Thursday, November 30, 2023

December Reviews at North of Oxford …

 … Phantom Captain by Kim Rosenfield.

… Shadow Dance by Martin Ott.

… Yellow Brick Pilgrim by Joseph Farley.

 The Absence of Angels by Christian X. Hunter.

… Salvage by Bruce Lowry.

… Salt Water Deserves a Psalm by Kweku Abimbola.

A Willa Cather roundup …

 … NYU LECTURE ON WILLA CATHER'S "NEIGHBOR ROSICKY.”  (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Famous fellow born in Florida …

 … Well, I’ll have more to say about him in future postings.

Something you probably didn’t know…

… How American Librarians Helped Defeat the Nazis - JSTOR Daily. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I sure didn’t know it.

Negotiating the peace …

 … Of course, John Adams was one of the negotiators.

Something to think on …

Live every day as your last, because one of these days, it will be.
— Jonathan Swift, born on this date in 1667

Let us pray …

 … with Saint Thèrése of Lisieux — Daily Scripture & Reflections.

A word for today \

… Corpus | Word Genius.

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

A truly great poem …

Nigeness: 'Not to be here, Not to be anywhere' (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Well wirth pondering …

 … Radical Islam's Threat to the Left.

Raising doubts …

… With Good Intentions? The Myth of Progress | Reading Freely. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Well-deserved pushback …

… Pro-Hamas protests show higher education has crossed the line.

So, how’s that worked out for everyone?

 … “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men”

In case you wondered …

… Who Doesn’t Like Music? Nabokov, For Starters (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

 there are people who don’t get on with music even though they’re not deaf, stupid or ignorant.

Let us pray …

… with St. Thèrése of Lisieux —  Daily Scripture &Reflections.

Something to think on …

You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.
— C. S. Lewis, born on this date in 1898

A fresh look …

 (14) Like a windowpane - by Dan Hitchens - The Pineapple. (Har tip, Dave Lull.)

The myth of Orwell’s plain style

Word for today …

… Dorgi - Word Daily.

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Monday, November 27, 2023

Good question …

… George Floyd's death led to a racial reckoning -- Where's the antisemitism reckoning?

Compare the response to George Floyd’s death with what happened when a pro-Palestinian demonstrator, Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji allegedly murdered a Jewish man, Paul Kessler. 

It’s a necessary beginning …

 … Well, it is a good place to start but for only one reason.

Yeah, that’s the way it is …

… On Aging. (Hat tip, Dave lull.)

Old age is a slippery slope, but if you enjoyed sledding as a kid and improvising ever since, it shouldn’t be degrading. A pile of books-on-tape or unread magazines, a dog learning that its once-wise owner, huffing and puffing, has become worryingly fallible. No more “bearding the lion,” so to speak; we’re in survival mode, our eyes with crow’s-feet around them from squinting. Old age is not for sissies, the saying goes, though sissies undergo it. Passively, however, there are rewards, like no alarm clocks and the precedence given when traveling. Young folk feign curiosity asking about family history. Dozing off is forgiven and often a pleasure, and bores aren’t insulted.

Do we still need novels …

… Catching a Cloud. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

There is no denying the loss of cultural salience of the book in our world. The evidence is everywhere. When I travel on the Paris Metro, for example, I look around me to see who is reading a book: to which the answer is, usually, no one. By contrast, it is not unusual—in fact it is usual—to be surrounded by ten or even twenty people all to a man or woman glued ocularly to their telephone screens.

Flawed but impressive …

… The enormous humility of C.S. Lewis - The Spectator World. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

There is a certain coarseness to Lewis which the experience of falling in love chastened

Guilty or Not Guilty?

… Was he convicted by “fear and hysteria”

“2001” movie prop? …

… Mysterious Utah monolith removed from canyon 11/27/20.

Ends Friday …

 … Iconic Paris Print Sale - with 40 Photographs.

Something to think on …

Killing time is not murder, it is suicide.
— Charles A. Beard, born on this date in 1874

Interesting …

…  The America Where Same-Sex “Marriage” Is Banned.

