Vox Popoli

I’m working on another piece for a second Smart Pop book, this one on CS Lewis. The piece is entitled CS Lewis and the Problem of Religion in Science Fiction and Fantasy and it should be interesting and more than a little provocative.

What I need is for people to throw out the name of every fantasy book and series which:

A) uses a religious scheme based on some notion of Balance

or

B) features a medieval setting with no universal church

I can kick things off with David Eddings Belgariad in category (A) and Terry Brook’s Shannara series in category (B).

Thanks in advance….

From the UK Sun:

United are trying to ward off violent threats from radical fans by opting for a cloak-and-dagger approach to [Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ owner] Glazer’s latest takeover bid. The United board are on standby to meet in secret at just a few hours’ notice to discuss the American tycoon’s £800million offer. They abandoned plans to assemble at United’s ground after around 500 fans gathered there in a hate-filled protest this week. The board are now likely to discuss Glazer’s bid at a hush-hush London location. No one is prepared to say when — but it looks set to happen today.

I would love to be there for the first ManU game at Arsenal and seeing the look on the United supporters’ faces when the crowd sings “Yankee Doodle Dandy” or whatever song will end up being chosen to mock the soon-to-be American-owned team. About the only thing that would upset them more is if a German bought the team.

And so the bill for all that title-buying finally comes due….

UPDATE: Or maybe not. A combination of boardroom opposition to any bid, plus an indication Cubic, the investment vehicle of Irish racehorse owners John Magnier and JP McManus, are not intending to sell their 28.9% stake leaves Glazer floundering on both pre-conditions laid out in the ‘proposals’ he presented to United last weekend.

Bankers JP Morgan have told Glazer they will only provide £300million funding for a takeover approach if the bid is recommended by the United board and he is also successful in securing 75% of the company – both of which appear unlikely.

From the New York Times:

Asked if Mr. Jordan had been under any pressure from the network to resign, Ms. Robinson said the decision had been his. She said Mr. Walton, the CNN president, was unavailable for further comment. Mr. Jordan did not return a message left on his cellphone seeking comment….

When reports of Mr. Jordan’s more recent remarks began reaching the United States via the Internet, some of his colleagues, citing the previous controversy, responded with palpable irritation and mystification, though not with comments they would permit to be attributed to them by name, given the sensitivity of the situation.

Isn’t it interesting how the very same people who scream like infants about the public’s right to know when someone doesn’t want to talk to them clam up immediately whenever they find themselves on the wrong side of the microphone.

Journalists, by and large, are poorly educated pond scum. And yet, some people still ask me why I go out of my way to make it clear that I am not one.

Eco sees no point in it:

Odio il Carnevale…. Che senso ha celebrare il Carnevale in un mondo in cui il Carnevale viene proposto per trecento e sessantacinque giorni all’anno?

“I hate Carnival…. What sense does it make to celebrate Carnival in a world in which Carnival comes 365 days a year?”

I do so love a solid curmudgeonly aspersion cast by the elders. Especially one backed with all the majesterial authority and contemptuous certitude of a medieval Pope. It doesn’t get much better than my two favorite doctors, Eco and Z.

Kyle Williams brings an excellent GQ article to our attention:

They were crazy, and they loved God—and I thought about the unimpeachable dignity of that love, which I never was capable of. Because knowing it isn’t true doesn’t mean you would be strong enough to believe if it were.

That last sentence rather beautifully describes the disbeliever’s dichotomy. It also shows how there’s usually no need for fear or loathing despite the mutual incomprehension between belief and disbelief.

Did you know that single men, aged 18-34, are among the strongest supporters of a woman’s right to choose? I have no doubt this is the exact same demographic that supports the legalization of prostitution in Germany and yes, are among the most common patrons of prostitution in America.

See any connection?

Guys, age 18-34, who are frequently lampooned for their inability to commit and lionized for the excessive exercise of their raging hormones, want women to be free to exercise their sexuality as well. Why? The obvious answer is to indulge men under the clever marketing ploy of unencumbered sexual freedom for women. Let’s face it. From Madonna to Britney Spears and Cat Woman, the most popular women in America, and around the world, are still celebrated for how well they satiate the sexual fantasies of men….

Truth is girls, almost every guy wants to date a bad girl and marry a good one.

Hey Kelly. Kelly! Shhhhhh!

A nine-months’ pregnant woman fought off and killed a knife-wielding woman who may have been trying to steal the baby, police said Friday. Police said 26-year-old Sarah Brady acted in self-defense in killing Katherine Smith on Thursday. No charges were filed.

Smith, 22, had been falsely telling neighbors for weeks that she was pregnant, and a search of her apartment after her death revealed a full baby nursery, investigators said. “She had everything in place that you’d expect to have in place with a newborn coming,” said Steve Hensley, police chief in this Cincinnati suburb.

Nowhere in this story is it reported how a heavily pregnant woman could have fought off a woman with a knife, let alone killed her. Did she have a gun? I’ll bet she did. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that the news media will not report the details when private individuals use guns to defend themselves.

After the arrest of a man accused of abusing a daughter who had not been in school in five years, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said she plans to examine the state’s laws on homeschooling. The Tucson man, who’s name has been withheld to protect the daughter’s identity, was arrested Tuesday and accused of sexually abusing his 14-year-old daughter while holding her captive in his home for more than a year.

