Went to an all-British-composer concert in Millenium Park. The big piece was Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony, which is a big choral symphony. I like the work. As I was reading the lyrics I kept thinking... "This sounds so much like Walt Whitman. I wonder who it really is."
Yeah. That's right. Walt himself.
With long lines flowing and going here and about
Like one long prophetic poetic shout!
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Easily Accessible
I was sitting in my ophthamologist's office today, watching him make careful notes about my eyes on index cards, and I thought of this story about politicians pushing for a law to make medical records electronic.
My first thought was why should a bunch of politicians interfere in my doctor's chosen method of record-keeping?
My second thought had to do with data security. Which do you think is easier to keep secure? A set of index cards... or personal information in a big national database?
"We need to have the information easily accessible," said Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Senator, I fear your cure
Is worse than what we now endure.
My first thought was why should a bunch of politicians interfere in my doctor's chosen method of record-keeping?
My second thought had to do with data security. Which do you think is easier to keep secure? A set of index cards... or personal information in a big national database?
"We need to have the information easily accessible," said Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Senator, I fear your cure
Is worse than what we now endure.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Randar and the Anxiety of Influence
One of my friends found an excerpt of Noble Vision and was so upset by the style that he has decided not to read it. The problem, at least in part, is that the style is reminiscent of Rand's. He wants something more original.
Actually, the style is reminiscent of Rand's in some ways, and not in others. Gen LaGreca's sentence structures, for example, are quite different than Rand's. Her use of metaphor is not much like Rand's either. There are some noticeable areas of overlap; certain phrases and ideas are direct clues to Rand's influence. The phrase "the best within", followed by a pronoun, is a good example.
In The Anxiety Of Influence, Harold Bloom put forth the idea that writers typically begin under the influence of another writer, whom they wish to emulate while working to develop their own voices and themes. I think that's typically true. Early Keats sounds a lot more like Milton than later Keats.
The problem was emotionally acute for the Romantic poets, because they believed in originality as a key aspect of art. A similar logic often plays out for Objectivists, both as creators and critics. In fact, Objectivists and former Objectivists have a sharp sense of Randar, by which they can detect the remotest presence of the lady's influence.
As for me, I try not to be distracted by the background bleeping of my Randar when I take in a Rand-influenced artwork like Noble Vision. I instead focus on appreciating the artwork on its own terms, as a self-contained entity with its own purposes. I found Noble Vision very enjoyable this way. I'm sure it will not suit all tastes, of course.
For example, its love story is rather sweetly told from a feminine point of view, and lacks that hard edge found in Rand's love stories. This will surely not suit some people. As for me, I've been reading a lot of romance novels lately, and I'm actually enjoying them, so you can see I have a high tolerance for sweet love stories.
Another friend of mine liked Noble Vision very much. (Actually, he liked it better than he liked my novel, in part because my hero and heroine engage in such nastiness - by his standards.)
I'm reading romance novels.
I don't usually boast of it.
But if this be sappiness,
Make the most of it.
Actually, the style is reminiscent of Rand's in some ways, and not in others. Gen LaGreca's sentence structures, for example, are quite different than Rand's. Her use of metaphor is not much like Rand's either. There are some noticeable areas of overlap; certain phrases and ideas are direct clues to Rand's influence. The phrase "the best within", followed by a pronoun, is a good example.
In The Anxiety Of Influence, Harold Bloom put forth the idea that writers typically begin under the influence of another writer, whom they wish to emulate while working to develop their own voices and themes. I think that's typically true. Early Keats sounds a lot more like Milton than later Keats.
The problem was emotionally acute for the Romantic poets, because they believed in originality as a key aspect of art. A similar logic often plays out for Objectivists, both as creators and critics. In fact, Objectivists and former Objectivists have a sharp sense of Randar, by which they can detect the remotest presence of the lady's influence.
As for me, I try not to be distracted by the background bleeping of my Randar when I take in a Rand-influenced artwork like Noble Vision. I instead focus on appreciating the artwork on its own terms, as a self-contained entity with its own purposes. I found Noble Vision very enjoyable this way. I'm sure it will not suit all tastes, of course.
