Matthew Hogan: November 2009 Archives

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November 29, 2009

Religionphobic? Take the Quiz

You know who you are, and that you have it. Let’s name this condition with a more clinically pretentious sounding term: fideophobia (via Latin, fides, faith). Fideophobia is the hysterical fear of, or hostility towards, religious faith or those who observe one. I am not talking here about healthy skepticism, or even that Marxian ol’ time anti-religion that’s good enough for Mao. Nor do I mean hostility to specific faiths, which is something rival faith-holders can have for each other. For fideophobes I mean those who, after encountering just about any outward expression of religiosity, have a near-epileptic seizure.

Continue reading "Religionphobic? Take the Quiz"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 10:54 PM | Comments (8)
Filed Under: American Culture , Egghead Stuff , Humor Attempts , Irony Watch , Random Personal , Rants- General , Religion , US Politics

November 14, 2009

Book Review II: Like A Rolling Stone -- The Strange Life of A Tribute Band

Another in a series of scribblings about books I've read over the past months.....

Like A Rolling Stone: The Strange Life of A Tribute Band, by Steven Kurutz.

Most pleasurable book I’ve read in a long time. Well-written, amusing and sad, the author takes us on tour with various tribute bands – bands that mimic the appearance and music of more famous rock bands -- a phenomenon that took off with the imitation-Beatles Broadway show, Beatlemania. (He particularly takes us along with Sticky Fingers, a Rolling Stones tribute band). We learn often of might-have-beens, sincere musicians seeking greatness in their own right who, unable to do so, settled for the second-best option: the adulation of looking and sounding like a rock music legend. The author spends less time with, though hints at, many well-adjusted successful tribute bands who are simply in it for the fun and money, and apparently quite happy about where they are, like the all-female tribute band Lez Zeppelin. Despite some emphasis on the more interesting dark side, he happily doesn’t dwell on Deeper Cultural Meanings too much, nor trash the phenomenon. Ultimately the answer given to why these bands exist is provided by their members: it’s a lot of fun and beats just holding a regular job someplace for a few dollars an hour. The book’s a journey, not a destination, and well worth the ride.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)
Filed Under: American Culture , Egghead Stuff , Random Personal , Rants- General

November 13, 2009

Book Review: A History of Pi

One in a series of scribblings about books I've read over the past months.....

A History of Pi, by Petr Beckmann

Couldn’t quite get through all of it but it is a mostly pleasant tour for the nerdy among us, which takes us through the history of mathematics' and mankind’s quest for that famous irrational number which defines and describes the ins and outs of the circle, via the relationships among radius/diameter and circumference and area. The author’s unapologetic politics sprinkle the text with intermittent sermons against the science-retardant aspects of Communism and Christianity. It gets a bit Ayn Randishly over the top stupid at times, but the anti-totalitarian and anti-imperial ("What have the Romans ever done for math?") perspectives give the book a unifying theme that adds readability. Surprise eureka extra factoid: Archimedes WAS the military-industrial complex of his day.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)
Filed Under: Egghead Stuff , Random Personal , Rants -- Technology , Rants- General

November 08, 2009

QOTD -- Murder, Dismemberment: Crazy? Only If You Do it At Home

I kind of thought this quote from an AP article odd, regarding the alleged serial killer who is said to be of that unusual type who deposits his victims' remains in his own yard.

Sowell's alleged crimes place him among a rare breed of serial killers: those who literally work close to home. . . .. "The fact that they would dirty their own nest, as it were, is peculiar to me and suggests a level of mental illness or sickness," said Berrill, director of the New York Center for Neuropsychology and Forensic Behavioral Science.

Continue reading "QOTD -- Murder, Dismemberment: Crazy? Only If You Do it At Home"

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 05:57 PM | Comments (1)
Filed Under: American Culture , Healthcare , Humor Attempts , Irony Watch , Rants- General