corrente

Herein, some recommended readings you may have missed.

Steve Gilliard has a wonderful post about the funeral for the magnificent Ossie Davis that was held at the magnificent Riverside Cathedral in New York. Steve rightly and brilliantly calls it Harlem's State Funeral, and after a long quote from the NYTimes coverage of the event, explains why it was exactly that. A few highlights from the Times:

Mr. Clinton arrived about midway through the service and was seated in the front.

"I asked to sit in the back," he said. "I would proudly ride on the back of Ossie Davis's bus any day."

The crowd applauded wildly and did so again when he said of Mr. Davis, "He would have been a very good president of the United States."

Ms. Angelou compared Mr. Davis's death to a great tree falling and all of nature recoiling. She said that when Mr. Davis died, "the heaviest door in the universe slammed shut, and there are no knobs."

Mr. Alda said Mr. Davis taught him how to eat sweet potato pie. "Ossie was my hero, and he still is," he said. "He spoke of black princes; he was one."

Mr. Reynolds (Burt) said he came from the same part of Georgia as Mr. Davis. "He took a bad part of the South out of me," he said. "My heroes were a lot of John Waynes. I know what a man is because of Ossie."

Go read the whole thing, especially Steve's own comments. Don't miss his pictures and discussion of Chinese New Years here. In fact, if you haven't visited there recently, just go ahead and read all the new stuff.. There is no more original voice than Steve's.

BIG NEWS: Lisa English has resummed blogging at her own invaluable blog, "Ruminate This," and is there a wittier blog name anywhere? Or a better looking blog? She has been a much-missed voice. We trust that all is well with her family. And thanks to Jack K. for keeping the franchise going. Lisa explains that she hopes that he will be continuing to contribute. We do, too. But it is wonderful to have her back. Pay a visit and say hello.

We all know that John Aravosis at Americablog has done yeoman work on unthreading the "Jeff Gannon isn't his name, journalism isn't really his game" story. Could there be a better time to support his blog with a small contribution? Remember, it doesn't need to be anything extravagant if enough of us do it. John has made a huge step forward for our side of the blogisphere, not only getting himself invited onto CNN, but doing an outstanding job. If you haven't been following John's work, take a moment to scroll back to last week and read foward.

Rob of the same blog has a terrific piece up about what the story means for blogtopia (skippy's coinage, let us not forget). And the reverberations are still reverberating. As soon as I get this post up, I'm going over to make a contribution to say "thanks, and by all means keep up the good works."

Don't forget Wampum needs us too; I contributed last night, but if you haven't had a chance, see back here. As Digby remarked, their hosting of the Koufax Awards is the least of what makes Dwight and MB such admirable and important people.

Scott Rosenberg, journalist turned blogger, has a complex and interesting take on the differences between the Eason Jordan and Jeff Gannon stories that has a lot to say about what the left side of the blogisphere is up against. For Rosenberg, the issue isn't which was the bigger and better scalp to have taken. It's the way that a "savvy political establishment" has moved to take advantage of public mistrust of the media to create a Potemkin Village faux media of its own. Go read it.

Avedon Carol "The Sideshow" is one of my favorite blogs, no doubt one of yours, too. There is no one more generous; she seems to read everything, and then provides links in such a way that they provide a kind of commentary through juxtaposition; she often creates an essay just through her placement of a series of links. Every now and then she gives us the pleasure of a longer piece and we're reminded again what a fine writer she herself is, how good at making passionate, moral arguments. She takes on the Eason Jordan debacle, and you should go and read it asap. Jeanne of Body & Soul calls it the last word on the subject; actually, I hope not, because I'm hoping to post an analysis later today of how the right created their own blog swarm on the subject, so check back if that interests you. But don't miss Avedon's take, which you can find here.

Someone who early on figured out that the right was gonig for another media scalp was Jude Nagurney Camwell at "Iddybud;" she'll be making an appearance in my own post, but she has all kinds of good stuff up about Eason and Jordan and lots else, so if you haven't made the trip to her blog, or you missed her posts at The American Street, do yourself a favor and pay her a visit.

Another of my favorite bloggers is Jerome Doolittle, the founding spirit behind "Bad Attitudes." There is always so much there to link to, but I'll pick out a particularly interesting post Jerry has up about rural angst. He also recommends one of my favorite writers, Russell Banks, whose novel "Affliction," deals with the same subject. (Quite a good movie was made from it; I agree with Jerry both are worth your attention, but keep your Zoloft handy) One of the things I love about Banks, he writes about working folks. If you've never read "Continental Drift," put it on your "to read" list.

If you missed last night's "The Daily Show," commence kicking yourself, or try and find it online. Steven Colbert did bloggers vs the media, and neither will ever be the same again.

Well, now that should keep you busy, while I continue my struggles with the dreaded Blogger.