http://www.4inhand.org/apps/photos/album?albumid=8928957
We have the white horses, where the lady is riding in red, behind the driver. A light coach for a hot day.
Friday, May 7, 2010
www.madlynfafard.com,
Secrets of the Heart
It has its own web site now, hopefully, my next book, which I am working on now will be ready next year.
Tales of love, pain and the significant events of the 20th century await readers in Secrets of the Heart
ORDER A COPY NOW!
ISBN 13 (TP): 978-1-4500-4205-5
ISBN 13 (HB): 978-1-4500-4206-2
www.Xlibris.com
Copyright © 2010 Madlyn A. Fafard. Crafted By: Xlibris
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Horses and Carriages
If you are interested in carriage driving, this is a sport in the Olympics. On Columbus Day weekend there is a big event on carriage driving , I think it is in Kentucky. The 4 in Hand Club strives to keep the sport of carriage driving alive, so that future generations can see what the coachs could do, what they were like, and how they evolved into the automobile.
Hyundai vs. BMW? Cars and Horses
Hyundai vs. BMW?
Our horses had a good weekend and arrived home safe and sound, in spite of the heat and a blow out on the trailer. The horses stayed calm and our men had the tire changed in 15 minutes. The temperature in the Delaware area was brutal...88degrees and 88 humidity!
A spectacular Vis a Vis, came in next to us, with ladies carrying parasols, the whip and the two grooms riding postillion style. But, it proved too much for the heavy ponderous horses.
Our horses had a good weekend and arrived home safe and sound, in spite of the heat and a blow out on the trailer. The horses stayed calm and our men had the tire changed in 15 minutes. The temperature in the Delaware area was brutal...88degrees and 88 humidity!
A spectacular Vis a Vis, came in next to us, with ladies carrying parasols, the whip and the two grooms riding postillion style. But, it proved too much for the heavy ponderous horses.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Aspects of the Novel
Aspects of the novel
by E. M. Forrester Many years ago, this was a bible for writers. A good novel, is what this book tries to help deliver. Time and space are the active ingredients, while he points out the difference between a good novel and a great novel. It is humbling to read, but essential to the writer, to learn , how characters can be developed subtly, how a story can have ragged ends, and more. The greatness of War and Peace, Forrester points out is not only its sense of time but its sense of space, ( a great swath of space is covered in the novel). I am reading it probably for the third time, maybe it will eventually rub off on me. My first book is Secrets of the Heart.
My book plays with time, as the main character, who lies dying in her hospital bed, alternates between time on earth and time visiting with departed friends, who are awaiting her coming arrival, in the next dimension. The characters share the pain, joy and trial of their lives, while learning their pupose of life on earth, and ever lasting love. Time the unseen and unknown dimension for such a long , long time, is becoming more important to us, as we realize we can pause it, expand it , recall it, and dream it for the future, making it malleable.
by E. M. Forrester Many years ago, this was a bible for writers. A good novel, is what this book tries to help deliver. Time and space are the active ingredients, while he points out the difference between a good novel and a great novel. It is humbling to read, but essential to the writer, to learn , how characters can be developed subtly, how a story can have ragged ends, and more. The greatness of War and Peace, Forrester points out is not only its sense of time but its sense of space, ( a great swath of space is covered in the novel). I am reading it probably for the third time, maybe it will eventually rub off on me. My first book is Secrets of the Heart.My book plays with time, as the main character, who lies dying in her hospital bed, alternates between time on earth and time visiting with departed friends, who are awaiting her coming arrival, in the next dimension. The characters share the pain, joy and trial of their lives, while learning their pupose of life on earth, and ever lasting love. Time the unseen and unknown dimension for such a long , long time, is becoming more important to us, as we realize we can pause it, expand it , recall it, and dream it for the future, making it malleable.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Paul McCartney - Here,There And Everywhere (live!)
Make sure you build your song book, before the music disappears
George Harrison My Sweet Lord
George Harrison did such a good job with this song, it lingers somewhere in the universe waiting to be called up, from the other harmonies that exist in space, in the hum and strum of the moon and stars, it lingers waiting for us to enjoy.
The Warsaw Concerto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The history of the piece is interesting, and since it conveyed to me as a very young child, the pain of war, it is something that I carry in my heart all the time.
The Warsaw Concerto is a single-movement piano concerto written for the 1941 film, Dangerous Moonlight (also known under the later title Suicide Squadron). It was written by British composer Richard Addinsell. The orchestration was by another Briton, Roy Douglas, whose contribution is rarely acknowledged.
