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Author: Bryant

Power of prayer

January 7, 2006
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Pat Robertson said that God was punishing Sharon by sending him a stroke. We are, of course, horrified. What a cruel thing to say!

Then again, it’s in the same logical category as something that’s said every day, broadcast on TV regularly, and so on. “… and I thank God for helping us win this game.” Which is equivalent to “I thank God for making sure my opponents lost the game.” Which means God’s making choices about who wins and who loses. He’s gotta choose sides there.

Maybe it’s more reasonable to claim that God is making choices about relatively unimportant things like sporting events. But… the culture accepts the idea that God reaches down and affects the outcome of everyday events. We don’t object when an athlete makes that claim. We ought not be surprised when that claim shows up in other arenas.

Rip. Mix. Burn.

December 26, 2005
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Someone in my family who will remain nameless for soon to be apparent reasons got me a T-shirt for Christmas. Kinda. It looks a lot like this. Except he didn’t buy it from threadless.com.

He downloaded the image, printed it onto transfer paper, and ironed it onto a blank T-shirt.

So I’m horrified, right? Intellectual property, the ability to profit from creativity, etc. I’d buy one except that design is sold out. But I’m also tremendously amused. Talk about your remix culture. This particular family member is like fifteen years old. He didn’t even think twice about getting the T-shirt that way. Immediate satisfaction, no wait time.

If people want to be selling intellectual property in the future? Better figure out a way to get it into the hands of consumers immediately, cause people are gonna be doing their own pre-fab. Culture’s changing. It’s probably not going to take Lawrence Lessig to get rid of our current problems with copyright; that stuff is all going to seem silly in twenty years or so.

Well within my lifetime. The rate of change gets scary.

Holly war

December 25, 2005
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So far the score in the War on Christmas goes something like this:

Number of people who’ve told me the PC police will yell at anyone who says “Merry Christmas”: 3
Number of times I’ve been yelled at for saying Merry Christmas: 0
Number of attorneys ready to file suits against people who substitute “Happy Holidays” for “Merry Christmas”: 1550
Number of ACLU employees in the main New York office: 170 (in 2002)

Merry Christmas!

Visit alert

December 23, 2005
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My lovely sweetheart is going to be in Boston from January 20th to January 30th or so; the first weekend we’ll be mostly down on the Cape, but other than that we’re free. I’m still gonna be working that week, which means offers of daytime company would certainly be appreciated. Also we probably oughta do a dinner Monday night or something like that.

Who’s in?

Goes up to RGB

December 14, 2005
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These Depression era photos in color are amazing; the subjects are interesting, but the perceptual aspect is more so. I think perhaps we’re used to thinking of the denizens of the 30s in black and white. These color versions — surely they’re publicity stills from Seabiscuit or Road to Perdition? It seems artificial, even though it’s definitionally authentic.

We don’t live in the world we live in. It’s an imaginary construct, and it’s surprising to see it as it really is.

Via CNN.

Six more than zero

December 2, 2005
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My opinion on the news I just read is sort of an incoherent haze of happiness. So, Mister Bond, would you like a six CD set of Richard Thompson rarities and live performances for your birthday?

“Yes please.”

Gosh. What’s going to be on it? Lots of stuff. An entire CD full of live performances with extended improvisations. A CD of covers! Which has that cover of “Willie and the Hand Jive/Not Fade Away” he was doing on the 1985 tour on it — pity they didn’t stick his “Hey Joe” on there. What an insane set.

Timing is everything

November 26, 2005
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David Pinto comments on the Beckett trade here and here. Both times he notes that the Red Sox are going for “win now” rather than rebuilding — but it doesn’t seem to me like that’s a wildly goofy thing to do. The Red Sox are one year off from a World Series victory and they have three postseason appearances in a row; in theory, at least, it makes sense to try and keep the streak going rather than rebuild.

I personally like the trade. The Sox had an abundance of minor league pitching, some of which will contribute next year. Lowell and Youklis between them should solve first and third base. The rotation is something like Beckett, Clement, Schilling, Wakefield, Papelbon, and Arroyo as the backup — shuffle that as you see fit, but it’s about right. The kids plus Timlin could be a good bullpen.

The big problems are in the outfield. Manny’s probably gone. Damon’s almost certainly gone. Trot Nixon will miss half the year again. I think you really need three outfielders who can start and play reliably and that’s a tough set of holes to fill.