Ghost in the Machine: Archived 5/19/00-5/27/00

Conjuring up Political, Cinematic, Cultural, and Athletic Arcana since the Final Days of the Last Century

5/27/00 - Sensing confusion in the ranks and near-insurmountable negatives in the polls, the President offers to take over on offense for Gore.

Two more seasons of X-Files? Please, for the long-time fans' sake, have some dignity.

As you can see, Berkeley is now feeling very at home. Honestly, my couch gives the best nap in the greater DC area.

So long, Andy. We hardly knew ye.

I recently completed a draft of the Experience Magazine article I referred to around a month ago. The assignment was "What issues do Twenty-somethings care about?," and, after several hours of research, I've discovered the answer is, sadly, "They don't." At any rate, I did find plenty of interesting info on the subject, thanks to the good folks at Third Millennium (who invite you to Call your Grandma,) Project Vote-Smart, Rock the Vote, and NASS.

The Devils complete the comeback. Knickerbockers, take notes.

A big congrats goes out to Arthur C. Clarke, who was recently knighted.

5/26/00 - Jesse Helms (no, not yet) takes on the Orioles for a possible (gasp!) pro-Fidel hiring policy.

Martian Meteorite unearthed in Middle East. You know, a lot of cheesy horror flicks start off this way...

As it turns out, Fox Mulder may show up even less than expected next season.

My recently broken-and-rehealed nose hurts like hell 6-8 hours before it rains. Does anyone know if this Spider-sense has any grounding in science or is it just a byproduct of my feverish imaginings? Raza of High Industrial surmises: If memory serves me, it has something to do with micro-pockets of air resulting from the bone fracture, set into the matrix, reacting to barometric shifts. Sounds pretty legit to me.

I've finally gotten a chance to catch up with the rest of the blog world, so forgive me if the links below seem a tad mimetic.

From LinkMachineGo: Frank Miller speaks on the Dark Knight sequel.

Oh, go ahead. Buy Newt a present (Via Zannah.)

From Pith and Vinegar, it turns out coffee may combat Parkinson's Disease. That's why I'm up at 3:39EST- to safeguard my brain.

Bovine Inversus uncovers the thoughts of one Douglas Adams on this newfangled-Internet-thing.

Blogit rips into the new Salon design.

The 2000 Election is over, and Gore won. Whoop-de-doo.

Ugh. Indiana defends homecourt 88-84, thanks to, among other things, a bonehead three-point attempt by a gamey Chris Childs. Worse still, Patrick went down again, for the third year in a row. I still think the Knicks will win the next two in the Garden and eventually the series, but it's tough to win 4 out of 5 in the Finals, particularly without the Big Fella.

5/25/00 - Al Gore may be getting into some hot water for the following riff on Charlton Heston: "If I remember my Bible correctly, the last time that Moses listened to a bush [as in George W.], his people wandered in a desert for 40 years." I don't know...that's a pretty good line.

Just when the China trade bill seemed like a done deal, the Senate kicks into gear. Both Paul Wellstone and Russ Feingold on the Left and Jesse Helms and Fred Thompson on the Right plan to make a few "minor adjustments."

D' em up, fellas.

Dubya tries to put together a Powell-McCain dream cabinet.

James Fallows keeps his finger on the pulse of the political zeitgeist with the Election 2000 Time Capsule Project.

The New York Times examines Lucas's move to digital for Episode II.

CNN takes a gander at the Southeastern Legal Foundation, the motive force behind the recent Clinton disbarment recommendation.

In a week that's already seen condemnations of Musical Chairs and cartoons, the government acts to clear the name of Crayons.

"Nader's Bid Complicates Gore's Task," says the Washington Post. Yer darn tootin'. An excerpt: On the stump and in interviews, [Nader] portrays [Al Gore] as a sellout to corporate America, lacking backbone and ideals...In Maine, Nader said a vote for Gore is "the least worst choice." Describing Gore's role in environmental issues during his vice presidency, Nader said: "To use the word 'hypocrisy' is to engage in impermissible understatement." Bring the pain, Ralph.

