There is an opening on the Watcher's Council. If you've wanted to get involved in this, now's the time to make your move. (Follow the link, and there is a further link to the responsibilities of the Watchers.)

Posted by: Attila at 04:47 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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You asked what my blood pressure is, and I forgot to tell you when we spoke. Since I'm not sure you're doing e-mail these days—and you do seem to be reading the blog—I'll just post it here. It's 92/60, which as I understand it is on the right side of the dead/alive divide.

You know where to find me in the next few days. Be well.

Posted by: Attila at 11:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Today I'm scrambling to wrap presents, do errands, and pack. Tomorrow my husband and I go out of town. We'll be back circa Monday. I will have my laptop with me, and I'm sure I'll post at least several times while I'm away.

In the meantime, get as much sunlight as you can, don't spend too much money, try not to overeat, and do not succomb to depression. It's a strange time of year: don't let it get to you.

Hugs your kids, kiss your spouse/sig other. Make the easiest thing for dinner that you can. People are much more important than things.

Posted by: Attila at 01:26 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I'm up to 9% in the Weblog Awards Design category, after hovering between 8.6 and 8.8% for days and days and days.

Not that I care about these silly contests: I only dropped by there because I thought I'd left my, um, eyebrow tweezers there.

Hey! What if I could get a full 10% of the vote before this thing closes? Wouldn't that be cool?

Posted by: Attila at 11:55 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Runs a lovely satirical piece about one possible future of the new media, dated 2048 and featuring a discussion with "Senator Glenn Reynolds."

It's long, but it's thoughtful and funny:

Rushkoff first discussed the idea that ultimately produced the Douglas Rushkoff Corporation in an interview with Mediabistro (today a unit of the trade publisher Primediabistro) in 2004. "The next stage in the freelance universe, I think," he said then, "is for those of us who have managed to generate reputations to understand that we have those reputations through the luck of timing, and to start outsourcing. The universe is so big that we could write stuff that doesn't bump up against other stuff," he said—an insight that led to the creation of "Rushkoff bureaus" on six continents. "If the industry is going to be such that it only wants to reward a few recognizable faces," he said, "then those faces have to open up their purses and give us all work. I would love to be part of a writing collective—50 or 60 of us—and there are two or three of us with big names. We can even hire actors to be the fuckers!"

Rushkoff felt that there was a limited number of names that could be sold in the writing market, but much more writing that those names could do. His original vision for writing collectives allowed writers to utilize existing names (or create fictional "authors") to sell their writing and fully realize the economic potential of those names. Ruskoff's model allowed certain people to work on marketing, others to tour, and still others to work on writing. And instead of working for the names they were using, the names worked for the writers.

So go read it, already.

Posted by: Attila at 12:58 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Attila the Hub and I watched Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven on ABC Sunday night. He wanted to see it because a friend of his is at ABC, and worked especially hard on this particular project.

My impressions:

1) I'd forgotten how grueling commercials can be when you don't have a good project you're working on during the breaks. Now I know why my grandmother used to knit! If I get the media job, I'll get TiVo in a hot Los Angeles minute, because I'll be watching a lot more television.

2) I love the premise of this story. I think we all have the impression that as we get older we'll get wiser, but even those who live to advanced ages may not really achieve wisdom in this lifetime. The premise that the learning process might continue past death is a charming one.

3) I have the sense that some story elements might have been cut out of the book in order to compress the story into three hours (really an hour and a half, plus commercials). As the main character meets people from his life on earth in order to absorb lessons from them, they continually tell him they've been "waiting" for him. We are left to wonder whom he might need to wait for when it's his turn to teach. My husband had a suspicion, but it isn't spelled out in the movie. Now we both have to read the book.

4) Michael Imperioli of The Sopranos put in an appearance, and it was nice to see him break out of the mafia mode for a while. Personally, of course, I kept expecting him to start cussing and beating people up—and I'm sure that's why he took the part, to avoid typecasting. He did a nice job: it was interesting to see him smile in a way that's genuinely warm. His character on Sopranos may be one of the hardest, most truly reprobate animals in the HBO cage.

5) The way I got the backstory on this, Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press keeps trying to write quiet little books, and they keep landing on the best-seller lists. After Tuesdays with Morrie, he concentrated on producing a little literary gem, but it became a best-seller as well.

