A new staffer's name is Gideon. I keep thinking of him as "Gideon Wainwright," because of the Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright. He's okay with that.

Bill Maher, in his great new book When You Ride Alone You Ride With bin Laden, makes several good points and clever turns of phrase. Example: he refers to "The Axis -- the original, not …

Jon Carroll refused to speak to me in my dream. Why, Jon? Why?

Two analogies. First, Leonard pointed me to a weblog whose author (allegedly) lives in Baghdad and criticizes the regime. I find that implausible and fascinating. I don't want to link to it for fear that …

I don't know why I started talking with Leonard about a universe in which people can turn into frogs and back whenever they like. But the scenario envisioned (which I hereby invite anyone to use …

Cody's got a phone call from Antarctica a few days ago. How cool! A worker at Antarctica Station called us up, looking for a particular blank book. Evidently Antarctica personnel get free phone calls (I'd …

I'm listening to Ben Folds, "Fred Jones Part II". My parents are in an airport, waiting for their plane. They're leaving for India in a few hours. Only now am I beginning to feel sad.

Zed mentions a spooky experiment. Milgram and and Zimbardo[0] showed us how rough, easy-to-discern external conditions stimulated submission and violence. But here, the subject is hardly aware of the stimulus. And, in the spookiest aspect …

I was looking up my old acquaintance Mike Carns to tell him about Garrison Keillor's upcoming appearance in Berkeley. And what did I find but his wedding plans! This sort of openness just begs sitcommy …

Terrific Cody's Deal: Our Bodies, Ourselves for $7.98. This is the anniversary edition, updated for the nineties, a terrific resource on women's health. Hundreds of pages of useful and entertaining information. The stack on the …