Random Notes of a Culture Surfer

Pretty fascinating Nova show on PBS about the scientific and technological challenge of preserving the original parchment copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution (read about it here). The experts at the National Archives have created airtight cases designed to protect the documents against tornados, earthquakes, gas attacks . . . almost as if the nation's survival depends on the physical condition of these artifacts. Couldn't help thinking how nice it would be if the same care were being taken to defend the ideals they set forth.

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Great to see that Markos, founder of DailyKos, has time to sponsor the creation of a series of sports-related blogs, including one devoted to my Mets. (Never even realized he was a sports buff.) Scanning "Amazin' Avenue," I don't see any posts reflecting linkage between progressive politics and Met fandom, although I'm convinced such linkage exists. It all goes back to 1969--the year of antiwar marches, Woodstock, and Tom Seaver--though my theory concerning the precise nature of the socio-historico-athletic convergence has yet to be fully articulated. Any political science majors out there interested in collaborating on this with me? Detailed knowledge of the oeuvres of I. F. Stone and Bill James a prerequisite.

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It's nice that Pastor Dan has linked to worldwidewebers on his great blog, faithforward--although I'm a little puzzled to see that we're listed under the heading, "Warning! Adult Language and/or Images Ahead!" We've used the occasional "Damn" or "Hell," but nothing stronger that I can recall; surely in this day and age this doesn't qualify as "Adult" language, does it? I guess I should look on the bright side--maybe we'll be visited by thousands of surfers searching for Internet porn who will find themselves seduced instead by our pithy observations on Paul Krugman, Donald Rumsfeld, and the proper recipe for an egg cream.