Dan Dunn

Today’s theme: things I ran across while surfing away my holiday.

Ned points to the 55th best crossword puzzle solver in the world. His blow-by-blow analysis of the 5/25 NYTimes puzzle that is . . . . breathtaking in its detail. I can’t imagine spending that much time on a crossword puzzle, let along writing about it afterwards. I enjoy my glass house, though, and won’t throw any stones.

Andrew Sullivan has been on a kick about “Hallelujah” for some reason. I’ve been on a kick about this song since Jeff Buckley’s album Grace grabbed me in 1994, and refused to let me go. I didn’t know it was a Leonard Cohen cover until a year later when I played the album for a friend. He was younger than me, but Canadian, and immediately recognized the song. I listened to Cohen’s version, and to other Cohen songs, but I’m convinced the magic here is Buckley’s, not Cohen. Cohen was a necessary ingredient, of course, but Buckley is what moved the song so far beyond the ordinary. Anyway, Sullivan points to this deep history and analysis of the song. I found it fascinating.

So if I visited so many sites today (Firefox tells me it’s more than 100 so far), why point out these two? They both have incredibly rich detail and analysis. But I only find one of them interesting. Sure, the crossword post was a good scan – I’m glad to know that stuff like that is out there. But the “clap clap” post was devoured in its entirety. Different strokes, and all that.

To lighten things up a little, a much more bite-sized link sent by my friend Doug (fresh back from Hawaii – see the family photoalbums here). Doug points me to jacksonpollock.org. All you need is your mouse and the spacebar. What do you think – should I quit my day job?