For example, its love story is rather sweetly told from a feminine point of view, and lacks that hard edge found in Rand's love stories. This will surely not suit some people. As for me, I've been reading a lot of romance novels lately, and I'm actually enjoying them, so you can see I have a high tolerance for sweet love stories.
Another friend of mine liked Noble Vision very much. (Actually, he liked it better than he liked my novel, in part because my hero and heroine engage in such nastiness - by his standards.)
I'm reading romance novels.
I don't usually boast of it.
But if this be sappiness,
Make the most of it.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Finding Yourself... Or Not
It turns out that Deep Throat, the boomer nostalgia hero, was in charge of unmasking himself.
It's like letting Clark Kent
Report where Superman went.
It's like letting Clark Kent
Report where Superman went.
Iraq's Cool Religious Minorities
For a moment, put aside all thoughts of the Muslims - Sunni, Shia, Sufi, whatever - and focus on 2 really cool religions whose adherents live mainly in Iraq:
In Northern Iraq, the Yezidi pray to angels, and to Lucifer in particular. In their version of the story, Lucifer turned to good deeds, created the world, and has been forgiven. They call him Malak Taus ("peacock angel"). Maybe identifying him with the Lucifer of Christian theology is unfair - maybe it's just a vaguely parallel misbehaving angel story. The Yezidi themselves don't mind calling him Lucifer, but they refuse to call him Satan.
In Southern Iraq, the Mandeans hold John the Baptist in high esteem but see Jesus as a false prophet. If you're a Mandean you can expect to be baptized several times a year. They are the oldest surviving Gnostic sect. Their main symbol is a cross with a piece of cloth on it, but they say it has nothing to do with the Christian cross.
Somehow in the desert heat
They come up with visions that can't be beat!
In Northern Iraq, the Yezidi pray to angels, and to Lucifer in particular. In their version of the story, Lucifer turned to good deeds, created the world, and has been forgiven. They call him Malak Taus ("peacock angel"). Maybe identifying him with the Lucifer of Christian theology is unfair - maybe it's just a vaguely parallel misbehaving angel story. The Yezidi themselves don't mind calling him Lucifer, but they refuse to call him Satan.
In Southern Iraq, the Mandeans hold John the Baptist in high esteem but see Jesus as a false prophet. If you're a Mandean you can expect to be baptized several times a year. They are the oldest surviving Gnostic sect. Their main symbol is a cross with a piece of cloth on it, but they say it has nothing to do with the Christian cross.
Somehow in the desert heat
They come up with visions that can't be beat!
Monday, June 13, 2005
Michael Jackson
Yeah, so Michael gets off. Oops. That doesn't sound right. I did expect this. The prosecution's witnesses were bad. And there's no law - thank goodness - against being weird.
Still, anyone who sends a kid to sleep in Michael's bed
Has a hole in their head.
Still, anyone who sends a kid to sleep in Michael's bed
Has a hole in their head.
Too Many Boys
Apparently too many boys are growing up in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. It's a polygamous sect that occupies 2 towns on either side of the Utah-Arizona border.
Human beings are produced at a roughly 50/50 male/female ratio. That's a problem if you favor a one-to-many husband/wife ratio. It leaves a lot of young men without any chance of getting wives of their own. Before you know it, they will start making trouble of one kind or another, including the eyeing of older men's young wives.
So the cult leaders look for excuses to kick the young men out.
Keep one boy out of twenty
And there will be wives aplenty!
Human beings are produced at a roughly 50/50 male/female ratio. That's a problem if you favor a one-to-many husband/wife ratio. It leaves a lot of young men without any chance of getting wives of their own. Before you know it, they will start making trouble of one kind or another, including the eyeing of older men's young wives.
So the cult leaders look for excuses to kick the young men out.
Keep one boy out of twenty
And there will be wives aplenty!
