Unprecedented From Bob Tourtellotte of Reuters.UK, "Despite wowing critics, the media and now Oscar voters, Brokeback faces a pitched battle for best movie because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has never before given its top honour to a film with an overtly gay love story."

You mean, subject matter is an factor in the Oscars? Where will the corruption stop? Will we live to see Hollywood saved from the shackles of middle-class morality?

By the way, did you see G.E. Veith's review of Brokeback Mtn. in World this month? He points out the movie's effort to tie nature's beauty and the free outdoors to the "pure" love of the two male leads. I love his conclusion:

. . . having children and struggling to survive are what's "natural." Leaving your family for escapist, sterile sex is literally "unnatural." Heath Ledger does a fine piece of acting as the taciturn, conflicted Ennis. But Michelle Williams as his hurt, rejected wife makes a powerful case for family values.

  ¶ 1/31/2006 12:37:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Monday: Chocolate Shirts By way of another Monday Post, I direct your attention these t-shirts licensed to chocolatier Scharffen Berger. Simple, colored shirts (yellow, blue, and brown) with these words on the front: "(semi) sweet," "(bitter) sweet," "(extra) bitter." I love it. I should probably choose the "(bitter) sweet" to closely match my personality (within the choices allowed, you understand).

When I told my good wife about this, she didn't see the personality connection. "Why don't they have milk chocolate? That's what I want one to say." It's not what chocolate you want to eat, precious. It's who you are.

Apparently others don't get it as well. I learned about these shirts from Cecilia's blog of PhD Comics (I hope that link works for a while). Cecilia is a grad student in the PhD Comic strip. In a post dated Dec. 14, she says wore the "(extra) bitter" shirt, but no one laughed or commented, leading her to wonder if they thought the shirt was a good label for her, not a joke. Now, you'll know to laugh and point fingers if you see someone wearing one of these shirts in public. - phil

(My goodness--the things you find when you search the Net to check the spelling of 'chocolatier.')  ¶ 1/30/2006 08:48:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

End of the Spear: When To Be Outraged? Marvin Olasky blogs: "Aren't protests about the casting of a gay actor in End of the Spear (see Jan. 13) ironic in this sense: The missionaries died to display the gospel of grace to savage murderers, yet some Christians are unwilling to show grace to a homosexual."

That sums up my view. I regret the casting decision which led to the protest, but I don't think it changes the movie. Were the movie to paint Nate Saint or one of his friends as homosexual, then we can be outraged. But for this? Are Christian primed for outrage over homosexual issues and not on other issues which are equally bad? Take the fact that Liam Neeson, the voice of Aslan in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, has played some horrible roles over the years. My estimation of his personal standards dropped when he took the lead in that horrible movie, Kinsey (No, I haven't seen it, but I still think it's horrible.) Did that not phase the Christian community or are we not primed for outrage on that one?

If we are drawing the line as we are on End of the Spear, I think we should stop watching movies and television altogether for consistancy's sake. (For a little more on this, see Gene Edward Veith's post on the blog interest in his recommendation of this movie.) - phil  ¶ 1/30/2006 05:56:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Monday: Life, She is Short Any week now, I'll stumble into so much knowledge about how to maintain a high-traffic blog that Brandywine Books will be #1 on everyone's chart.

• Best Lit-blog? Brandywine Books.
• Best Blog to Check at 2:00 A.M. When You Can't Sleep? Naturally, BwB.
• Best Blog to Read After Your Man Loses the 2008 Presidential Election? Friend, you're reading it now.

But we're not there yet. So far, I've learned that to drive traffic to your blog, you should post blonde jokes and mislabel the denomination of other popular bloggers. Be sure to check back later this week for my post on how the Jollyblogger is a Pentecostal and Hugh Hewitt appears to be becoming a Mennonite.

For now, let me announce this calendar-marker taking place on the campus of Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL. It' s a writing conference called On the Brink. This year's theme: "Life's Too Short to Drink Bad 'Shine." Southern writing for you and yours.

While you're there, keep watch for the white squirrel in the area. It is not a ghost. - phil  ¶ 1/30/2006 12:40:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Investing in Eternity How much thought do we put into the moral or spiritual aspects of how we save or invest our resources? In the book, Eternity Portfolio, author Alan Gotthardt asks, "How would our lives change if we became aware of the rewards of faithfully investing our resources?" The website has chapter summaries, other info and links. From chapter two:

Why is giving not a priority for most Christians? The answer is that obligation alone is not enough to create in us a vision for investing in others. So, what is? "The desire for rewards," [Gotthardt] answers. God has promised great reward for those who give freely and generously out of a changed heart and life. In other words, the ultimate investment should be in heaven, for from heaven comes the ultimate reward.

- phil  ¶ 1/28/2006 02:03:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

"The Aging Brain Grows Stronger" Mental Multivitamin has a link and good quotes from a Newsweek article on a 50-year-old's creativity and the myth of the midlife crisis. I know Newsweek is unreliable for political news, but this article may be sound. As with so many reports, I suppose this one also needs a grain or two of salt.

Oh, do you remember that post I did on what I thought was an original idea. I probably got it from this blog. Sorry about that--I'm a dope sometimes. - phil  ¶ 1/28/2006 01:47:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Buy Lars' Books (or the Dog Dies) Now, you can buy Lars Walker's books through easy links on our sidebar. I know you've been putting it off because you didn't want the hastle of searching for them online. All of the mouse clicks needed to find something in Amazon can wear you out. Now, you don't have to.

Buy through Amazon.com these great titles:

Blood and Judgement
The Year of The Warrior
Wolf Time

Also buy from Alibris.com. No affliate program here--just links.  ¶ 1/27/2006 02:30:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Color Blindness Are Americans generally agreed that judging each other on the basis of skin color is unproductive in normal, civil interaction?

I'm talking about M.L. King's dream: "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Most Americans agree with this, right?

Then why do some of us repeatedly bring up color questions? For example, author Tayari Jones asks why NPR Librarian Nancy Pearl doesn't include "non-white" authors in her list of recommended books. Somehow, her question seems legitimate to me. It isn't color-blind, though. Is this an example of good demographic judgment, similar to asking about authors from a certain tradition or with a certain style?

For another example, someone comments in response to a review of a poetry for the people anthology, saying "poems can be blessedly color-blind" but that it's terrible only three non-white poets were included in the anthology. Somehow, this question seems illegitimate to me. Looks like something Ray Nagin would say. Does color-blind mean multicolored? I think it does for some.

