Paul Revere Warned the British They Weren't Going to Take Our Arms...

I'm not a professor of American History, but I did live in Boston for over six years and while I never did walk the entire length of the Freedom Trail, I do know the story of Paul Revere. Apparently Sarah Palin doesn't.

A bit confused? What I love most is that she knew she didn't have the story right and so she had to throw in there the bit about Paul Revere warning the British they weren't going to take our arms or our freedom. (Yeah, the year is 1775 at this point, so the Continental Congress hasn't even declared independence yet and the Bill of Rights wasn't even mentioned until 1789 by James Madison.)

There are a few "versions" of the night of April 18, 1775, the night Revere (and William Dawes) were instructed by Joseph Warren to ride from Boston to Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the advancing British Army is the true and accurate history. That Revere took the ride alone or that he  told every patriot - and mind you Ms. Palin patriot here is neither a missile nor a football player - that "THE BRITISH ARE COMING" is the kids version. If you can't even get the kids version right you are a moron.

You are a moron who has absolutely no place being president of anything, except maybe your own fucking fan club. There are lots of mothers in America who are raising children with disabilities who don't go on national television expecting a pat on the back and a sympathy vote. I'd vote for any one of those truly inspirational women over you Ms. Palin any-day-of-the-fucking-week.

Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on Ms. Palin for not knowing her history? I mean she reads many newspapers, in fact she claims she reads "all of them". Still, it's bit sad that one could learn more about American History from listening to the Beastie Boys or reading Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" than listening to someone who wants to be President of the United States.

The truth is I have no sympathy for Sarah Palin. Not one iota. She should not be a symbol for anything except that greed, corruption, and stupidity are apparently one way to get ahead in America. She should be plastered on school textbooks as a warning of what happens when you don't bother to get a good education. Do you really want someone like Palin running anything? On and on she went about family values. Maybe staying at home making sure your daughter wasn't having unprotected sex would have shown the world you cared more about family values than simply getting a spending allowance to blow at Sak's Fifth Avenue. Sure you're just a regular ol' hockey mom - if every regular ol' hockey mom in America also got a $250,000 check to buy Jones New York suits and private jet rides.

Here are some other great tidbits of knowledge via Ms. Palin:

"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." --Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008

"Well, let's see. There's ― of course in the great history of America there have been rulings that there's never going to be absolute consensus by every American, and there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So, you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but ―" --Sarah Palin, unable to name a Supreme Court decision she disagreed with other than Roe vs. Wade, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008

"But obviously, we've got to stand with our North Korean allies." --Sarah Palin, after being asked how she would handle the current hostilities between the two Koreas, interview on Glenn Beck's radio show, Nov. 24, 2010

"Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate." —a Tweet by Sarah Palin, which she quickly removed after being ridiculed for inventing the word "refudiate"

When asked about how as President she would avoid investigations similar to the one compelling her resignation as Governor of Alaska she responded, "I think on a national level your Department of Law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out."


Cancel what I said about her even being fit to be President of her own fan club. I was mistaken.

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Watch "Grass" via Documentary Heaven

This is a great documentary (with a pro-cannabis slant) by documentary film director Ron Mann and narrated by Woody Harrelson (who is openly pro-cannabis).

Grass is an insightful look at the history of cannabis in America, attempts to control narcotics through government law, and a few things you might not know about the "war on cannabis" in the US - which has been raging since the 1900's.

It's worth a watch no matter what your stance.

Update:

Here's another documentary about cannabis, produced by the BBC. It's also worth a watch and has a less pro-cannabis stance.

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Updates & Karen Blixen

So I am only a few days away from leaving for Holland and to say I'm excited would be a massive understatement. I'll be meeting a few friends, hanging out at Zandvoort, and eating a massive quantity of Thai food. I'll be blogging my daily adventures in Holland, so be sure to drop by.

In the meantime I have a house to clean, packing to do, and all those other little errands one must run before leaving for a trip. I hate packing. I really do. I've decided to make it easier on myself and just pack a few things that I can wear over and over again since the place I'm renting has a washing machine though I have recently lost a bit of weight and want to flaunt it a little!

A word on dieting. Don't diet. I've been trying for the past few months to simply move my ass a little more than usual and since deciding to cut out processed foods (I make my own ketcup now even) what I eat has become a lot more healthy. I know I'm going to gain a little weight in Amsterdam because I need to eat all the things I love to eat in Holland (Febo satekrokets being one of the things I need to eat) since I might not get a chance to go back for a few months. But hey, who doesn't gain a little weight on vacation?

