Tropespotting
The "hot/sexy librarian" trope makes an appearance in the oddest of places, a Maureen Dowd column comparing Marilyn Monroe to Sarah Palin. (Ms. Candle-in-the-Wind comes out on top, for at least being interested in books and making a creditable attempt to look smart despite her own self-doubt.)
Monday, October 18, 2010
Become a magazine publisher for just $1.00
Douglas Cohen, editor of Realms of Fantasy, reports sad news:
So. Any optimistic would-be magazine moguls out there?
Douglas Cohen, editor of Realms of Fantasy, reports sad news:
I invested more than $50,000.00 of my own money into reviving this magazine. I tried every traditional method I could think of to increase the circulation, but nothing worked. I also spent a great deal of money trying nontraditional methods....
...Ultimately, I believe Realms failed because of a terrible economic climate. When I purchased the magazine I did not believe that the worst economy since the Great Depression would actually get worse; that was a mistake.
Should there be any interest in purchasing the magazine I will gladly sell Realms to a responsible party for $1.00 and give them the finished files for the December issue....
So. Any optimistic would-be magazine moguls out there?
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Fortunate find
Orwell first edition turns up in donation pile
I applaud, without necessarily sharing, the selflessness of the volunteer who alerted the agency to which the book was donated, rather than purchasing it for himself.
Orwell first edition turns up in donation pile
I applaud, without necessarily sharing, the selflessness of the volunteer who alerted the agency to which the book was donated, rather than purchasing it for himself.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The gleanings of the morning
A couple of interesting articles on the treatment of mind-altering drugs in science fiction, one from eminence-grise Robert Silverberg, ca. 1974, and one from Robert Marcus, the head of a drug-policy lobbying group called Drugscope.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED112299.pdf
http://ansible.co.uk/DreamDust.pdf (could use some copyediting....)
And with that, off to a meeting in which I'm supposed to help sit in judgement on a prospective university administrator. I doubt that I'll have much opportunity to singlehandedly preserve academic freedom or job security, though.
A couple of interesting articles on the treatment of mind-altering drugs in science fiction, one from eminence-grise Robert Silverberg, ca. 1974, and one from Robert Marcus, the head of a drug-policy lobbying group called Drugscope.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED112299.pdf
http://ansible.co.uk/DreamDust.pdf (could use some copyediting....)
And with that, off to a meeting in which I'm supposed to help sit in judgement on a prospective university administrator. I doubt that I'll have much opportunity to singlehandedly preserve academic freedom or job security, though.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Airship pirates, now with added aetheritude!
An interesting crew of folks made landfall at RealmsCon 2010.
An interesting crew of folks made landfall at RealmsCon 2010.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Recent viewings
Taking a brief break from fantasy-baseball ramblings:
The Sandbaggers, season 1, episodes 1 and 2. Late-1970s British spy drama about a cadre of "special operatives" working for the British government during the Cold War. Interesting for focusing more on the domestic bureaucratic difficulties faced by the "sandbaggers", and their sometimes dicey relationships with their NATO allies, than on their Soviet foes. In the first two episodes, there's very little action, but no shortage of tension as cold-eyed British spymaster Neil Burnside attempts to pull the right political strings to get his operatives permission to do their jobs as he thinks they should be done, while attempting (not always successfully) to keep them from being sent on suicidally stupid missions. The science-fantasy gadgets, improbable feats, and one-sided cheerleading of the James Bond movies are nowhere to be seen. In the first episode, a furious but icily calm Burnside explicitly states to someone who has placed his agents in unnecessary danger: "If you want James Bond, go to the library." The moral hypocrisy of politicians is highlighted in the second episode, where we find that for the Sandbaggers, that much-vaunted "licence to kill" depends more on the political convenience of current officeholders than on moral principle. For once, the typical British television low-budget production adds to the realism rather than detracting from it, as the shabby, crowded offices, clunky 1970s telephones and intercoms, and rusty little cars used by the operatives are all too believable for "overworked and underpaid" public servants taken for granted by the politicians they serve.
Grave of the Fireflies. As usual with Japanese animation, the scenery is gorgeous, although the foreground characters are sometimes a bit too much like caricatures for my taste. As is also frequently the case with Japanese animation, it addresses a story much, much grimmer than Western animation usually tackles. Those who see this movie expecting a lighthearted, Disneyesque "family film" are in for a surprise. Within the first fifteen minutes of the film, our oh-so-cute protagonists, a young boy and his even younger sister, are subjected to a brutal incendiary American air raid, driven from their idyllicly-portrayed home, and made homeless refugees. And then it gets worse. Much worse. The same movie that portrays its 1940s Japenese villages and countryside in lovingly detailed, shimmering, nostalgic watercolors, also forthrightly portrays the aftermath of aerial incendiary warfare against civilian populations. This includes stacks of charred bodies, and in particular the visibly horribly marred body of a major character. Later, we see the corpse of said major character visibly crawling with maggots. This is not to say that every scene is a horrific shocker. There are, in fact, plenty of scenes in which we, the viewers, get to watch while the protagonist tries valiantly to create an idyllic, sheltered life for his little sister despite the horrors that surround them, and for a time, we get to witness some of those glorious moments in which children discover, for the first time, beauty that adults have long since learned to ignore. The back-and-forth pendulum-swing between the two cannot be supported forever, and by the end, not one Disneyesque cliche or plot device is left standing. Family values? The goodness and generosity of the human race? The belief that fate, or God, intervenes to protect the cute? The "noble savage" dream of living off the land? No, no, no, and no. I found a certain montage of scenes near the end rather cloying, but no doubt it's not that different from what was going through the protagonist's mind. I've had the experience of being haunted by similar imagined images. I can't say I enjoyed this movie, but I respect the makers for telling a story so radically different from what audiences of animated films expect (at least in the Western world), and for rigorously avoiding an easy cop-out Hollywood ending.
Taking a brief break from fantasy-baseball ramblings:
The Sandbaggers, season 1, episodes 1 and 2. Late-1970s British spy drama about a cadre of "special operatives" working for the British government during the Cold War. Interesting for focusing more on the domestic bureaucratic difficulties faced by the "sandbaggers", and their sometimes dicey relationships with their NATO allies, than on their Soviet foes. In the first two episodes, there's very little action, but no shortage of tension as cold-eyed British spymaster Neil Burnside attempts to pull the right political strings to get his operatives permission to do their jobs as he thinks they should be done, while attempting (not always successfully) to keep them from being sent on suicidally stupid missions. The science-fantasy gadgets, improbable feats, and one-sided cheerleading of the James Bond movies are nowhere to be seen. In the first episode, a furious but icily calm Burnside explicitly states to someone who has placed his agents in unnecessary danger: "If you want James Bond, go to the library." The moral hypocrisy of politicians is highlighted in the second episode, where we find that for the Sandbaggers, that much-vaunted "licence to kill" depends more on the political convenience of current officeholders than on moral principle. For once, the typical British television low-budget production adds to the realism rather than detracting from it, as the shabby, crowded offices, clunky 1970s telephones and intercoms, and rusty little cars used by the operatives are all too believable for "overworked and underpaid" public servants taken for granted by the politicians they serve.
Grave of the Fireflies. As usual with Japanese animation, the scenery is gorgeous, although the foreground characters are sometimes a bit too much like caricatures for my taste. As is also frequently the case with Japanese animation, it addresses a story much, much grimmer than Western animation usually tackles. Those who see this movie expecting a lighthearted, Disneyesque "family film" are in for a surprise. Within the first fifteen minutes of the film, our oh-so-cute protagonists, a young boy and his even younger sister, are subjected to a brutal incendiary American air raid, driven from their idyllicly-portrayed home, and made homeless refugees. And then it gets worse. Much worse. The same movie that portrays its 1940s Japenese villages and countryside in lovingly detailed, shimmering, nostalgic watercolors, also forthrightly portrays the aftermath of aerial incendiary warfare against civilian populations. This includes stacks of charred bodies, and in particular the visibly horribly marred body of a major character. Later, we see the corpse of said major character visibly crawling with maggots. This is not to say that every scene is a horrific shocker. There are, in fact, plenty of scenes in which we, the viewers, get to watch while the protagonist tries valiantly to create an idyllic, sheltered life for his little sister despite the horrors that surround them, and for a time, we get to witness some of those glorious moments in which children discover, for the first time, beauty that adults have long since learned to ignore. The back-and-forth pendulum-swing between the two cannot be supported forever, and by the end, not one Disneyesque cliche or plot device is left standing. Family values? The goodness and generosity of the human race? The belief that fate, or God, intervenes to protect the cute? The "noble savage" dream of living off the land? No, no, no, and no. I found a certain montage of scenes near the end rather cloying, but no doubt it's not that different from what was going through the protagonist's mind. I've had the experience of being haunted by similar imagined images. I can't say I enjoyed this movie, but I respect the makers for telling a story so radically different from what audiences of animated films expect (at least in the Western world), and for rigorously avoiding an easy cop-out Hollywood ending.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Battlin' Boomers season in review : part 1
To start with, here are the final season standings for the Southwest Sluggos, organized by Commissioner "SteveJ". The Boomers' second place finish, while respectable enough for a rookie manager, leaves room for improvement. It's obvious that I was one of the most activist managers in the league, with more than double the number of "moves" (adds/drops of players from the team roster) of any other manager. There was a reason for this, as will become clear in a future discussion.
.....
Now let's look at the overall points won by each team in the league. For those unfamiliar with rotisserie-league fantasy baseball, here's how it works. In each statistical category, teams are ranked from 1 (worst) to 12 (best). The ranks are then added up into a total score. Theoretically, a team that was tops in every statistic in a 12-team, 10-category league could get a maximum score of 120. As you can see, "C55E" came pretty close to doing this. At least I lost to a very strong competitor. The Boomers' rankings are strong across the board, with my weakest stats being Home Runs, Stolen Bases, (Batting) Avg., and ERA (Earned Run Average). The next chart will help cast more light on this. It is worth noting that throughout the season, I tried to manage to my weaknesses; that is, I consciously made an effort to be no worse than average in any category, and sought out players who would improve my team's weakest areas. Some fantasy-baseball commentators argue that one should concede one or two categories in order to excel elsewhere. I disagree. In my (admittedly limited) experience, it's easier to rise from awful to mediocre than to rise from mediocre to the top of the rankings, especially when one or two teams are accumulating massive "overkill" stats in particular categories. And the ranks from 1 to 6 count just as much, in the final total, as the ones from 7 to 12.
.....
This chart shows the Boomers' ranking in each stat relative to the other teams in the league. Brown "tabs" indicate where they were tied with another team. Measured in terms of raw totals, rather than rankings, everything looks pretty good except for HRs, SBs, and AVG, which look awful. And yet I'm not terribly dissatisfied with the HR and SB rankings. Rankings, not raw totals, are what counts in rotisserie baseball, and despite the towering leads that the category leaders in HRs and SBs accumulated, the Boomers still came out above average in rankings. In achieving massive "overkill" totals in one statistic, about half the teams that ranked very high in one of these categories had below-average results in the other, suggesting that they relied too much on one dimensional players, "sluggers" or "speedsters", and did not achieve a good balance between the two. (See second chart.) The exceptions: C55E and the Kiwis, both of whom are notable for having drafted several multi-dimensional players with both exceptional power and exceptional speed. (C55E, evidently, was more selective than the Kiwis in terms of batting average.) The Boomers, sadly, had only one season-long player, the Phillies' Jayson Werth, who put up notably above-average results in both HRs and SBs and also had a better-than-average batting average. The other guys in my lineup tended to excel in one or two categories, being either powerhitters, or speedsters, or contact hitters whose high batting averages allowed them to rack up a lot of runs or RBIs, but did not excel in all three of those categories. By very actively swapping them out from one day to the next, I kept a good balance in overall production, but could not match the productivity of teams that had rosters full of players doing all three at the same time.
For the past six months or so, at the behest of old college chum "SteveJ", I've been managing a Yahoo fantasy baseball team called, for no particular reason, the Battlin' Boomers. The season is over, and it's time to review strategies that did and didn't work.