What do you think? Do we need to remain color-conscience in order to be color-blind? Are the questions in my two example essentially the same? - phil  ¶ 1/27/2006 01:30:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Retelling Biblical Tales of Women Looking for a Biblical flavor in your steamy romance? Look no further, but don't expect historical accuracy. The Red Tent, Canaan Trilogy, The Gilded Chamber, Wisdom's Daughter are some examples. Bradford Pilcher, writing for Atlanta Jewish Life, says, "Most [of these books] fall into a formulaic (and often dull) approach that overly sentimentalizes biblical heroines and, in some cases, furthers old stereotypes."  ¶ 1/27/2006 12:00:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Oprah: Truth Matters Afterall On yesterday's Oprah Winfrey show, Oprah apologized for defending James Frey and his book, A Million Little Pieces.

"I made a mistake," she said, "and I left the impression that the truth does not matter, and I am deeply sorry about that because that is not what I believe."

Oprah used most of her show yesterday to grill Frey on details of the book. According to the Chicago Tribune, the editor of the Smoking Gun, the site which got this ball rolling against Frey, said Oprah didn't let up on Frey, and in the end, you felt bad for the guy. From the transcript of yesterday's Oprah:

Oprah: Well then why did you say you didn't have Novocain? Because, you know, the last time I went to the dentist, my dentist said that could not have happened. And I said, 'Oh no. It happened. He told me it happened.' So, why did you do that?

James: I mean, once I talked to the person at the facility about it, you know, the book had been out for nine months. We'd already done a lot of interviews about it. . . Since that time I've struggled with the idea of it . . ."

Oprah: No, the lie of it. That's a lie. It's not an idea, James. That's a lie.

The Chicago Tribune says The Smoking Gun "initially" raised questions about Frey's Little Pieces, but in truth some reviews of questioned shortly after its release--the NY Times review, for one. In a preview for Amazon.com's Fishbowl, Bill Maher talks to Stephen King about being a writer and his new book, Cell. They wrap up their nine minute conversation discussing Frey's memoir, and King says he knew it was baloney when he heard that Frey was an alcoholic and drug addict yet was recovering and writing about it all on his own. King says, "Alcoholics and drug addicts lie about the weather just to keep in practice. . . . Once you discover he has lied about one thing, Katie bare the door--it's probably all lies."

Both King and Maher expressed surprised that Oprah and many readers would give Frey a pass on this. Perhaps, that message got through to Oprah; but I also believe that she didn't need public rebuke, only time, to think through her response.  ¶ 1/27/2006 10:58:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Is It Blue Like Jazz or Peanut Butter? "I am more and more convinced that talking to the reformed about art and literature is like talking about gourmet cooking with a man who only believes in eating PBJ." - iMonk (link)

I know the blogosphere is full of rants. It's virtually brimming with outrage and strong opinions. As you can see I'm sure, Lars and I attempt to blog sparingly, yet lovingly, on controversial matters and voluminously, even vociferously, on non-controversial, uninteresting matters. Generally speaking, if you are looking to pick a blog fight, go to the Daily Kos.

However, certain matters are too precious to ignore. Some doctrines are sacred and require a defense. Some outrages too heinous . . . well, let's cut to the chase. Joel Hunter of Boar's Head Tavern says crunchy peanut butter is not orthodox peanut butter. Can you imagine?! If it isn't obvious that Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter--the kind with only crushed peanuts and salt which must be blended by hand occasionally before spreading on your homemade, whole wheat bread--is peanut butter as God intended, as close as we can get to how it tasted when He handed a jar of it to Adam in the garden, then no one knows what real peanut butter is. The Fall must have taken that pleasure from us, I suppose.

But then, obtuseness is as obtuseness does, as Gomer says. Let's move on.

Do Christians in the Reformed tradition appreciate art and literature? That's the question the iMonk, (who is fine, upstanding member of a Baptist congregation, not a pub-dwelling, no-account Lutheran--unlike Lars who is an excellent, Gold Standard Lutheran), answers negatively in response to a review of Donald Miller's memoir, Blue Like Jazz on 9Marks.org. Reviewer Shane Walker believes Miller's theme is that Jesus wants to hear you out, so take the time to tell Him your story. He writes, "Donald Miller is making an earnest attempt to witness to nonbelievers and disciple Christians, but he doesn't distinguish between being relevant and being worldly."

The iMonk believes Miller isn't endorsing worldliness; he just being honest about his imperfect life. "Miller deserves a hearing because he is boldly, genuinely talking about Jesus in a way that breaks the usual stereotypes and straitjackets," he says in a post on Tuesday. "He shakes me up and I need to be shaken up."

The iMonk accuses people like Walker of disliking the Emerging Church and postmodern-type believers on personal grounds, not theological ones. That's a rant. I doubt he would argue that seriously with honest, reformed people; but I daresay he is right about some self-righteous curmugeons in the reformed faith who would oppose the Holy Spirit if He didn't wear a suit on Sunday. The church isn't free of problematic people. Thank God for His abundant grace.

How this results in reformed people disliking and misunderstanding art and literature I don't know, but since he brings it up, let me point to another review of Miller's Blue. Walter Henegar reviews it for an issue of the Presbyterian Church of America's new magazine, By Faith. He likes it in general, calling it "Honest, Funny, Flawed, and Profound."

He says Miller is "an earnest Christian who stumbles through his faith and describes it well." The book reads like a blog and makes many good points, though some bad ones. Henegar quotes a sentence: "Jesus didn't just love me because it was the right thing to do. Rather, there was something inside me that caused Him to love me," then concludes, "As grievous as this statement is, he fortunately doesn't follow through with all of its implications."

Perhaps it's bad theology like this that puts the dark clouds in Walker's review whereas Henegar gives Miller more leeway to be wrong. Is that a problem? Is a negative review evidence that reformed believers are philistines?

For more discussion on this, see these two Thinklings threads: Book Review and The Importance of Art. The iMonk's review of Blue Like Jazz and Miller's follow-up book is on internetmonk.com. - phil

Tags: Blue Like Jazz, reformed  ¶ 1/25/2006 10:26:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Oprah-like Sales for Blum? Author William Blum remarked that having his book, Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower, recommended by today's public enemy #1, Osama bin Laden, is almost as good as having Oprah select it for her book club, according to Time Magazine. Blum, who seems to be cut from the same cloth as uber-liberal Norm Chomsky, also said, “I happen to share with Osama bin-Laden a certain view of US foreign policy, and this is great if more people read my book.”

