Saturday, February 2, 2008


Schoolgirl Musical
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- It seems that Koreans love the "schoolgirl" thing -- skirts, haircuts, uniforms, adorable knock-knees -- as much as the Japanese do. Or is the following clip simply referencing the Japanese fetish? Gosh, but it can be hard to know what's authentically "meant" these days ... "Dasepo Naughty Girls" -- Could be the movie of the year. Ain't It Cool News' Quint caught it at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and has this to say: "I don’t know what the fuck DASEPO NAUGHTY GIRLS is, but I do know that I love it." That's a rave! Here's the movie's trailer. Best, Michael... posted by Michael at February 2, 2008 | perma-link | (3) comments

Friday, February 1, 2008


I Am Not Worthy
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- * Some excerpts from an email recently sent around by an organization called Americans For the Arts: One of our main objectives is to support and secure federal, state, and local education policies that provide students a balanced education and prepare them to compete in a globally innovative and creative workforce ... Americans for the Arts maintains that arts education develops the precise set of skills students need in order to thrive in a global economy that is driven by knowledge and ideas ... Formalize an incentive program to hire arts educators and strengthen the Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education through revisions to the No Child Left Behind Act ... Now, I have tended to think of myself as a pretty committed culturebuff. But this email has got me thinking that perhaps I've been mistaken. After all, my hopes for culture have zero to do with the agenda of Americans for the Arts. Personally I'd love to see people free their experience of the arts from the hands of politicians, bureaucrats, educators, and worthy-nonprofit types, 90% of whom seem to me to be devoted to bleeding the arts of everything I love the arts for. * Some headlines and taglines from recent issues of the highbrow lit magazines Bookforum and The Boston Review: Slave Trade On Trial Richard Locke on Pat Barker Jyoti Thottqm on Tahmima Anam's "A Golden Age" Matthew Price on Richard M. Cook's "Alfred Kazin: A Biography" Vivian Gornick: Hannah Arendt's Jewish Problem J.K. Bishop: The Art of Dying Peter Terzian on William Maxwell's Early Novels and Stories Now, I'm a big reader, and during one 15 year stretch I even followed the NYC publishing world -- and new literary fiction -- pretty closely. Yet I'm never, ever going to read any of those pieces. In fact, I look at Tables of Contents like these and think, "Isn't it amazing? Some people are still arguing about Alfred Kazin, Hannah Arendt, William Maxwell, and slavery." I also can't tell you how bizarre I find it that not a single word reflecting an interest in entertainment values appears in any of those headlines. Real intellectuals apparently have a hard time staying awake when topics like suspense, humor, characterization, plotting, sexiness, pacing, and identification come up. I guess I have no choice but to say it loud and say it proud: I am 1) not a Worthy Artsperson, and 2) certainly not a Serious Reader. Funny how good it feels to get these two admissions out there in public. Back here I wrote about what I called "the Arts Litany" -- the list of beliefs and convictions that arts people are expected to hold. FvBlowhard responded here. Do you keep up with any of the heavyweight art-or-lit mags? If so, what on earth do you get out of it? Best, Michael... posted by Michael at February 1, 2008 | perma-link | (18) comments

It's Time For Some Music!
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- Paying too much attention to politics makes me kompletely krazy. It makes me feel the need to ... to ... Well, goshdarnit, to do some semi-random YouTube music-linkage. First up, The Marvelettes, who are the easy winners of today's Cute, Sweet, and Sexy Award: The Marvelettes started out life in rural Inkster, Michigan. America: land of the best place-names ever! Read more about the Marvelettes here. Although The Clash sometimes leave me thinking that they're striving a little harder for "passionate and committed" than they need to, this live performance of "I Fought the Law" has real sizzle: It's 1977 forever, baby! Plus, 2:21 seconds is such a nice length for a rock song, isn't it? And doesn't Eddie Cochran show a lot of easygoing cocky charisma in this version of "C'mon Everybody"? Sing it together, people: "Whoo! C'mon everybody: We gotta keep the politics in perspective ..." Best, Michael... posted by Michael at February 1, 2008 | perma-link | (4) comments

