Thursday, May 16, 2013
I just got my review copy of Civil Litigation in New York, Sixth Edition, by Oscar G. Chase and Robert A. Barker. It is a casebook, not a treatise-- it is designed and intended to be an instructional tool, so before I make any other comment I feel that I should say this: the book on my desk retails for $194 bucks. A looseleaf edition is available for $155; and an e-book is available for $116. Lexis says it plans on keeping it on the shelves for "several years", which means that there is a reasonable chance that students who buy it will be able to sell it and get maybe half their money back for the same period. I realize that there is a limited market for a book like this, and I understand that Professors Chase and Barker worked hard on it, and that they deserve to be paid-- but $200 bucks-- or $116 bucks-- is too much. Way, way too much. I could stand in front of a class and simply teach from this thing as though it were a hymnal-- it would make teaching New York Practice, or Civil Procedure as simple as ringing a bell-- but I really cannot justify assigning a $200 textbook.
It is a damn fine textbook though.
It is a damn fine textbook though.
I salute him with my shot glass. Soon I’m in a disgraceful state, seeing double, barely able to get the glass to my lips. As my face slowly descends toward the table, I see Reepicheep reflected in a pool of brandy – a touch glassy-eyed but upright, small and triumphant. [No Reservations: Narnia]
C.S. Lewis the way I'd like him: no Jesus-Lions, more pavenders and eel pie.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The Hon. Ruth Bader Ginzburg is plain wrong about Roe v. Wade. I do not often disagree with her, but when she says that the Supreme Court should have let matters take their own course, and that by accepting the case the Court, "seemed to have stopped the momentum that was on the side of change," she is not only wrong, she is horribly wrong at the worst possible time. Because here's the thing: sure, the arc of history is long, and sure it bends towards justice, and yeah, no doubt given an infinite number of state legislators and an infinite number of typewriters we'll get around to guaranteeing people the rights that they ought to have-- but in the meanwhile there are people who would like those rights now. And they should have them, now.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
At one time I was a Roches completist-- I guess up through the time that they started releasing sides as solo artists. I still have it all-- I held onto that Willie Nile album precisely because they sang back-up on one of the tracks, and I even ordered a signed copy of Seductive Reasoning when that was re-issued a year or so ago. It makes me sad that they weren't able to make a living at it, because they are intelligent people who made music that I liked a great deal. The best of it seems to have Robert Fripp's fingerprints on it. As far as songwriting goes I'd have to say that at some point they stopped being melancholy and became flat-out depressed. Another World seems to be mostly about career disappointment, and although I'd rank Speak as one of their best recordings, that's what the title song is about too. It is a grim subject. At least with failed romance there is always the prospect of a new relationship. When your label says that it is cutting you lose there's not a lot more to say, and although Suzy continued to contribute songs about being happy-go-lucky for a while sides like A Dove or Can We Go Home Now, for all their charms, lack the buoyant optimism of their best work. I don't think you can say that they weren't marketed properly-- they really did just have a limited audience
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Reading about the Guatemalan genocide what horrifies me the most is that I was so oblivious to it as it was happening.
Monday, May 06, 2013
She played a generous set, then left as she'd arrived, leaving the band on stage playing her off, before they returned for an encore. It was the kind of show that left me a bit light-headed, a nice sensation on a warm spring night.
*Keyboard player Jason Lindner, drummer Mark Guiliana and guitarist/bassist/singer Alan Hampton
Friday, May 03, 2013
To Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud at Hallwalls last night. I've wanted to see it for years, Louis Malle's first feature. (He made a documentary with Jacques Cousteau before that.) My first awareness of the movie came with Miles Davis' soundtrack, an essential recording that captured Miles as he was transitioning from post-Bop into the modal "Kind of Blue". The story about the soundtrack is that Malle showed Miles a rough cut, Miles worked out some ideas for themes, showed them to the band he was working with, and then they improvised while the scenes were being screened in front of them. It is an unusual way to work, but because everyone in the room was a genius it works really well. The other cats on the date-- with the exception of Kenny Clarke, have always been obscure figures to me: Barney Wilen – tenor saxophone,René Urtreger – piano, and Pierre Michelot – bass. They deserve greater notoriety. This was the European quintet that Miles toured with back then, and they played together quite a bit, although their time together does not seem to be much documented. All of them worked with the best, and it is plain to me that Euro-jazz is going to have to be a subject for further research on my part.Ed Cardoni, Hallwalls' director, is curating this series and deserves props for doing a fine job of it. I'd love to teach this movie-- Malle does so many subtle things so beautifully. It's a taut little thriller without a wasted frame in it.
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
I like it when schools do things like this:
The 48 Good Films program is a companion to the 48 Good Books Project. Students are encouraged to read a book from the list and see a movie from the list each month during their undergraduate career.
The 48 Good Films program is a companion to the 48 Good Books Project. Students are encouraged to read a book from the list and see a movie from the list each month during their undergraduate career.
"Faculty submitted film titles that are important to them and embody the mission and spirit of the five Undergraduate Academies: Civic Engagement, Entrepreneurship, Global Perspectives, Research Exploration and Sustainability."Programs like this develop a feeling of community, and especially at a place like UB any step in that direction is valuable.
