A Culture of Bluster

"Men, meanwhile, will pose as experts even when they don't know what they're talking about."

My kids refer to this as being "the dad in Calvin & Hobbes."

I like Mrs. Marcus, Libby Purve and Bronwen Maddox at the Times, but Malkin and that harpy Coulter very likely get more eyeballs than those reasonable woman. Shrillness and meanness sell.

SCC PurveS and women. An MoModo at the Grey Old Lady, of course.

psst, JA, typo-"Asking Bush is he remembers" I think should be "Asking Bush if..."

This is a really interesting topic, and I wish I had the brain available to discuss it at the moment. What's coming to mind right now is the nature-nurture can of worms, but -- like everything -- I'm sure it's both. No question that socialization factors in, but then there's also that testosterone competitiveness thing. In any case, it sure would be nice for the culture to develop an appreciation for reasoned discourse. Yes, consumers of media have a role to play there. So do educators.

Here's hoping that some of that reasoned discourse can make its way into my dissertation, which has turned into a big pain in the neck. Literally. I know what happens when I sit stressed in front of the computer for days on end and skip dance or yoga class. But I do it anyway. Oh well, I've got my trusty heating pad and less than two weeks to get my defense draft done, so I'll get back to it. I'll check in again someday.

Dick Sargent

Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Danny Bonaduce, and, um, a couple others.

Dick Sargent.

There, that wasn't that tough. Didn't even need IMDB.

:-)

Susan Dey (Laurie) Dave Madden (Ruben the manager), that's all I got, except I think the youngest girl's first name was Suzanne and I know the youngest boy was played by two different kids.

Mudge, The way you pronounce Capri is the English pronunciation. What you heard in that commercial is the Italian pronunciation.

This kit seems to be occulted, accessible only through the Achenblog Archives door.

I'm somewhat like Calvin's dad, but merely the son of a dentist. Why do dentists seem to serve as comic book dads? Are doctors too intimidating and potato chip truck drivers not pretentious enough?

Although many of the permanently outraged congenitally ungenerous are certainly men, I can thing of one or two women who match that description as well.

As far as ambition, I think Marcus isn't quite right. I think most of the women I have known are extremely ambitious. I think many of then just choose venues in which to operate other than industry or politics.

For example, my wife is a profoundly intelligent woman with a Master's Degree in Mathematical Statistics. Yet she hasn't worked outside the home in 18 years. And this is entirely her choice. Long ago, recognizing that her earning potential exceeds my own, I offered to be a stay at home Dad. She refused. And a large part of that is ambition. She wanted to be the best mother to her children that she could be. And in her mind this meant devoting herself totally to that cause. If that isn't ambition, I don't know what is.

Watch it, Dave. My FIL was a potato chip truck driver. *faking umbrage*

Another weird observation. Periodically my wife and I need to sit down with officials from my daughter's school to discuss her educational plan. These officials are invariably women. My wife complains to me that they treat me differently than they treat her. She believes that they are much more polite to me than they are to her. I claim that this is because of my nearly overwhelming sexual ambiance.

Then my wife starts laughing.

Comic strip dentists: John Patterson from 'For Better Or For Worse' and Walt Duncan from 'Zits'.

It's almost as popular a parent job as architect is in sitcoms:
Mike Brady from 'The Brady Bunch'
Elyse Keaton in 'Family Ties'
Ted Mosby in 'How I Met Your Mother' (his kids are in the future).

So Italians call it COP-ree. Never knew that. Thanks, omni. (See, as TBG often remarks, the Boodle Knows All.)

...but he really was and drove a route from Charlotte, through the mountain counties and back.

On television it seems like another common occupation is to work in advertising. I guess they can't think of a higher calling.

Female pundits are the subjects of many more personal attacks based on their attractiveness (or lack thereof), marital status or dating habits than male pundits.

It's astounding how many bloggers, male and female, attribute Maureen Dowd's sharp attitude to her need for more frequent sexual activity or to her unresolved latent attraction to the subjects of her columns whether it be Bill Clinton, Barack Obama or Poppy Bush.

Nobody ever seems to attach psychosexual motivation to George Will, David Broder, or Robert Novak. Andrew Sullivan is a special case. (Just some lunchtime food for thought.)

And the visceral reaction to right-wing celebipundits like Michelle Malkin and Anne Coulter is alarmingly disturbing. It must have some level of chilling effect on women considering wading into those waters.

Big oil seems to collectively think that the world's supply has yet to become scarce. Albertans beware...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2008/05/with-big-oil-pu.html

Yes, it may have a chilling effect, Mo MoDo, but what about the fact that Coulter and Malkin are total whack jobs? Especially Coulter, who is brazen in her attempts to say outrageous stuff just for the shock value (and the money she gets for it)? Malkin isn't nearly as calculatingly provocative; she's just nuts. But neither one in my view can be held up as any kind of role model on the one hand, nor as any kind of cautionary example on the other.

Yes, but the nuanced, moderate discussion does not get a lot of hits on YouTube.

Strong emotions, drama, yelling obscenities, waving arms, confrontation, namecalling, and hyperbole - those get eyeballs. And people are attracted to and willing to endorse self-confident individuals, even if the ideas espoused by them are completely and utterly incorrect.

As the mass communcations mediums of choice (by the public at large, anyway) become more and more competitive with each other for eyeballs (LiT, Mudge?) and move away from the genteel forms of the written word to flaming text and video, the ways we tell our stories - the vehicles, the symbols, the metaphors, the even the language (visual and written) - are changing.

But the best stories - those of triumph and failure, of love and hate, of sacrifce and selfishness, of good and evil, hope and despair, of acceptance and rejection, laughter and sadness, of nobility and baseness, of happiness and tears, light and dark, time and place, right and wrong, truth and lies, joy and longing, of life and death, those of the amazing spectrum of human experience - those will remain the same, as they have for all of recorded human history no matter *what* the technologies employed, and we will have them for as long as we are human.

We love a good story around a campfire.

bc

Dag, Joel.

I use the word "gruntled" all the time.

Really.

