The fun of it all

NO. 21 STANFORD UPSETS NO. 2 USC, 21-14
PITT SURPRISES NO. 13 VIRGINIA TECH 35-17
NO. 20 NOTRE DAME BEATS NO. 10 MICHIGAN STATE 20-3
NO. 3 LSU DEFEATS WINLESS IDAHO 63-14

Game channel

Here's how I am "watching" the UCLA game, play by play on the computer with diagrams.

And on "live" TV, Stanford just upset USC! Ah, a good night to be in Palo Alto.

LATER. I can get play by play on my Kindle with NY Times Mobile Sports. Far out!

'The Master' Breaks Art House Box Office Records

'The Master' Breaks Art House Box Office Records:

Crossed fingers

Can't watch tonight's UCLA - Houston game because DirecTv and Pac 12 network haven't made a deal yet. But I think I found the LA radio station that broadcasts he games, and it has net access -- so maybe I hear it on the radio, which is just as fun anyway. Hope so!

Still frustrated that Cal blew such an opportunity for an upset. I blame the coach. Tie game, 4 mins, 4th and 1 close in -- and he brings out the field goal kicker, normally a good idea, but the guy already had missed two BADLY -- and he missed this one just as badly. Ohio State scored next possession on a 3rd and long play that had blown coverage, a very long TD to win the game.

I think these teams sometimes lose it mentally when they are on the verge of a big upset. No one gave Cal the slightest chance. They blew 16 pts and still made it close -- but in the end, mental mistakes by coach and players blew it.

This is a big test for UCLA. In the past culture, big wins were followed by letdowns and loses or poor victories against inferior opponents. UCLA should win this. However, what worries me is that Houston has a passing fool QB, and may face 70+ attempts. Pass defense is not a Bruin strength.

Go, Bruins!

p.s. 52-6 Washington, end of 3 Qs.

p.p.s. the station isn't broadcasting the game. Sigh. No way so far to follow it ... will try espn etc. A BIT LATER, solution is Yahoo game channel. And UCLA defense scored in first minute.

Cal blows it

Cal spotted Ohio St sixteen pts ... three missed FGs and a TD called back ... and lost by seven. Should have been another Pac 12 upset. Cal esp fell apart in last four mins.

Wash killing Pdx St at half 35 to 0. Painful to watch.

Slanted

Ah the left can be as irrational and self-serving as the right. They don't scare me quite as much. Their recent giddiness about future victory strikes me as absurd. Of course I hope they are right. But I live in a darker more evil universe than they do. Ask CJ.

Success

When I look back at my work from some distance .... let' say to things written before 1990 ... I find considerable work I own up to. Sometines it even blows me away. Not everything but enough to make me feel like I did a good job. And more often than I remember.

Of course from another perspective my work is marginal at best. But I define success, not the outside world. By and large I did what I set out to do. Salinger would be pleased. Gary Ross would be pleased. Both have written eloquently about defining your own success.

Scott Brown, Wall Street's Hope to Stop Elizabeth Warren - Businessweek

Scott Brown, Wall Street's Hope to Stop Elizabeth Warren - Businessweek:

I hope she wins ... and becomes presidential.

Romney’s Jaw-Dropping Incoherence | Common Dreams

Romney’s Jaw-Dropping Incoherence | Common Dreams:

"Both during the Republican primaries and since he nailed down the GOP nomination, he has demonstrated a readiness to say whatever he thinks will help him politically without regard to its truthfulness or its fairness."

Ocean drive: a road trip around Portland, Oregon | Travel | The Guardian

Ocean drive: a road trip around Portland, Oregon | Travel | The Guardian:

"Tempted by Portland, one of the US's coolest cities? Be sure to visit Oregon's coast too, where the arty vibe has spread to its lovely seaside villages"

Very long travel article on our city. Interesting what she chooses to write about -- and neglect. She's heavy into pop music scene, which I am  not  After all, I've been listening to Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker for over half a century and see no reason to stop now ha ha.

Where did punk begin? A cinema in Peru | Music | guardian.co.uk

Where did punk begin? A cinema in Peru | Music | guardian.co.uk:

"Almost a decade before the Ramones or the Sex Pistols struck a chord in anger, Los Saicos were screaming their way to notoriety"

There's always someone ahead of the curve.

Anti-western violence gripping the Arab world has little to do with a film | World news | guardian.co.uk

Anti-western violence gripping the Arab world has little to do with a film | World news | guardian.co.uk:

"Attacks on embassies have more to do with perceived imperialism and the activities of Muslim fundamentalists"

Moby-Dick Big Read captures stars for audio-visual voyage | Books | The Guardian

Moby-Dick Big Read captures stars for audio-visual voyage | Books | The Guardian:

"David Cameron, Tilda Swinton, Stephen Fry and Simon Callow jump aboard ambitious project to broadcast Herman Melville's classic novel in its entirety – 135 chapters over 135 days"

Download a chapter a day.

