“To Build a Fire” by Jack London, first published in The Century Magazine in August 1908, is often considered “one of the best short stories ever.” Read it for yourself and decide.
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
Timothy Egan reminded me of the story in his column a few days ago on the tragedy of California’s Disappearing State Parks. Read Egan too.
H. L. Mencken wrote a letter to artist Charles Green Shaw in December 1927. Letters of Note has images and a transcript. It’s fascinating and amusing and I encourage you to just click on the link and read it all (start with the image and then skip to the transcript if that gets wearisome). If you need encouragement, two excerpts:
10. I believe in marriage, and have whooped it up for years. It is the best solution, not only of the sex question, but also of the living question. I mean for the normal man. My own life has been too irregular for it: I have been to much engrossed in other things. But any plausible gal who really made up her mind to it could probably fetch me, even today. If I ever marry, it will be on a sudden impulse, as a man shoots himself. I’ll regret it bitterly for about a month, and then settle down contentedly.
13. I usually lie to women. They expect it, and it is pleasant to watch them trying to detect it. They seldom succeed. Women have a hard time in this world. Telling them the truth would be too cruel.
14. I am completely devoid of religious feeling. All religions seem ridiculous to me, and in bad taste. I do not believe in the immortality of the soul, nor in the soul. Ecclesiastics seem to me to be simply men who get their livings by false pretenses. Like all rogues, they are occasionally very amusing.
“I will not accept if nominated, and will not serve if elected.”
General William Tecumseh Sherman, U.S. Army (Ret.), in a telegram June 5, 1884.
Apple replaced my 11-month-old iPhone 4 yesterday because the home button occasionally sticks. They also replaced the 11-month-old bumper case which was coming apart (which they’d originally given me for free).
Now, in a perfect world, neither of these problems would have come about. But in the real world, getting no-cost replacements is pretty welcome.
“I spend a fair amount of time reporting in developing countries, from Congo to Colombia. They’re typically characterized by minimal taxes, high levels of inequality, free-wheeling businesses and high military expenditures. Any of that ring a bell?
“In Latin American, African or Asian countries, I sometimes see shiny tanks and fighter aircraft — but schools that have trouble paying teachers. Sound familiar?”
Nick Kristof on “Our Fantasy Nation?” from today’s Times. A must read.
Adam Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, on June 5th in 1723.
Smith published his first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, in 1759, to general acclaim, but it’s his second, The Wealth of Nations (1776), for which he is chiefly known today. It took him 10 years to write, and in it he posits that the pursuit of individual self-interest will lead, as if by an “invisible hand,” to the greatest good for all. He tended to oppose anything — government or monopolies — that interfered with pure competition; he called his laissez-faire approach “perfect liberty.” He’s been painted by some in recent years as a staunch defender of free market capitalism, supply-side economics, and limited government; other economists argue that this image is somewhat misleading, and that his devotion to the laissez-faire philosophy has been overstated. For example, he had a favorable view of taxes in general and progressive taxes in particular, as he wrote in Wealth of Nations: “The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. … The rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.” He did argue, however, that the tax law should be as simple and transparent as possible.
John Maynard Keynes was born in Cambridge, England, on June 5th in 1883.
Lord Keynes first won public attention through his resignation from the British Treasury’s mission to the Paris Peace Conference and his subsequent prediction that the Treaty of Versailles would prove more harmful to the nations dictating it than to Germany.
The reasons for his opposition were set forth in a book, “The Economic Consequences of the Peace,” published in 1919, and included his premise that the reparations clauses were too severe and that other measures in the treaty were equally unwise.
The book created a storm of controversy but was so widely in demand that it ran five editions the first year and was translated into eleven languages. Lord Keynes was not again associated with the British Government in any official capacity until the spring of 1940, by which time much of what he had prophesied had come true.
Bill Moyers is 77 today.
Author Ken Follett is 62.
Suze Orman is 60.
Kenneth Gorelick is 55. You know, Kenny G.
Peter Gibbons is 44, and no longer turning out TPS reports and going to Chotchkie’s. That’s actor Ron Livingston.
Mark Wahlberg is 40.
Chuck Klosterman is 39.
Richard Scarry was born on June 5, 1919. Scarry has written more than 300 books for children and, according to The Writer’s Almanac, “said that what made him happiest as an author was receiving letters from people telling him that their copies of his books were all worn out, or were held together with Scotch tape.” Scarry died in 1994.
Doroteo Arango was born on June 5, 1878. We know him as Pancho Villa.
William Boyd, better known as Hopalong Cassidy, was born on this date in 1895. After success as a leading man in silent film, Boyd’s career was going nowhere in 1935 when he was cast to play the cowboy, Hopalong Cassidy. He made 54 films in the role for producer Harry Sherman, then 12 more on his own. In 1948, in one of the great prescient moves ever made in Hollywood, Boyd bought the rights to all the films, selling his ranch to raise the money. Television needed Saturday morning fare and Boyd had it.
