Three Way News

Your Source. For everything. Really.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Just like us, but with slightly bigger names

The Huffington Post launched today. It's a ... it's a ... I dunno. Collection of news and blogs by famous people, I suppose. John Cusack shares this scribble from the Hunter S. Thompson compound:

Beware!
the floor is slick
and greasy
And dangerous...
Get down on all fours to proceed
-- Doc

Which reminds me of an inspirational note a certain beautifully coiffed pal cribbed from Chuikov. I remember but two parts of the short paragraph -- use the rubble as cover and bring lots of grenades. Sound advice, that.

There's this thought from Mike Nichols:

I think that metaphor is in trouble. To take the bible literally, as fundamentalists do, is an attack on the greatest collection of metaphors we have. We need metaphor as we need stories. We need stories that mean more than just the events that transpire in them. Anyone who has read to children knows that the development of their entire personalities requires stories beyond the literal. They are the only way to understand and develop ideas. If we have, as de Tocqueville predicted, become pure market forces then we need to do CPR on metaphor pretty fast. Dr. King knew that an improved reality begins with a dream. In dreams begin responsibilities.

I like metaphor more than most of the next guys out there, but I'm don't quite know what Nichols' point is. I want to like the post, but I don't think it actually means anything. Maybe I'm wrong.

I'm quick to criticize celebrity support for animal causes. They often seem so trivial. But when the federal government allows wild horses to be turned into dog food, it is, at least, a gross distortion of resources.

Finally, Harry Shearer announces Eat the Press, which sounds good:

A little about the menu. The appetizers are what I like to call "Found Objects", pieces of audio and/or video that illustrate the news-making process at work. Media people have always delighted in presenting us with the incautiously recorded moments of politicians and celebrities; this section represents just a tasty bit of table-turning. These pieces are presented raw, and without unnecessary chopping, so enjoy.

For the entrees we have for you the freshest looks at the stories the media is covering, why and how they're covering them, and what they're not covering. We've taken off the menu both the "gee, we did the horserace story again too often during the campaign" dishes and the extra-salty "they're biased against the left/they're biased against the right" stews you may have been gorging on lately.

But there's literally no "there" there. No links. No found objects. No appetizers. No entrees. No wine list. I wouldn't complain. Well, alright, I would, but don't say "These pieces are presented raw" when you mean "These pieces will be presented raw".

Three Way News

Your Source. For everything. Really.

Contributors

Current Poll

Best comic strip?

Free polls from Pollhost.com

Recurring features

Hammer's Favorites

Jambo's Favories

Monday, May 09, 2005

Just like us, but with slightly bigger names

0 Comments:

Blogroll

Special Feeds

Fun with Google

Search Tools

Prior posts

Archives