Two good hikes this past weekend. Saturday, 8 of us headed out for the Clifton Gorge area by Yellow Springs, Ohio. We did 6.7 miles through John Bryan State Park and Clifton Gorge Natural Area. The Little Miami River was running very high due to the recent heavy rains. Temps were in the upper 40s and low 50s, with cloudy skies. After a good leg stretch, most of us headed for the fabled Young's Dairy, for an ice cream extravaganza [except D, who opted for chili and fries].
Sunday, 6 of us went on the trails at Shawnee Lookout County Park, overlooking the Ohio River and the Great Miami River. An early cloudy start soon gave way to pouring rains, so we cut our trip short at 3.7 miles or so. Again, the trail then led to the Cleves Drive-In, a pretty good place.
Monday, January 8, 2007
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Great Aurora Photo
A superb photo of the Aurora by a crew member on the Space Shuttle, from Dec. 20 206--
http://tinyurl.com/y8g76e
Seeing the Aurora fairly often was a great thing about living in Alaska.
http://tinyurl.com/y8g76e
Seeing the Aurora fairly often was a great thing about living in Alaska.
Friday, January 5, 2007
Times of London, on notable books
An interesting set of notable books, chosen by British critic Peter Kemp, from the
Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2102-2465349,00.html
All of these books look worth reading, but the most intense one appears to be the book discovered by the daughter of Irene Nemirovsky-- Kemp describes it thus--
The year’s great literary discovery. More than half a century after Irène Némirovsky, a Russian-born novelist deported from France under the race laws, died in Auschwitz, one of her daughters opened a leather notebook she had left behind, and found an unfinished novel. While its later parts never got beyond intensely fascinating notes, the first two sections (essentially, free-standing novellas) are masterpieces. One depicts the fall of Paris in 1940; the other, the occupation of a village deep in the French countryside. Riveting biographical material included in this book shows the night- mare conditions in which these beautifully subtle, unillusioned and generous-spirited works were composed. Written not just about a terrible cataclysm but from the heart of it, combining documentary fascination with fictional power, Suite Française is a triumph of both human indomitability and literary genius.
Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2102-2465349,00.html
All of these books look worth reading, but the most intense one appears to be the book discovered by the daughter of Irene Nemirovsky-- Kemp describes it thus--
The year’s great literary discovery. More than half a century after Irène Némirovsky, a Russian-born novelist deported from France under the race laws, died in Auschwitz, one of her daughters opened a leather notebook she had left behind, and found an unfinished novel. While its later parts never got beyond intensely fascinating notes, the first two sections (essentially, free-standing novellas) are masterpieces. One depicts the fall of Paris in 1940; the other, the occupation of a village deep in the French countryside. Riveting biographical material included in this book shows the night- mare conditions in which these beautifully subtle, unillusioned and generous-spirited works were composed. Written not just about a terrible cataclysm but from the heart of it, combining documentary fascination with fictional power, Suite Française is a triumph of both human indomitability and literary genius.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Tolkien, WWI, and the Lord of the Rings
I found this fascinating post at a blog site which discussed the influence of his WWI service in the trenches on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
this is the permalink, http://www.ahistoryteacher.com/wordpress/?p=196
this is the permalink, http://www.ahistoryteacher.com/wordpress/?p=196
Redneck Therapy
On a lighter note,
Bubba went to a psychiatrist.
"I've got problems. Every time I go to bed I think there's somebody under
it. I'm scared. I think I'm going crazy."
"Just put yourself in my hands for one year," said the shrink. "Come talk
to me three times a week, and we should be able to get rid of those
fears."
"How much do you charge?"
"Eighty dollars per visit, replied the doctor."
"I'll sleep on it," said Bubba.
Six months later the doctor met Bubba on the street. "Why didn't you
ever come to see me about those fears you were having?" asked the psychiatrist.
"Well eighty bucks a visit three times a week for a year is an awful lot
ofmoney! A bartender cured me for $10. I was so happy to have saved all
thatmoney that I went and bought me a new pickup!"
"Is that so! And how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?"
"He told me to cut the legs off the bed! - Ain't nobody under there
now!!!"
Bubba went to a psychiatrist.
"I've got problems. Every time I go to bed I think there's somebody under
it. I'm scared. I think I'm going crazy."
"Just put yourself in my hands for one year," said the shrink. "Come talk
to me three times a week, and we should be able to get rid of those
fears."
"How much do you charge?"
"Eighty dollars per visit, replied the doctor."
"I'll sleep on it," said Bubba.
Six months later the doctor met Bubba on the street. "Why didn't you
ever come to see me about those fears you were having?" asked the psychiatrist.
