Living Reflections from a Dream

• The Long Ride Home - Paper Cuts - Books - New York Times Blog
  what do you read on your commute (train riders only!)
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental)

• Roof Rips Off When Young Driver Tries To Clear Bridge
  These kids come here to be wicked smarty pants at college and every singe year, one of them does this with Uhaul filled with crap.
  (tags: students)
• 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | 0 0 0 | Universal Hub
  Red Sox rookie pitches perfect game in his second major league start.... holy cow! Bloggers respond.
  (tags: RedSox)

• food cravings...
  What you food cravings really mean.

  It seems that the solution to almost any craving is nuts.

  
  
  (tags: food nutrition)
  
  

I know I've been a bad, bad blogger, but an article in The Economist (sub. required) really sent me over the edge.

Up in arms: Why tighten the rules right in hunting season?

Let me summarize... gun control opponents in PA are horrified to discover that the database used for instant background checks for gun purchases will be down for 4 days over labor day weekend for an upgrade.

because research showed that September gun sales were slowest during the first week of the month, which also marks the beginning of hunting season. But sportsmen's groups, gun dealers and some state legislators have hit the roof. Labour Day weekend is a peak shopping moment for camouflage gear and boots, if not for guns; next week's planned promotions and sales will be difficult to postpone, and business will presumably just flow away to neighbouring states. Joseph Scarnati, the president of the state Senate, has condemned the shutdown as back-door gun control by “liberals from Philadelphia”.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Know what else this database is used for?

background checks on teachers and child-care workers before the start of the school year. The system is also used by state courts, law-enforcement agencies, the immigration service and the Megan's Law registry that keeps track of sex offenders.

So... horrifying and unacceptable that people may have to wait a couple of days to buy a gun, but background checks for people who work with children, courts inquiries and tracking sex offenders.. no biggie, as long as we can buy our guns!

How important is this to gun people?

Two dozen gun-dealers have filed suit, and are hoping the Commonwealth Court will grant a last-minute injunction to postpone the upgrade. A hearing is scheduled for August 31st. The gun-dealers say the system can be upgraded without taking it offline completely. Or, they suggest, how about doing the work at night?

Because no one knows software like a gun dealer.

• Back-to-Back Jack: Marathon Reading of 'On the Road'
  9/5 is the 50th anniversary of the publication of 'On the Road'. In Lowell, you can here the whole thing read aloud. Or you can still see the original scroll..
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental)
• On the Road - An Exhibition of Jack Kerouac's Original Scroll Manuscript
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental)
• Nick Hornby
  Nick Hornby has a blog! The world is a happy place.
  (tags: blogs)
• ALA | Library Card Sign-up Month 2007
  Sept. is library card sign up month! Get your kids, your friend, yourself a library card and use it! Though... am I only person perplexed that Ben Roethlisberger is the spokesperson for this? Not the first person who comes to mind as a big reader.
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental libraries)

• Ten reasons why the Sox should stick with Ellsbury - Boston.com
  (tags: RedSox)

• See The Film | 11th Hour Action
  (tags: movies environment)
• Postseason eligibility - Extra Bases
  Ellsbury eligible, yo!
  (tags: RedSox)
• 'A Wrinkle in Time' author Madeleine L'Engle dies at 88 - Boston.com
  Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental)

• Baron in the Boot
  (tags: fundraising)
• NPR : Why Women Read More Than Men
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental)

I had the misfortune of watching some daytime tv this morning. Good grief...

MSNBC - a so called news station (NEWS!), had a story that droned on for 10 minutes: Britney Spears Comeback: is she out of touch?

switched the channel and it was

Usher (the rap guy) cooking with Martha Stewart. Holy crap.. what is going on? When they started dancing in the kitchen, I flipped the channel again.. to

Rachel Ray - whose guest was Teri Hatcher. Rachel Ray writes cookbooks, yes? Teri Hatcher doesn't eat.. how does this makes sense?

The only saving grace was Susan Sarandon on the Today show. She was on to plug what looks like a ridiculously stupid movie that would seem to be beneath her. The conversation veered into her activism. She launched into a great speech, which I'm paraphrasing:

I came of age at that time, where if you had half a brain or half a heart, you were active.... in the late 60's, early 70's you thought you could change things. We stopped a war, there was segregation in the south... you had news programs were you actually saw what was going on, unlike now where you don't see things that are happening

at this point she gazed around around the room at the people behind the cameras and you could almost hear Al Roker choke.

Fantastic!

