A hero and an inspiration. A brilliantly funny, sneaky smart writer and the ideal drinking companion. He did the impossible: he made you laugh at the bad news. Except for today. P. J. O’Rourke. Irreplaceable.
Need some time to collect my thoughts to properly describe this man and his genius, but here's a start: effortlessly funny, utterly professional, brilliantly economical with words and looks and silence. The word "legend" was invented to describe Bob Newhart.
One lesson from Tom Wolfe’s genius: to write a great novel, to capture a time, you must first sit quietly and pay attention to the world. As it is. Stop talking, listen, and take notes.
For my Christmas present to myself I am currently manufacturing, inside my body, a bespoke Covid vaccine in a totally sustainable way. Merry Christmas to everyone!
Funny moment here, shot by
@rossdomoney
, where a French policeman aiming a flashball gun at
#YellowVests
protesters stop to greet and kiss one of them who he appears to know.
It's 7PM in New York. For the past weeks, that's meant neighborhoods all over town erupting into applause and cheers for hospital and health workers. This evening, silence. What a disaster this all is.
Today, still rattled by the death of one of my heroes, Anthony Bourdain, I went and sat outside and drank a cup of coffee and scrolled through the heartbreaking testimonials. Many of them had Suicide Prevention lines attached, which was nice 1/
@walterkirn
Milton Friedman once told me — sorry for the name drop — that everything got better when he decided to assume that everyone he was debating with was arguing in good faith. He said it led to better discussions, lower blood pressure, and more effective persuasion.
Final thought about the great, departed Tom Wolfe, the master of the keyboard: he wrote about life. About America. About art and politics and money and greed and kindness and people. He didn’t write about himself, or mommy, or My Awful Childhood.
@vpal88
@MichaelWarbur17
@BobMurphyEcon
Some trivia: those were real Cuban cigars, Cohiba Esplendidos -- the best -- which I provided -- I had a friend in Hong Kong FedEx about 25 boxes. And the guy at the door at the end is the legendary agent who packaged the series and who always wanted more season.
@SohrabAhmari
@JonahNRO
I was assigned Gen X at birth. But I identify with the generation that fought at the Somme. Preferred pronouns: this-fuckin'-guy/who-you-lookin'-at.
it’s covered in fraises des bois, wild strawberries, which are rare and don’t last long and delicate and when they’re around it’s a sin not to enjoy them with gratitude and love. And yes, that’s a metaphor.
She was immensely funny and weird and gifted and utterly without vanity. I worked with her once and she said words I wrote and I was dazzled. Am still dazzled. Photos are from performances she gave only a few years apart. Talk about range. She invented it. Chloris Leachman, RIP.
Shout out to the kid in Greenwich Village Trick or Treating in a
#MAGA
hat and red necktie. Honorable mention to his dad, walking behind him, mouthing the words, “It’s just a costume it’s just a costume...”
And the amazing thing is, Tom Wolfe managed to unobtrusively report on the world around him in a blinding white suit and bespoke Cleverly shoes! Just proves the power of listening, watching, and taking notes.
By getting rid of Trump but keeping the Republican Senate, voters threw out the baby but kept the bath water.
...is what I’d say if I were a TV pundit zooming into a cable news outlet in front of books.
I've written two books about Hollywood, and do a weekly commentary on
@kcrw
about it. This, though, is spectacular. If I could get away with it, I'd steal it outright.
Two weeks ago, I felt like I was in the news because I was in Brett Kavanaugh’s class at Yale. Now I feel like I’m in the news because a few years ago I discovered that I am 10% Native American. Is this a TED talk?
On the occasion of Lilek's last column for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, I would like to say he is my favorite internet find of all time, an American national treasure, and deserving of a Mark Twain Medal.
I gave GPT-4 a budget of $100 and told it to make as much money as possible.
I'm acting as its human liaison, buying anything it says to.
Do you think it'll be able to make smart investments and build an online business?
Follow along 👀
"When my center-right audience discovers my public-radio work, the only reaction I’ve noticed is mild curiosity. [...]
But when my center-left public-radio listeners find out about my right-wing leanings, it’s trouble."
Read more from
@rcbl
👉
#NPR
Ask. Check in. “How are you? I noticed that you’re hiding yourself” is a question maybe we need to ask each other more. I know why we don’t — well, I know why *I* don’t: because we’re worried that we can’t offer a solution, can’t direct our hopeless friend to the right 3/
The NYTimes quoted me and took my photo for this article. Happy to say that it was a classic NYTimes photo: looking off while thinking of a sad thing. I was thinking of La Super Rica taqueria in Santa Barbara and how much I miss my weekly trips there.
but also complicated. “Talk to someone” people kept saying, which is fine advice, but not always possible. The mind shuts off escape routes, a person on the brink often can’t make that call. So in addition to that, I’d add this: 2/
THREAD: Went to a Mexican restaurant here in NYC and I heard something in the waiter’s accent that made me ask if he was from
#Venezuela
, and when he said “Yes” I told him I had just come from there. I wish I could show you all his face as he heard this, the sheer excitement.
expert, the right answer. But maybe we don’t need to do that. Maybe all we need to do — all we can do — is be present and quiet and attentive and hope and pray that we break the fall a bit, that we interrupt the cascade down into this. 4/
I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!