Conchis Living

"Yes, We Can"

2008-02-04T16:36:00.000-08:00

Well, we’re only hours from the first California primary I can recall that ever meant anything, and boy is it close! Obama has apparently closed the gap nationwide – he and Hillary will be duking it out, neck to neck in state after state tomorrow. If this isn’t healthy for Democracy, I don’t know what is.

Everyone seems to be pretty inspired this go around - the stale Kerrys and Gores have stayed home, thank goodness. The enthusiasm is manifesting itself in some interesting ways. Like this:

The Yes We Can Song
by will.i.am

I was sitting in my recording studio watching the debates...
Torn between the candidates

I was never really big on politics...
and actually I’m still not big on politics...
but 4 years ago, me and the black eyed peas supported Kerry...
And we supported Kerry with all our might...
We performed and performed and performed for the DNC...
doing all we could do to get the youth involved...

The outcome of the last 2 elections has saddened me...
on how unfair, backwards, upside down, unbalanced, untruthful,
corrupt, and just simply, how wrong the world and "politics" are...

So this year i wanted to get involved and do all i could early...

And i found myself torn...
because this time it’s not that simple...
our choices aren’t as clear as the last elections ...
last time it was so obvious...
Bush and war
vs
no Bush and no war...

But this time it’s not that simple...
and there are a lot of people that are torn just like i am...

So for awhile I put it off and i was going to wait until it was decided for me...

And then came New Hampshire...

And i was captivated...

Inspired...

I reflected on my life...
and the blessings I have...
and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings...

and I’m not talking about a "black thing"
I’m talking about a "human thing" me as a "person"
an American...

That speech made me think of Martin Luther King...
Kennedy...
and Lincoln...
and all the others that have fought for what we have today...

what America is "supposed" to be...

freedom...
equality...
and truth...

and thats not what we have today...
we think we are free...
but in reality terror and fear controls our decisions...

this is not the America that our pioneers and leaders fought and
died for...

and then there was New Hampshire

it was that speech...
like many great speeches...
that one moved me...
because words and ideas are powerful...

It made me think...
and realize that today we have "very few" leaders...
maybe none...

but that speech...

it inspired me...
it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world...
it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world...
and take a "leap" towards change...
and hope that others become inspired to do the same...
change themselves..
change their greed...
change their fears...
and if we "change that"
"then hey"..
we got something right...???...

1 week later after the speech settled in me...
I began making this song...
I came up with the idea to turn his speech into a song...
because that speech effected and touched my inner core like nothing in a very long time...

it spoke to me...

because words and ideas are powerful...

I just wanted to add a melody to those words...
I wanted the inspiration that was bubbling inside me to take over...

so i let it..

I wasn't afraid to stand for something...
to stand for "change"...
I wasn't afraid of "fear"...
it was pure inspiration...

so I called my friends...
and they called their friends...
in a matter of 2 days...
We made the song and video...

Usually this process would take months...
a bunch of record company people figuring out strategies and release dates...
interviews...
all that stuff...
but this time i took it in my own hands...
so i called my friends sarah pantera, mike jurkovac, fred goldring, and jesse dylan to help make it happen...
and they called their friends..
and we did it together in 48 hours...
and instead of putting it in the hands of profit we put it in the hands of inspiration...

then we put it on the net for the world to feel...

When you are truly inspired..
magic happens...
incredible things happen...
love happens..
(and with that combination)

"love, and inspiration"

change happens...

"change for the better"
Inspiration breeds change...

"Positive change"...

no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today...
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above...
It’s all scary...

Martin Luther King didn't have experience to lead...
Kennedy didn't have experience to lead...
Susan B. Anthony...
Nelson Mandella...
Rosa Parks...
Gandhi...
Anne Frank...
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today...

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today...

they just need "desire, strength, courage ability, and passion" to change...
and to stand for something even when people say it's not possible...

America would not be here "today" if we didn’t stand and fight for
change "yesterday"...
Everything we have as a "people" is because of the "people" who fought for
change...
and whoever is the President has to realize we have a lot of changing to do

I'm not trying to convince people to see things how i do...
I produced this song to share my new found inspiration and how I've been moved...
I hope this song will make you feel...
love...
and think...
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me...

that’s all...

Let's all come together like America is supposed to...
Like Japan did after Hiroshima...

that was less than 65 years ago...
and look at Japan now...

they did it together...
they did it...

"We can't?...

Are you serious..?..

WE CAN!!!

Yes we can...
A United "America"
Democrats, Republicans and Independents together...
Building a new America

We can do it...
"TOGETHER"

Please visit www.yeswecansong.com

Thank you for reading and listening...
will.i.am

What a Difference a Day Makes

2008-01-28T16:11:00.000-08:00

Before:

After:

There Will Be Genius

2008-01-04T16:14:00.000-08:00

Well, I called it back in August - P.T. Anderson's film There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, is a tour de force. I think it's one of the most incredible films I've ever seen. From the moment it begins, you are aware that this pic is different than others, and that you will be wholly unable to escape it's tight grasp until its very last minute onscreen.

Day-Lewis, as the turn-of-the-century oil-thirsty entrepeneur Daniel Plainvew, sinks a mile deep into his character, but when doesn't he? Paul Dano (of Little Miss Sunshine) is his counterpoint, his nemesis - an upstart preacher who desperately battles Plainview for the the hearts and minds of those innocent bystanders caught between these two prophets. His performance is equally as moving.

Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead delivers a score as powerful and eerie as any I've ever heard, evoking the likes of Kubrick's 'The Shining', TV's 'Lost' and the works of Philip Glass. The music is presented very high in the mix, and takes hold of the film like a full character, changing and coloring every scene.

If there is one pic you see this winter among the strong list of artsy films out right now, make it this one. You will not be disappointed.

Best of 2007

2007-12-12T10:02:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year again. So, without further ado, I present to you my favorite music from the past 12 months...

MY TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2007:
1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
2. The Bird & the Bee - The Bird & the Bee
3. Blonde Redhead - 23
4. Tegan & Sara - The Con
5. Mark Ronson - Version
6. Brandi Carlile - The Story
7. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
8. Underworld - Oblivion with Bells
9. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
10. James Morrison - Undiscovered

EXCELLENT, BUT INELIGBLE FOR MY TOP 10:

The Shins - Wincing the Night Away (leaked last year)

Lily Allen - Alright, Still (released via the UK last year)

Metric - Grow Up and Blow Away (originally recorded in 1999)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War
The Good, the Bad & the Queen - The Good, the Bad & the Queen

The Chemical Brothers - We Are the Night
Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
The New Pornographers - Challengers
Battles - Mirrored
Field Music - Tones of Town

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS:
Air - Pocket Symphony
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
Kaiser Chiefs - Yours Truly, Angry Mob
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Bjork - Volta
The Go! Team - Proof of Youth

BEST LIVE SHOWS:
Smashing Pumpkins - The Fillmore (SF)
Arcade Fire - Greek Theatre (Hollywood)
John Mayer / Ben Folds - Hollywood Bowl
DMB / Steven Marley - Hollywood Bowl
Bird & the Bee - The Derby
Daft Punk - Greek Theatre (Berkeley)
Stars - The Orpheum

The Beatles Doing Stairway to Heaven...Almost

2007-11-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

This blows me away. It’s apparently from an Australian parody show in the early 90s called "The Money or the Gun", and the Beatnix are an Aussie Beatles tribute band.

Happy & Healthy to You and Yours

2007-11-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

Run, Don't Walk

2007-11-20T18:33:00.000-08:00

If attacked by a gang of sword wielding samurai, would the world's fastest speed walker walk or run away? The Japanese, having solved all the world's other problems, are there to find out.

Would He Run? - Watch more free videos

One Bourbon Too Many

2007-11-16T17:43:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite authors of all-time died this week. I had the immense fortune to see him speak in person a couple of times over the years, most recently just several months ago. Although clearly diminished, his mind was still one of the most colorful and engaging you could hope to encounter.

Here's The Economist with a fitting farewell:

Norman Mailer

Nov 15th 2007
From The Economist print edition

Norman Mailer, pugilist of American letters, died on November 10th, aged 84

IT WAS on the Dick Cavett show in 1971 that Mailer (always “Mailer” in his writings; “Mister” was needless polish and priming), three-tumblers drunk, angry, little eyes blue as a touchpaper, was needled by Gore Vidal into saying this:

In Hemingway's time there were great writers...Our time has been much more complicated and there hasn't been that many really extraordinary writers around, and I have presumed with all my extraordinary arrogance and loutishness and crudeness to step forth and say, “I'm going to be the champ until one of you knocks me off.” Well, fine, but, you know, they don't knock you off because they're too damned simply yellow, and they kick me in the nuts, and I don't like it.

He had only half got going, but then the commercial came in. Much more could have been said. How Mailer had written what George Orwell called the best-ever book about the second world war, “The Naked and the Dead”. How he had won a Pulitzer for “The Armies of the Night”, the story of the 1968 anti-war march on the Pentagon, and every other book prize going except the Nobel. How, despite the critical bile spewed over much of his fiction, he still had germinating in him the Great American Novel that would out-Tolstoy Tolstoy and out-Dickens Dickens. How he had invented, with a nod to Truman Capote, the non-fiction novel and the novelised news report, through both of which strolled his best character, Mailer, with his crinkly electrified hair and his maudlin writer's hang-ups, continually “in an intimate dialogue, a veritable dialectic with the swoops, spooks, starts, the masks and snarls, the calm lucid abilities of sin...his tonic, his jailer, his horse, his sword”.

Mailer was brave. That was his virtue of virtues. In the 1950s he disdained “the stench of fear that has come out of every pore of American life...a collective failure of nerve”. He smelled fear in the dark, rotting jungle mud where he had fought as a soldier in the Philippines, in the blood, shit and slobber of the Chicago stockyards, but also at Washington parties, among his own stupid bouts of tongue-tiedness and circumlocution, as “the hard gemlike flame of bourbon” burned through him. At such points he would be rescued by the wild man Mailer, a creature “who would have been admirable, except that he was an absolute egomaniac, a Beast”.

Gristle and gravel

He talked and wrote of fighting more than he did it. Short and stocky, he was liable to be upended pretty fast. But he boxed a bit, and proudly jogged once with Muhammad Ali until his breath gave out. Instinctively, he put up his fists. In 1957, in an essay called “The White Negro”, he recommended that white Americans should live like inner-city blacks, hip and cool as cats on the edge of violence, rather than fall into the deadness of post-war conformity.

The shock tactics sometimes misfired badly. He stuck a kitchen knife (or a pair of scissors, or a “three-inch dirty penknife”) into the neck of his second wife, the second of six, all of whom loved and forgave him as long as their alimony was paid. He acted as literary sponsor to a talented murderer, Jack Abbott, who murdered again when Mailer had helped to get him out of jail. He revelled in gross, boastful or mechanical descriptions of sex (“a hard punishing session with pulley weights, stationary bicycle and ten breath-seared laps round the track”), not least because this outraged the women's libbers with whom, in the 1970s, he was permanently at war. Once Mailer, with a sparkle in his eye that was maybe aggression, maybe fun, acting his usual part of the hollering Jewish leprechaun, proclaimed that all women should be locked in cages.

On form (as in “Miami and the Siege of Chicago”, about the 1968 political conventions, or “Of a Fire on the Moon”, about the first moon landing) he was a gloriously evocative, generous, sprawling writer, worthy of the scale of his country and his subjects. But Mailer dismissed these books as journalism, that ceaseless scavenging for “tidbits, gristle, gravel, garbage cans, charlotte russe, old rubber tyres, T-bone steaks” that went to feed “that old American goat, our newspapers”. Despite his founder-role on the radical Village Voice, he took little pride in that craft. The Great Novel was his quest: a quest that became weirder and more abstruse over time, taking him to Pharaoic Egypt and the corridors of the CIA and inserting Mailer (sometimes the very Son of God, sometimes the Devil) into the made-up lives of Jesus and Hitler.

By general consent, though not by Mailer's, his best book was “The Executioner's Song” of 1979. It won him his second Pulitzer. In it he told the story of Gary Gilmore, the first man to be executed after the ending of the moratorium on the death penalty, in sentences as spare and unadorned as the Utah desert in which it was set. The style was almost reminiscent of his great hero, Hemingway. Those short, declarative sentences, he wrote once, had a suicide's dread in their silences: dread that “at any instant, by any failure in magic, by a mean defeat, or by a moment of cowardice, Hemingway could be thrust back again into the agonising demands of his courage.” Mailer's short sentences carried a more pugnacious message: he was the champ, and would be until someone braver and better knocked him off.

Time's Up for Jack and Other Poor H'wood Blokes

2007-11-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

Amid the ever-more-debilitating WGA strike (thousands should find themselves unemployed within the next few weeks), and news that audience favs such as '24' are being put on immediate hiatus, writer-producer Marshall Herskovitz chimes in with his take on the creative nose-dive that is television in the post-government regulation era of broadcasting:

Are the corporate suits ruining TV?

Network control and media consolidation are wringing the creativity out of entertainment.

By Marshall Herskovitz
November 7, 2007
LA Times

Marshall Herskovitz is a TV and movie producer whose credits include "Blood Diamond," "thirtysomething" and the upcoming "quarterlife." He is president of the Producers Guild of America (which is not affiliated with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, currently being struck by the Writers Guild of America).

After 20 years and five series, including "thirtysomething" and "My So-Called Life," my partner, Ed Zwick, and I have -- for the time being at least -- stopped producing television programs.

It's not personal. I count as friends many of the executives who work at the networks. We had a deal at one network, ABC, for all of those 20 years, and, in spite of many regime changes, we were always treated with great respect. This is not about how we were treated but rather something much larger: How a confluence of government policy and corporate strategy is literally poisoning the TV business.

It started in 1995 when the Federal Communications Commission abolished its long-standing "finsyn" rules (that's financial interest and syndication, for those unfamiliar with the term), allowing networks for the first time to own the programs they broadcast. Before that, under classic antitrust definitions, the networks had been confined to the role of broadcaster, paying a license fee to production companies for the right to broadcast programs just two times. The production companies owned all subsequent rights. In the mid-1990s there were 40 independent production companies making television shows. If a particular network didn't like a show -- as famously happened with "The Cosby Show" many years ago -- the production company could take it to another network.

But not after 1995. The abolition of the old rules set in motion an ineluctable process, one that has negatively affected every creative person I know in television. Today there are zero independent production companies making scripted television. They were all forced out of business by the networks' insistence -- following the FCC's fin-syn ruling -- on owning part or all of every program they broadcast.

The most profound change resulting from that ruling is the way networks go about the business of creating programming. Networks today exert a level of creative control unprecedented in the history of the medium. The stories my friends tell me would make me laugh if the situation weren't so self-defeating. Network executives routinely tell producers to change the color of the walls on sets; routinely decide on the proper wardrobe for actors; routinely have "tone" meetings with directors on upcoming pilots; routinely give notes on every page of a script. (When we did "thirtysomething" in the late '80s, we never received network notes.) And by the way, they have every right to do these things. As owners, they have a responsibility to satisfy themselves that their product is competitive and successful.

The problem, of course, is that these executives often have little background or qualification for making creative decisions. They are guided by market research and -- they want to believe -- a learned intuition about what the public wants. This season's new shows have been a good indicator of how successful that strategy is: Even before the current writer's strike, virtually every new show was struggling.

But the changes have gone further. Over the last few years -- during a time when network profits have been increasing -- salaries and profit participation for the writer-producers who create the shows have been slashed. Fees were cut by one-third to one-half, and profit participation in many cases was effectively eliminated. It's a curious (and peculiarly American) fact that many of the great artistic talents in the history of film and TV also have been entrepreneurs: Chaplin, Capra, Serling, Pakula, Lucas, Spielberg -- the list goes on. For reasons that are probably more psychological than anything else, creative and financial independence seem to go hand in hand.

Yet what we have now is a complete absence of either in the world of television. Your TV may receive 200 channels, but virtually every one of them is owned by one of six big companies -- NBC Universal, Disney, Time Warner, Viacom/Paramount, Sony and News Corp. And each channel has a brand identity dictated by those companies to which each program must adhere. Producers are now employees, not creators. If you were foolish enough to independently produce a TV pilot today, when you took it to the network, you would give up at least half of your ownership and all of your control, even though the network wouldn't pay any more than it used to pay as that old license fee.

Is there significance to this, outside the narrow concerns of Hollywood and the lost earning power of producers? I think so. Besides any esoteric discussion of the value of storytelling in a culture -- which I believe is immense -- this trend is part of a larger problem caused by the FCC in all areas of media. The relaxation of the Fairness Doctrine (which required the networks to present the news in a balanced way), the lapse of any oversight of networks' civic responsibility, the commoditization of network news -- these are all parts of a troubling move toward the aggregation of control of information in an ever-shrinking number of entities.

Our founding fathers could not have foreseen that freedom of the press might eventually be threatened just as much by media consolidation as by government. And if you doubt that's happening, just watch Bill Moyers' recent expose on the networks' passive collusion with government in selling the Iraq war.

Because the business of television has become an exclusive club, closed to new members, some producers are turning to the Internet to have a voice. And, of course, the Big Six are doing everything they can to own and control that as well. Already, it's impossible to make an "overall deal" -- the time-honored arrangement in which producers are kept on retainer to develop shows for a particular network -- without agreeing to be exclusive to the network on the Internet as well as television. The logic of this defies all laws of economics; producers pledge fealty to networks because they (the producers) don't have the millions it takes to shoot, distribute and broadcast their own programs on television. Producing for the Internet, on the other hand, costs as little as $30,000 an hour, and "broadcasting" costs much less. Virtually anyone can do it.

So what value do the networks provide that makes it worthwhile for producers to agree to that exclusivity? You tell me, because I can't figure it out. Less polite folks might call it extortion.

Zwick and I have joined that migration to the Internet. We've created a project called "quarterlife" -- a series and a social network -- that we own and control, and we had to give up our TV deal in order to do it. The series will premiere Sunday on MySpace and then on our site, quarterlife.com, the next night. We've worked very hard, and spent a great deal of our own money, to make it as good as anything we've ever done on television. And we've gotten calls from every guild and virtually every producer we know, all of whom are curious to see if this little experiment can succeed. Because if it does, it will prove that there's a way to independently produce, finance and distribute ambitious content on the Internet. And if we can do it, others can do it. To be sure, there's every possibility this series will end up on television after it's established on the Internet, but only if we still own it and control it creatively, which would make it unique in today's landscape.

The problems of network ownership and creative control are not directly at issue in the current strike by the Writers Guild of America. What's at stake is how writers will be compensated, given the control everyone assumes the big companies will exert over new methods of delivery.

But make no mistake -- deep resentment in the entire creative community over the absolute power now wielded by these companies is the fuel that feeds the strike. The public is also fed up, turning out in droves and sending millions of e-mails whenever the FCC holds hearings on the subject. And yet the large corporations move forward, seemingly unaware that they are strangling the creative engine that might save them.

Within five years there won't be a significant distinction between TV and broadband. As of now, the Internet is just too big for any company to get its hands around, and that's good for all of us. If the large companies -- and the FCC -- cannot come to comprehend the paradox that too much control is destructive to their own ends, they may bring about their own downfall, losing their audience and their workers at the same time. Like carriage makers at the dawn of the auto age.

Wakey Wakey, Younglings

2007-10-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

Generation Q

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Op-Ed Columnist

October 10, 2007

NY Times

I just spent the past week visiting several colleges — Auburn, the University of Mississippi, Lake Forest and Williams — and I can report that the more I am around this generation of college students, the more I am both baffled and impressed.

I am impressed because they are so much more optimistic and idealistic than they should be. I am baffled because they are so much less radical and politically engaged than they need to be.

One of the things I feared most after 9/11 — that my daughters would not be able to travel the world with the same carefree attitude my wife and I did at their age — has not come to pass.

Whether it was at Ole Miss or Williams or my alma mater, Brandeis, college students today are not only going abroad to study in record numbers, but they are also going abroad to build homes for the poor in El Salvador in record numbers or volunteering at AIDS clinics in record numbers. Not only has terrorism not deterred them from traveling, they are rolling up their sleeves and diving in deeper than ever.

The Iraq war may be a mess, but I noticed at Auburn and Ole Miss more than a few young men and women proudly wearing their R.O.T.C. uniforms. Many of those not going abroad have channeled their national service impulses into increasingly popular programs at home like “Teach for America,” which has become to this generation what the Peace Corps was to mine.

It’s for all these reasons that I’ve been calling them “Generation Q” — the Quiet Americans, in the best sense of that term, quietly pursuing their idealism, at home and abroad.

But Generation Q may be too quiet, too online, for its own good, and for the country’s own good. When I think of the huge budget deficit, Social Security deficit and ecological deficit that our generation is leaving this generation, if they are not spitting mad, well, then they’re just not paying attention. And we’ll just keep piling it on them.

There is a good chance that members of Generation Q will spend their entire adult lives digging out from the deficits that we — the “Greediest Generation,” epitomized by George W. Bush — are leaving them.

When I was visiting my daughter at her college, she asked me about a terrifying story that ran in this newspaper on Oct. 2, reporting that the Arctic ice cap was melting “to an extent unparalleled in a century or more” — and that the entire Arctic system appears to be “heading toward a new, more watery state” likely triggered by “human-caused global warming.”

“What happened to that Arctic story, Dad?” my daughter asked me. How could the news media just report one day that the Arctic ice was melting far faster than any models predicted “and then the story just disappeared?” Why weren’t any of the candidates talking about it? Didn’t they understand: this has become the big issue on campuses?

No, they don’t seem to understand. They seem to be too busy raising money or buying votes with subsidies for ethanol farmers in Iowa. The candidates could actually use a good kick in the pants on this point. But where is it going to come from?

Generation Q would be doing itself a favor, and America a favor, if it demanded from every candidate who comes on campus answers to three questions: What is your plan for mitigating climate change? What is your plan for reforming Social Security? What is your plan for dealing with the deficit — so we all won’t be working for China in 20 years?

America needs a jolt of the idealism, activism and outrage (it must be in there) of Generation Q. That’s what twentysomethings are for — to light a fire under the country. But they can’t e-mail it in, and an online petition or a mouse click for carbon neutrality won’t cut it. They have to get organized in a way that will force politicians to pay attention rather than just patronize them.

Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy didn’t change the world by asking people to join their Facebook crusades or to download their platforms. Activism can only be uploaded, the old-fashioned way — by young voters speaking truth to power, face to face, in big numbers, on campuses or the Washington Mall. Virtual politics is just that — virtual.

Maybe that’s why what impressed me most on my brief college swing was actually a statue — the life-size statue of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi. Meredith was the first African-American to be admitted to Ole Miss in 1962. The Meredith bronze is posed as if he is striding toward a tall limestone archway, re-enacting his fateful step onto the then-segregated campus — defying a violent, angry mob and protected by the National Guard.

Above the archway, carved into the stone, is the word “Courage.” That is what real activism looks like. There is no substitute.

In Rainbows, Heaven

2007-10-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

In Rainbows is out and it’s gorgeous – the cumulative achievement of a career focused on innovation. It’s as if Radiohead sat around and said: “So should we revisit the first half of our career, all the crazy layers of guitars and angstful rock, or should we opt for the quirky and emotive electronic experimentation of our second turn? Hey, I know – let’s combine the two, while throwing in some lush orchestration and a dab of mellowed out balladry. Perfect!” How does a band who’s done so many new things so many times continue to do so again and again? How many times can you amp it up to yet another level? It’s pretty amazing.

Oh, btw, I suggest you buy the discbox. I did. It feels great. Like RH guitarist Jonny Greenwood put it: "It's fun to make people stop for a few seconds and think about what music is worth, and that's just an interesting question to ask people." Well, I thought about it and, hell yeah, $82 is a totally reasonable price to pay for music that will be with me for the next 20 years, enriching my days. Thank you, RH.

Leprechaun Tricks

2007-10-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

The Radiohead faithful among you have probably already heard, but the new album – in the works for almost two years now, and previewed largely at the shows last summer – will be released in just 10 days(!!!).

I’ve been concerned for some time that the English lads (whose contract with EMI/Capitol had expired after the last album) would somehow find a way to fuck up this self-release – now called “In/Rainbows” – but instead, they’ve mapped a new path and, in doing so, may very well kick off a revolution within the DIY world of music distribution.

You have two options as to how to grab the album:

1) Purchase digital tracks via Radiohead’s website. How much? It’s up to you. Really. You can set the price at $0.00 or $100 or anything else you want.

2) Pre-order the “discbox”, which will ship on Dec. 3. What’s in the discbox? A CD of the album, two vinyl LPs of the same album, a bonus CD containing another 8 songs (including my fav from last summer, "Down is the New Up"), artwork, lyrics, a snazzy book/case for the entire product, etc. – basically, a windfall of Radiohead goodies and collectables. The cost? $82 (a flat fee that includes shipping and taxes). Oh, and while you’re waiting for the physical product to ship in a couple months, you also get the digital tracks as of next week.

So, you can snag the album for free (legally), or you can thank Radiohead for their vision and slap down $80-plus for the grand prize.

It’s a brilliant ploy. What’s the music worth to you? What is the experience worth? Will you be one of the cool kids? The band’s fans are notoriously devoted and I foresee them making a boatload on this.

Personally, I think I’ll applaud the boys for the idea and pick up the discbox. Sure, Thom whines a lot, but sometimes he gets it right, too. Now is one of those times.

Iran: So Far Away...

2007-10-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Inner Space

2007-09-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

Spacemen are from Mars

Sep 27th 2007
From The Economist print edition

Half a century of space exploration has actually served to illuminate the Earth

FIFTY YEARS ago the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite. Sputnik burst into orbit on October 4th 1957, in the midst of the cold war. It was a surprise to the world, a shock to many Americans, and the starting gun for the space race between the superpowers. Thereafter, America vied with the Soviet Union for supremacy in aerospace's equivalent of “mine's bigger than yours”, as successively taller rockets lobbed larger payloads further afield.

The legacy of all this posturing is a view of space travel as a macho, gung-ho affair, all about the conquest of the solar system by men with shiny suits and very big rockets. In the 1950s many people imagined that in the decades to come the new frontier would be beaten back by pioneers bent on interplanetary colonisation. By the end of the millennium there would be a moon base at the very least. Probably, there would be hotels in orbit, frequent missions to other planets and mines on asteroids extracting metals considered rare and precious on Earth. To extend John Gray's metaphor about men and women: space was from Mars.

As it has turned out, space is actually from Venus. People have hardly travelled anywhere at all—although a scandalous amount of money has been wasted on the conceit that voyaging across the cosmos is humanity's destiny. Instead, what has happened is inward-looking and Venusian in an almost touchy-feely way rather than outwardly directed. Most of the satellites in orbit round Earth look down, rather than up, and the biggest mental change wrought by spaceflight has been not an appreciation of the vastness of the universe, but rather of the smallness, fragility and unity of Earth.

