thoughts and objections

2002-12-17T01:01:00.000-08:00

OK, so the Tin House doesn't think it is that obscure. I'm just ignorant.

First published in 1967, twenty-seven years after the death of its author, Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita filled a void in Eastern Europe and Russia, where it was instantly and passionately embraced. In Russia there is a joke that seven out of ten people today will tell you it's their favorite book. Travel agencies offer walking tours of The Master and Margarita's Moscow, and the walls of the building Bulgakov lived in are scrawled with loving graffiti tributes to the novelist and his immortal characters. Phrases from the book have entered the common vernacular

And Lane's old friends at the2ndhand.com also published a story that mentioned the Bulgakov/Jagger connection. OK, so everyone already knew this.

2002-12-17T00:38:00.000-08:00

I'm back home after a fantastic weekend on the east coast. I knocked off Fast Food Nation on the ride out, so for the plane ride home, my generous host gave me a copy of an obscure Russian novel, Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. I should qualify that -- I don't actually know if it is obscure, but unless a Russian novel was written by Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky, I haven't even heard of it, much less read it -- so it's obscure to me. I got through half of the outstanding book on the flight and even got so caught up in the story that I read during my stopover rather than watch the football game on airport TV. Needless to say, I am enjoying the book -- and the cultural notes at the end of the text help to explain a lot of the 1930s Soviet pop culture references that I would have missed. Recommended.

So tonight I'm sitting at the computer, instant messaging with the euro-trash cousin, when the greatest song in the history of rock came on the radio. I did a quick google search to find out exactly when the Rolling Stones released Sympathy for the Devil (1968). The second link directed me to a Salon.com article on the song. Apparently, the author believes that Mick Jagger was heavily influenced by Bulgakov's novel in composing the lyrics for Sympathy for the Devil.

The song's opening -- "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste" -- parallels the beginning of Bulgakov's novel, in which a sophisticated stranger, who turns out to be Satan, introduces himself to two gentlemen sitting in a Moscow park as they're discussing whether Jesus existed or not. ("'Please excuse me,' he said, speaking correctly, but with a foreign accent, 'for presuming to speak to you without an introduction.'") The song then references Christ and the story of Pontius Pilate, which the novel takes up in its second chapter. Before moving on to the Russian Revolution, the song's narrator, Lucifer, acknowledges that his listeners are mystified -- "But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game" -- just as, in "The Master and Margarita," one of the men approached by Satan in the park thinks to himself, "What the devil is he after?"

I confess I didn't make the connection on my own, but it works. Odd coincidence.

2002-12-10T14:25:00.000-08:00

The previous post wasn't about you.

2002-12-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine and a life-long Republican confessed to me that he voted for the Democrat in the recent U.S. Senate election. I was pretty confused as to why a person who maintained the strongest party affiliation of any of my good friends would cross party lines in a critical election. He justified his choice by arguing that he was really just voting against Trent Lott as Senate Majority leader. At the time, I dismissed this concern as overreacting to a mostly harmless goodoleboy. And then Lott opened his mouth. Lott commented last week, expressing remorse that Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist Dixiecrat presidential bid was unsuccessful and noting that "we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years" if Thurmond had won. There is really only one way to interpret that comment -- as a policy preference for segregation. And now, after pressure from online commentators, Lott issued this half-assed apology, noting his "poor choice of words" and the "impression that [he] embraced the discarded policies of the past." Segregation is a "discarded policy?" Yeah, sure, we did reject it. Trent, when you have given the impression that you support one of the great evils in recent American history, it would have helped to condemn it, not merely discard it. (Scroll down to "Those discarded policies")

I don't want to give my friend too much credit, he did after all, wish for Daschle as Majority Leader. The same Daschle who stood up to defend Lott, even before the Mississippi bumbler apologized.

Get rid of Lott.

2002-12-06T23:42:00.000-08:00

Is there anything more confusing than a cricket recap? I once spent an afternoon in a Vancouver park watching a match, so I think that I kind of understand the basic idea: guy throws ball, trying to knock down a stick balanced on top of a couple others. Opponent, wearing hockey gear and holding a flattened baseball bat, attempts to knock the hell out of ball. 8 days later, the game ends.

In any event, I've been scoping Google News for the last couple of days and have seen a lot of cricket coverage. Apparently the rest of the world has another sport besides soccer. If anyone can translate this, please let me know.

Bowlers let CD off the hook, but will do better in Tests - Ganguly

...

Central Districts were in great trouble at 153/7, but ended with 295/9 declared, with Bevan Griggs gaining great praise from Ganguly for his 100 not out. The Indian skipper also labeled No 11 Lance Hamilton's assistance in the unbeaten last-wicket partnership of 58 as "a great effort."

