News

The Scott Adams Blog

Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert, reports on a concert put on by the top 10 contestants the of American Idol in a live stage show.

His review: "This live performance was way different from TV. Let me count the ways:

1. It was far more expensive.
2. It was a five-hour drive, round trip.
3. The singers had that bewildered "What am I doing in Sacramento?" look.
4. The sound system in the Arco Arena was like four winos farting in a steel drum.
5. From our seats, the singers looked like colourful grains of rice.
6. Wooden seats.

"This did not deter us from our determination to enjoy being in the same zip code with manufactured minor celebrities who could not be heard above the screaming. ... Two enthusiastic girls in front of us brought a huge sign that obscured my view of everything but my own clenched fists. I don't mean to be unkind, but even without the signage, these girls chewed up a lot of real estate. They were excited to be within mortar distance of actual celebrities.

"After letting them have their fun, I finally had to tap them on the shoulders and give the "WTF???" crotchety old coot look. This dampened their enthusiasm for a full half minute before they felt it was time to ignore me and blot out my view of the stage again. It is unlikely they are Dilbert readers, but I still think it is funny that they went to the show hoping to see unimportant celebrities while one was tapping them on the shoulder and wishing they were dead.

"Still, I have to say it was worth it just to see (sort of) David Archuleta belt out a few tunes that blew the doors off the stadium and sent 8,000 young girls into premature ovulation."

Speaking of coots, Richard F. Gorman III, of Richmond, Va., is trying to rehabilitate the word "coot," meaning an ornery person who has reached that age in life when he or she stops caring what other people think. He sent it to Salon columnist Camille Paglia.

"Just a word in praise of coots — maybe this apologia from an ex-hippie (well, I exaggerate just a tad) is not what I should be addressing in writing to you, but I just can't help it. I used to be alert, quick, affable, witty, charming, sufficiently sophisticated and all the other things that made for great cocktail party presence and banter.

"Alas, I have become an old coot. I now sit in the corner and scowl at the new crop of alert, quick, affable, witty, charming and sufficiently sophisticated people flowing around the room. And guess what — I'm happy! No more forced smiles, forced laughter, forced agreement or forced anything. I can relax at last, burp and fart when I please, and if anyone intrudes into my blessed solitude, I can tell them where to go if I feel like it.

"Heck. It's sort of like being president — not a presidential candidate, mind you (they are still trying to be alert, quick, affable, witty, charming and sufficiently sophisticated people), but the real thing. So be kind to John McCain and Hillary (yes, I know you didn't mention her, but deep down, I suspect she's a real coot, too). By the way, I'm going to form a new social/lobbying group to promote the coot agenda — it'll be called 'Curmudgeons Are Us.' Want to join?

To which the usually sharp-tongued Paglia answered: "Thank you for your delightful letter! I plead guilty to calling [presumptive Republican nominee for president Senator John] McCain 'a weird old coot' and will think twice before doing it again. Coots, by the way, are slow, duck-like birds whose somewhat addled manner became identified with eccentric old men. Women are never called coots. Yet another barrier for us to break?"

History News Network

James C. Cobb, Spalding Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Georgia, speculates for the History News Network on How Obama Might Change the Politics of Race in Unexpected Ways.

He takes off from a comment by Congressman John Lewis, who said that with the possibility of Barack Obama becoming U.S. president, there is reason to believe we are "in the process of laying down the burden of race.

"As a matter of course, he continues, "whenever history is made in a really meaningful way, it not only forces us to revise our narrative of the past, but it encourages us to revise our perception of the present as well. The very fact that a black American has captured the presidential nomination of one of the major political parties is in itself sufficient to brighten many Americans' overall assessment of black-white relations in this country, and should Senator Obama manage to succeed Bill Clinton as our second "first black president," the appraisal of where things stand between blacks and whites is certain to get sunnier still."

Blog Maverick

One person too many has uttered the phrase "You just don't get it" to the quirky zillionaire Mark Cuban. He fights back: "I just want to put it out there to save everyone and anyone who deals with me time. If at any point in time you utter the words 'Just Don't Get It' or 'Just Doesn't Get It' in any conversation with me, I will not do business with you.

"If you try to justify your business, idea, proposal or whatever and in the course of conversation you utter these words, you have just proven to me that you are lazy. That rather than discussing the merits of another position, you think I'm stupid enough to dismiss that position because you want me to.

"If you truly understand your topic it's really easy to stand behind your position with facts and well thought concepts. If you have no idea what you are talking about, the other side 'just doesn't get it.' "Call it a Mark Cuban rule of investing. If these words come up in any way, shape or form, they just don't get "it" — "it" being an investment of my time or money."

KK*

Kevin Kelly, the "Senior Maverick at Wired magazine" and currently editor and publisher of the Cool Tools website, has noticed two new "strategies" in naming babies:

"One I call the global brand naming strategy. Here the object is to devise names that work in as many languages and regions of the world as possible. These names are kind of Esperanto names. Names without language-specific sounds. Names that can be easily pronounced by Japanese, Russian, Spanish, French and English speakers, for instance. Names that don't have negative connotations in certain cultures. They are usually short. Punchy. Almost nicknames. They may often seem generic. But they are easy to say and remember. They work just about anywhere on the planet. They are similar to brand names. Names like Leo. Maya. Tasi. Kip. They work best with family names that are not common. Finding them is a little bit like settling on a global brand. It requires a particular mindset and international awareness that some may find pretentious, and others invigorating and exciting.

"The other recent strategy is to find GoogleUnique names. These are invented names, or name combinations, which will yield singular results in a Google search. In other words, when you search for the child's name, your child is the only result. These can work with either uncommon last names or family names that are common."

Seth Godin

Business-book writer Seth Godin said something that makes Friday Reads really uncomfortable. Pondering bloggers who write about blogging (hey, this is getting close to home, here), he says there is a limit to meta-blogging: "Blogging about blogging, writing about writing, documentaries about documentaries, songs about songwriting. ... It's tempting to use a medium to write about the medium.

"It works for a while, but there's a limit. Pretty quickly, you hit a natural ceiling and you won't be able to go any further. The most obvious trap online: websites that make money by teaching you about making money by using the web."

Thanks for the warning, Mr. Godin. But as long as you're around, there will be stuff for me to post.