'a take on virtual realities, social media, gaming, cyber-wandering and war, among other things...'
Teaser – Trafficville ~ USA
Freedom vs. Rootlessness
We are, most of us, unrooted in place and time. (See pp. xxi – xxii of introduction to Nabokov’s Speak Memory.) Our obsession with stuff over substance, with the now over duration, with one-liners & tweets over discourse has seen us come unstuck (just like Billy Pilgrim). “That this darkness is caused merely by the … Continue reading Freedom vs. Rootlessness
Scrivener
Forgive the pop up ad'; but this is how I got a discounted version of SCRIVENER. I was recently told about Scrivener* as a writing program which is particularly suited to longer works because it can organise all your notes and research and drafts in one place and allow you to work with split screens. I've … Continue reading Scrivener
Contempt for politicians
Came across this passage in a novel by Donna Leon entitled The jewels of paradise and was struck by it; I fear it accords with an almost universal (and timeless - didn't Plato rail at politicians in his Republic and cry out for the philosopher king) feeling about those who become politicians. Here it is:
Just a wee bit on the Olympics juggernaut
Some random thoughts from my Facebook page I'm finding (re the Holympics) the unashamed jingoism & nationalistic prattle, the reporting on tedious trivia, and various rejoicing over conspicuous consumption (the US basketball team ensconced on a luxury liner comes to mind) more than a little irritating. .. whatever happened to sport for sport's sake? Suspect … Continue reading Just a wee bit on the Olympics juggernaut
Seeing the mountain and other stories…
Just remembered I've also had this title on Kindle for a while now. Happy to email anyone who wants a free copy one in PDF format - if you'd care to have a look. The cover, I now realise, is awful.
Why Industrial Capitalism should have died circa 2008.
How do we solve the problems caused by industrial capitalism and its corollaries? What alternatives exist? Historically, solutions to the excesses that industrial capitalism cannot help but be tempted into (environmental degradation, resource overuse, and labour exploitation) have been attempted: Marx and Engels, with their visions of communism’s overthrow of capitalism, interventions by government to … Continue reading Why Industrial Capitalism should have died circa 2008.
Maycomb – Monroeville: Harper Lees Paradigm
In the light of Harper Lee's 1960 novel and the soon to be released new book (gasp - another cultural icon breaking the mould) by the author here is an interesting article... http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/whats-changed-what-hasnt-in-town-inspired-to-kill-a-mockingbird-180955741/?no-ist
The joys of finding what I think will be a good ePub file generator
First; apologies for the hefty title to this post. Couldn't think of anything catchy that accomplished what I wanted the heading to accomplish. And , ahead of time, I'll apologise yet again for what will seem like an ad', but HelpNDoc is an efficient and free (with banners) e pub file generating program. And, after using … Continue reading The joys of finding what I think will be a good ePub file generator
Teaching a unit with historical fiction
Ancient Egypt tells a tale https://stephenjkimber.atavist.com/ancientegypthistory … Above is a link to a little unit of work I created to teach ancient history using historical narrative; specifically a short story called Little Hatshepsut. The story is available, along with 32 other stories (and brief historical notes on each story) via Amazon in the book hiSTORY, by Stephen Kimber. … Continue reading Teaching a unit with historical fiction
Inkstained fingers 