January 2010
21 posts
WatchBrilliant then, brilliant now, former, and now deceased, British M.P. Robin Cook’s resignation speech to parliament in March 2003 over the imminent invasion of Iraq.
Yes, in the United Kingdom they’re holding an official inquiry into how and why ex-P.M. Tony Blair followed George W. Bush and Co. off a cliff into war in Iraq. And guess what? Blair is facing hard questions. It’d be nice if W. faced any official questions in the U.S. But don’t expect anything of the sort.
“It’s O.K. to head out for wonderful, but on your way to wonderful you’re going...”
– Bill Withers, Still Bill (2010)
Compare and contrast these op-eds in the New York Times, one dated October 23, 2008, the other from January 20, 2010 . What a difference a year (and a bit) makes.
“Nothing about losing an election forces you to bend to the will of the guy who...”
– Matthew Yglesias, January 19, 2010
Now for the next part of our unscheduled programming: writing.
Don't send a fake news reporter to do a real news... →
Here at Outpost I have stumbled upon one of the day’s great mysteries: How is it that I don’t yet own Cyndi Lauper’s Greatest Hits? She Bop.
Who's the boss? →
Using my oven for the first time. Ever. Yeah, I know. But I have no oven mits. And the roasted veggies are 20 minutes from done. Harumph.
Actually, no, Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” is not made-for-writing material.
The last thing that made me laugh out loud, or, as the kids say, er, text, LOL: The Airline Screening Playset, via Tyler Cowen.
“I wanted to have a real life, rather than a pretend life. Because it’s all...”
– Kristin Scott Thomas, quoted in an interview with Kira Cochrane, The Guardian, December 21, 2009
“Should works so obsessed with the past be called modernist at all? For many...”
– Marshall Berman, All That is Solid Melts Into Air (1988)
I finished watching The Girlfriend Experience last night, and I’ve got to say I think it’s one of the more underrated films of 2009. The acting, admittedly, is not the best, but still there’s something honest and true about the performances anyway, as bad as they may be. You get the sense that you’re watching real people working out their grievances and issues in a...