"He was a tall rich kid who thought God talked to him"

I'm an avid reader of Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog over at the Atlantic. He's their culture blogger and recently posted an interview the author Pete Hammill gave on Osama bin Laden's death.

I haven't read any of Hammill's stuff, but his novels are littered across book shelves in my parents house. As my Dad -- a former journalist from New York -- recently told me, "Hammill was one of those great, edgy New York reporters. I remember the buzz around town when he first started. He is a once in a generation talent."

I think one of his novels is in my very near future. If there is a better interview out there about bin Laden's death and the reaction in the U.S, I haven't seen it:

What was your response?

Nothing dramatic. I didn't jump for joy because after 50 years of being a newspaperman, I realize that if you think you know what it's all about at the moment, you're usually wrong. I was also hopeful that nobody would say, "This brings closure."

Don't you think that killing him will help Americans deal with the losses we suffered on 9/11?

If you lost a daughter or son or father or someone at the Trade Center, it will follow you to your grave. You're never going to get rid of it just because somebody shot this asshole in the head.

What did you think about the Daily News' headline, "Rot in Hell"?

I wasn't thrilled by it because bin Laden couldn't see those three words.

But didn't you agree with the sentiment?

It's easy to be a tough guy when no one's going to come knocking on your door. I thought of all those people--the ones who jumped out of windows, the firemen, people running down the jammed hallways trying to get out. I thought more of them--but I'm glad they got bin Laden. I have no sympathy whatsoever for him--he was a tall rich kid who thought God talked to him. He used money he'd never earned to kill people and called it a holy mission.

Back to the States and Prince (again)

I'm cold, really, really cold. I think the transition from 80 degrees and the Indian sun to 25 and snow in Washington would be tough on anyone. Pulling my bags out of the car in topsiders and no socks last night was inadvisable.

But anyway, I'm home for Christmas for a few weeks and while I'm going to continue to write about India while I'm here (there is more than enough in the vault) I'm also going to sprinkle in a few other topics as well.

When I woke up at five this morning I browsed a few of my favorite blogs and came across an interesting post from the Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates on sexuality and Prince. He writes about sitting down with his son and telling him how to talk with women and that Prince will absorb a significant part of that conversation.

He goes onto to write, "Watching Prince as a kid, we derided him as gay and had no sense as to why all the young girls were into him. But looking at him now, though it much it aggrieves me, it must be said that Prince is, indeed, a sexy motherfucker.

Homophobia doesn't just make you bigot, it ruins your music taste and makes it harder to understand women--perhaps not in that order."

I couldn't agree more. I think back to watching Prince on MTV in the early 90s. The video that sticks out to me is "Diamonds and Pearls" and I remember being utterly confused by him but transfixed by the sound. I'm not saying your homophobic if you don't like or appreciate Prince but give him another listen if you passed him off because of the androgynous look.

For a fantastic video of him performing "If I was your girlfriend" go here.