tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63240826742187219902024-03-14T02:07:54.713-07:00Looks like i picked the wrong week to quit sniffin' glue...[Commenting on the consumed.]socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-61559503452254844322016-04-06T19:52:00.001-07:002016-04-06T19:52:07.609-07:00On Being 43, Technology, And The Social Construction Of Public Spaces.<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I recently turned 43. This doesn't make me wistful, but it does make me pause and reflect. Also recently, I read a fine quote from a fine author, the late Douglas Adams. I don't recall the quote from reading Adams way back, but given my professional, academic and personal interest in technology, it struck me as a grand one:</span> <br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:<br />1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.<br />2.
Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is
new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in
it.<br />3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I reflected on this quote again as I watched the GIF below while swiping through Imgur on my iPhone (during what once might have been reading or TV time). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Technology is a tool, of course. It's hard to say it's neutral, because it's always positioned in its unique cultural and temporal context for resulting good uses and abuses. I have to admit this GIF made me shudder. The title of the post was '<i>It Begins</i>.' It's jarring to watch at 43, but perhaps exciting to those who are much younger and open-minded than I am. Still, the impact of this is problematic not just for tripped pedestrians and lack of engagement with our social environment. What does a critical mass of this behaviour do alongside self-driving cars, etc. to the lived environment, and investment in livable, human public spaces?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It had this 43 year old thinking about a classic scene from Gilliam's 'Brazil.' All facade, literal and figurative, masking a burnt out husk of once livable, socially constructed spaces and places. There's a lot to unpack from this, but I'll leave it there.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gilliam's 'Brazil' - why make social space livable when amusing surface will do?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-70961149205851304202014-01-31T07:57:00.005-08:002014-01-31T07:57:46.348-08:00TMA-1, the iPhone dock!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSodDKO4HxocDQmfzjA-K9SFRedze5E7oOINtliOqGZSl5xcDI3uM08G7A4hvxnRNDvJg0MQ1rUKMKAEVoYMfNzXAoCLRoLIzW5KKEPHoYIN-UBHKHAbjUfmnkher-AfnKUtPTZtTAbWM/s1600/tma1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFSodDKO4HxocDQmfzjA-K9SFRedze5E7oOINtliOqGZSl5xcDI3uM08G7A4hvxnRNDvJg0MQ1rUKMKAEVoYMfNzXAoCLRoLIzW5KKEPHoYIN-UBHKHAbjUfmnkher-AfnKUtPTZtTAbWM/s1600/tma1.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Behold! Marvel at my skills!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Building this iPhone dock was a real treat. 'A labour of love', to coin a phrase.<br /><br />I have a long standing nostalgic passion for Space Lego from the 1970's and early 1980's. There were a few epic Christmas gifts back then made for some of my favourite memories from childhood. As an adult, 2001: A Space Odyssey is among my favourite movies. The rest is all 'chocolate, meet peanut butter' as they say.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">See the full album here - http://imgur.com/gallery/izHZv</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />We came into about 50lbs of Lego from a relative, and I pulled a few pieces from that hoard, but I also had to order several of the pieces custom, from the amazing retail experience at Lego's <a href="http://shop.lego.com/en-CA/Pick-A-Brick-ByTheme" target="_blank">Pick A Brick</a>. Sadly, the shipment was lost en route, and I had to wait a few extra weeks for the remaining parts. A few Ebay auctions later, and I had my 5 red vintage Space Lego guys. (They *had* to be red.)<br /> </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Original inspiration from Wired.com - The primate scene on Earth.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The initial inspiration for the piece was a post at <a href="http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/05/2001-a-space-odyssey-scene-in-lego-as-iphone-dock/" target="_blank">Wired</a>, via Boing Boing (I think). Somebody had made an iPhone dock based on the primate scene from earlier in the film. I recalled the old grey moonscape platforms from Space Lego and thought to myself how easy it would be to construct the TMA-1 scene on the moon as a base for my own phone. I sat on the idea for a few years until we came into the Lego I mentioned, and I was fiddling with the pile while playing with my sons (2 and 4). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of course, the film itself provides the inspiration for the setting. Here's the original scene from the film. I've chosen to capture the moment the monolith starts to resonate for my dock.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I suppose the original, way back inspiration was a short internet video from the early 2000's (even late 90's?) I've just looked up again and embedded here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I thought it was damn clever for the time, and ended up using a minifig Dave Bowman in the monolith as my Gmail/chat avatar. I guess you could say I have a long relationship with Space Lego and 2001. This makes me a huge geek I suppose. So be it. Let the geek flag fly!</span><br />
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socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-63232396428665309592013-01-20T20:41:00.001-08:002013-01-20T20:41:33.726-08:00How is this a winning business model?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This sign does not foster confidence...</span></td></tr>
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<br />socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-29310725519915999752012-07-22T12:23:00.000-07:002012-07-22T19:49:00.883-07:00Ernest Cline's "Ready Player One" (Cadillac)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's easy to capture the core of this story with a few pop culture examples. Imagine Harry Potter blent with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with a good measure of The Matrix, and you have a pretty accurate picture of Ready Player One. All of this is served up at a frenetic pace with a backdrop of 1980's cultural references that amuse for their nostalgia value and clever treatment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yes Voltron, Rush, Dungeons & Dragons, Joust and scores of other 'proper' arcade games are just a little corner of the world of man-boy nostalgia Cline serves up. The references are wrapped right into the story, as (e.g.) the protagonist has to re-enact films like Wargames in a 'Guitar Hero' like interface that has him racking up score by getting the lines right, with bonus for correct intonation. Genius, and I can't believe this product is far from our current generation gaming consoles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here's the plot in a nutshell. Our hero is a basic poor orphan type, finding his escape and adventure in an online world called The Oasis. The creator of The Oasis is a Willy Wonka meets Steve Jobs type, who announced a great contest upon his death. The person who finds the 'Easter Eggs' in his massive multiverse online oasis will inherit all of his corporate assets and control of this online world. The Easter Eggs (gamer slang for hidden bonuses and other curiosities within video games) are all based on the deceased's love of the 80's. Clues are given, but mastery of the films, games, music and pop cultural history of the 80's is a must. Each Easter Egg provides the key to a gate. At each stage a new clue or challenge based on 80's lore is tackled. There's much more as the story develops, but I refuse to drop any spoilers here. Suffice to say, it's an incredibly fun read, and an original take on 'vast virtual worlds' in more than a few ways.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Author of the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489049/" target="_blank">Fanboys</a> screenplay, his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X" target="_blank">Ready Player One</a> was apparently optioned for a film one day after the book rights were secured in a bidding war. Well done Cline! I'm reluctant to see this put to the screen if only because I know securing the rights to all the diverse copyrighted characters and content will radically pull back how much and how artfully they'll be used. There are several references that just fit well with the character and hero's journey, and seeing them swapped out for something else (from the parent company's own library) just seems unfortunate. Still, they already have my $12. Shut up and take my money.</span><br />
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<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The author, with his personal Delorean, mocked up 80's geek style. <br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />About the Delorean above...<br /><br />At the release of his paperback edition, he announced that the novel itself contains an Easter Egg, a link to an online site that will present yet another challenge to unlock based on three different video games. The winner of this challenge will receive a custom Delorean as pictured here. Sweet. Clever. Both hardcover and paperback English editions include the Easter Egg, so happy hunting. That's two good reasons to check this book out. Solid Cadillac. (Or should I say Delorean?)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Many thanks go to Tyler Ward for picking this out as a family gift for me, on the occasion of my 39th birthday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">BTW - here's the link to his <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrGfQpxMFLs" target="_blank">Easter Egg Hunt</a> announcement... </span>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-61351626493691302372012-07-21T18:27:00.003-07:002012-07-21T18:27:56.380-07:00Pierre Berton's "Prisoners of the North" (Steak Knives)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Pierre Berton recounts the scattered stories of five personalities bound forever to the land and sea of Canada's north with his usual gift for narrative and history. After doing a lot of reading on Arctic and Antarctic exploration, I decided to pull this off the parents' shelf as another loan, to better understand what makes this part of the world so compelling for such characters. I must admit to some modest form of this fascination myself, of course, and the stories here helped scratch that itch.</div>
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While I wont recount each of them here, Berton shares the stories of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Boyle" target="_blank">Joseph 'Klondike Joe' Boyle</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilhjalmur_Stefansson" target="_blank">Vilhjalmur Stefansson</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Service" target="_blank">Robert Service</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Jane_Franklin" target="_blank">Lady Jane Franklin</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_hornby" target="_blank">John Hornby</a>, each linked to the geographical history of our north in different ways. I'll call out a few of them briefly, but the rest is up to you.</div>
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The story of Vilhjalmur Stefansson is one that I'll likely follow up on with the book <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_931958373" target="_blank">'The Last Voyage of the Karluk</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Voyage-Karluk-Survivors/dp/0312206550/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342919469&sr=8-1&keywords=karluk" target="_blank">'</a> (not that the stack isn't already getting taller) that provides a more comprehensive account of the fatal expedition and his role in the affair that saw the needless loss of a ship and many lives.</div>
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Lady Jane Franklin, the ever-vigilant widow of John Franklin, was adamant and effective in rallying rescue and search expeditions for her husband's doomed adventure years after he left in seeking the northwest passage. [I've blogged about that history in my review of 'Resolute' <a href="http://socionaut.blogspot.ca/2011/10/martin-w-sandlers-resolute-epic-search.html" target="_blank">here</a>.] While a tragic figure, she's an inspirational and heartening one in many ways.</div>
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Most engaging for me was the story of John Hornby. Here's a character too unique for fiction, equal parts romantic and crazy person. The romance is for the permafrost of Canada's north between Edmonton and Hudson's Bay. His history leading up to his final visit to this part of the world is itself a fascinating one. He insisted on living off the land with little supplies or support, existing on a razor's edge of uncertain game and scarce fuel for heat north of the tree line. Taking one hapless documentarian/scientist with him in an effort to live off the land for a year led to very close calls with starvation, and insane behaviour that that made his companion rightly fear for his life almost daily. </div>
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Inexplicably surviving this misadventure, he manages (after a time) to infect a young relative with thoughts of adventure and convinces him to join Hornby on another attempt at living off the land through a harsh winter and beyond. Another comes along for the ride, and all three perish in an all-too foreseeable slow wind down to starvation. Poorly kitted out (they had rifles for the non-present Caribou that were useless for killing the ample fowl in the area), and too long deferential on Hornby's obstinance, the trio come to an end many directly warned them of even as they set out. A partially decomposed diary discovered in the stove in their simple hut provides an eerie catalogue of their experience and the final days for each. Their deaths are ironic in too many ways to recount here; a common trait for stories of death and misadventure in the back country. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK73URqdnPfO6gXCBt5s7M4_ZL8woIPGj5FVnq67UAPKGRCD7uhYGiyb0P4rL_6F0Y5EOGvJKV3zfNqdYFwiqcHJrp9Y_LJepiFLFX-diTX56cLFTj3xT-MVKbTo4H4SVdmFd-6EbNJlb-/s1600/hornby+graves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK73URqdnPfO6gXCBt5s7M4_ZL8woIPGj5FVnq67UAPKGRCD7uhYGiyb0P4rL_6F0Y5EOGvJKV3zfNqdYFwiqcHJrp9Y_LJepiFLFX-diTX56cLFTj3xT-MVKbTo4H4SVdmFd-6EbNJlb-/s320/hornby+graves.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hornby, Christian and Adlard's graves.</span></td></tr>
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Hornby and his compatriots' end called Yossi Ginsberg's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jungle-Harrowing-True-Story-Survival/dp/0977171906/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1342920377&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=jungle+ginsberg" target="_blank">'Jungle'</a> to mind (and Krakauer's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Into-Wild-Jon-Krakauer/dp/0307387178/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342920403&sr=1-1&keywords=into+the+wild" target="_blank">'Into the Wild' </a>for that matter). I wasn't blogging when I read Jungle, but it's a high-end Cadillac tale of a doomed trek into the amazon rainforest with some naive young travelers and a guide either in over his head or just plain crazy. Both tales grip the reader tightly, even knowing the outcome ahead of time.</div>
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All around, I'd recommend <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-of-the-North-ebook/dp/B004SCCZIQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342920031&sr=8-2&keywords=prisoners+of+the+north" target="_blank">'Prisoners of the North' </a>to others with a passion for arctic and northern history. While some pieces of this collection were slow or certainly less 'exciting', all the personalities are interesting ones nonetheless, and it helps fill in some gaps in the history of northern Canada, which is always a good thing.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgraBCn0Js_5TXEYgXe-_EzfADUykBOAer8TTaulYhiDysCrCMonRL5809RCTJGWk_gRvo_OJa1gkYyRtjOuVIfOB-sS8nVVWiWcigTmLdG6vQ6uhJXsVg-C4XOH41GZptfWb4pJWucPiuy/s1600/pb.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgraBCn0Js_5TXEYgXe-_EzfADUykBOAer8TTaulYhiDysCrCMonRL5809RCTJGWk_gRvo_OJa1gkYyRtjOuVIfOB-sS8nVVWiWcigTmLdG6vQ6uhJXsVg-C4XOH41GZptfWb4pJWucPiuy/s320/pb.jpeg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The author, and Canadian icon Pierre Berton.</span></span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-63890002885773455382012-07-17T16:01:00.002-07:002012-07-17T18:12:35.803-07:00Michael Korda's "Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia" (Cadillac)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6R3L30rheje90fr-ZdLZ_C7Xug9J8TUB73ybOmGni69SyuuMLbPBwJxeMhScWnUBhbEA5A9uOCwzcOmisAbBHq8IgOFXFSq5Ojt0Vrv5Ahpj_lHVu_RKUaBoiieSLrk5fNkSV1CAkBCCe/s1600/hero+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6R3L30rheje90fr-ZdLZ_C7Xug9J8TUB73ybOmGni69SyuuMLbPBwJxeMhScWnUBhbEA5A9uOCwzcOmisAbBHq8IgOFXFSq5Ojt0Vrv5Ahpj_lHVu_RKUaBoiieSLrk5fNkSV1CAkBCCe/s400/hero+cover.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">T. E. Lawrence, also known as 'Lawrence of Arabia', also known as John Hume Ross, also known as T.E. Shaw, gives us a biography with many unexpected faces and facets.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Best known for his desert exploits during WWI, of course, there's a great deal more to his story than simply riding off into the sunset of history on his motorbike. I sought this out for the '<i>of Arabia</i>' Lawrence, but in the end, found the life-long arc of his personality made for the most interesting read. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Korda's account is one of many biographies on Lawrence (not to mention Lawrence's own 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph*). It's a faithful account as far as this layman can tell. Some of the more remarkable claims called for follow-up and cross reference online, which attests to the quality and surprise of the read.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'll indulge myself with a long quote here, as it really captures the core of the character presented to us in Korda's bio:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Seldom has anybody stated more clearly his determination never again to be placed in a position of power over others. With all his formidable willpower, Lawrence was determined to shackle the part of himself that had sought fame, glory, and greatness, and never allow it to rise again except in the pages of his book. Nobody knew better than Lawrence what he was capable of. He had executed a man in cold blood, suffered torture, killed people he loved, witnessed the ruthless murder of prisoners in the aftermath of battle. Nor was anybody more anxious to do penance. It was as if one of the great heroes of medieval times... had put aside his honors and retired in midlife to a monastery, tending to his herb garden and performing his humble chores, a simple brother, hoping not to evoke curiosity, pity, or interest.</i></span><br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Keep that larger context in mind as I give you the 'too short sum-up' of Lawrence's life: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Lawrence is an illegitimate child. His father runs off with Lawrence's mother (a servant) to start a new life under a new family name, leaving the comforts of minor nobility behind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-Lawrence, though short of stature, shows great skill in anything he pursues. From marksmanship to bookbinding, to ancient pottery, to architectural/tactical insight on the medieval castles based on summers riding his bike around France to advance his thesis - he's clearly gifted and passionate at whatever he pursues.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjO22ifSMgmVZWDEAxfIL8fHCJYGW18iQ09PNyGAUe-Plo0-GeEBq5JS0dEKZyLLTl5rgDfGhmeb42Nt4q9gDZQqSB6gJj2gXES3W6xrXxQWUBK-1x4TmEH0I9YMdNTtW6MdotSJC3bjJ/s1600/TE-Lawrence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjO22ifSMgmVZWDEAxfIL8fHCJYGW18iQ09PNyGAUe-Plo0-GeEBq5JS0dEKZyLLTl5rgDfGhmeb42Nt4q9gDZQqSB6gJj2gXES3W6xrXxQWUBK-1x4TmEH0I9YMdNTtW6MdotSJC3bjJ/s400/TE-Lawrence.jpg" width="296" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-His unique skills and interests lead him to study in the field at archeological digs in various parts of Turkey. Despite incredible risk and danger, he travels alone and without pause for safety. There are many close calls during this formative time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-At the outbreak of the first world war, Lawrence is transferred to Egypt, and is eager to see action. He's eventually entrusted with risky but minor missions, and quickly proves himself as a field agent and expert in local custom.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- By and by, Lawrence gains the trust, respect, and latitude of his superiors to prove himself in the storming of Aquaba from the desert side [not *quite* the odyssey portrayed in the film, but that's par for the course in such epics].</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-Lawrence is fed money and supplies to fuel a guerrilla army of patchwork Arab groups with diverging interests and loyalties. They all share the common enemy/target of the dying Ottoman empire. While Lawrence is aiding the British cause in his efforts, his ultimate purpose is to deliver independence to the Arab people (a promise he already knows he cant <i>deliver</i> on, given the planned partition of the region in French-Anglo treaties premised on the successful close of the war).