Monthly Archives: January 2011
The hills are alive, again
The Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata, with the blessing of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, has been hard at work on a debut album and show called The Hills Are Alive — which reimagines the classic tunes from The Sound of Music … Continue reading
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America sucks/America rocks: two maps
“There is nothing wrong with America,” Bill Clinton once said, “that can’t be fixed by what is right with America.” The United States of Shame The United States of Awesome Clearly some dubious accolades here (“most average,” “best license plate,” … Continue reading
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“The 25 most influential living atheists”
A list from SuperScholars.org, including Amazon links to some of the authors’ works. Pleased and intrigued to see some names I haven’t encountered (Kai Nielsen? Susan Blackmore?) and some I’ve been meaning to get to (I really should finish Jennifer … Continue reading
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Erasing Thomas Jefferson (and Darwin, and civil rights, and…) cont’d
A trailer for Standing Up To The Experts, a documentary-in-progress about the shameful travesty that is the Texas State Board of Education: The filmmakers are trying to raise funds to complete the project; go here to chip in. (via Phil … Continue reading
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Billy Collins, animated
I’m a little late stumbling onto this, it seems: I’m not a smoker myself, but I love this poem for how it captures the wistful fondness we may feel for old vices long sworn off; and I love what the … Continue reading
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Why stereotypes need to die, cont’d
As I was saying: Stereotypes are always suspect. Including ones about Americans. (via xkcd)
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Why the dumb-cheerleader and awkward-nerd stereotypes need to die
Who’s got a background in molecular biology, patent law, medicine, or aerospace engineering — and works as an ER doctor, neuro researcher, or engineer for NASA? They do: See, this is why I try never to assume anything about anyone … Continue reading
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No stinking calculators, cont’d: Vi Hart’s math doodles
I love discovering stuff like this. Vi Hart is an artist, writer, musician (check out her classical compositions based on the Harry Potter books) and mathematician who posts increasingly popular YouTube videos on “math doodles” and other mathematical and musical … Continue reading
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The idea of the “fully human” (or: Get your revisionist hands off my history)
Being impressed with Melville’s great capacity for humanizing the “foreign” in Moby-Dick, and nevertheless recognizing where he falls short, reminds me of this article by Adam Kirsch — on a book publisher sanitizing Mark Twain, Congress omitting passages from a … Continue reading
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Reading Moby-Dick
Like the White Whale itself, Herman Melville’s novel has been looming at the edges of my awareness for awhile now. Somehow I’d completely missed reading it in school, but references to it abound: in songs and operas, in cellphone commercials, … Continue reading
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