Check it out, my new Tumblr site. No registration, no fees, no exams. Pure pleasure.
Check it out, my new Tumblr site. No registration, no fees, no exams. Pure pleasure.
Posted at 09:40 PM in Art, Books, Cartoons, Collecting, Current Affairs, Education, Erotica, Film, Food and Drink, Humor, Photography, Poetry, Politics, Post Cards, Quotations, Recommended Reading, Writers | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Looking good, Carla Bruni, looking good. See just how good here!
And I’m referring to your brain and your heart, Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy. You’re certainly looking a whole lot better than the most recent version of (all I know is the stuff I heard growing up and I haven’t had any time to develop a critical facility while I was messin’ with my hair and frettin’ over my nails), that is, “Miss California,” Carrie Prejean. Watch out, Sarah Palin. Carrie Prejean may decide to run for the White House!
Posted at 03:05 PM in Current Affairs, Education, Politics, Religion, Science | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: beauty pageant winner, Benedict XVI, Carla Bruni, Catholics, condoms, France, Miss California, Mrs. Sarkozy, rationality, supermodel, The Pope
There Is a “Darned” Thing Wrong with Reading the Wrong Books
This “freecard” (a free postcard distributed by businesses and companies as advertising) from the days when Tower Records was a going concern is rich in many ways.
The Catholic Church has been notorious, among people who think for themselves, for ruling certain books off limits. And, unrelated to Catholicism, but certainly in bed with it, are all manner of censors (religious and non-religious) on the political right (and, yes, on the “cultural” left) and the general blockheadism (to borrow a word from Carlyle) of the general public that foists its laziness and timidity and cowardice and reactionary politics and leftist ideologies in the form of “judgments” onto all manner of classic pieces of writing as well as contemporary work that should win their serious attention if not approval.
In the freecard above, we see, from left to right, mom (with her traditional concern for family), sister (with her devotion to love stories and “’hit’ movies,” not art house films, mind you, but movies that have pleased the masses), brother (who, as a young male is expected to get a rise out of mystery and adventure), and dad (who must be concerned with economic value, not value in a larger sense, but merely the economic side).
Of course, the person who created this freecard for Tower Records may well be reading Sartre’s Nausea when he or she isn’t creating visual concepts for money, and the old-school visual and phrases such as “mighty satisfying” and “top notch” may well imply a tongue-in-cheek criticism of such philistine values; but the fact is that Tower Records wanted to move books. (“Hey, hipsters, pick up a couple of CDs and then wander back to our poetry shelf where we represent poets 'all the way from' Kerouac to Burroughs to Morrison [yes, with all the great poets to choose from, they offered up Jim Morrison as a poet].”)
Reading, as many believe and as the mom in the freecard suggests, is merely a pastime. The truth, though this fact is known by far too few, is this: the reading of literature that challenges the reader is a primary means for transformation of the self. That the masses don’t know this concept of reading is not news. May they come to know this through education. That far too many students supposedly educated in universities do not understand this is a travesty. May their grades reflect their philistinism. And may these graduates not carry their philistine values into “education” as teachers themselves.
Popular books that are easy to read and far below the “grade level” of university students should be left behind. More challenging fare (as well as more entertaining fare) is available, and the professors are available who want to teach such works. The university student who wants to teach seventh grade English (and a noble goal that is) should not be reading every book that’s popular with seventh graders. Those seventh graders should be transformed by the reading they’ll do. University students who will become teachers must transform themselves first through quality reading in order to turn to others and help them do something beyond learning how to read a TV Guide or the latest “it” book as judged by the masses who haven’t read much and when they have read a few books haven’t read much that’s worth reading.
If the following ad for a “book” makes you want to throw up, you might want to consider working toward obtaining a teaching position. You’re needed.
Posted at 10:32 PM in Academe, Books, Current Affairs, Education, Poetry, Recommended Reading, Writers | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: bestsellers, Britney Spears, freecards, graduates, quality literature, reading, reading list, recommended reading, Tower Records
Slow traffic keep right. And some of you "left lane campers," "self-appointed police officers," and "road hogs" should just go ahead and exit the highway (which may actually mean, although I realize this notion must be mighty frightening to some of you, pushing down on the accelerator just a bit in order to--get this--keep your automobile moving forward and make it possible for you to get somewhere, eventually, instead of just camping out on the off ramp where you would either, one, inconvenience and aggravate everyone behind you or, two, get hit by another vehicle).
Police officers have the authority, and with good reason, to give tickets for violations on the road. "Left-lane campers" do not. Dangerous driving includes driving too fast and driving too slow. (I learned the latter part from my conservative driver's ed teacher in Texas when the law allowed everyone to drive 70 miles per hour on the highway.) But sitting in the left-hand lane and deliberately blocking the flow of traffic for mile after mile by driving 5 miles below the speed limit is anti-social, irrational behavior from people who cannot comprehend the rules of the road or can comprehend those rules yet do not play well with others. You can move over to the right lane and allow someone to pass you. This action doesn't make you a loser or place anyone "ahead" of you.