Arctic sea ice shrinks to smallest extent ever recorded | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Arctic sea ice shrinks to smallest extent ever recorded | Environment | guardian.co.uk:

"Rate of summer ice melt smashes two previous record lows and prompts warnings of accelerated climate change"

Valerie Plame Wilson: Why Is the U.S. Government Bullying an American Hero?

Valerie Plame Wilson: Why Is the U.S. Government Bullying an American Hero?:

Michael Hogan: 'Innocence Of Muslims' Proves That Literally Anyone Can Make a Movie These Days

Michael Hogan: 'Innocence Of Muslims' Proves That Literally Anyone Can Make a Movie These Days:

Stop it, already!

These dancing liberals are driving me crazy. Look, this election will be determined by turnout and how many voters Republicans can disqualify. Polls are meaningless. And dangerous. Liberals should make sure the voters get out and get IDs where necessary. My prediction? Another court decided fiasco, Romney wins but will be impeached before term is out. and then oops ... ha ha. how can it not get crazy disgusting sad fascist?

Office progress

Real progress today! And this was supposed to be the first chore of the summer. The gods had other ideas. A session or two should do it.

Premature

Over at Daily Kos and other progressive forums they are celebrating Obama's victory already. But I remain nervous about the election. If they can't win it, they still can steal it. A Romney victory would not surprise me.

Round Bend Press: Let's Get Lost

Round Bend Press: Let's Get Lost:

This doc film about Chet Baker is remarkable. Also remarkable is how such a self-destructive violent personality could create such tender romantic music. One of the wonders of art -- and a warning, never confuse the art with the artist! Art has a price and usually it's the artist who pays it. Another argument supporting Philip Glass' contention that all art should be presented anonymously so we don't romanticize the transaction.

Also remarkable is the biography Deep in a Dream: the Long Night of Chet Baker. Baker lost his teeth, a consequence of his life style, and re-learned the trumpet all over again late in life.

X-rays unravel mysterious degradation of Vincent Van Gogh painting

X-rays unravel mysterious degradation of Vincent Van Gogh painting:

Solar and wind energy may stabilise the power grid

Solar and wind energy may stabilise the power grid:

James Cameron: 'Hollywood gets action women wrong' | Film | The Guardian

James Cameron: 'Hollywood gets action women wrong' | Film | The Guardian:

Woody Allen: 'To have been a lead character in a juicy scandal doesn't bother me' | Film | The Guardian

Woody Allen: 'To have been a lead character in a juicy scandal doesn't bother me' | Film | The Guardian:

Brigitte Bardot: celebrity crushed me | Film | guardian.co.uk

Brigitte Bardot: celebrity crushed me | Film | guardian.co.uk:

False positives: fraud and misconduct are threatening scientific research | Science | The Guardian

False positives: fraud and misconduct are threatening scientific research | Science | The Guardian:

"High-profile cases and modern technology are putting scientific deceit under the microscope
"

Security blanket

My favorite time of day is 4 to 7 a.m. Downhill after that. And my first activity of the day is going through the L. A. Times. L.A. feels more like home than Portland.

Federal justice agency reaches 'preliminary agreement' with Portland police on needed reforms | OregonLive.com

Federal justice agency reaches 'preliminary agreement' with Portland police on needed reforms | OregonLive.com:

 "The Portland Police Bureau has engaged in a pattern of excessive force that violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution involving people with mental illness, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday. "

My reaction as someone who lives here? Duh.

Quotation of the non-truth era

Politics is pissing in public.

--Norman O. Brown

Boston literary start-up lands Amazon deal | The Passive Voice

Boston literary start-up lands Amazon deal | The Passive Voice:

Astounding new opportunities in publishing.

Recent reading

Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth about the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity by James Hansen

Once large sea level rise begins to devastate coastal cities around the world, creating hundreds of millions of refugees, there may be a breakdown of global governance. But regardless of that, if ocean circulation changes, such that warmer Pacific Ocean water begins sinking to the ocean floor and melting methane hydrates, there will be no plausible way for humans to reverse that change of ocean circulation. While we can’t predict the details of short-term human history, changes will be momentous. China, despite its growing economic power, will have great difficulties as hundreds of millions of Chinese are displaced by rising seas. With the submersion of Florida and coastal cities, the United States may be equally stressed. 

 Jack Nicholson: The Playboy Interviews (50 Years of the Playboy Interview) by Jack Nicholson, Playboy

I was also part of a generation that was raised on cool jazz and Jack Kerouac, and we walked around in corduroys and turtlenecks talking about Camus and Sartre and existentialism and what going on the road would be like. We stayed up all night and slept till three in the afternoon. We were among the few people around seeing European pictures. We went to Dylan’s and Ravi Shankar’s early concerts. We smoked a lot of dope, usually in the toilet or out in the backyard or driveway, ’cause it wasn’t cool to do it in public. Zen was coming in, so we knew about Alan Watts. Most of us had been fortunate chronologically; we hadn’t had to go to war. And we were probably among the first group of people who weren’t buying the American dream.