Let us pray …

 … with St. Thérèse of Lisieux — Daily Scripture & Reflections..

A word for today …

… Enclave - Word Daily.

Sunday, November 26, 2023

The bad old days …

… Harvard Crimson's antisemitism disturbingly echoes Oxford in the 1930s | Washington Examiner.

In case you wondered …

… What Makes Hamas Worse Than the Nazis.

… the Hamas killers 80 years later attached GoPro cameras to their helmets so they could livestream their atrocities over social media. Although the Nazis burnt Jews alive in barns on their retreat in 1945, they did not film themselves doing it. There are plenty of photographs of Nazis standing around death-pits full of Jewish corpses, but these were taken for private delectation rather than public consumption.

Time for a smile …

… Paul Davis On Crime: A Little Humor: Snoopy's Guide To The Writer's Life.

Better than most …

 … Classic movie filmed and set during World War Two.

Something to think on …

Explanation separates us from astonishment, which is the only gateway to the incomprehensible.
— Eugène Ionesco, born on this date in 1909

Confronting the end …

… The Graces of Death and Nature | The Russell Kirk Center. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Clarity, craft, and with …

… Robert B. Shaw and the Poetry of New England - Intercollegiate Studies Institute.. (hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Let us pray …

 … St, Thèrése of Lisieux: Daily Scripture & Reflections

Word for today …

… Patulous - Word Daily.

Saturday, November 25, 2023

Historical perspective …

 … There was important military action in my own backyard.

Ah, the forest …

… Zealotry of Guerin: Poetry and Fiction by Christopher Guerin: Pine Forest (Gustav Klimt), Sonnet #616

Snapshots …

 V

Nothing wrong with changing the subject,

Especially if it’s back to the original one.

We’re meant to harness and mount

Thought, not be trampled

Or dragged through the dust,

The choking cloud of plausibility.

And when we figure something

Out, we had better giddy up

Not just sit there.


Something to think on …

Security depends not so much upon how much you have, as upon how much you can do without.
— Joseph Wood Krutch, born on this date in 1893

Poem for today …

 … Philip Whalen The Task Rejected.

Let us pray …

 … with St. Thèrése of Lisieux: Daily Scripture & Reflections.

Word for today …

… Donnybrook - Word Daily.

Friday, November 24, 2023

Snapshots …

 IV



He kicked a stone along the sidewalk

For a bit this afternoon, while walking back

From Center City, where he went looking

For a book, which he found, but found as well

He didn’t just now want after all, which is not to say

The trip was a waste of time, since

He did, in the end, get a kick out of it.He kicked a stone along the sidewalk

For a bit this afternoon, while walking back

From Center City, where he went looking

For a book, which he found, but found as well

He didn’t just now want after all, which is not to say

The trip was a waste of time, since

He did, in the end, get a kick out of it



What the hell …

… is going on in this country? WATCH: Latest Brigade of Suspicious Nazis Appears in Madison

Sorry. I have no tolerance fot neo-Nazis. Of course, I’m so old, I  remember World War II.

Anniversary …

… Paul Davis On Crime: On This Day In History Conservative Author, Newspaper Columnist, TV Host And Magazine Editor William F. Buckley Was Born.

I knew Bill. A very nice gentleman.

Silencing the suspect …

 … Infamous moment seen on live television in 1963.

Yes, indeed …

… Campus Reform | PROF GIORDANO: Revamp education to stop the cultural rot.

It is embarrassing that America ranks 25th in education in the world. As states like New York and Oregon redefine and/or eliminateproficiency standards, this decline will accelerate. With our public schools producing a lower-quality student body, our global university rankings continue to decline as they lower standards in response to students’ capabilities. 

Recent college grads I have encountered have seemed remarkably ignorant — though they sure had some firm ideological beliefs. 

Just so you know …

… The Catholic Origins of Thanksgiving.

Letting go …

 … After great pain, a formal feeling comes.

