When I first read “November Sunday Morning,” actually handed to me by the poet on a Sunday morning just before Thanksgiving, it renewed memories of my youth, when I would wander round our neighborhood early in the day and experience instant clarification of streets grown too drearily familiar. I had no name then for these bursts of transcendence, nor did they move me to composition, since any desire to write poems was alien to me. Poetry was what I read incessantly, possessed by memory, and wanted to absorb gradually. The genesis of a literary critic, at least in me, was remote from any incarnation of the poetical character.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Appreciation …
… Harold Bloom on Alvin Feinman’s Self-limiting Transcendence | The Critical Flame. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Hmm …
… Boomer Pharisaism by Barton Swaim | Articles | First Things. (Hat tip, Dave Lull)
The comparison of her style with that of Donald Trump is almost too obvious to remark. Whereas Clinton’s style is careful and boring, his is heedless and bonkers. More illuminating, I think, is a comparison between Clinton’s style and that of another ferociously ambitious and calculating politician: Richard Nixon. When Nixon examines his mistakes, he displays, despite all the efforts at self-exculpation, a directness and honesty that Clinton lacks.
Inquirer reviews …
… including this one by yours truly: Tom Wolfe plays mischief with language in 'Kingdom of Speech'.
… 'Here I Am' isn't all the way there.
… 17 Philadelphians tell us their favorite summer reads.
… 'Here I Am' isn't all the way there.
… 17 Philadelphians tell us their favorite summer reads.
Something to think on …
Ours is an excessively conscious age. We know so much, we feel so little.
— D. H. Lawrence, born on this date in 1885
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Quite a guy …
… Business: Washington Post Business Page, Business News — David Bauman dies at 56. (Hat tip, Cynthia Haven.)
Mark thy calendar …
THE GREEN LINE CAFE
POETRY SERIES PRESENTS
AN OPEN POETRY READING
You will be given 3 minutes to read your poetry.
50 Dollars In Gift Certificates for Best Poem:
THE RONALD JOHNSON POETRY AWARD.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016, 7PM
HOSTED BY
LEONARD GONTAREK
Sign Up In Advance:
gontarek9@earthlink.net
THE GREEN LINE CAFE
45TH & LOCUST STREETS,
Philadelphia, PA
http://greenlinecafe.com/
This Event Is Free
+
PEACE/WORKS,
POETRY IN COMMON,
& THE GREEN LINE CAFE
POETRY SERIES
PRESENT
100 THOUSAND POETS FOR CHANGE
- THE PHILADELPHIA POETS
POETS FOR CHANGE – West Philly, USA
TUESDAY, September 24, 2016 2-5 PM
M
This Is An Open Reading.
Each poet is invited to read poems
on a social or political issue. Your
poems and one poem BY SOMEONE ELSE.
5 Minutes.
Sign Up In Advance:
gontarek9@earthlink.net
(Please plan to attend the entire event.)
HOSTED BY
LEONARD GONTAREK
(Please note the address for this event
there are other Green Line Café locations.)
THE GREEN LINE CAFE
AT 43rd & Baltimore Avenue,
ACROSS FROM CLARK PARK
Philadelphia PA, USA
THE READING WILL BE HELD OUTDOORS
greenlinecafe.com
This Event Is Free
This reading is in participation with
100 Thousand Poets For Change –
Poets And Artists Worldwide
Unite For Peace And Justice
Visit their site here:
http://100tpc.org/
And on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/
Lindens
So much sweetness –
the city’s been anesthetized;
a skinny boy, who barely
takes up space on earth,
and a dog,
and I, a soldier in an unseen war,
and a river I love.
The lindens bloom.
Adam Zagajewski
POETRY SERIES PRESENTS
AN OPEN POETRY READING
You will be given 3 minutes to read your poetry.