I have posts scheduled to go up over the weekend in case I don't have a chance (or the energy) to blog. So be sure to check back and thank you to my new readers in Austria, Mexico, Russia, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Most of my readers seem to be from France and the US (which makes sense), but also Denmark.

If you've read my archives you probably know one of the women I admire most in the world, Karen Blixen was from Denmark. I pick up one of her books every now and then, randomly open it, and just read. She had a truly beautiful soul that woman. She was also a beautiful storyteller.

Here's what I read today:

"People who dream when they sleep at night know of a special kind of happiness which the world of the day holds not, a placid ecstasy, and ease of heart, that are like honey on the tongue. They also know that the real glory of dreams lies in their atmosphere of unlimited freedom. It is not the freedom of the dictator, who enforces his own will on the world, but the freedom of the artist, who has no will, who is free of will. The pleasure of the true dreamer does not lie in the substance of the dream, but in this: that there things happen without any interference from his side, and altogether outside his control. Great landscapes create themselves, long splendid views, rich and delicate colours, roads, houses, which he has never seen or heard of..."
I collect pictures of her, this is one of my favourites.

If you would like to read Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), you might want to read her book "Anecdotes of Destiny". It's now my favourite and the last she ever wrote. (My favourite before was Shadows on the Grass, which I was happy to have found a beautiful first American edition of a few years ago.)

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The Global War on Drugs

With all the recent press this issue has of late I've decided to officially comment. I am all for the legalisation of cannabis, but to legalise other controlled substances, not so much.

In France in the 1970's the world's harshest drug laws were passed that state any controlled substance is the same as another, meaning there is no different in France legally between cannabis or cocaine or heroin. In the United Kingdom and the United States cannabis isn't considered a Class A drug like cocaine is, but to possess, use, or sell cannabis is still a criminal offense.

When I was living in the United States I was encouraged by my doctor to use cannabis for a medical condition, namely migraines. Unfortunately for me medical marijuana prescriptions weren't available in New York state at that time and still aren't. Though I had smoked pot as a teenager and a few times in college, I did my research to find out what the long term effects were.

In the end of my research I felt lied to by the American media. The claims that marijuana use led to schizophrenia, other drug use, and other psychiatric problems were completely unfounded and mostly propaganda that had been around since the 50's. However the benefits of marijuana went largely unpublished.

Before I decided to try marijuana for my migraines this is what used to happen:

1. I would get a migraine that would last sometimes for days.
2. I would miss school or work.
3. I would eventually have to go to the doctor or if my doctor's office was closed to the emergency room to be given an IV drip for the dehydraton I suffered from nausea and an injection of XYZ that would make me sleep and result in an overnight hospital stay.

Since my insurance didn't cover me for having to go to the hospital for migraines a single migraine cost me upwards of $600.00 USD nearly every single time. I simply couldn't afford it. I tried to find alternative ways of treating my migraines, but in the end all the alternatives either didn't work or would have had more severe consequences. I had a friend who suffered migraines and took massive quantities of ibruprofen and sleeping pills to deal with them. In the end she did permanent damage to her liver and had an over the counter sleeping pill addiction.

So the next time I got a migraine on Day 2 I asked a neighbour who smoked to sell me a joint. I remember going home and sitting in my living room terrified to light it. I thought the police would come pounding on my door the minute I lit up. I took three puffs, stubbed it out, and waited.

The nausea I had been feeling for two days was the first symptom to go. In fact I was thirsty and hungry, things I'm not when I have a migraine. The throbbing in my head, the painful light sensitivity still didn't subside, so I took another few puffs. A half hour later I felt like a normal person again.

I felt so back to myself that I had to go and knock on his door again and tell him in great detail how after having tried every possible remedy from massage to accupressure to accupuncture to just drinking a few shots of whisky until I passed out that nothing and that included going to the emergency room and being pumped full of serious Class A narcotics had ever worked so fast. He laughed at me and said next time I have a migraine just give a little knock on his door.

The grand total? Aside from the pizza I had to order because I finally had my appetite back, $5.00 USD.