The film's love-story plot revolves around the fictional composer of the piece, a piano virtuoso and "shell-shocked" combat pilot, who is a refugee in England from the World War II occupation of Poland and considers returning to Poland to rejoin the war. The actor, Anton Walbrook, was an accomplished amateur pianist, so his hands are seen playing in the film, but in fact the music on the soundtrack is played by an uncredited pianist, Louis Kentner.
The film-makers wanted something in the style of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini or the Second and Third Piano Concertos, but were unable to persuade Rachmaninoff himself to write a new piece or to afford to obtain the rights for any of these existing pieces.
The music was later used in another film, The Sea Wolves (1980), with Addinsell's themes arranged by Roy Budd.
[edit] Appearances in popular culture
The theme of the concerto is borrowed in a popular-music love song whose lyrics include "The world outside will never know..." recorded by The Four Coins.[1]
The theme charted at #18 on UK Singles chart in January 1959, as The World Outside by Ronnie Hilton, a very popular singer in the UK.
Spike Milligan repeatedly refers to the piece in his autobiography Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall and the subsequent books in the series as 'the bloody awful Warsaw Concerto'.
José Carreras recorded the Concerto as the opening track on his 1999 Album Pure Passion
In 1999 US Rapper DMX sampled the Concerto on the Single What's my name which was the first release from his US no 1 album ...And Then There Was X
Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the Grammy Award-winning Cuban jazz pianist and composer, recorded a Latin arrangement of the Warsaw Concerto in 2005.
The Concerto is constantly used in championship figure skating (especially in Japan)
[edit] Notes
^ "The World Outside" lyrics
[edit] External links
Richard Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto Analysis and description of Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto
Composers of the Week - Addinsell and Noel Coward
Dangerous Moonlight at the Internet Movie Database
This article about a concerto is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Concerto"
Categories: Piano concertos
Film music
Film soundtracks
1941 works
The Warsaw Concerto is a single-movement piano concerto written for the 1941 film, Dangerous Moonlight (also known under the later title Suicide Squadron). It was written by British composer Richard Addinsell. The orchestration was by another Briton, Roy Douglas, whose contribution is rarely acknowledged.
The film's love-story plot revolves around the fictional composer of the piece, a piano virtuoso and "shell-shocked" combat pilot, who is a refugee in England from the World War II occupation of Poland and considers returning to Poland to rejoin the war. The actor, Anton Walbrook, was an accomplished amateur pianist, so his hands are seen playing in the film, but in fact the music on the soundtrack is played by an uncredited pianist, Louis Kentner.
The film-makers wanted something in the style of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini or the Second and Third Piano Concertos, but were unable to persuade Rachmaninoff himself to write a new piece or to afford to obtain the rights for any of these existing pieces.
The music was later used in another film, The Sea Wolves (1980), with Addinsell's themes arranged by Roy Budd.
[edit] Appearances in popular culture
The theme of the concerto is borrowed in a popular-music love song whose lyrics include "The world outside will never know..." recorded by The Four Coins.[1]
The theme charted at #18 on UK Singles chart in January 1959, as The World Outside by Ronnie Hilton, a very popular singer in the UK.
Spike Milligan repeatedly refers to the piece in his autobiography Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall and the subsequent books in the series as 'the bloody awful Warsaw Concerto'.
José Carreras recorded the Concerto as the opening track on his 1999 Album Pure Passion
In 1999 US Rapper DMX sampled the Concerto on the Single What's my name which was the first release from his US no 1 album ...And Then There Was X
Gonzalo Rubalcaba, the Grammy Award-winning Cuban jazz pianist and composer, recorded a Latin arrangement of the Warsaw Concerto in 2005.
The Concerto is constantly used in championship figure skating (especially in Japan)
[edit] Notes
^ "The World Outside" lyrics
[edit] External links
Richard Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto Analysis and description of Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto
Composers of the Week - Addinsell and Noel Coward
Dangerous Moonlight at the Internet Movie Database
This article about a concerto is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Concerto"
Categories: Piano concertos
Film music
Film soundtracks
1941 works
Friday, April 30, 2010
Music through the years
I am fascinated with the growth of music, especially from the pre- Great War Years, thru the war, and into the 50's to Les Paul and onward, to the Beatles, and then to the few real musical artists beyond. It was music, and the sounds of music, whether it was voices used as instruments, or the instruments themselves.
Melody, point, and counterpoint, stretch and shrink, echo and control, beauty reigned in the sounds. Please take a look at my Facebook profile page and see the songs of the Greatest Generation and how exuberant, how loving they were....how we progressed to the joy of the end of the war, and the music broke all bounds and went wild! But, it remained, MUSIC!
