tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41910841965842498232012-01-28T13:57:51.310-05:00Is there any such thing? Let's investigate—for good or ill. A blog about fiction and literature, philosophy and theology, politics and law, science and culture, economics and ethics, and any thing else that strikes our fancy. (Apologies to Bertrand Russell)Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.comBlogger5601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-21656856612718515742012-01-20T15:40:00.001-05:002012-01-20T15:44:08.767-05:00

(cont'd from previous post) "The greatest mystery is not that we have been flung at random between this profusion of matter and the stars, but that within this prison we can draw from ourselves images powerful enough to deny our nothingness." Andre Malraux, Les Noyers de l'Altenburg "Humanism does not consist in saying: ‘No animal could have done what I have done,’ but in declaring: ‘We have

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-56108312350053316832012-01-17T20:55:00.000-05:002012-01-17T21:07:47.850-05:00

(cont'd from previous post) Sorry about the length of the previous post. I wanted to put up the entire chapter. I'll try to keep posts in this series shorter going forward. So, to recap: Josh has S.A.D. [Seasonal Affective Disorder], though it is unstated. An unstated pun. Sadness, unacknowledged, is likewise a specter hanging over him—which appears, literally, in an earlier ghostly visitation

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-25805254294547848332012-01-12T14:08:00.000-05:002012-01-12T14:08:03.198-05:00

Here's an excerpt from my novel, EULOGY. This is Chapter 23. It is late Sunday afternoon on the train from Connecticut to Manhattan. We're about 2/3 of the way through the book. Earlier, Josh Bethune (does not rhyme with "buffoon", but does with "eaten") helped his father euthanize his estranged, terminally ill mother as per her wishes. The funeral's to be late Monday afternoon. He's just found

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-31436102489033106552012-01-11T13:26:00.001-05:002012-01-11T13:26:09.381-05:00

[cont'd from previous post] The Mosaic Sadness is the emotional condition of our mortality. When we realize failure is our destiny—incompletion, disappointment—it is the inevitable response. At the end of life, we may, however, get a chance to look back at all our successes and our failures and realize how puny they all are. And, if we are as fortunate as Moses, we may catch a glimpse of the

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-27644753643891281392012-01-09T21:21:00.001-05:002012-01-11T13:26:27.199-05:00

"This is the land I vowed to Abram, Isaac, and Jacob," Yahweh said to him. "'To your seed I will give it,' were my words. It is revealed to your eyes, though your body cannot follow." Moses, servant of Yahweh, died there, in Moab's land, following Yahweh's word. Now he buried him there, in the clay of Moab's land, in a gorge facing Beth-peor: no man has ever seen his grave, to this day. (The

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-82082056410762550602011-12-26T23:02:00.001-05:002011-12-26T23:08:19.621-05:00

Wisdom of the West is celebrating its fourth anniversary! My little hobby started out great guns with this mission statement:  "For the past few years I have been writing a book with the title of this blog. Its subjects include such things as first principles, faith vs. reason, life on earth, meaning, communication, love, work, diversity, controversy, knowledge, time, change, power,

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-92093667948384316892011-12-24T15:41:00.001-05:002011-12-24T16:27:19.485-05:00

Going to the gro to pick up some chicken for dinner, and what did I spy? How seasonal! Then lo, a miracle appears: That can't be a real lane, can it? Who'd believe it? In the same neighborhood, no less. Wait, wait: what if they cross? How cool would that be? No, surely they don't. Wait for it... Atlanta, man. From my blog to you(rs)!

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-76523176944141919602011-12-22T23:13:00.001-05:002011-12-22T23:27:31.871-05:00

I've been away without blogging for a week now. Visiting family in NC. Giftmas. Great weather, food, & family there. Horrible driving today—blinding rain. But we're all home and safe. I've been pretty much without access to the so-called "Information Superhighway," (other than on my portable, hand-held cellular device) so if I haven't commented at your place, it's not you, it's me. A couple of

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-70345002607362853262011-12-14T23:04:00.000-05:002011-12-15T00:14:11.991-05:00

This is a momentous day:   'President Barack Obama marked the end of the U.S. war in Iraq with a salute to American troops at a military base central to the fight and a pledge to support veterans who are returning home to face a difficult economy. 'As your commander in chief, and on behalf of a grateful nation, I'm proud to finally say these two words,' Obama told soldiers at Fort Bragg, North

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-15409463102296382082011-12-08T23:56:00.001-05:002011-12-09T15:33:53.399-05:00

I've been tracking this for years here @ WoW: the cost of photovoltaic solar energy is nearly on par with that of mainstream utilities. Here's why. First, the price of solar panels has plummeted. "Since 2009, the cost has dropped 70 percent," says Pearce. But more than that, the assumptions used in previous studies have not given solar an even break. "Historically, when comparing the

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-23140019049180735522011-12-08T21:38:00.001-05:002011-12-08T22:20:20.240-05:00

Time magazine has named Occupy Wall Street the story of the year. Yep. So what's happening? The DC occupistas are showing serious strategic savvy: they're taking it to K Street, lobbying central, the funnel through which Corporate money purchases its (non-)governance. It is the crucial supply line. And, in grand '60s-style street theater, they've occupied the U.S. Chamber of Commerce holiday

