Friday, March 31, 2006

Bond update


I'm increasingly bothered by the anti-Bond hysteria found on various sites--The Superficial, Egotastic, and the like. Something about Daniel Craig really seems to irritate the morons who write those sites. I actually like Craig. I'm not too familiar with his other work--though, according to IMDB, there's quite a lot of it--he was very good in the Guy Ritchie-esque "Layer Cake" (which also had a very sexy Sienna Miller, as well as a preposterous ending), and I don't think he's demonstrably less handsome than, say, Timothy Dalton. Anyway, there was an interesting short essay in the New York Times Sunday Style supplement from a few weeks back. Some interesting Bond sociology here.

Suzy Menkes reminds us that, while no one who has come since has quite filled Sean Connery's shoes, it wasn't clear at the outset the Connery was so perfect:

[Ian] Fleming himself had early doubts that Connery, the son of a working-class Scottish family, would cut a classy enough figure. And look how that worked out. Craig's edgy, wolfish common touch should be fine in the "Casino Royale" remake. (After all, he briefly ensnared Kate Moss, who'd make a suitably kissable Bond girl, ripe for the killing.


The fact that Craig is blond is a particular irritant. But Menkes notes how vague the books are about what Bond really looks like, apparently intentionally so:

Fleming left almost everything to the imagination, as he told the journalist Ken Purdy in a 1964 interview. "I quite deliberately made him rather anonymous," Fleming said. "This was to enable the reader to identify with him. People have only to put their own clothes on Bond and build him into whatever sort of person they admire. If you read my books, you'll find that I don't actually describe him at all."


There's some more interesting stuff there. Check it out.

Posted by jwb at 4:43 PM  · 1 Comments   

Fingergate


I have nothing serious to add about this. From the pic, it's pretty clear that Scalia was joking around. Whatever one thinks about his politics, he's supposed to have a pretty good sense of humor, often evident in his opinions.

However, the photographer who took the pic has since been fired. (The Herald's headline is, "What's Sicilian for... You're fired.") Remind me to cancel my subscription to the Boston Pilot.

Posted by jwb at 4:26 PM  · 0 Comments   

Mark Steyn, True Hero in the War on Terror


Marty, this one's for you. (Marty was saying nice things about Canadian warmonger Mark Steyn in the comments to another post, and I cannot let that stand.)

The self-regard exhibited by certain right-wing journalists/bloggers never ceases to amaze, but they have reached new heights recently on the topic of their own alleged contributions to the GWOT--or Global War on Terror, for the uninitiated. This story is a little convoluted, but stay with me.

Exhibit A: Uber-pinhead Hugh Hewitt--who's apparently a radio host and blogger of some repute--got into it with Michael Ware, a Time magazine reporter on the phone from Baghdad. Here's part of their exchange via Blogoland:

MW: Let's look at it this way. I mean, you're sitting back in a comfortable radio studio, far from the realities of this war.

HH: Actually, Michael, let me interrupt you.

MW: If anyone has a right...

HH: Michael, one second.

MW: If anyone has a right to complain, that's what...

HH: I'm sitting in the Empire State Building. Michael, I'm sitting in the Empire State Building, which has been in the past, and could be again, a target. Because in downtown Manhattan, it's not comfortable, although it's a lot safer than where you are, people always are three miles away from where the jihadis last spoke in America. So that's...civilians have a stake in this. Although you are on the front line, this was the front line four and a half years ago.


The guy from Blogoland is very amusing in response:

I am in awe of Mr. Hewitt's bravery. And just a few days ago, we hear, Hugh actually got on a PATH train that went RIGHT THROUGH Ground Zero. Somehow, some way, he survived.

As funny as the above exchange is ("I'm on the front lines, too!") it opens a useful window onto the soul of the Keyboard Kommandos. See, when Hugh Hewitt is ensconced in a cushy office in the Empire State building, he actually imagines himself as a brave soldier on the front lines in the Universal Conflict Against the Evildoers. When he is on the airplane, he is an intelligence officer against fanatical Islamofascists. When he is on the shitter, he is a grunt in a conflagration against the fanatical jihadis who want to subjugate us all under their Islamic caliphate.

God bless the terror hero, Hugh Hewitt. You, sir, are a great American.


"Keyboard Kommandos" is left-wing agitprop for right-wing journalists-bloggers who are extravagantly pro-war from the safety of their salons.

Which brings us to Exhibit B, Mark Steyn, who is (along with David Frum) every right-wing Canadians favorite journalist. (For some background on Mr. Steyn's wide-ranging and subtle opinions, this is kind of interesting.) So Mr. Steyn is on Mr. Hewitt's radio show the other day. The windows must have fogged up from all the frothing going on in the room. Via Sadly No!, here's Mr. Steyn on the trials and tribulations of being a pro-war, pro-Bush newspaper columnist:

. . .But I felt gradually exhausted since September 11th, 2001, [because] it's very dispiriting trying to keep going in this phase of what is a very long conflict. And the reason I do it is because I want us to win. I don't particularly like journalism. I don't particularly like writing newspaper columns. I'm sick of having to make what I think should be an obvious case again and again and again. And I'd much rather pack it in and sit on my porch in New Hampshire and enjoy the view of the mountains. But I do it because I want us to win.


