If I had to guess, I’d say your demise will probably happen on a form of mass transit you don’t use, in a city you don’t live in and have no plans to ever visit. Either that or that bird flu that’s all the rage with the kids. Anyway, time to get your affairs in order and then throw yourself into a full blown hysteria. By the way, I don’t have time for this crap. Have a nice day!
What sort of a loser Philadelphia blogger would I be if I failed to ever even mention the Terrell Owens saga? I’m not sure, but this is about all the mention it’s going to get. I really just haven’t found a way to give a fuck though - dear lord believe me - I’ve tried. He’s a little nuts and his nuts are well salted to be sure, but whatever. While I do have interest in income equality as a goal, I don’t really care about the money football players make. They generate an incredible amount of income for extraordinarily lucrative organizations, so I’m all for them getting a big cut. Beyond the economics, Owens’ routine has been weird, to the extreme, and likely self destructive, but such is life. Even multi-millionaires are entitled to be head cases. He reminds me a little of some people I’ve known in my life, none of whom were ever at ease or at all together, so I suppose I wish him well. Unless, of course, he fucks up this season and the Eagles don’t make it to Detroit - then he’s a fucking shithead who deserves to live out his days as the slot receiver on the Cleveland Browns making the veteran minimum.
Speaking of football, if you are a football freak and you don’t know about Football Outsiders, it’s time for you to have a visit. While the statistical analysis can be a little much sometimes, it’s always accurate, always demanding, and always makes the game more interesting. Football Outsiders takes you inside the game in a way that you can’t find anywhere else. This off-season was particularly strong in that they featured a number of articles on different defensive and offensive sets such as the I formation and man coverage, exploring them more deeply than you’ll likely see anywhere.
I’m on a medication that is supposed to make cigarettes taste very bad to me. It’s working, cigarettes taste really awful right now. Sadly, everything else does too, including even the tastiest of beers. Not quite as bad as the cigarettes of course, but bad nonetheless. Small price to pay, I suppose.
Nothing political tonight. Even junkies need a break from time to time.
My wife would like to add that she doesn’t wish T.O. the best. Far from it - she’s seething over this mess. She also mentioned that the Eagles got over the NFC Championship hurtle and to the Super Bowel with Owens out of the picture. One astute young woman if you ask me.
I became just a little more anonymous a few days ago. After dealing with some weirdness over the last week or so, I decided that it would be best if I payed some extra money and made the rowhouselogic domain registration anonymous. Until now, anybody who was interested could do a query on the domain and learn my home address and phone number. Living in a big city, I don’t really care about that sort of thing. I have nuts walking down my street all day, and a determined internet freak seeking me out isn’t all that much of a concern. Nevertheless, certain things have convinced me that I should pull back a bit. I’m not the only one who lives here, and my advocacy for a particular point of view shouldn’t effect anyone other than myself. That said, I hate doing something overtly political and not being very transparent. That’s why I avoided absolute anonymity when I began this site. Anyway, I’m sure this is nothing anybody will care about, but I wanted to be as clear as I could, which isn’t very clear at all, about this change.
This article in the New York Times about succession plans for ABC’s evening broadcast made me a little sad. Something about the idea of Charlie Gibson seceding Peter Jennings feels very wrong. I keep thinking about some episode from the Daily Show about a year ago where Jon Stewart is deriding Gibson over his probing questions of contestants from the Bachelor. Maybe I’m a snob, but that particular move would seem like a real step down. Once you’ve promoted the most super duper rose ceremony ever, and with a straight face, do you really deserve a promotion?
On a not entirely different note, I wanted to point you to this nice juxtaposition by Karl on Philly Future.
This paragraph, however, fits something quite well.
But the son of Peleus again began railing at the son of Atreus, for he was still in a rage. “Wine-bibber,” he cried, “with the face of a dog and the heart of a hind, you never dare to go out with the host in fight, nor yet with our chosen men in ambuscade. You shun this as you do death itself. You had rather go round and rob his prizes from any man who contradicts you. You devour your people, for you are king over a feeble folk; otherwise, son of Atreus, henceforward you would insult no man. Therefore I say, and swear it with a great oath- nay, by this my sceptre which shalt sprout neither leaf nor shoot, nor bud anew from the day on which it left its parent stem upon the mountains- for the axe stripped it of leaf and bark, and now the sons of the Achaeans bear it as judges and guardians of the decrees of heaven- so surely and solemnly do I swear that hereafter they shall look fondly for Achilles and shall not find him. In the day of your distress, when your men fall dying by the murderous hand of Hector, you shall not know how to help them, and shall rend your heart with rage for the hour when you offered insult to the bravest of the Achaeans.”
-Homer
“I found that if you made men more insecure about their masculinity, they displayed more homophobic attitudes, tended to support the Iraq war more and would be more willing to purchase an SUV over another type of vehicle,”
I don’t know about the science, but it’s good for a giggle.
