The .Plan

One reason why I like Slate so much…

Obviously Slate was a flyspeck on Microsoft’s balance sheet and looms only slightly larger on the Washington Post Co.’s. What difference does a few million dollars of profit or loss matter while billions course around us? It makes a big difference. For a publication, like an individual, financial independence brings intellectual independence. The technical term for this, I believe, is “f*ckyouability” (FUA). If you’re self-supporting, you can say “f*ck you” to anyone, which is one important function of a magazine on almost any subject and in any medium.
–Michael Kinsley, “My History of Slate”, Slate, June 18, 2006 [asterisks not in original]

May my kung-fu one day be so strong.

Link courtesy of AbFab.

EDIT: But maybe I only like Slate because of its pretentiousness:

Slate, in other words, is by and for smart boys trying strenuously to be ever smarter than anyone they perceive as threatening their smartest status — all with the hope of ending up at some more or less horrible job at the New York Times.
–Michael Wolff, “What’s Wrong With Slate: It’s as insufferable as Fox News”, Slate, June 19, 2006

Contrarianness is a great and good thing — when driven by reason and facts. But contrarianness for its own sake is often the very definition of asininity. Mavericks who break from the herd to point out hard truths can be heroes. Mavericks who break out from the herd just to get noticed are pretty annoying. If the emperor has no clothes, by all means say so. If he doesn’t, saying otherwise for the sake of saying so is not only a tiresome shtick, it also reduces your credibility.

…There’s one last point I’d like to make. Slate takes a pose that it isn’t liberal. Indeed, Weisberg insists in interviews that the magazine shouldn’t be seen as liberal but rather as — you guessed it — “contrarian.” He told the Independent that proof of this can be found in the fact that Slate carries Christopher Hitchens. Please. Hitch is great and Slate is better for having him. But come on. Of course, it’s liberal. It offers “contrary” arguments for liberal ends but almost never offers anything contrary to liberalism itself.
–Jonah Goldberg, “What’s Wrong With Slate: It’s liberal, contrarian, and haughty”, Slate, June 19, 2006

The appropriately named ‘Fists of Fury’ loop gets off to a punishing start uphill for two miles and winds its way through the heavily forested Interlaken Park. On the way back, you can stop by Lake View Cemetery to pay your respects to Bruce Lee and his son, Brandon Lee. A few blocks later, on East Boston Street, is one of the most beautiful views of Portage Bay to the north, and from there you can also steal a glimpse of the University of Washington Medical Center and Husky Stadium, both of which look like toys from the top of Capitol Hill. It’s all downhill after that.

1. Eminem - Lose Yourself
   
2. N.W.A. - 100 Miles and Runnin’
   
3. Ice-T - New Jack Hustler
   
4. Ice Cube - You Can Do It
   
5. Black Eyed Peas - Don’t Phunk With My Heart
   
6. Lenny Kravitz - Where Are We Running?
   
7. Liz Phair - Count On My Love
   
8. Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
   
9. Melanie C - Closer
   
10. Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me
    
11. Phil Vassar - Bye Bye
    
12. Guster - Satellite
    
13. Heather Nova - Mesmerized
    
14. Mindy Smith - Falling