Wednesday, June 21, 2000, 1 pm EDT
 Vic SussmanBy Reginald Pearman, Jr/ washingtonpost.com |
What works?
What doesn't?
What stinks?
What zings?
Welcome to Love It, Hate It, Rate It! An hour or more of reader-generated rooting, ranting and raving about things, events and people--good, bad and indifferent. Whether you're a cynic or Little Mary Sunshine incarnate, this is your chance to ask questions, make rash statements, believe three impossible things before breakfast and tickle your keyboard as you pick at the social fabric.
Tell the world, such as it is, who's great or merely grating. Pin a label on it: Heaven or Hype? What's in, what's out, what's phat or just goes splat?
Your host is Live Online's Executive Producer, Vic Sussman, who emits an unearthly blue light from his forehead when annoyed.
Sussman has a long background in broadcasting and print journalism. The author of three nonfiction books, he was previously the Personal Tech columnist for The Washington Post Magazine, Book World's audio book reviewer, and a senior editor specializing in cyberspace at U.S.News & World Report. Sussman's interests veer wildly from the vagaries of computer-mediated communication to the skeptical subculture, weight lifting, and magic as a performance art. He is not a minion of Satan, but negotiations continue.
You may read past sessions of LIHIRI in Vic's archives.
Below is today's transcript.
Vic Sussman: And a good EDT afternoon to all you assembled Muggles, Mudbloods, Mugwumps, Morlocks (the Eloi are at poolside) and Misbegotten Souls with naught to do today but log on, tune in and drop out. Welcome to LIHIRI, the only Web show guaranteed to cure muscular aches and pains brought on by over-exercise and the strain of daily life. Really. Just place your afflicted appendage on top of your monitor during the next hour. (If your back hurts, try sprawling across your keyboard.) Washingtonpost.com guarantees that you will feel better after an hour of this free therapy. If pain persists, however, consult your health professional or local shaman. But please bear in mind that persistent discomfort may be caused by the fact that you're a really rotten person with corrupted karma and misshapen toes who deserves to suffer for years on end or all eternity, whichever comes first.
That said, I'd like to offer an apology for many of the things I've said over the past couple of months. I seem to have annoyed and upset many people by admitting, for example, that I sometimes drive too fast, have a loud muffler whose sound I actually enjoy, drive a muscle-car, drive too fast in underground parking garages and enjoy setting off the car alarms with my sonic backwash, wear a skull ring, wax cynical, occasionally ride a recumbent bike instead of a "normal" one, enjoy lifting weights to the exclusion of "normal" activities, dislike sports fans who talk endlessly about sports, dislike the Establishment, have problems with authority figures, have non-specific but persistent problems with the entire notion of humanity, have a sense of humor that is dada at times and am unapologetically un-PC. I have been criticized over the past months for being (choose one) immature, foolhardy, arrogant, ignorant, insensitive, overly intellectual, adolescent, brash and downright silly.
Oh, the horror! The horror!
Wait a second.
Hmmm...
Aww, the hell with it.
I apologize for nothing.
Nada. Zip. Zilch. I'm actually having way too much fun. And so are lots of the folks who manage to find their way back, week after week, to the mental labyrinth that is LIHIRI. So to all the offended who simply can't take a joke or are the sort of Very Very Serious People found in Washington, a suggestion: Loosen up, get down, and boogie. Otherwise, click your mouse three times and say, "There's no place like home. There's no place like home..." And don't let the cybernetic door hit you on the bum on yer way out.
Ah. I feel better.
And now...
Oh, wait. One more thing that I really apologize for: That there is no way I can get to all your comments and questions every week. The response to LIHIRI has been so great (thanks, folks) that I get more contributions during even two hours, when we purposely run over, than I can ever get to. Just because you don't see your comment or query on the screen doesn't mean you're forgotten or ignored. Somebody just got in line before you.
...let the games begin!
Alexandria, VA: HI: The way the Michael Saylor chat today was a blatant advertisement for Micro Strategy.
Victor: You ought to be ashamed of washingtonpost.com. Have you seen the transcript from the chat with the Micro Strategy guy? Could it have been any more lame, or any more of an advertisement?
Vic Sussman: Well, we start off with a bang and not a whimper today. There are lots of complaints like this in the LIHIRI hopper today. But according to Live Online producer, Clara Frenk, MicroStrategy's P.R. person wouldn't allow Saylor to discuss any and all issues related to the various lawsuits being waged against MicroStrategy. This is why some readers may have felt that he got off too easy today.
Also, let me remind you that Live Online doesn't corner its guests. Not that we wouldn't like to on occasion. But given the way our software works, guests get to choose the questions they answer. Think of it as the nexus of journalism and infotainment. (Yikes. Did I really use that word?)
And because you, as the reader, aren't being fooled by a guest who takes only the softballs, it's kind of a public service to see them dissemble. You get it, right?
DC: HI: Are you aware of the lambasting "Live Online" is taking in certain quarters regarding its recent "chat" with Elian Gonzalez/Bill Clinton attorney Greg Craig? Reports are circulating that Craig was invited to take reader questions, then given autonomy to select which questions he wanted to answer, choosing only the softballs among the many pointed tough questions that were submitted.
I'm sure tough questions for controversial guests aren't always nicely worded, but when you invite someone onto "Live Online" who's in the eye of a national storm, why does the guest get carte blanche over what he wants to discuss? Can't there be some semblance of fair representation among the questions submitted? Do you think you owe your participants a more balanced chat session?
Vic Sussman: Geez. Here we go again. I've explained some of this above, so please review that once more.
In Gregory Craig's case, however, let's remember that the guy is a lawyer. Do you really think he's going to supply answers that work to the disadvantage of his client--whoever his client happens to be at the moment? Please.
I'll say it again: Live Online guests all have the same opportunity to choose which questions they answer. Our software is no different in that regard from our competitors. We have had guests who do take the hard ones. D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey comes to mind. He seems to take the queries as they roll in. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams was also fairly straight-forward in that regard. Others, however, (and I'm sure our readers have a list) took only questions that were self-serving. And we've had politicians, from time to time, who actually regurgitated their campaign literature.
The point is this: Nobody is fooled by this. You see what they are doing and you're hip to the scene. A given guest may be trying to con you, but Live Online isn't. We book 'em, you read 'em and you make your own decisions about what you're reading.
