Plato was Right: #394581.000001

A new level of DOOM....

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — A New York-based beverage company finds itself in the middle of the controversy over an Arizona immigration law simply because it shares its name with the state.

An initiative apparently started on the Internet asks people to boycott the AriZona Beverage Co. because of claims the law will unfairly target Hispanics.

Herzog on "Where's Waldo"

You're welcome.

Bunny Munro

I had a long train ride yesterday, and so brought along a book that was given to me by a student some time ago, Nick Cave's The Death of Bunny Munro. I apparently mentioned in class that I was once a fan.

I was expecting it to be of the general quality of most of Cave's output since, say, 1999, so my expectations were pretty low. And Cave failed miserably to meet them. I guess I'm just not as impressed as I used to be with foul language, explicit descriptions of violent sex acts, and hackneyed Southern Gothic motifs.

I read half the Cave book, put it down, and began rereading Quine's Word and Object. Perhaps the fact that I had just been reading Cave has something to do with it, but this time around the Quine book struck me as a genuine literary achievement, enjoyable even.

Anyway, as I mentioned, I've read only half of the Cave book. I suppose I owe it to the guy to read the rest. Has anyone out there read the whole thing? Does it get any better?

Billy Joel Posse: still waiting

On the unusually long ride into campus this morning, I was horrified to find three radio stations simultaneously playing Billy Joel songs. Quickly, the horror turned to glee, as I inferred that Joel must have died. I got into my office and checked the facts. Sadly, Billy Joel is still alive.

What a crappy start to the weekend...

A Puzzle about Whole Foods

Would someone explain why my local Whole Foods had Dio's "Holy Diver" playing in store this afternoon? The Dio was followed by Depeche Mode.

I chalk the Depeche Mode up to the demographic Whole Foods is marketing to: wealthy has-been new waver sell-out soccer moms. But Dio? What could possibly explain that?

Why the Internet Exists

Here.


UPDATE: Here!!!!

Malcolm McLaren

Malcolm McLaren has a posse.

UPDATE: Don't miss the remembrances from key members of this new posse. The best one so far is from Tony Parsons:

Malcolm gave us our haircuts, our direction and even our clothes. He gave us our look and our swagger.

There was a destructive, mindless side to his nature.

The Sex Pistols could have been a great band had he not kicked out songwriter Glen Matlock and replaced him with the sub-moronic Vicious.

Sub-moronic!

Yet Another Reason Not to Take a Job at Yale...

As if there weren't already enough reasons, here's yet another reason not to take a job at Yale...

After more than a quarter century of debate, Yale faculty members are now barred from sexual relationships with undergraduates—not just their own students, but any Yale undergrads.

More madness here.

Philosophers on TV

The good chap who runs The Brooks Blog has the footage from Jonathan Dancy's appearance on the Carig Ferguson show. Not too shabby a segment, I'd say, though there are obvious difficulties with explaining particularism to people who don't know what the alternative is. Ferguson's compulsion to try to finish Dancy's sentences, even though he admittedly does not understand what Dancy's view is, is annoying, but necessary given the medium.

In any case, I wonder if there any any other philosophers who should make appearances on national TV. Frankfurt was funny on Stewart last year. Who else? Fodor gets my vote. Others?