Stuff to read (8/6/10): Madden NFL

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Sorry, haven't done this in quite some time -- quick recommendations for what to read today. Here you go:

-- ESPN: "The Franchise: The inside story of how 'Madden NFL' became a video game dynasty," by Patrick Hruby. The latest "Outside the Lines" feature at "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" is a fascinating look at the history of EA's Madden video game, going right back to EA founder Trip Hawkins' boyhood dreams. I don't play Madden other than occasionally on my iPod. I suspect that I'd become obsessed with it and that it would take up far too much of my time as I tried to perfect it, time I just don't have, but there's no denying the game's massive popularity and influence. And it's come an awfully long way, as technology has generally, since Hawkins and Joe Ybarra pitched it to John Madden himself on an Amtrak ride in 1984, and then since it was released as "John Madden Football" for the Apple II in 1988. And of course it continues to evolve, year after year. Even if you don't play it, this fairly long piece is definitely worth checking out.

Actually, that's it for today -- I've been too tired the past few days to do much reading other than what I do normally for the blog -- but keep checking back here for more to read, too. There'll be most posts, and I'll have a music video for your Friday afternoon enjoyment, too.

Stuff to Read (4/8/10): porn stars, condoms, oysters, and health care

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I'm fairly busy with other things this morning, but let me alert you to a few interesting articles over at Slate:

-- "That's a Wrap: The case for bringing condoms to adult films," by Kent Sepkowitz. I'm not sure the porn industry should be regulated like this, but I suppose it's important to humanize porn stars a bit, not merely to maintain them in our fantasies. And the reality is that people do learn a lot from porn and might benefit from seeing the "talent" wrapped up.

-- "Consider the Oyster: Why even strict vegans should feel comfortable eating oysters by the boatload," by Christopher Cox. Cox is a vegan. Personally, I describe myself as a flexitarian, insofar as I'm not an absolutist when it comes to food (even though I generally don't eat pork and red meat). And I love oysters, preferably raw and naked, preferably from Prince Edward Island. But while I eat them anyway, it's good to know that even a firm vegan can make such a strong case: oyster farming doesn't harm the environment, there's no real risk of overfarming, and oysters don't have central nervous systems.

-- "Unchanged Minds: A majority of Americans still believe the uninsured are doing just fine," by Timothy Noah. A majority of Americans, it seems, are, to put it nicely, deeply ignorant -- and, to put it less nicely, appallingly stupid. It's not really much of a majority, when you delve through the survey questions into the numbers, but there is still a great deal of insensitivity among the public, again to put it nicely.

Stuff to Read (3/3/10)

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Here's the second entry in our ongoing series. The first is here. What I'm doing is linking to interesting articles, reviews, stories, etc., often with a sentence or two of commentary, that I've recently come across. And I'll be doing it on an irregular basis.

Not too much today, as I've been pretty busy, and tired, not to mention preoccupied with the Olympics and with preparing for my upcoming fantasy baseball draft. (I have the #2 overall pick in a deep 12-team league with a bunch of categories. Hello, Hanley. Welcome to the defending champs.)

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Slate: "The Chin Is In," by Troy Patterson -- Slate's TV critic takes look at Jay Leno's first Tonight Show after his return to the 11:35 slot: "What rankles is that, in his unwillingness to curb his uncontrolled greed for camera time, Leno was really, really uncool... Leno is serving something that, aimed to please as many palates as possible, is the same old pablum as before, the only difference being that it now leaves a bitter taste in the mouth." I didn't watch it, and I'm glad I didn't.

Actually, that's it. (I've also been reading through NFL mock drafts, complementing my frequent reading of the Steelers page at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, just to get a sense of what my beloved team might do in the real draft in April. But I'll spare you.)

Although, allow me again to recommend, highly, Jonathan Chait's new blog at The New Republic (in a way, the successor to The Plank, which I miss dearly.) Along with his colleague, Jonathan Cohn, he's been doing some fantastic commentary on health-care reform, though he touches on a wide variety of subjects. I check back frequently so as not to miss anything.

Stuff to Read (2/24/10)

By Michael J.W. Stickings

With the Olympics on, and with me blogging a bit less than usual, I have a good excuse to start what I hope to be an ongoing series here at the blog: Stuff to read.

You see, I read a lot, on any given day, that I don't end up blogging about. And so what I'll do, hopefully on a frequent basis, is link to interesting articles, reviews, stories, etc., often with a sentence or two of commentary. Some of it will be political, related to our posts here, but a lot of it won't be. And I'll try to get the co-bloggers to add their recommendations, too.

So if you're looking for stuff to read, look no further. Let's begin.

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Slate: "Spaghetti With Eyes," by Constance Casey -- An utterly fascinating look at the eel (yes, the eel), a far more fascinating creature than I thought, with migratory and reproductive patterns that are simply amazing. I'll think twice before ordering unagi again.

ESPN: "Tiger still playing by his own rules," by Bill Simmons -- You shouldn't need me to tell you to read the greaet Bill Simmons (aka The Sports Guy) regularly, but this piece is a reminder of his value as a sportswriter. Instead of fawning all over and enabling Tiger Woods like so many in the media, Simmons exposes that sham of a news conference last Friday for what it really was: more of the same freakish, manufactured BS, "a borderline train wreck," everything seeming "staged," with Tiger pathetically hiding behind the addiction excuse.

The New Republic: "The Republican Obama," by John B. Judis -- Floridian Republican upstart Marco Rubio as the new Obama? Really? Judis makes an interesting case, and it's true that Rubio "assiduously avoided endorsing any of the notions of the crackpot right" at CPAC over the weekend, but there was an awful lot not to like in that pandering speech, a lot that was borderline insane, with Rubio playing enthusiastically to the right far more than Obama ever did to the left (did he ever?), and with nothing on the left mirroring the utter insanity of the right.

Okay, that's it for this first installment of Stuff to Read. Enjoy.