Monthly Archives: August 2010
Vote For DC United To Win A Pepsi Refresh Grant
Click to vote for DC United to win $50,000 from the Pepsi Refresh Grants
A Little Reflection (photos)
I ran across some old pictures I took for my entertainment portfolio. They were shot by Allen Kemp (a long time friend of my brother). I’m guessing most people see the changes in themselves as they look at old pictures. I do sometimes. Oddly though, I don’t feel anything when I look at these pics. I’ve tried to date each new guy like my first (which is very difficult to erase disappoints from your heart), Read the rest of this entry
Books: Fahrenheit 451
I decided to pull out some old school book reports.
In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fire Captain Beatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give them slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy." Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature. Published 1953