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-64783907710627518812011-12-06T23:51:00.001-05:002011-12-07T00:45:35.734-05:00

Once again, DFH's from the '60s and '70s have launched their yearly War on Christmas by interposing their ludicrously invented celebration of so-called Zappadan in honor of the 12/4 anniversary of the death of Frank Zappa. It runs until the 12/21 anniversary of his death. Each year, WoW runs some clips of the sorts of things these degenerates have chosen to venerate and, in so doing, detract from

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-63135954441632649272011-12-01T20:22:00.001-05:002011-12-01T22:37:56.460-05:00

Wisdom of the West's Man of the Year, Julian Assange, has, despite his legal troubles,* done it again. Wikileaks has published a devastating set of files documenting the use of surveillance technologies by governments world-wide: "Mass interception of entire populations is not only a reality, it is a secret new industry spanning 25 countries. It sounds like something out of Hollywood, but as of

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-3697531504771548842011-11-22T22:52:00.001-05:002011-11-22T23:37:29.450-05:00

Just returned from visiting my eldest in the Keys. His birthday. Stopping over for a day before heading to T'giving in NC with the fam. Brought back some pics for your holiday enjoyment. Pink is the color of my true love's fur. My new favorite metal band: their tour bus. It's not what you might think—though there was one of those, too.     Yup. Yup. This one wasn't—but,

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-39731911712923116292011-11-18T12:35:00.001-05:002011-11-18T13:05:41.570-05:00

I apologize, upfront, to (all three of) my readers for being AWOB lately. I could chalk it up to lots of things: despair, other-busyness, distraction, running/training, creativity—but I won't (even tho' I just did). And I will not be posting anything until, probably, after Thanksgiving. I'm going down to the Keys to visit and dive with Wisdomie who's now a Dive Master/Dive Instructor. Dude's

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-69971342719522230092011-11-13T17:40:00.001-05:002011-11-13T17:59:37.653-05:00

All ye Druids gather 'round. Today is a glorious day! The leaves of the ginkgo biloba trees here in the ATL are falling. You may be unaware, but every year the leaves of this majestic tree all fall in a single day. They hold on and hold on then, practically all at once, at some unknown signal, they all let go at the same time. For the last 11 years, I have walked, run, and driven by a

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-43360309684830102082011-11-10T16:53:00.001-05:002011-11-10T17:03:15.338-05:00

Oh, wait. Never mind: that chaos, violence, and looting was just some college students who are upset their iconic football coach got caught covering up pedophilia by one of his assistants. [Kinda' like the Catholic Church.] No jazz hands here. Where's the outrage on the right? Where're the tear gas and rubber bullets from the cops? Don't kid yourselves: Helmetball is king!

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-318516637621342432011-11-07T20:49:00.000-05:002011-11-07T20:49:19.990-05:00

Now, shut up and play your [sublime] guitar:

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-204138889802303072011-11-04T22:31:00.000-04:002011-11-04T22:31:56.530-04:00

Okay, I've been quiet lately (@if: nothing to do w/ RG, but thanks), but it took this to bring me out for a quickie post: Did you know that Herman Cain is a Pokemon master? The most awesomest video ever: Gotta' catch 'em all!

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-43830907037545427022011-10-27T17:29:00.001-04:002011-10-27T18:12:39.742-04:00

The Wild Ride of the 1%-ers (boo frickin' hoo: "Mommy, why are all these strangers on our plane?") Occupy Wall Street's Battle Against American-Style Authoritarianism The Class War Has Begun (Frank Rich) Oh, and tear gas and flash grenades are chemical weapons. (For linkage: h/t to the ever-observant BLCKDGRD. When will he blog again? And to RealityZone as well.)

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-73088474170641202972011-10-22T15:15:00.000-04:002011-10-22T15:27:02.375-04:00

I think it's pretty big news when the President of the United States announces that all American troops who have been entangled in an eight-year foreign adventure of his predecessor's doing in Iraq will be home for Christmas. There are still questions about the role of Blackwater/Xe and other military contractors, but this is the fulfillment of a campaign promise by President Obama which many of

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-5611532917288196422011-10-20T21:26:00.002-04:002011-10-20T21:43:00.457-04:00

You better, you better, you bet. Provisioning Yumsters! I'm on fire. (Extra points for allusion) Thanks, Capt. Obvious. Lake's down a few feet. In cold hell... Sunset boulevard. Things growing on other things. Eye Candy. More of the same. Where you get your Xmas trees. Jake. w/ Lily. And Civilization rises. Transcendent. Pay

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-89234257221179420552011-10-18T13:36:00.000-04:002011-10-18T13:36:07.713-04:00

Click it or ticket: Clicking on any of the pics below will open a slide show presentation. You will not, however, get the captions in the slide show. Enjoy: Micro: Mica. Lichen: the gathering storm. Moss. Deep, dark, moist crucible. More stuff that grows on rocks. Welcome aboard, me berries! It's complicated. Gathering life unto itself; gathering death.