Ron, Bill, and Dan
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- Thanks to Dan McCarthy for letting me know that 2Blowhards fave -- well, fave of this Blowhard, anyway -- Bill Kauffman has endorsed Ron Paul for President. Bill and Dan and some other wonderful cranks and curmudgeons blogged together for a time last year as the Reactionary Radicals. Bill's next book can be pre-ordered here. Dan blogs at his own blog as well as at the Ron Paul blog, and he also works as a contributing editor for The American Conservative. Here's a fun Ron Paul video. Writing for that leftie rag The Nation, Nicholas Van Hoffman says "There are times when Congressman Paul says things that are worth listening to." Ain't that the truth. Best, Michael... posted by Michael at February 1, 2008 | perma-link | (6) comments

Cruising
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- We all know that many gay men go out "cruising." But what's involved? What are the rules of the game? What are the dance steps, so to speak? The CBC's Ben Aylsworth offers an introduction. (Seems to me SFW, but make your own call.) One comment on the page struck me as especially interesting: I'm gay. And I often make it a point to encourage people in general to fully experience their sexual desires. That these guys are having sex is not the problem. It's where they're doing it. It is a thoughtless imposition on the rest of us to assume control over a public space, by driving the rest of us out. And in the case of [Vancouver's] Stanley Park, it does damage that no other park user would think of doing or be allowed to get away with. Best, Michael... posted by Michael at February 1, 2008 | perma-link | (6) comments

Britney, the Ballet
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- People are really quick to pounce on subjects these days, aren't they? Best, Michael... posted by Michael at February 1, 2008 | perma-link | (0) comments

2008 is Bad, 1988 was Worse
Donald Pittenger writes: Dear Blowhards -- No, this isn't about lousy politics. Nor lousy architecture, pop music, Po-Mo art or any of the stuff we grumble about. It's about lousy handwriting. My lousy handwriting. Especially my inability to form a proper number 8. It began while I was in grade school. For several years I experimented with various ways of constructing a reliably readable 8. At some point -- I forget when -- I settled on a method. Unfortunately, that method does not work well for me. My 8s often tilt to the right, have flat tops or otherwise can be hard to decipher. Here's what I do. I start a little above what should be the vertical midpoint and make a stroke in a upper-right to lower-left direction. Then I do the curve for the lower loop, cross the initial down-stroke and construct the upper loop, ending about where I began. Much of it is sort of like printing an S from bottom to top. But as I said, the result more often than not is a deformity. Worse, I'm probably too old a dog to learn a new 8-making trick. So now that it's 2008, I'm doomed to writing sloppy 8s every time I write the date instead of the normal three days per month. Of course, 1988 was worse because I had to struggle with two 8s. Thank heaven I didn't live the the 19th century. 1888 would have been hell. Later, Donald UPDATE: My arm is little sore from MB's twist persuasion, but behold some 8s I just wrote.... posted by Donald at February 1, 2008 | perma-link | (8) comments

