Friday, October 10, 2008

Recommended Reading

Much of the blogosphere is talking about the fact that Christopher Buckley, son of William F. and bastion of Conservative politics, has endorsed Barack Obama. So I might as well mention it here and give you the link. It's not that strong an argument. I wouldn't interpret it to mean a lot more than that some Conservatives and Republicans are feeling real uncomfortable, not about McCain's politics but because of his current manner and style.

• Posted at 5:31 PM · LINK

Another Random Comment

The Golden Gate Bridge District board of directors voted overwhelmingly this morning to build a net to prevent suicides on the landmark bridge. Is this because of the economy or because of how the Giants are doing this year?

• Posted at 2:48 PM · LINK

Random Comment

The economy is bad. They're saying here that Bill Gates lost $1.5 billion dollars...and that's just in the sofa.

• Posted at 2:45 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Fred Kaplan notes that what Barack Obama has said about dealing with enemy nations — the position McCain and Palin have dismissed as "beyond naive" and "dangerous" — is pretty much the same thing that the sainted General Petraeus has been saying.

• Posted at 10:55 AM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Frank Schaeffer, a longtime supporter of John McCain and vice-versa, thinks McCain-Palin rallies are starting to resemble lynch mobs. That's what a lot of this election is turning into: "If we can't beat him, let's hate him!"

• Posted at 10:49 AM · LINK

The Cookie Crumbles

The economy is so bad...how bad is it? It's so bad that the Mother's Cookie company has filed for bankruptcy and announced that it will soon cease production and distribution, at least in the United States.

Founded in the early years of last century by a man named N. M. Wheatley — clearly not anyone's mother — in Oakland, California, the company made many different products but was best known for its Sugar Cookies, Double Fudge Cookies, Oatmeal Cookies, Flakey Flix and a childhood fave of mine, Circus Animal cookies. Circus Animal Cookies were animal crackers with a layer of magenta or vanilla frosting plus a sprinkling of rainbow sugar nonpareils.

Nothing I ate as a kid pleased me more or was probably worse for my well-being. I have a vivid memory of eating them one day with a girl named Johanna Matthewson who lived about a block from us. I was around eight, I'd guess, and we made up our own game. You'd close your eyes, the other person would hand you a cookie to bite and you'd have to determine by taste whether it was magenta or white. I was very, very good at this game and I'm still disappointed that I never found a way to parlay that skill into a career.

When I read that the firm is closing down, I instantly thought of running out and buying a bag to eat, just for old time's sake, just in case Circus Animal cookies are soon extinct. Then I remembered (a) that I've given up cookies and other things high in sugar and (b) that I'd probably be disappointed, anyway. The latter would lead me to a long internal debate over whether they'd changed (ruined) the recipe and it would spill out here and I'd probably sound like one of those old guys complaining that nothing's as good today as when I was a kid. Let's leave well enough alone. Circus Animal cookies are the greatest thing in the world and I don't want to know otherwise.

Above photo by Jef Poskanzer. Used under a Creative Commons license.

• Posted at 9:41 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

From The Daily Show with Jon Stewart for October 3, 2003: Here's an installment of "Even Stevphen," the debate segment starring Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert. I thought this was enormously funny and pointed at the time it first aired. These days, it seems even more so...

• Posted at 12:03 AM · LINK