Ben - ProfilesArchive

About Me

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No, you can't have nice things, as my father occasionally said. And I believe him. So should you.I have no marketable skills, except for mixing drinks and assembling words. So I pay the bills by writing newspaper editorials . It's an honorable profession. Honorable enough. I'm married to an angel-devil woman and our son is perhaps Christ with the Soul of Caesar . We live in a modest home in Southern California's Inland Region (for "Inland Empire" is too Chamber of Commerce, and ruined by David Lynch besides). Ah, well. It's a good life.

My Interests

Reading. Writing. Alchemy.

I'd like to meet:

Henry Louis Mencken. Gustav Mahler. Benedict XVI. Mark Steyn (again... now that I know better). Hector Berlioz. Calvin Coolidge. Ralph Steadman. James Lileks (because I've already met Hugh Hewitt... three times). Oscar Peterson. Roger Kimball. Christopher Hitchens. Tom Kenny. Winston Churchill. Nicholas Antongiovanni's tailor.

You Are a Classic Martini
You area sophisticated drinker, who knows that simple quality is over-rated. You're a knowledgeable drunk, but sometimes you're a know-it-all when you're blasted.
Your ideal party: Has a real bartender. But no one mixes a better drink than you.

Your drinking soulmates: those with a Chocolate Martini personality

Your drinking rivals: those with a Margarita personality. What Flavor Martini Are You?

Music:

My tastes are promiscuous. I like just about everything except current Top 40 pop garbage. But even that may have exceptions. For what it's worth, here's my top 20 most recent iTunes artists (updated 5/14/07): Blind Faith, Kaiser Chiefs, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Space Heaters, Dash Rip Rock, Grinderman, The Swingin' Swamis, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Charlie Parker, Ginger Baker, Johnny Cash, Quartetto Italiano, Don Byron, Friends of Dean Martinez, Laika and the Cosmonauts, Joey Ramone, The Civil Tones, Buddy Guy, James Brown, Glenn Gould.

Movies:

300. Pan's Labyrinth. Little Miss Sunshine. Idiocracy. Apocalypse Now. Brazil. Close Encounters of the Third Kind. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Goodfellas. Team America: World Police. Miller's Crossing. The Killer. Hard Boiled. Once Upon A Time in the West. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Glengarry Glen Ross.

Television:

The Unit. Lost. The Simpsons. 24. South Park. The Shield. The Sopranos. Heroes. Jericho. The X-Files. Twin Peaks. Spongebob Squarepants.

Books:

Here's what I'm reading the week of May 14, 2007 (note that I'll read one book over a period of weeks and and other in a matter of days. It's all about my mood and my interest at any particular moment):

Informing Statecraft , by Angelo Codevilla Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present , by Michael Oren Breeding Bin Ladens: America, Islam, and the Future of Europe , by Zachary Shore Hezbollah: A Short History , Augustus Richard Norton

Heroes:

Churchill. Lincoln. Washington. Mencken.

My Blog

Why I Entered Journalism: Guardian Memories

The Guardian 40th birthday bash was well worth the price of admission ($10, which got me one free beer and all I could eat, which wasn't all that much). I was pleased to catch up with old friends, esp...
Posted by Ben on Wed, 09 May 2007 09:09:00 PST

Why I Entered Journalism (First of an Occasional Series)

This weekend is the 40th birthday celebration of my college newspaper, The UCSD Guardian. I'm looking forward to making the short trip to La Jolla and catching up with old friends. The occasion got me...
Posted by Ben on Fri, 04 May 2007 09:58:00 PST

Play 'Freebird'!!!!!

"The poet Billy Collins once laughingly observed that all babies are born with a knowledge of poetry, because the lub-dub of the mother's heart is in iambic meter. Then, Collins said, life slowly star...
Posted by Ben on Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:28:00 PST

Stripper Parties!

One of the few, great joys of my job is reading and laughing at letters to the editor. It sounds like a small pleasure, I know, but it's fulfilling in a genuine way. First, there is the gratifying fee...
Posted by Ben on Sun, 08 Apr 2007 07:40:00 PST

Bob DeAndrea, RIP

An old college friend sent some sad news yesterday:Bob "Muddy Jeep Bob" DeAndrea passed away last week after living with HIV and AIDS for many years. Bob was a vibrant member of the UCSD LGBT communit...
Posted by Ben on Wed, 04 Apr 2007 08:54:00 PST

Kids Ask The Darndest Questions

Me: "Oh, God. My back is screaming in agony."Boy: "Ha ha! Screaming in agony. That's funny. Screaming like a little girl?"Me: "No, screaming like a hellspawn demon being hacked to pieces by the divine...
Posted by Ben on Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:18:00 PST

This Is Not A Blog Post

I had planned to blog on a subject. But then I got bored and decided not to. I thought about posting another quiz. But I had other things to do. Like read other blogs.I considered, for a moment, offer...
Posted by Ben on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 10:29:00 PST

Bad Words. Terrible Words. Oh! Terrible Words.

Are you bothered by naughty words? Like crud? Or darn? Or heck?If so, you really, really shouldn't watch Glen & Gary & Glen & Ross. No, really. Don't watch it. You will hear terrible words. Terrible w...
Posted by Ben on Sat, 10 Mar 2007 11:35:00 PST

I was Britney before Britney was cool

Of course, I'm not yet in rehab. Nor am I fighting for custody of my child. But I do love this story. I first shaved my head in 1990, on account of a girl. Now I shave my head because I have bad skin....
Posted by Ben on Thu, 01 Mar 2007 11:19:00 PST

Shaking Your Ass For Money Is No Way To Go Through Life

I've been trying hard to avoid the coverage of Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith. Honest to God. I think both stories are pretty sad. But I cannot help but recommend this piece on Britney's follies...
Posted by Ben on Thu, 01 Mar 2007 11:00:00 PST