Monday, January 31, 2011
Reading
I've always read a lot but through most of my life my reading has been utilitarian, "assigned" by some exterior need or other, whether assignments in college, both as an undergrad and grad student, or later research for a writing project -- I seldom had time to read "just for the hell of it," for pleasure as its own reward. And since I became so prolific as a writer, and this for over 40 years, my reading time had to be squeezed in between writing sessions.
So now, finally, I have time to read for the hell of it and I am enjoying myself immensely, especially since reading on the Kindle makes it so convenient. In fact, it's hard to put down the biography of Oppenheimer I'm reading at the moment. So let me get back to it.
So now, finally, I have time to read for the hell of it and I am enjoying myself immensely, especially since reading on the Kindle makes it so convenient. In fact, it's hard to put down the biography of Oppenheimer I'm reading at the moment. So let me get back to it.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Paul Nurse: science under attack | Hot Topic
Paul Nurse: science under attack | Hot Topic:
"“As a working scientist I’ve learnt that peer review is very important to make science credible The authority science can claim comes from evidence and experiment and an attitude of mind that seeks to test its theories to destruction…Scepticism is very important…be the worst enemy of your own idea, always challenge it, always test it I think things are a little different when you have a denialist or an extreme sceptic. They are convinced that they know what’s going on and they only look for data which supports that position and they’re not really engaging in the scientific process. There is a fine line between healthy scepticism which is a fundamental part of the scientific process and denial which can stop the science moving on. But the difference is crucial.”"
The other shoe
I fear the worst in Egypt. I'm reminded of the buoyant sense of victory that filled China, particularly among students, before the Army ended all that in terrible scenes. It would not surprise me if the protesters meet a similar defeat in Cairo and throughout the country. I hope I'm wrong. But it's too easy to under-estimate tyrants.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Recently viewed: The King's Speech
A Navy Wife (poem)
My mother was good
with her hands
fixing the toys
of me and my brother.
A good thing, too
with dad so long
at sea.
Whenever she told me
the fleet was coming in
I rushed to round up toys
and took them to her
to fix
before dad took a stab
and broke them.
When dad was home, she
forgot how to fix anything.
Take them to your father,
she would say.
And this made the twilight
before his arrival
flush with urgency, fixing
whatever needed fixing
before she forgot how
capable she was
and became
a Navy wife.
--Charles Deemer
with her hands
fixing the toys
of me and my brother.
A good thing, too
with dad so long
at sea.
Whenever she told me
the fleet was coming in
I rushed to round up toys
and took them to her
to fix
before dad took a stab
and broke them.
When dad was home, she
forgot how to fix anything.
Take them to your father,
she would say.
And this made the twilight
before his arrival
flush with urgency, fixing
whatever needed fixing
before she forgot how
capable she was
and became
a Navy wife.
--Charles Deemer
Friday, January 28, 2011
American impotence
When Twitter isn't trivial
I remember how blown away I was, reading live tweets from Iranian students being attacked by police a few years ago. So again in Egypt, when Twitter becomes a tool of live communication during moments of historical significance. What a far cry from the trivial info usually carried there. Certainly makes the tool an important one.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Egypt's Internet Shut Down, According To Reports
Egypt's Internet Shut Down, According To Reports
It's worth nothing that this sudden surge of democratic energy across the Middle East is not a result of our middling into their affairs but of native reactions to tyrannical practices, a few brave souls taking a stand, and an eruption of sympathetic populations. Progressive changes can happen even when we don't try to strong arm them. Even when we back the wrong side, as alas we often do (keeping tyrants in power because they are "anti" something we also are against).
Nice surprise
Primus St. John, on his first term of retirement, dropped by the office. He's still shooting video for the review. More than I am lately, to be accurate. Great to see him!
Once a writer ...
Even though I tell myself I'm "retired" as a writer, I find myself engaged in a new writing project, a new novella (I think), another story about an old man in the world, etc etc etc, and it's structure rises from vignettes, making it easy to write in a mellow sort of way, and even though I'm only a few pages into it, eight I believe, the two major characters interest me enough to continue writing, so we'll see where this leads us.
I suppose "retired": really means retired from the marketplace, not retired from the work.
My working title for the new novella is What Have You Done Lately?, and the story follows two retired professors, quite along in years, who decide to resurrect a radical folk song group they had in the 1960s, which leads them into some disastrous and darkly comic situations.
I suppose "retired": really means retired from the marketplace, not retired from the work.
My working title for the new novella is What Have You Done Lately?, and the story follows two retired professors, quite along in years, who decide to resurrect a radical folk song group they had in the 1960s, which leads them into some disastrous and darkly comic situations.
Advertisements for myself: Fine-Tuning Villainy -- Salieri's Journey from Stage to Screen
In his NY Times article "How Amadeus Was Translated From Play to Film" (September 16, 1984), critic Michiko Kakutani writes that director Forman considered the stylized theatricality of Shaffer's play to be an advantage for the adaptation: "The fact that 'Amadeus' was so stylized, so theatrical - well, so uncinematic, he argued, was actually a blessing - it meant they wouldn't be tempted to merely translate the play to the screen, but would be forced to demolish the original, then totally reimagine it as a film"A poem?
The trouble with writing
poetry
is the presumption
of insight
of significance
of meaning
of wisdom
of truth
in the cascade of words
down the page
Sometimes words
mean nothing
Single Payer, Arabs, Vietnam Vets, and the Internet | CommonDreams.org
Single Payer, Arabs, Vietnam Vets, and the Internet | CommonDreams.org:
"All throughout the Arab world, the despots are on the run.
Fueled by Facebook and Twitter, the Arab street is aflame.
In the United States, instead of fueling the resistance, social media is like a hypnotic drug.
A young Arab in Tunisia gets slapped around – the story goes – by a police officer.
He lights himself on fire.
And the whole Arab world is engaged.
Here in the United States, we get slapped around daily by the corporate elite.
And we take it sitting down in front of our computers."
Fueled by Facebook and Twitter, the Arab street is aflame.
In the United States, instead of fueling the resistance, social media is like a hypnotic drug.
A young Arab in Tunisia gets slapped around – the story goes – by a police officer.
He lights himself on fire.
And the whole Arab world is engaged.
Here in the United States, we get slapped around daily by the corporate elite.
And we take it sitting down in front of our computers."
