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Dragon Eggs
Adam Gopnik's, "The Dragon's Egg," in the A Critic At Large section of The New Yorker, makes some observations about "High fantasy for young adults."
Of all the unexpected things in contemporary literature, this is among the oddest: that kids have an inordinate appetite for very long, very tricky, very strange books about places that don’t exist, fights that never happened, all set against the sort of medieval background that Mark Twain thought he had discredited with “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.”What did Tolkien do to this stale stuff to make it so potent?
By stale stuff, Gopnik means Tolkien's sources of inspiration, mainly Northern European myths, such as Beowulf (in Anglo-Saxon) and the Elder Edda (in Old Norse).
It’s true that [Tolkien's] fantasies are uniquely “thought through”: every creature has its own origin story, script, or grammar; nothing is gratuitous. But even more compelling was his arranged marriage between...big Icelandic romance and small-scale, cozy English children’s book. The story told by “The Lord of the Rings” is essentially what would happen if Mole and Ratty got drafted into the Nibelungenlied.
Great, as if hearing "Kill the Wabbit!" during Wagner wasn't bad enough. Now, it'll be Elmer, Bugs, and the gang from Toad Hall.
Gopnik:
Modernist ambiguity, or realist emotional ambivalence, is unknown to Tolkien.
.....
What substitutes for psychology in Tolkien and [followers of his formula] is...an overwhelming sense of history and, with it, a sense of loss.
Gopnik speculates that kids read these stories as mythologies (unbenownst to them, probably). Kids are draw into The Lord of the Rings, Eragon, and even those books that aren't necessarily high fantasy or "Tol-clones" (not a term Gopnik uses), such as the Twilight series, not by the story but by "the symbols and their slow unfolding." It's a drama with domestic touches set in a grand fictional history. Which, I would argue, is more or less what the old myths themselves are--the "real myths," if you will--except not as readable, too foreign in their purposes grounded in perpetuating tribal identities: tales told too long ago--before English, widespread literacy, or the emergance of the novel--to an audience too unlike us despite what we see in the ancient myths of characteristics common to humanity throughout history, the realities of love, hate, self-interest, betrayal, sacrifice, fear, misunderstanding, competition, jealousy, pride, sacrifice, and wonder. Would the old myths born of pre-modern times have any currency today at all if not for modern fantasies that reinvent, repackage, and repurpose them, but in doing so also further the understanding of readers--many of them adolescents or young adults--that there is always in every moment of life, be it your life, another's, a people's, a place's, an institution's, or an idea's--a living historical context.
From Gopnik's conclusion:
One might mock—one does mock—the mastery of what is, after all, mere mock history. But the fantasy readers’ learned habit of thinking historically is an acquisition as profound in its way as the old novelistic training in thinking about life as a series of moral lessons. Becoming an adult means learning a huge body of lore as much as it means learning to know right from wrong. We mostly learn that lore in the form of conventions.... Learning in symbolic form that the past can be mastered is as important as learning in dramatic form that your choices resonate; being brought up to speed is as important as being brought up to grade. Fantasy fiction tells you that history is available, that the past counts. As the boring old professor knew, the backstory is the biggest one of all.
The Economist's "A Very Short History of the Crisis" in Europe
Special report by Edward Carr, foreign editor,* The Economist.
(Spoilers: It's not all down to government profligacy. And Germany isn't blameless.)
Before the crisis the governments of both Ireland and Spain ran budget surpluses.
Both meticulously kept within the limits for deficits and debts set down by the stability and growth pact—unlike Germany, which flouted the rules for four years from 2003 (and avoided punishment). Nor did Italy lurch into extravagance.
Debt in these countries has become a burden not because of government profligacy but because each enjoyed a decade of low interest rates and was then hit by the financial crisis. Easy credit fuelled debt in households and the financial sector. The European Central Bank oversaw a binge of cross-border lending. In the crisis unemployment and hardship have deepened, increasing the bill for welfare. Some countries, such as Ireland and Spain, have needed to find money to prop up their banks. These new expenses fell on the state just when tax receipts collapsed—catastrophically in countries that had seen a property boom
At the same time interest rates surged. Before the crisis investors assumed no euro-zone government would default on its debt. However, as Peter Boone and Simon Johnson of the Peterson Institute in Washington, DC, explain, Germany then signalled that defaults could happen and that investors would have to bear a share of the losses—a reasonable demand, but a hard one to introduce in the middle of a crisis. Some investors asked to be rewarded for the extra risk and others, unwilling to start paying for credit research, just walked away. This set off a spiral of falling bond prices, weakening banks and slowing growth.
Even where troubled euro-zone countries had not been profligate, they have been running unsustainable current-account deficits. Low interest rates fuelled domestic spending and spurred inflation in wages and goods, which in turn made their exports more expensive and left imports relatively cheaper. But it was also because Germany was recycling the surpluses produced by its export machine, financing their consumption.
Germany’s economy is remarkable in many ways, but it was as unbalanced as the euro zone’s peripheral economies. In their determination to save, Germans seemed to forget that in the long run the point of exports is to pay for imports. They must now regret having invested their savings abroad in American subprime mortgages and Greek government debt.
