I Feel Inadequate (BLOGTOBER 2008 Edition)

This is my eighth post today, woohoo!!
That's what I call a BLOGTOBER BLOGBURST!!!
Except, when I look at Instapundit's output for the same day, I see that he was on his 8th post by 8:06AM, that was well before I even got up this morning.

The bastard, making me look bad, every day is a day during BLOGTOBER for Prof. Glenn Reynolds. Frankly, I think he's an addict, he needs counseling, good thing his wife is a shrink.

To be fair to me, I'm pretty sure even with his dozens of post today, I'm confident I have him beat on non-quoted word count (though he has two wordy for him posts, one on Gwen Ifills, and a related one on media bias)

(and I know his wife isn't actually a 'shrink' aka psychiatrist, she's a forensic psychologist, but if I acknowledged that, the joke wouldn't work, and it's always better to sacrifice accuracy in the service of a joke than sacrifice the joke)

The Petland on W. Charleston in Las Vegas Thought It Was a Strange Request . . .

. . . but nevertheless fulfilled the order for 2 corgi, 1 labrador, and 3 jack russell terrier puppies to the suite occupied by Prof. Reynolds.

Mmmmm, blended puppies.

(and yes, I'm jealous, I should be the one getting paid to gawk at electronics, type cryptic missives, and drink free booze in Vegas this week)

As far as CES 2008 coverage, I'm favoring Gizmodo's coverage, anyway.

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(and had they known Prof. Reynolds' reputation with regards to puppies and blenders, they never would have sent the doggies over)

Pointing Out Podcasts (and Not Making Them)

One of these days, maybe I'll get around to podcasting, but today's not one of them. Just don't like what my voice sounds like recorded. Whatever 'voice' you here when you read my text is probably better than my actual voice, so I prefer to leave it that way.

But others aren't so reluctant about adding their voices onto the internet, and those little 'casts are often interesting listens.

Two good ones from this week are to be found at Pajamas Media and ESPN.

First up, the Glenn and Helen (aka Instapundit and Dr Helen) do their podcast interview thing, and as always, they do it well. Johah Goldberg is pushing his provocative new book, Liberal Fascism, and hearing them interview him regarding his tome is rather entertaining. They also discuss the ongoing (and perpetual) presidential campaign and speak about Sen. Clinton and Gov. Huckabee in particular.
[direct link to the 22.3mb mp3 here]

Jumping to a completely different subject, My Nemesis Bill Simmons™ interviews his buddy Jimmy Kimmel on the BS Report for 12/26. Jimmy has some interesting things to say on the ongoing writers' strike, and the incoherence of the Spinks brothers. Also, there's football stuff with Cousin Sal as they hash out their weekly 'guess the spread' chat. Jimmy Kimmel will probably be the best host sans writers. He always gives the impression of actually listening to the people he's talking to, and when his subject is engaged, he can be very engaging right back. Letterman has flashes of fiestiness, but mostly he's just bored, and Leno with writers comes across as unprepared and just killing time, so Leno with writers might end up being like watching a slow motion train wreck. Conan, on the other hand, will probably just wiggle, dance, and mug at the camera for 35+ minutes a night, make odd noises for another 6-8 minutes, and chat with one guest. They're all coming back next week, it'll be worth tuning in (or DVR-ing, given the hour they are on) for the first few shows, anyway.
[direct link to the 11.2mb mp3 here]

The Post Which May Cause Bill From So Quoted To Utter Heh, and Indeed

I don't know if Bill at So Quoted should be happy or angry that the Instapundit himself is quoting Neal Stephenson.

(Here are searches of the respective websites with Neal Stephenson as a search term (Instapundit and So Quoted), Prof. Reynolds may have more in number, but as a percentage of the total output of each blogger, and also as to the quality of the mention, I think Bill shines in comparison)

(also, I seem to have only mentioned Neal Stephenson once, and it just happens to be how I earned my first Instalanche)

Either way, I agree with what the Instadude says in his post regarding the ridiculousness of making hypocrisy the greatest of all vices.

Hypocrisy is bad, but it's not the worst sins.

Even if you aren't Christian it's easy to see that we're all fallen creatures with much to atone for (though don't take this as accepting the concept of Original Sin (the Wiki on this concept is decidedly non-neutral), I find that view of humanity as pernicious as moral relativism (this Wiki is also non-neutral, but I guess anyone wanting to defend the concept of moral relativism against charges of subjectivity must recognize the inherent contradiction).

In my opinion there are intrinsic humanistic values that include forgiveness, empathy, and a recognition that redemption is possible.

Given the ideas I just expressed, to excoriate hypocrisy above all else would be, hypocritical.