Nathaniel Philbrick Interview

Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of, "Why Read Moby Dick". In the interview he tells us that Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" is his favorite book of all time. At one point in the interview he says we should all read it because, "it's as close to being our American Bible as we have." He talks about the chapters that often times veer away from the plot line to explain things like; the inner workings of the ship or to give a biology lesson on whales. Philbrick appreciates these breaks from the immediate story, and calls them, "wormholes of metaphysical poetry that are truly revelatory." He also goes on to explain how "Moby Dick" is a book that needs to be read after you have some life experience under your belt. You cannot fully appreciate the story if you've never seen or been through what the characters are experiencing. Philbrick says that Melville got some of his inspiration from meeting the writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and reading his material, which had a dark side that Melville would later come to use in the book. He was also inspired by the writing of William Shakespeare, and used similar language patterns in "Moby Dick". Philbrick states that, "the level of the language is like no other,". It was interesting to hear someone talk about "Moby Dick" and have more to say than, "Whale Ho" or "There she blows!". Philbrick is obviously very learned in this department and it was nice to listen to him speak about what he really loves.

A Generation of Potterheads!

Laugh all you want, but I am a complete Potterhead! A good amount of our generation grew up reading Harry Potter; it was what you looked forward too! Often times book series come to define some aspects of a generation. Whether you love the books, hate them, or have no strong feelings one way or the other you know about Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is a British genius! She came up with a multi billion dollar idea in a coffee shop. This idea spread all over the world, and the books were translated into over 60 different languages. People of all ages were living in the Harry Potter era. Many Twihards try to say that the Twilight series is as famous or more famous, but the fact is Harry Potter has done what no book series has done before. With seven books, eight movies, and a theme park, Harry Potter has caught the attention of the entire world. The effect of the Harry Potter series can be summed up in a scene from the fifth book, "The Order of the Pheonix". Ginny casts a spell, Reducto, and all of the prophecy balls come crashing down towards the gang. "It began somewhat faintly, gathered steam, built almost to a sense of the inevitable. All you could do was get out of the way." (Cited Work) It has come to a point where if you don't know about Harry Potter than you must have lived under a rock for the past 14 years. Harry Potter will be remembered for generations to come, but it is cool to be able to say that I was part of the original generation of PotterHeads!  I started reading them when I was in first grade and finished the last book the summer after seventh grade. Once I started reading the Harry Potter series, reading became a way of life for me. J.K. Rowling made reading fun and addicting. As the Potterhead generation grows up they will pass down the books to their kids, who will no doubt pass it down as well. Harry Potter is an era that shall not perish from this earth.

Like, Whatever...

Hallelujah! A nerd with a Scrabble t-shirt is finally sticking it to the slang speaking man! Taylor Mali is a quasi genius. He found a way to encourage people to speak with conviction, without having them fall asleep in the process. No one wants to be lectured about how they talk like a neanderthal, or how they don't sound like they believe in what they are saying. Mali uses humor to sneak in a real issue at hand. "it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY. You have to speak with it, too. " How can anyone see you as a learned scholar, when you cannot complete a sentence without saying "like". I'm not trying to be a hypocrite, so I will admit to falling into the trap of modern day slang every so often. People like Mali remind me that I should rebel against the easy ways of modern slang, and return to proper Standard English. Some of the greatest leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Lincoln, were great leaders because of how they captured an audience with their conviction and tone. Mali mentions how our, supposed, declarative sentences no longer declare anything. "What has happened to our conviction?" Should we be okay with the fact that we like don't care about what we are like saying anymore? No, we should not be okay with that! We should all make a concerted effort to improve our conviction and our speaking tone in general. We shouldn't be talking in questions whenever we have a  conversation with someone. Let us all take what Taylor Mali said and keep it in our back pocket it for future reminiscing.

The Term Paper "Artist"...

Nick Mamatas is an arrogant a-hole, for lack of a better word. I understand that he is probably smarter than 90% of his clients, but that doesn't give him the right to act like a pretentious tool. In the podcast he goes on ad infinitum about how dumb his clients are. He categorizes some of them as, "too dumb to understand the assignment,". He takes pride in being so much smarter than most of the people he had to deal with. You also find out that he is a snitch. He would send the term paper he wrote, for the client, to his or her professor if he or she wasn't nice to him. You can't be a "Term Paper Artist" and a snitch at the same time. He talked about karma working in his favor when he busted his clients. I wouldn't be surprised if now he is single, ugly, and broke because of all the bad karma he collected from his unscrupulous occupation. I won't pretend as if I've never wanted to just buy an essay instead of researching and writing one, but it's is still an act that is frowned upon in educational societies. Nick Mamatas may be a hero to an overworked college student up at three o'clock in the morning, but to me he is a brazen, immature know-it-all!