In my mind, music can cry, "The Warsaw Concerto", it can tell a story like this piece does, without words, a story of such sadness, that the tears came to my eyes, as a young person, maybe 10 years old, imagining the plight of human beings, who lived in this great music. Music, should lift our spirits, make us want to accomplish something in the light and joy of life, even when telling a sad story, the goal of music has never changed. It is in the song of the universe, the planets, and the stars, and we should respect this ability we have to use music to lift our lives, to bring joy, happiness, help us evaluate with love and respect what we are doing and where we are going. Hopefully listening to the music we had, will bring us back to real music., there is so much more to discover.
Melody, point, and counterpoint, stretch and shrink, echo and control, beauty reigned in the sounds. Please take a look at my Facebook profile page and see the songs of the Greatest Generation and how exuberant, how loving they were....how we progressed to the joy of the end of the war, and the music broke all bounds and went wild! But, it remained, MUSIC!
In my mind, music can cry, "The Warsaw Concerto", it can tell a story like this piece does, without words, a story of such sadness, that the tears came to my eyes, as a young person, maybe 10 years old, imagining the plight of human beings, who lived in this great music. Music, should lift our spirits, make us want to accomplish something in the light and joy of life, even when telling a sad story, the goal of music has never changed. It is in the song of the universe, the planets, and the stars, and we should respect this ability we have to use music to lift our lives, to bring joy, happiness, help us evaluate with love and respect what we are doing and where we are going. Hopefully listening to the music we had, will bring us back to real music., there is so much more to discover.
Les Paul - Chasing Sound!
Les Paul - Chasing Sound
This is a fabulous ! Les Paul's story can't be beat, I posted it on my Facebook account, where you can watch it, but you can buy it here, if you want to. When, "How High the Moon hit the jukes, and the radio, Wow! We went wild and it blasted out of every juke box at our hangout.....in those days in Framingham, Mass., it was on our main street, and it was called, The Wellworth."
This is a fabulous ! Les Paul's story can't be beat, I posted it on my Facebook account, where you can watch it, but you can buy it here, if you want to. When, "How High the Moon hit the jukes, and the radio, Wow! We went wild and it blasted out of every juke box at our hangout.....in those days in Framingham, Mass., it was on our main street, and it was called, The Wellworth."
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Cars, new HD program on Discovery Channel
Click here: Discovery HD Theater :: TV Listings :: What's My Car Worth?
This is tuesday at 9, see the schedule.
This is tuesday at 9, see the schedule.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
A 1914 car with history
This car has an interesting history. It ran very well., when my husband had it. The leather fenders are remarkable, as is the car,an early Mercedes you can read the history at the link.
Turning Learning Right Side Up: Putting Education Back on Track
Turning Learning Right Side Up Puting Education Back on Track
by DanielGreenberg
See this book on Amazon »Madlyn wants to read this book
Comment: "My neighbor, founding member of the Sudbury Valley School has just published this book. I am especially interested in it, because I agree that we have not made sufficient changes in education, to handle the changes in our society. The proof is in the number of children being prescribed drugs like Ritalin to get through school and college.
We learned years ago that all children do not learn in the same way, yet we torture them , forcing them to learn the way we want them to learn, or fail them. Example: A bright child with ADHD, orADD, who can not concentrate, read, etc., can be taught by lectures, play acting, movies, and other visual means. Why would this child get homework based on reading and preparing pages to turn in, when the child has difficulty organizing, doing homework and turning in pages on time. That is what I mean about setting them up to fail! Genius existed before homework, and books!
We can not dumb down those that can not learn in our one way of teaching, then fail them in school and college....change has to come! There are many new ideas out there, we need to try. I look forward to reading Dan's book!
Turning Learning Right Side Up Puting Education Back on Trackby DanielGreenberg
See this book on Amazon »Madlyn wants to read this book
Comment: "My neighbor, founding member of the Sudbury Valley School has just published this book. I am especially interested in it, because I agree that we have not made sufficient changes in education, to handle the changes in our society. The proof is in the number of children being prescribed drugs like Ritalin to get through school and college.
We learned years ago that all children do not learn in the same way, yet we torture them , forcing them to learn the way we want them to learn, or fail them. Example: A bright child with ADHD, orADD, who can not concentrate, read, etc., can be taught by lectures, play acting, movies, and other visual means. Why would this child get homework based on reading and preparing pages to turn in, when the child has difficulty organizing, doing homework and turning in pages on time. That is what I mean about setting them up to fail! Genius existed before homework, and books!
