Skaters Jump In as Foreclosures Drain the Pool. Across the nation, the ultimate symbol of suburban success has become one more reminder of the economic meltdown, with builders going under, pools going to seed and skaters finding a surplus of deserted pools in which to perfect their acrobatic aerials.
I once had a joke with some friends about crumbly communion bread leaving too much Jesus in the carpet. Little did I know that a distinct lack of crumbliness is a huge selling point for manufacturers of communion wafers, like the Cavanagh family of Rhode Island. They’ve cornered the market on communion wafers.
I think it’s time to don our gay apparel and light the Yule log.
The VHS era finally comes to and end. The final supplier of VHS tapes is calling it quits. It’s amazing to think that less than a generation ago, VHS was a bleeding edge technology that would go on to revolutionize home entertainment. Now, it’ s got less respect than vinyl and less nostalgia than eight tracks. And the DVD isn’t long for this world, either.
I’m sorry, did that just say 30 below windchill? That’s just sick. Well, at least the high today will be a balmy 5 above!
The Joshua Generation: Race and the campaign of Barack Obama. This article from The New Yorker by David Remnick is lengthy, but it’s a captivating analysis of how Obama managed to transform the issue of race in this campaign. It’s a must-read if you want to understand where Obama fits in the American narrative of race.
What Obama’s 27-Year-Old Speechwriter Learned From George W. Bush. And Favreau is right, Gerson's speech for Bush that September 20 was one of the great speeches in American history. But it must be noted here that with that speech the discord between speech and speaker has never been more pronounced, for we have come to know that Gerson's boss never fully grasped the power of words. With an exalting script, Gerson could make George W. Bush sound like Winston Churchill for an hour. But it is Jon Favreau's task and his gift that he is able to make his boss — a fellow who has been known to write a sentence or two on his own — sound like Barack Obama.
The forecast says 6 to 12 inches of snow tonight. Sounds like a good time.
The nearly three-decade-old kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh has officially been closed by police. As difficult as it must be for Adam’s parents to live with his tragic death, there’s no doubt that John Walsh has channeled his grief into a crusade to fight crime that has saved many lives and solved many crimes. The Adam Walsh case changed how parents looked at the world when it came to their children. The world was never as safe after Adam’s death.
This seems like a snowier than usual December. I thought it was supposed to be less this year.
We learned last week that Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., was Senate Candidate #5 in the criminal complaint made against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich [PDF]. Now, it’s coming out that Jackson might have been working with federal investigators since 2003.
The Arena Football League won’t play the 2009 season. Instead, they want to re-organize and come back for the 2010 season. League officials cited the soft economy as part of the reason for the hiatus. It’s a whacky sport to watch on TV that really isn’t exciting as the league markets it to be. But it’s too bad that they’ve hit hard times.
Kottke surveys some of the more unsual versions of the Bible available. You may find it intersting that the best-selling Bible on Amazon is Bible Illuminated. It’s a glossy, magazine version of the New Testament that is definitely eye-catching. The Bible Experience is an audiobook that features some pretty big names (Cuba Gooding Jr., Denzel Washington, LL Cool J, Faith Evans, and Samuel L. Jackson) reading passages.
It’s that time of year. Google has released the 2008 Google Zeitgeist. No surprise that “Palin” and “Obama” made the top 10, but “Fox News” surprises me. I also had never heard of Surf the Channel. After taking a look at it, I’m not surprised that it makes the list.
On days like today, Florida looks like a good option. The wind chill this morning was in the negative double digits.
