Sunday, November 25, 2012
The Small Print: Anti-Concurrent Causation Clauses
Many home insurance policies contain so-called anti-concurrent causation clauses. The Consumer Federation of America says this language makes it easier to deny coverage if two factors destroyed a home around the same time. (paraphrased from WNYC-FM)
If two events damage the same structure at the same time and one is covered and one is not, the insurer can deny both. It was an issue that affected some claims after Hurricane Katrina, and there was concern that the same problem would resurface in the aftermath of the nor'easter which followed Superstorm Sandy in areas like Breezy Point where fire destroyed homes after flooding.
Just one more reason why someone needs to learn to read carefully. Many people learned to their regret that there is a difference between flooding and a storm surge.
I'm waiting for the exposés.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Monkey's Paw Biblio-Mat
The Monkey's Paw used bookstore in Toronto, created a Biblio-Mat vending machine to dispense at random books which used to go into their dollar bin.
NPR aired a story about the Biblio-Mat
on their November 18, 2012 broadcast.
Not quite the way I want to get books. I think back many years to a throw-away passage in a story in Playboy magazine. The story, as I remember it, was told in the first person and described an adventure driving in the Mid-East in a Phaeton touring car during the 1930's. Being in Playboy the narrator stayed in a house with several nubile daughters with whom he slept. However because they made love in pitch darkness he couldn't tell with whom he had indulged. At one point he gives the woman a little nip on the neck so he will be able to identify his partner. The next day each of the women weas a scarf.
The big surprise of the story hits after he has left the house when he learns that there is a daughter who is kept hidden because of some disease or disfigurement.
The reason I remember the story has nothing to do with the sex, but what occupied the backseat of the car: a crate or two of books. When the car broke down, something which would be expected with some regularity, he would reach back, pick any book at random and head for a comfortable place to wait and read until assistance materialized.
This fits into the profile of the men in my family: Give us a comfortable place to read and we're content. When heading off to where we might have to wait, we pack reading material. Reading makes the DMV experience almost painless. (Padding the benches would make it painless.)
Not quite the way I want to get books. I think back many years to a throw-away passage in a story in Playboy magazine. The story, as I remember it, was told in the first person and described an adventure driving in the Mid-East in a Phaeton touring car during the 1930's. Being in Playboy the narrator stayed in a house with several nubile daughters with whom he slept. However because they made love in pitch darkness he couldn't tell with whom he had indulged. At one point he gives the woman a little nip on the neck so he will be able to identify his partner. The next day each of the women weas a scarf.
The big surprise of the story hits after he has left the house when he learns that there is a daughter who is kept hidden because of some disease or disfigurement.
The reason I remember the story has nothing to do with the sex, but what occupied the backseat of the car: a crate or two of books. When the car broke down, something which would be expected with some regularity, he would reach back, pick any book at random and head for a comfortable place to wait and read until assistance materialized.
This fits into the profile of the men in my family: Give us a comfortable place to read and we're content. When heading off to where we might have to wait, we pack reading material. Reading makes the DMV experience almost painless. (Padding the benches would make it painless.)
Spared by Sandy
The Frankenstorm Sandy came barreling through the area on Tuesday, October 30, flooding homes, knocking down power lines, and killing a few people.
Everyone had a story. Mine might be the most unusual: we lost cable and Internet access for a day. Other than resetting the clocks on the radios it was a normal day.
For the neighbors and the county, however, the storm lived up to its billing. There were huge trees down in some of the wealthier neighborhoods. Houses on the South Shore of Long Island were flooded or knocked off their foundations.
We'd muddled through about a week without power when hurricane Irene came through last year. I anticipated that Sandy would finally convince me to buy a generator. It has. What Sandy has also done will be seen in subsequent years. I expect:
Everyone had a story. Mine might be the most unusual: we lost cable and Internet access for a day. Other than resetting the clocks on the radios it was a normal day.
For the neighbors and the county, however, the storm lived up to its billing. There were huge trees down in some of the wealthier neighborhoods. Houses on the South Shore of Long Island were flooded or knocked off their foundations.
We'd muddled through about a week without power when hurricane Irene came through last year. I anticipated that Sandy would finally convince me to buy a generator. It has. What Sandy has also done will be seen in subsequent years. I expect:
- People will stock up on gasoline for their cars and generators prior to storms.
