February 12, 2011

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.
Abraham Lincoln


Marcus Yam for The New York Times

Wrote about Mexican Singers on the NYC Subway in December. They are now the subject of a NYT Article.



This book was excellent. I enjoyed the many maxims of war throughout:
Kadavergehorsam - corpse like obedience, blind obedience;

Marshal Foch
Mon centre cède, ma droite recule, situation excellente, j'attaque.
My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, situation excellent, I am attacking;

Napoleon
On S'engage; Et Puis, On Voit
(you engage and then you see)
One attacks, then waits to see what happens;

schwerpunkt
MEANING: noun: The point of focus; an area of concentrated effort, especially in a military operation.

ETYMOLOGY: From German Schwerpunkt (center of gravity, focal point), from schwer (weighty) + Punkt (point).



Another phrase from the book: l'esprit de l'escalier
(idiomatic) The experience of thinking of a devastating rejoinder only after leaving the scene of the debate. AKA: Staircase wit.



Noel Coward was a friend and correspondent.
Noel Coward, who told the actor Peter O'Toole (who played Lawrence in the film Lawrence of Arabia) that "If you'd been any prettier, it would have been Florence of Arabia."

At the time Lawrence was going under the name "Shaw", and signing himself, for example in the guest book at Philip Sassoon's Port Lympne estate, as "338171 A/C Shaw", Noel Coward in a letter to him asked "May I call you 338?"



Picked this one up at the Queens Library, part of my continuing exploration of popular culture. I enjoyed other Singer/Entertainer biographies of Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Bob Dylan. They all tapped into the Zeitgeist. Sinatra did too.

February 6, 2011

Finished Michael Korda's biography of T.E. Lawrence. Just re-watched the movie and now will attempt to read for the third time: The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The film is said to be filled with inaccuracies and Korda addresses it :"The object was to produce, not a faithful docudrama that would educate the audience, but a hit picture."



Hero by Michael Korda has many interesting phrases and footnotes. One of them concerned Lady Astor's famous remark to Churchill and his retort:

Lady Astor said to Churchill, "If you were my husband, I'd poison your coffee," to which he responded, "Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it!"

That brought to mind Michael O'Donoghue's - National Lampoon 1974(?), amusing take on it:

At an elegant dinner party, Lady Astor once leaned across the table to remark, "If you were my husband, Winston, I'd poison your coffee."
"And if you were my wife, I'd beat the shit out of you," came Churchill's unhesitating retort.

And, the exchange with George Bernard Shaw:

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend ... if you have one."
— George Bernard Shaw, playwright (to Winston Churchill)

"Cannot possibly attend first night; will attend second, if there is one."
— Churchill's response"

O'Donoghue's take:

When the noted playwright George Bernard Shaw sent him two tickets to the opening night of his new play with a note that read: "Bring a friend, if you have one," Churchill, not to be outdone, promptly wired back: "You and your play can go fuck yourselves."



The Financial Crisis of Ireland is laid out nicely in Michael Lewis' Vanity Fair piece entitled When Irish Eyes Are Crying.



The week after next, February 14, is the big Jeopardy match between champion players and an IBM Computer named Watson.

The NYT today has an Op-Ed piece by one of my favorite writers, Richard Powers. He asks the question : What is a human being? Powers always explores Science and the impact on human emotions.

I wondered if Watson could pass the Turing Test and the answer is no.



The NYT also has a wonderful article about author Rebecca Skloot using the proceeds of her book to help surviving members of the Lacks Family.

November 20, 2010

Brrr! Starting to get cold.



The Christmas Village is now open and Holiday stuff starts coming out.



S & S O Produce Farms puts out a Black Dirt Brand crushed tomato sauce. The Black Dirt in Goshen, NY is well-known for its taste enhancing properties.



Bonk was so enjoyable, I had to pick up Packing for Mars.



The Queens Library had this available, scooped it right up.



Picked up a Sam Adams Winter Classics Twelve-Pack. In the pack, there are 2 bottles each of:
Boston Lager - always good, their signature beer
Holiday Porter - Chalky , bitter and excellent
White Ale - Surprisingly good, wasn't expecting the flavor
Chocolate Bock - Best of the pack, you can taste the Chocolate and it's smooth
Winter Lager - Quite good , cinnamon, ginger, and hint of citrus from the orange peel
Old Fezziwig Ale - Reminds me of Brooklyn Beer's Old Bluderbuss, 2nd best after Bock.

November 11, 2010 - Veterans Day

The United States government has declared that the attributive (no apostrophe) rather than the possessive case is the official spelling.



Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda will be released on November 16th. On the to-read list.



Irish Dry Stout 3.70% ABV . This is a real good brew. I prefer a little more kick, but the flavors and freshness make this a winner. Made by Victory Brewing Company in Pennsylvania.



Blue Point Toxic Sludge :Black IPA / Cascadian Dark Ale | 7.00% ABV.

Blue Point will donate 100% of net proceeds from Toxic Sludge to Delaware-based Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research to fund their Spreading Our Wings Campaign and long term efforts to build a Wildlife Response Annex.

I toast the Blue Point Brewery for such a great idea. Ironic, that the initials for the Brewery = BP.



Ernest Hemingway, The Art of Fiction No. 21, The Paris Review.
Interviewed by George Plimpton
INTERVIEWER
Well, perhaps it would be better put this way: Graham Greene said that a ruling passion gives to a shelf of novels the unity of a system. You yourself have said, I believe, that great writing comes out of a sense of injustice. Do you consider it important that a novelist be dominated in this way—by some such compelling sense?
HEMINGWAY
Mr. Greene has a facility for making statements that I do not possess. It would be impossible for me to make generalizations about a shelf of novels or a wisp of snipe or a gaggle of geese. I’ll try a generalization though. A writer without a sense of justice and of injustice would be better off editing the yearbook of a school for exceptional children than writing novels. Another generalization. You see; they are not so difficult when they are sufficiently obvious. The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, shit detector. This is the writer’s radar and all great writers have had it.