It’s been seven years since the iPod was released! I think I bought my first one (a 10gb gen2) about 18 months later.
Patience
Looks like we finally have the answer to the burning question, “Will we see Chinese democracy before we see Chinese Democracy?”
What It Is: 10/20/08
What I’m reading: Samaritan
What I’m listening to: My new iPod, because my old one blew up after only 2 years of use: grr!
What I’m watching: Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the first episode of Mad Men. Observations: Mila Kunis is adorable, and Mad Men fell a bit flat/heavy-handed/eh after our experience with The Wire. I have a feeling that a lot of TV is going to fall into the same category after that series.
What I’m drinking: Ristow Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 on Saturday night and Sunday night. I’m up to two drinks a week, but I still haven’t had a G&T since 9/26, partly because I’m too lazy to pick up limes & tonic at the supermarket.
What Rufus is up to: His first Sunday morning greyhound hike in Wawayanda State Park! Check out the pix!
Where I’m going: No plans, but we’ll likely go back to the park on Sunday.
What I’m happy about: The Red Sox lost game 7!!!
What I’m sad about: That my jury duty number for today turned out to be past the cutoff, so I don’t get to spring my “I can SMELL guilt!” line.
What I’m pondering: Whether I can go into a medically-induced coma to skip the next 2 weeks of electioneering.
Good night, sweet Top
Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops died today at 72.
Looking over the Four Tops’ discography, I’m amazed at just how many great songs they have. For a 2-year span during college, not a day would go by in which I didn’t hear Reach Out (I’ll be There), Baby, I Need Your Loving, Bernadette, or Standing in the Shadows of Love on the radio of my beat-up Hyundai. My old pal Sascha would attest to this, if I weren’t posting about it during shabbat.
Athens and Jerusalem
I just picked up some lunch in a kosher deli run by Greeks.
Next time I go, I’ll bring some Leo Strauss with me.
I thought their idea of infringement was Macho Man’s costume
To paraphrase David Letterman, I believe this profile of Linda McMahon marks the first time professional wrestling has been referred to as “intellectual”.
Atonement
Due to Yom Kippur, I won’t be posting anything on VM on Thursday (this is a pre-timed post, smart guys!). In addition to spending the day tooling around the Unrequired Reading archives, why don’t you tide yourself over by checking out last year’s recap of Operation Yizkor?
May you have an easy fast.
Last night’s debate
Y’know, Sen. McCain, when you’re debating about potential picks for Secretary of the Treasury, maybe your first proposal shouldn’t be someone whose company laid off 10% of its staff one day earlier.
(I know: she retired from the company in March. But praising EBay’s business growth — “started with 12 people and now has 1.3 million users” — a day after the layoffs?)
Pet: noun or verb?
Starting with her hand-position, then her expression, and then, um, every single word of the copy, this is the creepiest legit web-ad I’ve seen in a while:
What It Is: 10/6/08
What I’m reading: Finally wrapped up The Long Goodbye
What I’m listening to: Distant Early Warning, by Rush. Not again and again, but a couple of times.
What I’m watching: The new Chris Rock HBO special, which wasn’t as good as his previous one. Also, we watched Casino. I realized that it’s the first Sharon Stone movie I’ve ever seen. I thought she did a good job, but the movie overall was pointless. I don’t understand what the movie was ABOUT. I mean, it was the story of how the underworld overextends itself and violent retribution gets meted out on as the criminal world eats itself. How that differs from Goodfellas, I don’t get. DeNiro and Pesci are just caricatures; I couldn’t see any motivation for why they acted the way did. They were simply Great Gambler Who Gets To Run A Casino, and Psychotic Muscle Who Reprises His Role From The Previous Scorsese Crime Movie. The behind-the-scenes aspect of the casino world was entertaining, but ONE-HUNDRED-AND-SEVENTY-EIGHT MINUTES? To find out that mobsters will order the executions of other mobsters? Awesome payoff, dude! Anyway, like I said, Sharon Stone was the best part of the flick; maybe I oughtta snatch up one of her earlier movies.
What I’m drinking: Amy & I opened a bottle of Bogle Petit Syrah on Saturday night, but that was the only time I’ve had a drink since Sept. 26 (the day my conference ended). We left a third of it.
What Rufus is up to: Being scared shitless on Sunday by AfroHuskie, the 17-year-old Dog of the Living Dead down the street. I’d heard about this dog from his owner (his real name is Bandit) a few weeks ago, and we finally met him tonight. I have never seen a dog in such a age-induced state of decrepitude; Rufus’ encounter with him was so unsettling that he literally did not crap on his evening walk.
Where I’m going: We were planning to go to Warwick Applefest yesterday, but I was really zonky and out of it and we decided to stay home and veg. No travel plans this week.
What I’m happy about: Shana tova! Happy new year for Jews!
What I’m sad about: The New York Sun was shut down this week, as was the Dirda on Books weekly chat at the Washington Post; at this rate I half-expect the Hernandez Bros. to quit making comics.
What I’m pondering: What to do with my old iPhone. Also, does anyone know if an EMP would wipe out flash memory? I’m just pondering, is all.