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What'll You Think Of Next?
re: #4 Oops. Don't forget to add a tablespoon or so of HONEY.! re: # 7: "conversate:" Just one among Pike's usual small linguistic non-ironies. What is your deal with protein, AG? What does it have to do with pizza?— November 9, 2009 11:43 a.m.
A Fear of Cold and Dark
Goatttfish, why King or Poe over any other text using a poetics based on a dichotomy of dark and light? King is using a traditional opposition found, as you say, in the texts of the bible, and you can find it at work not only in classic horror genres, but in just about anything you pick up written in the Western world. I agree that correlating of the color black, and darkness with evil or negativity is something we can rethink. If you look at the work of Teresa Hak Kung Cha (Japanese American), or Jessica Hagedorn (Phillipines), you will find fruitful questioning, and Angela Carter and Salman Rushdie (both contemporary novelists and short story writers) both with serious knowledge of Western and nonWestern views in philosophy, sociology, and anthropology, also challenge traditional, stereotypical dichotomies of black/dark as conceptually negative in a social sense. Of course, you are probably familiar with Edward Said's groundbreaking work "Orientalism," as well as many texts following in his tradition, as well as Gates' also seminal "Signifying Monkey." Witch hunts are often conducted at the expense of vital, forward-directed thinking. I think you should also consider that a "thinking" kind of darkness or negative space has been a theme in non-pragmatic philosophy for a lonnnnnggg time, and yes, there is a condensation of thought around a sense of dark/empty/negative as a useful, working conceptual space within much existential philosophy and beyond. I hope you can begin to expand your focus and give up the arbitrary attacks on writers like Poe or King, who cannot be treated together for obvious reasons, unless you discuss a literary heritage in King, deriving from Poe. PS: If you really want to go on a witch hunt, why aren't you attacking the devastating and exclusionary rhetoric wrought upon our American "canon" by the "New Critical" poets in the 1950s? This territory is well-trodden, but it's probably a better place to start than King or Poe.— November 9, 2009 5:15 a.m.
Did Dominelli Study Ponzi?
"Response to post #80: Just let me know whether you want an autographed hardback or paperback. The latter has a bit more information because it came out a year later." I want to purchase an autographed copy, Mr. Bauder.— November 9, 2009 4:59 a.m.
How Things Work
...It is the desperate moment when we discover that this empire, which had seemed to us the sum of all wonders, is an endless, formless ruin, that corruption's gangrene has spread too far to be healed by our scepter, that the triumph over enemy sovereigns has made us the heirs of their long undoing. Only in Marco Polo's accounts was Kublai Khan able to discern, through the walls and towers destined to crumble, the tracery of a pattern so subtle it could escape the termites' gnawing. [...] "Your cities do not exist. Perhaps they have never existed. It is sure they will never exist again. Why do you amuse yourself with consolatory fables? I know well that my empire is rotting like a corpse in a swamp, whose contagion infects the crows that peck it as well as the bamboo that grows, fertilized by its humors. Why do you not speak to me of this? Why do you lie to the emperor of the Tartars, foreigner?" Polo knew it was best to fall in with the sovereign's dark mood. "Yes, the empire is sick, and, what is worse, it is trying to become accustomed to its sores. This is the aim of my explorations: examining the traces of happiness still to be glimpsed, I gauge its short supply. If you want to know how much darkness there is around you, you must sharpen your eyes, peering at the faint lights in the distance." from "Invisible Cities" by Italo Calvino.— November 9, 2009 4:54 a.m.
What'll You Think Of Next?
"Being from the East Coast, it's easy for me to look with scorn and derision on the compilations plated in the name of "pizza" here in California [...] make us bitter Back East types yearn for a massive wedge of grease-dripping, cheese-laden, old-school 'za..." I think it is important to support Pike in his quest to "Californiaize" his pizza tastes. It is a little-researched, but crucial factor of acclimatization of Easterners, to find a California-style pizza they can 'nosh with gusto, after a lifetime of scooting up B'way with folded, dripping cheese slice in freezing, ungloved hand. Given time, patience, and accessibility to a wide range of Chino farm fresh toppings, East Coasters can find ways to cope with abysmally bone dry sunshine and vague seasonal change--dare I say, ways to "top" some of their old pizza habits :)— November 9, 2009 4:02 a.m.
What'll You Think Of Next?
"I thought I would sale allot of salads" ...and his customers probably thought he was just saying "Salud!" when they walked in. After a childhood of iceberg or greenleaf dried hastily atop a soggy paper towel, and drenched with Kraft Italian, the salad spinner, like the discovery of arugula, watercress, chicory, and all of the fine edible fresh herbs and dark greens, awakened my senses to the possibilities of dry, properly dressed salads. Not to mention the myriad of dressings to be concocted in a shaker, food processor, or blender. SD's very quick, tasty dressing for salads or sandwiches (also good as a mayo substitute for canned tuna): Blend a cup of mayo or vegenaise with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of fine Dijon mustard (not coarse, fine). Mix in a tblsp of white vinegar or rice wine vinegar, and a tbsp of apple cider vinegar. Add seasonings of your choice, such as lemon pepper or good old fashioned fresh cracked black pepper, and a dash of salt. Spread on sandwiches or toss in salad with thinly sliced fresh onion, good tomato, and cucumber--and anything else you like in a salad.— November 9, 2009 3:55 a.m.
Employment Numbers Worse Than Reported, but Main Street's Pain Is Wall Street's Gain
re: #18: "Like the Senators under Caligula, their wives shall one day wear pearl necklaces as wide and thick as any adorning Barbara Bush." You are all waxing delightfully poetic this morn. But whatever kind of pearl necklace can Fred be referencing now?! Fred, you dip in and out of a metaphor like the proverbial teabag. ;)— November 8, 2009 10:52 a.m.
Shield for All
re: #31 Yes, I agree that sports obsession is useless and infantile, but at least it serves as a replacement 'teat' for those longing for the richer 'milk' of wartime games. Fred, maybe you have an opinion on going about educating oneself on the potential scenarios around all of the healthcare options: I just feel like I need some direction here--lost in a sea of opposing viewpoints and rhetoric. What should I be reading in order to understand the healthcare proposals currently on the table?— November 7, 2009 9:47 p.m.
This Is It! (Again)
I only wish the adage about people and pets in symbiotic appearance were true when it comes to Mica. Wild mascara'd eyes--naturally. "Maybe he's born with it..."(TM) ;)— November 7, 2009 9:23 p.m.
The Sordid, Grisly Details
Oh hey, skennerl, hope you feel better--food poisoning is the WORST. Could it have been a badly preserved meat product, I wonder? Just heard Trader Joe's is recalling a bunch of stuff--don't have any info beyond that. Btw, I am more of a literature teacher than an English teacher (meaning not necess. of English lit or grammar)--I just say "English teacher" as shorthand, for quick understanding. Anyway, just so you know, I'm not about correcting anyone's grammar but my own, if I catch it--UNLESS a hilarious unintended pun results ;) I look forward to seeing a blog from you of any kind. Cuddle does both issues-oriented and fiction blogs--you don't necessarily have to do a story here. I did a silly "list" blog just to provide people with something to do, and so I could see what kind of lists they come up with--in this way, learned a great deal about current musical tastes.— November 7, 2009 8:33 p.m.