A podcast about books & life — not necessarily in that order
Since we’re going away for 48 hours, a coworker of mine and his wife have volunteered to house-sit and take care of Rufus. I decided to write them a little guide to taking care of our boy. Because it grew so insanely out of hand, I decided to subject you guys to it, too.
Continue reading “Rules for Rufus”
Now that Obama has crossed the delegate finish-line for the Democratic nomination . . . it’s time for the finger-pointing! Today’s WSJ has a fun article that details the mismanagement, backbiting and strategic idiocy of the Clinton campaign.
For a while now, I’ve been marveling over the Clinton camp’s contention that the Obama has had a free ride, what with his, um, being, half-black and having middle and last names that are markedly similar to those of America’s recent public enemies #1a and #1b.
Even more audacious, I thought, was the complaint that sexism was holding Sen. Clinton back. This was utter BS, as the candidate actually benefited from the lowered expectations the public has for women. Think back to the days before the New Hampshire primary in January, when Sen. Clinton cried on camera. It’s clear to me that if a male candidate had done such a thing, he’d be laughed off the campaign trail as a weakling (I deleted several much harsher terms before settling on that one).
(Oh, and her crying-jag lament of, “I have so many opportunities for this country. I just don’t want to see us fall backwards,” struck me as a really chilling choice of words.)
The WSJ article is a hoot, because it explores what a mixed-up organization Sen. Clinton assembled, in concert with her lack of understanding of the nomination process. One of my favorite lines was about the campaign’s chief strategist, Mark Penn (dutifully put through the Drew Friedmanizer, below):
Critics’ bigger complaint was that from the campaign’s start Mr. Penn had been its only pollster. Other campaigns typically use many pollsters to provide alternative views; Sen. Obama has had up to four. Ms. Solis Doyle says that throughout 2006 and 2007, she urged Sen. Clinton to add more. Sen. Clinton told advisers Mr. Penn is “brilliant,” and multiple pollsters would slow consensus on strategy.
But top aides chafed that Mr. Penn used his control of “the numbers” to win most disagreements. “He could go straight to the [former] president of the United States, who in turn got to Hillary,” says a senior strategist. “After a while, people just shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘Hey, look, this is how she wants her campaign run.'”
Mr. Penn defends his polling analyses, and counters that others were responsible for budgets and field operations. “The misleading thing here is, the title of chief strategist connotes that I was in charge of things,” he said. “It was a much more complex structure than any title connotes.”
Anyway, congrats are in order to Sen. Obama and his campaign. As Eddie Griffin recently put it (according to Page 6), “Barack Obama is about to get the Democratic nomination. It’ll be the first time in history that a black man beat a white woman and didn’t go to jail for it.”
Pacman Jones was “partially reinstated” by the NFL today, after getting suspended for being in or around a shooting a strip club that he may’ve caused by “making it rain,” (read: tossing wads of money in the air). For a full reinstatement, he’ll need to be on his somebody else’s best behavior through September 1. But that’s okay, reports ESPN’s John Clayton, because he has a new set of friends who can help him hew to the straight and narrow:
Since being traded to the Cowboys, Jones has tried to surround himself with a better support group. He’s befriended former Cowboys Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders.
That’s right. Michael “No contest to felony cocaine possession” Irvin and Deion “Michael Vick had a passion for dogfighting” Sanders.
They should just trade him to the Bengals already.
What I’m reading: Dæmonomania
What I’m listening to: 5:55
What I’m watching: The third season of The Wire
What I’m drinking: Cherry Coke. It was that kinda weekend.
Where I’m going: On a quick trip to Louisiana next weekend, for Amy’s godson’s birthday.
What I’m happy about: That Rufus had a good time at the opening of the local farmers’ market.
What I’m sad about: Harvey Korman’s death. “That’s Hedley!” (oh, and Sydney Pollack and Yves Saint Laurent, too)
What I’m pondering: What intimation of mortality led me to go downstairs on Sunday morning and start pulling books from my library and putting them in the “I will never get around to reading this in my lifetime” pile. Later in the day, I found a neat article by Luc Sante about The Book Collection That Devoured My Life:
Over the years I’ve gotten used to the inevitable questions about my accumulation of books. No, I haven’t read all of them, nor do I intend to — in some cases that’s not the point. No, I’m not a lawyer (a question usually asked by couriers, back in the days of couriers). I do have a few hundred books that I reread or consult fairly regularly, and I have a lot of books pertaining to whatever current or future projects I have on the fire, and I have many, many books speculatively pointing toward some project that is still barely a gleam in my eye. I have a lot of books that I need for reference, especially now that I live 40 minutes away from the nearest really solid library. I have some books that exist in the same capacity as the more recondite tools in the chest of a good carpenter — you may not need it more than once in 20 years, but it’s awfully nice to have it there when you do. Primarily, though, books function as a kind of external hard drive for my mind — my brain isn’t big enough to do all the things it wants or needs to do without help.