Hewitt uses Steyn's comments as an opportunity to whine about his treatment over the exchange with Ware, to which Steyn responds:

[W]e're all, in a sense, we're all conscripted in this war. Those 3,000 people who died on September 11th, they weren't serving forces, they were just fellows who got up in the morning and went to work, or went to Logan Airport and got on a plane. And that's the thing. We're all conscripted in this war, whether we know it or not.


The utter vanity and pomposity of Steyn's claims are staggering. Let's be clear. Writing a newspaper column is easy--which is why so many people with absolutely nothing to say apparently get paid to write newspaper columns. (Witness Charles Krauthammer of The Washington Post, who's been phoning it in for decades now.) Sending soldiers over to Iraq to do your bidding is easy. Actually fighting the war is hard, and it would have been nice, even desirable, if the idiots who have gotten us into the War in Iraq--which is sometimes confused with the aforementioned GWOT--had given even the barest minimum of critical thought to what they were getting us into. At this point, that story is quite familiar. (George Packer's The Assassin's Gate brilliantly retells it.) That Steyn seems to have learned very little from our adventure in Mesopotamia is not surprising, though slightly disappointing.

In other Steyn news, in a tight race with (among others) Conrad Black, Jim Carrey, Cirque du Soleil, Alanis Morisette, and Celine Dion, Steyn was recently named Canada's Leading Asshole. Congratulations, Mark. Well deserved.

Posted by jwb at 6:59 AM  · 2 Comments   

Thursday, March 30, 2006

A Feminine Mystique All Her Own


I thought perhaps I had unwittingly stumbled upon a piece from The Onion. But, alas, no, it's the New York Times House and Homes section: "At Home with Phyllis Schlaffly." The sunroom is nice, in a grandmotherly kind of way, but I want some pics of the toture chamber.

Posted by jwb at 6:01 PM  · 0 Comments   

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Let us be for the freedom of transnations

I have no idea what that means, but I thought it was kind of funny. It's from Eric Lott's The Disappearing Liberal Intellectual, which Russell Jacoby skewers in the April 10 issue of The Nation. Lott's book appears to be a classic example of academic obtuseness, which, for some reason, seems to be fairly ubuquitous in university English departments. Perhaps RDR could explain why.

Posted by jwb at 3:46 PM  · 0 Comments   

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Idol blogging, or lack thereof


I've been meaning to do an Idol post--it's been a few weeks--but the idea that Kevin Covais may last another week has me too depressed to go on. But I'll try.

These guys--using some newfangled statistical technique*--predict that Elliott is a goner. We'll find out in a few hours, but if true, Idol fans--more precisely, Idol fans not of my acquaintance--are morons.

*Apparently, they count busy signals. Sounds a bit sketchy, but they claim it has worked 85 percent of the time thus far (13 weeks).

UPDATE (Thursday AM): Now that's more like it. All is right with the world once again--well, except for all the stuff that's not right. Anyway....

Posted by jwb at 3:45 PM  · 1 Comments   

Let the Arctic Monkeys backlash begin


I can't possibly be the only one around who thinks the Arctic Monkeys--the so-called "Biggest New Band Since Oasis"--are kind of a snooze. I just don't get all the hype. (For a somewhat less enthusiastic, though definitely more useful discussion, clicky here.) Their performance last weekend on SNL was sleep-inducing. I've listened to the album several times and am completely underwhelmed.

Morrissey--a Genuine Musical Genius--recently dogged them, but has since--disappointingly--backed off. Sigh.

Am I missing something here?

Posted by jwb at 7:32 AM  · 0 Comments   

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath A Blog

Via BoingBoing, I see that Chaucer--yes, that Chaucer--has his own blog. Very amusing.

Posted by jwb at 2:24 PM  · 0 Comments   

Friday, March 17, 2006

The Costs of War

In other, more serious, matters, foreign policy wiseguy Zbig Brzezinksi gave a speech today on the damage the Bush Administration has done to American leadership in the world. This bit--on the real costs of our adventure in Iraq--is nicely put:

The war has proven to be prohibitively costly. American leadership, in all of its dimensions, has been damaged. American morality has been stained – in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. American legitimacy has been undermined – by unilateral decisions. American credibility – particularly the case for the war, has been shattered. Leadership depends on morality, legitimacy, credibility. The economic costs of the war are escalating into hundreds of billions of dollars. More importantly, American casualties are in the thousands, with more than tens of thousands maimed. We are not even counting Iraqi casualties; we prefer not to know what they are.

Posted by jwb at 10:13 AM  · 5 Comments   

And a Happy St. Patty's Day to ya


Via Sully, some thoughts on St. Patrick's Day from the Landover Baptist Church, to be sure, a protestant institution:

Right at this very moment, the Pope is instructing his new cardinals, all wearing dresses the color of Satan's rump, to open the lower dungeons of the Vatican and let loose their annual storehouse of malignant leprechaun spirits to steal gold from wealthy, blessed Evangelicals and spread green leprosy into the homes and upholstery of True Christians.

