tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-100908062011-06-06T18:45:14.883-05:00Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comBlogger1561100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-91589074947967355612008-06-30T08:17:00.000-05:002008-06-30T08:17:21.653-05:00

Chinese Chardonnay?: "Over the past two decades, one industry after another has abandoned the West for the world’s developing countries. Now, a product that predates the Bible looks vulnerable to the same siren call. Wine, writes Philip Martin, an agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis, is one more commodity that technology and marketing ability can make into a profitable

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-71181978414542111032008-06-27T08:30:00.000-05:002008-06-27T08:30:17.000-05:00

Yellow Science - WSJ.com: "Man has always had a healthy desire for knowledge, and it is the feeding of this hunger that ennobles journalism. Hearst and Pulitzer were acutely aware that man has a less healthy but no less voracious desire to believe that he has knowledge, particularly knowledge of something sensational. It is the feeding of this hunger that irreparably disgraced journalism, and a

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-12332289616076251842008-06-13T12:09:00.001-05:002008-06-13T12:10:58.642-05:00

Spook Hills in the Lab : "To start with, what exactly is biodynamics? It is a method of organic agriculture admixed with some odd extras. These additional methods include taking into account cycles of the moon and relative positions of the zodiacal constellations when farming, as well as applying different sorts of homeopathic or esoteric 'preparations' to the vineyard soil. These and other

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-57657109380404993692008-06-04T12:36:00.001-05:002008-06-04T12:42:17.858-05:00

"There's a lot of snobbery when it comes to the subject of wine and that intimidates many otherwise intelligent, successful people. But you don't have to go to sommelier's school to pass yourself off as knowledgeable about matters of oenology. All you have to be able to do is talk the part. So here it is, The Bluffer's Guide to wine and grapes."Do I detect a note of pretension?:

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-88209469189784356552008-05-31T14:50:00.000-05:002008-05-31T14:50:58.343-05:00

The Is there nothing new?: ",.... it had been said that there were two sides to Pythagoras -- which is a little ironic, given his presumed association with triangles."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-27197418771750488292008-05-28T16:07:00.000-05:002008-05-28T16:07:54.367-05:00

The best golfer who never played.Mysterious Montague - TIME

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-81125695571169036612008-05-28T15:17:00.002-05:002008-05-28T15:21:54.332-05:00

The simplest way to access wikipedia is to enter www.wikipedia.com into the address bar of your browser.Try it, it will make you smart.

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-62321591578250739142008-05-22T10:26:00.000-05:002008-05-22T10:26:31.505-05:00

Decanting Robert Parker - New York Times

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-18355876158833895812008-05-21T13:27:00.000-05:002008-05-21T13:27:57.800-05:00

Science: could martinis be the secret of Bond's success? - Telegraph: "French researchers tested this by using an odourless dye to colour white wine red. The wine tasters who tried the result used typical red wine descriptors, suggesting that its colour played a significant role in how they thought of it."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-74708642261448518832008-05-10T08:16:00.000-05:002008-05-10T08:16:00.713-05:00

What Motivates the Wine Shopper? %u2014 Eric Asimov - New York Times: "THE mind of the wine consumer is a woolly place, packed with odd and arcane information fascinating to few."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-27616276534828720642008-04-26T06:47:00.000-05:002008-04-26T06:47:48.686-05:00

Who needs wine?492 Years of Good Beer: Germans Toast the Anniversary of Their Beer Purity Law - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-2393484583707083042008-04-26T06:42:00.000-05:002008-04-26T06:42:42.687-05:00

SHakespeare WarsThe most interesting Shakespeare books, movies, and Web sites. - By Ron Rosenbaum - Slate Magazine

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-53187279704355846952008-04-26T06:41:00.000-05:002008-04-26T06:41:40.328-05:00

Fantastic resource for the slow reader of Hamlet.hamletworks

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-72295802394959894172008-02-29T21:23:00.000-06:002008-02-29T21:23:36.651-06:00

Finally the truth comes out!Grape expectations - The Boston Globe

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-82965224976867481222007-11-16T06:20:00.000-06:002007-11-16T06:20:50.062-06:00

A LEGEND CALLED LAFLEUR | More Intelligent Life

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-69360283988485321162007-11-11T14:15:00.000-06:002007-11-11T14:15:27.594-06:00

Blind tastings aren't the best way to evaluate wine. - By Mike Steinberger - Slate MagazineDon't drink the label, drink the wine. Among the many (unwritten) rules of wine appreciation, this is easily the most important. It's also the hardest one to follow. Even the most discriminating oenophiles find it difficult not to be influenced by the name on the bottle, particularly if the name is a