50 Dollars In Gift Certificates for Best Poem:
THE RONALD JOHNSON POETRY AWARD.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016, 7PM
HOSTED BY
LEONARD GONTAREK
Sign Up In Advance:
gontarek9@earthlink.net
THE GREEN LINE CAFE
45TH & LOCUST STREETS,
Philadelphia, PA
http://greenlinecafe.com/
This Event Is Free
+
PEACE/WORKS,
POETRY IN COMMON,
& THE GREEN LINE CAFE
POETRY SERIES
PRESENT
100 THOUSAND POETS FOR CHANGE
- THE PHILADELPHIA POETS
POETS FOR CHANGE – West Philly, USA
TUESDAY, September 24, 2016 2-5 PM
M
This Is An Open Reading.
Each poet is invited to read poems
on a social or political issue. Your
poems and one poem BY SOMEONE ELSE.
5 Minutes.
Sign Up In Advance:
gontarek9@earthlink.net
(Please plan to attend the entire event.)
HOSTED BY
LEONARD GONTAREK
(Please note the address for this event
there are other Green Line Café locations.)
THE GREEN LINE CAFE
AT 43rd & Baltimore Avenue,
ACROSS FROM CLARK PARK
Philadelphia PA, USA
THE READING WILL BE HELD OUTDOORS
greenlinecafe.com
This Event Is Free
This reading is in participation with
100 Thousand Poets For Change –
Poets And Artists Worldwide
Unite For Peace And Justice
Visit their site here:
http://100tpc.org/
And on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/
Lindens
So much sweetness –
the city’s been anesthetized;
a skinny boy, who barely
takes up space on earth,
and a dog,
and I, a soldier in an unseen war,
and a river I love.
The lindens bloom.
Adam Zagajewski
In case you wondered …
… How New York City Became the Epicenter of Jazz | | Observer. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Anniversary …
… Remembering H.D. on her 130th birth anniversary | OUPblog. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I remember sitting in the Holmesburg Library (Holmesburg is a section of Northeast Philadelphia, the library was one of those built by Andrew Carnegie) when I was maybe 13 and coming upon some poems of H.D. in an anthology I had picked up. One poem in particular really grabbed me for some reason — Pear Tree. I have been a fan of hers since that day.
Something to think on …
The basic formula of all sin is: frustrated or neglected love.
— Franz Werfel, born on this date in 1890
Friday, September 09, 2016
Hmm …
… Solitary Praxis: Emily Dickinson on "Judgment Day".
My sense is that Dickinson knows that we by ourselves on our own feel out of place wherever we are. Only grace can solve that problem. Oddly, it brings to mind this poem by Kenneth Patchen: Do The Dead Know What Time It Is?
My sense is that Dickinson knows that we by ourselves on our own feel out of place wherever we are. Only grace can solve that problem. Oddly, it brings to mind this poem by Kenneth Patchen: Do The Dead Know What Time It Is?
The essence of who we are …
… First Known When Lost: "The Sea Of Life".
This reminded of how much I liked Arnold's poetry when I first encountered it. I must take some time to renew my acquaintance.
This also reminded me of Ralph Vaughan Williams's An Oxford Elegy, which uses parts of Arnold's "Thyrsis" and "The Scholar Gypsy" and is one of those rare pieces where music and narrative really work well together. (Post bumped.)
This reminded of how much I liked Arnold's poetry when I first encountered it. I must take some time to renew my acquaintance.
This also reminded me of Ralph Vaughan Williams's An Oxford Elegy, which uses parts of Arnold's "Thyrsis" and "The Scholar Gypsy" and is one of those rare pieces where music and narrative really work well together. (Post bumped.)