To start with, here are the final season standings for the Southwest Sluggos, organized by Commissioner "SteveJ". The Boomers' second place finish, while respectable enough for a rookie manager, leaves room for improvement. It's obvious that I was one of the most activist managers in the league, with more than double the number of "moves" (adds/drops of players from the team roster) of any other manager. There was a reason for this, as will become clear in a future discussion......
Now let's look at the overall points won by each team in the league. For those unfamiliar with rotisserie-league fantasy baseball, here's how it works. In each statistical category, teams are ranked from 1 (worst) to 12 (best). The ranks are then added up into a total score. Theoretically, a team that was tops in every statistic in a 12-team, 10-category league could get a maximum score of 120. As you can see, "C55E" came pretty close to doing this. At least I lost to a very strong competitor. The Boomers' rankings are strong across the board, with my weakest stats being Home Runs, Stolen Bases, (Batting) Avg., and ERA (Earned Run Average). The next chart will help cast more light on this. It is worth noting that throughout the season, I tried to manage to my weaknesses; that is, I consciously made an effort to be no worse than average in any category, and sought out players who would improve my team's weakest areas. Some fantasy-baseball commentators argue that one should concede one or two categories in order to excel elsewhere. I disagree. In my (admittedly limited) experience, it's easier to rise from awful to mediocre than to rise from mediocre to the top of the rankings, especially when one or two teams are accumulating massive "overkill" stats in particular categories. And the ranks from 1 to 6 count just as much, in the final total, as the ones from 7 to 12......
This chart shows the Boomers' ranking in each stat relative to the other teams in the league. Brown "tabs" indicate where they were tied with another team. Measured in terms of raw totals, rather than rankings, everything looks pretty good except for HRs, SBs, and AVG, which look awful. And yet I'm not terribly dissatisfied with the HR and SB rankings. Rankings, not raw totals, are what counts in rotisserie baseball, and despite the towering leads that the category leaders in HRs and SBs accumulated, the Boomers still came out above average in rankings. In achieving massive "overkill" totals in one statistic, about half the teams that ranked very high in one of these categories had below-average results in the other, suggesting that they relied too much on one dimensional players, "sluggers" or "speedsters", and did not achieve a good balance between the two. (See second chart.) The exceptions: C55E and the Kiwis, both of whom are notable for having drafted several multi-dimensional players with both exceptional power and exceptional speed. (C55E, evidently, was more selective than the Kiwis in terms of batting average.) The Boomers, sadly, had only one season-long player, the Phillies' Jayson Werth, who put up notably above-average results in both HRs and SBs and also had a better-than-average batting average. The other guys in my lineup tended to excel in one or two categories, being either powerhitters, or speedsters, or contact hitters whose high batting averages allowed them to rack up a lot of runs or RBIs, but did not excel in all three of those categories. By very actively swapping them out from one day to the next, I kept a good balance in overall production, but could not match the productivity of teams that had rosters full of players doing all three at the same time......
Next up: Draft strategy (or lack thereof), and its consequences.
Friday, October 01, 2010
Poetry Friday
Kit Marlowe to Cabell
By Joseph T. Shipley
Published in The Double Dealer, Feb. 1923.
Pastels are diffident. Play a carmine, bold
Across the sheets. Blood, man; pour blood!
Have you any in you?
Life's not a questing for will-o'-the-wisps,
Delicate, flitting a lure;
Life is a lust, a fever;
Life burns at both ends.
..... You speak of a veil with twenty-seven slits;
Life tears veils aside.
..... Have you ever waited, on a stormy night of spring,
Fallen foul of a maid, and bundled her,
A delicious squirming squealing petticoat,
To a cosy bed,
Tousled and tussling, only half afraid,
But able now to cry she was unwilling --
Have you ever fought all comers for a maid?
..... When were you drunk last, James?
Have you ever reeled, rollicking, damning the state,
Spun a corner -- into the arms of the law?
You and a pal or two, and for a lark
Muzzled the watch and borne their lanterns off
And stopped all honest citizens on their way
And bunked them in a stable for the night?
List me your pranks; I'll match them double-time,
Or hang my tail upon the tavern-port
For gulls to twit.
..... Man's love of woman is the least of life --
Like food, perhaps, but no more imminent;
Man builds his world on lust of gold or power.
Fashion a harem where a king may loll,
Anthony, Heliogabalus.
And the people writes -- but let the king grow wroth,
Let him sweep conquering over continents,
Alexander, Caesar, or our own great king,
And patriots run to die to clear his way.
..... You pick me (thanks, friend), out of a many more
And say I am the true economist.
How Moll would laugh, if she caught the praise,
Dangling my empty purse from her finger-tip
And pouting for silk hose to match her garters!
My life, you say, was spent wisely. Did I wear
A cloak whose pattern was my choosing? Wish
The way I went? I burned across my years
Like any guzzler on the Mermaid bench
Who drank and fought and whored to kill King Time.
..... There is a fellow here; love's labors' lost
Indeed ('twas a play he wrote) trying to fuddle him.
We mock him when he sips his sober glass
And holds back from out boisterous company --
What a world of fun he misses -- yet I know
That had I held myself like him, the flame
That flares in me might be a steady glow
Through decades --
..... Did you see the wench that passed
The window, turned her eye this way -- just now?
Rare-fashioned for these parts, icod! is my
Feather flaunting? I'll be after her;
It's April since I've kissed as fair a face.
Don't smile, you humbug; but I saw her first,
You have no claim. One word before I go:
Match me a Tamerlane with Kennaston,
Pit Jurgen to my Faustus; strike the flint;
Stir in their bowels the search man never ends,
And I have lusty life where you have -- love.
Damme! I'll lose her 'less I hurry off.
Smear carmine on your pages, James. Farewell.
Kit Marlowe to Cabell
By Joseph T. Shipley
Published in The Double Dealer, Feb. 1923.
Pastels are diffident. Play a carmine, bold
Across the sheets. Blood, man; pour blood!
Have you any in you?
Life's not a questing for will-o'-the-wisps,
Delicate, flitting a lure;
Life is a lust, a fever;
Life burns at both ends.
..... You speak of a veil with twenty-seven slits;
Life tears veils aside.
..... Have you ever waited, on a stormy night of spring,
Fallen foul of a maid, and bundled her,
A delicious squirming squealing petticoat,
To a cosy bed,
Tousled and tussling, only half afraid,
But able now to cry she was unwilling --
Have you ever fought all comers for a maid?
..... When were you drunk last, James?
Have you ever reeled, rollicking, damning the state,
Spun a corner -- into the arms of the law?
You and a pal or two, and for a lark
Muzzled the watch and borne their lanterns off
And stopped all honest citizens on their way
And bunked them in a stable for the night?
List me your pranks; I'll match them double-time,
Or hang my tail upon the tavern-port
For gulls to twit.
..... Man's love of woman is the least of life --
Like food, perhaps, but no more imminent;
Man builds his world on lust of gold or power.
Fashion a harem where a king may loll,
Anthony, Heliogabalus.
And the people writes -- but let the king grow wroth,
Let him sweep conquering over continents,
Alexander, Caesar, or our own great king,
And patriots run to die to clear his way.
..... You pick me (thanks, friend), out of a many more
And say I am the true economist.
How Moll would laugh, if she caught the praise,
Dangling my empty purse from her finger-tip
And pouting for silk hose to match her garters!
My life, you say, was spent wisely. Did I wear
A cloak whose pattern was my choosing? Wish
The way I went? I burned across my years
Like any guzzler on the Mermaid bench
Who drank and fought and whored to kill King Time.
..... There is a fellow here; love's labors' lost
Indeed ('twas a play he wrote) trying to fuddle him.
We mock him when he sips his sober glass
And holds back from out boisterous company --
What a world of fun he misses -- yet I know
That had I held myself like him, the flame
That flares in me might be a steady glow
Through decades --
..... Did you see the wench that passed
The window, turned her eye this way -- just now?
Rare-fashioned for these parts, icod! is my
Feather flaunting? I'll be after her;
It's April since I've kissed as fair a face.
Don't smile, you humbug; but I saw her first,
You have no claim. One word before I go:
Match me a Tamerlane with Kennaston,
Pit Jurgen to my Faustus; strike the flint;
Stir in their bowels the search man never ends,
And I have lusty life where you have -- love.
Damme! I'll lose her 'less I hurry off.
Smear carmine on your pages, James. Farewell.
Creating Chaos
From Historynet.com by way of Arts & Letters Daily : a useful and entertaining account of T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt of 1916 which succinctly explains much of the political chaos and anti-western suspicion that has characterized the Middle East ever since.
From Historynet.com by way of Arts & Letters Daily : a useful and entertaining account of T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt of 1916 which succinctly explains much of the political chaos and anti-western suspicion that has characterized the Middle East ever since.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Attention Sherlockians and Adventure Tales... ians(?)
Wildside Press's electronic newsletter reports that they have two issues of fiction magazines available for free promotional download. Enjoy, if that's your thing.
Wildside Press's electronic newsletter reports that they have two issues of fiction magazines available for free promotional download. Enjoy, if that's your thing.
Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #4 and Adventure Tales
#6 may be downloaded via Rapidshare:
http://rapidshare.com/files/422176735/shmm4.pdf
http://rapidshare.com/files/422176143/AT6.pdf
Adventure Tales #6 includes several tasty oddities, including an H. Bedford-Jones ("King of the Pulps"!) profile and story; poetry by Clark Ashton Smith; and a Fritz Leiber sonnet (!!!) about the Grey Mouser.
Amber by Night
Carlos, should he revisit this dusty forgotten corner of the blogosphere, may enjoy this review by the esteemable and invaluable TangognaT. It appears to fall directly into the "hot female librarian" genre of manga.
Sadly, neither Ameila nor Amber are reported to wield magical pieces of paper, slay horrific monsters, or perform death-defying feats of acrobatics.
Carlos, should he revisit this dusty forgotten corner of the blogosphere, may enjoy this review by the esteemable and invaluable TangognaT. It appears to fall directly into the "hot female librarian" genre of manga.
Amelia is a typical bookworm librarian. But she has a secret. At night, she works as a provocatively dressed waitress named Amber....
Sadly, neither Ameila nor Amber are reported to wield magical pieces of paper, slay horrific monsters, or perform death-defying feats of acrobatics.
Digging up the past
Long long ago in a galaxy far far away, your humble correspondent attended a creative-writing class. One of the students in the class submitted a poem which included a couple of lines that have stuck with me ever since, regardless of whatever merit the poem as a whole might have had.
Paging Geraldo....
Open, Sez Me
Diving into the Wreck : Day 1
Dumpster Diving : Day 2
My Back Pages : Day 3
Scraping the bottom of the barrel : Day 4
My boxes and trunks of debris (and blowing sand) contain similar notebooks and stuff. So why aren't I a successful author? The fault, dear Cassius, is surely in my stars.
Long long ago in a galaxy far far away, your humble correspondent attended a creative-writing class. One of the students in the class submitted a poem which included a couple of lines that have stuck with me ever since, regardless of whatever merit the poem as a whole might have had.
The sands of time bury the past. Without them, life would cease.Since I've been doing a little personal archaeology myself lately, I felt a certain degree of kinship when I read author and Inferior 4 + 1 blogger Paul Witcover's description of his excavation of a trunk of personal possessions that had remained locked since his college days.
But sand can blow away sometimes, revealing hidden graves.
Paging Geraldo....
Open, Sez Me
Diving into the Wreck : Day 1
Dumpster Diving : Day 2
My Back Pages : Day 3
Scraping the bottom of the barrel : Day 4
My boxes and trunks of debris (and blowing sand) contain similar notebooks and stuff. So why aren't I a successful author? The fault, dear Cassius, is surely in my stars.
News of the weird
Some startling news from the Telegraph:
Aliens have deactivated British and US nuclear missiles, say US military pilots
The story below seems more like something I would expect in Texas, but sure enough it's from way up north in "librul" Yankeeland.
Assistant attorney general blogs against gay student body president
Hm. A couple of people I know have boasted of their accurate "gaydar". Feel free to comment about the video in that link.