One medium fed on the other, and by 1950 [William] Boyd was at the center of a national phenomenon. For two years he was as big a media hero as the nation had seen. In personal appearances he was mobbed: 85,000 people came through a Brooklyn department store during his appearance there. His endorsement for any product meant instant sales in the millions. It meant overnight shortages, frantic shopping sprees, and millions of dollars for Boyd. There were Hopalong Cassidy bicycles, rollerskates (complete with spurs), Hoppy pajamas, Hopalong beds. The demand for Hoppy shirts and pants was so great that a shortage of black dye resulted. His investment in Hopalong Cassidy paid off to an estimated $70 million.
Why a man of 52 years appealed to so many children remains a mystery. Possibly some of it had to do with the novelty of television: just as Amos ‘n’ Andy had capitalized on the newness of radio a generation earlier, a TV sensation was bound to occur. And the hero had a no-nonsense demeanor: he was steely-eyed and quick on the draw, and he meted out justice without the endless warbling and sugar-coated romance that came with the others. As for Boyd, he became Cassidy in a real sense. His personal habits changed; he gave up drinking and carousing and lived with his fifth wife until his death in 1972.
John Dunning, On the Air
“Buster is laying in front of home plate, and it’s like having a disabled car in the middle of a four-lane highway. You’re just going to get smacked.”
Johnny Bench quoted at ESPN
“Writers like to write about Detroit’s demise. Photographers love to photograph it. The city’s failings have been so thoroughly and sensationally documented, journalism critics have even given the genre a name: ruin porn. And while the tale of Detroit certainly includes its decay—Rebecca Solnit’s 2007 article for Harper’s is the definitive piece on the subject—these five stories hit the full arc of the Motor City: its rise, its heyday, its fall, and its future.”
Detroit, NewMexiKen’s place of birth and home until I was 10, and again during a few summers in the 1960s. It has about 40% as many residents as it did 60 years ago.
So far I’ve read just one of the five articles listed if you follow the link, the last. It was first-rate.
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The Ford and Motown articles are among some of the best on cultural history I’ve read lately.
The Mitch Albom essay is for the Detroiters and Michiganders among you.
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I had to laugh at this from the Detroit Free Press:
MACKINAC ISLAND — “I’m tired of being ashamed of where I live,” Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America, declared Friday.
Strong statement, that, but not an isolated concern among the 1,500 business and political leaders who gathered on Mackinac Island this week for the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual policy conference.
So the Detroit chamber gathers to commiserate about Detroit — at a resort 250 miles away.
“Of course, it is silly to imagine that members of Congress are really arguing about ideas. They are trying to position themselves for re-election. Battles of ideas take place in college philosophy departments, not between elected officials.”
No, not the Bear. The air. It had been fresh all day but the smoke has moved in during past 30-40 minutes. The wind direction must have changed. Unable to see city lights or the towers on the Sandia Crest three miles away.
The New Mexico Department of Health is advising residents to take special precautions due to smoke and ash from several wildfires burning in New Mexico and Arizona. Sensitive groups such as the elderly, small children or any individuals with respiratory or heart problems should leave the area where the smoke levels are high until the smoke dissipates or stay inside as much as possible. People with chronic respiratory or heart disease are also urged not to use swamp coolers as they will pull the smoke inside.
It’s really not a very good idea to get between 11-year-old Morgan and the soccer ball.
Morgan is my good friend Donna’s granddaughter. Soccer skills run in that family. Morgan’s uncle Mike is leading a New Mexico championship girls team he coaches to the Western Regionals at Boise later this summer.
[The face of the player in the background is purposefully obscured. We’re told the face of the opponent on the ground was not harmed in the taking of this photo. Her ego may have been.]
“It’s hard to find the words.”
National Spelling Bee champion Sukanya Roy when asked how it felt to win, as reported in a delightful little report by Ben Greenman.
“As children, men were told, ‘Be a man! Don’t cry!’ and women were told, ‘Let it out. Cry, you’ll feel better!’ And that’s why as adults, women become very emotional, and men become snipers.”
Pam Stone, quoted at The Quill Sisters
The pika, a small mammal that lives in talus slopes at high elevations in the mountains of the American West, has disappeared in the last decade at a rate five times faster than they disappeared during the 20th century, according to a study out this month.
. . .The species is also moving to higher elevations at a faster rate, more than 10 times as fast as previously observed, presumably to stay within its preferred temperature range. In the last 10 years, they have moved up nearly 500 feet in elevation.
Pikas are smarter than humans.
