Case and Akaka Debate

Here's a transcript.

September 3 update: The debate (7:30-8:30 P.M., Hawaii Time) was opposite the MTV Music Video Awards. I didn't watch the Awards, which I thought was dull. Others thought so, too. (Another problem with the VMAs in recent years has been its airing in late August rather than after Labor Day, which rushes things somewhat.)

I thought (and others concurred) the debate was dull, too, mainly because of all the restrictions the host (Hawaii's AARP chapter) placed beforehand on the proceedings.

What constitutes a debate (a.k.a. leaders debate)? According to this:

The exact format for a leaders debate varies, but normally the debate will begin with each leader making a short opening statement. Then a panel of well-known journalists will ask sets of prepared questions, which are to be answered either by all of the leaders or by one specific leader. After the leader(s) answer each question, the other leader(s) may get a chance to make a brief response, after which there may be some time allocated for an often heated "free for all" debate. The moderator will usually attempt to exercise some control through all of this, and then stop the debate after time has elapsed so the next question can be asked. [Emphasis mine] After the panelists finish asking questions, each leader will make his or her closing remarks and the debate will end.

Case and Akaka addressing one another. It never happened. Case was more than willing, Akaka was not.

The debate: behind the scenes.

The Bloggable Feast, Part One

Earlier today, I found another food blog, Ideas in Food, which I added to the link-list. One of the featured items was kim chee cracklin's. Just now, trying to locate that IiF post, I find it mentioned at Slashfood.com, which also mentions the Thai version of marzipan, luk chup. Luk chup (which means "dipped fruits") is used especially to fashion realistic-looking fruits and vegetables, also a traditional use of marzipan. Instead of almond paste, the main ingredients of luk chup are mung bean (paste, presumably), sugar, and coconut milk.

Where I live, at least four Thai restaurants operate. I don't know if any feature luk chup. If not, they should.

New Finds, New Connections

I subscribe to Small Press Review, a magazine that is rail-thin but fat with news of the world of the small press. The July-August issue arrived yesterday. Reading it this afternoon, particularly its Small Magazine Review section (formerly a separate magazine), I decide to look up the websites for the magazines mentioned in "Burgeoning Protests," especially Backwards City Review, Nonviolent Activist, and Peace Magazine. Through Yahoo! I find the blog for Backwards City. The August 26 entry excerpts Kunstler's The Long Emergency. For that alone, the blog merits more reading. Then I return to the Yahoo! search results page. The sixth result is a Blogcritics.org review of BCR. The review is a few months old and I'll read it later. What catches my attention is the byline of one Ed Rust, who runs a site called Magsampler.com.

Now my interest is piqued! Not only does Magsampler offer scores, if not hundreds, of titles famous and obscure for only $2.59 apiece, many of the magazines are reviewed. Magazine reviewing is direly underpracticed (I've tried to review some titles for MaggieMedia--now on hiatus--but other things took up my time.) I've never before heard of y'all: The Magazine of Southern People or American Book Review, but thanks to today's perusal of Magsampler, now I have.

But I have to see about Nonviolent Activist. It turns out its sponsoring organization, the War Resisters League, has
just replaced NA with a resurrected WIN. I next check out Peace Magazine and Alternative Press Review.

SPR has reviews of some poetry blogs, especially Michael P. Garofalo's and Dan Weber's, on concrete poetry. As defined in artlex.com, concrete poetry relies mainly on layout and typography, which are two of my favorite things.

Also reviewed is Home Planet News issue 54.

All in all, some great examples of how one thing leads to another.

Self University Week: 1-7 September

http://www.autodidactic.com/resources/selfweek.htm

Degrassi: TNG Premiere September 29

According to this press release: "On Friday, September 29, The N will premiere the hour-long season openers of both Degrassi: The Next Generation and South of Nowhere at 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. (ET), respectively. Degrassi returns with the most provocative and intense school year ever, as last year's graduates take the plunge into college, while former classmates Sean and Ashley re-enroll. " The main focus of the blurb, however, is the August 29 release of a soundtrack of music from and inspired by programs (including Degrassi) on The N.

Retired Links

These are links that the reader may still find useful, but that Poppa Zao, trying to keep the link list concise, no longer considers must-reads. Many websites do make comebacks, so links could always come out of retirement.

August 23 update: I moved "Retired Links" to the end of the Links list.

August 31 update: I retired the Chesterton quotation: "Journalism largely consists in saying 'Lord Jones Dead' to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.--- G. K. Chesterton, ''The Purple Wig in The Wisdom of Father Brown'' (1914) (via Wikiquote)

You Don't Know What You're Missing!

