Dowbrigade

In this
exclusive photo by Dave Winer, Sen. Lieberman warily eyes the Dowbrigade,
as your intrepid reporter, pen in one hand and beer in the other, grills
him on the issues
of the day.

In an exclusive interview at a bar in Manchester, New Hampshire, where
he has now taken an apartment, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut discussed
his move, his reasons for declining to campaign in Iowa, and his position
on the devastation currently affecting educational programs geared to
foreign students. The Dowbrigade caught up to the candidate after a long
day on the campaign trail, on
the 4th
day
of Chanukah,
in
an establishment
called
P.J. O’Toole’s.

Sen. Lieberman was astonishingly easy to approach. Basically, all the
Dowbrigade had to do was sit down on the unoccupied bar stool to his
left. The candidate immediately offered his hand and introduced himself.
He asked where we were from and what we did for a living. He seemed genuinely
interested, and was remarkably easy to talk to.

When he heard that the Dowbrigade is about to lose his job at Boston
University due to the difficulties of foreign university students in
obtaining visas to study in the US post 9/11, Lieberman said, "I will
definitely do something about that after I am elected. The immigration
authority
in this country is in a shambles."

When asked why he chose to eschew the Iowa caucuses and instead move
into New Hampshire full-time, he mentioned he is not spending all his
time in NH. Iowa, he said, was shaping up as a showdown between Dean
and Gephart, and he preferred to stay out of it.  He mentioned that
9 other states, including NH, would be decided within a few weeks at
the end of January and the beginning of February, and he preferred to
invest his efforts there.

Sen. Lieberman was noncommittal when asked how long he planned to maintain
his residence after the January 27th primary. "We’ll see," he said, with
a twinkle in his eye.

A
teenage girl from a nowhere town pours her heart into prose. A risk-taking
publisher turns that prose into a book. It outsells almost everything
else in Italy, making its author famous.

That is an accurate enough account of what has happened to Melissa Panarello,
but not a full one. It omits a few crucial details, starting with her subject
matter: the erotic adventures of a sexually ravenous girl who caroms between
younger and older men, homosexuality and sadomasochism.

"The experiences in reality happened in less than a year, even though
the book talks of them happening in two years," she said with a seemingly
studied matter-of-factness that left no room for embarrassment or boastfulness.

That chilly bluntness matches the tone of "One Hundred Strokes of
the Hairbrush Before Going to Sleep," a 143-page wisp of a book that
has had a wallop of an impact.
Since its publication in July, it has sold about 500,000 copies in Italy
– an astonishing figure in a country with about 57 million people – and
remains near or at the top of the nation’s best-seller lists.

Publishing rights for it have been purchased in about a dozen countries,
including the United States, where an English translation is scheduled
for release next fall by Grove/Atlantic.

from the
New York Times

David
Bowie leads an impressive secret list of 300 British luminaries who have snubbed
the Royal Family and refused to accept knighthoods. The list was somehow leaked to the press earlier today. Bowie declined a
CBE during the Queen’s birthday honors in 2000.

Compiled by the Cabinet Office’s ceremonial branch, the list of almost
300 names includes author Graham Greene, artist David Hockney, writer
John le Carre, poet Robert Graves, author Aldous Huxley and writer and
journalist Evelyn Waugh.

Other names on the list include writer J B Priestley, novellist Anthony
Powell, Roald Dahl, poet Philip Larkin, as well as actors Trevor Howard
and Alastair Sim.

from Ananova

With
typical low-key British aplomb, the Queen has consented to allow, for
the first time, holiday illumination on Buckingham Palace. In a subtle
demonstration of good taste mixed with saavy business sense, the Union
Jack motif appearantly alternates with an advertisment for a local
cell phone company.

from Ananova

Projectors will "wrap" the Palace in a giant Union Jack and
also in Christmas wrapping paper.

It is part of the "Brightening Up London" project, backed by
celebrities including Bob Geldof, and sponsored by Orange.

"The Queen was impressed by Bob Geldof’s ‘Peace and Hope’ message
projected on to Wellington Arch and gave the go-ahead for the Palace
to be lit
up," said a Palace spokeswoman."But this is not an endorsement
of any particular phone company."

Nine of London’s most famous buildings – including the National Gallery,
Imperial War Museum, Tate Britain and the National Theatre – are being
illuminated with seasonal images.

The Palace will be lit up from 5pm on Christmas Eve.