lloydtown 

Christmas Presents

1. Computer. Kind of a gift to the whole family. Moving up from a Pentium 2 to a Pentium 4, but still with Windows 98 (as longas we can stand it).

Our monitor was dying--turning faded yellow--and there was a fan in the computer making a lot of noise. When my brother visited in the summer, he said the noise was probably the video card fan, and we would benefit from more computing power, and a bigger monitor. In fact he tried to load a game--the new version of MYST--which he was willing to make a gift to our son. Even after a lot of emptying memory, and even buying and installing a bit more memory, no dice.

So now we have 40 GB of memory, a bigger monitor, some nice speakers. The text in documents such as this is a bit fuzzy; maybe I have to De Gauss, or something? Still, a big improvement for about $550 with all taxes.

I've installed some no cost or low cost firewall and virus protection software. The guy who sold us the outfit also sold us a disc with the new Norton, but we discovered, as we have discovered before, that the new Norton doesn't work with Windows 98.

2. Books. Reagan "in private" by Jim Kuhn--one of the advance people in Reagan's first term, and Executive Assistant in the second term. A gift from my son. Not terribly informative--you might expect to read more about the nuts and bolts of politics than you do. Basically hero-worshipping. The most interesting moments have to do with "which big shots are nice to the little people, and which are not." Reagan always was. If he had a criticism, he could deliver it very sternly, but this happened seldom, never with a loss of temper, and there were many more occasions when he took adversity with a smile, and treated everyone like a gentleman no matter what. Jimmy Carter after the Sadat funeral? Bad. John Connally? Bad.

Also a Stanley Coren book on dogs. Also I borrowed Lou Cannon on Reagan from the library, and I started Dune. Lots of reading to do; and, er, papers to grade.

3. Music. Some CDs I asked for: Charley Brown Christmas (Vince Guaraldi), Fred Eaglesmith ("Dusty," supposedly a tribute to Dusty Springfield and Jimmy Webb; sounds like country folk to me); Brian Setzer Orchestra; and a trumpet player my wife heard on Oprah--Chris Botti. Very nice. I got my wife some CDs thinking, ahem, I might like them. We both like Amy Sky very much.

Our son got Seinfeld, the first couple of seasons. I'm not that big a fan, but I can enjoy the highlights. (I think in the special on the show, Larry David was the funniest). He and I have watched some Fawlty Towers together. Maybe we'll get a chance to see some Blackadder.

We ate turkey both Christmas and Boxing Day. I got compliments for my mashed potatoes and pan gravy; on the second day I made up some fresh potatoes. Most of our relatives are out West, so Christmas is very quiet. We're having a few people over on New Year's Eve; I'm going to make chicken pesto lasagna.

Year end Science Update

The usual disclaimer: I don't know anything about science.

1. Inorganic/abiotic (and thus sustainable) oil and gas. Nothing really new since May or June; but aren't shrewd people beginning to think that silence is itself suspicious?

2. Kyoto. Dead? Dying?

3. First nations of North America? Who actually was on first? (Christian Science Monitor via Moira Breen. Scroll down: Moira is also on about Kennewick Man's remains, and who "owns" them).

Keep Christ in Christmas

Besides my observation that there are fewer "Christmas Carols" at public school "Christmas Concerts" than there used to be, I just want to recall something from J.F. Power, Morte d'Urbain. I don't have it in front of me, but here goes.

A group of priests are founding a "house" somewhere on the Minnesota prairie. To build community, set an example, etc., they are doing a lot of work on the place themselves. To save money, they order supplies in bulk from Chicago; supplies arrive by train in the nearest little town. In other words, there is a lot of activity from which local businesses get little or no benefit.

As Christmas approaches, the fathers decide to do some real outreach and introduce themselves. They put up signs that say "Keep Christ in Christmas." The local Chamber of Commerce has had enough. They issue a letter to the editor, or a petition or something and say: what are these priests trying to do? Destroy our business?