• A Time To Serve - The Case For National Service - TIME
  It may seem like a strange moment to make the case for national service for young Americans when so many are already doing so much. Young men and women have made their patriotism all too real by volunteering to fight two wars on foreign soil. But we have
  (tags: volunteering)
• Dennis and Callahan strike a deal
  Damn! A return to inane conservative talk from 2 know nothings... then 5 minutes of ads, then the occasional sports discussion. Yup, D&C are back... because who else would have them?
  (tags: RedSox)

• Senate challenges global gag rule
  The current policy, enacted by President Reagan, maintained by the first President Bush, axed by President Clinton and reinstated by the current President Bush on his first full day in office, bars U.S. aid to foreign organizations that provide abortions,
  (tags: choice)
• Governor Deval Patrick is mulling over an idea that would lease bridges and roads to corporations.
  In what reality is THIS a good idea? We'll have to start working from home as the roads will be an even bigger disgrace and the T... where do I begin?
  (tags: transportation transit)

(not a post about the New England Patriots)

I love Steve Almond, author. I adore his short stories - the way he exposes the secret evil side of relationships that everyone experiences some time (admit it! If not you're not the evil one, you know someone who is - and you're thinking of their name right now). I even enjoyed the saccharine "Which Brings Me to You" and the inexplicable "Candyfreak" (hey, it's a book, there's candy involved.. what's not to love?). Once, when I was having an extremely bad day, I came across a signed copy of one of his books. The inscription said: Desire is the engine of human life. Gun it, Gun it! And the whole day turned around.
I even enjoy his baby blog, Baby Daddy (every parent thinks their baby is facinating)

SO, I was all a tingle that he had a new book. Off to the bookstore with a spring in my step was I. I cruise the store.. there it is on the new release table! I eagerly pick it up and am skimming the blurbs on back... which went something like: blah blah blah, blah blah blah... Red Sox hater. UM... HOLD THE PHONE! Red Sox hater?!?! I almost flung the book away. How was this possible? How had I missed this? The angst, the shocking disappointment began to set in. I can not buy this book. Damn it! There is an essay on the Oprah book club in here! I am bound to adore it**.. waaaaa..

I get home and fire up Google. Not only is he a Red Sox hater, he's referred to as Red Sox Antichrist... something to do with to a misguided loyalty to the Oakland A's (ahem - 2003 ALDS, cough cough). Oh, this is appalling. Since he "understands" loyalty, he'll have to understand that I can't buy his book. You can't be a Red Sox hater in Red Sox Nation and skate by unscathed. Blood is thicker than Almond Joy!

** it's fantastic that people are reading because of the Oprah book club, but still if it doesn't pain you to see Oprah's Book Club: East of Eden or Oprah's Book Club: Anna Karenina, you're love of reading isn't inborn.

• Craig backers not happy with Romney - 2008 Presidential Campaign Blog - Boston Globe - Political Intelligence
  The rest of the country learns what Romney is really like (he's as slick as his hair) and there are Craig backers?
  (tags: politics)

• Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental)
• Quirked Around
  My whole life described in 1 article in The Atlantic. I was drinking coffee from a 'This American Life' coffee mug when I read this. I feel... average, yet encouraged.
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental magazine life)
• Why geeks will rescue the Earth
  (tags: psychology geeks)

and their Yankee bias...

We are not even 2 outs into the first inning today and they have already mentioned:

- the potential of a subway series for the World Series
- 1978 in general
- the Bucky Dent game in particular
- the 5 game sweep from last Sept.

NOT MENTIONED:

- the 2004 ALCS

Tim 'bleeping' McCarver! I hate these guys. Remy must be included on Fox broadcasts from now on to balance things out (because I don't think he makes enough money from all his endorsements)

And who let these 2 in?

Seriously, a season ticket holder had to have let them have these seats. No Yankee Fans in the front row at Fenway! I want names!

• Funny Tales from the Front Lines
  Teaching the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry to Iraqi's... somehow I suspect they've already got a handle on the whole tribal rivalry thing
  (tags: RedSox iraq)

It's a big night...

Patriots/Chargers
The Emmy's

but then there is:

The choice is clear.

It almost seems wrong that Clemons gets to say goodbye to Fenway again... His season has been lackluster to date (ha!) and I'm sure he'll hear all about it. His last trip to the mound was unimpressive, and the second time he was in Fenway brought us this:

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!

• Student arrested, Tasered at Kerry event - Boston.com
  (tags: politics)

TimesSelect is dead

This is a very, very good thing...

A Letter to Readers About TimesSelect

Dear NYTimes.com Readers:

Effective Sept. 19, we are ending TimesSelect. All of our online readers will now be able to read Times columnists, access our archives back to 1987 and enjoy many other TimesSelect features that have been added over the last two years – free.

If you are a paying TimesSelect subscriber, you will receive a prorated refund. For more information, please go to our TimesSelect FAQ.

Why the change?

Since we launched TimesSelect in 2005, the online landscape has altered significantly. Readers increasingly find news through search, as well as through social networks, blogs and other online sources. In light of this shift, we believe offering unfettered access to New York Times reporting and analysis best serves the interest of our readers, our brand and the long-term vitality of our journalism. We encourage everyone to read our news and opinion – as well as share it, link to it and comment on it.

We welcome all online readers to enjoy the popular and powerful voices that have defined Times commentary – Maureen Dowd, Thomas L. Friedman, Frank Rich, Gail Collins, Paul Krugman, David Brooks, Bob Herbert, Nicholas D. Kristof and Roger Cohen. And we invite them to become acquainted with our exclusive online journalism – columns by Stanley Fish, Maira Kalman, Dick Cavett and Judith Warner; the Opinionator blog; and guest forums by scientists, musicians and soldiers on the frontlines in Iraq. All this will now reach a broader audience in the United States and around the world.

