One Trick Pony

Alex and I watched Fahrenheit 451 thanks to Tivo this morning. It’s not a great flick but it was better than I remembered. It struck us as very timely, not so much because of the anti-intellectualism and censorship, but because of the chase at the end in which citizens were told to stand at their front doors to watch for the escaping Montag. On every corner was a special mailbox for turning in your neighbors (or spouse) for anti-social behavior. Everyone was under surveillance by everyone else. A great depiction of Ashcroft’s TIPS program without all that much exaggeration.

This is a movie worthy of a remake. Meanwhile I found two WebQuests based on the book [1] [2] and learned that LA’s new mayor chose it as the subject of his first citywide book club. I wonder if LA is still doing that, now that Oprah has moved on.

I heard a bit of Steve Earle’s new Jerusalem CD while racing to the airport in Colorado Springs a few weeks ago. Not my usual music but I think I’ll buy it when it comes out on September 24. The sympathetic cut about John Walker Lindh is sure to raise a huge ruckus soon. Will Steve Earle be this generation’s Dylan?

Clock runs out on long-told story of time traveler, a piece from an Ohio site, tells us about a man who tracked down a pseudoscience tale to its roots. Great stuff. Should make you tighten up your crap detector the next time you watch one of those shows hosted by Leonard Nimoy. [from The Sideshow]