Walled out …
… A Berkeley sociologist made some tea party friends — and wrote a condescending book about them - The Washington Post. (Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
The deep story helps Hochschild unpack the great paradox: that is, why people living in a region with such poor economic, educational and health indicators — and Louisiana struggles in all of them — still support politicians who call for reducing federal help in those arenas. Hochschild peers at the paradox through a keyhole issue: environmental protection. … Turns out, many people Hochschild spoke to simply don’t trust environmental authorities, often with good reason. The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources had known of the risks involved in Bayou Corne but had given out drilling permits anyway, Hochschild writes. She also describes the guidelines state health authorities had provided on how to eat contaminated fish. “Trimming the fat and skin on finfish, and removing the hepatopancreas from crabs, will reduce the amount of contaminants in the fish and shellfish,” they advised, featuring handy drawings of how to cut away the yucky parts.
Falsification …
… Evidence Rebuts Chomsky's Theory of Language Learning - Scientific American. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
These findings, along with theoretical linguistic work, led Chomsky and his followers to a wholesale revision of the notion of universal grammar during the 1980s. The new version of the theory, called principles and parameters, replaced a single universal grammar for all the world’s languages with a set of “universal” principles governing the structure of language. These principles manifested themselves differently in each language. An analogy might be that we are all born with a basic set of tastes (sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami) that interact with culture, history and geography to produce the present-day variations in world cuisine. The principles and parameters were a linguistic analogy to tastes. They interacted with culture (whether a child was learning Japanese or English) to produce today’s variation in languages as well as defined the set of human languages that were possible.The problem from the start seems to have been that the theory was based on nothing more than speculative analogy, without any real search for evidence.
Something to think on…
We must not only cease our present desire for the growth of the state, but we must desire its decrease, its weakening.
— Leo Tolstoy, born on this date in 1828
Thursday, September 08, 2016
The hoary old pentameter …
… Kampa/Allen — Lineages and Lines. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
When I think of short-lined free verse that inspires meter-lovers, however, I think of Kay Ryan, and I suspect it is because in her work, one sees most clearly how free verse and metrical verse are not always as distinct as our criticism—or perhaps more accurately, our polemics—might imply.
The hoary old pentameter …
… Kampa/Allen — Lineages and Lines. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
When I think of short-lined free verse that inspires meter-lovers, however, I think of Kay Ryan, and I suspect it is because in her work, one sees most clearly how free verse and metrical verse are not always as distinct as our criticism—or perhaps more accurately, our polemics—might imply.
Blogging post …
I have another day of obligations to deal with, having to do with the exercise of power of attorney for an old friend. My blogging probably won;t resume until this evening, because I don't think I'm going to anywhere with WiFi.
Natural piety …
… Solitary Praxis: The Child is father of the Man.
Wordsworth penned this when he was fairly young. Very prescient of him, because now that I am an old man, I realize better than ever before how much indeed the child is father of the man.
Wordsworth penned this when he was fairly young. Very prescient of him, because now that I am an old man, I realize better than ever before how much indeed the child is father of the man.
Hmm …
… Sonsy' campaign launched to preserve endangered American words | Books | The Guardian. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I'm not familiar with any of them, and most seem to be regional locutions. Still, it would be sad to see them go.
I'm not familiar with any of them, and most seem to be regional locutions. Still, it would be sad to see them go.
For the defense …
… Beloved Spear: The Most Evil Woman Who Ever Lived. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Not when it's all about you you don't.
… more often than not in this #hashtag #activism era, focusing monomanaically on macro issues becomes a great way to do nothing. Faced with a starving man, writing a tumblr post about food injustice and global imbalances of privilege and residual impacts of colonialism may not be wrong, but it is a hell of a lot less relevant to that actual human being than putting food in his belly. Faced with an abandoned soul, you don't offer up a tweet about social isolation. You take time for them and show them compassion.
Not when it's all about you you don't.
Something to think on …
In actual life, every great enterprise begins with and takes its first forward step in faith.
— August Wilhelm von Schlegel, born on this date in 1767
Wednesday, September 07, 2016
Sign up now …
MAKING POEMS THAT LAST – Fall 2016
A POETRY WORKSHOP WITH LEONARD GONTAREK
While there’s no guarantee you’ll become the next Robert Frost, with the guidance of award-winning, prolific poet Leonard Gontarek, it’s at least a possibility. Encouraging students to explore as many avenues as possible and remove themselves from their work, he’ll help you find—then strengthen—your style and voice.