So when I get a migraine, I like to smoke a joint. Even in France with minimal cost health insurance I still smoke a joint because I don't want narcotics pumped into me and I'm unfortunately allergic to most of the prescription medicines available for migraine sufferers and the ones I'm not allergic to either require I take multiple doses (with all their side effects) or don't work at all.

Should I be imprisoned because of this? Even when I was last in Holland and some Dutch people we were with lit up around children I chose not to smoke. I never smoke cannabis or drink alcohol in the presence of children. Even when I smoke a cigarette I try to make sure children aren't around because of the second hand smoke. When my neighbour's 8 year old son asked me why I smoke cigarettes I told him because I'm addicted and that I wish I wasn't. I consider it being responsible, but I also realise it is a level of responsibility that isn't considered by everyone, nor do I expect it to be. It's your body and your life.

My friends who know I have a liberal policy on cannabis have been sending me these links for the past couple of weeks mostly via Facebook as if I have a liberal policy on all drugs. I don't. I'm not some massive hippie that believes people should be able to do whatever they want. Class A drugs should remain illegal, but I also agree that the war on drugs isn't working. Especially when I have friends who tell me it's easier to find cocaine in France than it is to find cannabis, and I've heard it's a similar story in the United Kingdom as well.

The truth of the matter is, it's politics and greed that keep drugs available. We live in a world where a gram of pure gold is cheaper than a gram of cocaine; where politicians refuse to look at potential benefits of some drugs; and people go to jail instead of receiving the treatment they might need to overcome serious drug addiction. So no, we're not winning the war, but it's mostly because we're not fighting it properly and never have. I mean, remember what happened during Prohibition?

What is your stance on the war on drugs?

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The Letters of Hunter S. Thompson

I love good stationary (I think England makes the best stationary in the world second to the Japanese maybe), office supplies, typewriters, and letters. There are two typewriters, both manual, one with French keys and the other with English keys, in the flat, but I don't write as often on them as I used to. Now it's mostly emails or letters in ink.

I get a lot comments from people about my letters and emails. It often makes me think perhaps I should try to revive the genre of the epistolary novel. One of my favourite novels in the world is epistolary - Les Liasons Dangereuses. Though I've never even attempted at writing anything along the lines of ann epistolary novel myself, reading the letters of Hunter S. Thompson does inspire and has inspired me. My "Open Letters" are my attempt to give Gonzo his due, though I usually write them as if they are being written by someone else.

Here are two of my favourite Hunter S. Thompson letters, one is a cover letter and the other was written to a Hollywood producer named Holly and sent via fax about The Rum Diaries (perhaps his best work). Johnny Depp and Benecio del Toro are both cc'd.

Enjoy!

Click to see a larger copy.

HOLLY SORENSON / Shooting Gallery / Hollywood / Jan 22 '01

Dear Holly,

Okay, you lazy bitch, I'm getting tired of this waterhead fuckaround that you're doing with The Rum Diary.

We are not even spinning our wheels aggresively. It's like the whole Project got turned over to Zombies who live in cardboard boxes under the Hollywood Freeway... I seem to be the only person who's doing anything about getting this movie Made. I have rounded up Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Brad Pitt, Nick Nolte & a fine screenwriter from England, named Michael Thomas, who is a very smart boy & has so far been a pleasure to talk to & conspire with...

So there's yr. fucking Script & all you have to do now is act like a Professional & Pay him. What the hell do you think Making a Movie is all about? Nobody needs to hear any more of that Gibberish about yr. New Mercedes & yr. Ski Trips & how Hopelessly Broke the Shooting Gallery is.... If you're that fucking Poor you should get out of the Movie Business. It is no place for Amateurs & Dilletants who don't want to do anything but "take lunch" & Waste serious people's Time.

Fuck this. We have a good writer, we have the main parts casted & we have a very marketable movie that will not even be hard to make....

And all you are is a goddamn Bystander, making stupid suggestions & jabbering now & then like some half-bright Kid with No Money & No Energy & no focus except on yr. own tits.... I'm sick of hearing about Cuba & Japs & yr. Yo-yo partners who want to change the story because the violence makes them Queasy.

Shit on them. I'd much rather deal with a Live asshole than a Dead worm with No Light in his Eyes.... If you people don't want to Do Anything with this movie, just cough up the Option & I'll talk to someone else. The only thing You're going to get by quitting and curling up in a Fetal position is relentless Grief and Embarrassment. And the one thing you won't have is Fun...

