HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: [UPI] Library attacked for buying Madonna's Sex book
Date: 17 Nov 92 19:04:18 GMT
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA

In article <1e821uINN86b@morrow.stanford.edu>, francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir) writes:
> John Nagle writes:
> 	Yeah, for $50 it ought to be better bound.  I expect a 
> 	paperback version once hardback sales run down.
> 
> You miss the point. The binding is the book, or a major part of it.
> It probably does not belong in any library, not because of any problems
> with its content, but because it isn't a book. It is, literally, an
> "objet d'art".
> 
> 							Fido

You left an "f" out before "art."

Is the distinctive binding so that the pages can be separated, 
should they become stuck together?

Any librarian who thought Madonna's masturbatory device belonged
in a library clearly has too large a budget.

-- 
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer  My opinions, all mine!
"Foxes prefer rabbits with short claws." -- Nadja Adolf
From: adolphso@mizar.usc.edu (adolphson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Catholic Lifestyle Book Recommendation
Date: 23 Nov 1992 10:36:14 -0800
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: mizar.usc.edu

In article <1er4jvINNt43@morrow.stanford.edu> 
francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir) writes:
> Arne Adolphson writes:
>
>	Can anyone suggest a good book on the Roman Catholic lifestyle?
>	I'm not a Catholic myself, and I have to say that the Catholic
>	lifestyle is a real puzzler to me.  I'd like something light
>	and frothy as I'm not real interested in theology.
>
> For one brief moment I thought this was an attempt at a humorous knock-off 
> of the posting that started the "gay lifestyle" thread, but then the awful
> realization came over me -- the man means it!

But of course I meant it.

> So which lifestyle is it?

The Roman Catholic lifestyle.

> The pederastic parish priest from St. Paul's? The mustachio'd nun who leapt
> over the wall at a single bound? Mark Taranto's Confessions of a First
> Communicant? 

Surely you don't mean to imply that the lifestyle of a
pederastic parish priest from St. Paul's -- and really, 
we're grown-ups here so why beat around the bush? *all* 
priests are pederasts -- is different from that of a 
nun of whatever degree of hirsuteness or from that led
by Mark Taranto.  

> The list goes on.

A list of Roman Catholics is not evidence of a variety 
of Catholic lifestyles.  My word, what a silly idea!

Arne
From: mckay@cs.concordia.ca (MCKAY john)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: "Ostrowski's book"
Date: 15 Nov 92 23:49:07 GMT
Distribution: ca
Organization: Computer Science, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec


During a radio broadcast (CBC Sunday 18:00) reference was made to
censorship concerning "the Ostrowski book" - To what does this refer?
Please email me:   mac@abacus.concordia.ca
Thank you.

Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: bhattach@quip.eecs.umich.edu (sayan bhattacharyya)
Subject: Re: "Authors in Popsongs" quiz
Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept., Ann Arbor, MI
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 04:44:15 GMT

In article <Bxw8C3.CBE@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> nickles@sage.cc.purdue.edu (john a nickles) writes:

>My personal favorite has always been:
> "I've been Ayn Randed, been branded
>  A Communist 'cause I'm left handed!
>  That's the hand they use --
>  Well, never mind. . .
>
> A Simple Delistry(sp) Phillipic (sp) 
>  Simon and Garfunkel
>
>John A. Nickles
>Standard Disclaimer:
>LEFT HANDERS: THE DINKY MINORITY


Is this the same song which has :

   "I've been John Lennoned, Krishna Menoned..." ?

-Sayan Bhattacharyya.


Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: ceblair@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Charles Blair)
Subject: Re: Accuracy in autobiography (was: GENIUS: Richard Feynman)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 15:58:36 GMT

weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener) writes:

>Isaac Newton's "shoulder of giants" comment was
>not just some clever act of credit sharing, but a genuine humility.

   In HUYGENS & BARROW, NEWTON & HOOKE, V. Arnold gives a different and
surprising interpretation of this comment.  Newton had a bitter rivalry
with a scientist Robert Hooke, who was very small, and that this was
a sarcastic reference to Hooke.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books,sci.philosophy.meta
From: mnemonic@eff.org (Mike Godwin)
Subject: Re: Wittgenstein, P.I.
Originator: mnemonic@eff.org
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 15:59:00 GMT

In article <TORKEL.92Nov22011304@bast.sics.se> torkel@sics.se (Torkel Franzen) writes:

>  As for your comparison with "religious atheists", it is not altogether
>misleading ....