Philadelphia Weekly, Nicole Finkbiner
Reserve a place in the class via: gontarek9@earthlink.net
The workshop will include discussions of contemporary and international
poetry, translation, the students’ poetry, and the realities of publishing poetry.
Narrative, persona, political, homage, and confessional poetry will be
covered with a focus on what makes a poet’s voice original and their own.
Specific direction and assignments will be given, with attention
to the basic elements and forms of poetry.
Through invention students will build more accurate and textured work.
The workshop will be presented in seven 2-hour sessions,
Saturdays, 11 AM - 1 PM: September 10, 17, 24 (Please note:
100 Thousand Poets Reading follows the 9/24 class – at Green Line Café),
October 1, 8, 22, 29 (Please note: No class on 10/15).
Location: 4221 Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia.
The cost is 168 dollars for 7 sessions.
Please contact Leonard Gontarek with interest: gontarek9@earthlink.net,
215.808.9507 – Independent workshops and manuscript editing available.
Leonard poem here:
<http://concis.io/issues/
Leonard reading Promise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Leonard Gontarek is the author of six books of poems:
St. Genevieve Watching Over Paris, Van Morrison Can’t Find His Feet,
Zen For Beginners, Déjà Vu Diner, He Looked Beyond My Faults
and Saw My Needs, and Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket, Shiva
(Hanging Loose Press, 2016) – Available from Small Press Distribution & Amazon.
His poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Field, Poet Lore,
Verse, Handsome, Fence, Blackbird, The Awl, Poetry Northwest,
and in the anthologies, The Best American Poetry, The Working Poet,
and Joyful Noise: American Spiritual Poetry. He has received five
Pushcart Prize nominations and twice received poetry fellowships
from the Pennsylvania Council On The Arts.
He was the 2011 Philadelphia Literary Death Match Champion.
He coordinates The Philadelphia Poetry Festival, Peace/Works: Poetry Readings
for Peace, and the Green Line Café Reading and Interview Series.
Since 2006 he has conducted 1000 poetry workshops in venues including,
The Moonstone Arts Center, Musehouse, The Kelly Writers House,
University City Arts League, Free Library of Philadelphia,
Mad Poets Society, Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership,
and a weekly Saturday workshop from his home in West Philadelphia.
In 2014 he created the first Philly Poetry Day. He was recipient of
the Philadelphia Writers Conference Community Service Award in 2014.
In 2015, his poem, 37 Photos From The Bridge, was a Poetry winner for the Big Bridges
MotionPoems project and the basis for the winning film from the Big Bridges poetry
film contest sponsored by MotionPoems and the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis.
Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket, Shiva
A New Book of Poems by Philadelphia Poet Leonard Gontarek
“This is a book of human hungers so exact in its recognitions it leaves a reader stricken with a sense not just of how detailed our desires are, but how rare it is to have them articulated in ways yet unspoken. 'In my poor country, we poured sugar/ on everything to not notice our hunger,' Leonard Gontarek writes, but where that coat of sweetening fails, this poet stays to record what is still needed, what is still hungry, what is still so very, and beautifully, human.”
—Katie Ford, author of Blood Lyrics and Colosseum
Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket, Shiva
Poems by Leonard Gontarek
(Hanging Loose Press, 2016)
Available from:
Hanging Loose Press
347.227.8215
print225@aol.com
hangingloosepress.com
Small Press Distribution
800.869.7553
spd@spdbooks.org
spdbooks.org
A POETRY WORKSHOP WITH LEONARD GONTAREK
While there’s no guarantee you’ll become the next Robert Frost, with the guidance of award-winning, prolific poet Leonard Gontarek, it’s at least a possibility. Encouraging students to explore as many avenues as possible and remove themselves from their work, he’ll help you find—then strengthen—your style and voice.