*The Economist's economical editorial style can confuse. I suspect Carr's the editor for stories not relating to Britain, and it's not that he's an editor who's a foreigner.
Alt-Newt
Hendrik Hertzberg's mid-December comment, "Alt-Newt"
[I]magine, if you will, a man who, as Speaker of the House, orchestrates the impeachment of a President for an adulterous affair with a White House aide twenty-six years his junior while he himself is conducting an adulterous affair with a congressional aide twenty-two years his junior, having earlier left the first of his three wives while she was hospitalized with cancer.
Imagine a man who attributes these behaviors to “how passionately I felt about this country.”
Imagine a man who, told he can’t sit in a front section of Air Force One, shuts down the government.
Imagine a man who becomes the only House Speaker ever to be disciplined for ethics violations.
Imagine a man who, in a country just staggering out of the worst recession of the past fifty years and facing the threat of worldwide economic collapse, proposes to hire small children to work as janitors, mopping floors and cleaning toilets in their schools (or their orphanages, perhaps).
Imagine that man as Commander-in-Chief. It’s no stretch for him. His fantasy life is so rich that he has already compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, Charles de Gaulle, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and (for sheer perseverance) Ho Chi Minh.
.....
President Obama’s actions cannot be understood except as an expression of “Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior.” Liberals constitute a “secular-socialist machine” that is “as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union.” There is “a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us” and “is prepared to use violence.”
The New Yorker illustration by Tom Bachtell.
NB4L - New Bus For London
New Bus For London. (“NB4L”)
In service in 2012.
Manufacturer : Wrightbus
Capacity : 87 (lower: 22 seats, 1 wheelchair space, 25 standing; upper deck: 40 seats)
Operator(s): Arriva London
Length : 11.2 m (36 ft 9 in)
Width : 2.55 m (8 ft 4 in)
Height : 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in)
Doors : 3
Weight : 11.8 t (13.0 short tons)
Engine(s) : diesel-electric hybrid drive system
On the ground...but not on the yard
I've recently returned from my annual holiday trip home to central Iowa. While there, a state legislator told me Rick Santorum would carry the local county on Jan. 3rd or come in a close second-place behind Ron Paul.
I was incredulous relative to Santorum doing so well. About 48 hours later, the first polls were released showing that a surge in the former US Senator's popularity had been occurring. I then recalled a pundit on ABC's This Week having said earlier in December to not underestimate the potential dividends of Santorum's months-long hard work in Iowa. It reminded me of the value journalists find in informed, honest, and sufficiently forthright sources near to the action, and in their own experience. We'll see if the legislator’s prediction and the pundit's observation hold true. Based on my own inexpert observations while in Iowa, I think Santorum may in fact win or come in a close second-place in the county that I was in, but I think Romney will win the state.
The only frontline observation of my own that I make with any confidence is that yard signs are thin on the ground! I saw only five signs in four days in and around a town of 15,500 people fairly near Des Moines. Also, I saw not one bumper sticker! When I was growing up in Iowa, forests of candidate yard signs cropped up in neighborhoods. Farmers put them in fields and ditches, and sometimes even painted the sides of barns with their favorite candidate's name. Even in December 2007, while driving along I-80, I recall seeing Clinton, Obama, and Edwards signs galore--at least one barnside proclaiming HILLARY in red, white, and blue, and plenty of signs for Huckabee, McCain and others.
Does the disappearance of the yard sign reflect a lack of voter enthusiasm, or perhaps indecision—an unusually long wait-and-see stance by Hawkeye Republicans? Or maybe smaller campaign budgets? Maybe lesser focus on Iowa by the campaigns? Has the rise of social media or the dominance this cycle of televised debates displaced the need for the valiant foot soldiers of Iowa caucus campaign advertising, those brave little signs that endure wind, snow, the rare defacement attempt, and the more common assault from dog urine? Here's to the return of the humble yard sign.
---
UPDATE: Nate Silver's Iowa 2012 GOP caucus analysis - Updated Jan. 2, 2012 at 12:11 PM ET
| Vote Projection | Chance of Win |
|
|---|---|---|
| Mitt Romney | 21.8% | 42% |
| Ron Paul | 21.0 | 34 |
| Rick Santorum | 19.3 | 20 |
UPDATE: Unofficial caucus results from my parents' precinct in Jasper County, Iowa - Updated Jan. 3, 2012
161 votes:
Santorum 48
Gingrich 39
Romney 31
Paul 29
Bachmann 8
Perry 4
Huntsman 2
The first January 1st New Year's Day - Calendar Act 1750
The Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 (c.23) (also known as Chesterfield's Act after Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield) is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. It reformed the calendar of England and British Dominions so that a new year began on 1 January rather than 25 March (Lady Day) and would run according to the Gregorian calendar, as used in most of western Europe.
via en.wikipedia.org
I still don't know very much about brain scans...
I follow Wil Wheaton on TypePad. I like how he keeps a sense of humor about his accomplishments (some might say "time served," I suppose) as a young actor on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
20 Questions A Journalist Should Ask About Poll Results | NCPP - National Council on Public Polls
By asking these 20 questions, the journalist can seek the facts to decide how to report any poll that comes across the news desk.
