Some Beckett

(Not Josh)

“….I can’t go on, you must go on, I’ll go on, you must say words, as long as there are any, until they find me, until they say me, strange pain, strange sin, you must go on, perhaps it’s done already, perhaps they have said me already, perhaps they have carried me to the threshold of my story, before the door that opens on my story, that would surprise me, if it opens, it will be I, it will be the silence, where I am, I don’t know, I’ll never know, in the silence you don’t know, you must go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on.”

From the Unnammeable

MyDD

To you blog newbies (Like Obama, I’m bringing new people into the process), MyDD is one of the original political blogs. Markos Mouli– blogged there before creating Daily Kos. MyDD’s founder Jerome Armstrong, “the blogfather” apparently plays a prominent role in Matt Bai’s new book, The Argument, which I’m prepared to dislike. This is a roundabout way of plugging my latest post at MyDD, What’s the Sphere Waiting For?

Welcome, Sherwinsky

You may have noticed that the Beast is growing, with the emergence–nay, ascendance–of Sherwinsky, who weighs in here on Christian Bale’s allure, or lack thereof. I’m agnostic both on the question on Bale’s sex appeal and acting ability, as I’ve missed his last eleven movies or so, since Laurel Canyon, in which he turned in a forgettable performance that I’ve forgotten. I’ve been wanting to see the Machinist even though (or because) it takes the anorexic porn of Survivor episodes to Auschwitz-like levels.

As for Shewinsky, I won’t say much about him–I respect the confidentiality of my colleagues–but I will tell you that he’s long overestimated his vertical jump. Expect to see lackluster puns in the titles of his post.

Bale Out

Has anyone else noticed the Christian Bale love-fest that is taking place in the world’s panties these days? Does anyone else think it’s weird? After seeing Rescue Dawn Lisa (that’s my girlfriend, interneters) called to inform me that she would be having sex with Mr. Bale as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Being somewhat of a homo myself (see Elba, Idris) I rushed out to see this film. It’s a good one, don’t get me wrong. And that dude can act, don’t get me wronger. But I don’t really get it about him.

You know who everyone loves? Paul Rudd. If you don’t love Paul Rudd, you are a humorless eunuch.

Blogese

I suspect that most of my five readers are new to blogs, so I will, from the to time, explain certain things about the sphere: lingo, protocol, etc. This, for example, is what’s known as blogwhoring.

The Perfect Gift

For a certain kind of person: Bacon of the Month club. Expensive, though.

Guiliani for Commish

When W. was running for president and people said, “this guy would make a great baseball commissioner,” I think the idea was to distract him from the world’s helm by dangling baseball’s shiny keys. Commissioner Bush would have way to fucked up baseball AND somehow found a way to invade Iraq. Guiliani, on the other hand, could really do the job. He’s not Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and he’s not really a baseball guy, but he’s tough on crime and he loves the wealthy–a perfect fit for the cheating richies that populate the sport.

BoBo Likes Edwards?

David Brooks hates economic populism, of which John Edwards is a leading proponent, so it was a surprise to see him write a fawning column about my guy. Brooks actually did some on-the-ground reporting in Iowa and liked what he saw:

…[T]he Edwards campaign is based on the same conviction that organized his last campaign: no one understands regular people the way he does. No one else can get out of a bus in places like Pocahontas, Iowa, and bond with the farmers, nurses and hairstylists the way he can. No one else comes from their ranks the way he does.

Well said, although elsewhere he says Edwards is “culturally conservative.” A bizarre claim that speaks to JRE’s ability to run to the left and still come off as moderate. A Southern accent has that effect, I guess. Or perhaps Bobo is so surprised to see a liberal connecting with “regular” people, he assumes he must be conservative. Weird. Over at Ezra Klein, Neil the Ethical Werewolf has more.

Hartsburg U.S.A.

It’s an awesome new book by me. Pub date is the 21st, but I’ve already got a review from the Buffalo News and Entertainment Weekly (A-), and a sort-of review from the Times.

Buy it immediately.

The Truth About Insidious Beast

Loyal readers of this blog may have noticed that there’s no one blogging here but me, with several linx to things Mizner. And I’m the only contributor listed. Is this a vanity blog disguised as a group project? What gives?

The truth is, I’ve been promising to start a blog for my friends and me for about two years. (The blog was going to be called Great Dump, but most of my friends found the name unclever.) The little bio in the back of my book says I contribute to “Insidious Beast, a blog that I created,” so I figured such a thing ought to exist. Here it is, thanks to my brother-in-law Bruno, who put this together today.

Once my friends know it exists, anywhere from four to eight of them will be joining me. I already heard from my friend in Seattle, who’ll probably be contributing posts on food, music, and animals. Perhaps he’ll provide our readers with recipes.

Okay, two posts, one book plug, zero funny jokes.