A classy gesture by Tiger Woods at the British Open in St. Andrews, Scotland: Woods steps aside for retiring rival Watson. Story here.
Monthly Archives: July 2010
Fiction Friday: Stories, News, Reviews & Opinion From the Publishing World
News of publishing’s demise is greatly exaggerated. Wander into any bookstore, be it a so-called Big Box or your local independent bookseller, and you’ll be inundated with more books than you could possibly read in a lifetime. If you’re into technology and pick up an e-reader, then you can download gigabyte after gigabyte of text. This post begins a weekly offering of links to stories, news, reviews, and opinion from around the publishing world. My intent is to inspire interest in fiction of all sorts, from mass market paperbacks to the classics, with a bit of poetry tossed in now and again (after all, some of Western Civilization’s greatest stories were told as epic poems). And, to get the most out of this endeavor I want reader’s feedback. C.S. Lewis described, in An Experiment in Criticism, some reader’s as folks for whom “cenes and characters from books provide them with a sort of iconography by which they interpret or sum up their own experience. They talk to one another about books, often and at length.” Reading becomes a communal activity when readers gather to discuss the stories that move them, either positively or negatively. Please share, in the comment box below, what
“Elling” Questions Norwegian Liberalism
One thing I do not expect from contemporary Norway is art that celebrates American values. But the Academy Award-nominated film, Elling (from 2001) is an exception. Or so it seems to me.
‘Alternating Worlds’—Gary Wolf and the Definition of Humanity
Alternating Worlds by Gary Wolf iUniverse, Inc. ISBN-10: 0-595-34002-4 ISBN-13: 978-0595340026 December 2004 182 pages Trade paperback: $13.95 at Amazon.com “Everything you touch turns to gold. You could afford to retire in the grandest style and engage in any pursuit. Yet you become embroiled in the petty quarrels of a fallen civilization.” “Fiction,” according to Jessamyn West, “reveals truth that reality obscures.” The same could go for fiction’s inchoate and obstreperous offspring, science fiction (SF). Gary Wolf just keeps on putting the fiction—as defined by Jessamyn West—back into science fiction. For a generation that defines SF as Star Wars shoot-’em-up adventure, Gary Wolf’s work could come as something of a shock. “Sci-fi” that actually explores themes of identity, social structure, culture, politics, art, personality, and other timeless aspects of human nature? Can SF do that? Wolf’s fiction does it, and in so doing fulfills the latent potential in science fiction to comment on the world in a meaningful way. Graham Rohde is one of the most respected art and antique dealers of the twenty-fourth century. Son of an eminent scholar, he is one of the period’s leading art historians. Rohde spends his time traveling across the Galaxy, buying and selling
Academia’s Phony ‘Diversity’ Prejudices Documented
W. S. Moore III notes that campus diversity stops at the Mason-Dixon line and the white working classes. An essay at Minding the Campus this week, by Russell K. Nieli, reports that a pair of Princeton sociologists took a look at some highly competitive colleges and universities (average SAT: 1360) to see how diversity issues were reflected in admissions. The results didn’t really surprise me, but maybe they should have: On an “other things equal basis,” where adjustments are made for a variety of background factors, being Hispanic conferred an admissions boost over being white (for those who applied in 1997) equivalent to 130 SAT points (out of 1600), while being black rather than white conferred a 310 SAT point advantage. Asians, however, suffered an admissions penalty compared to whites equivalent to 140 SAT points. The fact that colleges stack their admissions process to reach certain demographic profiles is nothing new — just ask folks who were crowded out by the Ivies’ Jewish quotas in past decades. It’s depressing for those of us who believe that so-called elite schools should have elite students (an image these schools eagerly project), but it’s nothing new. Equally unsurprising is the observation that admissions
Jackson: LeBron Treated Like ‘Runaway Slave’
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the nation’s foremost professional race-card player, said billionaire sports franchise owner Dan Gilbert was treating mere multi-multimillionaire LeBron James like “a runaway slave.” Jackson was responding to an angry letter Gilbert released to the public, specifically addressed to Cleveland Cavaliers fans, in the wake of James’s announcement that he would leave Gilbert’s NBA team to sign with the Miami Heat, and to Gilbert’s later statements to the Associated Press. In a press release from his Rainbow/PUSH organization, Jackson said of Gilbert, “He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship—between business partners—and LeBron honored his contract.” The absurdity of such language ought to be obvious, as is the obvious irony (and disgrace) of a Christian minister using incendiary language to criticize someone for . . . using incendiary language. Also disgraceful is Jackson’s imputation of race-based motives to a person who has far more obvious reasons to be angry at the object of his screed: money, and lots of it, plus extremely hurt feelings over the sense that
Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Attacked, Defended
Author Harper Lee and her groundbreaking novel To Kill a Mockingbird have received a well-deserved defense in the Washington Post, exactly fifty years after the book’s publication. The fact that such a thing is necessary indicates the truly terrifying amount of stupidity and arrogance that stain the contemporary mainstream media. Columnist Kathleen Parker’s defense of Lee and her only novel is rather weak, but at least she attempts it, rebuking the spectacularly overrated writer Malcolm Gladwell’s meandering article in the New Yorker on the subject. Gladwell’s risible essay is chock-full of instances of his technique of alleged reversals of conventional thinking, which are in fact either already commonly understood or wrong or both. Gladwell’s notion that To Kill a Mockingbird, first published in1960, is insufficiently hateful toward white Southerners and is unsophisticated in failing to embrace radical politics is a truly breathtaking instance of ignorant bigotry. It is also not original, and it is wrong. Gladwell writes, for example: If Finch were a civil-rights hero, he would be brimming with rage at the unjust verdict. But he isn’t. He’s not Thurgood Marshall looking for racial salvation through the law. He’s Jim Folsom, looking for racial salvation through hearts and minds.
