From the NYT:
Nihilists!
January 12th, 2011And while I’m on the legal beat…
January 11th, 2011Alex Tabarrok, one of the Marginal Revolution bloggers, has an interesting article in the latest Wilson Quarterly about the economics of bounty hunting.
Edited to add: Just for grins, I thought I’d throw in a couple of links to Paladin Press books on bounty hunting, such as “Rex Venator”‘s Modern Bounty Hunting: A Real-Life Guide for the Bail Fugitive Recovery Agent
Poor Laura Hall…
January 11th, 2011TMQ watch: January 11, 2011.
January 11th, 2011Nudity! Gambling! This week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback! Now!
Obit watch: January 11, 2011.
January 11th, 2011Both of these broke yesterday, but I was waiting until I found some better sources before posting:
Peter Yates, director. Lawrence and I were discussing his rather interesting career yesterday. Yates directed such films as Bullit, The Dresser, Breaking Away, and The Friends of Eddie Coyle. He also directed The Deep, Mother, Jugs & Speed, and Krull. (And let’s not forget The Hot Rock, one of the better adaptations of a Donald Westlake Dortmunder novel.) (LAT obit.)
Richard Winters, of Band of Brothers fame. (WP obit.)
I haven’t had much to say about events in Arizona, and probably won’t. Other people are covering this much better than I am; you can pretty much click on any blog in my blogroll for commentary. If you have to pick one, Battleswarm seems to be doing good roundups.
Talkin’ GPS Blues (part 1).
January 9th, 2011A long time ago, my great and good friend Glen pointed me in the direction of a Steven Jay Gould essay about his encounter with Richard Feynman. Gould’s point in that essay was that he thought Feynman wasted a lot of time trying to understand evolution from the ground up, time that Feynman could have spent making valuable contributions to the theory instead. My response is that I think I understand where Feynman was coming from; the only way he felt like he could contribute something was to start from first principles and work his way forward until he understood each step. I’m not anywhere near as smart as Feynman or Gould, but I feel much the same way as Feynman did. Hence, the long and rambling nature of this entry.
I have six GPS systems. That’s probably more than any one sane person needs, but we can leave that discussion for another time.
Godspeed, soldier.
January 7th, 2011General Vang Pao, leader of the Hmong, has passed away. (Edited to add: AP obit, by way of the NYT.)
There’s more that I’d like to write about this, but I don’t have my references in front of me right now. In the meantime, for a good take on the general’s legal troubles, here’s a link to a good Popehat essay by the inimitable Patrick.
Edited to add 1/11/2011: Peter over at Bayou Renaissance Man says pretty much everything I would have said.
Dear New York Times…
January 6th, 2011
This is Idris Elba. He’s an actor.
This is O.J. Simpson. He’s a convicted felon and accused murderer.
Please be so kind as to note that these two men look nothing alike. Thank you. (Hattip: Lawrence.)
Noted for the record.
January 6th, 2011Lawrence has bet me $20 at 5-1 odds that the Texans will make the playoffs in 2011, provided that the NFL plays a complete season in 2011.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSMOKIN’!
January 6th, 2011It’s been a week for fires.
First, the condo fire.
Next, Katz’s closes a day early. Then they catch fire as well. At this point, I half expect the building to fall over and sink into the swamp.
Then, someplace called the Green Muse Cafe (which I’ve never heard of) caught fire as well.
What next? A raging fire in the cedars off of Loop 360? (Come to think of it, that might make spring a bit more pleasant.)
What is this I don’t even
January 6th, 2011“Phawker knocks down Philebrity report about Philly.com paywall“.
Actual headline on Jimbo’s site.
The Happening.
January 6th, 2011The train wreck is now official. I expect this to be about as successful as M. Night Shamalamadingdong’s latest movies.
And Vince Young won’t be a Titan in 2011. However, it is not clear that the Titans are going to keep Jeff Fisher on as coach, either; that decision is yet to come.
Edited to add: And tying it all together, Richard Justice in the HouChron: “Should the Texans sign Vince Young? Are you kidding? Of course! Today!“
A handful of randomness.
January 5th, 2011I intended to post this yesterday, but got sidetracked: the SF Weekly and the Bay Guardian have reached a settlement in their legal dispute. I’ve previously blogged about the dispute here, here, and here. (Hattip: Jimbo.)
I’m posting this only because it amuses me: the Statesman has posted the APD’s annual list of “local bars where drunken driving suspects reported having their last drink before hitting the road”. Particularly chuckleworthy to me is the large cluster of places in one block of 6th Street…
Speaking of the Statesman, there’s also a kind of neat profile of Austin writer, former Dell employee, and MonkeyBrain Books publisher Chris Roberson, who is taking over the current “Superman” story line with issue 707.
And speaking of things that amuse me, “Never Said About Restaurant Websites” pretty much hits all of my peeves (and Lawrence’s) save one. And we’ve both submitted that one. (Hattip: Daring Fireball.)
Edited to add: Here’s something else I wanted to blog but forgot: “The Now-You-See-It Restaurant“.
…
…
The Al Davis reign of terror continues…
January 5th, 2011Tom Cable out in Oakland, even though he finished this season 8-8.
He posted a 17-27 record during his two-plus seasons as the Raiders coach.
And apparently, calling one of your fellow employees “sweet baby” and “a–hole” is a firing offense. At least at ESPN. If your fellow employee is a woman. And you have a record of pulling this kind of crap.
I would like…to feed your fingertips…to the Wolverines.
January 4th, 2011Rich Rodriguez has apparently been fired as head coach at Michigan.
I say “apparently” because there hasn’t been an official announcement yet; Lawrence sent me a link earlier, but that link is no longer active, and appears to have been replaced by this link.
Edited to add 1/5/2011: Now it looks like the decision will come sometime today.
Edited to add 1/5/2011 2: Looks like “This time for sure!” Hey, Rocky, watch me pull a head coach out of my hat!
Edited to add 1/5/2011 3: Yep, he’s done.