High praise indeed! Thanks!


--Mike



-- 
Mike Godwin,    |"I can solve this Orient Express thing without
mnemonic@eff.org| breaking a sweat. It's that simple."
(617) 864-0665  | 
EFF, Cambridge  |                           --Hercule Perot
From: proberts@informix.com (Paul Roberts)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: good novels about gay lifestyle
Date: 20 Nov 92 20:45:27 GMT
Organization: Informix Software, Inc.

In article <Bxy9yp.1x2@wsrcc.com> alison@wsrcc.com (Alison Chaiken) writes:
>I'd like to read one or two good books about the gay lifestyle in
>order to try to understand it.  In particular I am NOT curious about
>gay sexual practices (not a prude; just not interested).  I undertake
>this project in the same spirit as when a few years ago I decided to
>read several books about Islam: I want to "see how the other half
>lives."  Recommendations for serious adult fiction are appreciated.
>-- 
>Alison Chaiken 				alison@wsrcc.com
>(510) 422-7129 [daytime] 		or chaiken@cmsgee.llnl.gov
>Look if you like, but you will have to leap.

Try "The City and the Pillar" by Gore Vidal. That seems to fit
you spec.

Paul
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books,sci.philosophy.meta
From: gersh@aplpy.jhuapl.edu (John R. Gersh)
Subject: Re: Wittgenstein, P.I.
Summary: Bang!
Organization: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 22:51:29 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.125404.4312@eff.org> Mike Godwin writes:

>
>For Wittgenstein, P.I., the world is all that is the case.
>

Whereof one cannot speak, thereon one must use a silencer.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
John Gersh                                     gersh@aplpy.jhuapl.edu
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723		       (301) 953-5503
From: francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Madonna's new book
Date: 17 Nov 1992 12:37:03 GMT
Organization: Stanford Exploration Project
NNTP-Posting-Host: oas.stanford.edu

Jim Kasprzak writes:

	In recent years I've encountered a growing contingent who 
	insist that the feminine equivalent of "balls" should be "eggs".

It is a curiosity that in the Game of Cricket, after six balls, the
Umpire shouts ova!

						Fido
From: francis@oas.stanford.edu (Francis Muir)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Maddona's new book
Date: 21 Nov 1992 18:28:24 GMT
Organization: Stanford Exploration Project
NNTP-Posting-Host: oas.stanford.edu

John McCarthy writes:

	Mike Godwin includes:

		To me, the importance of Madonna (and, yes, I think she's
		important) lies not in her sexiness (about which many
		disagree, in any case), but in her absolute control of her
		sexual personae.

	My little latin suggests that "personae" is plural.  What are they
	in the Madonna case?

I have seen "agendae" used as the plural for agenda... and "an isotropic
homogeneous media" in the first line of an abstract of a peer-reviewed
article. With peers like these, who needs peasants? In fact, I believe that
Mike meant exactly what he said; that is, that he was borrowing Paglia's
tittle-tale and pinning it on Madonna's ass. Hey, I have rushed to Mike's
defence! Is this the sky above that's falling on my head?

							Fido
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: wismith@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (William R. Smith)
Subject: not verbose (was Re: Balls etc.)
Organization: NAS, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 22:37:35 GMT

 heather henderson writes:
	
	I think McAuliffe was *quite* eloquent, but without being verbose.
	He must have read Strunk & White's little volume -- a book I
	highly recommend to M. Zeleny.  
	



Notice in personal column want ads:

	Minimalist seeks same.





William Sburgfort Smith
Intel, SSD

Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: hsong%asylum.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Hwal Song)
Subject: Publication date
Date: 22 Nov 92 06:03:53 MST
Organization: University of Utah CS Dept
Distribution: usa


Hi!

