I’m glad Merlin got his Skype sorted out in time to pose a few harder-edged questions to Philip Ryu. I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the tone of the interview until then. I think Philip acquitted himself well by answering most of Rich Siegel’s criticisms, but there’s still something about the philosophy of the Heist that bothers me. In a way, it reminds me of those companies that profit by selling a slightly customized version of OpenOffice, ie, they are making money simply by coming up with the idea of packaging it, not by doing any of the hard work.

I look at the two interviews this way: imagine you were putting together a team for something BIG, say a run for public office, where a single misstep might cost you the election. For me, there is no doubt at all that I would want Rich Siegel on my team, maybe even running my campaign. Philip… I’m not so sure. This is why the slight whiff of something being a little off (or a rank stench in the case of the malcor stunt) matters.