BTW, the first part of the headline for Allen piece, "Exclusive: McClellan whacks Bush," is a dandy.

bc

bc

Referring to the previous boodle, of course, Barry O'Bama is Irish!

As a person who is currently stuck working for big oil (kinda), this really doesn't surprise me, jack. We are dealing with people who only really care about the bottom line. They talk big about caring for people, and for the environment, but when it comes down to the truth their only concern is making a higher profit margin than the previous month. They are lazy and obstinate, and only work with what will help them fiscally and immediatly.

McClellan story--very brief, just a few grafs--ran at the bottom of page A9 here today--in a 10-page front section. About as buried as buried can be.

Acording to the NYT today, one of their NYT staff, unnamed, also was able to procure an advanced copy, along with Mike Allen at Politico.com, as both Joel and the NYT mentioned. Were any WaPo political reporters prowling local bookstores?

Of course, you now have the McClellan denials starting to be aired on MSNBC--opinions from Fran Townsend and Dan Bartlett. I think David Gregory is getting the first crack at interviewing McClellan tonight (I heard a snippet of Andrea Mitchell's voice in the kitchen, with the TV in an adjoining room, that I thought sounded like a promo) and Matt Lauer tomorrow--with more interviews with McClellan to follow, I am sure.

As far as newsworthiness locally, it took our local paper about two weeks to run a story (front page) about the Hagee brouhaha.

Thinks it's those cuts in our local newsroom which accounts for minimal or slow coverage (after national media has covered the given story at length in pages of column inches) or more to do with the local culture of not kicking the boots of a prominent fellow Texan?

The NYT reports that McClellan also takes swipes at himself as well as the national media:

Mr. McClellan does not exempt himself from failings -- "I fell far short of living up to the kind of public servant I wanted to be" -- and calls the news media "complicit enablers" in the White House's "carefully orchestrated campaign to shape and manipulate sources of public approval" in the march to the Iraq war in 2002 and 2003.

Some of the most insightful female voices out there are ones that approach issues from an unusual perspective. For example, I really like reading Robin Givhan, although my interest in fashion is pretty nonexistent. (I mean once you have sufficient Big Dog shirts who needs to buy anything more?) Her articles invariably raise provocative and important questions in an unconventional way.

Likewise, Judith Martin has always managed to sneak some brilliant societal insights into her work.

Over at Slate there is this feature called "The XX Factor" which is basically a bunch of women having a never-ending discussion about events of the day. (Kind of like what Rachel and Caitlin did.) It is worth a daily visit.

And, of course, there are the many brilliant female-type people here in the 'boodle. They never fail to impress.

All of which has shown me that there is no such thing as the monolithic Voice of Women. But there are the voices of some pretty amazing women out there, if you are willing to look beyond what the pundustry serves up.

Kerric and Jack--that is what is scary--big oil companies and the auto industry and other huge corporations will wait for a catastrophe...a meltdown of the economy, for instance, before they take real action, if they still can. It appears we the people have no control. And at this point we are all too interested in our individual needs to care enough to start a real revolt.

As far as Kennedy and Camelot, I was talking and inquiring about the myth, not the music. Methinks that the Kennedy Camelot myth has far less to do with Alan Jay Lerner and a whole more to do with Theodore White.

No strain whatsoever.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2008/05/28/5690801-sun.html

WTF? There is something wrong with some people.

Fighter jets just flew over en route to the Air Force Academy *gadiation*--Bush is there. Well, the jets sounded good, anyway.

People are being hit hard by rising prices everywhere...

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/wheel_of_fortune

I can't say for sure because I am not in her shoes but I can not believe that if I were now press secretary that I could make the comments Perino made about McClellan. I would like to think I would resign first. Press Secretaries are just puppets and Perino does her job well.

An awful lot of people are saying the words, "not the Scott we know" about McClellan. I guess that's the buzz word for today.

RD, I suppose you could make a case for women wanting to talk *with* others *about* something important (a Bohm-type dialogue if you will), while men tend to want to talk *at* anyone about *anything*. When they feel like talking, that is (and some guys feel as though they need to be compensated for it).

The phone is a medium for two-way dialogue, but few people are paid to do so...

The one-way mediums of writing, audio and video broadcasts (wires, waves, or whatever), and seem to be favoring men at the moment.

Talk shows and ESPN Sportcenter - who's watching what? And why?

Welcome to "Short Attention Span Theater," aka "the Inflammation Age" (With an attendant entertainment media-driven Inflammation Economy), folks.

bc

So, Scott McClellan feels bad about his role in provoking the Iraq War that didn't have to be. Man, I feel for him. I know he feels a need to expiate his sins, to do something that can begin to make up for the terrible wrong in which he has participated.

I have an idea! What about donating 100% of his royalties to support injured vets? Or, maybe, donate all of it to a fund to help raise the children of deceased vets? Or, maybe, donate it to support hospitals in Iraq? While he's at it, perhaps donate his book advance, as well. I do not accept ritual suicide as a way to preserve honor, but maybe a little financial self-destruction is in order. He had a part in creating this debacle, by mouthing the falsehoods in exchange for the paycheck. It's not time to cash in, it's time to pay up.

Catching up...

Nellie, you made me laugh out loud.

My experience is that once you get smacked down a couple of times, you are extremely cautious about expressing your opinion, regardless of how good/right it may be.

However, there is much to be said for soft power. Surviving the worst a (male) establishment can throw at you, to come back another day, brings respect that cannot be earned any other way. Nor can that be taken away.

It also helps to be able to write the scathing memo that puts stupid ideas where they belong. But it only works if you have the power that comes with survival.

The White House isn't used to McCellan giving even a semblance of the truth. .

I am a petty, sexist man. The knowledge of this defect makes me feel bad. I aspire to be better. To that end, I will admit: every time I hear of, or hear, the latest outrageous nonsense coming from Dana Perino's mouth, I first think "But she's so pretty! How can she be so evil?"

The first step in healing is to admit the problem. I hope that I can find the road to wellness from here.

And here I thought that we were going to be treated to a steel-cage-literary-grudge-match between Mudge and Loomis. I'm soooo dissapointed.

I mean, if they're going to decide what to say in response, shouldn't they at least figure out they should use their own words to say it?

