Burning Brick Lane
The book discussed here is one that's been waiting in my "to-be-read" pile for about three years. Does anyone know more about the apparent controversy?
Edit, 8/1/06. An update.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
A terrible tale
It all began on the fateful day when a strange envelope arrived at my dwelling-place. Little did I contemplate, in my innocence, what dread consequences would follow on its arrival.
With grave trepidation, I sought the companionship of others who, like me, were fascinated by the unholy lure of occult terrors from beyond the land of Hollywood. And one dark night, while ensconced in an eyrie far above the dank streets of a city I shall not name, far above the muttering antlike hordes who parade in oft-recurring procession to worship the nine-bodied Cyanocitta cristata at a strange, glowing ovoid temple surmounted by a viciously-pointed tower that seems to strive to pierce the very heavens themselves, I commended myself to all that was holy and Fiendish... and opened the envelope.
What madness sprang forth! What silent scuttering images flickered across my eyeballs, in mute but fearsome testimony to the power of the ancient legends that were thus revealed!
I cannot relate here the full horror that was revealed. Should I do so, it is certain that vile ai-Shunzuuv Koppei rites would hound me to my very grave... and beyond! It was both new and old, newly created but bearing the scratches and debris of ages; silent but with a persistent throbbing sound that filled the very soul with dread.
And yet I was compelled to look upon it again, and again, and again. Erstwhile friends, seeing my strangely elated condition, insisted on examining the strange artifact which exerted such an effect on me. Only too soon, they began to exhibit the same bizarre effects. Within days, a perverse kind of missionary fervor had possessed one of them to translate the accursed thing into LOJBAN.
I cannot forget it, even if I wished to do so. Ai! The period costumes, in horribly clashing colors which somehow blended harmoniously into shades of monochrome... The eyeshadow! The makeup!... The storyboards! The oceans of billowing cloth! The buildings that are there, and not there! The ship smaller than a hand, which yet bears a crew of stout men to utter destruction! Ia! The non-euclidean geometry of cardboard towers from whence issue stop-motion models!.... Even now, I see it rising before me! Ia! Ia!....
Editor's note: This message was found inexplicably abandoned as roadkill on the median strip of the Information Superhighway. It is presented in unedited form, including the rather abrupt ending. The author seems to have abandoned it in mid stream, or been interrupted by some force beyond his control.
It all began on the fateful day when a strange envelope arrived at my dwelling-place. Little did I contemplate, in my innocence, what dread consequences would follow on its arrival.
With grave trepidation, I sought the companionship of others who, like me, were fascinated by the unholy lure of occult terrors from beyond the land of Hollywood. And one dark night, while ensconced in an eyrie far above the dank streets of a city I shall not name, far above the muttering antlike hordes who parade in oft-recurring procession to worship the nine-bodied Cyanocitta cristata at a strange, glowing ovoid temple surmounted by a viciously-pointed tower that seems to strive to pierce the very heavens themselves, I commended myself to all that was holy and Fiendish... and opened the envelope.
What madness sprang forth! What silent scuttering images flickered across my eyeballs, in mute but fearsome testimony to the power of the ancient legends that were thus revealed!
I cannot relate here the full horror that was revealed. Should I do so, it is certain that vile ai-Shunzuuv Koppei rites would hound me to my very grave... and beyond! It was both new and old, newly created but bearing the scratches and debris of ages; silent but with a persistent throbbing sound that filled the very soul with dread.
And yet I was compelled to look upon it again, and again, and again. Erstwhile friends, seeing my strangely elated condition, insisted on examining the strange artifact which exerted such an effect on me. Only too soon, they began to exhibit the same bizarre effects. Within days, a perverse kind of missionary fervor had possessed one of them to translate the accursed thing into LOJBAN.
I cannot forget it, even if I wished to do so. Ai! The period costumes, in horribly clashing colors which somehow blended harmoniously into shades of monochrome... The eyeshadow! The makeup!... The storyboards! The oceans of billowing cloth! The buildings that are there, and not there! The ship smaller than a hand, which yet bears a crew of stout men to utter destruction! Ia! The non-euclidean geometry of cardboard towers from whence issue stop-motion models!.... Even now, I see it rising before me! Ia! Ia!....
Editor's note: This message was found inexplicably abandoned as roadkill on the median strip of the Information Superhighway. It is presented in unedited form, including the rather abrupt ending. The author seems to have abandoned it in mid stream, or been interrupted by some force beyond his control.
The local job market, part 2
From job ads posted by the Ann Arbor District Library:
Rate of pay for a full time administrative assistant, with a high school diploma and 3-5 years experience as an admin assistant or secretary: $34446-$38546. Hourly equivalent rate of pay, assuming 52 weeks per year and 40 hours per week: $16.56 - $18.53.
Rate of pay for a substitute reference librarian, with a master's degree in library science and at least one year of public library experience (preferably three years): $15.54, with no regular schedule and no guaranteed number of hours worked and no benefits. (I have never seen a full time reference librarian position posted by the Ann Arbor library.)
That's right, friends and neighbors! Spend four years of your life and thousands of dollars of your parents money to earn an undergraduate degree, plus a year or two of your life, and several thousand more dollars, earning a master's degree, so that you can go from fulltime salaried work at $16.56-$18.53/hour to casual parttime work at $15.54/hour!
Step right up! Because, you know, there's a shortage of librarians, which demands that the government spend gobs of money to keep their salaries from rising!
Don't miss this opportunity!
From job ads posted by the Ann Arbor District Library:
Rate of pay for a full time administrative assistant, with a high school diploma and 3-5 years experience as an admin assistant or secretary: $34446-$38546. Hourly equivalent rate of pay, assuming 52 weeks per year and 40 hours per week: $16.56 - $18.53.
Rate of pay for a substitute reference librarian, with a master's degree in library science and at least one year of public library experience (preferably three years): $15.54, with no regular schedule and no guaranteed number of hours worked and no benefits. (I have never seen a full time reference librarian position posted by the Ann Arbor library.)
That's right, friends and neighbors! Spend four years of your life and thousands of dollars of your parents money to earn an undergraduate degree, plus a year or two of your life, and several thousand more dollars, earning a master's degree, so that you can go from fulltime salaried work at $16.56-$18.53/hour to casual parttime work at $15.54/hour!
Step right up! Because, you know, there's a shortage of librarians, which demands that the government spend gobs of money to keep their salaries from rising!
Don't miss this opportunity!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Is it real?
TomFolio, an internet bookselling cooperative, now offers a neat feature: an online collection of images of autographs by popular authors. So you can now see what the author's autograph looks like, and compare it to the signature in your prized signed copies of their books to see if they look legitimate.
On the negative side, it gives forgers a pattern to follow....
TomFolio, an internet bookselling cooperative, now offers a neat feature: an online collection of images of autographs by popular authors. So you can now see what the author's autograph looks like, and compare it to the signature in your prized signed copies of their books to see if they look legitimate.
On the negative side, it gives forgers a pattern to follow....
House rushes to pass anti-social-networking bill
An electronic alert from the American Library Association's Washington Office reports that the House is planning to rush HR 5319, the so-called "Deleting Online Predators Act", through in the next day or two. The ALA alert warns of action to be taken today, July 26. So does Library Journal. Thomas, the Congressional legislative website, indicates that introductory remarks on the bill are scheduled for tomorrow, July 27th. If anyone with more knowledge of Congressional schedule-fiddling can clarify what's going on, I'd appreciate it.
I've written about this particular bill before, but the gist of it is that it would require all schools and libraries that receive any federal E-rate funding to block access to all electronic commercial social-networking sites and chat rooms.
According to the text of the bill, internet services to be banned from affected libraries and schools include:
(J) COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES- The term `commercial social networking website' means a commercially operated Internet website that--
i) allows users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves and are available to other users; and
(ii) offers a mechanism for communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, email, or instant messenger.
This is being billed as a way to protect the children from the nefarious influence of sites like MySpace, but as I understand it, it would also ban most online discussion communities such as DailyKos, as well as many other chat, e'mail, and online discussion communities. Beth Yoke, of the ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association, explains (NOTE: pdf file) some of the reasons why this is a bad idea. Other relevant news can be found here, as usual.
I'd love to spend more time commenting on this, but if it's being rushed through the House today or tomorrow, it's imperative that the information gets out before the bill is a fait accompli. Let your Congress critter know what you think.
An electronic alert from the American Library Association's Washington Office reports that the House is planning to rush HR 5319, the so-called "Deleting Online Predators Act", through in the next day or two. The ALA alert warns of action to be taken today, July 26. So does Library Journal. Thomas, the Congressional legislative website, indicates that introductory remarks on the bill are scheduled for tomorrow, July 27th. If anyone with more knowledge of Congressional schedule-fiddling can clarify what's going on, I'd appreciate it.
I've written about this particular bill before, but the gist of it is that it would require all schools and libraries that receive any federal E-rate funding to block access to all electronic commercial social-networking sites and chat rooms.
According to the text of the bill, internet services to be banned from affected libraries and schools include:
(J) COMMERCIAL SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES- The term `commercial social networking website' means a commercially operated Internet website that--
i) allows users to create web pages or profiles that provide information about themselves and are available to other users; and
(ii) offers a mechanism for communication with other users, such as a forum, chat room, email, or instant messenger.
This is being billed as a way to protect the children from the nefarious influence of sites like MySpace, but as I understand it, it would also ban most online discussion communities such as DailyKos, as well as many other chat, e'mail, and online discussion communities. Beth Yoke, of the ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association, explains (NOTE: pdf file) some of the reasons why this is a bad idea. Other relevant news can be found here, as usual.
I'd love to spend more time commenting on this, but if it's being rushed through the House today or tomorrow, it's imperative that the information gets out before the bill is a fait accompli. Let your Congress critter know what you think.
IP follies revisited
Back in December of aught-four, the American Chemical Society sued Google, claiming that it owned a "common-law trademark" on the word "scholar" and that Google was violating this "common-law trademark" by offering a service called "Google Scholar".
I came across the story through the Chronicle of Higher Ed., but their story is not available to nonsubscribers, so any public goodwill and advertising revenues that might be derived from readers of this blog will go to CNET's News.com.com instead.
Back in December of aught-four, the American Chemical Society sued Google, claiming that it owned a "common-law trademark" on the word "scholar" and that Google was violating this "common-law trademark" by offering a service called "Google Scholar".
I came across the story through the Chronicle of Higher Ed., but their story is not available to nonsubscribers, so any public goodwill and advertising revenues that might be derived from readers of this blog will go to CNET's News.com.com instead.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
The local job market
Planning on applying to work as an irregularly-scheduled substitute librarian in Ann Arbor? If you want to meet their preferred qualifications, you'd better have three years of professional-level experience, according to the job posting.
Planning on applying to work as an irregularly-scheduled substitute librarian in Ann Arbor? If you want to meet their preferred qualifications, you'd better have three years of professional-level experience, according to the job posting.
Just what we need
Another middle-eastern war to get involved in.
At least the current proposal would use Turkish and Egyptian troops under a NATO or UN commander, rather than US troops. Theoretically, that's the way that international peacekeeping efforts are supposed to work. But at this point will anybody trust or be willing to work with a proposal from the United States? Will the Turks, the Egyptians, or other countries pony up the necessary troops and resources? And will Israel or Hezbollah and its supporters respect such a force and its right to intervene?
At least neither of them has a seat on the Security Council, which would give them the power to outright veto any UN action that was inconvenient to them.
Another middle-eastern war to get involved in.
