Enjoy the following snippets from this great NYT article about using books to gauge the long-term romantic potential of a future partner-in-reading-crime:
Judy Heiblum, literary agent: "When a guy tells me [Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance] changed his life, I wish he’d saved us both the embarrassment.”
James Collins, author: "I know there were occasions when I just wrote people off completely because of what they were reading long before it ever got near the point of falling in or out of love: Baudrillard (way too pretentious), John Irving (way too middlebrow), Virginia Woolf (way too Virginia Woolf).”
Marco Roth, editor of n+1: "I think sometimes it’s better if books are just books. It’s part of the romantic tragedy of our age that our partners must be seen as compatible on every level."
But I did take pause when I read this description of one Sloane Crosley, an interviewee for this article who is, "a publicist at Vintage/Anchor Books and the author of “I Was Told There’d Be Cake,” essays about single life in New York..."
Now, I've watched Sex & the City and Will & Grace, and I'm sure there are enough essays about being single in Manhattan to fill an entire bookstore. But still, it's depressing that there are. As Augusten Burroughs says in the article, "Manhattan dating is a highly competitive, ruthlessly selective sport."
So indulge me as I channel my inner Carrie for a moment, cause I don't ordinarily do this...
In any athletic competition, there is a winner and a loser. But not all competitions are the same. There's a big difference between the small-town Idaho middle school volleyball championship and the World Series, and in the dating world, Manhattan is the World Series. Like a good athlete, a single New Yorker puts on his uniform, enters the arena, sizes up the competition, and looks to score.
But I couldn't help but wonder: How do you ever win in the game of love if the very nature of games is a battle between one winner and one loser?
I thought about this as I went to meet Miranda for a quick lunch at the Gramercy Tavern...
Monday, March 31, 2008
100 Amazing Posts!!
Wow kids. We got this far! We made it to 100 posts! When a tv show makes it to its 100th episode, they get a big cake. So in honor of BINEL's 100th post, enjoy this sumptuous treat:
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
This Experience Is (at least partly) Her Imagination
I've been trying to post these videos since yesterday, but had some technical difficulties, so forgive the tardiness. You've probably already seen the story, but I can't get enough. Keep watching the videos-- lets rack up the hits on these you tube gems.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Brooks and the 5%
Some great snippets from David Brooks' NYT column today:
Last week, an important Clinton adviser told Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen (also of Politico) that Clinton had no more than a 10 percent chance of getting the nomination. Now, she’s probably down to a 5 percent chance.
Five percent.
Let’s take a look at what she’s going to put her party through for the sake of that 5 percent chance: The Democratic Party is probably going to have to endure another three months of daily sniping. For another three months, we’ll have the Carvilles likening the Obamaites to Judas and former generals accusing Clintonites of McCarthyism. For three months, we’ll have the daily round of résumé padding and sulfurous conference calls. We’ll have campaign aides blurting “blue dress” and only-because-he’s-black references as they let slip their private contempt...
The policy debates between the two have been long exhausted, so the only way to get the public really engaged is by poking some raw national wound...
Meanwhile, on the other side, voters get an unobstructed view of the Republican nominee. John McCain’s approval ratings have soared 11 points. He is now viewed positively by 67 percent of Americans. A month ago, McCain was losing to Obama among independents by double digits in a general election matchup. Now McCain has a lead among this group.
For three more months, Clinton is likely to hurt Obama even more against McCain, without hurting him against herself. And all this is happening so she can preserve that 5 percent chance.
When you step back and think about it, she is amazing. She possesses the audacity of hopelessness.
Why does she go on like this? Does Clinton privately believe that Obama is so incompetent that only she can deliver the policies they both support? Is she simply selfish, and willing to put her party through agony for the sake of her slender chance? Are leading Democrats so narcissistic that they would create bitter stagnation even if they were granted one-party rule?
The better answer is that Clinton’s long rear-guard action is the logical extension of her relentlessly political life.
For nearly 20 years, she has been encased in the apparatus of political celebrity. Look at her schedule as first lady and ever since. Think of the thousands of staged events, the tens of thousands of times she has pretended to be delighted to see someone she doesn’t know, the hundreds of thousands times she has recited empty clichés and exhortatory banalities, the millions of photos she has posed for in which she is supposed to appear empathetic or tough, the billions of politically opportune half-truths that have bounced around her head.
No wonder the Clinton campaign feels impersonal. It’s like a machine for the production of politics. It plows ahead from event to event following its own iron logic. The only question is whether Clinton herself can step outside the apparatus long enough to turn it off and withdraw voluntarily or whether she will force the rest of her party to intervene and jam the gears.
