Comments on: Things to read on Saturday when you’re bored

By: HalloweenJack

HalloweenJack — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:55:11 +0000

The piece on Gilliard was nice. Too bad that NetSlaves is no longer around; it would have been nice to go back and look for some of his earlier work rather than seeing one of those cybersquatter placeholders.

No love for the Top 50 list, though. The usual garbage bin of easy targets and personal grudges that I’ve come to expect from alternative weeklies. Some of this snark has been around the block so many times that it’s worn a rut in the sidewalk. And, as captphealy noted, they manage to miss some of the most obvious targets no matter how long they are.

By: drluba

drluba — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:55:50 +0000

Perhaps a warning to others to get off the computer and stay active as well.

Yeah, pick on the fat man even after death. Did you read the article? He died of an infection of his heart valves. Not a heart attack. Not an obesity related disease. It began with a cough–probably picked up when he did get off the computer and go out……..

By: xpurg8d

xpurg8d — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 04:19:05 +0000

…how do you have a list of the 50 Most Loathsome People in America of 2007 and not even mention Joe Lieberman once?

Lieberman was #42 on the 2006 list (scroll to the bottom of the article to get links to previous years’ lists) so maybe they thought he wasn’t worth mentioning again.

They were wrong.

By: xanthippe

xanthippe — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:48:29 +0000

a slightly different take on the Bai article over on the other side of the wall.

By: captphealy

captphealy — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 21:25:06 +0000

I know these lists are meant to start arguments, but, seriously, how do you have a list of the 50 Most Loathsome People in America of 2007 and not even mention Joe Lieberman once?

By: gttim

gttim — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:16:36 +0000

The Gilliard piece is wonderful. Kos linked to it, and I read it a little while ago. Sad he had to go so soon. Perhaps a warning to others to get off the computer and stay active as well.

The Chaminade story is just a classic. The bits about the coach are the best part. How does one pronounce “Chaminade?”

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 18:10:14 +0000

Catholics were familiar enough to Americans—there was no weirdo factor.

Gee, that’s nice. I guess I had the whole Klan/Know Nothing/Bob Jones thing completely wrong, then.

By: humboldtblue

humboldtblue — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 18:02:17 +0000

“Starchier than a peep booth wastebasket, Gregory’s occasional faux-outraged exchanges with various White House press secretaries have established his reputation as a man unafraid to confront the big scandals — once they’ve been well mainstreamed by better reporters.”

How good is that? Great writing.

And yes, both Chaminade and Villanova stand out. For me, Villanova was a night to remember. I had a pennant my father hung on his wall when he attended Villanova in the 50’s. Took it with me to the campus after the game where a few thousand students had gathered to party. A young woman, perched atop the shoulders of a young man, saw me holding the pennant up high and figured she could hold it higher. She ripped it in half. I skulked off and set a police car on fire.

By: captphealy

captphealy — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:55:39 +0000

Thanks, this is all very helpful, as I didn’t get any books for Christmas this year. I did get a VISA gift card, however, which will soon be used to buy some books from a local non-chain vendor the next time I find myself in Berkeley or SF with some spare time.

By: djangone

djangone — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:46:51 +0000

Most sports fans over 40 can tell you where they were when Chaminade beat Virginia (condo at Mammoth, sore, stoned and bemulleted). That and ‘Nova 85 were the signal events in what became college hoops’ great decade.