(Via ACM)
Don’t worry, it’s not permanent and the end will probably involve sharks. I have two burning issues I need to address before you go. First, I am a bastard, but I’ll leave it up to you to figure out why. Second, I’m way to busy for this crap. Have a nice day!
I don’t usually do this sort of post, but whatever. Earlier this evening, I got to meet one of the people who I really look up to as a blogger and as a writer - Mithras. Simply stated, without Mithras, there would be no Rowhouse Logic. I’ll never have Mithras’ ability to dissect an issue in a few short words, but I’ll keep trying. When I first started doing this site, I was really trying to emulate Mithras, as well as a few others. I’ve failed my original expectations, but I do keep trying in my own sweet way. I should also mention that Mithras was the first blogger who put my words in block quotes. Reading those words now, I’d like to reach out and fix a few things, but the feelings are very much the same.
Sorry to geek out, but this was a big one for me, so I thought I ought to share a little of it. I could go on for ages…
Just thought you should know. As I’m sure you’re aware, my goal is to keep my readers informed. Oh, and by the way, I’m way too busy for this crap right now. Have a nice day!
My job(s), however, have a strangle hold on thoughts both rational and otherwise. Just in case you were feeling good this morning, I thought I would point you towards this article in the Daily News discussing skyrocketing housing prices in Philadelphia.
If you are anything like me, making just enough on two incomes to live in a decent Center City apartment on a decent block, you too may be a placeholder. Just another schlep waiting for the day your landlord kicks you to curb so he can sell your apartment for $1,000,000 to some empty nesters from suburbia who are looking to add some spice to their lives. Ah, to be young and underpaid.
I am a typo machine, but you probably already knew that.
I guess it’s hard answering pointed questions, but selecting questions like “ I am reading your book right now and admire what you have done to help strengthen the family, especially inner city minority families. Can you give examples of programs you have supported in Pennsylvania that actually help minority families?” is truly embarrassing . Have a look at the Santorum online chat, which has now concluded, because it doesn’t get any better than that. Sad to say, but my senator is a cream puff and yes, he did get to pick his own questions.
He’s also a lying sack of shit, but you already knew that.
Everybody’s favorite dog loving drama queen, Rick Santorum, will be taking questions at 1:00 PM over on the Washington Post. I’m sure you bastards have some things you’d like to ask him so pop on over, so he can decline to answer your inquiries. Atrios has some helpful links if you’re feeling stumped. The Queen will also be appearing on the Daily Show this evening to promote his new book It Takes a Family. Since he’s a sitting senator I’m expecting softballs, but you never know.
Santorum Hatred™ Always a smart choice!
Update: The online chat is in progress and Santorum’s choice of questions to answer is so soft it’s funny. It reminds me of one of Bush’s town hall mettings from the election.
Update II: I can’t get the words “cream puff” out of my head. I wonder why?
While pondering the response he got to his post The Great Rovian Sit ‘N Spin, Matt asks a number of questions about the viability of cross-party debate. Here’s the paragraph that really got me thinking this morning.
The question I have is this: when was the last time you visited a blog (or watched a television show) and left convinced of a political viewpoint with which you had previously disagreed? Do we visit political blogs only to confirm our own prejudices? Even if the answer to that question is “yes,� is there anything wrong with that?
For me the answer is almost certainly yes to the first and no to the second. While I do try to keep up on Conservative and Republican blogs, I don’t generally come away with a different viewpoint. More to the point, I usually come away even more convinced of my own pre-conceived notions on a particular matter. Not that I don’t ever change my mind, I do it all the time, but that is usually associated with a new set of facts rather than a passionate argument one way or another.
So what is the point of all of this? Why even bother? The short answer is that I really don’t know. When I first started reading blogs, it was all about catharsis. I found it refreshing to find so many people out there with whom I could agree, or at least tended to agree with, dissecting the news and writing about their political beliefs. Reading a well timed “Fuck You” aimed squarely at those in power, both in government and in the press, coming from a Liberal was a revelation to me.
Not that I’m usually much of a bomb thrower myself, and I don’t spend much, or any, time lashing out at conservative bloggers. Matt did an excellent job with his post, in sticking to the facts and laying off personalities, but that often seems not to be the case. When arguments denigrate into name calling and hyper-partisan hyperbole, they may be fun to read or take part in, but they’re probably not very productive. I doubt that anybody walks away better informed or with a new perspective.
Not that calling an elected official or pundit an asshole is something I haven’t done, or won’t continue to do. It just doesn’t sit as well with me, personally, to use the same language about somebody who’s just writing a blog. There are exceptions of course, as when a blogger’s profile has gotten so large that they have become a well known public figure, it’s probably not out of line to go after them with some veracity.
Again, what’s the point of doing this? It’s probably a little about preaching to the choir, as well as trying to promote issues or candidates with people who share your particular ideology. The thing I’m proudest of doing on this site was to advocate repeatedly for Seth Williams in his primary loss to Lynne Abraham. I don’t know that the concerted effort really did anything to raise his profile, or helped him get a single vote, but it certainly felt like it. The biggest effect was that it gave the local newspapers a new angle to cover a race that they were otherwise ignoring. Is that good enough? No, but it’s a start.
