March 11th, 2013
I missed the passing of Paul Bearer last week, Bill Moody was one of the great gimmick managers of my day. In discussing the loss on his morning show, the Czabe asked where Paul Bearer ranks in the annals of wrestling valets/managers. My guess is that he’s solidly second tier. Not quite in the first rank, with Bobby Heenan, Freddie Blassie, and Jim Cornette. But in the class just behind them.
2 commentsTrailer City
March 8th, 2013
Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing has a trailer and it looks, well, kind of awesome. Maybe the best weekend film project ever made?
Now, if only some people could get over their hangups about modern-setting Shakespeare. Ahem.
5 commentsDept. of Too Easy
March 7th, 2013
BBC headline asks: “When will we learn to trust robots?”
Obvious answer: The day before they rebel and take over the world.
2 commentsA Publisher’s Weekly Contest
March 7th, 2013
Most of the negative reviews What to Expect has gotten so far have come from people who pretty clearly haven’t read the book. But Publisher’s Weekly has the most critical review to date–and the reviewer pretty clearly did read it. But for the life of me I can’t quite understand how the reviewer came away with these views:
* PW says that I use “garbled statistics” and muddle causation with correlation. (I write on page 10 that unless I say otherwise, I’m never arguing that correlation equals causation.)
* PW says that I blame abortion for America’s fertility collapse. (I say, on pages 61 and 172, that the evidence suggests that abortion does not play a significant role in fertility decline.)
* PW says that I call for “pro-creation as self-actualization, period.” (On page 63 I point out that Second Demographic Transition Theory posits procreation has become an act of self-actualization, and then I suggest that such motives will probably not be sufficient to get societies to a sustainable replacement rate.)
* PW says that I make a “borderline racist” claim in noting that the US fertility rate has been artificially bolstered by mass immigration over the last 30 years. Yup, that’s me. A big ol’ racist who says that we’re “lucky to have [immigration] as long as it lasts.” (That’s on page 116.)
I’m not angry or anything–just kind of confused. If PW didn’t like the book for whatever reason, then so be it. And at least they read it! It just seems like a weird, bizarro series of complaints.
In any case I’d love to hear theories on how PW had all of that as their take-away. There’s a signed copy of What to Expect for the best explanation.
(As judged by Galley Friend X. Employees and family not eligible for contest. Contest not valid in Hawaii. Purchase not required for entry. Rules and restrictions apply.)
21 comments“But I powered it with pollution.”
March 7th, 2013
This Sim-City ad, featuring a Bro-ski version of Kenny Powers (in Adidas CEO mode) is all kinds of awesome. (Via The Transom.)
1 comment
Best TED Talk . . . Ever?
March 7th, 2013
“Peak child”? That’s awesome.
In related news, the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue has some very nice things to say about What to Expect.
2 commentsAnd the award
March 5th, 2013
For most cloying, craven, politically correct business ever goes to . . .
TitleNine.com: A clothing catalogue (with brick-and-morter stores!) for women. That seems to specialize in sports bras.
But the best part–the absolute cherry on top–isn’t the page about their “model-athletes.” Or even the “sustainability” page.
No, it would be the “About Us” page where the company informs customers that “Policies make us nervous.”
Not all policies, of course.
0 commentsPSA
March 5th, 2013
So it turns out that Transformers are real.
Who knew?
0 comments