We're going to be hearing that boilerplate response on The Daily Show I'm sure... over and over.

I'm just outraged McClellan would have the nerve to write this book. Like George Tenet... does he think this makes him look good now?

According Editor and Publisher someone at WaPo aquired a copy of SC's book yesterday.
A commenter on the MSNBC blog asked an important question.
Is Dana Perino a Cylon?

Nah, Cylons show emotions. They're programmed to.

"Is Dana Perino a Cylon?"

Ooooohhh. That explains everything!

On TV, I think the pundits down a LOT of coffee.

I can't imagine that Scott McClellan didn't know what's coming from the right wing echo chamber. I mean, he was part of it for so long! But I will bet he's feeling the heat of the big guns 'bout now. Generally,I am not a fan of these tell-alls myself. They are unseemly, whichever side of the political spectrum these folks are on. I have to say, however, that I'm not unhappy that a lot of this info is out there now from an insider source. Perhaps this will penetrate some pretty thick skulls and that can only be a good thing. I cannot tell you how many times folks down my way STILL SAY "we have to fight them there, so we don't have to fight them here!"

In the immortal words of the boodle's own Scottynuke, AI-CHI-FREAKIN'-hua-hua!

Oh and Scotty, I just hit the submit button on a ticket to Boston for my son. My brother from NY scored some box tickets at Fenway for the June 22 game between the Cards and the Red Sox. It will be 3 of my brothers and my son festooned in Cards gear in a box that apparently gets a lot Big Papi (?) home run balls. Of course, they hope there won't be any Big Papi home runs that day, but if so, he'll be ready! It's his first plane trip without a parent. He's fine with it but I'm a little nervous.

Perino is in fact a Freon, from the planet Freoneptus.

Kim... that your brothers consider your son to be one of them now is so cool!

They will all have so much fun. I mean... remember this about the Red Sox.. you've got to fight them there so you don't have to fight them here!

(Sorry Scotty, Sneaks, Maggie, etc.)

Aw TBG, you know darn well we'd all enjoy the fight down here at Nationals Park.

Except for maybe mo. *quick-so-she-dun-smack-me HUGSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS fer mo*

:-)

I'm with Tim. McClellan can only redeem himself if he donates the proceeds and his advance to some worthy cause for the soldiers and their families. He's as culpable in this as Dubya.

Made me laugh, TBG!

Of course, as I pondered my son roaming the streets of Boston with my brothers, it dawned on me that I need to have a word with them about destroying my cred with my son. That makes me really nervous. I wasn't a real wild child as a teen, but I'm not a practitioner of the "tell them the absolute truth" school of parenting. I believe in shading the truth to a certain degree. My brothers could really wreck that for me. They are all parents of little ones now, so I may have to raise the tit-for-tat notion with them.

Kim;

He'll be fine, and they'll all be too busy running from the Sox fans for your brothers to tell any tales out of school... KIDDING!!! :-)

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/opinion/story.html?id=fea74fe7-0cbb-455f-8ff7-eda43933acec

New leader of Paraguay. I had missed this; a friend informed me. Interesting.

Tell your brothers no tit for tat, either!

{Sorry... couldn't help that either}.

Scotty - comforting, mighty comforting.

Here's a link about the whole McClellan kerfuffle. I don't find anything about the Bush administration or the war funny, but this headline and these pics made me laugh...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Kim.. those Huffington Post pictures and captions look like The Onion, don't they?

One more veil falls. Now, does McClellan actually state that it was Bush's deep belief in spreading Democracy that led him to lie about the war, or is that post-book spin the pundits are putting on it? Is McClellan inadvertently (or vertently) giving the emporor some new invisible clothes?

Makes me think of this:
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/itsalright.html

I think it's funny that there are always Boodle lulls around 9 am and 5 pm. Just enough time for the commute, I guess.

We do speak up, just not at the top of our lungs. We don't see the need. In a room filled with people vying to be heard, the calm, controlled voice rules.

When I was young, on more than one occassion, I was mistaken to be someone's arm candy as opposed to the working stiff I was. You wouldn't believe the secrets men let drop once they've assumed you're just a bubblehead. God love 'em, the big dummies.

(Ever notice at corporate gigs the men seem to drink brown drinks, while women drink something clear with a lime in it? It's because we're drinking club soda, waiting for men to get drunk and spill more valuable info.)

I also found that really successful men never seemed to notice that I'm not a man, even if I were to wear a blouse cut down to here and a skirt slit up to there. The language could get a bit rough, but I could overlook most of it while drinking in the information.

Finally, it seems to me that those who want to be told what they want to hear go to men, while those who want to be told the truth seek out a woman. (It goes all the way back to childhood...how many times did your father say 'go ask your mother'? Now what about the other way around?)

Hi everyone! It is so great to see all of you are still here and still so funny and interesting.

Joel, I've really missed reading your blog. I thought I knew so much when I took this job... Now I think I know half of what I should know and can go back to reading non-ed-tech stuff, at least part of the summer. Did I say I've really missed you?

So, what is new around here? I see many new names.

a bea c! There you are! We've missed you. I hope your school year is going well (is it over yet?).

Hang out here a bit this summer! Hey... also... before you leave again... we're having a Boodle-wide BPH in DC in October. I believe Oct 4. You're close enough... we'll be expecting you!

Upon closer inspection, I see A COUPLE new names. And I see a few not here. I hope everyone's been ok?

About women speaking up...

My job requires that I keep a blog. I have really enjoyed it, except on weeks when I can't come up with any ideas. It has been STRONGLY suggested that I create a podcast in which I share new tools with our teachers. But, whenever I record my voice, I can hear my accent. And I can hear how squeaky I sound. There may be a large gap between sounding shrill (written or spoken) and sounding squeaky. Still, both are annoying to listen to. That is why I don't "speak up".

I should note that I worked in a male-dominated field. The little dears.

Hi a bea c. Glad to see you back.

As Nats' fans, we could only hope that they'd be doing well enough to get into fights over...

TBG, you're absolutely right about the Weeknight Eastern Boodle Break (WEB Break).