At least the current proposal would use Turkish and Egyptian troops under a NATO or UN commander, rather than US troops. Theoretically, that's the way that international peacekeeping efforts are supposed to work. But at this point will anybody trust or be willing to work with a proposal from the United States? Will the Turks, the Egyptians, or other countries pony up the necessary troops and resources? And will Israel or Hezbollah and its supporters respect such a force and its right to intervene?
At least neither of them has a seat on the Security Council, which would give them the power to outright veto any UN action that was inconvenient to them.
The godfather speaketh
From time to time I've thought that I detected a certain ambivalence in William F. Buckley's approach toward the Bush administration and its neoconservative ideological comrades.
Well, he's out of the closet now. (So to speak.) In an interview with CBS, the intellectual godfather of modern conservativism criticizes not only Bush's interventionism in Iraq and the resulting war, but its lack of a coherent domestic policy as well.
It's possible that this is a calculated attempt to create a kind of intellectual liferaft for Republicans who wish to distance themselves from the sinking ship of the Bush administration in time for the fall elections. Quite frankly, I doubt that many congressional Republicans will have the brains or the courage to swim toward it.
NOTE: For those with conservative relatives and friends who persist in supporting Bush and his political allies, this might be a good link to send them. In addition to bearing the gravitas of the man who founded National Review magazine and spearheaded the intellectual development of the modern conservative movement, it gives a good quick overview of the ways in which Bush has failed to follow traditional conservative political principles.
From time to time I've thought that I detected a certain ambivalence in William F. Buckley's approach toward the Bush administration and its neoconservative ideological comrades.
Well, he's out of the closet now. (So to speak.) In an interview with CBS, the intellectual godfather of modern conservativism criticizes not only Bush's interventionism in Iraq and the resulting war, but its lack of a coherent domestic policy as well.
"If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we've experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign," Buckley says....Ouch.
"I think Mr. Bush faces a singular problem best defined, I think, as the absence of effective conservative ideology — with the result that he ended up being very extravagant in domestic spending, extremely tolerant of excesses by Congress," Buckley says. "And in respect of foreign policy, incapable of bringing together such forces as apparently were necessary to conclude the Iraq challenge."
"There will be no legacy for Mr. Bush...."
It's possible that this is a calculated attempt to create a kind of intellectual liferaft for Republicans who wish to distance themselves from the sinking ship of the Bush administration in time for the fall elections. Quite frankly, I doubt that many congressional Republicans will have the brains or the courage to swim toward it.
NOTE: For those with conservative relatives and friends who persist in supporting Bush and his political allies, this might be a good link to send them. In addition to bearing the gravitas of the man who founded National Review magazine and spearheaded the intellectual development of the modern conservative movement, it gives a good quick overview of the ways in which Bush has failed to follow traditional conservative political principles.
How cool is this?
Tesla Motors unveils an electric roadster with 250 mile range with a claimed acceleration rate of 0-60 mph in 4 seconds. Apparently they accomplish that range partly by using regenerative braking, a technique long used in electric-motored railroad locomotives.
The car is reportedly scheduled for release in 2007. Unfortunately, its $80000-$120000 price tag puts it out of reach of most people, but with that kind of acceleration, it may appeal to the Ferrari/Porsche/Lamborghini set. And with any luck we mere mortals might be able to afford one in a few years.
I don't know anything about their financing arrangements. I hope they're secure, and that the Tesla roadster doesn't become the Tucker Torpedo of the 21st century.
Tesla Motors unveils an electric roadster with 250 mile range with a claimed acceleration rate of 0-60 mph in 4 seconds. Apparently they accomplish that range partly by using regenerative braking, a technique long used in electric-motored railroad locomotives.
The car is reportedly scheduled for release in 2007. Unfortunately, its $80000-$120000 price tag puts it out of reach of most people, but with that kind of acceleration, it may appeal to the Ferrari/Porsche/Lamborghini set. And with any luck we mere mortals might be able to afford one in a few years.
I don't know anything about their financing arrangements. I hope they're secure, and that the Tesla roadster doesn't become the Tucker Torpedo of the 21st century.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Recent Reads
Archangel, by Sharon Shinn
Theological science ficton with romance. That doesn't sound like a very appetizing description, but the book won me over.
The basic premise of the book is that the people of the various tribes in the land of Samaria live under the guardianship/rulership of angels, winged and supernaturally powerful men and women who mediate between the people and their god, "Jovah", and possess the power to alter weather, heal sickness, and call down divine gifts or thunderous wrath from their deity. An angel named Gabriel has a grave problem: Jovah has designated him as the next Archangel, or ruler over the angels, which means that in order to lead a critically important musical ceremony required by Jovah upon pain of divine wrath, he must find and marry the mate whom Jovah has chosen for him much sooner than he would otherwise wish to. Complications develop, of course. She's not where the records say she should be. Even worse, she has a prickly personality, a calamitous personal history, and decidedly unorthodox views on politics, marriage and angels. And meanwhile, just as in ancient Israel, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are opposed by those who prefer the comfortable corruption of worldly power.
It's almost as if the author deliberately set out to write a book based on a futuristic version of ancient Israel, but with actual flesh and blood angels. (Was Shinn thinking of the opening verses of Genesis chapter 6?)
The savvy SF reader will quickly pick up on hints that all is not quite as it seems. The angels, who must interbreed with humans to reproduce, appear to be the result of genetic engineering. The method by which the Oracles communicate with Jovah suggests a form of telecommunications, and Jovah may to be an armed orbital platform or spacecraft operating on instructions to regulate the society it oversees and preserve the status quo by requiring the continued performance of musical religious rituals. There are other hints of a backstory that, I hope, will be revealed in subsequent books in the series.
Archangel, by Sharon Shinn
Theological science ficton with romance. That doesn't sound like a very appetizing description, but the book won me over.
The basic premise of the book is that the people of the various tribes in the land of Samaria live under the guardianship/rulership of angels, winged and supernaturally powerful men and women who mediate between the people and their god, "Jovah", and possess the power to alter weather, heal sickness, and call down divine gifts or thunderous wrath from their deity. An angel named Gabriel has a grave problem: Jovah has designated him as the next Archangel, or ruler over the angels, which means that in order to lead a critically important musical ceremony required by Jovah upon pain of divine wrath, he must find and marry the mate whom Jovah has chosen for him much sooner than he would otherwise wish to. Complications develop, of course. She's not where the records say she should be. Even worse, she has a prickly personality, a calamitous personal history, and decidedly unorthodox views on politics, marriage and angels. And meanwhile, just as in ancient Israel, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are opposed by those who prefer the comfortable corruption of worldly power.
It's almost as if the author deliberately set out to write a book based on a futuristic version of ancient Israel, but with actual flesh and blood angels. (Was Shinn thinking of the opening verses of Genesis chapter 6?)
The savvy SF reader will quickly pick up on hints that all is not quite as it seems. The angels, who must interbreed with humans to reproduce, appear to be the result of genetic engineering. The method by which the Oracles communicate with Jovah suggests a form of telecommunications, and Jovah may to be an armed orbital platform or spacecraft operating on instructions to regulate the society it oversees and preserve the status quo by requiring the continued performance of musical religious rituals. There are other hints of a backstory that, I hope, will be revealed in subsequent books in the series.
Recent Reads
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
I have to admit, up front, that I did not read these books with the same level of attention that I usually try to employ. I found myself skimming chapters before I was halfway through. I think this is because I just did not find the central premise of the story -- the "time tombs" and the Shrike and the time-reversal effect associated with them -- to be plausible.
I will note that there are some very intriguing bits of world-building here. The "cruciform" lifeform is a particularly twisted take on biochemical immortality, and Simmons shows how widespread systems of teleportation technology can be both an economic and esthetic asset and a potential military liability. (One of the characters has a house in which every room is, literally, on a different planet, thanks to teleportation devices mounted in each doorframe. But what happens if a hostile force manages to capture a world that is tied into such a network?) The deserted city of Sad King Billy, presided over by a looming, unfinished bust of its onetime poet-ruler, is convincingly melancholy. Simmons' portrayal of a growing schism between humans and artificial intelligences is also convincing. And, to his credit, he does eventually tie most of the threads of his sprawling epic together. I just didn't find the payoff to be plausible enough to justify the 900+ pages that it took to get there.
Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
I have to admit, up front, that I did not read these books with the same level of attention that I usually try to employ. I found myself skimming chapters before I was halfway through. I think this is because I just did not find the central premise of the story -- the "time tombs" and the Shrike and the time-reversal effect associated with them -- to be plausible.
I will note that there are some very intriguing bits of world-building here. The "cruciform" lifeform is a particularly twisted take on biochemical immortality, and Simmons shows how widespread systems of teleportation technology can be both an economic and esthetic asset and a potential military liability. (One of the characters has a house in which every room is, literally, on a different planet, thanks to teleportation devices mounted in each doorframe. But what happens if a hostile force manages to capture a world that is tied into such a network?) The deserted city of Sad King Billy, presided over by a looming, unfinished bust of its onetime poet-ruler, is convincingly melancholy. Simmons' portrayal of a growing schism between humans and artificial intelligences is also convincing. And, to his credit, he does eventually tie most of the threads of his sprawling epic together. I just didn't find the payoff to be plausible enough to justify the 900+ pages that it took to get there.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
They Hate Our Freedom
The Indianapolis Star and the Detroit Free Press, among others, report that the House of Representatives has passed a bill, HR 2389, which purports to remove the jurisdiction of the US court system, including the Supreme Court, to hear cases that have any connection to the Pledge of Allegiance. This bill is evidently a test run for a series of bills designed to strip the US courts of jurisdiction to enforce the Bill of Rights in any way, an idea which has been actively promoted by dominionists who seek to impose a theocratic government.
Here, under the heading "Ayes", is the list of those who hate American freedom.
The Indianapolis Star and the Detroit Free Press, among others, report that the House of Representatives has passed a bill, HR 2389, which purports to remove the jurisdiction of the US court system, including the Supreme Court, to hear cases that have any connection to the Pledge of Allegiance. This bill is evidently a test run for a series of bills designed to strip the US courts of jurisdiction to enforce the Bill of Rights in any way, an idea which has been actively promoted by dominionists who seek to impose a theocratic government.
Here, under the heading "Ayes", is the list of those who hate American freedom.
A collection development note for librarians
The "bestseller" label on Annthrax Coulter's plagiarized book, Godless, is partially the result of large institutional bulk purchases feeding copies into a variety of orchestrated free and nearly-free giveaway programs. Make decisions accordingly.
The "bestseller" label on Annthrax Coulter's plagiarized book, Godless, is partially the result of large institutional bulk purchases feeding copies into a variety of orchestrated free and nearly-free giveaway programs. Make decisions accordingly.
Ann-thrax Coulter
Ann Coulter, in between advocating the assassination of government officials, braying that the widows of terrorist victims "enjoy their husbands deaths", insulting injured military veterans, and screeching that newspaper editors should be executed, seems to have found time to commit acts of terrorism against the United States and make lighthearted little jokes about it.
Last time I checked, making terroristic threats -- which by any reasonable definition includes mailing envelopes full of pseudo-anthrax -- was something the government was supposed to investigate. Just try making a joke about a bomb in your luggage the next time you're in an airport, or yelling "Hi!" to your friend Jack down the length of an airplane. Or mail an envelope with white powder in it to some government office and then tell them where it came from. See what happens.
A commenter here supplies some relevant passages from the law. Will our favorite incoherent rageaholic be charged with a felony the way any ordinary citizen would be? Or does she get a special Republicans-are-allowed-to-commit-terrorism exemption?