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Self-Defense In The News
A female robber comes into a 7-11 with a gun. One of the 7-11 employees manages to take the gun away and hold the robber until the police arrived. This occurred in West Virginia.
What do you think his reward was from the 7-11 corporate overlords? He was fired, because 7-11 policy prohibits interfering with robberies!
Last week, the WV State Supreme Court ruled that they couldn't fire him for defending himself. EDIT: Actually, the case was decided in 2001, but interest in the case was renewed when was discussed last week on Volokh.com.
Once I thought the right to self-defense
Was simply common-sense.
I guess it's trickier than I thought,
And needs to be taught.
And, speaking of the right to self-defense, here's an interesting article by a Canadian grappling with the idea that gun rights are human rights - and the only reliable way to stop genocide. As one commenter phrased it: The Right To Keep And Bear Arms - It's Not Just For Americans Anymore.
It's harder doing harm
When your victims are armed.
What do you think his reward was from the 7-11 corporate overlords? He was fired, because 7-11 policy prohibits interfering with robberies!
Last week, the WV State Supreme Court ruled that they couldn't fire him for defending himself. EDIT: Actually, the case was decided in 2001, but interest in the case was renewed when was discussed last week on Volokh.com.
Once I thought the right to self-defense
Was simply common-sense.
I guess it's trickier than I thought,
And needs to be taught.
And, speaking of the right to self-defense, here's an interesting article by a Canadian grappling with the idea that gun rights are human rights - and the only reliable way to stop genocide. As one commenter phrased it: The Right To Keep And Bear Arms - It's Not Just For Americans Anymore.
It's harder doing harm
When your victims are armed.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Catching Toads
Today I went for a long bicycle ride in the heat. At one point I met 2 little blonde girls, sisters I think, maybe 9 and 6 years of age. They very seriously showed me two toads they had caught. Apparently they catch the same toads regularly, and then let them go again.
In the grass at the end of the road
The two little girls catch toads.
And they showed
Them to me
Very seriously.
In the grass at the end of the road
The two little girls catch toads.
And they showed
Them to me
Very seriously.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Confessions
Today at lunch I was looking at Augustine's Confessions in Latin, and I had the thought: this seems like it rhymes a lot. I've had a lifetime of rhyme, but only 2 years of Latin, so I wasn't absolutely sure.
Then on my train ride home, reading the preface to a translation of the work, I came across this: "He loved to use rhymes in his prose... The presence of so much rhyming in the Latin diction presents an insoluble problem for the translator. It is impossible to reproduce in another language without resulting in absurdity." (p. x)
I never knew Augustine,
Besides being a major Christian old-timer
Was a big Latin rhymer!
I mean,
Who had any idea that his Confessions
Were more or less rap sessions?
Then on my train ride home, reading the preface to a translation of the work, I came across this: "He loved to use rhymes in his prose... The presence of so much rhyming in the Latin diction presents an insoluble problem for the translator. It is impossible to reproduce in another language without resulting in absurdity." (p. x)
I never knew Augustine,
Besides being a major Christian old-timer
Was a big Latin rhymer!
I mean,
Who had any idea that his Confessions
Were more or less rap sessions?
Early Retirement
Yesterday evening I slept like a log.
I didn't even wake up to blog
Nor to feed my starving dogs.
I didn't even wake up to blog
Nor to feed my starving dogs.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Portrait of a Marriage
Tonight at my book club we discussed Portrait of a Marriage: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. The book is listed as authored by Nigel Nicolson. In fact, 2 of the book's 5 chapters are straight from an autobiographical piece by Vita Sackville-West, who was also Nigel's mum.
In his 3 chapters, Nigel keeps telling us how wonderful their marriage was, but I somehow was left unconvinced. It was certainly an unusual relationship. Both of them were bisexual, with strong same-sex leanings, and the physical side of their relationship died out early on. But they did have a lot of shared life together and a deep emotional bond of some kind.
In her 2 chapters, Vita gives an account of her "duality" and tells the story of an intense lesbian affair that threatened her marriage and social standing. Her account appeared only after she died and her son found it in her papers.
