I've been wondering why I continue to watch basketball. I gave up playing in a thirty-five and older league years ago, when I could no longer jump. My NBA team, the Lakers, has long since been knocked out of the play-offs. Lefty friends deride the idea of enjoying competition and hierarchy, and there is bothContinue reading “Why do we (some of us) watch sports?”
Monthly Archives: June 2012
Popular denier waves off hottest spring in U.S. history
The multitudes at this site have been wondering how long it will take before the most popular of climate change deniers waves off the hottest spring in American history. It's been months. Well, the wait is over. Anthony Watts finally bothered to opine on the subject, cleverly mixing the minimization of the hottest spring andContinue reading “Popular denier waves off hottest spring in U.S. history”
The Southern California resurgence of backpacking
Too long ago our local master of the backcountry Bill Slaughter and his rock and roller partner Rain Perry led a group of mostly Ojains into the wilderness to a popular camp by the Sespe, Bear Creek, an easy but pleasant walk, well documented by Modern Hiker. We had a great time and, having sent scouts aheadContinue reading “The Southern California resurgence of backpacking”
Ray Bradbury the environmental activist
In a lovely tribute to the late great writer Ray Bradbury, Felicity Barringer of the inevitable New York Times shows us how much he cared for our planetary home, and how little he trusted our species: Unlike classic environmental writing that focuses largely on the good that nature does for the soul or mankindContinue reading “Ray Bradbury the environmental activist”
GOP finds solution to global warming
From Tom Toles, in today's Washington Post: If only the GOP was even looking for a solution. Jeez. I wish.
Soon to be a major motion picture: Shodan
The story is astonishing/alarming, but the background mythology is downright scary: The idea for Shodan came to John Matherly in 2003, when he was a teenager attending community college in California. Obsessed with the digital world, he named his project after a malevolent character in a video game called System Shock II. The character, Sentient Hyper-Optimized DataContinue reading “Soon to be a major motion picture: Shodan”
New Yorker editor: Hostility is the soul of wit
Bob Mankoff, who has been editing New Yorker 'toons since God knows when, while publishing his own there, in a recent essay with 'toons explored the connection between malice and wit. Spectacularly. Here's the opener, slightly pruned: Shakespeare was wrong when he wrote that “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Perhaps “hostility” is a betterContinue reading “New Yorker editor: Hostility is the soul of wit”
Kit Stolz 