The Billy Joel and Elton John Face to Face concert I saw on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena
The Actors' Theater production of the tempest that I saw in Schiller Park on Thursday
The Film of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Kate Morton's recent novel The Forgotten Garden
The TV Show Green Wing (Season 1 available on Hulu)
One gets a thumbs up, three get a sideways thumb, and one gets a thumb down- I'll let the mystery of the matching remain, however.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
I recently finished the cult hit, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (PPZ). It's the kind of book that everyone got excited to mention that it existed. Some people bought it, like my roommate, but, I believe, far fewer people actually read it. I, however, have foolishly embarked upon a long-term journey to read as many Jane Austen fan-fictions, re-imaginings, and modern adaptations as I can tolerate. I owe many a blog posting on those other works, but as you may imagine, PPZ offered a welcome relief as it avoided much of the feminine melodrama of this genre, and so it also makes for a more engaging blog post.
As a junior in high school, my Gifted English class was given a creative writing assignment in satire. Lacking any true creative impulse, I wrote "The Gospel According to Timothy Leary", in which the occurrences of the New Testament all make sense because the participants are high on LSD. I have no idea why my fairly religious, but Episcopalian, parents were so supportive of this, especially as it lacked any artistic merit. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies just seems to be a better piece turned in for the same assignment. I wonder if it began with using a word processor's Find and Replace function to insert 'zombie' for every occurrence of 'husband' or 'wife' and then rewriting the sentences to make sense.
And the narrative of PPZ does make a certain amount of sense. The military is needed to fight the zombie hordes. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is thought well of because of her fighting prowess (and her daughter is still to frail and sickly to to accomplish anything). Charlotte Lucas marries Mr. Collins because she has contracted the zombie plague and knows she has little time left before she needs to be beheaded.
But some other aspects of the novel make unnecessary changes to the tale of Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Bennett is often too practical, training his daughters to fight zombies. He and the girls' aunt Mrs. Gardiner have extraneous extramarital affairs. Pemberley is a pagoda-styled building. And in the various discussions of balls by the many empty-headed young ladies, Elizabeth and Darcy share a titter in interpreting the word 'balls' to mean the male anatomy.
PPZ does take on a trend in modern literature: the omni-present reading group questions at the end of the book. Is it the goal of very book to be read by a book club now? Can members of book clubs not figure out discussion points on their own? In PPZ the questions are suitably tongue in cheek, my favorite of which is, "Does Mrs. Bennet have a single redeeming quality?" Apparently these questions are taken seriously in the Oprah Magazine.
And on the topic of zombies, a new film is to come out in the fantastic sub-genre: Nazi Zombies. The Norwegian film Dead Snow.
As a junior in high school, my Gifted English class was given a creative writing assignment in satire. Lacking any true creative impulse, I wrote "The Gospel According to Timothy Leary", in which the occurrences of the New Testament all make sense because the participants are high on LSD. I have no idea why my fairly religious, but Episcopalian, parents were so supportive of this, especially as it lacked any artistic merit. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies just seems to be a better piece turned in for the same assignment. I wonder if it began with using a word processor's Find and Replace function to insert 'zombie' for every occurrence of 'husband' or 'wife' and then rewriting the sentences to make sense.
And the narrative of PPZ does make a certain amount of sense. The military is needed to fight the zombie hordes. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is thought well of because of her fighting prowess (and her daughter is still to frail and sickly to to accomplish anything). Charlotte Lucas marries Mr. Collins because she has contracted the zombie plague and knows she has little time left before she needs to be beheaded.
But some other aspects of the novel make unnecessary changes to the tale of Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Bennett is often too practical, training his daughters to fight zombies. He and the girls' aunt Mrs. Gardiner have extraneous extramarital affairs. Pemberley is a pagoda-styled building. And in the various discussions of balls by the many empty-headed young ladies, Elizabeth and Darcy share a titter in interpreting the word 'balls' to mean the male anatomy.
PPZ does take on a trend in modern literature: the omni-present reading group questions at the end of the book. Is it the goal of very book to be read by a book club now? Can members of book clubs not figure out discussion points on their own? In PPZ the questions are suitably tongue in cheek, my favorite of which is, "Does Mrs. Bennet have a single redeeming quality?" Apparently these questions are taken seriously in the Oprah Magazine.
And on the topic of zombies, a new film is to come out in the fantastic sub-genre: Nazi Zombies. The Norwegian film Dead Snow.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Philanthropist
Hulu desktop has changed my TV watching with my new Mac Mini. I work on my laptop in bed while using just the Apple remote to choose programs. (I am happy to report that Peep Show Season (or Series for the Brits) 1 is available now on Hulu. But I have seen series 1-4 and want to see 5!)
One new show I have caught through Hulu is The Philanthropist, from NBC. It is yet another example proving that every actor from the HBO/BBC show Rome gets a chance at starring in their own network program, whether it is a good idea or not (I liked Journeyman starring Kevin McKidd, and he seems to have found a home on Grey's Anatomy now.) James Purefoy, who played Marc Antony on Rome, is the philanthropist Teddy Rast, a wealthy entrepreneur who takes to doing good acts in person instead of solely giving money following the death of his son, a bitter divorce, and a touching experience in Nigeria. His married business partners are played by Neve Campbell (she's an adult now) and Jesse Martin (always a sure choice). The show is loosely based off the life of Bobby Sager.
The plots do stretch one's credulity, and the pace and editing of the program can be a bit-offsetting as well. Yet, I was happy enough to be entertained by the first two episodes. The mostly ambivalent but hopeful reviews I see on the blogosphere capture my sentiments as well. But a co-worker was vehemently against the premise of the show and it is this view of philanthropy that I wish to address here.