The authors wish to thank the officers, trustees and members of the National Council on Public Polls for their editing assistance and their support.
- Who did the poll?
- Who paid for the poll and why was it done?
- How many people were interviewed for the survey?
- How were those people chosen?
- What area (nation, state, or region) or what group (teachers,lawyers, Democratic voters, etc.) were these people chosen from?
- Are the results based on the answers of all the people interviewed?
- Who should have been interviewed and was not? Or do response rates matter?
- When was the poll done?
- How were the interviews conducted?
- What about polls on the Internet or World Wide Web?
- What is the sampling error for the poll results?
- Who’s on first?
- What other kinds of factors can skew poll results?
- What questions were asked?
- In what order were the questions asked?
- What about "push polls?"
- What other polls have been done on this topic? Do they say the same thing? If they are different, why are they different?
- What about exit polls?
- What else needs to be included in the report of the poll?
- So I've asked all the questions. The answers sound good. Should we report the results?
via www.ncpp.org
Merry Christmas
Come listen gentle Christians, and you Jews and Gentiles too
And all denominations, a song I sing to you
It's all about a young man, a rebel through and through
Down among the bushes of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, down among the bushes of Jerusalem
Born of honest parents and below a shining star
The word went 'round the country and they came from near and far
The royal family worried he might undermine their power
Down among the bushes of Jerusalem
They slaughtered all the children, every one that they could find
Just that they be sure that they would kill the rebel child
But somehow he deceived them, all the soldiers fierce and wild
Down among the bushes of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, down among the bushes of Jerusalem
He grew into a strapping lad, and helped around the home
But voices they kept calling, and he was inclined to roam
The losers and boozers, he would count among his own
Down among the bushes of Jerusalem
As far as I can see, you see, the Pharisee did say
You know your Bible fairly well, you'll make a priest someday
But you'd better tow the line, me boy or there'll be hell to pay
Down among the bushes of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, down among the bushes of Jerusalem
He met the Mary Magdalen, a lovely girl was she
O look who's comin' now, they said, the girl of no degree
I'd rather have her near to me, more than your hypocrisy
Down among the bushes of Jerusalem
He went into the churches, and he saw the shining gold
And people there were starvin' of the hunger and the cold
He talked about injustice, just be careful he was told
Down among the bushes of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, down among the bushes of Jerusalem
Now if you are a rebel, and no Judas, he did say
Come burn the Roman empire down, we'll change the flag today
It's the human heart I'm changing, this young rebel he did say
Down among the bushes of Jerusalem
We're taking him to Calvary, it's easier you see
Than try and turn the other cheek, and love thine enemy
We're loyal to our own crowd, to our scribes and pharisee
Down among the bushes of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, down among the bushes of Jerusalem
- "The Bushes of Jerusalem," The Irish Rovers
St. Mary the Virgin, Episcopal, Times Square, Christmas Eve
THE CHURCH OF SAINT MARY THE VIRGIN (EPISCOPAL)
CHRISTMAS EVE
Choral Music & Carols 10:30 PM
O Magnum mysterium – Gabrieli (c. 1554/1557–1612)
Salve regina – Poulenc (1899–1963)
Sing lullaby – Howells (1892–1983)
Procession & Solemn Mass 11:00 PM
Sermon by the Reverend Stephen Gerth
Missa ‘Laetatus sum’ – Victoria (1548–1611)
O Magnum mysterium – Gabrieli (c. 1554/1557–1612)
Bethlehem Down – Warlock (1894–1930)
Save the Middle Class Tax Cut - Facebook Timeline-optimized image
If you're a Facebook user who's switched over to Facebook's new Timeline view for your profile, you can use the image shown here as your Timeline "cover", the large banner-like image at the top of your Timeline.
Click on the image to enlarge it. Then right-click and Save the image to use it.
It reads:
If the Republicans don’t extend the payroll tax cut by January 1st, taxes for a typical American family will go up by $40 each paycheck. Write what $40 per check means to you. Visit WhiteHouse.gov. Or Tweet it: #40dollars.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Dec. 21, 1937)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered on December 21, 1937. Industry insiders had been calling it "Disney's Folly." Disney's wife Lillian and his brother and business partner Roy tried to talk him out of it. Disney had to morgage his house to finance the $1,488,422 feature--the first animated feature film in history. Lillian remarked, "No one's going to pay a dime to see a dwarf movie."
It opened to rave reviews. During the run of its original release, it grossed approximately $8,000,000 (that includes international box office revenues) and was the highest-grossing film of all time until Gone With The Wind displaced it in 1941.
Its lifetime gross was reported in 2008 as $184,925,486.
(Image: from the original 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs theatrical trailer.)
Dec. 18, 1865 - Ratification of the Constitutional Amendment Abolishing Slavery
Proclamation of the Secretary of State announcing the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, December 18, 1865
Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States and provides that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Secretary of State William H. Seward issued this Proclamation announcing the ratification on December 18, 1865.