Opposition in Egypt Gears Up for Major Friday Protest - NYTimes.com
Opposition in Egypt Gears Up for Major Friday Protest - NYTimes.com:
"Raising the stakes, the Muslim Brotherhood, long the country’s largest organized opposition group, intends to end days of official inaction to enter fully into protests on Friday. On its Web site, the group said it would join “with all the national Egyptian forces, the Egyptian people, so that this coming Friday will be the general day of rage for the Egyptian nation.”"
Barnaby Conrad Revisits John Wilkes Booth - NYTimes.com
Barnaby Conrad Revisits John Wilkes Booth - NYTimes.com:
"CARPINTERIA, Calif. — The last time Barnaby Conrad saw Sinclair Lewis, three years after he served as Lewis’s personal secretary, they were at a bar in Paris and, by Mr. Conrad’s account, Lewis was thoroughly drunk. But not so drunk that he couldn’t chastise his former secretary for failing to execute a book idea that Lewis had handed him one morning at breakfast: a novel based on the conceit that John Wilkes Booth had escaped capture after assassinating Lincoln and had embarked on a secret life in the American frontier."
In praise of Salinger
So I greatly admire the determined privacy of J. D. Salinger.An ar"An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's."tist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's."
JD Salinger: My love for Tim Henman (and other stories) - News, People - The Independent
JD Salinger: My love for Tim Henman (and other stories) - News, People - The Independent:
"The JD Salinger which emerges from these letters is very personable, a very different person to the slightly creepy figure the public may think of."
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Weird last night
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Why in hell am I feeling so good?
I can't figure it out but I've had a rush of feelin'-good energy overcoming me today. I mean, I'm almost giddy. Very unlike me ha ha. Reminds me of younger days when I could be giddy without reason for days, helped considerably by liquor, but this is a different animal. Maybe I'm getting ready to dive into happy Alzheimer's or something. Saw a patient on TV and all they did was smile and crack jokes. I mean, there are worse ways to lose your mind.
Daily Kos: Study finds Christian Conservatives Divorce More
Daily Kos: Study finds Christian Conservatives Divorce More
Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Let's hear it for family values.
Quotation of the day: "Gilded Age on steroids."
Since I’ve been here, this place has gone from a government town to a giant corporate headquarters. To me, the whole face of the country—whether it be the government, the media, agriculture, what happens on Main Street—has become so corporatized that the progressive movement is as relevant as it was one hundred years ago, maybe more so. It’s the same issues. It’s just that [corporate] power, because of money, international arrangements and communications, is so overwhelming that the average person is nearly helpless unless we develop a movement that can counter that power. I know we’ve all tried over the years, but this is a critical moment. We need to regenerate progressivism and make it relevant to what’s happening right now. But there’s no lack of historical comparison to a hundred years ago. It’s so similar; the only real difference is that corporate power is even more extended. It’s the Gilded Age on steroids.
--Senator Russ Feingold
OSCAR: Today’s Nominations By Picture – Deadline.com
OSCAR: Today’s Nominations By Picture – Deadline.com:
"The King's Speech - The Weinstein Company 12
True Grit - Paramount 10
Inception - Warner Bros 8
The Social Network - Sony Pictures Releasing 8
The Fighter - Paramount 7
127 Hours - Fox Searchlight 6
Black Swan - Fox Searchlight 5
Toy Story 3 - Walt Disney 5
The Kids Are All Right - Focus Features 4
Winter's Bone - Roadside Attractions 4
Alice in Wonderland - Walt Disney 3
Biutiful - Roadside Attractions 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - Warner Bros 2
How to Train Your Dragon - Paramount 2"
True Grit - Paramount 10
Inception - Warner Bros 8
The Social Network - Sony Pictures Releasing 8
The Fighter - Paramount 7
127 Hours - Fox Searchlight 6
Black Swan - Fox Searchlight 5
Toy Story 3 - Walt Disney 5
The Kids Are All Right - Focus Features 4
Winter's Bone - Roadside Attractions 4
Alice in Wonderland - Walt Disney 3
Biutiful - Roadside Attractions 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - Warner Bros 2
How to Train Your Dragon - Paramount 2"
Music, music, music!
Few Students Show Proficiency in Science, Tests Show - NYTimes.com
Few Students Show Proficiency in Science, Tests Show - NYTimes.com:
"On the most recent nationwide science test, about a third of fourth graders and a fifth of high school seniors scored at or above the level the federal Department of Education calls proficient, according to results released on Tuesday.
Only one or two students out of every 100 displayed the level of science mastery that the department defines as advanced, the government said."
Only one or two students out of every 100 displayed the level of science mastery that the department defines as advanced, the government said."
Apparently the future will not belong to the United States. This actually is appalling, if not surprising since we've been going down hill for a while.
Interestingly enough, the highest ranking state for fourth graders was ... Montana. 40% reached proficiency. So our best state has over half illiterate in science!
Personally I think science education for the very young -- rational thinking, "how do we know what we know?" -- is more important than self-expression and the arts, which can come later more easily than science. A child's natural curiosity easily plugs into science but it's harder later. Self-expression doesn't die as quickly as curiosity. So science first, arts second, for kids. This is an artist speaking, though one who began in science and math.
Interestingly enough, the highest ranking state for fourth graders was ... Montana. 40% reached proficiency. So our best state has over half illiterate in science!
Personally I think science education for the very young -- rational thinking, "how do we know what we know?" -- is more important than self-expression and the arts, which can come later more easily than science. A child's natural curiosity easily plugs into science but it's harder later. Self-expression doesn't die as quickly as curiosity. So science first, arts second, for kids. This is an artist speaking, though one who began in science and math.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Quotation of the day
The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.
– Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, ratified by the United States Senate (June 7, 1797) and signed by President John Adams (June 10, 1797).
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Instapaper
I've mentioned Instapaper here before but the more I use it, the more I appreciate its convenience. Any text on the web can be saved, formated for Kindle, and read there later. And you can save any .doc file for reading on Kindle later. You mail texts to yourself at a user@free.kindle.com address and find it on your Kindle very soon thereafter. It's a wonderful application. Thus folks are taking their grocery lists, driving directions, and all sorts of things with them on their Kindles.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Recently viewed: Avatar
It's hard to believe that anyone would give The Hurt Locker a vote over Avatar for the best picture Oscar. Clearly some kind of industry politics was involved.
But there also is irony in the success of this film when put in the real political world.. In this story, the big company is the bad guy. Yet it's the big company that made the film and got rich off it. It got rich because so many people cheered on The People in their battle against the Company. So the company in the real world let us all cheer at the defeat of nasty big business while taking our money to the bank. We felt good, they got rich, and nothing in the power structure changed.
