Read an AP dispatch today about a dog who shot his owner by stepping on the trigger of a hunting rifle in Iowa. If the pooch supports gun control and was trying to force the issue, maybe we could call him a Blue Dog.

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Passed the stage for the Red Sox this morning at Copley square. Folks already stood behind the barricades at 7AM for a spot close to the action. They shouted “yeah!” when I crossed the street. They were warming up. I fancied myself a utility infielder for the Sox. I waved and gave ‘em the thumbs-up. […]

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Aesthetics are really important. That’s why I don’t give a fig if, for example, peoples’ misconceptions about Arab men are partially corrected by way of a likeable Arab male sitcom character. That would only serve to distract us all from the fact that network television is a stain on the body of […]

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Clive Stafford Smith, noted civil rights attorney complete with a British accent, did not smuggle a Speedo into his client’s cell at Guantanamo Bay, as the Navy suggests. Although I can see why they might jump to this conclusion. Jesus, ever see Europeans at the beach?

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If Romney gets elected, we’ll have to endure at least 12-straight years with a non-drinking president. Only drunks usher in glasnost and prosperity–look at Sen. Kennedy and President Yeltsin. I’d like to hear a fringe candidate call the mormon to task on this issue. Or at least a fringe journalist. Or at least a fringe […]

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When did kids start to lose interest in astronauts? Or were they never interested? When I was in elementary school, there were lots of books about them, but given the choice, kids never really seemed to read those books.
I remember seeing an astronaut on a classroom poster: he dangled by a rope out there in […]

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Heard some angry reggae on 90.3 today, which I prefer to happy reggae–there’s more vitality. I’d group happy reggae in the same class as big band swing, dirty south rap and soft rock…all of it lethargic.

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I think the best way to deal with explain-it-all theories is to treat them like paintings that you’re not sure if you want to hang.

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DJ Spooky was asked if he thinks young artists should study history. His reply: “As someone who’s very into history, I would say yes. Then again, many of the more interesting developments happen when people don’t pay any attention to history.”
It does seem that for African American culture and its global analogues, the […]

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With actionable intelligence that anything nuclear or otherwise was coming to my suburb, I’d stand on the sidewalk and wait for it like I used to wait for the ice-cream man…in other news, Clinton Admin-types have begun taking seats on the Defense Policy Board, which can only mean less preemption, which can only render the […]

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The erection of barricades was a time-honored tactic of Parisian rabble rousers. The idea was to wall off the street with anything on hand–scrap wood, stones, wagons–to keep the king’s men at bay. Were it not for the narrowness of the streets, this wouldn’t have worked. Haussman the urban planner knew this, […]

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Great shot in the Globe today of a war protester waving “bloody” hands in Sec. Rice’s face and shouting “war criminal,” according to the caption. Granted, Rice looks more self-possessed and a hell of a lot smarter, but it’s nice to know that blog culture hasn’t completely supplanted political theatrics in the flesh. Remember, the […]

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It’s both, I think…Sasha Frere-Jones wrote a piece in The New Yorker reviling the indie-rock aesthetic–too white, apparently. I bet if the vocalists sounded less like eunuchs and more like that guy from the cowboy junkies with a basso profundo, he wouldn’t give two shits about the playing. Point is, when music journalists talk about […]

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Nietzsche said: ‘Our writing tools are also working on our thoughts’–but I haven’t let the blog work on me.  Is it the art of the aphorism, or the billboarding of the mental landscape?  No matter–I promise 4 entries per week at least.

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You can support military procurement and oppose preemptive war at the same time and still call yourself a good liberal, provided you outsource none of the labor. Ask Ted Kennedy. You can support military procurement and universal healthcare, provided you don’t funnel hundreds of billions into preemptive war. Ask Hillary, unless Iran comes up on […]

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