as we may blog

Just be glad I didn’t title the entry "Ramblings"…

… From Slashdot: "Guy Fawkes’ Explosion Would Have Devasted London" And, of course, when they say "devasted," they really mean "devastated," and when they mean "devastated," they really mean "windows would have shattered within a radius of two-thirds of a mile." Rampant non-RTFAism at Slashd0t lately…

… From .Frank: He visited the San Francisco branch of the Record Collector stump recently. Though he failed to rate the experience (a glaring content faux pas), the Furious Five line is worth the price of admission. I always wondered about that place as it sort of defied any logical principles of opening a business. I’m trying to think of an analogy… like taking a small and successful restaurant and deciding to open a second one in Paris. Or something. Always struck me as odd…

… From the I-learned-a-lot-from-this-book-review-and-I-hope-you-did-too Dept.: If anyone needs a reading recommendation, I’m three stories into Adam Haslett’s You Are Not a Stranger Here and vitamin b for dogs
(so far) highly recommend it. I picked it up last week on a complete whim after reading the critical praise on the back and seeing a silver medal-shaped, uh... medallion on the front cover. Haslett, in the stories I've read thus far, creates links between seemingly antithetical characters and develops highly nuanced and sympathetic interactions between them in a very limited space. The linkage isn't necessarily harmonious, either; the ways in which his characters interact produce touching, darkly humorous, and unnervingly sad scenes. Which is not to say that these are hopelessly depressing stories (because they're not), but rather that the way he bonds these characters together is, I think, the much more intruiging quality than the tragic environments they inhabit. Ugh, I'm terrible at describing this kind of stuff, but even I can recognize he's a very talented writer. So now that I've sucked all the joy out of it, it's $13 at Prairie Lights.

... From me: I added a calendar at the bottom left to publicly chronicle my laziness. Or, hopefully, the lack thereof. Anyway, I need to exercise and I've tried everything to instill a shred of self-discipline in me, and it's all failed miserably. This is pretty much the last straw before I fork over wads of cash to join the YMCA. And since I'm busy talking about myself today... in case you were wondering, the Apply-o-Meter is tracking the amount of money it will cost me to apply to seven graduate programs. Cubs fans will recognize that it's modeled after the popular and controversial Shawon-o-Meter. At any rate, I'll spoil the suspense for you: it's gonna cost me over $500, I already figured it out.

The (revised) official Bush administration history of the war on Iraq, as read by Tom Tomorrow. The desire to debate or discuss any policy of the current administration has left me completely, but this cartoon is a pretty spot-on look back at the administration’s ridiculous hyperbole that cowed a nation into feeling a pre-emptive war was the only option. Fifty years from now I hope I’ll be able to look back with fondness on these times and brag about how I got to live through one of America’s trademarked Periods of National Insanity (for domestic, see: HUAC or Red Scare, The; for international, see: Spanish-American War, The).

In sports news, Reds pitcher Paul Wilson received the beating of his life yesterday from Cubs superhero Kyle Farnsworth. I have no authority to dog dietary supplements
do so, but I'm going to go ahead and award a Darwin Award to Wilson -- what fool decides to charge a pitcher who a) throws 100 mph fastballs and b) is a freakishly muscular athlete (I know, pretty strange for baseball). Whatta dumbass. Shove of the Week award goes to manager Dusty Baker, who gave Reds coach Ray Knight a nice nudge towards the end of the brawl. Troy O'Leary pulled Dusty away and looked like a member of Baker's security entourage as he walked him back to the dugout while keeping a keen eye out for other Reds. He later went on to strike out with the bases loaded to end the game.