It's hard for us to do better than that in this curious medium.
Wash, DC: LI: That the Supremes said outta here w/ prayer at school events - gotta love separation of church & state!!
HI: That the person sitting in the cubicle next to me hacking up a lung has never heard of cough syrup.
HI2: yesterday's technical difficulties on Live Online
RI: Live Online otherwise 9/10.
Vic Sussman: Live Online's tech difficulties yesterday were not of our making. One guest couldn't get online because of his access at work. Another was, as often happens in the wunnerful world of computers, totally clueless.
As for the Supremes ruling on prayer before playing, I agree. I still remember the so-called non-sectarian prayer a football coach gave at my high school pep rally lo these many years ago. It went something like this:
"Dear God, we ain't asking you to have us win this game. We would never pray for you to use your mighty powers to have us win a football game. Lord, no. But, God, we sure would like the best team to win this game so we can advance to the finals and maintain our unbeaten record. So Lord, we know you're listening and we know you know who the best team really is. And all we are asking, in Jesus' name, is that you let the best team win tonight. That being us. Amen."
You think I'm making this up? I had about three years of this at a high school in which football ranked above all else. Thanks to the Supreme Court for seeing through the nonsense of playing and praying.
WDC: And exactly what is wrong with riding a 'bent?
This is like that lady who got angry with Bob Levey because she got his voice mail.
LI: By being yourself (and true to yourself), you can weed out the driftwood from your life.
HI: Those people who dislike you for being yourself!
RI: People who try and change other people: 1/10 (not 0 because only their mothers can love them).
So there!
Vic Sussman: Many, many people are bothered by things they consider not normal. Washington is full of them. Take a walk down the street in Manhattan, for example. In New York, you look into people's faces and they look like they have lives. In Washington, you look into people's eyes and they look like they have jobs.
Indianapolis, Indiana: LI: saw Al Green in concert last weekend. The man was completely ALIVE.
HI: That idiots have to tear up and burn down their own cities just because a team of rich millionaires happens to win a game. Way to make us proud, LA!
RI: 0 out of 10. The idea that palm pilots will replace books. Just once can't we enjoy something that doesn't involve the internet?
Vic Sussman: Why do people assume that one technology always overrides another? True, this happens in many case. (Try sending a telegram these days.) But books and paper have been around a long time. And it may just be that they are an appropriate technology with legs.
Years ago, I reviewed an early electronic book. I rode the Metro reading "Walden" and other classics. For a while, anyway. But nothing replaces a simple paperback. No batteries. Lightweight. Easily stowed.
I'm far from anti-tech (quite the opposite, as I sit here with a pager surgically implanted, own several computers, adore my DVD and stereo system and lust for the day when I can have microchips implanted in various parts of my cerebrum and, um, anatomy) but I think you have to keep this stuff in historical perspective.
Books aren't going to disappear right away, if at all. Newspapers...well, that's a different story. And bye-bye to network TV, especially what passes for news.
The Web rules!
DC: I tuned in to the Sales/Marketing chat last week, and was blown away by the smart-ass responses given by the guest. (I've forgotten his name). I thought the idea of the career chats was to help people, not ridicule them, and make them sound stupid. How do you choose people to host the discussions?
Vic Sussman: In this case, my staff didn't choose anybody. We simply acted as the production clearing house. If you have a complaint of any sort, write to this Web site. See the "Contact Us" link on the home page. Your complaint will be forwarded to the proper party.
Arlington, VA: Vic,
A big 10 to Live Online for all the great weekly chats, but I just wanted to say that I have a new suggestion for worst chat host ever - last week's Sales and Marketing chat. I haven't been able to dig up the archive link to relive the horror, but the host basically ignored all questions or gave useless one-sentence responses, when not fielding messages from those wishing to confirm that he was the 'one and the same' pool player from Bedrock Billiars. It was painful to read (so of course I forwarded the link to my co-workers!). Where'd this guy come from?
In general, tho, keep up the great work!
Thanks,
PWDfan
Vic Sussman: Unless this is from the same person above, my suggestion is the same. Complain directly to this Web site so our Customer Care staff can forward your e-mail to the correct party.
Marietta, GA: HI: That snooty, condescending host of Hollywood and Vine, Sharon Waxman. Great idea, horrible execution. Each week, Ms. Waxman insults at least a few chat participants, and consistently finishes with comments indicating relief that the "stupid chat" is over. Move along, Ms. Waxman, and make room for someone who might actually enjoy doing that discussion!
Thanks for letting me rant, Vic!
Vic Sussman: Happy to give you a voice. Perhaps Sharon would like to respond during this hour or on her own. That's what communication on the Web is all about. It's a level playing field.
Fairfax, VA: I know Mary took exception to this last week, but I agree--Kornheiser and Wilbon's discussion is a series of inside jokes. Try getting them to answer a non-basketball question! Try it yourself Vic--no fair identifying yourself--and see if they ever answer your question.
Vic Sussman: I don't think we've ever made a secret of the fact that the Tony & Mike show is, in fact, self-referential in many ways. But it is about sports from Kornheiser's & Wilbon's idiosyncratic perspectives. And like everything else produced by Live Online, the hour is an acquired taste.
Burke, VA: Tee hee...The sidebar on this page says "Think ahead--shop for Father's Day now" They talking about Father's Day 2001? Thanks for the smile, guys.
Vic Sussman: So we think ahead. Waaaaay ahead. That's why we're so far ahead of the competition. We've already got our crack marketing folks working on the next leap year celebrations, not to mention Guy Fawkes Day, my favorite holiday.
Burke, VA: Don't know if I Hate It, but I'm at least puzzled by it...
Was watching the reports of the Lakers Riot in LA. Why do the newscasters ask "Why didn't the police stop this?" instead of "Why do idiots destroy property in order to celebrate their team's victory?"
Vic Sussman: Yeah, I've never understood this, not being one of those guys who is inflamed or even mildly aroused by sporting events. You go to a game, your team wins or loses, and then--apparently--you and a bunch of other guys go completely loony and start fights, set fires, overturn cars and dabble maybe in looting. I don't see the connection, but maybe it's some primal male thing I'm not connected to. I did punch somebody out after a stimulating game of Monopoly once, but he went after Park Place rather abruptly, and richly deserved the hit.
Michigan: Love It: Summertime, even though I'm stuck in an office for all of the sunshine.
