2.I agree with Andrew Sullivan's assessment of President Obama's performance thus far. Let's hope the American people share a similar view. Also, see here for an analysis of of The President's Moscow trip that nicely compliments Mr. Sullivan's observations. Mark Daniels money quote:
"Obama appears intent to follow a foreign policy realist's approach, a departure both from recent Democratic orthodoxy and from the Wilsonian adventurism of his immediate predecessor, Republican President, George W. Bush."
3. Did our ancestors use music as a weapon?
4. Go here to watch the trailer for the upcoming Where The Wild Things Are movie. I'm incredibly excited about taking my kids to go see this. I love the way they're marketing this film, and I love the look of it. It reminds me of one of the kid's movies I would've watched when I was younger, back when movie makers didn't underestimate the kinds of things kids could handle, or the sophistication of their artistic palette.
5. I still get bitten by the H.P. Lovecraft bug intermittently. No one does horror better. I have lots to say about the subject, but, as is usually the case, more has been said by other writers in other places (thankfully. Less pressure.). One of the best Lovecraft commentators is still Michel Houllebecq. Here is a partial translation of his book 'H.P. Lovecraft: Against The World, Against Life'.
6.My wife and kids have been out of town on a camping trip since Friday night (I had to work). Whenever these separations happen, there is a predictable arc of events. On the first night, it's kind of nice to be alone. I cook myself dinner, go for a walk, and then stay up too late watching movies or reading. By the second night, I'm getting a little restless. By the third day I completely miss my family. The bachelor life would be no good for me; I'm thoroughly domesticated. But absence makes the heart grow fonder. It also vastly increases the odds of my building a spud gun.
7.Jason Moran, performing "You've Got To Be Modernistic"
Very nice:
Hot band. Seen them with a different line-up at a club here in NY, so a bit hard to watch them in a stuffy, concert/performance hall type setting. If they were any more "out" I couldn't stick around. Just the right amount of challenging yet accessible (would prefer to see that bass player play a full-size stand-up as opposed to that guitar-thing he's using, but hey--if its good enough for Jason Moran).
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Obama, he's the only man for the job. Bar none (and I wasn't his greatest fan going into this thing). That's not to say he will succeed--America may be FUBAR at this point and there may not be enough horses and kings men to fix it. People forget that America is just an experiment. There's nothing that says it has to succeed and guess what?--the world's not going to come to an end if we don't. But if we're gonna come back around, Obama's the man to cultivate it. And always remember--Just say no to the sell-out, dicksuck Republicans!
ReplyDeleteOf course I'll always be envious of your access to the great jazz musicians of our time.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the president, I agree wholeheartedly. We seem to have a president who actually seems to think that his best chance at reelection may reside in his ability to do a good job. Why is this novel? I guess it's because most politicians strike me as the type of kids that thought 'cleaning their rooms' meant hiding everything underneath the bed. Even if it takes more time, is less sensational, and offers less immediate pay-off, Obama seems to be doing the job right. The results thus far are modest, but they are telling.