Florida Politician Sues Constituent Over Public Criticism

As a New Jersey resident, I have a front-row seat to observe political knuckleheads in action. However, I do understand that other states in the Union offer similar entertainment value. Among the leading contenders is the Sunshine State, land of Bush v. Gore.

The Miami Herald published a story today which notes the vice mayor of Miami Lakes is suing a constituent for criticism of Hizzoner. The vice mayor (sic) is charging the constituent with libel and slander; the defendant's position is that her remarks were intended to criticize remarks made by the mayor in a public forum. The silly lawsuit's details are the heart of the story, and are best read while enjoying a chilled, adult beverage.

I'm unfamiliar with Miami Lakes (ML). According to a map of the area, ML is a suburb of the Miami of Miami Vice. To better understand the town's character, I looked online for photographs of the municipality. Here's an image I found:

To date, the vice mayor has not objected to any commentary from the bovine community.

"The One" Likes "The View"

"The One," a/k/a Barack Obama, shattered "The View's" ratings records during the president's appearance on the program this past week. Methinks the Big O is discovering that managing a presidency via television appearances is the way to rule.

Audition with a Vampire

Since tonight isn't my night for communicating developed story lines or thoughtful lines of reasoning, I'll let five news items do the evening's heavy lifting.

1. Anne Rice leaves Christianity. The story notes she's seen two of the movies in the Vampire series, but hasn't read any of Stephenie Meyer's books.

2. Literary agent Andrew Wylie "threatens broad digital expansion." -- A story of interest to Ms. Rice, Ms. Meyer, and authors who have signed away their e-book rights.

3. Newark municipal swimming pools kept open via corporate donation. -- Strictly personal. I did some business with the donating firm some years ago. The more intriguing part of the story is the reference to a donation from another firm. In this case, the beneficiary is Newark's collective tush, as the donation consisted of thousands of rolls of toilet paper.

4. California governor orders new round of unpaid furloughs. How much TP would the Golden State need? State and local government finance crisis will be very prominent in 2011. Where will the money come from?

5. Don't do this at home. Go to the link. The Mischa Barton photo is the story. There are some things you just can't make up.

PS. The top image is a still from The Vampire Lovers, a UK production featuring a Polish actress portraying one of film's first explicitly lesbian vampires.

Wisconsin As Cyclist Haven

The New York Times ran a pretty good piece on bicycling in southern Wisconsin. The story made a point of talking about Blue Mounds, one of my favorite Wisconsin landmarks. I thought Blue Mounds and the adjacent countryside was very beautiful, and I never tired of visiting the area.

While the area has undoubtedly evolved in the three-and-one-half decades since I was last there, some things have not changed. The Times writer visited Mount Horeb, a town not far from Blue Mounds, and enjoyed an award-winning Wisconsin microbrew. It's hard to imagine Wisconsin without good beer.

The etching was created by Larry Welo, an artist who moved to Blue Mounds from Minneapolis. It's currently hanging in the office of Wisconsin lieutenant governor Barbara Lawton, along with other artwork from Badger State artists.

County Fair

We last attended a county fair five or six years ago. It was held in outside Rhinebeck, New York, the Hudson Valley town best known for New Age medicine and Chelsea Clinton's nuptials. The Rhinebeck fair had just enough animal exhibits to sate my curiosity. That's saying a lot, as I am a complete sucker for displays of cows, chickens, and other barnyard creatures.

I read stories about county fairs when they appear in the MSM. Today's Chicago Tribune, for instance, contained an article about fairs in the suburban counties forming a collar around the Windy City. One notable aspect of the story is how the fairs' appeal has diminished for the mainly new, presumably once-urban residents of the various Chicagoland counties.

One wonders whether county fairs are a vanishing American ritual. I hope not: there's something appealingly subversive about farm animals in a suburban environment.