Third rock from the sun

This mental change began in a very Martian way. Before Soviet engineers built the rockets that put Sputnik in orbit, warfare was seen as being, in some sense, a limited thing. Even in the atomic decade that had preceded the space age, bombers flown by real people would have to deliver nuclear death to their targets. Negotiations could take place while they were in the air. They could be shot down. And those that got through would probably not destroy everything. After Sputnik, megadeath would arrive in minutes by rocket, non-negotiably, and in such quantities that global annihilation looked on the cards.

But bellicose intercontinental ballistic missiles were not the only spawn of Sputnik's launch. There was also the satellite itself. Today almost 900 of the things are in orbit around Earth, operated by more than 40 countries. Some are old-fashioned martial spy satellites, but many more are Venusian—watching the weather, the oceans, the changing climate and the use of land. Others broadcast television programmes, relay telephone calls, or send out the signals that tell people exactly where they are on the Earth's surface. Such satellites have enabled scientists and engineers to treat the planet as a single thing in a way that they previously did not.

More subtle—and just as far-reaching—was the message epitomised during the next leg of the space race when the crew of Apollo 8 photographed Earth-rise over a lunar horizon on Christmas Day, 1968. Earth is a fragile pocket of life in a very large and lonely universe. Looking back at a small, blue-green planet from outer space and seeing its unity and its vulnerability also changed perspectives. It was a force behind the environmental movement, which began at about that time. Rather as a foreign country helps a traveller understand his home, so it has taken space flight to understand Earth.

Some insist that humanity must hurry on with the Martian vision, to explore and ultimately to colonise other planets to secure the species's future. That may be necessary one day and many countries, and some companies, still pursue this vision of space. America's government wants a moon base, the Chinese are interested in going there, too. There might be a rekindling of the kind of nationalistic fervour of yesteryear.

The lesson of the past 50 years, however, is that the more humanity discovers about space, the rarer and more precious life on Earth seems. For the moment Venusian voyages to understand mankind's home planet are better than Martian ones to understand how to abandon the mother ship.

Sticking it to Ahmadinejad

2007-09-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

There are a thousand arguments to be made both for and against someone like Ahmadinejad being invited to speak at an American university, but what's sure is that you will rarely come across as poignant and public a stand against such a figure as that offered today by Columbia's president and dean, Lee Bollinger.

Here's to free speech, and the courage to confront evil when you see it:

My questions for President Ahmadinejad

Editor's note: Bollinger delivered these introductory remarks on Monday, Sept. 24, prior to a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs World Leaders Forum.

By Lee Bollinger

I would like to begin by thanking dean John Coatsworth and professor Richard Bulliet for their work in organizing this event and for their commitment to the role of the School of International and Public Affairs and its role in training future leaders in world affairs. If today proves anything it will be that there is an enormous amount of work ahead for all of us. This is just one of many events on Iran that will run throughout this academic year, all to help us better understand this critical and complex nation in today's geopolitics.

Before speaking directly to the current president of Iran, I have a few critically important points to emphasize.

First, since 2003, the World Leaders Forum has advanced Columbia's long-standing tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate, especially on global issues. It should never be thought that merely to listen to ideas we deplore in any way implies our endorsement of those ideas, or the weakness of our resolve to resist those ideas or our naiveté about the very real dangers inherent in such ideas. It is a critical premise of freedom of speech that we do not honor the dishonorable when we open the public forum to their voices. To hold otherwise would make vigorous debate impossible.

Second, to those who believe that this event never should have happened, that it is inappropriate for the university to conduct such an event, I want to say that I understand your perspective and respect it as reasonable. The scope of free speech and academic freedom should itself always be open to further debate. As one of the more famous quotations about free speech goes, it is "an experiment, as all life is an experiment." I want to say, however, as forcefully as I can, that this is the right thing to do and, indeed, it is required by existing norms of free speech, the American university and Columbia itself.

Third, to those among us who experience hurt and pain as a result of this day, I say on behalf of all of us we are sorry and wish to do what we can to alleviate it.

Fourth, to be clear on another matter -- this event has nothing whatsoever to do with any "rights" of the speaker but only with our rights to listen and speak. We do it for ourselves.

We do it in the great tradition of openness that has defined this nation for many decades now. We need to understand the world we live in, neither neglecting its glories nor shrinking from its threats and dangers. It is consistent with the idea that one should know thine enemies, to have the intellectual and emotional courage to confront the mind of evil and to prepare ourselves to act with the right temperament. In the moment, the arguments for free speech will never seem to match the power of the arguments against, but what we must remember is that this is precisely because free speech asks us to exercise extraordinary self-restraint against the very natural but often counterproductive impulses that lead us to retreat from engagement with ideas we dislike and fear. In this lies the genius of the American idea of free speech.

Lastly, in universities, we have a deep and almost single-minded commitment to pursue the truth. We do not have access to the levers of power. We cannot make war or peace. We can only make minds. And to do this we must have the most full freedom of inquiry.

Let me now turn to Mr. Ahmadinejad.

THE BRUTAL CRACKDOWN ON SCHOLARS, JOURNALISTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES

Over the last two weeks, your government has released Dr. Haleh Esfandiari and Parnaz Axima; and just two days ago Kian Tajbakhsh, a graduate of Columbia with a Ph.D. in urban planning. While our community is relieved to learn of his release on bail, Dr. Tajbakhsh remains in Teheran, under house arrest, and he still does not know whether he will be charged with a crime or allowed to leave the country. Let me say this for the record, I call on the president today to ensure that Kian Tajbaksh will be free to travel out of Iran as he wishes. Let me also report today that we are extending an offer to Dr. Tajbaksh to join our faculty as a visiting professor in urban planning here at his alma mater, in our Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. And we hope he will be able to join us next semester.

The arrest and imprisonment of these Iranian Americans for no good reason is not only unjustified, it runs completely counter to the very values that allow today's speaker to even appear on this campus.

But at least they are alive.

According to Amnesty International, 210 people have been executed in Iran so far this year -- 21 of them on the morning of Sept. 5 alone. This annual total includes at least two children -- further proof, as Human Rights Watch puts it, that Iran leads the world in executing minors.

There is more.

Iran hanged up to 30 people this past July and August during a widely reported suppression of efforts to establish a more open, democratic society in Iran. Many of these executions were carried out in public view, a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party.

These executions and others have coincided with a wider crackdown on student activists and academics accused of trying to foment a so-called "soft revolution." This has included jailing and forced retirements of scholars. As Dr. Esfandiari said in a broadcast interview since her release, she was held in solitary confinement for 105 days because the government "believes that the United States ... is planning a Velvet Revolution" in Iran.

In this very room last year we learned something about Velvet Revolutions from Vaclav Havel. And we will likely hear the same from our World Leaders Forum speaker this evening -- President Michelle Bachelet Jeria of Chile. Both of their extraordinary stories remind us that there are not enough prisons to prevent an entire society that wants its freedom from achieving it.

We at this university have not been shy to protest and challenge the failures of our own government to live by these values; and we won't be shy in criticizing yours.

Let's, then, be clear at the beginning, Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.

And so I ask you:

Why have women, members of the Baha'i faith, homosexuals and so many of our academic colleagues become targets of persecution in your country?

Why in a letter last week to the secretary general of the U.N. did Akbar Gangi, Iran's leading political dissident, and over 300 public intellectuals, writers and Nobel Laureates express such grave concern that your inflamed dispute with the West is distracting the world's attention from the intolerable conditions your regime has created within Iran? In particular, the use of the Press Law to ban writers for criticizing the ruling system.

Why are you so afraid of Iranian citizens expressing their opinions for change?

In our country, you are interviewed by our press and asked to speak here today. And while my colleague at the Law School Michael Dorf spoke to Radio Free Europe [sic, Voice of America] viewers in Iran a short while ago on the tenets of freedom of speech in this country, I propose going further than that. Let me lead a delegation of students and faculty from Columbia to address your university about free speech, with the same freedom we afford you today? Will you do that?

THE DENIAL OF THE HOLOCAUST

In a December 2005 state television broadcast, you described the Holocaust as a "fabricated" "legend." One year later, you held a two-day conference of Holocaust deniers.

For the illiterate and ignorant, this is dangerous propaganda. When you come to a place like this, this makes you, quite simply, ridiculous. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.

You should know that Columbia is a world center of Jewish studies and now, in partnership with the YIVO Institute, of Holocaust studies. Since the 1930s, we've provided an intellectual home for countless Holocaust refugees and survivors and their children and grandchildren. The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history. Because of this, and for many other reasons, your absurd comments about the "debate" over the Holocaust both defy historical truth and make all of us who continue to fear humanity's capacity for evil shudder at this closure of memory, which is always virtue's first line of defense.

Will you cease this outrage?

THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL

Twelve days ago, you said that the state of Israel "cannot continue its life." This echoed a number of inflammatory statements you have delivered in the last two years, including in October 2005 when you said that Israel should be "wiped off the map."

Columbia has over 800 alumni currently living in Israel. As an institution we have deep ties with our colleagues there. I personally have spoken out in the most forceful terms against proposals to boycott Israeli scholars and universities, saying that such boycotts might as well include Columbia. More than 400 college and university presidents in this country have joined in that statement. My question, then, is: Do you plan on wiping us off the map, too?

FUNDING TERRORISM

According to reports by the Council on Foreign Relations, it's well documented that Iran is a state sponsor of terror that funds such violent groups as the Lebanese Hezbollah, which Iran helped organize in the 1980s, the Palestinian Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

While your predecessor government was instrumental in providing the U.S. with intelligence and base support in its 2001 campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan, your government is now undermining American troops in Iraq by funding, arming and providing safe transit to insurgent leaders like Muqtada al-Sadr and his forces.

There are a number of reports that also link your government with Syria's efforts to destabalize the fledgling Lebanese government through violence and political assassination.

My question is this: Why do you support well-documented terrorist organizations that continue to strike at peace and democracy in the Middle East, destroying lives and civil society in the region?

PROXY WAR AGAINST U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ

In a briefing before the National Press Club earlier this month, General David Petraeus reported that arms supplies from Iran, including 240 mm rockets and explosively formed projectiles, are contributing to "a sophistication of attacks that would by no means be possible without Iranian support."

A number of Columbia graduates and current students are among the brave members of our military who are serving or have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They, like other Americans with sons, daughters, fathers, husbands and wives serving in combat, rightly see your government as the enemy.

Can you tell them and us why Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq by arming Shi'a militia targeting and killing U.S. troops?

FINALLY, IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AND INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS

This week the United Nations Security Council is contemplating expanding sanctions for a third time because of your government's refusal to suspend its uranium-enrichment program. You continue to defy this world body by claiming a right to develop peaceful nuclear power, but this hardly withstands scrutiny when you continue to issue military threats to neighbors. Last week, French President Sarkozy made clear his lost patience with your stall tactics; and even Russia and China have shown concern.

Why does your country continue to refuse to adhere to international standards for nuclear weapons verification in defiance of agreements that you have made with the U.N. nuclear agency? And why have you chosen to make the people of your country vulnerable to the effects of international economic sanctions and threaten to engulf the world with nuclear annihilation?

Let me close with this comment. Frankly, and in all candor, Mr. President, I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions. But your avoiding them will in itself be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mind-set that characterizes so much of what you say and do. Fortunately, I am told by experts on your country, that this only further undermines your position in Iran with all the many goodhearted, intelligent citizens there. A year ago, I am reliably told, your preposterous and belligerent statements in this country (as in your meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations) so embarrassed sensible Iranian citizens that this led to your party's defeat in the December mayoral elections. May this do that and more.

I am only a professor, who is also a university president, and today I feel all the weight of the modern civilized world yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for. I only wish I could do better.

Praying with Borat

2007-09-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

My father’s best friend (dating back 60 years to their childhood in Israel) has become quite friendly with Borat – aka Sacha Baron Cohen – since the latter moved to LA a year or two ago. So when the Jewish holidays rolled around this year, and Sacha’s brother (an electronic artist from the UK incidentally) decided to visit and asked his bro to find them a temple to attend, Sacha turned to my dad’s buddy who in turn called my father and asked whether he would mind dialing in a favor at the temple (its being just before the holiday, of course, all the seats at the “good” temples were already taken). My father – who found himself in complete hysterics at the goofy Kazakh speaking Hebrew in the theater last year – jumped at the chance, naturally. So when Yom Kippur rolled around, there we were…praying with Borat.

To see a room full of stiff, ascetic septuagenarians and octogenarians ogle all over this pop culture phenomenon of crudeness is just surreal. All these orthodox men approaching him in the middle of services – introducing themselves, thanking him for his comedic genius. I’ve never seen anything like it. Deep into the second day he busts out the smelling salts, shoving them into the faces of the statues around him – a pandemonium of snickering and giggles propagates. Unbelievable.

Not surprisingly, the guy’s got an amazing voice – it towers above everyone else’s (but the cantor’s) and fills the room with glorious song and prayer. He could be a tenor in Italy for Christ’s sake. The cantor eventually invites him up to the bimah where they sing together, the old man clearly starstruck like the rest of us. He later thanks our special guest publicly before the entire congregation…this time for his voice, not his jokes. We are all glad that he has joined us on this once somber holy day.

Borat may not gel in the Deep South, but on Olympic Blvd. in Beverly Hills, at orthodox shul, he’s just another one of the boys.

2007-09-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

Some genius – precisely, Marc Ecko, the guy who brought you the video hoax of himself tagging the wing of Air Force One – has come up a plan re: Barry Bond’s record-breaking ball #756: he’s putting its fate in your hands.

You have three options – send the ball to Cooperstown, imprint the ball with a big fat asterisk then send it to Cooperstown, or launch it into space never to be seen or heard from again. Absolutely Genius.

Vote here. Voting starts today and lasts for a week.

(Note: asterisks are your friends.)

Another Osirak?

2007-09-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

After a week and a half of sketchy reports and mass confusion, it seems some facts (read: speculation) re: Israel’s supposed strike on Syria are now emerging. If the rumors are to be believed, we’re looking at a brazen unilateral strike reminiscent of Osirak. It most likely will be years before the truth is known, but one thing’s certain – something, something momentous, seems to have occurred here…

Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’

Secret raid on Korean shipment

From The Sunday Times (of London)
September 16, 2007

Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv, Sarah Baxter in Washington and Michael Sheridan

IT was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15Is crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syria’s formidable air defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from the Iraqi border was under way.

At a rendezvous point on the ground, a Shaldag air force commando team was waiting to direct their laser beams at the target for the approaching jets. The team had arrived a day earlier, taking up position near a large underground depot. Soon the bunkers were in flames.

Ten days after the jets reached home, their mission was the focus of intense speculation this weekend amid claims that Israel believed it had destroyed a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea.

The Israeli government was not saying. “The security sources and IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] soldiers are demonstrating unusual courage,” said Ehud Olmert, the prime minister. “We naturally cannot always show the public our cards.”

The Syrians were also keeping mum. “I cannot reveal the details,” said Farouk al-Sharaa, the vice-president. “All I can say is the military and political echelon is looking into a series of responses as we speak. Results are forthcoming.” The official story that the target comprised weapons destined for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi’ite group, appeared to be crumbling in the face of widespread scepticism.

Andrew Semmel, a senior US State Department official, said Syria might have obtained nuclear equipment from “secret suppliers”, and added that there were a “number of foreign technicians” in the country.

Asked if they could be North Korean, he replied: “There are North Korean people there. There’s no question about that.” He said a network run by AQ Khan, the disgraced creator of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, could be involved.

But why would nuclear material be in Syria? Known to have chemical weapons, was it seeking to bolster its arsenal with something even more deadly?

Alternatively, could it be hiding equipment for North Korea, enabling Kim Jong-il to pretend to be giving up his nuclear programme in exchange for economic aid? Or was the material bound for Iran, as some authorities in America suggest?

According to Israeli sources, preparations for the attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy a nuclear device from North Korea.

The Israeli spy chief apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles.

“This was supposed to be a devastating Syrian surprise for Israel,” said an Israeli source. “We’ve known for a long time that Syria has deadly chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel can’t live with a nuclear warhead.”

An expert on the Middle East, who has spoken to Israeli participants in the raid, told yesterday’s Washington Post that the timing of the raid on September 6 appeared to be linked to the arrival three days earlier of a ship carrying North Korean material labelled as cement but suspected of concealing nuclear equipment.

The target was identified as a northern Syrian facility that purported to be an agricultural research centre on the Euphrates river. Israel had been monitoring it for some time, concerned that it was being used to extract uranium from phosphates.

According to an Israeli air force source, the Israeli satellite Ofek 7, launched in June, was diverted from Iran to Syria. It sent out high-quality images of a northeastern area every 90 minutes, making it easy for air force specialists to spot the facility.

Early in the summer Ehud Barak, the defence minister, had given the order to double Israeli forces on its Golan Heights border with Syria in anticipation of possible retaliation by Damascus in the event of air strikes.

Sergei Kirpichenko, the Russian ambassador to Syria, warned President Bashar al-Assad last month that Israel was planning an attack, but suggested the target was the Golan Heights.

Israeli military intelligence sources claim Syrian special forces moved towards the Israeli outpost of Mount Hermon on the Golan Heights. Tension rose, but nobody knew why.

At this point, Barak feared events could spiral out of control. The decision was taken to reduce the number of Israeli troops on the Golan Heights and tell Damascus the tension was over. Syria relaxed its guard shortly before the Israeli Defence Forces struck.

Only three Israeli cabinet ministers are said to have been in the know ? Olmert, Barak and Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister. America was also consulted. According to Israeli sources, American air force codes were given to the Israeli air force attaché in Washington to ensure Israel’s F15Is would not mistakenly attack their US counterparts.

Once the mission was under way, Israel imposed draconian military censorship and no news of the operation emerged until Syria complained that Israeli aircraft had violated its airspace. Syria claimed its air defences had engaged the planes, forcing them to drop fuel tanks to lighten their loads as they fled.

But intelligence sources suggested it was a highly successful Israeli raid on nuclear material supplied by North Korea.

Washington was rife with speculation last week about the precise nature of the operation. One source said the air strikes were a diversion for a daring Israeli commando raid, in which nuclear materials were intercepted en route to Iran and hauled to Israel. Others claimed they were destroyed in the attack.

There is no doubt, however, that North Korea is accused of nuclear cooperation with Syria, helped by AQ Khan’s network. John Bolton, who was undersecretary for arms control at the State Department, told the United Nations in 2004 the Pakistani nuclear scientist had “several other” customers besides Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Some of his evidence came from the CIA, which had reported to Congress that it viewed “Syrian nuclear intentions with growing concern”.

“I’ve been worried for some time about North Korea and Iran outsourcing their nuclear programmes,” Bolton said last week. Syria, he added, was a member of a “junior axis of evil”, with a well-established ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction.

The links between Syria and North Korea date back to the rule of Kim Il-sung and President Hafez al-Assad in the last century. In recent months, their sons have quietly ordered an increase in military and technical cooperation.

Foreign diplomats who follow North Korean affairs are taking note. There were reports of Syrian passengers on flights from Beijing to Pyongyang and sightings of Middle Eastern businessmen from sources who watch the trains from North Korea to China.

On August 14, Rim Kyong Man, the North Korean foreign trade minister, was in Syria to sign a protocol on “cooperation in trade and science and technology”. No details were released, but it caught Israel’s attention.

Syria possesses between 60 and 120 Scud-C missiles, which it has bought from North Korea over the past 15 years. Diplomats believe North Korean engineers have been working on extending their 300-mile range. It means they can be used in the deserts of northeastern Syria ? the area of the Israeli strike.

The triangular relationship between North Korea, Syria and Iran continues to perplex intelligence analysts. Syria served as a conduit for the transport to Iran of an estimated £50m of missile components and technology sent by sea from North Korea. The same route may be in use for nuclear equipment.

But North Korea is at a sensitive stage of negotiations to end its nuclear programme in exchange for security guarantees and aid, leading some diplomats to cast doubt on the likelihood that Kim would cross America’s “red line” forbidding the proliferation of nuclear materials.

Christopher Hill, the State Department official representing America in the talks, said on Friday he could not confirm “intelligence-type things”, but the reports underscored the need “to make sure the North Koreans get out of the nuclear business”.

By its actions, Israel showed it is not interested in waiting for diplomacy to work where nuclear weapons are at stake.

As a bonus, the Israelis proved they could penetrate the Syrian air defence system, which is stronger than the one protecting Iranian nuclear sites.

This weekend President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran sent Ali Akbar Mehrabian, his nephew, to Syria to assess the damage. The new “axis of evil” may have lost one of its spokes.

(Note: The British Observer now states that up to eight F-16s & F-15s, pictured above, were involved in the strike.)

Wishing you lots of health and happiness...

2007-09-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

The Best Ever

2007-09-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

Allow me to begin by saying that this list is completely, utterly 100% biased. It reflects nothing but my own personal prejudices, and skews heavily toward the era through which I’ve lived.

That said, inspired by my brother’s now ten-year-old list which lives on in infamy (and obsoletism), here are my Top 100 Films of All-Time:

1. Goodfellas
2. Star Wars (original trilogy)
3. Casablanca
4. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
5. L.A. Confidential
6. The Lord of the Rings (trilogy)
7. The Breakfast Club
8. American Beauty
9. Magnolia
10. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
11. The Princess Bride
12. Die Hard
13. The Usual Suspects
14. The Shining
15. The Wizard of Oz
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (trilogy)
17. Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil
18. The Anniversary Party
19. Top Gun
20. Back to the Future (trilogy)
21. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
22. Spy Game
23. Good Will Hunting
24. Stand by Me
25. Eyes Wide Shut
26. Dazed & Confused
27. Sexy Beast
28. Finding Neverland
29. 2001: A Space Odyssey
30. Goldfinger
31. Chinatown
32. Traffic
33. A.I: Artificial Intelligence
34. American History X
35. North by Northwest
36. Swingers
37. The Green Mile
38. Patton
39. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
40. Beverly Hills Cop (I & II)
41. Oliver!
42. Contact
43. Ronin
44. The Graduate
45. Alice in Wonderland (Disney)
46. The Untouchables
47. A Few Good Men
48. Ghostbusters
49. The Matrix
50. Lethal Weapon (I & II)
51. The Silence of the Lambs
52. The Godfather (I & II)
53. Spartacus
54. Amadeus
55. Terminator 2
56. Apocalypse Now
57. Casino
58. Edward Scissorhands
59. The Virgin Suicides
60. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
61. The French Connection
62. The Thin Red Line
63. Rain Man
64. Toy Story (I & II)
65. Boogie Nights
66. Goonies
67. Jerry Maguire
68. Scent of a Woman
69. Gladiator
70. Beetlejuice
71. Fargo
72. War Games
73. Memento
74. Saving Private Ryan
75. Donnie Brasco
76. Pulp Fiction
77. Dog Day Afternoon
78. What About Bob?
79. Twelve Monkeys
80. The Hunt for Red October
81. Total Recall
82. Heat
83. Manhattan
84. King Kong (2006)
85. Black Hawk Down
86. The Piano
87. A Beautiful Mind
88. Billoxi Blues
89. Mary Poppins
90. Miller's Crossing
91. Three Kings
92. Kill Bill: Vol. 2
93. Midnight Run
94. Swimming with Sharks
95. Sunshine (1999)
96. What's Eating Gilbert Grape
97. Scarface
98. Forrest Gump
99. The Insider
100. A Christmas Story

The Boys Who Love the Girls Who Love the Spotlight

2007-09-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Vanity Fair on the male hangers-on who attach themselves to the partying H’wood starlets of our day, for fun, fame and frenemy freakiness.

Kevin Federline, Pete Wentz, Steve Aoki, Benji Madden, Cisco Adler, and Joel Madden get down in Brett Ratner's basement disco. Photograph by Brett Ratner.

A Time to Serve

2007-09-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

TIME Magazine leads this week with a proposal to institute a non-compulsory, non-military, national volunteer program. The program would be multi-faceted, and would aim to attract participants both young and old through financial-based incentives.

It strikes me as a fine idea. Too often in this country, you have kids blindly shuttling from high school and AP exams to college and a major they care or know little about. We have no so-called “gap year”, as they do in many other Western countries, so our kids rarely stop and take an opportunity get out into the world, find out what they really want to do, and – most of all – think of and help someone other than themselves.

This could be a great catalyst for change. And every American would benefit.

Read the full proposal here.

A Bit of Fiction

2007-08-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Roi Sagir from Nahariya, Israel wrote this short story for an Israeli publication some two years ago, and now it’s been translated into English. I had no idea he was such a talent with the pen, but it hardly surprises me…

(warning: contains risqué material)

I, Fahed

by Roi Sagir

I’m a Jew, but I look like an Arab. Even in Israel there are places in which I look like an Arab. I have a black beard, black eyes and black hair. I don't wear a black suit, I don't wear a black skullcap or a black hat, so I cannot be considered to be a member of the "Shas" party ultra-orthodox Jewry. On the bus to Ramat Hasharon there are a number of women who see me and their makeup peels off their wrinkles from fear. I enjoy traveling to Ramat Hasharon, although I have nothing to do there. In Germany too, just like Ramat Hasharon, I'm an Arab.

This morning I took the underground train toward central Munich. Eva was also traveling on the train. She's German, with handsome features, light hair and expensive shoes. Some 900,000 people travel on Munich's underground train on a regular workday, waiting in 92 stations. The underground was built ahead of the 1972 Olympics. Eva sat in the train and read a book. She was on her way to work. She's a graphic editor in a feminist culture magazine. She has tenure and well-formed opinions.

I sat next to her. The train had already stopped in two stations. People boarded and disembarked, boarded and disembarked, with extinguished looks in their eyes and correct conduct. A regular silence, similar to the silence of yesterday and the day before yesterday. I peeked at Eva's book. The words Die Zweite Intifada were written on the top of the page.

Black Bird

I asked Eva whether the book she was reading was interesting. She examined me with her green eyes and said it was. I continued to pester her and asked for the author's name. She showed me the cover and it turned out to be a biography of Arafat. "Arafat," I said, "mmmm." She ignored my remarks, checked the author's name and said it. I asked her what she thought of Arafat. She answered that she didn't agree with everything in the book, and stretched with self-importance.

I smiled at her and scratched my black beard. I asked her what she thought about the conflict. She said that the Palestinians are miserable, that they are victims. I presented myself as Fahed, and asked whether we could meet up again sometime. She thought about it a bit. Before she got off the train we decided to meet in the evening.

I waited for her at a café on Ludwigstrasse. When she showed up, I took a chair and offered her a seat. Then I ordered us drinks. She chose a colorful drink in a large glass with a stem and shiny sticks sticking out of the orange liquid. She offered me the pineapple. I refused. She moved uncomfortably in her chair, looked around and bit her lips. Three men were sitting on the bar and most of the tables were empty, except of two. After looking at the tables in the café, she told me about her work and presented her opinions, of which she was very proud. The magazine she was working for covered exhibitions, installations and published progressive and radical editorials – so she said. Mainly, she added with her back straight and a raised finger, the works of women in developing regions.

