Here’s a book you may have overlooked. What Orwell Didn’t Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics, edited by András Szántó. It’s an essay anthology from people who believe the “state of public discourse in our country, especially the language used by politicians and journalists, [is] ‘divorcing itself from reality at an alarming rate.’ [They] ‘were especially concerned about the waning power — or inclination — of the press to bring political rhetoric in line with fact,’ believing that the line between debate and propaganda had become dangerously obscured.” The fact that George Soros funded the book may mean it’s a waste of paper, that is, a collection of thoughts from those who would take the speck out of our eyes will nurturing the log in their own. But on the surface, I agree with their premise. Political discourse and those “debates” they keep pushing at us appear to be pretty lightweight.
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M.W. Smith: A Light in the Darkness
Michael W. Smith has prepared a third Christmas album, and an article on this ends this way:
But despite his success in gospel, Smith worries he’s not doing enough to influence mainstream culture. When he was reaching the pop charts in the ’90s, he said, he loved it because he felt like he was “a light bulb in a dark room.”
“I think about it a lot. ‘What am I doing with my life, and am I doing the right thing?'” Smith says.
He pauses a moment and adds, “I do feel like the success I’ve had has given me a platform to try to let people know what’s really important in life. If you’re not feeding the poor, not looking out for the troubled kid on the block, not giving yourself away, you’ve totally missed it.”
I suspect Smith either held back a bit or made some statements which were not quoted, because giving yourself away must be a part of living out the Gospel or we will be missing it, as he says. That cup of water must be offered in the name of Christ, not the name of decency or America. It is God living among us that brings peace on earth, not simply pulling together.
Snowfall
The speckled sky is dim with snow,
The light flakes falter and fall slow;
Athwart the hill-top, rapt and pale,
Silently drops a silvery veil;
And all the valley is shut in
By flickering curtains gray and thin.
Read more of “Midwinter” by John Townsend Trowbridge
Terry Pratchett Optimistic in Face of Disease
Will hands off the news that author Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with a type of Alzheimers. He encourages fans to remain optimistic and plans to keep all current commitments.
Writers Union to Deal Directly with Studios
“Faced with the indefinite suspension of negotiations, the union representing striking Hollywood writers told its members Saturday it would try to deal directly with Hollywood studios and production companies, bypassing the umbrella organization that has been representing them,” reports John Rogers of the Associated Press. Specifically, David Letterman’s show plans to make a deal that will put new shows back on the air.
A Christmas Tradition
Hugh Duncan has a good podcast on A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Gifts for Writers
Gifts for writers and would-be writers from the Gotham Writer’s Workshop. Anyone want to contend that The Writer magazine is better than Writer’s Digest or vice versa?
The Word for 2007
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year is w00t. You can celebrate with by styling your bod in this.
Great Beethoven Fest
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s five-program Beethoven Festival, which took place over five weekends, was a hit. Two programs sold out.
Lost Mark Twain play heading to Broadway
Lost Mark Twain play is heading to Broadway. A researcher “was not thrilled to find the drawer crammed with Twain plays she had not yet read and didn’t care to.” But when she did read through that drawer, she found Is He Dead?She said:
“He had even managed, and this was not necessarily his strong suit, a plot, with memorable characters and hilarious scenes. I thought it held great promise.” She wasn’t the only one. In a letter dated Feb. 5, 1898, Twain wrote that his wife found the new comedy “very bully.”
The play had never been performed. Why?
The explanation left politely unspoken in rejections he received was that the play as it stood was lumpy and only intermittently funny.
“It has a great idea,” [playwright David Ives] allowed. “In movie terms, La Boheme meets Tootsie. But even at first reading I thought it really does need help. The construction is like a shack that is not very well buttressed; at the slightest touch, pieces of it would fall off.”