This is a guy whose problems I'd really like to have.

Posted by: Attila at 01:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So yesterday I had a rather promising interview with a media organization that deals with entertainment and the culture of celebrity, and I may be working with them in the future. Therefore, I'm soliciting two things from my readers:

1) Who is your favorite celebrity? Why? (The General Question, designed to elicit the juiciest obscure tidbits about people, along with normal people's reactions to those in the public eye.)

2) Who is your favorite sports figure? Why? (The Specific Question, since my background in sports is a little weak, and I may need to fix this problem, as athletes are part of the Pop Culture Gestalt.)

Have fun. Thanks!

Posted by: Attila at 12:34 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 1) Mel Gibson - Doesn't pander to Hollywood, and yet still very successful 2) David Robinson - Greatest citizen/athlete since Roberto Clemente (and a Navy alum to boot)

Posted by: JFH at December 07, 2004 12:45 PM (fmEeo)

2 Hmmm, sports would be Ichiro, an amazing athlete & a team player who shows you don't have to be built like a brick wall to lead the league Celebrity: Margi Lowry

Posted by: jeff at December 07, 2004 07:14 PM (TVG8x)

3 The scandal with Margi being that her name is pronounced with a hard "g," of course.

Posted by: Attila Girl at December 07, 2004 10:04 PM (SuJa4)

4 This is one reason I could never move back to California and still be happy. Celebrity bores me to tears. I try to remember that at first meeting, celebs are just as deserving of my respect as anyone else. But in the back of my mind, I keep wondering about the character of a person who can tolerate, much less desire, the state of being a celebrity. Sorry. Of course, I'm all for gainful employment in any reasonable field so I hope you get this if you want it. Then, at least there'll be one person there who will be sensible about these things. k

Posted by: k at December 08, 2004 07:29 AM (ywZa8)

5 Your ex knows a lot of actors from working as a television producer. Many of them aren't necessarily interested in the "fame" aspect of the work, but regard it as an occupational hazard. And most of the people I've met in celebrity journalism aren't particularly awed by celebs; that's what makes them so good at doing their jobs. If you're star-struck, you cannot function in that world. People, Us, the West Coast bureau of Vanity Fair, Star and the like are operated by people who live here in L.A., but are writing for those in the heartland who have never just passed someone famous in the street, and think they would like to. (Trust me: it changes nothing about your life.) [Okay--Vanity Fair is different: it is more oriented toward the coasts.] As one editor for a celebrity magazine put it to me: "we serve readers--not ourselves." Another woman told me she calls up her mother in the Midwest periodically to ask what she and her friends want to read, and uses that as her guideline in putting her magazine together. I guess my point is that though I have no particular awe of actors (or whomever--sports figures, singers and the like) I respect the fact that there are people out there who are willing to go in front of a camera and suffer the annoyance of fame so that all the others whose work is behind the camera can eat, and so houses get built, and shops stay in business and the wheels of California's economy hum. And my hat's off to them.

Posted by: Attila Girl at December 08, 2004 11:49 AM (SuJa4)

6 Well, that's comforting. Maybe you wouldn't be the only sensible one out there after all. For those who don't go for the celeb bit - or who thought they did, until that rude awakening - I've always felt a lot of pity. Sometimes you do work you love even when the occupational hazards are really nasty. Doesn't mean I should go painting people I don't know with the same brush of extreme privacy needs that works on me. I don't expect anyone ever to be flawless. When I say I wonder about the character of someone who can tolerate that celeb state, I mean just that. I don't mean I've judged them and found them wanting, or people I needn't respect. It could well be they have a strength I obviously don't. But I'll always watch them and think about it and see what they're like in that department. Because of my own quirks, that's a red flag to me. I always respect good work of any kind. That includes even those products of our anthrax-assaulted friends at AMI in Boca. Their general intelligence, family solidarity, sweetness, and basic decency was stunning. Those traits came through loud and clear in the many interviews and background pieces I watched as that unfolded. It held for individual employees and AMI itself, although I must add I've never taken a close look at AMI's corporate character by analyzing their financial reports. Knowing they're responsible for such things as the National Enquirer etc. created some dissonance for me. I can't get past the damage their false reporting does to some of those very celebs. I myself couldn't work at AMI and still sleep well at night. But while I truly can't comprehend how to reconcile their positive and negative aspects, I can and do respect them for their qualities. And, I never forget they successfully do a job that meets a need. They satisfy their audience beautifully. Naturally, I'm always in favor of the economic engines purring along. Even if I am an economic contrarian. Celebrity, in and of itself, just bores me. Can't help it. This means I respect those who can work with it well even more, not less. I'm also real clear on the difference between "celebrity" and "a celebrity." I love to take each individual person as they are. Jumping to conclusions about people bores me to tears, too. It takes all the excitement out of talking to strangers. Oh! I'm talking so much I almost forgot why I'm here, for the second time in a row no less. 1) um...still percolating. 2) Gail Devers. k