This month we mark the 156th anniversary of the first issue of The New York Times. Our long, distinguished history is rooted in a commitment to innovation, experimentation and constant change. All three themes were plainly evident in the skillful execution of TimesSelect; they will be on full display as NYTimes.com becomes entirely open.

Sincerely,

Vivian Schiller
Senior Vice President & General Manager
NYTimes.com

• Great interviews of the 20th century: F Scott Fitzgerald interviewed by Michel Mok | By genre | Guardian Unlimited Books
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental)
• Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site - New York Times
  (tags: news)
• Hedge Funds and Private Equity Alter Career Calculus - New York Times
  No MBAs for this lot
  (tags: work)

• Texans turn against Bush's war | Salon News
  Perhaps more Texans are now embarrassed that the President of the United States is from Texas....
  (tags: politics)

• Reading, writing, and rebellion - The Boston Globe
  Since early July, [Jonathan Kozol] the 71-year-old education warrior of the 1960s has shed 29 pounds from his slender 5-foot-9-inch frame, subsisting on a mostly liquid diet. His point: to protest the federal No Child Left Behind Act now up for reauthoriz
  (tags: education)
• Writers' rooms | Special Reports | Guardian Unlimited Books
  The common theme: lots of book around and the color red - either in the decoration or some focal point
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental writers)
• When Markets Are Too Big to Fail - New York Times
  What is unacceptable is that neither Mr. Bernanke nor Mr. Paulson has called for new rules to constrain excessive risk-taking in the financial markets — activities like creating and selling securities backed by utterly reckless loans — even though tho
  (tags: economy)

I mean the the Ken Burns documentary on WWII.

The War : A Ken Burns Film : DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY KEN BURNS AND LYNN NOVICK THE WAR, a seven-part series directed and produced by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, tells the story of the Second World War through the personal accounts of a handful of men and women from four quintessentially American towns. The series explores the most intimate human dimensions of the greatest cataclysm in history — a worldwide catastrophe that touched the lives of every family on every street in every town in America — and demonstrates that in extraordinary times, there are no ordinary lives.

It all begins this evening on your local PBS station.

I have an admission to make: I'm a Ken Burns geek. Anything he produces is gold to me. A replay of the 10 part Civil War film? Lock the doors, I'm in for the week. Don't get even get me started on the Jazz or Baseball series'. Burns has a way of letting you get to know historical figures, famous and not, that provides an understanding of history that is eye opening. History isn't just dates and facts, it's people, place and context. Burns lets you behind the curtain. Take advantage of the opportunity...

• On Point : The Reading Mind - The Reading Mind
  Marcel Proust may have said it best. "I believe," said the great French novelist, "that reading, in its original essence, is that fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude." Now, neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf says yes, but it's more than
  (tags: ReadingIsFundamental)

• The War: Stories from the Northwest: WWII Blog
  (tags: wwII)
• Burns' `War' premieres to 18.7 million (AP) | TV Show Spoilers and News
  (tags: tv)

Go on with your 6 run 6th inning.

• A Feeling I'm Being Had
  Scott Adams: not just for geeks to hang up in their cubes
  (tags: politics)

• 10 Usability Nightmares You Should Be Aware Of | Developer's Toolbox
  (tags: usability web)

• The Bardic Utterance in Situation Comedy Theme songs 1960 - 2000: A Dissertation
  School looks good to me right about now...
  (tags: tv)

EEEEEEE!!!

What could be more bizarre than watching NESN announcers talk through every play of a Yankees /Orioles game which they can't even show live? Then watching shots of the fans at Fenway, still in their seats after the Red Sox game, watching the same Yankees/Orioles game on the jumbotron and going nuts? And yet, what could be more riveting right now?

And what is it with Mariano Rivera when facing Kevin Millar when the chips on the line for the Red Sox?

And in the end, the wait is well worth it!!!!

Congrats Sox!

On to the playoffs..

And my all time favorite commercial, still. Posting it again, because I can..

• Red Sox are AL East Champs!
  (tags: RedSox baseball)
• Big East Football Standings
  And in other sports new.. Syracuse is tied for the top of the Big East standings.
  (tags: football)
• Cursed To First: Jonathan Papelbon has declared this evening pants optional
  (tags: RedSox)
• "I think everybody ought to be happy about doing well." --Carlton Fisk
  Photos from Fenway when the Red Sox clinched
  (tags: RedSox)

• NL in chaos
  I'm glad I'm not a fan of a national league team today because I'd have no finger nails left.
  (tags: baseball)

This is what I ate on Saturday:

Breakfast: chips and salsa
Lunch: Pumpkin Spice Latte (heaven on earth!)

Then it was off to the Fluff Fest in Union Square... it's the 90th anniversary of the invention of Fluff! Don't know what Fluff is? You poor non-New Englander..

Where I ate, not 1 but 2 Rice Krispy Treats made in the shape of the tower..

There was Fluff Bowling..

Even Jake Loves Fluff!

Then due to the sugar rush from the Rice Krispy treats, it was necessary to have some beers...

A pretty good day, eh?