In P.G. Wodehouse's finest novel, The Code of the Woosters, there appears the following insight:
She was trying to give the boyfriend a build-up, and, like all girls, was overdoing it. I've noticed the same thing in young wives, when they are trying to kid you that young Herbert or George or whatever the name may be has hidden depths which the vapid and irreflective observer might overlook...
In an effort to shame horror-movie writers into abandoning perhaps the laziest trope in their profession, Rich Four Four has stitched together 66(!) instances since 2000 of folks in mortal peril having their cell phones flash the "no service" message or otherwise malfunction at a crucial moment:
(via Vulture)
In his fine smackdown of Mike Gerson's weird exchange with Ezra Klein over the alleged 1933-vintage threat of marginal internet comment thread ranters, Jon Chait suggests that Gerson "look up Godwin's Law," alluding to the famous internet adage about the inevitability and absurdity of reductio ad Hitlerum arguments.
Okay, I'll admit that I have some issues with the Olympics, but I think that even Mary Lou Retton should be outraged over Barack Obama's decision to fly to Copenhagen later this week to lobby for Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Su
Roman Polanski, the brilliant director of Chinatown, was arrested by Swiss authorities over the weekend; he might be extradited to the United States soon. Polanski fled America after concern that he would face serious prison time over the rape of a 13-year-old girl. Alas, one gets the nasty feeling that many of the people rushing to his defense are doing so simply because he is a great artist. This feeling is strengthened when his supporters...admit to as much!
Strong advocates of our new G20 process are convinced that it will bring legitimacy to international economic policy discussions, rule-making, and crisis interventions. Certainly, it’s better than the G7/G8 pretending to run things--after all, who elected them?
From a Richmond Times-Dispatch article on the controversy over a local strip club owner's decision to hang one of those Obama-as-the-joker banners on the side of his building:
Moore's club is awaiting a Nov. 9-10 state Alcoholic Beverage Control hearing on alleged violations. Last year, Moore was convicted of three misdemeanor charges related to having sex with a minor and another female at his apartment above the club, and filming it illegally.
The WaPo has a piece today about the burgeoning market in prenatal devices promising to make your fetus smarter by doing things like playing him/her Mozart in utero.
Last Friday, Michael Gerson wrote a very strange column attacking the internet as a vehicle for extremism and bigotry. He tried to argue that the internet parallels the rise of Nazi Germany:
a fringe party was able to define a national community by scapegoating internal enemies; elevate a single, messianic leader; and keep the public docile with hatred while the state committed unprecedented crimes.