And finally... one of the most misguided seduction attempts of all time. Why is it that over and over again, hyperconservative ideologues end up making public fools of themselves with bizarrely inappropriate sexual behavior? Bill O'Reilly with his strange obsession with loofahs, falafels, and sexual harassment of female employees; Ted Haggard's prediliction for drugs and male prostitutes; Larry Craig's "wide stance" shenanigans in airport bathrooms; Mark Foley's sleazy electronic pursuit of teenage Congressional pages. Now comes ... (or doesn't, if you take my meaning) .... James O'Keefe, the right-wing "fake pimp" best known for smearing the voters-rights group ACORN with selectively-edited video footage portraying himself as a ludicrously stereotypical "pimp" seeking advice about dealing with imaginary prostitutes, then getting caught trying to wiretap the telephone of a US Senator. Evidently Mr. O'Keefe thinks he's pretty hot stuff. So hot that, if he could only lure CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau onto a floating "pleasure palace" stocked with enticing condom jars, sex toys, posters of naked women, and a bed set up with a video camera, she would inevitably fall for his manly charms and provide him with invaluable video "seduction" footage that, with just a little of his trademarked "selective editing", he could use to embarrass CNN.
No, really. Read the story here and here. And here, with entertaining commentary.
I don't think our boy James is quite as irresistable to "the lay-dies" as he thinks he is.
Some startling news from the Telegraph:
Aliens have deactivated British and US nuclear missiles, say US military pilots
The story below seems more like something I would expect in Texas, but sure enough it's from way up north in "librul" Yankeeland.
Assistant attorney general blogs against gay student body president
Hm. A couple of people I know have boasted of their accurate "gaydar". Feel free to comment about the video in that link.
And finally... one of the most misguided seduction attempts of all time. Why is it that over and over again, hyperconservative ideologues end up making public fools of themselves with bizarrely inappropriate sexual behavior? Bill O'Reilly with his strange obsession with loofahs, falafels, and sexual harassment of female employees; Ted Haggard's prediliction for drugs and male prostitutes; Larry Craig's "wide stance" shenanigans in airport bathrooms; Mark Foley's sleazy electronic pursuit of teenage Congressional pages. Now comes ... (or doesn't, if you take my meaning) .... James O'Keefe, the right-wing "fake pimp" best known for smearing the voters-rights group ACORN with selectively-edited video footage portraying himself as a ludicrously stereotypical "pimp" seeking advice about dealing with imaginary prostitutes, then getting caught trying to wiretap the telephone of a US Senator. Evidently Mr. O'Keefe thinks he's pretty hot stuff. So hot that, if he could only lure CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau onto a floating "pleasure palace" stocked with enticing condom jars, sex toys, posters of naked women, and a bed set up with a video camera, she would inevitably fall for his manly charms and provide him with invaluable video "seduction" footage that, with just a little of his trademarked "selective editing", he could use to embarrass CNN.
No, really. Read the story here and here. And here, with entertaining commentary.
I don't think our boy James is quite as irresistable to "the lay-dies" as he thinks he is.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Lazy librarians
I'm late to this party, but it seems I should write a little something for those rare folks who may still from time to time stop by to take in the view from this barren, windy little Hill in the blogosphere.
The New York Times reports that Santa Clarita, California, has outsourced its public libraries to a foreign-owned private equity firm, LSSI. The story reports that the CEO of this secretive, for-profit business is quite certain he knows how to improve libraries.
Hey, if he can make unsupported, insulting assertions about the work habits of a profession he doesn't know squat about, so can I. I bet I'm closer to the truth than he is.
The 2004 article from Library Journal linked above also states that LSSI's contracts typically include a clause which forbids the contracting entity from making any critical or negative public statements about LSSI. Corporate image management at its finest! One side of an argument is enough, isn't it? Surely that will make for more efficient collection development.
LJ and other commenters also note that LSSI takes advantage of volunteers to replace paid staff wherever possible. A commenter on the NYT story states that under California law, it is illegal for a for-profit business to skirt the minimum-wage laws by having "volunteers" work for free. This of course begs the question of why on earth any sensible person would volunteer to work for free to boost the profit margin of some distant, rapacious corporation, or bump up Mr. Pezzanite's no-doubt generous annual bonus. Certainly, as George Will noted, the ideal price of labor, from a business perspective, is zero, but I strongly suspect that even if it were legal, the perceived desirability of volunteering at the library would drop once the library was (correctly) perceived as a for-profit enterprise, headquartered elsewhere, with no connection to the local community other than using it as a source of money to be vacuumed away to New York or London. No one volunteers to sort books for free for Barnes & Noble or Borders, just like no one volunteers to work on a GM assembly line, or staff a Macy's retail sales counter, or clean Mr. Pezzanite's dirty underwear for free.
I wonder if Mr. Pezzanite, from his lofty CEO perch, looks forward to living in a society in which the last vestiges of a stable, professional middle class have been eradicated, and the vast majority of the population outside the executive aristocracy lives hand-to-mouth in precarious part time jobs with no healthcare access and a selection of retirement plans consisting of (1) work till you drop or (2) find a sturdy refrigerator box and stock up on catfood. Look out Mexico, we're gonna pass you... going down.
The readers' comments to the NYT article are on the whole more enlightened and thoughtful than the article itself. But of course, the general public doesn't have much to say about decisions like this. Those decisions are for our betters, says the new social contract.
As for me, I'm too tired to write much more at this point. I was supposed to be home two hours ago after my reference shift ended, but since then I've been intercepted by several students burning the midnight oil on term papers and needing to find peer-reviewed criticism of Hispanic literature of the 1970s, arguments for and against civil rights for gay people, and nonpartisan information about tax rates in the United States over the last ten years. And I'll be back at 8 am to prepare to teach an English class how to find useful and reliable information about political science. I guess Mr. CEO Pezzanite thinks I'm still here because I'm lazy, don't do anything, and should be replaced by a 19-year-old working for minimum wage.
I'm late to this party, but it seems I should write a little something for those rare folks who may still from time to time stop by to take in the view from this barren, windy little Hill in the blogosphere.
The New York Times reports that Santa Clarita, California, has outsourced its public libraries to a foreign-owned private equity firm, LSSI. The story reports that the CEO of this secretive, for-profit business is quite certain he knows how to improve libraries.
“A lot of libraries are atrocious,” Mr. Pezzanite said. “Their policies are all about job security. That’s why the profession is nervous about us. You can to to a library for 35 years and never have to do anything and then have your retirement. We’re not running our company that way. You come to us, you’re going to have to work.”The LSSI strategy for improving libraries, as described by the NYT and other sources, depends primarily on "cutting overhead and replacing unionized employees". And, of course, eliminating pensions and other benefits. After all, if minimum wage part-time workers who are thinking about maybe some day getting their GED are good enough for Wal-Mart, they ought to be good enough to do whatever it is Mr. Pezzanite thinks librarians do while he golfs, manages his investment portfolio, handles a busy schedule of three-martini lunches at five-star restaurants, harangues his chauffeur for not keeping him far enough away from the Little People who infest the public roadways, bullies his illegal third-world immigrant housekeepers, and keeps a squadron of personal assistants busy arranging photo-ops and adulatory interviews with uncritical "media personalities".
Hey, if he can make unsupported, insulting assertions about the work habits of a profession he doesn't know squat about, so can I. I bet I'm closer to the truth than he is.
The 2004 article from Library Journal linked above also states that LSSI's contracts typically include a clause which forbids the contracting entity from making any critical or negative public statements about LSSI. Corporate image management at its finest! One side of an argument is enough, isn't it? Surely that will make for more efficient collection development.
LJ and other commenters also note that LSSI takes advantage of volunteers to replace paid staff wherever possible. A commenter on the NYT story states that under California law, it is illegal for a for-profit business to skirt the minimum-wage laws by having "volunteers" work for free. This of course begs the question of why on earth any sensible person would volunteer to work for free to boost the profit margin of some distant, rapacious corporation, or bump up Mr. Pezzanite's no-doubt generous annual bonus. Certainly, as George Will noted, the ideal price of labor, from a business perspective, is zero, but I strongly suspect that even if it were legal, the perceived desirability of volunteering at the library would drop once the library was (correctly) perceived as a for-profit enterprise, headquartered elsewhere, with no connection to the local community other than using it as a source of money to be vacuumed away to New York or London. No one volunteers to sort books for free for Barnes & Noble or Borders, just like no one volunteers to work on a GM assembly line, or staff a Macy's retail sales counter, or clean Mr. Pezzanite's dirty underwear for free.
I wonder if Mr. Pezzanite, from his lofty CEO perch, looks forward to living in a society in which the last vestiges of a stable, professional middle class have been eradicated, and the vast majority of the population outside the executive aristocracy lives hand-to-mouth in precarious part time jobs with no healthcare access and a selection of retirement plans consisting of (1) work till you drop or (2) find a sturdy refrigerator box and stock up on catfood. Look out Mexico, we're gonna pass you... going down.
The readers' comments to the NYT article are on the whole more enlightened and thoughtful than the article itself. But of course, the general public doesn't have much to say about decisions like this. Those decisions are for our betters, says the new social contract.
As for me, I'm too tired to write much more at this point. I was supposed to be home two hours ago after my reference shift ended, but since then I've been intercepted by several students burning the midnight oil on term papers and needing to find peer-reviewed criticism of Hispanic literature of the 1970s, arguments for and against civil rights for gay people, and nonpartisan information about tax rates in the United States over the last ten years. And I'll be back at 8 am to prepare to teach an English class how to find useful and reliable information about political science. I guess Mr. CEO Pezzanite thinks I'm still here because I'm lazy, don't do anything, and should be replaced by a 19-year-old working for minimum wage.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Snark or serious? You decide....
The Conservative Bible Project
The Conservative Bible Project
The Conservative Bible Project is a project utilizing the "best of the public" to render God's word into modern English without liberal translation distortions.[1] A Colbert Report interview featured this project.[2] We completed our translation of the New Testament on April 23, 2010....
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Recent reads
A couple of interesting blog posts from something calling itself the "SF Commonwealth Office in Taiwan". Official or not, they offer explanation for some of Smith's elliptic and eccentric (to western ears) writing style.
http://danjalin.blogspot.com/2007/11/rediscovery-of-cathay-chinese-elements.html
http://danjalin.blogspot.com/2007/11/rediscovery-of-cathay-chinese-elements_16.html
A couple of interesting blog posts from something calling itself the "SF Commonwealth Office in Taiwan". Official or not, they offer explanation for some of Smith's elliptic and eccentric (to western ears) writing style.
http://danjalin.blogspot.com/2007/11/rediscovery-of-cathay-chinese-elements.html
http://danjalin.blogspot.com/2007/11/rediscovery-of-cathay-chinese-elements_16.html
Monday, May 17, 2010
Recent reads
The World Inside, by Robert Silverberg. "Here begins a happy day in 2381." Silverberg's wryly imagined utopia/dystopia presents a staggeringly huge human population living in titanic, thousand-story "urbmons", or urban monoliths, that tower over a mostly depopulated countryside while their teeming inhabitants while away their "happy days" with carefully managed jobs, abundant entertainment, and above all, sex with whomever they desire on any given night. Sexual "availability" is a social obligation whenever propositioned by either sex. Procreation is regarded as literally sacred, and status is measured by how many "littles" mommo and daddo contribute to society, to be married off and join the happy everlasting open-marriage orgy as soon as they hit puberty at 12 or 13. Sex, drugs, food, safety, all are provided in a life carefully designed to be free of "frustration".
It's possible that that might be enough to satisfy much of the human race. Several times, Silverberg describes the windows of Urbmon 116 "deopaquing" in the morning light, and I don't remember a single character ever looking through them. But are "happy days", free of physical frustration of any kind, enough to keep the best and brightest individuals really, truly content? And if one is discontented with such a life, does it mean that he is an atavistic misfit, a throwback to undesirable anti-social habits of the past, or that there's something lacking about "a happy day in 2381"?
