Aug 28, 1998, 11:35pm

Hello and welcome to the slightly new and slightly improved rantaholic anonymous page.

First some news. I went to the Pacific National Exhibition today with Jean and blew about $100 or more in order to win her a medium sized beanie-baby type elephant (it's much bigger than a typical beanie baby) and a little stuffed Dalmatian puppy. I made Jean go on the roller coaster, and though she was freaking, she did it, bless her little heart!

As far as this site goes, I'll probably be launching some new content over the weekend, so stay tuned. One thing that will be coming soon is the little photo-essay of our day at the PNE. I've also revamped this page a bit. Check out the sidebar for some new content, commentary and even a new photo.

And before I get into today's little diatribe, I just want to say thanks to everyone who wrote in to me in the last few days - I had some old friends write in and some people I didn't know. All of you told me to keep pressing on with what I do here, which is cool. What is cooler is that some of you took the time to write quite a bit about why you keep coming back, and that was very, very cool. Thanks guys and gals... I mean it!

Okay... here we go. I've been giving some thought into the whole Clinton-Lewinski deal as of late - not so much for the sensationalistic sense... but more in an analysis sense. But I must make a few things clear.

I do not condone any kind of extra-marital affair. Heck, I don't even condone a boyfriend or girlfriend cheating on their partner. I think its disgusting and cowardly.

A while back, someone I knew was involved in something outside their relationship. Without going into details, I can say I had little sympathy for that person because they "slipped"... which in turn kind of pissed off that person. I was asked if I had ever done it, and I said no - it simply will not happen in my lifetime... not by me at least.

The person seemed rather shocked at that statement and made another bold claim stating that I should never say never - I'll eventually do exactly what they did.

That pissed me off to no end. You see, I view cheating as something extremely cowardly, and I have absolutely no sympathy for someone who does it in a relationship. When some of my friends appear cavalier about this, I have a real problem with it, and I let them know. My attitude towards cheating is very simple - have the guts to break off from your relationship first if you feel the need to be with someone else; have the guts to make your relationship work so you don't feel the need to be with someone else; or have the guts to resist the temptation. Period. I have never cheated on a girlfriend in my lifetime, and I cannot imagine any situation where I would do this. I have been tempted (Jean, it was long ago in a relationship far away), I have checked out other women, but I have never strayed and I don't even flirt when I'm locked in. I simply don't do it.

Ok. That's covered, right? So back to Clinton. First of all, I do not condone what he has done in the least. But I also happen to think that this is something that is between him, his wife and family, and Lewinski. This is not a matter for some witchhunt, this is not a matter for Rush Limbaugh to be going out and demanding a resignation or impeachment (something Limbaugh would prefer, I'm sure). Clinton sure as hell ain't the first president who cheated on his wife, and I'll take any bet from anyone who thinks he's the last.

I think I've covered the social aspects here, now I want to delve into some political aspects (as I started doing above). As a Canadian, I can't understand how venomous many vocal right wingers in the States are towards Clinton. He has presided over one of the most prosperous times in US history (though George Bush wants to take credit for that, and Bill Gates et al probably deserve most of it), he cares a lot about social issues, and generally, he's a beneficial leader - the average American can honestly say they are doing better today than they were 6 or 8 years ago. Compare him to Reagan who presided over one of the largest tax increases in US history, and one of the biggest military buildups in American peacetime history, while ignoring the needs of the poor and the minorities.

I won't bother discussing Limbaugh or that freakazoid from CNN's CrossFire, Pat Buchannan. I want to talk a bit about an author you might or might not be aware of: Dale Brown. This guy Brown has a serious hard on for putting down Clinton. How do I know? Time for another aside...

As some of you know, my favorite author is Tom Clancy. I've read all of his fiction books, sometimes twice, and a lot of his non fiction work. I even have his game Politika loaded on this here notebook. Clancy writes political/military thrillers, and his work is obviously popular - three of his books have been made into major films staring amongst others Harrison Ford, and two other books became television movies.

A while back when I ran out of Clancy books to read, I asked people in alt.fan.tom.clancy what authors were similar in style to Clancy's work. Dale Brown was one of the suggestions, so I picked up a few of his books from the library and started to read.

First off, Brown is no where near Clancy's level and sophistication. I have to make that clear.

As I read the first of the two Brown books I picked up, I noticed a few things - he liked using real references to things in his books. He even mentioned Clancy's name in one of them, having one of the characters saying something like "this ain't a Clancy novel you know, it's real life". Okay... this is a normal practice for most authors to lend realism to their work.

But Brown twisted this literaly tool to his own nees - you see I also noticed that he had a real hate developed for the President in his book - a president never named, but talked about as an adulterer who had a dominating wife... key here, the book was written in 1994. Can you guess what real life president he was describing?

The second book was even worse. Brown all but mentioned Clinton by name when he talked about this "wussy" type president and his bitch ass wife who actually made policy.... gee, who's writing this, I thought: Brown or Limbaugh?

Then something made my jaw drop, along with the book... Brown pulled a similar quote like the Clancy one above, but he substituted his own name, and made it seem like "Dale Brown" was the god of all political thriller novel writing. What ego! I dropped the book at that point and never picked it up again.

Brown's attacks against Clinton in a piece of fiction were absolutely terrible. Beyond terrible. Brown's "anonymous" president had absolutely no morals, was a complete pussy, and his anonymous wife was a domineering bitch who basically ran the country. Pretty sad when your personal convictions come across so clearly in a fictional work.

Back to Clancy. Tom Clancy is a known republican, and a known right-winger. He supports a lot of issues I happen to disagree with in the areas of gun control, army buildups and the like. How do I know this? Clancy makes his opinions clear enough in his non-fiction works and when he is interviewed by CNN and other news agencies.