She asked whether I objected to female circumcision. I answered that it was barbaric. And what do I think about veils? I told her that they, the women, choose themselves to wear veils. She cleared her throat.

"And family pressure!" she said decisively.

I was silent. Her green eyes stared at mine and she demanded a response with sealed lips.

I wiped my sweaty palms on my trousers and escaped her stare. Maybe she doesn't want to be the little woman tonight, I thought. I tried to guess what Fahed would have done when the manlystand encountered such resistance.

I squeezed my feet and said angrily, "family, what do you understand about the Arab family?" She flinched. "Maybe I don't understand," she said and added an apologetic giggle. "Maybe you should tell me a little about it, Fahed."

My cock quickly became hard. I sipped my beer slowly, enjoying the warmness in my lower body.

"I have five siblings," I started telling her on my great family at home. Then I was telling her on myself. "It's sometimes hard in Germany, but I'll be finished with my studies soon and I'll go back, no problem. It's better at home, but also here in Germany, it's nice here. Don’t be offended."

"No, no, I'm not offended, it's alright," she laughed. "You're cute."

I stretched my shoulders back and look around toughly. I then slightly scrunched my mouth with self importance and said, "You know, here in Germany people have a lot of money, but they don't know how to give respect. I mean, not everyone, but a lot of people. Look, people here don't look out for each other, every person is on his own. For us, the entire family is behind you, whatever you do."

Eva softened up and answered quietly, "The culture is slightly different here, Fahed, in Germany the law protects you. But I don't want to talk to you about these things now." And then she put her hand on the center of the table and asked, "Do you feel comfortable with me, Fahed?"

Continue reading I, Fahed.

This is Ridiculous

2007-08-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

Feist appeared on Letterman to sing “1234” – my favorite song from her latest album “The Reminder” – and just check out the talent who showed up to back her with “oohs” & “aahs”, and hand claps and arm-warmers:

The gaggle includes members of the Broken Social Scene (Feist is also a member of this supergroup, of course), The New Pornographers, Mates of State, The National, Grizzly Bear and Nicole Atkins. Leslie is quite the muse, it would seem.

Time Warp

2007-08-28T09:27:00.001-07:00

The NY Times takes a look at the style and fashion of Mad Men, one of my fav shows on the tele these days…

A Return to That Drop-Dead Year 1960

By RUTH LA FERLA
August 23, 2007
NY Times

“I’M from Bay Ridge. We have manners,” Peggy, the pony-tailed secretary, scolds the colleague who has just propositioned her in “Mad Men,” the new drama on the cable channel AMC. Do Peggy’s colleagues at Sterling Cooper, the turbo-powered advertising agency where she works, fall a little short in that department?

No matter. They have style.

The “girls” in the steno pool, the nakedly striving junior executives, the smooth-talking bosses and their stay-at-home wives have done their best to acquire the veneer of graceful gestures that stand in for real courtesy. Their mannerisms, and their sleek appurtenances, come with the turf: the steel-and-glass landscape of Madison Avenue in 1960, where burled wood and frosted-glass-panel interiors form a sumptuous backdrop against which the players stride about in sheaths and glen plaid suits.

Taking it all in, viewers may find themselves hooked, not just on the show’s artfully shaded characterizations and plot twists, but on its insistent attention to detail. To a style aficionado, “Mad Men” is that rare TV show in which an ashtray, a lipstick or an aerosol tin gets star treatment, and is a protagonist in its own right.

Why not? “The story is told in the details, and those details have their own life,” said Matthew Weiner, who conceived and wrote the series. Spiffed up by amber lighting, the camera lingering almost lewdly on a whiskey tumbler, a gilded compact or the polished surface of a conference table, those details reflect the growing materialism of the Eisenhower years.

Jaeger-LeCoultre watches, Delman pumps and Buick sedans are as essential to the action as a glistening smile or arched brow — projections of the characters’ idealized selves. His hair slicked with Brylcreem and flashing cuff links, Don Draper, Sterling Cooper’s brooding creative director, can imagine himself an impenetrably suave Lothario. In her scarlet-lined kimono, Midge, his mistress, can convince herself that she is a faintly louche, spirited adventuress. Floating into a party, Betty, his wife, can play the suburban princess in crinolines and pearls.

That fixation on objects, surfaces and status signifiers also holds up a mirror to the fetishistic obsessions of the present day. It would hardly seem alien to an aspiring red-carpet queen swinging an outsize Balenciaga tote, or to an ambitious young Manhattan trader girded for battle in a Hugo Boss suit.

Or, for that matter, to a fashion addict, who would surely note that the show’s aura of pulled-together formality is in step with the look of the runways, which returned this fall to mannerly 1950s-inflected tailoring.

From a modern vantage, it is easy to forget that 1960 was a watershed. An election loomed, the Pill became widely available, and there dawned a conviction, one later promoted by Andy Warhol and his ilk, that image trumps content, that style and substance may in fact be all but interchangeable.

The seeds of that notion were planted during the newly prosperous postwar years. Happiness then was not some hard-won spiritual attainment. In Don’s glib assessment, it was rather “the smell of a new car ... freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of the road that screams: ‘Whatever you’re doing, is O.K. You are O.K.’ ”

In such a climate, a presidential candidate could turn unembarrassed to an agency like Sterling Cooper to rev up his image. Who knew better than Madison Avenue’s tastemakers that putting him across was largely a matter of packaging? As Don is told by Roger, his mentor: “Consider the product: He’s young, handsome, a Navy hero.

“Honestly, it shouldn’t be too difficult to convince America that Nixon is a winner.”

Like Nixon’s infamous five o’clock shadow, a dusting of grit mars the otherwise sleek surfaces of “Mad Men.” That is by design, said Mr. Weiner, a former writer and producer of “The Sopranos.” Not a single prop is an afterthought, he said. “The metal fixture that clasps like a clothespin onto the guest towel — my grandmother had it, my mother had it,” Mr. Weiner said. “It’s actually written into the script.”

Roughly $2.5 million went into the filming of each episode. “All of that money has been funneled onto the screen,” he added, down to the conference tables coated in cigarette ash, and the homely touches bestowed on the characters — wrinkled shirts, sweat stains, ill-applied makeup — that lend the show an air of authenticity.

“The period is usually very glamorized,” Mr. Weiner said. Production teams, he pointed out, generally look to films like “The Best of Everything,” or Vogue or Architectural Digest, to ferret out examples of the crystal tumblers, towering beehives and pristine swing coats thought to typify the period.

“I told them that’s not the way it works,” Mr. Weiner said. “We are not doing a show from the perspective of the movies. We are doing a show about the people who watch those movies. Often they are imitating what they see.”

Imperfect creatures, they mix and match at home, placing a streamlined silver-tone coffee brewer in front of rustically patterned cafe curtains. Their drawers are full. So are their garbage pails.

Even their hair and accessories are not always tidy or up to date. “We looked at Vogue, but we also looked at the Sears catalog,” Mr. Weiner said. In the idealized world of a ’50s movie, Don might drive a Cadillac. In “Mad Men,” he drives a Buick LeSabre. In “The Best of Everything,” Hope Lange is coiffed to perfection, not a hair out of place. On “Mad Men,” chignons tumble, pageboys wilt.

“The secretary has to have a hairstyle that will basically degrade over five days of the week,” Mr. Weiner explained. “And each character has a closet — she will wear the same six dresses during a single season.”

At times throwaway gestures betray an infatuation with Hollywood and distinguish the characters from their modern counterparts. Women deftly roll down their stockings and shut their compacts with a definitive click; men flick at their lighters and habitually tug at their ties. As Mr. Weiner pointed out, they loosen the knots in private, but snap them back into place the moment a female enters the room.

An uptight move, it did not betoken good manners exactly. But it was good style.

The L.A. Model

2007-08-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

An interesting glimpse into the shaping of L.A. as we know it today…

We're 'Pasadena-izing'

By and large, Los Angeles is growing just the way it is supposed to.

By William Fulton
August 26, 2007
LA Times

William Fulton is the publisher of the California Planning & Development Report, the president of Solimar Research Group and a senior scholar at the School of Planning, Policy and Development at USC.

New York is not Tokyoizing. Chicago is not Shanghaizing. And Los Angeles is not Manhattanizing.

True, the density of L.A.'s population is increasing, especially downtown, in the Mid-Wilshire district and in Hollywood. But carving out a few thousand condos in old downtown buildings is hardly proof that L.A. is "Manhattanizing." If anything, the city overall is "Pasadena-izing" -- becoming more of a collection of centers around which new housing (condos and apartments) and commercial spaces are being built.

Los Angeles ran out of raw land more than 20 years ago and therefore had to move beyond the traditional suburban ideal of single-family homes on tree-lined streets. So it, along with older suburbs stretching from San Fernando to Westminster, is doing what cities have done throughout history -- building up instead of out to accommodate the housing needs of a growing population and an ever-changing set of construction and space requirements for businesses.

This isn't always pretty. But the end result is what L.A. needs to be -- a more urban city.

Some critics, however, contend that development in L.A. is more out of control than ever. The opposite is the case: New real estate development is not dispersed around the city but is largely concentrated near rail transit lines and busway stations. The resulting centers vary in size and scale: Some are like villages -- as along Ventura Boulevard throughout the San Fernando Valley -- while a few -- downtown and Century City -- are taking on Manhattan-like densities. But together they add up to a Los Angeles-style approach to urbanism, one in line with the basic concepts of L.A.'s planning policies adopted more than 30 years ago.

In the 1970s, when L.A.'s suburbs began sprouting, the city adopted, in 1974, an innovative general zoning plan that called for high-density development around 38 centers in the city, connected by transit, that would absorb most of the growing population. These centers would allow permanent preservation of the vast fields of single-family houses located between them.

The "centers concept," as it was called, was the brainchild of Calvin Hamilton, city planning director from 1964 to 1986. At a time when planning orthodoxy argued that cities had to be "mono-nuclear" -- built around one extremely dense center, like Manhattan -- L.A.'s plan was nothing less than revolutionary. Hamilton's visionary plan acknowledged that L.A. was "poly-nuclear" -- a place with many centers, of varying sizes, all of which had to be strengthened for the city to accommodate new growth.

Blueprint from the original 1970s
“Concept Los Angeles General Plan”

Over time, L.A. has become more dense. But this hasn't always happened around the centers identified in Hamilton's plan -- Westwood, Century City, Warner Center in Woodland Hills, among them. Oftentimes, developers had the political juice to build tall buildings wherever they wanted, whether their ideas followed the city plan or not, in large part because of the size of the city's 15 councilmanic districts. Each council member effectively serves as the mayor of a city with a population of close to 300,000. Running in that kind of district requires a lot of campaign money, which developers are more than happy to provide.

The growth around the Beverly Center is a good example of what developers used to get away with, general plan or no general plan. The area is not one of the city centers named in Hamilton's scheme. It wasn't targeted for a rail transit station -- and still isn't today, even in the most pie-in-the-sky long-range plans. Yet once construction of the Beverly Center began in the early 1980s, the surrounding area built up with other high-density retail and housing development

This kind of rogue development happens far less today. That's not because L.A.'s politicians have had a spine implant. Rather, it's happening because the construction of L.A.'s rail transit lines has made Hamilton's designated city centers far more attractive places to build. Indeed, in the last decade, more and more large-scale development in L.A. has occurred around rail transit -- especially the Red Line, Los Angeles' subway.

"Manhattanization" is occurring where it can -- mostly downtown and to a lesser extent in Mid-Wilshire and Hollywood -- because these locations can absorb greater density. They are transit-rich and already have a strong backbone of jobs, housing and services. This makes them more attractive to politically powerful developers.

The rest of the metropolitan constellation is densifying too, but at a much different scale. The prototype for most of this growth in Los Angeles and Orange counties is Pasadena, which has a texture of three- to five-story buildings, a fabulous mix of housing, retail, office buildings and cultural institutions, a lot of parking garages and great "walkability." The result, citywide and regionwide, is a rich urban mosaic, with a few extremely dense centers, dozens of smaller-scale downtowns, hundreds of villages and vast swaths of single-family neighborhoods that are unlikely to change.

Blonde is as Blonde Does

2007-08-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

From this weekend’s Miss Teen USA competition:

The Largesse of Largo

2007-08-24T17:02:00.003-07:00

I’m headed to the Fairfax supper club Largo tonight to see and hear up close and personal my musical hero Aimee Mann (rock the fuck on?), and here I stumble upon what seems to be a new upcoming film put together by Flanagan, the proprietor, spotlighting the slew of amazing performances that have gone on there over the years. The venue's artist caliber vs. intimacy ratio is unmatched in this city.

Tonight should be killer.

The American Left's Silly Victim Complex

2007-08-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's because the author of this piece, Matt Tiabbi (a contributing editor/columnist at Rolling Stone and author of Smells Like Dead Elephants: Dispatches from a Rotting Empire) is a member of the movement he slams, or maybe it's because Adbusters (the anti-consumerist activist publication) is the vehicle, but this scathing indictment of the current state of American “liberalism" rings especially true.

If the well-intentioned left is to realize any of its goals or greater potential, it may want to heed this call to action...

The American Left's Silly Victim Complex

by Matt Tiabbi

May 23, 2007

Adbusters

The biggest problem with modern American liberalism may be the word itself. There’s just something about the word, liberal, something about the way it sounds – it just hits the ear wrong. If it were an animal it would be something squirming and hairless, something that burrows maybe, with no eyes and too many legs. No child would bring home a wounded liberal and ask to keep it as a pet. More likely he would step on it, or maybe tie it to a bottle-rocket and shoot it over the railroad tracks.

The word has a chilling effect even on the people who basically agree with most of what it stands for. I myself cringe, involuntarily as it were, every time someone calls me a liberal in public. And I’m not the only one. When I called around for this article about the problems of American liberalism to various colleagues who inhabit the same world that I do – iconoclastic columnists and journalists who’ve had bylines in places like The Nation – they almost universally recoiled in horror from the topic, not wanting to be explicitly linked in public with the idea of the American left.

“Fuck that,” responded one, when I asked if he wanted to be quoted in this piece. “I’d rather talk about my genital warts. I’d rather show you pictures of my genital warts, as a matter of fact.”

“Ugh. Not sure I want to go there,” read one e-mail.

“I really wish I wasn’t associated with the left,” sighed a third.

When the people who are the public voice of a political class are afraid to even wear the party colors in public, that’s a bad sign, and it’s worth asking what the reasons are.

A lot of it, surely, has to do with the relentless abuse liberalism takes in the right-wing media, on Fox and afternoon radio, and amid the Townhall.com network of newspaper invective-hurlers. The same dynamic that makes the junior high school kid fear the word “fag” surely has many of us frightened of the word “liberal.” Mike Savage says liberalism is a mental disorder, Sean Hannity equates liberals with terrorists, Ann Coulter says that “liberals love America like O.J. loved Nicole.” These people have a broad, monolithic audience whose impassioned opinions are increasingly entrenched. In the pseudo-Orwellian political landscape that is modern America, to self-identify as a liberal is almost tantamount to thoughtcrime, a dangerous admission that carries with it the very real risk of instantly and permanently alienating a good half of the population, in particular most of middle America. That reason alone makes it, in a way, wrong and cowardly to abandon liberalism and liberals. If Ann Coulter wants to call all of us fags, well, then, fine, I’m a fag. For the sake of that fight, I’ll stay a liberal till the end of time. But between you and me, between all of us on that side of things, liberalism needs to be fixed.

At a time when someone should be organizing forcefully against the war in Iraq and engaging middle America on the alarming issue of big-business occupation of the Washington power process, the American left has turned into a skittish, hysterical old lady, one who defiantly insists on living in the past, is easily mesmerized by half-baked pseudo-intellectual nonsense, and quick to run from anything like real conflict or responsibility.

It shies away from hardcore economic issues but howls endlessly about anything that sounds like a free-speech controversy, shrieking about the notorious bugbears of the post-9/11 “police state” (the Patriot Act, Total Information Awareness, CARNIVORE, etc.) in a way that reveals unmistakably, to those who are paying close attention, a not-so-secret desire to be relevant and threatening enough to warrant the extralegal attention of the FBI. It sells scads of Che t-shirts ($20 at the International ANSWER online store) and has a perfected a high-handed tone of moralistic finger-wagging, but its organizational capacity is almost nil. It says a lot, but does very little.

The sad truth is that if the FBI really is following anyone on the American left, it is engaging in a huge waste of time and personnel. No matter what it claims for a self-image, in reality it’s the saddest collection of cowering, ineffectual ninnies ever assembled under one banner on God’s green earth. And its ugly little secret is that it really doesn’t mind being in the position it’s in – politically irrelevant and permanently relegated to the sidelines, tucked into its cozy little cottage industry of polysyllabic, ivory tower criticism. When you get right down to it, the American left is basically just a noisy Upper West side cocktail party for the college-graduate class.

And we all know it. The question is, when will we finally admit it?

Here’s the real problem with American liberalism: there is no such thing, not really. What we call American liberalism is really a kind of genetic mutant, a Frankenstein’s monster of incongruous parts – a fat, affluent, overeducated New York/Washington head crudely screwed onto the withering corpse of the vanishing middle-American manufacturing class. These days the Roosevelt stratum of rich East Coasters are still liberals, but the industrial middle class that the New Deal helped create is almost all gone. In 1965, manufacturing jobs still made up 53 percent of the US economy; that number was down to nine percent in 2004, and no one has stepped up to talk to the 30 million working poor who struggle to get by on low-wage, part-time jobs.

Continue reading The American Left's Silly Victim Complex.

Moore “Umbrella”

2007-08-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who fell in love with Rihanna’s “Umbrella” this summer against his will…

Beastie Boys @ the Greek Theatre, Sun 8/19

2007-08-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

I think I probably saw the Beastie Boys play live more times than any other group during my high school days. They were raw energy – not angry like Rage Against the Machine, just pure fun. But after 1994’s “Ill Communication”, they took an extended inter-album break, only to return later with a string of less-than-stellar offerings. So, at some point, I guess I just figured me and the Beasties were done for. It was good times, but alas, game over…

Fast forward a decade and then some: earlier this year I found myself with this nagging sensation that, you know, maybe this is it, my last good chance to see these old friends perform in a recognizable form. Even though I caught a quick glimpe on the tele of their honky performance at Live 8, I thought I’d give them one last shot.

All in all, it was good fun, if a bit campy. Sometimes it felt like I was watching an SNL skit lampooning the B Boys as over-the-hill rappers. Mike D, especially - he looked, sounded and moved like a complete joke out there (pic below). MCA & Ad-Rock were much better, however.

It was great to see them perform such old favs as “Sure Shot”, “Brass Monkey”, “So Whatcha Want” and my personal all-timer, “Pass the Mic”. But, surprisingly, the brightest moments seemed to be the new instrumental pieces from their most recent offering, “The Mix-Up”. Maybe they’re just tired of the old material, but only during these new songs did their performance seem truly earnest (and not a campy homage to their younger form).

The true hero of the night was actually Mix Master Mike who was a beast on the decks. I’m not exactly the biggest fan of turntablism, but man, he was astounding…providing beats, samples and the live remix treatment to most of the tunes. In fact, the entirely fresh soundscape he laid for “So Whatcha Want” may have been the highlight of the night for me.

The show was just what I expected: a less-than-inspired, but nostalgically entertaining trip down memory lane. I’m glad I saw the Boys one last time before they officially go the way of Mick Jagger.

(pics via LAist)

We're a Proud Bunch

2007-08-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

Do tell...

2007-08-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

The fine people (actually, person) at PostSecret have put together a video that illustrates what the site’s all about. It's a nice primer for the uninitiated.

Fresh secrets are posted there every Sunday.

Meltdown

2007-08-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

As the home lending market comes crashing down, you have to wonder whether someone’s to blame. Were we the victims of an overly-optimistic industry blinded by their generally healthy chase for capital, or did greed lead to fraud which led to thousands of people losing their home and savings for no good reason (not to mention the bigtime investors who took it in the rear, as well)?

The Financial Times digs deeper. I have a feeling this is a story that will be around for some time to come…

As subprime bites, US investigators look for culprits

By Brooke Masters and Saskia Scholtes
Wednesday Aug 8 2007
Financial Times

At the height of the US subprime lending boom, taking out a mortgage could not have been easier. Low credit score and history of bankruptcy? No problem. Income too low to qualify for a mortgage? Inflate what you earn on a "stated income" loan. Nervous that your lender might check up on your "stated income"? Visit www.verifyemployment.net.

For a $55 fee, the operators of this small California company will help you get a loan by employing you as an "independent contractor". They provide payslips as "proof" of income and, for an additional $25, they also man the telephones to give you a glowing reference should your lender need it.

But perhaps the most absurd aspect of the US subprime mortgage market in recent years is that lenders became so generous with credit provision for out-of-pocket borrowers that very few checks were ever made.

That left the system extraordinarily vulnerable to widespread fraud, a possibility that federal and state prosecutors across the US have begun to look into. With the subprime crisis expected to cost investors between $50bn (£24bn, €36bn) and $100bn, according to the US Federal Reserve, these investigations could transform it from a market correction to a full-blown national scandal.

At the root of the subprime problem was easy credit: lenders and their brokers were often rewarded for generating new mortgages on the basis of volume, without being directly exposed to the consequences of borrowers defaulting. During several years of strong capital markets and strong investor appetite for high-yielding securities, lenders became accustomed to easily selling the risky home loans they made to Wall Street banks. The banks in turn packaged them into securities and sold them to investors around the globe.

Such ease of mortgage funding allowed thousands of borrowers to get away with fraudulently mis-stating their incomes, often with the encouragement of their brokers. More ambitious fraudsters appear to have taken out multiple mortgages and walked away with the cash.

Karen Gelernt, a partner at law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, says: "The difficulty is getting a handle on the size of the problem, because there is no real mechanism for reporting fraud for most originators in this market. In fact, they had every incentive not to report."

Fraud has been detected up and down the financing chain: just as borrowers have lied to get better rates and larger loans, mortgage brokers and loan officers have lied to borrowers about the terms of their loans and may also have lied to the banks about the qualifications of the borrowers. Appraisers, likewise, have lied about the value of the properties involved.

"The recent rapid expansion of the subprime market was clearly accompanied by deterioration in underwriting standards and, in some cases, by abusive lending practices and outright fraud," Ben Bernanke, Fed chairman, recently told lawmakers. With mortgage rates rising and house prices falling, subprime borrowers have been defaulting at record rates.

The fallout is working its way up from the retail level – forcing people out of their homes and lenders into bankruptcy. Investment banks have lost revenue as investors back away from mortgage securities and a handful of high-profile hedge funds have collapsed – most notably two highly leveraged funds managed by Bear Stearns (NYSE:BSC) . The crisis has contributed to turmoil in financial markets in recent weeks and could threaten the health of the US economy as lenders tighten access to credit, putting a drag on consumer spending.

Continue reading As subprime bites, US investigators look for culprits.

The Process Enacted

2007-08-17T09:53:00.001-07:00

This is quite creative.

Of Posthumans and the Matrix

2007-08-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy’s Couch

By JOHN TIERNEY
August 14, 2007
NY Times

Until I talked to Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University, it never occurred to me that our universe might be somebody else’s hobby. I hadn’t imagined that the omniscient, omnipotent creator of the heavens and earth could be an advanced version of a guy who spends his weekends building model railroads or overseeing video-game worlds like the Sims.

But now it seems quite possible. In fact, if you accept a pretty reasonable assumption of Dr. Bostrom’s, it is almost a mathematical certainty that we are living in someone else’s computer simulation.

This simulation would be similar to the one in “The Matrix,” in which most humans don’t realize that their lives and their world are just illusions created in their brains while their bodies are suspended in vats of liquid. But in Dr. Bostrom’s notion of reality, you wouldn’t even have a body made of flesh. Your brain would exist only as a network of computer circuits.

You couldn’t, as in “The Matrix,” unplug your brain and escape from your vat to see the physical world. You couldn’t see through the illusion except by using the sort of logic employed by Dr. Bostrom, the director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford.

Dr. Bostrom assumes that technological advances could produce a computer with more processing power than all the brains in the world, and that advanced humans, or “posthumans,” could run “ancestor simulations” of their evolutionary history by creating virtual worlds inhabited by virtual people with fully developed virtual nervous systems.

Some computer experts have projected, based on trends in processing power, that we will have such a computer by the middle of this century, but it doesn’t matter for Dr. Bostrom’s argument whether it takes 50 years or 5 million years. If civilization survived long enough to reach that stage, and if the posthumans were to run lots of simulations for research purposes or entertainment, then the number of virtual ancestors they created would be vastly greater than the number of real ancestors.

There would be no way for any of these ancestors to know for sure whether they were virtual or real, because the sights and feelings they’d experience would be indistinguishable. But since there would be so many more virtual ancestors, any individual could figure that the odds made it nearly certain that he or she was living in a virtual world.

The math and the logic are inexorable once you assume that lots of simulations are being run. But there are a couple of alternative hypotheses, as Dr. Bostrom points out. One is that civilization never attains the technology to run simulations (perhaps because it self-destructs before reaching that stage). The other hypothesis is that posthumans decide not to run the simulations.

“This kind of posthuman might have other ways of having fun, like stimulating their pleasure centers directly,” Dr. Bostrom says. “Maybe they wouldn’t need to do simulations for scientific reasons because they’d have better methodologies for understanding their past. It’s quite possible they would have moral prohibitions against simulating people, although the fact that something is immoral doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

Dr. Bostrom doesn’t pretend to know which of these hypotheses is more likely, but he thinks none of them can be ruled out. “My gut feeling, and it’s nothing more than that,” he says, “is that there’s a 20 percent chance we’re living in a computer simulation.”

My gut feeling is that the odds are better than 20 percent, maybe better than even. I think it’s highly likely that civilization could endure to produce those supercomputers. And if owners of the computers were anything like the millions of people immersed in virtual worlds like Second Life, SimCity and World of Warcraft, they’d be running simulations just to get a chance to control history — or maybe give themselves virtual roles as Cleopatra or Napoleon.

It’s unsettling to think of the world being run by a futuristic computer geek, although we might at last dispose of that of classic theological question: How could God allow so much evil in the world? For the same reason there are plagues and earthquakes and battles in games like World of Warcraft. Peace is boring, Dude.

A more practical question is how to behave in a computer simulation. Your first impulse might be to say nothing matters anymore because nothing’s real. But just because your neural circuits are made of silicon (or whatever posthumans would use in their computers) instead of carbon doesn’t mean your feelings are any less real.