For most of their marriage, they followed their druthers
And only had sex with others.
In his 3 chapters, Nigel keeps telling us how wonderful their marriage was, but I somehow was left unconvinced. It was certainly an unusual relationship. Both of them were bisexual, with strong same-sex leanings, and the physical side of their relationship died out early on. But they did have a lot of shared life together and a deep emotional bond of some kind.
In her 2 chapters, Vita gives an account of her "duality" and tells the story of an intense lesbian affair that threatened her marriage and social standing. Her account appeared only after she died and her son found it in her papers.
For most of their marriage, they followed their druthers
And only had sex with others.
Hazards of GPS
A 9 year old girl died Saturday in Chicago when a porch railing gave way. An inspector had visited the building 33 hours earlier. The inspector had been there because the City had received a complaint about an inside stairway - not about the porch.
The inspector is being fired by the City. Not because he failed to inspect the porch. After all, he hadn't been asked to do that.
He's being fired because he falsified his inspection report after the girl died. He apparently got scared that he would take major heat for not looking at the porch. So he filed a false report saying he had looked at the porch and found problems with it. He must have thought he would look like an ace.
But he was carrying a City-issued cellphone with a GPS tracking system built in. He was at the site for 13 minutes, which wasn't enough time to inspect both interior stairs and a porch.
Don't lie about your travels
When you're tracked by GPS.
Your story will unravel
Then you'll break down and confess.
The inspector is being fired by the City. Not because he failed to inspect the porch. After all, he hadn't been asked to do that.
He's being fired because he falsified his inspection report after the girl died. He apparently got scared that he would take major heat for not looking at the porch. So he filed a false report saying he had looked at the porch and found problems with it. He must have thought he would look like an ace.
But he was carrying a City-issued cellphone with a GPS tracking system built in. He was at the site for 13 minutes, which wasn't enough time to inspect both interior stairs and a porch.
Don't lie about your travels
When you're tracked by GPS.
Your story will unravel
Then you'll break down and confess.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
D-Day
61 years since D-Day. And we still have troops in Europe? I say, bring those troops home! It's clear that Europe is unable to form a cohesive nation, after all. We might as well write them off.
And while we're on the subject of Europe, exactly how does Europe have the nerve to consider itself a continent? Has anyone looked at a decent globe lately? Europe is obviously on the same continent that Asia is! Don't fall for the scam.
On a more serious note:
It was one hell of an attack,
But they knocked the Germans back.
And while we're on the subject of Europe, exactly how does Europe have the nerve to consider itself a continent? Has anyone looked at a decent globe lately? Europe is obviously on the same continent that Asia is! Don't fall for the scam.
On a more serious note:
It was one hell of an attack,
But they knocked the Germans back.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Walking for Capitalism
Today was International Capitalism Day, so six of us took a nice walk up and down Michigan Avenue, holding signs. My sign just said "I (Heart) Capitalism." But with a heart drawn in, of course. I stole the idea from here.
Maybe next year I can do "I (Brain) Capitalism". I have to start practicing drawing a stylized brain.
One couple wanted a picture with us. One man quietly told me, "Good for you."
Telling the world what I feel
For the unknown ideal.
Maybe next year I can do "I (Brain) Capitalism". I have to start practicing drawing a stylized brain.
One couple wanted a picture with us. One man quietly told me, "Good for you."
Telling the world what I feel
For the unknown ideal.
Noble Vision, Completed
I finished Gen LaGreca's novel, Noble Vision, a few minutes ago. I'm still under its spell, so this won't be a proper review, but I really enjoyed the book. It's a love story, a guide to how the government has messed up health care, and an inspiring tale of a battle against the bureaucratic mindset. The plot contains many surprises along the way, so I have to hold back and not spoil the story. Toward the end of the book, I was pausing after each chapter, afraid to go on. Why was I afraid? Because of characters I had started to love, who were moving forward into peril.
