Charles J. (along with pajamahadista Jill Stewart) and I went to a hamburger and beer reception for the Always On/Technorati Open Media 100 at a semi-biker/semi-Stanford hangout formerly known as Rosati’s, now known as (for reasons obscure) the Alpine Inn.
This was a brave new world for Hollywood-types like me who still have to learn that VC isn’t short for Vincent Canby, but I just nod along, pretending I understand, when conversation turns to such matters as PHP and Perl. Hey, in local parlance, I’m just a content provider (formerly known as a writer). Anyway, there was much talk of Pajamas Media with such Sil Val illuminati as Tony Perkins of Always On and David Sifry of Technorati.
Everyone wanted to know what we were up to with Pajamas (so do we – just kidding). One particularly grizzled fellow who looked like a veteran of Kesey’s bus queried Charles and me about our “politics.” When I allowed as how we were the kinds of fellows who favored gay marriage and the War on Terror, he looked incredulous. How was such a thing possible? His reified brain looked as if it were about to short circuit. Then he smiled in relief. “Ah…” he said… “You mean the Global War for Oil!” Now it was Charles’ turn to look stunned. (In fact, more than stunned. I had never seen such a look of contempt on his face.) Were there still people who believed in this nonsense on the very day jihadists had blown up people all over London? Yes, there were. And a lot of them are in the Silicon Valley… and, I have to readily acknowledge as I type away on the Norman Mineta San Jose Airport WiFi before boarding the plane home, back home in Hollywood as well.
UPDATE: History of the party venue here. Good burgers, btw.
MORE: A “Furthur” report (in more ways than one) here.
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41 Comments
1. Peg C.:Roger, your apostrophes aren’t coming thru right but that’s probably the goofy wi-fi. At least you can get it. We were disgusted with the for-pay-only wi-fi at the DFW airport and no wi-fi at O’Hare (or was it the other way around…no matter). Come into the 21st century, people. As for the cognitive dissonance of the Lefty-all-or-nothing crowd, I run into it a lot. It’s straight party line or you’re persona non grata. In my field (IT) the software people are Lefties and the hardware people are Righties. I’m a rare Righty software person. I really think in general it lines up with softheaded and hardheaded. Software people are mushy thinkers in general. My 2 cents.
Safe traveling!
Jul 8, 2005 - 3:32 pm 2. timmah!:“One particularly grizzled fellow…reified brain…Global War for Oil.” About what you’d expect from a hacker who fried his brain sniffing Perl.
Reading here and at neo-neocon, I’m thinking it’s never been solely about intellectual ability; it’s also about the ability to see the world a little more directly, a little less filtered by expectation. An active imagination, so useful for writing code or novels, may hinder that as one can substitute the symbols too fast. It takes a certain awareness to crap-detect the result, which is why editors can be so useful.
Jul 8, 2005 - 3:51 pm 3. Anthony (Los Angeles):Jill Stewart is one of my favorite journalists: her columns on California politics are better than any I’ve seen in the MSM. If she’s part of PJ Media, that’s a real coup for your new company.
Jul 8, 2005 - 4:00 pm 4. Garyh:Back in the 70s/80s it was known as Zots.
Jul 8, 2005 - 4:00 pm 5. Katherine:Welcome to the individualistic, freedom loving, libertarian world of Silicon Valley, Roger.
Jul 8, 2005 - 4:07 pm 6. chrees:I’ll second Katherine’s welcome. And yeah, there are people like that all around this area. Events always confirm their deep-seated beliefs, even if they have to add epicycle after epicycle to their Ptolemaic views.
Jul 8, 2005 - 4:23 pm 7. Jamie Irons:chrees
Events always confirm their deep-seated beliefs, even if they have to add epicycle after epicycle to their Ptolemaic views.
Now, I really like that!
I hope it doesn’t take 1400+ years for them to come around to a more “reality-based” theory.
Eppur si muove…
Jamie Irons
Jul 8, 2005 - 5:12 pm 8. Kevin P:Roger:
If you want a pick me up try to read the transcripts or even better see the video of the exchange between Christopher Hitchens and Ron reagan junior from the MSNBC coast to coast show today. I am not even going to try to recount the complete evisceration of Ronnie boy. You have to see the video to appreciate the cold intellectual rage that Hitch shows as he bitchslaps the snotty dilletante RRJ. It is a complete joy to watch.