 The Myth of American Exceptionalism by Mr Godfrey Hodgson

American Exceptionalism. The core of that belief is the idea that the United States is not just the richest and most powerful of the world's more than two hundred states but is also politically and morally exceptional. Exceptionalists minimize the contributions of other nations and cultures to the rule of law and to the evolution of political democracy.

Mitt Romney and the "Libya Surprise": How it Unfolded : The New Yorker

Mitt Romney and the "Libya Surprise": How it Unfolded : The New Yorker:

“LIBYA SURPRISE” COULD BE DEATH KNELL FOR ROMNEY CAMPAIGN

Posted by John Cassidy

Wishful thinking, my liberal friends. You over-estimate the electorate. Yes, it enrages many of us but it also is what many others were waiting for, Romney to raise hell. Who cares what the facts are? We are in "a post-truth era," remember? Twilight days indeed, Mr. Berman!

The Hollywood connection: how a real estate man's film led to rage in Libya | World news | guardian.co.uk

The Hollywood connection: how a real estate man's film led to rage in Libya | World news | guardian.co.uk:

"The Innocence of Muslims drew almost no one to the cinema in California. In Benghazi it provoked deadly fury"

Talk about a contrast of cultures.

Daily Kos: Open thread for night owls: The Romney smirk

Daily Kos: Open thread for night owls: The Romney smirk:

I know what he means.

Cast of Anti-Islam Film Slams Filmmaker for Deception - The Hollywood Reporter

Cast of Anti-Islam Film Slams Filmmaker for Deception - The Hollywood Reporter:

Unfortunately directors manipulating actors during the shooting of a film happens more often than lay folks realize. Screenwriters get manipulated as well. Sometimes it's not a very ethical industry.

The Embassy Attacks In Libya And Egypt - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast

The Embassy Attacks In Libya And Egypt - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast:

Romney, alas, will win as well as lose votes for his shocking comments and stupidity. But it certainly makes his election more frightening than ever.

Tweet of the day

John Lundin@johnlundin

A Jewish idiot makes a film, a Christian idiot promotes it,
Muslim idiots kill over it, and Republican idiots condemn
Obama.

CERN scientists brainstorm future role

CERN scientists brainstorm future role:

Mathematician announces that he's proved the ABC conjecture

Mathematician announces that he's proved the ABC conjecture:

"To mathematicians it's akin to the Grand Unified Theory of physics, a proof that would tie together most of the fundamental ideas in the field into one neat, fully explainable bundle."

Dark energy is real, say astronomers

Dark energy is real, say astronomers:

Please release me!

See the doc later this morning. Hopefully I'll be released to FULL ACTIVITY. In which case, this afternoon I'll mow the lawn! Or ...

---

120 PM. Results. "Guarded release." That is, full activity approved but don't overdo it and monitor the incision. "Full recovery takes a year." First I heard that. At any rate, I'm mowing some lawn! And I can sleep on my left side again!

9/11

From Love At Ground Zero

BEFORE THE NEW York sun had climbed to noon, by which
time television stations around the world were repeating, like a
film loop in a pornographic peep show, images of unthinkable
catastrophe; before TV anchors found their gravest tones of
voice with which to christen the shocking events “a day of
infamy,” no less historic and horrific than December 7th
or November 22nd, days etched permanently into memory by all
who experienced them; before America’s violent baptism under
the clear blue sky of a late summer morning; it was, after all,
just an ordinary day beginning in an ordinary way.

Commuters by the tens of thousands streamed into the city
by train and subway, by bus and car, by bicycle and on foot,
rushing forward in a relentless march to another work day, with
computers to boot, phone calls to make, meetings to attend,
deals to close, new deals to initiate. Deals were lurking
everywhere (“the business of America is business”) in this city
that considered itself the financial center of the world and
therefore the center of western civilization, New York,
stretching awake with no suspicion of how much political
innocence could be lost so quickly, oblivious to its
vulnerability, oblivious to the march of history. September 11,
2001, was just another day as a great city scurried to life, a day
like yesterday and presumably a day like tomorrow. Not an
American hurrying to work could have guessed what was about
to happen. You certainly didn’t expect it.

5.0 out of 5 stars He Does It Again June 3, 2004

By John David Nugent

Format:Paperback

In Love At Ground Zero, novelist, playwright, and teacher Charles Deemer presents a haunting story in the style of Romeo and Juliet about the love between an American boy and an Indonesian Muslim girl during the aftermath of the World Trade Center destruction.

Deemer puts the tale in present tense, occassionally passing cynical asides directed at the reader, making the novel not only a well-written narrative, but a challenging interactive experience.

