State Of Fear

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author:	Michael Crichton

"If Crichton is right — if the scientific evidence for global warming is thin; if the environmental movement, ignoring science, has gone off track; if we live in what he in his Author's Message calls a 'State of Fear,' a 'near-hysterical preoccupation with safety that's at best a waste of resources and a crimp on the human spirit, and at worst an invitation to totalitarianism' — then his extraordinary new thriller may in time be viewed as a landmark publication, both cautionary and prophetic. If he is wrong, then the novel will be remembered simply as another smart and robust, albeit preachy, addition to an astonishing writing career that has produced, among other works, Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, Disclosure and The Andromeda Strain. Crichton dramatizes his message by way of a frantic chase to prevent environmental terrorists from wreaking widespread destruction aimed at galvanizing the world against global warming. A team lead by MIT scientist/federal agent John Kenner crosses the globe to prevent the terrorists from calving a giant Antarctic iceberg; inducing terrible storms and flash floods in the US; and, using giant cavitators, causing a Pacific tidal wave. Behind the terrorists lurks the fantatical, fund-seeking chief of a mainstream environmental group; on Kenner's team, most notably, is young attorney Peter Evans, aka everyman, whose typically liberal views on global warming chill as Kenner instructs him in the truth about the so-called crisis. The novel is dense with cliffhangers and chases and derring-do, while stuffed between these, mostly via Kenner's dialogue, is a talky yet highly provocative survey of how Crichton thinks environmentalism has derailed. There are plenty of ready-to-film minor characters as well, from a karate-kicking beauty to a dimwitted, pro-environmentalist TV star who meets one of the nastiest fates in recent fiction. There's a lot of message here, but fortunately Crichton knows how to write a thriller of cyclonic speed and intensity. Certainly one of the more unusual novels of the year for its high-level mix of education and entertainment, with a decidedly daring contrarian take, this take-no-prisoners consideration of environmentalism wrapped in extravagantly enjoyable pages is one of the most memorable novels of the year and is bound to be a #1 bestseller." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Poetry Wednesday 04/15/09

in praise of spinsters

by

LAUREL ANN BOGEN

I am no castoff

no raggedy

I am as bountiful as corn

my face turned toward the sun

I sing in praise of spinsters

who weave their hair

to make strong rope

who cast their dreams 

to make fine pots.

We are your mystery

the ones who slipped away

I celebrate what we are ----

clay sifting through fingers

women alone

harvesting the earth.

Laurel Ann Bogen teaches poetry and preformance in the UCLA Extension Writer's Program and is the author of eight collections of poetry and short fiction. 

Link back to the Poetry Wednesday tour on Laurita's page

(Having been through three bad marriages,  I often envy women who did not waste large segments of their lives in a marriage relationship. Therefore this poem appealed to me as it celebrates those lives that did not choose marriage.  I saw this poem, again,  in Sandra Haldeman Martz's At our Core: Women Writing About Power.  This is the last poem I intend to select from this book.  But I hope to get my hands on another one of her anthologies soon!) 

Book Tuesday -04/14/09

The Practical Encylcopedia Of Feng Shui

by

Gill Hale

(From the author's website)
Also sold as The Complete guide to Feng Shui, this comprehensive illustrated guide to the powerful Chinese art of Feng Shui, covers homes, gardens and offices.  Ancient formulae and symbols are explained and interpreted for today's world and simple tables will help you apply them.
The theories of Feng Shui are explained, and practical advice is offered on how to create supportive environments to enhance your life, to foster your health, improve relationships and encourage prosperity and fulfilling lifestyles.
You are encouraged to discard everything which is cluttering your life and to encourage positive energy flows inside the home, and create a nurturing garden outside by working with natural forces.  At work, where you sit, and the characters of your workmates all affect your productivity and relatively small changes can have instant impact.
Over 600 photographs and illustrations, including commissioned photographs and detailed easy to follow charts enable the book to illustrate how this increasingly popular ancient philosophy can be used in the modern world to focus your thoughts ~ and that of your environment ~ to create the life you really want.
(I read this book a few years ago.  In fact I had to read it twice to understand some of the concepts.  Never the less,  I see a great many similarities between the principles Gill Hale puts forth in her book and the habits of homemaking taught to me in my upbringing.  The blending of textures and materials and the arrangement of items in the home in an orderly way certainly is something that makes one feel like home is a special place.  It is fun to put things about keeping the Bagua in mind.)

A PBS show about the bail out .

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch.html
This link was posted on my contact Stephen's page and while I imagine many of my contacts are also his, just in case anyone missed it, I feel it is important information to have.

Comments to Stephen's post can be made at:
http://spacestevie.multiply.com/journal/item/724/This_make_me_want_to_join_the_torches_and_pitchforks_brigade?replies_read=1

Poetry Wednesday 04/08/09

grit

by

Lynn Robbins

I chew concrete, grit between my teeth

forever, since birth, didn't even notice.

It was in the milk, the potatoes,

the prayers and first grade lessons.

I liked it, didn't have to learn, didn't

know a meal or day without it.

And the more concrete I ate,

the more it settled -- in my feet,

took away a freedom never known,

no reason or thought to fight for it,

nor even to run away.  I did not need 

shackles.  I did not need prison bars

to hold me in, being fed concrete

since day one, being told 

all I couldn't and wouldn't 

and shouldn't do.

I strain my food now, strain away

the grit, and take a smuggled chisel

to my feet each night, working

my way down to flesh and bone,

digging a tunnel to an angry voice

locked up tight in my toes, toes that 

have never touched mud or music,

toes that ache every morning to laugh,

to run, to wiggle way up in the air.

~Lynn Robbins is a poet and graphic designer whose work focuses on helping women self-publish.

(I really liked this when I read it - I am still working on "at our core: women writing about power" by Sandra Haldemann Martz- but felt it was more negative than what I wanted to post.  Yet this week I feel it even more than normal and how it applies to  women from my generation.  I hope it is better for the young girls growing up now.)

Back to Poetry Wednesday

Link back to the Poetry Wednesday tour on Laurita's page

Book Tuesday -04/07/09

Black and Blue Magic

by

ZILPHA KEATLEY SNYDER

Synopsis (From Barnes and Noble)

You'd think that someone with a name like Harry Houdini Marco would be deft and skillful, but Harry could only occasionally catch even an easy fly ball without making some dumb error. On top of that, most of his friends' families were moving to the suburbs. It would have been a long, dreary summer, but then a Mr. Mazeeck showed up and turned out to be more than he seemed.

This now classic book was first published by Atheneum in 1966. It was selected by Scholastic Books for inclusion in the Arrow Book Club and later republished in a Dell Yearling edition in 1988.

Annotation

Twelve-year-old Harry Houdini Marco is awkward and clumsy, bearing little resemblance to his magician namesake, until he acquires the gift of flight.

(My fifth grade teacher read us this book.  She always started our day with a chapter from whatever book she was reading us.   We all loved this one so much and when my kids reached grade school age I couldn't wait to find a copy and read it to them. Maybe sometime I will read it to Haily and Tyler and eventually to Tucker when he is bigger too.  Remember to click on the title and on the author's name for more information.)