...Who Took the 'Judeo' Out of 'Judeo-Christian'? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Wasn't me.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Life and literature ...
...`Merely Beautiful'. This brings to mind Wallace Stevens's wonder Of Mere Being
Right under my nose ...
... and I didn't know. Garrett County Press is not only located in Philadelphia, it's actually not far from where I live. Garrett's editor in chief Joley Wood is blogging at Powell's: Flashes of Lost.
Uh-oh ...
... Dangerous Knowledge In Academe. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
But that's what academics thrive on, isn't it? Danger. Transgressiveness.
But that's what academics thrive on, isn't it? Danger. Transgressiveness.
Well, I'm not sure ...
... The Uncertainty Principle of Beauty. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Actually, I still like Hermann Hesse, if only for the thrill his books gave me when I first discovered them (when I was studying German in college and before the craze began) - and also whenever I listen to Strauss's Four Last Songs.
Actually, I still like Hermann Hesse, if only for the thrill his books gave me when I first discovered them (when I was studying German in college and before the craze began) - and also whenever I listen to Strauss's Four Last Songs.
OK ...
... I've linked here to a couple of posts complaining about New Blogger. I had to make the switch today. So far, I have had no problem. It seems much faster, but that may have more to do with Scott's good services (mentioned in an earlier post), for all I know.
This is certainly true ...
... it is Tiime for an American Review of Books. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
But I think, if it happens, it will be electronic.
But I think, if it happens, it will be electronic.
I am back ...
... a very nice young man named Scott, from The Original Computer Doctor, just came by and serviced my home computer, which was moving like the proverbial molasses in January. No longer. And I now know some things I didn't know before and am quite a happy camper. Than you, Scott!
No blogging for now ...
... because someone is coming by shortly to do some work on my home computer. Blogging will resume sometime later.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Take that ...
... Sam Tanenhaus is the Misinformed One.
I don't know Sam Tanenhaus, but I reviewed his biography of Whittaker Chambers and thought it masterful. His knowledge of blogs does seem wanting, however. And yes, Bob Hoover does have a sense of humor, quite a lively one, in fact. He is also a first-class guy and a first-rate book review editor.
I don't know Sam Tanenhaus, but I reviewed his biography of Whittaker Chambers and thought it masterful. His knowledge of blogs does seem wanting, however. And yes, Bob Hoover does have a sense of humor, quite a lively one, in fact. He is also a first-class guy and a first-rate book review editor.
Today's must read ...
... is this piece by Kenneth Rexroth: The Reality of Henry Miller. On this date, 21 years ago, according to the wonderful Today in Literature, "the original manuscript of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer was auctioned for $165,000, then a record price for a 20th century literary manuscript."
Cathy Young picks up ...
... on something Bryan had noted: PandaGate and anti-male bigotry . (I saw this at InstPundit, but Scott Stein also noted it ina comment attached to an earlier post. Be forewarned: Young's post quotes Amanda Marcotte in all her coarse grandeur.)
As a Catholic, I find Marcotte's rants against the Church too puerile for comment. But the Church isn't the only thing she apparently feels obliged to be offensive about - and being offensive appears to be important to her. It is how she chooses to "express herself," to make her case, which is fine, so long as she doesn't expect everyone to respond enthusiastically to the self - or the points - so expressed. Choosing such a person for one's political campaign is transparently impolitic, and anyone who says otherwise is either foolish or mendacious.
Let's start the day ...
... with me! Here's my piece on J. Peder Zane's The Top Ten: Author, author! Ten times over. The print version of this, I believe, includes my own Top 10 list. But this does not seem to have made it online. So here it is:
Frank Wilson’s Top 10
Essays by Michel de Montaigne
Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
Collected Poems by Wallace Stevens
Works and Days by Hesiod
Autobiography by John Cowper Powys
The Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen
Le grand Meaulnes by Alain-Fournier
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
Frank Wilson’s Top 10
Essays by Michel de Montaigne
Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot
Collected Poems by Wallace Stevens
Works and Days by Hesiod
Autobiography by John Cowper Powys
The Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen
Le grand Meaulnes by Alain-Fournier
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
Update: Cathy Dononvan, of the Communications Department of Rutgers University Camden, emails me that Rutgers-Camden's "graduate English program requires its students to pass a comprehensive exam where they must identify passages from works deemed most notable in the time periods that they chose to study." She also sends along the reading list .
