"Ideas are kindled through friction." Jean de La Bruyere

"Fortune pays you sometimes for the intensity of her favors by the shortness of their duration. She soon tires of carrying anyone long on her shoulders." Baltasar Gracian

"My business, my art, is to live my life." Montaigne

Today's image: Retrospective II by Michail. Great shot. Thanks for sharing.

Charles McGrath writing in the Times, Is PBS Still Necessary...

"...by far the greatest advantage of public radio is that, by not trolling after ratings, it has managed to stay distinctive: it does what nothing else on radio does and sticks to its core: news and public affairs and the oddball weekly show like “Car Talk” and “A Prairie Home Companion.” At the same time, public radio thrives, in a way that public TV does not, from internal competition: in addition to NPR, the old standby, there is the newer, hipper PRI (Public Radio International), importer of the invaluable BBC World Service news program and distributor of innovative shows like “Studio 360 With Kurt Andersen” and “This American Life,” which NPR did not fight for.

Where would we be without this stuff, gathered so conveniently at the low end of the FM dial? How would we fill those otherwise empty hours when we’re held hostage in our cars? At its best public television adds a little grace note to our lives, but public radio fills a void."

Read the entire article here. Bravos, Charles! Well said. Now, about that funding issue, time to get Big Bird ready for the hill visits.

Bonus: Authors@Goggle - Robert Frank. Wonderful, highly recommended video. "Seeing ideas at work, in context" His homework assignment: "Knowing biology makes it possible to discern additional pattern and texture in natural environments. Why, in most species, are males bigger and more colorful than females?" Amazon info (preorder his latest book in paper)

Congrats & cheers: Dan Farber named EIC @ CNET's News.com. Smart, very smart.