very simple

somewhat frivolous edition…

Is it just me, or have there been an unusually large number of "public" or "celebrity" deaths this week? The Pope is obviously the biggest and most important passing, particularly because so much of Catholic doctrine is wrapped up in the personality of who happens to be in charge, but aside from that there’s been legal personalities Johnnie Cochrane and Fred Korematsu, writer Robert Creeley and marketing genius Frank Perdue. Among others.

In any other week, any one of these guys might have gotten the "big" obituary in the paper, but they’re clearly afterthoughts this week.

I don’t really have anything to say about the Pope – he wasn’t my religious leader, and I disagree with much of Catholic doctrine, but I’m certainly not going to spend time today posting a litany of such complaints. He was clearly an important force in the world, and I think the occasion of someone’s death is a time to exhibit the principle that if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything.

And I’m sure the guys who run the celebrity dead pool aren’t getting any sleep this weekend.

back with a vengeance…

Wed Mar 30 2005 8:41 AM
These kids are awesome. Help them go to college.

Tue Mar 29 2005 2:32 PM
I’d say that this makes me lose all respect for Jesse Jackson, but that would imply that I had some to begin with.

Mon Mar 28 2005 3:16 PM
I’ve posted about sidewalk etiquette before, but Darren takes it to a whole new level with his rules on how to be a proper NYC tourist…

Mon Mar 28 2005 12:22 PM
Apparently a bunch of banks have been making illegal demands on active-duty soldiers. The excuse put forth? That the banks and courts didn’t know about the law. Yeah, um, that’s not an excuse – that’s the reason judges have clerks. And Lexis. Next time you’re pulled over for speeding, see how well the "ignorance of the law" approach works for you.

Happy Easter edition…

My brother e-mailed me yesterday to tell me that I wasn’t updating my blog enough. I suppose it’s too late to make this thing anonymous…

I thought about posting some amusing story from our childhood that would have embarassed him, but then common sense kicked in, and I remembered that I stopped intentionally trying to humiliate him around the time he got taller than me.

The weather around here has been absolutely dreary, so there’s not a lot to photograph. I’m not writing anything (more) on that thing that everyone else keeps talking about. And I’m waiting for the field to narrow a bit before I delve into politics again, with the NYC Mayoral race up next (I know I’m going to lose all sorts of liberal cred for this one, but for all of his faults, I kind of like Bloomberg, faux republican that he is. He’s just so…pragmatic, which in the long run seems to be more productive than being an ideologue).

Oh and the governor’s race too! I’m already getting e-mails from the "lawyers for Spitzer" campaign (which apparently got the mailing list from the lawyers for Kerry campaign), and while I like the guy, I think it’s a little too early to throw my support behind only one of the 2700 democratic nominees.

So here’s some completely random, sort of non-political stuff that I’ve been reading about lately.

First, plants that can apparently fix their own genetic deformities (warning, the article makes mention of evolution, so if you’re one of these people, don’t click on the link lest it offend your delicate sensibilities).

Second, take a look at the most obviously skewed bar graph that I’ve ever seen on a "legitimate" news site. I mean, really. The very first day of my statistical political science class back in college, we were specifically told to never, ever, present information this way. What’s really amazing is just how obvious it is…

and Third, and absolutely most frivolously, apparently some people are up in arms about about the Gap dropping SJP from it’s ad campaign. which is funny, because she was quite possibly the most annoying character on SATC, and most "regular" women really can’t relate to a spokesperson who reportedly needs to "take in" her size 0 clothing. And I don’t know anyone who liked those commercials ("I enjoy being a girl?" please. I enjoy being able to find inexpensive work-appropriate clothing that fits without being patronized to by a horse-faced, infantalized, anorexic 40-year old). Oh, and Gap sales keep falling, so perhaps spending $38 million to essentially feed one person’s ego wasn’t the best use of funds.

Now I’m going back to nurse my migraine some more.

I’ve been following the news, but I really have nothing to say on the issue, because, really, it’s none of my business. And it’s none of your business either. It’s a family tragedy on all sides. I know that I would not want to remain in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, but that’s meaningless, because I’m not her. But neither is DeLay or Frist.

