After turning on the television the other night to watch the news, Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw's replacement (otherwise known as Brian Williams) looked in high spirits as he boldly proclaimed, "for anyone who likes politics, these next couple of weeks will be must-watch TV."
Well, while I count myself to be among those sick and deranged members of society who actually do like politics, this primary season has certainly worn my patience thin and we don't even live in one of the key early primary states.
For most serious candidates, the campaign started in the spring of '07 (for some a lot earlier) and we the people have been subjected to non-stop barrages of political ads, sound bites, and photo-ops. I've gotten tired of turning on the news and seeing that while almost nothing has changed on the campaign trail, the first 15 minutes are still centered on the meaningless impact of some new poll results. The question for many voters no longer is, "Do I know the candidates?" but "Do I still want to know them?"
While I'm sure the candidates didn't get together in 2006 and decide that as a group they needed to incessantly subject America to their annoying bickering, the fact remains that they all participate. Since when did "candidate" become a full time job? Wait a second; don't Hillary, McCain, and Obama already work for us in the Senate?
This begs the question: do these candidates, or any politicians for that matter, spend more time doing real substantive work or on the campaign trail? Trick question because for them, campaigning is "real substantive work." Wouldn't it be nice if we could just say, "What are you doing in Iowa and Nevada? Get back to work in D.C. or you're fired."
Perhaps this never-ending campaign season is the reason that voter turnout in America is so poor. By the time November rolls around many people are either so disgusted by the whole process that they sit it out or are so numb by the deafening political roar that they don't even notice that the commotion is reaching a boiling point; they have just tuned it out. The primaries should be pushed back � way back. They should start sometime in early spring. March perhaps? Furthermore we should make a federal law forbidding official campaigning and fundraising of any kind until at least January. This whole two-year head start is ludicrous.
Another thing that bothers me is how much money the candidates raise, and ultimately throw away. The candidates from the two major parties have already raised nearly $500 million. I'm bad at math but even I know that's half a billion dollars. In Iowa, Mitt Romney spent $7 million on ads alone, which translate into nearly $60 on everyone who caucused for a republican there. All that money for a losing effort? The sort of money that is flying around this primary is unbelievable and when one thinks of all the good causes and charities that this money � which is obviously easily expendable � could have gone to, it's amazing! I propose that they should be required to spend a small portion on charitable causes � say 5 percent? That sounds reasonable and it might actually funnel some money into good causes unless political operatives do what they do best and find a loophole.
I realize that my "modest" improvements to the primaries will probably fall on deaf ears and that if anything, the campaign season will get longer, more expensive, and more annoying in years to come. But to paraphrase the Lorax, I speak for the electorate, for the electorate have no patience. Call me derisory or call me a visionary ahead of my time but in either case please, please help spare this nation another primary season in a mere four years. I am almost willing to endorse a Dick Cheney dictatorship to avoid a continuation � almost, but not yet. And so, with the Cheney option temporarily shelved, it is with great impatience that I await our next commander in chief.
Source:
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/2008/01/24/column__presidential_campaigning_could_use_some_tweaking
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Dob in a fishery poacher
The public is being asked to dob in poachers as fishery officers step up their summer patrols.
They say more people are out with their rods and nets and that means more are flouting the rules.
Millions of dollars worth of illegal fish are taken from the water each year.
Fishery officer Liz Murray, who is on the beat, knows how bad things can get.
"If people don't stop maxing out the fisheries all the time, there's not going to fish left for families in the future," Murray says.
She is charged with pouncing on unsuspecting fishermen, making sure they know the law.
"I don't reckon they're tough enough on them actually. I reckon they should throw the book at them," says a diver.
Now fisheries officers are hoping locals will help them out by using an 0800 number to dob in anyone taking or selling what they shouldn't.
On the Kaikoura Coast, poachers come mainly for crayfish and paua.
With crayfish you can take up to six per day and males have to measure at least 54 millimetres across the top of the tail. With paua you can take up to 10 per day.
Murray says while most people play by the rules, others are ignorant.
"Sometimes you think you're banging your head against a wall - there's only so much you can do, you can wave all the pamphlets in the world."
And don't be so sure that there really is plenty more fish in the sea.
Source:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/1534789
They say more people are out with their rods and nets and that means more are flouting the rules.
Millions of dollars worth of illegal fish are taken from the water each year.
Fishery officer Liz Murray, who is on the beat, knows how bad things can get.
"If people don't stop maxing out the fisheries all the time, there's not going to fish left for families in the future," Murray says.
She is charged with pouncing on unsuspecting fishermen, making sure they know the law.
"I don't reckon they're tough enough on them actually. I reckon they should throw the book at them," says a diver.
Now fisheries officers are hoping locals will help them out by using an 0800 number to dob in anyone taking or selling what they shouldn't.
On the Kaikoura Coast, poachers come mainly for crayfish and paua.
With crayfish you can take up to six per day and males have to measure at least 54 millimetres across the top of the tail. With paua you can take up to 10 per day.
Murray says while most people play by the rules, others are ignorant.
"Sometimes you think you're banging your head against a wall - there's only so much you can do, you can wave all the pamphlets in the world."
And don't be so sure that there really is plenty more fish in the sea.
Source:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/1534789
Auburn gets some famous visitors
Auburn, N.Y. -- West Middle School in Auburn was visited by dozens of famous people Thursday night.
There was Tiger Woods, complete with a set of clubs. Shirley Temple was there, cute as a button with a red frilly dress, curly locks and shiny patent leather shoes. Thomas Edison, dapper in a green sport jacket, brought along a couple of his famous inventions -- the phonograph and a light bulb.
And Elizabeth Cady Stanton sat prim and proper marveling that women today not only can vote, but one is running for president.
These famous folks came to West Middle School in Auburn for the sixth-grade annual Living History Museum. Ninety-two pupils selected a famous person to research and then dressed as that person and talked about their "lives" as scores of people filed through the school.
Matthew Jordan, 11, plays second base in Little League, so he wanted to learn more about a famous infielder, Honus Wagner. He talked about the teams Wagner played for, how he played every infield position there is and how he was one of the first 12 men elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
"I like baseball and he was one of the best," Matthew said. "He was the best shortstop in history."
The biggest surprise Matthew uncovered about Wagner was how much his baseball card is worth. "One was auctioned last week for $1.1 million," he said, with a twinkle that meant he wished he had one of those cards.
"There are less than 50 left in the world," he said.
Alyssa Coleman, 11, was appalled to learn what suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton's father said when Stanton was young.