KGUN-TV in Tucson, an ABC affiliate, notes the popularity of homeschooling in Arizona, which legally requires only filling out a simple affadavit “With no accountability and irresponsible parents, it’s easy to see how children can get ‘lost,'” said a report by the station. Napolitano said of the case: “The homeschooling aspect is really one of the many aspects I think we need to go back … how could this happen in our town? How could this happen in our state?”

County School Superintendent Kim Fields acknowledged there are states with far stricter rules on homeschooling, with some requiring proof of curriculum, annual testing and professional evaluation. But Fields pointed out there are children in public schools being abused. “You can’t stop abuse by changing an education setting,” Fields said.

The suspect signed the required affadavit in 1999, according to KGUN, but the 14-year-old told police she never was homeschooled.

It’s interesting how stories such as this are covered. The children are, by their own statement, NOT homeschooled, and yet the media inevitably calls them homeschoolers. The truth is that any parent who decides to abuse his child is going to be able to do it and get away with it for a while. Unless and until every child is handed over to robots to be raised in automated creches, abuse of children at the hands of adults will happen.

But as I’ve written in the past, if one divides the number of abuse cases by the amount of time the abusing adult has access to the child, teachers and school employees are far more likely to abuse a child than a parent, especially if one considers how much more private time the parents have with them.

Meanwhile, similar stories from the same Fox News site don’t seem to generate any gubernatorial calls for banning public schools, even when one of the teachers involved had molested more than sixteen students. It sort of puts a different spin on “this one time, at band camp….” And the only reason most of these are being reported is the man bites dog aspect, so you know there’s a lot more male teacher-female student abuse going on.

This week alone, two cases have hit the news: Cops say one Texas teacher, Kathy Denise White had sex with a 17-year-old, and Tennessee teacher Pamela Rogers Turner had sex with a 13-year-old boy.

They join at least three other recent cases: Florida teacher Debra LaFave, 24, is expected to plead insanity to charges she had sex with a 14-year-old student, according to her lawyer; California teacher Sarah Bench-Salorio, 28, allegedly molested two boys when they were 12 and 14; and 33-year-old California teacher Rebecca Boicelli was arrested last month on statutory rape and related charges after DNA tests confirmed that a former student fathered her 2-year-old baby when he was 16.

Tonya is wearing out the Duran Duran reunion CD, Astronaut:

i was just wondering if you ever got the new album and if so, what do you think of it? maybe you should post a full review just to tee off nate! 🙂 my own thoughts, since you asked, are that it’s pretty good. that it definitely grows on you. that they are best when doing wonderful, catchy pop and that they tend to sound like morons when pontificating about “deeper things.” and that when simon sings the line “.. so FRESH! from your lips is born the melodeeee… melodeee…” from the song Taste the Summer, that he can’t really, actually be serious. oh, and that whoever thought Bedroom Toys was a good idea should be thrown into the ocean. still, it hasn’t left the CD changer in awhile. all in all, i think i’d give it a B+.

Space Bunny gave it to me for Christmas – I reciprocated with Robbie Williams Greatest Hits, which are about as well-crafted as modern pop songs can be – and while I’d give Astronaut a B myself, I have to seriously disagree on two counts. First, Bedroom Toys is my favorite song on the CD and perfectly captures Duran Duran’s unusual ability (almost unique in a world of pompous pop stars such as Bono and Sting), to lampoon their own image. Not only is the bass easily the best on the CD, but the image the song conjurse of a jaded, self-important eurosophisticate nonchalantly strolling into the boudoir of his soon-to-be latest conquest and bursting out with an English-accented “Oh my God, what’s this” not only cracked me up, but had the Perfect Aryan Male and the Potential Aryan Female in hysterics the first time they heard that followed by the chorus.

I saw your bedroom toys, now I’m stalling
I can’t believe my eyes

It’s just not meant to be taken seriously; even LeBon’s sing-song, glottal-stopping delivery indicates this. I liked it stylistically too, as it reminded me of something off the Notorious album.

As for the rest, I actually thought that the music and lyrics showed a band that has grown comfortable with their maturity and past-it status, unlike, for example, U2. Certainly the shift from the voracious predation of Hungry Like the Wolf – still one of my all-time favorite songs – to the themes of protectiveness, love and affection that permeate the CD is significant.

The one element missing is the song structure. This is very apparent when switching from the virtuoso songwriting of the Williams CD, where the verse flows flawlessly into the bridge and on into a big climactic chorus. They are very good musicians, (Tommy Lee, of all people, speaks highly of them), and decent pop songwriters and one can often feel the potential lurking about inside the song, but it never comes fully together and clicks on all cylinders. Ordinary World aside, I think Duran Duran has always been at their best when they attack a song, leading with the bass, and they just don’t seem to have the energy for that anymore.

In summary, Astronaut is good, it’s solid and it’s enjoyable if you like their style, but it isn’t great. It’s more So Red the Rose than Rio.

Maybe Paul really is dead…. Courtesy of the thankfully inimitable Bane. Being born after the “Paul is dead” hooplah, I’d never given the matter a moment’s thought, but speaking as someone who has written a few songs professionally, I have wondered about the qualitative difference between the melodies flowing through the early Beatles music and the rather leaden tunes of post-Beatles McCartney-written songs. When Douglas Adams referred to Paul McCartney as a phenomenal songwriter* – I was first reading Hitchhikers when the Wings were still active and I really didn’t know much Beatles’ music – I had no idea how on Earth he could possibly write that.

*in describing the sweetly xenophobic songs sung by the people of Krikkit