Sales of Rogue State have reportedly exploded since bin Laden's tape was released to the public a few days ago. - phil
  ¶ 1/23/2006 11:02:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Monday Post: Jokes and Imagery I've been busy and discouraged today. No, no--the discouragement is my fault and probably a sin; but I haven't felt like blogging today. I've thought a little about designing a new blog for posts about why I wasn't blogging that day. I would call it, "Not Today," or something like that. I may still do it. I have visual design in my blood and keep thinking of how to make this blog better looking, even seasonally themed, so I would want to make a blog like "Not Today" into something remarkable, funny, and visually appealing as well as having good, short, and needless to say brief posts about non-blogging. But I'm blogging now, so let's move on.

I have learned over the past several days that the way to drive traffic to this excellent blog is to post blonde jokes. Getting a nomination to a blog contest helps too, but the real money is in blonde jokes. I may be able to tempt the fates without angering them by referring to blonde jokes repeatedly in this post, but the odds on that gamble, that of referring to blonde jokes without actually telling them, are still out. Of course, I have searched a bit for blonde jokes, but my results were unsatisfactory.

The subject of blonde jokes reminds me of one of my favorite jokes of a similar nature. You see, a blind man, a deaf man, a preacher, a rabbi, a nun, a blonde, a grandmother, a polock, and a dog all walk into a bar, and the bartender says, "What is this? A joke?"

[pause for laughter]

I know--you're about to bust a gut. But wait. I have real material for a Monday Post, namely imagery found on sloganmaker.net.

1. Is it a frog or an orange peel? Sometimes, the contestants are Worth1000.com do remarkable work.
2. Julian Beever apparently wants us to watch our step when we're in his city. I wonder if he thinks of himself as a screever.

So, you have it. A late Monday post. Before you go on to read more profitable things, do you know why elephants wear yellow shoes? Do yah? - phil  ¶ 1/23/2006 09:43:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Christians Ought to Write Excellently In light of Lars' review of River Rising tonight, I offer this quote from Gina Holmes' recent interview with Athol Dickson on Novel Journey. Dickson says:

There are a lot of people who think you have to write fast and get a lot of novels out there or readers won’t remember you. I get the marketing logic of that, and maybe its good advice if all you care about is making money, but I think it’s a bad plan for a Christian. We need to be the ones who are excellent at what we do, so the others will see and be drawn to the truth. And it takes time to tell the truth well. Even people who claim to get a novel done in two or three months, if it’s a good novel, they’ve already put in months or years of thought and research and just plain living in order to be able to write it that fast. . . .

GH: Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?

AD: People who write below their abilities in order to crank out tons of books and make a buck. Especially Christian authors who do that. Outsiders judge us for it, and make fun of us for it, and it makes Jesus look bad. We of all artists on earth should be the most concerned with doing our best possible work at all times. We of all people should write with all our hearts, as if writing for the Lord and not for men.

...

Dale Cramer is doing some of the best Christian fiction work today, writerly-wise. His Levi’s Will is a masterpiece.

  ¶ 1/23/2006 09:34:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Meeting in Washington D.C.

I won't be there, but I thought it worth blogging.  ¶ 1/21/2006 10:39:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

King Hates Cell Phones, Marketing Loves Them From an article by Jeffrey Trachtenberg in Tuesday's The Wall Street Journal: "Author Stephen King hates cellphones and won't use them. 'They're 21st-century slave bracelets,' he said."

He could be right. I don't have one because--forgive me if this shocks you--I don't need one. My lifestyle isn't mobile enough to call for one, just like I don't need a PDA, iPod, laptop, or television. I live an acoustic life--sort of. So I think I understand where King is coming from.

In the WSJ article, King's publisher reportedly sent text messages to 100,000 cell phone users, inviting them to join a VIP club focused on King's new book, Cell (to be released Jan. 24). Ringtones of King's voice are available for purchase.

The veteran horror writer says he got the idea for his new novel while watching a beautifully dressed woman standing outside a New York hotel, talking on her cellphone. What would happen, he wondered, if she suddenly received a message telling her to kill people? "I cruise the landscape, looking for things that would make people nervous," he says.

He doesn't pretend to know whether his fans will buy his ring tones. He did try to convince his publisher to record a ring tone that consisted solely of Mr. King saying, "Don't answer it, don't answer it." But Scribner rejected the idea, he says.

  ¶ 1/21/2006 11:33:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

How Do You Say It?

1. Huge: hyooj or yooj?
2. Humble: hum-bel or um-bel?
3. Humility: hyoo-mil-i-te or yoo-mil-i-te?
4. Whale: hwal or wal?
5. Historic: hi-stor-ik or i-stor-ik?
6. Herb: hurb or urb?
   

Do you pronounce the h-sound in these words? Any idea why you say it your way?  ¶ 1/21/2006 11:03:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Reusable Plastic Newspapers If it isn't enough that eInk technology is making PDA-like devices virtual books, a company called Plastic Logic is working on displaying live info on thin plastic sheets. The Discovery Channel reports:

Cambridge, U.K.-based Plastic Logic recently announced development of the world's largest plastic display — 10 inches diagonally — that can render active images.

The display, which currently has the resolution of a normal computer screen — 100 pixels per square inch — and four levels of gray scale, could help usher in durable, paper-like screens that can be attached to small electronic devices such as mobile phones and then rolled up and tucked away when not in use.

The reusable, plastic, local newspaper with daily downloads may be on the horizon. - phil

Tags: ePaper, eInk  ¶ 1/19/2006 11:11:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Jesus' Skin Color It doesn't bother me to hear of a new drama based on Jesus' life using black actors. Why should it? The Lord Jesus came for all people. Telling his story in live action is a good medium. But claiming to tell his story and message while actually telling your own is another thing.

The director of a South African film, Son of Man, told Reuters, "We wanted to look at the gospels as if they were written by spindoctors and to strip that away and look at the truth. The truth is that Christ was born in an occupied state and preached equality at a time when that wasn't very acceptable."

No. No, it isn't. Are we talking about Jesus, the one who said, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law"?

The good news which Jesus gave would work out to a cultural equality, but oddly enough, Jesus didn't teach on it. He taught that he was the Son of God who had come to take away the sins of the world. Anyone who believes in him could follow him and have everlasting life. And that commitment to the truth of God's Word is what got him killed by men who used the temple for political advancement.