As always, Landover Baptist is well prepared for the demonic onslaught this year. "Saint Patrick's Day is like green beer - something the Lord never intended," says Pastor Deacon Fred. "We always get a little taste of Catholic Hell on this 'so-called' holiday, made popular by Irish layabouts, who seem to think it is a badge of honor to come from an island without snakes – even though it is chock-full of potato-boiling drunk."


Ah, yes, that old canard. Click through for more hilarious anti-Catholic bigotry.

Also, if you ever wondered where all those bloody "authentic" Irish pubs came from, State has the answer.

Posted by jwb at 7:48 AM  · 1 Comments   

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

From Popbitch:

PR campaign of the week
Ashley is interested in your testicles

"Arsenal and England footballer Ashley Cole
is fronting a campaign to raise awareness of
testicular cancer. The campaign for charity
Everyman will feature the strapline 'Keep
Your Eye On The Ball.'"

This campaign... got quite a nice ring to it.

Posted by jwb at 9:47 AM  · 0 Comments   

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

This week in LEGO news


The Top 10 Strangest LEGO creations. Click here. Very cool.

In other LEGO news, LEGO Brokeback Mountain.

And the Bible in LEGOs.

Note: The photo is Han Solo frozen in carbonite made from, of course, LEGOs.

In more pressing matters, we may have something to say about American Idol later in the day. That is all.

Posted by jwb at 11:40 AM  · 0 Comments   

Monday, March 13, 2006

So much for the "Straight Talk Express"

Posted by jwb at 9:32 AM  · 0 Comments   

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Action Philosophers!

No way! Check out Battlepope. (He's in the story about Machiavelli.) Very scary (much like the current pope).

Posted by jwb at 5:49 AM  · 0 Comments   

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

"What are you benching, big guy?"

Bush to Jack Abramoff (according to the forthcoming issue of Vanity Fair). What a 'tard.

Via TPM.

UPDATE: The article has been posted here. Lots of dishy stuff.

Posted by jwb at 8:57 AM  · 0 Comments   

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Shanahan's on the Green


Luxist has a post today about Shanahan's on the Green, a restaurant on St. Stephen's Green in central Dublin. I agree with them that Shanahan's is a great place to dine if you happen to find yourself in Dublin. (We had a very nice dinner there on a vacation in Ireland with Jenn's parents in June of 2003.) However, they miss the best thing about Shanahan's--they have an unbelievable bar--the Oval Office Bar--in the basement, a wonderful place to have a glass or two of Scotch and a cigar (or, alternatively, a cosmo and a cigarette) after dinner. They also have one of John Kennedy's rocking chairs, on display behind the bar.

Posted by jwb at 10:02 AM  · 1 Comments   

Friday, March 03, 2006

Paying your debts

Don't pay off your credit card debt in one big chunk or the Department of Homeland Security will be all up in your grill. Click here for the story. Once again, I'm glad we've got our eye on the ball in this whole War on Terror thing.

Via Andy Sullivan.

Posted by jwb at 3:04 PM  · 2 Comments   

The terrible swift sword of justice

Yes, of course. We're talking about Idol.

Heather is gone. So much for my "the hot chicks will make it through because they're hot chicks" theory. (Becky, of course, went last week.) Oh, well. I don't think she'll be missed.

I felt a little bad for Sway. As he showed at the end, he is a vastly superior singer to, among others, Kevin and Bucky. However, he had that look in his eye, as if he knew he was roadkill.

Finally, and contrary to the advice of these guys, Brenna and David are now gone, and not a minute too soon. Brenna's act was getting old very quickly. These comments from one of the many Idol blogs is right on: "No tears, no shock. Palpable relief among the masses! The arrogant poseur with faux confidence is out. I thought she’d get an extra week but nobody is complaining. “I’m ready to make some money,” she said. “So Clive [Davis, record producer supreme], get in touch with Nigel [Lythgoe, “Idol” producer].” I think not. Maybe Clive, who runs a bridal show in Allentown, or Nigel, who needs a backup singer on Carnival Cruise Lines. At least her song “Last Dance” was appropriate."

And, as for David, he just wasn't very good. Bon voyage.

It seems to me that there are 10 pretty solid people left, which means 2 slackers will make it into the final 12. I'm unimpressed with Will, Bucky, and Kevin, though two of them will very likely go home next week. I'm also underwhelmed by Kellie, Kinnik, and Melissa, though, again, two of them will be gone next week. Unless, of course, American loses its mind and boots one of the obvious favorites--always a possibility.

In other Idol news, Carrie Underwood is selling shoes made from puppies.

Posted by jwb at 8:34 AM  · 2 Comments   

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Shannon is having a show


My sister-in-law, Shannon Goff, a very talented artist, is having a show in New York City that opens next weekend. It's at the Franklin Parrasch Gallery in midtown. Click here for more information about the gallery. And click here to see some of Shannon's work.

Her cardboard helicopter was featured on Boing Boing and in (of all places) FHM magazine.

Posted by jwb at 10:59 AM  · 0 Comments