Friday, July 30, 2004 ::: some quick internet research reveals that berlin has an equivalent to the dcmetroblogmap - the blog to stop ratio is lower than dc, but there are a lot more stops. and I guess it hasn't quite caught on as much. So far, I've only looked at one or two berliner weblogs.
Monday, July 26, 2004 ::: very sleepy today for no apparent reason. hmph. anyway, it seems that there are a number of interesting people covering the democratic convention, including librarian.net and previously on hiatus 601am. I'm Looking forward to hearing obama and eleanor holmes norton speak, although I don't watch a lot of tv news and my schedule this week is pretty hectic.
speaking of which, I'm going to be in germany for three weeks, which should be pretty exciting. I still have a lot of stuff to take care of, but have got my accomodations, plane ticket, etc. all squared away. hopefully I'll have enough access to blog there. I may even bring my laptop, which will be good for storing pictures from my camera and stuff.
kottke also links to an interesting article about the 17th-century tulip speculation bubble, which may have been less of a speculative bubble than previously thought. A while ago I read Nature's Metropolis, which has a lot to say on the Chicago futures market and cornering the trade, which must be done sneakily and can cause additional troubles for cornerers afterwards, who must then dispose of the millions of bushels of wheat that they have bought up.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004 ::: So my dvd for die mommie die finally arrived after no small delay. Other people have seen it too, even if they didn't appreciate it as much as I do.
I'm thinking having a quote per post from the movie until I get tired or lazy or forget. so without further ado:
"Angela Arden [to ungrateful bitch of a daughter [Natasha Lyonne]]: ya sound like a square from squaresville!"
Tuesday, July 13, 2004 ::: So I've been reading the screenplay for Gigi and all the lessons in manners and breeding etc. reminded me of an especially sarcastic passage in gogol's dead souls, regarding the ever-so-important training in french lessons, piano, and housewifery:
she had been gently brought up, and gentle nurture, as we all know, is to be acquired only in boarding schools, and boarding schools, as we know, hold the three principal subjects which constitute the basis of human virtue to be the French language (a thing indispensable to the happiness of married life), piano-playing (a thing wherewith to beguile a husband's leisure moments), and that particular department of housewifery which is comprised in the knitting of purses and other "surprises." Nevertheless changes and improvements have begun to take place, since things now are governed more by the personal inclinations and idiosyncracies of the keepers of such establishments. For instance, in some seminaries the regimen places piano-playing first, and the French language second, and then the above department of housewifery; while in other seminaries the knitting of "surprises" heads the list, and then the French language, and then the playing of pianos--so diverse are the systems in force!