Okay, That's my Outburst for today. Let's hope that it gets Somebody off the dime. And if you don't Do Something QUICK you're going to Destroy a very good idea. I'm in the mood to chop yr. fucking hands off.

R.S.V.P

(Signed)

HUNTER

cc:
Depp
Benecio
M. Thomas
Nolte
Shapiro

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World Science Festival Online Starting Tomorrow

The World Science Festival is taking place starting today in New York City, but the good news is you can watch quite a few of the sessions online here.

I'm particularly interested in "Beautiful Minds: The Enigma of Genius" which will air on Saturday at 8:00 pm EST.

In ancient Rome, the genius (plural genii) was the guiding spirit or tutelary deity of a person, family (gens), or place (genius loci). The noun is related to the Latin verb gigno, genui, genitus, "to bring into being, create, produce." Because the achievements of exceptional individuals seemed to indicate the presence of a particularly powerful genius, by the time of Augustus the word began to acquire its secondary meaning of "inspiration, talent."

I'm hoping they're going to discuss all types of genius and more about recent scientific advancements on determining how genius develops - whether it is inherited genetically and if they will discuss the long-running "Genetic Studies of Genius" which started in 1921 at Stanford University which is now the oldest and longest running longitudinal study in the world.

The link for this particular session at the World Science Fair mentions Immanuel Kant, famous for coining the phrase genius in the 1700's in his work Critique of Judgement. Kant believed that genius is the ability to independently arrive at and understand concepts that would normally have t be taught by another person and originality is the essential character of genius. Arthur Schopenhauer goes one step further:

"Talent hits the target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see."

Schopenhauer believed that a genius is someone in whom intellect predominates over "will" much more than in the other average person.  In his aesthetics, the predominance of the intellect over the will of the "genius" allows him (or her) to create artistic or academic works that are objects of pure disinterested contemplation, the chief criterion of the aesthetic experience for Schopenhauer. In Schopenhauer's words, "they fall into the mire while gazing at the stars", which is an allusion to Plato's dialogue Theaetetus in which Socrates tells of Thales (the world's first philosopher) being made fun of for falling while trying to studying the stars.

In this dialogue Socrates asks his friend Theodorus if he knows of any geometry students who show particular promise and is told to seek out Theaetetus who is "intelligent, virile, and an orphan". Socrates and Theaetetus discuss three definitions of knowledge: knowledge as nothing but perception; knowledge as true judgement; and knowledge as a true judgement with an account - all of which are found to be unsatisfactory and ends with Socrates announcement that he has to go to to see the judge to answer to charges that he has been corruptinng the young and failing to worship the gods.

When Socrates asks Theaetetus to venture a guess as to what knowledge is, Theaetetus suggest that "knowledge is nothing but sense perception".

In the end of the dialogue, Socrates compares the human mind to a birdcage. He says it is one thing to possess knowledge and another to have it about one, on hand. He later discards his birdcage analogy (something Socrates does often, but hey, he was a philosopher) and concludes the dialgoue by announcing he again has to go to court, but this time he will be on trial, and we all know how that ended.

For me personally I philosophically adhere to both Schopenhauer and Kant's statements about genius, but I think it is a rather strict definition. I've been in the company of many people whom would be considered "geniuses". My mother was a math a prodigy who could do geometry despite never having been taught any maths beyond adding and subtraction. My best friend is also a math prodigy who has a spatial intelligence on par with Einstein. But there are other sorts of genius that aren't given as much credit as they deserve. I hope that the non-traditional aspects of genius will be given due consideration during this particular session of the World Science Festival because in many ways non-traditional genius, which I define as "being good at things that cannot be measured", is far more rare in society than most people realise.

A beautiful mind today has become synonymous with John Forbes Nash Jr. the Nobel Prize winning economist and mathematician portrayed by Russell Crowe. But what is a beautiful mind? In Nash's case he "hit the target no one else" could "see". I think it is easier and more justifiable to say a beautiful mind is any mind that allows itself to be led by creativity, imagination, and curiosity and that the modern day definition of "genius" must be adapted for those who are not simply skilled in maths or sciences because by defining it as such it limits of abilities as human beings.