Will Declaration Entertainment Cure What Ails American Culture?
“I hate Hollywood! A bunch of Lefties producing nothing but anti-American, anti-business, hyper-violent, hyper-sexualized crap! While we’re at war with fanatics who want to destroy America, Hollywood makes movies that paint us as the enemy, as moral reprobates. Hollywood is pushing a political agenda rather than making good, wholesome movies Americans want to see.” Anyone familiar with conservative critiques of Hollywood’s Entertainment-Industrial Complex has heard all this and much more besides. In the “Culture War,” Hollywood is enemy number one. Political commentator and journalist Bill Whittle is stepping up his activism in the so-called Culture War with Declaration Entertainment. Its mission is to make the kinds of movies Hollywood used to make – Movies about Freedom and Sacrifice, Hard-Work and Self-Reliance, Faith and Family. (emphasis in original) Declaration Entertainment builds its business model on subscribers, dubbed “Citizen Producers.” These “Citizen Producers,” for about ten bucks a month, will … gain access to behind the scenes looks at your movies as they are being made. Participate in live video chat with actors, writers, and directors. View behind-the-scenes videos of casting sessions, location shoots, special effects creation, editing and scoring. Win chances to appear in the movies and attend opening night red carpet premieres.
TCM Thrillers (July 12 – 18)
This week: * Monday—Wrestlers, boxers, and jewel thieves in hot water. * Tuesday—Gregory Peck has a million, but he can’t spend it! * Wednesday—One thing you can say about the French Revolution—it was filled with intrigue. * Thursday—People get lost, one of them on purpose. * Friday—Bogie a psycho killer? Say it ain’t so. * Saturday—You think you’ve got a fear of flying? * Sunday—A simian just looking for a blonde and a good time takes a bite out of the Big Apple. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monday—July 12th 9:30 AM—The Payoff (1935) A sports columnist’s greedy wife talks him into shilling for a wrestling promoter. 12:00 PM—The Living Ghost (1942) A former detective investigates a wealthy kidnap victim who returns with brain damage. 3:00 PM—Leave It to the Irish (1944) A private eye investigating one murder is framed for another. 4:15 PM—Killer McCoy (1947) A lightweight boxer gets mixed up in murder. 6:00 PM—The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) Married jewel thieves struggle with infidelity, federal agents, and the deadly smallpox virus. ———- Tuesday—July 13th 12:00 AM—Spellbound (1945) A psychiatrist tries to help the man she loves solve a murder buried in his subconscious. 4:00 AM—Man with a Million (1954) On
A Lesson about the Second Amendment for Young Gun Owners
With My Rifle by My Side: A Second Amendment Lesson by Kimberly Jo Simac, with illustrations by Donna Goeddaeus Nordskog Publishing, Inc. ISBN: 978-0-9827074-4-9 June 2010 48 pages Hardcover: $18.95 at Amazon.com Unlike today’s ruling elites, the Founding Fathers held firearms in high regard, not simply as a means of obtaining food but also of ensuring freedom. While customs and technology may have changed in the intervening centuries, the tendency of governments towards tyranny has not, and the need to school children in the safe and responsible use of guns is as vital as ever. An example of the Founders’ thinking in this regard is this from Richard Henry Lee in 1788 (and quoted in the book): To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them. Thomas Jefferson thought communing with nature with a firearm superior to most sports (also from the book): A strong body makes the mind strong …. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with
Can Being a ‘Global Warming Denier’ Make You an Enemy of the State? Frank Tipler Says Yes
Frank Tipler, a cosmologist, and Freeman Dyson, a polymath, are among those credentialed scientists who have made the National Academy of Sciences enemies list of persons who believe that “global warming” has yet to be scientifically proven. Tipler is number 38 and the higher-profile Dyson is number 3. Notice that I am not saying that there has been no warming, just that the available raw data that I’ve personally been able to check do not show it. Until all the raw temperature data are placed online, so the data can be checked by anybody, a rational person has to suspend belief in global warming, to say nothing of AGW . The official government adjusted data for these sites do show a warming trend. All the warming is in the “corrections.” Sorry, I don’t buy it. Especially from “scientists” who are known to “correct” their raw data to “hide the decline.” Freeman Dyson Tipler’s short article is on Pajamas Media. His book on the “anthropic cosmological principle” is available on Amazon.com. —Mike Gray
Entertainment Prices Outstrip Inflation
Entertainment prices are rising much more rapidly than the overall inflation rate.
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