THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
11/05/10 -- Vol. 29, No. 19, Whole Number 1622
Frick: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Frack: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Apology
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups (NJ)
Dangerous Cuisine (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
In Style vs. Substance, Is Purchased Style Winning? (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
This Week's Reading (THE DARK HEART OF ITALY, ITALIAN DAYS,
BRUNELLESCHI'S DOME, DEAD LAGOON, A VENETIAN AFFAIR,
THE WORLD OF VENICE, CITY OF FALLING ANGELS,
MOTHER TONGUE) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Apology
We apologize for the lateness of this issue. Our only excuse is
that Air France does not offer free in-flight WiFi. [-ecl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups (NJ)
November 11 (Thu): 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY ("The Sentinel" by
Sir Arthur C. Clarke), Middletown (NJ) Public Library, film
at 5:30PM, discussion of film and story after film
November 18 (Thu): IDORU by William Gibson, Old Bridge (NJ)
Public Library, 7PM
December 9 (Thu): THE MAN FROM EARTH ("It's a Good Life" by Jerome
Bixby), Middletown (NJ) Public Library, film at 5:30PM,
discussion of film and story after film
January 13 (Thu): THE 10TH VICTIM ("Seventh Victim" by Robert
Sheckley), Middletown (NJ) Public Library, film at 5:30PM,
discussion of film and story after film
==================================================================
TOPIC: Dangerous Cuisine (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
I was eating in an Italian restaurant that put macaroni in their
antipasto. It created a time paradox right there on my plate.
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: In Style vs. Substance, Is Purchased Style Winning?
(comments by Mark R. Leeper)
There is an old cartoon from the New Yorker with a teacher talking
to a crestfallen student. The teacher is saying, "This report is
very disappointing. What kind of software are you using?"
At the time the cartoon came out I think it was funny and at the
same time disturbing in the way that New Yorker cartoons frequently
are. Are we reaching a point when software makes a difference as
to how good a piece of report-writing is? Well, I am not talking
here about information retrieval software. I can easily believe
that a good search engine might help in research. In fact, today I
would think it is a necessary research tool. But I think the
cartoon was referring more to formatting software like PowerPoint.
In fact, is style becoming a major factor in what students are
expected to learn? Does the kid with the best software have a leg
up on the competition for the best book report? I would hope not.
I am afraid that my worst fears were realized with a Microsoft ad.
The first inside page of the October 2010 Smithsonian magazine has
the following ad from Microsoft. It shows three young boys in some
sort of throes of joy. The ad text says:
"We want to make it great so our book reports aren't SNORE FESTS.
"I'm Cort, and my brothers and I figured out how to make homework
less stinky. We do cool stuff to text like making it 3D, or add
pictures with new Word 2010. You can change the color of photos,
add borders and all sorts of stuff. It's really easy. And pretty
awesome. Like us."
Now that leaves little room for interpretation. They do not say
that formatting software will get a better grade but that without
it their book reports are "stinky" "snore fests". The implication
is much the same. A stinky snore fest will probably not get the
good grade that same report would get if it was well-enhanced with
some simple format changes. But the kids in the ad miss the point.
So much more can be done with the writing to make the report
exciting than can be done adding flashy margins. The flashy
margins are just a superficial enhancement. As they say themselves
this sort of change is really easy.
It would be nice to think that good writing would do more for them
with their teacher. Their central problem is that they wrote a
book report that was a stinky snore fest. But then, does this
lesson apply to the real world that they will face after they leave
school. It would be nice to think that if they would punch up
their writing, that would do more for their report than making it
3D. But perhaps that is not as true in the real world as it is in
school. In the real world style very often sells better than
substance. First impressions stick with people and style has a lot
to do with success. You cannot tell a book by its cover, but you
can sell it by its cover. It is much easier to give it a good
cover than to give the book real substance. And I cannot say that
even in school I am sure the fancy dressing up of a stinky book
report does not do considerable good. That is particularly a fear
if the teacher is easily impressed by the superficial.