David J. Chalmers, a philosopher at the Australian National University, says Dr. Bostrom’s simulation hypothesis isn’t a cause for skepticism, but simply a different metaphysical explanation of our world. Whatever you’re touching now — a sheet of paper, a keyboard, a coffee mug — is real to you even if it’s created on a computer circuit rather than fashioned out of wood, plastic or clay.

You still have the desire to live as long as you can in this virtual world — and in any simulated afterlife that the designer of this world might bestow on you. Maybe that means following traditional moral principles, if you think the posthuman designer shares those morals and would reward you for being a good person.

Or maybe, as suggested by Robin Hanson, an economist at George Mason University, you should try to be as interesting as possible, on the theory that the designer is more likely to keep you around for the next simulation. (For more on survival strategies in a computer simulation, go to www.nytimes.com/tierneylab.)

Of course, it’s tough to guess what the designer would be like. He or she might have a body made of flesh or plastic, but the designer might also be a virtual being living inside the computer of a still more advanced form of intelligence. There could be layer upon layer of simulations until you finally reached the architect of the first simulation — the Prime Designer, let’s call him or her (or it).

Then again, maybe the Prime Designer wouldn’t allow any of his or her creations to start simulating their own worlds. Once they got smart enough to do so, they’d presumably realize, by Dr. Bostrom’s logic, that they themselves were probably simulations. Would that ruin the fun for the Prime Designer?

If simulations stop once the simulated inhabitants understand what’s going on, then I really shouldn’t be spreading Dr. Bostrom’s ideas. But if you’re still around to read this, I guess the Prime Designer is reasonably tolerant, or maybe curious to see how we react once we start figuring out the situation.

It’s also possible that there would be logistical problems in creating layer upon layer of simulations. There might not be enough computing power to continue the simulation if billions of inhabitants of a virtual world started creating their own virtual worlds with billions of inhabitants apiece.

If that’s true, it’s bad news for the futurists who think we’ll have a computer this century with the power to simulate all the inhabitants on earth. We’d start our simulation, expecting to observe a new virtual world, but instead our own world might end — not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with a message on the Prime Designer’s computer.

It might be something clunky like “Insufficient Memory to Continue Simulation.” But I like to think it would be simple and familiar: “Game Over.”

Poor Little Guys...

2007-08-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

From designer Murray Moss (via LAist).

Have Money, Will Forget Class

2007-08-02T12:47:00.001-07:00

Fine Diner to Riffraff: Tipsy Tales of 4-Star Benders

By FRANK BRUNI
August 1, 2007
NY Times

THE Bordeaux was flowing, the foie gras abundant and the well-heeled epicures at Daniel were having a refined old time when suddenly all eyes turned toward a table against one wall and all conversation ceased.

Jean-Luc Le Dû, a sommelier in the restaurant, looked in that direction, too. And he saw her: the woman making like a dancer on a pole at Scores.

She stood facing the rest of the dining room. First she took off a vest or a jacket, as best Mr. Le Dû remembers. Then she went to work on her blouse.

Just as she was getting to her bra, the maître d’hôtel got to her. Thus her drunken, wobbly stint as a stripper ended, and so did her dinner. She and her date, a smiling, sloshed man who had seemingly egged her on, were escorted to the door.

“She was not necessarily attractive or young, so it was disruptive,” complained Mr. Le Dû, who left Daniel several years ago and now owns a wine shop in Greenwich Village. “If she were beautiful, it might have been different. People might have been cheering her on.”

At Daniel? Hard to believe. But then Mr. Le Dû’s story provides a reminder that a 1985 Burgundy casts the same dark spell as a 2007 peppermint schnapps. That in a four-star temple as surely as a starless dive, some diners drink too much: way, way too much.

And that when they do, they act in all the expansive, untamed and humiliating ways you might expect, transplanted to settings in which you don’t expect them. The inebriation comes at a higher price, but it looks much the same. It looks randy. Sloppy. And — how best to put this? — sickly.

That’s one of the most striking lessons in a book about the restaurant Per Se to be published by William Morrow in the fall.

In “Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter,” Phoebe Damrosch recounts the years she spent hustling through the restaurant’s gilded corridors above Columbus Circle, and she writes that “more people throw up in the dining room of Per Se than your average college bar.”

She hadn’t exactly foreseen that, she said in a recent telephone interview. “You’d think that people would be on better behavior at a restaurant like Per Se,” she said.

“What you end up realizing,” she added, “is that people are the same everywhere.”

Others who have tended to the tipsy masters and mistresses of the universe agree.

“If anything, a large bank account enables one to forgo normal levels of decorum, because you don’t have consequences,” said Rocky Cirino, a manager at the restaurant Cru, who previously worked at Daniel. “I’m thinking of several people whose station in life has enabled them to bypass normal civility and caution.”

I should note that I am mentioned frequently in Ms. Damrosch’s memoir but that I keep my dinner down. I should also note that Per Se is by no means the only celebrated restaurant where, thanks to the torrent of spirits and the indulgence of the moment, very fine food tends not to stay put.

“Happens all the time,” said Joseph Bastianich, one of the principal owners of the Italian restaurants Del Posto, Babbo and Felidia, among others. His voice had the bored, blasé tone of someone stating the patently obvious.

It happens even outside the confines and privacy of the restrooms?

“Oh, yeah, in the dining room, all over the table, on their dinner companions,” Mr. Bastianich said. “You’ve never seen that?”

Um, no.

“Well, you go out to restaurants a lot,” he said. “Maybe you’ll run into it before you’re done. Hopefully, you won’t get splashed.”

Hopefully.

Other scenes would be more amusing to witness — like a rather famous one that transpired at the Four Seasons late one afternoon many years ago.

At the end of a long lunch three well-dressed, then undressed, women in their mid-20s decided that the marble pool in the center of the main dining room looked like a nifty spot for a dip, said Julian Niccolini, one of the restaurant’s owners.

So they took one, wearing nothing more than their panties, he said.

Asked about their motivation, Mr. Niccolini answered: “I’m not going to say the word drunk. They were very happy. They were very excited.” As well they should have been. A wealthy gentleman nearby had been buying them their drinks, which included bottles of Montrachet, Cristal and Cheval Blanc. The total bill came to more than $7,000, Mr. Niccolini said.

He said the incident, which ended when a maître d’hôtel rushed over with tablecloths to cover the women up, was one of about a dozen times over the years when happy, excited customers at the Four Seasons took happy, excited splashes in the pool. The spectacles seldom elicit protest, he said.

Neither do the annual bacchanals of one of Le Bernardin’s most loyal patrons.

Eric Ripert, Le Bernardin’s chef, said that this regular celebrated his birthday there every year, renting out a private room with an adjoining kitchen upstairs and donning chef’s whites to cook alongside Mr. Ripert. He has his first glass of his beloved Montrachet sometime between 4 and 5 p.m.

It’s never his last.

“During the course of the night he drinks maybe five or six bottles,” Mr. Ripert said, explaining that the man nonetheless manages to remain vertical because he is “probably 6-foot-5, and he’s probably 400 pounds. I mean, he’s a monster. He’s huge.”

And on his most recent birthday, after many of those bottles had been drained, he teetered downstairs in his chef’s whites, commenced a showy promenade through the main dining room and accepted compliments from the people there, who understandably took him for one of the kitchen staff.

This much he’d done before, but he broke new ground with his next trick, which was to instruct servers to bring caviar over to this table, Champagne over to that one. And Mr. Ripert said that Le Bernardin ate the cost of these haute freebies, because the tanked titan is such a good customer, and his heart is as big as the rest of him.

Besides, he wasn’t flashing or fondling anyone around him, as many an intoxicated omnivore apparently does. Chefs, sommeliers, managers and servers at New York’s finest restaurants all have their sex stories, all of which they attribute to the loss of inhibition with the advent of inebriation.

There were the man and woman at Bouley who kept the staff at the restaurant past 2 a.m. because they had locked themselves in a bathroom, where the sounds they made over the course of more than 30 minutes at least let the staff know that they hadn’t passed out.

At Cru one night several diners complained that the door to one of the two small restrooms must be broken, because it hadn’t budged in more than 15 minutes.

“We kept knocking and knocking and getting no answer,” recalled Robert Bohr, the wine director, in a telephone interview. “So we put the key in.”

And as the door opened, a young man and woman hastily gathered themselves together and just as hastily zipped back to their table. “The guy had a self-satisfied look on his face,” Mr. Bohr said. “The woman kept her eyes lowered.”

Sometimes drunken diners don’t even bother to seek a private sanctuary for their libidos.

“People are often doing things underneath the table,” said a veteran server who has worked in many of Manhattan’s premier restaurants, including Gotham Bar & Grill and Fleur de Sel. The server asked not to be named for fear of angering past or future employers.

“The darker the restaurant, the more romantic the restaurant — there’s going to be some activity,” she said.

Ms. Damrosch said that at Lever House, where she worked before Per Se, she learned, “There’s always the Janet Jackson moment, when things pop out of dresses.”

Accidentally?

“You never know,” she said.

New York may be a better theater for this sort of thing than most other big cities in this country. Restaurateurs said that diners here often drink more heavily than diners elsewhere, because they’re more likely to be taking a taxi or the subway home.

And for the same reason, servers don’t have to be as vigilant about cutting a customer off.

“I just notice that people seem freer,” said Stephen Starr, who opened Manhattan offshoots of his hit Philadelphia restaurants Morimoto and Buddakan early last year. “In Philadelphia people are very careful not to go too far. It’s a car city. I mean, we drive five blocks.”

That’s not to say Philadelphia can’t compete. According to news reports, it was there, at Le Bec-Fin, that a well-lubricated, pot-bellied patron traded taunts with foie gras protesters on the sidewalk outside by leaping up and down, which presumably caused considerable jiggling, and bellowing, “This is what foie gras did to me!”

He then went inside the restaurant, pulled down his pants, exposed himself and pressed himself against a glass door, so the protesters could see.

Getting naked, or trying to get naked, or getting partly naked, or encouraging the companion on the far side of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape to get naked: these are some of the most common effects of a goblet or snifter too many.

The others?

Belting is big. At Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, N.Y., and Picholine, chefs or managers had stories about diners who stood up, reared back, and broke into song, loudly and long enough for all the dining room to hear and all the diners in it to be transfixed.

Sleeping is popular. Karen Waltuck, one of the owners of Chanterelle, remembers that she was closing up one night and minutes away from leaving when two lingering lawyers informed her that they hadn’t seen one of their friends for hours.

Ms. Waltuck found the errant friend, but only after jimmying the lock on a restroom door. There he was, sprawled across the floor in his suit and tie.

“He’d probably been that way for an hour and a half,” she marveled. She roused him, and off he went. “I don’t remember him being embarrassed,” she said.

Mr. Bohr and Terrance Brennan, the chef at Picholine, described an elderly woman famous at top-tier restaurants around the city for her habit of dozing off during long dinners with her husband, a fanatic for Montrachet and Bordeaux.

“They’re super-old blue bloods and they drink only expensive wine and eat only in expensive restaurants,” Mr. Bohr said. “She sleeps through the intermission between each course, and then her husband wakes her up. She gets woken up to take bites.”

Mr. Bohr cast alcohol as the quintessence of a gateway drug, saying it’s usually the smashed diners who smoke marijuana in the restrooms at Cru — this has happened a half-dozen times, he said — or come back from the restrooms with a case of the sniffles and a much diminished appetite.

But sometimes the doings of the four-star drunk are less brazen, more poignant.

Workers at Jean Georges still wince at the memory of the gentle, sweet woman who made the journey from the restroom, through a vestibule, across the breadth of the adjoining restaurant Nougatine and back to her table with the entire back of her dress tucked into her pantyhose.

“The walk of shame,” recalled Lois Freedman, director of operations for Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurants.

It was nothing compared with the walk of a woozy diner elsewhere. A manager privy to the incident recounted it on condition the restaurant not be identified, because it’s a very nice restaurant.

And at this very nice restaurant, earlier this year, a regular sat at the bar — first with just one companion, then with several more — and ordered thousands of dollars worth of red wine. There was a $400 bottle of Rioja. There was a $3,500 magnum of Burgundy.

At a certain point he had to go. So he stumbled to a restroom, where he stumbled into a vase, knocking it over and shattering it. Surveying the wreckage, he apparently decided he should use a different commode. Sadly, he didn’t get to it in time.

He soon returned to his perch at the bar and to his companions, but in a more pungent condition. They had the good sense to persuade him to call it a night.

He had some good sense, too.

He didn’t set foot in the restaurant again.

Oil into Blood

2007-08-02T12:39:00.001-07:00

A teaser trailer is now out for Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming film “There Will Be Blood”, to be released in November. PT is one of my fav filmmakers of the day, his “Magnolia” probably being in my Top 10 of all-time. And now, it seems that after five years of quiet, he’s returning with a genre he hasn’t tried before: period piece.

“…Blood” is an adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel “Oil!” and stars Daniel Day Lewis (another favorite of mine) in deep make-up (pictured here). According to the studio, it is “a story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century Texas prospector in the early days of the business.” Nice.

As if the title and studio synopsis weren’t enough of a giveaway, the trailer portends the dark madness PT has in store for us:

Conflicting Interests

2007-08-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Australian singer Sia for some time now. I love her because her voice is hauntingly beautiful and she conveys emotion that can throw your heart against a wall. I hate her because just about everything else she does outside of singing reminds me of an awkward and slightly deranged six-year-old child.

Actually, that’s not entirely fair. When posted up beside her at the Bird & the Bee show a few months ago, I found her oddly entertaining and inspiring – a lost refugee of Neverland bouncing up and down in carefree glee. Then again, when she appeared on Nic Harcourt’s KCRW program in Jan. 2006, she was so nervous she resorted to unimaginably dirty and inappropriate schoolyard humor, which resulted in Nic uncharacteristically pleading with her to sing, please, but to not speak any further. (You can hear the 40 min. set – and his begging her to shut up – here.)

So, I guess it’s really no surprise that the Zero 7 contributor and purveyor of such fine solo offerings as “Breathe Me”, the song that sent off the Six Feet Under series, would release the great first single from her new LP via a video that is simply shockingly hideous and disturbing.

I present you the ever-infuriating Sia Furler with her new single “Buttons”. She should have called it “Please Listen to My Music But Don’t Look at Me”, but whatever…

Since Daft Punk is such a popular subject around here these days, I figured I’d have to post this at some point or another. Sure, he’s about as easy to hate as Barry Bonds, but once in a while, Kanye does do it right. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that he has the producing genius of Jon Brion behind him. Anyway, here’s the Hype Williams-directed vid for his new single “Stronger”, which takes the hip-hop groove and infuses in the deep flavor of robot:

Kanye West - Stronger
Uploaded by Sugarwill

Finally, my guilty pleasure of the summer. I just can’t get away from this song no matter how hard I try. The hook is sick. The beat makes me jealous. And, damn, does she know how to move it…

A Chance at Something Other than Defeat?

2007-08-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

An interesting assessment of the situation on the ground in Iraq:

A War We Just Might Win

By MICHAEL E. O’HANLON and KENNETH M. POLLACK
Op-Ed Contributor

July 30, 2007
NY Times

Michael E. O’Hanlon is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Kenneth M. Pollack is the director of research at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings.

VIEWED from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration’s critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place.

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

After the furnace-like heat, the first thing you notice when you land in Baghdad is the morale of our troops. In previous trips to Iraq we often found American troops angry and frustrated — many sensed they had the wrong strategy, were using the wrong tactics and were risking their lives in pursuit of an approach that could not work.

Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference.

Everywhere, Army and Marine units were focused on securing the Iraqi population, working with Iraqi security units, creating new political and economic arrangements at the local level and providing basic services — electricity, fuel, clean water and sanitation — to the people. Yet in each place, operations had been appropriately tailored to the specific needs of the community. As a result, civilian fatality rates are down roughly a third since the surge began — though they remain very high, underscoring how much more still needs to be done.

In Ramadi, for example, we talked with an outstanding Marine captain whose company was living in harmony in a complex with a (largely Sunni) Iraqi police company and a (largely Shiite) Iraqi Army unit. He and his men had built an Arab-style living room, where he met with the local Sunni sheiks — all formerly allies of Al Qaeda and other jihadist groups — who were now competing to secure his friendship.

In Baghdad’s Ghazaliya neighborhood, which has seen some of the worst sectarian combat, we walked a street slowly coming back to life with stores and shoppers. The Sunni residents were unhappy with the nearby police checkpoint, where Shiite officers reportedly abused them, but they seemed genuinely happy with the American soldiers and a mostly Kurdish Iraqi Army company patrolling the street. The local Sunni militia even had agreed to confine itself to its compound once the Americans and Iraqi units arrived.

We traveled to the northern cities of Tal Afar and Mosul. This is an ethnically rich area, with large numbers of Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens. American troop levels in both cities now number only in the hundreds because the Iraqis have stepped up to the plate. Reliable police officers man the checkpoints in the cities, while Iraqi Army troops cover the countryside. A local mayor told us his greatest fear was an overly rapid American departure from Iraq. All across the country, the dependability of Iraqi security forces over the long term remains a major question mark.

But for now, things look much better than before. American advisers told us that many of the corrupt and sectarian Iraqi commanders who once infested the force have been removed. The American high command assesses that more than three-quarters of the Iraqi Army battalion commanders in Baghdad are now reliable partners (at least for as long as American forces remain in Iraq).

In addition, far more Iraqi units are well integrated in terms of ethnicity and religion. The Iraqi Army’s highly effective Third Infantry Division started out as overwhelmingly Kurdish in 2005. Today, it is 45 percent Shiite, 28 percent Kurdish, and 27 percent Sunni Arab.

In the past, few Iraqi units could do more than provide a few “jundis” (soldiers) to put a thin Iraqi face on largely American operations. Today, in only a few sectors did we find American commanders complaining that their Iraqi formations were useless — something that was the rule, not the exception, on a previous trip to Iraq in late 2005.

The additional American military formations brought in as part of the surge, General Petraeus’s determination to hold areas until they are truly secure before redeploying units, and the increasing competence of the Iraqis has had another critical effect: no more whack-a-mole, with insurgents popping back up after the Americans leave.

In war, sometimes it’s important to pick the right adversary, and in Iraq we seem to have done so. A major factor in the sudden change in American fortunes has been the outpouring of popular animus against Al Qaeda and other Salafist groups, as well as (to a lesser extent) against Moktada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army.

These groups have tried to impose Shariah law, brutalized average Iraqis to keep them in line, killed important local leaders and seized young women to marry off to their loyalists. The result has been that in the last six months Iraqis have begun to turn on the extremists and turn to the Americans for security and help. The most important and best-known example of this is in Anbar Province, which in less than six months has gone from the worst part of Iraq to the best (outside the Kurdish areas). Today the Sunni sheiks there are close to crippling Al Qaeda and its Salafist allies. Just a few months ago, American marines were fighting for every yard of Ramadi; last week we strolled down its streets without body armor.

Another surprise was how well the coalition’s new Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams are working. Wherever we found a fully staffed team, we also found local Iraqi leaders and businessmen cooperating with it to revive the local economy and build new political structures. Although much more needs to be done to create jobs, a new emphasis on microloans and small-scale projects was having some success where the previous aid programs often built white elephants.

In some places where we have failed to provide the civilian manpower to fill out the reconstruction teams, the surge has still allowed the military to fashion its own advisory groups from battalion, brigade and division staffs. We talked to dozens of military officers who before the war had known little about governance or business but were now ably immersing themselves in projects to provide the average Iraqi with a decent life.

Outside Baghdad, one of the biggest factors in the progress so far has been the efforts to decentralize power to the provinces and local governments. But more must be done. For example, the Iraqi National Police, which are controlled by the Interior Ministry, remain mostly a disaster. In response, many towns and neighborhoods are standing up local police forces, which generally prove more effective, less corrupt and less sectarian. The coalition has to force the warlords in Baghdad to allow the creation of neutral security forces beyond their control.

In the end, the situation in Iraq remains grave. In particular, we still face huge hurdles on the political front. Iraqi politicians of all stripes continue to dawdle and maneuver for position against one another when major steps towards reconciliation — or at least accommodation — are needed. This cannot continue indefinitely. Otherwise, once we begin to downsize, important communities may not feel committed to the status quo, and Iraqi security forces may splinter along ethnic and religious lines.

How much longer should American troops keep fighting and dying to build a new Iraq while Iraqi leaders fail to do their part? And how much longer can we wear down our forces in this mission? These haunting questions underscore the reality that the surge cannot go on forever. But there is enough good happening on the battlefields of Iraq today that Congress should plan on sustaining the effort at least into 2008.

Getting Away...

2007-07-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

What a week and a half it’s been. I’ll try to run through it as thoroughly, yet quickly, as possible…

The evening of Friday, July 20, myself, ‘Non and our women headed back to CHK (clap) for a night of dinner, singing and dancing. It was weird but amazing to return after all these years. The place is going as strong as ever – that night, 270 campers between the ages of 12-17 sang and daven'd and danced their hearts out as I’ve never seen before. It was rocking, and it was beautiful to be a part of once again (if only for a second).

The next day my father and I embarked on a journey into another frenzy of enthusiasm: Beckham’s stateside debut. While the play on the pitch was anything but, um, pitched, it was the nuttiest of games. The whole place was one big circus, with all eyes on the pretty boy from England. It bordered on hysteria, as if he were a modern-day Beatle. If nothing else, his inclusion in the MLS will shine a much needed spotlight on the league. I'll be crossing my fingers that - as superficial as the added attention may be - it positively affects the sport. Who wouldn’t want to see world-class football here one day in the near future?

Early Sunday morning (after another great night at HOMP – thank you, Howard), Grace & I hit the road for our Summer 2007 California Adventure. We made it up to SF in time to relax, share dinner and drinks with some friends, and head over to the world-famous Fillmore for, well, one of my favorite bands of all-time: the Smashing Pumpkins! And they did not disappoint. Hitting the stage at 10, they played for three hours straight what can only be described as a monster show in the most intimate of venues. Sure, there was lots of filler – most of the new material isn’t doing it for me – but with three hours to ply their wares, they could afford to play around. They brought out not only the classics, but also some of their more obscure works…which are some of my favorites. Highlights: Hummer, Drown (from the Singles soundtrack), Tonight Tonight; Today, Starla (from the b-sides collection Pisces Iscariot, closing out the first encore), and Muzzle (closing out the show – such an unlikely closer, yet one of my absolutely fav songs). Corgan also dropped a solo acoustic version of a new song called Death from Above – it’s a bonus track on one of the many different configurations of the new album, and it was beautiful. He still knows how to rock it. As does Jimmy. And let me tell you – Ginger, the new bassist, is amazing…both on the ears and the eyes. A great new addition to the band. It’s great to have the Pumpkins back, even if they are but a shadow of their former selves.

Monday morning we hit the road and found ourselves in Napa, wine country. Our first day there, we hit up Silver Oak and the Niebaum Coppola estate. The former was a shell of its previous self apparently, having lost their property in both a flood and a fire (talk about bad luck), while the latter was majestic and beautiful. The liquid highlight of the day for me was undoubtedly the 2004 Captain's Reserve Syrah, which true to the tasting notes, had hints of blackberry and blueberry and all other sorts of exotic fruit – I’ve never tasted anything like it. That evening we had the most spectacular meal at Bistro Jeanty. Simply perfect– from the room to the service to the wine to the food. Started with a beet salad (feta, oranges) & duck foie gras pate, on to a steak pommes frites, and finally we shared a chocolate mousse crème brulee and a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and a shot Armagnac mixed in. It was heaven on earth.

A perfect meal at Bistro Jeanty

The next day we spent the morning at Domaine Chandon, and the afternoon at Beringer. Chandon, amid gorgeous grounds, had wonderful champagnes, er, sparkling wines, and great food. Etoile, their signature brut sparkling wine, was definitely the highlight here. Beringer was great, as well. Beautiful land, friendly staff, and some nice wines. Standout was the 2002 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Mmmmmm. Dinner that evening was at Mustards Grill. I’m sure it would have been great, but by the time we got there, we just couldn’t muster up the will to eat or drink any more. We poked at our food for a few, and then called it an early night. (Btw, we stayed at Vino Bello. In short: great room, bad everything else. The service was awful, and the location stank. Was fine for what it was, but I wouldn’t go back there.)

Grace doing her best Tinkerbell impersonation

Chandon

Beringer

Back on the highway on Wednesday and up through Sonoma County on our way to Mendocino. I was especially looking forward to this drive, for the winding, perilous journey through the Redwoods on Highway 128 is a memory from my childhood I have not forgotten, and it lived up to the awe-inspiring recollection. We stopped midway for some more tiny bubbles at Roederer (think: Cristal) and finally hit the remote stretch of coast mid-afternoon. Unfortunately, for the first (and only) time on our trip, the weather wasn’t cooperating – it was foggy and dark and the whole region just looked depressing. We hiked out to the headleads and stood on the bluffs overlooking the grand coast (Grace was very brave), and then headed back into town and browsed the shops. We saw some really surprisingly nice stuff, and a whole lot of junk. It’s a cute little town, but you can do it in an hour or two. Headed back to our lodging, the Brewery Gulch Inn, which was really a jewel in the rough. An eco-friendly, family-run inn, this place is rustic on the outside, and modern gorgeous on the inside. Service was top-notch, from the free happy hour of wine and Hors d'Oeuvres in the evening, and delicious breakfast in the morning. Definitely the only place to stay in town. Dinner that night was at Café Beaujolais, and it proved our second absolutely wonderful meal. Like at Jeanty (where we had a perfect, semi-secluded table next to the fireplace), here we were seated in the corner of the deck overlooking the ocean. We each had the “Pan Roasted Wild Columbia River Sturgeon Fillet served over House Made Tagliatelle w/ Truffle Emulsion Sauce, Wild Mushrooms, Beets and Snap Peas” – need I say more?

Gracious in the Mendocino headlands

Solo in the headlands

In the headlands...b'yachad

Shot back down Highway 1 the next day, stopping for lunch at Bodega Bay – good burger, scary town – and then for some perusing at Point Reyes Station, which was a cool little destination with hidden treasures in the old school shops. Finally, we were back in SF, for another night of dinner and drinking with our host Brett (thank you again, dude). Friday we did the tourist thing in The City for a bit, then grabbed our friends and headed to the other city around the bay so close to my heart, my alma mater, Berkeley. After taking down the requisite Top Dog, and some fine libations at good ole Henry’s, we cruised up to the Greek Theatre for Daft Punk. An amazing show, one that lived up to the considerable hype generated by their show at Coachella in ’06. Ran into tons of old friends – expected and unexpected alike – and basically had a ball. Just look at this sea of people – we were right in that. The smiles were endless.

