Sorry the posting's been non-existant lately--been packing.

Definitely done by July 2, as that's when I move in in Tucson.

Hopefully there will be more posting afoot then. 

The Allure of Crime

Julia Sweeney's always great, and, it turns out, thief-ish. (Theivey?) Act two is interesting, and act three is a little light on actual information, as I recall, but brings to light something I hadn't even thought about--the reasons that old people shoplift--so it accomplished what it set out to do, I suppose. 6/10

Not What I Meant

Act one, about a fellow who ends up on the wrong end of the FBI, DOD intelligence and the Secret Service, all through a nearly farce-like set of circumstances, is classic. And the reveal at the end? Even better. Act two is a David Sedaris short story that's funny enough, I guess, but it's one of his fables, which I've never loved. Act three, you actually get to hear Ben Karlin, the executive producer during the daily show's meteoric rise, which is interesting enough, but the stories are great, too. Nice and short, as well, a nice change after the epi first act. 8/10

Image Makers

Act one: rocking in the library. 'Nuff said. Act two: interesting but uneventful mediation on fathers and sons. Act three: Julie Hill makes her return. You may remember her heartbreaking story from Kid Logic (and other episodes). The new stuff here is less sad. Still plenty sad and moving and wonderful, but less crushing. 6/10 for 1 & 2, 9/10 for 3.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Act one is a fabulous meditation by a young Pakistani man on whether or not he ought to return to Pakistan once he's finished his degree in the US. You can hear him make, break, and remake his decision. Touches on many aspects of family life--and how family life intersects with your personal life--from a perspective that isn't quite a ruthlessly individualistic as American discussions on the same subjects can end up being. Act two is a great little story about guys who finished the project they were working on even after they were fired... and how that worked out for them. Act three is, well, a downer. Well-read by Katherine Keener, but still a downer, and maybe not so interesting as to warrant a listen. But, if you're in to mental illness and what it can do to a family, it's for you. 6/10

Conventions

Act one is perfect: sometimes you're crazy and you know it, but you like it anyway. And plus, it's about unhealthy love of TV. So I can get behind that. Act two is perfect: Dishwasher Pete (who I'd actually heard of, somehow) goes to a restaurant big-wigs convention and is surprised at the results, sometimes, and quite not-surprised other times. Act three is perfect: it seems normal and normally interesting and boring and then it catches you by surprise. Absolutely worth the listen. Three perfect acts that add up to a 9/10.

Living the Dream

Act one is intensely interesting: the story of an increasing number of m/f transexual teens living on the streets of Los Angeles, and the problems, some expected and some unexpected, they face. Act two: John Hodgeman + Bruce Campbell. 'Nuff said. Act three: blegh. This sort of teenage self-absorption and self-delusion isn't news to me. In twenty years, it might be more interesting. 6/10

The Secret Life of Daytime

What are all those people out in the world, in bookstore and coffeeshops and in the streets and on the bus during the day doing? I already know: I'm one of them. But maybe you don't. Act two: Grain-elevator workers watch The Young and the Restless. Great stuff. Act three: answers questions I've had before, most specifically: Where do kids go when unsupervised and what kind of spaces do they construct for themselves? And aren't we losing this, the more paranoid we get and intense we get about scheduling our children? Act two has the answers. Act four is fun, about a mailman and who he encounters, day to day. (Answer: the elderly and drug-dealers.) Act five is blech. Interestingish, I suppose, but mostly just meh. Good episode, overall, but the acts feel too short. 6/10

Pray

Can Christians and non-Christians get along? Can they even understand each other? The description of act one, from thislife.org:

Alix Spiegel in Colorado Springs, where a massive prayer project is underway to pray for every person, business and school. When she arrives, she finds the Christians speak a kind of Christian jargon she does not understand. When she goes to her local contact to discuss it, and to find more sympathetic people to profile, he says that he believes the secular world can never understand what the religious community in Colorado Springs is doing. Alix Spiegel believed the prayers were simply a gesture of goodwill by people toward their neighbors, but soon she finds that in fact, they are something very different. Something medieval.

So choice. Act two is good, too. 9/10 

After I missed Matt's birthday, like I miss everyone's birthday, always:

italisizy: When I've got school and a job I'll be better at this, right?

Sir Turley: nope, worse

italisizy: I'm going to level with you:
I don't see how I could possibly be worse.

Techdirt: Wikipedia's real problem: nerd bias.
Counterpoint: The insanely fleshed-out article on Around the Horn.
Or is that further confirmation?

Polynesians beat Columbus to America
But did they beat the Vikings?

An outdoor cat gets a camera around its neck.
Awesomeness ensues.

How I Spent the War, by Guenter Grass
Truly amazing, in depth account of how one of Germany's great authors spent his teenage years during the war.

Q: What happens when the world's only superhero is a self-obsessed, semi-retarded billionaire playboy and the only remaining supervillian is still trying to raise the money to finish his Annihilatrix?

A: Frisky Dingo.

("Well yes, we'll probably be using algebra like mad today.") 

Data-What: Funny flowchart about the 90's.

via Kottke: Twelve Trips for Traveling by Train
(incl. #12: "Train Love")

via Kottke: How NYC businesses make their money.

The Onion: 38% of People Not Actually Entitled to Their Opinion
(I would've pegged it closer to 60%)

YouTube: Women of Western Art morphing into each other
(Amazing. And via Kottke)

// 

"Fair Game" may not be the best show on NPR, but it's good. And availible free, in it's entirety, every day at their website: pri.morefairgame.org

A good show w/ an opener about the food-stamp challenge four congressmen recently undertook. 

Back in Texas after a long, good day.

Posting should resume soon.