We can not dumb down those that can not learn in our one way of teaching, then fail them in school and college....change has to come! There are many new ideas out there, we need to try. I look forward to reading Dan's book!
World's rarest car?
http://www.audiusa.com/us/brand/en/about/main/history/brand_family_tree/Horch.html#source=h
There is one unusual car that might be the world's rarest sport model. It is called the Horch, built as early as the 1900's by the founder of Audi cars, visit the website for information. Last year at Pebble Beach it took the prize. This car is probably one of 4 in the world. I will find the link for Pebble Beach and put it here for you, if you care to read more.
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/1937-horch-wins-best-of-show-at-the-2009-pebble-beach-concours-d-elegance-ar78074.html
This fabulous car competed with the Mercedes 540 K as one of the most desired cars in the world, in it's day.
There is one unusual car that might be the world's rarest sport model. It is called the Horch, built as early as the 1900's by the founder of Audi cars, visit the website for information. Last year at Pebble Beach it took the prize. This car is probably one of 4 in the world. I will find the link for Pebble Beach and put it here for you, if you care to read more.
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-news/1937-horch-wins-best-of-show-at-the-2009-pebble-beach-concours-d-elegance-ar78074.html
This fabulous car competed with the Mercedes 540 K as one of the most desired cars in the world, in it's day.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
New Metrowest Estate Homes
Our fabulous Natick designed homes are coming to Holliston. Now, you can choose some of the fabulous plans we have in Sanctuary , Natick. The popular King Charles and Alexander for example are available in Holliston, and also at Black Horse Farms in Marlboro on the Sudbury line. Holliston has fabulous lots with views almost to the Boston skyline, just off Route 126, close to Rt 16, Rt 135, and 10 minutes to Rt 495, Rt 9, Mass Pike... If you prefer living in South Natick, which is only about 10 minutes away, , we have a few lots remaining
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Madlyn Fafard , Secrets of the Heart
Secrets of the Heart
listening to this while reading my e-book will bring you right to the era. Best of the Four Aces
Link to my book is here:
Product Reviews and Ratings by StargazerMA - Barnes & Noble
Secrets of the Heart,Amazon.com: xlibris - secrets of the heart / madlyn fafard: Books
My first novel begins with the 2nd world war, and describes the conflict that children had living in the town of Framingham, Mass., during the war.
Plunge into the world of the late 40's and 50's with Meggie Pitter, who takes you through a generation of love, pain, joy, death, and suffering in what was then a small town. Follow the songs of the generation, and look them up on Amazon as you read.
Meggie the lead character leads the way, as she lies on her death bed, encountering her friends and lovers in memory and in the next dimension as they share their stories, in many voices.
listening to this while reading my e-book will bring you right to the era. Best of the Four AcesLink to my book is here:
Product Reviews and Ratings by StargazerMA - Barnes & Noble
Secrets of the Heart,Amazon.com: xlibris - secrets of the heart / madlyn fafard: Books
My first novel begins with the 2nd world war, and describes the conflict that children had living in the town of Framingham, Mass., during the war.
Plunge into the world of the late 40's and 50's with Meggie Pitter, who takes you through a generation of love, pain, joy, death, and suffering in what was then a small town. Follow the songs of the generation, and look them up on Amazon as you read.
Meggie the lead character leads the way, as she lies on her death bed, encountering her friends and lovers in memory and in the next dimension as they share their stories, in many voices.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Education Today
We need to rethink our education, the system, the school days, the purpose, and redefine free speech.
When children are led to commit suicide because of bullying, by internet, by encounters, should we allow free speech to continue without some boundaries?
When a soldier comes home in a casket to a grieving family, is it necessary for free speech lovers to dishonor him and his family? Free speech, should not damage someone's soul! Should we allow free speech to take away the dignity of a dead person? What can we do to protect free speech, but remove the horrible manner in which it is displayed?
Is our school system producing problems , by integration of all students, rather than the tracking system we had years ago? Personally, I think we should be giving more guidance to fit the student, rather than the opposite.. If we do our job, they will fit in society. It is when we do not do our job, that they fall out of society and get in trouble. Students that drop out, that do not get good marks, etc., are not happy! So that means we need to change to make them want to go to school. That is the job we have before us, make everyone want to learn to become a productive member of society and as long as we ignore the unhappy students, we will have serious problems in society.
Our society is in need of talented trades, and we could be giving a more practical education from day one to the students who we know, will not have the ability to keep up for higher education, or who do not have the inclination. Banking should come back in the schools, with the students running the banks. Home economics should come back to the elementary school, baking, sewing, organizing, learning about health and health check ups, all the basics of everyday living in our present society we need to have to prepare the student for life, so if they drop out, or can not compete they can take care of their family with home, and car skills, health skills, banking skills, budgets, etc.