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-67044979000627873882007-09-20T16:06:00.000-05:002007-09-20T16:06:27.076-05:00

The New York Times > New York City Restaurant Reviews: "HOW much do you want to spend on a bottle of wine? The intuitive answer, of course, is as little as possible. That stands to reason, except that the way people buy wine is anything but reasonable."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-84443142876008930942007-08-07T07:03:00.000-05:002007-08-07T07:03:21.452-05:00

The downside of diversity - The Boston Globe

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-63151574385708079822007-08-07T07:02:00.000-05:002007-08-07T07:02:25.662-05:00

Review - A Farewell to Alms - Industrial Revolution - Human Population - New York Times

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-57676812590478606372007-05-22T05:43:00.000-05:002007-05-22T05:43:28.492-05:00

A Strauss Primer, With Glossy Mansfield Finish - washingtonpost.comAn esteemed professor who has held forth on political science at Harvard for more than 40 years and the author of a book titled "Manliness," Mansfield is a master scholar on the big names of political thought -- Plato and Machiavelli among them -- who were the wellsprings of Leo Strauss's cantankerous worldview. His speech, the

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-62842293996244943182007-04-25T06:00:00.000-05:002007-04-25T06:00:45.272-05:00

globeandmail.com: The life and troubled times of the 'greatest political thinker'Like many historians, Brogan is primarily concerned to locate his protagonist in historical context, and, as too often with historians, that means reducing him to that context. His great claim is to have integrated Tocqueville's works with his life, but this leads him to read them too autobiographically. Too often

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1174905229583941702007-03-26T06:33:00.000-05:002007-03-26T06:33:49.690-05:00

Shakespeare and the Uses of Power - The New York Review of Books: "For if Shakespeare was deeply drawn to those who want to walk away from positions of authority, he was at the same time convinced that this attempt is doomed. Power exists to be exercised in the world; it will not go away if you close your eyes and dream of escaping into your study or your lover's arms or your daughter's house. It

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1170762842006530882007-02-06T05:54:00.000-06:002007-02-06T05:54:02.356-06:00

New English ReviewA hint oak of oak and berry? .. maybe you 're a poser.

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1170677877652327702007-02-05T06:17:00.000-06:002007-02-05T06:17:57.726-06:00

My Man BummidgeI, myself, was quite prepared to become a dramatist, and was not taken by surprise when, about five years ago, Lillian Hellman suggested that I write a play. In a short time, by play was ready. Miss Hellman found it amusing and estimated it would run about eight hours without Wagnerian orchestration. She offered valuable advice, much of which I could not use because it required the

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1170598192666423472007-02-04T08:09:00.000-06:002007-02-04T08:09:52.770-06:00

The first survey of teachers' attitudes to Shakespeare also found strong opposition to using his history plays as the basis of lessons. Henry IV Part I was dismissed as "boring" because it required too much knowledge of historical context. The Taming of the Shrew, meanwhile, was rejected by many teachers for "the problematic portrayal of women and relationships".Consultation with teachers and

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1168603548694087112007-01-12T06:05:00.000-06:002007-01-12T06:05:48.706-06:00

Comeuppance for the Ivies - washingtonpost.com: "This is the arcane and cutthroat world of collegiate chess, which shakes up the newsmagazines' annual ranking of colleges. Over the past decade, a growing number of public colleges have developed major chess programs with paid coaches and scholarships worth more than $100,000 for star recruits, many from abroad, to burnish their academic

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1168602716145665382007-01-12T05:51:00.000-06:002007-01-12T05:51:56.146-06:00

Apple Waves Its Wand at the Phone - New York Times

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1168602601883221672007-01-12T05:50:00.000-06:002007-01-12T05:50:02.290-06:00

How to Speak a Book - Books - Review - New York Times:"I write these words from bed, under the covers with my knees up, my head propped and my three-pound tablet PC %u2014 just a shade heavier than a hardcover %u2014 resting in my lap, almost forgettable."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1166787511896636332006-12-22T05:38:00.000-06:002006-12-22T05:38:32.166-06:00

Harmison retires from one-day cricket - Yahoo! Sport UK: "England's main strike bowler made a comical start to the Ashes when he bowled the first ball of the series off the pitch and straight at Andrew Flintoff at second slip. The tall Durham paceman finished the first test defeat in Brisbane with the unflattering figures of 1-177 then failed to take a single wicket in the second match in

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1166624629035400472006-12-20T08:23:00.000-06:002006-12-20T08:23:49.103-06:00