Freedom of Photography

Today's Washington Post included a story addressing the rights of individuals to photograph public buildings and public venues. While the article focuses on the District, the issues are applicable to other American cities and towns.

My wife, in her fine art photographic ventures, occasionally encounters someone who tells her she can't take a picture of a public place. It's a live issue for her, and by extension, for anyone who is concerned about photographic freedom.

To Rest or Not to Rest?

I spoke this evening with a friend who took a day off from work today. Historically, she has uneasily wrestled with the idea of taking a twenty-four break from paid employment. I understood her misgivings. Sometimes, it's quite difficult for me to fully embrace the idea of rest. I often skirt the issue by dawdling over a project, or giving some task insufficient attention.

My friend's episode, and my own approach, made me wonder how others come to a decision regarding rest. Is it easy or difficult to decide? Is there a schedule involved? Are there "planned" days or periods for rest? How does one value rest?

I can't say I have any coherent notions, plans, or useful background on this topic. However, the question and the exploration toward its answer is pertinent for all of us, and certainly fitting with the dog days of summer approaching.

Ric Burns' "Gold(man) Rush" and Daniel Schorr

Documentarian Ric Burns just found out how the reverse Midas touch feels, thanks to a Wall Street Journal piece noting his current work on a documentary on Goldman Sachs.

The article discussed some project details that must have been embarrassing for Burns. It appears Goldman is funding the project. The article also asserted that Goldman has editorial control over what appears in the finished product. The investment firm, for its part, claimed that the documentary is solely intended for internal use.

These now-public details have aroused the ire of some other documentary film makers, who view Mr. Burns' acceptance of Goldman's conditions as profoundly jeopardizing the project's integrity. In fact, l'affaire Burns tarnishes the PBS-blessed documentarian's reputation. The Goldman project's terms also mock the independence that documentary film makers in the United States (including Ric Burns' more famous brother Ken) have leveraged to create outstanding work over the past decade. Their efforts often explored subjects MSM news departments (including PBS) either did not want to touch or were too compromised to truthfully depict.

The Wall Street Journal story, for reasons I cannot understand, did not discuss Ric Burns' other Goldman-funded venture. The firm, according to promotional material from Film Forum/New York, bankrolled Burns' documentary on Andy Warhol. The Journal story, had it bothered to truly care about Mr. Burns' "independence," would have wondered how his perspective was influenced in Burns' 2003 television project "celebrating" Columbia University's 250th anniversary as an institution.

Instead, Goldman Sachs was a nice, juicy, currently unpopular target. It's fair that Burns' relationship with the firm, and the terms of the project, enter a public forum. However, it's fatuous to be implicitly critical of Burns and Goldman without taking the trouble to examine and present a reasonably complete story.

This flaccid style of journalism, as well as a willingness to play fast and loose with documentary integrity, would have rankled Daniel Schorr. A one-time prominent CBS News reporter, Schorr came from the old school. His journalistic outlook was formed through experience covering the Soviet Union, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush, and other hard cases. Schorr passed away a few days ago, and one wonders who will pick up his torch. Mr. Burns, for all his Emmys and PBS accolades, hardly seems a worthy candidate. Mr. Burns should read the obituaries on Schorr, and internalize why the late reporter was such a good, though not always simon pure, journalist. The reading and reflection might improve Burns' work.

I'm skeptical that Burns will go against type. However, should the unlikely occur and Burns endeavor to create work based on fact, I have a suggestion for the subject of his next project: Daniel Schorr. I think he'll strike gold with it.

What's In A Name?

For over four decades, I've kept part of my name secret. It's my confirmation name.

If you're unaware of this nuance of Roman Catholic practice, the following Wikipedia entry will be helpful:

Confirmation is in all Roman Catholic churches, a rite of initiation normally by laying on of hands and/or anointing for the purpose of bestowing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Included in the Confirmation ritual is the selection of a Confirmation name. At that time in my life, I was religiously inclined. I looked through a book of names acceptable for Catholic rites. One of them was Alexander, which appealed to me. However, the name I chose was connected to the very early days of the Catholic Church -- Sixtus.