Philadelphia Weekly, Nicole Finkbiner
Reserve a place in the class via: gontarek9@earthlink.net
The workshop will include discussions of contemporary and international
poetry, translation, the students’ poetry, and the realities of publishing poetry.
Narrative, persona, political, homage, and confessional poetry will be
covered with a focus on what makes a poet’s voice original and their own.
Specific direction and assignments will be given, with attention
to the basic elements and forms of poetry.
Through invention students will build more accurate and textured work.
The workshop will be presented in seven 2-hour sessions,
Saturdays, 11 AM - 1 PM: September 10, 17, 24 (Please note:
100 Thousand Poets Reading follows the 9/24 class – at Green Line Café),
October 1, 8, 22, 29 (Please note: No class on 10/15).
Location: 4221 Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia.
The cost is 168 dollars for 7 sessions.
Please contact Leonard Gontarek with interest: gontarek9@earthlink.net,
215.808.9507 – Independent workshops and manuscript editing available.
Leonard poem here:
<http://concis.io/issues/
Leonard reading Promise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Leonard Gontarek is the author of six books of poems:
St. Genevieve Watching Over Paris, Van Morrison Can’t Find His Feet,
Zen For Beginners, Déjà Vu Diner, He Looked Beyond My Faults
and Saw My Needs, and Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket, Shiva
(Hanging Loose Press, 2016) – Available from Small Press Distribution & Amazon.
His poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Field, Poet Lore,
Verse, Handsome, Fence, Blackbird, The Awl, Poetry Northwest,
and in the anthologies, The Best American Poetry, The Working Poet,
and Joyful Noise: American Spiritual Poetry. He has received five
Pushcart Prize nominations and twice received poetry fellowships
from the Pennsylvania Council On The Arts.
He was the 2011 Philadelphia Literary Death Match Champion.
He coordinates The Philadelphia Poetry Festival, Peace/Works: Poetry Readings
for Peace, and the Green Line Café Reading and Interview Series.
Since 2006 he has conducted 1000 poetry workshops in venues including,
The Moonstone Arts Center, Musehouse, The Kelly Writers House,
University City Arts League, Free Library of Philadelphia,
Mad Poets Society, Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership,
and a weekly Saturday workshop from his home in West Philadelphia.
In 2014 he created the first Philly Poetry Day. He was recipient of
the Philadelphia Writers Conference Community Service Award in 2014.
In 2015, his poem, 37 Photos From The Bridge, was a Poetry winner for the Big Bridges
MotionPoems project and the basis for the winning film from the Big Bridges poetry
film contest sponsored by MotionPoems and the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis.
Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket, Shiva
A New Book of Poems by Philadelphia Poet Leonard Gontarek
“This is a book of human hungers so exact in its recognitions it leaves a reader stricken with a sense not just of how detailed our desires are, but how rare it is to have them articulated in ways yet unspoken. 'In my poor country, we poured sugar/ on everything to not notice our hunger,' Leonard Gontarek writes, but where that coat of sweetening fails, this poet stays to record what is still needed, what is still hungry, what is still so very, and beautifully, human.”
—Katie Ford, author of Blood Lyrics and Colosseum
Take Your Hand Out of My Pocket, Shiva
Poems by Leonard Gontarek
(Hanging Loose Press, 2016)
Available from:
Hanging Loose Press
347.227.8215
print225@aol.com
hangingloosepress.com
Small Press Distribution
800.869.7553
spd@spdbooks.org
spdbooks.org
Blogging note …
Blogging has been erratic in part because I have had aproblem with my desktop computer, which is more convenient for blogging than my iPad. I have get a new mouse, and that won't be operative until I get home this evening. Right now, I am in the book room at The Inquirer opening the bins of mail filled with books.