- Insurance policies will get another evaluation. Sandy was not technically a hurricane. The damage caused by a storm surge is not damage caused by a flood. Some insurance policies are written so that no payout is necessary for coincident events. Expect the courts to be littered with split hairs.
- Someone who loses everything becoming unhinged and do something terrible to an insurance agent or adjuster. It'll make for interesting reading, a tragedy for those involved, and have no deterrent for insurance companies to write policies accurately described by Tom Waits in his song "Step Right Up" on his album "Small Change":
the large print giveth and the small print taketh away
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Robert Fabbio
Digging through my accumulated debris I unearthed a March 3rd, 2003 edition of Information week. Nothing caught my attention except the headline, "Entrepreneur's Next Big Thing", a story about Robert Fabbio, one of the founders of Tivoli. His newest venture was Veio, an "systems management" appliance.
The article noted his runner up in the Imelda Marcos competition, male division: 100 pairs of shoes, 50 watches, and 30 suits.
Searching the web for traces of Veio I came up with nothing except a link to some nice music videos. Fabbio himself has moved on:
The article noted his runner up in the Imelda Marcos competition, male division: 100 pairs of shoes, 50 watches, and 30 suits.
Searching the web for traces of Veio I came up with nothing except a link to some nice music videos. Fabbio himself has moved on:
In 2006, Mr. Fabbio left the technology industry to focus on healthcare and launched WhiteGlove Health where he is able to uniquely apply his technology background to address the many challenges found in the healthcare industry today. ~http://www.whiteglove.com/about-us/management-team/49-robert-fabbio.html
Sunday, October 21, 2012
I Hate Actors!
I was at a garage sale the other day when I spotted a book, I Hate Actors by Ben Hecht. Ben Hecht is the author of Gaily, Gaily and Front Page/His Girl Friday. I'd never heard of the book before. The $3 asking price was more than I. They accepted $1 and I was on my way.
There's actually more to the story of course. I was driving east on Northern Blvd when traffic came to a halt. I never got to see what caused the problem. If I were enterprising I would have parked the van and taken my trusty camera in search of an answer.
Diverted through Roslyn side streets I came out on Glen Cove Road. (Guinea Woods Road, the original name of Glen Cove Road, was changed in a fit of cultural correctness decades ago. Natives still say "Guinea Woods" to flaunt their primacy.) I was just about to forget about the estate sale when I noticed the sign across the road said Lakeville Estates. The turnoff from Glen Cove Road into the area with the estate sale was Lakeville Drive and sure enough I was headed in the right direction.
Not much of interest there other than the book and the book case. The room looks pretty much as depicted. Hect's book sans dust jacket was located in the area outlined in red.
The novel is written from the perspective of a screen writer brought in to rescue a Hollywood travesty, "Sons of Destiny". Because Hecht was known for his command of the language, especially the vernacular, I was struck by not recognizing several terms:
There's actually more to the story of course. I was driving east on Northern Blvd when traffic came to a halt. I never got to see what caused the problem. If I were enterprising I would have parked the van and taken my trusty camera in search of an answer.
Diverted through Roslyn side streets I came out on Glen Cove Road. (Guinea Woods Road, the original name of Glen Cove Road, was changed in a fit of cultural correctness decades ago. Natives still say "Guinea Woods" to flaunt their primacy.) I was just about to forget about the estate sale when I noticed the sign across the road said Lakeville Estates. The turnoff from Glen Cove Road into the area with the estate sale was Lakeville Drive and sure enough I was headed in the right direction.
Not much of interest there other than the book and the book case. The room looks pretty much as depicted. Hect's book sans dust jacket was located in the area outlined in red.
What is interesting is that the book case rests on a platform. Below the light line that runs underneath the red box is a set of small cabinets. To get to the book shelves you have to go up the steps on the right.
I'm not tall. It was an odd feeling to be staring eye to binder with the books on the top of the bookcase.
The novel is written from the perspective of a screen writer brought in to rescue a Hollywood travesty, "Sons of Destiny". Because Hecht was known for his command of the language, especially the vernacular, I was struck by not recognizing several terms:
- "billingsgate and tears" (p 24) - Billingsgate was a fish market in London and represented course language
- "brilliant didoes" (p 27) - "didoes" is defined as a mischievous or capricious act, usually cut didoes. The original citation with origin unknown is 1807. Odd I thought because the immediate association would be with Dido, the ancient queen who killed herself after being jilted by Aeneas. Hardly a prank. (A late friend used the same spelling, but procounced it Dee-Doh as it was a condensation of her first two names, Diane Dorothea.)