And LIT, you're right about some men talking to the outfit and some to the person. I think you'd appreciate what I've heard while wearing the Gladiator outfit.

Shocking.

bc

slyness -- did you see where I was trumped at 1:31 by Maggie O'Day?

Hey, a bea c! Ltns! I hope your school year has gone well. We're just finishing up and will celebrate the commencement at 6 p.m. this Friday. The kids are ready. Real ready.

Hi TBG.

I glanced at the previous post's discussion regarding the millenials and their lack of interest in the news. Here is something to think about. Research shows (http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/247/report_display.asp) that girls blog much more than boys. Some people argue this has always been the same (diaries, letters, etc) However, blogs give girls audiences wider than they ever had before.

By the time these teen girls are ready to enter the work force, even if there are no newspapers to hire them, maybe there will be something else. And maybe then the writing will be split more evenly between men and women.

Nellie, I chuckled at Maggie's post. Yours made me laugh out loud.

Hi a bea c! Good to hear from you.

Ruth Marcus was on 'Meet The Press' Sunday along with Maureen Dowd and others. She held her own with the big boys and got in some great lines. That panel was three women and three men with one of the women being an African-American (that's known in diversity circles as a twofer). While Russert runs a pretty even-handed show, it would be interesting to stopwatch the relative time each pundit got. The transcript is here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24815500/

And I have the entire show embedded on my blog, even though I only highlight the words of The Redheaded One.

http://dowdreport.blogspot.com/2008/05/meet-press-its-poppycock.html

A lot of the Sunday morning talk shows typically only have a single token female on their panel discussions ala Eleanor Clift on 'McLaughlin Group'. Chris Matthews, for all the flak he takes as a sexist pig, always has two women and two men. That the two women usually skew to the attractive side could count for or against him depending on your pre-conception. Of course, some people think frequent guest Andrew Sullivan is pretty hunky. Howard Fineman, not so much.

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy

Ha-Ha, no I'm not.

I'm a Terran (oops, see you all in Guantanamo).

Arizonan, yeah that's it, Arizonan.

Or a Hoosier.

Or a Keystoner (I like the sound of that. Pass the GTP bong...ooops again))))!!?>.. klf m

I appreciate that sentiment, Joel, "Women, speak up!" And it's not just idle talk --you have in fact been very encouraging to distaff voices here on the A-blog.

I have always had opinions and usually feel they are worthwhile but have not had a lot of encouragement to "speak up" in my life. The positive side is that I know from experience you learn much more by listening than by speaking.

After I started my blog, which was meant primarily as a communication link to my daughter when she was away at college, I did find that I enjoyed expressing myself and I was encouraged to continue. But I have less and less interest in it, and knowing that there are people who enjoy reading it isn't enough to get me to make the effort. At heart, I'm a reader, not a writer.

But, I probably have given my opinion more and expounded more theories and told more anecdotes here in the Boodle than anywhere else in my life--except with my immediate family. So, again, Joel, you have to take credit for facilitating this forum and giving us, men, women, boys and girls, the opportunity to Speak Up. Thanks.

* * * *

Now, here's something I learned from my college-attending daughter today: "syllepsis" -- a cool word that means a two-part phrase in which the same word is used to mean two different things, sequentially. Like this: "Fix the problem, not the blame."

If I had majored in English, instead of French, I bet I would have learned that in college!

Hi KBert!

I didn't understand your example, so I found a couple more here.

http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/S/syllepsis.htm

I like the Alanis Morrisette example.

Hi, a bea c! Nice to see you! I think it is hard to hear your own voice. But don't worry about, own it! I bet it's not so bad, the accent is probably charming. I'm lucky in a way that I sound like my sister, so I kind of know.

I hadn't heard of syllepses, either - or zeugma!

Kber, the truth is that writing is hard work, because to do it properly, one has to think clearly and well. I appreciate your posts and blogs and am glad to count you as an imaginary friend. But it's okay if you want to give the blog up, especially if it's not the primary communication tool with your dottir.

We've had a delightfully cool and rainy day in this corner of the Carolinas, the first in, oh, months and months. A little over an inch fell here; it is most welcome but not yet enough. Here's to rain!

G'night, all.

Hey, a bea c, it's good to have you back. You were missed.

Zeugma isn't a dirty word, but from the sound of it, it sure ought to be. Syllepses isn't much better, though it has a more clinical ring to it.

Bertooch, you majored in French? I don't think I knew that. (You made the right choice, though. Anyway, English majors don't study grammar; they study ways to apply Derrida's deconstructionism to Raymond Carver, and their writing is impenetrable.)

My favorite syllepsis: "Fix the fence, not the dog."

It's too late for me, but just sayin'.

Mudge, where do you go to learn /le grammar d'anglais?/.

You know, Wilbrod, I don't know the answer to that. Maybe if one was an education major intending to teach English; in that case, you'd have to learn all the various terminology and rules and what-not. Most of the copy editors I know took the two-semester journalism class in copy editing, but outside of the simpler basics, it tends to concentrate on style rules and the "usual suspects" of basic journalism grammar. But you'd never come across syllepses or zeugma or synesis and stuff like that in J-school. Where you *would* start to pick up some of it would be on-the-job, when on a daily basis you have to turn to books like Garner's or Fowler's Modern English Usage, and so on. Maybe there is a special "track" that English majors can take that goes down the grammar path, I dunno. But most English majors I've ever run across spend all their time reading and writing about "literature," not language per se.

Syllepses and such terminology would be within the classical disciple of rhethoric.

http://rhetoric.byu.edu/

Alas, I've never heard of rhethoric being taught anymore... except by College Parkian. Too bad.

English majors still are required to write a lot. I do agree that they aren't taught specific writing disciplines, other than business writing and creative writing.

There are tracks in linguistics that cover grammar, I think. I took a few semesters of linguistics, so long ago that it's just a blur - enough to know that it wasn't for me, although I enjoy reading about language, grammar, etc.

As an English major, I read and wrote. But golly, most people read and write! After a couple of years of reading this blog, I feel my "education" was pretty feeble. So feeble, that I found myself last year at a family reunion telling my nephew's fiancé that she should change her major from English, and "learn something." (Well, yes, we did have wine with dinner.)