In general I do not like the concept that what you buy will make
you look better academically. I do not like a situation in which a
purchase that some students cannot afford gives an academic
advantage to students who can afford that purchase.
I sell my services as a tutor. In doing this I will willingly help
students understand the material of their mathematics classes for a
price. But there I think what I am selling them is real useful
knowledge. I have refused to sell my services to coach students
for Scholastic Aptitude Tests. In part I am afraid that if the
test is a well-constructed measure of aptitude, I should not be
able to increase a student's apparent aptitude without increasing
his/her true aptitude. I will gladly help a student to get more
understanding, but not to simply look better on a test. On the
other hand, if the test is not well-constructed I do not want to
give a student an unfair advantage in return for money. In my time
I took the tests without coaching, and if there is a level playing
field nobody should be able to buy an advantage in return for
money. Taking money to give a student an advantage without raising
the student's aptitude subverts the test. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Ten Things I've Learned about Saving Stuff (comments by
Evelyn C. Leeper)
Here is a set of rules learned from both my and a friend's recently
dealing with clearing out our parents' houses.
1) Don't save used plastic eating utensils, aluminum pot pie
dishes, etc.
2) Get rid of stuff you don't need that has no sentimental value
(e.g. Reader's Digests).
3) If you want certain things to go to certain people, tag them or
leave clear written instructions. Don't rely on word-of-mouth.
4) Label photos, especially those taken before your children were
born. (We have one of my father and my uncle as children, and no
one can agree which is which.)
5) Label boxes that don't have their original contents (e.g., a
vacuum cleaner box containing children's games).
6) Keep your kids' stuff separate from each other; you know whose
baby shoes are whose, but they don't.
7) Make sure that people know what is inherently valuable.
8) Make sure all artwork is labeled with the artist's name,
especially if it is a family member.
9) Don't keep changing your mind or giving contradictory
information (e.g., telling two different people they can each have
the big rocking chair).
10) If you're not sure whether to keep something, ask yourself if
anyone is going to want it when you're gone. (Mark adds, "Be
realistic.")
Next week: Ten things I've learned about inheriting stuff.
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
As preparation for our trip to Italy, I read a lot of the books on
the suggested reading list provided by Road Scholar (formerly
Exploritas, formerly Elderhostel)--well, actually by Trinity
College (Connecticut), who does the educational part of the tour.
The complete list had 49 books on it--presumably we were not
expected to read all of them. And since all the books seem to
cover the Renaissance or later (except for one historical novel by
Colleen McCullough), if someone wanted to do any reading on the
Etruscans or the Roman Empire, that would make the list even
longer.
So I used a highly refined system to decide which to read: I
decided to read all the books I had or my library had and if I
still had the time and inclination after those, all the ones I
could get through inter-library loan. So to some extent I was
reading a random selection of books, but I have to say it did not
impress me. There were only a couple of straightforward histories
(none available in my library), but a lot of books about the "feel"
of Italy and about Renaissance artwork.
I started with THE DARK HEART OF ITALY by Tobias Jones (ISBN
978-0*98547-700-1), a book about politics and corruption in post-
War Italy (more specifically, Italy of the last couple of decades).
This seemed like an interesting topic, but Jones has such an opaque
Writing style that I had to give up. I think he is trying to be
poetic, but that did not mix well with the complicated topic, and a
full chapter on the world of soccer did not help. (Was it supposed
to be another example of corruption? A metaphor? If I understood
soccer it might have made more sense.)
ITALIAN DAYS by Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (ISBN 1-55584-311-5) is
divided in eight chapters, each about a different city or region.
I had decided to read just the Venice, Florence, and Rome chapters,
since those were the cities we were going to visit. This was
easier to follow than the Jones. However, her description of the
Venetian Ghetto gave me pause: "No Italian's death goes unmarked;
here, in the Ghetto, death notices posted on walls bear not the
Cross but the Star of David; and there are plaques to commemorate
the lives and deaths of Israeli martyrs." Given that this comes
right after quoting a plaque in remembrance of the Jews deported to
Nazi concentration camps, I suspect Harrison meant *Jewish*
martyrs, not *Israeli" ones. Maybe this doesn't seem like a major
error, but it tends to make one suspicious of all her other
statements. And ultimately, I decided that while the Jones was
interesting but impossible to read, this was easier to read, but
uninteresting.