ESPN criticizes MJ's handling of the Wizards. It should be noted that this column is written by the same idiot who could find nothing worth watching in the Knicks-Heat series.

5/24/00 - As with Boycaught, this blog's quality and tone will rise and fall with the vagaries of the Eastern Conference Finals.

So long, Pumpkins. Hello, new Billy Corgan vanity project.

I've finally gone ahead and signed up for a UReach number, and I'm at 1-877-381-6868 ext. 195. So, if you want, leave a message!

Apropos of Nothing uncovers this AICN parody site.

Despite his technical difficulties, Matt manages to blog this piece on the Harry Potter IV hype machine. Wasn't the projected title of said fourth book Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament?

Public Blog points out this Tim Burton-directed Timex commercial. It's got this sort of Matrix meets Bono and Wim Wenders thing going.

It looks like the China trade bill is probably a go. Good.

This may be old news to some, but it turns out the role of Elrond in the Rings trilogy will be filled by none other than Agent Smith himself, Hugo Weaving.

5/23/00 - The new Bighead Lincolns and Hamiltons will be released Wednesday. No Bighead Washingtons planned yet, however, as counterfeiters tend not to waste resources copying Ones.

Indiana draws first blood. No worries yet, though. - I figured New York would drop Game 1 after the draining Game 7 euphoria of Sunday. The fact that Indiana dropped their first-half 19 point lead by halftime is reassurance enough for me that, once the Knicks shake the Heat out of their system, they'll be ballin'.

What a scumbag.

Unsurprisingly, Indiana University covers Knight's ass once again.

The new Shaft trailer is up. I've heard a lot of bad press about this one so far, but I'm confident it'll make for a decent summer matinee.

The Lost Years: Where was Dubya from 1972-73? Whatever he was up to, it appears he wasn't pulling Guard duty.

Bang.

"I used to be a good kid, straight A's and all, but then I started playing Musical Chairs, and now I'm a loser. I can't believe what the game has made me. Mom and Dad, I'm so sorry." Just Say No. This message has been brought to you by the Partnership for a Musical Chair-Free America. These kids should be watching cartoons. Oh wait, maybe not.

The Human Genome Project nears completion. Now the real fun begins...

The Ultimate Murphy's Law site has been making the rounds (I saw it at Usr/Bin/Girl, Wetlog, and Fischler), so, being a Murphy, I pretty much had to blog it.

Firda's got a new redesign. I much prefer this new blue hue to the old yellow fellow. Also, Fiendish Thingy has moved.

Salon also has a whole new look, which at the moment i find kinda clunky.

The Lake Show get blown out in a big way, not an hour after I picked them in my revised playoff predictions.

Unfortunately, it's only accessible with an ESPN Insider Pass. Nevertheless, David Aldridge has a great piece on the differing reactions to the Knight and Sprewell choking incidents. "Sprewell was treated in the media like most of the young African-American males I see on local television -- a menace to the community, convicted before the trial was held, rarely given a chance to give his side of the story. Knight was always viewed in a larger subtext -- a coach who raises money for good causes, who graduates most of his players, who helps his ex-players get jobs. Some have asked for his head on a platter, but only his head. No one says college coaches are out-of-control as a group, and need tough love as a group."

Exactly. This type of V-neck vs. corn-rows double standard makes me sick (And, those who know me can attest, I've had Spree's back since well before he came to New York.) If anything, Bobby Knight's position in power and influence over young men makes his behavior that much more disturbing and reprehensible than Latrell Sprewell's flying off the cuff at the universally-maligned P.J. Carlesimo (When Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Jerry West don't step up to have a coaches' back in this type of incident, you know something's wrong.) At any rate, while Sprewell has been the model of virtue ever since his unfortunate blow-up, even more allegations continue to surface about the boorishness of Bobby Knight.