The book, published in 1971, is obviously an exercise in projecting the tendencies of population growth, urbanization, and the Sexual Revolution to their logical extreme, but there's more to it than that. Beyond the risque caricature of a mile-high commune full of swingers enacting the biggest imaginable production of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, there's a serious query about whether a managed, controlled, "inside" existence, with every biological urge satisfied without struggle or frustration, is a fit existence at all. A worthy counterpart to Brave New World, which it (of course) resembles in some ways.
The World Inside, by Robert Silverberg. "Here begins a happy day in 2381." Silverberg's wryly imagined utopia/dystopia presents a staggeringly huge human population living in titanic, thousand-story "urbmons", or urban monoliths, that tower over a mostly depopulated countryside while their teeming inhabitants while away their "happy days" with carefully managed jobs, abundant entertainment, and above all, sex with whomever they desire on any given night. Sexual "availability" is a social obligation whenever propositioned by either sex. Procreation is regarded as literally sacred, and status is measured by how many "littles" mommo and daddo contribute to society, to be married off and join the happy everlasting open-marriage orgy as soon as they hit puberty at 12 or 13. Sex, drugs, food, safety, all are provided in a life carefully designed to be free of "frustration".
It's possible that that might be enough to satisfy much of the human race. Several times, Silverberg describes the windows of Urbmon 116 "deopaquing" in the morning light, and I don't remember a single character ever looking through them. But are "happy days", free of physical frustration of any kind, enough to keep the best and brightest individuals really, truly content? And if one is discontented with such a life, does it mean that he is an atavistic misfit, a throwback to undesirable anti-social habits of the past, or that there's something lacking about "a happy day in 2381"?
The book, published in 1971, is obviously an exercise in projecting the tendencies of population growth, urbanization, and the Sexual Revolution to their logical extreme, but there's more to it than that. Beyond the risque caricature of a mile-high commune full of swingers enacting the biggest imaginable production of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, there's a serious query about whether a managed, controlled, "inside" existence, with every biological urge satisfied without struggle or frustration, is a fit existence at all. A worthy counterpart to Brave New World, which it (of course) resembles in some ways.
Monday, May 10, 2010
James Branch Cabell has a posse
So says Poictesme, the student literary magazine of Virginia Commonwealth University. This would make a great T-shirt logo. I'd wear it.
So says Poictesme, the student literary magazine of Virginia Commonwealth University. This would make a great T-shirt logo. I'd wear it.
Monday, April 19, 2010
The fall of Mordor?
No, it's just that pesky Icelandic volcano, courtesy of photographer Marco Fulle by way of NASA.
NASA's own satellite photographs here.
No, it's just that pesky Icelandic volcano, courtesy of photographer Marco Fulle by way of NASA.
NASA's own satellite photographs here.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A queen's visitationUP 844, one of the two showpieces of the railroad's steam program, makes a brief service stop at Kingsville, Texas, en route to Harlingen on the Valley Eagle public relations tour.
Full picture sequence at my newly-minted Flickr page.
Addendum, 4/18/2010: Another railfan captured images and video of the 844's arrival. See if you can spot Your Humble Correspondent.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
GTT
On the one hand, my new home town seems to have more "gentlemen's clubs" per square mile than any place else I've ever lived. On the other hand, such establishments are considerably outnumbered by churches of various flavors. When I had occasion to wear a raincoat during a morning rain shower a couple of days ago, I found that some helpful soul had thoughtfully slipped a religious tract into one of the pockets. Presumably this was to make sure that I knew I was welcome in the Bible Belt.
The day of Uriah's arrival in Corpus Christi was magnificent in its beauty. It was March and early spring. The stage coach from Brownsville rolled to a stop in front of the St. James Hotel and a tired, worn young man dismounted stiffly, bade the driver a quick goodbye and commenced looking around in a place where he didn't know a soul....Your Humble Correspondent is now a denizen of the Texas "Guff" Coast. No doubt culture shock and climate shock will follow in short order.
-- from Uriah Lott, by J.L. Allhands, a biography of a 19th-century South Texas railroad builder.
On the one hand, my new home town seems to have more "gentlemen's clubs" per square mile than any place else I've ever lived. On the other hand, such establishments are considerably outnumbered by churches of various flavors. When I had occasion to wear a raincoat during a morning rain shower a couple of days ago, I found that some helpful soul had thoughtfully slipped a religious tract into one of the pockets. Presumably this was to make sure that I knew I was welcome in the Bible Belt.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Of Net Neutrality
For those who don't understand why "net neutrality" is a critical issue, this editorial [NYT] explains the issue, and why a recent episode involving Verizon is a warning bell in the night for anyone who wants our electronically-mediated society to remain free and democratic.
Unless, of course, you trust your local cable/internet/telecommunications monopoly to make all your political decisions for you.
For those who don't understand why "net neutrality" is a critical issue, this editorial [NYT] explains the issue, and why a recent episode involving Verizon is a warning bell in the night for anyone who wants our electronically-mediated society to remain free and democratic.
Unless, of course, you trust your local cable/internet/telecommunications monopoly to make all your political decisions for you.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Your tax dollars at work
Want to know where your tax dollars are going? Check out this 2005 "trophy video", from Aegis, a mercenary gang on the US payroll in Iraq. Fair warning: You'll see mercenaries, on your payroll and officially immune from all military and legal oversight, cruising along the highway casually machine-gunning cars and their occupants completely at random to the cheerful accompaniment of American rock music.
"Why do they hate us?" Oh, yes, I forgot. "Because they hate our freedoms," right?
It's almost as shocking that, despite following Iraq-related news fairly closely, I neverheard of this video until now. It appears that the Christian Science Monitor carried the story, but so far as I can tell it was the only US major media outlet to have considered video evidence of US mercenaries casually murdering Iraqi civilians at random to be newsworthy. A little digging in online databases reveals that UPI and the New York Times carried short squibs about it, but they were apparently inconspicuous enough that I didn't see them. (UPI NewsTrack (Nov 27, 2005); "Shots on Web Draw Inquiry." The New York Times (Dec 10, 2005): A10(L).)
But, hey, you're far more interested in some dimwitted, drug-addled Hollywood pop-tart's latest hair malfunction than in documentary proof that your nation is committing acts of random terrorism against civilians, aren't you? Ooh! Ooh! OJ Simpson!!! And.. and.. there's a cute woman missing somewhere! Look, we have her college yearbook photo! And a cute puppy-dog video! Look! Look!
You're a good American. You watch TV obediently. Are you doing your part in the everlasting, ever-expanding "War On Terra" by going shopping? And watching what you say?
Meanwhile, while the corporate media spew out a steady stream of distraction and disinformation, billions of your tax dollars are funding the development of murderous paramilitary mercenary gangs that answer to no one but their paycheck and blithely slaughter civilians whenever they feel like it. They're already been employed as substitutes for Iraq-assigned National Guardsmen in the aftermath of Katrina, and further deployments to the United States are planned. Meanwhile the Bush administration keeps the military and the National Guard, which are at least nominally sworn to respect the Constitution and the rule of law, tied up in a distant overseas quagmire. (As noted in the New York Times, Bush is demanding a larger 2008 budget for his ongoing adventure in Iraq than in any previous year. So much for any talk about troop withdrawals, as favored by the majority of the population in our purported democracy.)
Naomi Wolf has a theory about this. But of course it would an irresponsible conspiracy theorizing to propose that there could be any connection between these events. Nah, that sort of thing never happens. La la la.
UPDATE: a summary of the federal tax dollars shoveled out to Blackwater USA during the Bush Administration can be found here.
Want to know where your tax dollars are going? Check out this 2005 "trophy video", from Aegis, a mercenary gang on the US payroll in Iraq. Fair warning: You'll see mercenaries, on your payroll and officially immune from all military and legal oversight, cruising along the highway casually machine-gunning cars and their occupants completely at random to the cheerful accompaniment of American rock music.
"Why do they hate us?" Oh, yes, I forgot. "Because they hate our freedoms," right?
It's almost as shocking that, despite following Iraq-related news fairly closely, I neverheard of this video until now. It appears that the Christian Science Monitor carried the story, but so far as I can tell it was the only US major media outlet to have considered video evidence of US mercenaries casually murdering Iraqi civilians at random to be newsworthy. A little digging in online databases reveals that UPI and the New York Times carried short squibs about it, but they were apparently inconspicuous enough that I didn't see them. (UPI NewsTrack (Nov 27, 2005); "Shots on Web Draw Inquiry." The New York Times (Dec 10, 2005): A10(L).)
But, hey, you're far more interested in some dimwitted, drug-addled Hollywood pop-tart's latest hair malfunction than in documentary proof that your nation is committing acts of random terrorism against civilians, aren't you? Ooh! Ooh! OJ Simpson!!! And.. and.. there's a cute woman missing somewhere! Look, we have her college yearbook photo! And a cute puppy-dog video! Look! Look!
You're a good American. You watch TV obediently. Are you doing your part in the everlasting, ever-expanding "War On Terra" by going shopping? And watching what you say?
Meanwhile, while the corporate media spew out a steady stream of distraction and disinformation, billions of your tax dollars are funding the development of murderous paramilitary mercenary gangs that answer to no one but their paycheck and blithely slaughter civilians whenever they feel like it. They're already been employed as substitutes for Iraq-assigned National Guardsmen in the aftermath of Katrina, and further deployments to the United States are planned. Meanwhile the Bush administration keeps the military and the National Guard, which are at least nominally sworn to respect the Constitution and the rule of law, tied up in a distant overseas quagmire. (As noted in the New York Times, Bush is demanding a larger 2008 budget for his ongoing adventure in Iraq than in any previous year. So much for any talk about troop withdrawals, as favored by the majority of the population in our purported democracy.)
Naomi Wolf has a theory about this. But of course it would an irresponsible conspiracy theorizing to propose that there could be any connection between these events. Nah, that sort of thing never happens. La la la.
UPDATE: a summary of the federal tax dollars shoveled out to Blackwater USA during the Bush Administration can be found here.
Monday, September 24, 2007
God Hates the World (He Hates You!)
A musical message from Fred Phelps' congregation, via YouTube.
This would be simply stupid and comical if it weren't recognizably just an amplified form of the literal worship of hatred and sadism that has hijacked segments of most major religions. As Harold Bloom memorably put it in The American Religion, reading the words of certain fundamentalist religions makes you realize that their authors and adherents should never be left unattended with small children or helpless animals.
For a corrective, one might consider actually reading the Bible, rather than just waving it about like a mute leather-bound idol (to steal another memorable image from Bloom).
A musical message from Fred Phelps' congregation, via YouTube.
This would be simply stupid and comical if it weren't recognizably just an amplified form of the literal worship of hatred and sadism that has hijacked segments of most major religions. As Harold Bloom memorably put it in The American Religion, reading the words of certain fundamentalist religions makes you realize that their authors and adherents should never be left unattended with small children or helpless animals.
For a corrective, one might consider actually reading the Bible, rather than just waving it about like a mute leather-bound idol (to steal another memorable image from Bloom).
Silly rabbit. Civil liberties are for Republicans!
From the New York Times:
Larry Craig's Great Adventure: Suddenly, he's a civil libertarian
From the New York Times:
Larry Craig's Great Adventure: Suddenly, he's a civil libertarian
... After his arrest, Mr. Craig was called hypocritical for his longstanding opposition to gay rights in Congress. His legal defense, though, presents a different inconsistency. He joins a long list of conservatives who believe in a fair legal system only for themselves.....Just another variety of the IOKIYAR syndrome.
The American Civil Liberties Union has come to Mr. Craig’s defense. It says the law he was convicted under — criminalizing “offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous, or noisy conduct” that tends to “alarm, anger or disturb others” — is unconstitutionally vague, and makes a lot of perfectly harmless speech illegal. It’s right. If boisterous conduct that disturbs others is a crime in Minnesota, the state must be planning mass arrests of the speakers at the 2008 Republican National Convention, which is being held in Minneapolis-St. Paul....