Hate It: PETA and their latest outburst. Rats? They're protesting that these people are eating rats?? People in some third world countries have probably been doing this for years. How absurd. As though the rats are endangered or something. In fact, if they didn't eat the rats, it would probably only be a matter of time before the rats ate them! And what about the maggots? Those big white wormy things that the survivors ate a few weeks ago? Shouldn't PETA be equally as outraged about that? And those Rays that they ate? PETA just loses credibility as an organization by being concerned about this matter.
Rate it: My lunch: roasted rat with garlic cream sauce over penne = 10!
Vic Sussman: I can't speak for PETA, but I think their protest has more to do with the popular CBS show about faux-survival than about rats per se. That is, the participants on the show are killing (some say tormenting) rats for the amusement(?) of the viewing audience. And there is some truth to this. After all, this whole teevee survival crap is just that: A bunch of hand-picked, prize-seeking players dumped on a faux-deserted island pretending to suffer (oh please) while the cameras roll. I guess this is one show that can't put up a title reading "No rats were harmed during the filming of this program." But be honest: Doesn't the whole thing strike you as the Roman games redux? More than half the world goes hungry every night and here are a bunch of televised fools playing at survival. Hey, kids, can you say "decadent?"
After all, if the TV producers really wanted to go after some truly big rats, they could have hunted down a few network executives. I wouldn't mind seeing a few of them slowly turning on a spit...
Boston, Mass: HI: People whose own prejudices about religion make them utterly incapable of handling anyone else's system of beliefs. It does cut both ways. If the speaker at the football game had been screaming Eminem lyrics over the loudspeaker, the ACLU would have been on the side of free speech.
When did we become a people utterly afraid of having our precious psyches offended? You all have to be stronger than that if you want to be happy. If you're not into religion, you are more than entitled to that. Just don't go running to a lawyer if someone has the audacity to express their beliefs in public.
Religion isn't pornography. Should religious people only practice their beliefs in private, with all the windows papered over.
LI: Free speech, while it still exists.
Vic Sussman: No one is telling anyone not to pray. The issue is whether the prayer, praying or other displays of religion are government-supported or, worse, government-mandated. That is a clear violation of our First Amendment. And that's what the Supreme Court was responding to.
Raleigh, NC: Vic, love your show, but in your opening rant today, are you mis-spelling "persistent"? It has two Es, not one E and one A, methinks. Keep up the good work!
Vic Sussman: Hammer me for the occasional spelling error. I deserve to be punished.
Reston (not by choice) VA: So when you look into people's eyes in Cyberspace, what do you see? Besides pixels?
Vic Sussman: You can't look into their eyes. But I can hear them breathing...
Reston (not by choice) VA: So when you look into people's eyes in Cyberspace, what do you see? Besides pixels?
Vic Sussman: Bwahaha!
I think this response is supposed to go with the previous question. Typing too fast again, trying to fill the screen too fast.
Stop me before I kill again....
Capitol Hill: Vic, I agree about the pending demise of TV news, and to that I say good riddance. I stopped watching TV news about a year ago--instead I listen to NPR, read the hard copy Post at home and the online version at work. The newscasts don't even pretend to carry world news anymore--how many segments can we take about how taxpayer dollars are being misspent? The newcasts are full of this non-news, while true atrocities like Chechnya et al go unreported because "the demographic doesn't want to hear it."
Vic Sussman: You're right on the money with your opinion. According to a recent Pew Charitable Trust study, viewers are leaving network news shows in droves, going to the Web for their info. Newspaper readership continues to fall, but not as fast as those leaving the ranks of teevee.
Hey, get used to it: This is your new home.
EraserheadGuy, DC: LI: The movie "Repo Man." I just wanted to make sure that we mention this seminal film for the third week in a row. Vic, ya remember that great scene where Otto is riding in the car with the nuke physicist, who is driving, not watching the road at all, babbling at Otto, while the world goes by in the window in queasy slo-mo, accompanied by weird ringing noises? One of my favE movie moments.
RI: Korean restaurants: 10. I love hot and spicy food, but am annoyed by restaurants that CLAIM to serve it that way, but wimp out. Korean restaurants don't pull any punches.
HI: All the Korean restaurants-as well as most of the best Asian restaurants, in general-are out in the 'burbs.
Vic Sussman: Happy to mention "Repo Man" again. Maybe we'll spark a run on the film, EraseGuy. Then we'll have all these people watch the movie and write in asking, "Huh?" Or maybe, "Wow! You're right!"
As for Korean food, my ace producer, Eleanor Hong, knows a thing about this. Maybe she'll chime in later this hour with a few suggestions.
Eleanor (she's eating her lunch as I type), calling El...
Silver Spring, Md: That scientist in Atlanta who thought astrology helped her learn more about herself might credit the process of self-examination to her new-found knowledge.
After all, studies have shown that most people inclined to believe in astrology will agree with horoscopes drawn up for OTHER people when told it's theirs!
Vic Sussman: True enough. James Randi conducted this "experiment" years ago in which he handed the same horoscope to a room full of students. Everyone thought they had received a unique 'scope. Everyone agreed that the document they had in their respective hands was EXACTLY RIGHT! That it nailed their personality down. Wow.
And even after Randi explained his mini-hoax, many students made excuses, still believing in the unbelievable and the unverifiable.
As Vonnegut sez, so it goes...
Arlington, VA: Speaking of all those polls about the impending death of TV news (yay!) and newspapers, perhaps you of all people can answer this for me. When those annoying pollsters ask me where I get my news, do I say "newspaper" or "online". On the one hand, it's not like I'm reading the dead tree edition. On the other hand, it's not like I'm reading Yahoo! or some other portal site with a wire service subscription. "Online newspaper" is never option.
Vic Sussman: You say "online" or "the Web." This is not your grandpa's newspaper. In fact, washingtonpost.com is a news and information site, not strictly an online newspaper. Don't try wrapping dead fish in us.
Washington DC: HI: That the Supreme Court denies the free speech rights of students to pray while they themselves invoke the name of God when they begin their own court proceedings.
Vic Sussman: Oh please.
Students can pray their little fannies off. They can pray before school, during school, on their smoking breaks, in the washroom, in the halls, in the parking lot. Prayer in schools or anywhere else hasn't been outlawed.
But, as I said above (this is tiresome), state-sponsored, state-mandated, state-supported prayer or religious manifestations have been declared unconstitutional and violations of the First Amendment.
