One of the big disappointments in the debate over curriculum standards that has ensued as a result of a Montgomery County, Kentucky high school rejecting elementary-level texts from an accelerated college prep course has been the derision expressed by some toward classic works. Go to the comment section of some of the posts on this issue under the "censorship" label below and weep. I think...
The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries Channel (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
Scientists are starting to consider the notion that whales might have a pretty cool culture. It looks as though Herman Melville picked the right hero for his epic novel.. "Whales are pretty hard to study, but evidence is coming up...
In this Peabody Award-winning show, Kurt Andersen sets sail in search of Moby-Dick. Herman Melville's white whale survived his battle with Captain Ahab only to surface in the works of contemporary filmmakers, painters, playwrights and musicians.
The Justice Department recently proposed moving 100 alleged terrorists from Guantánamo Bay to a vacant prison in Northwest Illinois when the controversial detention facility closes in 2010. As a lifelong Illinoisian , I'd like to welcome these alleged terrorists and jihadists to my home state. I hope your stay is pleasant - though not too pleasant - and provides you with memories to share with...
In 1820, an 80 ton sperm whale attacked the Nantucket-based whaling ship, Essex , an event that inspired Herman Melville's Moby Dick . The Nuremberg Trials began in 1945. Brenda and Phil got married in 1947. Francisco Franco died in 1975. He's still dead . And a fire in Windsor Castle caused £50 million in damage. Born today: Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940), Alistair Cooke (1908-2004), Nadine...
Sep 22 – Dec 12 Tuesdays (11am–7pm) Wednesdays (11am–6pm) Thursdays (11am–7pm) Fridays–Saturdays (11am–6pm) @ California College of the Arts Reception : Tues., Sept. 22, 6:30–8:30 p.m. An eclectic group of 32 international artists, including Damián Ortega, Angela Bulloch, Paulina Olowska, and Richard Serra, working across multiple media, from sculpture...
Today I am reminded of the famous Herman Melville quote: " To produce a mighty blog, you must choose a mighty theme ." Done and done. I didn't get on the bus until it was down the road a ways, but I'm enjoying the ride. Thanks, boys. Part One Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let's get down to brass tacks. Every so often I like to perform a test on myself (no, not that kind, silly!)....
Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading . These are my finds for the week. (All product descriptions are taken from Amazon.com or the publisher's website.) Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen - Found via an email from a publicist. Louisa May Alcott portrays a writer as worthy of interest in her own right as her most famous character, Jo March, and addresses...
Performa09--Week 1: Arto Lindsay's SOMEWHERE I READ , Guy Ben-Ner's Drop the Monkey and talk with Jon Kessler, Dexter Sinister's First/Last Newspaper and film showing of David Loeb Weiss's Farewell, Etaion Shrdlu , Tacita Dean's Craneway Event On Sunday, November 1st I went to Times Square where Guy Ben-Ner's Performa commissioned video, Drop the Monkey (2009), was being shown on one of the bright...
Some "professor" has apparently been conducting "research" into sex toys, which just goes to show you how far academe has strayed from the path of Truth and Beauty. Instead of introducing new generations to cultural treasures like Plato's Phaedrus , Diderot's Les Bijoux Indiscrets , Swinburne's Whippingham Papers , and the Earl of Rochester's Signior Dildo, modern academics either...
Better an offshore wind farm than an underwater Nantucket THE first time I read that rich people in Cape Cod were organising to block the Cape Wind offshore wind-farm project because it would spoil their view, I thought it was a joke. The appreciation of a beautiful and unspoiled view is supposed to entail an appreciation of nature; wind power is the most sympathetic possible instantiation of such...
This month Wendy supplied us with a list of first lines and asks which books we’ve read and which would make it to our tbr list on the basis of the first line. Bold = the books I’ve read Pink = tbr pile 1. Call me Ishmael. Herman Melville, Moby-Dick 2. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Jane Austen, Pride...
YouTube via potterpaint2000. Folktek on Ebay "an improv featuring the usual suspects...processed deviant Folktek masterpieces...and my voice! Thank you Herman Melville!!!"
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