The U.S. in Iraq

John Hillen (pro-Bush, pro-war):

American bases--even in relatively "safe areas," are vulnerable, especially given the extent to which everyday Iraqis get to come and go in and around them. I would think our commanders would do well to have even support troops in combat-like dispersements at almost all times and frequently change the plan. The episode sadly brings to mind how surprised US forces initially were when finding Vietnam Cong infiltrators to an American firebase with diagrams on their person that marked the position of every U.S. foxhole, supply dump, and command bunker right down to the meter. There is no safe rear area in this war.

A Martha Stewart Christmas

This Christmas, of course, is unusual for Martha Stewart.

One year, quite by coincidence, I had two, I guess contacts with Martha around the holidays.

First I actually saw most of her Christmas special, complete with huge ginger bread house calling for few nails at the end.

Then I came across an interview in which she said something like: even when I was married, I liked to make a point of leaving for somewhere warm with a beach--right after Christmas.

A picture came to my mind. A beautiful house in the suburbs, beautifully, even ideally decorated for Christmas, totally empty. Of course it has a security system, and every hour a security car comes around; the officer shines a flashlight around the front of the house, and then drives on. Otherwise, total stillness. A Christmas house with noone inside celebrating.

My general sense is that old-fashioned "happy homemaker" broadcasts were actually intended to help ordinary people improve their meals, decorating, etc. Martha sets out a standard that is so impossible for ordinary people, you want to either hire a professional or eat out all the time.

What's Happening in India and China?

I really have no idea, but I think it's something we should all be thinking more about.

Here's a report on what a recent Congressional delegation to India was told:

They spoke to a lot of Indian government people and the message from them was very clear, and in a nutshell it was this: We don't much care about America. He said they were very polite but almost indifferent. Maybe matter-of-fact is a better description. The conversation went something like this:

We consider ourselves as in competition with China for leadership in the new century. That's our focus and frankly, you have made it very difficult for us to deal with you. We find your approach to international affairs ridiculous. The invasion of Iraq was insane. You've encouraged the very things you say you were trying to fix ? terrorism and instability. Your attitude to Iran is ridiculous. You need to engage with Iran. We are. We are bemused by your hypocrisy. You lecture the world about dealing with dictators and you deal with Pakistan. We are very sorry for your losses from the 9/11 terror attacks. Welcome to our world. You threaten us with sanctions for not signing the non-proliferation treaty, but you continue to be nuclear armed and to investigate new weapons. You expect us to neglect our own security because you want us to. We don't care about sanctions.

Jeeves at His Best

I recently re-read some of the P.G. Wodehouse stories featuring Bertie Wooster and Jeeves.

Some highlights I remembered. Girls at school together giggle "practically without cessation." This is in "Bertie Changes His Mind," narrated by Jeeves. There's the one in which Jeeves contrives that four people will sing "Sonny Boy" at the same concert, to the increasing displeasure of the audience, "the many-headed," "the populace," "the proletariat." As usual, one of Bertie's buddies needs to get an engagement broken, and the fine young lady sings last. "Jeeves and the Song of Songs."

One I had forgotten: "Episode of the Dog McIntosh." Bertie has stolen the dog, and the rightly owner has come straight to Bertie's place to seek retribution. It seems that all plans in this episode have fallen apart. Bertie takes Jeeves' advice and hides behind the sofa. The place smells of aniseed, which has been used to attract the dog. When Blumenfeld notices the smell, Jeeves explains that Wooster keeps the stuff on his trousers.

"What on earth does he do that for?"
"I could not say, sir. Mr. Wooster's motives are always somewhat hard to follow. He is eccentric."
"Eccentric? He must be a loony."
"Yes, sir."
"You mean he is?"
"Yes, sir."
...
"Not dangerous?"
"Yes, sir, when roused."
"Er, what rouses him chiefly?"
"One of Mr. Wooster's peculiarities is that he does not like the sight of gentlemen of full habit, sir. They seem to infuriate him."
"You mean, fat men?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why?"
"One cannot say, sir."
There was another pause.
"I'm fat!...."
"I would not have ventured to suggest it myself, sir, but as you say so...."