What part of "Congress shall make no law.." and other portions of that amendment don't you understand?
I second that motion on Repo Man: I love the scene where the janitor guy is telling the story about John Wayne in a dress.
Hell, I love every scene in Repo Man. All of you in this forum who have never seen should run out right now and buy a copy.
Is it on DVD yet?
Vic Sussman: Who played the janitor? I love that guy. I've seen him in many other films, but have never caught his name. He's one of those actors (Elijah Cook, Jr. comes to mind) who steal scenes by their mere and weird presence. We should all move through life with the same effect.
Pennsylvania:
LI: Beautiful weather we've had this week instead of the downpours last week.
HI: That I want to go to the Maryland Crab Festival but don't know when it is.
RI: Last night's "Angel" on the WB: 10/10
Vic Sussman: Somebody tell this person where to go to get crabs.
(I'm not sure this sounds right...)
Arlington, VA: HELP!!! You could NOT have been around during the Michael Saylor chat. Did MicroStrategy pay for that thing? Talk about softballs? Questions about Saylor's "passion" and about how his company could best serve other companies. Vomit!! The second half hour BETTER have questions about why MicroStrategy decided it could flaunt the law and make up its own accounting regulations.
Vic, this has made me even more cynical. HELP!
Vic Sussman: As we say on the Web, "Vomeo ergo sum."
(Yeah. Now correct my Latin, you twits.)
Arlington, VA: Speaking of PETA -
LI: the guy that set up www.peta.org ...
People Eating Tasty Animals
HI: that he lost the suit brought by PETA, since he was a cyber-squatter.
RI: 10/10 - Animals! I love 'em! Especially with that garlic cream sauce!
Vic Sussman: I bought Marty Gallagher a bumper sticker that says something about the joy of microwaving cats. It's plastered on his microwave oven.
You had to be there.
AlexanDria: Dear Mr. S,
Where's the quote from?
LI: the hard copy Post. Nothing beats reading newsprint.
LI: the online Post--nothing beats the chats
LILILI: NPR--real, in depth news. more than 30 seconds per story, no ads. Impossible to beat.
RI: TV "news" ---10. what a waste of brain cells.
Vic Sussman: Yikes. I forgot to mention today's Hat Message for all you Macophiles: "Whatever you become, someone will long for what you were."
This is from a wonderful little book entitled "Taxi Driver Wisdom," a Zen manual for the asphalt crowd. It's a compilation of actual quotes from NY cabbies. Published by Chronicle Books and compiled by Risa Mickenberg, it's filled with startling and funny observations. I'll probably pull a few more Hat Messages from this book in coming weeks.
Reston (not by choice) VA: Forget cats in microwaves. Try politicians, instead. They explode so nicely.
Vic Sussman: Do they skitter around like grapes before blowing up? Can we do a Webcast? We'll do anything for page views.
Edgewater, MD: Vic: Let's hear it for being non-PC...so sick of every alphabet group griping and complaining....Get a life, people.
LI: People eating tasty animals - 10+
And in that vein, I also like DAMM - Drunks Against Mad Mothers
Vic Sussman: I assume you do your own slaughtering, right? And that you enjoy the sound of animals screaming in pain, get a rush from the sight of blood spurting in every direction and can't wait to slit the very next throat?
Now you're really confused, huh?
McLean, VA: I wonder if the PETA folks who love rats so damned much have ever had one burrowing in the backyard like I do now. I think I've finally foiled him, though, with the chicken wire buried under the fence, the rocks blocking the entrance to his nest, and the rat poison and traps scattered about...die rat bastard!!
Vic Sussman: "Die, rat bastard."
Funny, I hear some of my co-workers say this a lot. I guess they have the same problem with rodents burrowing into their lives.
DC : HI: Sharon Waxman. I checked out "Hollywood and Vine" yesterday for the first time, and was consistently amazed by her snobbish tone. She actually closed the discussion by saying "We're out of time, but thanks for a very interesting and informed (for once) discussion." What a snot! Please, Vic, get someone else to host this discussion - Desson, Rita, ANYONE would be less irritating.
Vic Sussman: Another vote against Sharon. But stay tuned for an opposite view.
Stateless in Washington: Hey, I LIKE Sharon Waxman. I think her humor is self-effacing, not smug, and a few people don't get the joke. And the way she used her guest yesterday, Joe Roth, was actually quite informative. If he was too mushy with a chatter's question, she'd toss in a follow-up. Sure, JR got some PR out of the deal, but the point of the chat was learning how movies are produced, not let's-try-to-sting-the-big-Hollywood-producer. And that point was made.
Vic Sussman: See? No host can please everybody (not even me, though I'm shocked at the thought). We have Sharon fans and anti-Sharon folks. Life on the edge.
Capitol Hill: I'm compiling a book on "Homeless Wisdom" -- quotes taken from the small group of regulars who hang out across the street from my building and drink and fight. My favorite so far: "Love don't pay the rent." True, how true
Vic Sussman: Homeless or Drunk Wisdom strikes me as an oxymoron. But that's just me.
Somewhere, USA: I've noticed that you often make the distinction between Washingtonpost.com and the "dead tree" edition. What exactly is WP.com if not just an online edition (plus some bonuses like Live Online)? It has the same articles, format, etc. What's the difference?
Vic Sussman: Really? Have you seen anything remotely like Live Online in the dead tree edition? Or anything remotely interactive? Can you call up movie reviews, find a theater near you, a restaurant?
washingtonpost.com is a separate company from The Post. We are allied, of course, but we are not entirely an echo.
Confused:: Let me see if I've got this straight.
If we see something offensive on TV involving violence or sexism or homophobia or whatever, we're told that we have the "freedom to change the channel" or "use the off switch".
But if PETA or the ACLU get offended, we should roll over and give them whatever they want? Be mad that "Survivor" is just a crummy show, not because a rat was eaten by a human instead of one of the thousand of indigenous predators on that damn island.
This whole country needs a backbone transplant, or a copy of Repo Man in every home.
Vic Sussman: WebHead Wisdom: It is easier to rent a copy of "Repo Man" than to acquire a new backbone.
