And the Democratic Response

This had better be good. Having a red-state Democrat, Tim Kaine, deliver is a good idea.

• "I worked as a missionary...." He's a Dem with Faith.
• "Poor choices and bad management."
• "Working Together."
• "There Is a Better Way." Look for these themes a lot.
• "Government...should live within its means."
• "Pass down the bill for its reckless spending."
• "In Virginia" this, "in Virginia" that.
• "Are the President's policies the best way to win this war?" Good one.
• He's losing me. There's a better way.
• "A rational immigration policy." "Consistent federal action."
• "our creator"?
• "We need a change."
• Replace cronyism.
• Become one people.
• "Together America Can Do Better."

Not bad. Sounds like they've got the themes in place. Let's hope everyone's on the same page.

Blogging the SOTU

Another night of coded phrases and disingenuous proposals. Grandstanding and preaching.

I thought that since I was going to sit here and listen to this--like I always do--I figured I might add my commentary.

• "There is no peace in retreat. There is no honor in retreat." A draw down is a draw down no matter if you propose it, buddy, or Murtha.
• Did he just call me unpatriotic for criticizing?
• Firm words for Hamas. Good thing.
• "Liberty is the right and hope of all humanity." Preferably by force.
• I like the talking directly to the citizens of Iran. We'd have had better luck there than Iraq
• Oh, yeah, the Patriot Act? Why, you don't need laws to do what you want, do you Mr. President? And then he goes into the NSA spying thing--fantastic. No one gave you the power, buddy. And I'm pretty sure Nixon got in some trouble for spying without a warrant.
• He's moving in the right direction with the Free Trade talk.
• Oh no. Tax cuts again. Permanent? Not a good idea. It's important that we continue to review the tax laws.
• Deficit in half by 2009? I think we've heard that one before.
• Line item veto--no. Earmark reform--yes.
• "Congress did not act last year to reform Social Security. "!!!
• Free trade and the American worker again. Good.
• But then he goes into immigration? Guest worker program? Good luck.
• Affordable healthcare gets applause from all.
• But he didn't talk about doctors "spreading their love."
• "Addicted to oil" doesn't get applause. The government is the most addicted.
• Last year hydrogen. This year ethanol.
• American Competitiveness Initiative. Sounds like a good thing.
• He almost mentioned Katrina.
• Not legislate from the bench. Just side our way when we ask them to.
• Cloning again?
• "The public trust." Yeah, we expect you not to betray the public trust. But that won't happen.
• He's back to talking about New Orleans and boy does Mary Landrieu look pissed.
• But no excuses and no apologies.
• End the waiting list for AIDS medicine. Good.
• Bold and empty statements at the end.

Funny stuff tonight.

Book Review: Slow Man

Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee

Coetzee is a really wonderful writer and every line reveals as much. He puts his protagonist in a situation that is bound to bring him trouble. Unfortunately, he does meet trouble as does the novel when Elizabeth Costello arrives. What was a bit depressing and contemplative turns at first intriguing then annoying. Costello has the ability to know things that she shouldn't, but very little is given to examining the cause of this, let alone the necessity. She fiddles around, pushing a course of action that neither the protagonist nor I want the whole thing to go. Again, it seems that a novelist has run into trouble and has thrown in some other complication to hopefully enliven the book. I'd have been happier if Coatzee had confined her to her own novel.

They're watching you

MercuryNews.com 01/20/2006 Google sparks privacy fight: "In its original subpoena, dated in August, the government asked the four companies for ``all URLs that are available to be located through a search query on your company's search engine as of July 31, 2005.'' Also requested were records of ``all queries'' entered between June 1 and July 31. The subpoena said authorities did not want any ``additional information . . . that would identify the person'' who typed in the query. ."

Add this on top of spying on phone calls, and why don't we give them free access to everything? In the name of freedom, of course.

Smoking Gun casts doubt on Frey's 'Pieces' - Yahoo! News

Smoking Gun casts doubt on Frey's 'Pieces' - Yahoo! News

A popular investigative website and author James Frey are in a dust-up over
the authenticity of Frey's best-selling memoir, A Million Little Pieces.

TheSmokingGun.com says in a lengthy article that a six-week examination of
police and court records, as well as interviews with law enforcement personnel,
show that Frey fabricated or embellished details of his law-breaking days.

Now, I'd like to bash the author of the last Oprah book as much as the next person, but are we really concerned about embellishments in Frey's memoir? I suppose I don't expect everything in every memoir to be fact. Just ask Pam Houston. Maybe, though, this tells Frey, and all the others cashing in on the memoir craze, that they'd be better suited to write fiction.

Reading Resolutions

Inspired by the 75 Book Challenge (which I will not accept--I think I only managed about 10 books in total in 2005), I've decided on the following resolutions for 2006:

I'm a slow reader. I like to take my time. The number isn't important. But always reading is. I resolve to read at least one book a month. I do have other things to do, you know.

I've always tried to read the New Yorker fiction (though I'm not nearly as dedicated as Max at The Millions). But the magazines begin to stack up at my chair in the living room, on the night stand, and (sorry) in the bathroom. I don't read nearly as many as I'd like, and I usually end up starting the ones I'm not liable to enjoy anyway. I don't think it's unreasonable for me to read at least one of these stories a month.

So, I set my goals low. With a child ready to turn nine-months-old, I'm not guessing that I'm getting too much free-time this year. Besides, there are some Writing Resolutions to come.

Rejected by the Publishers - New York Times

Rejected by the Publishers - New York Times: "Submitted to 20 publishers and agents, the typed manuscripts of the opening chapters of two books were assumed to be the work of aspiring novelists. Of 21 replies, all but one were rejections. Sent by The Sunday Times of London, the manuscripts were the opening chapters of novels that won Booker Prizes in the 1970's. One was 'Holiday,' by Stanley Middleton; the other was 'In a Free State,' by Sir V. S. Naipaul, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature. Mr. Middleton said he wasn't surprised. 'People don't seem to know what a good novel is nowadays,' he said. Mr. Naipaul said: 'To see something is well written and appetizingly written takes a lot of talent, and there is not a great deal of that around. With all the other forms of entertainment today, there are very few people around who would understand what a good paragraph is.' "

Makes you wonder what it is they're looking for.

Wonkette takes a beating

From what we see of Ana Marie Cox's wit on her blog Wonkette, we would expect that she would churn out a funny and compelling novel about D.C. But it seems that the reviewers don't think much of her new book, Dog Days.

A Blogger Creates a Blogger for a Trip Back to 2004 - NY Times

Ms. Cox is too adroit with this fake obsolescence to fall back on it for real. But "Dog Days" really does resort to what she herself calls "the Hallmark Channel ending." So it's bye-bye BlackBerry and hello Iowa for Melanie at the story's end. Any smart Web site would mock her final gesture: turning on her laptop and writing the opening lines of this book.

'Dog Days' squares with Washington - USA Today

The novel has a stripped-down story line and limited character development. The plot is predictable and matter-of-fact. But it does have a blunt, albeit tawdry, honesty.

I don't think I'll add this one to my reading list.

Holiday Books

What books were you given for the holidays?

Here are the ones my family was so kind as to give me:

The Best American Short Stories 2005 (Best American Short Stories) Ed. Michael Chabon
The O. Henry Prize Stories 2005
Pushcart Prize XXVIV : Best of the Small Presses, 2005 Edition
(these I ask for every year)

Runaway Alice Munro
Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel Jane Smiley
Slow Man J M Coetzee (this one I've almost finished already)
Shopgirl Steve Martin (I thought I was getting this one, but didn't--so I bought it for myself)

I think I did okay. More to read.