“I also presume that [SF Giants General Manager Brian] Sabean will have an apology issued at some point soon, after which we’ll hear that Buster Posey and Scott Cousins have had a brief call to talk about the play, thereby putting an end to all of this. Really, sometimes it just takes a total jackass like Brian Sabean to show us the way to a resolution.”
“He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed.”
Sarah Palin Explains Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride
But meanwhile her bus speeds, runs red lights, makes lane changes without signaling. So she is one of us.
Point. One. Nine.
That’s how much precipitation Albuquerque has had in 2011. Less than a fifth of an inch.
I can spit that much.
No snow since May 2nd. Having to settle for ash-fall instead — fallout from the Arizona Alpine fire.
Hey, Arizona, don’t be a bad ash!
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I joke but of course the fire is tragic in Arizona and here — nearly 200 miles away — the health issues are considerable. We’re being advised to button up our houses until the wind changes tomorrow. The sky is overcast and the smoke so dense the view of the city lights downhill is obscured.
And ash is actually falling.
So I subscribed to The New Yorker on the iPad for a month. Four issues received so far and I am 2+ issues behind. There was a reason I hadn’t been getting the magazine.
Same with the dead-tree New York Times. I fetch it from the driveway, put it on the kitchen table, and skim it the day after tomorrow.
I believe I have become a creature wholly of the serendipitous web. And it’s not just for short posts and 140-character tweets. I read a lot of longer online articles.
But I very much like creating my own reading list. And I don’t like feeling obligated to read something because I paid for it — even from the very best sources.
I doubt I am unique. I wonder if publishers have considered this as they set up their pay walls and iPad applications. The aggregators have set us free; who’s going back?
Cropped but otherwise unedited iPhone 4 photo taken Monday at the pow wow at the Jemez Pueblo (“pronounced / he məs/”). The pueblo village is off-limits for visitors. The pow wow is held across from the Walatowa Visitor Center along Highway 4.
Elizabeth was crowned Queen on June 2nd, 58 years ago today. (She turned 85 in April.)
Sally Kellerman is 74. Kellerman was Hot Lips in the movie M*A*S*H. She received an Oscar supporting actress nomination for the portrayal.
Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones’ drummer, is 70.
That fine actor Stacy Keach is also 70.
Composer Martin Marvin Hamlisch is 67.
Jerry “The Beaver” Mathers is 63 today.
Comedian Dana Carvey is 56.
Johnny Weissmuller was born on June 2nd in 1904.
Few of the millions of Tarzan lovers who thrilled to Mr. Weissmuller swooping from tree to tree or locking in lethal combat with lions or crocodiles ever knew him as the swimming phenomenon who won five Olympic gold medals and set 67 world records in the 1920’s.
Sports enthusiasts then thought that the records, all set before Mr. Weissmuller was 25 years old, would endure for decades. But most of them were eclipsed by the time the casual, carefree Mr. Weissmuller went to Hollywood and filmmakers in 1932 began molding his image as a brawny, monosyllabic friend of apes and elephants.
He made close to 20 Tarzan films, the last one in 1949. In all of them he was something of a howling jungle Superman in loincloth, the benevolent protector of his African domain and the treetop home of his wife, Jane, and his son, Boy, and the vanquisher of villains, marauders and ivory hunters.
Martha Washington was born on June 2nd in 1731.
Donatien Alphonse François de Sade was born on June 2nd in 1740. We know him as the Marquis de Sade.
“No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent.”
The current unemployment rate is 9.
“I’m tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok.”
Shaquille O’Neal a few years ago. O’Neal yesterday announced his retirement from playing in the NBA (via Twitter).
“After the World Health Organization warning, [Salon] asked 11 experts [they] admire from the science world for advice.” Take a look at all 11, but here are a couple that stood out:
PZ Myers, Ph. D, associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota and author of the science blog, Pharyngula:
No. We’re just swimming in electromagnetic fields all the time, so it seems silly to worry about one tiny, low-power transmitter when I live in a house with a microwave oven, a half-dozen computers, a big screen TV, and whatever other hi-tech gadget has tickled my fancy that week. It’s true, though, that thanks to the inverse square law, other sources probably have smaller effects on me — the phone is the transmitter that I hold right next to my head on a regular basis. Could it be the source of unique problem? Maybe.
K.C. Cole, a long-time science writer for the Los Angeles Times, is a professor at USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism:
Yes, of course I use precautions. I generally refuse to talk to anyone I care about if they call me from a cell phone while driving. We KNOW that inattentional blindness is a real phenomenon, that it causes (not probably) as many deaths as drunken driving. Do I worry about cell phones giving me cancer? Please. Of all the environmental toxins we’re exposed to every day that cause cancer (and other illnesses), cell phones don”t even make the list.