"He said he wished she was a boy," Alyssa said.
RaeAnn Jupin, 11, memorized everything she learned about Anne Frank, the Jewish girl who kept a famous diary of her time in a Nazi concentration camp in World War II.
"She was a very good person and made a difference in people's lives," RaeAnn said. "She taught us to fight for what you believe is right."
Sixth-grade teacher Dawn Reilley said the Living History Museum is the culmination of the Dreamers & Doers unit. Each pupil was supposed to "choose someone who had a dream and did something to follow that dream," she said.
They then read a biography of the person they chose and did research in magazines, books and on the Internet. They then wrote a summary of their work and a speech for the museum and found clothes and props for their presentation.
Source:
http://blog.syracuse.com/news/2008/01/auburn_gets_some_famous_visito.html
There was Tiger Woods, complete with a set of clubs. Shirley Temple was there, cute as a button with a red frilly dress, curly locks and shiny patent leather shoes. Thomas Edison, dapper in a green sport jacket, brought along a couple of his famous inventions -- the phonograph and a light bulb.
And Elizabeth Cady Stanton sat prim and proper marveling that women today not only can vote, but one is running for president.
These famous folks came to West Middle School in Auburn for the sixth-grade annual Living History Museum. Ninety-two pupils selected a famous person to research and then dressed as that person and talked about their "lives" as scores of people filed through the school.
Matthew Jordan, 11, plays second base in Little League, so he wanted to learn more about a famous infielder, Honus Wagner. He talked about the teams Wagner played for, how he played every infield position there is and how he was one of the first 12 men elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
"I like baseball and he was one of the best," Matthew said. "He was the best shortstop in history."
The biggest surprise Matthew uncovered about Wagner was how much his baseball card is worth. "One was auctioned last week for $1.1 million," he said, with a twinkle that meant he wished he had one of those cards.
"There are less than 50 left in the world," he said.
Alyssa Coleman, 11, was appalled to learn what suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton's father said when Stanton was young.
"He said he wished she was a boy," Alyssa said.
RaeAnn Jupin, 11, memorized everything she learned about Anne Frank, the Jewish girl who kept a famous diary of her time in a Nazi concentration camp in World War II.
"She was a very good person and made a difference in people's lives," RaeAnn said. "She taught us to fight for what you believe is right."
Sixth-grade teacher Dawn Reilley said the Living History Museum is the culmination of the Dreamers & Doers unit. Each pupil was supposed to "choose someone who had a dream and did something to follow that dream," she said.
They then read a biography of the person they chose and did research in magazines, books and on the Internet. They then wrote a summary of their work and a speech for the museum and found clothes and props for their presentation.
Source:
http://blog.syracuse.com/news/2008/01/auburn_gets_some_famous_visito.html
Couture clash: A riot of fluorescent colour from Christian Lacroix
To the stark modernity of the Pompidou Centre for Christian Lacroix's couture show, though anyone expecting a modern collection would have been wrong-footed by the baroque creations on the catwalk.
"An angel passing by" was the theme of this show, which saw Lacroix at his colourful best.
Often described as "painterly" for his striking use of colour, Lacroix really ran riot, with a raft of voluminous satin skirts decorated with what looked like strokes from a giant and unwieldy brush.
To get truly into the spirit of a Lacroix presentation, the audience must dispense with tired old clichés such as "red and green should never be seen" and embrace the notion of discordant hues.
Fluorescent pink dress trimmed with green tassels and worn with canary yellow tights? Only at Lacroix.
Echoing the angel theme, lace was a motif throughout, often traced in gold filigree along the edge of a skirt or cuff for a romantic effect.
A high-necked cream lace dress with a boned bodice fanned out from the waist, and was worn with ombre - dip-dyed, to you and me - tights, another recurring theme.
Shoes were vertiginous and came in a black and white gingham check, while handbags, when they appeared, were small and dainty, one festooned with a bloom of pink roses.
Lacroix doesn't really do daywear - unless, that is, you fancy wearing a navy blue embroidered jacket and cream silk flat-fronted trousers to the office.
This was as workaday as the collection got: hardly surprising, since Lacroix's moneyed clients have probably never set foot in an office.
His heart lies with eveningwear.
While a lantern-sleeved gown with a blue macramé bustier and a pink and green floral painted skirt was a typically bombastic offering, it was the pared-down dresses which really shone.
Most of his gowns are too avant-garde to be popular on the red carpet, but they are all the better for not being constrained by the pedestrian tastes of Hollywood actresses.
Notably, Helen Mirren is a fan, and wore Lacroix to the 2007 Oscars - a case of strong women loving strong clothes.
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=509923&in_page_id=1879
"An angel passing by" was the theme of this show, which saw Lacroix at his colourful best.
Often described as "painterly" for his striking use of colour, Lacroix really ran riot, with a raft of voluminous satin skirts decorated with what looked like strokes from a giant and unwieldy brush.
To get truly into the spirit of a Lacroix presentation, the audience must dispense with tired old clichés such as "red and green should never be seen" and embrace the notion of discordant hues.
Fluorescent pink dress trimmed with green tassels and worn with canary yellow tights? Only at Lacroix.
Echoing the angel theme, lace was a motif throughout, often traced in gold filigree along the edge of a skirt or cuff for a romantic effect.
A high-necked cream lace dress with a boned bodice fanned out from the waist, and was worn with ombre - dip-dyed, to you and me - tights, another recurring theme.
Shoes were vertiginous and came in a black and white gingham check, while handbags, when they appeared, were small and dainty, one festooned with a bloom of pink roses.
Lacroix doesn't really do daywear - unless, that is, you fancy wearing a navy blue embroidered jacket and cream silk flat-fronted trousers to the office.
This was as workaday as the collection got: hardly surprising, since Lacroix's moneyed clients have probably never set foot in an office.
His heart lies with eveningwear.
While a lantern-sleeved gown with a blue macramé bustier and a pink and green floral painted skirt was a typically bombastic offering, it was the pared-down dresses which really shone.
Most of his gowns are too avant-garde to be popular on the red carpet, but they are all the better for not being constrained by the pedestrian tastes of Hollywood actresses.
Notably, Helen Mirren is a fan, and wore Lacroix to the 2007 Oscars - a case of strong women loving strong clothes.
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=509923&in_page_id=1879
Radium thrown out as scrap in university blunder
A CATALOGUE of errors led to a Yorkshire university losing a piece of radioactive material which was accidentally sent to a scrap metal yard on the back of a tractor trailer.