Ann Coulter, in between advocating the assassination of government officials, braying that the widows of terrorist victims "enjoy their husbands deaths", insulting injured military veterans, and screeching that newspaper editors should be executed, seems to have found time to commit acts of terrorism against the United States and make lighthearted little jokes about it.
Last time I checked, making terroristic threats -- which by any reasonable definition includes mailing envelopes full of pseudo-anthrax -- was something the government was supposed to investigate. Just try making a joke about a bomb in your luggage the next time you're in an airport, or yelling "Hi!" to your friend Jack down the length of an airplane. Or mail an envelope with white powder in it to some government office and then tell them where it came from. See what happens.
A commenter here supplies some relevant passages from the law. Will our favorite incoherent rageaholic be charged with a felony the way any ordinary citizen would be? Or does she get a special Republicans-are-allowed-to-commit-terrorism exemption?
Would you like a nice thick slice of Mad Cow?
The Bush Administration USDA announces that it intends to reduce testing for mad-cow disease by 90%. Meanwhile, it prohibits farmers and businesses from conducting any tests on their own. (See also here, here, here, here.) It's almost as if someone *wants* to start an epidemic. But no, that's just the predictable outcome when government dictates are determined by corporate agendas. The Bush Administration's corporate stringpullers want to use an absolute absence of tested US beef as an economic battering ram to force the Japanese and other beef importers to abandon any demands for testing of imported beef. And they can't afford to have any persnickety free market types offering to give the Japanese buyers what they want in the meanwhile.
Free Market Republicans, my ass.
The Bush Administration USDA announces that it intends to reduce testing for mad-cow disease by 90%. Meanwhile, it prohibits farmers and businesses from conducting any tests on their own. (See also here, here, here, here.) It's almost as if someone *wants* to start an epidemic. But no, that's just the predictable outcome when government dictates are determined by corporate agendas. The Bush Administration's corporate stringpullers want to use an absolute absence of tested US beef as an economic battering ram to force the Japanese and other beef importers to abandon any demands for testing of imported beef. And they can't afford to have any persnickety free market types offering to give the Japanese buyers what they want in the meanwhile.
Free Market Republicans, my ass.
Food for thought
Scholar, Global Thinker, and Hypocrite
An assistant professor urges his students to consider how their everyday consumer choices affect others around the world. But what about his own choices? (From the Chronicle of Higher Ed.)
I'm in the same situation. What to do when the society you live in permits only evil and exploitative actors to exist? Does anyone reading this blog even know where they could go to get clothing, for example, that wasn't produced by Chinese slave labor or Indian sweatshops?
Scholar, Global Thinker, and Hypocrite
An assistant professor urges his students to consider how their everyday consumer choices affect others around the world. But what about his own choices? (From the Chronicle of Higher Ed.)
I'm in the same situation. What to do when the society you live in permits only evil and exploitative actors to exist? Does anyone reading this blog even know where they could go to get clothing, for example, that wasn't produced by Chinese slave labor or Indian sweatshops?
Endangered shelf life
An editorial about public libraries in Britain, with discussion, from The Guardian.
An editorial about public libraries in Britain, with discussion, from The Guardian.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Recent listens
Cinnamon Kiss, by Walter Mosley.
Walter Mosley is one of those mystery writers whose books I've seen praised by critics over the years. I decided to give him a go by way of audiobook, now that I have a car with a fancy-schmancy stereo system that works.
I like certain things about the story. I like the way Mosley effectively portrays the tense, racially divided world of Los Angeles during the 1960s, and I like the noirish style of his writing. I like certain aspects of the protagonist and narrator, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, a black private eye who trades favors for information within the insular black community as easily as a fish slipping through water, all the while carefully avoiding the attentions of the white police.
Unfortunately, "Easy" is also such a blatantly hypocritical sexist that it's difficult to like him. Throughout the course of this twisty, turny caper involving lost bonds, Nazi war criminals, a missing beauty, a dwarfish white "consulting detective" and a half-dozen or so murders, "Easy" blithely has sex with at least three or four random women whom he happens to meet. Then, at the end of the book, he dumps his live-in girlfriend for having an affair which, for complicated reasons, was necessary to save the life of their daughter. The sex scenes are described in enough graphic detail that I, who am not particularly squeamish, found it uncomfortable to listen to them. Perhaps I react differently to audio recordings than to printed descriptions.
Cinnamon Kiss, by Walter Mosley.
Walter Mosley is one of those mystery writers whose books I've seen praised by critics over the years. I decided to give him a go by way of audiobook, now that I have a car with a fancy-schmancy stereo system that works.
I like certain things about the story. I like the way Mosley effectively portrays the tense, racially divided world of Los Angeles during the 1960s, and I like the noirish style of his writing. I like certain aspects of the protagonist and narrator, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, a black private eye who trades favors for information within the insular black community as easily as a fish slipping through water, all the while carefully avoiding the attentions of the white police.
Unfortunately, "Easy" is also such a blatantly hypocritical sexist that it's difficult to like him. Throughout the course of this twisty, turny caper involving lost bonds, Nazi war criminals, a missing beauty, a dwarfish white "consulting detective" and a half-dozen or so murders, "Easy" blithely has sex with at least three or four random women whom he happens to meet. Then, at the end of the book, he dumps his live-in girlfriend for having an affair which, for complicated reasons, was necessary to save the life of their daughter. The sex scenes are described in enough graphic detail that I, who am not particularly squeamish, found it uncomfortable to listen to them. Perhaps I react differently to audio recordings than to printed descriptions.
Recent Reads:
Footfall, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
I avoided this book for years because of the silly cover, which features what looks like an angry elephant waving a gun. Well, you know what they say about judging books that way.
It turns out to be a reasonably engaging alien-invasion novel, although not quite up to either co-author's best work. There's some moderately interesting alien-culture-building, although it's handicapped by the unfortunate decision to make the aliens resemble "baby elephants". The communications failures that result from vast cultural differences between the aliens and the humans are believable. But for the most part, the book is a good old fashioned Earth-versus-the-alien-invaders adventure, with lots of emphasis on the military and political means by which the Americans fight back against the would-be planet-grabbers. It's science fiction for the Tom Clancy set, only slightly handicapped by its Cold War setting.
One entertaining sidelight: science-fiction writers save the world! Or at least help to do so. I can't help but think that many of the writers portrayed must be thinly-disguised versions of actual writers of Niven & Pournelle's acquaintance. "Robert Anson", a balding, ex-Navy man with a wife named Virginia, isn't too hard to identify, but I don't know enough about the SF writer and fan convention culture of the 1970s to identify the others. If anyone can do better, let me know.
Edit, 7/20: Wikipedia's entry on Footfall identifies some of the SF writers pseudonymously portrayed -- "Nat Reynolds" (Niven), "Wade Curtis" (Pournelle), and "Bob Anson" (Robert Anson Heinlein). It also supplies a link to a detailed artistic representation of one of the spaceships described in the book. But spoilers abound, so beware.
Footfall, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
I avoided this book for years because of the silly cover, which features what looks like an angry elephant waving a gun. Well, you know what they say about judging books that way.
It turns out to be a reasonably engaging alien-invasion novel, although not quite up to either co-author's best work. There's some moderately interesting alien-culture-building, although it's handicapped by the unfortunate decision to make the aliens resemble "baby elephants". The communications failures that result from vast cultural differences between the aliens and the humans are believable. But for the most part, the book is a good old fashioned Earth-versus-the-alien-invaders adventure, with lots of emphasis on the military and political means by which the Americans fight back against the would-be planet-grabbers. It's science fiction for the Tom Clancy set, only slightly handicapped by its Cold War setting.
One entertaining sidelight: science-fiction writers save the world! Or at least help to do so. I can't help but think that many of the writers portrayed must be thinly-disguised versions of actual writers of Niven & Pournelle's acquaintance. "Robert Anson", a balding, ex-Navy man with a wife named Virginia, isn't too hard to identify, but I don't know enough about the SF writer and fan convention culture of the 1970s to identify the others. If anyone can do better, let me know.
Edit, 7/20: Wikipedia's entry on Footfall identifies some of the SF writers pseudonymously portrayed -- "Nat Reynolds" (Niven), "Wade Curtis" (Pournelle), and "Bob Anson" (Robert Anson Heinlein). It also supplies a link to a detailed artistic representation of one of the spaceships described in the book. But spoilers abound, so beware.
Science Fiction is the Only Literature People Care Enough About to Steal on the Internet.
An excellent essay by Cory Doctorow, published in Locus. I started to cut-and-paste bits of it together, but decided not to. It's worth reading in its entirity.
An excellent essay by Cory Doctorow, published in Locus. I started to cut-and-paste bits of it together, but decided not to. It's worth reading in its entirity.
Hagrid would be pleased
A newly-discovered species of dinosaur has been named Dracorex hogwartsia. The only known specimen is on display at the Childrens Museum in Indianapolis.
A newly-discovered species of dinosaur has been named Dracorex hogwartsia. The only known specimen is on display at the Childrens Museum in Indianapolis.
Enough with the "librarian shortage" already!
Missouri university gets $615,000 grant to fight nonexistent "librarian shortage"... or, to be more accurate, to ensure continued chattel status for those lucky enough to have jobs in the profession at all.
Missouri university gets $615,000 grant to fight nonexistent "librarian shortage"... or, to be more accurate, to ensure continued chattel status for those lucky enough to have jobs in the profession at all.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Recent Reads
A Trace of Memory, by Keith Laumer
An early work by Laumer, better known for his satirical Retief books, involving a spacegoing diplomat, and his military SF about Bolos, or self-aware tanks. This one falls into the category described by the current Wikipedia entry as "fast-paced, straight adventures in time and space, with an emphasis on lone-wolf, latent superman protagonists, self-sacrifice and transcendence".
The protagonist, a small time criminal inexplicably named "Legion", meets up with Foster, a wealthy eccentric who, as the plot develops, turns out to be a nearly immortal refugee from a fantastically advanced alien culture. (No spoilers here; that's pretty clearly signalled in the introduction). Foster regenerates into a young and amnesiac form of himself at one point in the story. I wonder if any of the early scriptwriters of Doctor Who read this book?
A Trace of Memory, by Keith Laumer
An early work by Laumer, better known for his satirical Retief books, involving a spacegoing diplomat, and his military SF about Bolos, or self-aware tanks. This one falls into the category described by the current Wikipedia entry as "fast-paced, straight adventures in time and space, with an emphasis on lone-wolf, latent superman protagonists, self-sacrifice and transcendence".
The protagonist, a small time criminal inexplicably named "Legion", meets up with Foster, a wealthy eccentric who, as the plot develops, turns out to be a nearly immortal refugee from a fantastically advanced alien culture. (No spoilers here; that's pretty clearly signalled in the introduction). Foster regenerates into a young and amnesiac form of himself at one point in the story. I wonder if any of the early scriptwriters of Doctor Who read this book?
Upcoming primary in Michigan
Yup, that time of year is approaching. And although it's still early in the political season, I checked to see who's on the various parties' ballots. It turns out that I'm "represented" -- if that's the word for it -- by Chris Ward, a generic Republican fratboy who regards his perch in the safe, mechanically-lockstepping Republican suburbs with calm complacency. Oh, and what does he stand for? Here's what longtime political reporter Jack Lessenberry has to say:
The likely Democratic nominee? Well, he has a free Blogger website. I wish him well in his race against Chris "BeerBoy" Ward, and I'll probably vote for him. He and his "Communications Guru" do seem to have a sense of humor, a rare thing in politics. A few snippets:
For Governor? Well, there I get a choice between a former beauty queen from Canada and Mr. Amway. I may not know much about their officially-codified economic policies, but I know which one looks better on television, and I know which one got his fortune from a cultlike, barely-legal pyramid scheme with shady political connections.
