Odd Bleat

James Lileks cut down a tree, got a cheesy piece of memorabilia, made a quick song, eulogized a couple of people, and talked about the bombings in India in today's Bleat. But you can skip all that and go right to his response to the latest inanity from LA Times humorist Joel Stein. The destruction begins thusly:

On a related note, as long as I’m feeling screedy: It’s the hapless and jape-free Joel Stein, writing about finding a flag planted on his lawn. (Via Villianous.) It’s called “Eek! A flag on my lawn,” which suggests that the entire column was dictated from a chair on which Mr. Stein stood, shifting from leg to leg in panic.

What amused Lileks about the Stein piece "was the sight of a writer who’d burrowed so far up the aperture of his warm narcissistic cocoon he has no idea how he comes across." I would have chose a different word than "cocoon," but then I'm not half the writer Lileks is.

Oh, but read the whole thing.