tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35211092011-12-13T19:53:46.730-08:00Mad BenjaminsI'm getting married - of course I'm madBenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comBlogger371100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-1137603672064425902006-01-18T09:00:00.000-08:002006-01-18T09:14:13.470-08:00After two and a half years I'm back to blogging. Regular updates on...the wedding.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-878350792003-01-22T03:19:00.000-08:002003-01-22T03:19:07.010-08:00NO MORE POSTS WHILE BEN IS IN ASIA. ALL APOLOGIES.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-869994252003-01-06T01:22:00.000-08:002003-01-06T01:22:30.000-08:00
Rob's Top Ten Movies of the Year
1. Adaptation
2. Talk to Her
3. Punch Drunk Love
4. Minority Report
That's it. Adaptation, for it's self-consuming, confused, amusing brilliance. Talk to Her, for its suspense, precision and flawless execution of a script that would have been contrived and shallow in anyone except Almodovar's hands. Punch Drunk Love for getting me a second date. Minority ReportRobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-864374202002-12-23T07:36:00.000-08:002002-12-23T07:36:15.780-08:00Saw Gangs of New York this weekend. I found it a crock, but as usual am in the minority. Barring the historical inaccuracies which I mind greatly, the film was predictable (am I giving it away? Or do you think Leo won't get the girl...) and uninteresting. Yet I used these inexcusable lapses in editing (a man whose father dies in 1814 yet is 47 in 1863 ought to make a terrifically interesting Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-863336132002-12-20T12:53:00.000-08:002002-12-20T12:54:19.000-08:00Note to self: cancel New Yorker subscription, renew Economist subscription. Take this article on contemporary Marxism:
"The core idea that economic structure determines everything has been especially pernicious. According to this view, the right to private property, for instance, exists only because itserves bourgeois relations of production. The same can be said for every other right or civil Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-863281602002-12-20T10:33:00.000-08:002002-12-20T10:33:29.546-08:00This is why I love craigslist.comBenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-863274122002-12-20T10:12:00.000-08:002002-12-20T10:12:51.333-08:00Karl Rove. Has his fingerprints all over this. Which explains why Sen. Frist, M.D., chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during this past election cycle (worked closely with the White House on "strategery") and personal friend of Bush, is so quickly pronounced as frontrunner to head the GOP Senate contingent. And why Lott will keep his seat instead of resigning (hmm... what Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-863270942002-12-20T10:05:00.000-08:002002-12-20T10:05:30.890-08:00Thanks a Lott: It was bound to happen. Watch everyone take credit except the real mastermind.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-862797762002-12-19T10:20:00.000-08:002002-12-19T10:21:12.000-08:00I have just seen the future brought to you by Google (who else?).Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-862757322002-12-19T08:43:00.000-08:002002-12-19T08:43:20.316-08:00By the way, I don't smoke. I think smokers smell bad and waste money. As it seems many of our elected officials do.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-862755202002-12-19T08:38:00.000-08:002002-12-19T08:40:24.000-08:00I woke up at a human hour today, so I have time to harp on the tobacco issue. I tried to figure out what happened to New York City when it sold off its rights to the master settlement funds (it was due 3.4% of all funds, or about $7 billion).
It was difficult to find materials on the specifics of the bond sale, but far less onerous than finding say, city parking regulations.
The city sold its Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-862324882002-12-18T11:47:00.000-08:002002-12-18T11:47:53.040-08:00Kudos to Matt Drudge for linking an excerpt of John Dos Passos' "The Big Money" (copy in your bookshelf, Ashley, strategically placed there by yours truly) on the Wright Brothers. My favorite 20th century author does not get enough respect, and the above is not his best. I think it's difficult to top this condemnation of the Jazz Age, or this piece about patriotism and war. I highly highly Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-862311222002-12-18T11:14:00.000-08:002002-12-18T11:15:00.000-08:00Thank the Lord for Dave Barry, who several months ago produced yet again his special blend of political satire, insight, and jokes about New Jersey in In War on Tobacco, money goes up in smoke.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-862285802002-12-18T10:14:00.000-08:002002-12-18T10:14:33.230-08:00How could I have forgotten the tobacco trial lawyers and their generous generous gifts to politicians (mostly on the left, but they spread their love around), like in Texas and my current domicile of New York.
This article, so succinct and telling, of course it could not be found without paying a fee. I offer you the cached google version.
In short: politicians give lawyers $13,000/hour fees Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-862102482002-12-18T00:35:00.000-08:002002-12-18T02:49:52.000-08:00
The new Terminator 3 trailer is out. Here's a quick summary to save you 106 seconds:
Voiceover: The machines will RISE this July...
