WELCOME: Greetings to those of you coming over from The Volokh Conspiracy. I hope your visit will be enjoyable, and please, if you like this place, spread the word and come back for more.
I first met Professor Volokh back in 1995 when he spoke at a symposium on The Law Of Cyberspace sponsored by my legal journal. He is as entertaining and interesting in person as he is in the blogosphere -- even more so, really -- and I appreciate his mentioning my blog today.
Monday, March 10, 2003
IMMOVABLE STONE MEETS IRRESISTABLE SLYDER: A stolen $40,000 diamond. A criminal bent on concealing the evidence for as long as possible. Could his intestinal fortitude foil Chicago's finest?
Not when there are seventy White Castles in the Chicagoland area. It took a few days, but the criminal eventually released three carats of evidence to a waiting police officer.
John Kass of the Chicago Tribune provides both before and after columns on this gutty performance by the Chicago police (registration required), and the Sun-Times adds this gem of an article on some perilous police work.
[Query: Are there any Fifth Amendment issues here? What if he didn't want to eat what was offered?]
Via Obscure Store.
Not when there are seventy White Castles in the Chicagoland area. It took a few days, but the criminal eventually released three carats of evidence to a waiting police officer.
John Kass of the Chicago Tribune provides both before and after columns on this gutty performance by the Chicago police (registration required), and the Sun-Times adds this gem of an article on some perilous police work.
[Query: Are there any Fifth Amendment issues here? What if he didn't want to eat what was offered?]
Via Obscure Store.
IF YOU ARE VIN DIESEL, YELL REALLY LOUD: While we all appreciate the efforts our government is making to prepare us in the event of terrorist attack, some people believe that the graphics being used by our government to inform us are, well, subject to "reinterpretation":
In the event of emergency, find a 3-story, 10-foot-high building. The midgets inside will be sure to help you. Remember, just follow the enormous red arrow protruding from your crotch.
Do not breakdance under piles of rubble.
Those captions came via this link. Beyond that, check out Idlewords.com and this site for more Fun With Captions.
In the event of emergency, find a 3-story, 10-foot-high building. The midgets inside will be sure to help you. Remember, just follow the enormous red arrow protruding from your crotch.
Do not breakdance under piles of rubble.
Those captions came via this link. Beyond that, check out Idlewords.com and this site for more Fun With Captions.
"I LIKE THEM, BUT NOT WHEN THEY COME FLYING THROUGH THE AIR": Well, that's what Norwegian death metal music fan Per Kristian Hagen, age 25, said after being struck in the head with a flying object a recent Mayhem concert.
But what object? Read on: it's baaaaaaaaaaad.
But what object? Read on: it's baaaaaaaaaaad.
HEADS CAROLINA, TAILS CALIFORNIA: After the last few weeks of I'm A Celebrity -- Am I Hot Enough To Be Married By America? and a sadly Frenchie-free American Idol (go Kimberlies and Ruben!), I've been pretty down on reality tv lately. Until now.
And I can't believe I'm about to say this.
God bless Nashville Star. I don't even really like country music, but this show won me over. Why?
1. Talent. Without question, the men and women competing in this competition were better singers, across the board, than anything American Idol has ever seen. Just beautiful and strong voices even among those not picked for the final twelve. And unlike AI, for this competition they've got to be able to write and perform their own original songs as well.
2. Diversity. The final twelve represent a wide range of singing styles, body types, performing styles, everything. It's just interesting watching people addressing country music from so many different angles, from Tejano-based to Patsy Cline to the woman who did a Warren Zevon cover to make it to Nashville. Also, on the whole, these performers are a little older than those on AI, which may have something to do with the better talent level.
3. Structure. This show adopted the American Idol structure, and it works: smart, funny, honest judges who aren't gratuitously mean, who aren't trying to steal the spotlight for themselves. Local competitions begat regional competitions which now move into the national finals, starting next Saturday, with two performers eliminated per-week -- one by the judges, live that night; one by us viewers, via telephone, announced the next week.
One little thing that made a big difference: unlike AI's regional competitions -- a capella, isolated room with just the three judges -- these regionals took place in crowded clubs, with a full backing band. Made for better singing, and just more entertainment.