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-11579676911293258762011-10-17T11:58:00.000-04:002011-10-17T12:08:05.760-04:00

Thanks, again, to Frances Madeson for Occupying the front page of WoW with her first-hand account of Occupy St. Louis for the last week. FM: Let us know you're okay, and if you have more to say, get it to me. We'll try to post it here. Meanwhile, the Occupation has spread world-wide. After a month, it's beginning to feel like a real Movement. Where it will go is still anyone's guess. Last

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-83389551275423447512011-10-06T22:22:00.003-04:002011-10-10T22:40:44.928-04:00

Long-time, faithful reader and ever-insightful Commenter here @ WoW, Frances Madeson, has graced us with a first-hand account of her experience @ Occupy St. Louis. I reprint it below in its entirety: "Imagine you're on the set of Night of the Living Dead just as Romero yells Cut and Wrap! Our original intent (on Day One Saturday, October 1) was to occupy the Federal Reserve Bank. 300 or so

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-59651058828734992942011-10-04T22:10:00.001-04:002011-10-04T22:21:18.073-04:00

The mis- and dis-information is flying fast and furious. Yesterday I posted a video allegedly by Anonymous threatening to shut down the NYSE by the use of a DDoS. Today, a further report declares that that was some sort of false-flag operation meant to make Anonymous look either criminal or inept. Here is the rejoinder: Citizens of the world We are Anonymous! Recently something very disturbing

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-89210828201966737712011-10-03T17:22:00.002-04:002011-10-04T22:22:47.336-04:00

Looks like it's gonna' get heavy up in here: Anonymous declares war against the New York Stock Exchange: [Video removed by proprietor] Meanwhile, on the counter-revolutionary front, according to Bloomberg News (that radical leftist rag) it seems the fact that the Koch brothers (whose PR/Marketing wing is otherwise known as the Tea Party) have been running an anti-patriotic, corrupt, criminal

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-16806557127571717352011-09-29T18:22:00.002-04:002011-09-29T20:40:32.956-04:00

I'll be the first to admit I do not understand fully what all's going on at Occupy Wall Street. I am old fogey out of place in a Deep Red South, caught up in my own middle-aged life and its parochial concerns. My first reaction is, natch, cynical: Who's counter-organizing here? The corporate-, Koch-funded Tea Party movement managed to stimulate the Right-wing base sufficiently to swing an

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-79813495657211094072011-09-23T18:08:00.001-04:002011-09-23T18:10:36.885-04:00

When the old lion emerges from his den and roars, it behooves us to listen. Here's William Gass in an essay about Elizabeth Bishop in the current edition (10/11) of Harper's: "Alas, there are so many kinds of commas: those that lie like rocks in the path of a sentence, slowing its gait and requiring the reader's heed to avoid a stumble; their gentler cousins, impairing a pell-mell flow of

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-16321767972097086162011-09-22T17:40:00.000-04:002011-09-22T17:40:03.733-04:00

I'm in a DJ'ing frame of mind while polishing three new short stories. I'm a sucker for Wilco. (h/ts) Great live band. Saw 'em here with Wisdomie and Wisdoc in a driving rainstorm for two hours. They said they'd play 'til the rain stopped. And damn if they didn't. Said they'd come back. They're coming back next week to kick off their new album. 'Spect I'll be there. Daddy Rock Rules!

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-78172366117576576802011-09-21T17:11:00.000-04:002011-09-21T17:11:21.910-04:00

(fan vid of Pedro the Lion) Bonus Track (cover):

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-69757587200146705342011-09-20T20:35:00.000-04:002011-09-20T20:35:58.946-04:00

Speaking of NeverNeverLand, Pat Boone, crooner and member of the Beverly Hills Tea Party, insists President Obama was born in Kenya. Sounds like somebody's been smokin' on the water! Or ridin' on the crazy train too long! I guess he meant it when said "no more mr. nice guy!"

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-24000413086494465212011-09-15T14:18:00.000-04:002011-09-15T14:18:38.497-04:00

You want a 9/11 post on or about the 10th Anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center towers? You want a frame? Okay, how's this? After 9/11, the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld junta unleashed the gods of war and destruction on the peoples of the planet (that includes us Americans, too, by the way), and we are now beginning to reap the consequences. Paying the piper, if you will, at the

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-46621454675116625002011-09-14T14:17:00.000-04:002011-09-14T14:17:35.583-04:00

Safety is the Cootie Wootie. "The mechanism of intimidation is framing, not just the use of words or slogans, but rather the changing of what voters take as right as a matter of principle. Framing is much more than mere language or messaging. A frame is a conceptual structure used to think with. Frames come in hierarchies. At the top of the hierarchies are moral frames. All politics is moral.

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-39932199316360215742011-09-13T16:24:00.000-04:002011-09-13T16:24:44.071-04:00

Where does the politics end and the comedy begin? Clips from the last two Republican presidential nomination campaign debates: Clip from Ron White's stand-up comedy routine on Country Music Television: People should pay attention to these folks. They mean business.

