Here! Here!

'How to Be Idle': Being and Do-Nothingness - New York Times: "For the next year or two, let's concentrate on eradicating employment as we know it. "

Meat Loaf for The Soul Sells Well Evidently

For This Author, Writing Is Only the Beginning - New York Times

The critics have sometimes been less than enthusiastic. Writing in The New York Times, Janet Maslin said Ms. Evanovich's works were "the mystery-novel equivalent of comfort food." And more than once, her writing has been called formulaic.

Ms. Evanovich does not deny that; she simply wonders what is wrong with it.

"I'm a writer, but this is a business," she said. "You have to look at it in the way you would look at any business. You have to have honesty to the product. You have to meet consumer expectations. You give them value for their money and give them a product that they need. I don't see anything wrong with all these things. And I don't think it's a bad thing to meet consumers' expectations."

It's Worth the Inane Absolut Commercial to Read The Article

Salon.com | Race against time: "The only difference between the North and the South, wrote the late James Baldwin, was that 'the north promised more. And [there was only] this similarity: what it promised it did not give and what it gave, at length and grudgingly with one hand, it took back with the other.' "

Talk About Apples and Oranges....

Opting Out in the Debate on Evolution - New York Times: "'After all, interpretations of Genesis are a matter of faith, not facts,' he wrote. But faith and facts 'should not be pitted against each other; the theory of evolution does not, in fact, conflict with the religious views of most Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu followers.'
But some scientists have made the point that it is difficult to make the case for evolution at a time when many Americans view it as an assault by the secular elite on the values of God-fearing people."

Was This One Fat Man or Little Boy?

[A Rather Clinical Rendition Of The After Effects Of The Nagasaki Bomb]MDN: Special: "As one whittles away at embroidery and checks the stories, the impression grows that the atomic bomb is a tremendous, but not a peculiar weapon. The Japanese have heard the legend from American radio that the ground preserves deadly irradiation. But hours of walking amid the ruins where the odor of decaying flesh is still strong produces in this writer nausea, but no sign or burns or debilitation. "

NASA is Podcasting

Science@NASA to go: "Using an iPod or any portable MP3 player, you can now explore the Universe while driving, jogging, waiting in line ... just about anywhere. It's easy: tune in to the Science@NASA podcast."

What Will They Think Of Next?

ELF | Your Personal Email Library Reminder Service

They're Trying To Kill Elmo

Public Broadcasting Targeted By House: "A House subcommittee voted yesterday to sharply reduce the federal government's financial support for public broadcasting, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help underwrite such popular children's educational programs as 'Sesame Street,' 'Reading Rainbow,' 'Arthur' and 'Postcards From Buster.'"

Cranky

Group backs off boycott of Ford - 06/07/05: "Less than a week after calling for a boycott of Ford Motor Co. vehicles, a conservative group opposed to same-sex marriage suspended the call Monday after an influential Texas dealer offered to mediate between the American Family Association and the Dearborn automaker.
The association targeted Ford on June 1 to protest the automaker's donations to gay pride parades and gay organizations, and advertising in publications for gay readers. "

Well Alright Then

George Clinton Wins Funkadelic Rights - New York Times: "In a decision issued last week, Judge Manuel L. Real of Federal District Court of Los Angeles returned ownership of the master recordings of four albums Mr. Clinton made in the 1970's with his band Funkadelic: 'One Nation Under a Groove,' 'Hardcore Jollies,' 'Uncle Jam Wants You' and 'The Electric Spanking of War Babies.'"

Today's Sign of The Apocalypse

Smart Kids' Reality TV: Vying for Scholarships - New York Times: "Tonight at 8, ABC will show the first of six installments of 'The Scholar,' in which 10 high school seniors pursue a scholarship worth as much as $240,000 by outsmarting, out-talking and out-preening one another before a panel of actual college admissions officers. That sum is intended to cover tuition, room and board at an Ivy League or comparable institution for four years, as well as incidentals like books and travel.
There is plenty of tension - in tonight's episode one boy, on the brink of tears, says he cannot bear to inform his immigrant parents that he has just lost an early round of the competition. Still, nobody on 'The Scholar' loses: at the least, each contestant will walk away with a $20,000 scholarship. (The grand prize is being supplied by an education foundation created by Eli Broad, a California billionaire; the rest of the money has been given by Wal-Mart.)"

Nuts & Bolts

WSJ.com - Quest for Best Seller Creates a Pileup Of Returned Books: "This kind of retailing has led to an ever-shortening shelf life for bestsellers. Most stores promote new books for only one or two weeks. Authors who might have remained on the best-seller list 10 to 12 weeks a decade ago now often stay only six to eight weeks. This phenomenon has been exacerbated by publishers themselves, who are publishing ever more books each year in search of hits. That pushes other titles off the shelves more quickly.
Because potential bestsellers have only a short time to get established, publishers say they need towering stacks at the front of stores to ensure their titles get noticed and to make sure they don't miss any sales. The principle is similar to movie studios wanting to get their films in as many theaters as possible on opening weekend. 'You build authors by the weight of copies,' says Laurence Kirshbaum, CEO of Time Warner's book group."

"The Death of Local Culture," I lamented, affecting my best Drama Queen

LEONARD PITTS JR.: Welcome to Krakow or is it Chicago?: "'McWorld,' political scientist Benjamin Barber famously dubbed it. He saw a world being pulled apart by tribalism and extremism, and drawn together by McWorld -- free market forces. Meaning, teach the people what to want and then give it to them."