But when Clancy writes a novel, these things get tossed out the window. Sure he sometimes has some characters griping about the dearth of arms for the troops, but he shows the other side as well, often with dignity and class. Clancy is the first political thriller writer I've read who didn't automatically portray every KGB guy, every Soviet, or even every spy against the US government as a complete bad guy.

Even in his earliest works like Red Storm Rising (a book that details a global war between NATO and the Soviet Union), Clancy's very humanistic renderings of various Soviet characters portrays them to be thoughtful, caring and even courageous. I like that about his books because he's only telling it like it is - most people have genuine feelings and often care about others, regardless of their race, creed, sex or nationality.

In his later books, such as Sum of All Fears and Cardinal in the Kremlin, he portrays both KGB officers and Arab terrorists as having souls, as having feelings, and as having kind sides In one of his books, he shows a Muslim terrorist, one who is planning the death of untold numbers of people, caring about the needs and the safety of a girl. Later, that same terrorist shows momentary concerns and second thoughts about killing people he knows he has to kill. After all, they are human - and Clancy writes them that way.

And let me tell you anther thing - Clancy has described what you could call "bad" presidents in his books - presidents who make colossal mistakes, presidents who show lapses of morals. But he also shows these same presidents as having morals, as being righteous too. In other words, he builds a balanced character - one with many shades of gray. Something Brown doesn't do.

People like Dale Brown are obviously having a field day over the latest situation in US politics, and I bet Brown is itching to include slightly veiled details in whatever book he's working on. I won't know because I'll never read something by that idiot again. And don't say "ho ho - Mark won't read him because he disagrees with him" That ain't the case - I disagree with a lot that Clancy himself believes in, but Clancy happens to be my favorite author. For me, it's a matter of respect - I disagree with Clancy's right wing views, but I respect the hell outta him. I disagree with Brown's views, and I also don't respect him one bit for the way he trashes Clinton so one-sidedly in his books.

As for Clinton himself? I hope he weathers the storm, because from a Canadian viewpoint (and a learned political observer viewpoint - remember, I gots that paper on the wall that sez PoliSci!), I happen to think he's one of the best presidents the US has had since Roosevelt. (sorry Eric! :-))

Okay, catch y'all next time...

0 comments | reply

Mixelania

Photos from Algonquin Park
Photos from my trip to Algonquin Park this fall with my Mom and two brothers.

War Stories

Making Snow for the Fortress
One of the worst jobs I ever had... till I got out.

Webiffied

Tools I Use
The tools I use to build websites and lead a tech life.

iPod and iTunes Offline

iMark's iTunes and iPod isn't iPlaying anything right iNow.

Most Recent Songs

Fiddlers Green by The Tragically Hip

Around The Bend by Pearl Jam

Here With Me (Rollo's Chillin' With the Family Mix) by Dido

With arms open wide by Creed

truffle pigs by Matthew Good Band

In the News

Burundi and Beyond - NY Times
Great article by Peter Meehan - provided some background.

St. Petersburg Times
Side mention in an article about good machines

AP Story on Espresso
Background and information provided

NY Times - Grinders Article
Especially proud of this one - got the reporter to focus on grinders

Globe and Mail
LOL - showing bad reporting, dude says I'm an American-based site!

The Olympian, WA
Talks about my love for the El Sal Siberia Pacamara

Seattle Times - Clover
Interviewed for comments on the Clover brewer

NY Times - How it Works
Background and information for various espresso machines

Time Mag Article
Just a brief mention, article about roasting beans.

NY Times
Front page article about consumers getting into specialty coffee.

Washington Monthly
Quoted reference to what I wrote in an article at CoffeeGeek.

USA Today - Barista Jam
Intereviewed for my thoughts on what the epitome of espresso is.

WSJ Article
The Wall Street Journal has interviewed me 3 times. This is the first time my name got in a story.

Reuters Interview
Interview with Reuters, Jan 2 - this is the USA Today version.

My Other Stuff

CoffeeGeek
Launched Dec 22, 2001, this is THE online community for espresso and coffee fanatics.

CoffeeKid Website
It's all new, as of March, 2002. My personal coffee obsession site.

WebMotif Services
My company's site - needs an update!

Amazon WishList
Hey, if you feel the need to buy me something, check here!

Daily Visits

enGadget
Great gadget site run by the guy who used to do Gizmodo.

Google News
This is how I get my daily news fix.

DPReview Forums`
The most active forums for digital photography online today.

Daily Zen
Need my Daily Zen fix!

Jalopnik
A blog about car stuff. Vroom Vroom.

MoCo Loco
An industrial design blog. Very cool stuff.

Friends and Family Plan

Beata Blog
Beata's got her own blog! She updates it most days.

Riddla on Flickr
Matt Riddle's flickr account, updated regularly

Irdy Photos
Irdy, my friend from Jakharta, on Flickr

Recent Acquisitions

Canon EF 24-105 f4 L Lens
The best lens I've ever owned. Super sharp and quick.

Canon 5D
A full frame dSLR, with luscious colour reproduction.

Alzo Digital Lights
Some amazing florescent cold lights for product photography

Canon Xsi dSLR
Amazing technology and image quality in a tiny package.

Canon 40D
Latest prosumer camera from Canon - a much better upgrade than the 30D

Fujitsu P1610
Great 2.2lb computer that does most of my travel / writing needs

28mm f1.8 Lens
A great lens for closeup work and full picture photography

Foodsaver Advanced
Finally got the right tools for freezing green coffee.

Canon 50mm 1.4
Most amazing lens I've ever owned. Produces stellar photos.

Canon 10-22mm
Super wide angle (full frame fisheye) zoom for my Canon 20D