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-22982195921025201842011-09-11T23:48:00.002-04:002011-09-15T21:30:11.743-04:00

Thus begins a new and intermittent serial post: a compilation of rhetorical devices, tropes, tactics, and strategies. It is the skeleton of a non-fiction work I've been compiling for several years intended primarily for writers and arguers. At the end, the reader should be able to click the Label 'Rhetoric' or 'Burden of Persuasion' and produce the whole thing either for review or copying and

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-60743276188384021312011-08-24T11:54:00.010-04:002011-08-24T12:50:05.015-04:00

Great song: And under our feet: So, did hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus shale layer in the pursuit of deeply embedded natural gas (aka 'fracking') cause the exceedingly rare East Coast earthquake epicentered on Rep. Eric Cantor's congressional district (h/t) in Virginia yesterday? I, for one, don't know. But if you go to TEH GOOGLY and type in 'virginia earthquake fracking', you'll get

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-78342179804552197462011-08-23T17:01:00.000-04:002011-08-23T17:01:29.248-04:00

Sniff, sniff. Almost time to head home. London, I hardly knew ye! Hey, look at me! I survived the bombings of the Battle of Britain and I'm damn proud of it: Yes, we made like tourists and rode the London Eye: Beep! Beep! If I had a hammer... Once more, the British: Birdman (Radio ...? ...of Alcatraz? or Harvey ...?) [I know they're Aussies, but I couldn't help myself: Play it

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-39127639601158629892011-08-22T22:37:00.000-04:002011-08-22T22:37:17.423-04:00

I left off my last post with a poser: What exhibit is the snagglepuss, bronze lion duo looking at? As there were no takers (even with serious Scotch riding), I'll tell you: They are looking right at the case that contains the origin of writing. Sumerian cuneiform script. And, what's more, the original Gilgamesh tablets—the first, if you will, novel. The kind of thing I bow down to. Then

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-79508248880382503202011-08-18T21:51:00.000-04:002011-08-18T21:51:17.781-04:00

I was fortunate enough to have the chance to spend an afternoon at the Louvre. I chose to explore the Renaissance painting wings—Southern and Northern. So much is made of the supposed 'warmth' of the Italian art of the period. I couldn't disagree more. Practically every painting had for its subject matter gods or angels or bible stories or mythic tales—high-falutin' big shots and such. Focus was

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-23184780358584493682011-08-17T21:47:00.000-04:002011-08-17T21:47:34.715-04:00

Sorry to say though haggis was gustily eaten (by some) in Edinburgh, we had a collective family brain fart and failed to bring forth cameras. Not so at the Tunnel. We saw lots of art on our trip. We visited the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Museum Ludwig, the Louvre, Versailles, Musee d'Orsay, Edinburgh Castle, and the British Museum (about which more tomorrow). We wanted to make it to

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-72040864209186679062011-08-16T15:13:00.000-04:002011-08-16T15:13:23.396-04:00

On the cab ride from the airport into Edinburgh, I asked the driver if there were any sporting events going on—football, rugby, cricket, whatever. Here's what I learned: in Edinburgh, rugby's king, and everybody's waiting for the World Cup to get underway. Football, or soccer, is for the hooligans down Glasgow way. And the big summer sport? Golf. "We invented it, ya know." I did. He was excited

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-32875048807001950892011-08-15T14:03:00.000-04:002011-08-15T14:03:50.642-04:00

Oh yes I did: Inside Sacre Coeur: The view from the top: How I felt after climbing up there: Yum: My family is under strict instructions: if they ever—EVER—catch me wearing a pair of the European capris, they are to put a bullet through my temple: Jaunty Jeanne: In another station of the Metro: Mallage (Les Halles, Film Institute): An Indiana Jones kind of sky: Oh, green

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-34759521995226932522011-08-13T18:42:00.001-04:002011-08-13T19:10:26.370-04:00

That's what Wisdomie and Wesdom decided to do instead of parkour. In a Station of the Metro The apparition of these dummies in the crowd; Petals on a set, plank boy. [appy-polly-logies to E.Pound] At Versailles In the parks with pigeons (and a new Swedish friend): and a homeless guy: At Tuilleries: On the Seine: In and around the Louvre: Even atop the Eiffel Tower:

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-2544892540933054562011-08-12T14:35:00.000-04:002011-08-12T14:35:58.651-04:00

It being that time of year again, that day... I interrupt the series of photo essays about my Europe trip to indulge some political snark. I post these two political videos mainly so I can remember to bring them up again come next year. Corporations are people, too, my friend: Threats of secession are no sign of patriotism. Such a one cannot be entrusted to run the country he despises so

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-20396876695045798082011-08-11T19:35:00.000-04:002011-08-11T19:35:22.936-04:00

There is simply too much to see and to do in Paris. Hundreds of museums, marvelous parks, great restaurants and shopping, shows, etc. But if you're going there and you have to limit yourself to only a few things, I suggest you make a visit to the catacombs one of them. Though it's off the beaten tourist track, we waited two hours to get in, because they only let in a trickle of visitors at a time

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-28567537749895576162011-08-10T21:27:00.000-04:002011-08-10T21:27:21.450-04:00

In Germany, I learned that 160 kilometers per hour is approximately 100 mph, and that even if you're driving 160 kph on the Autobahn in your rented Skoda Octavia Cambia, you have to keep an eye on the rearview or else Porsches, Audis, BMWs, and Benzes will come out of nowhere and climb right up your tailpipe. When they do, stay calm and move right. They'll pass you like you're standing still.