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-This guerrilla war is an ugly one, and Lawrence faces moral dilemmas I can't imagine, and at every turn. He's raped, brutalized, and commits acts of callous brutality himself. To say the experience is scarring only starts to capture what this must have been like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-After the war, he seeks the anonymity of an assumed name and a modest role as mechanic in the contemporary equivalent of the Royal Air Force. He's soon discovered, changes his name again and enters the army. He's already refused decoration of any kind for his achievements in the war, and this to the face of the king himself. He's become a headache for the establishment, and a press darling despite his best but mixed efforts to remain out of sight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-He's transferred back to the air force, his real love, and dies as a mechanic in a random accident on his beloved motorcycle (a long standing love affair with fine bikes comes to a close). It's a modest death for the modest man he strove to be. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />It's been some time (3 months) since I read this, so the summary might be rough around the edges. Still, this is quite an arc. He's just a fascinating character. The richness of the detail in-between these large milestones makes this an exceptional read all around.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzC20gH2WwJ_E9AsH9zfz3Uss5WKhVXba_AP9vE5-TH0il2ocucB-q-ypWs4Z5hpoxImkXmIEViPRyx775O9bk9o9sXEv3iNNbugSJ9uw9bk1ELimkc2zKDhukpVooVs5pTUtplrIvhde2/s1600/Versailles.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzC20gH2WwJ_E9AsH9zfz3Uss5WKhVXba_AP9vE5-TH0il2ocucB-q-ypWs4Z5hpoxImkXmIEViPRyx775O9bk9o9sXEv3iNNbugSJ9uw9bk1ELimkc2zKDhukpVooVs5pTUtplrIvhde2/s400/Versailles.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With Faisal, Paris 1919 (middle inner right).</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's worth mentioning another facet of this biography that I found particularly surprising. Maybe unexpected is a better word. While the author attests Lawrence died a virgin, the book portrays a very complex, and very much sublimated sexuality for the hero. How this erupts in his story I'll leave to the curious reader, but it's fascinating stuff, and does much to give you a feeling that you've read a really well crafted, intimate and thoughtful biography. Highly recommended. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>* Lawrence had a passion for bookbinding, and worked at great personal effort and cost to create about 100 fully individualized versions for his intimates and other persons of note, all inscribed. Variations were often random or subtle (e.g. different colours, types, plates/no plates, etc.), leaving experts to parse out the full range of differences after the fact. Some of these have recently been valued at tens of thousands of pounds and more. Yet another fascinating facet of this incredible character.</i></span>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-84483357739562467772012-04-14T06:36:00.002-07:002012-04-14T06:41:47.980-07:00Amitav Ghosh's "River of Smoke" (Steak Knives?)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUnF06IfdLygquW8FaWq6QmK10BBMURZ0zeC9rLunl2NT0R00qcwSnt9T61pfGkRaVfD6oVCc7FWLnw03D7pNPL2BqiFHb4u-16TkdpHmUvz4mBrqT9HVr66W8xk2WdIq6IRNd7G8VOVS/s1600/RiverOfSmoke_jp_1349814cl-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUnF06IfdLygquW8FaWq6QmK10BBMURZ0zeC9rLunl2NT0R00qcwSnt9T61pfGkRaVfD6oVCc7FWLnw03D7pNPL2BqiFHb4u-16TkdpHmUvz4mBrqT9HVr66W8xk2WdIq6IRNd7G8VOVS/s320/RiverOfSmoke_jp_1349814cl-3.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I keep returning to Amitav Ghosh, and he never disappoints. While nothing since 'In An Antique Land' 12 odd years ago </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">has paralleled its enjoyment</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, River of Smoke was as immersive and impressive a book as I've read in some time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This second installment in Ghosh's intended <i>Ibis Trilogy</i> had me anxious from the outset. There's a tension in moving through long-narrative fare, tracking many characters over extended time, geography and divergent plot lines. You get nestled comfortably into the personalities and direction, only to have the next installment re-shuffle the deck. I was eager to settle back in. While the focus and shift in characters was choppy and unclear at first*, he eventually settles into his new narrative paths without leaving the rich seam of (re-cast) continuity behind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.theibistrilogy.com/" target="_blank">The Ibis Trilogy</a> traces out different facets and of the 19th C. opium trade, with Canton as the locus of this installment (moving away from Bombay and India as the setting for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Poppies-Amitav-Ghosh/dp/0312428596/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334409334&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Sea of Poppies</a>, where the opium is produced and shipped out). Gateway to all international exchange with China, it becomes the blockade to run for opium merchants/smugglers. The characters all experience the outbreak of the first Opium War from different perspectives, interests and levels of intimacy, providing a tense and rich historical backdrop for the tale. This and the broad cast of characters from far flung corners of the earth also act as reminders of how advanced globalization was even at this time, and the place of the opium trade in nurturing and accelerating this process. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUfO8gMkDywSq5hLkfLBlhOmhPFhAFJ6c10aQ3pKKqyA2NoQ900pwyleYSJ1NRMlZyZHHALnbxg4RtzqWKpGJU-8kcfHXfXsW78xhD2-e65-Hjjr-l6HG2g7NZZEcC0NOCA_mSYucgIxN/s1600/Shipping-Off-Canton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUfO8gMkDywSq5hLkfLBlhOmhPFhAFJ6c10aQ3pKKqyA2NoQ900pwyleYSJ1NRMlZyZHHALnbxg4RtzqWKpGJU-8kcfHXfXsW78xhD2-e65-Hjjr-l6HG2g7NZZEcC0NOCA_mSYucgIxN/s400/Shipping-Off-Canton.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">19th C. Canton, with what I assume to be Fanqui town (based on the various flags) in the distance beyond the harbour. This foreign enclave was where the non-Chinese merchants were housed, denied access to much of the rest of the city.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ghosh's ability to map his story over the real history of this period creates a gratifying read on both levels. The context of the time is quite an indictment of Western trade practices and relativism. China, completely uninterested in any Western goods or manufactures, is soaking up cash selling tea and other exotic necessities flowing in the other direction. To correct this colossal trade deficit, the British and other empires trafficked in opium, a great product for repeat business. While they found an eager market for the drug among many Chinese, the local government was far less enthusiastic about the toll it was taking on the people, and the now reversed flow of gold leaving their shores for London and elsewhere. China demands a stop to the smuggling, and Western merchants/dealers essentially thumb their noses in return, citing the irreproachable principles of free trade to justify their status as unwelcome pushers.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Too much of this is bad news for China.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Without diving too deeply into a plot recount, much of the focus of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/River-Smoke-Trilogy-Amitav-Ghosh/dp/1423373820" target="_blank">River of Smoke</a> is on Indian trader Bahram Modi, with a boatload of opium he's unable to land and sell in the face of growing Chinese resentment and enforcement. Taking a large gamble with promise of immense reward, if he's unable to move his cargo, he will be completely ruined. The character's long love affair with Canton brings depth and pause to the larger debate around opium trafficking without minimizing it. We feel Modi's urgency and desperation grow as the political tensions increase, and it's hard not to empathize with his various predicaments, both self-inflicted and imposed. It was this plot thread that held the most appeal for me, pulling me along throughout the book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm anxious to see the third installment, of course. Ultimately, it's how this grand narrative rounds out that will determine the full place of this second volume, and it's potential for greatness. <i>Pending resolution to the trilogy, this fine volume can only rate a steak knives.</i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0FOHJzWVS4WfhLnfGljePIY7eGeZCywIKXrglM6MkUSCrkq6LrTp82fED_rPyzMLSht8-MdBYy_BlE3ppnY1W9v9LRZS5XK36oFFm9LYKBUvcewXnr0Er6GJohCUUGIi65QXEAcMfMip/s1600/Amitav_Ghosh0001_44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0FOHJzWVS4WfhLnfGljePIY7eGeZCywIKXrglM6MkUSCrkq6LrTp82fED_rPyzMLSht8-MdBYy_BlE3ppnY1W9v9LRZS5XK36oFFm9LYKBUvcewXnr0Er6GJohCUUGIi65QXEAcMfMip/s400/Amitav_Ghosh0001_44.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The author.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">* I had to revisit a wiki summary of the plot for Sea of Poppies" to refresh my memory, as it had been months since reading it, and the cast and story lines are thick.</span></span>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-52449797549834446672012-04-10T19:32:00.001-07:002012-04-10T20:05:46.806-07:00Sherry Turkle's "Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology And Less From Each Other" (Steak Knives)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4QHbu_aaK8rsYsvtZskWMpU1Mc36c0G-Co_Mc-ew4zTuQ40zpwIzjxIlDZAiDQPq3Q0oZzouUwBM59bGr6aho-JBRFhkelTi3R1lah4u4vgvhoIyqWx1ZCr4vrKg29N3fasAJqmtHYgN/s1600/afbeelding-sherry-turkle-alone-together.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4QHbu_aaK8rsYsvtZskWMpU1Mc36c0G-Co_Mc-ew4zTuQ40zpwIzjxIlDZAiDQPq3Q0oZzouUwBM59bGr6aho-JBRFhkelTi3R1lah4u4vgvhoIyqWx1ZCr4vrKg29N3fasAJqmtHYgN/s320/afbeelding-sherry-turkle-alone-together.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I mentioned to my wife that this text was like the classic shrink-wrap package
deal on DVDs. “<i>Weekend at Bernie’s II</i>” bundled with “<i>Ben Hur</i>”, for example. Priced to move,
but you have to take the good along with the bad. </span><span style="font-size: small;">My wife felt this was a clever (if not original) metaphor, and I think it captures my reaction to this text perfectly. </span><span style="font-size: small;">The first half of this is brutally
poor, and the second, while not quite </span><i style="font-size: medium;">Judah
Ben Hur</i><span style="font-size: small;">, is a great study of the role the internetz, texting and social
media in shaping our relationships with each other. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">To split this text in half is easy. Part I, a treatise on the role of
‘social’ robots in culture at large.
Part II, the close look at texting, Facebook and similar in mediating our
relationships. I’ll take a crack
at each in turn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Part I </b>is the “Weekend at Bernie’s II” portion. Turkle explores the growing place of
robots in entertaining the young and caring for the elderly. While I don’t discount what she
offers here, her primary examples are Aibo, Tamagotchi, Furby and such from
the turn of the Millennium or earlier.
In a 2011 publication, I’d simply and reasonably demand more
contemporary sources. She makes
good points, but they’re rooted in what I’d call 'technological pre-history' given the break-neck speed of technological change in the last decade. This portion should
have been published 14 years ago, while I was still hitting raves and artifacts like Tamagotchi were still thick in the cultural air. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Her point here, in coarse summary, is that the expectations we have of such virtual
creatures provide form for how we come to expect our relationships with other
humans to develop, and how children come to determine what is alive and what is
not. The most compelling part of
this half of the text is how she considers elder-care by robots to be particularly problematic,
asking good questions of such
technology in a context when even children beg the question ‘<i>Aren’t their people for
these jobs</i>?’ Skip this half of the
book, I think.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>An aside for context:</b> I used Turkle’s fantastic “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Life-Screen-Identity-Age-Internet/dp/0684833484" target="_blank">Life On The Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet</a>” extensively in researching my
Masters’s thesis. In part, I explored how anti-globalization activists' online connections
represented something more, something bigger, than simply one more touch point in their activist experience. Rather, these online connections act as key</span><span style="font-size: small;"> identity referents that signaled a truly 'global' identity (transcending identity framed on national or local ones - e.g. '<i>I'm acting as a global citizen, not a Canadian</i>.') Of course, the irony is that <i>anti</i>-globalization activists are enacting '<i>globalized</i>' identities in the process of their protest, literally 'being the truths they speak.' An emergent social internet was seized as a mainline to a world-wide network of activism that provided a symbolic more than a pragmatic 'global interconnectedness' (at least for the turn of the Millennium).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">It was a great
read, and a timely one for my own academic purposes. The second
half of Turkle’s text here delivered on this pedigree, and was a pleasure to
read as a thoughtful and intimate take on how social media has evolved to dominate and regulate our relationships with each other. <u>Start the book here</u>. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>What if I only want Ben Hur?</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>In Part II </b>(the Ben Hur half), s</span><span style="font-size: small;">he argues persuasively that we loose much in such technologically mediated
relationships - hence, '<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Alone-Together-Expect-Technology-Other/dp/0465010210" target="_blank"><i>Alone Together</i></a>.' This is not done </span><span style="font-size: small;">with the tiresome, plaintive tone of a Luddite complainer. Most of her respondents are youth, ‘digital natives’
who grew up saturated in an online world. As an anthropologist/psychologist teaching technology and culture at MIT, Turkle is as well positioned as anybody could be to comment on the subject. It's a cautionary consideration of what is lost and what is gained in funneling meaningful social exchanges through the still narrow channels of social media, at least as they compare to rich face to face human interaction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It's not an argument calling for a devolution and retrogression. We all recognize that social media is an exploding part of our social dynamic, growing in scope and occupying more of our 'life mix' as we enact our selves in online <i>and</i> offline relationships. We have to appreciate and make visible how things like our Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Pinterest selves reflect <i>facets</i> of identity - partial not whole, if a positive dialogue about where our sense of person-hood is headed in all of this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Her anecdotes from the field shed much light on how this plays out with digital natives as well as those of us who remember fondly their first clunky experiences with email, bulletin boards, and chat rooms, with primitive cell phones ('dumb' phones?) still a luxury of the rich and privileged. For example, she recounts a young girl's 'relief' at finding out a classmate and friend had died via text message. It gave her time to absorb and react to the blow. By the time she returns to the face to face reality of the school yard, it didn't need to be addressed in full. <i>'Did you hear?'.... 'Yeah...' </i> There's an important benefit in the social experience of grief that's been denied here. Something important, and something really human has been lost in running the experience through the narrow pipes of txt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A more modest example, familiar to too many, is being dumped via text (or FB). The tension of this prospect sits at the fuzzy border zone of a new decorum, and challenges us to settle on a new norm to fit the medium. Online avatar weddings in MMORPs, adopting new sexual and gender identities for role-playing and the like all present great outlets for personal discovery, but how do we fit these puzzle pieces back into the greater whole of a 'me.' Are they different but equal representations of who we are, or potentially damaging retreat into a medium that demands less of us - preventing us from coming out or sharing our deepest needs with those who physically surround us.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">She uses the idea of 'life mix' to grapple with all of the different social media modalities we adopt in creating our 'lives on the screen.' It's a useful and apt lens, I think. When we consider these different pieces as a concert of constructed identities, we can make better sense of their role and potential. She makes the obvious connection to McLuhan - the medium is the message. Twitter me is most definitely not an analog to Blogger me. Facebook becomes an artfully crafted social representation of who we'd <i>like</i> to be seen as, rather than a faithful representation of who we <i>are</i> at core. [Post the picture of you with duckface, but not the one blowing chunks into the toilet.] </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Managing all of this becomes a new and novel stressor. Others have access to our 'walls' as virtual representations of who we are. We've all been tagged in photos we'd rather distance ourselves from, and having threads co-opted by marginal associates or </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">embarrassing</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> relatives is a new irk. We're still learning (creating?) the emergent mores and norms on the fly.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What can we learn from how different parts of our identity erupt into these different channels as a less conscious but carefully executed process? What can we learn from the fact that identity construction has become socially participatory at an unprecedented scale and scope?</span></span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Turkle misses (or ignores) an important dimension of the larger argument, IMHO. Primarily, what it means to have a large and inseparable portion of our identity mediated by a brand/corporation (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, etc.). What does this mean in terms of ownership, control and privacy in the long term? While I'm not expecting the big squeeze any time soon, lets assume FB were to shut down or move to a radically different business model tomorrow. What agency do we ultimately have to reconcile our junior position in crafting our online identities? This is a big, big, big question that still hasn't been directly addressed, even as we give over more, more and more of ourselves to these brand 'mediated' social interactions.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That this text creates so many questions speaks to its strength. More than that, it's a call to action for thinkers and policy makers on the subject.</span></span></div>
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<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sherry Turkle</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Follow the link below to see a fine TED talk given by Turkle on this very subject.</i></span></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i> http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/sherry_turkle_alone_together.html</i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Side note: I just celebrated my 39th birthday and had 50+ greetings from Facebook friends, as well as several txt's and emails. Humbling. The scale of engagement is far larger than I'd ever have expected in my youth, but it's certainly much thinner. I appreciate all of them, but it's not a cake with candles on it either. </i></span></div>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-1306996442723752352012-03-17T18:32:00.002-07:002012-03-17T18:42:48.577-07:00Laurence Bergreen's "Over The Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe" (Cadillac)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgerUoLe5in_vukTWBN15ypXqkeeNNt7yRaVy5kdGccc1bo_TSXFqrQW3SwNfYZlRAQHr1GGLB9thBAFoHFjdhrUHDks0THmsRgAiovdVGi_nsdeyKQq7F-waAdRXYB8Pz65D0pMThSE3eZ/s1600/over-the-edge-bergreen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgerUoLe5in_vukTWBN15ypXqkeeNNt7yRaVy5kdGccc1bo_TSXFqrQW3SwNfYZlRAQHr1GGLB9thBAFoHFjdhrUHDks0THmsRgAiovdVGi_nsdeyKQq7F-waAdRXYB8Pz65D0pMThSE3eZ/s320/over-the-edge-bergreen.jpg" width="213" /></a>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Magellan never did manage to circle the globe, but his
expedition did. Leaving with three
ships, only one managed the first circumnavigation of the Earth, and just
barely at that. Quite aside from
the technical and geographical challenges this amazing feat of history
presented are all too common political and psychological ones, and all of these
together present the context for another fantastic read in the vein of history
in the age of discovery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Laurence Bergreen, as I’ve said here before, captures such
histories impressively. His
history of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Marco-Polo-Venice-Laurence-Bergreen/dp/140004345X" target="_blank">Polo’s adventures to Asia</a> were my introduction to his work, and
based on another great reading of his history of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Columbus-Four-Voyages-Laurence-Bergreen/dp/0670023019/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332034317&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Columbus’ voyages</a> the week
before, I decided to pick this up on the road in Philly. (Traveling myself, it
seemed particularly appropriate, though I enjoyed much more comfort and
certainty than those several hundred years before me. Air Canada lost my luggage and delayed my flights, but at
least I arrived back alive and in good health.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Much like Columbus, Magellan was beset by a host of
challenges at home that crippled the voyage well before it set sail. As a Portuguese captain, there was a
fair degree of mistrust by the opposing super-power Spain, and he was kept on a
rather short and tight leash.
