Sloppy dresser

Cursory attention to detail seems to account for the sloppy dresser behind Ditto — or is the open drawer a neo-cubist touch? I thought I was done with Hi and Lois posts. But just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

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All Hi and Lois posts

Happy birthday, Noah Webster

Yale celebrates an alum: Noah Webster 250.

Joe the plumber

Joe the plumber. Joe the plumber. Joe the plumber.

Or is it Joe the Plumber?

As the son and grandson of tilemen, I note the patronizing way in which a tradesman was just made part of our political discourse. (He must be Joe Six-Pack's cousin.)

[Context: the final presidential debate, underway.]

[Update, October 16: The New York Times reports that Joe's first name is Samuel and that he's not a licensed plumber.]

George Orwell on totalitarian history

From the totalitarian point of view history is something to be created rather than learned. A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened.

George Orwell, in "The Prevention of Literature" (1946)

That Bridge to Nowhere? Thanks but no thanks. That ethics report? No abuse of power there at all.

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Couric and Palin and Orwell
George Orwell on historical truth

Scholastic poll results

In the Scholastic Presidential Election Poll, open to voters in grades 1–12, Barack Obama has defeated John McCain, 57 percent to 39 percent. I like these details, from an article by Scholastic Kids Press Corps member Jack Greenberg:

Obama and McCain weren't the only vote getters. Four percent of the students voted for other people like comedian Stephen Colbert, and entertainers Miley Cyrus, and the Jonas Brothers. It was the highest percent of write-in votes in the history of the poll. Some even voted for themselves.

Little Baby Turtle

And that's the end of the story.

My family spent some time going through The Archives this weekend. This illustrated story is one item (among many!) that charmed us all.

[Pencil and crayon, by Rachel Leddy. Used with permission.]

Indian American English

In India, interest in speaking English with an American accent is growing:

The phenomenon has spread from the Indian offshore operations boom in the late 1990s to a wider cross-section of society, whether to help them get on in business, communicate with family State-side or just show off.

In Mumbai, arguably India's most cosmopolitan city, a number of language schools have sprung up offering accent coaching. Mumbaikars are also trawling the Internet looking for tutors to teach them to talk like Uncle Sam.

"About 50 percent of our students want American accents," Raj Oberoi, who runs the Just Talk Institute in the south of the city, told AFP.

Most of his students come from India's middle class, whose numbers have swelled on the back of the country's economic boom, and range in age from seven to 65, he added.

"People want to learn an American accent because they want to study abroad, perhaps they're going on a business trip or they think they'll be able to impress people if they talk with an American accent," he said.

The phenomenon marks a shift in attitude towards English, which was brought to India by its former British rulers and remains an official language, spoken by 90 million people.

Indians look to America for a new accent on English (Agence France-Presse)

Dream with a typo in it

I dreamed last night of walking down a supermarket aisle and seeing shelves stocked with cans of "Columbain coffee." Where did that come from?

The supermarket aisle: I was shopping in my local supermarket last night. More relevant perhaps: I just taught Allen Ginsberg's poem "A Supermarket in California" and talked a bit in class about the rise of the supermarket in American culture.

The typo: I chanced last night upon a high-resolution photograph of Mitt Romney's hair. Romney is the former CEO of Bain & Company (a consulting firm whose "management tools" include Downsizing, yes, with a capital D). The typo might also carry some echo of Columbine. It's reasonable, I think, to fear that the hatred now evident at McCain–Palin rallies may find its release not only in violent words but in violent action.

Summer nostalgia

Gail Collins wants to get back to the summer:

I miss August. August was neat. The Dow was over 10,000 and nobody had ever heard of Sarah Palin.

Dear Old Golden Dog Days (New York Times)

From the Evergreen Review

Start reading, and you'll see the joke.


[Page 128, Evergreen Review 19 (July–August 1961).]

Related reading
Evergreen Review (now online)
Evergreen Review (Wikipedia article)