The hour-and-a-half debut episode re-airs four more times this week, and fresh episodes of Nashville Star air live Saturday nights at 9pm.
Good television shows find a way to make you care about a universe you might otherwise have no interest in, be it "guys in a Boston bar", "Baltimore homicide detectives" or "eight-year-old kids growing up in Colorado". I don't much care for country, nor would I want to see a "country music talent show" in the abstract, but I sure liked Nashville Star. Do try and watch it.
And I can't believe I'm about to say this.
God bless Nashville Star. I don't even really like country music, but this show won me over. Why?
1. Talent. Without question, the men and women competing in this competition were better singers, across the board, than anything American Idol has ever seen. Just beautiful and strong voices even among those not picked for the final twelve. And unlike AI, for this competition they've got to be able to write and perform their own original songs as well.
2. Diversity. The final twelve represent a wide range of singing styles, body types, performing styles, everything. It's just interesting watching people addressing country music from so many different angles, from Tejano-based to Patsy Cline to the woman who did a Warren Zevon cover to make it to Nashville. Also, on the whole, these performers are a little older than those on AI, which may have something to do with the better talent level.
3. Structure. This show adopted the American Idol structure, and it works: smart, funny, honest judges who aren't gratuitously mean, who aren't trying to steal the spotlight for themselves. Local competitions begat regional competitions which now move into the national finals, starting next Saturday, with two performers eliminated per-week -- one by the judges, live that night; one by us viewers, via telephone, announced the next week.
One little thing that made a big difference: unlike AI's regional competitions -- a capella, isolated room with just the three judges -- these regionals took place in crowded clubs, with a full backing band. Made for better singing, and just more entertainment.
The hour-and-a-half debut episode re-airs four more times this week, and fresh episodes of Nashville Star air live Saturday nights at 9pm.
Good television shows find a way to make you care about a universe you might otherwise have no interest in, be it "guys in a Boston bar", "Baltimore homicide detectives" or "eight-year-old kids growing up in Colorado". I don't much care for country, nor would I want to see a "country music talent show" in the abstract, but I sure liked Nashville Star. Do try and watch it.
Sunday, March 9, 2003
WHAT MR. ROGERS TAUGHT MICHAEL JACKSON: Joyce Millman asks in this morning's Times about the lessons Michael Jackson could have learned from Mister Rogers, noting:
"The way Rogers saw it," Millman concludes, "A secure and happy childhood was of the greatest importance not because we stay children forever, but because we don't."
But did Michael Jackson really learn nothing from Mister Rogers? Actually, I think he learned a lot.
Don't take my word for it, of course. Instead, take the following quick quiz. I'll provide the quote; you decide if the speaker is revered television legend Mister Rogers or the King of Pop, Michael Jackson:
Rogers or Jackson?
1. "I love, I feel, I think what they get from me, I get from them. I've said it many times, my greatest inspiration comes from kids. . . . That consciousness of purity. And children have that. I see God in the face of children. I just love being around that all the time."
2. "People don't even eat with their fathers any more, or their mothers. The family bond has been broken. It's an outcry for attention [when] kids are going to school with guns. They want love, they want to be touched, they want to be held. . . . I'm just very sensitive to their pain."
3. "When I was angry as a child, my family wouldn't allow me to crash and stomp around through the house, but they did encourage me to play out my feelings on the piano. That's when I discovered the real power of music. I'd begin by banging random notes -- anything (like a punch!). The longer I played, though, the calmer my music became, the calmer I became, too. That piano probably got me out of a lot of trouble. To this day, I can still laugh and cry and express anger and dissapointment through the tips of my fingers on piano keys. It's just as natural for me as breathing."
4. "Children are loving, they don't gossip, they don't complain, they're just open-hearted. They're ready for you. They don't judge. They don't see things by way of color. They're very child-like. That's the problem with adults. They lose that child-like quality. And that's the level of inspiration that's so needed and is so important for creating and writing songs and for a sculptor, a poet or a novelist. It's that same kind of innocence, that same level of consciousness, that you create from. And kids have it."
5. "You know, you don't have to look like everybody else to be acceptable and to feel acceptable."
