Archive for January, 2007

An Anvil to a Drowning Man

Posted January 31, 2007 By Dave Thomer

I imagine there are quicker ways to make a fool of yourself than to make comments about a fellow Democratic senator that sound racially-tinged, on the very day that you officially announce you’re pursuing the presidency. For example, you could do all of that, and then be scheduled to go on The Daily Show later […]

Get Plato a Script Doctor

Posted January 30, 2007 By Dave Thomer

If there is one philosophical device I am absolutely sick to death of, it’s the dialogue. Apparently some writers figure that no one wants to read a boring treatise about some kind of abstract theory. So instead, they write a boring play in which multiple characters debate the abstract theory through stilted dialogue. Maybe it’s […]

Gotta Be a Better Way

Posted January 29, 2007 By Dave Thomer

Given the complaining I did the other day, I figure I ought to share this link to a story that ran in today’s Inquirer, in the Health and Science section. It’s a feature piece, where you’d expect some more in-depth reporting, and for the most part the story delivers – it tells the story of […]

Endurance Cooking

Posted January 28, 2007 By Dave Thomer

Every so often I remind myself I need to keep better track of those little expenditures that add up and explain why my bank balance isn’t where I wanted it to be at the end of the month. By far one of my biggest financial sins is paying for fast food or snack food while […]

And Now My Head A Splode

Posted January 27, 2007 By Dave Thomer

I just went to the R.E.M. home page and discovered that earlier this week, Mike Mills joined dada on stage and sang “Dizz Knee Land” with them. Apparently he also helped re-enact the “I just flipped off President George” line. On the one hand I’m sorry I missed it, but on the other hand, I […]

Here Comes California

Posted January 26, 2007 By Dave Thomer

It looks almost certain that California is going to move its presidential primary to early February. And if California does it, other states are going to do it. We could be heading pretty close to a national primary this time around. The one thing that I think is unequivocally bad about this is that it’s […]

Another Victim of the Backlog

Posted January 25, 2007 By Dave Thomer

Earlier in the week, Pattie and I deleted several unwatched episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip from our DVR. Once I stopped watching, I realized I had absolutely no desire to catch up. And I’m trying to figure out how this happened, given how promising everything seemed at the start. One of the […]

Recycled Newspaper

Posted January 24, 2007 By Dave Thomer

I got the renewal notice for my Philadelphia Inquirer subscription. I don’t think I’m going to do it. After the most recent round of layoffs at the Inquirer, it occurred to me to check how much of the paper’s content was being generated by the paper itself. In the front page “A” section, where the […]

Getting Off Track

Posted January 23, 2007 By Dave Thomer

Another education class tonight, and I’m trying to process everything that we discussed. It’s weird – the economic disparities underlying education in this country, and the way those play into racial/ethnic distinctions, seems like an undercurrent of the class, and something that’s very much on the mind of the professor. But it’s not being brought […]

Thinking and Writing, Writing and Thinking

Posted January 22, 2007 By Dave Thomer

Thus far in the day I’ve been having trouble figuring out what to blog about today. I finally finished that reflection paper, but I’m not really sure how worthwhile that would be as a blog post. And I’ve kinda used up a lot of the pop culture thoughts I’ve had over the weekend. (“A Friend […]