- "false Tarquin" - Merriam-Webster.com was no help. My attempt to to submit my citation was frustrated I because I could not authenticate against Facebook, Yahoo, or AOL. Their loss, but not yours:
I was trying to understand the phrase, "false Tarquin" (p 84) in Ben Hecht's novel, "I Hate Actors", Crown Publishers, 1944. "Go on," the Tweed ace nodded, like false Tarquin, "just tell the truth."
The reference is probably to Tarquin the Proud, the last legendary King of Rome, a vile person if his wikipedia entry is to be believed. His rape of Lucretia is probably reflected in the context of the story where a woman who bore a child out of wedlock by a recently deceased actor is providing the true alibi for a suspect for whom a false alibi has already been provided.
Had I not been so alienated from popular culture I might have thought the reference was to Tarquin Anthony "Quinn" Blackwood, a character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. Saved by my naiveté.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
2012 Presidential Debate #1
The debate spawned a torrent in the Twitterverse. Of the best,(CNN's 25 Funniest Tweets) these were the ones I thought memorable:
Phil Plait -- After reading all the variations of the debate drinking games, I have decided to simply remove my liver and set it on fire.
Phil Plait -- After reading all the variations of the debate drinking games, I have decided to simply remove my liver and set it on fire.
Tara Ariano
-- Frankly, neither candidate is working hard enough to land the
immigrant feminist small business owner non-voting socialist vote.
Fired Big Bird -- If you don't vote Obama, Mitt Romney is going to be eating me by the end of November.
Dave Weigel -- This is like watching a tax law professor debate an investment advice infomercial host
A members of a listserv to which I was added through no fault of my own passed along two famous quotes about economics, both of which were unknown to me:
Thomas Sowell:
A members of a listserv to which I was added through no fault of my own passed along two famous quotes about economics, both of which were unknown to me:
Thomas Sowell:
"The first lesson of economics is scarcity. There is never enough of anything to satisfy everyone who wants it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics. "From Frans de Waals' book, "Chimpanzee Politics" :
"...Harold Laswell's famous definition of politics as a societal process determining 'who gets what, when, and how'..."
Saturday, October 06, 2012
Septermber 3, 2009: Hoffer Quote, DeepWater Horizon, Freedom Communications
I finally got around to reading the September 3, 2009 edition of the New York Times. It had been yellowing in the back seat of my car. I figured it was mellowed enough.
It was an interesting read: SEC investigation of its own failures to find Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, an overview of Ted Kennedy's posthumously published autobiography, the murderous bank robbery in Iraq by security forces, and two bits that caught my eye:
1) An announcement of BP's discovery of huge oil deposits in the Gulf of Mexico with the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Seven months later BP, the rig, and teh word "disaster" would be linked in the news.
2) This quote from Eric Hoffer, the self-taught "stevedore philosopher": "Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves." It is in much the same vein as the atheist claim that atheists are acting on a higher moral level because they are doing good by choice and not be fear of divine retribution.
3) Although not as memorable as the Hoffer quote, there was a note in the financial section that Freedom Communications, founded by the staunch Libertarian, R. C. Hoiles, was filing for bankruptcy. For a firm which had as its founding principle the sanctity of private contracts, bankruptcy protection should have been an anathema. The article points out that debtors who charged a higher rate for understood that their higher rate was predicted on greater risk and a place further back in the repayment queue.
It was an interesting read: SEC investigation of its own failures to find Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, an overview of Ted Kennedy's posthumously published autobiography, the murderous bank robbery in Iraq by security forces, and two bits that caught my eye:
1) An announcement of BP's discovery of huge oil deposits in the Gulf of Mexico with the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Seven months later BP, the rig, and teh word "disaster" would be linked in the news.
2) This quote from Eric Hoffer, the self-taught "stevedore philosopher": "Faith in a holy cause is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves." It is in much the same vein as the atheist claim that atheists are acting on a higher moral level because they are doing good by choice and not be fear of divine retribution.