Ganguly surprised by taking pace bowler Ajit Agarkar off after an over in which he took the wickets of Martyn Sigley and Andrew Schwass when Central were 153/7.

...

2002-12-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

Sweet. I'm employed. Just under three months removed from taking a buyout from my previous firm, I landed a gig here in Denver doing the kind of work that I really prefer. I start around the first of the year, so if anyone wants to fully exploit the great early season mid-week snow, you best get in touch with me soon.

2002-12-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

Innocents Abroad has a lengthy comment on the difference between Anti-Americanism and Europhobia. I'm not sure that I completely buy the entire "Europe is inherently totalitarian" thread running through Colin May's piece, but I thought this might be a good addition to the links below.

2002-12-04T00:55:00.000-08:00

Congrats to the Hawkeyes, BCS Bowl bound. Glad to see it, or I would have had to put up with some pretty heated bitching from the Iowa Crew (Jeff, Katie and Greg).

2002-12-04T00:27:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm not adding much analysis here, but my Euro-trash cousin wanted links to a couple of the recent columns & blog entries on the growing US/European divide, so I figured I'd post them here. My particular recommendations are the AE article immediately below and the Stott piece referenced in Instapundit.

(update: the cousin disagrees that he "wanted" the links and would prefer that this read "agreed to be subjected to," but note that he didn't disagree with the Euro-trash reference)

Sparking this whole mess is an American Enterprise article by Karl Zinsmeister, "Old And In The Way"

Geitner Simmons, "Our relationships with them are fundamentally changing"
Cited within that piece are:
Peter Ross Range at Blueprint, "They Still Don't Get It"
Porphyrogenitus at Ranting Screeds on the rivalry/ally/friend distinction

A Brit thinks that the article doesn't really apply to his country.

Instapundit has this on comments by James Lileks, Eric Raymond and Reid Stott.

2002-12-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

I have been thoroughly chastised for neglecting my blogging duties. For anyone interested, in the past two weeks I have interviewed with a couple of firms and now have an offer of employment outstanding. In the area of law that I want to practice. In Denver. This is good. But, I will have much less time for my other interests... like (poorly) entertaining you all. And playing with power tools. No more of that. Not so much skiing, either. Damn.

On to other topics...

Jeff prodded me into firming up my thoughts on the Total Information Awareness program last week. I spent six hours over three days trying to create a cogent argument to post here, then someone turned off my computer and didn't save my brilliant exegesis. So you are spared 1000 words worth of pithy comments and general radicalism. (I know, I know, my own damn fault for not saving. Still annoying.) In the mean time, Orin at Volokh Conspiracy made my point for me, which is essentially that Total Information Awareness doesn't do much more than the private sector already does (or could do). -- "I'm not entirely sure that TIA isn't something that Silicon Valley couldn't pull off in a few weeks, if they haven't developed the technology already." Volokh has a very good debate on the subject between two contributors above and below this post, definitely worth reading.

2002-11-22T00:26:00.000-08:00

I just had drinks with a friend from high school. In trying to figure out where many of our mutual friends are now, we realized something rather scary. Of the nine seniors in our 1995 CX debate class, there are seven lawyers or lawyers to be, a doctor and a future prof who is already an accomplished degree collector. Represented among the law schools are Yale, Stanford, Columbia, William & Mary, Colorado, BYU and WashU. The med student is at Penn. The degree collector has a pair of bachelors, a pair of masters and is currently choosing from among the best artificial intelligence programs in the country. slacker.

What is a grain and barley quality control agent to do?

2002-11-18T14:55:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine who is still waiting for his law firm job to start sent a broad email the other day and included these lines:

>>I have decided that I am never going to retire. Why? Because I am semi-retired right now, and there's just so much reading and looking up porn that a guy can do before he gets bored. (Mostly with the reading).

Now, I'll tell you that it is certainly possible to eventually get bored, but I am definitely loving the free time. After the winter, I may have add this entry to my resume:

November 2002- March 2003 Winter Water Quality Analyst
Vail Resorts, Inc., Summit County, Colorado
*Performed over a dozen daily analyses on the availability and quality of stored water at various facilities in the Colorado mountains
*Physically demanding position involving constant challenge

Sounds a little better than "ski bum"

2002-11-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

Dammit. Every time that I try to go out and find another good page, they always sound the same. Not that there is anything wrong with that... Here is another Minnesota Libertarian and his skewering of Garrrison Keillor's (second) self-important anti-Coleman flame.