Mr. Craig is hardly alone in deciding that he likes defendants’ rights after he became a defendant. Among law-and-order conservatives, it’s the norm. Oliver North got his Iran-contra convictions thrown out, with the A.C.L.U.’s help, on a relative technicality. This year, an official of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, James Tobin, got his conviction for jamming Democratic Party lines in New Hampshire on Election Day reversed on a fine point about what his “purpose” was....
Train runs through Bangkok market
This is bizarre. Or bazaar. At any rate, it puts a whole new intepretation on the phrase "urban mixed use".
(Note: link is to www.ifilm.com with embedded video clip.)
This is bizarre. Or bazaar. At any rate, it puts a whole new intepretation on the phrase "urban mixed use".
(Note: link is to www.ifilm.com with embedded video clip.)
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Update re. Blackwater USA massacre of civilians
The Independent, a UK newspaper, reports more details of the massacre, which US new outlets are apparently refusing to cover. The death toll is now apparently 28 and expected to rise further. Discussion rational and otherwise here.
Blackwater USA, of course, claims that they are blameless. A video of the incident reportedly says otherwise. But who are you going to believe? Right-wing militarist/theocrat Erik Prince and his corporate mercenaries, or your lying eyes?
Your tax dollars at work. "Why Do They Hate Us?"
The Independent, a UK newspaper, reports more details of the massacre, which US new outlets are apparently refusing to cover. The death toll is now apparently 28 and expected to rise further. Discussion rational and otherwise here.
Blackwater USA, of course, claims that they are blameless. A video of the incident reportedly says otherwise. But who are you going to believe? Right-wing militarist/theocrat Erik Prince and his corporate mercenaries, or your lying eyes?
Your tax dollars at work. "Why Do They Hate Us?"
Friday, September 21, 2007
No comment really necessary on this one
"God" responds to legislator's lawsuit (CNN)
The return fax number should have been no surprise. Any well-schooled Christian can tell you that God resides in the Body of Christ.
It is somewhat odd that the photograph of the legislator who filed the lawsuit appears to have a halo around his head.
"God" responds to legislator's lawsuit (CNN)
The return fax number should have been no surprise. Any well-schooled Christian can tell you that God resides in the Body of Christ.
It is somewhat odd that the photograph of the legislator who filed the lawsuit appears to have a halo around his head.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
All your ISBNs are belong to us
Ah, those Ivy League schools. They're so advanced. So far out in front of the rest of society, in research, in science, in intellectual resources.
And, it appears, in wildly ambitious interpretations of intellectual property. The Harvard Crimson reports that the campus co-op bookstore expels students who take notes and compare prices on textbooks. The bookstore claims that the ISBNs of the books on the shelves are its intellectual property.
Discussion, paranoid and otherwise, at Slashdot. I can't wait until car dealers follow suit and decide that the specifications of the cars on their lots are "intellectual property", and that their customers therefore are not allowed to take notes and compare prices at other dealerships.
Ah, those Ivy League schools. They're so advanced. So far out in front of the rest of society, in research, in science, in intellectual resources.
And, it appears, in wildly ambitious interpretations of intellectual property. The Harvard Crimson reports that the campus co-op bookstore expels students who take notes and compare prices on textbooks. The bookstore claims that the ISBNs of the books on the shelves are its intellectual property.
Discussion, paranoid and otherwise, at Slashdot. I can't wait until car dealers follow suit and decide that the specifications of the cars on their lots are "intellectual property", and that their customers therefore are not allowed to take notes and compare prices at other dealerships.
Uh-oh.
Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright (Telegraph.co.uk)
Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright (Telegraph.co.uk)
Saudi Arabia has refused to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time, signalling that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East....China threatens 'nuclear option' of dollar sales (Telegraph.co.uk)
Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress....
Yet another scam to be wary of?
Beware of e-mail scam offering to rescue friends.
Beware of e-mail scam offering to rescue friends.
... This new scam has seen bogus e-mails claiming that a common friend is attending a conference in Africa on "Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education". Then the person - whose e-mail account has been hacked - is portrayed as being stranded in Africa after forgetting in a taxi a "little bag" that contained "money, passport, documents and other valuables".
Friends who write back to the hijacked account are replied to and told to send the $3,500 urgently....
Run away from the scary brown people!
That's exactly what the Republican party seems to be doing, as evidenced by the reported refusal of all the major presidential candidates to appear at an upcoming nationally televised debate focusing on "minority issues".
No matter what one thinks of "racial politics", this seems like a bad strategy for a political party that wishes to remain relevant in a nation where the number of Hispanic, Asian, Indian, native-American, and African or African-American people in the population is increasing. Quoth Jack Kemp, the party's 1996 vice-presidential candidate: “What are we going to do, meet in a country club in the suburbs one day?”
Addendum: Discussion at DailyKos.
That's exactly what the Republican party seems to be doing, as evidenced by the reported refusal of all the major presidential candidates to appear at an upcoming nationally televised debate focusing on "minority issues".
No matter what one thinks of "racial politics", this seems like a bad strategy for a political party that wishes to remain relevant in a nation where the number of Hispanic, Asian, Indian, native-American, and African or African-American people in the population is increasing. Quoth Jack Kemp, the party's 1996 vice-presidential candidate: “What are we going to do, meet in a country club in the suburbs one day?”
Addendum: Discussion at DailyKos.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
WWGD: What Would Greenspan Do?
Apparently he wouldn't vote Republican. At least not for the current crop of R's.
Apparently he wouldn't vote Republican. At least not for the current crop of R's.
Robert Jordan
His demise is not exactly a surprise, since he announced in March of 2006 that he had been diagnosed with a deadly illness. Still, both he and his fans would certainly have hoped for more time to finish his epic "Wheel of Time" series. (Thanks to Fiend, who is much more in tune with the news of the day than I usually am, for initially mentioning it to me.)
His demise is not exactly a surprise, since he announced in March of 2006 that he had been diagnosed with a deadly illness. Still, both he and his fans would certainly have hoped for more time to finish his epic "Wheel of Time" series. (Thanks to Fiend, who is much more in tune with the news of the day than I usually am, for initially mentioning it to me.)
Especially for Carlos
... since he's looking for a place to live somewhere out in the burning deserts of the Southwest. How 'bout Arcosanti?
... since he's looking for a place to live somewhere out in the burning deserts of the Southwest. How 'bout Arcosanti?
Exactly as planned
There seems to be mass confusion about how Blackwater USA mercenaries, on the payroll of the US government, ended up shooting several Iraqi civilians in Baghdad recently. Eyewitnesses unconnected to Blackwater state that the mercenaries were not provoked. Or, possibly, that they panicked in response to a distant explosion. Or maybe they got cranky because of rush hour traffic. The official report states they were responding to small arms fire. Blackwater claims that in any case, the mercenaries' killing of eight civilians was lawful, and that they are immune from any and all legal consequences.
And you know what? They may be right.
Ain't it wonderful having a privately-owned and operated mercenary army that doesn't have to follow either US law, Iraqi law, or international law?
Blackwater USA is also aggressively seeking contracts to provide "homeland security" in the United States as well. And of course they're in line to cash in on the ever-profitable War On Drugs. Won't that be fun?
There seems to be mass confusion about how Blackwater USA mercenaries, on the payroll of the US government, ended up shooting several Iraqi civilians in Baghdad recently. Eyewitnesses unconnected to Blackwater state that the mercenaries were not provoked. Or, possibly, that they panicked in response to a distant explosion. Or maybe they got cranky because of rush hour traffic. The official report states they were responding to small arms fire. Blackwater claims that in any case, the mercenaries' killing of eight civilians was lawful, and that they are immune from any and all legal consequences.
And you know what? They may be right.
Ain't it wonderful having a privately-owned and operated mercenary army that doesn't have to follow either US law, Iraqi law, or international law?
Blackwater USA is also aggressively seeking contracts to provide "homeland security" in the United States as well. And of course they're in line to cash in on the ever-profitable War On Drugs. Won't that be fun?
Especially for Pablo
Vampire Population Ecology: a statistical analysis of the vampire population dynamics of Sunnyvale, California.
Vampire Population Ecology: a statistical analysis of the vampire population dynamics of Sunnyvale, California.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Some good news
The blogger known as Riverbend reports that she and her family have escaped the war-torn wreckage of her native country and taken refuge in a less-chaotic country.
The blogger known as Riverbend reports that she and her family have escaped the war-torn wreckage of her native country and taken refuge in a less-chaotic country.
Casualties
Two of the US soldiers who wrote this editorial describing their experiences on the ground in Iraq and criticizing the war are reported killed. A third of the group was recently reported injured. Stories here, here, here.
It's tough being a soldier. A real soldier, that is, as opposed to a chickenhawk.
Two of the US soldiers who wrote this editorial describing their experiences on the ground in Iraq and criticizing the war are reported killed. A third of the group was recently reported injured. Stories here, here, here.
It's tough being a soldier. A real soldier, that is, as opposed to a chickenhawk.
Logic, Republican style
From today's front-page editorial at www.redstate.org, a refreshingly honest call-to-brutality by one pseudonymous "Frank J.", who has somehow neglected to sign up for the war that he so eagerly demands that *other* people fight for his satisfaction:
Disgusting. And no, I'm not going to give him a link.
From today's front-page editorial at www.redstate.org, a refreshingly honest call-to-brutality by one pseudonymous "Frank J.", who has somehow neglected to sign up for the war that he so eagerly demands that *other* people fight for his satisfaction:
When someone tells you we should bring the troops back, ask him who does he think will then kill the terrorists. When he inevitably gives you a dumb answer, punch him in the face....Republican "logic": bully and physically attack anyone who deigns to disagree with Der Fuhrer, just like Nazis always do when confronted by the unacceptable presence of free men who think for themselves. Devoid of facts and logic, Republicans now have nothing but explicit brownshirt threats to fall back on. But, like the cowardly author of this call-to-thuggishness, only in the safety of a mob of like-minded bullies, in a "safe space" like RedState where dissent from the party line is banned.
Disgusting. And no, I'm not going to give him a link.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
"The creatures looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
An Opportunity for Wall St. in China’s Surveillance Boom (NY Times)
Go on, tell me again how capitalism and communism are opposites.
An Opportunity for Wall St. in China’s Surveillance Boom (NY Times)
Go on, tell me again how capitalism and communism are opposites.
Administrative ignorance, part whatevereth
From the Times of London:
From the Times of London:
Biblical error costs Church £½mIn all fairness, though, this is preferable to the clueless managers simply tossing them in the rubbish skip. (That's British for "dumpster".) At least they made some effort to keep the books in existence, if not necessarily available to the world at large.
An historic collection of religious books whose sale for £36,000 was approved last year by a Church of England diocese has been sold on by a book dealer for more than £500,000....
“Those on the management committee had no idea of the value of the material they were dealing with. The decision was made in principle that the pre1800 collection be disposed of simply because in the past ten years no one had inquired about any book in it at all. Therefore, the library management committee felt that the space was being taken up in a way that was not productive....
Monday, September 10, 2007
News noted
Updates to some railroad-related news I've blathered about.
The Texas State Railroad, saved from drowning, has been contracted out to a private operator.
The mighty Canadian Pacific merges its way into the Powder River Basin coalfield by taking over the persistent little Dakota Minnesota & Eastern, which had gotten regulatory permission to extend its South Dakota trackage into the Powder River Basin but up till now couldn't come up with the capital to do so. CP also acquires a route into Kansas City as part of the bargain. (Map of combined systems here.) UP and BNSF are predictably unhappy with the prospect of a third competitor horning in on their very profitable coal traffic. They're reportedly planning to sue to stop the merger, thereby diverting a substantial amount of all three railroads' revenues into the pockets of lawyers for the foreseeable future.
Updates to some railroad-related news I've blathered about.
The Texas State Railroad, saved from drowning, has been contracted out to a private operator.