Something to think on …

The duel between Christianity and atheism is the most important in the world, and the struggle between individualism and collectivism is the same struggle reproduced on another level.
— William F. Buckley Jr., born on this date in 1925

Let us pray …

 … with St. Thèrése: Daily Scripture & Reflections.

A timely warning …

 The Danger of Appeasing the Intolerant.

Word for today …

… Copacetic - Word Daily.

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Very good advice …

 (14) More big ideas for reforming higher ed - by Greg Lukianoff.

… I recommended an insistence that students and administrators alike are aware that shout-downs, disruptions of events, and mob censorship will not be tolerated. Every time there is a shout-down, a de-platforming, or a canceling on campus, the school needs to do an investigation asking two questions: Did administrators do anything to stop it? Did administrators do anything to encourage it? Failing at the first should get an administrator in trouble. Failing at the second should get them fired. Donors, with their immense power and influence, can do a lot on these fronts.

Looking back ……

… We Cooked Some Dishes From the First Thanksgiving

Watch the science …

… Why Research Fraud Is Getting Worse.

Thanksgiving …

 … Three score and eighteen (and thankful).

Pay a nickel and hear a song …

 … Unveiled first in a saloon in San Francisco.

Remembering …

… Paul Davis On Crime: President Ronald Reagan On Thanksgiving.

FYI …

 In 1939, FDR moved Thanksgiving up a week.

Something to think on …

Art is always the replacement of indifference by attention.
— Guy Davenport, born on this date in 1927

Let us pray …

 … with St. Thérèse of Lisieux — Daily Scripture & Reflections.

A. poem …

Observation


Now and then one needs a bit of chaos,

Even when grown old, perhaps then

Most of all, end time nearing, though questions

Still can be answered. Things seem so strange now,

The way they did, most likely, at the start.

In between, he’d acted like he had a clue.

Now he knows he never did, and sure

In hell doesn’t have one now. Little’s left

To happen, but something could prove momentous.

These days, brushing his hair, paying attention

To each stroke, he drifted into feeling 

Without words, and simply was, alive

Past comprehension. That was the hard part:

Just saying yes. Leaping into being.


Word for today …

… Toothsome | Word Genius.

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

In praise of Thanksgiving …

 A Brit’s Ode to Thanksgiving. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Not sure why he doesn’t like pumpkin.

Well worth remembering …

… C. S. Lewis’s Prophetic Legacy on Scientism.

Today is the 60th anniversary of  Lewis’s death.

Blogging note …

 I am about to take off for a visit to my dear wife, who is currently in a nursing home. Blogging will have tomtake a back seat for awhile.

Light the candles on the cake …

 … It’s the birthday of a very special American woman.

Something to think on …

Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles.
— George Eliot, born on this date in 1819

Remembering …

… CS Lewis: A Sonnet | Malcolm Guite. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Unforgettable …

 … The day the earth stood still — JFK assassinated.

Let us pray …

 … with St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Daily Scripture & Reflections.

Word for today …

… Gastronome | Word Genius.

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

The America I remember …

… In red America, standing up for Israel isn't controversial.

Mark Twain as hoaxster …

… Nevada’s sagebrush humorists and hoaxsters.

We’re a long way from Dag Hammarskjóld …

… 10 Things to Know About the UN and Hamas.

Maybe it’s time for us to say goodbye to the UN.


Hmm …

… (14) How to Tell the Truth without being Truthful.

Dive, dive, dive! …

 … Truman taken 440’ below the surface in German U-boat.

Another over-educated dimwit …

… Disgraced Prof Says University Threw Her to the Wolves by Refusing To Defend Her 'Poetic' Post About Killing Jews.

See ya, Prof.

People pay lots of money to get this dumb?


This Was In Fact a Victory': Inside an Ivy League Student Group's Private Response to Hamas's October Attack

. "Demeaning to Palestinians to imply that 'violence against human beings is bad.'"

I’m so dumb I thought violence against human beings is usually quite bad. And decapitating babies is especially bad. Here’ s my suggestion: Shut down the Ivy League for good and all. Anti-Semitic bastards. I’m not Jewish. I’m Catholic. But I’m old enough to remember a guy named Hitler. 