Posted by: k at December 08, 2004 08:53 PM (+7VNs)

7 1) Gary Sinise...love his work, enjoying him in CSI-NY, and love his support of this: http://www.operationiraqichildren.org/ 2) John Stockton, retired, Utah Jazz...love him because this is a guy who was never an exceptional talent, he just worked really, really hard...great work ethic, not a whiner, loved his wife and kids, lived quietly, and loved the game. Other favorite sports figures: Roy Williams: The classiest coach in the NCAA. Requires his student athletes to be scholars first, athletes second. Great work ethic, great leadership qualities, great coach...he exemplifies what coaching USED TO BE before all teams cared about was winning. Michael Jordan: An oldy, but a goodie. Was cut from his high school basketball team, worked his arse off, and never looked back...I love the story of the guy who's told no and doesn't quit trying... Thanks for letting me answer these questions.

Posted by: catzmeow at December 10, 2004 11:23 AM (j2vfb)

8 Miss Attila; My favorite sports figure is Hank Aaron, a humble and understated figure compared to todays athletes. Nothing will ever tarnish his name or records. My fav celebrity is Gary Sinise, who is a conservative, living in New York, but remains unashamedly who he is. Bill Unrepentant Rebel and former Marine

Posted by: Bill at December 11, 2004 09:57 PM (2KoM3)

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John Hawkins has this year's results up. I appreciated the panel he put together: there were some heavy hitters there, but also a number of up-and-coming blogs. It was also lovely to see Kate of Small Dead Animals and Jeff of Beautiful Atrocities recognized/recognised (though Kate is becoming quite well-known in her own right, due to her high-profile guest-blogging stints and her clear upcoming win in the Wizbang Weblog Awards for this year).

And since Protein Wisdom won out over IMAO and Scrappleface, I'm hoping he'll, um, stop with the. The you know. The whiney stuff.

Via Mr. I'm Funny, Man, Do You Hear Me? Do You Hear Me? Who's Your Humor-Daddy?

In other news, even the tightest sweater on one's blog illustration apparently isn't enough to get a girl 10% of the vote in certain contests. What the hell is wrong with this world?

Posted by: Attila at 12:30 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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. . . continue. Way to prosecute the Trotskyites!

(Seriously—some good links there.)

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The new runoff election is scheduled for December 26th. Meanwhile, check out the Sabot Post-Moderne pix from the night of the victory in the Supreme Court!

Posted by: Attila at 03:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Three weeks ago I went to a memorial service for one of the finest gentlemen I've ever known, David W. Arnold of Handguns magazine, who supported my efforts as a fledgling writer and encouraged me with my shooting (and early on in my management career).

I've been wondering what to say about him, but I finally realized that Jerry Lee has it covered. There's nothing more to add, except that Dave's courage in facing down two major health crises will be an example to me for the rest of my life.

Thank you, Dave.

Posted by: Attila at 03:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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My cousin* Attila, the "Pillage Idiot," wrote an interesting meditation on the unique relationship between Jews and America. I love it, and I think it has a lot to say, by extension, about other ethnic groups in their own relationships with this nation. We comprise the first nation to make equality an ideal and to push hard toward that ideal.

And that is what makes us the Shining City on the Hill.

* We're related by marriage. He's a Marylander Jew, and I'm Californian Anglo-Saxon/Native American trailor trash. But we both like to plunder and pillage, so we get along fine.

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Annika has started a grass-roots movement to replace Kofi Annan with Sir Elton John. Her reasons are myriad, but among them is this pivotal point:

It's the way that he move, the things that he do, wo-o-o.