The long and winding road

Gracious having some fun

Daft Punk killing it (we were down there in the pit)

Down to Monterey on Saturday to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Penguins, sea otters, and squishy slimy sea cucumbers – what more could you ask for? Spent the evening in the strangest room ever at the Pine Inn in Carmel – the floor slanted this way, while the bed went the other way, and the ceiling yet another. There wasn’t a 90-degree angle in the room. Seriously. But it was smack in the middle of Ocean Ave., the main strip in town, so you count your blessings. Nice dinner that night at The Grill, then early to bed and early to rise, walking the town, taking in the shops. Finally, we hit the road again and wound down the maddeningly long, but ever-more-beautiful central coast. It really was a sight to behold. During some stretches, I’d have to swerive off the road ever few hundred feet or so just to take in the view (and snap some pics).

Sea Otter

Sun fish

Driving down the coast

Sea lions on the beach

We finally arrived back home late Sunday night – in one piece, and glad to be home, but with many a fond memory. All in all, we drove some 1400 miles. Incidentally, we were directed by our fearless leader, the Garmin Nuvi 350 which we picked up for this trip (and for Grace’s lack of direction henceforth). Rarely, but sometimes, you find a piece of technology that exceeds your expectations – this was it. It knew what we wanted it to do before even we. Besides functioning as a nav system and an endlesslessly perfect map, it was a yellowpages…and a phone directory…and a travel guide. If we needed a restaurant of a certain type, or a store with such and such, it could recommend one. With the phone number. And directions, of course. Thank you, Nuvi - we love you.

Up in the clouds

Like my parents always say: the best part of going away is coming home. Glad we went; glad to be back. On with the summer!

Catching Up on Your Cult TV

2007-07-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

Comin-Con just took place, which means lots of geekiness was hashed over ad nauseam…to the benefit of the rest of us who wait for the few nuggets of true value to hit the mainstream. Well, here ya go…

(warning: spoilers ahead)

The writer-producers of Lost held a panel discussion on the show, during which they revealed, well, not that much. Yes, Michael will be back as a regular, but I thought we always knew that. The flash-forward technique that debuted during the finale this year will become a regular occurrence – also kinda obvious. Then they dropped this:

Now, I’ve read some commentary on this Dharma “outtake” video and a lot of people seem to be more confused after watching it than before. Well, they clearly haven’t read this. Unless I’m mistaken, this video may be the biggest spoiler ever provided by the producers. I thought the Gedanken theory was kinda bogus when I read it a couple months ago, but now it appears it may be spot-on. Man, what a twist that would be.

And speaking of twists, it looks the folks behind 24 are finally ready to stir things up. This past season was pretty much universally dismissed as the worst yet, so the time is right for something new. Looks like they got the hint.

Oh, and Tony Almeida – my ex-neighbor, seduced and betrayed by Nina Myers, hobbled by Jack, shot in the neck, charged with treason, abandoned by Michelle, blown up beside Michelle, and stabbed with a lethal dose of hyoscine-pentothal – yeah, looks like he might still be alive.

We Interrupt This Program...

2007-07-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s been an exciting month here at Conchis Living, hasn’t it? Unfortunately, things have been crazy recently and I just haven’t had the time. Now I’m off for a whirlwind California adventure, so I’ll be seeing you guys in a bit. Should have some great tales and pics when I return, though, so stay tuned.

One quick thing before I go: a new series premiered last night on AMC called Mad Men. Set in 1960 NYC, the one-hour drama examines the exhilarating and scandalous lives of high-powered advertising execs. Backed with unbridled money and influence, these guys shaped the way our nation thought. They also drank and smoked on the job…a lot. They had good wholesome American families…and bedded their secretaries. In fact, they bedded just about everyone. Sexism – and all sorts of non-politically correct norms – are explored in depth. It’s a time warp to another time and place, and a well executed one at that.

Airs Thursday nights on AMC at 7pm. I noticed that the pilot will be rebroadcast about 37 times before next week’s episode, so it’s def not too late to tune in.

Things I'm Digging

2007-06-28T18:27:00.000-07:00

Been super busy recently. Come next week, though, I should be deep into the lax days of summer…and the one year anniversary of this blog (which began during last summer’s mellow days). The music industry takes a collective breath at this time of the year, and hopefully that will free me up to chat with y’all a bit more then.

Meanwhile, here’s some goodness I’ve been into lately:

Mark Ronson’s “Version” - The young British DJ/turntablist/producer who helmed Amy Winehouse’s album, much of Lily Allen’s material, and various other acclaimed efforts, has put out an artist album of his own. “Version” is a collection of cover songs that turn the originals on their head, exploding with horn-filled, Motown-inspired, club-crazy madness. There is nary a sample in sight, as Ronson enlists a troupe of amazing musicians and vocalists to lend their talents to his reimagining of works by such varied artists as Radiohead, The Kaiser Chiefs, Britney Spears and The Smiths. It’s probably the most fun you’ll find in a disc all year. (You can find videos to a number of the singles here.)

On a wholly different musical tip, Battles is deep, dark, intellectual weirdness. Heavy guitars and drums come together with samplers and keys to do for rock what IDM did for electronic music. It’s like taking the light, jammy smartness of the Disco Biscuits, infusing it with a healthy dose of Primus’ quirkiness, and finally stirring in some heavy-hitting slam-rock from Rage or Helmet (from where the drummer hails). Oh, and then there are those mind-melting vocals run through super-tweaked processors that lend that Three Little Pigs on Acid quality. Through all the strangeness, however, there is definite musical mastery and a push to make the listener actively think and process the music. Check out the video for their first single, "Atlas", from their new full-length album “Mirrored” (note that this is an abridged version of the song – their MySpace has the full 7-min. version, which is superior, imo):

Battles is playing this coming Saturday night at the Troubadour in L.A. Tix sold out immediately, but if you have a way of magically making it happen anyway, I suggest you do so.

On the movie tip, I’m really psyched for this summer’s fare. I think it’s one of the strongest mid-year line-ups in a while. We were fortunate enough to see an early screening of Angelina Jolie’s “A Mighty Heart” a few weeks ago – I’m not a big Jolie fan, but this true pic about the murder of WSJ reporter Daniel Pearl and the ordeal through which his widow endured, is simply remarkable. The acting, directing, editing - everything is first-class. It’s extremely powerful and eerily realistic. Not easy viewing, but very worthwhile. Jolie will surely get an Oscar nod, and may even deserve to take home the award next year, that’s how believable and moving her performance was. Same holds true for her supporting cast – everyone was great. On to lighter fare, though…

Caught “Die Hard 4” – I refuse to call it by its given name: “Live Free or Die Hard” (DUMB!!!) – last night and it did not disappoint. For the fourth installment of a series that began with one of the finest action films of all-time and then meandered through two sequels of varying but lesser value, this one is pretty tight. Willis kicks ass as McClane, in spite of (because of?!) his maturing age. There were thrills and laughs to keep any franchise devotee satisfied, and the acting/directing in general was surprisingly strong. Supporting actor Justin Long (of Mac commercial notoriety) was absolutely perfect as Willis’ brainy and hesitant, but ultimately heroic sidekick – he is somehow the unlikely yet perfect amalgamation of a young Keanu Reeves and the nerdboy from National Treasure. The baddies were bad and just asking for a licking in true Die Hard fashion. And some of the stunts/sequences were simply shocking. The 3rd act pretty much fell apart as far as I'm concerned, whereas the first two were great, but all-in-all it was good super cheesy fun.

Next up: A taste of Ratatouille, then - BOOM! - Transformers, July 4 @ The Arclight Dome.

America: Fuck Yeah!

2007-06-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

The Economist's cover story today, arguing the U.S.'s continued global preeminence:

Still No.1

Jun 28th 2007
From The Economist print edition

Wounded, tetchy and less effective than it should be, America is still the power that counts

EVEN the greatest empires hurt when they lose wars. It is not surprising then that Iraq weighs so heavily on the American psyche. Most Americans want to get out as soon as possible, surge or no surge; many more wish they had never invaded the country in the first place. But for a growing number of Americans the superpower's inability to impose its will on Mesopotamia is symptomatic of a deeper malaise.

Nearly six years after September 11th, nervousness about the state of America's “hard power” is growing (see article). Iraq and Afghanistan (another far-off place where the United States, short of troops and allies, may be losing a war) have stretched the Pentagon's resources. An army designed to have 17 brigades on active deployment now has 25 in the field. Despite bringing in reservists and the National Guard, many American troops spend more than half their time on active duty; the British spend a fifth.

Other demons are jangling America's nerves. There is the emergence of China as a rival embryonic superpower, with an economy that may soon be bigger than America's (at least in terms of purchasing power); the re-emergence of a bellicose, gas-fired Russia; North Korea's defiance of Uncle Sam by going nuclear, and Iran's determination to follow suit; Europe's lack of enthusiasm for George Bush's war on terror; the Arabs' dismissal of his democratisation project; the Chávez-led resistance to Yankee capitalism in America's backyard.

Nor is it just a matter of geopolitics. American bankers are worried that other financial centres are gaining at Wall Street's expense. Nativists fret about America's inability to secure its own borders. As for soft power, Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo Bay, America's slowness to tackle climate change and its neglect of the Palestinians have all, rightly or wrongly, cost it dearly. Polls show that ever fewer foreigners trust America, and some even find China's totalitarians less dangerous.

Power to the wrong people

A sense of waning power is not just bad for the self-esteem of Americans. It is already having dangerous consequences. Inside the United States, “China-bashing” has become a defensive strategy for both the left and the right. Isolationism is also on the rise. Most Democrats already favour an America that “minds its own business”.

Outside America, the consequences could be even graver. Iran's Islamic revolutionaries and Russia's Vladimir Putin have both bet in different ways that a bruised Uncle Sam will not be able to constrain them. Meanwhile, a vicious circle of no confidence threatens the Western alliance: if Italy, for instance, concludes that a weakened America will not last the course in Afghanistan, then it will commit even fewer troops to the already undermanned NATO force there—which in turn prompts more Americans to question the project.

Yet America is being underestimated. Friends and enemies have mistaken the short-term failure of the Bush administration for deeper weakness. Neither American hard nor soft power is fading. Rather, they are not being used as well as they could be. The opportunity is greater than the threat.

It is hard to deny that America looks weaker than it did in 2000. But is that really due to a tectonic shift or to the errors of a single administration? Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld reversed the wise Rooseveltian doctrine, “Speak softly and carry a big stick”. After September 11th the White House talked up American power to an extraordinary degree. In that brief period of “shock and awe” when Americans were from Mars, their Venutian allies were lucky to get invited to the show (indeed, in Afghanistan some “old” Europeans were initially turned away). Meanwhile, Mr Bush declared a “war on terror”, rather than just on al-Qaeda, broadening the front to unmanageable dimensions (and paving the way for Guantánamo).

While the talk was loud, the stick was spindly. Defying his generals, Mr Rumsfeld sent too few troops to Iraq to pacify the country. Disbanding the Iraqi army compounded the error. Regardless of whether Iraq was ever winnable, it is hard to imagine any future American administrations making such schoolboy howlers when it comes to regime change.

America the indispensable

Yet in one way Mr Bush is unfairly maligned. Contrary to the Democratic version of history, America did not enjoy untrammelled influence abroad before he arrived. The country that won the cold war also endured several grievous reverses, notably Vietnam (where 58,000 Americans were killed—16 times the figure for Iraq). Iran has been defying America since Jimmy Carter's presidency, and North Korea for a generation before that. As for soft power, France has been complaining about Coca-Cola and Hollywood for nearly a century.

From this perspective of relative rather than absolute supremacy, a superpower's strength lies as much in what it can prevent from happening as in what it can achieve. Even today, America's “negative power” is considerable. Very little of any note can happen without at least its acquiescence. Iran and North Korea can defy the Great Satan, but only America can offer the recognition the proliferating regimes crave. In all sorts of areas—be it the fight against global warming or the quest for an Arab-Israeli peace—America is quite simply indispensable.

That is because America still has the most hard power. Its volunteer army is indeed stretched: it could not fight another small war of choice. But it can still muster 1.5m people under arms and a defence budget almost as big as the whole of the rest of the world's. And it could call on so much more: in relation to the country's size, its defence budget and army are quite small by historical standards. Better diplomacy would enhance its power. One irony of the “war on terror” is that Mr Bush's hyperventilation worked against him in terms of getting boots on the ground: neither his own countrymen nor his allies were sure enough that they were really under threat. (And why should they be? An American-led West spent four decades tussling with a nuclear-armed empire that stretched from Berlin to Vladivostok; al-Qaeda is still small beer.)

The surveys that show America's soft power to be less respected than it used to be also show the continuing universal appeal of its values—especially freedom and openness. Even the immigrants and foreign goods that so worry some Americans are tributes to that appeal (by contrast, the last empire to build a wall on its border, the Soviet one, was trying to keep its subjects in). Nor is it an accident that anti-Americanism has fed off those instances, such as Guantánamo Bay, where America has seemed most un-American. This is the multiplier effect that Mr Bush missed: win the battle for hearts and minds and you do not need as much hard power to get your way.

That lesson is worth bearing in mind when it comes to the challenge of China. China is likely to be more and more in America's face, whether buying American firms, winning Olympic gold or blasting missiles into space. Merely by growing, China is disrupting the politics of the Pacific. But that does not mean that it is automatically on track to overtake America. Its politics are fragile (see article) and America's lead is immense. Moreover, economics is not a zero-sum game: so far, a bigger China has helped to enrich America. An America that stays open to China—an America that sticks to American values—is much more likely to help fashion the China it wants.

If America were a stock, it would be a “buy”: an undervalued market leader, in need of new management. But that points to its last great strength. More than any rival, America corrects itself. Under pressure from voters, Mr Bush has already rediscovered some of the charms of multilateralism; he is talking about climate change; a Middle East peace initiative is possible. Next year's presidential election offers a chance for renewal. Such corrections are not automatic: something (a misadventure in Iran?) may yet compound the misery of Iraq in the same way Watergate followed Vietnam. But America recovered from the 1970s. It will bounce back stronger again.

Blair Reflects

2007-06-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

Tony Blair’s on his way out, and he leaves us with this gem. The Economist asked him to put together a piece outlining the lessons learned during his tenure. The first half deals with general foreign policy issues – i.e. worldview - and the second reflects on domestic British concerns. I’ve chopped the latter, but you can read the foreign policy portion below:

What I've learned

From The Economist print edition
May 31st 2007

Tony Blair reflects on the lessons of his decade as Britain's prime minister

TEN years ago, if you had told me I would spend a significant part of my premiership on foreign policy, I would have been surprised, a little shocked and probably, politically, somewhat alarmed. Even today, we all run for office concentrating on domestic issues. “Foreign” policy rarely wins votes, and can easily lose them. Yet nowadays the reality is increasingly that we are obliged as leaders to think, work and act internationally.

Over ten years I have watched this grow. (If you had told me a decade ago that I would be tackling terrorism, I would have readily understood, but thought you meant Irish Republican terrorism.) The line between “foreign” and “domestic” policy is being blurred. Climate change is a big issue in developed nations' politics today. It can be beaten only by global action. What happens today in Pakistan matters on the streets of Britain. Mass migration can only partially be managed by individual nations' internal policies. Economies are shaped by forces of globalisation.
On top of this, the world order is changing. The political power of China is emerging as its economic power grows. India will be formidable. Japan is putting its past behind it. Russia is becoming more assertive by the day.

In this age, foreign policy is not an interesting distraction from the hard slog of domestic reform. It is the element that describes a nation's face to the world at large, forms the perceptions of others to it and, in part, its perception of itself.

We all talk of interdependence being the defining characteristic of the modern world. But often we fail to see the fundamental implications of such a statement. It means we have a clear self-interest as a nation in what happens the world over. And because mass media and communication convey powerful images in an instant across the globe, it dictates that struggles are fought as much through propaganda, ideas and values as through conventional means, military or diplomatic.

My reflections, based on this analysis, are these:

1. Be a player not a spectator

Over the past ten years, Britain has been in the thick of it. There is no international debate of importance in which we are not as fully engaged as we can be.

We have attempted to construct the broadest possible agenda that is capable of unifying the international community and is, overtly, values-based. That is why action on poverty in Africa, a good outcome to the world trade talks and agreement on climate change all matter beyond the obvious importance of each individual issue. They are indicative of an attitude, of responsibility to others, an acceptance that international politics should not be simply a game of interests but also of beliefs, things we stand for and fight for.

It is also why we should be prepared to intervene, if necessary militarily, to prevent genocide, oppression, the deep injustice too often inflicted on the vulnerable. Britain, in the past decade, has intervened four times: in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq. In each case, regimes of appalling brutality were removed.

Earlier this week I visited the people of Sierra Leone, still struggling, but at least able to contemplate a better future. But as important is the next-door state of Liberia, now properly democratic. It might never have been so had Sierra Leone fallen into the hands of the gangsters. Similarly, as a result of Kosovo, the Balkans changed. Countries there can think of a future in the European Union.

So when we come to Darfur, do we really believe that if we do not act to change this situation, the violence will stop at the borders of Sudan? In the early 1990s we could not summon the will to act in Bosnia. It took 250,000 lives lost before we realised we had no option.

It is said that by removing Saddam or the Taliban—regimes that were authoritarian but also kept a form of order—the plight of Iraqis and Afghans has worsened and terrorism has been allowed to grow. This is a seductive but dangerous argument. Work out what it really means. It means that because these reactionary and evil forces will fight hard, through terrorism, to prevent those countries and their people getting on their feet after the dictatorships are removed, we should leave the people under the dictatorship. It means our will to fight for what we believe in is measured by our enemy's will to fight us, but in inverse proportion. That is not a basis on which you ever win anything.

However, the critical point is that we, Britain, should be closely involved in all these issues because in the end they will affect our own future. And the agenda constructed should be about our values—freedom, democracy, responsibility to others, but also justice and fairness.

2. Transatlantic co-operation is still vital

I have real concern that on both sides of the Atlantic there is, in certain quarters, an indifference, even a hostility, to an alliance that is every bit as fundamental to our future as it has been to our past. By this I don't just mean the rampant anti-Americanism on parts of the left. In a sense, that is relatively easy to counter.

It is more a drifting away, occasionally a resurgent isolationism that crosses right and left. In Britain now there are parts of the media and politics that are both Eurosceptic and wanting “an independent foreign policy” from America. Quite where Britain is supposed to get its alliances from bewilders me. There is talk of Britain having a new strategic relationship with China and India bypassing our traditional European and American links. Get real. Of course we will have our own relationship with both countries. But we are infinitely more influential with them if we have two strong alliances behind us.

In Europe we wonder: is it worth it to continue such reliance on America? We would be better asking whether the political leaders in America still see Europe as their first port of call.

For all our differences, we should be very clear. Europe and America share the same values. We should stick together. That requires a strong transatlantic alliance. It also means a strong, effective and capable EU. A weak Europe is a poor ally. That is why we need closer co-operation between the nations of the EU and effective European institutions. In a world in which China and India will each have a population three times that of the EU, anything else is completely out of date.

3. Be very clear about global terrorism

I fear the world, and especially a large part of Western opinion, has become dangerously misguided about this threat. If there was any mistake made in the aftermath of September 11th, it was not to realise that the roots of this terrorism were deep and pervasive. Removing the Taliban from government seemed relatively easy. Removing their ideology is so much harder. It has been growing for over a generation. It is based on genuine belief, the believers being people determined to outlast us, to be indefatigable when we are weary: to be strong-willed and single-minded when we have so many other things to preoccupy us (and when the comforts of our Western lives seem so untouchable by the activities of what are naturally seen as a few fanatics).
People make much of the fact that in each area of conflict, the extremists take a different shape. They point to the historical absurdity of, for example, Iranian elements linking up to the Taliban. Above all, they say, their weapons, numbers and support are puny compared with ours.

This misses the central point. Revolutionary communism took many forms. It chose unlikely bedfellows. But we still spent decades confronting it.

This new terrorism has an ideology. It is based on an utter perversion of the proper faith of Islam. But it plays to a sense of victimhood and grievance in the Muslim world. Many disagree with its methods. But too many share some of its sentiments. Its world view is completely reactionary. But its understanding of terrorism and its power in an era of globalisation is arrestingly sophisticated and strategic.

It means that it can go into any situation where peace is fragile or conflict possible. It can, by the simple use of terror, break the peace and provoke the conflict. It has worked out that in an age of mass media, instantly relayed round the world, impact counts: and nothing makes more impact than the carnage of the innocent. It has learned that as states respond to terror so they can, unwittingly, feed it.

In the Middle East right now, it stops progress in Iraq. It defies the attempts at peace between Israel and Palestine. It is making Lebanese democracy teeter on the brink. That is significant in itself. But far more significant is the way in which the terrorists have successfully warped our sense of what is happening and why. They have made us blame ourselves.

We can debate and re-debate the rights or wrongs of removing Saddam. But the reality is that if you took al-Qaeda (in Iraq before Saddam's fall) out of the conflict in or around Baghdad, without the car bombs aimed at civilians and the destruction of monuments like the Samarra Shrine, it would be possible to calm the situation. Events in Anbar Province, where slowly but surely Sunni opinion is turning on al-Qaeda, show it. And down in Basra, what is poisoning the city is the violence and criminality of Jaish-al Mahdi and other groups—supported, financed and armed by elements of the Iranian regime. Remove al-Qaeda, remove the malign Iranian activity, and the situation would be changed, even transformed.

The truth is that the conflict in Iraq has mutated into something directly fuelled by the same elements that confront us everywhere. Yet a large, probably the larger, part of Western opinion would prefer us to withdraw. That is the extraordinary dulling of our senses that the terrorism has achieved. In the Palestinian question who gets the blame for lack of progress? The West. In Lebanon—a crisis deliberately provoked by, again, the same forces—who is held responsible? Israel.

In Afghanistan it is clear that the Taliban is receiving support, including arms from, again, elements of the Iranian regime. They have learned from elsewhere. They believe if they inflict enough chaos, enough casualties of Western soldiers, we will lose the will. It will become another “mess”. And if it does, the problem will be laid at the door of the Afghan government and its Western allies.

In the past few weeks alone we have seen terrorist bombs in Morocco, Algeria, Pakistan, India, and arrests in Saudi Arabia. Not a single major European nation is immune. In Africa, Sudan, Somalia, even in places like Nigeria where Muslims and Christians live together, terrorism is active.

There is no alternative to fighting this menace wherever it rears its head. There are no demands that are remotely negotiable. It has to be beaten. Period.

4. We must stand up for our values

We will not succeed simply by military or security means. It is a political challenge. Terrorism recruits adherents on the basis of an appeal to human emotion. It can be countered only by a better, more profound, well-articulated counter-appeal.

But this won't happen unless we stand up for our own values, are proud of them and advocate them with conviction. There is nothing more ridiculous than the attempt to portray “democracy” or “freedom” as somehow “Western” concepts which, mistakenly, we try to apply to nations or peoples to whom they are alien. There may well be governments to whom they are alien. But not peoples. Whoever voted to get rid of democracy? Or preferred secret police to freedom of speech?

These values are universal. We should attack the ideology of the extremists with confidence: their reactionary view of the state; their refusal to let people prosper in peace; their utterly regressive views on women. We should condemn not just their barbaric methods of terrorism, but in particular attack their presumed sense of grievance against the West. We need to support and help mobilise moderate and true Islam in doing so. There is nothing more absurd than the idea that removing the Taliban in Afghanistan, or Saddam and his sons in Iraq, and replacing their regimes with the chance to vote, supervised by the UN, is somehow an assault on Muslims. We should point out that those killing Muslims by terror are actually other Muslims and that doing so is completely contrary to the teachings of the Koran.

But, and it is a mighty but, such an approach only counts if it is applied vigorously and in a manner that is even-handed. Here is where I have always felt that the normal politics of left and right are a hindrance. The trouble is that the right is correct on the need to stand firm militarily and in support of freedom; and the left is correct on the need for justice.

The assault on the ideas behind terrorism won't work unless it is seen to be motivated and stirred by a commitment to justice. That is why trying to resolve the Israel-Palestine dispute is so important—not only for its own sake, but because the absence of peace causes suffering that is exploited by this extremism. Ask yourself why parts of the Iranian regime try so hard to prevent a settlement; and then understand why it is crucial to settle it.

We are faced with a challenge derived from a world view. We need our own world view, no less comprehensive but based on the decent values we believe in.

5. It's about tomorrow's agenda too

The importance of such an agenda is that it allows us also to shape the common value system of a world in which, very soon, the new powers and interests will have the strength to influence greatly the path the world takes. So such an approach is a bulwark against extremism but it is also a civilising force in a future in which Western economic and political weight will be less than hitherto. We need a sufficiently strong basis, founded in a clear and even-handed commitment to our values, for the world as it changes to adopt these values, universal as they are, to guide us.

The World Through Our Eyes

2007-06-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

A company recently acquired by Microsoft has developed an application called Photosynth that renders 2-dimensional photographs and creates 3-D images. Think you've heard it before? Trust me, watch this video...the whole thing.

Just think of it - you could scour the planet and view anything anywhere in three dimensions through the eyes of others who have been there before.

Collective observation and experience without traveling.

Absolutely revolutionary.

Try it for yourself.

The Flame of Plassion

2007-05-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

Wow. The Arcade Fire at the Greek last night simply killed it. After two very disappointing shows this year – TV on the Radio at the Fonda in March, and the utter trainwreck that was this past weekend’s “Pravda” at Disney’s Concert Hall – I was starting to fear that this concert season was cursed. Leave it to those wacky Canadians to come to our rescue.

Much in the same way Toronto's Broken Social Scene astounded me two years ago with one of the finest live performances I’ve ever witnessed, Montreal's Arcade Fire came out last night with a mission: draw the audience into a participatory collective euphoria. Give it your all onstage, and the crowd will reciprocate in kind. The guy behind me put it best: “What a bunch of champions!” And they were.

The ten-member, multi-instrumentalist ensemble exhibited a passion rarely seen. The horn players, the violinists, the multiple vocalists, guitarists, organ player, people on percussion, people playing instruments I’ve never even heard of! – they were simply all on fire. They ran around and sang their hearts out and caused a pandemonium that spilled out into the crowd. It was like being at a tent revival (ironic - or not! - given the group’s loud anti-religious themes) where everyone arrives together in a communal rapture. And how rare that can be in L.A.

Click for video of the madness.

Stroking My Sci-Fi Itch

2007-05-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

Gave the geek thing a good shot this weekend by attending Star Wars Celebration IV at the Convention Center. I thought it would be a total crack-up for a mega SW-head like me, but I guess I’m not as big a geek as I’d suspected: I found myself utterly bored with the exhibits and costumed masses. Lots and lots of 40-year-old virgins hawking their unopened 30-year-old toys. Yawn.