As I matured, I became uncomfortable with the choice. It was just something I wouldn't talk about, not that anyone asked. My parents knew the name; beyond them, I don't have any idea who knows, or who cares.

Now, you do.

Blame Biology

There's a commercial on TV promoting a skin care product, using the pitch "blame biology" to catch a viewer's attention.

Well, it worked, in that the line got my ear. I thought about preparing a list of things on which I could fault biology. Then I realized that list could be a long one, and I would be better off thanking biology for some wonderful moments in my life.

On which list should sex appear?

China Rating Agency Rips West

It's an interesting story which appeared in today's Financial Times. Here's one segment:

“The US is insolvent and faces bankruptcy as a pure debtor nation but the rating agencies still give it high rankings ,” [head of China's largest credit rating agency] Mr Guan said. “Actually, the huge military expenditure of the US is not created by themselves but comes from borrowed money, which is not sustainable.”

A wildly enthusiastic editorial published by Xinhua , China’s official state newswire, lauded Dagong’s report as a significant step toward breaking the monopoly of western rating agencies of which it said China has long been a “victim”.

“Compared with the US’ conquest of the world by means of force, Moody’s has controlled the world through its dominance in credit ratings,” the editorial said.

A Donkey Could Do It

Did Tilda Swinton get it right?

Some time ago, the British actress told an interviewer that a donkey's performance in Robert Bresson's Au hasard Balthazar was one of the screen's great performances. She wasn't talking about a human actor; an animal is the lead character. I've seen the movie and I think she has a point.

One could argue there are many two-legged actor donkeys who have worked, or who are currently working, in motion pictures. Hmmm...top ten actor-donkeys...let's start on the male side of the ledger...

By the way, Swinton confirmed her statement in a recent interview done to plug her new starring vehicle, I Am Love. Inquiring minds wonder whether Swinton has expanded her universe of possible donkeys to include film critics she doesn't like.

Return to the Soil

Last night, I walked in a preserved wooded parkland near my suburban residence. Along the trail were signs intended to illuminate some aspect of the local environment. One read "Return to the Soil." It briefly pointed out the ecological benefits decomposition brings to the soil and to the parkland's animals.

Living in constant contact with the soil is not an easy fit with my largely urban background. However, I'm quite curious when I meet people whose desire to work the land motivates their life decisions. A neighbor of mine is one such person. For many years, he toiled in the financial industry, lived in major metropolitan areas, and had not so much as spent a full day or night on a farm. When someone said "country" to him, he immediately reached for his passport. Lately, he's developed a strong interest in purchasing land and using a large portion of it to grow crops. Tilling the soil, growing plants, harvesting them, understanding the earth underneath his feet intrigues him. Given that he's approaching retirement age, and that farming involves uncompromising physical labor, his perspective takes courage.

In my neighbor's case, the call of the soil is as seductive as the lure of the sea for a nascent fisherman. I believe the adage about fishing also applies to farming: it's better to be taught to fish, rather than have the instructor hand over a fish.

PS. The photograph shows the historic stone barn and land of the Thomas Family Farm, a recently preserved property in southwestern Wisconsin.

Saturday Night at the Drive-In (Take Two)

My wife and I got out of the house on Saturday, with no agenda in mind and nowhere in particular to go. Around sunset, we ended up along the New York-New Jersey border near the Jersey ski resorts. During our hunt for a decent Italian joint, we saw a long line of cars pulling into a drive-in movie theater. Well, we just had to go.

Drive-ins are something of an endangered species. Amy and I both grew up going to drive-ins, so we're sentimental about them. My wife remembered when her mother and a family friend took all the kids to one in their pajamas. I couldn't remember the previous time I went to a drive-in, but I saw one of the two scariest movies in my life -- The H-Man, a Japanese sci-fi film -- at an upstate New York drive-in when I was in elementary school.