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-25388746108850692042011-08-09T21:07:00.000-04:002011-08-09T21:07:46.900-04:00

Köln has a cöl Hauptbahnhof: They advertise their art shows on the floor: And you think you're Goth: Take your favorite cathedral. You can probably fit two or three of them inside this one, the original Gothic: Randal: Got some window pics just for you: Primitive pixelation? or maybe they just ran out of ideas: But hey, with pigtailed saints like this, I might even think about

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-47612373375728092952011-08-08T14:52:00.000-04:002011-08-08T14:52:08.454-04:00

I'm not sure I like most of Van Gogh. His early stuff is crude; he couldn't draw particularly well; and, apparently, he didn't know how to mix his oils well enough to keep the colors from darkening over the years. Some of his early landscapes and peasantscapes—ho hum—will probably fade to black in the next few decades unless properly restored. That said, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-84920275428674754562011-08-07T12:29:00.000-04:002011-08-07T12:29:54.407-04:00

Whew! Just got in from my whirlwind trip to Europe. Spotty wi-fi coverage (sans laptop anyway), next-to-no TV, didn't look at a paper. Did I miss anything interesting here? We stayed in six cities, travelling well over 10,000 miles in 16 days—not counting taxis, subways, side-trips, walking tours, runs, etc.—comprising some seven planes, two rental cars, five trains, one bus, and one boat. In

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-6205932085996645492011-07-19T21:13:00.000-04:002011-07-19T21:13:29.458-04:00

This will be my last post for a couple of weeks. I'm taking some time off to travel with my family. This is most likely the last bit of my unpublished novel I'll be posting here. It takes us up through about page 30 of the mss., roughly 8000 words into a ~100,000 word mss. I am grateful for all the comments you all have been kind enough to proffer so far. If you have the stomach, tear into this

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-28052989049953657772011-07-17T22:59:00.000-04:002011-07-17T22:59:12.084-04:00

I'm leaving this week for a six-city European trip avec famille. I've purchased a small journal exclusively for keeping a log of my travels. Over lunch last week, I mentioned this to a friend and sometime commenter here, Sandi. I said I was thinking about keeping it as an exercise "in character"; that is to say, as if a potential novel character were keeping the journal. Method writing, if you

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-85443789613441986892011-07-14T15:33:00.000-04:002011-07-14T15:33:42.969-04:00

More summer tunres:

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-7185439599842349252011-07-12T16:25:00.000-04:002011-07-12T16:25:58.955-04:00

More shittiness. [NB: Rhymes with 'eaten'.] CHAPTER 4 My father leaned his head forward to sip more scorched black coffee and let it fall back again onto the headrest of his recliner. "Dr. Milton says she could be in this condition for weeks. Maybe longer." We stared in unison at the blank, liquid-gray window of the console television, the focus of the room's furniture, trying perhaps to peer

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-63416054924006445652011-07-11T01:25:00.000-04:002011-07-11T01:25:17.925-04:00

In graduate school, I entertained (albeit briefly) the idea of doing an extended study on Barth, Barthes, & Barth (Karl, Roland, & John). It was silly. I still read a bit in all of them, though. Recently, I picked up my old copy of Roland's The Pleasure of the Text. A few quotes jumped out at me. I post them for your delectation."Here, moreover, drawn from psychoanalysis, is an indirect way of

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-90587581808034138742011-07-07T23:12:00.000-04:002011-07-07T23:12:17.659-04:00

Finally. Finally, we reach the end of my extended take on Elias Canetti's monumental novel Auto-da-Fé. I will admit it's taken some of the wind out of my sails. It is dense, difficult, harsh, and pointed. It's ruined me for further in-depth reading for awhile. If you click here, you will find the previous posts in this series (plus this one and any that come after). As always in blogland, they

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-81413154841494092122011-07-06T12:15:00.000-04:002011-07-06T12:15:21.493-04:00

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-84158079588224081972011-07-03T11:05:00.000-04:002011-07-03T11:05:58.867-04:00

Yet another agent rejection of EULOGY. Not that it was unexpected. Alas. Therefore, out of spite, here's the next chapter. Lambaste away, knaves, you can't hurt me. Happy Fourth. CHAPTER 3 The thick, floral-print draperies in the cramped room my parents shared were drawn against the crisp afternoon. A small lamp, crafted from a poorly painted porcelain Chinese figurine my father had picked up in

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-55713007429896739252011-07-01T13:21:00.000-04:002011-07-01T13:21:20.999-04:00

In "The Vicissitudes of the Avant-Garde," (found in Finding a Form) William Gass asserts that the term 'avant-garde' was first applied in a literary context in the sixteenth century to Pierre de Ronsard and Joachim du Bellay. Their strife the Fates have closed, with stern control, 
The earth holds her fair body, and her soul An angel with glad angels triumpheth; Love has no more that he can do;

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-1322037644534391142011-06-30T17:14:00.000-04:002011-06-30T17:14:21.104-04:00

Poor Michele Bachmann can't buy a thrill. First, she confused John Wayne with John Wayne Gacy as the inspiration for her presidential campaign. Then she was served with a 'cease and desist' letter for using the Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers song "American Girl" at a campaign rally. Now she's been hit for pilfering the Katrina & the Waves song "Walking on Sunshine" at her campaign kick-off.

