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Random rants
Friday I heard Fred Thompson talk for three minutes, he was so terrible I had to leave the room....
Most of all he has rotten diction (odd for a former actor), plus he had no idea what the market-oriented crowd wanted to hear. Sell short. I'm still predicting Giuliani; Hillary will do worse once the attack dogs gear up. The fascinating but overlong Into the Wild is about, among other things, the weaknesses of family ties in the United States, and how people seek artificial family in response. In a free society people must, to some extent, put principles of justice and political order above loyalties to clan. This is why the idea of a free society attracts so few Russians, and also why their quasi-liberalizations have not been pretty. The new Charles Taylor book is one of the best (implicit) responses to Greg Clark; it shows how radically a societal worldview can change over time and also why belief in God is no longer taken for granted. Tell Me You Love Me keeps getting better and soon I will try the Yglesias-recommended Friday Night Lights. Don't be fooled by the good reviews for Michael Clayton, nothing is there conceptually. I want to see more Michael Powell movies (is he today the least-known-most-important major director?), starting with Colonel Blimp. I finally "get" what other people see in John Adams's Violin Concerto. No, good frying pans really don't hold up for long and yes I have started cooking my cheeseburgers in milk.
The last three items I bought at Best Buy all were broken upon first inspection.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on October 10, 2007 at 05:14 PM in Education | Permalink
Comments
I still like Short Ride on a Fast Machine better because it's . . . well . . . short.
Besides, writing concertos is a signalling exercise for composers. Most calls for scores exclude concertos, so having one says "Look at me! I don't have to write music to win competitions anymore!!"
OK- who thinks Aaron J. Kernis should have been tapped to do the music for HALO 3?
Just me?
Posted by: al at Oct 10, 2007 5:33:12 PM
tyler,
more information on milk cheeseburgers, please.
thanks.
Posted by: t at Oct 10, 2007 6:07:55 PM
Why is Fred Thompson called a "former actor". There is no sign that he has given up the practice.
He probably acted more recently than he earned money as a lawyer, but I guess we would never trust a lawyer to be reformed, so he is never identified as a "former" lawyer.
Posted by: jk at Oct 10, 2007 6:49:35 PM
I would love to hear your thoughts about Tell Me You Love Me. I find its subject matter -- real life sex and the problems it can generate -- fascinating and very little addressed in TV and movies. But the characters are very hard to like.
Posted by: Mike at Oct 10, 2007 6:49:43 PM
I think it's more accurate to say that he doesn't care what the market crowd wants to hear. The Thompson campaign seems to think it can win without that crowd. They are going for the God-fearing, bomb-Iran crowd. Thompson understands economics as well as I, a college freshman, understand nuclear physics.
Posted by: Colin at Oct 10, 2007 7:03:01 PM
What brand of frying pan do you use? All-Clad has worked great for me, pretty much indestructible. But don't put it under water while hot or it will warp. And here's the most important trick, use a product called "Bar Keeper's Friend" to get off all the crud that accumulates when searing a piece of fish or cooking over high heat with a lot of oil.
Posted by: John V at Oct 10, 2007 7:09:40 PM
"The last three items I bought at Best Buy all were broken upon first inspection. "
Sounds typical
Posted by: Robert Olson at Oct 10, 2007 7:38:18 PM
I second the request for more info on milk cheeseburgers.
Posted by: Greg at Oct 10, 2007 7:53:43 PM
My cast iron fry pans show little wear ;-), for non-stick my semi-commercial pans from Smart & Final last a long time (i throw them out on a semi-schedule rather than from apparent wear).
Posted by: odograph at Oct 10, 2007 8:01:00 PM
I third the request on cooking cheeseburgers in milk.
Posted by: Yan Li at Oct 10, 2007 8:14:29 PM
The Giuliani link is the funniest thing that I have seen on this website.
Posted by: Michael Foody at Oct 10, 2007 8:17:58 PM
Michael Powell, with Emeric Pressburger, never really did get the respect that they deserve -- at least on this side of the Atlantic. Colonel Blimp is great, but A Canterbury Tale is even better. I've never seen another movie that could inspire such good cheer and hope without ever seeming cloying.
Posted by: Pocket at Oct 10, 2007 8:42:50 PM
The Charles Taylor link takes you to the Ministry of Silly Walks poster...
Posted by: John Goes at Oct 10, 2007 9:01:42 PM
Romney won the nomination and the presidency last Sunday when he became the first GOP candidate to explicitly criticize his own party in major TV ads and press campaigns. Not because he criticized the GOP as such, but because he showed he is capable of thinking like a leader, i.e., doing notable things first. People want leaders as president, not clever guys or thoughtful intellectuals. It's still an executive office, no matter what anyone says. Also Giuliani is still doing very strange things like taking phantom cell phone calls. He will show subtle cracks in the concrete, and slight instabilities in his mental state as the political season goes on.
Posted by: Henrik Mintis at Oct 10, 2007 9:10:32 PM
Yeah, I have to second Michael Foody. Giuliani as Frank Booth is one of the funniest and meanest (justifiably) jabs out there.
Posted by: John Payne at Oct 10, 2007 9:11:56 PM
The new Radiohead album is awesome. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Posted by: D. Greene at Oct 10, 2007 9:13:17 PM
Michael Powell's Tales of Hoffman is one of the best opera movies ever.
Posted by: Buce at Oct 10, 2007 9:53:40 PM
Michael Powell's Tales of Hoffman is one of the best opera movies ever.
Posted by: Buce at Oct 10, 2007 9:54:17 PM
Stop cooking cheeseburgers in milk. Eat salmon instead.
Posted by: Randall Parker at Oct 10, 2007 11:02:11 PM
One reason why we can have a free society in the first place is that people put principles of justice and political order above loyalties to clan.
Posted by: Randall Parker at Oct 10, 2007 11:03:59 PM
Yes, stop cooking cheeseburgers in milk. Start cooking them in bacon.
Posted by: Nonemoreblack at Oct 11, 2007 12:18:35 AM
I put the milk on top of my cheeseburgers... in the form of cheese.
Posted by: Alex Tabarrok at Oct 11, 2007 12:23:55 AM
D. Green,
It is pretty bomb-ass isn't it? I'm amazed how radiohead has re-made themselves yet again after the, IMO, mediocre Kid A/Amnesiac experiment. Hail to the Thief and now In Rainbows have redeemed them (not that the best band of this generation needs redeeming).
Posted by: Keith Y at Oct 11, 2007 12:26:21 AM
did anyone else have to strain to read the verification code? IF my 26 year old eyes were struggling, I'd imagine others were too.
Posted by: Keith Y at Oct 11, 2007 12:27:40 AM
the new radiohead is great. i think you should set up a poll to see how much MR readers paid. also let's get that explanation of the milk burgers already.
Posted by: tof at Oct 11, 2007 12:32:51 AM