But I disgress a bit. All I meant to say was that I don't mind Jesus movies using black, asian, or even hispanic actors to portray him.

Now, pretending to have the risen Lord as a talk radio host? That's wrong. I'm sorry. Good intentions don't cut it.  ¶ 1/19/2006 10:51:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Best of Blogs Contest: Update Voting continues, and you can vote once a day, which I believe translates into one vote per 24-hour period. Voting will continue through the end of the month, but I don't if I will keep this post here that long. A swell of Marxist voters showing their support for Diversity Despite Disapproval have pushed Bwb into a dead heat for third-to-last place. You can make the difference in this struggle. Vote here.

Best of Blogs has organized this differently than other contests. The awards will not go to the highest popular vote in each category. They will be given points based on the vote, presentation, readability, and content. With this scheme, it is possible a blog with a mediocre popular vote could win on the strength of its posts and layout. Not that I'm saying anything. In fact, I make it a point never to say anything in a blog. That's the secret to my popularity. - phil  ¶ 1/18/2006 11:59:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Filthy, Rumor-mongering, Lit-blogs Are lit-blogs just unaccountable rumormills, fraught with error and distortion? That's what Book Editor Bob Hoover at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette thinks. Kevin points to the editor's column on the new and improved Collected Miscellany, "Mr. Hoover can whistle by the graveyard all he wants, but if he - and newspapers across the country - continues to churn out rubbish like this he will only fuel the growth of 'alternative media.'"

Hoover, who says he's been "glancing" at lit-blogs for a while now, expressed his doubts that lit-blogs have any "accountability, dependability and durability. Also, outside of their mothers, it's hard to figure out whom these bloggers are targeting."

Now, I have to express my doubts that Hoover knows what he's talking about. First, triple the number of lit-blogs if you want, you don't have to give them all "a glace or two." Scan them until you find a dozen worth reading. There are at least a dozen which would make better book suppliments in most Wednesday and Sunday newspapers across the fruited plain than what's currently printed.

Second, I think the following is equivalent to saying the Empire State Building is in Atlanta:

The most response on any subject of 2005 came from a column on Edward Klein's embarrassing (for him) biography of Hillary Clinton, when angry readers ignored the facts and took out their political frustrations on me, a few on the phone.

Bloggers aren't exposed to that sort of accountability. If and when I turn to writing a blog, I promise to stick to the traditional standards of accuracy, proper grammar, attribution, but I'll leave out my phone number.

I know we don't pull in many comments on BwB, but some blog have reams of comments and email. There's also the feedback you can't see, the kind expressed by loss of readership. Newspaper editors should be familiar with that.

Hoover's column has drawn a bit of response. Twenty posts according to Technorati. (I expected more; but perhaps 20 is a strong response.) Bud Parr, one of those strong lit-bloggers, does not pull punches with his response:

I ask you sir: is it a wonder that many “serious readers” are turning to blogs instead of shallow writing in the “established media” such as your own?

Can you honestly say, Mr. Hoover, that articles about the physical weight of books (“Weighing in on novels by the pound” Sunday, October 30, 2005) are what “serious readers” are looking for? Maybe they turn to you to get reviews of books like “Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog” (Sunday, January 08, 2006). Perhaps they turn to you for your lists, sir, such as your article “Collections, anthologies and stuff” (Sunday, October 09, 2005), that included such serious “stuff” as Calvin and Hobbs cartoons.

- phil  ¶ 1/18/2006 10:39:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

I'll See Your Meme and Fold 4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over
1. The Princess Bride
2. The Incredibles
3. My Girl Friday
4. They Saved Hilter’s Brain

4 Places You Have Lived
1. Chattanooga, TN (all of my life)
2. Dayton, TN (college years)
3. Ely, MN (canoe trip)
4. Orlando, FL (Disney vacation)

4 TV Shows You Love To Watch
I fall short on this one. I do like Iron Chef America.

4 Places You Have Been On Vacation
1. Outer Banks, NC
2. North Georgia mountains
3. San Antonio, TX
4. Colonial Williamsburg, VA

4 Websites You Visit Daily
The sites I visit daily are boring: Yahoo!, Google, Comics.com. I don’t even go to one news site every day, but I often go to:
1. Thinklings
2. Arts Journal
3. Bartleby
4. Semicolon

4 Of Your Favorite Foods
1. Chicken Pot Pie
2. Fresh, strong coffee
3. Beef Stew
4. My wife’s pizza

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now
1. I’d rather be blogging from the Oval Office
2. I’d rather have unrestricted access to the Library of Congress
3. I think I’d rather be walking on the levee I can see from my window
4. Or maybe in England at Oxford enrolled in a creative writing program

4 Bloggers You are Tagging
1. Sherry of Semicolon
2. Ella of Box of Books
3. Bill of Thinklings
4. Kevin of Collected Misc.  ¶ 1/18/2006 01:09:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Open Mic Hello. It's Wednesday, January 18, 2006. Anyone care to say anything?

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings.”

Remark, praise, or rebuke at will. :D  ¶ 1/18/2006 09:17:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

CBA and Another Gospel When is a positive remark on a book not praise of the same? When the remark is taken a wee bit out of context.

For example, Centuri0n argues for the irrelevancy of the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) by pointing to its praise of The Gospel According to Oprah, by Marcia Nelson. Theologian, speaker, author, and blogger Albert Mohler is quoted with positive words, but if you read Mohler's full review, you get a better idea of what the positive parts are. The book, according to Mohler, describes Oprah's worldview and impact effectively. And Oprah? "She promises meaning without truth, acceptance without judgment, and fulfillment without self-denial," he says.

Chuck Colson is also referenced in the CBA praise--no quote, just a mention. What does he say about it?

Ironically, after eighty pages of talking about the values Oprah represents and the influence she exercises, Nelson admits, “I don’t know what [Oprah’s] personal religious beliefs are.” The point seems to be that nobody needs to know. . . . She’s talented and generally provides wholesome entertainment. But don’t confuse it with the faith. By Nelson’s own account, many people are turning Oprah and TV into their own personal gods of self-fulfillment. And that’s the kind of “religion” that does far more harm than good.

If I understand Centuri0n's point, the question silently shouting is why is this a CBA book? Because it comes from Westminister John Knox Press, I suppose. - phil  ¶ 1/17/2006 10:11:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Is Maureen necessary?