3) Although not as memorable as the Hoffer quote, there was a note in the financial section that Freedom Communications, founded by the staunch Libertarian, R. C. Hoiles, was filing for bankruptcy. For a firm which had as its founding principle the sanctity of private contracts, bankruptcy protection should have been an anathema. The article points out that debtors who charged a higher rate for understood that their higher rate was predicted on greater risk and a place further back in the repayment queue.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Meridith Monk @ the Greene Space
I was listening to WNYC's New Sounds program tonight. The most accurate way to describe the sounds is this: voices straining to imitate fire engines screeching over a string quartet.
Jeez, I could just imagine what junk the host had to listen to to have selected the awful stuff he was playing. The song came to an end to applause. What I'd been listening to was not music chosen by the host, but a live performance by Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble along with the Todd Reynolds Quartet from the record release party for Monk’s latest album, “Songs of Ascension”.
Right away I thought of a Jules Pfeiffer cartoon in the Village Voice which showed a prototypical 50's early 60's era beat type identifying the film everyone walked out on as a test.
Someone somewhere will claim some wretched excess as art. Between songs the host, John Schaefer said, "You explore the boundary between noise and music." I think she's gone over to the dark side.
I left a post on the page indicating that I'd never heard her music before, but midway through the first piece the Garcia effect kicked in. (I thought that was the most succinct and civil way of saying that I'd never voluntarily listen to her music again.)
Put another way, I'm too old to waste my time for this. When I was younger I watched Antonioni's "Red Desert" twice because I couldn't believe that it was so bad on the first viewing. It was.
I don't intend to repeat the error with Monk. Time has become too valuable.
Jeez, I could just imagine what junk the host had to listen to to have selected the awful stuff he was playing. The song came to an end to applause. What I'd been listening to was not music chosen by the host, but a live performance by Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble along with the Todd Reynolds Quartet from the record release party for Monk’s latest album, “Songs of Ascension”.
Right away I thought of a Jules Pfeiffer cartoon in the Village Voice which showed a prototypical 50's early 60's era beat type identifying the film everyone walked out on as a test.
Someone somewhere will claim some wretched excess as art. Between songs the host, John Schaefer said, "You explore the boundary between noise and music." I think she's gone over to the dark side.
I left a post on the page indicating that I'd never heard her music before, but midway through the first piece the Garcia effect kicked in. (I thought that was the most succinct and civil way of saying that I'd never voluntarily listen to her music again.)
Put another way, I'm too old to waste my time for this. When I was younger I watched Antonioni's "Red Desert" twice because I couldn't believe that it was so bad on the first viewing. It was.
I don't intend to repeat the error with Monk. Time has become too valuable.
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Dendritic Arbor
In a Radiolab (http://www.radiolab.org/2007/jun/04/) broadcast on zoos the term "dendritic arbor" was used to describe the growth of dendrites after a monkey was transferred to a more enriched environment.
My immediate thought was to formulate a sentence using the term. After a few attempts, perhaps influenced by having read an article about hallucinogenic mushrooms leading to a gruesome murder I settled for "Drugs were implicated in the pruning of his dendritic trees." Not bad, but something involving topiary would have been better, e.g., "His dendritic trees look like topiary."
My immediate thought was to formulate a sentence using the term. After a few attempts, perhaps influenced by having read an article about hallucinogenic mushrooms leading to a gruesome murder I settled for "Drugs were implicated in the pruning of his dendritic trees." Not bad, but something involving topiary would have been better, e.g., "His dendritic trees look like topiary."
A Found Lyric and a Quote
I came across a piece of paper on which I'd written:
A web search didn't get any useable hits in 4 pages. It did turn up a link to Raymond Hamilton, an associate of Bonnie and Clyde in a Google book, "Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde". The book contained this quote:
Not murder in the firstIt sounds like a lyric for Frankie and Johnny/Albert. I suspect it came from a performance on Prairie Home Companion.
Not murder in the second or third
That woman brought down her man
as a hunter brings down a bird
A web search didn't get any useable hits in 4 pages. It did turn up a link to Raymond Hamilton, an associate of Bonnie and Clyde in a Google book, "Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde". The book contained this quote:
Americans have fought one war to win their independence and another to preserve the Union. Now they face a new war, between the men who possess more than they have earned and the men who have earned more than they possess. " ~ former president Theodore Roosevelt in 1910Nice quote, but doesn't seem so applicable to today's situation.
Ripped out a friend's heart and tongue
Under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms, mixed martial arts fighter Jarrod Wyatt of Crescent City, California ripped out the heart and tongue of his sparring partner. The story (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48953331/#) and the accompanying comments just left me numb. According to Wyatt the two believe they were in "a struggle between God and the devil".