How Corvallis, Ore., exceeds New York City: A view from theoretical physics | OregonLive.com
How Corvallis, Ore., exceeds New York City: A view from theoretical physics | OregonLive.com:
"Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, who worked out the math, draw some counter-intuitive conclusions: none other than Corvallis stands out as the top city in the country for innovation — after you account for its size. New York is merely average. Portland is a bit above the mean but not outstanding."
Sunday Times
Recently read: Flying Saucers Are Real
Donald E. Keyhoe
Go to Amazon
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First published in 1950, this book has become a classic. I read it in Jr High. Reading it today is remarkable because it makes a stronger case than many contemporary books on the subject because virtually all of the witnesses here to events in the 1940s are trained pilots, often military. Like the recent Witness to Roswell, the book is too full of firsthand eye-witness testimony to ignore. It's no longer a question of "if" but a question of "what."
Some of this book is dated, of course, particularly speculation about where the objects come from, but the book reads like a detective mystery and the eye-witness accounts accumulate into an impressive argument, one of the first, that "flying saucers are real."
Friday, January 21, 2011
Advertisements for myself: The First Stoplight in Wallowa County
The First Stoplight in Wallowa County:
"FLETCH HAD WOKEN UP without an alarm clock at 5:30 a.m., give or take ten minutes, for so many years that neither Sunday off nor a bad hangover could keep him in bed past six. On this Sunday the hangover was worse than usual because he had been lucky playing cards last night at Mel's Tavern, putting together a rare string of winning poker strategies. Twice he drew successfully to an inside straight. At stud, in the largest pot of the evening, he bluffed Jensen into folding three visible kings in deference to his own two aces up, even though he had only a junk deuce down. And more often than not, he folded the two pairs on which he habitually raised — and lost. When the game was over, Fletch walked away from the table almost $50 richer, most of which he spent setting up whiskey at the Cowboy Bar down Main Street."
It was a big day, 22 years ago, when this got published in Northwest Magazine with cover art, in the same issue in which my hyperdrama "Cocktail Suite" was written up, almost a Deemer issue of the magazine, and I was bought many beers in celebration at Nobby's and my late buddy from Oklahoma Tom was there (see below), reading the story over and over again and telling me what he was finding and learning on each reading, Tom being a wannabe writer even at his age (older than I), and I only mention this because it feels like it was yesterday, so clearly is the start of the day in my memory (the magazine was the Sunday supplement in the paper and this was late morning, Sunday, tavern as church), and it was a time in my life when I enjoyed being a big fish in a small pond.
It was a big day, 22 years ago, when this got published in Northwest Magazine with cover art, in the same issue in which my hyperdrama "Cocktail Suite" was written up, almost a Deemer issue of the magazine, and I was bought many beers in celebration at Nobby's and my late buddy from Oklahoma Tom was there (see below), reading the story over and over again and telling me what he was finding and learning on each reading, Tom being a wannabe writer even at his age (older than I), and I only mention this because it feels like it was yesterday, so clearly is the start of the day in my memory (the magazine was the Sunday supplement in the paper and this was late morning, Sunday, tavern as church), and it was a time in my life when I enjoyed being a big fish in a small pond.
Proposal: National teach-in on our history
Congress Passes Socialized Medicine and Mandates Health Insurance -In 1798 - Rick Ungar - The Policy Page - Forbes
Congress Passes Socialized Medicine and Mandates Health Insurance -In 1798 - Rick Ungar - The Policy Page - Forbes:
"In July of 1798, Congress passed – and President John Adams signed - “An Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen.” The law authorized the creation of a government operated marine hospital service and mandated that privately employed sailors be required to purchase health care insurance.
Keep in mind that the 5th Congress did not really need to struggle over the intentions of the drafters of the Constitutions in creating this Act as many of its members were the drafters of the Constitution."
Keep in mind that the 5th Congress did not really need to struggle over the intentions of the drafters of the Constitutions in creating this Act as many of its members were the drafters of the Constitution."
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Round Bend Press: An Establishment of Change
"The Hangover
This morning I awoke
to find the pain of a small bird
nesting in my head.
(1978)"
This morning I awoke
to find the pain of a small bird
nesting in my head.
(1978)"
Middle East: A Closer Look at Tunisia’s Uprising · Global Voices
Middle East: A Closer Look at Tunisia’s Uprising · Global Voices:
"As Tunisians continue to grapple with the fast paced events of the few previous days which saw the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his escape, Arab bloggers continue to share their thoughts and reflections on the Tunisian uprising and what it spells for the rest of the region."
David Sirota: Maddow Shows How the 'National' Media Isn't National at All
David Sirota: Maddow Shows How the 'National' Media Isn't National at All:
"Last night, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow rightly asked a taboo question of our 'national' media: Why has it largely ignored what the FBI says is a major terrorist bombing attempt on Spokane, Washington? In the segment, you can see she cites examples of the 'national' media hyperventilating about bomb scares that ended up being false alarms. She cites these examples to wonder why, in the face of a bomb scare that's actually real, the same 'national' media has ignored the Spokane story?"
Jobs
H's daughter, who lives in town, lost her job. While this is commonplace today, the daughter had just made some decisions on the assumption that she'd be working there forever. She expected it to be her last job.
This reminds me of several things. When I was going to UCLA, a working friend of mine bitched a lot about his job but stayed because he loved the retirement benefits. Later, when I was a grad student at the Univ of Oregon, my friend had only two more years before he could retire. He couldn't wait. Then his company was bought out by a larger company -- and he lost his job. No retirement benefits.
The other thing I'm reminded of is how easily Tea Party types blame the government but don't blame the corporate world for their ills. In fact, government regulations are the only thing between them and runaway corporate greed. The business myth, the Capitalism v. Socialism myth, is so strong in this country that common folk can't even identify their real enemies, the entities that most limit their freedoms. You don't get to buy any car you want. You get the choose among the cars the corporation decides to make available to you. And listen to the rhetoric about socialized medicine from congressmen who themselves have what amounts to socialized medicine! Hypocrisy and ignorance abound.
I count my blessings. Who the hell knows where I'd be if the telephone hadn't rung a dozen or so years ago. I was very tired of the freelance writers life. I wanted to do something less stressful. I answered the phone and was asked if I'd be interested in starting a screenwriting program at Portland State University. Perfect timing! I've had a great part-time job every since, perfect. I count my blessings.
