StanleyWheeler

   Every book is a window into another time, place, reality, or mind.  Apparently, just over half of adult Americans read at least one book a year. That's terrible. Every adult should be reading at least a dozen books a year - minimum. Older adults read more than younger adults. Is that because older adults grew up with reading as the primary means of obtaining information and younger adults are accustomed to plugging their brain into a screen through which someone who has already evaluated and condensed the material can tell them what they think they should know? Or is it because reading books has become a completely foreign activity which they've never tried or from which they've divorced themselves? I haven't been in a bookstore in quite a while. I can't remember the last time I was in a bookstore. The new books I get are almost all ebooks because they're cheaper than paper books, I can carry an entire library on my phone, I can change the print size, and the...

  The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek, A goodly apple rotten at the heart. O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath! -- The Merchant of Venice , Act I, Scene 3. I object to the subversion of good and evil. It has become popular to retell old tales and make the evil villain a misunderstood hero or heroine. Likewise, symbols of good are subverted to malicious ends. It's one thing for a character to attempt to make use of such symbology and association for his malevolent purposes--that's exactly what we expect from a great villain, as in Richard III , Act I, Scene 3:   But then I sigh; and, with a piece of scripture, Tell them that God bids us do good for evil: And thus I clothe my naked villany With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ; And seem a saint, when most I play the devil. It's quite another to twist the story to make the villain the sympathetic hero of the story - which in turn, ...

I had some pithy thoughts that produced a witty phrase. I didn't write it down. I can't remember what it was. I know it wasn't, "Nobody is interested in your politics when you're coming through the broken window with your arms wrapped around a flat screen TV." I read that--or something like it--somewhere else. If I remember correctly, my thoughts had to do with the irony that protests against the lock down were discouraged and law enforcement was to enforce lock down and social distancing restrictions, and curfews were strictly enforced for reasons of public health, but mass protests and gatherings nominally against police brutality are encouraged and should not be obstructed in any way. While people trying to run business and support themselves and their employees were arrested and jailed, rioters and looters run amok with impunity. Funeral gatherings are restricted, and church services are prohibited for reasons of public health--except for a service for ...

Bond and Thor - because girl power Every time word of a movie remake with a gender swapped lead appears, the articles praising it sprout like noxious weeds. The latest word concerns the upcoming entries in the Bond and Thor franchises. This article explains that gender swap remakes have fared poorly in the past . Some claim the continuing cavalcade of lame gender swap remakes is a sign of progress. Others say it's an indication that women aren't capable of carrying their own original movies and can only climb aboard franchises already made successful with male stars. See this article . Of course they're both wrong. It's only a sign of progress if "progress" is defined as failure to learn and insistence upon a false narrative. It's like claiming that communism just hasn't been implemented correctly yet, and it's going to succeed beyond our wildest dreams if we just get the right people in charge (meaning those who want to be in charge ...

Lost in Space (2018 episode 1) No Spoilers (But with completely unnecessary quotes from Shakespeare's Richard II -- in italics) After viewing the first episode, I have mixed thoughts about the show, but " To be a make-peace shall become my age ." I was thrilled to see Toby Stephens in the role of John Robinson . I remember him from one of the James Bond movies, and from Vexed in which he played the charming and hilariously politically incorrect male chauvinist DI Armstrong. Naturally, I was disappointed to see, in this first episode at least, that he was relegated to fulfilling the role of the ineffective father who is only allowed to think and act for himself when his wife (some kind of scientist/engineer/astrophysicist/geologist/etc is unconscious); even then, it's the whining son who proves more useful than the father. It's as though John Robinson is forced to say, " I am disgraced, impeach'd and baffled here, Pierced to the soul with slander...

We left the Louvre, but I wasn't sure about our next move. One part of me wanted to find a nice restaurant in Paris where my last remaining wad of euros might be exchanged for a delicious dinner and memorable evening with my bride. I explained my dilemma. She didn't want to find a restaurant. We took the public transit back to the hotel. We arrived in a blustery storm --if that's not the name of an automobile, it should be. The tempest-- which is a car name -- lashed us with the wet and windy fury of a thousand scourges.  We made out way via the bureaucratic elevator back to our room. We had a brief rest, and perused the area for restaurants; it looked like we would have to take a taxi. The storm had ceased, but there didn't seem to be anything other than hotel restaurants within walking distance. We both agreed that we didn't want to eat at our hotel again. The rather bad experience associated with the meal from the previous evening stuck in our memories like...