On Thurday, September 6, 2012 Wyatt agreed to plead guilty before his trial to spare all (his family, his victim's family) from reliving the events. He'll be serving 50 years to life.
What an obvious waste. My father would comment, "This was so unnecessary." in response to avoidable mishaps. The comment was suitable for events large and small. It's applicable here. All they needed to do was not take the mushrooms.
Perhaps it is a curious facet of law that Del Norte County District Attorney Jon Alexander "said it was important to him that Wyatt admitted to killing Powell, and that it was a premeditated murder that wasn't the result of drinking psychedelic mushroom tea".
On Thurday, September 6, 2012 Wyatt agreed to plead guilty before his trial to spare all (his family, his victim's family) from reliving the events. He'll be serving 50 years to life.
What an obvious waste. My father would comment, "This was so unnecessary." in response to avoidable mishaps. The comment was suitable for events large and small. It's applicable here. All they needed to do was not take the mushrooms.
Perhaps it is a curious facet of law that Del Norte County District Attorney Jon Alexander "said it was important to him that Wyatt admitted to killing Powell, and that it was a premeditated murder that wasn't the result of drinking psychedelic mushroom tea".
Sunday, September 02, 2012
Recrudescence
In his 50th anniversary appreciation of Anthony Burgess's Clockwork Orange in the New York Times Book Review (9/1/2012), Martin Amis used the word, recrudescence, an unfamiliar term. I doubt that I'd ever seen it before. the definition is simple enough:
breaking out afresh or into renewed activity; revival or reappearance in active existence.Sounds like a term which could be trundled out to describe the dieting habits of the American public, but Amis used the term in reference to self-punitive guilt.
Beautiful Days
This sat as a draft for 5 months.
The days are lyrically nice. It's early spring, girls are in their summer dresses (more on this in a second), and the weather is delightful warm, sunny with a slight breeze. The fair skinned are slathering themselves with sun block. Those in pursuit of a tan are well on their way. The only fly in the ointment is civilization's implosion in the aftermath of the upcoming environmental collapse - nothing new here.
Girls in their summer dresses: many years ago I found myself staring at a young woman in my chem lab section. I could not tear my eyes away from her. It was embarrassing. I'd been teaching the section for about 10 weeks, but on that spring morning I was staring at her. Why? After a few minutes the realization hit me and I started laughed out loud: She was the first female student I'd seen in a dress in seven months. For at least 8 months every female student had worn slacks or jeans.
The days are lyrically nice. It's early spring, girls are in their summer dresses (more on this in a second), and the weather is delightful warm, sunny with a slight breeze. The fair skinned are slathering themselves with sun block. Those in pursuit of a tan are well on their way. The only fly in the ointment is civilization's implosion in the aftermath of the upcoming environmental collapse - nothing new here.
Girls in their summer dresses: many years ago I found myself staring at a young woman in my chem lab section. I could not tear my eyes away from her. It was embarrassing. I'd been teaching the section for about 10 weeks, but on that spring morning I was staring at her. Why? After a few minutes the realization hit me and I started laughed out loud: She was the first female student I'd seen in a dress in seven months. For at least 8 months every female student had worn slacks or jeans.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Lying Weasel
Jeff Greenfield's analysis of Paul Ryan's acceptance speech on Yahoo! Finance was particularly disappointing. Greenfield pointed out several errors/lies/misrepresentations in the speech and then went on to explain that the Republican/Conservative faithful can dismiss the particulars because they'll attribute the charge to a tainted source, their traditional whipping boy, "liberal media".
That this is now accepted, that demonstrable facts can be dismissed because one doesn't like the source of the information bodes ill for this country. (Is it ironic that Sally Kohn's article on Fox News, Paul Ryan’s speech in 3 words boiled it down to this: Dazzling, Deceiving, and Distracting.)
Alluding to Nazis is now a marker of the point where a debate/discussion goes off the rails. However in this case, my immediate thought was "The Big Lie", perfected by Paul Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda under Hitler. I'm not drawing a parallel between Ryan and Goebbels, but the phenomenon of repeating a falsehood loudly and persistently that others will repeat the statement as given truth.
As for the particulars in Ryan's speech:
The claims that Obamacare cuts $716 billion of benefits from Medicare when in fact the cuts are to payments to hospitals, not benefits.