This reminds me of several things. When I was going to UCLA, a working friend of mine bitched a lot about his job but stayed because he loved the retirement benefits. Later, when I was a grad student at the Univ of Oregon, my friend had only two more years before he could retire. He couldn't wait. Then his company was bought out by a larger company -- and he lost his job. No retirement benefits.
The other thing I'm reminded of is how easily Tea Party types blame the government but don't blame the corporate world for their ills. In fact, government regulations are the only thing between them and runaway corporate greed. The business myth, the Capitalism v. Socialism myth, is so strong in this country that common folk can't even identify their real enemies, the entities that most limit their freedoms. You don't get to buy any car you want. You get the choose among the cars the corporation decides to make available to you. And listen to the rhetoric about socialized medicine from congressmen who themselves have what amounts to socialized medicine! Hypocrisy and ignorance abound.
I count my blessings. Who the hell knows where I'd be if the telephone hadn't rung a dozen or so years ago. I was very tired of the freelance writers life. I wanted to do something less stressful. I answered the phone and was asked if I'd be interested in starting a screenwriting program at Portland State University. Perfect timing! I've had a great part-time job every since, perfect. I count my blessings.
The Plum Line - Dem Rep: No apology for saying GOP mendacity is worthy of Goebbels
The Plum Line - Dem Rep: No apology for saying GOP mendacity is worthy of Goebbels:
"'I said Goebbels lied about the Jews, and that led to the Holocaust,' Cohen said. 'Not in any way whatsoever was I comparing Republicans to Nazis. I was saying lies are wrong...I dont know who got everybody's panties in a wad over this statement.'
Cohen insisted that the invocation of Goebbels was legit, given the larger context: He said that Repubicans had, in fact, repeatedly used a big-lie technique on health care."
Cohen insisted that the invocation of Goebbels was legit, given the larger context: He said that Repubicans had, in fact, repeatedly used a big-lie technique on health care."
45% Of Students Don't Learn Much In College
45% Of Students Don't Learn Much In College:
"Half of students did not take a single course requiring 20 pages of writing during their prior semester, and one-third did not take a single course requiring even 40 pages of reading per week."
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Recently viewed: Valkyrie
'Portlandia' -- a satirical poke in the ribs and an economic boost for Portland -- premieres Friday on IFC | OregonLive.com
'Portlandia' -- a satirical poke in the ribs and an economic boost for Portland -- premieres Friday on IFC | OregonLive.com:
"'Portland,' Armisen says, 'is a city where young people go to retire.'"
At least one critic has identified the very first soap opera satire on television as the University of Oregon's Library of Our Lives almost 40 years ago, a brilliant concept by the late Peter Jamison, who directed, executed through the university's Honors College, and written by the class I taught as part of the project (and, for a variety of reasons, sometimes written by me personally). The force continues, and it will be fun to watch it.
Recently read: Eating Fire, Tasting Blood
This is subtitled "an anthology of the American Indian Holocaust." Many white Americans may believe this goes too far in describing our treatment of the natives here before us, but history makes a case for at least "cultural" genocide and the case is strong for more than this. "A good Indian is a dead Indian" was at times close to official government policy -- and perhaps was policy.
The contributors here are all Native Americans, and they respond to their history with anger, courage, poetry and resilience. They have survived, despite everything. They are not going away. They are proud, and they want their audience and their day in the court of history and justice. It's important that we listen to what they say. We need to face our true history squarely, especially at times like these when a large segment of our nation embraces a self-serving inaccurate myth about our past.
Excerpts:
The contributors here are all Native Americans, and they respond to their history with anger, courage, poetry and resilience. They have survived, despite everything. They are not going away. They are proud, and they want their audience and their day in the court of history and justice. It's important that we listen to what they say. We need to face our true history squarely, especially at times like these when a large segment of our nation embraces a self-serving inaccurate myth about our past.
Excerpts:
The dictionary included examples of holocaust incidents among groups of people. Beyond the formally named twentieth-century Holocaust of European Jews, Cambodians, Africans, and AIDS victims were listed with varying merits. American Indians were strangely absent from any of these examples. This was, after all, the American Heritage Dictionary. How could the editors have overlooked such a key example from within America's own borders?*Imagine being a child again. Envision being eleven years old, thinking of your friends and life with ease and being full of nonstop questions. Imagine being a carefree spirit and still having innocence in your life, still loving without reason, and having thoughts of the world as complete in your own eyes. Then imagine that everything that makes you who you are is being attacked. You are told that the way you dress, the way you speak, and everything you were taught about your heritage is evil and wrong.*The American Indian Holocaust did happen. Perhaps not in the same way the holocaust happened for the Jews, nor for the people in Rwanda, nor for the Puerto Ricans at Carlisle, nor for the Asians at Heart Mountain, nor for all culturally oppressed, assimilated people everywhere in the world. But it did happen and bits and pieces of this oppression are evident in all Indian communities today. That these grave injustices happened to many groups, not just one, and in various ways, should finally be confronted.*We've never been apologized to for the loss of our people during the gold rush, we've never been apologized to for the theft of our land under the General Allotment Act of 1887, we've never been apologized to for the loss of language and the attempted extinction of our culture by the boarding schools, and on and on and on. We cannot trust the federal or state governments to help us protect what is ours, and that is precisely why we are the agents or our survival.*Cultural genocide is the new genocide. It impacts us in ways we can't often predict, which makes it more insidious. It we do not learn how to talk the federal government's talk, so to speak, we will never have a voice in decisions made about us. This creates a dilemma for some because there is a fear that exists of becoming too much like white people. This is the struggle: how do we understand their world and still exist in ours', I think the answer is what it has always been-balance.
The Hazards of Duke - Magazine - The Atlantic
The Hazards of Duke - Magazine - The Atlantic:
"A now infamous PowerPoint presentation exposes a lot about men, women, sex, and alcohol—and about how universities are letting their female students down."
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Josh Silver: Comcastrophe: Comcast/NBC Merger Approved
Josh Silver: Comcastrophe: Comcast/NBC Merger Approved:
"President Obama is being squeezed by a corrupt Washington that is run by industry lobbyists, fake grassroots groups, massive political spending and PR machines that make the most basic public interest protections impossible to advance. But rather than tell that story, dig in, and fight like a true leader would, Obama has chosen to hire corporate-friendly advisors, compromise on the most crucial substance, and attempt to eke out weak, symbolic, half-victories gift-wrapped in flowery oratory and spin. It's a losing strategy that has become brutally transparent."
