Victory Soap v. 2.0

On the other hand, there's risk, and then there's pointless risk. For instance, I don't get the attraction to gambling. It's not that I'm a stiffneck about the "sin" of gambling, it's just that the very idea bores me. I've never wanted to go to Las Vegas, for one thing -- it wasn't until later that I found that there were other things to do in Vegas (still, not too much that I'm interested in) besides go to some casino and give the owners lots of your money. And all those scenes in James Bond movies where he goes into a casino and confronts the villain over the roullette wheel or something? Except for the cute villain-Bond quips, yawn. Here, though, Virginia Postrel does a good job of explaining the attraction of the eponymous Bond Casino Scene to people first reading the novels in postwar Britain. Still, understanding how people felt then gives rise to no urge to feel the same way. This is where I become glad I live in the here and now. Imagine living in such limited circumstances that playing cards in some sleazy, smoke-filled room full of whores, gangsters, and addicts is considered a glamorous night out. Then again, I used to go out with my friends to skanky dives to see punk bands and we all thought we were having such a fun time. Well, we were!

Link to Postrel's site via Eve Tushnet, somewhere on her impossibly copious blog. How do people type so much? And read so much and think so much? I seem to spend most of my life sleeping. Oh -- and: Andrea Dworkin! Andrea Dworkin! Andrea Dworkin! Andrea Dworkin! -- OK, not even a little scorch mark. Maybe my first name has made me immune.

All right all right -- even though I haven't read any of Dworkin's books, I've read quotes from her on various subjects here and there, and many of the things she had to say I liked. I will wait for you to stop coughing and choking. Sorry about your keyboards and monitors. To continue -- Dworkin may have been crazy as a cat in a sack, but she hit the nail on the head lots of times if you ask me. For instance, in this one statement, which I found in one of Florence King's columns, on the whole Clinton-'N'-Monica controversy: "I have a modest proposal. It will probably bring the FBI to my door, but I think that Hillary should shoot Bill and then President Gore should pardon her."

Oh, but read the whole thing.