In a culture where the aesthetic experience is denied and atrophied, genuine religious ecstasy rare, intellectual pleasure scorned, it is only natural that sex should become the only personal epiphany of most people. | |
— Gary Snyder | |
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On This Day In: | |
2019 | I Still Walk Daily |
A Windy Monday | |
2018 | No Religious Test, Yes Religious Ban |
2017 | Looking At #DumbDonald |
2016 | No Great Thing |
2015 | Happy Memory |
Of Two Minds | |
2014 | Sums |
2013 | Memories & Binging |
Admiration Due | |
2012 | Choices Matter |
2011 | Acceptance Is The Key |
2010 | Just A Permanent Crease… |
Bodily Functions | |
Posts Tagged ‘Culture’
He’s Forgotten About Drugs And Rock ‘N Roll
Posted in Humor, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Aesthetic Experience, Culture, Gary Snyder, Humor, Intellectual Pleasure, Personal Epiphany, Philosophy, Quotes, Religious Ecstasy, Sex on July 8, 2020| 4 Comments »
Möbius
Posted in 2020 Book Review, Book Review, History, Reviews, Science and Learning, tagged 2020 Book Review, BBC, Circles -- book review, Connections, Culture, History, James Burke, PBS, Poor to Moderate Book Recommendation, Science, Technology on February 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »
“Circles” (2000©) — book review | |
Today’s book review is for one of the many books written by James Burke, who’s claim to fame is his ability to popularize science / technology with history and biography to “create” linkages which make the world (and history) appear to be interconnected. I believe his most well known work is the book and the BBC series “Connections“. At least this is how I first came to know Burke (and enjoy his work). | |
“Circles” is sub-titled “50 Round Trips through History, Technology, Science, Culture“. The book is a collection of essays which have been gathered into this form. Each “essay” / “trip” is about four pages and they are each fairly self-contained, so there is no inherent requirement to read them in order – or all of them for that matter. Each starts with some action in his life: a trip to the library, beach, coffee shop, etc; winds through the “circle” of people / history / discovery he is hi-lighting and then gets wrapped up with another reference to the initial action / place. | |
The stories are mildly interesting. The links are tenuous. The author occasionally breaks the fourth wall. But, most frequently, the author writes in a peculiar conversational form which struck me as not using full sentences or proper sentence structure. I found it hard to discern if this was more conversational, breaking of the fourth wall or simply lazy writing. In the end, I just found it frustrating to try to figure out the subject of a sentence by having to re-read sentences (or paragraphs). | |
Final recommendation: poor to moderate recommendation. I admit to being pretty disappointed. I was a big fan of his “Connections” series and watched it on my local Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) many years ago. I think I also read the book (way back when), but I can’t swear to it. I was, therefore, looking forward to more of the same. This book mostly was “just” the same, but (surprisingly) much less interesting or amusing. Now I think I have to go back and find the original book (“Connections“) to see if the author has changed or if it’s the reader (me) who has changed. | |
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On This Day In: | |
2019 | Eureka! |
2018 | Learning About My Humanity |
2017 | Laugh Or Shake Your Head |
2016 | The Expected Cure |
2015 | Of Two Minds |
2014 | Pride And Remembrance |
2013 | Repeating Bad Memories |
2012 | No Sooner |
2011 | Just Cheesy! |
Are You Illin’? | |
Committed To Thinking
Posted in Economics, Leadership, Music and Concerts, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, tagged 7 Questions, Bach, Culture, Economics, Leadership, Music, Philosophy, Politics, Quotes, Raisa Bruner, Time Magazine, What The World Needs, Yo-Yo Ma on October 4, 2018| Leave a Comment »
You’ve said this album is your last recording of Bach. Is this tour a victory lap? | |
I don’t have any plans for immediate demise. I’m not suffering from an illness that is fatal, other than being alive. I’m committed to thinking about cultural and social impact because that’s what I feel we need in the world at this time: to make sure that culture has an equal seat at the table as politics and economics. I don’t think there’s anything more important I can do, and I will devote the rest of my life to thinking in this way. | |
— Yo-Yo Ma | |
Quoted in an interview by: Raisa Bruner | |
The interview: “7 Questions“ | |
Appearing in: Time Magazine | |
Dated: 24 September 2018 | |
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On This Day In: | |
2017 | More Pictures From My (Family) Retirement Party |
A Fondness For Sins | |
2016 | Are You Waiting? |
2015 | The Future Myth |
2014 | Hands |
2013 | Because You Have Lived |
2012 | 47% |
2011 | Conservative Values: Low And Lax |
2010 | A Non-Zero Sum Game |
What If “c” Isn’t A Constant? | |
2009 | Pictures from UCLA trip… |
Seeking Cultured Leadership
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged Alfred North Whitehead, Culture, Knowledge, Leadership, Learning, Philosophy, Quotes, The Aims Of Education on July 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Culture is activity of thought, and receptiveness to beauty and humane feeling. Scraps of information have nothing to do with it. A merely well-informed man is the most useless bore on God’s earth. What we should aim at producing is men who possess both the culture and expert knowledge in some special direction. Their expert knowledge will give them the ground to start from, and their culture will lead them as deep as philosophy and as high as art. | |
— Alfred North Whitehead | |
From his book: “The Aims of Education“ | |
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On This Day In: | |
2014 | Examining Failure |
2013 | Driving Passion |
2012 | Cannibal, n. |
2011 | Moments Of Truth |
Trying To Capture Serenity
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Poetry, Quotes, Science and Learning, tagged André Maurois, Character, Culture, Education, History, Leadership, Philosophy, Poetry, Quotes on October 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Character is of the first importance, but intelligence is nevertheless essential. It is desirable for a leader to have a broad education. History and poetry increase his knowledge of human passions. Culture offers the man of action opportunities now and then to capture his serenity; it puts at his disposal models of order and clarity. It is, in a sense, a work of art to reconstruct a country or to lead an army, and the man who has acquired a sense of beauty from his studies will be the more successful for it. | |
— André Maurois | |
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On This Day In: | |
2012 | Above The Vaulted Sky |
2011 | Active Learning |