Laurel, MD: You ever notice how some people love to exaggerate things? For example, the gov't took Elian from the Miami home and gave him to his father. This leads people to think that the gov't can conduct a raid on your house anytime. Folks marched for gun registration and licensing. This leads people to think we're taking away all gun rights. Now the Supreme Court has ruled on prayer before a football game. Again, this is leading people to believe that we're taking away all rights to pray.
Here's the way it is: no one is going to conduct a raid on your home without a reason, no one is taking guns away from law-abiding citizens, and nobody is taking away your right to pray.
People should take things for what they are and stop trying to put us on a "slippery slope". The world is not going to hell in a handbasket.
Vic Sussman: I agree with all your point except the last one. The jury is still out on the handbasket issue.
PETA: If God didn't want us to eat animals, how come he made them out of meat?
Vic Sussman: Very cute.
You feast on road kill, too, right? Freshest meat you'll have all day. Love them 'possums squashed flat, right? Yum.
Arlington, VA: Trying to get peripherals to work on this stupid computer. Ugh! Nothing makes me appreciate my Mac more than a day at work with this crappy Windows machine.
Vic Sussman: Microsoft is sending a large man out to your house as we speak. He's going to give you an attitude adjustment.
DC drone: Vic, who says I can't print out washingtonpost.com content and wrap fish in it...?
As for Washington DC and cohorts: first, it's "speech", not "speach" (don't want Vic to get all the spelling complaints) and second, the issue before the Supremes was whether the school board, acting through a majority "vote" of the student body, could have someone make everyone present at a high school football game participate in her prayer. Not whether she could pray. She still can and probably will, although it might not be as much fun when she can't shove it down everyone else's throats.
I wish WDC and others had heard the story NPR ran when the case was argued, in which most of the students involved in the prayer push candidly admitted that they'd be pretty pissed if, say, a Muslim student led them in prayer before the game, but in their case it was okay because minority religion students could move somewhere else if they didn't like it. I'm sorry, but this practice is downright un-American.
Vic Sussman: Well said. Rock on.
McLean, VA: Speaking of bumper stickers, I saw a good one this week:
It takes a Viking to raze a village.
Vic Sussman: In another life I would have liked to be a Viking. Or a samurai. No b.s. in those days. You cut through red tape and people who got in yer face.
But ohhhhhh, now I've made somebody angry because I advocated VIOLENCE!
Speaking of violence (not the artful transition, the mark of a professional writer), did you Washington area residents note that two suspects in the "accidental" shooting of an innocent by-stander had incredibly violent histories? Something like 31 instances of violence including (dropped) charges for first and second-degree murder. So what were these guys doing out on the street again?
The Vikings would have known what to do with them.
Not exactly a Waxman fan, but --: I thought it was fairly obvious that when she said "informed (for once)" she was referring to the fact that Joe Roth was answering the questions instead of her, i.e., it was a rag on herself and not on the "audience".
Vic Sussman: Another vote for Sharon.
DC: Sorry for tuning in late here, but did I actually see someone complaining that a Sales & Marketing person was snide snotty? PLEASE! In my professional opinion, those are requirements for being hired in those professions!
Vic Sussman: We are getting testy today.
DC: Vic, I asked earlier, but maybe you didn't see it:
Please, please, please tell me how to find last week's discussions (the ones not by regular Live Online hosts). I will love you forever if you will only tell me this.
Vic Sussman: I will ask my crack producer to jump in here with some advice. See below. In a moment or two.
Reston (not by choice) VA: Consider this:
The famous Repo Man quote, "Ordinary people: Hate 'em!" would not work so well if the words "rat bastards" were substituted for "ordinary people"
Inference: Sometimes rat bastards are not ordinary people. Or is that vice-versa?
Vic Sussman: Well, you're not quoting this exactly, which I'm sure you know. There's an expletive in there that you've left out, this being a family Web show. But you're right. I guess. If I understand what you're saying. But what the hell do I know? I'm just your basic Viking.
McLean, VA: I personally think we are going to hell in a black satin clutch purse with beaded trim--handbaskets are SOOO passe.....
Vic Sussman: This is known as going out with style.
Fairfax, VA: Vic,
Love the program!
Re: VA school's Moment 'O Silence:
Why can't the school system figure this out? They are so worried about what to tell the children to avoid being sued. Why not simply refer the kids to their parents? Tell them there will be a moment of silence, and suggest they ask their parents what to do during it.
Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Vic Sussman: A minute of silence out of an entire school day. Wow. Brilliant. Does anybody out there remember high school? Do you really, honestly believe that one minute or even one hour, given life in the penal system that passes for high school (not to mention the high anxiety of adolescence) is any sort of oasis, emotional or otherwise?
Listen, my old high school is a couple of miles from where I'm sitting. Had we been forced to sit through an assigned minute of silence, I can give you lists, to this day, of guys who would be ripping farts during that holy minute. Just to prove a point.
Only an unmicrowaved politician could come up with a lamebrain idea like a minute of silence. Or claim that it would have some sort of calming or curative effect, given the social ills that beset us.
Teach the kids to read. Teach them to THINK! Teach the pols to be silent.
There's the ticket.
washingtonpost.com: Crack producer here, answering DC's transcript question. I'm assuming you're the one who wrote in about J.P. Flaim's transcript. You can find it at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/00/sports/flaim0616.htm.
Bear with us, we're working on transcript pages for shows not hosted by regulars.
Capitol Hill: I don't get it. How can someone be in Reston, but not by choice. Don't we always have a choice?
Vic Sussman: The person in question is locked in an attic room. We just received word of this.
Edgewater, MD: Actually, since its now officially summer, we are going to hell in a smart, straw tote...
Vic Sussman: I'm in love with the LIHIRI audience, whoever you are.
re: bumper stickers: LI: my favorite (seen on the back of a VW Bug at UMD) - "God was my co-pilot, until we crashed into the mountains and I ate him."
Vic Sussman: Mine is still, however dated, "We are the people our parents warned us about." I try to live that every day.
windowless room, VA: Hate it , hate it, hate it:
I have no e-mail or internet access at my new job! I have to wait to get home to read all the Live OnLine transcripts. I feel like I'm on that "Survivor" show...
Hate it even more:
I have to learn how to drive since the suburb to suburb public transportation in this area sucks! You're a car guy, know of any -good- driving schools in the area that will actually teach a terrified 29 year old female how to drive (and not just "get points taken off your license")
Vic Sussman: Can anyone suggest a good driving school? (I love being a public service.)
contract girl: funny bumper sticker:
Isis, Isis, Ra, Ra Ra!!