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Well, this says it all ...
... on this topic: Amanda Marcotte and Scary America . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The parochialism Bryan mentions is a problem, especially since it is so often characteristic of people, like Marcotte, who seem to have been schooled beyond their intelligence.
The parochialism Bryan mentions is a problem, especially since it is so often characteristic of people, like Marcotte, who seem to have been schooled beyond their intelligence.
Blogging will be light today ..
... I have taken a few days off and have other things to do. Back later.
Grandee files dawn report ...
... from the UK: Random Post with Flashing Squid . I'm sure all of us are delighted at the Archers' good fortune.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Calling Dennett & Dawkins ...
... it seems Religion isn't bad for kids after all, according to a book published by Oxford University Press. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Daniel Dennett strikes back ...
... with An Open Letter to H. Allen Orr. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
A good many of Dennett's questions seem answered in Peter Williams's Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?
Far from wanting to warn anyone against 'even opening a book like this,'[59] I recommend that believers and non-believers alike apply their 'native intelligence'[60] to reading The God Delusion. However, I suggest doing so with help from a list of logical fallacies. Readers can then enjoy a stimulating game of 'I Spy'. In particular, look out for examples of: self-contradiction, begging the question[61], attacking a straw man[62], data picking[63], wishful thinking[64], appeal to ridicule[65] and various ad hominim attacks[66] from simple name-calling[67] to 'poisoning the well.'[68] Blowing away houses made from philosophical straw is a praiseworthy endeavour; but Dawkins' frequent substitution of straw houses for the real thing means that his critique of religion has more puff than bite.
A good many of Dennett's questions seem answered in Peter Williams's Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?
Far from wanting to warn anyone against 'even opening a book like this,'[59] I recommend that believers and non-believers alike apply their 'native intelligence'[60] to reading The God Delusion. However, I suggest doing so with help from a list of logical fallacies. Readers can then enjoy a stimulating game of 'I Spy'. In particular, look out for examples of: self-contradiction, begging the question[61], attacking a straw man[62], data picking[63], wishful thinking[64], appeal to ridicule[65] and various ad hominim attacks[66] from simple name-calling[67] to 'poisoning the well.'[68] Blowing away houses made from philosophical straw is a praiseworthy endeavour; but Dawkins' frequent substitution of straw houses for the real thing means that his critique of religion has more puff than bite.
Artistic partners ...
... with an all-star cast, including Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis, Goethe, Schiller, and many more: The Rivals. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Thanks to Dave Lull for sending a link repair.
Thanks to Dave Lull for sending a link repair.
If it isn't true ...
... it ought to be (warning: salty language): Email Humor . (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Gee, this seems to be ...
... well, snowballing:
Let's start with Clouds. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
And there's this from India: Experts question theory on global warming.
There's this from the New York Times: A Cool $25 Million for a Climate Backup Plan ("... most of the horror-movie scenarios are looking less and less plausible. Climate change will probably occur not with a bang but with a long, slow whimper, as you can see in the new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.")
There's also this from Fox, though we know we can't trust them, right: On Global Warming: Follow the Money Indeed! (Hat tip, Mark Yost.)
Most significant, though, is this global cooling link.
Update: Steve Clackson sends along this link: Stone Age Cemetery, Artifacts Unearthed in Sahara and comments that "Their remains still lie there, found in older archaeological layers and surrounded by harpoons, fishhooks, other tools, and remains of their catch.We are on a long long continuous climate change and so it goes."
And there's this: Study: Glacier melting can be variable.
Let's start with Clouds. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
And there's this from India: Experts question theory on global warming.
There's this from the New York Times: A Cool $25 Million for a Climate Backup Plan ("... most of the horror-movie scenarios are looking less and less plausible. Climate change will probably occur not with a bang but with a long, slow whimper, as you can see in the new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.")
There's also this from Fox, though we know we can't trust them, right: On Global Warming: Follow the Money Indeed! (Hat tip, Mark Yost.)
