Word: straining
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...Kottke actually began to speak—first about how he never knows what to say to his audience, then about the ideal acoustics and intimidating decor of Sanders Theatre. Every digression or anecdote evoked a strange and enigmatic vision of the man and the movement he symbolizes. The strain of music that Kottke helped make famous—a hybrid of blues, folk, country, and bluegrass traditions known as “American Primitive”—was pioneered by John Fahey, an eccentric and reclusive guitar composer. Fahey’s prolific and varied catalog?...
Highlight Reel:1. On the exceptionalism of the Louvre: "The elitist strain that is built into the Louvre has an explicitly nationalist component. No object that has become part of the French museum system can ever be sold, since it has officially become French patrimony. To someone who comes from Greece, this must seem like a strange concept: the Parthenon frieze in the possession of the Louvre has become, ipso facto, French. The building of a national collection was central to creating the narrative of French greatness, of the power and glory of its empire. Like so much in French...
...expansion earlier this decade, recently reported its economy in the first nine months of 2008 grew at the slowest pace in 15 years. Most of the G-7 economies have already experienced one quarter of negative growth and will likely experience a recession. Small emerging economies are under serious strain as they seek International Monetary Fund bailouts...
...novelist that Crichton was best known. He wrote two dozen thrillers, including The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Sphere and Jurassic Park, that collectively sold over 150 million copies. (A new one, its title and subject matter still unannounced, is slated for publication in December.) Crichton was never a literary stylist, but his skills as a storyteller were enormous. His plots have a crystalline perfection that has been much-copied, by The Da Vinci Code's Dan Brown among many others, and his sense of pacing and his ability to weave diverse plot strands into an elegant braided whole are virtually unmatched...
...country as the thing that made it all worthwhile. "I would not be an American worthy of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century," he said, as the crowd booed. He acknowledged the strain his aspirations had put on his family. "I promise more peaceful years ahead," he said...