At last in BRUNELLESCHI'S DOME: HOW A RENAISSANCE GENIUS
REDISCOVERED ARCHITECTURE by Ross King (ISBN 978-0-8027-1366-7) I
found a book both interesting and readable. Filippo Brunelleschi
built the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore (Il Duomo) in Florence,
Italy. (Note that Brunelleschi did not actually design the dome;
that was done by Arnolfo di Cambio, although Brunelleschi made
several changes to the design.) This is the largest masonry dome
in the world (143 feet in diameter, beginning at 170 feet above the
floor of the cathedral and with a final height of 295 meters, or
375 feet including the lantern). St. Peter's in Rome is ten feet
narrower, St. Paul's in London is thirty feet narrower, and the
Capitol dome in Washington is only two-thirds as wide. Yes, the
Astrodome is larger, but its building materials are completely
different from those of Il Duomo. Nervi's Palazzo dello Sport is
about 200 feet across but made of reinforced concrete *and*
supported by flying buttresses. The Duomo's 463 steps to the
lantern still remain for tourists to climb.
Brunelleschi's challenges were not just how to support the dome
during construction (he decided against the traditional central
vaulting, probably because the height would have made that
impossible), but also how to lift the bricks and marble blocks up
to the dome, and how to move them into place with the precision
needed.
DEAD LAGOON by Michael Dibdin (ISBN 978-0-679-43349-1) is a mystery
novel set in Venice. I'm sure it does a wonderful job of evoking
the city for people who are familiar with the city, but for people
who are unfamiliar with Venice it is merely confusing.
A VENETIAN AFFAIR by Andrea di Robilant (ISBN 978-0-375-41181-X)
was catalogued as fiction by my library, but is actually non-
fiction--the history of a love affair between Andrea Memmo and
Giustiniana Wynne in the 18th century. This book is based on
letters found in the de Robilant family attic in Venice. It is
well-written, but I have to ask, "Why should I care about these
people?" Shakespeare did a better job making me care about a
fictional couple in Verona than di Robilant did about a real
couple.
Finally in THE WORLD OF VENICE by Jan Morris (ISBN 978-0-15-698356-
7) I found an overview book that actually gave a readable overview,
describing Venice in all its aspects.
I listened to CITY OF FALLING ANGELS by John Berendt (read by
Holter Graham) (ISBN 0-739-30878-5) rather than reading it, because
our library had the audiobook but not the regular book. It is
about Venice, but focused around the story of the fire that
destroyed the Venice Opera House in 1996. Berendt's previous book
was MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, and this is similar in
that it focuses on the interesting, if not bizarre, people who
populate the city in question while at the same time covering the
investigation of a crime. That Berendt decided to write about
Venice and went there *before* the fire makes the similarity even
more eerie.
Somewhere around here I realized that most of what I had been able
to find was about Venice, even though we were spending only about a
quarter of the trip there. The next book, MOTHER TONGUE: AN
AMERICAN LIFE IN ITALY by Wallis Wilde-Menozzi (ISBN 978-0-86547-
501-4), wasn't about Italy, but rather about Parma. We were not
even going to Parma, and after reading pages and pages about the
author's pet cats, I decided I could skip this one.
Is it me, I found myself asking, or is it the selection? In
college, syllabi made sense, the books were readable, and it all
seemed to click. Here some of the books seem only peripherally
connected to our itinerary, and with many of the other books I feel
like a middle-schooler dropped into a graduate level course on the
experimental novel. I'm not used to having so many books that are
hard to read--not in the sense of not being able to understand the
words or even the sentences, but in the sense of feeling like there
is no worthwhile content in them.
More on this next week. [-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
It is not a fragrant world.
-- Raymond Chandler