Students with ADD and ADHD need a different classroom situation, maybe they need to have assisted homework with teachers who train them to focus on their studies, Homework must be part of the classroom teaching, learning, etc... maybe they need less homework and more class participation marks. Drugs are not always the answer,maybe more observation by teachers and what we can do in the school to teach focusing and teach how to overcome disabilities.
Tracking would be a valuable tool, to assist the student to reach his potential in a group that has similar abilities and skills. Everyone is not equal, we all have different abilities. You can probably answer I knew I would never be a whiz at math, in the lower grades, or I knew I would never be a reader, in the lower grades. Essential abilities in the brain, need to be addressed, not neglected, if a person is weak in math, then that person needs to learn basic math, banking, budgeting, organizing skills, and skills that increase the ability of that side of the brain that has a problem with math by training with musical instruments. Learning spacing of notes, groupings, etc., through music, There are so many things to consider, I could go on forever
When children are led to commit suicide because of bullying, by internet, by encounters, should we allow free speech to continue without some boundaries?
When a soldier comes home in a casket to a grieving family, is it necessary for free speech lovers to dishonor him and his family? Free speech, should not damage someone's soul! Should we allow free speech to take away the dignity of a dead person? What can we do to protect free speech, but remove the horrible manner in which it is displayed?
Is our school system producing problems , by integration of all students, rather than the tracking system we had years ago? Personally, I think we should be giving more guidance to fit the student, rather than the opposite.. If we do our job, they will fit in society. It is when we do not do our job, that they fall out of society and get in trouble. Students that drop out, that do not get good marks, etc., are not happy! So that means we need to change to make them want to go to school. That is the job we have before us, make everyone want to learn to become a productive member of society and as long as we ignore the unhappy students, we will have serious problems in society.
Our society is in need of talented trades, and we could be giving a more practical education from day one to the students who we know, will not have the ability to keep up for higher education, or who do not have the inclination. Banking should come back in the schools, with the students running the banks. Home economics should come back to the elementary school, baking, sewing, organizing, learning about health and health check ups, all the basics of everyday living in our present society we need to have to prepare the student for life, so if they drop out, or can not compete they can take care of their family with home, and car skills, health skills, banking skills, budgets, etc.
Students with ADD and ADHD need a different classroom situation, maybe they need to have assisted homework with teachers who train them to focus on their studies, Homework must be part of the classroom teaching, learning, etc... maybe they need less homework and more class participation marks. Drugs are not always the answer,maybe more observation by teachers and what we can do in the school to teach focusing and teach how to overcome disabilities.
Tracking would be a valuable tool, to assist the student to reach his potential in a group that has similar abilities and skills. Everyone is not equal, we all have different abilities. You can probably answer I knew I would never be a whiz at math, in the lower grades, or I knew I would never be a reader, in the lower grades. Essential abilities in the brain, need to be addressed, not neglected, if a person is weak in math, then that person needs to learn basic math, banking, budgeting, organizing skills, and skills that increase the ability of that side of the brain that has a problem with math by training with musical instruments. Learning spacing of notes, groupings, etc., through music, There are so many things to consider, I could go on forever
FABULOUS OPPORTUNITY IN REAL ESTATE
Time to invest in a home
Uxbridge, Mass. about 20 minutes to Rt 495 , Franklin and the T, prices are incredible, starting at $199,990 for a single family home on condominium land., or consider Bellingham, just minutes off 495 and the T, starting in the high $200,000's depending on the lot you choose, most are an acre or more. both of these locations are close to the Wrentham Outlet Mall, and other shopping areas, hospitals, and colleges.
Marlboro, just off Rt 495, near the high school and the Mall, prices start in the $300,000's
These prices will be hard to find when the economy returns to normal, so if you can borrow some of the deposit from your parents, and get an affordable monthly payment, including taxes, utilities etc.. now is the time to think about taking the plunge into real estate.
If you are looking for a special home, that you want to design build or use our plans and customize, we have estate lots in Natick, Mass., Holliston, Mass., Marlboro on the Sudbury line. Choose from these easy commute locations that are close to all amenities, shopping, hospitals, colleges, and major roads.