More labor problems …

 …  American workers strike at 92 plants in 50 cities.

Something to think on …

Life is God's novel. Let him write it.
— Isaac Bashevis Singer, born on this date in 1903

Snapshots …

 III


Walking home the other night

A whiff of mown grass

Sped him in a moment elsewhere
Only for a moment

 Years past.


Freed fired …

 … Rock and roll disc jockey loses his job at WABC.

Let us pray …

… with St. Thérèse: Daily Scripture & Reflections.

A poem …

 The Miracle of Breathing

By Jennifer Knox

Behold the miracle of breathing.

The bliss of nearly sleeping, dappled vision,

Spinning amongst carnations, lilies, and roses,

Remembering beloved faces of children.


She can't see, but imagines clouds above

Of sun-drenched apricot, ecstatic birds

Flying together above it all.

A heart can dream, even when it's in shards.


The food is not good, but somewhere there is love —

A family waiting for her to come home,

And meanwhile the miracle of breathing

Serves as the last bastion of joy.


“She's unresponsive.” Her hand feels more like a claw.

“Shall we turn off the machines and let her die?”

Word for today …

… Sojourn - Word Daily.

Monday, November 20, 2023

In case you wondered …

 8 Of The Most Looked-Up Definitions In The United States.

Interesting tale …

… UNDERNEWS: Discovering history: Jelly Roll Morton. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Forgetting God and nature …

 (14) Wokery and the Double Denial - by William F. Vallicella..

Defying the courts …

 … 400,000 coal miners across the U.S. walk out on strike.

Something to think on …

The ways of Providence cannot be reasoned out by the finite mind ... I cannot fathom them, yet seeking to know them is the most satisfying thing in all the world.
— Selma Lagerlòf, born on this date in 1858

Anniversary …

 Revisiting Gettysburg - The Spectator World. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The Ultima Thule of Gettysburg fandom is embodied in a Pittsburgh man who has amassed a stupendous collection of its props and costumes and who says that he has seen the movie (which in its briefest version runs 254 minutes) an astounding 3,000 times — a claim reminiscent of Wilt Chamberlain’s boast that he had conjugated with 20,000 women. One may admire the dedication of both men but…really?

The actual anniversary was yesrpterday. 

Let us pray …

 … Daily Scripture & Reflections.

RIP …

… AS Byatt obituary | Fiction | The Guardian.

I introduced Antonia at the Library a couple of times, and we had dinner together a couple of times She was a delightful person. Eternal rest grant unto her O Lord.

Visual clues …

 … Victorian technologies made it all elementary.

A word for today …

… Dulcify - Word Daily.

Sunday, November 19, 2023

Anniversary …

… Nov. 19, 1863: Lincoln Delivers Greatest Presidential Speech Ever At Gettysburg, PA - The Lid.

A crime tale …

… Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction: Bunco Bill.

RIP …

… Rosalynn Carter, Politically Active First Lady, Dies at 96 - The New York Times.

Only it isn’t …

 (14) The New York Times the evidence on learning loss is "startling."

Sad anniversary …

… JFK Was a Martyr of the Cold War | City Journal.

John F. Kennedy was murdered by a Communist in an age of superpower tensions—but 60 years later, a counterfactual mythology continues to mislead Americans.

In case you wondered …

… What a Work of Fiction is For - The Reading Experience. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

In the beginning…

 … The earliest words from a conservative voice in journalism.

Virusl Memories News …

 (14) Hitting The Links: 11/19/23.

Something to think on …

Poets are mysterious, but a poet when all is said is not much more mysterious than a banker.
— Allen Tate, born on this date in 1899

Daily poem …

 … Cecil Hemley Witnesses.

Snapshots …

 

Ii

The poem he was looking to write was one

Somebody who had never met him

Could take as an introduction

Let us pray …

 … Daily Scripture & Reflections.

Leftove

 … Resolving lingering problems between U.S. and Britain.

A word for today …

… Cumbrous - Word Daily.

