So many fantastic people were born on or around this day. Happy birthday wishes to 
agentxpndble, arymetore, caster121, and syrcleoftrees! And happy early birthday wishes to ghislainem70, tudorpumpkin, xjenavivex, lizziebelle, zmaddoc, supermusicmad, and wiccagirl24. May all of you enjoy a brilliant day, my dear friends, and a fabulous year to come!
A few quick items:
* I was offline much of yesterday due to a fun series of thunderstorms. I'm catching up now!
* Reason Papers: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Normative Studies has published (online and for free) a very special issue, Imagining Better: Philosophical Issues in Harry Potter, edited by Carrie-Ann Biondi and including essays by some terrific scholars, several of whom I'm glad to call friends as well as colleagues. You don't want to miss these essays if you're a student or fan of Harry Potter. Check out this brilliant issue and/or download it here!
* Speaking of the wonderfulagentxpndble, whose birthday is today, she's the mistress of two great websites, including CI5 Addict (for The Professionals) and...
* This month I'm part of a four-person scholarly roundtable dialogue on "Liberty, Commerce, and Literature" featured at Cato Unbound here. The other participants are literary critics Sarah Skwire and Frederick Turner and Heinlein biographer William H. Patterson, Jr.
And last, the new Hobbit video blog. Two words: Beorn's Hall! \o/
"I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air. I am he that walks unseen. I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number. I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of bag, but no bag went over me. I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ring-winner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider."
- Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
agentxpndble, arymetore, caster121, and syrcleoftrees! And happy early birthday wishes to ghislainem70, tudorpumpkin, xjenavivex, lizziebelle, zmaddoc, supermusicmad, and wiccagirl24. May all of you enjoy a brilliant day, my dear friends, and a fabulous year to come!A few quick items:
* I was offline much of yesterday due to a fun series of thunderstorms. I'm catching up now!
* Reason Papers: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Normative Studies has published (online and for free) a very special issue, Imagining Better: Philosophical Issues in Harry Potter, edited by Carrie-Ann Biondi and including essays by some terrific scholars, several of whom I'm glad to call friends as well as colleagues. You don't want to miss these essays if you're a student or fan of Harry Potter. Check out this brilliant issue and/or download it here!
* Speaking of the wonderful
agentxpndble, whose birthday is today, she's the mistress of two great websites, including CI5 Addict (for The Professionals) and... * This month I'm part of a four-person scholarly roundtable dialogue on "Liberty, Commerce, and Literature" featured at Cato Unbound here. The other participants are literary critics Sarah Skwire and Frederick Turner and Heinlein biographer William H. Patterson, Jr.
And last, the new Hobbit video blog. Two words: Beorn's Hall! \o/
"I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air. I am he that walks unseen. I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number. I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of bag, but no bag went over me. I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ring-winner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider."
- Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
- Current Music:"Ents' Marching Song," BBC LOTR Soundtrack
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Comments
Didn't you love Martin Freeman's awe taking in the sets? I was so glad we got to see more of him in this vlog.
I owe you email! More soon very, I promise! I'm so tickled you saw the trailer on the big screen. *flails*
Edited at 2012-07-24 02:03 pm (UTC)
I've been thinking about the phenomenon of film trailers using music from other film's soundtracks. I know it's done pretty regularly, but my impression was/is that it's usually done with songs that aren't "standout," easily recognizable and iconic. The only example I can think of offhand is from the Elizabeth: The Golden Age trailer, which used a song taken from the soundtrack of The Island. The only reason I knew that was because I Googled it to pieces (LOL). I'd seen The Island, but the song hadn't made that much of an impression on me. It did in the trailer, though.
That's world's away from using something as huge as the LOTR soundtrack. As John Watson would say, that's a bit not good. ;)
(I do remember the trailer for Ever After used "The Mummers' Dance" by Loreena McKennitt, which I already knew very well, and it threw me for a loop. I missed several seconds of the trailer, just from the shock of hearing it in a new context.)
Good grief, we seem to be getting thunderstorms every single day. It's crazy! There are walking trails near our house, going around the lake, and now they're covered with moss because it's been so warm and wet.
Near the end, you write: "It's worth pointing out that authors need not be wholehearted defenders of markets to offer interesting food for thought."
For me, that's the crux of the issue, and it seems to be a corollary to Skwire's comment in the lead essay that "Literature is not for clear answers. Literature is for complicated questions." Beliefs exist on a spectrum, not as binary options, and slight changes in variables can cause major shifts in how a person thinks and acts. Heck, most people can't even agree on the makeup of the spectrum. (Where do you place someone who thinks we should have a highly progressive tax rate but believes in strong property rights? I mean, besides an asylum...) And how those beliefs, thoughts and actions are presented in literature – which isn't bound to the rules of, like, reality – just makes everything even more complex. Oh what a tangled web and all that.
Okay, I can feel rambling mode kicking in. I enjoyed the essay. Thanks for sharing.
A "tangled web," indeed! I'm most grateful for your perspective and feedback on this.
Edited at 2012-07-29 01:22 am (UTC)
And thanks for letting us know about the scholarly roundtable dialogue. The essays were very interesting and have given me some cool ideas to integrate into my Business Ethics course this Fall. In addition to the various good reasons you and Sarah adduce for why the scholarly output on the topic is so anti-market tilted, I think that some scholars themselves are anti-market and so tend to see and read what they want to--it reaffirms them in their anti-market views. That then affects what they assign their students to read (and how they read), and so the cycle continues.
As for literature/fiction that is sympathetic with free enterprise, I would include some of Charlotte Bronte's work. Fred and George Weasley are depicted in a generally positive entrepreneurial light with their successful business (even though Rowling supports Labor, I believe). I also seem to recall a very Libertarian sci-fi book called Snow Crash.... In short, there is a good deal out there--as the four of you point out--so thank you for raising this important topic!
~Carrie-Ann Biondi
Thanks also for taking a peek at the scholarly roundtable dialogue.
In addition to the various good reasons you and Sarah adduce for why the scholarly output on the topic is so anti-market tilted, I think that some scholars themselves are anti-market and so tend to see and read what they want to--it reaffirms them in their anti-market views. That then affects what they assign their students to read (and how they read), and so the cycle continues.
Oh, excellent point.
I'm glad you brought up Charlotte Bronte, Rowling, and Stephenson, as well. Great examples! *nods vigorously*