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Culturally Speaking #39: The Eclectic One

By Sarah Stodola

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First and Foremost: We must all pause for a moment to soak in Christopher Hitchens' mention of Me Three Editor Mark Grueter in the November Atlantic Monthly:

"...McCrum even makes a bow in my direction, asserting that although Wodehouse undoubtedly knew of Reginald Bunthorne, the "fleshly poet" satirized by Gilbert and Sullivan in Patience, he never included any Wildeisms in his widely scattered literary allusions.

Nor did he—by allusion, at any rate. But I've recently been unhorsed by Mark Grueter, a brilliant graduate student of mine, who came across the following in the story Pigs Have Wings..."

One could not ask for a better endorsement!

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Kerry kicked ass last night.  He actually seemed a bit nervous for the first couple of minutes, but then settled in to a stance of complete confidence.  Bush, on the other hand, seemed overwhelmed at a couple points and continually repeated the platitudes that often define his public speaking.  Kerry's best line was when, near the end, he addressed Bush's accusation that Kerry lacked the "certainty" to be a good president.  Kerry replied by saying, "This issue of certainty: It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong."

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All aspiring writers, I implore you not to read the following passage, also from the Atlantic Monthly:

"(The decline in reading, especially fiction, is) not for want of would-be novelists and poets: the number of people who claim to do 'creative writing' has risen from around 11 million to nearly 15 million since 1982, meaning the a full seven percent of the adult population is currently churning out writing for an ever diminishing pool of readers."

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Dennis DiClaudio on the as-yet unaired Swift Boat Veterans advert.

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Too funny, Norman Mailer is going to be on an episode of The Gilmore Girls.

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And now for a slight departure...

Some pictures of the coolest piece of public art I have ever seen.  Jonathan Borofsky's Walking to the Sky presents images from every angle that defy the viewer's preconceptions of what can be possible, visually, in reality:

As I hope these photos display, the work is particularly striking at night (oh yes, and Guirlinger, thanks for Le Cirque!).

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And finally, COME TO OUR FUNDRAISER TOMORROW!!!

Click here for the last Culturally Speaking.

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Sarah Stodola is the Managing Editor of Me Three.  She can be contacted here.

© 2004 Me Three