Irish pubs are a great place to go for the New Year's celebration. Just ask humorist Larry Miller:

"Now, God knows, I've done some stupid things in my life. Seriously stupid. How's walking into an Irish bar on Second Avenue at three in the morning singing "There Will Always Be An England"? I was punched out immediately. (You know you're drunk when you go to brush something off your shoulder, and it's the floor.) Then they picked me up and bought me a pint."

Happy New Year to all.

As the year comes to an end, one is tempted to generate a "Best of..." and "Worst of..." list for 2002 as so many other web sites and newspapers do.

I will content myself instead with providing this link to what is not only the (unintentionally) funniest piece of web "reporting" I've seen all year, but also damning proof that there are "Catholics" out there who make Pat Buchanan and Father Charles Coughlin seem like models of Thomist rationality and moderation:

From the Cardinals remarks about coal and oil, however, we on the Kolbe team realized that the Vatican simply does not have enough correct information in order to make an intelligent decision. This is no surprise, since the Pontifical Academy of Science, which has 88 members, only two of whom are Catholic, and all of them avowed evolutionists, is the body that provides information to the Vatican about the Creation/Evolution issue.

That's right. According to this crowd, Pope John Paul and Cardinal Ratzinger are hopelessly confused and misinformed about scientific issues because they don't grasp the latest "research" indicating that in fact the world was created in six days. Scroll through their web site and you will not be surprised to discover that the Earth in fact is at the center of the universe and there is no proof that it actually revolves around the sun.

Check the bios and you'll see the staff could fill out a veritable stage-one clinical trial for pharmaceutical companies testing drugs for the alleviation of attention deficit disorder. The front man for this outfit was apparently a guest on a regular show on EWTN until he started ranting about Jews. He's drifted from one religion to another, unhappily now insisting he is a Catholic apologist.

Hopefully, after a few more months, these bozos will "leave the church" and decide to become Scientologists once they find out that is where they truly belong.

(Did I forget to mention that these so-called Catholics are classic Jew baiters?)

There's talk that the upcoming Macworld Conference in San Francisco (Jan6—10) will be the last. According to Wired News, Apple finds the huge conferences increasingly expensive to entertain. Add to that the pressure of having to introduce new products at each one. Apple has indicated it would like to concentrate on running smaller and more frequent regional conferences.

I for one would like that. Macworld is just too far out of my range in terms of expense. Even the vendors who go are cutting back on their displays and parties. Super conferences for geeks, like so many other aspects of the dot com era, seem like a thing of the past. It's time for a more austere and efficient approach to building the new media world.

John L. Allen at National Catholic Reporter has a good piece reminding us why "conservative" isn't exactly the right label to apply to Pope John Paul II:

As a thought experiment, translate John Paul’s priorities into a secular political program: a strong United Nations, promotion of social justice, an end to war, environmentalism, human rights, inter-religious tolerance, and a special option for the young. Throw in a couple of the other stands for which the pope is well known, such as staunch opposition to the death penalty and the concept of a “living wage.” Such a candidate could not get nominated for president by the Democrats in the United States, let alone the Republicans, because he would be seen as too liberal.

It wouldn't be Christmas without mention of at least one item of Scrooge-like proportions. This, courtesy of Andrew Stuttaford at The Corner:

Regular readers of the Corner will remember that, in a gesture of unusually crass political correctness, the British Red Cross banned Nativity scenes from its shop windows. The organization is now paying the price. The Daily Telegraph is reporting that the Red Cross is “facing a sharp drop in donations.”

And I thought that kind of nonsense only took place on this side of the Atlantic. Sort of makes my Christmas a little merrier.

The placing of former FBI Agent John Connolly---convicted of racketeering and other charges earlier this year---in virtual isolation at the Kentucky prison to which he was sent appears to be part of a move by the Justice Department to get Connolly to "talk" in exchange for a possible reduction in his 10-year sentence.
The assumption behind this is that Connolly knows much more about the notorious Whitey Bulger case and it is only a question of time before the embittered ex-agent coughs up one or more others the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston has targeted in its ongoing pursuit of the South Boston mobster.

Yep—this is pretty much the way I've always viewed the Democratic party's most famous bigot.

The highly controversial Pete Rose issue which has been bubbling on Major League baseball's back burner in recent weeks, hopefully was taken care of once and for all by the New York Times today in a strong editorial which touched all bases. "We'd all like to see Mr. Rose rehabilitated and forgiven (for gambling on baseball games)," the Times said.

"But he has shown no particular remorse and has never admitted to betting on games. And even of he did confess, the ban should remain. Nobody should be encouraged to think that he can trifle with a fundamental obligation and escape permanent sanction." the editorial said.

"On the related question of Mr. Rose's eligibility for baseball's Hall of Fame, there is room for more flexibility," the newspaper said, adding two "firm " conditions: Mr. Rose make a full confession and any plaque in Cooperstown commemorating his remarkable achievements "must also take note of the darker side of his career."

Marty Peretz pays a nice tribute to his friend Al Gore. I don't agree with all of it (although his assessment of New York Times airhead Maureen Down is dead on).

Major news today from Charles Wiltgen:

Walter Murch—the editor of movies including Apocalypse Now (for which he won an Oscar for Best Sound and a nomination for Picture Cutting), The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The English Patient (for which he won Oscars for both Picture Editing and Best Sound) and The Talented Mr. Ripley—has switched to Final Cut Pro for his next film, Cold Mountain (which stars Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger).

Cold Mountain will be Final Cut Pro’s first major motion picture. Especially if successful, Cold Mountain could mean a huge sea change for the industry and for Apple’s—not to mention Avid’s—place in it.

This is a big wake-up call for Avid. Read the news from Hollywood.

Just came from the opening of the Two Towers. Still digesting it all. As with my first view of Fellowship of the Ring last year, I spend too much time worrying about how it differs from the book. Tomorrow, I'll see it again.

But the fact is, it's great. Almost overwhelming. Again, as with the first movie, you're left after three hours wondering why it ended so soon....

Charles Wiltgen notes that Microsoft is getting in Apple's face with it's new media applications. The software giant announced today it is releasing it's new Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition (basically to coincide with Macworld on January 7th).

This is good news on the DVD front:

The digital versatile disk format, better known as DVD, is only six years old, but it has already claimed 29 percent of U.S. households, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

For the second year in a row, DVD players are poised to become the holiday season's hottest-selling electronics item, CEA said. So many players will be sold that analysts expect 40 percent of American households to have one by the end of this year.

Great—just don't take the title of this article seriously. I can't imagine anything dumber than throwing
out your VCR. If you have 8mm and Super 8mm films, you're certainly not going to throw out your projector, even if you've had your footage transferred to video.

One of the biggest myths I've heard in this business is the alleged fragility of video tape. Probably a tactic employed by manufacturers to keep tapes selling to nervous customers. As you can see from our BlogThis!

What does it tell you when Roger Clemens' super agents actually tell the press their client is open to a return to Boston?

According to the Boston Globe's Bob Hohler today:

Since Yankees GM Brian Cashman has said he would not re-sign Roger Clemens if he obtains one of Montreal's front-line starters, the Rocket has kept open the possibility he would return to Boston, according to his agent, Randy Hendricks. ''It's the longest of long shots,'' Hendricks said, ''but it's possible.''

It's not such a long shot if his agents are actually saying this. The Yanks obviously want to get Bartolo Colon from the Expos much more than they want Clemens.

This Blog has made no secret we'd love to see the Rocket finish his career back in Boston. The idiots who let him go are long gone from the Fenway organization now, and Clemens could still easily win another 15 to 20 games in the coming year.