I'd like to reflect more on the Christian themes in Czeslaw Milosz's poetry. Good places for me to jump off from are two articles in the November 2004 issue of First Things (a contrarian, often cranky, usually intelligent journal):

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  FT November 2004: The Witness of Czeslaw Milosz



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  FT November 2004: More On Milosz:

While glancing at these pieces, I came across mention of J. S. Bach in Bach, Hitler, and the People Called German:

And of course there is no Germany without Johann Sebastian Bach, whose music was, says Ozment, in sharp contrast to that of the Enlightenment, and especially of the French Enlightenment. “What distinguished Bach’s work and made it lasting was the musical-emotional demonstration of humankind’s need for transcendence and majesty, yet utter inability to encompass and master either.” The Enlightenment believed in man’s ability to resolve the riddle of history, both to mock and to play the gods. “By contrast, Bach’s music reasserted the dialectical character of reality and the bipolarity at the center of the human heart, each mysterious and complex beyond all human fathoming. . . . The alternating loss and restoration of harmony left the auditor with an intermittently pleasurable, but never final or secure, sensation of reconciliation, which was also the intention of the juxtaposition of Law and Gospel in the Lutheran sermon: oneness only in division, righteousness only in sin.”

And when I have some more time to look at minority dissenting views on global climate change, I can start with FT November 2004: Strange Science.

It intrigues me that Adam Hochschild will be talking about a subject for which my slim knowledge comes almost entirely from one article (which has meant a lot to me): Every Arrow Needs a Bow: William Wilberforce.

OUR EDITORS RECOMMEND:

Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves by Adam Hochschild (Houghton Mifflin; 467 pages; $26.95): The abolitionist movement in 18th century Britain marked an unprecedented shift in civil society. Slaves had rebelled throughout history, "but the campaign in England was something never seen before," writes Adam Hochschild. "[I]t was the first time a large number of people became outraged, and stayed outraged for many years, over someone else's rights." In "Bury the Chains," Hochschild, the Bay Area author of "King Leopold's Ghost," presents a gripping and inspiring account of the abolitionist crusade. He deftly teases out the movement's significance in terms of the activist techniques that evolved from it, from consumer boycotts and lapel pins to media campaigns.

This coming Wednesday: LITERARY GUIDE: Adam Hochschild Discussing "Bury the Chains." 7:30 p.m. Cody's, 2454 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 845-7852.

A two-wheeled tour of modern history / The bicycle's track record shows it playing a central role in industrialized era:

Being a lifelong bicyclist -- I have used a succession of them as my primary means of transportation for 50 years -- I harbor a bias in favor of a book that glorifies the subject. And glorify bicycles David V. Herlihy does. That is unsurprising, given Herlihy's intense affair with bicycling since his teenage years, which coincided with the importation of European 10-speeds into the United States. Later, he lived in Italy, where he rode a high-quality racing bike.

As one who knows the joy of cycling and want others to experience it too, I'm looking forward to reading the book and understanding better how we got to our present situation in which so few of us bike.

 Now call centers can make Nice on phone:

On the other hand, there's a bright side to this new technology. If you're not getting anywhere with a service rep, all you need to do is start cursing your head off. A supervisor will be on the phone within moments.

There must a way to level the playing field between customers and the BigCo. I'd like to find better ways to aggregate information about how customers are being treated (perhaps in near real time) by various companies so that we can make buying decisions that reward good players and punish recalcitrant big companies that stonewall consumers.

Intense shadows on Sproul Plaza

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I was taken the by the very sharp and dramatic shadows at around 2pm yesterday.

The Nobel Laureates are gone!

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

There used to be banners of Nobel Laureates around campus. No more....

I answered Lloyd's question ("How much of yourself do you think you have revealed in your weblog...?") on my professional blog, but my post might be of interest to my readers here.

You might get a chuckle out of Jib Jab's Second Term on Yahoo!, though the first big Jib Jab hit This Land was funnier in my opinion.

The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > From the Desk of David Pogue: For TiVo, It’s Not Over Yet: I have always wondered what made TiVo interesting.

Generating my own collages prompted me to notice The New York Times > Arts > Art & Design > Making Art From Bits and Pieces:

In rescuing and dignifying scraps of local life - a matchbook from a bar, someone's tossed-off photo-booth portrait - Mr. Evans can be thought of as a historical preservationist, operating on an unusually intimate scale. Yet his own moods seem reflected in how he handles the materials. In one day's collage, ticket stubs and candy wrappers explode like fireworks against an ebulliently bright background. In another, juxtaposed images of Hitler and Oliver North make a grim political statement.

The sky near 2195 Hearst (I)

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

The other day, while waiting for CV to arrive, I looked up in the sky and saw this dramatic image.