Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Let's put the future behind us! I suspect I'm not the only one looking forward to 2006.

Future blogging via the Carnival of Tomorrow, hosted by a group claiming to be evil, but are really quite benevolent... ("yesterday's tomorrows are our todays")

Erstwhile futurists, The Speculist, insist that the future just keeps getting better. After reading through their list of things making the world better right now, I'd have to say I agree.

Can't see the future happening because the present just keeps getting in the way? Reflect through PC World's 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 years...

Any time now I'll finally get my flying car.

The Singularity is drawing nearer than even I think, and I think it'll happen in my lifetime. Hurry down, future!

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Christmas morning, awoken by the Not My Fault daughter power-chording her electric guitar, turned up to 10, with the fuzz thing turned on, and if she could get one of those Spinal Tap guitars that go to 11 she would have turned it up that one extra notch ("It's one louder").

Anyway, this year's lump of coal goes to Theresa Farrisi, substitute first grade music teacher, who told a room full of 6 and 7 year olds that Santa Claus doesn't exist. Really.

As if proponents of home-schooling don't have enough ammunition already...

Saturday, December 24, 2005

But of course...it's the Carnival of Christmas!
The Wall Street Journal has a great feature article about soldiers at Christmas-time. Take a moment to remember these men and women in the next couple of days.

And as long as I'm reading the weekend WSJ, they have a great follow-up article about Susette Kelo. I guess 2005 will largely be remembered as the year of natural disaster: hurricanes, earthquake, tsunami. But for me the Supreme Court's Kelo decision was the story of the year. I thought the decsion was absolutely chilling. Professor Bainbridge covered the case thoroughly and thoughtfully, but my core sense remains that eminent domain is a sharply slippery slope, and quite an un-American concept, really.
A couple of weeks ago Paulo Di Canio, who plays for Lazio in the Italian first division, caused an uproar when he gave a fascist salute to his swastika-flag-waving fans. He has vowed to appeal his ban and fine, and has made a statement that doesn't exactly cast him in a better light.

Honestly, just once, I'd like to see an American sports figure rise to this level of outrageousness, just for the media storm it would unleash.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Pity the chronic procrastinator, searching for a cure -- He'd take a seminar on what ails him, but why bother? He'd only miss the first session anyway.
Saddam will surely be hanged in due time. But what will become of his corpse? Cremation? Unmarked grave? How about his head on a pike? Göring, Eichmann, Tojo, Ceausescu, Il Duce, even Cromwell: they each had a fate beyond their time on earth...

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Children find varied and creative methods for mutilating their Barbies: scalping, beheading, microwaving...But don't worry, it's just a child's way of disposing of a thing they're finished with, like crushing a can for recycling.
Blogging: More than two times bigger than sex. The end of the species shall undoubtedly follow.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Important blog announcements:
  • This blog was last updated 4 days ago
  • It's this blog's blogiversary. This blog's first blog post ever can be seen here.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

2005: The year of natural disasters.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

The future of technology is looking brighter than ever, and well within reach. Business Week has a round-up of gadgets that are just around the corner.
James Lileks is trying to claim that 2005 was a mediocre year, and maybe it was. But he nevertheless offers a clever year-in-review chock full of non-mediocrity, as only Lileks can. (Example: "The Iraqi constitution, a Middle East milestone, is approved. But hey! Over there! It’s Britney and her new baby! Everybody grab your cameras and run after her!"

By the way, if you still find yourself floundering for a nice Christmas gift for that difficult person on your list, you could do way worse than one of Lileks' books: this one or this one, notably.
OK, let me get this straight: A soccer stadium in Rome is filled with fans, many of whom are waving swastika flags and many more of whom are waving communist flags. A player for one of the teams (the swastika flag-waving team, I presume) gives the fans a "fascist salute" (I guess we know what that means). It seems the player in question will be suspended or fined or whatever, and correctly so. But doesn't this make our own rivalries, like say for example Yankees-Red Sox, seem a little quaint?

This actually qualifies as one of my "Europe off the rails" posts...

Monday, December 12, 2005

Another "number 3 in command" bites the dust. Awful lot of "number 3" guys out there...
Right now, I'm thinking I don't need 10 reasons...

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Roger Simon remembers comic genius Richard Pryor, who passed away yesterday at age 65. Which is, I'm sorry, way too young.

(Via Pajamas Media)
Jane Galt is giving away some ridiculously good advise on matters relating to money and finances. Jane hastens to point out that this stuff is available in any decent financial advise book, but Jane has a way of getting to the core of anything she comments and writes about with clarity and ease.

I've been in the mortgage banking and finance industry for over two years, and one of the first things that struck me anytime I consulted with couples was how often marital difficulties were really financial difficulties, and financial difficulties were very often marital difficulties not related to money at all.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Scott Adams, of "Dilbert" fame, ruminates on best jobs and worst jobs, the pointlessness of being third in command, and how recently the guy with the best job in the world blew up the guy with the worst job in the world. Really.

Friday, December 09, 2005

It's a difficult draw for Holland, and on initial inspection it looks to be the most difficult of all the groups -- Argentina, Serbia, Ivory Coast, and Holland. Regardless, I'm standing by my earlier commitment: Holland will win the cup in 2006.

All that remains is determining who'll join me in Amsterdam the night Holland raise the cup...
All sorts of future related blog posts at the newest Carnival of the Tomorrow...

After exploring the future, you can delve into the past at the latest History Carnival.
The World Cup draw takes place a little later, and I'll be watching the groups very closely.

One overlooked detail regarding the cup is the extraordinary achievement of Dutch coaches world wide. Four nations have qualified under the direction of Dutch coaches, an unprecedented development: Australia (Guus Hiddink), South Korea (Dick Advocaat), Trinidad & Tobago (Leo Beenhakker), and of course Holland itself, with Marco van Basten, who has been nothing short of a revelation.

A coincidence? Hardly. The Dutch system of "total football", speed in attack, and flooding midfield en masse, is a winning formula that players willingly embrace for its pure exuberance and boldness.

Out on a limb, I'm picking Holland to win, which means you'll find me celebrating on the Liedseplein in Amsterdam next July, floating above the crowd, in raptures...

Live draw can be followed here.

Buckley F. Williams over at The Nose On Your Face reports that Saddam was not given a roster spot on the prison soccer team for "political reasons". He has a few other things to report as well...
Germany is hosting next years World Cup, and the organizationally obsessed Germans have of course planned for every possible eventuality.
Like many, I've gone through phases of hero worship through the years, but in truth very few have left any lasting impression on me. My father, certainly. Bird and Cruijff as sports heroes. Holden Caulfield, bizarrely. And then there's my Main Man John.

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of John's murder. Gerard van der Leun, a producer who had been with John the day before he died, remembers his last encounter...
Blogging. A sometime thing, evidently.

But here's something we can all benefit from, in more ways than are immediately apparent: the obsessed Derrick Schneider hosts a wine carnival blogfest. Cheers!