Matthias Munches Muhlenbergia

The Unhappy Medium

Somewhere between punk, with its anger, energy, and utter artlessness, and heavy metal, with its virtuosity and insufferable bombast, lies the bliss point of hard rock. Nirvana nailed it.

Now with links!

Some of my favorites, over on the left below my beautiful portrait. This presentation by Mark Bernstein (or read the paper) discusses his simulations of the concentration of traffic on the web under different assumptions about linking. The take-away for me was that including links to a variety of web sites (a blogroll) creates a positive externality that helps preserve what Bernstein calls the "long tail" of diverse and potentially important but infrequently visited web sites. That kind of web "biodiversity" is worth preserving. Of course, the links can only do any good if someone gets to them in the first place... dear reader...

Stay in school

Yeah, the job market for new college grads sucks right now, and lots of evidence suggests they will suffer the ill effects for years, maybe decades to come. But it infuriates me to see people drawing the conclusion that college doesn't pay. David Leonhardt lays that notion to rest in yesterday's column. And money aside, it's not such a bad thing being an educated person.

What's in bloom in the garden

Two kinds of native buckwheat...


...and of course monkeyflowers.

Congratulations, New York

A victory for humans, but especially for the gay ones who'd like to be married. I'm waiting for California to catch up. Always so strange reading the objections of the opponents...

"If it passes, we feel it's going to ruin our state and our country," said Dawn Adams, a coordinator of the Norwich Tea Party Patriots.

Really, Dawn? REALLY?

Even with the protections, the state's Catholic bishops, led by Archbishop Timothy Dolan vehemently opposed passage of a gay marriage bill, calling it "bad for society." "Marriage has always been, is now, and always will be the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong, life-giving union," the bishops said in a statement. "Government does not have the authority to change this most basic of truths."

Really, Tim?
I guess it's unsettling, hearing that whooshing sound as history passes by you...

Peter Falk, RIP

I loved and still love "Columbo," one of the few cop shows of its era that still holds up, entirely because Peter Falk was so good. The NYT obit fails to mention, I believe, that he also had a wonderful turn playing himself in Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire."



Update/correction: The print edition does refer to "Wings of Desire."

Plenty of blame to go around

Krugman is right, of course, the Fed can and should (and legally must) do more. The Republicans are hopeless; Obama and the Dems (willfully?) helpless. High unemployment means lost output big time, as in: We are poorer than we need be. But it is especially bad for low-wage and minority workers, and for new grads, whose lifetime earnings will be substantially less than they otherwise would be. All for the sake of....?!