Here is how proof is supposed to work, as illustrated by an anecdote in John Aubrey's Brief Lives about the 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes:He was 40 yeares old before he looked on geometry; which happened accidentally. Being in a gentleman's library in..., Euclid's Elements lay open, and 'twas the 47 El. libri I. He read the proposition. "By G—," sayd he (he would now and then sweare, by

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1166313220021616312006-12-16T17:53:00.000-06:002006-12-16T17:53:40.206-06:00

reviewjournal.com -- Obituaries

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1165281606683827132006-12-04T19:20:00.000-06:002006-12-04T19:20:07.016-06:00

Who died and made Mamet the High Priest? - baltimoresun.com

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1163765660384384622006-11-17T06:14:00.000-06:002006-11-17T06:14:20.700-06:00

Wine for thought.FOXNews.com - Study: Red Wine Extract Makes Fat Mice Healthy Again - Science News | Current Articles

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1163420763658731062006-11-13T06:26:00.000-06:002006-11-13T06:26:03.670-06:00

Someone has finally come up with a new sentiment regarding organized religion. Rather than following the dictates of the church, Sir Elton John has publicly stated that religion should be banned.Sources say there are no plans for his arrest ... at this time.Arts, Briefly - New York Times: "Elton John has called for a ban on organized religion, saying it promotes homophobia and turns some people

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1163420010031922092006-11-13T06:13:00.000-06:002006-11-13T06:13:30.133-06:00

Megastars Out to Save the World: Those Halos Can Tarnish in an Instant - New York Times: "Even in the days of the Black Panthers and radical chic there wasn%u2019t such a ludicrous appropriation of racial identity by the privileged."

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Substance in Red Wine Extends Life of Mice - New York Times

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1162640549769848272006-11-04T05:42:00.000-06:002006-11-04T05:42:29.810-06:00

Yes, Red Wine Holds Answer. Check Dosage. - New York Times

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1158866034231508532006-09-21T14:12:00.000-05:002006-09-21T14:15:06.920-05:00

'Chromatography, exitology???"' Making wine with water.

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1151143741486443902006-06-24T05:09:00.000-05:002006-06-24T05:09:01.533-05:00

'Reading Leo Strauss' - New York Times: "No one can be a Straussian who does not fundamentally love to read."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1150627988482931102006-06-18T05:53:00.000-05:002006-06-18T05:53:08.493-05:00

A vine romance - Books - Times Online: "Looked at like that, Parker doesn%u2019t seem promising biographical material "a ribald sense of humour" and a collection of "tasteless Washington jokes" not withstanding. But that third passion, which he discovered when he was 20, changed the course of his life and, over time, the lives of millions of other people in America and way beyond. The seminal

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1150627369555003782006-06-18T05:42:00.000-05:002006-06-18T05:42:49.556-05:00

Wikipedia:Disambiguation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:NEWSPEAK"Disambiguation in Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation projects is the process of resolving ambiguity the conflict that occurs when a term is closely associated with two or more different topics. In many cases, this word or phrase is the 'natural' title of more than one article. In other words, disambiguations are paths

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1150627080724631202006-06-18T05:38:00.000-05:002006-06-18T05:38:00.726-05:00

Trouble Spots - New York Times: "Selected Wikipedia articles that site administrators have placed under restrictions to protect them from vandalism or editing wars. Most articles are only temporarily protected. Protected ArticlesCannot be edited.2004 United States election voting controversies, OhioCubaIslamophobiaElitismKosovoHuman rights in the People's Republic of ChinaMilitary budget of the

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'Betraying Spinoza,' by Rebecca Goldstein - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times: "Spinoza, though the Oxford philosopher Stuart Hampshire found in him a prophet of what we now call 'science,' has confused many others who also exalted him. Novalis and Coleridge found in him the 'God-intoxicated man'; Shelley, however, discovered in him another inspiration for his essay 'The Necessity

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1150109054998723802006-06-12T05:44:00.000-05:002006-06-12T05:44:15.126-05:00

Middle East Times: "ATHENS - The size of a shoebox, a mysterious bronze device scooped out of a Roman-era shipwreck at the dawn of the twentieth-century has baffled scientists for years. Now a British researcher has stunningly established it as the world's oldest surviving astronomy computer. "

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1150022325695524852006-06-11T05:38:00.000-05:002006-06-11T05:38:45.740-05:00

