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Just hit the halfway mark in Anna Karenina. It's a pretty good read, some interesting philosophizing (even if I disagree with Tolstoy's conclusions) mixed in with a good handle on human nature. But I really have to wonder at the pacing. Levin and Kitty's story is at a reasonable denouement and Karenin has decided to divorce Anna. I'd really prefer that the pace accelerates and this gets wrapped up in 100-150 pages, not another 400. (If for no other reason that 250+ pages on the theme of the ruined woman will be a bit tedious.) But I guess things happened slower then... I'm reminded of the case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce that has been going on for years and drags on through almost the entirety of Dickens' Bleak House, but most of the action in the novel is quite separate from the legal proceedings.

Inspired by the Woody Shaw thread(s)

I was no Larry King fan, but I categorically refuse to watch Piers Morgan. Frankly, given his disgraceful role in UK newspaper investigative "practices," he ought to be in prison.

Disagree. The mid-sized paper I work for won a Pulitzer for investigative journalism recently. And continues to do similar work. LINK Often, the local daily doing the routine work of chronicling the unglamorous business of government will, through routine work, end up uncovering malfeasance, corruption, etc. Whether or not people find any value in that sort of thing is another question. But perhaps "prevailing wisdom" on this sort of thing shouldn't be greeted so readily with nodding heads. It would be nice to be wrong on this, but I've read local papers from MI and NC (where I still have family) and I don't recognize anything that resembles investigative reporting, certainly compared to 10 years ago. And I do think it will continue to get worse. I simply don't see enough people willing to pay to support newspapers down the road.

Though I think it may be just as likely that they proclaim they have an artistic or intellectual reason for doing something, and in fact that is just as likely that at root it is based in personal relations or animus towards someone else. They may not even want to admit this to themselves. I've seen this dozens of times at academic conferences where what appears to be a theoretical disagreement is really driven by personal dislike.

Pretty astonishing end to that game. Thought for sure it was headed to overtime. 2 goals 20 seconds apart!? And unless I am mistaken, the first Blackhawks goal was a short-handed one. What a series...

Also there's a paradox in much of European journalism: while the questions themselves are much more aggressive, the actual process of investigative journalism is much more limited (or so I've read). There's a heavier reliance on official sources for any story, which usually is going to mean much less shoe-leather reporting - aside from notable cases like, uh, hacking people's phones in an attempt to just smear them. So it seems like European journalism is better at figuring out when public figures are lying, but worse at filling out the details to find out what the true story really is. BTW am I the only one who's noticed the BBC (on the web, anyway) getting much schlockier and "CNN-like" in the last 12-24 months in an attempt to jack up their pageviews? Well, certainly the CNN site has gotten unbelievably shlocky (the other day they were featuring a video of a woman tossing her rival off a cliff! -- way to stay classy, CNN). Basically everything is just going to hell in a handbag. I also think that investigative reporting (and reporters) as we know them are a dying breed. The stuff doesn't "pay" at all in the eyes of newspaper owners. So this great investigative reporting probably doesn't exist outside the top 10-15 U.S. cities. And it probably won't exist outside the top 5 cities in another 10-15 years. It will just be reporting by press release...

Not sure I would agree with all the premises. What I think is more central to the UK press is that, aside from the BBC, there is no pretense whatsoever about neutrality. Stories are routinely spun one way or the other without worrying about the other side (so you don't have reporters desperately making false equivalencies). That is a bit refreshing but also has led to a heightened echo chamber impact. In the US, it's basically everybody else vs. Fox, whereas things are totally fractured in the U: you read the Daily Mail (or the Sun) or the Guardian or the Telegraph. Very little overlap in readership. The other thing that is a bit surprising, given the UK's libel laws, is that reporters there really latch onto scandals (and try to create them) even more than happens here (or at least outside Beltway reporting, which is mostly about fake scandals cooked up by both parties). At least that's my take on it.

Some interesting releases in the works from Criterion. Early Fassbinder (though I have these all in an R2 set). For me the most exciting is that Criterion is finally getting into Satyajit Ray. They did The Music Room last year and now are getting ready to release The Big City and Charulata. Probably won't pre-order either, but expect I will pick both up eventually.

Not tonight, but tomorrow I am going to see Vijay Iyer as part of the Vancouver International Jazz Fest. I am taking it fairly easy this year for various reasons, including budget constraints. I do hope to see Soweto Kinch playing a free show on Sat. and then just take in some of the other free acts while I am downtown.