Last week, an important Clinton adviser told Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen (also of Politico) that Clinton had no more than a 10 percent chance of getting the nomination. Now, she’s probably down to a 5 percent chance.
Five percent.
Let’s take a look at what she’s going to put her party through for the sake of that 5 percent chance: The Democratic Party is probably going to have to endure another three months of daily sniping. For another three months, we’ll have the Carvilles likening the Obamaites to Judas and former generals accusing Clintonites of McCarthyism. For three months, we’ll have the daily round of résumé padding and sulfurous conference calls. We’ll have campaign aides blurting “blue dress” and only-because-he’s-black references as they let slip their private contempt...
The policy debates between the two have been long exhausted, so the only way to get the public really engaged is by poking some raw national wound...
Meanwhile, on the other side, voters get an unobstructed view of the Republican nominee. John McCain’s approval ratings have soared 11 points. He is now viewed positively by 67 percent of Americans. A month ago, McCain was losing to Obama among independents by double digits in a general election matchup. Now McCain has a lead among this group.
For three more months, Clinton is likely to hurt Obama even more against McCain, without hurting him against herself. And all this is happening so she can preserve that 5 percent chance.
When you step back and think about it, she is amazing. She possesses the audacity of hopelessness.
Why does she go on like this? Does Clinton privately believe that Obama is so incompetent that only she can deliver the policies they both support? Is she simply selfish, and willing to put her party through agony for the sake of her slender chance? Are leading Democrats so narcissistic that they would create bitter stagnation even if they were granted one-party rule?
The better answer is that Clinton’s long rear-guard action is the logical extension of her relentlessly political life.
For nearly 20 years, she has been encased in the apparatus of political celebrity. Look at her schedule as first lady and ever since. Think of the thousands of staged events, the tens of thousands of times she has pretended to be delighted to see someone she doesn’t know, the hundreds of thousands times she has recited empty clichés and exhortatory banalities, the millions of photos she has posed for in which she is supposed to appear empathetic or tough, the billions of politically opportune half-truths that have bounced around her head.
No wonder the Clinton campaign feels impersonal. It’s like a machine for the production of politics. It plows ahead from event to event following its own iron logic. The only question is whether Clinton herself can step outside the apparatus long enough to turn it off and withdraw voluntarily or whether she will force the rest of her party to intervene and jam the gears.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Chris Goldberg in Philadelphia
I'd like to welcome Chris Goldberg to the site as our first guest blogger. 
He's an incredibly bright and articulate comrade not just in the entertainment 'biz' but also in the quest to help elect Obama to the White House. Chris worked on Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004 and spent this last weekend organizing for Obama in Philadelphia. So glad he agreed to share his thoughts about his trip. I hope he'll write again soon!
He's an incredibly bright and articulate comrade not just in the entertainment 'biz' but also in the quest to help elect Obama to the White House. Chris worked on Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004 and spent this last weekend organizing for Obama in Philadelphia. So glad he agreed to share his thoughts about his trip. I hope he'll write again soon!Hi everyone. Josh asked me to write about our experience registering voters for Barack this Saturday in West Philly. He said he wanted to give his readership "a sense of the sights and sounds and flavor of life on the street." Well, that’s ambitious - but here some of my observations:
Barack’s people were organized. It was easy. All we did was call the Philly headquarters and they sent us an email with the address of the staging ground – which was in a McDonald’s parking lot. We were worried we’d get there too late, but they had people there all day with maps, putting groups of volunteers together and sending them to assigned places. We were spread out in strategic locations and pretty much saturated the area. Several people told me they registered that day only a few blocks from where we were – but I still managed to find unregistered people. I came back wishing I’d gotten more, but they told us that across Philadelphia as a group we got thousands of new Pro-Barack registrations that day. When we handed them in, there was even one girl getting in her car to go chase down “incompletes” – people who hadn’t filled out the forms all the way. This level of detail was impressive! I was also happy that they gave us little slips with the Election Day info and the phone number and website so that people could call and make sure they were on the rolls and confirm their voting location. I know that with a lot of people that’s half the battle, and these slips were VERY helpful.
The excitement is still very high. In 2004, I quit my job to become a canvass director for the Democratic Party during the Kerry campaign, where I spent a year going door-to-door in South Florida . Sure, there was a lot of anger toward Bush, and a lot of people motivated to get him out of office,
but there was little-to-no excitement about the idea of a President Kerry – especially in the black community. I had a feeling it would be very different this time around and I wasn’t disappointed. Barack is someone that people really take pride in (and we will all be proud when he’s our nominee!) As you can see from the picture, they were selling Barack t-shirts on the streets and the vendor was saying things like: “Obama shirts ten dollars. History in the making!”