And the winner is …
… Poet Doireann Ní Ghríofa awarded €10,000 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. (Hat tip, G. E. Reutter.)
Listen in …
… Episode 183 – Jeff Gomez | Virtual Memories.
“The reason we enjoy these finely-tooled story-worlds is because we love dollhouses. We love miniatures. We love to see a universe that is created in such a way that they convince us somehow, even for a moment, that they’re real.”
Watch and listen …
… Wanderlust - Alicja ontmoet Roger Scruton | kijk online | canvas.be. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The wisdom of bees …
… TLSPoem of the Week: ‘The Bees (Virgil’s Georgics: Book IV)’ – TheTLS. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Something to think on …
The poet speaks to all men of that other life of theirs that they have smothered and forgotten.
— Edith Sitwell, born on this date in 1887
Tuesday, September 06, 2016
Listen in …
… Episode 184 – David M. Carr | Virtual Memories.
“There’s a deeper music that runs through and beneath the Bible.”
How words shape being …
… Talking Heads | Books and Culture. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
… on the very substrate of language in contrast to animal communication, Taylor zeroes in on the difference between recognizing something and having a word for it. This involves more of a leap than we readily suppose. An animal might recognize a triangle as the shape of a hole to jump through, or point to, to get a treat, such that the triangle is the conduit to a concrete reward. However, only humans have a label for the triangle whose usage, via utterance, yields the reward simply of corresponding to the thing we know as a triangle. That is, we humans can regard a triangle and see not only a way to get something done but also the embodiment of something to which there corresponds a name "triangle."
Blogging note …
Once again, I must be out and about doing things for people. My blogging will be accordingly spotty.
Getting things straight …
… The New Not-Normal | The Weekly Standard. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
What "the new normal" chiefly covers is changes in etiquette, dress, relationships, conduct—in short, morals, manners, and customs. One might think these items trivial next to the importance of changes in the law. Montesquieu, the great Enlightenment philosopher, thought otherwise. In his Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline, Montesquieu wrote: "More states have perished by the violation of their moral customs than by the violation of their laws. Not always but often changes in customs precede changes in law." Changes in customs, in fact, generally pave the way for changes in laws.
Something to think on …
The secret is to write just anything, to dare to write just anything, because when you write just anything, you begin to say what is important.
— Julien Green, born on this date in 1900
Monday, September 05, 2016
Hmm …
…Margalit Fox on Life, Death, and the Best Job in Journalism – Conversations with Tyler Cowen – Medium. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The stereotypical obituary is a formulaic recitation of facts — dry, boring, and without craft. But Margalit Fox has shown the genre can produce some of the most memorable and moving stories in journalism. Exploiting its “pure narrative arc,” Fox has penned over 1,200 obituaries, covering well-known and obscure subjects with equal aplomb.I remember much the same thing was said of Alden Whitman, when he was the Times's obituarist.
Literary despot …
… Karimov died last week. Here is a look at his writing: Dictator-lit: Islam Karimov's bland menace | Books | The Guardian.
Controversy …
… Negative Blog Post Prompts Internet Debate | The Evelyn Waugh Society. (Hat tip, Dave Lull — who also gets a nod in what is linked to.)
Something to think on …
The progress of science is strewn, like an ancient desert trail, with the bleached skeleton of discarded theories which once seemed to possess eternal life.
— Arthur Koestler, born on this date in 1905
Open spaces …
… Solitary Praxis: Emily Dickinson on the emptiness in our lives.
I can't say I've ever experienced much emptiness in my life.
I can't say I've ever experienced much emptiness in my life.
Sunday, September 04, 2016
What limitations?
… This blind Apple engineer is transforming the tech world at only 22. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
More of the same …
…West Virginia: Using 'Wrong' Prounoun Is Title IX Violation | The Daily Caller.
How about using only it, since they're so hell-bent on neutering everything?
Inquirer reviews …
… Hillbilly Elegy': One man's harrowing escape from the hollers.