6. "My best friends in the whole world are children and animals. They're the ones who tell the truth and love you openly and without reservation."
7. "We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.' Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."
8. “I love whimsy, don’t you? If you’re going to be working for children, you need to do your best not to lose your childlikeness . . . it’s wonderful to be able to just be yourself.”
9. "I've always wanted to be able to tell stories, stories that came from my soul. I'd like to sit by a fire and tell people stories -- make them see pictures, make them cry and laugh, take them anywhere emotionally. I'd like to tell tales to move their souls and transform them. I've always wanted to be able to do that."
10. "The number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you.' One hundred and forty-three. 'I love you.' Isn't that wonderful?"
Answers (highlight text to reveal):
1. Jackson
2. Jackson
3. Rogers
4. Jackson
5. Rogers
6. Jackson
7. Rogers
8. Rogers
9. Jackson
10. Rogers
Blame Todd Bonin for the concept.
Watching [the Bashir documentary], many viewers who had tuned in for a freak show came away instead with new sympathy for the embattled and cosmetically mutilated King of Pop. Mr. Jackson seems to be suffering the poisonous after-effects of a traumatic childhood.
And wasn't that what Fred Rogers was trying to teach us: that emotionally unhealthy children become emotionally unhealthy adults?
"The way Rogers saw it," Millman concludes, "A secure and happy childhood was of the greatest importance not because we stay children forever, but because we don't."
But did Michael Jackson really learn nothing from Mister Rogers? Actually, I think he learned a lot.
Don't take my word for it, of course. Instead, take the following quick quiz. I'll provide the quote; you decide if the speaker is revered television legend Mister Rogers or the King of Pop, Michael Jackson:
1. "I love, I feel, I think what they get from me, I get from them. I've said it many times, my greatest inspiration comes from kids. . . . That consciousness of purity. And children have that. I see God in the face of children. I just love being around that all the time."
2. "People don't even eat with their fathers any more, or their mothers. The family bond has been broken. It's an outcry for attention [when] kids are going to school with guns. They want love, they want to be touched, they want to be held. . . . I'm just very sensitive to their pain."
3. "When I was angry as a child, my family wouldn't allow me to crash and stomp around through the house, but they did encourage me to play out my feelings on the piano. That's when I discovered the real power of music. I'd begin by banging random notes -- anything (like a punch!). The longer I played, though, the calmer my music became, the calmer I became, too. That piano probably got me out of a lot of trouble. To this day, I can still laugh and cry and express anger and dissapointment through the tips of my fingers on piano keys. It's just as natural for me as breathing."
4. "Children are loving, they don't gossip, they don't complain, they're just open-hearted. They're ready for you. They don't judge. They don't see things by way of color. They're very child-like. That's the problem with adults. They lose that child-like quality. And that's the level of inspiration that's so needed and is so important for creating and writing songs and for a sculptor, a poet or a novelist. It's that same kind of innocence, that same level of consciousness, that you create from. And kids have it."
5. "You know, you don't have to look like everybody else to be acceptable and to feel acceptable."
6. "My best friends in the whole world are children and animals. They're the ones who tell the truth and love you openly and without reservation."
7. "We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say 'It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.' Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."
8. “I love whimsy, don’t you? If you’re going to be working for children, you need to do your best not to lose your childlikeness . . . it’s wonderful to be able to just be yourself.”
9. "I've always wanted to be able to tell stories, stories that came from my soul. I'd like to sit by a fire and tell people stories -- make them see pictures, make them cry and laugh, take them anywhere emotionally. I'd like to tell tales to move their souls and transform them. I've always wanted to be able to do that."
10. "The number 143 means 'I love you.' It takes one letter to say 'I' and four letters to say 'love' and three letters to say 'you.' One hundred and forty-three. 'I love you.' Isn't that wonderful?"
Answers (highlight text to reveal):
1. Jackson
2. Jackson
3. Rogers
4. Jackson
5. Rogers
6. Jackson
7. Rogers
8. Rogers
9. Jackson
10. Rogers
Blame Todd Bonin for the concept.
BALLOONING, JINGOISTIC GOAT SPOOR: Tom Zeller of the New York Times steals some of my turf this morning, reviewing Gods and Generals' bad reviews.
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