Our Fatuous Future

The BBC News Magazine has an article where readers submitted predictions for futurologists Ian Pearson and Patrick Tucker to discuss their likelihood. (If there is a job description for “futurologist,” I’d like to read it.) I find it striking that the majority are about technological refinements and the minority are about social issues. A few [...]

Sequencing and Time Stamping

Back to book blogging after an absence of a couple months while my attentions were turned elsewhere. Picking up The Master and His Emissary again, I was intrigued to read something that jogged a memory from a neuroscience class I took 20 years ago. McGilchrist mentions almost in passing (on his way to other matters [...]

Tab Dump 02

Over two years ago, I purged a bunch of links I’d been collecting of news stories and opinion columns I had thought perhaps I’d blog about but then never did. Seems it’s time again to rid myself of bookmarks in my browser. I haven’t reread any of these links to refresh my memory but will [...]

Human Scale

I wonder if there is such a thing as proper human scale or whether we’re truly at liberty to adopt whatever scale we can imagine. The question was prompted upon viewing two documentaries: Ken Burns’ Civil War and This is It by and about Michael Jackson. I had never seen a Ken Burns documentary before. [...]

Review: Titus

I’ve wanted to see the movie Titus since it came out in 1999, and it finally made its way to the top of my Netflix queue. It’s directed by Julie Taymor, who has risen to fame and prominence as a director of movies, operas, Broadway shows, and other theatrical productions. Titus is the earlier of [...]

Awarded Answers 04

I learned something useful about the way WebAnswers works. The site creates much of its own content in the form of robot questions. I knew of this category before but didn’t know how to recognize them. Now I do. So when possible, I avoid answering them for two reasons: the best answer is never awarded [...]

Salting the Earth

Chicago just had its first seasonal snowfall of any significance, and the first reaction of residents, businesses, and IDOT is to haul out their snow blowers, snowplows, and salt broadcasters. Considering how modest the snowfall was, only 4.5 to 6.5 inches in most areas (but up to 7 or 8 inches in a few), it [...]

Traffic Report No. 07

WordPress prepares an automated annual traffic report for its bloggers. I haven’t posted it in the past but I will this year (about last year) for no particular reason. I notice the platform has a steady stream of minute improvements and features on the private side, which is appreciated. People often ask which blog host [...]

Review: Shostakovich Against Stalin

I borrowed from the Chicago Public Library (CPL) the DVD Shostakovich Against Stalin: The War Symphonies (1997). This is very much the sort of media public libraries ought to collect, along with nonfiction and reference titles. Undoubtedly, the CPL knows its patrons better than I do, so its primary focus lies instead with popular fiction, [...]