1/27/02 - Live by the corporate plutocracy, die by the corporate plutocracy. A NYT poll finds Enron evokes the GOP more than the Democrats. In related news, Maureen Dowd surveys life on Planet Enron, "a state of mind, a subculture, a platinum card aristocracy."

Also on Enron, Cheney clams up. Can't wait to hear the apparachiks once clamoring for Clinton's every memorandum now sing the praises of Executive discretion.

Regarding recent reports of plagiarism, Doris Goodwin fights back.

Dispatch from the Space Race - China unveils its space exploration plans for 2002. (From Lotta.)

Well, just when I was going to say it's time to blow up the team and start again, Knicks get on a run of sorts. We're just delaying the inevitable at this point, though.

Sean Connery enters talks to star in Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, to be directed by Blade's Stephen Norrington.

Whaddyaknow? I've seen Fellowship as many times as fanboy Alan Keyes.

David Plotz on U2. Ho-hum.

1/19/02 - With the Hornets ditching Charlotte for N'awlins, at least one fan says "Good riddance."

The Uptown plays host to Cheney, Rumsfeld, and much military brass for the DC premiere of Black Hawk Down.

The Globe decries Democratic plans to further speed up the primary season.

Brilliant. China finds high-tech bugs throughout its US-made Air Force One equivalent.

Mistah Clu, he dead. IGN Filmforce confirms that Tron 2.0 is heading in a Heart of Darkness direction.

The case for eating dog? Slate verges on self-parody with yet another contrarian-for-its-own-sake piece, this time by William Saletan.

Fanboys and fangirls hit the trenches to debate the merits of Star Wars and Fellowship.

Speaking of which, check out these Two Towers picture previews of Helm's Deep - big Spoilers for those who haven't read the trilogy. (By the way, the movie holds up quite well on a fourth viewing.)

It's catching...with Ambrosian plagiarism piling up, now it's Doris Goodwin's turn to feel the heat. As a fan I must say I'm quite disappointed to hear this.

1/17/02 - Booyah! It's been confirmed...the Fellowship Director's Cut DVD will be over 4 hours long, with more Galadriel, more Fellowship, and more pre-Bree adventuring. Bombadil and the barrow wights, perhaps...?

What the world needs now...a Jerry Bruckheimer film about 9.11. Can't you just feel the healing?

Martians in Idaho! No...wait, is it Idahoans on Mars?

Chris Carter puts X-Files to bed...a year too late.

Get Powers: The international man of mystery's dad has been cast.

Well, it looks like the West-Summers feud at Harvard ended up blowing up in Cornel's face. Hmmm...well, if Summers is as big a jerk as all reports seem to indicate, I've no doubt another fracas will emerge soon.

In the midst of a worsening recession, Senator Kennedy argues for deferring tax cuts for Americans making over $130,000 a year, prompting jeers and catcalls from the oil baron Right.

Speaking of the oil baron Right, between shredder-happy Arthur Andersen and all the tax shelters, Enron is looking more and more like the poster child for GOP-encouraged corporate excess. And legislators dumping Enron money on charities isn't going to be nearly enough to redress this grievance. Can we get some campaign finance reform up in here?

The Voice talks with Ralph Nader on the eve of a new book about the 2000 campaign.

Also in the Voice, a look at Elvish.

The past week or so has actually been surprisingly busy, as I've been spending my days putting together a professor's website for extra cash. Lots of sifting around the web for historically minded photographs and political cartoons, then researching the background of the given photo. I must say, it's made for a great refresher course in 50's and 60's US history, which will be advantageous when I tackle early twentieth century America in the coming semester (beginning Tuesday.)

1/11/02 - The Science behind the One Ring.

Shady. When I first read the headline, I though Bush had appointed Robert Reich to something and thought, "Wow, that's brilliant." Alas, no. Dubya shows his true colors yet again.

Speaking of shady, Jacob Weisberg looks at Bush buddy Mark Racicot's chipping away at campaign finance reforms.

On the same subject yet again, Enron heats up, and both parties wonder what to do. Is Ken Starr available? We may have some serious Executive Office malfeasance here that may require his particular blend of prosecutorial presidential persecution.

In the early going, Mayor Bloomerg is lauded by the Voice.

As expected, Mickey Kaus dreams up a Buddy conspiracy theory.

Also in Slate, it gets even deeper for Stephen Ambrose.

Harry's got his hands on Two Towers pics of Faramir, Eowyn, Eomer, Theoden, Grima Wormtongue, etc. etc. Only eleven months to go...

It's not easy being green.

1/8/02 - With the passage of the education bill, the Globe looks at the Bush-Kennedy relationship.

While Dubya plays politics with the deepening recession, Paul Krugman wonders, Where is Greenspan?

