Octopodial Chrome

The Wall Street Journal notes that wool is coming back: it insulates better, it is more attractive and it’s renewable. Frankly, I think it’s a lot more comfortable than synthetics too. A lot of folks disagree, but I think they’ve not taken the time to get used to wool; also, I wonder if they’ve encountered the new non-synthetic blends and varieties which are super-soft.

As for the notion that kids raised on synthetic pseudo-fleece won’t go near wool, I’m sure that kids raised on McDonald’s have trouble with French cuisine. That doesn’t mean I’m burning my Le Central gift card (thanks Dad!).

John Derbyshire wrote a nice little article on Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s Die Beiden, a pretty little poem which I’m glad now to know. Here it is in the original and in a translation:

Die Beiden

Sie trug den Becher in der Hand
—Ihr Kinn und Mund glich seinem Rand—,
So leicht und sicher war ihr Gang,
Kein Tropfen aus dem Becher sprang.

So leicht und fest war seine Hand:
Er ritt auf einem jungen Pferde,
Und mit nachlässiger Gebärde
Erzwang er, daß es zitternd stand.

Jedoch, wenn er aus ihrer Hand
Den leichten Becher nehmen sollte,
So war es beiden allzuschwer;
Denn beide bebten sie so sehr,
Daß keine Hand die andre fand
Und dunkler Wein am Boden rollte.

The Two

She carried the cup in her hand
—her chin and mouth were like its rim—
her gait was so light and assured,
not a drop spilled out of the cup.

His hand was equally light and firm;
he rode on a young horse,
and with a careless movement
he made it stand still, quivering.

But when he was to take
the light cup from her hand,
it was too heavy for both of them:
for both trembled so much
that no hand found the other hand,
and dark wine flowed on the ground.

Translation by Leonard Forster

I think it’s kind of sweet.

I saw this at National Review Online:

To All My Liberal Friends

Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To All My Conservative Friends

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I like:-)

Last month the New York Times ran a surprisingly good set of features on hunting, composed of an article on the first turkey season on Long Island, a a video on urbanites going hunting and finally an accompanying article the third day. They’re worth a read.

I think a lot of people don’t really understand hunting. I don’t do it for the kill—if anything, actually killing the birds is the least fun part of a hunt—but for the camaraderie, the time spent with friends in the outdoors, the reality of tromping in a farmer’s field looking for birds to eat. There’s something honest and straightforward about it that I enjoy. I can look across a section and know that I walked across every one of those furrows; I can see the bootprints of the men who hunted them yesterday, or earlier this morning; I can see the tracks and sign of birds and rabbits and dogs and cattle; I can see a particular piece of territory and know that there’s a good change there’ll be a bird in there; other times, I’ll be surprised by one where I didn’t expect him. And at the end of the day, I know that for once in my life I’ve earned my food in a way I never used to.

It’s pretty neat to read that even in our coastal elites might be relearning the joys of hunting for themselves.

I wouldn’t ever wear this shirt, but it sure does have a point:

Of course, Che Guevara was a minor, petty thug—he doesn’t really rank with such monsters as Hitler, Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot. Still, it never ceases to amaze me that leftists wear the image of a man who gleefully executed scores of gay men with his own hand and stated for the record the he’d have fired the Cuban missiles at the US if he’d been allowed.

I’ve added a pastry recipe to my bachelor recipes. It’s pretty good—I use it whenever I’m cooking for folks who don’t like lard.

I had a complete blast today snowshoeing up around Brainard Lake with the guys (and one gal) from work. It was well-worth the trek up to Boulder, and even not sleeping in until noon, as is my wont on Saturdays. We all had a great time.

Incidentally, wool rocks: I was wearing wool long-johns, wool socks, a wool sweater, wool wristers, wool mittens and a wool balaclava. I spent the trip–in freezing temperatures, with high-speed winds and blowing snow–hotter than was strictly necessary. And yes, I made all but the long-johns.

I’m pretty sure that this means in some cultures I rock.

The New York Times discovers aging beer like fine wine (or maybe we should say that wine is aged like fine beer? I m deeply envious of the Coloradan gold mine filled with beer—that’s several different kinds of cool.

The Pedant-General over at Devil’s Kitchen has a great explanation of why the CRU revelations can’t be ignored. Elsewhere, Charles Murray points out that it’s the disappearing data which is damning.

Given reasonably trustworthy premises, one can argue to a reasonably trustworthy conclusion. It appears from the evidence that the CRU’s premises aren’t reasonably trustworthy, and their conclusions aren’t to be trusted.