Saturday's drive-in attracted a crowd that arrived mostly in SUVs and pick-up trucks. Don't get the wrong idea: we drive a crossover vehicle. This was one relaxed crowd, complete with its own lawn chairs or improvised car seating. We could only get into the "family" movie, so we weren't surrounded by horny or anxious date night couples. That also meant we were hardly in a position to act on our desires once darkness arrived.

In a way, none of that mattered. We were really intrigued by watching a movie on a screen under the stars. Our bonus for the evening was that, thanks to parking on an embankment, we could see all three movies being shown. This drive-in theater, as with its multiplex relatives, had to give in to the times and divide its once grand space into three smaller areas. Each screen at the drive-in showed a different movie. Now that was interesting.

But we did miss the oversized metal speakers for the soundtrack that one attached to a car door. The 21st Century drive-in pumps sound through the FM bands. That's a bit of a letdown. However, seeing the movies on larger-than-life screens -- even bad movies -- was worth it. Of course, if we hadn't been surrounded by families, we might not have watched the movies at all.

I wonder how many parents have told their kids they were conceived at a drive-in?

Saturday Night at the Drive-In (Take One)

My wife and I took an unplanned trip to a drive-in movie complex on the northern side of the New York-New Jersey border. A few things have changed in the decades since our last drive-in movie adventure.

Many people use their utility vehicles' rear ends for seating (no pun intended). Movie sound, rather than coming through ungainly metal speakers that one attached to the side of a door, comes through the FM radio bands. The most curious change was the number of available screens. This drive-in offered three screens; each one showed a different movie than the other two. And while tonight (Saturday) is historically "date night," most people attending the picture were parents with children.

The show was crowded, so we parked at the top of an embankment. This gave us superb sightlines to see all three movies (The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Despicable Me, Inception) at once, as well as fireworks reflecting off the surrounding hills. While we paid to see Despicable Me, I was intrigued to go from one film to another. The best part was the animated retro commercial for the concession stand, which featured a talking hot dog and a talking bun eventually finding bliss together. (This segment is shown in the "Sandy" number from Grease). Despicable Me was dull, but that didn't matter. The experience felt connected to a vanishing and purely American spectacle. At one point, my wife noted I wasn't especially attentive to Despicable Me. "Amy," I said, "no one goes to a drive-in to watch the movie." Then I leaned over and smooched her, as it was now dark and the children from nearby vehicles were focused on the film.

Drive-ins have historically annoyed cinephiles and most serious film critics. I don't care: drive-ins are fun. The event also serves to usefully remind us that most movies are made to entertain people. It would be great fun to rent out the complex, invite friends, and watch movies we like on an outdoor screen.

A Skyful of Lies

Some months ago, the Myanmar government declared that news stories, anecdotal evidence, and diplomatic accounts of its repressive regime were "a skyful of lies."

The vivid metaphor could very easily applied to other situations close to home. The baseless characterization of President Obama as a "socialist" is a case in point. The insistence that the Obama health plan included "death panels" is another example. The recent SEC-Goldman Sachs settlement, which the Federal agency tried to spin as a victory for federal protection of consumers, easily fits the metaphorical comparison.

I wonder what the sky will look like when I wake up tomorrow morning.

UFO Sighted Over China

A country is not really a superpower until it experiences UFO sightings. Apparently, China has now entered the big leagues of nation-states. Yahoo picked up a report from ABC News regarding a mysterious sighting in the night skies over Hangzhou. Keep in mind that Hangzhou is no Roswell; it's a major city in the Middle Kingdom's Yangtze River Delta region. There was no reported contact between any alien creatures and the four million or so people who live in the city and surrounding area.