My co-worker argued that in the real world it is almost always better for a wealthy entrepreneur to run a large successful, ethical corporation that does not exploit people or the environment while giving money to charities that have an expertise in their field. What such an individual should not do, is precisely what the character Teddy Rast does in the pilot episode, putting himself in physical danger to deliver some vaccine to one remote Nigerian village.
From an initial rational and economical perspective, I had to agree. Even on a personal level, my own experience of the futility on the charity front-line (when I was in the AmeriCorps and a member of the National Readiness and Response Corps of the American Red Cross, working in Anchorage, AK) made me certain that I could do more for the world from a further distance. (I am not the person I want to be, and a year or so after my AmeriCorps year I had stopped all regular volunteering and trying to do more for the world.)
Then my gut, and second level rationalizations turn on. Surely we need to take into account the impact upon the doer and receiver of direct charity. Helping someone in person will keep you more likely to write the big checks. Knowing that someone important or wealthy cares can raise the spirits of the receivers, and of course the publicity that can be brought to a cause amplifies the small acts of the influential individual. But this implies that one should not toil away in obscurity and quietly do good, and this removes much of the one-on-one benefit and purity of the experience.
At college reunions I often chastise friends who had espoused the loftiest ideals, but who are not consultants or corporate lawyers. Their arguments about being the people who write the checks to help the groups they support have rung quite hollow to me. So do we as a society value those people who give time and effort more than those that just give greenbacks? Is it right to do so?
The NYTimes' Ethicist, Randy Cohen, writes in his Moral of the Story blog about a similar wealthy first-worlder helping out individuals from the third-world, in this case Madonna adopting a Malawian child. Although the issues of adoption exceed those I have brought up, many of the issues are the same. In my own head I cannot determine what the best course of action is with regards to charity, and it seems that as whole our western society is torn on the the issue also. Maybe a few more episodes of the The Philanthropist will help clarify my thoughts.
-------Edit 7/9/9 ----------------------------
Nick Kristof has a column today discussing another aspect of this problem: the length we will go to help one person, and the difficulties found when trying to help a larger number of people at once.
One new show I have caught through Hulu is The Philanthropist, from NBC. It is yet another example proving that every actor from the HBO/BBC show Rome gets a chance at starring in their own network program, whether it is a good idea or not (I liked Journeyman starring Kevin McKidd, and he seems to have found a home on Grey's Anatomy now.) James Purefoy, who played Marc Antony on Rome, is the philanthropist Teddy Rast, a wealthy entrepreneur who takes to doing good acts in person instead of solely giving money following the death of his son, a bitter divorce, and a touching experience in Nigeria. His married business partners are played by Neve Campbell (she's an adult now) and Jesse Martin (always a sure choice). The show is loosely based off the life of Bobby Sager.
The plots do stretch one's credulity, and the pace and editing of the program can be a bit-offsetting as well. Yet, I was happy enough to be entertained by the first two episodes. The mostly ambivalent but hopeful reviews I see on the blogosphere capture my sentiments as well. But a co-worker was vehemently against the premise of the show and it is this view of philanthropy that I wish to address here.
My co-worker argued that in the real world it is almost always better for a wealthy entrepreneur to run a large successful, ethical corporation that does not exploit people or the environment while giving money to charities that have an expertise in their field. What such an individual should not do, is precisely what the character Teddy Rast does in the pilot episode, putting himself in physical danger to deliver some vaccine to one remote Nigerian village.
From an initial rational and economical perspective, I had to agree. Even on a personal level, my own experience of the futility on the charity front-line (when I was in the AmeriCorps and a member of the National Readiness and Response Corps of the American Red Cross, working in Anchorage, AK) made me certain that I could do more for the world from a further distance. (I am not the person I want to be, and a year or so after my AmeriCorps year I had stopped all regular volunteering and trying to do more for the world.)
Then my gut, and second level rationalizations turn on. Surely we need to take into account the impact upon the doer and receiver of direct charity. Helping someone in person will keep you more likely to write the big checks. Knowing that someone important or wealthy cares can raise the spirits of the receivers, and of course the publicity that can be brought to a cause amplifies the small acts of the influential individual. But this implies that one should not toil away in obscurity and quietly do good, and this removes much of the one-on-one benefit and purity of the experience.
At college reunions I often chastise friends who had espoused the loftiest ideals, but who are not consultants or corporate lawyers. Their arguments about being the people who write the checks to help the groups they support have rung quite hollow to me. So do we as a society value those people who give time and effort more than those that just give greenbacks? Is it right to do so?
The NYTimes' Ethicist, Randy Cohen, writes in his Moral of the Story blog about a similar wealthy first-worlder helping out individuals from the third-world, in this case Madonna adopting a Malawian child. Although the issues of adoption exceed those I have brought up, many of the issues are the same. In my own head I cannot determine what the best course of action is with regards to charity, and it seems that as whole our western society is torn on the the issue also. Maybe a few more episodes of the The Philanthropist will help clarify my thoughts.
-------Edit 7/9/9 ----------------------------
Nick Kristof has a column today discussing another aspect of this problem: the length we will go to help one person, and the difficulties found when trying to help a larger number of people at once.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Ten reading Recommendations
Last week I was asked by a friend to do a book recommendation exchange. I was initially quite hesitant, as I mentioned in my "My Dinner with Andre" post, I am scared of disliking a work important to a friend and vice-versa. I became even more hesitant when my friend listed "The Zahir" as an example book she would recommend. (For my opinion on Paulo Coelho see the same old post. The Zahir is the worst book I have read in years.)
My friend, who is Eastern European, has read many classics of English and European literature from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, asked me to specifically to recommend twentieth century American authors. I am going to bend this a bit, and recommend fairly recent works, some of which are by non-Americans. These works will strike a balance between erudition, enjoyment and cocktail-party chatter. So no Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Miller, Heller, or Updike.
1. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - My favorite post-childhood book. I gave this to my friend for Christmas in 2006, but she still hasn't read it!
2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon - A book that was recommended to me and that I have given to a few people.
3. Underworld by Don DeLillo - The best first chapter ever written. It even made me like baseball. And this was a present from an ex-boyfriend getting his Master's in English.
4. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami - A book I read in one day in Antarctica in 2007. I only left bed for sustenance.
5. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers - The book that launched Eggers upon the litterati. I gave it to multiple people for Christmas during my junior year of college. And I mentioned it in my blog post about pretentious titles.
6. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri - The best book of short stories I have read in years. And I enjoy the author's other works (as I mentioned before) and movies made of them too.
7. Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver by Scott Stossel - Mixing it up a little, here's an amazing biography of an amazing man, Sargent Shriver, father of Maria Shriver and brother-in-law of JFK. He was essential to the founding of the Peace Corps and the Special Olympics. The interviews with him were held in haste when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
8. American Gods by Neil Gaiman - The novel that launched the author into fame beyond the comics world. I read it whilst working at the Princeton University Library circulation desk as an undergraduate.
9. Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon - The best road trip memoir there is, surpassing On the Road and Travels with Charley. Sadly, the author's River-Horse does not rise to the same heights.
10. A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe - My favorite Wolfe novel, chosen a it was the longest English-language book I could find while in hospital in Berlin.
So those are my ten for my friend- not necessarily my favorite books (for who can choose?), but ten I will stand behind. I will be just a little devastated if she doesn't like them.
My friend, who is Eastern European, has read many classics of English and European literature from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, asked me to specifically to recommend twentieth century American authors. I am going to bend this a bit, and recommend fairly recent works, some of which are by non-Americans. These works will strike a balance between erudition, enjoyment and cocktail-party chatter. So no Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Miller, Heller, or Updike.
1. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - My favorite post-childhood book. I gave this to my friend for Christmas in 2006, but she still hasn't read it!
2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon - A book that was recommended to me and that I have given to a few people.
3. Underworld by Don DeLillo - The best first chapter ever written. It even made me like baseball. And this was a present from an ex-boyfriend getting his Master's in English.
4. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami - A book I read in one day in Antarctica in 2007. I only left bed for sustenance.
5. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers - The book that launched Eggers upon the litterati. I gave it to multiple people for Christmas during my junior year of college. And I mentioned it in my blog post about pretentious titles.
6. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri - The best book of short stories I have read in years. And I enjoy the author's other works (as I mentioned before) and movies made of them too.
7. Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver by Scott Stossel - Mixing it up a little, here's an amazing biography of an amazing man, Sargent Shriver, father of Maria Shriver and brother-in-law of JFK. He was essential to the founding of the Peace Corps and the Special Olympics. The interviews with him were held in haste when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
8. American Gods by Neil Gaiman - The novel that launched the author into fame beyond the comics world. I read it whilst working at the Princeton University Library circulation desk as an undergraduate.
9. Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon - The best road trip memoir there is, surpassing On the Road and Travels with Charley. Sadly, the author's River-Horse does not rise to the same heights.
10. A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe - My favorite Wolfe novel, chosen a it was the longest English-language book I could find while in hospital in Berlin.
So those are my ten for my friend- not necessarily my favorite books (for who can choose?), but ten I will stand behind. I will be just a little devastated if she doesn't like them.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Podcasts
Another media that has become particularly important to me in the past year is the podcast. I enjoy listening at work, allowing me to block out the sounds of my officemates and concentrate upon my own work. I enjoy listening in the gym and on the bus also, leaving the bustle of the external world behind. So what do I listen to?
At work I prefer to listen to programs that are composed of smaller, newsy stories that can be ignored or followed at will. Any multi-minute narrative will either distract me from work or be missed as I concentrate.
My favorite programs are comedy news quizzes- something that British television excels at. On the radio, NPR has the excellent Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me broadcast weekly out of Chicago. From the BBC I enjoy the Friday Night Comedy Show, which is either the Now Show (with the incomparable Mitch Benn) or the News Quiz. Of questionable utility and comedy is the world-famous Car Talk (yay MIT!).
Since I listen to NPR's Morning Edition before arriving at work every morning, I get additional news from the BBC Radio 4's Best of Today and the broader Newspod. I fear I am becoming middle aged because I enjoy Women's Hour (which I always listen to on the radio whilst in London) For financial news I listen to the NPR Planet Money podcast. For science news I listen to the dull NPR On Science podcast, the metaphysical Radio Lab, and the pure delight of Cambridge's Naked Scientists. I even sent in the request for them to look into lemon/potato batteries.
If I am not reading in the gym or on the bus I listen to the incomparable This American Life. I have enjoed its live in theatres annual show and the television program it has on Showtime also. I also enjoy Selected Shorts, in which actors read short stories. They have featured some of my favorite authors, including Neil Gaiman, Haruki Murakami Kiran Desai and Nadine Gordimer. Sadly, the entire Prairie Home Companion show isn't available as a podcast, but its jewel, The News From Lake Wobegon, is.
Some podcasts that I feel no great affection for, but they fill the hours, include: NPR's B-Side Radio, the Jonathan Ross Show, and the BBC Documentaries.
I can no longer imagine a world where I couldn't listen to my favorite English language radio programs on my own schedule, aiding my workday and workouts. Any recommendations?
At work I prefer to listen to programs that are composed of smaller, newsy stories that can be ignored or followed at will. Any multi-minute narrative will either distract me from work or be missed as I concentrate.
