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Things from around the Web:

• A very good article by Andrew Ferguson on the passing of amateur Lincoln researcher James O. Hall. Excerpt: Uncorrupted by graduate degrees, with no thought of professional advancement, Mr. Hall exemplified a tradition in the study of American history, particularly in the Lincoln field, where the most interesting writing and research is often done by hobbyists. It's been this way from the beginning. Until the middle of the last century, all the great Lincoln biographers made their livings outside the university--journalists like Ida Tarbell and free-lance enthusiasts like Benjamin Thomas produced biographies that were beautifully written and filled with news. Even now, dozens of Lincoln or Civil War roundtables flourish, and many of them publish quirky newsletters in which members let drop bits of recondite research or boldly advance new theories. While other areas of academic research have shriveled into hyperspecialization, the amateur tradition has kept the Lincoln field blessedly free of the guild mentality that can make academic history seem the dreary province of pedants and bullies.
• I've been pimpin' out my Wikipedia User page. More to follow.
• Mashuptown: KISS + Tone-Loc + 20 Fingers.
• Via The Website at the End of the Universe, an insanely intricate map of the Star Trek Universe.

No Longer Qualifies for the Wikipedia Category of Living People (NLQWCLP)

Above is the parody (click to enlarge) that caused all the trouble between Rev. Falwell and Mr. Flynt a few years ago.

Jack Valenti Dies at 85

Well, I see that Jack Valenti, of whom I have been quite critical in the past, has passed away.

I prefer not to speak ill of the recently deceased, so I have marked the passing by adding some categories to his Wikipedia page and starting one for his MPAA ratings board appointee, Joan Graves. (This was the woman shown as a cartoon in This Film Is Not Yet Rated.)

R.I.P. David Halberstam

This is really too bad...

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author David Halberstam was killed in a three-car accident this morning in Menlo Park near the Dumbarton Bridge, the San Mateo County Coroner's Office announced. Halberstam, author of 15 bestsellers, died at the scene after the car in which he was a front-seat passenger was broadsided by another vehicle. The coroner's office said he died of massive internal injuries.

Mr. Halberstam may be best known for the fascinating study of the Vietnam War The Best and the Brightest, and was a fantastic writer who was interested in a wide variety of topics. This was a guy who lived life and lived the life of the mind.

• Here's Halberstam and Neil Sheehan on C-Span's American Writers series.
• Here Halberstam on Booknotes talking about his book The Fifties (the first book of his that I read).
• How Do You Get Readers Interested in a Story?
• Tips on Book Writing
• A Trivialization of Agenda
• Newseum: Respect for the Average Officer in Vietnam
• New York Times profile, 4/24/07
  
  

Schlesinger Obit, Samurai Vader, IQ Scarcity, Floyd/Bee Gees Mashup

Items:

• Farewell to historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. NYT obit excerpt: Mr. Schlesinger wore a trademark dotted bowtie, showed an acid wit and had a magnificent bounce to his step. He was a lifelong aficionado of perfectly blended martinis. Between marathons of writing as much as 5,000 words a day, he was a fixture at Georgetown salons when Washington was clubbier and more elitist. In New York, he was a man about town, whether at Truman Capote’s famous parties or escorting Jacqueline Kennedy to the movies.
• Here's Darth Vader's uniform Samuraized. Excerpt: Transforming Vader into a Samurai, or a Samurai into Vader, required the integration of several design motifs that married the traditional with the fantastic. "First, we hit on the idea of adding the 'front crest', which was designed based on the Imperial Icon, to the front of the helmet," says Yoshitoku. "By adding this, the 'leader of the Imperial Army' image is emphasized, as ancient Japanese military commanders used their ancestral family emblems on their front crest. We also added a Vader-like design to the face guard (called a menpo) which features a handcrafted look as if artisans of the past had done it."
• I'm sure we all know people for whom the phrase "scarcity of IQ" applies. Here's a thumbnail economic analysis of that phenomenon. Excerpt: In practical terms, "Conservation of IQ" is used to argue for limits on immigration, against various meliorist attempts, and possibly even for eugenics. I've heard it used to argue for outlawing marijuana, which of course destroys brain cells... ...I don't assign special status to The Conservation of IQ for two reasons. The first is the Flynn effect, or the fact that measured IQs have been rising steadily over time. This implies some combination of a) IQ gains come naturally under conditions of progress, and b) IQ statistics are to some extent phony and don't measure real intelligence. We can debate the mix, but either deflates fears that IQ is somehow especially scarce or endangered. These data also suggest that IQ is an artifice to be unpacked rather than a primary category.
• Pink Floyd meets the Bee Gees!