As for her ostensible subject, not only does Dowd have nothing new to say about men or women but, for all her exertions, she manages to miss one of the most disturbing changes in postfeministAmerica: the feminization of the news. Perhaps she is being modest; she is, after all, its founding genius.

from Kay Hymowitz' review of Are Men Necessary? When Sexes Collide by Maureen Dowd, Commentary Magazine  ¶ 1/17/2006 01:08:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Do You Have a Book That Matches My Purse? I'm suspect the site Overheard in New York is cardinal sin unto itself, but I noticed this humorous exchange through another blog the other day. If yesterday's Monday Post wasn't funny enough for you, how about this:

Lady: Excuse me, but I'm looking for a book.
Store chick: And?
Lady: I don't remember the title or author, but the cover is purple.
Store chick: Our purple books are downstairs.
Lady: They sent me up here.
Store chick: We're sold out of purple books. You want something in a yellow?

--Barnes & Noble, Brooklyn Heights

This reminds me of a photo I saw of a bookstore (I think) which organized its books by color for a short time as a tribute to Adobe Systems.  ¶ 1/17/2006 07:40:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Narnia Too Much Like Casablanca

I doubt any of us need another review of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (LWW) by an unprofessional blogger, but I said I would do it, and I make an effort to be a man of my word. I should make a stronger effort to avoid giving out my word.

In short, I enjoy the movie--great acting and wonderful imagery, probably will buy the DVD. I think the professor is my favorite secondary character. Lots of cinematic details are smart and fantastic; but the movie as a whole disappoints me. It seems to run on basic Hollywood clichés or formulas more than its own strength.

For example, I don’t mind the essence of the scene on the frozen river, a little heightened suspense having a confrontation with the wolves; but the words put in Susan’s mouth make no sense. Susan has read books, so she should have some understanding of smooth-talking villains, besides the fact that this villain is a wolf whose fellow wolf is holding Mr. Beaver in his mouth. Why in the world would Susan argue that Peter should lay down his sword and trust it? It’s something done only in the movies. Of course, what Peter actually does works only in the movies too.

Also, some of the dialogue, even when taken from the book, falls into formula. It reminds me of Casablanca. Bogart says, “Here’s looking at you, kid,” three times, and the third time doesn’t make sense in the scene except from within the formula.

“Here’s looking at you, kid.”

“Why’d you say that, Rick?”

“Because it’s something I say, sweetheart. It’s in the script. Now shut up, and get out of here.”

Several lines in LWW strike me this way. Not most of them, but several—maybe more toward the end of it, because I walk away feeling their effect. Maybe I should chalk it up to being a kids’ flick. But I don’t want to. - phil

Tags: narnia, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

  ¶ 1/16/2006 01:06:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Monday: Veer's Inkjet Haiku Design resource Veer had a haiku contest some time back, not the 17 sylable variety, but four lines with about 30 characters each. I thought this one by Carl Peterson was worth more screen time:

It's easy to write a bad haiku
A great one, well it is not so
This li'l hack will have to do
Because I'm no Edgar Allan Poe

That rings, doesn't it? - phil  ¶ 1/16/2006 12:15:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

How to Feel Uneducated I know there are plenty of ways to feel uneducated, but here's one of them. Find a blog with a name you can't pronounce and look it up to discover that it is also the name of a Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem:

If all the trees in all the woods were men;
And each and every blade of grass a pen;
If every leaf on every shrub and tree
Turned to a sheet of foolscap; . . .

Warms the heart, doesn't it? I think I'll return to pushing pixels around the screen. - phil  ¶ 1/14/2006 03:12:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Thermos Question I have a nice coffee thermos which has a nice way of pouring through the lid. I like it, but lately the pouring mechanism sticks. I can open it, but I can't close it. I think it's a swelling of the opening valve. Know what I'm talking about? Is that normal for these things? Is the result of bad design, do you think? - phil  ¶ 1/14/2006 09:47:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Is This Teenager English? Mr. Nice Guy's fatherhood blog points out some interest verbage on a few baby products, and I have to ask if his findings are the result of the teenaged girl's effect on English. Perhaps I should call that Teenglish or Engirl--maybe Girlinguistics. How else do you explain "Gigglastic"? Nice Guy says, "I think if you looked deep down inside yourself, you would admit that your own life would be less of a hopeless morass of nauseating despair and unceasing ennui if only you had a Gigglastic waistband." Funny observations, and I fully agree with the one about the kid's book.

Not to be too critical, but you could easily ask other usage questions about this post. For instance, the word "awesome" is too good to be used to replace "interesting" or "cool." The same goes for "wicked," though Nice Guy doesn't use it. - phil

Tags: teenager, English  ¶ 1/14/2006 08:38:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

On Writing: Evelyn Waugh Forgive me if I'm blogging too much today. I'll try to slack off soon, but I must pass on these quotes from classic author Evelyn Waugh, quoted in Terry Teachout's Almanac.

An Exercise in Language
"I regard writing not as an investigation of character, but as an exercise in the use of language, and with this I am obsessed. I have no technical psychological interest. It is drama, speech and events that interest me." (said in his Paris Review interview)

A Decent Living
"I was driven to writing because I found it was the only way a lazy and ill-educated man could make a decent living."  ¶ 1/13/2006 03:17:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

New Publishing Blog: Don't Write Spense Publishing has launched a blog, calling it "Cold Type." I suppose we will have to refer to posts on their blog with "In Cold Type . . ." I don't think they have blogged on Truman Capote yet.

They have announced monthly book give-aways, and books purchased through their site are 40% off. Yesterday in Cold Type, blogger Mitchell Muncy points out a Guardian article on reasons people should not write. Tim Clare in The Guardian writes: "The simple fact is that unknown authors are being taken on every day, and frankly, publishers and established authors suffer because of it. The publishing industry is crying out for a high-profile hothead to disabuse thousands of needy, bumbling timewasters of the notion that nascent masterpieces stir within their loins."

Muncy also points to Bookscan numbers to say "this is simply further evidence of how imprudent it is to drop seven figures on an unknown, first-time author (such as John Twelve Hawks). There is a 99.998 percent chance that this sort of gamble won't pay off." - phil

Tags: bookscan, writing  ¶ 1/13/2006 02:29:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Through the Looking Glass, Starbucks edition Starbucks will be promoting a small Lionsgate drama in its stores for a share of the film's earnings. The coffee shop is already offering CDs under a Starbucks label and plans to offer DVDs and books.