But it does seem ridiculous to have a degree in English, and have only an ear for the language, and a vague recollection of rules learned back at about grade six.

From my k-12 English teaching friends I've learned most don't get a lot of training in grammar. I think only linguists really concentrate on it, and they are all about description not prescription (which is so totally wrong, but I'm too tired to go into my "less and fewer" rant brought on by yet another stupid headline in our local paper).

Just checking in before calling it a night and to make an observation about McClellan's book. I think even when hubris and perfidy are all about, it is easy to suspend disbelief and do a job, particularly if it's one to which you've long aspired. Afterwards, with blinders off, the pieces fall together.

Toodles boodle and fondue.

Lots of educated people can't write.
They need editors and coaches.
English majors?

As a concerned citizen of the world, have you been asking yourself how you can use a high-quality bicycle to reduce carbon emissions, while minimizing the environmental impact from manufacturing your mechanical horse? Perhaps you will find your answer here:

http://www.calfeedesign.com/bamboo.htm

I wanted one myself, until I was discouraged by the $2700 price tag on the mountain bike frame. That's just the frame. The whole bike is probably $3700. And he still doesn't have bamboo wheel rims. Nevertheless, this is undeniably cool. There is also a project to build and distribute bamboo utility bikes in Ghana, and my Googling found a guy who had built his own bamboo frame just for fun.

Frosti, when I get my brain back, I'll write you out a nice argument about prescriptivism and descriptivism and the roles of each. Oh, wait, I feel some thoughts being thought, maybe I can throw something out now.

If the goal of linguistics is to figure out the human cognitive capacity for language (which is a really cool goal to have, frankly), then you've got to be descriptive, because the language you're describing is what's being created by that cognitive capacity. You can't get to cognition through "the way it should be said," if it's not actually being said that way.

If the goal is to describe undescribed languages (also a cool goal, especially if you end up creating materials that help revitalize an endangered language), then you've got to be descriptive by definition. But you're going to come across lots of variation (since language use always varies between individuals, between groups, and over time), so when you're picking among that variation to create those materials, you'd better pay attention to the prescriptive ideas of the community that you're working with, because after all, who are you as an outside linguist to tell them how they should or shouldn't talk?

If the goal of linguistics is to be purveyors of grammatical awareness (also a cool goal that the field really should pay more attention to for its own good, because that's what'll make it marketable and make universities think they need to hire linguists), then you've got to pay attention to prescriptivism. Because we are judged socially by the way that we talk and write, and there are certain conventions that make you seem educated and smart and make you more employable. It's good if future English teachers understand these conventions (and the structures behind them) and pass them on to their students, because that gives their students social mobility. But at the same time, it doesn't hurt to be reminded by the descriptivists that these conventions are ultimately arbitrary -- after all, why not "ain't"? accident of social history. nothing linguistic about it -- so let's not go around assuming that anyone who speaks "non-standard" English is automatically stupid, lazy, etc. Because their grammatical rules are just as complex, regular, logical, as anyone else's grammatical rules; they're just not the rules that are socially valued. If you can teach those "non-standard" speakers to be bidialectal, great, because that'll give them more options.

[There's the whole spoken language vs. written language thing, too. We run into all kinds of problems when we equate the two. But that's a discussion for another day.]

Take any ardent descriptivist, and they'll be following prescriptive rules when they write up their journal articles. If they don't recognize the importance of prescriptivism, they're just unaware and need to study more sociolinguistics. But one of the great discoveries of 20th century linguistics is the regularity of "non-standard" dialects, and the finding goes so strongly against conventional wisdom that linguists tend to overdo on the demonizing of prescriptivism.

OK, past time for bed. I was feeling all stressed, though, and writing that kinda cheered me up, oddly enough. So, thanks, Boodle!

More about Craig Calfee's efforts to make bamboo bicycle manufacturing a reality in Africa: http://www.calfeedesign.com/BambooOverview.htm

This is extremely cool!

I generally don't speak up. I've got a weak voice, and I hate it. I do okay on a one-to-one, but in a group, I flop. I once tried lowering my voice so I would sound authoritative. Problem was, when I lowered my voice nobody could hear me. I sometimes use facial expression and body language to make myself heard. No.... not waving my fist.

bia, thanks for that. I did some work with sociolinguistics way back when - quite interesting.

carp im up

since230

i can read and do

can write but dont

not unless i have to

Then I do good

Gooder than most

Tee-hee

What does one do when one needs caffeine, but wants sleep...

You've been up since 2:30am, Omni?

Oh, my. That's not good!

I want to write a post about my strange hearing ability and 'sixth sense', but am to tired!

Someone ask me about this a week from now?

Hi rainy.

Since I can't sleep, and have nothing else to do (but watch a movie I've seen dozens of times)...here it is:

As bad as my hearing is, I often 'hear' things no one else does, or at least sense them.

The other day, riding the bus home I thought I 'heard' the sound of something falling onto the floor of the bus. At the time I was just finishing a paragraph of a totally engrossing story ( by Arthur C. Clarke). I stood up and pulled the bus stop strap (what is that called?), and noticed on the floor of the bus what looked like a small plastic package wrapper. Looking closer I realize it's a clear plastic hair clip. From three feet away I 'hear' this... I ask the woman standing three feet away, pointing down, 'Is that yours?'

It is. I 'heard it' from three feet, and she didn't...

There is more, so you can still ask a week from now..

It's weird, I feel like I can fall asleep sitting up, but when I lay down, I'm wide awake.

Maybe watching that movie the dozenth+1 time will put me to sleep. If I have a lump on the side of my head later today, you'll all know why...

a bea c!!! *long-lost Grover waves* :-)

And you're teasin' us, mentioning yer blog without giving us a link! *L*

*faxin' omni some warm milk and coffee in separate cups so he can choose between sleep mode and wake mode* :-)

Somehow, having to describe a language in order to use it properly seems like WAY too much work. My English classes were aimed at utilization (particularly the journalism ones), although there were certainly offerings on the descriptive side. I had enough trouble with what I took, though the fact I was working full-time nights might have contributed to the trouble. :-)

One of the nice things about holidays is that they generally lead to short work weeks. I'd still prefer it be Friday already, of course.