Problems in his mandate and control erupted from the outset, and
continued to plague the adventurers well after Magellan had fallen, as the
ships tread lightly through Portuguese dominated territory in South-East Asia
and around the African horn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Only just hitting the South American coast had already seen
Magellan’s hand forced in many ways, resulting in attempted mutinies, and
tortuous deaths of perpetrators, described in morbid detail in this account
that makes hair stand on end. He
had learned well from the executors of the Spanish Inquisition, and utilized
several of the brutal punishments to stem the sentiment of dissent brewing
amongst his co-captains. He
stranded a priest and a noble relative of a key benefactor of the voyage on a
small Argentinean island as a due but contentious decision to ensure the future
success of the mission to find the lucrative spice islands of the far-east (as
approached from the west). This
would prove more costly than anticipated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Upon discovery of the strait that would come to bear his
name, a ship managed to slip away in mutiny, returning to Spain with nothing
but ill words to speak of Magellan’s brutality and poor treatment of crew and
crown.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Entering the Pacific was a welcome turn in fortune, but a
short trip to the spice islands was not to be had. The size of the Pacific was not anticipated, and the
mutinied ship carried much needed stores for such a long passage that were now
denied. While it might seem
tiresome to repeat the sentiment here, I can’t help but try to empathize with
the feelings of the crew as they set upon this long and arduous crossing
without sense of where they were, and how they might survive it all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Pigafetta" target="_blank">Pigafetta</a>, a key chronicler of the voyage, took this time to
compile a rudimentary lexicon of a South American they had snatched from his
home. The captive died on the crossing,
tossed into the sea. In fact,
Pigafetta proves an invaluable source of much of what we know about the voyage,
and the fact that he was among the few that returned alive (along with his
faithful and robust account) is surely a great treasure to our collective
history. His was a narrative
account, rather than a technical one as an officer or official might
collect. He was a staunch loyalist
to Magellan, which colours his account, but provides a sense of personality to
it all.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg8NOk0v5-Plm9QUVOWRC0NmFxl47sui2a4jH5oEadicmEe5ga39c27dyswvd4wsv6SUrr29FTKM7nUfQHipnYGNKy6bu4PQAT-mti2imivtGrGc2HzDMNb6n6nwJrHVwgGBN8NFXbodBD/s1600/428px-Antonio_pigafetta.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg8NOk0v5-Plm9QUVOWRC0NmFxl47sui2a4jH5oEadicmEe5ga39c27dyswvd4wsv6SUrr29FTKM7nUfQHipnYGNKy6bu4PQAT-mti2imivtGrGc2HzDMNb6n6nwJrHVwgGBN8NFXbodBD/s320/428px-Antonio_pigafetta.png" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pigafetta, chronicler of the circumnavigation.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Magellan devolves into a religious and hubristic zealot by
the time he arrives in Asia. This
is a man on a mission for god. It’s
this affectation that accounts for his death at the hands of an inconsequential
band of local malcontents as he tries to prove the mettle of European guns and
armor, even as he tries to impose Christianity on those he meets. It’s a sad end for a man who should
have led his expedition home, but less an accident than Cook’s untimely demise
in Hawaii. His crew mates saw this
coming, but were powerless (and some say complicit) in his death on a beach as
he tried to brag his way to minor local fame.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNl8knfKq8X_CnkFUbPp0wxACWcnkO1jio7sPfObzQBu1sxh_XQy9wBB_FGL33CckhPAb65ysxT0BMP6hxxnY_cSgMgLwMSsfP5CenkrmH9UYSV-i6ZOwJIxwXmaX3S8KrKn4N6YorrzR/s1600/Ferdinand_Magellan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNl8knfKq8X_CnkFUbPp0wxACWcnkO1jio7sPfObzQBu1sxh_XQy9wBB_FGL33CckhPAb65ysxT0BMP6hxxnY_cSgMgLwMSsfP5CenkrmH9UYSV-i6ZOwJIxwXmaX3S8KrKn4N6YorrzR/s320/Ferdinand_Magellan.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ferdinand Magellan. Author of the first circumnavigation, but dead before it was realized.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My task here isn’t to recount the history in detail (I
recommend you read it yourself), but the bottom line is this; the mission limps
home after another long saga of trials, finding the spice islands and loading
up on goods worth their weight in gold.
By the time the final remaining ship hobbles back to the safety of Spain,
very few remain to recount the tale of this first triumphant circling of the
Earth. They are perplexed, despite
their careful keeping of the logs, at the fact that they are off by a day, not
having the schema to appreciate the crossing of a date line as they beat the
rotation of the globe over time.
The mutineers of the early part of their voyage had beat them home with
news of Magellan’s alleged transgressions, which added more grief to their long
and arduous circling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In the end, says Bergreen, it was Magellan’s slave <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrique_of_Malacca" target="_blank">Enrique</a> who
completed the real first circumnavigation. An Asian captive, he arrived home before the Europeans who
still had half a world to cross.
He was able to speak the language (or a dialectical variant that
sufficed) of those in the Philippines they met at the far side of the Pacific. At Magellan’s death, he fled, and
rightly so, as Magellan’s will had stipulated he be freed at his death. The remaining masters of the expedition
did not want to part with his expertise in local language. This too would prove more costly than
the rash move of forcing him into continued slavery. He conspired with the locals, assuring them of the ill
intentions of the sailors, leading to a massacre on shore that deprived the mission of
several of these few remaining able commanders. This is great reading, and great history. Magellan falls after several blows as
he tries to force some stubborn locals into conversion to Christianity and the
will of his new-found friends nearby.
Modesty and a sense of the local realpolitk might have changed history
and his place in it immeasurably.
So it goes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Magellan was reviled in his time, though he’s still
remembered for his discovery of the strait to the Pacific that bears his
name. Had he not succumb to rank
European and Christian hubris, he may have completed his voyage. Reading the already-known end of this
great explorer doesn’t make it any less powerful, and Bergreen had me tightly
wrapped into the narrative throughout.
It’s a great history and a great tale, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-World-Terrifying-Circumnavigation/dp/B002DMJTUU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1" target="_blank">and I recommend it highly.</a></span></div>
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<br /></div>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-49296197853384497092012-03-13T20:47:00.001-07:002012-05-11T01:10:15.839-07:00Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Windup Girl" (You're Fired)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4LUv0yoDubg0ElGrOavHhcTZneR3bidxbvywW0EyPsag1wL5GzWRax16UeDfxg_SlTGfww0gH_96mBuf-NYeWbe0KXu3e4AoZhn1v3gNTbpR-Uky3q-7gWUjWUNCc6ZFYnGobCkaR6hk/s1600/the-windup-girl-pb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4LUv0yoDubg0ElGrOavHhcTZneR3bidxbvywW0EyPsag1wL5GzWRax16UeDfxg_SlTGfww0gH_96mBuf-NYeWbe0KXu3e4AoZhn1v3gNTbpR-Uky3q-7gWUjWUNCc6ZFYnGobCkaR6hk/s320/the-windup-girl-pb.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I want my money back. I want my time back.*
I want to know why this was nominated for both the Nebula and Hugo, and I want
to know what kind of mushroom and/or acid binge the judges clearly took that led
to it winning both.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
The premise was an appealing one, and a reco by Cory Doctorow (author of some
appeal for me, and primary contributor to BoingBoing, <a href="http://boingboing.net/2010/02/17/the-windup-girl-2010.html" target="_blank">where the initial reco was posted</a>), led me to pick this up on the road when I saw it at a fantastic
Chicago used/new bookstore just off Michigan Ave that's now become a <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=after-words+chicago&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a" target="_blank">must-visit</a>
when in town, despite the letdown of this purchase. In short, the book is
a post-post global collapse after peak oil and genetically modified foods have
finally saddled the world with a host of novel diseases that make food even
more scarce and precious than it is today. The protagonist (of sorts) is a ‘Calorie Man’, working for a
food concern that’s hoping to find a new and lucrative way out of this whole
mess. Yes, food is so scarce they
measure power in jules and calories.
This is a creative idea, but not altogether new.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As far as world building goes (an essential for any
such work), Bacigalupi does a decent job in broad strokes only, when it comes
to painting this post-post collapse.
Animal power and tension coils provide power. Wind and dirigible make long distance travel
impractical. Global trade and
cross-pollination are ‘shrunk.’
It’s an interesting basis for a story taking place in South-East Asia,
but clumsily executed and embarrassing to contradictory in its detail.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’d rather not catalog all the issues and
inconsistencies in this book here, as I’ve spent enough time on it already, but
I will note the following list of additional grievances.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The characters are wooden and implausible in their
motivations much of the time. The
science, while seldom a sticking point for me in reading what is clearly
science fiction, is just sloppy and nonsensical to even the non-specialist
stickler reader. The ‘windup girl’
is a gene-hacked demi-human of sorts, who inexplicably exists common enough to
be reviled by the masses who recognize her kind in the street while seeming
uncommon and rare enough to seem priceless to the powerful. This doesn’t quite capture the
disjunction the author creates, and I wont bore you with the detail. Suffice to say, this central plot point
is completely beyond the ability of basic logic to reconcile. The plot is full of this disjuncture,
and it’s insulting to the careful reader.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s a big idea, or rather, a big set of ideas. Not original but distinctive enough for
me to wish it had been given a better, even honest effort. I’ll give the author full credit for
the handful of themes collected here, but a better writer would have taken more
time to polish his flow, consistency, science and characters.<br />
<br />
I actually went to Amazon after reading this (on the road for work travel) to see
if I was just too surly and scatter-brained at the time, and to see if I was alone in the reaction. (<i>Yes, I find Amazon
reviews a good validation after the fact, when the mood strikes</i>).
While well reviewed by many (!), the naysayers pretty much hit on all the
complaints I had myself. I’ve
always maintained that the saving grace of much science and speculative fiction
is the ‘big idea’, and that this alone can counter balance mediocre writing or
storytelling (see Kurt Vonnegut for many examples – and I <i>love</i> Vonnegut). Still,
it’s a balance, and Bacigalupi strikes a poor one. Harry Potter has rightly been criticized for Rowling’s use
of ‘plot spackle’ to write her way out of a hole (and I loved her books too),
but Bacigalupi doesn’t even bother with the spackle. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Windup-Girl-Paolo-Bacigalupi/dp/1597801577" target="_blank">Lazy</a>.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdqPNJx7-UXpW3rSzvgJR_oxxj9PEXBoqiCkEIV9DJZJ8ve3E_JyW0JCkehNGechWX8VHRoxemjc1sxSgEAKyRKN4_ljTFC7BjAiWHVKGyucbtLJFCZtDUv6Xoy3GoxfyEJ9CeEpHy3ai/s1600/paolobacigalupi300dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdqPNJx7-UXpW3rSzvgJR_oxxj9PEXBoqiCkEIV9DJZJ8ve3E_JyW0JCkehNGechWX8VHRoxemjc1sxSgEAKyRKN4_ljTFC7BjAiWHVKGyucbtLJFCZtDUv6Xoy3GoxfyEJ9CeEpHy3ai/s320/paolobacigalupi300dpi.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The author.</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">* <i>Once I start,
I feel obliged to finish, hoping the text will redeem itself. If I put something down, it’s usually
because I can’t give it the attention I feel it deserves at the time.</i></span></span></div>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-13453608510715492912012-03-13T19:20:00.001-07:002012-04-10T19:48:17.402-07:00Laurence Bergreen's "Columbus: The Four Voyages" (Cadillac)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6tytAh1zXO7BuYwEQN4_WcRg7kz1VKNhi4nh1y2-ohlMUFgUt1CoOyvakXS0HhqcDv2QKMok4CLLQ6DPd_9YI0sxwXXYOzzCIfYQbcnI9nm8g0uqyNtXin2bO_K0M6H79mcxw3uty0oS/s1600/Columbus-Bergreen-Laurence-9780670023011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6tytAh1zXO7BuYwEQN4_WcRg7kz1VKNhi4nh1y2-ohlMUFgUt1CoOyvakXS0HhqcDv2QKMok4CLLQ6DPd_9YI0sxwXXYOzzCIfYQbcnI9nm8g0uqyNtXin2bO_K0M6H79mcxw3uty0oS/s320/Columbus-Bergreen-Laurence-9780670023011.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve been an enthusiastic
reader of history for a handful of years now, with a particularly keen interest
in exploration and discovery driving much of it. For me, getting to Columbus and his voyages has been a good
while coming, and to find that Laurence Bergreen authored a volume on exactly
that topic was good news. I’d
enjoyed his history of Marco Polo’s adventures, and found the author to be a
capable chronicler of both the ‘story’ and the ‘history.’</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Columbus is a big figure, of
course. It’s hard to compartmentalize
the voyages from all the hindsight we enjoy (or reasonably grumble about) in
terms of their impact, both local and global. It’s an important history, and Bergreen does a fine job of
speaking to both the thinking at the time, and honouring the history to come.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In many ways, Columbus is a
tragic figure, plagued in life by the political maneuverings of his day, and
ultimately failing in his initial stated attempt to find passage to the China
of Polo’s own account, an economic endeavor but also (for the explorer) a
deeply religious one. Of course,
Columbus never made it to this destination, revealing instead a new world of
uncertain promise, size and location.