My favorite programs are comedy news quizzes- something that British television excels at. On the radio, NPR has the excellent Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me broadcast weekly out of Chicago. From the BBC I enjoy the Friday Night Comedy Show, which is either the Now Show (with the incomparable Mitch Benn) or the News Quiz. Of questionable utility and comedy is the world-famous Car Talk (yay MIT!).
Since I listen to NPR's Morning Edition before arriving at work every morning, I get additional news from the BBC Radio 4's Best of Today and the broader Newspod. I fear I am becoming middle aged because I enjoy Women's Hour (which I always listen to on the radio whilst in London) For financial news I listen to the NPR Planet Money podcast. For science news I listen to the dull NPR On Science podcast, the metaphysical Radio Lab, and the pure delight of Cambridge's Naked Scientists. I even sent in the request for them to look into lemon/potato batteries.
If I am not reading in the gym or on the bus I listen to the incomparable This American Life. I have enjoed its live in theatres annual show and the television program it has on Showtime also. I also enjoy Selected Shorts, in which actors read short stories. They have featured some of my favorite authors, including Neil Gaiman, Haruki Murakami Kiran Desai and Nadine Gordimer. Sadly, the entire Prairie Home Companion show isn't available as a podcast, but its jewel, The News From Lake Wobegon, is.
Some podcasts that I feel no great affection for, but they fill the hours, include: NPR's B-Side Radio, the Jonathan Ross Show, and the BBC Documentaries.
I can no longer imagine a world where I couldn't listen to my favorite English language radio programs on my own schedule, aiding my workday and workouts. Any recommendations?
Friday, June 26, 2009
Monica Ali
For a few years now I have enjoyed reading fairly popular novels and short story collections written by expatriates from India, Pakistan ad Bangladesh, or their children who were born abroad. These authors have included the incomparable Jhumpa Lahiri, Kiran Desai, Arundhati Roy, Aravind Adiga, and my own college classmate Rakesh Satyal (about whom I still owe a blog post.) Some of their works are set in the old country, while others are in the diaspora. In this latter category, Monica Ali's novel of 2004, Brick Lane, is a shining example. The film adaptation of Brick Lane came out last summer and I dragged two reticent friends to see it and I think they enjoyed it. (In a side note, I am shocked by the rather limited profile of Ali on Wikipedia and the focus upon controversy that I had not thought too important at the time of the novel or the film.)
When I saw that Ali had a new novel to be released, I realized I had missed her second work and got that from the library as I waited for her third publication. This book, Alentejo Blue, was a severe departure from Brick Lane. It was almost a collection of short story character sketches of the inhabitants and visitors of a neglected portion of the Portuguese coast. Unfortunately, I found none of the characters sympathetic, and few of them interesting. Their disparate stories would have been served better if once character were chosen to be more integral to the tale, perhaps as an observer of the others.
Happily, her newest novel returns to her strengths as a writer. In the Kitchen follows Gabriel Lightfoot, a middle-aged London chef, who has to navigate romance, family and work concerns while suffering a breakdown. The tense nature of a professional kitchen is well-described, as are the grey lines surrounding illegal immigration in the service industries. The difficulties for a man to commit to a relationship, and his self-sabotage are handled as realistically as the portrayal of familial mental illness. I was pleased to see that Monica Ali could successfully write outside the niche market of immigrant South Asians.
(Looking at reviews only after I have written the above, I find myself once again agreeing with the Washington Post review.)
When I saw that Ali had a new novel to be released, I realized I had missed her second work and got that from the library as I waited for her third publication. This book, Alentejo Blue, was a severe departure from Brick Lane. It was almost a collection of short story character sketches of the inhabitants and visitors of a neglected portion of the Portuguese coast. Unfortunately, I found none of the characters sympathetic, and few of them interesting. Their disparate stories would have been served better if once character were chosen to be more integral to the tale, perhaps as an observer of the others.
Happily, her newest novel returns to her strengths as a writer. In the Kitchen follows Gabriel Lightfoot, a middle-aged London chef, who has to navigate romance, family and work concerns while suffering a breakdown. The tense nature of a professional kitchen is well-described, as are the grey lines surrounding illegal immigration in the service industries. The difficulties for a man to commit to a relationship, and his self-sabotage are handled as realistically as the portrayal of familial mental illness. I was pleased to see that Monica Ali could successfully write outside the niche market of immigrant South Asians.
(Looking at reviews only after I have written the above, I find myself once again agreeing with the Washington Post review.)
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Apple Cult
In my last post I mentioned my new Mac Mini and I wanted to discuss its provenance and my thought upon the entire Apple computing empire. I will be moving and starting a new job in the fall, and I needed to figure out my home and work computing needs, desires, and a plan.
Currently- or rather, as of a week ago- I have a desktop I built myself that is dual-boot Windows XP and a Debian Linux distribution from 5 years ago. I haven't turned it on in 8 months. I have an old Dell Latitude laptop from college that i haven't turned on in 3 years. I also have a "One Laptop per Child" $200 laptop that my sister has taken with her to Rwanda. At work I have a new Dell desktop with a dual monitor display running Scientific Linux. And I use an 3-year-old IBM ThinkPad that is dual-boot windows XP and Ubuntu Linux.
I knew I would need something of my own that was more usable when I moved, and I would have to choose a computer that my new job would provide for me. Of course for years I have wanted a Mac, but couldn't justify the costs to myself. If I got myself a nice laptop, I drool over the MacBook Air, I could then have a nice desktop for work and make my personal laptop my work and travel laptop also. If I got myself a netbook (friends were liking the Asus EEE PC) then I would probably still want a laptop for work. (Even better than a netbook would be a tablet net book, like the Crunchpad or something similar that rumors say Apple is developing.) Meanwhile, if I did go with a MacBook for my work laptop, I would hate to waste the time getting used to it and figuring out how I wanted things organized since I haven't worked with one extensively before.