What if this is the start of corporate sponsored publishing, like TV of yesteryear? Barnes & Noble already publishes books under their name. Would you be open to other stores do the same thing? Do you buy coffee from Starbucks, Seattle's Best, Caribou Coffee, or another specialty store, and would you be interested in a book published under the store name or sponsored by it--say The Steward of Fontainebleau, by Terry Brooks, special Seattle's Best edition?

I think I would, but only if I was interested in the book. I probably wouldn't care who published it as long as I wasn't aware that the special edition was shoddy. - phil

Tags: starbucks  ¶ 1/13/2006 01:47:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

"Crazy for Personal Redemption" From a New York Times editorial today: "Would Oprah Winfrey . . . have made so much of the book if she had thought that its subjectivity was something closer to falsehood? The answer is probably not. 'The power of the overall reading experience' depended on the faith that A Million Little Pieces was the unvarnished truth - not just 'his version of the truth' or 'true to his recollections.' Even in a nation like ours, which is crazy for personal redemption, readers are still willing to distinguish between truth and fiction."

In case you haven't read the book or reviews, A Million Little Pieces is a story of redemption apart from God. No AA 12-step program for James Frey. He could handle his horrible life on his own. Was that the real appeal in this book?

If we are really "crazy for personal redemption," we have to be crazy enough to surrender to the one who made us for his glory. When will we pay attention to the carols we hear every year? The angels told us where to find peace on earth as well as personal peace. - phil

Tags: Oprah, million little pieces  ¶ 1/13/2006 12:32:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Publisher to Refund Buyers of Fictional Memoir   ¶ 1/12/2006 12:29:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Good joke This is out of character for this blog (I'm sorry in advance), but this blonde joke is a crackmeup. I love it. Those crazy LiveJournal guys, gals--whoever. ("Gals" is an awful word.) - phil  ¶ 1/12/2006 12:25:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

The Creators of VeggieTales Stacy of Mind & Media has an MP3 interview with Mike Nawrocki of Big Idea, the voice of Larry the Cucumber and director of several VeggieTales shows. Mike talks about Lord of the Beans, a little about Larry and Bob's backstory, and the writing philosophy they follow at Big Idea.

In related news, Phil Vischer appears to be working with puppets in his new creative company, Jellyfish. Get the scoop from Buck Denver at jellyfishland.com. - phil  ¶ 1/11/2006 10:28:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Inspired by the Lord of the Rings Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings has influenced books and the world for decades. Stories about that influence have been recording in a new book, Lembas for the Soul: How The Lord of the Rings Enriches Everyday Life. I'm sure some of those stories will seem to be over the top. LOTR isn't the Bible, you know.

Personally, LOTR has changed forever the way I look at forests. I can't walk in the woods without thinking of hobbits, dwarfs, and other fantasies or hearing music I associate with the Middle Earth stories. I has captured my imagination.

This DVD goes well with the Lembas book. Ringers: Lord of the Fans is "a feature-length documentary that explores how The Lord of the Rings has influenced Western popular culture over the past 50 years." It's narrarated by Merry--I mean, Dominic Monaghan.

These may be fun, interesting, enlightening, and helpful for trivia games, but this next book goes on my Amazon wish list. Alan Lee's The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook.

Alan Lee, the Oscar-winning conceptual designer for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, discusses his approach to depicting Tolkien"s imaginary world. The book presents more than 150 of Lee"s celebrated illustrations to show how his imagery for both the illustrated Lord of the Rings and the films progressed from concept to finished art. In addition, the book contains 20 full-color plates and numerous examples of the conceptual art produced for Peter Jackson's film adaptation.

Tags: Lord of the Rings - phil  ¶ 1/11/2006 07:24:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

It's a Memoir, Not a News Report So what if some of it's untrue; it's his personal story. That's about what James Frey's publishers, Anchor Books and Doubleday, say about the revelation that much of Frey's memoir is untrue.

"Memoir is a personal history whose aim is to illuminate, by way of example, events and issues of broader social consequence," reads a statement quoted in the NY Times.

The Times asks for reaction of others in the publishing world:

"Calling something a memoir puts the reader on notice that it is a personal perspective and it is, by definition, skewed," said Alice Martell, a literary agent in New York, whose clients include Janice Erlbaum, author of the forthcoming memoir "Girlbomb." "Who is to say what is the definitive account of an event? By calling it memoir, you are saying: 'It is my take. I did not research this as a disinterested third party.' "

So, writing as if you were in a train wreck when you weren't is personal perspective? Saying you got in a fight with a cop when he uneventfully arrested you for drunk driving is just your recollection? Maybe I should write a memoir about surviving the Challenger explosion.

Tags: james frey, memoir  ¶ 1/11/2006 07:07:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Think. Rethink. Discard. Have you ever thought you had a good idea and researched it a little to discover several others have already had the same idea?

I thought I would post a simple motto, which I believe I thought up months ago--before the Coca-Cola campaign.

Read. Think. Live.

I didn't think it was very original, but I looked it up to see if others had done it already.

1. The IVP Books imprint carries a tagline of “Read. Think. Live.”
2. Tony Jones has a book on it, "Read. Think. Pray. Live."
3. Someone is blogging under that name.
   
4. And this summary of blogging is too close to it, "Read. Think. Blog. Repeat."

Oh, well. I should try harder--sometime. - phil  ¶ 1/11/2006 02:34:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Vote for Brandywine Books I don't think the voting has begun on www.thebestofblogs.com, but when it does, remember to vote for us. And if you send us your name, address, birth date, social security number, and working credit card number with expiration date, along with your vote, we'll send you a case of Cuban cigars and a bottle of vintage wine. What a deal, eh?

Again, here's the page of Book/Lit Blog finalists. They're probably all better than us, but why should you take that chance? When the time comes, vote repeatedly for BwB. Thank you.

If you're wondering about The Weblog Awards for 2005, which I mentioned last month, you can check out the winners here. No one I voted for won. Oh, well.

I can't access The Evangelical Underground right now, so I don't about the awards there.
- phil  ¶ 1/11/2006 12:13:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Behold, The ePaper Cometh I love books and everything about them, but I think something like an iPod for books will come and find a good market. The variables must be overcome first. Operating systems, software, displays, device weight, power supply--all kinds of things will have to be worked out, but I think there's a market for this.