Wednesday, January 30, 2008


A Mercedes Mistake
Donald Pittenger writes: Dear Blowhards -- Car mavens will recognize this as five month old news. I planned to write about it sooner, but noted that my procrastination rating has fallen considerably since high school and college days and needed a serious boost. Anyhow ... Mercedes Benz unveiled the f700 experimental car at last September's Frankfurt automobile show. I suppose the important news had to do with its novel fuel-economy motor (see here if this interests you). To me, it's the styling that is noteworthy. The work was done in Mercedes' California design center; here are some photos with snippets of its development. Many show cars are future production automobiles with dramatized, distorted features; others are simply design exercises intended to elicit public reaction. Some articles speculate that the f700 indeed previews a Mercedes sedan styling. I hope not. Regardless, let's take a peek. Gallery f700 in profile Nowadays most body shapes are wind tunnel tested, so I assume this was true for the f700. As best I can judge, the inflection of the roof curve is about at the midpoint of the rear-passenger side window -- about 60 percent of the distance from the front to the rear of the car. A typical aircraft wing airfoil for a craft intended to fly at about the top speed of the f700 would probably have its upper curve inflection somewhere in the range 25-40 percent of chord. This suggests that the f700 profile is designed so that the car will experience downforce, rather than lift. Most current cars, especially those capable of high speeds, are designed with downforce in mind, but the f700's shape is extreme. Perhaps this is more a styling gimmick than an aerodynamic necessity. The pinched-looking front (from the rear of the wheel well forward) creates the psychological perception that the car might be under-powered. For decades, car designers have followed the axiom: big hood = big, powerful motor. Front three-quarter view Here we see a massive grille, which tends to soften a little the puny motor message delivered by the low hood. Still, the front end's relationship to the rest of the car strikes me as a design weakness. This is largely caused by the radical dip of the front side-windows and the shoulder-crease that follows it, coupled with the curve of the windshield. These curves, if extended forward, would converge near the front bumper. But they are interrupted by the massive sheet metal surrounding the front wheel wells. The visual effect is that the front of the car is "tacked on" -- that it doesn't really belong to the rest of the vehicle. Rear three-quarter view The rear of the f700 seems weak and nondescript, in contrast to the bold treatment of the front. Perhaps this was intentional; relief is needed somewhere. I find the rear spoiler (that ridge running across the trunk) particularly wimpy. The rear bumper seems too low for U.S. safety standards (as does the front bumper). If something like this car ever... posted by Donald at January 30, 2008 | perma-link | (12) comments

Elsewhere
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- * Polly Frost interviews the entrepreneurial erotica publisher Tina Haveman. * Chris Johnson alerts me to the fact that the Deep Blues Festival will be held this July in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. Tix go on sale in just a few days. * Lexington Green gives "Cloverfield" a rave. * It looks like the battle is all but over and Blu-Ray has won. * Boatloads of trippy bliss for Mandelbrot-set fans. * It's now official: Hello Kitty has conquered the entire world. * Is there really such a thing as a nerd who knows how to dress? I mean, besides Steve Jobs? (Link thanks to Tom.) Incidentally, a lot of guys could benefit from the advice at that site. * Grant McCracken muses on the significance of the demise of the dining room and the rise of "the great room." (Link thanks to The Communicatrix, who recalls the smelly process of giving up smoking.) * Gotta love the logic of Wall Street. * Girish reviews the film magazines. * Steve Sailer ventures some well-judged election-horserace commentary. * When you lose 180 or 200 pounds ... Er, well, your skin doesn't exactly shrink up tight around your newly-svelte figure, does it? Jimmy Moore and Kent Altena tell what it's like to deal with the dreaded "loose flesh." * MBlowhard Rewind: Back here, I visited a slaughterhouse and watched a carrot being picked. Best, Michael... posted by Michael at January 30, 2008 | perma-link | (3) comments

Lincoln and More
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- I've been exploring audio presentations from the Mises Institute in recent weeks. There's nothing quite like wrestling with the arguments of anarcho-libertarians to blow the cobwebs off your mind. (I suspect that Mencius would agree with this judgment.) Plus -- as the work of anarcho-libertarians should be -- it's all free, free, free! Go to this page and download to your heart's content. Using the Search box is highly recommended. * Lincoln buffs should relish -- as in "be provoked, or outraged, or delighted by" -- Thomas DiLorenzo's talks about Father Abraham. For DiLorenzo, Lincoln was an unqualified disaster: brilliant as a politician and a rhetorician, of course, but in practice a warmonger, a gross violater of the Constitution, and a lackey of Northern business interests. He wasn't, in other words, a mysterious divinity who saved the sacred integrity of the nation; instead he was a power-driven demon who ended the good Republic and jump-started the evil Empire. (One of DiLorenzo's talks is entitled "The Lincoln Cult.") Back here, I confessed to being of many minds about Lincoln; visitors chimed in with ideas, instruction, info, and opinions. * I've also enjoyed a talk by Bill Kauffman, who sets out in his florid, humorous, and big-hearted way to rehabilitate the tradition of literary support for American isolationism. Did you know that Melville, Hawthorne, and Emerson were OK with letting the Confederate states secede? And that e.e. cummings, Sinclair Lewis, Theodore Dreiser, Edmund Wilson, and Edgar Lee Masters were all against entering WWII? * Audio fans might also want to pay a visit to the WhiskyPrajer blog. Darrell has been exploring freebie podcasts from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and he says that some of them are as good as anything the Teaching Company sells. * R.J. Stove argues that 1) Western classical music created post-1945 has been a disaster, and 2) said disaster was caused by government funding. Visitors contribute many fun, opinionated, and informative comments. Best, Michael... posted by Michael at January 30, 2008 | perma-link | (8) comments

