Thomas Hoving, former curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Harlan Ellison has written
(Edited to add: Well, I will be sheep-dipped. You can get at least the first season of “Burke’s Law”
Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Obit watch.
Friday, December 11th, 2009Snakes on a book.
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
The book on the left is the 4th edition of Learning Python
The book on the right is this year’s Austin phone book.
Yes, Learning Python is thicker.
No, I’m not sure what that means; I just find it amusing.
Random notes: December 4, 2009.
Friday, December 4th, 2009Today’s memo from Captain Obvious: scalpers find it hard to sell tickets when the team is awful. And sympathy for the Nets.
So your scam involves taking money for hot tubs from people on eBay, then not shipping the hot tubs? I can’t decide who is dumber; the scammer, for not thinking that he’d be caught, or the people who actually thought purchasing hot tubs off eBay was a good idea.
In other news, we’re all going to die (well, mostly you folks in Houston). Film at 11.
Edited to add: The Observer has a nifty interview with Maj Sjöwall. I’m kind of ashamed to admit, even though I’ve read some of the Martin Beck books, I had no idea Per Wahlöö was dead. (Hattip: Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind.)
Random notes: December 2nd, 2009.
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009(I had originally considered calling this post “Rum, S—-y, and the Lash” but I couldn’t find any good articles about whipping. Plus, I don’t want to get filtered.)
Did you know the NYT had a “Winter Drinks Issue” in the Dining section? Neither did I. Articles include one about the rise of rum, and an excellent article by Harold McGee
By way of Jimbo, here’s a good article on Richard Loeb (of Leopold and Loeb
Just in case you were wondering what Roseanne Barr is doing, you now have your answer.
Edited to add: I knew I forgot something. I won’t be watching this tonight. (I don’t, and won’t, have cable; I’ve asked someone if they’d be willing to record it for me.) That won’t stop me from linking to Alan Sepinwall’s review:
…with his new reality show “Steven Seagal: Lawman,” Seagal has cemented his position as an accidental comedy savant. It’s easily the funniest thing he’s done since the climactic speech from “On Deadly Ground” (his infamous directorial debut about evil oil companies polluting the Alaskan wilderness), and one of the more entertaining additions to the Has-Beens On Parade reality sub-genre.
Holiday season administrative reminder.
Saturday, November 28th, 2009Because:
- I want to avoid possible trouble with the FTC.
- For the benefit of my family members.
- Because Insty did it, so why not follow in his footsteps?
This is a general administrative reminder that purchases made through Amazon links on Whipped Cream Difficulties, such as this one
Random notes: November 25, 2009.
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009Shocked, shocked I am to learn that The Biggest Loser may indulge in questionable practices. I am equally shocked to learn that a charity collecting money for the homeless may be a scam.
I am delighted to find out that the CIA Family Advisory Board has published a second cookbook, More Spies, Black Ties, and Mango Pies. I own a copy of the original 1997 cookbook
I did not know Julie “Julie and Julia
Edited to add: On the “Art, damn it, art!” front: “Train” in vain.
(Since I got the song stuck in your head, here’s a live Clash video. And here’s a live Annie Lennox version. And here’s a not bad Manic Street Preachers cover.)
Happy Guy Fawkes Day, everyone!
Thursday, November 5th, 2009Antonia Frasier’s Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot
Edited to add: Speaking of revolt against established government, I was totally unaware that College Station voted out traffic enforcement cameras until I read about it in…the Washington Post?
Random notes: November 3, 2009.
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m something of a connoisseur of failure. This leads me in many directions, including savoring Broadway flops. (And that, in turn, reminds me that I need to replace my copy of Not Since Carrie
I also wanted to note the LAT obit for controversial rocket scientist Qian Xuesen. Xuesen is a prominent figure in George Pendle’s fascinating biography of fellow rocket scientist and genuine freaking weirdo Jack Parsons, Strange Angel
Random notes: October 28, 2009.
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009The NYT has an interesting article about Thomas Keller (of French Laundry fame) and how he’s changed after the death of his father.
This has been linked elsewhere, but I wanted to throw this up mostly for Andrew: local coverage of the SF Bay Bridge closure.
I’ve also been meaning to note the unfortunate incident on I-40, mostly because I’ve been somewhat baffled by it; however, the linked article helps make a little more sense of it. It looks like the slide is in an area that’s not easily accessible to the heavy equipment needed to remove the rocks; it also looks like NCDOT is going to want to spend some time stabilizing the slope, and then you’ve got to make sure the road bed is in good shape…
Tim Page has been popping up a lot recently as I make my rounds; first (by way of Jimbo) on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, then in an online chat at the WP. For those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Page, he’s a former classical music critic at the WP (and winner of the Pulitzer for criticism in 1997) who briefly became notorious for going off on Marion Barry’s aides after they kept spamming him. (“Must we hear about it every time this crack addict attempts to rehabilitate himself with some new and typically half-witted political grandstanding? “)
Page has a new book out, Parallel Play
(Before anyone asks: I have Look Me in the Eye
Seasons In Hell: a review.
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009Written a long time ago (back when the book was first released in hardcover). Reposted because I’m still rather fond of the book, and of the review.
