Durant on the past

It may be sentimental rubbish, but I love Will Durant's approach to history as a great living museum in which "the creative spirits of the past, by the miracles of memory and tradition, still live and work." Not dead yet. 


But I do worry about the miracle of memory. I forget what I need to remember.

"We always live at the time we live..."

...and not at some other time, and only by extracting at each present time the full meaning of each present experience are we prepared for doing the same thing in the future. This is the only preparation which in the long run amounts to anything. John Dewey,   Experience and Education

Did Woody Allen read Dewey in preparation for "Midnight in Paris"?

"Armageddon in Retrospect"

Just caught up with Kurt Vonnegut's posthumously-published Armageddon in Retrospect: And Other New and Unpublished Writings on War and Peace.  It's introduced by his son Mark, who observes that his Dad was "an optimist posing as a pessimist" who believed in writing as a spiritual exercise. It did not come easy to him.

He rewrote and rewrote and rewrote, muttering whatever he had just written over and over, tilting his head back and forth, gesturing with his hands, changing the pitch and rhythm of the words. Then he would pause, thoughtfully rip the barely written-on sheet of typing paper from the typewriter, crumple it up, throw it away, and start over again.

Makes me miss my old Smith-Corona, as well as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. He said:

We Humanists behave as well as we can, without any expectations of rewards or punishments in an Afterlife... We don't fear death, and neither should you. 

And then he said "I thank you for your attention, and I'm out of here." Simple, honest, clear. Thankfully the books remain.

precarious and stable

 "...it is the intricate mixture of the stable and the precarious, the fixed and the unpredictably novel, the assured and the uncertain in existence, which sets mankind upon that love of wisdom which forms philosophy..."

the secret of life

The Meming of Life » IT’S ALIVE! Parenting Beyond Belief on secular parenting and other natural wonders

The Meming of Life » IT’S ALIVE! Parenting Beyond Belief on secular parenting and other natural wonders

Jerry’s choice: five evolution books « Why Evolution Is True

Jerry’s choice: five evolution books « Why Evolution Is True

Stefan Sagmeister: 7 rules for making more happiness | Video on TED.com

Stefan Sagmeister: 7 rules for making more happiness | Video on TED.com

endless forms most beautiful

Snapped at the Field Museum in Chicago, June 2011

Dad

April 2008
JPO 1957-
JCO 1928-2008

Bertrand Russell speaks to the future

Construction of the "clock of the long now" has commenced, time to think seriously about what we mean for it to say to remote posterity. Bertrand Russell gave this question some thought:

"Go Cubs Go"

Chicago, my kind of town. Why do I only go every thirty-nine years? I actually think I appreciated it more this time, through the extended perceptions of my younger traveling companions. Wrigley in '72 was not nearly the "religious experience" of Monday night, when a capacity crowd rose yet again in the 7th inning to give spirited,  full-throated, unironic voice to our real national anthem. Harry's been gone for several years, but only in body.



Then, the improbable 1-0 win against the 1st-place Brewers sealed, there was this victory anthem. Younger Daughter, a Cubs fan by choice, was in heaven. We all were.

Chicago

Has it really been thirty-nine summers since a fifteen-year old boy and his Dad took a long week-end in the Windy City, seeing both of the hometown teams on successive days? Time to go again, you're only fifteen once.


Found the box-score from the summer of '72. We were there.

St.Louis Cardinals

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Batting	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS	WPA	aLI	WPA+	WPA-	RE24	PO	A
Lou Brock LF	5	1	2	0	0	0	.317	.752	0.048	0.79	0.093	-0.044	0.5	2	0	2·SB
Ed Crosby 2B	4	1	1	0	1	0	.225	.535	0.012	1.19	0.100	-0.088	0.8	2	3	2B
Bernie Carbo RF	3	1	2	0	2	0	.256	.707	0.150	1.19	0.162	-0.012	1.4	2	0
Jorge Roque PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	0.000	0.00	0.000	0.000	0.0
Joe Torre 3B	5	0	1	0	0	1	.303	.833	-0.115	1.97	0.110	-0.225	-2.6	1	1	GDP
Ted Simmons C	5	1	1	2	0	0	.291	.777	-0.172	2.20	0.161	-0.333	0.3	6	0	2B,GDP
Donn Clendenon 1B	3	0	1	1	1	0	.191	.595	0.117	0.70	0.134	-0.016	1.8	7	2
Luis Melendez CF	4	0	1	0	0	2	.231	.630	-0.061	0.73	0.013	-0.074	-1.0	2	0
Dwain Anderson SS	3	0	1	0	0	1	.255	.589	0.026	0.75	0.061	-0.035	0.1	2	3	HBP
Dal Maxvill SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	.235	.595	0.000	0.00	0.000	0.000	0.0	0	0
Dennis Higgins P	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	-0.013	0.52	0.000	-0.013	-0.2	0	0
John Cumberland P	1	0	0	0	0	0	.091	.182	-0.017	0.67	0.000	-0.017	-0.2	0	0
Diego Segui P	2	0	0	0	0	0	.100	.200	-0.122	1.64	0.000	-0.122	-1.2	0	1	GDP
Joe Grzenda P	0	0	0	0	0	0			0.000	0.00	0.000	0.000	0.0	0	0
Team Totals	36	4	10	3	4	4	.278	.699	-0.147	1.20	0.834	-0.979	-0.3	24	10