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-12257859680170166972011-06-26T14:00:00.003-04:002011-06-26T16:12:35.544-04:00

Though you won't find it in the headlines, the Fukushima catastrophe keeps getting worse (h/t to Crow). One day we may wake up to find that it was a turning point in the quest/battle for clean, renewable, planetary energy use. Germany is planning to scrap nuke use altogether, with positive repercussions elsewhere. In the market system, it's always been a question of true price discovery, a game

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-87305779682459316462011-06-25T14:33:00.000-04:002011-06-25T14:33:35.442-04:00

But first I must acknowledge my own complicity: As a writer of fiction, my work contributes to the proliferation of the technology of falsehood, bullshit, delusion, scam, con, lie. Or at least the reification of same. My previous post Beyond Belief looked at religious (and other) beliefs as the sine qua non of traditional notions of Identity. That being dispensed with, we read that no more than

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-24450457359873485882011-06-18T22:33:00.000-04:002011-06-18T22:33:02.817-04:00

For Father's Day: CHAPTER 2 My flight was unexceptional, as was my anxiety. For that, I had a Xanax and a string of deep, slow, yoga breaths. I tried but failed to sleep in my cramped seat. Turning away from the bulging, wheezing man in the seat next to me, I stared through the window at the river-beribboned coast of Virginia passing some 30,000 feet beneath me, empty of thought, numb of feeling

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-44277844377903641272011-06-14T11:58:00.000-04:002011-06-14T11:58:12.700-04:00

Driving home the other day, I did something I almost never do (except in the case of baseball): I listened to AM radio. This time to get the traffic report for Atlanta. What I heard gave pause: traffic around such-and-such is backed up for several miles dues to...wait for it...ZOMBIES! Yes. Zombies have invaded the ATL. Apparently, the AMC TV show "The Walking Dead" has chosen our area to film,

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-61430934740883315432011-06-10T11:12:00.000-04:002011-06-10T11:12:44.185-04:00

I'm away for the weekend at a family event. I continued the discussion of Terence Malick's beautiful new film "The Tree of Life" with the fine folks over at An und für sich in the Comments. Check it out. As promised, here's the (short) first chapter of EULOGY. And yes, I'm a firm adherent of the Oxford comma. Enjoy. Ridicule. Comments welcome. It's a free web. ----- THURSDAYCHAPTER 1 Nina had

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-63247091267177656562011-06-06T18:31:00.000-04:002011-06-06T18:31:28.545-04:00

Wikipedia says: "Ideas of reference and delusions of reference involve people having a belief or perception that irrelevant, unrelated or innocuous phenomena in the world refer to them directly or have special personal significance: 'the notion that everything one perceives in the world relates to one's own destiny'." It can often be a sign of paranoia or schizophrenia. This is not the case

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-44694248217022065592011-06-05T17:17:00.000-04:002011-06-05T17:17:38.427-04:00

I fear I must insist you see Terence Malick's new film "The Tree of Life." I'm not normally a shill for the latest movie or book, but in this case you'll thank me. I don't know quite how to put it, but I'll try: there were moments in this film when I found myself pinned to the back of my seat—even more so than in, say, the flying sequences of "Top Gun" or the driving sequences of "Days of

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-21471056701085690192011-06-02T22:27:00.000-04:002011-06-02T22:27:49.645-04:00

Please let this woman run for President. Word salad = “...he who warned, uh, the...the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms...uh, by ringin’ those bells and um...makin’ sure as he’s ridin’ his horse through town...to send those warning shots and bells...that, uh, we were gonna be secure and...and we were gonna be free...and we were gonna be armed." ------ *Apologies to the

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-7781901460160677702011-06-02T15:58:00.001-04:002011-06-02T22:45:31.584-04:00

(cont'd from previous posts) I think I've finally found the appropriate theme song for my look at Elias Canetti's monstrous novel Auto-da-Fé, the second song in this YouTube video from Hüsker Dü's final album Warehouse Songs and Stories: "Charity, Chastity, Prudence, and Hope," beginning at 3:50 (The first song, "These Important Years," isn't half-bad either.) If you click here, you will find

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-69748363787562422482011-06-01T14:48:00.000-04:002011-06-01T14:48:29.796-04:00

In serendipitous response to a terrific post here at An Emphatic Umph by rhetor and philosopher Daniel Coffeen (h/t to BDR for pointing me to his site), I post a brief quote from my favorite novel ever [if you regularly read this blog'o'mine, you'll know which one I mean {Check the Label}]:Again, as so often these days, I was alone. Nina had decided not to come back with me. She felt Picaro

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-19894060008891977842011-05-31T16:52:00.001-04:002011-06-02T23:09:35.986-04:00

Well, we all certainly had tons of self-righteous fun making sport of the self-righteous end-of-time true-believers who predicted the Rapture of the Elect would occur recently, specifically May 21, 2011, heralding a five-month period of Tribulations for the Remainder which would end with the end of the world on October 21, 2011. By all accounts, however, there was no Rapture. No reports of

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-28429192296957466982011-05-26T23:05:00.001-04:002011-05-26T23:12:22.609-04:00

Sorry. I've been away without explanation. And no, I didn't make the cut for the Rapture (lest you think that explains my absence). Wesdom (now that school's out) & I took a short retreat to the N. Georgia mountains where he obtained his Lifeguard certification [NB: all three of my kids are lifeguards, and all are employed this otherewise dismal summer for jobs], and I re-structured the new

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-18524273131329283842011-05-18T12:25:00.000-04:002011-05-18T12:25:04.385-04:00

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-16401599764776329002011-05-16T14:53:00.000-04:002011-05-16T14:53:17.009-04:00

It seems I can never get a break. For the last several years, I've been toying with the idea of starting up an insurance company: a Rapture Insurance company. You know, collect premiums from millennialist Christians, promise to take care of their plants and pets and property and Left-Behind family members with the percentage of same I haven't skimmed off in salary, benefits, and, you know,

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-12645009186274585342011-05-13T13:57:00.000-04:002011-05-13T13:57:40.665-04:00

(cont'd from previous posts) This is the continuation of my look at Elias Canetti's monumental novel Auto-da-Fé. If you click here, you will find the previous posts in this series (plus this one and any that come after). As always in blogland, they scroll from the bottom of the page upward. I left off in the midst of looking at the major characters in the book. Sorry for the interruption.

