Ron Hogan

“clarity without coldness, structure without severity,” floors without ceilings, etc.

I’m pretty sure they could tell him that they broke ground on the building in late January and finished it just in time for this ceremony and he would believe them.

I’ve got that lined up for when I finish The Mechanic and the Luddite ( @jathansadowski.com ), but in the meantime I’m enjoying Merchant’s newsletter a lot!

I thought this building was being renamed after America’s greatest dealmaker, but it doesn’t say William Henry Seward on the facade.

Seward got this nation land. Trump hasn’t got us so much as a handful of dirt.

I think there’s a lot to be said for Phantom of the Paradise, but I certainly acknowledge there’s a lively debate to be had about whether it’s “studied for its quality over its kitsch.”

This just might get me to a Barnes & Noble later this week, since I’m sure they report.

Given the timeframe, he may be trying to do a Christine Keeler!

Sail away sail away sail away!

Is Daniel Craig the first Bond to make his way to Sesame Street (albeit well after the fact)?

*It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Moore, Dalton, or Brosnan had done it; Moore did do the Muppet Show if I recall correctly.

Ditch the zero because YOU are the hero!

Next week: the fancy gin!

Holiday specials on YouTube, Day 3:

This isn’t a proper holiday special, rather a (barely SFW) look back at some blooper tapes the tech crew at the BBC made “for internal use only” back in the late 1970s. If you like Lene Lovich parodies, and Daleks saying “bollocks,” you’ll get a kick out of this.

Slightly* diminish a band:

Crosby, Stills, & Nash

*more than slightly, in this case, some might say

I don't want to see venerable institutions destroyed, but if their survival depends on moral abdication in the face of discrimination against their own members, then were they really much use to begin with? Someone has to take the hit someday.

And for Henry Cuellar, who doesn’t even vote the party line with any kind of reliability, of all people!

It doesn’t even benefit the Dem caucus all that much! Cuellar votes with the House GOP often enough for it to be a running joke.

Why is Hakeem Jeffries sticking his neck out for a corrupt Democrat who doesn’t even vote the party line a good chunk of the time?

Bruce Wayne’s gotta be in there at #3, I should think.

Four Weddings and a Death at a Funeral

Insert a movie into another movie:

The Longest Day of the Jackal

The amazing thing is that when he was called on this bullshit, Gallego actually went with “Well, it’s true” as his defense.

(Read the whole thread, if you haven’t already. I know I’m a bit late to this one.)

He’s making a list,
He’s checking it twice,
He’s going to find out
Who still supports ICE

There’s an interview somewhere wher Johnson describes how, having been raised in a Protestant church, he set this in a Catholic one so it wouldn’t feel so close to home for him.

Between this clown and Megyn Kelly, the right-wing anchor position seems to be shifting in the general direction of “if it moves, then you fuck it; if it doesn’t move, you stab it.”

I believe they are rather outsized, and could not be boxed neatly!

Honestly, should the files ever come out and should they ruin Bill Clinton’s reputation forever, I would hope that Hillary’s is destroyed as well, from guilt by association if nothing else.

Definitely better, judging by what I could discern from when my coworker in her late 30s (way too young for the vaccine) got shingles a month or so ago!

A friend came through!

Being forced to take on debt so you can engage in the practice of your trade and still not reap the full benefits of your labor is a long time practice.

Stop being fucking dumb about your application of Marx.

Geraldo Rivera called. He wants Capone’s vault back.