Kenneth Sutton's aide-mémoire
The whole blog looks interesting, but this is the first post that caught my attention on Cabinet of Wonders: The Wonder of the Golden Proportions
Ever hear of the Golden Mean? Neither had I, until I was supposed to teach a graphic design course, and started (you know me) to do research on what, exactly, I should be teaching.
It’s really a lovely little essay (illustrated!) on these mathematical and design basics.
I’ve discovered that my web host offers new pricing structures, with newer version of some of their services, and I’m about to switch.
The New York Times has a story about a Baptist church in Georgia adapting to a multicultural world. Having fallen from 600 to 100 members as the demographics of their town changed, the former Clarkston Baptist Church is now the Clarkston International Bible Church and is back up to 300 members.
Mr. Perrin said the impact of the church on his life hit him when he and his wife were traveling through the Midwest. They stopped to worship at whatever Baptist church they could find.
“Every church that we walked into was pure white Caucasian,†he said. “My wife and I really felt uncomfortable, because, we realized, here in Clarkston is what the world is all about.â€
They did it because a close reading of the Bible indicated that Jesus had envisioned a multicultural Church. They lost some old members, of course, but I think it’s great that as a community they were able to decide to change—and then to implement it. Now if only more churches would realize LGBT people are meant to be welcomed as members as well.
Although she refers to it as A personal Al Chet, Velveteen Rabbi’s prayer/poem contains much that is true for me as well. Here is just a taste:
Forgive me, Source of all being, for the sin I have sinned before you
By allowing my body to be an afterthought too often and too easily;
By not walking, running, leaping, climbing or dancing although I am able;
By eating in my car and at my desk, mindlessly and without blessing;
By not embracing those who needed it, and not allowing myself to be embraced;
By not praising every bodys beauty, with our quirks and imperfections.
The New York Times reports Prisons Purging Books on Faith From Libraries
Behind the walls of federal prisons nationwide, chaplains have been quietly carrying out a systematic purge of religious books and materials that were once available to prisoners in chapel libraries.
The chaplains were directed by the Bureau of Prisons to clear the shelves of any books, tapes, CDs and videos that are not on a list of approved resources.
A tip of the hat to Philocrites.
For convenience, I decided to use a CapitalOne Mastercard for my monthly fee from Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life. This morning, I got an email from Linden Lab saying my charge had been rejected. When I called CapitalOne, they said the transaction had been sent to the fraud department since it was charged via London (just a bad decision in Linden Lab’s choice of billing vendor). They said they would mark it as ok, but when I mentioned that it is a monthly charge, however, they said I would have to call every month. Calling every month for a routine transaction, just because it’s coming from London? What a load. I’ll be moving my business elsewhere.
At long last, Kage Baker’s Company novels are brought to resolution in The Sons of Heaven. Threads of story from throughout the series are picked up. I loved having not only Botanist Mendoza’s story finished, but also those of Preserver Joseph and Literature Preservationist Lewis.
Great as the pleasure of the book was, it was touched by thoughts of my friend Barbara, with whom I began reading the series oh so many years ago. (In the Garden of Iden was published in the U.S. in early 1998.) We would borrow and trade the books with each other, comparing them to other time-travel novels, and other science fiction. As I’ve noted previously in this blog, I stopped reading for several months during and after Barbara’s illness, for no reason I understand. And while I’m once again reading, inevitably there will be times when the joy of reading carries also some sorrow at no longer being able to talk about it with Barbara.
While in Portland for the UUA’s General Assembly, I of course went shopping at Powell’s City of Books. I’ve been there once before, and what a treat it is. (They also do mail-order of new and used books.) Among the books I bought was a Dover reprint of Karl Mortensen’s 1912 A Handbook of Norse Mythology, translated from the Danish by A. Clinton Crowell. I remember D’Aulaire’s Book of Norse Myths quite fondly from childhood, and I was looking for a good source of northern-European names and folklore for, erm, “inspiration” in Second Life. (Part of the modest role-play I engage in has me a part of House Heidrun. Heidrún is a goat at Valhalla that produces never-ending mead.)
This slim book lays out the basic mythology of the nordic peoples in a very straightforward way, including some assessment of the layers of mythology and the changes over time–like the promotion of Odin to the head of the pantheon following earlier focus on Thor. A happy purchase.
Tobias S. Buckell’s debut novel, Crystal Rain, ties together elements of steampunk, hard sf, and fantasy (or religion), all with a distinctive Caribbean flavor.
Set in the far future on another planet, the humans of Crystal Rain have been reduced to non-electronic technology. Flight is possible by blimp, but uncommon. There are a few train lines and telegraphy. The culture of the protagonist’s society reflects a distant Caribbean origin. Over the impossibly high mountains are the Azteca with their bloodthirsty gods, the Teotl.
The emotional momentum of the novel centers on John deBrun, an amnesiac. Through the course of the story, he discovers himself, and we come to understand the context and history of the culture. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to the author’s future efforts.
Via Arts & Letters Daily, I discovered a blog written by board members of the National Book Critics Circle. They have a guest post: Morris Dickstein on the Critical Landscape Today. I like some of the points he makes, and I too lament the falling-away of book reviews in major newspapers. I can’t help thinking it’s a very bad sign for the state of reading in America. But Dickstein betrays a basic elitism that I really can’t agree with:
But book reviews, to be of any value, demand a trained sensibility and real critical expertise; they need to furnish more than rough-hewn consumer guidance and the colorful peeves of the man in the street.
This kind of thinking, in any field, ends up producing reviews (and elevating creations) that speak only to a small coterie of insiders. Hardly the stuff that will save reviews in newspapers, which need to be aimed at a popular audience.