Recently read: Quantum Enigma
This is the best introduction to Quantum theory that I've seen. The authors are not New Age gurus but scientists, and they write and think clearly, fairly, and are always clear about what is accepted by the scientific community and what is speculative. They use this as the textbook in their course at the University of California at Santa Cruz -- and what a wonderful course it must be! If you haven't read in this field, this is the first book to read.
The second book to read is Manjit Kumar's Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality, which casts the enigma in dramatic personal terms. I recommend both books without qualification.
Exerpts from the first book:
The second book to read is Manjit Kumar's Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality, which casts the enigma in dramatic personal terms. I recommend both books without qualification.
Exerpts from the first book:
Quantum theory has been subject to challenging tests for eight decades. No prediction by the theory has ever been shown wrong. It is the most battle-tested theory in all of science—it has no competitors. Nevertheless, if you take the implications of the theory seriously, you confront an enigma. The theory tells us that the reality of the physical world depends on our observation of it. This is surely almost impossible to believe.*The waviness in a region is the probability of finding the object in that region. Be careful—the waviness is not the probability of the object being there. There's a crucial difference! The object was not there before you found it there. Your happening to find it there caused it to be there. This is tricky and the essence of the quantum enigma.*In principle, our world has a mysterious universal connectedness that goes beyond what we usually consider physical forces.*What's in the minds of the audience leaving the theater? If it's that physicists who use quantum mechanics spend their time dealing with the "spiritual revelations" the movie describes, we're embarrassed. If viewers think the physicists in the movie expressing these mystical ideas represent more than the very tiniest fraction of the physics community, they've been misled. The movie slides far down the slippery slope.*We find no "interpretations" of relativity. The more deeply you think about relativity, the less strange it seems. The more deeply you think about quantum mechanics, the more strange it seems.*The quantum theory works perfectly; no prediction of the theory has ever been shown in error. It is the theory basic to all physics, and thus to all science. One-third of our economy depends on products developed with it. For all practical purposes, we can be completely satisfied with it. But if you take quantum theory seriously beyond practical purposes, it has baffling implications.
The Myth of 'American Exceptionalism' Implodes | CommonDreams.org
The Myth of 'American Exceptionalism' Implodes | CommonDreams.org:
"Until the 1970s, US capitalism shared its spoils with American workers. But since 2008, it has made them pay for its failures
by Richard Wolff"
by Richard Wolff"
Atlantic City
I collect first script pages today, so reading them is tomorrow's charge and discussing them Thursday's. And another week is down.
Why the Internet Is a Great Tool for Totalitarians | Magazine
Why the Internet Is a Great Tool for Totalitarians | Magazine:
"Can the Internet empower dissidents and pro-democracy activists? Yes. But it can also strengthen existing dictatorships and facilitate the control of their populations. Washington’s utopian plan to liberate the world one tweet at a time could also turn American innovation into a tool for the world’s subjugation."
Monday, January 17, 2011
Zenyatta wins Horse of Year - Yahoo! News
Zenyatta wins Horse of Year - Yahoo! News:
"MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Moments after the Eclipse Awards ended Monday night, Zenyatta owner Ann Moss came off the stage eager to call her mare in Kentucky. They keep in touch by video phone.
'I just can't wait to tell her,' a beaming Moss said. 'We won!'"
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Double-edged tour
H's cousin and her husband in town, we gave them the city tour and it must have been hilarious, now that I think about it, because H is rah-rah Pdx all the way, and I think it's gone downhill since the 1980s, so H would say blah blah is really great, and I would add, yeah but you should've been here in 1985 when blah blah, but I think H won because they left very impressed with the city, almost as much as I'm impressed with the way the city was thirty years ago. Look, 30 years ago there were two theater directors, two theater companies and a composer, all on the city payroll as city employees in Parks & Rec! Talk about a European model (our public transportation, which is great, reminded them of Europe -- they are from New Hampshire). I actually almost get sick in my stomach when I revisit the urban changes. "This is the way Greenwich Village used to be, hope it never changes," my agent told me in the 80s about the NW neighborhood I lived in. What she liked, and I liked, had vanished by the end of the decade. They call it progress and maybe most people dig it. I've wanted to move ever since it happened.
A Philosopher of Religion Calls it Quits | (A)theologies | Religion Dispatches
A Philosopher of Religion Calls it Quits | (A)theologies | Religion Dispatches:
"I have to confess that I now regard “the case for theism” as a fraud and I can no longer take it seriously enough to present it to a class as a respectable philosophical position—no more than I could present intelligent design as a legitimate biological theory."
No One Listened to Gabrielle Giffords - NYTimes.com
No One Listened to Gabrielle Giffords - NYTimes.com:
"Last week a conservative presidential candidate, Tim Pawlenty, timidly said it wouldn’t be his “style” to use Palin’s target map, but was savaged so viciously by his own camp that he immediately retreated. A senior Republican senator told Politico that he saw the Tucson bloodbath as a “cautionary tale” for his party, yet refused to be named.
What are they and their peers so afraid of? No doubt that someone might reload — the same fears that prompted Gabrielle Giffords to speak up, calmly but firmly, last March. Unless and until they can match her courage and speak out too, it’s hard to see what will change."
What are they and their peers so afraid of? No doubt that someone might reload — the same fears that prompted Gabrielle Giffords to speak up, calmly but firmly, last March. Unless and until they can match her courage and speak out too, it’s hard to see what will change."
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Bill Maher's New Rule rips Tea Party for Founding Fathers comparison--Daily Kos: State of the Nation
Daily Kos: State of the Nation:
"Bill Maher is back! Last night, he delivered a New Rule blasting the Tea Party for dressing up and comparing themselves to our Founding Fathers, showing that what they believed in almost every way is in direct opposition to what the Tea Party now stands for."
Banjo
Best day of banjo practice I've had in ages, longer, more songs, etc, done while watching the playoffs. Gets me excited about playing again, an enthusiasm I appear to have lost for a spell. Still working on the songs I learned in my two classes but hope soon to start learning new songs, a new one a week. That's the goal.
I have no interest in the NFL playoffs, really, unless Seattle pulls another miracle and wins tomorrow. I don't care much for pro football any more and I haven't liked pro basketball in decades. Too many jerks in the game today.