By my definition every child has the potential for genius, but then again I've always believed that in the war of "Nature vs. Nuture", nuture is far more important, but I do firmly believe this. Find out what a child is naturally curious about, give them the right tools and encouragement, and perhaps that child's curiosity will find their target and perhaps it may turn out to be simply a "talent" as opposed to "genius", but being talented at anything is not to be scoffed at either. If you don't think so, you should meet my goddaughter who can music on any instrument she's given and then listen to me try to play the guitar!

Will you tune in for the WSF sessions? If you do, be sure to post your thoughts.

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WARNING: Extremely Graphic Video of the Torture of a 13 Year Old Boy

I am only posting this because this kind of torture should not be tolerated. When Monsieur Rédacteur told me this morning about the video being unblocked by YouTube I didn't want to watch it, but in the end I decided to watch it because this little boy's story should be known.

This should not be an Islamic-Arab-Muslim issue. It is about the children that die needlessly in political conflicts and in this instance about 13 year old Hamza Al khateeb, who didn't just lose his life for protesting. He was tortured, mutilated, and castrated. Children are the true victims in war.

I won't post the video here because of it's graphic nature because every person should decide for themselves whether or not they see this video. It brought tears to my eyes and I still cannot stop crying. It makes me angry and I hope that the people involved with be punished.

My heart goes out to this little boy's family. No one should ever have to see someone they love like this. I think it took an immense amount of courage for the family to show this to the world. I am sure they are in danger themselves now because of it.

The Syrian government via SANA is now claiming that Hamza was found dead after the fighting and sent to the hospital to be identified; that the cause of death was three gunshots and that "there weren't any traces of violence, resistance, or torture of any kind from bruises, fractures, joint displacements or cuts".

In case you don't watch the video here is what Al Jazeera claims:

Arrested during a protest in Saida, 10km east of Daraa, on April 29, Hamza's body was returned to his family on Tuesday 24th May, horribly mutilated.

The child had spent nearly a month in the custody of Syrian security, and when they finally returned his corpse it bore the scars of brutal torture: Lacerations, bruises and burns to his feet, elbows, face and knees, consistent with the use of electric shock devices and of being whipped with cable, both techniques of torture documented by Human Rights Watch as being used in Syrian prisons during the bloody three-month crackdown on protestors.

Hamza's eyes were swollen and black and there were identical bullet wounds where he had apparently been shot through both arms, the bullets tearing a hole in his sides and lodging in his belly.

Hamza's mutilated, castrated corpse was riddled with bullet holes and burn marks
 
On Hamza's chest was a deep, dark burn mark. His neck was broken and his penis cut off.

If you watch the video there is no doubt that the claims stated on Al Jazeera are true. YouTube only took down the original version of the video because of the graphic nature of the castration. Not to mention the body does not bruise from the second the heart stops and poor Hamza's body is covered in bruises as well as the red-purple areas that form post mortem.

His body was only returned to his family on the condition that they say nothing and Hamza has been laid to rest in his hometown with many people present to honour him.
Rest in peace young Hamza.

"Repel (evil) with what is better. Then will he, between whom and thee was hatred, become as it were thy friend and intimate. And no one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint." Chapter 41, Verse 34 and 35

From the Holy Quran

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The Best TV Show Ever?

Absolutely Fabulous. In my humble opinion that is.

I started watching AbFab, as it is known to its fans back when it used to air on Comedy Central. I fell instantly in love with this show, which might be the best fashion related comedy ever created thanks to Edina "Eddie" and Patsy's antics. No actually the more I think about it, it is the best comedy show based around fashion.

The good news is that you can almost watch all the episodes online thanks to YouTube, but in the meantime, here is some AbFab to get you started in case like me you have to pay bills today and clean the house and do other drab and not fab things this morning.

And on a side note, I was so happy that Jennifer Saunders pulled through a recent cancer scare. She is one of the funniest women on earth (watch her Top Gear episode if you don't believe me) and Joanna Lumley (who was a former model for Ossie Clark) isn't shabby chic either.

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Someday I'll go to Hay(on-Wye)

One of my biggest dreams is to go on Hay-on-Wye not only as an author, but also to simply shop for books. Year after year I watch the people in the biz go and come back all tousle haired and glowy.  They've just heard about the greatest book ever written and me, well I am stuck waiting to find out what this unicorn of a book is called.  Granted I'd likely skip the chats and go for a nice book hoke, but can't someone pay me to go anyways? I'll gather up the gossip over the dinner table.  I'll gladly serve up the delicious banter for my expenses and a wee per diem allowance.... you could have me for a bargain really. Anyways enough of my bleating. I don't think the powers that be read my blog... (which may be for the best really).

