“‘I like Kobe, O.K.?,’ Albert Arce said, referring to Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers star. ‘But I like to play him because I can make him pass to the other guys. When I see him on TV, it’s like he doesn’t know how to pass.‘” The NYT wonders if sports video games are eclipsing the real product. (As someone who enjoys both, I wouldn’t really think so.)
Bolton Blocked II.
Since the White House still won’t cough up the necessary info, the Dems (and Sen. Voinovich) manage to keep Bolton out of the UN once again, prompting Dubya to consider putting him there by recess appointment fiat. (As Fred Kaplan wryly noted, that should teach those evildoers abroad what we mean by democracy up in these parts.) And the big winners in this affair thus far? The State Department, who no longer have Bolton as a “roadblock” against diplomacy.
No more paradoxes.
“‘Things aren’t getting better; they’re getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality,’ said Hagel, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. ‘It’s like they’re just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we’re losing in Iraq.’” Two quality links via the consistently splendid Follow Me Here: First, Republican Senators McCain and Hagel call out Dubya on the war. Between this and “Freedom Fries” Jones, are the floodgates opening in GOP-land?
And, on an altogether different note, physicists cast doubt on the possibility of time travel paradoxes “When Greenberger and Svozil analysed what happens when…component waves flow into the past, they found that the paradoxes implied by Einstein’s equations never arise. Waves that travel back in time interfere destructively, thus preventing anything from happening differently from that which has already taken place.” (Well, looks like time-traveling historians won’t need to worry about any Primeresque recursions, then.)
Father to the Man.
A very happy Father’s Day to you and yours.
Footsteps of Doom.
Did you hear that? (Whatever it is, it’s big.) The teaser for PJ’s King Kong is lurching out of the jungle June 27, and will be broadcast simultaneously on all nine of NBC’s networks at 8:59pm EST. Come one, come all.
Little Sisters Make Good.
Yep, the sisters are doing it for themselves. Gillian‘s earlier-touted performance of Swan Lake will be broadcast on PBS tomorrow (Monday) at 9pm. And, congrats are due also to Tessa, who graduated from Oscar Smith High over the weekend, and was recently profiled (as valedictorian) in The Virginian-Pilot. Y’all go, girls!
Munich, Mission, Muties.
In recent casting news, Geoffrey Rush joins Spielberg’s Vengeance (with Eric Bana and Daniel Craig), Laurence Fishburne boards MI:3, and Alan Cumming announces he won’t be back as Nightcrawler for X3. Well, good to hear at least the blue fuzzy elf will miss the Ratneresque carnage Fox is about to perpetrate on the X-Franchise.
Biden Begins.
“If, in fact, I think that I have a clear shot at winning the nomination by this November or December, then I’m going to seek the nomination.” It’s (close to) official: Joe Biden’s admits he’s in the game for 2008. Not much of a surprise. Well, I’m neutral on Biden at the moment, although he definitely lost points with me for chastising Dean last week.
Axis of Evil Redux.
“‘Unknowingly, (Bush) pushed Iranians to vote so that they can prove their loyalty to the regime — even if they are in disagreement with it,’ said Hamed al-Abdullah, a political science professor at Kuwait University.” As per the usual with this tone-deaf administration, it appears recent remarks by Dubya may well have spurred support for the Iranian ultraconservatives and further weakened reformers in Iran. “The sharp barbs from President Bush were widely seen in Iran as damaging to pro-reform groups because the comments appeared to have boosted turnout among hard-liners in Friday’s election — with the result being that an ultraconservative now is in a two-way showdown for the presidency.“
Marblehead & McNulty.
Hi y’all…sorry about the recent lack of updates around here. I was in Boston for a few days, where I enjoyed some meetings, a Fenway game, and a scenic excursion to the North Shore. Whatsmore, most of my free time of late has instead been spent catching up on back seasons of my most recent new-favorite show, The Wire. At any rate, updates should resume their normal schedule this week.