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Saturday, 19 November 2011

  • Woody Allen and Diane Keaton

    PBS American Masters tomorrow: "Woody Allen: A Documentary" http://t.co/RpDXooBH

    "Then Again," Diane Keaton's memoir about herself, and about her mother. 

    I saw "Annie Hall" for the first time on my first date with the woman who would later become my wife.  I have seen it about six times.  I have seen almost all of Woody Allen's movies and I have followed his life.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what American Masters does with the story.  Some of their other documentaries have been truly moving detailed portraits of lives that I didn't know (the shows on Mort Sahl and Waldo Salt come to mind).  The review in Thursday's New York Times (here) only whets my appetite.  There is also "Then Again," Diane Keaton's biography, which is reviewed by Janet Maslin in the same paper (here).  Here too, I learned a few new things from the review, and will probably learn more from the book itself.  It makes me feel old that these lives are being looked back on as though they are nearly complete, but I suppose that's true.  

Saturday, 03 September 2011

  • Xanga Classics and Hidden Gems on the Interwebs

    I tried this about three years ago, and I'm going to do it again, because I know that Xanga is full of great writing with a shamefully low number of page views.  It's also striking how no one ever comments on a post more than a day or two after it is written. 

    I am trying, in a small way to change that. 

    I am looking for good stuff that has gotten lost in the daily rhythm of new posts and new ideas, interweb gems.  Do you have a favorite post from last year?  From five years ago?  Was your own best post ignored and forgotten because something controversial at the same time distracted everyone?  

    Let me know!  I'm looking for Xanga classics and hidden gems.  Just put the link in your comment.

Monday, 10 May 2010

  • Is Xanga for adolescents?

    I am older than most people who blog here (but perhaps not older than Dan, aka TheTheologiansCafe), and I sometimes wonder what I'm doing here.  To be sure, there are people whose posts I enjoy reading.  I am entertained by Xanga, and I keep coming back.  I will continue to come back.

    However, much of what goes on here reminds me of high school intrigue.   Apropos of nothing, one of the most popular Xanga bloggers asked Did President Obama Cheat On Michelle?  As a way of talking about speculation that Irena Kagan might be nominated to the supreme court, he posted Lesbian On the Supreme Court? and The Lesbian Look.  I could just as well ask Was Dan found guilty of public masturbation?  My point is that while some Xangans see themselves as akin to bloggers on Slate or the Huffington Post, comparisons to Club Penguin might be more apt.  It's nothing about Dan.  In fact, it is the criticism of him by other Xangans that reminds me the most of high school gossip.

    Part of the problem is that Xanga provides a highly structured environment.  Compared to other free blogging services (e.g. Google's blogger and WordPress), Xanga is extremely limited.  No java script.  No free html outside of the posts.  No user-defined widgets.  Perhaps Xanga itself will grow up before the little Xangans grow up and move out.  It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.


Tuesday, 27 April 2010

  • What's up with Friends Lock?

    I've just started browsing Xanga again after a long while (over a year) and many of the people I used to read have "friends lock" on.  I don't know them.  They aren't "friends" in any usual sense of that word.  Should I ask to be their friend?  Why has this happened?  Has Xanga changed? 

Wednesday, 23 September 2009

TeaShopMorrie

  • Visit TeaShopMorrie's Xanga Site
    • Name: Morrie
    • Gender: Male
    • Member Since: 8/31/2008

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About Me

  • I read widely and I'm interested in many things.

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Pulse

  • Do you think that a rally attended by a demographic sliver and playing holier than thou with the President restores honor to America?
  • Xanga changes a lot right around now. Some have more time because it's summer.  Others go away and don't post for three months.
  • The woman next to me at Starbucks took my drink instead of hers (and loaded it with sugar).  Realizing her error, she took hers too!