Kevin Peters
Jul 8, 2005 - 5:15 pm 9. richard mcenroe:Jill Stewart ó “The Attack Dog with the Pretty Hair?”
oh, and REHNQUIST JUST RESIGNED! °Nos bailamos, muchachos!
Jul 8, 2005 - 5:29 pm 10. chuck:OT:
Catherine Johnson & Temple Grandin’s book Animals in Translation is reviewed in the Telegraph. Registration may be required.
Jul 8, 2005 - 5:31 pm 11. Rick Ballard:The transcript of Hitchen’s maceration of Reagan is here. I don’t think Ron is smart enough to be reified.
Jul 8, 2005 - 5:34 pm 12. RBMN:Re: Rick Ballard at July 8, 2005 05:34 PM
Hollywood never wants to take credit for negatively influencing young people with their work, but look what they’ve done to Non Reagan in person. Even Non’s dad, great as he was, couldn’t save him.
Jul 8, 2005 - 5:59 pm 13. Katherine:Jamie,
If you recall, Copernicus finally gave ìgo aheadî for publication of his ìDe revolutionibus orbium caelestiumî literally from his deathbed and, just to be on a safe side, dedicated it to the Pope. Galileo of course decided to run around with his big mouth spreading the heretic views about the Solar System and got himself tried by the Holy Inquisition.
The good news is that though the current Establishment can scream: Apostate! at all of us who decided to ìoutî ourselves as nonbelievers, they cannot do us that much harm. No trials for heresy, no burning at stake, and no reeducation camps, though I would not recommend to anybody making their political views known within the work environment.
Jul 8, 2005 - 6:01 pm 14. Kevin P:Roger:
I am link impaired so I won’t even try but on the pick me up note go to Hugh Hewitt’s site and click on the Bravo, Bravo, Bravo link. It will lift your spirits, it will bring a tear to the eye and although I generally refrain from endorsements of foul language it has one of the most inspired and needed use of the F-word that I have seen in a while.
Kevin Peters
Jul 8, 2005 - 6:13 pm 15. Clay Ranck:The reasons for the name aren’t that obscure, Roger…the Alpine Inn is on Alpine Road.
Jul 8, 2005 - 6:15 pm 16. Katherine:Either right or wrong, Hitchís tongue and pen lashing are vicious, witty and to the point. Pity RR has not enough intellect to even notice that Hitch grabbed him by the balls, turned inside out and fed to himself.
Jul 8, 2005 - 6:38 pm 17. mrp:Pity RR has not enough intellect to even notice that Hitch grabbed him by the balls, turned inside out and fed to himself.
I can’t say that I know Christopher Hitchens, and I didn’t see the program, but I somehow doubt he did all that to the insufferable Ronald Reagan Junior.
I did read the transcript at Radioblogger (thanks, Rick!), though. That was quite enough pain to inflict on a weak man, but I suspect Mr. Hitchens was holding back a bit. Wimp.
My thanks to Chuck for the Temple Grandin-uhhh.. somebody’s Telegraph review.
Jul 8, 2005 - 6:50 pm 18. Luther McLeod:Katherine…brutal…LOL…well done
Jul 8, 2005 - 6:54 pm 19. Jamie Irons:Katherine
…though I would not recommend to anybody making their political views known within the work environment…
Word.
Everybody — I mean everybody — but my one Jewish buddy Michael at my workplace would be appalled if they knew my political stance, and they would behave toward me in an even more passive-aggressive way than they do now!!
I am the chief of a very large department, Bay Area unreconstructed reactionary (il)liberals, every man Bruce among them.
Pity RR has not enough intellect to even notice that Hitch grabbed him by the balls, turned inside out and fed to himself…
Ouch!
Katherine, I hope I never offend you when we finally meet at the crawl space!
Jamie Irons
Jul 8, 2005 - 7:13 pm 20. triticale:Chuck, thank’s for the OT post. Temple Grandin is simply one of the most interesting people on the planet, and Animals In Translation is her most accessible book.