In a semi-related story (psychotic Hoosiers), a crazed Pacers fan sent Sixer Allen Iverson hate-mail that, among other things, threatened the Answer's children. Just think how loony this guy's gonna be when the Knicks end their season again. Speaking of Chapter Six in the Knicks-Heat saga, Reggie Miller, looking like Dumb Donald from Fat Albert, admits that yes, he does indeed hate the Knicks [and, no doubt, Spike Lee]. Let's hope Allan Houston's ankle is strong enough to contain Miller-time.

I apologize for the sheer amount of basketball coverage in these pages of late. Hey, it's the tail end of the NBA playoffs. After these are over, I'm bored until September.

5/22/00 - Trouble for Clinton in Arkansas. These Little Rock anti-Clinton yokels just have to give it up.

I can't believe the Riley, Mashburn, and Timmy have the nerve to bitch so vociferously about the Game 7 officiating. The fact of the matter is the Heat would never have won Game 3 had it not been for a bad call on the AC's over-the-backboard shot, and they never would have won the 1997 series had the league not decided to suspend five Knicks for P.J. Brown's act of aggression. What a truly classless move by Riley's crew. Having shot 50% from the line as a team, they have no call to complain about losing, particularly Mousy Mash (who went 3-15 from the field and passed up a wide-open series winner.) Frankly, 'Zo and P.J. deserve a better team than this. Good riddance.

Harry's Tolkien spies have unearthed this picture of cult movie favorite Christopher Lee as the twisted Saruman of Many Colors. In related news, I've finally picked up the Rings trilogy again, in order to refresh the memory for full movie spoiler enjoyment.

Rush Limbaugh auditions for MNF. Couldn't be any worse than Boomer, I guess.

Sad news all around this weekend. R.I.P. John Gielgud 1904-2000 and Malik Sealy 1970-2000.

5/21/00 - Yes!

5/20/00 - Man, talk about a nailbiter. Somehow, despite all odds, the Knicks erase a fifteen point deficit - the biggest in New York playoff history - to win Game Six 72-70 and force a Game Seven on Sunday. Go New York Go New York Go!

The only downside of the evening's tremendous Game Six victory is that it - coupled with an exhausted wife, a looming guest (my good friend, fellow Knick fan, and best man Jon arrives tomorrow), and a tireless puppy with abandonment issues - forced me to miss out on the Ratbastard's housewarming party. Sorry, Don. I hope it was grand, and that I have a chance to meet all y'all DC bloggers sometime in the near future.

As a follow-up to CBS's acclaimed Fail-Safe, George Clooney is now aiming to produce a live television version of the original Thing. An excellent choice, although I'm not sure how they're going to pull off the special effects. I guess it couldn't be any worse than some old-school Blake's 7.

Congrats to the Blair family.

Fellow roundball zealot Dumbmonkey takes time away from the playoffs to explore amazing new pictures of Io.

5/19/00 - I can't believe the TNT pre-game show is making me sit through this Anthony Carter warm-n-fuzzy retrospective. Grrrr...

Stuff and Rot offers up the (Kubler-Rot?) Five Stages of Blogging. Sounds about right.

The Gore Republic puts a hit out on Ralph Nader. Once a great magazine, TNR is definitely in need of some new progressive blood. How could the staff let Marty Peretz turn a bastion of the Left into such a blatantly monochromatic pro-Gore pravda? It's pathetic.

Giuliani opts not to run, which clears the field for Republican Rep. Rick Lazio. I'd say it was also a shrewd bet on Rudy's part, as not only does he now have the time to aggressively combat his illness, he can also come out a winner no matter who actually gains the New York Senate Seat.

Game 6 of the "best legitimate old-time rivalry in professional basketball, and perhaps in all of American professional sport" is tonight at 9pm ET, and my mood will be RADICALLY affected for the next month or so should the Knicks lose. I just hope the airplane engine snafu that totalled Van Gundy's Civic hasn't rattled the team.

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