Skip to main content

The Platypus Posts Again


Hi all,

It's been a while since I last managed a post. This have been busy around here, but not in a bad way. The Platypus, as ever, has been speaking Truth and assisting me in my pondering.

So what's new?

Urbana went well. My wife and I had a blast with the team and recruiting (even though I never worked for the company!). I definitely like the way World Team does business, and it was a pleasure to help out. We learned all about "St. Louis Style" pizza: thin crust, large toppings, and something like a layer of cheese whiz under the normal cheese. Very interesting...

School is going well as we approach finals. The kids have gotten down to business, and the worst of the discipline problems seem to be past. We'll see what happens when Summer Vacation gets closer, but for now I'm enjoying the break from "controlled chaos."

Speaking of education, I'm still working my way through "Guns, Germs, and Steal," a masterful, yet deeply flawed work. I've also picked up Machiavelli's "The Prince." It's much better, and surprisingly less ruthless than I thought it would be. We'll see. I'm only on page 50 so far; and no, the Platypus and I are not going to endorse his politics. ;-) I think we'll have some posts on these two authors in the future.

Comments

Linds said…
Guns Germs and Steel is that book that I keep reading about 70 pages of and then get interrupted by schoolwork. Let me know how it is and maybe I'll finish it someday!

And The Prince - I felt that way too, at first. It isn't the kind of wicked that slaps you in the face, but the kind that creeps into you like a cold day when you start out all bundled up, but the cold creeps in and you just can't get warm again.
James said…
I agree with both your thoughts! I bought G.G.S. in August and I can only get through so many pages at a time. It's so dense! Ginzburg's "Cheese and the Worms" went so much faster, as did Said's "Orientalism." I think, the deeper I get into "The Prince," that that's the true danger of Machiavelli -just like Bismark- that they're in such frank earnestness about they're program.

Popular posts from this blog

The Platypus Reads Part XXVII

Thoughts after reading the "Iliad" to prepare a Greece unit for my students: -Hector is a jerk until he's dead. He even advocates the exposure of Achaean corpses and then has the cheek to turn around and ask Achilles to spare his. He rudely ignores Polydamas' prophecies and fights outside the gate to save his pride knowing full well what it will cost his family and city. After he's dead, he becomes a martyr for the cause. -Agamemnon has several moments of true leadership to balance out his pettiness. In this way, he's a haunting foil to Achilles: the two men are more alike than they want to acknowledge. -We see that Achilles is the better man at the funeral games of Patroclos. His lordliness, tact, and generosity there give us a window into Achilles before his fight with Agamemnon and the death of Patroclos consumed him. -Nestor is a boring, rambling, old man who's better days are far behind him, and yet every Achaean treats him with the upmo...

SNES as Money Well Spent: Platypus Nostalgia

I got my Super Nintendo Entertainment System when I was eleven years old.  That's a couple years after it first came out.  The occasion was a little dramatic: to celebrate the end of a two-and-a-half year course of treatment for cancer.  I had no idea that it would be waiting for me at home after the final doctors visit.  It was a nice spring day, the trees were waving gently in the breeze outside the bay windows.  With a cup of tea resting on the coffee table, I set down to play.  What was that first game?  It was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past .  Around twenty years later, my SNES still works as does that Zelda cartridge.  It's been a long way from boyhood in Southern Connecticut to manhood in North Houston, but I'm still playing. Why am I still playing?  There were stretches when I didn't.  Many times, I've just been too busy.  There were also seasons when it felt embarrassing to still be playing video games....

Under the Moon: The Platypus Reads Part LXVI

My wife and I were discussing our favorite books from the Chronicles of Narnia on our way back from lunch.  My wife, true to her sunny personality, is a staunch fan of "The Voyage of the Dawntreader."  I can't argue with that choice but, when push comes to shove, "The Silver Chair" has always been my favorite. I have a bit of a theory.  I think "The Voyage of the Dawntreader" is Lewis' grail legend.  If that's so, then I'd hazard a guess and say that "The Silver Chair" is his "Pilgrim's Progress." -just think about the shape of Puddleglum's hat and the fact that he lives in the Fen Country and you'll see what got me thinking down this line. That brings me to why I like "The Silver Chair" so much.  When I was little, we had a children's version of "Pilgrim's Progress" that my mom used to read to me.  I lived in New England and the Christianity I was raised with had a heavy tin...