Yup, that time of year is approaching. And although it's still early in the political season, I checked to see who's on the various parties' ballots. It turns out that I'm "represented" -- if that's the word for it -- by Chris Ward, a generic Republican fratboy who regards his perch in the safe, mechanically-lockstepping Republican suburbs with calm complacency. Oh, and what does he stand for? Here's what longtime political reporter Jack Lessenberry has to say:
Michigan had a law for years saying that you couldn’t order a bottle of wine from a winery in, say, Napa Valley. The middlemen and their lobbyists were behind that.Conservationists aren't impressed with him, either. He seems to have directed some attention to drug costs, but I can't tell from that article exactly what he proposed. And he wants to require photo ID's at the voting booth, at least in areas where the majority doesn't vote Republican. And of course, the lobbyists for the Chamber of Commerce set love him.
Outraged, some wine connoisseurs took that all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that Michigan couldn’t discriminate that way. Good old Chris gallantly stepped into the breach — and introduced a bill that would have prevented you and me from buying a bottle of wine from a Michigan winery! That is, not without going through a wholesaler first.
One guess who the major funding source of his last campaign was: The Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association. Naturally, Ward didn’t mention that at the time; he actually said he was doing it to spare the health of Michigan’s children, who presumably were about to order a single bottle of Lake Leelanau Riesling and then kill their siblings with shards of glass from the bottle.
The likely Democratic nominee? Well, he has a free Blogger website. I wish him well in his race against Chris "BeerBoy" Ward, and I'll probably vote for him. He and his "Communications Guru" do seem to have a sense of humor, a rare thing in politics. A few snippets:
We decided to make the [campaign] announcement at the Brighton Mill Pond. It was initially going to be given to the ducks, but Joe Carney said that they don’t vote and they’re anti-gun...McGonegal has a tough task ahead of him, given the number of rural and suburban voters who are happy to unthinkingly assume that anyone who isn't a Republican is a black left-handed non-English-speaking communist terrorist homosexual servant of Satan.
I worked in law enforcement as a State Parole officer in the ghettoes of Cleveland. I carried a gun; I had a gun pointed at me. I arrested people, investigated crimes. I learned first hand the devastation of crime and poverty on a community. I developed an understanding of the rule of law. I realized that in the final analysis our freedom is nothing more then the adherence to technicalities. This candidate will not have to be brought up to speed on issues of law and order.
For Governor? Well, there I get a choice between a former beauty queen from Canada and Mr. Amway. I may not know much about their officially-codified economic policies, but I know which one looks better on television, and I know which one got his fortune from a cultlike, barely-legal pyramid scheme with shady political connections.
Modern "conservatism" as simple authoritarianism
A fascinating diary and related discussion from DailyKos.
Also, an article from Media Matters about the reporting and portrayal of "extremism" on the left and right.
A fascinating diary and related discussion from DailyKos.
Also, an article from Media Matters about the reporting and portrayal of "extremism" on the left and right.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Recent viewings
The Office (BBC version), series one
I've commented before that it may not be fair of me to start watching movies or television programs late at night after getting home from work, and then criticize them for not keeping me awake. That's particularly true of this British import. It's so laid-back and unaggressive, so persistently beige and off-white and monotone, that it will put you to sleep if you already have any inclination to do so.
On the other hand, if you're awake and alert, it's great subtly sarcastic fun. The characters are recognizable and only slightly exaggerated versions of the co-workers from hell that most of us office-drones have encountered in Cubicle World. The lack of a laugh track or a sound track, along with the actors' occasional sly, sideways eye-flickering glances at the camera, reinforce the illusion that it's a real office and that the footage on screen was, perhaps, shot as part of some kind of real life documentary.
A low-key comical treat for those who are awake and alert.
The Office (BBC version), series one
I've commented before that it may not be fair of me to start watching movies or television programs late at night after getting home from work, and then criticize them for not keeping me awake. That's particularly true of this British import. It's so laid-back and unaggressive, so persistently beige and off-white and monotone, that it will put you to sleep if you already have any inclination to do so.
On the other hand, if you're awake and alert, it's great subtly sarcastic fun. The characters are recognizable and only slightly exaggerated versions of the co-workers from hell that most of us office-drones have encountered in Cubicle World. The lack of a laugh track or a sound track, along with the actors' occasional sly, sideways eye-flickering glances at the camera, reinforce the illusion that it's a real office and that the footage on screen was, perhaps, shot as part of some kind of real life documentary.
A low-key comical treat for those who are awake and alert.
Recent Viewings
Born into Brothels
A glimpse into the dismal world of children born to prostitutes in the red-light districts of urban India. Their plight is truly horrific, with the boys having little or no apparent future other than to become drug addicts like their fathers, and the girls facing the near certainty of being forced into prostitution by the time they're twelve years old. It's especially wrenching when the producer shows, over and over again, that in many ways these are bright, outgoing, and emotionally sensitive kids. Except for their language, they're much like the kids you would meet if you picked a random sample out of any suburban elementary school.
The producer's heroic attempts to get some of the children that she works with into educational programs that will give them a chance to get out of this horrific environment produces mixed results. Sometimes this is due to bureaucratic obstructionism; sometimes it's due to snobbishness on the part of the schools; sometimes it's due to obstruction from the parents themselves, who apparently see any improvement in their children's lives as an insult to themselves. Or maybe they just crave the money that they expect to get from pimping their eleven-year-old daughters, so that they can go buy more drugs for themselves.
I found that, above and beyond the children's depraved and deprived social environment, I was disgusted by the incredible overcrowding and filth of their physical environment. I have a feeling that I would, quite literally, go insane if I were constantly crowded in, elbow-to-elbow, with such teeming hordes of sullen, hostile, people, and forced to wade through ankle-deep puddles of unidentified slop in order to go down the length of a street.
Born into Brothels
A glimpse into the dismal world of children born to prostitutes in the red-light districts of urban India. Their plight is truly horrific, with the boys having little or no apparent future other than to become drug addicts like their fathers, and the girls facing the near certainty of being forced into prostitution by the time they're twelve years old. It's especially wrenching when the producer shows, over and over again, that in many ways these are bright, outgoing, and emotionally sensitive kids. Except for their language, they're much like the kids you would meet if you picked a random sample out of any suburban elementary school.
The producer's heroic attempts to get some of the children that she works with into educational programs that will give them a chance to get out of this horrific environment produces mixed results. Sometimes this is due to bureaucratic obstructionism; sometimes it's due to snobbishness on the part of the schools; sometimes it's due to obstruction from the parents themselves, who apparently see any improvement in their children's lives as an insult to themselves. Or maybe they just crave the money that they expect to get from pimping their eleven-year-old daughters, so that they can go buy more drugs for themselves.
I found that, above and beyond the children's depraved and deprived social environment, I was disgusted by the incredible overcrowding and filth of their physical environment. I have a feeling that I would, quite literally, go insane if I were constantly crowded in, elbow-to-elbow, with such teeming hordes of sullen, hostile, people, and forced to wade through ankle-deep puddles of unidentified slop in order to go down the length of a street.
Recent Reads
Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse (a new translation, ca. 2000, by Sherab Chodzin Kohn)
This is supposed to be one of those books that is beloved of college philosophy students. I found it rather disappointing. The first half of the book describes the life and experiences of a Gautama-like young man who seeks spiritual enlightenment and eventually arrives, with his friend, before the Buddha himself. However, our young man rejects the proffered discipleship, noting that to be with his friend as a follower of Buddha would itself be a form of attachment to the world, and goes off to seek his own kind of enlightenment. Like Titus Groan in the last of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books, Siddhartha seeks something diligently, only to renounce it once he finds it. This is where part one ends, and according to the introduction, Hesse found himself stuck for a good long while before he was able to continue the story.
Siddhartha seems to reverse his course in the second part. What he initially renounced in search of enlightenment -- wealth, women, worldly involvement -- he now seeks and acquires to excess, before once again encountering his boyhood friend whom he left standing before the Buddha, taking up life beside a river ferry, and meeting and acknowledging the son whom he fathered upon a female companion. The ending suggests that he attains some kind of spiritual enlightenment.
Is there any more to this than an extended parable of disengagement and reengagement with the world? Or transcendence and re-entry, as Walker Percy might describe it?
Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse (a new translation, ca. 2000, by Sherab Chodzin Kohn)
This is supposed to be one of those books that is beloved of college philosophy students. I found it rather disappointing. The first half of the book describes the life and experiences of a Gautama-like young man who seeks spiritual enlightenment and eventually arrives, with his friend, before the Buddha himself. However, our young man rejects the proffered discipleship, noting that to be with his friend as a follower of Buddha would itself be a form of attachment to the world, and goes off to seek his own kind of enlightenment. Like Titus Groan in the last of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books, Siddhartha seeks something diligently, only to renounce it once he finds it. This is where part one ends, and according to the introduction, Hesse found himself stuck for a good long while before he was able to continue the story.
Siddhartha seems to reverse his course in the second part. What he initially renounced in search of enlightenment -- wealth, women, worldly involvement -- he now seeks and acquires to excess, before once again encountering his boyhood friend whom he left standing before the Buddha, taking up life beside a river ferry, and meeting and acknowledging the son whom he fathered upon a female companion. The ending suggests that he attains some kind of spiritual enlightenment.
Is there any more to this than an extended parable of disengagement and reengagement with the world? Or transcendence and re-entry, as Walker Percy might describe it?
And today's Darwin Award goes to....
The woman who came up to the reference desk this evening and asked for help with printing. I told her that in order to pick up her print job, she would need to type or scan her library card number into the computer that manages the print queue. She then stuck her card under the scanner upside down. Then at right-angles to the scanner beam, which is easily visible as a flickering red beam of light. Then diagonally. "The barcode needs to go under the red laser light," I suggested. "Laser?" says she, and promptly stoops and tries to look up into it.
Sigh. How do these people manage to reproduce?
PS. Yes, I told her not to look into the laser.
The woman who came up to the reference desk this evening and asked for help with printing. I told her that in order to pick up her print job, she would need to type or scan her library card number into the computer that manages the print queue. She then stuck her card under the scanner upside down. Then at right-angles to the scanner beam, which is easily visible as a flickering red beam of light. Then diagonally. "The barcode needs to go under the red laser light," I suggested. "Laser?" says she, and promptly stoops and tries to look up into it.
Sigh. How do these people manage to reproduce?
PS. Yes, I told her not to look into the laser.
The Conservative Nanny State
A worthwhile e-read addressing the myth of conservative support for small-government principles.
A worthwhile e-read addressing the myth of conservative support for small-government principles.
Recent viewings
Forbidden Planet (1956)
I've heard great things about this movie for years. Turns out they're right.
From a 2006 perspective, the movie looks a lot like an above-average episode of the original Star Trek series. One can only imagine what a gigantic leap forward and upward this must have been from the frankly dismal production values of early science fiction television serials like Flash Gordon and Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.
The effects and props don't look bad even today. The three-dimensional navigational display on the bridge of the protagonist's spaceship looks cool and maybe even functional, although it does take up a good deal of room. The alien planetscapes are surprisingly believable, and the animated interpretations of futuristic weapons and their effects, if not quite believable, are at least colorful and dynamic. Even the plot makes sense on its own terms, possibly because it was, famously, partially inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest.
