FIGHTING BACK
The battle over book banning will play out in this window 24 hours a day for the next week.
Tim Youd will essentially live in the front window of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial library as he types, on a typewriter no less, the entire Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury.
The effort is spurred by the American Library Association's continuing fight against the banning of books. The Vonnegut is a natural as his Slaughterhouse Five has faced occasional banning and even burning since the 1970's.
Full disclosure here; I'm a member of the Vonnegut Memorial Library and a great fan of the Indianapolis native. A previous post takes you to the Vonnegut Memorial Library which you can read here. Being a first amendment absolutist I abhor book banning, even those that I might consider trash, subversive, offensive or any other such subjective objection. Free is free.
PLAY
THE TRIP TO ITALY
If you enjoyed Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in THE TRIP, you will probably enjoy the THE TRIP TO ITALY.
Plenty of laughs, gorgeous Italian country side and a foodies delight of kitchen, restaurant and meal scenes.
We left and headed to Giuseppe's for Italian grape and repast. We couldn't help our self.
Here's the trailer
THE DROUGHT CLOSE UP
See you down the trail.
Well, you could move to rainy Arizona but, then, who would buy your California mansion?
ReplyDeleteAw Tom, I sure miss Kurt Vonnegut. You meet the nicest people in a chronosynclastic infundibulum. As for the drought, we got a little rain and thunder here in the north valley but cats can still walk across Folsom Lake. A thoughtful and informative post.
ReplyDelete"I tell you, we are here on earth to fart around..."
ReplyDeleteI heard him speak once in California, early 80's.
Odd isn't it, here 400 miles north and east of you, we're at around 150% of our average moisture through rain and snow. I guess that's why they call it 'global' vs 'local'.
Great pictures. A few years ago I was in Berlin walking across a large square when I spotted a glass panel imbedded in the cobblestones. I looked down and saw empty shelves. Others were also peering down and I heard someone say that this is where the Nazis kept books before burning them. It gave me chills.
ReplyDeleteI'll offer a quote by Goebbles, delivered in Berlin:
Delete"The era of extreme Jewish intellectualism is now at an end. The breakthrough of the German revolution has again cleared the way on the German path...The future German man will not just be a man of books, but a man of character. It is to this end that we want to educate you. As a young person, to already have the courage to face the pitiless glare, to overcome the fear of death, and to regain respect for death - this is the task of this young generation. And thus you do well in this midnight hour to commit to the flames the evil spirit of the past. This is a strong, great and symbolic deed - a deed which should document the following for the world to know - Here the intellectual foundation of the November Republic is sinking to the ground, but from this wreckage the phoenix of a new spirit will triumphantly rise."
— Joseph Goebbels , Speech to the students in Berlin
This, in a nutshell, is why we fought in WW2.