Paulson

Hank Paulson looks like he was sent to Washington by Central Casting for the role of the Evil Businessman. But actually, he has been confirmed by the Senate to be the new Secretary of the Treasury. From what I've read, he seems a good choice.

Fancy footwork

1. Don't miss the World Cup quarter-final this Friday between Germany and Argentina. These are the best two teams in the tournament so far. The winner will go on to win the Cup. You heard it here first. Or you heard it here, anyway.

2. Yesterday morning, Furry Lewis wrapped herself up in the bit of comforter hanging over the foot of our bed. I discovered this as my bare-foot step merely brushed by the comforter and found it surprisingly substantial and - get this - warm. Who knew that the common foot was so perceptive?

Make every day Take Your Pet To Work Day

Reuters reports a growing trend of employers allowing their staff to bring their pets to work. I'll limit my comments to saying that I can't wait to take the cats on the DC Metro.

Why I read the boring news

Faithful readers and Holler visitors probably know that I am an enthusiastic reader of The Economist, which is generally respected, if considered a bit dense and dry to get through in a week. Au contraire to the "dry" bit. The following, taken from a column this week on the newish leader of the Conservative Party in Britain, illustrates how hilarious political and economic commentary can be:

"... Most often, when asked to sum up his political creed, [David Cameron] says he is a “modern, compassionate Conservative” — modern because he's open to new ideas, compassionate because he wants to help society's unfortunates and Conservative because he doesn't believe that every problem can or should be solved by state action.

Most people like to think they are open-minded and few would admit to wanting to grind their heels in the faces of the deserving poor. ..."

I choked back laughter, and occasionally failed, all the way from Metro Center to Farragut North. I'm laughing right now, re-reading this.

The Financial Times is also respected but considered dull (in spite of its sassy salmon paper). There's a pretty good Lucy Kellaway column in today's edition on bad "motivational" memos. (Free registration seems to suffice to get you access to the column.)

Congratulations, Cousin E

Great news came from New Jersey today. We learned that Cousin Eric has been selected for Master Sergeant in the Air Force. In case you are not terribly familiar with the Air Force - and I'm certainly no expert - Master Sergeant is one of the "Top Three" enlisted ranks. That Eric has made this rank is not just recognition of his service as an individual, but of his talent and dedication as a leader. We're biased, but we think this advancement is well-deserved, and we couldn't be happier for and prouder of our cousin. Good on ya.

Footy video

William says it's totally lame to post a link to a video and call it a blog. May be, but this video is cooler than at least 99% of what I write.

Birthday Celebrity Deathmatch: Wm v Wm

Trespassers William versus William Li (no, not Dartmouth, the real one)

TW: "...her voice is immediately lovable and her inconsolable world-weariness completely convincing." (Rock Sound)
WL: ... his voice is immediately mumblable and his world-weirdiness neither pitiful nor pretentious.

TW: "...it makes you feel like you're listening to music for the first time." (CitizenRobot .com)
WL: ... makes you feel like you're listening to someone speaking English for the first time. It's like the stories about babies who don't speak for years, then start spouting complete sentences. Extend that to a person who doesn't speak for decades, then starts spouting canonical rants.

TW: Played a set on public radio on 21 April
WL: Hosted public radio

TW: "Trespassers William draft warm songs in a cold world. Dreamy melancholy ripples across the lonely stillness of this Southern California band's psychedelic folk-pop." (M. Myers (KEXP) )
WL: The world is warm in Houston. William's dreamy, if you're into that kind of thing (Louren). And William proves his still-ness by still existing, day after day, as he does on this day, his birthday.

WL wins, hands down.