In fact, the only truly jarring bits are the "flying saucer" appearance of the spaceship from Earth, the dated "futuristic" fashions worn by the only female on the planet, and a few jokey allusions to 1950s stereotypes such as a food replicator being "a housewife's dream". Some of the acting is a bit stiff and hokey, especially from Leslie Nielsen, who plays an entirely straitlaced "hero" role here. I suppose I can accept some stiffness and hokeyness as part of a "military bearing".
The identity of the "monster from the id" that attacks the spaceship crew, when it is finally revealed, anticipates a surprising degree of knowledge of psychological terms and principles on the part of its audience. Would it get green-lighted today?
I find myself wondering if the invisible monster that terrorizes the planewrecked survivors of Lost is indirectly descended from Forbidden Planet's "monster from the id" . I had a moment of deja vu when the "monster from the id" came crashing invisibly through the grass and trees of the garden, much like the unseen monster of the island crashing through the trees on Lost.
Well worth seeing for any fan of filmic science fiction.
Forbidden Planet (1956)
I've heard great things about this movie for years. Turns out they're right.
From a 2006 perspective, the movie looks a lot like an above-average episode of the original Star Trek series. One can only imagine what a gigantic leap forward and upward this must have been from the frankly dismal production values of early science fiction television serials like Flash Gordon and Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.
The effects and props don't look bad even today. The three-dimensional navigational display on the bridge of the protagonist's spaceship looks cool and maybe even functional, although it does take up a good deal of room. The alien planetscapes are surprisingly believable, and the animated interpretations of futuristic weapons and their effects, if not quite believable, are at least colorful and dynamic. Even the plot makes sense on its own terms, possibly because it was, famously, partially inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest.
In fact, the only truly jarring bits are the "flying saucer" appearance of the spaceship from Earth, the dated "futuristic" fashions worn by the only female on the planet, and a few jokey allusions to 1950s stereotypes such as a food replicator being "a housewife's dream". Some of the acting is a bit stiff and hokey, especially from Leslie Nielsen, who plays an entirely straitlaced "hero" role here. I suppose I can accept some stiffness and hokeyness as part of a "military bearing".
The identity of the "monster from the id" that attacks the spaceship crew, when it is finally revealed, anticipates a surprising degree of knowledge of psychological terms and principles on the part of its audience. Would it get green-lighted today?
I find myself wondering if the invisible monster that terrorizes the planewrecked survivors of Lost is indirectly descended from Forbidden Planet's "monster from the id" . I had a moment of deja vu when the "monster from the id" came crashing invisibly through the grass and trees of the garden, much like the unseen monster of the island crashing through the trees on Lost.
Well worth seeing for any fan of filmic science fiction.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Another tradable commodity?
In the heyday of the railroads, it was not unusual for an otherwise failed railroad company to retain a certain amount of value, not because of its physical assets or ongoing business, but because it possessed a state-granted charter giving it legal permission to build, operate and exercise the power of eminent domain within certain geographical parameters. Purchasing a bankrupt, broken-down shortline that possessed a desirable charter was sometimes easier than getting such a charter granted anew if a large railroad concern decided it wanted to expand.
In some major cities today, taxicab medallions, which connote the privilege of participating in a business where competition is limited by government edict, sell for extraordinarily high prices. (A 2005 price of $379,000 for a New York City corporate taxicab medallion is quoted by this website.)
Both are, essentially, intangible assets representing nothing but legal permission to do things which are otherwise restricted.
Now it seems that educational accreditation may be about to join the ranks of intangible assets of this type that can be bought and sold as part of an institution, regardless of any significant degree of continuity in the identity of the institution itself, according to this article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed. (Subscription required for full article, but a short summary is available for free.) Is this a good thing?
In the heyday of the railroads, it was not unusual for an otherwise failed railroad company to retain a certain amount of value, not because of its physical assets or ongoing business, but because it possessed a state-granted charter giving it legal permission to build, operate and exercise the power of eminent domain within certain geographical parameters. Purchasing a bankrupt, broken-down shortline that possessed a desirable charter was sometimes easier than getting such a charter granted anew if a large railroad concern decided it wanted to expand.
In some major cities today, taxicab medallions, which connote the privilege of participating in a business where competition is limited by government edict, sell for extraordinarily high prices. (A 2005 price of $379,000 for a New York City corporate taxicab medallion is quoted by this website.)
Both are, essentially, intangible assets representing nothing but legal permission to do things which are otherwise restricted.
Now it seems that educational accreditation may be about to join the ranks of intangible assets of this type that can be bought and sold as part of an institution, regardless of any significant degree of continuity in the identity of the institution itself, according to this article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed. (Subscription required for full article, but a short summary is available for free.) Is this a good thing?
Divide and conquer
The Austin American-Statesman describes a Republican-proposed plan by which the Republican-controlled legislature would eradicate the historically Democrat-leaning legislative district containing the state capital, Austin, and split it into fragments which will be attached to Republican-controlled majorities from San Antonio and Laredo. Politics as usual.... but with the recently added Republican innovation that now they can change the electoral districts whenever they please, not just when the actual population has changed. Won't this be a fun ride.
The Austin American-Statesman describes a Republican-proposed plan by which the Republican-controlled legislature would eradicate the historically Democrat-leaning legislative district containing the state capital, Austin, and split it into fragments which will be attached to Republican-controlled majorities from San Antonio and Laredo. Politics as usual.... but with the recently added Republican innovation that now they can change the electoral districts whenever they please, not just when the actual population has changed. Won't this be a fun ride.
Meet the new House Majority Leader...
Same as the old House Majority Leader....
New House Majority Leader Keeps Ties to Old Lobbyists (NYT)
Same as the old House Majority Leader....
New House Majority Leader Keeps Ties to Old Lobbyists (NYT)
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Beowulf : the monsters and the producers
Over the past few months I've watched a couple of different visual adaptations of the Beowulf legend.
Version number one was Beowulf and Grendel, a low-budget 2005 effort filmed on location on the gorgeously brutal coast of Iceland. I wanted to like this movie. I really did. But it's hard to like a grim medieval revenge-saga that veers (unintentionally?)into Monty Python territory as often as this one does.
There are some good points. The scenery is gorgeous, all towering jagged black rocky cliffs and rumpled, rocky Nordic pastures. The film's portrayal of Hrothgar as a ineffectual, sodden old man and his "kingdom" as little more than a collection of crude wooden buildings thrown up on the edge of the known world makes sense. And the actors, most of whom sport Scandinavian names positively bristling with umlauts and phlegm-hawking clusters of consonants that could have been lifted straight from the Elder Edda, are convincing medieval barbarians. They look scary; their accents sound scary; their scowls and snarls are scary; and the film's makeup-and-grunge artistry convinced me that they probably smelled scary, too. Genghis Khan would think twice about tackling these guys.
Unfortunately, the spell is broken whenever the script rears its ugly head. The script attempts to blend vulgar modern slang with medieval attitude, and the result all too often trips over the edge of self-parody. "I tell ya, this troll must be one tough prick," says one of the stalwart soldiers in the midst of a strategic conference. In another excruciating, Monty-Python-like conversation, Beowulf chats with a half-crazed old fisherman while they chow down on boiled eels. Beowulf discovers that an eel has slithered inside his boot and munched on his foot while he floated in the ocean, clad in furs and armor. The old fisherman tosses the anthropophagic eel into the pot with the rest. Handing a bit of the concoction to Our Hero, he wheezes "Be-yo'-self!" As in, indirectly eat yourself, thus "being" oneself.
Hardy har.
Also unfortunately, the filmmakers have tried to graft typically modern attitudes onto the bones of the ancient legend. In a prologue pretentiously entitled "A Hate Is Born", we see that Grendel is not evil, he's just a misunderstood victim of violent prejudice. We also meet a pretty feminist witch with a Canadian accent who doesn't mind humping men, trolls, or much of anything else that crawls into her solitary hovel, plus a bizarrely warped version of Hrothgar's generous queen, Wealtheow, who in the filmmakers' imagination has become a dour middle-aged harridan plotting to murder her husband. (Inexplicably but mercifully, this plot threat is dropped with no further explanation or development.)
Fiend suggested that I should take a look at the version of the Beowulf story presented in a couple of episodes of Star Trek : Voyager. It was better than Beowulf & Grendel, which is admittedly setting a rather low standard. ST:V's producers won't win any awards for authenticity from me, if only because they insisted on adding a female warrior to their holodeck-Heorot, along with gratuitous references to Freya. But at least the framing-story involving the Voyager crew made some sense once allowance was made for the usual Star Trek technobabble.
Good grief, though... why can't anybody seem to do this story right? It's not as if it's a complicated story!
Over the past few months I've watched a couple of different visual adaptations of the Beowulf legend.
Version number one was Beowulf and Grendel, a low-budget 2005 effort filmed on location on the gorgeously brutal coast of Iceland. I wanted to like this movie. I really did. But it's hard to like a grim medieval revenge-saga that veers (unintentionally?)into Monty Python territory as often as this one does.
There are some good points. The scenery is gorgeous, all towering jagged black rocky cliffs and rumpled, rocky Nordic pastures. The film's portrayal of Hrothgar as a ineffectual, sodden old man and his "kingdom" as little more than a collection of crude wooden buildings thrown up on the edge of the known world makes sense. And the actors, most of whom sport Scandinavian names positively bristling with umlauts and phlegm-hawking clusters of consonants that could have been lifted straight from the Elder Edda, are convincing medieval barbarians. They look scary; their accents sound scary; their scowls and snarls are scary; and the film's makeup-and-grunge artistry convinced me that they probably smelled scary, too. Genghis Khan would think twice about tackling these guys.
Unfortunately, the spell is broken whenever the script rears its ugly head. The script attempts to blend vulgar modern slang with medieval attitude, and the result all too often trips over the edge of self-parody. "I tell ya, this troll must be one tough prick," says one of the stalwart soldiers in the midst of a strategic conference. In another excruciating, Monty-Python-like conversation, Beowulf chats with a half-crazed old fisherman while they chow down on boiled eels. Beowulf discovers that an eel has slithered inside his boot and munched on his foot while he floated in the ocean, clad in furs and armor. The old fisherman tosses the anthropophagic eel into the pot with the rest. Handing a bit of the concoction to Our Hero, he wheezes "Be-yo'-self!" As in, indirectly eat yourself, thus "being" oneself.
Hardy har.
Also unfortunately, the filmmakers have tried to graft typically modern attitudes onto the bones of the ancient legend. In a prologue pretentiously entitled "A Hate Is Born", we see that Grendel is not evil, he's just a misunderstood victim of violent prejudice. We also meet a pretty feminist witch with a Canadian accent who doesn't mind humping men, trolls, or much of anything else that crawls into her solitary hovel, plus a bizarrely warped version of Hrothgar's generous queen, Wealtheow, who in the filmmakers' imagination has become a dour middle-aged harridan plotting to murder her husband. (Inexplicably but mercifully, this plot threat is dropped with no further explanation or development.)
Fiend suggested that I should take a look at the version of the Beowulf story presented in a couple of episodes of Star Trek : Voyager. It was better than Beowulf & Grendel, which is admittedly setting a rather low standard. ST:V's producers won't win any awards for authenticity from me, if only because they insisted on adding a female warrior to their holodeck-Heorot, along with gratuitous references to Freya. But at least the framing-story involving the Voyager crew made some sense once allowance was made for the usual Star Trek technobabble.
Good grief, though... why can't anybody seem to do this story right? It's not as if it's a complicated story!