To my surprise, though, the one interesting aspect of the show was the collection of artisans selling their creative interpretations of the series. I bought the following limited edition, artist-signed lithograph – its cheekiness did succeed in cracking me up:

In other sci-fi-related news, The Strokes strangely enough have a new video for the opening song from their wonderful 2006 album, “First Impressions”. I have no idea what the space theme has to do with The Strokes or this song, “You Only Live Once”, but it’s exceedingly amazing in terms of CGI execution, and it’s evocative (to say the least) of the Kubrick classic “2001”, which makes it’s an instant classic in my book. Take a peek:

Music Notes

2007-05-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

- The Smashing Pumpkins have announced two Stateside "residencies" - one on the east coast, and one out here in the west. After playing 9 nights in June/July in Asheville, NC (an amazing, artsy town snug in the mountains, I might add), Billy and his shiny dome are slated to play no less than 8 consecutive shows at SF’s famed Fillmore auditorium. The dates are from July 22 through August 1. Just so happens I’ll be up there that week for the Daft Punk/Rapture show. Thank you, Billy. Tix go onsale this Sunday.

SP's comeback album, Zeitgeist, doesn’t come out ‘til July, but the first sampling has finally emerged. Click here for a 30 sec. clip of the song “Tarantula”. If you ask me, it could be a lot worse.

- The Go! Team is back. It’s been three years since their quirky, cheer-squad-on-fizzy-lifting-drinks debut. Dropping their sophomore effort also in July, G!T has revealed a new song, and I’m liking what I hear. It’s a bit more mature and deep than the first go-around, but with the same uncheckable energy. Check it.

- I posted recently on my general boredom with this year’s crop of new releases, but one new album that has steadily grown on me is Blonde Redhead’s 23. From afar, the dreamy, psychedelic soundscape of this record seems a tangle, but each time I listen to it new colors and emotions reveal themselves…and they are glorious. All Music says: “23 is stunning…mysterious and modern, with an artfully strange beauty that is more memorable than perfection.” I couldn’t agree more. Have a listen.

Stellar Haps

2007-05-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

Another remarkable discovery from the astronomers, and this time, one of the most breathtaking celestial images I think I’ve ever seen. What you’re looking at above is the most powerful supernova ever detected by man (by far!):

"Of all exploding stars ever observed, this was the king," said Alex Filippenko, leader of the ground-based observations at the Lick Observatory at Mt. Hamilton, Calif., and the Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

Filippenko was my professor at Berkeley. While a freshman in his Introduction to Astronomy course, I had the immense fortune to win an annual competition he held and to accompany him on a night of research to Lick, the observatory mentioned above.

We drove up together; shared a casual dinner with Marcy & Butler (the esteemed Cal duo who were the first to discover an extra-solar planet, and who went on to discover gads more than anyone else); toured his new toy, a intelligent telescope/computer that scans the sky itself looking for supernovae; played with a jug of liquid nitrogen and a poor little orange (which went the way of the T1000); discussed his recent consultation with Spielberg’s people who were conducting research for what would become the film “Deep Impact”; and, finally, spent the deep night hours analyzing the spectrographic readings from a recently discovered GRB.

That night, it was the fleeting GRB that turned Filippenko into a little kid, bursting with excitement. But, in general, he’s a man who’s devoted much of his life and passions to supernovae. You see, Filippenko is primarily concerned with topology, the mind-bending study of the universe’s shape. A large part of that study involves mapping cosmological distances and measuring the expansion/contraction of the voids that create those distances. And a key way to do that is to use some of the brightest spots in the sky – supernovae – as distance markers in the heavens. Once these powerful objects are pinpointed, they can be evaluated for their redshift. The brighter the marker, the better to map the universe and to trace its shape and future – i.e. whether it will continue to expand indefinitely, come to rest in equilibrium, or collapse back upon itself until...(Big) Bang!. Hence, one reason to get enthused about this latest, most magnificent bursting star.

Another reason is the unique process which led to this stars’ demise. It turns out the star was so massive - 150 times more so than our own sun - that supernova mechanics, as we’ve come to know them, don’t seem to apply here:

Supernovas usually occur when massive stars exhaust their fuel and collapse under their own gravity. In the case of SN 2006gy, astronomers think that a very different effect may have triggered the explosion. Under some conditions, the core of a massive star produces so much gamma ray radiation that some of the energy from the radiation converts into particle and anti-particle pairs [electrons & positrons – Star Trek anyone?]. The resulting drop in energy causes the star to collapse under its own huge gravity.

After this violent collapse, runaway thermonuclear reactions ensue and the star explodes, spewing the remains into space. The SN 2006gy data suggest that spectacular supernovas from the first stars - rather than completely collapsing to a black hole as theorized - may be more common than previously believed.

"In terms of the effect on the early universe, there's a huge difference between these two possibilities," said Smith. "One pollutes the galaxy with large quantities of newly made elements and the other locks them up forever in a black hole."

It turns out there is another star out there, similar in size and behavior to SN 2006gy, that is much closer and could be primed for its own fireworks display. Since it’s only 7,500 light years away – rather than the 240 million lights year that separate us from SN 2006gy – it would put on one hell of a show. According to astronomers, this other star, known as Eta Carinae, would be so bright if it went supernova it would be readily visible during the daytime, and you could read a book by its light at night! They also stress that Eta Carinae is far enough away to not cause any harm to Earth. Now that’s one show I’d like to see.

Epic Brilliance

2007-04-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

Great news from Hollywood this morning: after several years of pre-production and intense speculation, HBO has finally greenlit the sequel to “Band of Brothers”, the stunning 2001 mini-series from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks which chronicled the legendary exploits of the 101st Airbourne’s Easy Company in Europe during WWII.

This follow-up effort is entitled “The Pacific” and will feature the “intertwined odysseys of three [real-life] U.S. Marines—Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge—from the first clash with the Japanese in the jungles of Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester, across the coral strongholds of Peleliu, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields of Okinawa, to the return home after V-J Day.”

The epic 10-hour mini-series is based on the book “With the Old Breed” by Eugene Sledge, as well as original interviews conducted by the filmmakers and Hugh Ambrose, who is continuing the World War II oral history work begun by his father Stephen E. Ambrose, the author of the book “Band of Brothers” (and consultant to the first BoB).

Expected release is 2009. I cannot wait.

Whenever I think of the Pacific fighting during WWII, I'm reminded of Norman Mailer’s “The Naked and the Dead” (although Terence Mallick’s masterful film adaptation of “The Thin Red Line”, which tells the story of the Guadalcanal, is a close second).

Mailer, who participated in the fighting in the South Pacific, published “The Naked and the Dead” in ’48. It was the first novel about WWII written by a returning soldier. It was also his first novel, period. Considering his age at the time (25) and the book’s scope, the accomplishment is astounding. It truly is a tour de force.

At over 800 pages, the novel does not focus on a single protagonist, but rather follows and puts you inside the minds of soldiers from all ranks and walks of life. One moment you are the lowliest, shit-scared private. Next you’re the tough-as-nails, bully sergeant. Then the green but determined and courageous (yet foolhardy?) lieutenant. On and up to bumbling colonels and brilliant generals. What’s so incredible about this book is how Mailer understands these different psyches and places you right in the middle of them.

Another interesting thing about “N&D” is the influence it had – and continues to have – on the American war-telling narrative in the latter half of the 20th century, and onwards. I’ve surely seen more war films than I’ve read such books, but I am absolutely positive that most, if not all, great war films in the last 50 years borrowed devices from Mailer’s work. Whether it be thematic focus or metaphorical conceit, Mailer crafted a modern language through which to depict war, and that language continues to thrive today.

Incidentally, I am slated to see Mailer – one of my true literary heroes – speak in about a month. The final guest in our Speaker Series was to be Kurt Vonnegut, but sadly, he recently and suddenly passed. The night was given to Mailer and his son, author and playwright John Buffalo Mailer, instead. I can’t say I’m not thrilled.

I’ve actually had the good fortune to see him speak once before. It was the late ‘90s in San Francisco and I’d just read “The Armies of the Night”. He was as blusterous and fascinating as you’d imagine, telling one audience member that she was an “idiot” for the question she asked (and he was right).

Single night tix are still available if you’re interested. It’s sure to be a raucous affair.

Celestial Wonder

2007-04-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

Couple of interesting pieces re: the heavens recently.

First, there is the pic above of the Carina Nebula. This super detailed image covers a region some 50 light years across, and depicts a number of stars undergoing violent processes of “birth and death”. The shot is a composite of 48 Hubble pics taken in 2005.

This article has more info, including the tidbit that Hubble has now been in operation for 17 years. Amazing! I can’t believe it’s been that long, and also that the instrument has continued to function so well all this time (aside from the first dramatic hiccups early in its days).

The second bit in the news recently was the discovery of a particularly Earth-like planet. It’s in what astronomers call the “habitable zone”, the orbit around a star in which temps are comparable to what we have here on our planet. It’s an intriguing discovery for sure. TIME Magazine puts the find into context:

Life on the New Planet?

By JEFFREY KLUGER

Wednesday, Apr. 25, 2007

Debating whether suns other than our own have planets has always been like debating whether cats other than your own have kittens. The answer is self-evidently yes.

All stars form more or less the same way after all — coalescing out of the same celestial gas and often leaving a dusting of the stuff behind that can, in turn, coalesce into planets. All stars can additionally snag passing bodies in their gravitational lasso, conscripting new worlds to add to the home-grown litter. So it was no surprise in the early 1990s when astronomers began detecting these so-called extrasolar planets circling distant suns, and it's no surprise that in the years since they've spotted more than 220 of them. But the latest one added to the list is by far the best.

On Tuesday, a team of European astronomers announced that they had not only found a new planet circling a comparatively nearby star in the constellation Libra, but that that planet is unexpectedly Earth-like. Like Earth, it orbits a comfortable distance from its sun; like Earth, it maintains a surface temperature somewhere between 32 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Most importantly, like Earth, it could easily harbor surface water. In the biological arithmetic we know best, warmth and water often equal life.

For all its terrestrial feel, the new planet — unpoetically dubbed Gliese 581c — has a decidedly extraterrestrial look. It is probably more than 1.5 times the diameter of Earth and five times heavier. But unlike our world, which orbits a comfortable 92.9 million miles from the flames of the sun, 581c hovers just 7 million miles from its home star. What prevents it from being incinerated like a match head is that its star is a red dwarf, only about one one-hundredth as bright as the sun. The dim light coupled with the planet's close proximity places it in what astronomers call the habitable zone: the spot at which temperatures remain comfortable and water can remain liquid. All this has led to a fair amount of astronomical hyperventilating. "On the treasure map of the universe, one would be tempted to mark this planet with an X," said Xavier Delfosse, an astronomer with Grenoble University in France and one of the planet's co-discoverers. Dmitri Sasselov of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, went further, enthusing to The New York Times, "It's 20 light-years [away]. We can go there." (Sasselov did not make it clear just how we'd make that 120 trillion mile trip when it still takes us eight months to cover the 35 million miles to Mars.)

Even if we could visit 581c, there would be reasons to wait a bit before we light the rockets. For one thing, just because the planet could have liquid water doesn't mean it does. The body was detected like all extrasolar planets initially are, not by direct observation, but by measuring the infinitesimal gravitational wobble it causes in its home star. We won't get a clearer sense of its makeup until its orbit carries it in front of the star and the brief interference in the wavelength and intensity of the incoming light allows us to make some inferences about its composition. This will also tell us if the planet has an atmosphere and if it is thin and wispy like Mars's or suffocatingly dense like Venus's — neither of which promises good things for the kind of life we're most familiar with.

What's more, there are plenty of far more promising places to hunt for life closer to home. Sunlight is not the only kind of energy that can fire the biological furnaces; so can subsurface heat. Jupiter's icy moon Europa is thought to have a rich, salty, globe-girdling ocean sloshing just beneath its surface rind of water ice. Very little solar light reaches so far into space, and even less makes it down to the dark ocean inside Europa. But the gravitational flexing of the little world caused by the movement of Jupiter's other moons heats up its innards the same way a wire hanger heats up when you bend it back and forth. This is what keeps Europa's ocean liquid, and this could could also help spark life.

Mars too could be home to similarly hearty subsurface life forms, as could two of Jupiter's other moons, Ganymede and Callisto. If the discovery here on Earth of tough little organisms living miles below ground, frozen in polar ice and hanging on in the broiling waters of deep-sea vents indicates anything, it's that biology emerges in very improbable places. The most remarkable thing we may come to conclude about 581c is that whatever secrets it holds may not be that remarkable at all.

Music of the Moment

2007-04-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

I haven’t posted much about new music lately, and that’s mainly because I haven’t been much inspired by what’s out there at the moment. This year has certainly gotten off to a slow start.

Yeah, The Shins’ album is pretty great, but it leaked last year. Same with Lily Allen, who hit it big via the UK (and MySpace) far before her official U.S. release. Arcade Fire’s much-anticipated album is okay, but nothing special. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah dropped a sophomore bomb. As did The Kaiser Chiefs. And Air’s latest is a huge letdown – definitely their worst LP to date.

One album I have been digging is the self-titled debut by The Bird and the Bee. I’ve been playing it a bunch for the last month or two and really enjoying it, but last night I had the good fortune to see them play live for the first time, and now I’m completely, madly, adoringly obsessed.

Comprised of L.A.’s Inara George and Greg Kurstin, the duo call their sound “psychedelic jazz”, although it’s more like lackadaisical space pop. And it kills.

George’s vocals are sometimes ironic and tongue in check, sometimes utterly earnest and naked. Her soothing voice has a way of inducing a trance-like state of empathy. Kurstin is a multi-instrumentalist who mainly crafts lush – yet, at times, spooky – soundscapes, largely with Wurlitzers and the like. Together, they write exceedingly catchy sugar pop melodies, enveloped in kitschy and warm shag carpet for the ears.

I expected to somewhat enjoy seeing them live, but I was not ready for what I witnessed last night. My fear was that their mellow stylings – their music is ideal for breezy springtime listening while sprawled in a hammock – would not translate to the stage. I feared I might find a couple of slightly over-the-hill, pretentious hipsters sliding through their music whilst peering down their noses at their audience. I couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

The pair were exceedingly warm and open and enthusiastic, and put on a fantastic show. Backed by a drummer, guitarist and three back-up singers, The Bird and the Bee is one big ball of fun. And that smile! Inara shows her teeth and next thing you know you’re gallivanting with her on a Moon bounce.

Do yourself a favor and grab the album. Next, check out this live set recorded a couple weeks ago in D.C. when they opened for Lily Allen (B&B's Kurstin co-wrote a number of songs on her hit album). Finally, meet me May 4th at The Echo for their next show – what I describe above cannot be discerned from their recordings; you must experience it in the flesh.

UPDATE: A friend of mine who was at the show took this vid. This was their last song, a cover of The Bee Gees' "How Deep is Your Love". That's Sia (from Zero 7) off to the side flopping around. She's apparently close with the band, and definitely a big fan. She spent the whole night right next to us, drinking like a sailor, giggling like a school girl, and jumping up and down like a fish trying to get back into its bowl. She was hilarious and extremely friendly, if only barely intelligble.

The Evolution of Professional Whoredom

2007-04-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

Esquire Mag ran the following piece. It’s so true. (It also partially explains why I have so much more respect for Christina Aguilera than for her peers - her miraculous voice is the other part of that equation, of course.)

Why Does Joss Stone Look Like Such a Whore?

Blame the "Butterfly Effect."

By Jason Notte
4/19/2007

While flipping through one of those vapid glossies the other day, I landed on the picture of a familiar-yet-horrible looking woman, a crimson haired Gorgon who looked like she just stumbled out of a Newark go-go bar.

And then it hit me: Hey, that's Joss Stone! And she's shilling her new record, Introducing Joss Stone, which is filled with the kinds of songs she would have just danced to at the aforementioned Newark establishment. What the hell happened to her? Is this the same 15-year-old prodigy that Rolling Stone compared to Delta bluesmen? Wasn't this the white British girl who was touted as the flag-bearer of the neo-soul movement? How did she end up singing Destiny's Child castoffs and strutting around in dresses that look like they were swiped off a table at Scores?

Like Nelly Furtado, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Jessica Simpson before her, Stone has become another victim of the "Butterfly Effect." See, when a promising female artist reaches her third or fourth album, they will invariably announce their latest work showcases the "real them." And sadly, that "reality" falls somewhere south of the third-string bartender at Hogs & Heifers and just north of a Hunt's Point pavement pounder.

"The biggest magazine success story of the last 10 years has been Maxim, and in the Maximization of the music industry, the only way in if you’re a female artist is to show ass,” said Jim DeRogatis, rock critic at the Chicago Sun-Times.

The phenomenon takes its name from the album that spawned it, Mariah Carey's 1997 opus Butterfly. "Fantasy," her 1995 collaboration with Ol' Dirty Bastard, was a peek at things to come, but that album still bore the saccharine-laden "One Sweet Day" and other territorial markings of then-husband Tommy Mottola. One the divorce papers were signed, Carey's inhibitions and clothing disappeared faster than free sandwiches at a sportswriter's convention and the cry went out: Get me a rapper, any rapper. Diddy answered the call and Mariah's turn as a Bond-girl wannabe in the "Honey" video led to bikini car washes, hotpants flag waving at NASCAR races and, most regrettably, Glitter.

“But how long can you really do the coquette thing, especially with Mariah in her 40s?” asks DeRogatis. “But what do you want her to be -- Patti Smith?”

After Mariah, the Butterfly Effect began spreading like the influenza outbreak of 1918. Jessica Simpson abandoned her Christian roots before pimping out her marriage on a reality TV show, "acting" in The Dukes of Hazzard, and ultimately returning to the Carey blueprint with the post-divorce "real me" album Public Affair last year.

The Butterfly Effect cannot be stopped by national boundaries, either -- witness the profound affect it's had on the budding Canadian songbird. Five years ago, Nelly Furtado was a baggy jeaned, white T-shirted Portuguese-Canadian whose rhythmic delivery was more "Like A Bird" then a "Butterfly." Despite disappearing to have a child and releasing a second album that went ignored by much of the world, she seemed well on her way to carving out a inoffensive globalbeat niche for herself.

And now she buys body glitter by the pound, thanks to Timbaland, who turned her out like a proper female artist. Her new album? It's called Loose. The first single? "Promiscuous Girl." How subtle.

“Its for the same reason hair bands made ballads back in the ’80s: their audience was a bunch of beer-drinking wannabe biker boys and they needed something that would get their girlfriends to come to the shows,” says DeRogatis. “With the ‘Butterfly’ artists, they’re making girlish pop, but there’s the added element for the guys. The girls scream and the guys drool.”

So is there any hope for these young ingenues? Oddly enough, the biggest hope is the worst offender: Christina Aguilera, who bypassed butterfly and went straight to Mothra with 2002's Stripped, where her tour costuming largely consisted of making sure her hair extensions covered the naughty bits. But in the five years since, Aguilera has gone back into the cocoon, reincarnating herself as one of the Andrews sisters (granted, an Andrews sister with an amazing boob job) and cancelled her membership in the Pussycat Dolls poledancers union.

Nothing against Joss Stone growing up and expressing her feminine wiles -- but just because you have wings doesn't mean you have to spread them.

Moving Forward by Stepping Back

2007-04-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

Stanford’s James D. Fearon has written a piece in this month’s Foreign Affairs (a periodical published by the Council on Foreign Relations) detailing what he sees as the de facto reality on the ground in Iraq: namely, that it is too late for our presence to stem the tide of violence, and that, sad as it may be, the only way beyond what is surely now a civil war is to let the various players slug it out until a dominant party emerges from the conflict and takes hold of the country. Only then will order return.

Fearon has studied every civil war to take place in the post-WWII era, and feels that the odds are not in our favor with regard to our hope of stabilizing the country through our own political will and military force.

Yes, his depiction of the current scenario over there is dire. And, yes, his advocacy of our pulling back from the central theater of operations to function more in a support/training role is tantamount in some ways to a “cut and run” strategy. But after reading his piece, and hearing him (and others) speak at length on the subject, I believe he may be right. His outlook and recommendations may yet constitute the absolute realpolitik. Could this be the best (i.e. least ugly) way forward?

Read his policy paper here.

Maradona Reborn

2007-04-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

Ever since World Cup 2006, Argentina’s Lionel Messi has been my favorite football (soccer) player in the world. He’s small and fast, with ridiculous ball-handling skills and an undying heart of passion.

The following goal is exactly why I love him. The comparisons to his countryman Maradona are inescapable.

UPDATE: Someone's gone through the trouble of putting Messi's goal side by side with Maradona's legendary score from the 1986 Argentina/England World Cup match, voted by fans as the “Goal of the Century” in a 2002 poll by FIFA. The similarities are staggering.

Truth!

2007-04-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Philharmonic organization has just announced an intriguing series of dates to take place later this spring, entitled Shadow of Stalin:

After Shostakovich was denounced in the Soviet newspaper Pravda, a brutal struggle between art and tyranny began. Through concerts, film screenings, and discussions of art & architecture, you are invited to discover the vibrant artistry from that hostile time.

The night that most jumped out at me, of course, was Pravda. Fashioned as the Disney Hall’s first ever “rave-like” event (a moniker slapped on, I assume, due to its relatively late starting time of 10pm), Pravda will feature “DJs, VJs, artists, and live musicians as they dissect the sounds, sights, and philosophies of the Stalinist-era Soviet Union. Exploding the oppression and exposing the truth, these progressive artists will re-mix the music of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Mosolov, and visuals from films including Battleship Potemkin, Alexander Nevsky, and more.”

The slate of featured artists includes Cut Chemist, DJ Spooky and Amon Tobin.

Tix are now available via Ticketmaster at a range of different prices which afford you “general admission” access to a particular section of seats. We opted for Front Orchestra Center ($50/ticket).

I assume everyone will be cruising around all night anyway, but for a few extra bucks, I’d like to know I have access to the best seats in the house whenever I please.

Grab your tix now - should be a truly unique event!

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

2007-04-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

Lee Iacocca, of Chrysler fame, has written a book with a few words of criticism for the current administration, and for the general direction in which our country is headed.

Typically, I’m not a fan of such wide-sweeping, cynical, alarmist material, but he’s got some great points in here (other than what he identifies as the Iraq War’s raison d’être, which I suspect to be the establishment of a military/intelligence base in that region of the world, not a grab at oil money).

Here’s an excerpt:

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I
Had Enough?

Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, " features www.bordersstores.com>
Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to—as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.

Who Are These Guys, Anyway?

Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them—or at least some of us did. But I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy.

And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of factions. We're a people. We share common principles and ideals. And we rise and fall together.

Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?

The Test of a Leader

I've never been Commander in Chief, but I've been a CEO. I understand a few things about leadership at the top. I've figured out nine points—not ten (I don't want people accusing me of thinking I'm Moses). I call them the "Nine Cs of Leadership." They're not fancy or complicated. Just clear, obvious qualities that every true leader should have. We should look at how the current administration stacks up. Like it or not, this crew is going to be around until January 2009. Maybe we can learn something before we go to the polls in 2008. Then let's be sure we use the leadership test to screen the candidates who say they want to run the country. It's up to us to choose wisely.

So, here's my C list:

A leader has to show CURIOSITY. He has to listen to people outside of the "Yes, sir" crowd in his inner circle. He has to read voraciously, because the world is a big, complicated place. George W. Bush brags about never reading a newspaper. "I just scan the headlines," he says. Am I hearing this right? He's the President of the United States and he never reads a newspaper? Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter." Bush disagrees. As long as he gets his daily hour in the gym, with Fox News piped through the sound system, he's ready to go.

If a leader never steps outside his comfort zone to hear different ideas, he grows stale. If he doesn't put his beliefs to the test, how does he know he's right? The inability to listen is a form of arrogance. It means either you think you already know it all, or you just don't care. Before the 2006 election, George Bush made a big point of saying he didn't listen to the polls. Yeah, that's what they all say when the polls stink. But maybe he should have listened, because 70 percent of the people were saying he was on the wrong track. It took a "thumping" on election day to wake him up, but even then you got the feeling he wasn't listening so much as he was calculating how to do a better job of convincing everyone he was right.

A leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, be willing to try something different. You know, think outside the box. George Bush prides himself on never changing, even as the world around him is spinning out of control. God forbid someone should accuse him of flip-flopping. There's a disturbingly messianic fervor to his certainty. Senator Joe Biden recalled a conversation he had with Bush a few months after our troops marched into Baghdad. Joe was in the Oval Office outlining his concerns to the President—the explosive mix of Shiite and Sunni, the disbanded Iraqi army, the problems securing the oil fields. "The President was serene," Joe recalled. "He told me he was sure that we were on the right course and that all would be well. 'Mr. President,' I finally said, 'how can you be so sure when you don't yet know all the facts?'" Bush then reached over and put a steadying hand on Joe's shoulder. "My instincts," he said. "My instincts." Joe was flabbergasted. He told Bush, "Mr. President, your instincts aren't good enough." Joe Biden sure didn't think the matter was settled. And, as we all know now, it wasn't.

Leadership is all about managing change—whether you're leading a company or leading a country. Things change, and you get creative. You adapt. Maybe Bush was absent the day they covered that at Harvard Business School.

A leader has to COMMUNICATE. I'm not talking about running off at the mouth or spouting sound bites. I'm talking about facing reality and telling the truth. Nobody in the current administration seems to know how to talk straight anymore. Instead, they spend most of their time trying to convince us that things are not really as bad as they seem. I don't know if it's denial or dishonesty, but it can start to drive you crazy after a while. Communication has to start with telling the truth, even when it's painful. The war in Iraq has been, among other things, a grand failure of communication. Bush is like the boy who didn't cry wolf when the wolf was at the door. After years of being told that all is well, even as the casualties and chaos mount, we've stopped listening to him.

A leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means knowing the difference between right and wrong and having the guts to do the right thing. Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you want to test a man's character, give him power." George Bush has a lot of power. What does it say about his character? Bush has shown a willingness to take bold action on the world stage because he has the power, but he shows little regard for the grievous consequences. He has sent our troops (not to mention hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens) to their deaths—for what? To build our oil reserves? To avenge his daddy because Saddam Hussein once tried to have him killed? To show his daddy he's tougher? The motivations behind the war in Iraq are questionable, and the execution of the war has been a disaster. A man of character does not ask a single soldier to die for a failed policy.

A leader must have COURAGE. I'm talking about balls. (That even goes for female leaders.) Swagger isn't courage. Tough talk isn't courage. George Bush comes from a blue-blooded Connecticut family, but he likes to talk like a cowboy. You know, My gun is bigger than your gun. Courage in the twenty-first century doesn't mean posturing and bravado. Courage is a commitment to sit down at the negotiating table and talk.

If you're a politician, courage means taking a position even when you know it will cost you votes. Bush can't even make a public appearance unless the audience has been handpicked and sanitized. He did a series of so-called town hall meetings last year, in auditoriums packed with his most devoted fans. The questions were all softballs.

