Hot Off the Virtual Press
Topic: Announcements
Hot Off the Virtual Press
This week, SIX extended essays on current events - in detail and in depth - and a BONUS ITEM - a readers dialog on some current issues (and walls and bears and beer) with a cartoon from Ric Erickson, Our Man in Paris. SIX pages of startling Southern California photography, with two pages of Halloween shots (including some very odd graves of famous stars) - and the other pages are very arty, or something.
Ric Erickson, our man in Paris, sends photos and words - regarding that full-size Russian submarine sitting in the round pond at the Tuileries gardens - really, there's photographic proof! And there are the weekly diversions - handy (and cynical) quotes on how things really work, and the weekly dose of the weird from our friend in Texas.
Direct links to specific pages -
Extended Observations on Current Events ______________________________
Being in Charge - Leadership as Pathology
Stuck on Stupid (… sometimes slang terms actually do explain things)
Political Strategy - Going on the Offensive (… five political ploys)
Reassurance Offered - Explaining That Things Will Be Fine (… the presidential press conference, and much more)
Stepping Back - Notes on a Slow News Day (… trying to gain perspective)
Guessing the Future (… just what will be the surprise?)
A Diversion- An International Dialog Regarding Walls and Canadians and More
Southern California Photography ______________________________
A Feel for the Place - Graphic Design and More
Color Studies
Looking Rich - In the Land of Not Quite What It Seems
Halloween Images
Botanicals - Halloween Blooms (at the graves of dead celebrities)
Dark Flowers (not exactly Baudelaire, but something of the sort)
The International Desk ______________________________
Our Man in Paris - Enough Foolishness (and what is that Russian submarine doing in the middle of Paris?)
Diversions ______________________________
Quotes for the Week: How Things Work
Weird, Bizarre and Unusual: Even More from Our Friend in Texas
Hot Off the Virtual Press
Topic: Announcements
Hot Off the Virtual Press
This week there are five extended essays on current events - in detail and in depth and explained below - three columns from Ric Erickson, Our Man in Paris (two with photos) - and seventeen pages of startling Southern California photography, which would be more architecture from Hollywood's Golden Age, the Route 66 car show and its madness, the Sunset Strip and much better botanical shots - there's a lot here.
And there are the weekly diversions - quotes on what to do about the facts, and the weekly dose of the weird from our friend in Texas.
Direct links to specific pages -
Extended Observations on Current Events ______________________________
Intelligence - Reality Takes a Holiday - Do the facts really show what they seem to show? People disagree.
Paying Attention - Short Term, Long Term - What's news and what's not, depending on your attention span…
Watching the Barometer - Political storms on the horizon…
The Big Day - Some might argue that Thursday, September 28, 2006, was a defining day in American history, and you don't get those too often. This may have been one.
Truthiness - A Dialog on the Facts of the Matter - What readers are saying about what you can believe and why…
The International Desk ______________________________
Our Man in Paris is Ric Erickson, editor of MetropoleParis. This week offers three columns from that city.
The first is In the Old Country - the news from Paris in the manner of the 'Letter from Paris' the late Janet Flanner used to write for the New Yorker. Ric is just back in Paris after a month in New York, oddly enough. Over here we're all arguing about the war - and just what is the reality of the situation. There? He explains.
The second concerns music - A True Beatles Story - and more, Coltrane, and that Varda woman.
The third - All the Moaning, All the Woe - the Auto Salon - covers the Mondial de l'Auto - the international automobile show underway there now, and he snapped shots of some very odd cars.
Southern California Photography ______________________________
Hollywood Architecture - The North Harper Avenue Historic District Amazing Machines - Things to Do On a Sunday Afternoon in Hollywood, like dropping by the Second Annual Route 66 Highway of Dreams Charity Car Show Sunset Strip Images
Botanicals - Extreme Roses
Diversions ______________________________
Quotes for the Week: The Problem with the Facts
Weird, Bizarre and Unusual: Even More from Our Friend in Texas
Hot Off the Virtual Press
Topic: Announcements
Hot Off the Virtual Press
This week it's six extended essays on current events - in detail and in depth and explained below - and seven pages of startling Southern California photography, Hollywood to Venice Beach and back to Los Angeles' Thai Town (and the weekly botanicals, and a link to the shots the Washington Post liked) - AND guest photography from Bill Hitzel, for car nuts, seven pages of the best of Watkins Glen - there's a lot here.
And there are the weekly diversions - quotes on insults and diplomacy (for Hugo Chavez), and the weekly dose of the weird from our friend in Texas.
Direct links to specific pages -
Extended Observations on Current Events ______________________________
What people do when they’re unhappy with their government - there's The Hungarian Option and there's The Thai Solution.
Voices - One tries to keep up on things, browsing who's saying what. It's just that listening to all the voices can spook you. What to make of it all? We're in for it.
