Quotation: Tim Russert

From his last lecture given at Notre Dame University:

“[After] all my discussions with presidents, both while in office and after they left, and their advisors, while in office and after they left, and in my reading of history, particularly presidential history, I am ever more convinced that a leader cannot make tough decisions unless he or she is asked tough questions. It is the only vehicle that brings them to closure, that forces any sense of intellectual rigor, that forces them to find a way to reconcile the political advice or the political pressures brought to bear. It will not be enough in a democratic society to simply have those on the left or right who are the pamphleteers and unwilling to challenge the views of people they support. Tough questions need not be the loudest or most sensational or the most theatrical, but rather probing and, hopefully, incisive.”

(Hat Tip: The Daily Dish)

Video: Forfeit/Fortune DVD trailer

Crooked Fingers’ latest release, Forfeit/Fortune, comes out in a week. This is a trailer for the album’s deluxe version.

Elsewhere: Doug Glanville in review

While the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins have done their best to keep the 2008 baseball season alive, the break in the action otherwise means it’s as good a day as any to catch up on former Major Leaguer Doug Glanville’s op-ed pieces for the New York Times.

Glanville, a Upenn graduate who played in the bigs from 1996 to 2004, has been contributing poignant and insightful columns all season. His latest is a letter to Will Veneble, the second African-American with an Ivy League education to make the big show. Glanville was the first.

Whether he’s writing about the first game after 9/11, answering fan mail, celebrating birthdays in the clubhouse or raising children, Glanville’s insights into the game are a must read for diehards and pedestrian fans alike.

Check out the Heading Home series HERE.

Elsewhere: Older Facebook user disasters

What happens when old people, as in 30 years-plus, start flocking to Facebook?

They do things like accidentally forwarding a Jacuzzi diarrhea video to all of their friends and co-workers.

Salon.com documents this and other pitfalls facing older Facebook users HERE.

The 10: Paul Newman movie quotes

Actor Paul Newman died Friday, but his work on the silver screen will live on for years to come. Here are 10 quotations from some of the characters he played during his illustrious career.

“I have vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals.” -As Butch Cassidy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – Source.

“Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.” -As Luke Jackson in Cool Hand Luke (1967) – Source

“The big difference between people is not between the rich and the poor, the good and the evil. The biggest of all differences between people is between those who have had pleasure in love and those who haven’t.” -As Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) – Source

“Don’t ever hit your mother with a shovel. It leaves a dull impression on her mind.” -As Butch Cassidy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – Source

“What men do after work is what made us rich. No need to screw them at work as well.” -As John Rooney in Road to Perdition (1998) – Source

“That that poor girl put her trust into the… into the hands of two men who took her life. She’s in a coma. Her life is gone. She has no home, no family. She’s tied to a machine. She has no friends. And the people who should care for her – her doctors… and you and me – have been bought off to look the other way. We’ve been paid to look the other way. I came here to take your money. I brought snapshots to show you so I could get your money. I can’t do it; I can’t take it. ‘Cause if I take the money I’m lost. I’ll just be a… rich ambulance chaser. I can’t do it. I can’t take it.”-As Frank Galvin in The Verdict (1982) – Source

“Alright, I wanna know who’s responsible for wrecking my town, Sheriff. I want his hood on a platter! I’m gonna put him in jail ’til he rots. No, check that… I’m gonna put him in jail ’til the jail rots on top of him then I’m gonna move him to a new jail and let that jail rot.” -As the voice of Doc Hudson in Cars (2006) – Source

“What am l, a headshrinker? Maybe the man was unhappy.” -As Sidney J. Mussburger in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) – Source

“To tell you the truth, I would rather have a complete idiot for a child than an ingrate.” -As Max Roby in Empire Falls (2005) – Source

“People like to do what they used to do after they’ve stopped being able to do it.” -As Brick Pollitt in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) – Source

The 10 gathers tidbits and information from the Internet about random, sometimes timely, topics. Have an idea for a topic? E-mail it to tangzine(at)tangzine.com.

Elsewhere: Humanitarian internet game

The British Red Cross has come up with a clever way to promote humanitarian efforts in war torn northern Uganda: an online treasure hunt-style strategy game called Traces of Hope. From the Web site:

Vicious war in Northern Uganda has destroyed Joseph’s home and torn his family apart. He has one goal, to find out from the Red Cross if his mother is alive or dead.

Now he has arrived in the dangerous refugee camp they call Hopetown, he has 24 hours to track down the Red Cross messenger and he needs you to be his guide.

He has a satellite phone, you have the web – together you’ll make a great team. Time is running out; guide Joseph through sickness, fire and violence as together you follow his traces of hope.

Click HERE for the game site and HERE for a BBC News article on it.

Elsewhere: Side hugs

Stuff Christians Like (the dot net version) is one of the best in business when it comes to poking fun of Christian culture. This shirt is a good example of that.

Apparently, the site’s creator is planning on setting a world record for the longest side hug at an upcoming conference in Atlanta. Because of this shirt, you don’t have to go to Georgia to be part of the fun. Unfortunately, the shirts are available at Cafe Press, which means they are pricey, but if you want to get one, THIS is the place to do it.

News and Notes: Leo Nine reissue ‘Modern’

Was 1998 really a decade ago? That was the year a little known band from Australia – sporting the moniker Battered Fish – released a moody Brit-poppy album called Modern.

In a fit of nostalgia and perhaps a hat tip to Pavement and their practice of re-releasing albums a decade after their original release date, the band – now known as Leo Nine – has decided to offer a digital version of Modern. The band’s name isn’t the only thing 2008 about the re-release. A download of the album will be available, for a limited time, on a Radiohead/Paste Magazine-style pay what you like scale. Or as the band put it in an e-mail, “Just pick the price that suits your generosity.”

Click HERE to check it out.

Elsewhere: Reunited, loud and finding love

Kevin Shields is notorious for being soft spoken and not giving interviews so the fact that he talked at all to the New York Times for this article about My Bloody Valentine’s reunion is worth noting. What he has to say isn’t particularly insightful or earth-shattering, but the article is a quick and worthwhile read about one of the most innovative and influential musical outfits of our generation.

News and Notes: Danielson release free EP

As they gear up for a tour that starts Halloween day, Danielson are releasing an early six-song treat for fans over at the Secretly Canadian site.

Alive, a free six-song EP, can be downloaded HERE. It features live and radio broadcast recordings of some Danielson classics.

While you are waiting for the songs to download, direct another tab HERE to find out if they are stopping by your neck of the woods (Louisville, sadly, is not on the list).