h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Big windows are nice, I suppose. What does it look onto? A lawn? A brick wall?

Never mind what it looks into. Actually it faces an apartment house that we hope will eventually be demolished. Shame it doesn't overlook a park filled with fountains and flower beds. But you can't have everything. At least we have the window.

H

Well that can be your next big project. Replacing an apartment house with a park with fountains and flower beds.

Our library is in a big grass lawn with plenty of big trees. But it doesn't have a big window...

I'm impressed that you remember how to find your library....seeing as how you never actually use it.

It is a future project to be sure. How future is the sticking point. As with most things around here, the devil is in the details.

H

It's just down the street

The details are hard. But look at almost all great art. It's all in the details.
Hold on now.

Does this mean that the devil is in art?

The devil is in most things, to be honest. Evil is seductive, . It masquerades as pragmatism, stealing away our idealism. It masquerades as virtue, hiding accomodation and fostering deception. It masquerades as beauty, turning our attention away from decadence and decay. And it masquerades as justice, enabling the rich and powerful to oppress their fellow man and plunder the earth with impunity. Evil is insidious, .

I remember one time when we were travelling from Texas to Connecticut. We decided to take the southern route and then head north. We came to the DC area after dark and from the vantage point of the highway, with the lights on the monuments, it looked like a true "city on the hill". Our capitol is a beautiful place and very inspiring. I've been there many times, however, and was struck by the fact that from my location the truth about the city was hidden. I couldn't see the poverty, the crime, or the despair that reside in all major cities. Neither did I see the corruption,the hunger for power, the greed, or the callous disreguard for the people that exists inside those beautiful marble and granite buildings. What I saw was evil masquerading as beauty.

It is the same with art. Art, with few exceptions, reflects what we aspire to, not reality. The only way to right injustice is to recognize it....learn where it resides...and confront it. To the extent that art camoflagues reality, pretends that it doesn't exist, then I would say that the devil is in art. That's why literature and film are such powerful mediums - they are more likely to tell the truth. At least to make the attempt.

Sorry. I'm rambling again.

H

What a load of codswallop. Talk about a conversation killer.

Ignore her, Jodan. I think she's off of her Xanax again.

Wolfgang, you wouldn't recognize an abstract thought if you tripped over it. Not everyone confines 100% of their remarks to the superficial and the banal the way you do. Perhaps Jodan enjoys the opportunity to actually discuss something on occassion that goes beyond the weather or how many medals we've won in the Olympics.

You want to get back to meaningless drivel? Fine.

So, Jodan, where's the best place to buy a Little Debbie Caramel Cookie Bar in the Dayton area? And did you know that they're good frozen?

Happy now?

H

Well, you're jumping a few bounds there. If something disguising injustice and bad is evil, then art can be evil, sure.

However, giving a sense of idealism isn't a bad thing. Looking back at Lincoln and Jefferson and Washington and seeing the idealism in their eyes gives us a sense of something to aspire to.

By the way, they say on the local news that the Ohio race is too close to call. Which is why I don't trust polls. If you looked at the right (or wrong) ones, Orange County could vote Democrat

You started it!

Polls are too easy to rig to ever be trustworthy. Republican pollsters word the questions to encourage the answer they want, as to Democrat pollsters. And although they are supposed to use random phone numbers, I suspect that that isn't always the case.

The election is going to be a real squeeker. But that makes it more interesting. This week's Newsweek listed the polls in the swing states. Their numbers show Ohio at 45% for Bush and 48% for Kerry.

Yup. You can say a lot of things about Bush-Gore, but you have to admit it was interesting.

The BBC had a couple of features about a Democratic and a Republican election worker in Ohio. I can't remember the last time Ohio got this much attention

All the swing states are important...not just Ohio. But Ohio has a pretty good number of electoral votes, making it one of those "more equal than others" places. This is a good chance for you to start accumulating stories for future use.

Well Ohio's still been getting a lot of attention. Michigan has too, of course. And Missouri, I'll admit.

Pah. I can hire a writer

I keep forgetting that you have more disposable income than most of us. How much are you prepared to pay? I could loan you some Uncle Harvey stories.

I'm afraid I can't speak of this now... if the press gets ahold of this later, I could be in it deep...

You can e-mail me with an offer.

Time for me to do the nightly what the heck am I going to fix for dinner thingie.

Politicians aren't that rich, though. They get rich after they retire.

Sorry for the neglect. I've been busier than usual.

Deja vu. It's time for me to do the nightly what to fix for dinner thingie.

I'll be back in a few...if you're still around.

H

I'm having a debate about the Civil War and the last post took about 20 minutes to write up, so I'll be around.

So where are you, then?

I burned myself. I'm holding an ice bag on my hand and trying to type without dripping on the keyboard.