Telegraph | Opinion | Profile: Sir Tom Stoppard : "When Harold Pinter was lobbying to have London's Comedy Theatre renamed the Pinter Theatre, Stoppard wrote back: 'Have you thought, instead, of changing your name to Harold Comedy?' His liking for Lady Thatcher appears to have a theatrical as well as ideological dimension, for he saw in her radicalism the seeds of great drama. 'In the period

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1149070905513473622006-05-31T05:21:00.000-05:002006-05-31T05:21:45.573-05:00

"Soulless" universities: "He takes Harvard as his case study, but many of his conclusions apply to the rest of American higher education. Mr. Lewis finds American universities "soulless" and argues that they rarely speak as "proponents of high ideals for future American leaders." He bluntly states that Harvard "has lost, indeed willingly surrendered, its moral authority to shape the souls of its

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148895467972857352006-05-29T04:37:00.000-05:002006-05-29T04:37:48.033-05:00

calendarlive.com: Tough love: "In an essay on Saul Bellow's 'Ravelstein,' which many readers and reviewers took as a portrait of Bellow's relationship with his old friend Allan Bloom, she writes: 'When it comes to novels, the author's life is nobody's business. A novel, even when it is autobiographical, is not an autobiography.' And: 'Fiction does not invent out of a vacuum, but it invents; and

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148563332370815122006-05-25T08:22:00.000-05:002006-05-25T08:22:12.373-05:00

TIME Magazine Archive Article -- Judgment of Paris -- Jun. 7, 1976: "Americans abroad have been boasting for years about California wines, only to be greeted in most cases by polite disbelie ... or worse. Among the few fervent and respected admirers of le vin de Californie in France is a transplanted Englishman, Steven Spurrier, 34, who owns the Cave de la Madeleine wine shop, one of the best in

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148562928662557462006-05-25T08:15:00.000-05:002006-05-25T08:15:28.663-05:00

TIME Magazine Archive Article -- American Wine Comes of Age -- Nov. 27, 1972: "RISING starkly from the dusty fields of California's San Joaquin Valley are 100 huge metal cylinders that look like an array of petrochemical tanks. Alongside them are rows of mostly windowless industrial buildings that sprawl over an area as large as six city blocks. This symbol of technological power is not a pulsing

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148562771905905762006-05-25T08:12:00.000-05:002006-05-25T08:12:51.906-05:00

TIME Magazine Archive Article -- Restrictions -- Jun. 25, 1923: "Premier Benito Mussolini is not a prohibitionist. But he thinks that there exist in Italy ' alcoholic abuses,' and he is determined to lessen the number of wine shops. Accordingly, he has ordered the enforcement of an old law of licenses which allows only one for every 2,000 people. Wine growers are planning a protest."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148562588273904522006-05-25T08:09:00.000-05:002006-05-25T08:09:48.273-05:00

TIME Magazine Archive Article -- Old Age for New Wine -- Mar. 3, 1923: "Mar. 3, 1923 A French professor, Charles Henri, has discovered a method of 'aging' wine in a few minutes. In a demonstration before the Academy of Sciences, he took a bottle of new wine, and by placing it for a few minutes in an electrostatic field of from 60,000 to 100,000 volts, changed it in a short time so that in

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148562161506325842006-05-25T08:02:00.000-05:002006-05-25T08:02:41.506-05:00

Telegraph | News | Forlorn French winemakers driven to the wall - and to suicide : "On Wednesday Mrs Montosson and thousands of other winemakers will take to the streets of southern France to highlight a crisis they claim is driving them into crippling debt - and, in some tragic cases, suicide."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148561984502865612006-05-25T07:59:00.000-05:002006-05-25T07:59:44.503-05:00

The Judgment of Paris. By Mike Steinberger: "Today is the 30th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris, the legendary tasting in which a pair of unheralded California wines bested some of France's most celebrated reds and whites. It was, you might say, the collective slurp heard round the world. France losing to the United States at wine? Unthinkable. In a century filled with indignities for

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148561914537488662006-05-25T07:58:00.000-05:002006-05-25T07:58:34.536-05:00

Napa Valley Register Online | Food And WineFeatures: "On the 30th anniversary of that landmark event, the so-called Judgment of Paris was re-enacted in part at the same time Wednesday in London and Napa, at Copia. Once again, the New World -- or, to be more specific, Napa Valley -- came out on top."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148561841715598362006-05-25T07:57:00.000-05:002006-05-25T07:57:21.716-05:00

ContraCostaTimes.com | 05/25/2006 | NAPA V. BORDEAUX, ROUND TWO Vintners re-enact famous '76 tasting: "Exactly 30 years after the historic Paris wine tasting that changed the wine industry forever, a Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon once again beat out its prestigious Bordeaux peers in what has come to be known as the wine rematch of the century."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148561771129147362006-05-25T07:56:00.000-05:002006-05-25T07:56:11.130-05:00