2B: T Simmons (21, off B Bonham); E Crosby (6, off B Bonham).

HBP: D Anderson (1, by T Phoebus).

TB: B Carbo 2; L Brock 2; T Simmons 2; E Crosby 2; L Melendez; J Torre; D Anderson; D Clendenon.

GIDP: J Torre (15); T Simmons (10); D Segui (1).

RBI: T Simmons 2 (61); D Clendenon (9).

Team LOB: 10.

With RISP: 3 for 11.

Fielding

DP: 1. E Crosby-D Anderson-D Clendenon.

E: D Anderson (4).

Baserunning

SB: L Brock 2 (41, 2nd base off B Bonham/K Rudolph 2).

Chicago Cubs

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Batting	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS	WPA	aLI	WPA+	WPA-	RE24	PO	A
Bill North RF	4	1	1	0	1	1	.143	.376	-0.198	2.30	0.050	-0.248	-0.7	1	0
Glenn Beckert 2B	5	0	1	2	0	1	.264	.649	0.323	3.15	0.523	-0.200	0.2	3	6	2B
Billy Williams LF	2	0	1	1	3	0	.339	.983	0.230	1.60	0.248	-0.018	1.8	4	0	2B,IW
Joe Pepitone 1B	5	0	1	0	0	1	.261	.763	-0.176	2.08	0.037	-0.213	-1.3	13	0
Ron Santo 3B	3	0	1	0	1	0	.294	.841	-0.022	1.48	0.079	-0.102	-0.0	1	2
Rick Monday CF	4	1	2	0	0	1	.259	.782	0.070	1.88	0.233	-0.163	0.1	0	0	2·2B,GDP
Ken Rudolph C	3	1	1	0	0	0	.214	.563	0.013	1.03	0.048	-0.035	0.1	3	1
Frank Coggins PH	0	1	0	0	1	0	.000	.500	0.064	3.28	0.064	0.000	0.4
Jack Aker P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.333	0.000	0.00	0.000	0.000	0.0	0	0
Don Kessinger SS	3	0	1	1	1	0	.268	.667	0.101	2.37	0.140	-0.040	0.9	2	4
Bill Bonham P	1	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.833	-0.031	1.98	0.000	-0.031	-0.3	0	3	SH
Jose Cardenal PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	.276	.793	-0.028	1.14	0.000	-0.028	-0.2
Tom Phoebus P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.067	.133	0.000	0.00	0.000	0.000	0.0	0	1
Jim Hickman PH	0	1	0	0	1	0	.286	.860	0.006	4.30	0.006	0.000	0.2			IW
Randy Hundley C	0	0	0	0	0	0	.218	.574	0.000	0.00	0.000	0.000	0.0	0	0
Team Totals	31	5	9	4	8	5	.290	.855	0.352	2.11	1.428	-1.078	1.2	27	17

2B: G Beckert (17, off D Segui); B Williams (22, off D Segui); R Monday 2 (12, 1 off D Higgins, 1 off D Segui).

SH: B Bonham (1, off J Cumberland).

IBB: B Williams (9, by J Grzenda); J Hickman (3, by D Segui).

TB: R Monday 4; B Williams 2; G Beckert 2; D Kessinger; J Pepitone; K Rudolph; R Santo; B North.

GIDP: R Monday (4).

RBI: G Beckert 2 (26); B Williams (69); D Kessinger (26).

2-out RBI: G Beckert 2; B Williams.

Team LOB: 11.

With RISP: 2 for 14.

Fielding

DP: 3. D Kessinger-G Beckert-J Pepitone; R Santo-D Kessinger-J Pepitone; G Beckert-D Kessinger-J Pepitone.

E: G Beckert (12); K Rudolph (6).