Just picked up _The Transparent Society_ by David Brin. Brin takes on the privacy issue with a fascinating twist: he proposes that what is needed is not ironclad privacy for everyone, but reciprocal transparency, especially as it relates to governments and corporations. The government already has huge databases on every American citizen - nothing Orwellian here, it just happens as part of a system of record-keeping. Despite all of this data, Americans are still among the most free people on the planet with only the Scandanavian Social Democracies above us on that list, and the Scandanavian governments have, in addition to the type of data our government has, socialized health care systems too! The problem is not that these records exist, but that we don't know who's looking at them. Brin recommends ensuring that there is a constantt bidirectional flow of information, that we have a right to know wht's going on in the corridors of power as much as, if not more than, they have a right to monitor us. Anyway, it's a pretty cool book.

I@m re-reading "The Essence of the Thing" (Madeleine St. John) and with every page I think it hurts me a little bit more. Such a sad, sad book...and so real-life, too. That's probably the worst thing about it.

and of course it's the best thing, too...confusing :-)

the idea of 'reciprocal transparency' is an interesting one... what is troubling, immediately upon consideration of it, though, is the evolution of the idea, the mutations likely to arise from it... once the notion of privacy is obsolete, all kinds of unpleasant scenarios come to mind, especially in the kind of moral climate existing now (and into the future forseeable, i'd guess)... privacy is the only protection available to the radically different, and as long as absolutists congest the thinking of the human race, is a commodity to be protected at all costs, i would think... there's also the potential for abuse, unequal inevitably, because of the power issues involved... the idea of 'i'll show you mine if you'll show me your's' isn't as compelling when one considers the institutional paronoia endemic to government (coupled, of course, with disproportionate measures of power)... sounds like a fascinating book, gonna look it up...

think it would make a great topic here on the Spring, as well... suggestions as to conference, anyone?

Sounds like an interesting conference topic. Brin does not gloss over the problems inherent in his proposal - he's very honest about both possible problems with Transparency, as well as the existence of unforseen problems also. I'm about halfway through the book now, but one example Brin gives is the use (already occuring) of CCTV cameras in public, high crime areas. It is a fact that the presence of these cameras acts as a deterrent to street crime. Thh problem any sane person has is, how do I know if I'm being spied upon for something other than legitimate law-enforcement reasons? Brin's solution? Not only are all citizens able to dial into the feed from any of these cameras, but they can also dial in to a camera placed in the Police Department's monitor room. Who watches the Watchmen? We all do. I'm not sure I'd like to live in a completely Transparent society - I'm still prone to scratch my butt and pick my nose when I think I'm not observed (like right now, for example), and the last thing I want to do is scare the children.... ;-)

just finished The Color of Water by James McBride. Typically I do not enjoy biographies but this one grabbed me and kept me rapt until I was done. Adam, Sounds like a fascinating read... I'll have to pick it up!

The COlor of Water - who's it about? THe last good bio I read was _Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton_ - really enjoyed it, but then, I'm a Burtonphile. _Edgar A. Poe: A Mournful and Never Ending Remembrance_ is very good too. In the mystery department, anyone else read the Tubby Dubonnet series by Tony Dunbar? They're pretty good - they're set in New Orleans, and the main character is a borderline seedy lawyer. They give a very good feel of the unique character of the City of N'awlins. There's also some really good descriptions of cajun cuisine, which just makes me want to go out and eat a ton or so of boiled crawfish.

The Color of Water is written by a black man for and about his white mother. the chapters alternate from his point of view and narration to her words when questioned by him as an adult. Lots of color/race/whoami issues. THe title comes from his mother's explanation to the question, "well if God's not white or black, what color is he>"

reading mind candy!!! John Saul's Brain Child. Gotta love a book you can finish in two sittings without trying and stretching your imagination with horrible visages of otherworldly evil!!!!

reading "My Legendary Girlfriend" by Mike Gayle.....it's pulp :(

i'm still reading belva plain's whispers. of course, i only have time to read it during my stationary bike ride 30 mins two times a week. right now one of the characters is really getting on my nerves. yeah, i know, it's just a book but it just goes to show how belva is able to draw you in.

just finished Violin by Anne Rice...

what's that about, wer?

girl meets guy guy is a ghost who plays a violin girl has always wanted to be able to play violin ghost is sadistic girl is strong and more "messed in the head" than the ghost anticipated (insert bunch of stuff here) everyone lives/dies happily ever after it's a good read if you like her super descriptive period type pieces...

reread 'all the president's men' last night... part of 'the final days', too... (saw ben bradlee on larry king, made me nostalgic)

flannery o'connor, complete stories this new edition i bought contains several stories i hadn't read previously (written in the forties, when she was a graduate student), and they are wonderful...a little different from those i've grown familiar with...more open-ended, for one thing... even a little less developed, but in some way i find them even more satisfying...she was such a tremendous, unique talent, and always worthwhile...