End navel gaze.
…post a stupid picture.
From the Finacial Times:
“So it has been strange this week to watch Mr Bush avoid even the slightest expression of public support for Karl Rove, his political right hand and the man most responsible for the president being president. . . .
“Mr Bush’s silence is a sign he could be facing a serious threat to his presidency.”
Well, not really. My server did have a really super fabulous crash this evening, so if you were wondering what the hell happened, now you know, and knowing is half the battle. The stuff I was planning to write tonight was completely earth shattering, which is the real disappointment in all of this. It was blow a hole it your brain with a pile of technicolor koala crap, moving at light speed, super fabulous political hoo ha. Fuck it, what can I say? You missed out. Poor bastards, one and all. Damn computers.
Busy, busy day, but I did want to announce my pride in learning that RHL is both the number two and three result for the search string “Rick Santorum Hatred” on Google.
Update: Just one sentence, but I’ve had to reword it 15 or 16 times, and it’s probably still all wrong. Just because this is the number two and three source for Santorum Hatred(TM) on the internets, doesn’t mean I can actually write. Ah, well.
Update Update: Damn, we’ve dropped down to four and five overnight. I feel like I’ve really let you guys down. Sorry.
Update Update Update: Good lord.
It seems that stomach ailments are to be my lot life for, well, the rest of my life. So it goes. Not that you have any history on this, and I’ll spare you the gory details, but I finally saw a doctor about it a few months ago, and other than watching my diet and hoping for the best, there isn’t much that can be done. Nothing fatal or all too serious, mind you, just an unpleasant reminder to me that things with a lot of moving parts, like the human body, get a little more fragile after a few decades of heavy use.
Anyway, this is just a long way of saying that I’ll probably be away from the computer for a while as it’s just not practical today. In addition to that, I’m still not entirely out of the slump that made me want to stop doing this altogether last month. Writers block is a bitch, especially when you aren’t really a writer. I’ve added a new author to the site in the last week or two, and expect to add at least one more soon. Hopefully these all too frequent outages of content will become less frequent as those people get more comfortable with the publishing platform. We’ll see.
Have a nice day and don’t let the bastards drag you down.
I guess this gives me a reason to be happy I haven’t spent more time trying to get driver’s license back, because if a six pack a day will take it away, then I probably ought not even bother:
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Commonwealth Court panel on Friday rejected an appeal from a man whose driver’s license was revoked by the state after he told doctors he drank more than a six-pack of beer a day.
The three judges said the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was justified in recalling the license of Keith Emerich of Lebanon in May 2004, based on the judgment of hospital doctors who treated him for an irregular heartbeat several months earlier.
…Under a law that dates to the 1960s, doctors in Pennsylvania must report any physical or mental impairments in patients over 15 years old that could compromise their ability to drive safely
As some of you may know, I’m something of a map geek. To compound that affliction, I’m a bit of a subway geek as well, so I was really happy to come across UrbanRail.net which has maps and descriptions of many of the world’s major and minor subway and light rail systems. Cities like Philadelphia, which rely heavily on medium and heavy rail, are a bit shortchanged, but it’s still well worth the trip.
(Via a commenter on Eschaton)
Earlier this evening, my wife and I were flipping through the channels on the TV and came across two successive commercials which really could have been case studies in why broadcast journalism is such a terrible pile of shit. The first was an advertisement for one of the “serious” news programs, featuring scenes of smoke, destruction and chaos in London, with a big booming voice asking that we watch their presentation of “A Day of Terror”, with clear implications that you may well be the next target. This was immediately followed by an appeal from the local affiliate, warning of impending disaster, because it’s apparently going to rain tomorrow. The teaser was that they promised they would provide helpful hints on how to survive the downpours.
First off, when the hell did people start melting in the rain, and why wasn’t I informed? Secondly, I know fear sells, and though I haven’t done the advertisements justice with my descriptions, that’s precisely what each of these advertisements was peddling. Some asshole somewhere wants to blow you up, so tune into the broadcast, pop the anti-stress drug of choice into your mouth, and obsess over the prospect until you’re a quivering shell of your former self. If that fails to freak you out, you do stand a good chance of getting a little wet on the walk to the subway tomorrow morning, so be prepared for the worst. Being damp is a fate just slightly worse than death, or so it seems.
I’m not much of a Michael Moore fan, or a fan of his movie Bowling for Columbine, but he did manage to make a good point in that movie by pointing out that the American broadcast media is obsessed with fear mongering to the extreme. Those two commercials hit me in a funny way, for whatever reason, and just drove home how unserious seriously warped much of the broadcast journalism endeavor is. Whatever. I’m not sure what my point is - I suppose I’m just babbling, so I’ll stop.
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