Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[DixieGal]

Thanks, Blue. I get itbetter now. I still have lots of curiosity!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Right now, i'm sitting on my back deck, reading, laughing as Tim carves crop circles into the early spring weed with the lawnmower. I love to watch hom work hard!

Crop Circles, for heaven's sake!

Gotta love it!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

yes, that's the guy. I got ahold of some old volumes, found them online somewhere. One in particular was great. It was all of the Locus winners back to the 1950's. Some really strange stuff in the 60's and 79's!

Aside from Gardner, another SF anthologist to look for is Groff Conklin. I don't believe he ever did a bad one.

For a good collection of odd 60's/70's stuff, look for Judith Merrill's _England Swings SF_, which features what was then called the New Wave, oriented around work Michael Moorcock published when he was editing New Worlds magazine
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Gardner Dozois, former editor of Asimov's he does the annual years best which I buy every year:

http://www.amazon.com/Years-Best-Sci.../dp/0312608977

I just heard yesterday that he and Vernon Vinge will be at the SF convention here in the fall. May have to actually attend this year.

I've met Vinge, and have known Gardner for decades. (I first met him when he was skinny... )

Both are worth meeting and talking to.

(And it's Vernor, not Vernon.)
______
Dennis

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I've met Vinge, and have known Gardner for decades. (I first met him when he was skinny... )

Both are worth meeting and talking to.

(And it's Vernor, not Vernon.)
______
Dennis

Ooops, I'm the king of typos, thx!

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Full stop. You JOB is culture? I must be not quite following. How can you have a job in culture other than in studying/teaching...maybe writing...but then your JOB isn't culture, but one of those other things -- writing, teaching, etc...

Please enlighten me.

Language-problems for me , I think.
I'm more fluent in French or German than English
But here it is: Cultural Scientist is what I am. Excuses if I didn't make that clear enough, Kenny.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by desertblues

Language-problems for me , I think.
I'm more fluent in French or German than English
But here it is: Cultural Scientist is what I am. Excuses if I didn't make that clear enough, Kenny.

Ah, I think I understand now. I'm just easily confused.....course you probably know that.

Sounds fascinating!

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Right now, i'm sitting on my back deck, reading, laughing as Tim carves crop circles into the early spring weed with the lawnmower. I love to watch hom work hard!

Nothing better than seeing your husband sweat; I can sit hours watching that.

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Thanks, Blue. I get itbetter now. I still have lots of curiosity!

Well, some people say that's dangerous or what; travelling so far. But I'd rather be bombed somewhere in a strange country than wither away in my own. Yes, I know, sounds a bit dramatic.

Originally Posted by kennyc

Ah, I think I understand now. I'm just easily confused.....course you probably know that.
Sounds fascinating!

It's not such an old science; dates from the 80-ties I think. Covers about all man-made things and subjects. Philosophy is a big part, as is history(+ pre-historic) and politics, but also literature, film, opera, art, music. My field is art and politics.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by desertblues

..

It's not such an old science; dates from the 80-ties I think. Covers about all man-made things and subjects. Philosophy is a big part, as is history(+ pre-historic) and politics, but also literature, film, opera, art, music. My field is culture and politics.

I become more interested in cultures/sociology/history as I get older. I didn't have much appreciation for it when I was young.

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I become more interested in cultures/sociology/history as I get older. I didn't have much appreciation for it when I was young.

Strangely enough, Kenny, or perhaps not so, I found that it is difficult to study cultural sciences without having had a thourough Christian education. So much of the Western culture refers to the Bible. I was lucky enough (well..) to have had a very Calvinistic upbringing. And yes, I graduated when I was 50 after having a whole other kind of career. And I think that my age was an advantage in completing my studies.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by desertblues

Strangely enough, Kenny, or perhaps not so, I found that it is difficult to study cultural sciences without having had a thourough Christian education. So much of the Western culture refers to the Bible. I was lucky enough (well..) to have had a very Calvinistic upbringing. And yes, I graduated when I was 50 after having a whole other kind of career. And I think that my age was an advantage in completing my studies.

Very much so, definitely part of the culture. As I always say Religion is insidious.

[DixieGal]

Originally Posted by desertblues

Strangely enough, Kenny, or perhaps not so, I found that it is difficult to study cultural sciences without having had a thourough Christian education. So much of the Western culture refers to the Bible. I was lucky enough (well..) to have had a very Calvinistic upbringing. And yes, I graduated when I was 50 after having a whole other kind of career. And I think that my age was an advantage in completing my studies.

That sounds very much like my own background. And we also travel a lot. It is so much more meaningful with our liberal arts educations, as with you.

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

That sounds very much like my own background. And we also travel a lot. It is so much more meaningful with our liberal arts educations, as with you.

[dreams]

@ desertblues, thank you for sharing your pics. Petra is a place that I have always wanted to visit just because the rock-cut structures have always fascinated me.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I become more interested in cultures/sociology/history as I get older. I didn't have much appreciation for it when I was young.

If culture is an interest, I strongly recommend the work of the late Edward T. Hall.

Hall was an anthropologist attached the the University of New Mexico, doing research on comparative culture. In order to do so, he and his research partner, Norman Trager discovered that they had to devise a comprehensive theory of culture to explain what it was and what functions it served to meaningfully compare cultures.

Hall's model treats culture as communication. It's normally thought of as "everything we know and do", but as Hall points out, perhaps 90% of it happens on an unconscious, reflex level. We are normally no more aware of our culture than a fish is of the water it swims in. We take it for granted and respond by reflex. We only really become aware of many things if we find ourselves in a culture where things are done differently.

A prime example is "personal space". In the dominant culture in North America (which derives from northern Europe), the proper social distance between people who are not family or close friends is about 3', and given the room to do so, that's the distance people will attempt to maintain. Nobody ever explicitly tells you "Thou shalt stand 3' away from another". You learn it by osmosis as a small child, observing and mimicking the behavior of those around you.

You can test it at a social gathering. Step a little too close to someone you are talking to. They'll move back to maintain the proper distance. If you're good, you can move someone entirely across the room this way, and they won't be consciously aware of it: maintaining the proper social distance is an unconscious, reflex action.

Take someone from our culture and plunk them down in the Middle East, where the proper social distance may be half that, and watch the fun.

Start with The Silent Language and go on from there.

Hall's website is at http://www.edwardthall.com/
______
Dennis