"Philby", Phillip Knightley. life and times of a russian spy.

just finished "Fault Lines" by Anna Salter and "The Street Lawyer" by John Grisham...still muddling through "Virtual Reality" by Howard Rheingold and rereading "UNIX in a Nutshell" as well...

I recently enjoyed Poisonwood Bible, Colony and Chocolat. However, I was disappointed in Midwives, which had come so highly recommended, and am ready to give up on Accordion Crimes after one more chapter.

don't you hate that!

working on belva blain's promises. yeah, i know, i have a whole library of her books. am still waiting for amy tan to publish another one (luv her work).

yeah, I'm waiting on the next Laura K. Hamilton one to come out...

I read the letter - especially the youthful love letters - of Franziska zu Reventlow. Born a countess in Husum (coast of the North Sea) around 1870, she was quite the bohemian, living from around 1893 to her untimely death 1911 in the famous bohemia of Schwabing, a part of Munich. In my early youth, I guess I was much in love with her. I read all that was just being put in print - republished novels and essays, but most of all her diaries, unpublished before. What an extraordinary person! I can't describe it all to you, I just thought she was the most adorable person I ever heard of, read about or met.

so how do we get a hold of her diaries?

Don't know if anything is available in English. Sorry. She was such a complex person, constantly in opposition with her own urges and needs. Very liberal for that time... A person with much love, but never sure for whom. All so difficult to express for me without making her seem an easy gal or cheap. Especially since she was not famous, but infamous, and had at times to resort to strange means to support herself, especially after she had a son (whose father was NEVER disclosed by her, not in letters nor diaries I've read). Hard to describe... Let's put it this way: patterns in live pretty much spread these days - not neccessarily all desirable - were lived by her over hundred years ago in the rigid society of Wilhelminian Germany, deep when it was an Imperial state, and state-service, military and order were the basis of the society. She was the prototypical nonconformist. Died for it, too, in the end.

Just checked Amazon... There are books on theology by a Henning Graf Reventlow, doubtless a relative, and one title that discusses several women of late-19th century Germany (book in German, sorry): �bergangsgesch�pfe: Gabriele Reuter, Hedwig Dohm, Helen B�hlau, und Franziska von Reventlow by Ludmila Slavova Our Price: $43.95 Hardcover (October 1998) Peter Lang Publishing; ISBN: 0820439622 Book Description Im Weiblichkeitsdiskurs um 1900 wurde die Frau weitgehend als Sinnbild der Sexualitt oder als sprachloses Objekt dargestellt. Man sprach den Frauen schpferische F�higkeiten ab. Dieses Buch befa�t sich mit der Problematik weiblicher Sprachlosigkeit und Kreativitt in ausgewhlten Frauenromanen der Jahrhundertwende. Es untersucht die ambivalente Haltung dieser Autorinnen zu ihrem Geschlecht sowie die Frage, inwieweit ihre Werke von den standartisierten Weiblichkeitsbildern der Zeit beeinflu�t wurden. BOOK SYNOPIS IN ENGLISH The discourses on femininity in nineteenth-century Germany considered women as speechless objects and as incarnation of sexuality. The discursive practices denied women creative capabilities. This book focuses on female speechlessness and creativity in selected novels by four turn-of-the century women writers. The study examines the ambivalent attitude of these authors towards their gender and the question of how their works were influenced by the prevalent images of femininity.

Wenesday, Thursday and Friday I read Jean M. Auel's The Clan of the Cave Bear and The Mammoth Hunters

reading another Koontz... "Sieze the Night"

my mother forbade me from reading that book (clan of the cave bear) while i lived in her house. and you know, i haven't read it since moving out on my own! saw the movie, though.

finished the fourth in the series, also, and read Almost Adam by Petru Popescu last week... My Mom never forbid me to read any book although she asked me to wait until I was older to read The Exorcist...

she was afraid the sexual scenes would frighten me....

in the first book? okay, I can see that...the rest have way more explicit scenes, though...

Finished HANNIBAL (follow-upto Silence of the Lambs) Fantastic! Reading "The Informers" now...

they do? golly, maybe i oughta...hmmmmmmm *grin*

Just finished "Where the Heart Is" loved the story and became quite fond of the characters... Started "Louisiana Fever" last night cross between "The Hot Zone" and a Nancy Drew novel.. gotta love mind candy!

