Sunday, January 22
5:00 am
It is -7 °C, with a high forecast of -1 °C.
From the Environment Canada website:
Today Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of flurries this morning. Clearing near noon. Wind west 30 km/h gusting to 50. High minus 1.
Tonight Clear. Becoming partly cloudy this evening. Wind becoming south 20 km/h gusting to 40 late this evening. Low minus 7.
Normals: Max. -1 °C Min. -14 °C.
6:00 am Musings
I am reading the next chapter from Marjorie Garber's "The Use and Abuse of Literature" which is titled, "The Pleasures of the Canon" and came across a sentence that began "Slate used the same phrase ...". Who, or what, is Slate? The context suggests that it is likely a scholarly magazine or web site. In a moment I will google it and see what happens. But first, a comment on what is in my mind at the moment - Walrus. Here are the linkages: Slate - literary magazine - Walrus. I noticed the latter magazine on a news stand while I was buying some cough syrup a couple of days ago (yes, I am still fighting a dry cough). I had a subscription to this a few years ago but let it lapse due to "no time". However the magazine impressed me as a superb example of literary journalism. For Christmas I received an annual publication put out by The Economist, which I am enjoying. I really should renew my subscription to the Walrus, and now to google both Slate and Walrus and see what the screen displays.
And the answer is ... http://www.slate.com/ Online magazine of news, politics, and culture. Combines humor and insight in thoughtful analyses of current events and political news.
I did like the headline for the fourth item this morning - Romney Newtered.
Now for Walrus ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/ The Walrus is a general interest magazine about Canada and its place in the world, published by the registered non-profit charitable Walrus Foundation.
While web surfing from the Walrus I came across a magazine totally devoted to the iPhone (+ iPad & iPod). Who knew?
And now I have found a web site (and an app) that provides digital versions of popular magazines - zinio
I am a little surprised that the price for the digital magazines is so high. It seems to be similar to the hard-copy price. I am also a little confused. For The Walrus, I have a web site that gives me a fair amount of information (free), but which also gives me a link where I can get the magazine for $2.49/issue. This would seem to be for a digital version that is viewable on a computer. Then, using zinio, I can get 10 issues for $29.99. This latter would be for the iPad version. Or I can purchase the current issue for $6.99 (iPad again). The latter is what I can view for free on the Web.
My mind continues to whirl as I enter 2012 (or more properly 2010!).
Now I am thinking about firsts - first Slate site, first magazine site. What else is out there?
I could spend the entire day doing this. Not a good idea.
Now for two thank - yous for a pair of earlier firsts. One is to Allan down under who first introduced me to the Web. The second is to Rob (also from down under - this time in Canberra) who first alerted me to Wikipedia.
And this all began because of one word, Slate.
9:00 PM Literature
I have begun a new novel, "REAMDE", by Neal Stephenson. This is a modern sci-fi novel that takes place in the present and involves the high-tech gaming industry. A nice break from more serious matters such as Literary Theory. This is another thick description book, about a thousand pages, but it reads easy.