Recent viewings
Ride With the Devil.
Ang Lee's tale of confusion, violence and betrayal in Civil War Missouri is one of the most beautifully filmed movies I've ever seen, full of achingly beautiful shots of lush, rolling pastures, deep dappled woods, and whitewashed farmhouses that gleam in the brilliant summer sun. Unfortunately, the plot seems to move in a very slow and leisurely fashion in between the brutal outbursts of violence that characterize the guerilla war on the western frontier. The movie's low-key approach to the characters' personal emotional lives means that critical plot points can slip past an inattentive viewer without even registering. Still, it's worth seeing if you like historical war dramas.
NOTE: I initially tried to watch this movie in the wee-morning hours after covering a late reference shift at the library. Am I being unfair in watching movies at this late hour and then criticizing them because I fall asleep during them?
Ride With the Devil.
Ang Lee's tale of confusion, violence and betrayal in Civil War Missouri is one of the most beautifully filmed movies I've ever seen, full of achingly beautiful shots of lush, rolling pastures, deep dappled woods, and whitewashed farmhouses that gleam in the brilliant summer sun. Unfortunately, the plot seems to move in a very slow and leisurely fashion in between the brutal outbursts of violence that characterize the guerilla war on the western frontier. The movie's low-key approach to the characters' personal emotional lives means that critical plot points can slip past an inattentive viewer without even registering. Still, it's worth seeing if you like historical war dramas.
NOTE: I initially tried to watch this movie in the wee-morning hours after covering a late reference shift at the library. Am I being unfair in watching movies at this late hour and then criticizing them because I fall asleep during them?
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
From the Department of Irresistible Irony:
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) -- Two car crashes occurred and four people were arrested in excitement over a gasoline giveaway Wednesday to reward the city for its safe-driving record....(from CNN)
National security v. pork-barrel politics
From CNN:
Edit: On the other hand, maybe we should be worried about carnivorous kangaroos. Not to mention Demon Ducks of Doom.
From CNN:
A Homeland Security database of vulnerable terror targets in the United States, which includes an insect zoo but not the Statue of Liberty, is too flawed to determine allocation of federal security funds, the department's internal watchdog found....At least we know that the bean festival and the kangaroo conservation center are safe from evil terra-ists. And those whiny New Yorkers... why, that city votes Democrat! Why should stouthearted patriotic Republicans listen to anything they say?
[T]he department's database of vulnerable critical infrastructure and key resources included an insect zoo, a bourbon festival, a bean fest and a kangaroo conservation center. They represent examples of key assets identified in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, and Maryland.....
[T]he Homeland Security assessment of New York this year failed to include Times Square, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge or the Statue of Liberty as a national icon or monument....
Edit: On the other hand, maybe we should be worried about carnivorous kangaroos. Not to mention Demon Ducks of Doom.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Recent Reads
Evangelical Cockroach : the short stories of Jack Woodford
Sadly, the man who wrote such swinging, slashing assaults on the follies of the publishing industry in The Loud Literary Lamas of New York fails to get much traction as a fiction writer. The two or three stories I read from this volume all seem to aspire to O Henry's style of clever, punchy endings, but sadly the characters seem rather wooden and uninvolving. Since the book's due back to the interlibrary loan, I won't have an opportunity to investigate further.
Evangelical Cockroach : the short stories of Jack Woodford
Sadly, the man who wrote such swinging, slashing assaults on the follies of the publishing industry in The Loud Literary Lamas of New York fails to get much traction as a fiction writer. The two or three stories I read from this volume all seem to aspire to O Henry's style of clever, punchy endings, but sadly the characters seem rather wooden and uninvolving. Since the book's due back to the interlibrary loan, I won't have an opportunity to investigate further.
Recent Reads
The Books of Great Alta, by Jane Yolen (omnibus edition of Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna.) Yolen has taken a fairly standard fantasy trope -- that of the mysterious or marked child who is prophesied to overturn the existing social order -- and souped it up with some novel feminist world-building concepts, some clever pastiches on old English folk-ballads, and a witty, indirect running commentary on the way that legends, myths, and stories eventually become history. It's a good recipe.
"Thrice mothered and thrice orphaned", white-haired and black-eyed Jenna is fostered to a forest-dwelling matriarchial Hame, or community, that lives apart from the society around it and worships Great Alta, a dualistic mother-goddess with both light and dark sides to her personality. Yolen has given these sisters an unusual and intriguing gift, the ability to call forth "dark sisters", or personal doubles, who can only appear as shadows at night, in moonlight or candlelight. These are not mere dopplegangers of their "light sisters", but independently thinking and acting beings whose personalities echo, but do not duplicate, those of their "light sisters". This is an intriguingly original concept, especially in a genre (epic fantasy) which all too often treads its way tiresomely around the same old cliches of graceful elves, sturdy dwarves, and filthy orcs without introducing anything new to the mix. It's possible that Yolen pulled the basic inspiration of this concept from Jung's concept of the Shadow, but she develops it in a way that is distinctively her own, and reveals it so gradually and subtly that a naive reader may be well into the story before recognizing the nature of the "dark sisters".
Outside the safe haven of the Hame, there is turmoil and social upheaval. The Dales seem to be a fantasy-analogue of medieval England, complete with an arrogant, exploitative class of foreign-born aristocrats and a good many ballads, dirges and other songs which Yolen has cleverly derived from historical English folk songs like "Lord Randall", The Lyke Wake Dirge, et al. On top of the cultural conflict between ruling Continentals and native Dalefolk, Yolen has also superimposed a clash between matriarchial and patriarchial cultures, creating a theater in which the hypotheses of Robert Graves' The White Goddess can be played out. Inevitably, the fateful child Jenna is drawn into these conflicts.
Interspersed throughout the story is a commentary by a "modern" historian, whose conjectures and commentaries on other historians' views cast an ironic light on the whole concept of history itself. (And yes, The White Goddess does get cited by Yolen's imaginary historian!)
It's fine fantastical fun with just enough mythological, historical and intellectual games(wo)manship to keep the synapses happily perking away.
The Books of Great Alta, by Jane Yolen (omnibus edition of Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna.) Yolen has taken a fairly standard fantasy trope -- that of the mysterious or marked child who is prophesied to overturn the existing social order -- and souped it up with some novel feminist world-building concepts, some clever pastiches on old English folk-ballads, and a witty, indirect running commentary on the way that legends, myths, and stories eventually become history. It's a good recipe.
"Thrice mothered and thrice orphaned", white-haired and black-eyed Jenna is fostered to a forest-dwelling matriarchial Hame, or community, that lives apart from the society around it and worships Great Alta, a dualistic mother-goddess with both light and dark sides to her personality. Yolen has given these sisters an unusual and intriguing gift, the ability to call forth "dark sisters", or personal doubles, who can only appear as shadows at night, in moonlight or candlelight. These are not mere dopplegangers of their "light sisters", but independently thinking and acting beings whose personalities echo, but do not duplicate, those of their "light sisters". This is an intriguingly original concept, especially in a genre (epic fantasy) which all too often treads its way tiresomely around the same old cliches of graceful elves, sturdy dwarves, and filthy orcs without introducing anything new to the mix. It's possible that Yolen pulled the basic inspiration of this concept from Jung's concept of the Shadow, but she develops it in a way that is distinctively her own, and reveals it so gradually and subtly that a naive reader may be well into the story before recognizing the nature of the "dark sisters".
Outside the safe haven of the Hame, there is turmoil and social upheaval. The Dales seem to be a fantasy-analogue of medieval England, complete with an arrogant, exploitative class of foreign-born aristocrats and a good many ballads, dirges and other songs which Yolen has cleverly derived from historical English folk songs like "Lord Randall", The Lyke Wake Dirge, et al. On top of the cultural conflict between ruling Continentals and native Dalefolk, Yolen has also superimposed a clash between matriarchial and patriarchial cultures, creating a theater in which the hypotheses of Robert Graves' The White Goddess can be played out. Inevitably, the fateful child Jenna is drawn into these conflicts.
Interspersed throughout the story is a commentary by a "modern" historian, whose conjectures and commentaries on other historians' views cast an ironic light on the whole concept of history itself. (And yes, The White Goddess does get cited by Yolen's imaginary historian!)
It's fine fantastical fun with just enough mythological, historical and intellectual games(wo)manship to keep the synapses happily perking away.
Recent reads (in brief)
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
This book might just as well have been titled Freakopsychology or Freakosociology, since many of the anecdotes related have only a tenuous connection to economics as most people understand the term. However, it does provide some interesting and thought-provoking examples of the ways in which both overt and covert incentives affect human behavior. The gratuitous self-promotion of Steven D. Levitt is annoying, especially the adulatory quotes which introduce every chapter, all of which are taken from the same magazine article.
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
This book might just as well have been titled Freakopsychology or Freakosociology, since many of the anecdotes related have only a tenuous connection to economics as most people understand the term. However, it does provide some interesting and thought-provoking examples of the ways in which both overt and covert incentives affect human behavior. The gratuitous self-promotion of Steven D. Levitt is annoying, especially the adulatory quotes which introduce every chapter, all of which are taken from the same magazine article.
Somewhere, it's a dark and stormy night...
... and the results of the annual Bulwer-Lytton contest have been announced, inspiring shock and awe in all who behold them.
Thanks to Fiend for the heads-up and this story from the Globe & Mail. It spotlights the winning entry, in which a burrito-chomping detective meets a woman with rather talkative anatomy.
... and the results of the annual Bulwer-Lytton contest have been announced, inspiring shock and awe in all who behold them.
Thanks to Fiend for the heads-up and this story from the Globe & Mail. It spotlights the winning entry, in which a burrito-chomping detective meets a woman with rather talkative anatomy.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Blasphemy!
Budweiser pays $40 million for exclusive "pouring rights" at the World Cup. Beer drinkers in the land of Rheinheitsgebot are predictably unimpressed.
Budweiser pays $40 million for exclusive "pouring rights" at the World Cup. Beer drinkers in the land of Rheinheitsgebot are predictably unimpressed.
I am so disappointed.
Sadly, I am missing out on the Michigan ElvisFest. But maybe I will still get a chance to check out the Shadow Art Fair the following weekend, or the Michigan Beer Festival the weekend after that. (Unless, of course, I have other commitments!)
Sadly, I am missing out on the Michigan ElvisFest. But maybe I will still get a chance to check out the Shadow Art Fair the following weekend, or the Michigan Beer Festival the weekend after that. (Unless, of course, I have other commitments!)
Recent viewings
Superman Returns. The latest installment in the Superman franchise is pretty good entertainment. The effects are impressive, although more than once good ol' Supes seems to have a suspiciously synthetic sheen to his skin. Brandon Routh, as many reviewers have noted, looks something like Christopher Reeve, and does a good job of portraying the Man of Steel as a heroic outsider who is slowly coming to realize just how isolated he really is. (Even so, despite all the heavy drama, my favorite moment was the quick, grimly reproving grin that he gives to a dismayed bank-robber who has just discovered that his big, impressive arsenal of firepower doesn't quite cut the mustard against any part of the Kryptonian anatomy.) The actress who plays Lois Lane, on the other hand, seems miscast for the role, petulant and brittle rather than gutsy and determined. Lex Luthor is dapper and surprisingly sympathetic, and even makes a plausible-sounding speech about why he hates Superman. But his schemes and his deeds are still villainous. The expensive toys he plays with -- a glorious yacht equipped with a vast interior library complete with fireplace and grand piano; a fantastically elaborate if ill-fated model train layout -- could overshadow a lesser villain, but rest assured he has dastardly schemes in mind that will dwarf such mere gewgaws. Parker Posey has some fun as a gangster's moll who may not be quite as dimwitted as she looks. The filmmakers have some fun with obscure allusions to the long-running Superman mythos, replicating the iconic cover of Superman's first comic-book appearance in a news photo halfway through the movie and casting archival footage of Marlon Brando as the hologram of Superman's long-deceased father.