Vic Sussman: Now that is most cool.
herndon, va: LI - I'm going on vacation tomorrow!! Two wonderful weeks in Oregon, and my magnificent in-laws will keep our teen-agers for a few days while my wife and I can go out to Bend, in eastern Oregon, and just RELAX!!! HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!! Best of all, I can enjoy cool temperatures and low humidity while reading about how hot and humid it is here!!!
Vic Sussman: Rub it in. Make us feel terrible. That's your job. Have a nice trip.
Reston (not by choice) VA: Vic,
Being a fellow hat lover, I -must - ask:
Where do you get your chapeaux?
Vic Sussman: Can't remember. I was sober at the time, but I have too many hats to remember where they all came from. Some men's shop. Is that specific enough? Besides, I don't want you wearing a hat like mine.
CLINTON MD.: LI:Spending Fathers Day with my 3 sons, 27,19,16 yrs. old. Now that they are young men(with jobs, college, female companions) it has become increasingly more difficult to get them in one room at the same time. Our afternoon at the Orioles game was great.
HI: Restaurant rant! Spending an hour waiting for food and then having to flag down a busboy for condiments. Waitress substituting another item on the menu for the item you ordered because the restaurant was out of the item you ordered and not telling you before she did it.
RI:My first motorcycle ride+10, getting caught in the rain during the ride-10(now I really know why convertibles were invented)
Vic Sussman: Try this: You call for reservations and you say it's for a party of two. And the person on the other end of the phone says, "How many in your party?"
What time does the balloon go up?
obscure one: Funny bumper sticker if you remember the cartoon "The Tick"
Honk if you love Justice.
Vic Sussman: I have a door sticker (not a bumper sticker) that reads IF YOU COME THROUGH THIS DOOR YOU WILL BE KILLED
Some people around here don't think this is funny. I'll never understand my co-workers.
To the Person Going to Bend, OR: Where are you staying? I'm heading out there in August for surgery, and I'm trying to find someplace relaxing to stay for a week post-op......
Vic Sussman: Oh great.
LIHIRI now moves into its next incarnation: We are a post-surgical dating service.
Just don't send us jpegs of your incision site.
Bethesda: LI- I can have lunch outside today!
HI- where were those boys' mothers when they were sexually harassing those girls in NYC's Central Park?
RI- Boston- where I was this weekend- great lobster- 10/10
Vic Sussman: I love that question: Where were those "boys" mothers? I think we should ask this of all criminals, especially serial killers. It's time we got to the root causes of crime.
Capitol Hill: What is this, Levey's "Speaking Freely"? What happened to Love It, Hate It, Rate It?
LI: that 'The West Wing' re-runs are beginning tonight. I missed out on the first half of the season, now I can finally catch up! What a GREAT show.
Vic Sussman: Don't insult Levey.
And besides, I have no control whatever over what LIHIRI fans say here. You're on your own, babe.
Reston (by boss' choice) VA: The everyday ritual:
Walk up to the counter at a deli-lunch joint and say, "I'd like xxxxx to go."
The standard reply: "Is that for here or to go?"
And they wonder why I am going bald......
Vic Sussman: Cognitive dissonance, where is thy sting?
DC: I'm not sure whether I love or hate those "Paid Discussions" that keep popping up in "Live Online." What are those all about? Who's paying, and why?
And how much, for gosh sakes? Can I pay a flat fee to broadcast my insights to the Post readership for an hour?
Vic Sussman: They are sponsored hours. People pay to put their own experts online to answer questions. The Live Online staff has nothing, nada, zip to do with these discussions. We are strictly editorial in nature. The paid discussions are handled by our advertising folks. And yes, you can buy your very own chunk of discussion time. Contact our ad department. An hour of discussion time makes a really nice birthday present.
Arlington,VA: I grew up in Williamsburg, and graduated from HS there in '93. We had a "moment of silence" every day over the PA. I don't know if it was legal at the time, but I can certainly tell you that no one paid one bit of attention to it. PA announcements made for a great time to catch up with your friends. There would be a rare lecture from the teacher about keeping quiet, but that was it.
This is probably how it will pay through the rest of the state in the future.
Vic Sussman: A minute of silence is goofy idea, a meaningless gesture and an end-run around the First Amendment by hapless and clueless politicians. Of course, I could be wrong.
Give me a minute to think about it.
Living in a box: I'm sick to death of people attempting to discuss free speech--it's the same stuff, on both sides over and over and over and over again.
Basically, as Americans we have the right to do whatever the hell we want AS LONG as we don't infringe on the rights of others. Easy peasy.
Vic Sussman: Would that it was that simple.
Spelling Police: Your "artful transition" above didn't perhaps work as you intended, since it appears you (accidentally?) left the "e" off of "note."
Vic Sussman: It's not spelling, copper, it's fast typing. You want spell check, you're going to have much less up on the screen. This is the Web, where we forgive typos in exchange for spontaneous combustion.
Capitol Hill: Haven't you ever been at the airport and the person behind the counter says, "Have a good trip," and you say, "You too."
Vic Sussman: No. When people say "Have a nice day" to me, I sometimes say, "Thanks, but I have other plans."
Capitol Hill: Not insulting Levey at all - just wondering where all the rants went to.
ps Even if I'm not gay, I'm still glad you think I'm a 'babe'.
Vic Sussman: It's a term of endearment, entirely generic. Don't get cute with me because my Inner Viking is struggling to burst free.
WDC: My recommendation is Northern Virginia Driving School. They don't have steering wheels on both sides (just brakes), so you know when you're steering and when the instructor corrects you!
Vic Sussman: Any driving school that has cars with brakes gets my vote.
On the Clock, Fidgety: My favorite bumper sticker:
"Nuke the Gay Baby Whales for Jesus"
That about covers it.
Vic Sussman: Yes, and back in the Sixties (I'm not really old enough to remember this, but so I've been told) there was a bumper sticker and a popular button that read: Kill a Commie for Christ.
I guess folks didn't worry as much about being PC then.
Muffler Rings and Skull ?:
Favorite scene from Repo Man:
Estivez in the gas station mini-mart
eating a can of generic Food.
Once I had to drive to the auto parts store in the middle of replacing the exhaust system on a 1976 Olds 98 (455 4-barrell). Fuggedaboudit!!
