here is the last part of Peggy Noonan's column today in which she comments on "the Da Vinci code":

"Speaking of the detachment of the elites, the second big news of the week--in some ways it may be bigger--is the apparent critical failure of "The DaVinci Code." After its first screening in Cannes, critics and observers called it tedious, painfully long, bloated, grim, so-so, a jumble, lifeless and talky.
There is a God. Or, as a sophisticated Christian pointed out yesterday, there is an Evil One, and this may be proof he was an uncredited co-producer. The devil loves the common, the stale. He can't use beauty; it undermines him. "Banality is his calling card."

This was an interesting article--and its not political! or religious!--about the fascination with Titanic. It isn't one of those "people who are fascinated with Titanic are sooo plebian" numbers. It has some very positive points about some of the lessons that can be learned from that disaster. and it isn't the obvious ones about the hubris of man versus nature.

"a href="http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=051106C">Titanic"

After "sideways" Patty has been afraid to order merlot in polite company. Here is an article about the subject.

"merlot

This morning I recalled another "family saying"--"Who died?" Again, this saying must be used in the appropriate context in order to get the full flavor. One should wait for an encounter with a person who is telling a story to another person or group; then in the midst of the tale, you should interrupt and ask "Who died?" This will provoke one or more of three possible reactions: a) merriment among the cognoscenti; b) the story teller will begin at the beginning, to the annoyance of the group that has been there from the beginning; and/or c) a response from one of the listeners, the substance of which is "Never mind. We'll tell you later". This may provoke an exchange which results in the story being summarized in an unsatisfacory fashion or eventaully being told all over again anyway. Use of the "who died?" rhetorical device can prolong a gathering around the kitchen or dining room table almost indefinitely or at least until someone has to go to the bathroom, the phone rings or your baby has awakened screaming, requiring you to attend to him/her.

Here's an article about an etiquette guide for Americans who will be travleing abroad. It says it has been distributed widely on cmapuses. I wonder if Brian, Kara or Dan got copies. It might be distributed with passports in the future.

"Etiquette Guide"

I know some of you saw this broadcast on Sat. night and inquired what was written about the event in the press. Here is an article in the NYT discussing it.

"blogging on Colbert"

Not another article about how awful one political point of view is, but an attempt to understand why certain positions and arguments seem to work in how the West acts. I thought about this after reading Dan's paper which discusses the theory about leading a country by creating a national myth. Lest you think the article is negative, I refer to the last paragraph, which points out an observation that Mr. Steele, a black intellectual, makes about our society today:

"Possibly white guilt's worst effect is that it does not permit whites--and nonwhites--to appreciate something extraordinary: the fact that whites in America, and even elsewhere in the West, have achieved a truly remarkable moral transformation. One is forbidden to speak thus, but it is simply true. There are no serious advocates of white supremacy in America today, because whites see this idea as morally repugnant. If there is still the odd white bigot out there surviving past his time, there are millions of whites who only feel goodwill toward minorities."

"Aren't high gas prices something that environmentalists want?

Patty and I drove to Fulton and visited my Dad and my sister Megan on Saturday, and they seem to be doing well. Patty did some yard work up there. And of course, we were very sadddened and shocked to read in Saturday's paper about the apparently non-accidental death of Marlene Hill, Patty's first instructor in waitressing at Luigi's. We are going to the wake tonight.

Couldn't resist. Had to post this article from the WSJ about blogging, inhibitions, repression and some new psychological terms about blogging disorders. Do I have a problem?

"Someday we will all sound like this"l