Screenwriters: But we're completely out of ideas!
Voiceover: Please watch it on July 2nd.
Ahnuld: I'm old.
Screenwriters: Bigger explosions, more tits... We were on a deadline!
Voiceover: Pretty Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-861879312002-12-17T14:55:00.000-08:002002-12-17T14:55:43.000-08:00One interesting story, which of course won't be covered: where is the tobacco money going? The 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, in the sum of $206 billion, was supposed to help states recoup health care costs for smokers and to pay for education/prevention programs. Never mind that smokers already pay more in taxes than they receive in health care, or that cigarette manufacturers will pass alongBenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-861869132002-12-17T14:29:00.000-08:002002-12-17T14:29:59.976-08:00Tuesday afternoons my mind meanders towards what to do this coming weekend. I like to believe I will hunker down and write the Great American Novel, but typically I end up eating buffalo wings, watching football and doing the Sunday Times crossword. My "down" time is often not spent effectively.
Same with the mass media. When Gary Condit (or O.J...) was the end-all and be-all, the 24/7 news Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-861824202002-12-17T12:44:00.000-08:002002-12-17T12:44:12.593-08:00I feel that life becomes much easier when you comprehend Murphy's Laws. For example, I met Ashley today for lunch, and told her that I'd call her on my cell when I arrived downstairs. Naturally my cell had no reception. Did I cry? Yell? Throw the phone? Of course not -- I knew that I only needed to buy a pack of gum, collect the change and walk to a pay phone for service to be restored. To test Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-860036192002-12-14T13:25:00.000-08:002002-12-14T21:18:01.000-08:00
The trouble with Trent Lott runs much deeper than the Republicans, along with their Commander-in-Chief, would have you believe. Is it possible that a man with Lott's segregationist record rises up through the ranks unbeknownst to the party faithful? No, it's simply unthinkable.
Don't miss Colbert King's excellent column on the subject.
Episodes like this in American politics are useful Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-858436162002-12-11T08:29:00.000-08:002002-12-11T16:48:23.000-08:00In my view there are four pieces of shit in the Senate that must be excreted, two on each side of the aisle.
- Strom Thurmond (R-SC), who ran for president in 1948 on the segregationist "Dixiecrat" ticket
- Robert Byrd (D-WV), who was a member of the KKK.
- Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-SC) continues to hide his anti-Semitism (along with President Pro Tem Senator Byrd above) in the guise of "Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-858408382002-12-11T07:26:00.000-08:002002-12-11T16:58:55.000-08:00I realized the humor incipient in online dating when a previous boss at a large investment bank had his profile on match.com. (Ashley, can I get sued for this?) I particularly enjoyed his "fairly diverse" nature: "I have season tickets for football, but also really enjoy art museums and other forms of art."
Thus Rob had much difficulty assuring me that the following Eme Kah character is fake. Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-857334402002-12-09T08:48:00.000-08:002002-12-09T11:04:23.000-08:00I don't mean at all to pick on Sean John. He's a talented, intelligent, successful businessman (and, IMHO, a mediocre musician) who could bust a cap in my rear. I use him as an example because I am simply astounded, daily, by the ability of people in this country to one morning begin the process of reinvention -- for better or worse. Not merely to escape the chains of the past and start life anewBenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-857318182002-12-09T08:13:00.000-08:002002-12-09T09:32:48.000-08:00If you enter the URL puffdaddy.com you will automatically be redirected to p-diddy.com. which of course makes sense given the artist's desire to change his stage name. From Mr. Combs' biography:
"It is a rare and significant occasion when a musical artist captures and expresses the sentiments of a generation and expands his horizons to make an impact on society, creating a union between music Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-857176882002-12-09T00:01:00.000-08:002002-12-09T00:32:57.000-08:00Raise your hand if you think that there is a breed of dog called 'Schnoodle.'
Well, there is. A cross between a Schnauzer and a Poodle, apparently.
And they are very cute. Very cute.
