Thursday, October 18, 2001 ::: I got my new yorker in the mail yesterday and it was an excellent issue. I noticed one of the articles creeping up the list on blogdex, but I was particularly interested in the review of the book that came out about some like it hot. It's from taschen, that publisher of saucy books. I had, in fact just rented the movie last weekend, so I thought it all a rather happy coincidence what with the movie being fresh in my mind.
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 ::: Oh, it seems that some scientists have decided to make flourescent pigs. this via blather. Reminds me of that glow-in-the-dark rabbit brouhaha from a while back. The oddest thing about these genetically engineered animals is their complete unawareness that they are very very odd. Kind of like a three-legged dog. Not only does the dog not realize that everyone who sees is stares unabashedly, it also does not care.
That feisty Renata Adler still has more to say. She certainly seems to have a knack for making enemies, but I have to say her reply to the whole Sirica thing in Harper's from a while ago was an excellent refutation of the accusations that she had made libellous statements - On the contrary, what she wrote was a very interesting take on the whole matter and I really do hope someone writes a book about him with all this taken into account. People are human. Sometimes bad people do good things, and Sirica may very well have been one of those. Or perhaps a good person who has done bad things. Or whatever.
Which is not to say that I agree with everything Ms. Adler has to say in regard to the New Yorker and New York literati in general. Of course the literary culture of the city has changed over the past fifty years, and some of those changes have been for the better and some for the worse. But I should probably not pontificate too much seeing as how I have not read her book. It's been on my list for a while though.
Monday, October 15, 2001 ::: There was an interesting article in the paper today about Baltimore's mayor O'Malley. Showing off Baltimore's new admininstrative tool, CitiStat. They have a Citistat map of the week up on the city web site, it is always interesting, if a bit difficult to figure out what exactly is being described. They could use some better explanations.
Tuesday, October 09, 2001 ::: Today I came across this site concerning the history of the typewriter. There were some exceedingly bizarre early typewriters, like the first one pictured which does indeed resemble a pincusion as the authors claim. Or perhaps a portuguese man-o-war. something threatening, no doubt.