Still taking nominations for good, left-leaning (political) blogs.

2002-11-13T12:23:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I can't access Greg's blog from the address bar in MSE*, but I can by following the link on Jeff's page. Odd. But here is Greg's tribute to pop culture and the Christie Christie problem.

*Yes, I know I shouldn't be using Microsoft's shitty software, but Opera won't do what I want it to and Netscape crashes every five minutes since I installed Mozilla 1.0. When I learn linux...

2002-11-13T12:10:00.000-08:00

Lane's comments last week, whether serious or not, have made me think a little more about the value of a common culture and the blogosphere's self-selecting viewpoint myopia. Given the pages that I read on a regular basis (Instapundit, Volokh Conspiracy, Andrew Sullivan, Jeff) and the odd page linked from these sites, I would think that every intelligent person in the world (and a few dumb ones, too) fits the fiscally conservative, socially liberal/libertarian/"eagle" mold. After reading these sites for only a couple of weeks, it becomes easy to miss fundamental differences in culture and discourse. For instance, I haven't a clue how someone could refer to CNN as "Tass for Republicans" (courtesy of isntapundit.com's summary of Salon's TableTalk discussion of election coverage --How's that for blogoshperically self-referential?). How exactly do you maintain your ability to argue with someone with whom you totally disagree when you only learn from those with whom you agree? I don't know. I don't know that I can.

It's disturbing that the best left-leaning commentary I read comes from a cartoon. Now taking nominations for intelligent, or at least well-written, left-leaning blogs.

2002-11-12T13:06:00.000-08:00

On the heels of an awful sports weekend (OU losing to A&M, Broncos getting shellaced by the octagenarian Raiders -- who throws 21 straight completions, anyway?, and the Avalanche still without a home victory a month into the regular season), I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on better memories. Like last Tuesday.

Take a look at this lengthy, insightful recount of the last days of the Minnesota Senate race. Again, I am stunned by the way that the Democrats underestimated the impact of the Wellstone memorial -- and overestimated Wellstone's coattails. Minnesotans voted for Paul Wellstone because of his principled refusal to compromise his beliefs. They voted for him not so much for the substance of those beliefs, but rather because he so staunchly refused to alter them for political gain. They voted for a man rather than his ideas. Paul Wellstone garnered respect not so much because of what he stood for, but rather because he stood consistently.

And for more on Minnesota politics, take a look at this NYT profile of temporary replacement Senator Dean Barkley. In typical Times fashion, they succeed in condescending to their readers and a sitting Senator. What rube only has 5 suits, anyway? And the Men's Wearhouse? How gauche!

2002-11-07T16:19:00.000-08:00

Instapundit hates the music industry too!

And I would be remiss not to throw out a link to Salon.com's excellent Clear Channel coverage. Eric Boehlert kicks ass.

2002-11-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

Jason Whitlock on ESPN.com's Page 2 actually made the first legitimate argument against a college football playoff system that I can remember. One of the great things about college football is that a team needs to go undefeated to (mostly) guarantee a shot at the national championship. This means that every game is a playoff game for serious contenders. To the extent that a playoff system would render the regular college football season less important, it would destroy the neurotic compulsion that I have to dedicate every waking moment of every fall Saturday to college football.

Interesting thought, but I would still have to believe that a small playoff -- 8 teams, no conference runners-up (Big 10, get a championship game) -- would generally only allow those teams with one loss to play and would guarantee that all undefeateds have a chance.

By the way, Jason Whitlock has some other really dumb ideas about sports and this thought about college football in no way endorses the idea that Barry Bonds is superior to Babe Ruth.

2002-11-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

OK, as long as I am on a music kick, I might as well throw out a thought that has been amusing me for a while. Tom Petty's new single, The Last DJ, is getting pretty heavy airplay on major radio stations. Tom Petty getting major support isn't itself surprising, but what does suprise me is that Clear Channel and other large media companies are playing a song that includes the lyrics:

There goes the last dj/
who plays what he wants to play/
and says what he wants to say/
hey hey hey/
There goes your freedom of choice/
There goes the last human voice

The song is benefitting from exactly the kind of major label push that eliminates the ability of on-air personalities to play their own choices. I just get a kick out of hearing that song on the radio.

Actually, the entire disc is a pretty searing indictment of the music industry. Money Becomes King and Joe are two more of my favorite tracks.

2002-11-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

For those curious, ungrateful bastard was Kooksie's nickname for me.

