Odds and Ends

Keeping up with the ever-shifting, ever-changing campaign polling data can be quite a chore and more than a little confusing. Especially with this week's presidential debates, gauging the data coming in from across the nation has never been more important. Fortunately, there is a great site to follow all the numbers and then get a big picture electoral vote analysis.

Derek Langley is one of my favorite photographers anywhere in the world. I love his subject matter too: Cambridge, Oxford, London, and the Lake District. I met him several years ago at a little flea market-like crafts fair in Cambridge (at the All Saints Garden, on Trinity Street, across from the Trinity College Gatehouse) and I have followed his career ever since. Check out his beautifully artistic work at his Darkness and Light web store.

The best running socks I've been able to find anywhere are finally available directly from the manufacturer's web store. If you've never tried a pair of DeFeet socks, you've got a real treat in store. I would not want to do without my SpeeDes on a long run--they are the Cabriloet version of the standard AirEAtor. Very light, very fast. They've apparently even got a LiveStrong version in the pipeline!

An interesting exchange between Marvin Olasky and James Fitzpatrick has once again raised the substantive issue of architecture, worship, societal reform, and worldview. Alas, it is more than a little difficult to swallow when an ardent Roman Catholic comprehends such issues more clearly than an earnest Evangelical Calvinist.

One of my favorite blog sites has been Bruce Green's. He is the dean of the new school of law at Liberty University and his wide-ranging reading and penetrating insights are always enlightening. Alas, he has retired from the blogosphere-at least while the hectic semester schedule keeps him otherwise occupied. Nevertheless, his archives are still available and are most assuredly worth perusing.

The calamitous character of ideology is brilliantly described at the Touchstone Magazine blog today by David Mills. It is the height of Modernist irony that the very thing that makes celebs shallow may also be what makes them popular.

When I was in Austin last summer, I discovered the sublime joys of Peet's coffee. Then as I followed the Tour de France this year, I noticed that Lance and the Posties drank Peet's exclusively. Figures. It is one of those rare and peculiar pleasures that can only be had out on the West Coast and in Austin. But, I just discovered it can also be purchased online. Hallelujah!