There are 39 bookshops in Hay-on-Wye, many specialising in very rare editions of books. Now that the festival is on it's a perfect chance to get a look at this charming little place known as "Book Town".

The first Book Town was pioneered in 1961 by Richard Booth in Hay-on-Wye, which is a small town on the border of England and Wales. Booth's concept was to buy up property in small towns and convert the properties into bookshops.

Hay-on-Wye has long been on my list of places to visit, with a van. It's a bit tricky to get there from Paris as I'd have to take a train to London and from London change to the British Rail at Paddington Station to arrive in Herefordshire and then take a bus. Or I'll have to get over my fear of driving on the left and rent a car, one that I can pile full of books to be brought back to France via the ferry. Knowing myself as I do, and how I can buy sometimes a hundred books in one go (not ones that cost 18,000 pounds of course), I'll be taking some time this summer to practice driving on the left around the countryside of Northern Ireland where I can be fairly certain I will cause no accidents.

I'm posting a little video that's available on The Telegraph's site about looking for the most expensive book in Hay-on-Wye which turns out to be H.G. Wells' First Men in the Moon which with its original dust jacket costs 18,000 pounds! The reason why books with dust jackets tend to cost more is because people tend to throw dust jackets away, so old books with dust jackets are a major attractive for serious collector's.

But my favourite little bit of this video is the bit with Peter Harries of Boz Books in Hay-on-Wye mostly because he and I have the same philosophy. Unless you have the money to throw around, you collect what means something to you.

I collect W. Somerset Maugham books for example and have a few first editions that I would (once the humans and the hound were safe) run into a burning house to save. I feel the same about my dust jacketless first edition of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't chop off my hair and sell it to get my hands on a signed first edition of W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge, which is my favourite of all his works. Nor does it mean I don't have multiple editions of the same works.

A little search for what I'm looking for, without the issued slip cover is already about 2,300 pounds, but as a lover of Maugham if I had the money I'd consider it a justifiable purchase as it is not only written by my favourite author, but it's also my favourite book by any author.

Here's an image of the book I'd most like to own, although with its original slipcover, which means the price would most likely be around the 18,000 pound price as well.

W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge printed 18 April 1944 No. 89 of 750 copies.

Hay-on-Wye isn't the only book town. There's book towns in many countries now, including the only one I've visited Montolieu in the south of France. If you'd like to see the complete list thanks to Wikipedia you can. Thanks Wiki!

Who knows maybe I'll get to Hay-on-Wye and find my first edition of The Razor's Edge and have nothing left over for anything else. Still, I'm determined to find my way there some day in the not-so-distant future!

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The Open Library

If you're looking for the best website for free e-books, you probably know of Project Guttenberg already, but Open Library is quickly becoming my favourite.

The reason why I'm starting to prefer Open Library is because beyond giving you the same available formats, the presentation is a lot more friendly and if you decide to read directly from the site the online reader is pretty fantastic and reminds me a lot of comic book viewers in the ease of use (without the need to magnify). There are also a shocking number of titles, complete with illustrations, and it looks just like a book! It will also read to you, which is another bonus if you're like me and get inspired by listening to books you already love while trying to write a book of your own.

Above I posted a YouTube video about OpenLibrary and their mission to give every book their own web page. Be sure to check it out.
You can also, for those of you who use Kindle, send books directly to your Kindle, but as I refuse to own one, I'm not sure how that works entirely or what format you receive the book in. If you use Kindle and send something to it from the Open Library I'd be interested in hearing more.

I'm currently reading W. Somerset Maugham's "The Magician" on OpenLibrary, inspired by the occultist Aleister Crowley. Considering it's a Maugham book I've never read, this site gets 4 stars for awesome in my book!

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Live Long and Make Music Videos

Seeing as Spock was always my favourite, this video is downright hilarious. I've got to see if the "Live Long and Prosper" guns have any sort of affect, but even if this don't, at least now I know how Nimoy gets his Spock on.

Kudos to Nimoy for having the sense of humour to participate in this. It makes me love him more although I don't love him enough to send him photos of me dressed up as a Vulcan.

The song isn't bad either. But this song is better and equally geeky...