*preparing-for-the-train-trip-that-I'm-actually-liking-apart-from-the-odd-30-minute-delays Grover waves* :-)

Thanks Scotty

Warm herbal tea. Why do I always think of these things too late.

In another 45 mins I shower and head off to the grind...I hate server changes..Been mind numbingly busy for a week and a half...stoopid colleagues and their idiotic programming habits

I need to make a lateral move

Hey you all, it's time to rise and shine! Hey Scotty, hope Cassandra gives us a morning blessing, when she can.

bia - first stop was Cabourg, the Grand Hotel by the sea for four days. Highlights, the Bayeux Tapestry, (Battle of Hastings) Cathedrale Notre Dame, port city of Caen, two 11th century abbeys, the Peace Memorial with an overview of the D-Day operation. Next day was educational and emotional at Omaha Beach, Arromanches, Longues-sur-Mer. Then on to the theater for Operation Overlord, a visit to US Military Cemetery at St-Lauent-sur-Mer and the rocky cliffs at Pointe du Hoc.

Next day was culinary lectures, cheeses and all things dairy, tour & tasting of one of the Calvados distilleries. Then free to investigate another port , Honfleur, lovely.

Thus ends the Normandy part of our tour with 26 other Americans. Let me just say that we had no, I mean no, bad meals in France, whether arranged by the tour or on our own, lovely meals prepared by lovely chefs, served by happy, lovely people in lovely surroundings. Fish every single day in one form or another, wine, good bread and all manner of dessets.

On to Mont-St-Michel/Rennes tomorrow.....

omni, sometimes a hot toddy helps at bedtime, equal parts honey, lemon juice and whisky/brandy, also very good cough medicine.

"What does one do when one needs caffeine, but wants sleep..."

That's an easy one - get a little exersize. It's my solution to almost everything.

'Morning, Boodle. Vintage Lady, I am soooooooooooooo jealous of your trip, you have no idea.

Not much to report on the WaPo home page front. McClellan the top story. Today is Right Wing Op-Ed Day, with columns by Novak (unread) and G. Will (read, dismissed).

Scotty, you're up earlier than usual; Cassandra, c'mon, let's go.

Mudge, I've the TV on for the McClellan/Today Show interview this morning. Normally my day begins sans TV. Will post my impressions, if anything new comes of it.

Good morning!

Thanks for the Grover waves, SN.

My blog url will be changing soon since my boss is migrating us and upgrading us to Word Press. I thought I'd wait to link you guys then. Here's what I write...

http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/weblog/bcantor

It isn't very inspired or inspiring some days, but it is my job. I do try to use proper grammar. My English teacher from 9th grade agreed I did learn something in her class after I emailed her one of my posts.

omni, I'm sorry you're having trouble sleeping. I heartily agree with DandyLion. Exercise will eventually work, guaranteed. If you try it and it doesn't work, it just means you didn't do enough of it. The kind of job most of us have, that involves sitting most of the day, is not the least bit natural. No wonder our bodies don't realize when it's time for sleep. (Looking at a computer screen all day and into the evening confuses our brains in that department, too.)

Also, it's my opinion that anybody who has any trouble at all falling asleep should avoid caffeine 100% of the time. Heck, it's my opinion that everybody should avoid caffeine, but you know I'm radical. It's my personal experience that caffeine is extremely disruptive to the sleep process, and to a sensitive person it's bound to be more effective than average.

A final thought: if you have access to a swimming pool, the very best exercise to make you fall asleep is swimming--as slow as you want, but steady, and for 20-30 minutes at least.

Morning, everybody! Hey Cassandra!

bia, thanks for your exposition on linguistics last night. It's been a looong time since I was an English major, but I loved it. My advisor was a linguistics scholar and a great lady. I did independent studies under her in Old English and Latin, both excellent ways to get into grammar. (Did you know that the principal parts of the verb to sh!t are sh!t, sh!te, sh!tten?) I loved transformational grammar, but I suppose that trend is long gone.

My kids never got the grounding in grammar that I did, which was a great disservice to them, IMHO. There's nothing like diagramming to show the way language comes together. And it was fun.

Wow bia, that was way cool. Thanks for the short and sweet linguistics lesson. I love that stuff.

I'm down at the lake waiting for my walking buddy. It's a gorgeous day and I can't wait to get started. Uh oh. Here she is.

Toodles boodle!

Yep, bia, that was a keeper.

As should be obvious from these posts, I am not a trained professional writer-type person and never have been. Heck, I actually refer to "paragraphs."

All I know about linguistics and rhetoric and grammar and such is that it is typically poor form to string a lot of nouns together with conjunctions. And starting too many sentences with conjunctions is frowned upon. But I have been known to do so anyway.

I want to second what Frostbitten said about McClellan and his blinders.

Getting out of a bad job can be just as complicated and messy as getting out of a bad relationship. The temptation to succumb to self-delusion and wishful thinking can be overwhelming. Only later is one free to look back and realize just how terrible things really were. And then want to write a nasty book.

I'm in a foul mood, and it is not lack of sleep (did get an hour between 5:30 and 6:30).

*faxin' omni a chocolate chip cookie*

:-)

Nifty review from Arts & Letters Daily that touches upon the issues Joel raised in an earlier kit. And written, I might add, by a lady.

http://www.tnr.com/story_print.html?id=0afcee53-5860-48b8-9065-bd7ac4945254

Omni, don't be in a foul mood, this here is *no* chicken$#%) outfit. (teehee)

Alright, alright, I'm goin'. Got lots of work to do today.

Kber, I used to have trouble falling asleep when I was a teen, and I would spend that time reading. Wasn't a problem really. I'd just nap in first period.

My problem now is I wake early.

I've already cut back a quarter of my caffeine intake in the past year, which is a further reduction from before when I would drink caf all day. Also, I currently do not drink any caf past 3PM.