One not only feels for the star-crossed protagonists, but also sees himself and his prejudices as the families regard one another with fear in light of present situations.

This is a novel which requires a second reading before an analysis can be made. As a rule, Deemer writes deep, moving, complex fiction which challenges the reader to think about himself and his own place in this changing world rather than the escapist shallow stories which purvade (sp?) Popular fiction today.

However, this novel deserves that second reading. And a third. And a fourth.

Definitely something which belongs in classrooms in later years.

p.s. What?! More than one reading? There's no accounting for taste ha ha.

---

Harriet was inspired by this novel to do a painting with the same title.

"Love At Ground Zero" by Harriet K. Levi

And then the painting became the cover of my later novel, 

Sodom, Gomorrah & Jones:

.

Walker's Drive-In & Restaurant Fort Smith, AR, 72901 - YP.com

Walker's Drive-In & Restaurant Fort Smith, AR, 72901 - YP.com:

"Last curb service BEER in the country. Yes we can serve beer to your car. Please drink responsibly!! "

Reminds me of a hot afternoon in the early 1970s, a small town in the midwest, we are cruising through when we pass a bar with an alley and a "drive in service" sign. No, we thought -- but let's try! So we drove to the window, ordered 4 gin and tonics to go -- and no problem. Off we went, in those days when drinking and driving was pretty common, at least in our circles. And there's nothing like a good gin and tonic on a blistering afternoon.

Lost opportunity

For a short time after 9/11, the U.S. had the sympathy of much of the world. What a missed opportunity to do something positive with it, even as we faced the enemy now before us. But we had a cowboy in charge and more complicated personal relationships and myths at work than Shakespeare could handle. We blew it. We went after the wrong enemy for the wrong reasons. We blew it big time. We probably will never get an opportunity like that again.

Joe Biden offers poignant words on a difficult day | OregonLive.com

Joe Biden offers poignant words on a difficult day | OregonLive.com:

"My hope for you all is that as every year passes, the depth of your pain recedes and you find comfort, as I have, genuine comfort in recalling his smile, her laugh, their touch.  And I hope you’re as certain as I am that she can see what a wonderful man her son has turned out to be, grown up to be; that he knows everything that your daughter has achieved, and that he can hear, and she can hear how her mom still talks about her, the day he scored the winning touchdown, how bright and beautiful she was on that graduation day, and know that he knows what a beautiful child the daughter he never got to see has turned out to be, and how much she reminds you of him.  For I know you see your wife every time you see her smile on your child’s face.  You remember your daughter every time you hear laughter coming from her brother’s lips.  And you remember your husband every time your son just touches your hand."

Daily routine

"Light ice in mine!"

TV Forecasters: Please Connect Climate and Extreme Weather | ThinkProgress

TV Forecasters: Please Connect Climate and Extreme Weather | ThinkProgress:

i.e. educate the public.

America the Possible: Breaking the Chains of Consumerism | Common Dreams

America the Possible: Breaking the Chains of Consumerism | Common Dreams:

 "A consumer society is one in which consumerism and materialism are central aspects of the dominant culture, where goods and services are acquired not only to satisfy common needs but also to secure identity and meaning. Framing this situation as a matter of consumer sovereignty--where the customer is always right--is misleading. Consumption patterns are powerfully shaped by forces other than preformed individual preferences--forces such as advertising, cultural norms, social pressures, and psychological associations."

As one of my poems ends, "let people shop and they'll put up with anything"

The Wagner Companion

Oregon Literary Review: The Wagner Companion

Returning from chores, heard portion of Wagner's Tristan and remembered the piece by John Jarvis I'd published in Oregon Literary Review. If you like Wagner, check it out.

Women fare better than men at making money from self-publishing

Women fare better than men at making money from self-publishing

Chicago's Teacher Problem, and Ours : The New Yorker

Chicago's Teacher Problem, and Ours : The New Yorker:

"they are also trying to limit class size, calling for increased in-school counseling services, and questioning trends toward standardized testing, as well as questioning the assumption that low test scores are always and everywhere caused primarily by bad teaching."

The Bush White House Was Deaf to 9/11 Warnings - NYTimes.com

The Bush White House Was Deaf to 9/11 Warnings - NYTimes.com:

"In the aftermath of 9/11, Bush officials attempted to deflect criticism that they had ignored C.I.A. warnings by saying they had not been told when and where the attack would occur. That is true, as far as it goes, but it misses the point. Throughout that summer, there were events that might have exposed the plans, had the government been on high alert. Indeed, even as the Aug. 6 brief was being prepared, Mohamed al-Kahtani, a Saudi believed to have been assigned a role in the 9/11 attacks, was stopped at an airport in Orlando, Fla., by a suspicious customs agent and sent back overseas on Aug. 4. Two weeks later, another co-conspirator, Zacarias Moussaoui, was arrested on immigration charges in Minnesota after arousing suspicions at a flight school. But the dots were not connected, and Washington did not react.