Give our office a call for all your real estate needs., in the metrowest area around Boston 508-881-6662
Uxbridge, Mass. about 20 minutes to Rt 495 , Franklin and the T, prices are incredible, starting at $199,990 for a single family home on condominium land., or consider Bellingham, just minutes off 495 and the T, starting in the high $200,000's depending on the lot you choose, most are an acre or more. both of these locations are close to the Wrentham Outlet Mall, and other shopping areas, hospitals, and colleges.
Marlboro, just off Rt 495, near the high school and the Mall, prices start in the $300,000's
These prices will be hard to find when the economy returns to normal, so if you can borrow some of the deposit from your parents, and get an affordable monthly payment, including taxes, utilities etc.. now is the time to think about taking the plunge into real estate.
If you are looking for a special home, that you want to design build or use our plans and customize, we have estate lots in Natick, Mass., Holliston, Mass., Marlboro on the Sudbury line. Choose from these easy commute locations that are close to all amenities, shopping, hospitals, colleges, and major roads.
Give our office a call for all your real estate needs., in the metrowest area around Boston 508-881-6662
Discussions on God, Sheldrake and Dawkins and Vermeer's Hat a great book
Friday, February 22, 2008
Vermeer's Hat by Timothy Brook
Ah! Remember when you first learned about stream of conciousness? I remember well, because it was like a light went on in my head! I loved it, from the day I set eyes on The Sound and The Fury and read Faulkner with gusto, my next favorites being , A Rose For Emily, and As I Lay Dying
Now, with Vermeer's Hat, we have a new form of stream of consciousness. Yes, this time the author goes into a Vermeer painting and discovers thru a doorway from the painting, (and from his learned history of the world), a glimpse through the eyes ( stream of consciousness almost) of the author of what was happening at the time of Vermeer in his world.
Tobacco, silver, beaver hats, chinese trade, the perils of the shipping industry and much more as the world started on its course to become smaller. It is amazing from the ship register's of the time where people came from, and how traveled they were.
It is a memorable book, slow reading because it is not full of suspense, but full of facts, that draw you back to learn more. Also, the idea of visiting the world of the time through the paintings of Vermeer, is clever, and insightful. It is worth reading, the sub title is ,The Seventeeth Century and the Dawn of the Global World.
Posted by madlyn at 7:31 AM 0 comments
Labels: Books, mostly books, newest read
Friday, January 11, 2008
Richard Dawkins vs Rupert Sheldrake
In the interest of God, and the interest of mankind, this is worth reading....a point of view that promotes a book at the expense of the truth, is not what a scientist should be searching for. I wonder what you think?
This release came to me from the Rupert Sheldrake site, I subscribe to.
News Release from Rupert Sheldrake Online
11th January 2008
From Rupert Sheldrake
"Richard Dawkins Comes to Call" has just been published in Network Review: The Journal of the Scientific and Medical Network and is now on the web site - It is also pasted below.
Richard Dawkins comes to call
Rupert Sheldrake
Richard Dawkins is a man with a mission – the eradication of religion and superstition, and their total replacement with science and reason. Channel 4 TV has repeatedly provided him with a pulpit. His two-part polemic in August 2007, called Enemies of Reason, was a sequel to his 2006 diatribe against religion, The Root of All Evil?
Soon before Enemies of Reason was filmed, the production company, IWC Media, told me that Richard Dawkins wanted to visit me to discuss my research on unexplained abilities of people and animals. I was reluctant to take part, but the company’s representative assured me that “this documentary, at Channel 4’s insistence, will be an entirely more balanced affair than The Root of All Evil was.” She added, “We are very keen for it to be a discussion between two scientists, about scientific modes of enquiry”. So I agreed and we fixed a date.
I was still not sure what to expect. Was Richard Dawkins going to be dogmatic, with a mental firewall that blocked out any evidence that went against his beliefs? Or would he be open-minded, and fun to talk to?
The Director asked us to stand facing each other; we were filmed with a hand-held camera. Richard began by saying that he thought we probably agreed about many things, “But what worries me about you is that you are prepared to believe almost anything. Science should be based on the minimum number of beliefs.”
I agreed that we had a lot in common, “But what worries me about you is that you come across as dogmatic, giving people a bad impression of science.”
He then said that in a romantic spirit he himself would like to believe in telepathy, but there just wasn’t any evidence for it. He dismissed all research on the subject out of hand. He compared the lack of acceptance of telepathy by scientists such as himself with the way in which the echo-location system had been discovered in bats, followed by its rapid acceptance within the scientific community in the 1940s. In fact, as I later discovered, Lazzaro Spallanzani had shown in 1793 that bats rely on hearing to find their way around, but sceptical opponents dismissed his experiments as flawed, and helped set back research for well over a century. However, Richard recognized that telepathy posed a more radical challenge than echo-location. He said that if it really occurred, it would “turn the laws of physics upside down,” and added, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
“This depends on what you regard as extraordinary”, I replied. “Most people say they have experienced telepathy, especially in connection with telephone calls. In that sense, telepathy is ordinary. The claim that most people are deluded about their own experience is extraordinary. Where is the extraordinary evidence for that?”