A major alert was sparked last year when it was discovered that radioactive radium 226 had gone missing from a machine which had been dismantled by staff at York University's biology department. It was found four days later after being mistakenly sent to a scrapyard in York and then to a recycling plant in Sheffield.
The results of an internal investigation have emerged which says staff who dismantled the machine failed to carry out a risk assessment and "did not recognise or realise the hazards".
A report, published through the Freedom of Information Act, reveals that a lecturer who decommissioned the RackBeta Machine did not realise which part of the equipment contained radioactive material.
The investigation also raises concern about the "competency" of a supervisor who it claims failed to carry out a risk assessment and asked for "inappropriate" tests to be carried out which would not have established whether a sealed source of radiation had been contaminated.
University staff believed the radium 226 was inside a lead chamber which was successfully removed and placed in s
torage. However, the radium was actually inside a steel tube which fell to the floor during dismantling and was thrown out as scrap.
The radioactive material was sent on the back of a tractor to a scrap metal merchant in York and then on to a recycling plant in Sheffield.
The mistake only came to light when the lead box was opened by a specialist firm which realised it did not contain any radioactive material.
The university organised medical checks and contamination equipment was used to carry out two sweeps of its biology department within 24 hours, which both produced negative results.
The steel tube was discovered intact in Sheffield.
A York University spokesman said an immediate and detailed investigation traced the missing "tiny" amount of radium 226 within four days and likely public exposure was minimal.
Procedures on dealing with radiation have been tightened.
Source:
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Radium-thrown-out-as-scrap.3690526.jp
A major alert was sparked last year when it was discovered that radioactive radium 226 had gone missing from a machine which had been dismantled by staff at York University's biology department. It was found four days later after being mistakenly sent to a scrapyard in York and then to a recycling plant in Sheffield.
The results of an internal investigation have emerged which says staff who dismantled the machine failed to carry out a risk assessment and "did not recognise or realise the hazards".
A report, published through the Freedom of Information Act, reveals that a lecturer who decommissioned the RackBeta Machine did not realise which part of the equipment contained radioactive material.
The investigation also raises concern about the "competency" of a supervisor who it claims failed to carry out a risk assessment and asked for "inappropriate" tests to be carried out which would not have established whether a sealed source of radiation had been contaminated.
University staff believed the radium 226 was inside a lead chamber which was successfully removed and placed in s
torage. However, the radium was actually inside a steel tube which fell to the floor during dismantling and was thrown out as scrap.
The radioactive material was sent on the back of a tractor to a scrap metal merchant in York and then on to a recycling plant in Sheffield.
The mistake only came to light when the lead box was opened by a specialist firm which realised it did not contain any radioactive material.
The university organised medical checks and contamination equipment was used to carry out two sweeps of its biology department within 24 hours, which both produced negative results.
The steel tube was discovered intact in Sheffield.
A York University spokesman said an immediate and detailed investigation traced the missing "tiny" amount of radium 226 within four days and likely public exposure was minimal.
Procedures on dealing with radiation have been tightened.
Source:
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Radium-thrown-out-as-scrap.3690526.jp
CAPITOL BRIEFINGS: House panel takes on autism insurance bills
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LANSING - Advocates of legislation to require insurance coverage for treatment of autism are hoping the new year brings new action.
House Bill 5527, sponsored by Kathy Angerer, D-Dundee, and House Bill 5529, sponsored by Richard Ball, R-Bennington Township, would require health insurers and health maintenance organizations to cover autism treatments that include intensive early intervention, behavioral analysis and therapy, and speech, occupational and physical therapy.
Backers say the bills, which had a committee hearing in December, are important to address needs fostered by a disorder that affects one in 150 children, impairing communication, behavior and social interaction.
"The need is huge," said Stephanie Harlan, director of autism connections at the Judson Center in Royal Oak, a nonprofit agency that has created an online forum to create a statewide coalition for the Michigan autism community.
The Michigan Autism Coalition Targeting Insurance, Options and Networking plans first to work toward insurance coverage for individuals with autism.
"Most autism experts recommend very intensive services — twenty to forty hours a week of therapy services," Harlan said. "It is very costly, but the payoff comes when you give the services to a child very young ... often times they won't need the services the rest of their life."
Wendy Block, director of health policy and human resources at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said she is sympathetic to people facing the challenges of autism. But mandated benefits such as required coverage for autism treatments add to the cost of health insurance that is already difficult for many employers to afford, she said.
Harlan said other states that have enacted similar legislation have not seen significant increases in premiums, and she said such coverage could benefit employers by reducing the time employees take off work to care for an autistic child.
The bills are before the House Health Policy Committee, chaired by Angerer. The committee last month approved companion measures, House Bills 5526 and 5528, which create a state autism research fund and provide an option on Michigan's income-tax form for people to contribute to the fund.
Crain's was unable last week to reach Angerer for comment.
Touch-screen testing
The Michigan Secretary of State's office has launched automated systems for drivers of commercial vehicles to take their licensing tests.
Instead of paper exams, commercial driver's license applicants at 29 branch offices can take the test on touch-screen kiosks that provide immediate results and eliminate the need for branch employees to correct the tests.
A $450,000 federal grant paid for the 100-plus kiosks, some of which are in 15 Southeast Michigan branches. The program could expand, depending on grant funding.
Comings & goings
*Jack Kresnak, former reporter for the Detroit Free Press, is the new president and CEO of Lansing advocacy organization Michigan's Children. He replaces Sharon Claytor Peters, who is resigning.
* Jon Braeutigam, acting deputy treasurer and chief investment officer in the Michigan Department of Treasury, will permanently fill those positions. He replaces Jacqueline Johnson, who retired in 2007.
* James Hallan, president and COO of the Michigan Retailers Association and Retailers Mutual Insurance Co., earlier this month became president and CEO of both organizations. In the CEO role, he replaces Larry Meyer, who retired Dec. 31.
* Karen Anderson, quality assurance officer for Capital Area Michigan Works!, has been named COO of the Michigan Works! Association. She replaces Luann Dunsford, who is now CEO.
* Jennifer Spike, legislative director for the House Republican Caucus, has been named chief of staff to House Minority Leader Craig DeRoche, R-Novi. She replaces James Holcomb, now with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.
Source:
http://crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080121/SUB/801210313/1033/-/-/capitol-briefings-house-panel-takes-on-autism-insurance-bills
Click Here!