Immigration Update
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- * Hibernia Girl turns up a remarkable statistic from Frankfurt. * Randall Parker spells out how hard our immigration regime is on American blacks. * A startling demographic projection from Vdare's Edwin Rubenstein: "If white births continue shrinking and minority births growing at the present rate, minorities will account for more than half of all births by 2011. By 2021 more than 60 percent of births will be to minorities." Nothing against "minorities," of course. Wish 'em well. Yet how often in history has drastic ethnic change proven to be a desirable -- as in peace-and-prosperity- promotin' -- development? So how did this risky (and largely disliked) state of affairs come about? Rubinstein: "This shift is essentially all caused by public policy -- specifically, the Immigration Act of 1965 and the simultaneous collapse of law enforcement against illegal immigration." * My small point: You can't really understand America today without recognizing and acknowledging the importance (and the impact) of the 1965 Immigration Act. Best, Michael... posted by Michael at January 30, 2008 | perma-link | (14) comments

Whipped
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- Continuing with examples from our "American popular culture allows men zero dignity" series, here's a bit from a National Geographic Channel promotional ad. Now, this ad is apparently supposed to be cute and funny, and ruefully-recognizable too. But what are we being shown? Wifey is disciplining Hubster like The Dog Whisperer corrects a dog. Which means that the wife-husband relationship portrayed here isn't even mom-child, as insulting as that would be. It's wife-equals-dog-owner and hubby-equals-dog. Am I allowed to wonder how this ad would be received if it showed a man treating his wife like a pet in need of correction? Best, Michael... posted by Michael at January 30, 2008 | perma-link | (21) comments

Tuesday, January 29, 2008


Fact for the Day: Wristwatches and Cellphones
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- Wristwatch sales have been on the decline since 2001. The reason? People have taken to using their cellphones for timekeeping purposes. A great quote from a commenter at Lifehacker: I taught 55 students in 3 freshman biology labs last fall, and a couple of the class periods required timing an experiment. Only one student had a watch. I was blown away. Best, and evidently retro simply because I wear a wristwatch, Michael... posted by Michael at January 29, 2008 | perma-link | (9) comments

Sheepish
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- American popular culture sometimes seems to allow American men no dignity at all. In reality, of course, many American men contribute to families, social groups, organizations, and businesses in helpful and substantial ways. But guyz in pop-cult often seem to come in only two varieties: the apologetic, overweight doofuses; and the cartoons of videogame aggressiveness. Flabby 'n' bedheaded or lean 'n' cut, they're all fools. Meanwhile, popular-culture females are pulled-together dynamos -- exuberant to a fault, perhaps, but definitely in charge. When did this development happen and why? Is this simply what follows when you deconstruct traditional masculinity? And will American men ever tuck in their shirttails again? Best, Michael UPDATE: Thanks to Cheryl Miller, who points out this Matt Feeny article for Slate about fatguys-married-to-hotties sitcoms.... posted by Michael at January 29, 2008 | perma-link | (22) comments