Alan of Thinklings remarks on a blog post by Thomas Nelson President Michael Hyatt on what he believes will be a major shift in readership from paper books for eBooks when the time for them comes.

Does it seem inconceivable? Imagine holding a something like a legal pad with a leather back and sides. The face of it resembles plastic, behind the face appear words very much like type on paper, but it scrolls as you drag your finger up the page. It has it's own light for night-time reading, and you can step on it without fear of damaging it (within reason).

This is not your father's TabletPC. It's electronic paper.

And I see it isn't too far away. - phil

Tags: ePaper, eInk  ¶ 1/10/2006 10:09:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

JK Rowling, Writing Through Pain J.K. Rowling believes she was writing the first Harry Potter book at the time her mother finally passed away from a decade of multiple sclerosis. She says her mother's death made her write the death of Harry's parents.

"Rowling, who was 25 at the time of her mother's death, said: 'Barely a day goes by when I do not think of her. There would be so much to tell her, impossibly much,'" the AP reports. Her mother never knew she was writing the book. - phil  ¶ 1/10/2006 12:40:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Starbucks Emptied When Bomb Found Yesterday in San Francisco, police disarmed a homemade bomb found in a Starbucks bathroom. A police sergeant said the bomb was well-made and would have cause a good bit of damage.

No one has claimed credit, though police have many leads. Still, we can glean a clear moral from this incident. Liberals are not immune to terrorism, especially the crazy environmentalist type which is my first guess for a Starbucks attack. - phil  ¶ 1/10/2006 12:22:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Finalist; Voting Starts Tomorrow Thank you, Sherry of Semicolon, for nominating BwB for The Best of Blogs award in the Book/Literary category. Now, BwB is a finalist. Voting starts tomorrow. I'm not sure how that will work, but you may want to browse the other lit blogs nominated while looking for the vote button. And speaking of browsing, Sherry has a long, long list of blog links pointing to reading lists from last year and plans for this year.

This touches on a resolution I have for this year. I resolve to read more of the printed word instead of replacing the siding on my house. I still have to paint the house, inside and out, but I won't replace the siding again this year. I will shun that ugly temptation.

Technorati Tags : Book Blogs Award  ¶ 1/09/2006 10:41:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Freyed into a Million Little Pieces On the eve of Oprah's next book selection, which is promised to be "mandatory reading for every human being on the planet," the current Oprah pick has been harshly criticized as a truth-stretcher.

The Smoking Gun, (TSG) which attempts to expose the truth where its editors find it, published yesterday the results of a six week investigation into the facts behind James Frey's memoir, A Million Little Pieces. TSG reports many embellishments in Frey's non-fictional account, which he initially shopped to publishers as a auto-biographical novel.

For instance, TSG says the book records, "a crack-fueled Frey runs down a cop in a small Ohio town and a wild melee ensues." The police report, available on TSG's site, reports an officer watching Frey try to park in a no-parking zone next to the police car, confronting him about it, and subsequently arresting him for drunk-driving.

Further, TSG reports:

Frey also invented a role for himself in a deadly train accident that cost the lives of two female high school students. In what may be his book's most crass flight from reality, Frey remarkably appropriates and manipulates details of the incident so he can falsely portray himself as the tragedy's third victim. It's a cynical and offensive ploy that has left one of the victims' parents bewildered. "As far as I know, he had nothing to do with the accident," said the mother of one of the dead girls. "I figured he was taking license. . . he's a writer, you know, they don't tell everything that's factual and true.""

The New York Times has an article on this today. Reporter Edward Wyatt writes that many calls to respond to these charges went unreturned and legal documents to support the accounts in Frey's book were denied. Frey told the Times last month that his publisher discussed whether to sell the story as fiction or non-fiction in the some classic writers who wrote heavily autobiographical fiction. Apparently, they misunderstood the critical distinction between fiction which includes many facts and non-fiction which includes many fictions. The first story is praise for authenticity, the second criticized for lying.

But this isn't the first time Frey's book has been questioned. In fact, the NY Times review on April 21, 2003, points out that the story seems to strain for truth. Of one part, reviewer Janet Maslin says, "And although every detail of it may be accurate, it powerfully and sadly resembles pulp fiction."

[by way of Sand Storm]

Blogger and literary agent Miss Snark says she knew something was up with Frey's book and feels sick that the book wasn't checked into before publishing. - phil

Tags: james frey
  ¶ 1/09/2006 08:23:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Profoundly Christian Art

"Water Flames" and other works since 9/11 are, [Painter Makoto] Fujimura says, "my personal experience of devastation coming out in art and life with strong faith and resolute hope." While profoundly Christian works are usually shunned in New York art circles, these resonate with outsiders. "He is a profound believer and I am totally secular. But he is like a professor to me," says Ms. Tecchia. "Fujimura's paintings allow for skeptics as myself to do the one thing that secularism has labeled as a sign of weakness: to hope."

from World's cover story on Makoto Fujimura as Daniel of the Year. More about this wonderful artist on his site and blog. - phil  ¶ 1/09/2006 12:48:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Twisting the Words

Satan, who loves to whisper in our ear about our unworthiness for forgiveness, effectively changes the words of the old hymn "O Love That Will Not Let Me God" to "O Guilt I Dare Not Do Without."

That's the theme song for those of us who insist on clinging to the pain of guilt that Christ has actually removed. We may accept His grace with the mind, but we have become so accustomed to internalizing the pain that is continues to reside, as an emotional phantom, in what grace has already erased. Self-flagellation forgets Calvary.

from Howard Butt's book, Who Can You Trust? Overcoming Betrayal and Fear

Speaking of old hymns, Shrode at Thinklings.org has a post on a word which often raises questions, Ebenezer. When "Come Thou Fount" says, "Here I raise mine Ebenezer," what is it referring to? I know, you're thinking it's Ebenezer Howard, the city planner who wrote To-morrow: a Peaceful Path to Real Reform. That's a good guess, but it isn't him.  ¶ 1/09/2006 12:01:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Word for 2005: Truthiness The American Dialect Society met and chose "truthiness" as the word to describe 2005, according to this report. "Truthiness" is a statement one wishes were or believes to be true, but is not factual. Sounds like Democratic Party leadership to me and many voices in the press. I can barely tolerate news stories that pose a question which appears to be beside the main point.

Dialect scholars also discussed the importance of the teenage girl on English. "Girls are the single most powerful force in the English language today," said a linguistics prof. at the University of Toronto. The Valley Girl style has left strong marks on English usage.