He pinned S&P's downgrade of U.S. debt on Obama, when S&P itself explained its downgrade resulted from Congressional Republicans refusal to pass measures to increase revenues.
Ryan accused Obama of promising to keep a GM plant open for "hundreds of years" after he was elected, only to have it closed in the first year. In fact, GM closed the plant before Obama even took office.
Sigh.
That this is now accepted, that demonstrable facts can be dismissed because one doesn't like the source of the information bodes ill for this country. (Is it ironic that Sally Kohn's article on Fox News, Paul Ryan’s speech in 3 words boiled it down to this: Dazzling, Deceiving, and Distracting.)
Alluding to Nazis is now a marker of the point where a debate/discussion goes off the rails. However in this case, my immediate thought was "The Big Lie", perfected by Paul Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda under Hitler. I'm not drawing a parallel between Ryan and Goebbels, but the phenomenon of repeating a falsehood loudly and persistently that others will repeat the statement as given truth.
As for the particulars in Ryan's speech:
The claims that Obamacare cuts $716 billion of benefits from Medicare when in fact the cuts are to payments to hospitals, not benefits.
He pinned S&P's downgrade of U.S. debt on Obama, when S&P itself explained its downgrade resulted from Congressional Republicans refusal to pass measures to increase revenues.
Ryan accused Obama of promising to keep a GM plant open for "hundreds of years" after he was elected, only to have it closed in the first year. In fact, GM closed the plant before Obama even took office.
Sigh.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
The Mist of Collecting Data
The email from the editor read:
"We are in the mist of collecting data for our annual best places to work story."I responded:
"I'm available to do prufreeding on a part-thyme basis."I hope he appreciates the humor.
Friday, July 27, 2012
38 Studios Post-mortem
Boston Magazine had a sobering article about 38 Studio, the video game company started by Curt Schilling, the baseball player. In a nutshell, the never-say-die, positive thinking which served him so well in sports doomed his company.
I passed the link to the prof who teaches the entrepreneurship course. It might be required reading for sports stars.
The point is made that fame and expertise in one field does not presage business ability. The article made clear that those in the trenches didn't now how dire things were until checks started bouncing. In one of the tougher ramifications, one employee found himself with two mortgages, a pregnant wife, and no income. (He was hired with the understanding that a firm hired by 38 Studios would arrange for the sale of his house. When 38 Studios stopped paying the firm, the mortgage then became the employee's responsibility.)
All very sad.
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/2012/07/38-studios-end-game/
I passed the link to the prof who teaches the entrepreneurship course. It might be required reading for sports stars.
The point is made that fame and expertise in one field does not presage business ability. The article made clear that those in the trenches didn't now how dire things were until checks started bouncing. In one of the tougher ramifications, one employee found himself with two mortgages, a pregnant wife, and no income. (He was hired with the understanding that a firm hired by 38 Studios would arrange for the sale of his house. When 38 Studios stopped paying the firm, the mortgage then became the employee's responsibility.)
All very sad.
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/2012/07/38-studios-end-game/
Thursday, July 26, 2012
A Body at Rest Stays at Rest
Woman charged with cashing mummified friend's checks
In brief (http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/26/12970220-woman-charged-with-cashing-mummified-friends-checks?lite):A 72-year-old Michigan woman [ Linda Lou Chase] who authorities say kept the body of her longtime companion [Charles Zigler] in her house for more than 18 months after he died is being charged with cashing more than $28,000 worth of his benefit checksNow the really interesting thing about the case is that she didn't do anything other than cover the body. Cashing the checks was illegal, but:
Most of Michigan’s current laws concerning bodies deal with inappropriate disposition by a licensed mortician or removal to interfere with a criminal investigation.A mental competency exam is scheduled.
“She literally did not move the body – so moving a body before the medical examiner could examine it doesn’t apply,” [chief assistant prosecutor] Blumer said.
Monday, July 23, 2012
50 Shades of Grey Reviews
Gotta love the comments. "50 Shades of Grey", the current erotic bodice ripper favorite, has terrific comments on Amazon:
Identifying himself as "a male senior citizen, a semi-retired gynecologist whose customary literary fare is spy novels and military techno-thrillers", david shobin/thatch pond corp wrote, "At my age, my arthritis flared up just reading about Ana's sexual gymnastics. And for some reason, I kept thinking about her contracting genital warts."