Could the 9/11 attack have been stopped, had the Bush team reacted with urgency to the warnings contained in all of those daily briefs? We can’t ever know. And that may be the most agonizing reality of all."

In other words, there wasn't a failure of intelligence. Repeat: there was no intelligence failure.

There was a failure of the Bush White House to take this intelligence seriously.

September 11 Responders Still Waiting For Relief Promised In 2010

September 11 Responders Still Waiting For Relief Promised In 2010:

As bad as our negligence with veterans.

Andy Murray wins the U.S. Open in thrilling five sets

Andy Murray wins the U.S. Open in thrilling five sets:

 "Andy Murray jumped out to a two-set lead, watched it wither away, then turned up the heat again in the fifth set on his way to a 7-6 (12-10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 victory against Novak Djokovic to win the U.S. Open."

How'd you like to play a 5 hour tennis match? Man, this was something else.

Obama Appoints Record Number Of Women Judges To Federal Bench

Obama Appoints Record Number Of Women Judges To Federal Bench:

"WASHINGTON -- With the confirmation of Stephanie Rose as a U.S. district court judge on Monday, President Barack Obama has put 72 women on the federal bench -- the most ever appointed by a president in one term. It also ties the number former President George W. Bush had confirmed in his entire eight-year presidency, according to numbers provided by the White House."

US women win first 3-on-3 world basketball title

US women win first 3-on-3 world basketball title:

"Serbia won the men's title with a 16-13 victory over France. The U.S. men were eliminated by Serbia in the quarterfinals, losing 20-16."

Didn't even know they played this.

Notes from the Margins of Convention | Patrol - A review of religion and the modern world

Notes from the Margins of Convention | Patrol - A review of religion and the modern world:

"If, let’s say, you were to believe in a society that is not structured around dubious notions of economic deserts and God-given rights, or one that does not dramatize external enemies and romanticize combat against them, or one that is committed to radical inclusion both domestically and internationally, you became painfully aware the past two weeks that you have virtually zero political representation in the United States, and little hope of ever having it."

Blogs, new and old

I discovered two sports blogs for Kindle that interest me: Bruins Nation (UCLA) and Addicted to Quack (Oregon), so I took a trial subscription to each. Kindle blogs are only 99 cents a month so I'll likely subscribe. Well, UCLA for sure because they post 3 or 4 times a day.  If the blog doesn't post more or less daily, I'm not interested. UCLA also covers all sports -- how else would I learn about water polo and soccer today?

Speaking of which. TS at Round Bend Press hadn't posted at his blog since last Wednesday. I was getting worried about him, especially with football season in full swing. Then he posted today, though I can't make out from it whether he's been sick or not. I think so. Good to have him back at any rate.

Making an all day pasta sauce. Something to keep me busy ha ha.

Peanut butter spring rolls: lunch at home ain't too shabby

Starting young (probably in the womb)

America Is Only Nation Where Climate Scientists Face Organized Harassment | ThinkProgress

America Is Only Nation Where Climate Scientists Face Organized Harassment | ThinkProgress:

American exceptionalism!

Recent reading: the slippery slope of justice

There's a ghastly murder. A suspect is captured and tried. What outcome would upset you more? That s/he is guilty but set free? Or that s/he is innocent but convicted and sent to prison?

It's a very old question.

it is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent man to death. —Maimonides

I would agree. However, my reading is that our institutions of justice -- our courts, justice departments, police departments -- favor the other view. Why else would so many innocent people be convicted, which only since DNA testing has come to light?

 WASHINGTON — More than 2,000 people who were falsely convicted of serious crimes have been exonerated in the United States in the past 23 years, according to a new archive compiled at two universities. (The Daily Record, May 21, 2012

That's about 100 a year. That's about two a week.

These questions came to mind as I read a book these past few days, a book I think is important.

 A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald by Errol Morris

Morris is the documentary filmmaker who made The Thin Blue Line, which corrected another incidence of injustice. He finds the 1970 MacDonald case a harder nut to crack. I agree, however, with his conclusions:

We may never be able to prove with absolute certainty that Jeffrey MacDonald is innocent. But there are things we do know. We know that the trial was rigged in favor of the prosecution; that the CID, the FBI, and the Department of Justice pursued an unethical vendetta against Jeffrey MacDonald; that evidence was lost, misinterpreted, and willfully ignored. We know that Jeffrey MacDonald was railroaded.Read more at location 7776

Add a note

But I do know—like Michael Malley—that MacDonald should never have been convicted of these crimes. And that much of the evidence points to his factual innocence. I am repulsed by the fabrication of a case from incomplete knowledge, faulty analysis, and the suppression of evidence. Repulsed and disgusted. Whether MacDonald is innocent or guilty, the case is a terrible miscarriage of justice.