Vic Sussman: "Repo Man" is rapidly becoming the LIHIRI movie of choice. Get thee to your video store!
sicko-ville: "Just don't send us jpegs of your incision site."
Unless, of course, its breast augmentation.. then send us all the post-surgery pics
Vic Sussman: Hey, Live Online some months ago put up a video of laser eye surgery. I thought it was cool, but it grossed some people out. Of course, had I known that some people would be shocked or sickened by it, I never ever would have approved putting it on our site.
Right.
WDC: favorite bumper sticker: "This vehicle may wreck or explode for no apparent reason"
Vic Sussman: Love it.
Middle of Nowhere: You trade typos for spontaneous combustion?!?! Can the person committing the typo choose who combusts? Where can I sign up for this service??
Vic Sussman: We are making a list and checking it twice.
Kefir Girl: Yay! I love this forum. Where else can one find such glorious absurdity? The transcript in which Aquaman's superpowers are debated still cracks me up. Okay- I know you've probably been swamped with similar responses, but here goes: Laurence Fishburne portrayed Cowboy Curtis on the wacky Pee Wee's Playhouse. Love those chaps. Keep rockin' Vic.
Vic Sussman: Any woman calling herself Kefir Girl is okay in my book. But I have to take issue with your labeling of this forum as absurd. We are very very serious about what we do. We work for The Washington Post Co. We are serious journalists.
I would say more, but my colander just slipped off my head and I am losing the connection...
Capitol Hill: HI: The expression "end-run around the Constitution" Done to death on Law & Order
Vic Sussman: Thank you for sharing. I'm glad to hear that your compass points for life come from a teevee show. We are impressed. (This is known as a snotty response. Sometimes the nuances are lost in live typing.)
WDC: Favorite bumper sticker (for being an existential truism):
"Have a day."
Vic Sussman: Can't you shorten that a bit? We're rushed.
arl: I stopped reading Sharon Waxman after someone ref'd Carnival of Souls and she hadn't heard of it. You'd think a movie writer would have taken a class or read a book. She doesn't seem like the book reading type, tho.
Vic Sussman: Give the woman a break. Maybe she's heard of movies you haven't. It's possible, no? Maybe not...
chapel hill, nc: Vic, have to agree with the other posters---I'm worried about you! 90 minutes and no quality rants? If my patient had such a dramatic personality change, I'd be rushing you to head CT!
Vic Sussman--unsafe at any speed.
Vic Sussman: Hey. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe this crowd is mellowing. Maybe the medication we e-mailed LIHIRI readers is really working.
I don't even know these people.
And has it been 90 minutes? Time flies when you're being paid minimum wage.
Going to Bend for Surgery: NO it's not breast augmentation!!! If I were getting a boob job, I'd go to LA!
Vic Sussman: That's what they all say.
Of course, the idea of getting breast augmentation in Bend, Oregon does have a certain intellectual appeal.
Can I have a raise?: Vic's KA producer here.
Korean Restaurants that I go to:
Woo Lae Oak - near Crystal City/ Arlington
Yi Jo- in College Park
Woomi Garden -off Georgia Ave in Wheaton
Yokohama -also on Georgia Ave in Wheaton
Options -cafe/bar/entrees in Rockville
Don't forget that they serve food at Korean groceries: Hana Rum, Lotte, and Korean Korner
Vic Sussman: Eleanor, I love you dearly, but if you want a raise you are going to have to write to this Web site. Find the "Contact Us" on the home page and click once. Let me know how it all turns out.
Bethesda (again): Not that the mothers are to blame for the Central Park gauntlet, but I'd like to think the boys would have thought twice and not sexually harassed those women if their mothers were there.
And while I'm here- My fav bumper sticker is:
I love animals. They're delicious.
Vic Sussman: These guys were not all "boys." Depends on how you define "boys," but the accounts I've read sounds like they were animals on the loose. I am nominally against capital punishment, but had one of those women been someone in my life, molested by a pack of creeps, I would have sought Viking justice.
Damn. Where's my battleaxe when I need it...?
DC: Where were those boys mothers? Hello! Where were their fathers teaching them how to be respectful to ALL women, not just their mothers.
Vic Sussman: A little late for that, so it seems. Never mind the parents. Where were the cops?
Alexandria, VA: The guy going to Bend in eastern Oregon is going to get lost. At best, Bend is in the central part more towards the west.
Vic Sussman: Oh, you have to spoil all the fun.
rockville: Favorite door sign: Picture of Sylvester the Cat pointing to the right with the quote, "Would you be terribly upset if I asked you to take your silly-assed problem down the hall?"
I don't have enough nerve to actually put it on my door in this office environment - but it's displayed proudly on the wall!
Vic Sussman: This is fairly mild compared to death threats for your co-workers, but that's just me.
McLean, VA: Hate it: The two different cars of guys who said "Hey baby" to me as I waited at a bus stop on my way to the DMV. One started cursing me out when I ignored him. What did he expect me to do?!?
Love it: The two separate gentlemen who offered me their seats at the DMV half an hour later. I politely declined but really appreciated their offers, especially since I am a young woman and they were older than me.
Vic Sussman: I have never understood guys who call to women from their cars, from the street, from construction sites or wherever. I wonder if these guys actually think women will turn, face them, and say, "Where have you been all my life?" Or "Thanks for the compliment. I especially liked those mouth noises you made and the artful hand gestures. I think I'm really getting turned on and would like to give you my phone number."
Sometimes being a member of the male species is a distinct embarrassment. But then, I'm not really from this planet and glad of it.
arl: For a person that writes about movies not to have heard of "Carnival" is like a football reporter (yeah, yeah, you hate sports, snooze, snooze) never having heard of Gale Sayers.
Vic Sussman: I've heard of both the movie and the player, so I am a god in your book, right?
Fed Gov, DC: Am I the only Quaker out here? Vic, a moment of silence is pretty cool in my book. The idea of taking time to reflect (religious or not) is a good one.
Vic Sussman: Nobody is arguing with your right to a moment of silence. The argument is about having the state mandate this.
contract girl: another Egyptian goddess bumper sticker:
Anhk if you love Isis
Vic Sussman: Oh, this is getting better and better...
Rantless in Arlington: What can I say, I'm just demoralized. Last week I was so proud of myself for coming up with Sidewalk Rage and then a few minutes later, someone else posts SUSHI RAGE. How can I compete with THAT?