All in all, a fun , effects-heavy adventure, but it seems unlikely to acquire the iconic status of older interpretations.
PS: I ordinarily try to avoid supplying spoilers in movie and book commentaries; however, I can't help but wonder whether the screenwriter for Superman Returns was deliberately trying to skim around some of the implications of Larry Niven's ... er, ... seminal essay on the subject of human/Kryptonian sexual relationships, Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex, by implying that the offspring of Kryptonians -- or at least of Kryptonian-human hybrids -- begin life in a "fragile" state and only gradually gain their super-powers. Still, they fail to explain how such a child could be engendered at all, given the difficulties presented by Niven.
Superman Returns. The latest installment in the Superman franchise is pretty good entertainment. The effects are impressive, although more than once good ol' Supes seems to have a suspiciously synthetic sheen to his skin. Brandon Routh, as many reviewers have noted, looks something like Christopher Reeve, and does a good job of portraying the Man of Steel as a heroic outsider who is slowly coming to realize just how isolated he really is. (Even so, despite all the heavy drama, my favorite moment was the quick, grimly reproving grin that he gives to a dismayed bank-robber who has just discovered that his big, impressive arsenal of firepower doesn't quite cut the mustard against any part of the Kryptonian anatomy.) The actress who plays Lois Lane, on the other hand, seems miscast for the role, petulant and brittle rather than gutsy and determined. Lex Luthor is dapper and surprisingly sympathetic, and even makes a plausible-sounding speech about why he hates Superman. But his schemes and his deeds are still villainous. The expensive toys he plays with -- a glorious yacht equipped with a vast interior library complete with fireplace and grand piano; a fantastically elaborate if ill-fated model train layout -- could overshadow a lesser villain, but rest assured he has dastardly schemes in mind that will dwarf such mere gewgaws. Parker Posey has some fun as a gangster's moll who may not be quite as dimwitted as she looks. The filmmakers have some fun with obscure allusions to the long-running Superman mythos, replicating the iconic cover of Superman's first comic-book appearance in a news photo halfway through the movie and casting archival footage of Marlon Brando as the hologram of Superman's long-deceased father.
All in all, a fun , effects-heavy adventure, but it seems unlikely to acquire the iconic status of older interpretations.
PS: I ordinarily try to avoid supplying spoilers in movie and book commentaries; however, I can't help but wonder whether the screenwriter for Superman Returns was deliberately trying to skim around some of the implications of Larry Niven's ... er, ... seminal essay on the subject of human/Kryptonian sexual relationships, Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex, by implying that the offspring of Kryptonians -- or at least of Kryptonian-human hybrids -- begin life in a "fragile" state and only gradually gain their super-powers. Still, they fail to explain how such a child could be engendered at all, given the difficulties presented by Niven.
Recent reads
The Black Squall, by Lori Stone. There are a few mystery series that I have enjoyed reading over the years. Robert B. Parker's Spenser series is one. Sharyn McCrumb's series of Appalachian tales is another. And so is John D. MacDonald's long series of books about Travis McGee, that salty old houseboat-dwelling Florida raconteur, freelance investigator, salvage consultant, and slightly tarnished knight-for-hire who pursued swindlers, crooked land speculators, drug dealers, corrupt cops and other south-Florida evildoers in a series of novels from 1964's The Deep Blue Goodbye to 1984's The Lonely Silver Rain.
Recent discussion on a fiction-related listserv clued me in to a couple of things that I didn't know about McGee and his creator. Apparently there are persistent rumors that MacDonald wrote a book titled Black Borders for McGee in which the peripatetic private eye met his death. However, no such book has ever been published and MacDonald's widow and publisher both stoutly deny any such rumors. But that doesn't mean that McGee is safe in that limbo to which fictional characters retire when their series have run their course.
Lori Stone's The Black Squall, a novel published in 2001 through Iuniverse, a purveyor of "supported self-publishing", begins with a young professional woman discovering that her father and uncle have been killed in an explosion at sea. Her father? Well, he was a salty old houseboat-dwelling Florida raconteur, freelance investigator, salvage consultant, and slightly tarnished knight-for-hire who pursued swindlers, crooked land speculators, drug dealers, corrupt cops and other south-Florida evildoers. Sound familiar?
Although Stone, for obvious reasons, must be coy about the question, as in this interview, there can be very little doubt that the deceased father in her book is at the very least a very close kindred spirit to Travis McGee. Allusions to the titles and background of MacDonald's books abound through out The Black Squall, beginning with the title, which echoes the format of the McGee titles with their inevitable color references. (For a more detailed analysis, see here.)
I enjoyed reading the book, but I found that most of my interest was in spotting the allusions to MacDonald's books, not in the doings of the protagonist, one Jean Pearson. Stone is a competent writer and storyteller, with the exception of one glaring plot discrepancy involving a helpful secondary character who, at the end, is suddenly and inexplicably revealed as a villian, thus rendering his previous help to the protagonist completely nonsensical. However, her lead character lacks McGee's distinctively pungent bachelor charm, and her descriptions of the Floridian settings lack MacDonald's eye for detail and atmosphere. This is one of the hazards of imitating a master.
The Black Squall reads almost like a very good example of fan fiction. At best, such fiction can recall the pleasures of the work that it derives from, but it rarely exceeds its progenitor, and usually gets weaker as its story proceeds away from that original source. A successful series requires a protagonist who can stand on his (or her) own two feet and command the reader's attention without the crutch of allusions. If Stone wants her promised followup novel, Dead Issue, to appeal to readers, then Jean Pearson needs to become a compelling character in her own right rather than trading on her father's connections.
Obligatory Nancy Pearl moment: My interest in the McCrumb books is primarily due to their setting, whereas my interest in Parker's books is primarily due to the appeal of the character Spenser. MacDonald's books score high on both appeal factors. McGee is an entertainingly eccentric narrator, and the south Florida setting he inhabits is piquantly described and easily imagined in all its sunbaked, seedy splendor. Stone's novel, although competently written, does not excel in either area, but the clever allusions to McGee make it an entertaining read for MacDonald fans, and it's always possible that she could catch a second and more individualistic wind in her next book.
The Black Squall, by Lori Stone. There are a few mystery series that I have enjoyed reading over the years. Robert B. Parker's Spenser series is one. Sharyn McCrumb's series of Appalachian tales is another. And so is John D. MacDonald's long series of books about Travis McGee, that salty old houseboat-dwelling Florida raconteur, freelance investigator, salvage consultant, and slightly tarnished knight-for-hire who pursued swindlers, crooked land speculators, drug dealers, corrupt cops and other south-Florida evildoers in a series of novels from 1964's The Deep Blue Goodbye to 1984's The Lonely Silver Rain.
Recent discussion on a fiction-related listserv clued me in to a couple of things that I didn't know about McGee and his creator. Apparently there are persistent rumors that MacDonald wrote a book titled Black Borders for McGee in which the peripatetic private eye met his death. However, no such book has ever been published and MacDonald's widow and publisher both stoutly deny any such rumors. But that doesn't mean that McGee is safe in that limbo to which fictional characters retire when their series have run their course.
Lori Stone's The Black Squall, a novel published in 2001 through Iuniverse, a purveyor of "supported self-publishing", begins with a young professional woman discovering that her father and uncle have been killed in an explosion at sea. Her father? Well, he was a salty old houseboat-dwelling Florida raconteur, freelance investigator, salvage consultant, and slightly tarnished knight-for-hire who pursued swindlers, crooked land speculators, drug dealers, corrupt cops and other south-Florida evildoers. Sound familiar?
Although Stone, for obvious reasons, must be coy about the question, as in this interview, there can be very little doubt that the deceased father in her book is at the very least a very close kindred spirit to Travis McGee. Allusions to the titles and background of MacDonald's books abound through out The Black Squall, beginning with the title, which echoes the format of the McGee titles with their inevitable color references. (For a more detailed analysis, see here.)
I enjoyed reading the book, but I found that most of my interest was in spotting the allusions to MacDonald's books, not in the doings of the protagonist, one Jean Pearson. Stone is a competent writer and storyteller, with the exception of one glaring plot discrepancy involving a helpful secondary character who, at the end, is suddenly and inexplicably revealed as a villian, thus rendering his previous help to the protagonist completely nonsensical. However, her lead character lacks McGee's distinctively pungent bachelor charm, and her descriptions of the Floridian settings lack MacDonald's eye for detail and atmosphere. This is one of the hazards of imitating a master.
The Black Squall reads almost like a very good example of fan fiction. At best, such fiction can recall the pleasures of the work that it derives from, but it rarely exceeds its progenitor, and usually gets weaker as its story proceeds away from that original source. A successful series requires a protagonist who can stand on his (or her) own two feet and command the reader's attention without the crutch of allusions. If Stone wants her promised followup novel, Dead Issue, to appeal to readers, then Jean Pearson needs to become a compelling character in her own right rather than trading on her father's connections.
Obligatory Nancy Pearl moment: My interest in the McCrumb books is primarily due to their setting, whereas my interest in Parker's books is primarily due to the appeal of the character Spenser. MacDonald's books score high on both appeal factors. McGee is an entertainingly eccentric narrator, and the south Florida setting he inhabits is piquantly described and easily imagined in all its sunbaked, seedy splendor. Stone's novel, although competently written, does not excel in either area, but the clever allusions to McGee make it an entertaining read for MacDonald fans, and it's always possible that she could catch a second and more individualistic wind in her next book.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Crash!
For those who haven't been following the titanic legal collision between veteran Lionel and upstart MTH Trains over stolen locomotive plans, here are a couple of articles that will explain what's been going on in the world of tinplate trains.
Background of Lionel/MTH lawsuit, from Classic Toy Trains magazine
Train Wreck, from Inc.com. A personal profile of MTH founder Mike Wolf, and his perspective on the stolen-plans feud.
It looks like another lawsuit between the two companies, this time over Lionel's alleged misuse of a patented method of electronically controlling locomotives and related sound devices, has been postponed until the appeals court decides whether or not to uphold the existing $40 million judgment over the locomotive plans. Since Lionel entered bankruptcy after that judgment was awarded last year, it may be possible that as a major creditor, MTH will end up with partial or complete control of its forerunner and competitor.
Stolen documents, schemes, legal maneuvers.... Jay Gould and his hated archrival Cornelius Vanderbilt have nothing on these guys.
For those who haven't been following the titanic legal collision between veteran Lionel and upstart MTH Trains over stolen locomotive plans, here are a couple of articles that will explain what's been going on in the world of tinplate trains.
Background of Lionel/MTH lawsuit, from Classic Toy Trains magazine
Train Wreck, from Inc.com. A personal profile of MTH founder Mike Wolf, and his perspective on the stolen-plans feud.
It looks like another lawsuit between the two companies, this time over Lionel's alleged misuse of a patented method of electronically controlling locomotives and related sound devices, has been postponed until the appeals court decides whether or not to uphold the existing $40 million judgment over the locomotive plans. Since Lionel entered bankruptcy after that judgment was awarded last year, it may be possible that as a major creditor, MTH will end up with partial or complete control of its forerunner and competitor.
