Monthly Archives: June 2008

What Makes One Great

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[ Fed Up WIth Life Mood: Fed Up WIth Life ]
Currently Dharma is leading a well intentioned, but poorly informed poll on the Greatest Canadian is. (Somewhere in there is a comment on the audacity of an American telling Canadians which one of them is best, but I am letting it go.)

This lead me to think about what makes one great. The BBC started the ball rolling with their greatest Britons special. Churchill, the PM who got the through WWII, won. In the US, Discovery Channel’s version named Ronnie Reagan, although that may have more to do with the fact that he had died just before the show aired. Cause he beat Lincoln, MLK and FDR.

Here in Canada, our number one was never Prime Minister. Instead, he was Premier of an agrarian province that brought in universal health care. Then he was the leader of the third party in the Parliament who was used political wiles to get the same program for the whole country. This meant that no matter what, we get health care. And don’t let the right wing, insurance company hype that you see on Fok an Friends scare you. Every time I have needed emergency care, I have gotten it in a timely fashion. God bless you Tommy.

Our number two was Terry Fox, a young man who lost a leg to cancer and then decided to do something about it. He started a Marthon of Hope where he wanted to run accross Canada to raise money for Cancer research. Running 26 miles a day, he made it all the way to Thunder Bay before he had to stop. The cancer had reimerged. He died ten months later. By that point he had raised $24 million dollars for cancer research. Every year since then there has been a Run in his honour all over Canada and the world. In total, these run have raised over $360 million dollars.

The fact that Tommy beat Terry shows you how important medicare is to Canadians. I also find it interesting that in Canada, unlike the US, UK and Germany, a national leader (President/Pime Minister)is not number one. In fact it isn’t until number three that a Prime Minister shows up in Pierre Elliot Trudeau, the father of bilingualism and multi-culturalism. And dater of Barbara Streisand.

I believe that greatness should be measured by your actions to make the world a better place, not by whether or not your movie had a really good explosion in it. Unfortunately, too many people in our celebrity obsessed culture seem to think greatness come from shallow places, like beauty, the ability to catch a ball or sing a pretty song.

Philip K Dick Topples the American Canon

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This bit comes from Media Bistro:

Quote:
When the Library of America‘s publicist informed me that last year’s collection of four classic Philip K. Dick novels was their fastest-selling title ever, I was pleasantly surprised, but I wanted some proof. LOA marketing manager Brian McCarthy was happy to oblige, informing me that the Library had shipped 23,750 copies of Four Novels of the 1960s—the better part of two complete print runs—and that returns were a “staggeringly low” 5 percent. By way of comparison, the Library’s last major foray into science fiction and fantasy, the H.P. Lovecraft Tales published in 2005, sold 11,860 copies (with a similar return rate) in its first year (with gross sales-to-date now standing at 26,000-plus.)

This is better than other more traditional LoA “heavy-hitters” such as the first collection of Jack Kerouac novels (shipped just under 15,000 copies in its first year, with a return rate of 10 percent), two-volume collection of Edmund Wilson’s critical writings (9250 and 12%) and the American Poetry: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries anthology (4200 and 8%).

And the trend should continue with the second PKD volume (Five Novels of the 1960s and 70s which includes Martian Time-Slip, Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb, Now Wait for Last Year, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, and A Scanner Darkly). The book is not due out until July 31 and pre-orders already exceed 10,000.

It’s a good time to be a Dickhead!

Philip K Dick Topples the American Canon was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

M is for Maple – A Quick Review

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[ Sleepy Mood: Sleepy ]
M is for Maple is a beautifully illustrated alphabet book. It’s focus is on Canadiana, which suits me fine. H is for Hockey. Geeklet enjoyed the colours.

If I have quibble it is that E was for English, but that they don’t mention French until the get to Q is for Quebec. Given that Husband Unit is Francophone, I would have like more of an emphasis on French.

This one is fun and helps me raise the next generation of Canadians.

Hippos Go Berserk – A Quick Review

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[ Cool Mood: Cool ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
Counting books are a part of motherhood. You read them with/to/at your child hoping that it will help them pick up numbers. Most of them are as dull as dishwater.

But not this one. Sandra Boynton has created a world where a total of 44 hippos comne and go through the book, all rotating around an impromptu house party. The illustrations are fit the silly tone of this book. Whimsical and entertaining for parents as well, the book is fun to read with/to/at your child.

Enjoy!

The Fourth World reviewed in NYT

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It’s too bad Kirby didn’t live long enough to see his epic Fourth World reviewed in The New York Times.

Quote:
It’s hard to know what a teenager would make of this. But Kirby was writing just as much for himself. He was 53 when he undertook the Fourth World, and a veteran of World War II. But as Evanier points out, and as is evident throughout this book, Kirby was deeply inspired by the young generation that was renouncing war around him. His understanding of the youth movement was perhaps idiosyncratic (in Kirby’s world, the “Hairies” built their perfect society in a giant missile carrier they called “The Mountain of Judgment”). But they too were forging a new world; and the pleasure he clearly took in their efforts seems to have balanced the bouts of Orion-like rage. In one moment, Highfather of New Genesis turns to one of the young boys in his care. “Esak,” he asks, “what is it that makes the very young — so very wise?”

“Tee hee!!” Esak replies. “It’s our defense, Highfather — against the very old!!”

This is probably the only passage in the English language containing the words “tee hee” that has actually moved me.

Continued…

The Fourth World reviewed in NYT was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style – AQR

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[ In Love Mood: In Love ]
[ Currently: Pumping breast milk. ]
Note this entry has been in the works since Friday, but due to a variety of "fun" and "interesting" things that have happened, which I am not getting into right now, you are getting it now.

I have spoken before about my love of the fabulous Tim Gunn. Well Tim has come out with his own book on fashion.

This book wants to show women how to dress. Not in a What Not to Wear way, where they belittle you and humiliate you. That would be the tear you down to build you up philosophy.

No, Tim Gunn wants to shows women how to dress without losing site of their personality. "We can do better" is his motto. Tim feels that he is taking women on a journey of growth and self-discovery that will lead them to look better and feel better.

Tim’s philosophy about fashion is that women really only need a few essential pieces to make a wardrobe that will be ready for any occasion. All the pieces must be soul stiring and look fabulous on you. You deserve no less.

This book is written to mimic Tim’s breezy and verbose speaking style. As you read it, you feel like you are watching Project Runway and he is your mentor. And that makes it easier to remember his advice when you shop. The book has also inspired the Bravo TV show Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style.

If you are looking to update your look, are fashion challenged or just like a good non-fiction read, this is the book for you. And fellas, just cause it is written for women, does not mean it can’t help you either.