Instead of the grotesque "Schnoodle," they should call the breed "fuzzy", lower case f.
p.s. Not surprisingly, Schnoodle owners do not take after their dogs. Do not visit "oodles of schnoodles", the home of the Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-856680912002-12-07T21:31:00.000-08:002002-12-07T21:31:52.880-08:00
"Yes, there are deprivations, there are the deprivations which give rise to our worst sorrows, but what does it truly matter what we have lost, when what we have lost is not yet used up. There are so many things susceptible of being loved that surely no discouragement can be final. To know how to suffer, to know how to love, and when everything collapses, to pick it all up again, simply the Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-856334352002-12-07T01:29:00.000-08:002002-12-07T02:03:44.000-08:00
Do you miss poetry? I do. Maybe you like it and read it. But do others? Do you see it or hear it in public? Not much poetry recitation going on around the proverbial water cooler, huh? Yet, one assumes that it's out there: sitting in hardcover books in the 'Literature' section of Barnes & Noble, tucked away in specialty magazines, lying in wait in the bookbags of students everywhere.
Here's Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-856156082002-12-06T15:55:00.000-08:002002-12-06T22:12:33.000-08:00An AP story today reports that the Pentagon's F/A-22 Raptor figher jet program is facing cost overruns of $700 million. Therein, is this little gem:
"One of the biggest problems with the Raptor has been getting the software for its sophisticated cockpit controls to work properly. The Air Force's goal is for that software to require restarting only once every ten hours, on average."
Only once? I Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-855805472002-12-05T22:50:00.000-08:002002-12-05T22:53:50.000-08:00Ok, I know that railing against the evils of capitalism, materialism, etc... is a bit naive and very stale. I also know that posting two Maxim links, within thirty minutes of each other, makes me look like a fervent reader of Maxim, which I am not (not even for the articles...).
Still, this ad is quite special. Maxim strongly urges you to marry NOW! And as long as you're getting married, why Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-855791632002-12-05T22:04:00.000-08:002002-12-05T22:10:44.000-08:00I grew old the day I started worrying about 'young people nowadays.' Now I'm just working on cynical, bitter and jaded, and soon I'll be off to Florida. 'Young people nowadays' don't really follow politics, the news, etc. They are happily ill-informed, or uninformed, rather (you have to be somewhat informed, to be ill-informed, I posit). Can we all agree on that? So, how do you find common groundRobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-855543322002-12-05T12:34:00.000-08:002002-12-05T12:51:00.000-08:00Interesting times for Europe these days. I've been reading symposia and articles about Europe's political future, including Friends? Foes? Disconnected Strangers? from the American Enterprise, and input from the Times of London like Schroder is leading Germany to disaster. Better to go for the primary sources, I think, so I tried to read the EU papers. With my shaky knowledge of German and Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-855474052002-12-05T10:03:00.000-08:002002-12-05T10:03:23.516-08:00Archimedes asked for nought but a place to stand to move the world. But in our relativistic age, who can find this ever-fix'd mark upon which to plant a lever? Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-855439142002-12-05T08:47:00.000-08:002002-12-05T08:48:40.000-08:00The Jets. What is there to say? Sadly, they're likely dead. Robbie and I were at the game last year IN OAKLAND (I wore black around the stadium, green in my seat). Which the Jets won. With time expiring. By a John Hall field goal. I thought they could pull it off -- Pennington, Martin and Abraham were all playing well... but they suck. Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-855411862002-12-05T07:51:00.000-08:002002-12-05T07:51:33.616-08:00Thanks, Rob. We here at Mad Benjamins are certainly glad to have you aboard! I made the changes to Andrew Sullivan's description. I will also start adding political commentary shortly, as soon as we do something about this pesky "job."Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-855213972002-12-04T20:50:00.000-08:002002-12-04T20:53:29.000-08:00Ho, hum! May this blog turn out to be more original than its opening entry. I want to hear from someone who absolutely LOVES Microsoft and wants to bear Bill Gates' ugly-ass children. (Additional ugly-ass children, to be precise.)
Also, I submit that the correct pithy summation of Mr. Sullivan's venerable enterprise is "The mum of all blogs."
And what would Salon.com be? "Punditry, porn, Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-855019342002-12-04T13:44:00.000-08:002002-12-04T15:05:17.000-08:00Except Excel. I have spent about two weeks installing Windows XP, Office XP, graphics drivers, CD-RW drivers, service pack updates, xp updates and Just For Men (Natural Ash Brown) just to use the (admittedly beautiful) XIRR function.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-855014872002-12-04T13:34:00.000-08:002002-12-04T15:08:46.000-08:00It's taken me almost a year to realize that while, yes, I am a tad slow, it is not because I cannot control time, space and blogspot. It just takes an unusually long time to register changes in my template, which I am not used to. If you FTP an html file, it should be accessible immediately, no?Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521109.post-855012452002-12-04T13:29:00.000-08:002002-12-04T18:49:53.000-08:00Take 2. Dear Lord I hate all things Microsoft.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09590616547644026672noreply@blogger.com