REMEMBERING LENNY: I have no idea what Jerry Orbach was like as a guy, but I sure loved him as Briscoe, the plain-spoken, hard-working NY homicide detective on LAW AND ORDER. And so I'm all the more intrigued by the fact that a friend led a "breathing meditation" at his memorial (was Orbach a Buddhist?), and that he was in two of my all-time favorite films, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE and CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS (even though I can't recall seeing him in either).
DEMOCRATIC REALISM: So I was reading the second of David Brooks' "Hookie Awards" articles (the first is here), wherein he hands out imaginary awards (Hookies) for the best political essays of the past year. In it, he praises an essay by Francis Fukuyama (a response to a speech by Charles Krauthammer) and an essay by Charles Krauthammer (responding to Fukuyama's response), both of which were published in the foreign affairs journal THE NATIONAL INTEREST. I printed both out and took 'em to lunch with me (I'm sure I was the only guy in this suburban Fuddrucker's reading thusly), and I found that Krauthammer's worldview is mine, that it makes me feel better about my own ideas (given that he's clearly much smarter and a much better writer than me). (His response to Fukuyama also made me laugh out loud in spots. It's an intellectual bitchslap of sorts.)
In a nutshell, Krauthammer describes a foreign policy strategy he calls "democractic realism," which makes a solid case for why the Iraq war was a sound political decision, even in the face of the calamity's that have arisen therefrom. It's the most clear and clarifying piece of Iraq-related prose I've read since my original meander through THE THREATENING STORM. For you two or three Camelists who care about this kind of stuff, have a ball following the links.
NO MONEY BALL: Longtime Camel readers will recall how much I loved Michael Lewis's MONEYBALL. For more on what Oakland A's GM (and MONEYBALL protragonist) Billy Beane is up to, check out this Skip Bayless update.
JESUS FOR DUMMIES: A beautiful and clear historical reading of the Jesus story, devoid of religious layering. What an amazing man he must have been.
WHAT WE'RE FIGHTING: Just finished an interesting article about conservative Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes. Really liked this quote from him:
"I have the simple politics of a truck driver," he told an interviewer, "not the complex ones of an academic.
LIGHTENED UP ENLIGHTENMENT: It's true I've read a lot of books about spirituality, many of which have a Buddhist bent. But I don't know if I've ever come across more useful spiritual wisdom than what I heard myself singing to my son a few nights ago:
"Row row row your boat
gently down the stream.
Merrily merrily merrily merrily
life is but a dream."
ALL ABOARD THE NEW BANDWAGON: Break up the Bulls!
THESE YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPERS MAY BE ONTO SOMETHING WITH THEIR MP3S: I did something new tonight. Okay, so believe it or not, I've become a big Randy Travis fan over the past decade. Doesn't exactly jibe perfectly with the rest of my musical taste, but I can't help it. (Jibes alright with my NASCAR fetish, I guess.) Anyhoo, I've been wanting to pick up the new Randy disc for a week or so, and with taking care of my son and trying to keep our house clean, I haven't had half a chance to come within buying distance of a music store. So tonight I went ahead and bought it on iTunes, which marks the first time I've bought an entire album online first. Sure, I've bought a few novelty tunes (Britney Spears' hypercatchy "Toxic," for example) online, and I've made many situational online purchases of songs and albums over the years...but never a brand new album that I desperately wanted to own. So I'm listening to it in my headhpones as I type this, and it's sounding great, and I'm feeling like I maybe just maybe won't have to own the disc. We'll see.
NOBODY FOR NOBODY: A trade involving my two favorite basketball teams, the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls? Sounds exciting! But not really.
ONE FROM THE ROAD: Have been out in Dallas this week. Flew in Sunday night, and just finished a couple-day stint out in Plano. Kind of nice to be in the wide open spaces, to sleep in a crisp, clean, quiet hotel room, and to eat extravagantly for a few days.
Am sitting in the DFW Red Carpet Club, leafing through the new Wine Spectator and chatting with y'all. Very pleasant.
Sure, tonight I'm headed back into the belly of the beast -- a newborn, a tired wife, and a 2 1/2 year-old that's trying to make sure his parents are aware of him at all times. But after my little hotel respite, there's nowhere I'd rather be. It's amazing how much a little battery recharge can do for a guy.
ATHEIST SAYS YES TO LIMITED GOD: No time for much analysis or witty intro to this, but it has to be one of the most interesting articles I've read in the past year. Full of thought-alleys down which I'll likely meander.
BUCK THA DEVIL: Although Michigan may have lost the big game this year, they seem to have gained another (snarling) fan in my son, C.J. The lad also tells me he's happy that Maurice Clarett has unselfishly taken it upon himself to clean up that dirty program in Columbus.
AUTOMATIC FROM MORE THAN JUST THE FREE THROW LINE: I heard that former NBA great Calvin Murphy had been acquitted of sexual abuse charges filed by some of his daughters, and so I rushed over to read the story, learn what what happened, etc. And the part that I can't get over is this:
Prosecutors said Murphy tried to maintain a public image of having only one family, even though he has 14 children with nine women. He married one of the women, according to prosecutors, and accepted her children. They said his children with the other women were told not to call him “Dad.”
BLIND TURTLE: So now I've killed the Amazon.com links and the RSS feed links and still my site loads slower than a turtle in traffic on the freeway. I see other sites that use Blogspot (for hosting) and/or Sitemeter (for traffic) and/or Haloscan (for comments) togetherly or separately and that load way faster than this here Camel, and so I wonder:
What gives? Isn't there one smart technical Camel reader out there who can troubleshoot this for me?
PICAYUNE PARADISE: It's the fourth quarter of the Bears game. C.J. is taking a nap. Michael has passed out on top of his mother, who is also passed out. Even the dog is asleep. I'm awake, with a Coke and a bag of chips. I truly feel like crying I'm so happy. My fantasy team is updating in another window on this computer. The Bears are upsetting the Vikings. Oh, and this quick post. Pure bliss.
WORKING FOR THE WHAT? It's the end of another blurred week. At one time that meant heading off to happy hour. It meant de-stressing, relaxing, watching sports and drinking beer and playing video games. Maybe it meant a nice dinner out with my girlfriend/wife, with friends. Dining out in the big city, at nicer and nicer restaurants. Goofing off. Now it means gymnastics class. Maybe a family swim. Bottles of formula rather than beer. Sneaking in some late-night TV, maybe reading a magazine. The only headaches will be from lack of sleep. And then back at it. It sounds sort of bland or dark as I type it, but it's not that bad. At times -- as when my son practically vibrates with happiness in the swimming pool, or when my wife glows holding our new baby -- it's downright triumphant and shiny. What it is, most of all, is a whole different chapter of life. I work in an office of twentysomethings. I am clearly not a twentysomething anymore, no matter how young I dress or act.