"Well eighty bucks a visit three times a week for a year is an awful lot
ofmoney! A bartender cured me for $10. I was so happy to have saved all
thatmoney that I went and bought me a new pickup!"
"Is that so! And how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?"
"He told me to cut the legs off the bed! - Ain't nobody under there
now!!!"
One Small Step for the Car, One Giant Leap for Mankind
I was hoping this would happen soon. A company is offering a wireless WiFi service that can operate from vehicles on 95% of American roads. http://tinyurl.com/yex3yy
The link goes to an online story at businessweek.com. this is really neat news. My travel pal, R, and I have often longed for internet access while on on a road trip, to look up info on places to stay, interesting sites coming up on the trail, etc. Soon the permanent linkage will be effective!
Wired magazine online has a similar inspiring story, about a 700 square mile hot spot centered around Hermiston, Oregon, in the high desert in eastern Oregon. The article mentions that the area is so sparsely populated that there were no political objections to the establishment of the WiFi system, which was set up by Fred Ziari, an immigrant from a small Iranian town on the Caspian Sea. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,69234-0.html
Ziari notes that the WiFi service is free to the individual user, but that it is supported by money paid by businesses and government agencies which need the wireless access. The same could be done in any city, but obstruction from existing ISPs and cell phone companies prevents it in most places.
The link goes to an online story at businessweek.com. this is really neat news. My travel pal, R, and I have often longed for internet access while on on a road trip, to look up info on places to stay, interesting sites coming up on the trail, etc. Soon the permanent linkage will be effective!
Wired magazine online has a similar inspiring story, about a 700 square mile hot spot centered around Hermiston, Oregon, in the high desert in eastern Oregon. The article mentions that the area is so sparsely populated that there were no political objections to the establishment of the WiFi system, which was set up by Fred Ziari, an immigrant from a small Iranian town on the Caspian Sea. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,69234-0.html
Ziari notes that the WiFi service is free to the individual user, but that it is supported by money paid by businesses and government agencies which need the wireless access. The same could be done in any city, but obstruction from existing ISPs and cell phone companies prevents it in most places.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Peter Wood on the New Anger
I ran across a very interesting review of a new book by Peter Wood, done by Stanley Kurtz at National Review Online, http://books.nationalreview.com/review/?q=NDdmY2FlYjZkOTg3YjQ5Njg2YTQ2MzViZDkzYzdiODg=
Kurtz discusses the "Old Anger," generally restrained, as compared to the "New Anger," often observable in current political discussions, especially in the blogosphere.
What exactly is New Anger? Let’s find out by first having a look at Old Anger. Before we lionized all those angry anti-heroes — from Jack Nicholson in the movies, to John McEnroe on the tennis court — Americans admired the strong silent type: slow to boil, reluctant to fight unless sorely provoked, and disinclined to show anger even then. Gary Cooper in Sargent York comes to mind. Old Anger was held in check by ideals of self-mastery and reserve. As Wood puts it, “Dignity, manliness, and wisdom called for self-control and coolness of temper.”
“For the first time in our political history, declaring absolute hatred for one’s opponent has become a sign not of sad excess but of good character.” That, Wood says, is why our political anger is now New Anger. For Wood (a conservative who’s written for National Review Online) New Anger is a phenomenon of both Left and Right. Yet Wood eschews false symmetry, and one of the fascinations of A Bee in the Mouth is following Wood’s attempt to make sense of New Anger’s long, slow, and decidedly incomplete seepage from the Left to the Right side of the political spectrum.
Kurtz discusses the "Old Anger," generally restrained, as compared to the "New Anger," often observable in current political discussions, especially in the blogosphere.
What exactly is New Anger? Let’s find out by first having a look at Old Anger. Before we lionized all those angry anti-heroes — from Jack Nicholson in the movies, to John McEnroe on the tennis court — Americans admired the strong silent type: slow to boil, reluctant to fight unless sorely provoked, and disinclined to show anger even then. Gary Cooper in Sargent York comes to mind. Old Anger was held in check by ideals of self-mastery and reserve. As Wood puts it, “Dignity, manliness, and wisdom called for self-control and coolness of temper.”
“For the first time in our political history, declaring absolute hatred for one’s opponent has become a sign not of sad excess but of good character.” That, Wood says, is why our political anger is now New Anger. For Wood (a conservative who’s written for National Review Online) New Anger is a phenomenon of both Left and Right. Yet Wood eschews false symmetry, and one of the fascinations of A Bee in the Mouth is following Wood’s attempt to make sense of New Anger’s long, slow, and decidedly incomplete seepage from the Left to the Right side of the political spectrum.
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