Me: Frank Lynch
Home
(Current
commentary)
These are my mundane daily ramblings.
For something
less spontaneous, I maintain The
Samuel
Johnson Sound Bite Page (over 1,700 Johnson quotes), with a
weekly essay springing from one of
Johnson's quotations.
Bio:
Born 1957, raised in Florida, moved to New York
area in 1982; now live in Brooklyn.
Married, with one kid
unit.
Former marketing research professional. Now drawing no
salary, but working on a book.
Email:
frank
dot
lynch2
at
verizon
dot
net
We watched Holes last night, and the really positive feelings I had after seeing it in the theater late spring still remain. If you haven't seen it, you should pick it up on DVD or VHS. It's a great movie for kids and grown ups.
Not trying to be confrontational, but is this how our
justice system is allowed to work? Accused terrorist
Zacarias Moussaoui wants to interview detainees at Guantanamo in
Cuba for his defense, but has so far been prevented by the US
Justice department. The reasons boil down to national security.
The judge in the case has told federal prosecutors that continued
resistance may oblige her to dismiss the case. But in an article
in today's New York Times, the prosecutors are
basically rolling over and not raising any objections to
the case being thrown out, so that they can appeal the judge's
decision to a higher court, where they feel they will get a more
positive hearing. But are you really allowed to appeal if you
don't argue back?
Link
I was able to see one of my favorite magicians yesterday at the annual Medieval Festival in Fort Tryon Park. (If I can find some software I'll try to put pictures up later.) His name is Merdwin the Mediocre, and it's the way that he plays with the children which is so wonderful. He tells deliberately corny jokes for them, and plays on their desire to correct you when you're wrong. A trick he did in one of his shows yesterday (which I saw him do a few years ago) entailed a Chinese box, and getting the kids to yell at him when he was doing something they didn't think was quite right. A very enjoyable show. (Here's a picture of him.)
There were also early music performances, jousting, a living chess match (where each square was battled for with a choreographed sword fight or similar combat), exhibits, demonstrations, and plenty of vendors selling souvenirs of the appropriate period. Lots of fun.
I was surprised to get into a discussion on ukuleles with one of my aunts last night. She had recently had my uncle's Favilla baritone uke from the 1950s repaired, and he was dabbling in it a little bit.
I'm at sixes and sevens about baritone ukes, but only because I'm at sixes and sevens about standard ukes. You see, the tuning on a baritone uke is pretty much like a guitar's, and so is a regular uke's, only less so. First, it's a fourth higher, meaning the high string is an A instead of an E. But also, the "low" string is actually an octave higher than you'd expect, meaning it's only a tone lower than the high string. This creates some dissonances which are a problem: chord fingerings you might expect to be a major 7th apart are only a half tone apart, which is jarring.
But on the other hand, you can do some interesting tone
clusters. For instance, on a piano, think of the four sequential
white keys for these notes: F, G, A, B. You can actually play
that on a standard uke. Can't do that on a baritone uke, because
the bottom string is a 9th lower than the top string, not a 2nd.
Yes, this matters. Not a lot, but it matters. On a baritone uke
it's closer to a 9th chord, with a root, instead of the tone
cluster — which could really go in any of many
directions.
Link
I couldn't bring myself to talk like a pirate yesterday so I refrained from posting anything. Yesterday, you may be unaware, was "Talk Like A Pirate" Day. Here's a column by Dave Barry, and a Web site on the topic.
Another reason I couldn't post was because I spent the day refining a book proposal... A productive day: sent it off for review.
Does the Emperor feel naked all of a sudden? According
to the Washington Post, the 2002 Steel Tariffs, designed
to save steel jobs and win political capital, has worked out to a
net job loss due to losses in the automobile sector,
thanks to higher steel costs. And a Knight-Ridder report says
Bush is
having second thoughts about his advisors.
Link
I want a pledge from all musicians and labels. (This has nothign to do with file sharing.) Please promise to never release a CD that doesn't have your name pressed on to the actual CD. The other day a friend was taking CDs out of a wallet to return them to their jewel boxes, and had to go through the process of elimination before he could put an unidentified CD back. It's an unnecessary hassle. (I even own a Miles Davis set where they all look identical. Royal pain.)
Further thoughts on Dick Cheney on Meet The Press. I
think we'd all agree that the implications of Dick Cheney having
mentioned evidence that Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear
weapons was significant. But if it was only a
misstatement, as Cheney said on Sunday, why did it take so
long for the Administration to clarify it? The original interview
took place on March 16. The Washington Post wrote about this
statement back in March, when it was made. No one in
the White House reads the Washington Post? No one in the White
House wanted to set the record straight? Of course not: the White
House was clearly content to leave us with a mistaken impression.
Anyone care to find me a White House clarification on this?
Looking at White House briefings
for the two days following the original interview, no reporter
seems to have raised a question (Cheney's name doesn't appear in
the transcripts), and Ari Fleischer didn't clarify the point.
Link
I thought Tim Russert had this reputation as a tough interviewer? If so, it should be in shreds this morning. Yesterday, interviewing Vice President Dick Cheney, he offered Cheney a fig leaf over his prior statement that Iraq had "reconstituted its nuclear program." After running the old tape, before Cheney even had a chance to open his mouth, Russert said, "Reconstituted nuclear weapons. You misspoke." Cheney, being no fool, quickly grabbed the proffered foliage: "Yeah. I did misspeak." Later, when Cheney made an outrageous, circuitous statement which avoided the fact that there's no evidence that Iraq was involved in 9-11, winding up with a simple "We just don't know," Russert dropped the ball and just changed topics. So much for the So Called Liberal Media. (Josh Marshall has more.)
LinkLater that night...
$87 billion to continue in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gulp! Heck of a price tag. But like I said in a comment over at Eschaton, it's too dangerous to do a premature exit, what with Saddam Hussein still free. We should rescind the tax cut to pay for the war. I'm sure the beneficiaries of the big relief dollars will appreciate the situation we're in, and we'll recognize the sacrifices that have to be made.
Let's see if I have this straight. Thursday night, a "debate" between candidates for the Democratic Party nomination for President (less a debate, with so many, than a group interview), the candidates repeatedly hammered the President for the lack of progress in Iraq. For example, Gephardt's refrain was that it was "a complete failure." Then Friday, Presidential Press Secretary Scott McClellan suggested the President wasn't even watching the debate and didn't care. Then, later Friday the White House announced that Bush would address the nation on Iraq on Sunday. I guess someone was watching the debate!
One too many emails came in expressing surprise that a liberal like me could like Samuel Johnson. So, I spent some time putting up a new page, showing that Johnson had both conservative and liberal tendencies. Hopefully, it will preempt some people's surprise.
Some Americans, it seems, still haven't gotten the word
that there is no case for linking Saddam Hussein to the events of
September 11. Myths die long, slow deaths.
Link