Saturday Stuff

Quote of the Week: 'I find it hard to temper those beautiful melodies with my essential Larry Davidness."--singer-songwriter Nellie McKay, responding to Terry Gross's question on Fresh Air earlier this week about why she resists singing classic songs. I can't say that I'd ever so much as heard of her before that show, but heard enough of her work to have become an instant fan.

Need an early holiday present for a serious reader? You might consider giving them a ticket to this December 4th event at the Ohio Theatre, a powerhouse pairing of world-class writers.

The New York Times came late to blogging, but it's sure caught up recently. At last count, the paper of record has no fewer than 45 blogs. While many serious readers have probably already noticed and enjoyed such great blogs as Paper Cuts (on books) or City Room (on New York), I've somehow missed the fact until this week that the immortal talk show host Dick Cavett actually has his own NYT blog, and has for many months. This one is certainly worth checking out sometime.

Bully Boy Tom DeLay, still running one step ahead of the posse, peeked his head back into the news cycle this week. In this interview with the right-wing paper The Examiner, he drops a couple of classic statements. He admits he'd like to "bitch-slap" columnist Paul Krugman, and pretends that the reason he plans no re-entry into politics is because of his age (he's 60). Of course no one that age has ever remained active in politics, and you'll just have to take his word for it that his souring on politics has nothing to do with the fact that he's still under indictment for political corruption. On the day he left office last year, we had this to say about the former pest control professional. Dear "Hammer": We bid you adieu, redux!

Finally, we liked this piece on the subject of Jazz and the Art of Improvisational Blogging, from the always interesting Copyblogger site. Do check it out when you get a moment.