Decorum - Maybe New Yorkers are just direct. Your read the tour books and decide how you will to deal with this legendary trait. In Paris you're formal and polite - you're quiet and you don't grin - and you soon figure out that courtesy and addressing people properly works wonders. In Los Angeles you do your best to be cool. The American South is harder for outsiders. But in New York "blunt" works. That seems to be the advice someone gave Hugo Chavez, the man who leads Venezuela, before his recent visit.
Torture Codified - Because They Think We Are Weak
Quick Hits - Notes on Late-Breaking News
Guest Photography - Watkins Glen ______________________________
As noted last week, Just Above Sunset sent photographer Bill Hitzel on assignment, in a manner of speaking. He's back from the Zippo US Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. We were able to obtain a press pass for him - full access to the pits and everything. All the photographs arrived this week. The comments are minimal here. The photographs speak for themselves. For those of us who are car nuts, this is heaven. Southern California Photography ______________________________
Walls - Intense Brickwork
Intense Eccentricity - The Oddest Building in Venice Beach
Trompe-l'œil - Additional Venice Beach Murals, the Surreal Ones
Beach Studies - Every Picture Tells a Story
Thai Town - Given Current Events, It Was Time to Visit Ours
Hollywood Reflections - Shooting Odd Things through Glass
Botanicals - Real and Better Than Real
Diversions ______________________________
Quotes for the Week: Insults, Diplomacy, and Visiting Foreign Lands (for Hugo Chavez)
Weird, Bizarre and Unusual: More from Our Friend in Texas
Hot Off the Virtual Press
Topic: Announcements
Hot Off the Virtual Press
There was no blog entry here yesterday as putting that together takes some time. Commentary will resume here tomorrow as today it's off to downtown San Diego for dinner with the New Yorkers - the North American Securities Administrators Association Annual Conference in underway there, of course.
As for the new issue of the weekly, there are six extended essays on current events - with more detail and depth than usual - and seven pages of Southern California photography - it's all explained below - AND Our Man in Paris returns with what's new there (keep the kids away from the screen as the photos are hot) - AND guest photography with some vintage cars at Watkins Glen.
And there are the weekly diversions - quotes on the nature of trust, as that is the big issue of the day, and the weekly dose of the weird from our friend in Texas.
Take a look, and as this is the third week of the new format, let me know what I can do to make it work better. If you missed a previous issue, go to the archive page and check out the ducks at Heavenly Pond, or tour Los Angeles' Little Tokyo. And don't miss Car Crazy.
Direct links to specific pages this week -
Extended Observations on Current Events ______________________________
Stuck on Stupid - No One Seems to Know Much - Is September 11 the Wrong Date?
September 11 - Five Years On
A Fine Mess - The Options Now Available
Notes on Religion in America - Sleepers Awake!
Choose a Cassandra - The Upcoming Nuclear War
Revolt! The King and the Rebels - The Uprising of Key Republicans against the President
The International Desk ______________________________
Our Man in Paris: Paris Wants You
Guest Photography ______________________________
Teaser - Vintage Cars at Watkins Glen
Southern California Photography ______________________________
The Other Primary Colors
Hollywood Noir
The Beach
Signs and Symbols
American Glory - the BIG Cadillac
Botanicals - September Blooms
Botanical Humor
Diversions ______________________________
Quotes for the Week - History and Truth and All That
Weird, Bizarre and Unusual - More from Our Friend in Texas
Hot Off the Virtual Press
Topic: Announcements
Hot Off the Virtual Press
Commentary will resume here tomorrow, or sooner. As for this week's issue, I was out of town for a few days so this issue has only four of the usual long commentaries on current events, but they do dive deep into the issues. They are explained below. On the other hand, there are ten pages of photographs, and you may find some of them rather amazing. Some of that is the subject matter, and some of it technical - I may have actually figured out the Nikon D70. There's a deep array of nature shots, which is a something new. But there is Hollywood too, and there are fantastic cars, and the botanical close-ups get better.
And there are the weekly diversions - quotes on the nature of history, as that Disney-ABC 9/11 movie seems to be the big issue of the day, and the weekly dose of the weird from our friend in Texas.
Direct links to specific pages -
Extended Observations on Current Events ______________________________
The Case for Pessimism - The new book the philosopher wrote about the history and utility of pessimism bumped up against current events…
Cartoons - Hollywood to the Rescue (notes on the ABC-Disney 9/11 movie)
The Last Challenge - The question is just what sort of people we are, really.
The Basics - Odd News and the Long View - As the September 11 anniversary approaches we find that everything we were told was not so.
Southern California Photography ______________________________
Heavenly Pond - An exercise in nature photography -
High on Sunset - Some very strange images -
Hollywood Walls - Looking closely at things -
Faded Stars - Old Hollywood
Car Crazy - We love our cars out here - - 1949 Super Sport
- Flaming Fenders
- Oddities
Botanicals - Brightness
One Shot - Perspective - The Vanishing Point
Diversions ______________________________
Quotes for the Week: History and Truth and All That
Weird, Bizarre and Unusual