Most significant, though, is this global cooling link.
Update: Steve Clackson sends along this link: Stone Age Cemetery, Artifacts Unearthed in Sahara and comments that "Their remains still lie there, found in older archaeological layers and surrounded by harpoons, fishhooks, other tools, and remains of their catch.We are on a long long continuous climate change and so it goes."
And there's this: Study: Glacier melting can be variable.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Clive James on ...
... Jorge Luis Borges: Can a great writer be blind to the world around him? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
If we're going to question Borges's politics, we ought to question Gabriel Garcia Marquez about his fondness for Castro. And let's not forget Neruda's ode to that wonderful guy Stalin. Borges may not have protested the junta, but he didn't praise it, either.
If we're going to question Borges's politics, we ought to question Gabriel Garcia Marquez about his fondness for Castro. And let's not forget Neruda's ode to that wonderful guy Stalin. Borges may not have protested the junta, but he didn't praise it, either.
Some good sense ...
... from Dr. Helen. I'd love see her chat with Theodore Dalrymple. Or even Anthony Daniels.
Religion of peace ...
... strikes again: Feminist's book is recalled by its publisher for 'offending religion'. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Amy lists ...
... 10 Things I Like Beginning With the Letter “C”.
Which brings to mind Wallace Stevens's poem The Comedian as the Letter C.
Which brings to mind Wallace Stevens's poem The Comedian as the Letter C.
Come one, come all ...
... but for a limited time only: A half-life of one.
I would be happy if a couple of my poems continued to be read in the the years to come. I would not care if no one knew I wrote them, or knew anything about me. I have always admired Anonymous. He did a lot of good work and has been spared the intrusion of biographers.
Here's a politician I like ...
... Czech president Vaclav Klaus - not because I agree with what he is saying (though largely I do), but rather because he is not intimidated by the journalist interviewing him.
Oh, and don't forget that Valentine bouquets 'are bad for the planet'.
Remember Mencken's words: "A Puritan is someone who is desperately afraid that, somewhere, someone might be having a good time."
Oh, and don't forget that Valentine bouquets 'are bad for the planet'.
Remember Mencken's words: "A Puritan is someone who is desperately afraid that, somewhere, someone might be having a good time."
And take that ...
... Daniel Dennett. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Orr's response echoes a point I have made: that if The God Delusion were the only book by Richard Dawkins that you knew, you would never guess what a good writer Dawkins can be. As for Dennett, his tenuous grasp of logic is becoming increasingly evident.
Orr's response echoes a point I have made: that if The God Delusion were the only book by Richard Dawkins that you knew, you would never guess what a good writer Dawkins can be. As for Dennett, his tenuous grasp of logic is becoming increasingly evident.
Getting to know ...
... Bryan Appleyard: Who are you calling gloomy? Bryan himself links and comments: Grandee Posts Early . (I think that Bryan, as founder and president of the FIS, is quite properly referred to as "grandee.")
All kinds of interesting stuff in this. I certainly don't get the gloomy tag. I think Bryan's one of the funniest writers around. I do get the right-wing tag. I like to describe myself as a libertarian conservative, but people assume I am just conservative. On the whole, I tend to agree with Bryan on on number of things. We both believe in markets and we bopth believe that government has a role as market referee. And I certainly agree that "the only way you have a culture is being conservative."
I guess where we differ is in regard to global warming. Oh, I don't doubt that in the last century the planet's temperature increased overall by a little more than 1 degree Fahreneit. And I can even subscribe to the 1932 model. But when somebody who declares that it's a problem "it might take another 30 Kyotos" to deal with is taken seriously, well include me out. I remain unconvinced that what is in fact a negligible uptick in temperature is anything other than a natural fluctuation. After all, the term "unseasonable temperatures" has been around for a long time.
But back to Bryan. He makes one point that ought to be tacked up in every news room: These "I think blogging is blogging and newspapers are newspapers. They are different things. I strongly believe and hope it comes true that newspapers will suddenly rediscover what they do best - which is being newspapers. I don't believe that newspapers are iPods, which seems to be the thinking at the moment." Amen.
Michael Allen has an announcement ...