LANSING - Advocates of legislation to require insurance coverage for treatment of autism are hoping the new year brings new action.
House Bill 5527, sponsored by Kathy Angerer, D-Dundee, and House Bill 5529, sponsored by Richard Ball, R-Bennington Township, would require health insurers and health maintenance organizations to cover autism treatments that include intensive early intervention, behavioral analysis and therapy, and speech, occupational and physical therapy.
Backers say the bills, which had a committee hearing in December, are important to address needs fostered by a disorder that affects one in 150 children, impairing communication, behavior and social interaction.
"The need is huge," said Stephanie Harlan, director of autism connections at the Judson Center in Royal Oak, a nonprofit agency that has created an online forum to create a statewide coalition for the Michigan autism community.
The Michigan Autism Coalition Targeting Insurance, Options and Networking plans first to work toward insurance coverage for individuals with autism.
"Most autism experts recommend very intensive services — twenty to forty hours a week of therapy services," Harlan said. "It is very costly, but the payoff comes when you give the services to a child very young ... often times they won't need the services the rest of their life."
Wendy Block, director of health policy and human resources at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said she is sympathetic to people facing the challenges of autism. But mandated benefits such as required coverage for autism treatments add to the cost of health insurance that is already difficult for many employers to afford, she said.
Harlan said other states that have enacted similar legislation have not seen significant increases in premiums, and she said such coverage could benefit employers by reducing the time employees take off work to care for an autistic child.
The bills are before the House Health Policy Committee, chaired by Angerer. The committee last month approved companion measures, House Bills 5526 and 5528, which create a state autism research fund and provide an option on Michigan's income-tax form for people to contribute to the fund.
Crain's was unable last week to reach Angerer for comment.
Touch-screen testing
The Michigan Secretary of State's office has launched automated systems for drivers of commercial vehicles to take their licensing tests.
Instead of paper exams, commercial driver's license applicants at 29 branch offices can take the test on touch-screen kiosks that provide immediate results and eliminate the need for branch employees to correct the tests.
A $450,000 federal grant paid for the 100-plus kiosks, some of which are in 15 Southeast Michigan branches. The program could expand, depending on grant funding.
Comings & goings
*Jack Kresnak, former reporter for the Detroit Free Press, is the new president and CEO of Lansing advocacy organization Michigan's Children. He replaces Sharon Claytor Peters, who is resigning.
* Jon Braeutigam, acting deputy treasurer and chief investment officer in the Michigan Department of Treasury, will permanently fill those positions. He replaces Jacqueline Johnson, who retired in 2007.
* James Hallan, president and COO of the Michigan Retailers Association and Retailers Mutual Insurance Co., earlier this month became president and CEO of both organizations. In the CEO role, he replaces Larry Meyer, who retired Dec. 31.
* Karen Anderson, quality assurance officer for Capital Area Michigan Works!, has been named COO of the Michigan Works! Association. She replaces Luann Dunsford, who is now CEO.
* Jennifer Spike, legislative director for the House Republican Caucus, has been named chief of staff to House Minority Leader Craig DeRoche, R-Novi. She replaces James Holcomb, now with the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.
Source:
http://crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080121/SUB/801210313/1033/-/-/capitol-briefings-house-panel-takes-on-autism-insurance-bills
Renowned Maya Archaeologist To Speak At CU-Boulder Jan. 26
Northwestern University anthropology Associate Professor Cynthia Robin, an internationally known archaeologist who has documented the lives and times of ancient Maya farmers in Central America, will give a free public lecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Saturday, Jan. 26.
Robin's presentation, the 14th annual Distinguished Archaeology Lecture, will draw heavily on her research at Chan, an ancient village in Belize that flourished from about 1000 B.C. to roughly 1200 A.D. Because the occupation period of Chan spans the rise and fall of Maya civilization, findings by Robin and her team illuminate the relationship between ordinary people and small communities and the broader Mayan society, as both evolved over time.
The lecture will be at 7 p.m. in room 270 of the Hale Sciences Building, located just southeast of the intersection of Broadway and University Avenue. Parking is available along University Avenue and in the Euclid AutoPark just east of the University Memorial Center at 15th Street and Broadway.
Although the ancient Maya had no metal tools, wheeled vehicles or beasts of burden, they created one of the most intellectually and artistically sophisticated civilizations ever known, according to Robin. Robin will talk about some of the newest archaeological discoveries, including the decipherment of ancient Maya hieroglyphs and the excavations of the households of ancient Mayan people at Chan.
Over the past several decades, new archaeological discoveries have dramatically changed the understanding of the lives of ancient Maya, from kings and queens to peasant farmers, according to Robin. The homes, agricultural terraces and a small ceremonial center constructed at Chan are providing new information on the organizational structure of the villagers, including gender and class issues.
"The old view that portrayed ancient Maya landscape as a relatively unpopulated expanse of empty ceremonial centers where a few priests guided the lives of a few peasants . . . " is changing, wrote Robin in a perspective piece for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The old perception "is giving way to a picture of an active and vibrant Maya world, with a socially and economically distinctive cast of characters who all had something to offer to the society and us."
Sponsored by Western Cultural Resource Management of Boulder and the CU-Boulder anthropology department, the event will include a question-and-answer session with the audience. A public reception with Robin will follow. The National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society and the John J. Heinz Charitable Trust have funded Robin's research in Belize.
Robin received her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999. She is the author of several books and scores of articles, book chapters and technical reports on Mesoamerican archaeology. Robin first visited Belize after high school, when she joined the Peace Corps and became involved in educational programs teaching Belizean children native history.
Contact: Payson Sheets, (303) 492-7302
Payson.Sheets@colorado.edu
Jim Scott, (303) 492-3114
Source:
http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2008/18.html
Robin's presentation, the 14th annual Distinguished Archaeology Lecture, will draw heavily on her research at Chan, an ancient village in Belize that flourished from about 1000 B.C. to roughly 1200 A.D. Because the occupation period of Chan spans the rise and fall of Maya civilization, findings by Robin and her team illuminate the relationship between ordinary people and small communities and the broader Mayan society, as both evolved over time.
The lecture will be at 7 p.m. in room 270 of the Hale Sciences Building, located just southeast of the intersection of Broadway and University Avenue. Parking is available along University Avenue and in the Euclid AutoPark just east of the University Memorial Center at 15th Street and Broadway.