I want to find out a publicatio date for a book, called
    Seven Stories of Christmas Love.
I need year, month, and date.
Where can I get info on this?
Thank you in advance.
Xref: sparky rec.arts.books:20547 sci.philosophy.meta:2687
From: cash@convex.com (Peter Cash)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books,sci.philosophy.meta
Subject: Re: Wittgenstein and metaphysics was: Wittgenstein, P.I.
Date: 23 Nov 92 19:43:43 GMT
Organization: The Instrumentality
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

In article <gall.722544249@yorku.ca> gall@nexus.yorku.ca (Norm Gall) writes:
>Well, as a philosopher, I can tell you that many amny professional
>philosophers consider metaphysics not only a valuable (and profitable)
>endeavour, but would dismiss all else as mere philosophical
>masturabation suitable for the corner bistro, but not the hallowed
>halls of the University.

Hmm. That probably accounts for why I have such a hard time understanding
what such professional philosophers say.

>In a nutshell, metaphysics concerns itslef with what is actually the
>case about the world independent of humans, human investiagtion, and
>human reasoning.  of course, you'll get a plethora of differeing
>definitions and descriptions, but, it seems to me, it always boils
>down to 'what is _really_ the case!??!'

Not very helpful, that. What do you mean by "independent of humans, human
investigation, and human reasoning"? I would suppose that a private
investigator does concern himself with what is the case (in more than one
manner of speaking). Are the activities of Sherlock Holmes metaphysical?
Why or why not? But the activities of the metaphysician _are_ metaphysical,
I suppose. Why, I wonder?

And you say Wittgenstein wasn't concerned with "what is the case". (Except,
I suppose, in his misspent youth.) What's the opposite of this kind of
concern; what is it to be unconcerned with what is the case? 



-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
             |      Die Welt ist alles, was Zerfall ist.     |
Peter Cash   |       (apologies to Ludwig Wittgenstein)      |cash@convex.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: baker@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Andrew Baker)
Subject: Re: Nothing to do with: Accuracy in autobiography (was: GENIUS: Richard Feynman)
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 17:15:08 GMT

In article <1992Nov16.051806.24442@blaze.cs.jhu.edu> callahan@biffvm.cs.jhu.edu (Paul Callahan) writes:
>
>On this topic, can the following variation (or something similar) be 
>attributed to any person, real or fictional?
>
> "If I have seen farther than others, it's because I'm surrounded by midgets."

John Kenneth Galbraith to Milton Friedman??
From: lnh@soliton.physics.arizona.edu (sometimes a Wombat)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Clerihewing
Date: 19 Nov 92 00:40:29 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Society for the Appreciation of Janni Lee Simner

Just in case you don't remember (or had never heard) Auden's collection
called ACADEMIC GRAFFITTI is a nice bit of his our clerihews.  My
favorite is 

    Cristina Rossetti
    Thought it rather petty
    When her brother D.G.
    Put laudanum in her tea.

tho' I have a lingering affection for

    Thomas the Rhymer
    Was probably a social climer:
    He should have known Fairy Queens
    Were beyond his means.

	Larry "Dr. John Donne" Hammer
--

                         \   Absence diminishes small loves and increases
LNH@physics.arizona.edu   \  great ones, as the wind blows out the candle 
sometimes a Wombat         \ and blows up the bonfire. -- La Rochefoucauld
From: adolphso@mizar.usc.edu (adolphson)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Catholic Lifestyle Book Recommendation
Date: 23 Nov 92 16:43:05 GMT
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: mizar.usc.edu

Can anyone suggest a good book on the Roman Catholic lifestyle?
I'm not a Catholic myself, and I have to say that the Catholic
lifestyle is a real puzzler to me.  I'd like something light
and frothy as I'm not real interested in theology.

Arne
Xref: sparky rec.arts.books:20485 soc.history:9655
From: barclay@RAIL9000.gatech.edu (Barclay Blanchard)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books,soc.history
Subject: Re: Crystal Palaces
Date: 22 Nov 92 15:12:28 GMT
Article-I.D.: hydra.75769
Followup-To: rec.arts.books
Organization: Georgia Tech Research Institute

In article <1992Nov18.123650.17571@husc3.harvard.edu> zeleny@husc10.harvard.edu (Michael Zeleny) writes:
>But my question is more generally literary in nature, -- how did
>this image come to stand not just for material, but also for moral
>progress?  I can make an educated guess in the case of Dostoyevsky,
>but other, Western examples, would be greatly appreciated.
>
Something is teasing my memory... something about the Bauhaus school of
architecture.  Did they build glass structures?  I seem to remember that
their work had a particular philosophy behind it...


