Archive for the ‘All’ Category
Best Seller: Worst Writing
As you know, aside from all the science books I write about here, I also read crime fiction, about which I write much less frequently. Last night I finished the collection of short stories called A New Omnibus of Crime, edited by Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert, contributing editors Sue Grafton and Jeffrey Deaver (Oxford […]
In: All, Books, Crime Fiction, Writing
New Castle, Delaware
This past February (which is to say, in 2008) we took a small excursion to visit our friends Tom & James, who live in Bear, Delaware. While we were there we had a small outing to New Castle, Delaware, where I took pictures. New Castle has a colonial origin, founded in 1651 by Peter Stuyvesant. […]
In: All, Music & Art, Personal Notebook
Barry Byrne & Turners Cross, Ireland
You may recall that I wrote recently about our new photo album with photographs of St. Benedict's Abbey Church in Atchison, Kansas. It was a gorgeous building and fun to take pictures of, it was so photogenic. You may recall further that when I tried to find more information about the building and its designer, […]
In: All, Music & Art, Personal Notebook, The Art of Conversation
Spam Art
We all hate spam. Especially, by now, those silly appeals from Mr. What's-His-Name who wishes to join with us in confidence so that he can transfer some gazillion unclaimed dollars from his native country into a US bank, thus making us rich for doing nothing much whatsoever. Don't you sometimes wish you could take that […]
Spelling with Flickr
Isn't this fun! There is, it seems a one-letter group at Flickr. It is, therefore, possible to spell things with letter-photos from that group. It can even be automated, which is exactly what Erik Kastner (blog) did with his "Spell with Flickr" online generator. Just type in a word and there it is! Don't like […]
Living in History
I am not totally immune to the excitement of living in history, even if it is political–at least at the moment. Yes, it was quite extraordinary that the main contenders for the Democratic nomination for president were a black man and a white woman. Exciting even. I have to admit, though, that I didn't find […]
In: All, Current Events, Reflections
'Traditional Marriage' Threatened? Nonsense!
In their hysteria to deny all things gay, opponents of marriage equality for same-sex couples make ever more outlandish claims about how we, the gays and lesbians–who in some arguments number so ridiculously few that it's not worth granting the two or three of us equality–are so menacing and all-powerful that we will crush Western […]
Send Your Name to the Moon!
NASA is preparing its Lunar-Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. The orbiter is being built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, which interests us because it's not far from here and we have friends who work there. The orbiter is apparently nearing complete and is to be launched no earlier than 24 November 2008. (That sort […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
Beware Rip Currents
Celebrations come and go and I miss remarkably many of them, but I'm not going to let this one slip by. I just got notice from NOAA* today that 1 through 7 June is "Rip Current Awareness Week". I was a bit startled to learn this, but I don't want to make fun of it […]
Atchison in Autumn
Last November, which is to say in 2007, we visited my father at his home in Kansas City,* While we were there we took a day trip to Atchison, Kansas, a smallish town in the northeast corner of Kansas on the Missouri river. The Missouri river is what divides Kansas and Missouri there and it's […]
In: All, Music & Art, Personal Notebook
Tea at the Creation Museum
Someone kindly pointed out to me that Faggoty-Ass Faggot recently took a field-trip to the so-called "Creation Museum", not far from Cincinnati. As a result he presents a photographic tour, with commentary. There are fabulous shots of such silly things as the dinosaur with the saddle on, a poster explaining how evolution happened after the […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Laughing Matters
Beard of the Week XXXVII: Evo-Devo Again
The beard at right belongs to author Wallace Arthur, Professor of Zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. I recently read his excellent book Creatures of Accident : The Rise of the Animal Kingdom (New York, Hill and Wang, 2006. x + 255 pages). Naturally, there's a book note, with a couple of entertaining […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, Books
Unmistakable Cracking Sounds
As the California Supreme Court decision outlawing this state's ban on same-sex marriage settles in, we are being treated to the unmistakable cracking sounds of long-held, icy bigotries giving way to a wellspring of justice. [editorial, "Gay marriage gaining ground", Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2008.]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Faaabulosity
Uncle Stanley and Uncle Ronald
I feel a connection of some kind with the current Governor of New York, David A. Paterson. Recently I was in New York for about five days, easily tripling the fraction of my life that I've ever spent there. While I was there the Spitzer Sex Scandal broke, Spitzer resigned, and then Lieutenant-Governor Paterson was […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Reflections
The Inevitability of Marriage Equality
Normally I try to practice what I preach, at least when it comes to giving attention to right-wing media personalities. Instead of jumping up and down and pointing excitedly at each instance of their reactionary excess, I prefer to turn the other way. My theory is that they will wilt without the nourishment of the […]
Tortured, Opaque Prose
This morning I read a posting on a blog that began with this sentence. It's amazing how different some people like to perceive themselves as whilst maintaining an utterly normative attitude to life. I'm not attributing it because the author claims to be a writer.* Is it just me or is this about the most […]
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Writing
On Reading American Prometheus
In truth it was last summer* when I read the book by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, American Prometheus : The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (New York : Vintage Books, 2005; 721 pages). It's only today, however, when I finally got around to assembling my notes into the requisite book note. […]
In: All, Books, It's Only Rocket Science
On Satellite Dishes Looking in the Same Direction
I recently finished reading Richard Dawkins' Climbing Mount Improbable (New York : W.W.Norton & Company, 1996, 340 pages). It wasn't bad, but it wasn't his best by any means. All of the little things that irritate me about Dawkins' writing seemed emphasized in this book. There's more in my book note, of course. Dawkins is […]
In: All, Books, It's Only Rocket Science
Don't Tread on Me
We pause for a moment of bear culture and cuteness. [via Joe.My.God]
Beard of the Week XXXVI: A Thriller
This week's beard belongs to Michael Robotham, an Australian author of mystery thrillers. I recently read his book Night Ferry and found it quite a satisfying page-turner, one of the select few where I had to stay up reading until 4am to find out what happened. I had read his two previous books, Lost and […]