tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58833812009-09-27T07:49:17.017-07:00<b>To ONE OF CALIFORNIA'S DISTINGUISHED SONS, in whom THE INTERESTS OF FREEDOM, HUMANITY, and EDUCATION have found an able advocate and munificent benefactor, THIS VOLUME IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED by his friend, THE AUTHOR.</b>Mattnoreply@blogger.comBlogger202125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-91035975120383881792009-01-15T11:49:00.001-08:002009-01-15T11:53:52.467-08:00

Documenting one of my neologisms, in the vain (?) hope of preserving credit of authorship: Cyberformication (n) to cyberformicate (v) - the strange feeling your website is being crawled. By extension, any sixth sense concerning electronic media being invaded by uninvited parties, such as computer virus infections, robots, etc. "Imelda felt her spine shudder at the thought of her blog being

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-56662373431242044462008-11-25T12:49:00.000-08:002008-11-25T12:51:46.992-08:00

I just checked my google web history trends, and discovered the only hour of the day I haven't made a search since they invented this thing -- and I, idiot that I am, have tracked the web history as long as I can -- is 3 AM. I note this includes searches done in different time zones, so 3 AM may simply be a boundary condition for my consciousness. I wonder if Hillary Clinton is ready to google

Mattnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-78955597689793640372007-09-28T09:25:00.000-07:002007-09-28T10:19:43.726-07:00

The War is a documentary film, but one that reminds me not so much of a brilliant scholarly work, a single-volume history, a collection of primary material artfully organized, or even a popularized retelling of a story so much as a clips show. There's nothing about the story that hasn't been done better elsewhere, and possibly even more economically if you cut out all the commercials on the

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-64767413207731183482007-09-17T11:01:00.000-07:002007-09-17T14:30:03.134-07:00

Oh the bemusing juxtapositions one gets when one's reading list is selected by a three-year old semi-randomly based on the cover. A few weeks ago my little Oprah picked out James A. Garfield by Ira Rutkow ("Look, Daddy, it's Abraham Lincoln!" -- he recognized Garfield from the 'Presidents of the United States' place mat but couldn't quite place him), Orbit by John Nance ("Hey Daddy, it's

Mattnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-50809237966886532672007-08-06T10:55:00.000-07:002007-08-06T11:11:12.550-07:00

Jonathan Lethem, 2006 Two things: OK, here's how it goes. Fiction itself is probably 10,000 years old, since the first story embellishment took place around a hunting campfire. Written verse is half that old, and the novel is only a couple of hundred years old and may or may not itself be dying out (pity the poor best-selling poets of yore). Music follows a somewhat parallel history, with

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-43597775127042223112007-06-08T18:19:00.000-07:002007-06-08T20:10:00.440-07:00

So, in full disclosure mode, I'm not much of a Sopranos fan in that I've only seen season 1 and parts of season 2, thanks to the spottiness of "free HBO weekends" on my satellite provider and a general ennui with television phenomena. While I can't say as I was a bowled over as most TV critics apparently are/were by the saga, I have enjoyed the show when I've seen it largely for its

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-85826985341614655222007-05-03T15:29:00.000-07:002007-05-03T16:03:11.249-07:00

Forty Signs of Rain Fifty Degrees Below Sixty Days and Counting The Years of Rice and Salt Kim Stanley Robinson I've recently finished the 40-50-60 trilogy from Kim Stanley Robinson with the kind of reluctant anticipation of one who was given a paperback of the first book without foreknowledge that it was part of a set. In the particular instance, the three books are very much on the installment

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-37660121976241204452007-03-28T09:25:00.000-07:002007-03-28T09:38:19.174-07:00

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier (2005) A vague third-hand understanding of various ancestor-worshipping cultures' understanding of the idea that there are two levels of the after-life, one where we go as long as somebody on earth remembers us and which resembles this world, the other completely unknown. An even vaguer understanding of the paradoxes of modern scientific

