Peter Maass redeems himself. It seems Salam brought some CD’s to work, which, when combined with road songs from David O. Russell’s Three Kings, makes one helluvan Amazon List:
“the best music imaginable for driving around anarchic Baghdad”
What are the odds?
What are the odds that Eric Rudolph, NC mountain man and religious fundamentalist extremist suspected of bombing a gay bar, would look so much like late Queen lead singer, Freddie Mercury
cf. From the mountains to the sea. Artist Donald Moffett’s courtroom sketches from the murder trial of “Christian soldier” Mr. Ronald Gay, who a shot up a gay bar in Roanoke, VA. Also, Larry Clark’s Bully, not on the DVD list.
Bloghdad.com/Slate_Blanked
Turns out the Times Magazine had Salam Pax on the payroll, translating pizza orders for their Man in Baghdad, Peter Maass, but they didn’t know it. That copy of the New Yorker mentioned in Rory’s Guardian piece? It’s Maass’s. Looks like that “virtual felled forest of [warblog] postings” landed on Peter’s head. And Nick‘s been sitting on the story for ages, poor guy.
Hmm. I wonder if Slate knows they have a column named Bloghdad?
Apparently, The Matrix is all around us
Update: DVD Recs
Thanks to the folks who’ve emailed suggestions for DVD’s to order up. Here’s a sample, along with recommendations from some other people:
Catching up: WTC
Thursday night, seven of us got together to discuss our questions and challenges for the WTC Memorial competition. [Here’s a sublog for the topic.] It was an extremely helpful and insightful couple of hours. The group included a journalist/weblogging guru, an architect, two artists, a designer, and me. Conversation was free-ranging; here’s Jeff Jarvis’s take(away), and here’s some of mine:
Bloghdad.com/Anthony_Lane_Fanclub
Maybe it was the way Rory flaunted his expense account by overpaying for pizza. Maybe it was the promise of more back issues of the New Yorker, (Anthony Lane’s X2 review gets a specific mention. Whose yer publicist, Tony? Day-amn!)
Whatever, it worked. The Guardian‘s Rory McCarthy meets, profiles, and signs Salam Pax to write Baghdad Blog for the paper. It’ll be what Britons call a “fortnightly” gig. [putting that in cross-Atlantic perspective: less than Tina Brown, Columnist but far more than Tina Brown, Talk Show Host.]
My question, of course, if they’re calling Salam’s column Baghdad Blog, does that mean I can keep bloghdad.com? I think so. I think it’s what’s best for the Iraqi people. And besides, what kind of American would I be if my pre-war Iraq-related assurances and assertions didn’t turn out to be hollow and wildly discredited?
Who, then, is this Michael Wolff person?
Because people are asking. From his online bio:
“[I’m/He’s] a seasoned pianist/composer with a wealth of straight ahead jazz credentials as well as an impressive body of movie soundtrack work…
In 1975, [I was– I mean] Wolff was hired by the great alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, who also enjoyed a wide appeal at the time. “When I was with Cannonball, Miles would come to check us out. Everybody checked us out. There was a real scene surrounding that band. It was like you were on a wave of forward motion.” …
Taking his talents to television, Wolff became the musical director for the popular “Arsenio Hall Show.”
TJVGIF
If u need to find me
I’ll be in Times Sq, picking up a new Amex. I’m the one NOT wearing cargo shorts.
Help me with Netflix, help yourself with GreenCine.
Only a couple of weeks after Agent Smithing my brother’s early adopter, $10/month-for-life Netflix account, I’ve run out of movies I want to rent. Or more precisely, movies I want to rent that Netflix actually has. (Note: if you’re reading this from Netflix, my brother lives with us now. As do his wife and their two lovely children. Coincidentally, after tiring of Pooh’s various adventures, my four-year-old niece suddenly developed an interest in Ozu and Tarkovsky.)
So, please help me fill my Netflix queue with films I haven’t thought to rent.
And in the mean time, sign yourself up at GreenCine, the San Francisco Pink Dot to Netflix’s Kozmo. They have everything and a great film weblog. While you’re at it, read this fascinating analysis of Netflix’s DVD allocation system to see just how unprofitable my brother is for them.
[Update: thanks, Sacrifice is actually already in the mail, and Bottle Rocket‘s on the list. Paul Krugman recommends Wag the Dog. Here’s my rental queue: Koyaanisqatsi, Dancer in the Dark (finally. I walked out of the theater after 10 min.), The Manchurian Candidate, Rashomon, Sokurov’s Mother and Son. Watched and mailed back: Badlands (again), Hedwig & the Angry Inch, In the Bedroom. ]
[Unrelated: can anyone explain why I have the song, “Come on, be my baby tonight,” from idiot David on The Real World: New Orleans stuck in my head? Whitney, where are you when I need you?]
Bloghdad.com/”Only what I see or hear.”
[via TMN] Tim Judah, the eyes and ears of The New York Review of Books in Baghdad.
Amir, a man in his forties, seemed close to tears. “I have heard there is an underground prison here,” he said. “Did you see it? Do you know anything about it?” Just behind us was the part of the prison that housed the gallows. He had not seen it yet, and I did not mention it.
Note: Despite appearances, this is not a Matrix plot point
“After an imaginary trip through the center of the world, a white car and its caravan have appeared at the center of the Galleria, cracking the floor and destroying its precious marbles.” It’s by some friends, the artists Elmgreen & Dragset, and was installed in the center of the Mall of Milano by the Nicola Trussardi Foundation.
Some merchants complained about the piece and damage to the “precious marbles.” I think the bigger worry is that the piece’ll get subsumed by the guys on Jason’s Matrix thread. I mean, the Merovingian may swear in French, but he clearly buys his marble in Italy.
Whew. Observations from the WTC Memorial public forum
The LMDC held a forum for the public to tell WTC Memorial Competition jurors what kind of memorial they want, and how to make it relevant to future generations. [Check here for an archived webcast.] In the 1,000-seat auditorium, approximately 500 seats were filled, 300 by firefighters and their families, who clearly came to the meeting with an impassioned, cohesive message: rescue workers must not go unrecognized in the memorial. Let me come back to this.
[I said as much when I decided to make an impromptu statement; it’s a little over two hours into the stream. Details later.]
Puttin’ the W into WMD
W as in Whitney. Houston. She met with Ariel Sharon while visiting “family and friends” in Israel.
Houston’s no stranger to Mid East politics. Last fall, while the US was cookin’ up wild reasons for invading Iraq, it ignored the horrors Saddam Hussein inflicted on his people during sham elections: non-stop playing of his campaign theme song, Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” I give Sharon six months, max. [thanks (?), Gawker]
note from the acela:
there is a high correlation between the annoyingness of a persons ringtone & their slowness to answer it. this is especially true of the 1812 overture ringtone.