California trounces France 30 years on - decanter.com - the route to all good wine : "A handful of venerable Californian wines have once again beaten their French counterparts - in a re-run of the Paris Tasting of 1976. Against all expectations the Cabernets %u2013 Ridge Monte Bello 1971, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973, Mayacamas 71, Heitz 70 and Clos du Val 72 %u2013 were voted superior to their

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148561737374270712006-05-25T07:55:00.000-05:002006-05-25T07:55:37.376-05:00

Telegraph | News | New World wins again in a vintage rematch: "At the time it was unthinkable. French wine, surely the finest in the world, was put to a blind taste test against the best California could offer. It was 1976, the tasting was in Paris, and wine from the New World was considered no better than cheap Retsina. Imagine the heart-stopping moment, then, when nine experts, all French,

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148561689346504542006-05-25T07:54:00.000-05:002006-05-25T07:54:49.426-05:00

California wines beat the French -- again / Even after 30 years of aging, state's Cabernets still tops: "Who says California wines don't age?The French do. Repeatedly. Yet Gaul is biting its tongue today after California smoked France Wednesday in a cross-continental tasting of wines that have matured in cellars for three decades. The California Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines placed first

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1148298319125644332006-05-22T06:45:00.000-05:002006-05-22T06:45:19.160-05:00

The art of sport - The Boston Globe: "Gumbrecht laments that most contemporary academic analyses of ''sport' as a cultural phenomenon tend to be socially patronizing, dismissive of sports fans as having fallen for a modern-day version of the old bread and circus treatment. Such thinkers, he argues, ''find it difficult to admit that the fascination with sports can have respectable roots in the

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High Noon With a Twist - New York Times: "I saw this guy with a Rubik's Cube, and he was working it pretty furiously, the kind of furious that got the attention of a bunch of people on the subway train. That loud, rhythmic clicking. He was totally blase about it but also totally wanting attention. He was slouched across a couple of seats, and his wrists were slack, but his hands were whizzing

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1147177297994967052006-05-09T07:21:00.000-05:002006-05-09T07:21:38.036-05:00

Doom and Demography: "What is perhaps most remarkable about the incessant stream of dire - and consistently wrong - predictions of global demographic overshoot is the public's apparently insatiable demand for it. Unlike the villagers in the fable about the boy who cried wolf, educated American consumers always seem to have the time, the money, and the credulity to pay to hear

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1146358435057138682006-04-29T19:53:00.000-05:002006-04-29T19:53:55.113-05:00

Essays: 'Hammer & tickle' by Ben Lewis | Prospect Magazine May 2006 issue 122: "A man dies and goes to hell. There he discovers that he has a choice: he can go to capitalist hell or to communist hell. Naturally, he wants to compare the two, so he goes over to capitalist hell. There outside the door is the devil, who looks a bit like Ronald Reagan. 'What's it like in there?' asks the visitor. '

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1146221021059071922006-04-28T05:43:00.000-05:002006-04-28T05:43:41.800-05:00

Room of Her Own: "The reaction revealed how far feminism had become removed from ordinary women. There had always been a totalitarian element that was less interested in individual freedom than social revolution - the notion that a woman shouldn't have the option to work outside of the home but rather the obligation. Simone de Beauvoir had written, "No woman should be authorized to stay at home

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1145620688793025592006-04-21T06:58:00.000-05:002006-04-21T06:58:08.843-05:00

Science for Better Government: "The real genius of this strange and amorphous organization is that it is more dedicated to the truth than to any of the other competing imperatives, be they political convictions or the wishes of the sponsors or the politics of the current administration. This is why the Jasons have lasted as long as they have. As independent scientists, Jasons are dedicated to the

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1144409215767244732006-04-07T06:26:00.000-05:002006-04-07T06:26:55.836-05:00

BBC NEWS | World | Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight: "Spectators cheered as entire Cambodian Midget Fighting League squared off against African Lion"

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1143591182182823552006-03-28T18:13:00.000-06:002006-03-28T18:13:02.376-06:00

The Voice of the Turtle: "The role of the historian is to chart the minutae of what people did and said in the past. She is concerned to correct our anachronisms and tell us that the things we take for granted are a lot more complicated than at first glance. As such, the political task of the historian (like that of Derridean deconstructionist) is intrinsically anti-foundational. It

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1143289354704863472006-03-25T06:22:00.000-06:002006-03-25T06:22:34.763-06:00