… 'Diane Arbus': Genius? Predator? Is there a difference?
There are four in the paper, but these are the only two I can find so far online.
… 'Diane Arbus': Genius? Predator? Is there a difference?
There are four in the paper, but these are the only two I can find so far online.
Something to think on …
An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.
— François-René de Chateaubriand, born on this date in 1768
Saturday, September 03, 2016
Capable of bearing doubt …
… Mother Teresa is ‘Saint of the Doubters,’ says Jesuit author | Deseret News.
We know from the publication of her diaries and her letters that she suffered this “dark night” for the last half of her life. None of the saints had to do the kinds of things she did on an empty tank. So for me that makes her the greatest modern saint.The great irony is that this most traditional of saints becomes the patron for people who doubt, people who seek, people who are agnostic. She becomes the “Saint of the Doubters,” which no one would have suspected during her lifetime.
Indeed …
… Higher Education, Beyond Parody | RealClearPolitics.
At Princeton University, "man" is a three-letter, sexist word. In a four-page memo, administrators told employees that instead of using "man," it would be better to use "gender inclusive language," such as "human beings." But shouldn't that be hu-beings? Not so long ago, Wellesley College students were horrified by the realistic sculpture of a man clad only in his undershorts. "This isn't art!" one of them wrote. "It's sexual assault!" We can only imagine the damage to girly psyches when they see Michelangelo's David.
Listen in …
… Episode 123 – The Hidden Wish of Words | Virtual Memories.
“What I really cared about most, what drew me, was the relationship between lives and work, between how we live and what we do, and what we do with it. And that’s one of James Merrill’s major subjects.”
Appreciation …
… D.G. Myers—Thoughts on Dying and Literary Criticism | Natalie Fetzer. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
The Star-Spangled Banner (cont'd.) …
A recent post inking to a piece titled No, the national anthem is not about slavery | Brandywine Books, provoked this comment from Jeff Mauvais:
to celebrate slavery.
As for Francis Scott Key, his record regarding slavery is, to say the least, mixed.
Speaking for myself, I'd rather "America, the Beautiful" were the national anthem.
But it turns out the matter is more complicated. The intrepid Dave Lull saw the comment and did, as only he can, some research and came up with this:I suggest that Mr. Walker familiarize himself with the Corps of Colonial Marines, units of runaway slave that served in the British Army during the War of 1812. Those units were especially active in the series of engagements --- Bladensburg, Washington, North Point --- leading up to the Battle of Baltimore memorialized by Francis Scott Key. Their participation in these battles caused a wave of fear that spread throughout the slaveholding elites in Maryland and Virginia. Given that Key was a member of that class, it's quite reasonable to conclude that the third verse of the anthem does indeed celebrate the deaths of runaway American slaves. History is history, no matter how much one might want to sugarcoat it. As you suggest, let those who can read, read ... especially before posting invective of the sort supplied by Mr. Walker.
The National Anthem Does Not 'Celebrate Slavery': The Meaning of Lyric Used to Defend Kaepernick. This, after pointing out that no one seems quite sure what Francis Scott Key meant by the the verses inspiring the controversy, reaches the following conclusion:
… by the time "The Star Spangled Banner" was culturally adopted by the American people in the twentieth century as the national anthem, only recognized by a 1931 Act under Herbert Hoover, not only were the three additional stanzas largely forgotten, but official versions used by the military and sanctioned by the U.S. government did not contain the lyrics about the "hireling and slave."Anyway, we all know the reason why we stand at the playing of the national anthem, and it is not
to celebrate slavery.
As for Francis Scott Key, his record regarding slavery is, to say the least, mixed.
Speaking for myself, I'd rather "America, the Beautiful" were the national anthem.
Something to think on …
You must find your own quiet center of life, and write from that to the world.