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Happy Memorial Day

America was my home for quite a long time, so I still feel a great sense of attachment to my adopted country. On this Memorial Day I can't help but to think about the soldiers who are still giving their lives overseas and how they deserve to come home and be with their families.

"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." Alex de Tocqueville

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Here Be Maps Part One - Monsters in the Margins

If you’ve ever looked at an old map you’ve probably noticed they are often decorated with monsters, demons, or mysterious creatures of one kind or another. Today we know they were not “real” creatures, but to cartographers from the past they symbolised a sincere attempt to document what travellers could expect to find in the far corners of the Earth.

Maps like the ones below took cartographers years of observation and speculation to create and were a compendium of fact and wild fiction. Mariners were at this time travelling the Earth, recording everything they saw, and combining accurate geographical measurements with wild stories, all of which scholars at home read carefully and preserved.

A reproduction of the original Ebstorf map.

One of the first atlases every published from the 16th century.

A close-up of the "Ebstorf" Map one of the mappae mundi from the 13th century.

Nowadays it is hard to believe the tall tales people told of distant lands, many of which were readily believed by educated men.

The map below represents a region of Central Asia as the Roman’s understood it. On the left is an image of a Monoscelli, who were a race of people said to have one huge leg apiece. On the right is an example of the Scythians, who carried their eyes on their shoulders, and below we find one of the dog headed men, who spoke in barks. These characters and many like them were common sights on old maps and they owe their existence to sources like the Bible, common legends, and Roman writers such as Pliny the Elder.

A map of India from the 16th century.

Pliny was a naval commander and philosopher who lived in the first century AD and is responsible for preserving the most accurate and useful knowledge the Romans possessed as well as perpetuating some of the most ridiculous twaddle mankind ever recorded. In AD 77 he published the Naturalis Historia, the world’s first encyclopaedia, in which he mentioned the beings above, as well as dragons and serpents and the other dangers to be found at sea.

Pliny's work was the primary source of information for cartographers in the Middle Ages. They added his tales to their maps and embellished the missing parts with whatever seemed most interesting because their imagination provided answers more quickly than the slow gathering of actual facts ever could.

When the church became the final authority on the plan of the world they rejected the inconvenient conclusions of the ancients in favour of a neat, theologically pleasing picture built out of Christian dogma and speculation, of which the Bible was the major source. Maps became guides to the articles of faith rather than compendiums of practical knowledge and tended to include legendary regions, along with the associated creatures that were to be found there.

First amongst the places that the Church believed must exist was the Garden of Eden, which they located in the east, walled and high above the reach of the flood.

A T-O map of the Garden of Eden from the 17th century.

No map was considered complete unless Eden appeared on it. When the crusaders failed to discover it, it was moved farther east, until it was lost in the vast continent of Asia. Markers, such as the altars Alexander the Great set up on the edge of his kingdom, were noted as a guide for brave pilgrims. St. Macarius, guardian of Eden, often appeared nearby as a warning to travellers that were not fit to enter the Earthly Paradise.

Gog and Magog were another feature on early medieval maps. They appear in Ezekiel and Revelation as a race of people dwelling in the north with powers hostile to God, out of whose lands the final judgement was to come.

“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. Ezekiel 38:3”

“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. Revelation 20:7”

Throughout the dark ages Europe trembled in fear of invasion from these enemies of God and their realm appeared on map after map, always in a different place, surrounded by demons and warnings. The medieval mind was quick to imagine the distorted monsters created by Satan as can be seen in the works of the painters Hieronymus Bosch or Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

The dread of Gog and Magog, and perhaps of Islam (though the Koran mentions them in the same light), made the arrival in 1165 of a letter from a protecting king called Prester John fabulously popular.

Prester John was a descendent of three wise men and ruled a Christian nation lost among the pagans and Muslims of the orient. His lands were supposed to contain the fountain of youth and border on the Garden of Eden. He also helped guard Europe by holding back Gog and Magog behind the gates of iron Alexander the Great had built with God’s aid.

Copies of the letter circulated Europe for centuries after, swelling with stories of griffins, mythic birds, centaurs, fire-dwelling salamanders, and horned men. As trade with the east ramped up, no reports of such a kingdom trickled back yet creatures from the letter still decorated the margins and spaces of later maps.

A map of Prester Johns lands from the 17th century.