The War: "Here Fukuyama commits apostasy of a different kind: against the thesis that made him famous. His new rendering of 'the end of history' -- of liberal democracy as the culmination of humankind's ideological development -- verges on economic determinism; it is, as he recently put it, 'a kind of Marxist argument.' Just as he finds the roots of jihadism in the confounding material bounty of

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1143065715971499892006-03-22T16:15:00.000-06:002006-03-22T16:15:16.030-06:00

Decanting Robert Parker - New York Times: "IT has been a difficult couple of years for Robert M. Parker Jr., the wine writer who has famously been labeled the most influential critic of any kind in the world. Though Mr. Parker has gotten used to living with a big fat target painted on his back, the most recent series of attacks was especially galling to him."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1142976835625099142006-03-21T15:33:00.000-06:002006-03-21T15:33:55.683-06:00

'Manliness,' by Harvey C. Mansfield - The New York Times Book Review - New York TimesIt looks like this review and those like it will make Mansfield's new book much popular than I had anticipated.It is a sign that he is on to something.

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1142684988150580552006-03-18T06:29:00.000-06:002006-03-18T06:29:48.153-06:00

The Michelangelo code - Newspaper Edition - Times Online: "The first thing that impressed me was his speed. Michelangelo worked at Schumacher pace. Adam's famous little penis was captured with a single brushstroke: a flick of the wrist, and the first man had his manhood. I also enjoyed his sense of humour, which, from close up, turned out to be refreshingly puerile. If you look closely at the

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1142684818213648572006-03-18T06:26:00.000-06:002006-03-18T06:26:58.266-06:00

The Marketplace of Perceptions: "Like all revolutions in thought, this one began with anomalies, strange facts, odd observations that the prevailing wisdom could not explain. Casino gamblers, for instance, are willing to keep betting even while expecting to lose. People say they want to save for retirement, eat better, start exercising, quit smoking, and they mean it, but they do no such things.

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1142627190607129682006-03-17T14:26:00.000-06:002006-03-17T14:26:30.606-06:00

Telegraph | News: "Claims that man-made pollution is causing 'unprecedented' global warming have been seriously undermined by new research which shows that the Earth was warmer during the Middle Ages."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1142627128953459122006-03-17T14:25:00.000-06:002006-03-17T14:25:28.996-06:00

Guardian Unlimited | Life | Will global warming trigger a new ice age?: "The rapidly accelerating warming that we are experiencing actually hasten the onset of a new ice age? A growing body of evidence suggests that, at least for the UK and western Europe, there is a serious risk of this happening - and soon."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1141503902634638792006-03-04T14:25:00.000-06:002006-03-04T14:25:02.703-06:00

Essays: 'No more heroes' by Edward Skidelsky | Prospect Magazine March 2006 issue 120: "'Mark you this, you proud men of action,' wrote the German poet Heinrich Heine. 'You are nothing but the unconscious henchmen of intellectuals, who, often in the humblest seclusion, have meticulously plotted your every deed.' Heine was thinking of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, but the same charge has more recently

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1141385169106291082006-03-03T05:26:00.000-06:002006-03-03T05:26:09.213-06:00

Foreign Policy: The Geopolitics of Sexual Frustration: "Now there are too few wenches. Thanks in large part to the introduction of the ultrasound machine, Mother Nature's usual preference for about 105 males to 100 females has grown to around 120 male births for every 100 female births in China. The imbalance is even higher in some locales - males to 100 females on the island of Hainan, an

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1141355485349158182006-03-02T21:11:00.000-06:002006-03-02T21:11:25.406-06:00

Print Story - canada.com network: "Of course not, but think of the cunning! Imagine the odd silences, the not-quite-explained trips, unlikely absences during family holidays. Think of how carefully he must have hidden his money from his wife -- over nearly three decades. Bear in mind, too, that years of broadcasting on CBS made him a celebrity in Montana as much as anywhere. How did he deflect

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1141187790131220462006-02-28T22:36:00.000-06:002006-02-28T22:36:30.133-06:00

Cavegirls were first blondes to have fun - Sunday Times - Times Online: "THE modern gentleman may prefer blondes. But new research has found that it was cavemen who were the first to be lured by flaxen locks."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1141187746801873112006-02-28T22:35:00.000-06:002006-02-28T22:35:46.870-06:00

spiked-health | Article | The stigma of smoking: "In the era of evidence-based policy, it is worth noting that there is little evidence to suggest that more coercive anti-smoking policies are likely to be successful. The shift from the approach of providing public information on the dangers of smoking in the 1970s and 80s, to the bans and proscriptions - and the promotion of medicalised 'smoking