I think they are slowly making progress on flops. Hope that continues next season. But traveling? They might as well change the rules. LeBron routinely gets 2.5 steps as do most of the other stars.

I didn't watch, but I heard it (non-foul strip) was pretty flagrant. What's particularly unfortunate is that it gives people even more ammunition to claim that the games are rigged. My wife goes on and on about how Stern wants Miami to win it again. Frankly, if she really believes this, I wonder why she bothers to watch, but it is hard to really get inside the head of a committed sports fan.

Oh, this is not going to sit well with the Spurs. Had they not missed a couple of free throws in the 4th Q, they would be Champs. And I realize this is heresy, but Pops made some very bad coaching decisions (or rather gambles) down the stretch, mostly pulling Duncan out in favor of smaller guys to guard the perimeter but then the Spurs had no rebounding. Twice they needed absolutely critical stops, and they didn't get them either time. Much more likely to get those stops with Duncan in than out. I have to say, a lot of this rests with the coach.

I'm not nearly as big a supporter of the auteur perspective. I think of musicians as entertainers first and artists second. Anyway, I think artists do have a responsibility to not mislead their fans. If they had been known for doing this -- or were clearly an avante-garde group -- then fine. But if this was the first time they pulled such a stunt, and normally had played traditional shows with, you know, songs off a setlist, then I think the fans do have a right to be upset. I certainly would have been.

I can certainly see this going 7. Pretty good series so far. Helps that I am not emotionally invested (unlike my wife ).

Good to know.

I guess this more for the CD-R thread, but apparently quite a few of these old series (Gildersleeve and the old mysteries, Philo Vance, Nick Carter, etc.) are badly burned DVD-Rs that Amazon is producing themselves. So buyer beware... I've bought two series from amazon that were on DVD-R (Crash Season 2 and The Killing Season 2) and they were expertly burned and I have no complaints as far as that goes. Most people don't have terrible trouble with them, but some do. I definitely pause a bit at paying DVD prices for a DVD-R (a bit more ok with it at bargain prices). No question there are plenty of people on this board who don't want anything to do with CD-Rs, so I just thought I would mention it is something they should check on if it matters to them.

They put it up when there are problems between the union and management leading to a lock-out. Seems to be particularly prevalent in front of hotels. Not sure it has the desired impact anymore.

Well, you could eat a sandwich from a truck stop rest room. (Futurama in-joke. Sorry.)

Reminds me a lot of the Fear Monger Shop ads that Garrison Keillor used to run on his show. Might as well keep people in a perpetual state of unease. Indeed, some studies show that going too heavy on the hand sanitizer is a real no-no and is just going to result in more super-bugs. You just can't win... It's taken some time, but my wife is more comfortable having the kids exposed to germs, which is generally better for them -- and her mental health.

Had a go at it in my youth. Regret to say I never got to the end. I was on Team Fyodor in my youth, even managing to get through The Brothers Karamazov in a bit over a week (ah, when I had time!) though I never got around to The Devils, The Gambler, or The Idiot back then (almost all the other novels and stories, however). So now I am making a major effort to tackle the Russian classics I missed at the time, which means reading a lot more Tolstoy. (I did get through The Idiot just a week or so ago, but wasn't that into it actually.)

Just begun Anna Karenina. Looks fairly promising, but very long. I hope I can maintain sufficient focus throughout.

As I said, don't really have a dog in this fight, but it looks like it will be a classic series. Always a good thing.

Fun fact, there is a bit of a jerk right-wing anti-gay politician in Canada named Teows (maybe slightly related to the player) and Dan Savage was beginning a campaign to "Santorumize" him, when Chicago sports fans basically begged him to call it off. I can't remember why he agreed to call it off...

The winning shot was absolutely amazing. It is fired from pretty far out and two Blackhawks get a piece of it and deflect it just a bit left and right and totally baffle the goalie. I guess the last Blackhawk was still far enough from the goalie that he wasn't called for interference (wasn't in the crease at any rate). They'll probably be replaying that all day tomorrow (in Chicago at any rate). Not really a Hawks fan (was really pulling for the Red Wings, but maybe next year...). I guess all things considered I'd rather have the Hawks win than Boston. At least my wife wouldn't be moping about the house if they lose after tonight's performance.