The American Mind

Guess who’s going to space?

Thanks to NASA’s Face in Space program to help celebrate the final two space shuttle flights.

Is the internet a threat to democracy? That was the subject of a debate a few weeks ago in Washington, DC. Farhad Manjoo, Andrew Keen, Jimmy Wales, and Micah Sifry took on that question.

At it’s basic level, the internet is people talking to other people. What can become a problem is we can let ourselves go and say anything with the easy push of the button.

In a recent conversation on EconTalk, ESPN the Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Gary Belsky described online comments and weblog posts as the closest we’ve come to publishing our actual thoughts. The filters between our mental impulses to the utterance slip away. Thus, we see often see raw, primal communication.

Is that a threat to democracy? Will our ethos of government fall apart from being exposed to our fellow person’s Id? I don’t think so. I think we’ll adjust. We have already. For example, it’s no long a story for a reporter to find nasty comments posted on political weblogs like Daily Kos or RedState. Like everything with Man, we’ll stumble upon solutions through the messy process that is living.

Watch the debate and see if I’m full of it.

Yesterday, I made a cameo appearance on the social media news site, Mashable.com. It was a post on a Hello Kitty Twitter app for the iPhone. One of my tweets appeared in a screen shot:

So, I ran with it, turning my Twitter profile page pink:

The avatar was photoshopped by @slublog.

I freaked out a few friends but had a fun time.

Dear Steve Jobs,

You’ve already sold a bunch of iPads. Congratulations. For offering millions of people good gadgets that add to their lives, you sometimes miss the mark on what they really care about. I’m relying on TechCrunch’s coverage of your interview at D8, so maybe I misinterpreted. You seem to think iPad buyers rejected Flash by buying your tablet computer:

Jobs did say that if the market tells them they’re making bad choices, they’ll change. But so far, that isn’t happening. “People seem to be liking the iPad,” Jobs said to laughs and applause. “We’ve sold one every three seconds since we launched it,” he added.

You’re wrong about the public voting on Flash using an iPad ballot. It doesn’t matter if the iPad supported Flash or not, people would still have bought one. iPad owners were thinking about what they could do with the device: web surf; watch videos; send e-mail; light document editing; read e-books. They don’t care what the underlying technology is. Most wouldn’t know what Flash is or the spat Apple is having with Adobe over it. Heck, the iPad could be powered by magical, invisible greyhounds that feed on nuclear waste. As long as the device functioned the way it does in the svelte package it’s in people would crave it.

Beyond the rarefied world of tech weblogs, people just want gadgets that add value to their lives. They really don’t care how it happens.

Love,

Sean

P.S. Oh, that crack about not wanting “to see us descend into a nation of bloggers,” that’s another unforced error.

A group of women make sure no one is buried alone at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Special Lady for Each Arlington Soldier”

Live from Club Med, Turks and Caicos, April 22, 2009:

While I wasn’t a fan, Ronnie James Dio had a big following, and you can tell from 80s hair metal he was very influential to other lead singers.

When reading about Dio dying of cancer I learned that before his own band and fronting Black Sabbath he was lead singer for the Deep Purple off-shoot Rainbow. Take a listen to “Man on a Silver Mountain.” It’s not bad. It’s not over-the-top Dio from “Rainbow in the Dark.”

Speaking of which, here’s the music video Ronnie James is most famous for:

“Metal Icon Ronnie James Dio dead at 67″

Mr. Baseball, get well soon:

Brewers Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Uecker has always been better at turning a comedic phrase than turning on a fastball, so it came as no surprise when he delivered sobering news on Tuesday with a touch of his famous humor.

Uecker, 75 and in his 40th season in the Brewers’ radio booth, will undergo heart surgery on Friday and is expected to miss the next 10-12 weeks of the baseball season. Dr. Alfred C. Nicolosi will replace Uecker’s aortic valve and a portion of his aortic root.

After that procedure, Dr. Jim Kleczka will determine whether additional bypass surgery is necessary.