Great Children's Book

I just saw an excellent children's book today: Terrible Storm by Carol Otis Hurst, illustrated by S.D. Schindler. It was about this woman's two grandfathers, who grew up together in a small town in Massachussetts and were friends ever since they were boys. One was very much a gregarious, outgoing extrovert, and one was an ISTJ (like myself). During the Great Blizzard of 1888, both young men got stranded in the places least suited for them... Grandpa Backslapper in a barn by himself, and Grandpa Introvert in a house full of people-persons. It's a great book!

The author based it on stories told her by her own two grandfathers. I had not been familiar with her, so I was surprised and saddened to see that she just passed away a few days ago. From her website: Carol Otis Hurst died at home January 21st at age 73. Carol was a life long resident of Westfield and taught many years there and in West Springfield. For the past 30 years she worked as a storyteller and educational consultant. She wrote many books for both teachers and children. Her recent success as a childrens' author brought her great joy and satisfaction. (Local paper's obit here.)

Carol, I have to thank you for capturing the plight of the introvert stuck in a house full of people so perfectly! (I'm sure the extroverts will thank you for capturing their plight too, as soon as the Super Bowl is over.)

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Several things:

• First, speaking of Atlantic Records, allow me to pay respects to the late great Ahmet Ertegun. Excellent Slate interview here, L.A. Times profile here, Rolling Stone here. Let me give you an excellent documentary to just hear this guy talk about the music industry -- Tom Dowd and the Language of Music, which, though primarily about one of his colleagues, Tom Dowd, had plenty of Mr. Ertegun's insights.
• The newly blogrolled Google Operating System has the top ten Google Apps of the Year. Excerpt: 7. Google Video -- Google Video has shifted its mission from searching TV shows captions to searching all the videos in the world, one by one (including user-generated videos). The video store wasn't successful, but Google Video continued to add features: popular videos, uploading videos online, ratings, comments, labels. But most of them were added a long time after they were included in YouTube, its major rival. Adding Google Video to Google's homepage didn't help it too much, so Google bought YouTube. Contextual video ads, launched this year, will have a big exposure, while Google tries to make deals with content providers.
• I remember one time former Texas Senator Phil Gramm was asked how many guns he owned. His reply: "More than I need, but not as many as I want." I have the same feeling about getting some of these.

R.I.P. Milton Friedman, Lover of Liberty

Props to Milton Friedman: Scholar, Nobel Prize-winning Economist, Small-"l" libertarian, Advocate of Drug Decriminalization, and Lover of Human Freedom. Above are scans of the front and back of my Milton Friedman trading card, which I got (in a set) from the U of M - Flint Economics Dept. about 10 or 12 years ago. Here are profiles from the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Reason Magazine, and the Cato Institute (including a podcast). Blogospheric comments from Volokh, Postrel, Agitator (Excellent quote: "...Sad for this country that the federal government has come to be stocked with more William Bennetts, and fewer Milton Friedmans."), Jane Galt, JMPP, Marginal Revolution, Larry Kudlow, and The Freakos. Here's the 1994 Booknotes interview in which Prof. Friedman discussed the introduction he wrote to Friedrich von Hayek's The Road to Serfdom. (Cartoon version of TRTS here.) (C-Span will be replaying this interview several times.)