Contrary to parochial belief, the average educated European assumed the
world was a sphere already.
Ptolemy had determined this in antiquity. What Ptolemy (and others) had wrong was the size of that
sphere. Discovery of a continent
between Europe and Asia was therefore unexpected, and Columbus held on to the
belief he had arrived in India.
The result, of course, slaps the moniker of ‘Indian’ on the indigenous
peoples of the Americas to this day.
One thing Bergreen’s history helps to reveal is how Columbus, not a
particularly able navigator in the technical sense of the day, underwent
geographical gymnastics as he attempted to fit the reality of his discovery
onto his own fixed worldview. In
fact, at one point, he believed adamantly that he had discovered the entrance
to the earthly paradise of the bible (which was in fact, the coast of South
America).</span></span></div>
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<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The routes of his four voyages. I believe the order is red, yellow, green, white.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As with Captain Cook’s
voyages, or those of Marco Polo and others, the main interest for me as a
reader has been to imagine the experience of sailing (or trekking) off of the
map. What an adventure, and what
an experience, to have seen and done this with a 13<sup>th</sup> Century
paradigm lodged in the brain. It’s
simply impossible to empathize with the experience (thought the pleasure is in
the trying) in an age when we see images of the earth from space, with no bare
spaces left on the surface of the globe.
Bergreen helps narrow this gap, insofar as he can, with enough detail
into the personalities and challenges of the time, alongside a passionate and
meticulous review of how it all played out. While this is a short read at several hundred pages,
covering four voyages and the associated politics and cultural impact, it’s a
fine balance in the end. It’s a
fair balance too, which is of greater necessity in treating a subject like
Columbus, and the frankly despicable toll his discovery took even within his
lifetime. The Taino were
essentially decimated by the time of his death, and the actions of him and
others in his wake remind us of the pains of first contact and the collision of
civilizations at odds with how they see fit to exist. I’ll leave that part of the debate aside, for you to
reconcile.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As I write this, I sit on a
balcony in Florida (which is a global stones-throw from his first landing and
much of his exploration), thinking about what these places must have been like
at the time of contact. For
Columbus and his men, it was reduced to an economic resource, and pumping out
gold was the primary concern. This
was myopia writ large, with the Italian (and his primarily Spanish and
Portuguese compatriots) failing to grasp what he had done, and what more the
place and people could offer to our collective heritage. Again, it’s hard to empathize.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgjV88PaJXbLf_aGMXjcTHAmXPdcieF0N-jZTBZiNPJmKdX46MzvgrpBRPHzI6Iq3UhZgr6TY9sRUjjDungTbBQQ8eK6pMRZoYkFQrXwrdWBRHfbq8GKvW2yIcV-UCIJtCSe93wHc6i04d/s1600/colum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgjV88PaJXbLf_aGMXjcTHAmXPdcieF0N-jZTBZiNPJmKdX46MzvgrpBRPHzI6Iq3UhZgr6TY9sRUjjDungTbBQQ8eK6pMRZoYkFQrXwrdWBRHfbq8GKvW2yIcV-UCIJtCSe93wHc6i04d/s320/colum.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In the end, I choose to see
Columbus as the tragic figure Bergreen shows him to be. Celebrated certainly, but struggling to
the end to secure his name, reputation (and yes, fortune). At one point, he was returned to the
old world in chains, as a criminal.
He apparently kept these chains (as well as the scars they abraded onto
his wrists over the long sea voyage) as a reminder of his fluctuating fortunes. Yes, the resulting history is a far
greater tragedy in many ways.
Conquest and discovery has always been such a creature. Columbus shouldn’t stand alone in this
regard. This book helped me marvel
at how a few modest journeys changed the map, our minds, and our place in the
world. And that’s a just a great
read. </span></span></div>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-86978163877916201762012-03-12T17:34:00.000-07:002012-03-12T17:35:26.528-07:00Benjamin R. Foster and Karen Polinger Foster's "Civilizations of Ancient Iraq" (Steak Knives)<style>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4T-0eeXm4S3BWDx3veoS5SsCmoSoJIXvAsy38SKrOzcGZ9WvJA0jgwhDE8C5ZC1yAP7AdOsU397LmxCKoEnxO6wC7MKXDt1PrVGmSttkznDUwzwtvPoJQPTYsjgItacNfdI8-IkBIvZln/s1600/iraq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4T-0eeXm4S3BWDx3veoS5SsCmoSoJIXvAsy38SKrOzcGZ9WvJA0jgwhDE8C5ZC1yAP7AdOsU397LmxCKoEnxO6wC7MKXDt1PrVGmSttkznDUwzwtvPoJQPTYsjgItacNfdI8-IkBIvZln/s1600/iraq.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I’m at a bit of a loss to say a whole lot about this text,
because it’s just a good, all-around primer for early history in Iraq as the ‘<i>cradle of civilization</i>,’ to coin a
phrase. While this sort of thing
was standard text book issue back in my own pre-history as a budding
archeologist/anthropologist in my early 20’s, I wanted to take a closer look
back and remind myself where it all started. In both senses, I suppose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I’ve read and re-read The Epic of Gilgamesh, which continues
to inspire, so a look at the sociocultural and political development of the
region alongside Iran and Egypt promised good times. There’s several thousand years of history here, and the
authors leave off at the time of Islam’s rise, which changed the character of
the region forever (as did the influence of Roman colonialism shortly before, in
the grand scheme of things).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I struggle to capture highlights here, but it was a real
pleasure to get some insight into how civilization developed and spread through
commerce, art, science, politics and of course warfare. While the ultimate question of ‘why
there’ can only be answered in part, a review of the starting point of cities
and urbanism is important reading for its ability to evoke shared struggles and
successes we feel to this day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The authors do one better than a textbook account in
relating their history. In a
carefully balanced (and IMHO, admirably objective) review, they share the story
– insofar as possible - of many of the artifacts that were lost to science and
posterity in the looting that followed the invasion of Iraq in the past
decade. I’d seen a thoughtful and
saddening piece on 60 Minutes several years back that covered the looting of
Iraq’s museums during the invasion, and this book added some detail and scope
as to why what was taken is so important, but also why what was left behind in
chaos cannot be put back together again (e.g. 1000’s of yet to be considered
pieces meticulously ordered artifacts strewn about the place, without markers
to put it in their proper historical or geographical place). <u>This ranks as one of the greatest
losses to collective human history as can be imagined</u>, and I wish it would
get more international attention.
That many of these artifacts now grace some anonymous and fabulously
rich collectors’ living room walls as trophies is just completely beyond
contempt. Those responsible should
be shot, pissed on, then burned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Civilizations-Ancient-Iraq-Benjamin-Foster/dp/0691137226" target="_blank">All in all, a great history of early civ</a>, and a good
launching pad for a look at early Iran.
I’m still searching for a good overview of early Iranian history, so any
recommendations are very much welcome.</span></div>
<br />socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-29279332961992317842012-03-12T16:38:00.001-07:002012-03-12T16:45:48.843-07:00James Surowiecki's "The Wisdom of Crowds" (Steak Knives)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gB0-OENDPKx6HdTPHyPhErj55HKBT4SsEzfNk7i-mcRaUF21AdZfvtITZSE0behmYUunLvgyjAqtm_PH95Nq0Nn1XP4XvI52_8YF1DIoW7yMGX4ewhNdzSsTAY40rQLjFE-PuYQ2KpUC/s1600/WoC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_gB0-OENDPKx6HdTPHyPhErj55HKBT4SsEzfNk7i-mcRaUF21AdZfvtITZSE0behmYUunLvgyjAqtm_PH95Nq0Nn1XP4XvI52_8YF1DIoW7yMGX4ewhNdzSsTAY40rQLjFE-PuYQ2KpUC/s320/WoC.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I picked this up in December as a side-read based on professional interest, and figured I'd wrap it up in a few days. Cultural Studies 'texts' often get read that way, so why should this one be different? I read it piecemeal, a few pages at a time, overlapping with other books, primarily because I had a hard time engaging with it. It was finished by late January.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cultural Studies reading goes one of two ways, I find. An author can latch on to something insightful and brilliant, pulling the reader along and providing meaty context to support their idea. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Crowds-James-Surowiecki/dp/0385721706" target="_blank">Surowiecki's text</a> is of the second variety; great idea at core, but poorly strung together by too many far flung and disparate examples to hang as a compellingly articulated thesis or even a good read.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That's not to say I disagree with the thesis. I see this at play in work life, and it's certainly gained traction in the wider consumer research/insight field - that large groups of non-experts can (and often do) deliver better answers than a handful of 'expert opinions.' Rather than traditional polling, for example, we find that idea 'markets' can arrive at better answers by having participants speculate on what they *think* the outcome will be, rather than what they'd *like* the outcome to be. This is a stripped-down summary of the general idea, of course, but a simple internet search or trip to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> will catch you up if you're so inclined.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The trouble with the text is that it comes across as a long line of anecdotes that reiterate rather than build on the core idea. More examples are great, but when you reach a critical mass, 'more' doesn't lend the argument greater strength. Rather, it makes you wonder how the author might have used all those pages to put some pragmatic meat around the bones. What do we <i>do</i> with this idea, anyway? What do we miss or gain by moving to idea markets?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The author does use one compelling example that touches on such implications. The idea of a '<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2003/07/bookmakers_for_the_bombmakers.html" target="_blank">terrorism futures market</a>' struck a chord in the early 00's, leading to disgust and outrage for the idea that people could 'bet' on where/when an attack might take place. I'll concede that at surface, this does sound macabre and inappropriate. But the use of the predictive market here is meant to provide better tools to anticipate and prevent attacks by tapping into a pool of collective wisdom that's more reliable than one homeland security talking head's opinion (or the collective opinion of 3 networks' hired goons/pundits, for that matter). This story itself is one worth looking into in greater detail, so follow the link above for one take on it. It was certainly a highlight of the text for me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ultimately, this is 'Steak Knives' for import and implications. I'd give it 'You're Fired' for delivery. Find a good summary online somewhere and leave it at that. </span>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-17599169897020298042012-03-12T11:06:00.001-07:002012-03-12T11:08:18.978-07:00Jonathan Lethem's "The Fortress Of Solitude" (Steak Knives/Cadillac)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV7mfjLORTnjb0zetcqVHRkslQu-qhaI3nrFl27a4Eufk8qn6XuIAXhy8YkDlDa0dZKZh6pVYnZ4ofo6kT3ZB95G9AXoe-67pkuDXpuVB7-ZN8iy9o2z51HSWARwqhjcmH-OzBWEh9l1iq/s1600/the-fortress-of-solitude.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV7mfjLORTnjb0zetcqVHRkslQu-qhaI3nrFl27a4Eufk8qn6XuIAXhy8YkDlDa0dZKZh6pVYnZ4ofo6kT3ZB95G9AXoe-67pkuDXpuVB7-ZN8iy9o2z51HSWARwqhjcmH-OzBWEh9l1iq/s320/the-fortress-of-solitude.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I keep giving Jonathan Lethem chances, and he keeps delivering really solid work. Short of genius, but solid work nonetheless. 'The Fortress Of Solitude' is more of the same. Solid, but a little shy of genius.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Half way through this book I was incredibly impressed with it. Instant classic. Inspired. Important. It's<span style="font-size: small;"> clich</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">é</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> to say '<i>the ending let me down</i>,' but that's the easiest way of saying it. Not just the last <i>few</i>, but the last half of the 500 odd pages clotheslined the genius of it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Up front, it's a brilliant piece of magical realism, well-grounded by incisive social commentary and coming of age chronicling in a 1970's Brooklyn. This is great reading. Lethem visits some thick themes inside what's ostensibly a story about a boy with a magic ring (race relations, adolescent sexuality and identity, art in society, family dynamics, drug culture, and more). As I say, the balance shifts in the second half, leading to a cynical and deflating close. It didn't need to be heroic, and it didn't need to be a storybook ending, but it did need <i>something</i> more ambitious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'm reluctant to say too much about plot. I think the less baggage you bring to it, the better. Just knowing about 'the ring' going in made me anxiously wait for its entrance, perhaps making me race too quickly through the early pages. So yes, there is a magical ring, and it's used artfully, for the most part. Its greatest moments take place while it's not being worn. It's how the characters react to the ring itself, and what it represents allegorically that do the heavy lifting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The second act is more of a reflection on childhood and adolescence, which is pretty standard issue at times. Regret, rinse and repeat, etc. Try to make right what was left behind. That kind of thing. While I say Lethem has never really let me down, it occurs to me that this is the same difficulty I had in reading his more recent <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chronic-City-Novel-Jonathan-Lethem/dp/0385518633" target="_blank">Chronic City</a> (reco'd by Cory Doctorow, who seldom lets me down). He takes some great concepts and fantastic devices and plays with them capably early on, only to stumble over what it all means in wrapping up the tale. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've been a month or so getting to this, with 5 or 6 other books to catch up on, so I'll leave it there. While I'd recommend this to lovers of magical realism, be prepared for it to peak well before the close.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQP0SAZzUilBiXUycwGZ9DtjoWevCKo4i81O7fp3_cVrO4LzwWPFSeX3wG_Q-_29DJV1MP3PUCBy2trGk2le1KDLlyALUiHkxhJrzOkxNMylu1AqOWs49J5xxSJ7maP41fNflLTtcuXaj1/s1600/lethem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQP0SAZzUilBiXUycwGZ9DtjoWevCKo4i81O7fp3_cVrO4LzwWPFSeX3wG_Q-_29DJV1MP3PUCBy2trGk2le1KDLlyALUiHkxhJrzOkxNMylu1AqOWs49J5xxSJ7maP41fNflLTtcuXaj1/s320/lethem.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Jonathan Lethem, casually leaning against a wall.</span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(For those not pop culture savvy, the title is a reference to Superman's earthly hide-away in the Arctic - his '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_of_Solitude" target="_blank">Fortress of Solitude</a>'. Knowing that going in certainly colours your experience and running interpretation of it.)</span></i>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-87543307702467223242012-02-08T05:19:00.000-08:002012-02-08T05:19:49.578-08:00Grant Morrison & Sean Murphy's "Joe The Barbarian" (Steak Knives)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj41baYFyyuh-gPfDIe0sSpGxDniJpH4vmJd6FDFj6vboINg35maJnVWGAzHhHHYIuJNUFHRXVLAHtH7hfYzDXkGQQRjGP_pP5KOuRJqZFbZYKiDAnT07VFc9w66RIvIwECWmO04IdSbXuh/s1600/joe+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj41baYFyyuh-gPfDIe0sSpGxDniJpH4vmJd6FDFj6vboINg35maJnVWGAzHhHHYIuJNUFHRXVLAHtH7hfYzDXkGQQRjGP_pP5KOuRJqZFbZYKiDAnT07VFc9w66RIvIwECWmO04IdSbXuh/s400/joe+cover.jpg" width="259" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is what fantastic and sprawling vision looks like crammed onto pages too small and too few. While I genuinely enjoyed the read, there was also much frustration with its pacing and layout.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Joe (The Barbarian) is a diabetic kid who slips into a fantasy world that parallels his real world slip into diabetic coma. As he crawls to the basement to retrieve a rescuing can of soda, the challenges he faces, the foes and co-adventurers all mirror the real world around him. For example, an overflowing tap spilling down the staircase becomes a sprawling mountain range with cascading waterfalls. His protector-companion is a knightly manifestation of his pet rat. This is really creative stuff. Clever stuff.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of course, Morrison's premise presents a massive mental geography to capture on the static page, and Joe's odyssey covers a lot of ground and characters within that geography. This limited run is too short to give the artist time to do a great job of world-creation, notwithstanding some incredible art and richly textured pages. Compounding this is the fact that we only ever briefly touch on scenes, settings and situations, creating a frenetic flow that leaves (this) reader behind or befuddled too many times to keep entrenched in the story and fantasy. 'Look out, it's an X! Great, we escaped. Holy crap, look over there, it's a Y! Here comes X again!'</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4JcpvczE29PcEnMrhU7KM6E6nkE0MA9pMhSHw2DghCagQBlR4sSjlAEKATHRwZfz3W2L8k9rWN6SFP3511nXYVgzDZMCdQ92s8Ad5qHYcutkTWmviGwCpLC8QZOIkYEAAMPtU62x8spc8/s1600/joeb1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4JcpvczE29PcEnMrhU7KM6E6nkE0MA9pMhSHw2DghCagQBlR4sSjlAEKATHRwZfz3W2L8k9rWN6SFP3511nXYVgzDZMCdQ92s8Ad5qHYcutkTWmviGwCpLC8QZOIkYEAAMPtU62x8spc8/s400/joeb1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Incredible, but too much of this becomes hard to follow or focus on.</i></td></tr>
