Etymology buffs! Learn where the phrase “ no strings attached (original)” came from. Or so British tailors say, at any rate. Visit for the etymology, stay for the insight into tailoring.

We’re a step closer to the showdown on judicial filibusters. I kinda figured Harry Reid would force the issue. The short version of what’s going on: you can prevent a vote from occurring in the Senate by filibustering it. It requires 60 votes to end a filibuster. Senator Frist is threatening to change the Senate rules in order to require only 50 votes to end a filibuster. However, changing Senate rules has always taken a 2/3rds majority vote. How’s Frist gonna get around that? ...

The cardinals are spilling details on the conclave, although the article doesn’t get into the change in voting rules. (Via TPM.)

I’ll have a formal Actual Play post at the 20’ by 20’ Room later, but right now I just want to say that Dogs in the Vineyard (original) rocks hard. Whoa, but that’s a strong game with a beautiful clarity to it. At first glance it maybe doesn’t look like the setting and the system are so tightly linked. But they are, maybe not so much in the details of place and time but certainly in the moral certainty aspect. The key aspect of the system is the ability to escalate: the ability to slap down a bunch more dice and say “I’m willing to go this far to make this thing happen.” That is reinforced by the moral correctness of the player characters and creates a very powerful dynamic at the table. ...

It hasn’t been posted on their calendar (original) yet, but the Spring 2005 Brattle schedule is out. Highlights include: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and The Pink Panther, both with new 35 mm prints. Ong Bak one more time, if you missed it at the Kendall. A classic Westerns series, including Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, John Wayne), The Searchers (more John Wayne), Shane (mmm, Alan Ladd), High Plains Drifter (Clint Eastwood directing and starring), Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West, and The Quick & The Dead. The Asian Cinevisions (original) Film Festival, which includes Joint Security Area this time around — it’s Park Chan-Wook’s first feature movie, which was followed by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy. Neither of which I liked, but so many people I respect adore his work that I’m gonna keep delving into it until I figure it out. (Which means seeing Old Boy at the Kendall this weekend, I think.) A Hal Hartley mini-fest, just for Jeff. It includes Girl From Monday, his latest movie. Hartley’s latest, not Jeff’s. A Harold Lloyd (original) festival, running a full week and showing 13 different Lloyd movies. All three James Dean movies. That’ll keep me pretty busy.

I’m heartbroken. I wanted to watch Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow forever, dancing back and forth in slow motion, captured in the timeless rhythm of Wong Kar Wai’s directing. Despite the titles which fix the story in Hong Kong: 1962 and Singapore: 1963 and Cambodia: 1966 — despite them, there’s no chronology to it. There are panes of glass layered one on top of another, and you peer through them murkily, making out the outline of a fruitless love affair. ...

Eric Rudolph has made his statement (original). Read it carefully; understand what lies behind it. Look past the claim that he’s only upset about abortion. He asserts that he only kills government agents because they defend abortion; recognize that a few paragraphs later he’s talking about his plans to kill government agents investigating the bombing of a gay club. Take note of his hatred for the Olympics. Consider his xenophobia. Most people who say things like “Practiced by consenting adults within the confines of their own private lives, homosexuality is not a threat to society” are not going to go out and bomb nightclubs. But that kind of language provides easy cover for the fanatics who do. Or, more commonly, for the fanatics who beat people up for wearing buttons with a pink triangle on them. Most people who say things like “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior” aren’t going to go out and plot a murder (original). However, that kind of language provides cover — and encouragement — for people who do want judges dead. ...

Hallo, Eschaton readers! Thanks for dropping by, hope you find the carpets to your liking, and so on. I’m writing more about culture and film these days than I used to, because I’m fairly burned out on politics, but you’ll still find the occasional political post if you happen to stick around. Also: hope you like Asian cinema. Hm. Back then, I was not so subtly making the point that Eric Rudolph was a terrorist and wondering why Fox News would forgive those who supported him. The point still holds. I’m pretty gratified to see CNN calling it like it is today: ...

I’m trying out Brad Choate’s cool new anti-spam plugin (original). If you have trouble commenting or sending a trackback, please drop me a line. If you’re reading this on Livejournal, ignore it.

Damn it. No more Boston Legal this year (original). Sure, I can understand the decision, but I’m very sad about it.