Toys in the Attic

March has finally arrived and with it the crush of writing projects I have due...deadlines, deadlines, and more deadlines. Thus far I'm doing fairly well I think. I managed to get my papers on the Scopes Trial completed. Here is an excerpt:

A generation after the humiliation of its defeat in the American Civil War, the South remained a region searching for the means to reclaim its own history, culture, and pride. The wounds of the war and reconstruction remained open and exacerbated by the perception that the North continued a philosophical intrusion into Southern life. The Scopes Trial touched upon many aspects of the lingering bitterness such as States’ Rights, the overarching theme of the civil war which reappeared in Tennessee’s claim of an inherent right to teach its youth what it wanted without regard to what Northern states or the Federal government deemed proper. This argument, while not an overt one, coloured the participants’ perspective. The threads of the States’ Rights debate remained foremost in the minds of southern peoples. The Southern view created a sense of “exceptionalism” within the population- a key aspect of which resided in its appreciation for the active role of religion in daily life. Though William Jennings Bryan was not a southerner he spoke the common language of the evangelical faith. His speeches in defence of the literal biblical truth became a shibboleth to the southern faithful. In contrast, Clarence Darrow was an avowed atheist whose defence of evolution served as a full-frontal assault on Christianity. To the southern evangelicals Darrow was in league with the devil representing the forces of darkness and attempting to blot out the light of Christ. The Scopes trial coalesced the disparate factions of fundamentalism in defense of the Bible as the literal truth of creation. Religion also fused rural citizens together behind a supposed attack from an agnosticism, atheism and liberal religious philosophy of urban intellectuals. Whereas in the North there was an understood separation of Church and State, in the South, such a separation was less rigid and in some cases non-existent. Invocation of the Bible was common to daily life in the South. Science was perceived as another attacking force from the North threatening the God-fearing South, much in the same way industrialization had been an invading force against the agricultural civilization a generation before. The idea that the North was yet again forcing its belief system on the South renewed the anxiety and fear with southern communities.

If you have the time and want to read the whole paper (it's actually quite short) you can do so by clicking HERE I have to thank my wife and also my friend Rabia for lending their eyes and editorial skills in helping me make it better. I also finished reading "The Collaborator", Alice Kaplan's book about Robert Brasillach the French intellectual and writer who was convicted of treason after the liberation of Paris in 1944. It was a wonderful read and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in history. I spent almost all of Sunday buried deep in the stacks of Robarts Library, working on gathering research for my big paper in Modern Espionage. I haven't yet begun putting it together as I've still a few more books to read and a few additional sources to search out but I think I know the gist of the material and I hope the paper will be my best yet. (there's always hope right?) Saturday, Steve and Tara came to visit us and spent the evening enjoying good food (because Shelley cooked her lasagne) and some quantity time with Ginny Grace. I say 'quantity time' because it didn't make for much 'quality' as GG was pretty fussy which honestly is rather rare for her. But she was overly tired and her schedule was off so she was cranky. Still it was a nice evening and we enjoyed having some company...especially Dixie who is in love with Tara (and vice versa). It is less than a week now before we pile the family into the car and make the long roadtrip down to Virginia Grace's namesake state. I'm looking forward to everything except the drive itself and for the first time I'm not nervous about the border crossing- in fact it will be fun to show them GG's birth certificate. I just hope the weather and the traffic and the car cooperate and we have a safe, smooth go of it. Just in case you are interested here are my Oscar picks for this Sunday. I'm actually looking forward to the show, mostly because I think Jon Stewart will be a great host. I didn't get to see any of the main nominated films this year...gone are the days when I saw them all...that's what not working and having a baby will do to ya...so remember that kids.. The best movie that I did see though was Syriana and it wasn't nominated... I'm not giving you all the picks just the top ones and a selected few extras

Performance by an actor in a leading role Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote" Performance by an actor in a supporting role Paul Giamatti in "Cinderella Man" Performance by an actress in a leading role Reese Witherspoon in "Walk the Line" Performance by an actress in a supporting role Rachel Weisz in "The Constant Gardener" Best animated feature "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" Best documentary "March of the Penguins" Best Director "Crash" Paul Haggis Best motion picture "Crash" Adapted screenplay "Brokeback Mountain" Screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana Original screenplay "Crash" Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco Story by Paul Haggis

In politics, the big news of course is the continual slide of President Bush's approval rating. The latest CBS poll has his approval at 34% the lowest figure of his tenure. Of course Vice President Cheney's approval rating is 18% which I think has to be the lowest approval rating of any Oval Office figure in history. Consider that President Nixon had an approval rating of 25% when he resigned from office in 1974...and Cheney is on 2/3 of that...WOW. Of course the bright spot for Cheney is that if he manages to shoot 2 more 70-year-olds he wins a stuffed bear. This week in pictures yukking it up in her exersaucer...