"DS from LA" used the Kindle search function, to tabulate the repetitive physical references to eyes rolling (41), lip biting (35), lips "quirking up" (16 and, no I don't know what it means either), "cocks his head to one side" (17), etc.
edenae pointed out that when " characters speak to each other they have to remind themselves who they are talking to 'Hello Mrs. Steele', 'How was your day Mr. Grey', 'It was fine Anastasia', 'Oh good, mine was great Christian.'"
Elly Abs had some quibbles: "EL James has very limited vocabulary and frankly if a man screamed my name every time he reached climax i would have to slap him into next Tuesday."
DocKaren "dockaren" : "The best thing to come of this book are the multiple cleverly written reviews posted here that describe how repellant this book is much more eloquently than I could ever hope to."
Identifying himself as "a male senior citizen, a semi-retired gynecologist whose customary literary fare is spy novels and military techno-thrillers", david shobin/thatch pond corp wrote, "At my age, my arthritis flared up just reading about Ana's sexual gymnastics. And for some reason, I kept thinking about her contracting genital warts."
"DS from LA" used the Kindle search function, to tabulate the repetitive physical references to eyes rolling (41), lip biting (35), lips "quirking up" (16 and, no I don't know what it means either), "cocks his head to one side" (17), etc.
edenae pointed out that when " characters speak to each other they have to remind themselves who they are talking to 'Hello Mrs. Steele', 'How was your day Mr. Grey', 'It was fine Anastasia', 'Oh good, mine was great Christian.'"
Elly Abs had some quibbles: "EL James has very limited vocabulary and frankly if a man screamed my name every time he reached climax i would have to slap him into next Tuesday."
DocKaren "dockaren" : "The best thing to come of this book are the multiple cleverly written reviews posted here that describe how repellant this book is much more eloquently than I could ever hope to."
Monday, July 16, 2012
I Flunk Celebrity Trivia - Again
There was an article about Lindsay Lohan getting a new half-sibling because her father's girl friend, Kate Major was pregnant. Who is Kate Major?
You may know who Ms Major is, but I'm clueless. Celebrity magazines at the supermarket trace the amorous exploits of bold faced names I don't recognize. It doesn't make a real difference, but I usually feel that there are two stories: the one which is written and the one about the implications of the story.
For example, the latest biggest Hollywood bust up between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes has fascinating legal plotting behind it. Ms Holmes ability to get sole custody of the child will have matrimonial lawyers doubler checking the custody arrangement clauses in their prenups.
Anyway, about Ms Major: a web search found this mug shot (http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/gallery/kate-major-mugshot/):
It made me wonder if fans argue about which mugshot made the object of their obsession look the most or least wasted. "Oh yeah, the DWI mug shot in Santa Monica was so much better than the DUI in Maryland."
It reminded me of an article in the local college paper from a student who stated that the best way for her to control her drinking was to think of her mother's reaction to her mug shot.
You may know who Ms Major is, but I'm clueless. Celebrity magazines at the supermarket trace the amorous exploits of bold faced names I don't recognize. It doesn't make a real difference, but I usually feel that there are two stories: the one which is written and the one about the implications of the story.
For example, the latest biggest Hollywood bust up between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes has fascinating legal plotting behind it. Ms Holmes ability to get sole custody of the child will have matrimonial lawyers doubler checking the custody arrangement clauses in their prenups.
Anyway, about Ms Major: a web search found this mug shot (http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/gallery/kate-major-mugshot/):
Kate Major's mugshot from early 2012. Not to be confused with her other recent efforts.
It reminded me of an article in the local college paper from a student who stated that the best way for her to control her drinking was to think of her mother's reaction to her mug shot.
Monday, July 02, 2012
Morse: Before
Yesterday, Sunday July 1st, marked the first American appearance of Endeavour the prequel to the popular Inspector Morse series. The episode had a well turned praise which started as an insult: One of the secondary characters says to Morse, "Poor old Morse. You were never Oxford material. Too bloody decent by half." (http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/endeavour-morse)
A thought about forensics occurred to me. A death appears to be a suicide because of the powder marks on the skull, but nothing was said about gunshot residues on the deceased hand. Is this classic misdirection?
A thought about forensics occurred to me. A death appears to be a suicide because of the powder marks on the skull, but nothing was said about gunshot residues on the deceased hand. Is this classic misdirection?
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