If you live (and try to drive) in Oregon, for example, you will probably want to read this.
Posted at 10:52 PM in Current Affairs, Education, Travel | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: fast lane, left-lane campers, passing lane, traffic violations
This article by David Simon in The New Yorker (Jan. 26, 2009) provides a very interesting background concerning one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs. A short article well worth the read. In addition, here is a quality version of Dylan singing his song. (This clip was on television? Note the pinups on the wall in the first 2-6 seconds of the clip. And what's being rolled in those papers?)
Posted at 04:18 PM in Art, Current Affairs, Education, Politics, Race Relations, Recommended Reading, Writers | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Bob Dylan, David Simon, The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll, William Zantzinger
Posted at 01:02 AM in Books, Current Affairs, Education, Humor, Politics | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Marilyn Monroe, Mel and Norma Gabler, public schools, textbooks
Dear Vatican Officials:
Does this mess come to a close at some point?
After centuries of throwing vitriol at all forms of sexuality, please get this straight. There are those of us who care about stopping human suffering more than we ever could care about your club, no matter what claims you make for your tribe. We are outraged about the well-documented number of cases that show abuse of children in the church. The millions and millions of dollars your Church has had to pay to victims of sexual abuse is public knowledge. We are not outraged about homosexuality; that's your obsession. We are not impressed by your peculiar ideas that advocate squashing all forms of sexuality. Your celibacy rules are laughable. You refuse to acknowledge the problems already waiting for those who submit themselves to that bizarre, unnatural restriction.
The great Joni Mitchell has a very intelligent and spiritual song (provided here through video) that addresses a problem in the church that does not go back far in history. That is an appalling part of the history of the Catholic church, yet you choose to attack homosexuals? What two adults of the same sex freely choose to do together in private is one thing: it's not my business, and it's not your business either. (Freedom for all, as far as we can manage it, is, in part, my business.) But what an adult in a holy robe chooses to do to someone--whether male or female--who isn't even of legal age is another thing entirely: a crime.
Posted at 12:59 AM in Current Affairs, Politics, Religion | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: abuse of children, celibacy, child abuse, priests, Vatican
Get this: the Vatican has "forgiven" John Lennon for his remark about the Beatles being "bigger than Jesus." The response time here is lightning speed for the Vatican. What year was it--1989 or 1990 or 1991?--when they finally admitted that Galileo had been right? Unfortunately, though, they still missed the point about Lennon. And how insulting that in their defensiveness they can only see his remark as the boast of a young man. They should go back to the press conference where Lennon explains himself in order to address the PR mess. (You can see the clip on my Vodpod.) Pay attention, in particular, to his tag at the end of one sentence: "...or whatever it is." If Lennon weren't dead, he could tell the Vatican to stuff it. But they've forgiven a dead man, and since he can't respond, I had to say something.
Posted at 05:19 AM in Art, Current Affairs, Music, Religion, Writers | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: "bigger than Jesus", "more popular than Jesus", Beatles, controversy, John Lennon, Vatican
I take the following straight from andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish for October 11, 2008 (Sullivan himself is recommended reading):
Sullivan quotes Theodore Dalrymple on apology projection:
The False Apology Syndrome flourishes wherever there has been a shift in the traditional locus of moral concern. At one time, a man probably felt most morally responsible for his own actions. He was adjudged (and judged himself) good or bad by how he conducted himself toward those in his immediate circle. From its center rippled circles of ever-decreasing moral concern, of which he was also increasingly ignorant. Now, however, it is the other way round. Under the influence of the media of mass communication and the spread of sociological ways of thinking, a man is most likely to judge himself and others by the opinions he and they hold on political, social, and economic questions that are far distant from his immediate circle. A man may be an irresponsible father, but that is more than compensated for by his deep concern about global warming, or foreign policy, or the food situation in Africa.
I appreciate the way Dalrymple isolates and damns the phony here. The first time I saw this idea was in a poet's book of prose on poetry. If only I could remember which poet and give credit. Marvin Bell? Philip Levine? Louis Simpson?
Posted at 02:21 AM in Academe, Books, Current Affairs, Politics, Quotations, Recommended Reading, Writers | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: Andrew Sullivan, ethics, false apology, Theodore Dalrymple
My essay titled "How Will You Go to College?" appeared as guest commentary on irascibleprofessor.com on October 25, 2008.
Posted at 04:13 AM in Academe, Books, Current Affairs, Education | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: college, education, higher education, irascibleprofessor.com, liberal arts degree, student