Monthly Archives: January 2015

Ray Bradbury’s House Has Been Torn Down, and I Understand Why

Posted on Sunday 11 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Ray Bradbury was, of course, the popular and influential science fiction writer of such works as The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, the latter book still a staple on high school reading lists. He was only loosely a science fiction … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Economics, Ray Bradbury | Comments Off on Ray Bradbury’s House Has Been Torn Down, and I Understand Why

Religious Evolution and Obsolescence

Posted on Friday 9 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve mentioned before that there is an evolution of policy stances by conservative and Republican politicians, because the environment — the American public — has shifted its majority opinion on issues such as gay rights and even same-sex marriage. Thus, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evolution, Lunacy, Religion | Comments Off on Religious Evolution and Obsolescence

Elves

Posted on Thursday 8 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Mason: Dad, there’s no real magic in the world, right? Dad: What do you mean? Mason: You know, like elves and stuff. People just made that up. Dad: Oh, I don’t know. I mean, what makes you think that elves … Continue reading →

Posted in Films | Comments Off on Elves

Links and Comments: Mostly about the Evils of Religion, Not to Put Too Fine a Point on It

Posted on Wednesday 7 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Tonight, many links and comments about religion, especially on this day when thin-skinned Muslim terrorists murdered French journalists who had dared to insult their omniscient, omnipotent god by drawing mocking cartoons about Muhammad. Some of the reaction has been to … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Culture, Links, Lunacy, Philosophy, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Mostly about the Evils of Religion, Not to Put Too Fine a Point on It

Links and Comments: Good News about the state of the world; cultural concepts; science; religion and fantasy

Posted on Monday 5 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on links and comments from the past three weeks or so, given the holiday lapse. * First some Good News: Slate: Steven Pinker and Andrew Mack: The World Is Not Falling Apart In the world is getting more … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Cosmology, Culture, Evolution, Lunacy, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Good News about the state of the world; cultural concepts; science; religion and fantasy

The Imitation Game

Posted on Monday 5 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

(copied from Facebook post, 22 Dec 2014) We caught up with THE IMITATION GAME yesterday, the film about Alan Turing, staring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley. Turing was the British mathematician who famously cracked the Nazi “Enigma” code during World … Continue reading →

Posted in Films, Science, The Gays | Comments Off on The Imitation Game

Chef

Posted on Monday 5 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

(Copied from Facebook post, 26 Dec 2014) On Christmas Day evening the four of us — me and Yeong and his two boys — watched a charming ‘foodie’ movie from earlier in 2014, CHEF, starring writer/director Jon Favreau as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Films | Comments Off on Chef

Birdman

Posted on Monday 5 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

(Copied from Facebook post, 1 Jan 2015) We saw BIRDMAN today, the film starring Michael Keaton as a fading action hero movie star trying to redeem himself by staging a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver’s short story “What We Talk … Continue reading →

Posted in Films | Comments Off on Birdman

It’s a Wonderful Life

Posted on Sunday 4 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

We watched the film “It’s a Wonderful Life” this past week, as a holiday event, for the umpteenth time, as everyone does, and what I was most struck by this time is one of the most obvious points: how long … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Films, Philosophy | Comments Off on It’s a Wonderful Life

John Legend: Save the Night

Posted on Sunday 4 January 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Current ear-worm. I listened to this half a dozen times on the CD before I looked it up on YouTube. I thought for sure, listening to it, that the recurrent lyric transitioned from “save the night” to “stay the night”… … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Comments Off on John Legend: Save the Night