Archive for April, 2008

OPW: Mo Udall and John McCain

April 10th, 2008 | In OPW, politics 

This story seemed an apt and serendipitous follow-on to my post of yesterday, so here it is in today’s “Other People’s Words.” This is an excerpt recently shared by Slate, which they saw as a rather illustrative portrait of John McCain. It comes from from a decade-old article by Michael Lewis in the New York […]

Of Politics and Compassion

April 9th, 2008 | In politics 

If I were to elevate one flaw I have above all the others, it would be that I am not nearly compassionate enough. This is not to say that I’m exceptionally brutal or mean, merely that I see in myself the same flaw I see in the vast majority of others.
The easiest example of this […]

On Being Small

April 8th, 2008 | In ruminations 

Tub Gurnard
I was just looking at some tilt-shift photos. For those who’ve never seen any (some samples are available here and here, and of course, above), the technique is a way to make real sights look like they are tiny models. Beyond simply being clever and looking cool, the technique can force you to look […]

Review: Born Into Brothels

April 7th, 2008 | In review 

Born into Brothels is about children growing up in a red light district in Calcutta (now Kolkatta), India. What I wasn’t expecting is the extensive amount of outside intervention that is really the story of the film. Some would see this as an intolerable rebuke of the documentarian’s principal directive: to document. This is to […]

OPW: Robert Kennedy on the Death Of Martin Luther King

April 4th, 2008 | In OPW 

Today is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Inspired to find the words Robert Kennedy spoke in Indianapolis that night by Ron Klain’s account of the events, I’ve presented them below. Much of the speech is available on YouTube (if you don’t mind Italian subtitles).
I have bad news for you, […]