I'm reading "The Queen's Bastard" by Robin Maxwell, and I can't put it down! It involves Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley having a secret child, and this child is switched at birth (on purpose, of course) with a stillborn child. The Queen's baby is given to commoners to raise, and he never knows until he's grown that he was the son of the Queen. The romantic scenes between Elizabeth and Robert are really beautiful--not tasteless at all, but speaking of two people who, if circumstances were different, woul have been married.

....when she should be reading Mary Stewart's Merlin Trology!

Come on now--I'm not supposed to be reading anything at all! I'm supposed to be grading these analyses of "Valmont" and writing a paper!

How bac can THAT be??? Make the little trolls give the actor a good report if nothing else =) I thought you got an extension on that papaper!

I did get an extension on that paper, but I was supposed to turn it in today, which isn't going to happen! I haven't gone to the library yet, either! I've fallen into full-scale slacker mode! And believe me, these "Valmont" essays are not that exciting to read...no one has said much of anything about Colin Firth!

Make them watch it again for your own enjoyment. Too bad you did not have a room full pf Droolians to teach. Can you imagine the essays we would have created for your enjoyment!

Nah, I couldn't do that--it took 3 class periods to get all the way through it, and we're running out of time in this semester! I can say that most all of them did like it, though.

I still think you should be teaching it to Droolians for a truly edifying experience *grin*

"Dear Boy", the biography of Keith Moon, one of the greatest drummers ever. When he died, the Who were history. superstar will review this very substantial book, published by Omnibus Press, UK.

Just finished Moo by Jane Smiley enjoyed it... enjoyed the characters... full of quaint little commentaries on life, real life and fantasy lives that we would all love to lead at times

The Keith Moon-thing was really heavy reading. John B. oughta take a look at this. Extremely good coverage of Sixties and early seventies music scene.

Current read: The Johnny Cash-autobiography in German.

I'm currently yawning my way through that guy Guralnick's 2-volume Elvis-bio. While obviously a labor of love with infinite detail fans will love, much of the detail is made up, as he admits to in the endnotes. Weeeeell.

Cannot believe anything Elvis could ever be a yawn for you, Alexander! I am plowing through the Hawaiian Creation Myth: "The Kumulipo" which is a translation done be Liliuokalani of Hawaii, the Queen. It is rough going since it was translated into Victorian English and is full of allusions to other things which must be looked up before continuing. The second book I am reading is "Legends and Myths of Hawaii" written in story form by Kalakaua of Hawaii, the King. (These two monarchs were not consorts; each ruled in his/her own right.)

See, Marcia, Guralnick goes like "Then then he and all the guys went there and there, ate this 'n' that. Elvis wore ....", all tremendously generic crap, and then he tell you in the end note, that Elvis was dressed like this AROUND that time, it's documented, yes, but IT IS NOT DOCUMENTED FOR THE DESCRIBED EVENT. He's discussing stuff IN DETAIL which he guesses at, generalizes things, and knows how people feel EXACTLY. That's making it all so very exciting. [yawn] The only Hawaii thing I eyer read were the tales by Jack London.

Michener is good on Hawaii, as is Robert Louis Stevenson. And, Mark Twain Sounds like a really worst-case read, at best. Soulda named it "Elvis: The Trivia Continues..."

I read Michener on Hawaii a long time back. Forgotten most of it! I've just finished the two books of the Stephen Lawhead Arthurian trilogy that I have. Must find the third sometime. I'm now well in to Bruce Chatwin's travelogue, The Songlines, about the ancient invisible pathways connecting up all over Australia, ancient tracks made of songs which tell of the creation of theland. It's another old favourite and I'm 'comfort reading'. What I'm supposed to be reading is a brand new book by Birgit Brock-Utne, Whose education for all?? The recolonization of the African mind. Since 1990 when the phrase 'education for all' was first coined at the World Bank conference in Jomtien, a battle has raged over the its meaning and impact on education in Africa. The argument goes that education for all really means western primary schooling for some and none for others, robbing Africans of their indigenous knowledge and language which then starves highereducation in Africa and perpetuates western dominance. OK, I'm off my hobby horse! It's a good read though if I can concenrate.

CHATWIN!!!!! Great author if there ever was one!!! Wot a shame he's dead. Positively LOVE that book, even if some stuff has since been shown to be not as factual as it appears in his writing... If you're deep in the book, you'll notice it's not about the Songlines at all, but about the "where I come from, where me go to"-thang. And then, looking at the species he actually explores himself.