He produced any evidence at all, apart from generic arguments about the fallibility of human judgment. He assumed that people want to believe in “the paranormal” because of wishful thinking.
We then agreed that controlled experiments were necessary. I said that this was why I had actually been doing such experiments, including tests to find out if people really could tell who was calling them on the telephone when the caller was selected at random. The results were far above the chance level.
The previous week I had sent Richard copies of some of my papers, published in peer-reviewed journals, so that he could look at the data.
Richard seemed uneasy and said, “I’m don’t want to discuss evidence”. “Why not?” I asked. “There isn’t time. It’s too complicated. And that’s not what this programme is about.” The camera stopped.
The Director, Russell Barnes, confirmed that he too was not interested in evidence. The film he was making was another Dawkins polemic.
I said to Russell, “If you’re treating telepathy as an irrational belief, surely evidence about whether it exists or not is essential for the discussion. If telepathy occurs, it’s not irrational to believe in it. I thought that’s what we were going to talk about. I made it clear from the outset that I wasn’t interested in taking part in another low grade debunking exercise.”
Richard said, “It’s not a low grade debunking exercise; it’s a high grade debunking exercise.”
In that case, I replied, there had been a serious misunderstanding, because I had been led to believe that this was to be a balanced scientific discussion about evidence. Russell Barnes asked to see the emails I had received from his assistant. He read them with obvious dismay, and said the assurances she had given me were wrong. The team packed up and left.
Richard Dawkins has long proclaimed his conviction that “The paranormal is bunk. Those who try to sell it to us are fakes and charlatans”. Enemies of Reason was intended to popularize this belief. But does his crusade really promote “the public understanding of science,” of which he is the professor at Oxford? Should science be a vehicle of prejudice, a kind of fundamentalist belief-system? Or should it be a method of enquiry into the unknown?
Rupert Sheldrake
Note
Some Email filters block any messages containing links to web sites, sounfortunately we cannot include links in this newsletter, but all the links are easily accessible form the home page of the website Sheldrake.org.
Best wishes,
Editor
Posted by madlyn at 8:13 AM 0 comments
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▼ 2008 (2)
▼ February (1)
Vermeer's Hat by Timothy Brook
► January (1)
Richard Dawkins vs Rupert Sheldrake
Vermeer's Hat by Timothy Brook
Ah! Remember when you first learned about stream of conciousness? I remember well, because it was like a light went on in my head! I loved it, from the day I set eyes on The Sound and The Fury and read Faulkner with gusto, my next favorites being , A Rose For Emily, and As I Lay Dying
Now, with Vermeer's Hat, we have a new form of stream of consciousness. Yes, this time the author goes into a Vermeer painting and discovers thru a doorway from the painting, (and from his learned history of the world), a glimpse through the eyes ( stream of consciousness almost) of the author of what was happening at the time of Vermeer in his world.
Tobacco, silver, beaver hats, chinese trade, the perils of the shipping industry and much more as the world started on its course to become smaller. It is amazing from the ship register's of the time where people came from, and how traveled they were.
It is a memorable book, slow reading because it is not full of suspense, but full of facts, that draw you back to learn more. Also, the idea of visiting the world of the time through the paintings of Vermeer, is clever, and insightful. It is worth reading, the sub title is ,The Seventeeth Century and the Dawn of the Global World.
Posted by madlyn at 7:31 AM 0 comments
Labels: Books, mostly books, newest read
Friday, January 11, 2008
Richard Dawkins vs Rupert Sheldrake
In the interest of God, and the interest of mankind, this is worth reading....a point of view that promotes a book at the expense of the truth, is not what a scientist should be searching for. I wonder what you think?
This release came to me from the Rupert Sheldrake site, I subscribe to.
News Release from Rupert Sheldrake Online
11th January 2008
From Rupert Sheldrake
"Richard Dawkins Comes to Call" has just been published in Network Review: The Journal of the Scientific and Medical Network and is now on the web site - It is also pasted below.
Richard Dawkins comes to call
Rupert Sheldrake
Richard Dawkins is a man with a mission – the eradication of religion and superstition, and their total replacement with science and reason. Channel 4 TV has repeatedly provided him with a pulpit. His two-part polemic in August 2007, called Enemies of Reason, was a sequel to his 2006 diatribe against religion, The Root of All Evil?