2002-11-06T22:59:00.000-08:00

Well, it didn't take long for this blog to make it beyond the one person I told about it. Lane McFadden welcomed me to the internet fold tonight with a spirited defense of bad music. Can't say that I truly appreciate the lasting value of Sk8er Boi, but, by the time we turn thirty (tic, tic, tic) I'm sure we'll all know the words to Avril Levigne's second masterpiece.

Sure, there is a value in us all having a common culture upon which to bond. I don't know how many times I've met friends of friends and instantly fell into the universal guy language of sports and movie quotes. But I do like being exposed to new things occasionally. I wouldn't mind if radio did bring me a new (or new to me) artist once in a while. When I have to purchase music to hear what I want, I am extremely unlikely to find a different artist or album. I have to know what it is before I can buy it.

Perhaps I had a greater expectation for radio than most people. Growing up in Denver, KTCL 93.3 actually played a true variety of obscure, ocassionally great music. For 40 years, this family owned station broke new ground in major radio with no playlist and the chance to hear the Connells next to Fugazi. I learned a ton about good modern rock music in high school. Then I went to college. One guess what happened to KTCL. They still pretend to play modern "alternative" music, but only the same 40 songs that you will hear in every other Clear Channel market.

2002-11-06T11:07:00.000-08:00

more on the election: Georgia, for the first time since reconstruction, elected a Republican governor. Landmark, but not really surprising. But who would have thought that Minnesota, Maryland and Massachusetts would also elect Republicans? While Kansas and Wyoming (and maybe Oklahoma) elect Democrats? These governorships certainly don't fit into the typical perceptions of their states as bastions of the opposing party. -- And Massachusetts nearly passed an amendment eliminating the income tax. I'm really not certain what to make of all this (especially since I didn't follow any of the races closely), but, to borrow a phrase from TMQ, these are the hidden indicators.

2002-11-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

Reactions to the election results... Glad to see Coleman beat out Mondale in Minnesota. I wonder if Rick Kahn realizes that he lost this election for the Dems. Less pleased about the Georgia result where Saxby Chambliss (R) beat out incumbent, moderate (D) Max Cleland. McCain was all over the TV last night lamenting the loss of the triple-amputee Vietnam veteran in large part because of a horrible attack ad questioning Cleland's patriotism. I wonder if Chambliss' win will drive McCain further out of the Republican inner circle. Really would like to see McCain in a position for a strong run at the presidency in 2008.

There are a few races still too close to call. The SD senate race featuring incumbent Tim Johnson (D) and John Thune (R) is still getting some of my attention. I went to school with John's nephew, Bob. Bob was one of the bible-beating, creation-science-loving, Campus Crusaders for Christ that made going to Oklahoma so special. I pray that John is a little more moderate -- or at least tolerant. Colorado's Seventh House district is also still undetermined. Bob Beauprez is one of the Reps that I wouldn't mind losing -- the head of the Republican party in his home county actually made an ad asking people to vote for his opponent. Speaking of bad Republicans from Colorado, Tom Tancredo of "deport the honor student" fame won huge.

2002-11-06T10:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks,Jeff, for the link. And the ego boost (though I have the sneaking suspiction that you are just trying to set me up for some devastating comeback). Those Iowegians, sneaky like that.

I just added a comment feature -- someone please let me know if it works.

2002-11-06T00:02:00.000-08:00

By the way, Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, is essentially leaving ESPN.com's Page 2. To work for Jimmy Kimmel. Damn it.

2002-11-05T22:42:00.000-08:00

Someone on CNN (Jeff Greenfield?) just mentioned that tonight's big Republican victory should actually narrow the field of potential Democratic candidates for the 2004 presidential nomination. By his reasoning, fewer Dems would be willing to take the political risk to challenge the terrifically popular President Bush.

Toss in a war with Iraq and tanking economy. Does this remind anyone else of 1992?

Like father, like son.

--In a sad commentary on my sources of political information, my clearest memory of the 1992 campaign is a SNL sketch featuring a Dem primary debate between Clinton, Tsongas, Gephardt, Simon and others, each arguing that they shouldn't be the nominee to face the popular president.

2002-11-05T20:28:00.000-08:00

McCain is making the rounds on the talk shows tonight. Saw him earlier on Larry King and I just flipped over to Comedy Central. Jon Stewart is interviewing John McCain, the closest thing to a political hero that I have, and McCain actually made a crack about the DC sniper. wtf?

2002-11-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

My blog. Jeff asked for it, so you get it.

I'm not feeling too creative right now, but I do want to put a little content on this page, so here is my rant against Clear Channel (5/02).