Asia the Player

Gillian Tett, one of the Financial Times' star writers, contributed a sobering piece in today's edition about Asian sovereign investment vehicles and their influence on European financial issues. This excerpt from the article is noteworthy:

During most of the past 20 years, Europeans have assumed the US is the key source of power in global finance. However, the Busan episode [Inner Harbor note: a recent G20 finance meeting] shows how this is now shifting, and applies beyond the eurozone.

The BIS last week ranked western countries by their dependence on non-domestic sovereign bond investors. Greece and Italy topped the rankings. However, third came the US, which is currently selling almost half of its debt to non-Americans, many of whom are in Asia.

One very vexing development in the US is its debt situation. It's just not a good idea to live on the kindness of strangers. At some point, their money will purchase influence that may not be in our country's national interest.

Few policy makers are willing to speak publicly about where the money to pay for the United States public and private debt will be found. Where's the funding going to come from?

Steinbrenner, New York's Impact on Sports, and a Personal Steinbrenner Story

The notice of George Steinbrenner's passing, mere days after legendary Yankee public address announcer Bob Sheppard died, reminds me of something my father told me. We were watching a Yankee game on TV when the Yankees were fielding bad teams. My father, an ardent Brooklyn Dodger fan, shook his head slowly. "It's not good now. You see, baseball needs a strong New York team for financial reasons. The good Yankee teams fill the ballpark, and the New York home gate means the visitors get a lot of money. It's usually money they need."

Major League Baseball, which has the amazing knack of attracting stupid owners and incubating dumb front offices, didn't catch on to this simple fact of sports economics for a long time. It took free agency to wake them up, and the owner who immediately understood how to exploit its competitive advantages was George Steinbrenner. The Cleveland native also grasped how New York's aura and the Yankees' heritage could be leveraged into box office dynamite.

When Steinbrenner started out with the Yankees, he followed the team on the road when they were in a pennant race. A few months after I graduated from the University of Wisconsin, my former roomate and other friends went on a cold autumn night to see the Yankees play the Milwaukee Brewers. As County Stadium was nearly empty, they got to sneak into the expensive seats and, eventually, near Steinbrenner, Yankee general manager Gabe Paul, and others in the Yankee entourage. Steinbrenner rooted hard for his team, as it was fighting to win a pennant. As one of my friends recalled the story, Yankee outfielder Lou Piniella tripped over the second base bag during a Yankee rally. Steinbrenner got upset: "Fuckin' Piniella," he growled.

Yes, Steinbrenner cared. He also made sure the County Stadium ushers didn't throw my friends out of the box seats. They were Yankee fans, and for George Steinbrenner, that mattered. A lot.

Canadian Geese "Cleansed" from Prospect Park

Today's New York Times includes a story on the city's roundup and euthenizing of 400 Canadian geese inhabiting Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

The story has some interesting angles, such as animal rights, air passenger safety, feeding the needy, as well as insight into how reality is, or is not, perceived.

Let me start with the last point, and connect it with a statement from someone quoted in the story: "It's a horrible end," said Anne-Katrin Titze, who went to the park nearly every morning to feed the geese. "It's eerie to see a whole population gone. There's not one goose on this lake. It looks as though they've been Photoshopped out."

New York officials intend to dump the 400 gassed geese in a landfill. Other states, which have conducted similar goose hunts, don't bury the dead animals. Instead, geese are turned into animal feed.

The Feds get in on the act, too. According to the Times story, the Agriculture Department donated 900 pounds of euthenized goose breast to Pennsylvania food pantries.

All that bureaucratically-sanctioned slaughter doesn't make the prospect of having a cooked goose an appealing one. And I certainly don't foresee a rush of goose recipes appearing in the Times' dining section anytime soon.

Crowd Funding

Director David Lynch is attempting to finance a new film project through "crowd funding." According to an article in the UK newspaper The Independent, the financing scheme involves on-line appeals to fans. Those who give money to Lynch receive some form of compensatory acknowledgment, depending on how much money one contributes.

