Archive for the ‘The Art of Conversation’ Category
Prunus 'First Lady'
A few weeks ago (28 March 2010, actually) we took an afternoon to visit the US National Arboretum, happily not at all far from our house. Daffodils in our neighborhood were blooming so we thought to see the Arboretum's collection. They were going full tilt and we enjoyed them very much. I was also delighted [...]
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"Star Wars": Awesome Fathers or Awesome CGI?
From an interesting (and short) essay on the morality–or rather, immorality–of the "Star Wars" films, this piquant observation: But culture and craft aside, I think there’s still a problem of intention. Lucas started out as a rebel against the authoritarian Bad Father. That’s what his movies were about, back before they were about the awesomeness [...]
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Books of a Feather
The game: correctly match entries from columns "A", "B", and "C". A B C c. 1000 BCE Old Testament, by numerous The infallible word of god, every word to be interpreted literally c 800 BCE Odyssey, by Homer An epic, heroic fantasy, an allegory of life's tribulations c. 450 BCE Physics, by Aristotle Everything that was known about how the [...]
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Shortest Day vs. Earliest Night
I am always happy to celebrate the decision of our sun to return to a higher point in our northern sky, a decision it routinely takes about this time of year: 21 December. It seems so delightful that the days seem to start getting longer immediately it makes the decision. And then, whenever the topic [...]
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Morris on Schopenhauer on Winning Arguments
Errol Morris, the film maker who made one of my all-time, top-ten favorite films ("The Thin Blue Line"), writes a blog ("Zoom") for the New York Times. Recently he wrote a multi-part essay on lying ("Seven Lies about Lying"). In a post-essay essay ("More Lying") he discusses some ideas about truth and lies with his [...]
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Friday Soirée III: Dangerous Ideas
I'm not certain that "dangerous ideas" is exactly right, but I'm not certain that it's not, either. Tonight's program is a bit longer so let's get right to it. One of the "dangerous ideas" is due to Darwin, to use the phrase that Daniel Dennett used in his excellent book Darwin's Dangerous Idea, a book [...]
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An Eye for Science
I have been hanging around this blog for the past week but you might not have noticed. Most of my time has gone into the little box on the left (which you won't see if your reading the RSS feed — so visit the site once, already!), with "Eye for Science" at the top and [...]
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Short & Succinct
Some blog I read suggested that I (among other readers) might enjoy watching this video of Richard Dawkins being interviewed for the BBC by one Matthew Stadlen, who seems agreeable enough but it otherwise unknown to me. Although I enjoyed Dawkins' answers, it was not the answers as such that impressed me so much as [...]
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Science & Religion: Compatible?
These two excerpts are from a longish book review by Jerry A. Coyne, of two books, Saving Darwin: How to be a Christian and Believe in Evolution, by Karl W. Giberson; and Only A Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul, by Kenneth R. Miller. The piece is called "Seeing and Believing" (The New [...]
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A Murmuration
For a couple of months I kept track of a Language Log article about "talking" starlings (Mark Liberman, "Vocal mimicry on the web", Language Log, 1 November 2008), not so much for all the interesting scholarship on vocal mimicry contained therein, but because of the amusing video that reminded me of something, a tiny missed [...]
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The Hidden Hand as Enabler
If Wall Street got drunk, it is the cult of the hidden hand that held the bottle. [Marty Kaplan, "Alan Shrugged", Huffington Post, 13 October 2008.] I liked the quotable witticism, but I also liked the article (and not only for its title). The subject is our current economic difficulty, free-market cultism, and the role [...]
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An Easement in Gross
We have a friend who has just finished taking her Maryland Bar Exam (congratulations, Nina!), which really more significantly she's finished studying for and worrying about taking the Maryland Bar Exam. Among her list of interesting and amusing take aways from the experience, she lists this item: I could [sic] care less about the difference [...]
Share on FacebookFun for US Canada Day
I apologize that I neglected to wish all my Canadian friends a happy Canada Day, although we did talk about maple trees on the second. Honestly, Chris, I adore maple trees, just some more than others. To celebrate y'all might enjoy looking at Bill's "Canada Day, 1976" photo album. As one friend wrote, he understood [...]
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Bradford Pear Demoted
In one short news story on the radio this afternoon I simultaneously learned two things: For the last 30 years, the Bradford Pear has been the official tree of Prince George's County, Maryland; and As of today, the Bradford Pear is no longer the official tree of Prince George's County, Maryland. To make a long [...]
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On the Ontology of Old Cars
When conversation really, really lags and I feel the need to do something desperate, I have long relied on my metaphysical topics: 1) the potato-chip question*; and 2) the antique-car question. Topic #2 is our purpose at the moment. The question is rather simply put, as it should be. Imagine an antique or classic car, [...]
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Lightning Safety Awareness Week 2008
Yesterday I had a press release from NOAA letting me know that this week, 22-28 June, is "Lightning Safety Awareness Week". Apparently it is the seventh such declared week. The motto of LSAW comes from the mouth of Leon the Lion: "When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!" The National Weather Service, operated by NOAA, maintains a [...]
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Barry Byrne & Turners Cross, Ireland
You may recall that I wrote recently about our new photo album with photographs of St. Benedict's Abbey Church in Atchison, Kansas. It was a gorgeous building and fun to take pictures of, it was so photogenic. You may recall further that when I tried to find more information about the building and its designer, [...]
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Beginning Ideas
Last night was, as is traditional at our house, library night. In need of new ideas for books to read, I prepared myself by noting down some recommendations various people have provided more or less recently.* Some time back Bill reported hearing an author on the radio and thought I might find that author's book [...]
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On Luis Alvarez
From this week's Physics News Update* a note about physicist Luis Alvarez, to whom all things were interesting. In case you've ever wondered about the source of the hypothesis that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteorite, read on. EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS, DINOSAUR EXTINCTION, THE JFK ASSASSINATION: all were studied by Berkeley physicist Luis Alvarez. [...]
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The Birth of Budgie Smugglers
A brief [ahem!], first-hand account of the development of "the Speedo" by its designer, Gloria Smythe tells us that the course of fashion does not always flow smoothly or quickly. I did my first Olympic Games collection in 1964, but no one would have known. When I did the 1976 Australian map print it became [...]
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