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Moments of real brilliance are there, and it's easy to see why this would be nominated for, but not win the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisner_Award" target="_blank">Eisner Award</a> for Best Limited Series. As juvenile versions of the hero's quest go, Joe's is a significant one on several levels. His physical, mental and emotional states all factor into the journey and prize. Morrison does a good job of introducing each of these complex themes despite the pace of the story making them hard to follow leading up to their resolution. Some of the fantasy/real world parallels are really quite inspired, and the fuzzy interplay of these is one of the more enjoyable facets of the read.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04al_2rncLVjjYO-czUoGNPuqDq1DDZT9gF0Gt7JnyCL8J6825pwlJFs6CXXePtfUt8TTOI-ZACOLVU9VBtns9hBRY6Wkb9YBq_Jox3QCsgFxVzaTy6wqapPVk8VHCHzTKjfrPv7vcEOo/s1600/joeb5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04al_2rncLVjjYO-czUoGNPuqDq1DDZT9gF0Gt7JnyCL8J6825pwlJFs6CXXePtfUt8TTOI-ZACOLVU9VBtns9hBRY6Wkb9YBq_Jox3QCsgFxVzaTy6wqapPVk8VHCHzTKjfrPv7vcEOo/s400/joeb5.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Real blends with fantasy from panel to panel.</i></td></tr>
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In the end, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Barbarian-Grant-Morrison/dp/1401229719" target="_blank">Joe The Barbarian</a> is worth the read, but leaves you wishing it had been a little stronger to bump it up into 'classic' territory. Enjoy the art, and perhaps a second (or third) read will start to make more sense of the story and the world.</div>
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<i>Note: Apparently this has been optioned for film. While it certainly evokes some classics (The NeverEnding Story or The Wizard of Oz are obvious examples), I think the task will be to cleave away hunks of the story to tighten and shorten. Imagine Dorothy meeting 6 friends instead of 3, covering 3 or 4 more regions of Oz before reaching her goal, etc. Or, they can go the way of the final Harry Potter and split this into a few films. Either way, there's just too much to cover here for the best of it to break through.</i></div>
<br />socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-26832418259480067742012-02-07T06:22:00.000-08:002012-02-07T16:46:46.479-08:00Orlando Figes' "The Crimean War: A History" (Cadillac)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9FLXDH1aZpG8CL1zCsGPFnzr081dFEIA8DbFuccbWjq9FAZwcnD1cHZ8U6DMYw7Lcqmq6b2Z2_awjqiqFyuPIgdL5j33WpSGU0GLmgyxzpUuixaa50BwT0IcVKbX_2H1btT1lTTI_eG5/s1600/crimean+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9FLXDH1aZpG8CL1zCsGPFnzr081dFEIA8DbFuccbWjq9FAZwcnD1cHZ8U6DMYw7Lcqmq6b2Z2_awjqiqFyuPIgdL5j33WpSGU0GLmgyxzpUuixaa50BwT0IcVKbX_2H1btT1lTTI_eG5/s320/crimean+cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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The Crimean War provides history too many unfortunate milestones. It's rightly considered the first <i>modern</i> war, a dress rehearsal for the scope and scale of World War I, at a time when the romance of the Napoleonic wars was still within a generation of experience. A few battles apparently equaled the Somme for the human toll, at least in terms of the <i>rate</i> of lives lost. Mortar fire was so ubiquitous, some learned to slept through it in the trenches, with explosions raining down all around them.<br />
<br />
For the first time, news came from the front on a wire, introducing a new level of tactical precision, logistics and immediacy. The first professional war correspondents and press took advantage of this immediacy, allowing the public to follow along with the changing tides of their soldiers' fortunes. The press and public reaction start to play a more prominent role in directing the course of war policy during this conflict.<br />
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Yet despite all these unfortunate milestones, the Crimean War remains a forgotten history for many, overshadowed by the wars of the 20th Century. Filling in this blank space led me to Figes' text. If asked about the Crimean War before reading this, there's not much I could have said apart from a strong guesstimate that 'Crimea' figured prominently.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Crimean-War-History-Orlando-Figes/dp/0805074600" target="_blank">Figes' history</a> does a remarkable job of highlighting the historical straddling of two eras, helping us understand how traumatic and shocking all this must have seemed to the front line troops at Sevastopol, central theatre for much of the conflict.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1FKgaETjSAYMNFWnyzgwOhWsFAjUoy7ANPxT9HZce2md4tec5NGvL6P6CbwxUZlbVrS27_mAdaSaJ7Ha1fj-aIyItZ3lpMvxAnEsMa08Ya1LnsQ99kv1edgzEbmx1tjLmezUt4CpD_BB/s1600/imagesnyplca7h6prskk8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1FKgaETjSAYMNFWnyzgwOhWsFAjUoy7ANPxT9HZce2md4tec5NGvL6P6CbwxUZlbVrS27_mAdaSaJ7Ha1fj-aIyItZ3lpMvxAnEsMa08Ya1LnsQ99kv1edgzEbmx1tjLmezUt4CpD_BB/s320/imagesnyplca7h6prskk8.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sevastopol, reduced to rubble by hundreds of thousands of cannon shots.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Photography (another wartime first, though in very early form) captures scenes of the siege, which may seem quaint and unremarkable to modern eyes. If we acknowledge that the scene of destruction above took place in 1855, then we can start to appreciate how minds of the time had difficulty reconciling the unprecedented level of bombardment and destruction. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bad intelligence and a tactical error prevented the French, British and Ottoman forces from quickly taking the port city, leading to a 2 year siege that cost countless more lives - from the ever-present exchange of mortar fire, and mix of poor preparation with the elements. While not quite saving the Russians as they did against Napoleon, the famous '<i>Generals January and February</i>' did exact an incredible toll on British troops, and on morale overall. The French fared much better, with the famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zouave" target="_blank">Zouaves</a> (crack troops of their time) setting the standard of excellence and bravery. The Ottomans were widely mocked by both allies and enemies for their cowardice. One anecdote in the text refers to some English and Russian troops sharing a smoke during a truce to clear out the dead and injured from no-mans land, which I'll quote from here:<br /></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">1st Russian Soldier - "Englise bono!"</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">1st English Soldier - "Russkie bono!"</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">2nd Russian Soldier - "Francis bono!"</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">2nd English Soldier - "Bono!"</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">3rd Russian Soldier - "Oslem, no bono!"</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">3rd English Soldier - "Ah, ah! Turk no bono!"</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">1st Russian Soldier - "Oslem!" Making a face, and spitting on the ground to show his contempt.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">1st English Soldier - "Turk!" pretending to run away, as if frightened, upon which the whole party go into roars of laughter, and then after shaking hands, they all return to their respective beats.</span></i></div>
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There's a lot to unpack from a scene like this. In fact, the religious angst between Roman Catholic/Protestant and the Russian Orthodoxy is a root cause of the conflict, overshadowing (for the moment) contempt for the Muslim Ottomans. The Ottoman troops get a bad rap, I think. Fleeing in the face of the enemy is as much the result of lacking interest in supporting an unpopular home-government and poor provisioning/armament as it is real cowardice. The Russians themselves faced widespread desertion by its own serf-based troops, who were often falsely promised (or implied) freedom if they took a turn at the front (even while others showed remarkable bravery in holding out at Sevastopol).<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" target="_blank">Florence Nightingale</a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">, and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade" target="_blank">The Charge of the Light Brigade</a> are perhaps the two best known products of the Crimean War. A young Lieutenant Tolstoy, stationed at Sevastopol during the war, also had plenty of fodder for future writing, with the experience having a profound influence on his politics and art.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKfiEn8N_cI_NBUYesPwUNGSJk4nPfyXG7ZpIeYPxWH4DU1ppq1LGTBVCtY39kdKZEB2UomthpkSxkiX7_rBak6irm2ii2r9r0B2KSiw6hcrl18uDZ3aEvI71dYRjAxwQFpFr7XQAfiLl/s1600/imagesnyplcaxwpsuirt0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCKfiEn8N_cI_NBUYesPwUNGSJk4nPfyXG7ZpIeYPxWH4DU1ppq1LGTBVCtY39kdKZEB2UomthpkSxkiX7_rBak6irm2ii2r9r0B2KSiw6hcrl18uDZ3aEvI71dYRjAxwQFpFr7XQAfiLl/s320/imagesnyplcaxwpsuirt0.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A Russian redoubt, complete with earth-filled wicker baskets called 'gabions' used to defend against enemy fire.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'll leave it to your own interest to hunt down a summary of the war and its results, but I will say that it ultimately changed very little. Both sides seemed to be looking for an honourable way to exit the conflict, and very little territory ultimately changed hands. As the history of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries show, it did little to establish a meaningful or enduring peace in Europe and the near East. It certainly <i>hastened</i> the demise of the Ottoman empire, but it was already drowning in its own domestic difficulties.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In short, this is a great history, and one well presented by Figes. Highly recommended.</span><br />
<br />socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-13395343815113626872012-01-06T14:00:00.000-08:002012-01-06T17:05:44.026-08:00Warren Ellis and Gianluca Pagliarani's "Aetheric Mechanics" (You're Fired)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4uvenKA6KAsx-d7NBjo279aFimxoSK9R1HXs2Io1RMV2nlRXypYfWtz_U2SEyg8MXASOeB48_l1e9yLm8I-psZfOweyCZr74I0KzusiKR9DTdJ9oH1alAyC7FN-JXnAIPh-JsMmFAeGN/s1600/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4uvenKA6KAsx-d7NBjo279aFimxoSK9R1HXs2Io1RMV2nlRXypYfWtz_U2SEyg8MXASOeB48_l1e9yLm8I-psZfOweyCZr74I0KzusiKR9DTdJ9oH1alAyC7FN-JXnAIPh-JsMmFAeGN/s320/cover.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">I like Warren Ellis a lot. He's done heaps of incredible work. Aetheric Mechanics isn't on that heap. It wasn't a bad effort. It just 'was.' Call it '<i>boilerplate steampunk</i>' with a dash of '<i>Shyamalan surprise</i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">' at the end.* Not much more to see here. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">A few moments shine through as inspired, but just a few. To be fair, the 'Shyamalan Surprise' approach works for a reason, and while the ultimate effect is a bit of a shaggy dog/holodeck episode wrap up, it at least introduces a new element to the otherwise 2D offing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The most impressive facet is Pagliarani's penciling. While the full colour treatment might have taken this in a different direction, </span><span style="font-size: small;">Pagliarani's careful use of detail, depth and dimension make some pages an absolute a pleasure to look at and explore [<i>see image below</i>].</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A little follow up after reading revealed to this amateur that it's published under a vanity press, of sorts. This fits my reaction to the work, I think. Ultimately, it feels like something not fully baked, or better left in Ellis' dustbin. He's done steampunk much better elsewhere, remixed/re-imagined creative commons characters better elsewhere, and dropped crazy plot turns better elsewhere. The filter of another stakeholder might have cut or rescued this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This short work didn't bring <i>anything</i> new or compelling to the table, at least as far as Ellis' bibliography is concerned. More unfortunate, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aetheric-Mechanics-Warren-Ellis/dp/1592910483" target="_blank">'Aetheric Mechanics'</a> stinks of 'formula.' This reek taints several of his other fine but similar works, like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ministry-Space-Warren-Ellis/dp/1582404232/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325897533&sr=1-1" target="_blank">'Ministry of Space'</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ignition-City-1-Warren-Ellis/dp/1592910874/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325897504&sr=1-1" target="_blank">'Ignition City'</a>, by exposing the few but invariable variables he plugs in to crank out another trope-thumping effort. Go read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Absolute-Planetary-Book-Warren-Ellis/dp/1401203272/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325898083&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Planetary</a> instead.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TPnRetZkhKhIG01lpkrjhLBvV0OHsSerUdGQEN8KWCRpQujgVxCnyzPBzYSXi6zY_4-bJrbwVY8T5xkhhyphenhyphenZTg6iVvtBRedAQ8T24RGcCZgIjgzUs1R26q4WNc0lIb7z1ASUUqgBUvAH-/s1600/inside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TPnRetZkhKhIG01lpkrjhLBvV0OHsSerUdGQEN8KWCRpQujgVxCnyzPBzYSXi6zY_4-bJrbwVY8T5xkhhyphenhyphenZTg6iVvtBRedAQ8T24RGcCZgIjgzUs1R26q4WNc0lIb7z1ASUUqgBUvAH-/s400/inside.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nice penciling by Pagliarani.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">*C'mon, that's good stuff. 'Boilerplate Steampunk?' 'Shyamalan Surprise?' C'mon...</i></span>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-71422732329937840512011-12-10T12:16:00.000-08:002011-12-10T05:01:00.722-08:00Pierre Berton's "Klondike" (Cadillac)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHEJymgF4IJ41coiLNlcPpH3R4ApmuacdmvL8-tAAhusECLWMhTohURDZlaF_s663ozcogtUuz325VG4ZYlFunQ9hzUA_LePzgLeaBS8VwGCgfK4Wh79D2NPIs6ZqXt_7e5g5RA6T2MRk3/s1600/Pierre-Berton-Klondike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHEJymgF4IJ41coiLNlcPpH3R4ApmuacdmvL8-tAAhusECLWMhTohURDZlaF_s663ozcogtUuz325VG4ZYlFunQ9hzUA_LePzgLeaBS8VwGCgfK4Wh79D2NPIs6ZqXt_7e5g5RA6T2MRk3/s1600/Pierre-Berton-Klondike.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's hard to empathize with the epic crucible-pilgrimage experience of a late 19th Century </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Klondike stampeder</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">. Even a fine historical account like Berton's can only give us a report back of its scope, and hint at the mental map of the time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The 3 year life cycle of the gold rush to the Yukon was as short as it was intense. A colossal wave of human and commercial traffic descended on what was essentially raw, remote wilderness, establishing an ad hoc metropolis named Dawson City, and leaving in its wake just a tiny hint of its former scale a short few years later. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'll quote
