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Iain Banks on how easy writing is — Don't read it. You'll be resentful. You were warned. (Ganked from Elsewhere.) UK to end submarine goat tests — Um, yeah. Hell of a headline. Purussaurs: monster caimans of the Miocene — File this one under the dept. of things that make me glad I live in the Holocene. USB rechargeable AA batteries — :: wants :: (Thanks to  garyomaha.) Cable Cut Fever Grips the Web — Coincidence? Or conspiracy? Seattle had a monorail in 1911?Virgin Atlantic to test fly 747 with biofuelWhy do we call her Hillary? — A guest blogger on Bad Astronomy (yes, part of my daily blurg) takes exception to Hillary Clinton being referred to as "Hillary." A couple of my own commentors have done the same thing on this LJ. Yet her campaign refers to her by that name. As I replied in comments recently, the "Clinton" brand is very freighted, for both good and ill, and inextricably linked to Bill Clinton. Is it demeaning to refer to her by her first name when all her competitors are surnamed? Not if she chooses to use that as her own branding. To me, it's a mark of respect to call her what she calls herself. DNC boost for sex biz — "It would be a lot better for the sex workers if it was the Republican convention." Bay Buchanan, Romney campaign adviser, on MSNBC two days ago: Conservatives don't start pre-emptive wars. Wow. Just wow. It's so sweet, what conservatives believe about themselves. (Thanks to my aunt M.)
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| ellameena |
| 2008-02-07 14:59 (UTC) |
| (no subject) |
Hillary: I've seen that complaint, too, and since then I've been listening to how it's used. The major news outlets use standard AP style, which is full name of first reference, last name only after that, so she is "Clinton" in stories off the wire and most of the rest of the news. As to the rest, I have seen widespread use of "Hillary" by her supporters, and I do think it's appropriate. Since her husband is *kinda* famous in his own right, it's very useful to distinguish which Clinton we are talking about, and her name has become a brand of sorts. George W. Bush has often been called "W" or "Dubya" to distinguish him from his father. They also refer to them as 41 and 43 (have I got those numbers right?). I think Hillary is okay.
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| jaylake |
| 2008-02-07 15:32 (UTC) |
| (no subject) |
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Yep, 41 and 43. FWIW, the "Hillary" thing strikes me as a red herring issue.
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| swan_tower |
| 2008-02-07 15:40 (UTC) |
| (no subject) |
| armor |
I've pondered it myself, because I think it is a valid question. I mean, our first real female presidential candidate, and she's the only one going regularly by her first name? That isn't a value-neutral phenomenon. But I do think, in the end, that it's a lot more complicated than just a gender issue, for the reasons you've cited -- and yeah. If her campaign is cranking out posters and bumper stickers and pins that say "Hillary," then that's her decision, and I don't mind abiding by it.
I think I tend to call her "Hillary" and "Clinton" in about equal proportions, in conversation.
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| goulo |
| 2008-02-07 15:18 (UTC) |
| (no subject) |
| quo vadis |
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"Conservatives don't start pre-emptive wars."
I wonder if that was:
1. Still clinging to the delusion that Afghanistan and Iraq (and Iran?) had somehow attacked us
or
2. Some lame-ass semantic nitpick about "Well, the conservatives that started those pre-emptive wars were not REAL conservatives even though they CALL themselves conservatives."
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| jaylake |
| 2008-02-07 15:30 (UTC) |
| (no subject) |
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Given that the source was Bay Buchanan, I'm thinking #2. It's still delusionally cute.
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The batteries are only 1300 mah, which means they're useless in any kind of medium to heavy duty use, eg cameras. Cool idea in principle...
And I love the monorail. I'd love to know how it was powered.
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I love his definition. Writing is easy to him, but he's remarkably disciplined about it. For example, he says he writes 8 hours a day, spends a large amount of time doing research and planning his next novel, and advises new writers to "practice, practice, practice."
That doesn't sound easy. That sounds like someone is committed to doing something they enjoy.
I'm envious of Iain because I'm not in a place (financially) where I could stop my day job and focus on my novel. I think he's saying that writing is the easiest (for some definition of "easy") thing he can imagine doing for a living; I think that's true for a lot of us.
Now I'm going to go back to editing technical processes. Which isn't easy. Or fun. But it's darn lucrative.
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| jaylake |
| 2008-02-07 17:33 (UTC) |
| Re: Iain Banks-- Writing is Easy |
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Precisely agreed. And writing is "easy" for me in roughly the same sense it is "easy" for Banks. It's a lot of work which I enjoy immensely. Like you, I do other things for actual living money, which is what keeps me from having Banks' lifestyle and approach to his career. Pure time constraints.
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So, I wonder if the DNC will equal the boost from the annual stock show. And zero surprise about the RNC, I wonder if their hookers will be as wholesome as the ones from Fargo?
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| jeffsoesbe |
| 2008-02-07 18:10 (UTC) |
| (no subject) |
| startrek persis ilia |
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The branding and marketing aspects of any campaign (political, product, corporate, personal) are something I always find fascinating.
And it is indeed how the campaign chooses to brand Senator Clinton, as all the "Hillary" lawn signs show.
I'd be curious to hear how well the branding works, given that "Hillary" is probably inextricably linked with "Clinton" in people's minds (where's "Match Game 75" to show these things when you need it?). From the comments discussion, sounds like it could be working.
Interesting stuff...
- yeff
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| jeffsoesbe |
| 2008-02-07 18:12 (UTC) |
| (no subject) |
| doctorevil bad |
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re: "DNC boost for sex biz"
And what about Worldcon?
- yeff
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Bay Buchanan, Romney campaign adviser, on MSNBC two days ago:
Conservatives don't start pre-emptive wars.
Wow. Just wow. It's so sweet, what conservatives believe about themselves. (Thanks to my aunt M.) The Shrub's guys do it all the time, so I guess that means he/they aren't conservatives. Fascists, perhaps? After reading a huge (toss your cookies huge) amount online about neo-cons, I truly do believe they are Fascists. So maybe Bay is right. (pun intended)
Bay is around just to prove that women can be jerks, too. She is Pat Buchanan's baby sister. Her signature may be in your wallet. As Angela Marie Buchanan she was Treasurer of the United States under Reagan at the age of 32. She was the youngest. Bay is some family nickname.
I doubt she reads as much about the Bushes as we do. Pat Buchanan's career was badly damaged by Bushes people in 2000. The Buchanan family seems close knit and has a long memory. They never have shown any ability for far seeing, however. They only recognize the future when it is in the past.
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