Dawg Days

• Random Pop Culture:


• I mentioned yesterday that I got James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom, supposedly the preeminent narrative on the Civil War. I also grabbed Sudhir Venkatesh's Gang Leader for a Day, which is the book related to the chapter he co-wrote for Freakonomics.


• The Real World DC kids moved into the house today. There goes the neighborhood. Get ready for a bunch of drunk, obnoxious kids running around Adams Morgan, U Street, and Georgetown. Oh, wait... Get ready for more drunk, obnoxious kids running around Adams Morgan, U Street, and Georgetown.


• We're into that summer lull, where nothing is really happening in pop culture aside from celebrity after celebrity dying. You have overblown summer movies, beach/vacation reading, and horrible summer replacement TV shows. Going to need to come up with something fast to keep me entertained.


• Random Hatred and/or Love:


• I absolutely fell for the whole "Black people were the reason Prop 8 failed" thing for a while, but it never felt right and I should have known better. There are a lot of reasons why that's untrue, from the relatively small size of the population to the fact that DC, Chocolate City itself, is steaming ahead towards marriage equality as I type this. Here's further elaboration from The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates.
• Random Music Video


• I guess I have to include some bad stuff every once in a while. In 2001, Michael Jackson and Britney Spears performed together on a special for CBS. I hope you enjoy it more than I did.