Alexander Hamilton
My Presidential reading list took a detour with the inclusion of Alexander Hamilton. After several of the biographies (Adams and Washington especially), it became clear that Hamilton and Ben Franklin were incredible forces in their own right and deserved to be included with my reading list. But the Hamilton Biography was so long. Ron Chernow wrote a 700-some-odd page book about a man whose never saw 50. It was good, quite good at times. But long. I started in April, I think, and just finished this weekend (there were, of course, plenty of other books in there as well). So. Read more…
A couple movie notes
Toy Story 3 Toy Story 3 was once again, a very sweet movie with some good laughs and a lot of heart. I still don't feel like 3-D really ads anything to the story, but I don't think it really marred it either. The Girl Who Played With Fire The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a fabulous crime film. But the second book just doesn't lend itself to adaptation as well. It was good, but probably not worth it if you haven't read the book (unlike the first movie).
The author who can write, but can’t read. Fascinating short video.
via feedproxy.google.com
E.B. White on Writing
I love E.B. White. His essays, his fiction, and his update to Strunk’s Style Guide. He has a way with words that puts me to shame. Take this short paragraph on writing from the Elements of Style: Writing is, for most, laborious and slow. The mind travels faster than the pen; consequently, writing becomes a question of learning to make occasional wing shots, bringing down the bird of thought as it flashes by. A writer is a gunner, sometimes waiting in the blind for something to come in, sometimes roaming the countryside hoping to scare something up. Like other gunners, Read more…
I’ve been asked to chair Tacoma Reads Together!
Last Friday, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland announced she selected Erik Hanberg as the new chair of Tacoma Reads Together, a community reading initiative. via weeklyvolcano.com I’m so excited to start. This is pretty much a dream job. Thanks Mayor Strickland for the appointment!
They’re serving butterbeer in Hogsmeade (AKA Orlando Florida)
via wired.com Butterscotch, shortbread, and a creamy head added on top. Looks great! Also when did Ollivander’s wand shop relocate to Hogsmeade? Were the rents too high in Diagon Alley? Was this after he fled from Voldemort during his search for the Elder Wand? So many questions … 😉
Pippi Longstocking
After learning that Steig Larsson's character Lisabeth Salander (from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) was inspired by Pippi Longstocking, I was interested in seeing the similarities. Mary and I both read Pippi Longstocking recently, which was a nice children's story. Pippi's similarity to Lisabeth is more in the reaction from other characters than from any character similarity. They both have their own way of doing things, and a tendency to drive adults crazy who don't know how to deal with them. Pippi's superstrong: she can lift a horse or show up the strongman at the circus. And Lisabeth knows Read more…
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
I enjoyed Gaiman's fantasy novel American Gods. It's a somewhat meandering novel (though why it meanders eventually makes sense) but with good characters and an interesting plot. The fantasy element assumes that America itself has no gods. Rather our immigrants, whether on a land bridge 14000 years ago or on a boat from Norway 100 years ago, brought their gods with them. And then forgot them. The land is filled with gods who used to be worshipped and feared but now wander the streets conning people into little acts of worship. And they are being challenged by the new gods–gods Read more…
When China Rules the World by Martin Jacques
via amazon.com The World Trade Center, PLU, and City Club sponsored a lecture by Martin Jacques this morning. We were at the beautiful MOG theater and had a good-size crowd there. And the talk was fascinating. My first instinct when I heard the topic was “Isn’t that what everyone said about Japan 20 years ago?” But Jacques argument was rooted not in economic GDP data but history and other data that was fairly convincing. He touched on many themes including history, ethnicity, belief in the state, and others to suggest that as China modernizes they will not follow our model Read more…
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