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Showing posts from November, 2016

Reading The Windup Girl

Note: This post contains some spoilers for The Windup Girl , but it does not reveal everything in the novel by any means. A couple of months ago I came across this article listing 17 science fiction novels that changed the genre.  The list includes such great titles as Stranger in a Strange Land , Dune , Foundation , Dhalgren , Slaughterhouse-Five , and Neuromancer . Scanning the list, I realized I had read every book mentioned (and own almost all of them) with the exception of two. One of the two, The Windup Girl , caught my eye because it was published in 2009, the most recent book on the list. I had not heard of it before and decided to pick up a copy. The novel is exceptionally well-written by author Paolo Bacigalupi .  The prose is expressive, entertaining, sometimes technical, sometimes poetic, and it guides the reader into the vivid world where global warming and various diseases have wrecked havoc on humanity's food supply, the environment, and where plagues arise thre

Crazy Beats Dishonesty

Turns out  Lindsey Graham was wrong , in 2016 America thinks Crazy trumps Dishonesty (forgive the pun).  Turns out the GOP is at war with itself but it does not matter .  Turns out almost all the polls were wrong .  Turns out Pennsylvania , Michigan , and Wisconsin were the wild cards to Donald Trump's election.  Trump conquered the Electoral Map in grand style, thanks largely to angry voters .  But, more significantly, Trump won with fewer voters showing up in major cities like Milwaukee , Detroit , and Philadelphia .  Had the turnout been higher in these three cities it is very possible that Clinton ( who benefited from higher urban voter participation ) would have carried these three respective states that she lost to Trump.  That was the election in a nutshell. Hillary may have won the debates , she may have been more favorably perceived by the news media , but in 2016 the voters were anti-establishment , anti-media , and anti-logic  - a perfect storm for a candidate like

An Exhibition Revisited

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As we did last year , Jennifer and I met up with some of our 'Dillo friends to attend a open studio art event in Atlanta last night. This year we enjoyed a pre-art dinner at Tuk Tuk , a nice Thai restaurant near the exhibit.  Paintings, sculptures, photographs, digital art, and mixed media work abounded. Once again the venue was crowded and the somewhat narrow halls often restricted my ability to snap a good photo of some of the art. Overall, I did not think the exhibit was as strong this year as last. But there were several high-quality pieces. Some samples below... Detail of above. Detail of above. Detail of above.

The Most Absurd Election Ever

On the wall in my office I have a sign that simply reads: " Dishonesty Beats Crazy. "  That is the way Republican Senator Lindsey Graham characterized the 2016 presidential election back in February.  I thought it was an erudite comment at the time, probably the best single summation of the Donald Trump - Hillary Clinton election train wreck. Graham succinctly defined the choice between someone who is widely perceived as one of the most dishonest politicians in America, Hillary Clinton, and the absolute craziest loose cannon on the political stage, Donald Trump.  It is not a choice most Americans care for and this is probably the most loathed presidential choice in my lifetime. The American electorate is pissed off and stressed out over this mess. So, until recently, Graham's statement captured the 2016 zeitgeist of American politics for me.  All that has changed now.  Graham’s comparison is still valid, but other factors have come into play with a double “Octobe