Thursday miscellany

• On slate.com, Emily Bazelon has an essay about liberal affection for William Rehnquist. I think it's hard for non-lawyers to fully appreciate how attached practitioners become to certain justices and judges, even if you disagree with them. The press covers judicial nominations the way they cover the rest of Congress but based on my experience, the legal profession doesn't think of it that way. I'll be pretty sad when Rehnquist steps down.
• Pistons play Game 7 tonight. I'll be at a concert and maybe a poetry reading, so to compensate, I'm silently rooting at my desk at this very moment. And, uh, Go Blue!
• One of my favorite bands, The New Pornographers, is not only going to play at generally annoying Webster Hall in October, but now A.C. Newman is comparing his group to the dreaded and unlistenable Fiery Furnaces. Brian the Pinup surely is displeased. I'm looking forward to the Saturday night show at Prospect Park even if Neko can't make it.
• Would Joe Biden be a good president? I've been thinking about it since his interview on Charlie Rose a couple nights ago. When he talks about Iraq, I feel like he's the only person in government who understands what's going on and has a prescriptive vision for American policy. On the other hand, he voted for bankruptcy reform, and I think his instincts on domestic policy suck.
• Like a mute Damien in The Omen III, Evil Girl waits and lurks. If I were Jerry McGuire, I'd be screaming into the phone, "Show me the evil!"
• Interspecies seduction yields high comedy.