Soon before Enemies of Reason was filmed, the production company, IWC Media, told me that Richard Dawkins wanted to visit me to discuss my research on unexplained abilities of people and animals. I was reluctant to take part, but the company’s representative assured me that “this documentary, at Channel 4’s insistence, will be an entirely more balanced affair than The Root of All Evil was.” She added, “We are very keen for it to be a discussion between two scientists, about scientific modes of enquiry”. So I agreed and we fixed a date.
I was still not sure what to expect. Was Richard Dawkins going to be dogmatic, with a mental firewall that blocked out any evidence that went against his beliefs? Or would he be open-minded, and fun to talk to?
The Director asked us to stand facing each other; we were filmed with a hand-held camera. Richard began by saying that he thought we probably agreed about many things, “But what worries me about you is that you are prepared to believe almost anything. Science should be based on the minimum number of beliefs.”
I agreed that we had a lot in common, “But what worries me about you is that you come across as dogmatic, giving people a bad impression of science.”
He then said that in a romantic spirit he himself would like to believe in telepathy, but there just wasn’t any evidence for it. He dismissed all research on the subject out of hand. He compared the lack of acceptance of telepathy by scientists such as himself with the way in which the echo-location system had been discovered in bats, followed by its rapid acceptance within the scientific community in the 1940s. In fact, as I later discovered, Lazzaro Spallanzani had shown in 1793 that bats rely on hearing to find their way around, but sceptical opponents dismissed his experiments as flawed, and helped set back research for well over a century. However, Richard recognized that telepathy posed a more radical challenge than echo-location. He said that if it really occurred, it would “turn the laws of physics upside down,” and added, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
“This depends on what you regard as extraordinary”, I replied. “Most people say they have experienced telepathy, especially in connection with telephone calls. In that sense, telepathy is ordinary. The claim that most people are deluded about their own experience is extraordinary. Where is the extraordinary evidence for that?”
He produced any evidence at all, apart from generic arguments about the fallibility of human judgment. He assumed that people want to believe in “the paranormal” because of wishful thinking.
We then agreed that controlled experiments were necessary. I said that this was why I had actually been doing such experiments, including tests to find out if people really could tell who was calling them on the telephone when the caller was selected at random. The results were far above the chance level.
The previous week I had sent Richard copies of some of my papers, published in peer-reviewed journals, so that he could look at the data.
Richard seemed uneasy and said, “I’m don’t want to discuss evidence”. “Why not?” I asked. “There isn’t time. It’s too complicated. And that’s not what this programme is about.” The camera stopped.
The Director, Russell Barnes, confirmed that he too was not interested in evidence. The film he was making was another Dawkins polemic.
I said to Russell, “If you’re treating telepathy as an irrational belief, surely evidence about whether it exists or not is essential for the discussion. If telepathy occurs, it’s not irrational to believe in it. I thought that’s what we were going to talk about. I made it clear from the outset that I wasn’t interested in taking part in another low grade debunking exercise.”
Richard said, “It’s not a low grade debunking exercise; it’s a high grade debunking exercise.”
In that case, I replied, there had been a serious misunderstanding, because I had been led to believe that this was to be a balanced scientific discussion about evidence. Russell Barnes asked to see the emails I had received from his assistant. He read them with obvious dismay, and said the assurances she had given me were wrong. The team packed up and left.
Richard Dawkins has long proclaimed his conviction that “The paranormal is bunk. Those who try to sell it to us are fakes and charlatans”. Enemies of Reason was intended to popularize this belief. But does his crusade really promote “the public understanding of science,” of which he is the professor at Oxford? Should science be a vehicle of prejudice, a kind of fundamentalist belief-system? Or should it be a method of enquiry into the unknown?
Rupert Sheldrake
Note
Some Email filters block any messages containing links to web sites, sounfortunately we cannot include links in this newsletter, but all the links are easily accessible form the home page of the website Sheldrake.org.
Best wishes,
Editor
Posted by madlyn at 8:13 AM 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) Blog Archive
▼ 2008 (2)
▼ February (1)
Vermeer's Hat by Timothy Brook
► January (1)
Richard Dawkins vs Rupert Sheldrake
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Going to Wintertur for Point to Point races
A team of grey Kladruby horses, pulls an antique coach in the parade at Wintertur. Cheyenne Fafard is on the box seat with Sir Paul. Howard is behind him and all you can see is Howard's grey hat. First weekend in May, this is a fabulous event in Delaware.
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