Title: Seasons in Hell: With Billy Martin, Whitey Herzog and “The Worst Baseball Team in History”-The 1973-1975 Texas Rangers
Author: Mike Shropshire
Publisher: Donald I. Fine/Penguin
ISBN: 1-55611-495-8
Price: $23.95
I hate baseball.
Actually, that’s not completely fair. I loathe baseball with the same level of intensity that I loathe whole tomatoes, Sarah and James Brady and their merry little gun-banning bund, and the various infestations of Star Trek. I look forward to the day (may it come soon) when I can piss on the metaphorical grave of the soon-to-be-ex Houston Astros: indeed, I look forward to the day when organized baseball in this country finally collapses under the accumulated weight of its own sheer stupidity.
In short, I am not a baseball fan.
Random notes: October 5, 2009.
Monday, October 5th, 2009I stumbled across this article at ESPN totally by accident, and it brings back fond memories. Not as much of UT football, but of the Houston Oilers of the late 70’s. (“Can you hear the blocking, the rambling and the roar? As he glides along the sidelines, by the hashmarks in the score…” Yes, I remember the lyrics somewhat differently.) But even if you were not an Oiler or UT fan, you have to admit Earl Campbell put a heck of a hit on Michael Downs.
This has been well covered elsewhere, but I’m sad to see Gourmet is closing. They’ve had a long tradition of highly literary food writing; check out the Endless Feasts
The problem is, I don’t think there’s a market any more for literary food writing. Cooks Illustrated is a better cooking magazine (though that tweedy little bow-tied jackass gets on my nerves), but sometimes I want a deeper consideration of food, along the lines of Wallace (even though I disagee with much of that essay) or Laura Shapiro.
And as other people pointed out; they killed Gourmet, and kept Your Prom?
(Edited to add: the TLB-TJ comments in the NYT.)
Hooray beer!
Saturday, September 12th, 2009The good folks at Dogfish Head decided they wanted to brew a batch of chicha, the traditional corn beer of some parts of Latin and South America.
Now, if you’ve read Tim Cahill, you probably know that part of the chicha fermentation process is for the village women to chew up the corn and spit it into the vessels the chicha ferments in. (If you haven’t read Tim Cahill
Being dedicated craft brewers, the good folks at Dogfish Head wanted to follow the process exactly. There’s just one small problem with that; you have to chew up a heck of a lot of corn to brew a reasonably sized batch of chicha.
“The 20 pounds that we were hoping for was going to go into a five-barrel batch,” Mr. Calagione said. “If we went to production, the smallest tank would be 200 barrels.” He did the math. “We’d need 40 times this much. We would have to chew 800 pounds of this.”
We like the moon, but not as much as a spoon…
Sunday, August 30th, 2009The Austin American-Statesman has a wonderful profile of UT geology professor Bill Muehlberger, the man who has been teaching geology to NASA astronauts since 1964.
…he believes it’s important for humankind to return to the moon — and not just to finish the work begun at the old landing sites.
“I think it would be more valuable to go to new places,” he says. “One of my favorites is the Copernicus Crater. You could land in the bottom of it and be within a mile of the central uplift, which brings you stuff in from deeper in the moon. Or you could go over a mile in the other direction, to stuff that fell back out of the crater during the impact, and get a 3-D sampling. You’d be landing on glass, on the melt rock that flowed in during the impact. Hey. We could keep going forever … “
I’m fascinated by geology, but, sadly, not very good at it. That hasn’t stopped me from reading John McPhee’s and Simon Winchester’s books, though. In that vein, I’d like to recommend Donald Beattie’s great book, Taking Science to the Moon
I heartily endorse this event or product. (#2 in a series)
Thursday, August 27th, 2009I’ve generally been pleased with the quality of the No Starch books I’ve picked up. And they’ve been a constant and friendly presence at DEFCON for as long as I’ve been going.
What pushed me over the edge, though, is that I ordered some books on Saturday. They were at my PO Box by Wednesday, shipped priority mail, and No Starch didn’t charge me anything over actual cost for the shipping.
No Starch is also running a 30% off sale through August 31st; enter voucher code 100896985 at checkout.
Clippings: August 26th, 2009
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009I haven’t been to NYC since Jesus was a corporal, but for some reason I enjoy reading the NYT food coverage. Retiring food critic Frank Bruni has a nice retrospective piece in which he answers questions like “What’s the best sushi?” (Answer: are you willing to drop $400 a person?) and “What’s the best steakhouse?” I would have liked to see more of his greatest hits, such as the classic review of Ninja, but you can’t have everything…
Speaking of the NYT, I have a new blog to watch: The NYTPicker. This looks like it could fill the void left by SmarterTimes and the late lamented J. J. Hunsecker’s Spy column. If they start referring to “bosomy dirty book writer Shirley Lord”, I am there, man.
I feel compelled to say something about Teddles, but I (and probably a dozen other people by now) have already used the “…unavailable for comment” trope. So I’m grudgingly linking to Michael Kelly’s “A Sober Look At Ted Kennedy“. I say grudgingly because the formatting and pagination of this version of the article is horrible. You’d be a lot better off finding and reading a copy of Kelly’s excellent posthumous collection Things Worth Fighting For: Collected Writings