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-87639603882368591842007-03-09T18:18:00.001-08:002007-03-09T18:19:47.409-08:00

If it says Libby, Libby, Libby On the libel, libel, libel You can swear it, swear it, swear it On your Bible, Bible, Bible Cause Karl wanted to sell the War on Babel, Babel, Babel Although double you em dees were never on the table, table, table And that Rove now laughs his ass at the jokey, jokey, jokey That it's Libby, Libby, Libby, In the pokey, pokey, pokey That's why Libby, Libby, Libby Made

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-76457526796278536882007-03-06T16:06:00.000-08:002007-03-06T16:50:11.577-08:00

Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America, by Evan Carton (2006) I confess that, prior to reading this book, I had the popular image of John Brown in my mind of a half-crazed religious zealot who had the right cause (the abolition of slavery) and the wrong technique (half-cocked schemes of violent revolution starting with a raid on Harper's Ferry's federal armory to arm the thousands

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-45537203993034382922007-02-18T14:27:00.000-08:002007-02-18T14:29:02.199-08:00

Stephen Decatur: American Naval Hero, 1779-1820, by Robert J. Allison Among the spate of recent Decatur biographies, this volume stands out. Decatur's biography is swashbuckling stuff, to be sure, easy on the merit of the facts to make into a compelling story. But intricately, often subtly, woven into this book is the story of America moving from revolution to a budding empire, from underdog

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1164233600167738512006-11-22T14:10:00.000-08:002006-11-22T16:00:37.226-08:00

November 22nd. I have resurrected an old posting from my pre-blog-days website, originally done in November 1999. Final Report of the Teapot Commission Like most Americans, I'm readily willing to believe the worst, even beyond -- heck, well beyond -- when evidence strongly suggests otherwise. And similarly, I'm especially ready to believe the evidence of my own eyes, however inexpertly

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1163877173309581342006-11-18T11:00:00.000-08:002006-11-18T11:14:22.350-08:00

The Dead Schembechlers (Bo Biafra, Bo Vicious, Bo Thunders, and Bo Scabies -- hey, wait a minute, Jello and Rat aren't dead!) have decided to break up just because the object of their derision, Bo Schembechler, has actually died. The whole reason the name "Dead Kennedys" was a shocker in the late 70s was, well, because it was kind of offensive and insensitive, most especially to the progressive

Mattnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1162061623601742232006-10-28T11:49:00.000-07:002006-10-28T17:05:15.706-07:00

Another in our occasional series of verbatim items from America's fifth column fourth estate: Former MLB Pitcher Joe Niekro dies by Fred Goodall, Associated Press TAMPA, FLA. -- Former major league pitcher Joe Niekro, Houston's career victory leader, died Friday, Astros president Tal Smith said. He was 61. The two-time 20-game winner suffered a brain aneurysm Thursday and was taken to South

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1160947656381423302006-10-15T14:24:00.000-07:002006-10-15T14:39:50.876-07:00

It's difficult to know what to say about this well-made, honest, and truly documentary film. On the one hand, as a fan of the band I'm grateful to have such a nice retelling of their story, crisply paced, and full of details I'd never heard. On the other hand, I found myself at the end of it rather sad and swimming in nostalgia, and there's something so creepily unpunkrock about that, I'm not

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1158217350615400902006-09-13T23:51:00.000-07:002006-09-14T00:02:30.633-07:00

I had a weird day about a month ago. I was driving to a meeting of a volunteer group that meets in a town about 40 minutes away. The way there is pretty rural, lots of cow and lettuce townlets and fields. I pass through this apparently deserted intersection, and all of a sudden -- as if via a cue in a movie -- there's a traffic jam, dozens of big rig trucks and cars converging on this set of

Mattnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1150325080471789672006-06-14T15:10:00.000-07:002006-06-14T16:00:08.560-07:00