I love a joke I read in Reader's Digest some years ago. A girl holding a shirt in a laundry mat says to a woman near her, "It says to wash with like colors, but it doesn't say, like, what colors."

California gave us that one.

Why are teenage girls such an influence? They talk--a lot--unlike many boys and men.

What do you think about this? Do you care how language is used by others? Do you strive to "live worthy of that grand Heroic utterance" yourself?  ¶ 1/09/2006 12:00:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Babes in Christ The girls Bible club, the dating scene, and the end of the world have yet to meet in polite conversation; but Mark Bertrand has brought them together for "The Ivy League Bible Club Goes to War," a satirical piece published in January's The Wittenburg Door. Mark wonders if this could open doors for him in the publishing world.

"I'm having coffee with an editor tomorrow morning. Perhaps a twenty-book deal is just over the horizon. End Times Chick Lit, here I come."

Go to his blog for a look at the illustration to accompany his story. Think one of these babes will pray for you? Maybe she will, and she may throw in an exorcism for free.  ¶ 1/06/2006 10:05:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Classic Jews: A Staged Reading in Chicago On January 11, 6:00 p.m., the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago will host "Classic Jews: A Staged Reading" by Laura Ferri.

From Nextbook: "Before Philip Roth or Saul Bellow picked up a pen, the most famous (and notorious) Jewish characters in the English tradition were created by non-Jews. In imagining these heroes, heroines, and villains, British and American authors pondered the place of Jews in society, and bolstered many of the stereotypes, positive and negative, that later writers would revisit, reinvent, and react against. Laura Ferri directs an evening of readings from Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, and others. Ferri has been a company member of Book-It Repertory Theatre in Seattle for twelve years, where she has adapted and directed numerous literary productions."

I thought this news interesting enough to pass on, even though I can't make it and don't know of readers in the Chicago area. Perhaps that can be assumed. - phil  ¶ 1/06/2006 01:13:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Rose By Any Other Name Wouldn't Sound the Same Today, The American Dialect Society will meet in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to decide on the words for 2005. A variety of interesting, sometimes vulgar, words have been nominated by society members, such as nuclear option (an extreme choice of action), Cyber Monday (a popular day for online shopping), spim (spam in instant messages), and jump the couch ("the Tom Cruise-inspired slang meaning to exhibit frenetic or bizarre behavior").

Terms are voted for in categories like most useful, overall, and most creative. In 2004, the overall term winner was red/blue/purple states and most useful was phish. In 2003, the most useful term honor went to flexitarian ("vegetarian who occasionally eats meat") and the most creative word was freegan, ("person who eats only free food").

Is the English language changing? Sure it is--in multiple ways. The Atlas of North American English: Phonetics, Phonology, and Sound Change, released in December, has documented some of that change. The book and CD-ROM illustrate how regions pronounce the same words a bit differently. The Chicago Tribune reports:

The atlas helps disprove two powerful assumptions about language -- first, that pronunciation is fixed and does not change, and second, that pronunciation is becoming more uniform across the country.

"Everybody thinks that these new changes in the language are not possible, because we all watch the same radio and television," [Contributing Linguist William] Labov said. "Sitting and watching passively does not change your behavior. Your behavior changes primarily when you're interacting with the people who can make a difference to you."

So, if your lunching with a freegan next week, you may be influencing his phraseology with a few choice terms. Doesn't that fill you with pride? - phil  ¶ 1/06/2006 12:00:00 AM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Blog Spotting My title may mislead you, but it seems appropriate for this news. Some friends (if not acquantances) of Brandywine Books have been included in an article on blogs in Focus on the Family's Citizen Magazine as "Pajama Activists." I saw this story yesterday on In The Agora, which is referenced in the article, and I see JunkyardBlog is included too.

And here's an interesting bit toward the end of the piece:

Charmaine Yoest, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, actually picked her church in the Washington, D.C., area on the strength of a pastor’s blog—David Wayne, aka Jolly Blogger (http://jollyblogger.typepad.com)—with whom she found she had much philosophical agreement. Yoest herself drives some significant cyber-traffic at Reasoned Audacity (www.yoest.com)—“Daily commentary on public policy and culture.”

Bravo. In case you wonder, being the curious type you are, I rarely blog in my pajamas (or what would pass for such). It's late now, but I'm still fully dressed, save mybare feet which are freezing. Since this pajama blogging phrase emerged, I have actually changed into some pj's in order to experience richer blogging.

Don't know that it helped. - phil  ¶ 1/05/2006 11:20:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

The Return and Visit Well, I too have returned from Christmas vacation. Unlike Lars, I didn’t have a laptop, so I didn’t write anything except something paltry in this nice, barely used book I call a diary.

Also unlike Lars, I visited my sweet wife’s family near San Antonio, TX. Listened to a couple dramatizations from Focus on the Family Radio Theater of two of the Chronicles of Narnia. Recommended.

The time with family was fun, but it didn't feel like Christmastime. It was 80 degrees some days. I need cold weather with my lighted evergreen.

Perhaps of more interest to you, I met with three of the Thinklings in a nice little BBQ restaurant. Bill, Alan, Shrode, and I enjoyed a fun conversation which immediately turned to ugly politics, I being a John Kerry fan as well as a perpetual liar. Naturally, they accused me of being a non-Christian and I had a lie my way out of that too.

I’m sorry. I’m being stupid.

Bill had his camera and has posted photos. We did, in truth, talk about politics, blogs, and theology. As you can see from his post, we were all agreeable and fairly good-looking. Now, I should make preliminary plans to meet Jared in person. If he wants to, that is. I should email him. - phil  ¶ 1/05/2006 01:10:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |

Slow Reading Writing about Christmas Day (though applicable to any day), Karen Long of Cleveland's Plain Dealer says:

Today, therefore, is an exceptionally good day to set down the to-do lists and the wild, mammalian scrabble and to sink into the stillness of a book.

The dishes and tidying can wait, the thank-you notes can stay in their clever little box a while longer. Switch off the Internet and find your most comfortable chair, the one positioned so you can stare off out the window when you raise your head.

Amos Oz, the celebrated Israeli novelist, has some good advice about your approach.

"I recommend the art of slow reading," he said. "Every single pleasure I can imagine or have experienced is more delightful, more of a pleasure, if you take it in small sips, if you take your time. Reading is not an exception."

  ¶ 1/05/2006 12:08:00 PM ;   Criticize, Remark, Praise |