I’ve been trying to keep away from political posts, but I’ll just do a short one tonight. Then never again, because I can quit anytime I want.

Am I the only one who thinks you’ve got to be really, really desperate if you’re doing ads warning the American public of dangerous foreign influences in The U.S. Chamber of Commerce?

I can see the senatorial hearing now. The chairman leans over his table and asks, “Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce?”

Those capitalists. They’re under people’s beds.

For my second topic, I’d like to offer a brief explanation of one aspect of Minnesota politics, for people who live in more rational parts of the country. For the record, I don’t expect great Republican advances here this year. The rules are different in this state.

Here’s a couple of the rules:

1) If the polls indicate a neck-and-neck race in Minnesota, the Republican is probably actually ahead, because all the polls are run by Democrats.

2) However, that doesn’t mean the Republican will win. Because, in general, the Democrats also get to count the votes.

I apologize for the brevity of my posts lately. I’m going through what is, for me, an unusually busy time–I’m still writing posts for the Virtual Book Tour, I gave a lecture last night, have a meeting tonight, and have to drive to a meeting 3 1/2 hours away tomorrow. I guess I’ll get to rest on Sunday. Next weekend I’m driving to Chicago, for the International Vinland Seminar.

Am I nuts, I ask rhetorically.

And yet, I remind myself, other people (notably parents of children) endure much busier schedules for years on end. Of course, I’m older than most of them, but still.

A sharp reminder of my age came last night, when I suddenly developed a pain in one knee, which remains, lo, even unto this day. I greatly fear this is something I’ve brought on myself, by letting myself be overweight at an advanced age. Stress fatigue. If it had happened last week, I’d be able to say it was an injury from our combat shows. But all I was doing last night was giving a talk on Leif Eriksson to a Sons of Norway lodge, which is not, in most cases, a contact sport.

My Virtual Book Tour stop today is supposed to be Eccentric Eclectic Woman, but I don’t see anything showing up there.

OK, today the WiFi in our encampment works (and what’s a Viking encampment without wireless access?), and I think I can post a few pictures certain to fill you with jealousy over being there while I’m here, at Hostfest, in Minot, North Dakota.

The weather has been ideal–cool and sunny, and consequently the festival is seeing record attendance. Oddly, this seems to be resulting in decreased visitation at our Viking encampment. That’s because we can only be approached through a food court, which looks like this.

If one person stops and stands at some point, all movement becomes impossible for everyone else, so that nobody can get through to us without shoving, which–as you are probably aware–Scandinavians do not do. Continue reading Dispatch from Minot II →

I write to you from Minot, North Dakota. Hostfest begins in a few minutes, so I can’t linger long. The weather is beautiful, and large crowds are expected. I am told there is reasonable chance of survival.

Just got the schedule for my upcoming “Virtual Book Tour.” The information is can be found here.

Catch you later.

Britain’s Wallace and Gromit are now stars in Royal Mail stamps. I wonder if I can get some of these.

Political signs with Nazi words, symbols, or overtones showed up a rally during that past week, and the media yawned. Maybe they were tired from all of their outrage a few weeks ago. Larry O’Connor reports, “What is truly scandalous about the traditional media’s apparent obliviousness is the fact that unlike the Tea Parties — which are often spontaneous, unorganized events with no direct affiliation to a politician or a political party — this protest has been directly liked to Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson, and her campaign has been caught in a series of misleading statements regarding that involvement.”

Is it worse that such signs appear at an organized rally or at an unorganized one? Is it exhausting to hear outrage about one and not the other, a news cycles about one and nothing about the other?

Of course, the illustration here is not from one of the posters, but it is a curious bit of Nazi propaganda, is it not? Having they been called christians of a sort in your hearing? This isn’t a Christian poster.

Over at Grim’s Hall (we seem to be doing a lot of profitable cross-pollination between our two blogs these days) Grim posted this amusing clip of the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain doing a number you’ll… probably recognize.

This is a lot of fun, and I’m glad there are people doing silly things like this in the world.

And yet, as I mentioned in the comments, it’s not a great thing in itself. It’s great in being unique in its sub-genre, excelling in a field in which there’s little competition. I remember an old Peter Sellers movie, “The Bobo,” in which he played “The World’s Only Singing Matador.” Not the best matador, not even a very good matador, just the only one who sang.

I once saw a poster on the University of Minnesota campus, back in my college days. It advertised a movie about the struggles of Labor. It proudly proclaimed that this was the first film ever produced purely on Collectivist principles. Every detail of scripting, production, casting, and filming was decided by a vote of all the workers involved.

Needless to say, I did not go to see this masterpiece. I’m fairly sure I’d rather have the insides of my eyelids tattooed by a prison inmate than see that film.

Because any work of art that says, “See me for some reason other than that I’m a good piece of work” can pretty much be counted on to be very bad.

And that applies to Christian art, too.

Even mine.

(Which does not in any way mean the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain isn’t really, really cool.)

Tim Challies writes about the money problems the porn industry has. In short, few people want to pay for what they can get for free or get in the context of a good story, like what’s in several HBO series. It reminds me of a comment from a reporter, which I think I blogged about at the time, expressing doubt that anyone paid for pornography anymore.

Tim says, “[P]ornography has succeeded so well that it has forced itself into decline.” And yet, this is not good news. (via Steve B on Facebook)

Tim Challies has an e-book on this topic called Sexual Detox, available on his site.

Kevin Ryan talks innovation and technology in this post on AdAge.com, particularly targeting Google’s new Instant Search–have you seen it? If you’re looking for one the major websites/companies that usually top your search list, now you won’t have to wait three seconds. Ryan opines:

For most people, search is just search

My favorite scrap with my wife co-starred a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue. In the middle of a partial light to medium domestic storm, she poured herself the last two fingers of a liter bottle. A bottle, mind you, that I had carried back from China many years ago.

I instantly forgot what we were quibbling about. As she finished the last drop, it occurred to me: In a distracted environment, my wife’s understanding of Johnny Blue was that of any other bottle of Scotch. For me, however, a bottle of the Blue lasts about five to seven years and only makes an appearance on or around my birthday.

To my wife, Scotch is Scotch and it all tastes like recycled tires. To the consuming public, search is search and the issues we face are unique to us. Do-it-all devices and features are engineered to deliver a unique customer experience by offering everything, allowing consumers pick what they like. It’s a nice idea that really doesn’t apply to search.