... Change of policy .
I quite understand. I have been continually amazed by Michael's industry and thoroughness.
I quite understand. I have been continually amazed by Michael's industry and thoroughness.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
And that's not all ...
... Things you learn when you are evicted.
Read the whole thing.
Since the invention of the papyrus and parchment, people have written about events and places that they have witnessed only in their imagination. It is interesting to be able to write convincingly about somewhere you have never been, but not overwhelmingly so.
Maxine has done some doscovering, too ...
... namely, that It's a mad world, my masters. 'Twas ever thus.
Amy discovers ...
... a Great Site On Borges. (That could be a standard lead- in: "Amy discovers ...")
Go figure ...
... How the library romantics turned into thrill seekers. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
[Danielle] Steel’s 68 novels have sold an astonishing 560 million copies worldwide since 1981, they have also been borrowed from British libraries 18 million times in the past ten years.
Give me that old-time prediction ...
... Fish to Swim in Buckingham Palace.
Also Mark Steyn's been doing some heavy reading.
Also Mark Steyn's been doing some heavy reading.
... you might want to read the December issue of the Journal Of Atmospheric And Solar-Terrestrial Physics in which Cornelis de Jager of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Ilya Usoskin of the Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory in Finland test the validity of two current hypotheses on the dependence of climate change on solar energy -- the first being that variations in the tropospheric temperature are caused directly by changes of the solar radiance (total or spectral), the other that cosmic ray fluctuations, caused by the solar/heliospheric modulation, affect the climate via cloud formation. The Finn and the Dutch guy from the A-list institutions with the fancypants monikers writing in the peer-reviewed journal conclude that the former is more likely -- that tropospheric temperatures are more likely affected by variations in the UV radiation flux rather than by those in the CR flux.
Jonathan Lethem engages ...
... really engages the subject of plagiarism: The Ecstasy of Influence. (Hat tip, Barbara Smith.)
This is long, but wonderfully ingenious - and rather inspiring.
This is long, but wonderfully ingenious - and rather inspiring.
Today's Inquirer reviews ...
Bryan Appleyard offers just a terrific look at John Ashbery's latest collection: A poet with a gift for the odd and unique.
Chuck Leddy provides a compelling account of Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone: A boy soldier's haunting memoir.
Edward Champion limns the charms of David Markson's early work: Embellishments eclipse plots in reissue of 'Epitaph' novels.
Sarah Weinman find Chris Bohjalian's latest a tad too gimmicky: A novel spoiled by a quest for ever more.
Carlin Romano is much impressed by James M. Olsen's Fair Play: Lies, and the liars who lie about them.
Sandy Bauers liked listening to Ron McLarty's latest: Going back to their boyhoods: Two heartwarming stories
During the past week:
Maxine Clarke sized up Val McDermid's The Grave Tattoo: Uniting the poet and the mutineer.
John Freeman was a little disappointed in Howard Norman's Devotion: A fine novel, but not up to the author's high standard.
Jack Fischel gave high marks to Michael B. Oren's Power, Faith, and Fantasy: Back to Barbary pirates, missionaries.
And Fred Bortz had high praise for Freeman Dyson's The Scientist as Rebel: A book of essays that's a science project, too .
There should be something there for everyone.
Chuck Leddy provides a compelling account of Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone: A boy soldier's haunting memoir.
Edward Champion limns the charms of David Markson's early work: Embellishments eclipse plots in reissue of 'Epitaph' novels.
Sarah Weinman find Chris Bohjalian's latest a tad too gimmicky: A novel spoiled by a quest for ever more.
Carlin Romano is much impressed by James M. Olsen's Fair Play: Lies, and the liars who lie about them.
Sandy Bauers liked listening to Ron McLarty's latest: Going back to their boyhoods: Two heartwarming stories
During the past week:
Maxine Clarke sized up Val McDermid's The Grave Tattoo: Uniting the poet and the mutineer.
John Freeman was a little disappointed in Howard Norman's Devotion: A fine novel, but not up to the author's high standard.
Jack Fischel gave high marks to Michael B. Oren's Power, Faith, and Fantasy: Back to Barbary pirates, missionaries.