Which I think is important to remember.

Posted by: Attila at 02:38 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Joe Gandelman reports on young Britons who don't recognize the significance of the name Auschwitz.

I once lived with a mathematician who had left academia to work in entertainment. Just as some in my family got interested in geneaology, a few in his family had as well. But it's different when Jews decide to put together their family histories: I have books and binders full of anecdotes about the Oregon trail, life in Nebraska. I have a folder on my husband's family with stories about Ireland (a land that has its own heartrending tragedies, of course), and migration to America. My former significant other's family history was page after page of "Name -- died at Aushwitz."

To hear that young people in any Western country are not really learning about the holocaust fills me with deep rage, partly because I think this failure of education helps to fuel the growing anti-Semitism in Europe. And partly because the story transcends ethnicity as a cautionary tale.

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Via Protein Wisdom comes an article in the Weekly Standard by Mackubin Thomas Owens, professor of national security at the Naval War College:

Critics are asking what the operation in Falluja really accomplished. They note that the insurgents’ leaders appear to have escaped and that violence has erupted elsewhere in northern Iraq. Media accounts also routinely describe the fighting outside Falluja as a “rebel counteroffensive” that surprised the U.S. military, implying that the reduction of Falluja merely created more insurgents.

But the view conveyed by these headlines is myopic. An equivalent headline in June 1944 would have read: “Massive U.S. Casualties on Omaha Beach; HitlerÂ’s Reich Remains Intact, Defiant.” Such stories fail to place Falluja, Mosul, Tal Afar, and other cities in northern Iraq in context. The fact is that Falluja is part of a campaign, a series of coordinated events—movements, battles, and supporting operations—designed to achieve strategic or operational objectives within a military theater. Falluja is just one battle, albeit an extremely important one, in a comprehensive campaign to stabilize the Sunni Triangle.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When they controlled Falluja, the rebels were able to sustain a high rate of attack against the Iraqi government and coalition forces. Falluja gave them infrastructure--human and physical--and provided the security needed to maintain a large terrorist network. As one military analyst, writing for the Belmont Club blog, has remarked, in the absence of sanctuary, large terrorist organizations cannot survive. Without sanctuary, terrorist networks are reduced to “small, clandestine hunted bands.”

You'll recall that one of the many failures of the Vietnam war was the unwillingness of the Johnson Administration to cut the supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Clearly, we aren't making that mistake this time: this war, whatever you may think of it, is being fought with commitment and a desire to win. And success is likely to give many Americans a sense that the whole enterprise was worth the loss of life and the financial expenditure.

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Five hundred and five hits today (I think my personal best is around 600), and my total uniques are now over 40,000. I do realize those stats are tiny for some of you, but for me this is amazing.

You don't think it has anything to do with my nomination for the Wizbang! Weblog Awards, do you?

I've been doing this since March of 2003, when I began the old BlogSpot site. In the beginning I was getting eight hits a day, which turned into 15, which turned into 30. This past spring I moved to a "real" domain courtesy of Pixy Misa's Munuvian Mafia, and worked my way up to perhaps 60-70 hits. This past summer I asked Julie of BlogMoxie to redesign my page, and she whipped up a nice creation that went online in early September. In the first two weeks after the redesign, my traffic doubled, which probably had to do with the power of Rion Vernon's artand the mystique of tight sweaters. Since that time traffic has tripled, though I did go through a "post-election slump" in November that made me feel I was losing ground I'd previously gained. But it's all coming back, courtesy of Kevin and the Weblog Awards.

And that brings me to John Hawkins, who is once again dispensing the advice he gives "up and coming" bloggers, which amounts to working very hard and being very patient.

John's philosophy, which he calls the "very very rule"—

"Remember that you will have to be very, very, good, for a very, very, long time, while working very, very, hard to promote your work and you will be very, very, underappreciated the whole time."

We all know the exceptions, but I'm not so sure that some of the bloggers who enjoyed a meteoric rise aren't more vulnerable to burnout than the rest of us.

Posted by: Attila at 01:03 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 I want 500 hits. Cool that you got them...

