Freaky!

Garfield Minus Garfield. Hat tip: Popcandy.

On the Right: RIP Bill Buckley

Bill Buckley, founder of National Review, passed away this morning at at the age of 82. Early reaction on the Corner comes from Jonah and John Miller.

Jonah was right in saying the guy lived a long, impressive life. He can join his wife who I believe passed away last year. The guy was one helluva conservative icon, alongside Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Great trio. He inspired generations of conservatives, including those with whome I work with. Anti-communism, low taxes, limited government, judicial restraint, etc. RIP.

From a CNN piece:

Speaking at the magazine's 30th anniversary celebration -- attended by such notables as Charlton Heston, Tom Selleck, Jack Kemp and Tom Wolfe -- Reagan remarked: "If any of you doubt the impact of National Review's verve and attractiveness, take a look around you this evening. The man standing before you now was a Democrat when he picked up his first issue in a plain brown wrapper; and even now, as an occupant of public housing, he awaits as anxiously as ever his biweekly edition -- without the wrapper."

Readings and Shopping

Having spent about 12 hours in a plane over the last few days, I finished reading God and Gold, finally. Eh, B-. Named an Economist Book of the Year for 2007, I found it overly poetic at times, as if the author were trying to hard. The chapters on America's economic prosperity and growth, and religious inclination, were most fascinating to me. I may be pretty ignorant to admit this, and maybe I read through it much too quickly, but I did not quite grasp his walrus and carpenter analogy. Perhaps I just need to read Alice in Wonderland. Regardless, I am glad to have finished it. I finally started Jonah's Liberal Fascism.

I almost bought a suit today at Ann Taylor, but I couldn't quite pay for a $200+ suit when I didn't find the fitting just perfect. Will do more shopping later this week b/c I really need another suit. I did get a new pair of pants and some tops.

Drinking in LA

Well, if I get to LA tomorrow. They are calling for a disastrous "wintry mix" which could mean just about anything. I am going to bring extra books to keep myself entertained. No matter what, it will be a LONG flight anyway.

At least my office computer seems to be functioning normally right now. Yeah IT.

All By Myself

SJE is out of town, which means I'm indulging in white wine and American Idol. The rocker nurse is the only interesting performer thus far. Sigh. It may be another long season.

As much as I love my special boy, there are some fun parts of being home alone. Making whatever dinner I want. Staying up late and watching GH. Not having to watch multiple Seinfeld episodes. Having the bed to myself. Surfing all of my entertainment website without anyone looking over my shoulder or trying to steal new computie.

Sigh. I am sure by Friday, when I am off to LA, it will all have worn off.

Movies and holiday weekends

I saw two movies this weekend: Gone Baby Gone and Atonement. GBG was on DVD. I have to admit, I was underwhelmed. I definitely got its comparisons to Mystic River, and Amy Adams was phenomenal. But eh, B-. Atonement was good, though I felt it ended a bit abruptly, if not to say surprisingly. Keira Knightly looked luminous, and James McEvoy is one great actor. Also that little creepy 13 year old girl. I will give this one a B+.

I should also mention I re-watched Father of the Bride. A+ all of the way.

I also spent time reading and we made Jenny & John over for an impromptu dinner on Saturday night, preceded by Scrabble. I guess I need to go back to wedding stuff. Ugh.

New Computer!

I love love love my new computer. Lenovo Thinkpad R61. It actually synced my entire itunes library, including music that mysteriously would not play previously. Oh, and there is actually memory on it! So very exciting. My CD drive works, and I finally had a chance to enter the Chantal In My Life song. All of these years later. And the Fratellis CD from last summer, too.

I am finally home from LA. I voted yesterday, for McCain. I wish I would be a bit more enthusiastic about it, but I have a feeling he will have a tough time vs. Obama. Hillary, too, but Obama certainly has to mojo now. Hillary is going down, down, and I really can't wait to see it. But if there's a price to be paid in November? I'm very interested to see who the Veep pick will be.

Los Angeles

Day four of my trip to Los Angeles. Despite a bumpy start--lost luggage, hostile seatmates, mid-night fire alarms, at least time is passing by. We had a good dinner at Campanile.

I'm off to mass, and then tonight I'm going to hang out with Jeremy and his g-friend.

I am ready to go home. Another 44 hours or so to go, though.

I miss Fred Thompson

Good piece.

It's telling that his most notable moments were negative--marked by his refusal to follow some custom of the modern campaign. (From another debate: "Should government step in and help Chrysler and the other auto makers?" Thompson: "No.") Asked about education reform, he said: "It would be easy enough for someone running for president to say: I have a several-point plan to fix our education problem. It's not going to happen. And it shouldn't happen from the Oval Office." When journalists and candidates, with their typically childlike enthusiasm, suddenly began gumming the word "change" after the Iowa caucuses, Thompson pointed out the obvious: "Change has been part of every election since the dawn of elections, if you weren't an incumbent." He noted how easy it was "to demagogue" the issue of federal spending by dwelling on relatively insignificant earmarks: "All these programs that we talk about in the news every day are a thimbleful in the ocean compared to the entitlement tsunami that's coming to hit us."

Maybe he could be veep? Please??

The Return of Lost!

Lost returns tonight! Whoo hoo!

Here are some unanswered questions.
My favorites:

48. Will the WGA strike permanently disrupt the original plan to end the series with three seasons of 16 episodes apiece?

47. What is Charles Widmore's association with the Dharma Initiative?

46. Who were those guys in the icebound monitoring station at the end of Season 2?

41. Where exactly is the island located?

39. Who are the people on the rescue ship?

38. If Penny Widmore didn't send the ship, then where is her rescue crew?

37. Can Juliet really be trusted?

32. What did Jack mean in the flash-forward when he made a reference to his supposedly dead father being upstairs?

28. Why do all pregnancies result in death on the island?

24. What do the numbers -- 4 8 15 16 23 42 -- mean?

23. Why does the doctor in the Dharma Initiative-orientation films have different names in different films?

11. Who besides Kate and Jack got off the island?

10. Who is Kate's unseen mate in the post-island flash-forward?

8. In Jack's post-island flash-forward, who was in the coffin?

5. How did Mikhail (the eye-patch guy) appear to come back from the dead?

4. Why doesn't Richard Alpert age?

3. What is Jacob?

2. What is the smoke monster?

1. What is that island?