And Fred Bortz had high praise for Freeman Dyson's The Scientist as Rebel: A book of essays that's a science project, too .
There should be something there for everyone.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Also check out ...
... Skint's Latest Challenge .(Hat tip, Roberta Nolte.)
While you're at it, take a look around Wordcarving.
While you're at it, take a look around Wordcarving.
Well, not quite ...
... I simply have to link to this: Archer: The Theft and The Verdict .
Does Lord Archer know of the pleasure he is - thanks to Bryan - giving to so many of us? Would he care?
Does Lord Archer know of the pleasure he is - thanks to Bryan - giving to so many of us? Would he care?
Friday, February 09, 2007
Another look ...
... largely sympathetic, at Francis Collins's The Language of God: C. S. Lewis Goes to the Laboratory. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
He should have consulted ....
... Wallace Stevens: Kafka’s Confusion.
I presume the Dr. Steiner mentioned here is Rudolf Steiner, founder of Anthroposophy.
I presume the Dr. Steiner mentioned here is Rudolf Steiner, founder of Anthroposophy.
Words, words, words ...
... froma guy who knows a lot about them: A Q&A with 'intellectual omnivore' Anatoly Liberman.
(Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
(Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Not even below the fold ...
... Glenn Reynolds links to unreported stem-cell progress.
For all the talk over the morality of using human embryos in medicine, perhaps there's another moral issue at play: Non-embryonic stem cell researchers are already performing miracles, such as growing new heart and liver tissue and treating multiple sclerosis – all in living humans. Yet they struggle to get federal funds for their research.
Given the growing number of state initiatives that fund embryonic stem cell, but not non-embryonic stem cell, research and given that overall National Institutes of Health funding increases are unlikely anytime soon, is it truly moral to take away funds from a technology that's been saving lives for half a century in favor of another technology that promises nothing but "promise"?
For all the talk over the morality of using human embryos in medicine, perhaps there's another moral issue at play: Non-embryonic stem cell researchers are already performing miracles, such as growing new heart and liver tissue and treating multiple sclerosis – all in living humans. Yet they struggle to get federal funds for their research.
Given the growing number of state initiatives that fund embryonic stem cell, but not non-embryonic stem cell, research and given that overall National Institutes of Health funding increases are unlikely anytime soon, is it truly moral to take away funds from a technology that's been saving lives for half a century in favor of another technology that promises nothing but "promise"?
Getting to know ...
... Maxine Clarke: The normblog profile 177.
Even I was surprised at how much on the same page Maxine and I are.
Even I was surprised at how much on the same page Maxine and I are.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Here' a leading question ...
... Do American poems lack substance? Bruce Bawer's review, which Christine links to and quotes from, is simply superb.
Congratulations ...
... to Ron Silliman, who is expecting his 1 millionth visitor. (Hat tip, Christine Klocek-Lim.)
One of the most interesting things about last December's MLA convention in Philadelphia was listening to one fifteen-minute paper after another & realizing that two-thirds had less in the way of ideas than the average blog note.
One of the most interesting things about last December's MLA convention in Philadelphia was listening to one fifteen-minute paper after another & realizing that two-thirds had less in the way of ideas than the average blog note.
Something like this ...
... always gets people going: The Faith of China .
It seems to me that the correlation between religious belief and high birth rates indicates conclusively that religion has been ordained and is blessed by Almighty Evolution Herself.
Separated at birth?
... New Inquirer columnist Michael Smerconish
... Philosopher Michel Foucault
Update: Scott McLemee correctly points out that we incorrectly labeled Michel Foucault a deconstructionist. Foucault has been called a postmodernist and a post-structuralist, but he did not agree. Perhaps I should have called him a fellow Libran, since his birthday was Oct. 15, the day after mine. At any rate, I don't think he would object to being called a philosopher.
... Philosopher Michel Foucault
Update: Scott McLemee correctly points out that we incorrectly labeled Michel Foucault a deconstructionist. Foucault has been called a postmodernist and a post-structuralist, but he did not agree. Perhaps I should have called him a fellow Libran, since his birthday was Oct. 15, the day after mine. At any rate, I don't think he would object to being called a philosopher.
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