Donald Pittenger writes:

Dear Blowhards --

More trifles for your amusement and edification. And, in one instance, for mine.

-- As part of the aftershock of the Knight-Ridder sale and likely divestment of a dozen papers, Jeff Jarvis takes a reporter-in-denial to task here.

-- I recently got an agency-wide broadcast e-mail from an excercise-obsessive in the organization promoting something called a Fun Run.

This is nothing new. Back in the 80s at the national demography meetings folks also promoted a Friday morning Fun Run.

I hate to be a wet blanket (I'm lying -- I love it!) but to me the only thing "fun" and "run" have in common is the fact that they rhyme.

Feel free to disagree.

-- Now that I'm in a complaining mood, my office area has a room set aside for lunching. There's a table, chairs, a 'fridge, a small sink -- and two microwave ovens. Around noon, some of the weight watchin' folks pop frozen lunches in microwaves ... and the stench begins!

I mean, some of those lasagnas and whatever must be 20% carbs, 10% meat 'n' sauce and 70% spices.

-- The Centre Pompidou art museum in Paris was renovated a while ago and Theodore Dalrymple offers his acidic reactions over at The New Criterion.

Click here to read, but be warned that what you see is only a segment (but a useful one) of the magazine version; to read it all, you'll need to be registered.

-- Bleg ... is blog-speak for begging for information on a blog. And I have come blegging. You see, I'm doing a lot of catch-up on my art history reading. My current focus is late-19th and early 20th century painters and paintings. But to do justice to certain topics here at 2Blowhards I need to get a better handle on post-1960 art. I've read and printed out some Internet-based items, but I think it might be a good idea to read some books on the subject.

Welcomed are tips on good books about post-1960 art that are illustrated, reasonably comprehensive yet concise, largely jargon-free, don't get hung up on academic fads such as gender theory or deconstructionism and that are authoritative.

Am I asking for the impossible? Hope not.

Later,

Donald

Just last night I was talking to a classmate of mine who is running the LA Marathon this weekend. I cannot think of an activity I would rather do less.

Posted by: Bryan on March 15, 2006 02:49 PM

Marathoners indeed are a strange breed. Training for a marathon is not the sort of thing that can be done in a few hours each week, in some ways it's almost a full-time occupation. It takes far more devotion than most other non-professional sports activities. In addition, marathoners are far from being well-rounded athletes, often having abnormally little muscle, and some of them develop joint and other medical problems.
But still ... it's hard for me *not* to appreciate the way some people devote themselves to physical activity, especially when there's seldom any financial reward for doing so. For most people over age 30 or so in this country, men especially, "physical activity" consists of clicking the TV remote and _possibly_ an occasional round of cartball. At least marathoners avoid such laziness, even if one might argue that they go too far to the other extreme.

Posted by: Peter on March 15, 2006 03:32 PM

Ah, yes, office food. When I worked for the City of Portland as a clerical many of us clicked away behind a screen and somehow the idea developed that we could eat as we worked. We were an unhappy crew and on the especially difficult days the food became much more calorie-laden and aromatic -- either greasy or sugar-sticky. When I tried to start a wave of asceticism, I got a wave of hate. I was obviously a fiend trying to prevent celebration of new hires, retirements, birthdays, anniversaries, births, deaths of people who used to work there, etc.

The other comforting practice for clericals was to sit with the office supply catalogue and order as many exotic small objects as we could. Our supervisor was afraid to veto any of these little flags, clips, pens for people with arthritis, color-coded files, and so on -- in fact, he became a convert. (I confess that I'm still into this obsession, though it's hard to do with my income.) A leak of public tax money that hasn't been identified to my knowledge. And if we mere city employees were doing it, what about the military?

Prairie Mary

Posted by: Mary Scriver on March 15, 2006 04:26 PM

You ask for "... tips on good books about post-1960 art that are illustrated, reasonably comprehensive yet concise, largely jargon-free, don't get hung up on academic fads such as gender theory or deconstructionism and that are authoritative."

While it might not hit every requirement, check out "This is Modern Art" by Matthew Collings.

Posted by: Chris White on March 15, 2006 05:50 PM

A couple of weeks ago one of my co-workers microwaved something containing fish. Now, don't get me wrong, I like fish as much as anyone, but suffice to say that microwaved leftover fish is not a pleasurable aroma.

Posted by: Peter on March 15, 2006 11:01 PM

I never enjoyed distance running throughout school, sports, and the military, until I ran a few Hash House races - http://www.gthhh.com. It's one race where you have a chance to win even if your not the fastest.

Posted by: BBill on March 16, 2006 02:21 PM






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