Although the ancient Maya had no metal tools, wheeled vehicles or beasts of burden, they created one of the most intellectually and artistically sophisticated civilizations ever known, according to Robin. Robin will talk about some of the newest archaeological discoveries, including the decipherment of ancient Maya hieroglyphs and the excavations of the households of ancient Mayan people at Chan.
Over the past several decades, new archaeological discoveries have dramatically changed the understanding of the lives of ancient Maya, from kings and queens to peasant farmers, according to Robin. The homes, agricultural terraces and a small ceremonial center constructed at Chan are providing new information on the organizational structure of the villagers, including gender and class issues.
"The old view that portrayed ancient Maya landscape as a relatively unpopulated expanse of empty ceremonial centers where a few priests guided the lives of a few peasants . . . " is changing, wrote Robin in a perspective piece for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The old perception "is giving way to a picture of an active and vibrant Maya world, with a socially and economically distinctive cast of characters who all had something to offer to the society and us."
Sponsored by Western Cultural Resource Management of Boulder and the CU-Boulder anthropology department, the event will include a question-and-answer session with the audience. A public reception with Robin will follow. The National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society and the John J. Heinz Charitable Trust have funded Robin's research in Belize.
Robin received her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999. She is the author of several books and scores of articles, book chapters and technical reports on Mesoamerican archaeology. Robin first visited Belize after high school, when she joined the Peace Corps and became involved in educational programs teaching Belizean children native history.
Contact: Payson Sheets, (303) 492-7302
Payson.Sheets@colorado.edu
Jim Scott, (303) 492-3114
Source:
http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2008/18.html
The Grapes of Wrath
Correction Appended
It was mid-July, 10 days into a heat wave so unrelenting that it had penetrated the thick stone walls of my parents’ Umbrian farmhouse, and there was no relief to be found, indoors or out. There was also a big fresh Mediterranean fish waiting in the fridge — its name, in Italian, is ombrina. But not one of us felt like eating, let alone going anywhere near a stove. By the time the sun finally set that night, it was nearly 9:30; we jumped into the pool, cooled off and suddenly realized we were famished. Improvising with what was at hand, my mother, a superb cook, braised the ombrina in a quick sauce of tomatoes, garlic and saffron, and then, reaching for the nearest bottle, splashed some grappa into the pan — and so a favorite family recipe was born.
Skip to next paragraph
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times. Food stylist: Jill Santopietro.
It was the grappa that transformed that rather simple sauce into a potent remedy for the day’s heat-induced stupor. Grappa is a fiery drink, not for the mild of heart or palate. Or as the Italian writer Italo Calvino memorably described it: “suitable only for defrocked priests, unemployed bookkeepers and husbands who have been cuckolded.” A cheap grappa, often at upward of 80 proof, is little more than a burning liquid flame that sears your throat and wakens your spirit before knocking you flat. A great grappa, on the other hand, is smooth and complex and leaves a long, blossoming finish.
As temperatures started to drop this winter, I couldn’t help remembering our improvised summer meal. So I decided to call my favorite chefs and ask what cold-weather dishes I might make with grappa. To my surprise, the ideas poured in. While tasting one of the better grappas — like Nonino’s Picolit or Jacopo Poli’s Vespaiolo — is certainly a revelation, cooking with it reveals its character without the hangover. It is a surprisingly versatile ingredient, equally effective in savory and sweet dishes. For Andrew Carmellini, the chef of A Voce, grappa gives that important note of acidity that rounds out the flavors in his roast pork with plums. The grappa cuts the richness of the meat and counters the sweetness of the plums, turning what might otherwise be too sweet a sauce into a sophisticated dialogue of flavors. I tried substituting prunes for the plums and found the resulting dish even silkier and more nuanced. Carmellini’s Italian grandmother lived 35 miles from Nonino, so grappa flows in his blood. And polished though his cooking at A Voce is, he confessed to me that at home he likes to splash his favorite all-American butter pecan ice cream with grappa for a quick lift.
The beauty of cooking with grappa, I discovered, is to be found in its split personality. Straight from the bottle, it adds vibrancy, but cooked down, the alcohol evaporates, leaving an elegant, lingering complexity. Fabio Trabocchi, the chef of Fiamma in SoHo, took his first job in the Veneto region of Italy, where at around 10 every morning, the men in his village would gather for a caffè corretto — coffee spiked with grappa. Perhaps it’s the memory (or trauma) of this head-banging custom that persuaded Trabocchi to cook his brandy down until not a trace of alcohol remains. His delicate pear risotto glows with merely a subtle hint of grappa — like the trailing vapor of vermouth in a fine martini.
But grappa needn’t be limited to Italian cooking. Chef Saul Bolton of Saul in Brooklyn uses Clear Creek’s muscat grappa — an American grappa from Oregon — to add a floral note to his perfect cured salmon, giving it a faintly sweet undertone, a welcome change from the usual gin- or vodka-cured gravlax. Perhaps the best American grappa producer, Clear Creek, has grown so popular of late that Stephen McCarthy, the owner, doubled the size of his distillery 18 months ago yet says he still can’t keep up with demand.
I have nothing against Clear Creek, but when I think of grappa, I never think of Oregon. I think of Umbria. I think of the sun. I think of my mother’s delicious ombrina. I think of our plates practically licked clean, and the bottle of grappa sitting half empty on the table. And I remember the storm that blew in that night, lifting the heat and leaving a cool dew on the grass by morning. If there is one drink certain to start a storm, it’s grappa. A talisman of sorts that I won’t forget next summer when the sun begins to bake us dry.
——
Pork Arrosto With Prunes and Grappa
1 center-cut pork loin roast, 4 to 5 bones (between 3 and 5 pounds)
For the brine (optional):
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 1/3 cups sugar
For the spice rub:
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
10 sage leaves
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the prunes:
1 3/4 cups prunes
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 bay leaves
Pinch of crushed
black pepper
1/4 cup grappa
Salt.
1. If you choose, brine the meat. In a large pot, bring the salt, sugar and 2 quarts of water to a boil and stir until the solids dissolve. Transfer to a heatproof container and cool completely. Cover pork with the brine and refrigerate for 45 minutes. (The brine will make the pork very tender, so it’s worth doing, but if you don’t have time, you can skip this step.) Pat pork dry with paper towels.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/magazine/06Food-t.html?_r=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin
It was mid-July, 10 days into a heat wave so unrelenting that it had penetrated the thick stone walls of my parents’ Umbrian farmhouse, and there was no relief to be found, indoors or out. There was also a big fresh Mediterranean fish waiting in the fridge — its name, in Italian, is ombrina. But not one of us felt like eating, let alone going anywhere near a stove. By the time the sun finally set that night, it was nearly 9:30; we jumped into the pool, cooled off and suddenly realized we were famished. Improvising with what was at hand, my mother, a superb cook, braised the ombrina in a quick sauce of tomatoes, garlic and saffron, and then, reaching for the nearest bottle, splashed some grappa into the pan — and so a favorite family recipe was born.
