Archive for the ‘All’ Category
On Reading A History of Reading
A few nights ago I finished reading a unique and interesting book: A History of Reading (New York : Viking, 1996), by Alberto Manguel. It's what it claims to be and is a lovely, literary and poetic tour through ideas associated with "the history of reading". (I have more to say about it in my […]
In: All, Books, Common-Place Book
The Dumbest & Most Intelligent
Throughout this past week I heard occasional news reports about yet another helicopter crashing in Iraq or Afghanistan, killing several troops. I don't like it, but it happens — it's a war, as Dear Leader frequently reminds us. Here's what I don't get: the unseemly rush by the pentagon to release word that none of […]
Harry & Pepper
Here's a heartwarming story* about true love. Harry and Pepper, residents of San Francisco, have been a devoted couple for 2 years. Harry and Pepper both weigh eight and half pounds and stand about a foot and half tall. During feeding times the couple is the first to dine. Pepper has a preference for dining […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, The Art of Conversation
Another Year, Another Report
Here I am with another reason why I've not been writing so much here; it's the usual: I've been toying with your affections and writing elsewhere. This time I was working on the first ever annual report for Ars Hermeneutica, to celebrate our first full month (now two months) of tax-exempt status. The report is […]
In: All, Speaking of Science, Writing
Ultra-Defense of Marriage
This is making a bit of a stir, as it should: a ballot initiative in Washington State (I-957: "The Defense of Marriage Initiative") that would require married couples — mixed-gender only, please! — to produce children to demonstrate that procreation is a realizable function of their union. The background goes like this. In reviewing a […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
181 Bits of Lunacy
Recently I got a press release from NASA, called "181 Things To Do On The Moon" that asked the provocative — if non-musical — question: If you woke up tomorrow morning and found yourself on the moon, what would you do? Look for a spacesuit lept first to mind to avoid having my blood boil […]
In: All, Curious Stuff, It's Only Rocket Science
But Raman Noodle Live On
Like the author (Lawrence Downes) of the appreciation of "Mr. Noodle" in the New York Times (9 January 2007), I don't think I ever knew that Raman noodles had an inventor. I suppose I'd always imagined that such a ubiquitous part of Japanese culture and cuisine — as I thought of it — had always […]
In: All, Food Stuff, The Art of Conversation
An Uncommon Woman
Just a few nights back I was part of a group conversation in which, through machinations now lost to my memory, the topic of playwright Wendy Wasserstein came up. She is apparently best known for her Heidi Chronicles, but I first knew her — and think of her most fondly — in connection with her […]
In: All, Music & Art, Reflections
When is Discrimination not Discrimination?
Many people have been raising an eyebrow at how odd-sounding are some of the arguments that The [Catholic] Church has been using in Great Britain to obtain an exemption from a new equality law concerning adoption by gays and lesbians. Now they have moved from arguing that being allowed to discriminate is central to their […]
In: All, Current Events, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Introducing Euclid
One of the things I was doing last week instead of writing here was writing elsewhere and taking care of some details for Science Besieged, the nascent online project of Ars Hermeneutica. There are a couple of things I might point out. First, Science Besieged has a new mascot: meet Euclid, the crow. I was […]
More Bright Earth
I think I mentioned before that I had recently been reading Philip Ball's Bright Earth : Art and the Invention of Color (New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002). Regardless, I've been finishing up my processing of the book, checking my notes, and writing my book note — in this case a rather lengthy […]
No Special Rights for Catholic Church
I admit to a certain amount of schadenfreude at reading the lead of this article from the Guardian* The Catholic church is almost certain to lose its battle for special treatment over gay adoption rules…. How shocking for me, a gay man, to hear that the Catholic Church is being denied special rights when it […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Revising US History
I've finally gotten around to reading Jeff Sharlet's feature article for Harper's Magazine ("Through a Glass, Darkly : How the Christian right is reimagining U.S. history", December 2006) , and I thought it a very valuable contribution to furthering comprehension of the mostly inscrutable fundamentalist mind. It is an in-depth consideration of how fundamentalists look […]
In: All, Reflections, The Art of Conversation
Encaptionating
Thanks again to Maud Newton* comes this fun idea that blends language and not-always-so-helpful modern technology. She reports that A reader who calls himself Angry Young Man has figured out a way to automate New Yorker cartoon captions — using New Yorker short stories. It seems that Angry Young Man discovered that applying Microsoft Word's […]
In: All, Curious Stuff, Such Language!
Plutoing Around
I don't usually approve of verbing nouns, but sometimes it's amusing enough.* I was interested to follow several pointers to the announcement by the American Dialect Society that they had chosen "plutoed" as their word of the year. NB, the word "plutoed" is intended as the past-tense form of the verb "to pluto", meaning to […]
The Birth of the Cuisinart
Last night I was looking through a cookbook* and read this concise and interesting story of the birth of the Cuisinart food processor from the introduction to the book. When the Cuisinart Food Processor was unveiled at the Chicago housewares show in January, 1973, it scarcely could have been called a hit. indeed, myopic department-store […]
President Search
I was reading this blog entry* about how the author thinks maybe we shouldn't elect another Clinton, because that would mean just too many years with the White House controlled either by a Bush or a Clinton. A good point. He also said this: Surely, in a country of more than 300 million people we […]
In: All, Eureka!, Laughing Matters
So Usable
This chilling vignette came to me from Maud Newton*, who went to see the movie Jesus Camp so that I don't have to: Becky Fischer, the leader and mastermind of the actual Jesus Camp, believes in indoctrinating kids as early as possible — preferably starting before the age of seven. Palestinian children are ready to […]
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
A few nights ago* we were listening to the radio. Next up was a performance of Bach's solo Cantata Ich Habe Genug, to be sung by the late Lorraine Hunt Liebersen. It was sometime last year — or was it two years ago? — that Isaac and I first came across Lorraine Hunt Liebersen, quite […]
Mandelbrot's Vegetable Stand
I can't say I expected to see fractals mentioned in an article about cauliflower — or a casual mention of "the Mandelbrot theory" by a cauliflower farmer — but I wasn't terribly surprised either. I've seen these Romanesco cauliflowers and they are visually astonishing, regardless of whether one is a "Caltech guy" or not. I'm […]
In: All, Food Stuff, It's Only Rocket Science