Stolen documents, schemes, legal maneuvers.... Jay Gould and his hated archrival Cornelius Vanderbilt have nothing on these guys.
A thief as well as a liar
Ann Coulter, plagiarist.
Coulter's response, from her July 5 column:
Editor and Publisher notes in its discussion of Coulter's plagiarism that "[T]he Post could hardly be "reduced to tabloid status" since it is, in fact, a tabloid."
Ann Coulter, plagiarist.
Coulter's response, from her July 5 column:
Once considered a legitimate daily, the Post has been reduced to tabloid status best known for Page Six's breathless accounts of Paris Hilton's latest ruttings, and headlines like "Vampire Teen — H.S. Girl Is Out for Blood." How crappy a newspaper is the Post? Let me put it this way: It's New York's second-crappiest paper.No mention of its proof of her plagiarism. After all, we can't have her readers figuring out that they've been conned. Especially since, as usual, she has no substantive response to offer, only content-free vitriol to spew.
Maybe the Post's constant harassment of me is an attempt to shake me down for protection money like they did with billionaire businessman Ron Burkle. I have sold a LOT of books — more books, come to think of it, than any writers at the New York Post.
Editor and Publisher notes in its discussion of Coulter's plagiarism that "[T]he Post could hardly be "reduced to tabloid status" since it is, in fact, a tabloid."
An intriguing paradox
Why Conservatives Can't Govern, from Washington Monthly by way of Arts & Letters Daily.
Note to Pablo: I responded to your comment below, but Enetation refuses to update the number of comments.
Why Conservatives Can't Govern, from Washington Monthly by way of Arts & Letters Daily.
If government is necessary, bad government, at least for conservatives, is inevitable, and conservatives have been exceptionally good at showing just how bad it can be. Hence the truth revealed by the Bush years: Bad government--indeed, bloated, inefficient, corrupt, and unfair government--is the only kind of conservative government there is. Conservatives cannot govern well for the same reason that vegetarians cannot prepare a world-class boeuf bourguignon: If you believe that what you are called upon to do is wrong, you are not likely to do it very well.
Note to Pablo: I responded to your comment below, but Enetation refuses to update the number of comments.
Reasons not to go to graduate school
From "Thomas Benton" in the Chronicle of Higher Education: Goodbye, Mr. Keating.
From "Thomas Benton" in the Chronicle of Higher Education: Goodbye, Mr. Keating.
The problem is you can't get to where I am now without going through a decade or more of immersion in a highly politicized and anti-literary academic culture. You have to spend so many years conforming that, by the time freedom presents itself, you don't know why you became an English major in the first place. You might even have contempt for your seemingly naïve students, who represent the self that you had to repress in order to be a professional.
It is not that I want to privilege some form of literary dilettantism as a substitute for professionalism. I simply want to demonstrate that the reasons most people get into English are different from the motives that will make them successful in graduate school and in professional life beyond that. They must, ultimately, purge themselves of the romantic motives that drew them to English in the first place -- or pretend to do so. If you want to be a literary professional, you must say goodbye to Mr. Keating.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
News Noted
Apparently the Pentagon believes Al Qaeda to be composed of gay pacifists who reside in the United States. Its so-called "anti-terrorist" efforts have recently been found to include spying on domestic political activities including anti-war student groups and gay activists. Be a good citizen! Be sure and report any suspiciously well-dressed pacifists to your local Thought Police!
In a completely unrelated story, Chris Hedges of the NYT analyzes The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism. The article is well worth reading as he describes in great detail how the fanatical/fundamentalist "Dominionist" movement, inspired by the absolutist doctrines of Rousas Rushdoony, gained influence over the Republican Party over the past 25 years, and plans to impose Old-Testament theocracy through government fiat. Plenty of very revealing quotes, including this cute little zinger from Gary North, Mr. Rushdoony's son-in-law and founder of the so-called "Institute for Christian Economics":
Hedges' conclusion:
And speaking of anti-gay ballot initiatives.... did anyone but me notices that the ones in Michigan were worded almost exactly the same as the ones in Texas and other states? Coincidence? Not if the bills were ghostwritten by a lobbyist group like the one described by Mother Jones magazine in this article.
On a more pleasant note, AstroBiology magazine includes this interview with Brother Guy Consolmagno, astronomer to the Vatican (NOT "astrologer", as one well-meaning Stilyagi described him last year!) He's a frequent guest at southeastern Michigan science fiction conventions, so I may get a chance to hear him talk in person one of these days. He sounds like an interesting fellow, and far less scary than the Dominionist schemers quoted above, or at least, not as overtly so:
Apparently the Pentagon believes Al Qaeda to be composed of gay pacifists who reside in the United States. Its so-called "anti-terrorist" efforts have recently been found to include spying on domestic political activities including anti-war student groups and gay activists. Be a good citizen! Be sure and report any suspiciously well-dressed pacifists to your local Thought Police!
In a completely unrelated story, Chris Hedges of the NYT analyzes The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism. The article is well worth reading as he describes in great detail how the fanatical/fundamentalist "Dominionist" movement, inspired by the absolutist doctrines of Rousas Rushdoony, gained influence over the Republican Party over the past 25 years, and plans to impose Old-Testament theocracy through government fiat. Plenty of very revealing quotes, including this cute little zinger from Gary North, Mr. Rushdoony's son-in-law and founder of the so-called "Institute for Christian Economics":
"So let's be blunt about it: We must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God." (Christianity and Civilization, Spring, 1982)It sounds very much like the old chestnut about democratic elections in countries dominated by Islamic fundamentalism: One man, one vote, one time.
Hedges' conclusion:
All debates with the Christian Right are useless. We cannot reach this movement. It does not want a dialogue. It cares nothing for rational thought and discussion. It is not mollified because John Kerry prays or Jimmy Carter teaches Sunday School. These naive attempts to reach out to a movement bent on our destruction, to prove to them that we too have "values," would be humorous if the stakes were not so deadly. They hate us. They hate the liberal, enlightened world formed by the Constitution. Our opinions do not count.Further information at www.TheocracyWatch.org
This movement will not stop until we are ruled by Biblical Law, an authoritarian church intrudes in every aspect of our life, women stay at home and rear children, gays agree to be cured, abortion is considered murder, the press and the schools promote "positive" Christian values, the federal government is gutted, war becomes our primary form of communication with the rest of the world and recalcitrant non-believers see their flesh eviscerated at the sound of the Messiah's voice.
The spark that could set it ablaze may be lying in the hands of an Islamic terrorist cell, in the hands of the ideological twins of the Christian Right. Another catastrophic terrorist attack could be our Reichstag fire, the excuse used to begin the accelerated dismantling of our open society. The ideology of the Christian Right is not one of love and compassion, the central theme of Christ's message, but of violence and hatred. It has a strong appeal to many in our society, but it is also aided by our complacency. Let us not stand at the open city gates waiting passively and meekly for the barbarians. They are coming. They are slouching rudely towards Bethlehem . Let us, if nothing else, begin to call them by their name.
And speaking of anti-gay ballot initiatives.... did anyone but me notices that the ones in Michigan were worded almost exactly the same as the ones in Texas and other states? Coincidence? Not if the bills were ghostwritten by a lobbyist group like the one described by Mother Jones magazine in this article.
On a more pleasant note, AstroBiology magazine includes this interview with Brother Guy Consolmagno, astronomer to the Vatican (NOT "astrologer", as one well-meaning Stilyagi described him last year!) He's a frequent guest at southeastern Michigan science fiction conventions, so I may get a chance to hear him talk in person one of these days. He sounds like an interesting fellow, and far less scary than the Dominionist schemers quoted above, or at least, not as overtly so:
The trouble is that some people think they can use science to prove God. And that puts science ahead of God; that makes science more powerful than God. That's bad theology. In fact, some philosophers have said that's what led to atheism in the eighteenth century -- the fallacy of the God of the gaps. You say, "I have no idea how this could have happened. It must have been God's design." And then fifty years later, somebody explains how it did happen, and you say, "I don't need God anymore." If your faith is based on science, that's a very shaky kind of faith....
If you're going to be a scientist, there are three things you have to believe. Number one, the universe really exists -- I'm not just a butterfly dreaming I'm a scientist. Two, you have to believe that the universe makes sense. It's not chaotic; there really are underlying laws and we're able to find them. And the third and hardest thing, the most religious of the beliefs, is you have to believe it's worth doing.
Back from Canada
Stratford. Much Ado About Nothing. Kayaked the somewhat mucky but still picturesque Avon River, while Fiend and friend paddled prettily along in a canoe looking like a colorful poster for the Ontario Ministry of Tourism. Superman Returns. IKEA mania! A new apartment for another friend, although not one that he will keep for long. Fireworks! (Yay, Canada! ... er, Brazil?...) Coffee experiments. Settlers of Catan card game. And, sadly, a funeral for a fish.
A busy weekend.
Stratford. Much Ado About Nothing. Kayaked the somewhat mucky but still picturesque Avon River, while Fiend and friend paddled prettily along in a canoe looking like a colorful poster for the Ontario Ministry of Tourism. Superman Returns. IKEA mania! A new apartment for another friend, although not one that he will keep for long. Fireworks! (Yay, Canada! ... er, Brazil?...) Coffee experiments. Settlers of Catan card game. And, sadly, a funeral for a fish.
A busy weekend.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Computer, replicate one cup of coffee, black.
Physics genius plans to make 'Star Trek' replicator a reality (USA Today)
Physics genius plans to make 'Star Trek' replicator a reality (USA Today)
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Render unto Caesar
Mendell D. Morgan, the Dean of Library Services at the so-called "University" of the Incarnate Word in Texas, has cancelled its library's subscription to the New York Times because he believes that criticism of the Bush Administration is "treason".
Now all those terrorists at his "university" will remain safely unaware that Caesar is scrutinizing their banking records, telephone conversations, and e'mail. Perhaps Caesar will reciprocate by letting him read the private e'mail and listen in on the private conversations of his subjects, so that he can weed out the "traitors" who criticize him for his censorship. Or for denying them tenure. Or for not funding their departmental picnic. And if the faculty and students are blocked from knowledge of current events or history, well, so much the better for encouraging obedient loyalty, right?
(More discussion of this treasonous librul practice known as "journalism" here, here, etc.)
Mendell D. Morgan, the Dean of Library Services at the so-called "University" of the Incarnate Word in Texas, has cancelled its library's subscription to the New York Times because he believes that criticism of the Bush Administration is "treason".
Now all those terrorists at his "university" will remain safely unaware that Caesar is scrutinizing their banking records, telephone conversations, and e'mail. Perhaps Caesar will reciprocate by letting him read the private e'mail and listen in on the private conversations of his subjects, so that he can weed out the "traitors" who criticize him for his censorship. Or for denying them tenure. Or for not funding their departmental picnic. And if the faculty and students are blocked from knowledge of current events or history, well, so much the better for encouraging obedient loyalty, right?
(More discussion of this treasonous librul practice known as "journalism" here, here, etc.)
By rail to the roof of the world
No, this isn't another model railroad posting, but a link to an article from Wired (of all places) describing the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, a recently-constructed railway in China. It's described as the highest railroad in the world, much of it over 13,000 feet elevation. It includes some fascinating details about the unusual challenges that the builders had to overcome, and the adaptations they had to make.
No, this isn't another model railroad posting, but a link to an article from Wired (of all places) describing the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, a recently-constructed railway in China. It's described as the highest railroad in the world, much of it over 13,000 feet elevation. It includes some fascinating details about the unusual challenges that the builders had to overcome, and the adaptations they had to make.
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