Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Follow-up …
… Julie Burchill article: Observer removes content from website and issues apology after Twitter storm | Mail Online. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Actually, Dave notes that it's back online.
(Bumped.)
Actually, Dave notes that it's back online.
(Bumped.)
Hmm …
… I'll never vote for learning poetry by rote | Mail Online. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, I see nothing wrong with learning poems by heart. On the other, forcing people to do is something else altogether.
I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, I see nothing wrong with learning poems by heart. On the other, forcing people to do is something else altogether.
Thought for the day …
To a poet the mere making of a poem can seem to solve the problem of truth, but only a problem of art is solved in poetry.
— Laura Riding, born on this date in 1901
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Bummer …
… and you may be able to help: He’s still in prison for writing a…. poem | Fox Chase Review.
Ah, the tyrants are on the move again — even here.
Ah, the tyrants are on the move again — even here.
And the winner is …
… BBC News - TS Eliot Prize: Sharon Olds is first US female winner. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Have a look …
… Allen Ginsberg’s Hand-Annotated Photos of the Beat Generation – Flavorwire. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
A dining tip …
… for those in and around Philly: Ratchada Thai and Laos Cuisine - Bella Vista - Philadelphia, PA.
Debbie and I had dinner there on Saturday, and everything was excellent. We shared the creamy lemongrass soup and tulip dumplings. I had jungle pork and Debbie had an outstanding duck dish. Highly recommended — and not at all expensive.
Who knew?
… Two spaces after a period: Why you should never, ever do it. - Slate Magazine. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Discuss …
… Do Ideas Create Realities? | The American Conservative. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
If I’m reading him accurately — and his prose is fairly academic — Hinson says that there are three ways to look at a “testimony” of an individual experience: 1) what actually happened; 2) what the person who experienced it believes happened; and 3) what the person hearing the testimony believes happened. There’s no way to be sure about the first in the list, of course, and Hinson believes (and I think this is inarguable) that the person who witnesses an event can only approximate what happened. That experience is mediated through the witness’s own finitude; he will interpret his experience in large part based on how it resonates with what he knows, or thinks he knows, already. But that doesn’t mean something objectively real didn’t happen to him – that is, this doesn’t mean he had a hallucination.
Kafka, zoning, and FEMA …
… Roger Kimball: This Metamorphosis Will Require a Permit - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Thought for the day …
Science and art, or by the same token, poetry and prose differ from one another like a journey and an excursion. The purpose of the journey is its goal, the purpose of an excursion is the process.
— Franz Grillparzer, born on this date in 1791
Monday, January 14, 2013
But didn't …
… Why 'Mere Christianity' Should Have Bombed | Christianity Today. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
So much for free speeech …
…Minister calls for sacking of Observer columnist Burchill - and paper's editor | Media | guardian.co.uk. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
How did we get to this point where, because we don't agree with what some someone says, we insist that said person shouldn't be allowed to say what they think? I want to know what's on everyone's mind. I don't want everyone to agree with me.
How did we get to this point where, because we don't agree with what some someone says, we insist that said person shouldn't be allowed to say what they think? I want to know what's on everyone's mind. I don't want everyone to agree with me.
Man of principle …
… The Last Leftist - Reason.com.
Looking at Zinn’s career from a time when formerly antiwar lefties are calling for a “responsible” gradual withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and defending the mass murder of civilians with unmanned aircraft, one can only marvel at the uncompromising ferocity of his attacks on liberal warmongers. In 1966 he wrote of Democratic leaders what now could be said of the current inhabitant of the White House: “American statesmen who are ‘liberals’ at home will sustain a state of terror abroad by surrounding it with the promise of change.” To liberals who declared their affinity for government, Zinn asked, “Are not governments the greatest murderers of all?”
Thought for the day …
The arts are an even better barometer of what is happening in our world than the stock market or the debates in congress.
— Hendrik Willem Van Loon, born on this date in 1882
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Eccentric scientist …
… Book Review: The Scientific Sherlock Holmes | Mastermind - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Thought for the day …
Every ceremony or rite has a value if it is performed without alteration. A ceremony is a book in which a great deal is written. Anyone who understands can read it. One rite often contains more than a hundred books.
— G.I. Gurdjieff, born on this date in 1872
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Elusive saint …
… Joan Acocella: The Radical Vision of St. Francis of Assisi : The New Yorker. (Hat tip, Julie Chovanes.)
Naturally, I am fond of Francis. He is, after all, my patron saint. Right above me is a card depicting him preaching to the birds. In the lower right-hand corner of the card is a bit of soil from Assisi.
A musical interlude …
… Listen to Tom Waits and Keith Richards’ new pirate song | Death and Taxes. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Indeed …
… There's More to Life Than Being Happy - Emily Esfahani Smith - The Atlantic. (Hat tip, Julie Chovanes.)
Why not?
… The TLS blog: Should book reviews draw blood? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
If the rancor is justified and not an end in itself, I see no problem.
If the rancor is justified and not an end in itself, I see no problem.
Rumors of decease …
… Gregory Wolfe: Whispers of Faith in a Postmodern World - WSJ.com. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
… we live in a postmodern world, where any grand narrative is suspect, where institutions are seen as oppressive. So the late Doris Betts could say that for all her admiration of Flannery O'Connor, her own fiction had to convey faith in whispers rather than shouts. Indeed, one of the most ancient religious ideas is that grace works in obscure, mysterious ways. But obscure is not invisible.
Preliminaries …
… How John McPhee structures stories from his notes — Jon Udell. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Openings …
… Word Craft: Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd on Good Prose - WSJ.com. (Hat tips, Dave Lull and Julie Chovanes.)
Thought for the day …
There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.
— Jack London, born on this date in 1876
Friday, January 11, 2013
Saying it wrong …
… Nobody Said 'Racial Equality' in 1865: The Anachronistic English of 'Lincoln' - Benjamin Schmidt - The Atlantic. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
It turns out Kushner didn't reach for that OED as much as he could have. Mary Todd complains about Thaddeus Stevens's "prosecutorial" interest in her accounts, but the word wasn't used at all until 1934, and not widely until Watergate. As others have noted, everyone said "sneaked," not "snuck," until the 20th century, and the "barrage" of artillery Edwin Stanton plans for Wilmington only entered English around 1900. And the "bipartisanship" at the heart of the movie's narrative? The dictionary says the term only entered the language in 1909, although I've found a few occurrences from the 1890s.
In case you wondered …
… Bad memoir writing: Rules for doing it well. - Slate Magazine. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Unrelentingly brutal...
...A Masterpiece You Might Not Want to See
I haven't seen Amour but if what this review says is true, I am not sure I want to. I certainly wouldn't want to stare into the abyss called old age for some sort of artistic gratification. What will the experience bring to me except pity and sadness at an obvious rite of passage for everyone? For what it's worth, I found Haneke's The White Ribbon underwhelming, if only because the story had been built up so well that the viewer should have been treated to a fitting climax.
I haven't seen Amour but if what this review says is true, I am not sure I want to. I certainly wouldn't want to stare into the abyss called old age for some sort of artistic gratification. What will the experience bring to me except pity and sadness at an obvious rite of passage for everyone? For what it's worth, I found Haneke's The White Ribbon underwhelming, if only because the story had been built up so well that the viewer should have been treated to a fitting climax.
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