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-3978640923284322982011-05-09T21:34:00.000-04:002011-05-09T21:34:48.162-04:00

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-80247431864870102022011-05-02T13:45:00.000-04:002011-05-02T13:45:59.516-04:00

I take no joy in the death of any man. On May 1, 2011, nearly ten full years after the destruction of the World Trade Center in NYC on September 11, 2001, by suiciders who had commandeered passenger airliners, President Barack Hussein Obama announced the death of Usama bin Laden, the leader of an underground paramilitary group which overtly declared war on the United States and its people for

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-18622108207151067652011-04-22T15:10:00.000-04:002011-04-22T15:10:49.650-04:00

Baseline Forest Carbon Map of the U.S. for the Year 2000 Easter is a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of its nominal founder from death by Italian crucifiction. Resurrection means, of course, the resurgence or revitalization or revival of something. It's a Spring thing here in the good old Northern Hemisphere. There's a lot dour pessimism about the state of our world—with good

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-32532536179300145042011-04-21T20:50:00.000-04:002011-04-21T20:50:29.396-04:00

In no particular order, for no particular reason:

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-28094781471561478032011-04-12T15:45:00.001-04:002011-04-12T15:52:51.576-04:00

Spent a lovely week at a new Spring Break venue: Hilton Head Island. Totally upscale commercial destination—too much so for my taste. Big jellyfish. Ran a 5K race on the beach Saturday with Wisdoc (who took a 1st in her division and has the bling to prove it), Wesdom, and his two friends who spent the week with us. It was my first ever barefoot race. And a PR. Also spent a lovely afternoon with

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-44959702405080937762011-04-10T20:51:00.000-04:002011-04-10T20:51:27.657-04:00

Just returned from a week off to discover The Feelies have dropped a new album. Probably my second favorite band of my youth (after, of course, Big Star). You can find reviews and a couple of songs on-line, here and here and here. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Please come to Atlanta! Should Be Gone - The Feelies by BarNoneRecords

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-31229734723472576032011-04-04T11:05:00.000-04:002011-04-04T11:05:55.607-04:00

It's Spring Break week in the ATL. I shan't be a-posting. We've got Wesdom and a passel of his pals at the beach. It's been an intense semester for them. They're great kids and deserve a chance to decompress.

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-2458921824760023722011-03-31T13:53:00.001-04:002011-03-31T13:54:48.173-04:00

(cont'd from previous post) After several interruptions (e.g., half marathon, Carolina in the NCAA tourney, MLB Opening Day) and diversions (e.g., the last several posts), I now plunge back into my look at Elias Canetti's fiction masterpiece Auto-da-Fé. It's so easy, as a reader, to want to overinterpret literature. For those of us who grew up as 'people of the book', that is to say those of us

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-87058812826414706312011-03-28T12:39:00.000-04:002011-03-28T12:39:34.467-04:00

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-18830967530517441792011-03-25T16:45:00.000-04:002011-03-25T16:45:30.151-04:00

Here I am nearing the finish line of the Georgia Half Marathon last Sunday. That's 13.1 miles, yo. Not sure if that's a smile or a grimace on my face, or just me gasping for breath. It was a perfect day for running: started before sunrise, temp rose to low/mid 50s, cloud cover. It's my third Half in the last year; I'd never run that distance in my life before last year's race. Though not a PR,

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-64330970398315427892011-03-24T19:57:00.000-04:002011-03-24T19:57:47.795-04:00

See? This is just the kind of thing I've been talking about. MIT scientist Daniel Nocera, founder of Sun Catalytix, has discovered how to generate energy from water. "[T]his process splits hydrogen from the two oxygen molecules in water to create power from the sun. One and a half bottles of water, including wastewater, can power a small house, and a swimming pool filled with water refreshed once

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-88429791189439297782011-03-23T15:24:00.000-04:002011-03-23T15:24:19.939-04:00

Aiming for a full 4/4 [Canary (in a coal mine), weathervane (any way the wind blows), Cassandra (Somebody, please listen), fool (nothing's ever gonna' change)], I re-present:Summary Presentation for World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse View more presentations from Earth Policy Institute

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-50532502166278220842011-03-23T12:53:00.002-04:002011-03-23T13:11:14.061-04:00

Like it or not, market forces control our economic destiny. I'm a realist, not a revolutionary. Hell, even the Marxists are having trouble identifying and identifying with revolution-like events in places like Libya and now Syria, because right now they seem to be shapeless, and they don't involve Western-type bourgeois States: "Do we support U.N./Obama imperialist interventions or not? Ewww."