-- 
Barclay Elizabeth Blanchard    barclay@rail9000.gatech.edu
"I've been laughed at by some of the funniest people."
--Lissie, Alice Walker's _The Temple of My Familiar_
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Accuracy in autobiography (was: GENIUS: Richard Feynman)
Date: 15 Nov 92 17:19:04 GMT
Reply-To: weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener)
Organization: The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology
In-reply-to: le01167@portal.lasc.lockheed.com (Ron Nadel)

In article <13NOV199214064873@portal.lasc.lockheed.com>, le01167@portal (Ron Nadel) writes:
>>Isaac Newton's "shoulder of giants" comment was
>>not just some clever act of credit sharing, but a genuine humility.

>Newton may have had his "weaker" moments, but I don't think humility
>chracterized him.

It's a humility regarding science, not other scientists.
-- 
-Matthew P Wiener (weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books,soc.history
From: cohen@cumuli.vmsmail.ethz.ch (Mark Cohen)
Subject: Re: Crystal Palaces
Originator: mark@agnew
Organization: Dept. Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 14:22:38 GMT

The 'original' crystal palace was constructed in London to house the Great
Exhibition of 1851. The building was designed by Joseph Paxton and was 
erected in Hyde Park. The Exhibition ran until October 1851 after which
the Crystal Palace was disassembled and moved to a site in south London
which is now known as Crystal Palace. It was rebuilt and modified between
1852-1854. The palace was mostly destroyed by fire in 1936. The towers that
survived were demolished in 1941 on the grounds that they provided an easy
land mark for German bommers.
Hope this helps
Mark Cohen
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books,sci.philosophy.meta
From: mnemonic@eff.org (Mike Godwin)
Subject: Re: Wittgenstein, P.I.
Originator: mnemonic@eff.org
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 01:22:48 GMT

In article <TORKEL.92Nov21005013@bast.sics.se> torkel@sics.se (Torkel Franzen) writes:
>In article <1992Nov20.231910.21480@eff.org> mnemonic@eff.org (Mike Godwin)
> writes:
>
>   >The mistake seems to be on your end. While our Private Investigator may
>   >have changed his m.o., his latter-day modus operandi never included
>   >metaphysics.
>
>  On what do you base this astonishing assertion?

On the works of Mr. Wittgenstein, who, inter alia, once argued to 
Karl Popper that there are no "philosophical problems"--only problems in
the use of language.

Perhaps my use of the term "latter-day" confused you. Think of it as a
reference to the later Wittgenstein.


--Mike



-- 
Mike Godwin,    |"I can solve this Orient Express thing without
mnemonic@eff.org| breaking a sweat. It's that simple."
(617) 864-0665  | 
EFF, Cambridge  |                           --Hercule Perot
From: amnell@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Marko Amnell)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: The omnium rerum compendium
Summary: Words to live by for all you Wall Street types?
Keywords: Money! Money! 'n mo' Money!
Date: 15 Nov 92 22:50:12 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki

``The independence of being from possessing and of possessing from being
that is accomplished by money is first illustrated in its acquisition.
Because of the abstract nature of money, it is the end of all possible
investments and activities.  Just as all roads lead to Rome -- Rome being
conceived as lying beyond every local interest and as standing in the
background of every individual action -- so all economic roads lead to
money.  Just as Irenaeus called Rome the compendium of the world, Spinoza
called money the _omnium rerum compendium_.  It is at least the constant
by-product of all different kinds of production.  The peculiarity of money
lies in its being acquired by dealing successfully with other objects.
The able farmer will produce many fruits of the earth, the diligent shoe-
maker lots of shoes; but lots of money is gained by efficiency in any
specific trade.  To earn money, therefore, does not require those specific
qualities by which the acquisition of other objects is tied to the
subject's being.  There are, it is true, personalities that exhibit a
specific ability for dealing with the money side of all transactions. ... 

The expert may perhaps recognize the `hand' of a certain personality at
work in the transactions of the great financier or speculator, a specific
style and rhythm that characteristically distinguishes the actions of the
one from those of another.  However, we must first of all take into
account what has yet to be demonstrated in the case of other phenomena,
namely that in the case of extraordinarily large sums of money the
purely quantitative character of money actually provides a place for a
nuance of qualitative distinctiveness.  The indifference, the refinement
and banality that are peculiar to money that is constantly circulating
do not affect, to the same extent, these rare and spectacular concentrations
of immense fortunes in a single hand. ...