Starchitects Win Work
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- Zaha Hadid will be designing an art museum for Michigan State University. Have a look at what she's gifting our Midwest with: MBlowhard verdict: Chic transnational zigzaggy gleamingness -- cozy! But even as a place to park tractors and weed-whackers it seems unfinished. Steven Holl wins the job of designing some new "design arts" buildings for Princeton. I wasn't able to find a visual of what Holl has in mind for P.U. But here's a recent building that Holl did for the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City: MBlowhard verdict: When oh when will avant-garde -- er, make that establishment -- architects tire of their fascination with shoeboxes? Where glowy abstract shapes go, I prefer Japanese paper lamps, thankyouveddymuch. Since the 1950s, Princeton has sponsored some of the worst of contemporary architecture. It's as though the people who run the university have been on a mission to deface the beautiful campus that they've been entrusted with. With Demitri Porphyrios' new-traditional Whitman College (largely funded by eBay's Meg Whitman), it seemed for a moment that the university had seen sense, and had even begun to repair the damage -- John Massengale offers a terrific tour of Whitman College here. But I guess today's administator class will always revert to type. Pretty funny that glitzy loading docks and oversized perfume counters are what our architecture establishment sees fit to sell isn't it? If that's what passes for "architectural excitement," perhaps we'd all be better off without it. John Massengale raises astonished eyebrows at the pretentious crappiness -- er, make that the "architectural excitement" -- of the Akron Art Museum's new addition. Best, Michael... posted by Michael at January 29, 2008 | perma-link | (9) comments

Monday, January 28, 2008


Un-Masterly Anatomy
Donald Pittenger writes: Dear Blowhards -- I freely admit that my art training was sketchy -- in the superficial sense (see here, for example). It can be tempting to blame that, rather than lack of competence, for the large doses of mediocrity my paintings possess. But the sad truth is, I don't quite have the art species of Right Stuff. From what I've read, art school training generally hasn't improved much since my student days. Perhaps that's one reason so much Po-Mo painting depicting people is so poorly done. Maybe all those claims of trying to be "edgy" are excuses for inability to draw anatomically correct human beings. But what about the Masters? Masters received extensive apprenticeships or, later, academic training that included lots and lots of drawing. They surely would get anatomy right. Well ... not always. One Master who was notoriously casual with the human form was Jean-August-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867). Pierre-August Renoir (1841-1919) had his bad moments as well. I suppose this ought to give me a little hope. Let's look: Gallery Ingres - Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière - 1805 The young subject died two years after the painting was completed, so might have been sickly. In any case, the area of the shoulders and upper torso seems too small. The left arm appears to be too large -- arm distortion being a recurring feature in Ingres' portraits. Ingres - Madame Marie-Geneviève-Marguerite de Senonnes - 1814 Here it is the right arm that looks a bit odd. Ingres - La Grande Odalisque - 1814 Her back seems too long. Ingres - Comtesse Louise-Albertine d'Haussonville - 1845 Her upper right arm seems too long and rubbery. Renoir - The Umbrellas - 1881-85 Renoir also could have arm trouble. The woman with the basket has a left arm that is too long above the elbow and too short below. Renoir - Dance in the City - 1883 The woman was posed by artist Suzanne Valadon. Her ear seems placed too high on her head. Renoir - Suzanne Valadon - 1885 This time, he got it right -- assuming her right ear (shown here) is actually placed opposite her left one. Toulouse-Lautrec - The Hangover - (Suzanne Valadon) - 1888 Another take on Valadon. I can find no photo of her that shows her ears. Later, Donald... posted by Donald at January 28, 2008 | perma-link | (20) comments

Election-Year Attitudes
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- Committed non-voter Colin Ward reminds us of a great old anarchist slogan: "If voting changed anything they'd make it illegal." OK, it's a little flip. But you do know what it means. Buy a copy of Colin Ward's wonderful intro, "Anarchy in Action," here. Architecture buffs might enjoy a few anarchism-influenced books about buildings and cities and towns: Colin Ward's "Talking to Architects," John Turner's "Housing by People," and Paul and Percival Goodman's "Communitas." Here's a John Judis introduction to Paul Goodman. Best, Michael UPDATE: Conservative or radical? Prairie Mary sorts out which word better applies to her. Funny how "conservative" radical can seem, and how "radical" conservative can turn out to be, isn't it? (And then there's my man Michael "I'm a conservative in politics because I'm a radical in everything else" Oakeshott ...) It's great to see that Mary's biography of her sculptor-husband Robert Scriver is now available for pre-order. I expect the book to be a corker -- anyone who has visited Mary's blog or who has read her comments on this blog knows what a smart, powerful, and expressive writer she is.... posted by Michael at January 28, 2008 | perma-link | (5) comments

