Jonathan Miller's Blog, page 434

The RP's Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Film

The Politics of Film

The Hurt Locker duo Katheryn Bigelow (director) and Mark Boal (screenwriter) have been planning a film about Osama Bin Laden for quite some time.  Now, it will probably get a different ending.  You know, since they killed him and everything. [Guardian]

The film Bridesmaids opens this week.  Many people have pointed to this film as feminizing the sub-genre of films made popular by The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Hangover, and Pineapple Express.  Maybe so–we will see next week...

The RP's Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Swing

The Politics of Swing

This week, the Recovering Politician takes two very distinctive looks at tennis: one beautiful, one grotesque. Marvel at the former in this stunning collection of today's top female tennis players in slow motion presented by the New York Times Magazine: [The Beauty of the Power Game]

And let's see if you remember this classic skit from Monty Python's Flying Circus. If you're of a certain age, it was certainly hard to forget. Enjoy! [Tennis Anyone?] 

In case you missed it...

Where in the World is The RP?

Today's addition of Where in the World is the RP takes us to RP nirvana.

Back during his tour of duty in the nation's capital, the RP and his BFF, the late great Alex Haught, used to hang out during cherry blossom season at the Jefferson Memorial.  So the RP communes with cherry blossom trees whenever possible.

This past weekend, the RP attended a Japanese-themed cherry blossom festival far from his home in Kentucky.  He made some new friends as well.

Guess the precise location of this...

The RP's Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of the Media

Who knew President Obama was such a funny guy? Obama jokes about Donald Trump and more at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday. [Huffington Post]

The role of Facebook and Twitter in spreading news about bin Laden's death: [Wall Street Journal]

Check out Storify, the newest tool in social media reporting that aggregates stories from peoples' Tweets and Facebook posts. [Storify]

In case you missed the media event of the year: official portraits from the Royal Wedding. [a

The RP's Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Fashion

The Politics of Fashion

In honor of the Royal Wedding, I present to you a glorious timeline of fashion. Enjoy!   [Time]

If you can design a dress, then you obviously can design kitchen faucets, right? Well, Jason Wu, a designer for Michelle Obama, thinks so! Check it out:   [NY Daily News]

When shopping, here are some tips on how to get in and out of the dressing room before it eats you alive:   [Real Simple]

Uggs and football now have something in common with their latest endorser! Check it...

The RP Celebrates A Month Clean & Sober (From Politics) w/a Diverse Array of Osama Commentary

Yesterday was an historic day for the country, and an exciting anniversary for The Recovering Politician.

We marked the one month birthday of this web site with a series of posts that proved why a post-partisan forum for civil dialogue is so essential. Without ratings-generating hype, partisanship, rancor, chest-thumping, or name-calling, our contributors provided a diverse set of thought-provoking posts about the meaning of Sunday night's history-making events.

If you haven't had a chance t...

Tomorrow & A Wrapup of Today's Bin Laden Analysis

Today was the busiest day for posts in the long history of The Recovering Politician. (OK, it's only been a month.)

Make sure you browse through the variety of illuminating and thought-provoking posts by members of the RP team, including former Congressman Artur Davis, history professor Ronald J. Granieri, New York transplant Mark Nickolas, State Senator/international businessman Jason Atkinson, and the RP himself (here and here).

Tuesday, Jeff Smith is back, offering some ideas about...

Ronald J. Granieri: The Death of Public Enemy #1

I went to bed early Sunday night, and thus did not hear the big news about the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden until this morning when I received an email from the RP himself asking me if I wanted to write a response. After receiving the note, I turned on my radio (which is of course tuned to NPR, because I am a College Professor) and heard the details. My initial reaction was surprise, for two reasons: I was surprised that the search for bin Laden was still ongoing, and I was...

Artur Davis: The World is Safer and More Free

The world is safer and more free with the news that Osama Bin Laden is dead. Al Qaeda is demoralized, and its marginalization is on display in a vivid manner for young men and women in the Arab world trying to decide if modernity or jihad is the best principle to organize their ambitions.

I am not as quick to compare the moment with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, or the collapse of the Soviet Union, as some commentators have rushed to do. It elevates Bin Laden to compare his virtual...

The RP's Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Tech

The Politics of Tech

The hackers that breached the Playstation Network in mid-April and brought the entire network down now claim to have copied 2.2 million users' credit card numbers along with CWs. It is now widely speculated that the the hackers could be European. [The Guardian]

A bit of bike tech! Here is a really cool innovation on the traditional bike lock. [Gizmag]

MaximumPC has a very interesting list of 7 things that have been leaked about Microsoft's future OS Microsoft 8. The list...