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7748. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 1/31/2005 6:45:07 PM I agree Mac, but it's still interesting from a cultural point of view in that it would broaden wonk's experience and help wrt his future in-laws. I enjoy their sense of humor and getting to know what makes people laugh is the best kind of info when encountering a new culture. 7749. wonkers2 - 1/31/2005 7:50:35 PM Thanks. I'll see if its available on my local Comcast cable. 7750. judithathome - 2/11/2005 5:52:48 PM Arthur Miller...RIP 7751. uzmakk - 2/13/2005 3:51:34 PM Was going to post this in the Cafe, but decided to post here instead. I address this to all, but Pelle in particular since I know that The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was on his "must read" list. I finished the thing(audio) about a week ago. I felt subtle elation afterwards -- like finishing the Lord of the Rings which I also read over a period of years. (Purchased the Two Towers when I was in 6th grade, so entered the experience sideways)
I have no electronic media except for stereo componet system in the living part of the house any longer and must come to the basement for my fix. I read upstairs.
Have read DOING OUR OWN THING by McWhorter recently and recommend it. Lots of references to popular culture and gay piano bars.
Also am reading Isaiah Berlin, THE PROPER STUDY OF MANKIND.
Other things too, but I mention these.
By the way, to all of you who have responded to my "drive by posts" I thank you and apologize for my lack of manners. 7752. wonkers2 - 2/13/2005 5:39:35 PM "Attention Must Be Paid" by David Mamet Here. 7753. arkymalarky - 2/13/2005 6:53:10 PM Hey Uz! I wish you would drive by more often. 7754. wonkers2 - 2/13/2005 7:29:26 PM "No Tights Allowed" Tom Ling: "There are some parts of the body you can't choreograph." 7755. uzmakk - 2/13/2005 8:58:41 PM Btw, McWhorter is a linguist and his book is an analysis of what is happening to our language. No crying or wringing of hands, just a call to pay attention.
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Monday, February 14 at 6:30pm ET -- C-Span
David M. Levy, professor at the Information School of the University of Washington Levy is the author of "Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age," and he will discuss the shift of the experience of reading from the fixed page to movable electrons and the effect that has had on language.
This is one of a series of lectures. I caught a good bit of the previous lecture before I left the house a Monday or two ago and intend to watch the rest of the series. Y'all can ask questions via email.
Digital Future lecture series
7756. arkymalarky - 2/13/2005 9:19:01 PM I've heard McWhorter on TV a couple of times and was as impressed with him as I've been with anyone new that I've seen interviewed in a long time. 7757. judithathome - 2/13/2005 11:23:06 PM I feel vindicated by my heading on the link to the story about Miller's death on the News thread! And by David Mamet, no less. ;-) 7758. arkymalarky - 2/14/2005 12:24:58 AM That's what Dad always quoted from that play, too, and it always stood out for me, but I never knew if it would have had I not heard it from Dad long before I'd ever read it. I assume, the way I see the line, that I would have. 7759. judithathome - 2/14/2005 12:39:43 AM If you'd heard it in the TV movie (with Lee J Cobb) or the theatrical movie (with Fredric March) when his wife said it, you'd have never forgotten. Mildred Dunnock played Linda Loman in both productions. 7760. wonkers2 - 2/14/2005 2:16:18 AM Very good, Judith. I didn't pick up on it. 7761. judithathome - 2/14/2005 4:56:56 PM Well, don't feel bad, no one else did, either....I had to pat myself on the back for it, after all. ;-) 7762. wonkers2 - 2/14/2005 5:11:34 PM "On Bullshit" by Harry G. Frankfurt, Professor Emeritus of Moral Philosophy, Princeton Here. 7763. wonkers2 - 2/14/2005 5:16:57 PM Frankfort: "The bull artist, on the other hand, cares nothing for truth or falsehood. The only thing that matters is 'getting away with what he says.' An advertiser or a politician or talk show host given to [bull]does not reject the authority of the truth as the liar does, and oppose himself to it, he pays no attention to it at all."
Are Bush-Cheney liars or merely bullshitters? 7764. Magoseph - 2/15/2005 2:52:29 PM Uz, thank you for the C-Span link: "Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age". 7765. wonkers2 - 2/19/2005 3:24:50 PM The Droogs are back, on stage this time. Here. 7766. wabbit - 4/15/2005 3:19:32 PM How cool is this -- the Smithsonian Institution has just gone online with the ethnographic answer to iTunes: smithsonianglobalsound.org, with museum-quality annotation and royalties paid to musicians. I've added a link in the butter bar. 7767. Magoseph - 4/28/2005 12:13:58 PM Culture and our President...
May 2005 issue
Small Favors Molly Ivins
The Whim of a Hat
Hey, the sun is shining, the bluebonnets are out, our big music festival, South by Southwest, rocked, and the puppy wants to play. You expect me to write about Terri Schiavo, Iraq, and Paul ("There is no history of ethnic strife in Iraq") Wolfowitz?
Instead, let us celebrate spring with a roundup of the President's verbal gaffes, boners, grammatical errors, and immortal contributions to logic. Remember, this is a contest between George Bush père and George Bush fils, with the old man still well ahead at this point, though I think you will agree, after reading the latest, that our boy is gaining on him.
These are, as always, taken straight from life and from W.'s mouth.
First of all, there's the ongoing situation in Iraq, where, as he put it, "it is a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life." Our enemies in Iraq are very resourceful, he adds. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people and neither do we," says the Prez.
Don't worry, the President understands the financial implications of Iraq. He said, "I want to remind you all that in order to fight and win the war, it requires an expenditure of money that is commiserate with keeping a promise to our troops."
Then there was Bush's spluttering in the first debate: "In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard."
If ever there was a man who understood hard work, it is our President. He was fully prepared for it by his time as governor of Texas. His former chief of staff, Clay Johnson, stated that in those days, Bush's workweek consisted of "two hard half-days" broken only by his two-hour midday break. We can tell that Bush still misses being governor because he said: "One of the most meaningful things that's happened to me since I've been the President, governor--the governor--President. Oops. Ex-governor."
On general strategery, the President said, "The best way to find these terrorists who hide in holes is to get people coming forward to describe the location of the holes, is to give clues and data." And he uttered these profound words of wisdom: "Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."
He added, curiously, "Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."
Bush is not into process. "Oftentimes, we live in a processed world--you know, people focus on the process and not the results."
His focus on results led to this doozie on slavery: "It's very interesting when you think about it, the slaves who left there to go to America, because their steadfast and their religion and their belief in freedom helped change America."
Last year was a period of high stress for George W., who once again had to struggle with the education issue, observing that the "illiteracy level of our children are appalling."
President Bush also informed us during the campaign that God speaks through him. This disappointed many who thought the Almighty knew how to pronounce the word "nuclear."
Bush himself has noted, "I'm also not very analytical. You know, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things." But still, he is capable of deep self-awareness, as when he observed, "I am the master of low expectations."
End of recap. You must admit "kill at the whim of a hat" is almost worth the price of admission. Just try to remember, folks, this is historic times.
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