If you are familiar with Ayn Rand's writings, the influence - and the occasional homage - will be apparent to you. It's not that Noble Vision reads like a Rand novel. It doesn't. The story is definitely the author's own imagination at work.
The author is a professional writer in the health care field. Her style is generally of the deceptively-simple variety, which is a good way of making sure your reader follows your carefully-constructed suspense-plot. But periodically she bursts out with a sentence or two of poetry.
The book comes with the back-jacket endorsement of Milton Friedman, which is a tip-off that this is not your average love story. The author is intimately familiar with how the economics and politics of our health care system works today, and she projects how much worse it would be if states started implementing the "reforms" that so many "health care reformers" are always calling for, and how much better it would be if we could just get the state out of medicine.
But I knew all that. What held me was the spectacle of heroic characters fighting for their lives. That always holds me.
He has a noble vision
That requires an incision
And a drop or two of protein
At exactly the right time.
How can that be a crime?
If you are familiar with Ayn Rand's writings, the influence - and the occasional homage - will be apparent to you. It's not that Noble Vision reads like a Rand novel. It doesn't. The story is definitely the author's own imagination at work.
The author is a professional writer in the health care field. Her style is generally of the deceptively-simple variety, which is a good way of making sure your reader follows your carefully-constructed suspense-plot. But periodically she bursts out with a sentence or two of poetry.
The book comes with the back-jacket endorsement of Milton Friedman, which is a tip-off that this is not your average love story. The author is intimately familiar with how the economics and politics of our health care system works today, and she projects how much worse it would be if states started implementing the "reforms" that so many "health care reformers" are always calling for, and how much better it would be if we could just get the state out of medicine.
But I knew all that. What held me was the spectacle of heroic characters fighting for their lives. That always holds me.
He has a noble vision
That requires an incision
And a drop or two of protein
At exactly the right time.
How can that be a crime?
Cinderella Man
Cinderella Man is a film biography of a real life character: James Braddock, heavyweight champion from 1935 to 1937. Braddock, played by Russell Crowe, is an admirable character who refuses to give up no matter what life throws him. Renee Zellweger is his wife, suitably supportive, worried sick, and spunky.
I suppose the film is a bit like Rocky, but based on a true story, and set in the Depression.
I was impressed
And not depressed.
I suppose the film is a bit like Rocky, but based on a true story, and set in the Depression.
I was impressed
And not depressed.
Friday, June 03, 2005
Going That Extra Mile
While I was doing a 10k on Memorial Day, some people in Chicago were running the Lakeshore Marathon. Usually a marathon is 26.2 miles, but this one had something extra. Yep, it had 27.2 miles. There were other problems - like missing mile markers and unstaffed water stations.
The Tribune story says it was the only Spring marathon in Illinois. That's funny. I recall running an Illinois marathon this April. Maybe I dreamed it?
For some reason, the extra mile
Didn't make the runners smile.
But there's a smile on my face -
I'm so glad I skipped that race.
The Tribune story says it was the only Spring marathon in Illinois. That's funny. I recall running an Illinois marathon this April. Maybe I dreamed it?
For some reason, the extra mile
Didn't make the runners smile.
But there's a smile on my face -
I'm so glad I skipped that race.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Rain
Drops of water fall from the sky,
And fill me with joy. Are you wondering why?
Because the ground around here was dry and hard,
And I've got two hundred feet of invisible dog fence wire to bury in my yard.
And fill me with joy. Are you wondering why?
Because the ground around here was dry and hard,
And I've got two hundred feet of invisible dog fence wire to bury in my yard.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Need More Wire!
Dog Radio Fencing has its interesting technical wrinkles, and I find I need to buy a second spool of wire to do my yard the way I want. That's because I need the Back Yard Double Loop layout you can see on this page.
Double the loop,
Means twice the wire.
That means another trip
To my supplier.
If I keep this up
I'll be a PetCo frequent flyer.
Double the loop,
Means twice the wire.
That means another trip
To my supplier.
If I keep this up
I'll be a PetCo frequent flyer.
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