Our coblogger Michael Stickings has “tagged” yours truly to answer a bunch of questions. His post with his thoughtful MUST READ ANSWERS is HERE. He was “tagged” by Balloon Juice’s Tim. F, who did it “here.”
Note that I usually totally avoid putting these kinds of posts on TMV. I feel that too often weblogs become chatty websites that write more about Blogtopia (word used courtesy of its originator, skippy) and lose sight of the many SERIOUS issues that should be addressed extensively. To each his own; I view a weblog as more of a news info and news analysis site.
But I have huge respect for Michael Stickings and Tim F., two people who have never publically or privately bad mouthed yours truly or this site with derogatory comments (they and my mother). (Plus they write well and spll goohde two.) So here are the questions and some short answers.
Our cobloggers are encouraged to give their own answers in the comments below and/or, if they want, do and link to their own site and to The Reaction and Balloon Juice. Readers can also answer some of these questions. So just this once we’ll take an issue break and write something that’s totally inside the bandwith beltway:
1) Name a book that you want to share so much that you keep giving away copies. I’ve gotten some copies in the mail of Ann Coulter’s books and I gave lots of those away, for a different reason.
Among my favorite books are War and Peace (I actually got an A plus on the detailed test on it at Colgate), ANY of the books of the collection of columns by the late and incredibly great newspaper columnist Mike Royko (people who are journalists or bloggers or who aspire to be journalists or bloggers MUST read and study them plus anyone who wants to read the best columns ever written), John Avlon’s Independent Nation (the BEST book written on independent and centrist voters, showing that we can and ARE passionate and DO take stands — and do matter), The Sopranos Selected Scripts from Three Seasons (good dramas, like good blogs, require CONTENT and you see it), the new reprinting of the entire Peanuts comic strip. I have a whole bookcase filled with books I collect on comedy and comedians, as well as my political books.
2) Name a piece of music that changed the way you listen to music. I’m admittedly “different.” My parents call me an old fogey. I will listen to early 1910 singers, early Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, and I like some rap as well. When I travel I listen to some classic jazz and “easy listening.” My all-time favorite: Carole King’s Tapestry which made me cry (but then so does 50 Cent..).
3) Name a film you can watch again and again without fatigue. The Godfather Parts I and II. It’s increasingly helping me understand the Bush administration.
4) Name a performer for whom you suspend all disbelief. Dramatic actor: The Sopranos’ James Gandolfini, who draws you so into his portrayal that you have to struggle to realize you’re not watching an actor. In comedy: Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm was, I feel, more believeable in HIS role than Jerry Seinfeld (whom I love). And Michael Richards was quite believeable in his comedy club portrayal as a stand-up comedian out of control in the brutal comedy club boxing ring.
5) Name a work of art you’d like to live with. You mean, besides the oil painting of me?
Well, if I must name another, it’d be Picasso’s Guernica, since I lived in Spain from 1975-1978 and wrote about the whole post-Franco period for the Christian Science Monitor and was in Madrid listening to Franco’s last-hurrah speech before his death (I was recruited as an extra stringer for the Newsweek bureau there for some stories).
6) Name a work of fiction which has penetrated your real life. Can I list those emails promising me their product can give me an “enlargement?”
If I MUST list another, it really is War and Peace because of some of the ideas about what’s here on earth and the infinite. Many works of fiction these days lose me because they seemingly become books about writers trying to show readers what great writers they are, versus fading into the woodwork and presenting a story with, perhaps, a message. I start and stop reading fiction quite quickly. I tend to like short stories (mystery, horror, suspense etc).
7) Name a punchline that always makes you laugh. “A new Iraq policy.”
Readers can leave their own answers to these and cobloggers can in comments or on their own blogs (unless we want to retitle this blog The Moderate Tag, which we don’t.).
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.