president? That he would run big deficits? That he would increase federal spending? That he would expand the power of the federal government over individuals’ lives? Nothing Kerry could do could top what President Bush has already done in those realms.”
(Via Andrew Sullivan.)
How not to break a record
Like Steve, I was (on balance) glad that Manchester United beat Arsenal. Even if it did end the Gunners’ record-breaking run, the Premiership is now really exciting. But not this way:
BBC SPORT | Football | Premiership | FA acts after Old Trafford battle: “Manchester United’s Ruud Van Nistelrooy has been charged with serious foul play by the Football Association for a tackle on Arsenal’s Ashley Cole.
And Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has been asked to explain his comments about Van Nistelrooy and referee Mike Riley.
Van Nistelrooy has been given until Tuesday to “deny or admit” the charge which will be heard on Thursday.”
Two great streaks – one continues, one ends
Here in New England, the Patriots stretched their streak to 21 by beating the NY Jets. And back home in old England, Manchester United finally ended Arsenal’s 49 game unbeaten run. All good things must come to an end….