Bob Reich returns to the fold in an upcoming bid for Massachusetts Governor.

Some - not all - of the Reagan papers are finally released.

Doh. It's getting worse for Steve Ambrose. This problem could have been curtailed if he didn't churn out so many books a year.

Dylan adds more Southern dates to the first 2002 leg of the Never-Ending tour. If you're below the Mason-Dixon line, take a gander.

Fellowship is AFI's Film of the Year. Booyah...start racking 'em up, baby. If they gave the Oscar to Braveheart and Gladiator they have to give it to Fellowship.

Not all of the dangers in this universe lie in the caves of Tora Bora. 2001 YB5 just misses Earth.

Alias's Jennifer Garner to play Daredevil's Elektra? Sounds better than any of the other names floating around (except perhaps the lovely Monica Bellucci), although since they cast Ben Affleck as the Man Without Fear (a role which would've been perfect for Guy Pearce), I suppose it doesn't much matter.

So I've taken to playing Tony Hawk 3 on the PS2 to alleviate my Civ fixation, which is a bit like taking methadone to break a heroin habit. Now instead of dreaming about swordsman units, I'm dreaming about halfpipes. That, some freelance web work, and the works of Kavalier and Klay are pretty much occupying my days right now. True to my current resolutions, I'm also eating a lot of Grape Nuts and yogurt. Memo to dog owners out there: don't give your canine any Grape Nuts 'cause they get JACKED up. I also went to check if yogurt was in any way harmful to dogs (Berk likes licking the tops) and discovered that "Yogurt's justification for existence is to console people in his [sic] sorrow." Um, ok.

Caught Black Hawk Down the other night. Not a date movie, and not for the squeamish. Probably the best job they could've done with such a densely detailed book, but I suspect I would have been a bit lost if I hadn't read it.

1/3/02 - The botched terrorist operation of Richard Reid, firsthand. (Via Q.)

Is Larry Summers alienating Harvard's Afro-Am All-Stars? This report on his treatment of Latino professors and rudeness to students is disturbing enough, but if he succeeds in pushing Henry Gates and Cornel West to Princeton, they might as well just fire his ass. Update: Slate weighs in.

The Madness of King George: Lucas casts N'Sync in cameos for Episode II. This must be some kind of savvy and prescient move to diminish expectations to such a point that the film must be well-received, right? Um, how's The Two Towers coming along?

R.I.P. Buddy 1997-2002. Every dog owner's nightmare, the former First Dog was killed by oncoming traffic yesterday. Expect a Vince Foster-like conspiracy theory and a Dan Burton-headed investigation in the weeks to follow.

Which reminds me, payback is a bitch. The Senate begins inquiries into Enron, including its ties to the Bush administration.

Not to say that all inquiries into Dems are ill-founded. Although the Torch dodges the bullet this time, to my mind, he's still sha-dy.

When the GOP Senate was holding up Clinton confirmations for years, nary a word was spoken by the Bush swing vote. But now Rehnquist attacks the Daschle Senate for "holding up" judicial nominations. What a piece of work.

David Broder lambasts Dubya for gutting legislation which prevents companies with lousy environmental and workplace safety records from receiving government contracts. And he did it while hiding at the Ranch.

Sean Penn tears O'Reilly a new one. (Sent to me by way of High Industrial - Thanks, Raza.)

Granary or temple, granary or temple...courthouse? My worst fears have come to pass. I've spent most of the new year deeply ensconced in a Civ 3 hole, only coming up for air the other night when AMC (strangely enough) was showing a double feature of Predator and the underrated and forgotten Halloween classic Fright Night. Y'know, I kinda like what AMC's got going. Sure, it's still mostly Tyrone Power flicks at all ends of the day, but every so often they'll throw in the Peter MacNichol Dragonslayer or Dennis Quaid's Dreamscape for good measure. At any rate, what is it about Civ 3 that makes it so frighteningly addictive? The unholy synergy between it and the rapidly dwindling case of Red Bull in the fridge must be having long-term detrimental effects on my health. Update: I notice Cluttered is in the same boat...I feel your pain, man.

Speaking of Dragonslayers, IGN Filmforce scores some pics from Reign of Fire, about a near-future (yes, future) when Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale do battle with the fiery beasts to save London.

So, why did Rudy swipe at Boston on his way out?

Updated the Casting Call links just for the heck of it the other day, and since fan sites tend to go dead sooner rather than later. I'm afraid to report that the racial divide in celebrity sites mentioned here (2/23 post) almost two years ago has barely been mitigated in the time since. But attention is duly paid to Billy Dee William's paintings and Lance Henriksen's pottery.

Happy New Year to all, and a Happy second Blogday to Caught in Between.