But that’s not to say people were naïve – and as a rule, black voters are the least naïve people I’ve encountered in politics. (Obviously a long history from Jim Crow to Florida 2000 produces a healthy dose of skepticism.) One guy expressed the concern I’ve heard from a lot of people that Barack will simply get shot. Another guy said that even though Rev. Wright didn’t bother him at all, he worried that the debacle would hurt Barack with white voters. Some were even surprised that my friend and I – two white guys – were working for Barack at all.
Regardless of the number of registrations we got (and we did well!) I think it was healthy for us to just be a presence there smiling with our Obama pins. We interacted with hundreds of people and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive and upbeat. Looking at the other volunteers – who were a very diverse crowd across ages, genders and races – I felt great. That’s what Barack’s campaign is all about.
Registration is now over, but I urge people to go to PA in the coming weeks to volunteer for Get-Out-the-Vote. The electorate is more aware and more energized than I’ve ever seen, but as I said, getting people information like their polling location is half the battle. It’s also important to remind people of their rights. For example, many people don’t know that they don’t physically need their voter card. If they’re on the rolls, they can just show up with a photo ID to the right place and their vote will count. These are the type of things that a good Get-Out-the-Vote volunteer can get the word out about. It can make the difference between someone voting or not. Primary Day is April 22. Please contact me if you are thinking about organizing a trip. ChrisGoldny@gmail.com
Barack’s people were organized. It was easy. All we did was call the Philly headquarters and they sent us an email with the address of the staging ground – which was in a McDonald’s parking lot. We were worried we’d get there too late, but they had people there all day with maps, putting groups of volunteers together and sending them to assigned places. We were spread out in strategic locations and pretty much saturated the area. Several people told me they registered that day only a few blocks from where we were – but I still managed to find unregistered people. I came back wishing I’d gotten more, but they told us that across Philadelphia as a group we got thousands of new Pro-Barack registrations that day. When we handed them in, there was even one girl getting in her car to go chase down “incompletes” – people who hadn’t filled out the forms all the way. This level of detail was impressive! I was also happy that they gave us little slips with the Election Day info and the phone number and website so that people could call and make sure they were on the rolls and confirm their voting location. I know that with a lot of people that’s half the battle, and these slips were VERY helpful.
The excitement is still very high. In 2004, I quit my job to become a canvass director for the Democratic Party during the Kerry campaign, where I spent a year going door-to-door in South Florida . Sure, there was a lot of anger toward Bush, and a lot of people motivated to get him out of office,
but there was little-to-no excitement about the idea of a President Kerry – especially in the black community. I had a feeling it would be very different this time around and I wasn’t disappointed. Barack is someone that people really take pride in (and we will all be proud when he’s our nominee!) As you can see from the picture, they were selling Barack t-shirts on the streets and the vendor was saying things like: “Obama shirts ten dollars. History in the making!”But that’s not to say people were naïve – and as a rule, black voters are the least naïve people I’ve encountered in politics. (Obviously a long history from Jim Crow to Florida 2000 produces a healthy dose of skepticism.) One guy expressed the concern I’ve heard from a lot of people that Barack will simply get shot. Another guy said that even though Rev. Wright didn’t bother him at all, he worried that the debacle would hurt Barack with white voters. Some were even surprised that my friend and I – two white guys – were working for Barack at all.
Regardless of the number of registrations we got (and we did well!) I think it was healthy for us to just be a presence there smiling with our Obama pins. We interacted with hundreds of people and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive and upbeat. Looking at the other volunteers – who were a very diverse crowd across ages, genders and races – I felt great. That’s what Barack’s campaign is all about.
Registration is now over, but I urge people to go to PA in the coming weeks to volunteer for Get-Out-the-Vote. The electorate is more aware and more energized than I’ve ever seen, but as I said, getting people information like their polling location is half the battle. It’s also important to remind people of their rights. For example, many people don’t know that they don’t physically need their voter card. If they’re on the rolls, they can just show up with a photo ID to the right place and their vote will count. These are the type of things that a good Get-Out-the-Vote volunteer can get the word out about. It can make the difference between someone voting or not. Primary Day is April 22. Please contact me if you are thinking about organizing a trip. ChrisGoldny@gmail.com
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