To be a leader you've got to have CONVICTION—a fire in your belly. You've got to have passion. You've got to really want to get something done. How do you measure fire in the belly? Bush has set the all-time record for number of vacation days taken by a U.S. President—four hundred and counting. He'd rather clear brush on his ranch than immerse himself in the business of governing. He even told an interviewer that the high point of his presidency so far was catching a seven-and-a-half-pound perch in his hand-stocked lake.

It's no better on Capitol Hill. Congress was in session only ninety-seven days in 2006. That's eleven days less than the record set in 1948, when President Harry Truman coined the term do-nothing Congress. Most people would expect to be fired if they worked so little and had nothing to show for it. But Congress managed to find the time to vote itself a raise. Now, that's not leadership.

A leader should have CHARISMA. I'm not talking about being flashy. Charisma is the quality that makes people want to follow you. It's the ability to inspire. People follow a leader because they trust him. That's my definition of charisma. Maybe George Bush is a great guy to hang out with at a barbecue or a ball game. But put him at a global summit where the future of our planet is at stake, and he doesn't look very presidential. Those frat-boy pranks and the kidding around he enjoys so much don't go over that well with world leaders. Just ask German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received an unwelcome shoulder massage from our President at a G-8 Summit. When he came up behind her and started squeezing, I thought she was going to go right through the roof.

A leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious, doesn't it? You've got to know what you're doing. More important than that, you've got to surround yourself with people who know what they're doing. Bush brags about being our first MBA President. Does that make him competent? Well, let's see. Thanks to our first MBA President, we've got the largest deficit in history, Social Security is on life support, and we've run up a half-a-trillion-dollar price tag (so far) in Iraq. And that's just for starters. A leader has to be a problem solver, and the biggest problems we face as a nation seem to be on the back burner.

You can't be a leader if you don't have COMMON SENSE. I call this Charlie Beacham's rule. When I was a young guy just starting out in the car business, one of my first jobs was as Ford's zone manager in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. My boss was a guy named Charlie Beacham, who was the East Coast regional manager. Charlie was a big Southerner, with a warm drawl, a huge smile, and a core of steel. Charlie used to tell me, "Remember, Lee, the only thing you've got going for you as a human being is your ability to reason and your common sense. If you don't know a dip of horseshit from a dip of vanilla ice cream, you'll never make it." George Bush doesn't have common sense. He just has a lot of sound bites. You know—Mr.they'll-welcome-us-as-liberators-no-child-left-behind-heck-of-a-job-Brownie-mission-accomplished Bush.

Former President Bill Clinton once said, "I grew up in an alcoholic home. I spent half my childhood trying to get into the reality-based world—and I like it here."

I think our current President should visit the real world once in a while.

The Biggest C is Crisis

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. Where was George Bush? He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids in Florida when he heard about the attacks. He kept sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look on his face. It's all on tape. You can see it for yourself. Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to Washington and immediately going on the air to reassure the panicked people of this country, he decided it wasn't safe to return to the White House. He basically went into hiding for the day—and he told Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put in his bunker. We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of our wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we were going to be okay, and there was nobody home. It took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and devise the right photo op at Ground Zero.

That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq—a road his own father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He listened to a higher father. He prides himself on being faith based, not reality based. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will.

A Hell of a Mess

So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when "the Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen—and more important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?

Had Enough?

Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises—the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to action for people who, like me, believe in America. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the horseshit and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had enough.

Skybound

2007-04-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

So I flew this weekend. As in, I sat behind the controls of a plane and flew the fucker. Very cool experience. Definitely not as difficult as I thought it would be. The Cessna I flew was very forgiving – it was as if it wanted to be up in the sky.

We took off from SM airport (I pulled back on the controls as soon as we hit 55 knots), hit a right at the coast, and cruised for about half an hour at 3500 ft., up above Malibu.

Christy – my ridiculously young and somewhat attractive flight instructor – offered a few tips, then simply let me have at it up there. I rolled this way and banked that way, climbed here and dove there…even got into a bit of a spiral turn where we could feel the Gs. It was exhilarating and quite beautiful, really.

On the way back inland, I made a point of veering off course a bit...flying close enough to my apartment to see the actual building. Then we followed the 10 for a while, hit a 180, and touched back down.

I don’t feel the need to slap down ten grand and get my license, but I would def do it again. Some pics:

Instructor Christy and Captain Tomorrow

Me & my wings

The marine layer

The L.A. basin
Ahoy!

The Cutest Knut

2007-03-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

Apparently, it’s video day here at Conchis Living.

In case you’ve somehow missed him, Knut – the German polar bear cub – is the new Cutest Thing on the Planet.

Yes, I know, being a straight male and using the word “cute” aren’t supposed to go together, but just watch this vid and try to resist:

On the Coattails of Destiny

2007-03-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

My good friend Howard – of NYE at Times-Square-in-LA and HOMP fame – was in China recently with his MBA program. Afterwards, he and some classmates headed over to Thailand for some R&R. Apparently, they found Adventure instead.

In his own words: “…yes, that is me, and yes, that is fear you hear.” See what he means:

Howard, you are my hero.

Natural Wonder

2007-03-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

There are two absolutely astounding nature series on TV right now: National Geographic’s Galapagos and Discovery’s Planet Earth.

“Galapagos” is a three-part series that explains the history and wonder of these unique islands, and features some amazing footage of its inhabitants - for instance, massive “marine iguanas” that hunt under the surface of the ocean for upwards of 20 minutes.

“Planet Earth”, adapted from the original BBC series, is an ambitious 11-parter illustrating all manners of habitats across the globe. Utilizing new camera technology, it includes the most breathtaking time elapse and slow motion shots I've ever seen. Check out this clip (this is from the BBC version – the Discovery version is slightly different, in terms of editing and narration):

And here’s a ridiculous look at a rainforest “bird of paradise”:

PLANET EARTH - Bird Of Paradise - Free videos are just a click away

Check them out. You’ve never seen anything like this.

R2 Demoted to Civil Servant?

2007-03-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

This cracks me up...

Star Wars' R2-D2 to collect post

Post boxes across the US are to be dressed up as Star Wars robot R2-D2 to celebrate 30 years since the release of the sci-fi series' first outing.
Some 400 boxes will get the new look, including outside Hollywood's Grauman Chinese Theatre, one of first cinemas to screen the film in 1977.

The makeover is part of a post office campaign for the announcement of a surprise stamp on 28 March.

The public have been urged not to tamper with the droid mail collectors.

Chief marketing officer Anita Bizzotto said the robot postboxes were a "little teaser" for its announcement later this month.

"When you look at a mailbox, the resemblance to R2-D2 is too good to pass up," added Ms Bizzotto.

The USPS website is running a clip from Star Wars in which robot C-3PO asks: "R2D2, where are you?"

In the next shot, someone is seen slotting a letter into the little beeping robot.

During the six films of the Star Wars series, R2-D2 - regarded as a more courageous robot counterpart to C-3PO - was responsible for saving his human counterparts.

The Legacy of Anna Kournikova

2007-03-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

This article is a couple months old now, but it just came to my attention and it's a classic. Plus, I just really wanted to post the pic that came with it.

Still from Russia with love

By Bill Simmons
ESPN, Page 2

MIAMI -- I went to the Heat-Cavs game Thursday night with my old intern, Jamie, who now works for "Rome is Burning" and came down to Miami for the week of shows here. Back when I started my old Web site in the summer of '97, Jamie was one of my first readers -- a sarcastic 15-year-old kid who landed in every mailbag mostly because I barely had enough readers to make up a mailbag. This was the same summer that a smoking-hot tennis star named Anna Kournikova started wreaking havoc, and since the Internet was just starting to round into shape, she was only resonating through some magazine photos and giddy conversations that guys had with their friends.

There hasn't been anything quite like her before or since: a blonde, bosomy Russian with killer legs and a perpetual pout. She was prettier than most supermodels. She was sexier than most Hollywood stars. When she played Amanda Coetzer in the Australian Open that year, it was probably the greatest 20-second highlight in SportsCenter history, replete with reverential silence from the anchors. They could have released that highlight on DVD by itself and people would have bought it.

Unfortunately (and this is an especially big "unfortunately"), Anna may have looked 25, but she didn't turn 16 until June 7. That meant everyone in the mainstream media was terrified to mention her appeal for obvious reasons, although a few sports radio hosts around America crossed the line during the '96 U.S. Open (and took heat for it). When she made it to the third round of the '97 French Open, I remember watching her lose to Martina Hingis (who had her own thing going since she was attractive and a little kooky, which gave her a dangerous edge, kind of like Glenn Close in the first 20 minutes of "Fatal Attraction") and thinking that, even though I was broke at the time, I would have emptied my checking account if they suddenly moved the match to pay-per-view. On the week Anna turned 16, I gleefully made a "two years until she's legal!" joke in a column and received more e-mails than I'd ever received before. She was America's underground sweetheart.

And then something magical happened: Wimbledon rolled around and Anna played the best tennis of her life, somehow making it all the way to the semifinals. Meanwhile, I was bartending and working on my new Web site -- translation: I was waking up at 11 every morning and farting around until I had to go to work -- which made me eminently available to watch HBO's around-the-clock coverage. This was an unparalleled middle-of-the-day TV experience; it made the OJ Trial seem pedestrian by comparison. Could Anna keep winning? Could she shock the world and steal Wimbledon? Remember, we were coming off a stretch in women's tennis that was dominated by Steffi Graf, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova that swayed everyone into thinking that Martina Hingis was much cuter than she really was. We weren't remotely ready for anyone like Anna. She was like a surreal cross between the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, LeBron's rookie season and the greatest-looking Bond girl of all-time.

Even though Hingis crushed her in the semis, that didn't stop everyone from spending the summer daydreaming about a not-so-distant future when the world's most beautiful female was (A) legal, (B) Russian (nothing like some residue Cold War tensions to spice everything up) and (C) the best women's tennis player alive. It seemed too good to be true. Unfathomable, even. Could we really spend the next 10-12 years watching Anna covered in her own sweat, bouncing around in tight tennis outfits and demolishing everyone in her path? Were we headed for a world where somebody who looked like this would win major after major, become the Tiger of tennis, appear on television 50-60 times per year and transform every red-blooded male into a diehard tennis fan? Could this actually HAPPEN?

Nope. Didn't happen.

As it turned out, Anna Kournikova just wasn't that good. When tennis experts started questioning her talents after the post-Wimbledon wave of "Here comes Anna!" stories, we all hoped it was just sour grapes. (I mean, of course Mary Carillo and Billie Jean King were going to be threatened by Anna's ascendance. She had taken women's tennis into a completely different direction, one where the game didn't matter as much as outfits and sex appeal. Why would the old guard think this was a good thing?) Anna cracked the top 20 in 1998, pulled off a few upsets, graced more than a few magazine covers, landed more than a few commercials, and caused an out-and-out riot on the Internet (nobody had more photos out there, and nobody had more people looking for them). She won the 1999 Australian Open doubles title with Hingis, lost the legendary "Headlights Match" in that same tournament to Mary Pierce (there hadn't been that much jiggling on TV since the heyday of "Charlie's Angels") and made it to the fourth round in that year's Australian and French Opens.

During that time, she also shattered Mariah Carey's record for "most girls that have ever hated another girl for no real reason." If you brought up her name in a mixed group, the claws would come flying out. Every other female loathed her, instinctively, habitually. And if you asked them why, the reasons were always petty and unsubstantiated. Stuff like, "She just doesn't seem like a nice person to me," or "She's more concerned with how she looks than how she plays" or even "I just don't like the look on her face." The only thing that came close to watching Kournikova play tennis was watching other women openly seethe about her success. To them, she was like one of those evil movie characters in a John Hughes movie who runs the whole high school, flirts with everyone else's boyfriend and makes those cutting backhanded compliments to other girls like "I'm glad you finally did something about your hair." And frankly, this made the Kournikova Era even more magical than it already was.

Everything crested in June of '99, when three things happened:

1. Anna turned 18. This meant that the mainstream media could now discuss her looks without calling her a "tennis Lolita" and making everyone feel icky. Much better.

2. She entered Wimbledon with a ton of hype and enraged the old guard to no end. You could feel the venom from Carillo, King and Navratilova throughout the HBO coverage. It was palpable and fantastic. Every time Anna nailed a winner down the baseline, you kept expecting one of them to snap and scream, "WHORE! WHORE!" I wish ESPN Classic would create a weekly show called "Classic Kournikova" just so we could relive the announcing from those matches -- it's never been approached before or since. Actually, I wish ESPN Classic would create a weekly show called "Classic Kournikova" just so there would be a show called "Classic Kournikova." Like you wouldn't watch this?

3. After winning her first three Wimbledon matches, Anna battled a heavily favored Venus Williams in the fourth round and took the first set. An upset was brewing. The crowd was buzzing. The HBO announcers were doing everything to jinx her short of screaming "Noonan!" during her second serve and dousing her photos with chicken blood. Anna was prancing around, taking that extra split-second to bend over for balls and eating it up. She was going to rule the world. You could feel it.

Only later did we realize the significance of the moment ... because that's exactly when the Kournikova Era peaked.

Seriously, that was it. Up a set to Venus, she was then decimated in the next two sets, prompting a free fall in which Anna flopped at the U.S. Open and ended up going 6-8 over the second half of 1999 (including the Venus loss). Off the court, it became obvious that she was relishing a sexpot image, showing up at various red-carpet events, refusing to confirm or deny reports that she was engaged to Pavel Bure and then Sergei Fedorov, coyly wearing a wedding ring just to screw with everyone, making an appearance in "Me, Myself and Irene" and being profiled in a leering Sports Illustrated feature by Frank Deford that practically shattered the Unintentional Comedy Scale (although the pictures made it all worth it). She was also raking in huge sums of money -- upward of $10 million a year just from endorsements -- and since she wasn't winning anything and didn't seem to care that she wasn't winning anything, that made her an easy target for grizzled writers looking for a good high-horse column.

She finished an underwhelming 47-29 in 2001 and struggled to a 16-12 record in 2002 because of back problems (or so she said), making news only because she fell for singer Enrique Iglesias after they filmed a music video together. Not only had her tennis prime passed, but she was in her 20s and the Lolita/tennis prodigy thing had vanished. She didn't seem any more or less beautiful than anyone else, and her ongoing tennis failures robbed her of that bitchy, glowering "not only am I prettier than you, I'm going to kick your ass in this match" aura that made her so great in the first place. When she effectively retired after the 2003 season, the prevailing reaction seemed to be, "She was still playing?" For the last four years, she's spent her time traveling around the world with Iglesias, playing charity tournaments and doing whatever wealthy smoking-hot former tennis players do, making news only because she lost a jaw-dropping amount of weight.

And honestly? I can't remember the last time I thought about her or heard her name mentioned. You could even make the case that she's irrelevant, except for one thing: She had an enormous and underrated impact on the sports world from 1997 to 2002, only it's never been properly understood or appreciated. I realized this at the Heat-Cavs game. Some of the Heat employees were nice enough to show us around before the game, even allowing us to hang out in Shelley's Lounge, which was unlike any other suite we've ever seen. You can't see the court because it's located near the locker rooms, but it's three times the size of a normal suite and loaded with plasmas, video games, foosball, an open bar, free food and everything else you can imagine. There's one on each side of the court, and they both spill into a much bigger bar that's open only to courtside ticket holders, celebrities and VIP guests. You couldn't have something like this in Sacramento or Boston, but you could definitely have it in Miami.

So we're hanging out in Shelley's Lounge and who walks in? Anna Kournikova and Enrique Iglesias. In case you haven't seen her, she's disgustingly thin now -- still pretty, but more like a supermodel, and you would never know that she once played a professional sport. But still, it's Anna Kournikova, for God's sake! And here's where Jamie becomes relevant to this story. First of all, in the Pantheon of Faces, Jamie's "I'm standing three feet away from Anna Kournikova" Face will never, ever, EVER be topped. I am not a good enough writer to describe it. Joyce or Tolstoy couldn't have described it. And second, as Jamie explained to us later, not only did he play high school tennis in Massachusetts during the same year that Frank Deford wrote the feature that influenced so many high school and college students across America, the team actually brought that issue on the van for every one of their its matches. Why? you ask. Partly as a good-luck charm, partly as reliably good reading fodder for any trip. The team never knew when it would get bored on the van and want to start poring through Kournikova pictures again.

For whatever reason, I never properly appreciated the Kournikova Era until she walked into Shelley's Lounge, saw Jamie's reaction and heard the story about his tennis team. Maybe she was overrated as a tennis player, but has an athlete ever had a bigger impact over a short span that couldn't be calibrated in any way, shape or form other than the look on somebody's face when they enter the room? I say no.

Eventually, we headed up to our seats and took in some of the Cavs-Heat game, which was interesting for five reasons. First, Miami's crowd was much livelier than I expected, although it was admittedly one of the marquee games of the year; if your fans can't get up for LeBron, Shaq and Wade on TNT, you shouldn't have a basketball team. Second, they have the coolest scoreboard I've ever seen -- it looks like something out of the movie "Alien." Third, the difference between Wade (killing himself and ramming his way to the rim over and over again like a running back) and LeBron (on cruise control and seeming disinterested most of the time -- and yes, I know he's hurt, but I've watched him mail it in too many times this season and we're nearing the point where Barkley needs to call him out on TNT) was absolutely startling. One guy just wants it more than the other guy. It's that simple. Fourth, Scot Pollard shaved his head into a blond Mohawk and kept his goatee with the weird knobs on it and STILL was outdone by the perplexing patch of hair on the back of Drew Gooden's neck. And fifth, it always feels like a bigger game when Shaq is playing -- even if he's not the same kind of force anymore -- and I will miss him when he retires to chase down criminals in some random town in Florida.

All in all, a good, lively game. As halftime was approaching, I glanced over at Jamie and saw his wheels turning. More Kournikova. More Kournikova. So I threw him a bone and said, "Hey, wanna go back to the lounge at halftime?" followed by Jamie answering "yes" even as I was still finishing the word "halftime."

We headed back there, walked underneath the stadium and passed through a bar to get to the lounge .. and suddenly, there were Enrique and Anna again. She was standing with her back to the wall, Enrique was in front of her, and she had her arms wrapped around him, only she was watching us walk by her and relishing the attention because he couldn't see where she was looking. At this point, Jamie was moving at the speed of the people in "War of the Worlds" coming out of their houses to stare at the giant UFO -- it's amazing he didn't walk into a chair or a table. I played it a little differently, glancing at her quickly, waiting for her to make eye contact, then glancing away like I wasn't impressed, hoping it would piss her off (like she would give a crap). We headed into the lounge to throw some water on Jamie, and not even a minute later, they were standing right behind us again and she was defiantly making eye contact -- almost like a Fembot, like she was thinking, "I'm Anna Kournikova, if you don't look impressed within the next three seconds, I'm going to shoot you with my jublees."

And for the first time, everything about the Kournikova Era fell into place. She just wanted to be noticed, even if she had to settle for two random dudes in the VIP lounge of a regular-season NBA game. Did she ever care about tennis? Probably not. Did she use tennis as a vehicle to dress in skimpy outfits and wrap every red-blooded male around her finger? Probably.

Anyway, it worked. I melted into a puddle and Jamie stopped breathing and briefly died. They pranced by us as Jamie immediately re-evaluated his life and everything that's ever happened in it, eventually deciding that this was his greatest moment since the Red Sox won the World Series. Anyone who says Anna Kournikova's tennis career didn't matter is just plain lying. She DID have an impact. Only a handful of athletes and former athletes can still stop a room in its tracks. She's one of them.

"When you were sitting in that tennis van 10 years ago," I asked him, "did you ever imagine that you'd be drinking three feet away from Kournikova?"

"No," Jamie said. "No. Never. I never would have believed it."

These are the things that happen during Super Bowl Week in Miami.

Daft Punk

2007-03-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

Update on Daft Punk tix (for the L.A. show): presale is tomorrow, March 21, at 10am. Tix are $50. Click here for all the relevant info.

Concert Alert

2007-03-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

This coming summer is shaping up to be a scorcher concert-wise. Last summer’s fare was surely solid, but I don’t recall there being so many exciting prospects over the horizon when spring rolled around this time last year. Some notable highlights:

TV on the Radio @ Henry Fonda, March 30/31 - Previously mentioned here, we’ll be going on Friday, the 30th. TVOTR, largely regarded as the most exciting act of 2006, rocked the Bowl last year. I really look forward to seeing what they can do in the Theatre.

Coachella @ some desert wasteland, April 27/28/29 – Would love to see Arcade Fire, Air, Kaiser Chiefs, Bjork, et al, but it ain’t gonna happen this year. If you don’t already have tix, good luck – it’s sold out, and single day tix are going for $300 a piece on Craigslist.

John Mayer, Ben Folds, Rocco De Luca @ Hollywood Bowl, June 6 – Yes, John Mayer has somehow against all odds won me over in a big way. I never listened to either of his first two albums – having dismissed them out of hand as probable kiddiepop drivel – but his recent offering “Continuum” is pure bluesy, guitar hero goodness. And Ben Folds in support – are you kidding me?! I got so excited when I saw this double billing, I shelled out $25 to join J.Mayer’s fanclub (stop laughing) and scored brilliant presale tix. General sale happens March 31 via Ticketraper (presales sold out in minutes).

Daft Punk @ L.A.’s Sports Arena, July 21 & Berkeley’s Greek Theatre, July 27 – If I had one do-over for a show I missed in the last five years, it would be Daft Punk’s run in the Coachella dance tent last year. All reports indicate it was an incomparable tour de force by the French robot masters of neo-disco groove. I have the set and can attest to its insanity – it’s one long 78 minute mash-up of every Daft Punk groove you’ve ever heard. The guitar from one song coupled with the beat from another and the vox from a third. Each time you think you know where they’re going, they pull a 180. And the visuals – omg. See for yourself (these videos give me goosebumps every time). The L.A. date may or may not be part of the Giant Village extravanganza (which is definitely that same night), while the Berkeley show is them with The Rapture, Sebastian and KavinSky. I think we’re going to try and opt for the latter and head up to my alma mater for a little madness One More Time, although I could def see us trying to do both. (Tix are not yet onsale for either show.)

Underworld @ Hollywood Bowl, September 8 – The electronic pioneers/legends are playing a rare show in the States this coming Labor Day weekend as part of KCRW’s annual World Festival at the Bowl. Tix are already available via Ticketmaster as “Encore” presales. They say you have to purchase 5 events together to get the tix, but it’s bullslhit. Word of Underworld’s participation in the festival – alongside Oakenfold and Carmen Rizzo – has barely hit the streets, so amazing tix are still available at super reasonable prices. We’ll see you there – look for us in the mob of Snowboarders in Section J2.

A word of note: if you use iTunes and want the jump on the hottest shows, grab this genius and free app: iConcertCal. It plugs itself right into your iTunes interface, scours your music collection, then the Internet, and finds any and all upcoming shows in your area by your favorite artists. It’s amazing. (This is how I found the John Mayer/Ben Folds show, btw, before it was announced publicly.) FYI, it’s been reversed engineered and proven to not act in any way as spyware – i.e. it does not send back data to any parties. Grab it now before it’s no longer freeware.

See you in the crowd.

Hello, Friends...

2007-03-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

Hi again. Been down for the count recently thanks to work. I’m still kicking, for sure, but haven’t had the time to contribute here lately. Will try to catch you up briefly, though…

My last posting was nearly two months ago, on my bday, which incidentally was great. Spent the actual day with my fam and everyone’s respective significant others at Mako, then the following Saturday with no less than 16 great friends at Chaya. Both were wonderful, unforgettable evenings – thanks so much if you were there to share the moment with me.

Monday Jan. 29 we saw former Mexican President Vicente Fox speak at the Music Center downtown, as the first night of our subscriber Speaker Series. What a crook! The guy is like cowboy Mafioso – all bravado and no substance. He pathetically read his entire 45-min speech off his BlackBerry, and proceeded to say absolutely nothing of worth during that time. Then the audience questions began and he expertly dodged every one of them. Example: “Mr. Presidente Fox, you said at the beginning of your term that you would establish a working middle class in Mexico. Well, where is it?” Fox: “95% of Mexicans have electricity. 91% have potable water. 87% have television. 82% have laundry machines…” On and on and on. It was a joke. The only thing of import he did say was this: “Amigos, listen to me! The work you are doing in this country is important. We need the wages you earn here back at home. Please continue to send them. You are the lifeblood of los Mexicanos!” Grrrrrreat. The sole enjoyable portion of the night belonged to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who introduced Fox. Very slick speaker, and he says some reasonable, middle of the road stuff. I really like him.

Spent four days in February in Toronto. What an amazing city! I loved it (had never been before). Headed out for a friend’s wedding – an old buddy from my year of study aboard some 8 years ago. Our good friend Marni was gracious enough to offer her and her husband’s house as a crash pad, so a few of us from all over the world convened on Euclid Ave. in “The Annex” and basically turned the wedding weekend into one long, slurry, slumber party. The city struck me as the perfect amalgamation of New York and San Francisco, melding all the former’s cosmopolitan tendencies with the latter’s laid-back, intelligent streak. Its people were among the most friendly, approachable, open-minded, worldly - and, yes, attractive - people I’ve ever met. From fireside brunches in pubs, to sunny subfreezing strolls along hip and high-end retail promenades, to the wedding that just would not die (we were still ripping up the Four Seasons's main ballroom dance floor at four that morning), it was a perfect weekend.

(Btw, that's me, Marni, Zev & Jess up top, enjoying a little mid-morning flurry. Was the only time it snowed all weekend - ten minutes later is was sunny without a cloud in the sky. Below: Zev, Howard and yours truly bringing in the style.)

Got March off to a quick start with a night of extremes: “Wicked”, the musical, with another couple, then over to Vanguard for Digweed, MSTRKRFT and everyone else we know in this city. Brilliant evening. First of all, “Wicked” is incredible – a perfectly conceived and executed production that put the biggest smile on this “Wizard of Oz”-fanatic’s face. The back-/side-story is simply genius, and the performances, sets and costumes were awe-inspiring. Elpheba – the lead, as the Wicked Witch – was arresting in her performance. Her voice has a smooth warmth in the middle registers that just melted me inside. The songs weren’t out of this world, but they were solid enough to allow her and her costars to soar and astound. I loved every minute of it. The Pantages run has been extended “indefinitely” – if you have even the slightest interest in such things, I highly suggest you go. Digweed, of course, was something else entirely – but, needless to say, we fucking had it. Good times with great friends.

Last week a dream came true for Grace: she and George HW (aka #41) were in the same room together! Just 24 hours after passing out on the golf green in Rancho Mirage, he spoke at the Music Center as another featured guest of our Speaker Series. The man is a pimp - at 82, he is as intelligent, witty and entertaining as they come. He spoke on “values”, and held the massive hall of libs and conservatives alike rapt with attention...and fits of laughter. His worldview is spot-on, if you ask me. Such a shame the son fell so far from the father.