There is no more striking symbol of the completely dynamic character of the
world than that of money.  The meaning of money lies in the fact that it
will be given away.  When money stands still, it is no longer according to
its specific value and significance.  The effect that it occasionally exerts
in a state of repose arises out of an anticipation of its further motion.
Money is nothing but the vehicle for a movement in which everything else
that is not in motion is completely extinguished.  It is, as it were, an
_actus purus_; it lives in continuous self-alienation from any given point
and thus forms the counterpart and direct negation of all being in itself.''

Ah!  Poetry, sheer poetry!  Roll over Marx, and tell Engels the news...

	--from _The Philosophy of Money_ (1907) by Georg Simmel.

-- 
Marko Amnell
amnell@klaava.helsinki.fi
Graduate Student in Philosophy
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
From: mechalas@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (John Mechalas)
Subject: Re: Maddona's new book
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 03:50:14 GMT

In article <1992Nov23.030811.15393@eff.org> mnemonic@eff.org (Mike Godwin) writes:
>No, it wasn't. Since I posed the question, I feel comfortable saying this.
>The question was whether they could publish such a book without damage to
>their careers.  I strongly doubt that Clay (already a has-been, by the

Okay...I'll concede that, since I misunderstood the question.

>way) or 2 Live Crew could survive the kind of "exposure" Madonna
>has--they aren't in good enough shape.

In essence then, we are bringing up the point of timing.  At certain points
in an artist's career, he or she (or they) is (are) capable of pushing the
societal limits.  In a sense, Madonna seems to have a very good understanding
of this.  She pushes a little bit at a time...just enough to fuel her
popularity without taking too large a step from har past image to her present
image.

>And, of course, Howard Stern is in terrible shape, as evidenced by
>his recent appearance as Fartman on the MTV music awards show.

I agree completely here.

-- 
John Mechalas                      | If you think my opinions are Purdue's, then
mechalas@mentor.cc.purdue.edu      |      you vastly overestimate my importance.
Purdue University Computing Center |             Help put a ban on censorship :)
General Consulting                 |                       #include disclaimer.h
From: amnell@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Marko Amnell)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Sunday Times BOOKS
Date: 16 Nov 92 17:02:56 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki

Francis Muir writes:

	Marko Amnell writes:

		... a biography of R.L. Stevenson, ...

	Could you flesh out this titbit please?

Sure.  The book is _Dreams of Exile: Robert Louis Stevenson: A Biography_
by Ian Bell (a Scottish journalist), reviewed by Humphrey Carpenter.  There
have, of course, been many earlier lives of Stevenson; the first was written
by a cousin, Graham Balfour, in 1902 and one appeared as recently as 1980.
Carpenter notes that Bell's only real excuse for producing another one is his
"considerable first-hand knowledge of Edinburgh, Stevenson's native city". 
His biography dispels lingering rumours of "Stevenson's wild-oats sowing as an 
Edinburgh student -- unbelievable tales of illegitimate children and even
pederasty" and ascribes the moral ambiguities in Stevenson's work to the
mores of Victorian Edinburgh.  

Other good points include a real attempt to understand Alison Cunningham,
"the most influential female in Stevenson's life".  "Cummy" was Stevenson's
nanny, and Bell suggests that she might been responsible for his unhappy
and ill childhood, as she preached a Calvinist "theology built on damnation".
There is precious little about Stevenson's writings, however; the most Bell
says about eg. _Treasure Island_ is that "the villians (Silver aside) are
figures of nightmare, simple evil".  Much is made of Stevenson's influence
(by way of Kidnapped, "arguably the best piece of narrative by any writer",
according to Carpenter) on later fiction (like spy stories and thrillers) 

Bell's portrait of Stevenson the man is very positive; he is "not morally
ambigious" and is "astonishingly straightforward, likeable, and without any
of the contradictions that he portrayed in others so brilliantly".  In fact, 
Carptenter's main criticism stems from this dearth of moral failings, since
Bell's narration of such a normal life fails to live up to the standard of
portraiture set by works like Boswell's Life of Johnson.  Not having read
Bell's book or any earlier biographies, there is little I can add to these
judgements.

-- 
Marko Amnell
amnell@klaava.helsinki.fi
Graduate Student in Philosophy
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books