I know that when my mother was dying, at the ripe old age of 49, she told my dad to pull the plug if it became necessary, and she refused certain types of pain medication, because nothing upset her more than the idea of being "alive" but not conscious or lucid (thankfully, i guess, pulling the plug wasn’t necessary). But a prolonged terminal illness is certainly different, if only because SKMH made her fill out about an inch thick stack of papers regarding every single possible treatment so that there would be no question as to her intent.

I don’t know. It’s all just such a personal tragedy, and I feel like we’ve become a bunch of voyeurs, counting down the hours and days until anything happens.

And you’ll note that I’m not using any names. or links. Because I don’t want this entry adding to the thousands that are returned when someone does a google search to see how the topic is "moving". I’m still having qualms about publishing even this much.

All too often, in the pursuit of a "story", or an "exclusive", the media, and by extension, the public, is all to willing to jump to a major conclusion before all (or any) of the facts have been evaluated by the authorities. This not only places unrealistic expectations on those authorities to solve cases before the 11:00 news airs, but results in a real danger of pinning the specific blame on the wrong parties.

I started thinking about this phenomenon (is that the right word?) when I heard today that they found the man who had killed Judge Lefkow’s mother and husband. For those who have been living under a rock, just about everyone (on the left, on the right, on the moon) thought it was affiliates of white separatist extemist Matthew Hale. This includes even other extremists who associate (or wish to associate) with Hale, who have been gloating over the intimidation of a federal judge. A judge who initially found in favor of Hale, and only ruled against him when ordered to by the Court of Appeals. Well, as it turns out, it was a totally different guy, who had totally different motives for his behavior, and who has since killed himself:

First, my apologies for not writing all week. I’ve been super busy at work and haven’t had time to read about what’s going on in the world, much less write about it. And this whole Gannon/Guckert thing is just plain weird. Isn’t it? Sure we all make fun (on the right and the left) of the "mediawhores" and whatnot, but this guy was an actual prostitute? It’s one of those things that I would just never believe if it hadn’t happened. Americablog has been doing fairly comprehensive coverage (and investigation) of the whole thing, so no need to repeat them here…

Except to say one thing – when you post naked photos advertising yourself for sale on the internet, you can’t then complain that people actually found them. You owned some of those domain names – you had access to the file servers to remove or overwrite (at least some of) the photographs. And those of us who spend enough time on the internet know how the caches work too – if you had taken that crap down two years ago, the cache would have been overwritten by now as well.

A few years ago, I toyed with the idea of doing online dating (it’s all the rage these days). I even went so far as to post a profile, which, after about a week, I realized I didn’t want up there anymore. So what did I do? I deleted it. I have no doubt that the information still exists somewhere on a server as a bunch of zeros and ones, but I also have no doubt that no one on the outside would be able to access that information unless they (at the very least) hacked into the system.

Oh yeah, and the real story is clearly the inability of the white house to conduct a background check (or even a friggin google search) on anyone – first Kerik, now this guy. What next? Cheney likes to dress up like a little girl?

Happy birthday to me edition…

Thu Feb 10 2005:

• Google Maps is the most awesomest mapping program ever. and it’s still in beta! (2:28 pm)

Sun Feb 13 2005:

• It’s funny – Christo and Jeanne-Claude have said repeatedly that there’s no "hidden meaning" to the Gates. They’ve been quite adamant about it, actually, but this WP writer just can’t stop himself from trying. Jealous maybe, that C&JC’s life ambition was finally achieved in NYC rather than, say, the Washington Mall? (12:27 am)

This morning at 8, I made my way up to Central Park. Got off the bus at the CPZoo entrance, and they were still all wrapped up. Then ran into a few other determined people who were looking for the action to all start, and when we went over the ridge, there they were.

Teams running up parallel paths, trailed by large crowds of people, as the wrappings were pulled off and the fabric was set free. I wandered around taking pictures, finally exiting at the oh so appropriate Artists’ Gate. It was gorgeous.

More:

New York Times: Dressing the Park in Orange, and Pleats
Gothamist: The Gates are Open

[Update 2015] In an effort to reduce the number of holdover pages on the blog, I am slowly (very slowly) integrating these albums into the appropriate historical posts on the blog itself. As such, photos referenced in this post now appear directly below.