Posted by: Scott B at December 05, 2004 01:38 AM (y6ZHS)

2 Congrats on busting 40K. Yes, tight sweaters helps Actually, the first time I came to your site was a link from another blog, and, for whatever reason, the graphic didn't load using IE. I keep coming back for your writings, as well as the format makes it an easy read. I have seen some sites where the writing is great, but it is hard to read because of color schemes. Yours is great. Keep up the good work!

Posted by: William Teach at December 05, 2004 07:21 AM (KCG7N)

3 Yeah, that burnout can make some people 'touchy,' don't you think???...;-) I guess I need a sitemeter. But honestly. I don't care about the numbers. I really love the commenters and conversing with them. Thats really why I do it. (That and I am bored lonely housewife with no poolboy, yeah...that too) (J/K!!!)

Posted by: Rightwingsparkle at December 05, 2004 09:17 AM (nrlu9)

4 Yes! You have to approach it like a job. You do the job whether your results are up or down that day. And to think about what you can bring to it that nobody else can. Just between u & me, what Instapostit does isn't rocket science. But the new gen of bloggers seems to be more creative.

Posted by: jeff at December 05, 2004 03:16 PM (YfKrn)

5 I know, I know. I rarely visit Glenn, since it's just a big linkfest. And if I want that, I prefer Opinion Journal's The Best of the Web. Besides which, Glenn has never linked me. So how perceptive could he really be?

Posted by: Attila Girl at December 05, 2004 03:31 PM (SuJa4)

6 Hey! Remind me to be VERY careful what I post here girlfriend! Geeze!!!!!!!

Posted by: Rightwingsparkle at December 05, 2004 10:16 PM (nrlu9)

7 But he didn't link back here; he linked to your site. So only people who go both places will see what he's alluding to. Hey--not only do I not have a poolman; I don't even have a pool.

Posted by: Attila Girl at December 05, 2004 11:34 PM (SuJa4)

8 you know. Thats true. I wonder how much of my blog they will read frantically searching for my reference to needing a poolboy. Men are so......needy.

Posted by: Rightwingsparkle at December 06, 2004 04:06 PM (nrlu9)

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About the Sears/Kmart takeover of France:

The retail industry received another shake-up today as Sears Holding Corp. (NYSE: S), the parent company behind the recent merger of Sears and Kmart, announced the acquisition of embattled European cheesemaker France (NASDAQ: FROG). The buyout deal, estimated at $2.7 billion, will position Sears/Kmart/France as the world's third largest retailer and 15th ranked military power.

Reaction of Wall Street was mixed, with shares of Paris-based France rising 11% in late trading after the announcement, while Hoffman Estates, IL-based Sears Holdings dropped 19%.

"The acquisition of France indicates there will be further consolidation within the low-end, weird-smelling retail segment," said Ivan Kaplan, a retail analyst with Bear Stearns. "I wouldn't be surprised if Sears picks up another floundering discounter like Winn-Dixie. Or possibly Spain."

Gary Reed, an analyst with UBS, said the deal would position Sears/Kmart/France to remain competitive against mega-retailer Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT).

"It only makes sense for them to united to face a common foe," said Reed. "Both Sears and Kmart have lost significant retail share to Wal-Mart, and France recently surrendered Provence after the invasion of paratroopers from the 131st Wal-Mart Greeter Airborne."

"Attention Kmart shoppers! The glory of France, she is born anew," crowed France CEO Jacques Chirac, who will continue as head of the corporation's Northeast regional merchandising division.

Please read the whole thing: the retelling of the early 20th Century war stories is worth it all on its own.

Posted by: Attila at 06:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'll be at 40,000 hits. Not much to you, my big-time blogger friends. But very satisfying to me.

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DiscoShaman of Post-Modern Clog:

We won big today. I'd forgotten how much fun a Revolution can be.

Also, be sure to drop by Orange Ukraine.

It looks—ohmigod, it really looks—like this thing may be resolved with little or no bloodshed. Viva Ukraine.

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. . . does it take to screw in a lightbulb? I dunno, Man: first you have to cram them in there.

In other news: Goldstein-style, I'm declaring myself almost half as well-designed as Cold Fury. (Though, as I understand it, even Little Mr. Mahatma thinks I'm well-designed.)

And don't miss the fascinating little debates in the comments section on whether I should perhaps be disqualified because Julie of BlogMoxie designed this website, or whether there are just too many femme blogs represented.

I say you can never have too many femme blogs.

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