Archive for the ‘All’ Category
Lily Tomlin is Faaabulous
Lily Tomlin just make me feel so happy sometimes. ACTOR Lily Tomlin[, in Australia for her first comedy tour,] has criticised the United States and Australian governments over their opposition to same-sex marriage, saying everyone should have the right to wed. The openly-gay Hollywood veteran, 66, has been with her female partner, Jane Wagner, a […]
Feeling Presidential
I don't know whether I've mentioned before that around our house noises made by the body are held in high esteem. Well, if not high esteem exactly, at least we recognize that many odd and entertaining sounds emit from our bodies, often without warning. In particular, I have a certain reputation for farting a lot. […]
Seeing What One Sees
I was reading an article* in the New York Times in which the author is trying to describe the excitement among mathematicians over the apparent proof of the "Poincaré conjecture"# by Russian mathematician Grigory Perelman. There's human interst and mystery, too, since there's a million-dollar award on offer to the one whose proof sustains three […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Eureka!
Bad Science & Bad Religion
The times when I agree with something Deepak Chopra says are rare enough that this seemed worth noting: I was trained as a scientist, but you don't need that to realize how badly the waters are muddied between religion, science, and politics these days. When John F. Kennedy ran for President in 1960, there were […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Speaking of Science
Rumpole & Terrorism
Here's a little story* that could always turn into an inconveniently larger story and gives one a bit of hope. The headline, "Rumpole author claims UK is selling out to fascism" seems a fair summary. John Mortimer, who created all those wonderful Rumpole stories, plans a new book to be called Rumpole and the Reign […]
In: All, Books, Common-Place Book
"No Hereditary Kings in America"
I have read through Judge Anna Diggs Taylor opinion* in the federal case of ACLU v. NSA, i.e., the federal case over the constitutionality of the President's authorizing the NSA to spy wholesale on Americans without warrants. It makes good reading, with an interesting section (Part IV) on "The History of Electronic Surveillance in America". […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events
"Christian Zionist" Foreign Policy
I know, I know. Perhaps I am slightly obsessive about all this weirdness with America's foreign policy and the pre-millenial dispensationalists under the bed, barely out of view, but it's a bit like global warming: if they're having even a tenth the influence on policy that one fears in the early hours of the morning, […]
Farewell to James Van Allen
Physics* tends to carry around all manner of homages to its creators and discoverers. Vast numbers of units of measure, constants, concepts, equations, effects, principles, and laws are named for famous scientists: Galilean Relativity, Newton's Laws of Motion, Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, Bernoulli's Equation, Euler's Equation, Laplace's Equation, Boltzmann's Constant, Planck's Constant, Hubble's Constant, […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
A Fresh Asian Salad
This title is not metaphorical or oblique, but the name of a recipe a friend sent; she found it in a magazine from the supermarket check-out lane, but I don't remember which one. I was interested in it for the rather simple approach to the "Vietnamese Dipping Sauce", which I perennially enjoy at our local […]
Wings & Wonderland
I propose to ignore the excitement over some current events* and get personal and gay and all that and talk about musical theatre. This explains, in part, why I've been distracted for awhile and relatively inattentive in this place. (That, and still feeling I'm catching up after returning from Rome, and giving more attention to […]
Beard of the Week XV: Pride Edition
This week's beard belongs to our friend in Toronto, the faaabulous* Chris Ambidge. He is shown here# in the 2006 Gay Pride Parade in Toronto, sporting his traditional gay-pride regalia in homage to HM Elizabeth II. No doubt this photo of him would make some people uncomfortable because of his apparel, which is a shame; […]
A Finger in the Dyke
Demonstrating the extent to which The Gay Agenda has, um, penetrated the American Psyche, Alec Baldwin wrote* in a blog piece: Gore has been standing there with his finger in the dyke for some time now, patiently and insistently exhorting us to come to the aid of the ailing planet. One suspects, of course, that […]
In: All, Laughing Matters, Such Language!
Conyers' "Constitution in Crisis"
I don't know when I'll get around to reading this report, but I want to note its release: Today, I am releasing the final version of my report, the "Constitution in Crisis." The report, which is some 350 pages in length and is supported by more than 1,400 footnotes, compiles the accumulated evidence that the […]
The Rapturous Bush
Whatever Bush's personal beliefs, the ideology of the Christian right is both familiar and congenial to him. This strange amalgam of ideas can perhaps throw light on the behaviour of a president, who, it is said, believes that God chose him to lead the world to Rapture, who has little interest in social reform, and […]
Glitches in Normality
In an email I received from my father today, he used the following phrase, which I think I can put to very good use to describe some events in my life from the last few years: I've had some glitches in my normality lately.
The Nose on Her Face
Blast it all! Avedon Carol said it before I got around to it: I am so sick of hearing some "liberal" Senator telling us that something that was as plain as the nose on my face (and mine of all noses!) is just becoming clear, now that it's too late. Like Ted Kennedy, explaining away […]
In: All, Current Events, Splenetics
A Few Runs Don't Win the Game
Last week Washington's Supreme Court ruled that its state's ban on same-sex marriage did not violate its state's constitution.* Similarly, the New York appeals court found a little while back that marriage should be reserved especially for heterosexuals, to protect children and our species. Dan Savage, in an op-ed in the NY Times,# wrote A […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events
Types of Wheat Flour
Not long ago, I was having a discussion with our young friend Scotty* about different kinds of flours, and I found I really had no idea what the differences signified. Fortunately, the editors of The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook had (on page 2) a brief but useful summary: The main difference between types of […]
In: All, Food Stuff, Naming Things
Fight Fundamentalism Here!
I was just reading this story* about how the White House now admits that our valient troops in Iraq are no longer fighting at the front of the global war on terrorism — instead, it seems that they are now "trying to suppress religious violence" — when I remembered that I had thought up a […]
Earworms in Literature I
An earworm* appears in Ian Rankin's Fleshmarket Alley (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004) p. 82: This morning, [Detective] Rebus looked innocent enough: sleepy eyes and a patch of gray bristle on his throat which the razor had missed. He wore a tie the way some schoolkids did — on sufferance. Each morning, he […]
In: All, Crime Fiction, Such Language!