Skip to next paragraph
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times. Food stylist: Jill Santopietro.
It was the grappa that transformed that rather simple sauce into a potent remedy for the day’s heat-induced stupor. Grappa is a fiery drink, not for the mild of heart or palate. Or as the Italian writer Italo Calvino memorably described it: “suitable only for defrocked priests, unemployed bookkeepers and husbands who have been cuckolded.” A cheap grappa, often at upward of 80 proof, is little more than a burning liquid flame that sears your throat and wakens your spirit before knocking you flat. A great grappa, on the other hand, is smooth and complex and leaves a long, blossoming finish.
As temperatures started to drop this winter, I couldn’t help remembering our improvised summer meal. So I decided to call my favorite chefs and ask what cold-weather dishes I might make with grappa. To my surprise, the ideas poured in. While tasting one of the better grappas — like Nonino’s Picolit or Jacopo Poli’s Vespaiolo — is certainly a revelation, cooking with it reveals its character without the hangover. It is a surprisingly versatile ingredient, equally effective in savory and sweet dishes. For Andrew Carmellini, the chef of A Voce, grappa gives that important note of acidity that rounds out the flavors in his roast pork with plums. The grappa cuts the richness of the meat and counters the sweetness of the plums, turning what might otherwise be too sweet a sauce into a sophisticated dialogue of flavors. I tried substituting prunes for the plums and found the resulting dish even silkier and more nuanced. Carmellini’s Italian grandmother lived 35 miles from Nonino, so grappa flows in his blood. And polished though his cooking at A Voce is, he confessed to me that at home he likes to splash his favorite all-American butter pecan ice cream with grappa for a quick lift.
The beauty of cooking with grappa, I discovered, is to be found in its split personality. Straight from the bottle, it adds vibrancy, but cooked down, the alcohol evaporates, leaving an elegant, lingering complexity. Fabio Trabocchi, the chef of Fiamma in SoHo, took his first job in the Veneto region of Italy, where at around 10 every morning, the men in his village would gather for a caffè corretto — coffee spiked with grappa. Perhaps it’s the memory (or trauma) of this head-banging custom that persuaded Trabocchi to cook his brandy down until not a trace of alcohol remains. His delicate pear risotto glows with merely a subtle hint of grappa — like the trailing vapor of vermouth in a fine martini.
But grappa needn’t be limited to Italian cooking. Chef Saul Bolton of Saul in Brooklyn uses Clear Creek’s muscat grappa — an American grappa from Oregon — to add a floral note to his perfect cured salmon, giving it a faintly sweet undertone, a welcome change from the usual gin- or vodka-cured gravlax. Perhaps the best American grappa producer, Clear Creek, has grown so popular of late that Stephen McCarthy, the owner, doubled the size of his distillery 18 months ago yet says he still can’t keep up with demand.
I have nothing against Clear Creek, but when I think of grappa, I never think of Oregon. I think of Umbria. I think of the sun. I think of my mother’s delicious ombrina. I think of our plates practically licked clean, and the bottle of grappa sitting half empty on the table. And I remember the storm that blew in that night, lifting the heat and leaving a cool dew on the grass by morning. If there is one drink certain to start a storm, it’s grappa. A talisman of sorts that I won’t forget next summer when the sun begins to bake us dry.
——
Pork Arrosto With Prunes and Grappa
1 center-cut pork loin roast, 4 to 5 bones (between 3 and 5 pounds)
For the brine (optional):
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 1/3 cups sugar
For the spice rub:
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
10 sage leaves
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the prunes:
1 3/4 cups prunes
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 bay leaves
Pinch of crushed
black pepper
1/4 cup grappa
Salt.
1. If you choose, brine the meat. In a large pot, bring the salt, sugar and 2 quarts of water to a boil and stir until the solids dissolve. Transfer to a heatproof container and cool completely. Cover pork with the brine and refrigerate for 45 minutes. (The brine will make the pork very tender, so it’s worth doing, but if you don’t have time, you can skip this step.) Pat pork dry with paper towels.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/magazine/06Food-t.html?_r=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin
Exuma Beaches: Paradise Found!
When it comes to beautiful, breath-taking beaches, the Exumas offer some of the most beautiful shores on earth. Exuma beaches boast miles upon miles of pristine, white, sandy shores and the gentle waters lap at your feet in a veritable kaleidoscope of electric blues and sparkling jades. Because of Exuma’s sub-tropical climate, the temperature of the water is always ideal for a dip, a sail, or any other favourite water activity.
Tropic of Cancer Beach
The Tropic of Cancer beach (or Pelican Beach) is located in the eastern region near Williams Town on Little Exuma. Famous for its seclusion and pretty sights, this beach got its name from its geographical location. The Tropic of Cancer, the invisible line that delineates the northern sector of the tropics, runs right through it. It is the longest beach on the island, stretching one and a half miles long. It is superb for walking, swimming, and snorkelling. Kayaks are also available for those adventurous types who wish to do a little exploring on nearby islands. Tiki huts and palm trees dot the shorelines, adding to that distinct tropical feel, which will have you thirsting for mini-umbrella laden beverages and losing yourself in the sultry island atmosphere.
Stocking Island
Stocking Island lies approximately one mile offshore from Great Exuma and is home to some of the best beaches and ocean views in the area. On this island is one of the more active Exuma beaches nicknamed Hamburger Beach or Volleyball Beach and it is not too difficult to figure out how it got its name. This beach is frequented by avid boaters during the cruising season who enjoy dropping anchor there to cook up some tasty, succulent hamburgers and play spirited games of volleyball. It is only a 10-minute boat ride from the docks at George Town. Visitors to this island’s sandy shores can have a relaxing repast at the local Bahamian daytime bar & grill, the Chill and Chat, or grab a quick snack on the go at the P&P Hamburger stand. Also on Stocking Island, is the Silver Palms Beach, where visitors can enjoy snorkelling among the many reefs or hop along to the Turtle Lagoon for some bonefishing and kayaking. Many will visit this particular beach to pursue underwater adventures, exploring Mystery Cave and the Blue Hole (a site once explored by the famed Mr. Jacques Cousteau.) Exuma beaches in this area are hotspots for keen surfers and the shores are rich in interesting and exotic seashells.
