Reading Reading Reading Keep Those Doggies Reading
Posted on June 30, 2005 - Filed Under books, computing & internet, government, project gutenberg, public domain, science & technology | Leave a Comment
A Primate’s Memoir, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, V.S. Naipaul’s heady trilogy, Cryptorunes … the suggestions for “summer reading” pour in.
Now, OpenCRS makes freely available “nearly 8,000 reports from the Congressional Research Service” that only lawmakers have been able to access for research purposes to date. More on this stab at open government […]
The Silks Of Time
Posted on June 27, 2005 - Filed Under books, culture-society-history, desi / india, food & drink, kuwait | 7 Comments
Fear was the real excuse for putting off Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. Somewhere in the course of the novel, a rash of alarming incidents outside his control would invade the idyllic life of an Afghan child, and I would have to face the dreaded words once they arrived. The demon awoke on Page 112 […]
Read More..>>Put Away The Hebrew, It’s Not Going To Impress Him
Posted on June 25, 2005 - Filed Under books, new orleans | 3 Comments
Far from New Orleans, at the threshold of Cajun country, delayed by traffic and the weather, D and I missed David Sedaris speaking at a bookshop in our very own neighborhood last night. This morning, when I went in to collect my signed copy (and unwittingly to buy a copy of Children Playing Before […]
Read More..>>Watching The People Watchers
Posted on June 23, 2005 - Filed Under culture-society-history, new orleans | 15 Comments
Never a dull moment when ambulatory in this town, I tell you.
Casually tossing peanuts in my mouth, I walked out of the office building and towards my car for another round of Feed The Hungry Meter. As I crossed the street, the van turning left around me slowed down and out came the chronic […]
The System Is Up
Posted on June 22, 2005 - Filed Under music, new orleans | 3 Comments
En route to dinner with Machelle, who flies off to six awaiting weeks in Tuscany, and Amanda last night, was I ever surprised to hear Muslimgauze on XM Channel 82 - The System.
Does the station know that Muslimgauze, a.k.a. the late Bryn Jones, was a staunch supporter of the PLO and their violent intifada all […]
Small Government, Indeed
Posted on June 22, 2005 - Filed Under government | 2 Comments
On reading Children’s Pranks Censored and PBS Under Fire, I said:
“Conservative Republicans the nation over have the gall to complain that their opposition wants bigger government.”
To which John replied:
“Big government in your private life, or controlling the media = good
“Big government interfering with the making of profit = bad
“It’s the cult of the free market […]
Meow & Woof: Of Iggy Pop And Driveway Moments
Posted on June 20, 2005 - Filed Under books, movies/tv, music, new orleans | 11 Comments
As the last screams of Plastic & Concrete waned from my speakers, I googled Iggy Pop to see what the man born as James Osterburg, Jr. is up to these days.
If one could make money on getting sidetracked and incredibly so, Bill Gates would be a panhandler in comparison to me. Who cares what […]
An American In Nagasaki
Posted on June 20, 2005 - Filed Under government | Leave a Comment
George Weller was the first member of the press to enter Nagasaki after the famous American bombing of 1945. Until recently, the US government would not allow his account to be published. Here is Weller’s four-part, often illegible report on the fallout before it entered textbooks and modern lore.
Showing them to you … […]
I’m It: The Book Tag
Posted on June 17, 2005 - Filed Under books | 13 Comments
A couple of days ago, I was book tagged by Tilo and, wonder of wonders, came through on my promise despite my needing to be severely beaten for ignoring the pile of books amassing in my chamber and instead nodding off into low-quality sleep (blame it on increased work and humidity). In any case, […]
Read More..>>Want To Join The F.A.G.?
Posted on June 16, 2005 - Filed Under geology | 3 Comments
It’s the Fault Analysis Group, you pottyheads!
Finally, a bunch of people who get together to drink great beer and “carry out basic scientific research on all aspects of faults and other types of fracture and to apply the results to practical problems, principally in the fields of hydrocarbon and minerals exploration and production.”
Decent employment in […]