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1138023979092168572006-01-23T07:46:00.000-06:002006-01-23T07:46:19.150-06:00

'Maimonides,' by Sherwin B. Nuland - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times: "MAIMONIDES lived from about 1135 to 1204, first in cities in Spain, then in Morocco and Palestine, and finally in Egypt, where he eventually became the leader of the Egyptian Jewish community and its principal teacher. As Jewry's pre-eminent legal authority and philosopher, he was humane and tough-minded, a

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1137267017034756492006-01-14T13:30:00.000-06:002006-01-14T13:30:17.713-06:00

Reason: Mark Twain vs. Tom Sawyer: The bold deconstruction of anational icon : "%the best book we have had,"pronounced Ernest Hemingway in 1932. "All American writing comes from that.There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since." Oh, but onemore thing, counseled Papa: "If you must read it you must stop where Jim isstolen from the boys [and imprisoned by a slave catcher]. That

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1135776919748948052005-12-28T07:35:00.000-06:002005-12-28T07:35:19.786-06:00

Off the shelf - Times 2 - Times Online: "Some plump for self-pity: "Monocled, plaid-festooned gadabout, out of place in any relationship, or century. Please help me . . .", writes a man who is "possibly your embarrassing uncle, 51." Some choose whimsy: "Unemployable choreographer and amateur harpist (M, 62) seeks recovering alcoholic with feeble mind. Own tap shoes an advantage."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1134169263848524112005-12-09T17:01:00.000-06:002005-12-09T17:01:03.880-06:00

seek a newer and more solid foundation, the physicist cannot simply surrender to the philosopher the critical contemplation of theoretical foundations; for he himself knows best and feels more surely where the shoe pinches. In looking for a new foundation, he must try to make clear in his own mind just how far the concepts which he uses are justified, and are necessities.">Albert Einstein as

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1134092322111190422005-12-08T19:38:00.000-06:002005-12-08T19:38:43.240-06:00

Vertical readings of Herbert's The Temple - TLS Highlights - Times Online: "If these readings appear strange and unfamiliar, they derive from reading Herbert in a strange and unfamiliar way: vertically. Herbert's much-admired collection of religious verse, The Temple, published in 1633, contains innumerable acrostics and anagrams, discoverable by reading the first letter of each line down the

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1133870438754086132005-12-06T06:00:00.000-06:002005-12-06T06:00:38.786-06:00

A contemporary medical man can learn something from Shakespeare; he can learn nothing from Hall. As Orwell pointed out, it takes effort and determination to see what is in front of one’s face. Among the efforts required is the discarding of the lenses of excessive or bogus theorizing.

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1133628969422706012005-12-03T10:56:00.000-06:002005-12-03T10:56:09.433-06:00

Telegraph | Opinion Human beings are religious animals. It is psychologically very hard to go through life without the justification, and the hope, provided by religion. You can see this in the positivist scientists of the 19th century.

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1133628070275987812005-12-03T10:41:00.000-06:002005-12-03T10:41:10.276-06:00

Weekly book reviews and literary criticism from the Times Literary Supplement "I'm waging war against myself”, declared Jacques Derrida in an interview with Le Monde last year, published less than two months before he succumbed to the after-effects of pancreatic cancer in a Paris hospital.

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1133627907948090432005-12-03T10:38:00.000-06:002005-12-03T10:38:27.993-06:00

Weekly book reviews and literary criticism from the Times Literary Supplement: "In his %u201CEssay Concerning Human Understanding%u201D, John Locke asserts the impossibility of knowing the taste of pineapple before you have actually tasted it. This is not just a throwaway remark; he returns to the point in several drafts and in several places. In 1671, Locke wrote that the man who has never had

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1132938789289262282005-11-25T11:13:00.000-06:002005-11-25T11:13:09.326-06:00

Turning academia into a cafeteria - Los Angeles Times: "The official blue examination booklet at UCLA, where I teach, requires students to affix their signatures to a clause swearing that they have not committed 'academic dishonesty.' The penalty for transgression, it warns, is suspension or dismissal. Yet instead of dropping it there, the credo continues and the tone shifts. 'There are

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1132693000069619742005-11-22T14:56:00.001-06:002005-11-22T14:56:40.070-06:00

Finally, what do I bring to the college experience? As President Kennedy observed in his second inaugural, %u201CAsk not what your country can do to you. Ask, what can you do to your country.%u201D">The New Yorker: Shouts and Murmurs: "I am not one to say, %u201COmigod, like poor me,%u201D despite the fact that my dad would on numerable occasions drink an entire bottle of raspberry cordial