So it was over happy hour that I was talking to some colleagues and they reminded me of the mac mini and informed me that the previous models were on sale at Microcenter. So I got one, and can connect it to peripherals I already own. I can use it in my bedroom since it is small and quiet. It is delightful to watch netflix streaming, hulu and DVDs on, because my laptop has a terrible video card, and an even worse linux video driver. I do want to be able to type from bed though and so I've bought an older mac wireless keyboard off eBay. The new ones are just too thin for my taste. (Oh, and I got a Epson scanner/printer/copier/photo printer for $40 as part of the deal too)
So I will request a MacBook for my work computer, and when I have the money and can determine my desire, I can get a netbook or tablet or Mac Air.
And a year ago, when my cellphone broke and I decided to get a Pay-As-You-Go phone since it would be temporary and I could later get a smartphone, I will of course want an iPhone. For a long time I pretended to consider the Palm, Blackberry or Android phones, but really my heart was always with the iPhone. Of course, if I had stuck entirely with Linux systems the Android phone would possibly make more sense, but once one starts down the Apple route, it is so easy to let Apple manage one's life. (And heck, then I wouldn't need a new iPod when my iPod nano goes the way of my old 4th generation click wheel iPod.)
But the one hesitation I have left is the fear of becoming one of Apple cult members. I don't want to be stuck touting their virtues to everyone else. I don't want the apple stickers on all of my Nalgene bottles (but one might be ok) I cannot take the position of some friends who go for cheap options and then argue how they can do everything a mac can do, but finding a middle ground is a little difficult. For now, I think the Mac Mini does offer one way. I don't have a pretty monitor, or cool speakers, or even a 'Mighty Mouse', but what I do have have makes me very happy.
Update: NYTimes review of the new iPhone - I think I really will need one at the end of the summer!
Currently- or rather, as of a week ago- I have a desktop I built myself that is dual-boot Windows XP and a Debian Linux distribution from 5 years ago. I haven't turned it on in 8 months. I have an old Dell Latitude laptop from college that i haven't turned on in 3 years. I also have a "One Laptop per Child" $200 laptop that my sister has taken with her to Rwanda. At work I have a new Dell desktop with a dual monitor display running Scientific Linux. And I use an 3-year-old IBM ThinkPad that is dual-boot windows XP and Ubuntu Linux.
I knew I would need something of my own that was more usable when I moved, and I would have to choose a computer that my new job would provide for me. Of course for years I have wanted a Mac, but couldn't justify the costs to myself. If I got myself a nice laptop, I drool over the MacBook Air, I could then have a nice desktop for work and make my personal laptop my work and travel laptop also. If I got myself a netbook (friends were liking the Asus EEE PC) then I would probably still want a laptop for work. (Even better than a netbook would be a tablet net book, like the Crunchpad or something similar that rumors say Apple is developing.) Meanwhile, if I did go with a MacBook for my work laptop, I would hate to waste the time getting used to it and figuring out how I wanted things organized since I haven't worked with one extensively before.
So it was over happy hour that I was talking to some colleagues and they reminded me of the mac mini and informed me that the previous models were on sale at Microcenter. So I got one, and can connect it to peripherals I already own. I can use it in my bedroom since it is small and quiet. It is delightful to watch netflix streaming, hulu and DVDs on, because my laptop has a terrible video card, and an even worse linux video driver. I do want to be able to type from bed though and so I've bought an older mac wireless keyboard off eBay. The new ones are just too thin for my taste. (Oh, and I got a Epson scanner/printer/copier/photo printer for $40 as part of the deal too)
So I will request a MacBook for my work computer, and when I have the money and can determine my desire, I can get a netbook or tablet or Mac Air.
And a year ago, when my cellphone broke and I decided to get a Pay-As-You-Go phone since it would be temporary and I could later get a smartphone, I will of course want an iPhone. For a long time I pretended to consider the Palm, Blackberry or Android phones, but really my heart was always with the iPhone. Of course, if I had stuck entirely with Linux systems the Android phone would possibly make more sense, but once one starts down the Apple route, it is so easy to let Apple manage one's life. (And heck, then I wouldn't need a new iPod when my iPod nano goes the way of my old 4th generation click wheel iPod.)
But the one hesitation I have left is the fear of becoming one of Apple cult members. I don't want to be stuck touting their virtues to everyone else. I don't want the apple stickers on all of my Nalgene bottles (but one might be ok) I cannot take the position of some friends who go for cheap options and then argue how they can do everything a mac can do, but finding a middle ground is a little difficult. For now, I think the Mac Mini does offer one way. I don't have a pretty monitor, or cool speakers, or even a 'Mighty Mouse', but what I do have have makes me very happy.
Update: NYTimes review of the new iPhone - I think I really will need one at the end of the summer!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Summer 2009 Movies
Today I got myself a marvellous gift, a Mac mini! Which means I can sit in bed, watching a DVD on my Mac mini (my other desktop is too loud and so resides in my basement office) and blogging on my laptop.
One of my favorite features of Macs is the Movie Trailer menu. So I have gotten to see a few trailers of movies soon to be released, and some already released that I would enjoy. There are a number of movies I would love to see this summer, but I probably won't catch a single one of them in the theatres.
These include:
Star Trek- surrounded by science nerds, I just wasn't into this film as much as they were. So I babysat a lovely 10 month old when my friends went to the theatre.
Away We Go- this movie was made for my demographic, the actors, music, scriptwriters etc. are prime, but the NYT indicates I may be disappointed by it.
Rudo y Cursi - oh Gael García Bernal, comedy, drama and football (the rest of the world's kind)! Hope it makes it to Columbus.
Sherlock Holmes - a Guy Ritchie movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.