Been lurking but enjoying this all. Hello to bia and a bea c. About the millennials,who I teach, I will say this:

The very hands on-parenting of this generation has delayed their development. One real challenge is for them to see the pyramid layers of life. Few of them expect to start at the bottom of a career track and move up or through layers. So many of them -- this stance is somewhat charming and quite irritating -- really believe because of the glow of mommy/daddy gaze that they will do thusly:

*skip many layers and end up as whiz kid with corner office before 27;
*work for themselves in a cool way, with hip, deconstructed clothing and rad-breaking tech-tools;
*create the next google phenom;
*work largely in video, powerpoint, or other digital media -- seem to skip the idea that well crafted sentences and paragraph should be a chief tool;
*have a very satisfying career with no ethical qualms and lots of money and esteem from colleagues.

I think that many would have benefited from some benign neglect. Hard to learn about 22 that you are beloved by parents but not necessarily the larger world. The world might be neutral toward you and interested that you prove yourself with deeds.

No time for proofing...off....enjoy this Thursday, y'll for tomorrow is Friday and at least in DC, our weather is soft and inviting!

Well.. here's our morning lull. Time for everyone to get into the office, fill the coffee cup, check email inbox and the desktop inbox.

Then on to Boodling.

Hey a bea c,

Good to see old friends of the Boodle stop by. We have even had a few sightings of Dreamer recently.

omni,
I feel for you. My wife suffers from intermittent insomnia. She has learned just to not fight it. She will wake up in the middle of the night and read for several hours before falling back asleep. On the weekends she will sometimes sleep for twelve hours or more at a time to catch up.

I'm one of those dreaded morning people. Even though I no longer have a dog to walk, I still wake up between five and six ready for the day no matter how late I go to bed.

Tuesday night I was up until 1:30 am paying bills online and blogging (Maureen Dowd columns go live about midnight if you know how to hack the url).

Last night my son called at eleven saying that he was taking my niece and a friend of his to the Double Tee Diner. My wife fell asleep handing over meet and greet parental duties to me. They stumbled in at 12:30. He would have been in trouble if he hadn't been entertaining a house guest.

And I never drink coffee in the morning unless I need an over-priced highly-caffeinated milkshake to go with my cranberry muffin.

Caffeine is one of the few illicit pleasures I am legally allowed. I will give up my coffee when it is taken from my cold, dead, though probably still shaking just a little bit, fingers.

What prevents me from sleeping is alcohol. More than two drinks in the evening and I know I will spend the wee hours staring at the red glowing digits of my bedside clock.

What a great Boodle! Hi to a bea c, dreamer and aloha, as well as newcomer jim. Thanks to bia for the linguistics miissive. Big Oil and language, insomnia and caffeine. I always want to spell it "caffiene", like "fiend". Truly, though, I know caffeine is our "friend". I gave it up for about two years when I had the Boy but eventually found I needed the option. I prefer tea to coffee.

I agree with the musings on the various ways in which women are comfortable speaking up. I have never had a problem making myself heard. As I get older, I find it more useful to do a lot of listening first before I talk. Also, if I use a quieter voice people listen more closely. Thanks to my vocal training I can still cut through a room of noise if I need to do so but I find that ability is more effective when used less.

I agree with lostinthought that men will inadvertently drop all kinds of information to someone by whom they don't feel threatened (rightly or not). I also find that, if you have a reputation for not repeating what you hear, you get to hear a lot more interesting stuff. In some situations, I may not speak out publicly about what I know but I can use the information as I need.

frostbitten writes:
Just checking in before calling it a night and to make an observation about McClellan's book. I think even when hubris and perfidy are all about, it is easy to suspend disbelief and do a job, particularly if it's one to which you've long aspired.

LL: I'm really curious, in a general sense, how much Scott McClellan aspired to the first post he held in the White House, that of deputy press secretary. He certainly didn't have much political experience outside Texas, having worked on three campaigns for his mother, Carole Keeton-McClellan-Rylander-Strayhorn and for a Texas state senator. McClellan's mother was the Democratic governor of Austin, the Republican state comptroller, and an independent running against Gov. Rick Perry in the last election. (Given that Kinky Friedman was also in the race, the vote was split so many ways that Rick Perry retained the governorship.) His grandpappy Page Keeton was a law dean at UT; his father also an attorney who supported LBJ. Karen Hughes picked young Scott McClellan for his job as deputy press secretary. Perhaps Scott McClellan did aspire to his job, but I think he cerainly eased into his high-profile position thanks to significant political connections.

So, Vintage Lady, you'll be visiting Rennes today? Will you be buying any postcards of paintings by Poussin? Viewing the Knights Templar Chateau Hautpol or Berenger Sauniere's Tower Of Alchemy? Keep us informed. Will you be traveling the steep road of switchbacks to get there?

You know the disciple Paul wanted women to shut up, rather than speak up, if you think about the lead in this Kit. Of course, Pope Innocent III tried to shut up the Cathars, too--men and women alike, thanks to a program of mass genocide that killed about a million people, something I thought I'd mention since you will be deep in Cathar country today.

Was Paul the one stuck by lightning - just asking?

The text on the home page, under the headline about a 'disillusioned' Scott McClellan (I certainly will accept that he is disillusioned) says "Former Bush spokesman says book intended to illustrate how a candidate who vowed to change culture of Washington failed to do so once elected."

Well, excuse me, but I don't think that Bush failed to change the culture of Washington. Rather, it seems pretty clear that he entered Washington and, with his cronies, identified, exploited, and amplified the worst features of naked partisanship and made the culture of Washington much, much worse.

Loomis, as VintageLady has explained, she has recently returned from a trip through France. She now has time to share the experience with us. I particularly look forward to hearing about Mont-St.-Michel, which has always seemed to me impossibly romantic.

Good point, Tim. Bush *did* indeed change the culture; just not the way he said he would (and which is what McClellan is now allegedly disillusioned about).

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Morning, morning, friends. I am so late, but have been up for so long. Just did not feel good this morning, and kind of, took it easy. I feel a little better.

a bea c, it was good to hear from you. and you, too, bia.

I don't know what to say about McClellan's book really. For me, it seems there is still a lot of fear attached to this adminstration. I mean it is as if people are afraid to speak their minds or everybody is in agreement that the past years have indeed been good years. You think? I feel like I've been holding my breath all this time. The young people dying daily, the gas, the food, people losing their homes, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and everything.