“It has to be done — that’s the bottom line,” Uecker told a packed news conference. “I don’t want to go on the road and ‘take a Dixie’ there. I’d rather do it here.”

What Harry Carey was for Chicago, what Jack Buck was for St. Louis, and what Vin Scully is for Los Angeles, that’s what Bob Uecker is for Milwaukee. For as long as I’ve listened to baseball on the radio Bob Uecker has given me the play-by-play. He’s been my voice of America’s Pastime. He’s made me laugh and his “Get up! Get up! Get out of here. GONE!” with every Milwaukee Brewers home run is permanently burned onto my cortex. Brewers games won’t be the same until he comes back.

“Uecker to Have Heart Surgery”

Ten years ago today, federal agents pulled young Elian Gonzalez out of the home of relatives. This led to him being returned to Communist Cuba:

The Elian Gonzalez story was my first weblogging obsession. I recall staying up way too late at night pouring over news stories, writing up analysis, then hand-coding them in HTML to post to Angelfire. ElianWatch still exists. I’d ask you to enjoy, but the story has no happy ending. Elian and his father are still prisoners–along with the rest of Cuba–of the Castro regime.

Somewhere inside the confines of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing there’s a complete separation of aesthetics and technology. In the hopes of keeping a few steps ahead of counterfeiters our government continues making our currency into a blotchy mess of color:

The folks who print America’s money have designed a high-tech makeover of the $100 bill. It’s part of an effort to stay ahead of counterfeiters as technology becomes more sophisticated and more dollars flow overseas, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says.

The makeover, unveiled Wednesday by Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, may leave people wondering if there’s magic involved.

Benjamin Franklin is still on the C-note. But he has been joined by a disappearing Liberty Bell in an inkwell and a bright blue security ribbon composed of thousands of tiny lenses that magnify objects in mysterious ways. Move the bill, and the objects move in a different direction.

I thought the five-dollar bill was horrendous. The blue strip and the gold inkwell on the $100 make the five look like a work of art. At least Benjamin Franklin isn’t in Ulysses S. Grant’s position and stuck on a pink bill.

Glenn Reynolds put it well: “Even uglier than the old money.” SIGH

“Government Goes High-Tech to Redesign $100 Bills“

Inspired by a discussion on Twitter I dug around finding some of the best covers of Jimi Hendrix’s classic “Little Wing.” It might be Hendrix’s most beautiful song. It doesn’t have the ferocity and power of “Purple Haze” or “All Along the Watchtower” (itself a cover). It’s delicate in its lyrics (“butterflies and moon beams” “a thousand smiles she gives to me free”) along with a yearning in that timeless guitar riff.

Something I found interesting is Hendrix’s original version of “Little Wing” runs only 2:25. You won’t find a cover that short. Guitarists have turned the song into a launching pad for intricate solos and other artists have stretched it into musical compositions all their own. Hendrix could have stretched the original recording out longer, and it would still be a classic.

Enough of me yapping. Here are the five best covers of “Little Wing.”*

1. No one captured the essence of “Little Wing,” let it pass through their soul, and convey its beauty like Stevie Ray Vaughn:

2. For the rock guitar god-loving technical geeks here’s Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malsteem:

3. How about a Hungarian blues guitarist? Tibor Tatrai gets so quiet in his solo only to explode with verve and passion. Talk about discipline and control. Too bad I can’t embed the video here.
4. Irish pop group The Corrs offer up an interesting take on the song:

5. For a twist, Eric Clapton and Sheryl Crow get help from saxophonist David Sandborn:

If you don’t think I know what I’m talking about leave a comment or let me know of a better cover version on Twitter (@seanhackbarth).

*I didn’t find any video of Eric Clapton and Duane Allman playing together or I would have added them.

Here’s a beautiful picture from inside the Library of Congress.

[via the Library of Congress]

From the pen of Anthony Bourdain:

Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food.

“I’ve actually been paying attention in between drinks.” –Tony Bourdain

I love No Reservations.

[Picture via Neeta Lind]