Public Enemies - the best trailer I saw in a theatre this year
(500) Days of Summer- this movie I will love, it will feel too real, and it will break my heart
Inglourious Basterds - I'm a sucker for a WWII flick, even a Tarantino one
And the one film I know I will see this summer:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
One of my favorite features of Macs is the Movie Trailer menu. So I have gotten to see a few trailers of movies soon to be released, and some already released that I would enjoy. There are a number of movies I would love to see this summer, but I probably won't catch a single one of them in the theatres.
These include:
Star Trek- surrounded by science nerds, I just wasn't into this film as much as they were. So I babysat a lovely 10 month old when my friends went to the theatre.
Away We Go- this movie was made for my demographic, the actors, music, scriptwriters etc. are prime, but the NYT indicates I may be disappointed by it.
Rudo y Cursi - oh Gael García Bernal, comedy, drama and football (the rest of the world's kind)! Hope it makes it to Columbus.
Sherlock Holmes - a Guy Ritchie movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.
Public Enemies - the best trailer I saw in a theatre this year
(500) Days of Summer- this movie I will love, it will feel too real, and it will break my heart
Inglourious Basterds - I'm a sucker for a WWII flick, even a Tarantino one
And the one film I know I will see this summer:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Monday, June 8, 2009
Education suggestions in NYTimes Op Page
Today an opinion piece in the New York Times by Harold Levy, former NY schools chancellor regarding 5 improvements that could be made in the US education system touched a nerve. I have given a bit of thought to US education, and though I do not have any solutions of my own, I am quite adept at dismissing others' solutions.
So Levy's first point: Raise the age of compulsory education to 19.
So Levy's first point: Raise the age of compulsory education to 19.
I am on the fence regarding this point; I do not think that we need more worthless education, but I could support a well-designed program - and non-compulsory additional years have worked in other countries (Germany, Montreal's CEGEP). It would be a nice inroad for the federal government to education (which I support). However, I think that it cannot all be focused on college preparation: because a modern college education will not be necessary for all career paths- it is more about the responsibility and maturation that can occur in the years from 18-22 than it is about taking courses on the Romantic Poets. Multiple options must be presented to students. I am torn further regarding the suggestion that advanced students who are ready for college at a younger age get government support at the level they would have if still in school. As a precocious learner myself I would have liked such a program, however, almost all studies show that keeping the most gifted students in general classes raises the level of other students. And Levy's suggestion that the departure of advanced students could relieve overcrowding is ridiculous- the students that will be prepared for college at a younger age will come from the wealthier suburban school districts that were not struggling with overcrowding in the first place.
Point 2: Curb truancy.
A very good goal- but I am not sure that pressuring parents, especially those that have already failed their children, is the sole route to be followed. Surely the fact that the schools with the highest levels of truancy are failing in other ways too means that if we could make then worth attending, fewer students would be truants.
Point 3: Advertise for college attendance, take on for-profit universities.
Here I need to do a little research: against which other universities 'degrees does a University of Phoenix diploma stack up? Is it as good for students straight out of high school? It is clearly beneficial for middle-class students that they are brought up in an environment where parents and teachers expect them to succeed and go on to college, and if advertising is the route to reach lower income students then I must support it. Once I again, I must restate my belief that college is not a panacea for all ills, and many career paths should not require it. The time and money it would cost our society for 100% college attendance would not be worth what most students currently learn in college.
Point 4: Public rankings of colleges, not US News and World Report.
I fully support this idea, and though I will object to any method actually set-forth, the UK example is one we could follow. (I dislike the details and bureaucracy my UK academic colleagues have to endure for the ranking of their programs- and there are ways to game their system also, but well, at least it isn't the USNWR methodology.) Speaking of which, I think that improvements in the education of students have been made by universities solely seeking to improve their ranking.
Point 5: Improve pre-college education. Keep Americans in STEM fields.
This is the most important point, and the least developed idea. How do you do you want to do this Levy? And if you do this Levy, are any other of the other points necessary?
Point 2: Curb truancy.
A very good goal- but I am not sure that pressuring parents, especially those that have already failed their children, is the sole route to be followed. Surely the fact that the schools with the highest levels of truancy are failing in other ways too means that if we could make then worth attending, fewer students would be truants.
Point 3: Advertise for college attendance, take on for-profit universities.
Here I need to do a little research: against which other universities 'degrees does a University of Phoenix diploma stack up? Is it as good for students straight out of high school? It is clearly beneficial for middle-class students that they are brought up in an environment where parents and teachers expect them to succeed and go on to college, and if advertising is the route to reach lower income students then I must support it. Once I again, I must restate my belief that college is not a panacea for all ills, and many career paths should not require it. The time and money it would cost our society for 100% college attendance would not be worth what most students currently learn in college.
Point 4: Public rankings of colleges, not US News and World Report.
I fully support this idea, and though I will object to any method actually set-forth, the UK example is one we could follow. (I dislike the details and bureaucracy my UK academic colleagues have to endure for the ranking of their programs- and there are ways to game their system also, but well, at least it isn't the USNWR methodology.) Speaking of which, I think that improvements in the education of students have been made by universities solely seeking to improve their ranking.
Point 5: Improve pre-college education. Keep Americans in STEM fields.
This is the most important point, and the least developed idea. How do you do you want to do this Levy? And if you do this Levy, are any other of the other points necessary?
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
T.S. Spivet
I recently finished the new novel "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet" by Reif Larsen, and I enjoyed it quite a bit and felt it was worthy of a review, and I thought that other reviews had not been to the point. To the point: I agree with more of the negative reviews (like that of the Telegraph or the London Times), and disagreed with the points made by reviewers that loved it (especially the NPR one I heard this morning) - but I still liked the book and would recommend it. Due to the popularity of this book I cannot comprehensively read all of its major reviews, and the New York Times has not produced a review, but I find the Washington Post's quite fair.