Normally my policy is to discourage young talent (they only get in the
way), but I make an exception for Emily Gordon, who has the elegant taste of
someone from a more refined era, when the cocktails and conversation rapturously
flowed, and a piano tinkled in the background. So the Algonquin was the perfect
setting for drinks and gab, the waiters emerging like Henry James ghosts from
the dark polished wood in the lobby. At one point she alerted me to a site
called The Comics Curmudgeon, devoted to the explication, appreciation, and cheerful desecration of daily comic strips that continue to drift in their own strange perpetual purgatory, like Gasoline Alley and Mary Worth. Now that I've found it, I can't believe I haven't tumbled over Comics Curmudgeon before, given my own low-grade obsession with For Better or Worse and fascinatingly unfunny and badly scrawled strips like Girls and Sports and One Big Happy.

--James Wolcott

(emphasis mine)

Websites That Changed the World

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1843263,00.html

Are They Seeing the Same Thing?

Channing Tatum, the up-and-coming star of Step Up, has his looks described very differently by two critics. Armond White, reviewing She's the Man, says:

as the estrus-provoking Duke, Channing Tatum’s casting proves radical. His
resemblance to feral Stephane Rideau, the ambivalent, sexually alluring star of
Andre Techine’s seminal Wild Reeds, helps connect She’s the Man to the finest
film ever made about adolescent maturity.

while Phillip Stephens of Pajiba says:

Step Up begins with Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum), a violently unappealing
mongoloid who might be the bastard progeniture of Josh Hartnett and a Marine
drill instructor.

What is left? Right? Does it matter?

http://amconmag.com/2006/2006_08_28/cover.html

May It Stay Fiction

As we approach the first anniversary (August 16) of the release of Lunar Park, the recent news about the terrorist plot foiled in London reminds me of the pervasive terrorist violence described in the book. In a review of Lunar Park Popmatters notes:

Ellis's alternate reality stretches out much farther than just himself. In
Lunar Park, he imagines a world where terrorists stage not only big attacks on
familiar or important landmarks, but also in "...crowded Burger Kings and Starbucks and Wal-Marts and in subways at rush hour".
Ellis's apocalyptic vision continues: "Miles of major cities had been cordoned off behind barbed wire, and morning newspapers ran aerial photographs of bombed-out buildings on the front page, showing piles of tangled bodies in the shadow of the
crane lifting slabs of scorched concrete. More and more often there were 'no
survivors'. Bulletproof vests were on sale everywhere, because scores of snipers had suddenly appeared; the military police stationed on every corner offered no solace, and surveillance camera proved useless."

Fortunately, nothing like the aforementioned has happened (in America, at least) since 9/11, but airport security has been ramped up more than it's been in a while.

Has the Crunchy-Con Phenom Gone Soggy?

http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2006/07/no_snap_no_crac.php

New Degrassi Episodes in October

With the fifth season finished, viewers can hardly wait for new episodes. The sixth season will start in October. And it promises to be:

the most provocative and intense school year ever. For the first time the Degrassi series follows its graduates, Paige, Alex, Ellie and Marco as they embark on post-adolescence and adjust to
college life, full-time jobs and new responsibilities. Returning students confront lingering issues left behind as new predicaments take center stage for others. The new school year will welcome uninvited issues including a vicious school rivalry with life-altering effects, troubles with the law leading to a
student facing jail time, a social networking site becomes dangerous and for one particular classmate - a hot new romance blooms with an older man. Degrassi: The Next Generation will also introduce a new member to the student body, adding to the series' signature trials and tribulations of teen angst and relationship drama.

Flash Fiction Update

Flash fiction is a world unto its own.

Still Here

I'm taking an interest in flash fiction. More later.

New Degrassi Coming April 7

Here's an in-depth press release.

Steff and Jay

Fans of Degrassi: The Next Generation and Pretty in Pink might notice what I have:
that Mike Lobel ("Jay Hogart") and James Spader ("Steff", the preppy wastrel who tried to seduce Andie) look uncannily alike. Also, that their characters were both unsavory, despite their very different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Help Rebuild the New Orleans Public Library

Here

More library-related news: Heretical Librarian takes a breather

The Rain Falls Mainly...Everywhere!

In Hawaii, our rainfall has been so copious as to merit a mention in the Drudge Report, whose breathless headline "106 inches of rain in Hawaii--in 3 weeks" links to this:

Waiakea Uka and Glenwood topped the totals for the Big Island, getting 43.6
inches and 42.9 inches, respectively -- up to four times higher than normal.
Mountain View saw 37.8 inches, compared with 4 inches last year.

All the storms were created by low pressure systems northwest of the islands, which produce unstable air and tap into tropical moisture, Nash said. A high pressure
system to the east of the state has blocked the storms, stopping them from
moving quickly across land.

Welcome to Poppa Zao, my eponymous blog on culture, art, and other matters. I welcome comments at poppa-zao@hotmail.com.