The mighty Canadian Pacific merges its way into the Powder River Basin coalfield by taking over the persistent little Dakota Minnesota & Eastern, which had gotten regulatory permission to extend its South Dakota trackage into the Powder River Basin but up till now couldn't come up with the capital to do so. CP also acquires a route into Kansas City as part of the bargain. (Map of combined systems here.) UP and BNSF are predictably unhappy with the prospect of a third competitor horning in on their very profitable coal traffic. They're reportedly planning to sue to stop the merger, thereby diverting a substantial amount of all three railroads' revenues into the pockets of lawyers for the foreseeable future.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Of publishers and rejection letters
The diary of Anne Frank:
The diary of Anne Frank:
The work was “very dull,” the reader insisted, “a dreary record of typical family bickering, petty annoyances and adolescent emotions.”Animal Farm:
“impossible to sell animal stories in the U.S.A.”Just two of the enlightening comments dredged out of the rejection letters of the Alfred E. Knopf publishing company, as described here in the New York Times. It's worth noting that Knopf has generally been regarded as one of the more intellectually enlightened publishing houses.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Madeleine L'Engle
Gone at age 89. PW has a very brief obit.
A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and her other popular and award-winning books continue on. At least until the next library-weeding project.
Gone at age 89. PW has a very brief obit.
A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and her other popular and award-winning books continue on. At least until the next library-weeding project.
Random linkyness
StarTrek and Simpsons musical mashup on YouTube. (From the Stilyagi list.)
From the Chronicle of Higher Ed, the ever-interesting Writer Formerly Known as Thomas H. Benton pulls back the curtain on the eternally-recurring propaganda that this, that, or another profession is expecting an imminent "labor shortage".
Fantasy and sf writer Jeff Vandermeer opines about Margaret Atwood's remote book-signing device. I'm tempted to say that any writer who, like Ms. Atwood, is capable of creating, using and popularizing such a device clearly has an aptitude for science fiction. But of course Ms. Atwood's novels about future societies, genetic engineering, etc., are famously Not Science Fiction.
Speaking of genre fiction and its enemies, Ursula K. Leguin's short essay On Serious Literature (aka Return of the Genre-Zombie) should be required reading for anyone involved in writing, editing, buying or selling fiction in any form. (Tagline : "It rose from its shallow grave to haunt the critics!")
StarTrek and Simpsons musical mashup on YouTube. (From the Stilyagi list.)
From the Chronicle of Higher Ed, the ever-interesting Writer Formerly Known as Thomas H. Benton pulls back the curtain on the eternally-recurring propaganda that this, that, or another profession is expecting an imminent "labor shortage".
Am I wrong to think the annual labor shortage claims do the work of business in creating a surplus army of the unemployed who can drive down wages in fields in which they might otherwise be rising? It seems that during a labor shortage rising wages result in downsizing, offshoring, and other forms of restructuring. As the newly trained workers arrive in droves a few years later, most of the high-wage workers can be dismissed, and the newcomers can be made part-timers with no benefits until the cycle begins again....Also from the Chronicle, a discussion of the ethics of selling those review copies and "complimentary desk copies" with which publishers deluge academics in the hopes that the latter will assign their books as textbooks, thus forcing dozens or hundreds of impoverished students to buy them at the publisher's exorbitant retail prices.
Fantasy and sf writer Jeff Vandermeer opines about Margaret Atwood's remote book-signing device. I'm tempted to say that any writer who, like Ms. Atwood, is capable of creating, using and popularizing such a device clearly has an aptitude for science fiction. But of course Ms. Atwood's novels about future societies, genetic engineering, etc., are famously Not Science Fiction.
Speaking of genre fiction and its enemies, Ursula K. Leguin's short essay On Serious Literature (aka Return of the Genre-Zombie) should be required reading for anyone involved in writing, editing, buying or selling fiction in any form. (Tagline : "It rose from its shallow grave to haunt the critics!")
Belated poetry Thursday
Yesterday's selection for Apartment Carpet's Poetry Thursday reminded me of another poem that deconstructs the tradional sonnet:
Yesterday's selection for Apartment Carpet's Poetry Thursday reminded me of another poem that deconstructs the tradional sonnet:
Sonnet Reversed
Rupert Brooke (1887-1915)
Hand trembling towards hand; the amazing lights
Of heart and eye. They stood on supreme heights.
Ah, the delirious weeks of honeymoon!
Soon they returned, and, after strange adventures,
Settled at Balham by the end of June.
Their money was in Can. Pacs. B. Debentures,
And in Antofagastas. Still he went
Cityward daily; still she did abide
At home. And both were really quite content
With work and social pleasures. Then they died.
They left three children (besides George, who drank):
The eldest Jane, who married Mr Bell,
William, the head-clerk in the County Bank,
And Henry, a stock-broker, doing well.
A Tale of Two Auctions, or, The $500,000 Bottle of Beer.
Auction Number One can be found here. It sold for $304 dollars. The buyer then turned around, did more research, wrote a nearly dissertation-length description of the item and its historical significance, and offered it up in Autcion Number Two, with no reserve. The final sale price: a cool half-million.
What is this improbably pricy item? An old bottle of beer. But not just any old bottle of beer. To begin with, it's reportedly the world's oldest known intact, sealed bottle of beer. Still not impressed? How 'bout the fact that it's part of a special, freeze-resistant batch of beer that was brewed to order for a mid-19th century arctic expedition, and that its provenance and history are exhaustively detailed in a hand-written, 100-year-old note attached to the bottle? (Note: In the absence of any contrary revelations, I am presuming the authenticity of the bottle, because I presume that anyone willing to buy or sell an object for $500,000 is going to have it examined in minute detail by well-qualified experts.)
Certain web-commentators have mocked the first seller for not getting the full value of his find. But I'll speak up in his defense. I don't know how he acquired it, but it seems likely he got it cheap. Possibly he inherited it (in which case one can't help but wish that the heirs of Mr. Bolster, who wrote the charmingly erudite note that accompanies the bottle, had profited more from their ancestor's good taste.) Or perhaps he picked it up cheap at an auction, fleamarket, or estate sale where no one else recognized its value, in which case the heirs who let it slip through their fingers have only themselves to blame!. But in any case, if the first seller hadn't realized that the bottle had some historical significance, for all we know it might have ended up in a dumpster. He knew it was worth something, even if he didn't know exactly what it was worth. And without that recognition, a unique artifact might have been entirely lost.
On the other hand, if he was selling it on commission for somebody else, he has some 'splainin' to do.
Auction Number One can be found here. It sold for $304 dollars. The buyer then turned around, did more research, wrote a nearly dissertation-length description of the item and its historical significance, and offered it up in Autcion Number Two, with no reserve. The final sale price: a cool half-million.
What is this improbably pricy item? An old bottle of beer. But not just any old bottle of beer. To begin with, it's reportedly the world's oldest known intact, sealed bottle of beer. Still not impressed? How 'bout the fact that it's part of a special, freeze-resistant batch of beer that was brewed to order for a mid-19th century arctic expedition, and that its provenance and history are exhaustively detailed in a hand-written, 100-year-old note attached to the bottle? (Note: In the absence of any contrary revelations, I am presuming the authenticity of the bottle, because I presume that anyone willing to buy or sell an object for $500,000 is going to have it examined in minute detail by well-qualified experts.)
Certain web-commentators have mocked the first seller for not getting the full value of his find. But I'll speak up in his defense. I don't know how he acquired it, but it seems likely he got it cheap. Possibly he inherited it (in which case one can't help but wish that the heirs of Mr. Bolster, who wrote the charmingly erudite note that accompanies the bottle, had profited more from their ancestor's good taste.) Or perhaps he picked it up cheap at an auction, fleamarket, or estate sale where no one else recognized its value, in which case the heirs who let it slip through their fingers have only themselves to blame!. But in any case, if the first seller hadn't realized that the bottle had some historical significance, for all we know it might have ended up in a dumpster. He knew it was worth something, even if he didn't know exactly what it was worth. And without that recognition, a unique artifact might have been entirely lost.
On the other hand, if he was selling it on commission for somebody else, he has some 'splainin' to do.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Priorities
While the American news media go into paroxyms of ecstatic glee over this week's Republican sex scandal and the shocking (shocking!) news that a Hollywood celebrity is self-destructive, the BBC reports that the Bush Administration continues to ramp up the saber-rattling war rhetoric toward Iran.
While the American news media go into paroxyms of ecstatic glee over this week's Republican sex scandal and the shocking (shocking!) news that a Hollywood celebrity is self-destructive, the BBC reports that the Bush Administration continues to ramp up the saber-rattling war rhetoric toward Iran.
"I have authorised our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities," he said.To the Bush Administration, disastrous wars in the Middle East are just like peanuts. Betcha can't eat just one. (And besides, they're so profitable! Especially when it's so easy to offload the costs onto somebody else.)
The BBC's Justin Webb, in Washington, says this looks like a conscious effort by the White House to elevate the tension between Washington and Tehran to a new level.
Such an effort might be designed to avoid the need for armed conflict or might equally be an effort to bring that conflict about, our correspondent says.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Recent reads
Shrub, by Molly Ivins. If more people had paid attention to Ms. Ivin's wryly-funny-but-dead-serious dismemberment of George W. Bush's erratic track record before the 2000 election, we might not have ended up in the mess we're in. She is sorely missed, but Jim Hightower, Bill Moyers, and other carry on in their own styles.
Shrub, by Molly Ivins. If more people had paid attention to Ms. Ivin's wryly-funny-but-dead-serious dismemberment of George W. Bush's erratic track record before the 2000 election, we might not have ended up in the mess we're in. She is sorely missed, but Jim Hightower, Bill Moyers, and other carry on in their own styles.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Friday Bad-News Dump
From the Associated Press, by way of that notorious vehicle for liberal political propaganda, Forbes magazine, comes this account of harassment, intimidation, imprisonment and torture of American military personnel.... by the U.S. military.
Their crime? Trying to report and stop the black-market sale of US-supplied weapons to the Iraqi insurgents, who then use them to kill US troops. That's right. The US military, at the behest of the Bush Administration, is imprisoning and torturing US military personnel in order to protect Al Qaeda's black-market weapons sources.
Cui bono? Who benefits from pumping up the level of violence in Iraq, so that a stable government cannot be formed in the absence of the mailed fist of US troops? And who recieves the lucrative payoffs, not to mention the $8.8 billion in US funds that has inexplicably disappeared into someone's pockets en route to the so-called Iraq reconstruction effort?
Further discussion, along with further information about the utter corruption of the Bush Administration's war racket, available here and, no doubt, elsewhere.
From the Associated Press, by way of that notorious vehicle for liberal political propaganda, Forbes magazine, comes this account of harassment, intimidation, imprisonment and torture of American military personnel.... by the U.S. military.
Their crime? Trying to report and stop the black-market sale of US-supplied weapons to the Iraqi insurgents, who then use them to kill US troops. That's right. The US military, at the behest of the Bush Administration, is imprisoning and torturing US military personnel in order to protect Al Qaeda's black-market weapons sources.
Cui bono? Who benefits from pumping up the level of violence in Iraq, so that a stable government cannot be formed in the absence of the mailed fist of US troops? And who recieves the lucrative payoffs, not to mention the $8.8 billion in US funds that has inexplicably disappeared into someone's pockets en route to the so-called Iraq reconstruction effort?
Further discussion, along with further information about the utter corruption of the Bush Administration's war racket, available here and, no doubt, elsewhere.
Belated Poetry Thursday
An old friend posted a discussion about outlining fiction to her weblog last week, prompting thoughts of Robert Graves' immortal poem:
The Devil's Advice to Story-Tellers
Lest men suspect your tale to be untrue,
Keep probability—some say—in view.
But my advice to story-tellers is:
Weigh out no gross of probabilities,
Nor yet make diligent transcriptions of
Known instances of virtue, crime or love.
To forge a picture that will pass for true,
Do conscientiously what liars do—
Born liars, not the lesser sort that raid
The mouths of others for their stock-in-trade:
Assemble, first, all casual bits and scraps
That may shake down into a world perhaps;
People this world, by chance created so,
With random persons whom you do not know—
The teashop sort, or travelers in a train
Seen once, guessed idly at, not seen again;
Let the erratic course they steer surprise
Their own and your own and your readers' eyes;
Sigh then, or frown, but leave (as in despair)
Motive and end and moral in the air;
Nice contradiction between fact and fact
Will make the whole read human and exact.
