clay bennett is a genius. hands-down, no contest. he can distill complex issues down to incredibly poignant cartoons, often with very little in the way of text.

if I were to link to every one of his cartoons that grabs me, well, let’s just say that the comics section of this site would be bigger than the rest put together. one of my favorite morning rituals is grabbing a mug of coffee and heading over to the chattanooga times free press editorial cartoons online to see what new visual wizardry clay has dreamt up…

that said, a recent cartoon about the tea party really captured my attention. especially since the midterm election is a week from tomorrow, so I decided to link to it here… the guy who’s actually tossing over crates of “taxes” really looks a bit concerned as he looks back at his compatriots. hopefully there actually are a few folks in the tea party coming to their senses as he seems to be…… we can only hope.

is she serious?

“Where in the Constitution is separation of church and state?” O’Donnell asked Chris Coons Tuesday, drawing swift criticism from him, laughter from the crowd and a quick defense from prominent conservatives.

but wait, it gets better

She interrupted to say, “The First Amendment does? … So you’re telling me that the separation of church and state, the phrase ‘separation of church and state,’ is in the First Amendment?”

even better, she chose a debate venue at a law school to trot this out. has to be one of the funniest things I’ve seen lately…

I keep hearing right-wing pundits suggesting that former ceos are good candidates for political office because the government needs to run more like a business. my honest response to that is to ask “which business?”…

goldman sachs?
countrywide financial?
enron?
general motors?
aig?

hmmmm…. maybe that isn’t such a good idea after all.

for the last few year’s we’ve purchased a series for the los angeles philharmonic season at the disney hall. this year is no exception, and last night was the first concert in our series for this year. dudamel conducted messiaen’s turangalîla-symphonie. I’m not usually one for the more modern symphony pieces, but this one was exceptional.

the stage was packed with a fairly full orchestra, and even included an instrument I’d never heard of before, the ondes martenot. some of the sounds the ondes produces are downright eerie.

the ten-movement symphony was really a treat; a full dynamic range from extreme pianissimo to roaring fortissimo. and the composer’s grasp of interesting rhythmic constructions was extraordinary. that said, eighty minutes is a long time to sit in the chairs at the disney hall, they aren’t known for their comfort.

I heard on npr this morning that benoît mandelbrot has died.

I have vivid memories of a younger me, circa 1990 sitting in my university dormroom in front of a little 386sx as it chugged away rendering some zoomed view into the mandelbrot set. I was fascinated by the infinite variation and complexity. I was already studying mathematics, but I suppose it helped me to realize there was interesting math beyond analysis.

I also recall working with junior high math students in a summer program, and how intrigued they were by this graphical representation of math. it definitely served to pull them in and spark their curiosity.

for that, and so much more, we thank you benoît. you will be missed.