Pantsless
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- * Excellent gag -- and one that clearly deserves its own holiday. Great to see so many gals taking part too. * Robert Lanham traces the origins of alt-porn. * Sadly, going the alt-porn route doesn't mean that you're immune to lawsuits. * But who needs porn anyway when there are American Apparel ads to enjoy? * Give a girl a camera ... (NSFW) Best, Michael... posted by Michael at January 28, 2008 | perma-link | (9) comments

Mississippi Blues, Courtesy of YouTube
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- I just realized that you can create yourself a decent intro to the Mississippi Delta Blues by typing the right names into the YouTube Search box. Here are a few clips to get you started. R.L. Burnside T-Model Ford Cedell Davis Junior Kimbrough And here's Pinetop Perkins at 94: Big personalities, raw sounds, mind-and-ear-bending music ... Semi-related: I blogged about Mandy Stein's good Mississippi blues documentary "You Hear Me Laughin'" here. I wrote about taking the Wife to the King Biscuit Blues Festival here and here. Explore the website of the great Fat Possum Records. I'm especially fond of this one-of-a-kind Asie Payton disc. Best, Michael... posted by Michael at January 28, 2008 | perma-link | (3) comments

Sunday, January 27, 2008


Urgently Entertaining
Donald Pittenger writes: Dear Blowhards -- Even though I was in Hawaii recently, I still ain't no surfer. Unfortunately, that includes web-surfing. Despite that handicap, the sites that I do regularly visit are kind enough to offer tempting links. Fortunately, Power Line -- the blog that brought down Dan Rather -- introduced me to a brand new blog by one of their part-time contributors, William Katz. It's called Urgent Agenda. Who is Bill Katz? Since he's a far better writer than I am, I'll just pass along his self-description: William Katz has, during an extensive career, been an intern for a U.S. senator; an officer in the Central Intelligence Agency; an assistant to Herman Kahn, the nuclear-war theorist; an editor at The New York Times Magazine; a comedy writer for Bob Newhart; an interviewer for The Tonight Show, with Johnny Carson; and the author of ten novels published in many languages. A number of his books have been sold to Hollywood, about which nothing more need be said. What do politics, the CIA, journalism, comedy writing, fiction, and Hollywood have to do with each other? Think about it. In addition to running Urgent Agenda, William Katz actively blogs at Power Line. He's a graduate of the University of Chicago and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. He is married, with two daughters, neither of whom agree with him. To give you some of Urgent Agenda's flavor, here's a segment from a recent posting. Students at Choate Rosemary Hall, attended by JFK, among others, are deeply upset at the choice of Karl Rove to be their commencement speaker. Oh, the dears. We go through this ritual every year. Get a commencement speaker anywhere to the right of Trotsky and some students rush to the mental health clinic. Question: Does anyone ever remember a commencement speech? Sometimes, we have trouble remembering the name of the speaker. But, if the students are serious, maybe they can have an alternative graduation and invite, say, Hugo Chavez. The school, however, should impose a condition: If Chavez comes, he should be permitted to confiscate all the students' stock portfolios. There are ways to shut students up. Commencement speakers: hmm. Of my four commencements (counting high school), the only speaker whose name I recall is Milton Schapp, who was governor of Pennsylvania at the time. He spoke to us at Dear Old Penn. All I remember of his oration was that it was stupefyingly long and dull. In 2007 their speaker was former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III. Better than Schapp, probably, and a better choice than many colleges and universities manage. But with the usual Dear Old Penn envy of the most famous Ivy schools, I see that we were trumped yet again by Harvard, which had Bill Gates on the podium. Later, Donald... posted by Donald at January 27, 2008 | perma-link | (5) comments

The New Cinema
Michael Blowhard writes: Dear Blowhards -- These days you can make it up with pixels: (Link thanks to Judith Sears.) Or you can hand craft it at home: Is it the end of movies as we've known them, or the beginning of a great new do-with-the-medium-what-you-will era? See more short, no-budget videos by the cheeky and droll young supertalent Lasse Gjertson here. I especially like this one. Best, Michael... posted by Michael at January 27, 2008 | perma-link | (5) comments