— Sarah Orne Jewett, born on this date in 1849
Friday, September 02, 2016
Hmm…
… [Criticism] | The Watchmen — What became of the Christian intellectuals?, by Alan Jacobs | Harper's Magazine. (Hat tips, Christopher Guerin and Rus Bowden.)
The opening gambit of this piece struck me as somewhat off-putting. Why is there only ever concern about the right or the far right, never the left or the far left? Moreover, the assumption that fascism is a right-wing phenomenon is dubious. Fascism is a fusion of left-wing, statist politics with nationalism. What the fascism and the communism that we have seen exercise power had in common is that they were governed by dictators.
On the other hand, ordinary national pride, a concern for one's nation's integrity — especially the integrity of its borders — does not necessarily translate into xenophobia or nationalism in the aggressive sense. (I must also point out that it is Marine Le Pen, not Marion.)
Graham Greene was one of those Catholic intellectuals and his politics was hardly right-wing.
I am an educated Catholic, and I have occasionally been referred to as an intellectual, and it is true that I enjoy the play of ideas. But I do not regard that characteristic of mine as defining who I am — though it is certainly a factor in who I am. For me, an intellectual — in the sense the term has come to be used — is someone who misplaces the importance of ideas, who tends to see things, not in terms of themselves, but in terms of the ideas about them. That way lies, if not madness, certainly, sooner or later, error of one sort or another.
If I did think of myself as an intellectual, I would prefer to be thought of as a Catholic who happens to be an intellectual, than as a Catholic intellectual. I think that is what distinguishes the authors and thinkers referred to in this piece. They were Catholics who worked in the fields of the mind. And in their day, they were paid attention to, because secular orthodoxy had not yet decided to ignore anything outside itself.
Centenary …
… Harold Mohn, World War II vet, poet turns 100 | News | witf.org. (Hat tip, G. E. Reutter.)
No indifference in this case, though …
… Algeria: 2-Year Sentence for Facebook Poem | Human Rights Watch. ((Hat tip, Rus Bowden.)
Judging what's on the tube …
… Review: Clive James, ‘Play All: A Bingewatcher’s Notebook’. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Something to think on …
The proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.
— J. R. R. Tolkien, who died on this date in 1973
Thursday, September 01, 2016
Well, I sure in hell would …
… Colorado professors advise students to drop class if they question climate change - Washington Times.
I'd probably also start looking for another college. God knows where they find clowns like this. If these people want to teach dogma, they should take up theology.
I'd probably also start looking for another college. God knows where they find clowns like this. If these people want to teach dogma, they should take up theology.
Hmm …
… ‘The Relic Master,’ by Christopher Buckley | Brandywine Books. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Well, I trust Lars's judgment, but as for Christopher Buckley, if he is a lapsed Catholic, it's probably because he's been mauvaise foi for quite some time.
Well, I trust Lars's judgment, but as for Christopher Buckley, if he is a lapsed Catholic, it's probably because he's been mauvaise foi for quite some time.
Large questions …
… Solitary Praxis: Emily Dickinson on the Soul's distinct connection with immortality.
I haven't the time just now to address the question raised in Tim's post. But I am pretty much in agreement with Thomas Aquinas on the matter. Recently, moreover, I had an experience that convinced me at least that there is a soul and that it is not identical with the body.
I haven't the time just now to address the question raised in Tim's post. But I am pretty much in agreement with Thomas Aquinas on the matter. Recently, moreover, I had an experience that convinced me at least that there is a soul and that it is not identical with the body.
Genuine outsider …
… Albion Awakening: Colin Wilson and the English. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
When Wilson's first book (The Outsider) came out, I think it was misunderstood to be in the despair-inducing tradition of Continental existentialism; which the Establishment was keen to promote. But when it became clear, with Religion and the Rebel, that Wilson was seeking a new spiritual and religious energy and optimism - then the attempt was made to demoralise him by a mixture of shunning and mocking.
Something to think on …
The single fact of existing is already a true happiness.
— Blaise Cendrars, born on this date in 1887
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