once, and at length, from the close of Berton's book. It's worth it, I
think, to consider the real scale of what a rush to Dawson entailed for
the average stampeder:<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br />"One
forgets sometimes, on seeing the bearded faces in the old
photographs... that the great majority of those who took part in the
stampede were young men in their mid-twenties. It is this youth that
helps explain the impetuosity of the gold rush. The argonauts were
still young enough to want to search for something even though they did
not exactly know what it was they were searching for. They were still
young enough to be gullible, young enough to be foolhardy, young enough
to be optimistic, young enough to be carefree. They were young enough
to see a mountain and climb it, though they had never climbed a mountain
before; to see a glacier and cross it without a second thought; to
build a boat and attempt a rapid, though they had never wielded an axe
or a paddle in their lives. The Klondike was their Everest; they sought
to reach it because it was there." </i></span></span></span><br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Many
turned back immediately upon reaching Dawson, seemingly only 'touching
base'. The personal accounts of many reveal that
there was a tacit acceptance of '<i>no gold at the end of the rainbow</i>'
well before they made the final approach to the Klondike. It was about the journey,
not the destination. The pressure to turn back at the very brink of
success was compounded exponentially when the initial crush of
stampeders outpaced adequate provisions in Dawson, meaning many had to
turn back simply for fear of starvation over an unforgiving Yukon
winter.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06PTZekm2cI-vQElZ9Sc4CQJ6gBvFNEfJ-SFM_LKyCPILcgH4KiP06ofvq5MfxmyUUS_A406Uqy942mbW85ZVliOJgtSvesrtLV9rfXt7g0bpho_vn28U50UjdWhVx8DTVEpI2u9VzF0P/s1600/journey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06PTZekm2cI-vQElZ9Sc4CQJ6gBvFNEfJ-SFM_LKyCPILcgH4KiP06ofvq5MfxmyUUS_A406Uqy942mbW85ZVliOJgtSvesrtLV9rfXt7g0bpho_vn28U50UjdWhVx8DTVEpI2u9VzF0P/s400/journey.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Journey</b> - The Chilkoot Pass (right) was a necessary gauntlet to run for many, ferrying their 1000+ lb kits up the pass over multiple trips up and down this busy, frozen and staircase-steep bottleneck. It's <i>amazing</i> that a for-profit winch system was up after the first season.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A once-in-history episode like this attracts some fascinating personalities, of course. While the myth perhaps exceeds the man when it comes to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Steele" target="_blank">Sam Steele</a> of the RCMP, he set the enduring archetype of the Canadian Mountie largely through the Herculean task of policing this episode in all its dimensions - from the journey to the destination. The mounties actually maintained an armed outpost at the top of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilkoot_Pass" target="_blank">Chilkoot Pass</a> (!) to enforce a duty on the American stampeders' kits/goods. (<i>For those of my American cousins who find this unfair, Berton notes that Canadians were not even allowed to mine in the U.S.A. and leave with any of their spoils</i>.) </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The anecdotes shared from this isolated and storm-blown outpost are among the best of the history, and the line they drew in the mountains helped to establish our modern borders. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In stark contrast, consider '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soapy_Smith" target="_blank">Soapy Smith</a>', con-man/populist extraordinaire, who had an army in place along the route to fleece or outright rob stampeders. His complex cons wrecked the dreams of many immediately upon landing in Skagway, Alaska. He left them broke and stranded, without even the means (or reserve of will) to carry on to the Klondike. Soapy managed to keep any direct complicity clouded, and was at one point celebrated with a parade as a great man of Dawson. Soapy was shot dead in the street shortly thereafter. Boom and bust. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjH7fzjmtmfo0UXWBU3p_eHjxGiH3UK3XJ69HDtJ-aJNBivwHgZxUrFRCNhHxLe5R-dkxUDwag4ULRjPsWNL8TiWMc9AejUiUsYI5O3OfJpHY18k8WLt_xYMQZYLaG1UU89wDY0saGgYaO/s1600/destination.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjH7fzjmtmfo0UXWBU3p_eHjxGiH3UK3XJ69HDtJ-aJNBivwHgZxUrFRCNhHxLe5R-dkxUDwag4ULRjPsWNL8TiWMc9AejUiUsYI5O3OfJpHY18k8WLt_xYMQZYLaG1UU89wDY0saGgYaO/s400/destination.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Destination</b> - Dawson (left), a tent city for the most part. (Right) Mining the frigid ground often meant burning fires over the soil to loosen it enough to dig. On the richest strikes, a single shovelful of dirt could contain $100+ in raw nuggets.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In counterpoint, the portrait of excess and free flowing raw gold are incredible, of course. In Dawson, they actually panned the sawdust of the saloon/bar floors at the end of each night, collecting tens of dollars worth of gold dust at a time! The finest amenities were available from the outside world at stratospheric prices. Even simple goods like eggs and flour fetched incredibly inflated prices. The giants of Dawson often tipped dancing girls with their largest nuggets, turned by some into belts of raw gold. '<a href="http://www.island-bound.com/Charlie--The-Lucky-Swede--Anderson.html" target="_blank">The Lucky Swede</a>' apparently kept a bowl of large nuggets on a table so visitors could help themselves. He was more interested in real estate. The gold bored him. He died broke. Boom and bust.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Simply put, Pierre Berton's </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Klondike-Last-Great-Gold-1896-1899/dp/0385658443" target="_blank">'Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899'</a>
is a solid account of this history by Canada's most beloved and
celebrated historian. He collects the threads of a wonderfully diverse
range of first hand reports, characters and anecdotes to create a really
compelling, animated narrative. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_berton" target="_blank">Berton</a>
is an author I was made to read (in patches at least) as an apathetic
high school student. It's certainly a lot easier to appreciate and dive into this
artful effort coming up on my 40th year. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://socionaut.blogspot.com/2007/01/cadillac-steak-knives-youre-fired.html"><u>Cadillac all the way</u></a>. (And many thanks to my father for the loan of this.)</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIJfLNFPLiXOgrQuZtpv5BPvulEgUceKiq4wGXxEO4t1osx9HNo4POCww79V48anKphPQC2H8QFqPPk-mKjVF2PFP3pZycexG3SsNw6t1BM4daTIhpho_nDfEeCDr5lUqC9epUqzFGXs4/s1600/canadian+icons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIJfLNFPLiXOgrQuZtpv5BPvulEgUceKiq4wGXxEO4t1osx9HNo4POCww79V48anKphPQC2H8QFqPPk-mKjVF2PFP3pZycexG3SsNw6t1BM4daTIhpho_nDfEeCDr5lUqC9epUqzFGXs4/s400/canadian+icons.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Two Canadian Icons</b> - Samuel Benfield Steele of the RCMP (left), and Pierre Berton, with simply *magnificent* sideburns (right).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(<i>Once again, I've been too occupied to update the blog. This book was finished a few weeks ago. More to come sooner next time, I hope...</i>)</span></span>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-70747503637253383312011-12-10T05:07:00.001-08:002012-01-03T18:29:52.277-08:00Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows' "Neonomicon" (Steak Knives)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuVYVbU1Dy3LK6C0BaE4_vOYiZzszNKGMZlOB4Wzi_3zHElitXmCle7RdD70tfvsApW76KZIGO3pvBtg3yD61YaFoxQ5kMzRnkkR1NW3CArjBpQfByIYBuK7vRd5YnVG3GRhIGjzGljwS/s1600/NeonomiconTPB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuVYVbU1Dy3LK6C0BaE4_vOYiZzszNKGMZlOB4Wzi_3zHElitXmCle7RdD70tfvsApW76KZIGO3pvBtg3yD61YaFoxQ5kMzRnkkR1NW3CArjBpQfByIYBuK7vRd5YnVG3GRhIGjzGljwS/s320/NeonomiconTPB.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I never did go through an H.P. Lovecraft phase. I managed to avoid temptation based on a healthy aversion to Lovecraft zealots who are as much fun to talk to at parties as Ayn Rand zealots. Ultimately it's been a case of '<i>it's not the band I hate, it's their fans</i>.' </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A few years back, a friend compelled me to at least dip in a toe. Given his non-zealot rationale and a fine batting average with author recos, I picked up '<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cthulhu-Stories-Penguin-Twentieth-Century-Classics/dp/0141182342" target="_blank">The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories</a>.'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I haven't been <i>converted</i>, as such, but I <i>have</i> been allowed full-access to the barrage pop-culture Cthulhu mythos references dropped everywhere from South Park to Warren Ellis, which has been more enriching than the primary text itself. This brings us to the focus of this blog post. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Moore (writer) and Burrows' (artist) </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">'<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Alan-Moores-Neonomicon-Moore/dp/1592911315/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323523719&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Neonomicon'</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> is a disturbing but inspired work *in parallel* to Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. While "</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">disturbing but inspired</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">" can be a standard reaction to an Alan Moore effort, what I <i>mean</i> to say is 'It's actually, really quite disturbing and inspired... Even for Alan Moore...' Shit gets crazy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O4einCQ3IEI/TwN2NhzA23I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/Xj2p91hcbdE/s1600/neonomicon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O4einCQ3IEI/TwN2NhzA23I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/Xj2p91hcbdE/s320/neonomicon.jpg" width="286" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>'Do do that Cthulhu that you do so well...</i>'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A blend of Raymond Chandler, X-Files, and a little zoophilia, among other things, it's certainly hard to pigeon-hole, which is well within the spirit and character of the Lovecraft canon. Unsettling and shocking at times, Moore manages to elevate the material above the puerile with great narrative pacing and what I can only call holistic gravitas. At times the effect is just like a body blow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Jacen Burrows' art is a sharp complement to Moore's pacing and richness of story. He's as good as I've seen Moore paired with, though it's hard for a non-practitioner like me to discern exactly what influence the content itself plays in the fruits of artist-author collaboration. This is well worth checking out, but seriously, know that shit gets crazy.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbI9SnVpLyZWK6XwM0NZ7ak8Nc7UEQ9gbdp0hAuPsm87Wy0yV7c6dLRoSb5DYpA7xVoi3Wu0F8HguR3Z4HuX1h3EBNRQvZ3SRp1YbI-IDvnD0CSWCAa_2J-DctU88Ha3qu_qzqru_y6Yc/s1600/4575244050_8006702123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbI9SnVpLyZWK6XwM0NZ7ak8Nc7UEQ9gbdp0hAuPsm87Wy0yV7c6dLRoSb5DYpA7xVoi3Wu0F8HguR3Z4HuX1h3EBNRQvZ3SRp1YbI-IDvnD0CSWCAa_2J-DctU88Ha3qu_qzqru_y6Yc/s320/4575244050_8006702123.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A R'lyeh good read...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody></tbody></table>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-90747936760528420302011-11-07T13:57:00.000-08:002011-11-24T18:10:16.256-08:00Amitav Ghosh's "Sea of Poppies." (Steak Knives)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUTs_zJppdNn_ZlkRev3mZSIK_8uOJ5tKfqyhkz023xuG0Ta182qYaUXpyVpuR8irRPzKEUIVDDCEcJ4zXSGOtDslJ30FxkVeOOFABe3q_3y5yetX6fbqzeUXSzFgLU9hKCybWLSqGcmS/s1600/Sea-of-Poppies-novel-by-Amitav-Ghosh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUTs_zJppdNn_ZlkRev3mZSIK_8uOJ5tKfqyhkz023xuG0Ta182qYaUXpyVpuR8irRPzKEUIVDDCEcJ4zXSGOtDslJ30FxkVeOOFABe3q_3y5yetX6fbqzeUXSzFgLU9hKCybWLSqGcmS/s320/Sea-of-Poppies-novel-by-Amitav-Ghosh.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
I came to Amitav Ghosh by way of my core anthropology course as a first year grad student. His fantastic '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_an_Antique_Land" target="_blank">In an Antique Land</a>' was one of the texts we examined, as an instructive example in considering our own authorship, representation and positionality as aspiring ethnographers.</div>
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As it happened, Ghosh was in town for the 2000 International Festival of Authors at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre. A fellow student and I attended an interview and reading, and had a chance to meet and chat briefly with Ghosh afterward. (I also had him inscribe my 1st Ed. HC copy of '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glass_Palace" target="_blank">The Glass Palace</a>' - w00t!)</div>
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All that to say I've had great success with Ghosh's work, but it had been a long time without thinking to look him up again. 'Sea of Poppies' was brought into the house by my wife, actually. It had been sitting around unread for a year or two, and I finally threw it on the stack.</div>
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'<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Poppies" target="_blank">Sea of Poppies</a>' is another great effort by the author. The narrative centres on the Ibis, a former slave ship converted for use in ferrying coolies from Calcutta to Mauritius on the eve of the Opium Wars. Despite its length (@ 500+ pages) and its collection of a great variety of narrative threads from a <i>really</i> diverse range of characters, it doesn't play out as a dense or daunting read.<br />
<br />
I won't get in to specific characters and distinct story arcs, but I will say there's an impressive overall breadth of historical perspective and positionality - from the meekest to the most privileged, those at the top to those at the bottom of their luck, those with the best and those with the worst of intentions - all propelled or impelled toward the same shared odyssey on the Ibis through the black water beyond the delta of the Ganges. Ghosh really does maintain an artful balance between big picture historical context and the personal lived experience (perhaps something I'm more attentive or alert to given my introduction to him with 'In An Antique Land').<br />
<br />
<b>Fair Warning</b>; This is the first of 3 installments, so the close of 'Sea of Poppies' is an incomplete tale, as well as a cliffhanger of sorts. The second installment, '<a href="http://www.amazon.com/River-Smoke-Novel-Amitav-Ghosh/dp/0374174237/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322163248&sr=1-1" target="_blank">River of Smoke'</a> is published in HC as of Sept, 2011. I'm hoping Santa or similar will make a gift of this. Regardless, it's well worth seeking it out to continue with this strong story, on somebody else's dime or my own...</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBMfm4NPCbpVwMXD8mFgA-TSoFMlo7gv398-D_8KEOGv-RKrpMB_tp3ONisBjdg7X-28Kuw5lqofPNba-kaLioUPkA2Y3oNm3INoTkNA4biq6Pjz8bPqojWxK-EIj3TFmfOZx-13bxiGS/s1600/ghosh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBMfm4NPCbpVwMXD8mFgA-TSoFMlo7gv398-D_8KEOGv-RKrpMB_tp3ONisBjdg7X-28Kuw5lqofPNba-kaLioUPkA2Y3oNm3INoTkNA4biq6Pjz8bPqojWxK-EIj3TFmfOZx-13bxiGS/s320/ghosh.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amitav Ghosh</span></td></tr>