Other Exuma Beaches
Located just down the hill from Oceania Properties is a gorgeous secluded three-mile beach. Stroll along the wide sandy beach to the sound of breaking ocean waves. This beach is ideal if you are looking to be alone with the elements.
Coco Plum Beach near Rolleville is another tropical paradise. At low tide, it is possible to walk out into the ocean for miles stuffing your pockets with sand dollars and other ocean riches. Visit the secluded and quiet shores of the North beaches on Staniel Cay to marvel at the dunes and sea oats. The North Beaches also are also exceptional for diving as they have spectacular reefs located just offshore. The beaches of Shroud Cay are quiet, secluded, and abundant with mangroves. Shroud Cay is actually an archipelago or cluster of tiny islands and perfect for intricate kayaking trips. Whether you enjoy beaches bustling with activity or prefer total seclusion, Exuma beaches can offer you serene waters, gorgeous sandbars, vivid Atlantic panoramas and a chance to experience complete tropical bliss.
Source:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/49383
Tropic of Cancer Beach
The Tropic of Cancer beach (or Pelican Beach) is located in the eastern region near Williams Town on Little Exuma. Famous for its seclusion and pretty sights, this beach got its name from its geographical location. The Tropic of Cancer, the invisible line that delineates the northern sector of the tropics, runs right through it. It is the longest beach on the island, stretching one and a half miles long. It is superb for walking, swimming, and snorkelling. Kayaks are also available for those adventurous types who wish to do a little exploring on nearby islands. Tiki huts and palm trees dot the shorelines, adding to that distinct tropical feel, which will have you thirsting for mini-umbrella laden beverages and losing yourself in the sultry island atmosphere.
Stocking Island
Stocking Island lies approximately one mile offshore from Great Exuma and is home to some of the best beaches and ocean views in the area. On this island is one of the more active Exuma beaches nicknamed Hamburger Beach or Volleyball Beach and it is not too difficult to figure out how it got its name. This beach is frequented by avid boaters during the cruising season who enjoy dropping anchor there to cook up some tasty, succulent hamburgers and play spirited games of volleyball. It is only a 10-minute boat ride from the docks at George Town. Visitors to this island’s sandy shores can have a relaxing repast at the local Bahamian daytime bar & grill, the Chill and Chat, or grab a quick snack on the go at the P&P Hamburger stand. Also on Stocking Island, is the Silver Palms Beach, where visitors can enjoy snorkelling among the many reefs or hop along to the Turtle Lagoon for some bonefishing and kayaking. Many will visit this particular beach to pursue underwater adventures, exploring Mystery Cave and the Blue Hole (a site once explored by the famed Mr. Jacques Cousteau.) Exuma beaches in this area are hotspots for keen surfers and the shores are rich in interesting and exotic seashells.
Other Exuma Beaches
Located just down the hill from Oceania Properties is a gorgeous secluded three-mile beach. Stroll along the wide sandy beach to the sound of breaking ocean waves. This beach is ideal if you are looking to be alone with the elements.
Coco Plum Beach near Rolleville is another tropical paradise. At low tide, it is possible to walk out into the ocean for miles stuffing your pockets with sand dollars and other ocean riches. Visit the secluded and quiet shores of the North beaches on Staniel Cay to marvel at the dunes and sea oats. The North Beaches also are also exceptional for diving as they have spectacular reefs located just offshore. The beaches of Shroud Cay are quiet, secluded, and abundant with mangroves. Shroud Cay is actually an archipelago or cluster of tiny islands and perfect for intricate kayaking trips. Whether you enjoy beaches bustling with activity or prefer total seclusion, Exuma beaches can offer you serene waters, gorgeous sandbars, vivid Atlantic panoramas and a chance to experience complete tropical bliss.
Source:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/49383
Anonymity: A Secret History of English Literature by John Mullan
Publication and publicity are virtually synonymous nowadays. John Mullan’s book is a fascinating reminder that this hasn’t always been the case. Crammed with cameos of self-effacing scribblers, reclusive dons, surreptitious satirists, pamphleteers menaced by the rack and gallows, ladies with virile noms de plume and an Anglican vicar who passed himself off as an Asian housewife, it casts an informed eye over 500 years or so of title pages offering blank spaces, pseudonyms and enigmatic initials instead of authors’ names. The roll-call of works that first appeared anonymously is distinguished, Mullan displays: Gulliver’s Travels, The Rape of the Lock, Robinson Crusoe, Walter Scott’s Waverley books, all of Jane Austen’s novels published during her lifetime, Byron’s Don Juan and numerous other masterpieces. At times, the phenomenon could be on an extraordinary scale: 70% of English novels published in the last three decades of the 18th century were anonymous; in the first three decades of the 19th century, almost 50% were. Ever since title pages became common in the 16th century, many authors have found reasons to be wary of making a name for themselves.
Self-preservation was the prime cause for concealment. In periods when religious or political antagonisms seethed, putting your name to a controversial text could be tantamount to signing your death warrant or, at the very least, cost you a limb. In 1579, John Stubbs had his right hand lopped off when found to be the author of a work admonishing Elizabeth I (gamely, as the offending extremity was severed, he demonstrated his loyalty by removing his hat with his other hand and shouting “God save the Queen”). Grisly accounts of sentencings to Newgate or the pillory, slit noses, sliced-off ears and branded faces might give pause to authors touchy about hatchet reviews today.
Satire’s venomous heyday in the 18th century gave rise to a new authorial hazard: being called out to a duel by some nettled crook or booby, if your cover was blown. There were innocent casualties, too. Dryden was badly beaten outside a Covent Garden coffee house for a lampoon it’s now known he didn’t write. Maltreatment because of misattribution wasn’t the only injustice anonymity allowed. When authors ducked below the firing-line by staying nameless, others got it in the neck: printers whose heads ended up on spikes, horse-whipped editors of magazines that published provoking attacks.