As an aside to begin with: from the book jacket and a few interviews of the author I had seen, I gathered that the author is 29, a graduate of Brown University who currently resides in Brooklyn but who was raised in Cambridge, MA. Trying to avoid any stalker status, I resolved not to do any more Googling, although I did ask friends in the Brown class of 2002 if they knew him, but as they were all scientists and engineers (and rather introverted) I have yet to have any luck. So Mr. Larsen, if you stumble upon this blog, know that you have an admiring fan.
So to get the basic facts of the book out of the way: and lazily, using the NPR blurb:
The marginalia were delightful. I can always fall for a gimmick (none are as good as the few in Dave Egger's "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"), but as employed here, like the tricks employed by Jonathan Safran Foer in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", they make the work enjoyable, but are not enough to lift the work to greatness.
As a character study, I find the novel lacking, as no characters feel real, or sympathetic. As a reader, I simply didn't care what happened to them. Other reviews seem to imply the story is about the adventure - and thus plot driven - which renders the character development moot. But the characters are developed, indeed most of the book is spent developing them (primarily T.S. and his mother Dr. Clair) but they always seem to have traits that serve as literary device and so no character becomes an organic whole.
Larsen's treatment of science is quite refreshing and accurate. The puzzles of academia encountered by Dr. Clair and Dr. Yorn- the imagined travails of T.S.'s paternal great-great-grandmother whose tale, written by Dr. Clair, includes her being a member of the first class at Vassar who becomes a faculty member in geology, and who had a childhood run-in with Dr. Agassiz- all feel familiar to me- a female trying to make her way in academic science. I greatly appreciated the excerpted drawing of a prototype of an evolutionary tree from Darwin's notebook with the words "I think" written above it. T.S. and Larsen intelligently steer away from the difficulties of quantum mechanics which has derailed many a witty and insightful writer. Instead, he explores the less rigorous ideas of multiverses put forth by Hugh Everett (whose son Mark is the lead singer/songwriter of The Eels). On the other hand, there has been far too much media attention given to Paul Ekman's micro-expressions (although the Fox show "Lie to Me" was quite entertaining) and so it felt quite unoriginal for T.S. to be making Ekman-like facial maps.
Distracting me throughout the entire work, was the question, "Where along the Asperger's/autism spectrum does T.S. lie?" It no longer feels possible to have quirky, anti-social characters in literature; as a reader I am constantly playing psychologist and trying to offer a diagnosis. And even worse, this echoes too strongly of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time", a book that did not impress me.
Finally, the biggest point of discussion "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet" brings up regards the childhood computer game, Oregon Trail. In a margin, T.S. discusses playing it with his deceased brother Layton, saying
As an aside to begin with: from the book jacket and a few interviews of the author I had seen, I gathered that the author is 29, a graduate of Brown University who currently resides in Brooklyn but who was raised in Cambridge, MA. Trying to avoid any stalker status, I resolved not to do any more Googling, although I did ask friends in the Brown class of 2002 if they knew him, but as they were all scientists and engineers (and rather introverted) I have yet to have any luck. So Mr. Larsen, if you stumble upon this blog, know that you have an admiring fan.
So to get the basic facts of the book out of the way: and lazily, using the NPR blurb:
The titular hero is a 12-year-old boy who maps everything, including faces, the dinner table and the geology of his home state of Montana. After seeing his work, the Smithsonian, not realizing the boy's age, invites him to be a keynote speaker at an important gala. His journey across the country on a train (hiding in a Winnebago being shipped) is a great adventure filled with wit, humor and fundamental truths about life and family. And unlike many other books' footnotes, which beg to be ignored, the maps and stories that occupy the book's marginalia are an extra treat that need to be devoured as part of the main feast.And now in a scattered fashion, I can comment on what I found noteworthy in this work, both good and bad.
The marginalia were delightful. I can always fall for a gimmick (none are as good as the few in Dave Egger's "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"), but as employed here, like the tricks employed by Jonathan Safran Foer in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", they make the work enjoyable, but are not enough to lift the work to greatness.
As a character study, I find the novel lacking, as no characters feel real, or sympathetic. As a reader, I simply didn't care what happened to them. Other reviews seem to imply the story is about the adventure - and thus plot driven - which renders the character development moot. But the characters are developed, indeed most of the book is spent developing them (primarily T.S. and his mother Dr. Clair) but they always seem to have traits that serve as literary device and so no character becomes an organic whole.
Larsen's treatment of science is quite refreshing and accurate. The puzzles of academia encountered by Dr. Clair and Dr. Yorn- the imagined travails of T.S.'s paternal great-great-grandmother whose tale, written by Dr. Clair, includes her being a member of the first class at Vassar who becomes a faculty member in geology, and who had a childhood run-in with Dr. Agassiz- all feel familiar to me- a female trying to make her way in academic science. I greatly appreciated the excerpted drawing of a prototype of an evolutionary tree from Darwin's notebook with the words "I think" written above it. T.S. and Larsen intelligently steer away from the difficulties of quantum mechanics which has derailed many a witty and insightful writer. Instead, he explores the less rigorous ideas of multiverses put forth by Hugh Everett (whose son Mark is the lead singer/songwriter of The Eels). On the other hand, there has been far too much media attention given to Paul Ekman's micro-expressions (although the Fox show "Lie to Me" was quite entertaining) and so it felt quite unoriginal for T.S. to be making Ekman-like facial maps.
Distracting me throughout the entire work, was the question, "Where along the Asperger's/autism spectrum does T.S. lie?" It no longer feels possible to have quirky, anti-social characters in literature; as a reader I am constantly playing psychologist and trying to offer a diagnosis. And even worse, this echoes too strongly of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time", a book that did not impress me.
