Poet Ezra Pound, whose hair launched a thousand conversations, planned a luncheon with his employer, William Butler Yeats, to serve a distinguished older poet, Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, a peacock at his manor. “The maneuverings of poets and literary people, jostling for fame behind the keyhole of glimpsed conviviality, is as old as Rome, older even; but Pound had a special gift for P.R.”
Leonard Nimoy’s Other Roles
The actor best known as Mr. Spock died today. Leonard Nimoy leaves behind many appearances in shows outside the Star Trek universe, such as The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Outlaws
Mission Impossible, where he played Paris from 1969-1971
On Perry Mason (spoiler) Continue reading Leonard Nimoy’s Other Roles
Engaging the Natural World
African-American poets write about nature from a perspective of working the land or engaging it personally. Poet Camille Dungy observes, “There is kind of this tradition to western nature poetry that is about objectification and idealization of the landscape. Kind of city boys writing about how lovely it would be to live in the country.” This isn’t how African-American poets think of the land as shown in 400 years of writing. (via Books, Inq.)
Which of Marvel’s Avengers Is the Best?
Here’s a good example of this blog’s need for a politics category. Here’s a post ranking all the Avengers according to their value to the team. For example, The Wasp comes in at #3. “If Captain America epitomizes the Avengers, Janet Van Dyne is still its heart and soul. She was a founding member, has led the team through some of its most difficult moments, and has the unequivocal respect of gods, robots, and the most powerful beings in the cosmos. Marvel actually put it best when it said if the Avengers were asked to rank themselves, The Wasp would likely be #1.”
Are You Ready to Write a Book?
Stephen Altrogge, Barnabas Piper, and Ted Kluck have recorded 29 episodes of their Happy Rant Podcasts, talking about stuff, junk, and things, to be specific. Here they chat about when one is ready to write a book and buying your way onto the bestseller list. They introduce proven schemes to move your book forward and reach readers you wouldn’t have reached with the subject or quality of your writing. If your book is mediocre, these guys are willing to take your money and move your book. Some may call this selling out. The Happy Rant crew calls it selling up. The bottomline is giving them your money. I’m sure it works. I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure it works.
KFC To Offer Edible Coffee Cups
KFC in the UK is running the final tests on their new Scoff-ee Cup, an edible cup to be offered with Seattle’s Best Coffee brand beverages. “The 100% edible cup is made from a special, wafer-like biscuit, then wrapped in sugar paper and lined with a layer of heat-resistant white chocolate.”
Naturally, this is a fabulous idea, but they want to make sure it works well in many circumstances before releasing it to the public. No one wants their little dessert cup to melt in their hand while chatting up a cute girl they just met. No plans for US release yet.
Great Fun Being a Journalist
Mollie Z. Hemingway offers great advice on how to excel in journalism in today’s world.
“Don’t Sweat the Details. Is there a difference between an Evangelical and an evangelist? Who cares?”
“Don’t question authority. … if a politician suggests that the reports of scandal surrounding his administration are overblown, leave him alone already. Would he lie?”
A journalist’s job is to advance his ideological narrative. “CNBC’s John Harwood said recently, ‘Those of us in political-media world should just shut up about “narratives” and focus on what’s true.’ Spoken like a real nobody.”
She’s got a good piece. I recommend it too all non-fiction writers. Of course, all of it could be summarized by quoting Henry Kissinger, who said, “Allow me to be the first to say that what we have done here is not a good thing. It’s definitely not a good thing. But it was, given the circumstances, the smart play.”
No Plans to Publish ‘Jefferson Lies’
Though Lifeway still sells The Jefferson Lies, Thomas Nelson does not and after an investigation will not publish it. The author, David Barton, has stated Simon & Schuster will pick it this year, but that claim has been denied by the publisher’s spokesman.
The Desire to Say Something New
“One of the dangers of evangelical publishing is the desire to say something novel,” Tom Schreiner observes. “Our evangelical publishing houses could end up like those in Athens so long ago: ‘Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new’ (Acts 17:21, NASB).”
He says this in relation to the many books producing in support of egalitarian relationships.
Hollywood Has Never Been Original
Scott Beggs looks at top-grossing films and says originality isn’t something Hollywood recently lost. He says it’s never been an original thinking place. It’s been a money-making place.
He explains, “The most original box office year was 1984 with 8 originals (Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, Gremlins, Karate Kid, Police Academy, Footloose, The Terminator and Romancing the Stone). Note how many of those got sequels or were remade. The least original box office years were (of course) 2011 and 2012, although 1968, 1972, 2007, 2013 and 2014 all only had a single original movie make the top ten.”