Besides self-protection, anonymity can, Mullan shows, be used for self-promotion. Writers such as Swift or Pope turned self-concealment as titillation into a fine art, performing a kind of authorial fan-dance – a glimpse here, a hint there – that profitably whetted readers’ appetites. Other purposes that anonymity has served are illuminated. There is anonymity as deference. In Spenser’s Shepheardes Calendar, not the author’s but his patron’s name is emblazoned on the title page. This occurs, too, with George Puttenham’s pioneering critical book, The Arte of English Poesie – which, ironically, argues against the upper-class practice of authorial anonymity. Witholding your name could signal lofty status: courtly and gentlemanly writers eager to elude the taint of ostentation or trade. It could also signal modest decorum, especially among the legions of female authors who, when not sporting elegantly classical-sounding pseudonyms – Ardelia, Ephelia, Orinthia – sheltered behind the genteel formulation, “by a lady”. Differing motives for women’s adoption of male pen names, from George Eliot to George Egerton, are engrossingly explored. Men writing under female aliases are rarer, it’s observed by Mullan (who misses one of the most piquant instances of this: Arnold Bennett, who graced the pages of Victorian periodicals as Gwendolen, Barbara, Ada, Cecile and Sal Volatile). A highlight of Mullan’s survey is a detour into the world of unsigned reviewing, which lays bare a sometimes hilariously disgraceful state of affairs: Boswell anonymously hailing one of his own books as “true genius”, William Godwin’s daughter rhapsodising about “the wonders” of her father’s latest novel.
Related Internet Links
Ploys undertaken to shield anonymity – manuscripts in camouflaged handwriting, disguised go-betweens, equivocations and outright denials of authorship – are chronicled with lively acumen. Hazards (and rather sneaky satisfactions) of secret authorship get interestingly documented: Scott sitting silent as a guest decried “the culprit of Waverley, and the rest of that there rubbish”; Fanny Burney smirking as associates not in the know chatter about her incognito novel Evelina; George Eliot aghast to learn that a man called Liggins was claiming authorship of (and payment for) Adam Bede. Another kind of discomfiture caused by anonymity might have been added to Mullan’s tally: In Memoriam, Tennyson’s great elegy for his dead friend Arthur Hallam, won praise in one review as having “evidently come from the full heart of the widow of a military man”.
Omissions are inevitable in the encompassing of so vast a field, as are occasional glitches (rather takingly, given his book’s concern with names, Mullan has a propensity for tiny errors in this line: Byron’s wife was called Annabella, not Arabella; the satirised civil servant in Little Dorrit is Tite Barnacle, not Barnacle Tite; Trollope’s Prague-based novel isn’t Nina Baltka, as twice here, but Nina Balatka). These are the slightest of speckles, though, on a splendidly wide-ranging, entertaining and instructive work. Scholarly without a whiff of pedantry, witty and eye-opening, Anonymity is a book to which John Mullan can be proud to have put his name.
Source:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article3159960.ece
Self-preservation was the prime cause for concealment. In periods when religious or political antagonisms seethed, putting your name to a controversial text could be tantamount to signing your death warrant or, at the very least, cost you a limb. In 1579, John Stubbs had his right hand lopped off when found to be the author of a work admonishing Elizabeth I (gamely, as the offending extremity was severed, he demonstrated his loyalty by removing his hat with his other hand and shouting “God save the Queen”). Grisly accounts of sentencings to Newgate or the pillory, slit noses, sliced-off ears and branded faces might give pause to authors touchy about hatchet reviews today.
Satire’s venomous heyday in the 18th century gave rise to a new authorial hazard: being called out to a duel by some nettled crook or booby, if your cover was blown. There were innocent casualties, too. Dryden was badly beaten outside a Covent Garden coffee house for a lampoon it’s now known he didn’t write. Maltreatment because of misattribution wasn’t the only injustice anonymity allowed. When authors ducked below the firing-line by staying nameless, others got it in the neck: printers whose heads ended up on spikes, horse-whipped editors of magazines that published provoking attacks.
Besides self-protection, anonymity can, Mullan shows, be used for self-promotion. Writers such as Swift or Pope turned self-concealment as titillation into a fine art, performing a kind of authorial fan-dance – a glimpse here, a hint there – that profitably whetted readers’ appetites. Other purposes that anonymity has served are illuminated. There is anonymity as deference. In Spenser’s Shepheardes Calendar, not the author’s but his patron’s name is emblazoned on the title page. This occurs, too, with George Puttenham’s pioneering critical book, The Arte of English Poesie – which, ironically, argues against the upper-class practice of authorial anonymity. Witholding your name could signal lofty status: courtly and gentlemanly writers eager to elude the taint of ostentation or trade. It could also signal modest decorum, especially among the legions of female authors who, when not sporting elegantly classical-sounding pseudonyms – Ardelia, Ephelia, Orinthia – sheltered behind the genteel formulation, “by a lady”. Differing motives for women’s adoption of male pen names, from George Eliot to George Egerton, are engrossingly explored. Men writing under female aliases are rarer, it’s observed by Mullan (who misses one of the most piquant instances of this: Arnold Bennett, who graced the pages of Victorian periodicals as Gwendolen, Barbara, Ada, Cecile and Sal Volatile). A highlight of Mullan’s survey is a detour into the world of unsigned reviewing, which lays bare a sometimes hilariously disgraceful state of affairs: Boswell anonymously hailing one of his own books as “true genius”, William Godwin’s daughter rhapsodising about “the wonders” of her father’s latest novel.
Related Internet Links
Ploys undertaken to shield anonymity – manuscripts in camouflaged handwriting, disguised go-betweens, equivocations and outright denials of authorship – are chronicled with lively acumen. Hazards (and rather sneaky satisfactions) of secret authorship get interestingly documented: Scott sitting silent as a guest decried “the culprit of Waverley, and the rest of that there rubbish”; Fanny Burney smirking as associates not in the know chatter about her incognito novel Evelina; George Eliot aghast to learn that a man called Liggins was claiming authorship of (and payment for) Adam Bede. Another kind of discomfiture caused by anonymity might have been added to Mullan’s tally: In Memoriam, Tennyson’s great elegy for his dead friend Arthur Hallam, won praise in one review as having “evidently come from the full heart of the widow of a military man”.
Omissions are inevitable in the encompassing of so vast a field, as are occasional glitches (rather takingly, given his book’s concern with names, Mullan has a propensity for tiny errors in this line: Byron’s wife was called Annabella, not Arabella; the satirised civil servant in Little Dorrit is Tite Barnacle, not Barnacle Tite; Trollope’s Prague-based novel isn’t Nina Baltka, as twice here, but Nina Balatka). These are the slightest of speckles, though, on a splendidly wide-ranging, entertaining and instructive work. Scholarly without a whiff of pedantry, witty and eye-opening, Anonymity is a book to which John Mullan can be proud to have put his name.
Source:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article3159960.ece
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