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1132692997804104192005-11-22T14:56:00.000-06:002005-11-22T14:56:37.926-06:00

Finally, what do I bring to the college experience? As President Kennedy observed in his second inaugural, %u201CAsk not what your country can do to you. Ask, what can you do to your country.%u201D">The New Yorker: Shouts and Murmurs: "I am not one to say, %u201COmigod, like poor me,%u201D despite the fact that my dad would on numerable occasions drink an entire bottle of raspberry cordial

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1132496356063466552005-11-20T08:19:00.000-06:002005-11-20T08:19:16.126-06:00

Is the truth too hot to handle? - Sunday Times - Times Online: "Liar, liar, pants on fire... We tell one lie for every three minutes our mouths are open. Men and women tell different kinds of lie, and attractive people are the biggest fibbers of all. So why do we do it? The latest evidence shows that lying might be essential for our survival"

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1131231905986199902005-11-05T17:05:00.000-06:002005-11-05T17:05:05.986-06:00

The Sloppy Mermaid: Socratic Solopsism Recension : "I have a very dear friend that refuses to write scholarly articles in the normal way. He prefers to write in the form of an essay %u2013 more like thinking out loud than like pretending to think through a thesis. This mode of writing is very confusing because it requires a great deal of patience if it is to be understood. My friend is of the

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1131193445123784702005-11-05T06:24:00.000-06:002005-11-05T06:35:00.553-06:00

Azure: "In 1913, convinced by his friend Eugen Rosenstock that only belief in Christianity could rescue modern man from the impasse of historicism and provide true orientation in life, he prepared himself for conversion."MORE

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1131193352353674062005-11-05T06:22:00.000-06:002005-11-05T06:22:32.353-06:00

Azure: "In modern Europe, Jews excelled at being the purveyors, explicators, and popularizers of the intellectual products of the countries in which they lived. This was especially true of Germany, so that Arnaldo Momigliano could joke that the Jews invented Goethe."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1131192781916863222005-11-05T06:13:00.000-06:002005-11-05T17:01:11.946-06:00

Azure: "But now comes word of a most unusual find: The remains of a massive structure, in the heart of biblical Jerusalem, dating to the time of King David. Eilat Mazar, the archaeologist leading the expedition, suggests that it may be none other than the palace built by David and used by the Judaean kings for over four centuries. If she is right, this would mean a reconsideration of the

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1131191453847946542005-11-05T05:50:00.000-06:002005-11-05T05:50:56.576-06:00

Azure: "Now comes At the Point of a Gun, a collection of essays published between 1996 and 2004. Rieff has divided it into two parts: %u201CThe UN and International Relations Leading Up to Iraq,%u201D and %u201CThe Iraq War and Its Aftermath.%u201D There are some unifying elements: An introduction, an afterword, and prefaces and postscripts to some of the chapters. Still, like many books of this

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1130795292931723622005-10-31T15:48:00.000-06:002005-10-31T15:48:12.940-06:00

Fast Times at Brooksby High - The Boston Globe: "Marie asks Rick when his first wife had passed.'March 8.''Of 2004?Rick shakes his head. 'Two thousand and five.''Oh,' she says, putting her salad fork down and sitting back in her seat. 'Well, you didn't waste much time, did you?' She picks her fork back up and shrugs. 'Then again, we haven't got much time to waste.'"

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1130795278206066942005-10-31T15:47:00.000-06:002005-10-31T15:48:01.146-06:00

Fast Times at Brooksby High - The Boston Globe: "Marie asks Rick when his first wife had passed.'March 8.''Of 2004?Rick shakes his head. 'Two thousand and five.''Oh,' she says, putting her salad fork down and sitting back in her seat. 'Well, you didn't waste much time, did you?' She picks her fork back up and shrugs. 'Then again, we haven't got much time to waste.'"

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1130691851024900762005-10-30T11:04:00.000-06:002005-10-30T11:04:11.063-06:00

God save the heretic - Sunday Times - Times Online: "Jonathan Swift observed that the problem with religion was that there wasn%u2019t enough of it around: %u201CWe have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.%u201D Three centuries on there is even less of it around and we still hate each other."

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10090806.post-1130540628686333652005-10-28T18:03:00.000-05:002005-10-28T18:03:48.690-05:00

Eurozine - Articles: "Every article about you mentions your amazing ability to read and remember. My question then is what do you forget?"

Dorkamonoreply@blogger.com