And so on. Jeeves tells Blumenfeld Wooster is probably sleeping behind the settee. Blumenfeld leaves cheerfully--it turns out, because Jeeves has given him a substitute dog, close enough to the stolen one. Everyone tips Jeeves.

Christmas Reading

I have no recommendations, only some plans.

I'm going to try to act on this recommendation from David Adesnik of Oxblog (via Kevin Drum):

President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime, by Lou Cannon. "This is simply the best book ever written about the Reagan presidency. Its author was a White House correspondent for the Washington Post who had covered Reagan since his days in the California State House. President Reagan is a weighty tome, but the writing is fluid and almost all of the chapters can be read as stand alone pieces."

Similarly Drum's own recommendation:

[blockquote] The Power Broker, Robert Caro's spellbinding, Pulitzer-winning biography of New York's Robert Moses. If you're only going to read one book from my bookshelf, that's it.[/blockquote]

I just bought a book on the British Empire at the time of Victoria's Diamond Jubillee--more on that later. I'm still hoping to read some more essays by Lord Salisbury, but that will probably have to wait for the new year.

I've promised my son that I'll re-read the first Dune. He's been reading the whole trilogy. He's whetted my appetite, and there's something to be said for having some reading in common with him.

Two Comments from Bobby Inman

Interview in Slate. Former intelligence official in the U.S., at very senior levels.

1. Rumsfeld.

Inman: If Rumsfeld were to be there for the next four years there will be a lot of my military colleagues who will be very unenthusiastic about it. But as much as they dislike Rumsfeld, they would not want to see a change in this immediate period. With the run-up to the Jan. 30 election in Iraq, you don't want to disrupt the chain of command.

Slate: After the elections, your military colleagues might welcome a change at the top?

Slate: One assumes they feel the same about Paul Wolfowitz; we saw a lot of him and the neocons in the Iraq war run-up. They have virtually disappeared. Why is that?

Slate: Who is going to take the blame?

Inman: I think we'd better stop there.

Slate: We can't go opining about certain members of the administration?

Inman: No, no. Not gonna do that.

Slate: And the administration has sealed most of their documents for years to come.

Inman: Yeah, the historians are going to have a field day in 30 or 40 years.

Christmas, er, Seasonal Concert

Our son played in his high school concert on Wednesday. It was actually surprisingly good--sometimes dazzling.

He has just started high school, but even his junior groups were very good. The senior groups sounded professional. When we went to parents' night at this high school, before our son started, there was a real emphasis on the theme: we excel at more than just academics, i.e. we're not just geeks. My cynical thought was: they probably are just that.

But they obviously do have some real musicians.

A question that interests many of us: is it permissible to talk about the Christmas of the Gospels in a public school, or just the holiday season?

When our son was in elementary school, there was one concert when Christian carols were played, not sung, so there were no words. Before the official program, one choir came out, sat in front of the stage, and sang "Silent Night." This wasn't even listed in the program. Samizdat? At the same time, there were three or four Hanakuh songs on the program.

Of course, there are lots of jokes to the effect that you should either refer to "the holidays," or list a bunch of different ones. (See The Corner, a reader quoting Krusty the Clown:)

"And this ends Krusty's non-denominational holiday fun fest. So have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah, a Kwazy Kwanzaa, a Tip Top Tet, and a solemn, eventful Ramadan. Now, over to my god, our sponsors." Of course, there may be a reference to Dwali and the Winter Solstice--see other posts at the Corner, including on Gloria Steinem. (For some reason, my word search isn't working on the Corner).

For the concert on Wednesday, one young woman sang "O Holy Night" as a solo. There were some pop Christmas songs, including several selections from the re-make of the Grinch (music by J. Horner). The Senior Choir did a "popular contemporary Jewish song" called "Bashana Haba'ah," and an old spiritual called "City Called Heaven." All very beautiful.

Much of the music, however, was not really seasonal--and maybe this is how it should be. It's mainly musicians learning their chops, people. I loved "Route 66," and I was a bit surprised at "Mack the Knife."