December 2011
14 posts
November 2011
35 posts
“Reporting is not walking around with a tape recorder or a notebook and a...”
– These Nieman Storyboard essays are all so good. (via frontofbook)
2 tags
"People are tired of simple things. They want to...
Umberto Eco, on the subject of his new book and living up to “The Name of The Rose”:
“I think a book should be judged 10 years later, after reading and re-reading it. I was always defined as too erudite and philosophical, too difficult. Then I wrote a novel that is not erudite at all, that is written in plain language, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, and among my...
Yao Ming, expressed as wine
counterparties:
Yao Ming really likes Napa.
“I really like Napa Valley,” said the former center. “California represents vacation, casual [living], sunshine—everything related to a good quality of life.”
And his personality can be bottled and consumer:
“We tasted a lot of wine together and got to know him in a way so I could express his personality in the wine,” said Mr. Hinde. “He’s...
Counting with Bruce Springsteen →
Always loved Stiller’s impressions of Bruce. They’re more Bruce than Bruce.
5 Notable Said at The McCarthy Family Thanksgiving...
1. “Everything’s a casserole!”
2. “I am not naming my daughter ‘Viper’”
3. Me: “Can I have a high-five?”
Child: “No thank you.”
(repeated 50 times)
4. “Every sonogram looks like you.”
5. “The Dolphins aren’t that bad!”
Because Black Friday has already destroyed your...
counterparties:
…here are the most liveable alien worlds ranked.
3 tags
Whatever you do, don't say what you believe in GOP...
There’s something terribly broken about our political discourse when a GOP candidate has a “stumble” or gaffe by expressing a moderate position.
Reuters reports on Newt Gingrich’s bold, daring embrace of a policy that doesn’t involve arresting and deporting millions of illegal immigrants who’ve been in the U.S. for years. Here’s Gingrich:
“If...
cholas at the vet talking about 'breaking dawn'
1: You see the new Twilight?
2: No. I never got into it like all that.
1: I saw it this weekend. It was real good.
2: You went with Sammy and them?
1: Yeah.
2: Yeah. She like, loves it. What happened?
1: Well, like. Kristen Stewart got pregnant but the baby was like, crushing bones or something because it was growing too fast.
2: Wait, who did she get pregnant by?
1: Edward!
2: Oh, right. Okay.
1: So like, all of her friends were like, 'You should not have that baby,' but she was like, 'No, I want to keep it,' and then she died.
2: She died? You wouldn't expect that because her character is really popular.
1: Yeah, she died. She got all sick and she looked like, crazy.
2: Damn.
1: But she came back to life as a vampire.
2: She hadn't been one before?
1: No. That's the whole thing.
: The Euro as booby trap →
counterparties:
Peter Coy, on why the Euro is more restrictive than the gold standard”
“The most unfortunate difference between then and now is that the euro, unlike the gold standard, is a raccoon trap: Its designers deliberately left out an exit procedure. That means you can get in, but you can’t get out…
“The Republican negotiating objective is low taxes, but the Democratic...”
– The pathetic truth: Baseline Games (via nickbaumann)
bobbymacReports: Is it ironic? From the flack... →
bobbymacreports:
Here is an excerpt of an email I received on Wednesday:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 16, 2011
Contact: Jack Myers
jm@xxxxxxx.com xxx-xxx-xxxx
A new study among 1,000 college-aged students (17-21) conducted by Jack Myers Media Business Report found that “Internet Natives” are actively…
Made my day
A sobering reminder to Bradley Cooper and his fans
You’ve won nothing.
: Lobbyists are so powerful they can turn pizza... →
counterparties:
From the AP:
“The final version of a spending bill released late Monday would unravel school lunch standards the Agriculture Department proposed earlier this year. These include limiting the use of potatoes on the lunch line, putting new restrictions on sodium and boosting the use of whole…
Blue Dog Dems endorse ruining everything for...
There are very legitimate reasons to be worried about the national deficit, especially in the medium and long-term.
In the near term, there are even more legitimate reasons to be scared to death that “Blue Dog” Democrats are supporting a balanced budget amendment that’s scheduled for a House vote.
Requiring the budget to be balanced every year is a good thing, right?...
Full text: Judge rules against Occupy Wall Street →
counterparties:
New York judge bans things like:
“…camping and/or the erection of tents or other structures…lying down on the ground, or lying down on benches…the placement of tarps or sleeping bags or other covering on the property…”
Munis-as-subprime-borrowers →
counterparties:
Bloomberg Businessweek has a great story on the murky world of auction rate securities today. The idea is that municipal planners, like subprime borrowers, had no idea what they were getting into in signing up for these deals. Now munis are locked into some very questionable swaps deals that require huge payments to Wall Street to terminate:
Martin O’Malley, Baltimore’s...
All The Economist's Anti-Berlusconi Covers
alexleo:
PARENTHETICAL OF THE YEAR
pareene:
“(The media’s obsession with the Penn State sex scandal can be explained by the fact they think it will hurt Herman Cain.)”
2 tags
How to mess up a trend story
The NYT botches a story today on entrepreneurs who don’t speak English. Interesting topic that’s worthy of much better execution. Here’s how they accomplished it:
1. Use really bad data that tells us nothing useful.
2. Come off as condescending about your “trend.” (I.e. imply the act of making money somehow depends on using the English language. Or suggest...
How Bill Daley completely misread America →
counterparties:
Jonathan Chait on why Daley was demoted as Obama’s chief of staff:
“The effort failed because Daley’s analysis — which is also the analysis of David Brooks and Michael Bloomberg — was fatally incorrect. Americans were not itching for Obama to make peace with corporate America. Americans are in an angry, populist mood — distrustful of government, but even more distrustful of...