I’d probably look like an aging Prankster myself if I got down to the weight I should be. I induce plenty of cognitive dissonance in my NPR-listening neighbors when, instead of tie-dye or geek humor, one of my pro-gun tee-shirts cycles to the top of the stack.
Jul 8, 2005 - 7:16 pm 21. Katherine:Jamie,
When we meet in that crawl space we PARTY!
Jul 8, 2005 - 7:17 pm 22. Jamie Irons:triticale
Catherine’s and Temple Grandin’s book is also reviewed in the 12 May 2005 Nature.
Since it’s subscription only, I’ll quote the last paragraph:
I feel like the book changed my life.
Katherine
Toga! Toga! TOGA!!!!
Jamie Irons
Jul 8, 2005 - 7:41 pm 23. Rick Ballard:Jamie,
Apply to the appropriate agency for a grant to perform a longitudinal study of pre-psychosis relative to narcissism. Might as well get paid twice for working with nutters. Dr. Sanity would probably be happy to work with you on that type of project.
I’d really like to see an “almond tree in August” diagnosis published in the DSM-IV-R with Howlin’ Howies picture just above the header.
Jul 8, 2005 - 7:42 pm 24. Katherine:Jamie,
This http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~friedman/toga.html might be a bit tricky to achieve in the crawl space, but then again anything is possible if we drink enough quality wine.
Jul 8, 2005 - 7:59 pm 25. Katherine:Rick,
Where do you think would Jamie find controls for his study?
Jul 8, 2005 - 8:06 pm 26. Rick Ballard:Katherine,
Using voting patterns as proxies for mental balance with special attention to areas that contain a large proportion of moderate centrists, it appears that Redlands lies in the heart of the most sane area within California. A decent control group should be fairly easy to assemble there.
Jul 8, 2005 - 8:29 pm 27. Kevin P:MRP:
Hitchens describes himself as a Jeffersonian Marxist. I call him a thinking man’s leftie. As a Christian and a more conservitive oriented person there are many issue’s that I have many sharp differences with Hitchens, especially on religion. But he is not a reactionary party hack and he can recognize pure evil when he see’s it and doesn’t let his political leanings cloud his sense of reality.
I saw a C-span tape of his book tour interview about his book on Jefferson. He was asked about his support of the war and why he wasn’t more in tune with the more traditional left wing current thinking. One of his points was that he saw the idea of America, even while recognizing the human flaws in it, as a good and positive idea and that on the whole it has been a good thing for the world. He described left wing thinkers like Chomsky who objectively think the American experiment in democracy has been a net negative and that he thinks that it would have been a better thing if it had not come to fruition.
He adores Orwell,does not feel the need to reflexivly defend the Communist horrors of the 20th century because he is a marxist. He is also a devastating debator. You have to see the tape of him and boy Reagan. He was shaking with rage because of the events of 7-7 in London but his did not need to raise his voice, he just used the facts to crush the simplistic liberal cliches that RRJ tossed out. The combination of razor sharp intellect and cold restrained rightous anger was uplifting after such a rough couple of days.
Kevin Peters
Jul 8, 2005 - 8:37 pm 28. Patrick Tyson:Illegal liquor activity in San Mateo County was notorious, reflecting the sentiment of many of its residents. Numerous shipments of illegal liquor were smuggled into the county along the long coastline.
I only stopped once at The Alpine Inn (during the annual October nightmare on the coast) but then I lived a short walk up the beach (deeper in the linked picture) at low tide and along the bluff otherwise from this establishment during most of the years I resided in San Mateo County. Great places both.
Jul 8, 2005 - 8:49 pm 29. Jamie Irons:Katherine
Where did you find that link!!!
Rick
I wish I had time to do such a study!
Jamie Irons
Jul 8, 2005 - 9:15 pm 30. Kyda Sylvester:I didn’t see Hitchens vs Reagan, but I heard it. Everything Hitchens was feeling was in his voice as he verbally slapped that supercilious sneer right off little Ronny’s otherwise vapid face. (Did you ever wonder what must have run through RR’s mind as he regarded his son? My guess is: WTF?!)