I have no interest in the NFL playoffs, really, unless Seattle pulls another miracle and wins tomorrow. I don't care much for pro football any more and I haven't liked pro basketball in decades. Too many jerks in the game today.
Sex, Pizza or Self-Esteem? - NYTimes.com
Sex, Pizza or Self-Esteem? - NYTimes.com:
"Given the choice, young bright college students said they’d rather get a boost to their ego — like a compliment or a good grade on a paper — than eat a favorite food or engage in sex, a new paper suggests."
Daily Kos: Idaho pharmacist OK with woman bleeding to death
Daily Kos: Idaho pharmacist OK with woman bleeding to death:
"Under the new law, the pharmacist was required to provide an alternative to the nurse practitioner so that the patient's prescription could be filled. But the pharmacist didn't do that either. Apparently, treating a woman who may have had an abortion is a matter of conscience, but letting the woman bleed to death isn't."
Daily Kos: The Bravest Philosopher of Our Time...
Daily Kos: The Bravest Philosopher of Our Time...:
"All I'm saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we're caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."
Starting an extraordinary book
Canzano: The Ducks have crossed the line at Matt Court | OregonLive.com
Canzano: The Ducks have crossed the line at Matt Court | OregonLive.com:
"I've also learned to appreciate the deep allegiance Phil Knight feels toward his alma mater, and I love that Oregon honored his late son, Matthew, by putting the kid's name on the new basketball arena.
But this psychedelic basketball court?
It's just too much.
Someone needs to stop the Ducks."
It's just too much.
Someone needs to stop the Ducks."
Hear, hear!
Lord of the Flies - coming soon to your country--Daily Kos: State of the Nation
Daily Kos: State of the Nation:
"In literature and history, we don't need to look far. We know what happens when the thin veneer of civilization is stripped away. What occurs in the absence of civil institutions is illustrated in books and movies, usually with a catastrophe such as an apocalypse (The Postman) or shipwreck (Lord of the Flies) as the backdrop."
Thanks but No Thanks America - You'll Have to Get Your Altruism Porn Somewhere Else--Daily Kos: State of the Nation
Daily Kos: State of the Nation:
"American altruism porn at its finest. Feeling someone else's pain and subsequent joy in satisfying one hour bites from the safety of your cozy living room on your big screen tv once a week. Getting to feel like a better person and reveling in the fact that your small but comfortable life does not require from you any deep or 'raw' emotion."
Jan. 15, 1929: Birth of a Moral Compass, Even for Science | This Day In Tech | Wired.com
Jan. 15, 1929: Birth of a Moral Compass, Even for Science | This Day In Tech | Wired.com:
"King delivered a lecture at the University of Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 11, 1964, the day after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. He argued that progress in science and technology has not been equaled by “moral progress” — instead, humanity is suffering from a “moral and spiritual lag.”"
Wet Saturday
Hope to see a movie Sunday, Blue Valentine, one of only a few coming out that interest me. Most movies today leave me cold, no desire to check them out.
Time to make breakfast. Oatmeal and scrapple.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Secret Service Study Probes Psyche of U.S. Assassins | Wired Science | Wired.com
Secret Service Study Probes Psyche of U.S. Assassins | Wired Science | Wired.com:
"Contrary to popular assumptions about public killings, the attackers didn’t conform to any particular demographic profile. But when Fein reconstructed their patterns of thinking, he was able to distill them into a handful of recurring motives for killing a public person — motives that seemed consistent regardless of whether a given individual was delusional or not (and three quarters of those who pulled the trigger were not)."
Recently viewed: Crazy Heart
Composing
At long last, I actually spent some time at the keyboard this morning, working on the art song. I'm not sure I wrote any music I'll keep but at least I started. At least I started.
Recent reading: Death to the BCS
I don't think there's a football fan in America who won't be persuaded by this important book by Dan Wetzel and Josh Peter. Not only does it document the inherent greed and unfairness of the Bowl Championship Series, it outlines a 16-team playoff system that would help everyone involved. However, the authors realize they are dealing with a power structure -- they rightly call it a Cartel -- that may require the help of the government to budge. But surely it will help to document the BCS corruption and greed.
Excerpts:
Excerpts:
“We basically have a system for college football that too closely resembles the old Soviet Presidium,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. “You have a . . . politburo that’s decided if you aren’t one of those party members, then you’re unable to participate.”
While the big six conferences hogged 82.3 percent of the $155.2 million paid out by BCS games last year, the Mountain West Conference, Western Athletic Conference, Mid-American Conference, Conference USA, and Sun Belt Conference scraped along with the leftovers. The Cartel and the BCS exist to consolidate control among the power conferences and position themselves to never let go. Suggesting a playoff to the Cartel is futile because it doesn’t care how big the postseason revenue pie gets or even if its slice would grow. It simply wants to ensure that no one else holds the knife.
In 2005, the Associated Press, which runs the oldest and most respected college football poll, told the BCS it didn’t want its rankings involved in the process anymore. The AP’s reasoning was sound: Staging an athletic competition based on a vote is ridiculous. The AP poll was created as a promotional tool designed to foster arguments. It was harmless fun. The BCS was not.
“We have playoffs in every sport in the world except college football,” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. “How can we be right and everybody else wrong?”
Getting college football’s leaders to wake up, step up, and bring the game up is, of course, the difficult part. Entrenched egos are never easy to sway. Fear of change is oxygen to the status quo. Perhaps only the federal government, through the powerful Justice Department’s pursuit of antitrust charges, can lessen the Cartel’s grip.
In a time of budget cuts and soaring tuition, Nebraska—and every college and university in the country, for that matter—could use the millions of dollars a playoff would send its way. And better yet, it would pour millions back into the city of Lincoln. If regular-season games are a boon, imagine the playoffs,
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Peter H. Gleick: 2010 Hottest Year on Record: The Graph That Should Be on the Front Page of Every Newspaper
Peter H. Gleick: 2010 Hottest Year on Record: The Graph That Should Be on the Front Page of Every Newspaper:
"This graph and this information should be on the front page of every newspaper in the world. Every Congressional representative should see it."
The End of New Deal Liberalism | The Nation
The End of New Deal Liberalism | The Nation:
"American democracy has been conclusively conquered by American capitalism. Government has been disabled or captured by the formidable powers of private enterprise and concentrated wealth. Self-governing rights that representative democracy conferred on citizens are now usurped by the overbearing demands of corporate and financial interests."