You should read the Independent story for details on Lynch's initiative. The article also discusses other directors using on-line funding approaches for new projects. The assumed rationale for the mass-market, web-sourced funding is allegedly a change in those connected to Hollywood willing and able to pony up money for risky endeavors.

One wonders if there's more to this story than meets the eye. Perhaps directors such as Lynch have cast a curious glance at the music business and its financing issues. For a few years, musicians have pursued varieties of marketing efforts analogous to the "crowd funding" model. The purpose of their experiments is to determine a suitable web distribution model, so that they can circumvent recording firms and their commercial interests.

Notably, the two "name" directors cited in the Independent story -- Lynch and Ridley Scott -- have significant interests in television productions. It's not hard to imagine the "crowd funding" model moving to the small screen, where production budgets are typically a fraction of what an A-list, first-run, feature length film cost.

Maysa Leak

Maysa Leak can sing. I'm just becoming familiar with her repertoire, which spans the past two decades. My understanding is that she worked extensively in the UK, notably with the band Incognito. When I listen to her songs, though, she strikes me as an independent voice rather than a singer inseparable from a band's sound. Her style, which refreshingly blends jazz, r&b, and some funk, respects a tune while respecting herself.

Leak's Baltimore connection also interests me. She was born and raised in Baltimore County, and lives in the Baltimore area now with her son, Jazz.

I'm not wild about Maysa's "official" website. An uncomplicated online search will turn up other sites with rich, coherent information about her career, music, and life. The music, easily available via web outlets, is worth checking out this summer, or anytime, for that matter.

Verizon, ATT Subsidies

According to today's Washington Post, Verizon and AT&T each received over one billion dollars in federal subsidies. The idea was to encourage development of rural telephone networks.

Attracting capital, whether it's financial or human, to rural America is rarely easy. Many parts of "the sticks" can't get first-rate medical care or Internet service. For someone who lives in or adjacent to a major urban area, the idea that Barney Fife can't get online seems like a joke. I have some sympathy to the rural perspective in this case. I grew up in a small town, went to school with farm kids, and could look out my bedroom window and see cows in the fields. The predominant feeling in town was that their taxes went to the big city (in this case, New York) and the local residents were getting fleeced.

The current development of rural telephone markets suggests the farmers are getting their revenge. However, Verizon and AT&T are big city operations all the way. I don't know what's fair in this issue, but I don't believe many Verizon or AT&T execs live in the boondocks.

Bob and Gene's

A friend recently sent me a Facebook link about Bob & Gene's, a now-vanished bar in Madison, Wisconsin. If you attended UW-Madison, I think you will agree the Facebook link's photographs present an accurate depiction of the bar. My wife saw the photos and affectionately characterized Bob & Gene's as "a dive."

I never thought of Bob & Gene's in that way. I knew people who went there, the beer was inexpensive, and the atmosphere appealed to me. The conversations were pretty earthy and often a lot of fun; the highbrow talk was consigned to a bar across the street that served "schooners" of beer.

I've only consumed green beer on St. Patrick's Day once in my life, and that was at Bob & Gene's. The green stuff was godawful, and I've avoided bars on St. Patrick's Day ever since that episode.

21st Century Hickies

A CBS Early Show segment discussed the current fad of teens biting each other. The teens' goal is to emulate vampire bites, including the drawing of blood. This phenomenon has its interesting side, as the bites' more benign relative -- hickies -- seemed to be déclassé. The red welts were just simply not to be seen, only felt.

Those were the days. Now, the bar has been raised, blood has been demanded, and busy teens are actively trying to sate that lust. But is it true that there's no better feeling than a good bite?

Disney's English Language Schools

As a former ESL (or ELL) teacher, the Financial Times story about Disney's English language learning schools in China caught my eye.