I got called for jury duty a couple of months ago. This was the 11th or 12th time I've been called for jury duty. My wife, who's shared addresses, voter registration, motor vehicle licensing, and just about every other form of public record with me for the past 20 years has been summoned exactly twice. I've had to go down to a court house on all but one of those 11 (or 12) occasions; both times

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1147736632227231552006-05-15T16:15:00.000-07:002006-05-15T17:20:38.203-07:00

Guthrie, Dylan Both Spin Round and Round in their Graves, Toes a Tapping I once had a conversation with Dick Dale after he'd played a gig -- around when he was a mere pup of sixty years or so -- where he explained Rock and Roll music to me. "Rock and roll is all about fucking," he opined. "The only reason to become a rock musician is to get laid. I know it worked for me." I think this was right

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1146872550289562352006-05-05T16:34:00.000-07:002006-05-05T16:43:18.280-07:00

From two articles, both in today's Monterey County Herald, both starting on page 1. Lawyer James Michael Dead at 78 by Virginia Hennessy, Herald Salinas Bureau Monterey County lawyers and judges are mourning the passing of attorney James Michael, a "legend" in the local criminal justice system. Mr. Michael, who died Monday at the age of 78, was remembered Thursday as a mentor with a wry sense

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1141024579578613222006-02-26T22:48:00.000-08:002006-02-26T23:57:00.106-08:00

One hilarious bit of trivia about the movie Buffalo Soldiers: the title in Germany was Buffalo Soldiers, Army Go Home! That, of course, is the spin they put on a movie essentially released in 2004, though made in 2000 and slated for original release in 2001, because that's the sentiment that's being reflected in the current era of unilateralism. You wouldn't think we'd won the cold war in a good

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1134850515435985362005-12-17T12:01:00.000-08:002005-12-17T13:20:23.390-08:00

Some years ago Connie Willis wrote (via a mouthpiece character in a short story in her collection Miracle and Other Christmas Stories) about the undeserved reputation the movie It's a Wonderful Life as embodying the true spirit of Christmas. (I'd quote her at length, but our copy of Miracle was lent out a while back and not yet returned -- how about that for the spirit of Christmas.) She

Mattnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1128796111623292842005-10-08T11:21:00.000-07:002005-10-08T13:11:30.306-07:00

I had forgotten what a nearly indescribable pleasure it is to read Jack Womack in tiny increments while falling asleep. There's something about the mix of his language, the arcs of plot, the ambience, the penumbra of softly-floating place and uncertain time that produces excellent dreaming. I mean this will all the respect in the world: a Jack Womack book is one of the best ways to fall asleep.

Mattnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1127879587060444402005-09-27T20:22:00.000-07:002005-09-27T20:55:48.026-07:00

Bush Administration to Apply Successful Campaign Tactics to World Diplomacy News item: CAIRO – Karen Hughes, a folksy Texan and longtime confidante of President Bush, has one of the toughest jobs in the US government: convincing the rest of the world, particularly the Arab world, that US policies are in their best interests. She started her first week as the State Department's top public

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1127260220086201492005-09-20T16:49:00.000-07:002005-09-20T16:50:20.100-07:00

There's a fairly large proportion of "new" children's books aimed at the under-3 set that are illustrated versions of nursery rhymes or kiddie songs. I strongly suspect this is for a combination of two reasons: first, the story's in the public domain, so there's no tricky creative problem of thinking up an original idea or possibly being sued by another author. One rather thinks that there's a

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5883381.post-1126825435166419042005-09-15T15:46:00.000-07:002005-09-15T16:03:55.173-07:00

Been following those scintillating Supreme Court confirmation hearings for the putative Mr. Chief Justice Roberts? Me, neither, not after listening to the pablum drool unctuously and meaninglessly off his lips the first day. I was left wondering how John Roberts would interview for some other jobs....hmmmm.... Interviewer: "Thanks, Mr. Roberts, for coming in to interview for the position of

Mattnoreply@blogger.com0