The Second Amendment
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.Some interesting points here. It doesn't say INDIVIDUALS can bear arms, it says the PEOPLE can. That's a collective notion, not an individual one. (If meant otherwise, say PERSON.) And why? Because a WELL REGULATED militia is necessary to the SECURITY of a free state. So the REASON to bear arms is to increase SECURITY. And the militia must be REGULATED. We don't hear about "well regulated" in the usual discussion of this amendment.
Clearly our situation today makes us less secure, not more secure. Arming the National Guard is not the same thing as arming every nut in the land. I think we can reach better ground by living up to the constitution, just like the Tea Party wants -- only let's read what the 2nd amendment actually says.
Daily Kos: President Obama & Palin: On a civil tone
Daily Kos: President Obama & Palin: On a civil tone:
"Nothing could illustrate the difference between 'what is' and 'what should be' as the two speeches yesterday, one by Sarah Palin illustrating the partisan small-minded approach and the other Obama’s universally respected and well-received compassionate call for a more civil tone.
Palin made Obama seem bigger and more statesman-like, and for that, she has done us all a service. The trouble is that there’s a small group of ultra-conservatives who get outsized media coverage and for whom Palin speaks. And it isn’t the violent rhetoric, bad as that is, that’s most dangerous (there is no direct link to this troubled mass murderer.) It’s the 'Obama is illegitimate, and so is the federal government' strain of ultra-conservatism."
Palin made Obama seem bigger and more statesman-like, and for that, she has done us all a service. The trouble is that there’s a small group of ultra-conservatives who get outsized media coverage and for whom Palin speaks. And it isn’t the violent rhetoric, bad as that is, that’s most dangerous (there is no direct link to this troubled mass murderer.) It’s the 'Obama is illegitimate, and so is the federal government' strain of ultra-conservatism."
Strategy for civility
I think the only chance for more civil discourse is if the President becomes a watch dog and calls people on occasions that go too far; or let Biden do it. But we have to stop "accepting" it. You quote the person exactly and you explain why the comment is irrational. You have to embarrass those who do this and make it clear that it's not acceptable. All this happens because we LET IT HAPPEN. The President, or his spokesperson, should take the lead on this. We have to embarrass the political loudmouths into civility by showing them they are caught at it and the behavior is unacceptable to most of us.
Jeremy Rifkin: Will We Heed President Obama's Call for a More Empathic Society?
Jeremy Rifkin: Will We Heed President Obama's Call for a More Empathic Society?:
"It is our core beliefs about the very nature of human beings that make us so susceptible to the rising plague of intolerance that is spreading across the land. The American character was forged, in large part, on a skewed idea about who we are as a people that was spawned several hundred years ago in the Protestant Reformation and English Enlightenment.
From the very moment John Winthrop and his flock of Puritans landed on American shores in 1630, we came to believe that we are God's chosen people and that the Lord has a unique covenant with us that makes us special among the peoples of the world. In our economic life, we have become the fiercest supporters of Adam Smith's belief that the naked pursuit of individual self-interest in the market is the defining feature of human nature. In our political life, we have come to believe in 'American Exceptionalism,' that our political ideology is somehow superior to all others. In our social life, we are the strongest supporters of Social Darwinism, that life is a combative struggle in which only the strongest survive. These highly regarded core beliefs are antithetical to a mature empathic sensibility."
From the very moment John Winthrop and his flock of Puritans landed on American shores in 1630, we came to believe that we are God's chosen people and that the Lord has a unique covenant with us that makes us special among the peoples of the world. In our economic life, we have become the fiercest supporters of Adam Smith's belief that the naked pursuit of individual self-interest in the market is the defining feature of human nature. In our political life, we have come to believe in 'American Exceptionalism,' that our political ideology is somehow superior to all others. In our social life, we are the strongest supporters of Social Darwinism, that life is a combative struggle in which only the strongest survive. These highly regarded core beliefs are antithetical to a mature empathic sensibility."
Balmy
Early to the university because I could catch a ride with H coming downtown. In the hallway a colleague cried, "I wanted a snow day!" But today it's positively balmy outside, maybe 50, and I'll take it.
All afternoon ahead of me, caught up on prep, so I can read or maybe work on something or maybe goof off. I love my office actually. Like a cocoon against the crazy world.
All afternoon ahead of me, caught up on prep, so I can read or maybe work on something or maybe goof off. I love my office actually. Like a cocoon against the crazy world.
Tom Gerdy: The Death of the Student Athlete
Tom Gerdy: The Death of the Student Athlete:
"The past several years in sports have shown us some horrible examples of the win-at-all-costs mentality run amuck."
Instapaper II
I link to this extraordinary application below -- and now that I've been using it, I can tell you it's something I'll be using daily. So easy and convenient! So free! See an article you like, click Read Later, and read it on your Kindle. Beautiful.
Opinion: Will the Tucson Massacre Change Anything?
Opinion: Will the Tucson Massacre Change Anything?:
"...earlier massacres inspired no substantive rethinking of the country's approach to mental health."
Unfortunately, I agree that nothing will change. As early as next week, if not before, we will see the same divisive rancor in Congress. In fact, it may be uglier because now the lines get more passionately defined. I would be shocked to see something constructive. Sad. But it's my reading of history and how we've responded to past horrors. Surprise me, politicians. Shock me.
Unfortunately, I agree that nothing will change. As early as next week, if not before, we will see the same divisive rancor in Congress. In fact, it may be uglier because now the lines get more passionately defined. I would be shocked to see something constructive. Sad. But it's my reading of history and how we've responded to past horrors. Surprise me, politicians. Shock me.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Instapaper
Instapaper is a useful, powerful tool. It's a button "read later" you add to your tool bar. See something you want to read later, hit "read later", then download it later for Kindle and read the web whatever on your Kindle. Easy, very useful!
Aeschylus & Arizona
Watching the memorial service in Arizona, I am reminded that the classical Greeks knew more about human affairs and the human heart that we do. Because they so valued the need for communal reflection on the nature of human tragedy, on the sharing of pain and sadness, that they did not have to wait for literal tragedy to happen in order to express it. They gathered to watch plays that told tragic stories, and -- so valued was the imagination in that time -- these stories felt real. In our own time and place, the imagination is under-valued, and we experience what the Greeks felt only when literal opportunity occurs, as last weekend and tonight. We have lost much in losing the communal ritual of these distant citizens, the ritual of classical Tragedy. They knew more about the human heart and human needs than we do.
The Incoherence Of Palin - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan
The Incoherence Of Palin - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan
What a dingbat she is. But this contradiction is amazing even for her.