Vic Sussman: Every day in every way, we live to demoralize you.
Reston (Cognitive Dissonance Central) VA:: I can't get this question out of my head:
If Norman Schwartzkopf had been born and raised in Germany instaead of the US, would his nickname have been Zit?
The Horror! <Where are the boldface and italic commands when I need them?>
Vic Sussman: Some one like you obviously cannot be trusted with boldface or italics. I would fear for the populace at large.
Spelling Police: I meant that the sentence still parses with not instead of note -- the effect is different. Took me a few seconds to figure out.
Vic Sussman: Thank you. Put a sock in it.
Arlington, VA: HI: That Freaks and Geeks got cancelled. Possibly the best TV show ever made.
Vic Sussman: Which is why it got cancelled. Don't you get it yet? Do we have to spell it out for you?
Lexington Park, MD: Hey Iron Vic, I've got an idea for a show. How about a format where you could have two people from different ends of the spectrum, like G. Gordon Liddy and Jesse Jackson, and have them answer the same questions. Not a debate, just see how each of them answer the same question. It would really tell us a lot about how crazy both ends of politics are.
Vic Sussman: We are working on something like this. It's a software issue, not a production one. Trust me.
Fairfax: LI: The headline I just saw on another news site stating that scientists have found evidence of underground water seeping to the surface of Mars.
HI: That it will probably turn out like the Martian Microbe Rock thing.
RI: The 7-11 bought chocolate-chip cookie I'm munching on: 10/10.
Vic Sussman: Probably a leaking Martian toilet.
Raleigh, NC: WHAT is a skull ring?
Vic Sussman: It's a ring in the shape of a skull.
That wasn't too hard, now was it?
Capitol Hill: LI: That Lisner (and other local venues) attract such a wonderful array of international artists. Milton Nascimiento -- WOW!
HI: That Washington has NO Latin music station. I'm not talking about an hour here or there -- I want it 24 hours a day!
RI: Melody Music's selection of international artists, the owner's knowledge of music, and their willingness to let you sample CDs in the store: 10/10! (no, I don't work there)
Vic Sussman: I want Brazilian music 24 hours a day, not just a couple of WPFW hours a week. Where is the justice?
Arlington, VA: Do guys who whistle and cat-call think they're going to get dates out of this? Or guys who rev their car engines--particularly souped-up Honda Civics. Those are just the coolest, don't you think?
Vic Sussman: Souped up Honda Civic: The definition of macho.
WASH, DC: HI: Old geezers marrying young women and having tons of kids (Warren Beatty et.al) knowing that they probably won't be around for their tenth birth day and if so they will be wheeling dad to the party. Might as well start therapy now.
Vic Sussman: Maybe they are truly living in the moment.
DC: HI: Network TV news, always referred to in my house as "the police scanner". I mean, that's all they need to do, check the police scanner and drive to the scene of every calamity, then ask hard-hitting questions like "How do you feel about your grandmother being squashed by a truck, Mrs. Jones?"
LI: The decline in the police scanner's viewership.
RI: Live Online 10/10. Now someone please help me shake my addiction to it!
Vic Sussman: You're actually referring to local TV news, the "if it bleeds it leads" crowd. Couple that with the stupid banter of the weatherman/woman, and you have a recipe for an emetic.
Arlington, VA: And I want Brazilian music 0 hours of the day.
Vic Sussman: Please get into your souped up Honda Civic and drive into the nearest sunset. You obviously have no taste.
Ooh ooh we're doing bumper stickers: My all time favorite, having lived for 11 years in Berkeley, California, in response to the ultra-popular "Visualize World Peace," read:
"Forget about world peace. Visualize using your turn signals."
Boy could I use that one around the Beltway.
Vic Sussman: I've seen this one locally.
arl: Jeez, I give up. I wasn't criticizing you, I was discussing Waxman, which I thought you were encouraging. You should dismount your high horse and check out the movie, it's great. <insert "amusing" last word here>
Vic Sussman: And I was tweaking you. Sigh. We're never going to get this right in typing.
Arlington: When I was a kid (in the 70's and 80's) we had a moment of silence every morning. It was no big deal. We were all so sleepy at that time of day it gave us a chance to sleep for one more minute before shuffling off to class. I'm a card carrying member of the ACLU, and I don't have a prob. with moments of silence.
Vic Sussman: I have a major problem with authority and with anybody telling me or my kid to observe something that is even vaguely religious in nature. Pray on your own time. Cool. But get tax-supported institutions out of the business of shoving faux-religion down our throats. Ah, but maybe I'm being too subtle about this.
Washington DC: Vic,
What part don't YOU understand? We are guaranteed Freedom OF Religion, not Freedom FROM Religion. The speech of those students in Texas is being censored. They are allowed to say whatever they want as long it has nothing to do with Religion.
Vic Sussman: No, no, no. The kids can say whatever they like. But the SCHOOL AUTHORITIES can't mandate or force issues like this. And that's what happens when religion intrudes into school assemblies, pep rallies and the like.
Capitol Hill: Arlington, do you even know what Brazilian music sounds like? (not that there's even one particular sound...)
Vic Sussman: Exactly. It takes all kinds, but anyone who can sit still when a samba is playing needs to check their pulse.
DC: Uh, Vic, Viking justice for the molesters? Weren't the Vikings the rape and pillage champions?
Just a thought...
Vic Sussman: You're trying to confuse me with facts again, you trouble-maker.
Wheaton, MD: I can't believe all these anti Waxman posts - and I was the FIRST to do so, several weeks ago and you ripped me a new one for it. I think she is less condescending now than a few months ago. Still, I'd like to have a host who has actually been a player in the "business" ...
Vic Sussman: I'll have to go over the transcripts to see what and when and if I "ripped you a new one." (You have a way with the language.) Congrats, though, on being the very first Sharon basher. Put that on your resume.
Wisconsin: EMETIC! Yes! I've had that word on the tip of my tongue all week. Thank you.
Vic Sussman: You are too funny.
Vic Sussman: Okay, I did it again, went two full hours on a one hour show. What was I thinking? Don't I have a life? A job?
Oh, wait. This IS my job!
And you're all just too much fun to contain in one measly 60 minute segment. But my stomach rumbles and my producer is getting tired, so once again we end another session of LIHIRI. Back next week? Whaddya think?
Love you madly.
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