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<i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Note: I've had this one finished for a week or two now, but just getting to the blog update now (largely owing to a good follow up read and other lifestyle obligations). </i><br />
<br />socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-74713941404114954502011-10-30T11:26:00.000-07:002011-11-06T19:32:54.159-08:00Warren Ellis & Grant Gastonny's "Supergod" (Steak Knives)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvH1wp-83_AqWmONy0NMXgbxghCAZRsxHwQz5h5T3yDVPF_OEmhlLcvKXTq5HdBeOxoDAGCmBwbF_k_qLBc7sPTwlx9lNymwB7DAV9s6bJ59QSrGrZ2_3tmnDC482z4eDaYdflFboZBFN/s1600/Supergod-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvH1wp-83_AqWmONy0NMXgbxghCAZRsxHwQz5h5T3yDVPF_OEmhlLcvKXTq5HdBeOxoDAGCmBwbF_k_qLBc7sPTwlx9lNymwB7DAV9s6bJ59QSrGrZ2_3tmnDC482z4eDaYdflFboZBFN/s320/Supergod-cover.jpg" width="204" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">While I've never read a 'bad' Warren Ellis effort, some certainly seem like great ideas that just didn't quite pan out the way they might have. Supergod is one of those. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ellis is just an
incredible excavator of brand new spaces to think about the place and
role of fabular heroes in the popular imaginary. A second great dimension or angle here is best described in his own, simply put words <i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_538279372">"</a></i></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_538279372"><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Supergod is the story of what an actual superhuman arms race might be like.</i></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supergod"><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"</i></a> He nails both territories here. But the story and themes seem hastily told. He goes f</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">rom creation to </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">götterdämmerung in 5 short installments.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> This might have been a much greater, even classic effort at twice the length. </span><i><i><br /></i></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Our premise: the US, UK, Russia, India, Iran, and China successfully run clandestine super-human creation projects. All of these take widely different forms. By way of example, the UK's 'supergod' is a merged and statuesque amalgam of 3 early astronauts and space-shrooms, India's an engineered Shiva-clone. These programs create super-powered entities well enough, but don't account for their apathy, amoral efficiency or sociopathic predilections. </span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-gD5ummrlt74WSAyjB26rtOsjs4JW0oZwGfxtfYf6v4uKsNwGKmyzxKZGTNrqZiu6Ld7Rjr18n0Kc5_9zXQjWJgn4fUKIFyrTLhi3gaEjyhkHF8hWI5Kr3as9Oi-IRymJh9nOdD3PjGQ/s1600/1042825-supergod.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-gD5ummrlt74WSAyjB26rtOsjs4JW0oZwGfxtfYf6v4uKsNwGKmyzxKZGTNrqZiu6Ld7Rjr18n0Kc5_9zXQjWJgn4fUKIFyrTLhi3gaEjyhkHF8hWI5Kr3as9Oi-IRymJh9nOdD3PjGQ/s320/1042825-supergod.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>India's Shiva clone</b> - <br />genocidal, amoral, and blue. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">This spells bad news for their mortal engineers, of course. The global show-stopper is triggered by India's Shiva, who undertakes aggressive efficiency in trying to solve the country's problems - from genocidal population control efforts at home (he culls the mass of its population) to sealing up Pakistan as nukes detonate inside, leaving it a desolate, toxic wasteland. A succession of supergods attack Shiva, breaking the world apart in a fury of spectacular collateral damage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Gastonny's art complements Ellis' writing well, and there are some truly sprawling and impressive pages in Supergod that bring this clash of super deities to vivid life. Again, an offering twice this length would have helped - in this case, to allow Gastonny to stretch his legs a little bit more.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">While the cover of the collected edition is impressive - its provocative subject matter went a long way to adding initial appeal for me - I now find it perplexing. It bears no relationship to the story at all. Cynically, I have to think that the provocative material is *all* it brings to the table, selling the book by the cover alone. Still, it pays off the reader with a solid 'steak knives' effort inside, so there's room for forgiveness.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp58jAfSLjWaxIU10bpot9zY7jdQiBT7skD3OeUsXnlwaSDvsJQHnlcW5ctmtw5jC51prcZ8CdaZ5j7nX1DfR5O28lUYi_LH9GBoVk4ctiV5jNq10OUTYE7IYeF1b9c8oT_4rfOD-Dtth2/s1600/cthulu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp58jAfSLjWaxIU10bpot9zY7jdQiBT7skD3OeUsXnlwaSDvsJQHnlcW5ctmtw5jC51prcZ8CdaZ5j7nX1DfR5O28lUYi_LH9GBoVk4ctiV5jNq10OUTYE7IYeF1b9c8oT_4rfOD-Dtth2/s320/cthulu.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">It even throws in a human-fleshy Cthulhu for good measure...</span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-15674936732597391632011-10-21T20:57:00.000-07:002012-04-10T20:02:54.065-07:00Frank Miller's "Holy Terror" (You're Fired)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_g-MjnFdEa7rw6STVh3kAeWmE3R3Yn3L0zLi_gHw6tYZTsmLLFgrrDWPxewkZB1qWzikO6HkssSNwij2nkxJBajGcanCVphkUi4hJ3qor4-Xu_YGDrm3Sryo6gKD3WJkcbeTR4ltSW4dF/s1600/holy-terror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_g-MjnFdEa7rw6STVh3kAeWmE3R3Yn3L0zLi_gHw6tYZTsmLLFgrrDWPxewkZB1qWzikO6HkssSNwij2nkxJBajGcanCVphkUi4hJ3qor4-Xu_YGDrm3Sryo6gKD3WJkcbeTR4ltSW4dF/s320/holy-terror.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Holy Terror was a massive let down that I saw coming well before I parted with 30+ dollars of my hard-earned cash. I was just too optimistic and stupid to pay attention to foresight and rational thought.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Maybe it's the complete-ist in me. Maybe it's overzealous veneration for an already celebrated writer. Maybe it's the fact that I know this was meant to be a Batman story, but *for one reason or another* Miller shifted to a brand new, generic protagonist named 'The Fixer' to vent his anti-Islamist terrorism propaganda. It's likely part all of those things...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Yes, that's '<i>anti-Islamist terrorism propaganda</i>.' Miller makes no apologies on this, a fact that made the text much more compelling, and the 30+ dollar cost a little easier to swallow. <a href="http://frankmillerink.com/">See this link</a> for Miller's rationale, but the semi-short version (quote, really) is this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>"So when I say that my new book, HOLY TERROR, is
propaganda, I mean so in all the ways that the virtuous works of Thomas Paine
practiced it, through to the ways that the current, shameless MSNBC practice
it. I employ propaganda in HOLY TERROR as such. Without apology. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Let’s keep in mind that, back in the forties,
Superman punched out Adolf Hitler. Or that the O’Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green
Arrow series in the seventies was a left-wing screed that climaxed with Jesus
strung up on the head of a jumbo jet. Subtle stuff, all of it.</span><br />Come on. Propaganda is rampant. News objectivity is
a twentieth-century myth. We only complain about propaganda when we don’t agree
with it."</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After reading a few soft/negative reviews, I had decided not to bother, or maybe pick it up in publisher's overstock at BMV a few years down the road for pennies a glass. A chance happening on Miller's site (linked above) led me to this quote and justification, and I just *had* to read Holy Terror to see for myself. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If it's meant to be clever, it fails. If it's meant to be subtle, it actually approaches the issues with a mallet. The basic premise is this: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Whilst fighting/flirting with a generic female cat burgler (NOT Catwoman), a generic caped crusader-vigilante (NOT Batman) stumbles upon an Al Qaeda plot to destroy the statue of liberty.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Generic crusader-vigilante and female catburgler love interest combat caricature terrorists while a sympathetic, gruff generic police commissioner (NOT Commissioner Gordon) provides support. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpD0gVMSAFVasGQ-lU4FNWGDQjI994JdJ8yHOYW0lXLj1DBmhw7MfUJYgYK6TEiLDUy9kZPGzpTCLOwmQIl5NDgH8KhQ3EQRpIiq3QClN7MwVF9LXXNolkMReu0Uy-wzisqpmMLsCUBcbr/s1600/holyterror_p063-latimes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpD0gVMSAFVasGQ-lU4FNWGDQjI994JdJ8yHOYW0lXLj1DBmhw7MfUJYgYK6TEiLDUy9kZPGzpTCLOwmQIl5NDgH8KhQ3EQRpIiq3QClN7MwVF9LXXNolkMReu0Uy-wzisqpmMLsCUBcbr/s400/holyterror_p063-latimes.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is <u><b>not</b></u> a Miller drawing of Batman and Catwoman.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">No! It's 'The Fixer' and a generic female cat burgler.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The idea that Miller originally conceived this as a Batman story, pitched it as a Batman story, and started to write/draw it as a Batman story, but subsequently *decided that this wasn't a Batman story after all* makes this execution a farce, really. The overlap is so overt and distracting, to suggest it's anything other than a lazy port is a tired and desperate lie.<br />
</span><br />
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In the end, politics and positionality are not the problem with Holy Terror. Lack of originality, lack of depth, and a sublimated cowardice or impotence to write this as a Batman story drag this down much, much further. It's these interrelated issues that are the primary failing here. </div>
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A close and almost equal second is the often lazy and insulting art. Several *sparse* pages seem nothing more than that. Not artful, not minimalist, just lazy. Full stop.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghR80nPzGzmK8p0f9Sh6DIeNJDeBIMojk26RIGZVS980W4-USAQsaGf_J47aVFTCC6JRofY4DV50ydEFzfz4a210ia0ZsZrP9vN_n71sQHHhYY4mIQbrFhTa9IcLnOH7Zm55zj2vTbkSxZ/s1600/d44-600x448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghR80nPzGzmK8p0f9Sh6DIeNJDeBIMojk26RIGZVS980W4-USAQsaGf_J47aVFTCC6JRofY4DV50ydEFzfz4a210ia0ZsZrP9vN_n71sQHHhYY4mIQbrFhTa9IcLnOH7Zm55zj2vTbkSxZ/s320/d44-600x448.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is actually a page spread. <br />
More lazy than meaningful, I say...</td></tr>
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We can be thankful that this effort didn't drag the Batman franchise down with it, if nothing else. With <a href="http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=26481">Xerxes</a> confirmed as a prequel to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_%28comics%29">300</a>, it casts doubt and anticipation on this otherwise long-awaited release as well.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJqkDBmtLLFYzvDsoNbQfkXDXjuIobDqoK5uuPaBL68Ls1EXHWt5n52nj37zcqySRLWhbSBjHvvLIaQeubabUEf4dddsB0IqLb4BOFiRdhxnJr0qj9dUP7MQTrQkFNDO-qR_O-7hE5Vnd/s1600/xerxeslarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJqkDBmtLLFYzvDsoNbQfkXDXjuIobDqoK5uuPaBL68Ls1EXHWt5n52nj37zcqySRLWhbSBjHvvLIaQeubabUEf4dddsB0IqLb4BOFiRdhxnJr0qj9dUP7MQTrQkFNDO-qR_O-7hE5Vnd/s320/xerxeslarge.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still, looks pretty effing cool...</td></tr>
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I can't believe a Frank Miller just rated a 'You're Fired'... <i>heavy sigh.</i>.. </div>
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<br />socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-70462974275190065572011-10-19T18:07:00.000-07:002011-10-19T21:02:06.218-07:00Martin W. Sandler's "Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin, and the Discovery of the Queen's Ghost Ship" (Steak Knives)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHj3jVdVWwXXBCF6DqplLZHSBabGbaOyvaZ1Oc0gOwyBfmm1kB8m9mmPYVXhix6iIh6C1dmY5RGfd476u9WbTtx34pmYJjTaGxIeupxzbXjZyBkGu4m7wjTVo-u9mjzJikdxWS79cx13q/s1600/933901-gf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHj3jVdVWwXXBCF6DqplLZHSBabGbaOyvaZ1Oc0gOwyBfmm1kB8m9mmPYVXhix6iIh6C1dmY5RGfd476u9WbTtx34pmYJjTaGxIeupxzbXjZyBkGu4m7wjTVo-u9mjzJikdxWS79cx13q/s320/933901-gf.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In 1855, HMS Resolute was found adrift near Baffin Island, a
ghost ship slipping alongside the broken up pack ice. While weather-beaten, it was in surprisingly good shape for
drifting almost 2000 kilometers from where it had been imprisoned and abandoned
in the ice of the Northwest Passage a few years earlier. The unlikely circumstances leading up
to this strange encounter, AND those following, are remarkable ones. </span>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The title <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Resolute-Northwest-Passage-Franklin-Discovery/dp/1402758618/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1319057993&sr=8-7">‘Resolute’</a>
can be a misleading one. While the
text certainly details a great deal of the Resolute story in the process, it’s
really an overview of 19<sup>th</sup> Century Arctic exploration, much of which
centered on attempts to find the Northwest Passage. The account covers a few early thrusts for the pole, as well
as several early attempts by land and sea to discover the passage to the
greater honour and commercial gain of the Empire (and the ambitious
personalities leading the expeditions, of course). Sandler regales the reader with the stories of a host of
notable names from early Arctic exploration – most notably and prominently for
our purposes here is that of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Franklin">Sir JohnFranklin</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The fate of Franklin’s 1845 passage attempt – his ships, the
Erebus and Terror, remain undiscovered to this day – was a great and ongoing concern
of the day. How had this
incredibly well provisioned and outfitted expedition come to its unfortunate end?*</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">A keen desire for answers on the part of the public, a
still-kindling need to discover the passage, and a doting widow/wife lobbying
home and foreign governments to send rescue expeditions all led to a glut of
rescue missions being sent in the years immediately following Franklin’s
disappearance. Sandler describes
this as an ‘Arctic Traffic Jam,’ as scores of vessels fan out to solve the
mystery – several of which run into their own harrowing close calls in this
unforgiving environment.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaZQChppB7XJiMYRzcyADPbUhIHOeWx2NQIfDJySVD3COYarihSDXZh2yvVmfT8j4U5gYIJqC9_gUKNrOoUKMQ4inNrPL3lwy0WRbM5RjoCIP-3U1299oqL0Z3IBlPChBTvIVWbnG7QYp/s1600/HMS_Resolute_cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaZQChppB7XJiMYRzcyADPbUhIHOeWx2NQIfDJySVD3COYarihSDXZh2yvVmfT8j4U5gYIJqC9_gUKNrOoUKMQ4inNrPL3lwy0WRbM5RjoCIP-3U1299oqL0Z3IBlPChBTvIVWbnG7QYp/s320/HMS_Resolute_cropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">HMS Resolute - an etching.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Resolute_%281850%29">HMS Resolute</a> was
one amongst this armada of rescue vehicles, and one of a group of four overseen
by one <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Belcher">Edward Belcher</a>. Resolute’s crew are themselves lodged
in the ice of a small, remote harbour for 2 years (recall this is a <i>rescue</i> operation). Despite being well-provisioned for at
least another year in the ice, Belcher recalls the captains of his 3 support
ships insisting that they abandon their ships in the ice. Resolute’s crew, along with the
‘rescued’ crew of the Investigator (Captain of which, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McClure">Robert McClure</a>, being credited on the journey with ‘finding’ – but
not ‘traversing’ – the Northwest Passage) retreat to the mothership reluctantly. Belcher’s decision was unpopular with Resolute’s Captain,
and created great resistance.