As for women writers and women speaking out, I agree with Ruth Marcus. Yet I believe that women are not encouraged to speak out. I teach the Wednesday night Bible study at my church, and for the whole hour, men constantly talk out of turn, and last night we had a visiting pastor from another church with us, and he was talking while another person was talking. I am always getting on the guys about talking out of turn. And when I come down hard on them, they look at me like I'm crazy. Before I begin, I say a little prayer because I want help with the Scriptures, but I know my biggest hurdle will be, the men.

I read somewhere, can't remember where now, that women who talked, lived longer. Think so?

The math and reading program is over at the church, so my schedule is a little less. I will still go to the Center this afternoon. The kids are taking test this week, so everything basically is over.

Slyness, the weather is cool here, and we had some much needed rain. I dressed for warm weather yesterday, white pants and no sleeve top. I had to find a sweater fast. Still cool.

Have a good day, folks. I hope all of you feel good in your bodies, mind, and especially your spirits.

Ivansmom, thanks for the nice comment about the idea. You know me, we need everything. Give the Boy and Ivansdad, my best.

Kbert, I always find your thoughts here very good, and right on the money.

Loomis, I saw on the television that parts of Texas are in the 90's, temperature wise. That is some kind of hot. Hope you're staying cool.

Mudge, Scotty, Martooni, good morning to you, and all.*waving*

Scott McClellan was on the job nearly three years and only resigned after the flak from the administration's handling of Katrina and Plamegate made the kitchen too hot for any more cooking.

Either he is a very slow at learning how badly he was being deceived or he was selling his soul on the installment plan and balked at the balloon payment.

Kerric: Oil companies may soon be dealing with dissident shareholders as in this example:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/28/AR2008052803162.html?hpid=sec-business

Shareholders shouldn't feel so powerless.

Loomis - wrong Rennes.

(You're thinking of Rennes-les-Chateaux, in the deep(ly strange) South of France. VL's Rennes is in the wild West; Britanny.

As far as book publishing: like father, Oliver Barr McClellan; like son, Scott McClellan?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barr_McClellan

Perhaps Vintage Lady was talking about, regarding her recent visit to Mont St. Michel, the marriage of my very distant great-grandpappy Richard II (he chose the building contractor for the famous Norman coast Gothic cathedral, who also happened to be the architect) to Judith de Rennes?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cronological_tree_normandy.svg

Mont-St-Michel could be romantic, I guess, but the one time I've seen it the dark castle/church emerging from the fog on a blustery winter day was rather menacing...

Froomkin in this very newspaper has often illustrated how McClellan was a non-communicator. He was showing up at the podium tasked to hide information and this is what he did willingly for 3 years. It's getting a bit late to disavow Arbusto's secretive, misinformative and bluntly lying ways. He has been part and parcel of it for too long.
I really enjoyed one thing though, the White House response. "This is not the Scott we knew", like he went mental or something. They didn't take long to take him down as a raving lunatic or even worse, a closet liberal.

New kit. My guess is that we get to trash McClellan on-topic.

This is quite sick and disgusting. Barack Obama said that he's eaten
little 'puppies'.

That's right! Obama has eaten someone's little puppy dog and said he meat tasted "tough". See "Dreams from my Father" page 37.

Obama also said on page 93 how he was getting so drunk all the time that his grades were slipping and that he smoked pot and snorted cocaine. page 93. This guy is a liberals DREAM. A real puppy eating slimebag animal.

In the book, Obama calls Americans ignorant and arrogant. He thinks that whites are bigots and racist, but reading the book, you can easily come to the conclusion that this guy is really messed up and Obama is the one that is a big bigot and racist.

Obama will punish the white race of elected. That's a fact!

"You really have to wonder if anyone is paying attention to the perverted sense of so-called political correctness. A U. S. Marine has been removed from Iraq and returned to the United States to be disciplined for using the Quran as target practice. The United States is apologizing to the Muslim world for this, and everyone is making a big deal out of it.

There are radical Muslim terrorists who have beheaded, tortured, burned and dragged bodies of innocent people through the streets. These same terrorists are responsible for the bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and are responsible for countless deaths of innocent people around the world, and we are disciplining a Marine for using the Quran for target practice? There is something wrong with this picture.

Muslim extremists have disrespected the Quran by their continued jihad against the so-called infidels of the world. They have done far more damage to the Quran than any bullet could ever do.

Have we forgotten we are at war? These young men and women are away from home fighting in a war that makes no sense and watching their comrades be killed and maimed by people who have no respect for human life. Let's support our troops and not punish them for indiscretions resulting from severe stress."

Harry Schultz

Oh, NOW the guy has a conscience and is coming after 5 long years. After he mocked Richard Clark for a similar tell all book in 2004 telling his how awful the man was for betraying the trust and why he didn't come out and say things then.

This is a joke. Eat it up liberals. You have nothing better to do, unless your saving the whales and polar bears. lol Was this back stabbing traitor lying then or lying now? He has no credibility at all.

He wasn't even in the loop. He's just trying to make a fast buck and you can see him doing it on all the left wing liberal media outlets like MSNBC. Remember, GE is giving military parts to Iran who are killing our American soldiers. anything for money right liberals? And you complain about Exxon CEO's. You hypocrites.

This back stabber is for you. Look what the African Americans and the elitist liberal media snobs has done to the Clintons. You're sad, sick, immoral, Godless people with no self worth and no SOUL. Disgusting.

I see there's a new back stabbing, rat Judas. He should fit in with the liberal Democrats really well.

It's a been there done that story that will disappear by next weekend. The book can sit right next to your Michael Moore's Farenheit 9-11 DVD beer coaster.

http://blog.myspace.com/navy_jim

Ten Year Navy vet 1982-1992

Forgive me for not backboodling first, but dag: Now "Star Trek" theme composer Alexander Courage warped out of orbit...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/30/AR2008053001387.html

I note he also worked on a lot of Boodlicious TV and movie projects as well.

He, too, will be missed.

bc