--Robert Graves, Collected Poems, 1975
An old friend posted a discussion about outlining fiction to her weblog last week, prompting thoughts of Robert Graves' immortal poem:
The Devil's Advice to Story-Tellers
Lest men suspect your tale to be untrue,
Keep probability—some say—in view.
But my advice to story-tellers is:
Weigh out no gross of probabilities,
Nor yet make diligent transcriptions of
Known instances of virtue, crime or love.
To forge a picture that will pass for true,
Do conscientiously what liars do—
Born liars, not the lesser sort that raid
The mouths of others for their stock-in-trade:
Assemble, first, all casual bits and scraps
That may shake down into a world perhaps;
People this world, by chance created so,
With random persons whom you do not know—
The teashop sort, or travelers in a train
Seen once, guessed idly at, not seen again;
Let the erratic course they steer surprise
Their own and your own and your readers' eyes;
Sigh then, or frown, but leave (as in despair)
Motive and end and moral in the air;
Nice contradiction between fact and fact
Will make the whole read human and exact.
--Robert Graves, Collected Poems, 1975
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Secrets of the British Library
After reading this article, I'm prepared to believe that the British Library might really have giant secret vaults like the ones shown in Read Or Die.
And what kind of classification scheme assigns items to the "Cupboard" collection?
After reading this article, I'm prepared to believe that the British Library might really have giant secret vaults like the ones shown in Read Or Die.
And what kind of classification scheme assigns items to the "Cupboard" collection?
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Recent viewings
The Cold Equations (1996). This television adaptation of Tom Godwin's well-known and controversial short story is competently produced on a low budget. Unfortunately, the scriptwriter has overlaid Godwin's starkly simple plot with a framing story about a court-martial, a pennypinching corporate government, and labor issues. This has the unfortunate effect of reducing Godwin's short story, which in its original form is as terse and compact as a diamond, into a kind of extended flashback sequence supporting the scriptwriter's story.
The problem is understandable. The short story, strictly adapted, would barely stretch to make an hour-long television show. In fact, IMDB and Wikipedia indicate that the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone did just that. Perhaps the makers of this extended version would have been well advised to let the Twilight Zone version of the story be the final and definitive audio-visual adaptation. Unfortunately, neither Netflix nor any local library deign to acknowledge the third season of the 1985-1988 revival of The Twilight Zone, so the question will remain forever a mystery to me.
The Cold Equations (1996). This television adaptation of Tom Godwin's well-known and controversial short story is competently produced on a low budget. Unfortunately, the scriptwriter has overlaid Godwin's starkly simple plot with a framing story about a court-martial, a pennypinching corporate government, and labor issues. This has the unfortunate effect of reducing Godwin's short story, which in its original form is as terse and compact as a diamond, into a kind of extended flashback sequence supporting the scriptwriter's story.
The problem is understandable. The short story, strictly adapted, would barely stretch to make an hour-long television show. In fact, IMDB and Wikipedia indicate that the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone did just that. Perhaps the makers of this extended version would have been well advised to let the Twilight Zone version of the story be the final and definitive audio-visual adaptation. Unfortunately, neither Netflix nor any local library deign to acknowledge the third season of the 1985-1988 revival of The Twilight Zone, so the question will remain forever a mystery to me.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Recent reads
Son of Man, by Robert Silverberg. I actually only skimmed this one after the first few pages, in which the hero, without any obvious explanation, suddenly wakes up in some kind of future world inhabited by utopian, pansexual, polymorphously shapeshifting descendants of humanity and begins exploring all its weird possibilities. It's far off the mark of SilverBob's best work, in my judgement. But then again I've never been a fan of most of the trippy so-called "New Wave" of science fiction that came out in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In throwing off the the rational rules of hard SF as well as the restrictions of realistic or historically-inspired fiction, it seems to me that it leaves the reader with no objective reference point from which to understand the story. At its best, it could be invigoratingly experimental, but at its worst, much of the "New Wave" simply collapsed into purely subjective authorial self-indulgence.
Sailing to Byzantium, another story by Silverberg which addresses a similar theme, strikes me as a far superior work. Perhaps this is because the far-future humanoids in that story, by re-creating historical settings for their decadence, also give the reader a more congenial frame of reference.
Son of Man, by Robert Silverberg. I actually only skimmed this one after the first few pages, in which the hero, without any obvious explanation, suddenly wakes up in some kind of future world inhabited by utopian, pansexual, polymorphously shapeshifting descendants of humanity and begins exploring all its weird possibilities. It's far off the mark of SilverBob's best work, in my judgement. But then again I've never been a fan of most of the trippy so-called "New Wave" of science fiction that came out in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In throwing off the the rational rules of hard SF as well as the restrictions of realistic or historically-inspired fiction, it seems to me that it leaves the reader with no objective reference point from which to understand the story. At its best, it could be invigoratingly experimental, but at its worst, much of the "New Wave" simply collapsed into purely subjective authorial self-indulgence.
Sailing to Byzantium, another story by Silverberg which addresses a similar theme, strikes me as a far superior work. Perhaps this is because the far-future humanoids in that story, by re-creating historical settings for their decadence, also give the reader a more congenial frame of reference.
Recent viewings in brief
The Saint (1997). Val Kilmer and Elisabeth Shue are attractive and appealing actors in this adaptation of the 1960s television series and the long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris. Unfortunately, that can't save the movie from being slow-moving and ultimately uninvolving. It goes something like this: Dickensian prequel to explain and excuse the hero's behavior. Cold fusion mumbo-jumbo, talktalktalk, pretty people tumbling into bed, more cold fusion mumbo-jumbo, talktalktalk, ugly people shooting at the pretty people. Deathtraps. Exploding cars. Startling last-minute revelations. Meh.
Jason and the Argonauts (2000). Ugh. Pretty people and pretty scenery, but I stopped watching it when it became clear that not only was the acting inept, the actors had not even been coached to pronounce the name of the goddess Hera consistently, let alone correctly. You say Heh-ra, I say Hay-ra, let's turn the movie off.
The Saint (1997). Val Kilmer and Elisabeth Shue are attractive and appealing actors in this adaptation of the 1960s television series and the long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris. Unfortunately, that can't save the movie from being slow-moving and ultimately uninvolving. It goes something like this: Dickensian prequel to explain and excuse the hero's behavior. Cold fusion mumbo-jumbo, talktalktalk, pretty people tumbling into bed, more cold fusion mumbo-jumbo, talktalktalk, ugly people shooting at the pretty people. Deathtraps. Exploding cars. Startling last-minute revelations. Meh.
Jason and the Argonauts (2000). Ugh. Pretty people and pretty scenery, but I stopped watching it when it became clear that not only was the acting inept, the actors had not even been coached to pronounce the name of the goddess Hera consistently, let alone correctly. You say Heh-ra, I say Hay-ra, let's turn the movie off.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Are bears carnivorous?
It appears the art of satirical commentary is still known to ursine collegians in central Texas.
It appears the art of satirical commentary is still known to ursine collegians in central Texas.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Humans vs. computers
Huzzah for Netflix and their radical idea of having real live human beings in the United States answer their customer-service phones. Hopefully this will help counter the unpleasant effects of Blockbuster's belated but hefty entry into their market.
Huzzah for Netflix and their radical idea of having real live human beings in the United States answer their customer-service phones. Hopefully this will help counter the unpleasant effects of Blockbuster's belated but hefty entry into their market.
The end of an era
The Poe Toaster is no longer a mystery.
I still don't know who beat me to W.C. Brann's grave on the 100th anniversary of his death and decorated it with white flowers before I could offer his restless shade a small toast and a 100-proof libation, though.
The Poe Toaster is no longer a mystery.
I still don't know who beat me to W.C. Brann's grave on the 100th anniversary of his death and decorated it with white flowers before I could offer his restless shade a small toast and a 100-proof libation, though.
Sometimes things are not what they seem
Customers in an Australian bookstore noticed a man who came into the store and started acting strangely, taking books off the shelf and scribbling in them. Obviously a vandal! Or possibly just a poor fellow whose mind was missing a few staybolts.
Or maybe not....
Customers in an Australian bookstore noticed a man who came into the store and started acting strangely, taking books off the shelf and scribbling in them. Obviously a vandal! Or possibly just a poor fellow whose mind was missing a few staybolts.
Or maybe not....
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Recent reads
Bizenghast, Vol. 1 and 2, by Alice LeGrow. This rather frilly little piece of Goth-manga first attracted my attention because of its title, which sounds like an allusion to the towering literary edifice of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books, and the attractively surreal cover art.
The storyline is okay. Dinah, an orphaned girl with a fondness for elaborate dresses replete with a mixture of Victorian and modern ornamentation, is troubled by dreams of ghosts which bring on "fits" of near-insanity. She lives with her aunt in a dilapidated former asylum and home for "troubled children" in the mysterious New England town of Bizenghast. Occasional news clippings inserted into the story suggest that Bizenghast is the locus of many weird happenings. Most notably, its local records indicate far more deaths than its cemetaries account for. Dinah's best and, apparently, only friend is a teenage boy, Vincent, who seems to live a curiously unsupervised life.
While exploring in the woods near town, Dinah and Vincent find a strange structure and graveyard. For reasons not clearly understood by me, it seems that Dinah is been drafted, somewhat unwillingly, into becoming the human agent assigned to help troubled spirits trapped in this Mausoleum find their way -- willingly or unwillingly -- to their final fate.
There's a good deal of visual creativity on display here, not only in the arrestingly odd creatures that Our Heroes meet in fulfilling their tasks, but in the perpetually-changing clothes and hairstyles of the two principals. Indeed, it sometimes seems that displaying these is the whole point of the exercise. The tasks assigned to the principals, and the rules governing the Mausoleum and their interactions with it, seem to be, in typical anime/manga style, rather contrived intellectual constructs that exist mainly to give the characters something to do while looking attractive.
Fortunately, most of the plot contrivances are worked out in clever or humorous ways, and the artwork, and, yes, even the costume designs, are consistently appealing. An appendix to the second volume confirms that the author is, indeed, a cosplayer and an accomplished seamstress whose graphic art and seamstress work frequently cross-fertilize each other. Her webpage at DeviantArt contains examples of both, as well as a clue that the Gormenghastly allusion in her title is no coincidence. (It troubles me only slightly that some of the artwork on offer is rather cute-ishly morbid, and that certain commenters on Wikipedia have dubbed her main female character's style of clothing as "Gothic Lolita", or Loli-Goth for short.)
Bizenghast, Vol. 1 and 2, by Alice LeGrow. This rather frilly little piece of Goth-manga first attracted my attention because of its title, which sounds like an allusion to the towering literary edifice of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books, and the attractively surreal cover art.
The storyline is okay. Dinah, an orphaned girl with a fondness for elaborate dresses replete with a mixture of Victorian and modern ornamentation, is troubled by dreams of ghosts which bring on "fits" of near-insanity. She lives with her aunt in a dilapidated former asylum and home for "troubled children" in the mysterious New England town of Bizenghast. Occasional news clippings inserted into the story suggest that Bizenghast is the locus of many weird happenings. Most notably, its local records indicate far more deaths than its cemetaries account for. Dinah's best and, apparently, only friend is a teenage boy, Vincent, who seems to live a curiously unsupervised life.
While exploring in the woods near town, Dinah and Vincent find a strange structure and graveyard. For reasons not clearly understood by me, it seems that Dinah is been drafted, somewhat unwillingly, into becoming the human agent assigned to help troubled spirits trapped in this Mausoleum find their way -- willingly or unwillingly -- to their final fate.
There's a good deal of visual creativity on display here, not only in the arrestingly odd creatures that Our Heroes meet in fulfilling their tasks, but in the perpetually-changing clothes and hairstyles of the two principals. Indeed, it sometimes seems that displaying these is the whole point of the exercise. The tasks assigned to the principals, and the rules governing the Mausoleum and their interactions with it, seem to be, in typical anime/manga style, rather contrived intellectual constructs that exist mainly to give the characters something to do while looking attractive.