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 removed many of the legal impediments to condensation and collaboration among media outlets. The subsequent corporate merger and acquisition frenzy has led to a small number of familiar names controlling the traditional pipes through which most Americans receive their electronic information and entertainment. Disney/ABC/Microsoft, NBC/Microsoft, AOL/TimeWarner and Fox News Corp together control most of the video avenues through which information and entertainment enter the home. Additionally, the 1996 Act removed the national restrictions on radio station ownership. One company in particular, Clear Channel Communications has aggressively acquired a network of radio stations.

While the FCC has relaxed the limitation on owning no more than one AM and one FM station in any market to allow for eight total stations currently (fewer if the market is extremely small), the elimination of the nationwide ownership cap of 23 FM and 23 AM stations allowed Clear Channel to begin aggressively purchasing radio stations. The once small company has quickly grown to over 1200 stations, collecting approximately 20% of all radio advertising dollars and programming over 60% of all rock radio stations. The next largest competitor, Infinity/CBS, owns roughly 180 stations. Within individual markets, such as Denver, Clear Channel controls every station broadcasting certain popular formats and their attendant desirable target audiences. In 2000, Clear Channel purchased SFX, Inc. (now renamed Clear Channel Entertainment), the largest concert promoter in the country.

By threatening vulnerable artists and labels with reduced or off-hours air play on the only stations likely to air their songs, Clear Channel pressures artists, labels and concert venues into sweetheart deals with its promotions arm. When Blink 182 put on a concert in Cincinnati without using a Clear Channel station to promote the show, Clear Channel retaliated against the promoter by banning them from using the venue (which Clear Channel also controls). Off the record conversations (see this Salon.com article) also indicate that Clear Channel has directly retaliated against artists who spurn their services. In other cases, as with more established artists like Bonnie Raitt, Clear Channel is able to simply outbid local competitors and increase ticket prices for the consumers. In other instances in which local promoters are able to successfully outbid Clear Channel Entertainment for concerts, Clear Channel has refused to run advertisements for the shows or has aired them during undesirable time slots. This argument that Clear Channel is illegally tying its concert promotion business to its monopoly position in popular music radio underlies the Sherman Act proceeding currently underway in the District of Colorado, Nobody in Particular Presents v. Clear Channel Communications.

While antitrust laws may grant some relief to affected businesses, radio listeners have the most to lose when Clear Channel takes over their favorite local stations. Clear Channel is able to achieve huge economies of scale be centralizing functions such as playlist selection, contest administration, advertising and even on-air talent. Ever wondered why all radio now sounds the same? In large part, it is because the same disk jockeys and playlists cover the entire country. While these problems are less noticeable in New York, smaller markets will routinely hear a disk jockey pretending to be local while pre-recording his entire show thousands of miles away. Clear Channel advertises this “feature” to advertisers as leveraging “large-market on-air talent to deliver premium programming to smaller towns.” In addition to a lack of local input and news, Clear Channel also minimizes the impact that local listeners can have on playlist selection. By signing exclusive dealing relationships with independent music promoters, “indies,” Clear Channel in effect charges record labels for each song that gets added to the playlist. Rather than risk offending these lucrative partners, stations have little choice but to play only the songs that the indie recommends.

Internet radio may pose a viable competitor to the Clear Channel dominion. While internet broadcasting has the technical potential to replace or supplement radio as a viable form of audio communication, continuing efforts on the part of copyright holders to restrict the free flow of music seriously undermine the viability of this alternative. While radio broadcasting requires huge expenditures of capital in start-up fees for broadcast licenses, hardware and personnel, internet radio can start up for nearly nothing. These low costs have spawned a huge number of independent, commercial free stations that deliver music to narrowly tailored interests. If you want to find specific formats, radiolocator.com or radiotower.com can direct you to thousands of different streams. However, current limitations on wireless connectivity effectively limit internet radio to home use. Even more threatening are the new licensing fees mandated by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In response to complaints from the recording industry, Congress established a new system where internet broadcasters will be forced to pay a royalty based on the number of listeners that they attract. While the royalty itself may be inconsequential to the economics of traditional commercial radio, in the virtually costless world of internet broadcasting, the royalty will shut down many of the independent operators.

An additional competitor may be found in the new satellite based subscription services like XM. Again, however, it seems unlikely that a fee-based service like XM will be able to compete directly with radio broadcasters. Even assuming that XM is able to penetrate the streaming music distribution market, users will not have the kind of local community information and customization that once characterized radio. Low power community radio stations also provide some hope for competition. At the very least, these stations would serve to inform communities of local events and possibly could provide outlets for local, independent artists. Again, however, Clear Channel has been a leading, vocal opponent in FCC rulemaking that would allow community radio.