Remembering civility
It was the late 1940s or early 1950s, I was around ten, and a neighbor in our new home of Pasadena had put up a lawn sign favoring a politician running for something or other. This was a most unusual act, and it amused my dad no end. Who's he trying to convince? my dad laughed. Probably himself.
At another time, same era, I remember my parents wondering if their new friends, whom they liked a lot, were Republicans or Democrats. They were staunch FDR Democrats. But dad thought the new friends might be Republicans. This was wondered in amusement and in no way would threaten the friendship; it was amused curiosity.
Personal politics was nobody's business. It was like religion. There was freedom of religion, and there was freedom of political belief, and neither was available for public discourse unless you had bad form or irrational prejudice. These beliefs about religion and politics were personal, not public. You didn't put up a lawn sign for a politician any more than you put up a sign declaring, I am Catholic! Nobody's business. Life went on fine without anybody caring. Indeed, once when a petitioner came up to my dad about some issue or other, my dad stared at the poor fellow and said, What's wrong with you? Don't you believe in a secret ballot?
I'm glad I grew up in and can remember such civil times. They are so far from where we are today. No, not all change is progress. Indeed, little of it seems to be.
And you don't have to go all the way back to the post WWII era. In the late 1960s, my best friend, recently out of the Army, wanted to get a loan so he could go to college. He applied to his small town bank in Idaho. This was all done on the phone -- his mom had gone to school with the bank president. Everybody knew everybody. I was visiting when he went to pick up the check. As we were about to get into his car in the bank parking lot, the bank secretary came rushing out. "Would you fill this out for our records?" she asked, handing him a form. It was an application for a loan! First he got the money, then he did the paperwork. Deals were done on a handshake. The times were so different. And I don't call where we've come "progress."
At another time, same era, I remember my parents wondering if their new friends, whom they liked a lot, were Republicans or Democrats. They were staunch FDR Democrats. But dad thought the new friends might be Republicans. This was wondered in amusement and in no way would threaten the friendship; it was amused curiosity.
Personal politics was nobody's business. It was like religion. There was freedom of religion, and there was freedom of political belief, and neither was available for public discourse unless you had bad form or irrational prejudice. These beliefs about religion and politics were personal, not public. You didn't put up a lawn sign for a politician any more than you put up a sign declaring, I am Catholic! Nobody's business. Life went on fine without anybody caring. Indeed, once when a petitioner came up to my dad about some issue or other, my dad stared at the poor fellow and said, What's wrong with you? Don't you believe in a secret ballot?
I'm glad I grew up in and can remember such civil times. They are so far from where we are today. No, not all change is progress. Indeed, little of it seems to be.
And you don't have to go all the way back to the post WWII era. In the late 1960s, my best friend, recently out of the Army, wanted to get a loan so he could go to college. He applied to his small town bank in Idaho. This was all done on the phone -- his mom had gone to school with the bank president. Everybody knew everybody. I was visiting when he went to pick up the check. As we were about to get into his car in the bank parking lot, the bank secretary came rushing out. "Would you fill this out for our records?" she asked, handing him a form. It was an application for a loan! First he got the money, then he did the paperwork. Deals were done on a handshake. The times were so different. And I don't call where we've come "progress."
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
After Giffords Shooting, Other Threatened Politicians Decry Arizona's History Of Extremism
After Giffords Shooting, Other Threatened Politicians Decry Arizona's History Of Extremism:
"'At the trial, the man actually said, 'I shot her because the radio said I should take her out.''"
At least somebody admits it.
Connection!
A dear old writer friend, now 88 in a retirement community in Lake Oswego, PK, called me before Christmas asking if Juniper Tavern were being performed anywhere -- but she left no contact info! I couldn't track her down. Today, in the office, I found an old saved message, saved by an office mate I presume, from her
again and this had a return phone number. Just talked to her, got her address, and will visit her soon, meanwhile send her some DVDs of recent things -- she's one of my most loyal fans. Great to reconnect with her! I met her almost 30 yrs ago when she took a workshop of mine at Fishtrap. I got her a production of her one act comedy THE COWBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, if I recall the title right. She says she is blind but still writing. She can't see the computer screen but her fingers "remember" how to do it. Amazing woman.
again and this had a return phone number. Just talked to her, got her address, and will visit her soon, meanwhile send her some DVDs of recent things -- she's one of my most loyal fans. Great to reconnect with her! I met her almost 30 yrs ago when she took a workshop of mine at Fishtrap. I got her a production of her one act comedy THE COWBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, if I recall the title right. She says she is blind but still writing. She can't see the computer screen but her fingers "remember" how to do it. Amazing woman.
Final BCS Rankings 2011: Top 25 Standings Released Following Auburn Win Over Oregon
Final BCS Rankings 2011: Top 25 Standings Released Following Auburn Win Over Oregon:
"1 Auburn (56) 14-0
2 TCU (3) 13-0
3 Oregon 12-1
4 Stanford 12-1
5 Ohio State 12-1
6 Oklahoma 12-2
7 Wisconsin 11-2
8 LSU 11-2
9 Boise State 12-1
10 Alabama 10-3
11 Nevada 13-1
12 Arkansas 10-3
13 Oklahoma State 11-2
14 Michigan State 11-2
15 Mississippi State 9-4"
2 TCU (3) 13-0
3 Oregon 12-1
4 Stanford 12-1
5 Ohio State 12-1
6 Oklahoma 12-2
7 Wisconsin 11-2
8 LSU 11-2
9 Boise State 12-1
10 Alabama 10-3
11 Nevada 13-1
12 Arkansas 10-3
13 Oklahoma State 11-2
14 Michigan State 11-2
15 Mississippi State 9-4"
Three wise souls!
A cold weather wimp I am, I am
Freezing at the park and ride this morning because an icy wind was blowing. I worried about how I was going to make it from the bus stop to the university, my hobbling habit, without turning into an ice man. But the gods had a gift, no wind on the university end! which made the weather not so bad at all. So here I am snug in my office. Showing a film today, Tales from the Script, a fine new docu about the screenwriting life. I overkill this kind of stuff, Reality 101, in the first couple days, just so they'll believe what I tell them. See, writers of FAMOUS movies say the same thing!
Quotation of the day
"They really need to realize that the rhetoric and firing people up, and, you know, even things for example, we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list, but the thing is, that the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district. When people do that, you gotta realize there's consequences to that action."
--Gabrielle Giffords
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