Fortunately, most of the plot contrivances are worked out in clever or humorous ways, and the artwork, and, yes, even the costume designs, are consistently appealing. An appendix to the second volume confirms that the author is, indeed, a cosplayer and an accomplished seamstress whose graphic art and seamstress work frequently cross-fertilize each other. Her webpage at DeviantArt contains examples of both, as well as a clue that the Gormenghastly allusion in her title is no coincidence. (It troubles me only slightly that some of the artwork on offer is rather cute-ishly morbid, and that certain commenters on Wikipedia have dubbed her main female character's style of clothing as "Gothic Lolita", or Loli-Goth for short.)
Libel tourism and free speech
There's an interesting situation brewing over in the UK at the august offices of stodgy old Cambridge University Press.
The rest of the story, from YahooNews. (Other news stories.)
There's an interesting situation brewing over in the UK at the august offices of stodgy old Cambridge University Press.
The rest of the story, from YahooNews. (Other news stories.)
And the drumbeat goes on
As part of its continuing drumbeat for more war in the Middle East, the Bush Administration reportedly plans to designate Iran's so-called Revolutionary Guard, a significant part of its official, uniformed army, as a "terrorist organization". Intelligent minds over at DailyKos wonder whether, given the Bush Administration's track record of asserting unlimited "unitary executive" power over anything labelled "terrorist", this might be a prelude to launching Dick Cheney's longed-for invasion of Iran without seeking a Congressional declaration of war, as demanded by the Constitution, or even the kind of limp-wristed abdication of war-making authority that it bleated out in response to the Administration's 2003 demand to invade Iraq as a "response" to an attack masterminded by a Saudi Arabian radical holed up in Afghanistan.
One need not be a fan of the bigoted and obnoxious government of Iran to see this as troubling and potentially disastrous. Unfortunately, the Democratic leaders of the Congress, elected by the people on a wave of anti-war feeling, have foolishly abdicated their constitutional authority over this strutting popinjay of a Presidency and gone on vacation, trusting the Bush administration to behave itself in their absence. This is something like trusting a hyperactive toddler to look after himself for a few weeks in a warehouse full of nitroglycerine.
As part of its continuing drumbeat for more war in the Middle East, the Bush Administration reportedly plans to designate Iran's so-called Revolutionary Guard, a significant part of its official, uniformed army, as a "terrorist organization". Intelligent minds over at DailyKos wonder whether, given the Bush Administration's track record of asserting unlimited "unitary executive" power over anything labelled "terrorist", this might be a prelude to launching Dick Cheney's longed-for invasion of Iran without seeking a Congressional declaration of war, as demanded by the Constitution, or even the kind of limp-wristed abdication of war-making authority that it bleated out in response to the Administration's 2003 demand to invade Iraq as a "response" to an attack masterminded by a Saudi Arabian radical holed up in Afghanistan.
One need not be a fan of the bigoted and obnoxious government of Iran to see this as troubling and potentially disastrous. Unfortunately, the Democratic leaders of the Congress, elected by the people on a wave of anti-war feeling, have foolishly abdicated their constitutional authority over this strutting popinjay of a Presidency and gone on vacation, trusting the Bush administration to behave itself in their absence. This is something like trusting a hyperactive toddler to look after himself for a few weeks in a warehouse full of nitroglycerine.
Monday, August 13, 2007
All your colors are belong to us, part III
About a year ago I noted that universities were claiming to "own" certain color combinations and seeking to prohibit non-licenced retailers from producing clothing or other products in those colors.
Now it seems that Scotts Miracle-Gro Inc., a $2.2 billion giant that dominates its market, has asserted ownership of the colors green and yellow. They're suing Terracycle, a relatively miniscule producer of organic fertilizer derived from earthworm excrement. The suit also seeks to prohibit TerraCycle from stating that its products are superior to "leading synthetic fertilizers" in various ways.
Is this a developing legal trend, or are corporate claims to "own" colors, per se, an established part of the legal world?
About a year ago I noted that universities were claiming to "own" certain color combinations and seeking to prohibit non-licenced retailers from producing clothing or other products in those colors.
Now it seems that Scotts Miracle-Gro Inc., a $2.2 billion giant that dominates its market, has asserted ownership of the colors green and yellow. They're suing Terracycle, a relatively miniscule producer of organic fertilizer derived from earthworm excrement. The suit also seeks to prohibit TerraCycle from stating that its products are superior to "leading synthetic fertilizers" in various ways.
Is this a developing legal trend, or are corporate claims to "own" colors, per se, an established part of the legal world?
Recent reads
The Rise of the Counter-Establishment : from conservative ideology fo political power, by Sidney Blumenthal. In this 1986 book, political analyst Blumenthal argues that the post-Goldwater conservative movement defines itself, not, like most historical conservative political parties, as the defender of an existing status quo, but as a persecuted, outsider movement which exists in order to oppose a perceived "liberal" establishment.
This may seem self-evident to a good many political observers, but even so it remains a useful frame for understanding the dynamics of politics today. Unfortunately, the conservative movement has remained stuck in this attitude of defensive counter-establishmentatianism, even after gaining political ascendancy in all three branches of the government. The same old defensive self-definition as persecuted victim can be seen in a good many present-day antics of the conservative "counter-establishment", most notably Fox News' absurdly hyperbolic screeching about such things as a nonexistent "war on Christmas".
Blumenthal analyzes in detail how the conservatives of the 1970s and 1980s went about creating a counter-establishment movement. Think tanks and networking organizations like the American Enterprise Institute figure prominently in his account, and indeed they have continued to be significant parts of conservative politics since the book appeared.
Republicans, as the chosen standard-bearers for the conservative movement, have been successful at using the counter-establishment frame to motivate voters and gain political power. Unfortunately, as this insightful article from The Economist points out, their movement has proven less competent at wielding the power of the political establishment effectively than at railing against it from the position of a self-defined outsider.
The Rise of the Counter-Establishment : from conservative ideology fo political power, by Sidney Blumenthal. In this 1986 book, political analyst Blumenthal argues that the post-Goldwater conservative movement defines itself, not, like most historical conservative political parties, as the defender of an existing status quo, but as a persecuted, outsider movement which exists in order to oppose a perceived "liberal" establishment.
This may seem self-evident to a good many political observers, but even so it remains a useful frame for understanding the dynamics of politics today. Unfortunately, the conservative movement has remained stuck in this attitude of defensive counter-establishmentatianism, even after gaining political ascendancy in all three branches of the government. The same old defensive self-definition as persecuted victim can be seen in a good many present-day antics of the conservative "counter-establishment", most notably Fox News' absurdly hyperbolic screeching about such things as a nonexistent "war on Christmas".
Blumenthal analyzes in detail how the conservatives of the 1970s and 1980s went about creating a counter-establishment movement. Think tanks and networking organizations like the American Enterprise Institute figure prominently in his account, and indeed they have continued to be significant parts of conservative politics since the book appeared.
Republicans, as the chosen standard-bearers for the conservative movement, have been successful at using the counter-establishment frame to motivate voters and gain political power. Unfortunately, as this insightful article from The Economist points out, their movement has proven less competent at wielding the power of the political establishment effectively than at railing against it from the position of a self-defined outsider.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Conservatives advocate "another 9/11"
From the editorial page of the Philadelphia Daily News:
Cui bono, indeed.
(Link found via ThinkProgress and Eschaton)
From the editorial page of the Philadelphia Daily News:
America's fabric is pulling apart like a cheap sweater.If another terrorist attack does take place, remember who advocated it. Remember who egged it on, and helpfully suggested specific targets. Remember who proudly proclaimed -- again -- that their political faction benefits from the slaughter of American citizens, and that government should "let it be" in order to quell the "chattering of chipmunks"... i.e., the working of democratic government.
What would sew us back together?
Another 9/11 attack.
The Golden Gate Bridge. Mount Rushmore. Chicago's Wrigley Field. The Philadelphia subway system. The U.S. is a target-rich environment for al Qaeda.
Is there any doubt they are planning to hit us again?
If it is to be, then let it be. It will take another attack on the homeland to quell the chattering of chipmunks and to restore America's righteous rage and singular purpose to prevail.
Cui bono, indeed.
(Link found via ThinkProgress and Eschaton)
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Killing for Jesus
More[DailyKos] on the ludicrous "Left Behind" videogame. Which is now, in a masterstroke of middle-Eastern diplomacy, apparently being distributed to our troops in Iraq for their entertainment and edification. With helpful accompanying written material in English and Arabic, no less.
From The Nation:
Pretty successful, perhaps, if your goal is convince Muslims that the United States is, in fact, the Great Satan and their only choice is to kill or be killed.
More[DailyKos] on the ludicrous "Left Behind" videogame. Which is now, in a masterstroke of middle-Eastern diplomacy, apparently being distributed to our troops in Iraq for their entertainment and edification. With helpful accompanying written material in English and Arabic, no less.
From The Nation:
With the endorsement of the Defense Department, OSU is mailing "Freedom Packages" to soldiers serving in Iraq. These are not your grandfather's care packages, however. Besides pairs of white socks and boxes of baby wipes (included at the apparent suggestion of Iran-Contra felon Oliver North, according to OSU) OSU's care packages contain the controversial Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game. The game is inspired by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' bestselling pulp fiction series about a blood-soaked Battle of Armageddon pitting born-again Christians against anybody who does not adhere to their particular theology. In LaHaye's and Jenkins' books, the non-believers are ultimately condemned to "everlasting punishment" while the evangelicals are "raptured" up to heaven.I wonder how successful that'll be, when accompanied by a videogame about slaughtering non-"Christians" with machine guns?
The Left Behind videogame is a real-time strategy game that makes players commanders of a virtual evangelical army in a post-apocalyptic landscape that looks strikingly like New York City after 9/11. With tanks, helicopters and a fearsome arsenal of automatic weapons at their disposal, Left Behind players wage a violent war against United Nations-like peacekeepers who, according to LaHaye's interpretation of Revelation, represent the armies of the Antichrist. Each time a Left Behind player kills a UN soldier, their virtual character exclaims, "Praise the Lord!" To win the game, players must kill or convert all the non-believers left behind after the rapture. They also have the option of reversing roles and commanding the forces of the Antichrist....
...What's more, OSU's "Freedom Packages" include a copy of evangelical pastor Jonathan McDowell's More Than A Carpenter -- a book advertised as "one of the most powerful evangelism tools worldwide" -- that is double-published in Arabic. Considering that only a handful of American troops speak Arabic, the book is ostensibly intended for proselytizing efforts among Iraqi civilians.
Pretty successful, perhaps, if your goal is convince Muslims that the United States is, in fact, the Great Satan and their only choice is to kill or be killed.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Toxic sludge? Bring it on!
The Bush EPA approves of BP's plan to dump toxic sludge in Lake Michigan. No doubt the Bush appointees who ruled on the matter will be suitably rewarded with lucrative corporate positions and stock options sometime in the near future.
Or perhaps it's not that simple. This is, after all, the same Bush EPA that informed us in 2002 that toxic sludge is good for fish. So perhaps this is part of a benevolent effort to help the fish by giving them more of that delicious toxic sludge.
Still... every time Your Humble Correspondent has visited Lake Michigan, he's seen multiple dead fish floating in the water. I wonder why.
Meanwhile, Bush's approval rating among non-incorporated persons continues to plummet. I wonder why.
The Bush EPA approves of BP's plan to dump toxic sludge in Lake Michigan. No doubt the Bush appointees who ruled on the matter will be suitably rewarded with lucrative corporate positions and stock options sometime in the near future.
Or perhaps it's not that simple. This is, after all, the same Bush EPA that informed us in 2002 that toxic sludge is good for fish. So perhaps this is part of a benevolent effort to help the fish by giving them more of that delicious toxic sludge.
Still... every time Your Humble Correspondent has visited Lake Michigan, he's seen multiple dead fish floating in the water. I wonder why.
Meanwhile, Bush's approval rating among non-incorporated persons continues to plummet. I wonder why.
Bill Moyers & Co. on impeachment
A must-watch video for any patriotic American. Transcript of the whole program included.
A must-watch video for any patriotic American. Transcript of the whole program included.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
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