Morris makes a comprehensive case for this slanted uncertainty. I share it and am equally disgusted by the behavior of our institutions documented here. This book deserves a wider audience than it will probably get because, as Morris shows, the media itself became part of the prosecution, and for most folks this case was over and determined decades ago.

I can't imagine the horror that MacDonald -- whose arrogant personality often works against him -- must have experienced these long, long years in prison.

Children's views of poverty: in pictures | Society | The Guardian

Children's views of poverty: in pictures | Society | The Guardian:

This is shaping up to be the most racially polarised US election ever | Gary Younge | Comment | The Guardian

This is shaping up to be the most racially polarised US election ever | Gary Younge | Comment is free | The Guardian:

"As their once core demographic diminishes, Republicans are going to any lengths to capture and keep the white vote"

And such lengths.

Enough wind to power global energy demand, new research says

Enough wind to power global energy demand, new research says:

"There is enough energy available in winds to meet all of the world's demand. Atmospheric turbines that convert steadier and faster high-altitude winds into energy could generate even more power than ground- and ocean-based units. "

And then there's politics.

When I got home I mixed a stiff one | The Passive Voice

When I got home I mixed a stiff one | The Passive Voice:

"When I got home I mixed a stiff one and stood by the open window in the living room and sipped it and listened to the groundswell of traffic on Laurel Canyon Boulevard and looked at the glare of the big angry city hanging over the shoulder of the hills through which the boulevard had been cut. Far off the banshee wail of police or fire sirens rose and fell, never for very long completely silent. Twenty four hours a day somebody is running, somebody else is trying to catch him. Out there in the night of a thousand crimes, people were dying, being maimed, cut by flying glass, crushed against steering wheels or under heavy tires. People were being beaten, robbed, strangled, raped, and murdered. People were hungry, sick; bored, desperate with loneliness or remorse or fear, angry, cruel, feverish, shaken by sobs. A city no worse than others, a city rich and vigorous and full of pride, a city lost and beaten and full of emptiness. It all depends on where you sit and what your own private score is. I didn’t have one. I didn’t care. I finished the drink and went to bed." Raymond Chandler

Why Chandler is great.

UCLA is Back in the Top-25: Bruins Enter Both AP & USA Today Polls - Bruins Nation

UCLA is Back in the Top-25: Bruins Enter Both AP & USA Today Polls - Bruins Nation:

Been a long time.

Political digestion

Democrats give me heartburn. Republicans make me throw up.

How to say nothing | TLS

How to say nothing | TLS:

"“ I have nothing to say, and I am saying it.” The line, probably John Cage’s most famous statement, appears three times over in his book Silence, which Wesleyan University Press has reissued in a smart fiftieth anniversary edition that also coincides with the centenary of the author’s birth."

Swami Kree has a different approach ha ha.

Mathematicians offer unified theory of dark matter, dark energy, altering Einstein field equations

Mathematicians offer unified theory of dark matter, dark energy, altering Einstein field equations:

Rethink book as computer interface, says designer (w/ Video)

Rethink book as computer interface, says designer (w/ Video):

Bernie Sanders on the Independent in Politics | Common Dreams

Bernie Sanders on the Independent in Politics | Common Dreams:

Bill Moyers video.

An e-reader is more like a book than you think | Books | The Observer

An e-reader is more like a book than you think | Books | The Observer:

Philosophy v science: which can answer the big questions of life? | Science | The Observer

Philosophy v science: which can answer the big questions of life? | Science | The Observer:

"Philosopher Julian Baggini fears that, as we learn more and more about the universe, scientists are becoming increasingly determined to stamp their mark on other disciplines. Here, he challenges theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss over 'mission creep' among his peers"

Broadcast news is losing its balance in the post-truth era | Media | The Observer

Broadcast news is losing its balance in the post-truth era | Media | The Observer:

A "post-truth era"! My, my.

TV gets radical – for young women | Eva Wiseman | Comment | The Observer

TV gets radical – for young women | Eva Wiseman | Comment is free | The Observer:

"A TV show about women in their 20s written by … a woman in her 20s! What's not to like?"

Wildcats bump off 18th-ranked Cowboys 59-38 - Yahoo! Sports

Wildcats bump off 18th-ranked Cowboys 59-38 - Yahoo! Sports:

Another Pac-12 upset of a ranked team! Three yesterday! Has this happened before? A great day for west coast football.

UCLA Football Beats Nebraska for the Dawn of a New Era - Bruins Nation

UCLA Football Beats Nebraska for the Dawn of a New Era - Bruins Nation:

Man, what a different team from last year. They are playing physical football again and have a consistent offense. This could be an interesting season for them.

2 fine west coast upset winners today, UCLA and Oregon State!

Oregon State 10, Wisconsin 7

Humongous upset! All credit to OSU defense, Wisc not scoring until final minute of game.

