Op-Ed Contributor - Allergy-Free New York - NYTimes.com
This article about trees and pollen in New York City is fascinating. Humans are causing more allergies through selection of trees to plant!
Peter and Max
This book, based on the universe from the comic book Fables, is a delightful read. Like the comic, the characters are drawn from familiar children's story characters (mostly): it tells the story of Peter Piper, Bo Beep, and the Pied Piper of Hamlin (who is Peter's brother). Like the comic, it also has some of its weaknesses: most of the characters are developed without much depth (in particular, Max the Pied Piper), and the ending just slams the book to a halt. Nonetheless, if you like Fables, you should read this book.
Punished By Rewards
This book talks about the problems with using carrots (as opposed to sticks) with children, in the workplace, and in society. A bit long-winded and full of anecdotal evidence, but the book presents a very plausible theory of how people dislike any efforts to subvert their control (whether real or perceived) over their lives.
Milk
Wow, a remarkable performance by Sean Penn: he truly lost himself in the title role of Harvey Milk. Not enough time to write something that does justice to this movie, so I'll just say I loved it.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
This morality play is entertaining (if a little black-and-white, both in its plot and literally in the film color). Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne: two of the great actors of their generations. The difficulty of Jimmy Stewart's position would have been made clearer with a bit more exposition of his life as a Senator, but that's just nit-picking. Well worth watching.
Frost/Nixon
Fascinating film about an event of which I have no recollection; of course, I was only 8 at the time. Who knew that Diane Sawyer worked for the Nixon White House?
Economic View - When a First Choice May Not Be the Best Choice - NYTimes.com
Economic View - When a First Choice May Not Be the Best Choice - NYTimes.com
This article is funny: especially the point about CEO's.
This article is funny: especially the point about CEO's.
Noguchi Museum
We finally made it out to the Noguchi Museum (or more accurately, had the opportunity to stop in on our way home) today. It is a lovely little museum out in the hinterlands of Long Island City: difficult to reach by public transit.
Aging and vision
Well, I've hit the age where males start noticing bodily changes. Besides various internal inspections of organs, I was finally told I need bifocals for presbyopia. Everyone said it would happen at 40, and it eventually did!
Being female must be so much more difficult than being male: so many more physical changes over one's lifetime! And, of course, pregnancy...
Being female must be so much more difficult than being male: so many more physical changes over one's lifetime! And, of course, pregnancy...
Parenting
I've been reading Alfie Kohn's fascinating book Punished By Rewards (which I was led to by Daniel Pink's book Drive), which argues for a radical rethinking of how we interact: in particular, with respect to rewards.
As I read more about him online, I found the article linked to by the title of this post. That article summarizes his philosophy with respect to praise (as a reward) and parenting. I like the philosophy very much, but it is also a troubling indictment of our incentive-driven society.
As I read more about him online, I found the article linked to by the title of this post. That article summarizes his philosophy with respect to praise (as a reward) and parenting. I like the philosophy very much, but it is also a troubling indictment of our incentive-driven society.
Legacy of Ashes
This fantastic history of the CIA is kind of depressing: it shows how organizational dysfunction can be caused by inadequate/bad/misguided leadership, as well as the inability of our Presidents to use the CIA appropriately. If you want to know all of the crazy/illogical/misguided things that the CIA has done in the name of America, read this book.
I was particularly intrigued by the portrait of President Clinton as uninterested/uninformed about the rest of the world. Even though President George W. Bush was not very well informed, the picture that the author paints of Clinton's initial years in the White House is not very different.
I was particularly intrigued by the portrait of President Clinton as uninterested/uninformed about the rest of the world. Even though President George W. Bush was not very well informed, the picture that the author paints of Clinton's initial years in the White House is not very different.
Tying shoelaces
Interesting information about tying shoelaces. I learned that not all knots are the same recently: apparently, about half the time I mistie my laces!
Capote
It is clear that Philip Seymour Hoffmann deserved his Oscar for his portrayal of Truman Capote in this film. There was something essential missing from the film, though: the fact that writing "In Cold Blood" may have destroyed the rest of his career was missing from the storyline, since the movie ends with the execution of the killers. Still, a compelling movie to watch.
Event Horizon
One of the wonderful things about Madison Square Park is the public art that has appeared here regularly. The latest exhibit is quite fun: 31 life-sized statues placed all around the park (a lot on top of landmark buildings in the neighborhood). Check them out!
Up in the Air
This film starring George Clooney was a wonderful film to watch: witty dialogue, great characterization, interesting plot, great acting. A far better film than Avatar, certainly. It feels like it belongs with "Michael Clayton" in George Clooney's output: a "really good" (and I mean that in a non-grade-inflated, good way) movie that didn't achieve blockbuster status. Highly recommended.
Drive
Drive, by Daniel Pink, is a fascinating book about work vs. play, motivation and money. Some experiments have shown that economic incentives ($) can actually lower the long-term performance of so-called "knowledge workers". That is, performing an interesting task (i.e., writing software) can become less interesting to workers if management links performance too heavily to pay. The best explanation in the book for that is that it takes away the worker's sense of autonomy: people want to work, and they want to solve interesting and worthwhile problems.
Well worth reading. The author gave a talk about his book at work, but I wasn't able to listen to the talk, unfortunately.
Well worth reading. The author gave a talk about his book at work, but I wasn't able to listen to the talk, unfortunately.
Dexter Season 3
Wow, what a great series. The series uses the guise of a serial killer to explore human relationships; the writing is fantastic, and the acting is very compelling. Jimmy Smits must have loved playing the psychotic Miguel Prado; what an over-the-top character!
Can't wait to watch the 4th season, with John Lithgow!
Can't wait to watch the 4th season, with John Lithgow!
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