Politics, Morality & Civility :: Summer Meditations :: By Vaclav Havel

There are some sharp parallels between what Vaclav Havel is writing about in the first chapter of his book "Summer Meditations" - what was happening during the Velvet Revolution in the new Czech Republic - and the current state of "things", politics, life, capitalism in the United States. Oh, and don't forget civility. I suppose we can throw in morality in a fundamentaltruthoftheUniverse sorta way, as in right vs. wrong do the right thing and do the thing right.

It's the first time I'm reading it, and thought I would share.

Summer Meditations :: Chapter 1 :: Politics, Morality and Civility :: by Vaclav Havel

Rigorous Intuition

"John Steinbeck accounted for the failure of socialism in America by the underclass regarding itself not as the exploited poor but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires. Silly beggars. But they didn't come by that idea all by themselves. That's the conditioning of decades of political animal husbandry, and the dulling engorgement of mass instruction masquerading as entertainment." [Jeff Wells | Rigorous Intution]

Last Tango in Buenos Aires

Please head on over to Facebook and "Like" Tracy's new travel fiction book titled "Last Tango in Buenos Aires".

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Last-Tango-in-Buenos-Aires/212361298804513?sk=info

Hold Me Tight & Tango Me Home

I almost forgot to let everyone know about this. There is a new tango-centric book out there, about to be released to the whole wide world on February 9th. Congrats to author/tanguera Maria Finn on this...no small task to conceive/nurture/write/publish a book. Much less experiencing the "stuff" of which the book is made. I'm looking forward to reading it.


Here's the "About the Book" from the website ::

Hold Me Tight and Tango Me Home is the tale of surviving a broken heart. Maria Finn’s husband was cheating. First she threw him out. Then she cried. Then she signed up for tango lessons. It turns out that tango has a lot to teach about understanding love and loss, about learning how to follow and how to lead, how to live with style and flair, take risks, and sort out what it is you really want. As Maria’s world begins to revolve around the friendships she makes in dance class and the milongas (social dances) she attends regularly in New York City, we discover with her the fascinating culture, history, music, moves, and beauty of the Argentine tango. With each new dance step she learns the embrace, the walk, the sweep, the exit she is one step closer to returning to the world of the living. Eventually Maria travels to Buenos Aires, the birthplace of tango, and finds the confidence to try romance again.


And this, from the "Recent Reviews" section of the website ::

“A gracefully rendered memoir of a woman seeking post-divorce healing through tango.”
— Kirkus (Read Full Review)

“A lively debut memoir, brimming with tango history and lore.”
— Booklist

“This story of heartbreak and healing unravels the complexities of tango, which gradually becomes a source of addictive joy.”
— Sally Potter, writer and director of the film The Tango Lesson

“Beautifully told. Maria Finn relays her adventures in the world of tango with excitement, wit, and insight.”
— Robert Farris Thompson, author of Tango: The Art History of Love

“Along with her personal story, involving a trip to a wedding in Buenos Aires and documenting there the gay tango scene, she nicely elucidates the evolution of the dance, through the music of Astor Piazzolla and Carlos Gardel, and traces briefly its flashpoints across the globe, from America to Finland and Turkey.”
— Publishers Weekly



Looks like it's gonna be a goodun'...order yours today...I just did.



Here's her official website :: http://tangomehome.com/

Here' a link to the book store finder on IndieBound...buy locally if you can :: http://www.indiebound.org/indie-bookstore-finder

The Long Emergency :: A book by James Howard Kunstler

This morning, I happened across this on the bookshelves in my office - I bought it a while back, but haven't yet read it. "The Long Emergency - Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century"

"If you give a damn, you should read this book." - THE INDEPENDENT

"This is a frightening and important book." - TIME OUT CHICAGO

"It used to be that only environmentalists and paranoids warned about the world running out of oil and the future it could bring: crashing economies, resource wars, social breakdown, agony at the pump. Not anymore...America's dependence on oil is too pervasive to undo quickly, [Kunstler] warns...In the meantime, we'll have our hands full dealing with...the soaring temperatures, rising sea levels and mega-droughts brought by global climate change. Not long ago, a Jeremiah like Kunstler would have been dismissed as a kook...As brilliant as it is baleful...and we disregard it at our peril." - THE WASHINGTON POST

"What sets The Long Emergency apart...is its comprehensive sweep - its powerful integration of science and technology, economics and finance, international politics and social change, along with a fascinating attempt to peer into a chaotic future. Kunstler is such a compelling and sometimes eloquent writer that it is hard to put the book down." - AMERICAN SCIENTIST

"Funny, irreverent, and blunt." - THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Rolling Stone ::: Article condensed from the book

Books.Google.com

Also note that Kunstler has a new book out - titled "World Made by Hand - A novel of America's post-oil future". I'll have to get my hands on that one.