An afternoon project: puttering + prepping = Paella!

Don't hold your breath but Oregon State is outplaying Wisconsin, early in 2nd half.

An Open Letter to Wikipedia About Anatole Broyard and "The Human Stain" : The New Yorker

An Open Letter to Wikipedia About Anatole Broyard and "The Human Stain" : The New Yorker: "POSTED BY PHILIP ROTH


Dear Wikipedia,

I am Philip Roth. I had reason recently to read for the first time the Wikipedia entry discussing my novel “The Human Stain.” The entry contains a serious misstatement that I would like to ask to have removed. This item entered Wikipedia not from the world of truthfulness but from the babble of literary gossip—there is no truth in it at all.

Yet when, through an official interlocutor, I recently petitioned Wikipedia to delete this misstatement, along with two others, my interlocutor was told by the “English Wikipedia Administrator”—in a letter dated August 25th and addressed to my interlocutor—that I, Roth, was not a credible source: “I understand your point that the author is the greatest authority on their own work,” writes the Wikipedia Administrator—“but we require secondary sources.”"

It gets better. Wikipedia is yet another example of the current anti-elitism, democratic-knowledge movement, which when it reaches and influences heart surgery, I'm running for the hills.

---

Probably most writers have experienced this to a degree. My greatest example was in 1984, trying to convince folks that my hit play Christmas at the Juniper Tavern was not about the Rajneesh. I even had a 1975 one-act that introduced a prototype of the swami character, long before the Rajneesh became an issue in Oregon. No matter. Nobody believed me. They loved the play -- but for what I considered the wrong reasons. A good lesson.

Fortunately Bob Hicks let me set the record straight in his 25-year anniversary appreciation of the play.

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2012 – in pictures | Science | guardian.co.uk

The Milky Way in Turkey

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2012 – in pictures | Science | guardian.co.uk:

Iris Murdoch and an enduring love affair | Books | The Guardian

Iris Murdoch and an enduring love affair | Books | The Guardian:

"The release of the novelist's letters to the philosopher Philippa Foot made headlines for the wrong reasons. They are not a chronicle of lesbian attachment, but an insight into an unconventional author, argues Anne Chisholm"

Caryl Churchill: changing the language of theatre | Stage | The Guardian

Caryl Churchill: changing the language of theatre | Stage | The Guardian:

Ah, the first time I saw Cloud Nine. Totally blown away.

Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece by Michael Gorra – review | Books | The Guardian

Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece by Michael Gorra – review | Books | The Guardian:

Finally, I get it. I have fallen hopelessly in love with America | Deborah Orr | Comment is free | The Guardian

Finally, I get it. I have fallen hopelessly in love with America | Deborah Orr | Comment | The Guardian:

"Driving through the deserts of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah with my family this summer sold me on the great story of America"

The landscape of the desert west is unmatched on the planet. Unfortunately for us, somebody was already living there -- and living well. We called them savages.

The universe

Beautiful conjunction in the sky this morning ... moon and what looks like Jupiter (need to check) only a moon diameter apart ... saw this coming yesterday but forgot to look it up ... we make such big trouble for such small creatures.

LATER. Yep, I was right. Spent too many years watching Jupiter in my telescope not to recognize it.

 If you're out around midnight tonight, you'll see the last quarter moon rise right alongside brilliant Jupiter in the northeast. The two will be only about 2 degrees apart and make an eye-catching sight. (Valley News Live)

Hooray!

Utah St wins in OT. Party in Logan tonight.

Logan, Utah

Enjoying the Utah - Utah State football game, the latter the home team in Logan, with a halftime lead. They haven't beaten Utah since the 90s.

Utah State in Logan

I have a Utah State story. When I was a grad student, one of the more popular English professors, who had a specialty only recently becoming popular, was "stolen away" by Utah State. I and other fans of the professor couldn't believe it. (I bought my 12-string from him, as a matter of fact.) How can Utah State, UTAH STATE, raid the UNIVERSITY of OREGON for its best professors?

When I talked to the professor, I understood. A significant raise. Considerable financial support for developing his specialty. A lighter teaching load. Man! What's wrong with the U of Oregon to refuse to match this and keep him?

I hadn't learned yet what a problem Oregon had, and still has, financing education, all across the board. No wonder things like this happen.

Well, I'll root for Utah State, the big underdog. Logan is God's country. I saw the professor at the reunion on which Deconstructing Sally is based. Retired. Recovering from a stroke. But happy to have had a great career at ... not the U of Oregon ... at Utah State.

Recent reading

A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present by Howard Zinn

This is the third or fourth time I've read this, and with each rereading I see more of its shortcomings. This does not diminish its importance. But Zinn, like so many progressives and liberals, is far more optimistic than I am. To me, the historical record says that the most efficient way to political and social change is to assassinate the right people. If you don't want to play the game by these rules, then get out of it -- or figure out a way to change the rules.