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-27274073269383116622011-03-22T23:07:00.002-04:002011-03-22T23:10:48.320-04:00

Some quick research turned up the following from Ch. 13 of World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse by Lester R. Brown:"The failure of the market to reflect total costs can readily be seen with gasoline. The most detailed analysis available of gasoline’s indirect costs is by the International Center for Technology Assessment. When added together, the many indirect

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-53803718657106662112011-03-19T15:35:00.000-04:002011-03-19T15:35:07.969-04:00

This is a quick follow-up to my previous post. The main argument used by traditional industry apologists/lobbyists (oil, gas, nuclear [fission], coal, etc.) is an economic argument; to wit: these status quo forms of energy currently deliver more kilowatts per dollar than alternative forms of energy (solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, fusion, etc.) currently are capable of delivering. In the current

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-65774068933224327362011-03-15T12:46:00.001-04:002011-03-15T12:50:39.037-04:00

Taking a break from my series of posts about fiction and its self-awareness of its remove from the "real world" to talk about what's going on in the real world: They say the Buddha is infinitely compassionate. It's times like these that make me wonder whether compassion is enough. Japanese people are suffering from the after-effects of one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history, a

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-16425906829178017102011-03-14T14:38:00.001-04:002011-03-14T14:42:16.248-04:00

(cont'd from previous post) Elias Canetti's Auto-da-Fé is a complicated, complex, disorienting read. One of the problems we have is trying to get a fix on the narrative voice. It's difficult, for example, to identify the place of the narrator in the overall scheme of the novel. He appears occasionally, using the characters, mainly Kien, to draw his conclusions. For example (p. 71):"Blindness is

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-65342272926900995702011-03-09T17:31:00.001-05:002011-03-10T15:25:04.718-05:00

(cont'd from previous post) I continue today my look at Elias Canetti's Auto-da-Fé. It is a complex book which does not lend itself to easy analysis, and I often find myself at a loss how to proceed here. It is, as I noted in my first post in this series, a savage satire. And, generally, I find myself pretty much in agreement with Daniel Green: "Although certainly the best satire is also the

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-67253890052776558642011-03-03T23:06:00.002-05:002011-03-03T23:22:51.654-05:00

Link (cont'd from previous post) Those of you familiar with my Ur-story series of readings [see sidebar] will recall that I try to focus on the elements of the text from a writer's point of view, with special emphasis on the relationship of the work to something I call the Ur-story: an uber-theme in literature stretching from the Gilgamesh to Gillespie, from Jahweh to Gaddis. Briefly restated,

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-10939985002389795422011-02-28T15:22:00.000-05:002011-02-28T15:22:00.928-05:00

Elias Canetti's Auto-da-Fé is not an easy novel. By any coventional measure, it's not a fun book. It is savage. It is misanthropic in so many ways. Its satiric vision is merciless and bleak. Its style is wordy and clunky (which may be a result of its being German and translated) and repetitious; it certainly isn't lyrical. The narrative voice tramples upon the action and dialogue. The characters

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-77715108279709925152011-02-27T14:53:00.001-05:002011-02-27T14:56:45.371-05:00

I didn't want it to go unremarked: WoW has just passed the hundred thousand unique page views mark. My mother is so proud of me. -------- What do the following pics, taken last week, have to tell us: Opening day: Wesdom (aka the big left-hander) on the mound. Nice post-up; notice how his weight is back and he's nicely balanced during a Nolan Ryan-like high leg-lift. And, in the second pic, nice

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-38266103384945651592011-02-24T13:02:00.001-05:002011-02-24T22:15:12.772-05:00

See this? Bogey men on the right. See this? Labor's organizing in self-defense and countering the Tea Party anger from a couple years back (that, by the way, paved the way for the Republican victories in the 2010 election). See this? The Obama Administration will no longer defend the constitutionality of DOMA. Are you feeling stirred up? Then you're the base, and the heavy guns are laying down

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-8209288997717617762011-02-23T15:21:00.000-05:002011-02-23T15:21:04.094-05:00

Gratefulness to all who've expressed HumanKindness w/r/t my previous post. This will be a quick update of things in the personal space. Young Wesdom and his circle are gradually easing back into the flow of their hyper-busy lives. And they are doing it as close or, if possible, even closer than before. I love them so. Their school was as supportive as anyone could ever have expected. The

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-52757092369658920932011-02-10T13:54:00.001-05:002011-02-10T13:55:00.272-05:00

Please pardon the silence here at WoW. My youngest son's 16-year old best friend committed suicide Monday after school. We believe he was clinically depressed, even though Sunday night he was eating pizza and drinking chocolate milk and cheering on the Steelers here at Casa Wisdom with all the verve of teendom. All our energies are being channeled into helping young Wesdom and his extraordinarily

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-65403024029934115662011-02-05T23:29:00.000-05:002011-02-05T23:29:09.735-05:00

If you've paid any attention at all to the sporadic political commentary on this non-niche-y blog, you'll know that seeing this article about former Pres. Geo. W. Bush canceling his fund-raising, book-selling trip to Switzerland because of his fear of criminal complaints being lodged against him alleging war crimes under international law gave no end of a certain sense of schadenfreude. -----

Jim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.com1