Monday, February 13, 2012

"Contents May Have Shifted" (book)

(All Things Considered, NPR.org, Feb. 13, 2012)

Book Review: Contents May Have Shifted
Pam Houston's new novel Contents May Have Shifted [with many comparisons to Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love] reads like a travelogue, with its central character searching for understanding across the globe. It is worth traveling along with according to reviewer Alan Cheuse, a writing professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

George Hanamoto inspects some marijuana plants he's growing as his wife, Jean, looks on at their home in Mendocino County, Calif., in 2008.Several thousand people participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Tyler, Texas, in 2007. Some walkers for this year's races, including the 3-Day walk, are worried that they might have trouble raising money because of the Planned Parenthood controversy. Adele won the song of the year category at this year's Grammy Awards for her tear-jerker "Someone Like You."

(KQED) The federal government is cracking down on California's medical marijuana industry. The county that's gone the furthest in embracing the pot economy is expected to throw in the towel. Mendocino County in California plans to shut down its program that issued permits to pot growers.

Since the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walks began nine years ago, participants have raised more than $600 million nationwide for breast cancer research. Now, in the wake of a controversy over Komen's grants to Planned Parenthood, some participants are worried it might be harder to get donations this year.

A musical device called an appoggiatura creates tension and emotions, says one musical psychologist. Also, "a good song allows us, the listeners, to walk through the songwriter or composer's thoughts and emotions as they wrote the song," says Dan Wilson, who co-wrote "Someone Like You" with Adele.

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