Have they been superceded?
And yes, he did miss the Russo-Japanese War, though as he notes, the Japanese were westernizing rapidly at that point.
Have they been superceded?
And yes, he did miss the Russo-Japanese War, though as he notes, the Japanese were westernizing rapidly at that point.
[Via David Bernstein]
Star Trek fans think the movie sux.
…and women. Some thoughts on an interesting genre of fiction. Also, the zombie Jane Austen.
Only slightly repentant commie. I like folk music, but some folk musicians are a real piece of work.
Andrea Harris hates reggae:
I don’t hate Marley as a person — for one thing, he’s dead, so it would be pointless. But I hate the people who keep flogging him as some sort of Jesus of music. That song, “No Woman No Cry”? Hey, how about not getting stoned on weed and sitting around like a stinky lump. Also she’s tired of you stealing her brassieres, Mr. Pot-Made-My-Moobs-Grow.
The reason so many white people like reggae is because most white people live well above the Tropic of Cancer and thus think of reggae and other genres of “island” music as “exotic” and a promise of an escape from driving down icy streets every day to a nine-to-five job or shoveling snow. I sympathize, but since I actually grew up in the tropics I also know that living year-round with humidity in the 90s coupled with temperatures in same, every insect on earth, and a yearly threat of hurricanes isn’t exactly a vacation, and the prevalence of music where every single song has the same drunken-donkey-walk rhythm and must always be sung in high, whining tones doesn’t help. It’s almost as bad as salsa.
Yes, living in Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean in general, was hell for me, musically.
Not to mention, almost everyone who loves reggae seems to think that you also have to have dirty hair full of mud (I don’t care if the mud came out of a forty-dollar jar you bought at your stylist’s — your dreadlocks look like you went outside after a good rain, scooped up a wad of dirt from the back yard, and rubbed it into your hair) and smoke pot. Marijuana smells worse than the stinkiest cigarettes, and I’m pretty sure all the second-hand pot smoke I inhaled at too many concerts contributed to the destruction of my sinuses.
You may or may not be surprised to learn that she doesn’t like ska, either.
[Update a few minutes later]
I should add that technically, Miami (which I think is where she grew up) is not the tropics, but it’s miserable enough to seem like it.
I like the name “Cthulhu bites” myself.
Over forty years ago, we stopped at the Four Corners National Monument on a family vacation, where I got to have one limb in each of the four states simultaneously. Well, it turns out that the plaque is off by two and a half miles. So all those tourists were in Colorado the whole time.
I’m not sure whether to blame George Bush, or Barack Obama.
Well done, fair maiden. Maybe you can start a new fashion look — the raccoon.
I know, I’m being mean, I’m sure she’s miserable. But you know, that’s why I’m smart enough to not lie in the sun. I have experience.
[Update a few minutes later]
OK, I’m awful. But it looks like a Barbie-Que.
…there’s often a Lileks.
George Will unaccountably goes to war against blue jeans. James Lileks makes short work of him.