Finally, the biggest point of discussion "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet" brings up regards the childhood computer game, Oregon Trail. In a margin, T.S. discusses playing it with his deceased brother Layton, saying
... if you spent all of your money on oxen in Independence, Missouri, at the beginning of the game -forsaking food, clothing and ammunition to build an armada of yoked cattle 160 strong - that the game would not provide any maximum speed for your wagon, but rather continue to increase your pace by 6 MPH for each oxen. Thus, you could finish the game in two days, by travelling what I figured out to be approximately 960 MPH. Naked, hungry, and unarmed, you still blasted across this continent before the cholera could catch up with you. That first time we we won the game this way we both stared at the screen, dumbstruck, trying to make room in our mental maps for a world that could include such a loophole. Then Layton said, "That game kinda sucks now."And though this would be endearing and delightfully nostalgic, it seems to be utter hogwash. No one I know who has played Oregon Trail from an Apple-II to a modern Windows machine has ever heard of such a cheat. Googling the point was for nought. This then detracts from all the well-researched and whimsical facts scattered throughout the book by Larsen. Can any of it be believed?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
My Dinner With Andre
I finally got around to watching the Louis Malle film, "My Dinner with Andre". I had been hesitant to watch it since I had so many friends who counted it amongst their favorite movies, and I didn't want to disappoint anyone if I didn't like it.
I did like it, but I didn't love it. Wallace Shawn, Vizzini in the Princess Bride, is fantastic, but his characteristic laugh grates.
This film exemplifies a trend I have noticed in real life and most aspects of culture: once you decide to tackle the deep issues of life - love, religion, meaning of life etc. - you sound like an idiot and you spout clichés. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that the film did treat these issues well enough that I was engaged and felt no compulsion to roll my eyes. Unfortunately, the characters were seeking greater meaning in their acting and performance, and I simply do not believe that art is life- it can bring pleasure, pain and insight, but I cannot be convinced that life's mysteries can be illuminated camping in the woods with Polish actors.
The discussion was much better than the 'deep' discussions I overhear others having in person, or even the misguided ones I myself have tried to have. And it was better than most literature that tackles tough issues, including the texts of major religions, most philosophers, and especially Paulo Coelho. (As a side note, I am disappointed that my sister was so enchanted by The Alchemist. On the other hand I am impressed by the authors devotion to open source.) In literature, I have found examples of authors who deal adroitly and effectively with these big questions, primarily by having action occur about the issues in a realistic manor. These authors include Milan Kundera (whose writing I love, but whose conclusions about life I do not agree with), Haruki Murakami, and Marilynne Robinson.
So pop "My Dinner With Andre" out of the DVD player and pick up one of their books instead.
I did like it, but I didn't love it. Wallace Shawn, Vizzini in the Princess Bride, is fantastic, but his characteristic laugh grates.
This film exemplifies a trend I have noticed in real life and most aspects of culture: once you decide to tackle the deep issues of life - love, religion, meaning of life etc. - you sound like an idiot and you spout clichés. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that the film did treat these issues well enough that I was engaged and felt no compulsion to roll my eyes. Unfortunately, the characters were seeking greater meaning in their acting and performance, and I simply do not believe that art is life- it can bring pleasure, pain and insight, but I cannot be convinced that life's mysteries can be illuminated camping in the woods with Polish actors.
The discussion was much better than the 'deep' discussions I overhear others having in person, or even the misguided ones I myself have tried to have. And it was better than most literature that tackles tough issues, including the texts of major religions, most philosophers, and especially Paulo Coelho. (As a side note, I am disappointed that my sister was so enchanted by The Alchemist. On the other hand I am impressed by the authors devotion to open source.) In literature, I have found examples of authors who deal adroitly and effectively with these big questions, primarily by having action occur about the issues in a realistic manor. These authors include Milan Kundera (whose writing I love, but whose conclusions about life I do not agree with), Haruki Murakami, and Marilynne Robinson.
So pop "My Dinner With Andre" out of the DVD player and pick up one of their books instead.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Roald Dahl and Spies
I just finished the fantastic book "The Irregulars" by Jennet Conant- the non-fiction tale of Roald Dahl and the British Security Coordination, who spied in the US during WWII for the British. It was a fairly fun read (with a few poorly worded sentences)- and showed the truly glamorous side of spying. Dahl had numerous affairs, made high level friends, including the Roosevelts, and discovered his love and aptitude for writing. And all by the time he was 29.
Some of the fun facts I learned:
Dahl was 6'6" and a fighter pilot.
Lyndon Johnson was an attractive womanizer.
I need to read Dahl's short story "Skin" as I had liked his story "Lamb to the Slaughter" whose plot was suggested to him by Ian Fleming.
Leslie Howard, from "Gone with the Wind", was killed whilst on a spy mission during WWII.
Truman replaced Wallace as FDR's running mate for his fourth term, and this was approved by the Brits as they were scared of Wallace's socialist idealism.
And there was so much more, but I've been nattering on about it over drinks for a week now, so I think I've gotten it out of my system.
Some of the fun facts I learned:
Dahl was 6'6" and a fighter pilot.
Lyndon Johnson was an attractive womanizer.
I need to read Dahl's short story "Skin" as I had liked his story "Lamb to the Slaughter" whose plot was suggested to him by Ian Fleming.
Leslie Howard, from "Gone with the Wind", was killed whilst on a spy mission during WWII.
Truman replaced Wallace as FDR's running mate for his fourth term, and this was approved by the Brits as they were scared of Wallace's socialist idealism.
And there was so much more, but I've been nattering on about it over drinks for a week now, so I think I've gotten it out of my system.
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