Maggie, I expect a full report on Geomythology creation legends...*grin* Capital letters?! Must hunt up a copy... (Aloha, Alexander!)

Do find one Marcia. I got it originally from the library and it took me ages to find a second hand copy to own. Alexander - have you read in Patagonia? I have it on tape not paper. I love Chatwin's humanity and searching which shine through. I like the way he realtes to people as people not just objects of research.

Chatwin - got the whole load of them! Incl. the photo book which only has a introduction by him, his book with Theroux, the novels (Utz, made a movie with Armin M�ller-Stahl, and the other thing, filmed with Klaus Kinski, can't think of the name). Patagonia I read auf deutsch, but nearly all the rest I ordered in his tongue. Loved his "What am I doing here", which he compiled through all the in and out of hospitals, what was at the end what he was busy with: dying, and editing scraps, essays and articles for that MARVELOUS and WONDROUS tome.

Oh alexander i am jealous!! I still keep my out in the second hand shops, but as i said only found songlines recently.

Alexander have you read Chatwin: Anatomy of Restlessness:selected writings 1969-1989???

No, haven't heard of it. Must be a post-humous collection of stuff he did for mags and papers. I got most of my Chatwin stuff for Christmas or birthday from people who know my tastes.

....and from people who actually know when your birthday is...!

Talking of that ....... Has to be May or June Marcia (you I mean not Alexander) Yes the Anatomy of Restlessness book is post-h. There's a chapter in songlines which is journal jottings, and I keep looking at where to post some of them!

I was fishing for Alexander's, of course. We all know when the rest of ours is from Paraspring conference...

You may, but i don't More comfort reading Elizabeth Goudge, Herb of Grace

I need something comfort - maybe the book you sent will finally be opened and read - ahead of the others waiting for my attention...

Please do I think it will help. HUG!

Thanks, Maggie. I really need something other than crying.

Have another hug, and cuddle up with it.

* H U G S *

Oh Wow...*sniff* that is so special...thanks for the support. It means so much right now!

Wow, what book? Did you dig in to it?

Maggie had Amazon.com send me Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard and I have not looked past the cover. I shall this evening. My soul is sore and needs the comfort, even though things are cool here again this evening. I'll be happy to report on it as soon as I can - even in parts!

Greetings all Reading some of the postings provoked me to pull a book from the back of the queue to open up: "Wireless Imagination - Sound, Radio, and the Avant-Garde" (Dada Radio -or- Radio Dada?) Also, currently on the reading list is: "The Legacy of Luna" (in progress...) Im suddenly finding fractions of free time here and there which is good since I can read more but then I start too many parallel reading projects. Mike aka _cosmo_

What'What's the Legacy of Luna about?

Mike, I can relate to multiple reading projects underway. I have three books going plus a stack of journals waiting for me. *sigh*

Which books and which journals?

Journals: *Archaeology *Biblical Archaeology Review *Archaeology Odyssey *Antiquity and other British Archaeology publications(online) *Various Geological tech journals forwarded by my son *Astronomy Books: *In Gardens of Hawaii - Marie C. Neal (THE reference book for green and growing) *Sarum - Rutherford (the only fiction) *Norma Lorre Goodrich books on Arthurian characters *The KUMULIPO - Queen Liliuokalini of Hawaii * Maggie's book All but the latter and Sarum are reaearching for Geo and other conferences on Spring. I Love doing research - it is like treasure hunting!

Greetings all "Legacy of Luna" is the story of Julia Butterfly Hill and her efforts to stop clear cutting of the old growth redwoods in Northern California. The Radio book is another facet of my inquiry into the fact that there were (and are) unique radio broadcasts out there aside from the rubbish that the media conglomerates are spewing out. Fight for Free Radio! Mike aka Cosmo

Believe it, Mike! I am am also a DX-er of some devotion and swl with great regularity logging in the new, the ephemeral and the truly weird. What can we do to help? My son lives in North-central California, and we are truly dedicated to outdoors and preserving it (he is a geologist).

I'm still into Elizabeth Goudge, and ploughing through the copies I borrowed from a friend. Have finished 'Herb of Grace' (it's on it's way marcie to join your pile when I get to the Post office!) Have just (last night) finished 'the White Whitch' (set in my area of the Chilterns) Am now starting a real old favourite 'City of bells' Also re-reading Paul Gallico's 'Jennie' Academically I have such a long list of books I'm working on which have to go back to Uni library next week that I'm ashamed to put them in here. Should have finished working on them ages ago! Journals: *journal of multilingual and multicultural development *prospects (UNESCO) *international journal of educational development