This is why cultural historians like Morris Berman and Norman Brown interest me more than Zinn, observers who recognize a dead end when they see one and therefore look for alternative realities and new social constructions (including anti-social options).

All the same, Zinn's contribution is huge and this is required reading for any American wanting to understand our history.

We are not hated because we practice democracy, value freedom, or uphold human rights. We are hated because our government denies these things to people in Third World countries whose resources are coveted by our multinational corporations. That hatred we have sown has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism. . . . Instead of sending our sons and daughters around the world to kill Arabs so we can have the oil under their sand, we should send them to rebuild their infrastructure, supply clean water, and feed starving children.

*

 That makes it a biased account, one that leans in a certain direction. I am not troubled by that, because the mountain of history books under which we all stand leans so heavily in the other direction—so tremblingly respectful of states and statesmen and so disrespectful, by inattention, to people’s movements—that we need some counterforce to avoid being crushed into submission.

*

 Would the various strands of protest and resistance, in politics, in the workplace, in the culture, come together in the next century, the next millennium, to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence, of equal rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? No one could predict. All one could do was to act on the possibility, knowing that inaction would make any prediction a gloomy one. If democracy were to be given any meaning, if it were to go beyond the limits of capitalism and nationalism, this would not come—if history were any guide—from the top. It would come through citizens’ movements, educating, organizing, agitating, striking, boycotting, demonstrating, threatening those in power with disruption of the stability they needed.

Or from a new kind of reality.

'Unprecedented,' 'Amazing,' 'Goliath': Scientists Describe Arctic Sea Ice Melt | Common Dreams

'Unprecedented,' 'Amazing,' 'Goliath': Scientists Describe Arctic Sea Ice Melt | Common Dreams:

"The speed of the Arctic ice melt is astounding, scientists say. "It is a greater change than we could even imagine 20 years ago, even 10 years ago,""

Joe Paterno Movie -- Al Pacino To Play In Penn State Gridiron Scandal Film

Joe Paterno Movie -- Al Pacino To Play In Penn State Gridiron Scandal Film:

This could bomb.

Scientists cast doubt on renowned uncertainty principle

Scientists cast doubt on renowned uncertainty principle:

Hmm, more than a little interesting.

Marty Kaplan: Dreaming of a Wave Election

Marty Kaplan: Dreaming of a Wave Election:

Dream on (but I hope he's right).

Reading old work

One of the joys of "being a writer" is to go back to work written years or even decades ago and to discover, as a reader, that it speaks to you. This doesn't happen with every work, of course, but it happens periodically to me.

My first memory of this experience was in the 1980s at the height of my (traditional) playwriting career. I read some literary stories I'd published in the late 60s and early 70s -- and on several occasions was blown away. I especially remember reading The Thing At 34 Degrees..., published in The Colorado Quarterly in 1969, and thinking, Man! did I write that? The story moved me and I was especially taken by its unusual form, which of course was welded to its meaning. I couldn't write a story like that today, I thought, I'd changed too much, and probably that was part of the attraction and awe I felt.

This week I felt the same thing reading my novel Emmett's Gift. This novel marked my return to fiction after many years. In form it's very traditional, a sprawling story in a small Oregon town told from an omniscient point of view, about the underbelly of small town values. As I started it, I again was blown away. I had forgotten I could write a novel so traditional in form! The characters grabbed me and the central story thread early on had me hooked.

Then, not quite half way through the book, the major characters take a trip to Portland and I felt a release of tension and interest in the story. I understood why this was happening: the landscape was growing. But I wanted to stay with the smaller story embedded within it, a central focus early on. I stopped reading. (I've had readers tell me they love the "larger" version.)

But I'll pick it up again because now I am looking at it differently. I wonder how much work it would be to extract the smaller story to which I responded, letting it stand on its own. I thought of it as a short novel. I even thought about its cover. Whether this comes to pass remains to be seen, but my response -- in awe early on, disappointed when the narrative expanded -- interests me in this context.

Honky-tonk women: the female artists who made it big in country music | Music | The Guardian

Honky-tonk women: the female artists who made it big in country music | Music | The Guardian:

The future of Arab cinema lies in facing up to real life, not censoring it | Film | guardian.co.uk

The future of Arab cinema lies in facing up to real life, not censoring it | Film | guardian.co.uk:

"Afther 30 years of increasing conservatism, young directors are rebelling by examining complex and contentious relationships"

Number of children reading for fun has fallen since 2005, study reveals | Society | The Guardian

Number of children reading for fun has fallen since 2005, study reveals | Society | The Guardian:

Playboy to Release Top 50 Interviews via Kindle Exclusives |

Playboy to Release Top 50 Interviews via Kindle Exclusives | Good E-Reader - ebook Reader and Digital Publishing News:

What a great idea! Just picked up Miles Davis for 99 cents.