Jamie, you can find a perfectly good mentally balanced control group right here in my neck of the woods–Bush by 64% (I’ll even volunteer to be part of it, although I must warn you, I’m a little thrown by the suggestion that Earth is not the center of the universe). Nobody wants to go to Redlands.
Jul 8, 2005 - 9:33 pm 31. Katherine:Jamie,
Through the mysterious works of A9 search engine.
Jul 8, 2005 - 9:41 pm 32. Rick Ballard:Kyda,
Palm Springs – the control group can be studied in January and February.
Jul 8, 2005 - 9:59 pm 33. Kyda Sylvester:Rick, you can definitely put me on the list for that control group. You say we can get federal funding?
Jul 8, 2005 - 10:14 pm 34. mrp:Kevin,
I appreciate your Hitchens backgrounder, and with most of it, I concur. At times I’m a bit too dry with my posts. To be specific, I meant that I had never actually met the man to shake his hand, so to speak, but I’ve followed him fairly closely through his written work and some internet-fed media appearances.
He’s a man with a serious and dogged regard for the truth; he’s also willful and combative, particularly in the clinch. A quite reasonable man, but not intuitive. Courageous, too. The stand he took after having a memorable lunch with Sidney Blumenthal (during the Lewinsky Affair) is worthy of admiration.
I’m sure he was just as confrontational as he had to be to make his point on the MSNBC program. The transcript makes that pretty clear – and no, he was not a wimp. The Abu Nidal angle was nicely stated. Ronald Reagan knew who Nidal was and what Nidal represented. Junior didn’t have a clue. That must have been infuriating: Don’t those self-absorbed clods have any idea of the danger the Islamists pose to everything the Western lotus eaters worship (starting with their own hides)?
Hmmm… Jeremiah Hitchens. It’s a start
Jul 8, 2005 - 11:09 pm 35. Buddy Larsen:I like that notion–the Hitchens type being the true loyal opposition. The Kerry type, as loyal opposition, just doesn’t cut the mustard. I think is has something to do with credibility.
Jul 9, 2005 - 6:45 am 36. ex-democrat:i agree bud (although i’m not sure who else i would include as a ‘hitchens type’).
He makes an especially valuable contribution in his ability to challenge the comfortable prejudices of those on the soft-left. for example, his smack-down of the execrable ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ was a true work of art (”To describe this film as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental. To describe it as an exercise in facile crowd-pleasing would be too obvious. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of “dissenting” bravery.” http://slate.msn.com/id/2102723/)
Jul 9, 2005 - 7:39 am 37. Kyda Sylvester:Whatever the terrorists (and Ron Reagan types) hoped would happen doesn’t seem to be…link
Jul 9, 2005 - 7:59 am 38. Jamie Irons:Kyda, Buddy, ex-democrat (y’all seem to be the only ones up so far today)
G’day!
(Yesterday I purchased my third Australian Bush Hat — this one the gorgeous Akubra “Banjo Patterson” from Aussie Hats — and the reply email greeted me with a G’Day… so I’m going to pretend I’m Australian for a few minutes at least. I love those people!)
Any, Kyda, that link is encouraging!
Jamie Irons
Jul 9, 2005 - 8:32 am 39. ex-democrat:jamie — do you have to provide your own corks? ;o)
http://www.sillyjokes.co.uk/dress-up/acc/hats/inter/corkhat.html
Jul 9, 2005 - 9:03 am 40. Jamie Irons:ex-dem
That’s funny!
Didn’t the Monty Python guys, when doing their routine about the Aussie philosophers, all of whom (every man Bruce of whom) was named “Bruce,” have those corks on their hat brims!?
;o)
But, no, I have to supply my own corks!
Jamie Irons
Jul 9, 2005 - 10:13 am 41. ex-democrat:Philosophy profs, all named Bruce – except for the visiting prof from england whose name must be changed to bruce to avoid confusion. Bruce here teaches logical positivism. http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/bruces.htm
(certainl must have taken them a while to remember all those rules).
Jul 9, 2005 - 10:33 am