Belcher was called before the Admiralty to defend his loss of 3 intact
vessels, but was ultimately acquitted.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This takes us to it’s discovery by the whalers a over a year
later, and beyond…</span></div>
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By the law of the sea at the time, Resolute was fair salvage for the whale ship’s
owners – a far greater prize than a hold full of baleen. As a result, the captain took the
dangerous move of splitting his crew between the two vessels, leaving Resolute
more than under-manned for it’s size, and for an already treacherous route
home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In the midst of a tense period of antagonistic politics
between the U.S.A. and the British Empire, Congress purchased the Resolute from
the whale ship owners, re-fitted it in meticulous attention to detail and
quality, and sailed it to Britain to present as a gift of good will. The popular and political generation of good will in
Britain was overwhelming. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">To call the HMS Resolute a ship that stopped a war is easy in
hindsight. Perhaps it did, though
I’d argue that an atmosphere that made the return of the ship possible suggests
that there was at least some spirit of compromise and temperance already on the air.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dIWs7meyQatMQhQLyG0Qxmu150RFmtN8wkG9ZxGSGkne1laABcSQ6it-WZdYaiAsc5POa4n_10YTtAvin-cLUs92kwM4hFwG-ZuAQ848F63tYlr_9W_oAR0heMHB_sRk0duNa_n81dvH/s1600/article-1210746-0644c5db000005dc-244_634x730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dIWs7meyQatMQhQLyG0Qxmu150RFmtN8wkG9ZxGSGkne1laABcSQ6it-WZdYaiAsc5POa4n_10YTtAvin-cLUs92kwM4hFwG-ZuAQ848F63tYlr_9W_oAR0heMHB_sRk0duNa_n81dvH/s200/article-1210746-0644c5db000005dc-244_634x730.jpg" width="172" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Resolute Desk <br />
<i>(I currently use a Linnarp from Ikea)</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Either way, it was a gesture that did not go unremembered. When the Resolute was finally broken up later in the 19th Century, 3 desks were created from its planks. One went to Lady Franklin, another to an American benefactor, and the third, and most impressive went to the White House. It's been used in one way or another by most sitting presidents since, and continues to be used in the oval office since Clinton's years. [This desk also figures in the plot of the practically unwatchable <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/national-treasure-2-book-of-secrets/">National Treasure 2</a>, but that's another story.] </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">*But let's come back to the Franklin story for a moment... </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Amongst the many rescue and 'answer seeking' voyages that followed the disappearance of the Erebus and Terror, several small pieces or clues did emerge. Some raised more questions than they did answers (e.g. cairns with no documents or caches to be found, and skeletons seemingly hauling useless items miles away from reported wrecks in a great waste of effort/energy). Early efforts brought back compelling clues in the form of indigenous people's testimony that suggested the survivors resorted to cannibalism. This was difficult/impossible for the public to accept for a disciplined expedition fitted out as a prize of the Empire. Lady Franklin (and Charles Dickens, as it happens) both argued vehemently against this suggestion. While many of the hows and whys remain unanswered, modern analysis of remains supports the stories of the locals. Bones show wear marks that only *modern* utensils could leave (early retorts suggested the Inuit themselves ate the survivors). Jaw bones were removed, suggesting that the protein rich brain was also harvested in several cases. This is sad but understandable, given the extreme circumstances, despite modern revulsion and Victorian denial. The author offers other evidence to suggest that in the haste to provision the mission, the cannery cut corners in cooking and sealing the cans of food in such a way that spoilage and lead poisoning (canning was in it's infancy at the time) were likely. Chemical analysis of hair, etc. from remains supports this theory, as high levels of lead were discovered. Franklin died well before abandonment of ships and cannibalism set in, perhaps as an early victim to the very stores that were meant to maintain the mission.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAu_3IdNoo_t03QU7FBxbJ9gRAfX3LykGOvEfR8zLn8kvSsD_fIz0bSHOeImoBAGI0qBfBnpr6BpgdUl-frYlrtlDUa1iyXK7GUnLXHQ7zoH3BiAbKvVvHZLeBT2UUjK7iveAOmjJCPL53/s1600/SuperStock_1848-425973.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAu_3IdNoo_t03QU7FBxbJ9gRAfX3LykGOvEfR8zLn8kvSsD_fIz0bSHOeImoBAGI0qBfBnpr6BpgdUl-frYlrtlDUa1iyXK7GUnLXHQ7zoH3BiAbKvVvHZLeBT2UUjK7iveAOmjJCPL53/s320/SuperStock_1848-425973.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grave markers from the Franklin expedition remain to this day -<br />
silent lack of testimony for how and why they came to their end. <br />
At least these 3 went uneaten...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"> <br />Part of the mission's failure must be chalked up to a simple principle that earlier/contemporary explorers recognized but went unheeded by the Admiralty. It was recognized by my boy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Amundsen">Roald Amundsen</a>, who made the first successful traverse of the Northwest Passage (in addition to being the first to the South Pole, and possibly the North Pole) based on this piece of now obvious, common sense. His <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gj%C3%B8a">Gjoa</a> was a tiny, light ship that lifted up above the ice as the freeze came, rather than being squeezed and smashed between the shifting pack.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0mQG2oa-1_Ao1d5w6mNA0YGs70ie9Nv7rupumRSyM7AGh9Mq_oZKhIagfNZ_TWX_tiHrAcCL1YO-jHxOFuodBxfyz3DcdxWFPvYQlAw79P_L8JZOYHIt-ToBs2td_wtIHOUqmUlLB-MOV/s1600/442px-Gjoea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0mQG2oa-1_Ao1d5w6mNA0YGs70ie9Nv7rupumRSyM7AGh9Mq_oZKhIagfNZ_TWX_tiHrAcCL1YO-jHxOFuodBxfyz3DcdxWFPvYQlAw79P_L8JZOYHIt-ToBs2td_wtIHOUqmUlLB-MOV/s320/442px-Gjoea.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amundsen's Gjoa (today, in Oslo) - <br />
small and light enough to <br />
rise above the ice.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">The fact is, a smaller, lighter team is far more adapted and capable of making this journey. Further, it makes a great deal of sense to work with and learn from the locals as to how to live off the land, and find sufficient fresh protein to stave off scurvy and starvation. Further still, adopting sled dogs rather than 'man hauling' cargo over the ice is a great way to spare the crew and rations. Franklin's expedition was a full-on antithesis to these principles - a big assed, over the top effort the size of which almost certainly contributed directly to its inflexibility and demise.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This book is an all around great set of steak knives. While the title is misleading in the full scope of the text, it's a welcome expansion, touching on many great tales of early Arctic exploration on land and sea.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZWvD1PWWFw_6skRaV1I10bjK2AHgZCcLKqVBD_gNIqSCOqZ7kZsZdn2zVf5b1CtSJROWbFu2JbZzUNFCcVVnZO7cn8IHXGap4DronxUiucZc1Jl-B_HlxTnsfJu0OyY3BjT-7tenL_sA/s1600/stein2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZWvD1PWWFw_6skRaV1I10bjK2AHgZCcLKqVBD_gNIqSCOqZ7kZsZdn2zVf5b1CtSJROWbFu2JbZzUNFCcVVnZO7cn8IHXGap4DronxUiucZc1Jl-B_HlxTnsfJu0OyY3BjT-7tenL_sA/s320/stein2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erebus & Terror - <br />
An image to capture the imagination and dread of the Victorian mind.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-27200127428411197602011-10-16T20:56:00.000-07:002011-10-17T08:33:30.627-07:00Paul Pope's "Batman: Year 100" (Steak Knives)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCh6ZWrCDIhoNa41HaQUg40Nz_L452FYM2xp_4Xcz6aw0Bfggulu66anxzrc20cb8cIPPZCrC095QDm-J8Br3bS00saQT2QnpKdbdNjub76pRTEqJta8pfLumWFCGhyphenhyphenHGX8obNWQNS7ccD/s1600/300px-Batman_Year_100_TP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCh6ZWrCDIhoNa41HaQUg40Nz_L452FYM2xp_4Xcz6aw0Bfggulu66anxzrc20cb8cIPPZCrC095QDm-J8Br3bS00saQT2QnpKdbdNjub76pRTEqJta8pfLumWFCGhyphenhyphenHGX8obNWQNS7ccD/s400/300px-Batman_Year_100_TP.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">'<i>Imagine this as a Batman story 'told' 100 years from now, rather than a Batman story that takes place 100 years in the future</i>.' <br />This is a good enough recommendation (from my new local comic book guys at <a href="http://www.conspiracycomics.com/contact-south.shtml">Conspiracy Comics</a>) to pick this up and see what Paul Pope can do to expand the canon. It's a novel spin on a worn out idea - projecting today's heroes a century into the future. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Pope's ability to invert this trope and give it new life is a good share of this book's appeal.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Still, the future scene Pope creates is not altogether novel. It reminds the reader of writers and artists gone before, rather than bravely carving out a new vision of a 2039 metropolis. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL0JA4G4BPo3yypWcwi_gwwkbWyj09AylLUjncZ0UfhETbb_vv6Q-aeL9jdMkGtSHkIF3XTOxwEj3TATRaEQJBWqWzktK3L56I83V5hOlwEL8nRswENDtMLqxNlcJFIBdHoJFBNXGb3ONa/s1600/87_4_000027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL0JA4G4BPo3yypWcwi_gwwkbWyj09AylLUjncZ0UfhETbb_vv6Q-aeL9jdMkGtSHkIF3XTOxwEj3TATRaEQJBWqWzktK3L56I83V5hOlwEL8nRswENDtMLqxNlcJFIBdHoJFBNXGb3ONa/s200/87_4_000027.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why the choice of year? It's exactly 100 years ahead of Batman's first appearance in Detective Comics - an arbitrary start point for the fictional plot, but an essential one for the reader/interpreter. Pope is playful with the 100 year idea too - adding to the read. He hints at the identity of the Batman, and his full age/pedigree, but leaves it happily up to the reader to determine or ignore the hints dropped heavily and lightly as the story comes to a close. The story, on its own merits, is also a good one. It gives you empathy for the Batman before knowing much about him or the context, and says much about the run down, beaten and abused city he's self-determined to protect and redeem.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfv3M_SoGUmUTbABAPNXSqnrb3x4LNVcoz3cWbDRcP-mKamI0UKwWJEMh8CHEMb9N0_uyFnmgJhHpevkrHGXOryypmt_DXutjj_Shv4VTAXrapAu9rc3j_cVpCyPse0k33jQ66DnUGykR/s1600/327003840_5038f9b6e2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfv3M_SoGUmUTbABAPNXSqnrb3x4LNVcoz3cWbDRcP-mKamI0UKwWJEMh8CHEMb9N0_uyFnmgJhHpevkrHGXOryypmt_DXutjj_Shv4VTAXrapAu9rc3j_cVpCyPse0k33jQ66DnUGykR/s320/327003840_5038f9b6e2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">A clue? Batman with 'scary-assed' dentures?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While the art is impressive, it was similar enough in feel to Miller's past Batman/Ronin work that it made me wonder how much better this would be (if at all) if Miller had a crack at the concept. In fact, I was reminded of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Frank-Millers-Ronin-Miller/dp/0930289218/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1318821322&sr=8-4">Ronin</a> throughout - and while this is certainly a compliment to author and colourist (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Villarrubia">Villarrubia</a>), it still lacked a full, 100% originality that would place it in Cadillac territory.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuRtHmMTUbF66hGjfJWp-UOwYp_z43RN8XAfnUlqeKDv470EQXU0CcYhpRmwiK5dMB_q4108yfE0NTelCYkrBs9yKrYZxb3XvHoVAhUHNCkKjTLCxg6hApeSNYmiFdlXzdBSs6WEC7I0Q/s1600/batman-year-100-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuRtHmMTUbF66hGjfJWp-UOwYp_z43RN8XAfnUlqeKDv470EQXU0CcYhpRmwiK5dMB_q4108yfE0NTelCYkrBs9yKrYZxb3XvHoVAhUHNCkKjTLCxg6hApeSNYmiFdlXzdBSs6WEC7I0Q/s1600/batman-year-100-02.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Just a <u>great</u> panel. <br />Really iconic, given this is <br />meant to be 2039...</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Time will set this piece in its place, I think. Maybe in 20 years we'll see this in a more matured light. For now, I say Steak Knives, but reserve the right to change my mind based on where people take the idea from today...<br /></span>socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6324082674218721990.post-57576810807706880152011-10-05T21:02:00.000-07:002011-10-05T21:02:28.406-07:00Michael Adams' "American Backlash: The Untold Story of Social Change in the United States" (Steak Knives)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7lH3tF7a_twDr_Fd9AZW93E4djMEpRgRU9VZsZwzZQOfrEW_6lJv-Mb8ILeRJFLwbYFeBMIwcFRVkOf04PKvRhLfKRb1ssUK3B0iZjThu5-tFfjVZZfdVOm-yPsmGsmy7J-k8iP3gsQX/s1600/american-backlash-amy-langstaff-hardcover-cover-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7lH3tF7a_twDr_Fd9AZW93E4djMEpRgRU9VZsZwzZQOfrEW_6lJv-Mb8ILeRJFLwbYFeBMIwcFRVkOf04PKvRhLfKRb1ssUK3B0iZjThu5-tFfjVZZfdVOm-yPsmGsmy7J-k8iP3gsQX/s1600/american-backlash-amy-langstaff-hardcover-cover-art.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I picked this up on loan from the office library, thinking it would provide some illuminating, if not useful information about the seeming craziness going on over the last few decades with my neighbors to the south.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What's been billed as an intractable cultural clash between right and left, conservative and liberal is ably explored at the root level of values by Adams in this quick read of a text.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Adams_%28pollster%29">Adams</a>,
a polling guru and co-founder of Environics, is worth listening to on
this subject, having conducted widespread and ongoing research into the
fundamental values of Americans since the early 90's, tracking their shift every four years since, leading up to the 2005 publication of this book, as Bush II edges out Kerry and the country reflects on its trajectory.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7y7dZo91D9LBnSRcJiPLUtiySiH1DlAXFXHu14QaRjVL3v0_bxrOVa9cWWsR63jamz446y8YFhv_On7JF7pNS23yMj7sKlmFvHkYpPRSDGqAR6CDb1IRAptF_xiyc7alz2aiHqcpNw6GJ/s1600/bushvampire-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7y7dZo91D9LBnSRcJiPLUtiySiH1DlAXFXHu14QaRjVL3v0_bxrOVa9cWWsR63jamz446y8YFhv_On7JF7pNS23yMj7sKlmFvHkYpPRSDGqAR6CDb1IRAptF_xiyc7alz2aiHqcpNw6GJ/s200/bushvampire-1.jpg" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Down with Fox News!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In short, the story of <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/American-Backlash-Michael-Adams/dp/0670063703">Adams' 'Backlash'</a> - really, the big insight - is the fact that core/base republicans and core/base democrats have <i>vastly</i> more values in common relative to non-voters. That is, the greatest divide in values that currently (well, as of 2005 anyway) exist is between likely voters and those less likely to cast a ballot. While it's over-simplistic to suggest that the less engaged are apathetic narcissists, it's in the right neighborhood, and maybe that's the larger issue that's being missed in the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB5YpDZE">crossfire</a> and acrimony in Washington, on cable, and the internetz. Maybe that's the real intractable problem with American (and perhaps Western) democracy.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8tqLxWSMloBJl9AAlYA66Sy355vYNlu5s6ktmJJiPZYUm9e7V9FaQ-_fOkASWCtWvRI0O19ePaUZq_dKtNTgbhlpX_zk9d7aAW5gI7ceWYwgesH2qGA6D7q9mUFmeoZr5eE06IBiLPWC/s1600/spread_your_wealth_around_obama_parody_poster-p228391338668254258tdcp_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8tqLxWSMloBJl9AAlYA66Sy355vYNlu5s6ktmJJiPZYUm9e7V9FaQ-_fOkASWCtWvRI0O19ePaUZq_dKtNTgbhlpX_zk9d7aAW5gI7ceWYwgesH2qGA6D7q9mUFmeoZr5eE06IBiLPWC/s200/spread_your_wealth_around_obama_parody_poster-p228391338668254258tdcp_400.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Down with MSNBC!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Value shifts tend to be glacial in pace relative to the 'moods' set by moments or punctuations - even profound ones - in history. For example, Adams notes that values linked to 'xenophobia' actually <i>decrease</i> in America, post 9/11. That being the case, we can anticipate that the underlying sentiments of proto-Tea Party and the Wall Street occupiers of today are captured in this net of values measurement. I think that begs several critical questions, including - the nature of the media environment/tonality we've collectively cultivated, about holding elected officials as well as journalists accountable for tackling *real* big picture issues facing our established living standard and way of life (I won't call it the status quo), and <u>a basic failure or lack of civics education</u> from an early age, for starters...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The text suggests these
implications rather than addressing them. While that's likely beyond
the intended scope, the lack of a helpful implications summary and a
reading that feels like many quant results strung together for our own
interpretation knocks this down to a Steak Knives. While interesting as 'nuggets,' I found the text hard to track from sub-section to sub-section. I think the text suffers for an overly objective posture, frankly. While I've got my own partisan soap boxes and axes to grind, I tend to think of myself as a 'third way' kinda guy. The realities of the trends outlined in this book just depressed me all around.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Intractable problems indeed...</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3b-6y5Msx9G9xYr1w5HD8mW2ykOW0PyIu-TZ0HRZKazqQtR1l8dpgigH4vNFS-AJDaadYkfQOWJDjFd4Tz07AE2VmjMeiMvYhcXLEp0FwHmq-NQtN6WyohrPwpYo-Wu3KGw05ICnM1Ra8/s1600/bush+obama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3b-6y5Msx9G9xYr1w5HD8mW2ykOW0PyIu-TZ0HRZKazqQtR1l8dpgigH4vNFS-AJDaadYkfQOWJDjFd4Tz07AE2VmjMeiMvYhcXLEp0FwHmq-NQtN6WyohrPwpYo-Wu3KGw05ICnM1Ra8/s320/bush+obama.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey, partisan fanboys! Why so serious?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[I write this on the eve of a provincial election that's failed to
engage citizens in Ontario even as it has failed to speak to them
meaningfully about where we're really *at* and what's required to pull
ourselves back up, if it's even possible. Instead, we get inane attack
ads and red herring side-issues that play to exactly this kind of artificial/contrived cultural divide. Is it too cynical/paranoid to see this as exactly what the uber-oligarchy is aiming for?]</span><br />socionauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13651672929028756954noreply@blogger.com1