The First Embedded Reporter

During the Civil War artist Homer Winslow travelled with troops and made woodcuts of scenes from battles that were reproduced in Harper's Weekly magazine. La Salle's art museum has three of these woodcuts. I'll see if any "media" would be interested in them.

Br. Gerry Molyneaux has written about the founding of the Peace Corps, which celebrates its 50th anniverary on March 1. So far he's been interviewed about it by Alaska Airlines magazine(!) and KYW newsradio has expressed an interest in speaking with him.

Philadelphia Science Festival

In April more than 40 organizaitons in the city will be sponsoring the Philadelphia Science Festival, a two-week event that will showcase the city's scientific resources and offer the public a way to learn about science and the role it plays in our lives. There will be a few events here at La Salle. Keep looking for future posts on this.

The greatest love story ever told...

I was too late on this one...with Valentine's Day approaching I asked around for comments about what is the greatest love story ever written. I've gotten on reply, from Jacob Bennett in English:

"What comes to mind is a Sanskrit epic, Kumārasambhava, by the poet Kālidāsa. I don't have my copy (translated by Heifetz as "The Origin of the Young God") ; it's "an epic poem which narrates the birth of Kartikeya, Parvati being sent by her father to serve the meditating Siva, Manmadha attempting to create love in Siva for Parvati, Siva destroying Manmadha in his fury, Parvati's penance for Siva, Siva agreeing to marry Parvati, Siva and Parvati living in marital bliss, etc."

It gets more complicated:

"Parvati, daughter of the Himalayas, though "given" by her father to be married to Siva, is actually the reincarnation of the three-eyed god's late lover, Sati. Siva, who withdrew into meditation after Sati's death, wants no part of the material world - meanwhile, Surapadman has unleashed fury and torment on the world. The gods conspire with Kamadeva, a deity of passion, to make Siva fall in love with Parvati, as they believe that only the son of Siva can overpower Surapadman. Siva, of course, is enraged by the intrusion and blasts Kamadeva with his third eye. Parvati, in penance for Siva's actions, and to prove her worth to Siva, performs severe tapasya, an ascetic meditative practice. Eventually, Siva falls in love, they have a son, Kumara, who is destined to destroy Surapadman. The imagery is lush and scenes of passion stand out in my mind a dozen years after my first read through."

Next year I'm going to ask Bennett to compare "eastern love" with "western love"....

Online v. Offline

Yesterday a Philadelphia Daily News writer interviewed Philosophy Professor John Hymers (who studies, among other things, the role of food in culture and philosophy), about WIP's "Wing Bowl." I get a copy of the Daily News today, scan it, and read the writer's story, but it doesn't have Hymers quotes. Oh well, I thought. Until Dr. Hymers told me it was online and getting many responses. I went to the link and the whole "story" was about him and his comments. I guess I'm very old school in that I first think "offline" (paper!!); in truth, it's possible more people have read about Hymers (and that he's a La Salle professor) in the online version than if he had been quoted in the print edition of the paper.

Here's a link to the story:

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/wingbowl/20110203_Wing_Bowl__A_threat_to_Western_culture_.html?&c=n