Just returned last night from three uber-relaxing days in La Quinta at the house of the parents of a good friend from SF. He flew down, and he and we and his parents lounged it up in style. Non-stop home-cooked gourmet meals, some serious fine wine, ridiculous amounts of pool time, and lots of laying around reading. Saturday we hit up the Pacific Life Open - the annual pro ATP tennis tourney in Indian Wells - where American Andy Roddick solidly got his ass handed to him by Nadal the Spaniard in the semis (who went on to easily win the title the next day). Roddick’s pathetic performance was only outdone by his showing later that evening at the local bar, where he - beside us - drowned his loss in a yard of green beer and endless flirtations with young, unattractive groupie girls. Too funny. Big thanks to the Spikey D for opening his beautiful family and home to us – it was a treat of unimaginable magnitude.

(Myself, Grace and Brett at the Indian Wells tennis tourney.)

Well, that’s it for now. Will try to keep this thing a bit more up to date going forward. Hope all’s well with you.

Blast from the Past

2007-01-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

Suddenly, the Loch Ness monster does't seem to unfathomable…

Rare primitive shark captured on film

A species of shark rarely seen alive because its natural habitat is 600 metres (2,000 ft) or more under the sea was captured on film by staff at a Japanese marine park this week.

The Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo, was alerted by a fisherman at a nearby port on Sunday that he had spotted an odd-looking eel-like creature with a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth.

Marine park staff caught the 1.6 metre (5 ft) long creature, which they identified as a female frilled shark, sometimes referred to as a "living fossil" because it is a primitive species that has changed little since prehistoric times.

The shark appeared to be in poor condition when park staff moved it to a seawater pool where they filmed it swimming and opening its jaws.

"We believe moving pictures of a live specimen are extremely rare," said an official at the park. "They live between 600 and 1,000 metres under the water, which is deeper than humans can go."

"We think it may have come close to the surface because it was sick, or else it was weakened because it was in shallow waters," the official said.

The shark died a few hours after being caught. Frilled sharks, which feed on other sharks and sea creatures, are sometimes caught in the nets of trawlers but are rarely seen alive.

Click on the link within this article for video.

Viva Las Vegas

2007-01-22T17:52:00.000-08:00

Went to Vegas this weekend with the missus for my birthday. A fabulous weekend all around. Two great dinners - Circo and Mon Ami Gabi. A full day of utter relaxation at the spa. 5th row at Cirque du Soleil’s “O”. Dancing all night at Pure. Sunset atop the Eiffel Tower. And a wild run-in with fully automatic assault rifles. But the highlight was surely our evening with the Fab Four.

It all began at the brand spanking new Beatles Revolution Lounge at The Mirage. Dark, adorned with bean bags & leather beds, and sporting fresh, animated Yellow Submarine-esque visuals on every wall, this “ultra-lounge” features non-stop Beatles tunes and an endless sea of smiling faces. (Video to come…)

We then turned a corner in the casino and found ourselves at “Love”, Cirque du Soleil’s ode to The Beatles. What an unbelievable show. It completely destroyed any notions of what I thought it would be. It takes Cirque to a whole new level. In fact, it's not very Cirque-y at all. Instead, it is the most insane, non-stop, constantly surprising variety show I have ever seen. There's dancing and theatrics and acrobatics and performance art and god damn rollerbladers on back-to-back half pipes! The art direction is mind-blowing. The music is gorgeous (George Martin really is a genius). It takes you through giddiness and fright and suspense and love and downright lurid sensuality. The performers are all young and hot - 3rd row seats afforded ridiculous views of the players - and looked like they were having the times of their lives. What a blast it must be for them. If "O" is a 10, "Love" is a 15. No joke, it's that good - it's on a whole new level.

Some pics:

Forget Fido...

2007-01-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

When Hell Freezes Over

2007-01-17T17:55:00.000-08:00

It snowed today in West L.A. Some people might call it hail, but it looked a helluva lot like snow to me.

Anyway, a friend of mine works a few blocks away. She and a few coworkers took advantage of the freak event, and brought a new little friend into the world…

iPhone, How I Love Thee…

2007-01-09T11:47:00.000-08:00

I honestly can't remember ever having been so excited for an electronic gadget. This is it, though – the apex of design. Absolute utilitarian convergence. Leave it to Apple to be the first and only company capable of creating an iPod Killer.

The iPhone. Three devices in one: phone, media player, internet/email portal. Finger-touch interface. OSX in your pocket. June ’07 release. Cingular only (so long Verizon, it’s been fun). $599 for 8GB model (+2 yr. subscription); $499 for 4GB.

Click here for full rundown of Jobs’ keynote presentation.

Concert Alert

2007-01-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

The general consensus by most music pundits was that TV on the Radio easily took the crown as 2006’s most compelling indie rock artist. Their album “Return to Cookie Mountain” – the title of which is a reference to the original Super Mario Bros. game – was completely fresh and different, and their energy onstage could not be matched. We witnessed the latter when they opened this past summer for Massive Attack at the Bowl, whom they completely upstaged, imo.

If you’re in L.A., they’re playing two shows at the Henry Fonda Theatre at the end of March. We have tix for the first night, and I’m very seriously considering grabbing tix for the second night, as well. If you’re around then, these are shows not to miss.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday season and New Year's. I know I did.

This year we opted out of the standard Giant and/or Digweed extravaganza, and committed to a night in Times Square. My good friend, Howard – ever the entrepreneurial impresario of themed parties – completely outdid himself once again. See for yourself…

Star Trek Reloaded

2006-12-20T16:04:00.000-08:00

Apparently, Paramount is looking to relaunch Star Trek by diving into the past and portraying the original Enterprise crew members as young officers, prior to their joint service on the illustrious ship (the target release date is Summer ’08). J.J. Abrams is directing and producing, and Matt Damon is rumored to be Abrams’ top choice to play Kirk.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing another TNG piece – or five – but I’ll take what I can get.

Hopefully the studio doesn’t botch this one like they did the last TV series. I mean, come on…even Janeway could've kicked Jonathan Archer’s ass.

Of Wealth, Happiness and Generosity

2006-12-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

Peter Singer, a Princeton professor of “bioethics”, philosophizes on the amount by which private, wealthy, Western individuals should contribute to worldwide charitable causes.

The Economist explores the relationship between wealth and happiness, in their cover story this week: Parts I & II.

Timberlake & SNL Get Frisky

2006-12-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

Fresh Air

2006-12-19T17:25:00.000-08:00

Details emerge on French band Air’s forthcoming album and world tour.

Air Inspired By Classical Music On New Album
December 15, 2006, 5:10 PM ET
Michael D. Ayers, N.Y.
Billboard
Air indulges in the non-rock influence of Philip Glass' "Einstein on the Beach" and "The Photographer" on its upcoming album, "Pocket Symphony." As previously reported, the 12-track set is due March 6 via Astralwerks.

Group member J.B. Dunckel tells Billboard.com Air was "in a very zen mood" and was "very influenced by classical music" on the album, the follow-up to 2004's "Talkie Walkie." Elsewhere, the tracks "Once Upon a Time," "Night Vision" and "Napalm Love" were reclaimed from the soundtrack to the Sofia Coppola film "Marie Antoinette," for which they were originally intended.

Dunckel and partner Nicolas Godin also availed themselves of the services of former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon, with whom they'd first worked on French actress/singer Charlotte Gainsbourg's "5:55." That set will finally see U.S. release April 25 via Vice/Atlantic."

They were hired to write lyrics for Charlotte. So, we did the music and they did the lyrics," Dunckel explains. "I think we were really influenced by working on the Gainsbourg album. We discovered that we were good at playing together -- I was on the piano and Nicolas was on the guitar."

And although details are still being confirmed, Air plans to start a world tour this March in Sheffield, England. "We'll rehearse for three weeks prior, that's it," says Godin. "It takes awhile to organize all of the keyboards -- we like to have a clear way to have the songs during the show."

Lost Weirdness

2006-12-19T17:24:00.000-08:00

Invasion!

2006-12-13T12:17:00.000-08:00

I don’t know why they’re here. I don’t even care. All that matters is that the pandas have arrived, and they’re taking over.

Tracing Evolution

2006-12-12T18:06:00.000-08:00

Seems natural selection isn't such a slow process, after all...

Study Detects Recent Instance of Human Evolution

By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: December 10, 2006
NY Times

A surprisingly recent instance of human evolution has been detected among the peoples of East Africa. It is the ability to digest milk in adulthood, conferred by genetic changes that occurred as recently as 3,000 years ago, a team of geneticists has found.

The finding is a striking example of a cultural practice — the raising of dairy cattle — feeding back into the human genome. It also seems to be one of the first instances of convergent human evolution to be documented at the genetic level. Convergent evolution refers to two or more populations acquiring the same trait independently.

Continue reading Recent Instance of Human Evolution.

Total Vindication

2006-12-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

I've been saying and doing this for years now (at least since Mr. Johnson in the fourth grade chastised me in front of the entire class for "rocking the boat"). Seems I knew a thing or two about my body all along.

The Claim: Sitting Up Straight Is Best for Your Back

By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Published: December 12, 2006
NY Times

THE FACTS Sit up straight, parents tell their children. It’s a well-known refrain, repeated through generations and based on the theory that anything other than a 90-degree posture places undue strain on the back.

Despite its persistence, that advice is wrong. Parents may insist that sitting up straight with your thighs parallel to the ground is the best way to sit, but a long list of studies has shown that that position increases stress on the lumbar disks in your lower back.

Thirty years ago, scientists first showed this by inserting needles into the backs of volunteers and measuring the amount of pressure created by various seating positions. They found that a reclining position was ideal, placing the least strain on the back and minimizing pressure that could lead to back problems. Since then, multiple studies have confirmed that finding.

But it was only in 2006 that scientists produced direct visual evidence. In a study that used new magnetic resonance imaging machines that allow people to sit instead of lie down, a team of researchers at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland looked at 22 volunteers who sat in three positions. The first two positions, sitting upright and sitting with the body hunched forward, produced the greatest spinal disk movement, causing the internal disk material to misalign. The third position, in which the subjects reclined at a 135-degree angle with their feet planted on the floor, created the least strain.

According to the study, any position in which a person leans back, opening the angle between the thighs and the back, is preferable to sitting up straight.

THE BOTTOM LINE Sitting upright at a 90-degree angle strains your back; leaning back places less pressure on the spine.

Shooting for the Stars

2006-12-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

Two exciting pieces of news from astronomical circles in recent days:

NASA planning permanent lunar base

An international team of astronauts will be living and working at a permanent moon base to be built at one of the resource-rich lunar poles within two decades, NASA announced Monday.

Earth's first off-world colonists will cruise the surface in a lunar lander that will function like a low-gravity pickup, possibly journeying to the dark side to build the most ambitious collection of observatories ever constructed, NASA said.

"We will begin with short missions. Then we will build up to the point where we are staying 180 days, and then we will have a permanent presence," Doug Cooke, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems, said at a news conference at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The base could be operational by 2024, officials said.

Evidence of water currently flowing on Mars

Planetary scientists announced today that they have found evidence that liquid water still flows over the surface of Mars — sporadic gushes that open the possibility that the Red Planet could harbor some form of life.

Using images obtained from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, a team of NASA scientists has concluded that geologic changes in the shapes and sizes of gullies in the walls of Martian craters could only have been made by liquid water.

The team looked at two sets of images taken several years apart. In both cases, the second set of images revealed a light-colored substance several hundred yards long that had not been there before.

"The shapes of these deposits are what you would expect to see if the material were carried by flowing water," said Michael Malin, president of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, the firm that built the camera that took the pictures released today. "They have finger-like branches at the downhill end and are easily diverted around small obstacles."

Music: Year in Review

2006-12-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

Well, everyone knows we blog folk can't resist the lure of Top Ten mania, so here is my end-of-the-year offering to the Blog Gods...

Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2006:
1) Annuals - "Be He Me"
2) Phoenix - "It's Never Been Like That"
3) Zero 7 - "The Garden"
4) Belle & Sebastian - "The Life Pursuit"
5) Lily Allen - "Alright, Still" (U.S. release in Jan. '07)
6) TV on the Radio - "Return to Cookie Mountain"
7) The Shins - "Wincing the Night Away" (Jan. '07 release)
8) John Mayer - "Continuum"
9) Regina Spektor - "Begin to Hope"
10) Snow Patrol - "Eyes Open"

And as an extra added bonus…

5 Most Disappointing Albums of 2006:
1) Thom Yorke - "The Eraser"
2) Beck - "The Information"
3) Darkel - "Darkel"
4) Keane - "Under the Iron Sea"
5) Basement Jaxx - "Crazy Itch Radio"

A Day at Sea

2006-12-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

I had the rarest of opportunities last Friday. A good friend of mine is a civilian contractor for the Department of Defense, and works as an electrical engineer aboard Navy ships, maintaining the SPY-1 phased radar array, an integral part of the missile defense shield (and an incredible bit of engineering). One of the ships he works on, the USS Preble, hosted a friends and family day in San Diego.

After taking the train down Thursday evening, a first for me – riding a train in the U.S., that is – and waking up at some ungodly predawn hour, I found myself standing in the early morning light on the deck of one of the newest pieces of hardware in our Navy. 300 guests from around the country were onboard the 500-ft. Arleigh Burke class destroyer to experience a day at sea with the complement of nearly 400 sailors. After being served breakfast topside, we finally pushed off around 9am and made our way 25 miles out into the Pacific. My friend mentioned previously that the captain, an impressive and charismatic man, was very excited about this day and would be going all out to show his guests a good time, so we were all expecting a show, but I couldn’t have anticipated just how far that hospitality would extend.

First of all, the crew was incredibly gracious and friendly – not at all what I expected. Maybe I thought they’d be a little rougher around the edges, but immediately I realized how foolish that had been. Most were thoughtful and kind.

Throughout the day, we were treated to tours deep into the belly of the ship. Navigating cramped corridors and harrowing ladders, we made our way through everything from the mess hall to the berthing area (Navyese for sleeping quarters). We toured the bridge and enjoyed in-depth run-throughs of the intelligence and weapons systems within the Combat Information Center (CIC). Never did I imagine I would find myself walking around the most sensitive area of one of our nation’s most advanced military assets, listening to a lecture by the OS, or Operations Specialist, a senior officer entrusted to make split-second, life-or-death decisions on behalf of our country. At his fingertips are both tactical and strategic options (think Tomahawks), and to sit at his console and listen to him speak of the responsibility – and thrill – of his job was just too cool.

At lunchtime, two massive BBQs were set up on the helipad in the back – ahem, aft – of the boat and we chowed down like hungry seamen. Then came the fireworks…

The captain was determined to share with his guests a taste of the awesome power vested in his authority. First we were treated to shots from the 5” inch canon. Contrary to its name, this artillery piece packs a mean punch. The shell it fires is maybe four feet tall, and can be accurately placed some 12 miles into the distance. He let off five shots – three in quick succession – all of which exploded in the water on the horizon with devastating beauty. Then he went through a series of routines with the 20mm Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapons System). This bad boy is a six-barreled Gatling/chain gun that fires 100 depleted uranium rounds a second. The sound it makes is unlike anything I’ve ever heard – it’s the sound of ripping Death. The gun was put through a number of automatic patterns, slicing and dicing the water as it walked its rounds up to and around imaginary targets (poor fishies). Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the Vertical Launch System (VLS) in action – the heart of the destroyer’s weapons capability – but then again, I’m not sure I would want so many thousands of my tax dollars going to waste on my account. Plus, no need to scare Mexico like that.

The day, all in all, was a dream come true. Exploring such a fine piece of technical prowess was amazing, but it will be the crew and vibe that I remember most. I am proud of and humbled by their serving our country.

Some pics (click for full size):

These guys pulled us away from our slip.

A cruiser entering the harbor beneath the Coronado bridge as we head out.

By tradition, all sailors aboard the cruiser saluted in respect, as did all the seaman aboard the Preble.

Our zodiac escorts. Lowered over the side of our ship, we had one on each side until clearing the harbor. Any time a ship - whether fishing trawler or sailboat - came anywhere near the destroyer, these guys would immediately interdict, shadow, and remain between her and us. We definitely learned our lesson from Aden and the Cole.

The Bridge. Look at how small the helm's wheel is. If I were him, I'd feel slightly ripped-off.

These are their beds. Talk about cramped quarters. Apparently, these bunks are so narrow that you can't roll over once you're in them.

Us and the 5" gun (it's really windy here, as we pulling nearly 30 knots).

CIWS. The crew calls him R2-D2. I call him a bad-ass motherfucker.

Me and the captain's chair.

Making friends.

The money shot.

Our friend took some pretty kick ass videos of the guns being fired. You can check them out here.

Seinfeld: The Lost Episode

2006-11-29T19:06:00.000-08:00

Oh...my...God.

Melding of the arts

2006-11-29T18:39:00.000-08:00

Being a fan of both classical music and electronic dance music, this blew me away. I’d never thought I’d see such a thing, but Jeff Mills (Detriot techno pioneer) composed, scored and performed his seminal works with a full symphony, live in front of an audience. He did all this, no less, before the grand St-Clément Aqueduct in Montpellier, France.

Check it out (the German quickly gives way for English):

Hello again

2006-11-29T18:09:00.000-08:00

I've been gone forever - nearly a month now - but just when you thought it was safe, I'm back. Work has finally slowed to somewhat normal levels and I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things here.

Xerox is running a great campaign through which you can send a free, personalized, printed postcard to a real live American soldier in Iraq. The whole process takes seriously no more than 30 seconds, and means so much to our troops over there.

Please take a moment and send your love and appreciation to those serving our nation abroad. Just click the image below. Thank you.

Islam, Terror and the Second Nuclear Age

2006-10-30T15:37:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the absence – been extremely busy with work. Hopefully, things will slow down at the office in the coming weeks and I can return to posting regularly.

In the meantime, here’s a long, but valuable piece on the debate within Islam concerning different modes of violence (eg suicide attacks, collateral impact on innocents), and a look at the potential of Islamism one day embracing a nuclear strike.

Read Islam, Terror and the Second Nuclear Age.

Revisiting an Old Friend

2006-10-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

We were treated to a sneak preview reception last night at the Griffith Park Observatory (it opens to the public Nov. 3). They’ve done a pretty nice job with the place.

Walking up to the exterior, it looks exactly the same, but there’s an entire new wing…underground. It was built, incredibly, both under the existing structure and underneath the landscaping in front of the building. I have no idea how they managed that one.

The new hall is very attractive, very slick. On one wall - extending from the floor to the ceiling, and the entire length of the room (maybe 150 feet across) – is a blown-up image from Hubble’s Deep Field eye, with stars and galaxy clusters galore. It’s breathtaking. Directly across from that, floating out from a wall, are the 9 planets (Pluto retaining full status, apparently) and they’re in perfect scale to each other (in terms of size, not orbital distance). As I walk in and see them I let out an “Oh shit, they’re in scale!” and this docent walks by and goes “Yep! And so is the Leonard Nimoy Theater!”, pointing to a curved wall at the end of the hall. She explains: it’s a circular theater, and its diameter is that of the Sun, in scale to the hanging planets. WOW. (The staff, by the way, was friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic around every corner. It almost seemed as if they’d been waiting patiently for four years to return to the greatest job in the world.) There are a number of wall displays, some with simple text, others with audio/visual presentations, and yet others with hands-on interactive models. For instance, there is a see-through Lucite orb with a liquid-/gel-like orange substance within – when you spin it, the liquid flows in swirls of turbulence, modeling the flow of gases within Jupiter’s band. The child spinning it and catching it and spinning it again couldn’t get enough.

You then walk up a flight of stairs and, voila, you’re in the main rotunda with the pendulum swing (they restored all the original murals from the ‘30s in here and they look great). Unfortunately, you realize at this point that the new additions – in terms of exhibition space – aren’t that significant. The downstairs hall is definitely cool, but it only covers the solar system, and the Universe has lots to offer beyond the solar system. The room to the east of the rotunda has a new exhibit covering, on one side, light wavelengths (ie spectrometry) and, on the other, telescopes and the history of astronomers - ie Galileo, Kepler, Brahe and more of what you would expect here. There are some cool 3-D/holographic dioramas, but overall the room’s kind of whatever (although one end of it was still under construction). Here, like downstairs, a number of the displays and placards were still not done/posted, and plenty of the A/V buttons and what not didn’t work yet. Hopefully, once everyone’s up and running as it should be, kids or whomever can get lost in the displays for hours (although, that definitely wasn’t our experience last night).

The planetarium was closed, but I ducked my head in and it’s incredible. They yanked out those atrocious, WWII-era theater seats (complete with gimpy wooden headrests) and replaced them with lush, full-reclining theater/airplane seats. The theater is no longer in the round: everyone pretty much faces the same direction now. They also - I read this on a placard – replaced the old star projector with the newest, coolest one money could buy, so the shows in there should be great. Except that…

…they killed the Laserium! It’s never coming back. I spoke to a docent about it and it’s dead. I was mourning its loss when this attractive mother comes running over, having overheard: “Nooo!! I loved the Laserium! Back in the 70s, I used to come here with a date – lots of dates! – and we’d get hammered and the shows were just sooo cool.” “Me too!” I said. The three of us laughed, while the woman’s kids simply looked at us like WTF.

They added a Wolfgang Puck café downstairs on the west side of the building. The best part of this is the terrace overlooking the whole of the Westside. We arrived just after sunset and the view was spectacular – the sky was all crazy colors and we could see the ocean. That terrace would be a perfect spot for a date, or even just for a relaxing meal/drink.

Once it got dark, we headed up to the roof. In all my years of going up there, this was by far the clearest night I’d ever seen. The city was sparkling like no other – it looked like it’d been restored like the murals inside. It was almost eerie. The main telescope was open, but the line was ridiculously long, and they were only looking at Vega. Trivia: what does a one-dimensional dot look like up real close?..a one-dimensional dot. Our friends who insisted on waiting in line later confirmed this phenomenon, much to their chagrin. The rest of us went down below to a terrace just below the main roof and looked through a far smaller telescope (no wait!) through which we saw an open cluster in Cassiopeia. The volunteer called it the ET cluster because it, allegedly, looks like ET. She got a good laugh out of that one…many, many times. I personally didn’t see the little the waddling brown guy up there, but whatever…

Out front, down from the main entrance, are concentric circles drawn into the concrete, each with a metal placard. It turns out these are the orbits of the planets in our solar system, again in scale. If you look closely, you can actually tell that they’re ellipses and not circles. The docent (on hand to wish us goodbye) didn’t believe me, but then I bent down and measured the differences between each of the sides and she got a good schooling for free. There are the first four planets’ orbits real tight within a few feet of each other, but then you have to walk a good 10-15 feet to find Jupiter’s orbit and another 10 or so for Saturn’s, etc. Pluto, apparently, is way off across the concourse, next to the newly installed bust of James Dean. Pretty cool.

The biggest bummer about the whole thing is that, for the time being, there is no free public access to the site. We had to board buses at the Greek and get taken up and then back down, which is considerably better than what they’re apparently going to make the public do come November. Supposedly, everyone will have to book an appointment ahead of time, and then take a shuttle from Hollywood & Highland up there – no one will be allowed to drive up, period. Hollywood & Highland?! Could they choose a farther, more impacted meet-up point? It almost seems like a deterrent measure to me. Anyway, according to the website, this process will be a temporary fixture of the opening months. Once things settle down, they say they’ll consider dropping the appointment procedure - no word if we’ll ever be allowed to freely drive up there again, though. So sad, because this place was always a public landmark, one best visited spontaneously on a beautiful, meandering evening. They’re definitely deflating the experience somewhat.

Still, $93 million later, it’s absolutely worth a peek.

Halloween Dogs

2006-10-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

Does it get any better than this?!

More Halloween Dogs.

Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch as Seen from ISS

2006-10-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Breathtaking.

Dove Dishes on Divas

2006-10-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

A very cool commercial from the soap I can't do without.

Iraq Withdrawal, Part 2

2006-10-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

In line with the previous post, it seems the respected Iraq Study Group is nearing the same conclusion:

Panel to Seek Change on Iraq

A commission backed by Bush has agreed that 'stay the course' is not working, its leader says. A phased withdrawal is one option on the table.

By Doyle McManus
LA Times Staff Writer
October 16, 2006

WASHINGTON — A commission backed by President Bush that is exploring U.S. options in Iraq intends to propose significant changes in the administration's strategy by early next year, members say.

Two options under consideration would represent reversals of U.S. policy: withdrawing American troops in phases, and bringing neighboring Iran and Syria into a joint effort to stop the fighting.

While it weighs alternatives, the 10-member commission headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III has agreed on one principle.

"It's not going to be 'stay the course,' " one participant said. "The bottom line is, [current U.S. policy] isn't working…. There's got to be another way."...

...The Baker panel, called the Iraq Study Group, was formed in response to a proposal by members of Congress. Nevertheless, Baker sought — and won — Bush's endorsement.

Other members include former Rep. Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), who also served as co-chairman of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks; retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor; former Rep. Leon E. Panetta, a California Democrat who was President Clinton's chief of staff; and former CIA Director Robert M. Gates.

In its most recent closed-door meetings, the commission focused on two options drafted by experts outside the government.

One, titled "Stability First," calls for continuing to try to stabilize Baghdad, boosting efforts to entice insurgents into politics, and bringing Iran and Syria into plans to end the fighting.

The other, called "Redeploy and Contain," goes further. It calls for a gradual, phased withdrawal of American troops to bases outside Iraq where they would be available for strikes against terrorist organizations anywhere in the region.

The experts also prepared an option called "Stay the Course, Redefine the Mission," and an alternative urging a quick U.S. withdrawal, but the panel appeared less interested in those plans, participants said....

Click here for the full piece.

Iraq Withdrawal?

2006-10-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

Maybe it is time to cut our losses and pull out of Iraq.

I never thought I’d be saying this, but things are going from incredibly bad to worse, and our presence clearly isn’t having much effect in tamping down a progressing civil war. I wouldn’t endorse a full withdrawal – I believe the establishment of military and intelligence bases there is too valuable an asset to discard – but might it be time to remove U.S. troops from standing on corners and conducting patrols?

Check out this Vanity Fair feature article: Rules of Engagement: The Haditha Killings.

On November 19, 2005, in Haditha, during Kilo Company's third tour of duty in Iraq, a land mine planted by insurgents exploded beneath a Humvee, killing a 20-year-old Marine. What happened next—the slaughter of 24 Iraqi men, women, and children—was not entirely an aberration. These actions were rooted in the very conduct of the war. As the men of Kilo Company face investigation, the author exposes the political, military, and human realities that now make such carnage routine.

The piece is pretty darn long, but I believe it fairly describes the vicious and self-perpetuating cycle of violence bred by our continued presence in Iraq.