According to the article, Mouse Ears' instructional tools include using its repertoire of Diz characters, such as Mickey and Goofy. The use of in-house symbols is nothing new in English language training. Missionaries, for instance, have typically leveraged Biblical figures in their religious-linguistic educational hybrid. The new religion of brand management has simply lifted these teaching techniques to achieve greater market share. The goal of the religionists and capitalists are the same -- conversion.

Independence Day in Rome and New York

When I lived in Rome, America's Independence Day was just another day in the Eternal City. Yet, thousands of miles from anything resembling the United States, I had an irrepressible urge to have a picnic, eat American-style food, and drink ice tea or beer. (Ice tea is a decidedly un-Italian beverage.) I got together with a few friends who shared a similar feeling, found someplace to eat outdoors, and had a makeshift celebration.

Most other Independence Day gatherings haven't stayed with me as the Roman one has. The New York holidays are mostly memorable for fireworks displays. When I lived in Astoria, at that time a largely Greek community, the 4th of July was living hell for my cats. The fireworks hurt the animals' sensitive hearing and the noise frightened them. I could not help or console them. I wanted the neighbors' gunpowder orgy over with as quickly as possible.

One brighter holiday memory was watching fireworks over New York Harbor. I was invited to a rooftop July 4th party along Brooklyn's Red Hook waterfront. At that time, Red Hook was a somewhat menacing slum where one could feel desperately anxious on its dimly lit streets. The rooftop was like any other New York tenement rooftop on a hot summer night, except that it commanded a sensational view of Lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and the harbor. And so, while enjoying Mexican food and beer, I watched a celebration of our nation's independence with a mixed crowd of American citizens and undocumented aliens.

AIA Guide to New York

The 5th, and newest, edition of the AIA Guide to New York City is now available. The work, designed for laypeople while remaining informative to the professional architecture community, is a "must-read" to understand New York City's personality.

My father bought an edition nearly a half-century ago. He worked in lower Manhattan at the time, and found the area's architecture intriguing. He read the AIA Guide to help him see architectural principles and nuances to which he was untutored. The buildings also served as something of a backdoor approach into the city's history.

I used the AIA Guide as a reliable touchstone when, as a teacher, I took my immigrant and refugee students on field trips to Manhattan south of Canal Street. My instructions were simple: look straight ahead at the lowest floors, and look up to the sky. The buildings' signatures tend to be in those two locations. After that, I asked them why would one build a structure in that manner. What does that say about New York, its expectations, its ambitions, its blind spots?

Beryl Bainbridge Obituary

I've entirely unfamiliar with Beryl Bainbridge's works. I don't follow British writers at all. I spotted her obit while reading the Independent for stories on the Brazil-Holland World Cup soccer match. I must say her obituary is well done, fun and interesting to read. Here's the link: check it out.

Birthday Cards

My father, who passed away some years ago, would have celebrated his birthday yesterday. While hardly a somber man, he wasn't one to have a party, go out to dinner, or perform other birthday rituals. I don't even remember him getting a birthday card, except from my Florida brother, who usually wrote some sort of witty statement that made Dad smile.

By contrast, my wife and her mother were quite conscientious about sending birthday cards. In general, they were more extroverted about marking the passage of a year than my family was. Their customs helped make the day feel special, in little ways and larger ones. Even where I currently work -- a family-owned and operated enterprise -- birthdays are acknowledged with a card.

I admit I look forward to receiving birthday cards. Sometimes they're funny, and I always appreciate a laugh. Now and then, the message is particularly thoughtful. The most heartfelt message invariably comes from my wife: I love you/Happy Birthday.

It's a sentiment I cherish, and one that my father and mother-in-law would have appreciated, in their own ways.

Santa Monica Pier Has Nation's Best Toilet

According to the LA Times, savvy bathroom users who participated in a recent survey of America's top loos rated the Santa Monica Pier's rest room to be America's finest. Visitors probably appreciate our nation's top public can after a spin on the pier's Loof Hippodrome Carousel (pictured below).

The principal users of the Santa Monica stalls were not rated.