No map drawn up after was considered complete unless it included these regions and blank areas populated with extraordinary creatures. Added to these were garbled reports of real animals; gorillas as dog-headed men, porpoises as mermaids, and whales as sea serpents and floating islands.

A map of "Iceland" from the 16th century.

Eventually Gog and Magog and the realm of Prester John passed into legend, along with the demons and griffins, and they became decorations on maps, rather than warnings for mariners. Still, they look pretty frightening and the world seems a little poorer now they are gone.

Further reading:
The Discoverers, Daniel Boorstin
The History of Cartography, Leo Bagrow and R.A. Skelton
The Bible
Naturalis Historia, Pliny the Elder

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To Moms Everywhere

In case you didn't know today is Mother's Day in France.

To all you super moms out there, this is for you!

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Causes I Care About

I care a lot about what's going on in the world, but certain things really get my blood boiling. Like cutting funding to public libraries, so when a friend sent me a link about the $40 million in proposed budget cuts, after already cutting $17 million from the budget for the New York Public Libary only a few short years ago, I got to writing.

When I was a teenager I was given an award for my volunteer work based on an essay I wrote about books. In the end my essay was given a lot of attention and I was invited to The White House to meet President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. While I barely spoke to the President, I did have a lengthy discussion with the First Lady about the power books have to change lives. Maybe I was wiser than I realised at the age of 13, but this is something I still believe whole-heartedly today.

When I was down and out in New York and had very little money to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head the New York Public Library was my refuge. I was so broke back then I would walk from Brooklyn (Bed-Stuy) to Manhattan because I didn't have the money to pay my subway fare, but it didn't matter because once I saw those one or the other of those two famous lions nicknamed by former Mayor La Guardia "Patience" and "Fortitude" it felt like things weren't as bad as they actually were.

Most importantly what the New York Public Library gave to me was the possibility to have a new career. I read countless old fashion magazines, fashion books, and books on history and because of their helpful and knowledgeable staff who were always ready to point me into the right direction I learned everything I could about the history of fashion. It is the knowledge I acquired through books I borrowed from the New York Public Library that allowed me to start my own business and earned me the respect of some rather hard to please people in the industry.

I owe an enormous debt to the New York Public Library, but I am also indebted to every library I have ever stepped in. Once when leaving the Boston Public Library I overhead a young girl saying to her mother, "It's amazing Mommy they have everything!" That girl was hooked for life just like me. It made me wonder where the books she'd read in her life would take her.

This isn't just a small cut, it's massive. Ten libraries will be forced to close its doors permanently and the rest will only be able to keep their doors open four days a week. The result? 5.8 million visitors will be lost, of which 1.8 million will be children. 

Back when I lived in New York I read to and tutored children, volunteered to put books back on the shelves, and did whatever I was able to do to contribute back to the place that gave me so much. That this resource will no longer be available to New Yorkers is a catastrophe. With education budgets being simultaneously cut, it is up to every single person to find some way to give what they can to counteract the politics that are robbing children of the brightest possible future.

This isn't just happening in America either. Library budgets have been likewise cut in the United Kingdom and also here in France. Where will people go to educate themselves as educational programs become fewer and fewer and costs of secondary education become more and more solely for the rich? Even in Europe few countries offer a completely free education to their citizens aside from Denmark which has perhaps the best system, but this might be why Danish people claim to the happiest people on earth.

My library contains just 0.0002% (4,000 books) of the number of books readily available at the New York Public Library (20 million) and has cost me a small fortune to acquire. When I did so it was based on what I learned from the public libraries I love. Buy books, make them readly available, and never turn anyone away unless they stop bringing the books back. I consider it the greatest gift I give to my friends that they can stop by, have a meal, and borrow a book and I try to collect books in such a way that there is something for everyone. I even buy double copies when I find cheap ones to give away to my friends to get them started at building their own personal libraries.

A book is the greatest gift one can give because it represents something more than the tangible covers and pages. It can be a vacation, a refuge, a university, or simply give an immense amount of pleasure. It is something that can feed the spirit for a lifetime.

Please support public libraries and if you live in New York, write to Mayor Bloomberg and give him and his Executive Budget the hell they deserve. Bloomberg is one of the richest men in America and his fortune was made on the written word. If anyone should understand what a detriment it is to society to cut the funding of a public library like New York's it should be him.

You can find more information about how to write to Bloomberg or what affect the budget cuts will have on your New York Public Library here.

Fortitude.

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