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Foreign influence …

… The Museum Tour Guide Who Shaped Mark Twain’s Views on Race.

Just so you know …

 (14) Bertrand Russell: Empiricism is Self-Refuting.

Nice guy …

Paul Davis On Crime: A Look Back At The Lie And Crimes Of Dario Antonio Usuga David, The Most Dangerous Drug Trafficker In the World

A busy man …

… Paul Davis On Crime: Kicking The Soviets Out Of Afghnistan And Helping To Takedown Bin Laden: My Q&A With Michael G. Vickers, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense For Intelligence.

Not a good plan …

 … What could possibly go wrong with this decision?

To the point …

… Zealotry of Guerin: Poetry and Fiction by Christopher Guerin: Thorns, Sonnet #615.

Another word …

… Eventide | Word Genius.

Something to think on …

In each of us there dwells a mystery, and that mystery is the human personality.
— Jacques Maritain, born on this date in 1883

A poem for today …

 … Luis Alberto de Cuenca — William of Aquitaine Returns.

A word for today …

… Tergiversation - Word Daily.

And it lasted seven minutes …

 … It was terrible, but it was wonderful!

Let us pray …

 … Daily Scripture & Reflections.

Friday, November 17, 2023

Snapshots …

 


I


Habit makes things you don’t want to do

So easy you do them anyway all the time. 

It’s like finding out very late

You’ve taken a wrong turn

And must go a long way back

Before you can even start

Heading for home.

Of course, he’s only won the Nobel Prize …

EXCLUSIVE: 'We Are Totally Awash in Pseudoscience': Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist on Climate Agenda | The Epoch Times.

Have a look …

… The Week in Pictures: Weimar America Edition | Power Line.

In case you wondered …

… How Siskel & Ebert Brought Movies to the People. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Like Hamlet without Hamlet …

 … “Dear Walker, I killed Lincoln last week.”

Sounds interesting

… Off the Beaten Path with County Highway - Front Porch Republic:.  (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

You can imagine the brainstorming for County Highway: “Remember when Rolling Stone was cool?” “Remember when you could say whatever you want, like the early days of National Lampoon magazine?”

Something to think on …

The main objection to killing people as a punishment...is that killing people is wrong.
— Auberon Waugh, born on this date in 1939

Words of friendship …

… A.M. Juster: ‘For Bayara Manusevitch’. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Let us pray …

 … Daily Scripture & Reflections.

A word for today …

… Ameliorate - Word Daily.

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Navigation guides

… Choosing what to read in these perilous times is easy.

See ya …

 … Barbra Streisand says if Trump becomes president, she 'can’t live in this country'.

A poem …

    •  For Dandelion Seeds
  •       
  •         By Jennifer Knox


Dandelion seed puffball you are mine.

Ghostly halo of love's beauty, you are

Like my love limed in moonlight when he comes,

When all is silvery shivers blown away.


Dandelion seed puffball you are mine.

Both of us used to mirror the sun.

Now being a shadow of what once was,

Silvery as the mirror of my love.


Dandelion seed puffball you are mine.

Blessed with wishes for the offering to abound

A dark listening mansion in my dreams

With a table set for loves long lost.


Someday they'll say: “When she grew old her hair grew dandelion gray,

As if her every wish could catch the wind and fly away.”

Blogging note …

 I am about to take off for a visit to Debbie. That takes priority over blogging. Back later.

Something to think on …

Is there really someone who, searching for a group of wise and sensitive persons to regulate him for his own good, would choose that group of people that constitute the membership of both houses of Congress?
— Robert Nozick, born on this date in 1938

Action across the Channel …

 … England determined to settle dispute with France.

And the winners are …

… 25 Winning Photos from The 2023 Nature Conservancy Photo Contest. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden .)

Let us pray …

 … Daily Scripture & Reflections.

Remembering …

… A poem by Anne Sexton on her 105th birthday | San Diego Reader. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden]

Another word

 Immutable | Word Genius.

A word for today …

… Largesse - Word Daily.